A GUIDE TO FALLING OFF THE MAP......A DOWN UNDER ROAD TRIP STRIKES SPARKS FOR TWO LOVING FRIENDS SINCE CHILDHOOD (****)

 A Guide To Falling Off The Map by Zanni L. Arnot (2025)

      Heartbreaking thunder from Down Under? Two hurting souls, friends since childhood, finally realizing they're in love? And on top of all that, a rollicking (sometimes poignant) road trip though scenic Australia?

     You had me at all of the above. I couldn't wait to sign on. And this book didn't disappoint in delivering two lead characters you can't help but worry about and care for.

     Vinnie's a born theater girl, rocked by the suicide death of her performing arts loving mother. Big dreams possess her - Julliard, a life in NYC, Broadway stardom, and for the very right now, being picked as her school's Drama Captain. Her lifelong friend Roo dropped out of school to help support his mom and hopefully make something of his gifted eye for artistic photography.

     But life and cruel fate have conspired to turn their lives and dreams upside down. Vinnie feels hurt and betrayed by her best theater pal Lilah, utterly demolishing their dreams of sharing starry acting careers together. Even worse, Vinnie's struggling with the early debilitating symptoms of MS, the disease that led to her mom's suicide.

     Roo's dreams of a photography career flew off the rails too, as he's been bouncing from (and losing) one dead end, low paying job after another. But one thing remains constant for him and Vinnie - their fierce, unending devotion to a loving friendship forged in childhood.

     Can anything heal and redeem these two broken extraordinary young friends. What else but......(let's shout it all together).....Road Trip!)

     And off they do go, in a sputtering old Kombi van once belonging to Vinnie's mom. Planning success and fame for Roo, Vinnie encourages him to take enough memorable photos for her to arrange in a public exhibition. That he does, but Roo becomes well aware of Vinnie's escalating physical deterioration while they both cope with the reality that what they feel for each other is far more than friendship.

     As the book keeps you glued to it, all you'll want to do is either hug the two lead characters or just push them into each other to they can they finally comprehend what we've known all along. But then again, if we did that too early, we'd miss out on seeing them take that postcard-worthy tour of Australia (and saving us airfare and hotel money)

     For everyone who favors a heart tugging visit to "love-dawns-on-best-friends' territory, here's your next stop.

     4 stars (****).

RULES FOR FAKE GIRLFRIENDS......AN AMERICAN STUDENT IN BRITAIN FINDS UNLIKELY LOVE AND A HEARTFELT SCAVENGER HUNT.

 Rules For Fake Girlfriends by Raegan Revord (2025)

     First let me say that for a debut YA novel from a very young author, this is a remarkably accomplished, ambitious first effort.

     In terms of contemporary romance, it's obvious that author Raegan Revord loves and cherishes all the tropes that have been seemingly carved in stone over the years. (You can tell from the chapter headings that announce these many expected, familiar plot turns that by now readers (and filmgoers) know by heart.)

     Much to her widowed dad's worry and disappointment, college freshman Avery puts off her enrollment in Columbia to spend a year at a British seaside college attended by her late beloved mother. Her primary reason - to follow the scavenger hunt clues her mother left for her scattered all around the campus and surrounding countryside. Not even off the train yet, she's managed to fall into a queer fake-dating relationship with live-wire, vivacious Charlie, who's trying to make her own recently ex-girlfriend jealous.

     Avery collects a small coterie of friends, but the fake dating (as we all knew it would) turns into something much more and collides with sudden emotional complications that upends the young freshman's life choices.

     A lot's going on in this book for a fledgling author to take on at one time and author Revord does fall into the inevitable pitfalls of overwriting and repetitious prose. The scavenger hunt, no doubt meant to provide heartfelt moments along the way, struck me as vague, far fetched and not well thought out. And toward the final third, it mostly falls to the wayside when far more pressing issues take hold of Avery (such as her up-and-down Charlie romance, her estrangement from her longtime best friend and worries about her father's now solitary life.).

     But I cannot fault the book's passion, enthusiasm and empathy for all its characters and I think other readers will too, even if the tropes are so familiar to one and all. Once started, I simply had to follow Avery's story to its conclusion, so that makes her creator, Raegan Revord an author to watch out for.

      3 stars (***).

WISH YOU WERE HER......AN AUTISTIC SUPERSTAR COMES HOME FOR THE SUMMER....UNLIKELY ROMANCE ENSUES...(*****)

 Wish You Were Her by Elle McNicholl (2025)

          No surprise that I tore into this one and finished it in a day, having previously raved about Elle McNicholl's previous charming small town romance, "Some Like It Cold".

     Once again, she takes us back to what's now one of my favorite fictional comfy-cozy destinations, the beautiful Lake Pristine. (For me, I'm thinking it must be due to the town's main attractions, the Arthouse cinema, the picture postcard lake and now....that bookstore.)

     And once again it's an irresistible, clutch-your-heart story about a neurodivergent teen girl who struggles with first love, declaring her own identity and coping with the anguish of how she's perceived when dealing with the outside world of 'neurotypicals'.. (But this time, this particular girl doesn't find herself alone on the autism scale.)

     Allegra Brooks is an 18 year old universally adored superstar of TV shows and films, with her dedicated, possessive fan base unaware that her guarded, sometimes distant demeanor comes from her autism. Seeking a much needed summer respite from the public eye, she returns to her home town of Lake Pristine to work in her father's bookstore. And she's arrived right at the start of the town's nationally popular summer book festival, sponsored by her dad and managed by his young, masterful (and prickly) bookseller Jonah Thorne.

     Allegra and Jonah right away clash personalities as if lifelong enemies, while each separately find solace and friendship in their comforting, anonymous e-mail friends. Anybody care to take a wild guess as to whom each of them has been communicating with on line, while they snap at each other in person?

     If this all sounds like 'Gilmore Girls', 'Notting Hill' and 'You've Got Mail thrown into a blender, you've got the idea. Allegra cultivates some new friends and one cruel enemy while Jonah holding on to own secrets, can't help succumbing to this one-of-a-kind warm hearted girl. When Allegra's fame threatens to overwhelm them both, you can expect to find yourself racing through the pages as you anxiously cheer them on.

     As in her first Lake Pristine romance, author McNicholl creates her autistic characters with enormous compassion and insight, so you find yourself falling in love with them at the same time they're falling in love in the story. . Anyone seeking the kind of romcom that won't hesitate to make you go, "Awww....", head for Lake Pristine ASAP.

     5 stars (*****).

JOY MOODY IS OUT OF TIME....AN ODD FAMILY FACES THE FUTURE (LITERALLY), UNTIL THE PAST ENGULFS THEM (*****)

 Joy Moody Is Out of Time by Kerryn Mayne (2025)

     What a strange, sad, heartbreaking yet somehow uplifting book this is. Though the cental plot may seem initially far fetched and way out there, Kerryn Mayne's skill at creating fascinating characters had my full attention from page one. And her additional talent to pull on your heartstrings without mercy is on full gripping display, especially in the book's second half.

     In a beachside Australian town, twin sisters Cassie and Andie have lived their lives under the all encompassing total control of their mother Joy, the manager of a busy laundromat. Home schooled and forbidden access to TV, phones or any social life outside the confines of the store, the twins now approach their 21st birthday with a monumental event in store. Joy, who's told her daughters that she's a time-traveler from the not-too-distant future, prepares them for a trip into that era she came from. According to Joy, the twins are needed to fulfill their destiny as freedom fighters against the autocratic, dystopian society that rules 2050.

     Is Joy completely insane? Or simply an overreaching fabulist who's spun so many fanciful fantasies for these children she practically raised in captivity that all three of them believe Joy's 'truth' is in fact, the truth.

     But maybe not all three of them. The gentle timid and sweet natured Cassie stays enthralled by Joy, while the sharp witted, realistic Andie wants a life outside of Joy's self-contained universe. And Andie's developed more than few skeptical doubts about the time traveling adventures supposedly planed for her and Cassie on their birthday.

     Some catastrophic events, both past and present overtake Joy and her twins, leading to no end of long held secrets about this family. Tragic, heartrending revelations unfold, none of which I'd ever want to spoil here. I'd only caution this.....prepare to have your emotions hammered away at in both brutal and benevolent ways.

     You can enjoy this book as either an astonishing, bizarre, psychological thriller with a healthy share of twists, or simply as a contemporary, realistic Grimm's fairy tale, grounded by its truly unforgettable characters. Either way, it's quite a unique story, well told. and a terrific read for anyone who loves to plunge into something off the beaten track.

      5 stars (*****).

THE MARIGOLD COTTAGES MURDER COLLECTIVE.....ENDEARING NEIGHBORS TURN INTO LOL SLEUTHS....(*****)

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (2025) 

     So much fun, this one. For everyone who loves a 'neighbors-gather-to-solve-a-murder' mystery, this book has everything you could possibly ask for.....and everything I love about this genre.

     Distinctive, quirky characters - some lovable, some hilarious, some 'forces-of-nature, some "who-know-what-they're-hiding, some mysterious, a few you want hug, a few you scratch your head about, and more than a few equipped with almost illegally laugh-out-loud lethal deadpan wit.

     And before it's all over, you're wishing they had an extra cottage to rent out so you could join them.

     We're amid a cluster of cozy little cottages in Santa Barbara, attended to by owner-landlady Mrs. B. Mrs. B. constantly hovers like a helicopter-grandmother over her tenants whether they like it or not. . There's aspiring young playwright (and survivor of a deeply upsetting trauma) Sophie. Also take-charge proposal writer Lily Ann, on-and-off separated from her overbearing husband. Then there's queer artist Ocean, also busy raising a sullen teen girl and her active little brother. And no one can forget chronic homebody Hamilton, a walking Wikipedia on everything. Finally, there's young city planner NIcholas, who generally wants nothing whatsoever to do with his neighbors......especially, for some hidden reason Mrs. B.

     Into their midst comes Anthony, a hulking, tattooed scary looking (but politely quiet) ex-convict.. No sooner does Mrs. B. rent him the remaining studio apartment, when a dead body's found on the property. Homicide detective Enible takes one look at Anthony and slaps him in cuffs, but Mrs. B., holds on to a fierce unshakable belief he's innocent. She enlists, as we knew she would, the Marigold Cottages community to put their heads together to crack the case

     The Marigold collective of unlikely sleuths is then off and running and guaranteed to keep you smiling and LOLing over and over again. Clues and twists start to pile up while the group engages in both chaotic on-line chats and equally riotous meetings at Hamilton's apartment, interrupted frequently by his vast knowledge of random trivia.

     Any time I stumble upon a book so enjoyable I'm sorry to see it end, I can't recommend highly enough. (especially with that final chapter reveal) And I wouldn't mind at all if Mrs. B. and the gang get to take another bite out of crime in the near future. Or more than a few, come to think of it.

        5 stars (*****). A BQ "Don't Miss".

THE LOCKED WARD.....TWINS REUNITE TO UNRAVEL THEIR ORIGINS....AND A KILLER.....(****)

 The Locked Ward by Sara Pekkanen (2025)

     Leave it to an excellent crafter of thrillers like Sarah Pekkanen to take sibling rivalry to all new strange and murderous levels.

     Wedding planner Georgia finds herself incarcerated in a locked psychiatric ward, awaiting her evaluation to see if she's competent to stand trial for the murder of her younger sister Annabelle. Georgia, first adopted by a wealthy influential family, soon became the unwanted excess baggage child after her adopted parents greeted the unexpected birth of their biological child Annabelle. Ignored by her father and scorned by her imperious mother, Georgia earned a reputation of physically abusing Annabelle at every opportunity all through their childhoods.

     Which means things don't look too good for Georgia after she's found kneeling over Annabelle's bludgeoned, dead body......

     So who can she turn to for help except Mandy, Georgia's long lost real twin sister. A not quite identical twin, Mandy's, a bar owner who'd ended up adopted by an entirely different family when the twins were separated for who knows what reason. Well, somebody knows for sure and that's the heart of the tortured path these sisters must take to arrive at the truth.

     And that's all Sarah Pekkanen needs to go off and running with swiftly paced chapters, sharply defined characters, startling twists and a constant threat of danger hovering over both sisters. from a person or persons unknown. The stakes are high as Georgia fends off potential harm from within the hospital's confines while Mandy unravels mysteries swirling around Georgia, Annabell, their family......and even Mandy's adopted parents as well.

     I can't get enough thrillers that keep me spinning through pages late into the night and this one delivers. Suspense, big reveals and an extra nasty stinger for the final pages. Well done and always looking forward to this author's next book.

     4 Stars (****)

THE UNDERSTUDY........THIS OPERA AIN'T OVER TIL BARBARELLA BELTS ONE OUT.....(****)

.. The Understudy by Morgan Richter (2025)

     To paraphrase that corny old joke about opera.......it's not over til someone drops dead.

     Pitch perfectly trained young opera singer Kit is on the verge of her big breakthrough and first starring role. Her New York based opera company, famous for its startling choices of adaptive material, has cast her as the campy, sexy sci-fi heroine Barbarella. (Barbarella belting out arias as she defends the galaxy in outrageous skin-tight costumes? The mind boggles......how come Masterpiece Theater never got around to this......)

     Kit's singing may be technically superb, but her acting is strictly mediocre connect-the-dots, lacking true fire, emotion and conviction. Which leads the company to lean toward her strikingly beautiful understudy Yolanda. Yolo's got nowhere near Kit's precision vocal talents, but she radiates the pure sexual combustion the role of Barbarella requires.

     Even worse news for Kit.......Yolanda's not only more suited for the role, she's potentially a treacherous sociopath, who won't let anything or anybody stand in the way of her path to stardom. And anyone she considers a roadblock......uh-oh.

     At this point, I would not want to spoil all the many ways in which Kit and Yolanda's toxic frenemy situation goes spiraling out of control in multiple disturbing directions. Let's just say that Kit's determination to unravel her understudy's tortuous backstory and motives lead her into one surprise after another........including someone wielding a wicked knife.

     I'm not sure I could fully swallow the bumpy turns of plot this book takes and its final revelation is no great surprise either. What I did thoroughly enjoy (being something of a lifelong theater geek), was the fascinating look into opera as the most distinctive and challenging of musical art forms. Author Morgan Richter takes us on a juicy tour of backstage politics, and the arduous, demanding vocal training that Kit must endure to reach the pinnacle of her chosen form of creative expression.

     Combining Kit overcoming her own personal deficiencies with Yolanda's strangely dangerous life makes for one engrossing package put together. And it's not over till Barbarella sings....

     4 stars (****)