Women's Fiction Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Liberty and Means by Kristin Dow

Liberty and Means by Kristin Dow is about Shannon, who’s being stalked, or so she thinks, and finds instead that she’s come into a financial windfall from a sweepstakes company. Once her monetary needs are met, will this free her up to fully discover herself, or shine a brighter light on her problems? The answer is a little of both. And how will other people react to her good fortune? The novel is a thoughtful and engaging character study with the pace of a thriller, including a number of surprising plot twists along the way.

Dow’s Shannon doesn’t fall into […]

Lysa Grant2016-02-26T10:41:50+02:00February 26th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The House Guest by Deborah L. Norris

★★★★ The House Guest by Deborah L. Norris

The House Guest by Deborah L. Norris follows the life of Maggie Davis, a middle-aged widow living in a large Victorian home in 1950’s Nebraska with her daughter. The house also doubles as a bed and breakfast, so new boarders come in and out who gather around Maggie’s kitchen table for conversations about life and the latest gossip. As Maggie is still recovering from her husband’s tragic death, she has a lot to contend with in her own life, but she’s also a keen observer of her visitors. A scheme to swindle Maggie out of her property leads to […]

Lysa Grant2016-03-04T02:39:49+02:00February 3rd, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: What She Knew by Nadine Galinsky Feldman ★★★★★

What She Knew by Nadine Galinsky Feldman What She Knew, by Nadine Galinsky Feldman, is an insightful and thought-provoking peek into the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

Liz Nabor is driven, intelligent, and ambitious. She’s built a successful Wall Street career, has a gorgeous boyfriend, and enjoys a glamorous Manhattan lifestyle. Then the financial crisis hits. But that’s not all. Liz has to leave New York in the midst of the financial meltdown for a family emergency. While in Washington Bernie Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme is discovered and Liz finds herself in the heart of the scandal.

Can she survive? And can her aunt’s past in the financial […]

T B Markinson2016-02-09T07:43:21+02:00January 28th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Spare Me the Drama by Karen Tomsovic ★★★★

Spare Me the Drama: A City Lights Romance Book 1, by Karen Tomsovic, is a heart-warming story about second chances.

Martin Leon has a lot on his plate. His wife died from a tragic accident and now he’s supporting eight kids. He’s the head writer of a daytime soap opera. His responsibilities at home and at work are equally demanding. He realizes he nearly forgot to invite Roxanne to a birthday party for one of the kids.

Roxanne Hunter, a former actress on the soap opera, is now a successful business woman. However, she’s been unfortunate in love and […]

T B Markinson2019-01-22T05:58:17+02:00December 30th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Chick Lit Book Reviews, Romance Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Finding Maslow by Susan Lee Walberg ★★★★

Finding Maslow by Susan Lee Walberg Finding Maslow is a touching literary novel about the lives of people affected by Hurricane Sandy. It centers around Justina, a somewhat-hapless law student and politician’s daughter, who gets trapped in her house with the handyman, Daniel, during the storm. Her home is spared, but the neighborhood is in shambles, and her father doesn’t quite approve of her budding romance with Daniel, who he considers beneath her. It’s a story about overcoming adversity in both the small details of your life and during major life-changing events.

Walberg’s writing is clean and precise, and she shows great empathy for all of […]

Lysa Grant2016-01-06T04:26:40+02:00December 16th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Thirty Days to Thirty by Courtney Psak

Thirty Days to Thirty is a fun and emotionally-charged novel about a woman who’s just approaching thirty who loses everything: In the space of a few hours she gets fired from her job and then finds her boyfriend of six years has been cheating on her. Just when she thought her whole life was coming together and she was on the right track, everything falls apart, and instead finds herself living again with her parents. And so she gets innovative: she finds an old list of things she hoped to accomplish before she turned thirty, and with a few friends […]

Lysa Grant2015-10-07T06:12:51+02:00October 7th, 2015|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Chick Lit Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Angels Play Pianos by Pat Estelle

★★★½

Angels Play Pianos by Pat Estelle tells the story of Jimmy, a child prodigy who is able to play Beethoven flawlessly at the age of five. Tragically, the book begins with his death, but the novel tells the tale of hope among the hardship of a troubled family.

The prose in Angels Play Pianos has a quiet grace – especially when describing the abusive father and husband, Edward. He’s truly infuriating and frustrating, but Estelle’s reserve in describing him manages to make him seem more menacing. There’s no anger or vitriol thrown his way; it’s a subtle take-down of […]

Henry Baum2016-03-04T04:24:43+02:00September 28th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Blue Sky (The Morrow Girls Series Book 2) by D. Bryant Simmons

Blue Sky, the second book in the Morrow Girls series, starts off where book one left off: after “Pecan” Marrow has struggled through an abusive marriage while trying to raise four dynamic girls, Blue Sky follows the life of the girls. The girls have broken spirits from their tumultuous upbringing, but they’re still plenty spirited. One by one, we learn the girls stories and how their past and family affected their present life. It’s not just a case of the girls against the world: it’s the girls against each other.