John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

A volatile drama touching on hidden trauma and the pain that binds us to those we love, That Which Remains: Reunion by M. Tess Ossenelli is an intense, emotionally intelligent work of romantic fiction. A doctor’s dark history resurfaces, triggered by a new family crisis and accompanied by long-buried guilt, but he is simultaneously offered an unexpected chance at redemption. With life-or-death stakes and vulnerable characters that readers will find easy to support, this novel spills over with internal struggle. Capturing emotional turmoil in a believable way is a challenge, but Ossenelli hits the mark time and again. Some of […]

With a tongue-in-cheek attitude and razor-sharp wit, The Pop Tart Insurrection by Marcus Herzberg is an over-the-top drama about the struggles of teenage life, and the drastic measures one may take to change things for the better. A manic stream of consciousness from a minor league megalomaniac, this fast-paced, tangent-tossing ride somehow turns the tables on its own protagonist, revealing flaws in his thinking, behavior, and reactions to all the disappointments and harsh realities of growing up. Being at the center of one’s own universe can be a lonely place, and in this sardonic yet incisive novel, that curse of […]