Audiobook Review: Seven Girls Gone by Allison Brennan

Seven Girls Gone
Author: Allison Brennan
Narrator: Suzanne T. Fortin
Series: Quinn & Costa (Book 4)
Publication: Harlquin Audio (April 25, 2023)
Length: 12 hours and 48 minutes

Description: When nobody will talk and corruption runs deep, turning to outsiders is the only way to make sure women stop disappearing…

For three years, women have been disappearing—and eventually turning up dead in the small bayou town of St. Augustine, Louisiana. Police detective Beau Hebert is the only one who seems to care, but with every witness quickly silenced and a corrupt police department set on keeping the cases unsolved, Beau’s investigation stalls at every turn.

With nobody else to trust, Beau calls in a favor from his friend on the FBI’s Mobile Response Team. While LAPD detective Kara Quinn works undercover to dig into the women’s murders and team leader Matt Costa officially investigates the in-custody death of a witness, Beau might finally have a chance at solving the case.

But in a town where everyone knows everyone, talking gets you killed and secrets stay buried, it’s going to take the entire team working around the clock to unravel the truth. Especially when they discover that the deep-seated corruption and the deadly drug-trafficking ring at the center of it all extends far beyond the small-town borders.

My Thoughts: Corruption is running deep in St. Augustine, Louisiana, and women are going missing then turning up dead. Detective Beau Hebert is running into trouble investigating since his chief is constantly shutting him down. Beau contacts his old Navy buddy Michael who is now part of the FBI's Mobile Response Team. 

Michael and LAPD Detective Kara Quinn are the advance guard coming to see what is going on. But the rest of the team isn't far behind them. The local Chief of Police is part of the problem. He refuses to ask for FBI help even when the FBI will be picking up the costs. But the FBI does have jurisdiction when it comes to prisoners dying in jail especially when a really substandard medical examiner is quick to declare suicide instead of doing an autopsy.

Kara uses her twelve years as an undercover cop to insinuate herself into situations where she hopes to find information. Her disguise is so good that one of the deputies, also corrupt, turns a traffic stop into sexual touching and other inappropriate behavior. Matt Acosta who is dating Kara determines right then and there that the guy will be losing his badge as a minimum consequence. 

As the team investigates, they learn that there is a gang moving drugs through the bayou and the murder victims all knew too much. Getting proof and stopping them puts the whole team in danger. And then there are the alligators...

Of course, Kara would rather face alligators than take a look at her relationship with Matt. Gators are much less scary. 

I bought this one April 4, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Final Target by Nora Roberts

The Final Target
Author: Nora Roberts
Publication: St. Martin's Press (May 26, 2026)

Description: A young author becomes the object of a fan’s desire―and rage―in the gripping thriller by the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Hidden Nature.

He showed up at Arden Bowie’s debut author appearance with a copy of her novel and an eager smile. He showered her with compliments and got her autograph. Then he came to her next event. And the one after that.

Dustin was just an aspiring writer who wanted advice, Arden reassured herself. But after giving in to one of his incessant invitations and chatting with him over coffee, she discovered that ignoring her inner alarm bell had been a terrible mistake…

An introvert at heart, Arden had long craved solitude―but now, after a harrowing assault, she finds herself hiding behind locked doors and startling at every sound. And her relief at his imprisonment is tempered by anxiety when Dustin’s wealthy mother helps to get him a paltry five-year sentence at a psychiatric facility.

Arden decides to write a new story for herself, moving to a tiny Oregon town and befriending Gideon, an ex-LAPD detective. But while she learns to thrive, Dustin remains his delusional, twisted self, as fixated as ever and now seething with anger. He still believes Arden's purpose on earth is to serve and please him. And his job is to protect her. But who will protect her from him?

My Thoughts: Arden Bowen has written her first book and is at a signing at the bookstore where she works when she signs a book for Dustin. He shows up at her next signing and the one after that too. He wants to take her for coffee or a meal. She agrees to a coffee just to appease him and that ends things for her.

It doesn't end things for Dustin who becomes fixated on her. He breaks into her apartment and takes trophies. Then he arrives with flowers, forces his way in, and attacks her. Luckily her downstairs neighbors hear the noise and rescue her. 

While Dustin is sentenced to five years in a psychiatric facility because of the influence of his rich mother, Arden in left with fear of going outside. She's determined to overcome her anxiety, but it is a slow process with lots of backsliding. She has the support of her loving family and friends.

Arden leaves Ohio and moves to Riverbend, Oregon, to be near her family and to get away from Dustin. She is making a new life including a new relationship with Gideon who is working in his grandfather's hardware store and doing woodworking after his career as a Los Angeles detective implodes. She's moving on a building a new life.

But Dustin isn't willing to move on. He has spent his five years building fantasies about Arden and planning revenge on those he feels did him wrong including his mother, his lawyer, the judge and the police officers who arrested him. When he's released early because his father is dying, he begins his revenge by killing his mother and heading to Oregon for Arden.

This was an excellent thriller filled with memorable characters. I love the way Roberts writes relationships from friendship to love. The villain was a counterpoint to Arden's life and his viewpoint sections extremely creepy. 

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

ARC Review: Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines

Ode to the Bones
Author: Carolyn Haines
Series: Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery (Book 30)
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 26, 2026)

Description: The next novel in the series that Kirkus Reviews characterizes as “Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney.

Private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney returns to her Mississippi Delta roots, hoping that long drives through cotton fields and the companionship of her dogs will ease her restless spirit. Instead, she’s confronted by a ghostly vision of a woman in white on the Tallahatchie Bridge, who disappears before Sarah Booth can investigate further.

When the local bank president hires her to find a missing farmer, Danny Anderson, Sarah Booth is forced to shift her focus back to the land of the―hopefully―still living. Danny is about to lose his family’s generational farm to foreclosure and is rumored to be entangled in a secret affair with a preacher’s wife. As Sarah Booth and her feisty partner Tinkie dig deeper, they uncover a web of gossip, ghost sightings, and a shadowy land buyer snapping up vulnerable farms.

With the help of her resident ghost-turned-spiritual-guide, Jitty, and her own unrelenting instincts, Sarah Booth must unravel the mystery of Danny’s disappearance, confront a town full of half-truths, and decipher the cryptic clues left behind―including those wrapped in lyrics and riverwater. But someone is watching her every move, and if she isn’t careful, she may be the next body swept away by the Tallahatchie’s current.

My Thoughts: Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner Tinkie are hired by Tinkie's bank president husband to find Danny Anderson. He's a farmer who is about to lose his farm to foreclosure. 

As they search the Mississippi Delta for him, they uncover secrets and plots. There's a rumored affair between Danny and a local preacher's wife. There's a jealous woman fanning the rumor mill. There's a beautiful model home from New York also searching for Danny. There're buried gold coins from the Civil War era that could save a number of the local farmers farms from foreclosure. 

Sarah Booth is aided by Jitty, a ghost turned spirit guide, who appears to her in the guise of a number of singers from the past including Bobbie Gentry and Bob Dylan who provide musical clues. Sarah Booth also sees a woman in white on the haunted Tallahatchie Bridge made famous in Gentry's Ode to Billy Jo. 

This was another engaging episode in this long-running series. 

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

ARC Review: Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney

Dungeons and Danger
Author: Elizabeth Penney
Series: The Ravensea Castle (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 26, 2026)

Description: The second in Elizabeth Penney's Ravensea Castle cozy mystery series, set in a haunted castle-turned-B&B in Yorkshire, UK.

As Halloween approaches, Ravensea Castle is bustling with excitement as Nora Asquith welcomes the fall season guests to her family's newly converted bed and breakfast. A historian studying the movements of the Vikings has traced their exploits to Ravensea. A certain Viking woman, known as the Red Maiden, landed here and the historian believes she buried a treasure hoard before the castle was built. He is hopeful he can find the hoard now. Nora can't help but wonder if the enigmatic castle ghost she's always referred to as the woman in red could be this very Viking?

Meanwhile, a team of four ghost hunters is coming to stay at Ravensea for the filming of Britain's Got Ghosts. Former students of the historian, the group arrives with their own rivalries and baggage. They try to see who can make the most paranormal contacts and end up getting more than they bargained for.

When the historian is murdered during a Viking festival on castle grounds and his notes go missing, Nora can't help but wonder if the treasure was why he was killed . . . and could it be connected to the visiting ghost hunters? Additional "accidents" befalling the hunters raise the stakes as Nora races to find the killer―and the treasure―before another death occurs.

My Thoughts: Nora Asquith and her family are trying to turn the castle the family has owned for 1000 years into a bed & breakfast. In this episode, they are hosting four twenty-somethings who are trying to film the castle ghosts for an episode of Britain's Got Ghosts and her father has signed a contract with a college professor who is convinced that he can find the Viking horde left by the Red Maiden who is another of the castle's ghosts. 

Unfortunately, the two groups of guests know each other and don't at all like each other. Brady, who is the young filmmaker, has accused the professor of stealing his research into the Red Maiden. Despite being warned of their safety, Nora keeps finding all of them wandering in parts of the castle that could be dangerous from the dungeons to the battlements. It seems that all of them are treasure hunters searching for the Red Maiden's horde. 

Nora and her family would also like to find the horde because keeping up a 1000-year-old castle isn't cheap. Nora would like to restore more rooms so they can have more guests. So, they are willing to put up with some unauthorized exploration. But when one of the young crew appears to have been poisoned with local mushrooms, Nora wants them out. Then the professor is found dead in his room during the first annual Viking Fest hosted by Nora's brother. Now it's murder and Nora's police inspector boyfriend has to turn over the investigation to "By the book" Hook who isn't eager for Nora's help and is suspicious of all - guests and family. 

This was a fun cozy. 

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

ARC Review: Storm Warning by James Byrne

Storm Warning
Author: James Byrne
Series: Dez Limerick (Book 4)
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 26, 2026)

Description: Dez Limerick has his considerable skills pushed to the limit when, to rescue a friend, he has to get to—and get into—a state of the art facility on full lockdown, with considerable forces determined to stop him.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick—'Dez' to all who know him—is a man with a shadowy past, certain hard-to-replicate skills, and a reputation as a good man to have when the going gets tough. Dez is doing his best to enjoy his retirement, wandering the country, doing what interests him, and occasionally helping friends when they find themselves needing any of his particular skills—mundane or extraordinary. For Dez was trained as a 'gatekeeper' - someone who can open any door, keep it open, and control who does and does not go through.

It's those skills that are now in demand when the State Department comes calling looking for his help. A multinational scientific research facility on the coast of Newfoundland has gone dark, the facility on full lockdown, and no one can get in or out. No one knows what is going on, but it can't be good. And a close friend of Dez is presumed locked inside the facility along with everyone else.

Even getting to the facility is an insurmountable challenge. The weather has flights grounded, some shadowy group is doing everything they can to impede the rescue team's progress, and hidden enemies are embedded in the rescue team. But anyone who thinks this is more than one man can face has never met Dez Limerick.

My Thoughts: Dez Limerick is recruited to find a way into a multinational scientific research facility on the coast of Newfoundland. Dez is a gatekeeper. He can open any door and keep it open. He is eager to take part in the mission because a former lover is one of the people trapped in the facility.

There are many problems not least that the facility is in the path of two major storms. Just getting there will be an accomplishment. However, the bigger problem is that people who want in are willing to do anything or kill anyone to get there first. 

Two aircraft set out, but only the one Dez is on finds its way to the facility. There they find that the small town appears abandoned though there is evidence of deaths. Getting into the facility is difficult, but Dez manages it only to find out that the townspeople have taken refuge in the quarters the miners usually used, a group of Russians have taken over two lower levels of the mine, and the research facilty down on level six is in lockdown from the inside. 

Luckily, one of the people in Dez's group is a negotiator from the US Department of State who begins to try to find a way to get to the research facility. Less lucky, the group also includes a mole in the control of the company that wanted to get there first and there is a young woman who is holding all sorts of secrets including her membership in a mysterious international organization. 

This was a fast-paced thriller starring a larger-than-life hero. I enjoyed all the twists and turns of the plot which was filled with characters with hidden agendas. 

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? (May 18, 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...

Last week was a nice quiet one. We had a brief taste of summer when the temperatures got to 81 on Friday. It was nice to open the windows and air out the house. We are back to reality today with a windy 40 degrees. Nearby wildfires are making the skies hazy. 

I spent most of the week indoors but did manage one trip out to the grocery store. I bought some ingredients for the two new recipes we'll be cooking this week on my brother's days off. Pork loins were on sale. I bought a big one and sliced it into chops for our freezer but left a nice sized roast to make on Monday. We are also planning to make a Shrimp and Peanut Sauce dish which sounded interesting when I saw the recipe online. 

I have my annual mammogram on Monday morning, and our cleaning people are coming sometime on Thursday. Otherwise, my week should be quiet. 

I went a little overboard this week and had my largest book haul of the year. I got five new audiobooks, four new Kindle books, and four new review copies. Three of the four Kindle books are from the same series and cost less than $5 for all three. I put the first of the series on my calendar but not the other two yet. All of the audiobooks are on the calendar, and one is even read and reviewed already. A second is the next audiobook on my stack. 

Read Last Week

• Dark in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)
• Death of an Irish Mummy by Catie Murphy (Audiobook, Mine since April 8) -- Third book in the Dublin Driver Mystery series. My review will be posted on June 16.
• Beach Thriller by Jamie Day (Review, June 9) -- Contemporary Thriller told from multiple points of view. My review will be posted on June 2.

• Leverage in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)
• A Botanist's Guide to Tradition and Treachery by Kate Khavari (Review, June 9) -- Fifth in the Saffron Everleigh historical mystery series. My review will be posted on June 3.
• Blood on the Sand by Kacey Ezell (Kindle, Mine since April 10) -- Second book in the Magelight epic fantasy series. My review will be posted on June 4.

• Connections in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)
• Miss Amelia's List by Mercedes Lackey (Audiobook, Mine since May 12) -- Seventeenth in the Elemental Masters series. My review will be posted on June 12.

Currently

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

Next Week

• Wildflower by Becky Jenkinson (Review, June 16)
• Restless Bones by Gillian French (Review, June 16)
• A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton (Audiobook, Mine since May 16)

• Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan (Review, June 23)
• A Bitter Cut by Anna Lee Huber (Review, June 23)
• An Irish Bookshop Murder by Lucy Connelly (Audiobook, Mine since April 8)

Reviews Posted

• An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong (Review copy)
• Owlsight by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon (Chirp Audiobook)
• Bark of Night by David Rosenfelt (Kindle, Mine)

• Owlknight by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon (Chirp Audiobook)
• The King's Ransom by Janet Evanovich (Kindle, Mine)
• The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer (Kindle, Mine)

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

Review:

• The Cloak and Dagger Club by Jackie McMahon (Review, July 14)
• The Matchmaker's Cottage by Kat Sloane (Review, August 11)

• Cursed City by Kate Golden (Review, September 29)
• Murder of a Merry Gentleman by Celeste Connally (Review, November 10)

Bought:

• Shards of Glass by Michelle Sagara (Audiobook Add-on, $7.99)
• The Ruling Class by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Audiobook, $5.60)
• Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook, $5.60)

• A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton (Audiobook, Audible Credit)
• Miss Amelia's List by Mercedes Lackey (Audiobook Add-on, $6.69)

• Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander by Christian Hurst (Kindle, $.99)
• Lily Starling and the Storm Riders by Christian Hurst (Kindle, $.99)

• Lily Starling and the Death Machine by Christian Hurst (Kindle, $2.99)
• Turning Darkness into Light by Marie Brennan (Kindle, $1.99)

What was your week like?

Book Review: The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer

The House Saphir
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publication: Feiwel & Friends (November 4, 2025)

Description: The "Queen of Fairytale Retellings" is back! #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer weaves the tale of Bluebeard as it's never been told before. This is a thrilling romantasy and murder mystery, perfect for fans Meyer's Cinder and Heartless.

Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the family business, eking out a paltry living by selling bogus spells to gullible buyers and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place.

Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir—otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu—who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien's great-great grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu's ghost, she can’t resist. A paid vacation at Armand’s country manor? It’s practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.

But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation—and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she’ll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.

But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest challenge: learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself.

My Thoughts: THE HOUSE SAPHIR is a reimagining of the Bluebeard fairy tale. It is set in a lush fantasy world complete with monsters and ghosts.

Mallory Fontaine is a con woman having lost her magic when doing a spell to help out her older sister. She and her sister Anais are trying to survive with fake spells, bogus card readings, and ghost tours. Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir who became known as Monsieur Le Bleu when he murdered three of his wives and was bested by the fourth a hundred years earlier.

Mallory gives tours of his townhouse in Morant. She has all the stories and the assistance of Saphir's ghostly first wife Triphine who is a bit of a hypochondriac. But her tour goes wrong one night when two of her clients turn out to be investigators investigating rumors of fraud. Luckily, the third client turns out to be the great-great grandson of Monsieur Le Bleu and wants to hire Mallory to remove his ghost from their country estate. 

Mallory quickly agrees in order to get away from the investigators despite her total lack of magic. She and her sister travel to the estate now fallen on very hard times. Mallory has to fake attempts to get rid of a very real and evil spirit. Along the way, she's falling in love with young Armand who isn't interested in his family's historic wine business but prefers working with medical herbs and other plants. 

When a young housemaid is murdered in the same manner as Le Bleu's wives, Mallory and Anais have to really find a way to defeat Le Bleu. They aren't quite alone. They are assisted by a pair of adventurers on a quest of their own. 

The worldbuilding in this story was intriguing. The characters well drawn and the setting elaborate. I enjoyed this retelling. 

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