By Moorea Corrigan
** Publication Date 21 April 2026 **
5 stars




A little bit of fantasy and the fairy world brings us a wonderful story about a mortal woman the the Faerie man she enlists to help her heal her ancestral home.


Mouse is a nurse. She tended to those torn by the war, one of them being her brother Roger. Mouse is the child of an Irish gardener and an English Lady. Lady Dewhurst would have been her mother, had she lived. Her father was brought to the family home of Thistlemarsh, where Mouse and her brother would be raised alongside their cousin Bertie. 


Only Bertie’s father was a wicked man. Never once treating his sister’s children as anything close to his own, and expecting their father, his own brother-in-law, to tend to the gardens. Mouse grew up learning from her father. Roger and Bertie attended Eton, only Roger left after a scuffle with Bertie’s cousin Carlyle.


Eventually the war took Bertie and most of Roger’s mind. Lord Dewhurst passed, and Mouse was left the heir to Thistlemarsh, with strings attached. Those strings would leave the whole estate and inheritance to Carlyle unless Mouse could meet the expectations and demands of the will. 


In comes Thornwood to try to help Mouse right the wrongs, or so she thinks. Taken in by his beauty and magic, Mouse agrees to terms that might not save her after all.


What a wonderful story of Faeries in the modern world. The legends of the Faerie King and his place in rural England is truly a work of magic. There is simply nothing better than escaping into this make-believe world. Mouse is a both a heroine and a train-wreck in alternating chapters. Her strength and will and tenderness are perfect in every way. Thornwood is exactly what you’d expect a faerie to be, part wicked trickery and part beautiful all in one. The relationship between he and Mouse has chemistry from their first pages together.


There are books that stay with you long after you have closed them. Thistlemarsh will definitely take that spot.

A Splinter Effect Novel #2
By Andrew Ludington
** Publication Date 21 April 2026 **
4 stars


The nice thing about reading a series is not having to learn all the characters from the start. You have some inkling, even if time has passed since the previous novel, of whom you’re working with. In a series the stories follow a specific pattern. In a way it’s like visiting a town you know well.


The Splinter Effect series revolves around a time traveler named Rabbit Ward. Rabbit specializes in what is called chrono-archaeology, or travel to a previous time to recover an artifact. Rabbit speaks many dead languages and is well versed in history, so his travel to these spaces is not suspect. However, he sometimes comes up against some pretty fierce characters that don’t want to see him succeed. He’s not just a time traveler, but in many ways a spy and criminal as well.


This trip has Rabbit chasing down his adversary Helen from the previous novel.  He only knows that a cryptic message was left for him, sending him on a goose chase to 68 CE. This is the time when Jerusalem and Rome will do battle. When he runs into an earlier version of Helen, who hasn’t met Rabbit yet, he knows what their future holds. She is on the trail of a murdering time traveler called Einar Eshek. Together they will try to trap this sadistic killer. There might be a bit of buried treasure and a little romance in the works as well.


These novels are endlessly fascinating with their deep dive into history. As not a huge history buff, I like learning about things I may have missed in school. It’s also a lot more interesting when you add in time travel and intrigue. Helen and Rabbit are a great pair. Ludington has done well to match the wits and gifts of them. As always there are a host of bad guys to tackle along the way as well.


I enjoy these books. They can be a fun departure from traditional fiction. This one is no different. Also, while it does help to understand the premises behind current time travel, reading the first novel is helpful, but not entirely necessary.

By Maria Semple
** Publication Date 14 April 2026 **
5 stars




Could I actually love a book more than I loved ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette?’ Maybe. Sometimes when an author writes a novel as memorable as Bernadette, you think they’ll never be able to match that one. Go Gentle does. I think, maybe, I might like it even a bit more than Bernadette.


Adora Hazzard has had an interesting life in addition to having an interesting name. Originally determined to be a comedic TV writer, after a few stumbles along the way, she finds philosophy and knows this is her life. As a Stoic, most everything rolls right off her. She loves being single. She loves her job working for a very wealthy old money family in New York City. She lives in a historic hotel that was renovated into apartments with her ‘coven’ of female friends. Life is, in her mind, pretty darn perfect. 


All it takes is just a moment and a mysterious man to turn things upside down.


To say I loved this is truly an understatement. I found the information about Stoics fascinating (beyond the adjective ‘stoic.’) I love how grounded Adora actually seems to be. Her employers and their kids are interesting, as are all the other characters in her life. You will laugh out loud at parts of this, because they are funny. It’s just a joyous ride from start to finish.


Well done Ms. Semple.

By Diane Kelly
** Publication Date 31 March 2026 **
​4 stars




Cute cozy mystery that has just a bit of darkness to it. This is the 8th book in Kelly’s House Flipper series. I have not read another book in this series, therefore this one is a standalone for me.


Whitney is a flipper. Along with her cousin Buck, they buy up properties, renovate, and sell once again. Previously Whitney even flipped her own home. Whitney’s husband Collin is a member of the police department. And somehow Whitney keeps finding herself in the middle of murder investigations.


This time it entails a barn which was once part of an antebellum estate. There is both good and dark history associated with this barn that served as a stopover for the Underground Railroad. Instead of being a flip, Buck and Whitney have been hired to rehab the barn into a property the family can be proud of. 


When a local reporter, working on a story about the barn, gets brutally murdered on the property, Whitney inserts herself right into the investigation. After all, this young man wouldn’t have even been there if it weren't for the history and rehab of the property. 


Cute novel. Loved the chapters with the cat’s thoughts inserted in-between the human focused chapters. As this is part of a larger series, I can testify that you do not need to have read any of the previous novels to enjoy this one. Also, like me, you may want to go back and read the rest because you enjoyed this one so much. 


Engaging, not too dark, fun read. Definitely recommend when you’re in the mood for something mysterious, but not gory or depressing. 

By Meg Shaffer
** Publication Date 7 April 2026 **
4 stars




Book witches protect novels from those who wish to burn the books. Essentially burners can hop into a novel, burn up pages within, and then the books will disappear forever. Book witches all over the world monitor for burners and call on the Ink & Paper Coven to repair the book before something terrible happens.


Twenty-seven year old Rainy March (both a weather forecast and a name) is a book witch. Rainy resides in Rainy Port Meriwether, Oregon with her Pops and Hannah, their housekeeper. Rainy was raised without parents. Her father is unknown and her mother died shortly after Rainy’s birth.


What got Rainy through some very tough times were the books about the Duke of Chicago. When there is an incident with the Duke’s books, Rainy volunteers to hop in and fix it. After all, who knows the books better than Rainy? Only things don’t go quite as planned. Duke doesn’t want Rainy to leave. Rainy doesn’t want to leave, but rules are rules. Can Duke and Rainy find a way to bend those rules?


This is an adorable book. It is so much fun to bring book characters and book settings to life with Rainy in them. Rainy herself is a young woman who has spunk, and she’s almost fearless. She’s also dealing with a lot of trauma in her past. This novel, while lighthearted, deals with some dark themes. Life isn’t perfect for the heroine Rainy. Still, it is a sweet story about love, life, and fiction vs the real world. 


Absolutely worth a read. Quick one