Had a few remaining reviews waiting from January before sharing the final wrap up for the month!
Some backlist books and one from Quirk Books
Mini Reviews – January 2025:
LORE OF THE WILDS – Analeigh Sbrana (Released February 27th, 2024)
A library with a deadly enchantment.
A Fae lord who wants in.
A human woman willing to risk it all for a taste of power.
In a land ruled by ruthless Fae, twenty-one-year-old Lore Alemeyu’s village is trapped in a forested prison. Lore knows that any escape attempt is futile—her scars are a testament to her past failures. But when her village is threatened, Lore makes a desperate deal with a Fae lord. She will leave her home to catalog/organize an enchanted library that hasn’t been touched in a thousand years. No Fae may enter the library, but there is a chance a human might be able to breach the cursed doors.
She convinces him that she will risk her life for wealth, but really she’s after the one thing the Fae covet above all: magic of her own.
As Lore navigates the hostile world outside, she’s forced to rely on two Fae males to survive. Two very different, very dangerous, very attractive Fae males. When undeniable chemistry ignites, she’s not just in danger of losing her life, but her heart to the very creatures she can never trust.
My Thoughts: 4/5 stars – I will say that, at the start, this book feels chaotic and all over the place. We’re dropped into this new universe, and the world building truly begins part way into the story. I think it is worth working through the chaos to get to the story at the heart of things. I know when it comes to fantasy it can be hard to properly give a detailed glimpse when starting the series – there’s more time for development and elements that were hinted to and revealed in the end of book one in the next in the series.
I didn’t know the love triangle in this book would have such a prominent role, but I wasn’t mad about it. While a more cozy type of romance added into this fantasy world, it seemed to work well! I do agree with some other reviewers in that I’m not sure why this was marketed as YA. While it does read like a YA book, there are some pieces in this story that should 100% categorize it as more adult romantasy.
I was very invested in Lore and her desire for knowledge and this journey she was on. Who doesn’t love an enchanted library? And one with a deadly enchantment at that! I loved elements of the plot and things I don’t want to spoil. I am curious to see where book two goes with everything. So fingers crossed for some answers and a wider scope of this new world
DEATH IN THE DOWNLINE – Maria Abrams (Thanks to Quirk Books for the gifted copy – Released January 14th, 2025)
It’s multi-level murder in this darkly funny mystery novel about the glamorous world of MLM “huns”—and the dangerous secrets at the top of the pyramid.
Drew thought she was destined to rise above her small New Jersey hometown and make it as a serious journalist in New York City. But now she’s back in Clearfield, pushing thirty, newly single, and living with her father.
After a chance encounter at the grocery store, she reconnects with her former best friend, Steph, who married young and never left their hometown. But Steph looks . . . good. She’s tanned, clear skinned, and glowing. She drives an expensive car and wears only name brands. What’s her secret? A multi-level marketing scheme called LuminUS that’s taken the ladies of Clearfield by storm. With nothing left to lose, Drew gets sucked into this glamorous world of downlines, sales parties, and girls’ trips.
But when a LuminUS distributor dies under mysterious circumstances, can Drew uncover the dark secret at the heart of the organization—and save her best friend—before it’s too late?
Laugh-out-loud funny and a pitch-perfect skewering of pyramid schemes, Death in the Downline is a page-turner that will have readers nodding in recognition and cheering for Drew until the cathartic conclusion.
My Thoughts: 4/5 stars – Are you also highly fascinated with MLM’s? If there’s a documentary about one, I’ll watch it. The one about LuLaRoe?? Well, this is perfect for those looking for a murder mystery with some fun. I don’t know about you, but I know people who are involved in the MLM schemes. One person we know seems to try all of them, and it’s the same cycle. Just blows my mind. Anyway! Here we meet Drew, and she’s hit a rough patch and returns to her childhood home. She runs into her best friend from high school and notices she’s looking incredible and seems to be doing very well for herself. Her secret? LuminUs – the latest and greatest in skincare and supplements MLM. Drew’s friend gets her set up, and after one of the higher ups is murdered, Drew begins investigating and finds there’s a whole lot more wrong with LuminUs than everyone thought.
The texts and dialog from the women at LuminUs gave me flashbacks to the curated Facebook captions I’ve seen my friend post before, and they made me cringe. I loved it. This was so fun, and yes, parts are outlandish and mildly predictable, but it was such a fast and enjoyable murder mystery! I also saw on Goodreads that this is book one in the A Multi-Level Marketing Mystery series!
BLACK WIDOW BLUES – Andrew Adams (Released March 22nd, 2024)
Kimberly has a unique addiction. Eating spiders is both her only pleasure and destroying her from the inside out. Will she be able to see her way through before it drives her into an early grave?
My Thoughts: 4/5 stars – The things I do for Chandra – she somehow convinced me to read Black Widow Blues. As someone who can not handle anything with spiders, this was purely because she recommended it. The fact I read a book about a woman EATING SPIDERS and didn’t die is an incredible feat. Through her grieving the loss of her spouse, a strange eating disorder arises. She’s addicted to eating spiders. The amount of cringing and disgusted faces I had to have made while reading this. If you can stomach it, this was a great little body horror novella.
STIRRING THE SHEETS – Chad Lutzke (Released April 13th, 2018)
An elderly funeral home worker, struggling with the loss of his wife, finds an unnatural attraction to a corpse at work resembling his late bride in her younger years.
A story of desperation, loneliness and letting go.
My Thoughts: 5/5 stars – Stirring the Sheets is my introduction to Chad Lutzke, and I understand the hype with this emotional little gutt punch. Emmett is a funeral home worker, and he is struggling with the loss of his wife of 50 years. One day, things change when a corpse of a young bride comes across his table at work – she bears a strong resemblance to his wife, and an unnatural attraction has him contemplating. The range of emotions this man experiences throughout this book will pull at your heartstrings.
Jessicamap Reviews 