S.A. Smith (Author of The Rain Gypsy)

S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing Coming Home: A Memoir by Sawyer Cole Hobson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
As a straight woman, I’ll never truly understand the subtleties of all the labels denoting sexuality, but I don’t understand how my toaster works! Just because I don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s not real, and what I can’t understand with ...more
Jul 02, 2025 03:32PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Coming Home by Sawyer Cole Hobson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Coming Home by Sawyer Cole Hobson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
S.A. Smith entered a giveaway When We Talk to the Dead by Ian Chorao	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 24, 2025 01:16PM · like · see giveaway
S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing The Flamenco Academy by Sarah Bird (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
"In America you tell each other...'Oh, the color of a person's skin...doesn't matter. In flamenco, we don't tell that lie. Blood matters. To be the best, you must have the best blood.... You must be Gypsy.'" High school students Rae and Didi are polar ...more
Jun 17, 2025 09:46AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Flamenco Academy by Sarah Bird. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Flamenco Academy by Sarah Bird <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
S.A. Smith rated a book really liked it The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Soline is the latest in a long line of seamstresses at her family's exclusive bridal salon. Far from being in a fancy Paris location, the shop is located in her family's modest home. For generations, her family has sewn a special "charm" inside each ...more
Jun 09, 2025 09:38AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing Black Sheep by Donna Scuvotti (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Have you ever read a novel and thought a secondary character deserved his or her own book? That's how Black Sheep came about! After Donna Scuvotti published Just Jonathan and Deadly Vendetta, she decided to let Jonathan's best friend and stand-in fat ...more
May 08, 2025 10:16AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Black Sheep by Donna Scuvotti. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Black Sheep by Donna Scuvotti <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing Black Sheep by Donna Scuvotti (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Have you ever read a novel and thought a secondary character deserved his or her own book? That's how Black Sheep came about! After Donna Scuvotti published Just Jonathan and Deadly Vendetta, she decided to let Jonathan's best friend and stand-in fat ...more
May 08, 2025 10:06AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Black Sheep by Donna Scuvotti. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Black Sheep by Donna Scuvotti <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing Ghost Writer by Jennifer Brasington-Crowley (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I don't usually read horror, but this book inspired by a true story drew me in. Ghost Writer follows the relocation of a family who unknowingly buys a haunted house after the wife's promotion sends them to Fort Worth, TX. Recently fired from his job ...more
Apr 08, 2025 02:52PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Ghost Writer by Jennifer Brasington-Crowley. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Ghost Writer by Jennifer Brasington-Crowley <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing Stillwaters by Jennifer Brasington-Crowley (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
“You wouldn’t know by looking at him that he had killed over one hundred people in his thirty-two years.” It’s not what you think! Jonathan Sharpe, a successful British engineer who looks like an Armani model, isn’t a murderer, but he does have “death ...more
Jan 31, 2025 02:28PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Stillwaters by Jennifer Brasington-Crowley. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Stillwaters by Jennifer Brasington-Crowley <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
S.A. Smith is now following Jennifer Brasington-Crowley Author of Raven Song
Jan 31, 2025 02:28PM · like
S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing Octopus by Pony Louder (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
To say this novel grabbed me from the very first page wouldn't be a lie. In her acknowledgments, the author states she didn't intend to write Octopus this book, but the story kept pestering her, and once she started writing it, the words "danced" ont ...more
Jan 15, 2025 08:55AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Octopus by Pony Louder. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Octopus by Pony Louder <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing

Coming Home: A Memoir
by Sawyer Cole Hobson (Goodreads Author)

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As a straight woman, I’ll never truly understand the subtleties of all the labels denoting sexuality, but I don’t understand how my toaster works! Just because I don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s not real, and what I can’t understand with ...more

S.A. Smith entered a giveaway

When We Talk to the Dead
by Ian Chorao

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The Flamenco Academy
by Sarah Bird (Goodreads Author)

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"In America you tell each other...'Oh, the color of a person's skin...doesn't matter. In flamenco, we don't tell that lie. Blood matters. To be the best, you must have the best blood.... You must be Gypsy.'"

High school students Rae and Didi are polar "In America you tell each other...'Oh, the color of a person's skin...doesn't matter. In flamenco, we don't tell that lie. Blood matters. To be the best, you must have the best blood.... You must be Gypsy.'"

High school students Rae and Didi are polar opposites. They're also best friends, but to Didi, everything and everyone are a means to an end. When the girls attend a party raided by police, Tomas--a young, Gypsy guitarist as out of place as she is--rescues Rae. They spend one magical, almost innocent evening together. When they part, Tomas tells Rae to be herself and disappears from her life. Obsessed, she spends years studying flamenco to become someone he'll love. But can a blonde, blue-eyed girl ever be accepted into flamenco's proprietary world? Little does she know that Tomas has his own doubts and that her teacher, the elderly yet indomitable Dona Carlota, holds a secret that could tear the flamenco world apart.

I was 100% invested in this book. It focuses on the very soul of flamenco: its history and place in the world, its inherent pecking order, the torturous training to become a dancer. The writing is as passionate as flamenco itself, with the words stomping a rhythm across the pages. It's two stories in one: Rae and Didi's and the much earlier story of Spanish Gypsies in Franco's Spain, who, despite the squalor they live in, become queens when they dance. It's a story of hard choices and valor, beauty and vileness, tenacity and survival, friendship and betrayal.

With twenty pages to go, I had no idea how the book would end. I no longer knew how I wanted it to end. The characters and all their layers had done me in. I loved them all but hated some. Does that make sense? Ultimately, this story of knowing how to choose who to make happy and how to do it ended on a bittersweet note that I'll treasure always.

If you read this book, don't neglect the section titled "Dancing to My Own Beat." It details the serendipitous event that led Sarah to write the book, as well as her exhaustive research. ...more

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The Keeper of Happy Endings
by Barbara Davis (Goodreads Author)

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Soline is the latest in a long line of seamstresses at her family's exclusive bridal salon. Far from being in a fancy Paris location, the shop is located in her family's modest home. For generations, her family has sewn a special "charm" inside each Soline is the latest in a long line of seamstresses at her family's exclusive bridal salon. Far from being in a fancy Paris location, the shop is located in her family's modest home. For generations, her family has sewn a special "charm" inside each exquisite dress, and the bride who wears a Roussel dress is said to be assured of a happy ending. Unfortunately, the magic doesn't extend to the seamstresses themselves, who are not to expect--or chase--happiness. A bit of a rule breaker, Soline sews herself an exquisite bridal gown which she keeps hidden away. All is well until her mother dies and the Nazis come marching into Paris.

Decades later, in mid-1980s Boston, Rory is lost without her fiancé Hux, who disappeared while working in South Sudan with Doctors Without Borders. Always at odds with her mother, Rory forgoes her mother's plans for her future and instead opens an art gallery for unknown artists. Rory is an artist herself but doesn't view her fabric art as "true art." While cleaning up the old building, she finds a hidden box containing a wedding dress, a shaving kit, and some old letters. The box is the only thing Soline took with her when she fled Paris at the insistence of her fiancé, Anson, an American ambulance driver and secret member of the French Resistance. But Rory knows none of this when she hand delivers the box to the reclusive older woman. What ensues is an unlikely friendship, one which drives the wedge between Rory and her mother even deeper.

I thought I'd had my fill of books about World War II and read this one only because it was a book club pick. It was a happy surprise that its WWII storyline is different from most other books and that it wasn't just about the war years. Full of history, mystery, and secrets, the book is told in dual timelines (WWII and the 1980s) and two POVs, first person for Soline's chapters and third-person limited for Rory's. For me, this made Soline's story the main one. Some of the themes are magic, grief, loss and restoration, the hardening of hearts after physical or emotional trauma, self-doubt, community, healing, misunderstandings due to lack of communication, and the danger of keeping secrets. The biggest secret of all is somewhat improbable, but that didn't keep me from loving this book! ...more

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Black Sheep
by Donna Scuvotti (Goodreads Author)

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Have you ever read a novel and thought a secondary character deserved his or her own book? That's how Black Sheep came about! After Donna Scuvotti published Just Jonathan and Deadly Vendetta, she decided to let Jonathan's best friend and stand-in fat ...more

S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing

Black Sheep
by Donna Scuvotti (Goodreads Author)

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Have you ever read a novel and thought a secondary character deserved his or her own book? That's how Black Sheep came about! After Donna Scuvotti published Just Jonathan and Deadly Vendetta, she decided to let Jonathan's best friend and stand-in fat ...more

S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing

Ghost Writer
by Jennifer Brasington-Crowley (Goodreads Author)

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I don't usually read horror, but this book inspired by a true story drew me in. Ghost Writer follows the relocation of a family who unknowingly buys a haunted house after the wife's promotion sends them to Fort Worth, TX. Recently fired from his job ...more

S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing

Stillwaters
by Jennifer Brasington-Crowley (Goodreads Author)

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“You wouldn’t know by looking at him that he had killed over one hundred people in his thirty-two years.”

It’s not what you think! Jonathan Sharpe, a successful British engineer who looks like an Armani model, isn’t a murderer, but he does have “death “You wouldn’t know by looking at him that he had killed over one hundred people in his thirty-two years.”

It’s not what you think! Jonathan Sharpe, a successful British engineer who looks like an Armani model, isn’t a murderer, but he does have “death dreams.” His first might’ve foretold his parents’ death, but he was only three at the time, so he’ll never know. Jonathan realizes his dreams are forewarnings of death, not the cause, but he’s had enough. His dream of a beautiful young woman lying dead in a stream haunts him. He names her Ophelia (as in Hamlet) and decides to join her in blissful rest. He travels to a small German town, where he accidentally meets Cayman Stillwater, and his suicidal plans take a back seat. But Cayman has problems of her own, and Ophelia keeps making appearances.

The story begins with a description of what actual death-row inmates had for their last meals. This odd bit of info segues seamlessly into Jonathan’s opinion of what he thinks is his last meal: sauerbraten, just as disappointing as his own life.

What begins as a kind gesture to help American Cayman order her own dinner (her German is non-existent) evolves into something neither one of them is ready for. Both Jonathan and Cayman are broken, but unlike Jonathan, Cayman doesn’t let her haunted past consume her present.

There’s so much to love about Stillwaters! Paranormal romance is not my typical genre, and I was surprised and delighted by the unexpected depth of this book. The love scenes were well written and moderately spicy. A minor character provides common sense and comic relief. I really cared about the characters, admired Cayman’s spunk, and was totally caught up in Jonathan’s tragic life. How did the romance turn out? Good question!

If not for silly things like cooking and laundry, I could’ve read this book in one sitting. Indie author Jennifer Brasington-Crowley has got my attention for sure! I’m definitely up for Books 2 & 3 in the series, but first I need to finish basking in this one. ...more

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Jennifer Brasington-Crowley

Author of Raven Song

S.A. Smith rated a book it was amazing

Octopus
by Pony Louder (Goodreads Author)

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To say this novel grabbed me from the very first page wouldn't be a lie. In her acknowledgments, the author states she didn't intend to write Octopus this book, but the story kept pestering her, and once she started writing it, the words "danced" ont ...more

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	The Rain Gypsy (The Rain Gypsies #1) 4.75 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2022 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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