Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

ACCOUNTANT’s APPRENTICE II: The Return of the Fifth Horseman by Dennis M. Clausen – Spiritual Fiction, Contemporary Social Issues, Political Fiction

Justin Moore fights for the survival of his homeless Mission – and potentially the world – in Accountant’s Apprentice II by Dennis M. Clausen

As the reader catches up with Justin in this sequel, he now directs the East Side Rescue Mission in San Diego. The mission sits far from the clean streets and tourist attractions of downtown. As a homeless shelter, East Side Rescue provides temporary beds for as many as possible, homes for a few workers – including the director himself – and as many hot meals as they can afford for their residents and regulars.

But the tide of homelessness and the desperation that follows in its wake is rising all over the country. San Diego especially struggles, with winters and summers that people can still survive even on the streets.

Corrupt forces array against Justin and the Mission.

These rich and powerful people will do anything to reduce if not eliminate the struggling homeless. They see them as only interruptions to their flow of commerce and tourists.

Even Justin doesn’t always see how truly awful the situation has become. Not until he’s called back into service by his old friend and mentor, the late “accountant” A.C. who just might be literally on the side of the angels.

Or, has Justin’s weary, depressed and downtrodden head merely created an illusion of his old teacher?

Justin is an unreliable narrator. Even he can’t decide whether he’s hearing A.C. giving him a mission to save the world, or whether he’s deluding himself in order to feel a bit of hope. What if he just wants an escape from everything wrong with the world?

But Justin doesn’t even know the extent of the trouble. When he dreams that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are literally barreling towards Earth, how literally should he take the vision? Neither Justin nor the reader knows for certain, but Justin, at least, has to try.

Justin strives to save the world or at least stave off the inevitable.

His quest will take readers on a compelling journey with roots in the allegories of Good Omens and American Gods. Along the way, they’ll find a fascinating puzzle hunt like The DaVinci Code – only with much higher stakes.

Accountant’s Apprentice II explores everything from Renaissance art to ecological destruction. Political demagoguery and corruption frame the philosophical questions about how things got to be this way. Justin’s journey to hope and just a bit of enlightenment will keep readers guessing until the very last page – and after.

Read our review of the first book in the series, Accountant’s Apprentice here.

September 5, 2022
EMOTIONAL MAGNETISM: How to Communicate to Ignite Connection in Your Relationships by Sandy Gerber – Self Help, Communication, Life Goals

Emotional Magnetism: How to Communicate to Ignite Connection in Your Relationships is a self-help and marketing book in one—in fact, it’s a self-marketing book.

A seasoned marketing professional, author Sandy Gerber uses common elements in marketing theory to aid those who wish to enhance their communication skills and ability to get along with people around them. It’s easy to be misunderstood or unheard, and it’s even easier to be at cross-purposes, leading to frustration and animosity. But using Gerber’s SAVE technique, understanding what we mean and what we need becomes clear.

In this work, we learn what emotional magnetism is, and how well we can communicate when we learn how to harness it. We also learn about how emotional magnetism can be repelled when it’s not done right. But in order to use emotional magnetism, we must first learn what the emotional magnets are, using the acronym SAVE—short for safety (S), achievement (A), value (V), and experience (E)—and how they are reflected in our personalities.

Which individual magnets reflect who we really are? What’s most important to us?

Gerber points out that the magnets that represent us change as we change, and understanding that goes a long way to understanding ourselves and communicating with others. Say, for example, you love to travel to new and unexplored places, you want it to be worth the time and money spent, and you also want to make sure it’s as safe an experience as you can possibly make it.

So, which one of these magnets resonates with you? Of course, if you’re more of an achievement magnet kind of person, these others may not be as important, because you may have academic or monetary goals. Then again, maybe that trip to new and unexplored places may be an achievement in itself. So with all those in mind, which magnet resounds with you the strongest?

Let’s find out.

Gerber explains how to identify our emotional magnets by taking an assessment quiz, allowing us to focus on our main emotional magnet. Finally, the author gives us four steps with which to activate our individual emotional magnetism.

Gerber makes it clear that the magnets cannot “tell” you who to date; they don’t work that way. However, the magnets will allow you to get an idea of who is most likely to support your emotional needs, and vice versa. Once the reader understands the theory behind emotional magnets and starts viewing their relationships through the lens of these magnets, they may very well find that it becomes easier to “offer understanding, create rapport, and problem-solve like never before.”

Gerber’s writing reflects her marketing background in that it is clear and crisp, and knows how to communicate.

Emotional Magnetism is persuasive, and while the marketing concepts she brings forth are not new, she offers a novel approach to understanding them.

“Emotional Magnetism begins and ends with communication,” author Sandy Gerber states, and by using these techniques, our communication with others and understanding of ourselves can be all the clearer.

September 2, 2022
BOONE and JACQUE: Cytrus Moonlight by A.G. Flitcher – Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Psychological Thriller

A.G. Flitcher’s Cytrus Moonlight continues the Boone and Jacque series (book 4 of 4) with a thrilling journey through fear for the young characters – an exploration of psychological traumas and the uncanny manifestations in the surrealistic setting of Cytrus.

Disasters can stir up a society’s darkest fears, spurring suspicion and ignorance. Cytrus Moonlight grows and evolves from its character’s obsessive worries. Boone, Jacque, and Shammy have moved to Cytrus and are living reasonably normal lives until an inexplicable murder disrupts their peace. Jacque’s uncle Leon is killed by poison. As the evidence of the murder case is revealed, more underlying tunnels of unrest come to light in Cytrus.

The circumstances underlying Leon’s murder are unknown. However, Boone has a strange foreboding: he unexpectedly finds himself driving Leon’s car and feels a burning feeling on his neck. Boone begins to feel as if he is being watched – as if there are “a thousand eyes on him.”

Soon, a psychedelic drug is loosed on the town, driving its recipients to witness their greatest fears and embrace repressed emotions.

Mayor John Winterson invites the friends to a Christmas party, where the drug renders everyone into naked fools. The key suspect looks to be the eccentric, maniacal Dr. Button. However, the doctor’s own inexplicable death flips everything upside down.

Jacque notices a monster while detectives are trying to locate the key to the puzzle of death and fear. He is cautioned not to ask questions that draw the wrong kind of interest. Cytrus’ many secrets, and Jacque and Boone’s tendency to attract trouble, make them susceptible to certain people – people who want to prevent them from “causing history in town to repeat itself” just as they did in their former town Saddleton.

This story’s Magical Realism presents a farcical and satirical tone, with dark humor that never leaves the narrative’s surface.

There is a consistent appearance of a bathos element in the YA urban fiction – a quick transition from a serious topic to dramatic dry humor. This ambiguity in the gravity of certain events implies a reflection of the traumatic brains of characters, which manifest themselves much more in a bizarre and topsy-turvy Cytrus. The combination produces an unreal atmosphere throughout the story – much like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1985).

This thriller gently explores the idea of free will vs. fate.

Boone and Shammy want to live a calm existence free of the turbulence and trauma they tend to attract, but numerous circumstances lead them along a path that looks to take them to their fate.

Likewise, trauma remains an underlying theme throughout the story, as the novel sheds light on some of the characters’ psychological anguish. Be it Boone’s attempt to overcome past traumas, Jacque and Xantia’s explicit acknowledgment and embrace of their identities as pansexual and transgender, or Myamirah’s fear of Cytrus’ peace, the pent-up emotions spill out profoundly.

Boone and Jacque: Cytrus Moonlight introduces some new bizarre characters while recalling some old ones from the prequel. Flitcher fills the novel with scenes and an atmosphere that is visually and auditorily stimulating, letting characters voice up their innermost thoughts and feelings. The mystery persists till the end as Cytrus’ Pandora’s Box of puzzles keeps readers guessing about the whys of many events and what awaits Boone and Jacque inside.

The Boon and Jacque series achieved Finalist status in the OZMA Fantasy Fiction, 2021 CIBA Awards.

August 31, 2022
UNTIL DEAD: A Cold Case Suspense by Donnell Ann Bell – Murder Mystery, Suspense, Police Procedural

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does anyone care? If the tree has connections to the rich and powerful, they just might. In Until Dead, Donnell Ann Bell suggests the many ways “elites” – those with seemingly limitless wealth and power – can manipulate the world to their wishes.

Events that might otherwise go unnoticed take on great importance when they affect the powerful elites. With subtlety and skill, Bell reveals this as she takes the reader from an odd encounter in 2017 to an assassination attempt in Colorado two years later.

Until Dead begins when Mark Rafferty, an up-and-comer in a general practice Denver law firm, well on his way to full equity, dies in a one-car accident at the beginning of rush hour in the fall of 2017. He leaves behind several open cases and his widow, Theresa O’Neil, an Assistant United States Attorney. Theresa has a lot of support behind her, including her boss, the Colorado U.S. Attorney, and an aunt who is a U.S. Senator.

After Theresa survives an assassination attempt clearly set up by a knowledgeable killer, law enforcement realizes that she has a target on her back. Someone wants her dead, but who, and why?

The Senator’s powerful connections push the issue until a multi-agency task force forms to investigate—the same multi-agency that brought the Black Pearl Killer to justice. Everett Pope, a Denver police investigator, works with agents from the FBI and ATF to bring the would-be-killer to justice and learn who hired him for the hit.

Pride, greed, envy, and perhaps even a smattering of lust make for a tantalizing set of motives. The story is told from multiple points of view, even getting into the hit man’s head. The reader can develop rapport with these relatable, multi-dimensional characters.

Bell’s familiarity with the city of Denver and the mountainous regions of Colorado shines in her imagery. Her knowledge of the structures and workings of U.S. government agencies is impressive, suggesting a lot of research went into this story. Until Dead is a deep dive into a complex web of government hierarchies, power brokers, cybercriminals, and cyber security combined with drones and C-4. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The specificity of government structures works for and against the narrative, as the numerous acronyms attached to those government entities. But such is the nature of bureaucracies. Aside from this, the complex plot maintains its suspense, with an ending that hits like a destructive Colorado derecho.

The second book in the Cold Case Suspense Series has launched Donnell Ann Bell into a spot as one of our favorite authors. Highly Recommended!

August 29, 2022
WHAT REMAINS of LOVE by Suzanne Trauth – Family Saga, Romance, Mystery

Suzanne Trauth’s What Remains of Love begins with the discovery of a family secret.

Siblings Kate and DJ meet with their late father’s lawyer to go over the contents of their father’s will when it is revealed that a woman named Emilie had been added without their knowledge. DJ, an all-business, no-nonsense person, wants to deny the request. Kate wants to fulfill their father’s wishes even though they don’t understand the reason behind it. When they send a letter to Emilie, her daughter replies, stating Emilie has passed away and that she will not accept the money.

Her brother’s curiosity is satisfied, but Kate can’t help but feel there is more to the story, especially given that their father withheld his experiences in the war from them both.

Who was this mysterious woman, and why did their father have such a powerful connection to her? And why did he need to keep their relationship a secret?

While going through her father’s things, she comes across a memoir written by Emilie during the later years of the war. Fans of historical fiction, romance, and books such as Kelly Rimmer’s The Things We Cannot Say will love Suzanne Trauth’s story of love, family, and the passage of time.

Trauth’s novel builds on several subtle layers that beautifully blend to create a profoundly moving story.

The most obvious of these layers is the experience of grief in many forms. After their father passes, Kate and DJ grieve differently from one another. Many times throughout the novel, grief opens opportunities to see the deeper parts of others that are usually hidden, brings family closer, and finds common ground between strangers.

There is also the grief of things had and lost and of life’s what-ifs – that sadness of knowing the past can’t be changed and why things happened the way they did. Through the grief in this story, there is also so much love. The title of this book perfectly fits its message that no matter what happens in life, whether good or bad, love will endure through it all.

What Remains of Love defies simple categories.

One could say it’s a mystery, and readers will turn the pages rabidly like Kate trying to discover what happened to Emilie so long ago. This book is a historical fiction novel with a beautiful love story and a contemporary fiction about a family dealing with life after losing a loved one. Trauth expertly establishes her characters, that they soon feel like they are sitting next to you, telling you the story themselves.

A phenomenal story of life and everlasting love, What Remains of Love will remain with readers long after the last page. Highly recommended.

August 26, 2022
BETTER OFF BALD: A Life in 147 Days by Andrea Wilson Woods – Living with Cancer, Family Memoirs, Sisterhood

There exists a bond between sisters, and often that bond becomes a connection so strong that time cannot erase the love and the longing for the other. Andrea Wilson Woods defines such a bond in Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days.

Woods details the choreographed life she lives with her sister Adrienne, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Together they begin their dance, pirouetting around IV ports and long lists of medications. Sisters in life, love, and an all-out war against liver cancer.

Woods retells her story with compassion and a rational eye for detail while embracing all the deep emotions that ravage her as she records every one of the 147 days after the initial diagnosis.

Their confusion about how this could have happened and their hope that they can beat this “thing” growing inside Adrienne are present on each page. Woods makes note of the doctors by name, the nurses by nicknames, and the hospital visits by hours spent waiting, waiting, waiting for help to come and rescue them from the nightmare that cancer has made of their lives.

Adrienne, during this nightmare, remains her fifteen-year-old self, a bright, cheerful, optimistic imp who has brought so much joy to Andrea’s life. Adrienne’s love of music and the artists who create it becomes the beacon for her as her body begins a transformation caused by her cancer and the effect of the drugs used to fight it.

Woods is not only Adrienne’s sister but also her legal guardian, since approximately the age of eight. So, as well as the bond of sisterhood, they have the bond of parent and child. They have relied solely on one another for years, and the love they have for one another grows stronger and brighter. As an educator, Andrea’s love for her sister drives her to research to find a cure.

Andrea quits her job to care for Adrienne.

Her partner John and her biological father help her financially and emotionally. She struggles to remain positive and supportive of this beautiful child being ravaged by an enemy she cannot look in the eye.

Meanwhile, Adrienne salvages her teenage self by hanging out with her boyfriend and other friends when she can.

She goes to the movies with John, the only father she’s ever known, and meets Jay Leno and her musician hero Dave Navarro twice. Woods captures the essence of Adrienne’s youthful exuberance as they all learn to cope with the diagnosis and the grueling treatments that take Adrienne’s hair and strength.

Through this journey, hope reigns supreme, and to the last page, there is a winning spirit that will not be denied. The sisters cling to hope and each other in this candid tale. She gives us glimpses of their lives with their mother and the hardships they overcame for Andrea to gain custody of Adrienne. We see glimpses of the mischievous Adrienne, who doesn’t want to brush her teeth and is the honor student Adrienne who wants to get good grades and go to college.

Woods brings captions and paragraphs from Adrienne’s journal and emails to head each chapter and lead us through the days from 1 to 147. The love she had for her sister shines on every page, and as we root for Adrienne and hold out hope. Andrea navigates us through the labyrinth of the medical profession, becoming well versed in treatments and experimental drugs.

Andrea Wilson Woods’ Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days reflects a time of crushing grief and determination.

She grieves, yes, but she carries on the work of finding a cure for her sister’s cancer. She has devoted her life to making Adrienne’s experience matter, and we learn how much love can drive one to be a positive force. Better off Bald is a must-read for people of all walks of life because each of us is touched by cancer through our family, friends, or our own experiences. Woods’ experiences show us that “winning,” even though it may not be what we think it should be, can be a blessing and a comfort.

Better Off Bald by Andrea Wilson Woods won Grand Prize in the 2021 CIBA Journey Awards for Overcoming Adversity Non-Fiction.

August 24, 2022
PAST THIS POINT by Nicole Marby – Post-Apocalyptic, Romance, Contemporary Women’s Fiction

Nicole Mabry draws from her own life, the impact of a deadly snowstorm, and the subsequent shutting down of the subways to create Past This Point, an action-packed dystopian novel featuring a strong woman who seeks a way out of a world gone mad.

Karis Hylen is working in New York City a massive snowstorm shuts down the city. A total quarantine of the city becomes quarantine for half of the nation.

In the introductory chapters of this daily progression, the reader will quickly realize that Karis, with her Latino family heritage, is nobody’s fool. Karis has a strong will. Her seemingly only chance to beat quarantine’s eerie hold and join her unaffected family in California is thwarted when she isn’t allowed to take her beloved dog Zeke on the flight. She switches into survivalist mode, searching empty apartments around her for food. Along the way, she befriends a mother with two little girls still living there. They all help and bolster one another for a while – until Karis’s luck turns and she becomes even more determined to get out of the horror-infused city.

After battling several ill-intentioned men, she finds one man of character, an Englishman named Ollie, who shares her vision of escape.

Karis has always been unlucky in her relationships with men, but they both know that to remain in New York City will be their death. Luckily Zeke, who has almost developed the ability to speak in human language, approves of Ollie, who supports Zeke when the dog adopts a starving kitten they find.

Frequent phone calls with Karis’s family sustain the couple’s hopes as they face minute-by-minute struggles to get out of the now sealed-off eastern half of the US and through the medical and military checkpoints on the border. These official strictures prove almost as life-threatening as the mysterious virus itself.

Mabry is new to the world of wordsmithing but proves herself up to the challenge.

Her profession in photography has garnered awards and attention, and her prose may draw similar kudos. Like Karis, she has lived in California and New York City and has a canine companion who accompanies her on photographic forays. Readers will yearn for more of her dynamic stories – and perhaps a sequel to the questions raised in this intriguing debut offering.

Past This Point by Nicole Marby won First Place in the 2019 CIBA Global Book Awards for High Stakes Thrillers.

August 23, 2022
THE MASK Of MIDNIGHT by Laurie Stevens – Psychological Thriller, Serial Killer Thriller, Suspense

The Mask of Midnight by Laurie Stevens centers on a game of cat and mouse, made sinister and horrifying by the intricate plots of a murderer.

When L.A. Police Detective Gabriel McRay arrests serial killer Victor Archwood, known as the Malibu Canyon Murderer, he has no idea that the killer has some serious vengeful plans directly involving him. Archwood is a most clever, resourceful “mouse” who confounds McRay, the Los Angeles Police department, the L.A. district attorney, and an entire jury through skillful lawyering and a commanding interpretation of the evidence. Despite what appears to be an airtight case against a mass murderer, a jury finds him not guilty.

Not only does he win his freedom, but he also becomes a popular figure in Hollywood and earns big-time money from selling his story. But that’s only the beginning of his new life. No small part of his plans for the future rest on wreaking vengeance on Gabriel McRay; this vengeance becomes this novel’s cruel, almost unspeakable heart.

The history between McRay and Archwood is central to the story.

McRay was a babysitter for Archwood when they were both children. We learn that McRay suffers from multiple emotional issues traced to sexual abuse from an older man in his past. Archwood, similarly abused as a child, believes that McRay was the perpetrator. The complex relationship between the two takes center stage as Archwood takes his revenge on McRay. Readers should be prepared for some stomach-churning graphic descriptions of how Archwood satisfies his need to punish McRay for his alleged crimes against him.

The cruelty of the abuse they suffered works its way into their lives as they become adults. In many cases, no aspect of their lives can be safe from the trauma of it. This commitment to making readers understand these issues’ complexity strengthens the book and makes it a challenging read. Ultimately, the question about this book comes down to whether the reader is up to its strong content.

The answer should be “yes.”

It’s quite a tale, well told, and holds readers to the last page. It’s also a fearless exploration of the state of American masculinity, raising some profound questions about the myths that male children grow up with and how those assumptions affect them as they reach manhood.

The Mask of Midnight is the third in a series with Gabriel McRay as its central figure. There are altogether four books, but this story stands on its own and does not require reading the previous books in the series.

The Mask of Midnight by Laurie Stevens won First Place in the 2015 CIBA Clue awards for Suspense and Thriller Fiction.

August 18, 2022
DRUNK TALK by Mike Davis & TL Banks – Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Humor

Authors Davis and Banks have combined forces to create this humorous but practical look at how people think and why they act as they do.

The essential message of this satiric volume is that most people tend to nurse false notions about their lives and the universe in general – notions that the authors rapidly and thoroughly debunk. They take the stance of a drunk hanging out at a bar, hearing about everything that goes on in people’s minds. In forty-eight segments, various human problems are examined, derided, and substituted for what many readers will consider far more rational viewpoints.

Some issues raised seem trivial – “Celebrities” who do not, as might be supposed, get to enjoy their fame since the general attitude toward them is “shut up and entertain us or else.” Other matters are significant. One of the longer treatises focuses on “Gods,” with the authors asserting that God is merely an imaginary projection, and religion only a means of seeing and believing what people want, “even if it’s not real or makes no sense.” A true, non-superstition-based belief system would impel people to help others more and take full responsibility for their actions.

Science is also a target for this lively discourse, questioning, for instance, that since the Big Bang Theory “is only a theory,” why do people consider it an absolute happening? A repeated motif often placed at the ends of chapters is that we all have the option to “view the glass as half-empty or half-full,” to refill our glass, or even try the middle ground.

Davis and Banks, the creators of this highly unconventional, witty, and wise exploration of human nature, are professional wordsmiths who write with verve and intelligence, spiced with sardonic humor.

They invite readers to see the frailties and flaws in human nature, along with the potential for rational change. They have organized their work neatly, following their narrative segments with a lengthy list of “Drunken Quotes to Keep You Focused,” including such zingers as “Never stand underneath what you can’t lift,” and “Like pets, people are rewarded for being well trained.”

Their book propounds a general sense that one must ignore convention and avoid conformity to succeed. It is filled with thought-provoking concepts couched in curse words that, in their opinion, represent a break with “the ruling majority.” With its undeniably alluring title, this book can help readers organize their personal philosophies and adopt a new, more dynamic way of dealing with life’s thorny issues.

August 17, 2022
WHAT If It’s LOVE?: A Second Chance Romance, La Bohème Book 2 by Alix Nichols – Romance, New Adult, Women’s Fiction

Lena Malakhov, twenty-three-year-old heiress to a Russian fortune, falls for a handsome waiter in Paris. But the influence of a conniving business rival might push them apart, in Alix Nichol’s romance novel, What if it’s Love?

Lena’s father made his millions in the IT world, and he wants nothing more than for Lena to return to Russia and join the family business. However, Lena has other plans. She is finishing her master’s degree in Paris, as her thesis revolves around Marina Tsvetaeva, a Russian poet who lived and wrote in the City of Light.

Ecstatic to be on her own after breaking up with her boyfriend of two years, Lena isn’t looking for romance. She spends her time working on her thesis, exploring the city, and drinking coffee at La Bohème, one of the best but little-known bistros in Paris. As she quickly becomes a regular at the tiny restaurant, she catches the attention of Rob Dumont, a disturbingly sexy waiter. The longer she remains in the city, the closer the two become.

However, Rob has more on his mind than a pre-graduation romance.

He’s been approached by a Russian business rival of Lena’s father. This rival promises a tremendous amount of much-needed money in exchange for spying on the quiet girl and reporting any intel on her father or his business. Even though Rob is desperate for money to pay his tuition, his conscience begins to plague him the more time he spends with Lena. His decision to come clean may ruin what is becoming the best relationship in his life.

Lena embodies a key theme within the novel; she is a self-proclaimed coward.

She literally and metaphorically runs from any conflict and allows life to happen around her, instead of taking charge and creating her own reality. Her father, Anton, constantly beseeches his daughter to join his business. He more or less tells her that she will do so after she finishes her master’s. Though she wants to work on literary translations when she finishes, she refuses to stand up for her dream, telling herself that she has time rather than confronting the issue.

Lena’s relationship with her father is just one example of her running from conflict. When she begins to feel unhappy in her two-year relationship with Gerhard, she doesn’t have the courage to break up with him. In her typical passive-aggressive manner, she simply goes to Paris, and he doesn’t follow. Though she finds new freedom in her explorations, she knows she should have told him how she felt instead of just allowing their relationship to die quietly.

In later incidents with Rob, Lena does the same, running from the truth he reveals and the chance at their happiness.

She allows herself to fall into another relationship, a serious one, with a man she could never love, rather than face her fears and find true love with Rob.

Lena’s need to run probably stems from her mother’s abandonment many years earlier, as she made a deal to stay away from Lena in exchange for a monthly payment. It isn’t until Lena learns to embrace the strength within herself, recognizing that she needs to be seen and heard, that she will ever find her prince and create her own happily ever after.

Rob is a direct contrast to Lena. Where Lena is quiet and reserved, Rob is outgoing and beloved by his friends.

Rob’s good looks give him a lot of female attention, so much so that Lena doubts anyone as handsome as Rob would want her. His financial situation, the very thing that leads to his betrayal, keeps a distance between them. While Lena is so pampered she never has to work or worry about money, Rob cannot graduate if he doesn’t get the money for his tuition. Though he has loving parents, they have made it clear that they want him to return home to the country and take over the family farm.

He feels his only option is to spy for Anton’s business adversary even though it hurts him to do so. The biggest difference between the two is that Rob is willing to wholeheartedly fight for what he wants. Late in the novel, he gives up a good job to pursue his dream of creating his own business, and, as for Lena, he tries multiple times to convince her of his sincerity and love, confronting his feelings head-on.

What if it’s Love? provides a refreshing twist on a typical contemporary romance.

Lena and Rob draw the reader into a world that flows from page to page. The cultural differences between the characters and their commitment to their ideals make for a book we can highly recommend!

What if it’s Love? by Alix Nichols won First Place in the 2015 CIBA Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult & New Adult Fiction.

August 15, 2022