Sophia Rose Reviews This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

 

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

#1 Maggie the Undying

Fantasy

Publisher:  Ace

Published:  3.31.26

Pages: 480

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

A page-turning, unforgettable fantasy set in a city peopled with ruffians, spies, malcontents and murderers. Experience out-of-this world adventure and dangerous politics as Maggie tries to survive waking up in her favourite fictional world.

A heart-pounding epic from No. 1 New York Times bestselling author duo Ilona Andrews.

When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren. It’s a city she knows intimately from the pages of a famously unfinished dark fantasy series – one she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading, while waiting years for the final novel.

Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic and mayhem? Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the plot, the setting and the characters’ ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she’s coming to love – a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to return home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes – and attentions – of duelling princes, dukes and villains. This all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the ending she’s seen on the a cataclysmic war.

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is the beginning of the most epic adventure yet from genre powerhouse writing duo Ilona Andrews. For fans of Samantha Shannon, Sarah J. Maas, Danielle L. Jensen and isekai portal fantasy.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews A Fair Judge by Christina Dudley

 

A Fair Judge by Christina Dudley

#6.5 Hapgoods of Bramleigh

Historical Romance

Publisher:  Christina Dudley

Published:  1.1.22

Pages:  n/a

Rating: 4 stars

Format: ebook

Source:  Free with author’s newsletter sign-up

Sellers:  n/a

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GoodReads Synopsis:

To all who know him, Mr. Norman DeWitt is famous for his few words. But the events of an afternoon at the Blagdon Hill fair force him into action and speech, with telling consequences to his heart.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews Dishonorable Gentlemen by Summer Hanford

 

Dishonorable Gentlemen by Summer Hanford

#1 The Bennet Gang

Narrated by Carol Beth Anderson and Benjamin Fife

Historical Romance

Publisher:  Summer Hanford

Published:  10.21.2025

Time:  11 hours 34 minutes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: Audio

Source:  Benjamin Fife, narrator

Sellers:  Amazon

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Goodreads Synopsis:

VOLUME ONE of The Bennet Gang Dishonorable Gentlemen

Elizabeth Bennet isn't made to stand idly by and watch people suffer. Especially not when the Bennet sisters' stepfather, a one-time British spy, has trained her, Jane, and Mary so well. But when Netherfield Park is let and the new residents move in, the lighthearted game of reimagined Robin Hood she and her sisters have been playing could turn deadly, both for the neighborhood’s newest gentlemen and for Elizabeth's heart.

Fitzwilliam Darcy has no desire to remain in a region where he was held up at gunpoint within moments of arrival, until he spies a mysterious, alluring figure he can't purge from his thoughts. Should he remain in Hertfordshire and pursue the mysterious woman he sighted in the mist, or depart before he is too deeply entangled in an increasingly dangerous web of deadly duels, secrets, and unwed misses?

Dishonorable Gentlemen, Volume One of The Bennet Gang Duology, is a medium angst, Regency Era, love-at-first-sight (at least on one side!) Pride and Prejudice Variation. If you enjoy Summer Hanford's light-hearted, fanciful tales, give this adventure-filled, sweet romance a read.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews Hellbound Guilds and Other Misdirections by Annette Marie and Rob Jacobsen

 

Hellbound Guilds and Other Misdirections by Annette Marie and Rob Jacobsen

#2 Guild Codex: Warped

Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Self-Published

Published:  6.4.21

Pages:  348

Rating: 4 stars

Format: ebook

Source:  KU borrow

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

Agent Kit Morris. Has a nice ring, doesn't it?

It's a big step up from "wanted criminal" or "that weird con-artist guy with weirder psychic powers"—both of which recently applied to me. But my promotion to MagiPol agent comes with a few drawbacks.

First, supremely talented and effortlessly gorgeous Agent Lienna Shen won't agree to a dinner date with me. Second, my new assignment has pitted me against a guild with very bad taste in pets. Third, those pets are demons, and those demons want to kill me.

My psychic magic is great for conning people. It doesn't do jack shit against hellish orcs. If I screw this up, my dinner date will be with a demon—and I'll be the dinner. Even better, I kind of suspect this supposedly straightforward assignment is actually the tip of an unholy iceberg of power-hungry malefactors bent on destroying all law and order in the city.

I should probably mention that last part to my boss.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews No One Knew by Kendra Elliot

No One Knew by Kendra Elliot

#2 Noelle Marshall

Romantic Suspense

Publisher:  Montlake

Published:  1.6.26

Pages:  314

Rating: 5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

For a detective and an FBI agent, two seemingly disparate murder investigations collide with a twist in an explosive novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

In the crisp mountain air of central Oregon, a teenage girl’s search for discarded cans leads to a horrifying a body, brutally murdered and abandoned in the woods. The case falls to Deschutes County Detective Noelle Marshall, who finds herself navigating a community steeped in secrets, suspicion, and distrust of outsiders—especially law enforcement.

Miles away, FBI Special Agent Max Rhodes investigates a different kind of darkness—chatter about a violent uprising from a shadowy militia group preparing for war. The two cases seem worlds apart. But as Noelle digs into the murdered man’s past and Max closes in on the source of the terror plot, their paths begin to converge in a terrifying way. This was no random killing. It was a message. A merciless killer and a hidden army are operating in the same shadows, and finding the link between them is the only thing standing between a single murder and a full-blown massacre.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews Taming Lady Temperance by Karen Witemeyer

 

Taming Lady Temperance by Karen Witemeyer

#1 The Secret Society of Spinsters

Inspirational Fiction, Historical Romance

Publisher:  Bethany House

Published:  2.17.26

Pages: 336

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

When passion for justice conflicts with the heart, which will prevail?

Noreen O'Sullivan is an enthusiastic member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and believes herself called to defend the cause of prohibition. When she's invited to join the Secret Society of Spinsters, Noreen jumps at the chance to rally others to her movement and shut down the local saloon for good. However, her passionate campaigning often puts her at odds with the men around her--including the local deputy.

Deputy James Paxton believes in preserving the peace, but Miss O'Sullivan has been disturbing his peace for months. If James wants to be elected sheriff, he can't afford to be seen as her ally. But when Noreen ropes him into helping her plan a temperance march, their growing closeness sparks unexpected feelings. Then tensions escalate at the saloon and accusations fly. James must choose between upholding his badge and protecting the woman who's captured his heart--knowing either choice could cost him everything.

Karen Witemeyer presents a swoony Western romance with a determined heroine, cowboys, prohibition, and the rivals-to-lovers and duty vs. desire tropes. Fans of Mary Connealy and frontier romances set in the Old West will savor this clean, historical read.

Sophia Rose Reviews The Underdog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

 

The Underdog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

Narrated by David Suchet and Hugh Fraser

Historical Mystery

Publisher:  Harper Audio

Published: 8.14.12

Time:  5 hours 54 minutes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: audio

Source:  Bought

Sellers:  Amazon

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GoodReads Synopsis:

A beautiful heiress has been found dead on a train. A playboy has been stabbed through the heart during a costume ball. An elderly woman suspects that she is being slowly poisoned to death. A prince fears for his reputation when his fiancÉe is embroiled in another man's murder. A forgotten recluse makes headlines after he is shot in the head.

Who but Agatha Christie could concoct such canny crimes? Who but Belgian detective Hercule Poirot could possibly solve them? It's a challenge to be met—in a triumph of detection.