Reviewed by Tracy A. Fischer for Readers' Favorite

In an extremely intriguing work of short fiction, The End: A Novelette of Haunting Omens and & Harrowing Discovery by author Justine Avery, readers will find themselves obsessively turning the pages from the first words all the way through to the very last page. Follow our protagonist, Trevor, an all-round great guy, family man, good friend and valued employee, week in and week out. But on the weekends, Trevor's life is his own, and he spends it on the back of his mountain bike, enjoying freedom and adventure. He records each of his weekend rides with his GoPro, but one weekend, when he goes back to relive his most recent trip, what he finds on the recording is not what he expects. Instead of fun, adventure and dazzling technical feats on the bike, what Trevor finds recorded is something terrifying and nothing he was aware of. What does he find and what does he do? You'll need to read this novelette to find out!

Wow! I so enjoyed The End: A Novelette of Haunting Omens and & Harrowing Discovery. Author Justine Avery has done a fantastic job in creating a story in which not one single word is wasted, and will leave readers hanging onto each of them. This story is fast-paced, exciting, and at times readers will find themselves on the edge of their seats with their hearts in their throats, waiting to see what will happen next. I highly recommend The End: A Novelette of Haunting Omens and & Harrowing Discovery to any reader looking for a great read. I look forward to more from author Justine Avery in the future, and hope that she's already hard at work on her next book right now!

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

The Darkness: A Short Tale of the Dawning of the Darkness is a fantasy short story written by Justine Avery. The village was brimming with fear of the darkness. It came each evening, laying waste to each and every thing that lay in its path. There were no solutions to and no reasoning with its implacable nature, so the villagers lived each dawn to dusk as fully as they were able, and they spent the evening warding off their foe. Lunam was very aware of the awesome responsibility he had in his family’s home each night. While he was still very small, he was charged with holding up his torch in one corner of the stone-walled cottage through the endless hours, until finally his father would declare his watch over and gently take the torch from his tired fingers. Each morning, Lunam and his brother Lux would rush out to play in the brilliant sunshine; sometimes they’d visit Stella and Videre, the elders of the village, and speak with Videre. The couple had survived the darkness for far longer than any before them, and they held the wisdom of the people in their minds. But when Lux and his brother knocked on the door, Stella’s eyes were sad as she opened the door, and she told them Videre was gone.

Justine Avery’s allegorical fantasy short story, The Darkness: A Short Tale of the Dawning of the Darkness, is an epic tale in miniature, jewel-like and rich in imagery as the reader watches villagers holding torches up against the darkness in night-long weary vigils. I was touched by the image of those villagers and the opening description of the Darkness, a living, breathing and horrific entity, played itself out in my imagination. Avery skillfully and adroitly builds up a world of post-apocalyptic dimensions and plants the reader squarely in the minds and imaginations of two young brothers who dare to question the status quo and challenge the night. This is a well-written story filled with richly developed characters, and it works wonderfully.

Reviewed by Brit Rossie for Readers' Favorite

In the short story The Post-It Note Affair: A Romance Novelette of Love Lost and Found by Justine Avery, we find our heroine, Emily, discontented and in a passionless marriage. But that all changes while she is at work one day. At the office she discovers someone - an admirer - has placed a post-it note message in her purse. There’s a handsome, new guy in the office. In spite of guilt and in spite of her being upfront about her marital status, the notes continue. Is the office romance the spark she needs in her passionless love life? Her husband is sure and steady, but what our heroine wants is a little spice in her life. Should she take the opportunity and allow the post-it note admirer to pursue her?

This was a really sweet short story. A lot of punch behind a powerful moral in such a short number of pages. Now that’s really good writing. To be able to draw in the reader and make them root for or stress about a character's decisions in such a short space is a positive reflection on an author's skill. The story itself is a good reminder not to take for granted the opportunities that present themselves nor the people in front of us. I had my suspicions about the admirer, but loved how Avery left the admirer so artfully ambiguous, allowing for the story to potentially take multiple directions right up until the end. I know which outcome I was rooting for and my wish came true.

Reviewed by Vincent F. A. Golphin for Readers' Favorite

For its author, who writes as The Behrg, a pen name, The Girl Who Couldn't Come Up With An Original Title is an admitted toss at the trend to have "girl" in so many titles. The idea struck me as trivial, yet readers will find the short story and Reluctance, the accompanying tale, to be anything but light. The title story pulls the reader into the worldview of a clinically depressed teenage girl. She is on the edge of destruction. The author takes the reader there too.

The intense detail, imagery, and pace of the tightly woven prose added to the work's almost hypnotic attraction that places readers on the unsteady walk toward a difficult decision. Then, in the end: "The stars on her wrists had finally landed, breaking through flesh and opening a crater no suture would calm. Not this time. Her notebook lay open beside her....Instead, she dipped her fingers into her memories. Etched out the title to the story she had been trying to write her entire life."

I couldn't put this book down, which admittedly sounds clichéd. I wanted to stop at so many points in the story. The images were too much. The Behrg wants readers to understand the thoughts and pressures faced by people with mental illness. Reading The Girl Couldn't Come Up With An Original Title does that and more. It is like being witness to someone's horrible moment, but you are too wrapped up in the action to look away.

Reviewed by Raanan Geberer for Readers' Favorite

Before the Court of Heaven by Jack Mayer tells the story of Ernst Techow, a young German who, in the years following World War I, gets caught up in what can be called the pre-Nazi movement. As a youngster before the war, he learns, both from his nationalist family and from the Wandervogel, a “back to nature” youth movement, to dislike Jews, socialists, bankers, “decadent” modern culture, and Slavic immigrants. After serving in the Kaiser’s army, he joins the Friekorps, a conglomeration of militia groups that are called into service to fight pro-Bolshevik revolutionaries. Then he joins a secret group and is part of the team that assassinates Walter Rathenau, a Jewish statesman whom Ernst and his colleagues blame for “stabbing Germany in the back.” You would think that with this background, Ernst would be a natural candidate for the emerging Nazi movement. But when he finally does join the Nazis, he’s in for a rude awakening.

Seventy years after it ended, the Nazi period continues to draw the attention of novelists, and Before the Court of Heaven is one of the best. The characters are subtle and three-dimensional. Ernst, for example, has a softer side — he likes the poetry of Heinrich Heine, a Jew, and the paintings of the French impressionists. This side of him gives a clue as to his eventual disillusionment with the Nazis. Another character that is superbly drawn is Hans Gerd Techow, Ernst’s asthmatic, disabled brother, who tries to overcome his disabilities by becoming one of the most militant fascists around. Mayer also does a good job of depicting the subculture of ultra-nationalist youths in the early '20s, and he shows us that anti-Semitism was part of German culture long before the Nazi era. All in all, Before the Court of Heaven is a fascinating historical novel.

Reviewed by Tracy A. Fischer for Readers' Favorite

In an absolutely fascinating new read by author Jim Bailey, The End of Healing is certainly a story that will stick with its readers long after the final page is turned. The story is written through the eyes of a new physician, a doctor-in-training if you will, naive to the ways of the American healthcare system. Dr. Don Newman, our newbie protagonist, seems to find, with every twist and turn that this novel takes, that the Hippocratic oath he took when becoming a physician, the promise to do no harm, is nearly impossible to accommodate in the world when doctors must bow down to the requirements of insurance companies, Medicare and Big Pharma. Giving up his dream of focusing on cardiology, he decides instead to focus on studying the medical underworld that seems to rule the world. Will he be able to help to make changes that our country so desperately needs, or will his findings be silenced by the mighty powers that be?

I so enjoyed The End of Healing. Written with a true insider's perspective, the author's decision to make this book a fictional novel was a wise one. Both entertaining and able to impart the truth of our troubled medical system, this story will captivate readers from the very start. I learned a great deal from this book, and was thoroughly entertained at the same time. Any reader with the slightest interest in our medical system should put this on the top of their "to be read" list. I highly recommend The End of Healing. I certainly hope that author Jim Bailey is hard at work on his next effort in this vein. I, for one, will be anxiously watching for its arrival!

Reviewed by Tracy A. Fischer for Readers' Favorite

In The Lives Between Us by author Theresa Rizzo, we are faced with the question: how far would we go to avenge the death of the one person we allowed ourselves to love? That is the exact question faced by our protagonist, reporter Skylar “Skye” Kendall. Skye lives her life in such a way that she’s been able to shut everyone out, and that’s the way she wants it. Fearful of being left by someone who loves her, she prefers to leave before that can happen. At least, until her niece, Niki, is born, and Skye finds it impossible not to love the little tyke. But when Niki falls gravely ill at nine years old, and the only treatment with a chance at helping her involves stem cells, Skye is desperate to do all she can to help. When all that she can do isn’t enough, Skye’s desperation turns to anger, and she’s determined to take that anger out on the senator whose voting record she blames for blocking the help Niki so desperately needed. When the senator’s best friend is determined to find out what is behind Skye’s scathing articles, and Skye is determined to use his connections for an even more in-depth look into the politician's making decisions that are so important to her, the last thing either of them expect is to fall in love.

I loved this book. It’s not an easy read, but it is extremely worthwhile. Author Theresa Rizzo is an extremely gifted storyteller, and one who is wonderful at crafting characters that you will truly care about. Skye Kendall is such a character, and I find that I am still thinking about her and her story, long after I finished reading the book. The Lives Between Us would appeal to any reader who enjoys fiction, stories about politics, stories with a bit of romance, or someone looking for just an excellent read. I am very pleased to highly recommend The Lives Between Us by Theresa Rizzo and I, for one, am very much looking forward to reading her next work.

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

The Art of Hero Worship is a new adult contemporary romance written by Mia Kerick. What was supposed to be a pleasant evening watching a friend perform in a college production of Shakespeare's Hamlet turned into a night filled with unrelenting horror for Jason Tripp, when a lone gunman stepped out onto the stage and began shooting into the audience. He seemed determined to kill everyone in the theater and, to Jason, it seemed that the killer wouldn't give up until he had found him where he was crouched on the floor next to his girlfriend Ginny, who had already died. As the killer approached his aisle, he heard a voice whisper instructions to him, telling him to squeeze down tightly under the seats, and then the speaker covered Jason's body with his own. The gunman seemed almost right over them when a sound distracted him and he turned away. Jason's protector seemed to know exactly when it would be safe to make a run for it, and he guided Jason straight to a trapdoor. As he was opening it, the gunman saw them and came running down the aisle towards them, but, somehow, miraculously, his hero got the two of them out of the building and into his car, and they drove away to safety.

Mia Kerick's new adult contemporary romance, The Art of Hero Worship, begins with an explosive and gripping scene that catapulted me into the action and kept me on edge as Jason and Liam attempted to survive the gunman's attack. I've read and thoroughly enjoyed several of Kerick's young adult romances in the past, and I fully expected that I would be entertained by this book as well, but, if anything, The Art of Hero Worship far exceeded my expectations. Jason and Liam's harrowing experiences at the theater begin the process of forging a sweet and utterly mesmerizing friendship that turns into a love that neither of them expect or really know what to do about at first. Kerick handles the gender and sexual orientation issues in this book with respect and an uncanny depth of insight and compassion. Watching as these two young men fall in love is transcendent, and their story is oh, so beautifully told. I'm eagerly looking forward to reading more young adult and new adult fiction from this very talented author. The Art of Hero Worship is most highly recommended.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Butts for Readers' Favorite

Celeste Fletcher McHale has done the near impossible. I cried while reading. I have always thought people who were brought to tears over written words were perhaps a little overly emotional. Apparently it just takes a great author, and that author is Celeste Fletcher McHale. The Secret To Hummingbird Cake started off a little slow, and I found the main character, Carrigan, a bit whiny. But a big, life shattering event happens, it rocks her to the core, and reminds her what truly matters in life. About one third into the book, it picks up traction and sucks you in like you would never imagine possible. It is about at this point that you realize you WEREN'T supposed to like Carrigan all that much in the beginning.

Celeste wrote a plot that was so real. Carrigan and her friends, Ella Rae and Laine, and the situations that they were thrust into (by their choice or not) were so real. There was laughter, there were tears, there was so much feeling wrapped up in this book. I was impressed, also, that there was a Christian theme without an evangelistic feel. The fact that this is Celeste Fletcher McHale's first novel amazed me. I want my friends to read this book. I will be recommending it to my mom (top praise right there). If you've ever had a close friendship with a bonded group of friends, you will want to read this book. My heart is still tight from reading. I felt more emotion from McHale's writing than I ever thought possible.

Reviewed by Vernita Naylor for Readers' Favorite

There are a couple of murders being committed in Pull The Trigger: A Chase Williams Murder Mystery (Chase Williams Detective Stories Book 2) by Stefania Mattana. Can Inspector Angelo Annuli, ballistics guru expert Gianmarco Betti, and former Police Detective Chase Williams solve it in time before there’s more? Three young male cyclists, Olympic athletes from the Rio 2016 Italian Team Cycling Project, were training at Monte Priore when they were all shot. Sergio Mencarelli and Renato Rengoni were killed with fairly calculated precision while Edoardo Zuccon was shot twice but merely injured. Is Edoardo actually the target or is he being used as a pawn to throw suspicion off the case? Will the shooter come back to finish the job with Edoardo? Is it a professional hit or one of their teammates? Is there more than one shooter? Will others be killed? Is there a serial killer lurching throughout Monte Priore? There are so many questions to be answered and the clock is ticking for Angelo, Betti and Chase.

Pull The Trigger: A Chase Williams Murder Mystery by Stefania Mattana is a great murder mystery and will keep you longing for the next turn and twist in the story. Everyone is a suspect and, as the story unfolds, more clues are discovered ... which continues to have the experts Angelo, Betti and Chase second guessing their findings and the suspects. If you like whodunits, thrillers and murder mysteries where you can’t tell - even after reading half of the book - who is the killer, then you will be ecstatic with Pull The Trigger: A Chase Williams Murder Mystery by Stefania Mattana.