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Morgan Sheppard (1036 KP) created a post

Aug 27, 2026 - 4:23 PM  
Two Story Hearth standalones that stand apart from the Welsh mythology at the heart of the catalogue, and reveal something in the standing-apart.

To Catch a Dream — a contemporary romance with no magic, no folklore, no mythology. Caitlin is twenty-six, strong, and genuinely content with her life. Will makes that contentment feel like it might be missing something she hadn't noticed was absent. The question is entirely ordinary and entirely real. Is what you feel worth the risk of acting on it?

Cabbages & Kings — historical fiction set in 1198, told through Alana Dale's honest and clear-eyed account of the Robin Hood legend from inside the village rather than the greenwood. No magic. Just the cost of seeing clearly when the story everyone tells would prefer you didn't look too closely.

Both of them ask what the mythology asks, without the mythology to carry it. Both of them know that love costs something real.

To Catch a Dream — Payhip: https://payhip.com/b/nfjo6 / Universal: https://books2read.com/To-Catch-a-Dream
Cabbages & Kings — Payhip: https://payhip.com/b/xJR0T / Universal: https://books2read.com/Cabbages-Kings

#Contemporary #Romance #HistoricalFiction #BookLove #ReadingCommunity #Folklore
     
The House of One Thousand Eyes
The House of One Thousand Eyes
Michelle Barker | 2018 | Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Felt as if it could have been a glimpse into real people living in East Berlin (0 more)
Story wraps up nicely at the end but it ends abruptly. (0 more)
Realistic, historical fiction YA about living in East Berlin in the early 1980s
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Lena Altmann is a 17 year old girl who lives in East Berlin. After her parents were killed in an explosion, Lena was forced to move in with her aunt. Lena's only respite comes when she spends her Sundays with her uncle, her aunt's brother. One day he is erased. He along with all of his possessions,and his birth records are gone. His published books have disappeared from bookstore shelves. He is just gone, disappearing without a trace.

Lena frantically searches for him but knows government spies are everywhere and she feels alone. Her aunt is a hardcore member of the Communist party. Can she trust her? Can she trust her friends? Can she trust anyone?

Through her story, Michelle Barker shows what it was like to live in the "Better Berlin" in the 1980s. She shows the rigidness, fearfulness, suspicion, and oppression of life in East Berlin.

The House of One Thousand Eyes did not feel like fiction. You could feel and hear Berlin. You could believe Lena, her uncle, and her aunt were real people and this book just captured a portion of their lives.

Although the story wraps up nicely at the end, it ends abruptly.