Tag: The Crowned Flame by Aroya Wallace

Monthly Features – September 2026

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The Confessor: A Logan Hollister Novel by Noah Christopher

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: A killer is making Los Angeles confess.

The Confessor is never wrong. He has built his whole life around being sure of it.

He chooses people who got away with it — never charged, never even suspected. The charity director who gutted his own foundation. The smiling influencer who built an empire on a lie.

He sits them down alone with a pen and a yellow legal pad, and waits as long as it takes for the truth in their own hand.

Then he balances the account.

The confessions are real. But on paper, nothing connects the victims — separate lives, separate crimes, no thread that should tie one death to the next.

Detective Logan Hollister has every reason to stay out of it. The money came a long time ago; the house is an hour down the coast, the kind of quiet other men spend their whole lives chasing. Logan can only tolerate it in small batches before he wants back in. He keeps the badge, works the cases that still mean something, and this is the one he can’t walk away from.

On the surface, he and the man he’s hunting are opposites. One has everything a life can hold. The other spent years making himself into no one at all.

But the bodies keep coming, and the difference between them keeps thinning — until Logan can’t always tell whether he’s hunting the man or recognizing him.

Summary: The Confessor is a smart, fast-moving crime thriller about an LAPD detective hunting a killer who forces seemingly respectable people to confess the ugly truths they have been hiding. The alternating perspectives make the cat-and-mouse element especially fun, while Logan’s secret life as the owner of an investigative news site adds a genuinely interesting complication. Readers who like police procedurals, serial killer thrillers, morally complicated villains, clever detective work, strong partner banter and contemporary Los Angeles settings may enjoy this book. 

See the full review here: The Confessor
Purchase here

 

Crossingsbrook Georgians by L. Gale

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: In Crossingsbrook Georgians: the crossingsbrook series prequel, the back-story is told to the series, explaining how the Reverend and Clara James met, how Dr. Walton and Lady Greenfield met, the impacts of war and loss on Victor’s youth and young adulthood, the childhood friendship of Beatrice and Clara, and Beatrice’s experiences raising children that were not hers by birth. Also featured is a romantic episode between a freed slave and a free-born individual. Readers discover some of the better medical treatments available at the turn of the 19th Century, and the psychological impact that astronomical events may have had on ordinary individuals, if only by the power of suggestion. This novella fills in seventeen years, or nearly a generation, of the early lives of some of the key Crossingsbrook villagers, and introduces others who will have larger roles to play later in the series. All is told against a backdrop of the impacts of technology, legislation and cultural developments in Britain of the time.

Summary: Crossingsbrook Georgians is a gentle, character driven Georgian historical novel that follows several interconnected families in the village of Crossingsbrook beginning in the late 1790s. There’s romance, family life, grief, village gossip, religion, old family rivalries and a surprising amount of everyday historical detail. Readers who enjoy gentle, character driven historical fiction where the pleasure comes from spending time in a community and watching relationships develop over years, rather than racing through a single dramatic plot may enjoy this book.

See the full review here: Crossingsbrook Georgians
Purchase here

 

Death in Utopia by Phillip Vega

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: An idyllic paradise. A deadly secret. A detective who can’t escape the past.

When Detective Karen Skaryd and her husband arrive at a luxurious Caribbean resort to celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, they expect sun, relaxation, and romance. But when a prominent guest drops dead in the middle of lunch—with a cryptic biblical message left behind—Karen is thrust into a web of lies, power, and murder.

As she navigates law enforcement politics, elusive suspects, and a retired senator with secrets of his own, Karen soon realizes that this case may be tied to something much darker than she ever imagined. With danger lurking in paradise, she must uncover the truth before the killer strikes again.

Because in Utopia, nothing is what it seems.

Summary: This is a vacation mystery that gradually turns into something much bigger. Readers who like amateur-out-of-necessity investigations, police procedurals, tropical destination mysteries, married protagonists, large suspect pools, serial-killer elements and mysteries that continue into a larger series may enjoy this one.

See the full review here: Death in Utopia
Purchase here

 

The Crowned Flame: Illuminated Songs of Becoming by Aroya Wallace

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: The Crowned Flame: Illuminated Songs of Becoming What does it mean to become?

Perhaps becoming is not the journey toward someone new, but the quiet return to who we have always been.

The Crowned Flame: Illuminated Songs of Becoming is an illuminated Songbook of poetry, music, and art exploring ancient memory, sacred love, creative imagination, spiritual awakening, and return.

Across seven lyrical movements, these Songs of Becoming journey from the first spark of creation, through forgetting, longing, love, remembrance, and transformation, before returning once more to the quiet landscape of the human heart.

More than a book

This beautifully illustrated hardcover was created as a companion to the recorded album by Aroya Wallace, available on major music streaming platforms.

Each song is accompanied by richly illuminated artwork, inviting readers to pause, reflect, and linger. Whether experienced as poetry, music, or both together, every page offers another doorway into wonder.

Inside you’ll discover

• Seven original illuminated songs

• Full-color companion artwork throughout

• Mystical and inspirational poetry

• Themes of memory, love, imagination, and becoming

• A keepsake edition created for slow, contemplative reading

Perfect for readers who enjoy

• Illuminated poetry

• Mystical literature

• Inspirational verse

• Beautiful gift books

• Sacred art

• Thoughtful reflection

Approach softly.

Listen deeply.

And perhaps remember something beautiful that has always lived within you.

Summary: The Crowned Flame feels more like an experience than a conventional poetry book. There is a surprisingly clear progression underneath all of the dreamlike imagery, moving from separation and forgetting into self-discovery, love, healing, and return. I think it works best when you don’t try too hard to decode every symbol and instead allow the imagery and ideas to wash over you a little. It is unusual, very earnest, and visually beautiful, and I can see it really connecting with readers who already enjoy poetry that has a mystical or meditative quality especially those who enjoy spiritual or metaphysical poetry, mythology and symbolism, visually beautiful books, meditative writing, fantasy-inspired imagery, and poetry collections that tell a larger story across individual pieces.

See the full review here: The Crowned Flame: Illuminated Songs of Becoming
Purchase here

 

Review: The Crowned Flame: Illuminated Songs of Becoming by Aroya Wallace

~ likelystory18 ~ 1 Comment

Synopsis:

The Crowned Flame: Illuminated Songs of Becoming What does it mean to become?

Perhaps becoming is not the journey toward someone new, but the quiet return to who we have always been.

The Crowned Flame: Illuminated Songs of Becoming is an illuminated Songbook of poetry, music, and art exploring ancient memory, sacred love, creative imagination, spiritual awakening, and return.

Across seven lyrical movements, these Songs of Becoming journey from the first spark of creation, through forgetting, longing, love, remembrance, and transformation, before returning once more to the quiet landscape of the human heart.

More than a book

This beautifully illustrated hardcover was created as a companion to the recorded album by Aroya Wallace, available on major music streaming platforms.

Each song is accompanied by richly illuminated artwork, inviting readers to pause, reflect, and linger. Whether experienced as poetry, music, or both together, every page offers another doorway into wonder.

Inside you’ll discover

• Seven original illuminated songs

• Full-color companion artwork throughout

• Mystical and inspirational poetry

• Themes of memory, love, imagination, and becoming

• A keepsake edition created for slow, contemplative reading

Perfect for readers who enjoy

• Illuminated poetry

• Mystical literature

• Inspirational verse

• Beautiful gift books

• Sacred art

• Thoughtful reflection

Approach softly.

Listen deeply.

And perhaps remember something beautiful that has always lived within you.

Favorite Lines:

As always with collections such as this one, rather than picking favorite lines, I am picking two of my favorite overall pieces to highlight which were The Seven Gates and Cross Every Veil.

My Opinion:

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Crowned Flame is one of those books that is a little difficult to put into a single category. It is poetry, but it is also a songbook, a visual experience, and almost a small mythology of its own. The seven songs are connected by this idea of becoming and remembering: losing pieces of yourself, moving through grief and uncertainty, finding love, and eventually making your way back toward something that feels like home. Wallace actually describes the collection as moving through “forgetting, longing, remembrance, awakening, and return,” and that really is the thread holding everything together.

The first few songs establish the almost mythological feeling of the collection. The Crowned Flame begins on a cosmic scale, with two connected beings separated as one enters a mortal existence and gradually loses the memory of where she came from. That idea of forgetting and remembering becomes one of the strongest threads throughout the book. I Am Becoming brings it inward, focusing more on identity and the feeling of slowly recognizing something within yourself, while The Seven Gates takes the journey through some darker territory. There is grief, shame, old wounds, survival, and the different versions of ourselves we collect along the way. 

I especially enjoyed how the meaning of love changes as the collection goes on. In Cross Every Veil, it initially feels like the story of two souls trying to reach one another despite existing on opposite sides of a physical and spiritual divide. But it gradually becomes less about romance alone and more about what connection can teach us about ourselves. The Queen of the Grove takes that even further by turning toward compassion, grief, and the quieter ways people can care for each other. There is a gentleness to that section that stood out to me, particularly in the way the Queen’s strength comes from offering other people somewhere to rest rather than from having any conventional kind of power. 

The visual presentation is also a huge part of the experience. Nearly every section is surrounded by ornate details and fantasy-inspired artwork filled with stars, flames, forests, glowing landscapes, crowns, and other recurring symbols. It gives the book the feeling of an old illuminated manuscript crossed with a modern fantasy art book. The images aren’t simply illustrations of whatever is happening in the accompanying poem, either. They’re meant to create pauses between the words, and I found myself spending almost as much time looking at some of the artwork as I did reading the actual songs. That slower pace seems very intentional. 

The writing itself is unapologetically spiritual and symbolic, so I don’t think this will necessarily be a collection for everyone. It isn’t particularly interested in grounding its ideas in everyday reality. Instead, Wallace writes about souls, ancient connections, memory, transformation, unseen worlds, and the idea that becoming yourself can sometimes feel more like remembering yourself. There is also quite a bit of repetition, but knowing these were written as songs made that feel much more natural to me. Certain phrases and images return almost like choruses and help connect sections that otherwise have very different moods. The companion album aspect is actually one of the more interesting things about the project because the poems feel designed to exist somewhere between something you read and something you hear.

Summary:

Overall, The Crowned Flame feels more like an experience than a conventional poetry book. There is a surprisingly clear progression underneath all of the dreamlike imagery, moving from separation and forgetting into self-discovery, love, healing, and return. I think it works best when you don’t try too hard to decode every symbol and instead allow the imagery and ideas to wash over you a little. It is unusual, very earnest, and visually beautiful, and I can see it really connecting with readers who already enjoy poetry that has a mystical or meditative quality especially those who enjoy spiritual or metaphysical poetry, mythology and symbolism, visually beautiful books, meditative writing, fantasy-inspired imagery, and poetry collections that tell a larger story across individual pieces. Happy reading!

Check out The Crowned Flame: Illuminated Songs of Becoming here!