Fortune by Ellen Won Steil

In this explosive novel about a decades-old mystery, shocking revelations of the past and the secrets of three women will be spilled when a small Midwest town announces a DNA lottery.

One drop of blood for a chance at a multimillion-dollar windfall. Is it a philanthropic gesture from a billionaire widow? Some suspect a darker motive behind the DNA lottery—one tied to the eighteen-year-old mystery of an infant’s unidentified remains that mars the history of idyllic Rosemary Hills, Iowa. Right after the blood lottery is announced, three local women fall under suspicion of knowing something about that night, and their carefully kept secrets threaten to spill out too.

Cleo is a divorced single mom forced to return to her hometown and accept a strange job reading to an invalid recluse; Jemma is a controversial state senator whose reelection campaign and teenage daughter have her on edge; and Alex, a divorce attorney, copes with a crumbling marriage of her own and the suffocating presence of a cold, overbearing mother.

Soon, unimaginable revelations of the past will collide with the present—and not just for Cleo, Jemma, and Alex. In this seemingly ordinary community, they aren’t the only ones with long-buried secrets.

Paperback, 347 pages

Expected publication

October 1, 2023

 by Lake Union Publishing

3.5/5 stars

Releasing in a couple days, this debut author has penned an interesting idea for a book. Mail in DNA testing and all these ancestry family tree searches are still a thing.  

In Fortune there are many layers to this story and while it started out with somewhat of a bang it slowed down for me with the many subplots.  With the introduction of each of these 3 women and those in their lives it was hard at times to keep everyone straight.  I did mange but read at a slower pace then usual. As each of these women slowly go back in time to what happened 18 years ago it revealed a story that I did not expect.

Fortune is a story of secrets, friendship and family.  How the past always catching up with you eventually.  The ending was not one I expected but it was one that worked and concluded this book nicely.

My thanks to Lake Union for a print arc in exchange for a honest review.    

Improbably Yours by Kerry Anne King

An unusual inheritance leads to a life-changing journey in a novel of romance, secrets, and the treasure of found family.

Blythe Harmon is on the fast track to a life she never wanted. On her thirtieth birthday, just as she’s about to lock herself into a high-powered job and accept a marriage proposal to match, an unusual bequest from her beloved late grandmother, Nomi, offers an escape and an invitation to adventure.

Equipped with Nomi’s urn of ashes and a treasure map, Blythe sets off for a small island in the San Juans where she rents the mysterious and unsettling Improbable House. Secret by secret, clue by cryptic clue, she begins to unravel the puzzle her grandmother has left her to piece together. Her quest is complicated, though, by a powerful attraction to an enigmatic islander and empathy for his orphaned niece, both of whom are inexorably tied to the old house.

Just when Blythe thinks she’s on the verge of solving the mystery, her quest takes an unexpected turn, and she discovers that the treasure she’s really seeking is something that could never be buried in the ground. While she’s on the treasure hunt of a lifetime, the past and the future are coming together in this magical novel by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Whisper Me This.

Kindle Edition, 345 pages

Expected publication: October 18th 2022

by Lake Union Publishing

4/5 stars

Kerry Anne King is not a new author for me,  I enjoyed Whisper Me This as well as A Borrowed Life, it only stands to reason that I would jump when given the opportunity to review Improbably Yours which releases in a few short weeks.

Improbably Yours begins with a 24 year old conversation that revisits Blyther on her 30th birthday that sets her on a path of self discovery through a treasure hunt on an island off the coast of Oregon.

This was a fun and interesting read. It wasn’t just Blythe's journey but for others on the island as well. It’s a story of grief, of guilt, and how the past doesn’t always stay secret. Eventually, all will be revealed no matter how hard you try not to let it happen.

I enjoyed the location of the story, the treasure hunt, the clues, the connections and while some of it may have been a tad predictable, it was still entertaining watching everything unfold. I enjoyed the mystery, the magical parts, the island and unique cast of characters and way of life on this island, I love that there was a canine and that just rounded everything out nicely.

While this might not be my favourite, Kerry Anne King book, that place belongs to Whisper Me This, but Improbably Yours gets four stars from me.

My thanks to the publisher, Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for a digital arc in exchange for a honest review. You can find this book on your bookshelves October 18.

Review: Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters by Emily Carpenter

The bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls returns to uncover a faith healer’s elusive and haunted past.

Dove Jarrod was a renowned evangelist and faith healer. Only her granddaughter, Eve Candler, knows that Dove was a con artist. In the eight years since Dove’s death, Eve has maintained Dove’s charitable foundation—and her lies. But just as a documentary team wraps up a shoot about the miracle worker, Eve is assaulted by a vengeful stranger intent on exposing what could be Dove’s darkest secret: murder…

Tuscaloosa, 1934: a wily young orphan escapes the psychiatric hospital where she was born. When she joins the itinerant inspirational duo the Hawthorn Sisters, the road ahead is one of stirring new possibilities. And with an obsessive predator on her trail, one of untold dangers. For a young girl to survive, desperate choices must be made.

Now, to protect her family, Eve will join forces with the investigative filmmaker and one of Dove’s friends, risking everything to unravel the truth behind the accusations against her grandmother. But will the truth set her free or set her world on fire? 

Kindle Edition

Expected publication: October 20th 2020

by Lake Union Publishing

3.5/5 stars

The Weight of Lies was my introduction to Emily Carpenter, an intriguing mystery that kept me glues to the pages.

Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is a dual time period story about Dove Jarrod and her granddaughter Eve.  There is a lot going on, Dove escaping from an asylum and her journey to become a famous faith healer.  It's the family secrets that face exposure that forces Eve to uncover the truth before damage can be done.

I really enjoyed the historical setting, it was during the 1930's that Dove's story begins.  There are revival meetings in the south that added charm but at times I was overwhelmed with the large cast of characters. The past story line was my favourite, there was a little bit of mystery, southern charm and an era with its faith healers that interested me, I would have loved for the whole book to take place in 1934.

It wasn't until afterwards that I realised this is the sequel to The Honeysuckle Girls (which I haven't read). Though Revival worked as a stand along I do wonder if I knew more about Dove if it would have impacted this read.

Revival of the Hawthorn Sisters releases today and available for purchase.

My thanks to Lake Union Publishing (via Netgalley) for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Stories We Never Told by Sonja Yoerg

Psychology professor Jackie Strelitz thought she was over her ex-lover and colleague, Harlan Crispin. Why should she care if Harlan springs a new “friend” on her? After all, Jackie has everything she ever wanted: a loving husband and a thriving career. Still, she can’t help but be curious about Harlan’s latest.

Nasira Amari is graceful, smart, and young. Worse, she’s the new member of Jackie’s research team. For five years, Harlan enforced rules limiting his relationship with Jackie. With Nasira he’s breaking every single one. Why her?

Fixated by the couple, Jackie’s curiosity becomes an obsession. But she soon learns that nothing is quite what it seems, and that to her surprise—and peril—she may not be the only one who can’t let go. 

Kindle Edition, 328 pages

Published May 1st, 2020 

 by Lake Union 
3.5/5

 This is my second book by Sonja Yoerg. All the Best People was published 3 years ago and I loved it. It was women’s fiction at its finest.

Stories We Never Told is a slow burn psychological suspense. Most of the story is told through Jackie’s pov. A professor of high standings she is soon drawn into a web of mystery, suspicious that threatens not just her mental health but her job as well.

Even though I didn't really connect with the different characters the author kept my attention, she drew me in as I tried to figure out what was going on.

Stories We Never Told is a story of obsession, secrets (oh the secrets), and relationships.

My thanks to the publisher, Lake Union Publishing and Tall Poppy Writers (via Netgalley) for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.