Bibliophile Amber's Book Reviews

Title: The Vanishing Bookstore Author: Helen Phifer Expected Publication: January 7,2025 Publisher: Bookouture Audio/ Bookouture Genre: Fantasy/Historical Fiction/ Historical/ Mystery Pages: 375 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Wow! This one was a trip! I loved it!  I enjoyed how this story was woven between Salem 1692 and the present day. This story follows a family of women from Salem in 1692 where they were accused of being witches, and then the same family to the now times where Dora has to try to save her family and change the timeline.  Dora meets her mother whom she thought was dead, and finds out she is very much alive but also she is dying of cancer. Her aunt thought that maybe if she were raised away from her mother things in the timeline would change. The family is hunted by the same man who caused their downfall or their accusation of being witches because the aunt refused his advances.  Full of love, mystery, and beauty! I loved the development of the story and...

Title: The Business Trip Author: Jessie Garcia Expected Publication: January 15,2024 Publisher: St.Martins Press/Macmillan Audio Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Suspense/Psychological Thriller Pages: 352 pages Rating: Book-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Audiobook-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: I liked this creepy thriller! Once that twist happened I had to double-check what I had read/listened to! Jasmine and Stephanie meet on a plane, they also look like they could be doppelgängers! Stephanie is going on a business trip to a conference and Jasmine is escaping a toxic relationship. However, soon both their friends/coworkers receive a text from the women about meeting a guy and following him back to Atlanta. While Jasmine's friend is a little annoyed with her for leaving her abusive relationship without giving her a heads-up that she was leaving. However, Stephanie's work starts trying to get ahold of her and her friend and cat sitter are getting suspicious they finally get ahold of the police and the guy is a dirtbag t...

Title: Saint Catherine Author: Anna Meyer Expected Publication: April 29,2025 Publisher: 23rd Street Books Genre: Graphic Novel/Horror/Fiction Pages: 374 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: It wasn't quite what I expected. I thought the graphic novel would be more focused on horror, but it ended up being a mix of horror and a look into Catherine's mind.  Just like Catherine, I went to church every Sunday unless I was sick, and I feared what might happen if I didn't go. This story hit close to home, and I greatly enjoyed it! The story follows Catherine when she decides to skip mass to spend time with her boyfriend then after that moment she starts experiencing a demon. Well, not just one demon "You're currently hosting my twenty-seven legions of hell". She's freaking out, and thinks her world is ending! This is an interesting one that gets you to think but the storyline isn't exactly what I expected. However, the ending is good! The ending made me happy!  Th...

Title: The Lost House Author: Melissa Larsen Expected Publication: January 14, 2025 Publisher: Macmillan Audio/Minotaur Books Genre: Mystery/Thriller:Suspense Pages: 352 pages Review: In Iceland 40 years ago there was a gruesome murder of a young mother and her infant daughter, everyone believed her husband had killed them both. However, there was never any proof of what happened so the father and son left Iceland to never return and start their life somewhere new. The case remains unsolved to this day. This leads to Agnes ready to clear her grandfather's name returning to Iceland with a podcaster to participate in the podcast about the unsolved case, without her father's approval or blessing. When she arrives in Iceland people are not as welcoming as she thought they would be, the shadow of what they believed her grandfather's crimes follows her everywhere.  "He killed her we all knew"  As Agnes and the podcaster, Nora, start investigating and asking questions th...

Title: Four Aunties and A Wedding Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto Published: March 29,2022 Publisher: Berkley Genre: Cozy Mystery/Romance/Mystery Pages: 288 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Meddy Chan is going to a wedding, but this one is going to be a whole different than all the rest. This is her wedding. While she is planning the aunties find a family much like hers who plan weddings and who have a photographer. While Meddy becomes fast friends with Stephanie (the other photographer) she believes that they have so much in common and can understand her family and understand hers, or so she thought.  On the night before the murder, Meddy overhears Stephanie on the phone talking about taking someone out, and when she questions her. Stephanie threatens to tell everyone about her family's killing the other guy and that it was covered up. Fearful Meddy and her aunts try to do everything they can to protect who they think Stephanie and her family are looking to kill.  As with anything wit...

Title: Here Comes Santa Paws Author: Laurien Berenson Published: September 24,2019 Publisher: Kensington Cozies Genre: Mystery/Christmas/Cozy Mystery/ Fiction Pages: 194 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: While this book is far down the series I read it as a stand-alone without any issues.  Melanie is a mom and she has several poodles as she is handling her life and her children's request to get a Christmas Tree so Santa will be able to find them. Her friend Claire was working as a personal shopper for the elite's Christmas presents when she went to deliver some presents she found her client on the floor dead from a gunshot wound. Melanie hurries to the location and finds Claire and helps her through the situation. However, soon she realizes that the client's name and everything did not exist five years ago so she must start digging to find out who the client was so she can help clear Claire's name and solve the mystery!  This one was cute! I enjoyed the writing and I enjoy...

Title: They Went Another Way Author: Bruce Eric Kaplan Published: October 22,2024 Publisher: Henry Holt & Company Genre: Memoir/Nonfiction/Comedy Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Diving into this book without any prior knowledge turned out to be my best choice, as it allowed me to appreciate the writing without any preconceived notions. Kaplan writes this memoir as he would a diary and his thoughts and feelings are unfiltered and straightforward, with much of his writing relatable and solid. I enjoyed the moments when his emotions and the situations of his life were starting to affect him. "I spent a lot of time screaming in my car today". He writes about his career and house struggles with things breaking down in his home and he is living the never-ending hamster wheel of things breaking down and hiring different contractors to fix something in the house then those contractors couldn't fix the different appliances and things without someone doing something else to fix someth...

Title: We Were Warned Author: Chelsea Ichaso Expected Publication: March 3, 2025 Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Genre: Horror/YA/Ghost Story/ Suspense/ Thriller/Mystery Pages: 368 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: In Fairport, there was a murder 20 years ago, a shocking murder where a mother stabbed her teenage son to death, while her daughter was hiding in another room and heard the yelling and screaming.  20 years later the ruins will be bulldozed to create something new, so some seniors decided to complete a documentary and sneak in one night. There is an Urban Legend that says that anyone who steps on the property is cursed to die. In the past other students have died. Eden is kind of the pariah of the area because her father left the community after he had swindled many off of money and left people in a bad place. So she does not have a good reputation even though she has done nothing wrong but some of the students and their parents hold Eden responsible for her father's actions....

Title: A Patriot’s Promise Author: Israel “dt” Del Toro Jr Published: July 4,2024 Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin Genre: Biography/Nonfiction/Memior/Military Pages: 276 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: "There are parts of this story I would have chosen, and there are parts that I wouldn't have. But they all belong to me now. And I don't regret any of my choices." This is an empowering story, one that has me awestruck for several moments. Del Toro writes his story, and he claims it. Even when he spoke to his father shortly before he passed away, he took taking care of his family seriously. He did everything he could, and despite his efforts, he lost his mother while he was in his teens as well. He was fighting from the get-go, and he still worked hard for everything!  In his military career in the beginning he sacrificed many things including time with his wife and child, he was at the point where his wife wanted him out of the military to be with them or she was done...

Title: The Serpent & The Wings of Night Author: Carissa Broadbent Published: August 30,2022 Publisher: Bramble/Tor Publishing Group Genre: Romance/Paranormal/Fiction/Vampire Pages: 504 pages Review: Oh Hell!  I can't even.....like I feel like this is insane! I'm not so sure I can adequately describe my thoughts on this book but I will try! Oraya is the human pet of the vampire King Vincent, and Vincent is known for being a ruthless killer and feared for his murderous demeanor. He has a tender spot for Oraya and she loves him as her father, he has raised her and taught her so much. However, there are things that she doesn't know about herself and she wants closure and to find out what happened to the rest of her family if any are still alive.  She joins a vampire hunger game type of quest called the Kejari to get a wish granted by the goddess, and she gives it her all. All while Vincent watches on the sidelines, and she eventually teams up with Raihn a vampire whom she w...

Title: Rejected and Pregnant by the Alpha King Author: Via Thorn Published: September 26,2024 Publisher: Amazon Publisher Genre: Romance/Shape Shifter/ Paranormal/ Fiction Pages: 552 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Raine was hated by almost everyone in the pack, not for anything that she did but for what her father did. He was the beta in the pack, he cheated his pack members out of money, and with that, he took off never to return leaving Raine to the mercy of the pack.  Raine was then sent to the Alpha King's ball where Aiden was supposed to meet all the different girls to see if one was his mate. At an encounter in the garden, Aiden and Raine meet and they discover they are fated mates. So for the rest of the time she is there, they are having steamy moments together, and Aiden is giving Raine hot and cold vibes because she caught him with another female and she eventually went home. At first, they were writing letters back and forward then she realized she was pregnant and she a...

Title: Forbidden Honor Author: May Dawson Published: October 22,2021 Publisher: Amazon Digital Genre: Fantasy/Reverse Harem/Dragons/Romance Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: "Only males shifted into dragons, the highest of creatures, but their royal sisters tended to shift into lions or wolves"  Well, TikTok did it to me! I saw a couple of TikTok talking about this book and it was enough to spike my interest and then it happened! I loved it and Now I am ready to read the next one!  Honor is an orphaned servant at the Academy and usually the animals that you shift into are passed down genetically. However, since she's an orphan and no one knew who her parents were they really all assumed Honor would shift into a mouse or squirrel.  On the day she is supposed to have her first shift no one is more surprised than Honor when she turns into a Dragon. The elder dragons decided to glamor her as a male, a male with a bad reputation for dishonoring a sister of one of the dragons. So s...

Title: Beautiful Ugly Author: Alice Feeney Expected Publication: January 13,2024 Publisher: Macmillan Audio/Flatiron Books Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Mystery Thriller/ Fiction Pages: 320 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: "Life is a fairytale that rarely hands out happy endings. Life is beautiful ugly, my wife taught me that"  Wow!  This book will have you gripping the edge of your seat until the end!  Grady is waiting for a phone call, but he wants his wife to be with him when he receives this phone call but unfortunately, she was running late. When he finally does receive the phone call from his Agent he is elated and having trouble believing he is a New York Times best-seller author! After the phone call, he calls his wife once again, she's almost home but stops on the side of the road because a woman is on the road. However, that was the last time he heard from her so the best day of his life quickly turned to the worst. Even after a year, they are still not any close...

Title: A New Lease on Death Author: Olivia Blacke Published: October 29,2024 Publisher: Minotaur Books Genre: Cozy Mystery/Paranormal/ Mystery Thriller/ ghost/ Fiction Pages: 328 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: I enjoyed this one!  Cordelia was a woman who was having an affair with her boss, and she worked her job and lived alone. She also died alone in her bathtub, where she was found with prescription drugs and alcohol in her system so they ruled her death as a suicide.  Ruby is a young woman who moved to get a new start after leaving a bad relationship. She just happened to move into Cordelia's old apartment and unknowingly has a ghostly roommate.  Cordelia is beside the body on the sidewalk waiting for him to wake up his ghostly self but when he does he ends up not believing in the ghost and disappears.  However, Cordelia and Ruby team up together to try to solve the murder and it seems the deeper they get into solving the mystery the more danger they end up in. N...

Title: Immortal Dark Author: Tigest Girma Published: September 3, 2024 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Genre: Fantasy/Vampires/Romance/ YA/ Paranormal Pages: 432 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: I loved this one!  Kidan Adane is an orphan who makes questionable choices, however the choices are not just for kicks. She is on the hunt for her sister, June who was taken and she could not find her. She killed her foster mother because she was convinced that she knew who took June and when she finally gave her a name she knew she had to find him to find June.  Unfortunately, the principal of Uxlay University brings her to the university to get her to study and take over Adane's house. When she arrives she meets Susenyo (the name she was given to have taken June) but to inherit the house she must attend the classes and pass all the classes to get to the end of the year to bond with a vampire.  Susenyo is an older vampire who has been in Adane House for years and is fe...

Title: Four Aunties & a Wedding Author: Jesse Q Sutanto Published: March 29, 2024 Publisher: Berkley Genre: Mystery/ Cozy Mystery/ Fiction/ ChicLit Pages: 304 Pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Review: Meddy Chan is going to a wedding, but this one is going to be a whole different than all the rest. This is her wedding. While she is planning the aunties find a family much like hers who plan weddings and who have a photographer. While Meddy becomes fast friends with Stephanie (the other photographer) she believes that they have so much in common and can understand her family and understand hers, or so she thought.  On the night before the murder, Meddy overhears Stephanie on the phone talking about taking someone out, and when she questions her. Stephanie threatens to tell everyone about her family's killing the other guy and that it was covered up. Fearful Meddy and her aunts try to do everything they can to protect who they think Stephanie and her family are looking to kill.  As wi...

Title: I’ll Be Home For Mischief Author: Jacqueline Frost Published: November 12, 2024 Publisher: Crooked Lane Books Genre: Cozy Mystery/ Mystery/ Holiday/ Fiction Pages: 288 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Wow!  I love this series! I love reading it, especially around the holidays.  In the last book Holly and Evan married, and this book shows some of the struggles they are having.  Holly stays at the farm because of the inn and the guest and Evan with the weather and forgetting where they are staying often stays at the house in town. Then Holly is trying to figure out what to give Evan for their first wedding anniversary and assisting her mother get everything ready for breaking the biggest gingerbread man. However, when they are starting to get ready to bake the cookie they find a body in the batter. Thus starting the investigation and when all the clues are leading to a family friend Holly tries to investigate on the down low however, there are true crime podcasters tha...

Title: Deadstream Author: Mar Rimasco-Moore Expected Publication: April 1,2025 Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group/ Viking Books for Young Readers Genre: Horror/Young Adult/ Thriller/ Fiction/ LGBT Pages: 320 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This was exciting and different!  Teresa survived a car accident that unfortunately killed her best friend, she is experiencing survivor's guilt on surviving the accident that killed her friend. That survivor's guilt has caused anxiety and made it so bad that she could not leave her home and most of the time her room. However, she enjoys streaming and has made friends over the internet with whom she enjoys watching other streams.  One night while watching a stream the streamer said there was something weird going on with the door and hallway and then they saw a shadow in the stream and the stream went dead. Many assume it is play-acting or something else Teresa is not quite convinced and then that streamer starts streaming again but he is...