Audiobook Review: New York to Dallas by J. D. Robb

New York to Dallas
Author: J. D. Robb
Narrator: Susan Erickson
Series: In Death (Book 33)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (September 13, 2011)
Length: 14 hours and 17 minutes

Description: It was one of Eve Dallas’s earliest takedowns, back in her uniform days. A monster named Isaac McQueen had been abducting young victims and leaving them scarred in both mind and body. Thanks to Eve, he wound up where he belonged, removed from civilized society in Rikers. But he’s not behind bars anymore.

After his escape, McQueen has two things in mind. One is to take up where he left off, preying on the young and innocent - when necessary, with the help of a female partner all too willing to be manipulated and to aid and abet his crimes. His other goal: to get revenge on the woman who stopped him all those years ago, now a high-profile lieutenant in the NYPSD and married to one of the city’s richest men.

Commanding Eve’s attention with a chilling and brazen crime, McQueen sets off the chase - forcing Eve down a road marked with blood and tears, a road that eventually leads southwest to Dallas, Texas, the home Eve fled long ago. And each new twist brings her closer to the harrowing memory of when she wasn’t a hardened detective but a vulnerable girl just like McQueen’s innocent prey. As her husband, Roarke, tries to rescue her from the nightmares that claw at her mind, and her partner, Peabody, doggedly works to support her, Eve must confront - and call upon - the darkest parts of her own soul in order to survive.

My Thoughts: NEW YORK TO DALLAS is the 33rd book in the In Death series and is one of the most emotionally intense episodes. 

The story begins with a case that she worked when she was a rookie. Isaac McQueen was a violent pedophile who has imprisoned more than twenty young girls in his apartment. Eve stumbles onto the situation when she is knocking on doors looking for witnesses to a mugging which resulted in death. McQueen was convicted of a number of crimes and sentenced to Rikers Island. The situation caused Eve to open the door a little bit to her past which she thought she had successfully buried.

At least ten years have passed, Eve has become a decorated Homicide Lieutenant, fallen in love, married Roarke, and uncovered more of the past she had buried. But now McQueen has escaped from prison leaving a dead guard behind and wants a rematch with Eve.

He moves his crimes to Dallas where he abducts one of his previous victims. Eve has to leave her comfortable setting and return to Dallas. Dallas holds only horrible memories for her. It was in Dallas that she killed her abusive father while he was raping her. She was nine. Found wandering and without any memory of her past, she was placed in the foster care system and name Eve Dallas by a social worker. 

Returning to Dallas triggers the nightmares that she thought she had conquered and flashbacks to a time when she was abused and raped by her father. But this time she's not alone. Not only is Roarke there with her to help and support her, but Dr. Mira has come too. Mira has gradually grown through the books to be almost a mother-figure to Eve. This is essential in this case because McQueen has a partner who just happens who has ties to Eve. 

And, besides Eve, McQueen is hunting for a new "bad girl" - a young, innocent thirteen-year-old girl. 

This was an excellent story. The relationship between Eve and Roarke is one of the best romantic pairings that I have ever read. 

I bought this one on sale from Audible December 1, 2023. I bought the hardcover August 15, 2011. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell

Dead of Summer
Author: Jessa Maxwell
Publication: Atria Books (July 22, 2025)

Description: Years after her best friend mysteriously disappeared from a remote New England island, a young woman returns in search of answers in this atmospheric and scintillating thriller from Jessa Maxwell, nationally bestselling author of the “deliciously entertaining” (Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author) The Golden Spoon.

Orla O’Connor hasn’t been to the isolated New England enclave of Hadley Island since she graduated from high school a decade ago. As a teenager, her best friend Alice disappeared from its shores without a trace—but with plenty of rumors.

Now, Orla returns to her family’s beachfront home to clean it out before her parents sell it. The island and her best friend’s house next door, abandoned after her family left in grief, are stirring up memories she would like to avoid. Then there are the locals, always gossiping and watching Orla’s every move. Worst of all, David, Orla’s childhood crush and son of a wealthy Manhattan family, is back for the summer with his new, impossibly pretty girlfriend, Faith.

Faith suspects that David is going to propose but as soon as she settles into his family’s sprawling Hadley Island estate, she feels out of place. She anticipated a luxurious summer of fun and romance, but David is never around—lured into business conversations with his entrepreneur father from dawn to dusk. With nothing else to do, Faith begins to investigate the island’s dark past, curious about what really happened to Alice all those years ago.

Meanwhile, local Henry hasn’t left his house since the young girl went missing, in an attempt to let the accusations against him die down. Except they never have. For years, Henry has had an endless supply of time to pursue his only hobby, watching the island from his telescope and recording the activities of its inhabitants. But Orla’s return has shaken him and lately he’s been seeing strange things: shadowy figures walking on the beach in the middle of the night and a light on in the upstairs window of the long-abandoned house of the missing girl.

When there’s another disappearance on the island, all three find themselves pulled into an eerie and twisty mystery that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

My Thoughts: DEAD OF SUMMER takes place on Hadley Island. It is a playground for the rich with all sorts of buried secrets.

Faith comes to the island as the girlfriend of David Clarke who is the son of billionaire Geoffrey Clarke. She's expecting to soon become his fiancée but finds his behavior on the island troubling. All of a sudden, he seems to have no time for her and is constant meetings with his father. 

Orla comes back to the island where she grew up to prepare her parents' home for sale. She fled after high school and had an excellent career as an artist in New York City until her last show failed spectacularly. She's home living on Xanax and trying not to be overwhelmed with the memories of her lost best friend. 

Henry has never left the island. He and his wife became recluses after being accused of the murder of Orla's best friend Alice. Now he spends his days with his telescope watching the town and making notes in his logbooks. 

Alice is the thread that ties all three characters together and is the mystery that needs to be solved. 

David, Alice and Orla were summer friends while they were children and teens. Alice and Orla had dreams of leaving the island for New York City, attending art school, and then becoming famous artists. But she disappears and is presumed drowned during the Clarke's famous 4th of July party. 

Years have passed but this year Geoffrey Clarke plans to renew the annual party and another young girl disappears. 

The story is woven between Orla, Faith and Henry's viewpoints and the secrets of the past and their own secrets are gradually revealed. It was an engaging story with interesting characters. 

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? (July 14, 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 week was an excellent one despite the fact that we are under an Air Quality Alert with very hazardous air due to Canadian wildfires. The house is closed up and the central air is running despite temperatures that should allow for open doors and windows. Since I'm already coughing a lot, I don't need to mix in smoky air. 

My friend Bev visited this week from southern Minnesota. We had a great time catching up. We listened to a few audiobooks while she crafted, and I played computer games. We went out to Olive Garden one evening and I'm still working on the leftovers. She left with plans to come again sooner than the year it has been this time between visits.

I got lots of reading and listening done and reviews scheduled. I also bought a lot of books because the combination of BookBub deals, double Kindle rewards points, and Prime Day deals was too much for me to resist. I bought my first print book of the year when I got a cookbook written by a guy who recipes intrigued me when I saw him making them on Facebook Reels. It was a Prime deal this week. I also received an ARC of At Midnight Comes the Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming from a Goodreads Giveaway. I was excited even though I already have the eARC of the title. 

Bev brought a book along that she was reading. It is the third in a series. I happened to have an audiobook of the first in the series, so we listened to it. Afterwards, I had to buy books two and three myself. The audiobooks are a bit pricier than I wanted to spend right now, but I may get them when I actually manage to find time to read the new books. 

This coming week should be quieter. The air quality is supposed to clear up in a few days. And the Baseball All-Star Break will mean that I have less baseball I care to watch leaving more time for reading. I do have a bunch of review books that I want to read this week. There are no audiobooks in the plans, but I will likely continue with the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R. King since I have all of them. 

Read Last Week

• Give Me a Reason by Jayci Lee (Review, July 29) -- Contemporary Romance, Retelling of Persuasion with a primarily Korean cast. My review will be posted on July 23.
• Road Trip with a Rogue by Kate Batemen (Review, July 29) -- Entertaining historical romance. My review will be posted on July 24.
• Murder at Marble House by Alyssa Maxwell (Audiobook, Mine since July 26, 2021) -- Secomd book in the Gilded Newport historical mystery series. My review will be posted on July 29.

• Who Let the Dog Out? by David Rosenfelt (Mine since September 14, 2023) -- Thirteenth book in the Andy Carpenter mystery series. My review will be posted on July 29.
• Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell (Review, July 29) -- Contemporary thriller. Spooky with a touch of humor. My review will be posted on July 26.
• Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner (Audiobook, Mine since June 30, 2025) -- Contemporary mystery with engaging characters. My review will be posted on July 31.

• For Duck's Sake by Donna Andrews (Review, August 5) -- The latest in the Meg Langslow humorous mystery series as Meg is preparing for the First Annual Mutt March. My review will be posted on August 2.
• Hades by Candice Fox (Audiobook, Mine since August 12, 2021) -- Very dark thriller set in Sydney, Australia. My review will be posted on August 12.
• The Locked Tomb Mystery by Elizabeth Peters (Mine since August 29, 2023) -- Four short stories introduced by other authors who indicate how they influenced them. My review will be posted on July 30.

• Interlude in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook, Mine) -- An In Death novella
• Midnight in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook, Mine) -- An In Death novella
• The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or On the Segregation of the Queen by Laurie R. King (Audiobook Reread) -- This is the first book in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes historical mystery series. I love the characters and the historical detail. My review will be posted on August 14.

DNF

• The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Review, August 5) -- I abandoned this one at the midpoint. I didn't care for any of the characters who were all, at best, morally ambiguous. I also couldn't figure out what genre it was since it was sort of a mystery and sort of a romance.

Currently

• Hunter's Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Review, August 5)

Next Week

• Picking Up the Pieces by J. B. Abbott (Review, August 12)
• Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver (Review, August 12)
• The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan (Review, August 12)

• Knife in the Back by Kristi Rose (Review, August 12)
• A Silence in Belgrave Square by Jennifer Ashley (Review, August 12)
• Puma by Jorrie Spencer (Mine since August 1, 2009)

Reviews Posted

• The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone (Audiobook, Mine)
• Death of an Ex by Delia Pitts (Review copy)
• Fateless by Julie Kagawa (Review copy)

• Atonement Sky by Nalini Singh (Review copy)
• Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods (Review copy)
• Death on the Boardwalk by Caleb Wygal (Mine)

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

Review:

• At Death's Dough by Mindy Quigley (Review, October 28)
• At Midnight Comes the Cry by Julia Spencer Fleming (Review, November 18 -- Goodreads Giveaway)
• The Marriage Method by Mimi Matthews (Review, November 25)

Bought:

• One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner (Kindle, $9.99)
• Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner (Kindle, $2.99)

• Campus Murder Club by Kristi Rose (Kindle, $6.99)
• Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths (Kindle, $7.99)
• The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins (BookBub, $1.99)

• The Picasso Scam by Stuart Pawson (BookBub, Free)
• Murder on the Intergalactic Railway by Kate MacLeod (BookBub, Free)
• The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James (BookBub, $1.99)

• Blind Side by Catherine Coulter (BookBub, $1.99)
• The Adventure of the Demonic Ox by Lois McMaster Bujold (Kindle, $3.99)
• The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Spencer Quinn (BookBub, $1.99)

• Keep It Simple, Y'all by Matthew Bounds (Print, $12.31)

What was your week like?

Book Review: Death on the Boardwalk by Caleb Wygal

Death on the Boardwalk
Author: Caleb Wygal
Series: A Myrtle Beach Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Franklin/Kerr (February 2, 2021)

Description: THE BOARDWALK IS BEAUTIFUL—UNTIL SOMEONE TURNS UP DEAD.

Welcome to Myrtle Beach, where the sunsets are vibrant, the sea breeze carries secrets, and murder lurks just beneath the surface. Clark Thomas, a grieving bookstore owner trying to rebuild his life, makes a chilling discovery: the body of a friend rolled up in a rug behind his shop.

As Clark digs into the mystery, he’s pulled into a web of suspects that include business owners, environmental activists, and even the victim’s own coworkers. With the police focused elsewhere, a beautiful and suspicious tipster encourages Clark to investigate the crime himself.

But is he ready to face what he might uncover—and confront the ghosts of his own past along the way?

Perfect for fans of Southern mysteries, amateur sleuths, and small-town secrets, Death on the Boardwalk is a witty, fast-paced read that blends charm, suspense, and heart.

Don’t miss your chance to start the Myrtle Beach Mystery Series—where every charming corner hides a secret.

My Thoughts: Myrtle Beach bookstore owner Clark Thomas finds himself in the middle of a mystery when he finds a body wrapped in a rug outside the rear door of his bookstore. He recognizes the woman as a frequent customer and employee of OceanScapes resort.

Stuck in a holding pattern after the sudden death of his wife two years earlier, Clark finds his curiosity rousing. He has read many, many mysteries and works as a ghostwriter of thrillers, but he's never come face-to-face with a real murder. 

When one of the other employees of OceanScapes asks Clark to look into the crime, he lets his curiosity take control. He's lucky to get some covert help from the detective on the case and from a local reporter. Even his avid mystery lover mother throws in some hints. 

This was a fun mystery that begins a series. I enjoyed it and the Myrtle Beach setting. 

I got this free book via BookBub April 27, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Death on the Boardwalk by Caleb Wygal

 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. 

Beginning:

There was a rug I wasn't expecting awaiting me in the alcove by the backdoor of my bookstore as I arrived to start the day. The rug had an art deco pattern of periwinkle and sepia toned multi-colored squares with a tan border. Each square was different. Random. It was a nice rug.

Except for the body rolled up on the middle of it.

Friday 56:

"It was weird, Clark," Margaret said after I returned. "I've never seen a young person have problems with that card reader before."

This week I am spotlighting Death on the Boardwalk by Caleb Wygal. It was free when I got it in April 2025. It is also the start of a nine-book series. Here is the description from Amazon:

THE BOARDWALK IS BEAUTIFUL—UNTIL SOMEONE TURNS UP DEAD.

Welcome to Myrtle Beach, where the sunsets are vibrant, the sea breeze carries secrets, and murder lurks just beneath the surface. Clark Thomas, a grieving bookstore owner trying to rebuild his life, makes a chilling discovery: the body of a friend rolled up in a rug behind his shop.

As Clark digs into the mystery, he’s pulled into a web of suspects that include business owners, environmental activists, and even the victim’s own coworkers. With the police focused elsewhere, a beautiful and suspicious tipster encourages Clark to investigate the crime himself.

But is he ready to face what he might uncover—and confront the ghosts of his own past along the way?

Perfect for fans of Southern mysteries, amateur sleuths, and small-town secrets, Death on the Boardwalk is a witty, fast-paced read that blends charm, suspense, and heart.

Don’t miss your chance to start the Myrtle Beach Mystery Series—where every charming corner hides a secret.

ARC Review: Atonement Sky by Nalini Singh

Atonement Sky
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling Trinity (Book 9)
Publication: Berkley (July 15, 2025)

Description: The hunt for a stealthy predator takes a damaged J-Psy to the heart of falcon territory in this new Psy-Changeling Trinity novel from New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh…

Justice-Psy Eleri Dias knows the end is near for her, her mind one step away from fatal psychic exposure. In the short time that remains, she is determined to atone for an act of omission that has haunted her for a long, cruel decade. But that decision not only means facing a powerful changeling wing leader, but also putting herself in the path of a serial killer.

Falcon wing leader Adam Garrett is fiercely protective of his family and his clan. After losing his parents as a teenager in a shocking act of malice, Adam has no forgiveness in him for the J-Psy who betrayed him, betrayed them, at the most painful moment of his life. But the evil that stalks his territory will allow him no respite, forcing him once more into contact with the J he has never been able to forget.

Everything that could’ve been between Eleri and Adam was lost years ago, a shimmering promise crushed. As they work to uncover a monster, the moment of reckoning looms ever closer. Soon, there may be no more time left for either atonement...or love…

My Thoughts: ATONEMENT SKY was another excellent story in an excellent series. J-Psy Eleri Dias has one last goal before she succumbs to her mind's disintegration. She wants to catch the notorious serial killer known as the Sandman who has developed a fixation on her and keeps sending her letters. 

However, doing so will take her to the Arizona desert and a meeting with falcon that she met when she was an apprentice in her trade. Adam Garrett if the wing leader of his clan and has hated Eleri for years. Her mentor lied during the case trial of the murders of his parents, and the murderer got off with the official verdict of an accidental death. Adam blames Eleri for not stepping in and contradicting her mentor.

This ill feeling is complicated by the fact that the two of them were destined to be mates. But the years have changed both of them. Silence has fallen and the Psy are hanging on by a thread. And Eleri has had her mind worked on so much by her keepers that she is almost completely emotionless. 

This story was engaging. I loved the relationship that grew between Adam and Eleri. I liked the focus on the winged clan. I also liked the way many of the different groups managed to work together to solve a problem plaguing the Psy and the humans. 

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

ARC Review: Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods

Roll for Romance
Author: Lenora Woods
Publication: Dell (July 15, 2025)

Description: Two fledgling tabletop gamers find themselves falling for each other—both in and out of their weekly D&D sessions—in this charming, fantasy-tinged romance.

When Sadie Brooks unexpectedly loses her marketing job, she flees New York City to spend the summer with her best friend in small-town Texas, where joining his Dungeons & Dragons campaign is the perfect distraction while she plans her next steps.

In the game, she becomes Jaylie, a powerful human cleric blessed by the Goddess of Luck. But in real life, Sadie believes her luck has run out—until she meets Noah Walker, the outgoing bartender roped into joining their party as Loren, an adventurous and charismatic lute-strumming elf. Just as Jaylie finds herself succumbing to the bard’s charms over the course of their party’s travels, Sadie also begins to fall under Noah’s spell.

As their relationship progresses in both worlds, Sadie wonders if what they have might last beyond the game. But like his traveling bard character, Noah never stays in one place for long. When a new opportunity arises in New York, Sadie must face the truth about why she lost her job in the first place—and whether she and Noah have found something in Texas worth staying for. Torn between her career dreams in the city and the exciting uncertainty of a new adventure, she will have no choice but to roll the dice.

My Thoughts: ROLL FOR ROMANCE was a nice contemporary romance. Sadie Brooks has left her high-paced marketing job in New York City and is spending the summer with her best friend Liam in rural Texas. They have been best friends since childhood and had shared the same New York City dreams. But when he had a chance to move to Texas to settle his grandfather's estate, he decided that he preferred the small-town lifestyle. He's a gay math teacher and dedicated gamer.

Liam convinces Sadie to join him in a Dungeons & Dragons session with a group of those new to the game while she summers in Texas. There she meets some of his friends and develops a new character as Jaylie who is a cleric with some magic and a sense of adventure. She is joined in the game by a barbarian with a big axe, a knife-wielding rogue, and a bard. 

The bard is Noah Walker who is also new in town. He's helping his college best friend set up a brewery which is also a restaurant and bar. Both in real life and in the game, Sadie and Noah begin a romance. But it looks like it can only be a short-term romance because Sadie thinks she's going to tackle New York City again in the fall and Noah never stays anywhere for long. 

The story is told in parts. Both real life and the D & D world that is being created get equal play in this story. In the real world, Sadie finds herself dusting off her background as an artist and creating and painting a mural at Noah's new business...and having second thoughts about her career plans.

Fans of romance and gaming will enjoy this story. 

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