Book Review: "This Motherless Land" by Nikki May

How much are our lives defined by the choices our families make? Are we doomed to follow the same paths or can we forge our own? These are questions that came to mind for me when reading This Motherless Land.

Funke is growing up in Nigeria, the daughter of an English mother and an African father. She loves her life, even loves school, and tolerates her annoying brother, although she doesn’t love that because he is a boy he’s considered more important.

When tragedy strikes, Funke is sent to England to live with her mother’s estranged family. Everything is much different than she imagined from the stories her mother told, and her aunt is often rude and condescending to her. But the one bright spot in her life is her cousin Liv, who appoints herself Funke’s protector.

The two cousins become the closest of friends, and that friendship continues into their adulthood. But when another tragedy strikes, the ramifications of the decisions made by Funke’s mother and aunt impact her and Liv. Accusations are thrown and actions are taken which shatter their relationship, leaving them both without their closest friend.

The story takes place from the mid-1970s through the late 1990s, and shifts between Funke and Liv, as well as between Nigeria and England. It’s a story of family, both blood and chosen, and how breaking free of expectations can actually enhance your life.

I enjoyed May’s storytelling, and I also enjoyed her debut novel, Wahala. The book is referred to as a decolonial retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, but my understanding is it’s a VERY loose retelling. I found certain characters very difficult and their behaviors irritated me, but I really enjoyed Funke and Liv.

Book Review: "The Coldest Case" by Tessa Wegert

One of the things I love about reading a long-running series is how attached you become to the characters. This book is the sixth installment in Tessa Wegert’s series featuring Senior Investigator Shana Merchant, and the series gets better and better.

It’s winter in New York’s Thousand Islands, which means brutally cold temperatures and driving snow, which could strand people for days, even months weeks. One island, Running Pine, is so remote and isolated that only a few people spend the winter there.

When Shana and the police learn that a social media influencer has disappeared from Running Pine, they snap into action. It turns out that Cary and Sylvie have moved to the island for a year and are documenting the experience for their thousands of followers, and have landed some significant endorsement deals on top of that. And then one morning, when Cary goes ice fishing with two of their neighbors, he disappeared.

The police put themselves in harm’s way getting to the island, as there is a storm coming. The more they dig into what happened, the more questions arise for them. What happened to Cary? Did he disappear of his own free will or is one of their neighbors responsible?

Time is running out. As Shana and her colleagues rush to find answers, she also is reminded of another unsolved murder from her days with the NYPD. And both cases have the potential for danger.

Wegert is definitely one of my favorite thriller writers out there right now. With every book in this series I worry it’ll be the last, but I’ll still read anything she writes!

Book Review: "The Other Side of Now" by Paige Harbison

Oh my god, I absolutely LOVED this book! I’m so grateful to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for putting this book on my radar and giving me an advance copy.

For as long as she could remember, Meg Bryan (yep, that’s her name) wanted to be an actress. She’s finally achieved stardom on a soap opera-type show called Brilliance under her stage name, Lana Lord.

But while the fame can be great, having to worry about every calorie she consumes and when she’ll need work done again gets tiring. Why doesn’t achieving the goals she has set, getting to live her dream make her happy? After a bit of a breakdown at her 30th birthday party, she decides to run away for a bit, and books a trip to the Irish village where she and her best friend Aimee had planned to attend acting school.

Avalon is everything she dreamed it would be. But strangely, everyone seems to know her here—as Meg. She has a best friend, a dog who seems to know her, and there’s a sexy bartender who is flirty yet irritated with her. When she looks in the mirror, she sees her old self—before plastic surgery, weight loss, and hair styling changed everything.

In Avalon, Meg doesn’t act—she works in a shop. But she often wonders about the path not taken. And when she discovers that in this life, her best friend Aimee—who died when they were younger—is alive, she’s thrown completely. She has no idea how she got here or how long she’ll stay, but is this the right path?

I tend to love these Sliding Doors-type books, but this one just wowed me. Maybe I’m overly emotional because I met one of my best friends 31 years ago today and he’s been gone for nearly three. Whatever the reason, this was amazing.

The book will publish 6/3/2025.

Book Review: "Love Language" by Jax Calder

“If someone tells you that they want you, knowing you won’t understand, do they really mean it?”

The idea of concentrating on a heavier book while the election results flow in a manner I wasn’t quite expecting definitely seemed daunting. So I turned to an author whose books have brought me lots of joy lately, Jax Calder.

Ash has been sharing an office with Dominic for 3-1/2 years, even though Dominic is a coding wizard and should have an executive office all to himself. But the two squabble, poke fun at, and make each other laugh, intentionally and unintentionally. Every day comes with some banter, some silly insult.

To nearly all of their colleagues, Dominic is a moody, grumpy genius whose work is necessary to their company’s success. But some people think Ash must have Stockholm Syndrome, because even when they annoy each other, Ash keeps coming back for more. Could what his friends and colleagues think be true? Is he obsessed with Dominic?

But it takes a video of a colleague breakdancing at their company’s midwinter holiday party for Ash to realize how he feels about Dominic. Is it possible that he feels the same way? And if so, will taking the next step jeopardize the good thing they have?

I found this really sweet and fun. My only criticism—even though it is a novella—is that I wanted more, as everything just happened so quickly. But Calder knows how to capture my heart.

Book Review: "Rough Pages" by Lev AC Rosen

This series, which began with Lavender House, is so excellent. The three books in the series are historical crime novels and mysteries, but they go so much deeper than that.⁣

⁣ In 1950s San Francisco, Andy is a gay former policeman who works as a PI ever since the discovery of his sexuality led to his being fired. Andy works out of and lives at The Ruby, a queer nightclub. Given that office location, most of his cases involve a queer person who has been wronged in some way.⁣

⁣ He is asked to look into the disappearance of Howard, the co-owner of a bookstore. The store has a secret book service that publishes and mails queer books to its customers, even though mailing them is illegal and dangerous. Howard said he was just about to publish a big bestseller, but then he disappeared, and so did the books.⁣

⁣ While Andy is concerned about the books and Howard being missing, he’s gravely concerned that the list of customers could have fallen into the wrong hands. That could mean blackmail, or worse, with his closest friends (including Elsie, his boss) being at risk.⁣

⁣ As Andy investigates, he crosses paths with his ex-boss, a determined reporter, even the Mob. Can he solve all of the mysteries before harm comes to him or those he cares about?⁣

⁣ This is such a great book, and although you should read the whole series from the beginning, you could read this one first. It’s amazingly ironic to be reading a book about the government’s desire to control what people read and publish on the eve of an election that could determine whether that control could exist again. I hope Rosen will continue this series, because I can’t get enough!⁣

Book Review: "The Answer is No" by Fredrik Backman

Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors. The Beartown series just blew me away and I’ve loved so many of his books where the curmudgeon just needs to be loved and appreciated.

That being said, I tend to like Backman’s books when they’re more emotional and dramatic. The one book of his I struggled with was Normal People, because it felt very silly to me, almost farcical.

I had the same challenges with The Answer is No, Backman’s upcoming story. I appreciate the message he was trying to convey, but it just got too wacky for me.

Lucas is one of those people who keeps to himself. He would much rather spend time alone than have to deal with others. He doesn’t seek out relationships because they would force him to compromise or not get what he wants.

And then one day, his peace is shattered when three board members come to his door. Apparently someone in his building has left a frying pan next to the recycling room. That’s against the rules. But Lucas innocuously suggests how to solve the problem—and he doesn’t realize the wheels he has set in motion.

The story quickly slides into satire. It’s cute and I’m sure it may be a home run for others, but it wasn’t my thing. It will publish 12/1.

Book Review: "Again and Again" by Jonathan Evison

Eugene Miles lives in an elder-care facility, on the verge of turning 106 years old. Considering his age, his health isn’t horrible, but he’s pretty much ready to die. At this point, what’s left for him but spending time reading books he’s read countless times and doing elaborate puzzles in his room?

When another nursing assistant arrives, Eugene isn’t interested in building a relationship with someone else. But for some reason, this young man’s friendly manner taps into Eugene’s heart, and before long, he starts to look forward to Angel’s visits.

Angel shares stories about his relationship with his girlfriend and looks to “Geno” for advice, and the older man opens up about his life as well.

But Eugene’s reminiscences aren’t typical: he tells Angel that he has lived countless lives before this one: he was a thief in medieval Spain, a cat owned by Oscar Wilde, and many other iterations through the years.

And Eugene recounts meeting and losing the love of his life centuries ago in Spain, only to find her one more time in this life.

Angel is captivated by the man’s stories, but can they possibly be true, or are they just the ramblings of an elderly man? As the truth is revealed, and Eugene’s history becomes clearer, what we’re left with is the strength of stories and the power of love, and how we never can truly know all the multitudes that a person contains.

This is a beautifully told book, spanning between medieval Spain, England, and California in the 1930s and 1940s, and Jonathan Evison really made some excellent choices in how the plot unfolded, as I feared that it could veer into melodramatic and frustrating territory.

It’s a slow-moving story, but I was completely hooked.

Book Review: "From Here to the Great Unknown" by Lisa Marie Presley and RIley Keough

I’ve been an Elvis fan for as long as I can remember. My parents used to play his music, I watched a lot of his movies while I was growing up, and I distinctly remember people being upset when he died. A few years after college, a friend and I even road-tripped down to Memphis and visited Graceland.

As an Elvis fan, Lisa Marie Presley also fascinated me. I enjoyed her music and was always fascinated by her life, and felt it was really tragic when she died. Needless to say, when I heard her memoir, which was finished by her daughter, was going to be published, I knew I needed to read it.

This book was an emotional one. Not only was it sad to read about how devastated she was to lose her father when she was 9, but she struggled her entire life with so many things. Addiction. Depression. Being such a subject of fascination for the public. Finding and keeping love. Grief.

While there wasn’t much in the book that necessarily surprised me (although I had forgotten she was briefly married to Nicolas Cage), it still was gripping to read her thoughts. The counterpoint and further details Riley Keough provided definitely deepened the story through her perspectives.

I often wonder if life in the public eye truly prevents a person from living a “normal” life and enjoying it. Certainly from this book you can see how Lisa Marie’s fierce parenting protected Riley from falling into many of the same traps that her mother did.

This was moving and powerful. I’m so glad Riley decided to ensure that her mother’s story didn’t remain untold after her death. And I feel grateful that the Presleys shared their talent with the world.

Book Review: "An Honorable Assassin" by Steve Hamilton

Nick Mason was a federal prisoner who was released into the possession of a Chicago crime lord. He may have been free from jail, but now he was expected to be an assassin on command. At least until he gained his freedom.

It wasn’t really freedom, however, as the next thing he knew, he was flying to Jakarta to be in the employ of a shadowy global organization. He had one job: kill Hashim Baya, aka The Crocodile, one of the most dangerous fugitives in the world. And he failed.

Of course, his failure to kill Baya isn’t taken quite well by his employer. They threaten to kill Nick’s wife and daughter if he doesn’t put Baya down once and for all. And after one failure, Baya’s team is on high alert to protect their guy.

To make matters even more challenging, Nick and his employer aren’t the only ones trying to hunt Baya down. Martin Sauvage, an Interpol agent, holds The Crocodile responsible for tragedies in his own life. But while Sauvage wants Baya to pay for his crimes, Nick just wants him dead. Who will succeed first?

This book has some fantastic action scenes that read like a movie. The opening scene was tautly plotted and had me holding my breath even though I knew the whole book needed to unfold. The book felt as if you mixed a little bit of James Bond with the competitive nature of Valjean and Javert.

Steve Hamilton is a fantastic writer who really should be a household name. He’s written a number of books, including a spectacular crime series featuring PI Alex McKnight. This is the third book featuring Nick Mason, and being that the last one was released seven years ago, it can be read as a standalone. If you like crime novels, Hamilton is an author worth exploring.