Best of April

It's gonna be MAAAAAAAAAY.

Here are our faves for April. 

Best Book of the Month:

Blodeuedd - This Kingdom will not kill me by Ilona Andrews

"Best book, cos omg amazing."

Carole -  The Reunion by Meghan Quinn

"So dang good. I want to re-read it!!!"

Best Movie of the Month:

Carole -  Hamnet (2025)

"I was in awe. So good. Beautiful."

Blodeuedd - Thrash (2026)

"Best movie, because sharks are scary."

Best TV show of the Month:

Blodeuedd - Mentalist (s1) & Ena: Queen Victoria Eugenia

"I finally watched s1 of The Mentalist, I also watched Ena, which I really enjoyed."

Carole - St Denis Medical (S2)

"I'm really liking this show. Love the cast. Sooo funny and oddly heart-warming."

Best Cover of the Month:

Carole's - "Creepy and cool!"

Blodeuedd's - "Cute!"

Honorable Mention:

Blodeuedd - Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

"People were right! It is even better in audio!"

Carole - The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig

"It was so nice re-reading this! So dang good."

Book Review: Schemes and Scandals by Kelley Armstrong

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Title: Schemes and Scandals

Series: A Rip Through Time #3.5

Genre: Mystery, SciFi, Historical Fiction, Novella

Format: ebook

Pages: 159

Published: December 3, 2024

Where I got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

It’s Mallory Atkinson’s first Christmas in Scotland. Victorian Scotland, that is. Also, as the twenty-first-century detective learns, Christmas really isn’t a thing in Victorian Scotland. It’s all about Hogmanay. But her boss, Dr. Duncan Gray, treats her to an early gift of tickets to the event of the a Charles Dickens reading. There, they bump into Lady Inglis—the lovely widow who has sent Gray sexy letters trying to entice him back to her bed.

Lady Inglis introduces Mallory to Dickens—the meeting of a lifetime—but in return she wants their help. She’s being blackmailed. Someone stole letters she wrote to another lover and is threatening to publish them.

Mallory isn’t sure what to make of Lady Inglis, but no woman deserves that, so she insists on taking the case with or without Gray’s help. Growing tension between them soon tells Mallory that Gray is hiding a secret of his own. She has until Hogmanay to uncover the blackmailer…and, hopefully, to put things right with Gray so they can enjoy the holiday together.

Review:

I am simply LOVING this series. I can't get enough of it! The next book is already downloaded and ready to go ;)

We are back in time with Mallory. This is her first Christmas season in Victorian Scotland. Scotland still doesn't really celebrate Christmas, but instead Hogmanay. Dr Gray, her boss and friend, gets tickets to a Charles Dickens show. Mallory LOVES his works and is excited....until a mystery lands in her lap. Lady Inglis is being blackmailed. The letters she wrote to her lover have been stolen, and now she is being threatened with having them published. Inglis was Dr Gray's former lover, but Mallory won't allow this blackmail to go unpunished. She has until Hogmanay to figure it out. 

Sadly, my library didn't have the audio of this, but the ebook was JUST as good. At this point, this narrator's voice is the voice and only voice I hear when I read this story. The ebook did fine enough. EEEE. I should just buy all the audios at this point. I see myself revisiting this series in the future. 

But yes, there is a nasty blackmailer out and about. It's up to Mallory and Dr Gray. We didn't get to see much of the other cast during this. Just a little bit of the one sister and Jack. We did get to meet Charles Dickens and it made my heart happy...but then sad because we know his time is limited before he passes. *cries*

The mystery was easily solvable...maybe a bit too easy. But it is a novella, and we didn't want it too long and stretched out, I suppose. 

I can't wait to get started on the next book. 

100% recommend. 

4 stars. 

Reading Challenges

- Library Love #10

DNF: Highland Gladiator by Kathryn Le Veque

Author: Kathryn Le Veque

Narrator: Brad Wills
Title: Highland Gladiator

Series: Scots and Swords #1

Genre: Historical Romance
Format: Audiobook
Published:  August 25, 2020
Where I Got It: My shelf (Audible) 

Summary: 

When Lor Careston's quiet Highland village was attacked and burned, he felt helpless against the raiders who destroyed his home. Seeking revenge, but lacking the fighting skills he needs to execute his mission, he sets out to find the Ludus Caledonia―a mysterious fight guild that turns men into warriors.

Lor trains hard, proves himself in the ring, and earns a place with the very clan that decimated his home, having decided to set his plan for revenge in motion from inside the clan. But his plan didn't include Isabail Keith, a fiery lass who prefers broadswords to embroidery and isn't afraid to stand with the warriors of her clan. Lor thought the Keiths were his enemies, but when Isabail is threatened, he'll have to decide what he's willing to risk for the woman who has captured his heart and the clan that has become his home.

Review:

This was another random pick up while looking for something else. Why not?

Lor's village is attacked and burned to the ground. He felt so helpless against the raiders that he set out to learn how to fight. Lor trains hard at the mysterious fight guild. He proves himself in the ring and earns a place with the clan that destroyed his home. He didn't plan that his old love, Isabail, who is part of this clan. Will he put everything he holds on the line for the woman he loves?

Whelp. I gave up. I got to about 30%, and I called it done. I didn't want to read/listen anymore. Nothing truly went wrong, but I zoned out 10 times, and I just didn't care. 

Lor seems like a good enough fella. Isabail seems...okay. I didn't get a chance to learn more about her. 

Maybe I will try this again someday, but today I had to DNF. Bummer, because this had promise, and the narrator sounded good. 

Darn two meh books in a row to end the month. :( 

Oh! One positive....this is the first DNF of 2026! Took 4 months so I'll count that as a win. 

Reading Challenges

- Audiobook #16

Book Review: The Warlord's Captive by Cass Carlton

Author: Cass Carlton

Title: The Warlord’s Captive

Series: Alien Warlord Brides #1

Genre: SciFi, Romance

Format: ebook

Pages: 316

Published: July 17, 2022

Where I got It: Kindle Unlimited

Summary: 

A female spaceship captain? That’s me. I shouldn’t have taken my vessel that route. I’m the captain of my ship. I’m the decision maker. Bad decision. I knew it was bad when the warlord appeared on the comms screen and pretty much said he wanted me to warm his bed. Now I’m avoiding pirates, warlords, and a clan war between alien warlords. Oh, and I’m trying to pay a debt off and save my crew’s life.

I’ve had dreams about her. She shouldn’t exist. This shouldn’t be a thing. But it is. She’s mine. My soul has marked her as such. I’m the captain of a warship. I’m a warlord from another planet. A human cannot be my soulmate. So why is fate bringing us together? Why is an antiquated arrangement used by my kind for eons determining that this human female is my mate. I don’t expect to seize her ship while she’s evading an attack.

Now, I’ve got to convince this fiercely independent sexy human that she’s the one. And try to keep her alive at the same time.

Review:

Picked this up to complete a bingo square on my reading challenge, plus, this didn't sound too bad. Love a fated romance. 

Here we have Valeria and Aedyn. Valeria has not only inherited a ship but she has some debts to pay off as well. This is the last run. Right? Enter in Aedyn. He's been having mate dreams that his species gets about their Fated Mate. The universe is so vast, so it is near impossible to find this Fated Mate. He has to ignore the dreams...he has a job to do. 

*wakes up* Oh? It's over. What did I miss? 

Yes, yes, I pushed through reading this because 1) I had hope that it would turn around and 2) I wanted the credit for my reading challenge...and 3) I love torturing myself I guess. 

I wanted to DNF so many times, but I pushed through. I started skimming the last quarter of the book JUST to be done with it. There was no real tension. No chemistry. No excitement. And the spice? Meh. 

All-in-all, this was not the one for me. Sure, SciFi isn't my favorite genre, but there is usually something that grabs me. Sadly, this wasn't for me. 

1 star. 

Reading Challenges

- Reading Romance Challenge #13 (Alien)