Amazon Publishing – Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner

About the Book

ISBN-13:9781662513442 Publisher:Amazon Publishing Publication date:05/13/2025 Pages:335

At twenty-five, Ruby Nevins has already endured more than most. But after two years of battling cancer, she’s warily determined to move forward. Researching a new project about a French actress, she soon uncovers an old diary that will change her life forever…

Cécile, the “it” girl of early 1940s French cinema, vanished from Nazi-occupied Paris in 1942. Sylvia Rousseau, Cécile’s dressmaker and confidante, left that same year. Working to piece together the truth behind Cécile’s disappearance and Sylvia’s extraordinary life, Ruby recognizes the women as kindred spirits. They risked their hearts and lives to aid the Resistance, and each day was a struggle to survive.

Ruby knows her cancer could come back, but she’s learning to embrace the future rather than fear it. If Cécile and Sylvia could live their lives in the shadow of death, so can Ruby. Because she knows there’s so much life—and love—to fight for.

My Thoughts

The story of Ruby, an author who is inspired to write the story of a missing actress and her dressmaker, is one that is poignant, realistic and soul-stirring. The women she is writing about lived during the Second World War in Nazi-occupied France. Facing danger daily was part of their way of life since both Cecile, the actress, and her dressmaker Sylvia, worked with the resistance by feeding them information via Cecile’s sister Emile. The story is a dual timeline story, showing the struggles of Cecile and Sylvia in 1940’s France and the challenge to grasp life that Ruby faces since she is a cancer survivor. The themes of strength, courage, fortitude and persistence are prevalent in this novel that had me crying and cheering, just pages apart. The characters were totally realistic, especially Ruby and her determined quest to find out the truth about Sylvia and Cecile. Using a journal written by Sylvia, Ruby researches and continues to dig out nuggets of Sylvia’s story of being a Jew in Paris when the Nazis were working hard to exterminate them. The book was well-paced and totally absorbing as I lost myself in the pages, wanting to know as much as Ruby did what had happened to Sylvia and Cecile. With multiple narrators and a well-woven story, the history of the women is given in a way that is a compelling look at self-sacrifice and family love. This book is without a doubt one of the best WWII historical fiction novels that I have read, told with the grit and authentic details that made me gasp with awe or disgust, depending on what was happening in the scene. The author brilliantly and seamlessly wove the stories of the women together, even as they were decades and a continent apart. I loved the story and the writing style that captivated my attention and securely held it from beginning to end.
Disclaimer: I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Rated PG-15, intense scenes and closed door sexual encounters

About the Author

Amazon Charts bestselling author, Mary Ellen Taylor’s love of her home state Virginia is evident in her contemporary women’s fiction, including The Promise of Tomorrow, Winter Cottage, Spring House, and Honeysuckle Season. She brings her new home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to life in her latest novel The Brighter The Light and When the Rain Ends.

As do so many people, her protagonists search for their place in the world, exploring issues of family, home, love and belonging. Inevitably, Mary Ellen’s stories interweave setting, history and mysteries that span past and present. Website: maryellentaylor.com

About the Book

ISBN-13:9781662508844

Publisher: Amazon Publishing

Publication date: 11/07/2023

Series: Finley O’Sullivan , #3

Synopsis

Legal investigator Finley O’Sullivan has dealt with her share of shady characters, but the firm’s latest client has an even darker past than most. In fact, Nashville Metro Police seems to think he’s a murderer.

Finley isn’t so sure. Her investigation into Ray Johnson’s history focuses on the unsolved murder of a teenager who died seventeen years earlier. The case went cold, but questions remain. Months after the girl’s death, people close to her started disappearing—her mother first, then Ray’s brother. But why?

As Finley races to solve a decades-old murder, she uncovers new clues and long-buried secrets that could blow the case wide open. But whoever killed the girl all those years ago may still be a threat—and now the chase is on.

My Thoughts

Finley O’Sullivan is a kick butt and take no prisoners private investigator and lawyer. She wants all the truth, but first she has to methodically weed through the lies. She’s my favorite character in the series because she is damaged but refuses to be broken, vulnerable but not weak, intelligent and intuitive. In the latest Finley novel by Debra Webb, Finley has to try to solve a cold case of a murder and a disappearance that are over a decade old. Lucy Cagle was an intrepid high school student, determined to investigate a crime syndicate and expose the bad guys just like her famous reporter mom did. But Lucy was killed and her murderer was never found. At the same time, Ian Johnson, a younger son in the Johnson crime family, disappeared, never to be seen again. Now it is up to Finley to find out if the two events are related and if so, how since she is helping her employer Jack investigate Ray Johnson for an impending case against him. There are a lot of very satisfying twists in this novel that had me wondering just where the story was going and how it was going to get there. But author Debra Webb never disappoints in weaving a tale that is complicated and that stimulates my imagination as it keeps me mesmerized in the story and the characters. Each character contributed to the story and none was more evident than Finley’s unassuming and kind-hearted father who apparently knew something about Lucy that he wasn’t sharing. I loved the dynamics of the characters and how Finley had to prod and poke at them to get to the truth. This is a book with breath-stopping suspense and sharp, addictive writing that kept me reading and guessing all the way to the end. With well-crafted and cleverly written twists, this book is absolutely brilliant and one of the best suspense books that I have ever read! With a compelling and multi-layered mystery, this novel had me intrigued, only willing to put the book down once I had reached the satisfying conclusion.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley as well as from the author as part of her street team. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”