The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton

Title: The Secret Service of Tea and Treason (Dangerous Damsels #3)

Author: India Holton

Publisher: Berkley Books 2023

Genre: Historical romance Fantasy

Pages: 368

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Post Office (Set in a different country)

Spice Rating: 4

Known as Agent A, Alice is the top operative within the Agency of Undercover Note Takers, a secret government intelligence group that is fortunately better at espionage than at naming itself. From managing deceptive witches to bored aristocratic ladies, nothing is beyond Alice’s capabilities. She has a steely composure and a plan always up her sleeve (alongside a dagger and an embroidered handkerchief). So when rumors of an assassination plot begin to circulate, she’s immediately assigned to the case. 

But she’s not working alone. Daniel Bixby, otherwise known as Agent B and Alice's greatest rival, is given the most challenging undercover assignment of his life— pretending to be Alice’s husband. Together they will assume the identity of a married couple, infiltrate a pirate house party, and foil their unpatriotic plans. 

Determined to remain consummate professionals, Alice and Daniel must ignore the growing attraction between them, especially since acting on it might prove more dangerous than their target.

The third in this delightful witty series snuck under the radar for me. I didn’t even realize that there was another in the series until another blogger randomly posted about it. I jumped on adding the book to my library holds. In this volume, we revisit two characters that previously appeared in other volumes. Alice and Daniel were intriguing small side characters in those books and I was excited to see them get their own romance story. The romance itself is very stilted at times, but only because we get to see two very different types of people than th usual romance leads. At many times, I really felt for Alice’s inability to understand the people around her. I loved getting the glimpse into her own thought patterns as we see her wrestle with the case and her complicated feelings toward Agent B. I sped through the volume loving every single page of it. I only wish that we had a bit more spice and maybe some more banter.

Dangerous Damsels

• #1 The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels

• #2 The League of Gentlemen Witches

• #3 The Secret Service of Tea and Treason

Next up on the TBR pile:

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier

Title: Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

Author: Jonathan Auxier

Publisher: Amulet Books 2011

Genre: MG Fantasy

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Gardener, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is the utterly beguiling tale of a ten-year-old blind orphan who has been schooled in a life of thievery. One fateful afternoon, he steals a box from a mysterious traveling haberdasher—a box that contains three pairs of magical eyes. When he tries the first pair, he is instantly transported to a hidden island where he is presented with a special quest: to travel to the dangerous Vanished Kingdom and rescue a people in need. Along with his loyal sidekick—a knight who has been turned into an unfortunate combination of horse and cat—and the magic eyes, he embarks on an unforgettable, swashbuckling adventure to discover his true destiny.

I picked this book up because of the strength of The Night Gardener and while it’s not that book, I did enjoy this story. We think that we are getting a version of Oliver Twist, but very quickly, things take a very strange turn. I loved the weird twists and turns that takes Peter to knew adventures and friendships. Auxier’s writing style is a strange mix of straight-forward prose and almost a stream of consciousness narrative. There’s a sequel to this story that I may or may not read. But I did enjoy this great middle grade fantasy novel.

Next up on the TBR pile:

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

Title: House of Hunger

Author: Alexis Henderson

Publisher: Ace 2022

Genre: Horror

Pages: 304

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Marion Shaw has been raised in the slums, where want and deprivation are all she know. Despite longing to leave the city and its miseries, she has no real hope of escape until the day she spots a peculiar listing in the newspaper seeking a bloodmaid.

Though she knows little about the far north—where wealthy nobles live in luxury and drink the blood of those in their service—Marion applies to the position. In a matter of days, she finds herself the newest bloodmaid at the notorious House of Hunger. There, Marion is swept into a world of dark debauchery. At the center of it all is Countess Lisavet.

The countess, who presides over this hedonistic court, is loved and feared in equal measure. She takes a special interest in Marion. Lisavet is magnetic, and Marion is eager to please her new mistress. But when she discovers that the ancient walls of the House of Hunger hide even older secrets, Marion is thrust into a vicious game of cat and mouse. She’ll need to learn the rules of her new home—and fast—or its halls will soon become her grave.

I needed a fun and fast moving book for this week’s reading and this particular book hit the spot. We are plunged into a world of haves and have nots. We meet a have not who dreams of becoming a have. And then her circumstances seem to change overnight. Of course, the reader knows that things cannot be exactly what they seem to be. Slowly the situation devolves and learn more disturbing things about the House of Hunger. As soon as the full name of the Countess gets revealed, I gasped out loud. Even thought I basically knew where this story was going, I was completely on board for the entire ride. This book is not for the squeamish, but it was a great choice for me!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Venmo by Cherie Dimaline

Title: VenCo

Author: Cherie Dimaline

Publisher: William Morrow 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 400

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Typographic Cover

Métis millennial Lucky St. James is barely hanging on when she learns she’ll be evicted from the tiny Toronto apartment she shares with her cantankerous but loving grandmother Stella. But then one night, something strange and irresistible calls out to Lucky. She burrows through a wall to find a tarnished silver spoon, humming with otherworldly energy, etched with a crooked-nosed witch and the word SALEM.

Lucky is familiar with the magic of her indigenous ancestors, but she has no idea that the spoon connects her to a teeming network of witches across North America who have anxiously awaited her discovery.

Enter VenCo, a front company fueled by vast resources of dark money (its name is an anagram of “coven.”) VenCo’s witches hide in plain sight wherever women gather: Tupperware parties, Mommy & Me classes, suburban book clubs. Since colonial times, they have awaited the moment the seven spoons will come together and ignite a new era, returning women to their rightful power.

But as reckoning approaches, a very powerful adversary is stalking their every move. He’s Jay Christos, a roguish and deadly witch-hunter as old as witchcraft itself.

To find the last spoon, Lucky and Stella embark on a rollicking and dangerous road trip to the darkly magical city of New Orleans, where the final showdown will determine whether VenCo will usher in a new beginning…or remain underground forever.

Our retreat book selection and I’m so excited that I really enjoyed it. Last year’s choice wasn’t a huge hit and the choice the year before was terrible. I picked a good one this year! It took me a few chapters to get into the story, but once Lucky meets the rest of the coven, I was complete drawn in. I really started to connect to every single one of the witches and of course was cheering for their success the entire way through. This is the type of feminist rage book that I love! We are not beating down all men or other women. Instead, we are uplifting women and their choices. We get to see how each of the women in the coven connects to their own power and reaches out to form friendships and familial ties. The book is full of action and adventure but also some great quiet moments between characters.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

Title: Miss Benson’s Beetle

Author: Rachel Joyce

Publisher: Dial Press 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Alliterative Title

She’s going too far to go it alone.
 
It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist—the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.

I picked this one up on a recommendation from a Lit Society friend. She had said that this was a delightful friendship between two unusual women. I had hoped that this book would be a delightful little gem of a. book and one that I could recommend to a friend. I started reading and was immediately rooting for Margery and her escape from the drudgery of life. As soon as she meets Enid, the story kicks into high gear and it’s one ridiculous episode after another. Enid is a hard character to like, but she is interesting. The book sped along until everything eventually came together. I loved how we get to see these two women find their strength both individually and together. I took a few issues with some of the plot points, but overall I really enjoyed this book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas

Title: A Tempest at Sea (Lady Sherlock #7)

Author: Sherry Thomas

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 353

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Fashionable Character

After feigning her own death in Cornwall to escape from Moriarty’s perilous attention, Charlotte Holmes goes into hiding. But then she receives a tempting offer: Find a dossier the crown is desperately seeking, and she might be able to go back to a normal life.
 
Her search leads her aboard the RMS Provence. But on the night Charlotte makes her move to retrieve the dossier, in the midst of a terrifying storm in the Bay of Biscay, a brutal murder takes place on the ship.
 
Instead of solving the crime, as she is accustomed to doing, Charlotte must take care not to be embroiled in this investigation, lest it become known to those who harbor ill intentions that Sherlock Holmes is abroad and still very much alive.

Absolutely loved this locked-room style murder mystery. We get to come back to all our favorite characters all aboard a sea voyage. Thomas brings all of our characters together for a variety of reasons and then of course, we get a murder. You knew it was coming. I was just waiting for the entire first third of the book just waiting to see who would die. From there, we mainly follow Lord Ingram has he assists the Inspector in the mystery. The volume felt a little different in that we have shifted from Charlotte to Ash as the main character the reader follows. And the entire locked room idea felt very Agatha Christie like. But I loved every page of it. This felt like a fresh murder mystery instead of just a Sherlock Holmes story. My favorite parts were the interactions between Ash and Charlotte. I have been rooting for them since the beginning and we finally get to see their feelings towards each other expressed out loud. Hallelujah! I cannot wait to see where this series goes next.

Lady Sherlock

• #1 A Study in Scarlet Women

• #2 A Conspiracy in Belgravia

• #3 The Hollow of Fear

• #4 The Art of Theft

• #5 Murder on Cold Street

• #6 Miss Moriarty, I Presume?

• #7 A Tempest at Sea

Next up on the TBR pile:

Barbarian Lover by Ruby Dixon

Title: Barbarian Lover (Ice Planet Barbarians #3)

Author: Ruby Dixon

Publisher: Ruby Dixon

Genre: Explicit Scifi Romance

Pages: 191

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Outer Space (Read a sci fi with“mars needs women” trope); COYER

Spice Rating: 6

As one of the few humans stranded on the ice planet, I should be happy that I have a new home. Human women are treasured here, and one alien in particular has made it clear that he wants me. It's hard to push away the sexy, flirtatious Aehako, when all I want to do is grab him by his horns and insist he take me to his furs.But I've got a terrible secret - the aliens who abducted me are back, and thanks to the translator in my ear, they can find me. My presence here endangers everyone...but can I give up my new life and the man I want more than anything?

Pretty meh about this one really. I wanted to love Kira and Aehako, but we didn’t get to spend much time with them. There was a lot more action and a lot less connection and even less sexy time in this one. I sped through this book, but wasn’t super excited about it at all. Oh well. They can’t all be winners.

Ice Planet Barbarians

• #1 Ice Planet Barbarians (Georgie/Vektal)

• #2 Barbarian Alien (Liz/Raahosh)

• #3 Barbarian Lover (Kira/Aehako)

• #4 Barbarian Mine (Harlow/Rukh)

• #4.5 Ice Planet Holiday (novella)

• #5 Barbarian's Prize (Tiffany/Salukh)

• #6 Barbarian's Mate (Josie/Haeden)

• #6.5 Having the Barbarian's Baby (short story)

• #6.75 Ice Ice Babies (short story)

• #7 Barbarian's Touch (Lila/Rokan)

• #7.5 Calm (short story)

• #8 Barbarian's Taming (Maddie/Hassen)

• #8.5 Aftershocks (short story)

• #9 Barbarian's Heart (Stacy/Pashov)

• #10 Barbarian's Hope (Asha/Hemalo)

• #11 Barbarian's Choice (Farli/Mardok)

• #12 Barbarian's Redemption (Elly/Bek)

• #13 Barbarian's Lady (Kate/Harrec)

• #14 Barbarian's Rescue (Summer/Warrek)

• #15 Barbarian's Tease (Brooke/Taushen)

• #15.5 The Barbarian Before Christmas (novella)

• #16 Barbarian's Beloved (Ariana/Zolaya)

• #16.5 Barbarian's Valentine (novella)

• #17 Barbarian's Seduction (Marlene/Zennek)

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Library of the Unwritten by AJ Hackwith

Title: The Library of the Unwritten (Hell’s Library #1)

Author: AJ Hackwith

Publisher: Ace Books 2019

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR; COYER

Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing-- a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.

But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell….and Earth.

Loved the premise and the settings, but ultimately, this one fell very flat for me. We are dropped into this plot line and action becomes nonstop from there. Very quickly it become very difficult to keep track of everything that was happened. The book didn’t have any quiet moments to sit and reflect on anything that was happening. On the other side, the characters were hard to really love. I enjoyed Brevity and Leto, but a lot of our time was spent with Claire and Ramiel. Those two were not easy to like or all that interesting of characters. The incredibly unlikeable characters are not really my jam. In the end, I was not all that interested in continuing the series.

Hell’s Library

• #1 The Library of the Unwritten

• #2 The Archive of the Forgotten

• #3 The God of Lost Words

Next up on the TBR pile:

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

Title: Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club

Author: J. Ryan Stradal

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books 2023

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR; 52 Books Club - Script Font

Mariel Prager needs a break. Her husband Ned is having an identity crisis, her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day, and her mother Florence is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she’s been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in her family for decades, and while Mariel’s grandmother embraced the business, seeing it as a saving grace, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inherited the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and daughter that never quite healed.
    Ned is also an heir—to a chain of home-style diners—and while he doesn't have a head for business, he knows his family's chain could provide a better future than his wife's fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the hard-won victories of each family hang in the balance. With their dreams dashed, can one fractured family find a way to rebuild despite their losses, and will the Lakeside Supper Club be their salvation?
    In this colorful, vanishing world of relish trays and brandy Old Fashioneds, J. Ryan Stradal has once again given us a story full of his signature honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they grapple with love, loss, and marriage; what we hold onto and what we leave behind; and what our legacy will be when we are gone.

After absolutely loving Strudel’s last two books, this one was a bit miss for me. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters or the plot. Most of the characters were incredibly likable and never really got any more likable to me throughout the pages. I just didn’t like them at all. The overall plot line also did not interest me. I didn’t connect with the settings and the events. Nothing. And then the structure really annoyed me. The jumping back and forth created a very disjointed reading experience for me. This one was definitely not for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Stone Heart by Katee Robert

Title: Stone Heart (Dark Olympus #0.5)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Trinkets and Tales 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 108

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Spice Rating: 4

In the city of Olympus, people only speak about Medusa in whispers. She’s Athena’s knife hand, the one sent when Athena wants someone to disappear. No one asks Medusa what she wants, but she owes Athena her life, and if staining her hands with blood is the only way to repay the debt, it’s a small price to pay.

Until Athena sends her after Calypso, the mistress of the rich politician Odysseus. Calypso is beautiful and cunning and she’ll do anything to keep her life—including seducing her would-be assassin.

What starts as a ploy to escape quickly spirals into genuine interest. But it doesn’t matter that they’ve finally found something special together. Athena will have her blood, and this time not even crossing the River Styx will save them…

Meh… There just wasn’t enough here for me to really enjoy. We learn just a tiny bit about Medusa and Calypso. We get some insta-love and light banter, but it wasn’t enough. My favorite part was the reveal of Hades of at the end. That bumped this novella up in my opinion. Now I have to wait for the next actual novel in the series…

Dark Olympus

• #0.5 Stone Heart

• #1 Neon Gods

• #1.5 Hades and Hades

• #2 Electric Idol

• #2.5 Zeus and Hera

• #3 Wicked Beauty

• #4 Radiant Sun

• #5 Cruel Seduction

• #6 Midnight Ruin

• #7 Dark Restraint

Next up on the TBR pile:

How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder

Title: How to Fake It in Hollywood

Author: Ava Wilder

Publisher: Dell 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Library (Free Choice); 52 Books Club - Contemporary Setting

Spice Rating: 4

Grey Brooks is on a mission to keep her career afloat now that the end of her long-running teen TV show has her (unsuccessfully) pounding the pavement again. With a life-changing role on the line, she’s finally desperate enough to agree to her publicist’s scheme: fake a love affair with a disgraced Hollywood heartthrob who needs the publicity, but for very different reasons.

Ethan Atkins just wants to be left alone. Between his high-profile divorce, struggles with drinking, and grief over the death of his longtime creative partner and best friend, Ethan has slowly let himself fade into the background. But if he ever wants to produce the last movie he and his partner wrote together, Ethan needs to clean up his reputation and step back into the spotlight. A gossip-inducing affair with a gorgeous actress might be just the ticket, even if it’s the last thing he wants to do.

Though their juicy public relationship is less than perfect behind the scenes, it doesn’t take long before Grey and Ethan’s sizzling chemistry starts to feel like more than just an act. But after decades in a ruthless industry that requires bulletproof emotional armor to survive, are they too used to faking it to open themselves up to the real thing?

Next up on the TBR pile:

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Title: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde #1)

Author: Heather Fawcett

Publisher: Del Rey 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party—or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, muddle Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones—the most elusive of all faeries—lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all—her own heart.

Oh this was such an utter delight! We dive into an expedition journal by Emily Wilde and start to unravel the mysteries of the faeries in the far north. Emily is the prickliest of academics, but something in her inexhaustible drive to find the truth draws the reader in. We are rooting for her right from the beginning. Once she gets a little taste of the faerie world, the stakes are increased and the potential danger grows closer. I was enjoying the story and then Wendell arrived and I was completely hooked. The story took a very strange turn about 75% of the way through and was absolutely obsessed. I got to the end of the book and couldn’t believe that the story had ended. I wanted to continue the story. Thankfully we are getting a second book next year. I cannot wait.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Fine Print by Lauren Asher

Title: The Fine Print (Dreamland Billionaires #1)

Author: Lauren Asher

Publisher: Lauren Asher 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 448

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - The Office (Characters meet at work)

Spice Rating: 5

Rowan
I’m in the business of creating fairy tales.
Theme parks. Production companies. Five-star hotels.
Everything could be all mine if I renovated Dreamland.
My initial idea of hiring Zahra was good in theory, but then I kissed her.
Things spiraled out of control once I texted her using an alias.
By the time I realized where I went wrong, it was too late.
People like me don’t get happy endings.
Not when we’re destined to ruin them.

Zahra
After submitting a drunk proposal criticizing Dreamland’s most expensive ride, I should have been fired.
Instead, Rowan Kane offered me a dream job.
The catch? I had to work for the most difficult boss I’d ever met.
Rowan was rude and completely off-limits, but my heart didn’t care.
At least not until I discovered his secret.
It was time to teach the billionaire that money couldn’t fix everything.
Especially not us

I picked this up after it appeared on a ton of spicy romance lists. Well… it’s not that spicy, but it was a decent contemporary romance. We get an enemies to lovers romance set a Disneyworld-like amusement park. I liked the extra discussions of family and banter-filled workplace scenes. Rowan was a great male lead character. Of course I wanted to see him open up to Zahra and everyone else around him. That part of the storyline was my favorite part of the plot. The romance itself was much more sweet than spicy. The book followed the usual format of no steamy scenes until about 60-70% of the way through. I will probably continue reading this series but not rushing out right this second.

Dreamland Billionaires

• #1 The Fine Print

• #2 Terms and Conditions

• #3 Final Offer

Next up on the TBR pile:

Forest Walking by Peter Wohlleben

Title: Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America

Author: Peter Wohlleben and Jane Billinghurst

Publisher: Greystone Books 2022

Genre: Nonfiction - Nature

Pages: 240

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

When you walk in the woods, do you use all five senses to explore your surroundings? For most of us, the answer is no—but when we do, a walk in the woods can go from pleasant to immersive and restorative. Forest Walking teaches you how to engage with the forest by decoding nature’s signs and awakening to the ancient past and thrilling present of the ecosystem around you.

• What can you learn by following the spread of a root, by tasting the tip of a branch, by searching out that bitter almond smell? 

• What creatures can be found in a stream if you turn over a rock—and what is the best way to cross a forest stream, anyway? 

• How can you understand a forest’s history by the feel of the path underfoot, the scars on the trees along the trail, or the play of sunlight through the branches? 

• How can we safely explore the forest at night? 

• What activities can we use to engage children with the forest?

Throughout Forest Walking, the authors share experiences and observations from visiting forests across North America: from the rainforests and redwoods of the west coast to the towering white pines of the east, and down to the cypress swamps of the south and up to the boreal forests of the north.

Randomly I grabbed this volume in connection with A Year in the Woods. This one was more how-to than meditations on nature. Overall, I found the various sections to be very interesting mini lessons on trees in North America. This feels like one of those that you don’t just read once, but keep around for reference as you explore the natural world. Pairing this with Ekelund’s book was the perfect week. In fact, I will be giving this pairing as a book recommendation to a friend at the retreat next month.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Cinders & Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann

Title: Cinders & Sparrows

Author: Stefan Bachmann

Publisher: Greenwillow Books 2020

Genre: MG Fantasy

Pages: 368

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Spring TBR

When a scarecrow climbs over the garden wall, delivering twelve-year-old orphan Zita Brydgeborn a letter saying she has inherited a distant castle, she jumps at thechance of adventure. But little does she know that she is about to be thrust into a centuries-old battle between good and evil. Blackbird Castle was once home to a powerful dynasty of witches, all of them now dead under mysterious circumstances. All but Zita. And Zita, unfortunately, doesn't know the first thing about being a witch.

As she begins her lessons in charms and spells with her guardian, Mrs. Cantanker, Zita makes new allies--a crow, a talking marble head, two castle servants just her age named Bram and Minnifer, and the silent ghost of a green-eyed girl. But who is friend and who is foe? Zita must race to untangle her past and find the magic to save the home she's always hoped for. Because whatever claimed the souls of her family is now after her.

I grabbed this book out of our big collection of Owl Crate boxes. I was hoping for something a bit spooky and fun. This definitely hit the spot! Right away the book gives us a great spooky house full of gothic vibes. We meet some mysterious characters and a lost and found orphan. From here, the book immediately drops you into the plot and rushes forward until the end. I loved trying to figure out the mystery and peel back the layers of the house and the characters. I absolutely loved the book and will be keeping this one our shelves.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth

Title: Arch-Conspirator

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Tor Books 2023

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 112

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

“I’m cursed, haven’t you heard?”

Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.

Antigone’s parents—Oedipus and Jocasta—are dead. Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but with her militant uncle Kreon rising to claim her father's vacant throne, all Antigone feels is rage.

When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.

But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.

I randomly grabbed this slim novella off the New Releases library shelf not quite know what I was getting. And then I read the cover and wondered if this was going to be a Greek story. It is in fact! And I loved every page of this retelling of Antigone. Roth has moved the story to a future where we have irrevocably damaged the planet. Society has moved into a fragile state of being with strict rules of life and death. Roth manages to pack a punch into very few chapters each from different perspectives. We get to see society from a variety of perspectives. The story really brought up some interesting questions and philosophical questions. At first, I wanted to have more to the story, but the more I think about it, a novella is the perfect length for this story. Short and sweet, but leaves a big impression.

Next up on the TBR pile:

When in Rome by Sarah Adams

Title: When in Rome

Author: Sarah Adams

Publisher: Dell 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 320

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Burger Joint (Main character is in the food industry)

Spice Rating: 3

Amelia Rose, known as Rae Rose to her adoring fans, is burned-out from years of maintaining her “princess of pop” image. Inspired by her favorite Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday, she drives off in the middle of the night for a break in Rome . . . Rome, Kentucky, that is. 

When Noah Walker finds Amelia on his front lawn in her broken-down car, he makes it clear he doesn’t have the time or patience for celebrity problems. He’s too busy running the pie shop his grandmother left him and reminding his nosy but lovable neighbors to mind their own damn business. Despite his better judgment, he lets her stay in his guest room—but only until her car is fixed—then she’s on her own. 

Then Noah starts to see a different side of Rae Rose—she’s Amelia: kindhearted and goofy, yet lonely from years in the public eye. He can’t help but get close to her. Soon she’ll have to return to her glamorous life on tour, but until then, Noah will show Amelia all the charming small-town experiences she’s been missing, and she’ll help him open his heart to more. 

Amelia can’t resist falling for the cozy town and her grumpy tour guide, but even Audrey had to leave Rome eventually.

Such a cute little gentle romcom style romance. This was just what I needed to cleanse my palate a bit after a few heavier reads. I sped through this cute little romance rooting for Noah and Amelia right from the beginning. I love meeting the various people in Rome, especially Noah’s sisters. We get a delightful collection of characters to round out the world within the book. I would have liked a little more discussion of the issues Amelia had with Susan and her mom, but the book chose to focus on her romance. The biggest reason that I took off a star was because this one was a bit too Hallmark style for me. I wanted a little bit of steam included. We know that Noah and Amelia have sex, but it’s very quick fade to black the few times it’s brought up. Still a cute little novel.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Year in the Woods by Torbjørn Ekelund

Title: A Year in the Woods: Twelve Small Journeys into Nature

Author: Torbjørn Ekelund

Publisher: Greystone Books 2021

Genre: Nature Memoir

Pages: 256

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

As nature becomes ever more precious, we all want to spend more time appreciating it. But time is often hard to come by. And how do we appreciate nature without disruption? In this sensitively-written book, Torbjørn Ekelund, an acclaimed Norwegian nature writer, shares a creative and non-intrusive method for immersing oneself in nature. And the result is nothing short of transformative.

Evoking Henry David Thoreau and the four-season structure of Walden, Ekelundwrites about communing with nature by repeating a small, simple ritual and engaging in quiet reflection. At the start of the book, he hatches a plan: to leave the city after work one day per month, camp near the same tiny pond in the forest, and return to work the next day. He keeps this up for a year.

His ritual is far from rigorous and it is never perfect. One evening, he grows so cold in his tent that he hikes out before daybreak. But as Ekelund inevitably greets the same trees and boulders each month, he appreciates the banality of their sameness alongside their quiet beauty. He wonders how long they have stood silently in this place—and reflects on his own short existence among them.

A Year in the Woods asks us to reconsider our relationship with the natural world. Are we anxious wanderers or mindful observers? Do we honor the seasons or let them pass us by? At once beautifully written, accessible, and engaging, A Year in the Woods is the perfect book for anyone who longs for a deeper connection with their environment, but is realistic about time and ambition.

This book ended up in a big check out stack when I was looking for forest school lessons for coop. Most of the books were geared toward children, but this one was a little different. I finally picked it up and started reading not quite sure what I was going to find inside. Ultimately, I was delighted by this slim memoir focused on Ekelund’s plan to spend 12 days and nights out in nature. Right away, I loved that Ekelund makes it clear that he doesn’t believe that everyone needs or should do what he did. Further, he doesn’t believe that that’s any one way to experience nature. This was a refreshing take contrasted with a ton of books that basically tell the reader that if they don’t spend a majority of their time outside, they have failed as humans. Throughout the twelve chapters, we get Ekelund’s actual experiences, but also meditations on experience nature and human nature. I found myself reading only one chapter a day wanting to let the ideas sit for awhile before adding more. This is a much better book than Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, stripping out all the problematic takes and focusing on the experience of being in nature. Loved it!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews

Title: The Siren of Sussex (Belles of London #1)

Author: Mimi Matthews

Publisher: Berkley 2022

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 400

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - City or Country in Title; Romanceopoly - Past Eaves (Read the historical romance that catches your interest)

Spice Rating: 2

Evelyn Maltravers understands exactly how little she's worth on the marriage mart. As an incurable bluestocking from a family tumbling swiftly toward ruin, she knows she'll never make a match in a ballroom. Her only hope is to distinguish herself by making the biggest splash in the one sphere she excels: on horseback. In haute couture. But to truly capture London's attention she'll need a habit-maker who's not afraid to take risks with his designs—and with his heart.

Half-Indian tailor Ahmad Malik has always had a talent for making women beautiful, inching his way toward recognition by designing riding habits for Rotten Row's infamous Pretty Horsebreakers—but no one compares to Evelyn. Her unbridled spirit enchants him, awakening a depth of feeling he never thought possible.

But pushing boundaries comes at a cost and not everyone is pleased to welcome Evelyn and Ahmad into fashionable society. With obstacles spanning between them, the indomitable pair must decide which hurdles they can jump and what matters most: making their mark or following their hearts?

I went into this book expecting a story like The Heiress Gets a Duke or Bringing Down the Duke. Unfortunately, we get a very staid book that dragged throughout the entire story veering off onto tangents about the exact details of habit making and horse breeding. Initially I was excited about the main characters and their individual back stories. But somehow, the characters never really connected to me or to each other. Weirdly, I felt like the was a second book in the series. Ahmad’s constant dropping of hints at an entire backstory was teasing. I thought I had accidentally picked up a second in a series book instead of a first. But alas, I was just annoyed about this great backstory that we never got to really hear about. I could have dealt with most of this, but then, we get absolutely no steamy scenes. Seriously, this was a 2 on my scale. Not even a fade to black for us. Not a series that I want to continue.

Belles of London

• #1 The Siren of Sussex

• #2 The Belle of Belgrave Square

• #3 The Lily of Legate Hill

• #4 The Muse of Maiden Lane

Next up on the TBR pile:

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Title: A House with Good Bones

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 247

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - With a Dedication

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

Another very creepy horror story from Kingfisher that I absolutely adored. We started with a typically story about family. But pretty quickly we start to realize that something isn’t quite right in this house. The book follows along with quiet dread for awhile before the last third of the book kicks the horror into high gear. I loved Sam’s narration of her life and her memories of childhood. Once we get to the horror part, I was truly horrified. The reveal at the kitchen table made me gasp. And from there, it’s nonstop horror until the end. Oh so good! I am completely a Kingfisher convert and must read everything she has written.

Next up on the TBR pile: