#Bookreview of The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow

By: Verlin Darrow

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Publication Date: February 18, 2026

ISBN: 978-1509264131

Reviewed by: Diana Coyle

Review Date: March 5, 2026

One April morning, Kade Tobin hears his dog, Zeus, howling in The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow by Verlin Darrow. Zeus was a creature of habit and howling wasn’t normal behavior for him. When Kade gets up to see what is upsetting Zeus so much, he is shocked to discover the dog standing next to a person, who is face down on the grass. As Kade approaches, he initially thinks it might be one of the recovering residents drunk and passed out on the lawn. Sadly, that is not the case. Instead, he sees that this woman has been shot in the head. When he calls the police, the investigation he is roped into helping with becomes anything but straightforward. Who was this woman and why was she shot and left on this property?

This story seizes readers immediately and takes them on a roller coaster ride right from the start. The opening scene of Zeus howling, an odd behavior for him, grabbed this reviewer’s attention and started the slow buildup of the intense story that was about to unfold before me. Readers will want to know who the female was and why she was not only shot in the head, but literally left like trash on this community’s property located in Northern California. Readers will eagerly turn the pages to follow along with the police investigation to discover the truth.

Darrow created complex characters that developed in time as you progressed through the story. All the characters had their own level of intensity that played extremely well in developing the storyline. Especially intriguing was Kade Tobin. As the story progressed deeper, Kade’s story presented a layered one that will lead to readers wondering about his complicated past. This reviewer was equally invested in not only finding out who the deceased woman was and what her story was, but also the hidden past Kade was keeping secret from everyone.

Quill says: The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow by Verlin Darrow is a thrilling narrative that will grip readers right from the start. If you love intense storylines that have you wondering how they will end, this is definitely one for you!

For more information about The Brighter, the Darker the Shadow, please visit the author's website at: verlindarrow.com/

 #Authorinterview with Goldie Williamson

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Katie Specht is talking with Goldie Williamson, author of Five Million Moments.

FQ: Tell us a little about your book – a brief synopsis and what makes your book unique.

WILLIAMSON: Five Million Moments is the story of three women whose decade-long friendship begins in a college sorority in the early 1990s, and the betrayal that nearly destroys it.

Told through multiple points of view, the novel follows Shannon, Amy, and Melissa from their college years in upstate New York into adulthood. It explores what it meant to come of age at a moment when young women were first told they could have it all—and what happens when life delivers something far more complicated.

What makes the book unique is the blue notebook that the friends keep together. Before social media documented our lives, we documented them in notebooks. These young women record their dreams as they move through their twenties: careers, love, and the lives they imagine for themselves.

In addition, the 1990s are having a cultural moment again — from streaming series to fashion runways — and readers are hungry for that era. At its core, Five Million Moments is a novel about female friendship set in the 1990s, which is resonating strongly with Gen X readers but also with younger readers who are curious about that time. (And they can’t believe how much we smoked.)

It's the kind of friendship many readers recognize immediately, because they've lived some version of it themselves.

FQ: What was the impetus for writing your book?

WILLIAMSON: After a marketing career that took me from FedEx to AOL to Booz Allen, I started seriously writing Five Million Moments in 2022. The loss of a good friend reminded me how fragile and essential friendships are, and it pushed me to finally tell this story.

This story is drawn from a world I actually lived in: Greek life, female friendship, the specific experience of being a young woman in the early 1990s who was told she could have everything. It was also a world living in the shadow of the AIDS crisis, which shaped the cultural atmosphere of the time and appears in the background of the story.

More than anything, I wanted to write the kind of women’s fiction I love to read: stories that feel emotionally honest about how friendships actually work: messy, loyal, sometimes devastating, but ultimately worth everything.

FQ: Who are your favorite authors?

WILLIAMSON: Elin Hilderbrand: Nobody writes female friendship and summer vibes with more warmth and specificity. Her books taught me that place can be a character. The right setting makes every emotional moment land harder.

Maeve Binchy: She taught me that ordinary lives contain extraordinary drama. Her characters feel like people you actually know, and her understanding of how women support and sometimes wound each other is unmatched.

Kristin Hannah: She writes the kind of female friendship that breaks your heart and puts it back together. Firefly Lane in particular showed me that a story spanning decades could feel as intimate as a single conversation.

Taylor Jenkins Reid: Structure is everything. The way she uses time and perspective to build emotional tension is something I think about constantly as a writer.

Liane Moriarty: Her ability to balance dark subject matter with warmth and even humor is something I deeply admire. Big Little Lies is a story about female friendship and betrayal that is both literary and completely unputdownable.

Each of these authors taught me something about how to write friendship with honesty, complexity, and heart—qualities I hope readers feel in Five Million Moments.

FQ: Is this the first book, the second, etc. in the series and how many books do you anticipate writing in this series?

WILLIAMSON: Yes! I'm currently writing a prequel that explores how Shannon, Amy, and Melissa first became friends in the sorority and the events that ultimately bind them together and set their lives in motion.

After that comes the sequel, which follows the women into their thirties and the triumphs and tragedies in that part of life.

FQ: Tell us a bit about the series. Do you know where the series will take the characters or are you working that out as you go along with each book? What has been the reader response to your series?

WILLIAMSON: What I can say is that the world these women inhabit changes dramatically after 9/11, and the friendship that held them together in their twenties will be tested in entirely new ways in their thirties. The heart of the series will always remain the same, though: the complicated, enduring bond between these three women and the way their friendship both challenges and sustains them.

FQ: Have you been contacted by fans anxiously awaiting the next book in the series?

WILLIAMSON: One of the most rewarding parts of publishing Five Million Moments has been hearing from readers who connect with the friendship between Shannon, Amy, and Melissa.

One reader recently shared with me that she had finished the book and that she was going to “miss those girls tonight.”

There’s no better feeling for a writer than knowing readers don’t want to say goodbye to the characters!

FQ: Was the plot worked out completely before you started or did it evolve as your wrote?

WILLIAMSON: I had a clear sense of the emotional arc of the story before I began writing, particularly the central themes of friendship, ambition, and betrayal.

But the actual plot evolved quite a bit during the writing process. As the characters developed, they began to make choices that surprised me, and those choices often led the story in new directions.

For me, the most interesting moments in fiction happen when characters feel real enough that they begin to guide the story themselves.

FQ: Tell us about the fans' favorite character. Were you surprised at the response to this character? Why do you think readers respond to this character?

WILLIAMSON: One of the things I love most is hearing which character readers connect with, because the answers are rarely the same.

Many readers are drawn to Shannon because she’s ambitious, complicated, and sometimes makes difficult choices. Others feel deeply connected to Melissa’s faith and romantic optimism or Amy’s determination to build a life that balances career and family.

I’m not surprised by the range of responses. Each of the three women represents a different way of navigating adulthood, and readers often see pieces of themselves in one, or sometimes all, of them.

What I find most interesting is that readers' choices often reflect where they are in their own lives when they pick up the book.

FQ: What was the most difficult scene to write and why?

WILLIAMSON: The betrayal between friends that sits at the heart of the novel. Writing that scene was emotionally intense. When I wrote the first draft, my heart was racing and there were tears in my eyes. I hated doing it to these three girls, but moments like those are also what make stories powerful.

Female friendship betrayals cut deeply because they break the trust those relationships depend on. But they also reflect something real about how women navigate strength and forgiveness simultaneously.

For more information about Five Million Moments, please visit the author's website at: goldiewilliamson.com/

 #Bookreview of Wishes on the Waves

By: Catherine Michaels

Publisher: Cool Breeze Books

Publication Date: May 5, 2026

ISBN: 978-0998337258

Reviewed by: Lily Andrews

Review Date: March 3, 2026

Wishes on the Waves: A Gull Island Romance by Catherine Michaels is a deeply moving novel that follows Annie, a single mother who, while still tethered to the memory of her late husband, finds her life disrupted by a handsome new neighbor who happens to be a bestselling author hiding from his own complicated past.

Their unexpected connection threatens to unravel everything she has built, while simultaneously offering her something she never thought she would feel again. She has spent the years since her husband's death pouring herself into raising their son and preserving her family's beloved coastal shop, all while constructing walls sturdy enough to protect her heart from further loss. But when Cal Carter moves into the cottage next door and immediately inserts himself into her life by saving her boy from a runaway golf cart, those walls begin showing cracks she cannot ignore. What she doesn't know, however, is that Cal has returned to Gull Island not merely to escape the pressures of his career, but to reclaim a piece of his own fractured history. As soon as she begins to believe that she might have room in her heart for him, Cal is confronted with an impossible choice that that leaves her suspended between two unbearable options: either fight for a man she is unsure will stay or let him go as soon as possible to protect herself from a potential hurt. By this point, readers are forced to ask themselves an unbearable question: whether love is worth the risk when the price of losing it has already been paid before, and whether any of us can truly be bold enough to hold on when everything inside us screams to let go.

Annie and Cal’s story unfolds against the backdrop of pounding surf and sea turtle nests, of small-town gossip and the kind of belonging that seeps into your bones. Beneath the surface of every moonlit walk and shared meal lurks the question of whether two people carrying different griefs can ever find a way to hold each other without letting go of what they have already lost. The story moves with a gentle pace that allow the reader to sink deeply into the rhythms of island life while getting invested in emotional stakes that build with each of its carefully written chapters. As you delve deeper into the story, Michaels' brilliance and masterful ability to balance the slow burn of romantic tension against the urgent demands of family loyalty and personal healing reveals itself in every page.

It is Annie herself who anchors these stakes. She emerges as a heroine whose strength lies not in grand gestures but in her quiet determination to keep showing up. Supporting her with this are Dawson and Riley, who have been rendered with such authenticity that they never feel like mere plot devices but rather, fully realized characters whose own journeys matter deeply to the story's resolution. This authenticity extends to the novel's thematic core, where Michaels' refusal to pretend that new love simply erases old grief creates a refreshingly honest perspective that makes this novel truly unforgettable.

Quill says: Anyone who has ever wondered whether it is possible to love again after loss or whether the heart can expand to hold new joy without diminishing old love might find themselves reading Wishes on the Waves several times just to stay longer in the wonder of it all. And for those discovering Gull Island for the first time, this installment stands strong on its own while heavily rewarding those who have already fallen in love with the Gull Island community in Book 1.

For more information about Wishes on the Waves: A Gull Island Romance, please visit the author's website at: catherinemichaelsauthor.com/

 #Authorinterview with Karin Ciholas

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Alma Boucher is talking with Karin Ciholas, author of the Temple at Sunset (The Cyrenian Trilogy Book 3).

FQ: Why did you explore faith and family conflict at The Temple at Sunset?

CIHOLAS: Simon is deeply serious about God and proud of his Jewish heritage. He fights for justice for his fellow Jews, sets up demanding goals for himself, and expects his children and wife to follow. When their actions collide with his realities and faith, he suffers because he is deeply committed to his Jewish faith. He also fears for his family's safety and has good reasons to fear. As a physician, he is a compassionate man who wants above all to heal.

FQ: How was Simon’s emotional journey developed?

CIHOLAS: Simon lives in a world he cannot control. Rome controls. Religious demands control. The rich and powerful control. Our world is not that different today. Simon strives to be the best physician in the empire, but he must face the reality that the art of medicine is difficult and often fails him. As he is brought to his knees, he is humbled and cries out to the universe. His emotional journey leads to deeper revelation.

FQ: Aurelia’s Christianity is central to the story. What drew you to write about early Christianity?

CIHOLAS: Christianity almost didn’t happen. John the Baptist, the main prophet, was beheaded. Jesus was crucified. Almost all the disciples were martyred. Leaders and followers were put to death. It took almost a generation for the new faith to be called Christianity. It took even longer for the first gospels to be written. The period between the crucifixion and the fall of Jerusalem changed the world.  It is one of the most fascinating and exciting periods of history.

FQ: Why was Liora’s feeling of invisibility important to include?

CIHOLAS: It was typical of the times that women didn’t play major roles. Even as a child Liora senses how wrong this is and asserts herself in the only way she can. But it takes Simon years to realize how closely he came to losing her. Finally contrite, he admits he has a lot to learn from her. I also believe Aurelia set the example. She is stronger than Simon in so many ways.

FQ: How did you balance historical context with intimate family dynamics?

CIHOLAS: The history and the personalities of the major characters came together naturally. Intimate family dynamics don’t change much over time. The historical settings do.

FQ: Were there scenes in the novel that were difficult to write emotionally?

CIHOLAS: The scenes that were the hardest to write: the trial of Paul, the martyrdom of early Christians, the war, and the loss of the temple. These are counterbalanced by fun stories to tell about magic potions, Vespasian’s down-to-earth peasant personality, and Liora’s clever manipulation of her father.

FQ: How do you hope readers will interpret Simon’s losses and his internal struggle?

CIHOLAS: I hope readers will believe in the characters as real human beings who lived and suffered and made mistakes. I hope readers are encouraged by Simon's endurance and tenacity. He never loses sight of his mission of healing.

FQ: Did your view of belief evolve while writing this novel?

CIHOLAS: I already had a profound interest in Judaism. I gained more respect for Judaism as the grounding for my Christian beliefs after studying ancient accounts. In that way, my beliefs evolved. I also gained more insights into the incredible advances in science and technology and the role the Museion played in Alexandria for research in medicine and the sciences. I read a lot of books on ancient Egyptian medicine and immersed myself in the writings of Hippocrates and of other ancient physicians. All the research—over many years—was a lot of fun. Alexandria was the fascinating intellectual hub of the Roman empire. Its heart was the greatest library of antiquity.

FQ: How much historical research informed the spiritual elements of the book?

CIHOLAS: I grew up around theologians discussing everything from textual criticism to the history of the sacraments. But intellectual interest is not necessarily a spiritual journey. The spiritual aspect of religion for me comes from the experience of awe I feel when I look at the night sky. It's when I ask the bigger questions of who we are. I see Simon in the light of his spiritual quest. In my research, I reread the scriptures, seeking to see things from Simon's point of view. I tried to read the old stories as though I had never heard of them before. I gained a whole new respect for Judaism and for the Jewish religion and realize how much I, as a Christian, am indebted to Judaism. I seek to honor the deep heritage that was also the heritage of Jesus.

FQ: What conversations do you hope this novel will spark among readers?

CIHOLAS: How is healing connected to what we believe? Which character did you want to meet in person if any? Did you get upset with Simon? What did you think about Tiberius Alexander? He is the most powerful Jew in the book and became Prefect of Egypt, a position second only to the emperor. I didn’t make him up. He is historical. Those who have read the first two books in the trilogy met him when he was an obnoxious upstart and a bully. Simon dismissed him as “more Roman than a Roman.

We talk about the rich Judeo-Christian tradition that western society is built on. Is that still true? Has the meaning of that changed? Are we still greatly influenced by that tradition?

 #Bookreview of May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn

By: Kimberly Sullivan

Publication Date: May 8, 2026

ISBN: 979-8986884493

Reviewed by: Lily Andrews

Review Date: March 3, 2026

May Flowers at The Three Coins Inn by Kimberly Sullivan follows four different guests as they converge on a charming inn in the medieval hilltop of Todi, Umbria, each seeking an escape from the complexities of their lives.

Through the guests, the novel explores universal themes of heartbreak, regret and the weight of family expectations, as well as the courageous pursuit of second chances. Set against the backdrop of a lush Italian spring, it weaves together the stories of Lisa, fleeing a humiliating betrayal; Antonio, an aging artist returning to a place haunted by lost love; Sharon, a wealthy but emotionally distant mother on a forced bonding trip with her younger son; and Margherita, a successful but cripplingly shy author suffering from writer's block.

Lisa arrives in Todi nursing the wounds of a public rejection by her ex-fiancé whom she had loved since she was a teenager. She hopes the Italian countryside will be the first of the many things she has been putting off, and will soon soothe her already battered soul. Meanwhile, Antonio has checked himself into a specific room at the inn for reasons he keeps to himself. He harbors insecurities about his origins, his age and creative decline. He fears his best days are behind him and as you read his story, you are forced to wonder whether the journey for him is an escape or the first step towards courage. The inn also welcomes the aloof Sharon and her perceptive nine year old son Josh, who is far more interested in the inn's resident artist and local shepherd than his mother's spa appointments. Sharon forces you to question whether she is living the life she wanted or the one she was expected to. You also find yourself wondering why her son seems to connect more easily with strangers than with her. Finally, Margherita, a Roman author whose agent has forced her out of her apartment, arrives terrified of the human interaction that awaits her. You see her struggle internally and externally, and you are left curious about why someone so successful is so afraid of being seen and why her success seems to amplify her insecurity rather than erase it. Initially the guests remain isolated in their own worlds, but as the May flowers begin to bloom, so too do unexpected connections, forcing each of them to confront the past they came to escape.

Sullivan excels at crafting deeply human characters whose internal struggles feel authentic and relatable. Her strength also lies in the slow-burn revelations, particularly in the story of Antonio, whose connection to the inn's history emerges as breathtaking. She has painted Todi and its surroundings countryside with such vivid, sensory detail that it becomes like a living character in its own right. The novel's pacing is a masterclass, allowing the characters' lives to genuinely intertwine, leading to moments of genuine emotional resonance and triumph. Notable is the growing bond between the lonely young Josh and the elderly artist, which as tenderly as it emerges, accurately showcases how healing can come from the most unexpected friendships.

Quill says: May Flowers at The Three Coins Inn by Kimberly Sullivan is warm, and perfectly captures the feeling of arriving somewhere new and discovering exactly what you didn't know you were looking for. With its cast of beautifully flawed characters and its idyllic Italian setting, it's a story about the courage it takes to heal old wounds and the messy but tasking process of blooming anew. Among its peers in the women fiction and travel-lit genres, what makes it so special is its refusal to settle for a single protagonist's journey, instead, weaving together four distinct characters across generations, and allowing each one of their healing journeys to illuminate and deepen the other's. For anyone who believes in the magic of a change of scenery and the power of human connection, this book will be an absolute treat and the perfect escape that will leave you longing to book your own stay at a Three Coins Inn of your own.

For more information about May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn, please visit the author's website at: kimberlysullivanauthor.com/

 #Bookreview of Furtive Retribution

By: Gary D. McGugan

Publication Date: December 23, 2025

ISBN: 978-1069280817

Reviewed by: Ephantus Muriuki

Review Date: February 27, 2026

Furtive Retribution by Gary D. McGugan opens in Stonehurst Place Bed and Breakfast where without warning, Suzanne Simpson, the CEO of Multima Corporation and Serge Boisvert, her security chief and partner, are thrown into a rapidly expanding crisis involving murder, crime and corporate conspiracy.

While Suzanne and Serge try to settle into the refined calm of their surroundings, they begin receiving a series of anonymous calls in the night where no one is speaking on the other end. Here, as a reader you begin to feel a tightening in your chest as well as a quiet instinct that something is terribly wrong even before the characters fully accept it. The unease the two feel quickly escalates into a targeted bombing and a desperate flight to safety that shatters any illusion of control they thought they still possessed. In those early pages, as a reader, you don't simply witness danger unfold, rather, you feel the sudden vulnerability of two powerful individuals stripped of certainty in a chilling moment from which the novel begs for an urgent hunt for answers, as well as a careful check of the fragile architecture of the power that holds a global corporation together.

It is with the final mysterious call that the tone of the novel darkens. Both Suzanne and Serge are warned to leave immediately or be finished, in a threat that materializes with shocking speed. They narrowly escape a bomb blast, before heading directly to Montreal for a high-stakes directors' meeting where Suzanne outlines a chain of troubling events including the brutal murder of Gordon Goodfellow, president of her Supermarkets division at Multima Corporation. As she pieces together connections between organized crime and internal vulnerabilities, we see her move from explanation to action by announcing her intention to seek authorization of fifty million dollars to create a special fund for a private investigation into what happened to Gordon. That bold request shifts the narrative beyond reactive survival into what feels like calculated counterattack, to root out what she believes are genuine threats to Multima Corporation’s very survival. Yet from that bold resolve emerges an unsettling truth that she does not fully see. As the investigation widens and loyalties get tested, the question of whether the most dangerous threat advances from the shadows outside or patiently positions itself from inside, gradually arises.

This novel stands out in the way the author weaves high-level corporate maneuvering into moments of genuine danger. He lets every decision ripple outward into the physical world, in a fusion that becomes especially vivid in the characters’ dialogue, which he writes with the same urgency and intensity as the novel’s most explosive scene. The characters emerge as real professionals who have largely been shaped by expertise and experience rather than convenience, especially Suzanne, a compelling female lead whose intellect and resolve anchors the corporation, even when events threaten to spiral beyond control. She does not command attention through force, but rather through clarity and restraint. Serge’s steadiness, largely shaped by his law enforcement past, reinforces the fragile equilibrium between them. But as you interact with him you feel that that balance is not entirely secure, in that it sometimes shifts subtly into tension, particularly in moments when his personal affection for Suzanne begins to blur the sharp lines of professional duty.

Throughout the novel, the author blurs the lines between external predators and internal actors, and as a result, makes the reader constantly re-think who can be trusted and who might be working with hidden motives. This uncertainty reflects the reality of large corporations where authority is sometimes only visible on the surface, yet true control often rests elsewhere. Through that growing sense of suspicion, McGugan invites us to consider whether any institution, no matter how fortified it appears, can truly protect itself from enemies who might already have learned the art of blending in.

Quill says: Furtive Retribution by Gary McGugan is a must-read thriller that keeps the language precise instead of ornamental. It is that restraint that strengthens the credibility of the financial and technological intricacies that are deeply webbed in the narrative. That credibility in turn deepens the impact of every escalation, allowing the danger to feel not only dramatic but convincingly real as though the corporate towers and covert networks that it portrays could exist just within the reader's reach. By carefully binding strategic complexity to emotional consequence, McGugan has crafted a layered narrative in which ambition demands a deeply personal cost. It is precisely this layering that naturally positions the novel as a must-read for those who appreciate intelligent thrillers where international intrigue and corporate drama unfold with equal force.

For more information about Furtive Retribution, please visit the author's website at: garydmcguganbooks.com/

 #Bookreview of The Temple at Sunset

By: Karin Ciholas

Publisher: Atmosphere Press

Publication Date: October 28, 2025

ISBN: 979-8891328853

Reviewed by: Alma Boucher

Review Date: February 25, 2026

The Temple at Sunset by Karin Ciholas is a thoughtful and emotionally historical novel. It explores faith, family, and the quiet fractures that can shape a lifetime. Set in a world of conflicting beliefs, personal loyalties are tested in this emotionally thrilling novel that explores historical and spiritual dimensions. To make this emotionally inspiring, Ciholas focuses on intimate human struggles, instead of wrapping the historical and spiritual contexts around the characters' journeys.

Among the novel's primary focuses is Simon, and as his family starts to fall apart, this is particularly painful. As a result of her Christianity, Aurelia, Simon's wife, has inspired her sons, Alexander and Rufus, through her actions to convert. While Aurelia's mother is dying, her sons do not return, leaving Simon with grief, loss, and disbelief. Especially in the growing tensions within her family concerning her brothers and their chosen cause, Liora, the couple's daughter, feels disregarded. Liora decides to run away from her home after witnessing a fierce debate between her parents about their family. Liora's departure provokes an individual awakening for each of them. Simon felt he had 'lost his sons to a cause they deem greater than themselves', which Ciholas presents as the emotional climax of the novel.

Thematically, The Temple at Sunset explores the conflict between faith and tradition, the price of commitment, and the unforeseen effects of spiritual awakening within a family torn apart by differing beliefs. Ciholas approaches these themes with care, illustrating how conviction can bring hope to some while leading others to feelings of abandonment and silence. Liora’s narrative, in particular, emphasizes the harm that results when voices are silenced, whereas Simon’s journey delves into grief, identity, and the difficulty of balancing love with loss. Ciholas conveys that faith, much like family, has the potential to both bring people together and create divides. It all depends on the nature of compassion shown.

Ciholas’s prose prioritizes emotional richness and vivid inner experiences over action. The pacing is measured, allowing readers to experience the characters’ suffering and spiritual exploration. Some may find the measured tempo slow, but it suits the novel’s introspective nature and enhances its emotional authenticity.

Quill says: This is a meditation on faith, family, and the silent costs of belief. I recommend The Temple at Sunset for readers who appreciate historical fiction with spiritual and emotional complexity. It is a moving work that lingers long after the final page.

For more information about The Temple at Sunset (The Cyrenian Trilogy Book 3), please visit the author's website at: thecyreniantrilogy.com/