#comingofagefiction – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Publishing #BookHaul – Fresh from the Publishers – #ReviewRequests

Rosepoint Publishing Book Haul

I love it when I get publisher’s requests to read their digital galley’s and ARCs, and usually download, read, and review the books, particularly if they fit my favorite genres.

This past week, however, I got three within a day or two of each other and was so excited by the invitations, I thought I’d have to let my readers in on each of these exciting new books, now available through NetGalley, to be released next year.

After reading the blurb of the first one, I promptly downloaded it for the CE as it appeared to be something he’d love. Keep an eye out for his thoughts and mine for the remaining two to follow soon.

Worse Than a Lie by Ben Crump (will be a CE review)

Release Date: February 17, 2026

Genre: Political Thrillers, Science Fiction Crime & Mystery

Publisher: Bantam – Dan Denning, Senior Marketing Manager, Ballantine Bantam Dell, Penguin Random House, NY

Hollis Montrose, a Black ex-police officer, is the latest victim of a brutal attack but survives. When the Chicago police department spins the narrative in its favor, it’s up to attorney Beau Lee Cooper to keep Hollis from a wrongful prison sentence.

♥♥♥♥♥

June Baby by Shannon Garvey

Release Date: May 19, 2026

Genre: Women’s Friendship Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction, Mothers & Children Fiction

Publisher: Random House Marketing – Madison Dettlinger

Having been shipped off as a teenager to Block Island after the loss of her mother by her father, Ruth now at twenty-seven is faced with a new revelation of the women who raised her. “Both a heartfelt coming-of-age story and a tender exploration of love and grief…”

♥♥♥♥♥

Killing Me Softly by Sandie Jones

Release Date: March 31, 2026

Genre: Domestic Thrillers, Murder Thrillers, Psychological Thrillers

Publisher: Minotaur Books – Angelica Pietrakowski – St Martin’s Press

“What do you do when love turns deadly?”

Charlie and Freya are supposed to be the picture-perfect couple but a tragedy of monumental proportions will change that. Can they survive this “wickedly twisty tale of obsession…”?

♥♥♥♥♥

These are all new authors for me, so I’m excited to discover their writing styles and talents and should be no problem to have them read and reviewed within the next couple months, the first by the end of December.

Of course, these are all currently listed in Goodreads. I hope you see one here that piques your interest!

Thank you so much to each of the above publishers for the opportunity to read their promotions. As always, our reviews will be our own honest opinions.

Child reading a book with hot cocoa nearby — Thanks to Freepik.com for the graphic

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger #AudiobookReview #bookclub #TBT Banner

Goodreads Choice Award nominee (Also Goodreads Choice Award nominee 2023 for Best Mystery & Thriller

The selection for the October read of the Y Book Club was This Tender Land. Not the first experience with this author as I read Iron Lake last year, the kick off to his popular Cork O’Connor series. The book club meets once a month (except for December) and is very popular.

I must admit that Krueger is an extraordinary storyteller and it’s only nitpicky that I don’t feel a five star.

There might be a bit of déjà vu reading the plot line, that feeling of familiarity, borrowing from a couple masters perhaps, except that it’s not, creating a plot line of its own. The narrator is a twelve-year-old and the author does an exceedingly good job at standing in the youth’s shoes, at times mature beyond his age, and then a gentle reminder by his decisions and actions—no—he’s only twelve.

It’s the depression. The loss of Odie’s mother and then his father lands him and his brother Albert in an orphanage—not a white orphanage—one meant for the transition of Native Americans to white society. It’s cruel. Depressing. And unfortunately, historically accurate.

And it’s the cruelty that forces Odie to a wretched act forcing him and his brother, along with mute Native American Mose, and little girl Emmy to flee. Possessing knowledge of the capture and return or disappearance of previous attempts, they elect to catch a local river (rather than the train) with hopes it’ll take them far away from the brutality of the orphanage and it’s owners.

The epic novel follows them through the experiences of their venture down the river where they meet a whole world of people, the good and bad, in their bid to find their home, now a destination to St. Louis and a surviving aunt.

It’s a multi-layered plot, complex, alternately heart-wrenching and joyous. Even the support characters are so well developed and engaging, you’ll want to know what happens to them.

A breath-taking conclusion, however, may not answer all your questions. Are there some you must decide for yourself? Perhaps. For the most part, it’s satisfying, and though it leaves an impact, allows you to close the chapter and the tale.

An epic saga working on becoming a classic. Many thanks to our local well-stocked library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Book Club Thoughts

The publisher provides pointed questions for discussion at the book club, ably kept on topic (for the most part!) by the moderator. Some of the questions this time, however, just didn’t jive with our own areas of lively interest, with points of view generally in agreement.

We all found it amazing that a twelve-year-old could or would proceed with maturity sufficient to survive in a world heavily poverty stricken and starving. Of course, there was little question that thrust into the world at large these days, a child of twelve, virtually without any resources, would not find the same level of success.

Items specifically examined were:

►The individuals in the vagabond group: Odie’s older brother the oldest, Emmy, the girl, and the youngest.

►The sad state of those Native Children being torn from their families, their way of life, even their languages.

►Those who managed to hang on to their properties, farms or ranches, but without any resources to manage them.

►Revival tents and the level of religious fervor as well as the money generated.

►Hoovervilles—the hopelessness generated by the loss of everything and the lack of governmental intervention.

A look back at a sad time in this country beautifully laid in prose, emotion, well-developed characters, and atmospheric scenes. Well-paced, engaging, and thoughtful. I can recommend this novel. Narrated by Scott Brick who brings a special kind of emotion to the narrative.

Book Club and my star ratings

Book Details:

Genre: Indigenous Literature, Coming of Age Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books

Narrator: Scott Brick
ASIN: B07S85YLDY
Listening Length: 14 hrs 19 mins
Publication Date: September 03, 2019
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

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

The Author: Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living as a full-time author. He’s been married for over 40 years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last five novels were all New York Times bestsellers.

“Ordinary Grace,” his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. “Manitou Canyon,” number fifteen in his Cork O’Connor series, was released in September 2016. Visit his website at http://www.williamkentkrueger.com.

The Narrator: Scott Brick (born January 30, 1966, in Santa Barbara, California) is an American actor, writer and award-winning narrator of over 800 audiobooks.

Brick studied acting and writing at UCLA before embarking on his professional career in 1989.

In 1999, Brick began narrating audiobooks and found himself a popular choice for top publishers and authors. After recording some 250 titles in five years, AudioFile magazine named Brick “one of the fastest-rising stars in the audiobook galaxy,”^[1] and proclaimed him a “Golden Voice,” a reputation solidified by a November 2004 article on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Publishers Weekly then went on to honor Brick as Narrator of the Year in 2007 and 2011. To date, he has won over 50 Earphone Awards, two Audie Awards and a nomination for a Grammy Award.

He opened his own audiobook recording studio and publishing company, Brick By Brick Audiobooks, with the goals of streamlining production and ensuring consistency throughout his body of work. [Courtesy Wikipedia]

The YMCA Book Club

Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell #AudiobookReview #bookclubs #TBT

Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Readers’ Favorite Fiction (2011)

My first participation with the Y Book Club in our local area. I was thrilled to find an active, dynamic book club and attended on Wednesday for their May selection: Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell. This book club meets once a month and is very popular. I could see why—it’s lovely—the moderator did a great job keeping us to script. It was discovered that there were several books by the same name and this was not the one recommended.

Book Blurb:

A finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Bonnie Jo Campbell is a rising star in contemporary fiction. Hailed by Booklist as a female Huckleberry Finn, Campbell’s heroine is 16-year-old Margo Crane. Complicit in her father’s death, Margo flees home for the Stark River. And as she follows the current, she learns the ways of the world from the eccentric characters she meets.

My Review:

I must say that Campbell weaves a spell-binding tale—she is quite the storyteller.

Unfortunately, the ladies in the club didn’t appreciate her brand of raw, rude, and sometimes crude, style of storytelling. This sixteen-year-old was taught by her dad and granddad to hunt and dress game. In fact, she is an excellent shot. Too good. She flees following the death of her father.

What follows is her experience as a teenager left to fend for herself, any way she can. Margo may appear unacceptable to the main population, but this is the 70s and 80s (although it seemed older than that).

I thought it was similar to Where the Crawdads Sing, except this narrative is darker, shocking. Margo Crane, the main character, is a strong fan of Annie Oakley, sees herself in Oakley, and tries to model after the famed nineteenth-century sharp shooter. Having been abandoned at an early age by her mother, she goes on a quest to find her and reconnect.

You might argue that, once again, we have a coming-of-age story not with a male MC, but a female MC, experimenting, pushing boundaries, pushing sexual limits, exploring the limits of her own abilities and reveling in successes.

In any case, you may see the gradual growth of maturity but still refuse to like the character. She is all but feral and essentially retains that essence of wild through the climax. Margo is self-sufficient. She may be looking for love. But she doesn’t need it to survive.

Book Club Thoughts

On the whole, most of the attendees did not like the book, with one commenting, “that is the worse book I’ve ever read.” Others commented they couldn’t identify or engage with the main character, nor any of the support characters. One of the ladies asked how the book club ended up with that book. (Yes, same title but was written by another author.) Lively discussion and as another lady pointed out, salient points noted by other attendees actually raised, perhaps one-half star their original estimate of star rating. Final concensus was approximately 1.75-2 stars by the body.

Book Club Rating

I’m looking forward to attending more book club meetings, the next scheduled book being The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood. Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.