Thursday, July 31, 2025

Audiobook Review: Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner

Before She Disappeared
Author: Lisa Gardner
Narrator: Hillary Huber
Series: Frankie Elkin (Book 1)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (January 19, 2021)
Length: 12 hours and 7 minutes

Description: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a propulsive thriller featuring an ordinary woman who will stop at nothing to find the missing people that the rest of the world has forgotten

Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will--searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.

A new case brings her to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier. Resistance from the Boston PD and the victim's wary family tells Frankie she's on her own--and she soon learns she's asking questions someone doesn't want answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to discover the truth, even if it means the next person to go missing could be her.

My Thoughts: Frankie Elkins in a woman on a mission. She looks for missing people. She's not a pro. She's a recovering alcoholic and she feels guilty for past mistakes.

She arrives in Boston looking for Angelique Badeau who is a fifteen-year-old who has been missing for eleven months. She gets Angelique's aunt to give her permission to poke around which puts her afoul of the police who haven't given up on the case but who haven't had any good leads for a while. 

She gets a job in a local bar and begins meeting people and asking questions. And, gradually, she discovers what the police have not including that a second teen girl is also missing. And for the first time in fifteen cases, Frankie is able to bring a girl home. 

This audiobook was narrated by Hillary Huber. I enjoyed the way she ramped up the suspense and really illuminated Frankie's character. 

I bought this one June 30. You can buy your copy here.
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ARC Review: Hunter's Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Hunter's Heart Ridge
Author: Sarah Stewart Taylor
Series: A Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (August 5, 2025)

Description: In this sequel to Taylor’s lyrical series debut, Agony Hill, Detective Frank Warren and his formerly CIA-connected neighbor Alice Bellows return to investigate the death of a diplomat.

It's November of 1965 and the second weekend of Vermont's regular deer season when Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren is called out to what looks like an accidental shooting at The Ridge Club, an exclusive men's hunting and fishing club for congressmen, diplomats, judges, and titans of industry: a former ambassador has been shot while out hunting. With the war in Vietnam picking up speed on the other side of the world, Warren quickly realizes that many of the club’s members are powerful men who may have ulterior motives and connections in high places.

While Warren's suspicions about the club members build, his neighbor Alice Bellows is throwing a dinner party, preparing for Thanksgiving, and worrying about her pregnant friend and fellow widow, Sylvie Weber, whose due date is coming up. When Alice's old handler and friend, Arthur Crannock, unexpectedly shows up in Bethany, Alice begins to wonder whether his presence has anything to do with the death at the hunting club.

As an early season snowstorm bears down on Bethany, knocking out power and phone lines and blocking the roads, Warren and his assistant, Trooper Pinky Goodrich, are trapped at the Ridge Club, likely along with a killer, and Alice, increasingly fearful that her past in the intelligence world is no longer in the past, will have to act fast to save Sylvie and her baby.

Sarah Stewart Taylor’s historical series combines the intricacy of a satisfying mystery with keen observation of a time and place during great transformation and upheaval.

My Thoughts: It is November 1965 and early in the deer hunting season when Franklin Warren is called to the Ridge Club for what looks like an accidental shooting. The Ridge Club is populated by movers and shakers including some in the government. When Franklin arrives, he discovers the body of former ambassador William Moulton. Franklin and his assistant Pinky begin to investigate, and it soon becomes clear to Franklin that the death was a murder. 

As Franklin is interviewing the various characters who were at the club when the shooting occurs, Alice Bellows is planning a dinner party and worrying about very pregnant neighbor Sylvie Warner. She is also dealing with the reappearance of her old friend Arthur Crannock who is still in the CIA agent. Alice has trouble believing that he is in the area only to supervise the remodeling of a nearby home he and his wife bought. 

Then an early season snowstorm begins trapping Franklin in the club with all the suspects and Alice at Sylvie's isolated farm with a woman in labor with the baby in a difficult position. 

I enjoyed the setting of rural Vermont and the 1960s time period. It reminded me of the conflicts at home about our role in Vietnam as demonstrated by the two generations of men at the hunting club and of the Cold War sensibilities of worry about Russian influences and spies. 

Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this story. Being the second book in a series, we learn more about both Franklin and especially Alice in this episode. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Book Review: The Locked Tomb Mystery and Other Stories by Elizabeth Peters

The Locked Tomb Mystery and Other Stories
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Publication: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road (October 9, 2018)

Description: Four classic stories by the New York Times bestselling “grandmaster” of mystery, each paired with an incisive new introduction (Publishers Weekly).

A thriller writer is embroiled in a real-life whodunit when a friend drops dead with her hatpin impaled in his back. The violation of a sealed West Bank tomb, its rock walls intact, provides a Thebes investigator with a mystifying conundrum. Two sisters take shelter in a shuttered old house at the end of a country road…only to discover they’re not alone. And the author’s most beloved characters, Amelia Peabody and Radcliff Emerson, make an appearance in a newly uncovered tale with a witty nod to Sherlock Holmes.

The Locked Tomb Mystery presents an unforgettable quartet of short mysteries from one of the genre’s greatest practitioners. An expanded edition of Peters’s Mystery Stories, this volume includes the never-before-collected story, “Vengeance of Sekhmet”—along with a new preface by Barbara G. Mertz and new introductions to each story by mystery authors Tasha Alexander, Juliet Blackwell, and Daniel Stashower, and Egyptologist Salima Ikram.

My Thoughts: This book includes four of Barbara Mertz's short stories which each come from one aspect of her writing. Mertz was an Egyptologist who wrote under the names of Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters for her fiction work and her own name for popular books on Egyptology.

The book includes a short story which brings back her beloved characters Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson who need to solve a mystery of a presumed curse. There is another mystery set in ancient Egypt.

The Runaway was a ghost story which fits in with most of her work as Barbara Michaels. And Liz Peters, PI was evidence of the humor she infused in many of her stories. It tells of a mystery author who also works as a private investigator and is a gender bent send-up of the hard-boiled mystery genre.

I enjoyed the introductions to each of the stories which tell how Mertz influenced a variety of writers and egyptologists in her long career. 

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.
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Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Audiobook Review: Murder at Marble House by Alyssa Maxwell

Murder at Marble House
Author: Alyssa Maxwell
Narrator: Eva Kaminsky
Series: Gilded Newport Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Tantor Audio (November 30, 2021)
Length: 10 hours and 4 minutes

Description: With the dawn of the 20th century on the horizon, the fortunes of the venerable Vanderbilt family still shine brightly in the glittering high society of Newport, Rhode Island. But when a potential scandal strikes, the Vanderbilts turn to cousin and society page reporter Emma Cross to solve a murder and a disappearance....

Responding to a frantic call on her newfangled telephone from her 18-year-old cousin, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Emma Cross arrives at the Marble House mansion and learns the cause of her distress - Consuelo's mother, Alva, is forcing her into marriage with the Duke of Marlborough. Her mother has even called in a fortune teller to assure Consuelo of a happy future.

But the future is short-lived for the fortune teller, who is found dead by her crystal ball, strangled with a silk scarf. Standing above her is one of the Vanderbilts' maids, who is promptly taken into police custody. After the frenzy has died down, Consuelo is nowhere to be found. At Alva's request, Emma must employ her sleuthing skills to determine if the vanishing Vanderbilt has eloped with the beau of her choice - or if her disappearance may be directly connected to the murder....

My Thoughts: Emma Cross receives a telephone call from her cousin Consuelo Vanderbilt in 1895. But before she can talk to her, Emma's Aunt Alva waylays her to convince her to persuade Consuelo to marry the Duke of Marlborough. Alva has already called in a fortune teller that she has persuaded to say the marriage will be a good thing. Emma reluctantly agrees.

But when the fortune teller is murdered and Consuelo disappears, Emma needs to find her cousin whether or not she thinks marriage to the Duke of Marlborough is a good idea. 

Emma is also dealing with a boss who is determined to have Emma only write society fluff pieces. In fact, he gives her article about the murder away to a male reporter. She does secure the promise of a byline if she can solve the murder of the fortune teller. There's a second murder of one of Alva's houseguests for her to solve too. And, let's not forget, she needs to locate Consuelo before she manages to ruin her reputation. 

Emma is also dealing with Derrick. She's turned down his marriage proposal for very Women's Rights reasons, but she is still conflicted about her decision. It doesn't help that Derrick is being so helpful in her murder investigation.

This was an engaging story. I liked Eva Kaminsky's narration. 

I bought this one July 26, 2021. You can buy your copy here.
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Audiobook Review: Who Let the Dog Out? by David Rosenfelt

Who Let the Dog Out?
Author: David Rosenfelt
Narrator: Grover Gardner
Series: Andy Carpenter (Book 13)
Publication: Minotaur Books (July 21, 2015); Macmillan Audio
Length: 6 hours and 41 minutes

Description: A lawyer by day-and then only when he's forced to take on new cases-Andy Carpenter's true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend Willie Miller. So it's frightening when Willie calls him to say the alarm has gone off at the foundation building, and there's clearly been a break-in. It turns out that a recently rescued dog, nicknamed Cheyenne since her arrival at the foundation, has been stolen. Andy and Willie track the missing dog to a house in downtown Paterson, New Jersey and sure enough, they find the dog...standing right next to a dead body. The man had been gruesomely murdered mere minutes before Andy and Willie arrived. Could it be a coincidence? Or could the dog theft somehow be connected to the killing?

Andy takes Cheyenne safely back to the foundation building, and that should be the end of his involvement, but Andy's curiosity-and his desire to keep the dog from further harm-won't let him stop there. The cops have just arrested a man named Tommy Infante for the murder, but as Andy looks into the circumstances surrounding the break-in and the dog theft, he starts to wonder if Infante might actually be innocent. And when Andy takes Infante on as a client and starts searching in earnest for evidence that will exonerate him, what Andy starts to discover terrifies him. The murder might be just one small cog in a plot with far-reaching implications, and unless Andy can uncover the truth in time, thousands of lives could be in imminent danger.

Once again David Rosenfelt has written a fast-paced and clever mystery with his characteristic blend of humor, larger-than-life characters, and propulsive plotting.

My Thoughts: Andy Carpenter's next case begins the alarms go off at his dog rescue and he and Willie find that a dog has been stolen. Luckily, the dog's collar had a tracker so that Willie and Andy could go to where the dog was. Unfortunately, the find the dog and a murdered man who apparently stole her. 

When a man is arrested for the thief's murder, Andy is curious. He learns that Tommy Infante had been seen arguing and threatening the man in a local bar. When the man died the same way Tommy threatened to kill him, it seemed a slam-dunk to arrest Tommy for the murder. But Andy isn't so sure. He finds himself taking on Tommy's case and investigating.

The investigation leads from diamond smuggling to weapons dealing to a potential invasion of a small town in Maine. And all along the way the reader is treated to Andy's sarcastic point of view. I especially enjoyed the way he is manipulating his newly adopted son into playing baseball. I also love his relationship with Laurie. 

I bought this one September 14, 2023. You can buy your copy here.
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Monday, July 28, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (July 28, 2025)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

This was an interesting week. We were under Air Quality Alerts for most of the week because of Canadian fires. The end of the week brought Heat Advisories and thunderstorms with concurrent Flood Watches. Right now, on Sunday morning, we have 77F and mostly sunny skies and excellent air quality. We are looking to get to 87F with high humidity later today. Here's what it looked like Thursday:
Other than a couple of trips to the grocery store and one to my clinic for a blood draw, I spent the week in the air-conditioned comfort of my house. Going to the grocery store yesterday felt like stepping into one of those old-fashioned hair dryers at the beauty shop. 

I'm doing well on my goal of finishing all of my August review books before the end of July. I have five to go. There are on the stack for this week. I should also finish Angel-Seeker this week. It's a longer audiobook than I usually choose at more than 15 hours. 

I do have one doctor's appointment this week and my brother and I plan to go out to dinner to celebrate my upcoming birthday (and use a Texas Roadhouse coupon), but otherwise the week should be quiet. 

Read Last Week
  • The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan (Review, August 12) -- Excellent contemporary mystery set in the hills of North Carolina. My review will be posted on August 6.
  • Knife in the Back by Karen Rose (Review, August 12) -- 4th Broussard Investigations romantic suspense title. Great story. My review will be posted on August 7.
  • Thunderbird Falls by C. E. Murphy (Audiobook, mine since October 29, 2021) -- Urban fantasy in which a reluctant shaman has to save the day. My review will be posted on August 26.
  • Puma by Jorrie Spencer (Mine since August 1, 2009) -- A cat shifter finds herself involved with mind controllers who have enthralled her foster sister. My review will be posted on August 9.
  • The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (Review, August 19) -- The quirky residents of some cottages in Santa Barbara have to work together to save their homes and solve a couple of murders. My review will be posted on August 13.
  • The Story That Wouldn't Die by Christina Estes (Review, August 19) -- Reporter Jolene Garcia finds herself in the middle of another murder investigation when a contractor and lobbyist are both killed in what first looks like accidents. My review will be posted on August 12.
  • Murder by the Book by Amie Schaumberg (Review, August 19) -- A mystery filled with literary details in which a literature professor and police detective solve the murders of three co-eds. My review will be posted on August 14.
  • Claws Out by Cate Conte (Review, August 26) -- Ninth Cat Cafe Mystery takes Maddie and the Cat Cafe crew on a road trip in their new mobile cat cafe where they solve the murder of a author of cat-romances. My review will be posted on August 19.
  • The Last Hamilton by Jenn Bregman (Audiobook, Mine since June 18) -- Audiobook of a thriller in which a secret society formed at the death of Alexander Hamilton stop the Russians and Chinese from destroying the United States. My review will be posted on August 16.
Currently
Next Week
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:
Bought:
What was your week like?
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Saturday, July 26, 2025

ARC Review: Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell

Asylum Hotel
Author: Juliet Blackwell
Publication: Berkley (July 29, 2025)

Description: When a mysterious figure shows up in the photograph an architect takes of the derelict Seabrink Hotel, ghostly encounters and murder are unleashed.

Aubrey Spencer loves photographing classic old buildings and abandoned places that hold old secrets. The Hotel Seabrink, perched overlooking the sea, is one such place. Currently abandoned but scheduled for a major renovation, it has a torrid history. Back in the 1920s it hosted A-list celebrity clientele, and now the locals insist it is haunted by the ghosts of two young women who died there. When Aubrey goes to photograph the site before the renovation begins, she bumps into a man named Dimitri Petroff, a minor online celebrity who shares her fascination with old buildings, the Hotel Seabrink in particular.

When he is found dead the next day at the base of a cliff, the police are quick to close the investigation. But Aubrey feels unsettled by locals who claim he was murdered and that it’s not the first time someone interested in the hotel was killed. As she digs deeper into the property’s dark history (and its origins as an asylum) as well as Dimitri’s professional rivalries, she becomes mired in an unsolved murder case from several decades earlier, one with eerie parallels to the contemporary case. But someone is determined to keep her from discovering the truth—at any cost.

My Thoughts: Aubrey Spencer is taking a break from her career as an architect after the death of her father and a problem with one of her buildings. She has always been interested in photographing abandoned places. 

When she hears about the abandoned Hotel Seabrink, she is intrigued. There are lots of local legends about the place including ghosts and curses, but there is almost no information about the hotel on the internet. 

She meets Dmitri while she is exploring and taking pictures of the old building with its sulphur springs in the basement and largely intact furnishings. He is there exploring the possibility of using the hotel in his upcoming Netflix series. He's a successful YouTuber with lots of followers. 

The two hit it off and even spend the night together. But the next morning he's missing from her bed and soon discovered at the base of Dead Man's Bluff. The local police want to write it off as a suicide, but neither Aubrey nor Jasper, the paramedic who repelled down to get the body believe it. 

When Aubrey starts getting notes telling her to stop investigating, she calls on her friend Nikki to come be with her. However, Nikki is being trailed by her stalker ex-boyfriend Ty who just adds more complications to the investigation. 

This story was spooky but with elements of humor too since Nikki has a vast store of information learned from horror movies that she keeps mentioning. I enjoyed this atmospheric story and its intriguing setting. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Friday, July 25, 2025

Friday Memes: Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell

 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:
Had she known about the Seabrink curse, she might not have gone. Aubrey Spencer was on the hunt for photographs, not for ghosts.
Friday 56:
"The old envelope is addressed to Mrs. Gwen Peters, 125 Lenox Road, Bakersfield, California," read Nikki. "This must be the Bakerfield connection, right? And look, the return address is Seabrink Poor Farm and Asylum."

This week I am spotlighting Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell. This is a recent addition to my Review stack. Here's the description from Amazon:
When a mysterious figure shows up in the photograph an architect takes of the derelict Seabrink Hotel, ghostly encounters and murder are unleashed.

Aubrey Spencer loves photographing classic old buildings and abandoned places that hold old secrets. The Hotel Seabrink, perched overlooking the sea, is one such place. Currently abandoned but scheduled for a major renovation, it has a torrid history. Back in the 1920s it hosted A-list celebrity clientele, and now the locals insist it is haunted by the ghosts of two young women who died there. When Aubrey goes to photograph the site before the renovation begins, she bumps into a man named Dimitri Petroff, a minor online celebrity who shares her fascination with old buildings, the Hotel Seabrink in particular.

When he is found dead the next day at the base of a cliff, the police are quick to close the investigation. But Aubrey feels unsettled by locals who claim he was murdered and that it’s not the first time someone interested in the hotel was killed. As she digs deeper into the property’s dark history (and its origins as an asylum) as well as Dimitri’s professional rivalries, she becomes mired in an unsolved murder case from several decades earlier, one with eerie parallels to the contemporary case. But someone is determined to keep her from discovering the truth—at any cost.
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Thursday, July 24, 2025

Audiobook Review: Mary Russell's War by Laurie R. King

Mary Russell's War
Author: Laurie R. King
Narrator: Jenny Sterlin
Series: Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
Publication: Recorded Books (October 13, 2016)
Length: 9 hours and 57 minutes

Description: Laurie R. King illuminates the hidden corners of her beloved Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series in this dynamic story collection.

In nine short stories, seven of which have never previously been available in print, and one brand-new, never-before-seen Sherlock Holmes mystery - available together for the first time - Laurie R. King blends her long-running brand of crime fiction with historical treats and narrative sleight of hand. At the heart of the collection is a prequel novella that begins with England's declaration of war in 1914. As told in Mary Russell's teenage diaries, the whip-smart girl investigates familial mysteries, tracks German spies through San Francisco, and generally delights with her extraordinary mind - until an unimaginable tragedy strikes.

Here, too, is the case of a professor killed by a swarm of bees; Mrs. Hudson's investigation of a string of disappearing household items - and a lifelong secret; a revealing anecdote about a character integral to The God of the Hive; the story of Mary's beloved uncle Jake and a monumental hand of cards; and a series of postcards in which Mary searches for her missing husband, Sherlock Holmes.

Last but not least, fans will be especially thrilled by Mary's account of her decision, at age 92, to publish her memoirs - and how she concluded that Ms. King should be the one to introduce her voice to the world.

My Thoughts: MARY RUSSELL'S WAR was a collection of short stories adding depth and exploring various events that complement the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes stories by the author. 

All of the stories were entertaining. I particularly liked Mary's diary written when she was a child of fourteen living in San Francisco with her family. It includes her searching for German spies with mixed results. It definitely paints Mary as a very intelligent and determined characters. 

I enjoyed the story of Mary and Sherlock's wedding as they sneak into a chapel at Sherlock's family home. 

I also really enjoyed the last two pieces detailing how Laurie R. King was chosen to be the one who presented Mary's journals to the world. The first is told in Mary's voice about how she and her husband Sherlock outwitted Sherlockians who were trying to break their piece. The 92-year-old Mary and her even older husband Sherlock led them on a chase from Sussex to Oxford and back again. The final story is told in a series of letters and postcards as Mary hunts for the missing Sherlock after they managed to get away from the Sherlockians. 

The variety of narrators all brought the characters to vivid life. Listening to it has made me eager to listen to all the novels again. 

I bought this one June 22, 2021. You can buy your copy here.
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ARC Review: Road Trip with a Rogue by Kate Bateman

Road Trip with a Rogue
Author: Kate Bateman
Series: Her Majesty's Rebels (Book 3)
Publication: St. Martin's Paperbacks (July 29, 2025)

Description: Mistakenly holding up the coach of the man who broke her heart is bad enough, but having to endure his sinfully alluring company all the way to Scotland is Daisy Hamilton’s worst nightmare . . . and her most secret desire.

A midnight mishap.

Daisy Hamilton’s new mission for King & Co., London's premier private investigation firm, is simple: stop heiress Violetta Brand from eloping. But her case is derailed when she mistakenly holds up the carriage of Lucien Vaughan, Duke of Cranford―cynical war hero, infamous libertine, and the very man who broke her heart five years ago.

A reluctant road trip.

Lucien’s determined to see his lovestruck nephew married to Miss Brand, but the unexpected appearance of Daisy― the one woman he’s never been able to forget―could ruin his plans. As they follow the runaway couple together, Lucien decides that delaying the headstrong Daisy by any means possible―including seduction―will be his absolute pleasure . . . and hers.

A dangerous desire.

After Daisy’s reputation is threatened, Lucien makes a scandalous claim, but when an unexpected enemy threatens her life, he realizes she’s the only woman for him. Their past encounters have made Daisy almost as jaded about love as Lucien himself, and it’s going to take action, not words, to convince this knife-wielding hellion to risk her heart on him again...

My Thoughts: Daisy Hamilton's latest job for King & Co. has her holding up a coach to stop a pair of young lovers from eloping to Gretna Green. Unfortunately, she mistakenly comes upon the coach of Lucien Vaughan, Duke of Cranford which is being held up by three highwaymen. 

She steps in and then learns of her mistake. The passenger in the coach is Lucien Vaughan, not the young lovers. Vaughan is the man she has always yearned for. He's a friend of her brothers, but he's also a man determined to follow his own rakish path. Unbeknownst to her, he has been secretly trailing the young lovers, one of whom his nephew, to make sure they make it successfully to Gretna Green.

The two team up to chase down the young lovers with Vaughan putting roadblocks up to delay her. Their forced proximity also brings on the heat. The two begin an affair or at least a sexual liaison. Daisy is looking for a man who loves her for a husband and she is sure Vaughan doesn't qualify; Vaughan is not really looking for anything, but Daisy whom he has secretly loved for years is a possible complication for his planned life. 

This was an engaging historical romance which is also the final book in a trilogy. I loved the characters and the setting. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Wednesday, July 23, 2025

ARC Review: Give Me a Reason by Jayci Lee

Give Me a Reason
Author: Jayci Lee
Publication: St. Martin's Griffin

Description: In this modern retelling of Jane Austen's PERSUASION, a K-drama actress gets her second chance at love with the man she left to save her family, if only she can work up the courage to risk her heart on forever…one last time.

For ten years, Anne Lee told herself that Frederick Nam was her past. To save her father from bankruptcy, she dropped out of UC San Diego to pursue an acting career in Korea. Anne had to stop Frederick from following her and ruining his future. Breaking up with him was the best way she could love him.

After Anne left him, Frederick spent years loving her, missing her, and hating her until he decided to live his life for himself. He followed his dream and became a firefighter in Culver City. He didn’t need romance. He had his work and his friends.

When she returns to Los Angeles, Anne and Frederick find themselves in the same wedding—she as her cousin’s bridesmaid and he as his friend’s groomsman. Even though he is cold and distant with her, Anne can no longer deny that she never got over him. Not even close. As for Frederick, needing to take care of Anne is a habit he can't seem to kick, but that doesn't mean he has to forgive her.

My Thoughts: This is a contemporary romance and a retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion which I haven't read. 

Anne Lee left the college boyfriend she loved with all her heart to pursue an acting career in K-drama to make money to save her family home. She spent ten years there before returning home. She had always regretted leaving Frederick Nam behind but convinced herself that it was for his good.

Frederick Nam has never gotten over having his heart broken by Anne. But he has made a life for himself, first in finance where he was very successful and currently as a Captain in the fire department. 

When his best friend and fellow fireman is set to marry, he learns that the bride-to-be is Anne's cousin and Anne will be playing a big part in the wedding. 

It is difficult for both Anne and Frederick as they need to spend a lot of time together in the run-up to the wedding. Neither has gotten over their love for the other, but neither can find a way to tell the other about the state of their heart.

This story is set in Southern California and people by quite a number of Korean Americans. Anne is especially steeped in the culture and attitudes which wasn't good for her romance with Frederick. 

This was an engaging dual-viewpoint romance. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Audiobook Review: The Obsession by Nora Roberts

The Obsession
Author: Nora Roberts
Narrator: Shannon McManus
Publication: Brilliance Audio (April 12, 2016)
Length: 14 hours and 19 minutes

Description: The riveting novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Liar.

“She stood in the deep, dark woods, breath shallow and cold prickling over her skin despite the hot, heavy air. She took a step back, then two, as the urge to run fell over her.”

Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods. In freeing the girl trapped in the root cellar, Naomi revealed the horrible extent of her father’s crimes and made him infamous. No matter how close she gets to happiness, she can’t outrun the sins of Thomas David Bowes.

Now a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson, she has found a place that calls to her, a rambling old house in need of repair, thousands of miles away from everything she’s ever known. Naomi wants to embrace the solitude, but the kindly residents of Sunrise Cove keep forcing her to open up - especially the determined Xander Keaton.

Naomi can feel her defenses failing, and knows that the connection her new life offers is something she’s always secretly craved. But the sins of her father can become an obsession, and, as she’s learned time and again, her past is never more than a nightmare away.

My Thoughts: This was an excellent romantic suspense story by best-selling Nora Roberts. 

Eleven-year-old Naomi Bowes, in hopes of discovering a birthday present, follows her father into the woods and discovers a woman that he is holding hostage in an underground root cellar. She rescues her and takes her to the sheriff. Her father is arrested and outed as a serial killer.

Naomi, her young brother Mason, and her mother are swept up by her mother's brother and taken to live with him and his husband in Washington, D.C. The kids change their name and try to put their past behind them. Their mother can't and makes secret visits to her incarcerated husband and cooperates with him and the authors he's chosen to write a book about him which also leads to a movie. When her father throws her mother over for another woman who has been writing to him, she commits suicide leaving the now 16-year-old Naomi to find her. 

Noami becomes a professional photographer and travels, never staying in one place for long. That is, until she comes to the Oregon coast and finds a house that calls to her. She also finds a stray dog in need of someone to love. And she finds the local garage owner and garage band musician who isn't willing to let her keep traveling. 

But someone is murdering young women in town in a way very reminiscent of the way her father killed women, and Naomi decides it is time to make her stand and not leave the home and man who have captured her heart. 

This story was filled with both romance and suspense. It is also about finding love and building a home and community of friends. I loved it. 

I bought this one February 15, 2021. You can buy your copy here.
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ARC Review: Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku

Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes
Author: Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Series: Savvy Summers Mysteries (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur Books (July 29, 2025)

Description: A sparkling debut mystery set on the south side of Chicago, featuring the quick-witted, unforgettable Savvy Summers, proprietor of a soul food café.

When Savvy Summers first opened Essie's soul food café, she never expected her customer-favorite sweet potato pie to become the center of a murder investigation. But when Grandy Jaspers, the 75-year-old neighborhood womanizer, drops dead at table two, she suddenly has more to worry about than just maintaining Essie's reputation for the finest soul food in the Chicagoland area.

Even as the police deem Grandy’s death an accident, Savvy quickly finds herself—and her beloved café—in the middle of an entire city’s worth of bad press. Desperate to clear her name and keep her business afloat, Savvy and her snooping assistant manager, Penny Lopés, take it upon themselves to find who really killed Grandy.

But with a slimy investor harassing her to sell her name and business, customers avoiding her sweet potato pie like the plague, and her police sergeant ex-husband suddenly back in the picture, will Savvy be able to clear the café’s name and solve Grandy’s murder before it all falls apart?

After all, while Savvy always said her sweet potato pie was to die for, she never meant literally.

My Thoughts: This was one busy mystery. Savvy Summers, retired English teacher and assistant principal, has opened a restaurant and catering business using her beloved Aunt Essie's recipes. She has made it the best soul food restaurant in South Chicago. But when a frequent though cheap customer dies at table two, Savvy finds the reputation of her restaurant in jeopardy. 

Even though it is learned that the 75-year-old died of a heart attack brought on by too much Viagra, people are still blaming her sweet potato pie. Savvy believes that he was murdered and begins her own investigation. And when a local and very slimy politician also dies the same way after being hit in the face with one of Savvy's pies at a local fundraiser, Savvy's reputation is threatened again. 

And besides these threats to her business and reputation, Savvy is also dealing with harassment by a local property developer who is pressuring her to sell her business and building to his real estate group. 

But Savvy, with her Aunt Essie's maxims in her brain, isn't going to be pushed around. With the help of her assistant manager and her police sergeant ex-husband, Savvy is on the case. 

This story was filled with the attitudes and language of Black South Chicago. I enjoyed the setting and the descriptions of the soul food. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Monday, July 21, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (July 21, 2025)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

This was another week with Air Quality Alerts due to particulates from Canadian wildfires. I spent most of the week shut up in my air-conditioned house. I read and listened a lot. Lots of what I read or listened to were novellas. I have three more of the In Death novellas to listen to this week before I am caught up.

I enjoyed the Baseball All-Star break and the opportunity to do a lot of reading because there weren't baseball games to catch my attention. The All-Star game itself was very entertaining. I was pleased that my Braves made good showings and that the National League won even if it did come down to a Swing-Off to settle things. 

I did some cooking this week too. I tried a crockpot recipe from my new cookbook, and I made up a recipe based on one we had enjoyed a couple of weeks ago. Leftovers from Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore are in today's plan. The other casserole was enjoyed a few days ago with still one serving left to be eaten.

I added a huge number of review books this week from emails inviting me to download and read the titles. I now have four 2026 releases on by Review Books pile. I also added the rest of the mysteries from Minotaur that I didn't already have on my stack. Then I used my Kindle Reward points and a double points offer to complete the Harbinder Kaur series by Ellie Griffiths. Now I just have to find time to read them. 

This week should also be quiet. I have a very brief doctor's appointment on Thursday but no other appointments. I'd like to complete all of my August review copies before the end of July, but I seem to be inadvertently participating in the Big Books of Summer Challenge since a couple of the remaining books are over 400 pages each.

Read Last Week
  • Hunter's Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Review, August 5) -- Historical mystery set in Vermont in 1965. State Police Frankin Warren is called to a hunting camp to investigate an accident which turns out to be murder. My review will be posted on July 31.
  • Haunted in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook, mine since June 5, 2025) -- Novella is book 22.5 in the In Death series. 
  • A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King (Audiobook, mine since April 11, 2021) -- Mary investigates murders connected to the New Temple of God which is run by Margery Childe. Great historical detail and intriguing characters. My review will be posted on September 11.
  • Picking Up the Pieces by J. B. Abbott (Review, August 12) -- Nice cozy mystery in which a group of jigsaw puzzle players solve the mystery of one of their own. My review will be posted on August 5.
  • Ritual in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook, mine since June 5, 2025) -- Novella is book 27.5 in the In Death series. 
  • Eternity in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook, mine since June 5, 2025) -- Novella is book 24.5 in the In Death series. 
  • Missing in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook, mine since June 5, 2025) -- Novella is book 29.5 in the In Death series. 
  • Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey (Audiobook, mine since September 28, 2021) -- 8th book in the Elemental Masters series. A retelling of the tin soldier story set in a Victorian England with magic. My review will be posted on September 4)
  • Possession in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook, mine since June 5, 2025) -- Novella is book 31.5 in the In Death series. 
  • A Measure of Menace by Jennifer Ashley (Kindle novella, mine since February 17, 2025) -- Kat and Daniel investigate when Lady Cynthia's father is accused of murder. This novella filled in some blanks. 
  • A Silence in Belgrave Square by Jennifer Ashley (Review, August 12) -- The eighth Below Stairs novel has Kat and Daniel investigating the activities of Irish rebels and then the death of a viscount who might be conspiring with the rebels. My review will be posted on August 7.
  • Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver (Review, August 12) -- Near future science fiction thriller about Earth needing to elect a Protector to save it from total climate disaster. Marcus Tully, investigative reporter, gets involved when one of the candidates is the man he blames for the death of his wife and the other is an artificial intellect named Solomon. My review will be posted on August 5.
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