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Hi Everyone. Another week rapidly sped by. I have been binging a lot of TV, reading and doing some blogging. My goal tomorrow is to hit a lot of blogs and see what everyone else has been up to. Talk at you soon.
Elder by Raine Thomas is book three of the Firstborn Trilogy and book six of the Estilorian series. I have loved each and every book in the fantasy series and Elder did not let me down.
“Angels are just one of the mythical creatures humans createdd based on their memories of Estilorians….”
We start out with Clara Kate and Ini-herit on Earth and they are madly in love. She is one of the eight that will be needed to activate the Elder Scroll. When they return to the Estilorian plane, she remembers their love, but Ini-Herit doesn’t. That makes working together difficult, but lives are at risk…and I can only hope that things will work out for them. They put their lives on the line and deserve to have a happy ending.
Zachariah has been one of my favorites since the beginning and I felt he held a special place in the series…seeing Raine Thomas put him through hell. 🙂
I have been spending a lot of time in Raine Thomas’ fantasy world and have loved every minute of it. The characters are vibrant and captivating, drawing me deeply into their world, and I don’t want the story to end.
Thanks, Raine, for the opportunity to read and review your fabulous stories.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Clara Kate is one of the eight beings needed to activate the Elder Scroll, an ancient artifact causing tragedy and darkness on the Estilorian plane. She knows that her focus needs to be on finding the final piece and stopping the evil Mercesti, but Ini-herit isn’t making it easy.
He’s working closely with Clara Kate on the quest to stop their enemies…too close for her comfort. His presence serves as a constant reminder of the love they shared on the human plane, a love that he no longer remembers at all.
Her life and the lives of those she loves are at risk, and she knows she has to put aside her personal problems. So far on their journey, she’s endured heartbreak, terror, pain and loss. She’s even been brought to the brink of death.
First published December 25, 2012 by Iambe Books, LLC
Series: Firstborn Trilogy #3, Estilorian #7
ABOUT RAINE THOMAS
Raine Thomas is the award-winning author of more than 20 bestselling romances spanning contemporary romance, Sci-Fi romance, and YA fantasy romance. She’s a hopeless romantic with a background in the fields of mental health and wedding planning…two areas that intersect far more than one would think. She’s also a book fiend, grammar nerd, and editing Red Queen, depending on who you ask.
Be sure to follow Raine on BookBub (https://www.bookbub.com/profile/raine…) to be among the first to learn of any sales, and hop over to her website for your first free read!
All right, another Amanda Siegrist novel and book three, Fatal Consequences, in the Consequences series. This will be Rider and Junelle’s story. Each book can stand alone, but that doesn’t matter to me. I will read anything Amanda writes.
Fatal Consequences is all about second chances. Can they overcome the present threat, allowing them to work through their issues?
Characters from previous books in the series make an appearance. I love when that happens. Especially when I’m able to visit and get some laughs from them. Amanda has created some fascinating characters that put their lives on the line for each other. No wimps here.
Romantic Suspense novels most always have characters with communication issues and I do enjoy watching them work out the kinks to create happy ever afters. And that’s what you will find at the end of Amanda Siegrist novels.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Get ready to dive into this intense romantic suspense by USA Today bestselling author Amanda Siegrist.
One decision can have fatal consequences…
Detective Rider’s life is spiraling. After nearly dying in the line of duty, now he’s saddled with two babysitters as partners and an attitude problem his captain won’t let slide. Just when he thinks his luck can’t get any worse, he’s thrown a case involving a woman who shattered his heart years ago—and the best friend he was forced to leave behind.
Junelle Swanson thought she’d moved on after Rider walked away. Until her dog is brutally killed and threatening letters start arriving, giving her no choice but to trust the man who broke her heart. She just wishes her brother Jason, who welcomes his former best friend back with open arms, wouldn’t ask uncomfortable questions about the past that Rider isn’t ready to answer.
As the investigation intensifies, clues surface, pointing to a sinister threat lurking closer than they imagined. With a killer watching their every move and their past feelings complicating everything, Rider and Junelle must confront both their painful past and a deadly present before they become the next victims.
Perfect for fans of high-stakes thrillers who crave their love stories with a dangerous edge. One-click Fatal Consequencesnow and discover how far one detective will go to protect the woman he never stopped loving.
The entire Consequences (Each book can be read as a standalone.) Dark Consequences (Book 1): Tate & Abby Cruel Consequences (Book 2): Wyatt & Briella Fatal Consequences (Book 3): Rider & Junelle
Expected publication May 21, 2025 by Amanda Siegrist
ABOUT AMANDA SIEGRIST
Love! Gimme some love and heaps of romance. I have a sappy heart that just loves two people meeting, going through the cycles of a relationship, and ultimately, falling in love. Give me a good book like that and I’m a happy camper:)
I write contemporary and romantic suspense, but I am partial to suspense. I just love a good mystery.
Besides writing, I love baking, crafts, and baseball…oh, and meeting new people. *smiles*
The Doorman by Chris Pavone is one of those books that lured me in with the blurb and the fact that Chris Pavone is a New York Times Bestselling author. For me, it was a frustrating book. Most of it consisted of telling me all about the rich and their life style. The mystery came at the end and felt rushed after reading so much about politics and the American caste system (you know what I mean). Getting to the end did make it worth reading because of the mystery, which was a nice little twist.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux for the opportunity to read The Doorman by Chris Pavone.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
In the new novel from the bestselling author of Two Nights in Lisbon, on the worst night in the greatest city on Earth, a doorman at the toniest address in town is drawn into a web of intrigue, robbery, and murder.
Chicky Diaz stands on his little patch of the earth, the clean quiet sidewalk in front of the Bohemia Apartments, there sure are a lot of great places to kill someone in this city.
Chicky Diaz is everyone’s favorite doorman at the Bohemia, New York City’s world-famous home of celebrities, financiers, and the cultural elite.
Chicky serves at the pleasure of residents like Emily Longworth, who, up in her penthouse, leads a life of her perfect kids in her perfect home, her perfect worries about museum boards, charity work, and so on. Emily’s husband, though . . . perfectly wealthy, but she has quietly loathed Whit Longworth since well before the revelations that he’s a private-equity war profiteer. But their marriage came with an iron-clad prenup, and Emily can’t bring herself to leave all that. Yet.
Meanwhile, in apartment 2A, there’s nothing perfect about Julian Sonnenberg’s middle-aged life. Already struggling with the indignities of turning fifty—a stale marriage, teenage kids who no longer need him, his work as an art gallerist making him feel culturally obsolete—and now his doctor tells him that he needs openheart surgery, immediately. Things are falling apart awfully fast.
In the basement staff room, the life-and-death stakes of daily life are hardly news to the primarily Black and Latino hospitality. So when the NYPD fatally shoots an unarmed Black man and the streets swell with both protestors and counterprotestors, the staff’s concerns are less about the building and more about their survival—and what justice will look like.
Enter Chicky in his epauletted suit, manning the line between the turbulent streets outside the Bohemia and the far more sanguine world within. And not that the Bohemia’s residents care much (except maybe Emily Longworth), but Chicky has his own problems, the kind that mean that for tonight’s shift, for the first time in thirty years, Chicky will be carrying a gun. Because someone, tonight, is going to die.
In what is far away his best and most ambitious book yet, Chris Pavone has delivered a piercing portrait of the way we live now that is also a finely honed thriller of ticking-clock suspense. The Doorman is a book about class and privilege in a city poised to boil over its proverbial melting pot, and the ever starker divisions testing everything the City likes to believe about itself.
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
402 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication May 20, 2025
ABOUT CHRIS PAVONE
CHRIS PAVONE is the New York Times-bestselling author of international thrillers including THE EXPATS and, most recently, TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON; his sixth novel, THE DOORMAN, publishes May 20, 2025. Chris’s books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and IndieNext; have won both the Edgar and Anthony awards, and have been shortlisted for the Strand, Macavity, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize; are in development for film and television; and have been translated into more than two dozen languages.
He has written for outlets including the New York Times Book Review and Magazine, the Telegraph, and Salon; has appeared on Face the Nation, Good Day New York, All Things Considered, and the BBC; and has been profiled on the arts’ front page of the New York Times. He is a member of the Authors Guild Council, International Thriller Writers, and Mystery Writers of America, for which he has served as an Edgars judge.
Fever Beach is not my first Carl Hiaasen novel. It’s a satirical commentary on current events and I found myself laughing out loud. Carl’s writing is twisted and when I read one of his books, I know I don’t have to take anything seriously, just be along for the ride.
My thanks go out to Netgalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Another instant classic from Carl Hiaasen—laugh-out-loud funny, tackling the current chaotic and polarized American culture (following in the path of Squeeze Me), with two wonderful new Hiaasen heroes.
Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. After graduating from the University of Florida, he joined the Miami Herald as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the newspaper’s weekly magazine and prize-winning investigations team. As a journalist and author, Carl has spent most of his life advocating for the protection of the Florida Everglades. He and his family live in southern Florida.
I love the eye catching cover and the short stories inside A Graveside Gallery by Eric Guignard. It is an anthology of horror short stories sure to entertain. The great thing about anthologies is we get an assortment of stories. The great thing about short stories is we can read the story in full quickly when time is at a premium, whether standing in line at the pharmacy or waiting for your name to be called at the doctor’s office.
These tales of ghosts and dark matter is sure to entertain. Some of my favorites are If I drive before I Wake, The Telephone Game, A Stroke Of Death, Ommetaphobie, and Incident At The Red Hawk Road Stop. Whether it’s self driving cars, haunted phones, paintings, eyes or butterrflies, Eric kept me reading, wondering what horror-ible story would come next.
I am fascinated by author’s imaginations, and Eric J Guignard is full of surprises. So, if you are looking for stories that can give you the willies, making you uncomfortable, A Graveside Gallery fits the bill.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
From hauntings and oblivion to monsters, murder, and anthropomorphism, A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters, by award-winning author Eric J. Guignard, explores the literary odd and macabre that reside in the vast shadows of our existence.
In “A Kingdom of Skulls and Marigolds,” a gay Hispanic teen in 1950s Los Angeles, mourning the loss of a friend, has a chance to make amends during Day of the Dead.
In “Bummin’ to the Beat of the Road,” a Beat-era youth leaves home to travel the land, only to find madness, murder, and the teeth of a new generation.
In “The Ascending Lights of Yu Lan,” an embittered sailor in 1917’s San Francisco Wharf encounters an immigrant from China who offers peace from ghosts.
In “Perchance to Dream in Voices of a Fiend,” an intimate epilogue is suggested to the famous novel Frankenstein, offering a more hopeful closure to the characters’ lives.
…and fifteen masterful others.
Visit Eric J. Guignard’s second collection and behold that which is captivating, startling, and darkly enriching.
Table of Contents includes:
• Penny’s Diner • A Kingdom of Sugar Skulls and Marigolds • If I Drive Before I Wake • Bummin’ to the Beat of the Road • The Telephone Game • The Tale of Samuel Whiskers Continued; or, A London Digression • Drink, Drink From the Fountain of Death • Ritual Sacrifice to the Great God of Skates • The Moon Over Andersonville • A Stroke of Death • The Shimmer of Trees • Ommetaphobia • The Ascending Lights of Yu Lan • Two Hearts Make a Half; or, Ghosts of a Rodeo Clown • Perchance to Dream in Voices of a Fiend: A Fanciful Epilogue to Frankenstein • Incident at the Red Hawk Road Stop • O Shades, My Woe • Carmine Lips and a Fade into Oblivion • The First Order of Whaleyville’s Divine Basilisk Handlers
The more I read of the Fifty Shades series, the more I love it. I was already sold because I watched the movies. Now, I am reading straight through, beginning to end, devouring the words, getting lost in their world. I love the characters, sometimes fun and playful, other times wrestling with their demons. Their affair is sizzling hot and my ereader is smokin’.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house.
But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades.
While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.
This book is intended for mature audiences.
Genre: Adult, BDSM, Contemporary Romance, Erotica, New Adult, Romance
I was late hopping aboard the Fifty Shades Of Grey train, but once I started, I couldn’t stop. I watched the movies first, but knew I had to be checking out the series from the library. I never used to read erotica, but since I’ve been blogging I like some spice in my romance…and Fifty Shades Of Grey is definitely spicy hot. I already loved the characters, so they didn’t need to win me over. Anastasia Steel may be young, but she’s no pushover. She can hold her own against Christian Grey. On to Book II, Fifty Shades Darker.
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.
Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.
This book is intended for mature audiences.
Genre: Adult, BDSM, Chick Lit, Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Dark Romance
Grimmworld: The Big Bad Wolf by Michaelbrent Collings is Book II in the Grimmworld fantasy trilogy for middle graders, but, I enjoy a good fantasy novel no matter what reading level.
Grimmworld is not known for happy ever afters, but Willow and Jake did leave a little goodness behind in their first visit. Their father is still missing, so we will be making a return trip to Grimmworld. They had been on the outs since their return from Grimmworld, but they will need to work together to meet the challenges they will face. The danger is amped up and the twins will be tested. Who can they trust? The fairies? The wolves? Things are not always as they seem, and help will come from unexpected places.
Michaelbrent Collings’ writing style brings to life, in vivid detail, his fantastical creation of Grimmworld. The novel has some wonderful illustrations. I love that I am unable to see what is coming next and not all surprises are good ones. Like all fairy tales, bits of morality are sprinkled throughout the fantastical story.
There is a reading guide and discussion questions at the end of the book.
The final book in the Grimmworld series is coming in 2026 and I can hardly wait.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Jake and Willow return to the fairy-tale realm of Grimmworld to look for their missing father, only to find themselves battling the Big Bad Wolf in a world on the brink of war.
Willow and Jake have done the impossible and brought the first “happily ever after” to Grimmworld. But in the real world, their father is still missing, and the boundary between universes has grown even more fragile.
Determined to reunite their fractured family, the twins return to Grimmworld, only to be captured by fairies and forced to make an impossible choice: Steal the Wolf King’s gold claw and return it to the fairy queen in exchange for information about their father, or refuse and become the fairies’ eternal, soulless slaves.
But to steal the claw, Jake and Willow will have to undergo the Wolf Trials, a perilous series of tests and traps that will push the twins to their limits and beyond. It will take Willow’s strength, Jake’s intellect, and the love and friendship they share—and maybe a few treats from Red Riding Hood’s magical basket—to defeat the Big Bad Wolf, find the next clue to their father’s whereabouts, and perhaps even bring another “happily ever after” to Grimmworld.
Michaelbrent Collings is an internationally-bestselling novelist, multiple Bram Stoker Award nominee, produced screenwriter, and one of the top indie horror writers in the United States.
He hopes someday to develop superpowers, or, if that is out of the question, then at least to get a cool robot arm.
Michaelbrent has a wife and several kids, all of whom are much better looking than he is (though he admits that’s a low bar to set), and also cooler than he is.
Michaelbrent also has a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MichaelbrentC… and can be followed on Twitter through his username @mbcollings. Follow him for cool news, updates, and advance notice of sales. You will also be kept safe when the Glorious Revolution begins!
The Spiral Symbol: A Psychological Thriller is my first novel by Rose Majors, but it is not her first novel, and I am sure it will not be her last. This fast paced thriller kept me following along, but the characters fell a little flat. I couldn’t connect.
Agent Kitty Forest is on the case of The Spiral Symbol. Body after body appears with the symbol carved into their flesh. Then packages begin to appear at her home. It’s not long before she feels the target on her back. What does the symbol mean?
Both victims were seen at a gala hosted by Senator Franz Stein. Is there a story he wants to keep hidden? Rose Majors does know how to keep the mystery alive.
Even though The Spiral Symbol is not the first Kitty Forest novel, I did not feel lost. But, it does make me want to read her earlier stories.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Unraveling The Spiral Symbol Murders Clara Kingsley, a wealthy socialite from Emerald Island, was found dead—her body eerily undisturbed, except for the spiral symbol carved into her flesh. A message. A warning. But from whom?
Days later, another victim is found with the same spiral carved on his body. The pattern is undeniable, but the connection remains elusive.
A photograph surfaces, showing Clara and the second victim at a gala hosted by Senator Franz Stein. They were all together just days before their deaths. Coincidence? Or the thread that unravels everything?
Rumors swirl around Stein’s “charitable foundation,” whispers of money funneled into something far darker.
The killer turns his attention to me. Strange packages arrive at my doorstep, and cryptic messages appear inside my house.
Now, I am part of the game. The spiral is sending a bizarre message to me.
Someone is watching, waiting. If I don’t decipher the message soon, I won’t just be hunting a killer—I’ll be his next masterpiece.
Genre: Conspiracy, Fiction, Mystery, Serial Killer
226 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 16, 2025
ABOUT ROSE MAJORS
Rose Majors loves to read and write mysteries and thrillers. Growing up in a small Missouri town, she loved to play the game “CLUE”. It is a game where the players try to solve a murder, including who committed it, in what room, and by what weapon. Now, she uses her own experiences and knowledge acquired by reading novels by other famous mystery writers, to write her mysteries and thrilling stories.
Watch for her future novels. You won’t be disappointed.
