Tag: 6 Rating

Kate’s Review: “A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge”

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Book: “A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge (Saffron Everleigh Mystery #4)” by Kate Khavari

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, June 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: Saffron Everleigh returns to Ellington Manor after her grandfather suffers a heart attack. Back in her childhood home for the first time in years, Saffron faces tense family relationships made worse by the presence of the enigmatic Bill Wyatt, hired on as a doctor to the ailing Lord Easting. But the man is no doctor—in reality, he is a mysterious figure involved in the trafficking of dangerous government secrets, and his presence at Ellington can only mean trouble.

When their neighbors, the Hales, invite a spiritual medium into the village who starts angling for Saffron’s mother’s attention, Saffron realizes that there is more afoot in her hometown than she originally thought. Not to mention inviting Alexander to Ellington has put their budding relationship under her family’s microscope.

As tensions rise at Ellington, Bill demands that Saffron hand over old research documents belonging to her late father. With her relatives under his power as their ‘doctor,’ Saffron fears she may be forced to surrender the files along with her hopes of ever understanding her father’s obscure legacy. Nothing and no one is as they seem at Ellington. It’s through the perfumed haze of the séance’s smoke that Saffron must search for the truth before it’s too late.

Review: It is once again time to return to post WWI England and into the world of crime and botany! As I mentioned last time I reviewed this series, I am going to read and review the most recent Saffron Everleigh mystery by Kate Khavari when it comes out next month, but I needed to play catch up! So now I’m taking on “A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge”, in which our plant minded heroine Saffron Everleigh has to return to her family estate due to her grandfather having a heart attack, and finds that a dangerous nemesis has seamlessly placed himself there as well. And it may be true that a lot of mystery readers like a nemesis, but this time around it didn’t really work for me.

But first the positives! This biggest part of this book that worked for me was the plot about spiritualism, which had a huge resurgence after World War I due to the fact that so many soldiers died in a horrific way. Khavari has mentioned the losses that our characters, be they Saffron or her friend Elizabeth, have had to endure, with Saffron’s own father being killed in the trenches as well as her childhood sweetheart Wesley, who also happened to be Elizabeth’s brother. When Saffron, Alexander, and Elizabeth return to Ellington they find out that Elizabeth’s parents, the Hales, have hired a medium to have a seance to try and communicate with Wesley to make sure he is at peace. While none of our main characters believe in it and know the woman is a fraud, this was not uncommon during this time to see grifters who took advantage of people’s grief for monetary purposes. I really enjoyed how Khavari brought this in and made it one of the big mysteries, as they KNOW she is lying, but she sure seems to be on the level.

I also always enjoy the relationships between Saffron and her loved ones. The first and most pertinent in this book for me is her friendship with Elizabeth, who is dealing with the fallout from her suitor in the last book being a lying murderous criminal. She is deeply hurt by these revelations and isn’t doing so hot, and I enjoyed how Khavari doesn’t make this an easy experience for her and how it is causing strain between her and Saffron, who is trying to be a good friend but has her own problems. Eliza is still my favorite character in these books (with Lee being a close second, and he DOES show up here for a bit!), and it was kind of refreshing having her be more than the free spirited snarky friend. As for Alexander, I’m still not his biggest fan, but now that we are done with the will they or won’t they and he is just being a supportive boyfriend (who has to impress her incredibly judgmental family, specifically her grandparents the Lord and Lady Easting) who has his own knowledge and skills to add to the plot. I also liked the setting of the aristocratic manor of Saffron’s family, as it felt a little bit “Downton Abbey” as she deals with her snooty grandmother and her ailing grandfather, as well as the secrets that her mother Violet seems to be hiding.

But there was the other aspect of this book that had a huge theme and plot point, and that is the nefarious character of Bill, who showed up in the previous book as an antagonist and has managed to weasel his way into Saffron’s circle by masquereding as a doctor for the Lord Easting. He was introduced a bit out of the blue in the previous book, and in this book we find out he wants research from that Saffron’s father left behind. He is set up as an ultimate nemesis for Saffron, and the idea of wanting research secrets is interesting enough, but I felt like his presence made for the least amount of botany themes that we’ve seen in this series. I also didn’t enjoy their battles of the wits as much as I had hoped I would, because we’ve seen the Sherlock and Moriarty nemesis trope so many times and unless you really reclaim it, it just kind of comes off as hackneyed these days. Having the two mysteries at hand and one of them being so focused on Bill just threw the pacing off and made it feel like it dragged on and on.

“A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge” had its ups and downs, and I hope we get a bit more back into direct botanical research and themes for the next book.

Rating 6: I enjoyed the spiritualism storyline and Saffron’s relationships are still enjoyable, but wasn’t as into this new ‘prolonged nemesis’ angle that we got with Bill as it really bogged the rest of the story down.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge” is included on the Goodreads list “‘Revenge’ in the Title”.

Previously Reviewed:

Kate’s Review: “What We Did To Survive”

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

Book: “What We Did to Survive” by Megan Lally

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, March 2026

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

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

Book Description: A vacation in paradise turns deadly when four teens’ sailing charter hits stormy seas in this propulsive new thriller from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Megan Lally!

Hannah is having an incredible spring break. A week at a resort in Mexico with her best friend Emmy and her family is perfect for de-stressing from senior year, even if it’s awkward being around Emmy’s older brother, Jackson, who she’s had a crush on for as long as she can remember.

Still, the beach is gorgeous. So is the guy they meet in the surf. Except Hannah is now the third wheel in Emmy’s vacation romance.

Eager to impress Emmy, her wealthy new boyfriend charters a private sailboat to make the most of their last day in paradise, and Hannah and Jackson are invited along. As the clouds roll in and the skies darken, their boat is the only one leaving the marina. And the further they get into open water, the more unsettled Hannah becomes. A storm is brewing onboard that’s as deadly as the one racing toward them. Forget surviving graduation. Who will make it back to land alive?

Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an ARC of this novel!

Even though Spring Break has come and gone (and I opted to spend it someplace not so tropical, but the lake called), I feel like I always enjoy survival thrillers where a tropical vacation goes wrong any time of the year. When I received “What We Did to Survive” by Megan Lally in the mail I knew that it was going to be a fun vacation based survival thriller, as tourists in trouble is always a fun sub-genre within a sub-genre. I jumped into it expecting a ride.

And it was a fun ride in a lot of ways. The basic premise is a familiar one for survival thriller tales: a group of people set out into a wilderness situation unprepared and things go south quickly. In this case it’s teenagers Hannah, her best friend Emmy, Emmy’s brother Jackson (who is also Hannah’s crush), and Emmy’s vacation/situationship based hook up Ben, who are all on vacation at a resort in Puerta Vallarta and want to do more for the last day. Ben charters a boat outside the resort’s purview, and they sail into a storm, with danger and death ensuing. It’s a familiar set up but it’s one that is always entertaining, as they have to fight the elements, secrets, and perhaps even each other to survive. I definitely had a hard time putting it down because Lally keeps it going apace, not wasting any moments and making bad situations worse until it’s clear that not everyone is going to make it out of this. The tension builds well and it reads nice and fast because of it.

But on the other hand, the characters in this were all pretty two dimensional. I did like Hannah a fair amount, probably because we got the most in her head, and I liked her and Jackson, but ultimately Jackson didn’t really bring much outside of a protective love interest for her (though she doesn’t think that it would ever be more than a crush on her part, natch) and a protective big brother to Emmy. Emmy and Ben, however, are both pretty insufferable in their own ways, whether Emmy is the shallow best friend who will drop all sense for a boy, or Ben is an over the top villain built of wealth, privilege, and cowardice. I recognize that sometimes YA novels have a bit more direct characters and want to spend time telling rather than showing, but I think that it’s a disservice to their target demo to assume that such OBVIOUS villains and antagonists are needed as opposed to something more complicated. But then again, seeing how all these rich and privileged people are behaving these days maybe Ben isn’t too far off and I’m just being naive. Nevertheless, it made it less suspenseful than it could have been because I wasn’t as invested in their fates as I could have been.

So fun popcorn reading that would be good for a vacation read, but it doesn’t reinvent the wheel outside of a simple survival thriller story. But sometimes that’s exactly what is needed.

Rating 6: A fun survival thriller that was an entertaining read, though some of the characters were a little flat.

Reader’s Advisory:

“What We Did to Survive” is included on the Goodreads list “YA Suspense/Thriller/Mystery”.

Kate’s Review: “Two Truths and a Lie”

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Book: “Two Truths and a Lie” by Mark Stevens

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, April 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: Lambasted for a tragedy caught live on camera, then lauded for her help capturing the elusive PDQ, a serial killer, Flynn Martin’s career has reached new heights. But now, the TV journalist and mother has much further to fall. And someone wants to push her over the edge.

PDQ is behind bars, for life and then some, but someone on the outside has picked up the killer’s mantle. Flynn is neck-deep in an investigation when the copycat emerges, targeting her sources and delivering cryptic messages. It’s clear that Flynn’s stories are getting deadlier. This one proves no exception.

A family of four has gone missing, leaving behind ties to New Hope Church more tangled than they appear. The dangerous web rivals the threat in Flynn’s personal life. And it’s up to her to unravel each knot.

Scandal. Conspiracy. Murder. Flynn hardly knows where to begin—and if her stalker has their way, she might not live to see the end.

Review: Thank you to Roger Charlie for sending me an ARC of this novel!

My kid had Spring Break last week and instead of going someplace warmer, we actually opted for colder and went up the North Shore of Minnesota to stay at a resort on Lake Superior. Usually this is a Fall trip for us, but we couldn’t make it happen this past Fall and decided to do it now even if that meant it was going to be in the 30s. But cold weather or not, I LOVE reading by the Lake, and the choice of literature this time around was “Two Truths and a Lie” by Mark Stevens, a mystery with a scrappy reporter, a copy cat serial killer, a missing family, and mysterious and threatening letters. It sounded like it would be up my alley whilst listening to the lake hit the shore.

The premise of this is what sold me, as I do love a detective story that has an unconventional detective at its heart. Flynn fits that mold pretty well, as she is a TV journalist for a local news station and does investigating through the lens of journalism. It’s a very Lois Lane-esque vibe, and I found Flynn to be a fun character to follow and enjoyed her point of view. I enjoyed her character dynamics with the supporting cast, whether it’s her coworker Tamica or her son Wyatt or her ex husband Max (it was nice to see an actually pretty healthy relationship between these two characters). And I also enjoyed the idea of a copycat serial killer and Flynn having to reach out to the killer that is being copied, especially since apparently her catching that killer was the premise of book one (more on that in a bit). It just has a lot of things that did work for me.

All that said, I will say that I probably made a bit of a mistake not reading the first book in the series before picking this one up, as I was missing context for a fair chunk of the references that were being made to Flynn’s previous case, the fallout of it, and her relationships and how they were shaped due to it. That is one hundred percent on me, as I had hoped that it would be similar to other mystery series where you can kind of do that (I think about the Temperance Brennan books and how for awhile I was just hopping around and reading random ones). So my critiques in that regard are absolutely more a reflection on me and not the book. But I will say that it did feel at times like this book could have been tightened up. It clocks in at more than 450 pages, and that’s a lot of pages to sustain a tense and gripping mystery and keep the tension up.

Ultimately it was a mixed bag that probably was mostly on me. But if you like a not as often seen take on detective stories with a fun heroine, perhaps take a chance on Flynn Martin!

Rating 6: A likable protagonist with a unique take on a detective story has lots of potential, though there is a bit of a pacing issue.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Two Truths and a Lie” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists as of yet, but it would fit in on “Female Detective Series”.

Kate’s Review: “Crafting for Sinners”

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Book: “Crafting for Sinners” by Jenny Kiefer

Publication Info: Quirk Books, October 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

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

Book Description: A queer woman must fight her way out of a big-box craft store run by a diabolical religious cult in this gripping survival horror novel by Jenny Kiefer, author of This Wretched Valley

Ruth is trapped. She’s stuck in her small, religious hometown of Kill Devil, Kentucky, stuck in the closet, and stuck living paycheck to paycheck. After her manager finds out that she lives with her girlfriend, Ruth is fired from her job as a cashier at New Creations—a craft store owned by the church that dominates life in the town. 

In an act of revenge, Ruth attempts to shoplift some yarn but is caught red-handed by a New Creations cashier. Instead of calling the police, the employees lock her in the store—and attack her. When Ruth is forced to stab out one of their eyes with a knitting needle, she realizes she’s facing far bigger trouble than a simple shoplifting charge. As Ruth fights for her life, she plunges deeper into the tangled web of the New Creationists, who are hiding a terrible secret that threatens not only her, but the entire town.

This relentless horror novel will have you on the edge of your seat as it hurtles towards a breathtaking conclusion. Will Ruth escape? Or will the shocking secret at the heart of the cult die with her?

Review: One of my dearest friends David is an archaeologist and archaeology professor in California. Every summer he goes to Greece to work on excavations, and has also participated in excavations in Egypt in the past. He is also a gay man who is very out and proud about who he is. And with these two things in mind it is probably no shock that he has a HUGE (understandable and justified) chip on his shoulder about Hobby Lobby, a craft store that is not only deeply zealous in its Christian religiosity/anti-LGBTQIA+ stances, but whose president has also stolen MANY ancient artifacts from the Middle East because he feels that he is entitled to them because RELIGION! In fact, all of my crafting friends (and I have numerous!) despise Hobby Lobby because of these nasty facts, and I steer incredibly clear when I find myself in need of crafting supplies. Which is not so often, but I have an artsy kid and I used to do cosplay! I can sort of craft!

The last time I did a craft night with friends my creation was…. barely passable. (source)

With all of this in mind I snatched up a copy of “Crafting for Sinners” by Jenny Kiefer while on a mutual aid donation at a local book store, because the idea of a Hobby Lobby-esque crafting empire melded with a far right and cult-y church doing cult religious horror things was REALLY enticing. The satire alone was rich with opportunity! So you can probably guess that I was kind of disappointed when it didn’t hit the way I had hoped it would.

First, the things that I liked. The Hobby Lobby commentary is stellar. The way that the New Creationist Church runs the small town of Kill Devil is creepy and believable, with the only two out lesbians in town, Ruth, and Abigail, constantly under surveillance and constantly being pushed to become ‘saved’ to the point of targeted harassment. While the idea of a big box religious crafting empire trying to do cult rituals and blood sacrifice is certainly over the top, the bare bones ideas of a religious group/community harassing and harming those who are outside their ideas of acceptable and hiding their bigotry behind Godliness isn’t at all farfetched (hey, we have zealous military leaders saying that we are in a Holy War right now, after all, God I hate this timeline so much). We get snippets about the New Creationist beliefs through Ruth’s perspective, but also through hints of articles and transcripts throughout the narrative, with references to mysterious disappearances of queer people, stories of religious artifacts that have disappeared from the Middle East over the years, and through the way that Ruth is starting to be hunted down for sacrifice whilst in the walls of her old employer, sending her on a survival mission in the walls of a crafting store and the depths that it hides. All of this worked very well for me.

But there were some stumbles. I do think that the pacing was a bit off, as this book felt REALLY long, longer than it should have felt for a cultist horror tale. Ruth spends a lot of time hiding and ducking her tormentors, but it felt fairly repetitive and a bit like a slog. The suspense would wane, then build, then lose steam again, and it felt a bit like it could have been tightened up to keep the tension taut and consistent. On top of that, I didn’t really feel like I got to know Ruth or Abigail very well as the story went on. I liked them enough, and I was definitely rooting for them to escape the bigoted small town, before AND after the whole doomsday Christian cultist angle came through, but I never felt like I wanted more depth and exploration of their characters and their relationship so I could be more invested. I was rooting for them more on principle than I was for them as characters, and I would have loved to be able to rooting for them because of both of those things.

So “Crafting for Sinners” was a bit of a mixed bag. Great premise, middle of the road execution. I will definitely recommend it to my crafting friends though, as I know they will enjoy the quirks that come with it.

Rating 6: Loved the commentary and the bare bones of the cult/religious horror elements, but I wish that Ruth and Abigail were more interesting as characters.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Crafting for Sinners” is included on the Goodreads lists “Sapphic Horror”, and “Queer Books Set in Kentucky”.

Serena’s Review: “A Secret in the Garden”

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Book: “A Secret in the Garden” by Jeneane O’Riley

Publishing Info: Bloom Books, February 2026

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

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

Book Description: Some secrets were never meant to be unearthed.

Perched on a windswept cliff, Blackwood Manor looms like a dark monument to a mysterious family. Behind its grand iron gates, one part of the estate has been left to rot since the tragic death of Hester Blackwood: the once-glorious conservatory, now choked by vines and shattered glass. The rest of the family is gone—only her brooding son, Jasper, remains, the heir to a weapons empire.

Desperate to save her job and out of options, botanist Eliza Arnold makes a bold gamble—drive to the manor and beg the elusive millionaire for a donation. Jasper agrees…on one chilling condition: restore the conservatory. Alone. No help. No leaving.

But the manor is not empty.

As Eliza battles thorns and secrets, a magnetic tension builds between her and Jasper—dark, dangerous, and impossible to ignore. And something else stirs among the roots and ruins…whispers in the walls, confusing disturbances, and a presence watching her every move.

The deeper Eliza digs, the more she uncovers a garden of grief, longing…and desire. Because in Blackwood Manor, even buried things can bloom again.

Review: I’ve had a lot of luck with gothic fantasy novels recently, so I guess I was due for one to not hit for me eventually. And, perhaps not surprisingly, it was the contemporary one that did it. To be fair, there are plenty of contemporary romances that I do really enjoy; this one just didn’t hold up.

Much of this book didn’t work for me, so I’m struggling a bit with the positives. I’ll say that the overall concept was appealing. Gothic fantasy/romances often have a similar premise: some call to action brings in the protagonist to a mysterious manor/castle/what-have-you where they discover much is not as it seems, including, often, the truth regarding some sort of brooding caretaker. So this one set up in a similar way, and the book took no time in getting our main character on location. The story moves quickly, so I was well into it before really settling into why it wasn’t working.

I think my problems with this book come down to two factors: structure of the plot and characterization. To start with the plot, quite quickly the book settles into a pattern of every day: Eliza gardens and Jasper broods. For all that we’re meant to believe there is a great mystery brewing here, the story itself does very little to move this plot forward. Honestly, it all became very tiresome, very quickly. Gothic novels are usually a bit on the slower pace, devoting a lot of time to the development of atmosphere and tension before the inevitable payoff, often late in the story. But here, nothing that was going on contributed to this atmosphere. Instead, it all felt tedious, and I was left frustrated that Eliza was so passive with regards to the mysteries surrounding her circumstances.

And this leads into my primary issue with the book: the characters and the romance itself. First, Eliza. Like I said, she’s an incredibly passive character, and even if you try to make the case that this is part of her emotional arc, I don’t think it makes her a particularly compelling or sympathetic character to follow. While the story sets up a deeper backstory for her, one that includes past traumas that would reflect her behaviors today, I don’t think enough was done to really address these things. Eliza’s thoughts and choices, particularly with regards to the romantic interest, remained deeply unhealthy throughout.

And look, I’m not a dark romance fan for a reason. I get that it works for others, but it very much doesn’t for me. And I think this book strayed a bit too far in this direction for my particular taste. See, there is a very important distinction to be found between fantasy romance and contemporary romance, for me. In a fantasy world, life is often violent, dangerous, and cruel. In this way, the characters that people these worlds have very different views of life and the ways in which death plays a role in their everyday life. In a romantasy, for example, if a romantic lead is slightly murderous, this is often completely reasonable, even necessary, for survival in this world; an attractive trait, to boot, for the heroine in these books. But here, we have a contemporary setting, a romantic interest who seems quite murderous at times, and a passive heroine who seems not only not warned off by these toxic traits, but actively turned on by it all. And combined with her other traumas, I was left feeling like Eliza needed therapy more than a boyfriend. And if she did find love, Jasper is the last person she should be turning to.

Beyond this, the romance itself was very insta-lust-y. Jasper has been a recluse, but for some reason, he’s immediately into Eliza. And like I said, Eliza’s interest in him is portrayed as quite unhealthy, the speed of which it occurs only solidifying this point.

Now, much of what I described above is probably quite tame as far as contemporary dark romance goes, so it’s all quite subjective. If you enjoy this style of romance, all of these complaints may actually be points in its favor.

That said, I also think the writing itself was quite juvenile at times, too often spiraling into repetitive thoughts spinning through our heroine’s head again and again. At best, I felt distanced from the story itself, and at worst, downright bored. Even for dark romance readers, I have to imagine there are better options out there.

Rating 6: Unfortunately, even the gothic setting couldn’t save this one for me. The characters were unlikable in different ways, and the romance relied too heavily on insta-lust.

Kate’s Review: “Death and Dinuguan”

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Book: “Death and Dinuguan” by Mia P. Manansala

Publishing Info: Berkley, November 2025

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

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

Book Description: Love is in the air for the citizens of Shady Palms, but Cupid’s arrow isn’t the only thing striking the town—not with another killer on the loose.

Things are looking up for the Brew-ha Cafe, and Lila Macapagal can’t think of anything that could break the spell, especially with Valentine’s Day coming up—she can’t wait to celebrate with her boyfriend, Jae Park. Adding to the lovey-dovey atmosphere is Hana Lee, Shady Palms’s newest resident. She’s also Jae’s beloved cousin and chocolatier at Choco Noir, the latest addition to the town’s culinary offerings. Everything is coming into place for Hana, who left her old life in Minnesota behind to work at Choco Noir, owned by her best friend.

Unfortunately, beneath the sweet surface of Shady Palms runs a bitter undercurrent, as a series of attacks against women-owned businesses in the area escalates from petty theft to assault and murder when Hana is found knocked unconscious inside Choco Noir, and the chocolate shop owner is put out of business—for good.

With Hana left in a coma, a murderer hiding amongst them, and the safety of the women entrepreneurs of Shady Palms at risk, the Park brothers team up with the Brew-ha crew to put a stop to the villain before they strike again.

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

Valentine’s Day is this weekend! I’ll be honest, we aren’t doing much to celebrate the day (we don’t usually make a big deal of it), I’m just going to make a nice dinner for me and my husband and we will probably watch a movie with champagne, and will also get my kid hepped up on chocolate because why not. But I do like picking out a romance or an on theme read for the holiday, and if you are also looking for a book to commemorate the day, “Death and Dinuguan” by Mia P. Manansala is a pretty solid choice. When I first requested this book I hadn’t realized that it was going to be the final story in the “Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries” series, and was pretty sad when I found out. I have enjoyed this series so much over the years, and I had hoped that it would end on a high note for amateur detective Lila Macapagal. And it didn’t quite hit the heights I hoped for.

I’m going to switch it up this time around and talk about what didn’t work first. Overall, I wasn’t as invested in the mystery at hand. One pretty consistent issue is that when so many people are murdered in a small town population, it seems like it should be a bigger problem than the story acknowledges! That’s obviously not unique to Shady Palms, Illinois (thinking of Cabot Cove in “Murder, She Wrote”, or Midsomer in “Midsomer Murders”), but I do think that you have to do something to make each murder mystery interesting enough to be able to wave it away a bit. And in “Death and Dinuguan”, the murder of a chocolate shop owner (with Jae’s cousin Hana, who also runs the shop, left in a coma), I just wasn’t as interested as the story went on, hitting a lot of beats that are pretty familiar to the previous books in the series. I also was able to call the solution pretty quickly, and if a mystery and the journey is entertaining that usually won’t bother me. But I just felt like it was going through the motions this time around, so it was harder to ignore.

But Lila is still very fun and charming. It is so gratifying to see the way that she has evolved from the start of the series, starting as a bit of a prodigal daughter (well, niece) returning to her tight knit community from the big city, and ending as a pillar of the community with a huge village of people who care for her surrounding her. She’s still scrappy but imperfect, sticking her foot in her mouth a few times as she investigates, but always determined to help and solve the crimes that have hurt her loved ones. And while I was kind of underwhelmed by the way this one came together, I think that it did, ultimately, solidify Lila’s place in Shady Palms and shows just how much she cares about her community, and how much her community cares about her. And as a Valentine’s Day story, it’s a nice on theme mystery for the upcoming holiday.

Finally, the recipes. We once again get a nice set of recipes that go along with the story at hand, and I am always going to be on board with recipes included at the end of a cozy mystery, and these are a fun group that readers may not be as familiar with.

“Death and Dinuguan” may have been a bit of an underwhelming end to a series that I really enjoyed, but I think that overall I’m very satisfied with how it all turned out for Lila and her friends and her little dog Longganisa. I will definitely check out what other mystery series Manansala brings forth in the future. So long, Shady Palms! I’ll miss you!

Rating 6: Kind of a clunky ending for an overall fun series, but a nice fast read for Valentine’s Day.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Death and Dinuguan” is included on the Goodreads list “2025 Cozy Mystery New Releases”.

Serena’s Review: “A Heart So Green”

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

Book: “A Heart So Green” by Lyra Selene

Publishing Info: Orbit, January 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: After the explosive finale of the Tournament of Kings, Fia and Irian manage to escape to the wildlands, dodging pursuit by her cunning sister Eala. With Fia locked in her own mind, battling a powerful celestial entity, Irian must form new alliances to come up with a plan to defeat Eala’s terrifying magic.

With both the human and fae realm under threat, Eala’s rampage must be stopped, no matter the cost. On Bealtain Eve, when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest, Fia and Irian will finally face off against the swan princess and forge the ending to their love story that was written in the stars.

Previously Reviewed: “A Feather So Black” and “A Crown So Silver”

Review: Surprise! I’m back with another review for this trilogy! After my…less than enthusiastic response to book two, I was really wavering on finishing off the series. But Orbit was kind enough to send me a copy, so I thought, why the heck not. Better to be a completionist in this instance and finish up the series.

And while I still didn’t love this one, I was at least better prepared for what I could now expect and ended up enjoying it a bit more. I’ll preface the entire review by saying that I think the first book was by far the strongest and that had the trilogy lived up to that initial potential, this could have been excellent. Unfortunately, many of the choices with regards to the romance and the main character’s arc were very much not to my preference, both in the second book and this one.

This book added perspectives to the story, ending up with a total of four. On one hand, this, blessedly, meant less time spent in Fia’s mind (frustrating) or Irian’s mind (boring). However, on the other hand, neither of these added POVs felt truly necessary to the plot. Like the second book, throughout the entire reading experience I was left asking, “why?” Again, it felt like the author was padding out this book with drawn-out side quests, meandering thought spirals, and heaping piles of angst.

What it didn’t have, however, was a compelling or tied-together plot. Many of the characters and world-building points that were established in the first book were still left hanging with very little resolution here. The pacing, especially in the first half, was glacial, waiting for Fia to solve her particular quandary and being stuck in Irian’s head as he moped over her loss. Things picked up a bit after that, but even then, the plot quickly devolved into seemingly disconnected side quests. And then it ended in a surprisingly tragic and unfulfilling manner, the likes of which I think will frustrate many readers, even those who may have enjoyed book two more than me.

By the end of this one, I’m not sure if the author was pushed to extend a shorter book into a trilogy or whether she simply never had a good handle on what this story was truly meant to be about. The solid characterization and interesting world-building that were established in the first book seemed to fall off a cliff in the second book and never recovered. It almost felt like two different authors wrote the first book and then book two and three. I did bump this one up a notch from my rating for book two, mostly because I think Fia was at least somewhat improved by the end of this book. But I still found this entire trilogy to be incredibly disappointing given how much I loved the first book.

Rating 6: A truly baffling trilogy where the first book stands miles above the second two, and we are left with a tragic, confused ending to the story here in the final chapter.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Heart So Green” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2026.

Kate’s Review: “I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer”

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Book: “I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer” by Doug Wagner & Daniel Hillyard (Ill.)

Publishing Info: Image Comics, December 2025

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

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

Book Description: Rennie Bethary has just been accepted into New York City’s most prestigious fashion school. Her designs are daring, edgy, and singular…and made of human flesh. Did we forget to mention Rennie is a serial killer who simply wants to be a fashion designer instead? Stupid, pesky, murderous urges!

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

Happy New Year everyone! 2025 was a mess in a lot of ways, but we are starting off fresh and we can only hope that we can rise above whatever the hell that was last year (though we’ve said that so many times before). But I thought that starting off with a bit of a bang would be fun, and with that I present a graphic horror/thriller novel that really caught my eye: “I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer” by Doug Warner and Daniel Hillyard just sounded like a lot of campy nasty fun, as someone who likes serial killer thrillers/horror AND satires of fashion and style. I had really high hopes for this one. Unfortunately it didn’t quite match my enthusiasm.

But first the positives! The biggest positive is that the premise is such a freakin’ fun one. I love the idea of a serial killer also having a passion for fashion design and having a dream to become a designer, while also making clothing and muck out of people who are wronging her and those around her, be they her friends, or the downtrodden, or those who are victimized. It feels a bit like “Dexter” while also having a bit of an undercurrent of ‘we love women’s wrongs’ that can be kind of fun in this day and age. I also enjoyed Rennie a lot, as she feels/knows she is a full on psychopath, but manages to find at least a tiny bit of humanity in her heart while she not only pursues a passion, but also makes a human connection with her classmate Sofie, who is so lovely and friendly and serves as a fun (though perhaps a bit old hat these days) foil for our more cynical and dark protagonist.

But on the other hand, I did find the pacing to be uneven. We have a pretty slow build, watching Rennie ease into her school life while also taking out sociopaths and predators, taking a couple of issues to establish her mindset and relationship and aspirations, connecting not only with Sofie but also with various mentors or butting heads with snotty classmates. And then in the third of the book we get some wild reveals and a huge confrontation that felt incredibly rushed and didn’t feel like it paid off because of it. I will say that the big reveal DID have some hints and build up and didn’t come completely out of left field, but at the same time once we did get the reveal out it still fell a little bit flat. I think that if there had been more issues there could have been a bit more of a reveal that matched the slower pacing.

And finally, I did enjoy the artwork, finding it to be cute and kind of retro at times, while also being SUPER disgusting at others. I don’t really want to show any of that here because I know that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but Daniel Hillyard’s style matched the story well.

“I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer” had loads of potential and a really fun protagonist, but it didn’t quite hit the levels that I hoped for. I think it’s worth checking out, but I had hoped for more.

Rating 6: The premise is so good and I really enjoyed Rennie as an anti-hero, but it built almost too slowly and then rushed through the ending.

Reader’s Advisory:

“I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of late, but if you like books about women getting grisly revenge on those who wrong them or the patriarchy this could be a good fit!

Kate’s Review: “Man, F*ck This House (And Other Disasters)”

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Book: “Man, F*ck This House (And Other Disasters)” by Brian Asman

Publishing Info: Blackstone Publishing, October 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a finished copy from the publicist

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

Book Description: In the titular “Man, F*ck This House,” Sabrina Haskins and her family have just moved into their dream home. At first glance, the house is perfect. But things aren’t what they seem. Sabrina is hearing odd noises, seeing strange visions. Their neighbors are odd or absent. And Sabrina’s already-fraught relationship with her son is about to be tested in a way no parent could ever imagine. Because while the Haskins family might be the newest owners of this house, they’re far from its only residents …

In “The Hurlyburly,” a troubled teen loses his grip on reality after checking out the wrong internet meme …

In “In the Rushes,” a coastal cycling trip turns terrifying for a feuding mother and daughter …

Malevolent doppelgangers, bizarre murders, ancient evils, Western ghosts, mirror monsters, poisonous playthings, and more populate the pages of this brilliant—and petrifying—collection of stories.

Review: Thank you to Kaye Publicity for sending me a finished copy of this novel!

I never stay away from horror stories for too long after a brief lull post Horrorpalooza, and I’m back into the genre with a short stories collection that is by an author that is new to me! “Man, F*ck This House” by Brian Asman had a interesting title which hooked me in, as well as a promise of a couple more short stories beyond the titular novella. I’ve been having more luck with short stories collections as of late, after all!

There were definitely some standout stories in this collection, which has fewer stories than I am used to when it comes to short story anthologies (that’s neither here nor there, just an observation). I especially loved “In The Rushes”, a story about a mother and her teenage daughter on a cycling trip that has been rife with tension and animosity that eventually becomes a story of terror. I thought that the relationship between mother Carol and daughter Becca was poignant and realistic, with a harried divorcée mother and her surly teenage daughter butting heads in ways that feel true to life. Carol hates feeling like she’s the bad guy when she has to put her foot down, Becca craves for independence and her own choices, and I really liked how Asman gave us a superb backstory that makes the tension when they encounter something supernatural all the more palpable. I’m obviously biased when it comes to mother and daughter stories but this one just worked for me on every level, especially when the horror elements shifted into gear. I also liked the story “The Hurlyburly”, as urban legend/creepypasta meme horror tales are lots of fun and a favorite of mine when it comes to tropes.

I think that my biggest hang up was more to do with the titular story, the novella “Man, F*ck This House”. I had really high hopes for it, as I do love a haunted house story, especially if a dysfunctional family is involved at the heart of it. But I think that this one had a strange tone to it (the title makes it sound a little tongue in cheek but it isn’t really), and had very few people to root for. I felt like Sabrina, the harried Mom, was probably the most fleshed out, but on the flip side we had an incredibly precocious and psychopathic for no reason son named Damien who felt like Stewie Griffin come to life as he tries to plan his mother’s downfall. His reasons were difficult to parse through, and he was SO precocious and vicious that I just couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief for him. And if I can’t suspend my disbelief in a story about a literal haunted house, that says something. The rest of the stories were fine!

So it’s a mixed back of a collection. If you like horror short story collections you could check it out for sure. It was a bit middle of the road for me. But if you like to have stories to work through at your own pace it could be a good pick.

Rating 6: There were a couple of stand out stories (I really loved “In the Rushes”), but I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag overall, with the title story feeling all over the place.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Man, F*ck This House” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Horror Short Stories”.

Serena’s Review: “Throne in the Dark”

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Book: “Throne in the Dark” by A.K. Caggiano

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Casablanca, November 2025

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

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

Book Description: His dark destiny awaits, and nothing will stand in his way. Except her.

Dark lord
Demon spawn
Prophesied realm destroyer

With a demon for a father, Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne’s destiny could be nothing but nefarious, and with the completion of his most vicious spell, Damien is on the cusp of fulfilling the evil inevitability all of his dark machinations have led to.

And then, her.

Bubbly
Obnoxious
Blonde

Harboring secrets of her own, a tiny yet troublesome thief calling herself Amma completely upsets Damien’s malevolent plans when she mistakenly gets chained to his side through magic, forcing him to drag her across the realm. Killing her would fix things, of course, but the nauseatingly sweet Amma proves herself useful on Damien’s unholy crusade and then proves herself the source of something even more sinister: feelings.

Will Damien be forced to abandon his villainous birthright to help the tender thorn in his side? Or will he manage to overcome the virtue Amma insists on inspiring and instead cut it out at the heart?

Review:I lurk on a lot of fantasy/fantasy romance subReddits and, as such, I’d heard quite a lot about this book before it was picked up by a traditional publisher. Suffice it to say, it’s very beloved by many indie readers, often recommended as an improvement on some of the lower-quality fare that has been coming out recently, now that romantasy is trending so hard. So, I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. And… I’m still wondering, honestly.

Here’s the thing: this book will be a hit for a lot of readers, and I can understand why it is so beloved by those who read it as an indie book first. If you’re a fan of the grumpy x sunshine dynamic, this is the epitome of everything that romance has to offer. Beyond that, on a technical level, the writing flows easily, and the banter can be quite witty at times. Unfortunately, subjectively, I really dislike a lot of what this book was doing. That being the case, go ahead and take this entire review with a grain of salt. If you like the things I just mentioned, you should probably check this one out. If you are questioning things, let’s get into my problems.

For one thing, while the writing was fine, I really dislike the inclusion of modern lingo in books like this. Now, again, I get that this is a fairly standard approach for fantasy romcoms like this, à la Assistant to the Villain and books of that ilk. However, I will probably never not hate it. Like those other books, I immediately felt disconnected from the world and characters, attempting to strike some mental balance where I’m in this high fantasy world but regularly coming across words like “kiddo” and “pops.” All the worse, these two examples, at least, were coming from the “villainous” love interest. Which, I get what the book was trying to do—defying genre conventions and all that—but in reality, it just made me cringe and have a hard time taking him seriously in any capacity, evil or not.

However, my real problem stemmed from the FMC. Man, did I dislike her. If you want to look up the dictionary definition of “character with no agency” or “damsel in distress,” here’s your girl. Again, there are “reasons” and all of that for these choices. But that doesn’t do away with the fact that I’m left with a fairly hefty book where the female main character does practically nothing. What’s worse, we’re stuck in her mind for a good chunk of the time and, boy, nothing is happening there either. If I had to sum up her personality, it would be “nice” and “whiny.” (It’s not lost on me that those two traits shouldn’t go together, and you’d be right there too.) And, let me be clear, when I say “nice,” I’m going full Minnesotan on the word and really mean “boring as hell.” I didn’t find her panic in the face of danger cute. I didn’t enjoy her cutesy response to the brooding MMC. And no reveal toward the end would change this.

I don’t want to rant anymore about this because, again, as I said at the top, much of my dislike of this book is fully wrapped up in my own personal preferences for romances. I’ve long known that I usually struggle with grumpy/sunshine (too often I feel like authors think “sunshine” simply means “dumb as a rock”). And I also often have a hard time buying into the cozy factor of these romcom-like romantasies. However, the romance fantasy subReddit really sold me this book hard, and I was incredibly disappointed with what I got. That said, if you enjoyed Assistant to the Villain or the grumpy/sunshine trope in general, I really do recommend you check out this book! It just wasn’t for me.

Rating 6: Why, oh why, do authors write “sunshine” characters as just plain ridiculous and stupid?? This one was definitely not for me, but I do think that it will appeal to readers who enjoy romcom fantasy novels!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Throne in the Dark” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Shadow Men Megathread and Cozy Fantasy Books.