Books You're on the Fence About - 2025

[Suz]

by Gail Jones

My review 3 stars

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Mark]

My first review of the month is Edam and Weep by Linda Reilly https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Faith]

My review of Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Book Concierge]

Give the Boys a Great Big Hand – Ed McBain – 3***
First published in 1960, this is book number eleven in the 87th Precinct mystery series, and starts with the discovery of a severed hand in a tote bag. It’s a classic police procedural mystery that held my interest throughout. There are several red herrings (both for the cops and for the reader), but the boys of the 87th precinct are nothing if not tenacious. They WILL get the guy or gal responsible.
LINK to my full review

[Mark]

I've got one more book review this week - The Cardinal's Curse by LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Helen]

My review forDeal with the Texas Soldier Julie Benson

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Carol]

No Good Tea Goes Unpunished - Bree Baker - (Florida, North Carolina)
Seaside Cafe Series Book #2
Genera: Cozy Murder Mystery
4.5★
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Robin]

I finished listening to Falling in Love Again by Cathy Maxwell.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[PamG]

Here is my 3.35 rounded to 3 stars review of Please Don't Lie by Christina Baker Kline & Anne Burt:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Psychological thriller / Domestic Suspense
Great worldbuilding
Lacked action and suspense except at the beginning and the end. Great prologue, then slow for a long time before the book picked up again.
Not really a thriller for me for most of the book, but still entertaining.

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Time of the Child by Niall Williams

Almost similar to its companion novel "This is Happiness", but the effect was even more meandering this time around. Still, a great option for prose lovers.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Brenda]

My review for Raining Quilts and Dogs by Kathryn Mykel

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Laura]

I've read all of the London League series of books by Rebecca Connolly, which are clean, lighthearted Regency romance novels about a group of spies. Book #5 was disappointing and did not make sense.

Fall from Trace

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Circe by Madeline Miller

I am a bit of an outlier on this one, but it was just an okay one-time read for me.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Carol]

The Method - Duncan Ralston - (Montana)
Part of the Love Hurts Series
Genera: Suspense
3.5★

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Book Concierge]

The Secret Book and Scone Society – Ellery Adams – 2.5**
One of my book club buddies suggested this for our group so I re-read it. My opinion didn’t change much, though I did enjoy the discussion. The relationships between the four friends stood out more. But I also see that there is another secret that hasn’t been revealed. A ploy that I view as “forcing” readers to continue the series, and one that I hate.
LINK to my full review

[Liz]

Folks are happy to have a large dose of romance with their mystery will probably like History Lessons more than I did. My three star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Debra]

My review for Where He Left Me

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

A Twist of Fate by Se-ah Jang

This contemporary mystery could have been as outstanding as the cover, but either the writing style or the translation (or possibly both) fail.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Liz]

I’m still trying to figure out what point Makkai was trying to make with The Borrower . My three star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Faith]

Mr review of Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Robin]

I listened to Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam by Megan Bannen

A mostly disappointing ending to the Hart and Mercy series. 2025 just isn't my year when it comes to series reads. 😕
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Squid Boy Raven Girl by R.R. Davis

Partially a case of "it's not you, it's me.' Never thought a book with such a cover would be so disturbing.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

The author is very talented, but this isn't her best work, IMHO.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Liz]

The Death of Us bills itself as a mystery and I think that’s a big misnomer. My three star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Laura]

Not too sure how I feel about When a Marquis Chooses a Bride by Ella Quinn; book #2 in The Worthingtons series. I only listened to the audiobook, and the narrator's performance was lacking. My 2.5** rating and review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Stories of the True by Jeyamohan

I'd been looking forward to reading the translation of this Tamil writer's work, but it turned out too meandering for my taste.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Debra]

My review for The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood and Boyfriends

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Debra]

My review for The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer: A Mystery

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Book Concierge]

Sun Dog Memory – Doug Armstrong – 3.5***
A Depression-era family saga full of lies, treachery and vengeance. Armstrong goes back and forth in time from 1930 to 1911. We learn how the Albrights came to the Kansas homestead and their efforts to make a go of it, and how their fate becomes intricately linked to that of the town’s wealthy railroad executives. There’s a lot of intrigue here and the reader is just as clueless as the main character, Jed. I’m not sure that I ever figured out who was really behind all the treachery, and while I thought the family saga had a satisfactory resolution, the epilogue threw me for a loop.
LINK to my full review

[Mark]

Kicking off this week with For Duck's Sake by Donna Andrews https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Laura]

I gave this a mixed review because the second half was much better than the first.


Forever Engaged by Ashtyn Newbold

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Laura]

The lack of depth of the writing made this somewhat of a disappointment. I only gave it a 2.5** rating


Hazelhurst by Martha Keyes

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Laura]

A new release I looked forward to, A Secret Correspondence by Kasey Stockton, was somewhat of a let-down for me. I only gave it a 3*** rating.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[PamG]

Here is my 3.48 rounded to 3 stars review of You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Sophie Sullivan:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Contemporary Romance
Second Chance
Entertaining and light for the most part with a couple of deeper themes.
Humorous at times
Quibbles include: some telling vs. showing and the romance advancing too quickly

[Mark]

I'm ending the week with Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Don Bruns https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Phrynne]

My review of The Antique Store Detective and the Deadly Inheritance: An utterly addictive cozy murder mystery by Clare Chase

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Book Concierge]

A Certain Age – Beatriz Williams – 3***
Williams gives us a novel of romance, family secrets, and scandal in New York Society, set during the Roaring Twenties. The title refers to two things: the age of the era in American society, and a woman of “a certain age.” Williams definitely gives the reader a sense of the era … speakeasies, flappers, bathtub gin, horse races, etc. I saw through the murder mystery pretty quickly, but it held my attention throughout.
LINK to my full review

[Laura]

A not-so-great retelling of The Ugly Duckling story in a sweet and clean Regency romance:


A Beautiful Love by Megan Walker

My 3*** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[PamG]

Here is my 3.10 rounded to 3 stars review of The Salvage by Anbara Salam:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Literary Gothic Historical Fiction
This didn't feel like horror to me although others have categorized it as such.
This is great world-building and atmosphere.
I wanted more suspense and danger and a faster pace. It was extremely slow.

[Debra]

My review for The Ghost Woods

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Phrynne]

My review of The Women at Ocean's End by Faith Hogan

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[PattyMacDotComma]

This is a curious short story of seduction by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Professor and the Siren. It's either inspired by, or a retelling of, some old myths. I've never read Lampedusa before.
My review of The Professor and the Siren with a link to where you can read it for yourself.

[Liz]

Never Flinch was decent but not my favorite Stephen King book. My 3.5 star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Brenda]

My review for To Save Her Husband by Ellie Midwood

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Random Spider (on a hiatus?)]

My review of Fairy Tale by Stephen King
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Faith]

My review of The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Mark]

My second book this week was A Murder Most Fowl by Carmela Dutra https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~]

Send Flowers by Emily Buchanan

Looks like a love story, and it is one. Not of the regular kind but the creepy kind. Mixed opinion.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...