Review: The Next Wife - Liz Lawler - November 2020 There’s something quietly unsettling about a love story that begins in warmth and slowly turns cold, and The Next Wife by Liz Lawler captures that shift with a haunting, slow-burn intensity. At the start, I found myself drawn into Tess’s world - the kind of life that feels small but safe, filled with love, routine, and comfort. Her relationship with Daniel in their London apartment had that cosy, almost cocoon-like quality, and I could understand why Tess believed marriage would simply be an extension of that happiness. But as we all know, sometimes change doesn’t arrive loudly ,it seeps in quietly, almost unnoticed, until it’s everywhere. When Tess and Daniel move into the grand mansion, the atmosphere subtly shifts. What should have been a dream upgrade instead becomes isolating, and Lawler does an excellent job of showing how control can creep into a relationship under the guise of care. Daniel’s transformation is chilling not becau...

Review: Sacred Sex - Tony Evans - December 2013 Welcome back to the cozy corner of The Phantom Paragrapher . Grab a mug of something warm and settle in, because today we’re having a bit of a heart-to-heart. As we kick off 2026, I’ve set a personal challenge for myself: to read at least 12 non-fiction books  one for every month of the year. I wanted to start the year with something that felt foundational, and Tony Evans’ Sacred Sex was exactly the eye-opener I didn't know I needed. Let’s be honest: sex is everywhere. It dominates our screens, our music, and our social feeds. Our culture screams "YOLO!" (You Only Live Once), suggesting that because life is short, we should do whatever feels good in the moment. But Dr. Evans flips that script beautifully. He argues that if we only have one life and one body, shouldn't we treat them with the utmost care, using them exactly as they were designed? Dr. Evans refuses to let the noise of the world drown out God’s intent. H...

Review: The Honeymoon - Kate Gray - July 2023 Two couples have decided to go to Bali for their Honeymoons and one night, they meet up and have dinner together. They learn that they don't live too far from each other in the UK and all goes well. That was until the night ended and they went their separate ways, One of the couples Erin and Jamie went out to the cliffs to get a bit frisky, and the other ended up back in their hotel - Sophia and Mark. That night, we read as Erin and Jamie end up killing a man, and the next day, they leave to go home. Erin is on edge and Jamie wants things to go back to normal. During the book, we also read about Sophia and Mark and learn that Sophia is a journalist who recently wrote crime but left her job after an expose blew up and caused her to be disgraced and threatened. When she learns about the death in Bali at their hotel, she contacts Erin to get her views about it. Jamie is worried that Erin might crack, so he warns Sophia to stay away from he...

Forevermore: A Romance Anthology Publication date: October 10th 2023 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance You are cordially invited. The Moore family requests the pleasure of your company on a starry harvest night, rich with tales of passion, magic, and love. Our beloved Filipino American family hosts a gathering at Hacienda Luz this autumn for another grand celebration – Vida and Rafa’s long-anticipated wedding. As promises of fidelity and infinity fill the air, ten couples live and relive intimate stories that attest to the true meaning of happily ever after. Acclaimed and bestselling Filipino American authors – Aurora Paige, Elle Cruz, June Gray, Kaye Rockwell, Liz Durano, Maan Gabriel, Maida Malby, Mia Hopkins, Sarah Smith, and Tif Marcelo – bring you Forevermore, a romance collection celebrating love everlasting. ~ * ~ Forevermore , A Romance Anthology is a collection of new and never-been-published stories by the authors that brought you Pasko Na, My Love , A Holida...

Review: Happy Place - Emily Henry - April 2023 Back in March, I discovered a New Zealand Book Subscription Box called The Book Shoppe, and each month, you get a book and then a few wrapped-up gifts to go with it. When you get to a certain page, you can unwrap the particular gift and it is associated with something on that particular page. May's book which is the third book I have received was Happy Place by Emily Henry. This was the first of her books I have read, I do have her others still but had heard rave reviews from the author and people raving about this book. You know how books that get raved about, can make you start to worry as you build up this high expectation in your head and the reality often doesn't meet the fantasy, I tried not to do that with this one as I wanted to enjoy and embrace the reading experience as with The Book Shoppe it's an interactive one.  Happy Place for me was what I would call a middle read where I could take it or leave it, it wasn...

  Join Us For This Tour From Aug 8 to Aug 26    Book Details: Book Title :   Superwoman: A Funny and Reflective Look at Single Motherhood by Mona Andrei Category : Adult Non-Fiction , 174 pages Genre :  HUMOR / Topic / Marriage & Family Publisher : Cynren Press Publication Date : March 2021. Tour dates : Aug 8 to Aug 26 Content Rating : PG-13: No violence, but a splattering of profanity (including the F-word) and discussion of bad marriages.   Book Description:   They put the tiny, red-faced bundle into her arms, and time stopped. She gazed at that puckered little face and whispered,   Welcome to the world, baby girl.   Little did she know that within weeks, she would become a single mother—not exactly what she had imagined for her daughters and herself, but exactly what needed to happen. This is the story of a single mother, but it’s more than that. Sometimes funny, sometimes reflective, it’s also your story—a story of that ...

Love & Other Vows: For better or worse… Lyndsey Gallagher (Professional Players, #5) Publication date: June 1st 2022 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance Shelly Williams is loving life. She’s been offered a place on the newest, sexiest, celebrity reality television show, and her husband has just retired from his position as captain of the Irish rugby team, meaning he’s around more to help raise their children, leaving her free to pursue a few of her own ambitions. Ambitions Marcus knows nothing about. Marcus Williams is struggling to find a purpose following his recent retirement as captain of the Irish rugby team. There’s only so many holidays, horse riding trips and happy hours one man can endure. When his wife is paired up with his old sporting rival in front of the entire country, Marcus begins to realise he stands to lose a lot more than just his career. With ten weeks of watching Shelly slide, shake and shimmy against the one man that has the potential to destroy e...

Title: Grayson's Way Series: Forever Love #2 Author: Lisa Eugene Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance Cover Design: The Killion Group Inc Release Date: April 23, 2021 BLURB Love is patient. Love is kind. But love is never perfect. Grayson and Angie’s marriage isn’t typical. Grayson suffers from schizophrenia, a mental disorder of delusion and fantasy. Their deep love, and an unyielding bond have allowed them to endure. This gorgeous, kind, sexy man has refused to be defined by his diagnosis. When Grayson spirals into psychosis, Angie is powerless to stop it. He retreats into a world of delusions and paranoia, distrusting everyone around him. The danger he perceives appears to be an elaborate mental concoction, a reckoning of his tragic past and crumbling present. Are forces working against them? Are the OTHERS real or has Grayson finally succumbed to the demons in his head? This time, can Angie be his salvation, or will this crisis leave their family in ruins? Love is p...