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In this powerful memoir, I Must Have Wandered: An Adopted Air Force Daughter Recalls, Mary Ellen Gambutti narrates the complicated journey to restoring her identity after adoption. Gambutti describes her upbringing, in turns idyllic and traumatic, through reconstructed memories, speculation, and vignettes, aided throughout by personal knowledge, letters, and other artifacts. While some generalizations dilute the memoir’s pointed focus on adoption, readers will be enlightened by Gambutti’s portrayal of an adoptee’s pervasive feelings of loss, impermanence, and abandonment. Gambutti explains how adoptees must stay hypervigilant, which takes center stage when she devotes herself to the search for her family of […]

In the emotive novel Karma, co-authors T. Kennington and C. Roth unravel an engrossing mystery of two women running from a traumatic past of violence and addiction. After narrowly escaping their own deaths, Micah and Rowan flee to L.A. where they run a nightclub and find solace in unexpected love. The third-person perspective successfully cultivates a cagey tone, drawing readers into this decidedly dark take on romance, which dives into a number of difficult subjects, such as physical and emotional abuse. When the pair meet their matches in Caden and Declan, the savior-complex is somewhat disappointing for such fiercely […]

A young adult sci-fi fantasy replete with superpowers and interdimensional aliens, Diana Williams’ Alora Factor: Invasion of the Realm Jumpers is also a surprisingly down-to-earth story, as teenagers and adults alike grapple with changes ranging from the personal and social to the global and metaphysical. In this sensitively crafted YA read, thirteen-year-old Alora must come to terms with her own frighteningly powerful new gift, while fighting a body-snatching alien invasion and looking out for her family and friends. Strong, diverse, relatable characters each bring something unique to this well-woven story, interspersed with world-saving action, which will leave readers eager for […]

Path of the Bearers and Other Stories by Nicholas Licalsi is a creative collection of seventeen science fiction tales that test the ingenuity and limitations of both man and machine – an orphan who grows to 1200 pounds eating pizzas in a spaceship, dangerous multi-limbed creatures, orbs that hold every child’s purpose, and humanized computers are among the original inventions that populate these stories. Thematically linking explorations into outer space and the examination of the interior space of human emotion and fallibility, Licalsi’s stories are uniquely varied and inventive. Several pieces would gain strength from more plot development and less […]

A woman struggles with a mysterious disease, a difficult marriage, and clandestine affairs in Metamorphosis by Isabella MacLeod, an original work that veers into supernatural fiction, erotica, and psychological thriller. The novel chronicles the life of Miranda, who is in a desperate search for someone who can provide a cure for the painful, debilitating, and often grotesque symptoms that threaten to dismantle her life as a nurse, wife, and mother. The story is compelling in its originality and creativity, but it is hampered by grammatical issues and a first-person narrator who is somewhat hard to follow given the abrupt transitions […]

Countess Joliette de Verzat is determined to preserve the legacy of her family’s vineyard in Debra Borchert’s captivating novel, Her Own Legacy, the first book in the Château de Verzat series. The young Countess fearlessly navigates the obstacles of her destiny – duty to the Queen, laws prohibiting her inheritance, a forbidden love, the discovery of an illegitimate brother, and war. When the French Revolution erupts, armed and hungry citizens march towards the Versailles palace – leaving the formidable Joliette to battle for her Verzat legacy, life, and love. With an equally eloquent and dynamic tone, the novel is […]

An action-packed work of paranormal fantasy, The Three Witches and The Three-Headed Dagger by Henry Regnault is a master class in world-building, character creation, and finely drawn action scenes. Cadence Mage is an accomplished demon hunter and suspects the three-headed dagger – a fierce weapon that feeds on its victims – may be the cause of a spate of murders of young women. Mixing contemporary reality with ancient fantasy lore, Regnault immediately immerses readers in this grisly and occasionally graphic story with well-drawn characters and original magic. The prose is sometimes too reliant on dialogue, but overall this is a […]