Month: June 2025

Whisper Among Thorns by Cassandra Aston

On By TracyIn Contemporary, First Person Narrative, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Romantasy, Tracy's Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

Whispers Among Thorns (Deadly Fae Duology, #1)Whispers Among Thorns by Cassandra Aston

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Series: Deadly Fae, #1

Release Date: June 24, 2025

There’s only one rule that truly matters. Never fall in love with a human. Break it and die.

Living under the radar in New York City, Sav just wants to carve out a life in her new world. That hope is shattered when the leader of the anti-fae movement destroys her home in an attack on her people. Finding herself caught between protecting a deadly secret and saving the fae from the humans bent on slaughter, Sav must infiltrate the extremist’s inner circle, posing as a human, and seduce her sworn enemy’s son.

Jack, the son of the infamous anti-fae-faction leader Dane Clyde, has always lived in his father’s shadow. When a woman is brought into AFF headquarters in chains, he finds himself drawn to her despite the danger. Caught between duty and desire, Jack must choose a side before one is chosen for him.

What began as a mission to rescue Sav’s people may end up costing them both so much more than they bargained for.

When I saw this blurb on Netgalley – I was excited to read this story, but sadly it didn’t live up to the blurb. First the book is written in First Person Narrative – UGH – but the author doesn’t just give the reader one POV – no, it is multiple character POVs in rotating chapters – which made the story drag and hard to get into. Then there is Sav, I just never warmed up to her and found the romance between her and Jack to be underwhelming. I did like the dual world perspective and some of the secondary characters, but unfortunately, that just wasn’t enough to salvage this story for me. This is the first book in a duology, and I would recommend reading the books in order.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

A Tarnished Canvas by Anna Lee Huber

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Scottish/HighlanderLeave a comment

A Tarnished Canvas (Lady Darby Mystery, #13)Barbara’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Lady Darby Mysteries #13
Publication Date: 6/24/25
Period: Regency Edinburgh – 1833
Number of Pages: 400

Some research, an author’s brainstorming session, and a simple question – “What if?”– brings us this very lucky (for us) thirteenth addition to the Lady Darby series. The story quickly spins from a tame invitation to attend an estate auction to a chaotic scene of mayhem and murder.

Sebastian has become very restless as they’ve spent a quiet winter in Edinburgh. While Kiera has had her painting to occupy her time, Gage has mostly played ‘gentleman’ rather than having an interesting investigation to occupy him. He is quickly going to get more excitement than he wants! Kiera decides to attend the second day of the auction to view the items to be auctioned, and there are several she’d like to have. On the third day, they return to bid on the items – when the floor collapses beneath them. Everyone in the bidding room quickly finds themselves in the room below – covered in dust, – with many severe injuries.

As the floor collapse was an accident, Kiera and Gage go about their business happily preparing for their daughter Emma’s first birthday party. That peace doesn’t last long because Sergeant Maclean soon pays a visit to ask for their assistance in solving the mystery of the collapse and the death that occurred because of it. No, it wasn’t an accident as the papers reported, it was sabotage that could have taken many lives.

It is all-hands-on-deck to solve this one because there are more suspects and motives than anyone can count – and no real clues to point at any of them for sure. When I say all hands, I truly mean it. I think we had everyone except Lord Gage helping with the investigation. Gage’s step-brother, Lord Henry, and Kiera’s brother Trevor were on hand along with our usual Anderly and Bree, and it wouldn’t be Edinburgh if Bonnie Brock didn’t play a role. With a plethora of red herrings, suspects, and motives, you’ll be hard pressed to identify the villain.

I thoroughly enjoyed this new entry to the series, and now, I can hardly wait for the nicely teased next addition coming in a year! I highly recommend this book, this series, and this author. While you can enjoy this as a standalone, I sincerely suggest reading the series from the beginning to better understand the character growth – especially Kiera’s. If you don’t want to go back and read the first twelve, I suggest trying the first two at least. However, if you try those, you’ll be hooked and will read all of them. 😊Happy Reading!

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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