The Bandit Queens (2023) by Parini Schroff was a recent book group pick that I was planning to read anyway. While I am glad that I read it, I have very mixed feelings about it. The premise intrigued me–Geeta is an outcast because her remote Indian village believes that she made herself a widow byContinue reading “The Bandit Queens”
Author Archives: bbwesquire
Sweet Pea
Sweet Pea (publication day November 3, 2027) by Kit de Waal is a sweeping character study of a Caribbean British woman, Paulette, who came from St. Kitts with her grandmother in the 1960s, but stayed in Birmingham after her grandmother went back to the island. As the novel opens, she is working as a nurse’sContinue reading “Sweet Pea”
Madeline McKnight Signs Off
Madeline McKnight Signs Off (publication day November 3, 2027) is Evan Brooke’s debut novel, and I look forward to many more from her. Considering I have a high tolerance for stories involving grief and main characters with cancer, I was delighted by the story, but it may not be for people who can’t tolerate blackContinue reading “Madeline McKnight Signs Off”
Falling for a Villainous Vampire
Falling for a Villainous Vampire (publication day October 27, 2027) by Charlotte Stein is the third stand-alone in her Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures series and the first one of this series that I’ve read, although I very much enjoyed My Big Fat Fake Marriage and While You Were Seething, contemporary romances in a different series.Continue reading “Falling for a Villainous Vampire”
Furious Violet
Furious Violet (2026) is Sarai Walker’s third novel, and it’s very different from Dietland (2015) and The Cherry Robbers (2022), but excellent in its own way. I’d probably consider it a literary horror/ thriller, featuring a nearly-fifty year old main character, Violet “West” Shelley. West is a true crime writer, traveling on her own acrossContinue reading “Furious Violet”
Once in a Timeline
Once in a Timeline (publication day October 13, 2026) by Iman Hariri-Kia was an interesting take on a contemporary romance with some magical realism thrown in. I must admit it took me a while to get into it, because I was annoyed at the main character–Laia Grace–as she is an influencer and the first fewContinue reading “Once in a Timeline”
Hear the Dead
Hear the Dead by Ann Dávila Cardinal (publication day October 6, 2026) is a pulse-pounding thriller centering on 66-year old Elena Altieri, a former punk rock photographer who has been living a quiet life as a teacher in Vermont for the past forty years, since she fled New York City one awful day that sheContinue reading “Hear the Dead”
There There
I didn’t get to multi-award winning There There (2018) by Tommy Orange when it came out, but am glad that I finally made the time to listen to it. The audiobook is narrated by Darrell Dennis, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Kyla Garcia, and Alma Cuervo, and I’m so glad the publisher decided to use multiple narrators, asContinue reading “There There”
Another Word For Love
Another Word For Love (2024) by Carvell Wallace is such a beautiful memoir that, after listening to it, I had to purchase it so I could browse its wisdom whenever I want. The author reads the audiobook himself, so I recommend that version if you do audiobooks. Wallace was raised by a single mother whoContinue reading “Another Word For Love”
Isn’t He Romantic?
Isn’t He Romantic (publication day September 22, 2026) by Adib Khorram is the third book in his Love on the Vine series that features wine and wine-related businesses in each storyline. I previously reviewed his breakout YA book Darius the Great is Not Okay and It Had to Be Him (#2 in this series), andContinue reading “Isn’t He Romantic?”
