Serena’s Review and Blog Tour: “The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield”

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Book: “The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield” by Claudia Gray

Publishing Info: Vintage, June 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: Amazon | IndieBound | WorldCat

Book Description: After a disastrous London Season and a (somewhat) successful investigation, Jonathan Darcy has recovered from the wound he received in his most recent investigations. But his parents aren’t over the shock, and insist that Jonathan must stop these dangerous adventures with Miss Juliet Tilney—particularly now that she is a young lady of ruined reputation.

Jonathan still hopes for some opportunity to be with her again, and then it comes—unfortunately, in the form of his uncle Charles Bingley’s brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, being found murdered at Netherfield Park. His Aunt Jane is desperate for answers, and in the end, Jonathan’s family must ask Miss Tilney to Netherfield to help solve the mystery!

Juliet, still reeling from her ruination, is happy to be back in the thick of an investigation—and in the company of Jonathan. But the scheming Caroline Bingley Allerdyce and her daughter Priscilla feel the same, leaving the young pair to not only look for clues but also dodge their machinations. When Mr. Hurst proves to be only the first victim, casting a pall of danger—and worse, scandal—over the Bingleys’ household, Jonathan and Juliet are under fierce pressure to find the culprit—and perhaps even more momentously, to make a final choice between respectability…and love.

Previously Reviewed: “The Murder of Mr. Wickham” and “The Late Mrs. Willoughby” and “The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh” and “The Rushworth Family Plot”

Review: These reviews are almost getting boring in how predictable my feelings are: all the books have been great, and yes, this one lives up to the standards set before! But really, who is going to complain about too much of a good thing? Not me!

Let’s start with the mystery! As usual, Gray does an excellent job of setting up both the murder(s) and a vast number of potential suspects. I don’t think it gets mentioned enough just how much of an extra challenge Gray has taken on in writing these mysteries featuring so many known entities from Austen’s original novels. For one thing, the list of murder victims and suspects is greatly reduced by the simple fact that readers are familiar with these characters and will know, largely, who has the potential for villainy and who can be easily lost as a victim. This is dealt with by both introducing a select few new characters (here we meet Kitty’s husband, a friend of Jonathan’s from childhood, a new sibling of Bingley, and a few servants) as well as carefully selecting side characters from the original books who, while not murderers in Austen’s books, are easy enough to hate here! I was able to piece together just the right amount to feel like I was solving it myself, while there also remained a few surprises at the end as well.

I especially enjoyed the Bingley family dynamics we explored here, from the relationship of Charles to his handful of sisters, to the relationships between the sisters themselves, to Jane’s ability to deal with in-laws like this! Gray deftly takes the small tidbits we see from the Hursts and expands on them cleverly. And while both of them remain incredibly unlikable, the work done with Caroline is even more impressive. She’s both hateable (especially after the events of the previous book and some continuing actions here), but her arc is also more complicated by the inclusion of a loving husband and a kind daughter.

It was also fun seeing the other “Pride and Prejudice” characters included here, especially getting to see Mr. and Mrs. Bennet on the page, along with Kitty. But what I most enjoyed was getting to spend more time with Mr. Bingley and Jane. Especially Jane. Jane is such a lovely character in her own right, and it’s always a bit sad that we truly get so little of her in the original novel. Well, that is rectified here. Gray perfectly captures Jane’s kindness, her gentleness, but also her strong sense of right and wrong and the fact that, when pushed, those doing wrong will run headlong into a steel wall of morality, one that will present its case with kindness but will not give. Jane and Mr. Bingley are the perfect characters to deliver smacks upside the head to their sister and friend, respectively. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth have had several books of various levels of ridiculousness about Miss Tilney and their son, but Jane and Charles are there to set them straight. There was one particularly great scene between Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy that had me re-reading it a few times, just to revel in the perfectly balanced, perfectly kind, perfectly pointed zingers Charles was slinging Darcy’s way.

And, of course, the burgeoning romance between Jonathan and Miss Tilney was as lovely as ever. After the events of the previous book, this one didn’t waste much time in getting to the heart of their feelings, though that didn’t leave them without a hefty set of obstacles before them. It was lovely getting to see some of the romantic bits finally coming together, but there was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end for how things will progress going forward.

Overall, I really loved this book! It was a solid mystery, and Jonathan and Miss Tilney remain a great detective duo, both in their investigative skills as well as in the development of their romantic relationship. But looking back on my read, I think my favorite parts of this book came down to the time spent with the Bingleys, characters I loved from the original novel and whom we finally get to spend more time with here. If you’re a fan of the series up to this point, this is a must-read!

Rating 8: A wonderful mystery, a heartfelt romance, and a return to Netherfield at last!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield” isn’t on any Goodreads lists but it should be on: Austen Retellings.

Kate’s Review: “The Break-Up Retreat”

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Book: “The Break-Up Retreat” by Camilla Sten

Publishing Info: Minotaur Books, June 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: An undercover journalist goes to expose an exclusive psychological wellness clinic where women go to recover from heartbreak, with dire consequences, in this creepy thriller from The Bachelorette Party author Camilla Sten.

Welcome to Himlafall Clinic, where we use revolutionary therapy techniques to heal you from heartbreak. Whether you are going through a devastating breakup, or can’t seem to stop picking the wrong partners, we are here to help you change your life, once and for all…

Isobel Anderssen has heard rumors. Nestled deep in the Swedish woods, there is a clinic. Primarily aimed at helping women who have gone through devastating break-ups, the Himlafall Clinic is meant to heal your mind and help you move on.

Sometimes people are never heard from again.

Armed with a fake story and a contraband phone to record interviews, Isobel is ready to expose Himlafall’s founder and get closure for the families of missing loved ones. But when she gets there, nothing goes to plan. Her contact is missing. The founder, Dr. Martina Hastings, knows how to get under Isobel’s skin in ways she didn’t anticipate. And all the while, the ghosts of the missing haunt her at every turn. It is clear something is going wrong and Himlafall, and Isobel must uncover the truth, before she disappears once and for all.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

After my previous therapist retired at the beginning of the year, I have started with a new person this summer and I am finding it to be incredibly gratifying and cathartic. I’ve been in therapy on and off basically since I was a teenager (of SO many different types), and this new one has been really challenging me to look inside myself and reflect on a lot, which has been great. Whenever I read a book that has some kind of therapy as a focal point, especially a thriller, I thank my lucky stars that I’ve only had good experiences with my mental health counselors, and I was thinking about that as I read Camilla Sten’s new thriller “The Break-Up Retreat”. No weaponized therapising in my life, I’m happy to report! But it does make for a solid thriller premise, and if you throw in an undercover reporter posing as a patient it makes me all the more intrigued.

“The Break-Up Retreat” has a lot of positives going for it! By having our protagonist Isobel being an undercover reporter checking into a trendy but potentially sinister mental health retreat, we hit the ground running and the tension starts right away. Himlafall Clinic has a lot of hype around it for women who are going through rough relationship fallout, with its founder Dr. Martina Hastings being a media darling and a beaming advocate for helping women work through their despair. But at least one person has disappeared after going to Himlafall, and whispers online have made Isobel think that there is something dark going on, which could be a great story to break out with. I love that concept and have loved it since reading up on good ol’ Nelly Bly, and Sten makes things go weird from the jump which builds the tension almost immediately. Isobel’s contact has gone missing, the other patients are offputting, and the staff seem strange and like they are hiding things, all while Martina is doing unconventional methods in therapy while isolating her patients from the outside world. I love this kind of thing, and I loved the questions about Martina’s motives as she psychologically picks at people she is supposed to be helping. Sten keeps a lot of her cards close to her vest and lets suspense go tauter and tauter until it’s about to snap.

I also enjoyed how we got this from not only Isobel’s POV, but also through found media like message boards, interviews, Internet comments, and news articles. I absolutely love supplemental clues that give us perspectives outside of the protagonist, and these are all pretty subtle at first until things start clicking into place. It broke up the chapters pretty well too, and given that sometimes I did find myself lagging behind at times when the chapters could feel a little repetitive as Isobel investigates these parts did a good job of getting me back on task and back into it.

“The Break-Up Retreat” is a perfect summer read for the beach or the pool, with a solid mystery and a promising premise rising to the top.

Rating 7: A really enjoyed the tension and the entire concept of this one, with a potentially sinister therapist and a plucky undercover reporter trying to expose it all.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Break-Up Retreat” is included in the Goodreads post “A Month-By-Month Guide to Summer’s Biggest Mysteries and Thrillers”.

Serena’s Review: “The Winged Game”

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Book: “The Winged Game” by Sophie Kim

Publishing Info: Del Rey, June 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Carriwitchet, the violent, rugby-esque game played atop winged beasts, was once Taissa Cho’s whole life, and she was once the United Kingdom’s most promising player. Until her nemesis, rival player Kion Locke, destroyed her career in a single moment. Expelled from the sport in disgrace, Taissa has spent the last two years dreaming of nothing but revenge and relishing watching Kion’s team plummet to the bottom of the league.

So when Taissa is offered the chance to redeem herself and her career, she can’t refuse—even if the offer is coming from the very man who ruined everything in the first place. It’s close to a dream come true . . . except for that pesky clause in her contract that demands she and Kion enter a fake relationship in order to garner some much-needed positive PR for the team. This could not be a worse match. Taissa and Kion only have two things in their love of the game, and their undying hatred for each other.

Yet as a mysterious illness befalls the winged creatures of the entire league—putting both the beasts’ lives and the very sport itself at stake—the athletes find themselves partnering up in other ways, determined to crack the case of the eerie sickness. As their investigation takes them on a whirlwind adventure, Kion and Taissa are prepared for anything . . .

Anything, that is, but their fake-for-the-cameras relationship to maybe, just maybe, become something real after all.

Review: I know that sports romances have been having a bit of a moment recently, but as a romance reader who almost always avoids contemporary romance, I’ve missed most, if not all, of the big hits. That being the case, I was excited to see that Sophie Kim was coming out with her own fantasy twist on the subgenre!

Ultimately, this wasn’t my favorite read ever, but I think much of that comes down to my own preferences and the fact that I think this will sit much more comfortably alongside the “sports” romances than the “fantasy” romances. Kim’s writing is still quite approachable and fun, and I largely enjoy her style, which reads quickly but isn’t dumbed down in any way. The banter and dialogue were by far the best parts of the book and had me chuckling out loud at times. I also think that the enemies-to-lovers aspects, most exemplified in said banter, were done quite well. Due to the lower stakes of the book (they aren’t mortal enemies or anything), this sort of progression from “enemies/rivals” to eventual lovers makes more sense. And the snappy, quirky banter also fits better than it does in some of the enemy-to-lovers romantasies we see, where the love interests are quipping away in the middle of a life-or-death situation.

Oddly, the book had both too much sport and not enough, I think. For readers who really enjoy sports romances, there isn’t as much of that here as I think they’d expect. Aside from a few scenes, we don’t see a lot of it. But, again, I’m not a reader of that subgenre, so maybe that’s the convention there too, and I just assumed more actual sports-playing happened on the page.

On the other side, the sports scenes we did get didn’t really work for me, mostly because I was way too caught up on exactly how this whole sport/league worked. Call me a fantasy snob, but I do need something to hold my wild fantasy concepts together. Other than this being a sort of Quidditch spinoff where the players ride mythical beasts rather than brooms, I’d be hard-pressed to explain the rules. I also thought the general setup was rather odd. The riders form a deep connection with their steeds, and each team only plays on one sort of creature. So if you start with one team/steed, that’s what you’re stuck with forever. Even though there were only a few sports scenes, these persistent questions about rules and practicalities did distract me from the book itself.

I also didn’t love the romance. The MMC was your typical grumpy hero and really didn’t have anything new to offer to the standard version of this character you’ve probably read a million times before. The fake dating also felt rather silly at times. Again, this is probably more of a me issue, as fake dating isn’t my favorite trope. There were moments that I thought worked, but then others that had me rolling my eyes a bit. A certain marketing photo shoot comes to mind.

Overall, this was just ok. I got through it quickly and did genuinely find it funny at times. However, the sports aspect didn’t work for me, as I felt it was too underdeveloped for me to become invested. And while I enjoyed the “enemies to lovers” aspect, the fake dating trope didn’t work as well. Fans of Kim and sports romances, however, are much more likely to enjoy this and should definitely give it a shot!

Rating 7: For a sports romance where the players ride mystical beasts, I found the actual “sports” of it all rather underwhelming.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Winged Game” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2026 Most Anticipated Romantasy & Fantasy Romance Releases

Kate’s Review: “Lore Olympus: Volume Ten”

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Book: “Lore Olympus: Volume Ten” by Rachel Smythe

Publishing Info: Inklore, June 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: “The Mortal Realm—it’s dying.”

After years of yearning, the big day has finally arrived: Hades and Persephone are getting married! It’s the ceremony of the century, and practically all the gods are invited to celebrate the happy couple. The wedding, full of love and joy, provides a much-needed respite for the pantheon . . . but the newlyweds have no time for a honeymoon.

The king and queen of the Underworld begin unprecedented dives into the dream world to find the god that Kronos took hostage—and, hopefully, to get answers on defeating the furious titan once and for all. During their explorations, they begin to suspect that Persephone’s powers over spring may have been altered. Their theory is proven correct with deadly consequences: When Persephone returns to the Mortal Realm, she ushers in not the regular change of seasons, but a never-ending winter.

And while the gods worry about the total annihilation of the Mortal Realm, Apollo uses the chaos as cover for an attempt to kill Zeus. He claims his dying father’s throne and decrees that the only way to save the Mortal Realm is if Persephone—and her power—belong to him. The others reject his outrageous demand, proposing instead that whoever can fix the failing seasons will be named interim ruler of Olympus. Hope now rests with the struggling goddess to find a way to stop the treacherous Apollo and save humankind—or else be separated from Hades forever.

Review: It’s been a couple of years since I started my “Lore Olympus” journey, and I can’t believe that we are nearing the end of the series, ten volumes in. It’s been a wild and fulfilling ride and has given me all of the feelings as I’ve read it, and we are now at “Lore Olympus: Volume Ten”, with only one more to go after it. I feel like we have so much to address, but I’m still soaking it all in. And “Volume Ten” continues the streak of magnificence.

First and foremost, for the Persephone/Hades fangirl who has lived within me since I was a kid, THEY ARE FINALLY GETTING MARRIED!!! This volume kicks off with their decision and their wedding, and it’s everything I had hoped it would be. Smythe made it romantic, gentle, and captured the excitement as well as the haste given that they are marrying because they love each other AND to combine their partnership to help run the Underworld, which is still dealing with a vengeful Kronos who has kidnapped a mystery deity and is holding them hostage deep in the depths, so much so that they have to use Morpheus to help try and dream dive to track them down. We also have some new crazy developments regarding Zeus’s philandering ways, and how Persephone gets roped into helping him with the consequences of some of them (and we also get to meet Dionysus; if you know, you know). There are some bumps in the road here and there, but it’s never drawn out for melodrama’s sake and it feels real and reasonable. It’s also interesting to see them work as a team in trying to parse out where to find Kronos and this mysterious entity.

I will admit that it took a bit longer than I expected for us to get to the second half of the original myth, with Persephone’s absence setting off an eternal winter and therein explaining the turning of the seasons, and I was curious to see how, exactly, Smythe planned to do it. But I enjoyed the way that it all starts to unfold in this volume (still, really close to the end? There’s just one volume left, right?) and how it relates to Persephone’s new role and the active choices she has made for herself up until this point. One of the biggest gripes I’ve seen about “Lore Olympus” (or any kind of Persephone/Hades retelling that isn’t steeped in trauma) is the romance and relationship between Persephone and Hades being romanticized while demonizing Demeter when she is merely a ‘grieving mother’ whose daughter was kidnapped to be a bride against her will in the original story, and that centering the romance element is wrong or damaging and removes agency. Which I’ve never agreed with (I actually helped write a literary analysis with my friend David critiquing a thesis about this very thing), and in “Lore Olympus” specifically I have felt that Smythe has done a really good job of making Persephone’s agency a priority. The way that the original myth gets reimagined here with Persephone realizing her Spring bringing powers have been taken from her due to her own (positive, mind you!) actions as opposed to it merely being a grieving Demeter continues to bolster that, and it sets up higher stakes and a last gambit by Apollo, whose coup is now fully underway with an assassination attempt on Zeus, and who still wants to possess Persephone because he feels entitled to her. As we are setting up the final arc to take down Apollo (and Ouranos, who is encouraging all of this). Does it seem a little crammed in? Yeah, maybe a little, especially since there was such a long arc previously in regards to Kronos, but at the same time I’d argue that Apollo has to be the final big bad in this, even if Ouranos has been shoehorned in a bit. Everything has been put in place, the players are all there, and this penultimate volume has set it up properly.

Now it’s time for the Hera report, as Hera is my favorite in this series and I can tell you that she, too, is going through it. She is still hearing Kronos in her head, and she finally has to come to terms with her lingering trauma in regards to the part she had to play with him and how she has a trauma bond with him to a degree because of it. I really love what this comic has done with Hera, and now we are finally, FINALLY, seeing her open up a little bit and start to try and unpack all of that baggage when Kronos keeps nipping at her heels and when Zeus is down for the count and other people she loves are in danger. Hera’s journey has been just as gratifying as those of Persephone and Hades, and I’m just as invested in her outcome as I am in theirs.

We are nearing the end of “Lore Olympus” and Volume Ten has gone into the last storylines strong. Can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Rating 9: We are nearing the end of the series and we get a great mix of romance, emotional unpacking, and a set up for a final showdown for power, with Persephone and Hades in the middle of it all.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Lore Olympus: Volume Ten” is included on the Goodreads list “Best Comics and Graphic Novels of 2026”.

Another Take: Spring 2026

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Don’t just take it from us, other readers like these books, too! And we have decided that we would like to showcase other reviewers and bloggers that have their own thoughts and feelings about books that we have loved. Here are a few of the books we’ve enjoyed recently and what other bloggers have to say about them.

Book: “This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me” by Ilona Andrews

Book Description: When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren. It’s a city she knows intimately from the pages of a famously unfinished dark fantasy series – one she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading, while waiting years for the final novel.

Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic and mayhem? Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the plot, the setting and the characters’ ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she’s coming to love – a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to return home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes – and attentions – of duelling princes, dukes and villains. This all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the ending she’s seen on the a cataclysmic war.

Serena’s Review (9 Rating)

Witchy Reading (4 Stars)

Goodey Reads

Books Are the New Black (4 Stars)

Book: “Seek the Traitor’s Son” by Veronica Roth

Book Description: Elegy Ahn did not ask for destiny to find her.

She is happy with her life as a soldier, defending her small country from the Talusar, a powerful nation who worships a deadly Fever. A fever that blesses half of its victims with mysterious gifts.

But then she’s summoned to hear a prophecy–her, and the most ruthless of Talusar generals, Rava Vidar. Brought face to face, they learn that one of them will lead their people to victory over the other…but they don’t know which. And at the center of both of their fates: a man. A man that, Elegy is told, she will fall in love with.

In just one day, Elegy’s old life–her job, her purpose, and her future–is over. She and Rava are destined to collide, with the fate of their nations hanging in the balance. And when they do, only one will be left standing.

Elegy intends to make sure it’s her.

Serena’s Review (10 Rating)

Before We Go Blog

The Geeky Waffle

Horror Tree (5 Stars)

Book: “The Tapestry of Fate” by Shannon Chakraborty

Book Description: Amina al-Sirafi thinks she’s struck gold. Tasked with hunting down arcane artifacts for the council of immortal peris, she can savor the occasional rollicking adventure on the high seas with her cherished criminal companions while still returning home to raise her beloved daughter, Marjana. But when Raksh, the spirit of discord with whom she is reluctantly wed, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina is charged with a seemingly impossible quest: steal a spindle capable of rewriting fate from a mysterious sorceress on an island no one can escape.

Forced to leave Marjana—who is increasingly frustrated at being peddled what are clearly lies about her mother’s life and her own past—Amina finds her mission almost immediately thrown into peril. But deadly storms, an erratic poison mistress, and old enemies are the least of her worries. For the peris’ story is unraveling, hinting at a far deadlier game whose rules Amina must swiftly puzzle out. A game that sets her against an adversary more cunning and powerful than she has ever faced.

A game that not everyone on her crew wants her to win.

Serena’s Review (9 Rating)

Winter Is Coming

Fantasy Book Critic

Utopia State of Mind

Book: “Molka” by Monika Kim

Book Description: molka (n): the Korean term for spy cameras secretly and illegally installed, often to capture voyeuristic images and videos

Dahye can’t believe her luck when she finds herself in a whirlwind romance with handsome, charismatic Hyukjoon, the heir to a multi-million dollar fortune.

But then a shocking revelation threatens: the couple has been caught on a spycam amid Korea’s growing molka epidemic, and the video is all over the internet. When Hyukjoon flees the country to avoid the intense public scrutiny, Dahye is left to grapple with the ramifications on her own; and the demons from her childhood, long dormant, begin to surface.

Amid the chaos, she catches the attention of Junyoung, a nerdy, introverted IT tech at work. Junyoung harbours a dark secret: he has been spying on the women at work with his own hidden cameras. As Dahye’s life begins to unravel, she unknowingly becomes the sole target of Junyoung’s perverse obsession.

When the facts surrounding the invasion of her privacy come to light, Dahye is faced with the humiliating truth. Her pain and hurt turn to rage as she faces her past. Her desire for vengeance is insatiable, and she will not rest until the men who have wronged her have paid in blood…

Kate’s Review (9 Rating)

Rotten Reads (5 Stars)

The Blog Without a Face

Becky’s Book Blog

Book: “The Caretaker” by Marcus Kliewer

Book Description: Follow the Rites…

Nothing less than the survival of humanity is at stake.

From Marcus Kliewer, a new “titan of the macabre and unsettling” (Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author), comes a supernatural horror about a young woman who accepts a caretaking job from Craigslist, only to discover the position has consequences far greater—and more dangerous—than she ever could have imagined.

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY:
Caretaker urgently needed. Three days of work. Competitive pay. Serious applicants ONLY.

Macy Mullins can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention—it had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all—vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she’s not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for.

Besides, it’s only three days’ work…

Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness.

What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property—and Macy Mullins might just be the only thing standing between it, and the rest of humanity.

Follow the Rites… Follow the Rites… Follow the Rites… ..— / ….. / —..

Kate’s Review (9 Rating)

Books, Bones, & Buffy (4.5 Stars)

Fantasy Book Nerd

Meg’s Book Rack (4.5 Stars)

Book: “The Curse of Hester Gardens” by Tamika Thompson

Book Description: We Need to Talk about Kevin as if written by Jason Reynolds and Tananarive Due meets Model Home by Rivers Solomon in an innovative twist on the haunted house about a mother desperate to protect her sons from the twin specters of gun violence and otherworldly menace in their public housing project.

Nona McKinley raised three boys in the Hester Gardens section of Medford, Michigan, an impoverished community divided by those who follow their faith in God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug dealer husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her other children escape their brother’s fate.

Her second son Marcus is on the right path. He’s a valedictorian heading to an Ivy League school. He can get out.

But then, strange things start happening to Nona and other mysterious footsteps are heard when she’s alone, people have phantom encounters in the streets, unattended appliances go off at all hours. Even more concerning is the state of Nona’s living sons. Her youngest, Lance, is hanging around with a bad crowd, and Marcus becomes moody and secretive. Sometimes he even seems to act like a different person entirely.

Nona has her secrets too. Her affair with the married church pastor has been weighing on her conscience, but that’s not the only guilt haunting her. She fears that someone—or something— is seeking revenge for an act she made in a moment of weakness to protect her family. And now everyone in Hester Gardens must pay the price…

Kate’s Review (Rating 10)

FanFiAddict

Stranger Sights (5 Stars)

California Reading

Serena’s Review: “Death’s Daughter”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Death’s Daughter” by S. A. Barnes

Publishing Info: Bramble, May 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Jocasta’s carved out a normal life at Beecher University—well, as normal as possible with a name like Jocasta and being the only child of Death.

She has good friends and a messy situationship with her former TA. But her friends, her crush, and her classmates don’t know the truth about who—what—she is. They would be horrified to discover Jo must feed to survive—and she feeds on them. But she refuses to take lives, feasting instead on their disappointments, failures, and rejections. It’s not a perfect system, but it works.

Until a sexy stranger—and descendant of Lust—shows up on campus because Death just named Jo as his successor, making her a powerful ally and a massive target.

Jo’s safe little bubble is about to burst, but she will do anything to protect the people she loves. Even if it means becoming what she hates…

Review: I’ve read and enjoyed a few of this author’s horror/sci-fi books, so I was excited to see that she was branching out into the fantasy genre! I’ll admit, I was a bit concerned about the whole “descendant of Lust” thing, though, as that sounded like just the sort of tack into cheese that romantasy too often takes.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t work nearly as well for me as the horror/sci-fi works have in the past. I will say that this author is still incredibly “readable.” The prose is approachable, and the pacing and plotting remain steady throughout the book. With her other works, the horror aspects pulled me through some of the more lackluster moments for characterization and plotting, but sadly here I didn’t have that same hook to pull me through. That said, readers who enjoy contemporary romance and, perhaps, urban fantasy may have a different experience here than I did.

Sadly, while the “popcorn film” nature of the writing did get me through the book, I really struggled with almost every aspect of it. For one thing, the world-building itself was incredibly lackluster. The reader is thrown into this world, given some brief nods to a Greek-mythology inspiration, and then left to just go with it. For her part, Jo is also very uninformed about this world, and while it can work to use a main character’s own ignorance as an entry point to the world, here it just felt a bit tedious. Jo must be a blank slate so that, through her, the reader can learn more. But that also leaves her… a blank slate.

I was also very underwhelmed with the main hook of the story, that Jo is Death’s daughter. Everything about this sounds like it should be interesting. But in reality, it’s all presented in such a humdrum manner that I found myself quickly losing interest in Jo’s abilities or urges.

I was also displeased to discover a love triangle at the heart of the story. There is a brief nod to this in the book description, but I guess I read that much more as a “previous love interest” that would be quickly set aside for the new one who is introduced. Instead, this felt very much of a certain time in urban fantasy writing, where every long-running series starts out with a love triangle (see Mercy Thompson) that slowly resolves over the first few books. It’s not a style I’d like to see come back, and the author’s attempts here felt very familiar, with the ultimate endgame of the situation reading fairly obvious to anyone familiar with urban fantasy tropes.

Overall, I was left fairly ambivalent about this read. At best, I can say that it was a quick read. But while I enjoyed that “popcorn” nature in her sci-fi/horror books, here it felt like the fantasy world and the characters all lacked the depth to truly make them stand out. And the romance was an incredibly tired return to a format that peaked ten years ago. Perhaps readers who are keen for a nostalgic urban fantasy read will enjoy this. But sadly, it wasn’t for me.

Rating 6: While it was a quick read, it wasn’t one that I particularly enjoyed. The world-building was lackluster, and the love triangle was familiar and tired.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Death’s Daughter” can be found on these Goodreads lists: All the New Romantasy Books Arriving in May 2026 and Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2026.

Kate’s Review: “A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery”

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Book: “A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery (Saffron Everleigh Mystery #5)” by Kate Khavari

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, June 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publicist

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Saffron Everleigh is newly engaged and full of optimism as she sets off on the adventure of a lifetime for any a research expedition. She sails to newly formed Turkey, with her fiancé, Alexander Ashton, and a bevy of fellow researchers under the watchful and reformed eye of Dr. Henry. With only two other women on board, Saffron soon finds she is right back in the same infuriatingly misogynistic environment that marked the earliest days of her career. Only this time, Saffron is determined to show everyone, including Alexander, that she can handle the trials of an expedition.

And trials she has in spades. Before the expedition team has even arrived, Saffron has managed to find an enemy in historian Joseph Clark, who frequently torments the assistant that Saffron has taken under her wing, Martin Neill. But when Martin unexpectedly dies, Saffron is targeted as the main suspect.

Falling ruins, venomous snakes, and mysteriously blocked passages are the least of Saffron’s worries. With unexpected help from a familiar face, Alexander and Saffron have to work fast to prove not only that Saffron is innocent, but that they both have nothing to do with a larger conspiracy at play among the expedition crew.

Review: Thank you to Kaye Publicity for sending me an ARC of this novel!

After doing a quick catch up on the Saffron Everleigh Mysteries thanks to my local library, it was finally time to pick up the most recent in the series! I was admittedly a bit underwhelmed by the previous book, as I felt like we were treading into a territory that has been WELL established in other mystery tropes (the enigmatic evil rival), but the good news is that Kate Khavari’s “A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery” has decided to go down a different path, at least for now, and it has served as a real palate cleanser!

I’m happy to report that after a lackluster entry last time, at least for me, we have returned to form with Saffron and her adventures as a botanist who also happens to solve crimes using her scientific knowledge and wits. This time Saffron is in Turkey on a expedition with her fiancé Alexander Ashton, and other colleagues, and finds herself not only in treacherous working conditions, but also the prime suspect when one of her colleagues dies of poisoning. The downsides of this book are that Elizabeth is no where to be seen since she wouldn’t be on an expedition, and Lee is also MIA (I really hope he does come back at some point), but the up sides are that Saffron gets to do more work with poison again, AND, amazingly, I actually found myself warming up to Alexander in this book as he hopes to help clear his fiancée’s name. Also having Saffron the prime suspect and being held in a foreign jail certainly ups the stakes, and the mystery itself has some great beats to it and built the suspense in a well done way.

I also loved that there was a complete shift in scenery in this book, as Saffron and Alexander are on an expedition to the newly formed/sovereign Turkey! We have seen Saffron do so much scientific work in London or England proper, but seeing her finally get to go on an expedition was such a breath of fresh air. Especially since we get some interesting historical information about Turkey during this time period as well as archaeology and archeological sites and excavation. My friend David does similar excavation work in Greece at agoras and seeing this kind of thing in this book was a lot of fun. It’s also a pretty candid tale about the way that women in the sciences were treated during this time, especially on an all male expedition, and Saffron has to deal with a lot of misogyny from the other men on the team and has to prove herself above and beyond because of it.

“A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery” is a fun historical mystery! I can’t wait to see where Saffron goes next!

Rating 8: A return to form with a new setting and some new poisons, “A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery” is a fun new entry in the Saffron Everleigh mysteries.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Best Historical Fiction Mysteries”.

Previously Reviewed:

Serena’s Review: “Hopeless Necromantic”

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Book: “Hopeless Necromantic” by Shiloh Briar

Publishing Info: Orbit, June 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Four years ago, Sikras ‘Catseye’ Nikabod had it all: a beautiful wife, friends and family, and the endless luxuries that came with being the all-powerful necromancer to the queen.

Now, his brother-in-law is a walking corpse, he’s wanted for tax evasion, his oldest friend, Vessik, has slaughtered thousands of the queen’s people with a skeleton army, and his wife is dead. Sort of.

With the kingdom under threat, it’s only natural for the queen to task Sikras with the totally normal, not-at-all-cruel chore of brutally murdering his dearest friend. Sure. Great. It’s not like he already failed to stop Vessik’s reign of terror twice or anything.

Turns out, it’s hard to kill a monster when you can’t stop remembering the good man he used to be. Harder still when you’re pretty sure his descent into madness is kind of, sort of, hypothetically … all your fault.

Raise a glass. Raise the dead. Just don’t raise your hopes.

Review:Honestly, I went into this one with a bit of worry. I’ve had bad luck with cozy fantasy and have realized that I’m pretty picky about the subgenre in general. And that cover, while cute, was going hard on the sort of “aggressively quirky” coziness that I particularly struggle with. Well, let this be another case for not judging a book by its cover! Because while this was a cozy fantasy at its heart, it was also much more than that, with smart writing, heartbreaking themes, and layered characters. It also didn’t hurt that this had strong D&D references and, similarly, strong Baldur’s Gate 3 similarities. For those who know, you can’t look at that cover and not see Astarion and Karlach, right??

One of my struggle points with cozy fantasy often comes down to pacing and plotting. I don’t love “day in the life” stories and need a bit more action to get me through. And this one had it in spades! It’s a simple enough plot, full of questing and action-packed battles, but the author perfectly breaks up these faster-paced bits with careful character work. From start to finish, the storyline was compelling, and I blitzed through the entire book without any lulls in interest.

While the action scenes and magical fighting were great, the story really lives and dies based on the strength of its two main characters, Sikras and Helspira. I was honestly surprised by just how heart-wrenching many of the themes explored in this story would be. The cover and general description led me to believe it would be mostly a rom-com-type affair. And it does have that, but oof, does it get into some heavy topics as well. Helspira’s is the smaller arc of the two, focused on her fight to create a new home for her family and herself, all while fighting against her own demonic tendencies. In many ways, hers is a story of immigration and the challenges and joys of coming to love your new homeland, even while others still see you as a foreigner.

But Sikras’s story is where the story really shone. Throughout the book, Sikras’s arc is focused on the complex nature of grief, loneliness, and love beyond the grave. Yes, it’s all tied up in the humorous trappings of a walking, talking skeleton, but it becomes clear quite early on that this comedic setup only masks the depths below. Sikras’s past is rife with grief and loss, and all of these connections presented grief in its different stages, from denial, to bargaining, to anger. And while one of them is the death of his wife years ago, I was impressed that this relationship was by no means the one given the most emphasis in the story. It’s clear that Sikras loved and grieved his wife, but we’ve also read that story a million times. Instead, the author wisely shifted the focus to different relationships: that between childhood friends and even between Sikras and his now-skeleton brother-in-law, the most unlikely of relationships I think we’d usually see in a book like this! Without overbalancing the story into an overall darker tone, these themes were explored so well that there may have been tears.

At the same time, I definitely laughed out loud a few times as well! I’m also pretty picky about humor, but this one definitely nailed it for me. Sikras was hilarious, and his interactions with Helspira, especially early in the book, were pitch-perfect.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read! It was a fun, fast story that hid within it a surprising well of deeper themes. If you’re looking for a cozy fantasy that doesn’t hold back on the plot, definitely give this one a go!

Rating 8: If D&D, Baldur’s Gate 3, and perhaps a grief counselor’s handbook (??) had a child, this fantasy rom-com would be where you end up! What a blast!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Hopeless Necromantic” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Cozier Fantasy Romance Palate Cleansers.

Kate’s Review: “Headlights”

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Book: “Headlights” by C.J. Leede

Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, June 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Every instinct tells him to run. Every memory tells him he can’t.

Special Agent Daniel Stansfield is ready for a change. Burnt out and defeated by the job, it’s his last day with the FBI. But before he can turn in his badge, he’s summoned back to Denver, the city he ran from four years ago, with a chilling message: it’s happening again.

Seemingly innocent people are waking up on the side of the highway, with no memory of how they got there, wearing the skin of victims they’ve allegedly never met. And they each share one haunting detail: a strand of a stranger’s hair is tied around their tongue.

Now Daniel is pulled back into the gruesome cycle, and every clue leads him deeper into the shadows of his own past. He will have to confront the ghosts of his traumatic childhood and face what’s been hunting him all along— before he and the people he loves become the next victims.

Perfect for fans of The Shining and Longlegs, bestselling author CJ Leede’s Headlights is a pulse-pounding hunt across the frozen wilderness of Colorado.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this novel!

I so greatly enjoyed C.J. Leede’s previous horror novel “American Rapture” that it was basically a no brainer to pick up whatever she came up with next, and that is how “Headlights” ended up on my radar. I was so thoroughly blown away by what Leede did with a plague/end of world tale that I had high hopes for what could and would be done with a serial killer horror tale that no doubt had some kind of supernatural twist. I went in expecting one thing but ended up with something a little bit different. And that wasn’t a bad thing.

The horror elements of this book harken to some classic horror fare like “The Shining” while also pulling in some hard boiled detective vibes a la “True Detective”. Our protagonist Daniel is an exhausted and burnt out FBI agent who has been haunted by a gruesome set of killings where seemingly random people murder and skin someone, then wear their victim’s skin and wake up with no memory of the act as well as with hair wrapped around their tongue. It’s haunting because there has always been a weird connection Daniel has, but he’s never been able to solve it. Once it starts happening again just as he’s about to re-enlist in the military, it all spirals out of control and Daniel is having visions, being drawn to one of the women left behind, and watching his life fall apart as he tries to solve it. It’s a story that has a bit of a slow start, but once gears shift for Daniel and he finds himself on the run across Colorado and looking for answers it keeps the interest and pace up. The horror parts are gory and nasty and Leede doesn’t feel a need to hold back, and the mythos at the heart of it felt pretty creative and original (I’m being vague for a reason, I want to keep any spoilers to a minimum).

This is also another pretty solid entry into trauma and grief as horror, with Daniel being a character who is easy to root for in part because of all of the loss he has dealt with his entire life. Whether it’s his mother’s death at the hands of his father, or the loss of his loving and doting foster parents, or the way that his marriage to wife Josie has fallen apart, Daniel’s losses are great and he keeps being run through a ringer. It’s also an interesting examination of not just Daniel but also Hannah, the woman he is drawn to even though she may be a piece in the serial killing puzzle, and their connection and grief and traumatic pasts make for an interesting dichotomy as the story goes on.

And what I found most charming and just had to comment on here is what a lovely love letter this book is to Colorado. I’m someone who has very vague ties to Colorado, as the connection is my husband who spent some time there as a teenager and found it incredibly formative. I’ve traveled to Colorado with him and seen the joy that the state brings him, and have found similar joy being in Leadville, and Estes Park, and Denver. There truly is something magical about the state, and the way that Leede highlights so many aspects of it, whether a trip to the Stanley Hotel or descriptions of the winter settings or Blucifer the horse or the lore referencing “The Shining”. It feels like Colorado is a character in and of itself and has a grounding part to play. As someone with fond memories walking around the Stanley grounds and looking out our window to see mountains, or smoking weed around a bonfire in Leadville and talking about a mish mash of topics, these moments really spoke to me.

“Headlights” is a creative and disturbing horror tale that kept me guessing. If you are a horror fan and find yourself on the way to Colorado soon, it could be a fun read to accompany the trip.

Rating 7: The pacing was a little slow at times, but not only is it a unique serial killer horror mystery, it’s also a love letter to Colorado that made me smile throughout the story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Headlights” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2026”.

Book Club Review: “The Wizard of Earthsea”

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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again pulling random words from a hat and finding a book that matches the prompts. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “A Wizard of Earthsea” by Urula K. Le Guin

Publishing Info: Parnassus Press, November 1968

Where Did We Get This Book: from the library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Prompt Word: Ocean

Book Description: Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.

Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance.

Kate’s Thoughts

I’ve had a copy of “A Wizard of Earthsea” in my collection since I was a teenager, but I never actually read it until it was time for this book club. I’ve mentioned it many times but I’ve come to realize over the years that swords and sorcery fantasy as a genre/sub-genre doesn’t really appeal to me outside of Tolkien’s works and a few other exceptions (hellooooo “The Neverending Story”!). But given that I know that Ursula K. Le Guin is a formative and important voice in fantasy fiction, I went in with an open mind.

There were definitely aspects I liked of this book! I really enjoyed that Ged’s story is kind of a selection of significant vignettes during his training as a wizard, ranging from his first time encountering magic to his schooling to actually being out in the world and applying it. I enjoyed a few of the stories more than others (I always love a dragon!), but overall I thought it was kind of a nice slice of life story while also building up a cohesive world.

But at the end of the day, I’m still not really into sword and sorcery fantasy and “A Wizard of Earthsea” didn’t really break outside those constraints like other fantasy stories. I absolutely see why this is one of the books that had a huge influence on the fantasy genre as we see it now, especially for kids and teens, and my hat goes off to Le Guin for creating a story on her own terms that has endured for so long. It’s still just not really my thing.

I’m glad that I finally read my old copy of “A Wizard of Earthsea”. Book club continues to help me go outside my usual reading bounds, and I’m happy I did so this time, even if it wasn’t a favorite read.

Serena’s Thoughts

My parents read this to my sister and me when we were little, but we must have been super little, because I only had the vaguest memories of something to do with a shadow monster and lots of sailing. And, as far as it goes, that all checks out here! But I was glad to have an excuse to return to this book, as it’s a cornerstone text in YA fantasy fiction, and now I have a much better reading experience to pull from when thinking about it and its influence on modern fantasy fiction.

I really enjoyed this read! As did my kids, who listened to the audiobook to and from school this last month (I highly recommend the audiobook, as an aside). It was easy to see both its influences (Tolkien) and the ways in which it influenced titles that followed it (magical schools, a hero’s journey where the villain is a version of yourself, etc.). And for being an older title, it remains completely approachable for fantasy readers today.

It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what it is, but there’s a certain fantasy style that one associates with Tolkien and other older fantasy fiction, and Le Guin perfectly captures that here. It’s something like a combination of lyrical language, epic, sweeping worlds, and an almost fairytale-like approach to storytelling where the larger narrative is broken up into smaller, shorter adventures along the way.

I also really enjoyed the magic system and thought this was another area where we see this book’s influence carry on. While the concept of “true names” is a staple in fairytales (think “Rumpelstiltskin” and the like), here Le Guin takes that concept and builds a much more elaborate magic system. It was both beautiful and intimidating all at once, making it clear why wizards would be as revered as they are after the years of study it would take to even scratch the surface of this magic.

Overall, I thought this was a lovely fantasy novel, and it’s easy to see why it continues to show up on lists of best fantasy books many years after its original publication.

Kate’s Rating 6 : I understand why this is a formative fantasy book and really liked having a new fantasy text to add to my knowledge, but it’s still within a genre that I don’t tend to connect with as much.

Serena’s Rating 8: A beautiful fantasy novel that will appeal to almost every age of reader, from children, to teens, to adult fantasy lovers!

Book Club Questions

  1. What influences on modern fantasy do you see in this book?
  2. Why do you think names, the power of a true name, and naming conventions were so important in this book?
  3. What did you think of Le Guin’s choices when it comes to race and identity in this book?
  4. What were your thoughts on the way women were portrayed in this book?
  5. What did you think of the ending of this book and how the climax wrapped up? Do you think a battle would have been more effective? Why or why not?
  6. Do you think you will keep reading the Earthsea books?

Reader’s Advisory

“A Wizard of Earthsea” is included on the Goodreads lists: Visionary & Metaphysical Fiction and Time Magazine Best YA Books of All Time 2021

Next Book Club Pick: “Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales” by Melanie Gillman