19:100 Last Strand by Jennifer Estep

Mason Mitchell is the head of the Circle, the super secret group that has been pulling the strings of Ashland's criminal underground for ages, and also Gin's uncle, the twin brother of her father. He has never let family get in his way, obviously since he had Gin's family murdered although she and her sister Bria managed to get away, has a plan to tear down the Pork Pit while making himself tons of money, and holds some serious grudges against Fletcher and Gin. With Fletcher gone, Gin is the one who must deal with his wrath but not alone as he will target her friends to get under her skin.

Gin has to stop him and keep her friends safe, as always.

I've enjoyed the series and find the world interesting with it's use of elemental magic. Never count Gin out but this feels like a good spot for things to end. We've gotten Gin's backstory, she has killed the ghosts from her past, and it's a good time for her to hopefully be able to rest. While Ms. Estep hasn't said that the series is officially over, the last few books were self-published and she has been moving forward with other series while saying that Gin's story is told "for now" but she is wanting to do the occasional short story highlighting some of the other characters which I will be looking forward to. 

Page count: 368p/5,59p ytd/352,649p lifetime

72:100 Winter's Web by Jennifer Estep

A novella between Venom in the Veins and Sharpest Sting.  Owen has won tickets to go to the local winter Ren Faire and Gin, Bria, Finn, and Sophia are all coming along and have been talked into volunteering for part of the time.  Gin notices a lot of giant guards around and that raises her suspicions, especially when a trio always seems to be camping out near her.  However, after she draws them away and deals with them in her usual way, she finds that they were just trying to get her out of the way so their friends could snatch Owen.  Gin is not about to let anything happen to him and she has the skills to make sure Owen will walk away and the others won't.

I read it out of order but it didn't really matter.  A fun Ren Faire story set in that world but no actual character development or critical insights for the main plot of the books.



Page count: 86p/18,901p ytd/327,596p lifetime

71:100 Sharpest Sting by Jennifer Estep

The 18th book in the Elemental Assassin series.  Gin has a name for the leader of The Circle, Mason, and even more than that, she knows that it's her uncle although she knows nothing else, not even his last name.  Now she has to find a way to stop him and keep her friends safe but she also needs to get her bridesmaid dress for the wedding of Stuart & Malloy.  An assassin's job is never as simple as it seems but during the fitting, her sister Bria is kidnapped and Gin and Lorelei are as well when they intervene to try and save Bria.  Gin has so many enemies even she can't figure out which one it is until they end up sitting across from Uncle Mason.  He wants something that Fletcher stole from him and he wants Gin to find and return it or else.  She's got a few short days to find something she has never seen and has no idea where it might be or her friends will start dying in horribly painful ways. She's the spider and has always found ways to win before but this one may break her heart in ways she never imagined.

Less of the constant, repetitive internal monologue (although we get a bit at the beginning in case anyone is picking up book 18 and reading before any others I guess) but this has now been replaced with constant adoration of Owen and their sex scenes which are basically the same in every single book. I'm not a prude and I don't have a problem with sex scenes but these are not particularly well written and are almost identical to the ones in previous books so they are just boring, especially the line in every single one about how she takes the pill but they still use a condom.  Every. Single. Time.  Get back to the killing scenes.  Those descriptions are better.  Heck, I enjoy the pages of what she is cooking as they make my mouth water and I would love Fletcher's super secret bbq sauce recipe as well as some of the others that are mentioned but please, stop trying to shove the sex scenes in.  They can just have a look, a kiss, and close the door and that is just fine.


Page count: 351p/18,815p ytd/327,510p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 4th Quarter 2019

My usual disclaimer:

Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

Well, adding school to my already hectic life has definitely been challenging.  I'm still trying to figure out how to balance work, homeschooling, college, housework, all the kid activities (bowling, archery, soccer, and gymnastics currently), family life, social life, and down time for things like reading.  Not gonna lie, it's been hard but there are always books to look forward to that I will some day find the time to read.

Starting this list off with what looks to be an amazing anthology of women writers spinning tales of witches and witchcraft, both the good and the evil with Hex Life.  It caught my attention since it has Kelley Armstrong and Rachel Caine whom I enjoy and of course, opens me up to several new writers as well.  Can't wait!

Release date - October 1

Next up is Sharpest Sting by Jennifer Estep, the 18th book in the Elemental Assassin series.  Gin is still trying to figure out what the heck is up with the Circle and dear old Uncle Mason but as she digs deeper, she will uncover secrets that may have been better left off buried.

Release date - October 8

October is just filled with fun stuff coming out as Kelley Armstrong releases Wolf's Bane which is the first of a YA duology featuring Kate and Logan Danvers.  The twins are now 16 and have been sent off to a supernatural teen leadership conference but of course, something is terribly amiss and the twins are going to get to the bottom of it.  I'm excited to return to this universe.

Release date - October 15

I'm so far behind on the Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter but I'm still looking forward to Shattered Bonds because it lets me know that Jane is still going strong and waiting for me to find time to read her adventures.  The synposis doesn't look good with her going off to the mountains to grieve the loss of friends (please not Molly!) and sick from a disease brought about by her magic though.

Release date - October 29

And the month wraps up with the biggest present ever from Seanan McGuire with Laughter at the Academy.  A collection of tons of her short pieces from all different genres spanning more than a decade. I love her patreon stuff (even if some of it scares the crap out of me) and I'm super excited to read what she has put together.

Release date - October 31

This list ends with the release of Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer.  This book looks incredibly bizarre with a messianic fox, a huge fish, band of rebels, a homeless woman, and many more unlikely characters trying to save Earth but I'm very intrigued.

Release date - December 3

96:100 Haints and Hobwebs by Jennifer Estep

Gin is talking to Fletcher at his grave.  He's gone but she still needs him from time to time and even if he can't answer, at least she can talk.  This time though, she is not alone as she spies a Haint and one who seems to want something from her.  Since Gin has been speaking to Fletcher, she can only assume the Haint wants revenge on someone and Gin has always been good at that.

This story was just short on everything.  Characters fell a bit flat, the plot was even simpler than usual, but there was still plenty of inner monologue going on.

Page count: 30p/17,942p ytd/309,958p lifetime

46:100 Venom in the Veins by Jennifer Estep

Someone seems to be targeting Stuart Mosely, president of the First Trust Bank, for a world of hurt and since no one messes with Gin's friends, she is trying to figure out what it's about.  While Stuart has been around for a long time, he generally doesn't have much in the way of enemies so of course Gin suspects that it has something to do with the Circle and her own past. 

Of course she's right and it's the daughter of someone she killed previously who doesn't feel like Stuart treated her well enough after her mother's death.  Basic petty reason, no real plot movement in the whole Circle thing other than a name.  While I like the world, I'm starting to get really bored with just how predictable and boring the plots have become. 



Page count: 342p/8,241p ytd/300,258p lifetime

76:120 Snared by Jennifer Estep

The 16th book in the Elemental Assassin series.  Gin has finally found a member of the Circle from whom she might be able to get some information on the elusive group and it's leader but it hasn't been easy.  It's been preying on her mind but when Jade comes to her for a favor, she also can't say no.  She owes Jade and a missing girl in this town will probably not end well as they both know but Gin also knows how to deal out her own brand of justice. Following the trail of Jade's sister though, proves to be more elusive than The Spider anticipated and much more deadly as it appears she may be the latest victim of a new serial killer, one who now seems to have his sights set on Gin.

The constant inner monologue has gotten better but it's now been replaced with memory flashbacks that tie directly into whatever it is Gin needs to make the leap to solve the latest crisis which I feel is a lazy way of dealing with things rather than setting things up enough in advance that you know it was all well thought out and planned.  I still enjoy the world even if its fairly shallow because the characters are entertaining and I like their interactions with each other and there are books where there is less reliance on tired tropes. This just wasn't one of them.

Page count: 371p/15,596p ytd/286,728p lifetime

21:120 Unraveled by Jennifer Estep

15th book in the Elemental Assassin series.  Finn still has questions about what happened with his mother so when he suddenly finds himself inheriting her Wild West theme park and hotel, he's suspicious but it seems like too good an opportunity to pass up to possibly get some answers about her.  Gin is extremely suspicious but since she has hit nothing but dead ends in her search for information on The Circle, she agrees to go along.  Of course that means that Bria and Owen come along as well.  It doesn't take long before the real game has been sussed out by Gin and her friends and the deadly stakes are known.  Now Bria, Finn, and Owen have been drugged and kidnapped and Gin has just barely escaped with the help of an unexpected ally. She will need friends and allies if she wants to save them and live to fight another day.

A fun, quick read.  The basic plot was pretty standard for the series and not much headway was made on the overarching Circle plot but there was a bit of expose of Gin's mother's past and much less of her usual repetitive drivel so that made for an overall better reading experience.

Page count: 373p/4,385p ytd/278,860p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 2nd Quarter 2017

My usual disclaimer:
Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

So I'm still massively behind in reading the new books that I keep buying.  Life has gotten so much busier although I'm not altogether sure how but I think it's been spending a lot more time with friends and now with our new dog there is a LOT of time spent outside walking her which is definitely not helping me get more reading done.  That doesn't mean that I'm not going to find time to start getting to some of these books that I post about. Thankfully there isn't a ton coming out this quarter so maybe I can start making a dent in the backlog.

Legend Has It by Elliot James is first up.  The fifth book in the Pax Arcana series.  I'm a book behind right now but this one definitely looks cool with the villain reading a magic book that is changing the world around him to match his fantasies.  Hmmm...

Release date: April 18


Next up is Snared by Jennifer Estep, book 16 in the Elemental Assassin series.  I've just started reading book 15 and it looks like the new long term plot line with the Circle will be continuing for a bit.

Release Date: April 25


Cold Reign by Faith Hunter kicks off the next month.  Again, I'm a book behind in the series *sigh* but this next one looks to be seriously a** kickin'.  Leo is under threat (again) but this time from revenants that should never have risen which means there is much more magical mojo going on than Jane has ever dealt with before.

Release date: May 2


The second book in the Hidden Legacy series, White Hot by Ilona Andrews, ended up being delayed a while so it's nice to see that not only is it coming out this year but the third will be coming out a few months after.  This is definitely a paranormal romance series but the world is intriguing and they are definitely working to have a reason for the characters to have a relationship which is something I definitely appreciate.

Release date: May 30


Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire wraps up this quarter's new releases.  A follow-up to Every Heart a Doorway, this is the backstory of the twin girls, Jack and Jill, who found that love isn't always enough and choices can be tricky things.

Release date: June 13

109:120 Nice Guys Bite by Jennifer Estep

A novella set in the Elemental Assassin universe.  Silvio takes his job as Gin's assistant much more seriously than his boss does but even he is finally starting to see the light in trying to start up a new relationship so on the day of Gin's holiday party, he decides to take the plunge and go out for coffee with the handsome man that has been hanging around the Pork Pit.  However, while they are out he realizes that there are giants lurking around almost every corner and since he works for the Underworld's boss, he can only assume they are after him.  Now to find a way out of the trouble without ruining his date...

Nice to see a bit more about Silvio and I'm enjoying the side stories with the male members of the group.


Page count: 100p/26,318p ytd/275,475p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 1st Quarter 2017

My usual disclaimer:
Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

So I'm trying desperately to find time to read and finish up at least one of my reading goals for the year.  I'm really not sure what has happened to all my time this year but apparently it wasn't spent reading and even though this past quarter had less new books in it, and this year seemed down a bit from previous years, I'm pretty sure I've managed to add more books to my to-read pile than I've read.  The first quarter of 2017 looks to be pretty typical in terms of quantity and pretty awesome in terms of content.

The kicks off with a new standalone novella, Dusk or Dawn or Dark or Day by Seanan McGuire.  Jenna is dead and as a ghost, she must make amends for the time debt so she does this by volunteering at a suicide prevention hotline but now there is something that coming for the ghosts of New York City and now Jenna must make a stand.

Release date: Jan 10

The Turn by Kim Harrison takes us into the past of the Hollows series with Rachel Morgan, the kick-ass witch, and shows us how that world came to be.  This promises to be fabulous!

Release date: Feb 7

After two months of single releases, March packs three into one day.  Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire is the 6th book in the Incryptid series and the first time for Antimony to be the lead.  Now that Verity has declared war on the Covenant of St. George the Price family needs to know what they are up against and since Annie doesn't carry the family resemblance she is being packed off to London as their spy.  Good luck kiddo!

Release date: March 7


We also get the new Mercy Thompson book, Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs.  Mercy has been kidnapped (again?!) by the most powerful vampire to serve as a message to Adam and the werewolves.  Being able to change into a coyote lets her escape but now she is trapped in Prague and unable to contact Adam or her friends so she must find her own way home.

Release date: March 7

Lastly is the first book in the new Lily Bound series by Yasmine Galenorn, Souljacker.  A succubus who runs an elite sex salon, a souljacker who wants his artwork (re: tattoos) back of which she has one, and a chaos-demon PI all come together in this new work.  Looks like it could be interesting.

Release date: March 7

70:120 Unwanted by Jennifer Estep

Novella set in the Elemental Assassin world from Finn's POV right after Bitter Bite.

Finn screwed up royally and a lot of people, good people, are dead now because of it.  He wanted to badly to believe that his mother was a good and wonderful person that he was blinded to what she really was and refused to listen to Gin or his other friends as they tried to warn him. Now he is having to live with the guilt and the desire to make amends to people who want nothing to do with him.  One of them is the widow of one of the guards his mother killed.  His boss is making him attend all the funerals and in the course of things, Finn finds out that that the widow's BIL owes money to a very bad man who will not hesitate to take it out on her and her son.  Now that at least is a problem that Finn is capable of dealing with.

It was nice to get a story from Finn as he deals with the aftermath of the last book.  Going straight back to another Gin story without dealing with Finn's emotional state would have been a disservice to that character.  I will even go so far as to give a slight pass on the constant repetitive inner dialog but only a slight one.  I felt like it was more in keeping with what he was going through but even with that, I would have to say that probably 20% of the novella is him rehashing the same thing over and over again and the wording on it is barely changed.  I would probably not have been bothered by it at all if it weren't for the fact that this is a consistent problem with Ms. Estep's writing and generally to the detriment of the story's pacing.  I gave up one of her series because of it and refuse to try any of her others at this point because of it and only stick with this series because the world is quite intriguing.


Page count: 100p/19,135p ytd/268,285p lifetime

19:120 Bitter Bite by Jennifer Estep

Book 14 in the Elemental Assassin series.  Gin knows the other shoe is getting ready to drop after finding Fletcher's file on Finn's mother, Deirdre.  She just never expected just how far ahead of her Mama Dee, and how fitting her broken ice heart ruin, would be. Gin has just decided to be upfront with Finn about everything she has found out before Deirdre can come to town only to find out that the new client Finn has been shmoozing, unbeknownst to him, is his long lost mother. Before Gin can tell him, Dee spills the beans herself and starts truly snaring Finn in her web.  Gin wonders if she might be for real but her gut says absolutely not.  The only problem is how to get Finn to listen to her when he finally has his mother.

I felt this was one of the more powerful plots in a while for this series.  Much less of the constant repetitive inner monologing which was nice and much more info gathering and world expanding which looks to be opening up a whole new huge plot for Gin and her friends to deal with. I'm really looking forward to this series again!


Page count: 374p/5,471p ytd/255,518p lifetime

New Releases I'm looking Forward To: 4th Quarter 2014

My usual disclaimer:
Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

I am so far behind my reading from last quarter that I'm going quite crazy looking at all these beautiful books on my bookshelf!  I really need to just hole myself up for a few weeks with them and tell the world to take care of itself so I can get caught up.  Unfortunately, the last time I tried that, the kids found me within 15min and ruined that plan.  I don't foresee it going any better any time soon so I will just have to try and figure something else out.

First up is Broken Soul by Faith Hunter, the newest book in the Jane Yellowrock series.  The European Delegation is coming and Leo knows that they want his territory so he is hiring Jane to deal with the security but there is more going on than she can guess and a vicious creature stalking the streets that she must also contend with.  This is such a great series and Jane is such a kick-ass character!

Release Date: October 7

Poison Fruit by Jacqueline Carey is the third book in the Agents of Hel series.  I wish I could say more about this book but I haven't even read the first book in the series yet.  I loved her Kushiel and Namaah series and have heard that this series is fantastic as well but I'm still trying to find time to work it in.

Release Date: October 7

Ilona Andrews has a new series starting up with Burn for Me. A detective is being sent on a suicide mission to bring in a top-level magic user but she is not the only one who is searching for him and the other person is just as dangerous but in a much different way...

Release Date: October 28

Otherworld Nights by Kelley Armstrong sees many of the more obscure and hard to find short stories gathered in one collection.  I know I likely have several of them but there were a few I wasn't able to get so I'm happy to have the chance to read them.  I miss this world and am always happy to have any chance to dip into it with something new.

Release Date: October 28

The Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance is always fun and I'm happy to see that Reap the Wind is going to center more on Pritkin than Mircea and the relationship with his father as Cassie drags him along on a search through time to find his son's soul.

Release Date: November 4

Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger is the third in her Finishing School steampunk series.  Unfortunately this is another series that I'm desperately trying to find time to read but haven't had a chance to yet.  Really want to get it read before she starts her new series next year.

Release Date: November 4

Gin thought that life would get easier after she killed Mab Monroe, but as she finds out in Black Widow by Jennifer Estep Mab's daughter is so much worse than her mother.  M.M. Monroe doesn't go for the direct attacks like Mab but is instead working to wrap Gin and her friends in a tangled web that will destroy all that she cares about.

Release Date: November 25

What was originally a duology by Mira Grant has become a trilogy and Symbiont is the second book.  The first one was incredible blend of possible science with a cautionary tale of what can happen when humans take things too far without fully understanding the consequences of their actions.  I can't wait to see what happens in this one now that the consequences are coming home to roost.

Release Date: November 25

The Dark Angels series by Keri Arthur concludes with Darkness Falls.  This series has been a bit slow going so I'm a bit pleased that hopefully with several things to tie up that this one will actually move a bit better.  Risa just needs to find the third and final key to the gates of Hell and keep Director Hunter from getting a hold of them and putting an end to life as we know it.

Release Date: December 2

Carrie Vaughn is finally doing a spin-off of her popular Kitty series with Low Midnight which follows Cormac on a quest to solve the mystery of a coded diary that could spell serious trouble for Kitty.  We will apparently learn more about Cormac's past which will be nice since he's always been the "mystery man" in the series.

Release Date: December 30

So yeah, 10 new books coming out for the 4th Quarter and I've still got 8 from last quarter still sitting in my to-read pile a few of those as well as a few of these have other books I need to read before them because I'm behind in the series (or just haven't even started it).  So yeah, needing a lot more reading time here!

Happy Reading!