Hard Lemonade by Darlene DeLuca

         Her husband fails. Her marriage fails. 

      Does that make Emily Sherridan a failure?

 About the Book: With high hopes and rose-colored shades, Emily Sherridan leaves her family and friends to build a new life in with her screenwriter husband in sunny Los Angeles. There, she learns that love conquers all…until the rent is overdue, the rejections pile up, or the test is positive.

As months, then years, go by and Eric’s career fails to launch, Emily is determined to hold everything together. But when he brings danger into their lives, it’s over. When the cops arrive at her doorstep, anguish mixes with anger. She wonders how low they can go—until one of the officers hands her the number to a women’s shelter.

Broke and broken, her dreams are dashed and her confidence is shaken. With Eric’s taunt about running home pounding in her ears, Emily pushes forward. Though she’s unsure of her direction, she cannot give up. Her daughter deserves more.

From rosy dreams to real-life roadblocks, Hard Lemonade is a compelling story of friends, family, and fierce heroes.

Our review: Women’s fiction at its finest, this novel speaks to every woman at any age:  the young college student, the empty nester of a mother [or, like me, a grandmother missing her firstborn grandchild]. Then when the trials and tribulations begin—and we know they always will—the pain and fear and heartache of how to help someone we love without taking over or playing know-it-all. This is a jewel of a story. Well told and heart wrenching.

On a scale of 1-5, Hard Lemonade merits a solid 8.

Kat Henry Doran, a Wild Women Review

The Middle of Nowhere by Rita A. Popp

At a picturesque Wyoming guest ranch, murder mars the reunion between an amateur sleuth and her cowboy boyfriend—and there’s plenty of suspects to consider. . . .

About the book: Bethany Jarviss—young, smart and beautiful—works as the grants administrator at her family’s charitable foundation in New Mexico. She’s solved crimes in the past—but when murder threatens private time with her new significant other, thereby shaking up the lives of the ranch’s owners, staff, and guests—she uses her sharp mind, talent at interviewing reluctant people, and engaging personality to solve the crime.

Our review: set against a glorious Wyoming landscape, author Popp shows her skill at creating a complex cozy mystery that features a multitude of diverse characters, each with their own secrets, ambitions and conflicts. Fans of the Bethany Jarviss Mysteries will glom onto this latest adventure of the young grants administrator with a relish.

Based on a score of 1-5, The Middle of Nowhere merits a solid 5.

Kat Henry Doran, a Wild Women Review 

Blue Dog by Karen Hulene Bartell

 . . . Locals whisper of the bayou’s thin places, where boundaries blur, and the right distorts between fact and folklore. . .

About Blue Dog:  Dierdre “Dare” Doyle has been promised three months to complete and defend her PhD dissertation while at the same time caring for her beloved aunt after rotator cuff surgery. What initially looks like a piece of cake turns into the summer from hell…and two months to complete/defend the dissertation in order to keep her job as an adjunct professor and care for her aunt.

          All that while a toxic ex isn’t sabotaging her, a Louisiana hurricane rages and a bayou shapeshifter threatens her very life. If that isn’t enough for any woman—a seductive park ranger enters the picture, competing for the little time Dare is able to eke out.

Our Review: This book strikes home on several levels, speaking first to anyone, especially a woman, as she makes her way in the super-competitive world of academia. Complicate that with the allure of the bayou and all that it has to offer. The infusion of folklore—especially for this Yankee—is an especially nice touch.

Now add a toxic ex, blend in a mysterious shape-shifter, stir in a raging hurricane and this is a whale of a story.

An accomplished story teller, this book is guaranteed to keep any reader turning the pages to uncover the secrets of the bayou and its denizens.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Blue Dog merits a 7.

Kat Henry Doran, a Wild Women Review