#bookseries – Page 7 – Rosepoint Publishing

The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

A Dave Robicheaux Novel Book 1

Book Blurb:

New York Times best-selling author James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux novels began with this first hard-hitting entry in the series.

In The Neon Rain, Detective Robicheaux fishes a prostitute’s corpse from a New Orleans bayou and finds that no one, not even the law, cares about a dead hooker.

My Review:

My first go-round with this author and I gotta admit checked most of the boxes for me. I could identify with the time period, if not “Nalans” and, indeed, New Orleans is a whole character unto itself.

It’s good I was listening to the audiobook as the author did a beautiful job of the accents (French), dialects of the locals (Cajun), as well as the protagonist’s name, Robicheaux (pronounced Row-be-show).

Even better when I start a healthy (24 installments in the series??) with Book 1. Yes, the first book is usually an introduction to the main character, the location, and the setting, in this case, the police department. Back then we had a lot of veterans, some still fresh from ‘Nam. Dave Robicheaux has apparently been back long enough to have achieved detective level with the local police department.

I loved how the description of the area rolled off the tongue of the narrator, making it almost sensual. I got a feeling pretty quickly about gritty Robicheaux, hardened from battle, brass, baddies, and loss. He’s no one to mess with.

When he discovers a young prostitute’s body, it hits him hard, and he throws all effort at finding the perp. Unfortunately, it also begins to uncover a lot more than he bargained for, and he reverts to drinking again and is placed on leave.

No problem.

He goes rogue.

In the meantime, the reader is treated to the prose created by the beauty of the bayou, the music, the mood, the food, the heat, the French Quarter, and the rain. In our experience, the latter happened every afternoon about 4 p.m. Ever notice that moss hanging from those iconic trees? Did you wonder why?

Graphic details, descriptions, and language paint a noir picture through the storyline and solid support characters. It is well-paced, suspenseful, gritty, and within a hard-boiled mystery. Armchair tourist? This might well be one trip you’ll enjoy.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedural Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Suspense
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0028TY1GU
Listening Length: 8 hrs 22 mins
Narrator: Will Patton
Publication Date: May 5, 2009
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links:

Amazon-US
Amazon-UK

The Author: James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, three-time winner of the Edgar Award as well as the Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America, winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger and Gold Dagger and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction.

#ThrowbackThursday

Murder in Galway by Carlene O’Connor #BookReview #InternationalMystery&Crime

A Home to Ireland Mystery Book 1

Book Blurb:

In the first installment of bestselling author Carlene O’Connor’s new Home to Ireland Mystery series, New York Tara Meehan’s first trip to Galway, Ireland may be her last.

Jump right into the beauty and splendor—and murder—of Tara’s Irish adventure! With a gorgeous setting, suspicious characters, and a deadly mystery—Murder in Galway will have you packing your bags…

Tara never imagined her introduction to Ireland like this—carrying her mam’s ashes to honor her final request: “Tell Johnny I’m sorry…Take me home.” She’s never met her mam’s estranged brother, Johnny Meehan, who owns an architectural salvage business in Galway. Although Tara is immediately charmed by the medieval city, the locals seem wary of strangers and a gypsy warns her that death is all around.

When Tara arrives at her uncle’s stone cottage, the prophesy seems true. A dead man lies sprawled over the threshold in a pool of blood. The victim turns out to be Johnny’s wealthiest client, and her missing uncle is the garda’s number-one suspect. In trying to find Johnny and solve the crime, Tara uncovers her mam and uncle’s troubled past. But with a desperate killer about, she had better mind herself, or they’ll be tossing her ashes in Galway Bay…

His Review:

Ah, the lure of Ireland to the progeny of Irish ancestors. Tara’s mother had immigrated to the United States from Ireland in her mid20’s. She did not explain to her daughter why she immigrated except that she had some “troubles” with a few of her neighbors. The problem was never explained. Upon her mother’s death Tara decided to go back to Ireland to see if she could understand the reason why.

There is an old warehouse full of odds and ends that has supported her mother’s brother since she left Ireland. Tara goes to the old warehouse in which her mother has an interest. Upon arriving at the building, a dead man is sprawled across the threshold of the business! The local law enforcement called Guarda start to investigate with Tara’s uncle being the principal suspect. In Galway less than 24 hours and she is already embroiled in a major crime!

Tara is an aspiring investigator and she begins to outline the crime and possible suspects. Meanwhile, the Guarda is working to get enough evidence to charge Tara with the crime. Their recommendation is that she leave Ireland immediately.

A budding romance blossoms between Tara and a young man named Danny, however, who has been operating the business since her uncle’s disappearance. The evidence of the crimes seems to always circle back to Tara’s visit to her mother’s homeland!

This book has many interesting twists and turns and a budding romance between Tara and Danny. Will the death spoil their chance for romance? Will Tara be charged with murder? These questions and many more are answered in the book. Read and enjoy this Irish mystery in Book 1 of A Home to Ireland Mystery series Book 1.

[Note: This book was on my list for #ReadingIrelandMonth25 this year, but didn’t get posted in March. It’s late.

[I read Book 2, A Murder in Connemara back in July of 2021 and really enjoyed it. I also read the last three O’Connor novels from the County Kerry series and many more from her other series as well. Thought the CE would enjoy this one. I must say, he was ready to pack his bags and fly to the Emerald Isle.]

C E Williams We received a copy of this book from our library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Cozy Culinary Mysteries, Ghost Mysteries
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
ASIN: B07TT34D26
Print Length: 297 pages
Publication Date: April 28, 2020
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland to America and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. She writes the bestselling IRISH VILLAGE MYSTERIES, the HOME TO IRELAND series, and the new COUNTY KERRY MYSTERIES. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, and optioned for television. Readers can find her at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086525205106 or through her website: http://www.carleneoconnor.net

Reading Ireland Month 25 — 746 Books is hosting this annual challenge. Mix and match your formats!

Open Season: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman #AudiobookReview #PoliceProceduralMysteries

Book Blurb:

The most beloved and enduring duo in American crime fiction is back.

People come to Los Angeles to chase their dreams. Sometimes they find themselves cast into a nightmare. And sometimes, the most ardent dreamers turn out to be the most vicious monsters.

The body of an aspiring actress is found dumped near a hospital emergency room. She’s been drugged and murdered and the motive for the callous crime remains maddeningly out of reach. Until, a prime suspect materializes. Another Hollywood hopeful. Only to be shot dead by a sniper using a weapon that turns out to have been catalogued in a previous murder. And another, before that. It’s not long before more bodies begin piling up.

What makes the murderous spree baffling is the apparent lack of connection among the victims. Is this the work of a random thrill killer, the toughest of all cases to unravel?

But as Alex and Milo dig deeper they’re faced with an even knottier scenario: a highly complex killer with deep-seated motivation that will require all of their highly honed skills to decipher.

The latest thriller from #1 New York Times bestseller Jonathan Kellerman, is a tale of psychological complexity, dark suspense, and shocking surprises. A wild ride through L.A.’s surreal underbelly climaxed by an edge-of-the chair conclusion.

My Review:

It’s been a couple years since my last Alex Delaware book, The Ghost Orchid, as my last two reads by this author have included his son Jesse as co-author in the Clay Edison series. I was a little disappointed in the last Clay Edison, A Measure of Darkness, while I loved my last Alex Delaware book.

The Alex Delaware series always has three main characters: Alex, Milo, and the City of Los Angeles. Goodness, if anyone can make LA sound exciting, adventurous, and exotic, Kellerman can. His descriptions of the people and environs are atmospheric and always create a setting full of anticipation.

In this installment, they are involved in the murder and dumping of a young, aspiring actress. But of course that would only be the tip of the iceberg and soon there will be more bodies, both victim and perp.

Alex, as a main character, has been grandfathered in as a “volunteer” in the department (the series is that old), a partner to Milo, an official LA detective.

I don’t know if it was the narrator or the writing, but there has always been the sense that Alex is the intelligent one, though then the question would be how Milo made it this far. But he did seem more a ding-a-ling this time. Still, he is the one with the resources of the department while Alex provides cerebral input. Together, they are effective.

I’m still not sure where it went wrong for me this time. Yes, an audiobook; yes, I’m multi-tasking while listening; yes, there’s been another 90-degree flip in the storyline and now where am I? New characters, new case. Related? I guess so. Somehow, it became a bit of a blur for me, and there were short spaces of time I tuned out. Not good for an audiobook!

So, yeah, a little disappointed in Book 40 but looking forward to Book 41.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedural Mysteries, Crime Thrillers
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B0D5Z2L5B6
Listening Length: 9 hrs 10 mins
Narrator: John Rubinstein
Publication Date: February 4, 2025
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links:

Amazon-US

Amazon-UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

The Author: Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than three dozen bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer’s Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored The Golem of Hollywood and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California, New Mexico, and New York.

Graphic - It's so hard to choose!

Rosepoint Reviews – March Recap – Spring Cleaning and Getting Fit

Rosepoint Review Recap-March-Hello April!

March is usually a good month for me, a birthday month and fewer frozen temps. By now in California, I’d have veggie and flower starts getting ready for transplant. I’ve learned the hard way, however, that in upper Midwest, you’d better wait for Mother’s Day (May). So, April, rather than sequestering with a good book, hot chocolate, and favorite chair is time for Spring Cleaning. Garage to deck, the whole place needs a thorough clearing, cleaning, and paint touch ups. Reading time may suffer a bit, but I’ll certainly make use of audiobooks!

Just in case Spring Cleaning isn’t enough, the CE and I decided it was time to get back into shape and rejoined our old fitness center. Still not satisfied with that one, however, I decided to look into “the Y” again and discovered my handy dandy insurance would cover the fees. Joy!

Good grief, we were overwhelmed with the mammoth size of the facility, much less all the new machines, technology, classes, social opportunities (we signed up for a “Senior Soiree” 20s dinner dance next week), indoor and outdoor pools, spa, outside courts, as well as many other scheduled outdoor activities. Usually content with walking and riding my bike in the summer, I discovered muscles I’d forgotten about. (They didn’t forget me.) The sophisticated machines also reported on my height, weight, and “BioAge” the latter being happy news. I even looked at swimsuits!

So, yes, I anticipate using audiobooks more in April and probably May as well while I begin to plant both veggie and flower beds for the summer. Usually relying on Libby to find the audiobooks I was interested in and couldn’t find, decided to revert back to my old account in Hoopla and, wah la! There were several I’d failed to find in Libby, both Hoopla and Libby available at my local library. Love that library!

Of course I still find ARCs in NetGalley, as well as receive author and publisher requests. March, of course, is #ReadingIrelandMonth25, the #Begorrathon25, hosted by Cathy at 746 Books, and I participated in that again, managing five books, one movie, and one article–an old St Patrick’s Day story. We read and reviewed ten books between us in March that included six audiobooks. As always, the links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

Rosepoint Reviews - March Recap

The Builders by Maeve BInchy (#begorrathon25)
The Greatest Band That Never Was by Jeff Meshel (CE for Netgalley)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (audiobook)
First Pub on the Right by Irish Anderson (#begorrathon25)
Milkman by Anna Burns (audiobook – #begorrathon25)
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (audiobook)
Cher by Cher (audiobook)
Into the Storm by Rachel Grant
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (audiobook)
Long Island by Colm Toibin (#begorrathon25 – audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

While I greatly enjoyed Cher’s memoir, I was a little disappointed she did not wholly narrate and that it was Part I. Gotta wait for Part II? But, no, Water for Elephants had me glued to the pages—well, earbuds. I stopped a couple times to research certain points of the novel, from Circus practices to elephants. Who couldn’t love Rosie? Then I went looking for the movie and was disappointed it wasn’t streaming on anything I could watch.

**Favorite for March – Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen**

My Reading Challenges page…

My Goodreads Challenge is currently at 44 of a 2025 goal of 125. As always, my Challenge page suffers from neglect. Surely there’ll be a quiet time when I can catch up.

Just a small rant before I close: I’ve used Yahoo for my email since I started using a computer. The changes recently ravaged by whoever decided it was time to destroy it has got me thinking of fleeing. The problem being, I’m not a whole lot happier with any of the others. Yahoo has managed to combine both my blog account and my personal account, making for a nightmare of duplications and deletions. When I decided to just delete everything in the personal account, it also deleted all emails from my blog account. (Sorry if you didn’t hear from me.) Are you struggling with the new Yahoo as well or should I put it down to my age (again)?

Welcome to my new subscribers! So glad you joined this group and I hope you found a book or two that appealed to you here. I always appreciate your comments! Have an invigorating April!

Where will your books take you this month?

Long Island by Colm Toibin #AudiobookReview #ReadingIrelandMonth25

Book 2 of 2: Ellis Lacey

Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Historical Fiction (2024)

Book Blurb:

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “Stunning.” —People * “Dazzling yet devastating…Tóibín is simply one of the world’s best living literary writers.” —The Boston Globe * “Momentous and hugely affecting.” —The Wall Street Journal *

From the beloved, critically acclaimed, bestselling author comes a spectacularly moving novel featuring Eilis Lacey, the complex and enigmatic heroine of Brooklyn, Tóibín’s most popular work in twenty years.

Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, a plumber and one of four Italian American brothers, all of whom live in neighboring houses on a cul-de-sac in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with their wives and children and Tony’s parents, a huge extended family. It is the spring of 1976 and Eilis is now forty with two teenage children. Though her ties to Ireland remain stronger than those that hold her to her new land and home, she has not returned in decades.

One day, when Tony is at work, an Irishman comes to the door asking for Eilis by name. He tells her that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child and that when the baby is born, he will not raise it but instead deposit it on Eilis’s doorstep. It is what Eilis does—and what she refuses to do—in response to this stunning news that makes Tóibín’s novel so riveting and suspenseful.

My Review:

No, I never saw the movie Brooklyn, but did read the novel and while I found it rather profound, the ending left me empty. I suppose we are to expect conflict—is that what drives a literary fiction plot? But must it always be crushing?

Book 1 sends Eilis back to Tony Fiorello, the plumber she met and was coerced into marrying in the US without the time to thoroughly examine her motives. His large Italian family settled in a cul-de-sac houses from each other so that she is heavily immersed in Italians contributing a son and daughter to the growing dynasty.

Long Island by Colm Toibin — Long Island cover-US

The hook at the beginning of the narrative sets the tone for the book, as she is confronted by the irate husband of the woman Tony has impregnated. His family rallies and decides what would be done without her input or agreement—and she won’t have it.

Her mother nearing her eightieth birthday, Eilish decides on going back to Ireland to celebrate that milestone. There’s been a twenty-year absence, much to be caught up, and she’ll decide what to do while in Ireland. Her kids will join her later and get to know their Irish relatives. That they hadn’t an interest before is something I couldn’t fathom—their mother’s family. Were they so heavily involved in the dad’s side, not even curious about the other half of their heritage left in Ireland?

If I had a small problem investing in Eilish before, I now found her cold and flat. She is one of three POVs in this installment, one of the two others being Jim, the man she really loved and left without explanation, and the woman, Nancy, who is now quietly betrothed to Jim. Nancy was a best friend of Eilish; not any more.

Once again, Jim takes a back seat to the strings being yanked around him and I tend to find the conniving onerous. Must women always be painted this way? Eilish’s mother is horrible, another support character I found a bit loathsome, while her brothers, particularly one, an understanding saint to her situation. And it’s he who would finally find a resolution to the problem. A man to the rescue.

So, no, once again, I found the ending lacking in satisfaction. Is there no happy ever after from his author? The book leaves me sad and gloomy. It’s been a struggle and there is no resolution for the reader.

Of course, Toibin was on my list of Irish authors for this year’s Reading Ireland Month, the #Begorrathon25, hosted by Cathy at 746 Books having already read and reviewed Brooklyn. This one finishes the short series.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Urban Fiction, City Life Fiction, Family Life Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B0CLHGRG3K
Listening Length: 9 hrs 40 mins
Narrator: Jessie Buckley
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links:

Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Colm Tóibín is the author of ten novels, including The Magician, winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize; The Master, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Brooklyn, winner of the Costa Book Award; The Testament of Mary, and Nora Webster, as well as two story collections and several books of criticism. He is the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and has been named as the laureate for Irish fiction for 2022-2025 by the Arts Council of Ireland. Three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Toibin lives in Dublin and New York.

Reading Ireland Month 2025

Into the Storm by Rachel Grant #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Evidence: Under the Fire Book 1

Book Blurb:

National Excellence in Story Telling Contest Winner ・ Daphne du Maurier Award Finalist ・ HOLT Medallion Contest Finalist ・ National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award Finalist

As a storm rolls in, a team of elite Navy SEALs arrives at a remote lodge for a wilderness training exercise that becomes terrifyingly real…

Xavier Rivera planned the exercise down to the smallest detail, but he didn’t plan the arrival of archaeologist Audrey Kendrick—a woman he shared a passionate night with before betraying her in the worst way.

As the storm is unleashed on the historic lodge it becomes clear the training has been compromised. Trapped by weather, isolated by the remote wilderness, and silenced as communication with the world has been severed, unarmed SEALs face an unexpected and deadly foe.

Audrey and Xavier must set aside their distrust and desire and work together to save a team under fire and survive in a battle against the wild.

My Review:

Holy cow! Here I am again, swimming against the positive current of all those readers who apparently loved the book. Somehow, when I read the blurb, I expected an atmospheric adventure in the remote northwest park where archaeologist Audrey Kendrick was overseeing the proper examination of native artifacts. This became a clash with Navy SEAL Xavier Rivera with whom she’s had…ahem!…previous experience.

Xavier was apparently tapped to plan a serious training session with his men, no detail overlooked (except for the weather), and neither performed a final check that all was as planned.

Not my fav…insta love. Sex scenes. Repeating over and over their history, all the plans she’d made to give him the big news. There were multiple POVs, which didn’t bother me so much until it came back to the same discussions previously hashed over and over and the betrayal suffered.

I enjoyed descriptions of the park, the mountain, the lodge and local native inhabitants as well as the survival maneuvers and strategy. Not so much the military fatalities and definitely a little tired of the old Russian bad guy cliché.

These are not characters with whom I could engage. Tiresome to keep being told she was pregnant. YES! We know! And she did all this pregnant in her first trimester! Hoorah!

The storyline was paced at different levels, the writing interesting (I can do without the graphic sex scenes). And really, the whole thing is predictable, including the conclusion. BTW, you can kiss your Naval career goodbye, Xavier.

If you like more romance than adventure, you might well enjoy this hot little number. I’m not sure I’ll try another Grant novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Rating: Three Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Military Thrillers, Action & Adventure Romance
Publisher: Janus Publishing
ASIN: B09HZF3DFH
Print Length: 411 pages
Publication Date: October 7, 2022
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: USA Today bestselling author Rachel Grant also writes thrillers as R.S. Grant. She worked for over a decade as a professional archaeologist and mines her experiences for storylines and settings, which are as diverse as excavating a cemetery underneath an historic art museum in San Francisco, survey and excavation of many prehistoric Native American sites in the Pacific Northwest, researching an historic concrete house in Virginia (inspiration for her debut novel, CONCRETE EVIDENCE), and mapping a seventeenth century Spanish and Dutch fort on the island of Sint Maarten in the Caribbean (which provided inspiration for the island and fort described in CRASH SITE).

She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her archaeologist husband and demanding cat.

Take the books outside to read — Spring reading on park bench sticker compliments of Freepik.com

Brooklyn: A Novel by Colm Toibin #AudiobookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Editors’ pick Best Literature & Fiction

Book 1 of 2: Eilis Lacey

Book Blurb:

A NEW PRODUCTION NARRATED BY SAOIRSE RONAN, ACADEMY AWARD–NOMINATED STAR OF THE 2015 FILM ADAPTATION!

Colm Tóibín’s New York Times bestselling novel—also an acclaimed film starring Saoirse Ronan and Jim Broadbent nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture—is “a moving, deeply satisfying read” (Entertainment Weekly) about a young Irish immigrant in Brooklyn in the early 1950s.

“One of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary literature” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.

Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.

My Review:

Unhappily, our Netflix doesn’t present the movie version of Brooklyn, and it sounds like the plot might have gotten ground a bit, skipping over the mundane. I might have preferred the movie.

I did, however, listen to the audiobook, and sorry (once again) of my inability to make those notes along the way on an audiobook. It does present a slow start, introducing Eilis Lacey and her life in small town fifties Ireland and that of her large Catholic family, an older sister and three brothers, the latter of whom all split for England and greater opportunity.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin - UK cover — Brooklyn – UK cover

Eilis is facing that age when her reality is marriage and kids and longing for something more is asking the old familiar, “Is that all there is?”

No, not for her, as the family priest and her older working sister have arranged her sponsorship to Brooklyn, along with a room in a boarding house and a job in a department store. Her sister will take care of their mother, so off she goes.

The transition is not just from a small town to metropolis, Ireland to America, family to boarding house with a variety of cliquey boarders, singlehood to introduction to men. There is the shock of relocation, the homesickness, and the previous lack of adult decision making for herself.

The storyline is not new. We’ve been through this plot before but what sets it apart, of course, is the author’s prose, writing style, description of the era, and transition of old morals to modern. Yes, coming of age, right between the eyes.

As the narrative progresses, there are decisions to be made, back bone to be adjusted, and actions taken that with either choice will forever alter the life she had planned or expected.

Decisions, decisions…

The Italian American with the family making firm plans on advancement, all appearances looking upwardly mobile and a man who obviously adores her. Does she adore him back?

No.

Does she even love him? Did she get swept into another of those life-altering decisions without proper consideration? Yup.

Now, Ireland. She’s been called back. Her sister passed unexpectedly leaving no one to care for her mother. But…blue skies! There is the Irish man who adored her from afar—still available and now transformed with testosterone.

I thought it was no contest and I’m not a fan of the non-ending. So it was a romance. And conflict; eenie, meenie, miney, mo…

This one seemed to have the spectrum of reviews. Did you read it? How did you feel about it?

Best of all might be that it was on my list of Irish authors for this year’s Reading Ireland Month, the #Begorrathon, hosted by Cathy at 746 Books.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-in Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B0DGMPHMBF
Listening Length: 9 hrs 50 mins
Narrator: Saoirse Ronan
Publication Date: October 22, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links: Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Colm Tóibín is the author of ten novels, including The Magician, winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize; The Master, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Brooklyn, winner of the Costa Book Award; The Testament of Mary, and Nora Webster, as well as two story collections and several books of criticism. He is the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and has been named as the laureate for Irish fiction for 2022-2025 by the Arts Council of Ireland. Three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Toibin lives in Dublin and New York.

March is #ReadingIrelandMonth

Rosepoint Publishing Reviews – February Recap – March Holds a Spring Promise

Rosepoint Publishing Reviews - February Recap

I loved it for a while, but alas, the AI freebies are over (used my free credits) both on Canva and Gemini. Now I’m back to sampling Freepik—without much luck. The background of the bookcase below is a sample, but obviously not very close to my description of the picture I’d envisioned. Must admit, Gemini came closer to creating the images I wanted, but it too is bye-bye. I used to try to use only those pictures I originated, my pictures or designs. That’s no longer working. Got a source you like? What is your favorite go-to for images?

February is a short one and it flew by. I used to love March. Spring. Warmer weather. New growth, babies. Promise. Of course, for me, it’s also birthday month and as usual the body is saying one thing and the mind another. It’s a clash of wills but it may be the body who wins and both the CE and I are beginning to make more of those dreaded trips to the doc. We used to joke we’d need a car only for groceries and doctor visits. Ugh. Not so funny anymore, but that’s where some of our reading time went.

I’m still using Goodreads to find good audiobooks, as well as blogger buddy suggestions. My library has most of what I look for but it’s amazing the number of books that are on waiting lists despite having numerous copies. Of course, I still find books at NetGalley, as well as author and publisher requests.

We managed ten reviews between us in February that included four audiobooks. As always, the links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

Rosepoint Publishing Review - February Recap — Background bookcase courtesy Freepik.com AI

You Have Gone Too Far by Carlene O’Connor
The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne (audiobook)
This American Woman by Zarna Garg
Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung (audiobook)
From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough (audiobook)
Valley of the Wolves by Brock Farrow (CE review)
Guardian of the Crossroads by Melanie Forde
To Catch a Spy by Mark ONeill (CE review)
Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima
Audition by Barbara Walters (audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

WOW, it was a tough one this month! A number of them could have been five-star reads from either of us, but despite a small issue that may have knocked off a half-star, the story was still outstanding. Included in the month—several memoirs! In particular though, This American Woman—super, Guardian of the Crossroads—excellent, and Gathering Mist—love the dogs—really ticked off all the boxes. Zarna Garg has an amazing view of issues—some alien to mine but always with a sense of humor. Melanie Forde definitely pushed outside of her familiar family sagas. This one deeper, darker than I’d seen before and it worked, leaving me slack-jawed. Most readers have sampled Margaret Mizushima’s books. Always good, fast paced, and informative. So which one gets the coveted Rosepoint nod?

Favorite for February – Guardian of the Crossroads by Melanie Forde

My Reading Challenges page…

My Goodreads Challenge is currently at 33 of a 2025 goal of 125. No, keeping up with my Challenge page wasn’t a New Year’s resolution. I’ll get to it…

Welcome to my new subscribers! So glad you joined this group. I hope you found a book or two that appealed to you here, and I’m always looking for your suggestions! And to all my readers, have a beautiful March!