Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Hiding in Third Person by Phil Bradley

★★★★★

Hiding in Third Person is a riveting coming-of-age tale by talented author, Phil Bradley. It sucks in the reader from the very first paragraph and doesn’t let go.

Ricky is a young orderly at the Cumberland County Asylum for the Mentally Ill, which he jokingly refers to as Cumberland County Psycho Spa and Dude Ranch. An intern asks Ricky to sit with a new patient, known only as Mr. River. It’s Ricky’s job to listen to anything the patient has to say. Soon, Mr. River haltingly begins to tell Ricky a story about an unlikely friendship between two young […]

Review: Native Girl Rites by Indigo Cox

Native Girl Rites by Indigo Cox

Tragedy and loss are inescapable, especially for women at the bottom of the social pecking order, which is movingly portrayed in Native Girl Rites by Indigo Cox.

Mari is no stranger to pain. She lost her mother, a nurse, to a botched procedure after the color of her skin and gender forced her into an inescapable position. Her grandmother passed down native traditions to give her strength as a woman. Her father offered safe abortions so no one else in their town would have to grieve such as senseless loss, as he had. But Mari’s grandmother passes on, and her […]

Mindy Hood2019-02-11T09:20:42+02:00September 4th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

True Mercy by Idelle Kursman

Combining a father’s love for his Autistic son and the dangerous world of human trafficking, True Mercy by Idelle Kursman draws you in immediately, making it hard to stop reading.

An unassuming hero, Bruce Hitchens is thrust into the role of sole caregiver to his adult son, Adam, after his wife passes away. While still trying to get his footing in his new role, Marina, who has escaped from a human trafficking ring, shows up on his doorstep, scared and unsure of who to trust. The three of them embark on a journey that is both heartwarming and full of […]

SPR2019-01-11T14:52:45+02:00August 28th, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Preacher’s Wife by Beverly Mitchell Dodd

Life is a series of difficult choices and nowhere is that better illustrated than in Preacher’s Wife, a work of women’s fiction by author Beverly Mitchell Dodd.

Abigail (Gailey) Serenson is a minister’s daughter who has seemingly led a sheltered life – one that tragically changes at age sixteen when her mother, father and older sister are killed in a bus accident. She’s sent to live with her older brother and his wife but Abigail impulsively marries Joshua Murphy, an assistant minister, shortly after meeting him. After ten years of marriage and three children, Abigail isn’t like most ministers’ […]

Marta Cheng2017-08-22T06:52:42+02:00August 21st, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: It Is Myself That I Remake by Jaclyn Maria Fowler

From great heartache comes even greater happiness and fulfillment…such is the message beautifully conveyed in It is Myself That I Remake, a hauntingly evocative love story by Jaclyn Maria Fowler.

Sophie O’Connor is the only child of Kerry O’Connor, an Irish-American high school English teacher, and Maggie O’Connor, an American professor of literature. With both parents being literary academics who revere the classics, especially Yeats, it’s no surprise that Sophie is able to finish lines from her father’s favorite Yeatsian verses by age six. From a very young age, Sophie has an imaginary friend who she speaks to all […]

Marta Cheng2019-02-11T08:52:24+02:00July 13th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, International Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Stainer by Iolanthe Woulff

Stainer by Iolanthe Woulff Stainer by Iolanthe Woulff follows the life of Ben Steiner, a precocious but terminally uncool college student living in 1970’s New York City. Beginning on his 21st birthday, he meets the girl of his dreams, as well as the dynamic P.T. Deighland who’s a magnetic presence but doesn’t always have Ben’s interests at heart. As Ben awakens to new experiences, and struggles with breaking free from his conservative upbringing, his desire for acceptance may just end up being his downfall.

Though the cover might suggest that this is a political novel, this is a true coming of age novel – […]

SPR2019-01-22T04:36:18+02:00July 6th, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: A Killer’s Grace by Ronald Chapman

Many people seek out books as a form of escape – a chance to leave the world behind and live in another person’s thoughts for a time. In A Killer’s Grace, author Ronald Chapman introduces readers to a life they probably don’t understand, but the difficult, probing and personal questions raised throughout this book don’t leave readers much room to escape.

From the very first chapter, we are introduced to Kevin Pitcairn and Daniel Davidson, a journalist and a serial killer, the two key characters that drive this story forward. It all begins with a letter from Davidson, pleading […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-02-11T08:40:41+02:00June 28th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Crime Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Back Side of a Hurricane by Robert Schwab

★★★★

Tucker Nash’s life is about to be hit by a hurricane. As an actual hurricane heads towards South Carolina, Tucker learns that his wife is suffering from a crippling depression that could upend his marriage. When they go to couple’s therapy it unearths more than issues with their marriage. Tucker remembers one of the only good times he had with his father, which sends him on a journey to mend his life. When he meets a car mechanic named Earl Pitney on his travels, he might just bring another man down with him. Like a hurricane, if the wind […]

Lysa Grant2017-06-28T04:31:48+02:00June 27th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|