Books For Review – Week of April 22nd

The Winter Loon
Lori Henriksen
Cougar Creek Books
Women’s Fiction

In the shadow of the Great Depression, long before historical changes leading toward LGBTQ advocacy and equality, eighteen-year-old Ruth Thompson defies her family’s expectations to marry Duke, her long-time sweetheart. Instead, she joins a rodeo circuit in order to earn money for college and comes of age in the male-dominated culture of rodeo competition.

Ruth returns home to Minnesota a prize-winning competitor and resumes her familiar relationship with Duke. Once at college she grows increasingly restless in her role as sorority girl with Duke as her escort for all social occasions. Her safe existence is upended when she meets confident and free-spirited Gisela and then further unravels when the two women fall in love.

The lives of Ruth, Gisela, and Duke entwine while Ruth embarks on a journey of self-discovery, full of dangerous social repercussions that takes her from Minnesota to the Pacific Ocean of California. As WWII escalates, each of them faces a test of their fortitude as all three must come to grips with redemption, forgiveness, the meaning of family and how to honor their authentic truth during this perilous time in history.

Both heart wrenching and uplifting, The Winter Loon honors the strength and spirit of all those who struggle with social persecution because of who they love and how they define family whether it is their own flesh and blood kinfolk and/or those nearest and dearest to their heart.

The Scopas Factor
Vincent Panettiere
BookBaby
Mystery & Thrillers

A Hmong “story cloth,” a Revolutionary War battle flag, forged Picassos and a Russian drug dealer—finding the link between these disparate elements is the challenge Mike Hegan faces in The Scopas Factor, the latest mystery from Vincent Panettiere.After his last investigation ends tragically, Detective Mike Hegan returns to Chicago from St. Kitts, hoping to put everything behind him. But his girlfriend, Diana, has other plans, and although he has no interest in the job opportunity she presents him—in a small northern California town, no less—he wants to please her. Upon his arrival in Weedley, he’s caught up in a kidnapping and two murders. A visit to Diana’s family in San Francisco only serves to deepen the mystery, as her father might be the link to a gang of antiquities thieves that might have something to do with the crimes in Weedley. And when Diana’s father disappears, Hegan takes off for Antibes in southern France, where he discovers that the mystery has only just begun.

Lady No Says Yes
A Scandal Sheet Novel
by Jess Michaels
The Passionate Pen
Historical Fiction , Romance
Release Date May 7, 2019

Stunning heiress Sophie is known in Society as Lady No because she’s spent the past few years refusing the advances of every suitor. But when her beloved aunt challenges her to say yes for just one Season, she can’t refuse.

Rowan Sinclair has just had his inheritance stripped and is in dire straights. When he discovers Sophie’s secret reason for suddenly saying yes, he knows he can use it to his advantage, even if he doesn’t feel good about it.

Their unexpected connection quickly turns passionate and grows into something deeper than either ever could have expected. But can Sophie overcome her reasons for saying no in the first place? And when she finds out the truth about his courtship, will she ever forgive him?