Jane Litte's Blog, page 42

Reading List by Jennie for January through June 2023

My reading continues to be fairly dreary and light on romance; aside from the books I’ve reviewed, the suspense books below are all I have to show for the first half of 2023 (apologies for these being more blurb that review – sigh; this is reflective of my meh feelings about most of these books):

The Snowstorm by Triona Walsh

Blurb:

It’s an icy New Year’s Eve. Snow blankets a windswept Irish island as the wild Atlantic Ocean rages.

Six friends gather. It has been ten years since the tragedy that...

REVIEW: The Lighthouse Keeper by Liv Rancourt

Twenty years ago, a thief stole the Ferox Cor, and now he’s dead.

Vincent Fairchild, a witch with little power beyond his charm, is tasked with finding that dangerous magical object. He’s already been pruned from his (mundane) family tree because “nice” people don’t possess even the lowest of magic. If he fails to return with the Ferox Cor, he’ll lose his place with the Witches’ Council.

Determined not to be cast aside again, Vincent travels to the West Point lighthouse, where he learns that t...

REVIEW: The Baby Swap That Bound Them by Hana Sheik

A shocking revelation…and proposal?

Struggling single mother Yusra is shocked when handsome billionaire Bashir turns up, claiming their children were swapped at birth! She’s fiercely protective of her son, AJ, and refuses to give him up. But when she meets little Zaire, she can’t deny the connection she feels. For their sons’ sakes Bashir makes a proposition: marry and move in together! They expected to fall in love with their sons, but falling for each other…?

Dear Ms. Sheik, 

I just love th...

REVIEW: The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, she’s made herself respectable, running the grandest home in Mayfair. The place is packed with treasures, a glittering symbol of wealth and power, but dark secrets lurk in the shadows.

When Mrs. King is suddenly dismissed from her position, she recruits an eclectic group of women to join her in revenge: A black market queen out to settle her scores. An actress desperate for a magnificent part. A seamstress drea...

Review: Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly

From the author of Love & Other Disasters comes a sparkling grumpy-meets-sunshine romance featuring two men’s sweeping journey across the Western wilderness.

Alexei Lebedev’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail begins with a single snake. And it is angling for the hot stranger who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Lex is prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he isn’t prepared for is Ben Caravalho. But somehow—on a 2,500-mile trail—Alexei keeps running into the o...

Open Thread for Readers for July 2023

Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general? Post about it here!

REVIEW: Darkness Calls: An Inspector Cecilie Mars Thriller by Michael Katz Krefeld

Dear Michael Katz Krefeld:

I have not read much Nordic Noir at all – I think the only books I’ve read that qualify are the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. When this book crossed my path, I hesitated a bit – I’m less interested in police-focused thrillers than other types – but decided to try it out. It’s apparently the first in a trilogy, though if I understand correctly it’s the only one of the three so far to have been translated to English.

The book, set in Copenhagen, opens in the after...

REVIEW: The Business Between Them (Once Upon a Wedding Book 4) by Mona Shroff

She’s got his attention. Now she wants his company.

The balance sheet of Reena Pandya’s life is currently in the red. One bad business decision has cost her her relationship, and now she stands to lose the family business to her ex, Akash Gupta. Tough but not ruthless, Akash is giving Reena a chance to earn back the business—and possibly his heart. Reena knows she can turn a profit. But will she succeed at matters of the heart?

Dear Ms. Shroff,

I was looking forward to this next installment ...

Review: Heart of Winter (Drake Chronicles #1) by Lauren Gilley

“It so happened that Oliver’s father was a profligate, a playboy, and an exceptional warrior. He was also not at all married to Oliver’s mother, a washerwoman, who died when Oliver was only six.”

Oliver Meacham, bastard nephew of the Duke of Drakewell, and a massive disappointment to his father, has just lost all his male relatives to the war with the invading Sels from the West. Without an heir, the duchy of Drakewell stands to fall into enemy hands, unless one of Oliver’s cousins can marry...

REVIEW: The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

When level-headed Francie arrives in Roswell, New Mexico, for her college roommate’s UFO-themed wedding—complete with a true-believer bridegroom—she can’t help but roll her eyes at all the wide-eyed talk of aliens, which obviously don’t exist. Imagine her surprise, then, when she is abducted by one.

Odder still, her abductor is far from what the popular media have led her to expect, with a body like a tumbleweed and a mass of lightning-fast tentacles. Nor is Francie the only victim of the alie...