Sometimes a fine YA novel will take you right back to your own awkward early years and make you groan at your younger self. Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak is a novel that will do just that – for better or for worse. It’s the last summer before college, and New York native Lucinda…
Cuff Me is the third story in Lauren Layne’s New York’s Finest series, centered around a family of police officers. There are four brothers and one sister, two of whom (Luc and Anthony) featured in the first two stories in the series (Frisk Me and Steal Me) both of which I quite enjoyed, so I…
Falguni Kothari’s The Object of Your Affections isn’t an easy book to define. It’s the story of best friends who embark on a journey that will change their lives in unimaginable ways. It’s a quiet story that focuses on the inner development of its characters rather than on the high drama that fills the pages…
All warfare is based on deception. That is what Sun Tzu said in The Art of War. In The Lost Girls of Paris, we learn that deception can carry a high price. New York, 1946. When an accident blocks her usual route to work one morning, Grace Healey is forced to cut through the bustling concourse…
I don’t usually gravitate toward historical mysteries, not because that I dislike them exactly, but the few I’ve read have left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied. Still, when I first heard about Victoria Thompson’s Counterfeit Lady series with its con artist heroine, I decided to give it a try. Fortunately, book one (City of Lies) lived…
Mina Allende, the world’s fourth highest paid ballerina, needs a new challenge after her triumphant run as Giselle. She accepts Zack Coen’s offer to co-star alongside him as Camille, the tragic courtesan of his directorial début, dance-centered musical The Lady in Red. Facing a mad rush to perform at the Tonys, learn vocal parts, and…
It was a dark and stormy night. Well, not really. It is however a rainy morning when our heroines meet. Eleanor Moskowitz is on the way to a job interview, frustrated by how her cab is stuck in traffic as the minutes tick away, when the impact occurs. The blow to the back of the…
Severance is the hotly anticipated end of days tale by newbie author Ling Ma. It’s a provocative look at the future which shows the dangers of getting caught in a meaningless present and being obsessed with a sentimental view of the past. This story shifts back and forth in time between chapters but for the…
Fabulous historical tales can be hard to come by which is why I treasure the work of Elizabeth Camden. Able to combine real history with sweet romance, she is a master of her craft. Her latest novel, A Daring Venture, continues the story of the history of clean water in New York begun in A…
Love’s Serenade is the third book in the Decades series, telling stories of African American men and women throughout the past century. As a second-chance romance, it’s an interesting take on the trope, but overall I was disappointed with the end result. Taking place in late 1920s Harlem, we follow Leigh Jones, fabulous jazz singer,…