Book & Audio Review: The Kinsman Universe by Ilona Andrews

The Kinsman Universe
Author: Ilona Andrews
Narrator: Samantha Cook
Series: Kinsman
Publication: NYLA (March 8, 2019); NYLA (December 31, 2018)
Length: 7 hours and 15 minutes; 188 p.

Description: This is an anthology edition of the Kinsmen Universe, which includes SILENT BLADE, SILVER SHARK, plus a new short story, and three original illustrations.

Family is everything. Talent is power. And revenge is sweet.

In a distant, future world Kinsmen-small powerful groups of genetically and technologically advanced families-control vast financial empires. They are their own country, their own rulers, and their only limits are other Kinsmen. The struggle for power is a bloody, full-contact sport: in business, on the battlefield...and sometimes in the bedroom.

Silent Blade

Old hatreds die hard. Old love dies harder.

On the planet Rada, Meli Galdes' family is of minor rank, and were relying on her marriage to Celino, the razor-smart, ruthless leader of the powerful Carvanna empire. When he abruptly breaks their engagement, he ruins her family and guarantees that Meli will never marry, as no suitor will oppose the rich and influential Carvannas.

But Meli has a rare, secret, lethal-and valuable-talent. As a melder of energy, she's capable of severing anything in her path. So she 'leaves' her family and trains to become one of the best and most lethal of assassins, all the while covertly guarding her family's interests. Now she's ready to quit; but she has one more assignment.

To kill the man who ruined her life.

Silver Shark

Claire Shannon is a killer...and her weapon is her mind.

Born on a planet torn by war for over 300 years, Claire is a soldier: a psycher, with the ability to read, control, and destroy the minds of enemy psychers and to infiltrate the biological network where they battle to death.

When Claire's faction loses the war, she barely escapes extermination from both sides, as her talent brands her as too dangerous to society. By so-deeply burying her ability that she avoids detection, Claire is instead deported to Rada as a refugee, where she must find work to remain. She finds a job as personal assistant to Venturo Escana, a premiere kinsman; one of Rada's most wealthy entrepreneurs—and most powerful psychers.

She thought she had left war behind, but now she must hide her skills and her growing feelings from Venturo...and this battle might just cost her everything...

A Mere Formality

The leader of the fierce Reigh people expires during an intergalactic summit, putting 30 million colonists' lives and livelihoods in jeopardy. When the new heir to the Reigh throne, Lord Nagrad, demands restitution, the phrase "'a life for a life" turns the intergalactic calamity into an arranged marriage contract between Lord Nagrad and sharply intelligent diplomatic analyst Deirdre Lebed... and the negotiation of terms becomes anything but formal!

My Thoughts: This anthology contains two novellas and a short story. All three stories are paranormal romances with strong females and intriguing males. 

The first story (SILENT BLADE) tells about the romance between Meli Galdes and Celino Carvanna. They were betrothed when Meli was ten and Celino was sixteen. Meli spent years learning all she could about Celino in order to be a perfect wife for him. Celino spent those same years building his empire and hating that his marriage meant a lack of freedom for him.

When he breaks the engagement when Meli is sixteen, he does more than break her heart. He throws Meli's family into severe economic distress and makes it impossible for Meli to ever marry. She leaves her family and becomes an assassin - primarily killing people who want to do her former family harm.

When her father via her brother asks her to murder Celino, she thinks this would be the perfect end to her career. But meeting him again reminds her how much she loved him and gives her an idea for a better plan. 

SILVER SHARK tells the story of Claire Shannon and Venturo Escana. Claire was a soldier, a psycher, who used her psychic abilities to help her country fight against a rival country. When her country loses the war, she is sent into exile to another planet. She needs to hide her psychic abilities because that planet isn't letting psychers in. Claire remakes herself as a mild-mannered, psychic null office assistant and gets a job with Venturo Escana who runs a security company.

When one of her fellow refugees gets into trouble that could lead to deportation, she needs to take down the blocks she has on her psychic abilities to get into the datanet and change some incriminating information. While in the datanet, she meets Venturo who is also there because of the activity Claire and her fellow invaders have begun. 

They get out without getting caught, but Venturo becomes determined to find the woman he met in the datanet and Claire becomes equally determined to keep her secrets even though she is falling in love with Venturo. 

Then one of her co-conspirators in the data breach is caught and Claire needs to get help from Venturo, but she has to reveal her secrets to get it. 

A MERE FORMALITY is a short story about peace negotiations after a war. Deirdre Lebed is a talented diplomatic analyst who knows a lot about the Reigh. But when the Reigh leader dies at a banquet put on by her side, she doesn't expect that, besides a hefty ransom, the new leader of the Reigh will also demand that she marry him.

All of the stories were entertaining. Samantha Cook did a good job narrating them. 

Favorite Quote: 

Fatima sneered. "You have no ambition. In the next life, you'll be reborn as a teakettle."

I bought this one but it contains stories I bought in 2011 and can't find. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Down a Dark River by Karen Odden

Down a Dark River
Author: Karen Odden
Series: An Inspector Corravan Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (November 9, 2021)

Description: In the vein of C. S. Harris and Anne Perry, Karen Odden’s mystery introduces Inspector Michael Corravan as he investigates a string of vicious murders that has rocked Victorian London’s upper crust.

London, 1878. One April morning, a small boat bearing a young woman’s corpse floats down the murky waters of the Thames. When the victim is identified as Rose Albert, daughter of a prominent judge, the Scotland Yard director gives the case to Michael Corravan, one of the only Senior Inspectors remaining after a corruption scandal the previous autumn left the division in ruins. Reluctantly, Corravan abandons his ongoing case, a search for the missing wife of a shipping magnate, handing it over to his young colleague, Mr. Stiles.

An Irish former bare-knuckles boxer and dockworker from London’s seedy East End, Corravan has good street sense and an inspector’s knack for digging up clues. But he’s confounded when, a week later, a second woman is found dead in a rowboat, and then a third. The dead women seem to have no connection whatsoever. Meanwhile, Mr. Stiles makes an alarming discovery: the shipping magnate’s missing wife, Mrs. Beckford, may not have fled her house because she was insane, as her husband claims, and Mr. Beckford may not be the successful man of business that he appears to be.

Slowly, it becomes clear that the river murders and the case of Mrs. Beckford may be linked through some terrible act of injustice in the past—for which someone has vowed a brutal vengeance. Now, with the newspapers once again trumpeting the Yard’s failures, Corravan must dredge up the truth—before London devolves into a state of panic and before the killer claims another innocent victim.

My Thoughts: It is 1878 in London and Michael Corravan is one of the few Senior Inspectors for Scotland Yard who survived the corruption scandal the previous year where other Inspectors were convicted of bribery and other crimes which let criminals go free. 

The Yard has a new director in the person of Mr. Vincent, a public school man, son of a baronet, former reporter with now previous police experience. Vincent couldn't be more different than Corravan who is an orphan from Whitechapel who lived on the charity of others after his mother's death and who earned his living as a bare-knuckles boxer and riverman before he joined the police. While Vincent wants to clean up the Yard's reputation, Corravan is more interested in solving the multitude of cases on his desk.

Corravan is currently looking into the disappearance of Mrs. Beckford. Her husband reported her missing and Corravan has been looking for her for two weeks. He thinks he might be getting close to finding her. Then Vincent assigns him the case of a woman found murdered and floating in a lighter on the Thames. He learns that the woman is Rose Albert, the daughter of a prominent judge. 

As he looks into her murder, he learns that she was a kind woman who leaves behind a loving fiancé. but whose family has various secrets. Then another young woman is found. She's also upper class and Corravan begins looking for connections. When a third woman is discovered, this time alive, Corravan's case gets more complicated. Though he does start to see connections more than than class and addresses that connect them to his missing woman case.

Because Corravan found the missing woman in an asylum, wrapped in a straight jacket, and silent. He tries to bring her home but she gets violent when approaching her home which convinces him to take her to a doctor friend who runs a ward at a local hospital where he deals with mental disorders. This is illegal. The woman has no rights and should be returned to her husband who has control over her. But Corravan wants answers first. 

This was an excellent story steeped in Victorian life and culture. Corravan was a well-rounded character whose background as a child has made him a man determined to find justice for the victims of the crimes he is investigating. At the same time his background has made it difficult for him to ask for help even from the woman he loves and makes him emotionally fragile. The information about women's rights, or rather the lack of them, was well integrated and form a large part of the plot of the story.

Fans of historical mysteries with great settings and well-developed characters will enjoy this story and be looking forward to more of Michael Corravan's adventures. 

Favorite Quote:

These nights with Belinda were the most wonderful few hours of my week. And yet as I let us out the back door, locking it carefully behind, I had a sensation of relief. I loved Belinda--of course I did. But she liked to haul thoughts and feelings out into the light to examine them, and sometimes mine were wily and furtive and wanted to be left alone in the dark.

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

Book Review: Unnatural Issue by Mercedes Lackey

Unnatural Issue
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Series: Elemental Masters (Book 6)
Publication: DAW (June 7, 2011)

Description: The sixth novel in Mercedes Lackey's magical Elemental Masters series reimagines the fairy tale Donkeyskin in a richly-detailed alternate Victorian England

Susanne Whitestone, an Earth Master magician, had always lived in Whitestone Manor and liked nothing more than to keep the land itself and its animal inhabitants thriving. For the last eleven years, she has had a special teacher in the forest—a powerful fae known only as Robin. Susanne, at twenty-one, doubted any mortal Earth Master could find fault with the practices that Robin taught her.

But though Susanne was her father’s only child, she had never set eyes on him, for Richard Whitestone lived as a recluse in a sectioned off wing of the manor. Richard Whitestone was also an Earth Master, but since his beloved wife’s death in childbirth, he had lived a kind of half-life. He hated even the thought of the child who had ended his wife’s life. His own life had withered, and as he had grown bitter, and blighted, so had everything he could see from his windows—the once-beautiful private garden was  now as stark and wizened as his heart.

But as the years passed, Richard found that there was one thing that gave him solace—the thought, an obsession, that he could bring his Rebecca back to life through necromancy. He would need an appropriate vessel for her spirit, a young woman, preferably one who looked like she did and was approximately the same age that Rebecca has been at the time of her death—twenty-one....and Susanne was the image of her mother.

My Thoughts: This historical fantasy is set around the beginning of World War I in England. Susanne Whitestone is the long neglected daughter or Earth Master Richard Whitestone. He was off doing a job for Lord Alderscroft when his beloved wife went into premature labor and died. He blamed Susanne for murdering her and ignored her. 

Susanne was raised by the servants who became her only family. When she came into her own magic as a child, she went into the woods and demanded a friend and a teacher. What she got was Robin Goodfellow - one of the oldest of the Old Fae. He became her friend and taught her and, as she grew, she became the Earth Master of her father's lands while her father nourished his obsession to reclaim his wife by studying forbidden and dangerous necromancy.

Meanwhile in London, Lord Alderscroft has heard rumors of a necromancer in Yorkshire and has sent one of his agents - Lord Peter Almsley - who is a Water Master to find the necromancer and take care of the problem.

When Richard decides to remove his daughter's soul and replace it with his wife's and Susanne finds out about it, she flees. After a three-day flight across the moors, she finds herself at the same estate where Lord Peter is staying, an estate filled with people from the masters to the servants who all have some magic. Susanne finds a comfortable home there and develops a crush on the son of the house, but her father isn't just going to let her go.

The story is filled with the horrors of World War I since Susanne flees to the continent and finds herself working as a nursing sister in order to stay close to her crush. And the badly damaged land and many deaths make the battlefields a perfect location for a necromancer who wants revenge and still wants Susanne. 

I really liked this story. I thought the world building was great. I liked the way the Elementals fit into the story. I liked Susanne who was determined to have a life of her own and who has great courage. I liked Lord Peter who develops his own love for Susanne. 

This is the sixth book in the Elemental Masters series, but I didn't have any problem getting into the world created. I did read the earlier books years ago and am now tempted to reread them. I read from both a print book which I bought in 2012 and a newly purchased audiobook.

Favorite Quote:

So she took an apple and bread and cheese in her pockets, waited until no one was watching her, and walked quite calmly out of the gardens to the green trees she could see. There she had demanded, wordlessly, but firmly, that someone come to keep her company. Someone nice. Someone who knew things. Someone who could explain these wonderful new sensations she was having.

She got Robin, who was quite as surprised as she was.

Suiting his form to hers, he had appeared as a child rather than an adult. She had intrigued him no end--and the Fae were always attracted to mortal children.

I bought this one March 29, 2012. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Return of the Pharaoh by Nicholas Meyer

The Return of the Pharaoh: From the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.
Author: Nicholas Meyer
Publication: Minotaur Books (November 9, 2021)

Description: In Nicholas Meyer's The Return of the Pharaoh, Sherlock Holmes returns in an adventure that takes him to Egypt in search of a missing nobleman, a previously undiscovered pharaoh's tomb, and a conspiracy that threatens his very life.

With his international bestseller, The Seven Per Cent Solution, Nicholas Meyer brought to light a previously unpublished case of Sherlock Holmes that reinvigorated the world's interest in the first consulting detective. Now, many years later, Meyer is given exclusive access to Dr. Watson's unpublished journal, wherein he details a previously unknown case.

In 1910, Dr. John Watson travels to Egypt with his wife Juliet. Her tuberculosis has returned and her doctor recommends a stay at a sanitarium in a dry climate. But while his wife undergoes treatment, Dr. Watson bumps into an old friend--Sherlock Holmes, in disguise and on a case. An English Duke with a penchant for egyptology has disappeared, leading to enquiries from his wife and the Home Office.

Holmes has discovered that the missing duke has indeed vanished from his lavish rooms in Cairo and that he was on the trail of a previous undiscovered and unopened tomb. And that he's only the latest Egyptologist to die or disappear under odd circumstances. With the help of Howard Carter, Holmes and Watson are on the trail of something much bigger, more important, and more sinister than an errant lord.

My Thoughts: Dr. John Watson hasn't seen his friend Sherlock Holmes for a while. He is surprised when he encounters him in Egypt. Watson is there with his wife who has tuberculosis and is staying at a local sanitarium. Holmes has a case involving a missing Duke who might have discovered a buried Egyptian treasure.

Holmes and Watson team up to search out clues and follow leads which take them from Cairo to the Valley of the Kings. Along the way they encounter Howard Carter who hasn't yet gone back to work with Lord Carnarvon or made his most famous discovery.

There is a lot of information about Egyptology and pharaohs which comes as new information to Watson who hadn't been interested in the topic previously. There is also a lot of politics in Egypt which is of interest to Mycroft Holmes who has given Sherlock some contacts. One of the characters might be a Turkish agent, or British, or French, or German, depending on which of her many passports is accurate - if any of them are. 

I enjoyed the story which is narrated by Watson by prepared for publication by Nicholas Meyer. I even enjoyed the footnotes! 

Fans of Sherlock Holmes will enjoy this new adventure which contains many of the hallmarks of Doyle's earlier Sherlock Holmes tales.

Favorite Quote:

"Clients want instant results and lose sight of the fact that eliciting data from either those reluctant to provide it, or those who don't even understand they might possess it, requires patience and occasional subterfuge." Even as I said this, it struck me that a detective's work was not that different from and archeologist's, both toiling to uncover the truth of past events. but rather than letting my mind pursue this intriguing parallel, I resumed my tale.

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

ARC Review: Death on the Shelf by Allison Brook

Death on the Shelf
Author: Allison Brook
Series: A Haunted Library Mystery (Book 5)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (November 9, 2021)

Description: Librarian Carrie Singleton sleuths a murder at her best friend's wedding in Agatha Award nominee Allison Brook's fifth Haunted Library mystery.

Clover Ridge librarian Carrie Singleton is thrilled to attend her best friend Angela's wedding, but Angela's family can be a bit...much. Angela’s wealthy cousin Donna hosts an extravagant bridal shower at her resplendent home, but the celebrations turn to gossip as the guests notice Donna's surgeon husband, Aiden, spending a bit too much time with Donna’s cousin Roxy. At the wedding reception, the sweet occasion turns darkly bitter when Aiden topples into the chocolate fountain--dead.

The suspect list is as long as the guest list, and as difficult to sort out as the seating chart. A few of the top contenders on Carrie’s suspect list are the flirtatious Roxy, emotionally unstable since her recent divorce; Angela's grouchy brother, who feels Aiden betrayed him; and Roxy's scorned ex-husband. Even Donna may have had reason to want her husband dead. And Aiden's gossipy office manager has plenty to say about them all.

Then another member of Angela's family is murdered, making Carrie more determined than ever to find the killer. Can library ghost Evelyn and library cat Smoky Joe help Carrie solve the murders before she becomes the next of Angela’s wedding guests to head to the grave?

My Thoughts: This is the fifth book in the Haunted Library cozy mystery series. It stars Carrie Singleton who is a librarian at the Clover Ridge Public Library in charge of event planning. She also solves murders.

In this episode, Carrie is busy helping her best friend get ready for her up-coming wedding and things aren't going well. The venue for the wedding shower has a fire making it necessary to find a new venue ASAP. When one of the bride's cousins offers to host, it look like things are better. Than Carrie learns that the cousin is not a favorite of the bride's because she wasn't kind to her when she was a child. But things go well and Carrie gets a chance to see the dynamics in the family.

But then the cousin's husband dies a suspicious death at the wedding reception and Carrie is on the case to find out who killed him. There are lots of suspects. The bride's brother was seen arguing with the victim and is a known hot-head who bullied the bride as a child. There also might have been troubles in the victim's marriage leaving the wife as a possible suspect. Or maybe there was trouble at the victim's work. Carrie does discover some possible financial chicanery there.

Meanwhile, the library ghost wants Carrie to find her missing brother because his daughter is in financial difficulties and possibly suffering from depression after her husband wiped her out financially and deserted her. And the town mayor is pressing Carrie to take a seat on the town council. And, after her father announces his engagement, Carrie's friends are putting pressure on her to marry her boyfriend Dylan which is frightening the commitment-shy Carrie.

Lots of things are going on in this episode. There are tons of characters to keep track of. The story is told in the first person and I found the writing style to be a little flat. Exciting things happen but the writing doesn't reflect that for me. 

Fans of the series will want to read this one to know what happens next at the Haunted Library. 

Favorite Quote:

I wondered if my reaction earlier was due to jealousy -- that Jim and Dylan shared certain things like work that didn't include me -- and realized I had to get past it. And truly accept I had an important place in both their hearts. 

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

State of the Stack #113 (November 1, 2021)

 This is my monthly post which details progress made on review books. I want to thank the authors and publishers who have contributed their books. 

Read This Month 

1. Down a Dark River by Karen Odden (November 4)
2. Vanishing Edge by Claire Kells (November 6)
3. You'll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus (November 24)
4. A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill (November 25)
5. An Unexpected Distraction by Catherine Bybee (November 24)

DNF

1. A Murder Like No Author by Amy Lillard (November 30)

Read Previously But Posted This Month 

1. Betrayal on the Bowery by Kate Belli (October 5)
2. In Hot Water by Kate Kingsbury (October 6)
3. Digging Up Trouble by Kitt Crowe (October 7)
4. Best in Snow by David Rosenfelt (October 9)
5. Mercy Creek by M. E. Browning (October 13)
6. Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest (October 20)
7. Archangel's Light by Nalini Singh (October 21)
8. Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas (October 27)

New This Month 

1. Last Redemption by Matt Coyle (November 30)
2. A Perfect Equation by Elizabeth Everett (February 15)
3. Citizen K-9 by David Rosenfelt (March 15)
4. Under Lock and Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian (March 22)

All TBR Review Books

November

• Last Redemption by Matt Coyle (November 30)

December

• Renewed for Murder by Victoria Gilbert (December 7)
• Cold Brew Corpse by Tara Lush (December 7)
• How to Book a Murder by Cynthia Kuhn (December 7)

• Dark Night by Paige Shelton (December 7)
• Jane Austen's Lost Letter by Jane K. Cleland (December 14)
• The Sorority Murder by Allison Brennan (December 28)

January

• In Every Generation by Kendare Blake (January 4)
• Garden of Sins by Laura Joh Rowland (January 11)
• A Three Book Problem by Vicki Delany (January 11)

• Desolation Canyon by P. J. Tracy (January 18)
• Lightning in a Mirror by Jayne Ann Krentz (January 18)
• How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan (January 18)

February

• The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont (February 1)
• Behind the Lie by Emilya Naymark (February 8)
• L. A. Burning by D. C. Taylor (February 8)

• Live, Local, and Dead by Nikki Knight (February 8)
• The Wrong Woman by Leanne Kale Sparks (February 8)
• The Deepest of Secrets by Kelley Armstrong (February 15)

• An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn (February 15)
• A Perfect Equation by Elizabeth Everett (February 15)

March 

• The Night Shift by Alex Finlay (March 1)
• The Fear by Natasha Preston (March 1)
• A Night to Die For by Lisa Schroeder (March 1)

• Front Page Murder by Joyce St. Anthony (March 8)
• Don't Get Close by Matt Miksa (March 8)
• Citizen K-9 by David Rosenfelt (March 15)

• Under Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian (March 22)
• Dig Two Graves by Gretchen McNeil (March 29)

April

• Shadow in the Glass by M. E. Hilliard (April 5)
• The Art of the Decoy by Trish Esden (April 5)
• Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa (April 5)

May

• Bear Witness by Lark O. Jensen (May 10)
• The Shadow of Memory by Connie Berry (May 10)
• And By Fire by Evie Hawtrey (May 10)

June

• A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari (June 7)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (November 1, 2021)

 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.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup.

Other Than Reading...

After a sunny start to the week, the weather turned cold and rainy for the rest of the week. We got last month's power bill and used up a lot of our credit. It is hard to make solar energy if the sun doesn't shine!

I got a chance to do a lot of reading since the week was almost appointment free. I also planned my reading for the rest of the year choosing mainly from my TBR mountain. I set up blog posts through January 1.

Writing this on Sunday afternoon, I can report that my Atlanta Braves have a 3 to 1 lead in the World Series. I'll be watching with enthusiasm as the rest of the games occur and rooting for my Braves! Maybe it will end tonight with a Braves victory.

My brother was told that he had to use up some vacation time or lose it. He'll be off from October 30 through November 6 and he doesn't have any plans. He's not a vacation kind of guy. He says it will feel like it did when he had time off rehabbing from his heart attack: lots of boring days. I'm hoping that he does a lot of cooking and tries some new recipes. 

October Reading

I read 27 books in October including 13 rereads and 5 review books. Eighteen of the books I read were audiobooks. The longest book I read this month was To End in Fire by David Weber and Eric Flint at 857 pages. The shortest was Knot of Shadows by Lois McMaster Bujold at 111 pages. I am more than half way through my next two books but don't think I'll finish either today.

I added 30 books to my collection this month. Eight were audiobooks including 2 I got using some Audible Credits and one that was a perk of my membership. I also added four new review copies. Unusually, I also added three print copies to my collection including one book for review that I received from the publisher. Twenty-six of the 30 are still unread.

I have read 309 books so far this year. Of those, 155 were audiobooks and 90 were review books. I have raised my Goodreads goals twice this year already. I started at 240, raised it to 300, and it is currently at 325.

My TBR pile, both physical and virtual, numbers 2336 and includes 35 pending review books. I still have 47 books that have been on TBR mountain since 2008 but four of them are on my calendar to be read before the end of the year. 

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• Accepting the Lance by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread) -- Here's a link to my review from 
• Knot of Shadows by Lois McMaster Bujold (Kindle) -- Latest Penric and Desdemona novella.
• Trader's Leap by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread) -- Here's a link to my review from 

• The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren (Kindle and Audiobook) -- Entertaining paranormal about a young woman who inherits a knitting shop in Oxford and discovers that vampires live in the basement. My review will be posted on November 20.
• Geekerella by Ashley Poston (Kindle and Audiobook) -- A riff on the Cinderella story that is a homage to fans and fandom and is also a nice romance and coming of age story. My review will be posted on December 9.
• A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill (Review; November 30) -- This is the second in the Kit Brightling series which is alternate history and magic. My review will be posted on November 25.

• Urban Shaman by C. E. Murphy (Kindle and Audiobook) -- I read this introduction to the Walker Papers Urban Fantasy series years ago and enjoyed revisiting it in Audio. My review will be posted on December 9.
• An Unexpected Distraction by Catherine Bybee (Review; November 30) -- This third in the Richter series was entertaining romantic suspense. My review will be posted on November 24.

Currently

• Last Redemption by Matt Coyle (Review; November 30)

Next Week

• Cold Wind by Paige Shelton (Mine; Audiobook)
• The Lonely Dead by April Henry (Mine; Audiobook)
• Dark Night by Paige Shelton (Review; December 7)

• How to Book a Murder by Cynthia Kuhn (Review, December 7)
• Cold Brew Corpse by Tara Lush (Review; December 7)
• Renewed for Murder by Victoria Gilbert (Review; December 7)

Reviews Posted

• Elfhome by Wen Spencer (finished August 2)
• Crime & Punctuation by Kaitlyn Dunnett (finished August 28)
• Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly (finished August 30)

• Rival's Break by Carla Neggers (finished September 13)
• The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (finished September 16)
• Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas (finished September 19)

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

• The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Kindle for $1.99)
• The Wedding Wager by Eva Devon (Kindle, $4.99)

• Silent Evidence by Rachel Grant (Kindle and Audiobook for less than $3.00)
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman (BookBub, $1.99)
• Thunderbird Falls by C. E. Murphy (Kindle and Audiobook)

• Geekerella by Ashley Poston (Perk of Audible Membership)
• Three in Death by J. D. Robb (Kindle for $1.99)

• Cold Wind by Paige Shelton (Paperback)
• Cold Wind by Paige Shelton (Audible Credit)

• The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren (Audible Credit)
• The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren (Kindle for $.99)

What was your week like?