This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books they’ve read and share what they have got up to during the last week.
A very happy and healthy 2026 to everyone! I can’t quite believe that we’re already a third of the way through the month. So far, 2026 has proven to be cold with frosts most mornings and even a sprinkling of snow. Luckily it quickly melted – but a lot of the country has been blanketed by snow thanks to the first named storm of the year, Goretti. We got torrential rain on Thursday night which made driving Oscar to his evening class a miserable business. At least the days have begun to lengthen again. Oscar has taken a while to fully recover from the virus that zapped him over Christmas – partly because he keeps thinking he’s completely better when he isn’t.
Ethan is now back at university and working really hard on the three assignments that have to be handed in before the end of the month. I am so proud of his work ethic. Fortunately, the weather so far hasn’t caused too many problems for the trains, so Himself isn’t dealing with too much chaos and turmoil as a driver, which can often happen at this time of year. And Amari has been extremely busy. She has shredded the hall curtains by running up them – they were elderly, but I was hoping they would do another year until our major makeover. She has also taken to ripping up the carpet outside our bedroom door. We’ve bought some coir mats to stop her and it seems to be working, although they are a bit rough on bare feet when we stagger to the bathroom at night. Her most dramatic escapade was to pull down a shelf in the kitchen, which I’d cleared of ornaments before Christmas. The shelf itself crashed on top of her litterbox lid, splintering it, while she leapt clear. I’m so glad I took the china off the shelf! The pics this week – Amari shows the battery-operated Christmas tree whose boss… watching TV – as you can see, she makes a marvellous window… her latest trick of walking along the top of the door in the lounge… and squeezing herself onto a shelf we’d assumed was too small for her…
On Friday night, Rebecca and I went to see Single White Female at the Royal Court Theatre in Brighton – it was the first night, so the performance was a tad uneven. But we had huge fun together – we’d parked in one of the multi-storey car parks near the theatre, but I hadn’t been paying much attention and we lost track of which car park. We were wandering the busy streets of Brighton for over an hour before we found the right one, finding the whole situation hilarious.
This fortnight I’ve read:-
AUDIOBOOK – Pursued by Peril – Book 4 of the Tracking Trouble series by Lindsay Buroker
The dragons of the Cosmic Realms aren’t pleased now that Azerdash has recovered a legendary galaxy blade. It makes him more of a threat in his quest to oust their kind from power. To stop him, the dragons have sent one of their own after him, a deadly assassin who likes a challenge…
Arwen wants to help Azerdash, but she has her own problems. She must track down the missing vampire alchemist, Zoltan. It’s her fault that he was kidnapped, and she can’t leave him in the hands of dark elves. But when the dragon assassin comes after her, because of her relationship with Azerdash, Arwen must worry about far more than kidnappers.
I’m enjoying this series, featuring sweet-natured Arwen – who is a bit of a change from the feisty heroines that usually take the lead in Buroker’s adventures. However, I think the change works really well. And once again, it was a treat to meet up with characters who have featured in the companion series that I so enjoyed. 8/10
EBOOK NOVELLA – The Blood Locket Mystery: From the Casefiles of the Morpheus Society 1 by Bryd Nash
Apprentice Ghost Talker, Twyla Andricksson sets out to solve her own mystery in this charming spin-off that features Twyla’s special brand of exuberant mayhem.
Twyla always does terrible things with great enthusiasm for very good reasons.
When Twyla messes up a seance, she is given the task by Elinor to solve the mystery of a dead servant girl’s locket. So while Elinor is out of town (see Spirit Guide) Twyla tackles the task, visiting lawyers, pestering the coroner, and generally putting her nose into other people’s business.
Working on her first case also provides a very good reason to escape her matchmaking mother and obnoxious brother.
I loved the Madame Chalamet series by Nash – a Gaslamp ghost series featuring calm, experienced Elinor Chalamet. While her talented but very impulsive student, Twyla, is quite a different protagonist. My main regret is that this story isn’t longer. I wanted more! 8/10
AUDIOBOOK – Mercenary Instinct – Book 1 of The Mandrake Company series by Ruby Lionsdrake
Skulking around in the ruins on a planet swarming with treasure hunters, slavers, and bounty hunters isn’t good for one’s health. But Ankari Markovich needs a few archaeological samples for her latest business venture, a venture that might prove lucrative enough to move her family off the impoverished planet where she grew up. Unfortunately, she has no sooner collected her samples than she’s captured by a band of brawny mercenaries. The captain might be handsome, but he’s intent on turning her over to some finance lord who has, for reasons unknown, put a bounty on her head, a ridiculously large one at that. If she can’t figure out a way to escape before she’s delivered to the lord’s home world, she could be forced into a life of indentured servitude—or worse.
Captain Viktor Mandrake doesn’t usually take on piddling bounty hunting gigs, but when his intelligence officer informs him of a criminal on a nearby planet, he decides it wouldn’t hurt to take a shuttle down to collect the woman. But Ankari Markovich is trouble from the start, nearly eluding his elite forces, then fighting and tricking his people left and right. He finds himself admiring her spirit, but according to her warrant, she’s a criminal. The safest thing is to keep her in the brig and ignore her until she can be handed off to the man who wants her.
But the situation grows more complicated when other bounty hunters show up, wanting to claim Ankari for themselves. Thanks to this woman, Viktor’s ship is in danger, his crew members are going missing, and he’s fighting enemies he never asked for in a jungle in the middle of a hurricane. He’s either going to strangle Ankari… or fall in love. Either scenario could get him killed.
This was one I acquired from Audible Plus. Full of adventure, along with an intense, slow burn love affair, which meant it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. But recommended if you like brooding men and feisty heroines. 7/10
AUDIOBOOK – Linesman – Book 1 of the Linesman series by S.K. Dunstall
The lines. No ship can traverse the void without them. Only linesmen can work with them. But only Ean Lambert hears their song. And everyone thinks he’s crazy… Most slum kids never go far, certainly not becoming a level-ten linesman like Ean. Even if he’s part of a small, and unethical, cartel, and the other linesmen disdain his self-taught methods, he’s certified and working.
Then a mysterious alien ship is discovered at the edges of the galaxy. Each of the major galactic powers is desperate to be the first to uncover the ship’s secrets, but all they’ve learned is that it has the familiar lines of energy—and a defense system that, once triggered, annihilates everything in a 200 kilometer radius.
The vessel threatens any linesman who dares to approach it, except Ean. His unique talents may be the key to understanding this alarming new force—and reconfiguring the relationship between humans and the ships that serve them, forever.
I loved this one. Using specific lines to travel ftl worked, without getting too technical and the world was nicely complicated and political. Dunstall managed to convey all the necessary information without holding up the pace of the story and Ean’s underdog status had me rooting for him from the start. I’m delighted to have the next two books in the series already to go. 9/10
Detour – Book 1 of the Detour series by Jeff Rake & Rob Hart
Ryan Crane wasn’t looking for trouble—just a cup of coffee. But when this cop spots a gunman emerging from an unmarked van, he leaps into action and unknowingly saves John Ward, a billionaire with presidential aspirations, from an assassination attempt.
As thanks for Ryan’s quick thinking, Ward offers him the chance of a lifetime: to join a group of lucky civilians chosen to accompany three veteran astronauts on the first manned mission to Saturn’s moon Titan.
A devoted family man, Ryan is reluctant to leave on this two-year expedition, yet with the encouragement of his loving wife—and an exorbitant paycheck guaranteeing lifetime care for their disabled son—he crews up and ventures into a new frontier…
I’ve cut short the very chatty blurb. Review to follow.
AUDIOBOOK – A Flicker in Time – Book 2 of the Mine Through Time series by Kate
Serzenta
Boston, 2010. It’s been over a year since Emily Willburne discovered she had the power to travel through time – then sacrificed it forever when to rewrite her family’s fractured past. But just as Emily laments her lost potential, her ancestor and former time-traveling companion Will reappears asking for help – stealing Emily away on an assignment that could restore the ability to travel between the centuries for both of them.
Boston, 1889. Lady Sylvia Ross is on the run. The beautiful British aristocrat witnessed her husband kill a man for a device she later fled with – and she has no idea of what it does or why he’d go to such murderous lengths to safeguard it. In fear for her life, Sylvia promises to hand the device over to a kind, handsome stranger, Will, and his odd companion, Emily – but only if they escort her to America’s wild frontier first, where she hopes to reunite with her disinherited brother James.
Will knows he’s meant to marry a woman named Sylvia one day. But this couldn’t possibly be her – she’s already married, and their paths are bound to diverge soon. Emily knows that this time is only an adventure for her – but it could turn into a heartbreak waiting to happen when Sylvia’s devastatingly attractive, aristocrat-turned-gunslinger brother enters the mix. Amidst their romantic woes, Will and Emily will have to contend with kidnapping, coercion, and a complex time travel conspiracy that spans the centuries …
I’ve read the first and third books in this entertaining series and thought I knew what I’d be in for with this second book. I was wrong – it had so many more twists and excitement. I was delighted to meet up with Emily again. The time travelling aspect has rules and limitations that heighten the stakes and make it clear that only a handful of people can ever manage to move through Time. Serzenta knows how to weave a gripping plot and throw in plenty of unpredictability – even for idiots like me who managed to read the books out of order. Highly recommended. 10/10
That Murder Feeling: A Soul Garden Mystery by Neve Maslakovic
Rod Gray isn’t your average small-town detective. He can see emotions — they bloom around people like living gardens, full of strange weather and stranger creatures. It’s a noisy way to walk through life but it helps him see what others can’t.
There’s one soul garden he’s never wanted to enter. A killer’s.
Until now. When the richest man in Two Lakes, Minnesota turns up dead in a blizzard, suspicion lands on Rod’s childhood friend Clementine Baker. To clear her name, Rod must learn what murder looks like in the soul. But his own feelings keep getting underfoot and time is running out.
Review to follow.
My posts:
My 2025 Reading Year – the statistics
Can’t-Wait Wednesday featuring That Murder Feeling: A Soul Garden Mystery by Neve Maslakovic
*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Awkward on the Rocks by Marcel Feldmar
Wishing you a happy, healthy week crammed with fabulous books😊.
Brainfluff 