
Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.
Reviewing Fiction One Happy Ever After at a Time

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.
The Nameless Land by M. Laszlo
Publisher: Alkira Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Psychological Drama
Rated: 4 stars
Review by RoseThis metaphysical novel, like its predecessor, Anastasia’s Midnight Song, is a mix of stream of consciousness narration and imaginary happenings. Mystical and mysterious, The Nameless Land follows the misadventures of Rupert Lux and Anastasia T Grace.
Rupert, a young New Zealander working as a night clerk in a hotel in Sinai, is beset by a daemon that inhabits his eye. His delusion is much the same as Anastasia’s was when she was tormented by the Arctic fox and the diadem spider in the earlier book.
Anastasia, now blind, travels to Sinai at the behest of a Spiritualist Society to seek hidden treasure by dowsing. She longs to find someone she can heal and love. Perhaps Rupert is the one she can save and thereby save herself.
But Rupert is plagued by females who seem to blend into one another and appear and disappear at will. Traumatised by childhood abuse, he worries that he is not worthy of love. He races headlong through many strange encounters, while Anastasia maintains a calmer stance, though troubled by what she is being coerced into doing. She has been urged to find lost Egyptian treasure and, though reluctant, manages to do so. A sense of menace attends the discovery.
Both protagonists are troubled by wild imaginings and beset by odd visions, smells, sounds, and touches as the pair descend into hallucinatory madness. This is a fast-paced metaphysical adventure, the events hiding many layers of emotional turmoil and insanity. The reader is whisked through a dreamlike landscape, disoriented, and made to experience a kind of madness themselves.
THE NAMELESS LAND is the second book in Anastasia’s travels and begins shortly after the incidents in ANASTASIA’S MIDNIGHT SONG (see our review here). However, if you haven’t read the first book, no worries. It definitely can be read alone.
Anastasia, now blind, falls victim to a group of spiritualists who use her in their pursuit of treasure. She very much wants to be free…that is her overriding pursuit during the course of the book, but she escapes from one group only to fall victim to yet another. She wonders if perhaps Rupert Lux, a hotel clerk in Sinai will be the one to set her free.
Rupert has longed to meet Anastasia but has his one daemon to face – and this leads him to not know what to do. Overcome with different hallucinations and dreamlike episodes, he is beset on all sides.
Mr. Laszlo brings his readers into this world and invites them to join the madness and the dreams that surround Anastasia and Rupert. Beautifully written, you never quite know what is real and what the characters have imagined. This leads to a big of tension during the reading, and that’s not a bad thing. There is definitely a depth to his writing that can take more than one reading to completely dive into.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Sharon Overend will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
A haunting, lyrical exploration of family, silence and the secrets we inherit.
Years of avoidance and blame have left the McLaughlin clan fractured and ill-equipped to face the critical illness of one of their own. When long buried memories of a neighborhood child’s death while in their care resurface the family truly begin to unravel.
Told in alternating voices, Look Over Your Shoulder, reveals how secrets ripple through generations, and how healing begins when someone finally dares to speak the truth.
Enjoy an Excerpt
ANNE
I slipped away. In slow motion, I raised one foot after the other, one step at a time, upstairs. My limbs now disconnected from my body, my head bobbing in a black fog, I drifted across the hall and toward my bedroom. I lay on top of the covers but dragged a throw over my hip.
The buzz of distant conversations crawled into the room, and my window shook each time the front door opened or closed. Knuckles rapped, an empty hanger slapped against the door panel, the buzz amplified, feet shuffled forward, a presence lingered, a hand touched my arm, a voice whispered.
“Mom.”
I said nothing until her feet shuffled back toward the door.
“I’m sorry,” I sighed into the pillow seconds before the hanger again rattled, and the hum of voices roared back into the room. I wasn’t sure whether I’d wanted her to hear me or not.
“For what?” She had heard.
“For resenting you.”
The weighty creak of floorboards, a car engine idling, a woman’s laughter, a child’s shriek, a toilet flush.
“You’re tired,” Marilyn said, now close enough to touch me. “Sleep.”
“You scare me,” I said, still telling the pillow, not her. “Your strength and your capacity for forgiveness are things I’ve never experienced before. But I have to know. Have you ever forgotten?” Shame had stalked me my whole life, a shadow dancing across my peripheral vision, now fully in view.
“We’ll talk in the morning.” She lifted the fringed edge of the blanket, pulled it over my shoulder, and tucked it beneath my chin. A blue spark of static electricity sprang between her fingers and my face.
About the Author:
SHARON OVEREND, is an award-winning author whose fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry has appeared in the Canadian, American and British literary journals and anthologies including Antigonish Review, Avalon, Descant, Grain, Matter of Time, Spirit of the Hills, Surfacing, Wild Words, Word Weaver, UK’s Dream Catcher, CafeLit, The Best of CafeLit and A Coup of Owls.
Sharon and her husband live on a 156- rural acre property in Ontario, Canada where she has found inspiration for many of her projects.
Buy the book at Amazon.
Sinners
Writers: Ryan Coogler
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Saul Williams, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Andrene Ward-Hammond, and Jack O’Connell
Publisher: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars (10 Stars on IMDB)
Reviewed by AstilbeTrying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
Horror and history are the perfect match.
The character development was everything I hoped it would be. Both the protagonists and the vampiric antagonists were well-rounded individuals who all had their own virtues and vices. They genuinely felt like real people – or real former people – to me who sometimes made terrible mistakes only to reveal wholesome aspects of their personalities that I found relatable and understandable a few scenes later. Sympathizing with vampires or other creatures of the night isn’t something I generally do, but I thought they made some intelligent points about the advantages of joining them and had a much clearer understanding of how the world should work than some of the human characters did.
I loved the way the director wove sharp social commentary about race, colonialism, and how those in power can manipulate things that are supposed to be good for malicious purposes into what was already an exciting vampire movie. This film could be interpreted in multiple ways that each stood on their own merits but also created an even more compelling story if they were layered on top of each other. That isn’t an easy feat to accomplish! It was one of my major reasons for choosing a perfect rating, and I would have given it even more stars if such a thing were possible.
Not every question I had about the characters or plot was answered which I consider to be a huge asset of this story. There were some scenes that were either partially explained or more or less left hanging, especially when it came to the behavior of the vampires in the last twenty minutes. Thinking about possible explanations for their poor choices in those moments made me want to rewatch this to see if there are additional hints about why this happened that I may have missed. I already have a few theories about why it was written that way and thought allowing the audience to come up with our own ideas made those scenes even more powerful.
There wasn’t a single thing I’d change about Sinners. It was memorable and thought provoking from every angle.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Elizabeth Ann O’Handley will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Well, one thing is for certain: everyone will feel something different after reading What It’s Like to Be Me!Why you ask? It is simply because every single one of us is completely unique; that is what makes us who we are.
The young girl in this book helps us understand that the journey of self-identification is not always easy. In some cases, maybe we just have not given it much thought. I mean, how often do we check in with ourselves? At times we are more focused on what others may think about us, while we are truly unaware of what we even think about ourselves.
With reflection, it is sometimes necessary, and useful, to see ourselves objectively.
The young girl in What It’s Like to Be Me has to look within to find herself. Personal growth will usually assist us in accepting the reality of who we really are. As life changes and we grow through experience, it is up to us to be the best versions of ourselves.
Living your truth is a personal suggestion for making things a little easier when embarking on the journey of knowing exactly who you are. Every experience will change us, maybe a little, or maybe a lot. Who you are going to be in this world starts with you!
I wish you all a wonderful journey!
Truth, love, and respect always,
Elizabeth Ann O’Handley
Read an Excerpt
Preface
The world we live in can be unpredictable. Life will challenge us and give us reasons to question many things. Life may make us feel uncertain of a decision … make us feel uncertain of ourselves.
Let us help one another affirm our purpose so we can live in a world where we feel more in tune with ourselves.
Life is so beautiful, precious, and filled with meaning. Let us start by finding ourselves and then watch that beauty grow.
May we all find what we are looking for.
About the Author: What It’s Like to Be Me is Elizabeth Ann O’Handley’s second book. It was inspired by a visit to her hometown of Glace Bay, in the province of Nova Scotia.
Elizabeth graduated from Cape Breton University with a B.A. in 2005, and received a diploma in Acupuncture from the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners & Acupuncturists of British Columbia in 2011.
In realization of many things, Elizabeth is forever grateful for the love she continues to receive from her family and friends. She reflects on her experiences with a humble heart, and is very emotional about being true to oneself.
Elizabeth is convinced that storytelling can be an effective tool in helping anyone find their path.
Elizabeth is committed to creating positive content, in hopes that it will have an impact on all readers of her work.
Buy the book at Amazon.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Susan Sloate will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
I can’t turn my back on my characters for a second—you never know what they’ll grab when I do!
Take Dary Dover, for instance. He’s a minor character in my new novel, SCENES FOR A SONG—manager of the band who comprise the four central characters in the story. Okay, I introduced Dary as a beautifully-dressed, elegant and obviously sophisticated guy with some secrets. I really don’t know why I did that; I didn’t expect the band manager to be more than a pop-in, pop-out kind of figure—there to help move the band’s career forward, but not much more than that.
Did he ever surprise me!
The sneaky little mother turned around and became a central part of the band’s history, something I never dreamed of when I started!
In fact, he became so much a part of the band’s history that the band members themselves were still talking about him, more than 50 years later! (You’ll have to read the novel to find out why, but I promise the answer is worth it!)
Dary surprised me, for sure, but I also found myself surprised by the depth of the relationship between Jimmy and Mark, the co-lead singers in the band, who become close friends almost immediately after their first meeting and end up sharing some of the most important moments of their lives. I thought they’d just be casual buddies who wrote songs together, but that’s not what happened at all. Their relationship was central to the story of the band, and it certainly does navigate some interesting twists and turns. Again, I didn’t see them coming when I started. You can never be too sure what you know about your characters—at the oddest moments, something else will pop out about them that you never dreamed would be there!
On Halloween Eve, 1961, in his dingy Bronx walkup apartment, seventeen-year-old Jimmy Welton hears the opening notes of a song in his head. Jimmy’s still mourning his firefighter father, who taught him to play the guitar but recently died in a house fire, leaving his family destitute. Jimmy takes this song, about all he misses from his life now, to the New York amusement park where he works after school. There, he meets Mark Morgan, a rebellious teen with his own band, who eventually invites Jimmy to join them. And the rest is rock’n roll history…
Their band, The GooseBumps, become a worldwide phenomenon, and the songs they write and sing together become the backbone of rock musical history. And the song Jimmy first heard on Halloween, “Wrapped in Gauze”, becomes the song that not only comforts him in that terrible time but also comforts others: Victoria, recently divorced and dealing with an out-of-nowhere family tragedy; Carolyn, whose final flippant words to someone in pain can’t be taken back; and Jack, battling back from unimaginable loss with the help of his cheeky therapist and a song he thinks he hates.
SCENES FROM A SONG is the story of a song that makes us smile, that breaks our hearts, that stays with us forever, and the very special band that started it all.
Enjoy an Excerpt
“Jimmy Welton, meet my good friend, Mark Morgan.”
“Hi,” Jimmy said, extending his hand to the newcomer.
Mark looked at his hand as though he didn’t know what to do with it, then reached out and pumped it with his own. Jimmy noticed his own hand felt bruised when he let it drop.
Mark looked at him, his eyes narrowing. “So what’s your job here—you’re the handsome prince at the park? So all the girls can swoon over you?” His voice, a normal baritone, escalated suddenly almost to falsetto. He batted his eyelashes girlishly at Jimmy.
Jimmy grimaced. He hated being teased about his costume, and now he liked this guy even less.
Luke went on eagerly. “Mark goes to high school downtown, Jimmy. He came out tonight to scout the park.”
“What for?” Jimmy asked, not really interested in the answer. The guy struck him as a bad imitation of James Dean. Jimmy had met plenty like him, and they were all bad news.
“For my band to play here,” Mark answered, his voice cutting through the windy evening.
Jimmy, who had been ready to walk away, stopped dead. “You have a band?”
“Sure as hell do. I play guitar and sing.”
Jimmy had never met anyone, boy or girl, who was in a band. Suddenly he wasn’t mad about being teased anymore; he was starting to get excited. He tried to seem nonchalant as he asked, “Is it a dance band or country-western, or—”
Mark looked amused. “No, Pretty Boy. It’s rock `n roll. Ever hear of it?”
Rock ‘n roll! Jimmy would kill to hear a live rock ‘n roll band.
About the Author
SUSAN SLOATE is the author or co-author of more than 25 published books. This includes 3 editions of Forward to Camelot, a time-travel thriller about the JFK assassination that became a #6 Amazon bestseller, was honored in 3 literary competitions and was optioned by a Hollywood company for film production. She also wrote the autobiographical Broadway novel Stealing Fire, which became a #2 Amazon bestseller and Hot New Release, and Realizing You (with Ron Doades), for which she invented a new genre: the self-help novel.
Susan has also written young-adult fiction and non-fiction, including the children’s biography Ray Charles: Find Another Way, which won the silver medal in the 2007 Children’s Moonbeam Awards. Mysteries Unwrapped: The Secrets of Alcatraz led to her 2009 appearance on the TV series MysteryQuest for The History Channel. She has also been a sportswriter and a screenwriter, edited the popular Kyle & Corey young-adult book series, man-aged two political campaigns and founded an author’s festival to promote student literacy in her hometown outside Charleston, SC. She has appeared in multiple volumes of WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA, WHO’S WHO IN ENTERTAINMENT and WHO’S WHO AMONG AMERICAN WOMEN.
The book will be $0.99 during the tour at Website.

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Rachel Byrne will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
IN A PLACE WHERE NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS, WHO CAN BE TRUSTED?Mysteriously invited to attend the elite Haverford Pines Academy, sixteen-year-old Lina Jamison feels out of place. With mediocre grades and no special talents, she questions why she was chosen to be among her generation’s brightest and most promising teens. Only after Lina saves a fellow trainee’s life does she begin to glimpse her own potential.
Settling into the academy’s training, she starts to uncover secrets and question Haverford Pine’s motives. Why is HP monitoring its trainees’ conversations? How were they selected? And what’s behind the alarming rumors of former trainees meeting dark fates?
As the term progresses, Lina realizes that her presence there may not be a coincidence. With danger lurking around every corner and her own destiny hanging in the balance, Lina must uncover the truth before it’s too late.
Gold Award, Independent Publisher Book Awards – Young Adult Fiction
Gold Award, Readers’ Favorite Book Awards – Young Adult Mystery
2024 Colorado Public Radio “Books We Love”
Enjoy an Excerpt
In the back of the rental SUV, my stomach burned, and a sour taste flooded my mouth. One week into summer break and my family was dumping me at this strange academy. While I struggled to find my purpose, they would be in Aspen, Emma Claire enjoying a ballet workshop while my parents lounged at the pool.
I had planned to hold my ground and insist on the rec center job, but then Dad got the red-light ticket. As I heard him slam his way through the front door, I raced to intercept him before he could start yelling.
I had briefly debated telling the truth—my anger at the stricken look on Noah’s face as pee ran down his legs and puddled on the floor. I imagined Dad puffing up with pride that I had stood up for a boy being bullied. That fantasy was discarded because I knew Dad wouldn’t get it. He and Mom had never experienced classmates jeering at them and the way it made you curl up inside and want to die.
I then considered accepting the consequences he started listing—no screens, no permit or license until I was seventeen, no allowance, etc. I could handle those but DJ wouldn’t stop until she knew why I had taken the car out in the first place. And that couldn’t happen if I wanted to survive the rest of high school.
Instead of an explanation, I offered him a deal. If I agreed to go to Haverford Pines, he wouldn’t punish me, tell DJ, or ask any questions.
About the Author
Rachel Byrne, a Colorado native, is inspired by her state’s majestic landscapes. With a BA in psychology from Dartmouth College and a master’s in physician assistant studies from the University of Colorado, Rachel has forged a career in psychiatry and addiction medicine. Her role as an educator has fueled her passion for teaching and understanding human behavior.
Driven by a lifelong fascination with the complexities of human nature and a love for American history, Rachel enjoys a career that explores the depths of the human psyche. As a devoted mother and dog lover, she treasures family moments and indulges in hobbies like reading, writing, tennis, and travel. Rachel’s commitment to literature stems from her childhood as a shy bookworm, aiming to create engaging stories that resonate with readers and leave a lasting impact.
28 Years Later
Writers: Alex Garland
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, and Ralph Fiennes
Publisher: Columbia Pictures
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars (8 Stars on IMDB)
Reviewed by AstilbeA group of survivors of the rage virus live on a small island. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors.
Survival takes on many different meanings after a few decades of zombies running around.
One of the cool things about this film was that it didn’t require any knowledge of the first three instalments in order to understand what was going on during it. Obviously, there were a few interesting callbacks for fans who did start at the beginning, but this otherwise felt like an introduction to a new horror series which I found refreshing and surprising.
The plot twists were pretty easy to spot ahead of time for me given how often I watch zombie films, so I would have liked to see a little more development there given how long this was set after the original outbreak. A new generation of people had been born into and grown up on an island filled with zombies by the time this tale began. Even something as simple as discussing the rules they had grown up following about how to stay safe in such a dangerous environment could have given the storyline creative ways to flourish if a few more scenes had been dedicated to the topic. The possibilities were endless.
With that being said, I enjoyed the plot development that had taken place over twenty-eight years, especially when it came to the tense but sometimes also complex relationships between various characters of both human and zombie origin. This film had some poignant things to say about the meaning of life and how to push through a day, often literally, while dealing with painful emotions like grief or uncertainty. The deeper layers of the storyline were what encouraged me to choose a higher rating and have made me incredibly curious to see what happens in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple once it is also released.
28 Years Later was a grisly but thoughtful adventure.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Paige Farrington will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
When we think of “character development,” most people picture fictional heroes and villains. Yet in real life we are each the main character of our own story. Our lives are filled with a supporting cast of parents, siblings, friends, teachers, religious leaders, and partners who all shape us in ways seen and unseen.
Every character, ourselves included, wears masks. These masks aren’t costumes for fun; they are the facades we put on to cover fear, pain, or the quiet ache of not feeling enough. A mask of anger hides vulnerability. A mask of perfection conceals insecurity. A mask of control shields fear. As children, we adopt and adapt masks from the people around us, internalizing the stories they carry and turning them into our own self-beliefs.
My own story was shaped by a family history filled with love, resilience, and hardship. My grandmother’s tenacity, my mother’s pursuit of perfection, and my father’s deep compassion each became masks shaped by experiences passed down through generations. Without realizing it, I absorbed parts of their stories and turned them into beliefs about who I was allowed to be. At the same time, I wore my own masks: a smiling, people-pleasing girl who thought her worth came from making others happy.
Here is where character development becomes more than a literary term. The supporting characters in our lives do not just influence our story. They hold clues to our own transformation. By understanding their masks, we begin to understand our own. This is not about blame. It is about compassion. When I looked at my mother’s perfectionism not as a flaw but as the mask she wore to earn her own mother’s love, I began to see my own perfectionist tendencies differently. When I examined the controlling mask of my grandmother, I could finally see how fear drove her need to hold everything together.
Unmasking our supporting characters is an act of self-discovery. Their stories become mirrors that help us see the subconscious beliefs that have quietly shaped our lives. When we bring those patterns into awareness, we can finally choose which to keep and which to release. We can write new chapters.
By offering compassion to the characters in our story, we soften the judgments we hold against ourselves. We recognize that, like us, they were doing their best with the self-beliefs that had been handed down to them.
This practice has been the heartbeat of my own growth. Through self-awareness, I have learned that I am not bound by the masks I once wore or by the stories I inherited. I can be the ignition in Love Ignites Peace. And so can you.
In the end, character development is not only for novels. It is the very process of becoming more ourselves, shedding masks, reclaiming truth, and choosing love as the guiding narrative.
Choose love. Ignite Peace.
Are you ready to move beyond turbulent times into peace?
Nineteen years ago, Paige Farrington received a message that would alter the course of her life: Love Ignites Peace. That message sparked a profound transformation—one that awakened the power of her self-awareness, taught her the essence of unconditional love, and revealed that peace is not only possible, but accessible.
Now, she invites you to begin your own journey rooted in the message Love Ignites Peace.
Through heartfelt storytelling, practical tools, and deeply human insights, Love Ignites Peace: Our Next Evolution offers a roadmap to help you identify what’s holding you back, shift the self-beliefs that keep you stuck, and see life through an expanded lens. No matter what you’re navigating, this book provides universal tools to help you reconnect with your true essence.
With vulnerability and compassion, Paige guides readers through personal stories and self-discovery—offering clear, actionable ways to bring Love Ignites Peace to life in their own experience.
This is more than a book—it’s an invitation to align with the energy of your unlimited potential and become an agent of love in a world ready to evolve.
You are the ignition. Love is the way. Peace is the outcome.
Enjoy an Excerpt
So why love? Because love is the master builder that architects all things good both for you and our human community. Love encourages you to shine your light as bright as you can make it glow. You are never too much or not enough, you are just right. Love generates happiness. You have the ability to love yourself so much that it feels like you are growing sunshine in your heart and a prolific garden of goodness in your life. Love transforms the opposite of love (not-love) into healthy and empowered relationships. It creates prosperity and harmony. It sets healthy boundaries with unhealthy people. Love says that you matter, that you are important as a person, and that you are safe. Within all of your relationships, love unifies and brings people together. Love is the most powerful energy source on the planet. Love always triumphs over not-love because love, in her purest of forms, supports and nurtures life.
About the Author Thirty-three years ago life transplanted Paige from her rural Iowa roots 5,280 feet closer to the bluest skies she’d ever seen. Now calling Castle Rock and Grand Lake, CO, home, she finds inspiration in nature’s peaceful grandeur, which provides the backdrop for both her work and play. Paige’s life took an unexpected turn in 2008 when, out of thin air, the words Love Ignites Peace landed in her conscious mind. This profound moment became a catalyst, shifting her path from successful business owner to student of love—the root of human potential. Mastering the deep meaning and embodying the wisdom in the statement Love Ignites Peace now guides her daily life. Paige’s insights in Love Ignites Peace: Our Next Evolution invite you to return to the love that you truly are – awakening your highest potential and transforming the way you experience life. Paige is also the author of Love Ignites Peace: Our Next Evolution, The Companion Journal. You can listen to Paige and her daughter Ashlyn on their podcast Love Ignites Peace #Bathtub chats.
Love Ignites Peace: Our Next Evolution has won the International Impact Book Award in the Self-Help, Emotional Resilience category.
Buy the book at Amazon.
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