Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich

 

My thoughts

What a story this is. Set in Alabama, my home state. Filled with so much reality. Such depth. Such feelings. This author took some realities and brought them to light in a story that will take your breath away. The love between a group of strangers and a daughter and father. Kinfolk. The perfect title for this book. I literally didn't want to put this book down. I read it in one day... 

This book is about a few people. Nub, Benny, Minnie, Emily, and Shug. Also Leigh Ann. And we can't forget Bun.. lol I loved that name. Nub and Minnie become friends after a horrible meeting in the hospital where Nub was basically horrible to Minnie. Benny is Nub's best friend and cousin. Emily is Nub's daughter. Shug is Minnie's biological father but Minnie doesn't know that. Leigh Ann is the bartender. 

Each of these characters play a very pivotal role in this story. Each have their own problems. Some more stressful than others. Each of these people will become someone you will enjoy reading about. You will root for them all. For some to live. 

There is a lot going on and then a big happening in the hospital of all places. A part that made me cry. Hold my breath. Cringe. And the big finish. It was great. I love how this author pulled everything together and even how he handled Shug. I found myself hoping that everything would work out for Minnie. Her ability to be who she was meant to be. They said she had the voice of an angel. Sounded like to me from what I read. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #SeanDietrich, #HarperMuse for this ARC. 

FIVE huge stars and I highly recommend this book. I will be looking for more by this author. I can't wait to dive into Stars Of Alabama. 

Synopsis

Sometimes it’s the most unlikely meetings that give us life’s greatest gifts.

1970s, Southern Alabama. Sixty-two-year-old Jeremiah Lewis Taylor, or “Nub,” has spent his whole life listening to those he loves tell him he’s no good—first his ex-wife, now his always-disapproving daughter. Sure, his escapades have made him, along with his cousin and perennial sidekick, Benny, just a smidge too familiar with small-town law enforcement, but he’s never harmed anyone—except perhaps himself.

Nub never meant to change his ways, but when he and fifteen-year-old Waffle House waitress Minnie form an unlikely friendship, he realizes for the first time that there may be some good in him after all. Six-foot-five Minnie has been dealt a full deck of bad luck—her father is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence, her mother is dead and buried, and she has a Grand Ole Opry–worthy singing voice with no place to perform. Oh, and there’s the small fact that she’s unexpectedly pregnant, courtesy of a no-good high-school boy.

Gradually, Nub realizes the gift he’s been a second chance to make a difference.

Beloved Southern writer Sean Dietrich, also known as Sean of the South, once again brings people and places to life in this lyrical song-turned-story about found family, second chances, country music, and the poignant power of love and forgiveness.

Heartwarming Southern fiction from Sean of the SouthStand-alone novelIncludes discussion questions for book clubsAlso by Sean  The Incredible Winston Browne, Stars of Alabama, and You Are My Sunshine

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey

 

My thoughts 

This is my first book by this author and boy did it blow me away. This is such an emotional story. Filled with so much love and loss. New beginnings. It has a few chuckles too. It seems to have it all but mostly it's a big tearjerker. About such an unfair disease. A happy family. And a loss that will leave you breathless.

The Last Love Note made me weep. I don't mean just cry either. I had to take several breaks because I could not see the words. It also keeps you hoping for something new. Something to begin anew. 

Kate and Cam have the perfect life. Until they don't. The journey they take in this book will definitely make you have feelings. The love they have for each other and their son is so deep and so strong. Even after seventeen years they have that deep set love that nothing can tear apart. Until it does. When they receive the most devastating news a couple can their lives take a huge turn. It's so tragic that this is happening to such a young couple. 

The author does such a good job describing the feelings that Kate felt. I had to wonder if she had first hand experience. Or did she weep while writing this book. Read the Acknowledgments and find out. The depth of Kate's sorry just took my heart and twisted it in knots. It's also a story of hope. In comes Justin and Hugh. While I adored Justin my heart was with Hugh all the way. I wanted so bad for him and Kate to finally end up together. Maybe they do. Maybe they don't. Kate has gone through a long journey to get where she ends up. Lots of ups and downs. Survivors guilt also. She has such a hard time letting go of Cam. Not that she will ever stop loving him. She just needs to move on with her life. For herself and for their child, Charlie. 

When Kate finds the "last love note" things do change for her. It's so obvious how much Cam loved her. How much he wanted her to have a life after him. How much he trusted a certain person. This book is about love. Even though it hurt my heart I thought it was a beautiful story. Heartfelt and heartbreaking. Told from Kate's pov throughout. You find out exactly what and why things happened the way they did. 

Thank you Emma Gray for this wonderful heartfelt story. I'm so sorry about your loss. I finally understood where all that emotion came from. 

Five big stars for this book. Have a lot of Kleenex handy also. You will need it.

Synopsis

You may never stop loving the one you lost. But you can still find love again.

Kate is a bit of a mess. Two years after losing her young husband Cameron, she’s grieving, solo parenting, working like mad at her university fundraising job, always dropping the ball—and yet clinging to her sense of humor.

Lurching from one comedic crisis to the next, she also navigates an overbearing mom and a Tinder-obsessed best friend who's determined to matchmake Kate with her hot new neighbor.

When an in-flight problem leaves Kate and her boss, Hugh, stranded for a weekend on the east coast of Australia, she finally has a chance, away from her son, to really process her grief and see what’s right in front of her. Can she let go of the love of her life and risk her heart a second time?

When it becomes clear that Hugh is hiding a secret, Kate turns to the trail of scribbled notes she once used to hold her life together. The first note captured her heart. Will the last note set it free?

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week

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Warning:  Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.
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Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @A Girl and Her Books, has a permanent home now at  MAILBOX MONDAY.
************
Here is a shout out to the administrators:

Emma @ Word and Peace

Serena @ Savvy Verse and Wit

Martha @ Reviews By Martha’s Bookshelf

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THANKS to everyone for keeping Mailbox Monday alive.

NetGalley's this week

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron

This epic, dazzling tale based on true events illuminates a woman of color’s rise to power as one of the few purported female pirate captains to sail the Caribbean, and the forbidden love story that will shape the course of history.

In the tumultuous town of Yáquimo, Santo Domingo, Jacquotte Delahaye is an unknown but up-and-coming shipwright. Her dreams are bold but her ambitions are bound by the confines of her life with her self-seeking French father. When her way of life and the delicate balance of power in the town are threatened, she is forced to flee her home and become a woman on the run along with a motley crew of refugees, including a mysterious young woman named Teresa.

Jacquotte and her band become indentured servants to the infamous Blackhand, a ruthless pirate captain who rules his ship with an iron fist. As they struggle to survive his brutality, Jacquotte finds herself unable to resist Teresa despite their differences. When Blackhand hatches a dangerous scheme to steal a Portuguese shipment of jewels, Jacquotte must rely on her wits, resourcefulness, and friends to survive. But she discovers there is a grander, darker scheme of treachery at play, and she ultimately must decide what price she is willing to pay to secure a better future for them all.

An unforgettable tale told in three parts, The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is a thrilling, buccaneering escapade filled with siege and battle, and is also a tender exploration of friendship, love, and the search for freedom and home.

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns

A roofing family’s bonds of loyalty are tested when they uncover a long-hidden secret at the heart of their blue-collar town—from Amy Jo Burns, author of the critically acclaimed novel Shiner

It’s 1990 and 17-year-old Marley West is blazing into the river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. A perpetual loner, she seeks a place at someone’s table and a family of her own. The first thing she sees when she arrives in town are three men standing on a rooftop. Their silhouettes blot out the sun.

The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all. As their own mother fades away and their roofing business crumbles under the weight of their unwieldy father’s inflated ego, Marley steps in to shepherd these unruly men. Years later, an eerie discovery in the church attic causes old wounds to resurface and suddenly the family’s survival hangs in the balance. With Marley as their light, the Joseph brothers must decide whether they can save the family they’ve always known—or whether together they can build something stronger in its place.

Bookmail

Wild and Distance Seas by Tara Karr Roberts

Won on Bookachino speed dating

A gorgeous debut, laced through with magic, following four generations of women as they seek to chart their own futures.

Evangeline Hussey has made a home for herself on Nantucket, though she knows she is still an outsider to the island’s small, close-knit community, one that by 1849 has started to feel the decline of a once-thriving whaling industry. Her husband, Hosea, and the life they built together, was once all she needed―but now Hosea is gone, lost at sea. Evangeline is only able to hold on to his inn, and her place on the island, by employing a curious gift to glimpse and re-form the recent memories of those who would cast her out.

One night, an idealistic sailor appears on her doorstep asking her to call him Ishmael. He seeks only a warm bed and a bowl of chowder, and yet suddenly, unsettlingly, her careful illusion begins to fracture. He soon sails away with Ahab to hunt an infamous white whale, and Evangeline is left to forge a new life from the pieces that remain.

Her choices ripple through generations, across continents, and into the depths of the sea, in a narrative that follows Evangeline and her descendants from mid-nineteenth century Nantucket to Boston, Brazil, Florence, and Idaho. Moving, beautifully written, and elegantly conceived, Wild and Distant Seas takes Moby-Dick as its starting point, but Tara Karr Roberts brings four remarkable women to life in a spellbinding epic all her own.

Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood 

Won on Bookachino speed dating

Two parents, desperate to find their missing daughter, stand accused of murder. How far will they go to find the truth?

Someone is guilty.

For the last seventeen years, everything Harry and Zara King have done has been for their crown jewel, Sophie, their one and only daughter. When she goes missing, Harry and Zara will stop at nothing to find her.

Someone knows what happened.

The police have no leads, and as the weeks pass there’s little news. Harry and Zara’s suspicion of a neighbor and his involvement in Sophie’s disappearance quickly becomes an obsession—and they'll do anything to get the answers to their questions.

Someone will pay.

When the neighbor is found dead in his apartment, Harry and Zara are arrested and charged with murder. They deny everything. Meanwhile, their precious daughter is still missing...

Go As A River by Shelley Read

 

My thoughts

This is such a beautiful book. A story that takes you in and holds your heart in its pages. I've read two books this year that I can honestly say are my favorites. This is one. I bought this because it came so highly recommended. I'm so glad I did.

This is a story of a love that defied all. The love between a young girl and young boy. The love of a new mother. The love of a stranger. It's Violet's story. From start to finish it's all her story. Told from her heart. From her pain. From her love. The love of a beautiful boy. And the love for a child.  

This is about Wilson Moon and Violet Nash. The two people who should have had a lifetime together but was not meant to be. Of what happened when she fell in love with the wrong boy. An Indian boy. A beautiful spirit. He had a heart of gold and a love that ran deep. He seemed to be perfect. But of course in that day Indians were considered trash. Unclean. Filled with disease. Just who was this young man? Violet met him and her life was changed forever.

What happened in this story will break your heart. It will help mend it but boy it takes a lot. This book is truly written beautifully. Kind of lyrical in a way. The choices that Violet makes are solid in places and done out of necessity in others. Her love of the land and the peach trees can't be wavered. She's had a somewhat hard life since the death of her mother but she pulled herself up and did what needed to be done. Even at a very young age. She made decisions that both hurt her and helped her. They made her who she was. A strong woman. A strong female. A strong mother. She didn't see herself as strong but she was.

I loved this book. From start to heartfelt ending. It had me using plenty of Kleenex. 

A 4.9 star book and I can't stress highly enough how much you should read this one. It's so good.

Synopsis

A sweeping, heart-stopping epic of a young woman's journey to becoming, set against the harsh beauty of mid-century Colorado

On a cool autumn day in 1948, Victoria Nash delivers late-season peaches from her family's farm set amid the wild beauty of Colorado. As she heads into her village, a disheveled stranger stops to ask her the way. How she chooses to answer will unknowingly alter the course of both their young lives.

So begins the mesmerizing story of split-second choices and courageous acts that propel Victoria away from the only home she has ever known and towards a reckoning with loss, hope and her own untapped strength.

Gathering all the pieces of her small and extraordinary existence, spinning through the eddies of desire, heartbreak and betrayal, she will arrive at a single rocky decision that will change her life forever.

Go as a River is a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettable characters and a breathtaking natural setting, it is a sweeping story of survival and becoming, of the deepest mysteries of love, truth and fate.

The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy

 

My thoughts

I think this was a well written story that took hold of my heart and held on. Anything that deals with history needs to be shared. Needs to be read. We certainly don't want to have any of it repeated. 

What happens in this story was horrible. The way a family treats each other is horrendous. Bettina's brother was a very sadistic person. Cruel to the marrow of his being. I didn't like him. Of course I don't like any Nazi that I've ever read about so this would not be any different. 

This is a love story and a story about how awful things were during WW2. The love between Max, a Jew, and Bettina, a German, is beautiful. They fell in love despite the odds against them. Despite the fact that Bettina's brother was a German who wanted nothing more than to dominate her. He seemed to hate women. Actually I think possibly he hated all things and was a very unhappy person. Bettina fell in love with someone she wasn't suppose too. She could not stop her feelings even if she wanted. Much like most humans in the world, we just don't get to choose who our hearts yearn for the most. Sometimes you have to make a decision that goes against everything you ever thought to protect a person you love above all else. That is what happened in this case. 

This story is very heartbreaking. It's about a man who makes porcelain figurines in a prison for people who are just not good enough. Jews, disabled, homosexuals, are anyone that is not perfect. It's also about how much Max loves Bettina. What he is willing to do to protect her. What happened between them that caused her to marry another. A German at that. A Nazi German. 

It's also the story of Bettina's daughter. Her search for her father. She wants to know who he was and enlists her daughter's help in finding out all she can. Clara, Bettina's daughter, goes all the way to the United States to purchase porcelain figurines and one in particular. From there she starts her search. She ends up in Dachau. 

From the darkest days in history to the late 1900s we follow this story. It's told from two timelines and interwoven in a way that keeps you wanting to know more. Will they ever find their way back to each other. I can't tell you that but the story between is told with heart, soul and the deepest feelings. It's part happy and a lot sad, but well worth reading. 

I hope everyone that reads this genre of book learns something and teaches it to their children. We do not want history to repeat itself. Do not think it can't. We had the Indians, then the Slaves, then the prisoners in concentration camps. Mostly Jews but also other innocent people. We don't want a repeat of any of these. 

This is written by a debut author so expect a few mistakes. It's not perfect but it's perfectly worth reading from start to finish. Well done in my humble opinion.

Thank you #NetGalley, #SarahFreethy, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five big stars and several boxes of kleenex worthy. 

Synopsis

An epic story of love, betrayal, and art that spans decades, through the horrors of World War II to 21st century America, inspired by an actual porcelain factory in Dachau.

Two lovers caught at the crossroads of history.

A daughter’s search for the truth.

Germany, 1929. At a festive gathering of young bohemians in Weimar, two young artists, Max, a skilled Jewish architect, and Bettina, a celebrated avant-garde painter, are drawn to each other and begin a whirlwind romance. Their respective talents transport them to the dazzling lights of Berlin, but this bright beginning is quickly dimmed by the rising threat of Nazism. Max is arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Dachau where only his talent at making exquisite porcelain figures stands between him and seemingly certain death. Desperate to save her lover, Bettina risks everything to rescue him and escape Germany.

America, 1993. Clara, Bettina’s daughter, embarks on a journey to trace her roots and determine the identity of her father, a secret her mother has kept from her for reasons she’s never understood. Clara’s quest to piece together the puzzle of her origins transports us back in time to the darkness of Nazi Germany, where life is lived on a razor’s edge and deception and death lurk around every corner. Survival depends on strength, loyalty, and knowing true friend from hidden foe. And as Clara digs further, she begins to question why her mother was so determined to leave the truth of her harrowing past behind...

The Porcelain Maker is a powerful novel of enduring love and courage in the face of appalling brutality as a daughter seeks to unlock the mystery of her past.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week

************

Warning:  Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.
************
Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @A Girl and Her Books, has a permanent home now at  MAILBOX MONDAY.
************
Here is a shout out to the administrators:

Emma @ Word and Peace

Serena @ Savvy Verse and Wit

Martha @ Reviews By Martha’s Bookshelf

************

THANKS to everyone for keeping Mailbox Monday alive.

Gift and NetGalley this week:

Call Her Janie by S. R. Fabrico

Gifted from author

Are you ready for a heart-pumping, page-turning journey of love, loss, and suspense? Look no further than S.R. Fabrico’s latest masterpiece, filled with gripping twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Meet Lizzie Levine, the unstoppable female executive at a top New York City marketing firm. Driven by the tragic loss of her parents, Lizzie refuses to let anything stand in her way – until a handsome, enigmatic billionaire named Gray Stone enters the picture. But when Lizzie discovers she’s pregnant with Gray’s child, she learns there’s more to him than meets the eye.

Desperate for a fresh start, Lizzie escapes to the serene coastal town of Southport, North Carolina. There, she meets Josh, a charming local determined to help her heal and move on from her troubled past. But as Lizzie begins to rebuild her life, she soon realizes that her past is not so easily left behind. Someone with a sinister agenda lurks in the shadows, and Lizzie’s life is in grave danger.

With a writing style, that’s both eloquent and engaging, S.R. Fabrico takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions as you journey with Lizzie through the twists and turns of her life. Whether you’re a fan of suspenseful thrillers or heartwarming love stories, this book is a must-read. Don’t miss the opportunity to immerse yourself in a world of passion, intrigue, and danger.

If you loved Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us , Call Her Janie is a novel you will surely enjoy.

Tropes include grumpy/sunshine, billionaire boyfriend, friends to lovers, sworn-off relationships, small-town love, stalker, and unexpected baby.

Bone Lake(Nikki Hunt book 8) by Stacy Green

NetGalley

Broken flowers drift on the foggy surface of the water. All is quiet, until the squad of police cruisers race up to the grand house that stands alone on the lakeside. Two girls lie inside, their bodies broken and still forever…

When Special Agent Nikki Hunt is called to a home on Bone Lake, she is devastated to find blood all over the floor and two young women who clearly fought for their lives. But the viciousness of the scene isn’t the only thing that strikes Nikki. The house was the scene of another murder twenty years ago. The killer was never caught. Is this a terrible coincidence, or have they struck again?

Nikki’s team quickly identify the girls from their belongings in the bedrooms upstairs. They had a party the night they were killed, and Nikki realizes that one attendee, their friend Alexia , is missing…

Desperate to find Alexia, Nikki soon discovers that the only survivor of the original massacre, Matt Kline, still owns the house. She is instantly suspicious of him. But he claims he rents it out and hasn’t been there for years, and as Nikki looks into his dark eyes she sees her own terrible past.

With time running out, Nikki and her team dig into Alexia’s life, and find out she was fascinated with the original Bone Lake case. Amongst her things, they find notebook after notebook about serial killers. Then Nikki is shocked to learn that Alexia was having a relationship with Matt. Has Nikki make a terrible mistake trusting a fellow survivor? And can she get the truth out of him, and find Alexia alive, before it’s too late?

You’ll be glued to the pages of this heart-racing new thriller in the Nikki Hunt series. Fans of Lisa Regan, Mary Burton and Kendra Elliot will be gripped by the twists in this incredible read.

Book Mail this week:

After Annie by Anna Quindlen

From the publisher via Bookachinno/Speed dating

When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her four young children and her closest friend are left to struggle without the woman who centered their lives. Bill Brown finds himself overwhelmed, and Annie’s best friend Annemarie is lost to old bad habits without Annie’s support. It is Annie’s daughter, Ali, forced to try to care for her younger brothers and even her father, who manages to maintain some semblance of their former lives for them all, and who confronts the complicated truths of adulthood.

Yet over the course of the next year, while Annie looms large in their memories, all three are able to grow, to change, even to become stronger and more sure of themselves. The enduring power Annie gave to those who loved her is the power to love, and to go on without her.

Written in Quindlen’s emotionally resonant voice, and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is a story that ends with hope, a beautiful novel about how adversity can change us in profound ways.


"A wise and heartfelt novel of connection, of loss and love and the power of both."—Amy Bloom

Quindlen’s trademark wisdom on family, emotions, and the secrets of people in a small town are at the center of this novel about triumph over adversity and the power of love to transcend time, by the bestselling author of Alternate Side and Every Last One .

“A new Anna Quindlen novel is always cause for celebration. After Annie might just be my favorite one yet. It's a beautiful and deeply moving story about love, loss, friendship, marriage, family and community from one of our wisest chroniclers of modern life. I treasured every page." —J Courtney Sullivan

The Wild Between Us by Amy Hagstrom

 

My thoughts

This is a debut book for this author and she did a fantastic job. It's a heartfelt story that really keeps you on edge through a lot of the story. Keeps you turning the pages for more of what happened before. Fifteen years before to be exact. 

This book is about two boys who go missing. About the horrors of not knowing where you little boys are. Realizing that you was not paying attention when they left. And that it's been fifteen years since it happened the first time on your watch.

Silas was a super popular person. He lived life to the fullest. He seemed to have it all. His best friend Danny and Danny's girlfriend Meg are together most of the time. They go all over the hills around the lodge that Silas's uncle and aunt own. They are the best of friends. Then comes Jessica. She and Silas are a bit of a couple. She's a cheerleader and all around perfect high school girlfriend. Just not for Silas. He has eyes for another. 

What happened in 2003? What does it have to do with 2018? Jessica went missing in 2003 and Silas's boys go missing in 2018. Could there be a tie or is it coincidental? It's fifteen years after Jessica's disappearance but Meg and Danny are working as SAR(search & rescue) to find these two young boys. There are so many places to look. So many places where they could have gone. Gotten lost. Something, anything, could happen to them. It's cold and raining and they are only seven and five. They are just babies. It was hard to read some of this. Some that had me holding my breath when things were happening.  I cried hard in a few places. Just the thought of two little boys being out, lost, alone, in this area was heart-wrenching. You could feel Silas's fears. 

I figured out fairly early on what happened to Jessica but in no way did this take away from this story. It was well written. Well researched it seems. This story takes you on the path to find two young boys but so much more will be found. Even through the tears I enjoyed reading this book. It was sad in places but it was also so good. I could picture the terrain. The lakes. The lodge. The three friends who may not have been as close as they seemed. Or may have been closer than anyone knew. It felt real. 

This is a huge FIVE star read for me. Very well written. Heartfelt. Heartbreaking. But also filled with lots of love. Well done.

Synopsis

The rescue of two missing boys in the Sierra Nevada mountains relies on unraveling the mysteries of the past in an addictive novel of heartrending suspense.

After inheriting his uncle’s lodge, Silas Matheson hopes the grandeur of the California Sierra Nevada will be a fresh start for his two young sons, and a chance to finally face his demons. It was here, fifteen years ago, that Silas and his friends Jessica, Danny, and Meg ventured into the mountain wilderness and Jessica vanished without a trace. When his boys go missing in the same dark woods, the fear and guilt that Silas has been running from ever since come crashing back.

Silas’s panicked call brings in the local search-and-rescue unit, and two familiar faces: Danny and Meg. As the frantic search gets underway, the three friends are plunged into a painfully recurring nightmare, each of them thinking, This can’t be happening again.

With a storm brewing and the boys’ fates threatened with every desperate hour, the secrets of the past begin to surface, and this time, for Silas, Danny, and Meg, there’s no escaping the truth.

Cover reveal for Keeping Janie by S. R. Fabrico

 

About Keeping Janie~ 

Embark on an exhilarating reunion with Lizzie Levine, Southport, North Carolina’s newest resident, who first graced our hearts in the award-winning novel Call Her Janie. In this eagerly awaited sequel by S.R. Fabrico, the stakes are higher, the twists more exhilarating, and the drama more enthralling.

 

Reuniting with her daughter, Janie, should be the start of Lizzie’s picture-perfect life. Behind the scenes, however, is a different matter. The happiness of having her daughter back is overshadowed by the fear and distrust of her ex-boyfriend, billionaire Gray Stone.

Amidst the tapestry of wedding preparations, the custody fight looms. The story unfolds in a battleground of secrets, lies, and deception. In this gripping narrative, love and lies entwine, danger lurks in the shadows, and the courage to confront one’s past becomes paramount. Can Lizzie gain custody of her daughter, marry the man she loves, and have her happily ever after, or will the mistakes of their past destroy them all?

(If you had the opportunity to read Call Her Janie, please mention how much you enjoyed the book and how you are looking forward to Keeping Janie.) 

Pre-order will be available soon, in the meantime you can purchase Call Her Janie, Book 1 in the Southport Series on Amazon or free with KU. 

Order here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0C54L9RP4/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1690664882&sr=8-1

Subscribe to S.R. Fabrico’s newsletter to get more info -  https://mailchi.mp/0c8047420a83/srfabrico-author-subscribe-form

Join SR Fabrico’s Fab Fans Facebook group and be a FAB FAN - https://m.facebook.com/groups/srfabricofabfans/?ref=share&mibextid=S66gvF

About S.R. Frabrico ~

With a remarkable 25-plus-year career in business, marketing, and sports, S.R. Fabrico brings a unique perspective to her writing. As a World Champion Dance Coach and esteemed speaker, she infuses her stories with passion and insight. 

Residing in Tennessee with her husband and children, S.R. Fabrico continues to create captivating narratives that will transport you to new and extraordinary worlds. Prepare to be enchanted by her exceptional storytelling prowess. 

@srfabrico_author 

@bookandwinelovers

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

 

My thoughts

I again listened to the audio while actually reading the book. The audio gives and takes. As for the narrators, again they fall short. While the intense parts are fun while listening, like actually watching it happen, the words are a mess. This narrator needs to learn how to pronounce many words and even names. She hasn't a clue obviously as to how to really pronounce the characters names. Unless the author is ok with it and doesn't know how to spell them. That being said I still enjoyed this book very much. I'm so glad I read it. Now I certainly how the author is busy writing the next one or even better getting ready to release it.

This is book too of The Empyrean series and though it does start out a bit slow it picks up and takes off without a hitch. It's a long, heart pounding story that will keep you turning the pages. Once it gets going it's every bit as good as the first book. As for comparing this to real life as I've read in a few reviews that is ludicrous. This is a fantasy, sci-fi book. A bit of a love story also. 

The book shows what a vivid imagination the author has. How two different types can work together for the betterment of the human race. Or whatever these people are. lol That you can have a dragon, who doesn't love that, that will help you fight enemies. That family still means a lot. That even a mother may be forgiven. 

I am so enjoying these books. They are fun, intense, heartwarming. They even give a few chuckles along the way. I give the actual book FOUR stars because I loved it. The audio has to lose a few stars but this is not about that anymore. Good book. If you read the first one you want to read this one. And the next one hopefully soon...