REVIEW - THE LAST MIDWIFE BY KAREN LAWRENCE

 

Title: The Last Midwife
Author: Karen Lawrence 
Publisher: Exodus Books
Genre: Dystopian, Futuristic, Speculative Fiction
Release Date: 25th November 2025

BLURB
‘I’m going to snuff out the old witches – every last one of them!’

England has a One-Child Policy. Midwives have been outlawed for decades. Only a handful remain, risking everything to help mothers give birth in secret, but now their very existence is under threat.

When young nurse Chiara arrives from Sicily, her dreams are quickly shattered by the horrifying truth behind the pristine walls of the Genesis Centre. Meanwhile, Rava, the privileged wife of a government official, finds her perfect life unravelling when her pregnancy fails to meet her husband’s requirements.
Their worlds collide in a desperate fight for life, choice, and humanity against a system determined to control the future, one baby at a time.

Goodreads Link 

REVIEW
The cover gives off quite a strong message when you have read the book and could almost be a nod to the suffragettes. “Striking a match” physically or figuratively. Being the one to make a difference and having the courage to literally strike out against the mainstream views and in the case of this book the laws around childbirth.

The cover certainly caught my eye and would definitely encourage me to pick it up in a bookstore or go on to read the blurb online as I did when I bought the book.

In the book the experience of childbirth has totally changed. The world is already over populated so it is strongly encouraged to only have one child and then be sterilised, or even to make the ultimate sacrifice for the planet and have no children by being electively sterilised.

Chiara Santori is a young woman who has left her home in Italy to take up an offer of training and work in the Genesis Centre in London. Not only will she be trained in the new maternity services she will earn money to send home to her mother and her younger sister who are struggling to continue living in the family home.

At first things go well, though the work is tiring, seemingly never ending with long hours, little free time and some questionable practices Chiara find’s herself enjoying it. Until one day she is called to assist in a birth and the baby doesn’t breath straight away and the paediatrician Salvador asks Chiara for an injection which euthanises the baby because it had extra fingers, this is referred to a “lullaby baby” Those in charge put it across as if the baby didn’t make it.

The Genesis Centre is in the business of producing only healthy babies. It’s a lot for Chiara to take in and to get used to. Because of climate change and there being less habitable homes the population needs to be kept under control.

Hence the implementation of the Progressive Population Policy in England, and specifically adhered to in London. Under the policy each couple may generate one live offspring, provided certain conditions are met. Because of this there is also an emphasis on the children being born fit and healthy.
At the Genesis Centre they make a guarantee: if a foetus is, tragically, stillborn, the couple are offered another incubation licence, free of charge, plus a substantial discount on their next round of treatment. The Genesis Centre provide a comprehensive programme of prenatal screening to minimise the occurrence of these sad cases. But sometimes they still happen.

When Chiara brings up what happened with the baby and the paediatrician Salvador with Sister Miller, the sister explains that defective neonates are not born at the Genesis Centre. The Sister goes on to say what happened is called a Lullaby birth, but naively Chiara persists saying yes sometimes babies die but this one was alive and moving about. The Sister becomes very firm with Chiara despite not even being in the delivery room telling her she did not see the neonate moving, that it was in fact a lullaby birth.

Theres lots of new terminology and new procedures for Chiara to get used to.
Lullaby babies - 'defective' allowed to just die or are actively euthanised
Being or getting 'Sealed' = sterilisation, people are actually rewarded for it!
Peaceful rest centre - for old people to go an die so they are not a burden on the community, making way for more productive members of society to be born.

A filly is a single fertile woman. All women wear Fembands, Chaira wears a scarlet band, pregnant women wear blue, sterilised women wear gold and Jewish women wear a yellow one with the Star of David on it. Fresh Start Pills are readily available which are basically abortion pills. Theres the Population Mandate – where couples have to obtain a licence, have to be married and prove they have enough income before they are allowed to incubate (become pregnant) Once the neonate (baby) arrives the mother get Sealed (sterilised) to protect the planet and give everyone a future. A child can’t be registered without a father willing to provide for it. An unregistered child is taken by the state and “taken care of” There is no other maternity care than the official government places. If you have plenty of money to pay there’s places like the Genesis Centre, if you are poor there are hospitals that are overcrowded, understaffed and ill equipped. Midwives have been abolished and are hunted down and dealt with severely especially if caught assisting a labour.

It turns out Salvador doesn’t really agree with the “Lullaby Baby” practice but similarly to Chiara he has family he is sending money home to and needs the job. He does however carry out small acts of rebellion by helping the underground midwives that operate in the area for those who cannot afford a Genesis birth or maternity care or for those having children they do not have licences for. Salvador introduces Chiara to this network and when she meets Liz and older woman who is a traditional midwife who helps women have natural births at her narrowboat home.

However associating with Liz and the other underground network of midwives is extremely dangerous as they are literally being hunted down as though they are witches and the man at the head of the hunt is Martin Robson. He is up for promotion against a younger candidate who is concentrating his policies and campaign on the Peaceful Rest organisation. Martin decides he will not rest until the very last midwife is caught and stopped by whatever means necessary. Ironically his wife Rava becomes unexpectedly pregnant. Martin is initially angry and wants Rava to take the Fresh start abortion pills but Rava quietly chips away at him about keeping the baby. Martin decides that Rava will be taken care of at the ultra-modern Genesis Centre and that he will use this pregnancy to his advantage for his campaign.

So much happens in this excellent futuristic, dystopian, speculative fiction tale that I feel like I could honestly talk forever about it. The plot is so well written and has many twists and turns some you see unfolding others take you completely by surprise, one in particular kind of “knocked me for six”!

Characters I loved were Chiara of course who had the courage to stand and work alongside the underground midwive’s network risking everything. I felt really sorry for her when she realised she was trapped at the Genesis Centre by the contract she’d had to sign. She desperately wanted to leave but to do so would mean finding money she didn’t have to pay tuition fees, accommodation fees and the early get out clause in her contract. I also loved Rava who had courage in her own way. She’d had an abortion when she was younger and was determined to do everything in her power to have the baby she was carrying whether it was a boy or not. The bravery of sticking to her principles when her husband gave her the ultimatum of getting rid of the baby as it wasn’t the ideal sex. The irony of her ending up being treat by the very midwives her oh so high and mighty husband is hunting down.

Liz thought to actually be “the last midwife ”at one point in the book is an amazing character that I absolutely adored, but I can’t say anymore about her as I do not want to give away spoilers.

Martin Robson was a good villain in this book and I have to admit I did enjoy disliking him. I also disliked Sister Miller but did find her comeuppance hilarious!

I had mixed feelings on Salvador, did he redeem himself in the end? I honestly don’t know if he did enough. However, you have to look inwardly if this was in fact reality -I shudder at the thought – where would I stand? What would I do? What would I be risk?

Sadly, the book shows what can happen to society when those in power make certain decisions but it also featured what can happen when the community comes together and fights back against those making the rules.

As a person that was born at my grandmother’s home, delivered by her as the midwife on call didn’t get there in time I found some of the old ways Liz used fascinating and there were things mentioned, remedies etc that I had heard my own grandmother mention. Sadly, if I had been born in this book, I would have been a lullaby baby, as the cord was wrapped round my neck, and I had twisted feet among other issues. The book is all the more poignant to me having suffered a miscarriage and not been treat especially well at the time. Things done without my knowledge and untruths told. I think my personal experiences made the book even more interesting and it’s a book that has you talking about it and recommending it to everyone you meet!

My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were, wow, then I pondered a little and thought oh wow this is so believable what if it actually happened? Brilliantly written and amazingly strong set of female characters within the book, which is great to read.

Summing up, a book so very well written that its scarily believable, and is full of amazing characters, strong women and a few men prepared to fight for the cause and those who feel too weak to go against the mainstream policies in place. Then those blindly making new policies and putting hurdles in front of normal people having the basic human right to have children, changing maternity care by making it a cold and clinical procedure without a thought for the consequences. An extremely thought provoking read that I will continue to think about and talk about in the future too.

 

 

REVIEW - THE SOULMATE PROJECT BY ANNA LINDWASSER

  

Title: The Soulmate Project
Author: Anna Lindwasser
Publisher: Rosen Publishing, West 44
Genre: Romance, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Teens & YA, Dystopian, Futuristic
Release Date: 1st June 2026

BLURB
A HI/LO* title written in verse format.

In the near future, a scientific development is changing the way people have relationships. People no longer find their own spouses; they’re assigned them by the government using an AI program meant to create optimal happiness. The assignments happen at age 18, and Delphine “Del” Everett doesn’t want any part of it. She’s in love with her boyfriend Tobias and wants to stay with him. But she’s legally required to fill out an application explaining what she wants in a partner. She tries to tailor her application so that she’ll get assigned to Tobias, and he does the same with his. When their plan doesn’t work, Delphine is determined to make her relationship with her new partner, Jasper, fail. But she soon finds her future hangs in the balance between matters of the heart, and the science that claims to have all the answers.

*HI/LO books (High-Interest, Low-Readability) are designed to include age-appropriate content tailored to mature interests that are written at a lower, accessible reading level

REVIEW
The cover is an eye-catching purple and blue shades giving the cityscape a night time feel. Theres also a pearlescent almost translucent heart in the centre of the cover with the title The Soulmate Project within it. The author’s name is above the heart positioned near the top of the book which initially threw me as I always look to the bottom of the book for authors names. On the whole I like the cover and the heart combined with the title would certainly make me pick it up in a book store or click on it online to learn more!

Both sets of Delphine's grandparents met their partners in the natural/normal way, but things aren’t done like that anymore, it is considered too risky and not the right way. So despite Delphine and Tobias already feeling like they have found “the one” in each other they have to enter information to be 'matched' with their soulmate according to a computerised algorithm. This computerised algorithm is The Soulmate Project which was created in the 3030s when the divorce rate was at 65% but since the project began in 3040 the divorce rates have fallen to just 40%
The Soulmate Project is a sophisticated AI program that looks at data & info supplied to find the perfect match. Delphine and Tobias get together to fill in their forms and have made a pact to try to cheat the system. They attempt to answer the questions in such a way they will only be compatible with each other.

Everyone at the age of 18 attends a revelation party. These are separate gender parties, boys in one party girls in another. Delphine is at the party with her best friend Phoebe who is excited enough for both of them!! A woman called Raven makes her speech and says rather dramatically that the moment has arrived. Raven can see and hear from Delphines attitude that she isn’t fully sold on the Soulmate Project. Raven basically ends up telling Delphine to shut up!

Suddenly the little screen on their implants in their wrists come to life and reveal the name of the partner the government says is their Soulmate..............
Delphines does not say Tobias Delgado as she desperately wanted it to, it says Jasper Nieves, the name of a boy she has never heard of and never met that a computer has said is her perfect match and that she will marry him! Of cource Delphine immediately accosts Raven asking for things to be changed when this doesn’t work she demands it be changed and is eventually dismissed with the promise of a reassessment appointment. Though it will be after training camp meaning she will have to follow the process and to get to know Jasper.
Phoebe is of course ecstatic with her partner, Toby is as devasted as Delphine, he has been matched with a girl named Morgana.

The book continues with Delphine and Tobias secretly meeting up which is forbidden as they should be concentrating fully on the partners they have been assigned. Delphine does try to get to know Jasper, and Tobias is comfortable getting to know more about Morgana too. Though it soon becomes apparent that perhaps some of the matches are a little off and some perhaps way off too! The characters slowly learn more about themselves as well as their partners, Tobias begins to see negatives to a partner relationship with Delphine. Delphine hates the whole system and wants to change it. Let’s just say things don’t exactly turn out the way the characters wanted or the Soulmate Project wanted either!

The book is quite short and is told in verse which I quite enjoyed, I can see why it works as a HiLo book extremely well.

I felt a little sorry for Tobias as a character to begin with and felt he was being a little bull dozed into doing what Delphine wanted, though it turns out had she not challenged the process, perhaps he wouldn’t have ended up with his true soulmate either.

There were times I felt irritated by Delphine and wanted to reach into the book and shake her and say its not all about you! She came across as selfish and only thinking of herself. She didn’t even want to get to know Morgana simply because she had been paired with Tobias. I think what happened in the end with Delphine was fitting.

It’s really a shame this wasn’t a longer book, it could have been developed much more, there’s such a lot that could have happened and different characters that could have been introduced. I’d have loved to have learnt more about Violet and seen a happier ending for her too.
The only negative I have is the ending and tying up loose ends felt a little rushed, but as this is a HiLo book I guess there’s only a certain amount of pages allowed in it.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were that the basis of the book plot with a computer algorithm choosing their soulmates reminded me of the adult fiction book called The One by John Marrs where peoples DNA is inputted into a computer which reveals their perfect matches and also a little bit of Matched by Ally Condie.

Summing up I really enjoyed reading The Soulmate Project, it is very much a Aesop’s fable type of story with 'lessons to be learnt' within it. Such as the main characters finally standing up for themselves, for daring to have a voice, for daring to be different and not just do what is expected or demanded of them. 

 

REVIEW - HER BY DV FISCHER

 

Title: Her

Author: DV Fischer

Publisher: Love N Books Press

Genre: Dark Thriller, Suspense, Romance

Release Date: 16th June 2026

BLURB

I have something to prove.

My weight. My worth. My life.

Not only am I a woman fresh out of the police academy, but because of my father’s reputation, I have to prove I’m worthy of my badge.

And then an opportunity arose, one I couldn’t pass up. Men and women are being abducted from another country to be trafficked for horrific purposes. I have every intention of going undercover to bring down the entire operation.

I just hadn’t expected to get in so deep. I hadn’t expected to be targeted because of my body. It had become idolized and monetized by those in the shadowed, dark web and those with deep pockets and malicious secrets.

I certainly hadn’t expected to fall for one particular deep, dark secret, coiled so tightly in the stunning Nix Blaylock. But he’s the key, he’s my way in to the top, and in the end? I just might have to take him down too.

**WARNING** - This book is heavy on explicit content. Please check the author's website.**

REVIEW

The cover is dark, giving you your first clue to the darkness within the books pages. The cover sets the tone of the book well. The title 'Her' is the name given to Charlotte aka Charlie when she goes undercover and starts working and filming for the shady half of the business that Nix runs.
There are quite a few trigger warnings for this book, so readers are warned beforehand. Though I'd like the book content to similar crime/thriller TV shows, and the explicit scenes and darkness is well within the context of the book plot.

Charlotte Mitchell thought she'd finally found happiness with partner Nathan after suffering with a drug addicted mother and a father that died trying to help her quit her addiction, but recently they've grown apart. Nathan goes away on business, takes all their money and goes missing presumed dead at sea. A grieving Charlotte finds herself having to leave their extrvagant apatment in an amazing area and move into a run down apartment in a much less desirable padt of town with some help from her cop father's partner & his wife. Charlotte's recently left the Police Academy determined to do so well that her good record wipes out the dark blot on her fathers career record.
When Charlotte discovers a case no one really seems to want she decides its going to be hers, a way to do some good, help others, prove her worth as a cop, reinstate her fathers cop reputation and stop dwelling on her grief for Nathan. So first without permission, then with reluctant permission as she's so far in it would raise suspicion to try to remove and replace her. Charlotte throws herself fully into being undercover doing whatever is needed to infiltrate the darkest gang ever!

But Charlotte soon begins to lose herself and it becomes more and more difficult to seperate her undercover life from the 'normal' life she is living especially the more involved she becomes with Nix, the man that runs the less than 'least savoury' part of operations. Charlotte sees 'good' in Nix, he's a good man caught up in bad things as opposed to the other half of operations Andre who is a bad man who enjoys the bad things he is involved in.
When Nix works out Charlie is Charlotte a newbie cop he can't help himself, he has to protect her, from both sides of the business. Though others higher up in both sides of the business have other ideas. The more he tries to put her off limits, the higher the bidding for her goes.

To begin with Nix is a tightly closed book and refuses to tell Charlotte about his past, but slowly over time, with patience, coaxing and a bit of snooping Charlotte discovers more about him. It soon becomes apparent that the way Nix got into the business was not all that different to Charlie's....he isnt quite as dark and bad as she first thought. Similar to herself he had valid reasons for entering this dark shady business. He was trying to find someone that had been taken, then slowly he became sucked so far in and he didn't really have anything or anyone to get out of it for until he met Charlotte.
Both still having things to prove to themselves and others they decide to work together to bring both sides of the business down from the inside or die trying.

Characters I loved were of course Charlotte and Nix, both had similarly poor starts in life but tried to do good and both were trying to put certain things right. I also adored Noll and the way he still supported Nix despite the fact he had veered from the original path. I did also like Rochelle and kind of felt a little sorry for her by the end of the book.
Those I enjoyed hating were of course Nathan for leaving Charlotte the way he did with no money to go sailing on a yacht and go missing as well as other things revealed as the book goes on. I also enjoyed hating the disgusting, depraved, violent and sadistic Andre.
Though there were 'good guys' & 'bad guys' all characters are well written and really believable. 'Her' may be a work of fiction but its scary to think that things like this really do go on in real life.

My immediate thoughts on finishing this book were that the plot was detailed and so well thought out. Nix and Charlie are involved in a dark, shocking, seedy world that given the chance would chew them up and spit them out!
All the twists and turns really kept you on the edge of your seat! I kind of saw one of the twists coming, there's certain hints within the book but the others were a shock!

Summing up, Her is a dark, hard hitting, gritty thriller full of twists and turns you don't expect that keep you on the edge of your seat. You won't want to put it down!

REVIEW - BURNED - HOLLOWAY PACK SERIES BY JA BELFIELD

 

Title: Burned

Author: J.A. Belfield

Genre: Paranormal, Shifter, Romance, Fantasy

Release Date: 8th June 2026

BLURB

Josh Larsen is playing with fire and is about to get burned.

Youngest of the Larsen brothers. Easiest going of the pack. And faller from buildings.

When Josh is sent to fix a tenant’s TV aerial during a storm that takes a turn for the worse, nobody predicted him waking up in a hospital bed that day, and certainly not staring into the eyes of an old flame.

For Josh, Blaise Nicholls is the one that got away. Literally. A bundle of beauty encased in a mouthwatering scent, Blaise was the one for Josh. His high school sweetheart. His everything. Until she wasn’t.

It took Josh a long time to move on from her mysterious disappearance from his life. Now she’s back, and Josh wants, needs, to know why she left. He’s just not sure he’s ready for the answers.

Especially not while his lingering injuries are affecting his wolf instincts. And especially not when outside forces ensure they reconnect on a level neither of them are prepared for, and they end up on a journey into an unknown Josh hoped to never step foot in again.

Now Josh isn’t sure if he’ll make it home in one piece. And if he does, he’s not even sure his rekindled relationship will survive.

Goodreads Link

REVIEW
I started reading the Holloway Pack books back in 2012 so 14 years ago when they had totally different covers which I did love at the time but I have to say I also love the more streamlined look of the current covers for the books.

I finished reading bk5 in the Holloway Pack series in 2016 so its been 10 years since I was immersed in this world with its wolf shifter family at the centre of it. I was really looking forward to returning to this series and the characters I had grown to love over the years and this book did not disappoint. I felt like I slipped back into the Holloway Pack universe extremely easily and soon remembered all the characters quirks and inter pack relationships.

Burned is very aptly named and you’ll discover why when you read the book!
Burned is centred on Josh Larsen, the youngest Larsen brother. Being the youngest in the Holloway pack and family means you tend to get the jobs the others don’t really want when they arise, such as fixing Mrs Gloria Mannings TV aerial. Mrs Manning is fine she comes across as lonely and in need of a friend to chat to and whilst he is there to fix the aerial that friend whether he wants to be or not will be Josh! When Josh goes up onto the roof he sees the problem with the aerial straight away and groans when he realises it needs a part replacing which means a return visit, probably a return visit he will have to do. He sets about looking at the aerial despite the weather being awful, its raining and even thundering and lightening. Josh continues working oblivious to the conditions around him. When a bolt of lightning strikes close by, he jumps and stumbles backwards off the roof. As he is hurtling towards the ground, he loses grip on the drill he was using so he lands first on the hard ground and then the drill lands hard on top of Josh’s forehead. The last thing Josh thinks is “better call dad” Then everything goes black. Luckily for Josh and the rest of the pack that’s exactly what Mrs Manning does which gives Josh’s dad just enough time to make sure that the private family Doctor Craig Monckton is at the hospital to oversee Josh’s care. Obviously as a shifter Josh will heal differently to a normal human, and there would be anomalies on tests, but as Craig is in attendance he can take care of the needed tests and paperwork. Craig had been set up as the Holloway Pack doctor years before with all necessary paperwork signed to refuse blood transfusions, certain tests etc things that would show up the pack members to be “other” rather than fully human. Its whilst Josh is unconscious that he dreams of his old girlfriend Blaise, quite literally his very own “one that got away”. As teenagers they had been besotted with each other, making future plans, when one day Blaise didn’t turn up on a date and when Josh went to her home the movers were there. They told him her dad had come and taken her and her mum to live elsewhere. That was the last he had seen or heard of Blaise. As shifters or course have a stronger sense of smell it makes sense he even dreams about how Blaise used to smell, like roasted marshmallows. It’s his shifter sense of smell that alerts him that he is in a hospital when he finally becomes conscious again. His father, Connor has literally slept at the hospital since Josh was admitted but typically the minute someone has finally succeeded in urging him to get something to eat at the canteen is when Josh opens his eye. Josh cannot open the other eye as he is still heavily bandaged. It turns out Josh has not only lost his trademark hair but a piece of his skull had to be removed to relieve the pressure on his brain from the fall. If the drill had fallen point end down or slightly further over it could have blinded him, so he is lucky to be alive. Though Josh doesn’t think so when he realises he has to stay in hospital and cannot get up and move about due to being so weak. Nurse Rogers tends to him, which whilst Josh immediately takes a liking to her, who wouldn’t she looks and smells great! He isn’t so keen when its time for her to wash his nether regions, preferring to do so himself, and have his dad help in moving him about whilst he gets redressed.

It’s not long until Josh is more himself and eventually gets to go home, though he still isn’t fully recovered and has the family worried when it appears he cannot shift forms. It’s there the dreams about Blaise continue, and then Josh realises why he liked the smell when Nurse Rogers was around him. Josh has to beg someone to take him to the hospital as he still isn’t allowed to drive as he wants to see Nurse Rogers.

It’s not long before they are dating, though things become heated and complicated very quickly as it soon becomes apparent that Nurse Rogers is something other than fully human too, not that it puts Josh off, he just has to become creative to solve their little obstacles. Just when everything is going well Nurse Roger’s overbearing father interferes making her question whether the relationship she has with Josh is genuine. Josh gives her space but its obvious to the family he has developed deep feelings for her and in the end he decides he will literally go the ends of the earth to prove to her his feelings for her are real.

I still adored these characters as much now as when I first started reading these books!
I loved the humour the way Connor had taken holey boxer shorts and an inappropriate slogan t-shirt to pull out to give Josh to wear as a joke.
I think the dynamics within the pack still work really well, the previously no nonsense, super tough males who now have partners they are protective of and because some of them now have babies/toddlers you see a tender, vulnerable side too. The way Josh is the only one that can get baby Dean to sleep when he’s upset. The Holloway Pack men are a perfect mix of high energy and tenderness! Then you have them when they shift into predators chasing rabbits, hares etc. Though we didn’t see as much of Pack in their wolf form in this book.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading Burned were Wow 🔥 absolutely loved revisiting the Holloway Pack, I adored Josh & his story. It was 10 years since I read the last book but I slipped so easily back into the Holloway Pack universe & pack life. It was really interesting catching up with the old favourite characters and the new families they’d formed, as well as meeting new characters. It was intriguing to learn all about Blaise.....there were hidden clues & hints throughout the book about this new character, some I caught...others I have realised afterwards.
I’d definitely love to read more in this universe, perhaps something around Connor and Maghon and the youngest members of the pack, Lia and Dean. I can imagine the grandads, dads and Uncles being very protective of those youngsters and maybe the youngsters rebelling!

Summing up Burned gave me another bite of the Holloway Pack, now I want more!

REVIEW - THE SPIRITUALISTS BY KRISTIN O'DONNELL TUBB

 

Title: The Spiritualists

Author: Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Genre: Teens, YA, Historical Fiction, Romance, Fantasy

Release Date: 2nd June 2026

BLURB

Stella Bohdan is never alone—never—and yet she is the loneliest person she knows, dead or alive. A gifted psychic who can hear the voices of spirits, all Stella wants is to con enough people to survive on the brutal New York City streets and find a way to deal with the tragic death of her sister.

Performing seances in parlor rooms and tarot readings by candlelight, Stella is barely holding on. Until she meets Pax, a mysterious young man who offers Stella an invitation and a Join a secret group of talented mystics who explore the darker realms of spiritualism, and together they will get revenge on her sister’s killer.

But how can Stella admit she is the reason her sister is dead?

In the hope of righting past wrongs, Stella joins Pax and his team of mystics. It’s soon clear there is more behind their partnership than just vengeance.

They must tread carefully though, because in the world of spiritualism, not everything is what it seems—especially when communing with the unknown.

Goodreads Link

REVIEW
It was the cover that originally drew my attention to the book, the hint at spiritualism and the planchettes featured on the cover. Along with the clever way each “I” in the book title has a little flame above making it a candle too. This cover would definitely make me pick it up from a bookstore shelf to learn more about it. I’ll be honest do find spiritualism, tarot card, seances, psychics, mediums etc absolutely fascinating so reading in the blurb that the main female character speaks to the other side and the main male character is eagerly putting together a group of spiritualists had me invested, wanting to know more and eager to start reading.

Stella Bodhan is the main female character and she hears voices and uses this gift to earn money and uses the name Lady Rose. She is alone after the death of her sister Daisy. Stella blames herself for her sister’s death and goes about life punishing herself thinking that Daisy cant have these things so neither will I. Stella deeply misses her sister as they used to work together too, Stella used her natural gift and spoke to spirit and Daisy had taught herself to read tarot card so did readings for people. Due to Stella’s Lady Rose “business” and mediums being illegal in the area she has to move around a lot and is often followed and literally plagued by Reverend Jenkins and his followers shouting and hurling abuse at her, meaning she has to move from boarding house to boarding house.

Pax Princip is continuing the work he began with William T Stead in forming a group of spiritualists to work together safely in one place called Julia’s Bureau. It is to be called Julia’s Bureau after his dead sister.

Pax sneaks into one of Stella/Lady Rose’s meetings without paying which really irks Stella/Lady Rose and it’s a continuing joke/jibe throughout the book. Pax sees her giving messages from the other side and how she isn’t some charlatan. Pax asks Stella to become part of Julia’s Bureau at first Stella refuses but the offer of a place to work safely without the likes of Reverend Jenkins etc following her begins to look more attractive. Stella also feels pulled towards Pax and spirit seem keen on him and her joining his group too.
He later takes her to a hotel to dine and puts forward his business proposal of Lady Rose joining Julia’s Bureau. However, during the meeting Stella starts to feel icy cold, smells tobacco smoke and gets an image of a man sat smoking as water pours in around him. When it gets to the point Stella’s teeth are chattering she is so cold, Pax puts his jacket over her shoulders and Stella reveals the message from the late William T Stead, telling Pax not to open Julia’s Bureau as there is always a cost to communication with the other side. Stella tells Pax that William T Stead had attempted to send him a telegram whilst he was travelling back to America. Pax reveals that William T Stead never made it home from that journey as he was travelling on the Titanic and it sank. Stella goes to the toilet and when she returns Pax has left. Stella has no money and begins to panic a little until spirits point her to a hidden door, which takes her downstairs to a much less grand establishment full of men eating steaks and there is Pax! Stella storms up to him, gives him a piece of her mind about leaving her to pay the bill and pours a full gravy boat over his head. Pax shakes the gravy off and tells her she has his jacket with his wallet in it which makes Stella feel a little bad about the gravy boat but shes still annoyed Pax had left her.
It turns out Pax is an artist but he uses his gift by painting already famous expensive painting and selling them as though they are the original! A woman he had sold such a painting to had walked into the hotel and Pax was worried she may have realised her painting was a fake and may confront him so that is the reason he had left without saying/leaving word.

Theres quite a lot of mis-communication between Pax and Stella, which is quite amusing as you also get spirits take on what Stella should say or do at the same time wherever Stella is spirits connected to the people around her speak to her wanting her to relay messages.

Pax and Stella have a lot in common though they don’t always fully reveal things to each other. Both have a sister that died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. One of the owners Max Blanck had ordered the factory doors to e locked to discourage stealing and workers taking longer breaks etc. So, when the fire took hold the workers mainly women and children had no way out. Some chose to jump from the alight building and fell to their deaths. The owners got away with it meaning there were many disgruntled grieving families.

Eventually the two along with other mystics they have gathered and added to the group along the way decide to take revenge on Max Blanck. Max Blanck is throwing a lavish party, an effort for him and his wife to stay including in society after the fire at the factory. One of the guests attending the party is going to be wearing the most expensive and rare diamond, the hope diamond.
Pax has hatched a rather elaborate plan that will ruin Max Blanck once and for all and make him disappear from society for good…..if they can pull it off.
Before the big party Pax needs to gather other mystics to help them pull off the heist!

I loved how the book was presented with the tarot cards and their meanings at the beginning of the Chapters from Daisy’s point of view. I enjoyed Daisy’s chapters especially the very poignant one where she talks about the factory fire and revealed she knew Julia. The section struck me emotionally as this is not a fictional disaster, this is based on something that really happened and though Daisy and Julia were characters in a book, real people died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire disaster.

I thought the delicate artwork at the beginning of each chapter fitted really well with the era the book was set in. The content of the book has really been researched really well, down to the era, fashion and of course the mention of the very real events of Titanic sinking and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory disaster.

The descriptions within the book are really good, you can easily and rather gleefully visualise the brown greasy gravy dripping down over Pax’s head, through his perfectly combed hair, over his ears, onto his fancy white four dollar sears & roebuck shirt.

I adored the characters of Stella and Pax and their eventual friendship Stella is both amusing yet fragile. She may have the gift of speaking to spirits but she cannot control it at all really. She sometimes finds it difficult to distinguish between the voice of spirit and her own inner voice.

I found Pax quite endearing the way he owed Stella a jitney/nickel but always brushed off paying at the same time saying “I always pay my debts”. There's more but I won't reveal any spoilers.

I also totally adored Kiyoku and Nirav who became part of Julia’s Bureau and perhaps a smaller character but I loved Laura the librarian who once Stella & Kiyoku revealed the reason they were looking for certain information went above and beyond to help them.

On the most part I adored Spirit. When they are eyeing up Pax with one spirit saying “Law chile those abs! Could scrub some skivvies clean on those couldn’t ya!” Or when spirit wolf whistles after Pax. I thought it was really funny how the spirits argued between themselves in Stella’s head. Spirit is quite useful and when their timing is good, they are great at warning Stella or telling Stella things she may need to know, such when Pax asks Stella to guess how he knows her name and the spirits have already told her that Pax paid the landlady a jitney/nickel for her to tell him it!

Of course, as William T Stead warned for all the light in spirit there is also dark so there were the dark prone to violence spirit forces of the Dark Legion who at times try their best to take over Stella. They “helped” Stella once in the past and then became tethered to her. I have to admit they gave me the shivers a time or too, how dark and sinister they were and always lurking in the background.

My immediate thoughts on finishing The Spiritualist was that I really enjoyed it and quickly grew to adore the characters who were initially individuals with gifts that were loners and probably considered misfits by society, until Pax brought them together and they ended up forming a family.
A family that doles out justice to a man whose negligence and greed were responsible for the deaths of Daisy & Julia.

Summing up this book is aimed at Teens & YA but honestly the General Fiction Adult market is missing out if they don't read this one. I'm well past being a teen and I absolutely loved it!

REVIEW - SANCTUARY BY JAMES CLEARY

 

Title: Sanctuary

Author: James Cleary

Publisher: HQ

Genre: General Fiction, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Thrillers

Release Date: 28th April 2026

 

BLURB

“The meek shall inherit the Earth, unless the rich get there first.” That’s the reality of the post-apocalyptic world in this electrifying debut thriller.

The near future…

Climate disasters have crippled the United States. With half the country under water and the other half a dust bowl, civil unrest would soon escalate into something darker, something unstoppable. Billionaire John Brandt anticipated this and channeled his money, power, and influence into being prepared for the great unraveling.

Now Brandt, his family, and his security team must retreat to Sanctuary, their underground bunker—a vast luxury mansion beneath the parched earth of the Nebraskan Great Plains. But they are not alone. Above ground a group of raiders are desperate to survive and will use any means possible to accomplish that goal.

As tensions mount both inside and out, battle lines are drawn— between the haves and the have-nots, between decency and expediency, between life and death. In this game, everyone's a loser.

 

Goodreads Link  

 

REVIEW
I’ve seen different covers for this book, and to be honest I have really liked aspects of them all and in there own way they all fit the book really well too. Each of the different book covers would have me picking it up from a bookstore shelf to learn more about the book so they all do their job well!

America has been suffering and declining for many years, suffering from climate change and other disasters it has come to the very brink of societal collapse. Some have prepared for this eventuality, one of these men is millionaire John Brandt. John has a piece of land in a remote area with a mansion house within a compound in an isolated area in Nebraska that has plenty of supplies but he has also thought further ahead and had a state of the art, fully equipped bunker built underground too for if things get “really bad”. Some people thought him mad when he was having it built but he could see the signs around him and was determined to protect his family and a few hand selected people needed to run the bunker. He employed many workers who all did different small sections of the build so no one had access to the full plans. All the workers had to sign non-disclosure/secrecy type forms regarding the work they were doing and the location of the property.

When things are showing signs of the “final collapse” John Brandt sends different members of his security team to bring his family members and staff to the mansion house. His daughter Julia is hiking with her bodyguard Michael Flynn, whom she has a bit of a crush on, though it seems the romantic feelings maybe mutual, when he gets the call to head straight to Sanctuary. 
Ex-Army and bodyguards Cooper and Schaeffer bring John Brandts wife Rebecca and their young son Jeremy to Sanctuary. 
Others bring Mrs Krajic the Brandts cook/cleaner and her daughter Maia who is a student nurse. There’s a physician, Dr Robert Matheson to look after the Brandts and their staff, an agriculturist called Hanna Laval who designed and is in charge of the bunkers extensive food growing systems,

Unfortunately, some of those that were chosen for their needed skills do not make it to Nebraska when society breaks down and before the group have to lock down in the bunker so those that have made it end up taking on extra jobs to keep things running smoothly.

Despite the world being in chaos when John Brandt discovers there is no cream for his coffee he sends two of his best people from his security guards in search of some in a helicopter and is disappointed and disgruntled when they return empty handed explaining every store and gas station for miles has been ransacked and looted! That’s how selfish this man really is! My initial dislike for John Brandt began then, why would you have supposedly valued employees risk their lives for such a silly luxury as cream for your coffee but I guess it goes to show just how out of touch or how far above everything and everyone else John Brandt puts his own needs. My opinion of the man didn't really improve throughout the book. At times I wante dto reach in and shake him to his senses and shout think about what you are saying and doing!

The bunker really is the height or should that be the depth of luxury! With eighteen floors, although really there are only seventeen as the thirteenth floor does not exist because of the same sort of superstitions as the grand hotels have. The first floor is the command centre where the cameras are that watch the land and mansion above the bunker. The second floor is the armoury, again well stocked. This floor also has an area to be used for detention purposes should it ever be need. The third floor is the barracks for the security men/women most of which are ex-army so used to living in barracks. The Brandt family have two floors, four and five to themselves which are connected by a private staircase within them. The sixth floor is for Mrs Krajic and her daughter Maia who are basically the housekeepers for the bunker who duties include cooking and cleaning for the Brandt family. There are other floors with living quarters, some which sit empty due to the people they were designated to not arriving. The eleventh floor is a fully equipped and well stocked infirmary. Theres also a library, a commons area, a laundry, community style realistic market, a recreation centre with a swimming pool and bowling alley, it seems like MR Brandt has even thought about how his family will be entertained until it is safe to rise out of the bunker. Of course, there are areas of cold food storage and a hydrophonics section where fresh fruit and vegetables are grown and are tended to by Hanna Laval. There is also a floor dedicated to mechanical items and generators.

Whilst the Brandt family and his hand chosen staff are safe in the luxurious bunker fairly oblivious to the plight of the normal American things are getting worse. So much so that one of the men who helped build the bunker, Tom Grady decides to head out to Nebraska with his wife and new born baby to see if the Brandts will allow them to join them in the bunker. When Tom decides to set off a initially a few neighbours join him with their families until the number grow into a small group, but Tom Grady knows how big the bunker is there will be plenty of room and supplies for them all for years. Its not like they want these things giving they are prepared to work for their housing and food as most of the group actually have skills that would be useful to Mr Brandt and his family. The children in the group would be company for young Jeremy Brandt. However, when the Tom Grady’s group arrive at the Brandt mansion and the Brandts refuse them access to the bunker emotions become heightened with both sides digging in their heels. John Brandt is determined to keep the plentiful resources he has built up for his own family and handpicked staff and flatly refuses Tom Grady and his group access under any circumstances even when Tom Grady and his wife beg for help for their ill new born baby and a few others in their group that are ill. John Brandt has the medical supplies to help and despite some of those inside the bunker trying to reason with him he still refuses to share.

When the Grady’s newborn baby dies it naturally hardens his group against the Brandts and they decide they will gain access to that bunker by whatever means necessary even if it means slowly cutting off the air supply and forcing the Brandts to come out.

The book is told from a few different points of view, from the diary entries of someone on the bunker, the point of view of the Brandts in the bunker and from the point of view of Tom Grady and his group.

I did enjoy the book as a whole, though it was sad to see a man who had everything denying basic medical help to a new born baby. John Brandt was stubborn to the very end in the view that everything in the bunker was his and his families and he had no intention of sharing, in fact he would rather attack those asking for help and kill them to solve the issue than offer help.

I felt the book was fairly slow paced but I guess that gave you time to really think about the actions of the characters as they were making them.

I did find Sanctuary a thought provoking read, How far would you go to protect your family?, Who and how do you choose who to save by taking them into the bunker? What lengths are you prepared to go to, to prevent others gaining access to your bunker? Who would you help? Where do you draw the line at helping others? Could you turn your back on the request for help for an ill newborn baby of a man you had employed to help build the very bunker you and your family are safely inside?

Sanctuary is certainly a thought provoking read. Then there’s the ending where the secret escape tunnel fails. Did John Brandt deserve what happened in the end?

I found the epilogue section that jumped years ahead interesting, poignant, yet at the same time really sad looking back at was left of the bunker and that only a few people were still around that really knew what had happened there.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were that I felt a bit dazed, a little disappointed even, yet at the same time I had enjoyed what I had read.

Summing up, a little slow paced for my usual taste, a different take on the usual post- apocalyptic survival story. This book centres more on the characters and their behaviour when things go really bad. After digesting what I'd read for a few days and reflecting on the book I came to the conclusion that I did enjoy what I'd read. The book reminded me a little of The Pharmacist by Rachelle Atalla which I also enjoyed reading. It also made me think back to watching the Tales Of The Unexpected TV show when I was younger and how they were so cleverly thought provoking and had you thinking about them long after the ending.

REVIEW - DESPERATE WORLD - EMP AFTERMATH BY GRACE HAMILTON

 

Title: Desperate World

Series: EMP Aftermath

Author: Grace Hamilton

Publisher: Relay Publishing

Release Date: 20th May 2026

BLURB

All they want is a safe haven. They’ll have to fight to get it…

Dr. Laurel Rivera, Bear and their small band of survivors have left their home, fleeing into the wilderness near Lake Superior. With children to protect, they’re forced to make ruthless choices, as they run a gauntlet of desperate survivors willing to kill for vital supplies.

Then Mae collapses.

Pregnant, feverish, and slipping fast, she needs medication Laurel doesn’t have—and can’t make. The only remaining supply belongs to another armed, organized, and determined to protect what’s theirs at any cost.

Stealing the medicine could ignite a war they won’t survive. Walking away will condemn Mae and her unborn child to death.

As time runs out and enemies close in, Bear and Laurel must decide how far they’re willing to go to save one life—and how many others they’re willing to damn in the name of survival.

REVIEW
The book cover depicts a tense scene within the book really well and it fits in with the rest of the series well too. It is the type of cover that would make me pick it up from a bookstore shelf to read the blurb.
As I was about to start reading Desperate World EMP Aftermath bk9 by Grace Hamilton I was really looking forward to rejoining the characters, discovering what is going to happen next. So far it has been an amazing series with fantastic characters and a brilliant plot but at the same time I'm having mixed feelings as this is the last book in the series so I am sorry its coming to an end.....I wonder what Grace Hamilton has in store for the characters.....happiness or heartache?

The group has decided to leave Thunder Bay, heading to Lake Superior in the hope of settling on an island, rebuilding a home, a clinic and community. The group are still recovering from the last battle with the Rossi’s so they want to put as much distance between themselves and Thunder Bay as possible. They hop that if the Rossi mafia return to Thunder Bay and they have already left they will do no harm to those still living there. The truck Kate, Gideon, Sharon, Lisa, Thomas & Maggie arrived in is quickly repaired with Kate and Lyle working around the clock so the group that are leaving can get back on the road as soon as possible. They leave some basic medical supplies behind and surprisingly it is Harkins that steps up as the new Thunder Bay Medic.

The group make their way to the lake and find a boat big enough to carry them to nearby islands to try to find one to settle on, but Mae is taken ill. Laurel quickly diagnoses gestational diabetes.

The initial idea was to avoid any contact with any of the Rossi mafia at all, unfortunately the plan ends up having to change when it becomes clear that Mae is in desperate need of medication for her diabetes. When Kate reveals she knows where the Rossi's have a secret stash of medicines & medical supplies the group take a vote on what to do.....go raid the supplies......or forget about the supplies....
It’s decided that with Mae having developed gestational diabetes & possibilities of complications during the birth...that they should plan and risk a raid on the Rossi compound.

It’s the first time the group will have done anything that they would consider selfish or being on the attack/offensive. Though I think they were thoroughly justified on planning the raid as it wasn’t like the Rossi’s would have even negotiated with them to “buy” or trade for the medications they needed for Mae. The Rossi’s are the selfish one’s stock piling medications and selling them to the highest bidder!

It’s a risky plan and involves two members of the group being decoys so the others can sneak in and steal the medications that they need for Mae. Of course, Bear is in the decoy party of two saying it makes sense, and that he should take the risk as Mae is his daughter. Laurel has to be in the raiding party as she knows which medications they need.

Once inside the compound and the warehouse Laurel discovers that it really is a treasure trove of medication, medical supplies and medical equipment too. There’s more than enough if she takes it to set up a clinic for anyone who wishes to use it. Laurel, Kate and the others quickly find the medication for Mae’s gestational Diabetes and for any other pregnancy complications that may arise. They find pain medication, much needed antibiotics for future illness and other equipment that would help when setting up Laurel’s dream clinic.

Obviously, the head of the Rossi mafia is furious, first Kate steals his cargo of medication and Laurel and the Thunder Bay group use them. Then they shoot his son when he goes with a group of men to get the medication back. Rossi will not be happy until someone pays for the death of his son and after they raid his so called secret compound, he knows it is Kate that has helped them so he wants her and anyone else who won’t cooperate and surrender dealt with!

Laurel and Bear’s group eventually settle on an island and they are planning to build a clinic for the benefit of anyone who wishes to come to it. They are caught unaware when the Rossi’s Mafia are suddenly spotted. It’s revealed that Mae had seen Vin, one of Rossi’s men on a different island they had been scouting and had said nothing, but it’s too late to lay blame or argue the Rossi Mafia has arrived and they need to be dealt with once and for all.

Characters I loved were of course Laurel, Bear, Mae and Trent, their family unit is built on trust and mutual respect. Even though they needed the medication for Mae, the idea of raiding the Rossi’s secret compound was put to a vote between themselves and the wider group. It was a relief and a a lovely scene when Trent reconciled fully with Laurel and told her he no longer blamed her for Alyssa’s death.

I had spotted the possibility of a “relationship” between Vin and Mae in the previous book, though I think Gideon ran some interference there and being protective of Mae wouldn’t let Vin get any closer to her. Then in this book when Vin and Mae come across each other on an island and its just the two of them, there is an instant affection between them. They may be on totally opposite sides of the Rossi battle but its clear the care about each other. I adored the scene where despite being pregnant Mae fought and tackled him to the ground. He was certainly shocked and perhaps a little bemused by her feisty side.

The scene was definitely left as the group settling into a future of sorts together, a thriving community where perhaps they may be on an island but they are in touch with other survivors and attempting to rebuild a decent life for everyone.

My immediate thoughts when I finished reading Desperate World were that though I was sorry to see the series some to an end and was sad to be saying goodbye to the characters I had grown to love, Grace Hamilton had wrapped everything up really well. We had conclusions such as Mae giving birth to her baby and looking toward the future and the prospect of Laurels dream clinic becoming a reality. Though at the same time certain things were left open for the readers imagination to finish off such as a hint of a possible relationship for Trent and a future where they are in touch with other survivors who like them wish to rebuild and live in a peaceful society, of course there will always be the Rossi’s in the world but they will be dealt with as and when. 

Summing up it is a fitting ending to an amazing series but I can't help being book greedy & wishing there were more bks to come. Maybe we can revisit them in the future, or perhaps some of the characters could have cameo’s and appear or be mentioned in another series too. (hey, I can hope!) As you can tell I'm a little sad to be saying goodbye to these characters whom I have become really attached to over the past 4 years....I highly recommend this series and others by Grace Hamilton.