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Category5-stars

Calming and Genuine: The Secret Women by Sheila Williams

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
September 19, 2020
8 Min read
C

Series: Standalone

Release Date: June 9, 2020

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
Elise Armstrong, Carmen Bradshaw, and DeeDee Davis meet in a yoga class. Though vastly different, these women discover they all have one thing in common: their mothers have recently passed away. Becoming fast friends, the trio make a pact to help each other sort through the belongings their mothers’ left behind. But when they find old letters and diaries, Elise, Carmen, and DeeDee are astonished to learn that each of their mothers hid secrets—secrets that will transform their own lives.

Meeting each month over margaritas, the trio share laughter, advice, and support. As they help each other overcome challenges and celebrate successes, Elise, Carmen, and DeeDee gain not only a better understanding of the women their mothers were, but of themselves. They also come to realize they have what their mothers needed most but did not have during difficult times—other women they could trust.

Filled with poignant life lessons, The Secret Women pays tribute to the power of friendship and family and the bonds that tie us together. Beautiful, full of spirit and heart, it is a thoughtful and ultimately uplifting story of unconditional love.

<strong>Ending:</strong>
HFN
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Black biracial main character
• Black main and supporting characters
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Mental Illness — Bipolar disorder
• Attempted suicide and murder of children
• Death of parent
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Death of parent
• Allusions to teenagers drinking
• (Amicable) divorce
• Children (who are late 40s to early 60s) lashing out at parents who start dating after their spouse dies
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Paperback

Rating: 5/5 stars

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Brilliant and Indispensable: What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
August 15, 2020
13 Min read
B

Series: Standalone

Release Date: October 25, 2019

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
Thoughtful, provocative and intelligent, this game-changing book looks at sexual assault and the global discourse on rape from the viewpoint of a survivor, writer, counsellor and activist.

Sohaila Abdulali was the first Indian rape survivor to speak out about her experience. Gang-raped as a teenager in Mumbai and indignant at the deafening silence on the issue in India, she wrote an article for a women’s magazine questioning how we perceive rape and rape victims. Thirty years later she saw the story go viral in the wake of the fatal 2012 Delhi rape and the global outcry that followed.

Drawing on three decades of grappling with the issue personally and professionally, and on her work with hundreds of other survivors, she explores what we think about rape and what we say. She also explores what we don’t say, and asks pertinent questions about who gets raped and who rapes, about consent and desire, about redemption and revenge, and about how we raise our sons. Most importantly, she asks: does rape always have to be a life-defining event, or is it possible to recover joy?

<strong>Ending:</strong> Non-Fiction

 Powerful
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Author describes herself as: “A brown bisexual middle-aged atheist Muslim survivor immigrant writer without a Shame Gene”
• Discusses the rape culture of India (as well as many other non-Western countries)
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Discussion of rape culture
• Discussion and description of Rape including,
– Gang rape
– Child rape
– Marital rape
– Casual rape (Perpetrator wants sex)
– Damage rape (Perpetrator wants to cause pain)
• Child brides
• Suicide
• Violence
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Sex work
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• BDSM
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Paperback

Rating: 5/5 stars

Trigger Warning: This review discusses topics that can be triggering for some. Please read the ‘Possible Triggers’ tab above for details.

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Important and Transformative: Sex and World Peace by Valerie M. Hudson et al.

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
July 28, 2020
11 Min read
I

Also by Bonnie Balliff-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli and Chad F. Emmett

Series: Standalone

Release Date: April 7, 2012

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
“Sex and World Peace” unsettles a variety of assumptions in political and security discourse, demonstrating that the security of women is a vital factor in the security of the state and its incidence of conflict and war.

The authors compare micro-level gender violence and macro-level state peacefulness in global settings, supporting their findings with detailed analyses and color maps. Harnessing an immense amount of data, they call attention to discrepancies between national laws protecting women and the enforcement of those laws, and they note the adverse effects on state security of abnormal sex ratios favoring males, the practice of polygamy, and inequitable realities in family law, among other gendered aggressions.

The authors find that the treatment of women informs human interaction at all levels of society. Their research challenges conventional definitions of security and democracy and shows that the treatment of gender, played out on the world stage, informs the true clash of civilizations. In terms of resolving these injustices, the authors examine top-down and bottom-up approaches to healing wounds of violence against women, as well as ways to rectify inequalities in family law and the lack of parity in decision-making councils. Emphasizing the importance of an R2PW, or state responsibility to protect women, they mount a solid campaign against women’s systemic insecurity, which effectively unravels the security of all.

<strong>Ending:</strong> Non-Fiction

 • Impactful
<strong>Representation</strong>
• BIPOC representation
– Including people (and cultures) from the Middle East, India, Africa as well as Asia
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Rape (including of children)
• Female genital mutilation
• Physical abuse
• Psychological abuse
• Forced marriage
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Teenage pregnancy
• Teenage marriage
• Polygamy
• Prostitution
• Pornography
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Paperback

Rating: 5/5 stars

Trigger Warning: This review discusses topics that can be triggering for some. Please read the ‘Possible Triggers’ tab above for details.

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Impactful and Reflective: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
July 22, 2020
9 Min read
I

Series: Standalone

Release Date: October 8, 2019

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

<strong>Ending</strong>
Bittersweet
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Lesbian supporting character
• LGBTQIA+ side character
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Murder
• Death
• Cannibalism
• Rape
• Sexual assault
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Allusions to sex
• Slut-shaming
• Teen pregnancy
• Girl-hating
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 5/5 stars

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The Gladiator’s Downfall by Kristen Banet

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
February 13, 2019
11 Min read
T

Series: Age of the Andinna

Release Date: December 14, 2018

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
Mave knows where she stands in life.

She’s an Andinna. A member of the winged, horned, and tailed warrior race that the Elvasi Empire defeated in the Hundred Year War and then enslaved. She’s a slave, and has been one for a thousand years, the personal property of the Empress of the Elvasi Empire, since the end of the War. She’s a gladiator, thrown onto the sands of the Colosseum to die, though it backfired on those who wanted her dead. She’s the Champion of the Colosseum, and has been for roughly nine hundred years.

All of these things have marked her as an outcast among her own people. Hated, distrusted, and despised, she knows the name of her people, but not much else.

But she knows where she stands. Keeping her head down and her blades sharp has carried her this far, and she refuses to acknowledge the deepest wishes she holds in her heart. Those will only get her killed.

Alone, she’s stood against everything they have ever thrown at her, refusing to give them what they want.

What Mave doesn’t know is that it’s all about to change.

The Gladiator’s Downfall is a 129,000+, full-length novel.
Age of the Andinna is a reverse harem epic fantasy series. The female lead will collect her lovers as the series progresses.
There is triggering content in this series including but not limited to: abuse, violence, mature language, and sexual content. It’s recommended for mature audiences.

<strong>Ending</strong>

HFN
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Gay supporting characters
• Bisexual side characters
• MM side romance
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Violence
• Physical, emotional and psychological abuse
• Slavery
• Allusions to rape (In the Heroine’s past and present. But, in the present, it’s off-page.)
<strong>Safety Rating:</strong> Safe
• No cheating
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does Not have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Kindle

Rating: 5/5 stars

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A Sorceress of His Own by Dianne Duvall

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
November 10, 2018
6 Min read
A

Series: The Gifted Ones*

Release Date: June 2, 2015

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
From the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Immortal Guardians series comes an enchanting new series full of romance, danger, and loyalty: The Gifted Ones

Since the day Lord Dillon earned his spurs, rumors of his savagery on the battlefield have preceded him into every room, stilling tongues and sparking fear. Weary of battle, he wishes only to find a woman he can wed who will approach him not with fear, but with the tenderness that has been absent from his life for so long. Yet only the wisewoman seems invariably at ease in his presence. Perhaps because she garners the same fear in others that he does himself.

For seven years, Alyssa has been by Lord Dillon’s side, counseling him from the shadows, healing him with her hands, and staving off the worst of his loneliness while his fearsome reputation keeps others at bay. Blessed–or cursed–with gifts that label her a sorceress, she is forced to conceal her youth and the love she harbors for him beneath umbral robes that lead Dillon and his people to believe she is the same aged wisewoman who served his father.

All is revealed, however, and passions flare when an enemy threatens Dillon’s life and Alyssa sacrifices everything to save him. When Dillon discovers that the wisewoman is far from elderly, he is instantly entranced. And, as he and Alyssa work together to defeat an enemy bent on destroying them both, Dillon will risk anything–even the wrath of his king–to be with her.

<strong>Ending</strong>

HEA
<strong>Representation</strong>
No strong representations of the following:
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Emotional and physical abuse
• Discussion of rape (A family member of the Heroine was raped.)
<strong>Safety Rating:</strong> Safe
• No cheating
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have the Heroine pushing away
• Does have a brief separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Kindle

Rating: 5/5 stars

*Each novel in the series are Standalone

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Lure of Oblivion (The Mercury Pack, #3) by Suzanne Wright

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
January 25, 2018
5 Min read
L

Series: The Mercury Pack*

Release Date: November 21st, 2017

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
Gwen Miller may be a human, but she has no problem taking a stand against her own kind. She’s going to testify against the teenage boy she saw viciously assault a lone shifter female—and no amount of pressure from the boy’s wealthy family will make her back down. But when the harassment turns violent, help comes in the form of a lean, toned wolf with winter-gray eyes.

As a guest at Gwen’s inn, shifter enforcer Zander Devlin can’t help but notice that the fierce and leggy brunette is in serious trouble. Since she’s putting herself at risk for one of his kind, keeping her safe is the least he can do. That’s not the only reason Zander wants her close. He desires her, even as the wolf inside him backs away from her. But his feral instincts are hard to keep down, and as they take shape, they’re harder for Gwen to resist. Then again, embracing them could be the only thing that could save her life.

<strong>Ending</strong>

HEA
<strong>Representation</strong>
• BIPOC supporting characters
• LGBTQIA+ supporting characters
<strong>Possible Triggers</strong>
• Violence
• Domestic abuse (Heroine’s mother, off-page and memories)
• Emotional abuse
<strong>Safety Rating:</strong> Safe
• No cheating
• No OW
• Does have OM drama
– Unrequited (and they never dated) by the Heroine
• Does have the Heroine pushing away
• Does not have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Rating: 5/5 stars

*Each novel in the series is Standalone

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Ride Wild (Raven Riders, #3) by Laura Kaye

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
January 18, 2018
5 Min read
R

Series: Raven Riders*

Release Date: October 31st, 2017

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>

Insert Here

<strong>Ending</strong>

HEA
<strong>Representation</strong>
No strong representations of the following:
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
<strong>Possible Triggers</strong>
• Rape (off-page: the Heroine recounts her rape to the hero)
• The Heroine’s father raped her–there was no flashback but it is described
• PTSD
• Allusions to death by cancer
• Gun violence
• Dogfighting (off-page; the hurt dogs are on-page)
<strong>Safety Rating:</strong> Safe
• No cheating
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
– The Hero is still dealing with the death of his wife (who died from cancer)
• Does have the Hero pushing away
• Does not have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Rating: 5/5 stars

*Each novel in the series is Standalone

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The Queen of The Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling, #1) by Erika Johansen

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
September 24, 2014
6 Min read
T

Series: The Queen of the Tearling

Release Date: October 31st, 2013

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
Kelsea Gylnn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret by foster parents after her mother – Queen Elyssa, as vain as she was stupid – was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the Teraling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of the neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s 19th birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother’s guard – each pledged to defend the queen to the death – arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding …

And so beings her journey back to her kingdom’s heart, to claim the throne, earn the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother’s legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to destroy it. But Kelsea’s story is not just about her learning the true nature of her inheritance – it’s about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying to stay alive …

The Queen of the Tearling introduces readers to a world as fully imagined and terrifying as that of The Hunger Games, with characters as vivid and intriguing as those of The Game of Thrones, and a wholly original heroine. Combining thrilling action and twisting plot turns, it is a magnificent debut from the talented Erika Johansen.

<strong>Ending</strong>

 Cliffhanger
<strong>Representation</strong>
No strong representations of the following:
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
<strong>Possible Triggers</strong>
• Slavery
• Torture (including that of a child)
• Murder
• Assassination
• Death
• Rape
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Allusions to sex
• Discussion of drugs
• Allusion to abortion
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Rating: 5/5 stars

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The Vixen and the Vet (A Modern Fairytale, #1) by Kate Regnery

By Sarah
In 5-stars, Book Review
June 25, 2014
5 Min read
T

Series: A Modern Fairytale*

Release Date: June 15th, 2014

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
Burned by an unreliable source, Savannah Carmichael, returns to her hometown of Danvers, Virginia with her once-promising journalism career in ruins. Given the opportunity to get her skin back in the game by writing a patriotic human interest piece, Savannah turns her attention to the town hermit, Asher Lee, a wounded veteran who returned to Danvers eight years ago, and hasn’t been seen since.

After an IED explosion in Afghanistan took Asher’s hand and disfigured half of his face, he’s lived a quiet life on the outskirts of Danvers where the locals respect his privacy … that is, until Savannah Carmichael comes calling in a borrowed sundress and a plate of homemade brownies. When Asher agrees to be interviewed by Savannah, he starts feeling things for the beautiful reporter that he hasn’t felt in years.

Misfits in small-town Danvers, Savannah and Asher create a bond right away, touching each other’s hearts in ways neither though possible. When a terrible mistake threatens to drive them apart, they’ll have to decide if the love they found in one another’s arms is strong enough to fight for their hard-won happily ever after.

<strong>Ending</strong>

HEA
<strong>Representation</strong>
• A main character who is partially blind and had part of one arm amputated due to serving in the US Military
<strong>Possible Triggers</strong>
• PTSD
• Death of family
• Grief
• Sexual assault
• Violence
• Gaslighting
<strong>Safety Rating:</strong> Safe
• No cheating
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Rating: 5/5 stars

*Each novel in the series is Standalone

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