State of the Stack (May 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. How to Cheat Your Own Death by Kristen Perrin (April 21)
2. Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto (April 22)
3. Cast in Blood by Michelle Sagara (April 23)
4. A Zoom with a View by Jess Cannon (April 28)
5. I, Spy by L. M. Kemp (April 29)
6. Archangel's Eternity by Nalini Singh (April 30)
7. Griffin Speaker by Jan M. Flynn (May 5)
8. The Anniversary by Alex Finlay (May 6)
9. The Cupid Dilemma by April Asher (May 7)
10. An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong (May 12)
11. Storm Warning by James Byrne (May 19)
12. Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney (May 19)
13. Ode to the Bones by Carlolyn Haines (May 20)
14. The Final Target by Nora Roberts (May 21)

DNF

1.  

Read Previously, Posted This Month 

Dates indicate when the review was posted.

1. Blood Trail by Matt Query & Harrison Query (April 1)
2. The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer (April 2)
3. The Antique Hunter's Death on the Red Sea by C. L. Miller (April 3)
4. The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton by Jennifer N. Brown (April 7)
5. Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn (April 8)
6. Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan (April 14)
7. Liar's Creek by Matt Goldman (April 15)

New This Month 

Date indicates when the book will be released.

1. Deadly Does It by Abbi Waxman (July 21)
2. Probable Caws by Donna Andrews (August 4)
3. Death on the Books by Victoria Gilbert (August 4)
4. Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty (August 4)
5. (Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall (August 4)
6. A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett (August 11)
7. Death at a Scottish Halloween by Lucy Connelly (August 11)
8. The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickle (September 8)
9. Fighting Edge by Margaret Mizushima (September 8)
10. A Field Guide to Death and Deceit by Michelle L. Cullen (September 15)
11. Murder on the Sacred River by Tasha Alexander (September 22)
12. The Pumpkin Vice Cafe by Ellie Alexander (September 29)

All TBR Review Books

June

• A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray (June 2)
• Skyring Water by Louis L'Amour & Beau L'Amour (June 2)
• Man of My Dreams by Olivia Worley (June 2)

• Beach Thriller by Jamie Day (June 9)
• A Botanist's Guide to Tradition and Treachery by Kate Khavari (June 9)
• Restless Bones by Gillian French (June 16)

• The Last Time We Saw Her by Jaclyn Goldis (June 16)
• Wildflower by Becky Jenkinson (June 16)
• Murder at the Spirit Lounge by Jess Kidd (June 16)

• Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan (June 23)
• A Bitter Cut by Anna Lee Huber (June 23)
• Enter the Nightmare by Jayne Castle (June 30)

• Storm Tide by Paul Doiron (June 30)
• The Neighbors Are Watching by Aggie Blum Thompson (June 30)

July

• The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance by Chiara Bullen (July 7)
• Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox (July 7)
• Dead Men Don't Play Fetch by David Rosenfelt (July 7)

• Killer Vibes by Jack Friday (July 14)
• The Lightning Girl by Sam Ripley (July 14)
• Hot Girls Murder Club by Ashley Winstead (July 14)

• Savvy Summers and the Po'boy Perils by Sandra Jackson Opoku (July 21)
• Death at King's Cross by Rosanne Limoncelli (July 21)
• Deadly Does It by Abbi Waxman (July 21)

• Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst (July 28)
• Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath (July 28)

• Buyer Beware by Catherine Ryan Howard (July 28)
• Fossil Feud by Maggie North (July 28)

August

• Probable Caws by Donna Andrews (August 4)
• Death on the Books by Victoria Gilbert (August 4)
• Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty (August 4)

• (Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall (August 4)
• A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett (August 11)
• Death at a Scottish Halloween by Lucy Connelly (August 11)

• Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan (August 11)
• Murder on Charity Lane by Jo Nichols (August 18)
• For Services Rendered by Will Thomas (August 18)

September

• The Oxford Guide to Scandal & Lies by Kate Westbury (September 1)
• Fighting Edge by Margaret Mizushima (September 8)

• The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickle (September 8)
• A Field Guide to Death & Deceit by Michelle L. Cullen (September 15)
• I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas (September 15)

• Murder on the Sacred River by Tasha Alexander (September 22)
• The Pumpkin Vice Cafe by Ellie Alexander (September 29)

October

• Please Enjoy Your Stay by Tara Goedjen (October 13)

Audiook Review: Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner

Touch and Go
Author: Lisa Gardner

Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers
Series: Tessa Leoni (Book 2)
Publication: Dutton (February 5, 2013); Brilliance Audio (February 5, 2013)

Length: 14 hours and 29 minutes

Description: The secrets of a picture perfect family are exposed in this “tour de force” thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner.

Ten minutes after walking the elite Back Bay townhouse and investigator Tessa Leoni already doesn’t like what she sees. Signs of an abduction. Clearly the work of professionals. At best, the entire family has been kidnapped. At worst…

The more Tessa learns about the Denbe family, the less she likes their chances. What might have looked like the perfect existence—a powerful CEO, his adoring wife, their angelic child—is not what it appears. Husband, wife, daughter—magazine perfect, but each hiding dark secrets…

Tessa knows more than she’d like to about families riddled with lies. What she doesn’t know is where the Denbes are and if any of them are still breathing. She’ll have to climb over unbending feds and territorial local cops to find out, and if she’s not fast, the Denbes’ chances of survival will quickly become little more than touch and go...

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Tessa Leoni series which is a part of the D. D. Warren series. When the entire Denbe family is abducted from their Back Bay townhouse, Tessa is hired by the Denbe Construction to investigate the disappearance. She isn't alone. The Boston Police in the person of D. D. Warren are also on the case but only until evidence suggests that the family was taken into New Hampshire.

The FBI is called in to try to find the family and so is a Sheriff's Department in New Hampshire. Wyatt Foster is a cop who wants to be a carpenter or a carpenter who wants to be a cop. 

The story is told from three viewpoints. Tessa and Wyatt handle the police viewpoint. Libby Denbe is also a viewpoint character. Libby is Justin Denbe's wife of eighteen years and the mother of fifteen-year-old Ashlyn. Libby is also a betrayed wife who has developed an addiction to pain pills to cover up the pain of her cheating husband. Libby still loves Justin but doesn't think she can get over his cheating,

The family is taken from their home to the wilds of New Hampshire and a finished but never occupied prison built by Justin's company. Meanwhile, the FBI, Sheriff's Department, and Tessa are trying to figure out who took the family and what they want.

Lots of secrets are exposed as Tessa and Wyatt investigate Justin's company including more than $11 million embezzled over the past sixteen years. All of Justin's trusted employees are lying about something and it is up to Tessa and Wyatt to learn the truth.

I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints. The story was really filled with tension and plot twists. 

I bought the Kindle book December 31, 2025. I got the audiobook on sale April 1, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Hidden Riches by Nora Roberts

Hidden Riches
Author: Nora Roberts
Narrator: Sandra Burr
Publication: Brilliance Audio (June 10, 2008)
Length: 14 hours and 23 minutes

Description #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts unveils the intriguing world of antiques dealing, where an independent woman discovers the price of breathless desire—and the schemes of an obsessed killer…

Dora Conroy has a passion for antiques—and any other rarities she can acquire for her quaint Philadelphia shop. A seasoned dealer, she knows all the tricks of the trade. But she is unprepared for the deadly consequences when she purchases a few curiosities at an auction—and unknowingly brings home a priceless cache that makes her the target of an international criminal. Entwined in a reckless chase, Dora turns to her new neighbor, Jed Skimmerhorn, a cop who’s turned in his badge—and whose desire for lovely Dora puts him back in the line of fire. Fighting their attraction while falling in love, they find that hidden riches can have a most ordinary façade. And that possession can be a lethal obsession…

My Thoughts: Dora Conroy has a new tenant for the apartment above her antiques and curiosities shop. Jed Skimmerhorm was a police captain who has given up his badge after he kills the man who, aiming for him, set a car bomb that murdered his sister. Independently wealthy, Jed is content to do nothing except exercise and stew in his guilt. 

When Dora returns home from her buying trip, she meets the man her actor father chose for her new tenant. Banter ensues with Dora being friendly and Jed being grouchy. 

Meanwhile, a wealthy, murderous and insane collector receives a package which doesn't contain the goods he purchased. He sends his henchman to find and recover his missing pieces which are the same goods Dora bought. He learns that the shipping company mislabeled the shipments and, starting at the auction house, beings to track them down killing anyone who gets in his way. 

Dora's shop is burglarized but she and Jed manage to chase away the burglar after some shots are fired. Jed finds himself pulled back into police work as he tries to find out who tried to burglarize Dora's shop and why. 

As the book progresses, the viewpoints alternate and the danger creeps ever closer to Dora. And Dora and Jed are falling love with Dora being the open-hearted one and Jed the more reluctant because his abuse childhood made him very suspicious of love. 

The story was fast paced. It was also an intense thriller and intense though not graphic love story. I liked that Dora's family and Jed's friends were both pushing the couple together while providing strong support for both characters. 

Published in 1994, the only things that made it seem dated were the lack of cellphones and the prevalence of characters who smoked. I enjoyed this one very much.

I bought this one from Chirp April 26, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Archangel's Eternity by Nalini Singh

Archangel's Eternity
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunters (Book 18)
Publication: Berkley (May 5, 2026)

Description: Elena and Raphael return for the hauntingly poignant conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s genre-defining Guild Hunter series.

A thousand years.

It’s been a millennium since Elena’s fateful first meeting with Archangel Raphael. She has survived war and loss, experienced beauty and cruelty. But no matter what, she has always held on to her mortal heart, as she and Raphael have held on to each other. Passionate and vibrant, they’ve built a life that has stood the test of time, growing ever stronger with each turn of the sun.

But change is coming—of a magnitude they could have never imagined—and it will forever alter the trajectory of their existence.

Even as they grapple with the cataclysmic shift in their personal lives, the Cadre of Ten, which has maintained a hard-won peace for centuries, begins to simmer with dangerous fault lines. The specter of madness looms in one archangel, the promise of war burns between two others, and in darkness far from mortal and immortal eyes stirs an ancient, slumbering power.

Suddenly, the future is terrifyingly uncertain . . . at the very moment that Elena and her archangel need to protect a treasure infinitely more precious than eternity.

My Thoughts: This conclusion to an 18-book series is mainly a retrospective. Elena and Raphael are celebrating being together for 1000 years and looking back at some of the events that shaped them. Conditions are stable but changes are in the wind.

The biggest change is that Elena finds herself pregnant despite her birth control. This is a seismic event for the two of them. Raphael fears that he will go mad as his parents did and Elena fears that her hunter nature will make her so overprotective that she will stunt her child's growth. 

I enjoyed this story but doubt this would work at all for a new reader of the series. There were so many references, including the quotes that begin each chapter, to events and relationships from the earlier books that brought back memories for me but would likely baffle someone new to the series. 

I enjoyed the glimpses of the world and New York especially and thought the changes realistic. I also liked Harrison's role in the story which indicates that immortality is a very mixed blessing. Elena also feels the losses of family and friends over the many centuries. 

I enjoyed the return of a new and changed Legion. I thought for a while that this would be another episode filled with angels fighting each other but liked the way Raphael's mother managed to sooth the tensions between Illium and his archangel father. 

This story was a satisfying conclusion to the series. 

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

ARC Review: I, Spy by L. M. Kemp

I, Spy
Author: L. M. Kemp
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 5, 2026)

Description: Ex-spy Kendal was one of the best, but now she’s wearing the toughest disguise of her career: Mom.

“An incisive feminist thriller and heaps of fun.”―Margot Douaihy

Kendal Carter is out in the cold and she wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s been four years since her daughter Rosie was born and Kendal has kept her miles away from the danger of her former life as a spy. But when their hiding place is discovered, Kendal is forced to turn to old contacts for help. Her longtime friend and ex-handler Rico doesn’t miss his chance to pull his best spy back in. Whisking them to London, Rico offers them a luxury safe house in an area with good schools. How can Kendal resist?

But there’s a catch, of course. Rico wants Kendal to come back to work for his espionage agency Bon Temps. He’s offering an assignment with no apparent downside, investigating one of the dads at Rosie’s new school who works at one of London’s biggest, murkiest tech firms and suspected of being up to no good. It should be easy enough for someone with her experience, and luckily, mother is the perfect cover.

However, it doesn’t take long for Kendal to realize that Rico’s got an agenda of his own. The tech firm may be dealing in darker and more deadly secrets than they all realize, plus the world of coffee mornings and playdates comes with its own web of allegiances and betrayals. Kendal soon finds herself in way too deep . . .

A gripping blend of suspenseful spy thriller with heartfelt women’s fiction, I, Spy is the first in a propulsive debut series about the masks we all wear, whether as a spy or as a parent.

My Thoughts: Kendal Carter is laying low after delivering her daughter Rosie. She hopes that her life as a spy is long behind her. But that old life catches up to her forcing her to call on old allies for aid. 

Kendal finds herself in London in a luxury safe house and enrolling Rosie, now four, in a good school. She's supposed to be training a guy to go undercover at a tech firm suspected of wrongdoing. But Kendal should know better than to trust her old colleague. 

Kendal soon finds herself deep in a web of spies with conflicting agendas and the local mom's group at her daughter's school which is also filled with conflicting agendas. Kendal needs to dust off her old skills in a hurry if she and Rosie are to survive. 

And Rosie has reached the age when she's starting to ask about her father. He's the only man that Kendal ever fell in love with and it turns out he was a spy too. His supposed death turns out not to be as final as Kendal had supposed. 

This was an interesting story filled with people with hidden lives and agendas. It started slowly for me but persistence drew me into the story which ended up being quite satisfying. 

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

Audiobook Review: Obsession in Death by J. D. Robb

Obsession in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Narrator: Susan Ericksen
Series: In Death (Book 40)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (February 10, 2015)
Length: 13 hours and 22 minutes

Description: Lieutenant Eve Dallas walks the thin line between love and hate in this fabulous 40th thriller from #1 New York Times bestseller J. D. Robb....

Eve Dallas has solved a lot of high-profile murders for the NYPSD and gotten a lot of media. She - and her billionaire husband - are getting accustomed to being objects of attention, of gossip, of speculation.

But now Eve has become the object of one person's obsession. Someone who finds her extraordinary, and thinks about her every hour of every day. Who believes the two of them have a special relationship. Who would kill for her - again and again....

With a murderer reading meanings into her every move, handling this case will be a delicate - and dangerous - psychological dance. And Eve knows that underneath the worship and admiration, a terrible threat lies in wait. Because the beautiful lieutenant is not at all grateful for these bloody offerings from her "true and loyal friend." And in time, idols always fall....

My Thoughts: Lieutenant Eve Dallas is a NYPSD murder cop. She's really good at her job and has solved some very high-profile cases. She's also married to a gorgeous and mysterious billionaire named Roarke. Putting those things together means that Eve has a much higher profile than she would like. 

Eve's fame has attracted a person who really admires her and wants to be her best friend. Her new best friend has decided to murder people they believe have done Eve wrong. The first victim is a high-profile lawyer. The lawyer defended a man Eve arrested for inventing a device that let him control people's minds which made some of them kill themselves. Once the court case was over, Eve didn't give the lawyer another thought until her new friend decided to murder her. Her friend left a note for her written in the wall with a Sharpie. 

The second victim was a third-rate junkie who accidentally bruised Eve's face when she went to him for some information about a case. Now his body was found impaled by a broken pool cue. Eve's friend has left a note on the wall for her. This one was still written with a Sharpie but was longer and less controlled then the first note. 

Even though they need to investigate each victim, it soon becomes clear that the only thing that connects the murders is Eve's involvement. Eve and her partner Detective Peabody have to search for people who might know about the details of the cases or who might be focused on Eve. 

Eve also has to find a way to protect her friends because her new friend doesn't want any rivals. This brings Eve to a realization of how many friends she now has and makes her wonder how it all happened. Eve life has changed and expanded in many ways since she fell in love with and married Roarke. 

There are lots of references to Eve's earlier cases since this is the 40th book in the series. There are also lots of references to her early life and the way she has overcome her childhood trauma. The romance is also strong in this one. She and Roarke are building unbreakable bonds. In some of the books, there are conflicts as she and Roarke are building their marriage. In this one, she and Roarke are on the same page. 

This was an excellent entry into this long-running series. 

I bought this audiobook December 1, 2023. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: A Zoom with a View by Jess Cannon

A Zoom with a View
Author: Jess Cannon
Publication: Dutton (May 5, 2026)

Description: A fiction debut filled with heart and humor, A Zoom with a View will make you want to move to Blue Oak—if only the annual Fourth of July festivities didn't end with a dead body.

Leo can't believe she's back in Blue Oak. Her small, quirky Texas hometown feels suffocating after trying to make it big as an English professor in New York—especially due to her strained relationship with her overly hair-sprayed mother, Karina. But with Leo’s career in academia in shambles, at least she's able to work as a photographer for her godmother's real estate business. And her best friend, Emily, is around to help her navigate through the mess—and maybe force her to reconnect with her old high school boyfriend, Mack.

But while at work, Leo makes a grisly discovery at one of her godmother's properties: the dead body of rival real estate agent and social media influencer Chaz. Even worse, Leo and Emily have been secretly running a snarky Reddit page making fun of Chaz’s cringe-inducing advice and duck-faced selfies. When someone she loves is accused of the murder, Leo finds herself flung headfirst into a dangerous investigation, teaming up with a local detective who is a lot more attractive than she remembered when they were both teenagers. Meanwhile, Karina has been acting stranger and stranger, as if all her hair hides a big secret. . .

My Thoughts: Leo is back in her hometown of Blue Oak, Texas, where she needs to find a new start after failing to find a tenure position in a college English Department. She'll be working for her godmother's real estate company taking photos and managing the business's social media accounts. 

Leo wasn't eager to come home. She has a very difficult relationship with her mother who runs the local beauty shop. And she isn't all that eager to catch up with her high school classmates. She's glad to be able to spend some in-person time with her best friend Emily as opposed to their online friendship as they are moderating an online group that is following a former high school acquaintance who is trying to make his name as a social media influencer. Chaz runs a fitness center, is a rival real estate broker, and runs his own church. 

When Leo and Emily go to one of their new real estate properties, they discover Chaz's body. The local sheriff is sure that Leo's godmother Kay murdered him, but his deputies including another of Leo's classmates is actually willing to investigate and is willing to have Leo help him with the ins and outs of social media. 

This was an interesting mystery with quite a few twists and turns and quite a few viewpoints too. It seems Leo's mother has a secret life of her own. And Leo has to explore her feelings about her hometown and about old friends who might be romantic interests. 

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