Blog Archives
The Small Hours
The Small Hours, by Edward Averett, follows Michael Virtue, a Spokane psychologist whose life cracks open after his best friend Mason dies and his marriage begins to collapse. Drawn back toward an old family wound, Michael travels to Andalusia to uncover what happened to his uncle Robert, an American who vanished during the Spanish Civil War. What begins as a search for a grave becomes something stranger and more haunted: Robert is alive, hidden for decades by Carmen, while the village, Delia’s dangerous past, and Eugenio Robles’s inherited hunger for revenge all converge around one buried truth.
I found the novel most powerful when it sat with the emotional residue of history rather than rushing toward answers. Robert’s letters home have a trembling innocence at first, especially when he writes as if Spain will be an adventure, something noble and bracing. Watching that innocence darken after Max’s death and Robert’s own violence gives the book a real ache. I also admired Carmen, who could have been written simply as a keeper of secrets, but instead becomes the moral center of the story, fierce, wounded, funny, and almost mythic in her endurance. Her question to young Michael about whether America is where one can find the heart’s desire stayed with me because it’s both naïve and devastating. The book understands that war doesn’t end when guns fall silent; it goes on living in kitchens, in rumors, in bodies, in the way neighbors know everything and say almost nothing.
The writing has a pleasingly weathered texture. Averett can be blunt, even bawdy, especially in Michael and Mason’s scenes, but he also has a gift for sudden tenderness. The opening motorcycle wreck, with the goats chewing at Michael’s ruined Oso, is almost comic, yet it leads directly into one of the book’s deepest currents: the absurdity of survival. I didn’t love every tonal swerve equally. Delia’s fugitive backstory brings heat and momentum, but at times it crowds the quieter, more elegiac novel hiding underneath. Still, I appreciated the messiness. The book is interested in people as contradictory creatures, not tidy symbols. Michael can be perceptive and emotionally evasive. Robert can be both victim and killer. Eugenio is frightening precisely because his cruelty grows from a story he has been taught to worship.
By the end, The Small Hours left me with a sad, steady feeling, the kind that comes from a story about people trying to live after history has already made its claim on them. Its final movement, with Robert stepping into daylight and the village closing ranks around him, feels earned and quietly shattering. I’d recommend this to readers who enjoy historical fiction with layered timelines, morally complicated characters, and a reflective rather than purely plot-driven approach to war, memory, grief, and redemption.
Pages: 463 | ASIN : B0FH7CLCDH
Restoration
Restoration is a literary family drama about Daniel Calder, a man returning to Ithaca after spending twenty-one years in prison for a crime committed when he was fifteen, and Chrystal, the sister whose life was shattered by the same violent night. The novel follows Daniel as he tries to rebuild a life through work, friendship, routine, and the painful act of being known again. At the same time, Chrystal is forced to face the brother she has kept at a distance, the trauma she has survived, and the family history that never stayed neatly buried.
I was surprised by how patient the book is. This is not a story that rushes toward forgiveness or tries to make healing look clean. I appreciated that. Daniel’s return is built out of small, ordinary moments: eating in a diner, learning a phone, choosing food, riding a bike, sitting in a room that is finally his. Those scenes carry real weight because the author understands that freedom is not just a door opening. It’s learning how to live without asking permission for every breath. I found that deeply moving.
I also admired the way the novel gives Chrystal her full space. She’s not written as an obstacle to Daniel’s redemption, and that matters. Her anger, fear, distance, and curiosity all feel earned. The author makes room for both siblings without forcing the reader to pick a side too easily. That is one of the book’s strongest choices. The story keeps circling the idea of restoration, not as a return to what once was, but as the slow work of making something useful and honest from what remains. The furniture work with Marco becomes more than a job. It becomes the book’s clearest metaphor, and it fits because it is practical, physical, and humble.
There are moments when the novel’s emotional detail asks the reader to slow down and sit with discomfort, and I think that will be its greatest strength for the right audience. Readers who enjoy fast plots may find its pace measured, but those who like character-driven literary fiction, family dramas, and stories about trauma, accountability, and second chances will find a lot to hold onto here. I would recommend Restoration to readers who appreciate quiet, serious novels about damaged people trying to live gently without pretending the past can be erased.
Pages: 396
Life After Fall
Life After Fall, by B. Dozier Singletary, is a reflective, faith-centered story about Eli, a man who spends much of his life mistaking control for peace. The book follows him from a childhood shaped by volatility and fear into adulthood, where success, marriage, discipline, and outdoor escape all become ways of holding himself together. What makes the story engaging is how personal it feels without feeling rushed. It’s not just about one fall from stability. It’s about the slow recognition that survival skills can become emotional walls.
Eli’s inner life is the heart of the book. His childhood with an abusive, addicted father gives him a deep need to be competent, admired, and untouchable, and the book does a strong job of showing how those instincts follow him into his marriage with Rachel. Their relationship is written with sadness and complexity, especially as both of them carry pain in ways that hurt the other. The line “Tragedy hadn’t ruined him. It had stopped him.” captures the book’s central movement well. Eli’s loss doesn’t simply break him; it forces him to finally sit still long enough to see himself clearly.
The book is also very much an outdoor story. Rivers, hunting, golf, motorcycles, and eventually Alaska all give Eli places where he can wrestle with fear, humility, and faith without turning the story into a sermon. The Denali section widens the book in a satisfying way, not because the mountain magically fixes him, but because the journey north lets him meet people who model truth, kindness, courage, and presence in practical ways. Those encounters give the later chapters a grounded warmth.
Faith runs through Life After Fall in a quiet but steady way. Eli’s name, his prayers, the Eucharist, and his search for God all matter, but the book’s spiritual insight feels most convincing when it’s simple. “God had never been hiding” is one of the clearest expressions of what Eli comes to understand. The story suggests that healing isn’t found in dramatic revelation as much as in honesty, patience, forgiveness, and the willingness to stop performing.
What Life After Fall offers is a thoughtful portrait of a man learning how to live after the life he built comes apart. It’s part redemption story, part travel narrative, part meditation on masculinity, grief, and grace. The tone is earnest and introspective, and readers who connect with stories about rebuilding after divorce, confronting childhood wounds, and finding faith in ordinary moments will find a lot to sit with here. It’s a book about losing the version of yourself you thought you needed, then discovering that the quieter version may be the truer one.
Pages: 176 | ASIN : B0GZLJMB82
Genesis: The Infinity Series Vol. 2
![Genesis (The Infinity Series Book 2) by [Westbay, Bellamy]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51sN5SRYh6L.jpg?resize=300%2C479&ssl=1)
A genesis is a beginning: a source, a founding moment. Though Bellamy Westbay’s Genesis is the second volume in the Infinity Series, readers will have no doubt that this tome marks a beginning. The odyssey opens with the beguiling Gwen in grave danger. Though angel Alex is the only being, mortal or celestial, who can ultimately save her, the antidote for her current troubles comes from a source seemingly bent on her demise. Follow Alex, Gwen, and Jasper on an epic journey through a bewitching multiverse, one haunted by evil forces, fantastical creatures, and a series of confounding quests.
In this odyssey of good versus evil, of human nature and the divine, Westbay tackles love, lust, and redemption. She also explores motivations more primal: eternal enmity, darkest jealousy, and destructive cunning. Westbay’s storytelling moves at a heady pace, switching between the questing trio and Gwen’s best friend, facing her own predicament. The book is surprisingly sparse in some places—a run-in with an eloquent dragon comes to mind—but delves deeper in others, offering vibrant descriptions of other universes and their inhabitants, including ethereal Callidora and Eva with her siren song. Vivid details aside, the plot is the star of this show and Westbay moves it forward with skill.
And what an intriguing plot it is. Genesis operates where divine beings move among mere mortals. At first I struggled with a Cinnabon-eating angel but I was quickly won over by Alex’s supernatural powers, very human weaknesses, and impressive wingspan. He is simultaneously angsty and arch. For a celestial being and polyglot to boot, he can be frustratingly obtuse: he knows little of human nature and often his epiphanies land with a thud. Even so, he captivates readers as the boulder-smashing, beast-slaying hero of our story.
If Alex is Odysseus on an epic journey and Eva a Siren, Gwen is Helen of Troy. Though not exactly “the face that launched a thousand ships”, Gwen is certainly the being that launched a thousand cherubic fantasies. The amorous undertones in Genesis know no bounds: whilst Gwen clings to life, both the misguided Jasper and the ardent Alex lust after her. Readers feel relief when Gwen revives and apprehension as death draws near. This epic journey is exhilarating and well-told. Westbay is a true storyteller with a gift for weaving familiar themes into a fascinating new world.
Pages: 414 | ASIN: B07DXP2Y8D
Five Fathoms Beneath
![Five Fathoms Beneath by [Alcyone, J.R.]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51nfJyFUPNL.jpg?resize=296%2C444&ssl=1)
From the time he was eight, Ambrose Serafeim planned to follow his father’s career path- that of a celebrated surgeon known for his innovations, abilities, and compassion. Years later, Brose is a doctor but resembles little else about his dad. His father’s cancer, then suicide, the latter spurred on by a secret bipolar disorder, left Brose shattered and bitter. He was also left questioning everything he thought he knew about the man he revered so deeply. After reaching rock bottom in his own mental state, Brose is faced with a different kind of intervention that may finally answer his questions and help him face his demons.
Five Fathoms Beneath, J.R. Alcyone tells a heartbreaking story about the Serafeim family, their history of mental illness, and just how devastating that illness can be when left to its own devices. From the start, Alcyone describes the symptoms, stigma, and progression of bipolar disorder and depression with startling realism and even though the bulk of the story is set in the decades between the 1950’s and 1980’s, many of the issues are still relevant today. Because of this, it’s a book that can be hard to read. However, the subject is always treated with a sensitivity that never demeans or trivializes the issue at hand. The book moves smoothly as it depicts the passing of the years, even as the characters’ lives grow more tumultuous. Brose’s father, Alec, kept his diagnosis a secret because of the societal stigma attached to it, while Brose hides his largely out of denial. Although their reasons differ, both suffer greatly. As is the case in life, Alec’s suicide affected everyone in his life in some way and created ripples that only escalated over the years. After all those years, Brose eventually becomes a typical tragic figure, projecting all the outward appearances of success- high profile career, money, big house, etc.- while everything in his life is actually falling apart. True to life yet again, those around him suffer just as much or more. Even though the ending is formulaic, providing a sense of redemption even, the journey there is anything but as Brose’s path to healing begins in an undefinable place. All in all, it’s an intensely well written book that was hard to put down at any point.
By the author’s own admission, this is a book about mental illness. Although that theme is the brain that allows it to exist and function, family is at the heart of the story. As long as the reader knows him, Brose’s decisions, and his battle with his own depression, are framed within the context of his relationships. He is constantly checking himself against his father’s perceived shortcomings while trying to keep the appearance of normalcy for the sake of his family. Those relationships also provide an anchor.
This book was engaging, well paced, had extremely well written characters, and never patronized or hid from its difficult subject matter.
Pages: 389 | ASIN: B07JPGB8RY
Dragon Ascendants
![Dragon Ascendants (Luminess Legends Book 1) by [Vaughn, Paul E. ]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51HFSRvrGrL._SY346_.jpg?w=604&ssl=1)
Imagine if you will for a moment a medieval fantasy drama being brewed in a cauldron: throw in a measure of How to Train Your Dragon, add a dash of Game of Thrones, sprinkle in some of The Hobbit all topped off with a liberal dose of a King Arthurian legend, leave to simmer on a medium heat for few chapters and then you might have replicated Dragon Ascendants by Paul Vaughn.
So let’s get on to the plot, the setting and the highly descriptive cast of characters without creating spoilers for you.
Dragons, shadow-bats, elves, dwarves, bandits, skulduggery, betrayal, magic, fear, treachery, family discord, sibling rivalry, disappointment, parental disapproval, forgiveness, redemption and, lest I forget (although, how could I?) a very good measure of graphic violence – it’s all in there – so what more could I want from a fantasy novel? Perhaps a little romance? If it’s in here I missed it.
The action is all set in a mystical land, named the Luminess, which at first visit seems almost idyllic. That is, until the conflicts of this land are slowly revealed in the following chapters.
In these mountains live the elves, which have been there for centuries happily mining the gems hidden within. Their lives are occasionally interrupted by an assortment of other species, some for good cause some for ill.
Also, as within most fantasy novels, there is a power struggle between the forces of good and evil. From my reading, I felt that we are to consider these two grouping; one under the ‘command’ of the dwarf burrow’s hereditary leader, named Meerkesh, (representing the forces of good) and another under a very angry rogue elf, with unexplained issues, named Fearoc (representing the forces of evil). Such is the power of the latter, we are led to believe that the world has, or is about to, come to an end for the dwarves.
But I am not totally convinced as to which side is really the good and which that of evil is. In this strange land, where sapphires, ruby stones and diamonds are used as currency and the internal ‘politics’ seems to be driven by greed and ruled by bloodshed. On the one hand we have a population that apparently eats nothing other than apples, whilst the baddie mainly feasts on his conquests, we have quite a lot of axe wielding violence, bloodletting, beheading, dragons blinding by fire and melting of opposite forces during this fight between good and evil. Both sides seem as driven by bloodlust as the other. And this interesting dichotomy lends to some thought provoking reading.
This novel left me begging for more. More answers, more character development, more world building. I want to know! Ah, the mark of a good writer I suppose. I look forward to the next book in Paul Vaughn’s Luminess Legends series.
Pages: 217 | ASIN: B07B8STMY4
Underneath it All, She’s a True Monster
A.J. Macready Author Interview
Redemption details the rise and fall of a line of vampires dominating Clarke’s Summit, which is home to a plague dating back to the 1700’s. What attracts you to vampire fiction?
I grew up watching a lot of horror and sci-fi, although it was some time before I got into reading any of the literature. I think the first thing that attracted me to vampire fiction was the story potential in their great longevity, the fact that they are virtually immortal. Another compelling aspect of vampire fiction is the fundamental struggle they represent between light and darkness, good and evil, and how people can be seduced by their desire for power, immortality, and even sexual desire.
In one scene in Redemption, the vampire Lydia illustrates this for us in how she tempts Mike Gaston with the fact that she has remained beautiful and unaffected by age or disease in over two hundred years. I think this is one reason why the vampire genre has grown “softer” in recent decades, with television shows like Forever Knight and films like the Twilight Series: A lot of people want what vampires have – power, beauty, immortality – and they’re doing their best to try and capture these elements while skirting the darker side of the legend. This is a major factor in why I wrote the Descendent Darkness series as I did. To phrase it biblically, vampirism is “a covenant with death and an agreement with hell.” I wanted to return to the core of the legend: vampires as the living dead, seduced by an inhuman darkness that is at war with the light.
Lydia, an ancient vampire is seeking vengeance on the three remaining members of the town’s founders. I found her character to be well developed. What was your inspiration for her character?
First off, I went with a female because females are traditionally the victims in vampire literature, and I thought it would be interesting to depict one as a master for a change. Frankly, I’m surprised that it hasn’t been done more often.
As to her character, I drew it from the description Richard Gaston provides of her in Redemption, as one who has turned her back on the light and the image of God. She’s not a victim; she actually chose to be what she is. She is the embodiment of deliberate, calculating evil, a force that feeds on the living world like a parasite. Mike Gaston describes her eyes as “thin ice over deep water,” and this is also illustrative of her character. Her human facade is just that; underneath it all, she’s a true monster, and was even before she became one of the living dead.
This is book three in the Descendant Darkness series. What were some new things you wanted to introduce into your series in this book, and what were some thing you felt had to stay the same?
The original title of this book was End Game, and that sums up the approach I took with it. The first book set the stage and lined up the pieces. The second book set them into motion. The third book is all-out war, a fight to the death. With this one, I had to bring all of the various elements I had established together, intersect all of the characters and plotlines, and resolve the whole mess in a believable fashion. That was the main thing that had to change: I couldn’t run independent subplots anymore. Everything had to mesh.
As for what needed to stay the same, well, the best stories are character-driven, and it was my primary task to ensure that established characters continued to be the people readers had come to know, even though they found themselves in new situations.
Will there be a book 4 in the Descendent Darkness series? If so, what would that story be about and when would it be available?
No, the book series is complete. I’ve told the story I wanted to tell and don’t have anything else to add, although I will miss Mike and Holly. It’s amazing how characters tend to grow on you through the writing process. I originally conceived of the series with a truly dark ending, but as the story developed I found that I couldn’t let it go that way. The characters themselves ended up driving the plot.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon | Facebook | Blog
![Descendent Darkness: Book Three: Redemption by [Macready, A.J.]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41kHKJvy2DL.jpg?w=604&ssl=1)
“Now boast to me again, old man. Tell me what strength there is in you to contend with me.”
After twenty-one years, that which the men of Clarke’s Summit feared most has been realized. The evil they prayed would stay buried for eternity has risen, intent on destroying those who imprisoned it and drawing their loved ones into darkness.
In the war between good and evil, victory can be had only at the price of blood. Now as Mike and Richard Gaston race against the coming night, and those they care for most fall around them, they must prepare to offer the most precious blood of all on the altar of their family’s redemption.
All Of My Human Fragility
Paulette Bodeman Author Interview
The BreakAway Girl: Secrets of a Tantric Yogi is a memoir about your life and how you found peace through hard times. What was the inspiration that made you want to put your story into a book?
Great question. As I mention in the book I’ve been blessed over the years to have the privilege of teaching yoga to so many remarkable students. As a result, in many ways the book is a response to questions I’ve been asked over time. I also believe it’s important that as a teacher you’re seen as a human being. Who can be just as frightened at times, unaware at times, and who may have struggled with insecurities just like the person next to you on the mat, or in front of you at the grocery check-out. It’s all part of this human embodiment.
What I enjoyed was that you didn’t shy away from retelling the difficult moments in your life. Was there anything that was difficult for you to write about?
Ha – yes! Quite honestly revealing all of my human fragility was difficult. It’s not easy to rip open your heart and expose your vulnerabilities so intimately. Knowing that most likely there will be judgement and commentary. Yet, as a writer it’s how I make sense of my world. I teach the whole of yoga, not simply poses. So, for me it’s a way that I’ve learned how to not spiritually by-pass and one way to be self-accountable. By doing that I’ve also learned, that in the right context, you allow others to see that they are not alone in the messiness that is life. And hopefully they feel more accepting of their own cracks and breakaways.
Writing a memoir forces you to look back and analyze life choices. Do you see things in your life differently now that you’ve written about it?
I love this question. I could write a lot about this, but one main analysis is that I’m more forgiving of myself. I realize that I was doing the best I could at the time. However mis-guided it might look like in retrospect. Plus, I’m even more grateful that I finally found my way to the path of yoga that continues every day to help me step more fully into my own essence.
This book is inspirational as well as functional in that you give some yoga pose instruction in the back of your book. What do you hope readers take away from The BreakAway Girl?
I hope that readers are inspired by my story of self-reflection, and ultimately as I see it, redemption. If they recognize themselves in any small way, I hope that my story might provide insight and motivation into their own breakaways. And to never give up on themselves. Also, if a reader is searching for a tool or a modality that might move them forward perhaps it is yoga – the myths, meditation, mantra, or asana might just be that something that will support their spiritual growth and personal transformation.
Author Links: Twitter | Facebook | Website | Instagram
Paulette Bodeman is a certified integrative life coach and an Anusara® certified yoga teacher and trainer. When Paulette’s students asked her if she’d always “had it all together”, The BreakAway Girl – Secrets of a Tantric Yogi, was born. Through self-reflection, a sacred yogic practice, Paulette realized that she’d had many significant “breakaway moments” – moments when she made conscious decisions to change her life. Throughout her 20+ years of study, Paulette moved through many phases overcoming numerous personal challenges.
The BreakAway Girl is divided into sections that she named for the Hindu Goddesses – Kali, Saraswati and Lakshmi. Only through introspection was Paulette able to understand the meaning the goddesses brought to her life, and how their energetic archetypes supported her personal growth and transformation. In keeping with a relatively new breed of contemporary writing, part memoir – part self-help, Ms. Bodeman reveals with raw honesty and humor the secrets that held her hostage and the secrets that helped to set her spirit free. While she writes with fearless determination from the trenches of personal experience the author’s ultimate message is not only universal, but life-affirming.
