Book Review for To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast

 

Divided Fates #1

To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast

Published:  March 3, 2026 by Avon

Genre:  Dystopian, Romantasy

Taken from Goodreads:  Enter the brutal world of Endlock, a prison where the wealthy hunt the inmates for sport. The first novel in an electrifying dystopian romance series, this high-octane debut about forbidden love, found family, and a fight for survival will leave you breathless.

In the city of Dividium, the law is simple: commit a crime, and your punishment is a life sentence in Endlock.

Raven Thorne is Dividium’s most notorious bounty hunter, living on the edge of society. But when her younger brother, Jed, is sentenced to Endlock, Raven will do anything to save him—even if it means getting herself arrested.

Now trapped in a prison where danger lurks around every corner, Raven must use all her cunning and strength to protect Jed—and herself if she is to complete her perilous mission. But there’s one obstacle she never expected: the prison guard who stirs something deep inside her. The man she should hate. The man whose true motives seem impossible to pin down.

In a world where trust is a weapon and love is a liability, Raven must decide if she will risk everything to tear down a vicious system.

My Thoughts:  A debut dystopian novel… I could not wait to sink my teeth into this story.  At no point was I disappointed.   From the very beginning I was invested in the storyline and the characters.   The author did something amazing; she caught me from the first paragraph and never let me go.   This is the perfect book, and I am excited to see what she writes next. 

To Cage a Wild Bird felt like a YA book with the ending not being a cliffhanger but leaving it open for potentially more to come.   I loved the YA vibes, even better with the spicy parts sprinkled within the story.   The relationships and friendships between the characters made them relatable, making it easy to cheer them on.

I loved this book and cannot wait to talk about it with my fellow dystopian readers.

Thank you Avon for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Brooke Fast is a lover of dystopian, fantasy, and all things romance. When she’s not writing new worlds, you can find her curled up on the couch with her husband and their pups in their self-built tiny house in the mountains of Maine. She’ll either be consuming copious amounts of coffee and thumbing through the latest romantasy release or sharing book reviews and writing snippets under her alter-ego, @librarybrookes. To Cage a Wild Bird is her first novel.

 

Book Review for All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, Arthur Wesley Wheen (Translator)

 

All Quiet on the Western Front/The Road Back #1

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, Arthur Wesley Wheen (Translator)

First published January 1, 1928

Taken from Goodreads:  One by one the boys begin to fall…

In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their schoolmaster to troop off to the ‘glorious war’. With the fire and patriotism of youth they sign up. What follows is the moving story of a young ‘unknown soldier’ experiencing the horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches.

 

My Thoughts:  All Quiet on the Western Front is a war story.   While reading I felt like I was alongside the boys fighting the war.  There is graphic details that brought to life the horrors that the soldiers saw and lived through. 

 

The story is a real look at life as a soldier.  Everything from the front line fighting, the friendships that were developed, the injuries received, and the visits home were shared with first hand knowledge.   There is so much more to this book.  I had tears in my eyes during many scenes, smiles for the friendships and laughs, and fear for all that the soldiers were experiencing.  

 

All Quiet on the Western Front is an amazing book.  A story that is almost 100 years old but unchanging as it is the true story of a German Soldier.

 

Thank you Penguin Classics for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) wrote his most famous novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, based on his experience as a soldier in the German army in World War I; it became an instant bestseller upon its publication in 1929. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they burned his books and, in 1938, revoked his citizenship. Remarque had already resettled in Switzerland; in 1939 he left Europe for the United States, never to return to the country of his birth. All Quiet on the Western Front has been translated into more than fifty languages and adapted into three acclaimed movies. It is the most widely read novel of World War I.

Maria Tatar (translator) is the John L. Loeb Research Professor of Folklore & Mythology and Germanic Languages & Literatures, Emerita, and a senior fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. She is the author, editor, and translator of many acclaimed books, among them The Heroine with 1001 Faces, Lustmord: Sexual Violence in Weimar Germany, and, with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the NAACP Image Award–winning Annotated African American Folktales. She served as Harvard’s first Dean for the Humanities and is a frequent contributor to the BBC, NPR, and other media outlets. Born in Pressath, Germany, and raised in Illinois, she now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Samantha Power (foreword) is the author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning book “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide and the New York Times bestselling memoir The Education of an Idealist. A former war correspondent, she served as the US ambassador to the United Nations, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and a member of President Obama’s cabinet, and is a professor of practice at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School.

 

PRAISE FOR ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT:
“[A] gripping new translation . . . Human fallibility almost guarantees that All Quiet on the Western Front will be read generations from now. But with more conflict occurring now than at any time since the end of the Cold War, with global tensions among the superpowers rising, and with entire media ecosystems armed for informational warfare and demonization, we can be grateful that this new translation will help shape the moral architecture of future generations—driving home the urgent necessity of seeing our common humanity despite all that stands in the way.” —Samantha Power, from the Foreword

Spotlight for Then There Was You by S.L. Scott

Then There Was You by S.L. Scott

Publish date is March 27, 2026

I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to smile, to laugh, and to really live. Until I met him.

Heart-stoppingly handsome.

Totally forbidden.

Keats Matthews looked at me like I was something special.

He was escaping his past. I wanted to escape my present. Together, we fell hard and fast and knew we had found forever. Or so we thought …

Six years later, his shoulders are broader than I remembered, his charming smile thaws my frozen heart, and it’s so tempting to run my fingers through his hair like I did years ago. But it’s the tenderness and warmth in his brown eyes that remind me of the forever we almost shared.

It’s magic when we’re together again. Our chemistry has only magnified. Seeing him, confident and more irresistible than ever, has me falling for him all over again and hoping for a second chance.

But he still believes our timing was off before. He’s wrong. It was the secret I kept hidden that was our undoing. Time hasn’t healed old wounds, and not everything hidden has come to light. When it does, we’ll stand together or fall apart. Either way, we must find out.

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Cover Reveal for Marked by the Alpha by Sheritta Bitikofer

 

Marked by the Alpha
Sheritta Bitikofer
Publication date: June 11th 2026
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

An alpha with a storied legacy. An independent woman rebuilding after grief. Forbidden desire—for only one is human….

After her mother’s death, photographer Erica Barrett, buys a home she and her mother obsessed over during her childhood in the quaintly historical town of Tolstone. Her magnetic next door neighbor intrigues and disturbs her. The sensual pull feels otherworldly.

Wolf shifter Dominic Beaumont never wanted to be the prime alpha of the sanctuary city, Tolstone, but when his father dies, he’s forced to step up as pack leader and prime alpha over all the wolf packs sheltering in his town. Erica’s arrival is dangerous. The attraction is fierce and instant, but duty comes first.

When revelations about Erica’s past and parentage create chaos, and she questions everything she thought she knew about herself, Dominic is her strength. But as tension builds in the pack, and his leadership is challenged, love becomes a risk that could cost him his authority, his people, and everything he’s sworn to protect.

Perfect for readers craving illicit wolf-shifter romance filled with fate, secrets, rebellion and an alpha willing to risk everything for love.

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Author Bio:

Sheritta Bitikofer writes paranormal romance with a particular fondness for wolf shifters and witches. Her stories are driven by one guiding belief: love inspires courage. Through fierce romances, unbreakable pack bonds, and the magic of covens and family, her characters fight for the lives—and loves—they deserve. Sheritta lives in northwest Florida, where she drinks far too much coffee and joyfully balances life as a wife and mother while crafting her next heartfelt paranormal love story.

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Book Review for The Fix Up by Marina Adair

 The Fix Up by Marina Adair

Published:   February 26, 2026

Genre:  Sports Romance, Matchmaker

Taken from Goodreads:  Poppy Hart is one viral project away from hitting a million followers when she inherits a crumbling Mid Century Modern house in the Hollywood Hills—every DIYer’s dream. Even better, her eccentric Aunt Opal pulls strings to land her a full-production renovation show. The downside? The contractor is none other than Decker “Drill ’Em Hard” Jamison, former NHL legend, current shirtless menace, and the man Poppy once shared the most catastrophic blind date in the history of blind dates with. Walking away isn’t an option—not when this show could change her life and Opal is the only person who’s never abandoned her.

Decker isn’t exactly thrilled either. After a career-ending injury and one very unfortunate neon-orange-thong scandal, he needs a PR miracle, not six weeks trapped with a judgmental, freckled DIY princess who thinks a good time is alphabetizing paint samples. Still, the contract is signed, the cameras are rolling, and neither of them knows the the “renovation show” is actually Opal’s secret matchmaking experiment, and Poppy and Decker are her final, most chaotic test subjects. Soon they’re drowning in viewer-dictated challenges, mysterious house mishaps, and a rescue dog with better instincts than either of them—while the sparks they swore they’d never feel again start burning dangerously close.

But when the truth about the show explodes—on camera—trust fractures, loyalties snap, and Poppy is left wondering why being abandoned by Decker hurts worse than anything before. The only way to fix what’s broken is for both of them to take the biggest risk of telling the truth, choosing each other, and betting that sometimes the real love experiment isn’t filmed for television—it's the one that changes your life for good.

My Thoughts:  The Fix Up is an easy and quick read.   The story flows pretty much as expected.   There were a few little twists but nothing that shook up the story so much that I did not see it coming.   This is a book that goes as expected with relatable characters, a flirty storyline, and the HEA that is expected.

I enjoyed the secondary characters.   Decker’s brother and nephew add a great look at his home life.   The nephew is only 18 but had a very adult outlook on life, giving advice to his uncle.  Opal, Poppy’s aunt, is very unique and made me giggle a few times with her antics. 

Thank you Hambright PR for a copy of the book via BookFunnel in exchange for my honest review.

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Purchase your own copy on Amazon

Meet the Author (taken from her website):  Marina Adair is a New York Times author whose fun, flirty contemporary romances have sold over a million copies. She has hit #1 overall in Amazon Kindle Paid and her St. Helena Vineyard series was optioned and made into the original Hallmark Channel Vineyard movies: Autumn in the Vineyard, Summer in the Vineyard, and Valentines in the Vineyard. Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a MFA from San Jose University and currently lives in Northern California with her husband, daughter, and two neurotic cats.

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Book Mail

 

The Missing Pages by Alyson Richman

From international bestselling author Alyson Richman comes a love story, a ghost story, and an elegy to the healing power of books.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their schoolmaster to troop off to the ‘glorious war’. With the fire and patriotism of youth they sign up. What follows is the moving story of a young ‘unknown soldier’ experiencing the horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches.

Mistakes Were Made by Lucy Score

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lucy Score, whose smash hit Things We Never Got Over captured millions of hearts, invites you back to Story Lake for a swoon-worthy new small town romantic comedy.

Slow Guillotine by Teo Rivera-Dundas 

Winner of the Barbara DiBernard Prize in FictionSlow Guillotine follows three broke weirdos whose collective desire to make and think about art is constantly interrupted by their art-industry-adjacent minimum-wage jobs. Throughout the novel, the three friends’ day jobs in a failing independent bookstore, a sterile gallery in downtown Manhattan, and miscellaneous living rooms across the Long Island birthday-party-clown circuit interweave with their attempts to come to terms with their precarity, gender-dysphoric embodiment, and the floating dream of collective liberation.Spanning one year and told through an obsessive first-person present tense, Slow Guillotine brings the bildungsroman structure through the autofictional looking glass, questioning how “coming of age” could be feasible in a society of debtors, wage laborers, and renters.

Release Blitz for Obsidian Empire by Elizabeth Hunter

 

Obsidian Empire by Elizabeth Hunter is now live!  The ruler of an immortal empire. The rising voice of an ancient clan. The relationship they've hidden from everyone. Tatyana Vorona was just a bookkeeper until she made a bargain with a powerful vampire that lead to her death and a brand new life of blood and brutality. She tried to run. She tried to hide. But Oleg Sokolov is a man who gets what he wants. Oleg has the ability to manipulate fire, the power to command an empire, and a will that cannot be broken. But political upheaval and blood loyalties have kept him from publicly claiming the woman who owns his heart. For five years, they’ve loved in private and played rivals in public. Tatyana has come into her own as a leader of an ancient immortal clan. And Oleg is a breath away from stomping out the brother who betrayed him. If he can play the right pieces in this political game, he might win the ultimate prize— publicly marrying the woman who is already his wife. The conclusion to an unforgettable vampire fantasy trilogy—OBSIDIAN EMPIRE is packed with heat, heart, and high stakes action. Elizabeth Hunter continues her own empire of stellar romantic fantasy! Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited Amazon: https://bit.ly/3Lmtjxz  Elizabeth's Store: https://elizabethhuntershop.com/ Signed Paperback: https://bit.ly/3MNL2P7 Hardcover: https://bit.ly/4kHDlGE Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/49wV8LH

Release Blitz for Bright Light Dark Thunder by Connor Crais

 

Bright Light Dark Thunder by Connor Crais is now live!

Walker

I was a soldier. A terrible weapon forged in secret. 

Now I'm a ghost. 

I've exiled myself to a remote cabin in Montana, where I intend to live out the rest of my days, buried as deep as my secrets.

Until I run into a stunning woman in a prison uniform. Or rather she ran into me, a weapon in her hand and secrets of her own chasing her. Naomi Barrett is beautiful, smart, capable and in a whole lot of trouble.

I should leave well enough alone. But when I realize how much danger she's truly in and that I'm the only man who can save her, I don't have a choice.

Some battles choose you. And when my past threatens her as well, I'm forced to become the soldier I swore I never would be again.

On the run, I'm fighting a losing battle against my own heart as I fall for the girl with pale blue eyes.

I'd burn down the world to keep her safe. Even if it costs me what's left of my soul.

I was trained to be the perfect soldier. But I never expected to find someone worth fighting for.

Bright Light Dark Thunder is a pulse-pounding military romantic suspense adventure filled with passion, spice, and a hard-won HEA.

 Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://a.co/d/gangayP       

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4pKrY2t 

 

Meet Connor Crais

Connor Crais is an Audie Award-winning and Amazon top 75 best selling author. Classically trained, he has appeared in dozens of stage productions and a handful of television shows. Before plunging into the romance genre, he had been narrating commercials, audiobooks, and explainers for well over a decade from his home studio. Now, not only does he have the privilege of narrating for the best romance authors in the business, bringing to life their alpha, cocky, grumpy heroes that spar with their beautiful sassy heroines, but he gets to create his own.

He is currently living out his own HEA in the Midwest with his wife and three young kids.

 

Connect with Connor

Website | https://connorcrais.com   

Goodreads | https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22142784.Connor_Crais   

Amazon | https://www.amazon.com/stores/Connor-Crais/author/B09PWVG2TJ    

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/connorcraisromance     

Facebook Group |  https://www.facebook.com/groups/155014830154373     

Instagram |  https://www.instagram.com/connorcrais/    

Bookbub |  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/connor-crais        

Newsletter |  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/u6f0n6