Monday, July 6, 2026

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (July 6, 2026)

 It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

This was a quiet week. The "heat wave" did give us a couple of days in the mid-80s. We were alternating between running the air conditioner and throwing open the windows. Right now, Sunday morning, it is 69 degrees and the windows are open. We also had a few thunderstorms run through the area which delayed but didn't postpone the 4th of July festivities. I heard the fireworks going off but couldn't see them from my house. 

I spent some of this week doing setups for my August calendar and looking back at June's reading. Posts for books this week will complete my July calendar and begin August's. With lots of review books on the calendar, I'll likely be relistening to some audiobooks so that I don't get too far out of sync on my calendar. I have eight review books to read before my next scheduled audiobook. 

This coming week should be quiet too. I have no appointments or cooking plans. My brother works through the supper hour every day that he works so no suppers together. He does have Monday and Thursday off, but we have no meals planned for either of those days. This looks to be another "what do you want to eat?" week. 

June Reading

I read 33 books in June. Twenty-one were mine including seven from by TBR Pile and fourteen rereads. I also read twelve review copies. All of the twenty-one books that were mine were audiobooks for a total of 262 hours of listening. Most of the audiobooks duplicated books that I already had in unread Kindle versions. Each of them lowered TBR mountain by two books. Others of my rereads were some of my favorite books from the Liaden Universe.

I added 36 new books to my LibraryThing account. Eighteen were review copies and ten were audiobooks. I used one Audible Credit and many of my other new audiobooks were on sale. All but one of my new Kindle books were Kindle Daily Deals or BookBub deals. Of the books I bought, eight are still on the TBR Pile. 


Read Last Week
  • Neogenesis by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread)
  • Accepting the Lance by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread)
  • Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst (Review, July 28) -- A romantasy which is third in the Spellshop series. My review will be posted on July 21)
  • Dachshund Through the Snow by David Rosenfelt (Audiobook, Mine since June 5) -- 20th Andy Carpenter mystery. My review will be posted on July 24.
  • Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath (Review, July 28) -- Historical romance. My review will be posted on July 22.
  • Fossil Feud by Maggie North (Review, July 28) -- Contemporary romance. Two rival paleontologists fall in love. My review will be posted on July 23.
  • Falling Awake by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, Mine since December 3, 2025) -- Early Krentz with elements of the paranormal along with the romance. My review will be posted on July 23.
  • The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, Mine since April 26) -- Second in a recent Krentz paranormal romance trilogy. My review will be posted on July 30.
  • Probable Caws by Donna Andrews (Review, August 4) -- 39th Meg Langslow mystery centers around a horse rescue organization. My review will be posted on July 28.
DNF
  • Buyer Beware by Catherine Ryan Howard (Review, July 28) -- I read 20%. I didn't like the writing style or the characters.
Currently
Next Week
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:
Bought:
What was your week like?
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Friday, July 3, 2026

Audiobook Review: See How They Hide by Allison Brennan

See How They Hide
Author: Allison Brennan
Narrator: Suzanne T. Fortin
Series: Quinn & Costa (Book 6)
Publication: Mira (January 7, 2025)
Length: 11 hours and 21 minutes

Description: No matter how far you run, some pasts never let you go…

Two people were murdered—at the exact same time, in the same gruesome manner, bodies covered in the same red poppies…but on opposite sides of the country.

With Detective Kara Quinn investigating in Oregon and Special Agent Matt Costa in Virginia, the Mobile Response Team digs deep to uncover more about each victim. What is the link between the two, and why were they targeted?

Yet their search unearths more questions than answers—until they meet Riley Pierce, the only person still alive who might be able to help them find the killers.

Soon, it becomes clear this case is nothing like they’ve seen before as their investigation leads them to the hallowed grounds of Havenwood—an eerily beautiful place rooted in a terrifying past.

As more bodies turn up, all tied to the same community, Kara and Matt are desperate to piece the puzzle together before Havenwood’s leader sacrifices everything to keep her secrets buried.

My Thoughts: The sixth Quinn and Costa thriller begins with Kara Quinn investigating a murder in Oregon while Matt Costa is investigating a murder in Virginia. The thing that is the most baffling is that both victims had their throats slit and body strewn with poppies. Otherwise, there are no connections between a middle-aged accountant in Virginia and a college student in Oregon.

With the help of Riley Pierce who was the Oregon student's roommate, the Mobile Response Team is on the case of tracking down a cult who is murdering anyone who dares to leave it. Riley was born into the cult and is the daughter of the current leader. She spent years helping her aunt get people out of the cult and settle into new lives. Riley finally faked her own death to escape.

Havenwood started out as a refuge for those who were unhappy with life in a busy world. Riley's grandmother founded Havenwood but since her death the cult has grown more insular under her daughter's leadership. It is her daughter and her sycophants who began murdering anyone who wanted to leave. 

The MRT has to protect Riley while trying to discover just where the cult's headquarters are if they want to stop the killing spree. 

This was an entertaining thriller. I like the way the relationship between Matt and Kara is developing as she makes a place for herself in the MRT. The rivalry with the team's psychiatrist begins to mellow in this one. 

Fans of the series won't want to miss this episode.

I bought the Kindle book December 31, 2025, and the audiobook June 4, 2026. You can buy your copy here.
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Thursday, July 2, 2026

Audiobook Review: Murder on the Clock by Lucy Connelly

Murder on the Clock
Author: Lucy Connelly
Narrator: Kimberly M. Wetherell
Series: Mercy McCarthy Mystery (Book 4)
Publication: Bookouture (November 14, 2025)
Length: 6 hours and 42 minutes

Description: The town of Shamrock Cove is gearing up for a grand summer festival… but the fête turns fatal when a clockmaker is killed. Can amateur sleuth Mercy McCarthy crack the case?

When Mercy McCarthy takes her beloved mother’s watch to be fixed, she’s completely charmed by the little repair store and the father-and-son duo who run it. Little does she know that the clock is ticking… when she returns, she finds the father lying unconscious amid broken glass, and her mother’s watch is missing.

The police think Mr. Flynn was attacked in a burglary gone wrong but soon suspects closer to home start coming out of the clockwork. Mercy, her sister, and their canine sidekick, master body sniffer-outer Mr. Poe, set out to gather clues and help the local detective find the killer.

Could it be the family next door to the Flynns who’ve been feuding for decades? His fiercest rival, who’s long dreamed of shutting him down? Or was his son less devoted than he seemed? As the hours tick away, another murder and the discovery of a long-buried secret changes everything…

The summer festival is fast approaching. Can Mercy solve the mystery in the nick of time, or will someone stop her clock?

My Thoughts: Mercy begins this story by taking a watch inherited from her mother to the local watch repair shop to see if she can get it working to gift her sister on their upcoming birthday. She likes Mr. Flynn and his son and is therefore distressed when she learns that his shop has been broken into and he has been gravely injured. She is even more distressed to learn that her mother's watch was stolen during the event.

Local police Detective Inspector Kieran has recruited Mercy to help him investigate since most of his officers are down with the flu. Also, he figures that he can keep Mercy out of trouble if he enlists her help. 

When the son is also injured and dies on Mercy's back doorstep, Mercy is even more involved. There are a number of possible perpetrators including the family who lives next to the Flynn's farm who are convinced that he has cheated them out of some of their land. Also, the local jeweler is convinced that the Flynn's are stealing business from him by repairing jewelry in addition to watches. 

Lots of secrets are uncovered as Mercy and Kieran investigate including secret romances and a mother who isn't nearly as dead as Mr. Flynn had said.

This was another entertaining cozy mystery. I like the way Mercy and Kieran's relationship is progressing. There is even a hint that Mercy's sister Lizzie might be finding a new love interest after her earlier tragic losses. 

One thread that began in the first book concerns a potential stalker who just might be the women's unknown father. This thread is still in need of resolution. 

I bought this one April 8. You can buy your copy here.
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ARC Review: Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox

Pretty Death Things
Author: Kelsey Cox
Publication: Minotaur Books (July 7, 2026)

Description: Secrets emerge as a Texas beauty pageant turns dealy in this rich and addictive novel with a jaw-dropping twist from psychological suspense author Kelsey Cox.

2000: Isabelle Whitmore vanishes at Sherman Ranch in Anhalt, Texas, without a trace.

2025: The Lone Star Princess Pageant is about to begin, but this year it’s offering more than an annual dose of rhinestone heels and plunging necklines. Competition is stiffer than ever ―and long standing grudges are about to resurface. Ingrid fled Anhalt in the wake of her sister Isabelle’s disappearance and has now returned, just in time for a construction crew to start digging up Sherman Ranch; the pageant brings up past traumas that Melanie can't forget; Cat, newly sober, starts to feel threatened in ways that bring back old demons; and Sarah Lynn, who comes from a long line of pageant winners, knows that losing is not an option.

When old resentments and new confrontations reach their boiling point, temperatures drop to deadly degrees as a record-setting storm brings down the state’s power grid. With everyone trapped under one roof, scores will be settled, and more than one person will end up dead.

Beauty dies. Secrets never do.

My Thoughts: Secrets are revealed and rivalries rekindled at the 2025 Lone Star Princess Pageant in Anhalt, Texas. 

Ingrid Whitmore is back home in Anhalt after many years in Colorado. Her mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and she wants to help her. Besides, her marriage has fallen apart, and she still has questions about her sister's disappearance when the twins were seventeen.

Her mother's nurse is Melanie who was also one of Ingrid and Isabelle's classmates. One Ingrid and Kennedy Claire and their social set bullied including the time they left her naked on the river as a prank. 

There are four main viewpoint characters in this story. Their viewpoints alternate. The story also has flashbacks to 2000 and 2017 along with the main timeline of 2025. The 2025 timeline is centered around the latest Lone Star Princess Pageant.

Viewpoints include Ingrid's, Melanie's, Sarah Lynn's (Kennedy Claire's daughter and current Lone Star Princess contestant), and Cat's who was another of Ingrid, Isabelle, and Melanie's classmates and whose daughter Olivia is also a pageant contestant as is Melanie's daughter. 

As each chapter unfolds, we learn more about the rivalries and we learn more about Isabelle's disappearance and what it meant to all the characters. At first, the story was a little confusing to me. It improved greatly once I had managed to build a mental timeline and family trees. 

This was a twisty thriller with a number of twists and surprises. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2026

State of the Stack (July 1, 2026)

 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 

Dates indicate the date the review was/will be posted.
  1. Dead Men Don't Play Fetch by David Rosenfelt (June 30)
  2. The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance by Chiara Bullen (July 1)
  3. Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox (July 2)
  4. Killer Vibes by Jack Friday (July 7)
  5. Unpredictable Magic by Faith Hunter (July 7)
  6. The Cloak and Dagger Club by Jackie McMahon (July 8)
  7. Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead (July 9)
  8. If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle (July 14)
  9. Savvy Summers and the Po'boy Perils by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (July 15)
  10. Death at King's Cross by Rosanne Limoncelli (July 16)
  11. Deadly Does It by Abbi Waxman (July 16)
  12. The Seance Garden by Juliet Blackwell (July 21)
  13. The Lightning Girl by Sam Ripley (December 3)
DNF
  1.  
Read Previously, Posted This Month 

Dates indicate when the review was posted.
  1. Beach Thriller by Jamie Day (June 2)
  2. A Botanist's Guide to Tradition and Treachery by Kate Khavari (June 3)
  3. Murder at the Spirit Lounge by Jess Kidd (June 9)
  4. The Last Time We Saw Her by Jaclyn Goldis (June 9)
  5. Wildflower by Becky Jenkinson (June 10)
  6. Restless Bones by Gillian French (June 11)
  7. A Bitter Cut by Anna Lee Huber (June 18)
  8. Storm Tide by Paul Doiron (June 23)
  9. The Neighbors Are Watching by Aggie Blum Thompson (June 24)
  10. Enter the Nightmare by Jane Castle (June 25)
New This Month

Date indicates when the book will be released.
  1. If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle (July 21)
  2. Homeward for a Spell by Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos (August 18)
  3. The Bravest Hour by Anna Lee Huber (August 25)
  4. The Chase by Felix Francis (September 8)
  5. Until She Dies by Kendra Elliot (September 8)
  6. A Deadly Entanglement by Cathy Pegau (September 15)
  7. Where There's Smoke by Rachel Louise Adams (October 6)
  8. Jay to the World by Donna Andrews (October 13)
  9. The Bone Woman by Paige Shelton (October 27)
  10. Midnight in the House of Commons by Charles Finch (November 3)
  11. You, Me, & the Conspiracy by Emma Barry (November 10)
  12. Bad Company by Sara Paretsky (November 10)
  13. Fall for a Fairytale by Isabelle Taylor (November 10)
  14. Murder Unabridged by P. J. Nelson (December 1)
  15. Revenge in a Small Town by Delia Pitts (December 1)
  16. Meet Me at Midnight by Sophie Sullivan (December 8)
  17. Scream City by Hannah Morrissey (January 26, 2027)
  18. Tell Me What You See by Samantha Jayne Allen (March 2, 2027)
All TBR Review Books

July
August
September

October
November
December
2027
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ARC Review: The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance by Chiara Bullen

The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance
Author: Chiara Bullen
Publication: Del Rey (July 7, 2026)

Description: A young aspiring scholar is sent to research the mysteries of an adventurer’s inn—only to uncover a centuries-old secret, while finding true friendship and a new home, in this uplifting cozy fantasy.

Mount Vengeance is legendary. For most, it’s an adventure or a quest to prove themselves worthy of fame and glory. For Ainsworth Gladsly, it’s the perfect thesis material.

Ainsworth is an ambitious research fellow and up-and-coming historian, finally ready to make his mark on the world. When his supervisor learns of the rumored Misnich Inn at the foot of Mount Vengeance, she sends Ainsworth to be the first to document the exploits of the bold adventurers who seek to face the perils of the mountain and the dragon said to inhabit it.

The inn is far from the sophisticated city life he’s grown to love, but even as he grudgingly warms to its rustic charm—and its lovely innkeeper, Honey—the mystery of the mountain refuses to reveal itself. Worse, Ainsworth can’t find evidence that anyone has ever undertaken the climb. Even the bravest warriors who stay at the inn turn away from Mount Vengeance the next day.

With Ainsworth’s reputation on the line, he can’t allow this mystery to remain unsolved—even if he has to push the adventurers up the mountain himself.

My Thoughts: Ainsworth Gladsly is a scholar from the noted Skarrow Library. He is looking for a project to make his reputation and discovers Mount Vengeance. He thinks studying the adventurers who climb it in search of the dragon and its horde would be his breakthrough project.

He travels to the Misnich Inn which is at the foot of the mountain where he meets Honey and her staff which includes a famous chef looking for a more satisfying life. He arrives arrogant and certain that he is better than those who live at the inn and it takes a while for the city veneer to be scraped off to reveal the man he really is. 

Ainsworth was a poor scholarship student who was adopted by the upper snobbish group which made him feel it was necessary for him to adopt their ways. He even had an abusive lover, and it was their breakup that was part of the reason he come to Misnich Inn in the first place.

The story is filled with wonderful worldbuilding and interesting characters. Watching Ainsworth become the man he was supposed to be was a gradual process. I especially enjoyed that he found a home and someone to love who accepted him as he was. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Audiobook Review: Death by Irish Whiskey by Catie Murphy

Death by Irish Whiskey
Author: Catie Murphy
Narrator: Ruth Urquhart
Series: Dublin Driver Mysteries (Book 5)
Publication: Tantor Media (April 9, 2024)
Length: 6 hours and 38 minutes

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

The competition for best whiskey in Ireland will be a publicity bonanza for the winner, and that means there are celebrities involved-like boxer Angus McConal and Megan's friend Niamh, an up-and-coming actress who's teamed up with Megan's uncle, the retired Sligo harbormaster. But rivalries and revelries turn out to be a bad blend when McConal dies at a whiskey tasting. Megan promised her girlfriend she'd quit her amateur sleuthing, but with Niamh and her uncle as suspects, she's over a barrel.

With her relationship on the rocks, Megan gets in even deeper when a second entrant in the competition is killed—and her investigation starts zeroing in on a suspect. Now she just needs proof . . .

My Thoughts: The fifth Dublin Driver mystery has Megan attending a whiskey competition. Her uncle has turned to making whiskey after his retirement as Sligo harbormaster and her friend Niamh is the face of the brand since she's an up-and-coming actress. When another of the competitors dies, Megan finds herself involved in the case despite how much her girlfriend Yelana hates it. But Megan can't turn her back on her uncle and friend. Niamh didn't have a past with the murder victim, but Uncle Rory did. He had a relationship with the man's wife many years ago. 

There are lots of other relationships tangled up in the murder too as the whiskey scene seems somewhat incestuous. Then a second contestant dies and a third. Megan finds herself deeply involved even though it is costing her relationship with Yelena who leaves her during this episode. 

Megan is heartbroken but she has a lot of support from family and friends as she investigates and solves the murder. 

I bought this one April 8, 2026. You can buy your copy here.
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