Audiobook Review: Rules of the Game by Nora Roberts

Rules of the Game
Author: Nora Roberts
Narrator: Kate Rudd
Publication: Brilliance Audio (December 29, 2013)
Length: 6 hours and 36 minutes

Description: A story of stubborn wills and impassioned hearts from number-one New York Time best-selling author Nora Roberts.

Television director Brooke Gordon thinks that baseball player Parks Jones is an insufferable cad with an inflated ego. Unfortunately, he's also brilliant and her client's spokesman. Brooke is determined to ignore the intense attraction she feels while directing Parks in a commercial. But Parks is willing to break a few rules to convince Brooke that love isn't just a game to him. It means forever....

My Thoughts: Brooke Gordon has come from an impoverished childhood being shuffled from home to home in the foster care system to a very successful producer of commercials. Parks Jones was born with a silver spoon in his mouth but decided to be a professional baseball player instead of entering the family business. 

Brooke isn't eager to work with Parks when he is chosen as the spokesperson for a line of men's clothing but knows that she can get the best out of whatever talent he may have. She doesn't know anything about baseball and hasn't heard of the award winning third basemen. 

Parks is nearing the end of his career since he had already decided to retire by 35. With his team contending for the World Series, he is at the pinnacle of his career. When he first meets Brooke, he doesn't know that he'll soon be working for her and she doesn't enlighten him. 

Sparks fly when they work together but they make an excellent product and fall in love. Brooke is afraid to trust in him since she's been betrayed before, but Parks convinces her to take a chance on him since he's already completely fallen for her. 

A whirlwind marriage leads to some conflicts as they try to mesh their strong, stubborn personalities. It takes a California wildfire to let them see what their priorities really are. 

I bought this one March 13, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: When You See Me by Lisa Gardner

When You See Me
Author: Lisa Gardner
Narrator: Kirsten Potter
Series: D. D. Warren (Book 11)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (January 28, 2020)
Length: 10 hours and 55 minutes

Description: #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner unites three of her most beloved characters - Detective D. D. Warren, Flora Dane, and Kimberly Quincy - in a twisty new thriller, as they investigate a mysterious murder from the past...that points to a dangerous and chilling present-day crime.

FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy and Sergeant Detective D. D. Warren have built a task force to follow the digital bread crumbs left behind by deceased serial kidnapper Jacob Ness. When a disturbing piece of evidence is discovered in the hills of Georgia, they bring Flora Dane and true-crime savant Keith Edgar to a small town where something seems to be deeply wrong. What at first looks like a Gothic eeriness soon hardens into something much more sinister...and they discover that for all the evil Jacob committed while alive, his worst secret is still to be revealed. Quincy and D. D. must summon their considerable skills and experience to crack the most disturbing case of their careers - and Flora must face her own past directly in the hope of saving others.

My Thoughts: The 11th book in the D. D. Warren series brings in some characters from earlier books in the series and drops them into rural Georgia when a skeleton is found off a hiking trail. 

A task force is formed including FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy, Boston Sargeant Detective D. D. Warren, and Flora Dane, kidnapping victim turned vigilante. Also included in the task force is Keith Edgar who is a true crimes expert and a computer expert. 

They begin by thinking that the body is another victim of Jacob Ness who kidnapped Flora and kept her prisoner for over 400 days until she managed to kill him. Flora doesn't know if she'd ever been to the town because Jacob kept her in a pine box a lot of the time. When more bodies are found, Kimberly, D.D., Flora and Keith wonder what secrets the town is keeping. 

Since one of the viewpoint characters is a young mute maid at the local B&B, we learn that the town is a hotbed of sex trafficking, illegal organ sales, and murder. Lots and lots of murder. The young woman was shot in the head and suffers from brain damage. Finding a way to tell the new cops in town what happened to her isn't an easy thing. She uses drawings to communicate. 

This was a very twisty thriller. I liked the setting and the way the characters each played to their strengths during the course of the investigation. 

I bought this one March 20, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Cupid Dilemma by April Asher

The Cupid Dilemma
Author: April Asher
Publication: St. Matin's Griffin (May 12, 2026)

Description: In the new paranormal romance from bestselling author April Asher, a down-on-her-luck wedding planner demigoddess and a Muse-less rockstar agree to a fauxmance that quickly turns anything but…

A lover of love and a champion for happily ever after. Those are two of many things people expect from Aphrodite’s daughter. To Adalyn Whitlock, ‘love’ pays the bills, and currently, not well. Business is dropping at Happily Ever Forever, with her latest wedding planning catastrophe ending in a negative social media storm and her sister Maxi’s matchmaking ability on the fritz. To top it off, there’s an ex-boyfriend calling her ‘the Anti-Aphrodite’ and paparazzi pics linking Addie to her new client’s older brother.

Phoenix "Nix" Cross―songwriter and drummer for the hot new band, The Stone Talons―is no saint, but he's far from the womanizer the band’s image rep bestowed on him. If anything, Nix is a romantic, hopeful he'll find a love like the one his parents share. With the band’s star quickly rising and the record label pressuring him to deliver their next hit, Nix’s writer’s block couldn’t have come at a worse time. But when he opens his door to his irate new next-door neighbor, Nix feels the brief flash of inspiration for the first time in ages. And it just so happens that his new Muse is none other than his little sister’s new wedding planner.

With Addie needing an end to her public-relations nightmare and the record label breathing down Nix’s neck, the pair agree to a fauxmance. But what happens when the emotions turned on for the cameras don't turn off?

My Thoughts: This paranormal contemporary romance stars Adalyn Whitlock who is the daughter of Aphrodite and the owner with her sister and cousin of a wedding planning business named Happily Ever Forever and Phoenix Cross who is a songwriter and drummer for an up-and-coming rock band named The Stone Talons. 

Addie's wedding planning business hits a roadblock when the wedding of a society influencer goes wrong. Pillar candles, drunk guests, and a flammable wedding cake means fire. Addie is trying to put out the cake when Nix comes along with a fire extinguisher which coats both the cake and Addie in foam. The influencer vows to ruin Addie's business in retaliation.

Nix has a problem too. He wants to be a songwriter writing more than the panty party songs his label demands for the Stone Talons. But he's lost his writing mojo. 

Meanwhile, Addie is being annoyed by her next-door neighbor. First, he got the apartment she wanted. Second, he's prone to playing very loud music very late at night. She discovers that it is the helpful hottie from the wedding when she goes to his door demanding silence.

The two think of a way to solve both of their problems. Nix and Addie decide to start a fauxmance to overcome Addie's reputation as an Anti-Aphrodite while providing Nix with a muse to help his songwriting. It looks like things are working out for both of them, but their fauxmance is in danger of turning into a real romance which scares Addie to death since she doesn't believe in love. 

This was amusing. I liked the way the ancient Greek gods had a place in the story. This was also a spicy romance for those who enjoy that sort of thing. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Anniversary by Alex Finlay

The Anniversary
Author: Alex Finlay
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 12, 2026)

Description: Every May 1st, a serial killer stalks a small town. Every year he comes for them . . .

On May 1, 1992, Jules Delaney and Quinn Riley hardly know each other.

Jules is high school queen bee in a small Midwestern town when she survives a brutal attack by the elusive May Day Killer―a predator who strikes every May 1st and then vanishes without a trace. Quinn, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, is arrested the same night after trying to break up a fight and nearly killing someone.

By morning, their lives are forever connected.

A year later, Jules is haunted by trauma and guilt, tormented by one question: Why was she spared? Quinn is newly released from juvenile detention and returns home to devastating news―the unsolved murder of his mother.

Over the next decade, their lives are revisited on a single day each year: May 1st.

As the years pass, secrets surface, lies unravel, and the paths of Jules and Quinn draw closer together. Two mysteries edge toward the truth―what really happened the night Jules was attacked, and who murdered Quinn’s mother? All the while, the May Day Killer is still out there.

And the clock is racing toward another anniversary.

Twisty, high-concept, and emotionally charged, The Anniversary is an addictive murder mystery and nail-biting thriller―but it’s also a tender, heartrending story about fate, innocence lost, and two people bound by a single day. With its masterful structure and propulsive tension, The Anniversary reaffirms Alex Finlay as one of the leading thriller writers today.

My Thoughts: May 1 is the anniversary. This story begins in 1992 when Jules and Quinn meet in high school study hall. They are from different cliques. Jules is upper class and Quinn comes from the wrong side of the tracks. They do begin a tentative friendship though. Events come to a head on May Day when Jules is abducted and raped after ditching her cheating boyfriend at a concert and Quinn takes part in a fight that almost kills a guy. Jules doesn't tell anyone, but her life is disrupted. Quinn finds himself in Juvie and also has his life disrupted when his mother is murdered.

The next May Day Jules is discovered by a model agency and Quinn joins the Army. And the May Day Killer continues to take and kill young girls.

And the years go on. Jules has a successful career as a fashion model and masks her pain with drugs and alcohol. Quinn is invalided out of the Army after action in Somalia and, with a career in law enforcement impossible because of his injuries, becomes a private investigator in Omaha. Between his cases, he continues to investigate his own mother's murder because he doesn't believe the boyfriend did it. He is also working on the case of missing 8-year-old that the police have given on and put in the cold cases file. 

Then Jules younger sister is taken by the May Day Killer. She finally tells her parents that she was one of the lucky ones the killer didn't kill. She opens a nonprofit which searches for the missing. The May Day Killer is not the only source of missing persons.

Through the years, Jules and Quinn do keep running into each other, but it never seems like the right time for them. She's modeling in New York. He has a girlfriend. 

This was an excellent mystery. It was also an excellent story about friendship and love, lost innocence, and lost opportunities. I really enjoyed it. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Owlflight by Mercedes Lackey

Owlflight
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Kevin T. Collins
Series: The Owl Mage Trilogy (Book 1)
Publication: Tantor Audio (August 8, 2017)
Length: 13 hours and 40 minutes

Description: Apprenticed to a venerable wizard when his hunter and trapper parents disappear into the forest never to be seen again, Darian is difficult and strong willed - much to the dismay of his kindly master. But a sudden twist of fate will change his life forever when the ransacking of his village forces him to flee into the great mystical forest. It is here in the dark forest that he meets his destiny, as the terrifying and mysterious Hawkpeople lead him on the path to maturity. Now they must lead the assault on his besieged home in a desperate attempt to save his people from certain death.

My Thoughts: Owlflight is a coming-of-age fantasy story set on the far borders of Valdemar. Darian is a young orphan who has been apprenticed to the local wizard after his parents' disappearance in the Pelagirs. Darian isn't happy with his placement. He hasn't accepted his parents' deaths, and his future plans were to be a trapper like his parents were. 

The Wizard Justin is an old man who was damaged fighting in a war. He doesn't have much magic left but is an adequate healer and can still forecast the weather most of the time. He long since recognized that Darian had magic and could be trained to take his place. 

After Darian runs away in anger after a conflict with Justin, he sees his town being invaded by barbarian raiders and sees Justin die defending a bridge against the raiders. Darian flees into the forest not knowing what to do.

Darian is rescued by a group of Hawkpeople who are in the area to try to build new nodes of magic after the Mage Wars disrupted the flow of magic in the world. They are also hunting the change beasts created by the same magic. 

Darian finds acceptance and friendship and even reconciles to being trained to use his magic. But before he can embrace his future, the barbarian raiders have to be driven from the town he lived in, and the locals need to be rescued. Luckily, his knowledge of traps gained from his parents have the small group of Hawkpeople defeat a much larger horde and their mage too. 

I bought this one at Chirp March 15, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Griffin Speaker by Jan M. Flynn

Griffin Speaker
Author: Jan M. Flynn
Publication: Disney Hyperion (May 5, 2026)

Description: Impossible Creatures meets The Giver in this unforgettable fantasy series starter perfect for kids 8-12!

When twelve-year-old Rain bonds with the last wild griffin, she has the chance to change her fortune—and possibly her world.

As an orphan on the lowest rung of society, twelve-year-old Rain is destined for a future of hard labor—until she meets a wild griffin and bonds with him.

An old law says that bond entitles Rain to an education at the elite Griffin Riders Academy instead of a life in the mines. But Rain’s Rise threatens to topple Griffin Land’s fragile hierarchy, and those at the top are determined to see her fail. So they task Rain with proving herself: Armed with just her wit and accompanied by her best friend and an unlikely ally, Rain must scale the highest peak in Griffin Land and defeat the monster at its summit.

Rain’s success could change the world. But with an impossible quest ahead, will she and her griffin even survive?

Filled with awe-inspiring black-and-white illustrations, Griffin Speaker is both a delightful friendship-adventure story and a hopeful tale of resistance in an unequal world.

My Thoughts: This middle grade fantasy tells the story of a 12-year-old girl named Rain who is an orphan at the lowest rank in society. Her future will consist of underground mining of root. She fears her future because she is afraid of the dark, closed-in tunnels. 

Rain's future changes when she meets a griffin that her aunt, who has a farm raising exotic winged creatures for sale to the rich, is hiding in her barn and training to sell to a man from the highest rank of society. His daughter Orla wants to join the exclusive griffin riders, but she's been denied because of politics. 

Rain names the creature Griff. She able to talk to him and understand him in her mind. Griff is a wild griffin. Wild griffins are hunted by the griffin riders who are the society's enforcers. Rain decides that she and Griff will present themselves to the griffin training academy which must admit them both according to an ancient law. 

Rain's plan runs into politics. Those in the highest ranks of society see Rain as a demonstration of societal change that they do not want to happen. To keep her out, they design a quest that they intend to see that she doesn't survive.  With Griff taken from her and drugged, Rain and Orla who has declared herself Rain's Champion have to travel to a distant mountain to get the tail of the queen of the Nightflyers. They are joined on their quest by Rain's only friend Twig who has come to the city with Rain's belongings. 

This was an engaging introduction to epic fantasy for young readers. A young heroine of pure heart goes on a quest which changes society before it is all finished. It is also a friendship story about friends working together for a goal. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (May 4, 2026)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

Happy May! This was a pretty quiet week for me. There was baseball and lots of reading and listening. There was also quite a bit of record keeping as I wrapped up April and set up my calendar for June since the books I'm reading now will finish up my May calendar. 

I added two new review copies to my collection this week and purchase two new books too. I had to get the latest Penric novella by favorite author Lois McMaster Bujold since she's an auto-buy for me, and the next book in the Colleen Hayes historical mysteries was on sale for $.99. I realized I hadn't yet read the 4th Colleen Hayes mystery. So, I added both of them to my calendar. Then I got Murder by Design by Lee Goldberg since I'm a fan of his writing. This was a May Kindle First Reads which sort of makes it a review book since it will be released on June 1.

I am doing well on my goal to schedule any new purchases onto my reading calendar so that I don't end 2026 with hundreds on unread books. However, the Colleen Hayes mysteries are on my August calendar! I still need to buy less, or I'll run out of 2026 dates.

April Report

I read 33 books in April. This includes 22 that were mine with 18 being from my TBR stack and 4 being rereads. I read 11 review copies. Sixteen of my 33 books were audiobooks for a total of 211 hours of listening.

I added 32 books to my LibraryThing collection including 14 audiobooks and 12 review copies. I have read six of my April additions. The rest are on my calendar to read sometime in 2026.

Through the end of April, I have read 135 books. 82 were mine including 47 from the TBR Pile and 35 rereads. January was a huge month for rereads.  Twenty-one of 28 books listed as mine were rereads. No other month had more than 5 rereads. I've listened to 67 audiobooks so far this year. I've also read and reviewed 53 books. 

Here's my State of the Stack post which is the way I keep track of review books. 

Read Last Week

• Brotherhood in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- 43rd in the series centers around the disappearance and murder of Mr. Mira's cousin Edward. 
• Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines (Review, May 26) -- The search for a missing farmer takes Sarah Booth and her partner Tinkie on an adventure complete with ghosts and lost Civil War gold while spending time on the plight of the American farmer. My review will be posted on May 20.
• The Final Target by Nora Roberts (Review, May 26) -- A debut author attracts a stalker convinced that the two belong together forever. My review will be posted on May 21 for this excellent thriller.

• Smoke in Mirrors by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, Mine since December 3, 2025) -- Classic Krentz romantic suspense story. My review will be posted on May 28.
• The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan (Kindle, Mine since February 1) -- Fifth book in the Quinn & Costa thriller series takes the characters to LA. My review will be posted on May 22.
• Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop (Audiobook Reread) -- First in a new urban fantasy series by a favorite author. 

• Darksight Dare by Lois McMaster Bujold (Kindle, Mine since April 27) -- The latest Penric fantasy novella. I shared some quick thoughts on Goodreads. 
• Apprentice in Death by J. D. Robb (Audibook Reread) -- This 43rd book in the In Death series is one of my favorites. Eve needs to track down a long-distance serial Killer. Lots about fathers and children and nature versus nurture woven into the adventure. My review will be posted on June 2.
• Man of My Dreams by Olivia Worley (Review, June 2) -- An interesting combination of a meet cute romance and a psychological thriller complete with an unreliable narrator and plot twists. My review will be posted on May 26.

Currently

• Skyring Water by Louis L'Amour and Beau L'Amour (Review, June 2)
• Stolen in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook, Mine since February 13)
• A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray (Review, June 2)

Next Week

• Murder by Design by Lee Goldberg (Kindle First Read)
• Beach Thriller by Jamie Day (Review, June 9)
• A Botanist's Guide to Tradition and Treachery by Kate Khavari (Review, June 9)

• Blood on the Sand by Kacey Ezell (Kindle, Mine since April 10)
• Scream for Me by Karen Rose (Kindle, Mine since December 31, 2025)
• The Last Time We Saw Her by Jaclyn Goldis (Review, June 16)

Reviews Posted

• A Zoom with a View by Jess Cannon (Review copy)
• Obsession in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook)
• Archangel's Eternity by Nalini Singh (Review copy)

• Hidden Riches by Nora Roberts (Audiobook)
• I, Spy by L. M. Kemp (Review copy)
• Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner (Audiobook)

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:

• Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty (Review, August 4)
• Death on the Books by Victoria Gilbert (Review, August 4)

• Murder by Design by Lee Goldberg (Kindle First Read for May)

Bought:

• Darksight Dare by Lois McMaster Bujold (Kindle, $3.99)
• Night Candy by Max Tomlinson (Kindle, $.99)

What was your week like?