June 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

First off in June I finished up one book that I had started in May, Filthy Rich by B. E. Baker (see my review here). I didn't get around to finishing A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett like I had planned but I'm still working on it. I ended up reading eight other full length books, plus two novellas. I had one DNF this month, and I'm still reading one book that I started this month.

 

The seven full length books I read-

 

Dragons of the Highlord Skies (Dragonlance: The Lost Chronicles #2) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

Still 3 stars on reread.

 

 

 

 

Death at a Highland Wedding (A Rip Through Time #4) by Kelley Armstrong

See my review here. 

 

 

 

 

Her Deadly Game (Keera Duggan #1) by Robert Dugoni

See my review here.

 

 

 

 

Hitchhikers by Ben H. Winters

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Thriller, Fantasy
Content: Strong Language, Domestic Abuse

 

Annie has always had high hopes for her future. But the reality of her life just isn’t measuring up. She loves her fiancé, Greg–doesn’t she? She’s going to get her degree and open her own business–won’t she?

Then, a strange old woman shows up outside her house, and she seems to know a lot about Annie. An awful lot.

Annie could tell the old woman to get lost. Yet there’s something about her Annie just can’t shake. And what she learns could change her life forever–but is it the life she envisioned?

  

This was an interesting time travel thriller. Most of the story was pretty straightforward and easy to figure out, so I knew there had to be some sort of a twist coming. Of course there was, and I'm not sure how I feel about that twist. 

 

 

 

 

Dead Man's Hand (The Unorthodox Chronicles #1) by James J. Butcher

 

Review to come.

 

 

 

 

A Clash of Fates (The Echoes Saga #9) by Philip C. Quaintrell

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Fantasy
Content: Mild Language

 

Series review to come.

 

 

 

 

When Stars Dance at Midnight (The Midnight Stars #4) by Tess Thompson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Romance, Historical Romance
Content: Clean

 

I thought the third book was the last in this series but was pleasantly surprised that the author gave us a fourth book. I was actually really happy about that because I liked Betsy so much in the last book. I do think she deserved to have her own story. This was, for me the best book in the series. I might do a series review in the near future.

 

 

The two novellas I read-

 

Schemes and Scandals (A Rip Through Time #3.5) by Kelley Arnstrong

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Clean

 

It’s Mallory Atkinson’s first Christmas in Scotland. Victorian Scotland, that is. Also, as the twenty-first-century detective learns, Christmas really isn’t a thing in Victorian Scotland. It’s all about Hogmanay. But her boss, Dr. Duncan Gray, treats her to an early gift of tickets to the event of the a Charles Dickens reading. There, they bump into Lady Inglis—the lovely widow who has sent Gray sexy letters trying to entice him back to her bed.

Lady Inglis introduces Mallory to Dickens—the meeting of a lifetime—but in return she wants their help. She’s being blackmailed. Someone stole letters she wrote to another lover and is threatening to publish them.

Mallory isn’t sure what to make of Lady Inglis, but no woman deserves that, so she insists on taking the case with or without Gray’s help. Growing tension between them soon tells Mallory that Gray is hiding a secret of his own. She has until Hogmanay to uncover the blackmailer…and, hopefully, to put things right with Gray so they can enjoy the holiday together. 

 

 

 

 

Leviathan: An Asher & Avandriell Story by Philip C. Quaintrell  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

For those who have read The Echoes Saga and need more, the more is here!
Set three years after A Clash of Fates, the first novella in the Verda universe begins here, with Asher and his intrepid dragon, Avandriell.

A new world is beginning to take shape in the aftermath of The Fated War, a world that must be brought together if it is to survive. As the king and queen of Illian, it falls on Vighon and Inara Draqaro to forge this future. As they did during the war, they have allies—old friends—to call upon, heroes all who fought and bled for Verda’s fragile era of peace.

Among those allies are the likes of a ranger and a dragon.

The world’s greatest monster requires the world’s greatest hunters. Between them, Asher and Avandriell possess the skills required to face an ancient beast that has long prevented mutual prosperity between Illian and Erador. If the two realms of man are to secure an everlasting peace, this creature of antiquity, this Leviathan, must finally be vanquished. 

 

This is a bonus novella that can be read after The Echoes Saga. I think by the time I got to this I was a bit burned out on the series. It wasn't bad but it was mostly battles, and I kind of zoned out of it in the middle.

 

 

 

The book that was a DNF-

 

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

So I'm really not surprised that this ended up as a DNF for me. I greatly disliked the otehr book I read by this author and I don't think this author's books are for me.

See my review here.

 

 

 

The Stormborne Vine (Leaf and Scale #1) by Tilly Wallace

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

This was an ok cozy fantasy. To an extent, I feel like this author keeps writing the same thing over and over. All the books have the same tone and the characters feel very interchangeable. They all have the same narrator as well and that makes them feel even more alike. I liked this author's Manners and Monsters Series a lot better than any of her other books. I'm not sure if I want to continue with this series. 

 

 

 

Started but not finished-

 

Be Buried in the Rain by Barbara Michaels 

No rating yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her Deadly Game (Keera Duggan #1) by Robert Dugoni

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery
Content: Strong Language

 

Keera Duggan was building a solid reputation as a Seattle prosecutor, until her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly. For the competitive former chess prodigy, returning to her family’s failing criminal defense law firm to work for her father is the best shot she has. With the right moves, she hopes to restore the family’s reputation, her relationship with her father, and her career.

Keera’s chance to play in the big leagues comes when she’s retained by Vince LaRussa, an investment adviser accused of murdering his wealthy wife. There’s little hard evidence against him, but considering the couple’s impending and potentially nasty divorce, LaRussa faces life in prison. The prosecutor is equally challenging: Miller Ambrose, Keera’s former lover, who’s eager to destroy her in court on her first homicide defense.

As Keera and her team follow the evidence, they uncover a complicated and deadly game that’s more than Keera bargained for. When shocking information turns the case upside down, Keera must decide between her duty to her client, her family’s legacy, and her own future. 

 

It's been a while since I've read a legal thriller, not since the Barbara Holloway Series by Kate Wilhelm. It was nice to read one again. I like Dugoni's writing style, but I already knew that from reading his Tracy Crosswhite Series. He brought just enough intrigue to the courtroom to keep me hooked while reading this. I also liked Keera as a character. Her family though...oh boy! Part of me thinks she would be better off getting far away from them, but I feel like the family drama will continue to develop and improve. I read this while completely engrossed in the second Karen Read trial every day, and at times I couldn't help picturing the prosecutor in this as Hank Brennan. My opinion of the two is the same.

Overall, I liked this a lot and I'm looking forward to reading more in this series. 

 

 

 

 

May 2025 and June 2025 Book Clubs: Monster Menu by Terrell Garrett, and Starter Villain by John Scalzi

The books that got picked for the last couple of books clubs have been pretty bad in my opinion. I ended up not even caring to finish either one of them. 

 

 May-

  

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Sci-fi, Fantasy, Satire
Content: Strong Language

 

An LA taco truck chef is transported to a fantasy realm where bad reviews are the least of her worries in this cozy culinary LitRPG adventure.

For Renee “Nay” Favreau, food is life. She’s the owner of a Los Angeles taco truck who dreams of becoming a respected chef and expanding her fleet, and whose greatest enemy is an unhappy food critic. Always hunting for her next great dish, the search eventually leads her to a near-fatal encounter with an interdimensional spider.

Awaking in a strange world where words appear before her eyes, a talking tentacle befriends her, and people are trying to kill her, Nay learns she has the ability to become an one of the special chefs who prepare the magical meals that power the enigmatic Marrow Eaters.

Soon, Nay is working in a remote village, where she wins the hearts—and stomachs—of the locals. But when evil threatens to destroy the place, she’ll have to employ all her wit and newfound skills to survive and save her new friends . . . 

 

DNF @64%

I read this for book club. I'm not a fan of this genre but even so, I feel like this one was worse than most. I didn't like the main character and I found the story to be pretty boring. On the plus side, there were lots of book related food items to serve at book club. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos.

 

 

 

 June-

  

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Sci-fi, Fantasy, Satire
Content: Lots of F bombs

 

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place.

Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.

But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.

It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyperintelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.

In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat.

 

 

 DNF @57%.

One of my least favorite things I've read so far this year. I liked the cats but that's about it. The main character is not very bright, and comes across as kind of a loser. We have to follow along as everything gets explained to him. It was like he was floating around in the middle of everything that was happening but made no real difference to the story himself. I guess that makes sense since he seemed incapable of making any real difference in his own life.

One of the things that annoyed me most about this book was the way the dead uncle's assistant tried to rationalize said uncle's villainy. The main character's uncle was not less villainous than the other villains in this book. His tax payer funded villainy is just as bad, and saying he didn't care about money because he only kept 5 million of his trillions liquid is disingenuous.

It seems this was trying be some sort of satire or humorous commentary on capitalism but in my opinion it failed miserably. The whole thing felt juvenile, like something a 12 year old boy would find funny, which is exactly what I thought about the other book I tried to read by this author, The Android's Dream. This book had me bored and repeatedly rolling my eyes at the stupidity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Death at a Highland Wedding (A Rip Through Time #4) by Kelley Armstrong

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Historical Mystery, Fantasy
Content: Strong Language

 

After slipping 150 years into the past, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson has embraced her new life in Victorian Scotland as housemaid Catriona Mitchel. Although it isn’t what she expected, she's developed real, meaningful relationships with the people around her and has come to love her role as assistant to undertaker Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie.

Mallory, Gray, and McCreadie are on their way to the Scottish Highlands for McCreadie's younger sister's wedding. The McCreadies and the groom’s family, the Cranstons, have a complicated history which has made the weekend quite uncomfortable. But the Cranston estate is beautiful so Gray and Mallory decide to escape the stifling company and set off to explore the castle and surrounding wilderness. They discover that the groom, Archie Cranston, a slightly pompous and prickly man, has set up deadly traps in the woods for the endangered Scottish wildcats, and they soon come across a cat who's been caught and severely injured. Oddly, Mallory notices the cat's injuries don't match up with the intricacies of the trap. These strange irregularities, combined with the secretive and erratic behavior of the groom, put Mallory and Duncan on edge. And then when one of the guests is murdered, they must work fast to uncover the murderer before another life is lost.
 

 

I liked the progress of some of the relationships in this book. I feel like things are progressing on that front at just the right pace for me. For me, the mystery wasn't as compelling as it was in the last book, but it was still an enjoyable read. I wish that there was more back and forth interaction through time. What I was really hoping for when I started this series was a glimpse into both time periods and it looks like this is just settling into being a Victorian mystery series, which isn't a bad thing, but I've read a lot of those already. I also feel like certain characters in this series have accepted this reality too easily. There was hardly any push back on the idea of time travel in previous books by characters who find out about Mallory's secret. That being said, I'm in no way disinterested in this series. I will definitely be reading the next book after it's published.

 

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filthy Rich (The Scarsdale Fosters #5) by B. E. Baker

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Romance, Contemporary Romance
Content: Clean

Jake Priest learned at an early age to take anything he could get and never look back. With the help of his foster sister Bea, and the catchy song she wrote, he finally gets a stroke of luck and becomes the hottest new entertainer in the industry. He’s always felt a little guilty for using Bea’s song as his ticket to fame, but after years of hiding her talent, Bea’s finally crafting musical masterpieces again. Jake credits one woman with inspiring her to do it.

When that woman, Octavia Rothschild, shoved Beatrice Cipriani into the limelight, she really had no idea that Bea would try and drag her on stage too. Octavia's finding the attention uncomfortable. Ever since an accident that left prominent burns on one side of her face, Octavia has attracted too much attention, none of it good.

And now the studio’s insisting that Octavia perform one of Bea's songs with Jake Priest. The label’s wild for the kind of publicity a duet would create, even if Jake’s famously impossible to deal with. Only, the more time Jake spends with Octavia, the more he's drawn to her voice and her unique beauty.

But Jake’s shady past was only contained, not erased.

When Jake’s father finally walks out of prison, the first person he wants to see is his newly rich and famous son. And good old dad has some demands—and some secrets—that may just change everything. Can Jake and Octavia heal from past trauma in time to deal with everything the world’s about to throw at them?

 

I think the best thing about this book was the character Octavia. I liked Octavia a lot in the last book, and I was happy that she got her own book. I enjoyed reading her backstory and felt for her with all the horrible people she had to deal with in her life. I know people with disfigurements or deformities have to deal with some people making hurtful comments to or about them. I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around how anyone could be so mean to another person, especially for something they can't help. Octavia goes through quite a lot of that in this book. I appreciated that the author mentioned that Octavia's character was inspired by her cousin, who was also disfigured by a burn. I think it's great that she was able to get input from her cousin on what it was like, and what she dealt with. 

The character Jake grew on me. He wasn't a favorite from the previous book, but I liked that we got to understand where he was coming from. I liked his growth as a character. I'm not usually a fan of stories where the main character or the love interest is a famous person, be they actors or musicians, or whatever, so that part of the book was a harder sell for me. Because of that, this wasn't one of my favorites in the series but that's just a taste preference and it doesn't reflect on the story itself. This was a nice, sweet love story, and I was rooting for Octavia and Jake. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. 

 

Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giant Book Haul

I haven't posted a book haul in a long time and I've bought a lot of books over the past year, so these are all the physical books I've bought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First up are the Fantasy books that I've collected- 

 

The first book in The Russian Witch's Curse Series by Bridget E. Baker. This one is a special edition that I think is gorgeous. It came with a beautiful necklace made of real amethyst beads.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The naked hardcover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The end papers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

The second and third books in The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett I don't usually buy books for my bookshelf until I've either read them and know I like them, or it's an author I love. So I broke my rule (you will find out that I broke this rule a few times over the past year) with these next two books because I really liked the covers and they were cheap. Then I found out that the first book is hard to find without paying a lot for a hardcover copy. So, I'm going to wait to buy the first book until after I read it. If I end up not liking it then I'll probably trade these in at my local used book store, or hold onto them and sell them if they end up going up in price too. 

Some extras from the seller on Pangobooks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course I had this one on pre-order! The fifth book in The Stormlight Archives Series by Brandon Sanderson

 

 

 

Book one in Roman's Chronicles by Ilona Andrews 

 

 

 

Book four in the Arcadia Bell Series by Jenn Bennett. I had two books in this series on my shelf but was missing this one and one other. I found this one for cheap on Book Outlet. I just wish it was available in trade paperback like the other three. This one is the only book in the series that only got published in mass market paperback, so it's smaller than the others. It really annoys me when a set of books in a series don't match on my shelves.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Novella in the Legends of Muirwood Series by Jeff Wheeler. I backed the Kickstarter for the special edition of The Legends of Muirwood to help the author out, but since Muirwood was one of my least favorite series by the author I didn't want to spend the money on a nice copy of it. So, I ended up just choosing the level with this novella as a reward. If he ever does a Kickstarter for special editions of the Kingfountain Series, I'll definitely want a copy of that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw this one on Book Outlet and had to have it. It's Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkein that he did for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I'm keeping this one on my coffee table. I've included three of my favorite pictures. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Misty Mountains

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next are the Sci-Fi / Space opera books-

 

Books five and six in The Icarus Saga by Timothy Zahn. The last two books in the series.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mystery / Suspense-

 

Book seven in the Verity Kent Series by Anna Lee Huber 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All six books in the Daniel Pitt Series by Anne Perry. I decided to collect this series even though I haven't read anything by Anne Perry in a long time, and I still need to finish her Thomas and Charlotte Pitt Series and her William Monk Series. This one is connected to the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt Series because the main character is their son. I felt like my collection wouldn't be complete without them. One day I will get around to reading them.

A standalone gothic suspense, The Secrets of Heartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden. Another case of me buying without having read the book or anything from the author. This one looked and sounded good and I needed an extra book to get free shipping with an order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mother's Secret by Karen Clarke. This is another standalone. I love this author's books, and I was so excited when I saw she had written another one. I had this one on pre-order and I'm looking forward to reading it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Books one, two and three of the Rip Through Time Series by Kelley Armstrong. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book eleven in the Tracy Crosswhite Series by Robert Dugoni. I now have all but one of the published books in this series.

The Locked Door, a standalone by Freida McFadden

The first book in The Housemaid Trilogy by Freida McFadden.

Books one and two in the Ernest Cunningham Series by Benjamin Stevenson, along with book three, which is a novella. I bought this series after I had read and enjoyed the first book. I thought I would most likely enjoy all of them but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Now I'm not sure if I will keep the second book or the novella. Also, it drives me crazy that the novella is smaller in size than the other two books. It doesn't look good as a set on the shelves.

I got extras from the seller with this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Book four of the Rosaline Thorne Mysteries by Darcie Wilde. I broke my rule again. I bought this book and I have never read it or anything by this author. The series is on my to-read list, and this was cheap on Book Outlet. I still need the first three books. I'll probably just read the ebooks first to make sure I like them before I decide if I want to keep buying books from this series.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Romance / Women's Fiction

 

The first book in The Irish Escape Series by B.E. Baker. I like the way this book has photos of some of the real places in Ireland that are mentioned in it. I also like that the chapter headings have photos as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book three in the Ladies of the Manor Trilogy by Roseanna M. White. This was the last book I needed to complete this series on my shelves. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book one of the Waverly Family Duology by Sarah Addison Allen. I got this one from our book club Christmas gift exchange. We each brought a book as a gift with items that related to the book. This one had wind chimes with it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The third book in the On Devonshire Shores Series by Julie Klassen 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last book in The Imposters Trilogy by Roseanna M. White. My collection is now complete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Celia, a standalone by Sophia Holloway. My favorite book by this author! I had to have a copy for my shelves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two standalones by Julie Klassen. The Bridge to Belle Island, and A Castaway in Cornwall. I bought these two Julie Klassen books more to be a completionist than anything else. I liked them but didn't love them as much as most of her other books. I also decided to buy copies of these for my mom who also enjoyed her books. Somehow I ended up with three copies of one of them instead of two. I guess I'll trade it at the used book store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Standalone novels by Amy Clipston. The View from Coral Cove, and Something Old, Something New. This was another time I broke my rule of not buying something I hadn't read and liked, or was by an author I loved. I wanted to try this author's books because she's local but unfortunately I didn't like this one all that much. I'm hoping the other book I bought will be better.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite Katherine Center book, Happiness for Beginners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Books One and Three in the Southern Eclectic Trilogy by Molly Harper. I bought book two a while ago and finally bought books one and three. I got them each from different sources. I went against my better judgement and bought book three from a seller I'm not always happy with. I was not happy with the condition of the book for it to have been advertised as very good condition!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The cover and spine of the book are very worn.

 

  

 

The third book in The Huntresses Series by Sarah M. Eden.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three more standalones by Sophia Holloway, Kingscastle, Isabelle, and To Catch a Husband.