Murder At Midnight by Faith Martin

June 5, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Murder At Midnight by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Felix Olliphant was found stabbed to death at a New Year’s Eve costume party for the turn of the millennium.

Seemingly liked by everyone, motives for his murder are hard to find. There was one suspect, but no evidence.

Hillary struggles to solve this baffling case. And she has to contend with a new colleague, Jake Barnes. Young and rich, he says he wants to give something back to the community, but Hillary has her doubts.

Will Hillary finally be defeated by this cold case and will she lose her boss and love interest to a new job?

Hillary Greene has returned to Thames Valley Police HQ, acting as a cold-case consultant for the Crime Review Team, looking into murders which the police have never been able to solve.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to go back. But solving crimes is irresistible for Hillary Greene. And it doesn’t hurt that her new boss is devastatingly handsome.

Hillary Green returns to work in the cold case unit after a well earned two week break. Her two new trainees are both eager to begin work with her – though each have their own secrets. Hillary is given a particularly difficult case – one with ample suspects but no real motive. Can Hillary work her magic yet again?

I have been thoroughly enjoying this series. I am particularly impressed the author manages to keep the situations feeling fresh. With semi regular new characters introduced as the plotlines surrounding other secondary characters close out and they move on I think this really finds the balance between the comfort of the known and familiar but with enough movement and new people brought in to keep everything feeling fresh and different. I also really enjoy the fact that while the cases are generally kept to each individual book, there is frequently a sub-plot or two percolating in the background to give a bit of cohesion and a sense of an overall storyline unfolding.

Realistic and enjoyable, I can thoroughly rate this series and find each new installment to be an enjoyable read. I thought there was clearly a longer running plot with one of the new trainees – he’s clearly got a few secrets lurking and a personal agenda he’s working on. It will be interesting to see where that leads. I also have been enjoying the slowly building sub-plot of Hillary’s love life with her about-to-be-promoted boss. Readers should be aware that the final paragraph of the book spins a few things on it’s head and clearly is leading to a big change in the next book.

An excellent mystery with a cast of strong secondary characters and a very well plotted series of mysteries and multi-book plot arcs this is a great series and one I can highly recommend. Thoroughly enjoyable.

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

The Wine Cellar by Chris Hart

June 4, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Wine Cellar by Chris Hart
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

She inherited a house she had never seen. She did not know what waited under it.

When Dr. Rosaria “Rosie” Conti loses the grandmother she barely knew, she also inherits a stone masseria in the hills outside Ragusa – a property no one in her family knew existed, kept in silence for more than eighty years. Burned out from emergency medicine and grieving more than she can name, Rosie travels to Sicily to settle the estate and walk away.

Then she finds the wine cellar beneath the kitchen floor. And the bottle dated 1943. And the man waiting on the other side of one impossible swallow.

Salvatore “Turi” Valenti is an OSS operative working with Sicilian partisans behind German lines during Operation Husky – an Italian-American from Brooklyn living between three names and one war he may not survive. The cellar that brings Rosie to him will only open ten times. After that, the door closes for good.

As Rosie crosses again and again into a country at war, she discovers that her grandmother’s silence held more than grief – and that the choice waiting for her at the bottom of the bottle is not whether to love a man eighty-three years out of reach, but what she is willing to leave behind to stay.

Some love stories are not bound by time.

Love is everywhere.

This was a great example of how to include complex world building into a tale that was fast-paced and didn’t have space for lengthy descriptions. The author made every sentence count, and within a few pages I could imagine Sicily in exquisite detail that included all five senses during both the World War II era as well as today.

There were times when I wished for more information about the budding romance between Rosie and Turi. Life in the 1940s was quite different than it is today, especially for a woman. It surprised me a little that the main character didn’t think about how rare it was for women to become doctors eighty years ago and how her life might change for the worse if she decided to remain in the past. Developing the romance even further would have given the protagonist a solid reason to make this decision, and I would have gone for a full five-star rating if this had occurred due to how well written the rest of it was.

The descriptions of how Rosie treated common injuries and illnesses in a world that didn’t yet have widespread access to antibiotics or other modern medical advancements were among my favorite scenes. This would have been tricky enough during peace time, but during a war it was even more daunting due to how limited certain supplies could be and how dangerous it was to travel some nights. I also enjoyed seeing how these scenes explored Rosie’s calm personality and the relationships she built with people who trusted her to help them during some of the worst moments of their lives.

I didn’t want The Wine Cellar to end. What a heartwarming read!

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

Imago Nine – The Popstar Apocalypse by A.D. Shaddox

June 3, 2026 By 2 Comments


Imago Nine – The Popstar Apocalypse by A.D. Shaddox
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Amaya Reed never asked to become an Active.

One day, she’s a normal high school junior. The next, she’s cycling through eight unpredictable powers—mind-reading, gravity control, phasing, speed—each one replacing the last, each one harder to control than the one before.

There’s just one problem: once she uses a power, she can’t use it again until she’s burned through all eight.

When a disastrous rescue attempt goes viral, Amaya is branded a danger instead of a hero. But before she can even figure out how to live with her abilities, the mysterious Agency comes calling with an offer she can’t ignore:

Go undercover on the biggest show in America—The Next American Popstar—and stop a killer who plans to strike during the live finale.

Now, Amaya has to survive high school, master a volatile cycle of powers, and compete on a national stage where one mistake could cost her everything.

Because this time, failure won’t just go viral.

It’ll be deadly.

Being a teenager is complicated enough even before magical abilities start developing.

The descriptions of Amaya’s eight powers and how she learned to use them were detailed and memorable. I liked the fact that each ability was not only associated with a color but also had a special name. Once the characters explained them all, it was easy for me as a reader to know what to expect next based on what she’d done recently and which power was next on her rotating list. I should note that it did take a little while for this to be fully explored, but I didn’t mind the wait and thought it felt very natural to learn the last few bits of information when I did. Sometimes life does get in the way of lengthy conversations about important matters, after all!

It would have been helpful to have stronger character development, especially for Amaya. As much as I enjoyed learning about the incredible things she could do, I found myself wishing that I knew more about her personality and the interests she had that were unrelated to her role as an Active. Her relationship with her younger brother, for example, could have been explored more deeply in order to round out her character and give the audience a glimpse of what she was like when she was doing typical teenage things.

Many of the young adult books I read tend to shy away from including social media or reality television in their storylines, so I found it refreshing to see how the characters used and were affected by both the Internet and this style of programming. There are some key differences between teens who grew up in previous generations where these things either didn’t exist at all or were much more niche and people in that age group today who know that anything they say or do could be immediately shared and dissected online.

I was intrigued by Imago Nine – The Popstar Apocalypse.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Two Lives With You by Lauren Ho

June 2, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Two Lives With You by Lauren Ho
Publisher: Mindy’s Book Studio
Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

What if they never married? For an overwhelmed husband and wife, that what-if wish comes true in an emotional and bittersweet novel about choices, sacrifice, and the love that they might lose forever.

When Dana and Nigel got married, they had such promise. After sixteen years, the cracks are showing.

Dana is a burned-out ER nurse, and Nigel is a recently unemployed stay-at-home dad whose professional identity is disappearing. Questioning the directions their lives have taken, Dana and Nigel are each granted a wish from a mysterious stranger. For one week they can escape the pressure of their lives in favor of ones in which they never married.

Waking up in an alternate reality where their youthful, individual dreams have come true is, at first, a marvel. When they meet by chance in Bali, Dana recognizes Nigel instantly, but he feels only an inexplicable connection to this stranger. And they discover there’s a catch to their wishes.

Returning to normal—and to the long-haul love they vowed would be forever—won’t be as easy as they thought. As the clock ticks down, Dana and Nigel face an impossible choice that will test the very foundation of their relationship and alter their lives forever.

Perfection is a myth.

Romantic relationships evolve over time, especially when a couple decides to have kids, encounters health problems, or struggles to find work among many other potential stressors in life. There simply aren’t enough romance novels about characters in these busy and sometimes difficult stages of life for my tastes, so I was thrilled to read something about a relationship that has weathered multiple storms and no longer feels quite the same as it used to. While I don’t want to give away any spoilers, I can say that this realistic approach to romance for people who are no longer college aged was refreshing and I loved seeing how Nigel and Dana explored their past together as they contemplated their possible futures as well.

I would have preferred to see more attention paid to character development. While I could easily describe Dana and Nigel’s professions and what they thought of their work on their best days as well as their worst ones, explaining what their personalities were like or how they grew and changed as a result of their magical experiences would be trickier. There were moments that briefly focused on this topics, but not to the extent I’d hope to find in a full-length novel. As much as I enjoyed the storyline itself, I needed a deeper understanding of who these two characters were as individuals in order to select a higher rating.

With that being said, I loved the fantasy and paranormal subplots of this tale. They were well developed and blended beautifully into the main romantic storyline due to how reliant the two protagonists were on figuring out the spell that bound them in order to repair their marriage and hopefully return to their original reality. This was a great example of how to blend these genres together in ways that honor all of them equally.

Two Lives with You was romantic and heartwarming.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Love Across Time by Beth Ford

June 1, 2026 By 2 Comments


Love Across Time by Beth Ford
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Ashley and Thomas, a medieval knight, are in 1377 England, escaping from present-day immigration authorities intent on capturing Thomas. Having fled to the past to ensure their togetherness, Ashley is faced with adapting to fourteenth-century life, while Thomas, new to his title as Baron after his older brother’s death, is called to Parliament, encountering enemies there and at court as he struggles to build his own alliances.

Ashley’s work at a monastic hospital is deemed “miraculous” but draws unwanted attention as potential witchcraft. Meanwhile, becoming embroiled in a political movement, she realizes too late it’s a plot against the King.

How can Ashley conform to social expectations, counter the plot, and still keep her relationship with Thomas, in all the turmoil?

Even true love has its limits.

I adored the way this novel explored what romance can be like after a couple has settled into life together and things are no longer quite as fresh and exciting. That is a stage of life that can be tricky at times, but it can also encourage two people to eventually fall even more deeply for each other as they practice solving conflicts and putting each other first even when they disagree about something important. As someone who had not read the first book in this series yet, I quickly began rooting for these two to resolve their differences and figure out how to blend their cultures and personalities together. They seemed so well-suited for each other despite the rough spots.

There were a few times when I struggled with the pacing, especially as it pertained to the stretches of time that Ashley and Thomas spent at Lydiard, his estate. She still had so much to learn about life in England in 1377 that I sometimes found myself wishing she‘d use these quieter moments to ask him more questions about everything from how currency worked in that era to what the social etiquette back then was for people of their station. This would have given Ashley a deeper understanding of just how different life was back then as well as keep my interest levels high enough to justify the five-star reading I wanted to give this piece.

The ending was well done and satisfactory. It made me feel as though the characters were wrapping things up while in good places in their lives while still leaving room for future adventures if the author ever decides to write them. I also appreciated how they approached the logical next steps in their lives after their biggest conflicts had been resolved. That final scene fit both the characters and their setting nicely which was especially remarkable given the many personal and cultural differences between Thomas and Ashley.

This is part of a series, but it can also be read as a standalone work.

Love Across Time was sweet and romantic.

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

Devourer by R.M. Sayan

May 29, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Devourer by R.M. Sayan
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Somewhere off the coast of Peru, 1879.
Half a world away from home, Bo is rescued from a shipwreck by the crew of the Ayar, a ship manned by runaways and deserters with a mute captain and an enigmatic first mate. But mutiny festers in the bilge, and between luck spells and sea dragons, surviving on the high seas becomes a matter of ‘kill or be killed’ — eat or be eaten.
What is a captain to a god?
What is a god to a cook?

Anything can happen on the open sea.

I enjoyed the way the horror storyline was gradually introduced. This started out as a fairly typical shipwreck and rescue tale with only a few vague hints of what was to come. The further I read, though, the more Bo understood that something odd was happening on the ship that rescued him. His slow realization of the truth was nearly as interesting as the principled stand he took against doing something that all of the other sailors thought was perfectly acceptable.

Speaking of taking a stand, I liked how understated Bo’s moral dilemma was. The author trusted their audience to understand why Bo felt so uneasy and, later on, what was at stake if he disobeyed his conscious. By focusing on the horror and speculative fiction elements of the tale, the author left plenty of room for readers to come up with their own interpretations of what was happening and why Bo’s choices mattered so much.

The ending was what ultimately convinced me to select a five-star rating for this piece. It was well written, and I especially adored how all of the hints from earlier scenes, particularly the ones that were so subtle it was easy to overlook them entirely, coalesced together into something filled with eldritch themes. Readers who have spent any time travelling on water, especially in cramped quarters or under even mildly unpleasant conditions, may find a few interesting tidbits here about the quiet but chilling feeling of feeling trapped on a ship with days to go until one touches land again.

Devourer made me yearn for a sequel.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , ,

Protecting Home by Kyle Shoop

May 28, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Protecting Home by Kyle Shoop
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Historical, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

You can’t outrun home.

A game-winning hit.
A mysterious inheritance.
One journey that changes everything.

After the sudden death of his father, major-league all-star Buck Boone is forced to return to the hometown he left behind years ago. But instead of a traditional inheritance, Buck is surprised to find his father left him a final challenge: in five days—the length of a little league baseball game—he must revisit four meaningful places from his past.

Four bases.
One final trip around the diamond.
Only then can he claim what his father left behind.

Each stop uncovers a memory his father could never forget—a defining moment in their relationship, and a moment Buck believed he had outrun long ago. As the journey unfolds, the line between past and present begins to blur, revealing the love, heartbreak, and quiet sacrifices that shaped his life.

Told through an emotionally rich dual timeline, Buck’s return home forces him to confront formidable moments, old friends, a fractured relationship with his family, and the lesson his father lived by: always protect home.

Heartfelt and unforgettable, Protecting Home is a powerful novel about baseball, fathers and sons, forgiveness, and the courage it takes to come home—reminding us that the greatest victories aren’t always won on the field, but in the lives we choose to protect.

Forgiveness is for everyone.

Memories can be tricky things sometimes, so I was glad to see the dual timelines included in this book. Buck’s understanding of the world as a child and teenager were obviously not the same as how he viewed the same events many years later. It was helpful for me as a reader to see how his perspectives evolved as he began to understand his family better and branched out into the world as a professional athlete.

It would have been helpful to have stronger plot and character development. Other than his love of baseball and his close relationship with his father, I’d have trouble describing what Buck was like as a person. For example, no other hobbies or interests of his were included and I’m not sure what it would be like to meet him in person. Was he gentle, loud, thoughtful, or impulsive? I was never certain, but the same could be said of the vague descriptions of his small hometown. Was this set now or sixty years ago? Good arguments could be made for many different decades, and knowing roughly when it occurred would have helped to clear up some of my questions about why the character who was struggling with serious mental health problems didn’t seem to have any medical assistance with them.

With that being said, the descriptions of what it’s like to have a relative who is struggling with their mental health were interesting. Whether it was happening decades ago or in current times, getting help for a family in crisis can be difficult and sometimes provoke feelings of shame and guilt in both the person who is suffering as well as in their loved ones. This isn’t something that can always be easily resolved, and I liked the way the author acknowledged that aspect of the subplot along the way.

Protecting Home was a thought-provoking look at fraying family ties, mending fences, and, of course, the joy of baseball.

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

You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh

May 27, 2026 By Leave a Comment


You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh
Publisher: Montlake
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

On the three-year anniversary of true crime writer Olivia Cruz’s horrific kidnapping, she’s scheduled to walk her podcaster friend Zoe March through the crime scene, but Zoe fails to show. Olivia knows Zoe would never stand her up—not today.

Zoe’s husband, who claims she never came home the night before, has reported her missing. But marital conflicts make the police suspect she has left him. Olivia thinks otherwise. The police aren’t looking for Zoe, so Olivia begins her own investigation. Retracing her friend’s last steps, she finds Zoe’s phone and a text with one chilling word: Run.

It soon becomes apparent that Zoe has been keeping secrets, and with her true crime podcast, there’s no telling what she has unearthed. To find her, Olivia must dig into her friend’s past. Did Zoe vanish to escape a killer, and is Olivia walking into a deadly trap?

Olivia Cruz knows that horrible things can happen to good people. When her longtime friend, Zoe March, fails to show for a meeting, her mind immediately jumps to the worst. But is it truly something nefarious or did Zoe just tire of her husband and leave to start a new life? That is the thing that Olivia is determined to discover, whatever the end result might be.

Three years ago, Oliva was kidnapped as a PR stunt and has been dealing with the trauma of it ever since. It was pretty impressive how well she coped with it all, and how her boyfriend, Lincoln, helped her without smothering or controlling her. Loved that she was a reporter turned true crime writer, made her reasons for wanting to find Zoe more understandable and less reckless.

Zoe March was the character I was most interested in, however. When the main character starts to find out that their good friend – Zoe, in this case – has been keeping secrets, I’m immediately engrossed, wanting nothing but the truth. As Olivia discovers, Zoe has been keeping a lot of secrets, for a very good reason. The tidbits of Zoe’s past are doled out a little at a time, making it hard for me to stop reading. I needed to know!

You Can Tell Me is a fast-paced, engrossing mystery. I was sucked in right from the start. First, I wanted to know about Olivia’s past kidnapping. Then, once Zoe fails to show, I needed to know where she’d gone, what had happened, and why. It was also different having a true crime writer searching for her true crime podcaster friend. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Leigh’s writing in the future. But first, I need to scour her backlist and see if Olivia’s story is told in any of them because that is a story I need all the details on.

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

Field Of Bones by LT Ryan

May 26, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Field Of Bones by LT Ryan
Publisher: Liquid Mind Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A young woman disappears…
A desperate family searches for answers…
Maddie Castle must uncover the truth before it’s too late.

Maddie Castle thought she’d seen it all as a private investigator, but when Bentley Roycroft pleads for help finding his niece, Daisy Miller, Maddie is drawn into one of her most harrowing cases yet. Daisy has been missing for nearly a year, but a recent clue—a mysterious flash drive—could hold the key to her whereabouts.

As Maddie investigates, she unravels a trail of deceit, corruption, and buried secrets that point to a dangerous conspiracy. With each step, the danger grows, and Maddie must rely on her instincts to navigate a deadly game where every move could be her last. Time is running out, and the stakes couldn’t be higher: uncover the truth or lose Daisy forever.

PI Maddie Castle has finally found a solid lead on the missing Daisy Miller. Bently – Maddie’s boyfriend – asked Maddie to search for the Daisy, the young sister of his dead wife. Maddie knows the older man – Daisy’s captor – is ruthless, smart and determined, but as Maddie uncovers more and more, she realizes that the stakes are higher than she could have imagined, and the death toll is worst than her every nightmare.

This is an intense and well plotted mystery/thriller series I have been enjoying a lot. There are some darker themes here in the book – kidnapping and non-consensual activities in particular – but I wouldn’t describe anything as overtly graphic or titillating. These themes are present and not shied away from, but they also are not dwelled upon or given graphic description – more mentioned numerous times and not shied away from. I also would stress heavily that this book is solidly a mystery/thriller and “rescue the kidnapped woman” storyline – not in any way a romance or “Dark Romance” style of book.

I also for this book would recommend that the previous story (Vanished Trails) would be a sensible book to read prior to picking this book up. Much of the background detecting occurs in this book and then Field of Bones picks up immediately after where Vanished Trails leaves off. This means readers starting here might feel as if a lot of the hard yards in tracking Daisy and the key evidence they find is missing – as this story opens with Maddie having the evidence in hand and actually tracking down Daisy. I do feel readers should be able to pick up where this story begins, but I feel if I hadn’t read the previous book it might feel to myself as if half the story (the mystery/tracking the clues) was missing.

I absolutely enjoyed the fact that the pace is fast in this book. The whole book covers just a few short and intense days – the culmination of the case as a whole – and this book has a very go-go-go sort of feel to me. I was pleased that much of the emotional baggage which the other books in this series often has was a lot more back seat in this story. I enjoyed that the focus was the case and rescuing Daisy and not so much all the complexities of Maddie’s personal and family life. I did really enjoy that.

While I admit this book might not appeal as much to new readers to this series – without the multiple story plotline arc some of the intensity and emotion might not be present, I do nevertheless feel this is a highly emotional and intense read, a strong thriller/serial killer style of story and a fast paced, plot heavy read. It was also very satisfying to finally get some closure and answers on some of the longer running story arc with these still being plenty of story left for future books.

A well plotted, fast paced mystery/thriller book and a series I am really enjoying. Recommended.

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

Death by Coconut by Susie Black

May 25, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Death by Coconut by Susie Black
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Obnoxious Mystique Swimwear sales rep Simon Posnick was universally despised by competitors and customers alike. So the question wasn’t who wanted the lying, cheating scoundrel dead. The question was who didn’t. Mariel Levine, Laurie’s Fashions’ swimsuit buyer and Holly Schlivnik’s career mentor, is wrongly arrested for murdering Posnick by impaling him with the jagged edge of a coconut shell at the base of his skull. The wisecracking, irreverent President of Mermaid Swimwear jumps into action to uncover the real killer. But the treacherous trail holds more dangerous human predators than the alligators and black pythons in the Everglades. Everything turns out differently than amateur sleuth Holly thinks it will as she tangles with a vengeful killer.

He might have been a jerk, but he still didn’t deserve to die.

I was pleased by the character development that has happened since Death By Sample Size introduced Holly Schlivnik to the world. She has matured in all sorts of wonderful ways since I first met her, and her experiences solving the previous mysteries have clearly played a part in her personal growth. This made me want to go back and catch up on the titles in this seriesI haven’t read yet to discover more details about how that all occurred.

While the beginning and ending were fairly fast paced, I did find the middle portion’s pacing to be slower and sometimes uneven in certain places. This lead to my interest in the plot wavering for a while due to the reduced number of events that were leading the protagonist to the truth. If not for that issue, I would have given this a full five-star rating as everything else about it was memorable and entertaining.

The romantic subplot was woven into this tale beautifully. I especially appreciated how Holly balanced the role she played in trying to find the murderer with her attention to her private life. She’s a character I’ve grown attached to and was rooting for as she tried to make time for work, romance, and a lot of sleuthing along the way. My fingers are crossed we’ll get even more details about her personal life in the future.

This is the seventh instalment in the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, but it can be read as a standalone work as well.

Death by Coconut kept me guessing until the end.

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