reecaspieces

Release Date: September 6, 2022

About The Book:

Five years after the war, Amie Stilwell, a photo interpreter for an Allied unit in England, returns to her hometown in Maine. Jobless and discouraged but stubbornly resourceful, she’s starting over in the same coastal village where her life once went so wrong. Waiting for her is Shibby Travis, the surrogate mother with whom Amie never lost touch. But the unexpected also awaits…

A silent, abandoned boy is found with a note from a stranger pleading that he be watched over. Amie and Shibby take him in, but the mysteries multiply when a Boston socialite is found dead in a nearby barn and an old friend, believed to be a casualty of war, suddenly reappears.

Trained to see what others cannot, to scan for clues, and to expose enemies, Amie uses her skills to protect a child, solve a crime, and find the motive behind a veteran’s masquerade. But through the hazy filter of a town’s secrets, Amie must also confront her own painful past.

Review

Amie has returned from the war to her home town on the coast of Maine. She is reconnecting with her foster mother, Shibby, when sweet, silent little boy is abandoned with a note pinned to his chest. Amie and Shibby take him in and Amie goes to work trying to find out more about him. Then a socialite is found dead and everyone is a suspect!

There are a lot of moving parts to this story and it just kept getting better and better as I moved along. I enjoyed the small town Maine setting in post war 50s. Plus, the mystery and all the secrets really keeps the reader guessing. And Amie….she is one of my favorite characters. She is tip top smart! I never knew about photo interpreters. I loved learning about this area of the war. And of course I had to look it up!

Need a good mystery full of secrets…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher of a honest review.

About The Author:

Joy Jordan-Lake is the #1 Amazon bestselling author of nine books, including Under A Gilded Moon; A Tangled Mercy, an Editors’ Choice recipient from the Historical Novel Society; Blue Hole Back Home, winner of the Christy Award for Best First Novel; and two children’s books. Raised in the foothills of the southern Appalachians, she lived nearly a decade of her young adult years in New England, which she still misses―and jumps at every chance to visit. She holds two master’s degrees and a PhD in English and has taught literature and writing at several universities. Now living outside Nashville, she and her husband are startled to find the kids in college and launching careers, with only the ferocious ten-pound rescue pup still living at home full-time. Joy loves to connect with readers. You can visit her at www.joyjordanlake.com.

Social Media:

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/joyjordanlake

ANGELS OF THE RESISTANCE: A WWII NOVEL

Author: Noelle Salazar

ISBN: 9780778386797

Publication Date: November 29, 2022

Publisher: MIRA

The second WWII novel by Noelle Salazar, bestselling author of the THE FLIGHT GIRLS, follows two teenage sisters in the Netherlands who are recruited as part of the Dutch Resistance effort against the Nazis. Inspired by true events, this moving story about ordinary young women who become extraordinary heroes will appeal to fans of Pam Jenoff and Kate Quinn.

Netherlands, 1940. In the small town of Haarlem, fourteen-year-old Lien lives a simple life with her mother and sister in a farmhouse on the outskirts of the city. Elsewhere in Europe bombs are falling, but the pall on their house is more from the recent loss of their baby sister as a result of an accident Lien believes she could have prevented than from the oncoming war. Until the Nazis invade the Netherlands and their lives are overturned once more.

Recruited by their late father’s friend, Lien’s older sister Elif reluctantly joins the Dutch resistance movement. Spurred by the injustice of the Nazis’ treatment of Dutch citizens as well as a terrifying bombing of their small town, and forever seeking atonement for her baby sister’s death, Lien begs to join as well. The sisters’ youthful, innocent looks and ability to disappear into a crowd make them the perfect resistance soldiers. Together with a handful of like-minded youth, including the gallant Charlie with whom Lien forms an instant connection, the sisters are trained and begin to carry out missions, from distributing and collecting information to moving Jewish families from hiding places to luring and killing influential Nazis. The toll of the war and their work is evident in their collective psyches, and Lien starts to make mistakes that could cost her and her newfound friends their lives. Until one very personal mission shows her that the atonement she desperately seeks for her sister’s death cannot be found at the end of the barrel of a pistol, but must be found from within her heart.

Review

Lien and her older sister, Elif, are recruited to be in the Dutch resistance. Both are very young, so they are perfect for passing messages and other various forms of espionage. But, Lien struggles with the death of her young sister. She feels it is her fault so she tends to take unnecessary risks. This invariably puts everyone’s lives at stake.

I really enjoyed the setting of the Netherlands during WWII. Now, I did feel there are a good many day to day, unimportant details in this story. But, that is a minor issue. The characters and the setting kept this novel moving for me.

I loved Lien. She is one tough young lady. And her struggles just enhance the story and create a bond with the reader. She and her sister make a great team. And these two young ladies grew up on the pages of this book.

Need a unique WWII novel…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Author Bio:

Noelle Salazar was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, where she’s been a Navy recruit, a medical assistant, an NFL cheerleader, and always a storyteller. When she’s not writing, she can be found dodging raindrops and daydreaming of her next book. Her first novel, The Flight Girls, was an instant bestseller, a Forbes, Woman’s World & Hypable book of the month and a BookBub Top Recommended book from readers. Angels of Haarlem is her second novel. Noelle lives in Bothell, Washington, with her husband and two children.

Author Website: https://www.noellesalazar.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noellesalazar

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noelle__salazar/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noelle_salazar 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18424925.Noelle_Salazar

Buy Links:

BookShop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/angels-of-the-resistance-a-wwii-novel-noelle-salazar/17845985?ean=9780778386797 

Harlequin: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9780778386797_angels-of-the-resistance.html 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/angels-of-the-resistance-noelle-salazar/1141412268?ean=9780778386797 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Angels-Resistance-Novel-Noelle-Salazar/dp/0778386791/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=angels+of+the+resistance+noelle+salazar&qid=1668110740&sprefix=angels+of+the+%2Caps%2C216&sr=8-1 

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Angels-Resistance/Noelle-Salazar/9780778386797?id=8292090795540

Overview

An inheritance that comes with a warning.

Ashley Brooks’s life isn’t working out as planned. After years of struggling to make it in Hollywood, she’s still waiting for her big break. When fate leads her to the doorstep of legendary casting director Louisa Lake George, Ashley thinks her luck is about to change: the prickly old pro knows about a role she’s perfect for. The aspiring actress never gets to thank her, though, because the day after the audition, Louisa is dead. The bigger shock—she left all her money to Ashley.

Louisa’s grown children arrive stunned and ready to fight. Her nephew tries to play peacemaker, while Ashley grapples with why Louisa would leave her fortune to a stranger—and whether she should keep it. But Ashley quickly discovers everyone, including the dead woman, is hiding something, and it’s a race to get to the truth before someone else winds up dead.

Review

Ashley is a wanna be star! She has only had a few bit parts since moving to Hollywood. She is struggling with where her life is going. When her dog runs away from her one evening and ends up at a creepy house, Ashley’s life takes a big turn. The question is…is it for the better?!?!

Louisa Lake George is a retired talent agent and her chance meeting with Ashley sparks a unique idea. She is going to help Ashley find the right job for her. But, Louisa passes away and leaves her large estate to Ashley. WHAT?!? Ashley is a sweet, young lady. So, when she finds out she inherited a large amount of money from someone she just met, she knows something is just not right.

Enter the family…yep…you guessed it. No one is happy! But, the more the family starts to question, the more things are not adding up! And you will have to read this to find out!

Wow! And I thought my family was nuts! This one takes the cake! It’s been quite a while since I have had a good family production! I loved this one!

Need a quick family drama…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the author for a honest opinion.

About The Author:

The winner of the (not terribly) prestigious WIFTS screenwriting award for All I Wish, the film she wrote and directed starring Sharon Stone (currently streaming on Netflix), Susan Walter is excited to add “first time novelist” to an eclectic resume that includes “failed concert violinist,” “unwatchable TV news reporter,” and “dazed mother to two teenage girls.” Groomed to be alone in a room for hours on end by a childhood spent practicing violin, writing a book came naturally to Susan, and her husband is hopeful she will finally have a reason to use her computer for something more productive than watching Red Sox baseball. A native of Boston, she suppresses her irresistible accent to avoid stink eye from sports fans across Los Angeles, where she now resides. She has an AB in government from Harvard, which she thus far fails to put to good use, and enjoys skiing, lazy bike rides, and wicked strong coffee. Susan has a book deal with Lake Union. Her second book, a thriller about a struggling actress who inherits a fortune from a stranger, is scheduled for publication in fall 2022.

Read more about Susan in her self-indulgent guest column for Talkhouse Magazine, found here: https://www.talkhouse.com/what-makes-a-director/

Susan Walter was born in Cambridge, MA. After being given every opportunity, but failing to become a concert violinist, she attended Harvard where she studied forms of Government and played in the orchestra. After graduating in 1991, she quit the violin for good and moved to Los Angeles to work in film and television production. Upon realizing writers were having all the fun, she transitioned to screenwriting. She made her directorial debut in 2018 with the film “All I Wish” starring Sharon and Stone, which she also wrote. Good as Dead is her first novel.www.susanwalterwriter.com .

Social Media:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/susie_filmmaker

Twitter: https://twitter.com/susie_filmmaker

Newsletter: https://www.susanwalterwriter.com/contact 

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3GK0lQJ 

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KjjxH0 

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/susan-walter

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Overview

Secrets, suspense, and a missing sister—who may not want to be found—are at the center of Briana Cole’s latest enthralling multicultural drama. Will appeal to fans of psychological suspense, gritty drama, and fans of De’Nesha Diamond, Kiki Swinson, Saundra, Wahida Clark, Ashley & JaQuavis, Victoria Christopher Murray, and Shelly Ellis.

“That’s not my sister.” Overwhelmed by shock and relief, those are the only words Deven can muster when she is called to identify the body of a suicide victim. A body she was informed was her sister, Kennedy. But as she stares at the lifeless stranger, she’s filled with questions: Who is this woman? Why was Deven listed as family? And most important, where is Kennedy? Her intuition tells her just one thing: this can’t be a total coincidence.

Desperate to put the pieces together, Deven launches her own investigation. Soon, she finds herself tangled in a web of secrets and lies so twisted that it blurs the lines between fact and fiction. And between the sister she thought she knew and the one who seems to have many hidden, dangerous lives. But only Kennedy would have the answers to increasingly urgent questions. Just one possibility is clear: Kennedy isn’t missing. Maybe she just doesn’t want to be found. And maybe you can never truly know another person. Even your own sister.

Review

Deven is determined to find out where her sister is. She knows it is not the dead body in the morgue. But she just can’t prove it. Everyone believes she is dead but NOT Deven. And the further Deven delves into Kennedy’s disappearance, the more questions she has.

Deven is not a quitter, I will give her that. I enjoyed her tenacity. And the history of these two young ladies….even though they are sisters…their lives were so different!

I have never read this author before. How I have missed her…who knows!?!? But I loved this twisted tale. I had no idea who to believe. When Deven said “That is not my sister!”…I knew I was about to be in for a wild ride.

The narrator, Diana Blue, is spot on! She kept the intensity and the drama up at the perfect level!

Need a good mystery which will have you questioning everything…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

Private investigator Rick Cahill has been running from his past and chasing the truth his whole life. But his past is relentless—and so is his CTE, a disease caused by repeated head traumas that has attacked his body and his mind. As his CTE progresses, he realizes that the disease not only threatens his life but also endangers his family’s wellbeing.

As Rick struggles to keep his family together, he does a favor for Sara Bhandari, a business contact. Then, Sara is murdered, and the police believe her to be yet another victim of a serial rapist who has been terrorizing greater San Diego. But Rick has reason to question their theory. Determined to find the truth at any cost, and against his wife’s warnings, he investigates on his own.

Along the way, he bumps up against a sinister private investigative agency and a shady shell corporation that may be hiding more than company secrets. As Rick digs for the truth about Sara’s death, he risks his own life and the lives of countless innocents caught in his relentless crusade. Ultimately, Rick must decide if his quest is worth the risk of losing his family forever.

Review

Rick is a private investigator in the San Diego area. He does quite a bit of work for several of the local businesses. When one of his business contacts ends up murdered, Rick knows something is very wrong. He ends up investigating the murder on the sly. But, as you can guess, this leads to more questions than answers.

Rick is a very damaged character and I loved him. He is smart when it comes to investigations but pretty dang dumb when it comes to family. But he is so endearing in his efforts.

This story is complex with all the twists and turns. It definitely keeps the readers on their toes. I mean…I thought I had it figured out but it twisted again!

Since we went to San Diego for vacation this year, I loved the setting of this book. Now, this book is number 9 in a series. I have not read a single one. How I have missed this, I have no idea. I did not feel lost at all during this novel but I do want to pick up some if the others. I want to know more about Rick and his background.

Need a good intricate mystery…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for an honest opinion.

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Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout comes a poignant, pitch-perfect novel about a divorced couple stuck together during lockdown—and the love, loss, despair, and hope that animate us even as the world seems to be falling apart.

“No novelist working today has Strout’s extraordinary capacity for radical empathy. . . . May droves of readers come to feel enlarged, comforted, and genuinely uplifted by Lucy’s story.”—The Boston Globe

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Time, The Washington Post, PopSugar

With her trademark spare, crystalline prose—a voice infused with “intimate, fragile, desperate humanness” (The Washington Post)—Elizabeth Strout turns her exquisitely tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton through the early days of the pandemic.

As a panicked world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and bundled away to a small town in Maine by her ex-husband and on-again, off-again friend, William. For the next several months, it’s just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea.

Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear and struggles that come with isolation, as well as the hope, peace, and possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this story are the deep human connections that unite us even when we’re apart—the pain of a beloved daughter’s suffering, the emptiness that comes from the death of a loved one, the promise of a new friendship, and the comfort of an old, enduring love.

Review

If you have never read this author…BUCKLE UP! She is blunt, truthful and insightful. And this book nails them all. This is a story about Lucy and William, AGAIN! They have a history. They have been married before and share two children. But William cheated on their marriage. So, divorce was inevitable. Now, here it is years later and William moves Lucy in with him in Maine to avoid the pandemic in NYC. These two have a bond and a friendship that is hard to come by.

The first time I read this author, I thought, how depressing. I remember sending in my review to the publisher and it said “I read to escape, this book is no escape!” But, there is just something about her books that keep me thinking and I just keep coming back. Her books make you reflect on your past and sometimes that is just not a happy process. But, it is a necessary process to grow. So, once again, Elizabeth Strout is amazing with Lucy By The Sea!

This is a story about love, family, friendship, and trying to survive. I could name a thousand more astute areas of this novel. Just know, it is a novel which just might put you in a pensive mood. But everyone needs to read Elizabeth Strout! Trust me!

Need a book which will have you reflecting and just enjoying the moment…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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