#BookReview: He Gets That From Me by Jacqueline Friedland

Synopsis: As a young mother with a toddler and a live-in boyfriend, Maggie Fisher’s job at a checkout counter in downtown Phoenix doesn’t afford her much financial flexibility. She dreams of going to college and becoming a teacher, options she squandered when she fled her family home as a teenager. When Maggie stumbles onto an ad offering thousands of dollars to women who are willing to gestate other people’s babies, she at first finds the concept laughable. Before long, however, she’s been seduced by all the ways the extra money could improve her life. Once she decides to go for it, it’s only a matter of months before she’s chosen as a gestational carrier by Chip and Donovan Rigsdale, a married couple from New York.

After delivering twin babies and proudly handing them off to the Rigsdales, Maggie finally gets her life on a positive trajectory: she earns her degree, lands a great job, and builds a family of her own. She can’t fathom why, ten years after the fact, the fertility clinic is calling to ask for a follow-up DNA test. 

This title will be released on September 14, 2021. 

#BookReview: The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz

Synopsis: Now the major motion picture INFINITE starring Mark Wahlberg

“For fans of The Matrix and Memento, a twisty, exciting adventure!” -Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series

Discovered as three notebooks in an antique store in Rome at the turn of the millennium, Infinite, previously published as The Reincarnationist Papers, offers a tantalizing glimpse into the Cognomina, a secret society of people who possess total recall of their past lives.

Evan Michaels struggles with being different, with having the complete memories of two other people who lived sequentially before him. He fights loneliness and believes he is unique until he meets Poppy. She recognizes his struggle because she is like him, except that she is much older, remembering seven consecutive lives. But there is something else she must share with Evan--she is a member of the secretive Cognomina. They are, in effect, immortals--compiling experiences and skills over lifetimes into near superhuman abilities that they have used to drive history over centuries.

Poppy invites Evan into the Cognomina, but he must face their tests before entering this mysterious society as their equal.

#BookReview: Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron

Synopsis: A young woman's escalating obsession with a seemingly perfect man leads her down a dangerous path in this novel of suspense brimming with envy, desire, and deception. 

Eyes aren't the windows to the soul. Emails are.

Cassie Woodson is adrift. After suffering an epic tumble down the corporate ladder, Cassie finds the only way she can pay her bills is to take a thankless temp job reviewing correspondence for a large-scale fraud suit. The daily drudgery amplifies all that her life is lacking--love, friends, stability--and leaves her with too much time on her hands, which she spends fixating on the mistakes that brought her to this point.

While sorting through a relentless deluge of emails, something catches her eye: the tender (and totally private) exchanges between a partner at the firm, Forest Watts, and his enchanting wife, Annabelle. Cassie knows she shouldn't read them. But it's just one look. And once that door opens, she finds she can't look away.

Every day, twenty floors below Forest's corner office, Cassie dissects their emails from her dingy workstation. A few clicks of her mouse and she can see every adoring word they write to each other. By peeking into their apparently perfect life, Cassie finds renewed purpose and happiness, reveling in their penchant for vintage wines, morning juice presses, and lavish dinner parties thrown in their stately Westchester home. There are no secrets from her. Or so she thinks.

Her admiration quickly escalates into all-out mimicry, because she wants this life more than anything. Maybe if she plays make-believe long enough, it will become real for her. But when Cassie orchestrates a "chance" meeting with Forest in the real world and sees something that throws the state of his marriage into question, the fantasy she's been carefully cultivating shatters. Suddenly, she doesn't simply admire Annabelle--she wants to take her place. And she's armed with the tools to make that happen.

#BookReview: Taming the Hot-Shot Doc by Susan Carlisle

Synopsis: He’s lost everything…
Dare he risk his heart?
When renowned Chicago surgeon Matt Chapman agreed to testify against a notorious crime family, he lost his family, his fiancée and his career. Now he hopes to start again in an idyllic Mississippi town. But his efforts to keep to himself are threatened by his new boss, Dr. Shay Lunsford, who seems just as alone as he is. Dare Matt get closer to Shay and risk his heart again?
 
“Ms. Carlisle wrote a wonderful, flirty, and enjoyable romance that should not be missed. She provided a tale rich with emotions, sizzling chemistry, vivid scenic descriptions, and realistic characters…. I highly recommend Reunited with her Daredevil Doc to other readers.”
-Goodreads
 
“…Susan Carlisle was quick to nab my heart in The Single Dad’s Holiday Wish. Great character interaction, several medical situations to heighten the drama and so many instances of pure holiday joy made this story a winner from start to finish! I highly recommend this book….”
-Goodreads

#BookReview: History Is Delicious by Josh Lurie

Synopsis: A delicious children’s book by Honest History uncovering the history of cuisine and culture from around the globe. 

From well-known cultures to those just being rediscovered, History Is Delicious explores the history of different dishes, cultural traditions, and even a few great recipes. What does Ethiopian cuisine look and taste like? Find out for yourself with each beautifully illustrated page that makes learning about food fun. Discover the role cuisine plays in the fabric of unique cultures from around the world and enjoy some great tasting food along the way. Featured sections include History of European Cuisine, Dining "Do's and Don'ts," Dumplings of the World, Recipes from Around the World, and so much more.

History for kids has never contained more adventure than in the new series by Honest History, History Is ________. Each book in the series presents a topic in a fun, engaging way that inspires kids to make a positive impact on history themselves. Dive into the world of Honest History with the first two books, History Is Inventive and History Is Delicious.

#BookReview: Song of Echoes (Song of Echoes #1) by @r_e_palmer

Synopsis: ‘All that has gone before is woven into the Song; joy, sorrow; kind acts and cruel acts; creation and destruction. Past, present, and what has yet to come, make themselves known — if you know how to listen.’

For three hundred years, the people of the Five Realms have lived in relative peace, protected by their great leader, the Archon. Yet, far to the north, in the frozen lands beyond the Draegalen Trench, the Ruuk stir, driven by a rising evil, long believed banished from the world. But rumors questioning the Archon’s ability to defend the realms once more, persist.

Elodi, the Lady Harlyn, uneasy in her new role following the death of her father, and Toryn, a farmworker and outsider in his village, must discover a way to fight an enemy that all but defeated their ancestors.

Song of Echoes is the first book in this epic fantasy series.