The Book of Azrael (Gods & Monsters Book One) by Amber V. Nicole

 

I really did enjoy this book. It's a bit out there but it's a fantasy, romantasy, romance, dark romance book. What do you expect. Very other worldly. 

I listened to the graphic audio books also. They were fantastic with a few minor hiccups. I hate when any audio makes eating sound like someone is loudly chewing. Or maybe choking?? Or when it's a kissing scene and they sound like they are fighting a suction cup or something. All the slapping of lips and sucking sounds are so unnecessary. Just say they were eating. Or kissing. No need for the dramatics there. It kind of takes away from the whole audio. Also the walking scenes. Sounds like someone put on some tap shoes and did a little dance to and from. No necessary. That's all about that. 

This book was a fun read. Yes it's very intense and filled with a lot of action. A lot of nightmares too. A true enemy to friend to lover story. It was just what it's descriptions said. Fantasy, romantasy. It was very edge of your seat in areas and holding the breath good. Fight scenes and falling buildings throughout made me hold my breath. The horrors that both main characters had were great. Dianna was a force alone but with Liam she could be unstoppable. They make a great pair and couple to. What all Dianna endured at Kaden's hands was so horrific. But she's strong. Way stronger than even she thinks. Or Kaden I do believe. 

This book is first in a series. This one ends and you will want the next one immediately. It will pull you in and keep you turning the pages, or listening, throughout the whole story. I didn't want to put it down but alas I did have to a few times. Life just got in the way of reading at times. 

I shed a few tears while listening to Dianna's story. What she did for her sister. The things she endured at Kaden's hands. Even Liam made me tear up. His story is sad and awful in places also. Together they will be unstoppable though. They have to be...

A great series that will leave you breathless after just the first book. That ending.... Oh my what will happen next?

I gave this one 4 stars. It's very good with a few things that I could have done without. But I'm not the author. I did enjoy this book and will start book two, The Throne of Broken Gods, as soon as I can. 

Lilith: The Woman Who Walked Between Worlds by Margarita Yaz

 

My thoughts

I receiced a copy of this from NetGalley and the most updated version from the author. I appreciate the arcs very much.

This book left me scratching my head. I missed something somewhere along the way I believe. I'm not saying it's good or bad. Just a bit confusing for me. Some things just seem to happen without any warning or leading up to it. I didn't like the ending because of the parts before the ending. I did not in any way like Marek. He was in my opinion not a good person. Lilith was a bit confusing too but she did seem strong for the most part. I felt so bad for Marena, who was Marek's wife. I think Marek shifted the blame of his failures and horrendous treatment of Lilith to Marena when he should have stood up to what he did. It's not like he wasn't two timing both women at the same time. Fate or not there is a right and wrong way of handling things. In a love story you should do it right and move on or work it out. Marek was weak. I could not picture him at any point as a strong man worth of either female. 

The story had huge promise. It had all the makings of a book I would have loved if things had not of "just happened" in so many places. All of a sudden Marek is married with a couple of kids... Then he's not. He's with Lilith and they are going to make it. Then they are not together. Then he's in Italy and meeting a whole new person. Or living in a dream/nightmare. I needed so closer in a few places before moving on to the next part.

Marek's POV was not what I thought it would be. He still let me down royally. I just didn't like him and wish he would have don't something better to hold on to at least one woman. 

Also what happened to Gina and Damon. They were a big or kind of big part at the beginning then they weren't and were not mentioned again. I didn't like Damon but good grief. I guess it was to let you know that Lilith didn't just melt at pretty words or sentences. Or vehicles. I also thought Gina was very childish. Maybe she was suppose to be several years younger than Lilith. I forget. 

The book is divided between four parts. It just left me a bit confused. Maybe future books will give more info. 

This book was ok but not an overwhelming head over heels story that I think should be at the top of the list. It's worth reading if you enjoy maybe reincarnation stories. Though I really didn't get the reincarnation vine either. Go figure. Maybe it's just me. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Kindle+ for this book.

3 stars. 

About

Metaphysical Time‑Slip Romantic Drama with Historical and Karmic Themes.

Lilith: The Woman Who Walked Between Worlds is a dual‑POV, dual‑timeline metaphysical novel told in first person, unfolding across the modern world and 14th‑century Florence on the edge of the Renaissance.

Lilith’s journey begins in present‑day St. Augustine, Florida, where a single encounter with Marek awakens a depth of emotion she never expected. Their connection is immediate, overwhelming, and ultimately shattering - a fracture that follows them for years.
A decade later, Marek tells his side. Through his voice, the reader uncovers the betrayal that broke them, the karmic bond that predates this lifetime, and the ancient patterns echoing through their story.
Beneath their story runs a quiet, mythic current – a feminine cosmology drawn from the Lilith–Selena duality: two moons, split into shadow and light.

As their two perspectives braid together, the novel moves between memory, destiny, feminine awakening, and the invisible threads that bind souls across time. What begins as a love story becomes a threshold between realities, psychological, historical, and mythic, where the past and present mirror each other across centuries.

Perfect for readers who crave mythic, atmospheric fiction, pre‑Renaissance Italy, and a story where souls cross the boundaries of time.

Queen of Lombard Street by Lisa Kleypas

My thoughts

This book is my favorite read for this year so far and it will take a lot to beat it. This book is the best. It has everything you want from a historical novel to keep you turning the pages... 

 

I laughed so hard in places while reading this book. I also shed a few tears along the way. This will be your new favorite if you read it...

A family of misfits. One hard working young woman and her friend need help with the house she bought. She needs lots of help but as a female who can she turn too for that help. Reina Martin was the child of a Spanish mother and weathly American father. They were not married so that left a stain on her. She was a child who did not understand what it meant to be the product of a single mother. 

Reina and her best friend June live in a big house that Reina bought. It's a fixer-upper of sorts. It needs a lot of cleaning. Reina is a smart young women who works hard. She doesn't have time to do most things so when she can't find help at the local agency she goes to one that offers her just what she needs: Second Chance Employment Agency. It's a place that helps criminal men and women find work. As long as they do what they are suppose to do and don't break the rules all will be good. Reina hires several of these people even though June is dead set against it. June is the cook and goes to cooking school a couple of times a week. She is afraid of these people. Afraid they might kill them in their sleep. 

A lot happens that will keep you laughing. Big belly laughs. The mix of men and women that Reina chose to work for her are something else. But she feels like she did a good job of picking them. 

Reina has a heart of gold and is determined to find a way to help women. Women are not allowed to do much on their own during this time. They are just to feeble minded it seems. Reina wants to open a bank for women. To help them save their money. To make life easier for them. Her best friend and mentor William Farlow is suppose to be helping her. She thinks so highly of him and his opinion matters a great deal to her. 

Reina hires a couple of men, Mad Dog(he named himself as a child) and Norman. Females Belinda Claw who was just a child, Tuppence Higget who was very much with child, and Enid Mox. These people will become family. All of them including Reina and June. The butler, John Pembroke, was my favorite. Of course he was.... 

And a dog, Alan, who Mad Dog insisted they needed to catch rats. 

This is such a good book. It has a lot of great things happening. Mostly good but also a few things to keep you on edge. A love story or two that will have your heart racing. I loved both of those. 

There are a few emotions this story will give you. A true love story, a mix of family, a death, a birth, and a wonderful ending to wrap it all up. 

They were the family each didn't know they needed until they did..

Mary Jane Wells (Narrator); Joe Jameson (Narrator) These two did a wonderful job. Both made this book come alive and kept me wanting more. Their interactions were perfect.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and HarperAudio Adult for the arcs. 

About

From New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas—a sweeping, richly layered Victorian novel about a trailblazing female economist who’s determined to build Britain’s first women’s bank, but she must fight both financial corruption and a system intent on destroying the newly found family she’s created.

In Victorian England, no woman—not even a brilliant economist like Reina Martin—is allowed to open her own bank account. Men will take care of everything, women are told. But Reina knows better. As the illegitimate daughter of a Spanish immigrant mother, she’s haunted by the memory of living with unpaid grocer’s bills and no coal for the hearth.

So together with her mentor, the powerful banker William Farlow, Reina will build the first all-women’s bank, where women can manage their own financial security.

At home, Reina’s domestic staff of recently paroled prisoners are building new lives and becoming a found family. But soon Reina is shocked to discover that her enigmatic butler, John Pembroke, is an undercover police detective. He’s been assigned to investigate Farlow, who’s suspected of financial crime on a scale so massive, it could destabilize the British economy. Pembroke needs Reina’s expertise for a high-stakes nighttime heist to obtain incriminating evidence.

Now Reina faces the agonizing choice of betraying her mentor or turning her back on thousands of working-class families who stand to lose everything. Either way, her dream of the women’s bank may be over.

But courage and sacrifice aren’t limited to the battlefield—they also occur at the kitchen table, where women who believe in compassion and community are working to remake the future. And when the stakes are highest, Reina knows to trust her heart as well as her intellect.

Based on real-life trailblazers such as Mary Paley Marshall, Britain’s first female economist, and financial titan Hetty Green, Queen of Lombard Street brings to light the hidden history of extraordinary women whose achievements should be celebrated. How can we know who we are, if we don’t know who we were?

The Other Kind of Lion by Catherine Ryan Hyde

 

My thoughts

Catherine Ryan Hyde writes the most beautiful, heartwarming, loving, heartbreaking, tearjerker, family, found family, books of anyone I know. I've read so many of her books and each one has a lesson tucked away between the pages. There is always some tears, usually lots of tears. Whether good or bad there are tears. Happy tears and sad tears. There is also laughter and love. Lots of great family and valuable lessons. This story will take you on a whole other level of family. 

The main character or characters are Shirley and Ludlow. Shirley first meets Ludlow when her horse whinnies. He only ever did that for Hal, her deceased husband. Shirley lost Hal fifteen years prior in the Vietnam war. She was left to raise her two boys and she did such a good job. One is working and helping her with money. The other is still in high school. They are both good boys. 

When Shirley first meets Ludlow and her youngest son Curtis, Ludlow wants more than anything to have a nickname. Kids are cruel to him because of his name and he has awful crooked teeth. But he's so smart and such a good boy. Shirley and Curtis take to him immediately. They welcome him into their home for meals and just to visit. His dad left and his mother is in jail. He's being taken care of by his older brother. His older brother doesn't really know how to care for him but he does try. 

Curis starts calling Ludlow, Cash. It sticks. He also tells the kids at the middle school they better lay off. He kind of scares them. In a good way for a good reason. Bullies need that sometimes. 

Over the years things happen. Ludlow's brother moves him away during the night. He writes to Mrs Shirley and lets her know where he is and that he is ok. They keep in touch for a long while. Then all of a sudden Shirley stops getting letters and hers are returned. 

This book is my very favorite by this author. It's sad but it's also so touching. So filled with love. Cash found a family. He loves them dearly. Shirley loses a lot but she manages to endure. This book starts out in 1970 and ends in 2026. There are deaths. Losses that make you weep big ugly tears. There are also births. Marriage. Grandchildren. Lots of family. And animals. Horses and dogs. And a cat. 

If you love a good tearjerker that will even make you laugh out loud quite a few times this is the one for you. It publishes November 3. 

I listened to the audio done by Eva Kaminsky. She did such a good job. at times I could have bet there was more than one person. She did an amazing job.

Thank you Lake Union and Brilliance Audio for the ARC.

5 big stars. 

About

A war widow and a neglected boy form a chosen family in a profoundly moving multigenerational saga about the transformative power of kindness by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

It’s 1970 in rural California where Shirley Bennett, a forty-year-old Vietnam War widow, lives with her two sons. It’s a routine life until she sees Cash Pierce, a scruffy eleven-year-old boy, trailing the fence alongside her Appaloosa, Phoenix. The horse has never given such a welcoming nicker to anyone but her late husband. Even her stubborn old dog Edsel takes to the boy. Out of curiosity and compassion, so does Shirley.

Abandoned by his father, his mother in jail, and being raised by his teenage brother, Cash is lonely, bullied, but smart as a whip and starved for attention. Shirley begins inviting him for dinners, providing lunch money, sewing his shirts, and offering the maternal care he desperately needs. Neither realizes that such simple acts of kindness create a bond that will span five decades and redefine family itself. No matter where life takes Cash, he will never forget her.

Through war, loss, grief, illness, second chances, and years of separation, they will meet again. Shirley was there for Cash. Now it’s his turn to be there for Shirley when she needs him the most.

The Piano Teacher of Montparnasse by Heather Morris

 

My thoughts

I've read several of Heather Morris's books and enjoyed each one. I should say cried my eyes out with each one. This one is another great. It's a bit different though. In a good way. It's about the resistance. What they do. How they helped during the war when Hitler was having Jewish people rounded up and put into camps. A story of one young girls journey to survive and the people who helped her. 

When Josephine's mother and brother are taken away she finds herself at her piano teacher's house. Her mother told her to run. To go and find Andree Levallois. Her and her family will take care of Josie. They take the child in and changer her name to theirs. They do everything to protect this child. They are also part of the resistance. They meet weekly and help others who are hiding or trying to escape. 

This is a very heartwarming story. It's a heartbreaking story too. This family and others who are working with them only want to help. While it seems everyone in Paris are starving they still share what they have. 

This is a part of history that I have not read a lot about. I've read about the resistance but not what happens to them if they are caught. It's horrible. They are the good guys. Trying to help. At times they pay the ultimate price for being kind to others. For helping save people. 

The Author's Note at the end is great. It shows where this story came from and who the characters are. Based completely on an actual family during a horrific time. 

The narration is great. Saskia Maarleveld did a very nice job of keeping the characters separate and alive. 

Thank you Blackstone Publishing for this ARC. 

4.75 stars 

About

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz returns with a masterful new novel that captures the astonishing bravery of ordinary people in extraordinary times.

In 1942, the Nazis come for a Jewish family living in the Montparnasse area of occupied Paris. In the chaos of their arrest, eleven-year-old Josephine runs to the only person she can her piano teacher, Andrée Levallois, a secret French Resistance operative.

Andrée takes her in as a member of the family, spreading their rations and risking everything to keep her safe. But soon the authorities close in, and both Andrée and Josie are caught in a desperate race to stay alive.

Epic in scope and based on real people and historical events, Heather Morris has written a story of breathtaking beauty, at once gripping, heartbreaking, and uplifting.

Kiss Of The Black Flame by Helen Scheuerer

 

My thoughts

A new to me author. This is a Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Found family, Fiction, Magic, book. It's very good. Anyone who enjoys this genre will love this one. The only problem I have is waiting for the next book....

Saige Grayson is a bookbinder. She has no blood family but she does have her found family. Her best friend Raven and the woman who took her and Raven in, Yevna. Also there is Grim. Grim is Yevna's dog. Or as she calls him, her son. 

Saige now owns a bookbinding store. The Awl & Cradle: Book Binding & Restoration. It was owned by Leofric Bergmunn who taught Saige all about book binding. When he died he left the store to Saige. It's her home now. Saige has had a lot of pain in her life. A lot of physical pain that no dr or healer seems to think really exists. 

Archer is an Azkari warrior who has been imprisoned. He can't be seen by anyone. It's part of his punishment by his captor. That and being branded so no one will trust him. But someone did see him. A woman. A mortal woman. Saige Grayson. But that was ten years ago....

I really enjoyed reading this book. The things that happened and didn't happen are so good. I loved Saige. She's a strong woman. At thirty five she is very independent and fierce. I also like Archer. Until he confused me. Is he good or evil. Is he to be trusted. Will he hurt Saige??? That's the question. I'm sure when the next book comes out all will be answered. Or at least most all. I read somewhere this is a trilogy so maybe it will be in the third book that we find out if Archer is good or bad. What will become of Saige? Is she stuck forever with someone she desires but does not trust?

Told from Saige and Archer's POV you get to know each of them. Saige is straight forward for the most part. She only hides her pain. She hides it because no one believes it's real. Archer on the other hand is a bit of a mystery for me. I adored him until I didn't...

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

4.75 stars 

About

Some bargains are sealed with blood...Others with fire...The deadliest are sealed with a kiss...

Saige Grayson has always believed stories could heal—even when her own body refuses to. As the most promising bookbinder in the capital, she’s learned to work through chronic pain and crushing debt, restoring other people’s treasures while trying not to fall apart herself. But when the man she owes decides her rare talent is worth more than her payments, Saige is traded to the Azkari—an immortal race forged by the gods for war—and imprisoned in their ancient stronghold.

Her only chance of survival lies with Archer, a fallen Azkari general imprisoned beside her —cursed, dangerous, and impossible to ignore. He offers her a way out, and in return, Saige must help him retrieve and restore an ancient book. But the book is made of living magic, powerful enough to stop a great evil—or unleash it. And as Saige works with Archer, the tome begins to awaken something dark and dangerous—both in the realm and within her.

As their enemies close in and buried memories resurface, Saige and Archer must decide what they’re willing to their freedom, their fragile trust…or the spark that could ignite the world.

The Undercover Bookshop by Katherine Reay

 

My thoughts

This is a very well written story. Based on actual events. A real soviet spy. It intrigued me. 

This story started out so slow that I was initially afraid I was not going to finish it. I was afraid I would not like it at all. But somewhere along the way it started gaining speed and didn't slow down. It ended up being a very enjoyable read. In many places it had me holding my breath. 

Gemma is somewhat of a sleuth. She works at a small store where they just added a small bookstore. Gemma filled it with the mysteries that she loves to read. She didn't mean to do that so had to order more books that would keep the people in this small Cotswold village of Great Rollright interesting in buying. After she bombs baking a cake someone suggest she might seek baking lessons from the best baker in town. So she does...

Ursula Beurton is the town's best baker. She is not well liked or received in this small town though. When Gemma asks her about baking lessons they become fairly good friends. Despite the age difference. Ursula is older than Gemma. She has two children, a boy and a girl. Her husband is not around much since he broke his leg. Ursula has secrets. Lots of secrets.

Gemma is very good at catching people in lies. She finds herself a bit suspicious of Ursula. There are several things that are just not right. A tall antenna and a two way radio being among them. Gemma confides in her best friend and together they set out to find out what Ursula is hiding. Could Ursula be a spy?? Though most think her husband is Gemma believes it's Ursula herself. 

You find out everything in this story. All the secrets and who is who. It has a love story also. A nice love story between Gemma and PC Charles. There are people involved in things that cause Gemma's best friend to disappear and eventually even Gemma has to go away. You'll find out what happen to her, Ursula, and PC Charles. And what happened to Peggy. Eveything is answered. 

Read the Author's Note and ACknowledgments at the end. A lot of good info there. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Muse, Katherine Reay and Uplit Reads for the arc. 

About

During the winter of 1950 in the small Cotswold village of Great Rollright, amateur sleuth Gemma Brown starts to suspect that the town’s best baker, Ursula Beurton, is a Soviet spy, tumbling her headlong into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that ends with a decision that will lead her to the Undercover Bookshop and change her life forever.

Recently moved to the English Cotswolds, Gemma Brown desperately wants to create the kind of idyllic life she’s read about in her favorite mystery novels, with herself as the leading lady. But fitting in proves difficult as Gemma is more adept at solving mysteries and setting up the village’s first bookstore than she is at baking cakes or grasping social niceties. Nevertheless, she finds a friend in Peggy, a young woman recently moved to town herself, and Ursula Beurton, who is not only the village’s best baker but an enigmatic figure who sparks controversy in the small-town gossip network.

As Gemma spends more time with Ursula, she begins to suspect all those novels are affecting her thinking. The oddities she starts to notice must be her imagination because, if not, they point to something far more dangerous than winning the local baking contest or being placed on the church committee. Could her neighbor be a real spy?

Following her instincts and a few skills learned through fiction, Gemma soon becomes embroiled in an international intrigue involving the village’s mysterious benefactor, Lady Marchmont, MI5, and the KGB. In an unexpected twist, however, Ursula asks Gemma for a favor which may endanger all their lives as their next chapter unfolds in Gemma’s new venture, the Undercover Bookshop.