The nitty-gritty: A loyal general meets a scheming fae queen in this lively romance, perfect for readers who love political intrigue and well developed characters. “I’m afraid,” said her mother, “it is time for you to learn that, as queens, we do what we must, not what we would prefer.” I am enjoying this series […]
The nitty-gritty: Laura Purcell delivers another chilling haunted house tale in this atmospheric and terrifying ghost story. “Their procession had a sick, decayed sort of grandeur to it. This was what it was, Belinda thought, to be master of The Bridge. A throne of rotten fruit and ashes.” House of Splinters is a companion novel […]
The nitty-gritty: Detour takes standard sci-fi tropes and twists them into a unique and outrageously entertaining story, complete with well developed characters and surprising emotional moments. The premise of Detour starts out in familiar territory: a rich billionaire is trying to fund the first trip to Saturn’s moon Titan, in hopes of finding a viable […]
The nitty-gritty: Cottagecore meets The Lord of the Rings in this entertaining but slightly uneven debut. I couldn’t resist this adorable cover, which I’ll admit is one reason I wanted to read How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days. And it was cute! There are also some rather weighty themes hovering over all the […]
The nitty-gritty: A multilayered horror story set in a dangerous town, A Box Full of Darkness expertly mixes carefully drawn characters, emotional relationships and ghostly terrors. “This was Fell, the town of graves where they shouldn’t be and a missing girl’s shoes placed neatly outside her dorm room door. Fell, which had swallowed my little […]
The nitty-gritty: Mystery, romance and quirky characters make this a must read for readers who love their stories chock full of humor and hijinks. Once in a while I step outside my usual genres and try something different, and the end of the year/holiday season seemed like the perfect time for that. Definitely Maybe Not […]
The nitty-gritty: Seanan McGuire’s long running series returns to its roots in this latest entry, where those who are “sure” can find their real homes behind magical doors. Seanan McGuire’s eleventh book in her popular Wayward Children series is almost like a reunion. If you’ve been missing some of your favorite characters from other books, […]
The nitty-gritty: Storms—both literal and metaphorical—are center stage in Rachel Hawkins’ latest, a multi-layered thriller with well drawn characters and deeply buried secrets. “What I found was something deeper, stranger, and far more twisted than I ever could have guessed. St. Medard’s Bay wasn’t a town with one mystery—they were many, coiled around one another […]
The nitty-gritty: Unique ideas and a strong first half weren’t enough to save this ultimately confusing murder mystery set aboard a UFO. 30Seven should have worked for me—on paper it’s everything I love in a science fiction horror story. But despite a strong start, it devolved into a messy, over-stuffed tale with a bunch of […]
The nitty-gritty: A quirky, feel-good story full of gods, scorpions and lovable characters, Snake-Eater is the perfect cozy end-of-the-year tale. “On the radio, a song was abruptly interrupted by DJ Raven announcing that the aliens had been in contact again and they had agreed to postpone the invasion if Raven played more Alice Cooper. ‘I […]