Sophia Rose Reviews - Hijinks, Hitchhikers and Mayhem by Gail Koger

 

Today on the blog Sophia Rose reviews the latest novel by Gail Koger, Hijinks, Hitchhikers and Mayhem.
Enjoy!

Hijinks, Hitchhikers and Mayhem by Gail Koger

#15.6 Coletti Warlords

Sci-Fi Romance

Publisher:  Gail Koger

Published:  8.27.24

Pages:  129

Rating: 4 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  author

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

GoodReads Synopsis:

After a yearlong separation from her soul mate, all Casey wanted was to have hot, mind-blowing sex with Hothar. That little fantasy went up in smoke when she’s stuck babysitting Aphrodite, a cowardly witch, who is the galaxy’s only hope of survival. To add to the fun, Casey has picked up an invisible hitchhiker who she named Hitch. Is he friend or foe?

Can a kickass psychic, an invisible hitchhiker, a deadly warlord and a cowardly witch stop the brain-eating aliens from destroying the galaxy? Only time will tell.


Author’s Note: This book was originally published in Pets in Space #8. It has been retitled, revised, and expanded.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

A psychic human doing her part to save the galaxy has been impatiently waiting for the day she can reunite with the alien who captured her heart while they were both too young.  Working against those who would slaughter half the galaxy to rule all, they are finally getting their chance to be together working as partners.  However, the chance comes with an annoying ditzy witch who faints at the whiff of trouble.  The title of this one is certainly apt and I had a good time adventuring about the galaxy with Casey, her hitchhiker, a smoldering Coletti warlord, and a troublesome witch.

 

Hijinks, Hitchhikers, and Mayhem is part of the Coletti Warlords series and must be read following Hothar’s Folly and the novellas between so the situation and the surrounding cast of characters make sense.  Also, to remind about the author’s note in the blurb, this was original published in Pets in Space 8 as the shortened version, Cosmic Capers.

 

Casey has the psychic ability to telepath with other psychics and distinguish truth from lie including intentions so she’s a great asset in the war to protect earth and the free peoples of the galaxy.  Her family have always done their duty in the military and law enforcement so she’s been brought up to be a tough fighter in her own right.  Hothar might be one of the arrogant and fierce Coletti alpha males, but he has great respect for Casey’s ability as a worthy partner and I enjoyed seeing this in action.

 

Now, the hilarious inclusion to the story is the narcissistic witch, Aphrodite, who lands all of them in the soup ten times out of ten.  She has the ability to produce magic fire to kill off the mad scientist’s almost indestructible experiments that are sicced on people, but has no desire to help save lives or put herself in danger- she wants to be a dancer, thank you very much.  Usually, the alien pets are the scene stealers in this series, but not this time.  Casey had a run for her money with this mayhem creator.

 

I always fly through these books and end up impatiently waiting for the next release in this stellar and sexy sci-fi romantic comedy series.  Recommend for the light and humorous sci-fi romance lovers out there.

 

 

Author Bio:

I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher for thirty-one years and to keep insanity at bay, I took up writing. Not to worry. The insanity isn’t catching – much. Other than the addiction to chocolate and the twitch in my left eye, I’m good. I’ve had my weird but true stories published in newspapers and magazines.

Website:  http://www.gailkoger.com/home.html

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose

 

Review: The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz

I love JAK so I'm so happy to be featuring The Night Island, #2 in her Lost Night Files series that I actually read a while back.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 978-0593639856
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date:
Length: 320pp
Source: Publisher for Review

Buy It: Amazon/B&N/IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

The disappearance of a mysterious informant leads two people desperate for answers to an island of deadly deception in this new novel in the Lost Night Files trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz.

Talia March, Pallas Llewellyn, and Amelia Rivers, bonded by a night none of them can remember, are dedicated to uncovering the mystery of what really happened to them months ago—an experience that amplified innate psychic abilities in each of them. The women suspect they were test subjects years earlier, and that there are more people like them—all they have to do is find the list of others who took that same test. When Talia follows up on a lead from Phoebe, a fan of the trio’s podcast, she discovers that the informant has vanished.

Talia isn’t the only one looking for Phoebe, however. Luke Rand, a hunted and haunted man who is chasing the same list that Talia is after, also shows up at the meeting place. It’s clear he has his own agenda, and they are instantly suspicious of each other. But when a killer begins to stalk them, they realize they have to join forces to find Phoebe and the list.

The rocky investigation leads Talia and Luke to a rustic, remote retreat on Night Island in the Pacific Northwest, where the Unplugged Experience promises to rejuvenate guests. Upon their arrival, Talia and Luke discover they are quite literally cut off from the outside world when none of their high-tech devices work on the island. It soon becomes clear that Phoebe is not the first person to disappear into the strange gardens that surround the Unplugged Experience retreat. And then the first mysterious death occurs. . . .

Sophia Rose Reviews: A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan

 

Today Sophia Rose takes us to Door County Wisconsin where a mythical creature may or may not be real in this first installment of a brand new mystery series.
Enjoy!

A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan

#1 Monster Hunter Mystery

Cozy Mystery

Publisher:  Berkley

Published:  9.13.22

Pages: 304

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: ebook

Source: purchased

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Blurb:

A Wisconsin bookstore owner and cryptozoologist is asked to investigate a series of deaths that just might be proof of a fabled lake monster in this first installment of a new mystery series by USA Today bestselling author Annelise Ryan.

Morgan Carter, owner of the Odds and Ends bookstore in Door County, Wisconsin, has a hobby. When she’s not tending the store, she’s hunting cryptids—creatures whose existence is rumored, but never proven to be real. It’s a hobby that cost her parents their lives, but one she’ll never give up on.

So when a number of bodies turn up on the shores of Lake Michigan with injuries that look like bites from a giant unknown animal, police chief Jon Flanders turns to Morgan for help. A skeptic at heart, Morgan can’t turn down the opportunity to find proof of an entity whose existence she can’t definitively rule out. She and her beloved rescue dog, Newt, journey to the Death's Door strait to hunt for a homicidal monster in the lake—but if they’re not careful, they just might be its next victims.

 

#GIVEAWAY Showcase Lethal Standoff by DiAnn Mills a Partner in Crime virtual tour

 

Today it's my pleasure to be back in the game by featuring a Showcase for DiAnn Mills, Lethal Standoff and once again hosting for my all time favorite blog tours, Partners in Crime.
Enjoy and don't forget to enter the #Giveaway at the end.

LETHAL STANDOFF

by DiAnn Mills

September 2-27, 2024 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

Justice can be elusive.
Family secrets can be deadly.

The stakes are high, and the clock is ticking in a volatile criminal case filled with unanswered questions. And Carrington Reed is running short on time to piece together clues that will solve the puzzle.

Hostage negotiator Carrington Reed is called to the scene when reports come in that fifteen hostages are being held by the Kendrix brothers in an abandoned house in south Texas. When she arrives on site, Carrington quickly learns that the brothers are armed and refuse to release their victims, a group of undocumented immigrants, until the local police identify their father’s murderer.

Working closely with Levi Ehrlich, a handsome investigative reporter who has covered some of Carrington’s negotiations in the past, she finds herself being undeniably drawn to him. Carrington digs deeper into the death of the Kendrixes’ father and begins to notice that some details surrounding his death aren’t adding up.

As Carrington investigates the brothers’ claims and tries to piece together their motive for taking innocent people captive, it soon becomes clear that they are trying to hide something and that revenge for their father’s death may not be what they’re really bargaining for after all. To protect the hostages and ensure the brothers don’t carry out the rest of their sinister plot, Carrington must get to the bottom of one family’s secret and the truth they’re trying so hard to hide before time runs out.

Award winning author DiAnn Mills delivers pulse-pounding romantic suspense about secrets, betrayal, and finding a path to forgiveness.

Sophia Rose Reviews Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews

 

Welcome to the blog for Sophia Rose's review of one of her favorite authors, Ilona Andrews, Sanctuary.
Enjoy!

Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews

#1 Roman Chronicles

Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Self Published

Published: 7.30.24

Pages: 152

Rating: 4 stars

Format: ebook

Source:  Purchased

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

It’s not easy serving the Chernobog, the God of Destruction, Darkness and Death…especially during the holidays; and especially when you’re out of eggnog and one of your pesky, freeloading mythic creatures has eaten your last cookie.

Roman would like nothing more than to be left alone, but when a wounded boy stumbles into his yard and begs for sanctuary, Roman takes him in. Now elite mercenaries are camped out on his property, combat mages are dousing the house with fire, and strange priests are unleashing arcane magic. They thought Roman was easy pickings, just a hermit in the woods, but they chose the wrong dark priest to annoy. For while Roman might be patient, he is the Black Volhv, filled with the love of his terrible god. For his adversaries, it's a fight to the death, but for him, it's just another day in the neighborhood.

Review - Taking the Long Way Home by Christine Rimmer

Today on the blog I'm reviewing Taking The Long Way Home by one of my favorite Harlequin Special Edition authors, Christine Rimmer.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 9781335594587

Publisher: Harlequin Special Edition

Release Date: 3-26-2024

Bravo Family Ties #23

Length: 268pp

Source: Author for Review

Buy It: Publisher/Amazon

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

He’s determined to crack the hard shell around her heart. She’s just as determined to enforce it. And a pregnancy challenges both! Anything can happen in the latest from New York Times bestselling author Christine Rimmer!

Could one night with the rancher

Lead to a lifetime of love?

Piper Wallace’s unexpected one-night fling with the sexy, much-younger rancher Jason Bravo is unforgettable—and not just because of their mind-blowing chemistry! The widowed librarian is now pregnant with his child. Jason agrees to keep the relationship between himself and the woman he's secretly loved for years as strictly a co-parenting one. Still, when Piper locates her biological father through an online DNA site and plans a road trip to meet him, Jason insists on tagging along. Their connection burns hotter than ever. But can he convince Piper that unlike the unreliable men in her past, he’s playing for keeps?

From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.

Sophia Rose Reviews Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs

I'm so happy to be back to blogging and it's special that my first feature is by my blogging partner Sophia Rose who is sharing her thoughts on Patricia Briggs, Winter Lost #14 in her Mercy Thompson Urban Fantasy series.

Enjoy!!

Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs

#14 Mercy Thompson

Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Ace

Published: 6.18.24

Pages:  416

Rating: 5

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: Goodreads

GoodReads Synopsis:

Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must stop a disaster of world-shattering proportions in this exhilarating entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

In the supernatural realms, there are creatures who belong to winter. I am not one of them. But like the coyote I can become at will, I am adaptable.

My name is Mercy Thompson Hauptman, and my mate, Adam, is the werewolf who leads the Columbia Basin Pack, the pack charged with keeping the people who live and work in the Tri-Cities of Washington State safe. It’s a hard job, and it doesn’t leave much room for side quests. Which is why when I needed to travel to Montana to help my brother, I intended to go by myself.

But I’m not alone anymore.

Together, Adam and I find ourselves trapped with strangers in a lodge in the heart of the wilderness, in the teeth of a storm of legendary power, only to discover my brother’s issues are a tiny part of a problem much bigger than we could have imagined. Arcane and ancient magics are at work that could, unless we are very careful, bring about the end of the world. . . .

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

Gate crashing a holiday wedding in the wilds of Montana during a magic-induced snow storm created by Norse god, Mercy and Adam must once again save the world.  Patricia Briggs has once again and without surprise produced a rip-roaring Mercy Thompson adventure that makes one regret there is only one first-time read experience.

 

Winter Lost is the fourteenth installment of an amazing urban fantasy series that is a must-read in order.

 

Winter Lost is told predominantly from Mercy’s perspective, but happily has expanded on previous book’s style in that Adam gets a large chunk of the telling along with other familiar and brand new characters narrating.  This gives a chance for a story that has past parts and multiple story threads with very little happening off page to the great reader fan’s satisfaction.

 

There is no mystery why I suggest this book be read in order.  Part of the plot and character development is directly linked to the books that came before it.  Mercy is suffering greatly after the Soultaker adventure and the vampire Lord of Night, Bonarata looms lethally over Mercy and then there is Jessie’s side plot of something interesting with Tad and the other big side plot of how the Columbia Basin Pack, top heavy with Alphas, has to work out the dynamics of working together to do the job of providing a supernatural haven in the Tri-Cities.

 

But, the new and exciting is Gary Laughing Dog, Mercy’s half-brother, landing on her door step needing her help and a fascinating new winter adventure with a dip into the realm of Fae meets Norse mythology.  Mercy and Adam are up against the clock to find a magical artifact and the one who stole it before something worse than a Montana snow storm on steroids and monsters attacking out of the snow happens.

 

Again, I planned to take my time and savor Winter Lost, but the story is just too compelling and drove me to keep reading rapidly and lost to the world of real life around me.  Fans will be deeply satisfied and to those who look at a series in double digits and hesitate? Worth it!

 

 

Author Bio:

Patricia Briggs steadfastly refuses to write a biography. She considers them narcissistic, and besides, she’d rather write something interesting! But. . .that is what a husband and trusty assistant are for (and if she doesn’t like it, she can’t complain!)

Patricia is the #1 New York Times best selling author of the Mercy Thompson series and has written twenty four novels to date; she is currently writing novel number twenty five. She has short stories in several anthologies, as well as a series of comic books and graphic novels based on her Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series. Patty began her career writing traditional high fantasy novels in 1993, and shifted gears in 2006 to write urban fantasy. Moon Called was the first of her signature series about Mercy; the non-stop adventure left readers wanting more and word of this exciting new urban fantasy series about a shape-shifting mechanic spread quickly. The series has continued to grow in popularity with the release of each book. Patty also writes the Alpha and Omega series, which are set in the same world as the Mercy Thompson novels; what began as a novella expanded into a full new series, all of which debuted on the NY Times bestsellers list as well.

Patty was born in Butte, Montana, back in 1965. If you’re good at math, you’ll have deduced that she’s currently twenty-nine. In fact, she’s been twenty-nine for a while and has no intention of getting any older. Fiction authors don’t obey the laws of space and time, they invent them. Don’t argue, or she’ll make up a dragon right behind you . . .

Patricia was born book-privileged. Her mother was a school librarian, and she shared a room with an older sister who loved to read. Long after they had been put to bed, her sister would use the small night light to read Patty stories; her early favorites were fairy tales. Knights and castles, fair maidens, and monsters of every ilk became their nighttime companions.

Soon, Patty learned to read, and whole worlds were hers to explore. She rode on the Black Stallion, and flew the skies of Pern on a dragon. Sometime during that period she stumbled onto a treasure trove. Her older sister had begun collecting comic books; pristine originals were place in cellophane sleeves and organized in cardboard boxes. When her sister was away, they were removed by grubby fingers smeared with peanut butter and jelly for a clandestine read, returning with a faint smudges and wrinkled pages from reading under the covers. To this day, her sister periodically calls Patty and tells her how much more her original copies of the X-Men would have been worth if left pristine in their sleeves. The number keeps going up.

Patty is a prevarication professional. She lies for a living, telling whoppers and fibs so outrageous that people pay her to fib some more. Her only concession to honesty is that she tells people she’s lying to them, which is what separates a fiction author from a politician. She loves to play with her imaginary friends, and meeting with readers who know her imaginary friends is a treat. Her biggest complaint with writing is that she has far more ideas for stories than time to write them.

Patty and her family reside in Eastern Washington near Tri-Cities, home of Mercy Thompson; yes, it's a real place! When not working on the next book, she can be found playing truant out in her horse pastures, playing with the newest babies.

Website:  https://www.patriciabriggs.com/

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose