Ghost Business

Ghost Business (Boneyard Key #2)- Jen DeLuca

Berkley Publishing

Release Date: September 9, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚

Synopsis: Boneyard Key, Florida, is the only home Sophie has ever known. Her love for its supernatural history has flourished into a career, as she guides the one and only ghost tour through the town’s can’t-miss haunted spots. And while her bank account isn’t full by any means, her heart is. Or at least, it was.

But there's a newcomer in town. The son of a Fortune 500 businessman, former theater kid Tristan has grown his tours from a fraternity fundraiser to a multicity ghost tour conglomerate. It’s doing well, but not well enough—if he can’t prove that he’s solidly in the black by the fall, Dad’s going to pull his funding, spelling the end of his career. Boneyard Key, with its haunted reputation, seems like the perfect place to boost his bottom line.

When the two ghost tours clash, Sophie’s expletive-filled rant goes viral, and the rivals strike up a deal. Whoever has the most successful business by summer’s end stays, while the loser must ghost. But the more Tristan comes to appreciate Boneyard Key, the more Sophie comes to appreciate Tristan, and what starts as begrudging respect becomes something spicier. Can they put their feuding businesses aside to make room for a chance at love, or is Boneyard Key too small for two ghost tours?

____________________________________________

Welcome back to Boneyard Key, Florida! It's the most haunted town in Florida and Sophie has been running ghost tours for almost 6 years. She's working hard to make it an interesting mix of town history and homage to the local ghosts and telling everyone's stories correctly is important to her. Which is why when Tristan Martin blows into town and sets up a rival ghost tour, using stories that have nothing to do with local history,  she's not happy. They agree to a deal: whoever has the most successful business at the end of summer keeps the tours. But in a small town you can't avoid anyone, and outside of work hours, Sophie and Tristan find they might enjoy each other's company more than they want to admit.

I wasn't too sure about Tristan at first. He was the brach, cocky newcomer who spoke without thinking, proposing a challenge to Sophie and thinking only of himself. But the more time we spend in his head and the more vulnerable we get to see him, the more I warmed up to him. He doesn't have it easy with a dad who can't wait to pull funding and crush his start-up business, who looks at numbers instead of people or circumstances. Tristan loves dealing with people, he loves acting, and is deeply sensitive and hurt by his father's rejections. So he's prepared to do anything to prove his father wrong. But he picked the wrong town to keep pretending ghosts aren't real and some of the locals are prepared to let him know they aren't thrilled he's getting the stories wrong! Watching him discover that ghosts are real was a lot of fun, both the shock and then the awe.

Sophie is a fun and relatable character I enjoyed getting to spend more time with after Haunted Every After. Her devotion to getting the stories she tells right really hit a note for me. This is her home and she wants to share it andher love for it with the tourists who visit. So her reaction to Tristan coming in to profit on the town's reputation is pretty understandable. I also liked seeing more of Libby and Cassie and meeting a few more locals- especially seeing everyone come together when they need to.

The pace ran medium to slow in some spots and while I enjoyed the characters, their relationship was a little on and off for me. The spark and chemistry is there right at the beginning  and all the yearning and grappling with an enemies to lovers aspect worked, but I wish they'd talked more. Their problems didn't get sorted until the very last second. I did like how they made things work, but they weren't working together to solve problems the way you would in a relationship. I won't spoil the ending here, because they do obviously make it work, but it just felt like they weren't on the same page for the important stuff, figuring it out together. And that would have made it stronger I think.

Not as strong as Haunted Ever After or the Well Met series, but a fun return to Boneyard Key. Plenty of funny lines and lots of good friendships. A good, fun read.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Author Interview: Judy Mohr & Dancing In The Purple Rain

Kiwi Judy L Mohr is a writer, developmental editor, writing coach, amateur photographer, and a science nerd with a keen interest in internet technologies and social media security. Her knowledge ranges from highly efficient ways to hide the bodies through to how to improve your SEO rankings for your websites. When she isn't writing, editing, or doing something withing the local writing community, she can often be found with a camera in her hand enjoying the world around her- no doubt scouting for locations to hide the bodies. (Shh... Don't tell anyone.) Follow her crazy adventures on her blog or on Instagram.

Q: You write both fiction and nonfiction. Do you find it difficult to switch between the two? How different is your writing process for fiction and nonfiction?

A: The biggest difference between writing fiction and nonfiction for me is the voice. Within my fiction, I'm heavily focused on trying to tell the story of the characters, so I'm in their heads, talking like they do. However, for my nonfiction, it's my own head and my own voice, talking like I do in real life... for the most part.

That different voice means that writing fiction is slower for me. I have to put more thought into it, constantly asking myself if the character would really say or think that.

This is not to say that I don't think when writing nonfiction, because I do. If anything, I overthink. Would my readers really be interested in this bit of information, or have I dived into the weeds a bit to far? It's a balance that has taken me over a decade to find. 

The other major difference between fiction and nonfiction is how the "book" starts its life. Fiction starts as random thoughts and ideas (random scenes that don't have a home yet), but they are secret and never shared until there is a home found for the ideas. Whereas my nonfiction often starts its life as a series of blog posts. When enough blog posts are written on a certain topic, that's when I look at turning those blog posts into a book.

Q: Do you carefully plot out every scene or see where the characters take you? What's your writing process?

A: I'm a plantser, with pantser tendencies. This means that I'll start with a vague idea, but I write whatever comes to mind. This allows me to explore random ideas, things that I never would have considered otherwise. However, eventually, enough of the material is present where I need to start "shaping" it into something that makes sense. 

For my fiction, this process normally results in what I call a "barf" draft, where all ideas found the page in one big jumbled mess. I often need to spend a significant amount of time teasing out the plot, deliberately taking the time to write that full plot synopsis. That's when the real work begins, writing the full scenes and putting flesh on the bones. 

For my nonfiction... Well, I've already mentioned that my nonfiction often starts as a blog series. Turning those blogs into a book requires that I work out a full outline, identifying what questions each chapter needs to answer. Then it's populate the manuscript with the blogs already written and fill in the gaps. This process makes for fast writing of nonfiction.

Q: What particular challenges do you face in your writing? What is difficult for you? Do you have any tips for other writers who face similar challenges?

A: The biggest challenge during writing is constantly reminding myself that writing is HARD.

We humans want things to be easy, because... well... Let's face reality, most of us are lazy, and I'm no exception there. So, I will often default to writing the easy stuff first... then freak out with the mountain that I have yet to climb. But when I force myself to face the difficult writing... It is so satisfying at the top... Then I realize that the mountain I just climbed was only the little one.

Gah! Writing is HARD!

Q: You're a developmental editor. Did you use other editors or do everything yourself?

A: Yes and no. I will always use a copyeditor (though the budgets are incredibly tight on that front), but I won't always use a developmental editor. That's not to say that I haven't used a developmental editor in the past, but sometimes a manuscript doesn't need one. 

That said, I will ALWAYS use beta readers. Even if I hired a developmental editor, beta readers are part of my process. 

Sometimes, what I thought was on the page wasn't actually on the page, and we won't know that until someone else reads our manuscripts.

For my fiction, beta reader comments have led to total rewrites of certain scenes to add clarity. For the nonfiction, whole sections have been added. However, sometimes, a sentence was added to clarify the audience for a section, saying something like, "If you didn't understand anything that I just said, then this idea is definitely not for you." But without those beta reader comments, I don't know what a manuscript really needs from a reader's perspective.

Q: Can you talk a little about your editing experience for new writers?

A: I'm blessed to have worked as a professional developmental editor since 2015. This has given me the tools I need to tear apart my own writing and make it bleed. But my editorial skills are part instinct and part learned skills... and they're skills anyone can learn if they are willing to put in the time and energy needed to learn them.

For a new writer, learning those editorial skills starts with the fearful step of sharing your writing with others. And you can't take to heart anything that anyone says. Learning how to step back and see the comments and feedback for what they really are is a skill that ALL writers seeking publication need to learn.

Then it becomes a matter of finding the right set of eyes to read your work to provide you with the feedback you need. And once you have the feedback, it's up to the writer to decide what to do with it. Sometimes, the decision is to "ignore".

Because I have the years of experience as a professional developmental editor, I'm able to treat myself as though I was my own client. Though I don't write myself an editorial report. But I still have the manuscripts that come back with "This didn't make sense?" or "Would the character really say that?" or "You don't need to show AND tell." And I laugh my head off whenever I see the flaws that I've just pointed out in a client manuscript in my own manuscript- because it does happen. He-said-she-said fest galore. Oopsie.

But this is all part of the process.

Q: Are you a self/hybrid or traditional published author? Why did you decide this was the path for you?

A: I'm technically a hybrid author, with some works traditionally published and others self-published. However, I've elected to be primarily indie-published these days, using my own publishing imprint. 

It wasn't an easy decision, and one that took me years to decide upon, but the publishing landscape has changed so much in just the last five years alone.

I don't think anyone would disagree with me when I say that Covid changed so many things. But the publishing industry was flipped upside down because of the pandemic. 

Acquisition trends changed overnight. Bookstores changed how they were purchasing books (assuming they survived the pandemic). And digital format significantly increased in popularity (particularly audiobooks).

Add the mess that came in because of the introduction of AI-generative technologies, and the publishing landscape today no longer resembles what it was in 2019.

Meanwhile, authors are now required to do the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing, particularly in the online world.

But to be honest, the nail in the coffin for the traditional path for me was to see the clauses that are being added to the contracts of some of my writing buddies. It's in their contracts that the publisher reserves the right to use AI to produce translations and audiobooks. Granted, their books would never have been in audio or in other languages otherwise, but I can't trust AI to get English right. How can I trust it to get another language right when I don't speak that language to check on the mess? It was at that point that I just gave up on the traditional path.

I only have so much energy to go around. And I have a certain standard that I hold myself accountable to. I can't be wasting my energy trying to fix other people's messy adventures with AI. I have enough on my plate fixing human-generated messes (including the messes I generate for myself- and I've made quite a few over the past few years).

Q: Can you describe your publishing experience for writers who hope to publish one day?

A: Everyone's publishing experience is going to be different, because everyone will be bringing to the table a different set of skills that can be leveraged as part of the process. And that's the biggest lesson that I've learned through this journey.

I have strengths and weaknesses, and I need to be prepared to hire someone to help fill in the gaps of my weaknesses. 

Notice above I used the term indie-publishing, because that is the better way to think of self-publishing. Like independent films, you're not doing this alone. You have a team of people working together, each person leaning into their strengths.

For those writers who elect to head down this path themselves, think of yourself as either an authorpreneur or the executive producer of the project known as "Your Book". You're bank-rolling the venture, but you're not necessarily doing all the work yourself. And that idea makes a huge difference.

BUT all of this takes time.

I refuse to rush any stage of the process, just to get a book out there. If something isn't ready to go when I said it would go, I'll move the publication date. I would rather run the risk of losing those "release day" sales and put a quality product out there than to rush to market and have something tank in the reviews. The former is a position that one can easily recover from.

"One step at a time." I say that to myself at least once a day.

Dancing In The Purple Rain

In a poisoned world, Michaella, a genetically engineered telepath, uncovers a web of lies and implanted memories when her closest friend is killed. Michaella must now rely only on her personal AI and a 200-year-old playing card as she attempts to maintain her grip on reality to save herself and future generations from becoming emotionless automations. 

Dancing in the Purple Rain is available from a variety of retailers. For a full list, visit: https://judylmohr.com/books/dancing-in-the-purple-rain/

Wild For Austen

 

Wild For Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane- Devoney Looser

St. Martin's Press

Release Date: September 2, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Thieves! Spies! Abolitionists! Ghosts! If we ever truly believed Jane Austen to be a quiet spinster, scholar Devoney Looser puts that myth to rest at last in Wild for Austen. These, and many other events and characters, come to life throughout this rollicking book. Austen, we learn, was far wilder in her time than we’ve given her credit for, and Looser traces the fascinating and fantastical journey her legacy has taken over the past 250 years.

All six of Austen’s completed novels are examined here, and Looser uncovers striking new gems therein, as well as in Austen’s juvenilia, unfinished fiction, and even essays and poetry. Looser also takes on entirely new scholarship, writing about Austen’s relationship to the abolitionist movement and women’s suffrage. In examining the legacy of Austen’s works, Looser reveals the film adaptations that might have changed Hollywood history had they come to fruition, and tells extraordinary stories of ghost-sightings, Austen novels cited in courts of law, and the eclectic members of the Austen extended family whose own outrageous lives seem wilder than fiction.

______________________________________________

When you think about Jane Austen and her books, what comes to mind? Do you still imagine a quiet woman who never did anything and whose characters never challenge anyone? 

This image has been challenged more and more and in Wild for Austen Devoney Looser wants to put that out-dated Victorian fictional image to rest once and for all. She explores the real Austen, the women in her family who wrote, the ones who inspired her fictional characters, the brothers who spoke out against slavery, and more. Who would Austen have known whose actions and reputations would have been considered "wild" in her day? 

Looser explores what the word "wild" meant (both positive and negative) in Austen's time and how it is used in her books and letters. Each book, including the frequently forgotten Juvenilia, is explored for the "wildness" of its characters and what Austen might have been saying or satirizing on each occasion. It was an interesting angle of exploration that I quite enjoyed. Her research and arguements are interesting and cover a wide range of topics, several that I'd never heard before (like Austen's brothers in support of abolition).

Looser also explores our changing relationship with Austen's works. How has fan fiction, Hollywood interpretations, and our perhaps more willingness to accept Austen as a complete person, changed our relationship with her and her works? Can we accept her today in ways that were denied to her after her death? As perhaps more "wild" than "mild"? I think, based on Looser's arguments, we both can and should- and that an understanding of Austen like the one presented in Wild For Austen might make her more accessible in some ways to younger readers assigned the books in school who find them irrelevant today.   

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Author Interview: Lancy McCall & Code Block

 Author Interview: Lancy McCall & Code Block

Lancy McCall is a self-published author whose first book, Left Turn, came out in 2022. I've had the pleasure of being Lancy's writing coach for some time now and am thrilled that Lancy will be releasing Code Block August 15, 2025. She was kind enough to take a break from her day job and marketing prep for her new book do to this interview with me. 

Q: Do you carefully plot out every scene in your books or see where the characters take you? What’s your writing process?

A: I fall somewhere between a plotter and a discovery writer. I like to say I’m a “GPS-er,” meaning I know my final destination, but I might take a few detours along the way and then recalculate my route to get back on track toward that predetermined ending. My writing process always starts with my characters. Who are they? Where are they at the beginning, and where do they need to be by the end? What internal and external challenges are driving them throughout the story? Once I have a strong sense of my characters, I turn to the plot. I use the 7-point plot exercise described by Dan Wells, where you figure out the key scenes for each plotline, then map them out on a timeline. (This article spellsout my process well: https://lancymccall.com/lm20210531). While I don’t outline every scene in advance, I do need a clear sense of the order of events. If I don’t know when something happens, I have trouble moving forward.

Q: What particular challenges do you face in your writing? What is difficult for you? Do you have any tips for other writers who face similar challenges?

A: Dialogue and action come pretty easily for me, but I struggle with description and narrative. I’m a bit of a bullet-point, bottom-line kind of person in real life, so it makes sense that my writing reflects that. Each revision pass almost always adds thousands of words to the manuscript. I’m still learning how to “show” rather than “tell”—how to write a scene that reveals a character’s traits or emotions through their actions rather than just stating them outright. I also tend to lean too technical in my first drafts. Sometimes I include too much jargon or get overly detailed about the business functions being discussed. During revisions, I rework those sections to make sure they support the story without overwhelming the reader—or tempting them to roll their eyes or skip ahead.

Q: Did publishing your first book, Left Turn, change your writing process?

A: I didn’t really have a writing process before Left Turn. A lot of authors you meet have been writing since they were kids, but that wasn’t me. Before Left Turn, all my writing was technical—part of my day job as a project manager. That first book helped me find my writing process. That said, Left Turn had lived in my head for years before I ever wrote anything. So when I finally sat down to write it, the story flowed out of me fully formed. Conversely, I struggled with Code Block. And I think it’s because it hadn’t had the same time to marinate. I had only a vague idea of what the story was and very few imagined scenes in my head when I started. (And I’m still tweaking my writing process to pull the story out without it needing to percolate like that.)

Q: How did you find your editors?

A: For Left Turn, I worked in solitude, figuring things out as I went. I made pass after pass, editing the heck out of that book until I reached the point where I’d done everything I could and it needed someone else’s eyes on it. I used the Reedsy marketplace to find both a developmental editor and a copyeditor. Each gave me helpful feedback, and everything—from payments to communication—was handled within the Reedsy platform. After publishing that first book, I met other authors and heard about their relationships with their editors. It made my experience feel very transactional and not much like a relationship at all. So I decided that for my next book, I wanted to work with someone I could build a deeper connection with. For Code Block, I reached out to other authors and editors I’d met at writing conferences and on social media, asking for recommendations. I compiled a list, checked out their websites, and paid attention to their editing processes. Eventually, I found a couple of editors through word of mouth who felt like the right fit.

Q: Can you talk a little about your editing experience for new writers?

A: When I talk to new writers about editing, my biggest piece of advice is to remember that your goal is to make your book the best version of itself. And you can’t do that alone. You need other eyes on it to catch the things that you’re too close to see. With my first book, I braced myself for brutal feedback. It was my debut, after all. But the comments weren’t harsh; they were constructive. Everything my editor pointed out made sense. It was a lesson in “this is good, but it could be better if…” And honestly, there were so many positive notes that I was a little taken aback—in a good way. I know it’s intimidating to get that first edit back, but every mark or comment is meant to make your book stronger. I love getting feedback that helps me spot things I missed or suggests ways to bring a point forward so readers connect with it more easily. One other thing I want to emphasize: it’s important that you and your editor are aligned on your story. If your editor thinks they’re working on a swoony romance but you’re writing women’s fiction, they might steer the edits in a direction that doesn’t match your vision. In the end, it’s your story. You get to decide which edits to accept. But when you’re both clear up front on the story’s genre and purpose, the process is smoother, more effective, less costly, and—let’s face it—less emotional.

Q: Can you describe your publishing experience with Code Block? Was it similar or different to Left Turn? Why did you decide this was the path for you?

A: Publishing Code Block has been easier because I feel more knowledgeable this time. It’s like returning to a vacation spot and knowing your way around a little better than the first time you visited. With Left Turn, I was learning everything as I went. I did tons of research before making each move. But with Code Block, I already knew the general order of tasks and when things needed to happen. (Thank goodness for my detailed notes!). For example, I knew to line up my editors and cover designer early, which helped compress the timeline. Another big difference was in my approach to the workflow. With Left Turn, I did everything sequentially—each step waited on the one before it, mostly because I was still figuring things out. With Code Block, I knew I could work on the blurb and social media content while the manuscript was with my editor. That made it easier to stay organized and avoid wasting time on things that could wait.  I’m still figuring out the marketing piece. 😉

You can find out more about Lancy on her website.

He Falls First

He Falls First- Jill Shalvis

Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: August 5, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Ryder Colburn has his hands full running the family business and caring for the ailing father who’s a virtual stranger from the cold, heavy-handed man he used to be. He’s got zero free time for hobbies or women. Or so he thinks until one walks into his life… and the path of an oncoming car.

Ryder doesn’t mind playing the hero for the skittish, scarred chef Penny. Maybe it’s the secrets in her eyes or the scar on her chin. Whatever the reason, he’s compelled to get closer.

Penny’s learned her lesson and now she’s paying the price. That’s why she’s sharing a dilapidated house in a tiny California town with her feisty grandmother and tween brother living off the leftovers from her catering job. It’s a far cry from her dream life. But who needs dreams… or love… or sex when there’s amateur plumbing projects to tackle and breakfast casseroles to bake?

One thing’s for sure, she’s never falling in love again. Not even with the sexy, snarky contractor who keeps testing the walls she’s built.

___________________________________________________

Penny has learned the hard way not to trust her judgement in men. She's got the scars and the restraining order to prove it and has moved in with her grandmother and 12 year old brother to start over. New job, new life is her plan. The life may mean working till she drops of exhaustion to pay bills, trying to ride herd on an over enthusiastic grandmother and a teenager, but that's ok. Less time to think of how she's failed at everything else. And less time to think of hot construction company boss Ryder, who's a complication she absolutely doesn't need. 

Ryder doesn't need a complication like Penny either. He's drowning in paperwork he can't stand, still greiving the death of a friend and brother-in-law and knowing his sister blames him for her husband's death. He's trying to keep the family and the business together- including a sick father who's gone from an abusive man no one could stand to be around to someone who can't take care of himself and has had a complete personality change. He doesn't have time for himself, let alone a relationship.

But the universe seems to think this is the perfect time for these two people, with brick walls around their hearts a mile high, to come together. And Ryder may have no idea what he's doing, but he recognises the intense chemistry between them and the happiness he feels just talking to Penny means he'd be an idiot not to see where this unplanned, unexpected thing between them can go. When he agrees to let Penny set the pace and isn't chased off by her fears, Penny starts thinking she might be brave enough to give them a chance too.

I loved how you get two damaged people here, both trying to figure things out. Ryder is totally sweet in letting Penny set the pace no matter what, because he understands when she tells him it's about her being brave enough to trust her. But we see Ryder's broken bits too and he learns how to open up to Penny about them. As much as Ryder and his brothers tease each other, they each have their own issues and are there for each other when they need it. 

This was a lovely romance with a great mix of sweet and sassy, friends and family, teasing and fun, and very hot chemistry between the two main characters. I can't wait to revisit the Colburn family!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review 

Atonement Sky

Atonement Sky (Psy-Changeling Trinity #9)- Nalini Singh 

Berkley

Release Date: July 15, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Justice-Psy Eleri Dias knows the end is near for her, her mind one step away from fatal psychic exposure. In the short time that remains, she is determined to atone for an act of omission that has haunted her for a long, cruel decade. But that decision not only means facing a powerful changeling wing leader, but also putting herself in the path of a serial killer.

Falcon wing leader Adam Garrett is fiercely protective of his family and his clan. After losing his parents as a teenager in a shocking act of malice, Adam has no forgiveness in him for the J-Psy who betrayed him, betrayed them, at the most painful moment of his life. But the evil that stalks his territory will allow him no respite, forcing him once more into contact with the J he has never been able to forget.

Everything that could've been between Eleri and Adam was lost years ago, a shimmering promise crushed. As they work to uncover a monster, the moment of reckoning looms ever closer. Soon, there may be no more time left for either atonement...or love...

_______________________________________________

 With her mind nearly at fatal psychic exposure, J-Psy Eleri Dias determined to take down one last monster before she goes. She thought she'd planned for everything- except for him. Falcon wing leader Adam Garrett never expected to see the J he believes betrayed him when they were teenagers. When she returns, he doesn't want to forgive or believe in the atonement she seems to be making. But the more they work together to uncover a killer, the more he gets to know her. Can Eleri and Adam catch a killer and solve a problem the best Psy minds have spent years trying to solve?

Nalini Singh's latest introduces us to the world of flying changelings just like Ocean Light introduced us to living with water dwelling changelings. And Atonement Sky is an emotionally gripping introduction! How can Adam see past the grief and rage from their first meeting to the true circumstances, let alone the present? And how can they solve Eleri's rapidly deteriorating condition to have the happily-ever-after of the mating bond? And (minor problem) there's a crazy serial killer trying to deal with as well. I trusted Singh would solve the problems she'd set out for our heroes, but I admit I was worried they were cutting it close as time (and pages in my book!) ran low without clear solutions in place. I stayed up far past my bedtime to finish this book in one read! There was no way to put it down after a certain point!

With Eleri, Singh set herself an interesting new challenge. How to write a charater who know she has emotions, who remembers having emotions, but can't access them anymore, as her romantic heroine. Not because of Silence directly, but still because of what her fellow Psy have done to her. Adam has the challenging job of dealing with his own emotions about Eleri, as well as what the Psy did to her. The two connect so well it was wonderful to read, and made the stakes even higher right from the beginning for me. 

As always, the new clan and secondary characters are well written, Singh's worldbuilding is fully three-dimensional, and anyone who's read her books before will enjoy coming back into the Psy/Changeling world. If you're just starting the series and don't want to start with the beginning (which I recommend, because they're all wonderful), this is a good start because it's a new set of characters with only minor cameos from recurring series characters. Series issues like the Psy Net don't play a role in this book, so you could decide you liked Singh's world and writing before going back to the beginning of the series and getting into issues that will run throughout the series. 

I can't recommend Atonement Sky strongly enough. Full of emotions and friendships, this is a book that will grab you and not let go.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Thus With a Kiss I Die

 

Thus With A Kiss I Die- Christina Dodd

 A John Scognamiglio Book

Release Date: June 24, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: I’m 20-years-old and by my own design, never been wed, free as no married woman ever is. I’m beautiful, but without conceit, for Juliet, my legendary Mamma is the most gorgeous creature to ever walk the earth. Just ask Romeo, my legendary Papà. (Rumors of their deaths were premature.) I was heartwhole until I fell (literally) in love with Lysander of the House of Beautiful. But our love was not to be, for I was thwarted by Escalus, the Prince of Verona . . . who had designs on me. 

I’m trapped. 

Then! I’m presented with a solution. Escalus’s father, Prince Escalus the Elder, appears to me. He tasks that I find his killer. Did I mention Elder is a ghost?

Given that I only recently dispatched Verona’s first serial killer, I’m less than pleased. Yet Elder promises to unite me with my One True Love, so I gather clues. Meanwhile, revolution threatens, for beneath Verona society’s glittering surface lurk dark shadows—and an enemy eager to make me a tragic heroine in my own right . . .

___________________________________________________

After the events of A Daughter of Fair Verona Rosie (Rosalind Montague) was hoping for some quite time to figure out how to deal with her unwanted surprise betrothal to Prince Escalus- or even better, figure out how to get out of the betrothal. Then Escalus's father gives her the perfect solution: figure out who murdered him (yes, he's a ghost) and he'll help her out. That promise along with the fact that she can't back down from a challenge and Rosie's in. After all, how dangerous can investigating a 20 year old murder be?

Christina Dodd takes us back to Verona, where Romeo and Juliet didn't die but had a large family instead. Rosie claims to be the sensible one, but she's also headstrong and enjoys a challenge to prove she's as capable as any man. When murderers are about, some caution might be a good idea. In this book she shows some signs of growth into the role she'll inhabit as princess of Verone, and it will definitely be fun continuing to watch her drag the prince's household into her way of thinking. The signs are already clear in a few fun scenes (like when Rosie finally takes over the prince's kitchens) and she meets Escalus's grandmother, who looks like she'll be an enthusiastic participant. 

The scenes with Rosie and Escalus are a lot of fun, the two have good chemistry even if Rosie doesn't quite recognize that's what it is, and when Cal (as she starts calling him) gets off his dignity the two work really well together. Elder's ghost didn't contribute much to help solve the mystery but he is good comic relief.

The writing is mostly modern with some very comic one-liners: you should find yourself having some laugh out loud moments!

An excellent sequel to A Daughter of Fair Verona, I think I enjoyed it even more. A fun and fast summer read that will keep you entertained!

Penelope's Bones

Penelope's Bones: A New History of Homer's World Through the Women Written Out of It- Emily Hauser

University of Chicago Press

Release Date: June 13, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚

Synopsis: In Mythica Emily Hauser tells, for the first time, the extraordinary stories of the real women behind some of the western world’s greatest legends. Following in their footsteps, digging into the history behind Homer’s epic poems, piecing together evidence from the original texts, recent astonishing archaeological finds and the latest DNA studies, she reveals who these women – queens, mothers, warriors, slaves – were, how they lived, and how history has (or has not – until now) remembered them.

A riveting new history of the Bronze Age Aegean and a journey through Homer’s epics charted entirely by women – from Helen of Troy, Briseis, Cassandra and Aphrodite to Circe, Athena, Hera, Calypso and Penelope – Mythica is a ground-breaking reassessment of the reality behind the often-mythologized women of Greece’s greatest epics, and of the ancient world itself as we learn ever more about it.

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I had very mixed feelings with this book. On the one hand, there was some very cool information on the latest archaeaolgical research and discoveries. New technology means DNA can tell us about travel in the Late Bronze Age, if families are buried together, or prove that more warrior gravesites are women warriors than were earlier believed. Texts unearthed through the Hittite Empire introduce powerful queens helping to rule the Hittite world next to Troy, and letters and tablets have been unearthed that suggest enough similarities between pieces of Homer's poems and real life to make Hauser's arguments plausible that the epics contain fragments of memories for ways of life that would have probably been old when the Iliad and the Odyssey were written down. I enjoyed most of the archaeological information, because I like reading about that kind of thing. 

Other parts of the book were, to me, more of a stretch. There was a lot of repetition. Hauser clearly didn't trust her audience to remember who any of the characters were, so would remind you every single time- especially the women already less well known like Briseis. Once or twice I can understand, but it was really annoying having her do it all the time. Each chapter would start with a short fictional story, which I know is the current fad, but personally I find throws me out of the nonfiction narrative and I always find off-putting. Some chapters were a stretch in terms of subject matter. In Circe's chapter, for example, I expected to learn about the ancient world's views on magic, or women living alone, or something else that might focus on women. Instead it is mostly about pigs. Yes, Circe and pigs go together and Hauser manages to connect them to religion and briefly to the mystery cults, but I was hoping for more. 

Frequently in the chapters Hauser brings up the modern retellings we see that are so popular today. Madeline Miller, Natalie Haynes, and some of her own books as well. These additions missed the mark for me. The readers of those books may be part of the audience she's trying to reach with this book, but adding the retellings here in the chapters themselves isn't part of the story of Homer's world. It would have worked better in the introduction or conclusion as part of the conversation on why women are now retelling the stories and focusing on reclaiming the lives and voices of the women in Homer's world.

I had high hopes going into Penelope's Bones, and while I would overall recommend reading it, I can't say I was as impressed with the book as I had hoped to be. Maybe I was expecting too much out if it. After all, Trying to uncover what has been pushed to the margins for thousands of years, both by the erosion of time, the men of the time period and by male archeologists until fairly recently, doesn't give you a lot to work with.

I received an ARC of this boon from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

It Takes a Psychic

 

It Takes a Psychic (Ghost Hunters #17)- Jayne Castle

Berkley 

Release Date: June 3, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Leona Griffin is at the height of her career as a para-archeologist thanks to a recent Underworld discovery. Her high profile attracts the attention of an organization of elite, secretive collectors. They want her to authenticate the artifacts that aspiring members submit as evidence to join their group. The ceremony takes place at a glittering reception where Leona is shocked to discover that one of the relics is a powerful Old-World object known as Pandora’s Box. But she’s not the only one interested in that artifact.

Oliver Rancourt, a man with a unique talent—they say you never see him coming—is also there. Leona knows she must not underestimate him. Attempting to make a discreet exit, she stumbles over the body of a waiter wearing the emblem of a dangerous cult. Before she can alert authorities, a police raid sends the reception into chaos. To avoid being arrested, Leona slips away with Oliver—a risky decision that gets her fired.

Now forced to work together, Leona and Oliver pursue an investigation that leads them to the town of Lost Creek where the locals are obsessed with a chilling legend involving a long-dead cult leader and illicit paranormal experiments. But Leona knows the real danger may be the irresistible attraction between herself and Oliver.

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After being kidnapped by artifact pirates and saved by her sister (People in Glass Houses) para-archeologist Leona Griffin is ready to give a few lectures and work her way up the tenure ladder at her university. Finding a dead body at a collector's meeting ends that plan rather spectacularly. Excaping the police raid that follows with the mysterious Oliver Rancourt makes things even more complicated. But also a great deal more interesting. When Leona and Oliver (and dust bunny Roxy) decide to work together to uncover the truth behind leads too strange to be coincides, things start moving fast- and getting dangerous. Good thing all three of them have some tricks to pull along the way!

Leona is Molly's sister from People in Glass Houses, so it helps if you've read that book first, but I think you could also read this one as a stand-alone. Glass Houses would just give you a little character background for Leona's story, as well as already knowing Molly and their moms heading into this book. Like Molly, Leona has been raised to take care of herself. She has no problem relying on her own instincts and training but is also caring and compassionate. The first night Oliver (and the reader) meet her she frees dust bunnies and follows him into the Underworld where she sets her dress on fire to help them escape some bad guys. If that doesn't make you like her (or Oliver fall for her) what will?! Oliver is more subtle than some of Castle's men. A Museum Guy, as Leona thinks of him, and not a Guild man as many of Castle's previous heroes, Oliver has no trouble with the idea of calling in the Guild and the cops when he thinks there might be more trouble than he, Leona, and Roxy can handle on their own. But underestimate him at your own risk, because he's not above taking care of business when he needs to protect his people. Although Leona got to protect him in this one pretty nicely too.

On a completely random note, I've always been slightly disappointed that Castle describes characters (usually the men) as having specter-cat eyes but we never get to find out more about wild specter-cats or see one. So the sculpture of the specter-cat in this book for some reason made me extremely happy.

Cut-throat collectors and academics, ruthless cults, a fashionista dust bunny, and Castle's trademark banter between her main characters: It Takes a Psychic was just what I needed to read when it came out and I needed something to take me away from a particularly difficult life situation for a few hours. 

A fun addition to the delightful dust bunny world of Harmony

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review

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Sisterhood of Ravensbruck

 

The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck: How an Intrepid Band of Frenchwomen Resisted the Nazis in Hitler's All-Femal Concentration Camp- Lynne Olson

Random House

Release Date: June 3, 2025

Rating:📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: For decades after World War II, histories of the French Resistance were written almost exclusively by men and largely ignored the contributions of women. Many current overviews of the subject continue to underplay the extent and importance of women’s participation in the Resistance, treating the subject, in the words of one historian, as ‘an anonymous background element in an essentially male story’.

The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück corrects that omission, surveying the bond between four women — Germaine Tillion, Anise Girard, Genevieve de Gaulle, and Jacqueline d’Alincourt — who fought valiantly against Nazi oppression. While the women belonged to different Resistance movements and networks, they were united by a common they were arrested by the Gestapo, underwent merciless interrogations and beatings, were jailed — and, most significantly, survived, if just barely, the hell of Ravensbrück, the only concentration camp designed specifically for women. In an institution designed to dehumanise and kill, the sisterhood maintained their sense of self and joined together to face down death.

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Lynne Olson is one of my favorite historians, and has a wonderful talent for bringing out hidden voices and stories during World War 2 that help us discover so many new aspects to that time. Her last two books (Madame Fourcarde's Secret War and Empress of the Nile) explore the lives of two women who were trail-blazers both during and after the war, but who during the war helped build the French resistance against the Nazis. The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck follows the lives of four women: Germaine Tillion, Anise Girard, Genevieve de Gaulle, and Jacqueline d'Alincourt who were also part of the French Resistance- and who were sent to (and survived) Ravensbruck camp for that resistance.

The book is divided into three sections: before, during, and after Ravensbruck, and I was a little surprised at much of it focused on the after. As you'd expect with any book dealing with Nazis, concentration camps, etc. there are some parts that are hard to read. But the sisterhood that developed among the women in the camp, particularly the French women Olson focuses on, brought with it such surprising hope as well. They helped each other survive through so many acts that it brought tears to my eyes as I was reading. The Polish women (called "rabbits") who were used as medical experiments in the camp were helped by everyone, including being hidden when the order to kill them came at the end of the war (if you've read Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls, it's based on the rabbit's story). The prisoners knew they all faced death for defying their captors, but they resisted the Nazis again. The strength of the women, sharing their tiny amounts of food, medicine, gathering evidence of the crimes against them in the hope that one day they would be free to use it, was staggering to me. As I read I could only wonder if I would have been that brave, and hope the answer would have been yes.

It should come as no surprise that none of the Ravensbruck women stopped being amazing after leaving the camp. They continued to stand together to ensure whoever needed medical help got it, to help each other reintergrate into post-War life. They stood as witnesses for the dead against the crimes the Ravensbruck Nazis had committed. They helped the "rabbits" get to America for medical tretment. And continued to stand up against injustices and crimes against humanity wherever they saw them for the rest of their lives. 

The inspiration brought to me by this story leaves me speechless. It is hard and uplifting, often at the same time– and absolutely a book we should all read and learn from. As we should learn from these women.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

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