Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Audiobook Review: Shattering Dawn by Jayne Ann Krentz

Shattering Dawn

Author:
Jayne Ann Krentz
Narrator: Eva Kaminsky
Series: The Lost Night Files (Book 3)
Publication: Recorded Books (January 7, 2025)
Length: 8 hours and 43 minutes

Description: An unsettling investigation teaches two suspicious people how to trust, in the next thrilling novel of the Lost Night Files trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz.

Amelia Rivers, a member of the Lost Night Files podcast team, hires private investigator Gideon Sweetwater to catch the stalker who has been watching her. Amelia suspects that whoever it is may be connected to the shadowy organization responsible for the night that she and her two friends lost to amnesia—a night that upended their lives and left them with heightened paranormal talents.

Gideon believes that Amelia is either paranoid or an outright con artist, but they have a chemistry he can’t resist. He takes the case despite his skepticism. For her part, Amelia has second thoughts about the wisdom of employing the mysterious Mr. Sweetwater. She is wary of the powerful attraction between them and deeply uneasy about the nightmarish paintings on the walls of his home. She senses these were inspired by his own dreams.

Amelia knows she doesn’t have time to find another investigator, and Gideon is forced to reckon with the truth when he disrupts what was intended to be Amelia’s kidnapping. Now the pair is on the run, with no choice but to return to the haunting ruins of the old hotel where Amelia’s lost night occurred. They are desperate to stop a killer, as well as the people who are conducting illegal experiments with a dangerous drug designed to enhance psychic abilities. If they are to survive, they will have to trust each other and the passion that bonds them.

My Thoughts: The finale of the Lost Night Files trilogy stars Amelia Rivers and Gideon Sweetwater. Amelia is a photographer who has found a way to take pictures of auras and does real estate and corporate headshots to pay the bills. When she believes that she has attracted a stalker, she goes to Gideon Sweetwater who works as a private investigator.

Gideon has been recently injured on one of his cases but is intrigued by Amelia and her problems. He quickly determines that she does have a stalker. The two decided to go back to the abandoned hotel that was the scene of Amelia's lost night to see if any clues have been missed.

Their visit confirms that Amelia and her friends had been kidnapped and had illegal experiments performed on them. The experiments were designed to enhance their psychic talents, and the experimenters have been watching them to see if the experiments were successful.

Unfortunately, Amelia and her friends were all psychic before being experimented on and were used to hiding their psychic abilities making them less than useful for the experimenters. Gideon has psychic talents of his own which doesn't come as a surprise to Amelia since she chose him because his name appeared on the same list she and her friends were on. The list indicates those tested for presumed psychic powers.

This episode also had portions from the viewpoint of the man who set up the experiments and who is eager to see what results they had because he has been playing around with his own psychic abilities. He is going insane because of his experiments.

This was an entertaining finale to the trilogy with lots of doors left open for further explorations in the world Krentz created. 

I bought this one from Audible November 11, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Cyprian by Mercedes Lackey

The Cyprian

Author:
Mercedes Lackey
Series: Elemental Masters (Book 18)
Publication: DAW (December 30, 2025)

Description: A cozy, cottage-core Regency fantasy perfect for fans of Bridgerton

Elena Whitstone and her seven brothers, abandoned by her mother, find themselves with a new stepmother. At first she seems more neglectful than evil, until just after Christmas she proves herself to be worse than evil; she is an actual magician, a Master of Water, who attempts to murder Elena's seven brothers when they are skating. When they survive that attempt by transforming into swans, she drives them away.

But the shock of having all of his heirs perish in a frozen pond is too much for Elena's father. He dies, and his widow is abruptly confronted with the inconvenient truth that the estate is entailed, and she not only must leave, she is lawfully in charge of Elena.

Furious, and possessing "only" what was gifted to her during her marriage, the stepmother retreats to Bath, to take up residence in the luxurious townhouse that was bought for her, and resume her former profession as a "Cyprian," a very exclusive courtesan, with Elena reluctantly posing as a page-boy and her servant. Nothing lasts forever, of course, and three years later, Elena is rapidly maturing too much to continue that ruse--and the stepmother is facing the ravages of time. The stepmother concocts a plan to establish an exclusive brothel and regain her wealth by selling Elena to the highest bidder.

Alone, Elena must not only find a way to save herself, but to reverse the spell that has transformed her brothers.

The latest in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series is a stand-alone romantasy based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Wild Swans.  

My Thoughts: This eighteenth book in the Elemental Masters series is a retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's The Wild Swans. It is set during England's Regency period.

Elena Whitstone is the youngest of Lord Whitstone's children. She has seven older brothers. Their mother disappears when she is quite young leaving them in the neglectful care of their father. When he comes home from Bath with a new bride, things change for the children. 

Lord Whitstone seems besotted by his new bride who immediately banishes the children to the nursery and attempts to starve them. Luckily, the children have allies in the form of the old servants. They make many plans to escape their father and new stepmother's control. However, before they can implement any of them, their new stepmother is revealed to them as an evil mage who changes the brothers into swans and chases them from their home. 

Elena is left to her stepmother's care when her father dies of grief at the loss of his sons. The stepmother is angry to learn that the estate is entailed and that she needs to leave with only the gifts she was given during the marriage and Elena.

The stepmother travels to Bath, changes her name, and resumes her previous career as a Cyprian - an exclusive prostitute. This career is aided by her magic which lets her enthrall men. She makes Elena her tiger - a carriage boy. 

But plans change when her stepmother's latest protector - also a water mage - encourages her to open a bordello and conduct a virgin's auction with Elena as the virgin. This causes Elena to run from home where she finds herself on the estate of air mages who shelter her and help her find a way to free her brothers from their spell.

I enjoyed this story. I love the Regency setting. I liked the character of Elena who is resilient and determined. I liked the magical creatures - the sylphs - who try to help the children when the stepmother is not around. 

My only complaint is the pacing of the story. Everything gets resolved in the last two percent of the book after a long, leisurely build-up. The long, leisurely build up seemed to hit a wall where the author realized that she was at some sort of page limit and had to wrap everything up immediately. 

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

Monday, December 22, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (December 22, 2025)

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 nice week in the lead-up to Christmas. We had three days this week where the high temperature was above freezing. Tuesday's high was 43 degrees. This led to a lot of melting. Our solar panels are partially exposed for the first time since November 24. Later in the week the temperatures plummeted. When my brother and I went out Saturday the temperature was -5F and a really icy wind was blowing. 

Thursday, we had misty rain in the morning and a flash freeze in the afternoon. My housecleaner stopped by at three only to tell me that she was heading home because of the really icy roads. By the time my brother got home from work in the evening, the ice was gone, and the winds had blown the roads dry. My cleaner will try to come again Monday or Tuesday.

This week will be pretty quiet. I do have to get up rather early to go in for some bloodwork on Monday. Otherwise, I don't have any plans. Our Christmas should be quiet with our traditional ham dinner. My brother bought the ingredients on Saturday since he works every day now until Christmas. We stocked up on Christmas cookies and candies when we were out on Saturday too. 

I hope to get a chance to read the last of my January review copies this week. I may get sidetracked by audiobooks though. 

Read Last Week
  • Imitation in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- 17th in the In Death series
  • Divided in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- 18th in the In Death series
  • Detour by Jeff Rake & Rob Hart (Review, January 13) -- Science fiction with ensemble cast. Marred by major cliffhanger ending. My review will be posted on January 8.
  • Toucan Keep a Secret by Donna Andrews (Audiobook, mine since December 5, 2025) -- 23rd in the Meg Langslow humorous mystery series. My review will be posted on January 13.
  • Inside Man by John McMahon (Review, January 13) -- Sequel to HEAD CASES. Neurodivergent FBI Agent works on a gun smuggling case which also involves serial killers and possible terrorist attack. My review will be posted on January 8.
  • The River Knows by Amanda Quick (Chirp Audiobook, mine since October 3, 2025) -- Historical romantic suspense set in the Victorian era. My review will be posted on January 13.
  • Enchanted by Nora Roberts (Chirp Audiobook, Mine since May 12, 2025) -- Finale to the Donovan Legacy series of paranormal romances. My review will be posted on January 15.
  • Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews (Audiobook Reread)
  • Hidden Talents by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, Mine since December 18, 2025) -- Classic JAK contemporary romantic suspense. My review will be posted on January 29.
Currently
  • Outfoxed by David Rosenfelt (Kindle, mine since September 29, 2023)
  • White Hot by Ilona Andrews (Audiobook reread)
Next Week
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:
Bought:
What was your week like?

Saturday, December 20, 2025

Book Review: All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

All In

Author:
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: The Naturals (Book 3)
Publication: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (November 3, 2015)

Description: Three casinos. Three bodies. Three days. Crack the case with the Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inheritance Games.

After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team's unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any tape. And each victim has a string of numbers tattooed on their wrist. Hidden in the numbers is a code -- and the closer the Naturals come to unraveling the mystery, the more perilous the case becomes. Meanwhile, Cassie is dealing with an equally dangerous and much more painful mystery. For the first time in years, there's been a break in her mother's case. As personal issues and tensions between the team mount, Cassie and the Naturals will be faced with impossible odds -- and impossible choices.

My Thoughts: The third book in the Naturals series takes Cassie and the team to Las Vegas where there have been three murders in three days at different casinos. 

What is most baffling is that the methods for each killing are different. It doesn't give profilers Cassie and Dean much to work with. But Sloane who is the numbers and pattern genius on the team figures out that the killer is using a Fibonacci pattern to select the dates and locations for each kill.

Cassie has learned that some bones have been discovered which might be her missing mother's. This adds a lot of tension for Cassie. But she's not the only one under tension. Michael has spent time with his abusive father and is in a downward spiral. Worst of all, Sloane is back in Las Vegas and having to deal with the father who has never acknowledged her or paid any attention to her. 

The team makes a surprising discovery when they connect Cassie's mother's disappearance and the murder of their caretaker Judd's daughter to the killings currently going on in Las Vegas. 

The killer is found, but the mystery deepens in this emotionally charged story. I liked the way the team members each used their strengths to work on the case. I enjoy the banter between the characters in these stories. 

I bought this one August 6, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Friday, December 19, 2025

Friday Memes: All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 Happy Friday!


Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 
Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

Beginning:
Anything can be counted. The hairs on her head. The words she's spoken to you. The number of breaths she has left.
Friday 56:
"Camille Holt." I paused after reading her name. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Because she's not just a professional poker player," Lia replied. "She's an actress."

This week I am Spotlighting All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. This is the third book in The Naturals series. These are mysteries and thrillers with some romance too. All written for young adults. Here is the description from Amazon:
Three casinos. Three bodies. Three days. Crack the case with the Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inheritance Games.

After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team's unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any tape. And each victim has a string of numbers tattooed on their wrist. Hidden in the numbers is a code -- and the closer the Naturals come to unraveling the mystery, the more perilous the case becomes. Meanwhile, Cassie is dealing with an equally dangerous and much more painful mystery. For the first time in years, there's been a break in her mother's case. As personal issues and tensions between the team mount, Cassie and the Naturals will be faced with impossible odds -- and impossible choices.

Thursday, December 18, 2025

Audiobook Review: Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge

Murder at Mallowan Hall

Author:
Colleen Cambridge
Narrator: Jennifer M. Dixon
Series: Phyllida Bright Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Highbridge (October 26, 2021)
Length: 9 hours and 29 minutes

Description: Tucked away among Devon's rolling green hills, Mallowan Hall combines the best of English tradition with the modern conveniences of 1930. Housekeeper Phyllida Bright, as efficient as she is personable, manages the large household with an iron fist in her very elegant glove. In one respect, however, Mallowan Hall stands far apart from other picturesque country houses....

The manor is home to archaeologist Max Mallowan and his famous wife, Agatha Christie. Phyllida is both loyal to and protective of the crime writer, who is as much friend as employer. An aficionado of detective fiction, Phyllida has yet to find a gentleman in real life half as fascinating as Mrs. Agatha's Belgian hero, Hercule Poirot. But though accustomed to murder and its methods as frequent topics of conversation, Phyllida is unprepared for the sight of a very real, very dead body on the library floor....

It soon becomes clear that the victim arrived at Mallowan Hall under false pretenses during a weekend party. Now, Phyllida not only has a houseful of demanding guests on her hands - along with a distracted, anxious staff - but hordes of reporters camping outside. When another dead body is discovered - this time, one of her housemaids - Phyllida decides to follow in M. Poirot's footsteps to determine which of the Mallowans' guests is the killer.

My Thoughts: This historical mystery stars Phyllida Bright who is the housekeeper at Mallowan Hall. Her employers are Max Mallowan and Agatha Christie. Phyllida is a woman with secrets. She didn't come to the position of housekeeper by rising through the ranks of the servant class which irritates the very correct butler. 

Phyllida is also a mystery fan and has a crush on Hercule Poirot. No man has measured up to Poirot yet in her opinion. Phyllida gets a chance to become a detective herself when she discovers a body in the library during one of the Mallowan's house parties. 

The victim is a man who claimed to be a reporter there to interview Mrs. Christie for an article in the Times. Investigation indicates that this was a lie. His reasons for being present are not known until Phyllida investigates. 

But his was only the first death. When a young maid is also murdered, the case gets more complex. Phyllida soon learns that there is a connection to another event that the house guests and the maid attended. 

I enjoyed the setting of this mystery. I also liked Phyllida who was an entertaining investigator. I liked her rivalry with the new chauffeur. I am eager to read more in this series to learn more about the mysterious Mrs. Bright. 

I bought this one November 1, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz

The Night Island

Author:
Jayne Ann Krentz
Narrator: Eva Kaminsky
Series: The Night Files Trilogy (Book 2)
Publication: Recorded Books (January 9, 2024)
Length: 8 hours and 23 minutes

Description: The disappearance of a mysterious informant leads two people desperate for answers to an island of deadly deception in this new novel in the Lost Night Files trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz.

Talia March, Pallas Llewellyn, and Amelia Rivers, bonded by a night they all have no memory of, are dedicated to uncovering the mystery of what really happened to them months ago--an experience that brought out innate psychic abilities in each of them. The women suspect they were test subjects years earlier, and that there are more people like them--all they have to do is find the list. When Talia follows up on a lead from Phoebe, a fan of the trio's podcast, she discovers that the informant has vanished.

Talia isn't the only one looking for Phoebe, however. Luke Rand, a hunted and haunted man who is chasing the same list that Talia is after, also shows up at the meeting place. It's clear he has his own agenda, and they are instantly suspicious of each other. But when a killer begins to stalk them, they realize they have to join forces to find Phoebe and the list.

The rocky investigation leads Talia and Luke to a rustic, remote retreat on Night Island in the Pacific Northwest. The retreat promises to rejuvenate guests with the Unplugged Experience. Upon their arrival, Talia and Luke discover guests are quite literally cut off from the outside world because none of their high-tech devices work on the island. It soon becomes clear that Phoebe is not the first person to disappear into the strange gardens that surround the Unplugged Experience retreat. And then the first mysterious death occurs...

My Thoughts: The second book in the Lost Night trilogy stars Talia March and Luke Rand. Both of them are trying to track down a list of participants in a test of psychic abilities that was conducted years earlier. They both believe that find the list will lead to the person or persons who are doing experiments to enhance psychic powers on unwilling list members.

They meet at a house where the seller of the list has invited each of them to come buy a copy. They find that the seller is missing and determine to track her down. Meanwhile, someone is trying to kill Luke. It appears that that someone sees Luke as both a failed experiment and a rival in the psychic assassin business.

Luke and Talia find themselves attending a retreat on mysterious Night Island where the plants have gone wild and the vibes aren't good. They are sure that their missing seller is present on the island. But so is the psychic assassin who is still determined to kill Luke. But the assassin is not the only killer on the island. When the assistant gardener is found dead with no visible cause and the guru leading the retreat also dies, Talia and Luke have to find a way off the island along with the few remaining guests before they disappear like the others. 

This was an entertaining paranormal suspense/romance. I enjoyed the way Talia and Luke went from being suspicious of each other to being partners and falling in love. 

I bought this one at Chirp November 11, 2025. You can buy your copy here.