Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Title: Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel #1)

Author: Connie Willis

Publisher: Spectra 1992

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 592

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

For Kivrin, preparing to travel back in time to study one of the deadliest eras in humanity’s history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.

But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin—barely of age herself—finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history’s darkest hours.

Another decent, but not my favorite book that we’ve read for the Nerdy Bookish Friends book club. I had heard of this book mentioned in sci-fi circles as an example of time travel fiction. I really wanted to love this book but ended up only enjoying it. The book starts out strong with a plot to travel back to the Middle Ages to explore. But, we know that something is going to go wrong. And it quickly goes wrong. I didn’t quite realize that this was going to be a pandemic novel. Those parts didn’t bother me. What did mother me was the parts that seemed to be unclear on what actually happened and the loose ends by the end of the story. I know that it’s the start of a series, but it really flew like Willis didn’t really know where she was going with the story. I found multiple logical inconsistencies that I just couldn’t love.

Oxford Time Travel

#0.5 Fire Watch
#1 Doomsday Book
#2 To Say Nothing of the Dog
#3 Blackout
#4 All Clear

Next up on the TBR pile:

Camp Creepy by Kiersten White

Title: Camp Creepy (The Sinister Summer #3)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2023

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 288

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

After leaving the Sanguine Spa in pursuit of Edgaren't, the kids find themselves at a mysterious summer camp, Camp Creek. There are lake games and happy counselors, and there's even a tie-dye cabin. It's all very . . . normal.

But if Theo and Alexander know one thing, it's that normal doesn't always mean good. When everyone around her starts acting strange, Theo wonders if maybe the fumes from the tie-dye cabin are seeping into their brains, and she resolves to investigate what's really going on at Camp Creek.

The third book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White's Sinister Summer series continues the adventures of the Sinister-Winterbottoms and their aunt, who never saw a discount vacation destination she didn’t love.

If you are looking for a series that dupes A Series of Unfortunate Events is some clever ways, pick this one up! I absolutely adore this creepy mystery series. In this volume, we finally get to visit the summer camp full of strangely perky children and teens. And we get more insight into the larger mystery alongside hooking back up with some favorite characters. I adored seeing Wil being much more open and present with Theo and Alexander. A super fun adventure! I can’t believe that I didn’t catch the twist, but thoroughly enjoyed the reveal. On to the fourth book!

The Sinister Summer

#1 Wretched Waterpark
#2 Vampiric Vacation
#3 Camp Creepy
#4 Menacing Manor

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Next up on the TBR pile:

A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian

Title: A Duke in Disguise (Regency Imposters #2)

Author: Cat Sebastian

Publisher: Avon Impulse 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 304

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

One reluctant heir

If anyone else had asked for his help publishing a naughty novel, Ash would have had the sense to say no. But he’s never been able to deny Verity Plum. Now he has his hands full illustrating a book and trying his damnedest not to fall in love with his best friend. The last thing he needs is to discover he’s a duke’s lost heir. Without a family or a proper education, he’s had to fight for his place in the world, and the idea of it—and Verity—being taken away from him chills him to the bone.

One radical bookseller

All Verity wants is to keep her brother out of prison, her business afloat, and her hands off Ash. Lately it seems she’s not getting anything she wants. She knows from bitter experience that she isn’t cut out for romance, but the more time she spends with Ash, the more she wonders if maybe she’s been wrong about herself.

One disaster waiting to happen

Ash has a month before his identity is exposed, and he plans to spend it with Verity. As they explore their long-buried passion, it becomes harder for Ash to face the music. Can Verity accept who Ash must become or will he turn away the only woman he’s ever loved?

I picked up the series on the recommendation of a ton of internet friends. And while I didn’t absolutely love the first book (didn’t quite buy the romantic connection), thankfully this book more than made up for the shortcomings. I really fell for Ash and Verity. We get to see two people that have created a found family from struggle and are desperate to maintain that family. Usually I am not a huge fan of the friends to lovers trope, but this one worked. It felt authentic to me. At the same time, we get to see two character struggle with their own issues. The biggest point that I really loved was the fact that they communicated with one another! Loved it so much! Now I’m excited to read the conclusion to this trilogy of romances.

Regency Imposters

#1 Unmasked by the Marquess
#2 A Duke in Disguise
#3 A Delicate Deception

Next up on the TBR pile:

The First Bright Thing by JR Dawson

Title: The First Bright Thing

Author: JR Dawson

Publisher: Tor Books 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Author with Same Name Town as You

Ringmaster — Rin, to those who know her best — can jump to different moments in time as easily as her wife, Odette, soars from bar to bar on the trapeze. And the circus they lead is a rare home and safe haven for magical misfits and outcasts, known as Sparks.

With the world still reeling from World War I, Rin and her troupe — the Circus of the Fantasticals — travel the midwest, offering a single night of enchantment and respite to all who step into their Big Top.

But threats come at Rin from all sides. The future holds an impending war that the Sparks can see barrelling toward their show and everyone in it. And Rin's past creeps closer every day, a malevolent shadow she can’t fully escape.

It takes the form of another circus, with tents as black as midnight and a ringmaster who rules over his troupe with a dangerous power. Rin's circus has something he wants, and he won't stop until it's his.

A friend at the bookish retreat recommended this new novel from an Omaha author. I finally got it from the library and dove straight in. I adored the world created in this fantasy novel. Apparently, I really enjoy fantasy novels set in circuses… This one was populated by an interesting array of circus inhabitants. We get to see how they have all created a family in the midst of a strange and changing world. I loved the idea of the Sparks and their various abilities. We get to see how some have used their powers for good while others have used their powers to hurt others. I loved connecting all the dots between timelines and characters. I wasn’t surprised by the big twist, but felt that it was an earned reveal. The last few chapters are really nonstop action. Thankfully we get a satisfying conclusion to the storyline. Such a great debut! I will have to see what the author writes next.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Deep by Nick Cutter

Title: The Deep

Author: Nick Cutter

Publisher: Gallery Books 2015

Genre: Horror

Pages: 394

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys, then the not-so-small things, like how to drive or the letters of the alphabet. Their bodies forget how to function involuntarily. There is no cure.

But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Mariana Trench, a heretofore-unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia”—a universal healer, from initial reports—has been discovered. It may just be the key to eradicating the ‘Gets.

In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

Absolutely horrifying! This was a masterpiece is laying out suspense and dread over the course of the entire book while still giving us some extremely creepy moments throughout. This is not the book if you are squeamish at all and/or do not like body horror. We all know that something is seriously wrong on the research station even before Al and Lucas begin their descent. And it just keeps getting worse. The book reminded me a lot of Event Horizon or even Sphere. We have to parse out what is real and what is imagined. But in the end, does it really matter? I absolutely was creeped out by this book (which does not happen very often at all). Definitely going to be having a few nightmares from this one.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

Title: The Keeper of Night (The Keeper of Night #1)

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Publisher: Inkyard Press 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 393

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf: BOTM Cleanout

Death is her destiny.

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.

When her failure to control her Shinigami abilities drives Ren out of London, she flees to Japan to seek the acceptance she’s never gotten from her fellow Reapers. Accompanied by her younger brother, the only being on earth to care for her, Ren enters the Japanese underworld to serve the Goddess of Death…only to learn that here, too, she must prove herself worthy. Determined to earn respect, Ren accepts an impossible task—find and eliminate three dangerous Yokai demons—and learns how far she’ll go to claim her place at Death’s side.

The premise and start of this book really sucked me in. I wanted a horror-ish telling of Japanese mythology. For the first couple of chapters, I was completely in it. But then, once Red and her brother actually arrive in Japan, the story basically stops. We get huge passages of slow-moving prose with lots of annoying whining. And the romance! Completely ridiculous and so not a romance. I hated it. I tried to look past those issues, but ultimately I just couldn’t find myself enjoying this book.

The Keeper of Night

#1 The Keeper of Night
#2 The Empress of Time

Next up on the TBR pile:

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

Title: Beautiful Country

Author: Qian Julie Wang

Publisher: Doubleday 2021

Genre: Memoir

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Refugee

In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to “beautiful country.” Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. In China, Qian’s parents were professors; in America, her family is “illegal” and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive.

In Chinatown, Qian’s parents labor in sweatshops. Instead of laughing at her jokes, they fight constantly, taking out the stress of their new life on one another. Shunned by her classmates and teachers for her limited English, Qian takes refuge in the library and masters the language through books, coming to think of The Berenstain Bears as her first American friends. And where there is delight to be found, Qian relishes it: her first bite of gloriously greasy pizza, weekly “shopping days,” when Qian finds small treasures in the trash lining Brooklyn’s streets, and a magical Christmas visit to Rockefeller Center—confirmation that the New York City she saw in movies does exist after all.

But then Qian’s headstrong Ma Ma collapses, revealing an illness that she has kept secret for months for fear of the cost and scrutiny of a doctor’s visit. As Ba Ba retreats further inward, Qian has little to hold onto beyond his constant refrain: Whatever happens, say that you were born here, that you’ve always lived here.

Our August choice for book club and it just wasn’t my thing. Very rarely do I really enjoy a memoir/autobiography. They often fall a little flat for me and sometimes become very repetitive. This one started out interesting highlighting a life experience that is very different from my own. But… I found that Wang does not do enough self-reflection and commentary about her early life in America. We see many family members making terrible choices without commentary. Wide swathes of peoples are painted with a large brush, exactly what Wang argues is her own experience. I wanted to see a bit of self-reflection with her own biases and prejudices. We don’t get too much introspection. And then the book just ends. The last chapter does a bit of fast-forwarding to her later life, but it just felt unfinished in my mind.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Break Your Glass Slippers by Amanda Lovelace

Title: Break Your Glass Slippers

Author: Amanda Lovelace

Publisher: Andrews McMeel 2020

Genre: Poetry

Pages: 160

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

amanda lovelace, the bestselling & award-winning author of the “women are some kind of magic” poetry series, presents a new companion series, “you are your own fairy tale” the first installment, break your glass slippers, is about overcoming those who don’t see your worth, even if that person is sometimes yourself. in the epic tale of your life, you are the most important character while everyone is but a forgotten footnote. even the prince.

Friends at the bookish recommendation gave this book title to me as something I would enjoy. And I really did enjoy this! Lovelace’s slim collection of poetry is a mix of fairy tale retellings and autobiographical poems. The style and topics are very much in the same vein as Nikita Gill’s writings. I really love her stuff and Lovelace’s came close to it, but not quite surpassed Gill’s poems. I enjoyed these poems but as a collection, they were very slim. I wanted a bit more depth and reflection. But, I think I do need to read to rest of the volumes in her collection.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Happily Never After (Night Huntress #1.5)

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Publisher: Avon 2008

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Pages: 106

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Meter: 5 (albeit one with a vampire)

Isabella Spaga is about to reluctantly walk down the aisle with Mr. Dangerously Wrong…but not if dashing vampire Chance has anything to say about it. As a favor to Bones, Chance has come to derail this wedding of beauty to the beast. Now if only he can keep his hands off the bride. From New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress world, it’s the wedding of the season…that everyone wants to miss.

I finally tracked down some of the novellas for the Night Huntress series. This one involves a vampire that we briefly met in the first volume of the series. And yea! I was excited to see a little story involving him and his new lady love. We get a fun short story full of action and adventure and some truly terrible villains that were definitely deserving of their fates. Very cute addition to the stories. Now I need to track down some of the later stories…

Night Huntress:

#0.5 Reckoning
#1 Halfway to the Grave
#1.2 The Other Half of the Grave
#1.5 Happily Never After
#2 One Foot in the Grave
#3 At Grave’s End
#3.5 Devil to Pay
#4 Destined for an Early Grave
#4.5 One for the Money
#5 This Side of the Grave
#6 One Grave at a Time
#6.5 Home for the Holidays
#7 Up from the Grave
#7.5 Outtakes from the Grave
#7.6 A Grave Girls’ Getaway
#8 Both Feet in the Grave

Next up on the TBR pile:

Vampiric Vacation by Kiersten White

Title: Vampiric Vacation (The Sinister Summer #2)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2022

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 320

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

After leaving Fathoms of Fun, the kids are on their way to the next odd summer destination their aunt has chosen for them. This time, they find themselves dropped off at the Sanguine Spa in the “little Transylvania Mountains.” There they meet the owners: Mina, her mysterious little sister, Lucy (who is extremely pale, can’t go in the sunlight, and has an affinity for hanging upside down from the ceiling), and their intimidating guardian, the Count.

When the Count sends all the children in the spa on a scavenger hunt, the Sinister-Winterbottoms use the excuse to snoop around and discover that this spa may be more than just eerie—it might also hold clues to what happened to their parents. When Wil starts to show vampiric symptoms, the twins resolve to investigate what’s really going on at the Sanguine Spa.

The second book in the Sinister Summer series continues the adventures of the Sinister-Winterbottoms and their aunt who never saw a discount vacation destination she didn’t love.

The library finally got the rest of this series for me to enjoy. I loved the first one and couldn’t wait to dive into the rest. The series reminds me a lot of A Series of Unfortunate Events with the mix of spooky and absurd happenings. We get another adventure, this time at a spa that may or may not be inhabited by vampires. We get more of the overall mystery and some clues along the way. And throughout everything, we are delighted to be following Theo and Alexander as they keep each other safe, along with occasionally making sure their sister Wil doesn’t walk off a cliff. I loved the play on the vampire myths and the story of Dracula in particular. There was a line early on about lawyers and suites that made me laugh out loud. I think the boys would really enjoy reading this series after me.

The Sinister Summer

#1 Wretched Waterpark
#2 Vampiric Vacation
#3 Camp Creepy
#4 Menacing Manor

Next up on the TBR pile:

Wrapped Up in You by Jill Shalvis

Title: Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #8)

Author: Jill Shalvis

Publisher: Avon 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 348

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

It’s love. Trust me.

After a lifetime on the move, Ivy Snow is an expert in all things temporary—schools, friends, and way too many Mr. Wrongs. Now that she owns a successful taco truck in San Francisco and an apartment to call home, Ivy’s reinvented life is on solid ground. And she’s guarded against anything that can rock it. Like the realities of a past she’s worked hard to cover up. And especially Kel O’Donnell. Too hot not to set off alarms, he screams temporary. If only his whispers weren’t so delightfully naughty and irresistible.

Kel, an Idaho sheriff and ranch owner, is on vacay, but Ivy’s a spicy reason to give his short-term plans a second thought. Best of all, she’s a tonic for his untrusting heart, burned once and still in repair. But when Ivy’s past intrudes on a perfect romance, Kel fears that everything she’s told him has been a perfect lie. Now, if only Ivy’s willing to share, Kel will fight for a true love story.

And we have come to the end of the Heartbreaker Bay series, or at least I assume it’s the end. I can’t actually find the two short stories that I haven’t read and I don’t think Shalvis has written any more with these characters. So we finally get a story featuring Ivy after being name dropped for the last few books. She gets a decent story involving Caleb’s cousin Kel. I did enjoy those two together, figuring out how to deal with their family dramas and learning to open up to each other. The overall action plot line wasn’t my favorite in the series, but it did add to the overall story. I did wish to see a bit more time between Ivy and Kel before they engaged in a relationship. I’m a sucker for tension and this book left me wanting more. But it was a fun breezy read for the week as I finish this series I started at Christmas last year.

Heartbreaker Bay

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

Title: The Haunting of Alejandra

Author: V. Castro

Publisher: Del Rey 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. To her own adoptive mother, she is a daughter. But they cannot see who Alejandra has become: a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her.

Nor can they see what Alejandra sees. In times of despair, a ghostly vision appears to her, the apparition of a crying woman in a ragged white gown.

When Alejandra visits a therapist, she begins exploring her family’s history, starting with the biological mother she never knew. As she goes deeper into the lives of the women in her family, she learns that heartbreak and tragedy are not the only things she has in common with her ancestors.

Because the crying woman was with them, too. She is La Llorona, the vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican legend. And she will not leave until Alejandra follows her mother, her grandmother, and all the women who came before her into the darkness.

But Alejandra has inherited more than just pain. She has inherited the strength and the courage of her foremothers—and she will have to summon everything they have given her to banish La Llorona forever.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this horror novel, but found that it very very scary. Not in a jump scare way at all, but in a “this is too close to real life” way. Alejandra has awakened to the fact that the life she is currently inhabiting is not one that she envisioned for herself. We get to see just how sad and out of place she is in her current situation. The parts of the book really focussed on her current life made me so sad. From there we get to learn has many of Alejandra’s ancestors felt the same way at different times in history. There is a cycle of generational trauma here that was very true to life. I was so very angry for all the women forced into situation that they did not choose. The demon figure masquerading as La Llorona just added to the horror of the situation, but it was very much secondary. This is a feminist rage book that I can get behind and recommend to anyone that can handle a bit of horror with their rage.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian

Title: Unmasked by the Marquess (Regency Imposters #1)

Author: Cat Sebastian

Publisher: Avon 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 304

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Courtship Row; Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

The one you love…

Robert Selby is determined to see his sister make an advantageous match. But he has two problems: the Selbys have no connections or money and Robert is really a housemaid named Charity Church. She’s enjoyed every minute of her masquerade over the past six years, but she knows her pretense is nearing an end. Charity needs to see her beloved friend married well and then Robert Selby will disappear…forever.

May not be who you think…

Alistair, Marquess of Pembroke, has spent years repairing the estate ruined by his wastrel father, and nothing is more important than protecting his fortune and name. He shouldn’t be so beguiled by the charming young man who shows up on his doorstep asking for favors. And he certainly shouldn’t be thinking of all the disreputable things he’d like to do to the impertinent scamp.

But is who you need…

When Charity’s true nature is revealed, Alistair knows he can’t marry a scandalous woman in breeches, and Charity isn’t about to lace herself into a corset and play a respectable miss. Can these stubborn souls learn to sacrifice what they’ve always wanted for a love that is more than they could have imagined?

I’m a bit disappointed by this one. I had heard great things and wanted to explore a queer romance. This one just didn’t quite land for me and I’m not exactly certain why. Robin/Charity/Robert was a complicated character and I didn’t quite buy their entire motivation. I totally get their identification and nonbinary. I don’t really get their motivation when it came to the Duke and such. Or maybe it was because I didn’t buy the Duke and Robin together. They still seemed mismatched by the end of the book. I wanted a bit more conversation and connection… But I will be reading on in the series as many have said that the second one is better.

Regency Imposters

#1 Unmasked by the Marquess
#2 A Duke in Disguise
#3 A Delicate Deception

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

Title: The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen (Doomsday Books #1)

Author: KJ Charles

Publisher: Sourcebooks 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Rainbow Row; Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

Abandoned by his father, Gareth Inglis grew up lonely, prickly, and well-used to disappointment. Still, he longs for a connection. When he meets a charming stranger, he falls head over heels—until everything goes wrong and he's left alone again. Then Gareth's father dies, turning the shabby London clerk into Sir Gareth, with a grand house on the remote Romney Marsh and a family he doesn't know.

The Marsh is another world, a strange, empty place notorious for its ruthless gangs of smugglers. And one of them is dangerously familiar...

Joss Doomsday has run the Doomsday smuggling clan since he was a boy. When the new baronet—his old lover—agrees to testify against Joss's sister, Joss acts fast to stop him. Their reunion is anything but happy, yet after the dust settles, neither can stay away. Soon, all Joss and Gareth want is the chance to be together. But the bleak, bare Marsh holds deadly secrets. And when Gareth finds himself threatened from every side, the gentleman and the smuggler must trust one another not just with their hearts, but with their lives.

A random recommendation from a library list and it was a good one. We get a great romance between two seemingly opposite character and a big mystery. Sometimes I really enjoy a romance book that has a mystery or an action plot attached to it. We get a little something to propel the storyline forward while exploring a romance. This one was a good mix of the two. We get to meet Gareth and Joss and watch them attempt to find common ground out on the marsh. The setting really was another character in this book. I could definitely picture the surrounding area and the plants and insects that inhabit it. it made for a fun aspect to this historical romance.

The Doomsday Books

#1 The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen
#2 A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel

Next up on the TBR pile:

Playing for Keeps by Jill Shalvis

Title: Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)

Author: Jill Shalvis

Publisher: Avon 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

If you’re planning on falling in love…

When it comes to the confident, charismatic Caleb Parker, Sadie Lane feels the spark—the kind that comes from rubbing each other the wrong way. She’s yoga pants, he’s a suit. She’s a tattoo artist, he’s a straight-laced mogul. But after they accidentally co-rescue an abandoned dog from a storm, Sadie sees a vulnerable side to the seemingly invincible hottie.

you’d better be sure…

Caleb doesn’t do emotions. Growing up the underdog, he’s learned the hard way to build up an impenetrable wall. Perfect for business. Disastrous for relationships. He’s never worried about it before—not until he finally gets behind Sadie’s armor and begins to fall.

… someone is there to catch you.

Both guarded and vulnerable, Sadie and Caleb are complete opposites. Or are they? Shocked at their undeniable connection, can they ever admit to wanting more? That all depends on what they’re each willing to risk.

Another volume in this good contemporary romance series. I still really enjoy how every book has some type of more serious themes. Sometimes I want a bit of substance along with my fluffy romance. In this one, I really liked Sadie as a character. She felt very real with all her hang-ups. I enjoyed her prickly manor especially as she sparred with Caleb. Speaking of, Caleb wasn’t my favorite main character, but he was a decent counterpart to Sadie. Somehow I only have one more completed book in this series? I cannot even imagine.

Heartbreaker Bay

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Title: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Author: Sandu Mandanna

Publisher: Berkley 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 318

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Books on the Cover; Romanceopoly - Journey’s End

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when peril comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for....

Our book club pick for August and it was a delightfully warm hug. We enter into a world full of secret witches and oddball characters all looking for a home. Thankfully they find their home, albeit after a few trials and some periods of self-doubt. I fell for every single one of the characters but I think Rosetta was my favorite. All the characters created their own space and place within the family. We get to see how they all fit together into a beautiful tapestry. I’m looking forward to reading the next book from Mandanna.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Hey, Hun by Emily Lynn Paulson

Title: Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing

Author: Emily Lynn Paulson

Publisher: Row House Publishing 2023

Genre: Nonfiction - Business

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

The eye-opening, funny, and dangerous personal story of author Emily Lynn Paulson rising to the top of the pyramid in the multilevel marketing (MLM) world, only to recognize that its culture and business practices went beyond a trendy marketing scheme and into the heart of white supremacy in America.

A significant polemic on how MLMs operate, HEY, HUN expertly lays out their role in the cultural epidemic of isolation and the cult-like ideologies that course through their trainings, marketing, and one-on-one interactions.

Equally entertaining and smart, Paulson’s first-person accounts, acerbic wit, and biting commentary will leave you with a new perspective on those “Hey Hun” messages flooding your inbox.

An interesting first-hand account of just how insidious MLMs. I was really interested in Paulson’s personal narrative. We really get to see how the companies work on people to deconstruct their entire beings and remake them in the company’s images. I didn’t mind how Paulson used aggregate characters and amalgamations to illustrate the tactics. I was even interested in the psychology behind the BITE model. But then, the chapters started to run together and information started repeating. I get the emphasis on various tactics, but it really felt too repetitive. I just got tired of reading the book after awhile.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Silent Came the Monster by Amy Hill Hearth

Title: Silent Came the Monster

Author: Amy Hill Hearth

Publisher: Blackstone 2023

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 350

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Related to the Word “Monster”

“Sharks are as timid as rabbits,” says a superintendent of the Coast Guard, dismissing the possibility that a shark could be the culprit in an unprecedented fatal attack at the Jersey Shore. It’s July, and swimming in the sea is a popular new pastime, but people up and down the East Coast are shocked and mystified by the swimmer’s death. A prominent surgeon at the shore, Dr. Edwin Halsey is the one who examines the victim, and the only one who believes the perpetrator was a shark—and that it will strike again.

With the public and the authorities—and even those who witnessed the attacks—so stubbornly disbelieving, Dr. Halsey finds himself fighting widespread confusion, conspiracy theories, and outright denial. Seeking the input of commercial fisherman, he soon learns they have long been concerned about a creature they call the Beast. The Lenape, one of the tribes native to the area, have their own beliefs about this creature, but can Dr. Halsey convince the rest of the world before it’s too late?

The story of the 1916 Jersey Shore shark changed the way Americans think of the seashore, reminding us once again that nature plays by its own rules.

Another recommendation from my favorite book podcast. I was intrigued by the fictionalized account of a very true horror story. This is a very horrifying story full of people who aren’t all real, but feel very real. We are put back into a bygone era. At times, the writing was a bit stilted and the characters were hard to understand. But that’s all a part of fully inhabiting the time period and the story. Overall, I enjoyed the story. I would have liked a bit more to the author’s note, but that’s a minor quibble.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët

Title: Beautiful Darkness

Author: Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly 2014

Genre: Comics

Pages: 94

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Newly homeless, a group of fairies find themselves trying to adapt to their new life in the forest. As they dodge dangers from both without and within, optimistic Aurora steps forward to organize and help build a new community. Slowly, the world around them becomes more treacherous as petty rivalries and factions form.

Beautiful Darkness became a bestseller and an instant classic when it was released in 2014. This paperback edition of the modern horror classic contains added material, preparatory sketches, and unused art. While Kerascoët mix gorgeous watercolors and spritely cartoon characters, Fabien Vehlmann takes the story into bleaker territory as the seasons change and the darkness descends. As with any great horror, there are moments of calm and jarring shocks while a looming dread hangs over the forest.

Not quite sure what I just read, but it was just horrifying enough that I found myself riveted to the pages. The horror takes a few pages to really present itself, but then we are off and running. I was really rooting for Aurora the entire time, hoping that she would be able to overcome the myriad obstacles in her path. This is a very quickly little horror comic that was an instant hit for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Immortality by Dana Schwartz

Title: Immortality

Author: Dana Schwartz

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2023

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 389

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Books Club - Includes a Funeral

Hazel Sinnett is alone and half-convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know if Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her.

When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: Hazel has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly granddaughter of King George III. Soon Hazel is dragged into the glamor and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death.

As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn't the only thing at stake for her. Malicious forces are at work in the monarchy, and Hazel may be the only one capable of setting things right.

A successful and satisfying follow up to Anatomy. I was very annoyed by the cliffhanger at the end of the first book, but thankfully, this volume closes that storyline. We re-encounter Hazel continuing her work alone in her family’s house in Edinburgh. This story line is all fine and good, but the book finally picks up once Hazel is transported to London and meets Princess Charlotte. I loved the royal intrigue aspect of the story and Hazel’s relationships with Charlotte and Eliza. We don’t get quite as much medical talk in this one as the last, but it’s still there. This book did feel like a bit more of a stretch by including so many real characters into the plot line. Most of it was fine, but there were a few parts that I was a bit incredulous by the actions taken by some characters. As such, I still have issues with the supernatural aspects of this duology. A nice quick read, but it’s not going to make my top 10 of the year.

Next up on the TBR pile: