I’m a bit of a cop-out doing this post, but I’m not doing great; still, I wanted to post something, and I’m doing a Kindle Haul for two reasons: I need the books for the Readathon prompts (some on this list are challenging and out of my comfort zone, so posting about them will help push me to read them). My other reason is that most are linked to this season. Plus, I don’t know any bookworm who doesn’t love a book haul. By the way, if you’re curious, I rated Sleeps Four by Beth Voss 4/5; it was well-written, and A Happy Marriage by James Caine 3/5; it started great but landed flat by the end (it needed a bit more work).
Amazon Blurb:
When reality isn’t enough…
Lucid Nightscapes, Inc. has introduced the most immersive entertainment experience in history: lucid dreaming. Clients pick the time and place—a space station, medieval Europe, or a battlefield—and Lucid creates dreamscapes impossible to discern from reality.
But some dreams come at a price…
A secret CIA program to track terrorists in the dreamscape has been disabled, and the deaths of lucid dreamers are starting to pile up. To save the company from ruin, CEO Andy Crenshaw reaches out to government contacts for help.
Assigned to the case, NSA special agents Alton and Mallory Blackwell fight to untangle the truth amidst the twisted realities of Lucid’s imaginary worlds…while being plunged into dreamscapes depicting horrific events from their past. Can the husband-and-wife investigators uncover the truth before perishing in the dreamscape themselves?
by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain
Amazon Blurb:
The body lies still at the bottom of the ravine. Dead eyes staring up at nothing. Grassy slopes extend upward in all directions, green walls encasing the corpse. They’ll need a crane to hoist him out of the gulley.
College student Ellie Levine just wanted a normal spring break. She has lied to her controlling parents, snuck away to the Sea Spray Motel, expecting nothing worse than a bad sunburn.
Then the dead body shows up.
A murdered man has been dumped in the ravine next door, and a pair of notorious outlaws are on the loose.
Ellie tries to keep her head down and wait it out. But the violence doesn’t stay on the other side of the police tape.
Abducted in the dead of night. The cold muzzle of a gun pressed to the side of her neck. Ellie is dragged into the crossfire.
Effie Campbell
Amazon Blurb:
She saved me once.
She probably doesn’t remember.
I can’t forget her.
Fourteen years ago, when we were small, I was starving.
Not just my stomach rumbling, but hungry for kindness. For someone to look at me like I mattered.
She did.
Until she couldn’t look at me at all.
I learned how to survive without being wanted in foster home after foster home. Holding on to my memories of her. Of how she saw me as more than nothing.
And now she’s back in my world.
Bright. Successful. Untouched by the ruin that shaped me into the monster I am.
I should stay away.
Men like me don’t get women like her.
But I’ve never been good at letting go.
So I watch. And I wait. Telling myself it’s harmless.
That loving her from the darkness is enough.
Until I see him.
A face from our past.
Someone who remembers what she did.
And wants to make her pay for it.
I have survived worse than him. I’m not afraid to abandon any remaining morals to keep her safe.
My love for her was born in darkness and fear. A glimmer of hope for a boy who had nothing.
Obsession.
Ruin.
But it’s the only good thing I’ve ever felt.
And this time… I’m not letting anyone take her from me.
Lisa Carlisle
I just finished it and enjoyed it 😊
Goodreads Blurb:
A hapless witch. A broken vampire.
And a mysterious death that brings them under the same roof.
When I learn I’ve inherited a house in Salem, I’m sure it’s a mistake.
Besides, I have zero desire to return to a town where I’m an outcast.
The surprises continue when I meet my tenants, including a broody vampire and a foodie wolf shifter.
But I’m only staying around long enough to sell my long lost aunt’s house.
Even when they convince me to go to a Halloween ball.
Even when I agree to pretend to be the vampire’s girlfriend.
Even when I discover his softer and oh-so-sexier side.
Because a witch without magic in Salem makes as much sense as a pig with wings. And I’ve never seen one fly.
by M. Shahbaz
I wasn’t a fan of the writing due to the repetition. Iwhy the author didwas behind it. However, I needed it for a prompt, so I read the 637 pages.
Amazon Blurb:
Aram Fell has no bond. At the academy, a bond is what lets students use magic without holding it themselves. Aram failed the Setting and should have been left powerless.
Yet his Wards remain. Aram can create one, walk away, and leave it standing on its own. No one knows why. He also carries three runes: Ward, Weight, and Veil.
When the Count of Stones brings six academies together at Umbral, old stones and forgotten records are brought out. One record tells the story of a student who had no bond, yet somehow managed to use magic.
Then a dragon attacks.
While the academies fight to survive, a rune stone, an ancient founding record, and a survey case are stolen. Aram notices details others overlook, and those details may reveal what the attackers were really after.
Hallum Drey already has three stones. He needs five to become a Made man, something that does not die and Aram is beginning to wonder if his failed Setting was never a failure at all.
by Christina Stout
Amazon Blurb:
Kai Elias doesn’t just see the world; he feels every vibrating molecule, every glitch in its perfect facade. Doctors call his hyper-perceptive mind an illness, and Doctor Thorne promises a cure that will silence the overwhelming data stream for good. But as Kai grapples with a reality that feels increasingly simulated, he uncovers a terrifying truth: the city’s flawless order is built on a foundation of suppression, and his own unique perception might be the key to unraveling it all. With his sister Mira caught in the crosshairs and the Authority closing in, Kai must master the power burning through his body before the system erases everyone who dares to see beyond the illusion.
J.R. Rain and H.P. Mallory
Goodreads Blurb:
It’s two days until Halloween in Haven Hollow and Astrid is feeling the holiday blues.
After being kicked out of her coven, the young witch is missing the holiday festivities she’s grown up with, and she’s also upset about a boy. Not to mention she’s perplexed over the subject of what she should gift to Wanda for the most important night of the witching calendar (known as ‘Samhain’).
When Astrid’s ne’er-do-well brother, Maverick, reaches out, Astrid is over the moon to hear from him. Because Maverick is disallowed entrance into Haven Hollow (Wanda banished him after a witchly duel), Astrid agrees to meet him in the neighboring town of Riverport, where they plan to celebrate the season by harvesting apples for the Autumn Fae.
Reunited with her prickly brother, Astrid admits she has no idea what to gift Wanda for Samhain and Maverick suggests his newest concoction, Regression Oil—a potion which brings to light someone’s past lives.
Astrid, excited by the promise of the potion, eagerly agrees to assist Maverick in the creation of the Regression Oil, all the while wondering what lifetimes will reveal themselves before Wanda’s eyes.
During a meeting of the Black Cat Cocktail Club, Astrid spikes Wanda’s drink with the Regression Oil, waits until the clock strikes midnight and activates the potion with a spell.
And that’s when everything goes to hell in a Prada handbag…
It was my first October read, but in my opinion, it was too short.
Anthea Fraser
Goodreads Blurb:
Cosy up with a cup of tea and treat yourself to an utterly irresistible mystery, set amid England’s breathtakingly beautiful Chiltern Hills.
Meet Rona Parish, a feisty biographer with a talent for digging up murder and mystery wherever she goes — and Gus, the golden retriever, nipping loyally at her heels!
Rona jumps at the chance to write about Theo Harvey, a famous author who drowned in stranger-than-fiction circumstances. But is she diving head-long into danger?
Six months ago, Harvey was found floating face-down in a peaceful stream. Not far from the quaint little cottage where he penned his bestsellers.
His drowning is a puzzle the police can’t solve. So now Rona’s on the case — ready to dig deep to find the answers Harvey’s grieving widow craves.
But someone out there doesn’t appreciate her snooping.
It’s not long before Rona finds a sinister note tucked into her golden retriever’s collar, warning her to drop the project while she still can . . .
L.B. Dayton
Goodreads Blurb:
Kat Calloway, the rising star chef at Larkspur, is living her dream—until the unthinkable happens. Harrison Vaughn, a cruel, self-important food critic, drops dead after devouring her perfectly plated meal. What was supposed to be a night of culinary perfection crumbles into a hellish disaster.
With Vaughn’s death pinned on her, Kat becomes the main suspect in the murder investigation. The problem? Everyone ate the same meal, but only Vaughn is dead. Someone served up poison —but who? And how?
Ben, her loyal maitre d’ who has a knack for dark humor, also falls under suspicion with his flippant remark of wishing Vaughn a “final course.” Together, they dig into the chaos, sifting through half-baked lies and undercooked truths from staff and guests, uncovering a deadlier plot than they ever imagined.
Heather Huffman
I read it and liked it
Goodreads Blutb:
Sometimes, owning a bookstore can be murder.
When Nora Jones inherits a dusty old bookshop from her estranged uncle, she moves to St. Augustine to tie up loose ends and maybe learn a bit about the man she never knew.
Only what first appeared to be a heart attack turns out to be murder, and there’s no shortage of suspects. The detective assigned to the case might be handsome and charming, but Nora’s convinced he’s chasing down the wrong lead.
With her newly-inherited Greyhound named Margo and a quirky band of friends in tow, Nora decides to track down the killer. She finds herself in a race to.
Goodreads Blurb:
A World War Two Historical Fiction Novel Based On A True Story
A true story about a young boy growing up under the Third Reich.
Karl Veth, the eldest of three children, was born in Berlin, Germany in 1930. By the time he was old enough to start school and begin his education, Hitler had established a firm death-grip on the country. Children were fed a steady diet of Nazi propaganda and were often encouraged to turn on their family and friends; however, contrary to popular belief, not all of them bought into it.
Karl is an intelligent young boy who strives to excel in his studies, but he questions everything. Dangerous questions during a time when people are closely monitored. Karl’s father and grandfather are not blind followers and they have their own opinions about Hitler and his regime. The lessons they teach Karl often contradict what he is taught in school, yet they also inspire him to think on his own and form his own opinions.
German law mandates all children must become members of the Hitler Youth and at the age of 10, Karl enters the Jungvolk, the junior branch of the Hitler Youth. He must wade through the propaganda and everything he is taught to decide for himself what is right and what it wrong. Little does he know at the time, many of his grandfather’s predictions about the future of the Third Reich will eventually come to pass. The lessons he learns now and the opinions he forms will determine his fate in dangerous times ahead.