Audiobook Review: Hidden Riches by Nora Roberts

Hidden Riches
Author: Nora Roberts
Narrator: Sandra Burr
Publication: Brilliance Audio (June 10, 2008)
Length: 14 hours and 23 minutes

Description #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts unveils the intriguing world of antiques dealing, where an independent woman discovers the price of breathless desire—and the schemes of an obsessed killer…

Dora Conroy has a passion for antiques—and any other rarities she can acquire for her quaint Philadelphia shop. A seasoned dealer, she knows all the tricks of the trade. But she is unprepared for the deadly consequences when she purchases a few curiosities at an auction—and unknowingly brings home a priceless cache that makes her the target of an international criminal. Entwined in a reckless chase, Dora turns to her new neighbor, Jed Skimmerhorn, a cop who’s turned in his badge—and whose desire for lovely Dora puts him back in the line of fire. Fighting their attraction while falling in love, they find that hidden riches can have a most ordinary façade. And that possession can be a lethal obsession…

My Thoughts: Dora Conroy has a new tenant for the apartment above her antiques and curiosities shop. Jed Skimmerhorm was a police captain who has given up his badge after he kills the man who, aiming for him, set a car bomb that murdered his sister. Independently wealthy, Jed is content to do nothing except exercise and stew in his guilt. 

When Dora returns home from her buying trip, she meets the man her actor father chose for her new tenant. Banter ensues with Dora being friendly and Jed being grouchy. 

Meanwhile, a wealthy, murderous and insane collector receives a package which doesn't contain the goods he purchased. He sends his henchman to find and recover his missing pieces which are the same goods Dora bought. He learns that the shipping company mislabeled the shipments and, starting at the auction house, beings to track them down killing anyone who gets in his way. 

Dora's shop is burglarized but she and Jed manage to chase away the burglar after some shots are fired. Jed finds himself pulled back into police work as he tries to find out who tried to burglarize Dora's shop and why. 

As the book progresses, the viewpoints alternate and the danger creeps ever closer to Dora. And Dora and Jed are falling love with Dora being the open-hearted one and Jed the more reluctant because his abuse childhood made him very suspicious of love. 

The story was fast paced. It was also an intense thriller and intense though not graphic love story. I liked that Dora's family and Jed's friends were both pushing the couple together while providing strong support for both characters. 

Published in 1994, the only things that made it seem dated were the lack of cellphones and the prevalence of characters who smoked. I enjoyed this one very much.

I bought this one from Chirp April 26, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Archangel's Eternity by Nalini Singh

Archangel's Eternity
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunters (Book 18)
Publication: Berkley (May 5, 2026)

Description: Elena and Raphael return for the hauntingly poignant conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s genre-defining Guild Hunter series.

A thousand years.

It’s been a millennium since Elena’s fateful first meeting with Archangel Raphael. She has survived war and loss, experienced beauty and cruelty. But no matter what, she has always held on to her mortal heart, as she and Raphael have held on to each other. Passionate and vibrant, they’ve built a life that has stood the test of time, growing ever stronger with each turn of the sun.

But change is coming—of a magnitude they could have never imagined—and it will forever alter the trajectory of their existence.

Even as they grapple with the cataclysmic shift in their personal lives, the Cadre of Ten, which has maintained a hard-won peace for centuries, begins to simmer with dangerous fault lines. The specter of madness looms in one archangel, the promise of war burns between two others, and in darkness far from mortal and immortal eyes stirs an ancient, slumbering power.

Suddenly, the future is terrifyingly uncertain . . . at the very moment that Elena and her archangel need to protect a treasure infinitely more precious than eternity.

My Thoughts: This conclusion to an 18-book series is mainly a retrospective. Elena and Raphael are celebrating being together for 1000 years and looking back at some of the events that shaped them. Conditions are stable but changes are in the wind.

The biggest change is that Elena finds herself pregnant despite her birth control. This is a seismic event for the two of them. Raphael fears that he will go mad as his parents did and Elena fears that her hunter nature will make her so overprotective that she will stunt her child's growth. 

I enjoyed this story but doubt this would work at all for a new reader of the series. There were so many references, including the quotes that begin each chapter, to events and relationships from the earlier books that brought back memories for me but would likely baffle someone new to the series. 

I enjoyed the glimpses of the world and New York especially and thought the changes realistic. I also liked Harrison's role in the story which indicates that immortality is a very mixed blessing. Elena also feels the losses of family and friends over the many centuries. 

I enjoyed the return of a new and changed Legion. I thought for a while that this would be another episode filled with angels fighting each other but liked the way Raphael's mother managed to sooth the tensions between Illium and his archangel father. 

This story was a satisfying conclusion to the series. 

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

ARC Review: I, Spy by L. M. Kemp

I, Spy
Author: L. M. Kemp
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 5, 2026)

Description: Ex-spy Kendal was one of the best, but now she’s wearing the toughest disguise of her career: Mom.

“An incisive feminist thriller and heaps of fun.”―Margot Douaihy

Kendal Carter is out in the cold and she wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s been four years since her daughter Rosie was born and Kendal has kept her miles away from the danger of her former life as a spy. But when their hiding place is discovered, Kendal is forced to turn to old contacts for help. Her longtime friend and ex-handler Rico doesn’t miss his chance to pull his best spy back in. Whisking them to London, Rico offers them a luxury safe house in an area with good schools. How can Kendal resist?

But there’s a catch, of course. Rico wants Kendal to come back to work for his espionage agency Bon Temps. He’s offering an assignment with no apparent downside, investigating one of the dads at Rosie’s new school who works at one of London’s biggest, murkiest tech firms and suspected of being up to no good. It should be easy enough for someone with her experience, and luckily, mother is the perfect cover.

However, it doesn’t take long for Kendal to realize that Rico’s got an agenda of his own. The tech firm may be dealing in darker and more deadly secrets than they all realize, plus the world of coffee mornings and playdates comes with its own web of allegiances and betrayals. Kendal soon finds herself in way too deep . . .

A gripping blend of suspenseful spy thriller with heartfelt women’s fiction, I, Spy is the first in a propulsive debut series about the masks we all wear, whether as a spy or as a parent.

My Thoughts: Kendal Carter is laying low after delivering her daughter Rosie. She hopes that her life as a spy is long behind her. But that old life catches up to her forcing her to call on old allies for aid. 

Kendal finds herself in London in a luxury safe house and enrolling Rosie, now four, in a good school. She's supposed to be training a guy to go undercover at a tech firm suspected of wrongdoing. But Kendal should know better than to trust her old colleague. 

Kendal soon finds herself deep in a web of spies with conflicting agendas and the local mom's group at her daughter's school which is also filled with conflicting agendas. Kendal needs to dust off her old skills in a hurry if she and Rosie are to survive. 

And Rosie has reached the age when she's starting to ask about her father. He's the only man that Kendal ever fell in love with and it turns out he was a spy too. His supposed death turns out not to be as final as Kendal had supposed. 

This was an interesting story filled with people with hidden lives and agendas. It started slowly for me but persistence drew me into the story which ended up being quite satisfying. 

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

Audiobook Review: Obsession in Death by J. D. Robb

Obsession in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Narrator: Susan Ericksen
Series: In Death (Book 40)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (February 10, 2015)
Length: 13 hours and 22 minutes

Description: Lieutenant Eve Dallas walks the thin line between love and hate in this fabulous 40th thriller from #1 New York Times bestseller J. D. Robb....

Eve Dallas has solved a lot of high-profile murders for the NYPSD and gotten a lot of media. She - and her billionaire husband - are getting accustomed to being objects of attention, of gossip, of speculation.

But now Eve has become the object of one person's obsession. Someone who finds her extraordinary, and thinks about her every hour of every day. Who believes the two of them have a special relationship. Who would kill for her - again and again....

With a murderer reading meanings into her every move, handling this case will be a delicate - and dangerous - psychological dance. And Eve knows that underneath the worship and admiration, a terrible threat lies in wait. Because the beautiful lieutenant is not at all grateful for these bloody offerings from her "true and loyal friend." And in time, idols always fall....

My Thoughts: Lieutenant Eve Dallas is a NYPSD murder cop. She's really good at her job and has solved some very high-profile cases. She's also married to a gorgeous and mysterious billionaire named Roarke. Putting those things together means that Eve has a much higher profile than she would like. 

Eve's fame has attracted a person who really admires her and wants to be her best friend. Her new best friend has decided to murder people they believe have done Eve wrong. The first victim is a high-profile lawyer. The lawyer defended a man Eve arrested for inventing a device that let him control people's minds which made some of them kill themselves. Once the court case was over, Eve didn't give the lawyer another thought until her new friend decided to murder her. Her friend left a note for her written in the wall with a Sharpie. 

The second victim was a third-rate junkie who accidentally bruised Eve's face when she went to him for some information about a case. Now his body was found impaled by a broken pool cue. Eve's friend has left a note on the wall for her. This one was still written with a Sharpie but was longer and less controlled then the first note. 

Even though they need to investigate each victim, it soon becomes clear that the only thing that connects the murders is Eve's involvement. Eve and her partner Detective Peabody have to search for people who might know about the details of the cases or who might be focused on Eve. 

Eve also has to find a way to protect her friends because her new friend doesn't want any rivals. This brings Eve to a realization of how many friends she now has and makes her wonder how it all happened. Eve life has changed and expanded in many ways since she fell in love with and married Roarke. 

There are lots of references to Eve's earlier cases since this is the 40th book in the series. There are also lots of references to her early life and the way she has overcome her childhood trauma. The romance is also strong in this one. She and Roarke are building unbreakable bonds. In some of the books, there are conflicts as she and Roarke are building their marriage. In this one, she and Roarke are on the same page. 

This was an excellent entry into this long-running series. 

I bought this audiobook December 1, 2023. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: A Zoom with a View by Jess Cannon

A Zoom with a View
Author: Jess Cannon
Publication: Dutton (May 5, 2026)

Description: A fiction debut filled with heart and humor, A Zoom with a View will make you want to move to Blue Oak—if only the annual Fourth of July festivities didn't end with a dead body.

Leo can't believe she's back in Blue Oak. Her small, quirky Texas hometown feels suffocating after trying to make it big as an English professor in New York—especially due to her strained relationship with her overly hair-sprayed mother, Karina. But with Leo’s career in academia in shambles, at least she's able to work as a photographer for her godmother's real estate business. And her best friend, Emily, is around to help her navigate through the mess—and maybe force her to reconnect with her old high school boyfriend, Mack.

But while at work, Leo makes a grisly discovery at one of her godmother's properties: the dead body of rival real estate agent and social media influencer Chaz. Even worse, Leo and Emily have been secretly running a snarky Reddit page making fun of Chaz’s cringe-inducing advice and duck-faced selfies. When someone she loves is accused of the murder, Leo finds herself flung headfirst into a dangerous investigation, teaming up with a local detective who is a lot more attractive than she remembered when they were both teenagers. Meanwhile, Karina has been acting stranger and stranger, as if all her hair hides a big secret. . .

My Thoughts: Leo is back in her hometown of Blue Oak, Texas, where she needs to find a new start after failing to find a tenure position in a college English Department. She'll be working for her godmother's real estate company taking photos and managing the business's social media accounts. 

Leo wasn't eager to come home. She has a very difficult relationship with her mother who runs the local beauty shop. And she isn't all that eager to catch up with her high school classmates. She's glad to be able to spend some in-person time with her best friend Emily as opposed to their online friendship as they are moderating an online group that is following a former high school acquaintance who is trying to make his name as a social media influencer. Chaz runs a fitness center, is a rival real estate broker, and runs his own church. 

When Leo and Emily go to one of their new real estate properties, they discover Chaz's body. The local sheriff is sure that Leo's godmother Kay murdered him, but his deputies including another of Leo's classmates is actually willing to investigate and is willing to have Leo help him with the ins and outs of social media. 

This was an interesting mystery with quite a few twists and turns and quite a few viewpoints too. It seems Leo's mother has a secret life of her own. And Leo has to explore her feelings about her hometown and about old friends who might be romantic interests. 

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? (April 27, 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...

This was a quiet week. It rained quite a few times during the week and sometimes there was thunder and lightning. The rain didn't amount to much. We got just over half an inch for the week. It did have the benefit of melting all the rest of the snow in our yard. 

I had a chance to do lots of reading and listening. I also had a big week for adding books to my stack. I added six more review copies. I also added a Kindle copy of a cookbook written by one of the people I follow on Facebook. I added a Kindle copy and two audiobooks for one of Jayne Ann Krentz's more recent trilogies. Now I have both the Kindle and Audible copies of the whole trilogy. I added them to my calendar for rereads. 

With the addition of Probable Caws by Donna Andrews to my review stack, I checked to see how many of the older Meg Langslow books I haven't read. (BTW, Fantastic Fiction is a great website to keep track of books in a series.) I found I had only two left to read and added them to my calendar so that when it comes time to read Probable Caws, I will actually be caught up.

I'm trying to catch up with David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter series too since I have the latest on my review stack. I have two left to read which are already on my TBR stack. I put them on the calendar for July, but they'll appear after the review of the newest which is also on my July calendar. 

It will be nice to be caught up with two long-running series. I'll have to think about what series I want to tackle next. I know I have twenty of William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor books on my TBR stack and have only read the first. I also have some of Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily mysteries on my stack and have read the first three and then stopped reading them until I was offered the 16th for review. 

This week should also be quiet. The calendar looks appointment-free. 

Read Last Week

• Bark of Night by David Rosenfelt (Kindle, Mine since June 1, 2021) -- Nineteenth Andy Carpenter mystery. My review will be posted on May 13.
• Owlknight by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon (Chirp Audiobook, Mine since March 15) -- Conclusion to the Owl Mage trilogy. My review will be posted on May 14.
• The King's Ransom by Janet Evanovich (Kindle, Mine since March 17) -- Second Gabriela Rose mystery. Cut caper story. My review will be posted on May 14.

• Seven Girls Gone by Allison Brennan (Audiobook, Mine since April 4) -- Fourth book in the Quinn & Costa thriller series. My review will be posted on May 21.
• The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer (Kindle, Mine since March 8) -- Lush retelling of the Bluebird myth. Filled with interesting characters and mythological beasts. My review will be posted on May 15.
• Devoted in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook reread)

• Storm Warning by James Byrne (Review, May 26) -- Fourth Dez Limerick Techno-thriller. My review will be posted on May 19.
• Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney (Review, May 26) -- Second Ravensea Castle cozy mystery. My review will be posted on May 19.
• The Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, mine since April 1) -- Paranormal romantic suspense. My review will be posted on May 26.

Currently

• Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines (Review, May 26)
• Brotherhood in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)

Next Week

• The Final Target by Nora Roberts (Review, May 26)
• The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan (Kindle, Mine since February 1, 2025)
• Man of My Dreams by Olivia Worley (Review, June 2)

• Skyring Water by Louis L'Amour & Beau L'Amour (Review, June 2)
• A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton (Kindle, Mine since March 17)
• Smoke & Mirrors by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, Mine since December 3, 2025)

Reviews Posted

• How to Cheat Your Own Death by Kristen Perrin (Review copy)
• Trust No One by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook)
• Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Review copy)

• Kiss Her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner (Mine)
• This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews (Audiobook)
• Cast in Blood by Michelle Sagara (Review copy)

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

Review:

• Deadly Does It by Abbi Waxman (Review, July 21)
• Probable Caws by Donna Andrews (Review, August 4)
• (Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall (Review, August 4)

• Death at a Scottish Halloween by Lucy Connelly (Review, August 11)
• Fighting Edge by Margaret Mizushima (Review, September 8)
• A Field Guide to Death & Deceit by Michelle L. Cullen (Review, September 15)

Bought:

• Keep It Simple Y'All Every Day by Matthew Bounds (Kindle, Cookbook)
• Shattering Dawn by Jayne Ann Krentz (Kindle, Daily Deal, $1.99)

• Sleep No More by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, $5.60)
• The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, $5.60)

What was your week like?

Audiobook Review: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me
Author: Ilona Andrews

Narrator: Kristen Sieh
Series: Maggie the Undying (Book 1)
Publication: Tor Books (March 31, 2026); Macmillan Audio (March 31, 2026)

Length: 21 hours and 33 minutes

Description: Outlander meets Game of Thrones in this blockbuster new epic fantasy series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author duo Ilona Andrews.

When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn't take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she's been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel.

Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters' ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she's coming to love—a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures, and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to get home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes—and attentions—of dueling princes, dukes, and villains, all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the way she knows their stories will end: in a cataclysmic war.

For fans of Samantha Shannon, Danielle L. Jensen, Sarah J. Maas, and isekai and portal fantasy, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is the beginning of the most epic adventure yet from genre powerhouse author duo Ilona Andrews.

My Thoughts: Maggie wakes up cold, dirty and naked in a gutter. It doesn't take her long to recognize that she is in Kair Toren. There is a big problem. Kair Toren only exists in a dark fantasy trilogy that she has been reading and rereading for years. Book three hasn't been written yet and it has been years. 

Maggie needs to survive. Luckily, she has an encyclopedic memory of all of the story details. Unfortunately, she knows the fate of Kair Toren. At least as much as has been written in the first two books of the series. 

She is determined to change the fate of the Kair Toren that the author wrote. She makes friends and finds herself much more involved in the great events than she would like. She earns that she can be hurt and can die and can come back from the dead. But being killed hurts - a lot. 

Then things start happening that are not exactly as the book has written them. Selling secrets about the future puts her in a lot of danger but she's determined to save the city she has fallen in love with in the book. 

This was a complex fantasy made more complex by a large cast of characters many of whom are using pseudonyms. The interrelationships among the characters are twisted and convoluted. I felt like I could have used a cast of characters but realize that such a cast would contain spoilers. 

I was swept along with the events of the story even though I had to stop every once in a while, to ask myself "Who was that person again?' This is a story that merits rereading despite the 21 hour length. I liked the characters especially Maggie but even the characters that were new to Maggie because they were never mentioned in the books were interesting and well-developed people. The world building was excellent.

I bought this one March 31, 2026. You can buy your copy here.