Lies to Tell by Marion Todd

July 26, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Lies to Tell by Marion Todd
Publisher: Canelo, UK
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer…

Early one morning DI Clare Mackay receives a message from her boss DCI Alastair Gibson telling her to meet him in secret. She does as he asks and is taken from St Andrews to a secure location in the remote Scottish hills. There, she is introduced to ethical hacker Gayle Crichton and told about a critical security breach coming from inside Police Scotland. Clare is sworn to secrecy and must conceal Gayle’s identity from colleagues until the source is found.

Clare already has her hands full keeping a key witness under protection and investigating the murder of a university student. When a friend of the victim is found preparing to jump off the Tay Road Bridge it is clear he is terrified of someone. But who? Clare realises too late that she has trusted the wrong person. As her misplaced faith proves a danger to herself and others, Clare must fight tooth and nail to protect those she cares about and see justice done.

DI Clare Mackay is all settled in St. Andrews and feeling good about how things are going. When she’s instructed that her morning meeting has been cancelled and she needs to meet her boss in secret things become weird fast. DCI Gibson and Clare are taken to an underground bunker in the remote Scottish hills and threatened with having their Warrants taken if they breathe a word of what’s discussed in those walls. Clare trusts her team implicitly, but with the threat of her entire career hanging on the line she’s going to have to get used to subterfuge very quickly. Will it all be a deadly mistake?

I’ve been enjoying this series and this book was no different. I was pleased that Clare is feeling settled and happy in her life and strongly feel this book can be read as a stand alone. The relationships and much of the history between the characters and Clare’s team is very well explained and I don’t feel readers will miss anything if they start fresh with this book.

I found this to be very much a police procedural style of novel and set in Scotland but not in Edinburgh or Glasgow I thought it had a good blend of a more rural feel while still being a university city based police story. I also was really impressed there were two or three main plotlines all twining together and this helped keep the pace of the story feeling like it was moving along and not dragging in any areas. I was pretty impressed I managed to guess one of the main plot endings – but was rather surprised with a few others and so this also felt very balanced and enjoyable to me.

I must admit Clare’s love life is getting a little more complicated and the ending left a few big questions hovering in the air. This is a love-life question – not a plot being left unresolved – but readers who dislike any real romance might find this book strays a little too far for their liking. And while the police/mystery aspects to the story are all very neatly tied up some of Clare’s personal life is definitely left unresolved so these might be issues for some readers.

With interesting characters and a very strong plot with complications and a few different aspects to it this was a complex and well written police procedural that I greatly enjoyed.

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

Destination Wedding by Sean Michael

July 25, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Destination Wedding by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Two years ago Royal walked in on his husband Bobby in bed with another man, leaving him a single dad with a three year old boy and a baby girl, who he loves with all his heart. Now his ex and the other man are getting married and they want the kids in the wedding.

Logan received divorce papers when his husband Rick cheated on him, leaving him with a four year old son and another child on the way. He resents having to let his ex have his son every second weekend, but is happy he doesn’t have to share his little girl.

When Royal gets to his room at the destination wedding resort, he meets Logan and the two men get along like a house on fire, commiserating over the fact that their exes cheated with each other, are getting married, and that they want the kids to be a part of the ceremony.

Commiseration becomes friendship, and the kids all consider each other siblings. Can Royal and Logan find more than friendship with each other?

When Royal walked in on his husband Bobby, cheating with a man named Rick, it left him as a single man raising their two toddler children effectively by himself. Royal loves his now five and three year old children more than anything – but now Bobby and Rick are getting married they want their kids – including the young son Rick has with his ex-husband Logan – involved in the wedding. Royal and Logan are both still trying to get their lives somewhat under control and the routines and schedules with their respective children into a system, so it’s understandable that while at this destination wedding they find a strong supportive friend with each other. But can that friendship and camaraderie maybe lead them to something more?

I enjoyed this full length novel and found the characters very well drawn. I was particularly pleased that this story had a slower pace with the two men becoming supportive and understanding friends before either of them explored or acted on their attraction. In this circumstance I’m not sure I’d have found an insta-love or quicker paced romance too believable, especially considering both Logan and Royal had two small children each and they’d both been very badly burned by their ex’s and the cheating two years prior. I was so relieved the author made their journey about the comfort, strength of friendship and the whole family situation an equal – if not greater – part to the relationship along with the sex and companionship. It just gave the whole story a more realistic and enjoyable vibe to me and I really loved that.

The sex – and there is plenty of that once the men get there – is smoking hot but also tender and heartfelt and very well written. I feel readers used to the spicier M/M books out there should find it very satisfying and I found it utterly realistic considering the circumstances of both men’s lives.

I also felt there was plenty of plot based around the two families and their lifestyles. There was ample conflict considering the ex’s and even plenty of normal, day-to-day experiences of single parenting with young children. I feel readers who enjoy this style of story should definitely feel this book well worth a try. I was pleased this was a very stand-alone style of book and readers should have no concerns over picking it up even if they’ve never read anything by this author.

With interesting characters, adorable and memorable children and two single dads doing the best they can this is a great book with plenty of chemistry and a lovely read I thoroughly enjoyed.

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Daughter of Fire by Sofia Robleda

July 24, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Daughter of Fire by Sofia Robleda
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Genre: Historical, Fiction
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

For a young woman coming of age in sixteenth-century Guatemala, safeguarding her people’s legacy is a dangerous pursuit in a mystical, empowering, and richly imagined historical novel.

Catalina de Cerrato is being raised by her widowed father, Don Alonso, in 1551 Guatemala, scarcely thirty years since the Spanish invasion. A ruling member of the oppressive Spanish hierarchy, Don Alonso holds sway over the newly relegated lower class of Indigenous communities. Fiercely independent, Catalina struggles to honor her father and her late mother, a Maya noblewoman to whom Catalina made a vow that only she can keep: preserve the lost sacred text of the Popol Vuh, the treasured and now forbidden history of the K’iche’ people.

Urged on by her mother’s spirit voice, and possessing the gift of committing the invaluable stories to memory, Catalina embarks on a secret and transcendent quest to rewrite them. Through ancient pyramids, Spanish villas, and caves of masked devils, she finds an ally in the captivating Juan de Rojas, a lord whose rule was compromised by the invasion. But as their love and trust unfold, and Don Alonso’s tyranny escalates, Catalina must confront her conflicted blood heritage—and its secrets—once and for all if she’s to follow her dangerous quest to its historic end.

The setting is sixteenth-century Guatemala, and the story is told from the point of view of a young woman named Catalina. Catalina is living between two worlds: that of her Spanish father, and that of her late Mayan mother. Her dad’s colleagues have conquered and suppressed her mother’s, leaving Catalina in a desperately uncomfortable situation. Much drama is written into the story as it unfolds. We get to know and love Catalina as she maneuvers her way through a lot of danger and intrigue.

The novel comes across almost as a diary, with real emotion to help us not only understand, but feel what’s happening to Catalina. Her supporting characters are richly drawn and unpredictable. The world around her is easy to picture due to the author’s skill in weaving in time and place details.

This is a moving, suspenseful tale of a young woman living in fretful times. Readers will surely enjoy getting a feel for the history of the era as well. Recommended.

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How to Develop Your Career Path in a Post Pandemic World by Zail Dugal

July 23, 2024 By Leave a Comment


How to Develop Your Career Path in a Post Pandemic World by Zail Dugal
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In the wake of the global pandemic, the professional landscape has undergone profound changes, challenging traditional notions of career advancement and stability. Recent graduates are having trouble finding their footing in the workplace after many other professionals have been laid off or furloughed. Some professionals have had gaps in their employment because of parental responsibilities, having their own health challenges, or caring for their aging parents. How to Develop Your Career Path in a Post Pandemic World is a comprehensive guide that navigates readers through this evolving terrain, offering practical insights, strategies, and actionable steps to thrive in the new normal.

Uncertainty can be a gift.

Not every job is the perfect fit for every worker. I nodded in agreement as I read about the importance of knowing one’s skills, strengths, and weaknesses before deciding which positions to apply for. Even something as simple as preferring background noise or preferring a quiet workplace should be considered, and I liked the fact that the author spent so much time talking about the many different factors that should be considered when looking into possible roles.

The thought that crossed my mind over and over again as I read this was that I wished the author had included more details about every step in the process. She covered a lot of important information about modern job hunting, but she didn’t have time to dive deeply into any one particular topic. It would have been especially helpful if she had talked more about how online job applications have altered the job search process, how to tailor a resume to a specific position, and what people who are disabled or part of other minority groups can do to increase their odds of success. She did discuss some of the unique challenges mothers and caregivers face in the workplace, so I would have been keen to see this section expanded by several chapters so that other perspectives could be included as well.

I appreciated the attention Ms. Dugal paid to the emotional aspects of job hunting, from feeling the sting of rejection to building resiliency and maintaining a hopeful outlook on life. It can be quite difficult to send out countless job applications that are never replied to or to interview for positions for companies that do not keep applicants updated on the process. There are a lot of things one cannot control while looking for work, so remaining upbeat about the things one does have an influence on makes a great deal of difference. If only this section had been longer! Honestly, I think it was the most important chapter of them all.

How to Develop Your Career Path in a Post Pandemic World was thought provoking.

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

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

July 22, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
Publisher: Gollancz
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Where the Marble Arch stands today in London was once the Tyburn gallows – also known as The Hanging Tree. The walk toward those gallows along Oxford Street and past the Mayfair mansions has a bloody and haunted history as the last trip of the condemned. Some things never change. For both blood and ghosts have returned to those mansions of the super-rich. And it’s up to Peter Grant – England’s last wizard and the Metropolitan Police’s reluctant investigator of all things supernatural – to get to the bottom of the sinister doings.

PC Peter Grant doesn’t usually get involved with any old suspicious death, not even when the young adult who died is extraordinarily wealthy and the apartment where the death occurred is inside one of the most exclusive apartment complexes in the rich section of London. But Lady Ty’s young daughter was at the party in question and Peter owes Lady Ty a big favour. And as seems to always happen with Peter, nothing is quite what it seems. And when it comes to asking difficult questions at inopportune times, Peter just can’t help himself.

This has been an exceptional series and I am really enjoying the blend of humour with a paranormal world and some really excellently plotted police procedural murder mysteries. Readers might want to have read one or two of the previous books in this series as a number of the characters aren’t given a whole lot of background in this book and so coming in blind might make it difficult to initially work out how everyone is connected, but this is such a great book and a fabulous series reading some – or all – of the previous books really shouldn’t be too hard.

I did enjoy that a number of the longer term plot arcs got a fair bit of traction – both with Lesley May and the other magical practitioners, as well as Peter gaining some momentum with his magical skills and training. The actual plot of the murdered young adult and the rich and famous party goers was also very interesting and well paced so I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects to this book.

A great blend of dry British wit, with a large dose of police procedural mystery and a lovely sense of the absurd I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read more in this series. Recommended.

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

Finding A Purple Unicorn by Sean Michael

July 19, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Finding A Purple Unicorn by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Single dad and bookshop owner Dave Swan is ready to attend his first parent-teacher night with his twins, Maple and Willow. Maple is super-excited to introduce him to her new best friend Ellie. Everything is fine until he meets Ellie’s dad, who just happens to be the guy he had a wild fling with on a summer singles cruise.

Stained glass artist Daniel Eramos loves his life. He has a great job, an eclectic house, and the best daughter ever. But he’s pretty shocked when Ellie introduces him to Maple, and to Maple’s dad, who rocked his world not so long ago.

When the two men discover they have more in common than a crazy vacation, and that their kids are becoming besties, they know they’ve got something good going on. But when they have to negotiate living arrangements, adult time, and Dave’s ex, it might overwhelm them before they can ever figure out what they want from each other.

Dave is a single father to twins, Maple and Willow. Having heard about Maple’s BFF, Ellie for a while now, he’s surprised when he discovers Ellie’s father is Daniel, who rocked Dave’s world a short time ago when they both hooked up on a gay cruise. Neither man had expected anything to come from the short fling, but now they discover they’re going to be a lot more solidly in each others lives with their daughters inseparable. The two men slowly realise they have a lot more in common than they originally expected.

I really enjoyed this heartwarming and emotional full length novel. While it’s listed as the third in a series by this author – I found this really was a completely stand alone novel, with virtually no connection to any other book and can definitely be read very comfortably by itself. Readers who enjoy M/M erotic romances with single dads and young children as the main plotline should find this an enjoyable and emotional read. I found Dave and Daniel’s characters to be relatable and believable and while there is an understandable amount of glossing over the reality of full time caring of young kids, the whole setup was believable and a pleasure to read.

I was pleased the story wasn’t too rosy-tinted and the main focus was on the blending of the two families and the beginnings of the men’s romantic relationship. While I admit there was nothing earth-shakingly new or unique to this story, I still found it was thoroughly enjoyable and a real pleasure to just relax and enjoy. Readers should be aware there is some mild BDSM between Dave and Daniel that is explicit but kept away from the children and is private between the two men. There is also some conflict between Dave and his ex-partner which I felt was very well handled. The characters of the three children were fun and sharp, the chemistry between the two men was steamy and intense and I found the building of their blended family was believable and well paced.

Readers looking for an enjoyable and comfortable story, with interesting characters and a strongly written plot should find this to be a lovely read. I particularly liked the emotional depth I found in the characters and I know I’ll reread this story in the future again.

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

Research Can Be Murder by Caryl Janis

July 18, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Research Can Be Murder by Caryl Janis
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Contemporary
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

Emma Streyt hated to admit she was bored. But her newly retired brother puts an end to that by dropping a stash of old family memorabilia on her doorstep. Cheered on by her best friend, Emma enthusiastically dives into these boxes of antique treasures. But some faded diary pages convince her that century-old jewel thefts— and maybe something worse—are tied in with their past.

Eager to dig deeper into this mysterious puzzle by doing some serious research, she settles into a neglected New York City archive with an eccentric cast of characters. But more sinister matters than history soon unfold there when a fellow researcher is murdered. And Emma’s determination to solve the case makes her a dead-center target for the killer.

This book drew me in from the first few pages. It’s true half of my career was in libraries, but somehow it is the picture of this wonderful old home made into a research study with archival materials that made me so comfortable and want to read on. The author’s description of each studious researcher had me smiling while picturing the coziness of such an institution. Heck, I wanted to go and study there.

Emma, our main character, is at loose ends and while sorting through family papers decides to research a few interesting pieces she finds. It is in this research archive and with these highly motivated bookish people that the real story begins.

My first thought of this story was that there was too much discussion of each scholar’s research, a situation that would surely make for slower reading. Somehow that wasn’t the case. My interest never wavered. It does take the author a long time to mete out the clues. I can’t quite complain about this, because I sure had no idea who the evildoer was until the last couple of chapters.

In summary, an easy read with an author excellent at crafting oddball and occasionally quirky characters combined in a good cozy mystery.

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

The Relic of Hoomspire by Sasha Gajic

July 17, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Relic of Hoomspire by Sasha Gajic
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Incredible adventure. Heart-stopping danger. Wholesome exploration. The bonds of family and friendship. Talking dogs. Talking dogs?

If you have a middle grader in your life who loves to dive into exciting science fiction stories, then they’re going to love The Relic of Hoomspire. 10,000 years ago, an asteroid chased humanity into underground cities, leaving most of their world behind – including their four-legged best friends. Friends who missed their humans so much that they would worship and emulate them by using their artifacts to build wondrous cities, learn to speak their language, and rapidly evolve to walk and use tools like them.

Trapped on the surface after exploration gone wrong, three young human siblings would encounter their old companions, and strike out together in search of a map to their underground city entrance and the promise of ancient human secrets. Through tragic loss and heart-stopping danger, the new friends would face shocking revelations that would leave hearts shattered and new bonds strained. But in the face of insurmountable peril, the children and their canine friends would remember just how much they mean to one another.

Mei and Winnie, Su and Chase, Jaden and Copper, they all represent the best and worst in us, but the undeniable power of a love between a human and their dog is something that will always withstand the test of time.

Friendships come in all shapes and sizes.

Telling the truth about history isn’t always easy. I liked the passages that explored how or if new generations should learn about the ugly things their ancestors did or were the victims of. This isn’t a topic that has a black and white answer, so there was plenty of space for nuance here as some characters argued for sharing every last detail while others thought it was better to focus on the positive aspects of the past before figuring out a way to gently mention some of the negative ones.

I did find myself wishing for a little more character development for both the hooms (humans) and the Kineen (dogs). As exciting as it was to read about all of their adventures, there wasn’t quite enough time devoted to exploring their personalities or how the revelation that both groups still existed and were doing well affected everyone who made that marvelous discovery.

The world building was strong and steady. I enjoyed seeing how much effort the author put into the little details of both the human and the dog cultures. Such things add up over time as later revelations build upon what the audience already knew. Some of the best world building moments in my opinion were based on misunderstandings the two groups had created about each other over the thousands of years they had been separated, so keep an eye out for those passages in particular.

The Relic of Hoomspire was adventurous.

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

Next In Line by Marion Todd

July 16, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Next In Line by Marion Todd
Publisher: Canelo Crime
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A murder victim with celebrity connections spells trouble for DI Clare Mackay…
Gaby Fox is known to many due to her successful TV career, so when her brother and his pals hire the salubrious Lamond Lodge for his birthday celebrations, it is noted by the St Andrews locals. A ripple of shock goes round the town when Russell Fox is gunned down on the premises.

DI Clare Mackay is attending a wedding when she sees Gabrielle receive a phone call then flee. Soon after, Clare learns why when the news of the shooting reaches her. Instead of trying to enjoy the day – not easy when the groom is her ex-boyfriend – Clare is preoccupied.

Clare gets to work on uncovering the facts surrounding Russell Fox’s death. The guests at the lodge have secrets to hide, but even when Clare begins to unravel the deceit, it doesn’t bring the answers. The detective can’t help but wonder why no one who knew Russell seems capable of telling the truth, and whether there is more than one person with a reason to want him dead…

DI Clare Mackay and her team are brought in to investigate when the brother of a popular tv show presenter is shot dead during a quiet birthday weekend at the exclusive Lamond Lodge. With the press immediately covering every move the team make, pressure begins early. But Clare and her team quickly uncover more and more lies surrounding nearly every aspect to the case and the whole situation becomes ever more murky. Can they work out what was really happening that weekend?

I’ve been enjoying this Scottish police procedural series and in particular the strong female lead detective. I feel that much of the mystery aspect to this plot stands very well alone, but I was happily surprised to find quite a bit of forward motion happens in this book with Clare and her personal life. While the mystery can certainly stand well in this book alone, I do feel that readers will understand and better enjoy the personal aspects to this story having read the last previous few books in this series. I think the author did a good job of explaining what was happening and why this movement was important – but I personally felt the emotional connection more deeply because I’ve read the previous installments.

The mystery itself is certainly front and center throughout the entire book – though I will admit the personal aspects is a lot more forward in this book than I’ve found in the previous ones. I thought the plot was well balanced and there were plenty of dead ends and red herrings. I was also pretty interested that a few of the peripheral characters linked to the various layers in this crime linked back to previous books and crimes as well. While I can understand readers might not enjoy the connections to past books, I felt it helped give me a better sense of the world and community within this story and setting of St. Andrews and in a sense, it was incredibly logical. Petty crime and similar social circles and movements would totally overlap. There isn’t an endless supply of people in a community like St. Andrews so it makes sense sometimes a person would be revisited in the future who had been a part of a previous case.

Logical and realistic, I am definitely happy with this series and plan to continue to read it.

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

The Shroud Maker by Kate Ellis

July 15, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Shroud Maker by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A year on from the mysterious disappearance of Jenny Bercival, DI Wesley Peterson is called in when the body of a strangled woman is found floating out to sea in South Devon.

The discovery mars the festivities of the Palkin Festival, held each year to celebrate the life of John Palkin, a fourteenth-century Mayor of Tradmouth who made his fortune from trade and piracy. It seems like death and mystery have returned to haunt the town.

When archaeologist Neil Watson makes a grim discovery on the site of Palkin’s warehouse, it looks as if history might have inspired a killer. It is only by delving into the past that Wesley can come close to uncovering the truth . . .

One year after Jenny Bercival disappeared, a young woman is found strangled and floating out to sea in South Devon. Young and beautiful, the woman was dressed in mediaeval dress like so many others celebrating the Palkin Festival – an annual event held at this time. There are many similarities between Jenny and this young dead woman and Wesley, and his team can’t help but wonder if this had been Jenny’s fate the previous year – only her body had been taken out to sea for good. Can Wesley sort out what’s going on?

Yet another good addition to this series, I was pleased that the historical and archaeology of this book was very well woven into the main plotline of the mediaeval festival going on while the killings occurred. Quite a few plots and sub-plots wove around together, including a number of the usual cast of secondary characters. I enjoyed there being some forward motion with the DCI and his grown children, as well as DS Rachel and her planned nuptials. And as always, I enjoyed Wesley and Neil working back and forth together, each finding small nuggets that the other could use to further their own investigations.

This book is well contained and while I feel readers who pick this up not knowing any of the characters might have to catch up a little on how everyone is linked together the actual plots are very well encapsulated within this story and should be very easy to follow. I do admit to getting a bit annoyed with Rachel’s character – she’s had a low-key crush on Wesley pretty much since the first book and it’s no secret to anyone who has read almost any of this series, but for quite some time now it’s been virtually non-existent and I felt it a bit annoying that the author flared it back to life somewhat after such a long dormancy, especially considering how close to her own wedding Rachel is right now. It felt a little cliched to me and a little bit like a low blow. This part was extremely brief and minor – but I couldn’t help but cringe a little when it did happen.

That said I was fairly pleased both with the unique twist to the main murder plotline that happened right at the end – that did take me by surprise, and I found it quite refreshing – and I was also pleased the murders weren’t as clear-cut and simple as I had expected them to be either. So, the murder plots themselves were exceptionally well handled I thought and this more than made up for the cliched “getting cold feet” and boozy embarrassing moment that occurred with Rachel.

A solid British police procedural murder mystery with a good amount of historical archaeology.

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