Enemies-to-Lovers Romance in a Haunted Castle...Umm...Yes, please!!

 

Image copied from Goodreads

If I Stopped Haunting You is the first paranormal romance that I've read by Colby Wilkens. It is a spicy and entertaining enemies-to-lovers romance with plenty of paranormal touches that are often fun nods to horror classics such as Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. It also features Native American main characters who are each writers in their own right and delves into the struggles to get published if you are a BIPOC novelist.

The enemies-to-lovers trope between the main characters, Penelope and Neil, opens with them at a horror writer's convention where each are author panelists. The two have been pitted against one another by traditional publishers as "the competition" in large part because there are still abysmally few Native writers who have managed to successfully break into traditional publishing. Both Neil and Pen are novelists who who have each struggled to tell their authentic stories because the publishing world still seems to want to whitewash their experiences or promote negative stereotypes about their people. Penelope accuses Neil of selling out at the convention and when Neil responds to her accusation, he so infuriates her that she throws a book at him. Months later, they are horrified to find they will be stuck with each other at a writing retreat they both agreed to attend in a haunted castle in part to overcome the writer's block each are facing after the horror convention fiasco.

Despite the fact that Pen and Neil start out as rivals in the story, they've both secretly admired one another too. Neil has admired Pen for being brave and not letting any publisher coerce her into telling her stories differently from how she wants to write them. Pen admired Neil's earlier work and looked up to him as a role model she could aspire to be like as a writer until she felt he sold out to achieve traditional publishing success. But as they are holed up together for the writing retreat at a haunted castle in the Scottish Highlands, they slowly begin to understand each other more fully and their attraction begins to transform their animosity into passion of a different kind. As for the ghost story, the hauntings in the castle are introduced in creepy and fun ways such as the feel of cold fingers grazing one's neck, names whispered in one's ear, and the compulsion of Pen to want to open that door in the forbidden and spooky west wing they've been told to stay away from. It lends a bit of mystery to the story, as well, that made me want to keep reading to figure out how they would resolve whatever was keeping these spirits trapped in the castle. All in all I recommend this book for fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope who also like a bit of paranormal suspense mixed in with their romance. It is a fun, spicy and slightly spooky read. 

I want to thank both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the chance to read this free eARC in exchange for this honest review. If I Stopped Haunting You will be available for purchase everywhere books are sold on October 15th.

Stay tuned for my next spooky season review in a couple of weeks of Sign of the Slayer by Sharina Harris, a young adult paranormal romance. The image and book blurb below are both copied from Goodreads.

Full Metal Alchemist meets Vampire Diaries in this fun and clever dark  academia series…

High school is supposed to be about studying, socializing, and marching- band practice. Not fighting vampires. Then one night flipped my world  inside out―now, my life sucks. But it isn’t all bad. I’m at a slayer academy, learning things like the real origin of vamps and how to make  serious weapons out of thin air.

 Every last one of them will pay for what they did. I’m doing great.

Until I come face-to-face with the actual vampire prince…and I’m not sure of anything anymore. Vampires are supposed to be soul-sucking demons. But Khamari is…something else. He’s intelligent and reasonable―and he seems to know things about me that could change everything.

He’s also hiding something big, even from his own kind. And when a threat from an ancient evil is so extreme that a vampire will team up with a slayer to take it down, it isn’t just my need for revenge that’s at stake anymore.

It’s the whole damn world.

All Aboard for Wild West Mysteries and Ghost Train Adventures

 

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 The Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling was the book pick for September for my Kidlit Reading Book Club. I'm so glad it was! This novel has a fun and engaging main character and is a cute contemporary mystery to boot.

Aven Green has always treated her disability as an opportunity to weave outlandish tales about how she lost her arms. In some she lost them in a wrestling match with an alligator, in others she lost them in a trapeze accident in the circus. But the truth is Aven was born without her arms. Instead, she has learned to do everything with her feet, an accepted fact for her classmates in Kansas since Aven has grown up with them. But then after her father loses his job and accepts a new one, Aven is faced with a new home, in a new town, in a new state. Granted her new home is a wild west theme park in Arizona, but starting school in the middle of her eighth grade year someplace where no one is familiar with her or her disability is still daunting and scary. 

I loved the way Aven faces her challenges in this novel. She doesn't sugarcoat them, and they certainly aren't easy at first. In fact, the way the author portrays Aven's fears is very realistic and relatable. It makes the reader want to keep turning the page to see how she will learn to adjust to her new school and home. At first, Aven copes by hiding away to eat her lunch. But eventually she finds her own way and a new set of friends both of whom face challenges of their own. Aven also stumbles across a mystery in the novel, one that involves the reclusive owner of Stagecoach Pass, the park where her parents work. 

Aven is able to make the true friends she does through her ability to look beyond a person's exterior to see who they truly are and she is able to ultimately solve the mystery of Stagecoach Pass with the help of those same individuals and the support of her parents. She does this using the determination being born without arms has given her because she's spent her whole life having to learn to do things most people take for granted a new way. It turns out that not having them has given her something unique in the face of adversity, resilience. 

This book was a true joy to read and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a middle grade reader (8-12 year-olds) who enjoys a good mystery and reading about characters that offer them a new perspective on life. Also, if they enjoy this book they will be pleased to learn that it is the first in a duology. 

Image copied from Goodreads

Meanwhile, on the supernatural track, bestselling author Kwame Mbalia has a new series coming out that starts with Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek. This novel is a non-stop action adventure, and the character of Jax leaps off the page from the very first chapter. Jax starts off telling us he has been sent away from home by his parents to go and live with his Gran and his Uncle Moe. Some unknown occurrence that Jax seems ashamed about has forced this move in the hopes it will give him a fresh start. But when he arrives in Chicago, his bags are lost, his uncle, who was supposed to meet him at Union Station, is not there, leaving Jax literally cold and alone in a train station late at night. His situation and the mystery of why he is there makes Jax an instantly relatable character. From there the fantasy world of learning about magic, connecting with his ancestors and learning the power of true friendship begins.

Jax encounters spirits both helpful and malevolent as he waits for his family to arrive and pick him up. He barely escapes one malevolent spirit who threatens to steal his skin. Later, in his new home, Freeman House, he encounters other strange occurrences, such as signage that changes in the messages and words of wisdom it imparts and rooms that appear where none were there before. At school, Jax thinks he is just another sixth grader until he reaches his enrichment class and learns that he's been placed in it because he is a summoner. Someone who can see spirits and utilize magic with the help of his ancestors.

Mbalia has created an imperfect character who admits he has done some stuff he wasn't proud of in the past and doesn't want to mess up again. But Jax is also brave and from personal experience has learned that you can't always take what you hear about others at face value. To atone for his past mistakes, Jax is determined to stand up to bullies, do his family name proud and prove that he isn't just another screw up. He also strives to bring about unity between the other summoner families. 

Mbalia has cleverly worked in a valuable message of looking below the surface to take time to truly get to know someone rather than allowing false information, rumor, or unconscious bias dictate impressions about people. A powerful and timely message for young people in today's society. He does this through his vivid character, Jax. I also enjoyed the bits of history of African Americans and other minorities that are sprinkled throughout the story as well. Those overlooked and underrepresented individuals and names woven into the narrative will hopefully give readers new insight into the history of America from a different perspective than they might be used to. All in all I would encourage anyone with younger readers in the middle grade reader age range to get this book when it comes out. It's a fun page-turner with a great message and it is the first in an exciting new series by Kwame Mbalia. I have to thank both NetGalley, Disney Hyperion and Freedom Fire for allowing me to read a free eARC in exchange for this honest review. Jax Freeman hits shelves on October 1, 2024.

Action, Adventure, Time Travel and Dystopian Alternate History for Middle Graders, Oh My!

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Westfallen by the brother and sister duo Ann and Ben Brashares is an edge-of-your seat adventure for readers ages 8-12 that includes time travel and alternate history elements that change the contemporary world into an eerie dystopian alternate reality. It blends elements of communicating through time reminiscent of the older movie Frequency with the dystopian, alternate history elements of The Man in the High Tower, only geared toward a Gen Z and Gen Alpha audience. It also includes a diverse cast of kids as the main characters and deals with themes of friendship, inclusivity and bigotry.

The story unfolds when three friends in the present, Henry, Frances and Lukas, come together after having drifted apart through middle school to bury a beloved pet they all shared. In the process, they uncover a mysterious radio that lets them talk to three other friends, Alice, Lawrence, and Artie, who live in the same town as them, but seventy-nine years in the past. What starts out as a fun and harmless comparison of life in 2023 to life in 1944 soon takes a dark turn. Somehow sharing information about the future with those in the past changes the outcome of WWII and causes the kids in 2023 to find themselves in an alternate United States controlled by the Nazis. Even worse, Henry, Lukas and Frances have no idea what they said that caused history to change or have any idea how they will be able to change it back. 

The pacing in this novel never lets up. As each event occurs, the tension builds and things go from bad to worse with each domino drop. The authors did an excellent job as well of making it a mystery how the six kids will fix the past to save the future after they decide using the radio to communicate is too dangerous. Unfortunately, this is proven true after they've decided to take steps not to talk to each other anymore, leaving the 2023 group stranded in an new dystopian reality. Of course, determination, friendship and more than a little ingenuity helps as they slowly figure out what happened to change the past and concoct a plan to stop it from happening. However, just when you think everything is back to normal and the world has been saved from Nazi rule, some clues foreshadow that maybe not all the problems for the characters have been solved after all. The cliffhanger ending also leaves things open for more adventures to come. 

I only wish that the release date for the sequel had been announced before I finished this first book. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves action and adventure with time travel, alternate history and dystopian elements, especially readers in the middle grade (8-12) age range. I thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book in exchange for this honest review. The release date for Westfallen is very soon on September 17th!

Stay tuned for my next reviews for two other middle grade novels in a couple of weeks, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling and Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek by Kwame Mbalia. Below are covers and blurbs for both books. The cover images were each copied from Goodreads along with the blurb for Insignificant Events. The blurb for Jax Freeman was copied from NetGalley. 

Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.

Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

What do you get when you combine Kwame Mbalia's incredible imagination and world-building talent with trains, history, and ghosts? Nothing less than middle grade magic. 

On his twelfth birthday, Jackson "Jax" Freeman arrives at Chicago's Union Station alone, carrying nothing but the baggage of a scandal back in Raleigh. He's been sent away from home to live with relatives he barely knows. But even worse are the strangers who accost him at the train station, including a food vendor who throws dust in his face and a conductor who tries to steal his skin.

At his new school, Jax is assigned to a special class for "summoners," even though he has no idea what those are . . . until he accidentally unleashes an angry spirit on school grounds. Soon Jax is embroiled in all kinds of trouble, from the disappearance of a new friend to full-out war between summoning families.

When Jax learns that he isn't the first Freeman to be blamed for a tragedy he didn't create, he resolves to clear his own name and that of his great-grandfather, who was a porter back in the 1920's. By following clues, Jax and his schoolmates unlock the secrets of a powerful Praise House, evade vengeful ghosts, and discover that Jax may just be the most talented summoner of all.

A unique magic-school fantasy from the best-selling and award-winning author of the Tristan Strong trilogy has just pulled into the station.

Cozy and Endearing Paranormal Romance

 

Image copied from Goodreads

I picked up this one as an impulse buy at my local Books A Million. Unbeknownst to me at the time, it is the fourth in the Fix-It Witches series by Ann Aguirre. However, The Only Purple House in Town can easily be read as a stand-alone book, and it was a delight to read! If you do not like cozy paranormal romances light on the spice, though, this may not be the novel for you.

The adventure begins when Iris, a down-on-her-luck misfit within her own family, inherits an old Victorian mansion from a distant aunt. Seeing this as a chance to start fresh somewhere away from her family, she sets off to take ownership with plans to maybe turn it into a bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, the house needs too much work to renovate on her bootstrap budget. So, Iris instead rents out rooms to a an unusual bunch of characters who are misfits in their own right. I found Iris to be a very relatable and sweet character. In this world, paranormal creatures have "come out" to the world. In Iris's case she has been raised by a family of psychic vampires on her mother's side. But Iris's powers have never fully awakened, making her not only disappointingly human, but a failure at following in the footsteps of her older, successful sisters. When Eli, the other main character in the story, runs into Iris again, we learn that she may not be awakened in her abilities, but she is still something more than human. 

In a mix-up, Eli finds himself renting out a room from Iris and soon embarks on a quest to help her out, like she helped him when they were kids years ago. The only problem is that Iris doesn't even remember him from their past. She also doesn't know that Eli is a successful app designer who is rich, something he can't find a way to confess to Iris. From there, we get a story of love, second chances and found family, as the two fix up the old home and add roommates along the way. Some human and some not. I loved the way that Aguirre deftly weaves the idea of human acceptance of paranormal beings into a commentary on our own society today towards those who are different without making it too preachy. I also appreciated how organically a fully diverse cast of characters is introduced throughout the first half of the book and how well developed each one is in it. They each serve a purpose, have their own backstory, and agency and are easy to learn to love, from the irascible, older Henry Dale, to the social butterfly, Sally, to the young non-binary Rowan and her mentor, witch friend, Mira. As they come together, they become the family each of them has always longed for. Figuring out what type of powers Iris has is also a nice mystery for the story. All in all, I found this to be a fast and thoroughly enjoyable read and gave it 5 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy cozy paranormal romance with a touch of spice and a cast of endearing characters, you will enjoy The Only Purple House in Town.

Next month, I will be delving into middle grade adventure. My first review will be of the NetGalley read, Westfallen, which is a dystopian, alternate history for middle grade readers written by Ann and Ben Brashares and set to come out in mid-September. The other will be a contemporary middle grade novel entitled The Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. Below are the covers and blurbs for each. Cover images copied from Goodreads along with the blurb for The Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus and the blurb from Westfallen is copied from NetGalley.

From #1 New York Times bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants author Ann Brashares and her brother Ben Brashares comes the first book in a “pulse-pounding” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) middle grade alternate history thriller trilogy that asks what it would be like in present-day America if Germany had won World War II.

Henry, Frances, and Lukas are neighbors, and they used to be best friends. But in middle school Frances got emo, Lukas went to private school, and Henry just felt left behind. When they come together again for the funeral of a pet gerbil, the three ex-friends make a mindblowing discovery: a radio, buried in Henry’s backyard, that allows them to talk to another group of kids in the same town...in the same backyard...eighty years in the past. The kids in 1944 want to know about the future: Are there laser guns? Flying cars? Jetpacks, at least? Most of all, they want to know about the outcome of the world war their dad and brothers are fighting in. Though Henry is cautious—he’s seen movies about what happens when you disrupt the fabric of time—soon the present-day kids are sending their new friends on a mission to rescue a doomed candy store. What harm could that do? But one change leads to another, and when the six friends alter history in the biggest way possible, it’s up to them to change it back.

Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.

Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

Quest Fantasy Reminiscent of Princess Bride with D&D Vibes

 

Image Copied from Goodreads

Billed as The Princess Bride meets The People We Meet of Vacation, This Will Be Fun by E. B. Asher a nom de plume for authors Bridget Morrissey, Emily Wibberley, and Austin Siegmund-Broka, also reminded me somewhat of last summer's Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves film. 

The story revolves around the three remaining heroes who saved the kingdom of Mythria, reuniting ten years later. Sadly, the group of legendary questmates, Beatrice, Elowen and Clare, split up and went their separate ways to lick their respective wounds after suffering a tragic loss in their final showdown against evildoers. The trauma of what they endured and what they lost has driven Beatrice, Elowen, and handsome rogue, Clare Grandheart to different extremes to deal with their losses. Beatrice seeks solace in marriage to a wealthy lord, while Elowen has become a recluse living in a treehouse in the Forbidden Forest. Clare has stepped up to fill the void left by the others' retreat from society to be the hero he feels the country needs as Mythria rebuilds, becoming the face of the legendary crew by making public appearances and accepting sponsorships for various sale products, much to the disgust of Beatrice and to some degree, Elowen. Now, Queen Thessia, who they saved years ago has summoned them all to attend her royal wedding. Reluctantly, they agree, but upon arriving for the festivities soon learn that the evildoers they thought they'd defeated for good have reemerged and it is up to them to once more save the kingdom. 

While I did think the novel was reminiscent of The Princess Bride in tone and humor, I also found some references to modern society with a medieval twist to be similar in nature to last summer's D & D movie. References are made to ride sharing and soap opera dramas only with medieval or medieval and magical elements. Additionally, though there is adventure and questing in This Will Be Fun, the first half of the novel deals more with the individual traumas of the characters and how they interact when they are forced to come together once again to celebrate the nuptials of their queen. It isn't until they arrive at the palace that the real quest begins. Once the adventure gets underway, I loved how it starts off as you'd expect, but then the authors have the final showdown take place in a funny and totally unexpected location. I don't want to give away too much, though. You'll have to read it for yourself to see how they change things up. 

Along with the very real struggles the characters must overcome to move forward and be the heroes Mythria needs once more, there is also plenty of spicy romance of the slow build variety. All in all, I really did enjoy this fantasy adventure. The only thing that kept it from being 5 out of 5 stars for me was the fact that it took longer than I would have liked to get to the actual quest. While I do think the authors did a good job of portraying the very real scars that can result from battle and loss with these characters, I thought they dwelt on that aspect of the story a bit longer than I'd have liked. But I sort of felt that way with Emily Henry's The People We Meet on Vacation as well, which this book has been compared to. So, as a medieval fantasy version of that, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by the slight issues with pacing I had with this tale. But if you love romantasy quests in the same vein as William Goldstein's The Princess Bride, or even Travis Baldree's more recent cozy romantasy Legends and Lattes series, you will thoroughly enjoy This Will Be Fun by E. B. Asher. It is set to come out this September and I was very pleased and grateful to both NetGalley and Avon Books for giving me a free eARC of the book to read in exchange for this honest review. 

Stay tuned in a couple of weeks as I review my next summer read, The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre. It is the fourth in the Fix-It Witches series. But it is the first book in the series I'll have read. This one really appealed to me with its blurb more than the previous three and I'm hoping I won't have had to read the previous books to enjoy this one. We will see. Here is an image and blurb about it copied from Goodreads. 

Iris Collins is the messy one in her family. The "chaos bunny." Her sisters are all wildly successful, while she can't balance her budget for a single month. It's no wonder she's in debt to her roommates. When she unexpectedly inherits a house from her great aunt, her plan to turn it into a B&B fails—as most of her plans do. She winds up renting rooms like a Victorian spinster, collecting other lost souls...and not all of them are "human."

Eli Reese grew up as the nerdy outcast in school, but he got rich designing apps. Now he's successful by any standards. But he's never had the same luck in finding a real community or people who understand him. Over the years, he's never forgotten his first crush, so when he spots her at a café, he takes it as a sign. Except then he gets sucked into the Iris-verse and somehow ends up renting one of her B&B rooms. As the days pass, Eli grows enchanted by the misfit boarders staying in the house...and even more so by Iris. Could Eli have finally found a person and a place to call "home"?

Heartfelt Summer Romance at Its Best

 

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This is the first book by Rebekah Crane I've read. I was intrigued by both the title and the story blurb and so requested an e-galley for Last Call for Love from NetGalley. A novel about summer romance set in Ireland sounded like the perfect read for July and I wasn't disappointed. I loved the themes of transformation, second chances, fake feuds, coping with grief, and found family that or woven into this tale. Last Call for Love had me laughing and at times crying as I followed Maeve and Briggs on their respective journeys toward love and fulfillment.

At the start of the novel, Maeve is running away. She'd let herself love someone and then was abandoned and betrayed by that person. Full of shame, she escapes the shambles her life has become in her hometown of Chicago by going to the tiny island of Inishglass in Ireland. Her birth father, Liam Doherty, who she never knew, has died and left her a mysterious inheritance. Maeve has hope that whatever he's left her will somehow help her out of the enormous debt her no-good ex has left her in. Once in Ireland, Maeve finds that she has been left an Irish pub, one of only two on the island. The other is owned by the Doherty family's rivals, the Murphys. 

Native islander, Briggs Murphy has just received a diagnosis confirming what he's always known, he is destined to die far too young just like his father before him. It is why he's never let himself get too attached to any one woman. Why he's continued to live in his childhood home, but never bothered to make it his own, why he's content to run the family business with his mate Hugh and not plan a future for himself beyond that. Then he sees a woman dancing, badly, all alone in her dead father's empty pub and suddenly Briggs can't help but be fascinated. Striking up a conversation, he's even more drawn to Maeve when he purposely makes a mess with the drink she's offered him, only to find her obsessively cleaning it up, as if unable to help herself. Maeve explains that if you can control the messes in one's life then perhaps you can keep from being hurt. A flawed logic that Briggs finds heartbreaking but instantly appealing.

From there the two begin a stumbling journey toward love while pretending to keep their family's long-running feud alive for the sake of both their businesses and those of the other island residents. Along the way, Maeve learns to know something of the man her birth father was and begins to come to life again within the caring community of this tiny island Liam Doherty called home. The journey toward transformation both characters navigate as they each come to terms with grief and loss is heartfelt with some refreshing moments of humor mixed in. I was thoroughly engrossed in finding out how Maeve would reconcile her troubles she ran away from with a future on the this island that becomes more of a home to her than the city she grew up in and loved. I also was anxious to see how things would unfold with Briggs and his heart condition. I loved the fact that he refers to it as a broken heart in the literal sense but that comes to also represent his brokenness that he's never quite come back from after losing his Da at such a young age. I was surprised to see that this book says its marketed to a young adult audience. I would say it's more appropriate for a new adult audience as the characters are in their mid to late twenties. 

All in all though, I would love to see some follow up books for some of the other characters in this book and look forward to reading more by Rebekah Crane. Thanks to NetGalley and Skyscape Publishing for giving me the chance to read this free e-galley in exchange for my honest review. If you would like to obtain a copy of this lovely summer read, Last Call for Love comes out August 6, 2024.

Stayed tuned for next month when I review another NetGalley read that is billed as The Princess Bride meets The People We Meet on Vacation, E. B. Asher's cozy romantasy This Will Be Fun. The cover image and blurb below were copied from Goodreads. 

Ten years ago, they saved the realm. It ruined their lives.

Everyone in Mythria knows the story of how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, handsome ex-bandit Clare, and valiant leader Galwell the Great defended the land from darkness. It’s a tale beloved by all—except the former heroes. They haven’t spoken in a decade, devastated by what their quest cost them.

But when they receive an invitation to the queen of Mythria’s wedding, it’s a summons they can’t refuse . . . and a reunion for the ages, with Clare secretly not over his long-ago fling with Beatrice, Beatrice fighting the guilt she feels over how everything ended, Elowen unprepared for the return of her former flame (the cunning Vandra), and all of them lost without Galwell’s presence. And if reuniting with old friends and lovers wasn’t perilous enough, dark forces from their past have returned, plotting a domination that only Mythria’s one-time defenders can stop. Maybe.

Dusting off old weapons and old instincts, they face undead nemeses, crystal caves, enchanted swords, coffee shops, games of magical Truth or Dare, and, hardest of all, their past—rife with wounds never healed and romances never forgotten.

This time around, will their story end in happily ever after?

Lucy Score's The Dead Guy Next Door

 

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Now that we are well into July, I thought it would be a good time to review some fun summer reads for that family vacation or time at the beach. What better way to start off than with an entertaining romantic suspense packed with plenty of quirky characters and humor. Lucy Score's Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door is the first mystery in a series about reluctant clairvoyant Riley Thorn. However, while the story does focus on Riley and her elderly neighbors, the novel is told from dual points of view, Riley's and hot private investigator and love interest, Nice Santiago's. 

Riley is recently divorced and broke after her cheating spouse took her to the cleaners in their divorce settlement. Worse, she's now stuck in a dead-end job she hates. But Riley's life soon gets turned upside down when she gets a vision that her neighbor across the hall is going to be murdered. At first, she tries to write it off as a bad bout of food poisoning. But when the vision becomes a recurring one, Riley decides to warn her neighbor and warn the police that said neighbor is in grave danger. Unfortunately, nobody takes Riley seriously until the guy next door winds up dead. 

Enter hot private eye Nick Santiago who has been given the task of serving papers to the same neighbor from Riley's visions. Nick doesn't believe Riley is the killer even after her warnings to the police put her near the top of the suspect list. From there the hijinks begin. Though he can't stop himself from wanting to help her, Nick is determined to keep Riley at arm's length. He isn't about to give up his life as a freewheeling bachelor no matter how sexy, sweet, and utterly original he finds her to be. However, as the danger mounts for both of them, his commitment to staying single and unfettered is sorely tested. 

Add into the mix an octogenarian neighbor who ventures out at night for mysterious reasons, Gabe the handsome spiritual guide Riley's grandmother has sent her to help her learn to control her stronger-than-normal clairvoyant talents, and a host of other quirky characters and you have the makings of a hilarious mystery with a spicy dash of romance. I laughed out loud at times reading this book. The banter between Riley and Nick is witty and fun. The mystery was one I didn't puzzle together right away and the final showdown at the end was both scary and humorous, not an easy feat to pull off. I highly recommend this book if you're a fan of Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan mysteries or enjoy Emily Henry's rom-coms. I've already got the next two Riley Thorn books in the series lined up in my to-be-read pile and the fourth book is set to come out mid-July. 

If you're interested in purchasing your own copy of Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door by Lucy Score just click on the title. It will take you to Union Avenue Books, an independent bookseller in downtown Knoxville, TN. Or I encourage you to look for a copy at one of your own community independent booksellers. 

My next summer reads book review will be of...

Image copied from Goodreads

A heartfelt, summer romance by Rebekah Crane set in Ireland. I was fortunate to receive a NetGalley copy from publisher Skyscape and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Copied below is the blurb posted on the NetGalley site. The book is set to come out in early August 2024. 

For an American woman on an impromptu summertime trip to an Irish island, life changes in a heartbeat in a refreshing romance by the author of June, Reimagined.

The last thing Chicagoan Maeve Kaminski expects to inherit from her estranged biological father is a pub. Now thousands of miles from home, Maeve is on a remote Irish island and is the new owner of the Moorings. Charming? Yes. Practical? No. The bright side: Maeve is in debt, and off-loading a famous pub for a pretty penny could be the gift she’s been waiting for.

Briggs Murphy is suffering from a broken heart. Literally. Recently diagnosed with the same condition that killed his father, he’s not looking for love. But when Maeve shows up with her color-coordinated datebook and striking blue eyes, he falls hard. Too bad she’s off-limits. According to familial legend, they’re enemies. And for the sake of the island, they better stay that way.

Love was never the plan. But for Briggs and Maeve, it might just save them both. To make it work, they’ll have to rewrite history…before it’s too late.