Friday Memes: The Untitled Books by C. J. Archer

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

The Friday 56 was hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place. 

Beginning:

There can be no doubt that the most enchanting way to spend a wet day is indoors with a cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other. 

Friday 56:

"Everyone is a suspect until they can be ruled out," Gabe said.

Huon rolled his eyes. "You are a walking cliche, Glass."

This week I am spotlighting The Untitled Books by C. J. Archer. This is the third book in The Glass Library series. Here's the description from Amazon:

A curated collection of magic…and murder.

When a set of bound manuscripts written on magician-made paper is brought to the Glass Library, Sylvia and the professor send the owner away. After all, the library collects books about magic, not containing it.

But the murder of the bookbinder who bound them sees the books returned to the library, along with Gabe in his role as consultant for Scotland Yard. When his investigation uncovers a link to Sylvia’s past, they’re even more determined to find the murderer. But they’re not the only ones searching for answers. Someone has gone to great lengths to find the truth behind the binding of the books.

The hunt for the killer leads them to dark corners of London and unscrupulous players with much to gain by owning the collection. It also leads to the discovery of long-buried secrets, and staggering revelations that shed light on Sylvia’s past.

ARC Review: Star-Crossed Egg Tarts by Jennifer J. Chow

Star-Crossed Egg Tarts
Author: Jennifer J. Chow
Series: Magical Fortune Cookie (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (January 21, 2025)

Description: Felicity Jin returns in the second book in the heart-warming and deliciously mysterious Magical Fortune Cookie series from Lilian Jackson Braun Award-nominee Jennifer J. Chow.

Jin Bakery has been asked to cater the Lum-Wu outdoor wedding at Pixie Park. The day of the ceremony, Felicity is finishing the “cake” of tiered egg tarts as the wedding party arrives for the ceremony. When one of the groomsmen, Miles Wu, doesn’t arrive, Felicity’s best friend and local florist Kelvin generously steps in for him and the wedding goes smoothly―until cake cutting time.

That’s when Felicity finds Miles’ dead body beneath the table with her egg tarts display, stabbed by Kelvin’s gardening shears. With the detective’s sights on Kelvin, Felicity starts sleuthing away to prove his innocence, revealing dark secrets about all the wedding's attendants. They each had something to hide―and a reason to quiet Miles forever. To make matters worse, Felicity’s powers of prediction are on the fritz thanks to the emotional turmoil of a surprise visit from her estranged father.

When the groom gets poisoned at the send-off party and winds up in a coma, the stakes are even higher, not to mention Felicity’s feelings for Kelvin are beginning to feel more than friendly. Will Felicity’s magic return in time to catch the true culprit and rescue her budding relationship with Kelvin?

My Thoughts: This cozy mystery is the second in the Magical Fortune Cookies series. Felicity Jin has been hired to supply a wedding cake of tiered egg tarts for the Lum-Wu wedding being held outdoors in Pixie Park. Besides the groom's bickering parents, things are going well until a body is discovered underneath the cake table. 

Miles Wu is a cousin of the groom's and is found with Felicity's best friend Kelvin's pruning shears stabbed into his neck. In order to clear her best friend's name, Felicity goes on the case to discover who murdered Miles and discovers that most of the wedding party had sufficient motives to want him dead.

Adding to the stress, Felicity meets her father for the first time since he is a guest at the wedding. Richard Zhou abandoned his wife and daughter when Felicity was an infant. While her mother is very bitter, Felicity has always been curious about him. Deciding whether or not she wants to build a relationship with her absentee father is a problem that winds through this story. 

This was an entertaining cozy mystery. Felicity's ability to design custom fortunes in the fortune cookies she bakes in the bakery she owns with her mother helps in solving the case. I liked the small town setting although I question the viability of a bakery that only sells three items even if they are magical. I liked Felicity's determination to solve the murder and clear her friend. I also liked that she was gradually and hesitantly changing her relationship with Kelvin as she discovers that friendship can also be romantic love. 

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

Book Review: The Tiger Next Door by Elva Birch and Zoe Chant

The Tiger Next Door
Author: Elva Birch & Zoe Chant
Series: Green Valley Shifters (Book 2)
Publication: Zoe Chant (September 1, 2018)

Description: What’s more stubborn -- fate, or a five-year-old?

Tiger shifter and businessman, Shaun always wanted to spend more time with the child his ex-wife took away from him -- but he wasn't expecting her to abandon five-year old Trevor and force Shaun to move to the tiny town of Green Valley. It’s bad enough that Shaun doesn’t know the first thing about being a father -- now suddenly he’s the father of an unpredictable shifter child.

Hawk shifter and preschool teacher, Andrea knows better than to fall for Trevor’s father -- no matter how good he looks with a colander on his head. But the electricity between them is impossible to resist, and when the lights in his house go out, the sparks that fly aren’t only in the fuse box.

Abandoned by his mother, all that Trevor has ever asked for is love and stability, and Shaun is determined to give that to him at any cost. Even if it means denying that the hot next door neighbor is his destined mate.

The Tiger Next Door is a sizzling shifter romance set in the small town of Green Valley, with secret shifters and second chances.

My Thoughts: This cute paranormal romance stars a businessman who gains sudden custody of his young son and goes to live with him in the town of Green Valley so that he can continue to attend his beloved preschool. 

Shaun, who is a tiger shifter, thinks the move will only be temporary. He isn't expecting to fall in love at first sight with his son Trevor's preschool teacher Andrea who happens to be a hawk shifter. Things are complicated when his son makes him promise not to fall in love with Andrea.

Andrea's inner hawk has recognized Shaun as her mate too. But she's worried that he will soon be leaving. So Shaun and Andrea begin an affair that they keep secret from Trevor. The premise of the affair is that she is teaching him about home improvements for his house. 

Meanwhile, Shaun is questioning his life choices and contemplating a career chance while dealing with a preschooler who is shifting to a lion when he gets stressed. 

This was a nice story with interesting characters and cute kids. I enjoyed the small town setting and the paranormal elements. 

I bought this one January 17, 2024, at BookBub for $.99. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove

Mask of the Deer Woman
Author: Laurie L. Dove
Publication: Berkley (January 21, 2025)

Description: To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself.

At rock bottom following her daughter’s death, ex–Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation where he was raised, but the tribe needs a new marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home.

In the past decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some have ended up dead, others just…gone. Now local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to save.

Starr feels lost in this place she thought would welcome her. And when she catches a glimpse of a figure from her father’s stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, Starr can’t shake the feeling that the fearsome spirit is watching her, following her.

What she doesn’t know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.

My Thoughts: Carrie Starr has just taken a job as marshal on the reservation in Oklahoma that her father came from. She's running from her past and trying to outrun her grief at the death of her seventeen-year-old daughter. She left the Chicago PD under a cloud. Now, she's self-medicating with whiskey and weed.

The BIA has hired her because so many indigenous women are missing or murdered. A dozen or so have disappeared from the reservation where Carrie is working. She arrives to find that another young woman has gone missing. Her mother is certain that foul play is involved. Carrie isn't so sure and doesn't put her all into the investigation. Then the body of another young woman is discovered which ramps up her investigation.

Meanwhile, we also hear part of the story from some other viewpoints including the town mayor and a local rancher who are both depending on an oil company deciding to do some fracking on reservation land and who might have reasons to want the first missing young woman to stay missing. She's investigating the possibility that there is a rare colony of rare beetles somewhere on the reservation. Proving it will scuttle the mayor and rancher's plans and cost them lots and lots of money.

The story was very atmospheric and introspective. It was hard reading about Carrie's grief and seeing her make bad choices. I liked the legend of the Deer Woman which infused the whole story.

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

ARC Review: A Killer's Code by Isabella Maldonado

A Killer's Code
Author: Isabella Maldonado
Series: Daniela Vega (Book 3)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (January 21, 2025)

Description: A dead man’s riddles―and secrets―thrust an FBI codebreaker into a deadly cross-country race for justice in a propulsive thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.

During a recent undercover sting gone bad, hit man Gustavo Toro died in the arms of FBI Special Agent Daniela “Dani” Vega. But Toro had secrets he refused to take to the grave.

In the event of his death, Toro left behind a video that promises to expose a mysterious mastermind who has been operating with impunity for decades. But there’s a catch. Dani’s team must follow Toro’s cryptic clues on a cross-country hunt for justice, and piecing together his past is more twisted than Dani could have imagined.

But as Dani and her team race to gather the evidence, it’s clear this powerful adversary will stop at nothing to keep their secrets―including eliminating those who threaten to reveal them.

My Thoughts: When Gustavo Toro was murdered, he left his secrets to the head of the FBI if his people could follow the clues to find Toro's buried treasure including evidence that will incriminate the person who hired and assigned him as an assassin, 

Dani Vega, Steve Wu, Detective Flint, and computer specialist Sanjeev Patel are the ones assigned to follow Toro's cryptic clues. But the enemies who want to find and destroy the clues first seem to always be one step ahead. 

The team goes on a nationwide hunt for Toro's treasure from New York to Miami and a cruise ship, to Denver and to the Arizona desert. 

I enjoyed the fast-paced action in this thriller and liked the flashbacks to the last days of Toto's life. I also liked the shifts in viewpoints from the heroes to the villains. The story was filled with interesting new technology and gadgets. It was also filled with complex characters who had to deal with moral dilemmas. 

This is the third Daniela Vega thriller. I like the way we get to see how Dani has changed.

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

ARC Review: A Death in Diamonds by SJ Bennett

A Death in Diamonds
Author: S, J. Bennett
Series: Her Majesty the Queen Investigates (Book 4)
Publication: BONNIER BOOKS (October 29, 2024)

Description: The royally brilliant fourth book in the Her Majesty the Queen Investigates mystery series!

1957 - A young woman is found dead in a mews house a mile from Buckingham Palace, wearing only silk underwear and a a diamond tiara. An older man is discovered nearby, garrotted and pierced through the eye with a long, sharp implement.

According to the police, a high society card game was going on downstairs that night. One of the players surely committed the murders, but each of them can give the others an alibi.

When someone very close to her is implicated, the young Queen is drawn in to the investigation...

My Thoughts: The fourth book in the Her Majesty the Queen Investigates goes back to the beginning. Set in 1957, Her Majesty is busy with overseas tours, a growing family, and courtiers who are left over from her father's reign. She has come to believe that one of those relics are trying to sabotage her reign.

Meanwhile, there has been a double murder with royal connections. A courtesan and a criminal were found brutally dead in a room in the rental of a cleric with ties to royalty. The inspector assigned by the police is trying but is being stonewalled at some higher levels of government.

In the palace, Her Majesty is trying to work around her courtiers by promoting a promising young woman from the typing pool into the ranks of her personal aides. Joan McGraw had a distinguished career during WWII until she blew things by outing her incompetent superior. Since then, she has been trying to make ends meet in the typing pool. When the Queen picks her out to help her investigate the murder and identify the traitor in the palace, Joan has a chance to use all those skills she learned.

The story was nicely complex. The characters were well-drawn. I liked the look into Buckingham Palace and the early days of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

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? (January 13, 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 quiet week. Early in the week I drove to the grocery store since the roads were clear and bare. It snowed Saturday and Sunday which means my car will remain garaged until the roads are clear again. I woke up Sunday morning and looked out on an accumulation of between 4 and 6 inches of the fluffy white stuff. 

This week my Reels obsession seems to have been focused on extreme couponers. I'm forever fascinated by the women who seem to spend all their time finding deals and stocking up on stuff. It looks easy until I wonder what the devil I would do with a dozen large bottles of laundry detergent, a dozen tubes of toothpaste, and many, many toothbrushes. 

I've also been fascinated lately by all those people working with sourdough and all those people leading vegetarian lifestyles. Some of the recipes sound really good. 

There wasn't much cooking here this past week. My brother used January's part of his Christmas gift (One free pizza a month from Sammy's), and we had pizza one evening when he only worked until 5. He made a chicken stir fry on his day off because we were both feeling like we needed more vegetables in our life. This week he won't be home for dinner except on his days off. 

I had a rather slow reading week (for me). I finally finished Change of Heart which had a really slow beginning. Then I went to read my review copy of The Last Hamilton by Jenn Bregman. I found when I opened the file that my copy began at Chapter Four. I couldn't download it again because it had been archived. I had to mark it Did Not Review, but I explained the reason. Since I have a 93% Feedback Ratio, I wasn't too distressed about not reading and reviewing it though I'm still curious about the story. 

This was a massive week for Review books. I added fourteen new stories. Nine of them are by authors I've read before. I also took advantage of BookBub deals to add seven new Kindle books for less than $8. One of the new Kindle books is the first in the series. I received the second book to review this week. Ciar Byrne is a new author for me, but I enjoy historical mysteries and thought a series where Virginia Woolf was sleuth had possibilities. 

This week should have lots of reading time. My brother works until closing (11 PM) for each of his shifts this week. He starts anywhere from 3:30 to 6 which means dinners together will be unlikely. I printed some interesting veggie-filled recipes from my internet browsing this week. Maybe we'll try one on one of his days off. Inspired by some Reels I watched about purging and reorganizing, I also cleaned out our pantry cupboard and discovered an interesting recipe on the back of the box of barley that we want to try. 

Read Last Week

• Rest in Pink by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer (Kindle/Audiobook; Mine since October 26, 2024) -- This is the second in the Liz Danger series which are humorous mystery romances. My review will be posted on February 11.
• One in Vermillion by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer (Kindle/Audiobook; Mine since October 26, 2024) -- This is the finale of the Liz Danger series. My review will be posted on February 18.
• Change of Heart by Dr. Cristina LePort (Review; February 4) -- This medical thriller was stronger on medical and weaker on thriller. My review will be posted on February 1)

• Fate of the Union by Max Allan Collins (Audiobook; Mine since June 28, 2024) -- Near future political thriller which is second in a trilogy. My review will be posted on February 4.
• Diviner's Bow by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Review; April 1) -- I purchased the eARC from Baen Books and couldn't wait to read this next book in the Liaden Universe. I really enjoyed it. My review will be posted on March 29.
• Only Cold Depths by Jennifer Estep (Audiobook; Mine since December 10, 2024) -- This is the fourth in the Galactic Bonds space opera series. My review will be posted on February 20.

Currently

• Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett (Review; February 11)

Next Week

• Get Lost with You by Sophie Sullivan (Review; February 11)
• The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (Review; February 11)
• Cold As Hell by Kelley Armstrong (Review; February 18)

• No Comfort for the Dead by R. P. O'Donnell (Review; February 11)
• The Dragon's Dedication by Marie Johnston (Mine since 12/31/2024) - BookBub, Free
• Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson (Review; February 18) - YA

Reviews Posted

• The Good, the Bad, and the Emus by Donna Andrews (Audiobook)
• The Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato (Mine)
• Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens by Andrea Penrose (Audiobook)

• Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh (Review Copy)
• The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime by Vicki Delany (Review Copy)
• Light on Bone by Kathryn Lasky (Audiobook)

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

Review:

• White King by Juan Gomez-Jurado (Review; March 11)
• Code Word Romance by Carlie Walker (Review; March 18)
• Diviner's Bow by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Review; April 1)

• Bait and Swiss by Korina Moss (Review; April 29)
• Shot Through the Book by Eva Gates (Review; May 6)
• The Fatal Scroll by Eric Siblin (Review; May 6)

• Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay (Review; May 6)
• Archangel's Ascension by Nalini Singh (Review; May 6)
• Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala (Review; May 13)

• Death and the Librarian by Victoria Gilbert (Review; July 8)
• The Myth Maker by Alie Dumas Heidt (Review; July 8)
• Fateless by Julie Kagawa (Review; July 15) - YA

• The Last Wizard's Ball by Charlaine Harris (Review; July 22)
• A Lethal Cocktail by Ciar Byrne (Review; August 26)

Bought:

• Wordhunter by Stella Sands (BookBub, $1.99)
• The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson (BookBub, $1.99) - YA

• The Sea House by Louise Douglas (Kindle, $.99)
• A Deadly Discovery by Ciar Byrne (Kindle, $.99)
• This Is Not a Dead Girl Story by Kate Sweeney (BookBub, $1.99) - YA

• Midnight Serenade by Dusty Rose (BookBub, Free)
• Bound for Murder by Audrey Shine (BookBub, Free)

What was your week like?