Review: Games Untold - Short Stories - An Inheritance Games Collection - Jennifer Lynn Barnes - November 2024 I've been a Jennifer Lynn Barnes fan for longer than I care to admit it all started back in the early 2000s when I picked up Tattoo and was completely swept away. Since then I've devoured everything she's written, but it's The Inheritance Games universe that truly has my heart. And honestly? Choosing a favourite Hawthorne brother is impossible. Xander's humour has me snorting with laughter, Nash's old-fashioned gentlemanly ways make me swoon, Grayson's fierce loyalty makes me feel so safe, and Jameson oh, Jameson with those romantic gestures and that deliciously mysterious streak. They each hold a little piece of my reader's heart. So when I took  Games Untold off my bookshelf  for the Readers Retreat I attended in Taupo last weekend, I knew exactly how I'd be spending my downtime. Curled up, cup of tea in hand, utterly lost in the Hawthorne...

Review: The Kill Clause - Lisa Unger - December 2025 I wasn't feeling my best when I picked up The Kill Clause by Lisa Unger - one of those mornings where nothing quite appeals and you're scrolling aimlessly through your reading options. On a whim, I clicked on this Amazon Original short story, and I'm so glad I did. Sometimes the perfect read finds you exactly when you need it. From the opening pages, this book gave me serious The Long Kiss Goodnight vibes you know, that brilliant Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson action film that perfectly blends Christmas cheer with explosive assassin drama. Unger captures that same energy: holiday setting, deadly professionals, and a protagonist whose conscience complicates everything. We meet Paige, a woman pulled from foster care and molded into a lethal assassin by her mentor Nora. She's been trained to execute targets without hesitation, but when she arrives to complete her latest assignment, everything unravels. The target...

Review: Lies - Kylie Scott - July 2019 There is nothing I love more about the Bookstagram community than our Book Birthday Groups . This July, I was lucky enough to receive Lies by Kylie Scott an author I’ve "one-clicked" ever since her Stage Dive series first rocked my world years ago. As one of my favorite Australian authors, she never misses, and this latest read was no exception. We meet Betty , who is finally ready to walk away from her fiancé, Thom. She’s tired of his boring job as an insurance assessor and his constant habit of putting work first. However, as she leaves the house, it explodes behind her. Suddenly, Betty is kidnapped and thrust into a world of chaos. It turns out Thom isn't boring at all , he’s a special services agent . With a target on his team’s back, Betty is caught in the crossfire, forced into a high-stakes fight for survival alongside her now-ex-fiancé Thom. This was a fantastic, high-octane read that gave me major John Wick adventure ...

      Review: Gone Before Goodbye - Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben - October 2025 I'll be honest with you—when I first heard about this collaboration, I raised an eyebrow. I'm a die-hard Harlan Coben fan, and the thought of him co-writing with Reese Witherspoon had me a little worried. Would it still have that signature Coben punch? Would it feel diluted? Friends, I'm thrilled to report that this book absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. From the very first page, I was completely hooked. If you took Ruth Ware's Zero Days, threw in the adrenaline-pumping action of The Bourne Identity, and sprinkled in some Mission Impossible impossibly high stakes, you'd get Gone Before Goodbye. It's that addictive. Our protagonist, Maggie McCabe, is the kind of character you instantly root for. She's a brilliant Army combat surgeon who's always thrived in high-pressure situations , the kind of person who runs toward danger while everyone else is runnin...

Review: The Spy and I - Book #1 My Spy - Tiana Smith - February 2024 July is always a special month in my house—birthday cake crumbs on the counter, candles that never quite blow out in one go, and of course, a mailbox brimming with bookish surprises thanks to my lovely bookstagram birthday groups. One of the gems that arrived this year was The Spy and I by Tiana Smith, and let me tell you, it was like unwrapping a nostalgic hug from my teenage reading days. Growing up, I devoured every page of The Gallagher Girls and The Squad series. I even had a soft spot for the gloriously campy spy flick DEBS. So when I cracked open The Spy and I, I was instantly transported back to those adrenaline-fueled, girl-power-packed stories I adored. This one reminded me a lot of The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter—sisters tangled in espionage, mistaken identities, and a dash of romantic tension that keeps you guessing. Our heroine Dove is a computer penetration tester (basically a tech-savvy genius), an...

Review: Heart of the Sun - A Love Story - Mia Sheridan - May 2025 I went into Heart of the Sun blindly, expecting an edgy, angst-filled new adult romance. Instead, what I got was a gripping dystopian love story reminiscent of Zombieland or The Walking Dead—but without the zombies. Mia Sheridan’s masterful storytelling delivers a heart-wrenching yet hopeful tale about love, survival, and second chances when the world as we know it is thrust into chaos. The story takes us to the sun-drenched orange groves of California, where childhood best friends Emily Swanson and Tuck Mattice shared an unshakable bond—until life tore them apart. Fast forward thirteen years, and Emily, now a famous pop sensation, is in need of security. Enter Tuck, an ex-con trying to rebuild his life. As Emily hires Tuck as her bodyguard, their personalities create tension that’s laced with nostalgia and undeniable chemistry. What starts as a slow burn quickly ignites, reminding both characters and readers of their ...

One priest. One demon. One hell of a reckoning. DEMONS & RAMEN, a darkly hilarious paranormal mystery where exorcisms are messy and so is grief from A.M. Loweecey, is out now! Check out an exclusive excerpt below! Read a sneak peek of Demons & Ramen! The sign’s fat black letters proclaimed in Italian and English: Danger -- Keep Out By Order of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology. It was crowned with the official Vatican seal, too. Maybe their pompous crap worked on tourists. I slung my leather messenger bag across my back and scaled the chain-link fence surrounding the excavation. My feet hit broken cobblestones on the other side with a puff of stone dust. I brushed at my black slacks and shirt. They were the wrong clothes for crashing a closed dig, but I hadn’t confronted an entity yet who didn’t at least pause at the sight of the Roman collar. Most of them pissed their ectoplasmic pants. We had…used to have… a reputation, my brother Xavie...

Review : The Candidate's Daughter - Catherine Lea - May 2013 New Zealand author Catherine Lea’s The Candidate’s Daughter is a gripping thriller that not only delivers high-stakes tension but also provides a moving portrayal of disability representation. Set against a backdrop of crime, politics, and betrayal, the novel weaves an intense and emotional story that keeps readers hooked until the very last page. The novel centers around Kelsey Money, a 22-year-old car thief who gets entangled in a kidnapping gone terribly wrong. What initially seems like a straightforward ransom plan quickly unravels when Kelsey realizes she’s been double-crossed. Now, not only is she being framed for murder, but six-year-old Holly McClaine—who has Down syndrome—is in grave danger. With only 24 hours to save the girl, Kelsey must fight against impossible odds to bring her home safely. At the heart of this novel is the complex dynamic between Kelsey and Holly. Despite being one of the so-called ‘kidn...