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Monday, February 10, 2025
Top Tuesday: My Favorite Novels Featuring Love Stories that Stole my Heart
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Saturday, February 08, 2025
Weekly Mewsings: February Has Just Started and I Am Already Done With It / But It Isn't All Bad
Thursday, February 06, 2025
Where Is Your Book Mark: Bookish Mewsings on Murder in the Dressing Room & Other Friday Fun
Dead. [prologue opening of Murder in the Dressing Room]
It was a Wednesday night, hence the title of the chapter, and, like every Wednesday night, Misty Divine was working at Lady's Bar, the glittering and opulent cabaret club on old Compton Street in the heart of Soho. [Chapter 1 opening of Murder in the Dressing Room]
"It looks bad for me, doesn't it?" She knew that it did.
"We're not dealing with what it looks like, we're only dealing with the facts. But seeing it through the police's eyes, you had both motive and opportunity. It's not a surprise to me that they want to question you." [excerpt from 56% of Murder in the Dressing Room]
Murder in the Dressing Room (Misty Divine Mystery #1) by Holly Stars
Mystery/Suspense/Cozy; 368 pgs
Source: From the publisher via NetGalley
Drag queens aren't just dramatic. They're deadly...By day, shy hotel accountant Joe hides behind their desk and plays by the rules. By night, Joe takes to the stage as Misty Divine, an upcoming star of the London drag scene. But when Misty’s mentor, Lady Lady, is found dead in her dressing room, Misty finds herself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Because Lady Lady was murdered – and as the only ones with access to her room, Misty and her fellow performers quickly become prime suspects. Heartbroken by the loss, and frustrated by the inaction of the police, Joe is determined to uncover the killer in their midst. But what can they, a mere hotel accountant, possibly do? This is a case for Misty Divine…[From the Publisher]
What is your least favorite thing about winter?
Trees this time of year look so sad without their leaves. But if I had to name my absolute least favorite thing about winter, it would be the cold. Definitely the cold. I find the cold gives me a runny nose and keeps me up coughing in the night. I don't know how those of you who live in snowy climates manage so well during the winter. The combination of the cold and the wet would drive me crazy (says the woman who loves rain). The temperatures do sometimes get to freezing or below here, although not often, and ice can be a threat to our water pipes, plants, and on the roads. It has snowed in town once or twice in the past thirty or so years (whether it actually counts as snow is another matter), but it's really only something we see on the mountain tops in the distance or in photos.
Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.
I generally read other books in between series books, although I have been known to binge series books on occasion, reading them back to back. Or I will read a couple or so back to back and then pick up something else before returning to the series. If it is a long series, I find I can only read so many before I need to read something else, otherwise I burn out on the series; which is one of the reasons I got into the habit of breaking up my series reading to avoid that from happening. The other reason is that sometimes the next book in the series isn't out yet--so unless I were to stop reading altogether (the horror!) while I wait, I will be reading other books in between.
What is your preference?
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!
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Wednesday, February 05, 2025
Bookish Mewsings: Home and Away by Rochelle Alers
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Tuesday, February 04, 2025
Can't Wait to Read Wednesday: The Crimson Road / First-Time Caller / The Quiet Librarian
A captivating dark gothic fantasy set in the same universe as the award-winning author's All The Murmuring Bones, The Path of Thorns and The Briar Book of the Dead. A tale of vampires, assassins, ancient witches and broken promises.
Violet Zennor has had a peculiar upbringing. Training as a fighter in underground arenas, honing her skills against the worst scum, murderers and thieves her father could pit her against, she has learned to be ruthless. To kill.
Until the day Hedrek Zennor dies. Violet thinks she’s free – a rich young heiress with a world of possibilities in front of her. Then, to her horror, Violet learns that her father planned to send her into the Darklands, where the Leech Lords reign. Where Violet’s still-born brother was taken years ago after Hedrek sold him to a man bearing the mark of the mysterious Anchorhold.
Her father’s solicitor and the city’s bishop are insistent she fulfil her duty, but Violet steadfastly refuses. Until one night two assassins attempt to slaughter her – and it becomes if she wants to enjoy a future free of the interference of either solicitors, bishops or assassins, she’s going to have to clean up the mess her father made.
On her journey, Violet seeks the help of Miren O’Malley in the hidden estate of Blackwater, whose family once produced the purest, strangest silver; Ellie Briar of Silverton, the Briar Witch who guards the gateway to the realm of the Leech Lords; and Asher Todd of Whitebarrow, who did terrible things and found The Three Who Went Beneath.
Ultimately, Violet must go alone. Into the Darklands. To the Anchorhold where it all began. Where it will all end. To do what must be done.
By turns gripping and bewitching, sharp and audacious, this mesmerising story takes you on a journey into the dark heart of Slatter's sinister and compelling fantasy world, where blood is currency and magic is a weapon. [From the Publisher]
Release Date: February 11, 2025 by Berkley
A hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle-inspired love story from beloved author B.K. Borison.
Aiden Valentine has a secret: he's fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore's romance hotline, that's a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.
Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life-or lack thereof—she begins to question if she's as happy as she thought. Maybe a little more romance wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending... even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her. [From the Publisher]
Release Date: February 18, 2025 by Mulholland Books
After the murder of her best friend, a librarian’s search for answers leads back to her own dark secrets in this sweeping novel about a woman transformed by war, family, vengeance, and love, from award-winning writer Allen Eskens.
Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone. But when a detective arrives with the news that her best friend has been murdered, Hana knows that something evil has come for her, a dark remnant of the past she and her friend had shared.
Thirty years before, Hana was someone Nura Divjak, a teenager growing up in the mountains of war-torn Bosnia—until Serbian soldiers arrived to slaughter her entire family before her eyes. The events of that day thrust Nura into the war, leading her to join a band of militia fighters, where she became not only a fierce warrior but a legend—the deadly Night Mora. But a shattering final act forced Nura to flee to the United States with a bounty on her head.
Now, someone is hunting Hana, and her friend has paid the price, leaving her eight-year-old grandson in Hana’s care. To protect the child without revealing her secret, Hana must again become the Night Mora—and hope she can find the killer before the past comes for them, too. [From the Publisher]
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