By Sandie Jones
** Publication Date 25 March 2025 ** 4 stars Rock groupies have existed for as long as rock has existed. Maybe even before. Lots of books have approached the topic. This book tackles it in a different light. Sixteen year old Cassie is obsessed with Secret Oktober. She imagines that she’s going to be in a relationship with Ben Edwards, their lead singer. When she shows up at a pop-up event, she befriends Ameilia who has been a groupie for a while. Amelia knows the band and thinks she has a relationship with the drummer Michael. Amelia ropes Cassie into hanging out, skipping school and work, and following the band. Nicole is Cassie’s older sister. Nicole is a singer/songwriter who is working the circuit trying to make something of her career. When Nicole crosses paths with Ben, she does her best to keep him a secret from her sister. Nicole knows Cassie’s obsession and doesn’t want to hurt her in any way. But as Cassie and Amelia get in deeper with both their imagined relationships and the band, things turn ugly. The book jumps between current day and the 1980s. It develops into more than just a book about a band and relationships. It’s about hiding your past and having to confront it later in life. It’s about secrets that you never should have kept and truths that should have been told. I never expected the ending to turn out the way it did. It’s kind of wild. Enjoyed this one and would recommend it. Definitely kind of chick-lit with an edge.
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By Lisa Jewell
** Publication Date 25 March 2025 ** 4 stars I’m not even a Marvel fan! Honestly you don’t have to be to love this book. I’m a huge Lisa Jewell fan, so when I saw another novel by her, I didn’t even read the title. But here I am, not only having loved this book, but wanting more Jessica Jones. Since this takes place in the Marvel Universe, I’m sure a lot of you know all about Jessica Jones. For those of you who don’t, it appears that Ms. Jones has taken a leave of absence from the superhero life after being brainwashed and forced to commit heinous crimes. Now she’s a self-employed private detective living and working in Hell’s Kitchen. When approached by a very fancy mom to find out what’s wrong with her teens, Jessica initially wants to say no. But having no other jobs in the future and needing the income, she names an outrageous price and takes on what she thinks are just teens being teens. Until they aren’t. These teens are strange. Nothing normal about them. Which leads Jessica to a small town in England and a very strange social media beauty influencer. Alongside all this is Jessica’s somewhat relationship with another superhero, Luke. Will they or won’t they? Are they or aren’t they? It’s just a side story to the real mystery. With Lisa Jewell’s ability to spin an amazing mystery, this novel rocks. As an initiate to the Marvel Universe, I have to say, I might need to dig in a little deeper now. I think they were genius to ask someone as talented as Ms. Jewell to write a little story for Ms. Jones. By Andrew Ludington
** Publication Date 18 March 2025 ** 4 stars Please, please do not put this book down in the first third. It is slow. It is detailed, but if you can hold out, you will be rewarded with a great adventure tale set in the 6th century. Rabbit Ward is a time traveler. Chrono Archaeologist to be more precise, but he does travel through time to retrieve relics that may have been lost to history otherwise. There is a time jump in his past that has forever haunted him, and people are starting to whisper that maybe it’s time for him to hang up his jumping shoes. Dr. Ward thinks otherwise. He keeps encountering this mysterious modern day woman on his jumps. Rabbit wants to determine who she is. Then there is the rumor that someone is selling out secrets so that she can keep finding him on his travels. Someone within his own ranks. The Smithsonian. Whoever she is, she has an uncanny ability to cross paths with him. On a trip to 535 CE they cross paths again. This time, though, it might take both of them to get out of this trip safely. Can Rabbit trust her? As I said, the beginning of this novel tends to be fairly methodical with a lot of backstory. A lot of research went into getting the historical details correct. It’s crazy! Do not fret! Keep along and you’ll find an amazing trip through history, with a lot of hijinks and mayhem. I flew through the second half of this book. For a person who is not enamored of historical novels, I did enjoy this one. It has enough intrigue to keep anyone entertained. Happy Head: Book Two
By Josh Silver ** Publication Date 4 February 2025 ** 4.5 stars Definitely do not read this one until you’ve read the first, Happy Head. Because they are not standalone novels. They are intertwined and require your full understanding of how we end up here, in book two. While this may very well be a YA book, I think most people can benefit from it. So much about learning to love yourself and be yourself. Don’t try to change to make others happy. Josh Silver teaches so many valuable lessons in these two novels. How others perceive what is happiness and what makes you happy. There isn’t one right way. I think that is the most valuable lesson. So book two picks up where book one leaves us. With five couples on top and ready to start the next step of their ‘adventure.’ They are going to be led by Ares & Artemis, the beautiful, perfect people on this wild island. The couples will learn how to trust one another, how to be representatives of the ‘happy’. The start of a brand new world. This world is filled with terrifying challenges that will break and strengthen them, just like bones. Along they way they will hopefully figure out what is wrong and what is right, but will it be their right or what Manning thinks is right. After all, this is her little game.Will any of them survive? A lot like the Hunger Games, but with a mental health twist. I love what Silver has done through these two novels. They are incredible reads. I also am grateful that he includes mental health resources, because I think all of us, sometimes, need them By Sarah Harman
** Publication Date 11 March 2025 ** 4 stars Books set in London are such fun. I love the feeling of being someplace other than Nowheresville, US. This book is no exception. Florence was mostly raised in Florida, but ended up in the UK when her mother was dating a Brit. She ended up a member of a girl pop band, but that was short-lived. Now she’s a single mom of a quirky 10 year old boy. No job. Not a whole lot of money. And literally no direction. One of her son’s classmates goes missing while on a field trip, and Florence immediately wonders if her son was involved. After all, her son Dylan is not particularly enamored of this rotten heir to a frozen food empire. So when she finds evidence that Dylan really may be have been responsible, she will do anything to clear his name. She’s a mom, after all. But Florence is unskilled and unmotivated, so how will she do this? Recruiting a fellow mom, also from the US, to be her driver and her partner. Florence ropes this mom into her plan to prove Dylan’s innocence, even when it crosses the line. Very cute, very fun story about a very aimless woman trying to find her place after plan A doesn’t work out. It’s reminiscent of the Finlay Donovan series. Hapless Florence makes a lot of mistakes simply by trying to do the right thing. Definitely recommend this light read. |