#BookReview: Darkness Births the Stars by @authorsarahleewohn

Synopsis: Their forbidden love tore the world apart.

Now two broken gods might be the only ones able to heal it.

Haunted by his past and the evil forces he commanded, Noctis, once the God of Darkness, cannot forget Rada, the former Goddess of Light—and the queen who ruled at his brother’s side. Condemned to mortality, thought dead to the whole world, Noctis craves one last meeting …

Stripped of her magic and exiled for treason, Rada has built an idyllic new life on a farm at the edges of the realm. But her peace is shattered one stormy night when Noctis—the enemy who caused her downfall, the lover she betrayed in turn—appears at her door, wounded and desperate.

When a sinister attack reveals the powers of Chaos are stirring once more, Noctis’s dark past begins to unravel. As desire and duty entwine, Rada faces an impossible choice. Can she become the ally of the man who broke her heart to save everything she holds dear?

Inspired by Nordic mythology, this first book in a series follows star-crossed lovers, their fall from grace and their quest for redemption. Sizzling, tension-filled romance, high-stakes magical battles, and morally-grey characters make this the perfect read for fans of Gild, The Cruel Prince and When the Moon Hatched.

Are you prepared to touch the Darkness?

#BookReview: A Land So Wide by Erin A. Craig

Synopsis: Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious lumber merchant, the village is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous—but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks’ pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds—monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken’s founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence: the Warding Stones that surround the town will keep the Bright-Eyeds out—and the town’s citizens in. Anyone who spends a night within Mistaken’s borders belongs to it forever.

Greer, a mapmaker and eccentric dreamer, has always ached to explore the world outside, even though she knows she and her longtime love, Ellis Beaufort, will never see it. Until, on the day she and Ellis are meant to finally begin their lives together, Greer watches in horror as her beloved disappears beyond the Warding Stones, pursued by a monstrous creature. Determined to rescue Ellis, she figures out a way to defy Mistaken’s curse and begins a trek through the cold and pitiless wilderness. But there, Greer is hunted, not only by the ruthless Bright-Eyeds but by the secret truths behind Mistaken’s founding and her own origins.

Playfully drawing from Scottish folklore, Erin A. Craig’s adult debut is both a deeply atmospheric and profoundly romantic exploration of freedom versus security: a stunning celebration of one woman's relentless bravery on a quest to reclaim her lost love—and seize her own future.

#AudiobookReview: Wild Reverence (Letters of Enchantment #0) by Rebecca Ross

Synopsis: Dear Matilda, I wrote.

I let the words flow for her.
And when the ink dried,
I gave my very heart
to the fire.

Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic she uses to carry words and letters through the realms. But the gods will kill for power, and Matilda holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest allies.

And there is a mortal who dreams of her, though they have never met in the waking world. Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life—begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. His request went unanswered, and Vincent became a hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda . . . until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.

Matilda and Vincent were fated to find each other beyond dreams. But to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, Matilda will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: finally allowing herself to be loved.

#BookTour: Montana Matrimonial News by #CandaceSimar @RABTBookTours #Giveaway

Historical Fiction

Date Published: 10-07-2025

Publisher: NorthStar Press

Loneliness gnaws and chews like the relentless prairie wind. Dakota homesteader, Digger Dancy, props his feet in the oven and waits for the storm to end. His brother, George, barges into the soddy in a swirl of blowing snow. George announces he will abandon his claim to seek a wife. He can’ t stand the loneliness. Digger slaps a stack of old newspapers on the table and convinces him to place an ad for a correspondence bride in the Montana Matrimonial News. Doctor Gamla, the almost-doctor and midwife, treats George’ s frostbite, and offers a cure for his melancholia. She tells of two sisters living in tar-paper shacks along the Mad Dog River. The brothers cannot imagine how Doctor Gamla’ s cure will change their lives. Nickelbo’ s whole world is wheat. The homesteaders talk about crops, worry about the weather, complain about prices, and dream what they’ ll buy after the harvest. Asa Wainwright busts sod with a grasshopper plow. Ingrid Larson dallies over planting to avoid her sister’ s wedding. Drunken Oscar Borgom gets lost in a storm on the way to the outhouse. Through it all, Doctor Gamla delivers babies, treats ailments, and offers advice. “My cures work if you can stand them."

#BookReview: Honeyeater by Kathleen Jennings

Synopsis: A richly imagined dark fantasy that pulses with the beautiful destruction of a town reclaimed by the natural world.

Sub-tropical Bellworth is founded on floodplains and root-bound secrets. And Charlie, remarkable only for vanished friends and a successful sister, plans to leave for good, just as soon as he deals with his dead aunt’s house. Then Grace arrives, desperate, with roses pressing up through her skin, and drags Charlie into the ghost-choked mysteries of Bellworth, uncovering the impossible consequences of loss and desire — and a choice Charlie made when he was a boy. But peeling back the rumors and lies that cocoon the suburb disturbs more than complacent neighbors and lost souls. And Charlie and Grace are forced to a decision that threatens not only their lives, but all they believed those lives could be.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

#BookTour: USA v RAJ by @jeniferdebellis @RABTBookTours

The Truth Behind One of This Nation’s Biggest False Arrest & Imprisonment Scandals

Political Nonfiction

Date Published: September 11, 2025

USA v Raj is a MUST READ, INSPIRING TRUE STORY now available in paperback with a motion picture by BOLLYWOOD HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION coming summer 2026. This tell-all memoir dares to share the truth behind one of the biggest federal false arrest and imprisonment scandals of the decade. This is a story about federal government corruption and a broken judiciary that turns innocent people into convicted criminals with their unchecked power and weaponized obsession with winning at any cost. This is also an innocent man's story of gratitude, steadfast faith, and endurance to persevere until the end of a war waged against him. Imagine being an immigrant from India who worked hard and lived by integrity for 50 years to achieve his American dream. Then, imagine waking up one morning to an indictment that leads to a three-and-a-half-year period of unlawful detention and torture. The pages within retrace my journey to become a renowned surgeon, interventional pain specialist, and activist for just causes and my fight to survive my false arrest and 1301-day imprisonment, which led to a unanimous acquittal by a jury at trial. May you be encouraged as this story leads you through the many twists and turns of a grueling experience marked by trials, tribulations, and, ultimately, triumphs.

HOW COULD THIS INJUSTICE HAPPEN IN AMERICA?

1. It is alarming that anyone can be indicted by a grand jury and arrested solely based on the government's allegations that exclude the accused and their counsel from being present or even aware of the accusations.

2. The FBI and U.S. Attorney built their alleged fraud case without ever doing a single required Medicare audit in their five-year investigation.

3. Once arrested, the five other defendants with the same exact charges were immediately released on bond the same day. While I was denied bail and imprisoned for three-and-a-half years awaiting trial—a violation of the 6th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the right to a speedy trial.

4. Also, the two defendants who accepted a PLEA DEAL in exchange for leniency never spent a single night in prison despite their admission of guilt. I chose to go to trial and was unanimously acquitted by a 12-member jury on all 54 counts, yet still I spent 1301 days in prison.

YES, THIS HAPPENED IN AMERICA. NEXT COULD BE ANYBODY, YOU INCLUDED.

The very bedrock of U.S. justice has been turned upside down, where the belief that you are INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY has become you are GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT. I have just one question for the guardians of justice: How will my own government return back the time and milestones they stole from me, my wife, and my daughter? Such injustices happen in banana republics not in America, the most powerful and oldest democracy in the world. WE MUST DO BETTER.

#BookReview: Save You (Maxton Hall #2) by Mona Kasten & Rachel Ward (translator)

Synopsis: The second book in the international bestselling Maxton Hall series—now an Amazon Prime streaming series—in English for the first time.

After all the hurt between them, will they be able to find their way back to each other?

Ruby Bell thought that she and James Beaufort had something special. She’s never had such strong feelings for someone. And after his betrayal, she’s also never felt this much hurt. Ruby just wants her old life back before she knew anyone at Maxton Hall, before she knew James. She used to be able to rely on her studies to keep her focused, but school is no longer a refuge—not when she sees James everywhere. But she has to stay on track, especially with university looming over them and the uncertainty of what the future holds.

Despite everything, Ruby wants to support James as he struggles with his father’s expectations of him taking over the family business. But she makes one thing very clear: she is not willing to forgive him or give him a second chance. As love and hate compete for Ruby's heart, James will try everything he can to win her back.