Review: Under the Stairs (An Anthology of Homebound Horror) edited by Adam Vine

9 July 2026 by Melissa

About the book, Under the Stairs: an Anthology of Homebound Horror

Listening Length: 4 hours, 24 minutes
Authors: Adam Vine (editor), Dean Liapis, Ryan E. Felton, Courtney M. Privett, Brandon Naylor, E.E. King, Chelsea Pumpkins, Jessica Peter, Robert Bagnall, Francescia Maria
Narrators: Dean Liapis and Hilary Halpern
Release Date: 15 May 2026
Publisher: Ossuary Press

Twenty short stories about losing one’s sense of home: a sleep study gone wrong, a pair of ghostly baby shoes that won’t leave a grieving father alone, a serial killer who lurks in the shadows of suburbia, a halfway house haunted by an unorthodox kind of ghost, a hallucinogenic plant that compiles the most gruesome elements of past and future; penned by some of horror fiction’s best upcoming authors, these are just a few of the terrifying tales in ‘Under the Stairs: An Anthology of Homebound Horror.’ Please note that the stories in the audiobook version of this anthology differ slightly from the print and ebook versions.

Buy, read/listen to, and discuss this book:

Amazon (US) | Audible (US) | Amazon (UK) | Audible (UK) | Goodreads

About the Author (and Editor), Adam Vine

Adam Vine was born in Northern California. By day, he is a game writer and designer. He has lived in five countries and visited forty. When he is not writing, he is traveling, reading something icky, or playing the guitar.

Connect with Adam:

Website

My Thoughts

I listened to the audiobook edition of Under the Stairs, and I have to say that these stories feel even more unsettling in audio than they might on the page. There is something about hearing horror aloud that brings me right back to ghost stories shared at slumber parties or around campfires, where every creak in the house suddenly seems significant. I also appreciated the choice to use two narrators, alternating between stories and giving the collection an extra layer of texture.

The stories themselves range from quietly spooky to genuinely sinister, touching on subjects including domestic violence, hunger, and homelessness. Despite the variety of voices and styles, the anthology is held together by its central question: what happens when home is no longer a place of safety? That theme works remarkably well. As I listened, there were some pieces that didn’t resonate with me personally and others that felt eerily familiar—not in their actual content, but in their tone and worldview, occasionally echoing elements of my own writing.

Anthologies have always appealed to me because they invite a different kind of reading experience. You can dip in and out, listen for a while, set the book aside, and return later without feeling as though you’re trying to keep track of an intricate plot. Under the Stairs offers a satisfying mix of shorter and longer tales. There were certainly a few stories that I would happily have seen expanded into something larger, but for the most part, each one seemed to occupy exactly the amount of space it needed.

For listeners who enjoy horror that explores the uneasy spaces closest to us, this anthology offers a thoughtful reminder that sometimes the most frightening things are the ones waiting behind our own front doors.

Goes well with: crisp apples, sharp cheddar, and a handful of lightly salted cashews, along with a glass of wine or cup of tea.

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Flowerpot Romeo ebook cover- PNG - 15 June 2026

Review: Flowerpot Romeo by Simone Goodman – with Giveaway

5 July 2026 by Melissa

About the book, Flowerpot Romeo

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cloudesley Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 28, 2026
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 317 pages
Scroll down for Giveaway

Warning: this is not a romance (but it is a love story)

Sebastian Wilson wasn’t aspiring to be anybody’s hero. He just wanted to be an actor.

Instead, spurred on by his unimpressed agent, he pretends to be an Irish busker. Charmingly drifting through London’s Islington, burdened by an inability to face himself, he unwittingly changes the lives of the women he meets.

A lonely dame of the stage and screen.
A single mother making ends meet.
An underworld wife on the brink of divorce.
And Fiona, whose best friend he’d sooner avoid…

Life rarely consults the script — especially when Romeo the cat enters the scene, a tiny agent of chaos.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

About the author, Simone Goodman

Simone Goodman is a London novelist, reluctant romantic, and full-time CFO who spends her days in spreadsheets and her evenings turning questionable experiences into taller tales – always in the hope that things will somehow work out.

Connect with Simone:

Instagram

Giveaway

Win a £25 Amazon Gift Card (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Gleam box below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

My Thoughts

Some books grab your attention with dramatic twists. Others win you over because you simply enjoy spending time with the people on the page. Flowerpot Romeo is firmly in the second camp—a warm, funny, and quietly thoughtful novel about identity, belonging, and the unexpected ways our lives intersect.

Simone Goodman was a new-to-me author, but I slipped into her writing almost immediately. Her pacing is spot-on, allowing the story to unfold naturally without ever feeling rushed or dragging. Even with multiple storylines weaving together, everything remains easy to follow.

Sebastian Wilson is an aspiring actor whose latest “role” leads him into the lives of a wonderfully eclectic group of people. What I found especially interesting is that the male lead is a catalyst rather than the center of everyone else’s story. Without even realizing it, Wilson becomes exactly what several people need at pivotal moments in their lives, even as he struggles to accept himself for who he really is.

The characters are the heart of this novel. Each one feels like a fully realized person rather than a supporting player, and I found myself invested in all of them. There is plenty of humor throughout, but Goodman also explores universal questions about where we belong, whether we can truly be ourselves, and whether we’ll ever find the people who see us as we really are.

I also loved the layered nature of the title. As the story unfolds, you’ll find yourself wondering whether “Romeo” refers to Wilson, the mischievous cat, or perhaps both. It’s a clever touch that reflects the novel itself.

If you’re looking for a book driven by memorable characters rather than nonstop action, Flowerpot Romeo is a delightful choice. It’s charming, funny, heartfelt, and ultimately hopeful—a reminder that sometimes the greatest changes in our lives come from people who have no idea they’ve changed us at all.

Goes well with: Irish breakfast tea, a generous slice of lemon drizzle cake, and a dog (or cat) curled up beside you who occasionally insists on helping you turn the page.

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Review: The Catalyst by Andrea Goyan

2 July 2026 by Melissa

About the book, The Catalyst

When human bodies are found with scales and tails, DNA Detector Kat Crocker is tasked with determining what caused the victims’ abnormalities.

She’s teamed with Detective Greg Prescott, a partnership that neither of them is happy about. Prescott doesn’t believe she should be on a murder investigation, while she blames his father for mishandling the investigation into her father’s death years earlier.

But this is the opportunity Kat’s been waiting for. She wants to prove her DNA Detector—a device created by her late father—can revolutionize police investigations.

Then her device produces impossible results.

The first victim’s DNA is no longer entirely human.

When a second victim appears hours later with similar unimaginable results, Kat and Greg race to find the cause before more people die.

But even as they hunt for answers, someone hunts Kat. Unbeknownst to her, the people behind the mutations need Kat—at least a piece of her—to complete their plan. They will stop at nothing to get what they need.

Kat’s trail leads to a newly released VR game powered by impossible genetics—and to the scientist behind the mutations. The man who has put her in danger. The person she trusted more than anyone in the world.

Buy read and discuss this book:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | GoodReads

About the author, Andrea Goyan

Author Bio – Andrea Goyan is an award-winning author and an avid animal person who grew up being called Goat-Girl and Raccoon-Mama. She is a grateful part of a flock of collaborative Magpie Poets whose first collection, An Illegal Feast, was released in 2025. Andrea also co-hosts MetaStellar Magazine’s “Long-Lost Friends” and “Storytime.” In her spare time, she walks her dogs and loves to paint, especially animal portraits.

Many of her stories are available for free on her website.

Connect with Andrea:

Website | BlueSky | Facebook

My Thoughts

Science fiction is often at its most satisfying when it combines imaginative ideas with believable human stakes, and Andrea Goyan’s The Catalyst does exactly that. The novel balances scientific intrigue with questions about responsibility, identity, and the unintended consequences of discovery, creating a story that’s as engaging intellectually as it is entertaining.

Rather than relying on spectacle, Goyan lets the tension build steadily. The scientific elements provide a solid foundation for the mystery, while the story continually expands its focus to examine how individual choices can have far-reaching effects. There’s a quiet confidence to the storytelling that makes the world feel authentic, allowing readers to settle into the narrative even as the stakes continue to rise.

Kat Crocker is an easy protagonist to root for. She comes across as capable, thoughtful, and refreshingly grounded, making her a strong guide through increasingly extraordinary events. I especially appreciated that the book opens with Kat collecting dog feces from a suburban lawn in order to make sure the offending owner was ticketed for the misdeed. The “Double-D” nickname for the DNA detective made me laugh out loud, and that touch of humor helps establish her personality before the larger mystery unfolds.

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its pacing. Each revelation arrives at just the right moment, encouraging readers to keep turning pages without feeling manipulated. The scenes are vividly realized, and the various plot threads come together in a way that feels intentional and satisfying.

If I have one reservation, it’s that I wanted the novel to venture even further into its scientific foundations. The central concept is fascinating, but I found myself wanting a deeper explanation of the biological mechanisms at work, particularly how genetic material could move between organisms in the way the story suggests. Readers who prefer harder science fiction may find themselves asking the same questions. Similarly, expanding the world-building just a bit more would have given the speculative elements even greater impact.

Even with those reservations, The Catalyst is a compelling read. Its intriguing premise, memorable protagonist, and carefully constructed suspense make it an enjoyable science fiction thriller that keeps its focus on both ideas and people. While I would have welcomed a little more scientific depth, the novel’s strengths easily outweigh that omission, making it one I’d happily recommend to fans of speculative fiction with a mystery at its core.

Goes well with: A perfectly grilled steak with asparagus tips, enjoyed outdoors under the ever-watchful eyes of a dog absolutely convinced that every bite belongs to them.

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Book Spotlight: The Time of My Life by Samantha Tonge

14 June 2026 by Melissa

About the book: The Time of My Life

How far would you go to change your life?

When Eliza Woods sees an advertisement for someone’s whole life for sale – their house, car, all their belongings, even their clothes and cat – not to mention a trial-run in their job and an introduction to their friends… she decides it’s fate.

Grabbing a different life with both hands is exactly what she needs. Even if 26-year-old Carrie’s wildly-social life and job in a bar couldn’t be more different from Eliza’s quieter existence.

As for Carrie, she’s heading off to Greece, desperate to run away from everything she’s familiar with in England. The two women message each other after the deal has gone through, with Eliza excited to go for cocktails with Carrie’s friends before her first shift at her new job.

What Carrie doesn’t tell her is why she put her life up for sale. And what Eliza doesn’t tell Carrie is that she’s about to turn 75. And that isn’t her only secret…

Don’t miss this absolutely brilliant, escapist read. Available now!

Buy this book!

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/TheTimeofMyLife

The Time of My Life Is currently available for only 99p! (99 cents in the US!)

About the author: Samantha Tonge

Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has travelled widely.

Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines. She is represented by Darley Anderson Agency & Associates. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category. In 2020 one of her novels won the RNA’s Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award. Currently Samantha writes uplifting, emotional women’s fiction for Boldwood Books. She seeks to raise a smile, and make a reader feel they are not alone with the challenges of life.

Connect with Samantha:

Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter)

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Book Review: May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn by Kimberly Sullivan

15 May 2026 by Melissa

About the book, May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn

fter a successful seasonal opening in April, friends Emma and Annarita are eager to welcome a new set of guests to their Umbrian inn during the full bloom of May.

Upstate New Yorker Lisa needs an escape from betrayal and the prying eyes of her smalltown neighbors. Elderly, reclusive artist Antonio hopes leaving Milan for a country sojourn will spark his long dormant creative muse. Manhattan socialite mother Sharon grudgingly embarks on a country holiday with her young son, Josh, with whom she shares few interests. Roman author Margherita prefers time spent alone, but her career may depend on a stay in bucolic Todi among fellow guests. And Emma and Annarita are anxious to embrace their close friend Tiffany on her brief stay in the heart of Umbria.

The swallows may have returned and colorful petals now dot the countryside, but will the inn’s atmosphere allow hurts to heal and friendships to blossom?

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: Amazon.com: May Flowers at The Three Coins Inn eBook : Sullivan, Kimberly : Kindle Store

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0GLTQ967Q

All links: May Flowers at The Three Coins Inn | Kimberly Sullivan

Until 31^st May you can purchase May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn for a special release price of 99 cent/99 pence.

About the author, Kimberly Sullivan

Kimberly is the award-winning writer of six novels and one short story collection. Kimberly is also the co-editor of two historical fiction anthologies in the Feisty Deeds series. She writes the women’s fiction stories she loves to read, both contemporary and historic tales of women and the rich lives they lead along their journeys of self-discovery. A lifetime admirer and longtime resident of Italy, Kimberly is often guilty of sneaking the bel paese into her stories.

Connect with Kimberly:

Website: Kimberly Sullivan

Instagram: Instagram

Pintarest: Pinterest

Goodreads: Kimberly Sullivan (Author of Dark Blue Waves) | Goodreads

BookBub: Kimberly Sullivan Books – BookBub

YouTube: Kimberly Sullivan – YouTube

My Thoughts

Kimberly Sullivan’s May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn turned out to be exactly the sort of novel I needed. Even though I haven’t read the earlier books in the series, I never felt adrift; the story works beautifully on its own while still hinting at a larger world and history surrounding the inn and its regulars.

While Lisa is the first guest we really come to know, it was Antonio — prickly, aging, artistic Antonio — who held my attention most completely. Sullivan creates characters with rich emotional interiors, and I found it wonderfully easy to settle into each shifting perspective. Every guest arrives carrying something tender or unresolved, yet none of them feel flattened into clichés or simple archetypes. They feel lived in.

What stayed with me most was how recognizable each character’s struggles felt, even when their lives looked nothing alike on the surface. Antonio’s reflections on growing older and carrying the weight of past choices had real emotional depth. Sharon’s attempts to bridge the widening distance between herself and her son felt achingly familiar. Margherita’s instinct to withdraw from the world rather than risk disappointment especially resonated with me as someone who understands the temptation to disappear into solitude. Sullivan approaches all of these characters with compassion, quietly reinforcing the idea that hardship, longing, and self-doubt are universal human experiences.

This novel shines in its quieter moments. Shared meals, tentative conversations, small gestures of kindness, and the slow easing of emotional loneliness become the heartbeat of the story. The setting in Todi only deepens that atmosphere. Sullivan writes about the Umbrian countryside with such warmth and affection that the entire novel feels restorative, filled with sunlight, fresh air, and the promise that people can still surprise one another in beautiful ways.

More than anything, May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn is a deeply comforting story about friendship, vulnerability, and the importance of letting ourselves remain open to connection. It left me feeling calmer, softer, and reminded of how much healing can happen simply by being seen and welcomed exactly as you are.

Goes well with: Umbrian lentil soup, warm rosemary focaccia dipped in olive oil, a slice of pecorino, and a glass of Montefalco red enjoyed slowly while the evening light fades.

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Book Review: No More Tomorrows by Olivia Lockhart & Hal Lambert

9 April 2026 by Melissa

About the book, No More Tomorrows

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 3, 2026
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 410 pages
Scroll down for Giveaway (UK Residents Only)

Two eras. One aching heart.

1917 – At Cambridge University, American scholar Harry Turchin never expects to lose himself to desire. But Annie Mackenzie—soft-spoken, grieving, and luminous—claims his heart from their very first kiss. Their love is swift, fierce, and intoxicating. Married just days before Harry is sent to war, their passion is ripped apart when the trenches claim everything he knows, and Harry is thrown into a future that should not exist.

1967 – The free-spirited sixties are alive with rhythm, rebellion, and possibility. Harry awakens to a world he doesn’t recognise—and to Annalise Taylor, as bold and captivating as the era itself. Brilliant, independent, and achingly alive, she rouses a desire he thought belonged solely to the past.

Caught between the love he was ripped away from and the passion he cannot resist, Harry is torn between two women, two lives, and two versions of forever. Because time will not bend twice … Or will it?

Sweeping from the blood-soaked battlefields of World War One to the fevered nights of the swinging sixties, No More Tomorrows is a sensual time-slip romance about desire, devotion, and the devastating power of love that refuses to be bound by time.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

About the author, Olivia Lockhart

Olivia Lockhart (Livvie to her friends) is an English author who can’t quite decide if she wants to write contemporary romance, historical romance, or paranormal romance. So she writes them all, because it HAS to be romance!

She loves to write about the underdog, the one who got away, the bits of love stories we can all relate to.

When not writing she can be found drinking wine, cuddling with her beloved pooch, or with her head in a book.

Connect with Olivia:

Instagram | X (Twitter)

My Thoughts

I am an easy mark for time travel, fish-out-of-water stories, and novels that play with structure, so No More Tomorrows was already speaking my language. Once it opened with that beautifully presented letter—rendered in a way that makes it feel personal and immediate—I was all in. It sets the tone perfectly for a novel that is as interested in longing and connection as it is in plot.

What makes this story work so well is that it is not simply one romance dropped into an unusual situation. It is a true parallel narrative, and both halves carry equal emotional weight. Harry’s life in 1917, and his connection with Annie, is not a prologue to be brushed aside. It is full, immediate, and deeply felt. At the same time, what unfolds in 1967 with Annalise is vivid, electric, and impossible to dismiss as anything less than real.

Layered over that is the novel’s central question, and it is a powerful one: where does Harry belong? This is not just about choosing between two women. It is about choosing between two lives—between the past that shaped him and the future that is asking him to become someone new. The tension isn’t theoretical, either. The story keeps that question active, pressing gently but persistently: does he stay in the 1960s and build something new, or does he find a way back to 1917, to the life that was taken from him? That uncertainty gives the entire book its forward pull.

Lockhart and Lambert handle that balance with care. Harry feels consistent across both timelines—reserved, marked by war, not always equipped to articulate what he feels, which makes his emotional journey all the more compelling. Annie and Annalise are distinct and fully realized in their own right, which is essential. Annie brings a quiet, aching tenderness to the earlier timeline, while Annalise meets Harry with intelligence, confidence, and a refusal to be anything less than fully present. Neither relationship feels like a placeholder for the other, and that is what makes the stakes land.

The epistolary elements are one of my favorite aspects of the novel. Letters allow us to see what characters are willing to admit when they believe no one is watching—or when they are writing across a distance that may never be crossed. It adds a layer of intimacy that suits a story built on separation, time, and longing, and it ties the two timelines together in a way that feels organic rather than gimmicky.

The settings are equally strong. The wartime sections carry weight and shadow, while the late-sixties academic world feels alive with movement, change, and possibility. Harry’s displacement isn’t just chronological; it’s cultural, emotional, and deeply personal, which makes the 1967 sections particularly engaging.

I should also note that I am still coming to terms with 1967–68 being considered historical fiction, since I was born in 1970, and frankly that feels a little rude. Still. Fine. I accept the paperwork.

If you enjoy romance that asks bigger questions—about time, identity, and what it means to choose a life—this is a satisfying and emotionally layered read that lingers well beyond the final page.

Goes well with: a strong cup of coffee, a stack of old letters tied with ribbon, and a vinyl record playing something a little wistful in the background.

Giveaway (UK residents only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Gleam box below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize

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Book Review: Hidden Truth, by C.D. Steele

6 March 2026 by Melissa

About the book: Hidden Truth

Private Investigator Joe Wilde is investigating the murder of Philippa Redmond a former Labour MP. She had been found dead in her sauna over the Christmas holidays six weeks ago. The majority of her family had been staying with her at the time, but the police didn’t regard any of them as suspects. Evidence suggested an intruder had got into her home.

Joe also takes on a cold case of a missing woman named Julie Turnbull. She had disappeared six years ago without a trace. Meanwhile Joe’s good friend DI Whatmore is investigating the horrific murder of a woman who was burnt to death in her own home. His investigation crosses over with Joe’s missing person investigation. As they conduct their own investigations there are more killings.
DI Whatmore and Joe must join forces to track down a serial killer and solve a puzzling mystery, but doing so puts them and others in grave danger.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon UK: Paperback | eBook | Amazon USA: Paperback | eBook | Goodreads

About the author, C.D. Steele

C.D Steele works as an Executive Officer in the Civil Service. He has a degree in Recreation Management and lives in County Down, Northern Ireland. This is his third novel and is the next book in the Joe Wilde Series after False Truth and Dark Truth.

Connect with C.D.:

Amazon Author Page

Giveaway (UK Only)

Giveaway to Win 3 x copies of False Truth (book 1 in the Joe Wilde series) and 1 x copy of Dark Truth (book 2). (Open to UK Only)

ENTER TO WIN

My Thoughts

I had a difficult time getting into Hidden Truth, and I suspect part of that is because I was jumping into an established series without having read the two preceding books.

A number of characters appear fairly quickly, and for a while I felt as though I was being introduced to people whose histories I was expected to already know. It took some time to settle into who everyone was and how they related to one another.

The novel also carries several different narrative threads at once. I normally enjoy a layered mystery, but at times it felt like there were a lot of moving pieces competing for attention. In addition, the editing could have used a more careful pass. There were a few moments where characters were misnamed, which briefly pulled me out of the story, and I noticed several grammatical errors that stood out.

That being said, my overall reading experience was still a favorable one. Steele clearly knows how to weave together complex story lines, and the dialogue throughout the book felt rich and convincing. He also demonstrates a willingness to tackle difficult subject matter without shying away from it, which I respect.

Joe Wilde himself is a likeable lead character, and I particularly appreciated his strong sense of justice. He anchors the story well and gives the reader someone solid to follow through the darker corners of the narrative.

Despite my initial difficulty settling in, Hidden Truth ultimately proved to be a solid investigative thriller. If you enjoy crime fiction with multiple threads and morally driven protagonists, this series is definitely one worth exploring, whether you begin here or go back to the first book.

Goes well with: strong coffee and a Reuben sandwich.

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Book Review: Dragon Kin’s Blood by Jo Jo Gatenby

5 March 2026 by Melissa

About the book: Dragon Kin’s Blood

Who do you trust when you can’t go home?

After centuries of hiding themselves and their shifting abilities from outsiders, the Dragon Kin decide to send a delegation of “dragon riders” to a nearby Lowlander territory. Eager to see the world, young Lauran quickly volunteers. But not all Lowlanders can be trusted. As the visit comes to an end, Lauran finds herself trapped in her draconic form—and hunted by an evil warlock. Desperate to protect herself and her people, she flees along the Dragon Spine Mountains, away from friends and foes alike.

Meanwhile, the last place Jenny wants to be during her summer break from university is on a family vacation with her mother’s new husband and his young son, Davy. Hoping for some peace and quiet, she explores a nearby cave—only to stumble into a portal to the Kingdom of Galahar, a land of magic and mythological creatures.

As Jenny searches for Davy, who follows her through the portal, and Lauran struggles for freedom, they come together with the help of Nath, an apprentice shaman of the Anishinabe people. Between Jenny’s technology and Nath’s magic, can they help Lauran escape the warlock’s relentless pursuit before he gets his hands on the Dragon Kin’s blood?

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon (UK) | Amazon (USA) | Goodreads

About the author: Jo Gatenby

Thanks to her great-grandmother, Jo Gatenby is a status Algonquin, of the Pikwakanagan First Nation, in Canada. The mountain people in this, her first novel are heavily influenced by native beliefs, and the magic words used are Algonquin language based.

Jo writes whatever the voices shouting in her head tell her to. As a result, she has had over two dozen stories and flash fiction published in on-line magazines. Links to many of these can be found on her website. She has also self-published five children’s books, which can also be found on her website.

Connect with Jo:

Website | Facebook | Instagram

My Thoughts

I’m always drawn to fantasy that takes familiar ingredients and mixes them in slightly unexpected ways, and Dragon Kin’s Blood by Jo Gatenby does exactly that. We get dragon shapeshifters, a secluded mountain culture, political ambition in the form of a power-hungry duke, and a warlock who is clearly bad news for anyone in his path. It’s YA fantasy, but with some cozy touches—most notably the presence of kaffee—and the added wrinkle of two kids from our world suddenly finding themselves in the middle of a magical one.

The story begins with several characters moving through their own separate threads. When those threads finally weave together, the narrative gains momentum and becomes especially engaging. The dynamic between the characters is fun to watch develop, and a number of the side figures are interesting enough that I would happily spend more time with them in future installments.

The women in this story are particularly well drawn. Each one feels like an individual, with her own perspective and reactions rather than blending into the background. Gatenby’s prose is also approachable in the best way: clear, descriptive, and easy to follow without getting bogged down in excess detail.

At the same time, there are places where the story seems eager to move forward just when a moment might benefit from a little more space. Certain turning points arrive and resolve quickly, leaving me curious about how those experiences truly shaped the characters involved. The climactic sequence, which carries major stakes for the world and the people in it, might have landed even more strongly with a deeper look at what everyone was thinking and feeling as events unfolded.

One small personal note: I am absolutely the reader who flips to the map before beginning chapter one. The map included here is impressive in scope, though intricate enough that I occasionally had to pause and trace things out to keep track of where everyone was headed.

Overall, this is the kind of fantasy you can sink into without emotional whiplash or relentless grimness. The adventure unfolds steadily, the characters are enjoyable company, and the world hints at more stories still waiting to be told.

Dragon Kin’s Blood offers an inviting introduction to a magical setting filled with dragons, shifting alliances, and journeys across rugged landscapes.

Goes well with: a mug of kaffee, fresh bread, and a crackling fire.

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Book Review: Under Vixens Mere by Kit Fielding

5 February 2026 by Melissa

About the Book, Under Vixens Mere:

After Harry Jones takes his life in the chilling waters of Vixens Mere, not one body is found by the police rescue team, but two. Tucked away in the English countryside, the run-down marina at Vixens Mere hosts a ragtag community of houseboats whose lives are as tangled as their mooring ropes. Harry Jones’s death dredges up more than grief: a second body in the water, hidden love affairs, and old grudges. As the marina begins to reveal the truths of the past, its dwellers unify against investigators, vindictive exes, and anyone else who tries to break them. The boats of Vixens Mere brim with secrets…. A marriage broken by war, a guilty lover returning, a ramshackle haven for aging hippies, a newcomer chasing a better life, a home haunted by addiction, and a loyal outcast whose devotion turns deadly. Step aboard and lose yourself in the secrets, betrayals, and unbreakable ties of a small community.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Purchase Link | Goodreads

Enter the Giveaway to Win 3 x Stacks of 5 Inkspot Publishing books (UK Only):

https://gleam.io/7fwwo/win-3-x-stacks-of-5-inkspot-publishing-books-uk-only

About the Author, Kit Fielding:

Kit Fielding plans and writes his novels in a motorhome at various locations around the country.

The feeling of impermanence is natural to him due to his mother’s traveller roots and a childhood succession of tied-cottages accommodation in different parts of England.

Kit Fielding says that there was always a curiosity about what was waiting, or was lurking, just around the corner. This legacy has stayed with him to the present day and it feeds into his work.

Connect to Inkspot Publishing:

Facebook | Instagram

My Thoughts:

Under Vixen’s Mere is one of those novels that quietly gets under your skin and then refuses to leave.

From the opening pages, the prose immediately stood out to me. It’s spare without ever feeling sparse—clean, confident, and quietly assured. Dialogue and description are held in careful balance, each doing its work without calling attention to itself. Nothing strains for effect, and that sense of restraint builds trust early on, inviting the reader to settle in and follow where the story leads.

I was drawn to this book for deeply personal reasons. I’ve long fantasized about living on a boat, and I happily lose hours watching The Mindful Narrowboat on YouTube (mercifully free of mysterious bodies). What I didn’t expect was how fully this novel would deliver not just a setting, but a lived-in way of life—one that feels authentic rather than romanticized.

This is, in many ways, vicarious travel: across years, across seasons, and into a rare, largely off-grid canal-boat community tucked into the English countryside. The residents of Vixens Mere come and go with the rhythms of the water, maintaining an almost paradoxical balance—deep closeness paired with fierce privacy. Secrets are kept, histories linger, and yet there is mutual sympathy and loyalty that feels earned rather than idealized.

The cast is refreshingly outside the usual literary comfort zone: nightclub bouncers, pig farmers, laborers, drug dealers. These are not middle-class protagonists smoothed for palatability, yet each one climbs off the page with warmth, dignity, and unmistakable humanity. They love, fight, fear, and hope as fiercely as anyone else. I could picture every one of them.

Kit Fielding manages a large ensemble with impressive control, giving each character space to breathe—and yes, killing some of them. Tragedy and darkness are present throughout, threaded carefully among humor and joy. The mere itself—the body of water at the novel’s heart—becomes a quiet gravitational force, anchoring two stable, loving couples while secrets of adoption, unrequited love, affairs, suicide, and manslaughter drift in and out like the boats themselves.

What struck me most was the confidence of the writing. The scene-setting is assured, the revelations slow and satisfying, and the sense of jeopardy in the latter half is handled with admirable restraint. This is a writer who asks for your patience—and repays it fully.

Most of all, this book felt refreshing. Refreshing in its refusal to lean on stereotype. Refreshing in its complex, contradictory characters. Refreshing in a storytelling style that is unusual, engaging, and delivered with raw honesty and flair.

Choosing a favorite among the residents of Vixens Mere is nearly impossible, but if pressed, I’d gladly spend an evening with Big Ed and Millie aboard Crystal Lady—the emotional linchpins of this ragtag family. Their relationship feels utterly authentic, and I’d happily sink a beer (or three) with them in The Shed.

This is one of those rare books I was reluctant to finish—not because the ending faltered, but because I didn’t want to leave these people behind. I know they’ll be living in my head for a long time yet.

Goes well with: a pint in a weathered pub, damp boots by the door, and the quiet creak of ropes against wood as night settles over the water.

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Book Review: The Boulangerie on the Corner b y Susan Buchanan

26 January 2026 by Melissa

About the Book: The Boulangerie on the Corner

🥖🥐🥖🥐 Grab your passport for the first in the European Escapes series 🥐🥖🥐🥖

No home. No job. No boyfriend.

When Lia loses her job straight after a break-up, she escapes to the Molins’ family-run boulangerie in Toulouse – the place she was last happy, far away from her cheating ex.

Sworn off men, she isn’t prepared for the spark she feels for charming cheesemaker Jean-Luc, nor for things heating up at the family’s country home in Gascony when handsome, self-assured vineyard-owner Théo asks her out.

Torn between the two and her connections to the Molins family, Lia has some tough decisions to make.

Lia loves being back in France with the people she cares about, helping in the boulangerie. On discovering it is under threat of closure, she is devastated and resolves to do everything in her power to help it stay open.

Will she succeed? And will she be able to choose between the two handsome Frenchmen and live her happily ever after?

For fans of Gillian Harvey, Rebecca Raisin, Jo Thomas and Veronica Henry.

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About the Author: Susan Buchanan

Susan Buchanan writes contemporary romance, women’s fiction and romantic comedies, usually featuring travel, food, family, friendship, community – also Christmas!

Her books are Sign of the Times, The Dating Game, The Christmas Spirit, Return of the Christmas Spirit, A Little Christmas Spirit, A Taste of Christmas Spirit and Just One Day – Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, The Leap Year Proposal, You Can’t Hurry Love and The Boulangerie on the Corner.

As a freelance developmental editor, copyeditor and proofreader, if she’s not reading, editing or writing, she’s thinking about it.

She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors.

She lives near Glasgow with her husband, two children and a crazy Labrador.

When she’s not editing, writing, reading or caring for her two delightful cherubs, she likes going to the theatre, playing board games, watching quiz shows and eating out, and she has a penchant for writing retreats.

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My Thoughts

Before there was Captain Jean-Luc Picard, American audiences were once treated to a very different Jean-Luc—one who appeared in aggressively faux-European commercials for powdered cappuccino mix, urging us to believe we were sipping something international. That image lodged itself firmly in my cultural memory. It was the very first thing I thought of when Lia, newly arrived in Toulouse and reeling from three personal upheavals, meets the cheesemaker Jean-Luc in The Boulangerie on the Corner.

Maybe it was the name, but I knew he wasn’t a blink-and-you-miss-him character.

That instinct turned out to be right, and it speaks to one of Susan Buchanan’s real strengths as a writer. Her characters arrive fully formed, warm, and human. Even the so-called villains are likeable and relatable rather than cartoonish. Lia herself is a genuinely strong female protagonist—capable, bruised, and emotionally intelligent. Her friendship with Jules is a particular joy, showcasing the very best aspects of female friendship: loyal, supportive, and quietly sustaining.

Layered on top of that emotional core is a France that feels lived-in rather than staged. There is bread and pastry, cheese and wine, markets and architecture, rain and flowers. The Molins’ family-run boulangerie is not just a setting but a heartbeat, and when it comes under threat of closure, the stakes feel real and personal. Add two handsome French suitors—cheesemaker Jean-Luc and vineyard-owner Théo—each appealing in different ways, and the novel finds its romantic tension without cheap tricks or forced drama.

What makes this book especially satisfying is its sensory richness. The attention to detail is so precise you can practically smell the bread cooling on the racks, the sharpness of cheese, the damp stone after rain. It is comfort reading with substance: sunshine and laughter paired with the everyday complications life throws at us, and the quiet resilience required to meet them.

This is a story about refuge—about returning to the last place you remember being happy, and discovering that happiness can evolve rather than repeat itself. I loved the storyline, the characters, and the care Buchanan brings to every page. I finished the book feeling warm, well-fed, and genuinely hopeful there is more to come.

Goes well with: a café au lait, a still-warm croissant torn by hand, good butter, apricot jam, and the dangerous temptation to book a one-way ticket to Toulouse.

Then she climbed on.

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