March 2023 Wrap Up

Here is what I read/posted in March.

As always, let me know if you have read any of these books and (if you did) what you thought of them.


Books I Read:

ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
ARC from author
Kindle Unlimited Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
ARC from author
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
KU Purchase—No Review
ARC from author
ARC from author
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
Non ARC from Author (KU Purchase)
KU Purchase—No Review
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Paperbacks
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
KU Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Non-ARC from author
ARC from Crooked Lane Books
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books

Books I got from NetGalley:

Read Now from St. Martin’s Press
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Invite from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Wish granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey
Invite from Level Best Books, Independent Books Publishers Association, Members Titles
Wish granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey
Wished granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey
Invite from St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
Invite from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam
Wish Granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
Limited time Read Now from Sourcebook Casablanca
Wish granted from Sourcebooks Casablanca
Read Now from Crooked Lane Books
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press

Books I got from Authors/Indie Publishers:

Invite from Novel Cause
Invite from Author
Invite from Author
Invite from Author
Invite from Author
Invite from Novel Cause
Invite from author
Invite from Author
Invite from author
Invite from Novel Cause
Invite from author
Invite from Dancing Lemur Press

Giveaway Winners

Goodreads Giveaway Winner through William Morrow—Hardcover

Books Reviewed:

The Things We Do To Our Friends—review here

Too Wrong to Be Right—review here

The Shadow of Theron—review here

Mad Honey—review here

A Paroxysm of Fear—review here

The Last Lap—review here

Mr. & Mrs. Witch—review here

Missing Clarissa—review here

What Have We Done—review here

Off the Map—review here

Solomon’s Crown—review here

For Our Soul—review here

AI—review here

Not That Kind of Ever After—review here

The Fake—review here

Peril in Paradise—review here

Yours Truly, The Duke—review here

Hotel of Secrets—review here


Reading Challenges

Buzzword Reading Challenge (words in the title like secret, secretive, secrets)—A Dangerous SecretFinished 3-6-2023

2023 Sami Parker Reads Title Challenge (A book with one of these words in the title: Ice, Snow, Flurry, or Blizzard)—Ice—Finished 3-6-2023

Cover Scavenger Hunt 2023 (Food)—The Obituary Society—Finished 3-10-2023

The StoryGraph’s Onboarding Reading Challenge (read a book from your StoryGraph recommendations)—Beautiful DemonsFinished 3-10-2023

The StoryGraph Reads the World (Cuba)—Of Women and Salt—Finished 3-12-2023

The StoryGraph’s Genre Challenge (a sapphic romance)—She Who Became the SunFinished 3-22-2023

Beat the Backlist 2023 (about dragons or robots)—The Glow of the Dragon’s Heart—Finished 3-22-2023

Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge (what is the most common letter in the title of the last book you read for this challenge. Find a book with a title that starts with that letter)—Even the Moon has Scars—Finished 3-23-2023

Scavenger Hunt (the prettiest book in your TBR)—The Watchmaker’s Daughter—Finished 3-23-2023

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2023 (A book about a vacation)—The SwapFinished 3-24-2023

2023 TBR Toppler (the first book in a series)—The Last Artifact—Finished 3-26-23

2023 Monthly Themes (March of the Memoirs)—In the Dream House—Finished 3-1-23

2023 Reading Challenge (A book in a series you already started)—Catching Fire—Finished 3-27-23

2023 ABC Challenge (C)—Contained—Finished 3-6-2023

Romanceopoly 2023 (Killer crescent: read a mystery or thriller of your choosing)—Malevolent—Finished 3-1-23

2023 TBR Prompts (a book written about women in STEM or a book with a strong female lead)—Vicious DelightsFinished 3-28-2023

Bookish Travels—March 2023 Destinations

This meme is what it says: Places I travel to in books each month. Books are lovely and take you to places you would never get to. That includes places of fantasy too!!

Bon Voyage!!

Please let me know if you have read these books or traveled to these areas.


United States

New Hampshire (Adams)
New York (Haverford, Limerick, Johnstown), Connecticut (Ashford, Canterbury, Bayfield), Pennsylvania (Philidelphia)
Iowa (Iowa City), Pennsylvania (Philidelphia, Allentown), Georgia (Savannah), Indiana (Bloomington), New York (New York City)
Louisiana (New Orleans, Algiers Point, French Quarter, Port Sulphur)
Florida (Key West, Orlando), Georgia (Atlanta)
Georgia (Atlanta, Decatur)
Washington (Oreville)
California (post-apocalyptic Sacramento)
Hawaii (unnamed island)
Washington D.C., West Virginia, Pennsylvania (Chestertown, Philadelphia), Florida (Miami)
Florida (Fort Lauderdale)
Nebraska (Auburn), Wyoming (Rock Springs)
Georgia (Peachville)
Florida (Miami), Texas
Hawaii (Maui, Maalaea Bay, Lahaina, Wailuku)
Oregon (countryside), California (Los Angeles)
Massachusetts (Gloucester, Boston)
Massachusetts (Boston), New York (New York City)
Wisconsin (Lofty Pines, Pine Lake)

South Africa

Lichtenburg

France

Paris
Paris, Aquitaine, Rouen, Nantes, Brittany, Rennes, Poitiers
The French Riviera

England

London
Dexford, Jersey, St. Helier
London
London
Regency London
Victorian London
Chiswick, London

Montriga

Thame

Scotland

Scottish Highlands, Arach Caim, Glasgow
Glasgow, Isle of Benbarra

Ireland

Dublin, Tralee, Wicklow Mountains, Donegal, Ballybunion
Unnamed Village, Dublin

Argentina

Estancia Moat

Cuba

Camaguey, La Habana

Mexico

Irapuato

The Afterlife

Purgatory, Heaven

India

Calcutta

Canada

Toronto, St. Clair

China

Southern Henan (Huai River Plains, Zhongli, Wuhuang, Anfeng, Anyang, Lu, Jiankang, Bianliang), Hichetu (Shanxi)

Austria

Vienna

Erlanis Empire

Arborren, Chrysalis

Spain

The Cantabrian Mountains, Los Picos De Europa, Costa Brava, Toledo

Turkey

Istanbul

Italy

Florence, Rome

Morocco

The Atlas Mountains

Holland

Amsterdam

Gibraltar


Panem

District 12, District 11, District 8, Capitol, District 13

Isle of Midnight

Isle of Midnight (Devil’s Bay)

Angawunde

Typgar (Loh’dis), Narcaya

March 2023 TBR

February has flown by for me (I don’t know about you guys).


Indie Authors/Publishers

From Author
From Author
From Author

A Paroxysm of Fear by Chad Miller

From Author

NetGalley

From Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
From St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
From St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
From St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
From St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
From Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell
From St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
From Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Paperbacks
From St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
From SMP, Wednesday Books

Reading Challenges:

Cover Scavenger Hunt 2023
Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge
Scavenger Hunt
Popsugar Reading Challenge 2023
2023 Monthly Themes
2023 TBR Toppler
2023 Reading Challenge
Buzzword Reading Challenge 2023
2023 Sami Parker Reads Title Challenge
The StoryGraph’s OnBoarding Reading Challenge 2023
The StoryGraph Reads the World 2023
The StoryGraph’s Genre Challange
Beat the Backlist 2023
2023 ABC Challenge
2023 TBR Prompts

Bookish Travels—January 2023 Destinations

I saw this meme on It’s All About Books and thought, I like this!! So, I decided to do it once a month also. Many thanks to Yvonne for initially posting this!!

This post is what it says: Places I travel to in books each month. Books are lovely and take you to places you would never get a chance to go. That includes places of fantasy too!!

So….enjoy!! Please let me know if you have read these books or traveled to these areas (other than the fantasy….lol).


Panem

District 12, Capitol

United States

Florida
Ohio (Chestnut)
Maine (Dearmont)
New York (New York City, upstate New York)
Crooked Tree (unknown state)
New York (Willow Cove)
Massachusetts (Boston, Riverton)
Massachusetts (Pittsfield, Boston, Amherst)
Florida (The Everglades)
California (Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Pasadena, Studio City)
Texas (Houston)
North Carolina (Raleigh)
Washington D.C.
Massachusetts (Coventry)
California (San Verde)
Wisconsin (Fontana, Lake Geneva)
Florida (Accident)
Colorado (Last Word)
Washington (North Bend, San Juan Islands, Seattle), Montana
Illinois (Chicago)
Pennsylvania (Johnston)
Iowa (Ames, Sibley), Minnesota, South Carolina (Columbia),
Alabama (Summerland, Hell), New York (New York City)
Illinois (Chicago), New York (New York City), Montana

Ljosland

Hrafnsvik

Japan

Tokyo

Guatemala

Guatemala City

France

Limoges, Perigueux
Giverny

Scotland

Edinburgh
Edinburgh, North Berwick

England

Hull
London
Bellehaven Bay, Regency London
Essex, London, Kent

India

Delhi, Kanpur, Calcutta, Brahmapur

Argentina


Italy

Ostia, Padua, Port of Civitavecchia, Palmro, Sicily, Florence, Rome, Milan, Pompeii, Amalfi, Tropea

Hungary

Budapest

Slovenia

Ljubijana

Germany

Berlin

Austria

Vienna

January 2023 Wrap Up

January was a busy reading month for me. Because of that, I could complete all my reading challenges for the month!! Woot!!

It was also a busy month, personally, for me. The highlights of this month are:

  • Miss B left her dual high school and college credits program.
  • Snickers going to the emergency vet with a bloody eye. She came home with a torn tear duct and a torn lower lid.
  • BK going back to traveling each week
  • And my not-so-great, horrible week last week.

BK and I have been watching Game of Thrones (we’re on season 7), and we started watching The Last of Us.

I have been experimenting with new cooking recipes. I made a Greek Lemon Chicken Orzo soup with Miss R last week.

As always, let me know if you have read any of these books and (if you did) what you thought of them.


Books I Read:

KU Purchase—No Review
From Author
Kindle PurchaseNo Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
From Publisher—Review coming February 17th
From Publisher
From Publisher
From Publisher
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
KU Purchase—No Review
From Publisher
From Author
From Publisher
From Publisher
From PublisherReview coming July 11th, 2023
KU Purchase—No Review
Kindle Purchase—No Review
From Author
Kindle Purchase—No Review
From Publisher
From Publisher
From Publisher
KU purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
From Author
From Publisher
Kindle Purchase—No Review
From Publisher—Review Coming February 2nd
From Publisher—Review coming February 3rd
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
From Author—Review coming February 3rd

Books I got from NetGalley:

Wish Granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine/Bantam
Limited Time Read Now from SMP
Read Now from Crooked Lane Books
Read Now from John Hunt Publishing
Invite from SMP
Read Now from Crooked Lane Books
Read Now from Crooked Lane Books
Read Now from Crooked Lane Books
Read Now from Crooked Lane Books
Read Now from Crooked Lane Books
Wish Granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine
From SMPG
Invite from SMP
Read now from Crooked Lane Books
Wish Granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey
Wish granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine/Del Rey
Limited Time Read Now from St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin
Invite from Saint Martin’s Press

Books I got from Authors/Indie Publishers:

From Author
From Author
From Novel Cause
From Author
From Author
From Author

A Paroxysm of Fear by Chad Miller

From Author

Giveaway Winners

Paperback—Won from a giveaway. Not sure which one….lol
Kindle—Won from Goodreads Giveaway
Kindle—Won from Goodreads Giveaway

Books Reviewed:

Fatal Intent by Tammy Euliano (review here)

Misfire by Tammy Euliano (review here)

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff (review here)

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman (review coming February 17th)

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham (review here)

The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert (review here)

The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker (review here)

Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry (review here)

Emily Wilde’s Encylopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (review here)

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes (review here)

Shadowed Visions by Reily Garrett (review here)

The Things We do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent (review coming February 27th)

The Devil You Know by P.J. Tracy (review here)

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center (review coming July 11th)

A Body Washes Ashore by Bradley Pay (review here)

All Hallows by Christopher Golden (review here)

A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan (review here)

One Duke Down by Anna Bennett (review here)

Murder Up to Bat by Elizabeth McKenna (review here)

Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire (review here)


Reading Challenges

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (for Cover Scavenger Hunt 2023—a bird)Finished 1-1-2023

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (for The StoryGraph Onboarding Challenge—-Read a book with more pages than the longest book you read in 2022)—Finished 1-17-2023

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica (for The StoryGraph Read the World—Argentina)—Finished 1-17-2023

The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O’Neill (for The StoryGraph’s Genre Challenge—a contemporary or literary fiction novel with disability rep)—Finished 1-24-2023

The Reader by M.K. Harkins (for Beat the Backlist 2023—a backlist book)—Finished 1-24-2023

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga (for Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge—Read the most recently added book to your TBR)—Finished 1-3-2023

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (for Scavenger Hunt—a book written by a woman using a male perspective)—Finished 1-19-2023

The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert (for Popsugar Reading Challenge 2023—a book you meant to read in 2022)—Finished 1-5-2023

Lost Soul by Adam J. Wright (for 2023 TBR Toppler—a TBR vet)—Finished 1-3-2023

In Our Blood by William J. Goyette (for 2023 Monthly Themes—books that make you feel cold)—Finished 1-10-2023

Before the Coffee Get Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (for 2023 Reading challenge—a translated work)Finished 1-11-2023

All Hallows by Christopher Golden (for 2023 ABC Challenge—A)—Finished 1-19-2023

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman (for Romanceopoly 2023!—read a thriller or mystery where one of the main characters are a detective or private investigator)—Finished 1-3-2023

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center (for 2023 TBR Prompts—a 5-star prediction)—Finished 1-16-23

Book Blogger Hop—January 6th, 2023

 The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, it was relaunched on February 15, 2013, by Billy @ the Ramblings of a coffee addict. . Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book-related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.


Over the last few years, I have seen this Friday prompt show up on several blogs I follow. I decided right before Christmas that I would start participating after the new year. So, saying that here’s this week’s prompt!!


What was the first book you read this year?

I read this for The Cover Scavenger Hunt (through The StoryGraph) prompt. This was a reread for me too. I forgot how much I liked this book!!

January 2023 TBR

December has flown by for me (I don’t know about you guys). I was stretched thin between my kids’ Christmas events, last-minute shopping, and the actual holiday. I hope January is less hectic and I can breathe again.


Indie Authors/Publishers

Novel Cause
Novel Cause
From Author
From Author

NetGalley


WWW Wednesday: December 28th, 2022

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?


Personal:

I will not go into a day-by-day breakdown like I usually do. It will take up too much time, and my brain is still fried from Christmas.

Christmas was good. I got a Kindle Scribe which I was thrilled about. I had the Oasis, and it was beginning to die (was freezing, and I had to reset it frequently). So this was needed. I love being able to take notes. But the main thing is that I can easily read at night without my glasses on. I had an issue with the font being too small on the Oasis (even with adjusting everything).

We didn’t do a ton of presents for Christmas. BK got a deep fryer with an oil filtration system. Miss B got Air Pods (to replace the ones I washed), an iPhone 14, and some other smaller things she wanted. Mr. Z got a gaming mouse and gaming monitor, a lot of books, and a hardcover comic book. Miss R got an iPad (along with an otter box and a drawing pencil), a box set of Dav Pilkey graphic novels, a National Geographic book about horses, and a 3 Bayers horse sets (all separate) she wanted (Quarter Horse, Morgan, and Appaloosa).

I did have some excitement on Christmas Eve. Someone got my Best Buy credit card number and tried to buy themselves an Apple Air Pod. Fortunately (or unfortunately for the guy), I checked my email before going to bed and was able to cancel the order. I also changed my password and added two-step verification. I checked again on Christmas morning and saw that they had tried so many times that my account had been locked, and that was a quick fix….lol.

Reading:

I have read a ton since the kids have been out of school. I finished all but one book that I had gotten on Kindle Unlimited. Since I am starting to read my review copies/reading challenges books next week, I am enjoying this break.

The longest book I read this week: First Do No Evil. It wasn’t a long book, but I wasn’t a fan of the first 60% of the book. But the last 40% was fantastic, and I was able to finish it quickly. It took me a couple of days to read.

The shortest book I read this week: It is a tie between The House in the Cerulean Sea and Little One. I read each within a couple of hours of downloading them.

I am also finished going through my Want to Read shelf and adding books to either the Kindle Unlimited shelf or the Downloaded to Kindle Shelf. I think I have around 280 books left. My next project going through the books on my Read shelf. Wish me luck with that because I am sure that my Want to Read/Kindle Unlimited/Downloaded to Kindle shelves will increase tenfold. I will add the next books in the series (or previous ones).

I am still behind with writing reviews. I have four reviews to write before New Year’s Eve and two due the first week of January. So, I am behind by six reviews. I’m not sweating it, though. The only ones that must be written by a specific date are the two in January.

So that’s the essential things for this past week. How was your week?

As always, let me know if you have read or are planning to read any of these books!!


What I Recently Finished Reading:

“Take my hand, little one.”

Fran finds her standing by the swings. A little girl, Esther, no older than seven years old, by herself in the dead of night, her pretty but old-fashioned yellow dress covered in grass stains and her hair dishevelled. She says she’s waiting for Father, and that strikes Fran as particularly odd.

After Esther is reunited with her family, Fran can’t stop thinking about this pious child whose imaginary friend is God. Fran’s instincts tell her something is very wrong. Why does Esther keep running away from home, and how did she get that bruise on her leg?

Fran’s husband warns her not to get too close, but one morning, Esther and her family disappear. Where did they go? Why did they leave their furniture behind?

Fran knows in her gut that something terrible is going to happen to that child, and she can’t stand by while it happens. No matter the cost.

After all, she found her. But can she save her?


What I am currently reading:

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.


What books I think I’ll read next:

for Cover Scavenger Hunt 2023

Could you survive on your own in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.

ARC

A device that can save a life is also one that can end it

Kadence, a new type of implanted defibrillator, misfires in a patient visiting University Hospital for a routine medical procedure—causing the heart rhythm problem it’s meant to correct. Dr. Kate Downey, an experienced anesthesiologist, resuscitates the patient, but she grows concerned for a loved one who recently received the same device—her beloved Great-Aunt Irm.

When a second device misfires, Kate turns to Nikki Yarborough, her friend and Aunt Irm’s cardiologist. Though Nikki helps protect Kate’s aunt, she is prevented from alerting other patients by the corporate greed of her department chairman. As the inventor of the device and part owner of MDI, the company he formed to commercialize it, he claims that the device misfires are due to a soon-to-be-corrected software bug. Kate learns his claim is false.

The misfires continue as Christian O’Donnell, a friend and lawyer, comes to town to facilitate the sale of MDI. Kate and Nikki are drawn into a race to find the source of the malfunctions, but threats to Nikki and a mysterious murder complicate their progress. Are the seemingly random shocks misfires, or are they attacks?

A jaw-dropping twist causes her to rethink everything she once thought she knew, but Kate will stop at nothing to protect her aunt and the other patients whose life-saving devices could turn on them at any moment

for Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge

Cora hasn’t spoken to her best friend, Quinn, in a year.

Despite living next door to each other, they exist in separate worlds of grief. Cora is still grappling with the death of her beloved sister in a school shooting, and Quinn is carrying the guilt of what her brother did.

On the day of Cora’s twelfth birthday, Quinn leaves a box on her doorstep with a note. She has decided that the only way to fix things is to go back in time to the moment before her brother changed all their lives forever—and stop him.

In spite of herself, Cora wants to believe. And so the two former friends begin working together to open a wormhole in the fabric of the universe. But as they attempt to unravel the mysteries of time travel to save their siblings, they learn that the magic of their friendship may actually be the key to saving themselves.

for 2023 TBR Toppler

Alec Harbinger, Preternatural Investigator

I’m the guy you come to when your spouse gets bitten by a werewolf, or your honey is kidnapped by a demon. I’m the guy who knows how to save your ass when an evil sorcerer casts a curse on it.

At least, I was that guy until the Society of Shadows sent me to Dearmont, Maine, a sleepy town that had a zero rating on the supernatural occurrences scale.

My plan was to spend my days sitting in the office with nothing to do except drink coffee and eat apple bakes made by Felicity, my new assistant.

But when a woman hires me to find out if her son has been possessed by a demon at a rich kids’ party, and a young man comes to the office insisting he’s been bitten by a werewolf, Dearmont goes from zero to hero.

Oh, and did I mention that someone in the Society wants me dead?

Time to sharpen the swords and go to work…

WWW Wednesday: December 14th, 2022

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?


Personal:

  • Thursday: Miss B accidentally washed her Air Pods. Well, she forgot to take them out of her pants pocket, and I, in a rare moment of not checking, washed them. I was so mad when I took the laundry out of the washer, and they fell out. But, in a way, it was a good thing. We got her another pair for Christmas. And she has strict instructions not to leave them in her pockets.
  • Friday: Miss R had an unmounted lesson at her barn. She came out very excited. Her instructor told her that she is almost ready to join a program they have. Kids who are eligible work in the barn over the summer and get points. The points can add up to anything barn-related but, more importantly, free and extra lessons. I still have to talk to the barn owner, but Miss R will do that this summer.
  • Saturday and Sunday: We did nothing. BK changed the van’s oil, and I cleaned the house. But other than that, nothing.
  • Monday: Mr. Z had a concert. He performed, with the rest of the orchestra, in Grace Chapel at Lenoir Rhyne University. The chapel was beautiful!! The orchestra played wonderfully too. I saw friends and a few of Mr. Z and Miss B’s middle school teachers.
  • Tuesday: Mr. Z had an early orthodontist appointment. I ended up dragging all three kids with me. Not exactly what I wanted to do at 8 am, but he needed to have them checked. His next appointment is in February, and he’s getting the Herbst device installed.
  • The longest book I read this week: Hello, Summer. It just dragged for me. I couldn’t get into it.
  • The shortest book I read this week: NetGalley’s Book Advocate Tool Kit. It took me 20 mins to read, and I got many great ideas!!
  • I decided to go through my want-to-read shelf and move any books marked Kindle Unlimited to a shelf named Kindle Unlimited on Goodreads. I am not even close to done, but I have found many books on KU. So, worth it!!
  • I have finished my December TBR list!! I can’t even believe that I finished all of those books. Now, I have to write six reviews, but those should be easy.

So that’s the essential things for this past week. How was your week?

As always, let me know if you have read or are planning to read any of these books!!


What I Recently Finished Reading:

Synopsis was taken from Amazon

Hope Turner is the ideal human-hunting assassin, and she is damn good at her job. A daughter of the Chakal, a race of hybrid demons lacking physical sensation and emotion, Hope was always brutally efficient in her work. She never struggled with a case, that is, until she was assigned to take down Ciaran O-Connor – a stubborn, strong-willed bodyguard with a dark past and severe PTSD.

He also happens to be her soulmate.

When the omaeriku – an inescapable soulmate bond – takes hold of her, Hope is hit with a wave of emotion and physical sensation for the first time in her life. Finding herself unable to kill Ciaran and ending up on her former boss’s hit list, Hope and Ciaran must escape into hiding. Immediately, the chemistry between Hope and Ciaran is electric. However, they must try to direct their focus on finding a way to take down Marcus Dentry, their newfound common enemy, who was both Hope’s former boss and Ciaran’s former captor and torturer.

However, as they spend more time together and succumb to their physical desire for each other, the newfound emotion and pain brought forth by the soulmate bond begin to overwhelm Hope. Can Hope learn to handle her sudden emotions, both the good and the bad, before it drives her away from the only person who can make her feel? And can Hope and Ciaran track down Marcus and exact their revenge before he gets to them first?


What I am currently reading:

No review (was a giveaway book)

Detective Jackson Forge can hardly wait to marry the street-sly swindler who’s turned his life upside down. Kit Turner is equally excited to wed the handsome detective, and what better way to show her love than providing him with a gift any man of the law would love? She determines to bring to justice the men who years ago maimed his brother—despite Jackson’s warning to leave the past in the past. As she digs into the mystery of what happened, she unwittingly tumbles into her own history and endangers her future happiness with Jackson.


What books I think I’ll read next:

Cover Scavenger Hunt 2023

Could you survive on your own in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.

Review coming January 3rd

End-of-life care—or assisted death

When her elderly patients start dying at home days after minor surgery, anesthesiologist Dr. Kate Downey wants to know why. The surgeon, not so much. “Old people die, that’s what they do,” is his response. When Kate presses, surgeon Charles Ricken places the blame squarely on her shoulders. Kate is currently on probation, and the chief of staff sides with the surgeon, leaving Kate to prove her innocence and save her own career. With her husband in a prolonged coma, it’s all she has left.

Aided by her eccentric Great Aunt Irm, a precocious medical student, and the lawyer son of a victim, Kate launches her own unorthodox investigation of these unexpected deaths. As she comes closer to exposing the culprit’s identity, she faces professional intimidation, threats to her life, a home invasion, and, tragically, the suspicious death of someone close to her. The stakes escalate to the breaking point when Kate, under violent duress, is forced to choose which of her loved ones to save—and which must be sacrificed.

Perfect for fans of Kathy Reichs and Tess Gerritsen

While the books in the Kate Downey Medical Mystery Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is:

Fatal Intent
Misfire
 (coming January 2023)

Review coming January 5th

A device that can save a life is also one that can end it

Kadence, a new type of implanted defibrillator, misfires in a patient visiting University Hospital for a routine medical procedure—causing the heart rhythm problem it’s meant to correct. Dr. Kate Downey, an experienced anesthesiologist, resuscitates the patient, but she grows concerned for a loved one who recently received the same device—her beloved Great-Aunt Irm.

When a second device misfires, Kate turns to Nikki Yarborough, her friend and Aunt Irm’s cardiologist. Though Nikki helps protect Kate’s aunt, she is prevented from alerting other patients by the corporate greed of her department chairman. As the inventor of the device and part owner of MDI, the company he formed to commercialize it, he claims that the device misfires are due to a soon-to-be-corrected software bug. Kate learns his claim is false.

The misfires continue as Christian O’Donnell, a friend and lawyer, comes to town to facilitate the sale of MDI. Kate and Nikki are drawn into a race to find the source of the malfunctions, but threats to Nikki and a mysterious murder complicate their progress. Are the seemingly random shocks misfires, or are they attacks?

A jaw-dropping twist causes her to rethink everything she once thought she knew, but Kate will stop at nothing to protect her aunt and the other patients whose life-saving devices could turn on them at any moment

Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge 2023

Cora hasn’t spoken to her best friend, Quinn, in a year.

Despite living next door to each other, they exist in separate worlds of grief. Cora is still grappling with the death of her beloved sister in a school shooting, and Quinn is carrying the guilt of what her brother did.

On the day of Cora’s twelfth birthday, Quinn leaves a box on her doorstep with a note. She has decided that the only way to fix things is to go back in time to the moment before her brother changed all their lives forever—and stop him.

In spite of herself, Cora wants to believe. And so the two former friends begin working together to open a wormhole in the fabric of the universe. But as they attempt to unravel the mysteries of time travel to save their siblings, they learn that the magic of their friendship may actually be the key to saving themselves.