Archives for August 2025

From The Other Side by Julia Harrison

August 29, 2025 By Leave a Comment


From The Other Side by Julia Harrison
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Alyssa wasn’t ready to die. Snatched from her life and unable to access her most recent memories, she is cast into an afterlife that is very different from anything she expected. She is stuck on Earth, invisible to the living, and she is being hunted. Cornered by a malevolent being, Alyssa is saved by new friends who show her how to survive this strange world she never knew existed. A chance meeting leaves her inexplicably drawn to the enemy, and she starts to question if the line between good and evil is as clear cut as she’d been told. When she suspects her new family are lying to her, who can she trust?

Death was the beginning, not the end.

I enjoyed the ambiguity of this novel. There were many shades of grey in the characters, and few if any of them were purely good or bad individuals regardless of what my first impressions of them might have been. This meant that my allegiances shifted as I read and I changed my opinions about certain characters multiple times as I either learned new information about them or revisited old clues about what they were truly like.

There were some pacing issues that made it difficult for me to remain highly interested in what would happen next despite how excited I was when I first began reading. I liked the fact that so many different genres were included, but this did mean that some scenes needed to be stretched out in order to incorporate multiple themes and tropes, not all of which are necessarily easy to blend together. Patience was key while reading this, although there were times when I wished the next action scene would show up more quickly as certain sections included a lot of dialogue before and after these moments.

The ending fit the tone and themes nicely. While there were a few twists in it that I can’t discuss here for spoiler reasons, I enjoyed seeing how everything was woven together in the last few scenes as Alyssa learned a few more key pieces of information that helped to explain some moments that had been rather mysterious to this reader up until that point. It was satisfying to finally know why some characters behaved the way they did and why others sometimes made choices that didn’t always seem to fit what I already knew about their personalities.

From The Other Side was a wild ride.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Thursday Thoughts: August 28, 2025

August 28, 2025 By 14 Comments

As much as I love the classics, there are so many older movies that I’ve never seen.  Things like Casablanca or Citizen Kane.  Which is a tragedy, honestly, because I think that they’re classics for a reason and that I’m missing out on something by not having seen them.  The exception being musicals since both of my parents loved them.  My dad’s all-time favorite move was The Music Man after all.

While looking something up at IMDB.com last week, I stumbled upon a list of the top 10 Alfred Hitchcock movies.  Curious, I took a look at it to see if I’ve seen any of them.  I am somewhat ashamed to say that I have only seen one on the list – Shadow of a Doubt – and that’s only because it was mentioned repeatedly in a Riley Sager novel called Survive the Night.  I enjoyed the novel, so it made me seek out the movie, which I also thoroughly enjoyed.

And, as these things happen, watching one enjoyable Hitchcock movie made me want to watch more.  However, there are so many, I never knew where to start or if there were ones to avoid.  This list seems like a great place to start checking off some Hitchcock classics.

You can find the list here, if you’re so inclined.

The movies, in order, are:

North by Northwest

Rear Window

Vertigo

Psycho

Notorious

Shadow of a Doubt

Rebecca

Strangers on a Train

The Lady Vanishes

The Birds

Some of the movies listed are so iconic that I’m stunned I haven’t ever watched them.  I mean, seriously, I’ve never watched The Birds?  What is wrong with me?  (Actually, I know the answer to that, but no one wants to hear my middle child trauma drama.)

It is interesting because I have seen Psycho IV, but never the original.  The only reason I’ve seen #4 is because I had a very odd psychology teacher in high school.  He thought that since the premise of this installment was Norman Bates looking back at his childhood, that it fit into a basic psychology class.  Which isn’t exactly wrong, but even so, probably not the best thing to show a bunch of teenagers.  How he managed to get away with showing that in a public school, I’ll never know.  I did enjoy it though.

Over the years, I’ve seen clips from many of these movies.  The Psycho shower scene is one that immediately comes to mind.  It gets featured in shows and in documentaries about so many things.  Yet, somehow, I have failed to see the whole movie.  I’m not very familiar with North by Northwest, Notorious, or The Lady Vanishes, but the others are very much ingrained in pop culture.  As I mentioned, Shadow of a Doubt features heavily in Survive the Night by Riley Sager.  Sometimes, because of this, it feels like I’ve seen them, even though I know I haven’t.

I’m very anxious to get started watching some of these classic and iconic movies.  Rear Window, Vertigo, and Psycho most of all.  But they all appeal to me and intrigue my sense of adventure.

The only movie on this list that I’m worried about is Rebecca.  Several years ago, I attempted to read the original novel by Daphne du Maurier, and abandoned ship about 20% in.  A few years later, Netflix released a new adaptation of Rebecca and my daughter and I made it about thirty minutes in before we gave up.  To make matters worse, I read My Cousin Rachel, another highly rated book by the author, and did not care for it at all.  I am hoping that there will be something special about Hitchcock’s version of the story that changes my mind.

Are you a fan of Hitchcock’s movies?  What are your favorites?  Do you have a suggestion for where I should start my journey?    I’m always open to suggestions, so if you have a favorite not on this list, let me know.  Also, if you have a favorite director similar to Hitchcock, drop that information, too.  I have a big list of things I want to watch and am always adding to it.  Grab some popcorn and join me!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings Tagged With: ,

Burn by Mychael Black

August 28, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Burn by Mychael Black
Publisher: Changeling Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Humans and vamps were never meant to be mates, but an accidental meeting changes everything.

Cam Sharpe is just trying to make ends meet. Living in the city can easily break the bank, but that’s where the jobs are. It’s also where crime runs rampant. One night, he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, putting him in the crosshairs of the city’s ruling vampire coven.

Nikolai Hart loves his job — maybe a little too much. When hunting a rogue proves to be a pain in the ass, he’s the one House Saridan brings in to find the unfortunate soul. The latest job, however, has hit a snag: a mortal has witnessed everything.

On his bike making a delivery, Cameron witnessed a vampire executing someone in a dark alleyway. Determined that it was none of his business, Cameron tried to not think of how appealing all those muscles were. Nikolai was well used to keeping the finer details of vampire enforcement under wraps – humans were already pretty skittish around them. So when Nik tracks Cam down it’s a quick matter of wiping the memory and moving on. Only neither Cam nor Nik knew that would not be the end – but the start of something neither of them expected.

I really enjoyed this medium length story. I found the world building fairly easy and quick to pick up – I don’t believe I’ve read anything by this author set in a similar vampire/human world so I was pleased to pick up the general gist of it quite easily. I also found it quite refreshing that Nik didn’t fall over himself from the moment he laid eyes on Cam. While Cam was certainly attracted to Nik early on neither of them were looking for a commitment – and certainly not a longer-term pairing – so I thought it gave the story a slightly different vibe and that was refreshing to me.

I did feel that both Cam and Nik embraced the whole mate thing fairly easily – but this isn’t a fuller length novel, and I admit I get a bit tired when characters spend a large chunk of the book running away or denying their attraction instead of owning it. I thought the author had some good balance with this book – thought I have to admit once they realise they’re mates everything moved really quite quickly.

Readers who enjoy a bit of world building should enjoy the fact we see quite a big of the vampire headquarters – and while there is ample steamy sex between Cam and Nik this doesn’t overshadow other aspects of the vampire plotline. I feel readers who like plenty of steamy M/M sex, male pregnancy and destined mates but also a nice amount of plotline should find this to be an excellent read and really enjoy it.

I found this to be a well-balanced book and an interesting read.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Paw Prints in the Ledger by Tara Choate

August 27, 2025 By 2 Comments


Paw Prints in the Ledger by Tara Choate
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Irene Lisner is a forensic accountant who could tell you all about fraud, corruption, and embezzlement in Oregon… if only she had the time. Between her wonderful dog, difficult family, and recent diagnosis, she barely has time to say hello to her best friend. When she is assigned a politically fraught case, Irene is sure the city’s problems go beyond staff turnover and governmental drama. The discovery of concealed expenses and forged bank statements make it apparent that this won’t be a simple fix. Confronting thieves is part of Irene’s job, but that doesn’t make it easy. She identifies the problem and faces the embezzler, but her family is not as easy to solve.

There’s nothing simple about municipal politics.

Irene was a well developed and interesting character who had a lot on her plate. I liked the fact that I was able to get to know her not only through her work but also through her close friendship with Sharon and her sometimes tense relationships with her sister and mom. These moments showed off parts of the main character’s personality that she’d never think to share at work but that were important for understanding how she faced health challenges, life with an aging pet, or people at work who weren’t always honest with her.

I struggled with the pacing of this book due to how unevenly certain clues were released and how much time Irene spent on things that weren’t panning out well for her. While I wouldn’t expect every conversation to be a fruitful one, it was challenging for me as a reader to keep my interest levels high when progress was so slow at times.

Dysfunctional relationships have many different appearances, and I liked the fact that this book explored multiple ways they can disrupt how a family, workplace, or community function. When people get used to bowing to the needs of one emotionally unhealthy person, the entire group can become unbalanced as healthier members steer clear of sensitive topics at all costs or overcompensate for someone else’s negative behavior. This added layers of meaning to all of the storylines and was a strong addition to the plot, especially once Irene realized what was going on and began trying to change the way she responded to unhealthy behaviors. Readers who have ever experienced these sorts of conflicts in real life, whether they were minor or major issues, may find plenty of food for thought here.

Paw Prints in the Ledger kept me guessing until the end.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025 By 1 Comment

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Books that Deal Well with a Difficult Subject

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge Tagged With:

Menagerie in the Dark-Stories by Chris Kauzlarich

August 26, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Menagerie in the Dark-Stories by Chris Kauzlarich
Publisher: Phantom Quill Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Holiday, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Life often appears darkest just before the dawn of a new day.

In Menagerie in the Dark, Chris Kauzlarich immerses us in a speculative journey that explores the darker aspects of the human condition before bringing us back to the surface with the light of a new day. Through fourteen stories, this menagerie of characters faces trials of sorrow, death, loneliness, regret, deception, murder, delight, wonderment, and bliss, revealing what will either strengthen them enough to survive or plunge them to their demise. A boy’s home burns down, forcing him to confront a terrifying new world. A man enters a door where he witnesses his wife’s death, leaving him devastated; yet, he cannot stop returning to the scene, convinced he can save her. A nurse’s patients continue to perish under her care, but she harbors a dark secret—an administered cocktail for nefarious purposes.

These and other stories will stretch the limits of your emotions, from heartbreak to horror, leaving you yearning for more.

Fear comes in many mysterious forms.

Katelyn was in severe pain and desperately seeking more medication in “Echoes.” What I found most interesting about her tale was how many different ways it could be interpreted. Yes, she had a back injury that could explain why she needed her pain pills so regularly, but she also showed some signs that her reliance on them had possibly grown past what they were originally prescribed for. There were also inconsistencies in her memories that had multiple possible meanings as well. Other readers should decide for themselves which explanations they think fit the clues best, but I sure enjoyed the process of coming up with my own theories.

I loved the twist on what zombies are like in “Scalpel.” This was actually one of the biggest reasons why I chose a full five-star rating for this collection as the cause of the outbreak was as creative as it was original. It’s not easy to surprise me with this subgenre, so I must tip my cap to the author for pulling it off and making horror feel so relevant to life in 2025. The references that were included about current events from the past several years not only fit into the storyline nicely, they also made me chuckle in a few places which isn’t easy to do when I’m simultaneously scared.

While they were walking around trick-or-treating, Connor told his friends a terrifying local legend about a supernatural killer in “The Legend of Chucky Mudd.” What made the tale even more memorable was that the main character lived in the same house Chucky used to live in! I enjoyed seeing how Connor’s friends reacted to this conversation and how they changed their Halloween plans as a result of it. These scenes reminded me of things like Bloody Mary that used to scare me as a kid, although, of course, these characters were in serious danger and didn’t realize what their games were going to lead to. This was deliciously spooky, just the right amount of gory, and made me want a sequel.

Menagerie in the Dark was a perfectly balanced mixture of genres.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Father of One by Jani Anttola

August 25, 2025 By 8 Comments


Father of One by Jani Anttola
Publisher: The Book Guild
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Review by: Astilbe

Maka, a young Bosnian soldier, has survived three years under siege. When the enemy forces launch their final attack on his hometown, he must escape to the hills. But traversing the vast woods is a task against all odds: to stay alive, and to find his infant son and his wife, he is soon forced to make a desperate move.

Set against the harrowing background of raging guerrilla warfare and the genocide in Srebrenica, Father of One is, at heart, a story of deep humanity, compassion and love. It is the account of one man’s desire to reunite his family, separated by war, and of bonds unbroken by trauma, sustained by loyalty and tenacity. Writing in a voice that rings with clarity and authenticity, Jani Anttola lays open a dark moment in Europe’s recent history.

Knowledge is a powerful weapon.

War makes many forms of communication difficult or even impossible. The most memorable scenes in my opinion were the ones that showed how the characters coped with not knowing as much about their loved ones and the world at large as they would normally expect. Whether it was knowing if someone was still alive or if they should trust a stranger, there were many moments that were filled with danger and uncertainty that would not have otherwise been there. This was where Mr. Anttola’s writing style shone brightly as he gave the audience many examples of how the characters dealt with all of these unknowns.

I struggled with the slow pacing, especially given the subject matter. War is a difficult topic to discuss, and there were times I thought the author’s thoughts about it would have been easier to understand if this were a shorter read. While the detailed descriptions did give me a vivid mental image of what Maka and his fellow soldiers were enduring, it also slowed down the storyline at times when I would have preferred things to move along a little faster.

This book did an excellent job of exploring how even seemingly tranquil moments can still be traumatic for a soldier in retrospect. Not knowing when violence is going to erupt again can make it extremely difficult to take care of basic human needs like eating, sleeping, bathing, or using the bathroom. Nobody should live on high alert twenty-four hours a day for years on end, and yet this was what Maka had to do in order to have any chance at all to survive. The effects on his mental and physical health were serious but left understated in some places so readers could figure out for themselves what was happening with him.

Father of One was a sobering read.

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Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

With A Whie by Stephanie Burke

August 25, 2025 By Leave a Comment


With A Whie by Stephanie Burke
Publisher: Changeling Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Evan Whie has a big brain, a big company and an even bigger issue… in his pants. Being that big can be a problem when it comes to dating… but he’s not interested in dating just anybody. He wants his queen.

Cleopatra Cockie has a big problem when it comes to love, and an even bigger solution to fix her woes… Seduce her business partner and man of her dreams, no matter what the rumor mill has to say.

They’re two gamer geeks on a mission and if they can work it out, Cockie will always be connected to a Whie.

Cleopatra Cockie and Evan Whie work together and are both smart gamer geeks on a mission. Each has been pining for the other, but for their own reasons haven’t quite yet taken the plunge. When they finally work out the courage, sparks will fly.

I really enjoyed this short story. With a small number of interesting and well-drawn characters and plenty of humour thrown in I found this to be a fun, quick read. Both Cleo and Evan made it crystal clear from the beginning their sights were on each other, so this didn’t feel like an intra-lust story with no real basis. I also really enjoyed that they were both smart people and pretty much on an even footing together work-wise.

The chemistry between them sizzled off the page and I think readers will absolutely feel as drawn into the story as I was. I enjoyed there were equal parts humour and connection between Evan and Cleo, and this helped me relax back and just enjoy the story – going with the flow.

Sit back with a deliciously cool drink, relax and enjoy the fun and sexy shenanigans – I thought this was a good short story.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Being Broken – Tales and Essays of Survival and Death from Narcissistic Parental Abuse by Geoffrey R. Jonas

August 22, 2025 By 2 Comments


Being Broken – Tales and Essays of Survival and Death from Narcissistic Parental Abuse by Geoffrey R. Jonas
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A young woman dies alone in a hotel room, her fentanyl-poisoned cocaine still on the desk. She had been missing for nearly 2 weeks. Social Services had been trying to find a place for her to live with her 3-year-old son, whom she had left with her parents. Six months later her father fights for his life in intensive care, but succumbs to his illness because of a lifelong use of alcohol and tobacco. A month after his death her mother is assessed by doctors to be unable to care for herself because of her Alzheimer’s and mental health issues brought on by benzodiazepine and alcohol addiction.

The son, brother, stepson is the only one left to pick up the pieces. He begins a journey of the self and finds out the truth of his family. After going over letters, notes, emails, videos, and text messages, he uncovers a disturbing picture of the abuse his sister suffered at the hands of their parents. He also begins to better understand his own struggles with mental health and substance addiction because of the trauma and abuse he also suffered from their parents.

Follow the son as he looks through his family history to discover the generational abuse that trickled down through the years. Learn about how parents who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder emotionally abuse and manipulate their children. See how the abuse and trauma becomes mental illness in the abused, and how they fall into vicious traps of addiction, eating disorders, self-harm, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Witness the transformational change of the son as he works on the recovery of his inner child and tries to become the man he was meant to be.

Every choice has consequences, and some terrible choices echo through families for generations.

I appreciated the author’s thoughts about how medical providers and society in general could improve the way they treat people who are struggling with mental illness, domestic abuse, trauma, and Substance Use Disorder. His ideas were sensible and included plenty of straightforward advice on everything from changing the way one thinks of someone who is struggling with these challenges to ideas for legislation that could make treatment and recovery easier for this population as well. These are not easy problems to fix by any means, but there are things people from every walk of life can do to make the world slightly better for everyone affected by the sorts of things that Mr. Jonas experienced as a child, teen, and young adult.

While I loved this book in general, my all-time favorite scenes were the ones that showed how people who have Narcissistic Personality Disorder can manipulate nearly any conversation or situation to their own benefit, especially in cases when their victims are not already well-versed in how this disorder can destroy relationships. This isn’t always an easy topic to talk about, so I appreciated the care the author took in describing what his childhood was like without demonizing anyone or downplaying the deep trauma this mental illness caused in his life. It was a delicate balance to maintain, but it added extra layers to his story that were necessary in order to understand why everything unfolded the way it did.

One of the most remarkable things about this memoir was how brutally honest Mr. Jonas was about his faults. He shared multiple stories about things he had done that hurt other people or, in a couple of cases, animals without making any excuses for his choices or softening the blow by passing the blame to others. This is a difficult thing for many people to do, especially for someone who had such a traumatic start to life, so I have to commend him for doing all of the hard work that is necessary in order for a person to not only face up to their worst moments in life but also to genuinely apologize for them. He is a talented writer, and I hope to read more of his work in the future.

Being Broken – Tales and Essays of Survival and Death from Narcissistic Parental Abuse was exactly what it needed to be in order to tell this tale.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

I Have a Story to Tell by Colleen L. Donnelly – Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

August 22, 2025 By 14 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Colleen L Donnelly will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Jim Turner writes crime but doesn’t live it. He respects his grandfather’s tales of heroes but doesn’t believe them. When his failing grandfather sends him to a remote peninsula to write the end of his own heroic love story, Jim includes a war criminal interview to maintain his edge.

Chastity is an anomaly, a misfit in pre-WWII culture as well as in Jim’s life. Her spritely charm and endearing features turn Jim’s world upside down, especially when she reveals his grandfather’s peninsula as the site of her upcoming wedding.

Do good journalists flee when their interviewee is murdered? Do heroes write fiancés out of another’s story and themselves in? “The End” become the hardest words for Jim to write.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Author’s Note: Boy meets Girl. When fascination turns to love.

She squeezed my hand.

How did she know? Because of Grandpa I came to Grove and searched for a peninsula that brought me to Chastity…who then brought me to it. Even though Seth believed my main purpose here was to meet an informant who dared to malign one of Hitler’s men.

I let go of her hand. “My grandfather is a wonderful man… But before we discuss him, there are things you should know about.” I had to be honest. “Tasks you can’t help me with.” Like crime and violence, dangerous interviews, and the way I felt about her.

A face unlike any I had ever seen…and never would again…should send my heroic heart to the ladder where I would gather a million splinters in my hands by sliding to the ground, risking pain and infection to keep her safe. Her features looked watery as I gazed at her. Tears? I never cried. Her pastel throw rugs turned into colorful puddles blurred by an emotion I had never experienced before.

“You are supposed to be here, Jim. And I am supposed to help you.”

For a moment, something ominous crept into my thoughts. Something of the old crime writer in me, who with several clicks of a typewriter’s keys could turn any story the direction I wanted. I welcomed him back, then set him aside. Because in the blue of her eyes, I saw something stronger—my promise.

If friendship was defined by a long period of time and a large number of interactions, Chastity didn’t qualify. And maybe my initial carnal fascination which became a pitter-patter my heart couldn’t beat without didn’t meet the definition of love. But she was at least partially right. For three days we were supposed to be together and help each other. For three days we had an eternity.

About the Author: Colleen L Donnelly put her science education to use for years and then put it behind her to pursue other passions. Her first love is writing and her second is hunting—hunting for that next good story, hunting for relics and antiques, hunting for the next good author to read. An avid believer in work hard/play hard, Colleen splits her time between indoors and out, always busy at something.

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Buy the book at Amazon or BookBub.

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