Life as an author has its ups and downs, but the benefits are undeniable. One of my favorite perks is getting to read awesome books long before they come out, often to evaluate whether we want to say nice things about the book that publishers can put on the cover as a blurb. That was how I got to read Jess Montgomery’s gorgeous historical mystery THE HOLLOWS several months ago, and the nice things I said included “genuinely mysterious and utterly satisfying.” You can see the blurb here on BookBub. And now you don’t need any special connections to read THE HOLLOWS — it’s available everywhere!

Jess Montgomery is the author of the Kinship Historical Mysteries, THE WIDOWS and THE HOLLOWS. Under her given name, she is a newspaper columnist, focusing on the literary life, authors and events of her native Dayton, Ohio for the Dayton Daily News. Her first novel in the Kinship Historical Mystery series garnered awards even before publication: Montgomery County (Ohio) Arts & Cultural District (MCAD) Artist Opportunity Grant (2018); Individual Excellence Award (2016) in Literary Arts from Ohio Arts Council; John E. Nance Writer in Residence at Thurber House (Columbus, Ohio) in 2014.

Jess’s recommendation for #read99women is PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee, which she’s been “recommending everywhere I go.” She recommends it for its strong emotional impact: “I found myself exclaiming out loud in reaction, and after one particular event (no spoilers here) I remained emotional about that event and the impact on the characters' lives for literal days.”

To read Jess’s complete review of Pachinko on BookBub, click here.

For more on Jess, her work, and other books she recommends, follow her on BookBub.