Waves of Fiction

Friday, January 16, 2026

New Release: Puffin in Bloom's Wuthering Heights

Puffin in Bloom has just released a stunning new edition of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and it's gorgeous! Another one to add to my collection!

I'm in love with Rifle Paper & Co.'s Anna Bond beautiful illustrations for this new special edition! Here's the cover and a bit about the new release:

PUFFIN IN BLOOM’S WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Brontë; illustrated by Anna Bond Puffin Books | $19.00 | Ages 12 and up ISBN: 9798217043408 | on sale January 13,

2026

The Puffin in Bloom collection adds another elegant flower to its bouquet with a hardcover edition of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, with original cover art by Rifle Paper Co. co-founder, CEO, and artist Anna Bond. This gorgeous edition of the classic gothic romance blooms on bookshelves January 13th, just in time for the big screen debut of Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.

For this timeless tale, Bond has designed a striking new cover that evokes the mood and mystery of the Yorkshire moors. Both new and returning fans of Brontë’s classic will be drawn to this stunning edition of the literary treasure, complete with warm gold foil accents for a special touch.

Puffin in Bloom is a collection of beloved classics, reimagined with original illustrated covers by Anna Bond of the stationery, home, and gifts brand Rifle Paper Co. Delighting readers and design lovers alike, the collection’s previous editions include Anne of Green Gables, Heidi, A Little Princess, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, The Wizard of Oz, and the all-time top-selling edition of Little Women.

This stunning publication of Wuthering Heights is sure to captivate collectors, readers, gift-givers, and design enthusiasts eager to elevate their shelves with a keepsake edition of a cherished novel.

Emily Jane Brontë (1818-1848) was the most solitary member of a unique, tightly knit English provincial family. Born in 1818, she shared the parsonage of the town of Haworth, Yorkshire, with her older sister, Charlotte; her brother, Branwell; her younger sister, Anne; and her father, the Reverend Patrick Brontë. All five were poets and writers, and all but Branwell would publish at least one book. Fantasy was the Brontë children’s one relief from the rigors of religion and the bleakness of life in an impoverished region. In 1845, Charlotte Brontë came across a manuscript volume of her sister’s poems. At her sister’s urging, Emily’s poems, along with Anne’s and Charlotte’s, were published pseudonymously in 1846. An almost complete silence greeted this volume, but the three sisters, buoyed by the fact of publication, immediately began to write novels. Emily’s effort was Wuthering Heights; appearing in 1847, it was treated at first as a lesser work by Charlotte, whose Jane Eyre had already been published to great acclaim. Emily Brontë’s name did not emerge from behind her pseudonym of Ellis Bell until the second edition of her novel appeared in 1850.

Anna Bond, Rifle Paper & Co., Photo Credit: Patrick Michael Chin

Anna Bond is an artist, designer, and entrepreneur best known as the co-founder, CEO, and CCO of Rifle Paper Co., an international stationery, home, and gifts brand based in Winter Park, Florida. Founded in 2009 with her husband, Nathan, the company grew organically from an apartment-based business to a beloved, multimillion-dollar brand, carried in thousands of stores around the world. Beyond her work at Rifle Paper Co., Anna enjoys illustration, interior design, and, most of all, keeping up with her five young children.

Have you read Wuthering Heights?

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Review: Inside Man by John McMahon

Inside Man (PAR Unit #2) by John McMahon

Publication Date: January 13th 2026 by Minotaur Books & Macmillan Audio

Pages: 400

Audio Book Length: 10hrs 20min

Narrator: Will Damron

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★★

My Thoughts:

FBI Agent Gardner Camden leads the Patterns and Recognition Unit, PAR, a small, eccentric team skilled at cracking cold cases by spotting overlooked patterns and details. Cassie, the brilliant mathematician; Shooter, a firearms expert; and Richie, the tech‑savvy rookie each bring something essential to the table.

What starts as an unemployment‑benefits fraud case quickly escalates into something far more dangerous. The scheme is tied to a militia group stockpiling weapons, and when PAR’s confidential informant is murdered, the team must dig for answers without tipping off the militia’s volatile leader. Their search uncovers chilling links to another investigation, one that suggests a serial killer may be operating in the shadows.

Gardner remains the heart of the story. His eidetic memory and knack for connecting stray details make him a phenomenal investigator, even as everyday social cues continue to trip him up. I loved seeing him balance his demanding job with his commitment to his young daughter. His mother‑in‑law remains a complicated but invaluable presence. There were developments with his mother since the events of the last book. Her sage advice continued to help Gardner navigate his social and professional life.

I adored Head Cases, and this follow‑up absolutely delivers! It’s a tightly plotted mystery that opens with a bang and never loses momentum, yet still finds space for the human side of Gardner and his team. I was hooked from page one and tore through this fast‑paced, high‑stakes thriller.

I alternately read and listened to Inside Man and recommend either version. Will Damron performed Gardner with a kind of matter-a-fact tone that fit with his character’s personality perfectly!

5 Stars

Book Description:

In this sequel to McMahon's electrifying series debut, Head Cases, Gardner Camden and the PAR team return to investigate potentially connected cases.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.

PAR’s latest case involves a militia group stockpiling weapons. When their confidential informant in the case is killed, it quickly becomes clear that the militia did not kill him.

As the squad looks into the evidence surrounding his murder, an unidentified man is caught on camera with their informant. This mystery man’s picture is connected to another case at the FBI, an unsolved series of murdered women, buried in the ground in north Florida. Could they have uncovered a serial killer? And if so, what is his connection to their C.I.?

As PAR juggles an investigation into both the dead women and the militia, they enroll a new informant, only to find the case escalating in dangerous ways. How will PAR handle a case that increasingly looks like a terrorist plot? And in the serial case, with no puzzles or witnesses, and few leads, how will a group set up to decode riddles be successful?

Monday, January 12, 2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Artsy Reader where each week they post a new top ten list and ask fellow bookish folk to share their lists on that topic.

This week the theme is: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

I tried to keep it to ten books but it somehow turned into fifteen!

(Click on cover for Goodreads link)

Inside Man (Head Cases #2) by John McMahon

The Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

Inside Man (Head Cases #2) by John McMahon

Release Date: 1/13/26

(I'm listening to this one now!)

The Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

Release Date: 3/31/26

Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan

Release Date: 6/23/26

Wolvers by Taylor Brown

Release Date: 4/7/26

Storm Tide (Mike Bowditch #16) by Paul Doiron

The Gate of the Feral Gods (Dungeon Crawler Carl #4) by Matt Dinniman

Family Lies (San Diego #4) by Karen Rose

Make it Out Alive (Quinn & Costa #7) by Allison Brennan

Storm Tide (Mike Bowditch #16) by Paul Doiron

Release Date: 6/30/26

Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman

Release Date: 2/10/26

Family Lies (San Diego #4) by Karen Rose

Release Date: 3/31/26

Make it Out Alive (Quinn & Costa #7) by Allison Brennan

Release Date: 1/27/26

Antihero (Orphan X #11) by Gregg Hurwitz

An Ordinary Sort of Evil (A Rip Through Time #5) by Kelley Armstrong

First Sign of Danger (Haven's Rock #4) by Kelley Armstrong

Antihero (Orphan X #11) by Gregg Hurwitz

Release Date: 2/10/26

An Ordinary Sort of Evil (A Rip Through Time #5) by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: 5/19/26

First Sign of Danger (Haven's Rock #4) by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: 2/17/26

Bloodlust by Sandra Brown

Release Date: 3/17/26

Five-Star Summer by Sarah Morgan

Release Date: 5/5/26

The Name Game by Beth O'Leary

Release Date: 4/7/26

The Shippers by Katherine Center

Release Date: 5/19/26

What are your most anticipated reads for the first half of 2026?

Review: Wreck Your Heart by Lori Rader-Day

Wreck Your Heart by Lori Rader-Day

Publication Date: January 6th 2026 by Minotaur Books & Macmillan Audio

Pages: 352

Audio Book Length: 12hrs 9min

Narrator: Lauren Ezzo

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★

My Thoughts:

Dahlia Devine, a country singer scraping by on the small stage at McPhee’s Tavern, finds herself back living in the apartment above the bar after her boyfriend disappears with the rent money. As if that blow weren’t enough, her estranged mother, Marisa, suddenly reappears after twenty years. Dahlia wants nothing to do with the woman who abandoned her at six years old, leaving Alex, the tavern’s owner, to raise her. But when Marisa vanishes just as abruptly as she arrived and a younger sister Dahlia never knew existed shows up looking for her Dahlia is pulled into a mystery she can’t ignore.

Wreck Your Heart blends a compelling mystery with Dahlia’s deeply personal journey toward understanding her past. Her abandonment issues and resentment toward Marisa felt painfully real, especially as the truth about Marisa’s relationship with her younger daughter comes to light.

There was a lot to unpack here, but it was an engrossing story. Dahlia was a flawed but likable character, and I cheered her on as she tried to untangle what happened to her mother, what was going on at the bar, and where her missing boyfriend fit into it all. I correctly guessed one twist, but another reveal genuinely surprised me. The finale was a wild, thrilling conclusion that tied everything together in a satisfying ending.

I alternated between an audio and e-copy and can recommend either version. While it took me a bit to get used to her pace, Loren Ezzo captured the essence of Dahlia’s character perfectly!

4 Stars

Book Description:

Dahlia “Doll” Devine had the kind of hardscrabble beginning that could launch a thousand broken-hearted country songs, but now she’s the star of her own stage at McPhee’s Tavern. As part of Chicago’s—yes, Chicago’s—country music scene, Dahlia is an up-and-coming singer in spangles and boots of classic country tunes. Up and coming, that is, until her boyfriend Joey up and went, taking the rent money with him.

So Dahlia is back to square one, relying on Alex McPhee—again. Alex helped her out of a bad situation when she was a kid living rough with her mother. Now he’s part landlord, part band booster, all-around rescuer. It’s just that Dahlia wishes she didn’t keep giving him reasons to have to do it.

Just as Dahlia suspects she’s scraped rock bottom, the mother she hasn’t spoken to in twenty years shows up with something to say. The next morning, a distraught young woman arrives at the bar, asking after her missing mother—Dahlia's mother, too, even if the missing suburban PTA mom the girl describes sounds pretty different from the one who let Dahlia down all those years ago.

Though no one is using the word sister any time soon, Dahlia lets herself be drawn into reuniting the family that might have been hers. But when a body is discovered outside McPhee’s Tavern, the crime threatens not just the place Dahlia has made into a home, but everything she’s believed about her past, her dreams for the future, and the people she was just, maybe, beginning to let into her heart.

Saturday, January 10, 2026

Sunday Post #322

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.

Happy Sunday!

We got back from Montana early Tuesday night, like 1:30 in the morning! My week is completely thrown off. We had a good time with family and friends. It was busy. We had friends over for dinner, went snow skiing, sledding, went to a New Year's Eve party complete with fireworks and lighting of Chinese lanterns. We did Mingo (Bingo done with music trivia) at the lodge, puzzles and games at home and more. I had Tuesday off, thankfully, but worked Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (today). We met my sister and her husband for dinner out tonight after work and had fun catching up. I hope to sleep in Sunday.

Came home to my camellia bush blooming. I've had a hard time getting this bush to bloom here so this was exciting to me.

Debutante camellia

Debutante Camellia in the garden

500 Piece Puzzle Completed: American Road Trip by Rifle Paper Co.

Pepper kitty (my daughter's cat) puzzling.

I wish I had more photos from Montana but I just didn't take that many.

Read:

(This is two weeks worth of reading)

Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

Remember That Day (Ravenswood #5) by Mary Balogh

The Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz

Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka-4 Stars

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry-5 Stars

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman-5 Stars

Remember That Day (Ravenswood #5) by Mary Balogh-4.5 Stars

The Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz-4 Stars

Great Big Beautiful Life was my last read of 2025 and it was excellent! A romance wrapped in a mystery I wasn't expecting with some surprising revelations! Bravo, Emily Henry! I almost didn't pick up Seeing Other People because their last book was underwhelming, but the premise sounded good and I ended up enjoying it. I’m loving the Dungeon Crawler Carl books! I listened with my earbuds every chance I got in Montana! I had to put the series on hold because I've had a bunch of review books due, but I'll be starting book four as soon as I have a minute. I told my daughter about the series as soon as I finished the first book. She started listening and has now finished the series! I think she was on book six when we were in Montana.

Received: