All posts by laelbr5_wp

The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman

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Pia Lange watches the 1918 pandemic rage through her Philadelphia community, taking her mother while her father is at war. Succumbing herself, she loses her twin baby brothers to a neighbor whose baby died of the flu, and she ends up in an orphanage. She spends her life searching for her siblings. This is a heart-wrenching tale of a young immigrant facing obstacles she never expected, yet pursuing her truth to find her family. I was fortunate to receive this well-written and well-researched novel from the publisher Kensington Publishing Corp. through NetGalley. I highly recommend it, but maybe not just yet…maybe after our own pandemic is tailing off to its end.

Crossings by Alex Landragin

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Meant to be read in various ways, to gain the story through vignettes, or chronologically as three separate tales, this is a tale of a love story stretching romance throughout infinity through body snatching and searching for the one true love. I highly recommend this wonderful novel told in a unique style, rampaging through times and cultures, infinitely fascinating. I received a digital copy from the publisher St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley.

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

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Sam contemplates leaving her job and her life when someone from her past becomes the new principal of her school. She remembers him as easygoing, but he’s changed, and not for the better. Center has a way with characters that makes them endearing, funny, and so real and relatable. When they finally face their challenges, readers yearn for them to succeed. She’s a must-read for me without even needing to see the summary. A new Katherine Center book automatically goes on my TBR list. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy of this heartwarming story from the publisher St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley.

Ingredients The Strange Chemistry of Plants, Poisons and Processed Foods

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Zaidan explores beyond the common wisdom of what’s healthy to put in and on your body, such as homemade cheese puffs and whether sunblock is bad for your skin (yes to everyday use, but good for you in long-term sun exposure). He spews humor like a middle-grade boy farting in his armpit, often funny, sometimes silly, sometimes gross. He also explains why studies contradicts studies and the rollercoastering of foods being bad for you one day, good the next, and reverse again. It’s definitely worth the read to shine the light on an unexpected perspective. Personally, my takeaway is to not worry about these things as much as I do, because honestly, much of it’s marketing apparently. I received a digital copy through NetGalley. (Is this the same book as “Ingredients: The Strange Chemistry of What We Put in Us and on Us” published by Dutton Books? Is this one self-published?)

Hurry Home by Roz Nay

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Alex has carefully curated her life, and allowing her wildchild sister Ruth to infiltrate it upends it all. Nay is excellent at obscuring truths and shadowing secrets through constantly shifting family dynamics and hindsight perspective. By the end, dear reader won’t know who’s who. I received this delectable thriller from the publisher Crooked Lane Books through NetGalley.

The Dilemma by B.A. Paris

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Spouses Livia and Adam spend 24 hours building angst over not sharing their respective secrets regarding their children. Paris’ writing style saves her story here, as the heightening emotions of the couple not communicating draw the reader in despite the repetition, until finally the damn breaks and secrets are spilled, but dear reader was already aware of all the secrets. I received a digital copy from the publisher St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley.

The Lost Diary of Venice by Margaux DeRoux

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A descendant of Giovanni Lomazzo brings his art treatise to a book restorer, who discovers the palimpsest, Giovanni’s journal of his illicit love affair. DeRoux beautifully portrays the artist’s impossible romance amidst the terror of the Ottoman Empire. The attraction between between Giovanni’s descendant and the book restorer pales by comparison, and is not as interesting. Perhaps this is because it’s too familiar, or it may be that the mores of the time are more mundane, a simple married man and single woman. In any case, this historical fiction is worth it for Giovanni’s tragic romance with the courtesan of Venice’s powerful military commander. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from the publisher Ballantine Books through NetGalley.

Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev

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Ashna Raje fears losing her restaurant, her connection to her late father, his legacy. Ending up on a reality cooking show with her first love was not her solution, nor his preference, as he’s moved away from that life to become soccer star Rico Silva. Old wounds open and heal in this second of the Raje series, a standalone novel in itself. If you like Jane Austen or not, Dev’s take on her work is fresh and delicious, with moments that take your breath away, as when Rico saves Ashna’s toes from being severed by her dropped chef”s knife, diving across the room and damaging further his career-ending injury. Dev makes romance novels more accessible to those of us who don’t prefer them by making the stories credible and the characters delightfully flawed, yearning and yet drawing back, again and again until dear reader is just as frustrated. I didn’t read romance until I won a set of novels by Sonali Dev. There’s so much more going on than the steaminess and sexual tension, although there’s plenty of that amongst the dynamics of family and friendship and careers. I highly recommend this book and basically anything by Sonali Dev. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from the publisher William Morrow Paperbacks through NetGalley.

Pale by Edward Farmer

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This story is an excellent example of how slavery didn’t end, but only transitioned to slave wages, as the white plantation owners continued to hold power over “free” blacks. In the mid 60s, In a country rife with racial tension, Bernice takes the advice of her brother to work as a domestic servant at the Kern plantation along with him when she finds herself alone. Secrets seep out slowly from this plantation, and Bernice strives to protect her own. Farmer represents well the horrors domestic servants faced (face?), especially black women at the mercy of white men, and the power that a white woman can wield is enough to damage the lives of those she considers inferior, as we see today in “Karens.” I highly recommend this book, as you have to continually tell yourself how far away from legal slavery it was, and yet the horrors remained (remain). Farmer is a powerful writer, who draws the reader into an increasingly frustrating tale. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from the publisher Blackstone Publishing through NetGalley.

Book of the Little Axe by Lauren Francis-Sharma

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Patriarchy and colonialism force strong-willed, 18th-century Trinidadian Rosa Rendon eventually to the Crow Nation in Bighorn, Montana. Circumstances cause her to take her son back to her beginning, both of them outsiders everywhere. This is a tale of what happens when strangers dictate the life of a young woman with an independent mind, a woman who becomes a fierce mother. It’s a good read, an excellent portrayal of fighting against cultural norms and bracing historical eras. I recommend it. I also recommend researching the cultures and peoples in the story. I received a digital copy from the publisher Atlantic Monthly Press through NetGalley.