Welcome to my first book review post of July. If you live in the United States, I hope you had an amazing 4th of July holiday weekend. Mine was on the quiet side, but involved a great cookout and time spent sunning (and reading) by the pool. Today, I have several indie book reviews to share that run from a novella to a 15-minute read, children’s fiction, and a collection of poetry.
Because I have so many (these are all short reads) I’m going to skip the blurbs and simply post my reviews. Click the Amazon link for full details. Let’s get started!
MY REVIEW:
Katy and Ty met as teens and were destined for an HEA until circumstance drove them apart. Katy moved with her mom out of state, putting Ty and small-town life in Tidal Falls behind her. Now, years later, she returns with the intent of getting married in her hometown. She has become a cardiac surgeon, engaged to a real estate developer who is the exact opposite of Ty. Her plan is to have her wedding in the old theater her family owned when she was a child, now being remodeled by Ty’s construction company.
As expected, sparks fly when Katy and Ty reconnect. Biggar takes her characters through a gamut of emotions from denial and regret to the longing of two hearts that have never truly separated. Danger lurks in incidents of sabotage at the theater and a shadowy stalker who has Katy in his sites.
This is book three of a series, and although it does help to have some understanding of the secondary characters and their relationships, the main story reads easily as a standalone. The characters feel like neighbors. I love the small-town setting and how so many lives intertwine. The author is a pro at writing feel-good romance. I loved the inclusion of an abandoned kitten for extra warm fuzzies and an ending that delivers a perfect HEA.
MY REVIEW
This is a whimsical story that enchants from beginning to end, weaving the lives of humans, trees, and fairies in an imaginative adventure that is part fanciful fun and part environmental teaching. The main character, Daniel, goes from child to adult over the course of the novel, plus the reader sees the progression of lives for several fairies and their families. Both human and fairy timelines intertwine in perfect symmetry.
I loved the magical feel of the story, the glitter and enchantment of disappearing into a forest where trees talk and impart wisdom, and fairies watch over animals. The reader learns about trees, fishers, owls, and martens as well as the danger environmental issues bring. There are bad guys and good guys and plenty of magic. Although the main audience for this book is middle grade and above, adults will find the beautiful descriptions and heart-warming story a bewitching journey.
MY REVIEW:
This is a very short read, but it delivers both a message and a huge warm fuzzy. Told from the POV of Cinders, a wild stallion in love with Satin, a domestic mare, the story delivers a tale of longing, love, and having the confidence to reach for your dream. When Cinders braves the unknown to connect with the mare he has loved from afar in spirit, he and Satin find strength in their devotion to each other. The delivery is sweet and wraps with a lovely and strengthening message about pursuing your dreams, even when it involves stepping out of your comfort zone.
MY REVIEW:
Although I am primarily a reader of fiction, I enjoy escaping into a book of poetry now and again, especially when the poet paints vivid images and deftly stirs emotions with words. Balroop Singh never disappoints with the way she weaves words in a beautiful and spellbinding tapestry. Slivers: Chiseled Poetry is a collection inspired by haiku, tanka, and acrostic poems. Subjects cover seasons, natural and abstract elements such as Clouds, Wind, Light, Love, and Change to name a few. I’m always drawn to poetry that plays off nature and those comprised my favorites. In a different vein “My Muse” really stood out for me, along with the soothing photographic images scattered throughout.
These are poems to ponder and absorb in quiet moments. The acrostic poems were different and interesting, but the tanka, and especially the haiku stole the show for me. As you read, take the time to digest these in the manner the author intended. They make a lovely escape from the frenzied rush of daily life.
An eclectic mix. The Tree Fairies short stories sound lovely. 🙂
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I know you do a lot of reading with your son, Peachy. Tree Fairies would be perfect to enjoy together!
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Exactly what I was thinking, Mae.
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I hope you and your son enjoy meeting the fairies 🙂
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Thank you!
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Reblogged this on NEW OPENED BLOG > https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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Thank you for reflagging the reviews, Michael!
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Thanks for the share, Michael!
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Thank you for reblogging, Michael!!
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You are welcome, Jan! Thank you for the review. Have a nice rest of the week! xx Michael
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Thanks for sharing, Michael!
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You are welcome, Denise! Thank you for the news, and have a nice rest of the week. Michael xx
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Thank you for the information, and the nice reviews, Mae! Have a beautiful week! xx Michael
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Thanks for visiting and for the reblog, Michael. Wishing you a beautiful week as well!
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Great reviews, Mae! So much talent! Thanks for sharing.
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I had quite a collection this week, Jill. 🙂
Thanks for visiting!
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Great reviews. Thanks for sharing, Mae 🙂
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Thank you for reading, Harmony! 🙂
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That’s quite a diverse selection of works. And all winners! That’s great. Glad you enjoyed your holiday weekend. Thanks for the thoughtful reviews. Best wishes to all the authors.
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After a while, I need to take a break from the psychological thrillers, LOL. All of these made for great poolside reading. Hope you had a fantastic holiday weekend too, Staci!
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I’m not sure if I ever need a break from those. Maybe for the occasional dip into horror. lol. But it’s not a necessity so much as a fun detour.
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From dark to darker, LOL!
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You know me!
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You covered a lot of bases. Glad you had a relaxing weekend.
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Thanks, Craig. I always enjoy relaxing with a good book–or in this case, four of them!
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You’ve been a busy reader. Glad you had a relaxing holiday weekend. A few of these books are on my TBR list. Great reviews, Mae.
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Thanks, Joan. It was a wonderful, long weekend. And I know you’ll enjoy those titles you have on your TBR when they surface!
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What a wide variety of genres! And I agree with you about Jacquie adding a kitten to the story – furry friends are always welcome. Wonderful reviews, Mae – glad you had a relaxing pool and book-filled weekend.
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I am such a sucker for animals in a story, Teri. The “awww” faction gets me every time, LOL.It was a great weekend for poolside reading!
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Thank you, Teri. I love my furry friends 🙂
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Lovely reviews Mae. Bravo to supporting indies!
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I’m always switching back and forth between mainstream fiction and indie releases. There are so many great indie authors out there. Glad you enjoyed the reviews, Kim!
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What a wonderful and diverse group of reads! Tree Fairies caught my eye, in particular. It sounds absolutely wonderful for when I’m looking for a little whimsy 🪄. Great reviews!
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Tree Fairies is filled with whimsy, Tessa. Definitely grab it when you want a bit of light and magical escapism!
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Thank you 🙂 That makes the fairies very happy!
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What wonderful reviews, Mae!! I am thrilled that you enjoyed my little micro-read. I thoroughly enjoyed “Tree Fairies” and have “Twilight’s Encore” waiting on my Kindle! Thank you for sharing!!
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Satin and Cinders was so enchanting, Jan, and that book cover is gorgeous. For a micro read you packed a great message in those pages. Happy reading with Twilight’s Encore, and it’s great to hear more praise for Tree Fairies!
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Thank you, Jan 🙂
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Thank you, Jan! I love the cover of Satin and Cinders ❤
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Mae, welcome back!! Glad you had a relaxing time. These sound like four soothing reads and perfect for kicking back. I did read Jan’s story and enjoyed it very much! Thanks for the reviews!
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Thanks for the welcome back, Maura. I agree that Jan’s book was delightful. And all four were perfect for kicking back and enjoying the weekend!
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Thank you, Maura Beth!
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I’ve read Jan’s book–loved it. And I love horses. Balroop’s is next up on my Kindle but it’ll be savored. Denise’s–I can’t wait!
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I love horses, too, Jacqui. Actually any book with animals draws me in, LOL.
I know you’re going to enjoy Denise’s and Balroop’s as you said, is meant to be savored. Beautiful imagery in that one.
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Thanks, Jacqui xo
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Thank you, Jacqui!
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I really enjoy short reads sprinkled between longer ones. These all sound interesting. It’s nice to see them together in a short read round-up. Glad you had a nice, relaxing Fourth!
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Thank you, Judi. The 4th was great. I hope your weekend was as well.
Like you, I enjoy mixing up the longer reads with shorter works. These all fit the ticket!
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I am delighted to hear that poetry is “your escape” Mae. Thank you for reading Slivers and writing such good words about it. Loved your review. I am feeling blessed to be placed amongst awesome authors. Denise’s fairies have enthralled me and I like Jan’s style of writing. Jacquie’s books are hard to choose, as each one is better than the other.
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🙂
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Your latest collection was everything I expected it would be, Balroop. Beautiful words, thoughts and imagery. I’m glad you enjoyed the review, and I agree with everything you said about the other three authors. All four of you provided delightful reading!
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Thank you, Balroop! I return the love your way 🙂
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I’m so happy you enjoyed meeting the fairies, Mae 🙂 Yay! A great list of books, that I enjoyed, to be included with, I only have one to still read which awaits me on my Kindle:) xo
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Your fairies were enchanting, Denise. From start to finish. I loved the whimsy and magic of the book, tucked in with a beautiful and important message about our environment. I know you’ll enjoy whichever of these yet remains on your Kindle. You and the others provided me with wonderful hours of reading!
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I had a quiet 4th, too. The hubster visited his mom while I held down the fort. Heehee, I watched four spooky movies (not his first choice) while he was gone.:-) Good reviews! All of them sound wonderful, and I plan on reading Denise’s book this week!
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Wow, that was a lot of movies, Priscilla. Although sometimes It’s great to just escape with hours of good TV. Glad you enjoyed your weekend, and I’m sure you’re going to like Denise’s tree fairies. Happy reading!
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I hope you enjoy meeting the fairies, Priscilla:)
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A good variety of books You’ve read in July so far, Mae. They all are interesting. Thanks for the reviews.
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I enjoyed the variety, Miriam. So glad you’re enjoyed the reviews!
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Reblogged this on Jacquie Biggar-USA Today Best-selling author and commented:
Mae Clair shares some reviews from her summer reading list, including one for Twilight’s Encore- thank you, Mae!
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Thanks for sharing, Jacquie. And thanks for keeping me entertained with Twilight’s Encore! 🙂
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I’m glad you enjoyed Ty and Katy’s story 😊
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Thanks, Jacquie:)
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Happy to share!
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Excellent reviews, Mae. Thanks for sharing them.
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All of them kept me entertained, John. I’m delighted to share!
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I’ll bet they did.
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Thanks for the awesome review on Twilight’s Encore, Mae! I’m adding a few of these great reads to my Kindle, but don’t tell it! lol
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LOL! I know that feeling, Jacquie. My Kindle I weighted down with far too many books and I keep adding to it!
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I have Denise’s book on my Kindle. The others sound wonderful, too. Thanks for the amazing reviews, Mae. I always enjoy reading Tuesday Book Reviews.
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I’m so glad you enjoy my Tuesday reviews, Sue. And also thrilled you have Denise’s book on your Kindle and that the others have you intrigued. so many good stories. So little time, LOL!
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The fairies are doing a happy dance 🙂
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I don’t have any on my Kindle yet, but with these great reviews, I think some purchases are just around the corner. Congratulations to Jacquie, Denise, Jan, and Balroop. 🙂 Thanks for giving some great insights into these, Mae.
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They’re all awesome, Mark. You can’t go wrong with any of them, so I wish you happy reading. Thanks for checking the reviews!
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Thank you, Mark!
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Thank you, Mark!
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Hi Mae, these are all lovely reviews. I really must read this book of Jacquie’s. She has so many to chose from it is hard to know which one to read next.
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Jacquie is a writing machine, LOL, but you can’t go wrong with any of her titles, Robbie. Every single one I’ve read is a home run!
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Thanks so much, Robbie! Sorry I’m late commenting. My daughter suffered a medical emergency today and it scared the heck out of her family.
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I am sorry to hear that Jacquie. I hope she is okay now.
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She had a seizure at work and was taken by ambulance to hospital. They’re running tests to find out what happened- scary.
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I am sorry, Jacquie. I hope they will find out what caused the seizure and that it will be easy to remediate.
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Thanks, Robbie, me too. Is your dad still doing okay with his new meds?
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Hi Jacquie, the doctor changed him from the injections to tablets on Wed as he cannot say on such high doses of blood thinners for to long. His improvement is much slower now and he is using oxygen to help him with his lack of breath.
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Your family is in my prayers ❤
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Robbie, he is on my prayer list. I pray he improves.
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Thank you, Mae. We started him on a cortizone asthma pump yesterday and that has helped him a lot. He has actually walked around the garden today. Isn’t it amazing. I am baking him a Christmas cake because he loves fruit cake.
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Oh my word, Jacquie. I just saw this. I hope and pray everything is okay with your daughter now. I’m sure it was terrifying experience. Praying she is better and they’ve determined what happened.
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They let her go home late last night with anti-seizure medication (probably because she’s a single mom with a diabetic son at home alone). She has to go back for an MRI, hopefully it will tell us more.
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Robbie, that is wonderful news! 🙂
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I’m adding all of these books to my list, Mae, but I’m especially looking forward to Satin & Cinders and The Tree Fairies. Lovely reviews for all. I’m glad you had a wonderful, relaxing weekend! It was relaxing for us as well. ❤️
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I know the authors will appreciate those adds, Mischenko. And Satin and Cinders is really short, so it’s a quick read to fit in whenever you have a relaxing moment.
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Thank you SO much, Mischenko! I do hope you enjoy the short micro-read!
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Lovely reviews Mae..and congratulations to Jacquie, Denise, Jan and Balroop.. xxx
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Thanks for visiting, Sally, and cheering on the authors!
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♥
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Thank you, Sally {{hugs}}
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I’m so pleased to say, I’ve read three of the four:) Great reviews, Mae.
How’s that Raven Kitty?
Wishing you a great reading/writing day…or what’s left of it:)
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So glad you dropped by to add your accolades to the authors, Sandra.
Raven is a charmer, as always. She sends kitty paw prints and hugs! 🙂
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Loved this
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Thank you, Sol!
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I’ve been reading and enjoying Tree Fairies – and soon to share it with my granddaughter! I just put Balroop’s newest collection of poems in my Kindle. Yay! I’ve fascinated with Jan’s idea of publishing a “micro-read.” Will investigate further.
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Wonderful to hear on all accounts, Pam. Aren’t the tree fairies, fun? I’m sure your granddaughter will love them, too.
I wish you happy reading with the others as well. Thanks for visiting and commenting!
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Fantastic reviews to share, Mae! Thanks for sharing the love. Bravo to all! 🙂
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Thanks for visiting to check out the reviews, Natalie. I always enjoy sharing these! 🙂
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Hi, Mae! A great collection of books by a talented group of authors! Thanks for sharing your reviews.👏😁💕
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Hi, Vashti! Great to have you drop by. I so enjoyed all of these books. As you said—a talented group of authors!
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