Category Book review

#bookreview By Hook Or By Book By Misty Simon @parternsincrimetours

Mybeautymark 2 Comments
Synopsis

Roxy Gleason, an innkeeper by trade and a bibliomancer by birth, has lived in the same small town on the Susquehanna River in Central Pennsylvania for her entire life. Tradition is strong here. Roxy understands the rules and is willing to play by them most of the time. She runs the Charmed Inn, which has been in her family for decades.

The inn is all set to host a writers’ professional business weekend that’s been planned down to the very last hand-folded napkin, and Roxy is ready for the influx of creatives. She knows she’ll have a lot of different and sometimes unusual personalities to deal with, but this is a yearly function, so she’s not expecting anything to go awry.

Her expectations are completely tanked when she finds a dead body on her daily walk by the river’s shore. Owen Schultz had checked in for the conference a few hours ago, and she’d last seen him having tea with her aunt in the dining room.

How did he get down here on the ferry, and who killed him?

Review/ My thoughts

By Hook or by Book is a cozy paranormal story about Roxy who runs her family bed and breakfast. Roxys inn is having a Writers event, and she ia running around trying to get things together. In the midst of getting ready for the event one of her guest is found dead near the river.
Roxy takes what she leanred from books to try to solve the mystery of who killed this guest and why? Why now during this writers event?

Roxy is a big reader , and i liked that about her. She does this  thing where she can flip a page and find the answer to what she needs to be on the page. 

I like the paranormal aspect of the story. If you like cozy mystery with touch of paranormal i think youll like this story.

Rating 4 🌟 🌟🌟🌟

#bookreview Thou Shall Not Judge By Dr CI

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Synopsis

Thou Shall Not Judge follows Judge Aseeka Sinclair, a trailblazing, single Black woman in her forties serving Chief Judge. Behind her commanding presence and crisp judicial robes is a woman quietly carrying generational wounds and personal scars, including a fractured relationship with her incarcerated father. This therapist calls her out on her own BS and a situationship with a fellow judge that constantly tests her emotional boundaries. When Aseeka presides over the trial of a prominent gynecologist accused of sexual assault, her world unravels after discovering a devastating her father murdered the defendant’s older brother decades ago. This is the same gynecologist who sexually assaulted her during a procedure, and she never spoke about it because part of her enjoyed it, even though she never consented!
As past and present collide, Aseeka is forced to reckon with her family’s history, her own vulnerability, and the question of whether she can truly allow herself to love and be loved without judgment. This is a story about power, sexual liberation, trauma, friendship, and ultimately, the liberation that comes with owning your truth.
Fans of Kennedy Ryan’s The Kingmaker series and Tia Williams’ Seven Days in June will appreciate the emotionally intelligent characters, slow-burn tension, and the unapologetic centering of Black womanhood, allyship, exploration and triumph

Review/My thoughts

Thou Should not Judge is about a woman named Aseeka who is a judge . Although she holds a lot of power within the courtroom, she is juggling a lot with her past relationship, keeping up with friends, and still maintaining a pokerface when handing down sentences.

Akeeka uncovers a deep secect that unfolds while she is over a trial of a gynecologist about her father. Throughout the story, Akeeka deals with family, facing trauma, friendship, and accepting herself.

I enjoyed the writing as well as the sexual exploration throughout the story. It was a fast-paced read. I’ll recommend this novel to anyone who likes books about women fiction and watching growth in the story.

Rating 4 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to the author for allowing me to read and share my honest review.

#bookreview The Line Between Us By Syreeta Harvey Pasley 

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Synopsis

A young Black man with a bright future. A tragic misunderstanding. A city on the edge.

Darius Porter has everything going for him—a promising future in medicine, a supportive family, and the determination to rise above the challenges of his working-class Camden neighborhood. But when he returns home from college for a weekend visit, an ordinary evening takes a devastating turn.

As tensions rise, Detective Jada Edgars finds herself caught between the police department she serves and the community that raised her. Tasked with investigating the disappearance of two young Black women, she soon realizes that their cases are more than isolated incidents—they’re pieces of a larger, more dangerous puzzle. With the city erupting in protests and pressure mounting from all sides, Jada must navigate the thin line between duty and justice, confronting the very system that has long failed those it claims to protect.

The Line Between Us is a powerful, thought-provoking novel that explores racial injustice, identity, and the fight for truth. With a gripping narrative told through multiple perspectives, it’s a must-read for fans of The Hate U Give and When No One Is Watching.

Will justice prevail, or will the voices demanding change be drowned out once again?

Author Instagram @ syreeta_harvey

Website https://www.syreetahp.com/

Review/my thoughts

The story starts off with a young Black man, home from college, is mistakenly gunned down by police who believed he was an intruder in his own home. In the aftermath, Detective Jada Edgars finds herself overwhelmed by the turmoil engulfing the city. On top of everything, she’s handling two missing persons cases involving young Black women who disappeared around the same time, adding to the mounting pressure.

Jada struggles to balance her loyalty to her job and her commitment to her community, knowing the weight of what’s at stake. The city is torn, grieving Darius’s death and demanding justice, yet Jada hopes to prevent violence from erupting—whether against the police or the people of Camden.

The story unfolds with a smooth and compelling flow, though watching Jada shoulder so much responsibility is intense. The writing keeps everything aligned, creating an engaging and thought-provoking narrative. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys crime thrillers and wants a gripping story that offers insight into law enforcement from am a different point of view.

**Rating:** 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to the  author for allowing me to share my honest review***

#bookreview The Unboxing Of A Black Girl By Angela Shante

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Synopsis


Written as a collection of vignettes and poetry, The Unboxing of a Black Girl is a creative nonfiction reflection on Black girlhood. The debut YA title, by award-winning author Angela Shanté, is a love letter to Black girls set in New York City and serves as a personal and political critique of how the world raises Black girls.

As Shanté navigates the city through memory, she balances poetry with vignettes that explore the innocence and joy of childhood eroded by adultification. Through this book, she illuminates the places where Black girls are nurtured or exploited in stories and poems about personal and political boxes, love, loss, and sexual assault. Many entries are also studded with cultural footnotes designed to further understanding.

Review/thoughts


This book is written in verse and poetry, making it a unique and engaging read. I truly enjoyed personal experiences growing up in the Bronx, reflecting on her childhood while also exploring the expectations society places on Black women—how we are told to act, the roles we are assigned, and the boxes others put us in based on gender and race. She examines how Black women are often labeled as “strong” and expected to carry immense responsibilities—fighting for our children, education, family, home, and ensuring everything stays intact.

I deeply resonated with this book because, as a Black woman, I saw my own experiences reflected in the author’s words. Everything she discusses feels authentic, and it was refreshing to read from someone who shares similar views.

The writing is beautifully done, and I appreciated that the author included notes at the end of each verse for easy understanding and classification. Overall, this was a stunning, insightful read. If you love poetry and want a different perspective on some of the shared experiences of Black women, I highly recommend it.

**Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐**

#bookreview Dead Post Society by Diane Kelly #netgally

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Synopsis

The seventh in the House-Flipper mystery series set in Nashville, TN, where the real estate market is to die for.

Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are no strangers to murder. After all, they’ve encountered corpses on their properties before. But this is the first time they’d decided to take a chance on a property where two murders have already occurred. Most buildings on the former boarding school property have been repurposed for an upscale retirement community, but the developer had no use for the headmaster’s house given its violent history. The headmaster and his wife were killed there decades earlier, their deaths remaining a mystery to this day.

Still, it seems a shame to see the beautiful Victorian give way to decay or the wrecking ball, even if many claim the unsettled souls of the victims still wander its halls, seeking retribution and justice. Can Whitney and Buck exorcise the structure’s demons, solve the cold case, and give the building new life? Or will ghosts from the past seek to silence them forever?

Review/my thoughts

Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck tackle a Victorian mansion with a dark past, aiming to transform it into a boutique hotel. As Whitney delves into the unsolved murders of the former headmaster and his wife, she uncovers chilling secrets that put her in danger. With engaging characters, a gripping plot, and a different settings, this cozy mystery is a delightful blend of suspense and charm. The authors  writing style in Dead Post Society is engaging  blending humor, suspense, and vivid descriptions. She skillfully incorporates  twists to keep readers guessing, while also weaving in historical elements and poetry quotes that add depth to the story. I found the story easy to read and understand and follow along as well.

Thanks netgally and to the author for allowing me to read this novel and give my honest review.

Rating 4 🌟

#bookreview Hale By K Webster

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Synopsis

He’s my everything.
I would die without him.

Because he infects me.
My brother.
He’s inside my mind.
My thoughts are black and bruised.
Twisted and wrong.
A secret that eats me alive, but one I’ll take to my grave.

And then it happens.
He sees inside me.
Understands the darkness.
Loves what he finds.

I’m contagious.

It’s true.
Now, he’s sick too.

**********************************

Note this book is only available for purchase from K Webster’s website, which can be found on the author’s GR page.

Warning:
This book is an epic, emotional, raw love story…
between a brother and sister.
Many won’t be able to handle that.
But if I don’t tell their story, who else will?

Review/ thoughts

so I have to be 100% honest here I absolutely hate this book! First off I started this  book a year ago and picked it back up recently and I remembered why I couldn’t finish it. This book is disgusting and I was really hoping the author was going to take another route, but she didn’t.

I don’t care what event happens in my life I’ll never on earth sleep with my sibling, that’s a big no for me! I tried my hardest to justify it and I just can’t. I made it a little over 60% of the way and I’m calling it quites I don’t care about the siblings relationship and how they are going cope without their parents, I simply don’t care. it’s disgusting. Step siblings maybe because they aren’t blood related. But that wasn’t the case here at all. I know this book has a big fan based and a lot of people love this story me I can careless how it ends.

so I’m giving it 2 stars for my time wasted while reading this.

Rating 2 🌟🌟