Book Reviews

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Title: Iron Flame Author: Rebecca Yarros Series: Fourth Wing #2 A great follow-up! Got a bit long, though. I spaced off from time to time during the second half when it was all boring war- or strategy-talk. Xaden and Violet’s argument got old, too; felt like they were just arguing in circles. Didn’t help that, like they themselves acknowledged, they kept getting interrupted by either hormones or external matters before they could finish the argument. Thank god they finally did, …

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Inheritance by Nora Roberts

Title: Inheritance Author: Nora Roberts Series: The Lost Bride Trilogy #1 No self-contained plot, protag too perfect Much thanks to Nora Roberts, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to both read and listen to free ARCs of the ebook and audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The premise checked a lot of boxes for me, as it did for Nora when she was brainstorming her next trilogy. Old haunted mansion, ghosts, spooks, a family curse, …

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Review Roundup Fall 2023

A quick little roundup of several smaller reviews I’ve written so far in Fall 2023. Depending on how many more I do, I may add on to the end, or make a part 1/part 2 deal, we’ll see. Beware of spoilers! Title: The Witchfinder’s Serpent Author: Rande Goodwin Series: The Witches of Windsor #1 Thank you to Rande Goodwin, Greenleaf Audiobooks, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review. This …

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Crown of Blood and Glass by Lucinda Dark and Rebecca Grey

Title: Crown of Blood and Glass Author: Lucinda Dark and Rebecca Grey Series: Awakened Fates #1 not a bad premise but bad execution Thank you to Lucinda Dark and Rebecca Grey, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to an ARC eaudiobook in exchange for an honest review. DNF 60%. I stuck with it until the hero forced himself on the heroine just to prove that she did want him, despite her protests. I assume he didn’t complete …

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Review Roundup Summer 2023

A quick little roundup of several smaller reviews I wrote in Summer 2023. Beware of spoilers! Title: A Fatal Illusion Author: Anna Lee Huber Series: Lady Darby Mystery #11 Thank you to Anna Lee Huber, Berkley, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Yazmine Hassan for inviting me to participate in the blog tour; I’m sorry I didn’t get my crap together in time to participate properly. …

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Interview with Valerie Burns (Murder Is a Piece of Cake)

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Murder Is a Piece of Cake by Valerie Burns is the second book in the Baker Street Cozy Mystery series. As with all her books, dogs play an important role and the characters are very well developed. The first book in the series, Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder, has Maddy Montgomery inheriting from her great Aunt Octavia the Baby Cakes Bakery and a 250-pound English Mastiff named Baby. The will stipulates Maddy must …

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Out of Nowhere by Sandra Brown

Title: Out of Nowhere Author: Sandra Brown Series: n/a good if not great Thank you to Sandra Brown, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Aspects of this novel might fall short for some readers; they may feel it’s more romance than thriller or mystery, the mass shooting was blink and miss it, the characters were a bit off, Shawna was a cliche, the villain one-dimensional. And to …

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Magdalena by Candi Sary

Title: Magdalena Author: Candi Sary Series: n/a Not my cuppa Thank you to Candi Sary and Regal House Publishing for allowing me to read a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thanks also to Laura Marie of Laura Marie Public Relations for inviting me on the blog tour. So . . . I read this novel because the description leaned hard into the paranormal aspect, and I love a good ghost story. It sounded a …

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The Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Titles: The Inheritance Games, The Hawthorne Legacy, The Final Gambit Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes Series: The Inheritance Games Why is this series so popular??? This is a review for the trilogy as a whole. No spoilers. This series did not live up to the hype; I’m a little bitter that I waited several months to get my turn at the audiobooks from the library. How many other books could I have borrowed and enjoyed in that time? I was further …

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Where Ivy Dares to Grow by Marielle Thompson

Title: Where Ivy Dares to Grow Author: Marielle Thompson Series: n/a Self-centeredness: The Novel Thank you to Marielle Thompson, Kensington, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. I wanted to DNF it multiple times, but I pushed through until 95%. Then I just couldn’t take it anymore. Saoirse, the MC, is incredibly self-centered. My God. The entire novel is about how horribly treated she is and how miserable she is because …

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