Book Review - Some Like It Scot

Sometimes home is where you find it. Katie Campbell has been globetrotting since her grandparents’ deaths, untethered and free, a social media star for her travel adventures and misadventures. A three week Edwardian Experience in Scotland is eccentric, but right up her alley. A thieving parrot and a tumble into the loch are hairy situations that make perfect stories for her followers; it is the #hotScot that whips them into a frenzy, though. And for some reason, Graeme MacKerrow seems to be present for every misadventure, seeing her only in the worst possible light while saving her life time and again. If only he was not so grumpy. And so infernally hot.

Some Like It Scot is heavy on the grump, the #hotScot and misadventure. Pepper Basham has created a community of quirky, lovable characters and brought them together in a spellbinding setting with experiences, both Edwardian and modern, that weave them together like the sturdiest plaid. A fair amount of frustration, a good bit of humor, and the nicest bit of heat make this a fun story to read about finding home, even when you did not realize you were searching for it. If you are looking for a fun romp with a good heart, a handful of humor and a dash of sweet heat, Some Like It Scot is a great pick.

Some Like It Scot by Pepper Basham will be available April 8, 2025 from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Book Review - Break My Fall

Break My Fall by Lynn H. Blackburn is a return to Gossamer Falls and our friends, the Quinn family. This time, Dr. Meredith Quinn has seen and heard too much during her trips to neighboring Neeson in her mobile dentistry van, a fact that becomes painfully obvious when she finds herself stranded on the side of the road with an empty gas tank that should have still been full. It is a good thing Chief Grayson Ward is nearby to save the day. But why is he sticking so close to Meredith, especially when he keeps pushing her away? Drugs and trafficking run rampant in the county next door, but Gray has a problem with letting crime run amok on his doorstep. Fortunately, he has allies in his fight. Unfortunately, the woman he cannot let himself love is in the crosshairs of the worst of the perpetrators. And we all know what happens to those carefully constructed walls when the people who construct them find themselves in the line of fire.

If you read Never Fall Again, you are already a member of the Gossamer Falls community and are practically a Quinn, as well. Meredith and Mo, Cal and Cassie, Donovan and Gray are our people and we know them. Of course, we also know something has got to give between Meredith and Gray. And happy dance of happy dances, we get just that in Break My Fall. Blackburn’s characters stick with you; they are vibrant and relatable, and it is easy to want good things for them. The tension is very real, both in the romance and in the action of trying to keep headstrong Meredith safe when her primary concern is taking care of others. And the romance is so sweet. Maybe I am just a sucker right now, but I think it is more likely that this book is just one of the most downright delicious romances I have read in I don’t know how long. No need to worry, though… Mo keeps it from getting too sappy. Because that is just gross. (By the way, now that my hopes for Meredith and Gray are fulfilled, i have turned my sights on Mo and Bronwyn. Someone has some explaining to do there!) I like when characters from parallel storylines converge, and I have a great appreciation for the way Blackburn weaves in some beloved characters from her other novels to give this one some extra depth. Break My Fall absolutely earns 5 stars, and also a little heart in the margin of my book tracking spreadsheet!

Break My Fall by Lynn H. Blackburn, the second book in the Gossamer Falls series, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Pharisee’s Wife

It is widely accepted that Janette Oke books would be selected by readers based solely on the author’s name. After all, Oke is the origin point for many readers’ passionate journey through inspirational fiction. Her days on my must-read list stem from my early teen years, back when my grandmother purchased her novels via mail order and tried faithfully to keep up with my appetite for her clean and uplifting prose. In that spirit, I pounced on her latest release and savored it from cover to cover.

The Pharisee’s Wife unfolds methodically and in an unhurried pace, as the tale is told of a young girl who is given a high honor she does not want and must make what she will of it. Pulled from her family home and dumped into the home of a Pharisee in training who cares more for adulation than for her, Mary is then left to pick up the pieces and find her way forward when the unthinkable happens. This story of the early church is respectful and introspective. It is not surprising that the author’s note is as impactful as the novel itself. The urgency is not in the storyline, but in a decision each person must make at some point. And the climax of the story, well… Oke writes that (second) best, so you are just going to have to read The Pharisee’s Wife cover to cover to understand.

The Pharisee’s Wife by Janette Oke is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Storm Warning

Storm season in the Pacific Northwest is particularly harrowing this year, as it finds Remi Grant facing her demons and running for her life. A chance run in with a foreign physicist has made her the target of arms dealers and government operatives hungry to get their hands on the dead man’s technology. Hiding was an effective strategy until it was not. Now the winds, waves, and storms pummeling her beloved coast are just added complications as she struggles to stay alive. Hawk Beckett is also a complication; he seems to arrive at just the right time and is oddly attached to Remi, unless there is an ulterior motive. Struggling to regain her memory seems more urgent when she cannot tell who to trust. But Hawk knows a thing or two about trust; learning that his brother and his mentor are both involved in this situation with Remi in one way or another is enough to shake all he thinks he knows.

Elizabeth Goddard knows romance and suspense. Storm Warning is no exception. With characters so well developed they feel like family and settings so vivid you cannot help but feel like you are there, Goddard pulls you in and holds your attention securely through the entire story. Storm Warning is a gutsy, action packed wallop that is the first in a series I can’t wait to continue.

Storm Warning, the first book in the Hidden Bay series by Elizabeth Goddard, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Serial Burn

It has been burning for a while now. Serial Burn is the third book in the Lake City Heroes series from Lynette Eason, and friends of the heroes have hoped for a bit of accelerant on the sparks flying between Jesslyn and Nathan. They both know a thing or two about fire; one claimed the lives of her family when she was a child, leading her to pursue a career that would allow her to someday find the person who killed her parents and sisters. He holds his fire related secret close, along with the guilt and shame burned on his soul. Their personal tragedies and perceptions are a wall of flames between them and should stay that way. But when fires start popping off around Lake City and someone starts targeting Jesslyn, things heat up in a way neither of them expects.

Jesslyn is not the only one well versed in fire, as Lynette Eason pens a well researched novel that engulfs the reader. Her knowledge allows the story to flow in a way that keeps the reader from tripping over technicalities and allows maximum enjoyment of the fast paced action paired with the slow burn romance. And of course, relatable characters are a keystone of an Eason novel, especially since we have been friends of the heroes for two books already and are fired up for the next. So, if those things are your jam, I recommend getting into Serial Burn. But if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!

Serial Burn, the third book in the Lake City Heroes series by Lynette Eason, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Indigo Heiress

With vivid descriptions of the locations and characters that tug your heartstrings, The Indigo Heiress grabs hold of the reader and keeps us enthralled from page one until the very last. Laura Frantz pens a fully immersive experience, beginning with the Virginia plantation where Juliet Catesby and her sister Loveday carry out the work necessary to maintain the legacy of their ancestors. Managing the tobacco, indigo, and social responsibilities with grace, the sisters also carry on a secret work that puts many lives in danger. However, Royal Vale, their beloved home, is in an entirely different kind of danger. The kind that sees a marriage of convenience as the only option, amidst the struggles of a Virginia planter on the brink of a revolutionary war. Leith Buchanan, is facing his own struggles. The kind that can hopefully be swept aside with a marriage that will shift the gossip and provide a mother for his twins. There is no time for affection in his life, therefore a marriage of convenience will do. Unfortunately, the Catesby sister he has chosen is less than thrilled with this prospect. Affectations and misunderstandings abound as Juliet and Leith learn to lean on each other through the trials they face.

This is a book best read with tissues at hand. The misunderstandings that build walls between Juliet and Leith, and the wounds that lie beneath the surface, are sometimes heartbreaking. And they are written so well that the reader feels each hurt keenly. But fear not, because the joys are sweet as the sadness is bitter, making for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

The Indigo Heiress by Laura Frantz is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine. 

Book Review - Midnight on the Scottish Shore

Cilla van der Zee is trapped. As a member of the Dutch resistance, her role is to infiltrate the Dutch Nazis and gather information for the underground newspaper. But the cost is too high and Cilla too headstrong to follow her cousin’s advice, which is how Cilla becomes a Nazi spy, and how she ends up in Scotland. The mythical creature washed up on the shore near Lachlan Mackenzie’s home is a threat to his sanity and his nation’s welfare, which is why he promptly turns her over to the authorities. When Cilla and Lachlan are forced to work together to advance the Allied mission, they must find a way toward a tentative trust for the greater good. 

Sarah Sundin writes with a secretive urgency that one cannot resist when reading her work. The reader feels this and is tugged into the covert operations described within, hardly able to resist the need to churn ahead with the storyline as the characters develop and the reader develops feelings for the characters. It is not only Cilla and Lachlan slinking through the darkness to accomplish a great task for the greater good, but the reader is there in the moment, as well. I must also admit that the timing and Biblical theme of this novel coincides with my own study of the Beatitudes and packs a punch of truth with themes of mercy, forgiveness and freedom, which both increases my understanding of those themes and enjoyment of this invigorating novel.

Midnight on the Scottish Shore by Sarah Sundin is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.