Book Review: Indigo, the Deep (Yellow Cottage Stories, #3) by Kellye Abernathy

Indigo, The Deep by Kellye Abernathy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Return to Dipitous Beach and surrender to the pull of the Autumn Equinox.

Indigo, The Deep is the third book in author Kellye Abernathy’s magical middle-grade fantasy series, the Yellow Cottage Stories, and there is excitement and self-understanding throughout as the storylines established in the previous novels come together. Told through multiple points of view, the young residents of Dipitous Beach face big challenges from both outside their community and inside themselves.

The ugly, black research ship anchored off the shoreline of Dipitous Beach not only mars everyone’s lovely view of the ocean, but its occupants’ careless activities below water are destroying the local ecosystem and drawing sharks to the perfect surf spot. While the residents grumble, so far, they have been unable to halt the operations that are more geared toward making a profit than adding to the knowledge of the ocean. In addition, newcomers to the area, drawn by the expensive new housing development under construction and the massive new marina, are racing speedboats through the surf, oblivious to the damage they are causing in the local sea turtle habitat. Then, too, the autumn equinox brings its own changes to the ocean. In the previous two years, the ocean has revealed its magical secrets to one young resident, and Condi and Isaac wonder who will be next?

Author Kellye Abernathy continues the stories of the families in the small coastal town: Condi Bloom, Grand Ella, and their fosters: Firth, Cissy, and Malcolm; Tad, Cara, Lorelei, and Gabby Finch; Abe and Isaac Huddleston; the Arondales; Kait Dooley; Andy Marshall; Trippy; and the rest of the Beachlings. The story is about discovering one’s heart, living your own life and not someone else’s dream; releasing false memories; learning to establish boundaries that respect how you will be treated by others; and letting go of and healing from the past to move on to a happier future. This story explores the pursuit of knowledge and profit and how it must be balanced with preserving the environment and adding to the greater good. All these important concepts are delivered in a gripping seaside tale, with magical underwater adventures.

I loved the northern California coastal setting, which the author makes so broodingly atmospheric and filled with dark, hidden dangers on the surface, while another light and color-filled world exists just below. The young characters are well-drawn, engaging, and it was easy to connect with their emotional and physical dilemmas. My favorite character remains Condi Bloom, and I already know that her frightening journey through the sea caves with Firth is going to stay with me for a long time.

While this book can be read as a standalone, the histories of the main characters are deep and complex, with the backstories presented in this book only touching the surface. I feel that this book would best be enjoyed after having read the previous novels in the series. I recommend INDIGO, THE DEEP and the rest of the YELLOW COTTAGE STORIES* to readers of middle-grade fantasy.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Literary Life Book Campaigns.

*See my review of Amethyst, The Shallows, Book Two of the Yellow Cottage Stories, HERE!

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Teaser Tour - Turtle Lake: The Wildcard Syndrome by Robert Milne

Turtle Lake:

The Wildcard Syndrome

by

Robert Milne

Crime Thriller / Suspense

Publisher: Mission Point Press

Publication Date: September 7, 2026

Page count: 172 pages

SYNOPSIS:

Turtle Lake is a gripping tale of revenge, survival, and the intricate interplay between human nature and the natural world. The story follows Jim Peters, the comptroller at Ramsey Motors, who uncovers a corrupt scheme by the company and its insurer, U.S. Underwriters, to defraud employees of their retirement and insurance benefits before moving operations overseas. Infuriated, he devises an elaborate extortion plan to expose their corruption and protect the employees through a spectacular plot that ends up achieving national headlines. To accomplish his plan, Peters uses simple, everyday methods and lessons learned from alpha predators in the natural world.

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ENJOY AN EXCERPT:

Life is a dangerous place to be. The woods, skies, lakes, and oceans are filled with creatures bent on killing and eating each other. Nothing in nature dies of old age, as the adage goes. 

Prey animals are taken down by predators. It’s as if prey animals are made to be food. 

Carnivore predators possess razor-sharp canine-like teeth. Carnivores are the watchers from the shadows. All of them, such as lions, tigers, bobcats, and wolves, are wired the same way. They don’t eat lettuce for lunch. To a carnivore, you simply look like another rabbit in the grass. 

There’s another carnivore that is often overlooked – humans. Humans have canine teeth. They are born wired with the same instincts as the alpha predators. 

We’re taught to control it. Supposedly. 

Birds will tell you when the sun is going to come up. At the faintest glimmer of dawn's early light, they begin to converse with each other, presumably to find out where the bugs are that day. Usually, we don't hear them in their earliness. Our day starts later. Usually. 

Frogs and insects do the same during the pre-dawn moments, buzzing and croaking in the woods, fields, and swamps. Presumably they do this to find out where the predators are. It's been said that frogs might be telling each other where the rattlesnakes and blue herons are at any given time. We don't usually hear them croaking away in the early hours of the day. Usually. 

Today, however, as the woods came to life with this early morning serenade, Jim Peters could hear them very clearly. It was August of 1990. He was in his cabin in mid-Michigan, situated on the edge of a quiet, deep-woods nature refuge known as Turtle Lake. Peters was lyingin bed backwards, that is, with his feet at the head of the bed and his head at the foot of the bed, chin resting on his wrists as he looked at a model train set. 

The train set, an ancient Lionel from the 1940s, included buildings, roads, bridges, cars, trucks, a shopping center, and a train running through it. The set looked ordinary enough to the casual passerby or rare visitor to the cabin. But in fact, it was window dressing, a model of the crime scene that was to come. The train had nothing to do with it. 

In a short while, when the birds, frogs, and bugs had quieted down, Peters would push a button and Mozart's opera The Magic Flute would float from the speakers connected to his compact disc machine. Peters liked Mozart. The music was pure and uncluttered. It flowed from one section into another so smoothly that it was hard to tell a transition had taken place. The complexities of its composition flowed as smoothly as pouring oil. 

As smoothly as the diabolical scam he was planning.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bob Milne has been hailed throughout his 60-year career as one of the best ragtime/boogie-woogie piano players of all time. A solo concert performer, he traveled all over the world playing for dignitaries and celebrities as well as small town audiences. He was given the title of National Treasure by the Library of Congress and deemed an Ambassador of Music by the U.S. Department of State.

Bob’s extraordinary musical abilities were the subject of numerous brain studies, which have inspired a popular RadioLab podcast.

Little did they know that Bob was also a talented writer.

For years he wrote articles about his saloon-playing days for music publications. Many of these stories were compiled into a book called The Journeyman Piano Player: Adventures in Gracious Dining. Bob has written reams of poetry, some of which became lyrics to songs that he composed. The longest piece of poetry he ever wrote was the lyric book for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a grand opera he composed and orchestrated.

Mr. Milne has been fascinated by nature his entire life. At a young age he realized that instincts are present in all species of birds, mammals (including humans), and literally every living thing in nature. He has used this information countless times over his lifetime to predict what the human species will do in future situations.

Bob is now retired from the long piano tours and is enjoying his woodland home. Today he spends his time studying nature in the woods. Signed copies of his book may be purchased through his website.

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Book Tour: Storms of Crick Road Bridge by David G. Kerr

Storms of Crick Road Bridge

by

David G. Kerr

Crime Thriller

Publisher: MindStir Media

Publication Date: April 8, 2026

Page count: 251 pages

 

Eden Valley is a quiet town in northwestern Pennsylvania still healing from a dark chapter in its history. Two years ago, the community was shaken by a kidnapping and a series of murders. Tom Stallings, the celebrated town hero, solved the crimes and identified the evil demon responsible. In an effort to revitalize the town, Tom's son, Josh, has purchased the town's orchard, naming it The Stallings Orchard at Crick Road Bridge.

However, Tom is soon informed by the local sheriff that he and his family are the targets of a threatening letter, mysteriously signed "The Avenger." The unknown author accuses Tom and Josh of being land-grabbers with blood on their hands and vows to seek revenge.

Against this tense backdrop, three individuals-each driven by their own pain and misguided sense of justice-embark on separate journeys of revenge. While the first merely seeks to resolve personal grievances and jealousy through minor acts of vandalism, the other two harbor far more sinister intentions, representing both physical and metaphorical storms on a path of chaos and destruction.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

David Kerr grew up in the small, rural community of Enon Valley, Pennsylvania, in the '50s and '60s where the main source of employment was farming or working in the steel mill industry. Surrounded by families who struggled to maintain their middle- class lifestyle and hold tightly to the American values of God, family, and country, little did he realize that these people and places would become the inspiration for his novels.

A graduate of Georgia Southern University, Kerr served as an English teacher and school administrator for forty-four years. Following his retirement, he wrote and published two mystery novels, Secrets of Crick Road Bridge and Storms of Crick Road Bridge.

Today, he and his wife, Lois, live in Woodstock, Georgia, where they enjoy being close to their daughter Paige, son-in-law, Chris, and grandsons, Banks and Ford.

Review Tour & Giveaway - The Tundra Passage: After the Dark (The After Collection, #4) by K.A. Jarvis

THE TUNDRA PASSAGE

by

K.A. Jarvis

Post-Apocalyptic
Publisher: SweFlo Publishing LLC
Publication Date: July 7, 2026
Page count: 311 pages

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by

Goddess Fish Promotions.

Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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SYNOPSIS:

A birth certificate hidden in a dead woman's closet. A father Grace Campbell was never supposed to find.

 

Grace is a veterinarian and a survivor of a Florida trailer park childhood. She has made self-reliance her religion. When a shoebox reveals the father she was told never existed, a climatologist in the Alaskan wilderness, she boards a bush plane to find the truth.

 

The journey doesn't just change her life. It nearly ends it.

 

As coordinated cyberattacks bring the nation to its knees, Grace's plane is shot from the sky over the Alaskan tundra. Suddenly, she is a thousand miles from home and responsible for the survivors: an eleven-year-old girl with a fierce heart, a researcher with dangerous secrets, a hiker whose smile feels like a warning, and a wolfdog who has lost everything.

 

A hundred miles of Arctic wilderness stand between them and safety. Between glacial river Surges, a stalking grizzly, and starvation, Grace realizes the greatest threat isn't the environment.

 

It is the person standing next to her, someone whose mission has nothing to do with survival and everything to do with the crisis tearing the country apart.

 

To protect the people she never expected to love, Grace will have to do the one thing she swore she'd never do again: trust someone enough to let them stay.

 

Perfect for fans of: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, and Where the River Ends by Charles Martin.

 

__________________

 

A standalone novel in The After Collection: A series of survival thrillers about resilience, hope, and found family in the aftermath of catastrophe.

CLICK TO PURCHASE!

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ENJOY AN EXCERPT:

 

The food was gone.

 

Grace split the last ration bar five ways at dawn. Four slivers for the humans, one crumbled into water for Siku, and watched each piece disappear in a single bite. From here on, they ate only what the land gave them.

 

These skills were no longer supplemental. They were now the difference between functioning and collapsing. The Labrador tea, the fireweed shoots, the Eskimo potato roots. The same plants Grace had been foraging for days to stretch their rations were now the entire menu, and the math was brutal. She could keep them hydrated and fill their stomachs enough to blunt the worst of the hunger pangs. But she couldn't keep them fueled. Foraged plants provided bulk and micronutrients, not the caloric density that five bodies needed to sustain a forced march across rough terrain.

 

She taught Addy to forage now. Real responsibility, not supervised lessons. She sent the girl ahead with a cloth bag to harvest fireweed shoots while Grace dug Eskimo potato roots from the boggy creek margins, doubling their collection rate.

 

"How many do you need?" Addy called back, her bag already half full.

 

"All of them," Grace said. "Every one you can find."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

When the world falls apart, the characters hold on. To each other, to hope, and usually to a very good dog.

 

K.A. Jarvis writes survival stories with women at the center. Flawed, ordinary women who don't have all the answers but figure it out anyway. These books blend edge-of-your-seat tension with warmth, found family bonds, and the quiet stubborn refusal to give up.

 

If you like your survival fiction with heart, where the relationships matter as much as the danger, pull up a chair.

 

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REVIEW:

5 stars!

Exciting, suspenseful story of survival and political intrigue above the Arctic Circle. 

The Tundra Passage: After the Dark is the fourth book in author K.A. Jarvis’s riveting After Collection, a series of standalone survival thrillers with the common threads of personal resilience, hope, and found family in the face of catastrophic disasters and societal collapse. In this latest tale, newly graduated Floridian veterinarian Grace Campbell heads to the Alaskan tundra in search of the father she’d never known about until after her mother’s death. But just as she begins her journey, the electrical grid mysteriously starts glitching and eventually fails completely, leaving the lower 48 states in darkness and danger. When the bush plane she’s in is forced to crash-land in the back of beyond, killing the local pilot, it falls to Grace and the pilot’s loyal wolf-dog hybrid to guide the other passengers, including an eleven-year-old girl, to the nearest point of civilization: the research station where Grace’s father may be working. However, one of the other survivors isn’t who they claim to be and may be working against the group’s best interests. 

Grace Campbell is a wonderful main character, a good woman who had a very difficult childhood, having to pull herself up by her own bootstraps from a way too early age, and learning that she is the only person she can truly rely on when things need doing. The first quarter of the book is devoted to building Grace’s backstory, and understanding where she came from is critical to the development of the character and how she can handle the later events: such a good story. She has the natural self-doubts one would expect from a lifelong Floridian stranded in the wilderness of northwest Alaska, and she must overcome a big learning curve quickly to keep everyone safe. I loved her relationship with the malamute-wolf crossbreed, Sika, and some of the scenes with the dog were exciting and emotional as he protects his newfound family from the dangers they encounter. 

Besides the struggles of surviving the long trek to safety, the story also includes a sweet romance that slowly forms over the days of travel. Two single, self-reliant people learn about themselves and each other, building trust and a strong partnership as they overcome the many obstacles on their way to safety. 

The author’s writing style is compelling and immersive, and I was immediately drawn into Grace’s life, her questions about her father’s identity, and her mother’s inexplicable decision to withhold that information from her. Later, the survivors’ journey across the tundra to the remote permafrost research station was so riveting, I felt I was along for the trek; I was exhausted by the time the book came to a close. I didn’t want to put this book down the entire time I was reading it. 

I recommend THE TUNDRA PASSAGE to readers of thrillers, suspense, and survival stories, especially those set in Alaska or with post-apocalyptic elements.

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K.A. Jarvis will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

Book Blitz: Freedom's End by S.E. Estes

Freedom's End

by

S.E. Estes

Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Publisher: Manhattan Book Group

Publication Date: May 5, 2026

Page count: 301 pages

SYNOPSIS:

Freedom’s End is a mythic sci‑fi/fantasy saga about a reincarnating rebel fighting to break cycles of oppression across lifetimes. Born a slave in the mines of Septra, Paintr rises again and again—across bodies, eras, and worlds—to confront a necromancer who seeks to enslave every sentient mind. Blending science fiction, dark fantasy, and supernatural western elements, the story explores identity, liberation, trauma, and the cost of reclaiming one’s soul. 

With its emotional depth, genre fusion, and expansive worldbuilding, Freedom’s End speaks to readers who love character‑driven epics, mythic resonance, and stories about resilience in the face of impossible odds.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

SE Estes is a sci‑fi and fantasy author whose work blends mythic symbolism, emotional depth, and genre fusion. A multicultural military‑brat upbringing and early career in computing shaped SE’s fascination with identity, technology, and transformation. Now based in Indianapolis, SE writes expansive, character‑driven universes—including Freedom’s End, the first book in a multi‑volume saga about liberation and the soul’s long journey across lifetimes.

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Book Blitz: Obscura Nights by Warren Wynn

Obscura Nights
Warren Wynn
(Obscura Nights, #1)
Publication date: August 4, 2026
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Seventeen-year-old Farris Aldan didn’t join the Sentinels to save the world.

He joined to escape insanity.

In Obscura City, contracting the whisperis means shedding your skin and becoming a monster. As a newly trained Sentinel, Farris hunts the infected, hoping vengeance will silence the guilt over his best friend Calla’s death.

Then he’s assigned his first solo mission. Track down Rena, a whisperis-infected punk rocker evading quarantine. From her black hair and beet-red eyes, she’s the spitting image of Calla. Farris can’t bring himself to arrest her. Not with that face, not with that voice.

Choosing Rena brands him a traitor. Now hunted by the Sentinels he idolized, including his adoptive father, Farris learns Rena’s connection to the whisperis runs deeper than anyone imagined. Visions of a cure guide her toward the Hollow, a hidden valley of darkness beyond the city. Only an ancient vantashade named Krieger knows the truth, but it offers a global cure for a terrible price: her life. To save Rena, Farris must risk everything–his future, his family, even the cure itself. And it still might not be enough.

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EXCERPT:

Little by little, we awkwardly stumbled and sashayed toward the cluster of monsters. A littler further and we slipped into their group. Mere feet separated us from the graceful corpses.

A stench of boiled tar and kerosene swam over us. The air curdled with heat. We watched the burdeneds’ faces as we moved. No longer paying attention to us. Their shoulders, arms and chests were relaxed. Caring and glossy white eyes stared back at their deceased partners.

A small pressure pushed against my chest. Rena leaned her head against it, and I realized that she’d been shivering.

“God. I wonder when they died.” She mumbled so softly I barely heard her. “Wonder if they knew they were dyin’. What they felt when they turned into monsters.”

I shook my head since it was too risky to speak. Little by little, I moved us to the back of the room. Need to go slow so we don’t alert the burdened.

Rena looked up at me, her face mere inches from my own. “All their feelings…what happened to them when they died?” Her skin was so bruised and cut up. The dark circles beneath her eyes contrasted her increasingly pale complexion. “Their names? Their memories? Where did they go?”

My whole body ached. I swallowed. When I tried to comfort her, my mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Her hand squeezed my shoulder without a lick of strength. “I don’t wanna become like that, Farris. God almighty, I don’t wanna end up being just a memory.”

I tried to speak but again failed. Realizing my limitations, I instead pulled her even closer. Her breath felt hot against my neck. Her tears chilled my skin.

Rena gritted her teeth. Her chest shook from deep, silent sobs. “I don’t wanna die, Farris. I don’t…”

My back stung, muscles ached. Ribs throbbed and head pounded. I looked at the bandages over her eye. Around her ankle. The stains of blood on her cargos, her vest.

Nameless music played behind us. Forgotten dead danced around us. Filthy ground creaked below us.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Warren Wynn is an American author writing young adult science fiction about parallel worlds, bizarre creatures, and mind-blowing twists. His passions in a previous life doing graphic and video game design heavily inspire his stories and characters. His previous novel, Break the Moon, was published by Lost Boys Press on March 28th, 2024.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from West Virginia University, he left behind the mountains for the beaches of Palm Coast, Florida. If he isn’t kayaking or hiking, he’s earning grey hairs writing through the moonlight hours.

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Obscura Nights Blitz

Release Blitz & Giveaway: No Straight Lines to the Stars by Ken Kisco

No Straight Lines to the Stars:

An Unlikely Journey from Lifeguard Tower to Launchpad

by

Ken Kisco

Narrative Nonfiction / Inspirational

Publisher: Acorn Publishing 

Publication Date: August 4, 2026

Page count: 115 pages

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SYNOPSIS:

No Straight Lines to the Stars is the inspiring true story of a young lifeguard who dared to believe his life could reach far beyond the horizon.

On the beaches of Southern California, Ken Kisco learned that preparation saves lives. From rip-current rescues to split-second emergencies, he discovered that courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to act in spite of it. Those early lessons in resilience and composure pushed Ken to believe he could accomplish anything . . . including his lifelong dream of reaching the stars.

Through relentless perseverance and unwavering faith, Ken rose into the heart of America’s most advanced space and defense programs, contributing to human spaceflight initiatives and supporting groundbreaking technologies. His unusual start as a lifeguard helped advance his career, distinguishing him from his Air Force and Navy peers. Yet, his toughest challenges were personal—he faced deep disappointment when a space mission was canceled and learned lessons about trust and integrity from a romance-turned-ruse.

Ken’s journey reveals that success is rarely linear. Setbacks became launchpads, adversity became refinement, and purpose became a compass. Part memoir, part inspiration, and part behind-the-scenes look at America’s quest for the stars, this is the unforgettable story of a man who proves that bold dreams, combined with grit and heart, can launch an ordinary life into an extraordinary one.

CLICK TO PURCHASE!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

At ten years old, Ken Kisco dreamed of becoming a rocket scientist, a goal that shaped his life. He earned multiple degrees, including master's degrees from the University of Southern California in systems management and from San Jose State University in industrial psychology.

As an aerospace systems engineer for NASA, Rockwell International, and Boeing, he developed new technologies and earned recognition as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow.

Ken now shares his passion by mentoring USC engineering students, inspiring them to dream boldly. When not traveling, he and his wife enjoy San Diego's beaches, where they live.

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Release Blitz & Giveaway: Only Angels Have Blue Eyes by J. Todd Kingrea

Only Angels Have Blue Eyes

by

J. Todd Kingrea

Horror / Suspense

Publication Date: August 3, 2026

Page count: 287 pages

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SYNOPSIS:

Things are looking up for Maylin Cole and her 4-year-old daughter, Margo. Fleeing an abusive relationship, the private clinic Heaven’s Hope offers shelter and the promise of a new life. Led by the charismatic and beguiling Seraph Nakir, they learn a surprising truth: they’re actually angels who have lost their way.

Everyone has an angel name and is being prepared to ‘ascend’ when the time is right. Their angelic identities will play a significant role in aiding humanity when the world ends.

As the weeks pass, Maylin becomes accustomed to the peculiar confrontational therapy. The black curtains and bars on the windows no longer trouble her. The lack of privacy, mystifying theology, and strange rules become commonplace. She sees Margo less frequently since the children are kept in the basement.

The death of another patient awakens Maylin to dark secrets within the walls, and soon the horrifying truth about Nakir and Heaven’s Hope is revealed. Maylin must confront her insecurities, rediscover her individuality, and use her wits and resources if she hopes to save Margo and the other children.

Inspired by a true crime case, this slow-burn thriller roars to a pulse-pounding climax, reminding the reader to think independently, ask questions, and be careful who you trust.

CLICK TO PURCHASE!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

J. Todd Kingrea is the author of With A Blighted Touch and The Deiparian Saga (The Witchfinder, The Crimson Fathers, and Bane of the Witch). He has also authored two non-fiction books, two short stories, and role-playing game scenarios. When not writing, he enjoys collecting and watching movies, reading, and prowling through dusty old bookstores. He and his wife live in Galax, Virginia.

Stay in touch at jtoddkingrea@yahoo.com.

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Book Review: Murder on the Steel Pier (Tess Mancini Time Travel Mystery, #1) by Rosie Genova

Murder on the Steel Pier by Rosie Genova
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fun and fascinating debut for this Imaginative and unique new mystery series!

Murder on the Steel Pier is the debut novel in author Rose Genova's imaginative, fantastically unique, and definitely nostalgic new Tess Mancini Time Travel Mystery series. After a night out on the town of Atlantic City celebrating her 35th birthday, a female reporter awakes the next morning in someone else's bed with no memory of how she got there. But this formula for a cliched Walk of Shame takes an immediate left turn: the bed is in her Great-Great-Aunt Netta's boardinghouse, everyone there thinks she's her long-deceased Great Aunt Theresa, and it's 1955 instead of 2025!

Teresa "Tess" Mancini has lived in Atlantic City her whole life, surrounded by family. Still, nothing prepares her for what she goes through with her distant relations and the hidden family secrets she uncovers. Life for the 30-year-old Theresa Mancini, a reporter like Tess, is much more restricted and sedate than what Tess is accustomed to in the present. However, Theresa is one smart cookie (don't let Zia Netta hear you say that) as she helps her great-niece navigate 1950s standards of decorum. I really liked that Theresa's thoughts would occasionally slip into Tess's mind while Tess unconsciously retained much of Theresa's knowledge of the times when she took her place in their shared body. Like Theresa, though, there are no flies on Tess either, and she's able to fake her way through her new life, look into the murder of one of the boarding house guests, and help Theresa's brother Val (the man who would be Tess's grandfather) from taking the rap. Val had publicly threatened the man the day before he was shot and left to die at The Steel Pier on the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk.

The plot is one big twist, with Tess trying to avert disaster for herself and her family in the future by changing something in the past. (She's seen the movies, too!) Suspicious boarders, shady characters, and secrets abound and steadily build the suspense in the past as Tess reaches out to one of the greatest minds of the 20th century to help her return to her rightful place in time. Wrap all this up with Val's looming death sentence, and the story kept me on the edge of my seat until the very final resolution.

With its great plot, surprising twists and turns, and engaging characters, I recommend MURDER ON THE STEEL PIER to historical cozy mystery readers, especially those who enjoy a time-travel element in their stories.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

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