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Blood Ex Libris, by Raven Belasco—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • April 2, 2025

In a literary landscape saturated with vampire stories, “Blood Ex Libris” by Raven Belasco emerges as a breathtaking exception—a thrilling yet thoughtful novel that transcends genre boundaries. This work offers a sophisticated vampire romance and deconstruction of vampire mythology that is simultaneously…

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Deren Falls, by Justin Burton—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • March 31, 2025

In “Deren Falls,” Justin Burton crafts a riveting small-town noir that explores how wealth, power, and familial ties intersect in a community where everyone has something to hide. Set in the fictional mountain town of Deren Falls, North Carolina, this taut thriller…

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Candle in the Wind, by Kim Baccellia—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • March 31, 2025

“Candle in the Wind” is a haunting, thought-provoking dystopian novel that follows Esperanza (Espie) Hernandez, a seventeen-year-old girl caught in the tightening grip of religious authoritarianism. Set in a post-apocalyptic America where survival often hinges on submission, Baccellia tells a first-person narrated…

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The Mathews Family, by Trana Mathews—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • March 31, 2025

Trana Mathews’ historical novel “The Mathews Family” offers readers an immersive journey into late 18th-century America through the eyes of Dr. Increase Mathews, a multifaceted protagonist whose life spans pivotal moments in the nation’s early history. The story begins with young Increase’s…

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City of the Damned, by Kay Marrie—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • March 27, 2025

Life after the Rapture Kay Marrie’s debut novel “City of the Damned”—the first of a duology—delivers a relentlessly dark yet ultimately hopeful tale, set in a post-apocalyptic world where demons rule and humanity’s remnants struggle under brutal oppression. Set one hundred years…

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The Borealis Queen, by Henry Guard—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • March 25, 2025

Henry Guard’s “The Borealis Queen” emerges as a tour de force of speculative fiction, weaving prehistoric brutality and mythic imagination into a story that defies literary convention. In his new book, Guard chronicles the remarkable journey of a young woman whose story…

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Red Vienna, by Eve Neuhaus—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • March 25, 2025

In her ambitious historical novel “Red Vienna,” the first of the “Two Suitcases” trilogy, Eve Neuhaus resurrects a largely forgotten moment of 20th-century history—the socialist experiment of interwar Vienna and its eventual suppression. Set between 1929 and 1934, this first volume in…

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Afraid to Let Grow, by Annette Nauraine—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • March 25, 2025

Annette Nauraine’s “Afraid to Let Grow” delivers a poignant and authentic portrayal of a mother’s journey to overcome fear and learning to let her children forge their own paths. Set against the backdrop of a close-knit community in Norwalk, Connecticut, this women’s…

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Drifter’s Gate, by Rachael S. Lucas—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • March 20, 2025

Drifter’s Gate A Desolate World In the scorched remains of Civitas Apex—a once-magnificent metropolis now reduced to jagged ruins—a man known only as Drifter hunts for meaning among the devastation. So begins this gripping dystopian novel, in which Rachael Lucas transforms familiar…

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Haunted: Letters from Elspeth, by R. D. Salmon—Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Ashford • March 16, 2025

From Innocent Letters to Terror In R.D. Salmon’s haunting debut “Haunted: Letters from Elspeth”, the reader is drawn into an intricate web of mystery through the increasingly disturbing correspondence of Elspeth Slater to her lifelong friend Frankie. What begins as an epistolary…

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