New Releases | Self-Publishing Review

Women of Wolfram Camp by Jenny Kroonstuiver

Women of Wolfram Camp by Jenny Kroonstuiver A wartime drama featuring a stunning quintet of protagonists, Women of Wolfram Camp by Jenny Kroonstuiver is a remarkable tale of fortitude and community solidarity in wartime.

Freshly widowed Felicity, seeking stability in a world suddenly turned upside down, answers a wanted ad for a waitress at Wolfram Camp, a mining camp on the northeast coast of Queensland. Matilda, liberated from the oppression of her husband who’s away in the conflagration of World War I, becomes an even more respected figure as the owner of a bustling guest house. Bringing what is today a ghost town back to gritty and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-11-08T18:17:16+02:00November 8th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction|

The Clock in My Head Never Stops by Daniel Rush

A raw account of a teenage boy battling the relentless weight of anxiety, The Clock in My Head Never Stops by Daniel Rush is a relatable and detailed portrait of silent struggle.

Readers follow Billy’s steps through a typical day of high school, where he overthinks every step of the way, from nerve-wracking moments of class participation and awkward upperclassmen crushes to the self-doubt of team sports and emotional disconnection from seemingly oblivious parents. His unwanted and obsessive focus on time, expectations, potential disappointments, failures, or embarrassment goes beyond the typical worries of most teenagers, crossing into the realm of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-11-05T13:13:18+02:00November 5th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Young Adult Book Reviews|

Tales for Tra-La-La Day by Steve Michael Reedy, Illustrated by Tom Fee

Tales for Tra-La-La Day by Steve Michael Reedy A fanciful collection of short stories centered around an imaginative fictional holiday, Tales for Tra-La-La Day by Steve Michael Reedy is a magical anthology of festive fables.

From stories about the origins of a sacred song to dire parables about overconsumption and greed, each story adds a new and intriguing facet to this tall tale of a town, bursting with the energy of a beloved fairy tale realm in the making. “The Iceling Queen” is one of the most touching pieces in the collection, providing a compelling backstory for the creative holiday, but each story has the gleam of brilliance […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-11-04T16:24:14+02:00November 4th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Alpha Beta Gamma by Malabika Ray

Alpha Beta Gamma by Malabika Ray A bookish physicist taps into her sleuthing skills in Alpha Beta Gamma by Malabika Ray, the engaging first book in The Diary of a Sloppy Sleuth series.

When Sri’s respected colleague mysteriously dies in his university lab, this curious and independent scientist lends her impressive brain and true-crime obsession to the hunt for justice. Half a world away but tangled in the mess of this case, the murder of a young Iranian protester has sparked an unlikely plot for revenge that could plunge the country into chaos. As Sri digs into the professor’s death, and butts heads with an arrogant […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-10-28T17:04:39+02:00October 28th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Cake, Lemonade and Sprinkles by Aishah Hight

Cake, Lemonade and Sprinkles by Aishah Hight A quick and charming children’s book about being yourself, Cake, Lemonade and Sprinkles by Aishah Hight offers a bright burst of wisdom for young readers.

It’s London’s birthday, and while all of her friends have come up with great ideas for costumes to wear to the party, London doesn’t feel particularly inspired. Debating whether to imitate her friends or choose a costume that will please her mother, London is worried that she’ll be embarrassed at her own celebration. London’s mom encourages her to dream up a costume that feels true to her identity, and not necessarily what other people may […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-10-18T15:18:01+02:00October 18th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Fury in Her Eyes by Phillip Vega

Fury in Her Eyes by Phillip Vega An intensely personal drama, Fury in Her Eyes by Phillip Vega is a thrilling and unpredictable portrait of connection, resentment, and romance that refuses to die.

Ollie Morales is living out his high-stakes dream as a professional photojournalist when a mob of Trump supporters nearly beats him to death on January 6^th, 2021, sending his life into chaos. While he assumes that the explosion of violence was random, it gradually becomes clear that what happened to him was no accident.

Thirty years earlier, Ollie had been a normal high school senior, a photographer on the school paper, and […]

SPR2024-10-14T08:31:30+02:00October 14th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

The Scheme by Amethyst Drake

The Scheme by Amethyst Drake When Olivia Ames, the brilliant daughter of a domineering CEO, goes missing, Katherine Carson and her crack team of private eyes reluctantly join the hunt in The Scheme by Amethyst Drake, a gritty and gripping first installment of the Carson Crime Files series.

Locating an uber-rich runaway is not the typical Carson Investigations case, but the deeper they dig, the more sinister the trail becomes. Olivia had a wildly promising future in the profitable realm of bio-printing research, and appears to have caught the attention of some powerful people, leading to a tangle of motives, family members, red herrings, suspects, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-09-26T18:57:35+02:00September 26th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Mystery Book Reviews|

A Piece of My Heart by Katherine P. Stillerman

A Piece of My Heart by Katherine P. Stillerman The fifth book in the precisely crafted and well-researched Barton Family Series, A Piece of My Heart by Katherine P. Stillerman is a heartfelt tribute to the resilience of women during World War II.

When Will breaks off his promise to marry her, Hattie is absolutely shattered. However, little does she knows that after several decades – during which Will moved to Shanghai with another woman as his wife, and Hattie built a family with a man she grew to love – their paths will cross again. Middle-aged, mature, and both recently widowed, Hattie and Will’s love resurfaces stronger […]

Marina Dora Martino2024-09-24T10:50:51+02:00September 24th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, World War II Book Reviews|