20:100 In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant

 Harlowe Upton-Jones has been living with her paternal grandparents after her parents were killed under strange circumstances. That she grew up to become part of a new "Mystery Gang" with her friends as teenage sleuths really isn't surprising. But now they have graduated high school and the rest of the gang is looking at college and careers and things are falling apart. So Harlowe finds one last case for them to go out on a bang with, that of the Spindrift House. There are many interested parties trying to figure out who legally owns the house and if they can spend a week there and figure it out, the payoff will be worth it.  Unfortunately, the house has its own residents who might welcome Harlowe but not her friends.

Elder gods and haunted house and mystery gang...oh my! Fun horror story set in a Lovecraftian world but definitely not for the faint of heart.

Page count: 197p/5,456p ytd/352,846p lifetime

87:100 Badlands Witch by Carrie Vaughn

The second book in the Cormac and Amelia spinoff.  Cormac made a lot of enemies when he was a bounty hunter and thankfully most of them are dead...but not all of them. When he gets recruited by an archaeologist for a job and Amelia seems eager, they head off.  Now someone from his past is gunning for him and instead of just killing him has managed to steal Amelia away.  This leads Cormac to understand just how close he and Amelia have grown and how much he will do to get her back.

I'm enjoying getting to return to this universe with other characters and Cormac and Amelia is such an unusual pairing so that makes it doubly fun.  I've heard that there will be more and I certainly hope so.

Page count: 83p/21,757p ytd/330,454p lifetime

84:100 Dark Divide by Carrie Vaughn

A spin-off set in the Kitty Norville series but focusing on the strange relationship between Cormac and his new mental guest, Amelia, since he got out of prison and Kitty's arc is over. 

Cormac and Amelia have been asked to come to Donner Pass to investigate the death of one of the docents who starved to death in a cabin full of food.  It certainly seems to have a possible supernatural cause but is it merely some type of haunting based on the tragedy from the past or something even more sinister.

I thought that the twining of Cormac, a supernatural bounty hunter, and Amelia,a deceased witch, taking up residence in his head was a great idea when it first happened in the Kitty series and I really enjoy that Ms. Vaughn is now giving us stories of the two of them as they learn how to navigate the world and exploring how they can work together.


Page count: 94p/21,370p ytd/330,067p 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

80:100 Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

The Himba people have never left their homeland, much less traveled to the stars, but Binti has been accepted to go to the Oomza University which is offworld.  She knows she cannot tell her family, they will never approve, so she sneaks away one night to board the ship that will take her. 

She is other to everyone.  No one is familiar with the Himba people as they remain isolated and do not travel but Binti hopes that those traveling to the University will learn to treat her as an equal.  On the trip, things are going well and she is even starting to make some friends until the ship is attacked by the Meduse.

Earth and the Meduse have been at war for a long time and this is just the latest strike.  Now the Meduse have killed everyone on board except for Binti for there is something about her that is different.  Now she has the chance to try and be a bridge between the Meduse and Oomza University in order to bring peace. 

This was truly a remarkably crafted tale.  At less than 100p long, it was tightly woven with amazingly detailed characters and universe.  Ms. Okorafor is an incredibly talented wordsmith and worldbuilder and I can't wait to read more of her work.


Page count: 96p/14,232p ytd/306,248p lifetime

55:100 Coming to You Live by Mira Grant

So what did happen to Shaun and Georgia after we last saw them heading to Canada.  Many fans wanted to know so Ms. Grant decided to indulge us. 

Honestly, they are living a quiet life as Georgia still does some writing and Shaun takes care of Georgia.  They have no one hunting them and Shaun is able to keep their new property zombie free and keep them fed.  Life is good.

Until Georgia passes out and reveals that she's been having some other heath related issues for a while.  But being a clone, it's not like she can go to just any hospital and get patched up.  So they make a call to the one doctor who knows what she is and has a chance of helping her. Unfortunately, being a clone also means no easy answers and questionable ethics are likely to be involved in any plan to help her.

The story was good, light on zombies but high on psychological and ethical questions to which there really are no easy answers but on which psychological horror stories/movies can thrive on.


Page count: 126p/9,420p ytd/301,437p lifetime

43:100 The Maiden Poodle by S.G. Browne

Felina had been at peace for many years with dogs and cats living and working together side by side but when the Queen died, her son stole the throne, proclaimed himself King Griffen, and started forcing the peasant dogs to work in even crappier conditions for dirty water and stale bread. Of course, a revolution was going to start but King Griffen has imprisoned any that dares to speak against him including Camille, a black poodle from a far away land who has powers of the mind not seen in Felina.

Now only a small band of rebels remain to try and stop the tyranny but they will need help from others, along with some magic and a dose of luck, if they are to succeed before Camille and the King's sister who was caught trying to help Camille escape before they are put to death.

A sweet children's tale of dogs and cats living together, without it being mass hysteria.  It's definitely a bit of a departure from Mr. Browne's usual work but it was nice to be able to share this author with my younger kids who also really enjoyed it.

Page count: 104p/7,480p ytd/299,501p ytd

108:120 Bright Thrones by Kate Elliot

The story of Bettany and what happened to her after her family's fall from grace and then after she runs into her twin, Jessamy.  Bettany was taken to the mines but managed to show that she could be more useful to Lord Agular as a scribe and assistant but she also realizes that he is not exactly what he appears to be either and that maybe they can help each other.

It was interesting to see more of what happened with Bettany since she was the only sister who was separated from the group and basically remained so for most of the trilogy. I wanted to like this and there were parts that I did but at the same time I was disappointed with the what felt like a forced romance.  Her falling for Lord Agular given her contempt and disgust with the upper classes made no sense at all and fell flat which then made much of what she did later in the story just not work for me either.  I just wish she had stayed more true to who she thought she was.


Page count: 98p/19,687p ytd/291,090p lifetime

96:120 Practically Married by Faye Larson

Many single people put their best friends down as their emergency contacts so Martin thought nothing of having Sawyer down as his. What he didn't expect was to wake up in the hospital with Sawyer in the room talking to the nurse about the fact that Martin was now missing his appendix and they are engaged. Apparently that was easier for the hospital to understand when Sawyer showed up after being called so now Martin is living at Sawyer's home while he mends and is trying to figure out how he is going to pay off this new medical bill. What he didn't expect was just how nice it would be and how much he didn't actually know about his best friend.

A cute little tale about how we don't always see what's right in front of our faces. Character development is pretty much on par with what you would expect for a short story and there is a little much reliance on repetitious internal dialog for my taste but overall, it was enjoyable way to spend 30min.  My usual disclaimer, I know the author and was given a copy of this book for free with no expectations


Page count: 89p/18,135p ytd/289,488p lifetime

87:120 The Wedding Pact by Faye Larson

Keith and Preston had made the pact back in high school as one of those stupid things kids do but neither of them really thought it would come to pass that they would both still be single at 40. The fact that Keith is straight and Preston gay is not an issue. The whole point is tax write-offs and platonic companionship. Someone to make dinner if Keith is running late (or at least order the delivery if Preston is super involved in his writing that day). Someone to ask how the other's day was. Stuff like that.  Keith's last break-up confirmed that his work is just too demanding and Preston's last break-up left him feeling shy and vulnerable about getting close to anyone ever again so it seems like a perfect situation...until that first kiss.

A fairly typical romance with Preston's ex being an interesting twist thrown in. On the whole, sweetly romantic with plenty of humor and with more depth to Preston than I anticipated (although Keith is pretty much just perfect boyfriend and nothing else). Usual disclaimer, I know the author and was given a copy of the story with no expectations.

Page count: 84p/17,555p ytd/288,687p lifetime

29:120 Tonight by Faye Larson

Keith is celebrating being dumped for the 100th time.  Well, maybe not celebrating so much as reconsidering his life choices.  Maybe he should travel and get more ideas for his writing?  Or maybe there are other new experiences to try? He's thought that the whole girl thing hasn't worked out so well, so maybe a man? But how to even go about that when he's not sure? And that's when his friend Derek gets involved.

A short, fairly predictable tale. Basic romance with little character development or depth, short and sweet. For the record, I know the author and was given a copy with no expectation of review or payment.


Page count: 100p/5,274p ytd/279,749p lifetime

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

53:120 Earthbound by Yasmine Galenorn

A prequel to the Otherworld series that tells of the sisters reason for being basically exiled to Earth and the start of their acclimation to life here.  They are greeted by Chase and Iris is there to give them some basics and help Camille with the bookstore.  It was lovely seeing Henry again and see Camille's reaction to her first espresso drink.  Very nice seeing them back when they were still a bit innocent and naive of what was coming for them.


Page count: 84p/14,595p ytd/264,555p lifetime

15:120 Driven by Kelley Armstrong

A Pack novella of the Otherworld.  Elena has had to make the most difficult decision as Alpha, how to deal with Malcolm Danvers.  He is cruel and a bully and sees anyone not like him as weak, including his own son and previous Alpha, Jeremy.  Now he has asked to return to the Pack and do whatever he is told to do.  After much soul-searching, Elena sees that this may be a key to showing how the Pack has transformed and grown but it still leaves a vile taste in her mouth.  Only a few months after agreeing to it, a call comes in that someone has murdered a few of the Cain family, a family of mutts but still werewolves.  Elena goes to investigate, bringing Nick, Clay, Reese, and Malcolm with her. This will not only be a test of Malcolm's loyalty but a test for her and those with her as well to see how they will deal with having him around.

I continue to love these characters and am so thankful that while the main series story has been told, we continue to get these novellas seeing how Elena, Clay, and the Pack are doing (with occasional glimpses at the other women as well).  Watching the twins grow, watching Elena take on the role of Alpha, watching Karl with Hope, it's all fabulous and this was no different.  I hope Ms. Armstrong continues to do these for a long time to come.


Page count: 230p/4,443p ytd/254,490p lifetime

122:120 Fire Water by Jaye Wells

A novella set before Dirty Magic, set in a time when Kate was finishing up her last few things so she could be sworn in as a police officer.  Kate's biggest obstacle, besides the chip on her shoulder and her being an Adept, is that she has to do a week on the river patrol and get signed off on it.  She opts to do her time as quickly as possible but it puts her with the crustiest, crankiest, curmudgeonly close-to-retirement police officer she has ever met.  He wants to just get out in tact since he has so little time left but Kate is hot to prove herself and she's a hard girl to say no to.

It was nice seeing Kate as a fresh-faced new recruit, to see Danny as a kid, meet Baba when Kate did.  There was nothing really earth-shattering necessary if you are reading the books but give it a read if you want a little backstory.


Page count: 68p/31,230p ytd/246,146p lifetime

115:120 Night Shivers by Yasmine Galenorn

Indigo Court novella.  Cicely and Grieve have been King and Queen of Winter for almost a year now and are finally starting to settle into their roles when they go to welcome a ship from the Golden Isle bringing new members for both the Court of Winter and Summer.  When they get to the port though, the ship crashes through it and while they find food and clothing for all who should have been aboard, there are no bodies or other signs of life.  While Cicely's thoughts immediately turn towards Myst and her allies, her head knows that it's unlikely to be Myst and they are likely dealing with a new threat.  Now she and Grieve must find out who is threatening their Kingdom and how they can be stopped.

I have to say that as much as I love the Otherworld series and those characters, I really enjoyed the Indigo Court series because it really had a good storyline that flowed well and didn't go off on tangents that did not move the main story along.  This was a nice return to that world with a story that answered a few questions and gives a continuance to the characters while setting up a new threat.  I'll definitely be interested to see where Ms. Galenorn takes it from here.


Page count: 106p/30,077p ytd/244,993p lifetime

95:120 Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant

The Imagine Network is branching out into "reality documentaries" and their first one is a search for mermaids.  They've commissioned the Atargatis cruise ship to take a group of scientists out into the Marina Trench.  What the scientists don't know is that they've also commissioned a traveling group of professional "mermaids" to come with them to make sure something is seen.  What they couldn't know is the secret that the bathypelagic zone is hiding.  The crew and passengers of the Atargatis will never be seen again and the footage will be debated for years.

A new horror novella by Mira Grant.  It starts off very slow and it isn't until about 2/3, maybe even 3/4 of the way through and then it's a runaway train.  Well done and entertaining, in a disturbing kind of way.


Page count: 122p/25,074p ytd/240,006p lifetime

81:120 Please Do Not Taunt the Octopus by Mira Grant

Dr. Abbey knows a few things about spies and danger considering she runs a secret underground virology lab but since her run in with the Masons, things have been quieter with a few more spies who tend to convert to her cause or leave once she explains their options to them but overall less danger.  That is, until she finds the stranger in the trees.  One who was told to find her and she would provide the drugs she is looking for.  Dr. Abbey knows after this long that this doesn't bode well but she had no idea just how bad this was going to turn out to be.

Set in the Newsflesh universe which I always love returning to and this was no exception.  Dr. Abbey is a no-nonsense fatalist scientist which is always fun and I love the deadpan humor.


Page count: 113p/20,902p ytd/235,836p lifetime

92:120 Flight From Hell by Yasmine Galenorn

A novella set in the Otherworld series, narrated by Menolly setting up the new Fly By Night series that will take place alongside the Otherworld series but focus on the PI Firm with a vampire at the helm and an exiled blue dragon.

Menolly is called in by Ronan to discuss the increasing number of baby vampires in the area and how many of them have had to be staked due to abandonment by their makers.  Menolly makes a note of it but doesn't consider it her main priority considering the demon war going on until she and her sisters are searching for information and their friend and powerful ally, Carter, expresses concern about his friend, an exiled dragon named Shimmer.  This leads the sisters to the Fly By Night Detective Agency where they meet the owner, a vampire rogue named Alex, who seems to know more about what is going on with the baby vampires in the park and how it all ties in with Shimmer and his own past.  Now it's time to go in and kick some butt...

It was a great introduction to the new series and has definitely wet my appetite for it.  Too bad we have to wait until next year to get the first full length novel.

Page count: 126p/24,700p ytd/205,738p lifetime

78:120 The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell by Mira Grant

A novella set in the world of Newsflesh.  The Rising took place years ago but still we are struggling to find ways to keep ourselves, and most importantly, our children safe while still allowing for social interaction.  It's a fine line and one where it is all too easy to make mistakes.  In this case, a teacher is doing what she can when everything that is put in place to protect her and the children in her care goes absolutely wrong.

This was a hard one and I knew that going in.  I'm a parent and have a child only slightly older than the main ones in this book and it was so easy to see what was going to happen.  It's the only thing that kept me able to read it was reminding myself over and over again that a) zombie apocalypse has not happened yet and b) my kids are homeschooled anyway so they wouldn't be in that exact situation.  Honestly, if you are a parent of young children with a good imagination, don't read this one especially before bed.  It's heart-wrenching.  At the same time however, it also outlines and mirrors what is going on in our society with how we want our teachers to put their lives on the line to save our children in the event of emergency but we are also quick to condemn them in any situation where something went horribly wrong despite all the precautions being taken that could.

While the events in this take place before Feed, there are conversations between characters in the commentary that indicate it is being written after the events of Blackout so do not read this before that as there are spoilers in that commentary.

Page count: 112p/19,162p ytd/200,200p lifetime