Blog Tour | A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian | Review

February 23, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER meets Stephen King in this character-driven thriller about a study group of six teenagers who witness something tragic in an abandoned mine, which comes back to haunt them 20 years later.

SIX CLASSMATES.

ONE TERRIFYING NIGHT.

A MURDER TWENTY YEARS IN THE MAKING…

There’s more to Wesley Falls than meets the eye, but for six high school students, it’s home.

Kelly, the new girl and rule-follower.

Maddy, the beauty and the church favorite.

Padma, the brains and all-A student.

Casey, the jock and football star.

James, the burnout and just trying to make it to graduation.

And Jia, the psychic, who can see the future.

When these six are assigned to work on a summer group project, their lives are forever changed. At an end of the year party in the abandoned mine, they witness a preventable tragedy, but no one will take them seriously. As things escalate, they realize the church, the police, and the town’s founders are all conspiring to cover up what happened. When James is targeted as the scapegoat, to avoid suspicion, they vow their silence and to never contact each other again. Their plan works – almost.

Twenty years later, Maddy is found murdered is Wesley Falls, and the remaining five are forced to confront their past and work together to finally put right what happened all those years ago. If they can survive…

BUY LINKS | Bookshop.org | Amazon | B&N

Do not let the complexity of the characters and plot of this one scare you, once you get through the beginning you may be sucked in like I was. I could not put this one down once I really got into it and had to know what was going to happen to each of the characters. It does have more of a slow burn vibe and is more character driven then plot driven, which I know may not appeal to everyone – for me it really worked. I really enjoyed the overall feel of the book, a wonderful mix of mystery, mystical and horror. I felt like all the characters felt unique and enjoyed seeing their paths throughout the story. I didn’t necessary love all of them, but still felt each was authentic. I would definitely read from this author again as I really enjoyed this one and liked the experience of seeing where it went.

Vera Kurian is a writer and scientist based in Washington DC. Her debut novel, NEVER SAW ME COMING (Park Row Books, 2021 was an Edgar Award nominee and was named one of the New York Times’ Best Thrillers of 2021. Her short fiction has been published in magazines such as Glimmer Train, Day One, and The Pinch. She has a PhD in Social Psychology, where she studied intergroup relations, ideology, and quantitative methods. She blogs irregularly about writing, horror movies and pop culture/terrible TV.

SOCIAL LINKS | Author website | IG | Twitter

Happy reading!

Book Blitz | Slashed Potatoes and Grave-y by Joann Keder

February 20, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Slashed Potatoes and Grave-y
Joann Keder
(Honeypie Mysteries, #1)
Publication date: February 14th 2024
Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery

Honeypie Sweetwater’s life is a recipe for disaster—her culinary career in San Francisco is burnt to a crisp, her sterling reputation tossed out like last week’s leftovers, and now her home is slipping through her fingers like fine sand. Just as she’s about to surrender to fate, a ghost from the past delivers a bombshell—her beloved grandmother didn’t die; she was murdered. Clutching the deed to a quaint diner on the rugged coast, Honeypie whisks back to the salty sea air of her youth to unravel a mystery that’s been marinating for years. In a town bubbling with secrets, every friend could be a suspect, and every enemy, a clue. As the plot thickens and an enigmatic blast from the past steps out of the shadows, Honeypie must face a bitter truth: the most dangerous ingredients in this simmering scandal are her own buried secrets.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes& Noble / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

“Ma’am?”

Honeypie Sweetwater stared out the window of her condo. The rain was coming down in sheets, which was fitting for her current financial situation. Unwillingly, she turned her head to face the stern woman sitting across the table from her.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Steam, I—”

“It’s SIStine, like the chapel? And I’m Ms.” She twitched her nose just like the old television show with the witch. Also fitting.

“This is your copy of the documents for the foreclosure on this property.”

“It’s my home. We’re not talking about a lemonade stand. I raised my son here and started a business—”

“And that failed too, didn’t it?”

Honeypie dug what was left of her fingernails into her palms, doing her level best not to lose her cool. “You just look at the numbers. You don’t have any idea what my life has been like, or what it took just to put food on the table for my kid some months.”

After a brief stare-down that Honeypie felt confident she’d won, the banker leaned back, causing the wobbly wooden chair to creak in protest. She flopped an arm over the back of the chair and stuck her tongue in her cheek before delivering the next blow.

“There is also the matter of your inheritance. The land and property in Washington State will also become our holdings after you sign the paperwork.” She shuffled through her papers containing a collection of colorful stickers. “I hear great things about the museum in Misty Cove.”

“The Chewseum? I didn’t realize that was still open. It’s a food museum. Kinda cheesy, get it?”

Ms. Sistine ignored H.P.’s attempt at humor and shoved the documents in front of her.

“Please sign on the lines I’ve highlighted.”

Her inheritance. Her childhood. Everything that made her the woman she was today.

Author Bio:

USA TODAY bestselling author, Joann Keder spent most of her years in the Midwest, growing up and raising a family on the Great Plains of Nebraska. She worked for sixteen years as a piano teacher before returning to school to receive a master’s degree in creative writing. A mid-life move to the Pacific Northwest led her to re-examine her priorities. She now creates stories about life and relationships in small towns while her ever-patient husband encourages her on.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram

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Review | The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught

February 19, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Author-artist Fern Haught weaves an enchanting, gentle fantasy tale of friendship, determination, and respecting nature in their debut graphic novel.

Juniper and Hadley have a good thing going in Larkspur, spending their respective days apprenticing at a little bakery and performing at the local inn. But when a stranger places an unusual order at the bakery, the two friends (and Hadley’s pet snake, Fern) set out on a journey to forage the magical mushrooms needed to make the requested galette pastries.

Along the way, Juniper and Hadley stumble across a mystery too compelling to ignore: Something has been coming out of the woods at night and eating the local farmers’ crops, leaving behind a trail of glowing goo. Intent on finally going on an adventure that could fuel their bardic craft, Hadley tows Juniper into the woods to investigate.

What started as a simple errand to pick mushrooms soon turns into a thrilling quest to save some furry new friends―and their caretaker, a soft-spoken little fey named Thistle―who are in danger of losing their home.

If you enjoy graphic novels such as The Tea Dragon Society and others that are similar, you will probably want to pick up this one. It’s exactly as described, a cozy fantasy adventure, and so wholesome and wonderful. I loved Juniper and Hadley’s little adventure and their misadventures, especially Hadley’s enthusiasm throughout. They played really well off of each other and were wonderful companions. The art style is whimsical and a joy to read, suiting the cozy world and characters that Fern Haught created. I’ll definitely be looking for more of their work in the future.

Happy reading!

Review | Before You Know It by S.K. Williams

February 18, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Sometimes, beneath the weight of the world, we find ourselves drowning. Let this collection of poetry breathe life back into your lungs and remind you of everything that you’ve already overcome.

SK Williams dives back into their past with Before You Know It , a collection of poetry made up of two stories told in tandem, recalling the ages of 18 to 28, when the world laid waiting at their fingertips and the pressure of figuring everything out was never too far away.

Featuring four chapters, divided into two parts each— “In the Beginning,” “Uncharted Water,” “Beneath the Storm,” and “At the End” —this collection compares two peoples’ life experiences to one another and sees how similar we all really are. Through this book, Williams explores themes of youth, uncertainty, ambition, anxiety, depression, powerlessness, isolation, and body image.

At moments nostalgic, freeing, and youthful, and other times pushed down beneath the mounting pressure and responsibility of young adulthood, these two perspectives ask us to take a moment to appreciate how far we’ve come and to trust where life will take us.

Me and modern poetry aren’t always friends, so I always like to find new collections that I enjoy. This collection delves into a number of issues one might face when growing up and becoming an adult, navigating adult spaces. I enjoyed the writing styles of both perspectives, but I do wish that the different perspectives were better identified throughout the collection as I often found myself losing track of which perspective it was I was reading from. I did really enjoy the imagery and atmosphere created through the dual voices and found the talk of depression, anxiety, growth and learning who you are – plus talk about some of the struggles facing younger generations in the current day to be very raw and real, as well as relatable.

Happy reading!

Blog Tour | The Framed Woman of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace | Review

February 17, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

An abandoned English manor. A peculiar missing portrait. A cozy, deviously clever murder mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.

Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism.

After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history.

With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…

Buy Links | BookShop.org | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Books A Million

I’ve been in the mood for more mysteries and thrillers lately and this one really piqued my interest, so I was eager to grab it. Though the story itself started out pretty slow, it was hard not to get invested in Jo and her story. I found the mystery itself fun and interesting and really enjoyed how all the characters played off of each other in some ways. Each character had a good identity, which is hard to do – though Jo was by far my favorite character, her personality and character really shone through. The mystery itself was fun and I felt that the ending did a good job of wrapping everything up without any lingering questions. This was exactly the read I wanted.

Brandy Schillace, PhD, is a historian of medicine and the critically acclaimed author of Death’s Summer Coat: What Death and Dying Teach Us About Life and Living and Clockwork Futures: The Science of Steampunk. The editor-in-chief of the journal Medical Humanities, she previously worked as a professor of literature and in research and public engagement at the Dittrick Medical History Center and Museum. Brandy also hosts the Peculiar Book Club Podcast, a twice-monthly show.The Framed Women of Ardemore House, featuring an autistic protagonist caught at the center of a murder mystery, is her fiction debut. Brandy is also autistic, though has not (to her knowledge) been a suspect in a murder investigation. Find her at https://brandyschillace.com/

Happy reading!

Blog Tour | A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen | Review

February 1, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Mike Chen brings us an epic love story—in a time loop. When strangers Mariana Pineda and Carter Cho get stuck together repeating the same four days, finally reaching Friday might mean having to give up the connection growing between them.

On Thursday at 12:42pm, Carter Cho is working as a technician at a particle accelerator when it explodes, striking him with a green energy—and sending him back in time to Monday morning. And this happens over and over again. Which at first is interesting, but quickly becomes lonely as the world moves through the same motions and only he changes. If he ever wants to get out of the time loop, he needs help.

On one of the loops, he finally manages to bring Mariana Pineda in with him by getting her struck by the same energy at the same moment. Now they have to find out how to get the accelerator to finish its current test so that they can finally reach Friday.

Along the way, Carter and Mariana help each other through grief, decisions about unfulfilling jobs, and confronting difficult pasts—all the while eating lots of great food since their bank accounts and cholesterol reset with every loop. But the longer they stay in the loop, the more they realize that getting out of it, might mean they’ll have to give up the connection growing between them that’s slowly leading to love.

BUY LINKS | Bookshop.org | B&N | Books A Million | Amazon

I’m always intrigued to see how certain sci-fi elements are handled and time loops is one of those things. Sometimes you do run the risk of the stories being very cerebral and harder to understand, but I found this one very accessible and about far ore than the time loop itself.

I did not expect this book to dive into things such as loss and grief but it did. I enjoyed seeing Carter and Mariana’s relationship build over the repeating days and found myself unable to put this one down thanks to the fast paced writing and intriguing concept.

Mike Chen is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Brotherhood, Here and Now and Then, Light Years from Home and other novels. He has covered geek culture for sites such as Nerdist, Tor.com and StarTrek.com, and in a different life, he’s covered the NHL. A member of SFWA, Mike lives in the Bay Area with his wife, daughter and many rescue animals. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @mikechenwriter.

Social Links | Author website | Twitter: @mikechenwriter

Happy reading!

Can’t Wait Wednesday | 1/31/2024

January 31, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings based on the meme Waiting on Wednesday by Breaking the Spine. In this weekly post people share a book that they’re excited about being released.

This one came onto my radar due to it being centered on Korean mythology, then I saw it was by Robin Ha who I have loved something from before – so I’m excited to pick this one up when it comes out on February 13th.

Goodreads | Amazon

An epic new graphic novel fantasy—a queer, feminist reimagining of the Fox Maiden legend from Korean mythology.

Kai Song dreams of being a warrior. She wants to follow in the footsteps of her beloved father, the commander of the Royal Legion. But while her father believes in Kai and trains her in martial arts, their society isn’t ready for a girl warrior.

Still, Kai is determined. But she is plagued by rumors that she is the granddaughter of Gumiho, the infamous nine-tailed fox demon who was killed by her father years before.

Everything comes crashing down the day Kai learns the deadly secret about her mother’s past. Now she must come to terms with the truth about her identity and take her destiny into her own hands. As Kai desperately searches for a way to escape her fate, she comes to find compassion, and even love, in the most unexpected places.

Set in 16th century Korea and richly infused with Korean folklore, The Fox Maidens is a timeless and powerful story about fighting for your place in the world, even when it seems impossible.

Happy reading!

Review | Out There by Kate Folk

January 30, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

With a focus on the weird and eerie forces that lurk beneath the surface of ordinary experience, Kate Folk’s debut short story collection is perfectly pitched to the madness of our current moment. A medical ward for a mysterious bone-melting disorder is the setting of a perilous love triangle. A curtain of void obliterates the globe at a steady pace, forcing Earth’s remaining inhabitants to decide with whom they want to spend eternity. A man fleeing personal scandal enters a codependent relationship with a house that requires a particularly demanding level of care. And in the title story, originally published in “The New Yorker,” a woman in San Francisco uses dating apps to find a partner despite the threat posed by “blots,” preternaturally handsome artificial men dispatched by Russian hackers to steal data. Meanwhile, in a poignant companion piece, a woman and a blot forge a genuine, albeit doomed, connection.

Prescient and wildly imaginative, Out There depicts an uncanny landscape that holds a mirror to our subconscious fears and desires. Each story beats with its own fierce heart, and together they herald an exciting new arrival in the tradition of speculative literary fiction.

This collection of stories was a wild ride. Part dystopian part sci fi, it would likely appeal to anyone who loves the weirdness of shows like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. Also, as someone who loves Shirley Jackson, some of the stories in here definitely had tones of similarity to some of her more out there stories as well. I listened to the audiobook personally and really enjoyed the varying narrators who changed depending on the story and protagonist. There were definitely some stories that didn’t exactly appeal to me, but the majority of them were really captivating and interesting.

Happy reading!

Review | Goddesses and Heroines by Jean Mezies

January 29, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

A beautifully illustrated collection of profiles and stories of women from religion and myth, retold for children

Discover the stories of goddesses and other powerful women shared throughout the ages in this beautifully illustrated compendium for children.

With profiles of over 80 goddesses, heroines, and legendary women featured, this is a must-have introduction to the key female figures from cultures all over the world. More than 30 beloved stories are retold by award-winning author Jean Menzies, with striking illustrations bringing the tales to life. Find out how Japanese goddess of the dawn Ame-no-Uzume saved the day by dancing; how ancient Greek witch Medea helped defeat a dragon; and how legendary Celtic warrior Sc�thach trained the hero C� Chulainn to fight. In addition, the reference section is packed with extra information, including a pronunciation guide.

Goddesses and Heroines is the ideal gift, with foil on the cover and stunning illustrations throughout. Children will love exploring the tales by themselves or as bedtime stories.

Every book in this series, especially those written by Jean, get better and better. I love the formatting and the way the rich illustrations goes along with not only the pages that are more snippets of information, but also the illustrations that accompany the stories. The information is vibrant, interesting and easily consumable. I really enjoyed that there was a good variety of cultures and mythologies represented, it truly felt like little glimpses of cultures all over the world. I really hope that there are more books to come in this series, as I’ve enjoyed every one so far.

Happy reading!

Review | Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

January 22, 2024January 22, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

The book was a bit of a slow start for me as the world was being built and Piranesi was establishing himself as a character, but once it got to the point that threads started getting pulled and unraveled it really got going. As everything came together…and subsequently pulled apart, it was a gripping read. There were certainly moments that might have been a little predictable, but for the most part the book leaves you guessing until the very end. Not only who the key players really are, but what roles they play in Piranesi’s story. The writing was beautiful to read, especially the descriptions of Piranesi’s surroundings and the ending, though not completely closed was satisfying.

Happy reading!