Sunday Post #349

 

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 had a beautiful week of weather. It cooled down to low 80s and the nights were in the 50s! So we enjoyed some time out on the front porch in the evenings. 

I've been deadheading and fertilizing. We harvested our onions, shallots, and carrots and planted seeds: lettuce, arugula, spinach, radishes, carrots, leeks, cilantro. Probably more I'm not thinking of. Our tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, cucumber, basil and oregano are still producing more than we can keep up with. 

We went to the Nevada County Fair on Friday with my sister and BIL. This is in our town of Grass Valley, California. Not sure why it's called Nevada County when it's in California. I'm sure I could look it up, but I'm too lazy at the moment. It was fun and in an area with a lot of pine trees so it was cool. I enjoyed seeing all the animals and livestock and the flowers! I forgot to take pictures. 

Zinnias are such a great summer producer! I keep cutting and they keep coming!

Queen Anne's lace and Corn on our walk

1000 Piece Puzzle Completed: Harbor by the Sea by Galison

Puzzle 41 of 2026

1000 Piece Puzzle Completed: Beach Day by Werkshoppe

Puzzle 42 of 2026

Read:

Slaying Monsters For the Feeble by Annette Marie-4 Stars

Druid Vices and a Vodka by Annette Marie-4.5 Stars

Hunting Fiends For the Ill-Equipped by Annette Marie-4.5 Stars

Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan-4 Stars

The One Who Walked Away by Karen Rose-4 Stars

I'm finally caught up for our read-along hosted by Anne @Books of My Heart! I hope to participate in the chat this coming Sunday. Things are getting intense with the series!

Received: 

Angel Heist by Brian Andrews & Jeffery Wilson

I'll Be Watching You (Angelhart Investigations #3) by Allison Brennan

Heart of Glass (Wonderland #2) by Jennifer Hillier

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing, Libro.fm, Hanover Square Press, Harlequin Audio, and Macmillan Audio!

How was your week?

Review: Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan

 

Brimstone Hollow (Annie Gore #2) by Archer Sullivan

Publication Date: August 11th 2026 by Minotaur Books & Macmillan Audio

Pages: 304

Audio Book Length: 9hrs 43min

Narrator: Emily Pike Stewart

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

When snake-handling preacher Ezra King is found dead from snake bites and then buried less than twenty-four hours later, his estranged daughter Katie becomes suspicious. She hires Annie to investigate. On the surface, it looks like a tragic accident involving dangerous animals, but Annie agrees to take a closer look. Being local and familiar with small-town Appalachian culture, she’s able to ask questions and gain trust in ways an outsider never could.

 

Ezra left behind a troubled past, found religion, and used his charismatic personality to become the preacher at Mount Zion. His tent revivals featured snakes. Yikes!

 

As Annie starts digging for answers, word quickly spreads around town. What seemed like a straightforward case soon turns suspicious, especially after Annie narrowly survives an attempt on her life.

 

Brimstone Hollow is the second book in the Annie Gore series. While this could be read as a standalone, each mystery is wrapped up, I’d still recommend starting with the first book to better understand Annie’s background and how she became a PI.

 

I enjoyed watching Annie quickly gain acceptance in Mount Zion by treating the locals with genuine respect. Several residents proved helpful, and the descriptions of food at the little hole-in-the-wall diner Annie discovered had my mouth watering. The story had plenty of twists, action, and layers. I appreciated Annie’s determination to get to the truth. I’m already looking forward to her next case!

 

I alternated between the audiobook and eBook and recommend either format. Emily Pike Stewart, who also narrated the previous installment, did another wonderful job. Her subtle Southern accent suited the story perfectly, and I enjoyed that she sang portions of the hymns featured in the book. Her performance definitely enhanced my enjoyment.

4 Stars

Book Description:

Following her powerful debut in The Witch’s Orchard, private investigator Annie Gore returns in Brimstone Hollow, bringing readers back to the mountains that author Archer Sullivan, a ninth generation Appalachian, knows so well.

There isn’t much that happens in the Appalachian Mountains that Private Investigator Annie Gore hasn’t seen. Before she joined the Air Force, she was born and raised in those rolling hills, and lately Annie's cases have called her away from her Louisville office and closer to the small towns of her youth than she ever anticipated. But when her newest client asks if she’s ever been to a snake-handling church, Annie knows she’s about to enter unknown territory.

Katie May has been estranged from her father―one of Appalachia’s last infamous snake handling preachers―for twenty years. But when Katie finds out he’s been fatally bitten, and a funeral was held within twenty-four hours, she questions whether someone deliberately rushed the process. Despite Annie’s doubts, she takes the case. After all, when she looks at Katie, she sees a version of herself: a girl who needs to understand her father in order to understand herself.

As she navigates the hidden hollers and dangerous secrets of this insular Eastern Kentucky town, Annie works fast, hoping to find the truth in record time for her client―and before too many memories from her own childhood surface. But it soon becomes apparent that someone wants Annie’s investigation to stop―by any means necessary.

Review: A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett

 

A Trade of Blood (Ana and Din #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett

Publication Date: August 4th 2026 by Del Rey

Pages: 400

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Ana and Din are called into a murder investigation in hope of preventing a war between two gentry families. The daughter of one gentryclan, the Buravs has been brutally murdered and the suspect is from the other prominent clan, the Armentas. The evidence against Castus Armenta is strong and the custodi want to hang him, however there’s a lot suspect with the case.

 

As usual, Ana mostly sends Din out to gather information and then he reports back to her. His alterations making it so he can recall and report all details exactly. Ana gets out more with this case, though. There’s a lot of action and murders as they investigate, complicating things further. 

 

I enjoyed getting to know more of Din and Ana’s histories. Din has a surprise from his past show up and I hope this person will be part of the series in the future. 

I want to be a vegetarian after reading this story!

 

A Trade of Blood is the third book in the Ana and Din mysteries, and I recommend reading the series in order for background character information and relationships.

 

The series is original and imaginative! The mystery is set in a rich, fantastical world, with Ana and Din in a Sherlock Holmes/Watson or Hercule/Hastings sort of relationship. Ana is brilliant, with eccentricities that are hilarious and sometimes repulsive and she connects things by the thinnest of threads. Din is also a sharp thinker, (more so that Watson or Hastings) and the two of them are a formidable pair! Villains beware!

 

This installment was excellent; one I didn’t want to put down! And now I’m eager for the next one! 

5 Stars

Book Description:

Brilliant detective Ana Dolabra must prove a man's innocence to stop a civil war in the third book of the series that began with The Tainted Cup, named an Edgar, Hugo, and World Fantasy Award Finalist and one of the best books of the year (New York Times Book Review, NPR, Elle)—from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy.

In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire’s most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn. If blood is spilt, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos.

To de-escalate matters, someone must do the impossible: prove that one family’s eldest son is innocent of a gruesome and unforgivable murder, despite the incontrovertible evidence against him.

It is with this undertaking that the great detective Ana Dolabra is tasked, her assistant Din at her side—and the two find themselves racing with great speed and little dignity to the scene.

As ever, the impossible proves little obstacle for the deadly combination of Ana’s intellect and Din’s keen eye, and mere hours after riding into the dusty town, Ana glimpses the greater pattern behind the crime. A deeper, subtler web of death is being woven in plain sight, by a mastermind with an ancient magical technology at his disposal.

But even Ana's uncanny insight is of little use when each new suspect she uncovers ends up dead--with each new killing calculated to bring tensions between the two rival clans past the boiling point. And as Din pursues their adversary through the canton's wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and reeking slaughterhouses, he finds his loyalties divided in unexpected ways.

Audiobook Review: The Missing Couple by Debra Webb

 

The Missing Couple by Debra Webb

Publication Date: July 28th 2026 by Harlequin Audio

Pages: 220

Audio Book Length: 6hrs 9min

Narrator: Megan Tusing

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Charly discovers that a newlywed couple hasn’t checked out of one of her cabins in her rustic retreat in the Alabama woods. It’s odd because they’ve left everything, even their cell phones.

 

Billie Jager, an investigator for the Colby Agency and the brother of Briana, the missing woman, comes immediately when Charly reveals the details of their disappearance. Charly and Billie work together as Charly has connections with her small town and Billie has the expertise to narrow down the suspect list. There’s a spark of attraction between them, but that goes on the back burner given the urgency of the situation.

 

The motive behind the abduction of Briana and Martin quickly becomes apparent and it seems the crime connects with past disappearances and there’s a few in town that keep popping up as they look into the circumstances of the missing persons. There was no shortage of suspects.

 

I listened to this audio straight through. I was on the edge worried for the missing couple and hoping they’d be found unharmed. I liked how well Charly and Billie worked together and the methodical way they searched for the truth. The ending was an exciting one filled with reveals and danger!

 

I listened to the audio version and I thought Megan Tusing did a wonderful job bringing these characters to life. She performed both male and female characters seamlessly with appropriate emotions enhancing my enjoyment of this exciting mystery!

4 Stars

Book Description:

In a small town...they uncover shocking secrets.


Charly Nix could lose everything when her rustic Alabama retreat is rocked by a missing persons scandal. When Colby agent Billie Jagger arrives to help Charly search for the newlywed couple who have disappeared, the stakes intensify when he reveals that it’s his beloved sister who’s missing. And he’ll stop at nothing to find her. But as he and Charly investigate, their solo MOs develop into a partnership with feelings neither expected. Most alarming, the couple’s disappearance may be related to decades of other unsolved crimes in the quiet small town. Can they rescue Briana and Martin — before they’re gone for good?

Sunday Post #348

 

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!

It's been a busy and hot week here! Friday we got to 106F, the hottest day of the year so far. It's cooled off into the upper 90s since then, but still, it's hot! Our son, DIL, and our two grandkids (3 1/2 and 2 yrs old boys!) came up for a visit which is why I've been a bit MIA. Lots of activity! We had dinners with my sister and BIL, went to the pool, went rafting/floating on the Truckee River, and then the local bookstore with a neat kids section and then the candy store.

Very calm waters for the most part.

Kids section in Booktown Books in downtown Grass Valley

More of the kids section

They left on Friday afternoon. Sad to see them go. Now we're recuperating. 

Went to lunch yesterday (Saturday) and shopping at Trader Joe's.

The garden has been producing a lot! We're having a bunch in wraps and tonight I'm making pasta with tomatoes, basil and shrimp. 

1000 Piece Puzzle Completed: Beach Boardwalk by Werkshoppe.

Puzzle 40 of 2026

Read:

A Trade of Blood (Ana and Din Mysteries #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett-5 Stars

This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum-4 Stars

It's not surprising I didn't get much reading done! Both were really good, though!

Received:

The Black Orchid by Loreth Anne White

The One Who Walked Away by Karen Rose

The Heiress of Northanger Abbey by Nancy Bilyeau

The Black Orchid was my Prime First Reads pick. Thank you to Berkley, Admiral Road Books and Great Reads Promotions!

How was your week?

Review: The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen

 

The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen

Publication Date: August 4th 2026 by St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio

Pages: 304

Audio Book Length: 7hrs 57min

Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

The Women in White is told through two timelines: the past, set in 1964, and the present day. In 1964, Betty and her friends, known as Girls One through Four, are test subjects in a study on psychic abilities at the Marquis University. In the present, Riley applies for a job as Betty's caregiver. Riley isn't sure why Betty hired her, as Betty seems capable of caring for herself, even if she does seem stuck in a time warp. However, Betty has a another assignment in mind: she wants Riley to track down the other women, Betty’s friends, who participated in the experiments conducted by the study's director, Dr. Trimble.

 

I was outraged by the amount of power Dr. Trimble and the husbands wielded over Betty and her friends in the 1964 timeline. I wanted these women to stand up for themselves. Riley’s search for the women yields little information at first but digging deeper she finds out their fates. In the present there’s also some strange occurrences and Betty determines she must go back to Marquis with Riley to get to the truth.

 

The Women in White was an engrossing story, but I found I was more invested in the present timeline than the past. I speed up the audio for the 1964 chapters because I was frustrated by how powerless these women were. I wanted one of them to stand up for themselves, or for someone to intervene in their behalf.  Some of what happened was “too little too late” for my tastes.  I also wanted more closure regarding Dr. Trimble. He was a nasty piece of work only concerned with his research and what the discoveries would mean for him.

 

That said, I was satisfied with how things ultimately turned out for Betty and Riley.

I alternated between the e-book and audio copy and can recommend either version. Saskia Maarleveld did a wonderful job bringing all the characters, male and female, in a wide range of ages, to life.

3.5 Stars

Book Description:

From Sarah Pekkanen, the New York Times bestselling author of House of Glass and co-author of The Wife Between Us—a stunning new novel of buried secrets, mind-bending history, and one woman’s search for the truth . . .

Decades ago, four women at prestigious Marquis University were the focus of parapsychology experiments led by a pioneering researcher. Just as they seemed on the verge of a real breakthrough, the four women vanished and the program was abruptly shut down.

In the present day, Riley Bell is desperate for a new life when she lands a caretaker job for Betty Sadler—an elderly, wheelchair bound woman whose house seems suspended in time. No television. No microwave. And Betty has never even heard of a cell phone.

Newly widowed, Betty discovers notes in her late husband’s papers that spark her quest to answer one final unanswered mystery that has shadowed her for six what happened to her three best friends who disappeared on the same day?

Told in dual timelines, as Betty’s world of 5 o’clock martinis and increasingly rigorous experiments converges with Riley’s present-day search for the other three women, the danger and intensity grow white hot.

Because whatever was swirling around these four exceptional young women is rising again.

Review: The Age of Enchantment by Anna James

 

The Age of Enchantment (Chronicles of Whetherwhy #1) by Anna James

Publication Date: April 29th 2025 by Flamingo Books

Pages: 304

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

The Age of Enchantment was a delightful middle-grade fantasy filled with adventure, magic, and whimsy. I enjoyed every minute of it!

 

On their thirteenth birthday, twins Juniper and Rafferty Quinn are summoned to determine their guild affiliation and enchantment inspection. Usually, this is when they find out their season affiliation: spring, summer, autumn or winter, but some, called Enchanters, have extra magical powers and can wield all the seasons. Enchanters go to Thistledown Academy for special magical training.

 

Both Juniper and Rafferty are almost certain that Juniper is an Enchanter and worry about their inevitable separation.

 

Juniper and a couple of other students en route to the academy are attacked by a mysterious group intent on stealing some of their power. It’s an encounter that leaves Juniper shaken up. The academy's faculty are determined to uncover who is responsible and whether other Enchanters are at risk.

 

Meanwhile, unwilling to be far from his sister, Rafferty secures an apprenticeship as a bookbinder near the academy. Before long, he finds himself entangled in a mystery of his own, one that intersects with Juniper's.

 

One of my favorite aspects of the book was the storytelling format. The story is narrated by a grandfather to his grandchildren, who hang on every word as they eagerly follow Juniper and Rafferty's adventures. Their excitement and questions perfectly mirrored my own!

 

This adventure wraps up but there’s another to come in The Season of Flames. I can't wait to see what happens next!

4 Stars

Book Description:

First in a brand-new fantasy series from acclaimed author Anna James, filled with seasonal magic and exciting adventure

In Whetherwhy, everyone has magic inside them – grown from the changing seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. But a rare few are people born with magic in their bones, who can wield all four seasons of magic.

When Juniper discovers she is an Enchanter, she must leave behind everything she knows to begin studying at the Thistledown Academy of Enchantment. Unwilling to be left behind, her twin brother, Rafferty, decides to follow her to the capital city of Stormgrove and takes up an apprenticeship at a nearby bookbinder.

As Juniper makes new friends and learns how to wield enchantment, Rafferty becomes involved with a mysterious secret society that meet after dark. Monsters are creeping out of the shadows and dangers lurk in unexpected places. Amid night markets and magic lessons, they both realise there is more to enchantment – and life in Whetherwhy – than they could ever have imagined.