Blog Archives
Burned Butter Island
Burned Butter Island follows a lonely boy who lives with his father, a grey cat, and a white duck on a small Baltic island where the lighthouse stands watch over wind and sea. The boy, still grieving his mother, wanders through forests filled with foxes and white deer, bakes blackberry tarts, reads old books, listens to storms, and discovers the strange magic of a narwhal’s tusk. When a violent storm pulls him into the ocean, a real narwhal saves him, guiding him back to shore and back to hope. The book blends poetry, fable, memory, and gentle magic into a tale about loss, wonder, and the courage to live again.
The language is simple, yet it carries an emotional weight that sneaks up on you. Scenes drift from soft domestic moments to wild visions of storms and enchanted creatures. I found myself slowing down because the rhythm feels like someone humming by the fire. I loved the poems sprinkled throughout. They felt warm, handmade, and a little fragile. Sometimes the narrative jumps between moments and I had to catch up. It felt like listening to someone who speaks from the heart and lets the story wander where it wants to go.
What I liked most was how honestly the book speaks about sadness. The boy’s grief shows up in tiny gestures, in memories of his mother’s lullabies, in the way he stares at the tusk as if it holds the answer to something he cannot name. I felt a lump in my throat when he read the message on the rocking horse. The moment he sees that love does not vanish, and that sadness does not have to swallow him whole, felt tender and real. The author writes about loneliness without heavy words and lets magic offer comfort instead of escape. I liked that a lot.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy gentle stories that glow from the inside. It is perfect for people who love fairy tales, lyrical writing, and small moments that carry big feelings. It would also comfort anyone who has walked through grief and wants a reminder that joy can return in unexpected ways.
Pages: 20 | ASIN : B0FXHLFGS8
Payback
Payback by Molly D. Shepard and Peter J. Dean is a workplace thriller that follows Samantha, a high-performing banker who spends years navigating a toxic, sexist culture and the predatory attention of an executive named Archer Dunne. The story moves between Samantha’s point of view, Archer’s warped inner monologue, and the perspectives of allies and bystanders as the bank’s abuses pile up, push her out, and eventually circle back when Archer, now ill and diabetic, is admitted to the upscale nursing home Samantha runs. There, she seriously considers killing him by quietly increasing his insulin, only for fate to intervene when he dies after a fall, leaving her to grapple with what justice really looks like and how to live with a rage that never fully disappears.
The opening prologue drops you right into Samantha’s mind as she calmly admits she is planning “the perfect murder,” and it is both chilling and deeply believable once you see what she has survived. The early scenes at the bank feel painfully real: the drunken company party, the alleyway assault where she escapes only to realize the attacker is her own Executive Vice President, Archer. The authors lean into clarity more than subtlety, and sometimes the villains are almost grotesquely obvious, but in a workplace thriller like this, that bluntness works. It feels less like a puzzle and more like a long, angry debrief of “this is exactly how they get away with it,” which I found strangely cathartic.
What stayed with me most was how much of the book is about the slow grind rather than just the headline traumas. Samantha’s first boss Margie, who bullies her daily for minor mistakes until she quits, the constant body shaming from her parents, the impostor syndrome that keeps replaying in her head even as she racks up wins at the bank. Her friendships with Inga and Josephine become the emotional center of the story. Inga is a top pharma rep whose numbers are excellent but who keeps getting passed over because she is out of sight, out of mind in the Midwest, and Josephine is a Black consultant who writes speeches for her CEO yet cannot break past a certain rank because of bias in her firm. Their late night strategy sessions at the Barrister Bar feel like war councils and group therapy at the same time, and the book keeps circling back to how women have to quietly train each other to survive systems that were not built for them. That coaching tone does poke through sometimes, and a few passages read like a leadership manual folded into a novel, but I did not mind it. It gave the story a grounded, “here is what actually happens in these rooms” quality.
I also appreciated the choices the authors made around Archer and the men who are not monsters. Seeing scenes from his perspective is uncomfortable in the best way. You watch him stalk Samantha in that alley, brag to his young male “minions” about using women for sex while blocking their promotions, and later seek out the nursing home she runs because he wants one last chance to torment her and even ogle her teenage daughter. When he exposes himself to a vulnerable resident at The Fairfield and Samantha finally has the power to kick him out, her fury practically hums off the page. At the same time, the book gives us Lance, the new CEO who discovers Samantha’s detailed notes about the bank’s abuses and decides to tear out the culture by the roots, and Todd, the thoughtful carpenter who becomes her husband and steady base. That balance keeps the story from sliding into pure despair.
I see Payback as a feminist workplace thriller that also works as social commentary about harassment, bullying, and the cost of keeping quiet. It is not subtle, and it does not try to be. The language is clear, the emotions are right on the surface, and the plot keeps you turning pages to see whether Samantha will cross that final line. If you have lived through a toxic office, care about gender equity at work, or just want a tense, emotionally honest story about a woman who refuses to stay a victim, I think this novel will hit hard in a good way.
Pages: 240 | ASIN : B0FX3FV52H
Stealing Stealth
Stealing Stealth is a Cold War spy thriller about a master thief and a burned-but-still-burning CIA case officer who get pulled into a fight over the future of stealth technology. We meet Gabrielle Hyde in 1975 Toronto, dropping into a dusty old government office from a ventilation shaft to steal classified files while half the law-enforcement world hunts her. At the same time, John Olson, a young CIA case officer with something to prove, becomes obsessed with catching her and then with stopping a legendary Soviet operator, Sasha Morozov, from getting his hands on America’s experimental stealth aircraft research, the kind of “perfect first-strike weapon” that could tip the whole Cold War. Their paths cross, collide, and eventually twist together as they race from rooftops and embassies to African markets and the secretive Skunk Works facility, trying to plug leaks, uncover a mole, and keep a fragile nuclear treaty from falling apart.
Reading it, I felt like I was sitting in a dark theater watching one of those big, old-school spy movies. The writing leans into atmosphere: the musty FBI outpost, the humid chaos of Mogadishu’s markets, the cold wind high over Toronto when Olson literally throws himself between rooftops after Hyde. Scenes play out in clean, visual language that made it easy for me to track the action without getting lost in technical detail. I liked how the book switches perspectives between Gabrielle, Olson, and even Morozov, so I never felt like I was stuck on just one side of the board. The pacing feels very much like a modern spy thriller: bursts of intense action, then quieter conversations where people argue about loyalty, politics, and what it costs to do this kind of work. There are moments where the briefing-room talk about treaties and stealth programs slows things down a bit, but most of the time it adds weight instead of drag, reminding me this is not just about a cool gadget in a metal case, it is about who gets to shape the world.
What stuck with me most were the choices the characters are forced to make. Olson is haunted by a failed operation in Somalia and the death of his partner; that guilt colors everything he does after, especially when he is ordered to stand down and decides to ignore it. Gabrielle is fun to watch because she is both playful and ruthless, a thief who talks about capability as a kind of moral authority and treats sexism in the agencies as another lock to pick. The book lets her be brilliant without sanding off her sharp edges, and I appreciated that. Morozov could have been a cartoon villain, but instead, we see his grief for his granddaughter and the way he is forced back into being “the Demon” when she is taken and ransomed for the stealth data. It does not excuse what he does, but it makes him more human and more unsettling. I also liked the thread about institutions versus individuals: the CIA, FBI, and political leadership spend as much energy protecting careers and narratives as they do protecting the country, and Olson and Hyde are constantly working around their own side as much as they are fighting the enemy.
Stealing Stealth is a solid, character-driven spy thriller with a techno edge, the kind of book you pick up for the rooftop chases and Cold War tension and stay for the messy loyalties and bruised hearts underneath. If you like stories in the vein of Cold War espionage, enjoy the mix of spies, thieves, and experimental weapons, and you appreciate a capable female lead who is always three moves ahead, this book will likely hit the spot for you.
Pages: 474 | ASIN : B0FSL2KVB8
Is the Grass Greener?
Having It All follows a devoted mother and Wall Street trader, who tries to hold together a demanding career and a family when one disaster after another hits, leaving her to make a desperate decision. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I started out with the idea to show three women with very different lifestyles, a single woman, a stay-at-home mom and a working mother, and show that each was a viable option. And you see these three characters in the book. But the working mother ended up being the focus. Perhaps because that was what I was most familiar with myself.
Dalia is a relatable character that many modern women will see parts of themselves in. Was there anything from your own life that you put into the characters in your novel?
There was plenty! This was originally my first attempt at writing a novel. I gave Dalia a security trader position because that was my job and I figured it would save on the research involved with using an alternative. So, I had the long commute, the stressful day and the child and husband to juggle.
I put the manuscript away for years because I couldn’t resolve some issues with the plot, but five published books later, I knew how to fix the problem. I kept the book set in 1997 because that’s when I started writing it, and if the characters had modern technology, the story wouldn’t work, and the trading details wouldn’t be accurate anymore.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Back in the day, they led women to believe they could have a perfect life as a working wife and mother with nothing having to suffer. That it should all be a simple snap of the fingers. But everything in life has its ups and downs. Also, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, so be sure to take time to be grateful for what you have.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I’m working on the second book in my Findale Fae Mystery series with hopes to have it available by the end of 2026.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Instagram
1997––Dalia Roberts had it all––a successful career on Wall Street, a big beautiful house, a loving marriage, and two fantastic kids. But along with those blessings came the work-related stress, the harried days and sleepless nights, the long commutes, and the constant, never-ending juggle of marriage, children, and finances.
Despite being a two-paycheck family, Dalia and Joel Roberts must juggle to make ends meet. Then disaster after disaster hits, leaving their once-perfect home life, along with the professional persona Dalia had worked so hard to perfect, in shambles. Burnt out and unable to think clearly, Dalia makes a desperate decision. Will this ill-thought-out move be the answer or only cause further heartbreak?
Belinda Gordon’s poignant new contemporary fiction unpacks the complex struggles and financial challenges working women with families face when trying to have it all.
A 360-Degree View
Dream Me Dead follows a dead woman watching her husband’s trial for her murder, who tries to leave clues for the living as to what happened to her. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
As living people, we only know what we are told, or what we assume to be true, but if the story is told through the eyes of a deceased person, they are able to have a 360-degree view of the world, and there is no more room for speculation. Peggy Prescott knows exactly what happened to her and how it happened, but she only reveals bits and pieces of her story so that the reader can begin putting the pieces together until they make sense. If she revealed everything at once, it would not be exciting. When someone has to work for the reward, the goal is that much more exciting and fulfilling. The reader feels challenged to put their mind to work as the clues accumulate. The reward, therefore, is worth the effort. Peggy knows her life on earth was valuable, and wants the readers to appreciate her trials and tribulations, making her life, and death, more meaningful. Hopefully, it gives the reader the idea that everything we do, everything that happens to all of us, will one day make sense.
What intrigues you about the paranormal that led you to explore this direction in your psychological thriller novel?
I have always questioned the paranormal, believing that we can only know what we know, but that is not the entire story. I believe in unseen entities, good and bad, who guide us along the way, preparing us to make better choices, be fearless, love deeply, and know that when someone dies, they are still with us. Those whose death was unexpected need for those left behind to make sense of things, and to dig deeper for clues that finally are revealed. Timing is everything, especially for those who search for answers. When I look up at the sky, I see endless possibilities, other lifetimes, souls who have moved on, souls who have remained for a while to keep their loved ones safe. It is an endless cycle of love and possibilities, that intrigue me the most. We have miracles all around us if only we look for them.
What was the most challenging part about writing a mystery story, where you constantly have to give just enough to keep the mystery alive until the big reveal?
The most challenging part of writing a mystery/psychological thriller is to ask the reader to be part of the story, to immerse themselves in the richness of the characters, and to follow the clues as they appear. This cannot occur if the reader becomes bored with the story, or finds that they cannot relate to the characters, so my job was to create characters who come alive, who the reader wants to root for, or despise, but cares about deeply one way or the other. The clues have to be available, but hidden, and can be found just beneath the surface if the reader looks hard enough. For me, the characters in Dream Me Dead are taking the reader on a journey and asking them to believe that they exist, if only on the pages, but remain in our hearts as real people.
Will there be a third book in the Dream Me Home series? If so, what can readers expect, and when will it be available?
Yes, there will be a third book, entitled Dream Me Gone, which will challenge the reader to take a stand, knowing that just as in life, each person can view the same problem differently, depending on their own personal experiences. I know what the ending is, of course, but that’s because I am a believer that anything is possible. Being an optimist and hopeless romantic, I will determine that the ending comes from a place of love, but others, those who are realists, who employ logic as their first language, are welcome to view an ending that makes sense in a realistic world. In other words, just as the readers will align themselves with specific characters, they will also stand firm on a logical conclusion. Everyone should feel that the time they put in to reading the Dream Me Home series was time well spent.
Author Links: Website | Book Trailer | Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Miracles Beyond The Crowd
Miracles Beyond the Crowd is a heartfelt call to push past spiritual passivity and step into a faith that moves, reaches, climbs, and refuses to settle. Author Nico Smit weaves together vivid Gospel narratives with pastoral insight, showing how people who pursued Jesus with grit and hunger were the ones who encountered breakthrough. The book traces stories like the woman with the issue of blood, Bartimaeus, the paralytic lowered through the roof, and the Canaanite woman, and shows how each miracle came to someone who would not stay in the safety of the crowd. The message is simple and clear, yet full of fire. Faith walks. Faith presses in. Faith does not back down. Smit invites readers to become people who step toward Jesus even when blocked, ignored, or discouraged.
I was surprised by how personal the writing felt. The tone is warm and direct. It almost reads like a conversation with a pastor who refuses to let you drift into complacency. I felt challenged in ways that caught me off guard. Certain lines made me nod along, and others made me stop and stare because they hit something inside me. The stories are familiar, yet Smit retells them with a kind of urgency that made me feel the tension in each moment. When he describes the woman crawling through the crowd or the friends ripping open a roof to get to Jesus, I could almost feel the dust and desperation. The writing moves quickly and stays clear, and it stirred up old questions for me about what I have quietly stopped believing God for.
I also appreciated how honest the book is about resistance. Smit does not pretend that faith is polished or pretty. He talks about faith that crawls, shouts, stumbles, and keeps going anyway. I felt a kind of relief reading that. It made space for the days when hope feels thin, and the crowd feels loud. The tone is bold and I could feel it pushing me to examine the ways I settle for proximity to Jesus without actually pursuing Him. There were moments I felt encouraged, and others where I felt exposed in the best possible way. The writing carries a strong emotional pull. It made me want to stand up and believe again for things I had quietly filed away.
Miracles Beyond the Crowd is a passionate and stirring read. I would recommend it to anyone who feels stuck, weary, or spiritually dull, and especially to those who believe in Jesus but have lost the fire to chase after Him. It is a great fit for people who love practical faith stories, people who enjoy devotional style encouragement, and anyone longing for fresh hope.
Pages: 122 | ASIN : B0FX5ZH62M
Built On More Than Teen Romance
Forced Apart follows two teens bound by first love and fierce loyalty as they struggle to stay connected through upheaval, grief, and the painful process of growing up. What inspired the introspective, dual-perspective style that lets readers live inside Cali and Sky’s thoughts?
Cali and Sky have been the key figures in this series on two kids growing up in a suburb of a large American city. I wanted boys and girls who read the series to relate to Sky and Cali and to try to make some of their concerns (Sky’s and Cali’s) typical for American teens. So, logically it seemed fruitful to present the thoughts and emotions from the female and the male point of view.
Luckily, these two fictional teens have knowledgeable and invested parents as do many of their friends, and consequently some of the teen challenges, especially sexual developments, are addressed with insight by the parents. Those adult perspectives were more pronounced in the earlier books because young teens need more parental input. In the two books in the series when Cali and Sky are in ninth grade (Not Just Another Brick in the Wall and Facing Revenge), they are more on their own, depend more on consultation and advice from peers as, typical for teens, they break away from a desire for parental involvement.
In Forced Apart, there is the gradual growth on the part of the teens in forging a more adult-to-adult relationship with parents. Examples of this new relationship are evident in Forced Apart when Cali and Shelly Snipe form a supportive bond as they face adjusting to a new life separated from their personal relationships back in Ohio. Sky has a similar supportive and working relationship with his mom and his stepfather as he deals with living closely with Marcie Meadows.
How did you balance the emotional core of the story with the background elements of danger and past trauma, such as the kidnappings?
Sky and Cali would hope that kidnappings are a thing of the past, but what they learned from their traumatic experiences has made them resilient, crafty, and determined to help anyone else who’s path they might cross who is faced with injustice and criminal intent. Although they are now dealing with emotional despair over their separation, they continue to find ways to support and encourage each other. Their bond has been built on more than teen romance.
The friend group feels like a second family. How did you approach writing their loyalty and messy humor to keep the story from becoming too heavy?
The fact of teen suicide looms too large in today’s teen world. Kids who forego suicide as an answer to emotional isolation and humiliation are usually ones who have a network of supportive and knowledgeable friends. Sky and Cali give insight and support to their friends and in return receive the same. Humor helps grease the friendship wheels but there has been a growing unshakeable support when Sky and Cali desperately need it. Teens need to value friendship and to invest personally in building and maintaining friendships.
If you could add one more scene to further highlight the theme of “surviving change,” what moment would you explore?
I should have had a scene where Cali and Sky meet again, during their separation, and before the need to rescue Solina. Probably they would meet again at the stadium of their high school. They needed a face-to-face where they could vent their frustration over being apart but have a chance to express why they were experiencing such emotional loss. To express the ways that their friendship has been important and undeniably crucial in their successful transitioning from teen to adult. Maybe if there is one final book in the series, Sky and Cali may have that conversation when they graduate and go separate ways.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
Cali’s mom must deal with a problematic relationship and one of Cali’s new classmates faces difficult choices because of her toxic and dysfunctional family. Skyler finds himself in a confusing supportive role to a troubled female classmate that puts him at odds with Cali. As in the past, Cali and Sky continue to grow and encounter adventures and dangers that they had not expected to face during their junior year in high school.
Shero Entrepreneurs
SHERO Entrepreneurs is a collection of powerful personal stories from women who built businesses out of grit, heartbreak, courage, and hope. The book brings together interviews, reflections, and affirmations that walk the reader through the heart and hustle of ten entrepreneurs who turned adversity into purpose. As I moved through each chapter, I saw the common thread that ties them together. Every woman rose from something heavy and shaped a new life with her own hands. The book blends guidance, real struggle, and bright flashes of triumph in a way that feels honest and warm.
Reading it stirred something in me. I found myself pulled into the raw moments, the kind that sit in your chest for a while. The writing felt direct and personal. I could almost hear the voices of the women as they shared the reasons they stepped out on their own, the nights they questioned themselves, and the quiet victories they earned in the dark. The stories of illness, financial loss, and reinvention felt especially moving. Monica Chagolla’s journey back to meaningful work after serious illness captured the fragile mix of doubt and determination. Carolina Missett’s story of grief becoming a place of creation made me pause. Veronica Bahn’s reflections on visibility, loss, and legacy felt layered with both pain and fire. The writing does not hide real emotion. It offers it openly, and that openness gave the book its strength.
I also found myself smiling through several chapters. There is a down-to-earth charm in the way these women talk about building something from almost nothing. Patti Stoltz starting with three hundred dollars when it felt like three hundred thousand, Angela Barney juggling daycare, real estate, and Tupperware to keep her family steady, and so many others building piece by piece while learning on the go. Their stories brought a mix of admiration and comfort. I kept thinking how refreshing it was to hear success discussed without perfection. The ideas in the book are simple in the best way. Work hard. Stay kind. Learn fast. Lift others. Trust yourself. These messages land because they come from lived experience, not theory.
By the final pages, I felt a genuine sense of connection to the women in this collection. The affirmations sprinkled throughout added a gentle rhythm that reminded me to check in with my own path. I walked away from the book feeling both grounded and energized. It left me with a fuller sense of what resilience looks like in real life.
SHERO Entrepreneurs is a book I would recommend to women who are starting something new, women who feel stuck, and women who need proof that ordinary beginnings can still lead to extraordinary places. It is also a meaningful read for anyone who wants to understand the emotional landscape of entrepreneurship.
Pages: 253 | ASIN : B0FTPZFGNZ
LITERARY TITAN 