Blog Archives
Amber Unscripted (The Scarlet’s Harlots Trilogy Book 3)
Amber Unscripted, by Kirsten Pursell, is a contemporary women’s fiction novel with a strong romantic thread, following Amber as she returns to Sullivan’s Island after divorce and begins sorting through the stories she has told herself about love, family, regret, and identity. As the third book in The Scarlet’s Harlots Trilogy, it centers on friendship, second chances, and the brave, messy work of choosing a life that actually feels like your own. Amber’s past includes reality TV fame, a painful marriage, family secrets, and a lost love named Christian, but the heart of the book is really about her learning to stop living by old scripts.
What I appreciated most was how the book balances humor with emotional weight. Amber could easily have been written as a glossy former television personality with a predictable comeback arc, but Pursell gives her more texture than that. She is funny, wounded, sometimes guarded, and often more self-aware than she gives herself credit for. I liked the way the women around her, especially the Harlots, create a kind of chosen family that lets the story breathe. Their conversations are sharp, warm, and occasionally ridiculous in the best way. The book understands that friendship between adult women can be both a lifeline and a mirror, and that sometimes the people who tease you the hardest are also the ones who will sit with you when the truth gets heavy.
The story moves between Amber’s personal reckoning, Audrey’s late-blooming romantic awakening, the group’s book club discussions, and the pull of old mysteries. At times, it feels packed. There are family secrets, past trauma, divorce, grief, fame, lost love, and a trip to Greece, all woven into one emotional arc. That could have become too much, but for me, the abundance fits the story. Women’s fiction often works best when it honors the full clutter of a life, and this novel leans into that. I especially liked how books within the book, from The Bridges of Madison County to the club’s other reads, become quiet pressure points for the characters. They are not just talking about stories. They are using stories to figure out what they still want.
I would recommend Amber Unscripted to readers who enjoy contemporary women’s fiction about reinvention, female friendship, and romance after heartbreak. It will especially appeal to anyone who likes emotionally reflective stories with humor, coastal settings, and characters who are old enough to know better but still brave enough to want more. This is a thoughtful, candid, and ultimately hopeful novel about stepping out of the role other people handed you and finally writing the next scene yourself.
Pages: 254 | ASIN : B0GX2RYWQ9
Nothing Left to Lose
Nothing Left to Lose, by Len Joy, is a literary family drama about Tawni Carter, a prominent anti-abortion activist whose public convictions collide painfully with her private life. After she tries to take legal control of her pregnant daughter, Charlotte, Tawni loses more than a court case. She loses trust, family, and the story she has told herself about who she is. The novel moves between 2018, the 1960s, and the early days of COVID, building a layered portrait of mothers, daughters, regret, survival, and the hard work of letting go.
I liked how willing Joy is to sit with complicated people. Tawni could have been written as a symbol, but she isn’t. She’s proud, sharp, manipulative, wounded, funny, selfish, and capable of real tenderness. That makes her frustrating in the way real people can be frustrating. I didn’t always like her. I was not always meant to. But I kept wanting to understand her, and that is where the book earns its emotional weight. The shifts into Clover’s past also give the novel a wider shape, moving it beyond one family crisis into a story about inheritance, not just money or blood, but belief, grief, stubbornness, and love passed from one generation to the next.
Joy’s writing is clean and direct, with dialogue that often carries the charge of a courtroom argument or a family fight at the worst possible moment. The book takes on big issues, abortion, faith, political identity, addiction, aging, illness, and the pandemic, but it works best when those ideas are pressed through intimate scenes. A hospital room. A phone call. A daughter at the door. Those moments feel authentic. I did sometimes feel the novel was juggling a lot, especially as it stretches across decades and social conflicts, but the emotional line stays clear. This is a book about a woman who has built a life around certainty and then has to survive the collapse of that certainty.
I would recommend Nothing Left to Lose to readers who enjoy character-driven literary fiction with the sweep of a family saga and the tension of contemporary social drama. It will especially appeal to readers who like morally messy protagonists, intergenerational stories, and novels that ask hard questions without pretending the answers are easy. It is not a light read, but it is a thoughtful one, and by the end, I felt the title land with force.
Pages: 217 | ASIN : B0GXLJRYWF
Authentic Love
Sea and Stars follows a healer from the Isle of Skye whose life is split open by a letter from her dead mother, sending her to America to find the family she never knew existed. Why place the story specifically between the Isle of Skye and Mystic, Connecticut?
I set Sea and Stars between The Isle of Skye and Mystic, Connecticut, because they are both liminal places haunted by history and steeped in magic. The Isle of Skye, an island located off the Northwest coast of Scotland, is rich in fairy folklore. Its rugged mountains, windswept moors, and rocky shores represent the independent spirit and natural beauty of the Porter line from which the main female character, Arabella, springs. Mystic, Connecticut, a village carved from two neighboring towns and named for its tidal river, represents the main male character, James Alden, and his privileged family. Although Mystic seems civilized on the surface, a troubled past bubbles beneath it, and this informs the secret at the heart of the novel. Since Sea and Stars engages with the traditions of Gothic romance, I wanted the settings in my story to function as living, breathing spaces that reflect and shape my characters’ identities.
In fairy tales and folklore, danger lurks in liminal spaces, but so does the capacity for meaningful transformation. Both the Isle of Skye and Mystic function as dangerous landscapes in Sea and Stars, but they also support the miraculous changes that come from emotional growth and authentic love. The temporal setting of Sea and Stars (1847—a year in the middle of the 19th century) also functions in a liminal way, and the spiritual transformations the characters undergo are meant to mirror the social and political changes of the 1840’s.
William Stafford represents a promise that doesn’t hold. What did you want to explore about expectations versus reality in the family?
Human life is full of conflicts between expectation and reality, and I wanted to explore the impact those conflicts have upon our sense of identity. Arabella is a hopeful young woman who believes her long-lost father, William Stafford, will rescue her from her lonely and isolated life, but the father she imagines is very different than the father she meets. It takes Arabella quite a while to reconcile her desire to know her father with her realization that he is not the savior she hoped he would be.
Since Sea and Stars is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in the real world, it was important for me to explore the fairy tale trope of the ineffective father in its pages. In finally understanding that her father is a flawed human being, Arabella learns to distinguish between action and intention, and she uses this knowledge to navigate her complex relationship with James. Once Arabella comes to terms with her father’s broken promises, she can move forward with her own life and follow through with the promises she chooses to make.
The relationships between Arabella, Catherine, Elinor, and Anne form a powerful thread. What drew you to explore generational female knowledge?
When I first began writing about Arabella (in a short character vignette titled Midsummer Magic), she was the last living member in a matriarchal line of healing practitioners, so generational female knowledge is at the heart of her identity. In the real world, knowledge passed down from mothers to daughters is often dismissed as gossip or categorized as “old wives’ tales,” but it continues to circulate because it has great value, and I wanted to honor the powerful wisdom and intuition of women in Sea and Stars. Although Arabella’s mother, Catherine, and her grandmother, Caitriona, are both deceased when Sea and Stars begins, they permeate the story, and their words guide Arabella when she needs them most.
Arabella meets Elinor and Anne in Mystic, and they soon become treasured parts of her found family. They are quite different than the women of the Porter Clan, but they care for Arabella in their own way. The love between Arabella and the many women who guide and protect her is an important part of her story.
The novel suggests that home is something built, not simply found. What does “home” mean for Arabella by the end of the story?
At the beginning of Sea and Stars, each setting is a specific place that the characters inhabit and move through, but as the story progresses, the settings take on metaphorical meanings. Arabella learns that home is not a physical landscape, but a space that can be crafted from the places and people we love. Together, she and James create a new home forged of memory, desire, acceptance, and an enduring commitment to stand by each other no matter what challenges may come. By the end of the story, Arabella defines “home” as a place she can carry with her because it is inseparable from her heart and soul.
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The Isle of Skye, 1847.
When Arabella Porter, a lonely healer gifted with fairy magic, receives a mysterious letter from the past, she journeys to Mystic, Connecticut in search of the father she has never known. There she crosses paths with James Alden, a handsome shipbuilder whose shadowy history hides secrets of its own.
Both thrown together and kept apart by circumstances beyond their control, James and Arabella must reconcile their forbidden desires for each other with their loyalty to their families, their longing for choice, and their need for freedom. When Arabella’s independence stirs town gossip and suspicion, James must decide how much he is willing to sacrifice to protect her from a past far more dangerous than it seems.
Filled with Gothic imagery and Celtic folklore, Sea and Stars is a slow burn but sensual Beauty and the Beast retelling set in the real world. It isfor all those who believe in the transformative power of true love.
Fulfilling Relationships
Moving Maggie follows a sixty-year-old woman going through a divorce, losing her job, and having to move all at once, who tries to build a new life in a new town and rediscover herself. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I’ve been doing a lot of book signings since Reinventing Rita, my first Midlife Moxie novel, came out in 2023, and I have had the most fascinating conversations with women 50 and older. They tell me about their lives—the good parts and the bad—and the challenges they have had to overcome. So I’m sure that some of the characters in Moving Maggie came out of those interactions.
As for the inciting event, well, while I have never had to move from my home, I have had relationships end unexpectedly and career choices that didn’t quite go the way I anticipated. That meant I had to discard the idea I had formed of what the next 10 or 20 years were going to look like and come up with a new vision and goal.
Being a planner and a bit of a control freak like Maggie, those early stages of transition and reinvention weren’t very much fun! But looking back, I see that it all turned out for the best and gave me an opportunity to develop new skills and strengths—just like Maggie.
Maggie is a fascinating character with a lot of depth. What scene was the most interesting to write for that character?
I think it was Chapter 26, when Maggie and the teenage girl, Janna, have a verbal altercation. Until that point, the two of them had a good relationship, which, given Maggie’s childless state, was unusual for her. But when Janna expressed her frustration after the hospital refused to consider her as a kidney donor for her brother, Maggie responded in “hospital administrator speak.” That generated an angry retort from the young girl that surprised and dismayed Maggie, who had prided herself on knowing how to handle problems in the work environment.
Maggie’s sense of guilt that she had failed to give the right response made her think of other times in her past when she didn’t recognize what the other person needed from her but was instead “all business.” It’s one of the times in the story when she begins to understand that she had to develop a sense of empathy if she wanted to have fulfilling relationships with other people.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Always central to the Midlife Moxie novel series is the idea that we are stronger than we think and that we can handle the changes that come unexpectedly—regardless of our age or perhaps, because of our age, and the wisdom and experience we have gained through the years. And also, that reinvention is not something to be avoided or rejected but is instead a positive activity that can open new doors.
A theme specific to this book is the willingness to be vulnerable and take risks, personally and professionally. As Maggie gradually opened her heart to those around her, she saw that her self-protectiveness had isolated her in the past and resulted in a lonely existence. By allowing herself to care about those she met, even at the risk of being hurt or rejected, she realized her life was becoming much more fulfilling.
And when she found herself taking on responsibilities at her new job (that itself came with no small learning curve), she recognized that making mistakes is part of the process and there is no shame in doing something wrong the first time, if subsequently she did it right.
A second theme is the importance of learning from past missteps and bad choices. Maggie was very driven when it came to her life, and her primary commitment was to her career and professional future. While initially it worked out to her benefit, her tendency to ignore warning signs that developed over time, both at work and at home, ultimately resulted in the end of her marriage and the loss of her job. Now she not only had to create a new future but also make time in her life for other people and experiences without repeating those same errors in judgment and negative tendencies.
I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?
Because each novel in the Midlife Moxie novel series is a standalone, I will have to leave it to the reader’s imagination to envision what happens next to Maggie and the rest of the Eden community!
However, Maggie’s boss, Sheila Jones, also appears in With Any Luck—one of the stories that’s part of my short story collection, The Language of Love, which was also released in 2025. Sheila handled the sale of a home in Eden to Amy, a newcomer to the town, and, in true Sheila fashion, provides more than just a real estate service.
I hadn’t originally planned for that to happen, but as I was writing that short story, I needed to have someone who would arrange the house sale. I liked the character of Sheila from Moving Maggie so much that I couldn’t help making her part of it!
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The year Maggie Cartwright turned 60, she is hit with a triple whammy of unpleasant and definitely unwanted events: the loss of her job, the ending of her marriage, and the need to find a new place to live. The impact of all these undesirable occurrences is that the woman once known as “Move-Ahead Maggie” has lost her moxie and can’t figure out where she can go or what she can do with the rest of her life.
Maggie’s move to a small rural community sparks a series of unexpected opportunities and new friendships, and she realizes that making a life change can bring unexpected benefits. But as she begins to reclaim her “Move-Ahead Maggie” identity, can she let go of her career-driven focus to take advantage of them?
MOVING MAGGIE is a double winner in the 2025 Firebird Book Awards Competition: Summer Beach Read and Women’s Fiction categories!
Stolen Diary
Stolen Diary follows Jasmin, a gifted young girl raised in a tightly controlled world shaped by family secrets, emotional distance, and the heavy weight of expectations. As she uncovers the truth behind her mother’s mysterious diary, Jasmin begins a long journey of self-discovery that stretches across Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The story blends coming-of-age tension with gentle mystery. It frames the inner life of a brilliant child who wants love, clarity, and a sense of place.
I found myself pulled in by the writing. The sentences feel smooth, simple, and clear. The author lets the scenes breathe, and I could feel Jasmin’s loneliness and her fierce desire to understand the world. Some moments hit me hard. The quiet pain in the family home, the mix of fear and longing, the strange way adults try to protect kids while also hurting them. I felt frustrated for her sometimes. I also felt proud when she found her own footing. The slower parts gave me time to sit with her thoughts, and that made the story feel honest.
The ideas in the book stayed with me. The balance between intellect and emotion. The pressure placed on children who shine in ways adults do not understand. The way trauma hides inside ordinary routines. I liked how the author handled these themes with gentle hands. Nothing felt forced. Sometimes I wanted sharper edges or more confrontation, yet the softer tone works for Jasmin’s world. It made the big emotional moments land with more force. I kept thinking about how families try hard yet still end up wounding each other.
I would recommend Stolen Diary to readers who enjoy intimate stories about growing up, especially those who like character-driven novels set against rich cultural backgrounds. It is a good fit for people who appreciate slow-building emotional journeys and mysteries that unfold quietly rather than loudly. If you want a thoughtful, heartfelt read that lingers in your mind, this book should suit you well.
Pages: 334 | ASIN : B0BSHFRD11
The Path of Saints and Sinners
The Path of Saints and Sinners is the fourth book in J.F. Collen’s Journey of Cornelia Rose series, and it carries Cornelia “Nellie” Rose Wright into the stark and complicated world of Utah Territory in the mid-1800s. The story picks up with Nellie, her husband Obadiah, and their daughters after the grueling journey westward. They arrive in Great Salt Lake City, hoping for rest, stability, and a sense of community, only to find tension, hostility, and political turmoil instead. The book blends the trials of pioneer life with the undercurrents of faith, loyalty, and the uneasy intersection between the United States government and the Mormon settlers.
I felt pulled right into Nellie’s restless heart from the start. She is exhausted and homesick, yet her sharp wit and stubborn courage refuse to give way. The dialogue brims with energy, and the little details like dusty wagon wheels, harsh light, and the smell of mold on corn husks make the setting feel immediate and alive. At times, I found myself irritated with Obadiah’s insistence on pressing forward in the face of obvious danger, but then that frustration softened because it mirrored Nellie’s own. The writing does not shy away from messy conflict. It lingers in the gaps between what is said and what is felt, and I admired that.
The book meanders through conversations and stretches of description that sometimes slow the tension. Yet, even when I grew restless, I found myself laughing at Nellie’s sharp asides or touched by the innocence of her daughters. There is an honesty in the way Collen portrays family life, messy and tender all at once, and that honesty kept me invested.
I realized this book is less about resolution and more about survival. Nellie’s world is uncertain, and her doubts echo across the pages in a way that felt strangely modern to me. I would recommend The Path of Saints and Sinners to readers who enjoy historical fiction rooted in strong female voices, especially those who like their history layered with personal struggle and the grit of daily life.
Pages: 504 | ASIN : B0FHPXS955
Christmas Actually: A festive novel about family and forgiveness
Christmas Actually, by Lisa Darcy, is a heartwarming yet humorously chaotic exploration of midlife, motherhood, career revival, and family dynamics set against the backdrop of the holiday season. Katie, the protagonist, is a once-aspiring photographer grappling with the pressures of parenting, a faltering marriage, and the rediscovery of her professional identity. The story unfolds with relatable messiness and sharp wit, drawing readers into Katie’s world of imperfect Christmases and the quest for fulfillment.
Lisa Darcy’s writing is charmingly down-to-earth, though, at times, it feels a bit overly descriptive. Early in the book, Katie’s chaotic dinner party with her husband’s Mormon colleagues is laugh-out-loud funny yet painfully awkward. The tension between Katie’s desire to reclaim her photography career and her insecurities about keeping up with new technology is palpable. Darcy has a knack for making the reader feel like they’re part of Katie’s bustling household, with all its mishaps and tender moments.
What I enjoyed most were the layered relationships, especially between Katie and her teenage daughter, Lexi. Their interactions brim with a mix of love and exasperation, reflecting the generational clash over social media and self-expression. The holiday theme is cleverly interwoven without being overbearing. Katie’s hesitation to embrace Christmas traditions mirrors her internal struggles, and her eventual engagement with the festive season aligns beautifully with her personal growth. Darcy’s portrayal of the season’s chaos, complete with mismatched decorations and burned pavlovas, is refreshingly real.
Christmas Actually is perfect for readers who appreciate stories about juggling life’s messiness with humor and grace. It’s especially suited for working moms, fans of domestic dramas with comedic undertones, and anyone needing a reminder that life doesn’t need to be picture-perfect to be fulfilling. Lisa Darcy’s relatable characters and sharp observations will leave you smiling—and perhaps reaching for your camera to capture your own “perfectly imperfect” moments.
Pages: 346 | ASIN : B0DCDCFY1B
Moving Forward
The Space Between Dreaming follows two women struggling to have a family of their own who meet at an art gallery and form an unlikely friendship. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I had always wanted to write a story that featured strong friendships that was perhaps a bit unexpected. I decided to do this through friendships that spanned different generations and different circumstances as a way to show the strength we gain from women who are in our corner. Since I’m also an artist, I took a lot of inspiration from my own experience in showing in galleries and working at art fairs.
Grace and Jane are both relatable characters that readers are drawn to and want to help. Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your characters’ lives?
I used my real-life great-grandmother’s name for one of the characters, although the personality of the character is totally different. The character of Jane loves the Milwaukee Art Museum and has since she was a kid, which is something I took directly from my own life.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
My love of art and the power of expressing emotions through painting is something I wanted to convey. I wanted readers to feel how valuable the practice and appreciation of artistic endeavor can be in healing, decision-making, and everyday life. Also the theme of moving forward despite difficult circumstances was an important one to include. I wanted this to be an inspiring, hopeful book for someone to pick up.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
I just released an art book called Poetry and Paint. It features my original paintings and poetry. I’m also working on another novel, but I don’t have a date for its release yet.
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Grace and Jane both crave family but for much different reasons. Grace longs for the child she was never able to conceive and Jane for the new family she will have once she marries her boyfriend. They meet and become unlikely friends when Grace’s husband paints his masterpiece and Jane’s gallery represents him.
As they ponder their future, Jane’s meddling 80-year-old landlady helps them see the beauty in letting go of expectations. Grace and Jane each see something different in the painting, and it causes them to look beyond their stubborn dreams to a fresh reality that could hold the key to their happiness.
