Book Review: Brand of Light (The Droseran Saga #1) by Ronie Kendig

July 7, 2025May 31, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Author: Ronie Kendig
Publisher: Enclave Publishing
Release Date: December 3rd, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

There’s a price on her head, and it has everything to do with the brand on her arm.

Tertian Space Coalition has blessed every planet in the quadrants with high technology, save one: Drosero. But in spite of their tenuous treaty with the ruling clans, TSC has plans for the backward planet. And they’re not alone.

After a catastrophic explosion, Kersei Dragoumis awakens in a derelict shuttle, alone, injured, and ignorant of the forbidden technology that has swept her into a nightmare. The brand she’s borne since childhood burns mysteriously, but the pain is nothing to that when she learns her family is dead and she is accused of their murders.

Across the quadrants, Marco Dusan responds to the call of a holy order-not to join them, but to seek a bounty. Gifted-or cursed-with abilities that mark him a Kynigos, a tracker sworn to bring interplanetary fugitives to justice, Marco discovers this particular bounty has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with prophecy. One that involves the hunter as much as the hunted.

Thank you to the author for a gifted audiobook.

INTRIGUED.

I love having a new completed series to work through and I am definitely invested enough to keep going on this one! This is such a cool sci-fi world. I love all of the different groups and planets and politicking. Once you’ve got your footing in the world and what’s happening it’s easy to be invested.

There’s multiple POV’s and multiple romances and I loved following them all. I enjoyed these characters and thought the audiobook narrator did a good job of all the different voices needed. I did start to feel the length of the story towards the end and thought some of it could have been a bit shorter, but like I said, it doesn’t deter me from continuing. There’s action scenes that ramp up the intensity and I was on pins and needles multiple times.

Such a good start, can’t wait for more!

Overall audience notes:

Sci-Fi + Romance
Language: none
Romance: heated kisses
Violence: high
Content Warnings: torture

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Book Review: One Final Turn (Electra McDonnell #5) by Ashley Weaver

July 5, 2025June 22, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Ashley Weaver
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Release Date: June 3rd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The fifth and final installment in the Electra McDonnell series brings safecracker Ellie on a mission across World War II-era Europe to Lisbon, Portugal to rescue a key group of escaped POWs.

Ellie McDonnell is about to embark on her most perilous mission go to Lisbon, Portugal to save her beloved cousin Toby who has reportedly escaped from a German prisoner of war camp. Toby has been missing since the Battle of Dunkirk and Ellie had all but lost hope in ever seeing him again until Major Ramsey, the British military intelligence officer she had been working closely with over the past few months, shared the news he’d intercepted.

Nothing will stop Ellie from finding her cousin, not even the awkward experience of having to travel to an unknown country with Ramsey after he’d dismissed her for being untrustworthy just as she’d realized she had fallen in love with him. Under the supervision of Captain Archie Blandings, a charming intelligence officer based in Lisbon, Ellie meets with undercover operatives to track down where Toby might be hiding from the Nazis and whether they are too late to safely recover him, all the while fighting her feelings for Ramsey and the incessant burden of war looming around her at every turn.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the gifted ARC.

WHAT A CONCLUSION.

I AM SO SAD THIS SERIES IS OVER. I have loved every single book and this was an amazing wrap-up to a fun and romantic series.

The mystery continued well throughout and the pages truly fly by. I love how the story is executed in a short amount of pages. This took a few turns I wasn’t expecting and hot dang I loved it!! I loved the romance, the characters, the plot, the mystery, just everything.

I feel like I can’t write much more without giving things away for the series. If you’re reading this review first you can know, without a doubt, that this entire series is worth the read and is now complete for you to binge!!

Overall audience notes:

Historical mystery + romance
Language: none
Romance: closed door
Violence: moderate
Content warnings: war themes, loss of life, weapons violence

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Book Review: Happy Medium by Sarah Adler

July 4, 2025May 27, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 418 pages
Author: Sarah Adler
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: April 30th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A clever con woman must convince a skeptical, sexy farmer of his property’s resident real-life ghost if she’s to save them all from a fate worse than death, in this delightful new novel from the author of Mrs. Nash’s Ashes.

Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is happy to help when her best (read: wealthiest) client hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm. Gretchen may be a fraud, but she’d like to think she’s a beneficent one. So if “cleansing” the property will help a nice old man finally retire and put some much-needed cash in her pockets at the same time, who’s she to say no?

Of course, it turns out said bridge partner isn’t the kindly AARP member Gretchen imagined—Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extremely unconvinced that Gretchen can communicate with the dead. (Which, fair.) Except, to her surprise, Gretchen finds herself face-to-face with Everett: the very real, very chatty ghost that’s been wreaking havoc during every open house. And he wants her to help ensure Charlie avoids the same family curse that’s had Everett haunting Gilded Creek since the 1920s.

Now, Gretchen has one month to convince Charlie he can’t sell the property. Unfortunately, hard work and honesty seem to be the way to win over the stubborn farmer—not exactly Gretchen’s strengths. But trust isn’t the only thing growing between them, and the risk of losing Charlie to the spirit realm looms over Gretchen almost as annoyingly as Everett himself. To save the goat farm, its friendly phantom, and the man she’s beginning to love, Gretchen will need to pull off the greatest con of her life: being fully, genuinely herself.

UNDERWHELMED.

I loved the previous book from this author and was excited to pick this up, unfortunately I’m feeling pretty meh about it overall. The book is not bad by any means, it just didn’t sweep me away either. Clearly, take this review with a grain of salt because you could love it way more than me.

I loved the farm setting and I thought the paranormal aspects were quirky and humorous. Lots of cute goat content and farmer’s markets and farm shenanigans. With the romance, I didn’t feel as much chemistry as I hoped. It came across more lusty from Gretchen’s angle, which is never my jam, and the feelings went up and down from there. I liked that Gretchen and Charlie did eventually communicate and talk things out at least.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: 3+ open door
Violence: low
Content Warnings: scenes with an older loved one with dementia

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Book Review: Even if It Hurt (Huntley Square #1) by Molly Barlowe

July 3, 2025May 13, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★.25
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 350 pages
Author: Molly Barlowe
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: September 16th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

My life and career have conditioned me to be prepared for—and desensitized to—traumatic events. Rather, they should’ve. But one phone call blindsided me in a way I never expected, and now there’s a screaming eight-month-old in my custody.

I would’ve done anything to ensure my niece didn’t enter the system, but I never wanted a family. I never wanted ties to anyone, period.

But then my meddling office administrator forcibly hires a nanny for me, and all my resolute vows start crumbling when I come face to face with Lainey Pearson . . . again.

She’s no one—should be no one. Just an oblivious girl I saved nearly a year ago. But she’s the only one who’s ever rocked me. Consumed me. I immediately want to fire her, but with the social worker breathing down my neck, I need her.

Then again, now that she’s fallen back into my life, having a working boundary might be for the best. My life doesn’t allow for relationships, and last I checked, it was frowned upon to date your employees.

Especially when they’re already in a relationship.

I LIKED THIS ONE!

I love finding new to me authors and this is another one I will definitely be continuing with. I didn’t know that this had some suspense elements and I loved finding a closed door author who writes suspense. It’s a hidden gem.

I loved the connection between Asher and Lainey. From that first meeting you could see that there was something there and I loved the push and pull. There’s a lot of walls that had to be taken down and I liked the arguments and quiet moments that created a great atmosphere.

The family bugged me a LOT though. It got to be repetitive and unnecessary and really beating the situation to death. And I always struggle when one of the MC’s is in a relationship most of the book. It makes some of the romance aspects a little less believable.

I did enjoy how things came together and eventually worked out. I loved the security firm aspects and the details and the hints of found family/future book relationships. I absolutely want to continue.

Overall audience notes: