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A Tempest of Tea

Blood & Tea, #1

by

Hafsah Faizal

 

A desperate heist featuring intrigue, betrayal, vengeance, and vampires.

 

Arthie Casimir started with nothing. After being forcibly removed from her island home and transported to White Roaring, the orphaned girl gradually built a life for herself among the impoverished and criminal fringe. Eventually, she opened a teahouse that became the place to go among the wealthy and elite. However, after hours, the teahouse reveals a secret to those in the know. It also serves as a safe gathering place for vampires to obtain their own life-affirming drink: blood. When her business is threatened and a price set for its safety, she gathers together a team of underworld experts from across the city and plans a daring heist that will let her fulfill the bargain for continued operations. Little does she know, but not everyone on her team is on her side.

A Tempest of Tea is the first book in author Hafsah Faizal’s much-anticipated new fantasy duology, Blood and Tea, and fans of the genre are in for a treat. A dark and foreboding atmosphere and setting, engaging but shady co-conspirators, forbidden attractions, and a desperate heist all combine for an unputdownable tale of intrigue, betrayal, vengeance, and vampires. 

The story boasts an engaging and distinctive crew of co-conspirators, each of whom has an unusual backstory to share. I enjoyed them all, but Jin and Flick were my favorites, and I struggled initially to warm up to and really know Arthie. The author does a fantastic job teasing us with the forbidden attractions between several of the characters. There are secrets everywhere, and some will plot twist the heck out of this story. 

The settings and the atmosphere are dark and brooding. The author’s descriptions are artful and immersed me in the place and action alongside the characters. An imaginative and fictional empire, Etteria resembles Britain during its colonial period, and the impact on the people and places the empire absorbed is a critical theme in the book. 

The plot builds around an almost impossible plan to steal a ledger straight out of the stronghold of the wealthy and elite vampire community in White Roaring. While the planning is essential, I felt it went on a little too long, working through so many details that I felt myself losing my connections with the story. Thankfully, the action picked up and added some gasp-inducing twists, and I was fully engaged once again. 

I recommend A TEMPEST OF TEA to young adult fantasy readers, especially those who enjoy heist stories and forbidden attractions. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.

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A Madness Unmade

Deathly Inheritance Duology, #1

by

E.K. Larson-Burnett

 

A Gothically-vibed coming-of-age fantasy story.

 

A Madness Unmade is the first book in author E.K. Larson-Burnett’s compelling gothically-vibed Deathly Inheritance Duology, the tale of Laurel Persephone Rumbroom, the last Guardian of Underhallow, the only remaining sanctuary for ghosts who have yet to move on to their next situation. Orphaned as a young teen and left in the care of the ghosts who inhabit her home, Laurel’s 18th birthday arrives, and along with it, so do her dormant, untapped magical abilities and the responsibility to safeguard the ghostly residents of Underhallow, a duty she knew nothing about up to this point. 

Laurel is an engaging and sympathetic character right from the start as one learns of her tragic and lonely backstory: her mother was gone from her life at an early age, orphaned upon the death of her father when she was only 13 and left in the care of the other residents (all of whom are dead) in her stately but crumbling home, Underhallow. Ghosts have been raising this child. 

Besides not leaving the house for the past five years (when her father passed), Laurel initially appears to be doing pretty well until you realize she’s not the child she seems to be but going on 18 years old. Her birthday brings with it the revelation that the ghosts ultimately depend upon her for their continued existence, and she has absolutely no clue how to go about fulfilling her responsibilities to them as a Guardian and preventing the dissolution of Underhallow as the last Earthly sanctuary left for these revenant spirits to go. 

The story opens as Laurel comes to realize that her difficulties in learning and retaining the information her tutor, Master Godwin, has been trying to impart for the past five years are due to more than her disinterest. The author’s descriptions and handling of Laurel’s issues with ADD, anxiety, and grief are well done, and those facing similar struggles will relate. The added impact of her burgeoning magical abilities is dramatic and frightening. Thankfully, she finds support from an unexpected ally. 

Laurel interacts with her ghostly caretakers as if they are human, as they can talk, touch, and move physical objects, unlike traditionally portrayed spirits. A number play critical roles in her life and fulfill duties similar to those they performed when living. There are some big personalities among the unalive who guide and assist Laurel, and their antics also serve to lighten the building tension. Laurel, too, displays a lot of empathy for the feelings of the undeparted, many of whom carry the circumstances of their death with them into this afterlife. 

There are questions about Laurel’s father’s death and the regular delivery of small mysterious packages to puzzle out as well as becoming the Guardian, so Laurel turns to the only sources she has to solve them, the ghosts. Still, this first book of the duology concludes with some things yet unanswered, and I look forward to the answers in the next book. 

I recommend A MADNESS UNMADE to readers of young adult fantasy and coming-of-age stories, especially those with an interest in characters struggling with mental health issues.

 

For this and other book reviews, visit Boys' Mom Reads!

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Home to Comfort

Comfort & Joy Trilogy, #3

by

Kimberly Fish

 

A fine ending to a fine trilogy!

 

Home to Comfort is the third and final novel in author Kimberly Fish’s warm and wonderful Comfort and Joy Trilogy, and it is a fine and satisfying finale to the story featuring Gloria Bachman and all the friends she’s made in her new hometown of Comfort, Texas. With its community of engaging characters and plot that deftly wraps up storylines that have carried over from previous books in the trilogy, this was the story I’d been waiting for. I didn’t want to put it down, almost reading it in one enjoyable session. 

The main character, Gloria Bachman, is an older woman, formerly a bank president, who is now the owner of her own chocolate business and retail shop, Sweeties. Having been ousted from her lifelong banking career under a manufactured cloud, she had relocated to the Hill Country town of Comfort, Texas, and bought a charming cottage and a storefront on the main drag of downtown. She’d also met the man of her dreams in Mason Lassiter, a wealthy Dallas department store owner. After a busy year, she and Mason are vacationing in Mexico, courtesy of the FBI who are trying to lure Mason’s first wife out into the open and arrest her as part of a secretive, need-to-know sting operation. 

I loved how Gloria kept her finger on her own pulse, checking and re-checking her feelings and perspective on her life, future, and the trajectory of her relationships, not only with Mason but with those in her periphery that have proven unreliable or unworthy: most specifically, her former best friend, Gardner Rogers. Gloria had been through the wringer in her past and was cautious of her still-healing heart. Like everyone, Gloria has insecurities and doubts, but the hallmarks of her personality are her confidence and ability to read people. These traits, along with her uncanny logic and intuition, serve her well when unraveling a mystery. 

In wrapping up Gloria’s story, the book is presented in a couple of different parts, starting with an exciting mystery centered on Mason’s first wife, Patsy, who, years earlier, had faked her own death while they were vacationing at a resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Gloria accompanies Mason to an exclusive beachfront resort there where the FBI plans to lure Patsy out of hiding and arrest her. The rest of the story finds resolution afterward back home in Comfort, where Sweeties is striving to fulfill an important order for the actual White House. To add to the suspense and excitement, Gloria needs to uncover the underlying reasons for her former best friend’s betrayal. 

Fish’s storytelling is superb, with compelling scenes, vivid descriptions that make you feel you’re right there with the characters and an abundance of dialogue that fairly sparkles with humor and good feelings. While I was prepared for the second-chance romance because of the previous books, I was surprised by some of Mason’s harsh and hurtful comments and attitudes directed at Gloria. I felt like they’d gotten well past that when their relationship had finally become a romance, and I think if I hadn’t read the earlier books, I would have been thinking, “Red flag, sister!” over and over. Gloria doesn’t put up with much from anyone else, and she was way more forgiving than I would have been, especially considering her leftover wounds from husband number one. However, this is one of those things that she and Mason have to work out as they face a life together. Ultimately, everyone and everything was in place for an HEA. 

I recommend HOME TO COMFORT to readers of cozy mysteries with a romantic storyline or romance readers who enjoy a suspenseful element in their second-chance romance. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Book Blog Tours.

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The Two Terrors of Tulelake

by

WM Gunn

 

Eye-opening historical fiction novel for more mature middle-grade readers.

 

The Two Terrors of Tulelake by Texas author WM Gunn is an eye-opening and suspenseful historical fiction novel about the Japanese-American internment camps set up on the West Coast during World War II. Entire families, rather, entire communities of Americans with Japanese heritage, were forcibly removed to hastily constructed internment camps and detained after the attack on Pearl Harbor as fears of spies and Japanese operatives raced through cities and towns across the West. The horrific events, both before and after the internments occurred, are recounted from the point of view of 16-year-old Ichiro Hisakawa, whose family members were all born in the U.S., yet still eyed with suspicion and subjected to detention in the Tulelake, California, camp along with thousands of others. What makes this story unique is the presence of a modern-day boy whose psyche is thrust back in time to 1942 and co-exists in Ichiro’s mind. 

Bobby King was a 16-year-old bully in 2017. The product of a broken home, with an absent mother and alcoholic father, Bobby has been dealt a horrible hand, and his goal is to take out all his rage, hurt, and disillusionment on anyone and everyone else. Knocked unconscious when an act of vandalism and revenge goes wrong, he awakens to find himself the second personality inside Ichiro’s mind. 

The story is filled with characters, both fictional and historical, and the perspective sometimes shifts from Ichiro/Bobby to others to provide context to historical events or circumstances that neither boy is privy to. There are good guys, bad guys, and followers, but Bobby eventually sees how he, too, was a bad actor in his time, similar to the evil Sergeant Weston at the camp. Young readers will clearly get the messages the story conveys, as Bobby’s cruel behavior is often demonstrated, and Sgt. Weston voices his vitriol over and over, often with a compassionate adult present in such scenes to point out the obvious hate and wrongdoing. The Hisakawa family is strong in the face of danger in the camp, heroic considering the ample examples of what happens to those who don’t go along with the gangs. The story goes a little long in setting up Bobby’s situation and the years spent in the camp, and while the chapters are nice sized, the length may discourage young readers. 

I recommend THE TWO TERRORS OF TULELAKE to readers of middle-grade historical and science fiction.

 I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Book Blog Tours.

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The County

by

Zane Horowitz

 

Absolutely riveting!

 

The County by Zane Horowitz is a riveting look at the training doctors receive after they graduate from medical school. This fictionalized version of the lives and experiences of a cohort of four young doctors is set in the 1970s at a county hospital in Central City, California, and reflects the conditions in the community and the state of medicine at that time. The four interns are an engaging and diverse group, each with their unique personalities, hopes, dreams, and private crosses to bear. I found myself completely caught up in their trials, hoping for them to succeed. 

While Dr. Sam Wyatt, one of the four new doctors, is the main character, the story also unfolds from the perspective of his three cohort members and the residents who are maybe a year or two or more down the road from them in their training and critical to their progress through the hospital’s internship program. His characters come alive with their individual backstories and, for some, what they have to handle in their personal lives. The medical cases they face cover a wide range of illnesses and injuries and make for very suspenseful reading, as many of their patients are literally fighting for their lives. The term “medical practice” also took on a whole new meaning for me. In creating the medical scenarios, the author subtly inserts symptoms, diagnostic testing, a variety of possible diagnoses, and little bits of medical history as well. 

The pace of the training and schedule is grueling and unforgettable, with the newly-minted doctors frequently on their feet for much longer than their 24-hour shifts. Also, as the hospital is in a less savory neighborhood, the doctors themselves face dangerous situations involving an often-desperate clientele. 

The author’s writing style is easy to read, comfortable, and immersive. Before I realized it, I was about halfway through the book before looking up and taking a break. I look forward to reading more by this writer. 

I recommend THE COUNTY to fiction readers, especially those who enjoy a medical story or setting. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through RABT Book Tours and PR.

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The Owls of Wickenden Wood

by

Shauna Kramer Barnes

Illustrated by Leonid Rozenberg

 

A beautifully illustrated and wonderous tale of woodland magic.

 

The Owls of Wickenden Wood by Shauna Kramer Barnes is a beautifully illustrated children’s picture book of a magical woodland adventure. The cool crispness of the pictures brings to life the mysterious tale of a young visitor suddenly transported to a secret woodland setting where owls talk and rule over the comings and goings in their presence. The suspense builds as the child traveler is asked to tell a story to the owls in exchange for returning to the woods from which he came. 

In the drawings, the owls quickly multiply in number, eager to hear a new story, and the young visitor must gather his courage to meet their challenge. As his confidence builds, he is able to please the gathering with his tale and successfully gains permission to return to his home woods. The omission of color from the increasing crowd of owls lends an uneasy edge to the story, and I know that if I had been confronted with the burgeoning mass, I would have been fearful of the situation. The story provides plenty of opportunities for side discussions with young listeners about how they would feel, what they would do, and what they thought would happen next, making this a nice choice for reading aloud to small, intimate groups. For the most part, the illustrations present images of close-up action, with only glimpses of a foot here or there of the young visitor. This may make the visuals less effective when reading aloud to larger groups who may be unable to discern the half-seen evidence of the child’s presence. 

Rosenberg’s illustrations match the emotions and vibe of the author’s woods and complement the energy of the story. Very young readers may be a little alarmed by the sudden and growing crowd of owls initially, but once the simple and happy resolution is revealed, all should be satisfied and reassured. 

I recommend THE OWLS OF WICKENDEN WOOD for sharing with young listeners in the classroom, in after-school programs, and as a bedtime story. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.

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Soft Serve Sleighing

Coffee & Cream Café Mystery, #5

by

Lena Gregory

 

When a blackmailing TikToker meets an untimely demise in the snow, Dani Delaney is unexpectedly involved in another murder investigation.

 

Soft Serve Sleighing is the fifth fun entry in author Lena Gregory’s outstanding, cozy Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries, and, once again, Dani Delaney finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. With its comfortable, familiar Long Island setting and its likable recurring cast of characters, I was quickly drawn into the latest story of murder and intrigue in the little town of Watchogue. 

Dani is the series’s main character and the owner and operator of the local ice cream and coffee café, having taken the business over from her Uncle Jimmie. Now, in the dead of winter, the addition of coffee and pastries to the former “ice cream only” parlor’s offerings is starting to pay off with a clientele of regulars from the local population when a blizzard hits the town and shuts everything down. When three young women appear at the closed café, Dani feels obligated to open up just for them, even after their leader, Brynleigh Star, a TikTok influencer, unjustly bashes the local B&B where they are staying. The three proceed to order numerous items from the menu and demand tastes of all the specialty ice cream dishes, then insinuate they’ll only post a 5-star review of the café if Dani subscribes to one of their outrageously expensive memberships. When Dani fails to take the bait, they walk their check. The next day, when Dani finds the instigator dead in the snow near the B&B on the town’s favorite hill for sledding, she begins to look like suspect number one! 

The plot progresses swiftly from setup to the discovery of the murder, and I didn’t want to put the book down at all as the fun amateurs followed their instincts. I appreciated how Dani has to walk a fine line between definitively clearing her name and staying on the right side of her police detective boyfriend, Jake Barlow, who wants her as far away from the case as possible. However, it was fun watching Dani, Gwen, and Eli dance around the rules and work through the clues they had, many of which had fallen into their laps via some other very talkative suspects. After four previous books in this fun series, I really felt like I knew these characters. There are some good suspects, with everyone having a bone to pick with the very unlikable victim, but the truth isn’t too obvious. It was an entertaining story all the way to the final reveal. 

I recommend SOFT SERVE SLEIGHING to cozy mystery readers, especially fans of the previous books in the series. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

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No Life but Immortality

Geryon’s Code Cycle, #1

by

Liudmila Brus

 

Futuristic Martian human colonists search for what has happened to their home planet of Earth.

 

No Life But Immortality is the first book in author Liudmila Brus’s science fiction series, Geryon’s Code Cycle and it is a densely built tale of a future world with humans populating Mars, Earth, and the moon. When the Mars colonies lose contact with their home planet of Earth, and an exploratory space mission to determine Earth’s status goes missing and presumed lost, the governing council must decide whether or not to follow up with a second attempt. Eventually, armed with additional resources, a new ship goes in search of the lost mission and its crew with unexpected and life-or-death results.

This story, while having moments of action and suspense, is more of a world-building and investigative sci-fi mystery. I enjoyed the individual storylines offered at the start on which the main plot was built. Each main character is engaging in their own way and someone you want to know more about. However, they appear in the story over a number of years, and the author surprised me with how they finally interconnected - most not in life or face-to-face.

The narrative is dense with discussion and description and isn’t one to choose for light reading. At times, I had difficulty staying with the story because of execution issues: unusual wording or even wrong words used entirely. But the end result was worth the little extra effort.

I recommend NO LIFE BUT IMMORTALITY to science fiction readers. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through WOW! Women On Writing Book Tours.

 

See this and other reviews at Boys' Mom Reads!

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A Grave Roast

Orchard Hollow, #1

by

A.N. Sage

 

An unusual supernatural world with engaging and unique main characters!

 

A Grave Roast is the first book in the new paranormal cozy mystery series, Orchard Hollow, by author A.N. Sage, and with its delightful main characters, cute small town, and unique "world," I hope we're in for a long run of follow-up adventures! Piper Addison feels she’s finally found her niche in life. She’s opened her own coffee shop and things are looking up despite being a little low on emergency funds. So, it’s a big problem when the espresso machine acts up but that’s nothing compared to the discovery of a dead body in the alley behind her shop and she looks like suspect number one. 

Piper is very likable as the new proprietor of her own coffee café, Bean Me Up, although she's lived in the town all her life. I liked that she's a mature woman (not quite 40 yet) and is open to finding a new romance after experiencing some real duds in her past. She's fun, and her less-than-proficient magic use had me laughing. Even though she was not friends per se with the victim, she was still compassionate enough to pursue looking into what happened and why he reached out to her (whether the police had her as a suspect or not!) I liked the fact that she has quite a unique familiar, although I'm not quite a Stella fan. I was completely taken by surprise and enjoyed how her furry nemesis, Harry Houdini, also gets involved and gets his point of view aired. 

The author's writing style is easy to read, very pleasing, and well-paced. I was immediately engaged by the story and the descriptions of the town with both water and mountains in view and enjoyed getting a real feel for the shops on Cliff Row and their owners. In other books, this initial reveal of the population of the cozy mystery town often gets overwhelming and tedious, but happily, that did not occur here; it was very natural and simply accomplished. Of course, my favorite spot in town is Brooks Books! 

The town exists on top of an accumulation of ley lines, so many supernatural or paranormal types have congregated in Orchard Hollow to call it home. I found it a unique twist that their magical abilities are not made public knowledge even with each other. It's personal and only shared with those one trusts. The fact that there are supernatural beings there is no secret, though, and even the humans are aware of their existence. I liked the idea of the coven of "mean girl" witches, even though Piper was their frequent target. 

With its unusual supernatural world, engaging and unique main characters, and solid puzzle to resolve, I recommend A GRAVE ROAST to cozy mystery readers who enjoy a paranormal element in their stories. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

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Titanian Warrior

Titanian Chronicles, #3

by

Victoria Saccenti

 

Action, adventure, and high fantasy combine with ancient mythologies to create this epic paranormal romance.

 

Titanian Warrior is the third book of the Titanian Chronicles by author Victoria Saccenti, and it is wonderful! With its exciting mix of mythologies and supernatural beings, the author has created a unique setting for an action-packed, emotionally satisfying fantasy and paranormal love story. 

If a Titanian warrior doesn't discover his eternal mate, he is doomed to sink into a terrifying bloodlust that will send him into an inescapable insanity. Hagen has failed and is being torn apart both physically and mentally by this curse on his race. Debilitated by his agony, he's taken by an evil mage who plans to use him to further his own schemes. But once in Master O's possession, he is cared for by Faiza, a young woman sold into servitude by her parents, and she knows she must help this man at all costs. 

The book takes Hagen from the deepest thrall of bloodlust to his redemption when he finally discovers his intended. Faiza, sold into servitude with her sister, Lilith, to a necromancer, is the book's heroine. She is young and headstrong but cleverly maintains a humble façade around the evil mage to protect what she understands to be her little bit of magic. There is a twist. I found her empathic abilities fascinating and really liked when their use was mentioned in the story. 

As with Hagen's visit to Hell when he's in the throes of bloodlust, the descriptions of the situation for the sisters with the necromancer, well, anything to do with Oras, were horrifying; I got the creeps. Lilith's transformation absolutely shocked me, and that was early on in the story. The author literally hits us in all our senses here. Master O is one heinous guy whom we can all despise. 

However, from the minute Faiza and Hagen meet, I was completely captured by the chemistry between the two. He's practically unconscious; he's in such bad shape, and I was right there in the moment with Faiza, drawn to the poor, damaged guy. Of course, their connection is more than just normal boy-meet-girl, and the feelings develop quickly. But they were so immediately good together! I was also pleased to see the established couples in the story and the glimpses into their pasts, beginnings, and backstories. I do recommend the books in the series be read in chronological order for the best experience.

With a satisfying love story that rescues and redeems and a compelling plot of good versus evil, I recommend THE TITANIAN WARRIOR to readers of fantasy and paranormal romance and fans of the previous novels is this excellent series.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.