Danielle Thamasa's Blog

NetGalley Review: Strange Beasts by Susan J Morris

Hey all, Sam here.

Was I just talking about wanting some atmospheric and spooky reads because it’s October AKA Spooky Season? Yes, as a matter of fact, I was discussing that in the past couple of posts. So do I have an atmospheric and mysterious slightly spooky read to talk about today? Why, yes I certainly do.

Can I also say that today’s review is long overdue because I was approved for it on NetGalley before the book released? Absolutely. Oh, and while I’m ratting myself out on all of this, did I just get approved for the sequel to this book on NetGalley? Indeed I did (and that one isn’t out until March 17th, 2026, so I’m actually going to have it read and reviewed in a timely manner).

I wanted to read this book last year for spooky season, but I didn’t get around to it due to life and stress and other reads. But that’s fine. Sometimes books are worth the wait, and I think that was definitely the case for this one. If it’s any consolation, I bought my copy a while ago and it’s been sitting on my shelf. So, even if I’m very delayed on reading and reviewing books, I do still support the authors and publishing imprints by purchasing the final copies.

That’s especially true with any and all books that sound interesting being released by any of the Bindery imprints. I’ve read a handful of Bindery releases so far and I have greatly enjoyed every one of them. Honestly it’s making me partly wonder if I should start prioritizing more books from Bindery imprints.

We’ll see, I guess. Maybe that’ll be my focus in December. Spoiler alert a bit there. I was looking at my NetGalley releases for the rest of the year and I only have one December book, so that’ll be a nice free for all reading month, but I’ll talk more about that in a post coming in about a week.

All right, let’s get started with this review.

In this fresh-yet-familiar gothic tale―part historical fantasy, part puzzle-box mystery―the worlds of Dracula and Sherlock Holmes collide in a thrilling exploration of feminine power.

At the dawn of the twentieth century in Paris, Samantha Harker, daughter of Dracula’s killer, works as a researcher for the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena. But no one realizes how abnormal she is. Sam is a channel into the minds of monsters: a power that could help her solve the gruesome deaths plaguing turn-of-the-century Paris―or have her thrown into an asylum.

Sam finds herself assigned to a case with Dr. Helena Moriarty, daughter of the criminal mastermind and famed nemesis of Sherlock Holmes and a notorious detective whom no one wants to work with on account of her previous partners’ mysterious murders. Ranging from the elite clubs of Paris to the dark underbelly of the catacombs, their investigation sweeps them into a race to stop a beast from its killing rampage, as Hel and Sam are pitted against men, monsters, and even each other. But beneath their tenuous trust, an unmistakable attraction brews. Is trusting Hel the key to solving the murder, or is Sam yet another pawn in Hel’s game?

My Thoughts

Rating: 4.5 stars

With this cover, I should point out that on my paperback edition the candles are all a bit holographic and shiny. It’s a very minimalist effect that ends up being quite striking.

Okay, so what sold me on this book. Well you have the daughter of Moriarty from the Sherlock stories and the daughter of Mina and Jonathan Harker from the tale of Dracula….and honestly that was enough to completely catch my interest. There was actually a point where I read a whole bunch of turn-of-the-century tales, particularly paranormal or urban fantasy romances. This was a nice return to that kind of story for me.

I really enjoyed both Sam and Hel. I think they were definitely their own people, or trying to be their own people despite the “legendary” status of their parents, and they each had certain skills and abilities that set them apart from their colleagues and their families.

Sam was trying to step out of her researcher position so she could do her own on-the-side investigating for a personal matter (I’m not going to spoil any of that here), and Hel was always trying to prove that she wasn’t a villain like her father, all while constantly ending up alone because none of her investigative partners lasted long.

I enjoyed seeing how the two young women learned to understand each other more and work together better, and their respective backgrounds, lifestyles, and knowledge bases complemented each other well…and I did enjoy the hints of the attraction growing between the two, but that was a slow build up and wasn’t admitted to until near the end of the adventure.

There was mystery. There was drama. There was intrigue. There was a little bit of paranormal beasties. There was action. It had a little bit of everything, and I read it rather quickly…and before I finished reading it, I had already convinced a co-worker to start reading it.

I will definitely be picking up the sequel soon (probably November or December depending on reading mood), so I will have a review up for it before release day. I am very curious what happens next with Sam and Hel.

All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

NetGalley Review: Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife by Deston J Munden

Hey all, Sam here.

Am I back with another cozy fantasy book review? Well of course I am! Yesterday was this book’s birthday, so welcome to the world. I literally read this the day after reading The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong, so one could definitely say that I am in a cozy book mood…and you know what? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I’m also in the moody for atmospheric and spooky-adjacent books, so hopefully I’ll be able to satisfy all of those book cravings with my reads this month. I’m doing a pretty great job of it so far, with plenty more books (and book reviews) to come.

Actually, I was trying to plot out my review schedule for at least the next few weeks, and, if I can get everything typed up in time, I should have a post up roughly every other day now until at least mid-November, which is pretty awesome. At least six of those posts are about other cozy fantasy books that I’ve read somewhat recently (or re-read somewhat recently).

Oh, and I actually think everything I have planned to review for about the next month is also one of my approved on NetGalley books, so all these reviews might actually help boost my review ratio a tiny smidge. I know it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to get myself up to the preferred 80% though. I think I need to write up like 200 reviews without getting any more approvals…and considering I just can’t get myself to stop requesting books, I don’t see the catch up happening any time soon. At this point I think I’ll be happy if I can increase my percentage by 20-30%. We’ll see what happens.

All right, that’s enough chatter. Let’s go ahead and dive into today’s book review. Oh, and remember, you can pick up a copy of this book for yourself now, because this book is out now! I’m grabbing my copy when I go to Barnes & Noble later.

An undead orc knight leaves battle behind for a new kind of afterlife—one with good food, good friends, and maybe even fatherhood.

Rottgor is worn out. Literally. Barely held together by dark magic, he has protected the Necropolis for centuries. When he’s forced into retirement, he’s faced with a new to forge a future guided not by obligation, but by passion.

Following his heart (and stomach), he decides to open a restaurant where the city’s undead and living residents can share food and community. He’s helped in his quest by an unlikely assortment of neighbors, including elves, skeletons, vampires—and a young orphan girl named Astra, whose ancestry, if discovered, could put her and the entire Necropolis in danger. To protect Astra and the life he’s building, Rottgor must face his past and form new alliances built on friendship, loyalty, and love. As comforting as warm pumpkin bread, this gentle fantasy traces how even a dark history can rise into a bright future.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

The first thing I’m going to say is do not read this book on an empty stomach. There’s a lot of description of food and of cooking, and I know it made me hungry, so I’m going to give y’all a polite warning about keeping snacks around while you read.

When it comes to stories about undead I can get a little picky at times. Like books with zombies…not my favorite. I’m not a big fan of zombies; they creep me out, especially when they have a little bit of a mind/personality/agenda, and especially zombie romance because I find that gross. Vampires and ghosts are totally fine for me and I actually do like stories with those creature types in them. Necromancers are fine (probably because their zombie minions are basically just mindless servants so they don’t creep me out as much).

This book has a few kinds of undead, and yet it has so much heart and warmth to it that you pretty much forget that so many of the characters are undead…you know until they mention things like having died centuries ago or whatever. I liked the set-up and worldbuilding of Necropolis. It was an interesting place, and you could tell there was some tension between some of the living people and the undead folk. Honestly so much of that felt like a reflection of racial tensions and issues happening in the real world now, so if that’s something you’re sensitive to then I guess this is a warning to check your mental and emotional state as you read this book. And I hope you do read this book. Everything works out in the end here (and I’m hoping it will in the real world too).

Rottgor is a solid main character, and all the friends he has from his undead life at the beginning of the story, as well as the new friends he meets as he embarks on this unexpected afterlife retirement adventure are all just so intriguing and quirky. It was so easy to read this book because this whole community was so wholesome and fascinating.

While this book does have cozy fantasy elements, there are times of heightening tension and heightened action, so it’s not all coziness and comfort. Rottgor has to fight for the life of his retirement and the people he holds close, and that leads to an exciting and action-filled climax.

I read this book so quickly, and I’m kind of sad that it’s over. I want more from these characters and this world. Which, I guess it’s fun and interesting that author Deston J. Munden self-published some works, including Tavern, which is apparently also set in this world (although it might be in the past of this world; I don’t know). I do know that I have Tavern by Deston J. Munden on my Kindle, so I will likely be reading it sometime soon.

I can’t wait to have a finished copy of this book on my shelf, and I definitely know this will be one of those cozy fantasy reads I will continue to recommend. It was a lovely time, and I can’t wait to see what’s next from the author (as well as what’s next from the Bindery imprint, Cozy Quill Press).

All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

NetGalley Review: The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong

Hey all, Sam here.

October has been filled with wonderful reads so far, and I am trying to be better about getting my reviews typed up and posted in a more timely manner. Obviously, I still have so many that I need to catch up on, and I fear that I will always be striving to catch up. But hey, at least that means I’m never going to run out of stuff to talk about here on the blog.

I’ve been doing this for ten years now (a number of years more if you count the couple of failed blog attempts before this), and in some ways I feel like I’m starting to hit my stride. Perhaps at some point I’ll get back to the immense amount of content I was putting out in 2019 and most of 2020, but…I also don’t want to have another extended burnout period, so I definitely don’t want to put that much pressure on myself.

Oh, and we’re finally starting to get a little bit of cooler fall weather, which has been so nice. It’s definitely almost the time of year where I become even more of a stay at home hermit in a desire to just be cozy and comfy and warm whenever I don’t have to be out and about (aka work and necessary errand running). It’s also now reaching the time of drinking copious amounts of hot tea and hot cocoa, which is always nice.

Anyway, I’m starting to ramble a bit. Let’s just go ahead and get into today’s book review. It’s a good one. Speaking of, you don’t have to wait long to get your own copy of this book, as the release date is this upcoming Tuesday, October 14.

An almost-mage discovers friendship—and maybe something more—in the unlikeliest of places in this delightfully charming novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Teller of Small Fortunes.

Certainty Bulrush wants to be useful—to the Guild of Mages that took her in as a novice, to the little brother who depends on her, and to anyone else she can help. Unfortunately, her tepid magic hasn’t proven much use to anyone. When Certainty has the chance to earn her magehood via a seemingly straightforward assignment, she takes it. Nevermind that she’ll have to work with Mage Aurelia, the brilliant, unfairly attractive overachiever who’s managed to alienate everyone around her.

The two must transport minorly magical artifacts somewhere safe: Shpelling, the dullest, least magical village around. There, they must fix up an old warehouse, separate the gossipy teapots from the kind-of-flaming swords, corral an unruly little catdragon who has tagged along, and above all: avoid complications. The Guild’s uneasy relationship with citizens is at a tipping point, and the last thing needed is a magical incident.

Still, as mage and novice come to know Shpelling’s residents—and each other—they realize the Guild’s hoarded magic might do more good being shared. Friendships blossom while Certainty and Aurelia work to make Shpelling the haven it could be. But magic is fickle—add attraction and it might spell trouble.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

I am absolutely in a cozy fantasy mood, and this book definitely hit the spot. It was cozy and cute and fun, just filled with interesting characters and an intriguing small town atmosphere with a bit of magic. It’s about friendship and community/found family and making your own magic in a place that seems devoid of it.

Something that definitely also needs to be said is that there are hilarious little meta moments or little jokes in the text. Things like making a sign for the town of Shpelling and thinking that maybe something needs to be added to the sign…like a squiggly red line underneath it. Those little jokes caught my attention and made me giggle, which was lovely while reading this book at work.

This book is set in the same world as The Teller of Small Fortunes, but it is not a series and you will not spoil yourself by reading this book first.

There’s also facing the idea of putting too much pressure on yourself or allowing loves ones to put a lot of pressure on yourself. Or there’s dealing with feeling like you aren’t good enough and that you’ll never be enough. But on the other side, there’s also having friends or family who love you and support you because you absolutely are enough just as you are.

Certainty’s magical ability was fascinating, with being able to speak to objects, and it was certainly an extremely useful skill for taking minorly magical artifacts and cataloging them/storing them in a makeshift warehouse. I loved seeing all the different magics held within all of the artifacts. Certainty’s willingness to utilize the artifacts to help the town of Shpelling definitely made me think of Claudia Donavan using the artifacts in interesting ways in the show “Warehouse 13.” This book gives off similar vibes, if you know, Warehouse 13 was set in a fully magical world.

I read this whole book in like a day, and it was fantastic. I can’t wait to add the finished copy to my personal library.

All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

NetGalley Review: Savage Blooms by S.T. Gibson

Hey all, Sam here.

Hello, and a happy book birthday to S.T. Gibson for the release of the book I am reviewing today. I got a bit of a late start reading this one…as in I started and finished it in the last few days, but hey, I’m getting the review up in a fairly timely manner. I’ll take it as a win. Actually, I’m really trying to be more on top of my October reads and the reviews that go along with them.

Currently I’m reading two different books that come out next week, and hopefully I’ll have the reviews for those up this weekend, just in time for their release day. Yay! With any luck I’ll be able to continue doing this for the other October Releases I’ve been looking forward to.

I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep it up, but at the moment I am aiming for a post on the blog every other day, so 3-4 posts a week. Between what I’m reading now as well as all the reviews I owe from the past several months, I’m thinking I should be able to maintain a consistent blogging schedule for a little while. Ideally I’d like to build up a bank of drafted posts to keep the blog active Nov-Jan so I can focus on PaWriCo, but we’ll see what happens.

Anyway, let’s just go ahead and dive on into today’s book release review.

S. T. Gibson, the queen of erotic fantasy romance, returns with this ravishingly dark trilogy of gothic manors, faery magic, and forbidden desires set in the foreboding Highlands of Scotland.

For as long as Adam can remember, the legends passed down from his world-traveling grandfather have called him to a crumbling manor in the Highlands. His closest friend Nicola longs for the same adventure, as well as for Adam himself. She’ll follow him just about anywhere – even to the remote wilds of Scotland – if it pushes the pair to surrender to their shared attraction.

But when a storm strikes and strands them unexpectedly, Adam and Nicola find themselves at the mercy of the eccentric owner of the infamous house, Eileen, as well as her brooding groundskeeper, Finley.

Trapped by the weather, and bound by ancient faery magic, Nicola and Adam get more than they bargained for as they become entangled in Eileen and Finley’s world of mind games, deceit and forbidden desire. As ancestral sins are unearthed, Adam and Nicola will have to reckon with the spell Eileen and Finley have cast over them – and whether or not they even want to be free.

My Thoughts

Rating: 3.75 stars

What do y’all think of the cover? It definitely evokes a certain lush, evocative, somewhat magical story. I think it is pretty and eye-catching. For me at least it does make me want to pick up the book and see what it’s about.

This is not my first S.T. Gibson book. I read Evocation last year (although I don’t think I reviewed it? Oops. I did give it 4.5 stars), and I’ve been meaning to read A Dowry of Blood for a couple years now but just keep reading other things instead (darn mood reading).

While I did read this book rather quickly, and was swept up in the tangled web of long-standing and developing relationships between the main quartet, I feel like for me at least, this was extremely light on plot. I wanted more…and perhaps more will be delivered in the second book as this is the first installment of a trilogy, but the focus definitely seemed to be on the romantic/sexual development between Adam, Nicola, Finley, and Eileen.

Adding in ancient family bargains with the faeries seemed more of an afterthought, and that’s okay if that’s what you want for reading this. Not everything has to have a lush plot or an evocative setting and set-up.

It was a fun escape for a few hours of reading. There was a little bit of a mystery going on, a dash of magic with faery dealings, and a whole lot of exploration of desire and sex and kink. All the characters are adults, and they are all big on respecting boundaries and clear communication.

The story did end on a bit of an action and plot beat, which did make me very curious about what will happen next. I may not rush out to read the next installment…but you never know. Depending on my book release schedule around that time, I might pick it up as soon as I can.

All right, well that is all from me. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Weekend Writer: Writing Update

Hey all, Sam here.

I have not had much to say around here when it comes to writing progress. I wish I had a better answer than saying that life keeps getting in the way. But sometimes that’s just what it is.

I wanted to participate in the Write Brave Challenge and try outlining up these two person RPG romances that David and I have been loosely discussing for a couple years now. But perhaps that was putting too much of a challenge on myself considering I haven’t been doing great with writing output anyway. I was adding the need to collaborate with my partner (when he has been either deeply focused on video games or deeply focused on 3d printing), as well as outlining when I’ve never really been much of an outline using writer before.

I know I still want to work on the RPG romances because it sounds like a fun project. I just have to wait until a time when my partner is less focused on other geeky hobbies, because I don’t want to take away that joy from him. And that’s fine. We’re both invested in so many geeky hobbies that sometimes it is difficult to squeeze everything in, so we have to rotate hobbies in and out for chunks of time.

But I guess that means if I want to get words on the page then I need to have something else to focus my time on.

Considering that I want to work on the novella/short novel currently titled “When Light Meets Dark” (I still need to figure out a name I like a little more) for PaWriCo 2025, I think that means I need to work on my contemporary romance/epic fantasy mash-up that is my TTRPG Romance novel inspired by my partner and I’s real-life love story. Here, I’ll include my silly not-official at all mock-up cover.

And….I actually have news on that.

For a handful of years now the idea that became this story was one that I titled “Roll for Romance.” I loved that title. It fit the story so well. But then there was a TTRPG podcast called Roll for Romance and a trad-pubbed book was titled Roll for Romance and another book series (and indie-pubbed one) was titled Roll for Romance….and I found myself thinking that I needed to figure out a new title.

Naming things can be difficult. I know this as a writer and I also know this as a TTRPG Game Master. When you write fantasy or design fantasy worlds for roleplay there is so much to name. Not just characters, but also towns and businesses and magic items…and you want them to sound cool and to make sense in the world. It’s a lot.

I wasn’t laser focused on thinking up a name, but the idea that I needed a new name kept circulating in the back of my mind.

I am extremely happy to say that on Friday night, the new title came to me, just popped into existence while I was scrolling through social media. I ran it past David, since this is based on the two of us, and he loved it too. So yay! Roll for Romance has a new title!

Now my debate here as I type this is….do I share the new title, or do I hold it back until I finish my drafting of the book?

At the very least I’ll do a little storytime now talking about how the new title was inspired into existence. I can blame the official Dungeons & Dragons social media account and the release of a new Taylor Swift album. Pretty much everyone is trying to do their own spin on the song titles or a spoof/parody of them. And Wizards of the Coast is no exception, it seems.

They had a bunch of art from various D&D adventures and products and they gave TTRPG spins to each of Taylor’s song titles. The one that ended up inspiring me was an image captioned with the song title spoof Actually Rollmantic (based on the song Actually Romantic).

Now, while Actually Rollmantic would have potentially been a fun title, it didn’t sing to me, but the idea of Rollmantic/Rollmance did…and so a few words sparked into my mind. And I nervously held onto those words for like a half-hour until David got off work and came up to the car.

Y’all, I was so nervous to tell him my idea. What if he didn’t like it? But when I cautiously said it to him, he got a look on his face like oooooh…..that’s good.

So my book has a new title (which I think I’ll announce after I at least finish the overall rough draft), and honestly I’m feeling a bit more excited to work on it again. There’s still so much more to draft. I’m taking this book in chunks right now. My focus at the moment is the in-game fantasy adventure, so I’m writing the entirety of the adventuring party’s quest to defeat evil and save the world (or at least their small part of it). And after I finish that, I still have to write the out-of-game contemporary romance part. I’m significantly more nervous about that because I have been pretty much a fantasy writer my whole life. Yes, I’ve dabbled in some more urban fantasy/contemporary fantasy, but contemporary romance has never really been on my radar for writing. I’ve read a decent number of them though.

Anyway, this has been a long rambly post of very minimal writing updates, but hopefully I will actually have more writing progress to talk about over the next few months.

And honestly, I think I want to try and bring back Weekend Writer in 2026. They were some of my favorite posts to write up, even if they take the most time of all of my posts. So hey, are there any writing craft books or accessories that you adore and think I should add to my resource toolbox? I have a lot of craft books and resources, but I’m always looking for more. Let me know in the comments!

All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by today to check out my wordy meander through the writing process. I appreciate you, and I will be back soon with more geeky content.

September Wrap-Up

Hey all, Sam here.

Today is the premiere of Critical Role Campaign 4, and I am so very excited to watch it tonight. Trying to get through the rest of the hours until then is going to be a struggle. David and I might play a little more of the current season of Diablo 4 to waste some of the time. Oh, and after the first episode of Campaign 4, there’s also Taylor Swift’s new album to listen to, which means this is going to be a busy day.

Anyway, it is time to look back on what I’ve read, written, blogged, and the trips we’ve gone on this past month. It’s another pretty decent wrap-up for the month, so I don’t want to take too long before jumping into the meat of today’s post. Let’s just go ahead and get started.

Reading

I managed to read 11 books this month, which isn’t bad, even if it isn’t as much as I would have hoped. I actually read most of these books in the first half of the month and then had too many days of not really being able to read for most of the rest. That happens far too frequently, where I just have a whole bunch of other demands on my time and energy and then I don’t get to read as much as I would like.

Still, I’m happy with what I managed to read and I’m looking forward to all the books I hope to read in October. I feel like September was a lot of cozy small town reads, so maybe in October I can do more spooky atmospheric reads. Oh, also maybe October will be filled with reviews for these books, because I realized that even with the couple of books that were re-reads that I hadn’t actually reviewed them here before. Oops.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi — 4 stars

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore — 4 stars

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree — 5 stars

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree — 5 stars

Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree — 5 stars

A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic (Deluxe Edition) by J. Penner — 4.5 stars

A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons (Deluxe Edition) by J. Penner — 5 stars

A Fellowship of Games & Fables (Deluxe Edition) by J. Penner — 5 stars

Sheeta’s Big Little World Vol 1 by Yuki Kamba — 3 stars

Betrayed by the Hero, I Formed a MILF Party With His Mom! Vol 2 by Makoto Kuon and Ishino Yassan — 4 stars

What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller — 4 stars

Writing

Well, the middle of the month was supposed to mark my participation in the Write Brave Challenge, taking place from September 15-October 15th. My goal was to write a few hundred words a day as outline/prep for a two-person romance RPG that David and I have been wanting to write. I typed up a couple hundred words on the first day of the challenge……..and haven’t written anything since.

I guess I’ll just point up to the aforementioned other demands on time and energy. I really need to figure out how to balance life and creativity, at least whatever is going to work for me personally. I’d like to actually get a good amount of words on the page (or screen) again.

My friend Sarah is planning on heading out our way next year for GalaxyCon Des Moines to sell her candles and other crafts, and it makes me dream of being at a con to sell my books…but I can’t do that if I don’t get books finished. Sarah and I had a booth in Artist’s Alley back at Wizard World Columbus in like 2016(?) and I had one book and she had two. It was a nice time, so I think it would be nice to experience that again with her.

I just need to figure out how to get writing again.

Blogging

So…I don’t know exactly what happened in the month of September when it came to this blog, but my stats basically skyrocketed. This is the best month I have had in terms of view count in a whole decade of running this blog. If the views keep coming in at this same pace then this will be my most highly viewed year on the blog, and that is crazy to me. It’s also quite wonderful.

Thank you to all of you who have stopped by to check out my posts–whether that is people who have been around for years or new folks. I’m happy to have you here.

All that being said, I did manage to write up 9 posts in the month of September, which meets my blogging goal set at the beginning of the year, so yay. If you missed any of the posts, I have them listed and linked right here:

Spooky Season 2025 TBR

August Wrap-Up

Weekend Writer: Write Brave Challenge 2025

Books I’m Hoping to Read in 2025

Manga Review: Sheeta’s Big Little World Vol 1 by Yuki Kamba

Cover Reveal: Claimed by Darkness by S.R. Hartley

What I’m Looking Forward to Reading (Hopefully) in October

NetGalley Review: Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer

Pathfinders Writing Collective (PaWriCo2025)

Trips/Conventions

David got to go to his first concert this month. We went to see Apocalyptica, Lindsey Stirling, and Halestorm in Cedar Rapids last week, and it was a really great time. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a concert, and the music and the energy of the crowd just reverberated through me, reminding me how much I missed this. Also, David had an absolute blast, and is already itching to go to more concerts, which is fine by me as long as we can afford them.

The photos aren’t great, but we had seats in the upper section on the far side of the arena, so my phone camera couldn’t zoom in any farther. I was very excited to hear “Shatter Me” live, because I was hoping Lzzy and Lindsey would team up on stage for this one specifically. All in all it was a fantastic time.

In October we plan on going to a nearby Ren Faire, as well as going to a nearby farm for some pumpkin picking and other harvest fun, and we’re also having a nice day/night out to celebrate because our wedding anniversary is at the end of the month.

All right, well that’s all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Pathfinders Writing Collective (PaWriCo2025)

Hey all, Sam here.

Today is Pick Your Path Day for PaWriCo! This will be my second year participating in this new writing challenge, and honestly I love the freedom, the camaraderie, the flexibility, the creativity, and the fun that exudes from this organization. While it started as a way to fill in for the space left in the wake of NaNoWriMo’s demise, PaWriCo has grown into a year-round series of writing adventures and challenges, and I have participated in most of the events so far (though not with as much success as I would have hoped).

Anyway, you can find out more information here: https://pathfinderswritingcollective.com/ or by visiting the PaWriCo Instagram.

In the Beginning…

Rain and Jen’s friendship began in the summer of 2022, then blossomed just in time for NaNoWriMo’s big November writing challenge: 50,000 words in 30 days. Both writers were nervous and support-system-less, so they banded together to cheer each other (and eventually a Discord of 40) on for the month. It was an amazing ride, and though the Discord eventually went dormant, Rain and Jen have been supporting one another ever since!

But, after concerns in 2023 and 2024 regarding NaNoWriMo, neither felt good about participating in a challenge they couldn’t confidently stand behind. And yet, both still wanted a challenge, and more importantly, the community that came with it.

This got them thinking…

Why not build a new challenge? And a community to go with it!

Very quickly Rain and Jen’s goals became three-fold: 1) writing challenges for motivation, 2) a community space for accountability, and 3) fundraising opportunities so as they and other writers bettered themselves they could collectively better the world at large. And just like that (over several multi-hour Zoom calls), the idea for Pathfinders Writing Collective emerged.

Why Pathfinders?

Creativity—the how, the why, the way—is unique to the creator. In more specific terms, there’s no right way to write. And thus, no right way to “writing challenge.” Each individual must walk their own path… with friends cheering them on, of course!

As such, you—a path-finder/ builder/ maintainer/ explorer/ sharer/ etcetera—ought to be able to pick your own path, your own pace, and how to define and track your progress while still participating in fun community events. To honor this, Rain and Jen have opted for customizable challenges, rather than implementing a hard “50k in 30 days” approach.

Drum Roll Please… #PaWriCo’s Very First Challenge!!!

Pathfinders Writing Collective’s very first, totally-custamizable writing challenge, #PaWriCo24, was a smashing success!! Our 3-month-long challenge brought over 3,000 writers together and as a group we raised over $2,000 for charity. Not to mention, it was so much fun! New writers started (and some completed) their very first drafts! Seasoned authors published their books! And who knows how many new friendships were made? (A lot, we know it was a lot.)

And Now… More Challenges!

To keep the good times rolling, Rain and Jen have decided to host 4 challenges a year: The PaWriCo Challenge from November through January, PaWriCo’s March Madness in March, Scribble Swap in April/May, and a 6-week Bookish Bootcamp Challenge in June/July. Learn more about our challenges here.

How to Participate:

Honey, you’re here, you made it! *Hugs* To “join” join, check out our Instagram page where members are actively sharing their updates and supporting one another via comments and story swaps. And/or hop into our Discord full of fun, active channels for writers to discuss everything from helpful editing resources to strategies for overcoming writer’s block. Then, if you’ve got a little change to spare, consider donating to our current charity. Learn more here!

So whether you’re working on plotting or drafting or editing, or if you’re looking for a 1 month or 3 month challenge, PaWriCo has you covered. The flexibility of this end of year challenge is pretty darn awesome.

I am once again going to be taking on the three months challenge, spanning from November 1st until January 31st. My goal is to finish a novella I’ve been working on (that has moved into novel-length territory). I have a few chapters to finish writing and a few chapters that I need to add in now, plus some editing to make sure the story flows and maintains its continuity. I’ve been writing the novella with the title “When Dark Meets Light,” but I’m thinking I need to come up with something better.

Currently I have 35,341 words written on this project, but some of that is just a couple of sentences or a paragraph detailing what I have planned for the chapter that still needs finished….so I think I can probably add about 50,000 more words on this.

Basically “When Dark Meets Light” started out as an important backstory exploration for my current D&D character. Now, with the way the story is going, and the way the rest of the players are engaging with it, I feel like it is becoming even more. What’s fun is both of the other players have also started writing up little stories from their own character backstories…and we’ve all talked about the fact that we’re writing them…which has led to us asking each other when we get to read them. So if I want to share this, then I want to make sure I get all the chapters fully written.

And, my Dungeon Master (aka David, my husband), thinks that this story could be one I polish and publish. But I can only do that if I get it written first.

So, here we go….let’s try to really focus on writing.

Are you looking for a writing challenge? Consider joining the Pathfinders Writing Collective. It’s really fun and has a very active Discord of fellow supportive writers.

Anyway, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

NetGalley Review: Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer

Hey all, Sam here.

I wanted to have this review written up and posted before the end of August, but I ran out of time because work was pretty stressful…and in the weeks since I’ve just been struggling to figure out a balance between work, a desire to read, a need to rest, and wishing to get more blog posts written. There are still so very many book reviews I’d still love to get up on this blog. I may do a series of mini-reviews for a bunch of my non-NetGalley reviews, just so I can share my thoughts and try to get a little more caught up on everything I’ve read in the past couple of years.

Anyway, today I bring you another book review that should have been up weeks ago. I do have several other book reviews at least partially drafted that I hope to finish drafting and schedule for posting very soon. Let’s get started.

New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer makes her adult debut with this irresistible and steamy fantasy about three characters whose paths will collide in surprising ways – two royals pushed into a political engagement, and the assassin tasked with hunting them down.

WARRIOR. King Maddox Kyronan’s fire magic has earned him a ruthless reputation on the battlefield, but now his kingdom is slowly burning. Ky’s only chance to save his people is to enter a marriage alliance with the neighboring nation of Astranza, and hope that the royal family’s power to manipulate the weather will help his land flourish once more. He just needs to ensure no one finds out how the blaze began.

PRINCESS. With war looming on the horizon, Princess Jory’s home needs the protection of the fearsome warrior king, but she is hiding a dangerous secret: her family’s magic is fading. Tempting as it is to reject her duties and run away with her childhood friend, Asher, Jory knows that she is the kingdom’s last hope. When she meets her intended, Jory is surprised to discover that beneath Ky’s daunting exterior is a compassionate and sharp-witted man who sets her heart aflame. But what will he do when he realizes she’s deceiving him?

ASSASSIN. Asher’s done what he must to survive, even if that means getting his hands dirty. Once a young nobleman in Astranza’s palace, where he and Jory caused mischief together, now he’s part of the Hunter’s Guild, employing much darker skills. When a lucrative job comes his way, Asher can’t say no—until he discovers the targets. Someone wants Ky and Jory dead. With the Guild watching, Asher must decide what he’s willing to do to protect the woman he loves.

A tale of three complex characters torn between chasing, betraying, and falling in love with each other, Warrior Princess Assassin marks the beginning of a thrilling new fantasy trilogy filled with enchantment, adventure, and passionate romance.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

I have been reading Brigid Kemmerer since 2016, which was still a few years after she started releasing her Elemental series (which I still have in my physical–and digital–library because I enjoyed them so much, and I have read all but a couple of her books. The ones I haven’t read yet are on my TBR so it’s not because I don’t want to read them.

So naturally when I heard she had an adult debut coming out after so many wonderful YA adventures, I had to check it out. Thank you to Avon/HarperVoyager and NetGalley for allowing me to read this story. Even though about 90% of the books I request on NetGalley are books I’d buy and read anyway, it is nice to get to read it a bit early.

This book is definitely more of a character focused one, intertwining the relationships that exists and grows between our main trio, and each character is given fairly equal focus as the POV. I enjoyed watching the dynamics within the trio, but I admit that I was most fascinated by Ky and Asher.

There was a lot of risk of danger but I wouldn’t necessarily say that this was an action-packed story. There was enough intrigue and learning about different cultures and the court politics and such to keep me interested and trying to put all the pieces together to figure out who was behind the assassination order and why.

But the main thing that kept me absolutely engrossed in the story was the characters and the growing attraction and romance between all three of the main characters. We saw the development of Jory and Asher’s relationship, Jory and Ky’s relationship, Ky’s and Asher’s relationship, and the three together. There was such tension and build-up, so when we did get those steamier moments they felt earned.

Plus, with the way this book ended, I am definitely eagerly anticipating the announcement and release of the next book, because I need to know what happens next.

Well, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

What I’m Looking Forward to Reading (Hopefully) in October

Hey all, Sam here.

Wow. Honestly I can’t believe that we’re already here to talk about October releases already. This year has absolutely been flying by, but there are times where it legitimately feels like everything has been crawling by at the slowest pace possible…and I truly think that is because so much absolute insanity has been happening. It’s like how could so much have happened and it’s only September?

Anyway, I don’t even know if I’m going to make it through all of the books that I have on my TBR. I haven’t done as well at keeping up with my September TBR as I would have hoped, plus I released my Spooky Season TBR, as well as my TBR of books I’d still like to read before the end of 2025. But then I look at my October releases (and everything on this list today is a book I was approved for on NetGalley), and I realize how little time I have to read everything I want to read.

There’s just a lot of really incredible sounding books that have come out this year (and last year) or are coming out later this year (and next year). When I throw in my two TTRPG campaigns, my desire to write my own books, plus work and spending time with my partner, it gets pretty difficult for me to properly manage my time to try and accomplish ALL OF THE THINGS.

Anyway, let’s talk about these incredible October releases that I am hoping to read and review very soon.

Savage Blooms by S.T. Gibson (Oct 7), A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo (Oct 7), Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife by Deston J Munden (Oct 14), The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong (Oct 14)

The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri (Oct 21), How to Write Romantasy by Jenna Moreci (Oct 21), A Fae in Finance by Juliet Brooks (Oct 21), Slayers of Old by Jim C Hines (Oct 21)

The Lost Reliquary by Lyndsay Ely (Oct 21), To Bargain With Mortals by R.A. Basu (Oct 28), Blood for the Undying Throne by Sung-il Kim (Oct 28), Cry, Voidbringer by Elaine Ho (Oct 28)

There you have it…even more books to add to my reading list and my library. Speaking of, I definitely need to reorganize my books because my bookshelves are close to bursting at the seams again. I don’t want to think about trying to do another book unhaul to clear up space, but I might have to. I don’t really have room for more bookcases in my library, sadly.

Anyway, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Cover Reveal: Claimed by Darkness by S.R. Hartley

Hey all, Sam here.

Today I am very excited to be bringing you a cover reveal for an upcoming book release. I always like supporting authors I know or authors I’ve met over the years, and this one is no exception. When S.R. Hartley (aka Sheena) posted on her social media accounts about looking for help with her cover reveal, I knew I had to help out.

But first let’s go back about a decade, because I first met Sheena around 2014 or 2015 (if I’m remembering correctly). It was during NaNoWriMo, and we were in the same region. Honestly, I don’t even know if she remembers this, and that is totally fine because a lot has happened in the years since…particularly that I got married and changed my name, and that I moved from Ohio to Iowa.

Anyway, I remember going through NaNo together and talking about writing, and I remember Sheena releasing a self-published novella. I definitely bought and read it, although I can’t tell you much except that it was partly about vampires.

So it was fun for me to have Sheena pop back up on my radar over the past handful of months, announcing her publishing deal and talking about her upcoming release. I’m happy for her, and look forward to seeing what her writing is like a decade later. This book does sound interesting, even if I’m currently very much in a cozy fantasy mood, and this book is way more of a dark Romantasy style story. There’s still about seven months until this book is out, so who knows where my reading mood will be at that point.

All right, I don’t want to take any more time. Are you ready to see this fantastic cover? Because I am definitely ready to show it off! Afterwards I’ve also included basic information like the blurb, and the book details like cover artist, publisher, and release date.

Okay, here it is, the cover to Claimed by Darkness by S.R. Hartley…..

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭… The night Nora’s parents were murdered, something ancient and malevolent stirred beneath the waves-and it never let go. No one else felt it. But Nora did… she still does. The darkness whispers her name, curls through her thoughts, tempts her with release. On the edge of the Mackinac Bridge, Nora is ready to surrender. But fate has other plans.

𝑨 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔. Saved by Kairos, a powerful celestial, who claims she’s his fated mate, Nora is thrust into a hidden world of otherworldly beings and ancient prophecy. Her past-wiped away. Her future-bound to a war that began long before she was born.

A century ago, the demon queen Nyx stole everything from Nora. Now she wants her soul. But Nora won’t go down without a fight. To save the world—and the ones she loves—Nora must unlock the terrible truth of who she is. Even if it means binding herself to a dark king who promises love… and carries deadly secrets. As Heaven and Hell collide, Nora must choose between the mate who holds her heart and the darkness that calls her name.

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

The cover art is by Miroslava Hrebeňárová (@1enary1 on Instagram). And this book is coming out next year from City Owl Books; the anticipated release date is April 7, 2026. So if this sounds like something you’d be interested in, definitely be sure to add it to your TBR, and follow Sheena/S.R. Hartley on socials (@s.r.hartley.author)