Review: My Darling Dreadful Thing

 Title: My Darling Dreadful Thing

Series: N/A

Author: Johanna Van Veen

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Publication Date: May 14, 2024

Genre: Adult, Horror, Mystery Romance

Reading Source: NetGalley

Length: 384 pages

Format: e-book 

Cover Art: 5/5

Overall: 4/5

 

 

In a world where the dead can wake and walk among us, what is truly real?

Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the only good thing in Roos’ life, which is filled with sordid backroom séances organized by her mother. That is, until wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop attends one of these séances and asks Roos to come live with her at the crumbling estate she inherited upon the death of her husband. The manor is unsettling, but the attraction between Roos and Agnes is palpable. So how does someone end up dead?

Roos is caught red-handed, but she claims a spirit is the culprit. Doctor Montague, a psychologist tasked with finding out whether Roos can be considered mentally fit to stand trial, suspects she’s created an elaborate fantasy to protect her from what really happened. But Roos knows spirits are real; she's loved one of them. She'll have to prove her innocence and her sanity, or lose everything.

Review:  

Roos Beckman works with her mother on seances with a little help from Ruth, Roos’s spirit companion. When Agnes Knoop stops in for one of the seances and asks Roos to move in with her in the crumbling estate that she inherited from her late husband. 

The book starts with an interview to see if Roos is mentally stable to stand trail for a crime that she may or may not have committed. 

The cover is great, the relationship between Roos and Agnes is wonderful. This is an adult novel. 

 

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

 

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Review: The Dragons of Deepwood Fen

 

Title: The Dragons of Deepwood Fen

Series: The Book of the Holt #1 

Author: Bradley P. Beaulieu

Publisher: DAW

Publication Date: December 5, 2023

Genre: Adult, Fantasy Fiction

Reading Source: Netgalley

Length: 496 pages

Format: e-book

  Cover Art: 5/5

 Overall: 5/5

This 1st book in a new fantasy series from the author of the acclaimed Song of the Shattered Sands series follows an unlikely pair as they expose the secrets at the heart of the mountain city of Ancris.

Lorelei Aurelius is the smartest inquisitor in the mountain city of Ancris. When a mysterious tip leads her to a clandestine meeting between the Church and the hated Red Knives, she uncovers a plot that threatens not only her home but the empire itself.

The trail leads her to Rylan Holbrooke, a notorious thief posing as a dragon singer. Rylan came to Ancris to solve the very same mystery she stumbled onto. Knowing his incarceration could lead to the Red Knives’ achieving their goals, Lorelei makes a fateful she frees him.

Now branded as traitors, the two flee the city on dragonback. In the massive forest known as the Holt, they discover something terrible. The Red Knives are planning to awaken a powerful demigod in the holiest shrine in Ancris, and for some reason the Church is willing to allow it. It forces their return to Ancris, where the unlikely allies must rally the very people who’ve vowed to capture them before it’s too late.

Explore the mountain city of Ancris, where fast-paced adventure and intrigue abound. in this new offering from the author of the acclaimed Song of the Shattered Sands series.

Review:

The Dragons of Deepwood Fen is the first book in a new series that has adventure, fantasy, with multi point of views that grabs your attention from the very beginning.  

In a mountain city of Ancris, Lorelei is one of the smartest people there and when she gets a tip that leads her to a meet up she discovers a peril that could endanger not only her but the entire empire. Meanwhile Rylan, an infamous thief, uncovers the same mystery as Lorelei. When their paths cross, Lorelei decides to free Rylan in order to stop the Red Knives from fulfilling their goals. The two flee into the forest known as the Holt where they find out that the Red Knives, along with the Church, are planning on raising a high-powered demigod. They must bring the same people who condemned them together before it is too late to stop the Red Knives and the Church from accomplishing their nefarious plan. 

 

I loved this book so much. The plot was great, there was drama, you wouldn’t think of a drama with a high fantasy book but it works well.(At least not me, when I think of a drama I think of a contemporary normally) I flew through this book, even though it was almost 500 pages, it took me no time at all to read. 

Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for this early review copy in exchange for an honest review! 

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Review: Heartless Hunter

 

Title: Heartless Hunter

Series: Crimson Moth #1

Author: Kristen Ciccarelli

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Publication Date: February 20, 2024

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Reading Source: NetGalley

Length: 400 pages

Format: e-book

  Cover Art: 5/5

 Overall: 4/5

 

 

A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history. I couldn't look away." - Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Champion of Fate

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe - a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution - who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch...is falling in love.

Review:   

Heartless Hunter is the first book in the The Crimson Moth #1. Witches are illegal after a  disastrous revolution, one that has caused witches from all over to be killed, including Rune’s own grandmother. She was all Rune had. Rune is walking a fine line by becoming the Crimson Moth, she protects other witches. It’s hard for Rune to stay out of the Blood Guards' sight, especially with the handsome Gideon Sharpe, a cutthroat loyal member of the Blood Guards. But Rune starts to realize Gideon just might not be so heartless after all. 

This book was such a fast read for me, even though it is 400 pages I flew through it. I liked the action and the characters. I love t enemies to lovers. I enjoyed the romance. That ending! I am so looking forward to the next books in this series. Reminds me of Serpent & Dove. 

A thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

 

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Review: Shade of Light

 

Title: Shade of Light 

Series: Three Shades Trilogy

Author: Kimberly Grymes

Publisher: Tractor Beam Publishing

Publication Date: October 24, 2023

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Reading Source: NetGalley

Length: 275 pages

Format: e-book

  Cover Art: 5/5

 Overall: 4/5

 

Not all monsters are evil. Some choose to do better. So, which one am I?

Eighteen-year-old Adele believes she’s a monster because of her ability to infiltrate minds. For years, she’s been kept captive at Castle Forge, living comfortably under the watchful eye of a tyrant general. But after secretly witnessing her aunt heal someone with her blood, Adele knows the only way to get answers is to escape. Even if that means leaving behind the one person who’d shown her compassion during her captivity.

She travels far to her childhood village, and while trying to uncover the mysteries of her past, she encounters the Shade. The same mysterious attackers who changed her life eight-years ago. The Shade have been raiding Adele’s childhood village, capturing its inhabitants for their queen, the ruler of the Under Realm. It isn’t long before Adele realizes these attackers possess similar powers, drawing more questions about who she is, where she comes from, and how she’s connected to these evil beings.

After a childhood friend is captured and taken to the Under Realm, Adele must decide whether to stay and help the village or return to Castle Forge, where a dear friend might be in danger from the general’s wrath. With evil all around, Adele must choose who she wants to be and what her future holds.

This young-adult dark fantasy story promises a captivating and thrilling journey filled with action, suspense, and unexpected twists. Book one in the THREE SHADES TRILOGY explores themes of self-discovery, acceptance, and the power of choice as Adele navigates a dangerous medieval world to find her place in it.

 

Review:

Shade of Light is the first book in the Three Shades Trilogy series. Eighteen-year-old Adele has the capacity to invade other people’s minds. She finds out her aunt also has powers, the power to heal people using her blood. But Adele has been held captive at Castle Forge for years, she now knows she must escape in order to find answers. She would have to leave the only person in the castle that has shown her any sympathy. 

As Adele proceeds to her childhood village, she runs into The Shade, some shady attackers who have transformed her life eight years ago. The Shade has been terrorizing the villagers, seizing and taking them to the Queen of the Under Realm. The Shade seems to have some of the same powers as she does. Making Adele question her own abilities and also where she came from and how she’s connected to the monsters. 

With evil all around her and her childhood friend in danger, Adele must decide who she wants to be and where her future stands. 

Adele is a strong and brave main character. I loved reading from her Pov. Morally gray characters are my favorite characters ever. This dark young adult fantasy book has so much depth. I love fantasy books with romance in them, but sometimes they get repetitive. Shade of Light has a friendship in it, but it does not turn into a romance and that is very refreshing.  

I can’t wait for the second book. 

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Tractor Beam Publishing for this advance e-copy for my honest opinions.  

 

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