Tag: Scattered Thoughts Highly Recommended

Review:  The Bone Charm (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries #8) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.75⭐️

The Bone Charm brings the beautifully written paranormal mystery series , The Haunted Ranch Mysteries by Sara Bourgeois to a heartwarming, richly satisfying conclusion. 

Through 8 books, nine of you count the prequel, Claire’s development starting from a woman who has fled failures in her life back in Chicago, fired from her job and dumped by her fiancé to arrive in a small town in Arizona and a ranch left to her by a aunt.

Slowly she’s accepted that the dusty, weird town of Perdido Springs and her desert life out on Whispering Saguaro Ranch is where she belongs. The ranch becomes an animal sanctuary in odd scenarios, each a memorable character themselves and, the ranch is inhabited by ghosts, fully realized and completely a part of Claire’s life and the series. 

Each book has a murder mystery, the casualty one that leaves a wound upon the community in multiple ways. Physically and emotionally and metaphysically damaging the magic that surrounds the desert and town. 

That happens here. 

The townspeople, like Buddy Kern feel incredibly real, as part of the landscape that the author describes so realistically and with such great detail.  They’re believable in their crustiness and weariness from the everyday realities of ranch life in the heat of the desert. 

And don’t get me started on how much I love Oso the livestock guardian dog lost in his grief while still watching his flock. 

The thoughtful investigation, the way the case was resolved, both of them, because there was several aspects to this particular murder mystery that needed to be finalized. 

And Sara Bourgeois brought Clair’s journey to a close with her role being tied to her land and town in a way that makes sense. She’s grown and become grounded, by her ranch, the animals, the land itself. And her magic has evolved as she has.

The end acknowledges her journey, her growth, and her future there. It’s all tied up together beautifully. And I’ve feel so thrilled and happy for this series to end like this.

One of my favorites.  Highly recommended. As is the author. 

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries (8 book series)

Last Call in Chicago #0.5 prequel 

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

 Book 8 of 8: The Haunted Ranch Mysteries 

Blurb 

Claire Caldwell’s life at Whispering Saguaro Ranch is never quiet. Between escape-artist goats, a rooster with a personal grudge against her wedding ring, and a spirit fox who disappears every night on business of his own, she’s learned to expect trouble in feathers, fur, or both.

Then Socorro Vega, the elderly herb seller from the farmers market, is found dead on a desert trail.

The county blames the heat. Claire might have believed them if she hadn’t gone to rescue Socorro’s goats and her grieving Great Pyrenees, Oso. One touch of a carved bone charm in Socorro’s kitchen shows Claire what really happened. A dark room. Hands pressed over an old woman’s face. A desperate voice begging her to sign a piece of paper.

Plenty of people wanted what Socorro owned. Her forty acres include one of the last live springs in a drying valley. Her handmade charms are worth a fortune to the right collector. Even her closest relative has debts he can’t outrun. Unfortunately, the sheriff has already closed the case, and visions from a dead woman’s necklace aren’t evidence.

While Claire and her friends search for something they can prove, Perdido Springs begins coming apart in ways no one can explain. Animals panic without cause. Lights wander through the cemetery. Ghostly cowboys flee into the desert. Socorro wasn’t simply gathering herbs all those years. She was tending a hidden boundary around the town, and her murder left part of it wide open.

Finding Socorro’s killer is only the beginning. If Claire can’t finish the work Socorro died protecting, whatever is pressing against that broken boundary may soon find its way through.

July 28, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

154 pages

Book 8 of 8

The Haunted Ranch Mysteries

Review: Dark Horse (Class 5 Book 1) by Michelle Diener

Rating: 4⭐️

Dark Horse, the first book in the science fiction series Class 5 by Michelle Diener, was given several awards for science fiction in 2016, one of the reasons I grabbed it up. 

I’m always curious to see how well science fiction stories will age from publication point, given their author’s storyline, scientific elements, and any imaginative alien aspects that are presented here. 

I’m really enjoying this series and growing groups of characters. While there’s some overall series plot elements that I have been questioning, the characters and storytelling just draws one into the narrative and each women’s struggle to adapt and survive her new life in space among aliens. 

The first story is that. The first for  multiple characters, cultures and the beginning of a major galactic mystery and heinous crime that will take the entire series to investigate and unravel.

Yes, I’m on book 2 now. 

Rose McKenzie, a linguistic professor, has been abducted by the Tecran, tortured and experimented on. The one who saves her? The Class 5 Battleship, Sazo, who itself has been a prisoner of the same race and needs Rose to free it. They form a formidable alliance and friendship to free themselves. 

Here Sazo is called a thinking machine, which I found unwieldy. But most importantly it’s one of only 5 in existence that survived a AI war in which they were killed off and banned. 

So it’s not just about Rose’s recovery from her ordeal, her trauma and her struggles to adapt but it’s Sazo’s too. With Rose’s guidance, learning empathy, emotions, and what its emergence as a self aware being means. To itself and those around it. Especially when so many mean it harm because of prejudice and past history. 

Their relationship and dynamics is layered and has a depth that is emotionally strong with the reader. As well as containing some surprises. 

The aliens are humanoid, the Grif especially with their elf life ears. Maybe this aspect of the series will expand into more complex worlds and less human like aliens as I get into it, but for now, it’s just human-like aliens in space. Something I see quite a bit of in space exploration fiction. When it’s not cat-aliens in space. Wish there were more imagination used here in this capacity. Not that I don’t enjoy the characters, I do. 

The references are fun, the characters are engaging and the plots well executed. Things that i would thought were underutilized were later shown by the author to be a long-term storyline. Loved this.

I originally thought the author missed an opportunity for Rose as a professor with the sociological aspect of singing both species looking at songs and singing from very different perspectives. From an Earth cultures/ peoples perspective, singing and songs are viewed as an integral part of life, from lullabies to dirges, entertainment to dance. The Grih are at the other end of the spectrum, seeing songs and the few who sing them as solemn rituals , reverent and cherished. 

However, Diener is using this idea of singing and songs as a series thread that multiple characters are using to express themselves and create bonds between species. In some cases, beginning to see a cultural or ideological shift,for better or worse.

 Its elements like this, along with engaging characters and just plain old terrific storytelling that has me hooked. 

No it doesn’t always science, but it’s highly enjoyable. I’m recommending it. And I’m onto the third!

Class 5 Series (7 book series)

Dark Horse #1

Dark Deeds #2

Dark Minds #3

Dark Matters #4

Dark Class #5

Collision Course #6

Crash Course #7

Buy link

 Book 1 of 7: Class 5 Series 

Blurb 

Some secrets carry the weight of the world.

Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she’s made a powerful ally–a fellow prisoner with whom she’s formed a strong bond. Sazo’s an artificial intelligence. He’s saved her from captivity and torture, but he’s also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.

Captain Dav Jallan doesn’t know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he’s not going to complain. The only problem is, everyone on board is dead, except for one strange, new alien being. She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5’s owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn’t the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.

In this race for the truth, he’s going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.

Winner of a SFR Galaxy Award 2016 and the Prism Award 2016 for Best Futuristic.

The Class 5 science fiction series is set in a galaxy where Earth women are abducted and thrust into conflicts between alien civilizations. The United Council governs multiple planets, while powerful AI battleships known as Class 5s navigate tensions between warring species. The Tecran have been abducting humans in violation of UC law, and the Grih Battle Center works to rescue abductees and prevent interstellar war. Each woman becomes a catalyst in diplomatic crises that could shift the balance of power between nations on the brink of conflict.

Exploring themes of survival, agency, and adaptation far from home, the series blends military science fiction with character-driven narratives. The abducted women must forge alliances, navigate political machinations, and fight for their own destinies while caught between species racing toward war. With AI battleships as both allies and unpredictable forces, the series examines individuals who refuse to remain pawns in larger conflicts. Perfect for readers seeking space opera featuring women who take matters into their own hands when facing impossible odds.

Review:  Age of Deception (The Firebird Chronicles Book 2) by T. A. White 

Rating: 4.5⭐️

The author does a remarkable job of seamlessly flowing the end of each book into the next, so if they end in cliffhangers, they are immediately resolved and the reader rewarded with a new chapter of the journey and a sense of purpose. 

This author has become a new favorite of mine and I’ll admit I’ve blown through this series. It’s fantastic. Now to catch up on my reviews.

Age of Deception sees Kira caught up in another web of plots from all factions that see her as their best player in the galactic political power struggle and potential new war that is about to begin. 

From one house to the another, one of her parents to her father’s clan, now it’s as a daughter of House Roake who has staked their claim and wants her to prove herself one of their race and warrior class. 

White’s plot has a multitude of strong storylines that she continues to explore, among them the effects of the horrors of the abuse, violence and experimentation that the children of the Sorrowing underwent. Whether it’s Kira or Jin or any other of the lost, bit by bit, what actually happened to them is slowly revealed. And that works so more powerfully than if we get the information all at once.

The political intrigue is complex and another aspect of the story that has its own twists. Because between the different planetary systems and ruling powers, and what roles each played in the last war, the intrigue and structures are still being rolled out. It’s riveting and suspenseful.

 

The best is the torn relationships and divided dynamics between species and that of Kira and her new family and that of her old found family of military crew, the Curs.  Humans are not regarded by other species as anything but weak animals. But the Curs are special. 

Kira with a long history with the Curs, has a heartbreaking secret, and Jin, a being who is regarded as “demonic “ on the new world, is the incredible complicated elements here. Highly emotional, physical and beautifully written in every aspect of this book, it’s a page turner in the best way. 

White juggles many storylines and characters without losing the depth of plot or character dimension. We’re watching this, exploring the new territory, culture and world just as the characters do. It’s fabulous.

And as it ends, on a cliffhanger. It’s easy to swing right into the next book and right into the plot without a hitch. 

Which is what I did. 

Highly recommended. A real winner for lovers of strong women, great storytelling and fast paced action. 

The Firebird Chronicles (6 book series)

Rules of Redemption 

Age of Deception 

Threshold of Annihilation 

Facets of Revolution

Trials of Conviction #5

Echoes of Insurrection #6

Connected new series:

(Picks up right after Echoes of Insurrection)

Cosmic Dryad series:

Botanical Mischief #1)

Buy link 

 Book 2 of 6: The Firebird Chronicles 

Blurb 

War hero and daughter to two Houses, Kira is just beginning to learn how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Agreeing to accompany her father’s people back to their homeworld, Kira Forrest prepares for the fight of her life. She’s agreed to undertake the Trial of the Broken, a rite of passage every member of her father’s House must pass. It offers a path to independence and freedom that is too tempting to deny. 

Not everyone welcomes this lost daughter of Roake. There are those who fear what her presence might bring to light. Betrayal stalks the halls of Kira’s birthplace—its roots embedded deep in the events that claimed her parent’s lives and set her on her current path.

Walking the wire’s edge between truth and deception will test the person Kira has become as she separates ally from betrayer. An old enemy has put into motion a plan that could topple the balance of power in the universe. Letting them succeed spells doom—but the price might be more than Kira is willing to pay.

Review: Shadowspell Academy : Year of the Chameleon Book 6 by Shannon Mayer

Rating: 4.75⭐️

Shannon Mayer brings the Shadowspell Academy series and the Year of the Chameleon mini trilogy to a thrilling conclusion here in the sixth and final story. 

Wild, Gregory, Wally, Johnson and the rest of her crew have 3 days to stop Frost or all is lost. It’s a terrifying race to find the all the keys and figure out how the magical pieces work together to become the ultimate weapon to defeat a enemy whose powers are growing.

The author’s manages to gather all her characters, the main circle of friends as well as the older characters, ghosts and outliers together, as well as their past shared histories , in this magical powerful confrontation with evil. 

And it takes Wild back to her beginnings and returns the series to its own roots. A really great narrative touch. 

The ending was harrowing, heartbreaking in scenes and emotionally charged. How it finally felt after the battle was over? Drained and right. 

It would have gotten a higher rating but there’s still too much left unfinished. Characters who are important but have no resolution. Same goes for Wild’s siblings and father. 

For a “academy/trials” trope, outside of the first book, the school and any type of academic work is not addressed here. The very idea of an academy going forward with Wild and crew and their schooling would have to be a continuing part of the series. 

What would come after The Year of the Chameleon? 

Anyway, this was excellent. Absolutely exciting, highly suspenseful, thrilling storytelling. I’ll definitely be recommending it for lovers of this genre and paranormal fiction. 

A real pleasure to share.

Shadowspell Academy (6 book series)

The Culling Trials #1 through 3

Year of the Chameleon #4 through 6 written by Shannon Mayer

Buy link 

        Shadowspell Academy: Year of the Chameleon: (Book 6)

    

Blurb 

You Don’t Choose the Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

Broken, bruised, and battered beyond anything else, I’ve survived what I shouldn’t have. 

But my day isn’t done yet. We finally have the key to stopping Frost—literally. Even if we don’t know how to use it. 

One last time my friends and I have to scour not only the city but the supernatural world to find the pieces of this final puzzle—and we have three days to do it. 

One final showdown brings us back to where it all began, and I face off against the woman who killed my brother. Who hunted my mother down. Who broke my uncle’s spirit.

Hijinks Ink Publishing

Publication date

May 18, 2021

Language

‎English

Print length

326 pages

Book 6 of 6

Shadowspell Academy

Review:  Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles Book 1) by T. A. White 

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I found this series and author by accident but I’m thrilled that I did. Rules of Redemption, the first book in The Firebird Chronicles by T. A. White, is a absolutely fantastic read and gripping space tale of a woman seeking  knowledge and revenge against those who both tortured her and others and who she fought against in a galactic war. 

Kira Forest, along with her AI companion, Jin, is now a space scavenger.  But during a visit to a space station to retrofit her ship, a selfless move by her ends up bringing her back into the attention of those she’s been avoiding. 

I consumed this book. Up til the early morning hours and then started reading the next because Kira and Jin’s saga has me completely hooked.

I’m not going to spoil anything but there so much to this. Author T.A. White is laying out the story arc so that Kira’s past and Jin’s is slowly revealed over the series, as events in the books make it clear what happened to them. 

It’s alien invasion, galactic wars, alien abductions, genetic engineering and manipulation, so much more. Various alien societies and cultures and their own historical traditions that impact on Kira and her people. 

It’s funny, dramatic, highly emotional, action packed with great sequences of battles and fights and even sentient sea beings. 

But my favorite relationship? Kira and Jin, the AI, a tightly connected, deeply engaging dynamic that’s still unfolding. I’m holding my breath as to how this relationship will end. 

So many mysteries, so many complications, and expanding casts. 

I don’t think this series is going to be long enough. 

Highly recommended. 

The Firebird Chronicles

Rules of Redemption 

Age of Deception 

Threshold of Annihilation 

Facets of Revolution

Buy link

 Book 1 of 6: The Firebird Chronicles 

Blurb 

The war everyone thought was over is just beginning.

Kira Forrest is a survivor. She’s risen above the pain of her beginnings to become a war hero only to leave it all behind in the pursuit of a simple life. Now a salvager, she makes a living sifting through the wreckage of dead alien ships from a war that nearly brought humanity to its knees.

After her ship takes damage, she’s forced to re-route to a space station where her past and present collide with dangerous consequences.

Kira’s existence holds the key to a faltering peace treaty with the Tuann—a technologically advanced alien race who dislikes and distrusts all humans. Winning her freedom should be easy, but a powerful and relentless Tuann warrior stands in her way. Deceiving him seems impossible, especially when he strays dangerously close to secrets she struggles to hide.

Can Kira reconcile the pain of her past with the possibilities of her future? The fate of two races depends on her success.

The war everyone thought was over is just beginning.

Kira Forrest is a survivor. She’s risen above the pain of her beginnings to become a war hero only to leave it all behind in the pursuit of a simple life. Now a salvager, she makes a living sifting through the wreckage of dead alien ships from a war that nearly brought humanity to its knees.

After her ship takes damage, she’s forced to re-route to a space station where her past and present collide with dangerous consequences.

Kira’s existence holds the key to a faltering peace treaty with the Tuann—a technologically advanced alien race who dislikes and distrusts all humans. Winning her freedom should be easy, but a powerful and relentless Tuann warrior stands in her way. Deceiving him seems impossible, especially when he strays dangerously close to secrets she struggles to hide.

Can Kira reconcile the pain of her past with the possibilities of her future? The fate of two races depends on her success.

Review: Shadowspell Academy : Year of the Chameleon Book 5 by Shannon Mayer

Rating: 4.75⭐️

We’re at the penultimate book, the real villain has been identified, and the scramble is on to stay alive, find a way to stop her and save Wild , her family and friends and the world magical order as it is.

And things aren’t looking so good. 

Shannon Mayer’s storylines are flowing into one another fluidly at this point, so this is picking up where the previous book ends. 

Helped by not just her own close knit group of paranormal friends, but the ghosts of her brother and mother, Wild is desperately looking for the magical instrument or instruction to help her defeat their enemies. 

 

The author has plenty of revelations about Wild, her family, as well as the history of the school to unlock as part of this highly suspenseful, action packed, and emotional storyline. 

Wally (a fantastic character who has had tremendous character development here), Johnson, and the rest of Wild’s crew get a lot of attention from the narrative as they are separated from Wild. Each striving for the same end before they reunite. 

It’s a great story, and the characters are so amazing with their own storylines and growth. 

Of course, as everyone heads towards the final battle, it ends in a cliffhanger. 

Fantastic work. Highly recommended. 

FYI. The academy has been pretty much left behind. 

Love it. 

Buy link 

        Shadowspell Academy: Year of the Chameleon

    

Blurb 

You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

The Shadowkiller is back.

And he is hunting me down like a dog in the streets of New York City using every tool and ally he has—including people I once trusted.

I have never been so alone in my life, and yet if I turn to my friends that puts a target on their backs too. Which means I have to keep running.

So, I do what I know, and I set myself to finding the trail of breadcrumbs that will lead me to the one who is still pulling the strings.

Frost. A Chameleon just like me. Just like the Shadowkiller. Worse, she’s seeking out my friends to pick them off, one by one. To drain their lives in order to feed hers.

To stop her, I have to find her—a task easier said than done in a city this size.

What I don’t expect to find is a truth that this world and its secrets run far deeper, and far darker than I could have ever suspected.

But is any of that going to stop me?

Not a chance.

Hijinks Ink Publishing

Publication date

March 30, 2021

Language

‎English

Print length

314 pages

Book 5 of 6

Shadowspell Academy

Review: Drop of a Hat (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 6) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I love this so much. Where to start. 

Drop of a Hat sort of epitomizes why I love this author’s writing style so highly.  In 213 pages, Sara Bourgeois concisely delivers a story that is intriguing, quietly compelling, with elements that manage to be puzzling,horrifying, poignant, occasionally funny and sometimes exceedingly terrifying. And end up with a solid warm hearted note. 

All while leaving the characters where they belong , for now, and the reader satisfied but needing the next book. 

That’s when there’s multiple mysteries, only one of which is resolved, the villain’s story and resolution will likely keep you thinking, and the latest addition to the family, a zombie raccoon, is absolutely one of the most heartwarming aspects of the story! 

Not all but one! Then there’s Moira back from the dead. 

Such an incredible story. Ok off to reread it now. 

If this prolific writer isn’t on your radar, she should be. I’m reading two of her series now. Read the books in the order they are written. 

I’m highly impressed by this one and recommending it.

Love the author and series. Can’t wait to read the next book.

Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow (4 book series)

If the Hat Fits #1

Under The Hat #2

Hat Out of Spell #3

Hat Trick #4 

Bear Many Hats #5

Drop of a Hat #6 

Veil of Doom #7 – September 29,2026

Buy link

        Drop of a Hat (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow Book 6)

    

Blurb 

Sometimes the dead don’t stay buried

Blythe Fairfield finally has her life together. A tea shop with her name on it. A talking cat who runs the place from the windowsill. A sheriff who just told her exactly what she means to him… right before her dead great-aunt knocked on the door.

But the real trouble starts when one of Cauldron Hollow’s oldest witches is found dead. The poison? Brewed from a recipe out of the Tallowmere family collection. The suspects? Start with the witch who just walked out of her own grave, and work your way down to the niece who took her in.

Blythe has solved murders before. This one is different. The victim had secrets. The suspects have more. Every clue she follows leads somewhere she doesn’t want to go. Every alibi has a hole in it, and one person who might be innocent refuses to account for herself.

Meanwhile, the witches of Cauldron Hollow are muttering about the old ways, the mundane authorities are circling a case they can’t be allowed to understand, and Blythe’s own familiar is taking sides… against her.

The clock is ticking. The town is watching. And the killer is closer than anyone thinks.

Turns out some hats never go out of style. They just come back.

July 13, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

213 pages

Review:  Shifting Allegiance (Shifter Lords Book 11) by S. E. Babin

Rating: 5⭐️

I’m not sure how each of these stories manages to get increasingly complex and more devastating by the book but with Shifting Allegiance, Shifter Lords Book 11, Moira’s journey takes a truly dark, intensely horrifying turn of events which ends with a terrifying cliffhanger. 

Babin has created for her Shifter Lords series a case of remarkable characters, including a group of women , goddesses, faes, vampire, otherworldly beings who have close ties to each other through family bonds or friendships that are now so tightly woven together that they are a force of nature and magic. Each woman comes with her own unique identity, often traumatized past and depths of character. The series may have begun with Evie’s journey but these same women have grown and developed over time and as events has changed them all. 

Now they circle and surround Moira as her evil witch mother returns to reclaim her daughter and seed her revenge against her own daughter who escaped from her mother and the tortured life she inflicted upon her. 

I’ve loved Moira from the beginning of the series. She’s been a great character, true friend, one who not only told Evie the truth about her relationship as the toxicity with Caelan was increasing but stayed true to support her. Even though her own issues. 

My heart breaks for Moira here over and over. Especially when Ethan’s past is revealed in the harshest, most tragic way.  And let’s not for Cerunnos’ and his own personal reasons for being in Moira’s life.

Layer upon layer, Babin builds a narrative that is dramatic, deeply rooted in family, trauma, love and devastation. There’s past child abuse mentioned as well as torture. Truly tragic and dark. 

But for all the characters who aren’t redeemable, Babin gives us those who are. Like the goddess Cliome, Evie’s mother, who started off the series in the role of villain and now is a permanent part of the inner circle that surrounds her daughter and friends. And, even Caelan, who I absolutely despised, has made a tremendous turnaround here. 

That’s why this is so incredible and the writing so fascinating and well executed. 

But now I have to wait, probably for another cliffhanger too. It’s just the way this series is rolling. 

And it will probably be one of my favorites. 

It’s one I highly recommend reading right now. 

Cover design by Covers by Christian

Shifter Lords (14 book series):

Shift of Heart #1

Shift of Morals #2

Power Shift #3

Shifting Winds #4

Shifting Resolve #5

Shift of Rule #6

Shift of the Wild #7 

Goddess Shifting #8

Final Shift #9 – finale to Evie’s story 

Moira’s story begins 

Shift Happens #10 

Shifting Allegiance #11 

Shift of Shadows #12 – Nov 17,2026

Karmic Shift #13 – Dec 15,2026

Shift of Fate #14 – March 2,2027

Buy link 

 Book 11 of 14: Shifter Lords 

Blurb 

Moira has spent years outrunning her past. Now it’s finally caught up with her.

What should have been a routine job with Soren goes disastrously wrong, forcing Moira to come face-to-face with the one person she never wanted to see again. As old wounds reopen and long-buried secrets claw their way to the surface, the vampire hybrid must confront the darkness she’s spent a lifetime trying to escape.

Then Ethan becomes the target of a devastating spell.

Overnight, every memory of the connection growing between them vanishes, leaving Moira as little more than a stranger in his eyes. Worse, the magic continues to spread, twisting Ethan’s thoughts and reshaping his reality one lie at a time.

Determined to save him, Moira hunts for the source of the dark magic before it consumes him completely. But the deeper she digs, the more she uncovers a conspiracy tied to her own past—one that threatens not only Ethan’s future, but her very existence.

With time running out and enemies closing in from every side, Moira faces an impossible choice: walk away and save herself, or sacrifice everything for the man who no longer remembers her.

Because some monsters can’t be outrun.

And some futures are worth dying for.

Oliver Heber Books

Publication date

July 7, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

246 pages

Book 11 of 14

Shifter Lords

Review:  Unpredictable Magic by Faith Hunter 

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Unpredictable Magic by Faith Hunter brings us back into the lives of witches Angelina and Evan Everhart-Trueblood, characters who were children in Faith Hunter’s fantastic Jane Yellowrock series. 

Aunt Jane, the Dark Queen, is a solid character and continuing presence in their lives now that both Angie and Evan are adults with pasts that haunt each of them.

For Angie, it’s an abusive marriage and a ex-vampire husband that has ramifications throughout this story. For Evan, it’s his past black ops service in the Vampire/Demon wars that’s giving him unrelenting nightmares of his battles then. For both of them, Everhart Investigations, a PI firm in Chattanooga, has been a way to reunite as siblings and to try to find a new path separate from their families and the Royal family. 

A case puts everything they’ve struggled for into jeopardy, including those they love. 

This story is just fabulous. Highly suspenseful, full of twists, and great storytelling. Some crossover characters from the Jane Yellowrock series occur as these two are tied tightly together with that other series. That’s just another great reason to read this.

But the characters, Angie and Evan, as well as those who they gather around them, exhibit their own growth and development here. 

It was interesting to see them as adults because my memories are of them as children. And they have gone through some traumatic experiences and events that we hear about through memories or scenes that past history is brought up. 

If I had a wish? It’s that Angie was more realistic about their  “freedom “ from her family and the Dark Queen. She goes on about losing her freedom while not mentioning once that her ties with her family and aunt are the ones that have saved her repeatedly. Over and over. And over. 

Were there times I wanted to say grow TFU? Why yes there was.  Maybe future stories will see that happen. I do look forward to those.

I’ve seen elsewhere that this is the first book in a Everhart Investigations series and I really hope that it’s true. 

This was a fabulous wild ride. The side characters are just incredible. Cousin Wacko? Love her. And their vampire bodyguard with his own complicated past. Amazing stuff!

Highly recommended!

Jane Yellowrock (15 book series)

Also related:

Soulwood (6 book series)

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comUnpredictable Magic: Hunter, Faith – Books

Blurb 

Witches Angelina and Evan Everhart-Trueblood take a case that spirals out of control until the whole city is at risk in this exciting new novel from New York Timesbestselling author Faith Hunter.

Angelina Everhart-Trueblood and her brother Evan run Everhart Investigations, a PI firm in Chattanooga that solves paranormal crimes committed by supernatural beings. When their new client wants help finding her friend, who supposedly disappeared during a reception at Angie’s aunt Jane’s winter residence, things get . . . complicated.

The client is not who she appears to be, and demons strike the city for the first time since the Witch War. On top of that, evidence is pointing toward the involvement of an overly ambitious vampire—who just happens to be Angie’s ex-husband.

As Angie and Evan team up with CPD, they will have to dig deep into their magical reserves—and rely on some friends in high places—to rid Chattanooga of the danger creeping into their city.

Ace

Publication date

July 14, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

556 pages

Review: Shadowspell Academy : Year of the Chameleon Book 4 by Shannon Mayer

Rating: 4.75⭐️

Academy tropes aren’t really my favorite books but they’re hard to avoid as they’re so many out there. But Shadowspell Academy series written by by K. F. Breene and Shannon Mayer for the first mini-trilogy and now solely by Shannon Mayer for the final three stories, is an excellent read and why I’ll continue to pick up a great series. 

Yes, I’ve blown through the final trilogy and loved it.

Wild and her mixed crew of paranormals have been sorted into their “expected” Houses and now they are expected to spend their next years there, training with their own “magical” counterparts. 

But it doesn’t work out like that as events force everyone together in one place. A House of Wonder that seems to have it in for all of them, old and new enemies everywhere and Wild’s the target of her greatest enemy.

This is the start of a incredible journey, part horror story, outstanding paranormal adventure, that sees not only Wild but her small group of friends/family growing tighter, developing new powers and showing immense strength and resilience. 

Heartbreak, betrayal and high suspense. It’s all here. And it’s amazing. I love Wild so much. And everyone else in her group. 

Highly recommended! Fantastic work in every way by the author. 

Shadowspell Academy (6 book series)

The Culling Trials #1 through 3

Year of the Chameleon #4 through 6 written by Shannon Mayer

Buy link 

 Book 4 of 6: Shadowspell Academy 

Blurb 

You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

“This book is Harry Potter meets the Hunger Games in a bold twist on a classic magical young adult adventure.”
Jaymin Eve, Bestselling Author of Supernatural Academy

I’ve made it through the Culling Trials, the test that proved my mettle against every possible challenge.

I assumed that meant things would settle down and I’d start truly learning.

MNo more danger.

No more death threats.

No more wondering who was out to get me.

Apparently, that was not to be.

I am what this supernatural world calls a Chameleon—a rarity even amongst all these monsters. And rare things are coveted and feared by the most powerful of all—The House Of Wonder.

It’s a good thing I have my crew at my back, because this Academy?

It’s about to get seriously ugly.

Which means this farm girl is ready to play by only one set of rules.

Her own.