David Preston has an extraordinary advantage: he can stop time while the rest of the world remains frozen. An impossible deadline can become manageable. A difficult question can be answered without hesitation. Even an approaching disaster might be avoided. But David isn't interested in merely making life easier. He wants to make it perfect. In Time-Stopper: Interludes in Time, James Young uses that unusual ability to explore the difference between controlling circumstances and controlling the unpredictable realities of ambition, love, and human relationships. Read my thoughts on the book and learn about author James Young!

The “perfect life” is an impossible dream—or is it?

Aided by an ability to stop time at will, David Preston intends to find out. David is obsessed with making his world perfect: career, love life—everything. Most people settle for less because they know perfection is impossible. But David has a problem: He believes perfection is not just possible but attainable. At least, for someone with his extraordinary gift.

David can stop time at will for everyone but himself. The world freezes around him, giving him “time” to complete tasks on impossible deadlines, compose brilliant answers to sudden questions, and dodge the otherwise unavoidable disasters we can see coming but are powerless to stop.

But life is messier than it appears, and reality is not easily dissuaded—especially when there may be someone else out there, stopping time...

Thought Provoking Plot Makes up for the Slower Pace. Time-Stopper: Interludes in Time by James Young has an interesting plot that made me think about what I would do if I could stop time-and some of the implications of that. David Preston has that exact ability, and he uses it to get ahead in his career, handle difficult situations, and try to create his version of a perfect life. I liked how the author mixed time travel, romance, and Washington, D.C. politics into the story. The writing is detailed and focuses quite a bit on David's professional life. Some parts move a little slowly, especially when the political details take over, but the unusual premise and the possibility of another time-stopper kept things interesting.

The Author Gives a Character-Focused Story. David is an interesting main character, although I didn't always agree with his decisions. He wants everything to go exactly as planned, and his need for perfection can be frustrating at times. I liked that he wasn't perfect because it gave him room to make mistakes and face the consequences. His relationships are an important part of the story, especially when his ability to control time doesn't necessarily help him understand or connect with other people. I would have liked a little more development in some of the character relationships, but David's personality fits the book's overall theme.

Would I recommend Time-Stoppers by James Young? Time-Stopper: Interludes in Time is an interesting choice for readers who enjoy fantasy/sci-fi time-stopping themed stories that blend romance, everyday life, and political drama. This isn't a fast-paced adventure from beginning to end. If you prefer constant action, you might find some sections slow. I did find it a little slow--but, I really enjoyed the idea behind the story and the deeper questions it raises about trying to control everything in life. It's an interesting novel, and I think readers who enjoy character-focused stories with a unique twist should give it a try.

This is James Young’s first foray into fiction. He has spent over three decades in and around D.C. politics, immersed in economic and policy legislation. Alongside degrees from the University of Chicago (B.A.) and Cornell University (M.A., Ph.D.), Young’s writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, The Hill, American Spectator, The Federalist, Washington Post, New York Post, Barron’s, Forbes, Chicago Tribune, Townhall, Blaze Media, San Francisco Chronicle, Cleveland Plain Dealer, USA Today, and elsewhere.

In his early days, James was Kipling’s “cat who walked by himself,” working in a steel mill, sailing on the Great Lakes’ iron ore boats, tending bar, riding motorcycles, scuba diving, traveling extensively worldwide, and “doing all manner of things that would have consumed fully eight of the Kipling cat’s nine lives.” He is spending his remaining life more sedately, though still traveling with his family to America’s national parks—with only the occasional exotic foray here and there.

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David Preston believes the ability to stop time can help him accomplish what everyone else considers impossible: a perfect life. Yet the premise of Time-Stopper: Interludes in Time suggests that unlimited time may be of little use when the obstacles involve other people, competing desires, and circumstances beyond one person's control. James Young's debut novel places that tension at the center of a fantasy about ambition and relationships, with the possibility of a second time-stopper challenging David's sense of control. The result is a premise that invites readers to think about what perfection might cost—and whether achieving it would provide the satisfaction David expects.

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Burnout can be difficult to recognize when exhaustion has become part of the daily routine. Responsibilities still get handled, other people's needs still take priority, and personal well-being gradually slips further down the list. In Life Reset: A Guide for Women to Recenter & Overcome Burnout, licensed marriage and family therapist Lisa Macedo examines what it means to recover from that pattern. Drawing on professional experience, personal insight, and practical exercises, she approaches recovery not as another demand to meet, but as an opportunity to reconsider the habits, beliefs, and boundaries shaping everyday life.

A Guide For Women to Recenter & Overcome Burnout

Self-Help

Date Published: April 29, 2025

Recovery isn't about doing more. It's about doing things differently.

If you've been holding it all together while secretly running on fumes, you're not alone. Burnout means you're giving too much and not allowing space to care for yourself.

Life Reset: Overcoming Burnout is your guide to reclaiming your energy, balance, and joy. Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Lisa Macedo draws from her own experience and evidence-based practices to help you:

With gentle guidance and practical exercises, this workbook helps you move from surviving on autopilot to thriving with clarity, purpose, and intention.

It's time to pause, reset, and choose yourself. Your healing starts now.

One of the more useful distinctions in Life Reset is its emphasis on changing patterns rather than simply finding ways to accomplish more. Lisa Macedo connects burnout recovery with several areas that are often considered separately: the nervous system, personal beliefs, boundaries, and the ability to recognize one's own needs. That broader approach encourages readers to examine not only how exhausted they feel, but also what may be contributing to their exhaustion.

The workbook format is another important feature. Instead of limiting the discussion to explanations of burnout, Macedo includes practical exercises intended to help women identify their experiences and consider meaningful changes. Her background as a licensed marriage and family therapist informs a book that places emotional well-being and personal values alongside the more familiar concerns of rest and energy.

Life Reset is especially relevant to women who recognize the experience of managing responsibilities while neglecting their own need for rest and emotional support. Those interested in understanding how personal beliefs and nervous system responses relate to well-being may appreciate Macedo's approach, while readers who prefer guided exercises over purely informational self-help books will find the workbook structure appealing. It may also be a useful resource for women beginning to examine their boundaries, reconsider long-standing expectations, or develop a more intentional relationship with their time and energy.

Lisa Macedo is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over fifteen years of experience. She is certified by both the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and the International OCD Foundation. Lisa earned her bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in applied developmental psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She went on to receive her Master of Arts in clinical psychology with a specialization in marriage and family therapy from Notre Dame de Namur University. A first-generation American with roots in the Azores Islands, Lisa travels there annually to reconnect with her heritage and return to her center.

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The central question behind Life Reset is worth considering: what needs to change when the effort to keep everything running has become unsustainable? Lisa Macedo approaches that question through boundaries, emotional resilience, personal values, and an understanding of the habits that can contribute to burnout. For women who want a structured way to reflect on those concerns, her workbook offers a place to begin. Its focus on doing things differently, rather than simply doing more, is what makes this approach to burnout recovery particularly relevant.

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War may end on the battlefield, but its consequences rarely obey a cease-fire. In Soldier’s Joy, M. F. Jones brings that reality home with Avery Gowan, an Iraq veteran carrying the guilt of a mission that killed three of his friends and maimed another. His return becomes even more complicated when he encounters a ghost who looks disturbingly like him—and who insists that a woman Avery has only recently met may be the person who can help him.

That woman is Jessie Gibbs, whose connection to Avery’s Civil War ancestor, Lemuel Sanders, began with the discovery of his unmarked grave and extends into territory Avery cannot yet understand. As Book II of The Sentinel Heart Trilogy, Soldier’s Joy links the wounds of two wars through family history, a supernatural guardian, and a relationship in which both Avery and Jessie are keeping consequential secrets.

Romance: Historical, Supernatural, Military

Release Date: Sep 28, 2026

Publisher: Fieldwood Books

Category: Adult Fiction (18 yrs +)

Series: Book II of The Sentinel Heart Trilogy

Content Rating: PG-13 + M: Soldier's Joy contains wartime violence, the suicide of a minor character, two slightly explicit sex scenes though without gratuitous detail, and profanities like s**t, a**hole, and God damn it, though no f-words.

༺ ABOUT THE BOOK ༻

 

Avery Gowan is barely home from Iraq when a ghost appears to him—one that looks disturbingly like him. The apparition says that Jessie Gibbs, a woman he’s just met, can help him escape the guilt of the mission that killed three of his friends and maimed another.

 

A few days earlier, at a service honoring his family’s Civil War relative, Lemuel Sanders, Avery was drawn to Jessie’s quiet strength and calm presence. Jessie, a musician, had been camping with her Civil War-style band the previous year when she discovered Lemuel’s unmarked woodland grave, leading to his identification and proper burial after 145 years.

 

Jessie and Avery begin a relationship, but his anger, recklessness, and self-doubt threaten to tear them apart. When the ghost saves him from a deadly motorcycle crash, Avery hides the truth about his spectral guardian, afraid Jessie will see him as broken beyond repair.

 

But Jessie is hiding something too—a secret about her true connection to Lemuel Sanders that may cost her Avery’s love.

 

The sequel to the award-winning Stones River, Soldier’s Joy nonetheless stands alone as a haunting, emotionally charged story about how the past refuses to stay buried, how healing demands facing it, and how love gives the courage to do so.

༺ My Review ༻

The Author Gives Us Another Unique Story. I enjoyed Stones River, the first book in The Sentinel Heart Trilogy, so I was looking forward to seeing where M. F. Jones would take us in the next book. As much as I liked the first book, I think I liked Soldier's Joy just a little more. This time, Jones brings Civil War history together with the story of a soldier returning home from Iraq, along with romance, family secrets, and the supernatural thread connecting the past and present. I really liked how those pieces were woven together, especially as the connection between Avery and Lemuel began to unfold. The book has plenty of military and historical detail, but it never felt like I was being handed a history lesson. It all fits naturally into the story, and the writing flows easily, which made it very readable for me.

Expect to Connect to the Characters. Avery was probably my favorite part of the book. He comes home from Iraq carrying an enormous amount of guilt, and he is definitely not a perfect character. He can be angry, reckless, stubborn, and frustrating, but those flaws made sense considering everything he was trying to deal with. What I really liked was his desire to be a better man, even when he didn't always know how to get there. Jessie balances him well, but she also has her own history and a pretty big secret involving Lemuel, so she never feels like she is simply there to fix Avery. I enjoyed watching their relationship develop, but I also liked getting to know them individually. I had read Stone's River before this one, and while I didn't remember all the details from that first book, I never felt lost here, and immediately reconnected with Jones' characters and settled right into the supernatural elements this time around.

Would I recommend Soldier's Joy? Definitely. In fact, if you enjoyed Stones River, I think you'll like this one even more—I did. It has historical fiction, romance, military fiction, mystery, and a touch of the paranormal, but underneath it all is a very human story about guilt, grief, healing, and figuring out how to move forward when you can't change what happened in the past. I especially liked that the supernatural side never overshadowed the characters or what Avery was going through. 

༺ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ༻

M. F. JONES is a former editor for Viking Press book publishers, and Redbook, Family Circle, and Reader’s Digest magazines. When not writing, she can be found reading, knitting (while listening to audiobooks), singing in a choir, or hiking in the beautiful Tennessee woods near the home she shares with her husband, composer Douglas Hedwig.

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༺ LAST WORD ༻

Soldier’s Joy places its most important conflict in the space between what has happened and what its characters are willing to face. Avery cannot change the Iraq mission that cost his friends so dearly, and Lemuel’s death belongs to a war fought generations earlier, yet neither history is finished exerting its influence. Jessie’s place between those stories makes the novel’s secrets particularly consequential: the person Avery has been told can help him is also keeping information capable of changing what he believes about her.

 

That convergence of military history, supernatural intervention, and concealed family connections gives this second Sentinel Heart novel its own identity. Avery may have come home from Iraq, but Soldier’s Joy is concerned with the much harder question of what coming home requires after the fighting is over—and what can happen when the past arrives there waiting for you.

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