Thursday, May 29, 2025

Review: South of Nowhere by Jeffrey Deaver

 

South of Nowhere (Colter Shaw #5) by Jeffrey Deaver
Publication Date: May 6th 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons
Pages: 414
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½
Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:
Colter Shaw is a “reward-seeker” traveling all over to find missing persons or things and then collects the reward money when successful. His unusual upbringing by a paranoid survivalist father prepared him for a multitude of dangerous situations, which makes him good at his job.
 
Colter gets called out, by his sister Dorian, to Northern California when a levee starts to wash out and threatens the small town of Hinowah. Dorian, a disaster specialist, was already close by when she heard what happened and offered to help since the town leaders didn’t seem equipped to handle a situation of this magnitude. Is the impending collapse the result of poor construction or something more sinister?
 
There’s also the mystery of a woman asking to find the location of the Shaw’s family compound and Colter finds some disturbing information while searching through his father’s papers.
 
South of Nowhere was a thrilling, action-packed story with several riveting subplots and I was hooked from the start! A few revelations took me by surprise.
 
Even though I’ve only read the prequel novella, Captivated in this series, I feel like you could read South of Nowhere as a standalone.  I did watch a few episodes of Tracker, which are based on these books. I’ll be adding the previous installments to my TBR since I enjoyed this one so much.

4.5 Stars


Book Description:

The New York Times bestselling master of suspense returns to his beloved series, adapted for TV (CBS's Tracker, starring Justin Hartley) as reward seeker Colter Shaw races against the clock to save a flooding town from a full-fledged disaster, where the culprit lurks in the plain sight.

When a levee collapses in Hinowah, a small town in Northern California, Colter Shaw is brought on by his sister, Dorion, a disaster response specialist, to help locate a family swept away by the raging water, with mere hours to survive. 

But after a surprise attack along the river obstructs Colter's urgent search, the siblings are forced to consider a new Is the levee at risk of failing from natural causes, or is someone sabotaging it? Colter and Dorion must race against a ticking clock to uncover the truth and save the citizens before the village washes out completely, destroying everything and everyone in its path.



Friday, May 23, 2025

Review: Death at the Highland Loch by Lydia Travers

 
Death at the Highland Loch by Lydia Travers

Death at the Highland Loch (Lady Poppy Proudfoot #1) by Lydia Travers
Publication Date: May 19th 2025 by Bookouture
Pages: 350
Audio Book Length: 9hrs 21mins
Narrator: Sarah Barron
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

My Thoughts:
Lady Poppy Proudfoot is at a midsummer party/stay at Lady Constance Balfour’s house in the Scottish Highlands. There’s a varied collection of guests at the estate, an American film producer and an actress, as well as Lady Balfour’s brother and wife. When a body is discovered on the property several of the guests brush it off as an accident, but it soon becomes apparent that it’s murder.  
 
Poppy decides she’d like to try and put her law degree to use and help solve the murder, much to the dismay of Detective McKenzie the man assigned to the case. Poppy’s also asked by Lady Balfour to discreetly track down a bracelet bought by her late husband that she’s unable to locate.
 
Death at the Highland Loch was a light cozy mystery with Poppy intent on solving both mysteries. She tries to be methodical in her approach, but it’s apparent she’s very green. I admired her determination and pluck, even if it stretched believability. Detective McKenzie humored Poppy’s attempts at detecting which I found a bit unrealistic, but it made for an entertaining way to see these two spark off of each other and lay the foundation for a potential romance.
 
I alternately listened to and read an audio and e-copy of Death at the Highland Loch. I thought Sarah Barron did well with the various accents, but she dragged out words making some of the characters sound a bit overly dramatic, IMO. Still, it was an enjoyable listen. 

3.5 Stars


Book Description:

Move over, Inspector! Lady Poppy Proudfoot is here to solve her very first case.

Scotland, 1924: When Lady Poppy Proudfoot travels to the Highlands for a midsummer party, the last thing she and her fellow guests expect is for a body to wash up beside the loch.

Despite protests that it could have been an accident, Poppy is convinced it’s murder and decides to dust off her law degree and hunt for clues. But when the police arrive, the grumpy Inspector MacKenzie dismisses her evidence, insisting a crime scene is no place for a Lady. The nerve!

With the help of her trusted Labrador, Major, Poppy begins to unpick the case. But she soon has two mysteries to solve, as her host Lady Constance Balfour claims a diamond and emerald bracelet has been stolen. Could the two cases be linked? Was it Freddy the footman, a favourite of her ladyship? Or American actress Miss Cornett, with a keen eye for jewels? Or with such a dazzling guestlist, was someone from the local village tempted into the grounds by the party?

When a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to Poppy is attacked, she realizes that someone wants her off the case. Someone connected to Balfour House is a murderer and a thief, but who? And can Poppy solve the mystery before she, too, washes up beside the loch?

A warm, unputdownable page-turning historical whodunnit, perfect for fans of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright, T.E. Kinsey and Catherine Coles.


Author Bio:

 

Lydia Travers was born in London.  She moved progressively north until settling with her husband in a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. She has raised children, bred dogs and kept chickens; and for as long as she can remember has written for pleasure. A former legal academic and practitioner with a PhD in criminology, she now runs self-catering holiday accommodation, sings in a local choir and is walked daily by the family dog.


Lydia also writes as Linda Tyler and her first novel under that name, Revenge of the Spanish Princess, won a 2018 Romance Writers of America competition for the beginning of an historical romance. Her second novel The Laird's Secret was Commended in the 2021 Scottish Association of Writers' Pitlochry Quaich competition for the beginning of a romantic novel. Mischief in Midlothian won the 2022 Scottish Association of Writers' Constable Silver Stag trophy. She has had a number of short stories published in magazines, journals and anthologies in the UK, the USA and Australia.


Connect with Lydia Travers:




Thursday, May 22, 2025

Review: Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong

 
Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong

Death at a Highland Wedding (A Rip Through Time #4) by Kelley Armstrong
Publication Date: May 20th 2025 by Minotaur Books & Macmillan Audio
Pages: 336
Audio Book Length: 14hrs 27min
Narrator: Kate Handford
Source: Publishers
Rating: ½
Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo Librofm Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:
Death at a Highland Wedding is the fourth installment in an excellent mystery/time travel series best read in order.
 
Detective Mallory Atkinson was attacked in modern day Scotland and somehow switched bodies with a housemaid Catriona Mitchell living in Victorian Scotland 150 years earlier. She’s become friends with Duncan Gray and his sister Isla and now works with Duncan, an undertaker/doctor who performs autopsies for the police. There’s a slow-burn (very slow) romance brewing there.
 
Mallory, Duncan, Isla and Detective Hugh McCreadie travel out to the Scottish Highlands for Hugh’s sister’s wedding. There is some conflict with the gamekeeper of the estate which comes to a head when a wild cat is found in one of his set traps. The situation goes from bad to worse when one of the guests is found murdered out on the grounds. Duncan, Mallory and Hugh offer to help the inexperienced Constable Ross, but he’s set on solving the case himself.
 
This was a mystery with a lot of layers! I was fully invested as Mallory, Duncan and Hugh go about their own investigation, employing what they can of the limited forensic sciences available that Mallory has shared. A lot of the investigation comes down to interviewing the people involved and getting to the heart of why the murder was committed. It’s an engrossing process, but the relationships between the regular and new characters are an ongoing draw, especially as we learn more of the reoccurring characters’ histories.
 
This mystery wraps up, but Duncan and Mallory will have to decide how to handle a new development that will impact their situation in the future. It’s a good development, and one I was hoping for.  I eagerly await the next installment!
 
I alternately read and listened to an e-copy and audio version. I’ve enjoyed Kate Handford’s narration in the series. I think she does an excellent job with the Scottish accents and performs both male and female voices wonderfully!

4.5 Stars


Book Description:

Death at a Highland Wedding is the fourth installment in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's gripping Rip Through Time Novels.

After slipping 150 years into the past, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson has embraced her new life in Victorian Scotland as housemaid Catriona Mitchel. Although it isn’t what she expected, she's developed real, meaningful relationships with the people around her and has come to love her role as assistant to undertaker Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie.

Mallory, Gray, and McCreadie are on their way to the Scottish Highlands for McCreadie's younger sister's wedding. The McCreadies and the groom’s family, the Cranstons, have a complicated history which has made the weekend quite uncomfortable. But the Cranston estate is beautiful so Gray and Mallory decide to escape the stifling company and set off to explore the castle and surrounding wilderness. They discover that the groom, Archie Cranston, a slightly pompous and prickly man, has set up deadly traps in the woods for the endangered Scottish wildcats, and they soon come across a cat who's been caught and severely injured. Oddly, Mallory notices the cat's injuries don't match up with the intricacies of the trap. These strange irregularities, combined with the secretive and erratic behavior of the groom, put Mallory and Duncan on edge. And then when one of the guests is murdered, they must work fast to uncover the murderer before another life is lost.

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s unique time travel mystery series continues to entertain as Mallory adjusts to life in the 1870s.


Sunday, May 18, 2025

Sunday Post #294

 


The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

I skipped last week because early Sunday a dear friend of ours died unexpectedly and we were heartbroken. It was sudden and unexpected and my husband and I were shocked. We had just seen our friend at the wedding a few weeks back in Las Vegas where he seemed to be in good health. 

The weather is warming up this week high 70s and low 80s. My roses are really starting to bloom.

Climbing rose: Aloha

Rose: Firefighter, red clover & mint


As usual, I'm working puzzles. They make me happy. I bought this one at Filoli Gardens. It was pretty hard!

Puzzle: Tea Time by Cavallini & Co.


Puzzle: Brooms, Brushes and Barrels by Charles Wysocki 1999


Read:
(Two weeks worth of reading)

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews
Captivated by Jeffrey Deaver
Tough Luck by Sandra Dallas
Barbarian's Hope by Ruby Dixon

The Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie
Other People's Summers by Sarah Morgan
Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner
Cold Burn by A. J. Landau

Captivated by Jeffrey Deaver: 4 Stars
Tough Luck by Sandra Dallas: 4 Stars
The Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie: 3.5 Stars


Received:


Thank you to Berkley, Canary Street Press, Harlequin Audio and MIRA!

I won Steel's Edge by Ilona Andrews in Anne's giveaway at @Books of My Heart! Thank you Anne!







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How was your week?




Friday, May 16, 2025

Review: Barbarian's Hope by Ruby Dixon

 
Barbarian's Hope by Ruby Dixon

Barbarian's Hope (Ice Planet Barbarians #10)  by Ruby Dixon
Publication Date: April 29th 2025 by Berkley (special edition) 
Pages: 256
Source: Publisher 
Rating: 
Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:
Asha and Hemalo, both sa-khui, are mated but estranged since a tragic event left them bereft. Asha’s sadness made her lash out and unfortunately Hemalo was the recipient of her anger. Hemalo for his part thought it better to leave, which hurt Asha even more.
 
My heart hurt for both Asha and Hemalo, but especially Asha. For a mother, losing a child/baby would be an unimaginable kind of pain, having your mate leave you would just add insult to injury. However, Hemalo’s leaving was a misguided attempt to help rather than harm.
 
Barbarian’s Hope was sort of an alien marriage-in-crisis. I was completely invested in their moving journey back to each other. I was also touched by Claire befriending Asha, since Asha alienated herself from the human females even though she really needed support. It helped bring down the wall of protection Asha had erected around herself, opening up a healing between her and Hemalo and helped her become part of the village once again.
 
I was intrigued and moved by the encounter with the Metlaks. I wonder what it means for future relations with them.

4 Stars


Book Description:

Seasons ago, I resonated to the quietest of tribesmates, a male content to love me from afar while I was the center of attention. We could have been happy. Despite our differences, I loved him and he loved me.

But then a terrible thing happened…and my world was never the same again.

Now resonance is giving us a second chance, but…I’m afraid. What if what I have with my mate is too broken to be fixed? What if there’s no hope left for us at all?




Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Review: Other People's Summers by Sarah Morgan

Other People's Summers by Sarah Morgan

Other People's Summers by Sarah Morgan
Publication Date: May 6th 2025 by Canary Street Press & Harlequin Audio
Pages: 320
Audio Book Length: 10hrs 16mins
Narrator: Henrietta Meire
Source: Publishers
Rating: ½
Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:
Milly and Nicole have been best friends since childhood staying close even when their lives took very different paths. Nicole fulfilled her dream of becoming a famous actor and Milly took over her family’s resort in the Lake District, marrying and having a child. However, when Milly’s husband left her for another woman, Nicole ghosted her, breaking her heart even more.
 
Now, Nicole is in desperate need of sanctuary, a place to hide out when scandal hits, and she calls Milly. Milly isn’t keen on helping, but she can’t say no.
 
I was pulled into the story from the first page! Milly was trying to do her best raising her teenage daughter while managing the hurt and betrayal she felt not only by her ex-husband (a real jerk!), but by the abandonment of her best friend. I wouldn’t have been too happy with Nicole either if I were Milly, but I was eager to hear what was behind her behavior.
 
Nicole was dealing with a lot. She was grateful for the second chance with Milly and her family, the only place she ever felt loved growing up.
 
Other People’s Summers was such a lovely, compelling story; completely captivating! Sarah Morgan writes flawed, relatable characters that I end up rooting for every time! Her settings are always gorgeous, making me want to visit every place she writes about. There was even a bit of romance for both Milly and Nicole. A definite recommend!
 
I alternately listened to and read an audio and e-copy. I’ve listened to and enjoyed Henrietta Meire in the past and she performed all voices, male and female beautifully with appropriate emotions. I can recommend either version.

4.5 Stars



Book Description:

A famous actress whose life is unraveling flees to an idyllic English lakeside resort and the best friend she ghosted in this poignant and witty story from the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Book Club Hotel.  

In school, Milly Beckett and Nicole Raven were as close as sisters. Now, years later, a gulf separates them, and not just because of the different spheres they inhabit. Nicole is a global superstar with the world at her fingertips, but when scandal breaks, she turns to the only person she trusts.

Fresh from a painful divorce and struggling to balance her work and raising her daughter alone, Milly is tempted to refuse her friend’s plea for help. Nicole wasn’t there for her when she needed her most, and that’s hard to forgive. But Nicole is desperate and Milly agrees to give her the sanctuary she needs.

Against a stunning Lake District backdrop, stilted small talk gradually gives way to soul-deep revelations as the two women slowly find their way back to one another. Living with Milly gives Nicole a glimpse of a different path for herself, and Milly starts to see a life beyond her divorce, including the possibility of a new romance. But Nicole can’t stay hidden forever—and neither can the secret she’s been keeping from Milly, a secret that threatens both her future happiness and the fragile bond between them.

Heartwarming and hopeful, Other People’s Summers explores the beauty of friendship, the power of forgiveness, the impact of the choices we make and the many ways in which life can surprise us. 


 

Friday, May 9, 2025

Review: Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner

 
Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner


Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner
Publication Date: May 6th 2025 by St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio
Pages: 336
Audio Book Length: 11hrs 11 mins
Narrator: Rupert Graves
Source: Publishers
Rating: 
Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Librofm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:
Henrietta and Charlotte Stevenson, daughters of Supreme Court Justice Stevenson are disheartened by the barriers women faced in 1865. Their father was a loving, progressive man, but stifling in his affections as he strived to keep them safe after losing his wife tragically.
 
The sisters strike up a correspondence with beloved author Jane Austen’s brother, Sir Francis Austen, who has survived her, but is very old. At ninety-one, who knows how long he has left, so when they receive an invitation to come visit, the sisters jump at the chance. They book a passage and set sail without the knowledge or consent of their father, and they embark on a trip that leaves a lasting mark on Henrietta and Charlotte’s life.
 
I was captivated by Henrietta and Charlotte’s journey! Both sisters had a zest for learning and life, forwarding women’s rights, but they also had matters of the heart to contend with. My emotions were all over the place with everything that went on: relationships and ambitions, and the actions of others played into the story. The visit with Sir Francis Austen was bittersweet.
 
There was a lot that transpired, and the ending centered on Henrietta’s choices and the repercussions with a showdown in court!
 
I loved both sisters and was invested in their HEAs! There were a lot of interesting characters, friends made, and side stories, as well.

I alternately read and listened to the audio of the story and can recommend either version. Rupert Graves did a fine job acting out all the characters, so each felt distinct and their emotions came through loud and clear.

4 Stars


Book Description:

Two pairs of siblings, devotees of Jane Austen, find their lives transformed by a visit to England and Sir Francis Austen, her last surviving brother and keeper of a long-suppressed, secret legacy.

In Boston, 1865, Charlotte and Henrietta Stevenson, daughters of a Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice, have accomplished as much as women are allowed in those days. Chafing against those restrictions and inspired by the works of Jane Austen, they start a secret correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, her last surviving brother, now in his nineties. He sends them an original letter from his sister and invites them to come visit him in England.

In Philadelphia, Nicholas & Haslett Nelson—bachelor brothers, veterans of the recent Civil War, and rare book dealers—are also in correspondence with Sir Francis Austen, who lures them, too, to England, with the promise of a never-before-seen, rare Austen artifact to be evaluated.

The Stevenson sisters sneak away without a chaperone to sail to England. On their ship are the Nelson brothers, writer Louisa May Alcott, Sara-Beth Gleason—wealthy daughter of a Pennsylvania state senator with her eye on the Nelsons—and, a would-be last-minute chaperone to the Stevenson sisters, Justice Thomas Nash.

It's a voyage and trip that will dramatically change each of their lives in ways that are unforeseen, with the transformative spirit of the love of literature and that of Jane Austen herself.



About the author:
Natalie Jenner is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY and BLOOMSBURY GIRLS, which have been translated in over twenty languages worldwide. Natalie's third novel, EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE, releases on May 14, 2024. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie has been a corporate lawyer and career coach and once owned an independent bookstore in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs.


Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Review: Cold Burn by A. J. Landau

 
Cold Burn (National Parks #2) by A. J. Landau

Cold Burn (National Parks Thriller #2) by A. J. Landau
Publication Date: April 29th 2025 by Minotaur Books
Pages: 336
Source: Publisher 
Rating: 

My Thoughts:
Special Agent of the National Park Service, Michael Walker is in Alaska tracking down the multiple thefts of Tlingit artifacts but is pulled off the assignment when a U.S. Geological Survey team has gone missing after an avalanche in Sitka, Alaska. He’s sent to help find them, but the Tlingit tribe settled in the area may not cooperate as there have been strained relations between them and the government.
 
Meanwhile, Gina Delgado, now working directly under the White House, is sent to investigate the murder of a man found in the Everglades. Her case ends up being connected to another U.S. Geological Survey team, but she is also called away to Alaska on a separate disaster involving a submarine.
 
There was an Elon Musk type of character, as well. This guy felt like his riches and intelligence put him above others and the law and didn’t care who he stepped on to get what he wanted.
 
The story was fast paced with chapters alternating between Michael and Gina’s investigations, and I wasn't sure when or even if the mysteries would connect. There was a lot going on and all of it interesting! With cutting edge science, nefarious characters and world ending possibilities!
 
Cold Burn was an exciting and satisfying thriller! I look forward to Michael and Gina’s next mystery!

4 Stars


Book Description:

Agent Michael Walker returns when multiple deaths at Glacier Bay National Park are just the first steps in a potential global disaster.

In Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park, a frozen woolly mammoth is uncovered by a geological survey team. When all of them are found dead at the site of the thawed-out carcass, National Park Service ISB special agent Michael Walker is called in to investigate.

In Florida’s Everglades National Park, FBI special investigator Gina Delgado traces the murder of an environmental science intern back to another U.S. Geological Survey team’s ongoing experiments that are decimating the fragile ecosystem.

Beneath the icy waters of Alaska’s Elfin Cove, the crew of a stranded Los Angeles class attack submarine is wiped out by a mysterious contagion, inexplicably causing their lungs to freeze. The link between these apparently disparate events lies in a deadly, prehistoric microbe that killed the mammoth the same way it did the USGS survey team in Glacier Bay and the crew members of the submarine. A microbe that a rogue billionaire is desperate to attain, and a Russian strongman will do anything to weaponize to achieve even greater, wide-ranging power. Fighting a battle on several fronts—militarily, intellectually, and biologically—Walker and Delgado are running out of time to stop a devastating attack that would reshape the entire world.


Sunday, May 4, 2025

Sunday Post #293

 


The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Nothing too exciting going on here. We've had a few hot days and some cooler days, sat outside by the fire a couple of the evenings. 

Today we went to the monthly library sale and I donated bunch of books and I bought a few. This is Why We Lied by Karin Slaughter, Bad Liar by Tami Hoag, and Exiles by Jane Harper. All pristine hardcover copies, at .25 cents a piece! 


We then went to lunch and then to a really neat vintage market sale with garden plants and antiques and I bought a soup tureen. We bought a Meyer Lemon tree and a climbing rose (Eden). I hope to plant them tomorrow.

I've been doing a lot of weeding and planted some thyme, chives and lavender in between my rose bushes.  

Flowers around the neighborhood:

California lilac

Dogwood in town

Japanese Cherry on my walk


Read:
(Click on cover to take you Goodreads description)
How to Seal Your Own Fate (Castle Knoll Files #2) by Kristen Perrin
Suitor Armor Volume 1 by Purpah
Steel's Edge (The Edge #4) by Ilona Andrews



Received:

South of Nowhere by Jeffrey Deaver

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons!


Instagram:

I'm running a giveaway of the first Castle Knoll book: How to Solve Your Own Murder HERE.




How was your week?