The Guardian of Avlina by A.J. AvilaSeries: a standalonePublisher: self published (June 27, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS The Guardian of Avlina is a science fiction fantasy story that takes place on an island on an Earth-like, faraway planet called Avlina. Davin is the island’s king. His baby sister, Princess Carranda, is born under bizarre... Continue Reading →
Intersecting Dreams by Linda Edmister
Intersecting Dreams by Linda EdmisterSeries: Book 2 in Edmister’s Intersections seriesPublisher: Mister Ed Books (November 7, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS When I first heard of this book, contemporary issues like progressive sex ed in the classroom and a growing Muslim population in the Western world piqued my interest. Add a young woman, Rose, looking... Continue Reading →
Shanghai Road by Claire O’Sullivan
Shanghai Road by Claire O’SullivanSeries: Book 3 in the Whiskey River Mysteries seriesPublisher: Elk Lake Publishing (November 23, 2024) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS Shanghai Road is a Christian mystery and police procedural novel. It’s the third book in a series set in Whiskey River, Oregon, but it works perfectly well as a standalone. Allie is... Continue Reading →
The Ballad of Midnight and McRae by Jess Lederman
The Ballad of Midnight and McRae by Jess LedermanSeries: StandalonePublisher: Azure Star, LLC (July 24, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS This is going to be a divisive review for a divisive book because The Ballad of Midnight and McRae is a Christian Western with a gay protagonist. Matt is a contemporary man who tells the... Continue Reading →
The Feathered Bone by Julie Cantrell
The Feathered Bone by Julie CantrellSeries: StandalonePublisher: Thomas Nelson (January 26, 2016) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS Amanda is mother to Ellie and a chaperone for her daughter’s sixth-grade field trip to New Orleans. Ellie and Sarah are classmates and best friends. Sarah disappears on the field trip. Amanda and the teacher panic—they have LOST Sarah!... Continue Reading →
What the River Keeps by Cheryl Grey Bostrom
What the River Keeps by Cheryl Grey BostromSeries: StandalonePublisher: Tyndale Fiction (August 12, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS In this contemporary women’s fiction novel, thirty-four-year-old Hildy is a wildlife biologist in the state of Washington. She knows a lot about rivers and trees and fish, especially fish. When Hildy was little, she told her dad... Continue Reading →
To Love a Beast by Karen Witemeyer
To Love a Beast by Karen WitemeyerSeries: Once a Upon a Time in Texas, Book OneHope & Light Publishing, June 10, 2025 Review by Kelly Goshorn Disclaimer: Before I even picked up this novella, I knew I would love it. Karen Witemeyer is an auto buy author for me. Plus, I have enjoyed the author’s... Continue Reading →
The Light on Horn Island by Valerie Fraser Luesse
The Light on Horn Island by Valerie Fraser LuesseSeries: StandalonePublisher: Revell (April 29, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS The Light on Horn Island is a Christian, Southern, women’s-fiction story. This book! I loved it, and it bored me. First, the lovin’ part: Luesse infuses the story with Southern charm, quintessential Southern characters, precious multi-generational friendships,... Continue Reading →
The REUNION by Dan Walsh
The Reunion by Dan WalshSeries: StandalonePublisher: Bainbridge Press; 2nd edition (August 28, 2019)Review by Gwen M. Plano The Reunion by Dan Walsh is a story of interwoven journeys. The one constant is Aaron Miller, a maintenance man for a trailer park. When he returned from the Vietnam War, he was accompanied by PTSD and an addiction to... Continue Reading →