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- Spring Reading List -- So far, I have read five out of the 10 titles that I shared. I am not currently reading any other titles from this list, but several of the remaining five titles are at the top of my queue.
- Winter Reading List -- I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I've only read six of the 20 titles on this list. I am currently reading The Midnight Feast, but I have to admit that I'm struggling with this one and am on the verge of DNF'ing it. One of the other titles on this list, The Housewarming, is my August book club pick, so it's coming up.
- Fall 2025 Reading List -- This one is slightly better than the winter list, but I've still only read seven out of 20 titles.
- Summer 2025 Reading List -- I have read six of the 15 titles on last year's summer list. However, three titles are in this year's One Woman Book Club: Beyond the Moonlit Sea, Lightning in a Mason Jar, and Lullaby for Witches.
Shifter City Fated Mates series
Author: Jaymin Eve
I had such high hopes for this series and had been waiting for it to be complete for awhile. I love Jaymin Eve as an author and have read many of her books in the past. This series, however, left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. I enjoyed the first three books, which is why I'm including this series in the reviews and not in the DNF section at the end, but I just could not get through the final book. I stopped reading about halfway through and just haven't had a desire to go back and finish it. Honestly, for me, the story felt complete at the end of the third book, and the reveal of the "secret" villain mastermind and a missing father felt forced and unnecessary to the storyline, and I just lost interest.
Author: Clive Cussler and Graham Brown
I've loved Clive Cussler's books since I was in middle school, and I think I've read (and loved) every single one of his Dirk Pitt adventure books. This was my first Kurt Austin novel, which exists inside the Dirk Pitt universe, so I had high expectations. I wasn't disappointed, but it also didn't live up to Dirk Pitt for me. I did enjoy the banter between Kurt and his partner, Joe, but it kind of felt like it was trying too hard to be Dirk and Al without being Dirk and Al, if you know what I mean. There will be a spoiler in the next paragraph, but I can't talk myself out of including it because it's pretty integral to my final thoughts.
This one, if you couldn't guess from the title, deals with missing Egyptian treasure. Specifically the treasure that was taken from a few dozen tombs in the Valley of the Kings by a self-professed pharaoh who disappeared from history. The theory is that he had his disciples load all the treasure onto boats and sailed across the world, eventually ending up in the Grand Canyon. An international arms dealer wants to find this lost treasure so that he can sell it off to fund his enterprise. Kurt and Al inadvertently get involved when they save the crew of a sinking ship that's carrying relics that will lead to the location of the treasure. They end up teaming up with an MI5 agent and follow the clues to a bunch of different places before finding their way back to the States where they eventually end up in a cave in the Grand Canyon that contains Egyptian artifacts...from a movie that was never finished. In contrast to every other Clive Cussler book I have ever read, they do not find the treasure.
Since all of Clive Cussler's books deal with actual history, I did a little research. What I found was that in 1909 a newspaper in Arizona published an article about an archeologist named G.E. Kinkaid who claimed he had discovered a cave in the Grand Canyon that contained evidence of Egyptian culture. Kinkaid reportedly said he joined a professor S.A. Jordon on an excavation that was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Despite the validity of the article -- it exists -- the Smithsonian denies having any record of this ever happening, and in all the years since, no one has found this cave. So basically, this entire book was about a conspiracy theory. Hence my mixed feelings.
Author: Trent Dalton
My March book club pick is the best so far, which is surprising to me since I don't usually enjoy memoirs. But this book was exceptional. It's not light and fluffy, though there were parts that made me laugh out loud. Instead of trying to rewrite my summary in a new way, I'm just going to quote it directly from my full review:
Eli Bell is 12-years-old when he realizes his stepfather, Lyle, is selling drugs for Tytus Broz. It's a pretty big blow for Eli since Lyle is his hero, the man he looks up to the most in the world. One night, Tytus Broz and his goons show up at Eli's house to take Lyle away, never to be seen again, and Eli's mother ends up going to prison on a made-up charge. Eli and his brother, August, have to go live with their dad, Robert, who's basically an alcoholic hermit due to his debilitating anxiety. Through it all, Eli has one consistent adult to lean on: Slim Halliday, an infamous criminal who holds the record for most successful prison escapes. Eventually, the story will come full circle, but it takes years before justice will be served.
Author: Frieda McFadden
This was my first book by this author, and I'll be honest. Whenever an author goes "viral," I always go into the reading with a dose of skepticism. I've been burned by other viral authors before, but this book hooked me from start to finish. It was so good! I especially liked the use of irony all throughout. I don't think there was a truly good character in this book at all. Morally gray at best. I will admit, that as a teacher, this one had some uncomfortable parts, but I think it would be pretty concerning for this book not to make a teacher uncomfortable. I'm not sure how to review this one without some spoilers, so if you don't want any, probably skip the next paragraph.
There are three main characters in this one: Eve, her husband Nathaniel, and their mutual student, Addie. Addie is the pariah of the school after a scandal involving her and another teacher, Mr. Tuttle, in which he was forced to resign. Mr. Tuttle was Eve's mentor. Both she and her husband are teachers; Eve teaches math, and Nathaniel is the beloved English teacher whom all the girls have crushes on. Addie is in both their classes. Where Eve is distrustful and harsh toward her, Nathaniel is encouraging and supportive. Meanwhile, Eve and Nathaniel are having marital problems. You can probably see where this is going... There are so many secrets and lies in this one, and one side character who seems unimportant until the very end. There are no true good guys in this one, though there is one decided villain.
Tell Me You Love Me and Crazy in Love (Love and War series)
Author: Emilia Finn
Y'all know I can't pass up a book by this author, and she has a new fighter series, so you know I'm all in. I read this one in one sitting, and I stayed up way too late doing it, but I don't regret it. Alanna Page left Plainview with no explanation a decade ago, but circumstances are calling her home where the love she left behind is still waiting. Except Alanna hasn't come back alone; she's brought her 10-year-old son home with her, and left behind a soon-to-be ex-husband. Now she's back living in the unhappy home she grew up in and trying to avoid Tommy Watkins at all costs. Except she can't. And she won't be able to keep the horrible details of why she left in the first place secret for much longer.
Book two is a continuation of book one but from the points of view of Tommy's twin brother, Chris, and Alana's best friend, Fox. Fox and Chris do not get along, mostly because Chris, who is on the spectrum, thrives on routine and Fox brings chaos. So of course they're going to be drawn to each other, right? Fair warning, this book is way spicier than the first book in the series.
I swear, each new thing I read by Emilia Finn is better than the last. Both of these had so much depth. She took some very tough, sensitive, serious topics and turned them into a beautiful story. If you've not read anything by her before, I cannot recommend her books enough. And you best believe I'll be reading every book in this series as it becomes available.
Author: Sarah Penner
This is a historical mystery set in 1873 in London when ghosts were all the rage. Lenna Wickes has sought out Vaudeline D'Allaire, a renowned spiritualist who helps grieving families find justice for their murdered loved ones, to learn the art of seance so that she can find closure over her sister Evie's death. Although she's naturally talented, Lenna spends most of the book doubting everything to do with seance. During her apprenticeship, Vaudeline is called back to London at the behest of a Mr. Morley to help solve the murder of the president of the London Seance Society, a gentlemen's club that has more secrets than anyone could imagine. Mr. Morley is the vice president of the club's seance department and was having a secret romance with Lenna's sister, who was using him to investigate the society's crimes. The culminating scene is a seance in which they plan to invoke the spirit of the club's president so that he can identify his killer (I feel like this isn't a spoiler since it's brought up very early on in the book and literally everything in the book is leading up to it).
I enjoyed this one, but it will definitely not be for everyone. This was my second book by Sarah Penner. I started with her debut novel, The Lost Apothecary, back in 2023, which was wildly popular and for good reason. Reviews for The London Seance Society are not as good, and I would agree with that. I didn't really feel all that invested in any of the main characters -- Lenna, the female lead, was hard for me to like at some points in the story -- and I wasn't really a fan of how the points of view swapped between first and third. I also agree with other reviewers that the pacing was a bit off. And I wish there had been more from Evie, as to me she was the more interesting character of the sisters.
There is quite a bit of history in The London Seance Society, which you'll know I'm always interested in diving into, so I recommend reading through the author's notes at the end of the book. Seances were en vogue in the late 1800s, with most mediums or spiritualists being women. Although the society in the book is fictionalized, there were organizations like it in Victorian England. The Ghost Club, founded in 1862, is the world's oldest paranormal investigation organization, and it is still in operation today.
The Forever Witch (The Coven: Vampire Witch series book 3)
Author: Chandelle LaVaun
This is the magic series that I've been reading for years, so this will be a brief review since I don't want to spoil a bunch of stuff. This is the fourth series in this saga that's all connected, so you have to read it in order from the beginning (The Lost Witch), otherwise you will be completely lost. I've been waiting for this book to drop for what seems like forever, so I was a little disappointed when I saw that it was only about half as long as I was expecting. But the author has had some personal problems recently, and she wanted to release something instead of nothing, and I appreciate having at least half of the story. So to give you a summary of what the entire saga is about, Lillith is rising from Hell to take over the Earth, and it's up to the Coven to defeat her. The Coven is made up of 21 witches, each representing one of the major Arcana cards in a Tarot deck. There's also demons and fallen angels, archangels and reincarnated angels, soulmates, fae, and time travel. They're gearing up for the final battle, which should be coming really soon.
Author: Lindsay Jayne Ashford
My April book club pick proved why Lindsay Jayne Ashford is one of my favorite historical fiction authors. Set during World War II, this story was based on actual SOE operations leading up to D-Day. The main character, Alice, becomes a part of a secret mission to smuggle spies and supplies into occupied France after she washes up on the shores of the Cornish estate serving as headquarters. I'm going to quote my full review a little bit:
If you're a fan of historical fiction and/or stories based on World War II, this book is for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I have all the other Lindsay Jayne Ashford books I've read. She does historical fiction so well. If you've not added her to your TBR list yet, here's your sign to do so right away.
Guardians of the Veil (Cora Roberts series)
Author: Adaline Winters
I've been waiting on this series finale for what feels like forever! I read the first four books of the series back in 2024, so I'm not that far off really. And book four ended in a cliffhanger! So I've been sitting with this unresolved storyline for over a year, y'all. And I must say that it fell a little flat for me. After four books of action and drama, the conclusion felt almost too easy, although at the same time parts of it were very satisfying. I know; it's confusing. I think I was just expecting more. Here's a summary of the entire series: Cora's grandmother has released an ancient god of death in order to start a supernatural war with humans so that she can rule the world. It's up to Cora and her aunts along with members of the other supernatural factions, including Cora's uncle the devil and her father the angel of death (both heaven and hell represented), to stop her. There's also fated mates, a secret society, and lots of betrayal. I enjoyed the series overall, truly; I just felt like this last book didn't end with a bang like I was expecting it to.
Fourth Wing and Iron Flame (The Empyrean series)
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Fun fact - I went to college with this author. We weren't friends or really even acquaintances, but she was in at least one class with me.
Anyway -- how did I not know this series is unfinished?! I finally gave in to all the hype (which is well deserved by the way) only to discover that book four doesn't even have a release date yet! And there's a book five?! Y'all know how I feel about reading unfinished series. It's torture. So I made myself stop reading after book two since we all know that I'm going to have to reread the entire series when the final books drop. Whenever that is.
Violet has spent her entire life training to be a scribe, but her mother, the commander of the dragon rider academy, has other plans and forces her to enter the training center as a cadet. No one expects Violet to survive crossing the bridge to get in, much less surviving until the bonding. Then she does the impossible and bonds with not one but two dragons -- one of which is one of the most powerful dragons alive. To make things even more complicated, that dragon is mated to the dragon of her enemy, Xaden Riorsan, whose sentenced to the dragon rider academy for crimes committed by his father. Violet and Xaden's lives are now tied together, literally; if one dies, they all die. There's also a huge conspiracy about the ongoing conflict with the gryphons and a rebellion that's gaining ground right under everyone's noses.
This is a truly spectacular series so far, and I'm probably not going to be able to hold out on reading book three, which we all know is going to result in me being grumpy while I wait for the next book. Did I mention that it doesn't even have a release date yet? Not even a tentative one. Come on, Rebecca. Help a girl out!
This Story Might Save Your Life
Author: Tiffany Crum
I had never heard of this book before, but you can bet that if it's on the library's spotlight shelf, it's probably worth a look. And if you haven't noticed, I've been on a bit of a mystery, suspense kick lately. I make no apologies for this deviation from my normal fantasy and romantasy picks, which are starting to all kind of read like the same story with different dressings. But I digress. This book was exactly what I needed at the time I found it. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it (especially if you liked None of This is True by Lisa Jewell).
Joy and her best friend, Benny, have a famous podcast, This Story Might Save Your Life, in which they share crazy scenarios that happened in real life and how to survive them. Business is good. They've taken their show on the road, are in talks for a syndication deal, and are co-writing a memoir. Life behind the scenes isn't all its cracked up to be, though. Joy, who suffers from narcolepsy, is in an abusive, manipulative marriage. She's told no one, not even Benny, how bad it is. Then one day out of the blue she and her husband, Xander, disappear. When Xander is found dead with Joy nowhere to be found, it doesn't take investigators long to turn their attention to Benny.
Blazing Inferno (Mated by Fire book 3)
Author: Katie May
I had to go back and reread the first two books of this series, which I read at the beginning of last year, before diving into book three. I've just seen that the next book is supposed to release this summer, although I can't find a title or a placeholder for it anywhere. I've also read that there are five books planned, but again I can't confirm it.
Here's a brief summary: The main character, Izzy, has been in the foster system for most of her life. Now, just before she ages out of the system, she's finally found one that fits. She soon learns that not only is the supernatural real, but she's part of it -- half witch, half shifter. Not only that, but she has multiple mates, one of whom still doesn't trust her three books in and another who has been cursed by a crazy stalker witch. There's also a power-hungry aunt who now knows of her existence, who may or may not be responsible for her mother's death, and who is forcing Izzy to attend witch school. Thankfully, one of her mates is also being forced to attend the school with her (although his sponsor is the brother of the witch who cursed her other mate), and one of the ruling triad is helping her out. She also learns who, and more importantly what, her fathers are. Hint: one of them is batshit crazy.
Author: Delia Owens
I finally caved to the pressure to read this book, and I already know that my opinion on it is going to be controversial, but I'm going to give it anyway. This book was just okay for me. Before you come at me, I didn't not enjoy it; there were just some things about it that bugged me. The one thing that really and truly drove me crazy was the way the author wrote the accents. I just could not get over it, and honestly I stumbled over them quite a bit. And I live in the South. I also couldn't wrap my head around the fact that an entire family just abandoned this little six-year-old girl, and then everybody who knew about her did nothing about it. Even the truancy officer just gave up. I know it was a different time back then, but still. She was six. It's a wonder she survived at all. Also, Chase Andrews's obsession with her was just weird in my opinion, and I felt like it was never adequately explained. It legitimately made no sense whatsoever that he would have been so hung up on this girl.
The one thing I did appreciate? The author really did a good job of capturing the inherent prejudices from well-to-do white people against poor white people. Not only did they stereotype and shun the protagonist, but they also refused to help a child who was obviously in need because she was "marsh trash." The fact that Kya was able to overcome all of that coupled with literally her entire family abandoning her plus being targeted by a predator such as Chase Andrews and then went on to become a well-respected naturalist, despite never going to school beyond one day, makes for an intriguing story, I must admit. Throw in the death/murder of the predator, and I understand how this is such a popular book and why it was made into a movie.
Author: Laura Barrow
My May book club pick was beautiful. It's very different from my normal read, but it's one that I absolutely recommend. Savannah and her sisters, Rayanne and Sue Ellen, return to their hometown of Muscadine, Louisiana, to dig up a time capsule they buried twenty-five years ago. In it they find a picture of Savannah and her twin sister, Georgia, from the day that Georgia went missing. Having never found closure, Savannah convinces her sisters to investigate this mysterious woman, leading them down a path that uncovers family secrets and brings the sisters back together. Read my full review here.
Now for the three series that I started but didn't finish for various reasons.
- Winter Solstice Mates series -- I read all of book 1 and part of book 2. The story itself was interesting, but there were so many editing issues with both of these books, particularly with the dialogue missing the speech tags and not being formatted properly. Those issues made it really difficult to read and some parts were just downright confusing, which was very disappointing considering all the 5-star reviews.
- Royals of Kingwood Academy series -- This is another series where I read all of the first book but only part of the second. Honestly, I find myself doing this with this particular author so many times. I don't know what it is about her writing that I just can't into, but I think I've only finished one series by her. Don't take my word for it, though. The reviews from others don't match my opinion even the slightest.
- Validus Vale Academy series -- I'll be honest; I don't remember anything about this one at all. I can tell you that I didn't even make it through book 1 though, so do with that what you will.
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