Audiobook Review: Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick

Slightly Shady
Author: Amanda Quick
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: Lavinia Lake & Tobias March Book 1
Publication: Recorded Books (October 24, 2013)
Length: 9 hours and 51 minutes

Description: Amanda Quick, best-selling author of Regency-era romances, has won many awards for her works, including the New York Times best-selling Wicked Widow. Each work transports fans into a richly detailed world of intrigue and desire. There are now over 25 million copies of her books in print.

Besieged by gambling debts, a desperate gentleman purchases a diary as a tool for blackmail. But he does not live to carry out his plans. He is murdered, and the diary is stolen. Now Tobias March, discrete private investigator, has been hired to find the incriminating diary. Tobias is familiar with danger, but when his inquiries lead him to the beautiful entrepreneur Lavinia Lake, his emotions are sidetracked.

The attraction that grows between Tobias and Lavinia is framed in the sparkling dialog and wit that have attracted millions of fans to Amanda Quick's novels. Superbly narrated by Audie Awardª-winner Barbara Rosenblat, Slighty Shady is a delicious tale filled with sophistication and suspense, humor and passion.

My Thoughts: Lavinia Lake and her niece Emaline are trying to survive in Italy after the Lady whose companions they were eloped with an Italian gentleman. They've opened a shop selling antiquities. But when Tobias March burst in searching for a message for a case he's working as a private inquiry agent, he manages to destroy the shop and sends them off to London to get out of the way of the villains. 

They meet again in London where Lavinia has decided to become a private inquiry agent herself and where she has decided to introduce her niece to Society. March is still pursuing the villains that almost killed him in Italy and left him with a limp while Lavinia is working with a woman who has received a blackmail threat. 

It seems their cases have intersected but that doesn't mean all things go smoothly. Both Tobias and Lavinia are headstrong and outspoken and not used to working with others. While they try to unravel the various plots which take them from ballrooms to wax museums, they manage to fall in love. 

I enjoyed the witty dialog, the humor, and the passion. My only complaint is that I thought the narrator's voice made Lavinia too old. The voice seemed to indicate a woman in late middle age while the internal clues made her much younger.

This is the first of a three book series starring Lavinia and Tobias. 

I bought this one August 19. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Turning Darkness into Light by Marie Brennan

Turning Darkness into Light
Author: Marie Brennan

Narrator: Barrie Kreinik & Raphael Corkhill
Publication: Tor (August 20, 2019); Macmillan Audio (August 20, 2019)

Length: 11 hours and 35 minutes

Description: A scholar of dragons uncovers a dangerous conspiracy in this epistolary historical fantasy from the author of the Lady Trent series.

Turning Darkness into Light is perfect for those readers who appreciate a light touch, thoughtful characters, and antagonists who almost but not quite topple into one-dimensional props in a melodrama." —Locusmag.com

As the renowned granddaughter of Isabella Camherst (Lady Trent, of the riveting and daring Draconic adventure memoirs) Audrey Camherst has always known she, too, would want to make her scholarly mark upon a chosen field of study.

When Lord Gleinheigh recruits Audrey to decipher a series of ancient tablets holding the secrets of the ancient Draconean civilization, she has no idea that her research will plunge her into an intricate conspiracy, one meant to incite rebellion and invoke war. Alongside dearest childhood friend and fellow archeologist Kudshayn, Audrey must find proof of the conspiracy before it's too late.

My Thoughts: This story, told through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles, tells the story of Audrey Camherst who is a philologist and the granddaughter of the famous Lady Trent. She has been hired to translate some recently discovered tablets left by the early Draconian civilization. She has also been sworn to secrecy and, unknown to her, has had her correspondence read and the contents shared by the ward of her employer. 

She is being encouraged to translate as quickly as possible so that the translations can be published before a convocation which will deal with whether or not the descendants of those Draconian's should have citizenship rights. The politics are complex with some agitating for destroying the Draconians or at least keeping them to their enclave. 

Audrey is definitely not in sympathy with the most extreme viewpoints. She is good friends with dragon-scholar Kudshayn. She convinces Lord Gleinheigh to let Kudshayn work with her, Together the two work to translate the tablets which are a creation story and the race's great work. Kudshayn suffers something like a crisis of faith as the translation goes on because the tablets introduce other gods than those his people worship and seem to provide an alternate history of the Draconian people. 

Meanwhile, Audrey is trying to make a name for herself and live up to her illustrious family. She has already been burned by a scholar who romanced her in order to steal and publish her ideas before she could. He is also involved in the questions Audrey has about the provenance of the tablets she and Kudshayn are translating. Audrey and Kudshayn find themselves involved in conspiracies centering around the place the Draconians will have in society.

This was an interesting and engaging story. I liked the format. I also liked the worldbuilding and can see how my experience would have been richer if I was familiar the Lady Trent series. Even without that knowledge, I really liked this story.

I bought this one for $1.99 on May 16 and added the audiobook on August 16. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts

Midnight Bayou
Author: Nora Roberts
Narrator: James Daniels & Sarah Burr
Publication: Brilliance Audio (June 10, 2008)
Length: 9 hours and 14 minutes

Description: Declan Fitzgerald had always been the family maverick, but even he couldn't understand his impulse to buy a dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans. All he knew was that ever since he saw Manet Hall, he'd been enchanted - and obsessed - with it. So when the opportunity to buy the house comes up Declan jumps at the chance to live out a dream.

Determined to restore Manet Hall to its former splendor, Declan begins the daunting renovation room by room, relying on his own labor and skills. But the days spent in total isolation in the empty house take a toll. He is seeing visions of days from a century past, and experiencing sensations of terror and nearly unbearable grief - sensations not his own, but those of a stranger. Local legend has it that the house is haunted, and with every passing day Declan's belief in the ghostly presence grows.

Only the companionship of the alluring Angelina Simone can distract him from the mysterious happenings in the house, but Angelina too has her own surprising connection to Manet Hall - a connection that will help Declan uncover a secret that's been buried for a hundred years.

My Thoughts: Declan Fitzgerald leaves his home in Boston, job in a law firm, and fiancée to purchase a rundown mansion outside of New Orleans and begins his new career as a carpenter and builder. The task is daunting not only because of the scope of the renovation but also because of the ghosts who haunt the house. 

Angelina Simone is a local bar owner whose grandmother is Declan's neighbor. She also has a family connection to Manet Hall. Angelina is also afraid of falling in love and trusting her heart to anyone. However, Declan takes one look at her and decides that she is the woman he is going to marry and build a family with. 

Together the two need to deal with the ghosts and Angelina's prejudice against love. Declan finds himself taken over by the ghosts which results in memory loss and sleepwalking which frighten him. 

The ghost's stories are told in flashbacks when a poor, Cajun young woman marries into a wealthy family whose matriarch really despises her. She is raped and murdered by her brother-in-law leaving her infant daughter and a husband who grieves her disappearance to the point of suicide. 

This was an excellent story about honoring the past without repeating it. The characters were intriguing and well-developed. The romance was nicely done. 

I bought this one June 29 for $5.31. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter
Author: Heather Fawcett

Narrator: Genevieve Cocke
Publication: Del Rey (February 17, 2026): Random House Audio (February 17, 2026)

Length: 11 hours and 25 minutes

Description: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montréal turns to a grouchy but charming magician to help save her shelter in this heartwarming cozy fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Wilde series.

“Absolutely magnificent! Full of cats and magic, this is the kind of book you want to instantly reread. I loved every character, every cat, and every moment with all my heart!”—Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop.

Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life, and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for stray cats.

Now it’s the shelter that needs a new home. And the only landlord who will rent a space to a cat rescue is a mysterious man called Havelock—who also happens to be the world’s most infamous magician, running an illegal magic shop out of his basement. Havelock is cantankerous and eccentric, but not not handsome, and no, Agnes absolutely does not feel anything but disdain for him. After all, rumors swirl about his shadowy past—including whispers that his dark magic once almost brought about the apocalypse.

Then one day a glamorous magician comes looking for Havelock, putting the magic shop—and the cat shelter—in jeopardy. To save the shelter, Agnes will have to team up with the magician who nearly ended the world . . . and may now be trying to steal her heart.

Havelock is everything Agnes thinks she doesn’t need in her life: chaos, mischief, and a little too much adventure. But as she gets to know him, she discovers that he’s more than the dark magician of legend, and that she may be ready for a little intrigue—and romance—in her life. After all, second chances aren’t just for rescue cats. . . .

My Thoughts: Widowed Agnes Aubert runs a cat rescue organization in Montreal. She has a problem. Since a magical attack that made her building uninhabitable, she has been looking for a new rental within her budget for a new shelter. She's excited when she finds a new place at a too-good-to-be-true rent but snaps up the deal. 

However, she starts to notice strange visitors to the shop and soon becomes suspicious about her absent landlord. She really hates magicians for what they have done and especially hates Havelock Renard because he is called the Witch King and might have cast the spell that almost annihilated everything. 

She is surprised to learn that her landlord is Havelock and that he is not at all like he has been portrayed. He's absent minded and messy which is a sin to Agnes's Type A personality. He is also in a battle with his sister who wants a book she's sure Havelock has which will let her actually annihilate the world. 

Behind finding homes for street cats and reorganizing Havelock's shop, the two fall in love. But they will have to find a way to defeat not only Havelock's sister but the police who want to root out all magic and magicians in Montreal. 

This story is perfect for the cat lover since there are many cats with many personalities in the story. It is also a great story for fans of romantacy since it has a sweet romance the grows as the danger threatens all that Agnes and Havelock love.

I bought this one June 23 for $2.99 and added the audiobook August 13. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich

Dirty Thirty
Author: Janet Evanovich

Narrator: Lorelei King
Series: Stephanie Plum (Book 30)
Publication: Atria Books (October 31, 2023)

Length: 8 hours and 15 minutes

Description: Janet Evanovich, the “most popular mystery writer alive” (The New York Times), is in top form as she sends Stephanie Plum on the trail of a stolen stash of dirty diamonds in this instant #1 New York Times bestseller.

Stephanie Plum, Trenton’s hardest working, most underappreciated bounty hunter, is offered an assignment that seems simple enough. Local jeweler Martin Rabner wants her to locate his former security guard, Andy Manley (a.k.a. Nutsy), who he is convinced stole a fortune in diamonds from his safe. Stephanie is also looking for another troubled man, Duncan Dugan, a fugitive from justice arrested for robbing the same jewelry store on the same day.

With her boyfriend Morelli away in Miami on police business, Stephanie is taking care of Bob, Morelli’s giant orange dog who will devour anything, from Stephanie’s stray donuts to the upholstery in her car. Morelli’s absence also means the inscrutable, irresistible security expert Ranger is front and center in Stephanie’s life when things inevitably go sideways. And he seems determined to stay there.

To complicate matters, her best friend is convinced she is being stalked by a mythological demon hell-bent on relieving her of her wardrobe. An overnight stakeout with Stephanie’s mother and Grandma Mazur reveals three generations of women with nerves of steel and driving skills worthy of NASCAR champions.

As the body count rises and witnesses start to disappear, it won’t be easy for Stephanie to keep herself clean when everyone else is playing dirty. It’s a good thing Stephanie isn’t afraid of getting a little dirty, too in this “uproarious, crazy, laugh-a-minute caper” (Booklist, starred review).

My Thoughts: Stephanie Plum's 30th adventure has her babysitting her boyfriend Morelli's large orange dog while he is away in Miami on police business. Bob will eat anything including Stephanie's couch if she doesn't keep him with her all the time. So Bob comes along as Stephanie attempts to locate bond jumpers who were both involved in a robbery of a jewelry store.

She encounters the first when he attempts to commit suicide by jumping from a four-story building. Save from death by a convenient awning, she thinks he is secure in the hospital until she can bring him in to renew his bail. But he disappears one day despite a broken leg and broken ribs. 

The second fugitive is known to Stephanie. She went to school with Andy Manley (a.k.a. Nutsy) and knows he'll do anything for a dare. She's hired by the jewelry store owner to find him because the owner is sure that he walked away with a tray of diamonds at the time of the robbery. 

Meanwhile, Lula is sure that she is being stalked by Grendel, a mythical monster from a video game. She sees him in her apartment and notices that some of her extensive and eclectic wardrobe has gone missing. 

As the two find and lose their targets numerous times, Stephanie does capture others who have missed their court dates but her two main skips continue to elude her. With Morelli out of town, she is depending on Ranger to help her with her skips. And when her apartment is firebombed shortly after Lula's apartment is firebombed, she finds herself moving in with Ranger despite her commitment to Morelli. 

Stephanie is torn between the two men in her life. She loves them both. She might be ready for marriage, maybe, but she isn't sure either of her men are. Until, that is, that both of them propose to her. Now, what's a girl to do?

I bought this one for $2.99 on July 20, 2026, and added the audiobook August 11. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Raging Storm by Ann Cleaves

The Raging Storm
Author: Ann Cleaves

Narrator: Jack Holden
Series: Detective Matthew Venn (Book 3)
Publication: Minotaur Books & Macmillan Audio(September 5, 2023)

Length: 9 hours and 47 minutes

Description Ann Cleeves—New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows—returns with The Raging Storm, the extraordinary third installment in the Matthew Venn series.

Fierce winds, dark secrets, deadly intentions.

When Jem Rosco—sailor, adventurer, and legend—blows into town in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone, Devon, are delighted to have a celebrity in their midst. But just as abruptly as he arrived, Rosco disappears again, and soon his lifeless body is discovered in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.

This is an uncomfortable case for Detective Inspector Matthew Venn. Greystone is a place he visited as a child, a community he parted ways with. Superstition and rumor mix with fact as another body is found, and Venn finds his judgment clouded.

As the winds howl, and Venn and his team investigate, he realizes that no one, including himself, is safe from Scully Cove’s storm of dark secrets.

My Thoughts: This story begins when Jem Rosco comes to town. He's a sailor, adventurer, and local legend but not universally loved. When his body is found in the sea Matthew Venn and his team come to this small town to investigate the crime. Greystone is a small insular town that Matthew had visited as a child. It is largely inhabited by members of the cult he left as a teen. 

Venn and his team need to deal with local secrets and superstitions to solve this case which puts him and his sergeant in the direct line of fire from the villains. There are numerous suspects who all have some connection to Jem and who might have wished him dead. 

This was another atmospheric mystery filled with intriguing characters. 

I bought this one May 28. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander by Christian Hurst

Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander

Author: Christian Hurst

Narrator: Aryn Mello Pryor
Series: Lily Starling (Book 1)
Publication: Outpost Books SE (May 6, 2026)

Length: 12 hours and 34 minutes

Description: Lily Starling wakes up in a city she barely recognizes, with no memory of her past—only a metal tag bearing her name and an instinct for survival. When a Union starship crew claims she belongs with them, she's pulled centuries beyond her own time and into a desperate mission against the psionic Krythar.

Aboard the starship Salamander, Lily is drawn into a found family of misfit officers, warriors, and exiles. Together, they uncover mysteries hidden among the stars: an ancient memory seed carrying the voices of the dead, and a weapon capable of unraveling time itself.

But when Lily faces her greatest fear, she must choose—confront the demons of her past, or risk losing everything.

Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander is an award-winning, bestselling YA space opera about identity, connection, and courage at the edge of what's known. Perfect for fans of Becky Chambers, N.K. Jemisin, and Mass Effect, with the heart of found-family adventures like Firefly and Red Rising.

If you love found family, queer identity, time travel twists, and lyrical, fast-paced sci-fi adventures, you'll love joining Lily on her voyage.

My Thoughts: This YA space opera stars Lily Starling who begins the story on the street in the 20th Century. She's homeless, hungry and has lost her memory, but she is still kind and caring especially when she comes across a homeless kid. She is soon rescued by space travelers from the future who tell her that she is an orphan, but also a member of the crew of the Salamander. 

Lily is told that she's a genius with special talents that can defeat the psionic Krythar who want to conquer the galaxy and remake it to their design. She and her companions on the Salamander want to stop that from happening. The crew is a mixed bag of characters from many of the worlds the Krythar want to conquer. 

Even with her memory loss Lily still wants to be of use. She finds herself making friends and having adventures, most of which are solved successfully because of her genius. 

I enjoyed the worldbuilding in this story. The characters from all the different races were interesting. The action scenes were exciting and the suspense kept building. I liked the way Lily manages with her memory loss and the great blow that comes late in the book. She is an interesting character. 

I bought the Kindle copy May 13. The audiobook was available as part of my Audible subscription. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Shards of Glass by Michelle Sagara

Shards of Glass
Author: Michelle Sagara
Narrator: Khristine Kvam
Series: The Academia Chronicles (Book 1)
Publication: Harlequin Audio (November 28, 2023)
Length: 17 hours and 16 minutes

Description: The Academia, once an elite proving ground for the rulers of the world, has been frozen for centuries. Now its strange slumber has ended, and a new Chancellor, an orange-eyed dragon, has reopened its lecture halls and readied its dorms. In order to thrive once more, however, the Academia needs fresh blood—new students with a passion and talent for learning.

One such student, Robin, has the perfect recruit in mind: his friend Raven, an orphan who lives in the dangerous Warrens. Robin grew up in the Warrens, and he wouldn't have made it if not for Raven. He knows she’ll be safe at the Academia, where her unusual gifts can be appreciated.

But when students start turning up dead, the campus threatens to collapse completely. Raven and Robin will not let that happen to their new home…if they can survive long enough to figure out who—or what—is trying to kill them.

My Thoughts: SHARDS OF GLASS is set in the same world as the Chronicles of Elantra series and has some of the same characters. This story takes place at the recently rediscovered Academia which was once a center of learning for the world but was shifted out of its timeline in the battle to defeat Shadow which was set to consume the world. 

Young Robin was kidnapped from the Warrens when it was discovered that Academia needed students to complete its recovery. After the defeat of the people who wanted to use Academia to build their own powers and a new Chancellor was chosen, the quest for new students began. 

Robin proposed the friend who kept him alive in the Warrens when he was a child. Raven was a strange person who knew how to survive and chose to help Robin survive too. Robin is the one who named this child Raven and who acted as her interpreter to the world since she was almost completely nonverbal when they first paired up. 

Robin hoped that bringing Raven to Academia would provide the safety, food, and shelter that were so scarce in the Warrens. He wasn't expecting to drop her in the middle of a campus where random students were being murdered. 

Robin has been making new friends among the students including three of the Cohort of Barrani who were rescued from captivity in an earlier book of the Chronicles of Elantra. Serralyn loved the Academia especially its endless library staffed by Arbiters from three ancient, immortal races. And Terrano was another friend who was most changed by their captivity and now has very non-Barrani abilities. Robin is even friends with Starrante who is one of the librarians and a Wevaran who looks like a giant spider. 

As Robin and Raven work together to solve the murders and preserve this new home they learn more about each other and more about the pasts that are impacting their presents. 

This was an excellent, complex fantasy filled with magic and magical beings. Robin seems to be an ordinary human but one with a potential magical ability. Raven is anything but human which comes as a surprise to Robin. The Chancellor of the Academia is a dragon. The Arbiters are a Wevaran, an Ancient, and a Barrani. There are sentient buildings and human mages.

But beyond the fantastical elements, this is a story of friendship and love and finding a home.

I bought this one May 11. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Case of the Christie Conspiracy by Kelly Oliver

The Case of the Christie Conspiracy
Author: Kelly Oliver
Narrator: Penelope Rawlins
Series: The Detection Club (Book 1)
Publication: Boldwood Books (February 16, 2025)
Length: 8 hours and 6 minutes

Description: Discover the delightfully gripping new historical mystery series that's perfect for fans of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright and T E Kinsey. 'If you thought the Golden Age of crime was dead, think again!' Verity Bright

Agatha Christie is about to embark on a new, gripping murder case. But this time, she’s not the author – she’s a suspect…

1926 – Christie is a darling of the literary circuit and the most desired guest in London’s glittering social scene. She can often be found at meetings of the Detection Club – where mystery writers come together to share ideas, swap secrets and drink copiously. But then a fellow author's initiation ceremony takes a gruesome turn, and one of the group ends up dead. Now, Agatha is no longer just the creator of great mystery plots – she’s a player in one.

And when Agatha disappears the day after the murder, she’s widely assumed to be guilty. Only Eliza Baker, assistant to the Club’s enigmatic secretary, Dorothy Sayers, is interested in investigating the case. But in a world where murder is the ultimate plot device, can Eliza piece together the evidence and find the killer before it’s too late?

My Thoughts: Eliza Baker gets a new job as an assistant to the Detection Club's secretary Dorothy Sayers just in time to attend a meeting and witness the death of one of the members of the club. Neville Lively was an author and practical joker. Her previous job was with British Intelligence which she left after a tragedy. She has experience in investigations, and this one is especially baffling.

Among the suspects are Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Gilbert Chesterton, Maud Wilkerson, Fergus Briggs, and the victim's daughter Alice Lively among others. Also in attendance is new member Theo Torrent Sharpe who has been a friend of Eliza's family for years.

The story is filled with clues, so many clues, which seem to incriminate most of the attendees. Eliza and Theo team up though with some internal rivalry to solve the case of the murdered author. 

The story was filled with period detail and bits and pieces about the various author's lives and work. This is one case where I preferred the Kindle version to the audio version. It was easier to keep track of the characters and clues when I was reading than when I was listening. 

I bought this one June 14, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Heron's Cry by Ann Cleaves

The Heron's Cry
Author: Ann Cleaves

Narrator: Jack Holden
Series: Detective Matthew Venn (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur (September 7, 2021)

Length: 10 hours and 16 minutes

Description: North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder--Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed with a shard of one of his glassblower daughter's broken vases.

Dr. Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He's a good man, a public servant, beloved by his daughter. Matthew is unnerved, though, to find that she is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband.

Then another body is found--killed in a similar way. Matthew soon finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home.

DI Matthew Venn returns in The Heron's Cry, in Ann Cleeves powerful next novel, proving once again that she is a master of her craft.

My Thoughts: The second Matthew Venn mystery begins with the death of a retired doctor now working as an investigator associated with National Health. Dr. Yeo is stabbed with a piece of glass from his daughter's studio at the art colony where his daughter lives. 

Dr. Yeo is connected to Venn's team in a couple of ways. Venn's sergeant Jen had met him at a party the night before he died. He wanted to speak with her about a problem he was having but she had had too much to drink to talk to him them. Also, Venn's husband Jonathan is a friend of the glassblowing daughter. 

As the team investigate to discover what Dr. Yeo had stumbled into, another resident of the art colony is also murdered in the same way and a third person associated with the art colony commits suicide. Suicide is the central theme around which this story revolves. Dr. Yeo was investigating the National Health's culpability in releasing a suicidal young man from hospital only to have him take his own life. They also discover a website which encourages people to commit suicide and wonder if their suicides are related. 

This was another engaging and twisty mystery. I liked learning more about Jen and more about some other members of Venn's team. I liked the way Matthew is rebuilding his relationship with his long-estranged mother. 

I bought this one May 28. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Shattered King by Charlie N. Holmberg

The Shattered King
Author: Charlie N. Holmberg

Narrator: Natalie Naudus
Series: The Shattered King (Book 1)
Publication: 47 North (September 2, 2026); Brilliance Audio (September 2, 2025)

Length: 10 hours and 51 minutes

Description: A captive healer and a mysterious prince are drawn to each other in the midst of war and magic in a beguiling dark fantasy by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.

The kingdom of Cansere is on the brink of war. Young men are conscripted from their homes, and a royal decree from the queen has made healing the only legal form of craftlock. Nym, a healer and beekeeper, is the sole provider for her family of seven now that her younger brother has been sent to the war front. But when a letter comes from the queen, summoning Nym to the palace to heal Prince Renn, the kingdom’s ailing shut-in, Nym finds herself making the tumultuous journey from her family’s apiary to the capital city. Nym is determined to fail the queen’s mission and return to her younger siblings as soon as she can

But escaping the castle’s hold isn’t as easy as failing a simple test. Prince Renn is cold and distant, and his illness is like nothing Nym has ever seen before, nothing she could ever imagine treating. In a moment of connection with Prince Renn, Nym manages to remedy the faintest symptom of his ailment—only to discover that no healer before has made such progress. Forced to become the prince’s official healer and a ward of the castle, and with her only hope of returning to her family hinging on the prince’s recovery, Nym must navigate the castle’s cruel and twisted court and uncover the haunting truth behind Prince Renn’s illness—even as she finds herself irrevocably drawn to him.

My Thoughts: Nym is a healer and beekeeper in a small town far from the capital city, She's the sole support of her family of seven now that her brother has been conscripted into the king's army. When she is conscripted and sent to the capital to heal the ailing Prince Renn, she's determined to fail so that she can be sent home quickly. 

However, Prince Renn's shattered lumis might be beyond her ability to heal. She thinks of it as a shattered crystal chandelier with its pieces scattered everywhere. She manages to glue a couple of shards together which causes Renn to be able to move his foot. His mother, the queen, is hopeful and demanding of Nym. She forces her to work on Renn without rest or food or any care until she finally collapses.

Her collapse brings home to Renn just how hard she is working and lets him see her as a person for the first time. He begins to make things better for her despite his mother's impatience. As Nym works on Renn, the two become friends and even fall in love hopeless as that might be. A peasant and an heir to the throne can have no future. 

And while Nym is working on Renn and making gradual improvements to his health, war is brewing in the kingdom. But for some reason unknown to Nym, many of her repairs aren't holding with Renn and he still suffers major setbacks to his regaining of his full health. 

Then the neighboring kingdom invades...

This was an engaging epic fantasy romance. I liked the worldbuilding and the magical system. Both Nym and Renn were complex people.

I got the Kindle copy from Amazon Prime Reading and added on the audiobook July 21.. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Dark Summer by Iris Johansen

Dark Summer
Author: Iris Johansen
Narrator: Joyce Bean
Publication: Brilliance Audio (October 21, 2008)
Length: 11 hours and 38 minutes

Description: Devon Brady is a devoted veterinarian working in a makeshift hospital at an island search and rescue site. When Jude Marrok arrives with his wounded black lab Ned, she has no idea that she is about to be plunged into a whirlwind of terror, destruction, and unstoppable passion.

The last thing Devon needs is to be drawn into Marrok's high-stakes game. And while she feels increasingly drawn to him and his extraordinary dog, she doesn't trust him. Then the bullets start flying and she has nowhere else to run. The body counts gets higher while a mortal mystery swirls around a pack of gifted canines called the "Dogs of Summer."

Is Jude her salvation or her damnation? Are the secrets he's protecting worth killing...or dying for? With lighting-fast pace, unforgettable characters, gut-wrenching action, and sizzling sensuality, is compelling new terrain for this master storyteller.

My Thoughts: Devon Brady is a veterinarian and a member of search and rescue teams. She's volunteering on an island near Venezuela when Jude Marrok arrives with his injured black lab Ned. he leaves Ned with her to treat and says he'll pick him up at her home near Denver. Devon doesn't know what to make of the pair. She loves the dog but wonders if the man is worthy of keeping him.

She returns to Denver and her practice there briefly before Jude calls telling her to take Ned and get out of the office. Jude's enemies have caught up to them and want Ned and are willing to kill anyone who gets in their way. Jude arrives in time to save Devon and Ned, but Devon's staff are murdered.

Jude takes Devon to his ranch to keep her safe. He is intrigued by her but is very slow to share his secrets with her. Ned and three other dogs and all targets for a variety of enemies who want to use them. The dogs have incredibly long life spans and seem to have the ability to heal. Jude will do anything to keep the dogs safe. 

The enemies are gathering while Jude and Devon are falling in love. And some of the enemies are right inside his compound. The story is filled with tension and danger for Devon, Jude and the dogs. The action is fast-paced, and the paranormal twist just adds to the story. 

This classis Johansen - first published in 2008 - was a great romantic suspense title with enough of the paranormal to add zest. 

I bought this audiobook June 14, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Long Call by Ann Cleaves

The Long Call
Author: Ann Cleaves

Narrator: Ben Aldridge
Series: Detective Matthew Venn (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur Books (September 3, 2019); Macmillan Audio (April 8, 2021)

Length: 11 hours and 36 minutes

Description: In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his estranged father’s funeral takes place. On the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family too.

Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.

The case calls Matthew back to the people and places of his past, as deadly secrets hidden at their hearts are revealed, and his new life is forced into a collision course with the world he thought he’d left behind.

My Thoughts: This story begins with Detective Matthew Venn standing outside the church where his father's funeral is being held. He's been estranged for years since he no longer believed in the evangelical faith of his family.

He's called to the beach nearby where a man has been found dead. He has no identification on him and only a tattoo of an albatross on his neck to possibly identify him. Venn and his team soon learn that the man was a former drifter with mental health challenges who is currently cooking at the Woodyard - a local community center and adult day care. 

Simon Walden had been living with Caroline Preece and Gaby Henry. Caroline is a social worker who has the Woodyard in her territory and Gaby is an artist in residence there. Matthew is thinking that he'll have to step aside from the case since his husband Jonathan is in charge of the Woodyard and there might be a conflict of interest. 

While they are busy investigating Simon's murder, a woman with Down's Syndrome who also spent time at the Woodyard goes missing. Venn and his team are searching everywhere for this missing vulnerable adult. Lucy has known Simon who had befriended her on her daily bus ride home. 

Venn soon comes to believe that there is something shady going on at the Woodyard. This feeling is confirmed when a second woman with Down's Syndrome is kidnapped from the center too. Venn and his team find himself investigating anyone connected with the center including the board of directors which includes the pastor from the church that threw him out as a teenager. 

I enjoyed this mystery and liked getting to know the various police officers who are part of Venn's team. His subordinate Jen was one of the viewpoint characters in the story as was the father of the kidnapped Lucy. 

Nice start to a series. 

I bought the Kindle copy May 28 and the audiobook July 21, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Death of an Irish Druid by Catie Murphy

Death of an Irish Druid
Author: Catie Murphy
Narrator: Ruth Urquhart
Series: The Dublin Driver Mysteries (Book 6)
Publication: Tantor Media (January 21, 2025)
Length: 6 hours and 43 minutes

Description: Featuring the humor and charm of Ireland, a compelling whodunit, a sleuthing American expat, and Jack Russell Terrier puppies, the latest book in the Dublin Driver cozy mystery series is perfect for fans of Carlene O'Connor!

Megan is excited to show her visiting American friends the best of Ireland. A dead body in a holy well, however, was not on her list. The victim is Seamus Nolan, nicknamed "the Irish Druid" for his controversial efforts to rewild his country estate. The local police seem all-too-willing to write off his death as an accident. But Megan's instincts say not so fast.

Megan knows that sleuthing cost her her last girlfriend. Maybe solving another murder will help her make peace with that. And she's even more determined to figure out whodunnit when she learns that an antiquated law may pass the estate on to Nolan's land-grabbing, sell-out uncle instead of his beloved daughter.

But then, with Nolan out of the picture, a rival conservationist's bid for a major grant is uncontested. And as more suspects crop up, so does a toxic surprise on the estate, throwing everyone's plans, and Nolan's reputation, into jeopardy. Now Megan will have to unearth a killer with a dirty secret.

My Thoughts: Megan Malone has taken a couple weeks off as a limousine driver in order to show her friends Rafe and his wife around Ireland. Her first stop for them is Bridget's Well which is a site known for helping women get pregnant. The pair wants to have a baby and hasn't been able to get pregnant.

Megan discovers the body of a man in the well. It turns out to be Seamus Nolan who has been nicknamed the Irish Druid. He's a large landowner who is determined to rewild his country estate. Naturally, she calls the police but is unable to call her favorite policeman since he's off with his girlfriend as she shoots a movie in the Middle East. 

The local policeman is too quick, in Megan's opinion, to call the death an accident despite the fact that his bicycle has gone missing. Megan gets involved in the mystery when she befriends Nolan's teenaged daughter who needs help coping with everything surrounding the death. 

From a great-uncle who wants to sell off the land immediately to a mother who is wondering what's in the will for her and problems with just who is the one who stands to inherit the estate, the young woman has a lot of problems to solve. She's also like to know if her father's death was murder or the accident the police claim.

All the while, Megan is also still dealing with the loss of the girlfriend who just couldn't take being involved in one more murder investigation. 

This was another entertaining mystery filled with interesting characters. 

I bought this one April 8. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: And the Crowd Went Wild by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

And the Crowd Went Wild
Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Narrator: Kelli Tager
Series: Chicago Stars (Book 11)
Publication: Avon (February 10, 2026)

Length: 10 hours and 8 minutes

Description: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips, a romance between a star quarterback and one of the country’s most beautiful—and misunderstood—actresses.

After a mortifying—and very public—humiliation, Dancy Flynn is desperate to find sanctuary far from the crowd. But where can a washed-up sex symbol hide? How about making an unannounced appearance at the secluded lake house of the sweet, sensitive high school boyfriend she hasn’t seen in almost twenty years?

But Chicago Stars quarterback Clint Garrett is no longer the kid Dancy remembers. Now he’s a gridiron superhero, still holding a massive grudge against her for breaking his teenage heart. With no room in his life for either complexity or distractions, he banishes Dancy to a refurbished old railroad caboose tucked away in the woods…and out of his sight.

Except Dancy’s not good at staying invisible. Her efforts to rebuild her career clash with Clint’s desperation to regain his focus, all made more challenging by a rescue dog, a local woman in trouble, a meddling mother, an ex with an agenda…and the sizzle of rekindled emotions.

As Dancy attempts to get her life on track and Clint tries to get his groove back, can these two one-time lovers navigate their rocky pasts and complicated present to find themselves…and each other?

My Thoughts: Actress Dancy Flynn is in a bad place. She's recently divorced from superstar Roth Hardy who left her for a younger woman who is now pregnant. Dancy had wanted children. Roth had not. Once divorced, she visited a sperm bank to have a child of her own. A miscarriage at ten weeks was just about the final straw.

After meeting in a disastrous encounter at a gala in Chicago, Dancy flees to Wisconsin and to the home of her first boyfriend. Clint Garrett is the Chicago Stars quarterback who is still holding a grudge against Dancy for breaking his heart while they were in high school. 

Garrett does let Dancy stay, but only in the railroad caboose he's restoring on the edge of his property. Dancy adopts a dog she names Watch from the dog in The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warren. She didn't want a dog but couldn't abandon the already once abandoned mutt. 

When the ex arrives offering her a meaty role in his next movie and needing her help with getting into his role, Dancy thinks things are finally looking up for her. But she faces another heartbreak when he leaves after she gets him ready for the part and selects another actress to play the role Dancy had assumed was hers. 

And while all of this is going on, Dancy and Clint are becoming friends again even though Clint is suffering his own career issues. 

This was an engaging and excellent story of resilience and second chances for both careers and for love. I really liked it. 

I bought this one June 14. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Long Game
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Narrator: Cassandra Morris
Series: The Fixer (Book 2)
Publication: Audible Studios (August 2, 2016)
Length: 10 hours and 10 minutes

Description: For Tess Kendrick, a junior at the elite Hardwicke School in Washington, DC, fixing runs in the family. But Tess has another legacy, too, one that involves power and the making of political dynasties.

When Tess is asked to run a classmate's campaign for student council, she agrees. But when the candidates are children of politicians, even a high school election can involve life-shattering secrets. Meanwhile, Tess' guardian has also taken on an impossible case, as a terrorist attack calls into doubt who can - and cannot - be trusted on Capitol Hill.

Tess knows better than most that power is currency in Washington, but she's about to discover firsthand that power always comes with a price.

Perfect for fans of Harlan Coben and Ally Carter, the second audiobook in this thrilling series will leave listeners breathless.

My Thoughts: I loved this book. It is a fast-paced thriller with murder, intrigue, and betrayal primarily set in an exclusive private school in Washington DC. Tess Kendrick is a fixer like her mother. She has a talent for solving problems and her school provides her with lots of opportunities. Drafted into the campaign for student council president that one of her friends is mounting, Tess has to deal with the behavior of another of the candidates who thinks it is okay to post compromising pictures of her candidate to social media. Things get more complicated when the rival candidate is murdered and one of Tess's friends is the prime suspect. 

Meanwhile, her mother Ivy is dealing with a terrorist who happens to be the lover of one of the president's sons and an assassination attempt on the president. Strangely enough, the two cases are both parts of a bigger conspiracy.

I like Tess who is bright and loyal. I can see her working on her relationship with her mother who had left her with her grandparents to be raised while she pursued her dangerous career in Washington DC. Tess grew up believing that her mother was her older sister. She is having trouble getting over the lies and the abandonment. She is also forging a relationship with her grandfather who is a Washington kingmaker and her mother's rival. 

The writing was compelling and the story was filled with tension.

I bought this one July 13. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Make It Out Alive by Allison Brennan

Make It Out Alive
Author: Allison Brennan
Narrator: Suzanne T. Forlin
Series: Quinn & Costa Thrillers (Book 7)
Publication: Hanover Square Press & Harlequin Audio (January 27, 2026)
Length: 11 hours and 57 minutes

Description: Allison Brennan returns to her bestselling series with an edge-of-your-seat thriller that thrusts Quinn and Costa into the crosshairs of a sadistic serial killer.

Three newlywed couples have disappeared from an exclusive resort in Florida, only to turn up dead soon after. With the location and the similarities between the female victims as their only leads, it’s up to the FBI Mobile Response Team to catch a serial killer before anyone else ends up dead. And they have the perfect bait—Detective Kara Quinn, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the targeted women.

Undercover as newlyweds pretending to enjoy their honeymoon, Kara and FBI Agent Matt Costa set a flawless trap. When their plan works and they arrest the predator, Matt sends the rest of the team home so he and Kara can have the weekend for some much-needed R&R. But on Monday morning, the couple doesn’t show up to work, and the MRT learns they never checked out of their hotel.

As their team tries to find them, Matt and Kara learn the truth—the killer wasn’t acting alone. He had a partner who succeeded where he failed. Kidnapped and forced into a twisted escape room, they need to find a way out, because if they don’t escape, they’ll die.

My Thoughts: Quinn and Costa have been posing as newlyweds in order to catch the killer who has kidnapped and murdered three previous couples at the same resort. Their ploy works and they capture Garrett Reid when he attempts to drug and kidnap them. 

Having a suspect under arrest, Matt sends the rest of the team home so that he and Kara can have a nice, quiet weekend at the resort. But when they don't show up for meeting on Monday, it soon becomes apparent that Reid was working with a partner, a partner who has now kidnapped Matt and Kara.

As the team works to uncover what happened to them, Kara and Matt find themselves in an abandoned and boobytrapped factory in Georgia needing to find a way to make it out alive. Meanwhile, Catherine is trying to figure out why her profile was so far off and how the team can find the partner and Matt and Kara.

This was an exciting episode in the series. It was packed with tension and vividly described scenes when our heroes were in danger. I liked the way Matt and Kara's relationship is growing. I also liked the way the team all works together to unravel the clues to save Matt and Kara. I did wonder though why Catherine, the profiler, became the team leader after Matt's disappearance rather than Michael who had the law enforcement background.

I bought this one June 14. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh

You Can Tell Me
Author: Melinda Leigh

Narrator: Mandy Figueroa
Series: Olivia Cruz (Book 1)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (May 12, 2026)
Length: 10 hours and 52 minutes

Description: Crime writer Olivia Cruz is drawn into the dark secrets of a missing friend in a terrifying novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.

On the three-year anniversary of true crime writer Olivia Cruz’s horrific kidnapping, she’s scheduled to walk her podcaster friend Zoe March through the crime scene, but Zoe fails to show. Olivia knows Zoe would never stand her up—not today.

Zoe’s husband, who claims she never came home the night before, has reported her missing. But marital conflicts make the police suspect she has left him. Olivia thinks otherwise. The police aren’t looking for Zoe, so Olivia begins her own investigation. Retracing her friend’s last steps, she finds Zoe’s phone and a text with one chilling word: Run.

It soon becomes apparent that Zoe has been keeping secrets, and with her true crime podcast, there’s no telling what she has unearthed. To find her, Olivia must dig into her friend’s past. Did Zoe vanish to escape a killer, and is Olivia walking into a deadly trap?

My Thoughts: Olivia Cruz is finally ready to talk about the horrific kidnapping that changed her life three years earlier. She is scheduled to meet with her friend and podcaster Zoe to walk her through what happened. However, when she arrives at the site, Zoe is not there. 

Olivia meets with Zoe's husband who is very concerned and she meets with Zoe's podcast producer who is not. With the police not considering Zoe missing since a woman has a right to leave her husband and life, Olivia with her boyfriend Lincoln Sharpe and her niece Nikki begin their own investigation. 

It soon becomes apparent to Olivia that she really doesn't know very much about her friend's past or her secrets. Her husband Dylan Sanders is also keeping secrets including that his marriage with Zoe is having major problems. 

Each secret they uncover puts them all in more danger in this exciting thriller. I really enjoyed the tension in this one. I liked learning more about characters who have appeared as side characters in earlier books by the author. Knowing about those characters isn't necessary. The book stands alone perfectly well. 

I bought this one May 20. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Ruling Class by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Ruling Class
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Narrator: Ina-Marie Smith
Series: The Fixer (Book 1)
Publication: Bloomsbury YA (September 2, 2025)
Length: 10 hours and 5 minutes

Description: This mystery thriller by the bestselling author of The Inheritance Games is a gripping story of high stakes, betrayal, and unpredictable twists.

Any problem can be fixed for a price . . .

When Tess Kendrick is  isent to stay with her older sister in Washington D.C., she has no idea that Ivy is the capitol’s go-to “fixer,” a person who can make powerful people’s scandals disappear with a snap of her fingers. Tess never thought she and Ivy had much in common, but when she enrolls at the exclusive Hardwicke School, she soon finds herself thrust into the role of high school fixer, solving problems for the children of the D.C. elite.

But secrets pile up as each sister lives a double life, and their worlds come crashing together when a scandal from the halls of Hardwicke reaches Capitol Hill. As the stakes turn deadly, Tess must uncover who’s behind the power play before she becomes a target herself.

My Thoughts: Seventeen-year-old Tess Kendrick lives in Montana on her grandfather's ranch. She has been taking care of him while he is developing Alzheimer's, but the school alerts her older sister Ivy Kendrick when Tess's behaviors change. 

Ivy sweeps Tess away to Washington, D.C., where she works and transfers her grandfather to a facility in Boston for possible treatment. Tess resents being swept away by the older sister she thinks abandoned her years earlier. She doesn't even know what Ivy does.

Tess is enrolled in the Hardwicke school where she meets the children of Washington's movers and shakers. Many of them know more about Ivy than Tess does. She learns that Ivy is a fixer who manages to take care of a multitude of problems in Washington.

Many of her classmates look at Tess as their own fixer which isn't far from the truth. When she comes upon a freshman crying in the bathroom, she's the one who confronts the older boys who have taken pictures of her and confiscates the phone. She later learns that the girl is the Vice President's daughter and the picture taking slime is the son of the Whip. 

When she arrives, things are already in turmoil. Her fellow student Henry's grandfather is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He dies under what the grandson believes are suspicious circumstances and her new friend Vivvy's father is the man who operated on him. Vivvy overhears enough to believe that he killed him. 

Tess and her new friends are busy investigating. So is Ivy but their investigations, while on parallel tracks, are secret from each other. 

This was an engaging and suspenseful thriller filled with secrets. I loved getting to know Tess and empathized with both the disruption in her life and the uncertainty in it. Tess has lots of problems to solve not least of which is the relationship with her sister. Luckily, she has the brains and ability to do so. 

The cliffhanger ending is sending me running to The Long Game which continues the story. 

I bought this audiobook May 11. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Night Candy by Max Tomlinson

Night Candy
Author: Max Tomlinson

Narrator: Terry Dien
Series: Colleen Hayes (Book 5)
Publication: Oceanview Publishing (July 25, 2023)

Length: 10 hours and 47 minutes

Description: 1970s San Francisco: the sights, the sounds, the serial killers

As the '70s draw to a close in San Francisco, things do not bode well for the city—or for ex-con PI Colleen Hayes, whose daughter Pam, in a tragic turn of events, has lost her baby. Pam leaves San Francisco, and Colleen, who moved there to reunite with her, starts to wonder what she's doing in the Bay Area.

Meanwhile, a serial killer given the name "Night Candy" is targeting sex workers, both male and female. The situation doesn't improve when Colleen's friend and ally—SFPD Inspector Owens—is arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, who was found burned in a fire the same night the pair had tried to rekindle their love. Could Owens have really done what they say? Even Colleen has her doubts.

But there are people depending on her: Owens, who needs help finding his ex-wife's real killer, and a trio of sex workers Colleen keeps her eye on—especially with Night Candy on the loose. Then, one of the three girls is next to disappear. If anything is to test Colleen's resolve, December 1979 seems to be it.

My Thoughts: When Colleen's police officer friend Inspector Owens is accused of murdering his ex-wife and the man in charge of the investigation is Owen's mortal enemy, she finds herself very involved in proving that her friend is not guilty of murder. Meanwhile, Colleen is worried about some working girls because the serial killer known as Night Candy is still targeting sex workers. 

Colleen is also still grieving the loss of a potential grandchild and the disappearance again of her daughter Pamela. She has to finally reconcile herself to the fact that she and her daughter will not develop the close relationship she wants. 

The story was filled with period details for 1979 including the fashions and songs on the radio. I enjoyed this engaging story which is filled with twists, turns, and plots. 

I bought this one April 27. You can buy your copy here.