Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Mom On The Road by Allyson Primack ★★★

Mom On The Road, by Allyson Primack, is a humorous look into the life of Maggie Stevens.

When Maggie Stevens turned forty, something unexpected happened. She went on the road as her son’s guardian, who was part of a Broadway show touring America. Maggie doesn’t know what to expect. What she finds is herself.

The most enjoyable aspect of this novel is Maggie. She’s neurotic, insecure, energetic, and entertaining. As she tells her story, she doesn’t hold back, including sharing her experience in a hotel bathroom with a vibrator. The reader is told everything that Maggie thinks and feels. […]

T B Markinson2017-03-24T11:08:41+02:00March 11th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: The Haunted Trail by John C. Lukegord

The Haunted Trail is the debut horror title by John C Lukegord, telling the tale of a streak of (fictional, or is it?) murders occurring in 1892 along an eponymous “haunted trail” in the backwoods of Dublin, perpetrated by the “crazy” and “inbred” mental patients et al that lurked within. The book covers several of these incidents, along with the actions of the community, a handful of ghosts, and an unfortunate clown. Together, the mystery of the haunted trail begins to unwind, but at what cost?

At first impressions, The Haunted Trail seems to be a a smorgasbord of mismatched […]

James Grimsby2015-04-29T08:19:50+02:00March 5th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews|

Review: The Flying Burgowski by Gretchen K. Wing ★★★★

The Flying Burgowski The Flying Burgowski by Gretchen K. Wing follows Joss Burgowski as she navigates life as a teenager who’s just turned fourteen, her dysfunctional family living on a small island in Washington, and…learning to fly. The Flying Burgowski is at once a sympathetic family drama and magical fantasy.

Overall, the novel is much more character driven than fantasy, which is one of its issues. Wing is a great writer (not to mention having a great name for a book about flying), but she takes too long with the drama of the book at the expense of the fantasy. There are likely […]

Lysa Grant2015-03-20T05:16:08+02:00March 4th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Stone Walls by A.M. Madden ★ ★ ★★

Stone Walls AM Madden’s latest romantic suspense novel Stone Walls is the story of NYPD cop Ben Stone. When Ben’s best friend and partner Rob’s girlfriend Andrea brings her best friend Ella Parker out to meet him on a foursome, he’s not ready for a serious girlfriend, and neither him nor Ella appreciate the matchmaking. Ella’s just out of a long-term relationship and Ben is having a casual thing that’s getting on his nerves.

Written in the first person, present tense from Ben and Ella’s point of view, this is pretty hardhitting writing: urban, gritty and realistic to the real way men […]

Lysa Grant2015-04-29T08:22:38+02:00March 3rd, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Romance Book Reviews|

Review: What to Do on a Rainy Day by Katie Tavella ★★★★

What to Do on a Rainy Day by Katie Tavella is a charming children’s book about how kids can use their imaginations when it rains. Two kids trudge to the basement on a rainy day and imagine the cardboard boxes, chairs and other items are safari animals. First the kids imagine the box is a cave, with a bear inside, and their imaginations explode from there. In engaging rhyming prose, the kids realize there’s a whole lot to do even when there isn’t a lot to do outside.

In the age of smartphones and endless TV, it’s a good reminder […]

Lysa Grant2015-03-18T11:05:11+02:00February 27th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Review: Aoleon The Martian Girl – Part 1 – First Contact By Brent LeVasseur ★ ★ ★ ★★

Aoleon The Martian Girl – First Contact is Part 1 of Brent Le Vasseur’s wonderfully illustrated Science Fiction Saga, which begins when young astronomy fan Gilbert wakes up in the night to witness a strange light sweeping across the crop fields of his next-door neighbor, Farmer Johnson’s farm in Nebraska.

Worries about his parents arguing make it hard for him to sleep, and so he ventures out – only to come face to face with the friendly Aoleon The Martian Girl, who is busying herself with making a crop circle in her flying saucer. As Gilbert makes first contact with […]

Cate Baum2015-03-13T03:04:29+02:00February 25th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Review: Robyn: Family Secrets by Glen R. Stott ★★★★

Robyn by Glen R. Stott, author of Dead Angels and Timpanogos, is the harrowing tale of sexual abuse in a Mormon family. Skipping between past and the present, it is an epic tale about how sexual abuse has affected people over generations, while the perpetrator has gotten away with it for so many years. Robyn acts as a kind of detective of her family, trying to uncover the awful truth about her grandfather, Joshua Godwin. Eventually, the full truth may be revealed.

At first I was left wondering why this book was written. Why the author, as a man […]

Henry Baum2017-03-24T06:24:45+02:00February 24th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Religious Fiction Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Blade’s Edge by Virginia McClain ★ ★ ★ ★★

Blade’s Edge, by Virginia McClain, is an excellent fantasy novel that will keep readers turning the pages.

The Kisōshi are elite warriors with elemental powers. They have ruled and protected the people of Gensokai for over a thousand years. The belief that there are no female Kisōshi is widespread and unquestioned by most. What the people don’t know is that the Rōjū ruling council has gone to great lengths to perpetuate this myth.

Mishi and Taka knew from a young age they were different from other girls. They also knew to keep their powers a secret. When they are […]

T B Markinson2015-03-19T05:02:30+02:00February 23rd, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|