Review: His Mate By Defiance: MM Mafia Shifter PNR (Lunetti Pack Book 4) by Mel Aitchess

Rating: 4🌈

“The Lunetti Pack is a steamy MM Enemies to Lovers Paranormal Romance series set in New Trinity, a city ruled by three crime families: the Lunetti Pack of mafia wolf shifters, the vampire mobster Cruor Coven, and the witch Elemental Mayhem MC. It features knotting (and other paranormal fun) but no mpreg.”

His Mate By Defiance is the penultimate story in Mel Aitchess’ paranormal mafia crime fated mate series. The Lunetti Pack has followed several top level members of this criminal wolf shifter pack as they fight to keep their place and power in the trinity of politics that’s New Trinity City, a dark horror of a city where it’s divided into sections ruled by witches, vampires or shifters, depending on the territory.

This is Rafe, the pack doctor’s romance, one that starts years prior with his first encounter with a badly injured young jaguar shifter in an underground fighting ring.

This meeting is recapped here and then we come forward to present day, where the jaguar shifter, Adrian ,aka Adri, is still part of the fight scene.

The author does an excellent job explaining Adri’s background and meshing that with the natural history/instincts of the jaguar to give Adri a distinctive personality and outlook from that of the other shifters.

And Rafe, as someone older and with different skill sets, has a perspective on what their relationship and how it might develop than Adri has.

Their dynamic is excellent and is the best thing about the story.

There’s also another aspect of the book, a continuation plot that’s not resolved here but will continue into the final story. It sets up the last fated mates match.

But the lack of at least some sort of completion to some aspect of this complicated conspiracy left me frustrated.

The romance was certainly completed but it’s a HFN, and far too many people were hurt and issues left unresolved.

I am certainly looking forward to the last book to see how it all wraps up. If you like to binge, wait until it’s finished, and read right through.

A definite winner.

Lunetti Pack (5 book series) :

His Mate By Vengeance #1 – Angelo and Vin
His Mate By Resistance #2 – Luca and Cal
His Mate By Allegiance #3 – Rocco and Emilio
His Mate By Defiance #4 – Rafe and Adri
His Mate By Dominance #5 – Alpha Marco and Seth’s, the finale. Feb, 21,2027

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Book 4 of 5: Lunetti Pack

Blurb

“For you? I will take it all. All your pain. All your desire. Everything. It’s all mine.”

Rafe is done giving Adri space. For thirteen years, he’s waited for his jaguar shifter mate to be ready to acknowledge what’s between them. Thirteen years of tracking the pack’s fighting ring and racing to respond whenever they need a doctor. The night he turns up to find Adri brutalised by a feral shifter in the ring, he knows he’ll never let him go again. Especially when shifters start going missing.

Adri told the doc he didn’t need saving over a decade ago, and nothing’s changed since. The last thing he needs is Rafe’s overbearing protectiveness when he’s trying to save his friends from a new unsanctioned fighting ring and whatever bioweapon is at play. Waking up in Rafe’s bed wasn’t in the plan. As soon as he’s healed, Adri’s out of there.

His Mate by Defiance is an MM paranormal romance with a bite. It features age gap, fated mates, and hurt/comfort

Publisher

Mel Aitchess

Publication date

March 11, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

254 pages

Book 4 of 5

Lunetti Pack

Review: Ghostly Interests (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 1) by Lily Harper Hart

Rating: 2.5⭐️

Ghostly Interests (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 1) by Lily Harper Hart has so many issues, and I think many (but not all) might have to do with the year that this book was published in.

Written in 2015 and it’s showing its age. I almost feel like I should list the issues and be done with it.

Main characters in their late twenties whose dialogue is more characteristic of someone much younger than themselves. Even with the colloquialism of the times and references of that specific decade.

The lack of any broader understanding between the other characters of the idea of a found family or strong female and male friendships/bonds that act like a sibling relationship without any blood relationship so it’s spelled out like one would in general terms in the book.

While it’s a given understanding these days.

How the main character and those characters around her see her body and their bodies in different aspects of attractiveness. And the terminology that’s used. The idea of body positivity is no where near here but 1950 is.

The male/female dynamics are annoying and toxic, depending upon the relationship. The men tend to talk over the women, dismiss their complaints and comments. At one point, Zander actually told Harper to shut up while he spoke to the cop about whether he thought he could date her.

Funny? Not particularly. Although I’m sure the author meant it as a humorous comment. Same I’m sure when Harper’s mom called Zander a derogatory word for a gay man and it’s shrugged off as being ok because it’s her mother. No, again not ok.

This sort of casual bigotry and sexism is written throughout the book.

While the main woman character, Harper, has a gay best friend, Zander, who’s also a partner in their ghostbuster business, how every day sexism and sexual harassment is handled here is seriously outdated.

One of the younger men who works for them is outright engaged in verbal sexist remarks towards Harper, making remarks about her body, as well as marking disparaging comments about their younger intern who’s crushing on him. Zander himself makes crude remarks towards women that’s insulting. But it’s noted he’s a masculine gay.

There’s the issue with the entire point that the men often defer to the roommate, Zander, for information that they will believe. Even though Harper has just told whoever the same story. Even though she’s the main character. More sexism.

And it’s taken as a joke or commentary, in the father’s case, as situation normal.

“I do want the divorce.” “Why are you calling Mom ‘your woman’ then?” Harper asked. “Because we’re not divorced yet and I don’t like anyone taking what’s mine before I’m ready to give it up,” Phil said. “That’s not the way things work.”

That’s the kind of relationship/dynamics written and dated tone that’s displayed here by all the characters, at every level.

It’s old at page one.

Then there’s just things that make you stop and think:

A young American woman who says “Bleeding tragic “ which no one would say at her age and situation, even as a ghost.

And the fact that a victim who is SA has that element totally glossed over as well as a predatory college professor.

In the words that Zander would understand and say. “Ewww.”

To everything. Just no.

A Harper Harlow Mystery (21 book series)

Ghostly Interests #1

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Ghostly Interests (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 1)

Blurb

Harper Harlow lives in a world of ghosts. She sees them. She talks to them. She investigates them. She sends them on their merry way. She’s not embarrassed by her abilities, and she’s not afraid to be who she is. She’s also not looking for a relationship. Enter Jared Monroe, a smooth-talking police detective who sees things in black and white and ignores any shades of gray. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, and while he’s intrigued by the feisty blonde ghost detective, he’s not interested in the paranormal. When twenty-one-year-old Annie Dresden’s body washes up on the beach of Whisper Cove, Harper and Jared collide. Sparks may be flying, but so is confusion and mistrust. Harper calls on her loyal band of ghost hunters to solve the crime, and Jared relies on his training to tackle the same problem. It doesn’t matter what approach they take because all paths are destined to intersect. Can Harper and Jared learn to work together? And, more importantly, can new ghosts let go of the past and give in to an obscure future? It’s anyone’s guess when big personalities go to war and find they might have more in common than they think.

HarperHart Publications

Publication date

September 15, 2015

Language

‎English

Print length

212 pages

Book 1 of 21

A Harper Harlow Mystery

Review: Witches With Benefits (A Nightshade Detective Agency Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Amanda M. Lee

Rating: 3⭐️

I enjoyed Witches With Benefits (A Nightshade Detective Agency Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Amanda M. Lee but it’s a novel that, once you finish it, you realize, it doesn’t really have a lot of substance to it.

It’s like a bag of diet popcorn. You eat it. You enjoy eating it. You finish the bag. Then you think about the flavor that’s missing, the butter and the salt. All the ingredients, the great “stuff” that’s the reason why you eat popcorn. And then you realize you probably won’t be eating that brand anymore.

This is exactly like that.

It’s moves swiftly along with an interesting plot, on the surface. But then again, there’s no depth to anything. To the characters, the world building, the arc, the battles and especially the magic.

The missing sister aspect of the story? The one that is supposed to be the most traumatic and polarizing? It’s also the most inconsistent. We know nothing about the sister. And to pull the reader into this family’s tragic story,we should be able to see how much that sister and the family dynamic were real and believable. But we get nothing. No understanding of anyone or any kind of relationship other than briefly superficial.

In the following years, the father , parents are understood to have let the sister disappearance go. But Freya is said to both have become a detective to continue looking for her and also considers her sister dead. It’s a 50/50 thing depending upon what page you are on.

The characters around her have no discernible layers. That includes an alligator shifter who works with her , and a rich girl best friend who’s extremely irritating. It’s she’s rich and he’s a good old boy gator shifter from a large New Orleans family. That’s pretty much it. And the main character isn’t better developed.

Freya Holmes, a witch/vampire woman who has a hugely powerful vampire father (but only because we are told he is, no actual actions or abilities we see) and a powerful witch mother who is largely unknown. She has unique powers ( we’re told) that she “activates” the way that the Power Rangers do. As in “I’m going to be actively using my more powerful vampire powers now”. SMH

Then whoosh or whatever that powers are, it just happens. We don’t know what happens. It’s not written because Freya “blanks “ conveniently out. And any battle scene is over , bad guys are vanquished, and everyone is gazing at Freya in awe. That’s the scene. Everyone gazes at Freya in awe. Gods included.

I kid you not. That’s how all the battles are fought. No real fights. No powers for anyone seen or written out. Not even a KaBam. So poorly done.

On top of no magical abilities designed or written, the local gods and powers are shortchanged as well. It’s all mouth work. I’m gonna tell you how bad I am. Not going to show you anything but I’m definitely going to tell you that I’m pretty darn scary. Boo.

They are there but what they do? Not a clue.

Yes, there is a beginning of a romance. But they don’t have an adult relationship and the dialogue reads like 3 year olds in a sandbox. You did it, no I didn’t, yes you did.

No it’s not intelligent or particularly snarky.

So I’m leaving this here. There’s another book that will be published soon. But I don’t think it’s something I’m interested in.

You be the judge if this is what you want to read.

Nightshade Detective Agency Cozy Mystery :

Witches With Benefits #1

Survival of the Witchiest #2 – Aug 4,2026

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Book 1 of 2: A Nightshade Detective Agency Cozy Mystery

Blurb

Freya Holmes is unique in an already eccentric city.

New Orleans may be a paranormal mecca but even in a world where every type of shifter and witch is commonplace, a vampire-witch hybrid is something to worship … and fear.

Freya has never been interested in her parents’ opulent world. She finds her power in magic, which is why she formed Nightshade Detective Agency in the first place. She’s interested in helping people … even when that help might come at the cost of her life.

Knox Cullen grew up on the poor side of New Orleans. His shifter genes allowed him to climb out of poverty and embrace a certain lifestyle as a paranormal bounty hunter. He can take a punch and throw one. He’s not ready for Freya, though.

When a local mobster ends up dead and the culprit appears to be a supernatural assassin, both Freya and Knox are on the case. Unfortunately, they have no intention of working together and two hard heads don’t make for a soft landing.

Freya has her hands full. In addition to Knox, who is hiding something big, there’s a paranormal investigation unit seeking a partnership that takes advantage of her hard work and their impressive reach. The Legacy Foundation has quite the reputation, as do the two people—Charlie and Jack—who approach her with an offer she might not be able to refuse. Can she trust them? Can she trust anybody?

The clock is ticking. Freya needs to save the French Quarter. Sadly, she might lose herself in the process.

Review: Guard in the Garden: A Cozy Fantasy (Fables of Finlestia) by Z.S. Diamanti

Rating:4.75⭐️

While a reader could certainly enjoy the richness and warmth of Z.S. Diamanti’s Guard in the Garden as the cozy fantasy it’s described as, it’s also a deceptively well written story about a dwarf warrior, the only survivor of his elite unit who has returned from a long ongoing horrible war. He’s suffered a severe physical injury that’s caused a permanent disability that he’s refusing to acknowledge and is at a loss to heal his both his own wounds and deal with his mental struggles with in his new civilian life, such as it is.

For the reader, he represents so many veterans who have returned from similar wars and conflicts, with PTSD, disabilities, and with mental struggles to cope with in fitting into a civilian life and new identities.

The anger, frustration and fear is well documented in Felton Holdum, because he’s unwilling to accept that he won’t be able to get back into his squad and war. That his bonded fantasy winged partner, who perished trying to save him, won’t be revenged. Its pain, and loss and everything Felton had , now gone. And the writer brings us into Felton’s emotional state and we hurt too.

So while we may seem far away from the war and its consequences, and a small town that’s in a state of recovery, this never quite feels like a cozy place. There’s a sharp edge that waits around here, for every sweet moment,a raw piece of powerful reality to offset the tiny bits of everyday sunshine joy.

Because Galium’s inhabitants have been through it, and quietly it’s a place where, in time, Felton finds his own way through his own recovery by helping others through theirs.

It’s a beautiful, remarkable and powerful story. Rich and well crafted. Full of heart and compassion.

I’m highly recommending this. And will read the rest of the series.

Love the covers. Gorgeous.

Published by Golden Griffin Press LLC.

Seasonal Illustrations by Aleksa Stajsic.

Plant Illustrations by Z.S. Diamanti.

Fables of Finlestia (3 books)

Guard in the Garden #1

Wagons & Wyverns #2

Assassin in the Alehouse #3

Buy link

Guard in the Garden: A Cozy Fantasy (Fables of Finlestia)

Blurb

Embark on a wholesome journey of healing and self-discovery. A cozy fantasy tale of forging new friendships and overcoming fears. A quiet quest of family bonds and budding romance.

From dragon fire to garden flowers …

Felton Holdum spent his entire life training to become one of Galium’s elite dwarven warriors. When a bloody battle leaves him injured, he has no choice but to move into his eccentric twin aunts’ quaint home in the town’s quiet Garome District.

With his life of military service seemingly over, the captain of the city guard gives Felton his only chance at a fresh start in the new life he never wanted.

But when a human woman barges through his front door, the grumpy dwarf starts to wonder if there is more to life than war. The sunshine woman invites him to visit her garden, where Felton gains a new nemesis and a new purpose in life.

Take a walk through the garden and see what magic awaits.

Come enjoy the hospitality of the whimsical Garome District. Meet new friends as you sample new breads at the bakery, play a game of Castle Brick at the tavern, and taste homemade pies during the annual pie baking contest at the Fall Festival.

Review: Death Waits at Dead Rock (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 6) by Sara Bourgeois

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Death Waits at Dead Rock was actually so different because the reader became familiar and fond of the victim, as did Claire. Which made what follows so personal and upsetting. A very different experience from every murder and investigation prior.

When a invitation to a weekend at a vineyard for influencers and potential clients turns into a murder investigation the story ventures into a new realm of acceptance of Claire’s abilities from those closest to her and an investigation into someone she’d grown close to.

Death Waits at Dead Rock ends with a new paranormal mystery rising about the land and Claire, an old mystery solved sort of about the town, and on moment for all that was both moving and bittersweet depending upon what character was the focus.

A different but equally great story.

Cover by Book Covers by Melody

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries (8 book series)

Death Rides The Desert #1

Bones and Cactus Blooms #2

Spirits of the Saguaro #3

Tombstones with a View #4

Body Beneath the Wither #5

Death Waits at Dead Rock #6

Skulls and Sunlit Secrets #7 June 23,2026

The Bone Charm #8 – Aug 18,2026

Buy link

Death Waits at Dead Rock (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 6)

Blurb

A wine tasting. A viral treasure hunt. A body at the base of Dead Rock.

Claire Caldwell thought she’d seen every kind of weird the desert could throw at her. Ghosts in her kitchen, omens from a spirit fox, and the occasional town scandal that required a very large cup of coffee. What she did not expect was a swarm of influencers descending on Perdido Springs for a luxury “Desert Vines Weekend,” complete with ring lights and sponsored smiles.

The big gimmick is supposed to be harmless fun. Collect the special labels, piece together the artwork, and you get a treasure map to a legendary stash hidden near Dead Rock.

Content gold. Tourist bait. Everyone wants in.

Then the weekend’s headliner turns up dead at sunrise.

Claire would love to let law enforcement handle it, but Buster is… Buster. Rosa’s ghost has opinions, Rusty is tracking something no living person can smell, and the closer Claire gets to the truth, the clearer it becomes that the “treasure” isn’t just old wine and a cute story. Someone in town has been protecting what Dead Rock is hiding for a long time, and they’ll do anything to keep it buried.

Now Claire has to sift through secrets, suspects, and a trail of clues disguised as a party favor, before the killer strikes again… and the next toast becomes a death sentence.

March 2, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

205 pages

Book 6 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review: Body Beneath the Wither (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 5) by Sara Bourgeois

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Body Beneath the Wither brings several things to a head in Claire and Sam’s relationship that’s needed to be resolved, the fact that she’s been hiding so much of herself and what actually happens around the ranch from him.

That definitely becomes a factor when a podcaster comes to town chasing ghosts and ends up being his own story, among other mysteries on an ominous ranch hiding many secrets.

I liked that this eventually moved Claire and Sam’s story forward. Plus the darkness of the Wither is one that seems to be one that’s not fully resolved for a reason.

The author always has multiple storylines going on and each one is different and weaves fully into the narrative and series arc.

The animals are great characters and the desert is so beautifully written that it’s feels as though you can step into the town and find each place without hesitation.

Another winner.

Cover by Book Covers by Melody

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries (8 book series)

Death Rides The Desert #1

Bones and Cactus Blooms #2

Spirits of the Saguaro #3

Tombstones with a View #4

Body Beneath the Wither #5

Death Waits at Dead Rock #6

Skulls and Sunlit Secrets #7

The Bone Charm #8

Buy link

Body Beneath the Wither (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 5)

Blurb

A dead tree. A dead podcaster. A desert that remembers everything.

Claire Caldwell was ready for wedding planning, not another corpse.

But when her fiancé’s vet call takes them down a lonely road outside Perdido Springs, Rusty blocks their path and leads them straight to Broken Acres, a long abandoned farmhouse with a twisted tree locals call the Wither.

Beneath its dead branches lies Craig Dooley, better known to his listeners as Stone Coldwell, the loudmouthed host of The Cold Files. He came chasing ghosts, chasing fame, chasing the thrill he’d lost… and now he is the newest spirit the desert refuses to forget.

His unhinged ex turns up screaming and clawing at the body, a will is found in the dirt, and two siblings are suddenly at each other’s throats over a secret fortune that should have died with their father.

Then the whispers start.

A grieving woman in old fashioned clothes begs Claire to help the man she has waited a hundred years to see, and the Wither’s shadow seems to sink into everyone nearby, feeding paranoia, greed, and old resentments until even the living feel haunted.

Claire has solved murders before, but this one is different… because Sam is watching, and he is finally noticing the things Claire has been hiding.

To catch a killer, Claire will have to face what waits under the Wither.

And she might have to tell her fiancé the truth… before the desert takes someone else.

February 10, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

273 pages

Book 5 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review: Tombstones with a View (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 4) by Sara Bourgeois

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Tombstones with a View is great and really expands on the series with several new characters and insights into established ones. I absolutely loved it.

We’ve met Mavis, owner of the Desert Rest Motel before. Primarily because that place is full of Mavis’s antique doll collection, hundreds of dolls everywhere throughout the motel, in every room. Staring at you. In prior stories.

Here Mavis is the center of the story. Her dolls too. Which makes for a unique investigation when Mavis goes missing. We and Claire learn about her in her absence.

Claire’s long time friend, Sara, a journalist from Chicago ,arrives to spend time together. There’s someone who is cutting fences and leaving threatening notes at the Sanctuary. And Sam’s still trying to propose.

Tombstones with a View accomplishes several things along with a terrific mystery. It brings in a new, actually 2 new connected characters and develops an established minor character into one who looks to become one of the found family that Claire is forming around herself.

This also gives Buster, a deputy Sheriff who’s normally shown as useless, a chance to demonstrate extra depth, something I appreciate.

The ending not only ties up all the various plot threads giving us a couple of interesting elements and terrific surprises, but a lovely note for Claire and Sam.

Sara Bourgeois continues to give us a realistic sense of the beauty and atmosphere of the Arizona desert while layering it with the most interesting of mysteries and engaging characters. This series is a real treat!

Cover by Book Covers by Melody

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries (8 book series)

Death Rides The Desert #1

Bones and Cactus Blooms #2

Spirits of the Saguaro #3

Tombstones with a View #4

Body Beneath the Wither #5

Death Waits at Dead Rock #6

Skulls and Sunlit Secrets #7

The Bone Charm #8

Buy link

Tombstones with a View (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 4)

Blurb

The dolls are always watching.

Claire Caldwell learned that the hard way in Room 7 of the Desert Rest Motel. But now their owner has vanished, and those glass eyes might be the only witnesses to what happened…

Sheriff Dobson isn’t concerned. “Woman finally got tired of those creepy dolls and skipped town. Can’t blame her.”

But Claire knows Mavis would never abandon her collection. Those hundreds of Victorian dolls aren’t just decorations… they’re her life. Her family. Her obsession.

With the sheriff refusing to investigate, Claire finds herself drawn into the dusty rooms of the Desert Rest, surrounded by glass eyes that follow her every move. The dolls saw what happened to Mavis. If only they could talk.

Meanwhile, someone is stalking Whispering Saguaro Ranch. Cut fences. Threatening notes. A shadow in the barn at midnight. Claire’s made some enemies, and one of them wants what she has… no matter the cost.

As Claire searches for answers, she discovers that Mavis has secrets of her own. The Pioneer Cemetery behind the motel holds more than old bones. The dolls hold more than sawdust and porcelain. And the eccentric woman everyone dismissed as harmless may have been hiding something worth killing for.

Now Claire must untangle two mysteries at once, with help from an unlikely source: her veterinarian fiancé Sam, whose rounds through the desert bring whispers of things people don’t want known. Together, they’ll learn that in Perdido Springs, the strangest people often have the darkest secrets.

And some collections are worth more than anyone imagined.

January 11, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

283 pages

Book 4 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review: Spirits of the Saguaro (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 3) by Sara Bourgeois

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Spirits of the Saguaro, the terrific third book in The Haunted Ranch Mysteries by Sara Bourgeois, sees the small Arizona desert town of Perdito Springs still trying to recover from the death of bank manager, Robert Harrison. Harrison was a man who was hated by the town’s residents for his crimes and cruel treatment.

Now a well known artist is coming to town and several people are hoping that her popularity will help them recover their losses and rebuild.

But artist Aurora Brightwater brings more than popularity, she brings antagonism, old hatred’s and divisions with her. And that leads to murder.

Spirits of the Saguaro is a fabulous book. The story went in different directions than I had anticipated, the characters were very well drawn and the side plots are great.

There’s a side story about a filmmaker as well as the plot that’s following the slow burn romance between Claire and Sam.

The entire community, the shops and their owners are very involved, and we’re getting to know each one better as the mysteries play out.

The mystical world of Perdita Springs, which includes the Fox guardian, the ghosts of the ranch, and the mysterious past of the area and mines is a developing element.

This excellent story and series is one I’m very excited about. And one that’s hard to stop reading once you’ve started.

Highly recommended! A real winner.

Cover by Book Covers by Melody

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries (8 book series)

Death Rides The Desert #1

Bones and Cactus Blooms #2

Spirits of the Saguaro #3

Tombstones with a View #4

Body Beneath the Wither #5

Death Waits at Dead Rock #6

Skulls and Sunlit Secrets #7

The Bone Charm #8

Buy link

Spirits of the Saguaro (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 3)

Blurb

Claire Caldwell has finally settled into her strange new normal. Two months after the Robert Harrison incident, she’s learned to trust her spirit fox’s warnings and Rosa’s ghostly advice as she runs her animal sanctuary in the desert.

But some visitors bring their own darkness to Perdido Springs.

When famous artist Aurora Brightwater arrives to paint the “desert spirits,” she brings more than just her canvases and her sparkling laugh. She brings grudges, theft, and a cruelty that hides behind flowing scarves and talk of universal energy.

Then Aurora turns up dead in her studio, a palette knife through her heart, and everyone she’s wronged becomes a suspect. The artist who steals others’ work… dead. The documentary filmmaker who seems cursed… filming everything. The exhausted ex-husband she abandoned… watching from the shadows.

As Claire investigates with her veterinarian boyfriend Sam, she discovers Aurora left a trail of destroyed careers and stolen dreams across the Southwest. But in a town where the dead talk, the dolls in the motel have their own agenda, and something that used to be human roams the desert at night, finding the truth means distinguishing between those who wanted Aurora gone and whoever actually made it happen.

In Perdido Springs, the veil is thin, the spirits are watching…

Welcome back to the desert, where inspiration can be deadly.

December 15, 2025

Language

‎English

Print length

315 pages

Book 3 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review: Witch At Heart: A Cozy Witch Mystery (The Jinx Hamilton Series Book 1) by Juliette Harper

Rating: 4.25 ⭐️

I thought Witch At Heart: A Cozy Witch Mystery (The Jinx Hamilton Series Book 1) by Juliette Harper a step above the rest of the stories I’ve read in this trope of books.

There’s an entire genre of books and series based around a woman who inherits a store from a relative, usually an aunt who turns out to be magical. There’s a mysterious animal included, hers, the relative’s or the store’s, normally a cat. And it’s a cozy mystery.

On the whole, they are pretty good. Similar but each different enough in their elements to be entertaining.

But the ending here, elevates this one into something more interesting. Takes the characters, their pasts, and the entire community and suddenly gives it an edge, an entire new layer.

Wasn’t expecting that.

For 3/4 of the story, we get the typical plot of small town, Jinx Hamilton quits her waitressing job when her beloved crazy aunt dies the next town over and leaves her with her shop and belongings.

She also bequeaths Jinx her magic and a mysterious death to investigate.

The shop, its contents are slowly revealed as is the community of the small town that Jinx is now a part of. It’s a small village where Jinx has been a member of, along with her childhood friend, who quickly becomes a part of the story.

There’s ghosts, an adorable rat named Roderick, and a killer to find and murders to solve. And a new magical role to accept.

It’s charming, the characters are engaging and interesting. And the potential for a very intriguing world is just getting started.

It’s a quick read and the series is complete. Another win!

I love a terrific cozy story and mystery. No romance, although there’s a slight attraction between Jinx and the cobbler.

I’m recommending this one!

The Jinx Hamilton Series (16 book series): complete and all released.

Witch At Heart #1

Buy link

Book 1 of 16: The Jinx Hamilton Series

Blurb

Magic begins in the heart.

Jinx Hamilton is ready to trade in waitressing for becoming her own boss. The shop she inherits from her eccentric aunt in Briar Hollow, North Carolina, seems like the perfect fit. As Jinx handles the enchanted inventory and the unruly clientele, she discovers her aunt also willed her magical powers without an instruction manual.

As if that weren’t enough, she’s forced to deal with four cats, several homeless ghosts, and a potential serial killer.

With a little help from her best friend and a dreamy new neighbor, Jinx must keep the business afloat and the murderer at bay. And it’ll take more than clever bookkeeping and spellcasting to keep the store…and herself…from going under.

*Note: This is a republished version of Witch At Heart

Publisher

Cabot Publishing Group

Publication date

September 4, 2025

Edition

2nd

Language

‎English

Print length

227 pages

Book 1 of 16

The Jinx Hamilton Series

Review: Chaos Reigning: (The Consortium Rebellion Book 3) by Jessie Mihalik

Rating: 3⭐️

Spoilers here.

Chaos Reigning is the last book in The Consortium Rebellion’s trilogy and the youngest High House sibling, Catarina von Hasenberg ends the House drama and galactic empire political thriller.

I feel that Chaos Reigning has some interesting ideas and potentially wonderful characters, especially strong women characters in major political roles. But on the flip side, curiously, it qualifies an horrifically abusive and controlling father, one who has treated his children as subjects for trade or experimentation, as a mere “asshole”. The author’s repeated term.

Not once, through three books, has the author addressed the subject of the severity of the patriarchal father’s damage to all the siblings of the von Hasenberg line. Not that the mother is without any responsibility. We just don’t know enough about her.

We know the brutality and violence and horrors inflicted upon each child. That Ada alone fled. But to continue to address this monster as merely a “asshole” and then use an anonymous method to end him instead of a honest airing of feelings while together feels cheap.

It’s not only emotionally odd but strangely off putting. It’s continued avoidance of their true feelings amongst themselves. The author moving around the issue as well.

Like Cat, herself a prime example. It’s the “oh yes, I’m wealthy but feeding a few poor people” (she’s doing and saying this btw) but ignoring a whole bunch of major issues over in that corner of the narrative by actually considering marrying a problematic man old enough to be her grandfather because her father wants her to.

Yes, there’s a HFN for the siblings but, and here’s an enormous BUT, both male villains, truly evil men (one even cut out the tongue of the older beloved brother) are left without really being held accountable for their actions and crimes.

One, a traitor, gets away completely. And a heinous criminal, a sadist, nothing happened to him. He’s caught but they won’t do anything to him. A win actually for them both.

How’s that for an ending? Didn’t feel satisfying to me. Actually so many traitors were still alive and on the streets. Yeah no.

That 3 rating is being generous.

I read it to finish the series. That’s it.

Now you can decide if you want to.

The Consortium Rebellion (3 book series)

Polaris Rising #1

Aurora Blazing #2

Chaos Reigning #3

Buy link

Chaos Reigning: A Sci-Fi Novel Featuring a Clever Spy and a Gorgeous Bodyguard Uncovering Treachery in Space (The Consortium Rebellion Book 3)

Blurb

Interplanetary intrigue and romance combine in this electrifying finale to the Consortium Rebellion series.

As the youngest member of her High House, Catarina von Hasenberg is used to being underestimated, but her youth and flighty, bubbly personality mask a clever mind and stubborn determination. Her enemies, blind to her true strength, do not suspect that Cat is a spy—which makes her the perfect candidate to go undercover at a rival House’s summer retreat to gather intelligence on their recent treachery.

Cat’s overprotective older sister reluctantly agrees, but on one condition: Cat cannot go alone. Alexander Sterling, a quiet, gorgeous bodyguard, will accompany her, posing as her lover. After Cat tries, and fails, to ditch Alex, she grudgingly agrees, confident in her ability to manage him. After all, she’s never found a person she can’t manipulate.

But Alex proves more difficult—and more desirable—than Cat anticipated. When she’s attacked and nearly killed, she and Alex are forced to work together to figure out how deep the treason goes. With rumors of widespread assaults on Serenity raging, communications down, and the rest of her family trapped off-planet, Catarina must persuade Alex to return to Earth to expose the truth and finish this deadly battle once and for all.

But Cat can’t explain why she’s the perfect person to infiltrate hostile territory without revealing secrets she’d rather keep buried. . . .

A Sci-Fi Novel Featuring a Clever Spy and a Gorgeous Bodyguard

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