Queen Dr. Emily Rath has once again written a beautiful (yet spicy) hockey romance with so much emotional depth, I find myself shocked. I loved this book so so much and I’m so sad that this series is almost over
Pucking Strong by Emily Rath, (List Price: $19.95, Kensington, 9781496752437, August 2025)
Reviewed by Ash Spaulding, Writers Block Bookstore in Winter Park, Florida
Pucking Strong by Emily Rath Read More »
I really enjoyed this book! I read Sorcery and Small Magics earlier in the month, and there was a recommendation for this book in the back. Well, Orbit, that worked because I read both! As a lover of conservation and zoology, this seemed right up my alley, and it was! Aila was a very well-written and believable portrait of anxiety, to an almost frustrating degree. But the growth she experienced throughout, being able to change her perceptions and grow in her career and community, was wonderful to see. I especially loved how her relationship development was paralleled by the relationship of the courting phoenixes in her care. The cast felt fleshed out and believable, I loved her friendship with Tanya which felt a lot like my own relationship with my best friend, whom I’ve known since college. Her crush on Connor and her rivalry with Luc were great starting points for growth over the course of the story. While I could see the twist coming and knew what the climactic confrontation would be, I did not mind it! MacLean dropped lots of little foreshadowing bits that I also didn’t see coming, and it all felt fresh and satisfying. The world’s pettiest gripe was that she was pulling so many late nights at work, but no one ever mentioned how the animals at her apartment were being cared for! Who was feeding her carbuncle and fern lizards and other critters? Overall though, I’d highly recommend this if you love animals and awkward women growing into their best selves.
The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean, (List Price: $19.99, Orbit, 9780316573092, August 2024)
Reviewed by Amanda White, Writers Block Bookstore in Winter Park, Florida
The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean Read More »
This is one of the best books I read this year. This story is about a friendship between two Yale college students who are members of a secret society they joined as seniors. From there, the book takes us on a forty year friendship that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that when we let people in at the most vulnerable and sincere place where we are in life, that we open our hearts and minds to the possibility that our lives will be enriched by the human connections we make.
We Should Not Be Friends by Will Schwalbe, (List Price: 29, Knopf, 9780525654933, February 2023)
Reviewed by Lauren Zimmerman, Writers Block Bookstore in Winter Park, Florida
We Should Not Be Friends by Will Schwalbe Read More »
A young girl is kidnapped from her German parents before the rise of the Nazis and is raised in the forest to protect her from becoming a Nazi. But even an attempt to shield her from her inevitable future is futile and she becomes enmeshed in Jewish refugees’ lives and becomes important to their survival. But interaction with others has its consequences and takes Yona on a complicated journey of finding herself and learning who she really is. The ending was poetic and left me wanting to understand more. As a side note, Kristin did a great job of explaining the historical background that inspired the book. Hands down, a different spin on the human condition and experiences during the Holocaust.
The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel, (List Price: 28, Gallery Books, 9781982158934, 2021-07-06)
Reviewed by Lauren Zimmerman, Writers Block Bookstore in Winter Park, Florida
The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel Read More »
The Push, a debut novel, is a psychological thriller that tells the tales of three generations of women who have been abused and are passing on their traumas to each other. The unsettling reality that Blythe finds herself in is her inability to know what a good mother is or how to become a good mother. She doesn’t have the confidence to trust her instincts. So, when she finally had her daughter, Violet, nothing seems to be the way it should, but how can she truly know. This book makes you think about how fragile mother-daughter relationships are and where struggles between them originated.
Blythe is trying to change the abuse sequences, but her husband is dismissive and provides no support. Thankfully she has a clue what it means to be a loving mother by her relationship with a neighbor growing up who could see her for the beautiful child she was. Kirkus Review wrote, “A finely wrought psychological study of motherhood and inherited trauma…not for the faint of heart; it offers no easy answers.” All I can say is that it has been a long time since the very last paragraph changed the entire book for me. I read this book in one sitting.
The Push by Ashley Audrain (List Price: $26.oo, Pamela Dorman Books, 9781984881663, January 5, 2021)
Reviewed by Lauren Zimmerman, Writers Block Bookstore in Winter Park, Florida
The Push by Ashley Audrain Read More »
