Review & Giveaway - - The Liar's Treasure

The Liar's Treasure

by Connie Mann

A Speranza Team Novel - Book 2

Publisher: Tyndale Fiction

Release Date: March 10, 2026

Reviewed by PJ

 

Camille Abernathy ignored rumors of The Liar's Treasure and her family's connection to it . . . until someone put a target on her daughter's back. Growing up in New Orleans, such tall tales were as common as beignets and gumbo. But when Camille's teenage daughter, Cass, posts pictures of a centuries-old diary her uncle gave her, she unwittingly attracts dozens of treasure hunting fanatics who are convinced Cass and the diary can lead them to a valuable cache.
To keep her daughter safe, Camille enlists the help of Speranza, a secret society always ready to help women in need. Together, they set out on a globe-trotting journey to find The Liar's Treasure while also investigating a suspicious death related to Camille's childhood friend. The deeper they dig, the more they suspect it's all connected.
Chasing clues from New Orleans to Italy to the Bahamas, Camille and her friends receive unexpected assistance—and unwanted competition—from a handsome treasure hunter from Camille's past. Then Cass is kidnapped, and finding the treasure truly becomes a matter of life and death.

PJ's Thoughts:

One thing I've learned about Connie Mann is that she doesn't mess around when it comes to action or suspense. This book didn't take long to plunge me straight into its tightly woven intensity, keeping me on the edge of my seat right up until I turned the final page. I intended to take a few days to read The Liar's Treasure. I finished it the same day I started reading. Each time I tried to put it down, something would happen that kept me turning pages. I had to know what would happen next!

The Liar's Treasure combines greed, faith, ancient legend, mother-daughter relationships, a cache of potential villains, priceless artifacts, and a secret group of women dedicated to coming to the aid of other women in need. It all meshes together in a compelling race across the globe littered with historical clues, surprising twists, life or death encounters, and unexpected romance. 

I'm fascinated by the historical lineage of The Liar's Treasure and how it impacted those who protected it through the centuries as well as those who sought to use its power for ill-gotten gains. Mann expertly weaves the story through history to present day in a realistic, believable way that convinced me I was reading about actual artifacts and not something that came from her imagination. 

So too, are the characters (good and bad) in this book realistic and relatable. That's another facet of Mann's writing that I enjoy. She creates characters with layers, with flaws, strengths, vulnerabilities, morally gray and sometimes completely evil motivations that feel authentic, like people I would actually know or read about in the news. It's the kind of complexity that deepens my investment in the outcome of the story and the various characters' roles in it. 

The Liar's Treasure is book two in Connie Mann's Speranza Team series. It can absolutely be enjoyed on its own but if you prefer to get to know the women of the team from the beginning, you may want to read book one, The Crown Conspiracy, first. (click to read my review)

Have you read any of Connie Mann's books?

Do you enjoy stories that span multiple countries/continents?

The women of Speranza  are each uniquely skilled to be members of the team. If you were a member of a secret society of women dedicated to righting wrongs for other women, what would your special skill be? 

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, March 12 will receive a signed print copy of The Liar's Treasure. 

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

Review - - The Second Story Bookshop

The Second Story Bookshop

by Denise Hunter

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: October 7, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

 

Shelby Thatcher adores working in the charming small-town bookshop her grandmother opened years ago. Since high school she's helped Gram turn the shop into a community hub for book lovers in the lakeside town of Grandville, NC. When her beloved grandma passes away, Shelby inherits the bookstore. But to her shock, Gram leaves half ownership to Gray Briggs, the man who broke Shelby's heart years ago.

Grandville residents have been vilifying Gray as long as he can remember. After graduating high school he couldn't skip town fast enough, even though it meant leaving the girl he'd fallen deeply in love with and alienating her family once and for all. Now he's back, the beneficiary of his elderly friend's will. Facing the town's animosity is difficult, but seeing Shelby again is sheer torture. No one could ever stir his heart the way she did.

As the adversaries are forced to work together, Gram's beyond-the-grave scheme is working--Shelby's old feelings for Gray begin to resurface. But the problems that destroyed their relationship before still remain, and a new one surfaces--one that threatens Gram's beloved bookshop. Is their love doomed to fail again, or will they find a way to make it work this time around?

PJ's Thoughts:

I enjoy when characters are given second chances to make different choices. That's the main premise of Denise Hunter's The Second Story Bookshop, a heart-tugging, small-town story that engaged my interest, my emotions, and kept me turning pages right up until the end. 

Shelby and Gray never stood a chance when they were teens. Gray never stood a chance, period. The people of Grandville were against him from the beginning. But now he's back, fulfilling the wishes of one of the only people who was in his corner: Shelby's late grandmother. He only wants to help Shelby save the bookshop that is her grandmother's legacy. She's dating someone else. The town is still against him. There's no future for the feelings for her that he never lost. Or is there? 

I so enjoyed this book. Hunter has crafted a complex, heartwarming story of growth, redemption, and finding one's purpose and person. The characters are beautifully developed with layers that are gradually revealed as the story progresses. The recaptured feelings between Gray and Shelby are organic and true, slowly evolving as they work together to save the bookshop. There's a bit of a love triangle - she's been dating someone for a few months - but I was okay with it as Shelby deals with the situation as soon as she realizes in which direction her feelings are taking her. 

The secondary cast of characters have significant roles in Shelby's and Gray's journeys with individual storylines that dovetail neatly into the main one. And underneath it all, there's the journey of the Grandville community, a collection of citizens who are forced to confront their own biases when their actions hurt one of their own. 

As a fun side note, I was only a couple chapters into the book when the town of Grandville and Shelby's bookshop began to feel familiar. It didn't take long to discover why. During a visit to North Carolina, the author visited an independent bookstore in a small college town that inspired the location - and bookshop - for this book. I know that town...and that bookstore! For ten years, that was my local bookstore, with a cozy vibe and welcoming staff that gives readers the same warm hug feelings as The Second Story Bookshop. Hunter captured it well.   

Review - - Isaiah's Legacy

ISAIAH’S LEGACY

by Mesu Andrews

Publisher: WaterBrook

Release Date: February 18, 2020

Reviewed by Hellie

    

At eight years old, Shulle has known only life in a small village with her loving but peculiar father. When Uncle Shebna offers shelter in Jerusalem in exchange for Shulle's help tutoring King Manasseh, Judah's five-year-old co-regent who displays the same peculiarities as her father, she's eager to experience the royal court. But Shulle soon realizes the limits of her father's strict adherence to Yahweh's Law when Uncle Shebna teaches her of the starry hosts and their power.

Convinced Judah must be freed from Yahweh's chains, she begins the subtle swaying of young Manasseh, using her charm and skills on the boy no one else understands. When King Hezekiah dies, twelve-year-old Manasseh is thrust onto Judah's throne, bitter at Yahweh and eager to marry the girl he adores. Assyria's crown prince favors Manasseh and twists his brilliant mind toward cruelty, beginning Shulle's long and harrowing journey to discover the Yahweh she'd never known, guided with loving wisdom by Manasseh's mother: Isaiah's daughter, the heartbroken Hephzibah. Amid Judah's dark days, a desperate remnant emerges, claiming the Lord's promise, "Though we're helpless now, we're never hopeless--because we serve El Shaddai." Shulle is among them, a girl who becomes a queen through Isaiah's legacy.

Hellie’s Heeds

Mesu Andrews had her work cut out for this story. As she tells the reader prior to the start of the story: “Manessah became Judah’s wickedest king and destroyed everything his father rebuilt.” Manessah (Nessah) is more villain than anti-hero, though Mesu does an admirable job of creating flawed but nuanced characters who persevere and eventually triumph, and shows God never gives up on a human heart. 

If you are interested in historical fiction (and/or Christian fiction), this book will tick all the boxes, even though at times it is a hard read. Nessah, after all, does really awful things for most of the book, including sacrificing his own children to other gods. In addition to Nessah, there is Shulle’s uncle Shebna--who I think is even more wicked than Nessah--who forces Shulle into a relationship with the child-king and manipulates her in order to gain more power. Then there are the Assyrian kings, Sennacherib, then his son Esarhaddon, and his grandson Ashurbanipal, each seemingly more terrifying than the last. Still, with all its gritty historical detail and darkness, this book is one of hope, which shows itself through Queen Zibah (Nessah’s mother) and the holy prophets who try to touch Nessah’s heart. 

As a plot point (of sorts), Nessah is portrayed as being autistic (as was Shulle’s father, which is how she becomes a tutor to Nessah.) While I believe this was handled carefully and I value diversity and reality (after all, autism isn’t a “new” thing), I think some readers might be taken aback at Nessah being on the spectrum--and being so evil for so long. I don’t know. Again, the author does address this concern in her author’s note; and this may just be my personal discomfort since I have not read many books with autistic characters, nor have I personally known many people on the spectrum (at least that I’m aware of). The author was walking a lot of tight ropes here--and I do think she handled it as gracefully as possible. I think my only “issue” with the character being autistic is that his family and those he interacted with were a lot more understanding and/or careful with him than I think we have treated people who think/look differently, in the past. In this way, this story was a bit “wish fulfillment” to me, but I know that is one of the struggles in writing historical fiction: how do you write about certain things that would have definitely had different attitudes during that period--and not alienate the readership you’re trying to immerse in this time/culture. 

My last bit of contention is how the author treats any religion or belief system other than Judaism (which I understand, obviously.) Fictionally I understand having your characters who believe in God--the only God--to be dismissive and to hate the “false gods.” This is a Christian book, so the underlying theme is that there is only one true God. However, in the author’s note, she makes mention of the dogs who feature in the book and she indicates the violence of the dogs wasn’t meant to offend, but to “show the depravity of this ancient culture.” Pitting one culture against another in a framework of good and bad is why we do not have peace or understanding. While I commend the author on her ability to write a historical story like this with sensitivity and clarity, I was put off by this personal attitude that created division rather than understanding.