Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Sophia Rose Reviews: Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs

 

Today on the blog Sophia Rose Reviews: Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs
Enjoy!





Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs, narrated by Holter Graham

#5 Alpha and Omega

Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Penguin Audio

Published:  3.6.18

Time:  9 hours 47 minutes

Rating: 5 stars

Format: audio

Source: borrowed

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads


 

GoodReads Synopsis:

In her bestselling Alpha and Omega series, Patricia Briggs "spins tales of werewolves, coyote shifters, and magic and, my, does she do it well" (USATODAY.com). Now mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham face a threat like no other--one that lurks too close to home...

They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok's pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.

With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf--but can't stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills--his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker--to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn...

Monday, March 31, 2025

Sohia Rose Reviews: Dragons at Land's End by Maria Grace

Today on the blog Sophia Rose Reviews: Dragons at Land's End by Maria Grace
Enjoy!

 



Dragons at Land’s End by Maria Grace

#14 Jane Austen’s Dragons

Gaslamp Fantasy

Publisher:  White Soup Press

Published:  6.14.24

Pages:  284

Rating: 5 stars

Format: ebook

Source: purchased

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 



GoodReads Synopsis:

The Blue Order and the Pendragon Accords kept England safe from the threat of dragon war since the days of Uther Pendragon and Dewi.

Until now.

Bad enough to face a dragon war, but to be the only man able to change its course? Frederick Wentworth faces the unthinkable.

Not what he signed on for when he accepted his title as baronet.

Sir Walter Elliot's arrival brings a different sort of war to Lyme when he demands his daughter Anne Wentworth resolve his latest crisis. But Anne and dragon Kellynch have far more serious matters to attend to as they discover yet another, unexpected battleground developing in the impending conflict.

Dragons behaving badly hardly describes the atrocities Anne discovers. Can Anne, Wentworth and Kellynch and their dragon Friends navigate a way through uncharted waters to avert a war that could devastate the entire kingdom?

A fresh new gas lamp fantasy adventure in the engrossingly intricate world of Jane Austen’s Dragons. Anne McCaffrey meets Jane Austen, a perfect mix for dragon lovers and regency-era fans alike.

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Sophia Rose Reviews: Out of Obscurity by Jann Rowland

  

Today on the blog Sophia Rose Reviews: Out of Obscurity by Jann Rowland
Enjoy!

 

 

Out of Obscurity by Jann Rowland, narrated by Harry Frost

Historical Romance

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Published: 1.38.25

Time:  18 hours 25 minutes

Speed: 1

Rating: 3.5 stars

Narrator Rating: 5 stars

Format: audio

Source: Tantor Audio

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads 

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

At a dinner party in London during the season, Fitzwilliam Darcy meets an enchanting young woman. Though he recognizes her beauty and poise, he is struck by a sense of familiarity and realizes she is someone connected to him.

What follows is a whirlwind of events in which the woman's lineage is discovered and her true identity is established. Darcy quickly realizes she is a woman estimable in her own right, and he finds himself besotted.

But amid the miraculous events of a lost soul returning home, dark forces conspire against the young woman, for her loss was not an accident. And so it is that a man is moved to action by a boon long denied, determined to avoid being cheated by Miss Elizabeth Bennet again.

Monday, March 24, 2025

Sophia Rose Reviews: Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

 


Today on the Blog Sophia Rose reviews, Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews
Enjoy!





Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews, narrated by Renee Raudman

#2 Edge

Paranormal Romance

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Published:  9.28.10

Time:  15 hours 32 minutes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: audio

Source: Library Borrow

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either. Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn't turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off-the-books job in the Broken just to survive.

Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power). But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them - or they'll devour the Edge and everyone in it.

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Sophia Rose Reviews: Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn

 


Today Sophia Rose reviews Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn
Enjoy!




Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn

#2 Killers of a Certain Age


Thriller


Publisher:  Berkley


Published: 3.4.25


Pages:  359


Rating: 4 stars


Format: eARC


Source:  NetGalley


Sellers: Amazon


ADD TO: GoodReads



GoodReads Synopsis:

“Much like fine wine, battle-hardened assassins grow better with age.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

Four women assassins, senior in status—and in age—sharpen their knives for another bloody good adventure in this riotous follow-up to the New York Times bestselling sensation Killers of a Certain Age.


After more than a year of laying low, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie are called back into action. They have enjoyed their time off, but the lack of excitement is starting to a professional killer can only take so many watercolor classes and yoga sessions without itching to strangle someone...literally. When they receive a summons from the head of the elite assassin organization known as the Museum, they are ready tackle the greatest challenge of their careers.

Someone on the inside has compiled a list of important kills committed by Museum agents, connected to a single, shadowy figure, an Eastern European gangster with an iron fist, some serious criminal ambition, and a tendency to kill first and ask questions later. This new nemesis is murdering agents who got in the way of their power hungry plans and the aging quartet of killers is next.

Together the foursome embark on a wild ride across the globe on the double mission of rooting out the Museum’s mole and hunting down the gangster who seems to know their next move before they make it. Their enemy is unlike any they’ve faced before, and it will take all their killer experience to get out of this mission alive.

Monday, March 10, 2025

Sophia Rose Reviews: Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan

 

Today on the blog Sophia Rose reviews - Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan



Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan

#3 Monster Hunter Mystery

Cozy Mystery

Publisher:  Berkley

Published:  1.28.25

Pages:  320

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon


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GoodReads Blurb:

When a local fisherman is mauled to death, it seems like the only possible cause is a mythical creature in the latest puzzling entry in this USA Today bestselling series.

An ice fisherman is savagely mauled to death in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and an eyewitness claims the man was attacked by a hodag. There's just one problem with it's well known that the creature is not real and was created by a local hoaxer. So how could an imaginary creature be chomping on local sportsmen? 

The suggestion that a hodag killed someone isn’t well received by the townsfolk because of its beloved ties to the town and the money it generates from tourist dollars. Due to this, people begin to suspect the witness is the real killer, especially when it’s discovered he has a tangled past with the victim. 

The witness to the attack happens to be the nephew of Morgan Carter’s bookstore employee, Rita Bosworth, who convinces the professional cryptozoologist to travel to Wisconsin to prove that a hodag not only exists but killed the victim. 

Clues may be hard to come by, but one thing's for something killed that man, and that something now has its eyes focused on Morgan.

Friday, March 7, 2025

Sophia Rose Reviews: Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs, narrated by Holter Graham

 







Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs, narrated by Holter Graham

#4 Alpha and Omega

Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Brilliance Audio

Published:  3.3.15

Time:  11 hours 25 minutes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: audio

Source: purchased

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads





GoodReads Synopsis:
Praised as "the perfect blend of action, romance, suspense and paranormal" (Rex Robot Reviews), the Alpha and Omega novels transport listeners into the realm of the werewolf, where Charles Cornick and Anna Latham embody opposite sides of the shifter personality. Now a pleasure trip drops the couple into the middle of some bad supernatural business....
For once, mated werewolves Charles and Anna are not traveling because of Charles' role as his father's enforcer. This time their trip to Arizona is purely personal, as Charles plans to buy Anna a horse for her birthday. Or at least it starts out that way....
Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous Fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The Fae's cold war with humanity is about to heat up - and Charles and Anna are in the cross fire.
©2015 Hurog, Inc. (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.


Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Sophia Rose Reviews: Secrets of the Dragon Archives by Maria Grace

 


Today Sophia Rose Reviews




Secrets of the Dragon Archives by Maria Grace

#13 Jane Austen’s Dragons

Gaslamp Fantasy

Publisher:  White Soup Press

Published:  2.14.2024

Pages: 217

Rating: 4 stars

Format: ebook

Source: purchased

Sellers:  Amazon


ADD TO: GoodReads:  











GoodReads Synopsis:

Elizabeth was not running away from danger like prey when she left Pemberley for London, no matter what the Council dragons might be saying behind her back.No, protecting Little Anne and the baby she carried was the right, sensible and courageous thing to do. It was what any maternal dragon would do. And what place could be safer than Blue Order offices in London?

But where dragons were involved, safe was a relative term.

With threats to the Blue Order on every side, everyone is stepping lightly around the Council dragons. After all, with a huge, unpredictable sea drake off the coast, an ineffective dragon king, and an heir who is even worse, who can blame them for being crankier than usual?

Why, then, do they keep haranguing Elizabeth about the Historian’s assistant drake who has been digging up the Archives under the Order offices? Why is the Council so desperate to know what the Historian has found? What could awkward, annoying little Bede have found to warrant the Council's to threaten to eat her on sight?

What indeed?

A fresh new gas lamp fantasy adventure in the engrossingly intricate world of Jane Austen’s Dragons. Anne McCaffrey meets Jane Austen, a perfect mix for dragon lovers and regency-era fans alike.

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Sophia Rose reviews: On The Edge by Ilona Andrews

 

Today Sophia Rose reviews On the Edge by Ilona Andrews



On the Edge by Ilona Andrews, narrated by Renee Raudman

#1 Edge

Paranormal Romance

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Published:  1.7.10

Time:  12 hours 8 minutes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: audio

Source: bought

Sellers:  Amazon


Add To GoodReads

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either. Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn't turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off-the-books job in the Broken just to survive.

Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power). But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them - or they'll devour the Edge and everyone in it.

Monday, February 17, 2025

Candle and Crow by Kevin Hearne, narrated by Luke Daniels

 

Today Sophia Rose shares her thoughts on Kevin Hearne's Candle and Crow
Enjoy!


Candle and Crow by Kevin Hearne, narrated by Luke Daniels

#3 Ink and Sigil

Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Random House Audio

Published: 10.1.24

Time:  11 hours 4 minutes

Rating: 4 stars

Narration Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: Audio

Source:  Penguin Random House Audio

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Blurb:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles comes the final book in the Ink & Sigil series, as an ink-slinging wizard pursues the answer to a very personal mystery: Who cast a pair of curses on his head?

Al MacBharrais has a most unusual job: He’s a practitioner of ink-and-sigil magic, tasked with keeping order among the gods and monsters that dwell hidden in the human world. But there’s one supernatural mystery he’s never been able to solve: Years ago, someone cast twin curses on him that killed off his apprentices and drove away loved ones who heard him speak, leaving him bereft and isolated.

But he’s not quite alone: As Al works to solve this mystery, his friends draw him into their own eccentric dramas. Buck Foi the hobgoblin has been pondering his own legacy—and has a plan for a daring shenanigan that will make him the most celebrated hobgoblin of all. Nadia, goth queen and battle seer, is creating her own cult around a god who loves whisky and cheese.

And the Morrigan, a former Irish death goddess, has decided she wants not only to live as an ordinary woman but also to face the most perilous challenge of the mortal world: online dating.

Meanwhile, Al crosses paths with old friends and new—including some beloved Druids and their very good dogs—in his globe-trotting quest to solve the mystery of his curses. But he’s pulled in so many different directions by his colleagues, a suspicious detective, and the whims of destructive gods that Al begins to wonder: Will he ever find time to write his own happy ending?

Friday, February 14, 2025

Sophia Rose Reviews: Her Cupid Cowboy by Sasha Summer

 

Today on the blog Sophia Rose has a review perfect for Valentine's Day, Her Cupid Cowboy by Sasha Summers
Enjoy!


Her Cowboy Cupid by Sasha Summers

#5 The Cowboys of Garrison, TX

Contemporary Romance

Publisher:  Harlequin Heartwarming

Published:  1.21.25

Pages: 256

Rating: 3.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

More than friends?

Maybe by Valentine's Day!

Shy Kitty Crawley never got over her crush on former bronc champ Tyson Ellis. She’s always been his pal and “my buddy’s shy little sis” and that’s just dandy. Mostly. But now that Tyson’s temporarily the guardian of two little girls—and in way over his cowboy hat—they’re finding more ways to bond. Suddenly Kitty’s cowboy crush is in danger of growing into something else. And with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, there’s no escaping Cupid…or the bronc rider she’s falling for.

A Cowboys of Garrison, Texas Story


Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Sophia Rose Reviews: The Servant's Tale by Margaret Frazer

 


Today on the blog Sophia Rose Reviews The Servant's Tale by Margaret Frazer
Enjoy!



The Servant’s Tale by Margaret Frazer, narrated by Susan Duerden

#2 Dame Frevisse Mystery

Historical Mystery

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Published:  2.28.20

Time:  8 hours 7 minutes

Speed: 1.25x

Rating: 5 stars

Format: audio

Source:  Borrowed

Sellers:  Amazon


ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Blurb:

Sister Frevisse is sinfully good at discerning the mysteries of the soul--and solving the crimes of the human heart in this charming series.

It's Christmastime, and the sisters of St. Frideswide cannot turn away travellers, even the players knocking at the nunnery door. But along with the motley troupe comes the grievously wounded husband of the cloister's scullery maid, Meg. They swear they found the drunken wastrel in a ditch, but the tale sounds like another song and dance. Especially when two dead bodies are waiting in the wings....

Now Sister Frevisse must find out if one of the actors is a murderer in masquerade--or face a very unmerry Yuletide season.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

The fifteenth century comes alive for a Dame Frevisse historical mystery set at Christmas time in the St. Frideswide’s Priory and local village.  Years ago, I read the series and now I’m glad to return to Margaret Frazer’s talented work to get it on audio narrated by the estimable Susan Duerden a familiar favorite narrator.

 

The Servant’s Tale is the second standalone of the Dame Frevisse series.  Though, it reads/listens fine out of order, I will say that there is a flow to the books, characters and relationships and an assumption of how the worldbuilding is laid out that the books are read in order.  For those who like to note details, this is the first book where Joliffe the Player and his fellow thespians are introduced and will later go on to have a spinoff series.

 

The Servant’s Tale opens with a poor villager woman servant’s point of view worrying about how to keep things together with a drunken, lousy husband overdue from his last chance work given by their lord’s steward, her sons running about and leaving their meager animals and hovel home untended while she is working herself to the bone up at the priory earning enough to buy her youngest son’s freedom for the priesthood (which he doesn’t want) and hopefully hold their pittance of land for her oldest son (who’s shaping up to be a drunken brawler like his dad) to farm in his turn. 

Her woes increase when her husband is found injured by a troupe of players on the road and the killings start. 

Most of the village and priory think the traveling players are the most likely culprits, but Dame Frevisse who shares the narration is convinced that they must look deeper because the deceased were not without local enemies and motives.  Although, she admits to herself that she may be biased because her own former life as a traveler has her feeling kinship to the players.

Christmas time at the priory and a series of murders to solve made for an engaging story.  I loved the way Susan Duerden captures the tone of the story and voices all the characters, but particularly her Dame Frevisse voice.

 

All in all, it was a solid story with well written and obviously researched medieval and religious period background, character and plot development and an overall story from two different class point of views.  Definitely a recommend to other historical cozy mystery fans.

 


Author Bio:

To begin with, ‘Margaret Frazer’ was two people, both interested in writing and in medieval England, one of them with modern murder mysteries already published, the other with file drawers, shelves, and notebooks full of research on England in the 1400s. They met in a historical recreationist group called the Society for Creative Anachronism and joined forces to write The Novice's Tale, the first in a history mystery series centered on a Benedictine nun, Dame Frevisse, of a small priory in Oxfordshire. Both character and setting were chosen for the challenge they presented – a cloistered nun in a rural nunnery: how does one go about being involved in murders in that situation? -- and the chance to explore medieval life from a different perspective.

The collaboration worked well through six books and two award nominations – an Edgar for The Servant's Tale and a Minnesota Book Award for The Bishop's Tale – before the ‘Margaret’ half grew tired of the series and amicably returned to the 20th century, leaving the ‘Frazer’ half to continue the series, with an Edgar nomination for The Prioress' Tale.

I write stories set in medieval England because I greatly enjoy looking at the world from other perspectives than the 20th century. My brief college career was as an archaeology major with writing intended as a hobby, but with one thing and another, my interest came down to medieval England with writing as my primary activity, only rivaled by my love of research. But why medieval England, especially for someone who grew up without any interest in knights in shining armor and ladies fair? That’s a tangled tale but the final steps were seeing a production of Shakespeare’s Richard II and soon thereafter reading Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time. The complexities of honor and duty and betrayal, mixed with a curiosity as to how the high tragedies of the 1400s came about intrigued me and to understand more I needed to understand how people then saw their world and why they saw it that way. That set me into learning about medieval English politics, religion, philosophy, sociology, economics -- all the multi-layered elements that go into making the lives of people in any time period. I wanted to know the landscape of the time not only outwardly – by way of many trips around Britain – but inwardly – how the world looked and felt to the people who lived then, rather than how it looks to us now. And when the chance came to write a mystery series set in medieval England, I wanted to do it from as far inside medieval perceptions as possible, to look at medieval England more from their point of view than from ours, because the pleasure of going thoroughly into otherwhen as well as otherwhere -- the chance to move right away from the familiar into a whole other way of seeing and behaving -- has always been one of my own great pleasures in reading. As a writer I deeply want to give that same pleasure to others.

So – in everyday life, I’m Gail Frazer, living in the countryside north of Elk River, Minnesota, with four cats and not enough bookshelves. Over the years I’ve had a rag-tag of various jobs, including librarian, secretary, reseacher for a television station, gift shop manager, and assistant matron at an English girls’ school. Married once upon a time but not anymore, I have two well-grown sons who become uneasy if I read books about poisons at the supper table and refuse to turn their backs on me when I say I want to try something I might use in a story. I write more days than not, and when once I moaned that "I have to get a life," my loving family informed me, "You have one. It’s in the 1400s." That seems to sum up things rather nicely.

Website:  https://www.margaretfrazer.com/index.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