Tag: fiction

Book Review: The Wandering Season, by Aimie K. Runyan

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Title: The Wandering Season
Author: Aimie K. Runyan
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Unraveling the tangled roots of her family takes her places she never expected.

Veronica Stratton, a specialty food broker with a business riding close to the margins, visits her parents in idyllic Estes Park for Christmas. With the holiday comes a DNA test from her younger sister and an engagement ring from her longtime boyfriend. The test confirms her secret she’s adopted. The ring rattles her even more, and she realizes that she might not be as ready to commit as she’d thought.

With so much that she’d counted on suddenly falling apart, Veronica is looking for an escape. Inspired by her best friend, she plans to go to Europe to see four of the places listed on her DNA ancestry report. She treks to County Mayo in Ireland; the Dordogne region of France; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Tuscany in Italy. She hopes to learn a bit about where her family lived and to make more connections for her struggling business, but she finds that each stop brings her visions of her ancestors that raise more questions than they answer. And among those pressing questions is how brooding Irish restauranteur Niall Callaghan will fit into her visions for the future.

I really enjoyed this from the very first page. The food aspect was fascinating and made me want to try everything they talked about, and I’ve always loved travel novels like this. (I think that started with Eat, Pray, Love, years ago). Journeying with Veronica to find her roots was a fascinating read, and the vignettes she kept seeing of the women in the past were engrossing and added even more enjoyment to the story. Really liked this read!

Aimie K. Runyan lives in Colorado. The Wandering Season is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of HarperCollins Focus in exchange for an honest review.)

The Best Books I Read in March (2025)

In March, I read 23 books, bringing my total for the year to 65 books read. I also DNFed five books. Of the 23 books I finished, most were solid, several were meh, and three were really good.

Magic to the Bone, by Devon Monk. I read these books years ago when they first came out, and decided to re-read. I actually enjoyed this just as much as I did the first time around (unusual for a re-read like this). I like the world and the characters and am looking forward to re-reading more.

The Notorious Virtues, by Alwyn Hamilton. I loved the steampunk feel of this, loved the characters, and enjoyed the setting and worldbuilding quite a bit. I’m looking forward to reading more.

The Amalfi Curse, by Sarah Penner. I was intrigued by this from the beginning. The setting and premise was unique to me, and I enjoyed the characters in both timelines a lot.

What I Read in March (2025)

Books Read in March: 23
Books Read for the Year:  65/225
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:

Monthly Books:
Siege and Storm, by Leigh Bardugo (audio): I enjoyed this second book!
Gemstones, Elves, and Other Insidious Magic, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (TBR): This felt like an ending to Jade’s story.
The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey (TBR): Parts of this were really good, parts felt a bit slow.
Magic to the Bone, by Devon Monk (re-read): I really enjoyed reading this again!
Symphony for a Deadly Throne, by E.J. Mellow (TBR): Loved how this trilogy wrapped up.
The Taken Ones, by Jess Lourey (TBR): This was creepy.
Nine-Tailed, by Jayci Lee (TBR): I enjoyed the first 2/3rds a lot, but not the last bit.

For Review:

A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett (review forthcoming). This series has such a unique world and setting, and I enjoy it very much. The characters are also quite intriguing, keeping me eager to read more.

The Notorious Virtues, by Alwyn Hamilton (review forthcoming). This had a bit of a darker, steampunk-esque feel to it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The two MCs were a little unlikable at first, but they grew on me. Looking forward to reading more of this.

While We’re Young, by K. L. Walther. This was a cute, fun read, and I spent an enjoyable couple of hours binging it. Definitely a strong Ferris Bueller’s Day Off vibe here, but it was fun.

All the Stars Align, by Gretchen Schreiber (review forthcoming). This was a cute read, although the aunts were a bit much. Nothing unexpected, but it was cute.

Some Like It Scot, by Pepper Basham (review forthcoming). This was a cute, fun book. The secondary characters (mainly his family) were fantastic and made the story.

Boys with Sharp Teeth, by Jenni Howell (review forthcoming). This was a very meh read for me. The faking-her-way-into-an-elite-boarding-school premise wasn’t in the least believable, and it felt like the four MC were the only students even at the school.

The Summer of You and Me, by Denise Hunter, (review forthcoming). Like all of Hunter’s other books, this was a solid, sweet romance. A bit of a surprise at the end, and an enjoyable read.

The Amalfi Curse, by Sarah Penner (review forthcoming). I really enjoyed this read! The setting was wonderful, and I enjoyed both the present timeline and the past one. This was an engrossing read with a solid dose of adventure thrown in 

The Traitor of Sherwood Forest, by Amy S. Kaufman (review forthcoming). This was a meh read for me. Very solid writing and setting, I just didn’t like the story.

I Would Die for You, by Sandie Jones. This audiobook was a blast from the past, but Cassie got on every single nerve I have.

Bait and Swiss, by Korina Moss (review forthcoming).This was a cute, fun read. And the cheese talk made me hungry.

Night Swimming, by Aaron Starmer (review forthcoming). This felt really pointless to me.

The Staircase in the Woods, by Chuck Wendig (review forthcoming). This also felt pointless to me, with the addition of characters I didn’t like and having to hear about the author’s political agenda.

The Murder Machine, by Heather Graham (review forthcoming). Graham is normally a solid, reliable read, but this felt both very rushed (the relationship’s progression, anyway), and the whodunnit aspect felt like she was trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat with no clues beforehand.

Austen at Sea, by Natalie Jenner (review forthcoming). This was a good read from an author I liked. I liked the characters themselves, and I enjoyed this historical aspects, too.

Just Because: I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith. I enjoyed this read. Nice voice.

Left Unfinished:
Any Trope But You, by Victoria Lavine. I didn’t make it very far in this because the MC got on my nerves.

The Page Turner, by Viola Shipman. Nope. The first few pages felt like it just jumped around randomly. Chaotic.

The Gods Time Forgot, by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez. I didn’t make it very far in this. I felt like I’d been dropped in the middle of a chaotic mess, and I didn’t like the MC enough to sort it out.

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, by Kylie Lee Baker. Cora was a hard character for me to like or care about. I really couldn’t do it. She was was too far into her own head.

The Payback Girls, by Alex Travis. Why would I want to read about unhappy, mean people who have no qualms about lying or cheating or stabbing each other in the back? These are horrible people.

Book Review: Holy Terrors, by Margaret Owen

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

Title: Holy Terrors
Author: Margaret Owen
Genre: Fantasy, YA   
Rating: 5 out of 5

It’s been nearly two years since Vanja brought down the cult she started, and she’s still paying the price. As the Pfennigeist, she bucks the law in order to help the desperate and haunt the corrupt all across the empire—and no matter what, she works alone.

But an impossible killer is tearing through royalty, and leaving Vanja’s signature red penny on every victim. Suddenly the Pfennigeist is no longer a folk hero but a nightmare. When even the Blessed Empress falls, the empire’s seven royal families must gather to elect her successor within a matter of weeks, or risk the collapse of reality itself… even though it puts every house in the killer’s sights.

Vanja tells herself she’s wading into the royalty’s vicious games only to save the name she made, and the loved ones also in jeopardy. But the Order of Prefects has also put their sharpest official on the case, the one who swore he’d always find Vanja—until she broke his heart. Journeyman Prefect Emeric Conrad may no longer be the boy Vanja knew, but they’ll have to work together one last time to have any chance of surviving the deadly catastrophe coming for them all.

With bloody conspiracy, sinister magic, and old adversaries closing in, it will take everything Vanja has to save not just the people she loves, but the future she’s fought for.

I really loved this! Vanja’s voice, her wry sarcasm, is just so on point it had me laughing all through the book. She’s a great character: she can see her flaws, but she just goes ahead anyway—and somehow it works out for the best (mostly). Emeric is so uptight it makes me laugh—and Vanja’s descriptions of him are even funnier. Junior and the sausages probably made me laugh the most.

As far as the murder mystery…I never had a clue what was going on, who was going to die next, or who the murderer was—much less how Vanja was going to figure out the whole mess. I enjoyed all of this book immensely!

Margaret Owen has a degree in Japanese. Holy Terrors is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Deathly Grimm, by Kathryn Purdie

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Title: The Deathly Grimm   
Author: Kathryn Purdie        
Genre: YA, Fantasy   
Rating: 4.0 out of 5

The story hasn’t ended yet.

After surviving the Forest Grimm and defeating the Wolf, Clara and Axel have made it back to their village, the one place they can be safe behind the forest’s borders. But when the forest itself begins luring in more villagers, it’s clear that Clara and Axel have only treated the symptoms of the forest’s curse, not the cause—and it’s getting worse.

Burdened with visions of the past and learning to navigate her fragile new relationship with Axel, Clara finds herself entering the forest with Axel yet again to discover the truth once and for all: the identity of the murderer who caused the curse. As they fight murderous woodsmen with incomprehensible riddles, ladies who will drag you into an eternal dance, and ghosts with the power to wield the forest against them, Clara and Axel realize the stakes are higher than ever. If they don’t survive the dark, deadly twists of the forest once more, not only will they never escape, they may also no longer have a home to escape to.

I enjoyed this second book in The Forest Grimm duology. It was good seeing more of these familiar characters, and the quaint village they call home. I like the creepy fairy tale characters, too. The answer to who the murderer really was didn’t really come as a surprise to me, but I still enjoyed the story a lot and read the whole thing in one day.

Kathryn Purdie is a bestselling author. The Deathly Grimm is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: I Would Die for You, by Sandie Jones

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Website:

Title: I Would Die for You (audio)  
Author: Sandie Jones        
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5

Now: Nicole Forbes lives a quiet life in a small seaside Californian town with her husband and daughter. She is not expecting a writer to knock on her door asking for her personal insight into the downfall of the biggest British band of the 1980s—unveiling the threads of a life she put behind her years ago. The same day, her daughter goes missing and the school claims her aunt picked her up . . . but she doesn’t have an aunt. Convinced of a link between the two, Nicole is forced to revisit long-abandoned memories from her past to protect everything she now holds dear.

1986: Sixteen-year-old Cassie is obsessed with the hottest band in London, Secret Oktober. Harboring an intense crush on the leading man, Ben Edwards, she will do anything she can to capture his attention among the throngs of groupies at the band’s scandalous backstage parties. But when Ben discovers her older sister Nicole singing at a local bar one night, he can’t help but feel drawn to her, setting in motion a collision course that could tear their family apart.

I listened to the audio version for this, and I enjoyed it. The narrator did a good job and kept me engaged. I liked 1980s Nicole more than I liked sort-of-present-day Nicole, and the way her entire life/marriage fell apart in slow motion was hard to watch. I felt horrible for past Nicole, but the misunderstandings back then were next level.

I did not care for Cassie at all. She was delusional, self-absorbed and selfish, manipulative, a pathological liar….AND psychotic. Her behavior was completely off the rails, and she never showed an iota of remorse. She made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, honestly.

Sandie Jones is a bestselling author. I Would Die for You is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: His Mortal Demise, by Vanessa Le

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

Title: His Mortal Demise
Author: Vanessa Le      
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Kochin is a heartsooth — a rare being with the ability to heal any wound. Any wound, that is, except death.

Intent on defying nature and bringing Nhika back to life, Kochin keeps her body in a life-preserving casket and waits for a miracle. Stricken with grief and descending into madness, Kochin realizes the answer to his desperate quest can only lie in one place: Yarong, the lush yet battle-ridden island the first heartsooths called home.

Months later, Nhika wakes in a familiar manor-house, with Kochin nowhere to be found. As she traces his footsteps across Theumas, she discovers the haunting path he walked to bring her back, and a world changed by war.

When Kochin discovers the true and grisly way to resurrect a person from the grave, he must decide exactly how much he is willing to sacrifice, in order to reunite with the woman he loves…

I really enjoyed this read! I liked the first book in this duology, and I think this book did a fantastic job of wrapping up all the storylines from the first book while on an entirely new adventure. The dual-POV really worked for me, along with the dual timeline, allowing the reader to see all aspects of the story. I liked both Nhika and Kochin’s stories, and seeing the familiar secondary characters from the first book added another layer of comfort to the story. This would make an excellent weekend read!

Vanessa Le is from the Pacific Northwest. His Mortal Demise is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Bane Witch, by Ava Morgyn  

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: The Bane Witch
Author: Ava Morgyn        
Genre: Fantasy        
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Piers Corbin has always had an affinity for poisonous things—plants and men. From the pokeweed berries she consumed at age five that led to the accidental death of a stranger, to the husband whose dark proclivities have become… concerning, poison has been at the heart of her story.

But when she fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her volatile marriage and goes to stay with her estranged great aunt in the mountains, she realizes her predilection is more than a hunger—it’s a birthright. Piers comes from a long line of poison eaters—Bane Witches—women who ingest deadly plants and use their magic to rid the world of evil men.

Piers sets out to earn her place in her family’s gritty but distinguished legacy, all while working at her Aunt Myrtle’s cafe and perpetuating a flirtation with the local, well-meaning sheriff to allay his suspicions on the body count she’s been leaving in her wake. But soon she catches the attention of someone else, a serial killer operating in the area. And that only means one thing—it’s time to feed.

I wasn’t too sure about this at first. It started off slow for me—or I had trouble connecting with Piers at first. But somewhere on her flight to the mountains, I became invested in Piers’ story. I actually didn’t care for her aunt or the other Bane Witches at all, and the small-town kind of gave me the creeps, but Piers herself was a joy to read. I may never look at mushrooms the same way again!

Ava Morgyn lives in Houston. The Bane Witch is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Spring Fling, by Annie England Noblin  

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Title: Spring Fling  
Author: Annie England Noblin         
Genre: Romance        
Rating: 4 out of 5

Spring is in the air and Mylie has everything she could ever want: her tackle shop is thriving and employs a third of Clay Creek, Arkansas, and she lives with her beloved Granny and little sister Cassie, who both keep her on her toes. As tourists pour into town for the annual fishing tournament, Mylie is in her element and ready to bring her all-women team to victory.

After moving to Chicago, Ben never thought he would return to Clay Creek. But with both his grandfather and mother gone, he’s left to deal with their estate. His plan is simple: come in quietly, fix up his lakeside childhood home, sell it quickly, and get out. He underestimates how quickly his arrival will stir up the local gossip, and how intensely his unresolved feelings for Mylie, his childhood best friend, will resurface.

Amid the buzz of competition and the rhythm of small-town life, Mylie and Ben find themselves unable to ignore their shared history. They tentatively explore a future together, despite the impending sale of Ben’s house and Mylie’s insistence on staying put in Clay Creek. Flings are easier said than done, and Mylie and Ben will have to address their clashing lifestyles before their feelings get away from them.

I liked Mylie and Ben. This made living in small-town Arkansas sound appealing—and I’ve been there and done that and have no desire to repeat the experience. The characters really made this read fun—all the characters, not just the main two. The raccoon was hysterical! This was a fun, sweet read, perfect for a weekend binge.

Annie England Noblin lives in Arkansas. Spring Fling is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Avon and Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Keeper, by Charles Martin

Image belongs to Thomas Nelson.

Title:  The Keeper  
Author: Charles Martin
Genre:  Fiction    
Rating: 5 out of 5

Bones–Murphy Shepherd’s teacher, mentor, priest, and friend–is gone. Devastated by the loss and unsure how to continue the rescue work they started, Murph has no choice but to jump back in when the worst happens. His longtime friend and current United States vice president, Aaron Ashley, has been a silent partner in the fight against trafficking. But in spite of having the best security available, his three daughters have been taken bound and blindfolded from their home by an extraction team that left no clues and no trace–just an empty house, a bereft mother, and nine dead Secret Service agents. Only Murph and his team have a hope of finding them.

Bones may have made the ultimate sacrifice taking down his own brother and the dark network he led, but there are still others in this network where evil is the currency and power is the prize. Soon Ashley drops out of the presidential race and a new candidate emerges–someone who is ready, too ready, to step into the race and the Oval Office.

Bones taught Murph that the needs of the one, the lost one, outweigh those of the ninety-nine. In his first rescue without Bones beside him, Murph’s fight against human trafficking takes him across the globe and through the halls of government to destroy the network and save the lives and souls of those taken.

This book. Charles Martin is my favorite author, and I love the Murphy Shepherd books, so I was desperate to read this. And it did not disappoint me. The ending of The Record Keeper destroyed me in all the best possible ways—how was this going to live up to that? It did.

There was a lot of action, of course, as befits this series, but we got to spend a lot of time in Murphy’s head, too, watching as he struggled with what he’d been taught—the value of the one—and what he felt. His anguish and confusion and doubt spilled onto the page and the reader wrestled with them just as he did. Layer that with the action of the race to find the three girls and to figure out just who was behind the darkness that took them and this book was absolutely riveting, Charles Martin at his best.

Charles Martin is a bestselling author. The Keeper is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.)