Bibliophile Amber's Book Reviews

Title: Booked For Murder Author: P.J. Nelson Expected Publication: December 10.2024 Publisher: Dreamscape Media/ Minotaur Books Genre: Cozy Mystery/Mystery/Fiction/Mystery Thriller Pages: 336 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: It's a small town with an interesting start. Madeline is taking a break from acting and she returns to her hometown because she inherited a bookstore after her Aunt Rose passed away. From the beginning as soon as she arrives there is a fire in the Gazebo. When the first responders can turn it off they decide to investigate it because the fire happens under suspicious circumstances and they believe arson was a great possibility.  To add to the whole scenario Madeline starts receiving threatening phone calls, telling her to leave or they would burn down her home and bookstore. When a younger college student asked her if she could stay the night Madeline agreed, unfortunately, that night another fire was started, and when Madeline was trying to get her new friend ou...

Title: We Solve Murders Author: Richard Osman Published: September 17, 2024 Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books/Viking Books Genre: Mystery/Fiction/MysteryThriller/ Crime/ Cozy Mystery Pages: 400 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: It is a thrilling adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you suspect everyone. The characters are intriguing, with sharp wit and many laughable moments!  Amy works for a private security company and is currently working with a well-known author Rosie D'Antonio on an island. When someone tried to murder them, thinking on her feet after receiving a voicemail from her boss she calls her father-in-law Steve. Steve is a retired police officer, who works on solving local mysteries and would much rather stay at home caring for his cat Trouble. When he receives the call from Amy he hesitantly boards a private plane to go help her.  I went into this book blind but I am really glad that I did because this is the first novel that I've had the ple...

Title: Dial A for Aunties Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto Published: April 27,2021 Publisher: Berkley Publishing Genre: Cozy Mystery/Fiction/ChickLit/Mystery Pages: 299 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Wow!  I love this book! The aunties are awesome! I love how the family works and how they all protect one another and go to bat for each other!  However, there is a part when where the mother was messaging a male for her daughter on a dating website however she does not know what the eggplant emoji means, and then she thinks that the guy is good because she believes that he means that he would cook eggplant for her lol 😂  However, she was wrong and tried to place his hands on Meddelin in a provocative way she asked him to stop the car and then he didn't so she tazed him. When she wakes up she realizes she killed him, so she puts him in the trunk and drives back home where her mother and aunties make a plan to put him in the cooler and freezer. However, the next day they started w...

Title: Lenny Maris Gets Away With Murder Author: Kerry Mayne Published: July 9,2024 Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Genre: Mystery/Fiction/MysteryThriller Pages: 343 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Lenny has issues with her memory, and she has issues remembering what happened on the day that her mother left her when she was a child. She does remember the words her stepfather told her that she was at fault. She does have a connection with her foster mother that is unfailing, and her foster mother did go to the bat for her several times. Her foster mother also encourages her to make friends and to go out with other people.  Lenny does have a different thought process with her inner dialogue, although at times her thought process is rather strange. I believe she is on the spectrum, and that can cause her thought process to be different.  Throughout the story, Lenny has different flashbacks of her childhood which is a traumatic childhood, to say the least. My only complaint is that t...

Title: Beneath the Poet’s House Author: Christa Carmen Expected Publication: December 10,2024 Publisher: Christa Carmen Genre: Gothic/Mystery/Horror/Thriller/Supernatural Pages: 336 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This one was rather odd. It was interesting but odd at the same time.  As a grieving widow, Saoirse moved into Providence, and not only that into the home of Sarah Helen Whitman the spiritualist who once was involved with Edgar Allen Poe. However, on the night that she is moving in she makes some peculiar new friends that are performing seance to try to communicate with Whitman, and while she does see it as odd she welcomes them as friends.  After she went to a career fair she meets Emmit and soon she starts dating him. While in the relationship Saoirse pushes the limits on not taking her medications on time, drinking alcohol, and participating in some questionable behaviors and actions with him. I understand discovering yourself and how you fit into a new lifestyle, ...

Title: A Crack In Everything Author: Ruth Frances Long Published: November 1,2024 Publisher: Belinda Audio Genre: Fantasy/YA/Urban Fantasy/Romance Pages: 400 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This one was interesting! I read a lot of supernatural-type books, then with this one about angels and demons was really interesting! Let's start with Izzy, who is a normal teenager. Her whole life was turned upside down when she noticed a graffiti angel. She meets a Jinx, a dark and mysterious individual. After receiving her destroyed phone from a homeless man the Jinx insists on walking her to the place where her friend's band is going to play. Now this Jinx is basically doing what she wants and Izzy is thrown into a world that she doesn't understand. A world within another world! However, Jinx and Izzy's relationship is a whirlwind rollercoaster. First, it's friendly then it's not so much then it goes back to being friendly.  Making it difficult to know who to trust and who...

Title: Anatomy: A Love Story Author: Dana Schwartz Published: January 18,2022 Publisher: Wednesday Books Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance/Fantasy/Fiction Pages: 352 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: "Every one of us deserves to die", Dr. Beecham said. "It is our only birthright."  Hazel is smart and strong-willed, and she’s not afraid to tell anyone what she thinks. She also has dreams of becoming a surgeon, however in the 1800's women having actual careers was something men seemed to think women could not handle. Hazel disagrees and decides to use her deceased brother's clothes and dress like her brother so she can attend class. I love that she has so much determination to not only finish her class but once she leaves the class study on her own. She is practically betrothed and has been since she was a baby. She meets Jack, an undertaker, and he helps supply her with bodies so she can go study through the body parts and identify and study all the parts becaus...

Title: Disturbing the Dead Author: Kelley Armstrong Published: May 7,2024 Publisher: Minotaur Books/ St. Martin’s Books Genre: Historical Fiction/ Mystery/Thriller/SciFi Pages: 340 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This is quickly becoming my favorite series!  I love the whole series and the plot! Mallory begins this book waiting for Dr. Duncan Grey and his sister to return from a mysterious errand. Then when he returns his other sister invites Dr. Grey and Mallory to a scandalous event of the unwrapping of a mummy. Deciding to go they go to the mummy unwrapping party and soon after they find that the host is missing for the unwrapping the mummy. Deciding not to delay the event the host's wife asks Mallory and Duncan to unwrap the mummy and when they do they find out where the host of the party is. He was killed and he was wrapped like a mummy so they must investigate to see what happened!  I loved this one and this one pulled at my heartstrings because I feel like while w...

Title: Only One Survives Author: Hannah Mary McKinnon Published: July 16, 2024 Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing Genre: Thriller/Mystery/MysteryThriller/Suspense/ Fiction/Horror Pages: 400 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Wow. Talk about a twisted friendship!  The story starts with an article that was written about the band Bittersweet and how Vienna was arrested at a memorial for a band member. Then, how the whole internet is responding to her being arrested. Vienna and Madison have been friends since High School, when they ended up in the principal's office because of a scuffle between the two in line and when Madison's father was there Vienna took the blame for the whole incident. They had their up and downs in their friendship, but Madison is the rich girl who rebels against her parents, and Vienna is the poor girl with an alcoholic mother and creepy stepfather. The only reason that Vienna doesn't leave is because her Grandmother lives in the house with them. Then, ...

Title: I Witnessed The Lizzie Borden Story Author: Jeramey Kraatz Illustrator: Crystal Jayme Expected Publication: March 18,2025 Publisher: Harper Alley Genre: Historical Fiction/ Graphic Novels/ Crime Fiction/ YA Pages: 208 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: When I saw the title, I knew I had to check this one out! I've always loved true crime, and this is one of those mysteries. We will never know what happened that day; we can only speculate on what we thought happened.  The author did a spectacular job of mixing the story with the historical facts, adding quotes from the testimony at the trial. The neighbor Charlie is in the middle of the whole deal especially when he visits her in the beginning showing Lizzie her birds and tending to them carefully. Then, when her father kills the birds the household except for Lizzie gets sick.  I enjoyed Charlie's sleuth-like activities with his notebook and following the mysterious person into the wooded area. I feel like the author a...

Title: The Haunting of Moscow House Author: Olesya Salnikova Gilmore Published: September 3,2024 Publisher: Berkley Genre: Horror/Historical Fiction Pages: 384 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: I loved the mixture of history and horror in this one! I loved how the author wrote the history and then splashed it periodically with ghost sightings, making the characters think they were going crazy. This is an interesting story and it was a pretty quick read!  The author beautifully connected the rather complex period of 1920s Russia, and how the sisters were navigating through it very well, and then adding the ghost sightings was epic! Very eerie feeling!  The main characters Lili and Irina Goliteva tired of seeing one of their sons and little cousins starving to death decide to go work with the Americans to try to bring food to the table. Then while you are rooting for the two sisters, they are trying to protect the loved ones they have left while trying to make it out of the si...

Title: The Shadows Rule All Author: Abigail Owen Published: November 12,2024 Published by: RB Media Genre: Fantasy/Romance/YA/Magic Pages: 512 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Wow, soo good! I love the way this author writes! I did make a mistake though, I did not realize when I started reading this book that it was part of a series. So while the book did make sense I think I would have done better with the storyline if I had started with the first book.  Showing an abundance of love and determination this book makes your heart bleed. You feel for the characters through their faith and hope as they trudge on. Meren is prepared to stand and fight, she's prepared for it. She must fight for her life, and she's giving it everything she has! I hated seeing Meren going through everything she did, seeing the person she loved the most being ripped away from her was tough! This was epic and I now have the whole series on my TBR because I want to know the history!  I was given the audiobo...

Title: Trouble in Queenstown Author: Delia Pitts Published: July 16,2024 Publisher: Minotaur Books Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Detective Pages: 311 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Wow! This was a wild ride but it was AWESOME!  After a tragedy, a campus officer Vanity turned in her gun, and leaving the force she decided to be a Private Detective. The mayor's nephew Leo hires Vanity because he thinks his wife, Ivy is being stalked. She does her job and on the day that she is supposed to give her report, Leo calls saying he is sick and asks her to deliver the report to his house. When Vanity arrives at the house police officers are going into the house and Ivy is found severely injured and unresponsive along with the man he swears that was stalking his wife is found dead as well. Soon after the news that Ivy passed away on the table, and the investigation is short and determined that Leo was justified in killing the stalker and the stalker was the one who ultimately murdered Leo's w...

Title: The Last One At The Wedding Author: Jason Rekulak Published: October 8,2024 Publisher: Flatiron Books Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror/Suspense/Mystery Thriller Pages: 352 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This was a rollercoaster.  After reading his first book Hidden Pictures, I knew I had to grab his next book. While this is a completely different thriller, I liked it.  Frank is a UPS driver, he also is estranged from his daughter and has been for years. When his daughter called him out of the blue, he was excited to hear from her. Maggie called him to let him know that she was getting married. Frank was surprised, to say the least, but then Maggie invited him to meet her fiancée and to have dinner. At the dinner, he finds out Aidan is the son of a wealthy tech guy, and Aidan isn't very welcoming and does not seem happy at the dinner. Frank is suspicious, and he shares those suspicions with Maggie however by doing so he brings friction between himself and his daughter. Eve...

Title: Old Flames and New Fortunes Author: Sarah Hogle Published: April 2,2024 Publisher: Penguin Group/G. P. Putnam’s Son Genre: Romance/Fantasy/Contemporary/Magical Realism Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: I loved this! Gave me the vibe of the practical magic story but with a bit more romance. Romina is healing from her last relationship that went bad, she was involved with a single father, and being with the single father she was raising his daughter. However, when Romina finally had her last straw with Spencer she ended the relationship but he used his daughter as a weapon and never let her see the daughter again even though Romina had been the one raising her. Romina also has a dream of being a mother, that is one of her goals that she wants to do. Well imagine her surprise when her friend’s father is coming to town to get married but the father is marrying her high school sweetheart’s mother. Back in high school, Alex had broken her heard when he went to college and they broke up, and Ro...

Title: Our Wicked Histories Author: Amy Goldsmith Publisher: Delacorte Press/ Random House Publishing Published: July 30,2024 Genre: Horror/Young Adult/Gothic/Fantasy/Mystery Pages: 384 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This is the first book I've read by this author, and it was insane! Grabbing you from the start with a mysterious event, Meg needs to apologize for an incident with another student where she pushed her off a bridge and was suspended from her art school. Meg intends to apologize at a Halloween Party she was invited to with her friend and her estranged crush.  When she arrives at the estate where the party is at the house and the estate is haunting and gothic, Wren Hall seems to have a haunted history. Then when she enters the house with Lottie she finds out that all the mirrors are covered and the weed-choked lake is the image of nightmares and urban legends.  Once the party arrives and all the friends arrive the whole atmosphere is awkward and then they start hav...

Title: The Games Gods Play Author: Abigail Owens Published: September 3,2024 Publisher: Entangled/Red Tower Books Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Mythology Pages: 645 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Bloody Hell! I loved this! I adored it and I think I might be in love with Hades! Sooo freaking good!  Lyra had never been favored by anyone least of all the Gods, when she was born in Zeus's temple she was cursed to where no one could love her. Her parents gave her up to thieves to pay off their debt when she was 3 years old! Knowing they gave her up and she never saw them again she grew up knowing that she was unlovable because of the curse. Then the Gods play games with the mortals, think of it kinda like the Hunger Games they each choose a champion so that they can see whose champion wins so the victor God can be the next ruler over Olympus. Usually, the games go on but this year there is a huge change. Hades joins and he picks Lyra, and while Lyra is confused as to why he would pick h...

Title: Granite Harbor Author: Peter Nichols Published: April 30,2024 Publisher: Celadon Books Genre: Mystery/ Thriller/Fiction/Horror Pages: 320 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Definitely original, I enjoyed the whole aspect with the toads. Dark, twisty, and full of horror!  At the beginning, I was really kind of confused by the first few chapters but once it all started going I really liked it.  Granite Harbor is a normal town but is shattered by a brutal murder at a historic Settlement Site. Detective Alex, a single father and also a struggling writer, is the one who is over the case. This case hits close to home for him because his daughter is a classmate at school with the boy who was killed.  Isobel is a single mother who tries hard for her son and she even lets her son do unschooling so he can make his ships and things like that and he makes money instead of making him go to school. Then another murder of a classmate occurs and it happens in some of the same sit...

Title: Tangled Up In You Author: Christina Lauren Published: June 25,2024 Publisher: Hyperion Avenue Books Genre: Retellings/Romance/Contemporary Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This was a different kind of book! I adored the slow-building romance and forced proximity because of the road trip. I loved Edward’s patience with her and how he wanted to give her the world! That was epic, and I loved how the book reminded me of a modern-day Tangled show. I adored this! Ren finally can talk her old-fashioned parents into letting her attend college, she is 22 years old and is self-taught on everything and has never held a phone or used a computer or anything like that. Fitz is well-loved and is known as the Cassanova of the campus going through girls as if they are going out of style. Fitz gives Ren the campus tour and then she is the competition for his perfect grades and GPA. Well after taking a DNA test in one class Ren receives surprising results that her father is on the DNA list she is conf...

Title: The Witchfinder’s Sacrifice Author: Randle Godwin Published: November 24,2024 Publisher: Greenleaf Audiobooks Genre: Fantasy/YA Pages: 360 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Wow! When I started reading this one I did not realize it was part of a series, so just saying I read this one and understood everything that was going on and that happened.  This was a classic tale of evil and good, and I enjoyed how the time jumped between the times of the Salem Witch trials and the current times.  Hodge enjoyed igniting anger witch hunts and hysteria for others and sending them on a witch hunt. Nate, Marc, and Aunt Celia battle the evil warlock Hodge and they try to stop him and his evil acts.  Hodge is so evil! I hated that he used his daughter for her powers because of the demon that he made a deal with and she knew the whole time that he chose to have her mother killed to trade to give him more time to accomplish his deal and the amount of souls he needed to give the demon. I...

Title: Northwoods Author: Amy Pease Published: January 9,2024 Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Crime/Suspense Pages: 288 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: For a debut novel, this is amazing. I enjoyed the story it was hooking and kept me interested. I enjoyed the characters and all of their flaws too. Very well written and also written in a way that is easy to follow! I loved it!  Eli is not okay and he hasn't been for quite a while. I also love how real and raw she wrote the way everyone around a person who is addicted to something experiences the trials and the pain. Once I started this book I was hooked and it made for an interesting read! Reading and on the edge of my seat I was trying to solve the whole mystery and see what part everyone had to play in the mystery and not everything is as crystal clear as I originally thought! Sooo good! The way that the author wrote the scene and the description she gave made everything easy to visualize! I loved...

Title: Devil is Fine Author: John Vercher Published: June 18, 2024 Publisher: Celadon Books Genre: Fiction/ Magical Realism2 Fantasy/ Historical Fiction Pages: 272 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Wow! I liked this one, but it took me a few days after I finished it to write the review. This book dives deep into the complicated roots of America with race. Our main character is a biracial man who inherited his white grandfather's plantation, which has a dark history and is full of secrets.  This book is thought-provoking and dives deep into the perplexing relationships between men and their fathers. I enjoyed the eerie mysterious tone that always kept me on my toes about what would happen next. I also enjoyed the domino effect as it showed in the story about how stuff that happens in our ancestry lines follows and affects the next generations. This author wrote this story beautifully, and I loved the magical realism in the book it added an extra layer to the story. The whole jellyfish ...

Title: The Last Story Author: Meg Shaffer Published: July 6,2024 Publisher: Ballantine Books Genre: Fantasy/Fiction/Magical Realism/ Mystery/Romance Pages: 352 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This is the second book I’ve read by this author and it was AMAZING!! So I’ve been on a thriller binge and decided I needed a break but not oh boy is this book sooo good! I loved the adventure and the world within a world!  Jeremy and Rafe went missing in West Virginia, but they reappeared mysteriously around six months later, without explaining what happened to them while they were gone or where they were.  15 years later Jeremy has become a famous missing person investigator, while Rafe is an artist haunted by what happened however without the recollection of what happened. Jeremy remembers what happened but he has kept Rafe in the dark of what happened. Then Emilie comes to them and she wants their help, her sister has been missing and she wants them to help her find out what happened...

Title: A Cyclists Guide To Crime and Croissants Author: Ann Claire Published: May 21,2024 Publisher: Kensington Cozies/Kensington Books Genre: Mystery/Cozy Mystery/ Fiction/ Mystery Thriller Pages: 336 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: I certainly enjoyed the who aspect of this book! Sadie, after losing her best friend in a hit-and-run accident while riding her bike, decided to change her life and live it. She quit her job, sold her furniture and everything, and moved to France to buy a French bicycling company.  She begins to feel the pressure of this decision when her friends and ex-boss from Chicago come to try out her 9-day tour.  At first, the beginning begins with a slow start when her ex-boss drags his feet because he is working from the hotel by using the wifi when Sadie vows that he will enjoy this trip. However, it soon becomes evident to her that he only came to try to convince her to return to work for him because she was talented at accounting. However, more quickly ...

Title: Middletide Author: Sarah Crouch Published: June 11,2024 Publisher: Atria Books Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Fiction Pages: 288 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This was a quick afternoon read that was engaging, compelling, and wondering what happened. Then as things slowly start to unravel and the reader gets to see the big picture of what happened is insane! I enjoyed the book and it was an easy read to fill an afternoon with! The characters were real and so engaging that it made the whole story amazing! One morning the body of Dr. Erin Landry is found hanging by a tree on her ex-boyfriend Elijah's land. When the sheriff initially starts to investigate he believes it was a suicide however, the deeper he gets into the investigation he starts to suspect foul play, especially when her death and all the clues are straight from Elijah's novel. Now Elijah must prove his innocence against Dr. Erin Landry who had plotted against him for revenge and he never sees it coming. Will he b...

Title: Girls Who Burn Author: MK Pagano Published: July 16,2024 Publisher: Penguin Group/Penguin Young Readers Group/ Nancy Paulsen Books Genre: YA/ Mystery/Thriller/Fiction/Horror Pages: 304 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: I enjoyed this one! I liked that it wasn't so cut and dry as many mysteries are now. This one had many different suspects with several different motives.  Fiona was found dead last summer at the bottom of a ravine close to her home. While the police investigated they ruled her death as an accident. Her sister Addie doesn't believe that it was an accident, she thinks that her sister's privileged boyfriend Thatcher Montgomery killed her in rage after they argued. Everyone that would listen including the police Addie would tell them several times that Thatcher was guilty, but nothing came about it. However, his cousin Seth is a complication for Addie. The night that her sister died Addie was cheating on her boyfriend with Seth and losing her virginity, and s...