mar25-upload

FictionInspirational FictionHistorical Fiction

Inspirational novels for spring 2025

Feature by Edith Kanyagia

Ace, Marvel, Spy

Jenni L. Walsh deftly fictionalizes the intriguing rise of real-life trailblazing tennis champion Alice Marble and her extraordinary life following the start of World War II in Ace, Marvel, Spy.

After her brother encourages Alice to trade baseball for tennis, which he regards as more ladylike, Alice picks up a racket for the first time and falls in love with the sport. But the chances of a career in tennis are slim for a teen whose family in Beckwourth, California, is struggling financially, especially after the death of her father. Through grit and diligence, Alice defies all odds, rising to unprecedented prominence in tennis. Her life is disrupted when war breaks out, and she suffers heartbreaking losses. Not one to give up, Alice joins the fight against the Nazis by becoming a spy.

Through a carefully crafted dual timeline, Walsh follows Alice’s story, including her early start in tennis playing in junior tournaments and her struggle to prove herself. Her journey to becoming an 18 Grand Slam tennis champion and the Associated Press Athlete of the Year in 1939 and 1940 is exhilarating. The story includes the wonderful relationship between Alice and her long-term coach and mentor, Eleanor “Teach” Tennant, who supports Alice through the tragedies she experiences.

After the war, Alice’s later accomplishments include becoming an associate editor with All-American Comics of their Wonder Women of History series, covering the stories of notable women in history. She also plays a role in the desegregation of tennis, writing an editorial piece in support of Black player Althea Gibson, who goes on to become the first African American player to play in the National Championships (and the first to win them).

With expertise and finesse, Walsh provides a complete picture of Alice’s life that celebrates her unrelenting determination to succeed and courage in the face of hardship.

 

Midnight on the Scottish Shore

Sarah Sundin is the bestselling author of Christian historical novels including Until Leaves Fall in Paris, which received a 2022 Christy Award, and the Sunrise at Normandy series. In Midnight on the Scottish Shore, she weaves a stunning story of a brave woman determined to escape Nazi control and find freedom in England.

Intent on establishing a new life and leaving the Netherlands following the German invasion, Cilla van der Zee develops a plan: She will become a Nazi spy, then desert the Germans after arriving safely in England, and begin a new life. Her plan is halted when Scottish lieutenant Lachlan Mackenzie finds and arrests her. To avoid execution, Cilla is forced to work as a double agent and partner with Lachlan in relaying false messages to the Nazis.

Blending a woman’s exciting journey across Europe and the unlikely, endearing romance between the novel’s main characters, Sundin underscores Cilla’s bravery and Lachlan’s devotion to the Allied cause. Cilla’s vivacity and humor enliven the story, and her compassion and willingness to put her life at risk for others’ sake are inspiring. Sundin also explores Lachlan’s background and chronicles his growth. Through his and Cilla’s experiences, themes of faith, forgiveness and strength in unity are examined.

Read more Christian fiction picks.

Set during World War II, Ace, Marvel, Spy and Midnight on the Scottish Shore chronicle the stories of two women whose lives are testaments to the power of courage during times of upheaval.
FictionLiterary FictionHistorical FictionFamily SagaFamily DramaDebut Fiction

Many voices, one story

Feature by Julie Hale

Headshot, Rita Bullwinkel’s powerful debut, focuses on eight teenage boxers—all women—who are contending for a title at Bob’s Boxing Palace in Reno, Nevada. Bullwinkel skillfully shifts points of view throughout this dramatic, often funny novel, developing a unique identity and personal history for each fighter, as she recounts their boxing bouts in wonderful detail. Against the backdrop of competitive sports, Bullwinkel probes the aspirations and inspirations of an unforgettable group of young women. Their differing motivations and struggles with self-determination will stimulate lively conversation among readers.

The Family Izquierdo by Rubén Degollado chronicles the lives of members of a close-knit Mexican American clan in McAllen, Texas. The novel follows the family across three generations as they contend with a curse they believe has caused the physical decline of Papa Tavo, the head of the family, and the marriage woes of Gonzalo, the eldest son. Narrated by different members of the Izquierdo clan, the novel examines family ties and traditions as well as life on the Texas-Mexico border. Degollado creates a rich chorus of voices in this moving, compassionate novel.

Intricate and enthralling, Megha Majumdar’s A Burning takes place in Kolkata, India, following a terrorist attack. Jivan, a Muslim woman, is implicated in the attack and jailed. Lovely, a trans actress, could clear Jivan’s name, but is reluctant to speak up. Jivan’s former gym teacher, PT Sir, who has been increasingly drawn toward right-wing politics, is also involved in the case. Each character provides a different take on the events at hand, and the result is a nuanced, multilayered tale. The tough questions it raises about justice make Majumdar’s novel a rewarding choice for book clubs.

In Wandering Stars, Tommy Orange continues the mesmerizing family saga that started with his acclaimed novel There There (2018). He resumes the stories of Orvil Red Feather and Opal Viola Bear Shield in modern-day Oakland, California, while also detailing the lives of their forebears, including Jude Star, a survivor of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. Told from the viewpoints of multiple characters, the book weaves together varied voices to create a complex narrative tapestry. Throughout the novel, Orange explores long-standing family conflicts and the enduring legacies of American Indigenous history.

Book clubs will have plenty to debate with these multiperspective and polyvocal novels.
RomanceRomantic SuspenseHistorical Romance

TJ Alexander’s first historical romance is equal parts delight and pathos

Feature by Christie Ridgway

★ A Gentleman’s Gentleman

TJ Alexander (Chef’s Kiss) offers delightful surprises in their first Regency romance, A Gentleman’s Gentleman. According to his father’s will, eccentric Lord Christopher Eden will lose his inheritance if he fails to marry before his next birthday. But the aristocrat has no interest in women or marriage, and no idea how to go about finding a spouse during the London season. Enter a new valet, James Harding, with very traditional ideas as well as a secretive past. Christopher also has secrets, which keep the pair at odds even while they work together to aid another society romance. But what to do about the growing sexual tension between them? Can they ever act on it and how can they find a Happily Ever After? Pathos and painful backstories provide a heartaching emotional heft to this tender and witty love story. 

While the Duke Was Sleeping

Comedy ensues when a lady’s maid pretends to be her mistress in While the Duke Was Sleeping by Samara Parish. After her employer, Cordelia, runs from her wedding, Adelaide “Della” Rosebourne escapes with her to the countryside. A short while later, more complications arise when Cordelia persuades Della to take her place at a duke’s home—as his fiancée. Oh, and the duke is in a coma. The details really don’t matter; the fun is in the lengths Della will go to keep up her ruse, and the lengths the duke’s sexy scoundrel of a brother, Everett “Rhett” Montgomery, will go to expose her. Della and Rhett find themselves falling for each other, which seems so wrong even as it feels so right. Della is a worthy heroine, full of spunk and spirit, and Rhett discovers he’s much more than a rapscallion. Readers will root for them to find a way to forever and will enjoy the large, engaging cast in this utter charmer.

Dead Man’s List

The hunt for a serial killer nearly upends a burgeoning romance in Karen Rose’s third entry in her San Diego Case Files series, Dead Man’s List. Homicide detective Kit McKittrick has finally let down her guard and is actually looking forward to a second date with police psychologist Dr. Sam Reeves. But then a particularly gruesome case comes her way. As connected murders pile up, Kit and Sam dive into the details. Their attraction grows, but closeness isn’t possible while the danger to the community and Kit’s family (from another bad guy) is on the rise. As usual with a Rose whodunit, the gory specifics of the crimes are balanced by the wholesome family and friends who step up to help the protagonists solve the whodunit. Readers will enjoy armchair detecting while watching Kit and Sam at last develop a deeper relationship in this satisfying, kisses-only romantic suspense novel.

Plus, Karen Rose and Samara Parish return in this month’s romance column.
Mystery & SuspenseSuspenseMystery

The grand finale of Juan Gómez-Jurado’s Antonia Scott series

Feature by Bruce Tierney

Battle Mountain

A perennial figure in mystery and suspense novels is the “second banana,” a sidekick/bodyguard of a series’ central character who is often more skilled, more focused and more lethal. Think Spenser and Hawk, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike or Easy Rawlins and Raymond “Mouse” Alexander. And then, on an entirely different level of lethality, there is C.J. Box’s Nate Romanowski: a loner, survivalist and falconer who was originally a supporting character in the Joe Pickett novels, but has taken center stage over the past several books (so much so that he has acquired a sidekick of his own, Geronimo Jones). The latest in the Wyoming-set series, Battle Mountain, follows Nate in search of Axel Soledad, his wife’s murderer, who cheated almost certain death at the hands of Geronimo (you had ONE JOB, Geronimo). Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Nate, Soledad is a key figure in a case that Joe has become peripherally involved with. The governor’s son-in-law and his hunting guide have gone missing deep in the mountain wilderness. And somewhere within that wilderness are Soledad and his partners in crime, who are preparing for a massive criminal endeavor and have exactly zero desire to leave living witnesses to their presence. As is often the case with shifting narratives, the reader knows more than at least some of the characters at least some of the time, but do not let that put you off. There are still ample surprises in store.

Cold as Hell

Kelley Armstrong’s latest mystery, Cold as Hell, is number three in her, um, chilling series of novels about Haven’s Rock, a remote settlement in the Yukon—which is already quite remote by most measures—in which people can go off the grid, usually to hide from those who wish to do them harm. But predators have their own devious ways of seeking out prey: A Haven’s Rock woman gets drugged (maybe) and then abducted (definitely), only to be saved by the fortuitous intervention of a fellow villager who hears her screams above the noise of the heavy winds. The second victim is not so lucky. Complicating matters is the fact that Detective Casey Duncan, one of the chief law enforcement officers of the town, is deep into the third trimester of her difficult pregnancy. Further complicating matters is the fact that the other law enforcement officer, Sheriff Eric Dalton, is Casey’s husband, and the only one who can fly the small airplane that will take her to the hospital. That distinction may prove to be academic, though, as a raging snowstorm precludes air travel for the time being. Let it be said that there is no shortage of tension here: stolen drugs, baby imminent, phones not working, a killer on the loose and a village full of people with secrets, more than one of whom can become a loose cannon under pressure.

Leo

A tongue-in-cheek aphorism dating from medieval times (but often misattributed to Oscar Wilde) suggests that “No good deed goes unpunished.” As Deon Meyer’s latest novel, Leo, begins, that saying must be going through the minds of South African police detectives Benny Greissel and Vaughn Cupido. In their previous outing, The Dark Flood, the duo exposed a massive corruption scheme, for which they have been rewarded with banishment. The university town of Stellenbosch is some 50 kilometers—and 50 light-years—distant from the rampant scofflawism that makes Cape Town a fascinating place to be a cop. Although it is something of a demotion, that cloud has had a bit of a silver lining for Benny, as his upcoming nuptials make up one of the three subplots of the book. A second subplot features an old nemesis getting recruited for a pretty audacious heist, and the third involves the killing of a bicyclist and the subsequent murder of her suspected killer. Perspective shifts early and often in the narrative, but Meyer toggles seamlessly from one to the next, deftly tying them all together in a timely fashion. By the way, speaking of timely: For having such a short title, Leo is quite a hefty tome—464 pages—so book out your time accordingly. 

★ White King

The third and final installment of Juan Gómez-Jurado’s Antonia Scott trilogy, White King possesses the same “I cannot put this damn book down” allure as its two predecessors, 2023’s Red Queen and 2024’s Black Wolf. The main character, Antonia Scott, is an amalgam of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Keigo Higashino’s Detective Galileo, with perhaps a bit of Stephen Hawking mixed in for good measure. Her interests and knowledge are wide-ranging and eclectic; she speaks more languages than the typical mobile phone voice translator (Telugu, for example, an Indian language from which she conjures up an appropriate word to fit her situation at the moment—“rakṣakuḍuha,” which means, in her words, “the bodyguard without armor who throws himself naked into the path of the arrow”). Antonia has been tasked with solving three crimes by her longtime adversary, Mr. White, in order to save her partner and dear friend, Jon Gutierrez. Thankfully, she’s arguably the most gifted on-the-fly crime solver in the history of thrillers, making connections that stymie those around her (and the readers of her exploits), until the final reveal.

Plus the latest mysteries from C.J. Box, Kelley Armstrong and Deon Meyer in this month’s Whodunit column.
Children's & YAPicture BookChildren's

Wind Watchers

Review by Callie Ann Starkey

What does the wind know? How will the wind blow? Follow along as three siblings discover the answers to these questions and much more in Micha Archer’s Wind Watchers. In Spring, Wind ruffles flower petals and nudges rain clouds. In Summer, Wind fills sails and sends kites soaring. “Some summer days, when it’s too hot to move, we beg Wind to bring us a breeze.” Fall brings Wind scattering seeds and leaves, before Winter arrives and Wind forces us inside to watch for swirling snow.

As with many of Archer’s previous picture books, Wind Watchers is deeply rooted in nature and how we interact with it. While the narrative follows the siblings on their explorations through the year, it is Wind who is truly the main character of this story. Wind comforts, plays, sings, surprises. “‘Some days I like to be WILD!’ Wind roars.” Some days, Wind is so calm that readers might wonder, alongside the siblings, “Are you there?” The lyrical text moves slowly and gracefully, with subtle uses of alliteration and snippets of dialogue between the children and the wind itself. Wind Watchers begs to be read aloud again and again.

Archer’s signature collage illustrations bring the adventures of these three siblings to life in a way only she can. Like in Wonder Walkers (2021), Archer’s use of full spreads for every illustration allows a sense of wonder and playfulness with scale. Whether an intimate close-up of the siblings looking through a window, or a zoomed out view of the siblings next to a vast ocean, each picture captures a distinct moment in time and carries feeling and wonderment.

A breathtaking journey through the seasons, Wind Watchers is a perfect companion to Wonder Walkers. Readers will be filled with joy and whimsy and be inspired to get outside, no matter the season, to explore and experience the wind once more!

A breathtaking journey through the seasons, Wind Watchers will fill readers with joy and inspire them to get outside, no matter the season, to experience the wind once more!
Science Fiction & FantasyHistorical FantasyFantasy

Upon a Starlit Tide

Review by Stephanie Cohen-Perez

Kell Woods’ second historical fantasy, Upon a Starlit Tide, is clearly inspired by classic stories such as “The Little Mermaid,” “Cinderella” and “Bluebeard”—but similar tropes is where the resemblance ends, as Woods has molded these elements into an original fairy tale all her own.

Lucinde Léon, one of three daughters of famed and revered Breton merchant Jean-Baptiste Léon, has always felt an inexplicable pull towards the ocean, one that her father encourages. Luce is used to doing things unconventionally: She spends her time at a sea cave watched over by a groac’h (a water fairy who stands in for the sea-witch from “The Little Mermaid”) and harbors strong emotions for her smuggler friend Samuel, a tattooed English sailor whom she’s convinced to teach her how to sail. As a naval war between the French and English rages on and Luce and her sisters are due to be married off to claim their places in society, her rose-colored views of their home, picturesque Saint-Malo, are being put to the test. She must make some difficult decisions about who to love, who to trust and who to protect—especially after saving a handsome, near-drowned sailor, Morgan de Chatelaine, unearths more mysteries than ever. 

How Kell Woods combined two classic fairy tales to create a magic all her own.

Upon a Starlit Tide creatively fuses elements of beloved tales to construct a wholly new world to immerse readers in. Gone is the typical fairy godmother, who is here replaced by a friendly lutine (a type of flower hobgoblin). Likewise, the groac’h has more secrets to her than meets the eye, overturning the typically villainous narrative. As with her previous novel, After the Forest, Woods celebrates femininity, heroines giving into their wild nature and femmes taking agency of their own lives to pursue their happily ever after. Readers will root for Luce whether she is in the throes of a love triangle between Samuel and Morgan, or in the throes of the unpredictable, tempestuous sea. Woods also provides countless wonderful descriptions of the fae, which lends an ethereal nature to Saint-Malo and makes the sad reality of the fairy folk’s exodus from Brittany (due to humans stealing their magic, their livelihood and their homes) hit all the harder. 

With beautifully flowing prose and countless twists, Woods concocts a tale of love, betrayal and revenge that will drag unsuspecting readers along with its currents. One may recognize elements that feel fitting for a traditional fairy tale—a parent’s hidden secrets, a dashing stranger who seems too good to be true. And in Luce herself, they may also recognize a part of themselves that yearns to be set free to explore the world, following their heart’s desire, unfettered by society’s requirements and expectations.

With beautifully flowing prose and countless twists, Kell Woods’ Upon a Starlit Tide combines “The Little Mermaid” and “Cinderella” to enchanting effect.
FictionLiterary Fiction

Wild Dark Shore

Review by Lauren Bufferd

Charlotte McConaghy’s novels blend romance and mystery with a focus on ecological topics, from rewilding the Scottish Highlands (Once There Were Wolves) to following the flight of the Arctic tern (Migrations). In Wild Dark Shore, McConaghy turns her attention to a seed bank located on a remote island off the coast of Antarctica. 

Widower Dominic Salt and his three children—teens Raff and Fen and their younger brother, Orly—are the lone inhabitants of Shearwater Island. Though it was once populated by botanists and researchers, the rising sea level and raging storms threaten to destroy decades of hard work, and have driven the other scientists away. Before they too depart the island, the Salts have been tasked with packing up the seeds to be taken to safer storage. Each of them is already mourning the loss of their home; for Orly, it’s all about the seeds, for Fen, the seals, and for Raff, the memories of his first love and subsequent heartbreak make the island a bittersweet place. But it’s clear the end of their time on Shearwater won’t go as they imagined after Fen finds a woman named Rowan half-drowned in the ocean and brings her back to the research center. 

Though they’re committed to caring for her until she recovers, the Salts are suspicious of Rowan at first. Who is she, exactly, and what brought her to this remote place? But gradually, Rowan proves a balm to past losses, as she listens to Orly’s stories and Fen’s doubts, and helps with projects around the island. The possibility of having a fifth member of their family again is a potent force, especially for Dominic, who is still grieving the loss of his wife. But Rowan has come to the island with a personal agenda, and when she finds a recent grave, she realizes the Salts, too, have things to hide.

McConaghy’s thought-provoking and passionately told novel is about family and trust, but it is also about climate change and the effect of severe weather on our environment and on our lives. Wild Dark Shore asks, what will happen when we risk losing our homes and our neighbors? What will we save and what will we let go of? And how can we start again after the sea takes it all?   

Charlotte McConaghy’s thought-provoking and passionately told third novel, Wild Dark Shore, is about not only family and trust, but also climate change and the effect of severe weather on our lives.
NonfictionMemoir

The Trouble of Color

Review by Alice Cary

As Martha S. Jones gave a halting presentation about Franz Fanon in an undergraduate Black sociology course, her classmate, the leader of the Black Student Union, interrupted her, saying, “Who do you think you are?” The exchange startled and haunted her: “Never before had someone so openly demanded, goaded, and nearly shamed me into explaining who I thought I was.” Jones’ father was descended from enslaved people, while her mother came from German, Austrian and Irish immigrants. She notes that her genes were “expressed in skin too light, features too fine, hair too limp. I am the heir of misunderstanding, misapprehension, and mistaken identity.”

It’s not surprising that Jones became a historian of how American democracy has been shaped by Black Americans. In The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir, she traces her father’s side of the family back five generations, writing with precision, grace and loving insight into how color affected their lives. “As far back as I can know,” she writes, “my people have been caught up along the jagged color line. . . . We’ve skipped, hopped, and danced an awkward two-step. . . . We played possum and trickster, stood wide-eyed and defiant, while tragedy in its many guises tracked us, looking to take us out.”

Read our Q&A with Martha S. Jones, author of ‘The Trouble of Color.’ 

Relying on years of extensive research, family records and interviews, Jones constructs a moving narrative, bringing her ancestors to life. She begins with her great-great-great-grandmother Nancy Bell Graves, born in 1808 in Danville, Kentucky, whose maiden name, “Bell,” was the same as the family who enslaved her. Graves’ photograph shows that her skin was not “ebony or deep brown” but “closer in tone to the white bonnet on her head.” While it’s probable that Nancy’s father was a member of the enslaving family, Jones notes that “so much of the historical record was written with silence.” That silence continued to stymie her when, for instance, a Danville librarian discouraged her research. “What you’re saying implicates some of Danville’s most important families,” she warned.

Jones’ writing, both in skill and subject matter, is reminiscent of Tiya Miles’ biography of Harriet Tubman, Night Flyer, and her National Book Award-winning All That She Carried. The Trouble of Color is a genealogy with staying power that will change the way readers understand race.

 

Martha S. Jones’ moving memoir, The Trouble of Color, traces her family’s history back five generations and will change the way readers understand race.
FictionSpeculative FictionLiterary Fiction

The Strange Case of Jane O.

Review by Matthew Jackson

Sculpting a novel that conveys vastness through inner lives alone is a tremendous challenge. Making that same novel a page-turning mystery that’s simultaneously moving and often nail-biting is another challenge altogether. With The Strange Case of Jane O., Karen Thompson Walker rises to meet both of these challenges head-on, and succeeds. 

The title character is—externally at least—an unremarkable woman, a single mother who works at the New York Public Library. Alarmed by potential hallucinations, blackouts and a feeling of lingering sadness and dread, she seeks the help of a psychiatrist, who takes an interest not just in Jane’s case, but in the way the woman sees the world. Told through a combination of the psychiatrist’s reflections on his sessions with Jane, and Jane’s own diary entries addressed to her infant son, The Strange Case of Jane O. seeks to excavate a particular human mind in such a way that the minds of everyone around her, and the very nature of their reality, might turn on what becomes of this fascinating protagonist.

Though this engrossing book often moves with a thriller’s pace, there is little sensationalism in Walker’s writing. She approaches Jane’s story through spare, deliberate prose, keeping each chapter lean and, when narrating from the psychiatrist’s point of view, sometimes clinical. But it’s not cold prose. In fact, as the psychiatrist discovers the nature of Jane’s unique memory, her hallucinations and the source of her dread, the precision of Walker’s word choice becomes key to deciphering the mystery. This is not a book that holds the reader’s hand through every revelation, but one that asks something of us, wanting us to decipher along with its characters a mystery that is bigger than psychiatry, bigger than crime, bigger than a single strange incident. 

Slowly, elegantly and with tremendous grace, Walker starts to draw parallels between therapist and patient, between mother and father, between woman and child, and The Strange Case of Jane O. becomes an emotional journey into the heart of what drives us, what breaks us and what keeps us walking the line of mundane daily life.

The very nature of reality might turn on what becomes of the fascinating lead character in Karen Thompson Walker’s The Strange Case of Jane O.
Children's & YAMiddle GradeChildren's

The Peach Thief

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

The Peach Thief is absolutely a story any fan of The Secret Garden will devour: It features magic walled gardens, characters with mysterious pasts, and girls on their own. It’s no surprise then that Linda Joan Smith cites Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic as an inspiration for her delicious middle grade debut, a historical novel set in Lancashire, England, in 1850.

Smith has written nonfiction gardening books, and her detailed knowledge of plants, orchards and garden history shines through this tale inspired by actual Victorian garden practices. The novel opens with a map of the Earl of Havermore’s kitchen garden, a place irresistible to hungry 13-year-old workhouse orphan Scilla for its promise of treasure—not gold but peaches. She’s had a bite of one and wants more, and there just might be peaches growing here in the earl’s glass garden house. Scilla sneaks into the garden at night, wearing boys’ clothes with her hair cut short, only to be caught by Mr. Layton, the gruff head gardener with a tragic past. To avoid being hauled off to the magistrate, Scilla gives her name as Seth Brown and talks herself into a job scrubbing garden pots.

Scilla, now nicknamed Brownie, discovers she loves the work. Scilla is earnest and likable; readers will cheer her on as she tries to keep her identity secret from the other workers and find her place. But Smith also gives her young protagonist some significant blind spots and challenges. Not all her choices are good ones, and readers will find themselves urging Scilla to be careful whom she trusts. Scilla gets unexpected help from Mr. Layton’s housekeeper, Mrs. Nandi, who has come with him from Calcutta, and from Mr. Layton himself. But Smith avoids sentimentality, wisely giving the reader only hints of what this brave young girl has come to mean to them both.

This lovely, well-drawn novel will appeal to historical fiction fans and kids who love plants, and will make a great bedtime read-aloud. And adults, be forewarned: You may cry at the end.

With its earnest and likable protagonist, The Peach Thief is a lovely, well-drawn novel that will appeal to historical fiction fans and kids who love plants.
Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

The Radiant King

Review by Chris Pickens

Let us start at the beginning: under the earth, in a grave, with a dead man. But unlike so many dead, the immortal Faron reawakens, the carrion-eaters fleeing from his shining body. So begins The Radiant King, the thrilling first entry of a new fantasy series from genre veteran David Dalglish. Gritty, romantic, soulful and shocking, The Radiant King may have a familiar epic fantasy framework, but it achieves great heights by its conclusion. 

On the island continent of Kaus, there are six siblings who can never die. The ever-living, blessed with life-bringing star magic called Radiance, have lived and died a thousand times, ruling and plundering across recorded time. That is, until their power nearly destroyed the world. They pledged a sacred vow: hold no thrones, wear no crowns and never give Radiance to mortals. When one of the ever-living, Eder, appoints himself head of a new twisted religion, his brothers, Faron and Sariel, join forces, furious that he has broken their agreement. But powerful though they are, they can’t take him down alone. They form an alliance with Isabelle, a mortal princess with a righteous cause and mysterious powers of her own. Can Faron and Sariel help her armies unify Kaus and challenge Eder before his abominations threaten the world?

Dalglish’s story is full of sword swinging, swashbuckling and other beloved fantasy tropes, but it’s his ruminations on the price of reincarnation that will truly draw the reader in. Each of the ever-living siblings has a different perspective on immortality, all reflecting on their regrets and self-recriminations as each life comes and goes. Sariel recognizes a woman whose soul he’s loved in many lifetimes past. Faron notes places and castles that he’s seen change through the centuries. These moments lend weight to our heroes and, notably, to the choices they make to thwart their brother.

Though the page count of The Radiant King is long and the pacing slows in the second act, watching Faron and Sariel slowly reveal their powers is consistently compelling and cool. The brothers are two sides of the same coin: Faron is genial, hopeful and righteous where Sariel is mercurial, dour and ruthless, and the tension between the two drives some incredible sequences. Dalglish mentions in his author’s note that the brothers were initially one character that he split while writing, and the story is much better for it, the contrasting tones integral to its success. The world building and sibling relationships give the new Astral Kingdoms series plenty of momentum going into book two, and when the time comes, readers will return, ready for more Radiance.

The Radiant King may have a familiar epic fantasy framework, but it achieves great heights thanks to its complex perspective on immortality.
FictionPopular FictionHistorical Fiction

The Lost Passenger

Review by Carolyn Cates

I’ll be honest, at first glance, the synopsis of The Lost Passenger sounds a bit like a sequel to Titanic. But happily, this proves not to be the case. The book begins two years before the doomed voyage and is told in the fresh first-person voice of a likable heroine, Elinor Hayward.

After a whirlwind courtship, 19-year-old Elinor marries Frederick Coombes, an English aristocrat, only to discover that what she thought was a union of love was instead a ruse to get her father’s new money to resurrect the Coombes’ crumbling old English estate. In Frederick’s words, his family’s guiding principle is, “When the place has been in the family for five centuries, it gives one a certain responsibility to the generations who’ve gone before and the ones to come.”

Having realized Frederick’s duplicity, Elinor resigns herself to a loveless life in cold Winterton Hall. She simply does not fit in there, as a woman who speaks her mind and has been taught by her father to have some business sense. She is looked down upon for her accent and her manners (her mother-in-law: “We spoon soup away from us, Elinor”). When she provides the family with a male heir, Teddy, she learns that motherhood, too, will not be as she imagined. A nanny will raise her son without her input.

Then Elinor’s father gives her three tickets for the Titanic’s maiden voyage, and Elinor jumps at the opportunity to escape from Winterton for 16 days. The trip becomes a more permanent escape for her when Frederick goes down with the ship, and Elinor makes an impulsive, brave choice that leads her to a new family in New York.

Readers will enjoy The Lost Passenger’s emphasis on the power of self-reliance and determination, demonstrated through the juxtaposition of Elinor’s unhappy life in England with her happiness in the life she chooses, despite its less favorable conditions. Some may wish to see more of her later life and Teddy’s, but Elinor’s believable voice and sympathetic narrative will have great appeal.

The Lost Passenger begins two years before the Titanic’s doomed voyage, telling the story of a young woman and her son whose lives will be forever changed by the disaster.
RomanceContemporary Romance

The Love Simulation

Review by Dolly R. Sickles

Etta Easton’s got her head back in the clouds in her new rom-com, The Love Simulation, her fun follow-up to 2024’s acclaimed astronaut romance, The Kiss Countdown. 

A headstrong vice principal at Juanita Craft Middle School, Brianna Rogers rarely looks before she leaps. Like her astronaut brother, Vincent (hero of The Kiss Countdown), Brianna likes a challenge. Most recently, she’s been putting all her energy into the school’s effort to upgrade the library. It seemed like a done deal . . . until her infuriating principal earmarks the funds for a new football field. Desperation and indignation spur Brianna to do something drastic, but adventurous, which is how she winds up being part of a six-week Mars simulation competition, which will award $500,000 to any team of teachers that makes it through the full term. That money could fund the library upgrade and Brianna’s a shoo-in to win—with a brother for an astronaut, what could go wrong, right?

Roman Major. That’s what could go wrong. The dreamy science teacher is Brianna’s nightmare: He may be handsome and good with his students, but he’s also their mutual principal’s son. Roman is determined to prove himself a strong member of Brianna’s team, and while he doesn’t have the benefit of an astronaut for a brother, he’s got the STEM chops to help the simulation’s experiments succeed.

Easton has written a tight romance with great pacing, a fun premise and relatable characters who are easy to cheer on. Roman’s father’s animosity towards Brianna provides some built-in tension, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and our nerdy science teacher dips into his hero reserves when it counts. Brianna is a hero in her own right, setting a strong example for the students and faculty, and standing true to her beliefs. As in most rom-coms, there’s a lot of introspection, miscommunication and external forces working to ruin a good thing, but there’s also Roman and Brianna, proving their chemistry is a force to be reckoned with—on Earth or on Mars.

A love story between two people in a Mars simulation, Etta Easton’s sophomore rom-com has great pacing and two ultra-lovable characters

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