Success In the Press: Babe In the Woods by Jude Hopkins

Five stars from Readers' Favorite and Reader Views

★

Five stars from Readers' Favorite and Reader Views ★

From the Author: It's September 1995, the first year of the rest of Hadley Todd's life. After living in Los Angeles, Hadley returns to her hometown in rural New York to write and be near her father. In addition to looking after him and teaching high school malcontents, Hadley hopes to channel her recent L.A. heartbreak into a play about the last moment of a woman's innocence. But she seeks inspiration.

Enter Trey Harding, a young, handsome reporter who covers sports at the high school. Trey reminds Hadley of her L.A. ex and is the perfect spark to fire up her imagination. The fact that Trey is an aspiring rock star and she has L.A. record biz connections makes the alliance perfect. She dangles promises of music biz glory while watching his moves. But the surprising twist that transpires when the two of them go to Hollywood is not something Hadley prepared for.

“gives food for thought to fans of romance, women’s fiction, and psychological drama [...] will also appeal to those who enjoy entertaining, character-driven morality tales.””

— Reader's Favorite

Our Take: With a dry wit and a sharply observant eye, Babe in the Woods captures the restless creative energy of a woman caught between reinvention and nostalgia. Hadley’s homecoming is anything but quiet—full of angsty teens, aging parents, and a maybe-muse who complicates everything. Hopkins balances literary introspection with page-turning momentum, letting the story surprise us as much as it surprises Hadley herself. This one’s for readers who love second acts, small towns with big feelings, and stories that ask what it means to come home changed.

From a Reader: “The writing is crisp, intelligent and keeps the reader captivated as we follow Hadley's life and the hurdles she faces”

Amazon | Goodreads | Author Site

Success In the Press: How to Bury Your Dog by Eva Silverfine

5-star review from Readers' Favorite

★

5-star review from Readers' Favorite ★

From the Author: Lizzy has largely retreated from the world: she tends her adopted strays and goes to work, but she has forsaken lifelong pastimes and declines invitations from old friends. On the day she buries Happy, the abandoned basset hound she adopted years before, she learns a real estate developer is threatening the heart of her rural community—a tranquil pond and a relict stand of hemlocks. For Lizzy this is a magical place, hidden from the modern world.

Coaxed by an old friend to join a group fighting the development, Lizzy is reluctant—she wants to avoid both hope and him. But she realizes she can no longer keep the outside world at bay. As the battle over the development unfolds, Lizzy opens herself to two young neighbors who share her love of the natural environment—an awkward sixteen-year-old and an inquisitive ten-year-old. And as Happy’s elements return to the earth, Lizzy experiences her own transformation as buried memories find their way to the surface in increasingly curious ways.

““An absorbing, restorative tale of community and nature.””

— Kirkus Reviews

Our Take: This quiet, beautifully observed novel reminds us that healing rarely looks heroic—it’s slow, grounded, and often begins with saying yes to the smallest of invitations. How to Bury Your Dog is a tender meditation on grief, memory, and our ties to the land we call home. With writing that honors both the pain of loss and the quiet joys of rediscovery, this is a story for anyone who has ever felt the ache of change—and found unexpected hope in community, memory, and a patch of wild green.

From a Reader: “I […] loved the gentle, big-hearted tone that this book takes; the author casts a loving eye on all of her characters, foibles and all. Silverfine’s heartfelt, thoughtful story will be an easy, pleasant read for anyone who enjoys literary fiction.”

Amazon | Goodreads | Author Site

Success In the Press: Starman After Midnight by Scott Semegran

"Darkly Funny" - Publishers Weekly

★

"Darkly Funny" - Publishers Weekly ★

From the Author: In suburban Wells Port, things are not what they seem: wild animals appear unexpectedly in backyards, raised garden beds produce fruit in days, not weeks, and a mysterious figure lurks across sidewalks late at night.

The stories in Starman After Midnight weave an often hilarious and sometimes melancholy spell. Four young boys are terrorized by a wiener dog on their walk to school, but strategize for a safer route. A beer-loving man befriends a likeminded neighbor, only to discover his jovial new acquaintance is a registered sex offender. An elderly Uber driver suspects a young rider is being lured by a night stalker and debates whether he should help her or mind his own business.

Connecting these stories are two next-door neighbors—Seff and Big Dave—who couldn't be more different: one a progressive-minded writer, the other a conservative plumber. Their love of beer drinking, backyard philosophizing, and gossiping brings them together. When several pets in the neighborhood wind up missing or worse—dead—Seff and Big Dave monitor their security cameras for the culprit. When they discover a naked man roaming their street late at night, suspicions are raised while hysteria spreads through the neighborhood social media app. What is the connection between the missing pets and this naked man? Seff and Big Dave form a posse of neighbors to find out.

““Darkly funny... Semegran has a knack for drawing colorful characters. This waggish slice of life is worth a look.” ”

— Publishers Weekly

Moving between humor and surrealism, friendship and grief, Starman After Midnight is a novel told in stories, a collection that adds up to something greater than the sum of its parts. From the quirky imagination of Scott Semegran, Starman After Midnight packs a comedic punch and uncovers the magic that seems possible in ordinary places.

Our Take: This genre-blurring, voice-rich collection slips easily between laugh-out-loud suburban absurdity and moments of startling tenderness. Told in interconnected stories, Starman After Midnight captures the strange magic of ordinary lives—where wiener dogs become villains, neighbors become investigators, and a beer on the porch might spark an existential breakthrough. Scott Semegran writes with equal parts warmth, wit, and just enough weird to keep you guessing. A perfect pick for fans of slice-of-life fiction with a surreal twist, or anyone who suspects there’s more to the cul-de-sac than meets the eye.

From the Reader: “There is a reason this author is one of my favorites. His writing is so flawless and makes reading a delight […] I love how quirky the two main characters are and how their friendship just...is. You have to read this to understand what I mean by that.”

Amazon | Goodreads | Author Site

Success In the Press: Dirty Suburbia by Sara Hosey

“Distinguished, engrossing, splendidly entertaining.” - Kirkus Reviews

★

“Distinguished, engrossing, splendidly entertaining.” - Kirkus Reviews ★

From the Author: Dirty suburbias are working-class neighborhoods in which girls who are left to fend for themselves sometimes become predators, as well as affluent communities in which women discover that money is no protection against sexism, both their own and others'.

One young woman sets up her abusive, cheating boyfriend, hoping he'll get arrested so that she can rescue him and win him back. A teenager arranges to meet up with an older man she's met online playing video games; she brings a knife with her, just in case. A middle-aged divorcee attempts to rekindle a romantic relationship with her high school English teacher, who happens to be a former nun. A struggling academic falls in love with a Henry David Thoreau impersonator, and a well-adjusted grad student goes home for Christmas only to be repulsed by her family's casual cruelty.

Despite the ugliness and injustice, they face, as well as the failures of their families and communities, these characters often find relief in friendship and connection, and sometimes, even discover meaning and cause for hope.

““Distinguished, engrossing, splendidly entertaining.””

— Kirkus Reviews

Our Take: Gritty, intimate, and unflinching, Dirty Suburbia is a collection that lingers. These stories examine the quiet violence and fierce resilience of girls and women navigating spaces that should protect them—but often don’t. Sara Hosey writes with empathy and edge, offering a mirror to suburbia that’s cracked but deeply reflective. It’s a bold, clear-eyed exploration of power, survival, and the complicated ways women come of ageand come undone. Perfect for readers who love short fiction that’s sharp and bracingly real.

From a Reader: “The characters are devastating and wonderful and so familiar. […] The writing is mesmerizing, poetic, and gritty. It’s literary without ever being boring. Every story in this collection stomped on my heart and then picked it up and handed it back to me.”

Amazon | Goodreads | Author Site