Sophia Rose Reviews - Badasstronauts (Dramatized Adaption) by Grady Hendrix, narration by full cast

 

Badasstronauts (Dramatized Adaption) by Grady Hendrix, narration by full cast

Sci-Fi

Publisher:  Graphic Audio

Published:  8.5.26

Time:  3 hours 23 minutes

Rating: 4 stars

Format: audio

Source:  Recorded Books

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

From New York Times bestselling author of My Best Friend's Exorcism, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix takes a break from horror and goes all-in on sci-fi in this novella about backyard rocket jockeys trying to get into low earth orbit.

Melville, South Carolina was out of money, it was out of jobs, it was out of hope, and today it was out of astronauts. There were only two to begin with, and now one is stuck on the abandoned International Space Station after his mission went south. With NASA’s budget cut to the bone, there’s no one to bring him back home, so everyone is only too happy to ignore this embarrassing sign of American Failure and just let him die. But his cousin, Walter Reddie, isn’t going to let that happen.

Tanked on vodka, living on a “farm” whose only crop is cars on cinderblocks, Walter's a wash-out from the Shuttle Program and he’ll be damned if he’s going to let his cousin die in the sky like a dog. And so he begins to build a rocket. If America won’t rescue its astronauts, he’ll do it himself.

Violating numerous laws, good taste, common sense, logic, and reason, Walter becomes a lightning rod for people who aren’t ready to give up. His farm is transformed into the promised land for misfits, drifters, rocket junkies, pyromaniacs, dreamers, science nerds, and astro-hippies who believe that space shouldn’t just be for billionaires. But it won’t be easy. Chances are good they’ll blow themselves up, get arrested, or kill each other before they ever get into orbit.

Adapted from the novella and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!

Narrated by Richard Rohan. Featuring Terence Aselford as Walter, Ozzie Jacobs as Tiara, Dylan Lynch as Gaudy, Wyn Delano as Huggins, Jonathan Lee Taylor as Paul, Matthew Pauli as Richter, Megan Dominy as Lynn, Chris Davenport as Jimmy Royal, Matthew Bassett as Bobby, Laura C. Harris as Dr. Huger, Matthew Aldwin McGee as Volor, Michael John Casey as Norbert, Andy Brownstein as Bennett, Scott McCormick as Uncle AJ, Steve Wannall as Jay and the Rat-Faced FBI agent, and Nora Achrati as Big Patty. With additional performances by Bradley Foster Smith, Rayner Gabriel, Eric Messner, Ken Jackson, Christopher Williams, Donald Guzzi, Yasmin Tuazon, Karen Novack, Jameson Hunt and Colleen Delany.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews - The One Who Walked Away by Karen Rose

 

The One Who Walked Away by Karen Rose

#34 Romantic Suspense

Publisher:  Berkley

Published:  8.11.26

Pages:  528

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: Hardback

Source:  Berkley

Sellers:  Amazon

A bounty hunter must outrun her past before it catches up to her in this pulse-pounding new standalone thriller

Bounty hunter Elle Randolph takes on every case she can, in an effort to outrun herself. Three years ago, she was the only one who walked away from a car crash that killed her husband and two others. Although she was cleared of any wrongdoing, she is fueled by guilt and dedicated to solving other people’s problems. But her running is over when she’s identified as a person of interest in a murder investigation.

Detective Ronan Clarke, a single dad for fifteen years, has been laser-focused on raising his daughter and serving the people of Mendocino County, California. He’s got everything under control—until a bounty hunter enters his jurisdiction, keeping secrets and bringing murder to his quiet town. The hunter is definitely involved in his current case, but exactly how is his question. Could she be his killer? As he unravels her secrets, he becomes increasingly troubled by what he finds. While Elle is forced to reexamine every painful memory of the life she left behind, Ronan grows more and more sure of her innocence. But can he trust himself to uncover the truth amid their growing attraction?

 

Sophia Rose Reviews - The Vanished Sister by Sherry Thomas

 

The Vanished Sister by Sherry Thomas

#9 Lady Sherlock

Historical Mystery

Publisher:  Berkley

Published:  9.29.26

Pages: 368

Rating: 5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

Charlotte Holmes—aka Sherlock Holmes—becomes entangled in a puzzling missing person case that hits close to home for her beloved Mrs. Watson in this Victorian-set mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of A Ruse of Shadows.

It’s been three years since Charlotte Holmes struck a decisive blow against Moriarty's operations in Britain, three years of relative calm and benign developments. In a buoyant mood, everyone gathers at Lord Ingram's seaside cottage in North Devon for what promises to be a perfect summer holiday. Until Mrs. Watson receives an invitation from Mrs. Carstairs, her long-estranged sister, to attend a house party nearby.

Mrs. Carstairs has married spectacularly well. She is the mistress of a great manor, a doyen of all domestic arts, and still an unforgettable beauty. Now she clamors for a reconciliation with her sister. Mrs. Watson does not trust Mrs. Carstairs's motives. Yet she cannot help but feel tremors of the old admiration for this once-beloved sister. 

Then Mrs. Carstairs disappears without a trace. The next day a woman is discovered floating on the waves, her build and coloring matching those of Mrs. Carstairs. But her husband insists that the corpse fished out of the Bristol Channel cannot be his wife. So where is the real Mrs. Carstairs? Would she have purposely dragged Mrs. Watson into a murder investigation? Or was it Sherlock Holmes's involvement that she needed from the very beginning?

Sophia Rose Reviews - Lost Talismans and a Tequila by Annette Marie

 

Lost Talismans and a Tequila by Annette Marie

#8 Guild Codex: Spellbound

Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Dark Owl Fantasy

Published:  7.10.20

Pages:  346

Rating: 5 stars

Format: ebook

Source:  KU borrow

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

You know that squirmy sensation in your gut when you have no idea what you're doing and you're about to screw everything up?

Yeah, that feeling.

I thought I was a good judge of character, but recent events proved me very wrong. Now, in a brilliant demonstration of my newfound caution, I'm putting all my faith in a demon--a demon who's tried to kill me before. The squirmy feeling is making sense, right?

Unfortunately, I don't have any other options. Ezra's time is almost up, which means I need answers and I need them fast. So it's time to toughen up, pack my gear, and find me one of the most illegal, reviled, and scarce mythics out a demon-mage summoner.

And all I have to do is follow a demon's instructions on where to look. How could that go wrong?

 

Sophia Rose Reviews - Until She Dies by Kendra Elliot

 

Until She Dies by Kendra Elliot

#3 Noelle Marshall

Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Montlake

Published:  9.8.26

Pages:  328

Rating: 5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

Detective Noelle Marshall and FBI Agent Max Rhodes unearth bodies and secrets as they become targets of a serial killer in a chilling novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

When a search dog locates a mass burial ground in the Oregon forest, Detective Noelle Marshall is plunged into a hunt for a killer who’s hiding in plain sight. The key to her case lies in a decades-old a lone survivor who escaped and is still out there, living in fear. The murderer is a phantom who left behind a collection of victims with nothing in common but their final resting place.

As pressure mounts to identify the bodies and find the killer, the investigation draws in FBI Agent Max Rhodes—Noelle’s partner in work and in life. They’ve hunted monsters before, but this one has spent years preparing for this moment, and he craves revenge. As the search narrows and the clock tightens, Noelle and Max must confront a predator who knows the terrain—and their weaknesses—better than they do.

 

Sophia Rose reviews - The Tale of Princess Kaguya: Japan’s Oldest Fairytale translated by Matthew Stavros

 

The Tale of Princess Kaguya: Japan’s Oldest Fairytale translated by Matthew Stavros

Classic, Fantasy

Publisher:  Tuttle Publishing

Published:  9.22.26

Pages:  208

Rating: 5 stars

Format: Hardback

Source:  Tuttle

Sellers:  Amazon

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Amazon Synopsis:

One of the great works of early literature—a fantastical tale of beauty, intrigue, lust and salvation.

The Tale of Princess Kaguya is Japan's oldest surviving prose narrative and one of its most famous literary works. Familiar to every Japanese child, the story, also called The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, tells of a tiny otherworldly girl found inside a bamboo stalk, whose beauty captivates emperors and commoners alike.

Blending folklore, romance and mythology, the tale explores timeless themes of greed, lust and loss. Beneath its surface lies a strikingly modern current of female empowerment, as its heroine quietly resists the desires and demands of a world that seeks to possess her.

This definitive edition presents the original text alongside an engaging English translation by Matthew Stavros that highlights the poetry and biting wit of the tale. Insightful commentary, illustrations and superb scholarship make this a book that will appeal to every lover of Japanese language, culture and literature.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews - The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman

 

The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Historical Fiction

Publisher:  Kensington

Published:  7.29.25

Pages:  416

Rating: 4 stars

Format: Trade Paperback

Source:  Kensington

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

In rural 1930s Virginia, a young immigrant mother fights for her dignity and those she loves against America’s rising eugenics movement – when widespread support for policies of prejudice drove imprisonment and forced sterilizations based on class, race, disability, education, and country of origin – in this tragic and uplifting novel of social injustice, survival, and hope for readers of Susan Meissner, Kristin Hannah, and Christina Baker Kline.

When Lena Conti—a young, unwed mother—sees immigrant families being forcibly separated on Ellis Island, she vows not to let the officers take her two-year old daughter. But the inspection process is more rigorous than she imagined, and she is separated from her mother and teenage brother, who are labeled burdens to society, denied entry, and deported back to Germany. Now, alone but determined to give her daughter a better life after years of living in poverty and near starvation, she finds herself facing a future unlike anything she had envisioned.

Silas Wolfe, a widowed family relative, reluctantly brings Lena and her daughter to his weathered cabin in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to care for his home and children. Though the hills around Wolfe Hollow remind Lena of her homeland, she struggles to adjust. Worse, she is stunned to learn the children in her care have been taught to hide when the sheriff comes around. As Lena meets their neighbors, she realizes the community is vibrant and tight knit, but also senses growing unease. The State of Virginia is scheming to paint them as ignorant, immoral, and backwards so they can evict them from their land, seize children from parents, and deal with those possessing “inferior genes.”

After a social worker from the Eugenics Office accuses Lena of promiscuity and feeblemindedness, her own worst fears come true. Sent to the Virginia State Colony for the Feebleminded and Epileptics, Lena face impossible choices in hopes of reuniting with her daughter—and protecting the people, and the land, she has grown to love.