If You Were Mine (The Cage Family #3) Carrie Ann Ryan

 

If You Were Mine (The Cage Family #3)

By: Carrie Ann Ryan

Recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌕 - (Out of 5 🌕)

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Little Sister/Big Brother's Best Friend Romance

Length: 376 Pages

Pace: Fast

Moods: Emotional, Inspiring, Hopeful, Happily Ever After

Release Date: October 27, 2025

        Just when you think the Cage Family dynamics couldn't get anymore complex, Carrie Ann Ryan throws a large wrench into the extremely complex machine. Ryan has again written an emotionally complicated romance with so many unexpected twists and turns. Dorian and Harper are now by far two of my favorite characters in all of Ryan's stories. Having a medical condition myself, I find characters who are dealing with medical issues relatable. Dorian's recovery from a plane crash, his struggles, and frustrations make him more human. Harper's brother died in the same plane crash that Dorian was injured in. to make matters more intricate, Dorian and Harper's brother Joshua were best friends. Harper and Dorian's shared grief brought so many different feelings to the story; from the start to its end. I loved everything about this book. I love that it took place in the very small and exclusive town the Cage family runs, love Harper's bakery, I love Dorian's strength and perseverance, I especially love Harper's relationship with her dog Lucky.  

Synopsis:

    If You Were Mine began with a horrible tragedy. Dorian Cage was the lone survivor of a plane crash. To make matters worse, his best friend Joshua was the pilot. While he is recovering, Dorian decides to escape to the small town his family founded years ago in order to finish his recovery in peace while at the same time avoiding the incessant doting of his rather large family. While there, he elects to rebuild the house his recently deceased father willed to him. On the surface, the renovation appears to be some form of penance for a secret shared between Dorian and his mother. While in town, he works on keeping a promise he made to Joshua, look out for Josh's younger sister Harper.

    Harper has had a crush on her brother's best friend since she was young. She has worked hard to make her bakery a success. Extremely long hours spent creating new baked goods along side old favorites has made Rising Cage a beloved eatery amongst the Cage Lake locals as well as the tourists who come to stay at the resort. Harper understands the loss that Dorian is experiencing and is determined to help him heal through their shared grief. Along the way and unexpected bond forms and their relationship rapidly accelerates to the next level; a result that makes Harper extremely pleased.

    If You Were Mine is a great addition to the Cage Family series. I enjoyed reading about Harper and Dorian's recovery and seeing them both move forward together. This series just keeps getting more interesting with every new installment.

 I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.                                            

Currently available for purchase:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon Book #6) Dan Brown

 

The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon #6)

By: Dan Brown

Recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌘- (Out of 5 🌕)

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Historical Fiction

Length: 688 Pages

Pace: Slow

Moods: Adventurous, Challenging, Dark, Informative, Mysterious, Tense 

Release Date: September 9, 2025

        I always eagerly anticipate a Dan Brown release. The Secret of Secrets was pre-ordered well in advance. I greatly appreciate the amount of work and research that goes into each of Brown's books. He always builds amazingly wonderful, engrossing, fictional stories built around very real non-fiction topics. Because of all the work involved in developing these books, I am comfortable waiting patiently for each new installment. When this story released on September 8th I dropped everything else I was reading and immediately took up The Secret of Secrets. I am sad to say it was an extremely slow and tedious read. I found I was forcing myself to read a little each day just to get through to the end. 

    The back story revolves around noetic science, which is the study of human consciousness and a person's intuition, telepathy, precognitive abilities, energy healing, etc. A topic that I find incredibly interesting. I enjoyed learning more about the subject, including a failed project the United States secretly lead called Stargate. Unfortunately, some sections of the book got too technical and read like a operator's manual. This book could have benefited from some serious editing.

    This does not deter me from reading future Dan Brown books. It is quite possible the depth of the topic was too great for me. As mentioned, I enjoyed the topic of noetics and found some of the twists in the story to be surprising and entertaining. As usual with all of Brown's books, I found myself doing my own research into may of the items mentioned just to learn more about what was factual and subject matter of the story as a whole. I am always amazed at how much I learn from Brown's stories. 

Synopsis:

    Robert Langdon once again finds himself embroiled in international chaos. It seems ironic that how easily trouble finds him. While visiting Prague with Katherine Solomon, an old friend and love interest, the couple find themselves fighting for their lives from many different agencies. Solomon, is in Prague giving a presentation about her field of study, noetic science while at the same time promoting her upcoming book. Unfortunately, someone is going to extreme measures to destroy her work and possibly her.

    The city of Prague is ancient and Brown's story is built on the backdrop of old churches, castles, lore and history. As usual, Langdon's deep knowledge of history and iconic images are valuable to him as he navigates his way out of each of the troubles he encounters. 

Currently available for purchase:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble