Kate’s Review: “Peril in Pink”

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Book: “Peril in Pink” by Sydney Leigh

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, March 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I was sent an eARC by the author via NetGalley.

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

Book Description: Everything is coming up rosé for innkeeper Jess Byrne until a murder on opening weekend gives her B&B’s killer vibe a whole new meaning. Schitt’s Creek meets Only Murders in the Building in this sparkling debut mystery.

It’s the grand opening of The Pearl B&B in Hudson Valley, and owner Jess Byrne has prepared the ultimate, Insta-worthy welcome, complete with her ex-boyfriend—reality singing sensation Lars Armstrong—performing live. As guests check in and mimosas are poured, Lars arrives with his stepdad-turned-manager Bob in tow. But things go south when Bob is found dead, and Lars is the prime suspect.

After a desperate plea from Lars, and knowing the reputation of her B&B is at stake, Jess agrees to help clear Lars’ name, but the more she digs, the less sure she is that he’s innocent. Especially when he’s found at the scene of another murder.

With the guests under lockdown, the B&B in the press for all the wrong reasons, and a killer on the loose, Jess is in over her head. With the help of her best friend and business partner Kat, Jess is determined to uncover the truth before Lars is put behind bars and The Pearl is permanently cancelled.

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

It may seem kind of funny that the blogger whose focus tends to trend towards horror, thriller, and the darker things in literature, is the one who has some consistent cozy mystery reviews going through her posts. It seems kind of funny to me, even! But I realize that I do like to cast a wide net in my genres, and if a book works for me, it works, even if it’s not as expected. So when Sydney Leigh reached out with her novel that was being compared to both “Schitt’s Creek” and “Only Murders in the Building” (both comfy and cozy shows I really enjoy) I felt like I had to read it! Thus I was sent a copy of “Peril in Pink”, a book about a cute bed and breakfast, an eccentric small town, a charming set of heroines, and a scandalous murder at the opening of their new business venture.

The mystery itself is fairly straightforward with familiar beats for a whodunnit. Jess Byrne and business partner/best friend Kat have opened up The Pearl, a bed and breakfast in their small town of Hudson Valley. When Jess manages to book her ex boyfriend Lars to perform, whose star is on the rise due to being on a popular musical reality show, she hopes it will serve as a fantastic opening weekend, but when Lars’s manager/stepfather George is found dead on the property, it sets off a murder investigation where her new business is a crime scene and her ex boyfriend is the main suspect. Leigh has a huge cast of characters, many of whom are suspects, and knows how to throw in clues and red herrings and multiple twists to create a mystery that kept me guessing. I always love an amateur sleuth who can be a BIT in over their head, and Jess and Kat fit that trope to a T. I also loved the descriptions of The Pearl and their business model, as hey, a cozy mystery needs a hook and this one has a really bubbly one in this adorable Bed and Breakfast.

But it’s the characters that really sell this story for me, as any cast of players in a cozy mystery should. I really enjoyed Jess as our main character, with her hopes and ambitions being lifted up in the story and her investment in this first murder making her easy to root for and become invested in as readers. I really loved her relationship with business partner and best friend Kat, who is a fun sarcastic foil to her earnest nature as they team up to try and save their business as well as Jess’s ex boyfriend from a murder charge. Leigh is very much paying tribute to true crime bestie dynamics here, even referencing “My Favorite Murder” as inspiration for Jess and Kat in their amateur detective ways (as a kind of dormant Murderino myself it made me nostalgic for the show and I may pick it back up!). But even the supporting characters have a certain charm about them, whether it’s Jess’s pragmatic brother Nate and his zen-minded yoga instructor wife Sarah, or Jess’s hippy aunt, or some of Jess and Kat’s high school rivals, and may more. One of the things that I do like about cozy mysteries is that if you have a sparkling cast of familiar characters, it makes for an all the more engaging story.

All in all, I found “Peril in Pink” to be charming and fizzy, an entertaining mystery that sets the stage for the potential for more bed and breakfast adventures with two fun heroines. I hope we see more of Jess and Kat and whatever crime befalls Hudson Valley!

Rating 8: A fun and cheeky cozy mystery with some Murderino flair, “Peril in Pink” is an entertaining series debut that I intend to follow forward for more charming capers.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Peril in Pink” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of yet, but it would fit in on the list “Hotels, Motels, Inns, B’nBs and Guesthouses”.

Diving Into Sub-Genres: Vampire Fantasy

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We each have our own preferred genres of choice. Kate loves horrors and thrillers, really anything that will keep her up at night! And Serena enjoys escaping through hidden doors into realms of magic and adventure. We also read mysteries, historical fiction, graphic novels, etc. etc. And that’s not even counting the multitude of sub-genres contained within each greater genre. In this series, one of us will present a list of our favorites from within a given sub-genre of one of our greater preferred genres.

The canny reader might do a double-take when seeing this post. “Wait, didn’t these guys already do a ‘Sub-Genres’ post focused on vampires?” Well, tricky tricky, yes and no! Kate featured Vampire Horror as one of her picks a few years ago, but vampires are such a popular supernatural being that they make their way across all sorts of genres, including tons of fantasy, so here we are!

When attempting to differentiate between horror and fantasy vampires, I think its important to consider the overall tone and objective of the story. Is it meant to inspire fear as its primary goal, create and build tension and dread? Or are the vampires more incidental to story more focused on its fantasy or romance elements? What themes is the book exploring and how well do they align with the themes generally found in fantasy vs. horror? Beyond this, how exactly are the vampires themselves presented and what roles are they playing in the story?

While the horrific side of vampires is obvious, the fantasy side often takes on a few different dimensions. Yes, they are “fantasy creatures” like werewolves or ghosts, both of which show up in horror, the latter all the time! But sometimes these creatures stray outside the realm of serving as points of fear, horror, dread, and overt warning to society about various ills or tendencies. Instead, they become the heroes themselves, or, in the case of vampires, more often than not, love interests! It’s pretty easy to see why this latter is the case. The act of drinking another’s blood is clearly intimate, wrapping two beings up in one another about as closely as one can be. And, obviously, it’s one, albeit big and rather horrific, step away from kissing.

But vampires also pop up as the leading characters themselves, often exploring themes regarding isolation, estrangement, and the act of violence for survival. There is also an entire subgenre of paranormal fantasy fiction and urban fantasy that always seems to include societies made up of various supernatural communities all co-existing, and vampires (and often werewolves as their natural enemies) are almost always an included group. They have tons of lore and are an easy group of characters to slot into a story who can serve as both menaces as well as powerful allies.

Recently, we’ve seen a resurgence of vampires popping up in all sorts of fantasy stories. Romantasy, of course, is an easy place to spot this, but vampires have also been showing up more and more in adult and YA fantasies. A few examples include a “Tempest of Tea,” “A Multitude of Dreams,” and “Masters of Death.” Obviously, there are tons of books out there, and I’d argue that “Interview with a Vampire” and the other books in that series which Kate included in her list could also be included here. But I tried to cover a variety of examples in this list of how vampires have been used in fantasy fiction.

Book: “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer

Let’s just get this one out of the way, as it’s probably one of the first books to come to most people’s minds when they think of vampires in fantasy stories. And it also likely holds the strange position of being both one of the most massively popular vampire stories out there and the reason that we’re only now, around fifteen years later, finally seeing vampires show up again in YA fiction. It was beloved, and then it became such a joke that I think YA publisher were immediately binning any pitches that even hinted at vampires. But it still deserves its spot on this for the massive popularity at the time! Meyer definitely brought her own version of vampires to the world, and if it’s one that is largely laughed out now, there’s no denying the success of this series. We also see in this series both vampires as a romantic interest as well as Bella’s own experiences as a vampire herself. Would I recommend this series nowadays to readers looking for vampire stories? No. But, again, you can’t honestly create a list like this and not include this book, so there ya go!

Book: “Certain Dark Things” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of those authors who perfectly straddles the line between fantasy and horror, with many of her books teetering right on the edge where they could fall easily into either category. But “Certain Dark Things,” while definitely creepy at times, very much also reads like an urban fantasy at its finest. One of the main characters, Atl, is a vampire who is on-the-run from a rival vampire gang, and over the course of the book she befriends a street kid named Domingo. This book has some of the more creative and interesting versions (yes, plural!) of vampires that I can ever remember reading! And Moreno-Garcia does an excellent job of weaving this lore throughout the story while also exploring the history of Mexico and telling a fast-paced, dangerous story of an unlikely friendship. It’s definitely one to check out if you’re looking for a fresh take on vampires.

Book: “A Discovery of Witches” by Deborah Harness

While I personally didn’t love this story (I struggled with a few of the early aspects of the romance), it’s a massively popular series and a nice example of a fantasy story that includes a world peopled by a variety of supernatural beings. The main character is a descendent from a long line of witches (shocker, I know, given the title!) and during her research at Oxford, she strays across an ancient manuscript that opens up an whole can of worms with many different groups all fighting for access, including a mysterious vampire. This trilogy is several years old at this point, but I think it’s probably due for a resurgence of interest given the popularity of “dark academia” currently, a sub-genre that this would definitely fall in as well.

Book: “Bride” by Ali Hazelwood

This is a very recent addition to the subgenre, but I think it’s important to include for one very unique reason: it’s a romance, but the woman is the vampire instead of the male love interest! There are four books on this list that include prominent romances, and in three out of the four, it’s the man who is the vampire. And even there, I think this 75% mark is probably low for the average of male vs. female as vampires in romance. So yes, “Bride” stands out in that it is told from the POV of Misery, a vampire, who finds herself in an arranged marriage with the leader of her people’s mortal enemies, the werewolves. This is another staple of urban fantasies in general, the vampires vs. werewolves mythology. This book follows that typical script fairly closely, but the romance at its heart is clearly the priority of the book, and it was fun reading a story like this from the perspective of a female vampire, rather than the other way around.

Book: “The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova

I would say that the primary genre for this one would be historical fiction, with either “horror” or “fantasy” coming second, as the vampires are very much in the background of much of the book. Instead, most of the story follows characters as they travel across Europe trying to piece together the mystery of Vlad the Impaler (the real-world ruler who is said to be the inspiration for Dracula). I absolutely love this book. It’s one that I read years and years ago now, but that always comes to mind when people are looking for recommendations. It’s the kind of story that I feel like almost any kind of reader will enjoy in some way!

Book: “The Serpent and the Wings of Night” by Carissa Broadbent

Most of the books on this list exist in our real world (with some obvious magical additions!), but this book serves as a great example of a secondary world vampire story! The society that makes up this world is comprised of two different sects of vampires with the relatively powerless human species caught between them. It’s a romantasy story, however, that follows one such human woman’s attempts to gain some power in a world set against her. And, of course, the vampire she falls in love with along the way! This one really took me by surprise with how much I enjoyed it! It’s a great example of a romantasy book that doesn’t skimp on the world-building and fantasy elements of the story, while still have a great love story at its heart.

What are some of your favorite historical thrillers? Let us know in the comments!

Blog Tour and Book Excerpt: “Six Moons Seven Gods”

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Occasionally we are approached with the opportunity to promote books that may be of interest to our readers. And occasionally in lieu of a full review of the book, we will let it speak for itself by posting an excerpt from it. Enjoy!

Book: “Six Moons Seven Gods” by Robert A. Walker

Publishing Info: Fairytale Publishing, October 2023

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

Book Description: “One must be careful practicing deception. The easiest to deceive will always be one’s self.” The skilled thieves of the Takers Guild plot to overthrow the kingdoms of Baelon, but when their plans are thwarted by a prescient woman and her brooding daughter, they must turn to the League of Assassins for assistance. Meanwhile, retired royal guard Rolft Aerns returns to the palace of King Axil with an old score to settle. When they all cross paths–and swords–in the dark shadows of Fostead’s south end, nothing is as it seems and the murder count rises quickly. The long fingers of the Guild reach everywhere, and one overly ambitious thief is all it takes to spark a chain of events that will haunt the world of Baelon for many years to come.

Excerpt:

Sibil sat on a bed in a servant’s quarters, her head spinning. Had it not been for previous visits to the palace with Princess Lewen, she would not have known where she was. The steward had escorted her briskly to the room some time ago, leaving her to entertain herself. There seemed no end to the mystery surrounding her mother. Supposed premonitions of death had been unnerving enough, but now… an audience with the king? At his request! It was surreal, and Sibil’s wildest conjectures did not begin to explain it. Her attempt to seize control of her own life seemed waylaid once again. She was imagining herself a bit of flotsam from a shipwreck, at the mercy of the ocean’s currents, when the steward returned, shutting the door angrily behind himself.

“Where is my mother?” she asked as he approached.

“With the king.”

Without warning, the steward sat so close to her their thighs touched.

“I should like to see her.” Sibil started to rise.

“In due time.”

The steward caught her arm and pulled her back to the bed.

“What are you doing?”

“If your mother were more forthcoming, you would not be so inconvenienced.”

“How do you mean?” Sibil’s eyes darted toward the door.

“The woman’s hiding something. Perhaps you’d like to tell me what that is.”

“My mother has nothing to hide from the king!”

“I could be convinced of that, I suppose.” The steward loosened his hold and placed a palm against Sibil’s cheek.

“There are many ways for you to prove your loyalty to the throne.” His hand brushed her breast as he withdrew it. “Are you prepared to do so?”

Before Sibil could respond, he leaned in, his lips seeking hers. Sibil pushed him away, struggling to stand. “How dare you!”

“Need I remind you where you are?”

The steward rose, positioning himself between her and the door.

“Or who you’re talking to?”

“I mean no disrespect, m’lord, but if you—“

“Take off your blouse.”

“What?!”“Like mother, like daughter. Take off your blouse and let us see what you are hiding there.”

“I’ll do no such thing,” said Sibil breathlessly. “And if you lay another hand on me—“

The steward grasped her sleeve. Sibil twisted violently away, her blouse ripping at the shoulder seam. The steward grinned.

“You see? One way or the other!” He started to laugh, sobering quickly at the sight of the dagger Sibil produced. “Put that away before you hurt yourself.”

“Take me to my mother!” Sibil waved the dagger at him.

“Did I not warn you about making demands?”

The steward lashed out, recoiling as Sibil’s blade pricked his arm. He swore loudly as he inspected the spot of crimson staining his white blouse.

“You’ll not soon forget what I’m going to do to you.”

“Touch me and I’ll kill you!” Sibil lurched past the steward and onto the bed, clambering quickly over it, but he intercepted her before she could reach the door. He kicked a stool separating them toward her. Sibil grabbed it and flung it back at him. The stool sailed past the steward’s head and crashed against the door.

“Make all the noise you want,” the steward said. “No one cares!”

Kate’s Review: “Thirst”

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Book: “Thirst” by Marina Yuszczuk and Heather Cleary (Translation)

Publishing Info: Dutton, March 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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

Book Description: Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. A breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin America’s feminist Gothic.

It is the twilight of Europe’s bloody bacchanals, of murder and feasting without end. In the nineteenth century, a vampire arrives from Europe to the coast of Buenos Aires and, for the second time in her life, watches as villages transform into a cosmopolitan city, one that will soon be ravaged by yellow fever. She must adapt, intermingle with humans, and be discreet.

In present-day Buenos Aires, a woman finds herself at an impasse as she grapples with her mother’s terminal illness and her own relationship with motherhood. When she first encounters the vampire in a cemetery, something ignites within the two women—and they cross a threshold from which there’s no turning back.

With echoes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and written in the vein of feminist Gothic writers like Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, and Carmen Maria Machado, Thirst plays with the boundaries of genre while exploring the limits of female agency, the consuming power of desire, and the fragile vitality of even the most immortal of creatures.

Review: Thank you to Dutton for sending me this eARC via NetGalley!

As many people know, I love vampire horror, but along with that loves comes a pretty picky set of standards. I would love to frame it as ‘passionate’ but I’m sure part of it is being a bit of an elitist/a bit bratty when it comes to vampiric tales. But I couldn’t help but have my attention snagged when access to an eARC of Marina Yuszczuk’s “Thirst” arrived in my inbox. The cover is already eye catching, for one. For another, a horror novel about a female vampire that has a historical element, as well as Sapphic themes, just sounds INCREDIBLY tantalizing. I kept thinking about “The Hunger” and the characters of Darla and Drusilla from “Buffy”. I was hopeful going in.

Honestly just give me an entire prequel book series about these two with Spike and Angellus all being very sexually fluid together. (source)

The first half of this book was amazing. I loved the way that we follow our nameless Vampire from her transformation, to her liberation from her sire, to her need to escape once people in Europe start hunting her and her kind down, to her arrival and time in Buenos Aires. It is such a compelling arc and background for her, examining how she became a vampire and how she slowly accepts it and turns into a predator with a shade of seductive longing. The time and place is so well formed and presented, and the eeriness and horror moments are very well done. I LOVE predatory vampires in vampire fiction, and ones that have a little bit of dangerous eroticism is always a great harkening back to the way vampire lore has always had shades of longing and desire within it. And the explorations of feminine longing and feminine power and agency in this section is so interesting as we see her prey on her victims while also feeling a need for connection as she moves through her existence as times change. I also really enjoyed the setting of Buenos Aires during the Yellow Fever plague and how mass death and illness could make for both a good place to fade into the background, but also a dangerous place as hysteria ramps up and her cover could be blown. I found Part One to be so, so interesting and enthralling.

Which made it even more disappointing when Part Two was a bit lackluster. In this part we have Alma, a modern day woman living in Buenos Aires who is grappling with a divorce, her sensitive son Santiago, and now the impending death of her mother. She soon finds out that the family has had a key to a mausoleum passed down for generations, and now she has to figure out if she’s going to sell the mausoleum or what. I’m sure you can guess who is living in that tomb, which is ABSOLUTELY a great set up. But my problem with Alma’s story was that, while it’s a pretty standard examination of an unhappy woman at a crossroads, I didn’t feel like it tied in SUPER well with the Vampire’s story, as when it goes come together there isn’t much exploration of it before the book was done. I appreciated trying to draw a dichotomy between the feminine struggles that the vampire faced, even as a vampire but also before, as well as the struggles that Alma was experiencing as a woman in the modern times. But there wasn’t enough time with the Vampire and Alma actually connecting and interacting, and because of this certain choices made and plot points that shook out didn’t really work for me because not enough time was spent building up to them. I think that had there been a third part from both Alma’s and the Vampire’s perspectives to see a full picture, as well as more interaction and relationship building, would have really fixed this. But as it was it just felt a bit abrupt.

Overall, “Thirst” is fantastic in the first half and ultimately evens out to a still entertaining read, even if I wanted more from it. I will absolutely be checking out more from Marina Yuszczuk in the future if we get more translations of ehr works.

Rating 7: A fabulous first half followed by a not as fleshed out second half made for a meet in the middle read. But I REALLY loved the historical moments and the concept itself.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Thirst” is included on the Goodreads lists “Girly Pop But Make It Insane”, and “Weird Woman Book Club”.

Serena’s Review: “Sunbringer”

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Book: “Sunbringer” by Hannah Kaner

Publishing Info: HarperVoyager, February 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

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

Book Description: Return to the world of Godkiller in this thrilling sequel to the #1 internationally bestselling fantasy debut, where Kissen and her companions must navigate lands of gods and demons to unravel a dark truth at the heart of their world.

Professional godkiller Kissen and her companions—young noble Inara and knight Elogast—return in a winding adventure in a world overflowing with magic, beauty, and danger.

Previously Reviewed: “Godkiller”

Review: This was definitely one of my most highly anticipated reads for the spring 2024 season. “Godkiller” was one of those great books where I went in with very little knowledge or expectation when I started it and then was blown away by just how much I loved it! It also ended not on a cliffhanger, per se, but on a fairly big action sequences with our characters stumbling to find new ways forward after their initial goals and their plans that were, sometimes quite literally, blown out of the water. So how does this one stand up? Let’s dive in!

I’ll say right from the start that I don’t think this book was quite the high that was “Godkiller.” However, I think that would have been a very high bar to reach, and the goals that needed to be met in this story to lead to the ultimate conclusion in the third book (didn’t know there was going to be a third book until very recently!) also necessitated some of these stumbling blocks. There are a lot of moving pieces, most especially the characters themselves who have to quite literally move from one place to another over a large chunk of space. And, of course, there were some important character beats that had to be hit properly to continue them all along their series-long arcs.

As far as the characters go, Inara largely takes center stage in this book (a bit to my disappointment, as Kissen remains by favorite of the three by far). Her story is very interesting in that she’s a child character, and the book doesn’t shy away from presenting her this way. She can be stubborn, irrational, and sometimes thoughtless about the repercussions of her choices. But she’s also endearing and a girl on the verge of womanhood who finds herself in a disrupted world with very few people on whom she can rely. I also appreciated the fact that the book acknowledged the more tenuous relationship between Inara and Elo. Kissen was the glue that held this group together, and without her, we quickly see these two’s bonds begin to stretch when presented with their differing goals.

Elo’s story was fairly straight-forward, and of the three, felt a bit wayward. He has a clear plot line, but even though action is happening on the page, I felt like the reader was left spinning their wheels during much of his page time. Through him, we also spent a lot of time getting to know various other side characters who, frankly, I just didn’t care about. Worse, the book didn’t really give me reason to care about them; their stories were very must restricted to the minor events of this book, only to, by the end, feel fairly meaningless with regards to the greater story of the trilogy as a whole.

Kissen, of course, was wonderful. She’s simply a more charismatic lead character than Elo or Inara, someone who is fun to read about, pure and simple. Again, however, much of her story felt a bit aimless, especially in the first half. It’s not until the last thirty percent of the book that it becomes clear where her storyline is even going. Once it does, I liked the challenges that Kissen faced when having to re-evaluate her worldview and her role in the future conflict.

As you may have pieced together from these three character explanations, my biggest disappointment for this book was the simple fact that our main three characters spend practically no time together. I’m not sure if Kissen even exchanges any words with Elo?? It’s fairly extreme as far as character separations go, especially for a sequel of a book that had such a strong team dynamic at the center of its story.

That said, while many of my quibbles came down to what felt like “second book syndrome,” I still ended the book on an extremely high note. The story took a few switches that I truly didn’t expect, and the grand scale conflict ahead seems turbulent and morally complicated, the best kind! We had a few important reveals, and I enjoyed the important challenges that our three main characters faced with regards to their views of this world and what the future would look like. They all started in one place, but by the end, each has been significantly challenged to broaden their understanding of what is going on and who they are.

Overall, I think this was a solid sequel. I was disappointed by the lack of time the characters spent together, but I also see the important character beats that they all hit through these more separate adventures. There’s also a great conflict set up at the end that promises a very dynamic and exciting conclusion to the trilogy. Fans of the first book will likely enjoy this one, and I think it’s well worth it just to see where it all goes from here!

Rating 8: A bit of a stumble from the near-perfection of the first book, but still a solid sequel that promises great things to come!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Sunbringer” is on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2024

Kate’s Review: “Murder Road”

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

Book: “Murder Road” by Simone St. James

Publishing Info: Berkley, March 2024

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

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

Book Description: A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases .

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

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

I’ve been reading and reviewing thrillers from Simone St. James since this blog was founded eight years ago, and my track record with her has been pretty stellar. I really enjoyed “The Sundown Motel”, “The Book of Cold Cases”, and “The Broken Girls”, and when I saw that she had a new book called “Murder Road” coming out I KNEW that I had to read it. The description was tantalizing, as a married couple stumbling upon murders and urban legends on a stretch of lonely road is SO up my alley, and my expectations were pretty high given my enjoyment of her past stories. So imagine my shock when “Murder Road”, after being so promising, was a bit of a disappointment.

But first the good stuff. Character wise, “Murder Road” had some standouts. The first and most obvious is our protagonist April, who is on the way to her honeymoon with new husband Eddie when they run into trouble in a small Michigan town when a injured hitchhiker they try to help ends up dying, and the local police set their eyes on them as suspects. April and Eddie soon learn that many people have died on that same stretch of road, and take it upon themselves to clear their names and solve the mystery of The Lost Girl, an urban legend of a ghostly hitchhiker who may have malevolent intent. April is telling this story through a first person perspective, and we know from the jump that she is trying to start over and leave a dark and mysterious past behind her. I liked slowly getting to know her and seeing her try to solve this, if only so she and Eddie can try and go back to the anonymity she needs to survive and let go. There were also some people in the town that I greatly enjoyed, whether it’s the no nonsense Rose, who takes April and Eddie in and has a combative and complicated history with the police that are hounding her boarders, or the Snell sisters, two teenage amateur sleuths that are plucky and weird Nancy Drew wannabes.

But I think that what hindered it for me, ultimately, was that the supernatural aspects and the suspense never really took off. I love the premise of a cursed stretch of road that has numerous strange deaths associated with it, and I really love the urban legend of a vengeful ghost picking off hitchhikers that are unlucky enough to spot her. But I feel like we didn’t REALLY get a good expanded deep dive into what was going on with this ghost for a LONG time, and by the time we did it started to feel kind of rushed, with lots of twists and reveals stuffed in and very few of which made me go ‘ah, yes, I can see how we got from point A to point B with these reveals’. I’m being vague because I don’t want to spoil it, but I definitely felt like I needed more explanation as to what was going on, and I needed there to be more build up to the solution to the mystery because when we got there it fell flat. Even incongruous at times. And as I said, it felt rushed at the end, but at the same time there was a good chunk of the story where I felt like it was spinning its wheels a bit. And while St. James is usually really good about holding cards to her vest, one of the big surprises was telegraphed SUPER early, and took the wind out of those sails almost immediately.

I was sad that this newest Simone St. James novel didn’t connect for me. “Murder Road” had a strong main character and some fun supporting ones, but the thrills and chills fell flat.

Rating 5: This was a surprising miss from an author I usually really enjoy.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Murder Road” is included in the Goodreads article “Reader’s Most Anticipated Mysteries & Thrillers 2024”.

Highlights: March 2024

While it feels a bit rich to say we ever really had a “winter” here, spring definitely feels like it’s in the air with a few sunny, warmer days. Of course, you never can know with these things and we can be wallowing back in the teens or in the middle of a blizzard at any moment…at least books are always constant! Here are a few we’re looking forward to this month!

Serena’s Picks

Book: “A Feather So Black” by Lyra Selene

Publication: March 12, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I’m so excited about this one! My sister and I both really loved “The Swan Princess” movie when we were little, and when I realized that this was re-telling of that tale, I immediately placed a request. Plus, this is one of the lesser re-told fairytales, where popular stories like “Cinderella” and “Beauty and the Beast” have seen a million re-imaginings. I’m a bit nervous about the hints of a love triangle, but then again, I’ve found exceptions to even this preference in the past! I’m also a bit wary that it’s being marketed as the first in a series, as I feel like the original fairytale is pretty compact. But who knows, this could be a “more of a good thing” situation!

Book: “The Encanto’s Daughter” by Melissa de la Cruz

Publication Date: March 5, 2024

Why I’m Interested: Well, this one might be a bit of a surprise, as the last book I read by this author was…not a favorite. And I’ll be honest, if I hadn’t been confusing her with another author, I may have had second thoughts with this one. But, on the other hand, there have been authors I’ve initially written off in the past who have come out with books that I absolutely loved (“Bonesmith” comes to mind!). Plus, this one just sounded fun with lost royal heirs, boarding school drama, and the promise of a story pulling from Phillipino mythology. Fingers-crossed that this little experiment turns out well!

Book: “The Last Bloodcarver” by Vanessa Le

Publication Date: March 19, 2024

Why I’m Interested: This is another fantasy title that is pulling from a rich mythology of which I know very little currently, this time Vietnam. The story follows a young woman with the power to manipulate the bodies and life forces of others. However, her kind are feared and hunted and she has been forced to live her life in the shadows. Until, one day, she is discovered and drawn into a complicated murder mystery that she must solve. Beyond that super intriguing book description, the cover on this one is also fantastic! Can’t wait to see what’s in store here!

Kate’s Picks

Book: “The Angel of Indian Lake” by Stephen Graham Jones

Publication Date: March 26, 2024

Why I’m Interested: The saga of Final Girl Jade Daniels is coming to an end, and that both excites and saddens me. I love Stephen Graham Jones as we all know, and “The Angel of Indian Lake” is sure to be an emotional read, even if it is decked out in slasher movie tropes and references. Jade is back in Proofrock, having a new job as a teacher at the school and trying to keep her head down. But, unsurprisingly, she finds herself once again in a slasher movie-esque situation, and as citizens start to die, she has to come through to save the day. Again. And perhaps for the last time. I’ve been loving this series and this one has been highly, highly anticipated for a long time.

Book: “Forgotten Sisters” by Cynthia Pelayo

Publication Date: March 19, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I really enjoy Cynthia Pelayo’s unique voice in the horror genre, and seeing her speak at ALAAC23 got me very excited for this dark fantasy novel that takes inspiration from “The Little Mermaid” and the darker histories of Chicago. Sisters Anna and Jennie are living together in the family home on the banks of the Chicago River, enmeshed in a codependent relationship and possibly living in a haunted house as Anna grasps for the outside world through creating a podcast about Chicago. Meanwhile two detectives are on the case of multiple men drowning in the river under strange circumstances, their investigation about to lead them to the sister’s door. Pelayo is always a treat and this one sounds strange and dreamy along with the creepy.

Book: “Thirst” by Marina Yuszczuk

Publication Date: March 5, 2024

Why I’m Interested: Vampire stories are always going to be a high priority for me, and when “Thirst” by Marina Yuszczuk ended up in my inbox I was very interested to say the least. An unnamed woman vampire, after living for centuries, lands in 19th century Buenos Aires in a hope of finding a new place to lay low, just in time to see the city fall victim to Yellow Fever. In modern day Buenos Aires, a recently divorced woman inherits a mysterious crypt that has passed down through her family as he mother lays dying. Two paths converge. I love Sapphic stories, and this one sounds a bit like “The Hunger”, which absolutely excites me.

What books are you most looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!

Serena’s Review: “A Flame in the North”

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Book: “A Flame in the North” by Lilith Saintcrow

Publishing Info: Orbit, February 2024

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

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

Book Description: An elemental witch and her shieldmaiden journey into a world of ancient myth and unexpected destiny in this sweeping Norse-inspired epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Lilith Saintcrow.

The Black Land is spent myth. Centuries have passed since the Great Enemy was slain. Yet old fears linger, and on the longest night of the year, every village still lights a ritual fire to banish the dark.

That is Solveig’s duty. Favored by the gods with powerful magic, Sol calls forth flame to keep her home safe. But when her brother accidentally kills a northern lord’s son, she is sent away as weregild—part hostage, part guest—for a year and a day.

The further north Sol travels, the clearer it becomes the Black Land is no myth. The forests teem with foul beasts. Her travel companions are not what they seem, and their plans for her and her magic are shrouded in secrecy.

With only her loyal shieldmaid and her own wits to reply upon, Sol must master power beyond her imagination to wrest control of her fate. For the Black Land’s army stirs, ready to cover the world in darkness—unless Sol can find the courage to stop it.

They thought the old ways were dead. But now, the Enemy awakens…

Review: This is the second Norse-inspired fantasy I’ve read this month! It’s funny how these trends come and go; even as I go through what I though was a fairly randomly-ordered TBR list, I often find myself reading books with strong similarities to one another. I’ve read a decent amount of fantasy fiction that draws from Norse mythology, and have typically enjoyed them quite a bit, so this was an obvious pick for me. On top of that, I love the idea of taking a typical fantasy duo (the hero and his shield) and switching it to a female heroine/witch and her shieldmaiden. I still enjoy the former as well, of course, but it’s nice to see such variety popping up throughout SFF.

This book is a bit tough to review, simply because some of my struggles with the book came down more to my needing to properly categorize the type of book I was reading. Starting out, it was clear that this book was aiming for a specific sort of high fantasy, the kind that uses dense language, both in the vocabulary chosen and in the longer sentences structures used, and also is playing a long game as far as pacing and plotting go. The story takes its time laying out its world, its characters, and even getting to what seems to be the true action of the story.

As I continued to read, at some point it occurred to me to compare this read to “Lord of the Rings,” and frankly, that kind of saved the experience for me. Both books have a similar dense sort of feeling, the kind that can be overwhelming to begin with, and the sort that then pays off later. Similarly, there were a few world-building aspects that were simply dropped in with very little explanation. For example, at one point they refer to the “All Mother” which, of course, seems like a similar character as Odin the “All Father.” Changes like this are, of course, fine, but then I was left a bit unsure as to where I was supposed to be placing this world. Are we in some sort of alternate world where there is an All Mother instead of an All Father? Or is this our world with magic and this is just changed? Things like this aren’t necessarily a big deal or bad, but it does add to the initial challenge with the point of entry to the story. The reader really has to work for it get dive in.

But this slow pacing did pick up towards the end, and this is where the LOTR comparisons worked even better. If read as the rather slow-paced entry to a grand spectacle, a sprawling series, the dense nature of this book is easier to digest. I also really liked Solveig and her shieldmaiden as characters. The author did a fantastic job with these two, balancing their fierceness with the sort of sly reserve that they would need to employ in the world in which they are living.

This is the kind of book that I would definitely recommend for a specific sort of fantasy reader, those who like epic fantasy and are willing to put in the time with denser language and a slow plot. Readers who want to be immediately drawn in to an action-packed story will likely struggle this one. But, like I’ve said earlier, if you like “Lord of the Rings” and can remember some of the slower parts, especially in “Fellowship,” this book does seem to promise an intriguing series overall!

Rating 7: Tough to get into but well worth it in the end, I think.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Flame in the North” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists currently, but it should be on Vikings and Viking-Inspired Fantasy.

Serena’s Review: “Where the Dark Stands Still”

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Book: “Where the Dark Stands Still” by A. B. Poranek

Publishing Info: McElderry Books, February 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher

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

Book Description: Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters. After Liska unleashes her own powers with devastating consequences, she is caught by the demon warden of the wood – the Leszy – who offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish.

Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon discovers the sinister roots of their bargain. And if she wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts of his past.

Those who enter the wood do not always return…

Review: Have I mentioned recently my love of dark woods/dark fairytale fantasy books? No? Well, I love them. And this cover is definitely pointing towards that sort of story. Then you look at the book description, and yep, my kind of book! I also enjoy stories where the heroine/hero has a limited amount of time to uncover some sort of mystery or unravel a curse, so this book quickly racked up points of interest for me. And I’m pleased to say that it followed through on almost all of them!

Right away I knew this story was going to work for me (unless something went terrible wrong, like some sort of character assassination midway through the book). The style of writing immediately drew me in, seamlessly merging fast-paced action and lyrical, descriptive passages that set the tone for the world and story itself. Everything felt equally beautiful and dreadful, leaving the reader on tenterhooks, wanting to know more, but feeling Liska’s own sense of increasing wariness and fear as she realizes how little she knows about the myths of her own world. Alongside the writing, the world-building felt complete and immersive. The enchanted castle, woods, and guardian all felt familiar, but the author also put her own twists and turns on everything that it all felt fresh and new.

I also really enjoyed Liska as a central character. Her motivations are clear, and her perseverance and bravery in the face of her ever-changing circumstances made her incredibly sympathetic. Her circumstances and history slowly unfurled as the story continued, hinting at dark secrets in her own past. She also had great chemistry not only with the Lezky but also with a few side characters that showed up a bit further into this book. This latter point, especially, was a bit of a surprise. I wasn’t expecting additional characters so late into the story and am often a bit concerned with this choice, as late characters often have an uphill battle as far as getting good character work in with the limited page count remaining. Luckily, here, we see how it can be done well, with these characters adding important new dimensions to the world and to Liska’s own character arc.

As for the Lezky, I really enjoyed this character. Most especially, I enjoyed the slow-burn nature of his relationship with Liska and the reveals regarding his own complicated history. Their character moments covered all of the bases, from wariness to humor to, eventually, love and caring. I will say, however, that I think this book would have been better served as an adult fantasy novel. Not because there is any explicit, story-wise. More because the Lezkey is a centuries-old being, but because the book is YA, the narrative was struggling to present him as a “boy” for much of the book, which simply rubbed wrong against the character’s own situation and history. I feel like this book is the exact example I’d point to when I talk about the unfortunate habit publishers seem to have where they dub anything that is at all romantic, at all fairytale-like as YA, as if adults are not equally interested in these sorts of stories.

I also feel like the overall tone and execution of the book perhaps might sit better with an adult audience. Not that YA readers can’t appreciate bittersweet and darker tales, but I do worry that this book might not quite find its footing because of this mismatch between reader expectations and reality based on it being marketed as YA. For me, even though this book took a sharper turn into the bittersweet than I typically look for, the overall story and writing as a whole were so strong that I couldn’t help but come away loving it. If you enjoy fairytale fantasy stories and slow-burn romances, definitely give this one a shot! Right now, I feel like it’s flying under the radar, and I really

Rating 8: Whenever you wander into a deep, dark forest, you never know how you might be changed. Reading this book is much the same; you’ll find yourself enchanted, bewitched, and ultimately caught in a spell from which you won’t want to free yourself.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Where the Dark Stands Still” can be found on these Goodreads lists: The Most Beautiful Covers of 2024 and Fantasy Standalone.

Kate’s Review: “Blood Sisters”

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

Book: “Blood Sisters” by Vanessa Lillie

Publishing Info: Berkley, September 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: A visceral and compelling mystery about a Cherokee archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is summoned to rural Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of two women…one of them her sister.

There are secrets in the land.

As an archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd Walker spends her days in Rhode Island trying to protect the land’s indigenous past, even as she’s escaping her own.

While Syd is dedicated to her job, she’s haunted by a night of violence she barely escaped in her Oklahoma hometown fifteen years ago. Though she swore she’d never go back, the past comes calling.

When a skull is found near the crime scene of her youth, just as her sister, Emma Lou, vanishes, Syd knows she must return home. She refuses to let her sister’s disappearance, or the remains, go ignored—as so often happens in cases of missing Native women.

But not everyone is glad to have Syd home, and she can feel the crosshairs on her back. Still, the deeper Syd digs, the more she uncovers about a string of missing indigenous women cases going back decades. To save her sister, she must expose a darkness in the town that no one wants to face—not even Syd.

The truth will be unearthed.

Review: During the holiday season, I took a Saturday where I spent the whole day doing shopping for my loved ones, and while I was wandering around Target trying to find gifts that would stand out as winners, I saw the book “Blood Sisters” by Vanessa Lillie. While I was supposed to be finding gifts for others, I bought it for myself, which I acknowledge is ironic but what are you gonna do? It took me a bit to get to it (as that tends to go with books I own), but I did eventually get to it at the start of the month, not sure what to expect. This was definitely one of those roll of the dice reads, but it was a gamble that mostly paid off!

I really loved the mystery of this book. It was part procedural, part social commentary, part family drama, part self discovery, and Lillie mixed it all together and balanced all of the elements pretty handily. There is a fairly straight forward hook for our investigator Syd Walker, a BIA archaeologist who has left her hometown in Oklahoma for the East Coast, but is called back when a skull is found in her hometown and she is recruited to go investigate. But when she does return home, a place where she herself was almost murdered along with her sister Emma Lou, she not only has to face the trauma she left behind, but also the fact that Emma Lou is now missing. This would already be enough to go with, but Lillie adds in the past violence, in which Syd has blamed herself for her friend Luna’s death, who was also at the sleepover in which Syd and Emma Lou were nearly killed, as well as the very true and bleak truths about small town poverty, systemic oppression of Indigenous people and how that is seen in communities, missing and murdered Native women, meth, and the beginnings of legalized drug abuse in the form of pill mills and the opioid epidemic, as Oxy is being prescribed quite a bit in Picher (as this takes place in 2008). It’s a lot, but Lillie strings it all together and connects the dots pretty well, setting up motives, red herrings, suspects, and an undercurrent of violence while people are trying to survive. There were lots of surprises that caught me off guard, and it really kept my interest.

I also liked how complicated Syd’s background was due to the aforementioned trauma, as well as other factors of growing up in Picher and the difficulties that came from that. Syd is a serious and driven investigator, who is more than happy to call out the bullshit of people, but is also hindered by her own single mindedness in some ways. She is also plagued by her own insecurities, and it comes through in her relationship with her wife Mal, who is newly pregnant right as Syd has to go back home. I tend to have a hit or miss reading experience with female protagonists who have a tortured background that has continued to affect them and affects their storyline in a book I’m reading, especially thrillers, but I thought that Syd was compelling and earned her complexity and the bad decisions that come out because of it.

There is a bit of a flip side with the character of Syd, however. While I liked her background, and I liked how complex she was due to her trauma and disconnection with her family and identity, I found the first person voice to be pretty simplistic. At times it read more like a YA protagonist with how she would always be explaining exposition or spelling out implications that could have stood on their own for the reader. This doesn’t necessarily apply to the details that were about Indigenous culture and history, as there are many, many people in this world who are completely unfamiliar with those themes (as someone who used to do interpretation of the history of the Dakota in Minnesota at Fort Snelling, I can assure you MANY people don’t know or don’t care to know this stuff), so spelling it out in simpler or blunt terms is warranted. But other things, like Syd’s anxieties about parenthood, or frustrations with Emma Lou and her assumptions about that, or even just thoughts about what is going on mystery wise, didn’t read like a seasoned BIA archaeologist/investigator, but like a total greenhorn. It made for more telling rather than showing, and I much prefer the latter, especially in mysteries.

“Blood Sisters” was a solid thriller mystery. If Vanessa Lillie were to continue the adventures of Syd Walker, I would definitely keep going. At the very least I will pick up Lillie’s next novel to be sure.

Rating 7: A really well done mystery and an interesting perspective and main character is hampered a bit by a narration that does a lot of telling and not as much showing.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Blood Sisters” is included on the Goodreads list “52 Book Club 2024: #46 Featuring Indigenous Culture”.