Book Review: Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine by Janet Evanovich

Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine
Author: Janet Evanovich

Series: Stephanie Plum (Book 29)
Publication: Atria Books (November 1, 2022)

Description: Stephanie Plum breaks the rules, flirts with disaster, and shows who’s boss in this whip-smart and fast-paced thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling “crown princess of detective fiction” (BookPage) Janet Evanovich.

Monday mornings aren’t supposed to be fun, but they should be predictable. However, on this particular Monday, Stephanie Plum knows that something is amiss when she turns up for work at Vinnie’s Bail Bonds to find that longtime office manager Connie Rosolli, who is as reliable as the tides in Atlantic City, hasn’t shown up.

Stephanie’s worst fears are confirmed when she gets a call from Connie’s abductor. He says he will only release her in exchange for a mysterious coin that a recently murdered man left as collateral for his bail. Unfortunately, this coin, which should be in the office—just like Connie—is nowhere to be found.

The quest to discover the coin, learn its value, and save Connie will require the help of Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur, her best pal Lula, her boyfriend Morelli, and hunky security expert Ranger. As they get closer to unraveling the reasons behind Connie’s kidnapping, Connie’s captor grows more threatening and soon Stephanie has no choice but to throw caution to the wind, follow her instincts, and go rogue.

Full of surprises, thrills, and humor, Going Rogue reveals a new side of Stephanie Plum, and shows Janet Evanovich at her scorching, riotous best.

My Thoughts: Connie the long-time office manager for Vinnie's Bail Bonds goes missing in this latest Stephanie Plum adventure. She has been kidnapped by people who want the commemorative coin Vinnie took as collateral for the bail of a man who apparently committed suicide by shooting himself twelve times. 

The main problem is that the coin is no longer in the room where physical collateral is usually kept. Stephanie's first task is to track down the missing coin which leads her to a man determined to make his career panhandling with a little pickpocketing thrown in. The panhandler is named Carpenter Beedle, and he has failed to appear for his court date. That makes him first on Stephanie's to-do list. 

Carpenter did have the coin, after picking Vinnie's pocket, but he sold it to Benji at the comic book store, who then sold it to collector Melvin Sparks who has it along with five other identical commemorative coins but doesn't want to sell any of them. 

Luckily, Stephanie has the help of her friends Lula, Morelli, and Ranger along with the questionable assistance of her Grandma Mazur, because this case keeps adding complications. One such complication is needing to bring in Bella Morelli, her boyfriend Joe Morelli's grandmother, because she missed her court date for her arson trial. Everyone is afraid of Bella who is known for cursing anyone who crosses her in any way. Stephanie doesn't believe in the curses but she's wary of Bella anyway.

Stephanie and her colleagues are at their wacky bests in this episode which, naturally, includes wrecking yet another car and spending $450 on a Whatever - a car made of parts found in a junkyard - until that one is also bombed by one of the guys she's returned to jail after skipping their court date. 

While Stephanie still can't decide between the two men in her life, she has come to realize that not only does she like tracking down people who skip their court dates, but that she's actually pretty good at it. This was another funny episode in a long-running series. 

I bought this one for $2.99 on June 1, 2023. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz

Fired Up
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Narrator: Islay Jacobs
Series: Arcane Society (Book 7)
Publication: Tantor Media (August 27, 2024)
Length: 9 hours and 53 minutes

Description: More than three centuries ago, Nicholas Winters irrevocably altered his genetic makeup in an obsession fueled competition with alchemist and Arcane Society founder Sylvester Jones. Driven to control their psychic abilities, each man's decision has reverberated throughout the family line, rewarding some with powers beyond their wildest dreams, and cursing others to a life filled with madness and hallucinations.

Jack Winters, descendant of Nicholas, has been experiencing nightmares and blackouts—just the beginning, he believes, of the manifestation of the Winters family curse. The legend says that he must find the Burning Lamp or risk turning into a monster. But he can't do it alone; he needs the help of a woman with the gift to read the lamp's dreamlight.

Jack is convinced that private investigator Chloe Harper is that woman. Her talents for finding objects and accessing dream energy are what will save him, but their sudden and powerful sexual pull threatens to overwhelm them both. Danger surrounds them, and it doesn't take long for Chloe to pick up the trail of the missing lamp. And as they draw closer to the lamp, the raw power that dwells within it threatens to sweep them into a hurricane of psychic force.

My Thoughts: Jack Winters has a problem. As a descendent of Nicholas Winters, he fears that he has inherited the Winters' curse which will make his psychic gifts out of control. He needs the Burning Lamp but it went missing on a family moves many years earlier. 

Jack comes to Chloe Harper, a private investigator, to find the missing lamp. Chloe has a talent for finding missing things and a psychic gift for reading dream energy. She might be the only one who can save him. 

Chloe's ability to read dream energy has become a handicap in her life. Because everyone sheds dream energy, she finds that she can be around anyone who is sleeping and dreaming. This hasn't done good things to her love life. In fact, she's convinced that only celibacy will solve her problem. 

As Jack and Chloe search for the Burning Lamp, they fall in love. But eluding a powerful, evil organization that also wants the lamp and Chloe to use it, makes falling in love something that has to come second in both their lives. 

This was an entertaining paranormal romance. I like the relationship between Jack and Chloe. I also like Chloe's circle with includes her mutt who has separation issues. 

I bought this audiobook May 13, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Murder on Charity Lane by Jo Nichols

Murder on Charity Lane
Author: Jo Nichols
Series: Marigold Cottages Mysteries
Publication: Minotaur (August 18, 2026)

Description: Months after the shocking murders at Marigold Cottages, eccentric landlady Mrs. B finds the peace and quiet a little too peaceful. That’s why she invites her young friend CJ Moore to move into a now-vacant cottage: CJ is a suspect in the death of her employer, a wealthy Santa Barbara philanthropist who tumbled down the stairs of his mansion during a dinner party. The dead man’s much-younger widow claims she saw CJ push him, but Mrs. B is certain that she’s innocent. Why? Oh, just a feeling.

That’s enough for her to summon the Marigold Cottages Murder Collective. Lily-Ann will marshal the facts, Hamilton will dig around online, Sophie and Nicholas will offer eyewitness testimony, and everyone will hope that Ocean keeps Mrs. B out of trouble.

Just as the tenants begin to suspect that Elsa is in fact the perpetrator, there’s a second murder. A bloodier one. And with their tight-knit community in the crosshairs, they must prove her innocence - or accept her guilt.

My Thoughts: The eccentric characters who live in Marigold Cottages in Santa Barbara have a new mystery to solve when Ocean's new girlfriend CJ is accused of killing her elderly employer. Mrs. B is all in on reassembling the Marigold Cottages Murder Collective to solve the crime. In fact, she is so all in as to put the cottages at risk to secure CJ's freedom from jail.

This story is told from multiple viewpoints. Lily-Ann is the one who puts all the facts together in her spreadsheets and with her unique viewpoint. Sophie, a fund raiser, and Nicholas who works for the city have met the victim and his wife at a party at his home where Sophie was invited to make contacts with rich Santa Barbarans. They were present when Frank fell from the top of a stairway and broke his neck. 

CJ has worked for the retired music producer since she finished college and has a father-daughter relationship with him. Unfortunately, his wife Karina is not CJ's biggest fan. She resents CJ's closeness with her much older husband. Therefore, when he falls, she immediately tells the police that CJ pushed him. 

Other viewpoints include Vernon who is the police detective assigned to the case and who has had previous encounters with the Marigold Cottage residents, Hamilton who is the computer guy who is phobic about leaving his house, Ocean who is the artist in residence and the most likely to ride herd on Mrs. B. Mrs. B is also a viewpoint character and the most eccentric of the crew. 

This was a fun mystery filled with widely disparate characters who have nonetheless formed a found family to envy. 

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? (August 10, 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...

I had a busy week by my standards. I had a dentist's appointment which will be leading to two more appointments since I need to replace a crown. I'm really not looking forward to the experience though I'm told it will be easier than the appointments when the crown was first done more than 30 years ago. I did manage to cough very little at my cleaning and hope I won't be coughing too much for the next appointments. 

It looks like I did a lot of reading this past week but looks are deceiving. Three of the books I finished were short stories. Each took just over an hour to read or listen to. They were more than made up for by another audiobook I listened to this week. It seemed endless which isn't too much of a surprise since I learned the print version has 459 pages. My current audiobook is also a long one but I'm enjoying it a lot more. 

I added nine books to my stack this week including three new review copies. Three of the new additions were from Prime Reading which also included audiobooks. I've already read and returned two of them. The other new audiobook is for a book I already have as a Kindle version. I used one of my Audible Credits for it. I bought Cursed City for my keeper shelf since it was on sale for $2.99. I enjoyed it when I read it as a review copy earlier this year. 

Adding three review copies and reading only two means that my review stack is back at 40 TBR. I do have three on the pile for next week and hope nothing new is added to the review stack. 

This is the week to vote in the Primary Elections to determine who'll be on the ballot in November. It is also a full week of vacation for my brother. He has no plans but needs to use up accrued vacation hours. It will be sort of a preview for his retirement which is getting closer. He plans to retire next April when he hits age 70.

Read Last Week

• Golden in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook, Mine since May 2, 2023) -- Reread of the 50th book in the In Death series.
• Shards of Glass by Michelle Sagara (Audiobook, Mine since May 11) -- First in the Academia series which is related to the Chronicles of Elantra series. My review will be posted on September 10.
• The Case of the Christie Conspiracy by Kelly Oliver (Audiobook, Mine since June 14) -- Historical mystery. I actually preferred the Kindle version to the audiobook because it was easier to keep track of the characters and clues. My review will be posted on September 8.

• The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since August 5) -- Prime reading and audiobook, short story.
• The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki Van Sickle (Review, September 8) -- Paranormal cozy mystery. My review will be posted on September 3)
• The Girls on the Shore by Ann Cleeves (Kindle, Mine since August 6) -- Short story starring Matthew Ven and Jen Renfrew. 

• Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since July 31) -- YA Space Opera. My review will be posted on September 11.
• The Lion's Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since August 5) -- Prime reading short story and audiobook in the Ana and Din series. 
• A Field Guide to Death and Deceit by Michelle L. Cullen (Review, September 15) -- Second Harry and Emma mystery. My review will be posted on September 8.

Currently

• A Deadly Entanglement by Cathy Pegau (Review, September 15)
• Salvage Right by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook reread)

Next Week

• I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas (Review, September 15)
• Murder on the Sacred River by Tasha Alexander (Review, September 22)
• The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves (Audiobook, Mine since August 3)

• Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich (Kindle, Mine since July 20)
• Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett (Kindle, Mine since June 23)
• Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since June 29)

Reviews Posted

• Shattering Dawn by Jayne Ann Krentz (Audiobook)
• Bad Scene by Max Tomlinson (Audiobook)
• Murder at Blackfriars by Jennifer Ashley (Review copy)

• Death at a Scottish Halloween by Lucy Connelly (Review copy)
• The Matchmaker's Cottage by Kat Sloane (Review copy)
• Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan (Review copy)

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

Review:

• Cry of the Rain Crow by Laurie L. Dove (Review, December 8)
• The Magical Cheese Emporium by Sarah Beth Durst (Review, January 19)
• The Book Hunter by Jayne Ann Krentz (Review, January 26) - Cover not yet revealed

Bought:

• A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Heather Fawcett (Prime Reading & Audiobook)
• The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves (Audiobook, Audible Credit)
• The Lion's Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett (Prime Reading & Audiobook)

• The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst (Prime Reading & Audiobook)
• The Girls on the Shore by Ann Cleeves (Kindle, $.99)
• Half City by Kate Golden (Kindle, $2.99)

What was your week like?

Audiobook Review: Bad Scene by Max Tomlinson

Bad Scene
Author: Max Tomlinson

Narrator: Margy Stein
Series: Colleen Hayes (Book 3)
Publication: Oceanview Publishing (November 22, 2021)

Length: 9 hours and 12 minutes

Description: 1978 San Francisco - a cult leader in Ecuador - one woman’s struggle to reconnect with her lost daughter before it is too late.

When PI and ex-con, Colleen Hayes, learns that a local neo-Nazi group is talking about shooting the mayor, she thinks it’s just another rumor - until her source, a humble street newspaper vendor, winds up in SF General, beaten to a pulp.

To add to her grief, she discovers that her runaway daughter, Pamela, might have joined a shadowy religious group, building a church in South America near a volcano that is about to erupt. Death is the path to perfection according to the charismatic young preacher - and the date is fast approaching.

Colleen is desperate to find a way to stop her daughter from making the ultimate mistake before she - along with hundreds of others - lose their lives.

My Thoughts: Colleen Hayes, ex-con and current PI, is looking for her daughter Pamela in 1978 San Francisco. She and her daughter have had a bad relationship ever since Colleen killed her ex-husband who was abusing Pamela and spent nine years in prison. 

Pamela is the sort of young woman who falls for every sort of cult that is available to her. After leaving a cult most known for dealing drugs, she has fallen into a suicide cult heading for a Jonestown-like solution. 

While Colleen is searching for Pamela, she uncovers a plot to kill the mayor which she is eager to pass on to the cops who don't seem to do anything about it. Colleen's investigations also take her into neo-Nazi territory where she attends a rally with a member of a biker gang who might have information about Pamela's whereabouts. 

A trip to Ecuador to rescue her daughter from her latest folly is also a part of this story. She finds a pregnant Pamela and brings her back to San Francisco where they can work on their relationship if Colleen can keep them both alive. 

I enjoyed this mystery both for its strong main character and for the setting. San Francisco in the 1970s is set out in great detail for the reader. 

I bought the Kindle copy July 26, 2022, and the audiobook odd-on July 3, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan

Brimstone Hollow
Author: Archer Sullivan
Series: Annie Gore (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur (August 11, 2026)

Description: Following her powerful debut in The Witch’s Orchard, private investigator Annie Gore returns in Brimstone Hollow, bringing readers back to the mountains that author Archer Sullivan, a ninth-generation Appalachian, knows so well.

There isn’t much that happens in the Appalachian Mountains that Private Investigator Annie Gore hasn’t seen. Before she was an Air Force Special Investigator, she was born and raised in those rolling hills, and lately Annie's cases have called her away from her Louisville office and closer to the small towns of her youth than she ever anticipated. But when her newest client asks if she’s ever been to a snake-handling church, Annie knows she’s about to enter unknown territory.

Katie May has been estranged from her father―one of Appalachia’s last infamous snake handling preachers―for twenty years. But when Katie finds out he’s been fatally bitten, and a funeral was held within twenty-four hours, she questions whether someone deliberately rushed the process. Despite Annie’s doubts, she takes the case. After all, when she looks at Katie, she sees a version of herself: a girl who needs to understand her father in order to understand herself.

As she navigates the hidden hollers and dangerous secrets of this insular Eastern Kentucky town, Annie works fast, hoping to find the truth in record time for her client―and before too many memories from her own childhood surface. But it soon becomes apparent that someone wants Annie’s investigation to stop―by any means necessary.

My Thoughts: Private Investigator Annie Gore is sitting in her office one day doing paperwork when her next client walks in. Katie May has been estranged from her father for more than 20 years, but when she learns he has died and been buried within 24 hours, she wants to know if there was something fishy going on. 

Annie finds herself deep in the Appalachian Mountains looking into the death on one of the few remaining snake handling preachers. Annie has found herself in a town filled with secrets and with preacher Ezra King's death being only the first in a series. 

Annie does get some help from the local Chief of Police but his is very busy with the Memorial Day festivities and crowds along with a fatal house fire. When Annie's beloved car's brakes are tampered with, she knows she's attracted someone's attention. And when the likely suspect for the tampering is also found dead, Annie has even more questions. 

As she uncovers the preacher's secrets connections are made to drug dealing and gambling. All of these activities are taking place in an insular mountain town also filled with secrets. 

I enjoyed this story. I liked that Annie took on her most recent client to help her learn about her father which reminds Annie of her own search to learn her father's secrets. The setting was wonderfully realized, the action nonstop, and the characters intriguing. 

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

ARC Review: The Matchmaker's Cottage by Kat Sloane

The Matchmaker's Cottage
Author: Kat Sloane
Publication: Berkley (August 11, 2026)

Description: A cozy fall romance wrapped in small-town charm reunites the owner of a bed-and-breakfast with her childhood sweetheart for a celebrity matchmaking scheme which has them both seeing stars

Julia Schaeffer might run the most romantic little bed-and-breakfast in Upstate New York, but as far as that infuriating Ethan Duchamp is concerned, this older, wiser Julia has a strict “no vacancy” policy. Sure, she’s teetering on the edge of a financial cliff, and his half-baked plan to pair up his celebrity clients at her inn will undoubtedly be good for business…but how much forced proximity with the man who abandoned her is she supposed to take?

Ethan needs this to work. The dreamy, autumnal—and blissfully secluded—cottage from his childhood summers is the ideal setting for playing matchmaker to Hollywood’s next power couple. It’s the only way to save his PR career from the tabloid toilet. He knew that the inn and Julia’s warm, comforting homemade touch would inspire real feelings—he just didn’t expect them to be his. Again.

But as old wounds reopen, and their connection rekindles, Julia and Ethan are forced to confront the truths they’ve both tried to bury. In a town where nothing stays hidden for long, they’ll have to decide if they can rebuild what was lost—or if their second chance will be derailed by scars that have yet to heal.

My Thoughts: Best friends from childhood through college reunite in this romance set in a bed-and-breakfast in Upper New York State. 

Julia Schaeffer has purchased the summer camp where she and Ethan Duchamp spent most of their childhood summers. She's turned it into a B&B but is drowning under the bills that have piled up. She's always suffered from anxiety attacks, but they are definitely getting worse with the current stress.

Ethan works for a PR firm and, after a PR disaster, needs a win. He chooses Julia's inn as the place to publicize a PR romance between two young stars - Katy and Noah - who have their own reasons for PR to distract from problems in their lives. 

Katy and Noah became friends while working on a movie together and are scheduled to star again in the sequel. They are good buddies, but there is no romance between them. The romance that grows at the B&B is that between Julia - called Gem by Ethan since they were kids - and Ethan. Each has mental health issues of various kinds and a great fear of ever beginning something again with the other. 

Add in a new romance between Katy and Julia's cook/housekeeper and the arrival of a former client of Ethan's who has fabricated a romance between the two of them and you have a tense and twisty sort of romance. 

Fans of romances with real-life touches will enjoy this story. I found the relationships among the various characters to be interesting and complex enough to make the romance between Julia and Ethan sort of secondary to the story. 

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