Mila's Flight (The Darkest Day #0.5) by Danielle Forrest

Mila Dragomirov had dreamed of being a spaceship pilot her entire life. And when she and her best friend, May Trace, enlisted in the military to fulfill that dream she lived and breathed for the moment when they’d pass their qualifying exams and finally be assigned to their own ship. Mila nailed her test and three days later on her 21st birthday, she was notified of her success. After a birthday dinner at her parents with May, the two young women head to town to celebrate on their own. That night after too much to drink, Mila stepped out of the bar for a breath of air and she is surrounded by a group of drunk men intent on assaulting her. As she desperately tries to fight them off something happens, her body shifts from that of a human woman to that of a tiger. She easily scares away her attackers.

Mila is horrified. She’d never had an inkling of an indication that she was a shifter, and that was not a good thing. Shifters are not welcome in this country. Hated, reviled, if discovered shifters are taken and locked up in concentration camps where who knows what happens to them.

Eventually returning to her former self, she slips back to her room on the base that she shares with May, packs her few possessions, and writes a goodbye note to her best friend, telling her she’s leaving and not to look for her. Mila has no real plan what to do next, just that she’s got to get out of there and find a place to hide…forever.

This is a prequel to Mila’s Shift, the first book in The Darkest Day series by Danielle Forrest. Very well written, it relates the emotional trauma of the characters affected by Mila’s surprise change and subsequent “flight” from society, her friends and family, and her lifelong dream of being a space pilot. The description of Mila’s life off the grid, living as a homeless person in a big city is sad and terrifying at the same time. The story is unique and the characters real. I highly recommend it – either read before as a prequel or after Mila’s Shift for the back story.

Virtual Insanity by Charlie Dalton

When one of their group of four best friends since primary school decides to get married, Georgie arranges the ultimate stag weekend at a new, high-tech, virtual reality game resort. But when the four friends arrive, doubts about the facility arise – the location is remote and the former military facilities grim and bare bones. However, when the resort staff demonstrates the equipment the four will be using for their adventure, the guys are all back on board and ready for play: the graphics are unbelievably real and the computer interface flawless.

The next morning when they begin their “mission” they are amazed by how real things seem and they successfully complete the first level of the game. But as they forge ahead, the scenario gets trickier and trickier, and the group splits up in order to accomplish a particularly tough task. And we all know … don’t split up…

Virtual Insanity is another great short story by author Charlie Dalton. Mixed in with an interesting plot, the characters are great, and the comradery among the old friends is a lot of fun. As I read I felt more like I was watching a movie. It was very entertaining and I read it in one sitting. I highly recommend this one!

Virtual Insanity is available for Amazon Kindle.

NYV: Goth (New York Vampire #2) by K.D. McQuain

In the continuing story of Christian “Chris” Leclères, the East Texas boy turned by a rogue vampire, we follow his transformation from a denizen of the streets of New York to the poster boy of the Goth scene. The story of the rogue vampire, Gilles de Montmorency-Laval, is also steadily revealed in flashbacks until his timeline meets up with the current action. Characters from the previous novel make appearances throughout as well as the introduction of new and interesting ones.

This book has a lot of exposition but it is intermingled with action and resolution of issues from book one. As a caution, although these books have a young vibe, this second installment contains explicit sex scenes and some depictions of pretty graphic torture – not to mention the vampire violence, blood, and gore. Just saying, it’s not for the faint of heart nor the kiddies. NYV: Goth was a very good story and it sets up situations for future books that I will be looking to read.

NYV: PUNK (New York Vampire #1) by KD McQuain

The story opens in Mexico City, 1984, at a recently uncovered ruin of an Aztec temple. Itzel, a high priest, is performing a gruesome sacrifice to Quetzalcoatl, the old god of his people. The blood of the sacrifice runs down through the cracks and seams of the old structure to deep under the temple to what has lain in wait for centuries.

Fifteen-year-old Christian Leclères had lived all his life in the rural East Texas home with his mother. Home-schooled and never allowed off the home place alone, he is unaware of the workings of the world around him: no friends, no other family, no television, radio, telephone, or car. Their only visitor is Mrs. Brooks who came in her big Buick Electra to take his mother to town for groceries every 3rd Friday of the month. Christian knows nothing about his father or mother’s family other than they live in Louisiana. He thinks he remembers meeting his grandmother when he was very young but he’s unsure if that is an actual memory or one he’s developed from hearing his mother talk about it. For whatever reason, his mother’s family was devastated when he was born a boy rather than a girl.

On the eve of his 15th birthday, Christian’s mother has him perform a cleansing ritual, anointing his body with oils, and thanking God for his attainment of this milestone. The next day, Christian’s birthday, happens to be the 3rd Friday of the month and when his mother leaves to get groceries, he rides off on a bicycle he’d found in a shed on their property to clear his head and enjoy a bit of freedom while she’s away. He ends up lost and is eventually given a ride by a senior couple living the RV lifestyle. Talking to the couple, Christian decides to go to New York City. But before he can get on a bus to The Big Apple, he is attacked and stabbed in the chest by a creepy, old man. He is taken to the local hospital where he is patched up and begins to heal miraculously well. He begins to have nightmares or visions from the viewpoint of his attacker killing more people. Terrified, he escapes the hospital, makes his way to New York, and falls in with other kids his age living on the street. He does not, however, escape the monster in his dreams.

The descriptions of the life and times of the punk scene were most interesting. The New York City setting with detailed street information was fun. Also, it was interesting and entertaining to note the changes in our culture, trends, and technology - payphones, boom boxes, cassettes – present in the 1984 time frame. Bravo to the author for these touches; they were fun. The weaving of Chris’ life and the visions were frightening and intense. There are sexual situations and descriptions in the story that make this one a story for mature readers.

This is a very different sort of vampire story: the vampire element not being the major focus of much of the novel, yet underlying and being the cause for much of the action. The addition of Aztec angle was new to me and I liked that. This appears to be a first book in a series. There are a lot of unanswered questions and plotlines left hanging by the end of the book. I look forward to the next installment to see where those go. I recommend this book for its young adult, coming of age theme, its depiction of the 1980s punk scene, and the unusual Aztec storyline.

Authority (Southern Reach #2) by Jeff VanderMeer

Almost a cliffhanger ending!

So some of the members of the Expedition 12 team have appeared back at their homes, or in the biologist's case - the empty lot she used to go to for solitude. The Psychologist who we learn was also the Director of the Southern Reach agency itself is not among the returned. In the absence of the Director, John "Control" Rodriguez, has been assigned to the agency as a "fixer." He's to find out what is going on at the Southern Reach and report back to a handler known as the "Voice" by a secret cellphone. The Assistant Director, Grace, and many of the other staff are understandably not welcoming. The Director seems to have been revered and many, Grace among them, are still waiting for her to return.

The members who have shown back up from Area X remember almost nothing about their time there. They do not know how they got out of Area X and back to their homes (or empty lots.) It's all very mysterious, confusing, and then there are creepy staff members and strange shrines to who-knows-what in closets, drawers, and hidden rooms.

Book 2 quietly sneaks up on you as you try to unravel the secrets of Area X, the Southern Reach, and even Central. I kept listening and holding my breath for the next shoe to drop and when it does... the action doesn't stop ... only the narration. On to Book 3 now!

Sins of the Father (Land’s End #4) by S.W. Frontz

Working on a cold case of murder from 1989, Captain Robin Drexel of the Atlanta Police Department follows a lead to the tiny island of Land’s End, Virginia, and into the jurisdiction of her old Macon PD partner, Sheriff Andy Patrick. Land’s End is also where the victim of one of Robin’s cold cases, Mary Elizabeth Martin, was spirited away to hide out from her still-at-large attacker.

As Robin works the angles presented to her, she quickly assimilates into the island community thinking maybe this is where she’ll settle when she retires. (She’s got way more tenure at APD than she needs to call it done, and her rheumatoid arthritis has become a constant, painful companion.) On the island, she meets old friends and new as well as the handsome blue-eyed George that seems to so very, very familiar to her.

Meanwhile, a long-burning domestic abuse case on the island come to a head but even with the abuser out of the picture, tragic events continue to plague the victimized family with two women attacked, two twin sons murdered, and one young teenage daughter kidnapped.

Sins of the Father is the 4th book in the Land’s End series so there are a number of diverse plotlines in play left over from previous books going from the very start. I have not read the first three books but was able to get the gist of what was going on and enjoyed it. I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed the book even more if I’d read the earlier installments though. There are a lot of interesting characters to keep up with, all of whom add plenty to the ongoing story. The author gives some background information during the course of the book which helped to get me up to speed and there was a mix of flashbacks among the chapters that reinforced or clarified the back story.

This was an enjoyable book with a lot going on – mystery, romance, and a thriller all rolled into one. I look forward to getting into those earlier books and will be waiting for book 5 as well. There’s still a lot of unanswered questions and cliffhangers at this time.

Typhoid Mary by Charlie Dalton

There’s something about Mary …

Nadine was a detective with NYPD and was used to the cruelties and brutality she’d witnessed during her time working with women and children victims but there was something about eight-year-old Mary McGregor that she just couldn’t put her finger on.

Mary – the sole survivor of a massacre at her foster family’s farm where both foster parents and six children were mutilated before her.

Mary – with the innocent face and strangely beautiful eyes.

Mary – who doesn’t take “no” for an answer.

Talk about going from tragedy to outright horror! Typhoid Mary is a creepy, twisted, entertaining horror story just right for a great, fun read.

Mila's Shift (The Darkest Day #1) by Danielle Forrest

Shapeshifters were outlawed, and when Mila suddenly went through her first shift after partying for her 21st birthday, she ran leaving everything and everyone she knew and loved behind. But after 10 years of hardship in hiding, Mila’s best friend, May, reached out to her to meet. They’d been as close as sisters, had dreamed of being space pilots together, so Mila goes. Leaving their reunion, the girls are attacked and May is killed. Unable to go to the police for help, a grieving Mila buries May but when she discovers May’s ID and upcoming assignment as a pilot on the soon-to-depart USS Orleans spaceship, she assumes her identity.

The Orleans' mission is to deliver diplomats to the first ever meeting with another intelligent life species. Not everyone wants this meeting to occur though and there are conspirators hidden among the crew that intend to stop the Orleans at all costs. Also, there is a shifter on board trying to kill Mila because they believe May is still alive and she had discovered the plot to prevent the meeting.

This was a fast and fun book with loads of action and romance. I couldn't put it down! The mysterious shifter evades capture for quite a while and the tension builds while he continues to hunt May/Mila. There is quite a collection of interesting characters populating the Orleans including Mila’s grumpy roommate and a coworker working through gender identity. It appears to be the start of a new series so I will be looking forward to more about these characters.

I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a lighter SciFi read and perhaps suggest it to shifter romance readers that may want to stretch their genre reading into SciFi. This book is not scheduled to be published until September 15, 2019.

Bug Out by Charlie Dalton

In the not too distant future, humankind has found our way off planet and into interstellar exploration for resources the Earth can no longer supply. That’s when we discover we are not the only intelligent life in the universe, and the other species is also exploring and exploiting their findings for the same resources.

Bug Out is cleverly told in alternating chapters of current action and an overheard conversation between two unknown speakers that builds the back story for that action. The author has created a tight and exciting narrative that builds tension throughout. The truth behind the scenes are slowly revealed with ingenious twists. I was thoroughly entertained. I will be “book talking” this novella to all my family and friends, and looking for more in the genre from Charlie Dalton.

Sweet As Cherry Pie (Avon Calling! #12) by Hayley Camille

Episode 11 left super Avon lady, Betty Jones, surrounded by a gang of Donny Pinzolo’s hired thugs. She’d been at Adina Sonberg’s home convincing that young lady that protective custody really was necessary for her continued good health and ability to testify on behalf of the government in the near future when she was lured into an alley by one of the thugs. They had no clue what trouble they’d hired on for though. Betty takes care of business but not without attracting some attention from the neighborhood and the officers stationed in front of Adina’s door are sent to investigate leaving it unguarded. Betty, realizing that the attack had been just a distraction to remove the officers, hotfoots it back to Adina’s just in the nick of time to avert the attempt on the lives of the entire Sonberg family.

Back home, life goes on as George prepares to leave on the morrow for his induction training in the war effort. He’s starting to remember bits and pieces of the events leading up to his “accident” that left him with his amnesia. Betty knows that it is going to be traumatic for everyone all around when George regains his memory but for it to happen on the night of his departure would be devastating.

In the meantime, Jacob Lawrence is working long, hard hours to both safeguard his former girlfriend, Adina Sonberg and apprehend the city’s latest threat - “The Boudoir Butcher.” Although, he is still invested in a relationship with her, they are a long way from where they were. He’s committed though and has accepted Betty’s help to protect her and free himself up to pursue the serial killer.

Betty is keeping her ear to the ground and makes a long overdue visit to her clients at Kitty’s Kat House to plug into the gossip of the city’s seedy underbelly. While talking with one of the girls there (Tilly), Betty experiences some frighteningly weird visions that may actually be the thoughts and memories of “The Boudoir Butcher” HERself!

As the latest story about “The Boudoir Butcher” unfolds, readers are treated to the flavor and lingo of 1940s wartime. The author successfully recreates the atmosphere and feel of the time and it just envelops you. We check in on many of the characters from the previous episodes including the ladies of Kitty’s Kat House whose circumstances have upgraded somewhat under the management of Madame Trixie (although it is still just a desperate means of survival during those hard times for these women.)

As this series continues to flourish, it continues to entertain and delight. I highly recommend this entire series.

Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1) by Jeff VanderMeer

After numerous failed expeditions, the 12th group is heading into the mysterious Area X. Four women, known only by their work specialty, a psychologist, anthropologist, biologist, and a surveyor, head into this no-man’s-land that stretched along the coastline and interior for who-knows-how-far to study, explore, map, and report back what they can to the governing body, the Southern Reach. Things start going sideways almost immediately when expedition members start to disappear.

The story is presented from the viewpoint of The Biologist who proves to be a less than reliable narrator. This first installment in the Southern Reach Trilogy is strange, confusing, scary, and fascinating! I couldn’t put it down “needing” to know what was going to happen next. You know what is happening when it happens but you never know why or how anything fits into a bigger picture of what Area X is. Doesn’t matter. Let me have Book 2.

Demons of Time: Race to the 7th Sunset (Time Travelers, #1) by Varun Sayal

Fresh and different and a good story!

Set in India in the year 3077 BC, the action begins immediately with eight-year-old Tejaswi and his mother, Dhara, fleeing through the Dandak Forest pursued by two time-demon brothers, Kumbh and Vetri. Just as they are almost away, the evil demons catch up with them. They plan to kill Tej to punish his mother for running away but are stopped by the appearance of Guru Riga, an elderly sage and time reader. The time-demons themselves end up captured and trapped in a secret place where time is no factor and they can do no further harm.

Twenty years pass and Tej grows to manhood, marries, and has a child of his own when Guru Riga arrives on his doorstep. Guru Riga has seen that in the far future, the time-demon brother Kumbh is going to escape and destroy all of humanity. Tej who is actually Kumbh’s son is the only one that can stop him because he, too, is a time-demon and can travel through time. What follows is an imaginative and well laid out story of how Tej must travel backwards and forward in time to pull together the tools and know-how to stop his father with Guru Riga always in the background planning for the future based on the changes that result from Tej’s time traveling.

Such a good story! This is the first book in what looks to be a new and entertaining quest epic series called Time Travelers. Coming from a different culture with no knowledge of the cultural mythology of India the story seemed fresh and different. I was hooked from the very start and kept interested through the entire book. I recommend this book to readers that enjoy traditional quest stories but are ready for something new.

Room 11 by mari.reiza

Unique telling of what’s going on around and with a coma patient but so much more.

Told from the viewpoints of two different women, this novel chronicles an accident victim’s sojourn in a nursing facility while in a coma (and so much more!) Although the woman’s family quickly gives up hope of her recovery, her husband stays by her side caring for her, singing and talking to her throughout the day (and night), for months. He is assisted in his watch by a nurse assigned to the room his wife where his wife lays, an immigrant from Ghana who is still adjusting to her life far from her home and her tragic past. It is her voice that starts us out and tells us what has happened to the patient, about her care and the husband’s constant vigil. As she recounts her interaction with the couple, we see her slowly developing a disturbing obsession for the husband and building a relationship with him - in her mind.

This woman’s narrative is offset with what the comatose wife is “dreaming” as the days slip by. Those dreams fill us in on the relationship between the husband and wife, the wife and her family, and the events and circumstances that preceded the accident that put her in the coma. While the husband sings to his wife, she dreams that he is sleeping in a hotel room her keeping her “awake” with his snoring.

What a great and inventive story! The plotline of the nurse’s growing infatuation with the husband is intense, creepy, and moving. The glimpses into her day-to-day life as an immigrant are very interesting. The wife’s grief over the loss of a child was tragic and emotion-filled. I found myself longing for the wife to recover especially as the husband slowly, but inevitably, begins to lose hope.

In both instances, the nurse and the patient, the narrative pours forth in a ‘stream of consciousness’ style of writing so we’re getting every thought and feeling, which are sometimes frankly intimate or sexual in nature, that passes through each woman’s mind. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I felt it appropriate, and liked it.

I recommend this book for readers of contemporary fiction, medical stories with romance, and those that don’t mind storylines with some pretty earthy passages.

Murder at the Luau (A Pet Portraits Cozy Mystery, #10) by Sandi Scott

This was the 10th outing for the twin Kaye sisters and it was just as fun as the previous nine.

The Kaye sisters, Georgie and Aleta, have been given a trip to Hawaii as a Christmas present by their respective children. Trouble begins from the very start – on the plane to their destination – in the form of a constantly arguing couple, Herb and Dottie Bickerson. Nothing, it seems, is right for the annoying couple but the young tour company rep, Daniel, keeps trying his best.

When the husband mysteriously falls to his death during a luau, Georgie is convinced he was helped off the cliff, and with literally everyone in the tour group having a reason to want the man gone, she has a lot ground to cover before discovering who did it.

Even though one of the charms of this series has been, for me, the Chicago setting, the switch to the 50th state was very entertaining. There are some new and interesting characters to focus on up close and personal because the tour group members are together pretty much 24/7. And this time, because Georgie’s ex, Stan, is not on the trip, he is not there to pull Georgie out of trouble. That duty falls to one of the aforementioned interesting new characters.

Another nice cozy mystery featuring the sisters. I recommend this book (and entire series) to readers that like their mysteries on the cozy side and enjoy having a sleuth of a more mature age.

After the Green Withered (After the Green Withered, #1) by Kristin Ward

The sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history, precipitated by unchecked drilling and a variety of environmental disasters, has occurred and the planet is in the midst of a decades-long drought. The nation has closed its borders and the military was brought in to control widespread violence as water dwindled and rationing got serious. As the story opens, the U.S. has been consolidated into 18 states based on river basins, the remaining population clustered into cities in each state, couples are limited to one child, and water is controlled by one all-powerful agency: the Drought Mitigation Corporation (or DMC.)

Enora Byrnes, now in her last year of school, has grown up in Prineville and this has always been the way things were. As she approaches graduation, she is expected to make a decision on her future – how she is going to contribute to society henceforth, as an adult. Undecided and with few choices open to her, all she knows is that she does not want to go into the DMC. Her best friend, Bram, a few years older and of the same mind had been selected by the DMC never to be seen or heard from again. The DMC was for the elite in town: their children groomed for service since birth. Enora was not one of the elite. But as graduation nears, Enora is singled out for the DMC anyway and begins her training in addition to her school work eventually ending up at a training base several hours away.

With her recruitment, Enora begins to see improvements in the lives of her parents: better housing, increased water credits, better and more food. Enora feels obligated and stuck especially when things that the DMC does don’t jive with what she and the rest of the population has always been told.

When she and her partner are sent to the town of Renascence to neutralize a dangerous rebellion their doubts about the DMC and their role in the agency mount when the rebels turn out to be mere children and the DMC is hiding some horrible secrets below ground and behind locked doors in secret facilities there.

I really enjoyed this tale of a dystopian U.S. The author did a fabulous job of creating the world that Enora lives in. Enora seems like such a typical teenager on the brink of high school graduation with the usual angst associated with fitting in, living up to her parents’ expectations, friends, and young love. Then there are some terribly tough decisions about her future and the horrible revelations that gradually unfold. And the story’s not over – there’s a Book 2! This story kept my attention and kept me reading late into the night because I couldn’t find a good spot to stop. It is action-filled and thought-provoking. I recommend this book to readers that enjoy young adult books and those that like dystopian/post-apocalyptic tales as well.

Unforgettable You (Silver Springs, #5) by Brenda Novak

Jada Brooks and Maddox Richardson were high school sweethearts until a tragic accident at a party during their senior year in which her younger brother, Atticus, was paralyzed, tore them apart. He was sent away, out of town, to another school. Jada, left behind, found herself pregnant and an outcast in her own family, blamed for what happened to her brother. Against her family’s wishes, she had the baby, moved to LA on her own, and eventually married someone else.

Now, years later, she is coming home after a sad divorce with ten-year-old Maya by her side. But she’s not the only one returning to Silver Springs. Maddox, a successful school administrator, has been hired by Aiyana Turner at the Silver Springs-based New Horizons Boys Ranch, where he had once been a pupil himself, to open up a new girls’ school.

Unforgettable You is a story with a number of twists. Even after the passing of 11 years, Jada and Maddox are still in love with each other. Her family never liked Maddox, and to complicate matters, it was Maddox’s brother, Tobias, under the influence of drugs, that shot Atticus the night of the party – a party that Jada had taken him to behind her parents’ backs. Jada’s father had recently passed away leaving her mother on her own and trying to support herself and Atticus with the income from a faltering bakery. Maddox and Jada had only been intimate one time and she didn’t know about the pregnancy before Maddox left and because of all the intertwining blame, she never searched him out to let him know that they had had a child.

It is a heartbreaking story but one of forgiveness and second chances. I found it to be a very emotional reading experience and with so many obstacles to overcome I was really rooting for a happily ever after ending. I recommend this book for romance readers that like secret baby stories and second chance romances. Although Unforgettable You is part of the Silver Springs series, it could easily be read and enjoyed on its own.

All Time (All Time, #1) by Mack Leonard

In the year 2397, Miranda Hawking is living with her parents at the Hawking Refuge for Troubled Intelligences, a “retirement” sanctuary for used-up channelers. These synthetic beings, in their prime, had interfaced with the most powerful artificial intelligences that guided the universe and then interpreted their thoughts in a way humans could understand.

Many of the channelers eventually succumbed to the pressures of their responsibilities and, if they were lucky, ended up at the Refuge cared for by Miranda and her loving parents but forbidden from ever contacting their master intelligence again. One such resident is the mysterious (in Miranda’s teenage-crush eyes), Brightside, who had been channeler to the great master intelligence, OMNIUM.

When the Information Police come knocking, Miranda discovers not everything at the sanctuary is as tranquil and mundane as she’d thought. Not only has Brightside been in communication with his old master but her mother is involved in something with him as well.

Helping Brightside to escape, Miranda attempts to find out what is going on. She joins Brightside onboard a subspace ferry and next finds herself face to face with Altrius Prime, the highest political authority in the solar system (and the oldest one), who she prevents from committing suicide by making an unauthorized time jump.

As she disrupts his plans, Miranda herself makes the jump and ends up on a wooded mountainside in the year 1058. No sooner has she gathered her senses from the jump when she is attacked by a warrior from the invading horde known as the Holders of the Chain.

Her rescuer is an apprenticed painter, Friskin York, who along with his master had been on the mountain to capture the magnificent vista. Miranda slowly falls for Friskin as the three travel to find a place of safety from the invasion and search for her parents who tried to follow her during her accidental time jump.

All Time is an engrossing story with great characters and vivid world-building not only of a far future but of the past. There are numerous twists and turns along the way as Miranda tries to understand her new reality and she doesn’t always find herself welcome. There are unresolved issues in this first book that I hope to pursue in subsequent books in the series.

I highly recommend this book for readers that like time travel stories and grand adventures.

Fireside Chat with a Grammar Nazi Serial Killer by Ryan Suvaal

How do you bring yourself to write a review of a story about a reader that murders writers who publish their work without performing the proper due diligence of editing for grammar? That’s just intimidating...

But it is also an entertaining and funny story! Seventeen murders down and now the Grammar Nazi Serial Killer is a guest on Courtney X’s dark web talk show. With its interview style format, author Ryan Suvaal unfolds a thriller of a tale of horror that will also make the “Grammar Nazi” in you laugh out loud (and wonder if maybe it isn’t time to brush up on your own skills.)

I couldn’t possibly give this story fewer than five stars. I wouldn’t dare.

The Lost Boy (The Mutant Rain Origins #5) by L.A. Frederick

The Lost Boy gives us a glimpse into the life of the mutant, Isaac, after he’s escaped the company of Dr. Zhirkov and Darkmore. Hiding out in a series of fleabag hotels in the inner city of New Hampton until the girls in the black garb catch up with him, he’s always on the run.

This night will be no different. After “convincing” the seedy hotel manager of his current flop that he can stay another week without paying, Isaac retrieves his room key and goes to bed. But gunshots from the area of the front desk awaken him and he knows he’s been found again. He escapes from the first set of guards (the girls in black) through the use of his unique “talents” only to be trapped in an alley by Darkmore and more guards from the Newton Street facility.

The Lost Boy will give readers a better understanding of Isaac, a main character in The Mutant Rain series. It’s outstanding, and I have a much better picture of the boy that Isaac was.

This series touches a broad range of reading interests (mystery, urban mystery, mutants, horror, sci-fi, dystopian, urban horror). There is something for almost everyone.

The Fall (The Mutant Rain #2) by L.A. Frederick

Having found safety with a meager number of other survivors from New Hampton in an underground hideaway dubbed The Bunker, the mutants Connor, Reinhardt, Isaac, and Benjamin decide that their small number will be no match for the hordes of zombies or Dr. Zhirkov’s people. One after the other leaves to find more survivors and more mutants to supplement the group.

When they fail to return after 2 days, Aurora and Evaline head to New Hampton to find them leaving behind the weakest of the survivors and, unknown to them, one of Dr. Zhirkov’s secret moles. In the city, they meet up with a small group of survivors led by Detective Benjamin Farrow, Aurora’s former partner on the police force.

Integral to The Fall is the revelation of Dr. Zhirkov’s back story and that of his men, Vitaliy, Dmitri, and Victor. Readers get a much fuller picture of what Dr. Zhirkov is about and a better understanding of the extent of the mutation that is occurring throughout the world.

The Fall continues the highly imaginative and entertaining tale by L.A. Frederick which began in The Rain. Part horror, mystery, AND romance, it is a dystopian story that’s got everything. However, I recommend readers begin with The Rain (The Mutant Rain #1) as well as the Mutant Origins short stories before tackling The Fall.

The Boudoir Butcher (Avon Calling, #11) by Hayley Camille

Our favorite Avon Lady is back!

With Donald Pinzolo in custody awaiting trial, you’d think that life would settle down for Betty Jones, her darling husband, George, and their two children. But this is wartime and George has received his notice to report for induction training and will be leaving soon. Daughter Nancy is coming into her own powers and is pressing her mother to teach her how to use them. NYPD Sergeant (and friend) Jacob Lawrence needs Betty’s help to catch a possible female serial killer. And Betty, herself, is under the scrutiny of the FBI who are trying to figure out just who (or what) she really is, determine how she fits in with numerous criminal schemes around town, and how to exploit her talents.

In this episode, Betty confronts Jacob’s former girlfriend, Adina Sonberg, a key witness in the upcoming case against Pinzolo, to convince her to await her testimony at a safer location than her aging parents’ home, when she suddenly comes face to face with his deadly minions herself.

The Boudoir Butcher is a delightful start to another Betty Jones adventure. There are recurring characters and continuation of the Pinzolo storyline from Season 1 but some fun and interesting new faces as well and an intriguing new serial killer plot is introduced. The city setting and the flawlessly atmospheric 40s timeframe just add to the pleasure.

I highly recommend the entire Avon Calling series but start reading from the beginning with Episode 1 - A Woman’s Work is Never Done for maximum enjoyment.

Angel Blue (Seven Deadly Sins Season 1, Episode 3) by Jennifer Silverwood

Successfully freeing two Cursed prisoners, Odin and Charon, from the torture chamber/dungeon of the House of Gisnu, Anu returns to Wil in the secret, secluded cabin. Exhausted, she falls into his arms. While the intimate night means everything to Wil, the next morning she tells him that she will not be leaving with him but will instead return to the castle and her guardian, Etlu. Anu has always loved Etlu, and her plan is to convince him to run away from it all, and live out their days together. But Etlu has other plans.

Continuing the story where it left off in Episode 2, this installment brings to life the shared history of Anu and Etlu, and really fleshes out some of the other characters especially that of Wil’s sister, Isabol. As the story is presented from multiple points of view, we are able to get a much more solid picture of who they are, how they fit into the story, and their relationships with everyone else.

The plot is slow-building but with constant action as you begin to piece together this world and its history. Silverwood’s writing is vivid and exciting: you can feel the cold of the frigid Canadian north as well as the heat between Anu and Etlu.

This is not a standalone story. I can recommend the entire series so far with each episode read in sequence (and preferably with not a lot of time lag in between the reading of each!)

Before We Were Strangers by Brenda Novak

Supermodel Sloane McBride returns to her small Central Texas hometown of Millcreek to personally discover what really happened 23 years ago when her mother disappeared without a trace. At the time, the police investigation – or what passed for it – blithely accepted her father’s story that Clara McBride had just walked away from the house and marriage in the dead of night probably to join the secret lover with whom she was having an affair. But Sloane, then five, had been home that night and awake, and had heard the final altercation between her parents.

As she’d grown, Sloane relived that night over and over in her mind, and based on those memories always secretly feared that her father had murdered and hidden her mother’s body. As soon as high school graduation was over, Sloane had fled town without a word to anyone including Micah, the boy she’d been going with, and her best friend, Paige.

Sloane had gone to New York City and, luckily for her, was discovered by a kind and honest agent who launched her into a highly successful modeling career. Now at loose ends after her beloved mentor’s death, Sloane is going back home for the first time in 10 years to ferret out the truth of the night her mother disappeared.

Sloane walked out without a word on the four most important people in her life: her father, her brother, her boyfriend, and her best friend – and must confront those relationships when she’s back in town. Her father and brother believe she’s back to ruin her father, now the town’s mayor, with her suspicions. Complicating matters, Micah and Paige had gotten together after her abrupt departure, had a child, and had only recently divorced.

With Micah now a police officer in town, and her father and brother both trying to block her probing into the past, Before We Were Strangers is tense, exciting, and provides a satisfying number of twists and turns. Part mystery, part thriller, part second-chance romance, author Brenda Novak has created an engrossing novel of what happened and who done it. Readers should be entertained!

Japanese Robots Love To Dance by Margret A. Treiber

Japanese Robots Love To Dance is a collection of seven stories centered mostly around attorney Gabe Siegel, legal defender of the poor, downtrodden, and mechanical members of society set some time in the future.

Gary, the scion of a wealthy political family, rejected the privileged life laid out for him in order to practice in various legal aid offices, at first in an effort to tweak the nose of his politically-connected father. However, as time passed, the challenge of the cases and a soft spot for his clients, both human and AIs, kept him at it.

Along the way, he was disbarred, changed his name to Gary Legal, and opened his own private law office. The collection explains Gary’s backstory and those of his clients and are quite entertaining. They also explore some thought-provoking situations dealing with artificial intelligence.

It is a very pleasant reading experience despite some typos overlooked during the editing process. I very much recommend this book to readers that enjoy light science fiction or maybe crime stories.

Babble (The Cosmic Conspiracy #1) by Orrin Jason Bradford

Angela and Brian Cagle were happy. An unlikely match, they had worked hard to make their marriage work, and when Bobbie was born, their happiness just expanded.

As Bobbie grows, he begins to exhibit some unusual traits. As an infant and toddler, he doesn’t develop speech as expected but babbles in an extraordinary way that the members of the Cagles’ charismatic church family claim is “speaking in tongues.” But the babbling doesn’t fit the known patterns for it to be glossolalia. Too, the boy doesn’t engage with others at all but has spells that come over him in which he repeatedly builds towers out of bits and pieces he finds at hand.

Against Brian’s wishes, Angie takes the boy to the nearby university medical research hospital to try and determine why their son is the way his is. But when Homeland Security takes an inexplicable interest in Bobbie, too, Angela grabs the boy and flees leaving Brian and everyone she knows and loves behind.

Now, after a decade on the run, they are closing in and Bobbie’s father is with them. As Bobbie approaches his sixteenth birthday, things are starting to come together, leading them to a mysterious location in the West Virginia mountains.

This story is definitely not over! The action was fast and tense and as much as Angie is in the dark about what is going on with her son, the reader is as well. Is the human race ready to evolve to a new level? Are aliens guiding our development? Is it God’s plan? The story is well written, entertaining, and fresh. Recommended for a variety of readers because this is a thriller, a mystery, and an epic scifi tale!

Go On, Girl by Hilary Grossman

Food import company executive Sydney Clayton and her husband, Craig, have lived comfortably in the exclusive community of Forest River for 15 years. They had found the house of their dreams and renovated it bit by bit until it was perfect. Their only child, Amanda, was born there but with a two hour one-way commute each day they may be ready for a move closer to work and family. After all, with their schedules, they haven’t made close friends in the community until a blow up among the school moms guilts Sydney into becoming the PTA Treasurer.

As Sydney becomes more and more a part of the PTA moms, and an appealing young couple considers the unimaginably high price Craig has set on the house, the Clayton’s already tough decision to stay or relocate becomes harder and harder.

Grossman has written a fun novel set in a small community where everyone knows everyone else’s business, the sharing of which escalates via the marvel of social media. It was entertaining to watch as Sydney is drawn into the drama that develops over the school year and her building relationship with the other moms especially with Jackie Martin, the local Queen B. First impressions are not always the truth of the matter. Sydney’s internal struggling with how much she should try and protect or insulate her daughter as she grows up may hit a chord with some readers, too. Although Sydney is the focus of Go On, Girl, the secondary characters shine as well. Recommended for readers of contemporary stories of family life.

Angel Blue, Episode 2 (Seven Deadly Sins #1) by Jennifer Silverwood

In Angel Blue, Episode 2 of author Jennifer Silverwood’s paranormal series, Seven Deadly Sins, Anu, the last of the House of Eanna and a princess of the “Chosen” has rescued the sexy seeker, Wil, from the redum and certain death and has secreted him away in a human cabin to heal from his wounds. Wil’s sister, Izzie (Isabol) also escapes from the attack and returns to their home base with the shades to report what has happened to their leader, Gabriel. Leaving Wil with the means to get back on his feet and back to his people, Anu returns to the home of Lady Tiamata, the House of Gisnu, where they are awaiting the arrival of Malku, the self-appointed leader of the “Chosen” and the man Anu was betrothed at birth to wed. But Anu is in love with her guardian, Etlu, and the failed attack was only a first skirmish by Gabriel; he has no intention of giving up.

This is a just a downright good story. I enjoy all the characters and I’m really ready to find out what happens next. The writing is excellent, the characters compelling, the plot engrossing, and the episodic nature of the books unfolding has me drumming my fingers … waiting.

Earth Quarantined (Earth Quarantined #1) by D. L. Richardson

Earth’s population was being decimated by the EMB-II virus when the alien Criterion arrived. They averted the catastrophe, but humanity’s salvation came at a cost: the aliens stayed. At first, they stayed to assist in rebuilding and, later, the maintenance of peace among the population. For hundreds of years, the Criterion advocates have remained to guide Earth’s leaders in governing with the promise of the gift of space travel in the future.

Another consequence of the Criterion assistance was population control. The surviving human population must not outstrip the limited food and water resources the damaged planet could provide. Human female fertility is inhibited by bio-nano-probes carrying a fertility inhibitor chip which can only be unlocked by the Criterion advocates. Then when fertility is granted to a woman, only one child is allowed. Multiple births are interrupted in utero.

However, early in the Criterion occupation, a system for advancing the rebuilding efforts as well as saving these twins was developed and kept far away from the prying eyes of the advocates. Secret underground cities were established to work on a specific need or project element all geared toward getting humans off the Earth and into space. And when a twin was born, this forbidden second child was taken from its mother and smuggled into the underground hideaway to be raised and become a part of that community completely unaware of what was going on in the cities on the surface.

Unaware, that is, until one set of twins comes face to face.

This is the first volume in a new sci-fi trilogy by D.L. Richardson, the author of the exciting Welcome to the Apocalypse series. Well written, the story reveals a future Earth with a terrifying backstory. The characters are interesting and relatable, and are involved in a twisty, turny tale with lots to keep the reader invested and guessing at what’s going to happen next. I look forward to the next installment, Earth Arrested, which certainly cannot come soon enough.

Time Crawlers by Vayun Sayal

Time Crawlers is a collection of six interesting, entertaining, and different stories based in a variety of familiar (yet unfamiliar) settings and time periods on Earth. Each and every one of the stories is a winner! They can be read one at a time, quickly, between tasks or savored as a whole in one sitting.

Several of the stories use an interview-style format which proves very entertaining. The title tale, Time Crawlers, is presented in this way. Others are a straightforward telling.

The first third of the book is Nark-Astra, a tale of magical revenge, intervention, and redemption between opposing kings. (I love the names Sayal has used for his characters. For me, they are quite exotic and intriguing. I like discovering how they are pronounced.)

As mentioned earlier, the stories are set in various time periods, some in distant future times with technology advanced beyond what we generally know today. Others, like Genie are a modern day encounter with a genie and her lamp. Quite fun!

I recommend this book for readers that enjoy the short story format featuring science fiction and fantasy with a twist! I will definitely be looking for more tales from Mr. Varun Sayal.

Murder in the Apple Orchard (Pet Portraits Cozy Mystery, #9) by Sandi Scott

You can almost smell the apples and pumpkin spice!

Fall has come to the area and the Kaye sisters, Georgie and Aleta, make a trip to an apple-picking farm. As select apples and chat about Halloween costume ideas, the body of a young man is discovered hanging in the barn. He is Tony Beaumont, the fiancé of Veronica Slute, the daughter of the owner of the farm, Xabat Slute.

Although it appears a suicide, Georgie’s ex-husband, Detective Stan Toon of the Chicago Police Department is requested by the small local department to help in the proper investigation of the death. But Georgie notices some suspicious marks on the body and is convinced Tony was murdered. That and Maggie Hoffentop, a new crime scene photographer that is being a little too possessive of Stan’s attention keep the sisters on the hand to keep an eye on things.

Murder in the Apple Orchard is another cute and cozy mystery in the Pet Portraits Mystery series by Sandi Scott. As with all the books in the series, the dialogue is snappy and the characters sassy and fun. The mysteries will not strain your brain, just entertain. I recommend this book and this series to the cozy mystery lover and those that appreciate an amateur sleuth of a more mature age and outlook.

Creatures of the Night (The Horror Diaries #11 – 15) by Heather Beck

This was my introduction to the short scary world of Heather Beck and it was fun. This particular collection of spooky tales is part of her Horror Diaries series currently consisting of 24 horror stories for the middle grade age group.

Each of the stories featured here were scary but not too horrific for the younger set. Each one featured a different creature and regular people dealing with the unnatural circumstances. I can easily see me pulling these stories out in the future to read aloud to grandchildren having a sleepover.

Other reviewers have compared them to the R.L. Stine books from their own youth or that of their children and although I agree, with each coming in at under 50 pages, I think they would have been more attractive to my reluctant (or too busy) readers in the family than the longer Goosebumps.

I recommend these stories for the middle grade age group and parents who, like me, had a reader in the family that needed coaxing to complete their reading. I personally enjoyed reading one a night leading up to Halloween and have already sought out an additional handful to read in the future (Halloween or not!)

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.

Murder at the Bonfire by Sandi Scott

In lieu of payment for the portrait of a majestic Great Dane, Georgie Kaye gets an all-expenses paid weekend at a nature preserve and resort outside of Chicago. Renown for its maple ice cream, Georgie and sister, Aleta, pack up her aging Volkswagen, Pablo, and head off for some fresh air and a change of scenery.

While scoping out the dessert offerings at the lodge, the sisters observe the resort manager, Joyce Reid, publicly and unmercifully dressing down Merv, the maintenance man. Afterwards they find out from hunky Park Ranger Luke Holt that Merv has been at the resort for over 20 years but has had a hard time coping since his wife passed away.

When Joyce’s body is discovered floating face down in the lake, the sisters learn that there isn’t a single staff member mourning her death. With hints of satanic goings-on in the woods and an attack on Aleta herself, the sisters, Georgie’s ex-husband Stan, and Ranger Luke (Aleta’s new beau) join forces to find the killer.

In this eighth entry in Scott’s Pet Portraits cozy mystery series, Murder at the Bonfire focuses a little more attention on the relationships of the sisters rather than the build up and eventual solution of the murder. Georgie continues to struggle with her feelings for ex-husband, Stan, who left her in the lurch with children still at home when he went midlife crazy. She loves him but she’s still not over the hurt and memories of that betrayal. On the other hand, Aleta is starting to look forward rather than remaining sunk in a pleasant past and memories of her long and comfortable life with her deceased husband, William. The murder mystery is simple and straightforward. New characters and settings help in advancing this charming sisters’ story.

Recommended for cozy mystery readers and those that enjoy reading stories with older, but not necessarily elderly, protagonists figuring out what’s what.

The Sigma Surrogate (When Tomorrow Calls) by J.T. Lawrence

The Sigma Surrogate is actually the kick-off to J.T. Lawrence’s When Tomorrow Calls series set in a not-to-distant-future Johannesburg, South Africa. Birth rates have dwindled to a point where only very young women are capable of conceiving. Girls deemed the best of the best are recruited into the Surrogate Sisters, a cloistered group that produces offspring to keep the human race from eventual extinction.

Keke is a journalist working for the Echo newspaper still yearning for her big break – that career-making big story. She believes she’s finally found it when she receives an anonymous tip that of the Surrogate Sisters has been attacked and almost killed by a bomb planted inside their ultra-high security compound. And after meeting the young, injured SurroSister identified only as “Sigma,” she is determined to investigate what happened, uncover the truth about who would hurt the young woman, and, of course, break the story of a lifetime.

Along with her best friend, Kirsten, Keke calls upon her numerous high-tech (and underground) resources to get to the truth. However, what she uncovers goes much farther than she imagined and endangers everyone involved with her.

Such a good story with a strange and wonderfully dystopian world created to serve as the backdrop for all the action, intrigue, and romance. The characters are fun and well developed and the action is continuous in this futuristic setting. This story made me go immediately to look for more in the series.

Feed 1 (Fooko #1) by Nicole Grotepas

Originally imagined and developed to let the blind see, tiny, wireless cameras now roam the spaces and the lives of the residents of the U.S. filming lives and movements and broadcasting it all online for anyone to watch. The cameras’ inventor, Sam Ramone, had expanded the functionality from the medical arena to this total invasion of everyday life after massive home-grown terrorist attacks had been launched targeting thousands including his own children. Now, no one would ever be able to plan or execute such a threat again. However, Ramone never intended, nor imagined, the total invasion and televised results all in the name of entertainment. People were addicted to ‘the feeds’ as they were called: both appearing in them and viewing them. And now Ramone has had enough. But even as he works to undo the damage he made possible, he’s being watched himself.

In Feed 1, the first book in the Fooko series, author Nicole Grotepas has created a future U.S. where everyone is under constant scrutiny, and anyone can become ‘a star.’ Some watch ‘the feeds’ and vicariously share the lives of others. Some crave the attention of the viewers at the other end of ‘the feed’ and change their actions and their lives just to up the number of people following them. The story is peopled with regular characters that are feeling the pressure of the impact of ‘the feeds.’ But there are forces at work to keep the new status quo in place.

This story is highly recommended for sci-fi readers and anyone that has ever found themselves lost down a YouTube rabbit hole for an untold amount of time.

Angel Blue by Jennifer Silverwood

In Angel Blue, Episode One of author Jennifer Silverwood’s new paranormal series, Seven Deadly Sins, we are introduced to Anu, the last of the House of Eanna and a princess of the “Chosen” as she celebrates her ‘20th’ birthday at some human dive bar (she's actually around 1200 human years old.) She meets, dances, and shares a smoldering interlude with sexy Wil of the emerald-flecked eyes and broad shoulders. This does not end well when his companion, Izzie, discovers them and we find out that neither she nor Wil are human either. They are the “Cursed” – creatures that centuries before had murdered all the members of the House of Eanna and burned their castle to the ground – and they are hunting Anu as well. The dive bar burns, trapping many of its occupants inside. Anu and her guardian, Etlu, escape but are soon tracked down and surrounded by Wil, Izzie, and the rest of his group. They fend off their attackers and return to the home of Lady Tiamata, the House of Gisnu, where they are awaiting the arrival of Malku, the self-appointed leader of the “Chosen” and the man Anu is to wed. Betrothed at birth, Anu is not in favor of the union. Malku is known as a cruel man and she has loved Etlu for years. She plots to escape the House of Gisnu and persuade the honorable Etlu to run away with her. However, the “Cursed” ones are not done. The attack at the bar was only a single skirmish in a much more elaborate and longer developing plan to wipe the “Chosen” out entirely.

I enjoyed all the characters introduced so far especially Anu, Etlu, and Wil, and will most definitely be looking for Devil Red, Episode Two to find out what happens next. I am still in the dark as to who or what the “Chosen” are and the back story remains shadowy for me. The “Cursed” seem to be werewolves of “shifters” of some kind. I am willing to keep reading under the ambiguity because I’ve enjoyed this author’s previous work, but it’s not comfortable, and this may not be for every reader of fantasy out there. But the writing is SO GOOD, the characters so compelling, and the plot keeps slowly unfolding, and for now, I’m happy.

Chasing Filthy Lucre by Jarrett Rush

Dirty, edgy, and lots of action!

In a grim future America, one company, RomaCorp, provides all goods and services to the city of New Eden. The city had become what it was after a bunch of young idealists had taken over the in-situ government with theories that sounded good on paper but, in practice, failed after a mere eighteen months. The leaders of New Eden had come on television one day and said everyone was just “on their own.” Now the population of the city was scraping by in a dirty existence to fund their next hookup to “the wire.”

Weber Rexall had been a soldier and then a cop when the collapse happened. Now he eked out a living doing exhibition fights where sometimes he played the part of the winner, sometimes the loser. Tonight he’s paired against Johnny “The Kid” Berger, and is scheduled to be the victor.

Between his appearances in Raul’s basement fight ring, Rexall sidelines as a bodyguard for a data runner named Carroll. Carroll’s shop downloads critical or sensitive data into human data runners, and Rexall escorts them to the recipient of the data where it is uploaded and removed from the human carrier, a financially beneficial exchange for both the runner and the escort.

Rexall, impressed with Berger’s skills, includes him in this lucrative endeavor, but their very first job doesn’t go well, leaving the data runner dead, Carroll near death, and his shop destroyed by RomaCorp. With the help of a Serve-O named Simmer Jones, Rexall and Berger set out to make things right. Or at least as right as they can.

Clocking in at a little over 100 pages, Jarrett Rush packs a lot of awesomeness into Chasing Filthy Lucre, this first story in the New Eden series. I loved the noir styling, the dark, itchy setting, and the characters that combine to tell a really good story. This is recommended for readers that like dystopian, urban storylines with all the grit and dirt and unsettling edginess.

The Girl in the City by Philip Harris

What an exciting kick-off to this series! And what a cliffhanger!

By night, Leah King scavenges through the backways of her city and the surrounding wastelands for items that her father can trade for food, clothing, and other essentials. After one such foray, she finds herself in the middle of an attack on a young man by the Transport Authority (the city’s governing and enforcement entity.) As he lays dying, the young man pushes the leather bag he’s carrying toward Leah with a whispered “Please …” for her to take it.

Hoping for some good salvage, Leah takes it to her father. But when they open it, they find only one item – a green rectangular object resembling a circuit board encased entirely in clear plastic and marked with strange symbols. An exhausted Leah retreats to her bed, but before she can fall asleep, she overhears her father talking to someone on the phone and leave the house.

Later, when he has still not returned, she slips out to try and find something she can salvage. She is caught stealing from the food wagon of an old Amish man who instead of turning her over to the Transport Authority officials urges her to keep the food and tells her where he can be found while he’s in the city should she get into any trouble.

She returns home to find it being ransacked by Transport Authority and her father, in their custody, being questioned and accused of being a member of TRACE, the terrorist organization currently fighting the Transport Authority. From what she overhears from the Transport Authority leader, Leah surmises they are looking for the strange object she’d gotten earlier.

When everyone leaves, she removes it to her secret hiding place located in the tunnels beneath the city, evading a scarred-faced woman who doggedly tried to follow her as she made her way through the neighborhoods, market, and back alleys to her destination. Desperate to free her father from the Transport Authority, she goes to the temporary lodgings of the old Amish man where she learns the significance and purpose of the strange object.

This introductory story by Philip Harris is an exciting setup for his Leah King series. Though short, a lot of ground is covered in building Leah’s world and the characters that populate it. It is dark and gritty, and filled with shadows, intrigue, and danger starting with Leah running for her life in the very first scene. I’m really looking forward to reading the next book in the series, The Girl in the Wilderness. This book is recommended for those that like young adult post-apocalyptic/dystopian tales.

The Bottle Stopper by Angeline Trevena

When Maeve was six years old, her mother was taken away by the authorities for crimes against the state. Since that time she lived with her Uncle Lou, a horrible, abusive man that runs a sham of an apothecary. Maeve’s job is to scavenge old bottles from the nooks and crannies and alleyways of the “The Floor,” the poorest slum of the city of Falside where they live, and fill them with medicine to sell in the shop. In reality, the “medicine” is the polluted water from the local river and a sprig of whatever plant material she has gathered. It is a grinding existence until Topley and her loving parents open the bakery next door.

Topley’s family gives Maeve a vision of another life that she, too, can have once she turns 18 leaves Uncle Lou. But when Topley suddenly falls ill and her desperate mother resorts to some of Uncle Lou’s medicine, Maeve’s dream of a better life changes to one of revenge.

Maeve’s world of Falside is grim and bleak where women are restricted and controlled and viewed as property. The birth of female children has, unaccountably, become a rare occurrence, and leaving Falside is viewed as treasonous and punishable by death. But there is a glimmer of revolution here and there such as in “The Paper Duchess,” an old bookstore off the beaten path, where Denver, Kerise, and Tale try to discover what happened to Maeve’s mother.

The Bottle Stopper is a dark and well-developed beginning to The Paper Duchess series. It is recommended for readers that enjoy dystopian tales and those with similarities to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

Murder at the Pool Party by Sandi Scott

Twin sisters, Georgie and Aleta Kaye, are involved in another mysterious death!

After a less than perfect date with her friend, Obby, Georgie decides to expand her circle of acquaintances by joining an online singles group, Excellent Over 50. As it happens, the group is planning a pool party for the following day at one of the founding member’s gorgeous Winnetka home. Georgie drags Aleta along to broaden her horizons as well. The party is lovely with champagne, swimming, and an awesome lunch which includes a 20-foot long sweets table.

While there the sisters meet some interesting new people and observe a little drama-in-the-making when one of the older men shows up with a 20-something date who is looking daggers at one their new friends, Maren Ingrid. After the meal begins, they see Maren and the older man slip upstairs together away from the rest of the party. Maren returns a short while later feeling ill so the hostess, Beth Bonomolo, calls for an ambulance. Beth receives word later that Maren died at the hospital. So, the sisters are once again at the scene of a mysterious death and Georgie is compelled to find out what is behind it.

I love this series. It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s simply fun. Georgie doggedly works her way through the murders and attempts to find a balance in her relationships with her ex-husband, Stan, and friends such as Obby. As with the previous books, the settings the author presents are interesting and comfortable at the same time. The dialogue between the two sisters continues to be snappy and entertaining. This book is recommended for readers of cozy mysteries, especially those that enjoy later-in-life protagonists.

A Curve in the Road by Julianne MacLean

Abbie had a premonition that something bad was about to happen.

Dr. Abbie MacIntyre has just started the hour-long drive back home after Sunday dinner with her widowed mother when a car crosses the center median of the highway careening into Abbie’s SUV and sending it off road, rolling over and over until landing in the bottom of a ravine. She is successfully extracted from the wreckage and transported to the nearest medical facility suffering a minor head wound. The driver of the other vehicle, reeking of alcohol, is in the same unit and in far worse condition awaiting airlift to a proper trauma hospital.

Abbie’s mother comes to her daughter’s side and both repeatedly attempt to contact Abbie’s husband, Dr. Alan Sedgewick, to notify him of the accident. (Abbie was supposed to have met him that evening at their son’s hockey game.) They are unsuccessful until emergency workers deliver the personal items of the drivers retrieved from the accident site to the hospital and Alan’s cellphone is discovered among the detritus. To everyone’s shock and horror, the drunk driver is Abbie’s own husband!

This is just the beginning of A Curve in the Road by Julianne MacLean. Once I started reading this book I didn’t want to put it down. The story is emotional and full of surprises as family relationships and secrets are revealed in the aftermath of the accident. Abbie’s perfectly normal life will never be the same again as the answers to how and why her loving, cardiologist husband who rarely drank even a glass of wine was driving drunk and was not headed to their son’s hockey game. This book is recommended to readers that enjoy a contemporary setting with romantic plotlines of betrayal, forgiveness, and second chances.

OH, and it features an awesome golden retriever as well.

Silver Hollow: 2018 Edition (Borderlands Saga #1) by Jennifer Silverwood

Amie Wentworth buried her beloved parents ten years ago and in the ensuing time had built a life and a growing career as a novelist. Returning home one evening from a welcome home party for one of her best friends, she’s attacked and fatally stabbed by a man who’d been lurking in the darkness by her doorway. She’s rescued and miraculously healed by a mysterious, dark stranger she’d seen lurking around town that day who then fades away into the shadows.

The following day, she leaves town without a word to her friends to travel to Wenderdowne, her ancestral home in England at the request of her Uncle Henry, a man she’s never met and whose invitation and traveling preparations had conveniently arrived, unbidden, the previous day.

During the train trip from London to Wenderdowne, she is once again attacked but makes her escape with the help of Emrys, the same man who had saved her before.

Finally reaching her uncle’s home, a dark and crumbling estate in the middle of nowhere, she discovers that her life back in East Texas had been one elaborate lie. She had been taken away as a small child from her rightful place in the family by Durstan, her father, and “glamoured” into forgetting her previous life and believing the new, made-up one, to save her life from those that wished her dead.

Wenderdowne is located in Silver Hollow is a different world, an alternate world from the one she’s known for the past 20-something years. Magic and magical creatures exist, and Amie must uncover her own magical powers with little help from those around her. Confused, somewhat homesick, and not know who to trust, Amie struggles to come to grips with her life. Information comes at a decidedly slow pace. However, when she and Emrys slip away from Wenderdowne for what was to have been a quiet day out, Amie starts to regain her memories as she encounters other people and places from her past. And then things really start to happen.

I really enjoyed the mix of modern, fantasy, and myths that the author has woven together to create Silver Hollow and the Borderlands. Amie is a likeable heroine and Emrys is dark and sexy and mysterious. I loved her grandfather, Arthur. And was emotionally shocked over Brillig Toadstool. I have not read many stories involving King Arthur or Merlin nor those involving mythical creatures such as unicorns, so their appearances were a surprise and delightful in how they were presented: new to me and very entertaining.

I recommend this book to readers of fantasy that is mixed with ancient myths and those that enjoy romance in their fantasies as well. This is the first book in the Borderlands Saga and I now look forward to the next one.

Strange Tidings by Jim Stein

After the C-12 virus struck, surviving humans were left to cluster into crumbling populations center such as New Philadelphia and slowly try to regroup into some semblance of life. Recovery was hampered by the discovery that many of the survivors were no longer capable of having children; only a few families had retained the ability to procreate. Those that could reproduce did and allowed some of their babies to be adopted by couples that could not.

Among the babies that were adopted out is Edan Johnson and his “sister,” Piper. Brought up in New Philadelphia, “Ed” is an aspiring musician and through a connection of his sister’s, he has landed his dream job at the local recording studio where he works with station engineer, Billy. One evening after the day’s business, Ed is using the station equipment to produce his own recording when he is interrupted by an odd, old man named Koko. Ed had previously encountered him at the farmers market across town and had received a strange coin from him. Additional sightings over the next couple of days, both in person and in dreams, finally reveals that Koko holds a significant place in Ed’s past and future.

Billy, too, has dreams. He’s a member of an up-and-coming band that is on the verge of making a name for themselves and possibly revitalizing the lost music industry. When Ed goes to hear the band play for the first time, he is drawn to their mysterious and complicated bass player, Quinn.

Strange Tidings is the first book in author, Jim Stein’s, Legends Walk series. The storyline is complex creating an entire world of post-virus America. I found it to be exciting and fresh in its use of native American mythology to draw in a paranormal cast of characters (which was new to me.) The complexity of the initial world-building provides several intriguing options for additional books to come. I highly recommend to readers that like young adult, paranormal thrillers, and native American legend tales incorporated into modern times.

Lost and Found by Ashley Ford

Naima is a succubus, and she is fleeing for her life through heavily wooded terrain when her pursuers are attacked by a large wolf. Bryce, one of her attackers and the group’s leader, escapes and hides out in a nearby barn to recuperate briefly before going after her again. He is hunting Naima to avenge his brother’s death at her hands. The brother had become obsessed with the succubus, kidnapped and held her captive, until she accidentally absorbed his entire life energy when he’d attempted to sexually assault her.

Following the wolf to safety in a secluded cabin, she meets the grief-ridden occupant, a shapeshifter named Gage. He is the wolf and has hidden himself away in the woods suffering from the loss of his mate, Alicia, the year before in a car accident.

The story of Lost and Found is about these two lost people finding each other and healing together. There is instantaneous attraction between the two which both fight making for some nice tension and wonder on the part of the reader – “Will they overcome their problems or not?” The story contains somewhat graphic sexual situations, but I thought they were well done.

This novella is recommended for readers that enjoy paranormal romances, shapeshifter stories, wolf pack tales, and something a little different – a succubus.