Review: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls - Grady Hendrix - January 2025 Set against the haunting backdrop of a 1970s unwed mothers home in St. Augustine, Florida, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is Grady Hendrix at his most chilling—and most heartbreaking. Combining the author’s signature horror-tinged storytelling with a devastating slice of social history, this novel struck an especially personal chord with me. Like the girls in this story, my own mother had her child taken from her as a teenager under the guise of “what’s best,” a story so many women in that era know too well. We follow 15-year-old Fern, frightened, pregnant, and utterly alone as she enters the rigid confines of the Wellwood Home. Girls like Fern are labelled “loose” and “troubled,” stripped of their autonomy and made to follow a life path dictated by shame and control. But what begins as a bleak narrative of conformity slowly morphs into something powerful, strange—and even a little magical. When a mysterious Mobile Libra...

Review: Unplanned - Book #1 Kennedy Stern Series - Alana Terry - May 2015 This book was a timely read as I was scrolling last weekend through my kindle and came across this book, not knowing what it was about - I clicked into it. Turns out that Unplanned by Alana Terry was a CF edgy Teen/NA series featuring a young college girl Kennedy Stern. Why this book was timely, is that the day I read this book was the beginning of the Roe vs Wade case being overturned which as a result is making abortions in some states illegal and considered murder - just as if they had killed someone walking down the street. Myself, I am pro-life but I do acknowledge that there are a few cases where abortion in my mind is an acceptable course of action. I think it is something though that should be allowed because sadly the alternative is back-alley abortions which cause the death of the mother in a lot of instances e.g. septic, not done correctly, etc. Again, this is another case of the US going backward not...

Review: Lulu and the Missing Tooth Fairy - S.E Richey - January 2022 This was such an adorable book and I loved the illustrations from John Ortiz as well. This book is perfect for those girls who also love fairies. In Lulu and the Missing Tooth Fairy by SE Richey, we meet Lulu who is so excited as she has finally lost her first tooth and can't wait for her first visit from the tooth fairy and to get some money which she dreams she can buy a pony. Lulu places her tooth under her pillow but will get a sad feeling when she discovers the tooth fairy hasn't been yet. Meanwhile, we meet the tooth fairy who is busy training and Lulu is her final test till she can become a fully-fledged tooth fairy but she is having trouble with her address finder and it is sending her all over the place as Lulu's address gets confused and sends her to Mexico instead of the United States. In Mexico, we meet the Mexican version of the tooth fairy known as El Ratoncito Perez who is a Mouse that co...

Review: The Black Midnight - Book #7 True Colors Series - Kathleen Y'Barbo - August 2020 In the mood for some crime-related books, I decided for my first read for 2022 to be The Black Midnight by Kathleen Y'Barbo. A bit of background first is that the True Colors series are books that can be read as standalones and each story features a true crime that happened somewhere in the world mainly US/UK and told in a fictional account. The Black Midnight though is an exception as the book features multiple crimes and is told over two continents. The initial story introduces us to Alice Ann who is a special detective but also the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The year is 1889 and a famous serial killer is stalking the streets of Whitechapel, UK aka Jack the Ripper, and the police are stumped. The Queen knows her granddaughter's skills and wants to on the down-low hire her granddaughter and her old friend to look at the case. Alice Ann takes a trip to Austin, Texas, and is face ...

Review: Fame - Book #1 Not Like in the Movies Series - Lauren McKellar - February 2016 Madison had life all worked out and this birthday should have been perfect as not only was she turning 23, she was up for a promotion at work and getting married in two weeks to her perfect fiancé. However, Madison's world crashed when her best friend got the promotion she deserved, she got moved to a department that covered healthy green living instead of fashion which was her world, and then to make it worst, she came home early and caught her fiancé bonking a girl from his job named Canada. If that wasn't bad enough, both Madison and her now ex-fiancé work in the magazine industry and are bound to bang into one another at events. When Madison is allowed to attend a wellness retreat in Bali for work, she jumps on the opportunity to at least get some time away and clear her head. Madison arrives in Bali and is also on the island filming a new movie is Hollywood actor Tate Masters. Over a ni...