Month: September 2024

Upcoming Releases Sunday – September 8, 2024

by Stefani

Trouble Island by Sharon Short

Expected publication: December 3, 2024 by Minotaur Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A gripping new novel inspired by a real place and events from the author’s family, Trouble Island is the standalone suspense debut from historical mystery writer Sharon Short.

Many miles from anywhere in the middle of Lake Erie, Trouble Island serves as a stop-off for gangsters as they run between America and Canada. The remote isle is also the permanent home to two women: Aurelia Escalante, who serves as a maid to Rosita, lady of the mansion and wife to the notorious prohibition gangster, Eddie McGee. In the freezing winter of 1932, the women anticipate the arrival of Eddie and his strange coterie: his right-hand man, a doctor, a cousin, a famous actor, and a rival gangster who Rosita believes murdered their only son.

Aurelia wants nothing more than to escape Trouble Island, but she is hiding a secret of her own. She is in fact not a maid, but a gangster’s wife in hiding, as she runs from the murder she committed five years ago. Her friend Rosita took her in under this guise, but it has become clear that Rosita wants to keep Aurelia right where she is.

Shortly after the group of criminals, celebrities, and scoundrels arrive, Rosita suddenly disappears. Aurelia plans her getaway, going to the shore to retrieve her box of hidden treasures, but instead finds Rosita’s body in the water. Someone has made sure Aurelia was the one to find her. An ice storm makes unexpected landfall, cutting Trouble Island off from both mainlands, and with more than one murderer among them.

Both a gripping locked room mystery, and a transporting, evocative portrait of a woman in crisis, Trouble Island marks the enthralling standalone suspense debut from Sharon Short, promising to be her breakout novel, inspired by a real island in Lake Erie, and true events from her own rich family history.

Private Rites by Julia Armfield

Expected publication: December 3, 2024 by Flatiron Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

From the award-winning author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a speculative reimagining of King Lear, centering three sisters navigating queer love and loss in a drowning world

It’s been raining for a long time now, so long that the land has reshaped itself and arcane rituals and religions are creeping back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father dies. An architect as cruel as he was revered, his death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in, their father’s most famous creation, the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind, until their fragile bond is shattered by a revelation in his will.

More estranged than ever, the sisters’ lives spin out of control: Irene’s relationship is straining at the seams; Isla’s ex-wife keeps calling; and cynical Agnes is falling in love for the first time. But something even more sinister might be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always seemed unusually interested in the sisters’ lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperiled world.

The Way by Cary Groner

Expected publication: December 3, 2024 by Speigel & Grau

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A postapocalyptic road trip and a quest for redemption.

The world has been ravaged by a lethal virus and, with few exceptions, only the young have survived. Cities and infrastructures have been destroyed, and the natural world has reclaimed the landscape in surprising ways, with herds of wild camels roaming the American West and crocodiles that glow neon green lurking in the rivers.

Against this perilous backdrop, Will Collins, the de facto caretaker of a Buddhist monastery in Colorado, receives an urgent and mysterious request: to deliver a potential cure to a scientist in what was once California. So Will sets out, haunted by dreams of the woman he once loved, in a rusted-out pickup pulled by two mules. A menacing thug is on his tail. Armed militias patrol the roads. And the only way he’ll make it is with the help of a clever raven, an opinionated cat, and a tough teenage girl who has learned to survive on her own.

A highly original contribution to the canon of dystopian literature, The Way is a thrilling and imaginative novel, full of warmth, wisdom, and surprises that reflect our world in unsettling, uncanny, and even hopeful ways.

Assassination Plot: Deception and Betrayal | Five Broken Blades

by Stefani

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

Published: May 7, 2024 by Entangled: Red Tower Books

Buy this book at: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Synopsis:

It’s the season
for treason…

The king of Yusan must die.

The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the God King Joon.

He has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles flourish, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined…or sold.

And now each of the five blades will come for him. Each has tasted bitterness―from the hired hitman seeking atonement, a lovely assassin who seeks freedom, or even the prince banished for his cruel crimes. None can resist the sweet, icy lure of vengeance.

They can agree on murder.

They can agree on treachery.

But for these five killers―each versed in deception, lies, and betrayal―it’s not enough to forge an alliance. To survive, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other…but only one can take the crown.

Let the best liar win.

Rating:

Review:

As a whole this book was utterly enjoyable. The world created was interesting and rich. The narrative was intriguing and I was excited to see where it went next. As a summary, this was a great book.

The premise of this story is simple. King Joon is a bad man. He does terrible things and there is a plot to assassinate him. The only problem is that he proclaims to be a God. There have been previous assassination attempts and he was miraculously not harmed. But, there is a plan and they need a very specific cast of liars and thieves to pull it off.

First we meet Royo. He’s the town heavy. He is muscle for hire. If you need someone killed, beaten, taught a lesson then Royo is the guy to call. He gets pulled into this scheme by Aeri. She’s a thief, who has been invited into this plot and she hires Royo to protect her and be her bodyguard. Then we have Sora. Sora is an indentured woman and so is her sister. The Count who holds her indenture turned her into a poison maiden. He intentionally poisoned her over and over again until she became immune to all poisons, and he uses her to seduce and poison men that he wishes to kill. Tiyung is the Count’s son and has been instructed to go with Sora on this mission and then if she is successful, he will grant her freedom. Euyn is next and he is the King’s exiled brother. He was exiled for hunting prisoners like animals and left buried in the desert to die. Except that he didn’t die. He escaped and has been trying to keep a low profile ever since. And finally Mikhail. He is the mastermind behind the whole plot. He is also the King’s spymaster.

All of this main cast of characters gets their turn to narrate portions of the story. They all had a distinct voice so I had very little trouble keeping track of which story was being narrated. My biggest complaint about the story is that the different narratives were so short. The longest section was 5 or 6 pages, most of them were 2 or 3 pages. It didn’t give me a lot of time to get invested in this new piece to the story and then it was over. And almost every single section ended on a cliffhanger of sorts. That got tiring really fast. So I wish that we got longer sections in one narrative and that we didn’t have a cliffhanger every few pages. But those were my only complaints.

The ending of this book was masterful. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I will keep this high level. Obviously, because this is the first book in a series, you can reasonably expect that the assassination plot doesn’t go to plan. It would be a much shorter book and no sequel potential if everything went according to plan. I don’t think that’s a spoiler, I think most readers would figure out from the beginning how that’s going to play out. Even so, there were some twists in there that I never saw coming. And they were brilliant. The ending completely sold me on the next book. I’m all in and will definitely be reading it.

New Releases Wednesday – September 4, 2024

by Stefani

The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin

Published: September 3, 2024 by Hanover Square Press

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A heartwarming story about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of the books that bring them together.

In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job to provide for herself and her beloved daughter, Olivia. But with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her.

When the threat of war becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In her daughter’s absence, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, as well as the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing, and her work forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.

As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times.

Why this caught my eye:

I generally enjoy historical fiction. And I enjoy stories set in England. So, taking those two things together and throw in a mom desperate to stay with her child and I am on board.

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

Published: September 3, 2024 by Viking

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The remarkable next novel from Matt Haig, the author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Midnight Library, with more than nine million copies sold worldwide

“What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don’t understand yet…”

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.

Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.

Why this caught my eye:

The quote about magic being a part of life we don’t understand sold me on this book immediately. It’s such a promising idea, and the rest of the synopsis paints a beautiful picture too.

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

Published: September 3, 2024 by Little Brown Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.

It began long before my time, but something has always hunted our family.

Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane grew up far from the arcane society she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power through vampire companionship. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—the very vampire bound to their family, the cruel yet captivating Susenyos Sagad.

To find June, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University—where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires and inherit their family legacies. Kidan must survive living with Susenyos—even as he does everything he can to drive her away. It doesn’t matter that Susenyos’s wickedness speaks to Kidan’s own violent nature and tempts her to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill Susenyos at all costs.

When a murder mirroring June’s disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. There she discovers a centuries-old threat—and June could be at the center of it. To save her sister, Kidan must bring Uxlay to its knees and either break free from the horrors of her own actions or embrace the dark entanglements of love—and the blood it requires.

Why this caught my eye:

I can never say no to a book about secrets at a magical, secret school. They almost never turn out as amazingly as I imagine they will, but sometimes they do. Maybe this one will be the sometimes?