Month: September 2024

Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – The Bookstore Sisters – Book 1 of the Once Upon a Time Bookstore Stories by Alice Hoffman #shortstory

Published on by dgkaye53 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. My reading time has been awfully short this month so I stuck in a few shorter reads. This is Book 1 of Alice Hoffman’s Once Upon a Time Bookstore Stories – The Bookstore Sisters. There are three books to this series about two very different sisters and their struggle to keep the old family bookstore in Maine going.

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Blurb:

From New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman comes a heartfelt short story about family, independence, and finding your place in the world.

Isabel Gibson has all but perfected the art of forgetting. She’s a New Yorker now, with nothing left to tie her to Brinkley’s Island, Maine. Her parents are gone, the family bookstore is all but bankrupt, and her sister, Sophie, will probably never speak to her again.

But when a mysterious letter arrives in her mailbox, Isabel feels herself drawn to the past. After years of fighting for her independence, she dreads the thought of going back to the island. What she finds there may forever alter her path—and change everything she thought she knew about her family, her home, and herself.

My 5 Star Review:

Two sisters Isabel and Sophie are estranged. Isabel would rather forget things than face them and left Maine for New York as a dog-walker after a divorce . Their parents are dead and the family bookstore is left to the sisters. Only they aren’t really speaking, and it begins with Sophie living in the old family home with a bookstore dilemma and a casted leg. And now Isabel receives a mysterious letter calling her back to Maine.

The letter isn’t signed, just asking for help. Isabel makes her way back to Maine and is greeted by her her old sweetheart and eleven year old niece , Violet, Sophie’s daughter. Violet informs Isabel that her mother was in an accident and can’t walk for a few weeks, meaning she can’t run the bookstore either. Violet is quite frosty toward her aunt, and quite mouthy for a child of eleven, seeming very protective of her mother, unknowing about what caused the rift between her mother and her aunt. We’ll learn the cause of their separation, and also what brings them back together.

This is a story about family, relationships, grudges and healing, rekindling love in home and romance. It’s a short read that leaves us with some of Isabel’s realizations about love and family and definitely wanting to read the next book to see what else develops with romance, sisters united, and the bookstore.

©DGKaye2024

My 5 Star Review:

Blurb:

Life Lessons 101

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Life Lessons 101 – Words Matter by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Published on by dgkaye48 Comments

Today I’m sharing my article for Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord Blog Magazine I recently shared there. The topic of this month’s discussion is Life Lessons 101 – Words Matter.

Welcome back to my Life Lessons 101 series. Today I’m talking about the importance of words – how they have the power to both, hurt and uplift.

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What’s in a word? A word may be short or simple, but the way we use words are taken in by tone and by connotation from the delivery. Words are powerful and should always be considered carefully before speaking or writing them, especially if they are angry words. Once spoken, words can never be taken back no matter how desperately one tries to do so. This is because they are already ingrained in our brains from first hearing or seeing. Words leave an imprint in our brains and hearts unlike physical wounds.

It’s important when speaking or writing that we phrase our words so that others don’t misconstrue. When speaking, the tone of our spoken words can also leave one with a different interpretation than was originally intended.

The power of our words represent us, who are speaking them. Our words reflect our thoughts, beliefs, passions, likes and dislikes, and morals. And our words have the power to influence others, just as they have the power to dissuade people, depending on how our messages are delivered and perceived.

It’s important to convey our messages using clarity and phrasing words properly to evoke the message we wish to convey. Remember, it’s not just the words we speak, but the delivery as well. Another example of using better wording would be when naming dis-eases people may have. If per say you were writing about someone with an addiction, it would be softer to refer to them as substance abusers, rather than call them addicts or junkies.

Think about the trail of goodness left when someone offers another a compliment or kind word. A kind word to a stranger can uplift their whole day, and the positive feelings become a great boon to one’s self-esteem. Their positivity can in turn spread to others, maybe even inspiring them to pay it forward to make someone else’s day. This kindness of words can become a chain reaction just as easily as negativity and darkness can. So why not keep the tone positive?

We’ve all seen or felt how a negative or nasty person in our presence can leave us with an unsettling feeling, so it isn’t difficult to see how spreading kindness and positivity can be just as contagious. We are so much more motivated as humans when we are uplifted and happy, and it doesn’t cost a thing to make someone’s day!

The way in which words are spoken will leave the receivers either content and motivated, or deflated and discouraged. Words can sting a like a bee, ruin relationships, and even break hearts. Words have both power and energy. This is why when we are in an uncomfortable situation because of an unpleasant conversation we’re enduring, or perhaps about something may have read, we react with emotions. What we absorb from these words will leave a tone within. The power of words have the ability to inspire, motivate, even shift our perceptions, just as much as they can instill anger, hurt, and fear. . . please read the conclusion at Sally’s blog.

©DGKaye2024

Source: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Life Lessons 101 – Words Matter by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – Vacation by Jane Green.

Published on by dgkaye58 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing another short story by Jane Green. I reviewed another book by this author last week that I thoroughly enjoyed, spurring me to pick up another shorter read by her as my longer read is not yet completed. This book is about family and relationships and a marriage gone sour, but with understanding – may stand a chance. But it didn’t move me the way the last book I read and reviewed by Green did.

Blurb:

In this witty, deeply honest tale of married life, New York Times bestselling author Jane Green delves into the heart of the holidays—and the winter of one woman’s discontent . . .
 
Just when she’d sworn off men for good, Sarah Evans met Eddie. Sarah was a magazine editor, living in Manhattan, and loving her life—except for the heartbreaks. A successful real estate developer, Eddie was a breath of fresh air, a meeting of minds—and bodies. Soon came wedded bliss, baby number one—and the proverbial move to the suburbs . . .
 
You just sit there like a slob while I do all the work. Nine years later, this is increasingly what goes through Sarah’s mind when she looks at Evan, propped in front of the TV with a beer, ignoring their two children. The truth is, she misses her old life. She misses the old Eddie. She can’t help wondering if she’d be happier alone . . .
 
When Eddie’s job sends him to Chicago indefinitely, Sarah shocks him by suggesting a trial separation. But she knows it’s just a precursor to divorce—even if Eddie chooses to think of it as a “vacation.” Yet a lot can change—on both sides—as time goes by. And once Christmas arrives, Sarah and Eddie might re-discover gifts they’d forgotten they had . . .

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My 4 Star Review:

Sarah and Eddie were once in love, but it seems the years have caused a drift between them. Sarah’s resentment keeps growing as her daily life goes by and watches her husband Eddie constantly not contributing his share to the marriage where it concerns home and children.

Sarah has a book club where they meet once a month. Some read the book while others don’t, but all use this meeting time as a platform to air their marriage woes. Sarah tries to judge her marriage with her book club friends’ as she wonders what has become of herself and the unhapppiness in her home.

Eddie gets offered a job in Chicago and while he presumed the family would pick up and move with him, Sarah , tired of her ho hum life, took the the opportunity to make it a trial separation. Naturally this happening required an emergency book club meeting – EBC.

Eddie misses his family, and begins to realize how badly he neglected them all, as well as realizing how much he’d let himself go, and he decides to start eating properly and exercising as he re-evaluates how his marriage turned so frigid. Sarah is excited to take a part-time job working for a friend in reception at a spa. She’s thrilled to be among people instead of living a lonely existence her life had become. And oddly enough, Sarah is intrigued by Eddie’s sudden change in demeanor and interest in her. But he would have much to prove.

The book club girls pass on the next club meeting and turn it into a girl’s night out, which they all agree is much more fun than book talk. Sarah has ventured back into caring for herself, dyeing her gray strays, wearing makeup again, and feeling better about herself. She says she has no interest in men, but when Joe the contractor shows up at her house, she may have second thoughts.

Ultimately, time passes (swiftly) and it’s Christmas now and Eddie makes his way back home to spend time with his kids, hoping Sarah will be willing to re-kindle their relationship after all they’ve learned in their separation. But will she?

This book was a sweet read but almost too predictable. Also, I honestly don’t even know what the title has to do with the book, Eddie’s life is certainly no vacation having taken a job away from his family. IMO this book is a short story that should have been made longer to give more depth to the characters, as the only one we really get to know is Sarah. And I found the ending very rushed. There is a name error in the blurb as well. Who is Evan? I give this book 3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4.

©DGKaye2024

Blog sharing

Smorgasbord Book Promotions 2024 – Share an Excerpt – #Life #DysfunctionalFamilies, P.S I Forgive You by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Published on by dgkaye23 Comments

I was thrilled to be kicking off Sally Cronin’s new – Smorgasbord Share an Excerpt series. I shared an excerpt from my book – P.S. I Forgive You.

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In this series you are invited to share an excerpt of 500 words from any of your published books .

This feature is for any author who has been promoted on Smorgasbord previously.

Please read full details of how to participate at the end of the post and please note I am mainly offline travelling until Wednesday but will respond to your emails as soon as possible.

The aim of the series:

  1. To showcase your book and sell some more copies. Either recently published or an older book you would like to give a boost to.
  2. To gain more reviews for the book.
  3. Promote a selection of your other books that are available

Today the featured author is D.G. Kaye who is also part of the fabric of this blog with her wonderful columns on life and relationships. Today an excerpt from her book P.S I Forgive You: A Broken Legacy

P.S. I Forgive You

About the book

“I hurt for her. She wasn’t much of a mother, but she was still my mother.”

Confronted with resurfacing feelings of guilt, D.G. Kaye is tormented by her decision to remain estranged from her dying emotionally abusive mother after resolving to banish her years ago, an event she has shared in her book Conflicted Hearts. In P.S. I Forgive You, Kaye takes us on a compelling heartfelt journey as she seeks to understand the roots of her mother’s narcissism, let go of past hurts, and find forgiveness for both her mother and herself.

After struggling for decades to break free, Kaye has severed the unhealthy ties that bound her to her dominating mother—but now Kaye battles new confliction, as the guilt she harbors over her decision only increases as the end of her mother’s life draws near. Kaye once again struggles with her conscience and her feelings of being obligated to return to a painful past she thought she left behind.

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Thanks for inviting me to share an excerpt Sally. Today I’m sharing a passage from my book – P.S. I Forgive You. I wrote this book after the death of my estranged mother. After a lifetime of emotional and verbal abuse from my narcissistic mother, I learned to walk away from her seven years before her death. This book was in sorts, a kind of unravelling.
I will add that this book was a cathartic writing and final understanding of my mother.

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An excerpt from the book:

Regrets

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I still think of my mother often. She’s gone now but not forgotten. While she was still living, I wondered how I’d feel when she was gone. Would I feel relieved of my own self-imposed burden? Would I regret that she had left while we were no longer speaking?

My feelings are still a mixed bag. My guilty conscience plays on my empathy sometimes, and in those moments I question myself, wondering if I failed her. I remembered feeling much the same way when it was my responsibility to look after my siblings and father when I was young. I was conditioned to be the caretaker. I couldn’t help but feel it was my duty to repair the broken state of my mother. My need to make her better, make us better, gnawed away at me for most of my life.

I couldn’t accept that her temperament was beyond my control, and I didn’t understand the complexities of dealing with a narcissist. I didn’t even realize she was one until I was well into my twenties. I never intended to hurt her, no matter how deserving I felt she was of hurting many times. As fate would have it, she wound up hurting herself in the end, enduring estrangement from her loved ones with loneliness and suffering.

Mother had spent her lifetime hurting others with her wicked ways and lies, and I wish I could have known if she did so with intent to hurt or if she even realized how she treated people, if she truly believed her own lies. That question lingered in my mind for decades. Did she truly believe she was a good mother? Was she so lost in her imagined self and ego that she believed the things she said, or did she just know how to play the games and choose to live in her denial? The answers to those questions burn within me.

A veil of melancholia came over me every time I thought of my mother. As an empathetic person, I was used to putting myself in her lonely situation as she began to age and fell ill. I watched her with pity as she tried desperately to maintain her imagined noble status as her looks and body began to dissipate. I wished I could hug her and tell her it was okay to step down from her pedestal, as even a princess grows old and weary, but I couldn’t. . .please continue conclusion at Sally’s Smorgasbord.

An excerpt from the bookAn excerpt from the boo

Source: Smorgasbord Book Promotions 2024 – Share an Excerpt – #Life #DysfunctionalFamilies, P.S I Forgive You by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

©DGKaye2024

Writer's Tips

Writer’s Tips – September Edition – Name Generators, #WordPress, Kindlepreneur

Published on by dgkaye51 Comments

Welcome to September edition of my curated Writer’s Tips. In this edition, Diana Peach is at The Story Empire with a post sharing various Name Generators for our book characters, Hugh Roberts shares some helpful tips on how to solve WordPress issues, and the Kindlepreneur breaks down differences between being a writer and an author.

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Diana Peach at The Story Empire talking about Name Generators for characters and places

Trouble Naming your Character, Town, or Tavern? Try a Name Generator.

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Hugh Roberts with some helpful tips for WordPress problems

WordPress Problems: Don’t Panic! How To Solve Issues Quickly

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The Kindlepreneur talks about the differences between Writers and Authors

Author vs Writer: What’s the Difference?

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©DGKaye2024

Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – When We Were Friends by Jane Green #shortstory

Published on by dgkaye65 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing a short story read from my monthly free Amazon reads – When We Were Friends by Jane Green.

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Blurb:

From New York Times bestselling author Jane Green comes a riveting story about a friendship that turns ugly when a woman realizes her new best friend is not what she seems.

By all accounts, Lucy’s handled her divorce well. She’s finally in the cozy, plant-filled house of her dreams. And although she doesn’t fit in with the other divorcées—all busy looking for their next ex—she’s excited to get down to earth and savor the small joys of life.

When Lucy meets Elle, a hip younger woman who shares her same passions, their connection is instant. Taking a chance on kismet, Lucy forges a friendship that fills her days with meaning. She and Elle are inseparable, from sunup to sundown, enjoying the immediate ease and familiarity of each other’s company.

But as Lucy introduces Elle to her circle, a new side of her friend appears. And try as she might, Lucy can’t ignore her misgivings. Who is Elle really? And can their all-consuming friendship survive closer inspection?

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My 5 Star Review:

Lucy is newly divorced and reluctantly joins her divorced friends for a girl night out on the town. She has no ambition to join the dating world even though her friends try to coax her. But a serendipituous trip to the bathroom had her meeting a woman named Elle who kindly offered her some lip balm when Lucy discovered she didn’t bring any with her. And as fate sometimes does, these two women found some fast common ground and became instant besties in a short period of time. Lucy was elated to have found a new female friend she could really connect with.

Lucy is a part time journalist and Elle is an illustrator. When Lucy finally gets a nice offer to create a series of children’s books, she happily suggests her friend Elle to illustrate them. But one night when Lucy invites Elle to a friend’s posh house party, everything changes.

Lucy learns a lot more about Elle, and she’s discovers Elle isn’t as sincere or charming as she had made herself out to be. After Elle trashes Lucy’s friends for being rich and took something with her from their home, she also took a sudden distance from Lucy, not answering her calls. Lucy was stunned. And one night when Lucy took her daughter out for some takeout, Lucy makes a shocking discovery that adds to the severing of their friendship.

This story offers lots of life lessons about trust, the fine balance between friendships, demonstrating how easy it can be to cut ties despite the love and closeness of a once blooming friendship.

©DGKaye2024

Tag, You’re It! Blogging Challenge

Published on by dgkaye55 Comments

Tag, You’re It, is the Blogging Challenge I came across while reading Debbie Doglady’s post who hopped on to this challenge from Thomas Wikman’s blog – Leonberger Life who also tagged me. I enjoyed both their posts and decided to join in the fun! I was also late in discovering that Milena from Why I Quit My Job had also tagged me, so thank you all.

How did you come up with your blog name?

I suppose this isn’t much of a surprise, lol. But DG Kaye is my writing name, so what better than to inform those venturing over to my blog that my site has my writing name, and acknowledges the fact that I’m a writer. 🙂

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If your blog was a person (fiction or real), who would it be?

My blog is real because I’m the one writing for it and everything I post is my real truth and opinions. I suppose it comes with the territory when one is a non fiction writer. 🙂

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What helps you create new content if you feel like you need some inspiration?

All I need for content is to form an opinion about something I’ve seen, read, or experienced. A lifetime of experiences leave the door wide open. A beautiful scenery, vacations, and anything about the human condition is enough to never leave me looking for words. But I also love to write reviews for books I’ve read too. Take for example this post, I enjoyed Debbie’s,Thomas’s and Lena’s posts so I thought it would be fun to join on the Tag. 🙂

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Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?

I think collaborations are fun things to do with other writers and bloggers. I’ve done collabs with Rebecca Budd at her engaging blog of interviews- Tea Toast & Trivia, with fashion designer, Resa McConaghy on her blog of fabulous artwork, photography, and fashions – Graffitti Art Lux and More, and of course, Sally Cronin whose blog is aptly named, Smorgasbord Blog Magazine, because it’s filled daily with everything from laughter, to books and reviews, to health information, cooking recipes, and fab music – something for everyone. Sally and I do a Smorgasbord laughter and smiles post on her blog a few times a month. And I have an ongoing monthly column over at Sally’s blog for a few years now – the series subject changes annually.

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Is there anything more you wish you had or would like to learn as a blogger?

Oh sure! I would love to learn all the nooks and crannies of using WordPress, but frankly, I have my own methods of working with it, and when something isn’t working, I find a work-around. If I spent everyday learning how everything technical works, I’d never get anything else done. I keep my focus on learning things that interest me, and the backdoor of WordPress is my least favorite. I don’t have the head for all the techno stuff sometimes, so I’ll use it to best of my knowledge, ask a friend, or use my best friends Google and/or Youtube. 🙂

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Do you have a specific style of blogging?

Interesting question. I think any of us blogging long enough develops their own style of blogging. Blogging style? Hmm, I think the memoir writer in me always creeps up in my posts. I write how I speak on my blog and in my books. My writing is authentically me. I’d like to think my blog posts are always legible and hopefully engaging, with enough whitespace, and using bold headings, and always using my own authentic voice. Ironically, these days, WordPress is erasing my words when I try to use a color on the headings (as you will note in this post, no colorful headings). Ya, I’m probably not doing something right with block editor, which many of us dreaded when it first came out, and it still gives me grief. So, I’ve adapted to my own work-arounds.

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It was fun doing a blog challenge, it’s been a long time. To keep the fun going, I’m going to call on a few of my blogging friends to join the challenge if you’re up to it:

Sally Cronin, Stevie Turner, Robbie Cheadle, Pete Springer, Liesbet Collaert.

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Thanks for adding me to your ‘Tags’, Thomas, Milena, and Debbie.

Source: TAG, YOU’RE IT! 🫵 | 💻 A BLOGGING QUESTIONNAIRE 💻

https://leonbergerlife.com/2024/08/30/the-blog-tag/

https://whymilenawhy.wordpress.com/2024/09/07/the-blog-tag/comment-page-1/#respond

©DGKaye2024

Sally Cronin, Stevie Turner, Pete Springer, Robbie Cheadle, Liesbet Collaert.

ow did you come up with your blog name?If your blog was a person (fiction or rel), who would it be

Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – Reset, Book 3 in Terry Tyler’s SFV-1 #dystopian series

Published on by dgkaye71 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. This week I’m reviewing Book 3 in Terry Tyler’s riveting thriller – Reset – SFV-1. Admittedly, my go-to genre is not dystopian, but I love Terry’s writing, and I was tempted to read book 1 and then I was hooked. Perhaps I’m starting to feel that dystopia is closer to the world I feel I’m living in, this series could be real one day politically, but hopefully not with the Zombie Blood killers like in this post-apocalyptic thriller.

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Blurb:

Blurb:

‘If one person goes out there and gets bitten, the whole place could collapse within hours.’

Danger, deception and devastating decisions set the stage in this final part of the UK post-apocalyptic SFV-1 trilogy.

The rage virus pandemic marches on, though Norah and her friends are behind safe walls at last. Within The Moors community there is peace to be found, but how long can this happy state of affairs continue?

In a secret bunker in Surrey, Larry Farnsworth’s great Reset consortium is fast-tracking the plan to reclaim the country, with Julian Sweet a key player. In the North, Flint and his Berserkers are determined to stay independent of any restrictive new laws for as long as possible.‘It’s a luxurious prison that we walked into of our own accord. Everything you could possibly need within walking distance. All you need if you’re a robot, anyway.’

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My 5 Star Review:

Book 3, concluding this series of a zombie apocalypse, begins with a great summation and wrap-up by the author of the previous two books to refresh the mind of the very many goings ons. We will learn about how this evil virus continues to rage on and how incredibly, those who haven’t been bitten manage to survive.

A few years have now past and the characters who remain have all managed to survive in their little built up communities, knowing well how to go out armed when scavenging for food or supplies. There’s only one way to kill ‘the bloods’, the term used for those bitten and can only thrive by killing humans for their own consumption. A knife to the head is the only way to end them.

The so-called army has begun knocking on doors calling for people to come join the government led community rebuild project, where they will all be given lodgings and provisions until the country can set itself straight. A barricaded system of avenues has been sectioned off in parts of the country to create new living conditions and be protected from the many zombies that still roam the country. But they are no army, but part of a bigger more sinister plan all in the name of power. But who is behind this ‘new army’ – Julian Sweet. Sweet was a Youtuber influencer before dystopia hit the country, now second in command to re-settle the country, handing him power on who gets to live on what level of the ‘avenues’. When everyone is allotted to their new home destinations, not all are happy, especially the ones in Zone D.

Zone D is the lowest level of living with the most menial of jobs and artist Norah is stuck there because she fought this hostage-like new living by being unagreeable to the interrogation. But some escape, like her old love Brian, and her recent love Todd. Eventually, Norah makes her escape through the woods and encounters a new group of people – The Berserkers, who stand their own ground and won’t be bullied into being taken to the ‘avenues’. From there, she finds a new community working to build their own community, while building barricades and always having someone on watch for the ‘bloods’. They stay hidden from the ‘armies’too. And while life is reaching somewhat of a breathing point there, chaos is ensuing on the ‘avenues’ and there are many sightings by the Berserkers of people and bloods heading toward the south of the country. Will Norah and the Berserkers remain safe through the massive exodus? You’re going to have to read to find out!

This was a riveting series from Tyler. The series was sewn up thrillingly. And despite there being many characters in this story, I found it exciting to follow them all without getting lost. And the end, well, it’s typical Tyler. It left me to wonder and imagine what next? Is there going to be more after the southern exodus? Maybe. I feel like Terry Tyler might be writing a book 4?

Note: Right after I finished drafting this review post, Sally Cronin posted a review for Terry’s latest book, Safe Zone, which is a standalone. That answered my own question. Sally says:

“…Although a stand-alone novel, Tyler manages to link back to past events and characters to ensure you don’t spend half the book wondering who these people are who are fighting for their lives. There are plenty of great characters, many of whom have gone through several transformations over the ten years since the first bite. Some who have gone from young teenagers to key members of the pockets of humanity who have survived, and others who have continued to be manipulative, power grabbing, self-serving individuals...”

I’ve already got my copy.

Note:

©DGKaye2024