The Shrouded Queen by Ashley Tropea

 

My thoughts

I had such high hopes for this book. I was sorely disappointed. It was just ok. Good in some parts but dragged on in others. It has taken me over a week to read and I do not like when a book does that. If it held my attention and kept me wanting to get back to it that would be different. This one was just not what I had hoped for. 

Two girls. One a princess and the other her slave. A mean cruel princess at that. 

Amunet Khada is a princess. When the kingdom is overrun and her father is killed she becomes queen. I tried to like Amunet a few times but she was just not likable. 

Samira is Amunet's slave. Amunet has been very cruel to her. Samira seems to think it's ok for her princess to treat her this way. Food and water are both very scarce and a slave can be killed if caught stealing either. Seems they go a long time without either. 

When the kingdom is overrun Amunet leaves Samira to stand in her place. To be taken. 

Now you get to see what happens to each of these girls. What all they go through and how they survive. Or don't survive....

This was a well written story. It could have been a very good one for me. It was just to slow. A very slow burn. At least for me. It is part love story. A shifter story. A princess/queen/imposter story. There is a lot going on. Fairly easy to follow but when things happened at the end I was caught off guard. I still don't get it. Who was the man. Why was Samira taken. 

I really didn't enjoy this one. It was a BOTM choice too.

Thank you Gallery Books for this ARC.

About

In the first book in this romantasy duology inspired by ancient Egyptian mythology, a slave and a princess switch places during an enemy attack, igniting parallel journeys of love and survival.

As a slave to the Ashoran royals, Samira has always known she was expendable. So when the vicious Kaldfolk attack the palace, she is ready to die as a decoy for her princess. But when she’s captured instead, she’s forced to impersonate the princess and survive through brutal trials designed to awaken her divine powers—all under the watch of her dangerously intriguing, shape-shifting captor.

Amunet Khada—now queen of Ashorah—is on the run following the king’s death. With only her guard-with-benefits, Jasim, by her side, she must evade treacherous allies while racing to contact her father—the god of the underworld—before her long-promised powers slip beyond reach.

While Amunet embarks on a quest through the wastelands, Samira learns the true reason for the attack and unlocks secrets in her past that could change everything. And with threats growing on all sides, Samira and Amunet must decide...who can they trust?

A Spell for Saints and Sinners by Emily Carpenter

 

My thoughts 

I enjoyed this gothic, witchy, family drama, mystery thriller, fiction, book so much. It had so much to enjoy. 

Emily Carpenter wove a story for the age in this one. Great writing. Great drama, and what a setting. Savannah, GA.  

When Ingrid's grandmother Edie died she promised to never do anything bad. No black magic. No bad spells. Little did Ingrid know what was going to happen in her life. Bills coming out of everywhere and no money to speak of. But when Ingrid meets Sailor all her problems seem to go away. Sailor and Ingrid became fast friends. Though Sailor was from the most prominent family in the area she didn't try to make Ingrid feel less than.

As she is drawn into the Loeffler’s family much changes for Ingrid. Most good. Her shabby home is redone. Her taxes all paid off. Property taxes that is. But is this going to last? Will Sailor remain Ingrid's friend even when Ingrid does almost what Sailor asked her to do? Or will things change. Not for the good either. 

There is a lot going on but this story is so well written. It's one that pulls you in and doesn't want to let you go. Everything you expect in this genre is there. From old friendships to new ones. You get a bit of Ingrid's backstory also. Of a time when she was a bullied child. 

This is a very dramatic story. A family who don't seem to even like each other all that much even though they are filthy rich. A friendship based on lies and secrets. A couple of murders. A false arrest. This one was good from the very beginning. I loved it....

You'll feel like you are walking the streets of Savannah, GA right along with Ingrid. And the graveyard felt so real and spooky. 

Thank you Kensington Publishing, RBMedia, and NetGalley for this ARC...

Five big stars 

About

Like a gender-flipped You but dripping with Southern Gothic atmosphere, a young psychic on the verge of losing everything becomes obsessed with a wealthy, beautiful heiress in this clever, darkly atmospheric novel of psychological suspense set amid the lush, moss-draped beauty of Savannah.

In front of an elegantly shabby townhouse on a Savannah side street sits a hand-painted Miss Edie, Psychic. Ingrid White inherited the house and business from her beloved grandmother, a local celebrity in town. But unless Ingrid can find a way to pay for crushing property taxes and mounting repairs, she’s going to lose them both.

Ingrid has faith in the homespun witchcraft Edie passed down to her, yet hope and clients are dwindling. . . . Until Sailor Loeffler’s bachelorette party changes everything. Sailor is local royalty—part of the vast “Savannah Sauce” empire, beautiful and wealthy beyond imagining—and Ingrid’s reading is so accurate that she becomes the bride-to-be’s confidante. To keep that access and all the privileges it brings, Ingrid relies more and more on hexes and dark spells—using the baneful magic Edie always warned her against.

As Ingrid works even riskier spells, she is drawn further into the Loefflers’ inner circle and the obstacles in her path melt away. But is it witchcraft or other, more earthbound forces? Ingrid can feel the lines blurring even as her powers seem to grow, until she must confront the truth about just how far some people, including herself, will go to keep the life they’ve always wanted . . .

The Story Keeper by Kelly Rimmer

 

My thoughts

This book is so good. I highly recommend it to all my book loving friends....

As everyone is saying, this is a book in a book. A story about a book. Two time frames and how each intersects eventually. I usually figure these things out quickly but even at the halfway point I was still guessing. I did get it but it did not in any way take away from the book. Not one bit!

This is a story about a young lady who takes a place where she practically grew up and decides to clean it up and live there. It was left to her cousin but he gave it to her. 

Recently finding out her husband and best friend are having an affair Fiona moves back home to  Wurimbirra. That is the name of the big house in New South Wales, Australia. People have always said that the place is haunted. Fiona has a hard time sleeping with all the nightly activities going on in the house. Unexplained activity at that. 

Fiona finds a book called The Midnight Estate and starts reading it. It's a story about a young man named Silas who lives in Australia but is from the US. California. He moved to California to be with the woman he fell in love with. While on a visit to California after learning his mother died Silas met a young lady, Marie. Marie is married and also very young. 

You get to know these characters well. How the story ends up being two stories in one is exceptional. This author outdid herself. I loved this book. I enjoyed getting to know each character. Getting to know the house and even the cemetery was great. You can't help but love these people. It took a bit to like Fiona's mother but she did grow on me once I learned her backstory. Tad is the uncle who left the house. Silas was the kindest person I've read about in a long time. I loved him. 

A well written story. A book about a book. What more do you need? 

Thank you Harlequin and NetGalley for this ARC.

Five stars 

About

In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow finds solace in the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, the rambling family estate she once called home. Intent on restoring it, she discovers the keys to more than just the dilapidated mansion—beneath the crumbling plaster and dust are secrets that have been buried for a generation.

When a curious book, The Midnight Estate, catches her attention in her late uncle’s library, Fiona is plunged into a tale that mirrors her own—a story of love, loss and betrayal. But as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Fiona must ask herself: Is the true mystery the one hidden within the walls of her ancestral home, or is it within the pages of a book that chose her as much as she chose it?

Told in a dual narrative and set against the Gothic backdrop of Wurimbirra, Kelly Rimmer, bestselling author of The Things We Cannot Say, weaves an intricate and compelling tale, inviting readers into the heart of a family’s deepest secrets with an absorbing book-within-a-book mystery.

Road Trip by Mary Kay Andrews

 

My thoughts

I always enjoy books by this author.

This was a very light read with a few intense moments to keep you on your toes. It also made me laugh out loud a few times. While I didn't really consider there to be a road trip in this story it was very good. Maybe "air trip"... 

Mary Kay Andrews wrote a beautiful story here. It has everything you need for a sweet summer read. Romance, intrigue, mystery, murder, laughter, and family drama. 

When Mary Helen Sullivan Dunagin dies her two daughters find out some things are not what they thought. Their mother it seems gave away lots of money to a preacher who took advantage of elderly people. Their family home was mortgaged, and she didn't have anything to leave them except a coffee can filled with money she had saved when she worked. For a trip.

Maeve and Therese just wanted the money but that was not how it was suppose to be. They decide to take the trip to Ireland to investigate a paining that has been in their family since forever. One that could potentially be worth a lot. 

Things are tense between the sisters. They don't get along all that well. Maeve took care of their mother when she fell ill. Therese never offered to help, or even come home at all. Therese was busy trying to be an actress. 

Both unemployed. Both broke. They take the money and go to Ireland. They find out quite a bit about their ancestry and Maeve finds love. A long way from home though. 

This is a very good summer read. It's a quick, mostly happy story. It has a couple of curves that will leave you holding your breath. It's well written and easy to follow. Told from the sisters perspectives in mostly alternating chapters. You really get to know the characters in this story. I liked them all. I loved the book. 

Thank you St Martins Press and NetGalley for this ARC....

4.75 stars. 

About

The Queen of the Summer Read is back with her first novel in two years!

Maeve and Therese Dunigan are sisters—but the two have been estranged for years. They could not be more Maeve, a rule-follower and Therese, a rebel. But when their mother's death brings the family back together, the two find that they have inherited a painting—one that could be worth millions and could save each of them from their respective wolves at the door. The only issue is, the painting might be a fake and the only way the can solve the problem is to find the original. This means a road trip—to Ireland, to their family roots, and to a mysterious crime that occurred years ago. With tensions simmering, the two hit the road and find themselves on twisty lanes, in colorful villages, at local pubs, and with handsome men whose gift of the gab is surpassed only by their charm. Can Maeve and Therese find the real painting, remove a family curse, solve a cold case, and actually survive without killing each other? Join Mary Kay Andrews on a road trip that will entertain you for miles.

Deathbringer by Sonia Tagliareni

 

My thoughts

I loved this book. When will the next book be available? I need it now. Yes it ends on a cliffhanger. But it's so good too. 

This book was so much fun to read. Well written for a debut too. 

Setting 1927-1939 and told in a few months. Each chapter tells the time line or month and is told alternating between Viola and Sylas. 

This is a very active story. It has a lot going on so be warned. It's an enemies to loves book. A magical story. Family and family drama. Death. The story of Viola and Sylas. A few others too but mainly it's about Viola and Sylas. Their love. Their magic. Their storm of a relationship. In a school filled with a lot of bad things. Several students have gone missing and found dead. Also some parents. 

This is a very Grimm story. (a little play on words there.) ha ha There are ghosts and magical relics. Fighting. A lot as I said. But it's also very good. Easy to follow. 

I don't want to give a feature of the synopsis as you can read that. What I want is for you to grab this one if you love fantasy, magic, goth, or anything that goes along that line. It's so good. 

Dark Academia

Death Magic

Romance

Fantasy Romance

Mystery

Magic School

Enemies to Lovers

Revenge

Thank you Atria Books for this ARC

About

For fans of Naomi Novik and Kerri Maniscalco, a dark academia romantasy steeped in necromancy, forbidden love, and a twisty murder mystery set within the perilous halls of a magical institute, as a death mage who hates her magic and a poison mage who hates her are forced to work together to stop a killer before one of them is next.

Born with the ability to speak with the dead, Viola hates her magic. It killed her sister, Olivia, and if she doesn’t learn why, it will kill her too. Her only hope lies within the perilous walls of Gorhail Institute of Magic, where Olivia spent her final days.

There, Viola clashes with Sylas, a poison mage whose magic stems from three magical snakes. Immortal, tormented, and reckless, Sylas is tethered to a life he never asked for and haunted by guilt for his father’s death. His hatred for death mages runs deep, and he’s determined to keep Viola at a distance. But when an attack forces him to heal her, their fates become intertwined by a magical bond that threatens to upend his loyalties—and his common sense.

As more students start turning up dead, Viola and Sylas are drawn into an uneasy alliance that pulls them deeper into Gorhail’s treacherous passageways, where secrets fester beneath the stone and the dead do not rest. And as enemy lines begin to blur and their undeniable attraction grows, Viola and Sylas uncover a chilling someone is hunting mages for their magical relics, and if they can’t uncover the killer in time, Viola will be next.

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

 My thoughts

This was such a good book. How anyone could think otherwise is beyond belief. It has all the feels you need for a great story. Laughter, sadness, thriller, murder, insane asylum(mention), friends, family, and drama. Lots of neighborhood drama. 

Mabel lives alone but doesn't seem lonely. She's 81 years old and goes about her day as most her age would. She has several neighbors who seem curious even after many years of being her neighbor. A small girl lives there and things Mabel is wonderful. She just pops in to visit even when Mabel seems to not want her there. Each neighbor is a character themselves. Mabel's best friend Daphne has known her longest. She's always around. Both old ladies do have some colorful language at times. But in a funny kind of way. 

This book just hit my heart in a way that not a lot of books do. I adored Mabel. I felt so bad for her growing up. Her father was a tyrant.  He did not really like Mabel. Her mother seemed to like her but only when it was convenient. I kind of felt sorry for her but not completely. If that makes sense. 

Mabel went through so much growing up. She was bullied by kids at school. Molested by a teacher and blamed for it instead of him being blamed. She had an aunt that I adored too. Two kind of. 

While I did guess about one third of the way in what was real and what was not it didn't take away from the story. Just made me want to find out for sure. I was right... 

This book is so good. So well written. A very quick read too. I listened to an audio and the book was a BOTM choice. I'm so glad I chose it. 

Thank you St Martins Press, Macmillan Audio, NetGalley for this ARC. I loved it.

Five big stars....

About

Meet Mad Mabel.

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old. She's lived on her idyllic street, Kenny Lane, for sixty years--longer than anyone else. Aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else's business, few would suspect that Elsie has a past that she has worked exceedingly hard at concealing. Because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, once a little girl and now an old lady, has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end.

When a new little girl (talkative, curious, nosy) moves into the neighborhood and stops at nothing to befriend Elsie, her carefully-constructed life threatens to come crashing down as the secrets in Elsie's past start coming to light. Who was "Mad Mabel" fifty years ago? Who is Elsie Fitzpatrick today? And if the past has a habit of repeating itself, who has the most to lose?

Told with Sally Hepworth's twists, humor, charm, and heart, MAD MABEL is novel that weaves past and present together--through the power of justice and redemption, and all the way to its stunning conclusion.

The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff

 

My thoughts

I loved The Bright Years. A debut by this author. It was a very emotional and touching story. This one is even better. It's a tearjerker that will leave your eyes swollen and read. I was weeping through parts of this story. But it's also so good. One that I didn't want to put down.

When Leo tells April that he wants a divorce things start to burn. Literally. Their house is on fire and they are scrambling to get themselves and their two small children out. They watch helplessly as their kitchen and other areas burn. 

Leo gets a text that they can stay with April's parents. They love Leo as if he was their own. They also have no idea that there is a divorce on the table. April has a brother and a sister. April is the oldest. Her siblings love Leo also. He's an important part of their family. 

Deb and Billy are April's parents. They also have a secret that they haven't shared with their children. Billy has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Neither of them are sixty yet. They thought they would have a lot longer to make memories. 

This story is written between April, Leo, and Deb's POVs. A few secrets from Deb and Billy's past come about but nothing life shattering. Billy says things that he forgets are secrets. He starts forgetting so much. It's very heartbreaking. 

I've always had a terrible fear of getting alzheimer's. Reading this made that fear rise again. This story is told in such a realistic way. Told with so much care and heart. This author did such a good job of bringing these characters to life. I liked them all. I was so happy that things worked for Leo. He had always felt so abandoned. So unloved. I'm sure he thought April was replacing him. 

This is such a heartfelt book. There was a few chuckles but a whole lot of tears. Very well written and presented in a way to make you feel each character. To get to know them. 

This book will definitely be in my top twelve books of the year. It's so good.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC.

Five stars and would be more if I could.

About

From the author of The Bright Years, the story of April and Leo, a couple on the brink of collapse. When their house goes up in flames, family secrets and thorny histories emerge as they are forced to decide what is worth salvaging.

When April and Leo’s house burns in the middle of the night, they escape with their two young children and the quiet knowledge that the fire is not the only thing threatening their family. They retreat to April’s childhood home in Dallas, where her spirited parents and siblings provide both comfort and complication.

As the family reckons with the aftermath—grief, guilt, logistics, and memories scorched and intact—the fire exposes the cracks already forming in April and Leo’s marriage. The novel unfolds in alternating perspectives: from April, who feels the crushing weight of motherhood, marriage, and self-blame; from Leo, a high school history teacher shaped by a lonely, fractured childhood; from Deb, April’s generous and no-nonsense mother who has to contend with her husband’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis; and from flashbacks that trace April and Leo’s relationship from its earliest days of connection to the devastating decisions that led them here.

A family saga suffused with humor, longing, and heartbreak, The Burning Side is about what we inherit and what we choose, about forgiveness and the ache of being known. It is, above all, about the meaning of home and the costs of long love.