Audiobook Review: Magelight by Kasey Ezell

Magelight
Author: Kasey Ezell

Narrator: Jennifer Jill Araya
Series: Magelight (Book 1)
Publication: Baen (May 6, 2025), Podium Audio (September 16, 2025)

Length: 16 hours and 6 minutes

Description: Fleeing her sheltered life, a noblewoman must trust a warrior, a forester, and a thief to unlock her true power and face her destiny.

Embrace Your Power and Forge Your Destiny

All her life, Aelys of Brionne had been weak. As the noble daughter of one of the empire’s most powerful magic-wielding families, it should have been easy for her to live her dream of bonding with a warrior protector and joining the Imperial Battlemage Corps. But when her weakness robs her of her dreams, her best friend, and the man she loves, Aelys makes the only choice she can see: she takes her fate into her own hands and she runs, leaving her safe, protected world behind.

Now she must find a way to work with three dangerous strangers—a warrior, a forester, and a thief—to escape the bandits stalking her, fight through the dangers of the untamed forest, and make her way back home, where her family and her destiny await.

Only . . . her violent protectors might be the key to the power and freedom she’s always craved. Can Aelys find the strength to choose her own destiny and become the sorceress she was born to be? Or lose herself on the path to power?

My Thoughts: MAGELIGHT is the first book in an epic fantasy series. Aelys of Brionne is the daughter of a powerful family. She has the dream of using her magical talent to become a Battlemage for the Empire. However, her weak magic makes that dream impossible. Even though she graduates from the academy, she isn't chosen by the man she wants who picks her best friend instead. The betrayal sends Aelys fleeing for home.

Meanwhile, three men who were best friends as boys, but whose lives have taken different paths after their village was destroyed meet again. Romik was first an arena fighter who bought his way out to be a mercenary soldier before growing disenchanted with the life. Daen had become a Forester even though his low birth should have made that career impossible. While he is an exceptional archer, he has never been accepted by his highborn "brothers." Vil has been sold into prostitution in the city but murdered his first customer and escaped. He has made his life as thief in that same city. 

The three men meet at a country inn and swear their brotherhood just before Aelys arrives pursued by bandits. They rescue her but find themselves in an inn that has been set on fire by the same bandits. They survive because Aelys is able to form bonds with all three of them which increases her magical power enough to save them. Needless to say, none of the three men are happy or comfortable with the concept of being bound to her. 

The story concerns their adventures while bringing Aelys back to her home and with dealing with their new bonds. For the first third of the book, I didn't like Aelys at all. She spent it crying, apologizing, and feeling guilty. However, the men recognized her deep inferiority complex and bolstered her each in their own different ways. They couldn't do much about the guilt though since she knew she should not have bound them to her. 

I enjoyed the worldbuilding in the story and the personalities of the main characters. I look forward to reading their further adventures. 

I bought this one February 2, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Untouchable by Jayne Ann Krentz

Untouchable
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Narrator: Amanda Leigh Cobb
Series: Sons of Anson Salinas (Book 3)
Publication: Recorded Books (January 8, 2019)
Length: 8 hours and 40 minutes

Description: A man's quest to find answers for those who are haunted by the past leads him deeper into the shadows in this electrifying novel from The New York Times best-selling author of Promise Not to Tell.

Quinton Zane is back.

Jack Lancaster, consultant to the FBI, has always been drawn to the coldest of cold cases, the kind that law enforcement either considers unsolvable or else has chalked up to accidents or suicides. As a survivor of a fire, he finds himself uniquely compelled by arson cases. His almost preternatural ability to get inside the killer's head has garnered him a reputation in some circles - and complicated his personal life. The more cases Jack solves, the closer he slips into the darkness. His only solace is Winter Meadows, a meditation therapist. After particularly grisly cases, Winter can lead Jack back to peace.

But as long as Quinton Zane is alive, Jack will not be at peace for long. Having solidified his position as the power behind the throne of his biological family's hedge fund, Zane sets out to get rid of Anson Salinas's foster sons, starting with Jack.

My Thoughts: The main characters of this finale to the Sons of Anson Salinas trilogy are Winter Meadows and Jack Lancaster. Jack has been a consultant to the FBI and an author. He is drawn to investigating cold cases especially those dealing with fire. He is also a lucid dreamer. 

Winter Meadows is a skilled hypnotist who has been hired to held Jack deal with his nightmares. She has attracted a stalker.

Winter and Jack team up to defeat the stalker who has some links to Jack's old enemy Quinton Zane. Zane has decided to return to the United States but needs to get rid of Jack, his brothers, and their foster father before he can feel safe. Encouraging Winter's stalker is the start of his campaign.

Zane has also hired a couple of mercenaries to assist with his plans. They have their own agenda but killing Winter and Jack will fit in. 

This was an engaging romance with some nice suspense. A character who appears in some of Krentz's other stories - Arizona Snow - makes an appearance in this one. Jack's psychic abilities and Winter's too are traits often seen in the author's books. 

This was a nice conclusion to the trilogy.

I bought this one January 25, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: A Deadly Inheritance by Kelley Armstrong

A Deadly Inheritance
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publication: Tundra Books (March 24, 2026

Description: After discovering she's an heiress to a billion-dollar corporation, seventeen-year-old Liliana finds herself at a new boarding school where she must navigate secret societies and a deadly competition. Not to mention two handsome boys.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price meets The Inheritance Games series in this new YA thriller from bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

In the wake of her mother's death, Liliana Chamberlain's estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren't ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westdale Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn't have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.

Westdale Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there's more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.

For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students — including Maddox's own sister — is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?

When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance.

My Thoughts: Liliana Green is just trying to hang on after her mother's death. She already has a full ride scholarship to a state college, but she has to graduate from high school. She's sold everything loose and eating from the healthy snacks bowl at school. She also dodging Child Protective Services because foster care won't help her college plans. 

One day a stranger knocks on her door and tells her that she is the heir to a billion-dollar corporation through her mother. She has grandparents that she's never met and who don't apparently want to meet her either. The family lawyer becomes her guardian and convinces her to attend a very exclusive boarding school - the same one her mother attended. 

Dumped into a situation that is strange in many ways, Lili finds herself making friends with two very different hot boys and dodging what might be murder attempts. She also makes friends with a number of the girls who are her classmates. She also finds herself in the running to be the Optima - the best of the best. 

Lili is determined to find out why her mother left school. She always thought that her mother got pregnant and left with her lover. But the timelines don't quite mesh. There must be some other secrets to explore including the deaths of several other students over the years. The most recent death is that of one her new boyfriend's sister. Another was a classmate of her mother's. Both were the leading Optima candidate of their classes. 

This was an engaging story that has so many of the YA tropes - a boarding school, an unexpected inheritance, hot boys who both fall for her. I liked the way all the tropes were handled. I also liked the mystery and that Lili was sharp enough and determined enough to solve them. 

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

ARC Review: The Survivor by Andrew Reid

The Survivor
Author: Andrew Reid
Publication: Minotaur Books (March 24, 2026)

Description: A hijacked New York subway train, an anonymous killer, and a young man trapped by his hidden past converge in a breathless, breathtaking thriller

Do not turn off your phone
Do not get off the train
I know who you really are

Fired and walked out by security on his first day at his new job in New York City, Ben Cross thought his day couldn't get worse. But he couldn't be more wrong. Getting on the 1 train headed uptown, Ben starts receiving text messages from an anonymous killer, showing that they've already killed someone, then pointedly killing another as they got off the train to prove they aren't bluffing and to ensure Ben follows orders. But Ben wasn't picked at random―he has a history that no one is supposed to know.

At the same time, A NYPD detective, Kelly Hendricks, is on punishment duty with the transit police. The first one on the scene after the first murder, she gets on the train to find out what is really going on.

Switching rapidly between Cross and Hendricks, as the hijacked 1 train heads from South Ferry to 181st, the secret to the killer lies in Ben's own history―why he's been targeted and punished.

My Thoughts: This was a tense and twisty thriller. Things begins when new hire Ben Cross is walked out of his new job by security on his first day. Naturally upset and almost broke, he wonders how he will get back home. The subway wins despite his claustrophobia. 

No sooner has Ben sat down that he begins to get text messages. They are definitely threatening telling him to stay on the train and not turn off his cell phone. The messages escalate. He's told to find a passenger and keep him from leaving the train. When Ben fails, he sees the man shot on the subway platform.

The shooting brings in the police in the person of Detective Kelly Hendricks of the NYPD. She's been assigned to the transit police after she objects to being patted on the ass and threw the patter, a superior officer, into a table of refreshments. She knows her career has hit a roadblock but she's still a cop. 

Believing that the shooter got back on the train, she leaves to try to catch up to the subway and arrives at a further station just in time to be present for an explosion the kills a woman and wounds many. Ben had been told to keep the woman on the train but had failed to convince her. Kelly does manage to get on the train as it leaves the station. 

The bombing brings in Homeland Security in the person of Agent Paul McDiarmid and his assistant Hoyt. McDiarmid's agenda is to make himself look good. If that takes multiple casualties, he views it as the cost of doing business. 

The story is told from all three viewpoints, Ben, Kelly and McDiarmid are all trying to figure out who is causing this chaos and what they want. Ben thinks he knows that it has something to do with a past he had hoped was deeply buried. 

This was an engaging thriller that was packed with tension and secrets. 

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

Audiobook Review: Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz

Promise Not to Tell
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Narrator: Susan Bennett
Series: Sons of Anson Salinas (Book 2)
Publication: Recorded Books (January 2, 2018)
Length: 10 hours and 40 minutes

Description: A broken promise reveals a terrifying legacy in this electrifying novel from the New York Times best-selling author of When All the Girls Have Gone.

Seattle gallery owner Virginia Troy has spent years battling the demons that stem from her childhood time in a cult and the night a fire burned through the compound, killing her mother. And now one of her artists has taken her own life, but not before sending Virginia a last picture: a painting that makes Virginia doubt everything about the so-called suicide - and her own past.

Like Virginia, PI Cabot Sutter was one of the children in the cult who survived that fire - and only he can help her now. As they struggle to unravel the clues in the picture, it becomes clear that someone thinks Virginia knows more than she does and that she must be stopped. Thrown into an inferno of desire and deception, Virginia and Cabot draw ever closer to the mystery of their shared memories - and the shocking fate of the one man who still wields the power to destroy everything they hold dear.

My Thoughts: PROMISE NOT TO TELL is the middle book in the Sons of Anson Salinas trilogy. Seattle gallery owner Virginia Troy needs a private detective to look into the death of one of her artists. The local police have called it suicide, but Virginia has her doubts.

Virginia goes to Cabot Sutter to investigate. Both Virgina and Cabot were raised in a cult and nearly lost their lives when a fire was set outside the locked barn where the children were sleeping. The cult leader set the fire and escaped. Virginia was raised by her grandmother and Cabot was raised by Anson Salinas, the police officer who rescued the children in the barn. 

Cabot, Anson, and Cabot's two adopted brothers have long believed that the cult leader got away despite his proclaimed death when a boat he had stolen exploded in the ocean. Virginia's artist is also a survivor of the cult and worked out her nightmares in a series of paintings. Her last painting seems to show the cult leader in modern dress which convinces Cabot that he is still alive. 

Besides the hunt to discover if the cult leader is still alive, Cabot is also dealing with family issues. The grandfather who never acknowledged him has died and has left Cabot something in his will. A lawyer is being very persistent about wanting Cabot to sign a paper which will give him a $25 thousand inheritance. He could use the money, but something just doesn't seem right about the lawyer's need for a speedy resolution to the settlement.

Virginia and Cabot also learn that there might be some money involved in the cult too. They learn that some of the women including both of their mothers found a way to divert funds into a secret account. Now someone who might or might not be the cult leader wants the money and believes that Virginia has the key to locating it.

This was an entertaining story. I liked the relationship between Cabot and Virginia who are both still dealing with the trauma of being in a cult and almost dying while trying to escape it. This was a nice romance and a nice mystery too. 

I bought this one November 20, 2022. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict

Daughter of Egypt
Author: Marie Benedict
Publication: St. Martin's Press (March 24, 2026)

Description: Known for her “delightful blend of historical fiction and suspense” (People), New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict, returns with a sweeping tale of a young woman who unearths the truth about a forgotten Pharaoh―rewriting both of their legacies forever.

In the 1920s, archeologist Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle made headlines around the world with the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun. But behind it all stood Lady Evelyn Herbert―daughter of Lord Carnarvon―whose daring spirit and relentless curiosity made the momentous find possible.

Nearly 3,000 years earlier, another woman defied the expectations of her time: Hatshepsut, Egypt’s lost pharaoh. Her reign was bold, visionary―and nearly erased from history.

When Evelyn becomes obsessed with finding Hatshepsut’s secret tomb, she risks everything to uncover the truth about her reign and keep valued artifacts in Egypt, their rightful home. But as danger closes in and political tensions rise, she must make an impossible choice: protect her father’s legacy―or forge her own.

Propelled by high adventure and deadly intrigue, Daughter of Egypt is the story of two ambitious women who lived centuries apart. Both were forced to hide who they were during their lifetimes, yet ultimately changed history forever.

My Thoughts: This is a book about two women almost 3000 years apart but similar in their desires to break the bonds of the acceptable and expected for women. 

Lady Evelyn Herbert is a devoted amateur archaeologist in the 1920s. She's the daughter of Lord Carnarvon and a student of Howard Carter. She is especially interested in Hatshepsut who assumed the rank of pharaoh and whose tomb had never been discovered. She is eager to get to Egypt and be part of the dig despite her mother's desire that she stay at home and do all sorts of society things including finding an acceptable husband. 

Hatshepsut was a woman who became pharaoh. She was the daughter of a pharaoh and a priestess. When her father died, she married her half-brother and was his Regent until he came of age. She bore him a daughter. When he died, she became the regent for the next pharoah who was her husband's son. Her goal was to consolidate her power to make a strong future for her daughter and this boy. The best way to do this was to become his co-pharaoh despite opposition from other relatives primarily one of her father's other wives and her family. 

I liked the way the two parts of the story intertwined. I also liked seeing the rising Egyptian nationalism growing in Evelyn's time shepherded by another strong woman who was stepping out of her traditional place. Madame Zaghloul took over the nationalist party when her husband was exiled from Egypt and formed a coalition of Egyptian women from all walks of life to agitate for independence. 

I enjoyed this story and learning more about two intriguing women. 

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? (March 16, 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 roller coaster weather week. From 51 degrees for a high last Sunday to 29 for a high temperature on Friday, the temperature kept dropping and the snow kept coming. Weirdly, most of the snow came in the evenings or overnights. We made solar power every day except Tuesday. We got 2.2 inches of snow on the 9th, 3.6 inches on the 10th, 6.3 inches of snow on the 12th, and 3.1 inches of snow on the 13th. 

The snow on the 12th and 13th came with winds and kept my brother from going to work on the 13th because our street hadn't been plowed. He was supposed to start work at 8 AM. I went to bed at 2AM the night before and was awakened with a noise I hadn't heard before at about 7:30. He was ringing the doorbell because he had shut the garage door so snow wouldn't blow in and his remote door opener didn't work to let him open it again. On the positive side, now I know what the doorbell sounds like. 

We were on the edge of a snow event again last night, but it looks like we only got a couple of inches of new snow. 

I did get out of the house a couple of those days because I had prescriptions to pick up. Since my pharmacy is at a grocery store, we also did some shopping. Bill made corned beef and cabbage on his day off. We still have some leftover corned beef for this week. 

I spent a lot of time reading, watching Braves Spring Training, and watching the World Baseball Classic. I finished fewer books than I had hoped but two of them were more than 500 pages long and a third was over 400 pages. Also, my current audiobook is weighing in at almost 16 hours. 

I finished setting up my posts on my April calendar and used some Audible Credits to get two books that I want to read in April. I'm still waiting for another of the books I want to read in April to be released. I think that one will be available on March 31.

I also added five new review books to my stack including the second book in the Antique Hunter's series which was a surprise offer from Atria. I recently read and reviewed the third book in the series and had added the second book to my Amazon wishlist. Now, I have a review copy which I put on this week's reading stack. 

This week I have my annual wellness visit with my Primary Care Doctor. Otherwise, the week is appointment free. 

Read Last Week

• The Barn Identity by Diane Kelly (Review, March 31) -- 8th House-Flipper mystery has a pregnant Whitney investigating the death of a journalist who was writing a story about the old barn she and Buck are renovating into apartments. My review will be posted on March 25.
• Dawn in Eclipse Bay by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, mine since December 3, 2025) -- Second in the Eclipse Bay trilogy of romantic suspense stories. My review will be posted on April 2.
• Family Lies by Karen Rose (Review, March 31) -- Fourth San Diego Case Files mystery centers around Akiko. My review will be posted on March 26.

• Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)
• Jules Cassidy, P.I. by Suzanne Brockmann (Kindle, mine since February 2) -- Latest in the Troubleshooters series stars Jules who has left the FBI and is opening a Troubleshooters office in LA. Excellent story. My review will be posted on March 27.
• The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss (Review, April 7) -- YA mystery taking place at a reality TV show that has teens compete as teams in escape rooms. Great characters and interesting puzzles and mystery. My review will be posted on March 31.

Currently

• Carving Shadows into Gold by Brigid Kemmerer (Audiobook, mine since February 18)
• Blood Trail by Matt Query & Harrison Query (Review, April 7)

Next Week

• The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer (Review, April 7)
• The Antique Hunter's Death on the Red Sea by C. L. Miller (Review, February 17, 2026)
• The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton by Jennifer N. Brown (Review, April 14)

• Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn (Review, April 14)
• Fire Must Burn by Allison Montclair (Kindle, mine since January 16)
• Black Rose by Nora Roberts (Audiobook; Mine since March 11)

Reviews Posted

• No One Knew by Kendra Elliot (Audiobook, Mine)
• You Did Nothing Wrong by CG Drews (Review copy)
• The Antique Hunter's Murder at the Castle by C. L. Miller (Review copy)

• Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips (Review copy)
• The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C. M. Waggoner (Review copy)
• Missing by E. A. Jackson (Review copy)

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

Review:

• The Antique Hunter's Death on the Red Sea by C. L. Miller (Review, February 17, 2026)
• Griffin Speaker by Jan M. Flynn (Review, May 5)
• Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney (Review, May 26)

• Skyring Water by Louis L'Amour & Beau L'Amour (Review, June 2)
• Murder at the Spirit Lounge by Jess Kidd (Review. June 16)

Bought:

• Black Rose by Nora Roberts (Audiobook, Audible Credit)
• Red Lily by Nora Roberts (Audiobook, Audible Credit)

• The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer (Kindle, Gift Card)
• Rules of the Game by Nora Roberts (Kindle, Gift Card)

What was your week like?