Author: Brenda Novak

Review: The Secrets She Kept – Brenda Novak

Review: The Secrets She Kept – Brenda Novak

The Secrets She Kept is a mystery with seemingly endless possibilities when it comes to the who did it. While the characters are the same in The Secrets She Kept and The Secret Sister, the tone and the feel of the story here is quite different. Partly because it unfolds five years after the ending of the first book, and possibly also because it was more from Keith’s point of view, and he had made some huge changes in his life in the past five years. This character growth, as well as the suspense surrounding the matriarch’s death made me both anxious to keep reading, and kept me guessing, and guessing, and guessing. When Keith got news of his mother’s […]

Posted 23 August, 2016 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 6 Comments
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Review: Discovering You – Brenda Novak

Review: Discovering You – Brenda Novak

Discovering You is just as much about self-discovery as it is about discovering other people and getting to know them. Strong characters made the story move forward. If you’re familiar with Novak’s Whiskey Creek series, you know all about the Amos bad-boy brothers – how they aren’t necessarily as bad as some people make them out to be, because they’re hard-working, loyal and open for love if it ever comes their way. Discovering You is about India, who has just moved to Whiskey Creek, and her frequent encounters with Rod. India has been through a pretty horrible year, and it seems her ordeal is not completely over yet. Between what India thinks she needs, and what her heart wants – […]

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Review: A Winter Wedding – Brenda Novak

Review: A Winter Wedding – Brenda Novak

A Winter Wedding is a sweet and intense romance, in which Kyle gets a new chance at love, even if his ex is dong her best to stop him from moving his life forward. My A Winter Wedding review: I was so happy to get Kyle’s story at last! He had been through so much heartache, and he really deserved to catch a break. A Winter Wedding is his story, and Lourdes was definitely a worthy romantic interest for him. While their romance was really moving forward fast, it made sense to me, because they were thrown together during a time that was a bit difficult for both of them – and because they didn’t know each other they opened […]

Posted 20 October, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 16 Comments
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Review: Hanover House – Brenda Novak

Review: Hanover House – Brenda Novak

Hanover House is really, really creepy! And well written with an amazing main character who has been through hell, and now wants to help figure out what it is that makes a psychopath. Filled with suspense and a little romance, this prequel definitely made me want more! My Hanover House review: From the very start of Hanover House, I was in awe of Evelyn! Instead of hiding and not confronting her fears after she was brutally attacked by her boyfriend when she was only sixteen, she went on to become a psychiatrist to try to find out what exactly it is that makes some people psychopaths. And she wanted to further her research to see if there was any possibility […]

Posted 3 September, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 7 Comments
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Review: The Secret Sister – Brenda Novak

Review: The Secret Sister – Brenda Novak

The Secret Sister is simply fabulous! The mystery unfolds slowly, and the characters are very complex, and Josephine is the kind of mother I’m so happy I didn’t have growing up – and even later. My The Secret Sister review: Maisey had never wanted to go back to Fairham Island ever. And especially not to live there, close to her autocratic mother and her broken drug-abusing brother. However, after a nasty divorce she needed a change of scenery, as well as a place where she could stay for while to lick her wounds until writing and illustrating her children’s books became something she felt capable to do again. The Secret Sister has a very melancholy tone, and there are so […]

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Review: This Heart of Mine – Brenda Novak

Review: This Heart of Mine – Brenda Novak

This Heart of Mine took me completely by surprise! A beautiful second chance at love story, set in one of my favorite fictional towns is just filled with good stuff even when there are bad things happening, too. My This Heart of Mine review: When I started This Heart of Mine, I was prepared not only to not enjoy the story, but to not enjoy the heroine either. And I’m so happy I was wrong! Phoenix hasn’t only had a tough childhood, her adult life hasn’t exactly been a piece of cake, either. In prison for 17 years, never having met her son before she was finally liberated, she decided to brave it all and go back to the town […]

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Review: The Heart of Christmas – Brenda Novak

Review: The Heart of Christmas – Brenda Novak

  The Heart of Christmas is a lovely story about Eve, who is one of my few friends in Whiskey Creek still in need of some serious TLC! My The Heart of Christmas review: Eve Harmon is the character who is the main focus in The Heart of Christmas. For a long time, she’s been all alone, and her last relationship didn’t last, and now, Ted is engaged to someone else – with Eve’s blessings. For her birthday, she decides to go all out, even if her friends or parents aren’t in town, and when she wakes up the next day, there’s a strange man sleeping next to her in bed. Completely out of character for her, Eve is trying […]

Posted 27 October, 2014 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 11 Comments
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#COYER Review: Come Home to Me (Whiskey Creek #6) – Brenda Novak

#COYER Review: Come Home to Me (Whiskey Creek #6) – Brenda Novak

*I received a free ARC of Come Home to Me from Harlequin MIRA via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review* As usual, any book in the Whiskey Creek series is like catching up with good friends I haven’t seen in a while. Come Home to Me is the story where Presley and Aaron are the main characters, and I was very eager to learn more about both of them, as they have both had pretty difficult childhoods, and both have also had trouble with alcohol or drugs. Turning their lives around hasn’t been easy for either of them, but Presley has had a lot of help from Wyatt, whereas Aaron has worked hard at his family’s auto-repair shop to […]

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Review: Take Me Home for Christmas (Whiskey Creek #5) – Brenda Novak

Review: Take Me Home for Christmas (Whiskey Creek #5) – Brenda Novak

*I received a free ARC of Take Me Home for Christmas from Harlequin MIRA via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.* Take Me Home for Christmas is yet another nicely done story in the Whiskey Creek series. Approaching Christmas, everything that can go wrong in Sophia’s life does indeed go wrong. On a yacht with her husband, Skip, and their daughter Lexi, off the coast of Rio to celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary, Skip disappears in thin air. As soon as the boat arrives in Rio, Sophia has to talk to the local police, and she soon learns that there is an arrest warrant out for Skip. The FBI shows up in Whiskey Creek around the same time Skip’s […]

Posted 23 October, 2013 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 0 Comments
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Review: Home to Whiskey Creek (Whiskey Creek #4) – Brenda Novak

Review: Home to Whiskey Creek (Whiskey Creek #4) – Brenda Novak

*I received a free ARC of Home to Whiskey Creek from Harelquin MIRA via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review* Home to Whiskey Creek deals with a heavier subject matter than the prior books in the series, and they weren’t all light and fluffy either! Adelaide can’t forget the graduation party that destroyed her faith in guys, and changed her life forever. Even by staying away from Whiskey Creek for thirteen years, she is weary being back – with good reason. Noah is out mountain biking when he hears a shout for help from the old mine. If there’s one place he wants to stay far away from, it’s the mine, where his brother died thirteen years ago in […]

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