๐‹๐จ๐ง๐  ๐€๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐–๐ž ๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐†๐จ๐ง๐ž | Book Review

๐‹๐จ๐ง๐  ๐€๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐–๐ž ๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐†๐จ๐ง๐ž

๐๐ฒ ๐“๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ก ๐’๐ก๐ž๐ฅ๐ญ๐จ๐ง ๐‡๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ

๐๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ: ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐‹๐š๐ง๐๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค

๐๐ฎ๐› ๐ƒ๐š๐ญ๐ž: ๐Ÿ“.๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’.๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’


Thank you @bookmarked for this gifted book. 

I loved Terah Shelton Harrisโ€™ book ๐‘‚๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘†๐‘ข๐‘š๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘†๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘›๐‘Žโ„Ž, so I was excited to see what she had in store for us next.

This is a captivating and powerful family drama!

When their father, King Solomon, dies, the Solomon siblings reconvene at their North Carolina family home. His final wishes were that the โ€œwhite manโ€ not take his home. Now, itโ€™s up to his children to fight for their legacy.

As we hear from each adult sibling, we see their lives are filled with lies, pain, and mistakes. We begin to understand them better, their grief, and their choices.

What hit me hardest was that these siblings didnโ€™t know each otherโ€™s hurts and struggles. Where they once had played together on the land they call โ€œThe Kingdom,โ€ now they live very separate lives. It took their fatherโ€™s death to reunite them and spark necessary conversations, and it stirred up many emotions.

The threat of losing their ancestral home and land is accurate and factual. These developers swoop in like vultures to try to challenge inherited land! But the Solomon children will not stand by without a fight. The ending here is intense and had me on edge.

I found the audiobook on @everand_us and the narrator did an excellent job with the four siblings.

๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿง’โ€๐Ÿง’สœแดแดก แดแด€ษดส sษชส™สŸษชษดษขs แด…แด สแดแดœ สœแด€แด แด‡? แดกสœแด‡ส€แด‡ แด…แด สแดแดœ า“แด€สŸสŸ ษชษด แด›สœแด‡ ส™ษชส€แด›สœ แดส€แด…แด‡ส€?

Sourcebook Partnership | Three historical fiction novels

๐Ÿค๐•Š๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฃ๐•”๐•–๐•“๐• ๐• ๐•œ๐•ค โ„™๐•’๐•ฃ๐•ฅ๐•Ÿ๐•–๐•ฃ๐•ค๐•™๐•š๐•ก ๐Ÿค

I love partnering with @bookmarked; they offer fantastic books.

Here are my quick thoughts on three historical fiction novels about extraordinary women. I recommend these for those who love a story about strong, daring, pioneering women. 

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐–๐จ๐ฆ๐š๐ง ๐–๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐จ ๐๐š๐ฆ๐ž

๐๐ฒ ๐€๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ค๐ž

๐˜ˆ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ

It is a fascinating true story about a woman and mother who became a spy and a bomb maker for British SOE during WWII. She became known as the โ€œsaboteur with no nameโ€ by the Germans. 

A well-researched story of bravery and courage – about making a difference whoever you are.ย 


๐“๐ก๐ž ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ก ๐‡๐ฎ๐ฌ๐›๐š๐ง๐

๐๐ฒ ๐†๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ ๐Œ๐š๐œ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ

๐˜–๐˜ถ๐˜ต 8.1.2024

Based on real-life 19th-century heiress Aimee Crocker, we follow her wild and scandalous adventures. She was wealthy, independent and traveled the continents. This is a fun, vivid read of a pioneering woman living on her terms. With a touch of the paranormal – this was an entertaining read.ย 


๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž๐ง๐ญโ€™๐ฌ ๐–๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž

๐๐ฒ ๐“๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ž๐ฒ ๐„๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐–๐จ๐จ๐

๐˜ˆ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ

Many donโ€™t realize the strong woman behind Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. Tracey Enerson Wood pulls back the veil of how Edith Bolling’s marriage to President Woodrow Willson became the closest thing weโ€™ve had to a female president. It is a great historical look at not only Wilsonโ€™s marriage but also Edith’s sway on the presidential office.ย 

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for these gifted books. 

๐Ÿšบ ๐™ธ๐šœ ๐š๐š‘๐šŽ๐š›๐šŽ ๐šŠ ๐š ๐š˜๐š–๐šŠ๐š— ๐š˜๐š› ๐š ๐š˜๐š–๐šŽ๐š— ๐š’๐š— ๐š‘๐š’๐šœ๐š๐š˜๐š›๐šข ๐šข๐š˜๐šžโ€™๐š ๐š•๐š’๐š”๐šŽ ๐š๐š˜ ๐šœ๐šŽ๐šŽ ๐š–๐š˜๐š›๐šŽ ๐š‘๐š’๐šœ๐š๐š˜๐š›๐š’๐šŒ๐šŠ๐š• ๐š๐š’๐šŒ๐š๐š’๐š˜๐š— ๐š ๐š›๐š’๐š๐š๐šŽ๐š— ๐šŠ๐š‹๐š˜๐šž๐š? 

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‚๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐œ | Book Review

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‚๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐œ

๐๐ฒ ๐‚๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ง๐ง

๐๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ: ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐‹๐š๐ง๐๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค

๐๐ฎ๐› ๐ƒ๐š๐ญ๐ž: ๐Ÿ.๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘.๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’ ๐‘‚๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ค!


๐ด๐‘ก๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› – those are the two things that fueled this thriller.ย ย 

Set mainly in a secluded but posh rehab facility for the wealthy and famous, the atmosphere is eerie and constantly uncertain. 

Meg is an undercover agent who works to catch cheaters in casinos. When she hears that her sister, Haley, a famous star, has died in a rehab facility, Meg goes undercover to get to the truth. The clinic is writing Haleyโ€™s death off as a suicide. But Meg doesnโ€™t buy it.  

The story becomes twisted and hazy as not only are all the residents addicts and canโ€™t be trusted, but Meg herself is grappling with an opiate addiction from an old shoulder injury. Sometimes, in her drug-induced fog, sheโ€™s not sure whether what sheโ€™s seeing is real or not, maybe sheโ€™s not remembering right – and itโ€™s all about to get even stranger. 

Itโ€™s hard to find your footing here; even the staff seem somewhat sketchy, so who can you trust? It goes on a bit with the description of detox, and you may wonder what this has to do with the mystery at hand. But, if you stay the course, the ending gets pretty wild and intense. Short chapters, great atmosphere, psychological issues, and addiction make this a compelling read. 

I always appreciate it when an author adds their own experiences, so please make sure to read the acknowledgments at the end.

Thank you @bookmarked for the digital ARC.

โ˜” ๐™ฐ๐š›๐šŽ ๐šข๐š˜๐šž ๐šŠ๐š๐š๐šŽ๐šŒ๐š๐šŽ๐š ๐š‹๐šข ๐š๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š ๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š๐š‘๐šŽ๐š›? ๐šˆ๐š˜๐šž๐š› ๐š–๐š˜๐š˜๐š, ๐šŽ๐š–๐š˜๐š๐š’๐š˜๐š—๐šœ, ๐š‘๐š˜๐š  ๐š–๐šž๐šŒ๐š‘ ๐šŽ๐š—๐šŽ๐š›๐š๐šข ๐šข๐š˜๐šž ๐š‘๐šŠ๐šŸ๐šŽ. ๐š†๐š‘๐šŠ๐š ๐š ๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š๐š‘๐šŽ๐š› ๐š๐š˜ ๐šข๐š˜๐šž ๐š๐š˜ ๐š‹๐šŽ๐šœ๐š ๐š’๐š—?

๐‹๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‡๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐‚๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ž๐ง | Book Review

๐‹๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‡๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐‚๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ž๐ง

๐๐ฒ ๐’๐š๐ซ๐š๐ก ๐‰๐š๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ

๐๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ: ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐‹๐š๐ง๐๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค

๐๐ฎ๐› ๐ƒ๐š๐ญ๐ž: ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ.๐Ÿ•.๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘


Thank you @bookmarked for this gifted book.

Let me just say that Iโ€™m struggling a bit with how to review this one; Iโ€™m not quite sure how I feel about it. 

When I saw this cover,  I thought it gave off a sense of glamour and yet a bit of mystery or intrigue. 

The story is set in 1943 Hollywood, specifically centering around the Hollywood Canteen – a club for servicemen staffed by people in show business. (The Authorโ€™s Note has some great facts about this). 

I loved this setting – glamorous and full of drama – just like the cover implies, as was 1940s Hollywood. We meet Fiona Farris, a film critic who is disliked by many. She is part of a small group called the Ambassadorโ€™s Club that helps at the canteen. Playwright Annie Laurence is new to Hollywood and she quickly falls into Fionaโ€™s group of friends. But when Fiona is found dead in the canteen  – the friends turn on one another thinking any one of them could have had reason to take Fiona out. 

The setting was fun, some old Hollywood names were dropped, and the premise itself was interesting. But it started feeling more like a caper than a solid crime mystery. There was a lot of bickering, some humor sprinkled in, secrets that no one seemed very shocked about, but not enough historical signposts – especially relating to WWII (I say that because the canteen was for the servicemen). 

While I enjoyed aspects of this story, I felt it needed to decide which direction it wanted to go. 

๐ŸŽฅ ๐ท๐‘œ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘—๐‘œ๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ ? ๐ท๐‘œ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐ถ๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ ๐ป๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ?

๐‡๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐Œ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ | Book Review

๐‡๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐Œ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ

๐๐ฒ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐ž ๐‚๐š๐ซ๐ซ

๐๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ: ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐‹๐š๐ง๐๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค

๐๐ฎ๐› ๐ƒ๐š๐ญ๐ž: ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ.๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ.๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘


Thank you @bookmarked for this gifted copy.

Stories that delve into the struggles of infertility, miscarriage, and the journey of IVF are emotional as it is. Now imagine when there has been an issue at the clinic – an egg has been switched.

Katherine and Tess visited the clinic on the same day. Katherine went on to have a beautiful, healthy girl named Rose. Tess finds herself childless. 

This subject is always heartbreaking. But the author brings in so many other factors that will tie you in knots – especially the behavior, lifestyle, and race of the mothers. While it seems so easy that this child should go to the biological mother, as the story unfolds, you start to question whatโ€™s best for Rose. 

Both women are flawed, but how each handled the situation was interesting. I think my heart went out more to Tess because she was a mess and needed support she didnโ€™t seem to have. 

Although this became a court battle, it did not become a legal drama. It remained more about the characters and the human element of this battle. The ending was hopeful and compassionate and I was pleased about that. 

โ„๏ธ ๐‘Œ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘Š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘†๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘’, ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘ฆ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข?

๐–๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐’๐š๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐†๐จ๐จ๐๐›๐ฒ๐ž | Book Review

๐–๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐’๐š๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐†๐จ๐จ๐๐›๐ฒ๐ž

๐๐ฒ ๐‹๐š๐ฎ๐ซ๐š ๐‰๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ญ

๐๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ: ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐‹๐š๐ง๐๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค

๐๐ฎ๐› ๐ƒ๐š๐ญ๐ž: ๐Ÿ“.๐Ÿ.๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘


Thank you @bookmarked for this gifted book.ย 

Two women will do whatever it takes to protect their own โ€“ no matter the cost to anyone else.

Cerys leaves her life behind in a fiery wreck. Lily slips away from hers early one morning, silent as a shadow. Both are mothers. And both are desperate.

When the two women are thrown into each other’s paths, they strike a tentative bond. Cerys is a mother with no children to care for anymore, and Lily is doing all she can to take care of a four-year-old on her own. But each keep secrets from the beginningโ€”the scars, the loneliness, and, most importantly, who they actually are. They need to work together to survive, but how can they trust each other? Because everybody knows: the longer a secret is kept, the worse its consequences will be when the truth comes out.

As the past catches up with them in the form of a deranged father with a shotgun, Lily especially finds herself backed into a corner. But mothers will do what they must to protect their children, no matter who else gets hurt along the way.

๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ

I found this to be an emotional story about two women, at two stages of life, running from difficult circumstances. While the themes of domestic abuse, motherhood, and marriage run deep, this has all the tension of a domestic thriller. 

You will be engrossed in these characters, you may even relate in some aspects, and you certainly will need to know what happens next.  

๐Ÿ‘ฏโ€โ™€๏ธ ๐šƒ๐š‘๐šŽ๐šœ๐šŽ ๐š ๐š˜๐š–๐šŽ๐š—, ๐šŠ๐š•๐š๐š‘๐š˜๐šž๐š๐š‘ ๐šœ๐šŽ๐š™๐šŠ๐š›๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ๐š ๐š‹๐šข ๐š–๐šŠ๐š—๐šข ๐šข๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š›๐šœ ๐š’๐š— ๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ, ๐š‹๐šŽ๐šŒ๐š˜๐š–๐šŽ ๐š๐š›๐š’๐šŽ๐š—๐š๐šœ. ๐™ณ๐š˜ ๐šข๐š˜๐šž ๐š‘๐šŠ๐šŸ๐šŽ ๐šŠ๐š—๐šข โ€œ๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ-๐š๐šŠ๐š™โ€ ๐š๐š›๐š’๐šŽ๐š—๐š๐šœ๐š‘๐š’๐š™๐šœ?

๐…๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐…๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ฌ | Book Review

๐…๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐…๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ฌ

๐๐ฒ ๐’๐š๐ซ๐š๐ก ๐‰๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ

๐๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ: ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐‹๐š๐ง๐๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค

๐๐ฎ๐› ๐ƒ๐š๐ญ๐ž: ๐Ÿ’.๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–.๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘ ๐’ž๐‘œ๐“‚๐’พ๐“ƒ๐‘” ๐’ฎ๐‘œ๐‘œ๐“ƒ!


Thank you @bookmarked and @Sarahjost_writes for a gifted copy.

โ€œ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด.โ€

Ugh with an opening line like that, I knew I was in for a tear-jerker!

I love books that involve time travel or time slips, and Sarah Jost does a great job of making each โ€œchanceโ€ different enough from the one before to keep it interesting and full of new emotions. In fact, I appreciated how we see Lou grow and develop with each chance. So give her a chance too; sheโ€™s learning.

Lou is lonely (see first line above); sheโ€™s not satisfied with where sheโ€™s at in life, and she is tired of watching others be happy and in love. I think itโ€™s made her a little bitter, resentful maybe? When she finds herself slipping back in time to two years ago – Lou is given an opportunity to change her life, fix mistakes, possibly save a life, and maybe have a chance at love.

I felt all the emotions along with Lou; this was an emotional one for sure (prepare to grieve a little), but it tackles the question of do-overs and fighting for what you love very well. ๐…๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐…๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ฌ is a story that will have me pondering things for quite a while. 

โ˜‚๏ธ ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ž๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐š ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ?

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐‚๐š๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐š ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ | Book Review

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐‚๐š๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐š ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ

๐๐ฒ ๐Œ๐ž๐š๐ ๐š๐ง ๐‚๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ก

๐๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ: ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ

๐๐ฎ๐› ๐ƒ๐š๐ญ๐ž: ๐Ÿ‘.๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–.๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘ ๐’ž๐‘œ๐“‚๐’พ๐“ƒ๐‘” ๐’ฎ๐‘œ๐‘œ๐“ƒ!


Thank you [partner] @bookmarked for this gifted ebook.ย And thank you RB Media for the complimentary audiobook.

This debut is southern fiction, family drama, and historical fiction all wrapped up into a heartbreaking but poignant story.

Leahโ€™s mother died in childbirth, yet she loves her father and their little shack on the Barna familyโ€™s rural property in North Carolina. Leah’s closest friends are Mr. Barnaโ€™s son Jesse and their maid Tullah.

At age 14, Leahโ€™s father is killed in a logging accident. Leah is sent away to the Griffin family: forced to leave the Barna family and the only home she has ever known. The Griffins are a well-to-do family who treat Leah as a servant. Mrs. Griffin is especially cruel to Leah, no matter how hard she tries to do all that is asked of her. 

When Mrs. Griffin discovers that Leah suffers from โ€œspells,โ€ she sees it as an opportunity to seek her secret revenge on poor Leah, altering Leahโ€™s body and life forever.

Set in the 1930s South, this starts at an unhurried pace, describing the naivete and delight of growing up with nature and simple things surrounding you. But then it quickly escalates into a heartwrenching read as the story delves into family secrets, abuse and the atrocity of eugenics. 

**Donโ€™t skip the Authorโ€™s Notes!

๐˜โ€™๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜”๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ธ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ต.

๐ŸŒŠ๐Ÿ”๏ธ๐–๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž ๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ฌ?

Book Mail

ย ๐Ÿ“ฌ แ—ทOOK แ—ฐแ—ฉIแ’ช ๐Ÿ“ฌ

THANK YOU to all the tagged [Partner] publishers, publicists, and authors for these gifted books:

Good Night, Sister by Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt

Maame by Jessica George

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

The Laughter by Sonora Jha (2/14)

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz (2/21)

Donโ€™t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones 

Down a Bad Road by Regina Buttner (5/4)

A Dangerous Education by Megan Chance 

Luck of the Draw by Frank Murphy (2/28)

Goodnight From Paris by Jane Healey (3/7)

Five First Chances by Sarah Jost (4/18)

A Single Life to Live by Hannah Schermerhorn  (2/14)

Whatโ€™s Not Lost by Valerie Taylor 

Circus Home by Jason Ollander-Krane

The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon by Linda MacKillop (5/17)

The Distance Between Us by A.C. Burch (5/16)

Daughters of Nantucket by Julie Gerstenblatt (3/14)

Sea Magic by Heidi McIntyre 

Love Is Wilder by Larissa Hommes

Home is a Made-Up Place by Ronit Plank (2/28)

A Home for the Twins by Danielle Thorne (3/28)

๐Ÿ“˜๐Ÿˆ ๐š†๐š’๐š•๐š• ๐šข๐š˜๐šž ๐š‘๐šŠ๐šŸ๐šŽ ๐š๐š’๐š–๐šŽ ๐š๐š˜๐š› ๐š›๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š๐š’๐š—๐š ๐š๐š˜๐š๐šŠ๐šข ๐š˜๐š› ๐š ๐š’๐š•๐š• ๐š๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š‹๐š’๐š ๐š๐šŠ๐š–๐šŽ ๐š‹๐šŽ ๐š๐šŠ๐š”๐š’๐š—๐š ๐šž๐š™ ๐šข๐š˜๐šž๐š› ๐š๐š’๐š–๐šŽ?

Book Mail

ย 

๐Ÿ“ฌ แ—ทOOK แ—ฐแ—ฉIแ’ช ๐Ÿ“ฌ

THANK YOU to all the tagged [Partner] publishers, publicists, and authors for these gifted books:

The Last Mile by Kat Martin

Last Time We Loved by Christine Miles

The Tiffany Girls by Shelley Noble 

The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson

Maybe Sheโ€™ll Stay by Robyn Lucas

Someone Elseโ€™s Life by Lyn Liao Butler

The Jeweler of Stolen Dreams by M.J. Rose

The Marriage Auction by Audrey Carlan

Shadow Life by Michael Decter

Unoffendable by Brant Hansen

This is How It Started by Stacy Finz

Off the Map by Trish Doller

The Bakerโ€™s Man by Jennifer Moorman

What Happens Next by Christina Suzann Nelson

The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis

The Favor by Adele Griffin

The Greedy Three by Karen Katchur 

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree

Daughter in Exile by Bisi Adjapon

A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross  

โฐ ๐š†๐š‘๐šŽ๐š— ๐š๐š˜ ๐šข๐š˜๐šž ๐š•๐š’๐š”๐šŽ ๐š๐š˜ ๐šœ๐šŽ๐šŽ ๐š‹๐š˜๐š˜๐š”๐šœ ๐š™๐š˜๐šœ๐š๐šŽ๐š: ๐š™๐š›๐šŽ-๐š™๐šž๐š‹ ๐š๐šŠ๐šข, ๐š™๐šž๐š‹ ๐š ๐šŽ๐šŽ๐š”, ๐š˜๐š› ๐šŠ๐š—๐šข๐š๐š’๐š–๐šŽ ๐šŠ๐š—๐š ๐šŠ๐š•๐š• ๐š๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š๐š’๐š–๐šŽ?