One More Hour of Daylight by C. M. Gray

Rating: 5 star rating

I just finished One More Hour of Daylight by C.M. Gray. It’s a big change for this author since he usually writes fantasy books, but he totally crushed this WWII spy thriller.

The story gets you right from the beginning, in September 1939. A 17 year old British kid named Derrick Sedgley finds a wounded German pilot who parachuted from his plane into a field near an Essex barn. The pilot asks for just one more hour of daylight before he does anything else. Derrick makes a promise to bring him breakfast and protect him but he panics and breaks his promise before morning.

Four years later in 1943, and Derrick is still eaten up by the guilt. He's a hardened spy for the SOE - Special Operations Executive in occupied Europe. He is running routes through Burgundy and sneaking downed Allied airmen to the Spanish border. Everything blows up when a mission in Hamburg goes completely wrong. Derrick goes on the run with a German woman named Lotte Braun, who has secrets that put a target on their backs.

Now the SS are raiding safe houses, and the southern escape corridor is compromised. The original german Luftwaffe pilot from 1939 is back and this time he is the enemy.

Derrick and Lotte end up on a freezing trek up into the Pyrenees mountains being shot at, and trying to survive. The cold of the mountains, and their fear from hiding in safe houses is causing paranoia to set in.

There are no cliffhangers. The ending gives you closure and ties everything up. It's a bittersweet wrap-up that brings the whole 1939 promise full circle right into the final 1943 mountain chase. It will definitely show you how you will feel about the cost of doing the right thing too late. I would definitely recommend this ebook. I love WWII stories, and this one didn't disappoint. Great book.

Thank you, BookSirens, Constance Books, and author C. M. Gray, for providing me with a copy of this free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

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Dear Ophelia by Yours Truly

Rating: 5 star rating

I just finished reading Dear Ophelia by Yours Truly, and it is a collection of personal letters and poetry addressed to a modern-day version of Ophelia. The text is written from the author voice known as "Yours Truly," with the clear purpose of helping Ophelia push through grief, life trials, and depressed mental status.

What makes it stand out is the way it deals with deep depression. Instead of allowing Ophelia to be a depressed figure who succumbs to her life like in Shakespeare's classic play. This book makes her into a survivor.  

In the middle of the book, it takes the worst of life's difficulties and turns it around. Instead of letting the pain break Ophelia, the poetry acts as a shield, and it motivates her to keep moving on, and it shows what the power of friendship can do to help a person.  

The final pages offer emotional closure. It leaves you with a sense of hope, friendship, and choosing to look forward.

This is a quick read, but it is the best book of poetry that i have ever read. It deals with depression in a special way. I have never understood poetry very much, but this book i can actually read and understand. My only complaint is that some of the poetry seemed repetitive, but i still enjoyed it. I definitely recommend picking this book up.

Thank you, NetGalley, ACTE IV, and author Yours Truly, for providing me with a copy of this free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

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Beyond Words A Poetic Awakening by J. Newman

Rating: 4 star rating

I just finished Beyond Words: A Poetic Awakening by J. Newman. This is a beautifully written, debut collection that reads like a deep, personal journey. The book is driven by the poet's own voice, using a free verse and conversational style. Instead of relying on strict, old-fashioned rhyming patterns, Newman uses layered, modern imagery and concise, punchy lines. It feels grounded, pulling you into deep, reflection without feeling overly complex or academic.  

The journey tracks the full spectrum of emotions we all go through. It starts out heavy, dealing with the raw, messy side of pain, grief, and personal suffering. From there, it shifts into light observations of the quiet, everyday moments we usually rush past, finding peace in stillness, nature, and simple presence. The focus is about waking up to who you are, moving past a crowded mind, and finding genuine self-love. 

By the end, you get a sense of peace. It leaves the pain behind and leaves you with a feeling of comfort, hope, and clarity. It also leaves you with a lasting reminder to live more intentionally. If you like poetry and appreciate this modern, minimalist style, this would definitely be a great book to pick up.

Thank you, NetGalley, Books Go Social, and the author J. Newman, for the book review consideration. All opinions are my own.

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Skyring Water by Louis L'Amour and Beau L'Amour

Rating: 4 star rating

This Cold War spy thriller will completely surprise you, if you only know Louis L'Amour for his old Westerns. This story is set in 1961, and starts off with an ex-Navy salvage diver named Mike Fowler, discovers his partner, a German scientist with a dark WWII past, standing over a dead blackmailer. 

They uncover a secret. The location of 30 tons of stolen Nazi gold hidden inside a sunken submarine at the bottom of the ocean. This turns into a global cat and mouse chase. They have to put a diving team together while running for their lives from the CIA, Israeli spies, and a creepy underground Nazi group. The story takes you all over the place; from France and Venezuela to a freezing island right in the Skyring Water region off the coast of Patagonia, South America.

The story itself was good, but honestly, I think it could have been better. My biggest issue is that the book gets way too detailed. It felt like every time a gun or a boat was brought out, the story stopped to give me the exact make, model, and mechanical history. Unless you are a total military or submarine nerd, a lot of this talking just slows the pacing down. 

The book does a great job showing that finding a massive treasure isn't always a blessing. The characters quickly hint at the idea that 30 tons of cursed Nazi bullion might just be an inescapable trap that puts a permanent target on their backs. The final act turns into a brutal, cold fight for survival as they close in on the wreck, and it becomes a question of whether anyone will even make it off that freezing island alive.  

It's a cool, old-school adventure book that the author's son, Beau L'Amour, finished decades after his dad started it. It’s worth a read, just be prepared to skim through a lot of heavy technical descriptions.

Thank you, NetGalley, Ballantine, and the authors Louis L'Amour and Beau L'Amour, for the book review consideration. All opinions are my own.

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Out of the Depths by Viktor Rose

Rating: 5 star rating

Out of the Depths by Viktor Rose is a supernatural thriller that I just couldn't put down. It is a fiction book (about 318 pages), but it feels so real because it deals with the true spiritual warfare that happens all around us every single day.

The story is about a woman named Angela. She is struggling in life, fighting a bad drinking problem, and separated from her young son. One night, she gets kidnapped by a very sick, broken man named Marshall. Marshall had a terrible childhood and is actually being manipulated by a demon, though he doesn't realize it. While a detective is trying hard to find Angela, the book shows us the real battle; the spiritual war between angels and demons fighting over these souls.  

Being locked up forces Angela to sober up and face her demons, literally and spiritually. Instead of giving up, her faith and survival spirit start to break down her kidnapper's control. I won't give away the ending, but the author wraps everything up in a great way.  

There are no tricks, it just shows that God gave us free will, and that even in our darkest moments, there is hope and redemption. It is a dark and spooky story at times, but it left me feeling so inspired about the power of prayer, angels, and God's love. If you love a good mystery with deep Christian themes, you need to read this.

Thank you, NetGalley, V&E Rose Publishing, and author Viktor Rose for this free book review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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Hard Shadows by J. B. Turner

Rating: 5 star rating

This is for fans of deep state government conspiracy stories.  

This is book 16, Hard Shadows, in the Jon Reznick series, but it feels totally different from the older books. Usually, Jon is blowing things up and getting into gunfights, but this time, it's like an intense detective mystery. Jon has to use his brains and investigative skills more than his fists, which is a different change of pace.

The story starts when Jon gets a call while in New Orleans. A high-level CIA director named Stephen Leahy has been thrown into a secure mental hospital in Maryland, and everyone thinks he has gone completely crazy. But he tells Jon a terrifying secret about dirty politicians in the government and they are planning a fake attack on American oil companies over in Guyana so they have an excuse to blame Venezuela and launch an invasion to steal their oil reserves. Jon isn't sure if he should believe this story at first, but then Leahy’s dad mysteriously drowns right after finding out the truth. That is when the action kicks into high gear. 

Jon teams up with his reporter friend Caroline, who uses her contacts, to get them some help in nailing all this information down. Suddenly, Jon is running from government assassins, getting shot at and attacked. Jon and Caroline are then both running across different states, trying to dodge elite assassins and find secret contacts who are too terrified to talk.

It gets a bit slower in the middle because there is a lot of dialogue, talking to informants, and moving things around. But the tension never stops building. The ending doesn't wrap up every single little detail, but Jon manages to stop the immediate danger and stay alive. It leaves the door open for chaos later, and it sets up the next book Hard Blood, book 17 in the series.

Thank you, NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK, and author J. B. Turner for this free book review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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Typology-Understanding the Bible's Promise-Shaped Patterns How Old Testament Expectations are Fulfilled in Christ by James M. Hamilton, Jr.

Rating: 5 star rating

Masterpiece of Intrinsic Historical Design—How the Whole Bible Fits Together

If you want to understand how the entire Bible ties together, James M. Hamilton Jr.’s book Typology, is an eye opening book. This book is a factual work of biblical theology. Hamilton gives a real, text based breakdown of how the Old Testament connects to the New Testament. His main point is that the human authors of the Old Testament knew exactly what they were doing. They intentionally wove repeating historical patterns into their writing that find their true, factual fulfillment in the life of Jesus.

Hamilton organizes his study into three real world categories: historical people, events, and institutions.

First, he traces the matching profiles of historical figures like Adam, Moses, and King David, showing how their life experiences created a blueprint for the coming Messiah. 

Second, he looks at massive historical events, like the original Creation and the Exodus from Egypt. He explains how biblical writers used these real events as templates to predict a future "New Creation" and "New Exodus." 

Third, he looks at God's established institutions, like marriage and the Tabernacle, showing how they were physical symbols of deeper spiritual truths.

A major highlight is how Hamilton connects the Old Testament animal sacrifices to the New Testament through what he calls "intrinsic historical design." This simply means that the connections between the two testaments are a built in, intentional feature of real history, not a coincidence or something later Christians made up. He shows that the rules of animal sacrifice and the rituals of the High Priest were physically engineered from the beginning to act as a placeholder. These real world practices deliberately trained people to look forward to Jesus, who would become the ultimate High Priest and the final sacrifice on the cross.

Hamilton rejects imaginative guessing. He gives readers tools to find patterns by following Bible quotes, matching sequences of events, and the reuse of specific vocabulary words. 

The book builds to a finish by showing how the first promise in Genesis 3, that a savior would come to crush the serpent, creates a snowball effect through history. The ultimate takeaway is that the Bible is a coordinated masterpiece where every unfulfilled Old Testament pattern hits an absolute resolution in Christ. 

While some scholars debate how conscious the ancient writers were of these long term patterns, this book remains a must read for anyone who wants to see how the whole Bible structurally fits together.

This book was purchase by myself. All opinions are my own.

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Brighter than Before A feel-good novel about finding yourself and falling in love again by Courtney Walsh with Patti Murin, narrator

Rating: 5 star rating

I just finished listening to Brighter than Before by Courtney Walsh. If you need a good, hope filled story, you have to pick this one up. 

Claire, is 46 and an empty nester. After her husband's highly public cheating scandal, she leaves her country club life in Denver behind. She moves to Chicago and gets an apartment and tackles a "Checklist of Fears" from her therapist to reinvent her life. This includes confronting her comfort zone by starting her own baking business.

Her neighbor and landlord, Miles, is a highlight of her life. He has sworn off committed relationships but steps up to support her dreams when she doesn't believe in herself.

The relationship between Claire and her daughter, Minnie, who is studying abroad in London, is very special. Minnie actually takes over her mom’s online dating profile and teams up with Miles to filter out suitors and hand pick her dates. This leads to some of the most hilariously disastrous first dates I've ever read, but through every single flop, Miles there to comfort and encourage her. 

The book gives you the perfect clean ending with complete closure, proving it is never too late to get out of your comfort zone and find yourself. 

Patti Murin’s narration is great. She handles the quick witted banter perfectly and does an amazing job with Miles's voice. I recommend this one for anyone who wants a sweet, wholesome romance with actual emotional depth.

Thank you, NetGalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction, and the author Courtney Walsh and Patti Murin, narrator for the book review consideration. All opinions are my own.

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This is a review of the audiobook.

Learning to Breathe Again: A Novel, Book One of the Work of Becoming Trilogy by Tonya Cam, author with Lily Redfield, narrator

Rating: 5 star rating

Learning to Breathe Again by Tonya Cam is a beautiful, heart wrenching piece of historical fiction. The story follows Mary Simons, a grieving young mother in 1933 Miami whose world is shattered after losing her baby. She spent months recording respiration rates on medical charts instead of baby milestones, and the heartbreak is palpable.

Then there’s Elena Wagner, a woman from New York, who hides behind beautiful silk dresses and an adoring husband, Arthur, trying to run from the painful memories of nursing her late mother and sister. When an unplanned pregnancy threatens to drag Elena back into that caregiver role, she is terrified.

A chance encounter at the Chicago World’s Fair brings Mary and Elena together. But their bond truly cements when economic desperation forces Mary’s husband, Frank, and Elena's husband, Arthur, to take work in the grueling sugarcane fields of Clewiston, Florida. Mary has difficulty living around the oppressive heat and the smoke of the cane burns, due to her bad asthma attacks. So this is part of the ending of the story.

I listened to the audiobook edition narrated by Lily Redfield, and her performance brought so much raw emotion to their struggles. The ending doesn't wrap everything up perfectly, but it provides a satisfying sense of emotional survival and closure. It highlights the saving grace of female friendship and sets up the next book in The Work of Becoming Trilogy. You absolutely need to add this to your TBR list.

Thank you, NetGalley, Hammock Oak Publishing, and the author Tonya Cam and Lily Redfield, narrator for the book review consideration. All opinions are my own.

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The Silent Cry by Kenzaburo Oe, author with Kevin Shen, narrator

Rating: 3 star rating

The Silent Cry by Kenzaburo Oe is a really tough read. It follows two brothers, Mitsu and Takashi, who go back to their old family village in Japan, and everything just goes downhill from there.

Heads up: this book is incredibly depressing and has some super messed up sexual stuff in it. Honestly, I couldn't get through the sexual content and had to skip over parts. I almost DNF'd (did not finish) the whole story. The main guy, Mitsu, is dealing with awful depression because his best friend killed himself and his newborn baby has severe disabilities. On top of that, there is some really disturbing stuff involving incest, violence, and a graphic assault on Mitsu's wife.

The story gets wild because the younger brother, Takashi, basically loses his mind and starts a violent riot after recruiting some kids from a soccer team.

I thought Kevin Shen (Narrator) narrator did a great job with the character development and changing of voices.

I would not recommend this audiobook to some people or anyone with triggers. It was not my choice of book for myself.

Thank you, NetGalley, Bolinda Audio, the author Kenzaburo Oe, author and Kevin Shen, narrator for the book review consideration. All opinions are my own

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This is a review of the audiobook.