Audiobook Review: Black Tie and Tails by Wen Spencer

Black Tie and Tails
Author: Wen Spencer
Narrator: Jennywren Walker et al.
Series: Black Wolves of Boston (Book 2)
Publication: Audible Studios (September 2, 2025)
Length: 16 hours and 56 minutes

Description: From the Romantic Times Sapphire award-winning author of the Internationally best-selling Elfhome series, comes the sequel to The Black Wolves of Boston

Joshua Tatterskein’s life has been strange. He's become a werewolf, lives with a three-hundred-year-old vampire named Silas Decker and a ginger kitten called Trouble. Then things get even weirder when he encounters a talking penguin who wants to hire him for a job. Joshua just wants to graduate from his new high school. The school is owned by Boston’s werewolf pack, and while the teachers might not realize the owners are wolves, all the kids with special abilities—the Goths—know. The good news is the Goths are happy to help Joshua, but the bad news is one of them has gone missing.

Silas Decker has been waking up earlier than normal—very odd after three hundred years of being dead to the world when the sun is up. He enjoys the change—but what does he have to do for it to continue?

Elise Grigori’s day starts bad: her angelic family has discovered that she’s dating Jack Cabot, Thane to the Wolf King. It gets worse when Central Office calls to say that her cousin Francis is missing from his Vermont monastic retreat. He’s a Power, God’s strength manifested in flesh, which means he’s a walking nuke. His car is in Boston, which is very bad news for Boston.

Seth Tatterskein is just trying to hold his life together until he’s old enough to leave the Wolf King’s castle in New York and return to Boston as its Prince. His departure requires keeping his emotions in check—not an easy thing to do when your brother starts texting things like, “What kind of penguin talks?”

My Thoughts: This multi-viewpoint novel is the second in the Black Wolves of Boston series. It follows the adventures a new werewolf named Joshua who lives with a three-hundred-year-old vampire named Silas Decker. 

Seth Tatterskein is Joshua's younger brother who is the Prince of Boston. Because he's only sixteen, he's under the care of the Wolf King and living in New York. He's trying to manage Boston from a distance and with only his cousin Jack, who is one of the Wolf King's thanes, to help him. 

Elise Grigori is the fourth viewpoint character. She is a grigori whose role is to battle monsters. She's assigned to Boston which has more than its usual number of monsters because of the lack of resident werewolves. It is her family that uses Decker who has a dowsing talent to help them find the monsters. 

Joshua is a high school senior with only a few months before graduation. He's been put in a new school in Boston that was founded and is still supported by his family. He finds a circle of friends who are also gifted but not werewolves. His status as a werewolf is unknown to most of the students. He is having some problems integrating with his wolf and managing his shapechanging.

Things start to go sideways when Joshua dreams of talking penguins that he meets at the aquarium. The world is new to him. His first thought is to text Seth to ask if talking penguins are real. Seth in the middle of things in New York too. The werewolf king has come back from Europe exhausted. His son Isaiah has always been jealous of Seth and has harassed him for years with the able assistance of thanes loyal to Isaiah. Isaiah's main complaint is that the Wolf King has not yet named him Prince of New York despite the fact that he's a decade older than Seth.

Seth is also making connections with his wife. The Wolf King insisted on the marriage when Seth was still suffering with alpha amnesia. Seth doesn't even know her name but needs her help rebuilding the pack in Boston. Getting to know his wife is just one of the moves he's making to transfer to Boston. After his family died when he was thirteen, the Court was burned down which leaves Seth nowhere to live in Boston or house any werewolves he might convince to join his pack. 

Elise has a problem too. Her cousin Francis has left his monastery in Maine and evidence indicates that he might be in Boston. Francis is a Power - a nuke in human form dispatched by God to solve problems in a drastic way. 

People and events are converging in Boston, and all the viewpoint characters have roles to play if evil is to be defeated. 

This was another excellent urban fantasy story. I like the worldbuilding. I also really like that characters. All the viewpoint characters are fascinating and the new characters - mostly Joshuah's classmates - are intriguing too. 

I bought this one on release day. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Vows and Villainy by Elizabeth Penney

Vows and Villainy
Author: Elizabeth Penney
Series: The Cambridge Bookshop Series (Book 5)
Publication: Minotaur Books (November 25, 2025)

Description: Vows and Villainy is the fifth book in Elizabeth Penney's delightful Cambridge Bookshop series set in Cambridge, England, where celebrations are about to commence.

It’s wedding season in Cambridge, and Molly Kimball is thrilled that it's almost time for her best friend's special day. With the help of her boyfriend Kieran Scott, she is determined to be the best maid of honor for Daisy and Tim. Daisy’s heart is set upon a Shakespeare-themed wedding to be held at Hazelhurst House, Kieran’s family’s home. The Scotts are also hosting a Shakespeare troupe for the summer, and the actors have kindly agreed to be part of the festivities.

But all goes awry with the discovery of Sir Nigel Peck, a famous actor with a checkered past and present-day misdeeds, floating dead in the moat with flowers strewn around him, à la Ophelia. When Kieran’s brother Alan becomes a top suspect, Molly and company must investigate to uncover the ugly truth behind this picturesque scene . . . before more bodies pile up.

Can Molly solve the murder before Daisy and Tim say “I do”?

My Thoughts: The fifth Cambridge Bookshop mystery is filled with weddings. Molly is helping her friend Daisy as her wedding date nears. Daisy has her heart set on a Shakespearean wedding set at Hazelhurst House which is Molly's boyfriend Kieran's family home. Molly has been working on organizing the library and pulling out some books by and about Shakespeare to make a display at the wedding. 

Hazelhurst House is also hosting an acting troupe who will take part in the festivities. Molly is distressed when she finds the lead actor Sir Nigel Peck floating in the moat surrounded by flowers. She is even more distressed when it looks like Kieran's older brother is the prime suspect. Molly has to clear Alan and solve the murder before Daisy's wedding day.

There are lots of suspects since it turns out the Sir Nigel wasn't a very nice guy. He is being sued for causing so much emotional distress at the acting school where he taught that one of his students committed suicide. 

Meanwhile, Molly's beloved great-aunt Violet is also soon to be married to Sir Jon, a man she has loved since they met in college. However, Sir Jon's 90-something year old mother isn't at all pleased with the upcoming wedding which is distressing Violet. 

And among all the detecting and romances, it seems like Kieran is trying to ask Molly something but something always seems to be getting in his way. 

This was an engaging cozy with a wonderful Cambridge setting. 

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

ARC Review: The Marriage Method by Mimi Matthews

The Marriage Method
Author: Mimi Matthews
Series: The Crinoline Academy (Book 2)
Publication: Berkley (November 25, 2025)

Description: The Academy always comes first . . . which makes marriage to its most formidable adversary an exceedingly inconvenient arrangement.

Well removed from London’s more curious eyes, the Benevolent Academy for the Betterment of Young Ladies strives toward one clandestine goal: to distract, disrupt, and discredit men in power who would seek to harm the advancement of women—by appropriate means, of course.

When intrepid newspaper editor Miles Quincy starts to question the school’s intentions, the Academy appoints Penelope “Nell” Trewlove, one of their brightest graduates, to put this nuisance to rest. An easy enough mission, she supposes. Or it would be, if Miles wasn’t so fascinating—too fascinating to resist—and if Nell’s visit to London didn’t perfectly coincide with the murder of one of Miles’s reporters.

When the inexorable claws of fate trap Nell and Miles in a compromising situation, they agree to an arrangement that will save their reputations while enabling them to investigate the story that led to a man’s death, as well as the surprising chemistry between them . . .

My Thoughts: Penelope Trewlove from the Benevolent Academy for the Betterment of Young Ladies is sent to London the encourage newspaper editor Miles Quincy to focus his attention elsewhere. Nell hasn't left the school since she was dropped off there as a five-year-old orphan. A fall from a rooftop while rescuing a friend has caused permanent hip and thigh damage and left her with a limp. 

Nell's first meeting with Miles leads to scandal when his stray cat gets caught in her crinoline and the two are discovered trying to untangle it. Miles is very concerned with his reputation since he grew up in a slum and guards it fiercely. Nell would also lose her reputation but doesn't agree with Miles' solution of marriage as the answer. 

It isn't until Miss Quincy sends her away from the school to protect its reputation that she agrees to marry Miles. But she isn't willing to give up her secondary purpose for visiting London which involves another orphan who disappeared there while on her way to the school. Meanwhile, Miles is also searching for his missing gossip columnist.

The two agree to work together to find both missing persons which leads them into the underworld or London and the world of prostitution and murder. 

I enjoyed this historical romance which was filled with all sorts of Victorian detail. 

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

Audiobook Review: Charmed by Nora Roberts

Charmed
Author: Nora Roberts
Narrator: Cristina Panfilio
Series: The Donovan Legacy (Book 3)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (March 15, 2014)
Length: 7 hours and 1 minute

Description A young woman hides her talents—and herself—from the world until a man who’s already lost enough for a lifetime reminds her that any broken heart can be healed with hope and love in Charmed, a Donovan Legacy novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts.

Anastasia Donovan is an empath of powerful sensitivity, feeling the pain and despair of everyone she encounters. Overwhelmed, she’s chosen to close off her gift and avoid relationships at all costs. But now a new next door neighbor threatens Ana’s solitude. Widower Boone Sawyer is a devoted father to his six-year-old daughter—and a man possessed of his own gift that casts a spell Ana finds she cannot resist.

My Thoughts: CHARMED is the third book in the Donovan Legacy. Anastasia Donovan is the youngest Donovan cousin. She's an herbalist and healer who, after suffering heartbreak when telling the man she loved about her gifts, has chosen to live alone and quietly. 

Boone Sawyer is a widower with a six-year-old daughter who moves into the house next door. He's an author of children's fantasy books. His daughter Jessie has never met a stranger and quickly gets to know Annie. 

Boone is intrigued by the quiet beauty next door and wants to get to know her. The couple fall in love but Annie's secret could end things between them. 

I enjoyed catching up with the Donovan's again. Annie's older cousins have found their loves and are building strong marriages and families. In fact, the birth of Morgana and Nash's twins are a central part of this story. 

The characters are well-developed and well-rounded people. I enjoyed the magic and romance that infused this story. 

I bought this one as a Chirp Audiobook May 12, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Murder at Cottonwood Creek by Clara McKenna

Murder at Cottonwood Creek
Author: Clara McKenna 
Series: Stella and Lyndy Mystery (Book 7)
Publication: Kensington (November 25, 2025)

Description: Far from England and their beloved Morrington Hall, Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst and his American wife, heiress and equestrian Stella Kendrick—now Lady Lyndhurst—find fossils and murder in Montana . . .

Led by his passion for paleontology, Lyndy’s father, Lord Atherly, has traveled all the way to Montana, to explore the fossil-rich horse ranch owned by Stella’s mother, Katherine, and her second husband, Ned Smith. Urged by Lady Atherly to look after her husband, Stella and Lyndy follow in his wake. Stella is excited to be reunited with her mother, and Lyndy is eager to experience the real “Wild West.” Both are equally thrilled to participate in a fossil dig.

But when a local man who was guarding the dig site overnight is found the next morning dead in a creek bed, the couple fear his death may not have been an accident—especially when things get wilder still. The paleontologist on the dig has his notebook stolen, several fossil bones disappear, and a second body is found in the research tent.

No one is above suspicion—a rival paleontologist up to some skullduggery, members of their own crew, even Lord Atherly himself. Stella and Lyndy must keep digging to unearth the clues that will expose a killer in their midst—before more bones must be buried . . .

My Thoughts: Stella and Lyndy have traveled to Montana to visit Stella's mother and to reconnect with Lord Atherly who is hunting for fossils on the horse ranch owned by Katherine and her husband Ned Smith. 

Lyndy, who is fan of dime novels, is eager to see cowboys and buffalo and is a little disappointed that those days are gone. But he makes do by taking part in ranch activities and his father's fossil dig. 

There are problems. The local man who was guarding the site at nights and working as an assistant by day is found dead. The death looks suspicious to Stella and the local sheriff, but the coroner who is the local banker convinces the inquest board that it was an accident. 

When a younger paleontologist also dies in a suspicious way, Stella is convinced that he was also murdered. Determining who caused his death uncovers a variety of suspects. A reporter eager (or desperate) to send fascinating stories back East for his paper and an unscrupulous rival paleontologist lead the field of suspects. But there is also a man running a scam of selling his horses and then claiming they were stolen who could also be in the mix. 

This episode of the Stella and Lyndy mysteries is filled with danger and action, but they find their way to the solution of the mystery in this mystery set in 1906 Montana.

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

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (November 17, 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 late Fall week. There were cold days but lovely blue skies. The leaves have all fallen from the trees. No snow has fallen yet and stayed on the ground which is always a good thing in my opinion. 

I had a nice week with a lot of time for reading and listening since I had no appointments. I thought I had finished with my December review books but accepted a review book that releases on December 30 when it was offered this week. I also accepted three more review books, but they won't be released until March and April.

I bought a trilogy from Chirp this week. Actually, Chirp had the first two books on sale and Audible had the third on sale. I had read the books of the Lost Night Files by Jayne Ann Krentz as review copies in 2022, 2023, and 2024 but hadn't revisited them since. Krentz is a favorite author. I enjoy her romantic suspense titles and like the paranormal bent of the trilogy. 

My November calendar has all of my reviews scheduled. I finished the last of the November reviews this week. The only posts left to do are these Monday reports. 

It looks like December is going to be a finish-up month. I'd like to finish the rest of The Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I've read the first two and have two to go. I already have the Kindle copies but may use some of my Audible credits when it comes time to read the last two. I'd also like to listen to the final two books in The Lost Night trilogy by Krentz. And I have two more of the Harbinder Kaur series by Elly Griffith to read. I also have all four historical romances in the Black Cobra Quartet on my Kindle. I'm currently reading book 2. 

December also looks like it might be heavy on audiobooks. I already have seven audiobook reviews scheduled with potentially four more in my tentative plans. 

I had planned to listen to Nora Roberts' Sign of Seven trilogy, but I didn't care for the recording quality of the second book. I may have to dig into my stack of Nora Roberts print books if I choose to go on with the trilogy. I know I have them somewhere in my shelves and shelves of Nora Roberts books. 

Read Last Week

• The Snow Lies Deep by Paula Munier (Review, December 2) -- 7th Mercy Carr mystery set in Maine at Christmas. Someone is killing Santas. My review will be posted on November 26.
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Audiobook, Mine since November 7) -- Very popular fantasy in the book world. I enjoyed this one. My review will be posted on November 29.
• Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Audiobook, Mine since November 5, 2025) -- Second book in The Naturals series. Teens with special talents work for the FBI to solve cold cases but find themselves solving a hot one. My review will be posted on December 4.

• Civilized Behavior by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Kindle, mine since November 13, 2025) -- This chapbook contains three stories set on Colemeno which is the setting for three of the authors' recent novels. This duo is an auto-buy and "drop everything and read" author for me. 
• Gutter Mage by J. S. Kelley (Kindle, mine since September 18, 2025) -- This epic fantasy was an engaging story with great world building. My review will be posted on November 27.
• The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter (Chirp Audiobook, mine since December 4, 2024) -- Two rival authors find themselves snowed in at an estate in Scotland where they have to solve the disappearance of a famous author. Nice romance with great banter, My review will be posted on December 16.

• A Grave Deception by Connie Berry (Review, December 9) -- 6th Kate Hamilton mystery. An extremely well-preserved body is found at an archaeological dig with odd grave goods, the lead archaeologist is murdered, and the dig's sponsor wants to find out what happened to his wife who disappeared nine years earlier. My review will be posted on December 2.
• Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (Audiobook, mine since November 1) -- First Phyllida Bright mystery. She's Agatha Christie's housekeeper. The setting is England 1930. My review will be posted on December 18.
• Sleep No More by Jayne Ann Krentz (Mine since November 11, 2025) -- First romantic suspense title from the Lost Night Files trilogy. My review will be posted on December 16.

Currently

• The Elusive Bride by Stephanie Laurens (Mine since August 6, 2025) -- Second in the Black Cobra Quartet
• Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths (Mine since July 8, 2025) -- Third in the Harbinder Kaur mysteries

Next Week

I have a number of possibilities. I plan to read whatever strikes my fancy this week. 

Reviews Posted

• A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan (Audiobook)
• The Queen Who Came in from the Cold by S. J. Bennett (Review Copy)
• The Seven Rings by Nora Roberts (Review Copy)

• Blood Oath by Steve Urszenyi (Review Copy)
• At Midnight Comes the Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Review Copy)
• Midnight in Memphis by Thomas Dann (Review Copy)

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

Review:

• The Cyprian by Mercedes Lackey (Review, December 30)
• A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn (Review, March 3)

• Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn (Review, April 14)
• Liar's Creek by Matt Goldman (Review, April 21)

Bought:

• Pawn by Timothy Zahn (BookBub, $1.99)
• Civilized Behavior by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Kindle, $6.00)

• The Time Traders by Andre Norton (BookBub, $1.99)
• Middle of the Night by Riley Sager (BookBub, $1.99)
  

Audiobooks:

• Shattering Dawn (The Lost Night Files, Book 3) by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audible, $5.60)
• The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz (The Night Files, Book 2) by Jayne Ann Krentz (Chirp, $4.99)
• Sleep No More (The Lost Night Files, Book 1) by Jayne Ann Krentz (Chirp, $4.99)

What was your week like?

Audiobook Review: A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan

A Death in Door County
Author: Annelise Ryan

Narrator: Susan Bennett
Series: Monster Hunter Mysteries (Book 1)
Publication: Berkley (July 18, 2023); Penguin Audio (September 30, 2022)

Length: 10 hours and 20 minutes

Description: A Wisconsin bookstore owner and cryptozoologist is asked to investigate a series of deaths that just might be proof of a fabled lake monster in this first installment of a new mystery series by USA Today bestselling author Annelise Ryan.

Morgan Carter, owner of the Odds and Ends bookstore in Door County, Wisconsin, has a hobby. When she’s not tending the store, she’s hunting cryptids—creatures whose existence is rumored, but never proven to be real. It’s a hobby that cost her parents their lives, but one she’ll never give up on.

So when a number of bodies turn up on the shores of Lake Michigan with injuries that look like bites from a giant unknown animal, police chief Jon Flanders turns to Morgan for help. A skeptic at heart, Morgan can’t turn down the opportunity to find proof of an entity whose existence she can’t definitively rule out. She and her beloved rescue dog, Newt, journey to the strait known as Death’s Door to hunt for a homicidal monster in the lake—but if they’re not careful, she just might be its next victim.

My Thoughts: Police Chief Jon Flanders comes to Morgan Carter to hire her because he has a problem. There have been some strange deaths both human and animal that look to be caused by some sort of large, unknown creature. 

Morgan is a cryptozoologist who also runs an eccentric bookstore in Door County, Wisconsin. She is a professional skeptic who searches for cryptids despite not being at all sure she believes in them. Morgan takes the job. She and Jon and Morgan's rescue dog Newt begin to investigate what is going on near the strait known as Death's Door. 

The story was action packed, and information packed too. I learned a lot about cryptids and the numerous shipwrecks that litter the lake bottom near Door County. Morgan is an interesting character who is wary of human relationships especially romantic relationships. She recently lost her parents who were murdered. She was briefly accused of the crime since she couldn't convince the cops that her boyfriend was the likely suspect. He was romancing Morgan for her substantial riches and, it turns out, flying under an assumed name and identity. 

This was a fun story that is the first in a series. 

I bought the Kindle copy July 23 and the audiobook August 18. You can buy your copy here.