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#BlogTour: The Last Daughter by Soraya Lane

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a truly great finale to an amazing series. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Last Daughter by Soraya Lane.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / TheStoryGraph.com), YouTube, and Substack:

What. A. Finale. This is the book that has had 7 books before it to hint at and build up to. The book whose story actually begins the entire event. The book that fans who have been following this series all along have been waiting for… and it absolutely delivers.

Make sure you read the seven books before this one before you read this one. They lay the groundwork and build the anticipation well in telling their own stories while revealing bits and hints of this one, and most all of the ladies from the contemporary side of those stories show up in some fashion here. Even while these stories are all ultimately romances, there are also enough women’s fiction elements to all of these stories (contemporary and historical) that there are indeed some spoilers to some of those stories within this story… which isn’t an issue if you read them first. 😉

Jeremy Robinson likes to tell people that they can read his book Prime, about the origins of one of his teams and written after several of the books featuring that team had been published, first when encountering that particular team (his “Chess Team”) for the first time. I’ve always recommended against that as one of Robinson’s oldest fans who was there when he was first coming up with the idea (and thought it wouldn’t play well… boy was I wrong!). To me, that series absolutely needs to be read in publication order so that you get the full impact of Prime when you get to it in that order.

And here is where the above story ties into Lane’s Lost Daughters: Yes, on the historical side this is *the* story that begins it all. We get a *lot* of answers on that side of it, and from that side of it you may argue that this book serves as a prequel that perhaps *should* be read first. You would be wrong… because the *contemporary* side of this novel absolutely serves as a coda to the entire series here.

Remember, this entire series is built on a fusion of the historical and the contemporary, merging Lane’s “brand names” of Soraya M. Lane (historical fiction) with her Soraya Lane (contemporary romance/ women’s fiction) “brand”. In the historical side of this tale, we get the origin story that allowed the entire rest of the series to take place. In the contemporary side of this tale, we get the ending that ties everything together in a nice little bow.

… or does it?

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Last Daughter by Soraya Lane”

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#BookReview: The Feather Wars by James H. McCommons

Dense Academic Treatise With Not Quite Enough Bibliography. The singular most important thing you need to know about this book is that it is very much written in a dry, academic, very much textbook tone. There is a *lot* of seemingly fairly comprehensive history of birding from the beginning of European settlement in the area now known as the United States – with a brief touch on histories before that period – basically up to Silent Spring. Yes, given the eras this covers, particularly in the 19th century and earlier, this means that for nature lovers in particular it may be a doubly difficult book as it goes into details about the wholesale slaughter of birds generally and even the extinction of several different specific species, including the passenger pigeon.

While at least one other reviewer does claim the book to be hyperbolic, the approach here seemed at least relatively balanced regarding birds – if slanted more in favor of conservation and government power in particular human actions and specific conservation methods. Up to and including recommending some rather extreme actions regarding pet cats, declaring that they should be regulated even more tightly than pet dogs are. Clearly, this author has never actually attempted to keep a cat even inside a covered stroller, much less walked on a leash. (Yes, I’m aware *some* cats tolerate these actions. *Some* animals – including the human animal – will tolerate nearly any physically survivable situation. This does not mean the majority do or that these conditions are good for them.)

Indeed, as with so many nonfiction books declaring policy recommendations… eh, they’re always going to be hit or miss at best depending on the reader’s personal preferences. As a cat lover and avowed Anarchist… let’s just say I personally agreed with few of them indeed, but others with different views may arrive at different conclusions there.

Overall if you can withstand the dense academic tone – and, if a nature lover, the clinical precision with which McCommons describes such wholesale and wanton slaughter of so many birds – this book will at minimum be informative, unless perhaps you are a birder yourself with a strong knowledge of the history of that hobby.

Recommended.

This review of The Feather Wars by James H. McCommons was originally written on March 19, 2026.

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#BookReview: Nine Missing Girls by Steena Holmes

Interesting Storytelling Mechanism Could Be Difficult For Some Readers Yet Works Perfectly For Story Here. Ok, so the title of this review really is exactly what you need to know about it. It is going to be challenging for some readers in the way that it presents the story, as a sequence of nine short stories – complete with their own internal chapters and only a few bare “notes” between them – that seem disjointed but let’s just say to stick with it and all will be revealed. In the particular case of how the larger story is built here, this format actually works quite well indeed for the overall story while also giving readers who may not have as much time to sit down and devour a 350 ish page book in one setting much smaller divisions that can be read in tighter bunches. To the level that in theory Holmes is actually leaving money on the table, as I’ve seen other authors break these out into individual publications at first publishing and only combine them into one volume years later. (I can’t speak to how successful that would be as a sales strategy, but at least from the reader perspective with each being a contained story, there would be nothing really to objectively fault there.)

Despite not being listed as a series, and in fact with some elements of these exact tales seeming to be prequels of the tales with this central character that were published before this book, this actually is the third book to feature this character, no matter how the author and publisher list it on book review or sales sites.

This is one of those tales that goes *dark*. Truly disturbingly dark for most of us… but then, both books before it went to similar levels. So if you’re still here, there isn’t really too much darker to go, and fortunately some of the darkest stuff is left well off screen. For those that can handle the darkness, it is a truly compelling story. For those who can’t, spare yourself – for your own mental health. Please.

Overall this was truly one of the more interesting books I’ve read thus far in 2026 specifically because of the storytelling format Holmes went with here, and it also sets up at least one more tale quite spectacularly.

Very much recommended.

This review of Nine Missing Girls by Steena Holmes was originally written on March 16, 2026.

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#BookReview: Ticket To Ride by Kay Bratt

Suspense Filled Tale Filled With Pervasive Social Commentary Ends Explosively. This is one of those tales that is going to keep you on the edge of your seat with sheer suspense for almost the entirely of the tale… before ending in one of the more explosive endings I’ve ever seen in any book, particularly in any of Bratt’s books. But with this entire series, you really need to start at the beginning (Hart’s Ridge) and work your way to this one, as Bratt has truly mastered over the last few books in particular telling a singular complete tale per book yet having that singular tale both spring from the prior tale and explicitly set up the next.

There are a few different social commentaries in the book, including one in the final pages, but the dominant issue throughout the book is the dangers of online gaming – which have shifted over the past couple of years in particular in ways many likely aren’t aware of. While a child is still statistically more likely to be assaulted by a family member or others in close proximity to the child in the real world than by someone who found them inside a game, kidnapping via similar methods as Bratt shows in this very tale are actually heavily on the rise… yet still statistically near zero. (No more than 500 known cases of any non-family kidnapping by any method in 2024 according to FBI statistics across literally millions of gamers online at any given moment.) Indeed, while many forms of childhood death and trauma are actually plateauing or even declining, the threat posed by scenarios similar to what Bratt builds into this text are exactly what the FBI says is actually on the rise in recent years.

Apart from the specific discussion of how that particular element works within the story (extremely well, in case I haven’t made that crystal clear yet) and within the real world (more cautionary, yet absolutely illuminative and using information which will possibly/ likely be new to at least some readers), Bratt in this tale truly does one of the best jobs she has ever done in regards to keeping the reader on the edge of their seat reading with bated breath to see what exactly is going to happen next and whether everyone will come out as unharmed as possible.

And then that ending. Dayum. Without going into spoiler territory, let’s just say that for me personally, given my own history and favorite bits of pop culture… yeah, that ending was *phenomenal* in so very many ways and levels, and I truly can’t wait for July to get here so we can see where this series is going next!

Very much recommended.

This review of Ticket To Ride by Kay Bratt was originally written on March 14, 2026.

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#BookReview: Kingdom Of Pirates by David Wood

Indiana Jones And The Pirates’ Superweapon. Part of the appeal of Woods’ Dane Maddock adventure series, of which this is the latest book at the time I write this review, has always been that he puts more (and more believable) action into Indiana Jones-type archeological/ mythological based adventure tales, and this is one of the books in the series where this becomes even more pronounced than some others in the series. Which Wood uses to great effect here, and which could actually draw in new readers to this series.

Dane Maddock and his friend and business partner Uriah ‘Bones’ Bonebrake’ are former Navy SEALs (whose adventures began even back then, in prior stories in this universe) and at this point in our overall universe, they’ve been around the block more than a few times and yet are still going quite strong indeed. But because they’ve been around the block more than a few times, their world has expanded quite a bit, and yes, a few prior players – both friend and foe – resurface in this adventure. So for those readers who absolutely can not have any spoilers ever, start with the earliest Maddock books (by publication date) and work your way up to this one. For everyone else, Woods does a solid job characterizing these characters within this book and explaining the relevant prior connections that you’re still going to be able to enjoy this book, just perhaps without some of the foreshadowing certain names will evoke in readers who have read more in this series.

And oh, yeah, the pirates. Duh. This tale is solidly pirate and solidly New Orleans and Louisiana Bayou, as Maddock and Bonebrake find themselves on the hunt for a long-lost pirate treasure while investigating in – and being chased through – large swaths of the city and region. Along the way, we get everything from fist fights to deceptions to gun battles and, yes, even some sword play. In a tale set in roughly our world and time. 😀

Seriously, long time fans of either Maddock or pirate lore generally are going to love this book, and those new to either will likely find themselves drawn into this web. Even as one of the longer books in the series at approaching 400 pages, it never really feels like it is anywhere near that long. Everything here feels both earned and necessary, and the pacing is such that the reader is always invested in seeing what happens next.

Overall a solidly fun action/ adventure tale in that exact Indiana Jones vein that has been so popular for so long (including long before Indy was a thing himself), this is one of those longer tales where you can just sit back, turn off your brain, and have some fun.

Very much recommended.

This review of Kingdom of Pirates by David Wood was originally written on March 12, 2026.

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#BookReview: Sisters Of Mercy by Yuval Kordov

Interesting, Short, And Dark. This is one of those novellas that you can read in a couple of hours – I did. And yet there is also *so much* within this particular one. For those who try to claim that sub-100 page tales can’t really do much… this one proves you wrong. 😉

Now, I picked it up because of some controversy on Twitter wherein a couple of judges for some random “contest” got all up in arms and claimed they couldn’t handle the “zealous” religious talk or praying or even mechs in this tale. And I’m going to get to that in a moment.

But for exactly what this book is in and of itself, outside of what anyone else says about it, it really is damn solid. It thrusts you straight into its post apocalyptic world the way few books do – Jeremy Robinson’s UNITY (which, full disclosure, I literally have a tattoo of a version of the symbol that plays a major role in that particular tale) is one of few I can think of off the top of my head that do *this* good a job of putting you *right there*, *right now*. And again, given the sub-100 page nature of this book… it doesn’t have much choice there. 😉 And yet even after that introduction, Kordov manages to layer *so very much* into this tale, and in the end… well, there may yet be a dusty room or two. 😉

Now, getting back to what brought me here (and I’ll put a brief yet relevant bio as a post script to this review for those unfamiliar with me)… yes, this book has a *lot* of directly religious language. Hell, there’s more prayer in this novella than a lot of *Christian Fiction novels* I’ve read over the years! In that regard, it is quite similar to how prayer and religious language are used in other post-apocalyptic scifi IPs such as Handmaid’s Tale, Doom, or Fallout New Vegas’s Honest Hearts DLC. Which, obviously, are some quite highly praised properties!

Thus, yes, if you have a problem with religious language generally… this tale really isn’t going to be one for you. Just leave it be. There is no need for you to read it and severely mischaracterize pretty well everything about it because *you* have a problem with religious language.

As to how the religious aspects are used within the text here, again, it is more generic scifi than anything remotely real world. The closest it gets to “real world” is that after a sufficient amount of time has passed after a World War III event and human knowledge has sufficiently regressed, yes, such a society likely would return to exactly this kind of religious language to explain things that they’ve now long lost the ability to speak to more scientifically. This isn’t some crusade to “cleanse” anything remotely like our world. This isn’t a Brave New World allegory of the previous’ centuries Western European global expansion. It is a story of mechs and demons and symbiotes in a far future world and the potential for even man made creations whose explicit purpose is to kill may find that there may be things they haven’t been told about.

And again, Kordov does a truly excellent job of telling his story his way. If that way isn’t something you can stomach, well, there are other stories for you. Be well and have a nice day!

Ultimately an interesting story that serves as a seemingly solid and even tantalizing taste of Kordov’s style and this particular world (apparently this novella is set in the world of a trilogy Kordov wrote) that could well entice readers to experience the larger trilogy.

Very much recommended.

Post Script Brief Bio: I was raised in the Southern Baptist Convention, though I left it over 20 yrs ago now and now the closest religious tradition to my own specific views are some incarnations of the Anabaptists. My earliest exposures to scifi reading were actually largely Christian scifi, such as Josh McDowell’s Powerlink Chronicles and the works of Frank Peretti and Bill Myers. I became such a fan of Robinson that I eventually got a tatoo inspired by his work specifically due to his ability (displayed more earlier in his writing career than more recently) to bury deep and thought provoking allegories underneath what are ostensibily kickass scifi action tales. Indeed, Unity itself is just such an allegory, in this case of the Triune God. I also happened to grow up in the town where Lottie Moon, one of the SBC’s earliest missionaries and the person whom its annual Christmas fundraiser (“missions offering”) is named after, once lived a little over a century before my birth. My dad was a deacon for many years, and my last Pastor when I was still in the SBC eventually became a President of the Georgia Baptist Convention. My Christian education – even just via going to church at this particular church for so long, without ever having actually been to a religious-based school – was such that when Robinson first announced one cover of one book several years ago now, I immediately messaged him and told him what the allegory of that particular book was, given its title and that cover. He quickly changed the cover to make it less obvious. 😉 All that to say… yeah, religious language in a book doesn’t scare me. At all. 😉

This review of Sisters Of Mercy by Yuval Kordov was originally written on March 11, 2026.

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#BookReview: 4.4.68 by Desmond T. Lewis

Interesting Scifi Alt History With An Atypical Subject. I’ve read a couple of truly phenomenal alt-history/ time travel books over the years where someone in the present (or in this case, future) is sent back in time to one specific era or event to try to save someone or stop someone else who is trying to harm that person. Specifically, books like Randall Ingermanson’s City of God trilogy (wherein time travel is developed in an attempt to go back and murder the Apostle Paul before he can begin his missionary journeys that ultimately spread Christianity beyond the Israel/ Palestine region) and Jeremy Robinson’s The Didymus Contingency (wherein time travel is developed specifically to attempt to disprove the Gospels and which was the very first book from Robinson I ever read and created a lifelong fan that has now followed him for nearly 100 books). Also TV shows that tend to get cancelled far too early such as *UPN*’s (now we’re getting *really* old!) 7 Days or the more recent Timeless from NBC. (Though the TV shows, by their very nature, were less focused on a specific person or event in the past.)

So those references, assuming you’ve ever heard of them (and most likely, sadly, you haven’t), give you an idea of what to expect here. Here, time travel has been developed and is apparently being used for at least some other purposes at times, but the specific mission of the book is singular: Prevent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination that in our world happened on the titular date.

The scifi elements of a future near dystopian state are done well, as are the later similar elements I’ll not discuss because they veer more into spoiler territory. Similarly, the alt history elements here really bring the real historical elements to life in ways that those who still remember this era will likely appreciate. This is the point where this book is *most* similar to Ingermanson and Robinson’s works, as this is also where those books truly shine.

The difference here, particularly as a native of the borderlands between Appalachia and Atlanta who was born several years after the real-world assassination of King but even whose parents remember it, is that there are many people with actual living memories of the period in question and even at least some who were either directly there or nearby at that moment. Such people could speak to how this book handles that era even better than I can, but again, from my own perspective, this book really does bring its subject period and the real-world people it tells fictional tales of to light in ways that the actual factual historical books never quite can.

The *one* problem someone with a fairly balanced view of history will have, that others may not share depending on their particular circumstances, is that MLK is pretty heavily deified in this book, actively proclaiming him as the most important figure in US history. I’m not going to downplay his significance at all – he truly was *a* great and important figure in US history. But he was also a human, and all humans are ultimately flawed creatures that make greater and lesser mistakes. Here, the book could likely have been at least a touch stronger had it deified King less and humanized him more, similar to its treatment of King’s close friend Ralph David Abernathy – who plays at least as large a role in this tale as MLK himself does.

Ultimately though, this is truly a strong tale of its type, one that works well in pretty well all facets of the tale. While I suspect it could be one that becomes perennially discussed more in February (Black History Month) than year round, I could absolutely see it being discussed then the way David McAfee’s vampire books (beginning with 33AD and being another scifi/ alt history, but without the time travel element) are so perennially mentioned (by me at least 😉 ) around Halloween.

Very much recommended.

This review of 4.4.68 by Desmond T. Lewis was originally written on March 10, 2026.

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#BookReview: Once And Again by Rebecca Serle

Not The Easiest Read, For A Lot Of Reasons. Read It Anyway. This is one of those books that a lot of people are going to have a lot of problems with from a variety of angles… and yet is actually *stronger* because of all the so-called “problems” or “difficulties”.

A lot of the “problems” get deep into spoiler territory, so I’m going to cover here what I can without going there:

1) Yes, this is a time travel book where it isn’t always as crystal clear as other tales where exactly you are within the timeline. However, the characters each have a sufficiently distinct “voice” such that after a bit, you can begin to identify which of our three main ladies we are with in any given section and that alone helps make the narrative quite a bit more clear.

2) The family dynamics here are quite atypical… and yet this is actually one of the strongest points of the book. This *family* is atypical, for reasons we’ll get to momentarily, and how they each struggle to handle the thing that makes their family atypical actually works quite well to explore how different generations may interact with each other given this particular thing.

3) The magical realism is very nearly a McGuffin here. If you’re looking for a book with spells or magic on every page… this aint that. At all. But the magical realism is actually used *better* in its scarcity than it would have been had it been so prevalent in this particular tale. To the level that it is nearly a Sword of Damocles hanging over an entirely family… and the story is told with barely any mention of the sword or how it got there at all. It is absolutely used, but it is used *in service to* the story being told, and not *as* the story itself.

4) The romance/ second chance romance journey is perhaps actually the strongest element of this book… *because* of exactly how it is played and plays out. As someone who has experienced a version of this story from the guy’s side, this was one element where I could *absolutely* identify with the husband because in at least a thing or two that happens here, I’ve actually had nearly word for word conversations in real life with my own wife. So seeing how that particular relationship plays out and how Serle weaves this story in and around it is truly one of the stronger parts of the tale, because it is all too real.

5) The secrets. Every family has them, and in this case they are both used and revealed in truly stunning fashion. There were absolutely some dusty rooms at times in this tale, particularly late, and again with the “Magneto moves the satellite dish” moment from XMen: First Class, once the revelations come, it makes the story that much more powerful in so many intricately layered ways.

Overall, this truly is not an easy book. It reads like a beach read, yet it packs such a mental and emotional punch that you’re not really going to want to actually read it at a beach. And it *does* have a lot of things that a lot of readers are going to find quite challenging indeed. But this is absolutely one of the better books I’ve read so far in 2026 *specifically because* of all the things that make it so challenging and “messy”.

Very much recommended.

This review of Once And Again by Rebecca Serle was originally written on March 9, 2026.

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#BookReview: Strangers In The Villa by Robyn Harding

Twisty Destination Thriller. This is one of those destination thrillers where you think you know what is happening… and then suddenly you realize how wrong you were. Yet also one where virtually no one is overly “likeable”, so if you’re a reader where you have to have *someone* that is truly pure of heart or perfectly aligns with your every belief or however else you define “likeable”… know going in that this isn’t that kind of tale. And that you should read it anyway.

The setting in coastal Spain is used quite well both for creating tension in our primary couple and in setting up some truly stunning set pieces for our drama and different elements of our thriller. And it is absolutely *perfect* in setting in motion one particular literary technique, but naming the technique becomes a bit of a spoiler for the instant it is set in motion – so I won’t name it here. Just know that its use is one of the finer parts of this particular tale, showing true craftsmanship on the part of Harding (and, perhaps, her editors). And even with this technique, when you think you know where it is ultimately heading… no, no you do not. Because Harding is going to twist everything ten ways to Sunday in a manner that is perfectly logical for these characters…. once everything is revealed. But the revelations continue until almost literally the last word of the tale…

There *is* a touch of jalapeno ish spice, and there *are* some LGBT… let’s say “explorations”… here – just so those readers who care about the presence of these things (either direction, no judgement from me either way) are aware. Enough to piss off readers more ardent in their views either direction, for differing reasons, but also light enough that more moderate/ truly tolerant readers shouldn’t really have any real issues with.

Overall this is a fun and average-ish length tale of its type. One that won’t necessarily win any converts to the genre (though possible), but one which existing fans of the genre will absolutely enjoy. And which could in fact bring new readers to the author herself.

Very much recommended.

This review of Strangers In The Villa by Robyn Harding was originally written on March 9, 2026.

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#BookReview: Ruby Falls by Gin Phillips

Locked Room Mystery More On Women’s Fiction End Than Horror End. Growing up at the border of Appalachia and Atlanta, halfway between Chattanooga and Atlanta, I saw the “See Rock City” signs – mostly barns – quite frequently. Have even been out there both on school field trips and with my family, and indeed my youngest brother actually proposed to his now wife on top of Lookout Mountain. In other words, I know the modern version of the mountain – and the caves – fairly well. (Though to be clear, I haven’t seen the 2020s era updates.) Thus, you, oh reader of my review, can easily see why a book about the modern origins of the tourist attraction known as Ruby Falls would entice me to read it.

The tale itself is a locked room mystery yet is more women’s fiction than horror, though those with any hint of actual claustrophobia are going to find certain scenes here (at minimum) quite difficult to read. Probably even *worse* than *that* scene in Lee Child’s Die Trying, the Reacher story that finds even Reacher crawling through a cave at one point. The use of the cave as the “locked room” is done quite excellently, as are the basic cave survival aspects, all in service to the actual story being told.

But we *are* getting a lot more relational drama than the straight up terror from a tale such as Greig Beck’s Beneath The Dark Ice, even as a murder mystery unfolds deep underground. This is the Great Depression and this is still the age of people claiming to be clairvoyant… many of whom turn out to be hucksters… but not all. The era when the caves – and the Falls – were first discovered by modern man nearly a century ago as this book is released in March 2026, and we do in fact get to hear about the moment of their discovery as part of this story.

For those looking for a women’s fiction tale with a bit more kick, or perhaps a locked room murder mystery a touch more on the relational side than the terror side, this book is going to be pretty close to exactly what you’re looking for. Those looking for a more pure survival or horror tale… not so much.

Ultimately though this is truly a great tale of its form that does great service to its real world subject even as it creates a fictional story around the real-world history. For the millions… and millions! (cheap pop!)… who have been to Ruby Falls or who live in the surrounding regions or who enjoy these types of tales, this is absolutely going to be a book you’re going to want to pick up.

Very much recommended.

This review of Ruby Falls by Gin Phillips was originally written on March 6, 2026.