Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: That Which Remains: Rouse by M. Tess Ossenelli

Diving deeper into a deadly mystery and the tragic ends we go to for the truth, That Which Remains: Rouse by M. Tess Ossenelli is an impressive second piece of this thrilling series.

Evan’s grief at his sister’s murder has driven him to dark and desperate corners, places he had tried to leave behind, even as his life is lit up with the hope of new love with Laci. The foundations of this future are anything but stable, as neither can free themselves from the horrors of the past.

Evan is relentless in his search for a transplant option and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-05-16T07:04:55+02:00April 19th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: M. Tess Ossenelli, Romance, Thriller|

Review: Desperate by Narcisse Lorraine Moungounda Pemba

A short but evocative novella that explores loss, forgiveness, and righteous revenge, Desperate by Narcisse Lorraine Moungounda Pemba is a stark and stunning read.

After discovering that what she knows of her past is far from the whole truth, Amy embarks on a dangerous plan to right the wrongs of her sinister stepmother, Tammy. On the night of their 18th wedding anniversary, Amy testifies to the years of psychological, emotional, and sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of Tammy, escalating the war that has been brewing for years.

Amy finds allies in unlikely places, among those still loyal to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-05-16T02:43:24+02:00April 18th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction|

Review: Clouds Float South by Paul A. Broome

Delicately skimming through two decades of life for one Tennessee family, Clouds Float South by Paul A. Broome is a subtly beautiful collection of interlinked stories about growing up and choosing who to become.

The broad time arc of this collection gives readers a piercing look into the Smith family as a whole, specifically via the experiences and dynamic youth of Alan, the narrator of these stories. His narrative voice also matures as the stories progress, from simplistic descriptions and observations to more lyrical, nuanced, and meaningful commentaries from his clever point of view. This seamless growth of the main […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-04-12T04:30:54+02:00April 12th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Paul A. Broome, Short Stories|

Review: Drink Water Mind Your Business by Andrew Stuart

Author Andrew Stuart has created an instructive self-help manual for entrepreneurs, who may in fact be any of us, as we all strive for personal success and satisfaction, in Drink Water Mind Your Business: A Simple Way to Focus and Get Started.

Stuart begins his guidebook by examining the Caribbean island of Dominica, named “Isle of Beauty” by its time-honored national anthem. Significantly, Stuart quotes that anthem, with an emphasis on these words:

Rivers, valleys, hills and mountains
All these gifts we do extol,
Healthy lands so like all fountains,
Giving cheer that warms the soul.

In this passage, […]

SPR2022-05-13T05:23:22+02:00April 11th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Business, Self-Help|

Review: A Little Rain by Bill VanPatten

A young gay man participates in a court hearing for a mysterious crime in Bill VanPatten’s emotional and reflective novel A Little Rain, an engrossing work about how the impact of generational trauma and the strain of keeping secrets can break a family apart.

When Alex Chance is sixteen years old, he attempts suicide shortly before landing in front of the judge who will determine his fate. By the time he arrives in the courtroom, he’s in a dissociative fugue, clutching a paperback copy of Stephen King’s Misery and barely speaking. So what happened to lead Alex to this fraught […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-05-12T08:21:51+02:00April 8th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Bill VanPatten, Contemporary Fiction, LGBTQI|

Review: The Obituary Page by David Ackley

Author David Ackley returns to the tale of his curmudgeonly hero, Galen Young, in The Obituary Page, a gritty and gripping thriller.

With the feel of being torn from today’s headlines, this standalone sequel builds on Ackley’s previous novel, The Opinion Page, but takes readers on a whole new hunt. A nearly cold kidnapping case still weighing heavily on Galen’s mind suddenly heats back up when a new ransom note arrives, deepening the mystery of Robert Armlin’s disappearance after his attempted heroics.

At the same time, an almost closed case takes a bizarre twist as the previously “missing […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-05-10T07:27:20+02:00March 31st, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Thriller|

Review: The Golden Hearts Club by Cinda K. Swalley

An uplifting novel about two sisters who befriend a family on a California horse ranch, Cinda K. Swalley’s The Golden Hearts Club is a feel-good story about spreading kindness and finding love in the most unlikely of places.

Close-knit siblings Katie and Megan Summers decide to take an epic cross-country road trip following Katie’s college graduation. Katie is a little more nervous and hesitant to take the plunge; she’s a passionate romantic who’s just gone through a terrible breakup with a cheating boyfriend. She’s also struggling to determine the meaning behind the strange prescient dreams she’s been having – are […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-03-30T04:47:34+02:00March 29th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Romance|

Review: Song of a Lotus Leaf by Renhui

With a reverent pen and an enlightened mind, Renhui delivers a restorative collection of poetry with Song of a Lotus Leaf. As the title implies, this is classic meditative poetry about the inherent and simplistic beauty of the world, but there is a strong base of self-examination beneath the surface of these observational pieces.

Acknowledging the clear divide in her years, between lifetimes in China and the United States, she also blurs the lines of experience and memory, making this polished collection both a memoir and a guidebook – a tome of appreciation, presence, and peace. While some of the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-05-06T06:01:49+02:00March 29th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Poetry|