A Lark’s Regret by Lynn Messina

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

A Lark's Regret (Verity Lark Mysteries, #5)

Barbara’s rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Series: Verity Lark Mysteries #5
Publication Date: 7/11/25
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 408

I always look forward to each new entry into the Verity Lark series, and this one was well worth the wait. As always, it is filled with wit and good humor along with a superior cast of characters and a great mystery.

It seems Twaddle-Thum has a competitor, Mrs. Flimmer-Flam, and she’s out to get Her Outrageousness, The Duchess of Kesgrave. That will never do! Not only has Flimmer-Flam called the duchess a murderer, but she’s also maligned the good name of Twaddle-Thum. So, all hands are on deck to track down Flimmer-Flam’s identity and set the record straight.

Who is behind Flimmer-Flam? Is it just someone with a grudge against the Duchess? Is it more than one person? How many bodies will there be before the mystery is solved?

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but I did find it a bit slow in places. I loved seeing Verity’s anxiety in dealing with the Duchess – and how they might actually work through it all. The growth in Verity’s relationship with Hardwicke was a delight to watch as well because of her reaction to actually realizing she has feelings.

If you’re looking for a witty, humorous read with wonderful characters and a great mystery, you should give this book a try.

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

View all my reviews

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

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

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Spellshop #2

Release Date: July 15, 2025

With her love of languages Terlu Perna decided that working at the Great Library of Alyssium would be the perfect job for her, so she moved far from her family to the capital of Alyssium and began working. But she never realized how lonely the job would be, so she cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant to be her companion. But only sorcerers were allowed to do magic and despite the support of the head librarian, she was found guilty and the judge decided to make an example of her – Terlu was turned into a statue to be displayed in the Great Library to warn others of the penalty of doing magic.

Terlu believed this was the end of her story, but to her surprise, she wakes one day on a nearly deserted island that is home to an enchanted greenhouse and Yarrow, the grumpy gardener who had asked the government for a sorcerer to help him save the greenhouse, which seemed to be losing its magic. Terlu wants to help, but after learning she was a statue for six years and finally being set free, she is terrified of attempting to doing anything that might see her punished again. But how can she let this wonderful place die or refuse to help the man who set her free and has stolen her heart?

This is a very sweet, heartwarming, cozy fantasy story about second chances, healing and love. Terlu and Yarrow are wonderful, loving, supportive characters who both get a second chance at life. The story has magic, dragons, talking plants, spells that don’t go as planned, a sea serpent, a ghost, found family, reunions, a slow-burn kisses only romance, surprising revelations and a very happy ending. The narrator of the audiobook edition did a wonderful job of giving each character a distinct voice and kept an even cadence throughout the story. My only qualm with the reading was that the narrator occasionally changed the pronunciation of Yarrow’s name, hopefully that will be edited before the book is released. Overall, this was a very sweet story and one I would happily recommend. This is the second book in the series, but I didn’t read the first book and had no problem following this story.

*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. *