January 23, 2026
Tabletop of slatted wood as background, with a cup of tea and a pair of glasses resting near a book. The book is Indiana Belle. TEXT: Indiana Belle, a Time Travel Romance Review - Book Review - Julie Sara Porter
Published by Julie Sara Porter at January 23, 2026
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Indiana Belle, A Time Travel Romance Review

John A. Heldt’s book Indiana Belle was not what I expected. I saw the cover and thought that it was a historical fiction about a woman in the Roaring 20s rebelling against the norms of societal expectations. It is — but it’s also so much more. The unique tale contains aspects of science fiction, mystery, and romance, all while telling a compelling story using many genre tropes.
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January 20, 2026
Red background with impression of man and woman touching noses in a romantic way while holding each others' faces/ Deep Cuts scrawled in black over top - black bars on either side with "Book Review" on the left and "Zina Mona" on the right. Beneath the red cover, "Holly Brickley" in printed, with descriptive text beneath.
Published by Zina Mona at January 20, 2026
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Deep Cuts, a Romance Novel Review

Deep Cuts — by Holly Brickley, published February 2025 — tells of Percy Marks, a music nerd who meets songwriter Joe Morrow in a campus bar. The journey follows her through her twenties as she jumps across the country and is defined by the songs — new and old — that inform her life. As Percy grows, Joe evolves, too, from a quiet student to a confident frontman.
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December 2, 2025
Purple background, with novel cover centered on page. Cover includes images of white, gray, and purple roses, with a slash through the middle. TEXT: Violeta - Gothic Literature Review - Julie Sara Porter
Published by Julie Sara Porter at December 2, 2025
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Violeta: A Gothic Literature Tale Fit for the Ages

Fourteen-year-old Violeta Valentine lives with her older brother, Tommy, and their widowed mother in Arizona. Violeta’s mother isolates Violeta and targets her with abuse and neglect. Tommy tries to protect her as much as he can. This tense situation explodes one day when their mother puts both children’s lives in danger.
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November 17, 2025
Vivid turquoise background with images partially hidden of book cover. Book cover in foreground, unblurred, for Maya and Natasha. Text: Maya and Natasha: A Cold War Novel of Twins and Ballet - A Review - Zina Mona
Published by Zina Mona at November 17, 2025
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Maya and Natasha: A Cold War Novel of Twins and Ballet — Review

Despite the difficulty of creating a historical novel, Durham skillfully depicts the love, jealousy, and other complexities of a twin sisterhood influenced by trauma, distance, and forgiveness.
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October 31, 2025
Deep red rose on a black, otherwise "darked out" image. Rose is lying on the ground, with a short stem and leaves piercingly obvious. The cover of the book "Carmilla" (all black and white with two women illustrated from the Gothic era, looking off into the distance) in upper right hand corner. In deep red text, matching the rose's color, Carmilla: Review of a Classic Vampire Novella. Zina Mona.
Published by Zina Mona at October 31, 2025
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Carmilla: a Review of the Classic Vampire Novella

Filled with gothic imagery, Carmilla makes for a dark and spooky reading experience. I was immediately enamored with the setting, from the vast castle to the village ruins. I easily became absorbed in the story, and the tense atmosphere from the start pulled me right through to the end.
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October 9, 2025
Cover of book: The Other Emma, with an image of a pensive young woman amid falling snow - TEXT: Historical Fiction Novel Review, Julie Sara Porter
Published by Julie Sara Porter at October 9, 2025
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The Other Emma: A Book Review

As Rose ascends higher in society, she has to weigh what her own identity, status, and newfound wealth and influence can do for those women who are what she once was. Can she aspire to be the beneficial influence to them that others have been to her?
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October 5, 2025
Book cover image with a creepy house in a red haze -- it's set askew. Outline of Ohio behind the image, with a rolled up newspaper above the book cover. TEXT: Supernatural Thriller Review, Julie Sara Porter - The Bellfeontaine Haunting by Marie Wilkens
Published by Julie Sara Porter at October 5, 2025
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The Bellefontaine Haunting — A Supernatural Thriller Review

The Bellfontaine Haunting by Marie Wilkins is a suspenseful and gripping supernatural thriller and murder mystery. It held me from the first page to the last with its story of the ghost of a deceased woman haunting a reporter and the cold case surrounding her death suddenly becoming hot and open.
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September 25, 2025
Fangirl Down - book cover for Tessa Bailey's rom-com novel - Image of a young woman getting a piggback ride from a guy wearing a backward baseball cap - TEXT: Fangirl Down, A rollercoasted of love, desire, and golf - Book Review: Rom-Com - Nereesha Patel
Published by Nereesha Patel at September 25, 2025
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Fangirl Down: A Rollercoaster of Love, Desire, and Golf

Written by Tessa Bailey, Fangirl Down follows Josephine Boyle, a young woman who is a huge fan of Wells Whitaker, a disgraced pro golfer who is one temper tantrum away from quitting the sport forever. Unfortunately for Josephine, she faces the brunt of his outburst during a tournament, leaving the self-proclaimed “Wells’s Belle” disillusioned for a short while.
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September 22, 2025
Blue, blurred background with yellow and aqua accents in background - Book Cover for The Life Impossible by Matt Haig - TEXT: An Environmentalist Fantasy Review - Zina Mona
Published by Zina Mona at September 22, 2025
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The Life Impossible, an Environmentalist Fantasy Review

The premise writes itself — a one way ticket, an idyllic island, and a mysterious death. But it is not thrilling, in the pure sense of the word, nor is it a pure fantasy; The Impossible Life exists in a plane of reality that is magical and precisely mathematical.
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July 5, 2025
Book cover of swimming pool beside modern, tropical house. TEXT: The Imagined Life, a Literary Novel Review, Zina Mona, Book Review
Published by Zina Mona at July 5, 2025
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The Imagined Life, a Literary Novel Review

Of course I judge a book by its cover. I know it’s wrong, but a pretty cover will lure me in. The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter possesses one of those magical covers that’s not merely beautiful, but reflects equally the gorgeous writing within.
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