The Christmassy Cactus by Beth Ferry

November 3, 2023 By Leave a Comment


The Christmassy Cactus by Beth Ferry
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Holiday, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Tiny Cactus loves Christmas!

But she doesn’t love that her little girl seems to be spending more time with the giant sparkly tree in the living room than with her. Maybe if she were decorated like the Christmas tree, her little girl would notice her again.

And so Tiny Cactus makes a wish—to be special, to be noticed, to be a part of the magic of Christmas. With the support of her friend and some Christmas magic, Tiny Cactus learns that wishes can come true if you believe hard enough.

It’s not really Christmas until everyone is included.

Jealousy comes in many forms, but it generally isn’t talked about in books about this holiday in my experience. I liked the fact that the author acknowledged how celebrations can accidentally leave some people – or cacti – out of the fun and what someone should do if they feel like they’re being left behind. This was a thoughtful exploration of how to deal with a difficult emotion and how to think the best of others even if their actions sting a little.

I was surprised by the fact that no one in this story thought to decorate Tiny Cactus, especially given how much she was loved by her little girl. When I was a child, I put small, light decorations on my family’s house plants at Christmas time. It would have been nice to know why these characters didn’t think of that solution as it was a pretty simple fix for the conflict.

One of the other things I liked about this tale was how realistic it is. Other than the fact that the cactus could talk, everything else was firmly rooted in what could really happen that would make the holiday season more memorable for everyone involved without requiring the intervention of anyone wearing a red suit and passing by in a magical sleigh. This is an uncommon choice for this genre, but it worked really well for the subject matter.

The Christmassy Cactus was heartwarming.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

See Them Run by Marion Todd

November 2, 2023 By Leave a Comment


See Them Run by Marion Todd
Publisher: Canelo Crime
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

In a famous Scottish town, someone is bent on murder – but why?
On the night of a wedding celebration, one guest meets a grisly end when he’s killed in a hit-and-run. A card bearing the number ‘5’ has been placed on the victim’s chest. DI Clare Mackay, who recently moved from Glasgow to join the St Andrews force, leads the investigation. The following night another victim is struck down and a number ‘4’ card is at the scene. Clare and her team realise they’re against the clock to find a killer stalking the streets of the picturesque Scottish town and bent on carrying out three more murders.

To prevent further deaths, the police have to uncover the link between the victims. But those involved have a lot more at stake than first meets the eye. If Clare wants to solve the case she must face her own past and discover the deepest secrets of the victims – and the killer.

After leaving the armed response police unit under a cloud, DI Clare Mackay is slowly settling into her new position in the St Andrews Force. With a far smaller team and a much smaller township to protect, Clare is beginning to find her feet when a guest at a local wedding meets a grisly end in a suspected hit and run. When days later yet another man is hit in a clear hit and run Clare and her team rush to uncover what could possibly link these two men – because Clare knows there will soon be more victims if they can’t stop this killer.

This is a brand new (to me) author that I found and picked up on a whim. While I admit the story started a little slowly to me after the first 20-30 pages I found myself really getting into the story and before I’d reached the half way mark I’d already ordered the second book in the series. I found this to be a well plotted and decently paced small town Scottish police procedural style of story. Readers looking for something more action-orientated or a more busy city style of action/mystery might not find this really hits the spot for them.

I was of two minds that Clare’s past/history took a while to unfurl throughout this story. For quite a bit of the book (maybe as much as half of the story) aspects of the reason behind why she left behind Glasgow was left mysterious. I felt that a little odd how long it drew out, particularly since this was the incident that caused her to so drastically alter her entire life. While I could believe this plotline might follow DI Clare Mackay into the next book or two there was certainly a good amount of resolution and conclusion to this event and I am intrigued how Clare will rebuild her life and move on.

Readers who enjoy police procedural mysteries and are looking for something a little different should definitely give this a try. I thoroughly enjoyed the Scottish dialogue, accents and setting and really enjoyed the slightly different lens this gave the book as a whole. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next in the series.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Stonebridge by Linda Griffin

November 1, 2023 By Leave a Comment


Stonebridge by Linda Griffin
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Paranormal, Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

After the death of her mother, Rynna Dalton comes to live with her imperious great-grandmother and her bookish, disabled cousin Ted at Stonebridge Manor. Almost immediately she is aware of a mysterious presence, which she believes is the spirit of her mother’s murdered cousin, Rosalind. Rynna is charmed by Rosalind’s lawyer son Jason Wyatt, who courts her, and she agrees to marry him. Meanwhile, Ted and Rynna become good friends.

But Stonebridge holds secrets that will profoundly affect her future. Why is Ted so opposed to the match? Why does Rosalind seem to warn Rynna against it? And how far will Jason go to possess Stonebridge—and the woman he professes to love?

Family is forever.

Ms. Griffin had a smooth writing style that makes reading her stories a delight. She seemed to know exactly when vivid details were required and when it was better to allow the audience to imagine certain moments for themselves. That is not an easy thing to balance, but it’s one of the reasons why I try to request as many of the books she submits to Long and Short Reviews as I possibly can. Whatever else may happen with the plot, I know that I’m always going to want to read just one more page of the polished stories she writes.

I would have liked to see more character development, especially when it came to Rynna. She had a habit of making rash decisions and not listening to the people around her who had serious concerns about her life choices. While this flaw definitely made her interesting to read about, I also wondered why she behaved that way and why she was so stubborn at the worst possible moments. If only that had been better explained, but this is a minor criticism of a tale I otherwise found enjoyable.

It was amusing to see how the author mixed the romance, mystery, and paranormal genres together. The plot weaved its way among all three of them. While more attention was paid to the first two, the third one popped up in some creative ways as well that other readers should discover for themselves so that I don’t spoil anything for them. There is definitely something to be said for blending so many different types of storytelling together, especially when they all bring out important aspects of the plot that might have otherwise not had a chance to shine.

Stonebridge was a memorable and exciting read.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett

October 31, 2023 By Leave a Comment


How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett
Publisher: Candlewick
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Holiday, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When Santa arrives at a child’s house on Christmas Eve, does he go down the chimney feetfirst or headfirst? What if he gets stuck? What if there’s no chimney? Maybe he slides under the door, as thin as a piece of paper? Or is it possible he pours himself through the faucet? What happens once he’s inside? Whether it’s shape-shifting or impromptu laundry use, Mac Barnett’s iconic talent for earnest deadpan humor and Jon Klassen’s irresistibly funny art honor the timeless question with answers both ridiculous and plausible, mounting in hilarity as the night continues. Channeling a child’s fanciful explanations (and begging for further speculation), this latest collaboration by a New York Times best-selling team will find a secure spot among family holiday traditions.

A little magic is all Santa needs.

The creativity of this tale made me chuckle. I laughed out loud at an early scene showing the reindeer gently lowering Santa into a chimney head first, and the answers to this riddle only grew wilder from there. They reminded me of the way small children think about the world and how they can sometimes expect large things like a person to magically fit into small spaces with a little effort. It was delightful that the authors were able to tap into this portion of childhood and really dig deeply into the wacky side of how Christmas Eve visits from a magical elf might work.

As amused as I was by the premise, I would have liked to see a bit more character and plot development. Almost all of the pages were dedicated to coming up with all sorts of ways that Santa may enter homes even if there’s no chimney to climb down. I kept expecting the narrator to eventually share a solution that seemed more likely than the rest, and I was a little disappointed when that never happened.

With that being said, I did appreciate how the author wrote this to appeal to all sorts of children. Whether a little one wholeheartedly believes in Santa, is skeptical about the idea but still hopes it is true, or doesn’t believe at all, there were scenes in here to amuse a wide variety of audiences. I should note that this could easily prompt kids to discuss their differing beliefs about Santa if this is read in a mixed group of opinions, but I think that can be a good thing for everyone involved if handled well. Differences should be celebrated, not ignored!

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? was a cute and cheeky read.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Veronica by Asif Hossain

October 30, 2023 By Leave a Comment


Veronica by Asif Hossain
Publisher: Turquoise Book House
Genre: LGBTQ, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Veronica is a young (18-year-old) girl who recently graduated from high school and plans to attend college. Loneliness is her best companion. She has a quiet personality and spends the majority of her time reading. She decides to embark on an adventure with no set destination in order to see the world from another point of view. As she continues, different perspectives, including her romantic awakening, start to fill the void in her mind.

As she drives through the streets and wanders around, she finds herself in places she has never been before. A quiet, empty motel, a cafe with old-fashioned people in a deserted area—entering all these becomes a discovery for her. The calm atmosphere and sudden downpour of rain bring a sense of nostalgia to her life. However, meeting a captivating college student named Olivia in the Ozarks brings a different flow of emotions into her life.

The book is divided into twelve chapters with an epilogue, each titled after an art form that Veronica’s feelings resonate with, which is mostly songs and sometimes poetry.

Love makes everything better.

Veronica was a thoughtful and kind protagonist. I appreciated the way she took note of how her actions might affect others and did everything she could to make the right decisions that would have the highest probability of being good for everyone involved. There is definitely something to be said for characters who care about social harmony as much as she did!

I struggled with the slow pacing of this book. The plot development that was there took a lot of time to show up and included a lot of filler scenes that could have been cut out or trimmed down. As much as I enjoyed the thoughtful atmosphere of certain scenes, having everything move so slowly meant that I didn’t have as many incentives to keep reading as I would have liked to discover. Some of the scenes did make me eager to see what would happen next, especially in the last fifteen percent of the storyline or so, but sadly there weren’t enough of them to warrant giving this a higher rating.

The friends to lovers trope is one of my favorite romance tropes, and it was handled nicely here. It was refreshing for Veronica and her love interest to have so much time to get to know each other before anything romantic happened to them because it gave them the opportunity to get to know each other on a deep level. There’s a lot of overlap between what makes two people compatible as friends versus what makes them a good match romantically speaking, so confirming just how much they had in common ahead of time did them both a service.

Veronica was a quiet read.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Skeleton Room by Kate Ellis

October 26, 2023 By Leave a Comment


The Skeleton Room by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When builders converting Chadleigh Hall, a former school, into a luxury hotel discover a skeleton in a sealed room, DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate.

Soon Wesley has a second suspicious death on their hands: a team of marine archaeologists working on a nearby shipwreck off the Devon coast have dragged a woman’s body from the sea.

As Wesley investigates Chadleigh Hall’s past and the woman’s violent death, both trails lead in surprising directions. Matters are further complicated when a man wanted for murder in London appears on the scene – a man who may know more about the case than he admits . . .

DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate when the building refurbishment of an old girls’ school in preparation to become a ritzy hotel finds the skeleton of a young girl walled up in a small room. Unsure exactly how old the skeleton is, DI Peterson soon finds himself quite busy when the body of a woman washes up off the coastline, and the skeleton is found to likely be from the 1960s and still requiring investigation. With an old shipwreck being dived and excavated by his archaeologist friends the small country town is soon bustling and very busy just before the summer tourist season begins once again.

I’ve been enjoying this series and found this British small town mystery book to be yet another excellent addition. While I did find in this installment the archaeology took a bit more of a back seat than I’m used to, I was pleased that the two main mysteries – that of the schoolgirl skeleton and the suspicious death/drowning of the young woman were both logical, interestingly written and very much front and center for most of the book. The shipwreck – and slight sub-plot involving the genealogy investigation surrounding this – all added a good bit of extra mystery and overall, I found the book quite the page turning. It certainly held my attention as these various plots all revolved around each other and appeared in places to cross over.

The main cast of the police team, Wesley’s wife and child, and Wesley’s old school chum Neil all worked very well together, and I was doubly intrigued when one of the previous detectives who had left for the bright lights of London and the Met also turned up. I feel readers should greatly enjoy the many moving parts to this story and feel it can certainly be picked up as a stand along from a plot perspective. There is a bit of history and connection between the network of characters though I feel that is all clearly and well explained and so readers who haven’t read any of the previous books should feel comfortable picking this book up by itself.

With a solid series of plots and a good small town/British police procedural feel to it this is a great book and one I enjoyed.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

October 25, 2023 By Leave a Comment


The Housekeepers by Alex Hay
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group UK
Genre: Historical, Action/Adventure
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, she’s made herself respectable, running the grandest home in Mayfair. The place is packed with treasures, a glittering symbol of wealth and power, but dark secrets lurk in the shadows.

When Mrs. King is suddenly dismissed from her position, she recruits an eclectic group of women to join her in revenge: A black market queen out to settle her scores. An actress desperate for a magnificent part. A seamstress dreaming of a better life. And Mrs. King’s predecessor, with her own desire for vengeance.

Their plan? On the night of the house’s highly anticipated costume ball—set to be the most illustrious of the year—they will rob it of its every possession, right under the noses of the distinguished guests and their elusive heiress host. But there’s one thing Mrs. King wants even more than money: the truth. And she’ll run any risk to get it…

After all, one should never underestimate the women downstairs.

Mrs. King has worked in the most illustrious home in Mayfair since she was a teenager. Now the housekeeper, having worked her way up throughout her whole life, she is suddenly dismissed with no character and no references. Determined to take her revenge, she knows exactly who to turn to – other working women who have been similarly treated poorly. So on the night of the biggest ball for the season, these women are planning their own grand event, the biggest heist of the century.

I am always a sucker for a really good heist novel and the fact this book was set in the middle of 1905 and has a cast predominantly of women – and “downstairs” working women at that – only made me more eager to give this book a try. And I was really happy with the story as a whole. The characters were believable and multi-layered, the plot was logical and for the most part quite believable too. This is the author’s debut novel and the story stood very well by itself and I didn’t feel like I’d missed anything from previous installments. I was really happy with the story.

The first half or so is the preparation phase really. The cast had to all get together and for such an enormous task there was obviously a lot to set up and prepare – so getting to see the workings of all this was really good. I also felt the pace of this part of the story was really well handled. The author didn’t skim by it which I was pleased about since this is clearly a massive part of the plot and the story itself. But I didn’t feel like this part dragged too slowly either. Much like any heist movie the setting up of the parts, the organizing and planning beforehand is of almost equal importance to the actual “go night” itself. Without proper planning and structure put in place the main event simply won’t happen. So, reading through all that really helped sell the book and event to me. Equally – the actual heist night was about the latter half of the book along with the repercussions, so I felt this was really well handled as well.

With interesting, complicated characters who all have their own reasons and agenda’s along with a lovely plot of the heist itself this was an interesting and many layered story that I really enjoyed and can strongly recommend.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

I Am Changing Careers: Questions to Guide a Job Seeker by Anita Job

October 24, 2023 By Leave a Comment


I Am Changing Careers: Questions to Guide a Job Seeker by Anita Job
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In “I Am Changing Careers” you will learn:

How to find fulfilling work
Receive a daily job search roadmap to focus on the right activities
Leverage non-traditional job search techniques and strategies that worked for Anita and will work for you
How to maintain your physical, mental and emotional health while job hunting: a holistic approach
Make a great first impression at your dream job!
Perfect for high school guidance counselors, those entering the workplace (school-to-work transition), college graduates, or those changing industries mid-career.

So what are you waiting for? Buy now and join the many readers who have gone from job seekers to employed in their perfect career!

A good attitude is essential while looking for work, but that’s just the beginning of what one needs to succeed.

It was nice to have so many open-ended questions to mull over as I read this. The job hunt can vary quite a bit for people in different industries or stages of life, so it made sense to ask the audience to think about what they bring to the table and what sort of company they’re interested in instead of making any assumptions about that. I also liked the fact that readers were asked to consider their own preferences for working conditions and any personal or medical considerations they might want to think about when deciding whether to pursue options like shift work, long commutes, long workweeks, or similar issues.

Online applications, virtual job interviews, and asynchronous interviews are incredibly common in many fields these days. Ms. Job spent almost no time discussing how technology has changed the process of looking for work or how to reword resumes with keywords from the job ads in order to get them past the automated applicant tracking system (ATS) and into the hands of a manager or some other employee at a company who screens applications. I was surprised by these choices and wished the author had included a chapter or two of advice on how to get your resume or application seen by an actual person. It would have also been helpful to have advice on how to ace interviews that either happen online or involve the applicant recording their answers in front of a camera without ever having a chance to talk to a live person from the company they’ve applied to until or unless they happen to be selected for the next round of interviews.

One of the things that surprised me about this work was how much time it spent talking about the importance of maintaining one’s physical and mental health while job hunting. Everything from exercise to eating a healthy diet to keeping one’s spirits up if things aren’t progressing the way you might have hoped they would, were covered in detail here. There is definitely something to be said for looking out for all of these things and doing plenty of self-care activities during what can be a stressful and lonely time for some folks.

With that being said, I did find myself wishing for more chapters that included practical advice for changing careers or otherwise landing work. This could have easily been expanded from 90 pages into a full-length book on the topic, and there was so much more the author could have said about best practices for trying to find a new position in the current climate. For example, cover letters seem to be less common in some industries, and many places have relaxed their dress codes as well.

The bibliography was filled with links to all sorts of organizations that can make life easier for people who are currently going through hard times. While many of them were specifically about careers, others could be used by folks in a wide variety of other circumstances. I appreciated the work that was put into compiling this list. It highlighted some of the best parts of the earlier chapters about networking, self-care, and so many other relevant topics.

I Am Changing Careers – Questions to Guide a Job Seeker was a thought-provoking read.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Rat Race Reboot by Laura Noel

October 17, 2023 By Leave a Comment


Rat Race Reboot by Laura Noel
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Escape the rat race and create your ideal future today!

Are you tired of the endless daily grind? Of feeling that constant need to do more, achieve more, be more? Are you reaching the end of the day and feeling exhausted after going nowhere so fast?

You can design—and have—your dream life, if you learn how to reboot your mind. Your brain is more powerful than you realize and knowing how to use your thoughts to empower you is the key to setting and achieving “impossible” goals every single day.

Rat Race Reboot contains the answers you need to maximize your potential, find a meaningful purpose, and create a fulfilling life. With the strategies you’ll learn in Rat Race Reboot, you can become your best, most successful self, and discover the joy you’ve always wanted.

Hope and hard work never go out of fashion.

I liked the author’s emphasis on having a good attitude and persevering even if your second or your tenth attempt to do something doesn’t succeed. There is a lot of wisdom in that advice. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to reach a goal, and others are more likely to help people who remain positive and focused on what they want to accomplish in life than those who look at everything through a negative perspective.

With that being said, I wish the author had spent more time explaining what realistic goals look like and which signs might let someone know that what they’re trying to accomplish isn’t going to happen right now for whatever reason. Imagining a better future is critically important, but thinking positive thoughts cannot make every single dream a person can think of come true. Some fantasies require many years of hard work and a lot of luck to turn into reality, while others could be seriously hampered by, say, the quiet prejudice of the person who decides whether to hire someone for their dream job or offer them the loan they need to start a small business. This is a complex topic, and I wish the author had spent more time leaning into the many different outcomes that are possible other than relatively quick success.

This was a well-organized book that was easy to read. I appreciated the many lists included in it of ways to change everything from one’s office to the way one thinks in order to maximize the possibility of success. While not everything in life is within our control by any means, there is still something to be said for making the best of life and looking on the bright side even if it feels like there will never be a breakthrough. Having something to quickly reference during times like these is important, especially when it’s as accessible as this was.

Rat Race Reboot was a thought-provoking read.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

A Christmas Wish for Love by Mariah Lynne

October 13, 2023 By Leave a Comment


A Christmas Wish for Love by Mariah Lynne
Publisher: World Castle Publishing
Genre: Romance, Holiday, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Have you ever had a holiday cookie that came with a set of instructions? You’re about to.

In this sweet, heart-warming holiday romance, a precocious twelve-year-old named Luci, short for Lucia, never met her mom because she died giving birth. Her dad, a Florida Gulf Coast Island veterinarian, loved his late wife so much that he does not date or look at any other woman even though women are attracted to him. He still wears his wedding ring and, every Saturday night, shares a box of her mom’s memories, hoping to keep her alive in Luci’s heart.

Luci’s elderly Swedish next-door neighbor Meta loves Luci like an adopted granddaughter. When Luci’s dad gets called in for an emergency on her birthday which happens to be Saint Lucia’s Day, Luci and her dog Chester visit Meta.

Meta gives Luci a surprise birthday gift as she leaves to take home and open later with her dad. Then the holiday magic begins.

A CHRISTMAS WISH FOR LOVE is an enchanting and inspiring story you will want to share with others!

Anything is possible during Christmas time.

This was a unique spin on the romance genre. I don’t think I’ve ever read a romance novel written from the perspective of a child whose father is falling in love before. Kids don’t always understand these things the same way adults do, so I smiled when Luci explained what was happening and occasionally gave creative reasons for why the grownups in her life were behaving the way that they did.

There were some inconsistent details in this story that I found confusing. For example, Luci was described as a twelve-year-old girl in some scenes and a thirteen-year-old girl in others. Her character was written in a way that either one could have easily been true, but I did wish that the narrator had been clearer about her age. Her mother’s name was also spelled in two different ways later on in the plot. Another round of editing would have fixed these things and made it possible for me to choose a higher rating.

I loved the strong, caring community that these characters lived in. Being a single parent isn’t easy, especially after such tragic circumstances that surrounded Luci’s birth, but Kyle was lucky enough to have plenty of friends and neighbors around who could help him give his child everything she needed other than a mother figure. Some of the most memorable scenes were the ones that showed how everyone stepped up to give this little family extra love and attention. They brought a tear to my eye because of how sweet they were.

A Christmas Wish for Love was a gentle holiday romance.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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