Review - The Wonder of One

The Wonder of One

by Suzanne Redfearn

PublisherLake Union Publishing

GenreFiction; Coming of Age

FormatKindle ARC

Pages381

Pub. DateSeptember 15, 2026

Rating⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DESCRIPTION

From the #1 Amazon bestselling author of In an Instant comes an inspirational coming-of-age story about one extraordinary girl’s determination to chase a dream.

Vivien Kendall has always been different. Born with a birthmark covering much of her face, she’s been bullied, ridiculed, and mistreated as a child. But at the age of six, Vivien learns that in each of us there burns a spirit flame—a deep belief in oneself that must be nurtured and never allowed to go out.

Living by that wisdom and through the enduring friendships of her nanny, her mentor, and the legend who eventually becomes her coach, she chases her dream to someday become the greatest figure skater in the world.

Along the way, she faces a rapidly evolving world full of modern prejudice and injustice. She falls in love, has her heart broken, learns what it means to win or lose, and discovers the wonder of one, the power within each of us to change things.

Link to purchase the book

If you focus on everything that’s gone wrong, it will feel like everything is wrong. 

But if you find the nuggets of life within the gloom, those small glimmers can change your perception entirely. 

MY THOUGHTS

Vivien Kendall endured severe bullying and mistreatment from a young age. Born with a congenital melanocytic nevus, a birthmark covering most of her face, she faced a lifetime of judgment based on her appearance. Yet Vivien develops an inner strength that helps her focus on the people who see beyond the surface and recognize who she truly is.

At the heart of this coming-of-age story is the idea of maintaining self-worth despite prejudice and refusing to let other people’s opinions define you.

Vivien’s life takes an exciting turn when a legendary figure-skating coach agrees to train her. As she pursues ambitious goals, she experiences both the joy of success and the disappointment that comes with falling short. Her journey ultimately becomes one of learning about herself, resilience, and what truly matters.

While I appreciated the themes of perseverance, kindness, and compassion, I didn’t connect with the story as strongly as I had hoped. Vivien’s journey was meaningful, but overall, the book was just an okay read for me.

Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Suzanne Redfearn is the award-winning author of Six novels: Hush Little Baby, No Ordinary Life, In an Instant, and Hadley & Grace, Moment in Time, and Where Butterflies Wander. In addition to being an author, she’s also an architect specializing in residential and commercial design. She lives in Laguna Beach, California, where she and her husband own two restaurants: Lumberyard and Slice Pizza and Beer. You can find her at her website, www.SuzanneRedfearn.com, on Facebook at SuzanneRedfearnAuthor, or on Instagram at SuzanneRedfearn.

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Robin Loves Reading

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW - The Girl Who Lived

The Girl Who Lived

by Morgan Greene

SeriesDetective Alexandra Marshall #1

PublisherBookouture Audio

GenreMystery & Thrillers

FormatALC

NarratorElise Roth

Length10 hrs 56 mins

Pages404

Pub. DateJuly 31, 2026

Rating⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DESCRIPTION

Five girls were taken. Only she survived…

Twelve years ago, Detective Alexandra Marshall crawled out of her own grave—beaten and broken, with no memory of how she got there and a symbol carved into her skin that she doesn’t understand. The only survivor, she will never forget the piercing screams of the four girls who lost their lives that day.

But when two women are murdered and another is abducted from the mist-shrouded pine forests around the little mountain town of Newport, symbols left on the bodies, Alex knows the killer that has haunted her for years has returned…

No one in town is willing to talk. But Alex’s need for justice doesn’t stop because doors slam in her face. She won’t let this twisted monster kill another innocent soul. And soon, she will find herself fighting not just for the truth, but for her life…

A totally addictive and heart-pounding crime and mystery thriller from the bestselling author of Angel Maker . Fans of Mary Stone, Lisa Regan, Elle Gray and A.J. Rivers will not be able to stop turning the pages!

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MY THOUGHTS

The Girl Who Survived by Morgan Greene is a gripping thriller about survival, resilience, and refusing to let the horrors of the past define who you become.

She was never meant to survive.

Thirteen years ago, Detective Alexandra Marshall - Alex - was one of five girls kidnapped by a brutal killer. She was beaten, tortured, and left for dead. Before abandoning her, the killer carved a gruesome symbol into her body. The other four girls were marked with the same symbol. Alex was the only one who survived.

But Alex is more than a survivor. She refused to allow that horrific experience to define her life. She joined the police force and worked her way up to become a detective with the local police department.

Now, a two brutal murders have rocked Newport, Washington, and the sudden disappearance of the police chief only adds to the growing sense of unease. When Alex is called to one of the crime scenes, she immediately notices something horrifying: the victims bear symbols eerily similar to the one carved into her all those years ago.

Could the killer have returned? And if so, what is the ultimate agenda?

With yet another woman now missing, an uncooperative town, and even resistance from members of the local police department, Alex faces obstacle after obstacle as she tries to uncover the truth. But she is relentless. She refuses to back down, determined to identify the killer before more lives are lost.

Alex is not simply the girl who lived. She is the girl who survived. The girl who thrived. The woman who refused to be defined by her past.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the Detective Alexandra Marshall series and am already looking forward to the second installment, The Missing Wives. I also loved Elise Roth’s narration and sincerely hope she continues voicing Alex throughout the series. Her performance added another layer to an already compelling story.

Many thanks to Bookouture Audio and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Morgan Greene grew up in Wales, and works a copywriter, editor, and author. Morgan studied Creative Writing and English Literature at Swansea University with a focus on narrative structure and theory, and published the first crime novel in the Jamie Johansson series in 2020. Since its release, the series has gone on to reach bestseller status, with Detective Jamie Johansson quickly becoming a reader favourite.

The series blends classic Scandi-noir elements with modern and cinematic thriller writing to create a unique style that adds to the emerging Brit-noir genre. Jamie has many novels ahead of her, but Morgan is also working on a variety of other projects across crime, thriller, and mystery and plans to publish plenty more in 2022 and beyond.(less) 

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Robin Loves Reading

Review - Witness 8

Witness 8

by Steve Cavanagh

SeriesEddie Flynn #8

PublisherAtria Books

GenrePsychological Thriller

FormatKindle ARC

Pages406

Pub. DateMarch 25, 2025

Rating🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

DESCRIPTION

This riveting psychological thriller from Steve Cavanagh, author of Kill for Me, Kill for You, asks: What if the witness was more dangerous than the killer?

Something is wrong with Ruby Johnson.

A former resident of the ultra-elite Manhattan upper class, Ruby now works as a maid in the type of houses she used to live in. Unassuming, she sees everyone’s dirty secrets from the inside of their beautiful, renovated brownstones. But when Ruby witnesses a murder, she has wicked plans in mind that don’t involve telling the authorities the truth.

Eddie Flynn, streetwise ex con-artist-turned-defense attorney, is the only lawyer in New York City willing to take on hopeless cases. And none is more hopeless than John Jackson’s—the gun that killed his neighbor found, with Jackson’s DNA, in his own home. Flynn and his unconventional team will need to use every trick they know to keep an innocent man from being locked up. But to save his client’s life, Eddie must first protect his own, as the scariest organized criminals in the city are out for his head.

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MY THOUGHTS

Witness 8 is another exceptional legal thriller in the Eddie Flynn series. In this latest installment, Eddie’s case takes on a different flavor. A woman has been murdered, and there appears to be a reliable witness. The man on trial is John Jackson, and Eddie believes he is innocent. But with the evidence stacked against John, the police have little reason to look elsewhere.

Enter Ruby Johnson. Ruby is a nanny and maid for the wealthy elite on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Because she is working class, she is essentially invisible to her wealthy clients. But when she witnesses the murder of her neighbor, she does something rather unusual. She takes the murder weapon and uses it to frame John Jackson, a respected pediatric neurosurgeon and one of her clients, for the murder.

If Eddie is going to use his skills as a former con artist and talented defense attorney, he will have to prove John’s innocence while also figuring out the enigmatic Ruby. This is no easy situation for Eddie, especially as he gets to know Ruby. She has a tragic past, and while her stories may initially seem believable, the more Eddie talks to her, the more he begins to doubt her.

What makes this story different from the others in the series is Ruby. She is the puppeteer pulling the strings, and she proves to be a formidable opponent for Eddie. The fact that Ruby is manipulative makes her an especially interesting adversary because manipulation is something Eddie knows all too well from his days as a con artist.

Cavanagh has created a battle of wits between two people who know exactly how to manipulate a situation - and watching Eddie try to outsmart Ruby is what makes Witness 8 such a page-turner.

Many thanks to Atria Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve Cavanagh is the multi-million bestselling author of the Eddie Flynn novels and standalone thrillers. In 2018 The Liar won the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger for crime novel of the year. In 2019 Thirteen won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the year 2019. 

All of his novels have either been nominated for awards, or have won awards internationally.

He is a former lawyer, and was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he still lives.

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Robin Loves Reading

Review - The Final Problem

 

The Final Problem

by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

PublisherLittle, Brown and Company

GenreHistorical Fiction

FormatKindle ARC

Pages320

Pub. DateFebruary 10, 2026

Rating⭐️⭐️⭐️

DESCRIPTION

For fans of White Lotus, Benjamin Stevenson, and Anthony Horowitz, a locked-room mystery set in 1960 at an isolated Greek island resort following a group of strangers, a suspicious death, and a washed-up actor ready to put his on-camera detective skills to the test.

June, 1960. Rough weather at sea leaves a group of strangers stranded on the idyllic Greek island of Utakos, all guests of the only local hotel. Nothing could prepare them for what happens Edith Mander, a quiet British tourist, is found dead inside the beach cabana. What appears at first glance to be a clear suicide reveals possible signs of foul play to Ormond Basil, an out-of-work but still well-known actor who in his glory days portrayed the most celebrated detective of all times. Accustomed to seeing him display Sherlock Holmes’ amazing powers of deduction on the big screen, the other guests believe that the actor is the best equipped to uncover the truth behind this classic closed-room mystery.

This clever, whip-smart, locked-room mystery from internationally bestselling author Arturo Pérez-Reverte is a love letter to golden-age detective novels. The Final Problem delights in exploring the tension between an investigator and his suspects, as well as a writer and his reader. The final reveal will surprise even the sharpest mystery lover in a truly satisfying conclusion. 

MY THOUGHTS

Is playing a detective in more than a dozen movies - and playing the infamous Sherlock Holmes - enough to qualify Ormond Basil as just the person to solve a murder? Well, Ormond is about to get that chance.

It is 1960, and Ormond is traveling in the Mediterranean when he finds himself stranded on a Greek island. This locked-room-type mystery takes off when one of the guests, Edith Mander, is found dead. Was it suicide, as originally assumed, or did one of the other guests have a hand in her death? Ormond quickly finds the other guests looking to him as the man with all the answers - and all the questions. After all, who better to figure out what actually happened to Edith?

With a mystery writer among the guests making the perfect “Watson,” Ormond gets to work. However, he soon learns that the killer is intelligent, has a few games in mind, and is nowhere near finished. Ormond can’t help but wonder if all of this is a game he has been lured into - a game with deadly consequences.

Ormond may have spent years playing Sherlock Holmes, but this time, the murder is real - and the killer may be one step ahead of him.

Many thanks to Little, Brown and Company and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Robin Loves Reading

Review - The Wife’s Irish Secret

The Wife’s Irish Secret

by Susanne O’Leary

SeriesMagnolia Manor #6

PublisherBookouture

GenreWomen’s Fiction; Romance

FormatKindle ARC

Pages252

Pub. DateDecember 18, 2025

Rating⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DESCRIPTION

‘I’ve never felt so at home in all my life. Ireland isn’t just in my blood; it’s in my heart. But I was mistaken if I thought this safe haven could erase my past…’

When Marian Fleury finds a love letter hidden in her husband Theo’s belongings, her heartbreak puts her on the first plane to Ireland. With her sister Claire’s wedding only a week away, she has the perfect excuse to escape to the Irish coast and decide where her future truly lies…

Marian is shocked by how quickly she adjusts to the beautiful sandy shores, shopping for dresses and collecting roses for the perfect wedding bouquet. As the ocean sparkles before her, the wind soft against her face, she manages to keep the pain Theo has caused her a secret and remembers that as a little girl she always wanted Ireland to be her home.

Yet just as Marian thinks her past is behind her, Theo arrives in town. He begs for her forgiveness, his handsome face and olive skin making her heart race like always, and suddenly she wonders if he might start afresh in the village with her.

But when she stumbles upon the woman her husband was sending letters to, in a beautiful cottage among the wildflowers, Marian learns that Theo has an even bigger secret. Can Marian find the strength to take the next steps in her own life, or is she about to lose everything?

Fans of Mary Alice Monroe, Sheila O’Flanagan and Debbie Macomber will be utterly entranced by this unputdownable second chance romance.

MY THOUGHTS

Marian Fleury’s marriage to Theo wasn’t very happy the past few years. The couple had lived in Australia, but it was never a place Marian quite called home. Spurred on by finding a love letter when going through her husband’s things - and her sister’s upcoming wedding in Ireland -  Marian packs her bags. She already feels a weight beginning to be lifted off of her.

Just as she had begun to suspect, being in Ireland gave her a feeling of home. It is familiar, beautiful, and offers Marian a hope for a new life. Just as she is starting to feel everything familiar - Theo shows up - and he wants her back! Meanwhile, Marian apparently has found the woman that Theo was writing to. Her peace continues to be disturbed, even as she has so many possibilities that could be hers. 

Romance. Could Marian have found it with a fellow passenger while on route to Ireland? With Theo suddenly showing up, even more secrets being revealed, and her very future to be considered, Marian finds that she has more than one decision to make. This lovely story is the sixth book in the Magnolia Manor series and was just as delightful as all of the previous installments were. 

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than 30 novels, mainly romantic fiction set in Ireland. Her many books set in County Kerry have been hugely popular with readers all over the world. She shares her time between Dublin and Kerry, where she and her husband have a little cottage near the beach. The wild, beautiful landscape, the small villages and the friendly people of that county have inspired her to write her feel-good stories. She's been inspired to write about people of all ages and walks of life, with lots of romance, and more than a dash of humour.

When she is not writing or reading by the fire, Susanne loves heading for the great outdoors, walking on the beaches or scaling the green hills of her favourite county. 

Visit Susanne at her website, http://www.susanne-oleary.co.uk 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoroleary

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanne.olearyauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/susl

Robin Loves Reading

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW - Paper Cut

  

Paper Cut

by Rachel Taff

PublisherWilliam Morrow

GenreMystery & Thrillers

FormatKindle ARC and Audio ALC

NarratorHelen Laser

Length9 hrs 28 mins

Pages304

Pub. DateJanuary 27, 2026

Rating⭐️⭐️⭐️

DESCRIPTION

A compelling suspense debut about a woman infamous for escaping a cult as a teenager, whose future is threatened when dangerous secrets come back to haunt her—perfect for fans of Jessica Knoll and The Girls.

Lucy Golden is a true-crime icon, infamous for the murder she committed while escaping a California cult twenty years ago. But as everyone in Los Angeles knows, fame is fleeting, and Lucy and her story are always just one news cycle away from obscurity. Not to mention, she’s fending off a stalker and moderating an icy feud between her acclaimed photographer mother and her scandalous rock star sister. Worst of all, online trolls are asking increasingly threatening questions about the legendary crime. Questions that could tear her life apart.

So when a hotshot documentarian makes her case the subject of his next film, Lucy sees a chance to silence any doubters once and for all. But as filming begins, she must return to the California desert and come face-to-face with a cast of players from her torrid history. Of course, the past is never what it seems, and long-buried secrets soon collide with present-day threats. Can Lucy stop her doubters from digging up the truth before it’s too late? And how far will she go to protect the story she’s been telling—and selling—all along?

Told in a narrative split between the present day and Lucy’s hit memoir about her fated summer in the cult, Paper Cut combines psychological suspense with coming-of-age Californian cult noir and a sharp examination of the true-crime phenomenon. As incisive as it is propulsive, this mesmerizing debut will keep readers hooked until the last page.

MY THOUGHTS

Lucy Golden once became famous for surviving a California cult when she was a teenager. Two decades later, she has somehow managed to stay in the spotlight, although that spotlight has begun to fade over the years. Now, her version of what happened all those years ago is being called into question, and suddenly Lucy finds herself in a position where she has to prove that her account is the truth.

Lucy’s life is in the limelight for other reasons, too. For one thing, she is being stalked. She also has tumultuous relationships with both her mother and her sister, who have achieved fame through their own careers. Knowing she can’t depend on either of them to clear up the events of the past, Lucy decides to return to where it all started - the California desert.

She is now filming a documentary while also working on her memoir. Lucy hopes that one—or perhaps both—will clear up any doubts about her story and help keep her relevant. But Lucy soon finds herself facing danger, and maybe the past should have stayed in the past.

Many thanks to William Morrow and to NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

Robin Loves Reading