This month, I’m sharing about three books that I am still surprised I found the time to read while working, studying, and completing projects for nursing school. Each of the books has unique qualities that come from wildly different genres. The first novel, Upon a Starlit Tide, is the second book from Kell Woods that I’ve read, and this imaginative retelling of two well-known French fairytales was even better than the first. The second novel on the list is titled When We Had Forever. The novel goes back and forth between before and after an accident that would change Mina Drake’s life forever. I did not want to put it down. Lastly, we have Ace, Marvel, Spy based on real-life tennis pro Alice Marble. The novels have two things in common: women authors writing about strong women.
Upon a Starlit Tide | Kell Woods
For lovers of the fairytale world, you will love this imaginative combination of the tales of two classic French fairytales, The Little Mermaid and Cinderella. I previously shared an inside look at Kell Wood’s last foray into the fairytale genre in last year’s After the Forest. The author’s latest novel does not disappoint. It gracefully weaves the tale of Lucinde, the youngest daughter of one of the wealthiest shipowners in the port of Saint-Malo. As Lucinde digs into her past, she makes discoveries along the way, including one that she never could have imagined in her wildest dreams.
Releasing February 18th, 2025
Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758. To Lucinde Leon, the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner, the high walls of Saint-Malo are more hindrance than haven.
While her sisters are busy trying to secure advantageous marriages, Luce spends her days secretly being taught to sail by Samuel, her best friend—and an English smuggler. Only he understands how the waves call to her. Then one stormy morning, Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea.
Immediately drawn in by the stranger’s charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface, but as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.
Or the scales of a sea-maid’s tail.
Rating: A
When We Had Forever | Shaylin Gandhi
When We Had Forever, is one wild ride that keeps you guessing with each and every page. The story that goes between the time before Mina Drake’s husband was killed in a car crash, to afterwards when she’s struggling to pick up the pieces of her life. It’s only then that she makes the first discovery that will change her life forever.
This novel is fast paced, and will have you staying up late into the night just to see what will happen next. Mina’s character is one that you’ll be rooting for from the very beginning. (She’s a dark haired writer that dreams of traveling the world, so I immediately felt a connection.) This is a must pre-order in my book.
Stay tuned for a Q&A coming to The Avid Pen soon.
Releasing December 10th
Six months after her husband died in a car crash, Mina Drake is still mired in a haze of grief. Reminders of her years with Michael are everywhere, but beneath her heartache lies an even more painful emotion. It’s a guilty suspicion she can hardly admit to anyone, even herself—that her marriage was over long before Michael’s accident.
They were good together once, she’s sure of it, sharing a connection so deep that Mina can’t understand how it unraveled. That is, until a chance discovery in her husband’s office—and the reappearance of Michael’s estranged brother, Grayson, a notorious bad-boy photographer—awakens her to possible answers.
More shocking still is the pull Mina feels to tattooed, scarred Grayson, who’s nothing at all like the man she married. But as feelings stir to life again, so do secrets, changing everything she thought she knew about her marriage, and about the risks and rewards of loving with no limits…
Rating: A+
Ace, Marvel, Spy | Jenni Walsh
Ace, Marvel, Spy tells the story of real life tennis pro, Alice Marble. With just a dream of competing at Wimbleton and no formal training, Alice starts her journey into the world of professional tennis at just 17 years old. After competing in a tournament that leaves her sidelined with exhaustion, she lands herself a formidable coach Eleanor ‘Teach’ Tennant. Amid set back after set back, several of which threaten to end her career forever, Alice continues her journey to international stardom.
For all lovers of tennis (with a side of romance and espionage), this is a must read. Keep an eye out for the Q&A with author Jenni Walsh, coming soon.
Releasing January 14th, 2025
Trailblazer, superstar, activist, and spy: Alice Marble is a true American icon.
Alice strives to have it all.
At seventeen, Alice Marble has no formal tennis skills and no coach. What she does have is an ability to hit the ball as hard as she can and a strong desire to prove herself. With steadfast determination and one sacrifice after another, Alice plays her heart out on the courts of the rich and famous, at national tournaments, and—the greatest of them all—at Wimbledon, rising to be one of the top-ranked players in the world.
But then her world falls apart.
With the outbreak of war with Germany, Alice’s tennis career and life come to a screeching halt, and for the first time, she is forced to confront who she is without tennis. As she seeks to understand her new place in the world and how she can aid in the war efforts, a telegram arrives with devastating news from overseas. Heartbroken and lost, she feels like she can only watch as the war wreaks havoc in every area of her life.
Until an unexpected invitation arrives.
Alice is given the chance to fight back when the US Army sends her a request: Under the guise of playing in tennis exhibition games in Switzerland, she would be a spy for them. Alice aches for nothing more than to avenge what the war has taken from her and to prove herself against this new opponent. But what awaits her might be her greatest challenge yet.
From her start as a promising athlete with worn-out shoes to her status as a glamorous international star, Alice Marble’s determination to control her own life and destiny fuels a story of achievement, discipline, loss, and love.
Rating: A
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