Another Big Book Haul

Here are the physical books I've collected over the last three months. Most of them came from Book Outlet for at least half the regular price. Clearly my rule of not buying physical books for my library unless it's one I've already read, or an author I love has gone out the window!

 

First up, special editions and deluxe editions-

 

 My copy of Isles of the Emberdark arrived. It's just as beautiful as the other secret projects. 

The special edition of Bridget E. Baker's My Dark Horse Prince. If you love horses you'll love this series. And if you saw my last book haul post, then you know I got the special edition of the first book in the series as well. 

Here they are side by side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The naked hardcover is also beautiful.

  

Lots of beautiful artwork and photos in this one.

 

 

I got the deluxe editions of Dune Messiah and Children of Dune from Book Outlet for my husband. These were marked way down from their original prices. I had already bought the deluxe edition of Dune when it went on sale on Amazon.

 

After reading and loving the Elements of Cadence Duology by Rebecca Ross I wanted to read everything she wrote. This is her latest YA book that I had on preorder. I chose this deluxe version that I found at Blackwell's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

I haven't read this one but I couldn't resist this beautiful book! It was another Book Outlet find.

Mary E. Pearson is one of the YA authors I've read and enjoyed, so I decided to give her adult book a try. Plus this deluxe edition is pretty!

More Mary E. Pearson. This edition of Morrighan is beautiful. I've read the series that this is a prequel to.

 

 

Other fantasy and sci-fi books I bought-

 

Even more Mary E. Pearson. I've read The Remnant Chronicles, but I haven't read this other series set in the same world, although I've been wanting to. 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this series so much! I'm now a Rebecca Ross fan and want to read everything she's written. These are her adult novels, but I think everything else she's written is YA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Rebecca Ross book. I've gone back and forth on whether or not I wanted to read this one, but after loving A River Enchanted, I decided to go for it. I love the cover on this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've enjoyed some of this author's books and this one sounds like one I would like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven't read this one yet but it sounds really good. Plus it's beautiful even in paperback.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I became aware of this book through book tube and it sounded like something I would really like. I hated the U.S. cover though. There are several covers for this book available at Blackwells. It was hard to choose between a couple of them but I decided on this one. I love the colors and the way the dragon wraps around the cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've gotten away from reading a lot of YA unless it's an author I know I like, but this book has come highly recommended from several people, so when it was available on Book Outlet I decided to buy it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is another YA book by an author I haven't tried. I loved the cover and one of my friends liked it, so I'll give it a try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read this series years ago. Well, it was originally a trilogy and I read those three books, but the author has added a fourth book. I never got around to buying these until now. I've got books 1, 2, and 4. Still need to buy book 3, which happens to be my favorite book in the series. I like these paperback covers better than the original hardcovers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read this one a few years ago and liked it, so I bought the hardcover from Book Outlet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This series has been on my to-read list for a while.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this series. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted physical copies because the first three books are only in mass market paperback, but I decided I might as well since they are so cheap on Book Outlet. I've got these two and the latest one on preorder. I still need to get books 1 and 2. Maybe someone will eventually make special editions of the series. I would love that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We read this book for book club a few years ago and it was very entertaining. It's probably weird that I bought this one and have no intention of buying any of the other books in the series, but this one was such a fun read. I'm just not interested in reading the whole series. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read this series ages ago and I've collected the paperbacks over the last couple of years. I finally picked this one up, and my collection is complete. 

I liked Ender's Game but I didn't like the two following books in the series. This is supposed to be a continuation of where things left off after the first book, so I decided to buy it. I'm not sure if or when I'll get around to reading it though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Romance books I've bought- 

 

I've never read anything by this author before but she has come highly recommended so I bought a couple of her books on Book Outlet. I really like the colors on these book covers.

 

 

 

 I don't know if this is the way all the editions of this book are, but this one had one page of art in the front.

 

I already had a copy of this but a new revised edition came out that I decided I liked better.

I've never read anything by this author but this looks and sounds so good. I can't wait to read it!

Another author I've never read but has come highly recommended by several people.

I've really enjoyed the two Katherine Center books I've read, so I bought this one to read as well.

The latest book in The Scarsdale Fosters Series. I bought this one direct from the author when she had a sale. I recently learned that the author is redoing the titles and covers for this series, and they are going to be so pretty! Normally it would annoy me for covers to change in the middle of a series, but Bridget is so accommodating that she is making both available for people who have been collecting the old ones. Since I thought the titles of this series didn't really reflect what these books were about all that well, and I like the new covers, I feel ok with this change. So sometime in the near future I'm going to be buying all the available books with the new covers and titles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This series looks like something I would like. I grabbed books 2-5 at Book Outlet. Now I just need book 1. I hope I like it since I bought so many of them!

 

I read this book a while ago and liked it enough to want to own a physical copy.

 

 

I had this one of preorder. I can't wait to read it!

 

Mysteries I bought-

 

Another series I bought books in that I haven't tried yet. I've got books 3-5 but not the first two.

A gothic mystery that sounds good. This one wasn't available in ebook at all, so I had to buy a physical copy of it if I want to read it.

The latest Verity Kent mystery that I had on preorder.

The latest Lady Darby Mystery that I had on preorder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The latest Tracy Crosswhite mystery that I had on preorder.

I decided to buy the whole Gaslight Mystery Series by Victoria Thompson in hardcover. The first 5 books were not published in hardcover, so I have those in paperback. But I have all but one of the rest in hardcover now. It was fun tracking down copies of these. Some I bought on Book Outlet, some I bought through Ebay, and some I bought through Pangobooks. I have to tell you though, that it really bothers me that the first book that was published in hardcover is slightly taller than the rest of them. It's really annoying to look at. Right now I have that one on the shelf above the others so it's not as bad as it being right next to them. Why do publishers do things like this? Also, on a sad note, the author passed away from cancer and I assume there will be no more books in this series. It makes me really sad that we will never get another story from her. She was one of two mystery authors that passed away within the last couple of years whose books I really enjoyed. As for this series, each book has it's own ending so there are no cliffhangers but I do wish that a couple of the supporting characters had gotten their romantic story arc wrapped up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the Day Comes (Timeless #1) by Gabrielle Meyer

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian Fiction
Genre: Romance, Clean romance, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance
Content: Marital rape, Abuse by a parent

 

How will she choose, knowing all she must sacrifice?

Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other. While she's the same person at her core in both times, she's leading two vastly different lives.

In Colonial Williamsburg, Libby is a public printer for the House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor, trying to provide for her family and support the Patriot cause. The man she loves, Henry Montgomery, has his own secrets. As the revolution draws near, both their lives--and any hope of love--are put in jeopardy.

Libby's life in 1914 New York is filled with wealth, drawing room conversations, and bachelors. But the only work she cares about--women's suffrage--is discouraged, and her mother is intent on marrying her off to an English marquess. The growing talk of war in Europe only complicates matters.

But Libby knows she's not destined to live two lives forever. On her twenty-first birthday, she must choose one path and forfeit the other--but how can she choose when she has so much to lose in each life?

  

I thoroughly enjoyed this book despite the fact that the a huge portion of the 1914 timeline infuriated me, but more on that in a minute. From almost the very beginning we know that the 1774 timeline is the timeline that our main character, Libby feels she belongs in and she is planning to choose that timeline to stay in permanently on her 21st birthday. I enjoyed reading about Colonial Williamsburg and I liked the way the author wove that part of history into the story. I enjoyed the characters from this timeline a lot. I loved how supportive Libby's mother in this timeline is, and the fact that she gave up a lot to live her life there with her children was admirable. 

As for the 1914 timeline, Mother Wells was a real piece of work, the complete opposite of the mother Libby has in 1774. The emotional, psychological, and physical abuse she perpetrated was bad on it's own, but the father in this timeline infuriated me just as much by totally failing to protect his daughter. He acted powerless in a time when men had all the power. As for the marriage contract, I'm not buying that a contract signed on his behalf by his wife would have been held as valid. Libby loves her father throughout the book and never comes to see that he could and should have done more to protect her. It bothered me that this was never addressed in the book. 

Having faith, following Gods will, and forgiving others were big themes in this book and I struggled with the way some of this was applied. Particularly on the subject of forgiveness. At one point in the book when Libby is writing letters to her family, we find out that she is writing to mother Wells. Why?! Forgiving someone doesn't mean you have to let them back into your life if they are a toxic and abusive person. I liked the way God's will played a part in some of the twists in the story, but not how it was portrayed all the time. At times I thought that got too heavy-handed. 

I did end up predicting pretty much every plot twist in this book but despite that I enjoyed how they enhanced this story. I found the end particularly impactful and it had me crying just a little bit. If some things had been addressed that weren't, like Libby's father; if some of the characters had been a bit more nuanced, instead of so black and white; and if the Christian themes had been presented slightly different, then I think I would have given this 5 stars. That being said, 4 stars means I really liked this and will be reading more in this series. Be sure to read the author's note at the end of the book where she tells about how she got the idea for this book and the inspiration for the main character in the colonial era.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Met Like This by Kasie West

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Romance, Contemporary Romance
Content: Strong Language, several descriptive sex and make out scenes

 

Can a swipe right turn into swept away?

Margot Hart is a hopeless romantic. That’s why she wants to be a literary agent—to help bring romance books to the world. It’s also why she hates dating apps with all her romance loving soul. She wants her own love story to be just as much fun as the books she reads—a mixed up coffee order, a mistaken identity. She’s not going to tell the story that she swiped right on future husband’s shirtless pic for the rest of her life.

The problem is that her most consistent relationship over the last several years is with Oliver, a guy she keeps rematching with on the apps. They’ve only been on one date and it was a disaster…well, until the make out session in the car before parting ways. But, she keeps reminding herself, a make out session does not a relationship make. And so there will not be a date two regardless of how witty their app banter is.

When Margot gets fired from her job on the same day she meets Oliver again, her life becomes a veritable shit show. Her dream career is dying right before her eyes, and Oliver thinks she’s interested in only a repeat of the hot make out session they had three years ago so she can get him out of her system. And maybe that is all she wants from him, because she and Oliver are definitely not compatible—he doesn’t hit the snooze button, he runs five miles every morning, he reads nonfiction, and worst of all, she didn’t meet him in a cute way! But in her scramble to keep her dream career alive, by opening her own agency, Oliver is there with his golden retriever energy, more steady and helpful than any man she’s ever dated. Just when she thinks she’s overcome her app bias, she realizes that maybe it’s not her who’s holding back, but him. And his reasons are more than she bargained for.
 

 

I've read and liked some of Kasie West's YA books, so I was thrilled to find out she was writing an adult romance book. Because her YA books are sweet romance, I automatically assumed this would be sweet romance as well. Needless to say, when I read the opening paragraph I realized that wasn't the case. This book is spicy, and it's spicy from the very beginning. I was really wanting to read a sweet romance written for adults because that's what I like, but I stuck with this and read the whole thing anyway. It ended up growing on me. 

My biggest complaint about this book is the main character, Margot. She comes off as desperate and horny. I had a hard time liking her, especially when she lets her boss use her the way she does. Even after she knows it, she still ends up having to talk herself out of letting him. She did eventually grow on me but I wish she had been written differently. 

I really liked the main male character, Oliver a lot. He's the reason I'm rating this book three stars instead of two. I liked that despite the spicy beginning between these two characters, the book actually ended up taking the slow burn route before it got spicy again. I liked the banter of the messages between them and the way the relationship evolved.

 

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with and ARC of this book. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July and August 2025 Book Clubs: Way Station by Clifford D. Simak, and The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison

 July-

  

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-Fi
Content: Clean

 

Enoch Wallace is an ageless hermit, striding across his untended farm as he has done for over a century, still carrying the gun with which he had served in the Civil War. But what his neighbors must never know is that, inside his unchanging house, he meets with a host of unimaginable friends from the farthest stars.

More than a hundred years before, an alien named Ulysses had recruited Enoch as the keeper of Earth's only galactic transfer station. Now, as Enoch studies the progress of Earth and tends the tanks where the aliens appear, the charts he made indicate his world is doomed to destruction. His alien friends can only offer help that seems worse than the dreaded disaster. Then he discovers the horror that lies across the galaxy...

  

I had high hopes for this going into it. I liked the idea of the way station that aliens stopped at here on earth. I was looking forward to meeting the different alien species. It brought to mind the short story Why I Left Harry's All Night Hamburgers by Lawrence Watt-Evans, which I loved. 

While I think the concept of this book was great, unfortunately, I felt like it lacked in execution. I was pulled in at the beginning and it seemed like it was going to be great, but then somewhere along the way it took a turn that didn't work for me. This is a book that's very much a product of it's time. The cold war was on everyone's mind and it permeated fiction. So instead of this book being just about aliens stopping at a way station and sharing their adventures with us, we got "our world is doomed and we have to stop it from happening" as well. The main character decided just based on his own observations that this is sure to happen and almost agrees to some very drastic measures, that quite frankly would have been just as devastating as war. Imagine what would happen if we suddenly lost all technology, even the memory of it. A lot of people would die from lack of food, warmth, shelter, etc. Luckily our main character here decided against that route, but not because he realized it would be just as bad. But this isn't were I first realized the book was going off the rails for me.

The first indication that this book was going to be a bit of a disappointment was when the imaginary friends manifest, including a love interest (two things that will surely ruin a classic sci-fi book for me are the terribly developed female characters, and instant romance that seems to happen in a lot of these). I get that this guy is lonely for human companionship, but this was just ridiculous. It also felt more like magic and less like science in this sci-fi book. That wasn't the only part that felt magical. There's a deux ex machina moment at the end as well, involving another character, that didn't work for me either. And please don't get me started on the way the government just gave him back a dead alien body they had stolen when he told them he needed it back. We all know that would never happen.

All this being said, I still enjoyed parts of this book. I liked the parts with the aliens and the descriptions of them. I wish the book had leaned into that more. I think my rating for this is skewed a bit because I liked the concept, and I enjoyed it more than most of the other classic sci-fi books I've read. I just can't bring myself to give a rating as low as 2.5.

 

 

 

 August-

 

The Stainless Steel Rat (The Stainless Steel Rat #1) by Harry Harrison

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-Fi
Content: Clean

 

*Beware some minor spoilers ahead. 

This book started off great. I was really into the heist that was going on. The main character was cocky and sure of himself. No one was smarter than him. At least that's what he thought. I got quite a few laughs out of this when he gets outsmarted by nearly everyone else. Just from the description you know he gets caught and recruited to work on the side of the law. 

There was a point while reading this that I thought it was going to go the way of most of the other classic sci-fi books I've read with the sexism. However, I was surprised that the main character ended up being thwarted multiple times by his sexist views. He was constantly underestimating this woman he meets in the book. I felt like this book was ahead of it's time in the way this was portrayed, even if she was also a psychopath. 

So I was enjoying the first half of this until he decides that he's in love with this woman that he doesn't really know. You see, she's beautiful, and she's clever like him, except for the inconvenient fact that she's also a psychopath. But lets not let that fact get in the way. She's beautiful and he can fix her by erasing the psychopathic part of her brain, if he can only catch her. Also, her psychosis ends up being about her looks. Yeah, this is where the book went downhill for me. And all of that progress the book made, being ahead of it's time was slowly erased and ruined by the time I got to the end. 

The author had something good going for a while but he had to ruin it. I'm still giving it 3 stars for the parts I liked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. White

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

In this gripping World War II historical about the power of words, two people form an unlikely friendship amid the Nazi occupation in Paris and fight to preserve the truth that enemies of freedom long to destroy.

Paris, 1940. Ever since the Nazi Party began burning books, German writers exiled for their opinions or heritage have been taking up residence in Paris. There they opened a library meant to celebrate the freedom of ideas and gathered every book on the banned list . . . and even incognito versions of the forbidden books that were smuggled back into Germany.

For the last six years, Corinne Bastien has been reading those books and making that library a second home. But when the German army takes possession of Paris, she loses access to the library and all the secrets she’d hidden there. Secrets the Allies will need if they have any hope of liberating the city she calls home.

Christian Bauer may be German, but he never wanted anything to do with the Nazi Party—he is a professor, one who’s done his best to protect his family as well as the books that were a threat to Nazi ideals. But when Goebbels sends him to Paris to handle the “relocation” of France’s libraries, he’s forced into an army uniform and given a rank he doesn’t want. In Paris, he tries to protect whoever and whatever he can from the madness of the Party and preserve the ideas that Germans will need again when that madness is over, and maybe find a lost piece of his heart. 

 

"Books didn’t burn. Books ignited. They lit the burning in others. Not with paper and match. With ideas."

  

Roseanna M. White has become one of my favorite authors. I love the historic details that she includes in her books. I very much enjoyed this one. This is one of her rare standalones and it was a departure from her previous books in that it takes place during WWII. I liked this change, although I have to say that I still enjoyed the books set during WWI the most. 

I liked the slow burn of the romance in this book. I thought the characters were very well drawn, and I genuinely liked them. There are times when I felt like certain characters got away with things they probably wouldn't have during the Nazi occupation. Things felt a little too easy, although I appreciate the fact that this was meant to be a romance that left me feeling good, so it was a more gentle read than a historical fiction book set in this time would have been. 

There were also some actions taken by the main female character that I thought didn't make a lot of sense, like hiding coded messages in books that were banned and could possibly be confiscated. Still, despite those quibbles I enjoyed the story and the author's excellent writing. I think besides the romance, the thing I appreciate the most about this author's books are how historically accurate they are. The Christian themes are always present as well and those give the books an inspirational aspect that I enjoy. I especially like that this author includes historical accuracy in the religion that is included in each of her stories. 

Most of this author's books have some connection in one way or another, and I was looking forward to seeing how this one would be connected to her other works. When it happened it was such a treat!

I'm looking forward to reading the next historical Christian romance by this author. 

 

"When a people stopped entertaining opposing ideas, when they condemned the different as evil, then it was a short step from closed-minded to violently oppressive."

 

 

 Thanks to NetGalley and Tyndale House Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book.

 

 

 

 

 

September 2025 Reading List

I have 6 books planned to read this month. We'll see how that goes since I have family coming to visit and will have less reading time. 

 

Reading with The Mystery Book Club- 

 

A Tarnished Canvas (Lady Darby #13) by Anna Lee Huber

 

Lady Kiera Darby had planned to spend the winter practicing her painting, but instead, she must find the flaw in a killer’s masterpiece when an art auction results in one participant’s final bid.…

March 1833. Kiera and her husband, Sebastian Gage, have decided to settle in Edinburgh for the winter with their infant daughter. This also allows Kiera to enjoy long hours painting in her studio, making progress on the portraits she soon hopes to unveil in her own exhibit. She’s thrilled when she receives an invitation to the auction of the late Lord Eldin’s coveted art collection, and she and Gage eagerly accept. When the floor collapses beneath the gathering, killing one of their fellow bidders, Kiera and Gage are lucky to escape with their lives.

Within days it becomes apparent that what at first seemed to be a terrible accident is actually something far more nefarious. Someone deliberately compromised the integrity of the structure, though the police are unsure of the culprit’s aim. Sergeant Maclean requests Kiera and Gage’s assistance in figuring out who would wish to harm the bidders. As they dig deeper, it becomes increasingly apparent that the victim was not the killer’s intended target . . . and that Kiera was lured to the auction deliberately. Kiera and Gage must utilize all their resources to unveil a monster willing to risk the lives of dozens of bystanders to achieve their ends. But they’re on the verge of making a dire miscalculation. For one of the cleverest tricks in a painter’s repertoire is the art of misdirection, and their eyes have been drawn far from the gravest danger.

 

 

  

Missing Angel (Agent Tori Hunter #4) by Roger Stelljes

 

Isabella pedals her bright red bike on the familiar route home, admiring her charm bracelet catching the light. But half an hour later, she is nowhere to be seen. All her frantic parents find is an angel-shaped charm discarded on the sidewalk…

When twelve-year-old Isabella Farner disappears, Agent Tori Hunter races to the scene. Witnesses—including her partner’s son who was biking home with Isabella—saw a man throw her into the back of his blue van and speed away. Terrified that a child she loves like her own might be next, Tori knows every second counts in the hunt for the missing girl.

Isabella’s distraught parents insist no-one would want to harm their perfect family. But soon a photo of Isabella looking terrified is discovered, holding a copy of today’s newspaper. Why would the Farners conceal information about their own missing daughter? And what else do they have to hide?

Then, while searching a stretch of road where the van was last seen, Tori finds a tiny clue: an angel-shaped charm. Isabella was here. But what chance is there that she is being kept alive?

Unable to trust Isabella’s parents, as Tori closes in on the truth she realises someone already known to police must be involved: and she herself is in terrible danger. But even if Tori makes the ultimate sacrifice, will it be enough to find this innocent girl before she disappears forever?

Reading for NetGalley-

 

We Met Like This by Kasie West 

 

Beloved author Kasie West's sparkling, seductive adult rom-com debut about a hopeless romantic falling for the one man she never expected. This deluxe paperback features beautiful designed edges; order now to receive it while supplies last!

Can a swipe right turn into swept away?

Margot Hart is a hopeless romantic. That’s why she wants to be a literary agent—to help bring romance books to the world. It’s also why she hates dating apps with all her romance loving soul. She wants her own love story to be just as much fun as the books she reads—a mixed up coffee order, a mistaken identity. She’s not going to tell the story that she swiped right on future husband’s shirtless pic for the rest of her life.

The problem is that her most consistent relationship over the last several years is with Oliver, a guy she keeps rematching with on the apps. They’ve only been on one date and it was a disaster…well, until the make out session in the car before parting ways. But, she keeps reminding herself, a make out session does not a relationship make. And so there will not be a date two regardless of how witty their app banter is.

When Margot gets fired from her job on the same day she meets Oliver again, her life becomes a veritable shit show. Her dream career is dying right before her eyes, and Oliver thinks she’s interested in only one thing: a repeat of the hot make out session they had three years ago so she can get him out of her system. And maybe that is all she wants from him, because she and Oliver are definitely not compatible—he doesn’t hit the snooze button, he runs five miles every morning, he reads nonfiction, and worst of all, she didn’t meet him in cute way! But in her scramble to keep her dream career alive, by opening her own agency, Oliver is there with his golden retriever energy, more steady and helpful than any man she’s ever dated. Just when she thinks she’s overcome her app bias, she realizes that maybe it’s not her who’s holding back, but him. And his reasons are more than she bargained for.

Kasie West's romantic and sexy adult debut is full of witty banter, meet cutes gone awry and, ultimately, true love.

 

 

 

  

Tentative—may end up getting pushed to October.

Falling in a Sea of Stars (Green Rider #8) by Kristen Britain  

 

On her days-long journey home, Karigan Gladheon trudges through the immense forest called Green Cloak. She is leaving school, or, more accurately, she has been asked to leave. "Suspended indefinitely," the dean said. And for what? Challenging and thrashing Timas Mirwell in the practice ring. Karigan felt no remorse when she stood over the heir of the lord-governor of Mirwell province, her wooden practice sword at his throat. He had humiliated her, the daughter of a "mere" merchant, since the first day of school. But now, as she faces the long road home, hoping to arrive in Corsa before the dean's letter does, she wonders if she should just hire herself out on a merchant barge as her father did and stay away for good. She has too much pride, too hot a temper, and a penchant for danger - a life of travel, adventure and commerce will undoubtedly suit her just as it has her father.
But before Karigan's ponderings can become a definite plan, her thoughts are interrupted by the clattering of hooves, as a galloping horse bursts from the woods in an explosion of branches, the rider slumped over his mount's neck, impaled by two black-shafted arrows. As the young rider lies dying on the road, he tells Karigan that he is a Green Rider, one of the legendary messengers of the king, and that he bears a "life and death" message for King Zachary in his horse's satchel. He begs Karigan to carry his message, warning her not to read it, and when she reluctantly agrees, he makes her swear on his sword to deliver the message "for love of her country." As he bestows upon her the golden winged-horse brooch which is the symbol of his office, she seems to hear the ghostly sound of great wings beating the air, of silver-shod hooves galloping...and of invisible lips murmuring, "Welcome rider..." But beside her on the road, the messenger only whispers, "Beware the shadow man!" with his dying breath.
This promise given to a dying man changes Karigan's life forever. Pursued by unknown assassins, following a path only her horse seems to know, and accompanied by the silent specter of the original messenger, she herself becomes a legendary Green Rider - the magic of this office transferred to her with the original rider's brooch. But what is happening in her land that requires a life or death message for the king? What does the message contain that is so vital someone is willing to kill for it? And who is "the shadow man?"  

 

 

 

Pick it for me book-

 

The Stranger in the Mirror by Liv Constantine

 

Addison's about to get married, but she's not looking forward to the big day. It's not her fiancé; he's a wonderful man. It's because Addison doesn't know who she really is. A few years ago, a kind driver found her bleeding next to a New Jersey highway and rescued her. While her physical wounds healed, Addison's memory never returned. She doesn't know her real name. Or how she ended up injured on the side of a road. Or why she can't shake the notion that she may have done something very, very bad...

In a posh home in the Boston suburbs, Julian tries to figure out what happened to his loving, caring wife, Cassandra, who disappeared without a trace two years ago. She would never have left him and their seven-year-old daughter Valentina of her own free will -- or would she?

 

 

 

Reading with my book club-

 

The Legendary Inge by Kate Stradling

 

Plagued by misfortune, Ingrid Norling treks into the woods to clear her head. She emerges a monster-slayer, the shaken executioner of a creature so ferocious that even the king’s strongest warriors could not destroy it. In a land that reveres swords and worships strength, this accidental heroism earns Inge an audience at court and a most ill-fated prize: King Halvard impulsively adopts her and names her as his heir.

Under constant guard to prevent her escape, Inge confronts the ignoble underbelly of the royal court: a despotic king, a clueless princess, a proud warrior, and a dangerous intrigue. As secrets unravel around her and the castle threatens to become an elaborate deathtrap, Inge must keep her wits close and her weapons closer. The monster in the woods was only the beginning.