New Release Review – The Secret Winners Club by Donna Galanti @DonnaGalanti #thesecretwinnersclub

Posted on March 3, 2026 by fundinmental

MY REVIEW

The Secret Winners Club by Donna Gilanti is written for those between the ages of eight and thirteen, but I think people of all ages can relate to the message: Embrace your own unique self because you’re special just the way you are.

Each chapter begins with an illustration that spotlights a character’s point of view. I love when an author adds that something extra to the story.

Thirteen year old Sunny Whitlock is the main character. She has alopecia, an auto immune disease that caused her to lose her hair. I love the way she deals with it, by making her own headscarves. She doesn’t hide with bland colors, but bursts with colorful designs. She also has joined the junk bot club competition. Her father owns the scrapyard in town, so she has access to a lot of the parts, but her father also donates parts to the club. She gets picked on because of his work. It’s still the usual that we all struggle with, the haves and the have nots and those that are considered different, ouside the norm.

Sunny’s best friends are also auto immune deficient and together they form The Secret Winners Club. The goal is to step outside of their comfort zone, support each other and to win…at any cost. Do you see where this is going? What will be the cost of putting winning ahead of all else? This is one of those things…it’s a great idea, but they are doing it for the wrong reasons. As they begin to succeed, they learn the cost of their decisions.

The Secret Winners Club is a coming of age story that shares thoughts, feelings, and actions we can all learn from. I loved how the characters developed, learning life lessons as they strive to achieve the goals they set for themselves.

Tbank you Donna Galanti for the opportunity to read The Secret Winners Club.

ABOUT THE SECRET WINNERS CLUB

1^st Rule of The Secret Winners Club:
Do whatever it takes.

Thirteen-year-old Sunny Whitlock has alopecia; an autoimmune condition that’s made her lose her hair—and she’s desperate to be seen as more than just the bald kid. But how? By setting an epic goal: win her school’s junkbot club competition. And if she’s #1, then other kids will have to see beyond her disease … and she’ll finally fit in.

Sunny’s immune-deficient best friends are also tired of looking different and achieving second place in their school competitions. With a bold plan, Sunny bands with them to create The Secret Winners Club, a club devised to win—at any cost—and push them outside their comfort zones.

They promise to trust no one else. It’s all classified! And in total secrecy they aim to help one another become #1 before this middle school year is over. But as they start to succeed, they quickly discover that crossing the line and hurting others can make them even more visible and even more an outsider.

Bookshop / Amazon / B & N / Books A Million / Apple

ABOUT DONNA GALANTI

Donna Galanti is the author of the middle-grade ooks Unicorn Island series, Joshua and the
Lightning Road series, and Loon Cove Summer. She’s lived in fun locations including England, her family-owned campground in New Hampshire, and in Hawaii as a U.S. Navy photographer. Donna is an avid outdoor adventurer and nature lover. She volunteers for the Old-Growth Forest Network and the National Audubon Society. For details on her books, events, and school programs, visit donnagalanti.com.

GIVEAWAY

Donna Galanti is offering a paperback (US ONLY) or ebook (International) of her book, Loon Cove Summer. Entry is easy peasy.

Enter a comment that answers the question, do you go on summer vacations?

Giveaway ends 3.10.26

MY DONNA GALANTI REVIEWS

A Human Element
A Hidden Element
Joshua and the Lightning Road
Joshua and the Arrow Realm
Unicorn Island
Unicorn Island (Secret Beneath The Sand)
Unicorn Island (Beyond The Portal)
Loon Cove Summer

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Review – Blood Lasts Forever by Jeff Gunhus @jeffgunhus

Posted on December 24, 2024 by fundinmental

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Blood Lasts Forever is not my first Jeff Gunhus novel. His writing is amazing and there is never any hesitation when I am offered a copy for review.

Fifteen year old Wyatt Bucks is a bully. When he turns up dead, no one in the small town of chambers questions it. It only took one mistake for someone to hunt him down and make him pay. The Fab Five have taken a blood oath to take their secret to the grave.

It’s twenty years later, and the past has come calling. Jeff Gunhus did a great job of creating a story and characters that are realistic and gripping. The details enabled me to visualize the scenes as they unfolded.

I wondered what would happen at the cabin. I figured someone must have broken the blood oath, but who and why was the big question. It didn’t go down the way I thought it would, but that’s not surprising with Jeff Gunhus. He is a master at creating suspense and roller coaster ride stories, keeping me flipping pages, eager to know what comes next.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Not every death is a tragedy.

When fifteen-year-old Wyatt Bucks is found dead in the Sagasett River, the small town of Chambers breathes a collective sigh of relief. Wyatt was a troubled youth, feared and despised by many. But his death, deemed an accident by the local sheriff, leaves a chilling legacy that will haunt the town for decades.

Twenty years later, Mitch Ansel, now a middle school teacher, receives a call that resurrects the nightmares of his past. Alongside his old friends, the Fab Five, Mitch is forced to confront the dark secret they’ve buried for years—a secret that ties them to Wyatt’s death.

As the friends reunite at a remote cabin, they must navigate a web of deceit, fear, and violence. Each carries scars from the past, but none are prepared for the revelations that await them. Mitch’s terrifying visions of Wyatt and the relentless pull of their shared guilt threaten to unravel their lives and sanity.

Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 11, 2024

ABOUT JEFF GUNHUS

Jeff Gunhus is the USA TODAY bestselling author of thriller and horror novels for adults and the middle grade/YA series, The Templar Chronicles. The first book, Jack Templar Monster Hunter, was written in an effort to get his reluctant reader eleven-year-old son excited about reading. It worked and a new series was born. His books for adults have reached the Top 30 on Amazon, have been recognized as Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Finalists and reached the USA TODAY bestseller list.

After his experience with his son, he is passionate about helping parents reach young reluctant readers and is active in child literacy issues. As a father of five, he leads an active life in Maryland with his wife Nicole by trying to constantly keep up with their kids. In rare moments of quiet, he can be found in the back of the City Dock Cafe in Annapolis working on his next novel or on JeffGunhus.com.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

MY JEFF GUNHUS REVIEWS

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Giveaway – Dead Sea by Mia Kerick @MiaKerick @YABoundToursPR

Posted on April 8, 2021 by fundinmental

Book Tour!

Dead Sea
by: Mia Kerick

Dead Sea

(Story Ballads Book #2)
by: Mia Kerick
Genre: YA Coming of Age Gay Romance
Release Date: March 3

Summary: Kyle is a swaggering bully; Lenny strives to be invisible.

Kyle has been left alone in the world; Lenny is the world’s biggest loner.

When Kyle saves Lenny from drowning, their lives will never be the same.

After a brutal encounter with school bullies, Lenny swims out into the ocean, determined to let the current whisk him away. Next thing he knows the meanest kid in town is pulling him from the waves, promising to be his Dead Sea, and to never let him sink.

All Kyle wants is to get out of beach cleanup, is that too much to ask? So he goes for a swim, only to come upon the most epic “nobody” in the senior class drowning in a riptide. Lenny’s haunted gaze grips him, and Kyle makes the impulsive decision to save his life or die trying. And through this ordeal, Kyle and Lenny are transformed.

Kyle’s heroic act sets him on the straight and narrow, and he opens his heart to the young man he dragged from the ocean. Lenny changes too but is still unable to reveal the truth of his pain. While drowning in a sea of secrets, the reformed bully and wary victim fall in love. But staying afloat in the Dead Sea is not as simple as it seems.

Buy Link:

Amazon: (Kindle Unlimited or $2.99)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VRY4W8V/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_FN95HPPDFFBZ9T1ZTWBV

Giveaway!

$20 Amazon Gift Card (International)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

Award-winning gay romance author, wife, and mother of four, Mia Kerick, knows that a satisfying romance novel is riddled with challenges. For true love to prevail, the leading men are going to have to put in some effort. But the HEA is oh, so rewarding.

From Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester to Brokeback Mountain’s Ennis and Jack to Twilight’s Edward, Mia has a great affinity for the tortured hero in literature. Her contemporary gay romance focuses on such tropes as coming of age, hurt/comfort, and forbidden love. She firmly believes that sometimes you have to break his heart to save him. In Kerick’s books, the course of true love truly never does run smooth.

Mia’s books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine. They have won a 2019 IPPY GOLD award for Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction, GOLD award for Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction, a 2018 YA GOLD MOONBEAM Children’s Book Award, a YA Readers’ Favorite Award, several Gold Rainbow Awards in YA and adult categories, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, a YA Indie Fab Award, a First Place Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, a First Place Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly Award, and more.

Mia cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.