Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

Six Months by Mona Sedrak is an emotional tale of a woman who must find her strength within to survive and rise from the ashes that was once her life. To say that this is an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement, considering that the author had me on the verge of tears multiple times. The struggles of Mikala Jacobson felt so real at times and I had to pause and stop myself before reading further. This is an intense read with many emotional turns and longing for love that just bleed onto the pages.

This is the story of Mikala Jacobson, a woman who is left to rebuild her life once it was torn down by death, betrayal and lies. There was a time when she had everything; a loving husband, a beautiful daughter and the best friends any person could ask for. However, when her daughter passes away and she finds out bitter truths about her husband, she finds that she never really had the life she thought she did. When the façade broke down, she was left with the ashes of a life she wished she'd had. At her lowest, her friends came to her rescue. When Jake comes forward to help her rebuild her life and make some space for love in her life once again, Mikala finds it hard to let Jake in. Will she give Jake the chance to prove that she can love once again?

This is a brilliant novel that I took time reading. I didn’t want to rush it and I wanted to savor every single word. Mikala’s struggle felt real and as if it was my own. The multiple points of view and the fragmented narrative was enough to make me read on. I enjoyed how the author let Mikala grow and become her own person. She breathed and become a real person in my mind and I could almost imagine her face in my mind. I loved this novel! This is one of the best novels I have read this year.

Reviewed by Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite

Beneath the Flames by Gregory Lee Renz is a mesmerizing story that brims with life and humanity, a story that explores themes of race, love, family, and an adventure within the firefighting department that evokes hope and personal transformation. Mitch Garner is a young farmer and volunteer firefighter who experiences a tragic event and, driven by guilt, leaves his small town in Wisconsin for Milwaukee, seeking to prove his worth and redeem himself. But new challenges await him, including a challenging firefighting assignment in the heart of a busy and dangerous city. When he meets Jasmine Richardson through the mentoring program where he is assigned to teach her younger sister, a new path opens before him. Follow his story as he navigates a delicate dilemma, torn between moving back home to life with his high school sweetheart or risking his life trying to protect Jasmine from a dangerous gang.

Told in a voice that is strong and filled with compassion, Gregory Lee Renz's story demonstrates characters with depth. They are richly developed and with deep psychological and emotional layers. The internal conflict is so brilliantly handled, reflecting the struggle of the protagonist with guilt and his quest for redemption. The prose is gorgeous and, from the very beginning, the author had me captivated by the wonderful imagery and the lyrical nature of the story. “Mitch Garner had been mowing row after mind-numbing row of hay since early morning…” is one of the phrases that offer insight into the life of the protagonist and this manner of expression deepens the narrative and builds the connection between readers and the characters.

Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

This Second Chance by D.L. Finn is the story of a woman who finally got her second chance at love; however, there seem to be unseen forces that don't want her to be happy. This is the story of Rachael Battaglia, a woman who has seen the real hardships of a bad marriage. After years of living with an abusive husband, she runs away one night with her two kids and the one that was unborn at that time. She ran away and finally found the man whom she truly loves and who loves her back.

Now newly married, she is as happy as one could be. But her happiness is destroyed when she receives a snow globe as a wedding present. Although innocent, the snow globe reminds her of her ex-husband. Rattled, but determined, she pushes it out of her mind and starts preparing to go on her honeymoon in Hawaii. But should she do that? Is this a sign that something bad is going to happen? She has no idea that she has an Angel with her, but even that Angel cannot save her from the evil that is after her.

I loved it! I'm a fan of D.L. Finn and I especially love her children's books. This Second Chance is very different from what I have read from her and I really liked it. The story was intense, interesting and really well crafted. This is a fast paced novel that had me on the edge of my seat. I was rooting for Rachael and wanted for her to get her happy ending. This was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Reviewed by Sarah Stuart for Readers' Favorite

Ghosts in Sunlight by Gretta Curran Browne is an epic story that spans forty-four years, the class divide between an aristocratic family and a young woman brought up in an orphanage, and the countries of France, America, England, Vietnam, and Sweden. It is a story of obsession – passionate love of people and power, greed and immorality, and implacable, unforgiving hatred. It opens in Paris, a beautiful city despoiled by conquering Nazis, with the sixteen-year-old daughter of a wealthy jeweler, Philippe Castineau. Jacqueline, dressed as a boy and pretending idiocy, joins the French Resistance and kills without mercy. Married, she lives for her son, Marc, whom she sees as a true Castineau. Marc lives on only in letters written to him in Vietnam by Marian – lover, mother, and widow – and the flashback memories of Nam veteran, Marc's friend, Jimmy Overman. Will Jacqueline meet her match in Marc and Marian’s son?

Steeped in literature as one might expect of writers and publishers, invaded by the music of each decade, and gloriously multicultural, Ghosts in Sunlight is the book out of countless thousands I have read that made me, like Phil, answer when asked how I wanted my coffee, say “in peace”. Time after time, I guessed what was coming, and sometimes I was right and sometimes shockingly wrong, but I had to know. The pace is unforgiving, every character strides through the pages alive, vivid, and believable, and the plot is flawless – a superbly written whole. This is an overpowering, sensual love story, a political testimony that argues against American involvement in Vietnam, and an intense thriller. For Gretta Curran Browne’s Ghosts in Sunlight, "the only word is wow”.

Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite

Red Clay, Yellow Grass: A Novel of the 1960s by Richard Barager is a fascinating story that combines romance with war to transport readers to an interesting setting in the sixties. Meet two people, orphan David Noble and Jackie Lundquist, college sweethearts whose relationship takes a dramatic turn for the worse when David decides to join the army and fight in the Vietnam War. Jackie takes this decision very negatively and for years, she refuses to answer David’s letters. After surviving a fierce siege in Khe Sanh, David returns home to meet Jackie, a woman who has morphed into a significant and highly regarded activist, and who now stands against everything David has fought for. She is a strong anti-war activist, while David looks at war as an act of honor; their beliefs separate them. But what is it that can get them to come together again as one?

This is an interesting story with a powerful conflict, a conflict of ideologies that is mirrored in the two protagonists. Richard Barager’s characters are phenomenal and it is interesting how David and Jackie personify two opposing cultural trends of their time. David’s background as an orphan sets him apart in many ways, and one notices a kind of tragic tendency in his attitude, the quest for honor that makes him very vulnerable — perhaps because he has nothing to lose? One of the things I look for in a novel is the strength of the conflict and this author knows how to use conflict to enhance and drive the plot forward. The writing is strong and the descriptions capture vivid images, bringing out deep emotions, and allowing readers a great feel for the characters and the setting. Red Clay, Yellow Grass: A Novel of the 1960s is skillfully plotted, fast-paced, and deftly handled. A very satisfying read!

Reviewed by Paul Johnson for Readers' Favorite

If I Should Die is the story of war torn Africa when nations were determined to throw off the last vestiges of colonial rule for self-determination. It is a story of violence set against the breathtaking beauty of the fictitious nation of Nyanga. Students of history will know the real country and remember the terrible misery imposed on its population when savagery and extreme viciousness was so often inflicted upon scores of peaceful farmers and farm workers.

This is not a story just about blacks against whites, since both were killed with equal cruelty. It is more of resistance to change on one side, and the righting of past wrongs on the other. This is a story of a war men fight, knowing in the end they cannot win, but they fight anyway, because it's their job.

As the fight unfolds, it becomes personal for two combatants, the best each side has to offer, and even more so when Sergeant Wilson is severely wounded and taken away for interrogation. Desperate efforts to rescue the Sergeant are made, as a band of comrades attempt from one side, and his fiancé tries another way. But, will they be successful?

Set in a time of terrible strife, the author has put together a very thorough, but intense look at Africa and its struggles. The characterization is first rate as both sides are shown as history reports them to have been. The plot is set as a work of fiction, but the author has indicated it is partially based on a true story. I have no reason to doubt this. Some readers may find the graphic violence and excessive brutality to be excessive; however, as history tells, that was the way it really happened. Very nicely done.

Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite

Slay the Dragon by Laura A. Zubulake is a story that follows the cause of César Rosada, a man who rose from humble origins to become the Finance Minister of his country. Now his mind is set on one thing: to make life better for the working class. Follow his path in a perilous battle against corruption, drugs, and injustice. This could have been a fight to rally the best minds and resources behind him, but he meets opposition from the most influential people and the rich who will do anything, including murder, to maintain the status quo. César Rosada is about to shake the balance of power and this doesn’t sit well with the few who control the economy and politics.

Laura A. Zubulake weaves crime investigation, corruption, and social ills into the story of a man’s gritty fight to defend his values and the lives that matter to him. I loved the protagonist, a man who has to make difficult choices, but who must also deal with his shortcomings. The conflict is developed at multiple levels, from the protagonist’s struggle to reconcile his position with his core values, to the opposition he faces from his peers, and then there is the social plague of opioids. I enjoyed the way the author explores the psychology of the characters, injecting them with humanity and realism. The characters are believable, the plot intelligently done, and the prose exquisite. Slay the Dragon can be read as a succinct indictment of the misuse of power and of what happens when a minority in authority has to make decisions that affect the lives of millions. The story is deft and balanced, as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.

Reviewed by Caitlin Lyle Farley for Readers' Favorite

Thirteen-year-old Poppy Wainwright’s mother is a drug addict and drunk who roams the United States, leaving Poppy to be raised by her Grandma Lainey in Arkansas. When Lainey dies, Poppy is sent to live with her grandmother’s sister in Savannah. Aunt Sookie is an abrasive old woman whose chief joys in life are shooting her neighbour’s twin boys with her BB gun and tending to her vegetable garden. Sookie is uncertain how Poppy will fit in with the locals and forbids her to leave the yard at first, but the young girl gradually befriends a few of the local children and a woman at the church. Poppy even meets a handsome boy and develops her first crush. It’s only a matter of time before the secrets start falling from the Wainwright family tree.

Aunt Sookie and Me is a heart-warming tale with liberal sprinkles of laugh out loud moments. Michael Scott Garvin is a cunning writer and the plot of Sookie and Me is more layered than it appears in the first few chapters. Garvin confronts delicate issues surrounding gender equality and identity, sexuality, and rape culture in a matter of fact manner that keeps the story light while still providing food for thought. The characters in this novel are well developed and even mean old Sookie and Poppy’s disastrous mother are likeable. Sookie and Me is a coming of age story with a distinct difference that has all the makings of a classic. I think everyone should read this book.

Reviewed by Brenda Ballard for Readers' Favorite

No Greater Freedom is a page turning thriller set in Africa. From South Africa to Kenya, unscrupulous characters involved in gun running and animal poaching are intertwined and cross paths with the good guys who are investigating their goings on via land and water. Add unexpected romance to the pot, and you have drama and suspense. The author draws the reader into each plot line and incorporates the plight of the African dealing with government corruption, their hopes and dreams, the lows that people will stoop to in the name of money and power, and the highs of being in love.

Tom Edwards is a very talented wordsmith. No Greater Freedom is captivating; you will not be able to put it down as there is just no stopping point until the last word on the last page. Mr. Edwards writes of the lengths people go to for money and power, the sacrifices they will make in the name of love and the people of a land that has a history of war and famine. This story is believable and easy to fall into. The description of the landscapes, the scenes and characters are so vivid and real that the reader will find themselves easily able to visualize each page's words right down to the clink of a beer glass being set upon the ship's bar or the thud of the body as it finds its final fate...

Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite

They once dated as college freshmen, lost contact with each other, and recently reconnected via email before losing each other again through a tragedy. Now they have another chance to love each other, but a lot has changed since then. How will they handle this opportunity when they have memories of their old selves and the bodies of the young people they once were? Repeat: A Love Story for the Ages by A.J. Kohler is a paranormal romance, a story about an unusual second chance at love.

Paul Grainger has just lost one of his best friends, Angelina, a woman he once dated while in college and he loses her the same day he loses his wife. He is emotionally drained when he sets out to scatter his wife’s ashes. He wakes up in the plane to discover he’s rejuvenated. He is a young man going to Hawaii to start his freshman year in school. The curious thing is that he has lost his old age but not his memories. Just as he has secretly desired, Angelina turns up also, a young beautiful woman with all her old age memories. How can they love each other and move into a future they remember so well?

Repeat: A Love Story for the Ages is a story that stands out in its originality in plot and concept. The idea of a second chance is common in mainstream romance, but I haven’t read one where characters cease to be old, restart where they once were, many years back, and without losing their memories — sounds like time travel, but it isn’t quite like that. It’s like people walking into a future they already know. How this singular experience affects their thoughts, emotions, and sense of love is the heart of the conflict that moves this story. The characters are superb; both Paul and Angelina have lived with regrets at not seizing the opportunity after their brief romance as freshmen; both of them have had difficulties in marriage; and after her murder, Angelina makes the choice for both of them to return where they started.

The narrative is done in an arresting voice and in a prose that is crisp and exciting. A.J. Kohler explores the emotional depth of the characters with unusual skill. The story has powerful psychological hints, carried forward through the suspense. The author has the gift of sustaining the attention of the reader, each scene introducing a new level of conflict, each page building up steadily to the delightful climax. This is a very interesting, entertaining, and spellbinding novel. This is one of those stories you finish reading and feel as though you have just awakened from a delightful dream.