Blog Archives
The Escape
The Escape, by Eve M. Riley, is a contemporary romance that follows two people on opposite sides of the country each trying to outrun parts of their lives that no longer fit. Aiden, a brilliant but emotionally guarded tech founder, sells the company he built from nothing and suddenly faces a terrifying blank space where his purpose used to be. Emma, a razor-sharp New York lawyer, sees the ground shifting under her feet when a ruthless colleague threatens the career she’s spent fifteen years building. Both of them are pushed toward escape, but in ways they didn’t expect and aren’t fully prepared to admit to themselves.
Riley builds her characters from the inside out, and that pulled me in. Aiden’s interior world feels both ordered and cracked, like a glass that has been knocked but not shattered. His past in the Romanian orphanage, the tremor in his hands, and the way he tries to manage his life by managing objects on his desk. Those details land with quiet force. Emma, on the other hand, is all sharp lines and forward motion until you glimpse the exhaustion under her competence. Her scenes with her family, her sister, even the texts from her mother, felt so real I could practically hear the phone buzz. The author lets their defenses show without stripping them of dignity, which kept me rooting for both of them long before their paths crossed.
What surprised me most was how much the book explores the idea of identity inside a romance-driven plot. Aiden’s wealth doesn’t free him; it disorients him. Emma’s success doesn’t shield her; it isolates her. Both are accomplished adults who still feel like they’re standing in the wrong rooms of their own lives. The writing makes space for that confusion. Some moments are clipped and almost businesslike. Others slow down and stretch out, like the narrator is finally taking a breath. The shift in tone feels intentional. It mirrors the way big life changes often come in waves that don’t match each other. I liked that the book didn’t rush to soothe anything too quickly.
The Escape is a contemporary romance novel, but it leans into emotional excavation more than tropey spectacle. I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy character-driven stories with grown adults who are messy, thoughtful, competent, and a little lost. If you like romance that blends heart with personal reckoning, this one will land well.
Pages: 312 | ASIN : B0FG2Z4ZZC
The Shift Worker’s Paradox
R.E. Hengsterman’s The Shift Worker’s Paradox lays out a clear and unsettling picture of how shift work breaks down human biology, piece by piece. The book moves through personal stories, science, and practical guidance, weaving together research on circadian disruption, metabolism, hormones, and the daily realities of working against the clock. It explains how sleep loss, mistimed eating, and chronic stress grind away at the body over time. The tone blends clinical insight with lived experience, and the message is steady and stark. Working nights or rotating shifts has a cost, and that cost shows up everywhere from cognitive performance to metabolic health to emotional stability.
The writing is plainspoken, almost blunt at times, and that worked for me. I never felt lectured at. Instead, I felt nudged, reminded, and sometimes warned. The book mixes biology with stories of real people in a way that hits harder than any abstract health advice. I could feel the frustration in the author’s voice when describing tragedies on the drive home, and I could feel the weight of his decades in healthcare shaping every paragraph. Some chapters made me pause, especially the parts explaining how the body’s internal clocks fall out of sync. I knew shift work was rough, but I didn’t fully grasp how many systems it drags down at once.
What surprised me most was how personal the book becomes. When the author admits to his own struggles, the tone shifts from educational to intimate. It felt like someone pulling up a chair and telling the truth that usually gets swallowed in break rooms and morning commutes. The mix of scientific detail and emotional honesty felt unique. Shift workers aren’t dealing with one problem. They’re dealing with an entire stack of them, and the writing mirrors that tangled reality. I found myself moved, sometimes unsettled, and sometimes hopeful when the author talked about small changes that can help realign a life that’s drifting.
This book is a lifeline for nurses, factory workers, first responders, warehouse workers, and anyone else who trades daylight for survival. It’s also helpful for families who want to understand what their loved ones go through. I would recommend it to anyone who works outside a typical schedule or cares for someone who does. The book is honest, practical, and quietly compassionate, and it might be the first time some readers feel truly seen.
Pages: 394 | ASIN : B0G2SK9QDM
Bodega Botanica Tales: Carmen
Bodega Botanica Tales: Carmen is a magical-realism coming-of-age story that follows Carmen, a girl growing up in the rough edges of Silk City, where money is tight, danger feels ordinary, and a mysterious bodega might hold both miracles and curses. The book opens with Carmen navigating period poverty, unreliable adults, and shifting friendships, and soon pulls her into a world where a mystical figure named Chankla, glowing bracelets, and even chupacabras become intertwined with her very real struggles at home. The story carries her from childhood fear and survival into adulthood, where old wounds return and demand to be understood before she can move forward.
The writing is simple but charged. Carmen’s voice has this raw honesty that makes even small moments feel heavy in your hands. I kept noticing how carefully the author, Maria Rodriguez Bross, lets the magical elements slip in. They shimmer at the edges, like something you might catch from the corner of your eye. And because the emotional world is so grounded, the magic feels earned. The author doesn’t cushion anything either. Period poverty, family instability, and violence aren’t treated like plot devices but like daily realities Carmen has to navigate long before she should have to.
What I liked most was how the story keeps circling back to the same question: what does protection really look like, and who gets to have it? Carmen is just a kid trying to hold herself together, and sometimes she breaks in ways that feel relatable. I found myself frustrated with her, then proud of her, then worried for her, sometimes all in the span of a page. And when the book moves into the adult timeline, the consequences of what she lived through land with real weight. The magic expands, but it doesn’t erase anything. Instead, it forces her to face what she ran from. Some scenes feel almost dreamlike, others feel like they’re scraping the inside of your ribs, but they all build toward a truth Carmen has been avoiding for years.
The book blends mystical folklore with the grit of urban life in a way that feels cohesive, not gimmicky. And though it has fantasy woven through it, the heart of the story is emotional realism: trauma, friendship, shame, longing, and the slow work of claiming your own story. I’d recommend this book to readers who enjoy magical realism that’s rooted in real-world hardship, especially stories centering Latina girls and women finding power in places that once hurt them. If you like books where supernatural elements highlight emotional truth rather than distract from it, this one will definitely stay with you.
Pages: 146 | ASIN : B0G1RF7QGV
Sustained Courage
The Price of Nice lays out a sharp argument that our cultural obsession with being “nice” keeps us stuck in cycles of false comfort and stalled progress that preserves the status quo at home, in workplaces, and across society. What is the Think–Feel–Do–Revisit framework, and how does it help people break the cycle of niceness?
The Think–Feel–Do–Revisit framework was born out of my work in behavioral communications, not theory for theory’s sake, but years of studying how people actually change.
In my professional work, we borrow heavily from sociology, psychology, and behavioral science to answer very practical questions: What do people believe? What do they feel? Who do they trust? And how does that shape what they will do, and keep doing? We know that behavior doesn’t change just because information is correct or presented. It changes when beliefs and emotions are addressed first.
What clicked for me is that those same tools apply individually, especially when it comes to niceness.
When people stay “nice” in moments that require courage, it’s rarely because they don’t know better. It’s because of what they’re thinking, often unconscious stories about risk or belonging, and what they’re feeling, fear, obligation, loyalty, or discomfort. Those two things quietly determine what they do, usually nothing, and then the cycle repeats.
This framework helps interrupt that pattern. It gives people a way to name what’s happening internally before defaulting to silence. By revisiting the outcome, they build awareness and agency over time. That’s how mindset shifts stick. Not through one brave moment, but through understanding and practicing behavior change on purpose.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
One of the most important ideas I wanted to name is that niceness is not neutral.
Growing up and throughout my career, I was praised for being “easy,” “gracious,” and “not difficult.” But I realized those compliments often came up just as I was quietly absorbing harm. Niceness became a way for the system to stay comfortable while I paid the price.
I also wanted to challenge the idea that courage has to look loud or reckless. In the book, I introduce the idea of nerve as sustained courage. Not the big speech once, but the daily practice of choosing yourself, again and again, even when there’s pushback.
And finally, I wanted to make it clear that this isn’t about becoming harsh or cruel. It’s about replacing performative niceness with intentional kindness, the kind that takes action, tells the truth, and is willing to disrupt.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from The Price of Nice?
I hope readers walk away knowing that the discomfort they feel isn’t a personal failing. It’s often a signal that they’re outgrowing the rules they were given.
So many people, especially women and people of color, think they’re broken because being “nice” isn’t working anymore. What I want them to see is that their instincts are intact. They’re just bumping up against systems that rely on their silence.
If readers take away one thing, I hope it’s this: You’re not required to be palatable to be powerful. And choosing nerve doesn’t make you dangerous. It makes you daring.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Bluesky | Amazon
“What’s wrong with nice?!” A simple and powerful question. It demands we interrogate the unspoken rules that shape our lives, often without our realizing it.
“It costs nothing to be nice!” What a travesty of logic. Niceness is not free—it comes at a steep price. It’s a velvet glove over an iron fist, stifling dissent, prioritizing comfort over progress, and conditioning us to accept the status quo. Niceness is one of the most insidious social constructs, keeping us compliant, silent, and complicit in inequity. If we don’t question it, we stay exactly where power wants us—agreeable, easy to manage, and stuck.
The Price of Nice is about breaking free. Amira Barger deconstructs our cultural obsession with niceness, exposes its hidden costs, and offers a practical framework for real change. With sharp analysis and personal insight, she helps readers disrupt the narratives that keep them stuck and reclaim their power.
Guided by four dimensions rooted in social psychology—think, feel, do, revisit—this book offers immediate, adaptable practices for creating change. Because breaking free isn’t only what you know—it’s what you do next.
If you’re tired of “good enough,” this book will challenge you, change you, and call you to more.
Consistency is Key
The City of Arches follows a princess who discovers a letter containing the key to her mother’s hidden past and her connection to a powerful wizard. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I love the idea of family secrets being uncovered. For me, I loved going through boxes of old pictures that my grandparents kept and hearing about all the old stories. The real treasure for a family is always hidden in old documents and old photographs. From the beginning, I have had Learsi’s story mapped out in my mind, and to have her daughter discover it in her own words was a temptation too big to ignore.
How did you balance magic and its use throughout the story to keep it believable?
I think of it almost as a muscle. Like any talent or ability, it needs to be used, trained, and practised. And just like a physical ability, it can be strained, and it can be draining. Like anything, magic needs its limitations to be believable, and once I figured out how it worked in my world, consistency is key.
Which character in the novel do you feel you relate to more and why?
That’s a hard question. I wish I could say that I relate to the hero, but in reality, I’m probably more like Aud. She’s just this normal person who cares about her family. She’s thrust into this world of magic and mess and has to make the best of it. She’s at heart just a mom, and I guess that’s what I relate to.
Can you give us a glimpse inside Book 4 of The Sitnalta Series? Where will it take readers?
Book 4 is called The Hedgewitch’s Charm. It shows us a Colonodona that’s put at risk by a plague. A young hedgewitch named Gwendolyn thinks there’s more to it and fights to save the people alongside Ipsinki. I loved writing her, and her and Ipsinki’s dynamic, and I hope readers love it too.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
In the buried past, Kralc finds a ragged Learsi living on the streets after her home kingdom’s destruction and presents an offer: help him set things right with the mysterious City of Arches and he will give her back her family and birthright. With her parents murdered and her kingdom in ruins, she doesn’t know how he can achieve such a thing. All she knows is that she has nothing to lose.
The Right Fit
The Right Fit lays out a full roadmap for hiring, developing, and keeping great people. It walks through the entire employee journey with a calm, steady hand. It starts with understanding your culture, then moves into selection, onboarding, engagement, development, and long-term retention. The book blends practical advice, clear steps, and real stories, all while rooting everything in one theme. Success comes from treating people with intention and care. The message is simple but strong. If you want a thriving team, you must build the environment in which they can thrive.
The writing feels warm and direct, like a mentor talking to you over coffee. I loved how the author breaks down big ideas into small, doable actions. At times, the tone feels almost fatherly, full of calm encouragement, and I appreciated that. I also enjoyed the focus on culture and values. It reminded me how often organizations skip that part and head straight into hiring tactics. The book insists that you cannot choose the right person if you do not know who you are as an organization. That felt honest and grounded.
Some chapters hit me on a more emotional level, especially the parts on inclusion and employee wellness. There is a real sense of care in the writing. It is clear that the author believes deeply in people and wants workplaces to be better for them. That sincerity makes the book feel human. I will say there were moments when the structure felt dense, and I found myself wanting a little more storytelling to break up the instructional tone. Still, the ideas are solid, and the consistency of the message kept me hooked. The parts on career development, mentorship, and non-linear growth were especially refreshing. They made me reflect on my own path and the kinds of support that helped me.
I closed the book feeling hopeful. The Right Fit offers a positive vision of work that feels both reachable and worth striving for. I would recommend this book to new managers, HR professionals, and leaders who struggle with turnover or culture issues. It would also be great for small business owners who want to hire smarter and build stronger teams. The book gives them a clear and steady guide and reminds them that people are not just resources. They are the heartbeat of the whole operation.
PagesL 116 | ASIN: B0F8N7X9SM
What We Bury Doesn’t Disappear
From Wounds to Purpose is a spiritual guide that offers practical guidance and steady encouragement to turn suffering into strength. You write that pain is unavoidable, but our response to it is a defining choice. When did that idea become central to your work?
As stated in my book, my brother, Ronnie LaCombe, preached a Sermon, “We Serve A Stumbling God.” When he said, “I’m talking about the Almighty God that was manifested in the flesh. The God that stars and angels sang over his birthplace. They called his name Jesus. This was God’s eternal son.
He could change water into wine.
He could walk the turbulent waves of the deep like a pedestrian would walk across the street.
He could call the dead by name and they would be raised to life again.
He could touch the lame and they would walk.
He could give sight to the blind.
He could cleanse disease and demonic powers had to leave at his presence.
But listen to me, this visible image of this invisible God needed help to get his cross to the top of a hill.
Somebody had to help him carry his cross!”
As I listened to that sermon, tears flowing, I realized… That’s it!
That’s my ‘HOW’. That’s HOW I got through all those years!
And so my response is, that is when the ‘idea’ became not only the central to my life… but my work!
You encourage readers to turn toward their wounds rather than bury them. Why is that so difficult for many people?
Turning toward our wounds is difficult because it asks us to face what we’ve spent years trying to survive.
For many people, wounds are tied to pain, shame, fear, or loss—and the mind is wired to avoid what hurts. Burying pain can feel safer than reopening it. Avoidance becomes a form of protection:
If I don’t look at it, maybe it won’t hurt anymore. Unfortunately, what we bury doesn’t disappear—it simply goes underground and quietly shapes our thoughts, relationships, and choices.
Another reason it’s hard is that wounds often challenge the stories we tell ourselves. Facing them may mean admitting that something wasn’t okay, that we were hurt, abandoned, silenced, or misunderstood.
That truth can feel destabilizing, especially for people who learned early on to “be strong,” “move on,” or “not dwell on the past.”
There’s also fear of being overwhelmed. Many worry that if they turn toward their wounds, the pain will be too much—that they’ll fall apart or never recover.
What they don’t yet know is that unacknowledged pain has more power than pain that is lovingly faced.
This is the heart of From Wounds to Purpose: not asking readers to reopen wounds recklessly, but inviting them to gently, bravely, and truthfully turn toward what shaped them—so it no longer controls them.
How do you balance encouragement with honesty about how hard healing can be?
Balancing encouragement with honesty means refusing to sugarcoat the journey while never removing hope from it.
True encouragement doesn’t say, “This will be easy.”
It says, “This is hard—and you are not weak for finding it so.”
Healing asks people to sit with discomfort, grief, anger, and unanswered questions. Being honest about that difficulty builds trust. When we name the struggle, readers feel seen rather than pressured. They realize they’re not “failing” at healing—they’re experiencing it.
At the same time, honesty without hope can feel overwhelming. That’s why encouragement matters. Encouragement reminds readers that difficulty does not mean impossibility, and pain does not mean permanence.
We can say:
This will take time — without implying it will take forever.
You may feel undone at moments — without suggesting you’ll stay broken.
There will be setbacks — without denying real progress.
The balance comes from normalizing the mess while illuminating the meaning.
Honesty names the cost of healing.
Encouragement names the value of it.
What advice do you have for someone who feels resistant or stuck?
Here are several core pieces of advice from the heart of my book, offered without pressure and without judgment:
- Stop trying to force healing.
Healing does not respond well to demands. When we push ourselves with “I should be over this by now,” resistance grows stronger. The book invites readers to replace force with curiosity. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” ask, “What is this part of me protecting?” - Go smaller than you think you should.
Feeling stuck often comes from trying to take leaps when the nervous system only feels safe taking steps. The book encourages micro-movements. Progress measured in inches still moves you forward. - Honor resistance as a guardian, not an enemy.
Resistance usually formed during a time when it was necessary for survival. When resistance is respected rather than fought, it often softens on its own. - Separate your wound from your identity.
One reason people feel stuck is because pain has quietly become part of who they believe they are. The book reminds readers: You are not your trauma, your past, or your coping strategies. - Allow meaning to come later.
The book is clear: purpose cannot be rushed. If someone is still in pain, they don’t need to “find the lesson” yet. Healing comes first; meaning follows. Trusting that timing removes pressure and reduces shame.
Above all, the book offers this reassurance: Being stuck does not mean you are broken. It often means you are standing at the threshold of change.
From Wounds to Purpose doesn’t ask readers to push through resistance—it invites them to listen to it, honor it, and gently move with it, trusting that even slow steps are still steps toward freedom.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
They’re proof of survival and strength.
This book is a healing companion for anyone who has lived through trauma, heartbreak, or brokenness. From Wounds to Purpose doesn’t just talk about pain—it shifts your perspective. Through honest reflections and Spirit-led encouragement, Sharon reminds you that your pain doesn’t have to be the end of your story. It can be the beginning of something greater.
This book offers honest, hope-filled, and deeply practical wisdom for anyone searching for meaning in their struggles.
More than a “self-help” book, this is a guide, a lifeline, and a reminder that your hardest seasons can birth your greatest calling.
Asterios and the Labyrinth
Asterios and the Labyrinth follows Prince Asterios of Knossos as his father dies, political rivals rise against him, foreign powers threaten the island, and love pulls him in directions that the laws of his world barely allow. The story blends palace intrigue, war, prophecy, and a passionate bond between Asterios and the warrior Phaistos. The book moves from grief to revolt to full-scale devastation as Asterios tries to hold his kingdom together while fighting for the man he loves and the legacy he is sworn to protect.
The writing is lush and almost feverish in places, and that style suits the mythic setting. I liked how author Edmond Thornfield lets emotions lead the scenes instead of rushing through them. Asterios’s grief for his father, his fear of losing Phaistos, and the heavy burden of the crown get real space to breathe. I felt the weight he carries and the fire that keeps pushing him forward. The political maneuvering is sharp, too. You can almost feel the treachery when figures like Koronos appear, and those moments gave the story a dangerous edge that kept me hooked.
Thornfield uses myth as a stage to talk about loyalty, love, and identity in a way that feels timeless. The romance between Asterios and Phaistos is tender and fiery and written with such sincerity that I kept rooting for them even when the world around them fell apart. I also liked that the story never hides the cruelty of power. Rulers here bleed, mourn, and make choices that hurt. The rituals, the prophecies, and the glimpses of divine influence gave the book a strange beauty, and I often found myself pausing just to picture a scene more clearly. The battles feel brutal. The magic feels ancient. The love feels stubborn in the best way.
I walked away thinking this book is for readers who enjoy myth retellings that lean into emotion and drama. It is for anyone who wants an epic that is not afraid of intimacy, or a romance that stands tall inside a world full of knives. Asterios and the Labyrinth feels to me like The Song of Achilles collided with a palace-politics thriller, blending tender queer love with sweeping mythic stakes in a way that scratches the same emotional itch while carving out its own bold identity. If you like political intrigue, queer love stories woven into legendary pasts, or richly detailed worlds that feel almost operatic, this book will hit the spot.
Pages: 366 | ISBN: 6501697425
LITERARY TITAN 