The Wide Window A Series of Unfortunate Events #3

The Wide Window:
A Series of Unfortunate Events #3

By: Lemony Snicket

Narrated by: the author

Listening length: 3 hours, 4 minutes 

My review: 4 stars out of  5 

Published September 16, 2004 

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, prompt 10: 3rd book in a series. 

Dear Reader,

If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted; but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all. If you haven't got the stomach for a story that includes a hurricane, a signalling device, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain, and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this book will probably fill you with despair. I will continue to record these tragic tales, for that is what I do. You, however, should decide for yourself whether you can possibly endure this miserable story.

With all due respect,

Lemony Snicket

These books are just a quick fun listen. Not that listening to stories about children being hunted down by a money hungry uncle is fun, but just the way that Snicket writes it is just enjoyable to either read or listen to. One thing I really like about this author is that he explains what some of the bigger words mean. This helps the younger readers to expand their vocabularies. Unfortunate events continue to be a series I love reading, both with and without my kids.

The Rules of Magic

The Rules of Magic 

By Alice Hoffman

Ready by Marin Ireland 

Listening length: 11 hours, 58 minutes

My review 4.5 out of 5 stars 

Release date: October 10, 2017

Find your magic.

For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.

Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people's thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.

From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Yet, the children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the memorable aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy.

Alice Hoffman delivers "fairy-tale promise with real-life struggle" (The New York Times Book Review) in a story how the only remedy for being human is to be true to yourself. Thrilling and exquisite, real and fantastical, The Rules of Magic is "irresistible...the kind of book you race through, then pause at the last forty pages, savoring your final moments with the characters"

As someone who has never read (or seen) Practical magic, I came into this book with a completely fresh mind. I didn't know any of the characters or the premise of this story. I had only read the synopsis on the library website and thought it sounded interesting, so I borrowed it. This story was so much more than I expected. The beauty of Hoffman's writing, you feel what her characters are feeling. The pain of loss, the comfort and joy the siblings are able to find in each other. Even the squabbles that they have are all so very real. I love the touches of magic this book has without being a "magic" book. It feels like something that could actually happen, unlike other books with witches in it. The beauty of this family trying to figure out how to break this generational curse or figure out if that's even possible. It is something, that even if we can't directly relate to, we can understand. We might not all have literal curses, but we all carry around baggage from our families, generations of it. This book shows how we can slowly let it go... I just found that to profoundly beautiful. 

The Day My Brain Exploded A True Story

The Day My Brain Exploded

By Ashok Rajamani

Read by the author

Listening length: 5 hours, 53 minutes

Published: January 9, 2015

My review 4 out of 5 stars

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, bonus prompt number 4: disabled author for National Disabilities Awareness Month. Mr Rajamani is partially blind and suffers from epilepsy as a result of his TBI. 

After a full-throttle brain bleed at the age of 25, Ashok Rajamani, a first-generation Indian American, had to relearn everything: how to eat, how to walk and speak, even things as basic as his sexual orientation. With humor and insight, he describes the events of that day - his brain exploded just before his brother's wedding - as well as the long, difficult recovery period. In the process, he introduces listeners to his family - his principal support group, as well as a constant source of frustration and amazement.

Irreverent, coruscating, angry, at times shocking but always revelatory, his memoir takes the listener into unfamiliar territory, much like the experience Alice had when she fell down the rabbit hole. That he lived to tell the story is miraculous; that he tells it with such aplomb is simply remarkable.

More than a decade later he has finally reestablished a productive artistic life for himself, still dealing with the effects of his injury - life-long half-blindness and epilepsy - but forging ahead as a survivor dedicated to helping others who have suffered a similar catastrophe.

Hearing stories of miraculous survival has always been something that I love hearing. This story is now one I can add to that list. Though a start I wasn't quite expecting, this book had me hooked. The day of his brother's wedding, Rajamani suffers a "full-throttle brain bleed." His story has the perfect mix of medical and personal stories in it. My heart broke while hearing about some of the treatment he suffered while during his initial hospitalization. Then seeing his connections with other TBI sufferers was just remarkable. I loved hearing this book from his voice too, as I listened to the audiobook. It was a quick listen and quite informative. Four stars from me.

Small Game

Small Game

By Blair Braverman
Narrated by Kristen Sieh
Published November 1, 2022
Listening length: 7 hours 5 minutes
My review: 4 out of 5 stars

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, prompt 2: a green book. The color green or the word green. I picked a book that was almost entirely green! 

A gripping debut novel about a survival reality show gone wrong that leaves a group of strangers stranded in the northern wilds

Four strangers and six weeks: This is all that separates Mara from one life-changing payday. She was surprised when reality TV producers came knocking at Primal Instinct—the survival school where she teaches rich clients not to die during a night outdoors—and even more shocked to be cast in their new show, Civilization. Now she just has to live off the land with her fellow survivors for long enough to get the prize money.

Whisked by helicopter to an undisclosed location, Mara meets her teammates: The grizzled outdoorsman. The Eagle Scout. The white-collar professional. And Ashley, the beautiful but inexperienced one who just wants to be famous. Mara’s unusual, rugged childhood has prepared her for the discomforts and hard work ahead. But trusting her fellow survivors? Not part of Mara’s skill set.

When the cast wakes one morning to find something has gone horribly wrong, fear ripples through the group. Are the producers giving them an extra challenge? Or are they wrapped up in something more dangerous? Soon Mara and the others face terrifying decisions as “survival” becomes more than a game.

A provocative exploration of the comforts, rituals, and connections we depend upon, Small Game is a gripping thriller and a poignant story about finding the courage to build a new life from the ground up.

Freaking crazy book. 

This was a new concept for me so it was interesting to listen to. We have all seen the survivor type shows, this is based on that premise, but these contestants somehow get forgotten about or intentionally left behind in this deserted place. Just a crazy story about how these people try to stay alive in the middle of nowhere with no outside help. 

At what point do they go in search of help? How far will they have to go for help? These questions and more were running through my head. It was a quick listen. Only problem I had with it is that you miss the juicy details of the after. What happened to the show people? Why did they get left behind? There are still so many unanswered questions! Still a solid four star read for me =)

Wild: From Lost to Found on The Pacific Crest Trail

Wild: From Lost to Found
on the Pacific Crest Trail

By: Cheryl Strayed
Narrated by Bernadette Dunne
Listening length: 13 hours, 2 minutes
Publicization date: March 20, 2012

My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars    

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, prompt 4: Women's history: about women, by women, for women. This one is about a woman, by a woman and read by another woman. =) 

Wild is a powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an 1100-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe - and built her back up again.

At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State - and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

Strayed faced down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.


I have been putting off reading this book for so long until I finally saw that it was available on audiobook from my library! So, I listened to it. Not sure I would have finished it otherwise. I cannot believe how woefully unprepared she was for this trek. Strayed is beyond lucky that she wasn't badly injured or lost on the trail. I'm glad that she has her amazing story to tell, but I hope that others don't take her story as "advice" and take on their own trek in her style. This kind of journey needs to be taken with preparation. Had she been lost or injured, others would have had to go out and find her and/or rescue her due to her lack of preparation. In my neck of the woods, we hear stories all the time of ill-prepared campers and/or hikers who get lost and/or injured. I feel a preface on the book saying that you should always take precautions before taking such a journey would be prudent. 

Overall, this is an interesting story of her trek. I did enjoy most parts, though it was kind of all over the place with her memories woven within the hike of the trail...

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Remarkably Bright Creatures

By: Shelby Van Pelt

362 pages

Published May 3, 2022 

My review: 5 stars out of 5 stars!

“Remarkably Bright Creatures is a beautiful examination of how loneliness can be transformed, cracked open, with the slightest touch from another living thing.” -- Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

Love, love, love this book. My book-hangover this morning was well worth it. I stayed up hours past my bedtime finishing this amazing story. I also couldn't stop telling people about it, every time I had the chance. The idea of a book with part of the story from the octopus' point of view, just brilliant. Every word added to the tale and I was just living for these characters, wondering how they were going to get together, how their stories would become one tale. Now this book is sitting on my "to buy" list because I am going to want to read this again. When can I have an octopus friend?!

I'm Glad My Mom Died

I'm Glad My Mom Died

by Jeannette McCurdy

Narrated by the author 

Listening length 6 hours, 26 minutes 

Publicizations date August 9, 2022

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.


This book just made me sad. The whole time listening, I could see the abusive relationship Jeanette had with her mother (probably the reason the book is titled "I'm glad my mom died") but it made me miss my mom even more. Not a great time for me to have read this book (over my own mother's birthday, the 9th she is celebrating in Heaven). McCurdy points out that we tend to put mother's on a pedestal and I can see that... I don't want to take mine off of hers! 

I'm glad that McCurdy was able to get the peace she needed with the relationship she had with her mom, I can't imagine how hard her life was (despite the luxury we might have seen from the outside). Sharing her story can't have been easy for her, but I hope, in some way, she was able to find healing in this and that maybe (just maybe) her story might help someone out of a similar situation. If not with the mother-type relationship, then maybe with the eating disorder. I think it's a book worth reading for sure. McCurdy defiantly has some lessons to teach others through the hard times she has been forced to live through. Hope to see some lighter stories from her someday!

Missing Clarissa

Missing Clarissa

By Ripley Jones
Narrated by: Allen Winter, Atlanta Amada Foresyth, Ines del Castillo, Kimberly M Wetherell, Raymond J Lee
Listening length: 7 hours, 31 minutes
My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This program is read by Inés del Castillo and a full cast and features a podcast with special sound design.

Perfect for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Ripley Jones's Missing Clarissa is a gripping novel about two friends who start a true crime podcast—with dangerous consequences.

While I received a copy of this e-book in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. While it was a great concept, it felt a little overdone. There have been so many of these books lately and I didn't feel like this one stood out much from the rest. It was a pretty good read, but nothing amazing to me.

Little & Lion

Little & Lion

by: Brandy Colbert
Narrated by: Alisha Wainwright
Listening length: 8 hours, 12 minutes
Publicization date: August 8, 2017
My review: 4 out of 5 stars

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, prompt 7: the B in LGBTQIA+ Bisexual health awareness month. Little is a bisexual character in this book. 

A stunning novel on love, loss, identity, and redemption, from Publishers Weekly Flying Start author Brandy Colbert.

When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. LA is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself - or worse.

When Suzette comes home from her New England boarding school, she isn't sure what to expect from her stepbrother, recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The summer is spent with the two of them trying to reconnect, her trying desperately to make things "the way they were" and him trying to live with his bipolar disorder. This book does a pretty good job with making the illness feel real. As someone living with someone with the disorder, it paints a real picture of how things can be. You want desperately for them to be able to lead a normal life, clinging to those moments where it feels like it used to be, then the lows come again. So frustrating. I cannot imagine it for a teenager, but through this book I can, just a little bit. This book brings out the theme of mental illness in a way that is easier for teenagers to understand. It is a disorder, not a disease. There is so much more to this book then just the relationship between Suzette and her stepbrother though. It is so worth picking the book up. Will she return to boarding school? Will she reunite with her old school friends? It is just a fun book to read with some really serious parts mixed in.

The Mercy of the Sky

The Mercy of the Sky:
The Story of a Tornado

By Holly Bailey
Narrated by Erin Bennett
Listening length: 10 hours, 37 minutes
Publication date: May 12, 2015
My review: 4 out of 5 stars

The Mercy of the Sky is the harrowing inside account of Oklahoma's deadliest tornado, penned by a local writer who became a national correspondent.

Oklahomans have long been known for their fatalism and grit, but even old-timers are troubled by the twisters that are devastating the state with increasing frequency. On May 20, 2013, the worst tornado on record landed a direct hit on the small town of Moore, destroying two schools while the children cowered inside.

Oklahoma native Holly Bailey grew up dreaming of becoming a storm chaser. Instead she became Newsweek's youngest-ever White House correspondent, traveling to war zones with Presidents Bush and Obama. When Moore was hit, Bailey went back both as a journalist and a hometown girl and spoke with the teachers who put their lives at risk to save their students, the weathermen more revered than rock stars and more tormented than they let on, and many shell-shocked residents. In The Mercy of the Sky, Bailey does for the Oklahoma flatlands what Sebastian Junger did for Gloucester, Massachusetts, in The Perfect Storm, telling a dramatic, pause-register story about a town that must survive the elements - or die.

This was the incredible story of town that is repeatedly hit by tornados. On May 20, 2013, the worst tornado on record hit the town destroying not one, but two schools. This book tells the story in such detail it is almost as if you are there. I couldn't help but gasp at points which required me to tell my husband about unbelievable parts of this book... he now has it on his list of books to read (or listen to). You won't believe what this town lived through. I don't know that I could ever live with the unpredictability of tornado alley. For now, I will stay "safe-ish" in my valley. 

There are graphic parts to this story, so caution should be used when listening or reading, especially if you are sensitive to this. There are details of the deaths of several individuals including a young child. It was incredibly hard to listen to, but it is something that happens and something I think we all need to be aware that people live through. The author did an amazing job of making sure to tell the truth of these people's lives in the best way she could.

Not That Kind of Ever After

Not that Kind of Ever After

By Luci Adams

Narrated by Josie Charles

Audiobook release date: March 14, 2023

Listening length: 10 hours, 37 minutes 

My review: 4 out of 5 stars

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, bonus prompt 2: reverse harem or female protagonist with options (this gal has MANY options in this book... just read my review) 

Fairytale meets feminism in Luci Adams's Not That Kind of Ever After, a frothy adventure of one woman’s journey to claim happily ever after in times of serial dating, swiping right, and the quest to find your soulmate.

Bella Marble’s life isn’t what she imagined. Instead of an author, she’s receptionist at a small press. Instead of happily married, she’s single, and her lovey-dovey parents are divorcing. And to top it off, her best friend of twenty-nine years, Ellie Mathews, is moving out and marrying the heinously boring Mark. (He’s not worthy of her. No one could be). Bella feels rudderless, only slightly soothed by time spent with Ellie’s (not hot) brother, (he’s not hot) Marty (okay, he’s hot. But he’s also the aggravating brother she never had—right)?

When Marty recommends Bella stop looking for “the one” and just have fun, Bella finds a new, empowered side of herself. But when she posts a fairy-tale retelling of a disastrous one night stand on a storytelling app, all of a sudden, Bella has become @B.Enchanted. And she’s gone viral.

Now, Bella’s in a fight with Ellie, her new roommates are so, deeply, weird, and the pressure is mounting to find new fairy tales to write about—but she’s got to live them first.

“As sidesplittingly hilarious as it is empowering and emotional, Not That Kind of Ever After is a sparkling debut.”—Helena Hunting, bestselling author

Although I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opionions remain my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook!

First of all, this book is set in Britian, so you have a narrator with an accent which I loved. Then you have all those fun English words that are just a bit differently used in America, so be aware of that. In this story, Bella is looking for her prince charming, but all she seems to be finding in the streets of London are the frogs. So, she uses the frogs as inspiration for her writing. Lets just say that gets her noticed by a few people when she publishes her chapters online. 

Oh boy did this book have me laughing out loud. Between very hairy men and one who was painted blue, Bella really does find her way into the strangest situations. In the midst of the funny, her parents, whose love story she always looked at as an example, tell her they are divorcing, it basically turns her life on its head... the book really gets started. You will have to listen to this one to see the antics that Bella gets herself into. The ending was simple and beautiful though. Friendship is the best love of all.

Bear

Bear

By Been Queen

Illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton

Published September 2, 2020 

My rating 5 out of 5 stars 

Bear is a guide dog for the blind, and he would do anything for his best friend and owner, Patrick. But when Bear suddenly loses his own vision, he worries that he has lost his purpose! Determined to protect Patrick at all costs, Bear sets out on a quest to regain his eyesight. Along the way Bear will learn to tap into his other senses and begin to see the world from a new perspective that is at times more rich and colorful than the world he's always known. 

Writer Ben Queen (Disney/Pixar's Cars 2 and Cars 3) draws inspiration from real life stories of how memory can influence how we recall our own surroundings, and artist Joe Todd-Stanton (A Mouse Called Julian) lovingly renders an unforgettable story of one dog's grand adventure from the wooded countryside to the heart of Manhattan where he encounters new friends and discovers his true calling.

This is an illustrated story of a guide dog for a blind man. All his life, Bear (the dog) has known that he's going to have a job, he's been trained specifically to help his best friend and owner. 

One day, he wakes up without his own vision and is afraid he's lost not only his job, but his purpose in life. In this book, we follow Bear through his amazing adventure as he learns to use his other senses and "see" the world around him from a different view-point. 

The author and illustrator work together just beautifully. Bear "sees" the world around him in his mind, like the bear den he stumbles into is a den with an armchair and fireplace. It is simply a book you will have to read and see to understand. 

I was able to borrow this book from my local library using the Hoopla service, but it is for sale, available on Kindle or hardcover.

The Secret Garden - Part 1

 The Secret Garden - Part 1

Written and illustrated by: Maud Begon

Publication date: October 20, 2021

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 

When Mary's parents die, she moves to England, where she is sent to a strange mansion in the middle of the Yorkshire moors, belonging to her uncle. It is here that she discovers the comfort of friendship... and a wonderful secret that she soon shares with her new companions: a garden forgotten by everyone, whose key, as if by magic, also opens the doors to broken hearts. This is a two-part graphic adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1912 classic of children's literature.

This was a graphic novel adaptation of one of my favorite books as a child. It appears to only be part one as it leaves of midway through. Compared to the other version I read earlier this month, it does have a lot more details such as the details of Mary's origin, including the deaths of her parents. I found this to be helpful to the reader to understand how Mary came to be the girl to be the way she was. This book leaves off right in the middle of the story, so I hope the second half is published soon, even though I know how it ends. I only gave this book 3.5 stars because of the abrupt ending, I wish they would have just taken the time to finish the book and put it all in one edition. It is very frustrating to have an incomplete story. At least I know how it ends, I can't imagine being new to the book and being left wondering what happened to Mary, her friends and the secret garden. Maybe check out another edition to find out.

Good Dog, Bad Cop

Good Dog, Bad Cop

By David Rosenfelt

Narrated by Fred Berman

Release date: March 14, 2023 

Listening length: 6 hours, 3 minutes 

My review: 4 out of 5 stars

"[Series narrator] Fred Berman brings the team to life. His well-paced delivery allows the story's laugh-out-loud humor to shine, particularly the dry one-liners and wisecracks from Corey and Andy.... Berman's narration, along with the fun and engaging mystery, results in a thoroughly enjoyable listen."—AudioFile on The K Team

For the K Team, playing "good dog," "bad cop" is all fun and games...until there's a body on the scene, in the next K Team Novel by bestselling author David Rosenfelt.

The K Team enjoys investigating cold cases for the Paterson Police Department. Corey Douglas, his K-9 partner Simon Garfunkel, Laurie Collins, and Marcus Clark even get to choose which cases they’d like to pursue. When Corey sees the latest list of possibilities, there’s no question which one to look into next.

Corey’s former mentor, Jimmy Dietrich, had his whole identity wrapped up in being a cop. When Jimmy retired three years ago, his marriage quickly deteriorated and he tried–and failed—to get back on the force. Jimmy was left to try to adjust to life as a civilian.

Not long after, two bodies were pulled from the Passaic River. A local woman, Susan Avery, and Jimmy Dietrich. With no true evidence available, the deaths went unsolved and the case declared cold. This didn’t stop the whispers: an affair gone wrong... a murder-suicide committed by Jimmy.

Corey never believed it. With this case, the K Team has the opportunity to find the real murderer, and clear Jimmy’s name. Bestselling author David Rosenfelt returns in Good Dog, Bad Cop, where there’s little to go on, but that won’t stop Paterson, New Jersey’s favorite private investigators from sniffing out the truth.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

While I received a copy of this audiobook in exchanged for my review, all opinions remain my own.

This book literally leaves things until the last pages to wrap up. I had no idea what was going on until the last 10 minutes of this audiobook. The story was detailed and kept me guessing. Characters were interesting and relatable. I love that the retired police dog, Simon, still takes part in the cases that this team takes on. Who doesn't love a good dog? 

 I would totally pick up another one of the books in this series to see if Corey ever does M his long-time girlfriend. ;)

The Daughter of Auschwitz

The Daughter of Auschwitz: A Memoir

By Tova Friedman and Malcolm Braban
Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld
Publishication date: September 6, 2022
Listening length: 7 hours, 53 minutes
My review: 4 out of 5 stars 

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, bonus prompt 3: Memoir by a woman or no-binary person. 

A powerful memoir by one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her childhood growing up during the Holocaust and surviving a string of near-death experiences in a Jewish ghetto, a Nazi labor camp, and Auschwitz.

"I am a survivor. That comes with a survivor's obligation to represent one and half million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis. They cannot speak. So I must speak on their behalf."

Tova Friedman was one of the youngest people to emerge from Auschwitz. After surviving the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in Central Poland where she lived as a toddler, Tova was four when she and her parents were sent to a Nazi labour camp, and almost six when she and her mother were forced into a packed cattle truck and sent to Auschwitz II, also known as the Birkenau extermination camp, while her father was transported to Dachau.

During six months of incarceration in Birkenau, Tova witnessed atrocities that she could never forget, and experienced numerous escapes from death. She is one of a handful of Jews to have entered a gas chamber and lived to tell the tale.

As Nazi killing squads roamed Birkenau before abandoning the camp in January 1945, Tova and her mother hid among corpses. After being liberated by the Russians they made their way back to their hometown in Poland. Eventually Tova's father tracked them down and the family was reunited.

In The Daughter of Auschwitz, Tova immortalizes what she saw, to keep the story of the Holocaust alive, at a time when it's in danger of fading from memory. She has used those memories that have shaped her life to honour the victims. Written with award-winning former war reporter Malcolm Brabant, this is an extremely important book. Brabant's meticulous research has helped Tova recall her experiences in searing detail. Together they have painstakingly recreated Tova's extraordinary story about the world's worst ever crime.

Another amazing story of survival in the face of tremendous tragedy. As Americans, I don't think we can begin to imagine what the people went through during the Holocaust, but this is one way we can try to understand, by reading first-hand accounts. Tova is one of the youngest survivors to come out of Auschwitz. This is her story. 

If you can listen to nothing else, listen to the foreword of this book. The author has a warning for us: 

“in this age of warp-speed internet, change can happen much faster than it did eighty years ago. We need to be constantly vigilant and brave enough to speak out."

Some of my the most shocking revelations to me were from the introduction. Tova mentions a Survey commissioned by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, published in September 2020: in a survey of young Americans two-thirds of people interviewed didn't know how many Jews died during the Holocaust (over six million), almost half couldn't name a single concentration camp or ghetto, 23% believed the Holocaust had been a myth or exaggerated, and 17% said it was acceptable to hold neo-Nazi views. 

as American philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We need to remember what has happened so that we don't ever have anything like this happen again. 

When asked how our current world compares to the Europe of the 1930's, Tova writes: 

It's true that no government in the world today has such a doctrine enshrined in law and supported by the population at large. Nevertheless, we all know countries where discrimination is prevalent and perhaps even tolerated. 

Only 80 years ago, over 6 million Jewish people were murdered simply because they were Jewish and there is every possibility that we could be headed down a very similar road today. In this book, Tova tells of the many things that her brave mother did to ensure her safety, her survival. It is apparent that without her, the story would have come out quite differently. Now in her mid-80s, Tova sees it as her responsibility to speak out about the Holocaust, to represent the 1.5 million Jewish children who never lived to see the end of the war.  

The holocaust, the worst crime in the history of mankind, happened less than 80 years ago, and it is fading from memory already... that, quite frankly, is appalling. 

One Italian Summer

One Italian Summer 

By: Rebecca Serle

Narrated by: Lauren Graham

Listening Length: 6 hours, 21 minutes 

Publication date: March 1, 2022 

My review: 4.5 out of 5 stars 

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“[A] magical trip worth taking.” —Associated Press

“Rebecca Serle is a maestro of love in all its forms.” —Gabrielle Zevin, New York Times bestselling author

The New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years returns with a powerful novel about the transformational love between mothers and daughters set on the breathtaking Amalfi Coast.

When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.

And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.

Rebecca Serle’s next great love story is here, and this time it’s between a mother and a daughter. With her signature “heartbreaking, redemptive, and authentic” (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) prose, Serle has crafted a transcendent novel about how we move on after loss, and how the people we love never truly leave us.

For anyone who has lost their mom, this book is going to hit the heartstrings. I feel like Serle must have been through a loss like that, to have written so knowingly about it. The first chapters, of Katy describing the first days and weeks after her mother's passing felt so familiar, it was like looking at my own history. How I wish I could have had an Italian beach vacation to meet her younger self on. Unfortunately, I did not, but I did have this book to listen to and remember the times with my own mother as Katy remembered her own mom.

Katy travels to the Amalfi coast of Italy to remember her mom and hopefully find herself. What she finds is her 30 year old mother and has no idea how. It is a beautiful story of a young woman's grieving and the journey to find a way through it. I absolutely loved this book and plan on buying myself either the kindle book or a hard copy so I can highlight some of my favorite quotes and parts.

Under the Whispering Door

Under the Whispering Door

By: TJ Klune
Narrated by: Kit Graves
Listening length: 14 hours, 54 minutes
publication date: September 21, 2021

My review: 5 out of 5 stars 

"Narrator Kirt Groves provides an excellently distinct cast of voices."- Locus

A Man Called Ove meets The Good Place in Under the Whispering Door, a delightful queer love story from TJ Klune, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Welcome to Charon's Crossing.

The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.

"Graves matches his narrative pace to the measured unwinding of the story's layers, focused but unhurried, in the same way that Hugo brews his therapeutic cups of tea." —AudioFile

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

What can I even say about this book? First of all, the narrator of this audiobook is top notch. I loved listening to every word. He has a way of making each character's voice sound different without using weird voices. His voice is so soothing to listen to, the book just flowed right off his tongue. I listened at 1.5 speed and it wasn't so fast that he was a chipmunk talking, but it was just right for my ears.

This book! I'm not sure how Klune does it, but he had me laughing in one chapter, then crying in the next. His writing seems to capture the human emotions so well. This is the second book of his that I've listened to and both are now on my Audible "must buy" list because I know i will be listening again. Wallace's story in Whispers is all about his after life. His life was not much to read about, but when he shows up at his own funeral, a not very well attended one, he is greeted by a reaper, but instead of taking him to the afterlife, he is taken to a "small village."

In the odd teahouse, he finds more than tea. This book was simply beautiful. Every character had their charm, even the ghost dog (how could you go wrong with a ghost dog!?) Seriously until the last minute I loved this book. I could listen to fifteen more adventures about Wallace, Hugo and the antics in the teashop.

Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not

By Ellie Terry 

Narrated by Matt Godfrey and Heather Costa

Listening length 2 hours 47 minutes

Publication date March 12, 2019

My review: four out of five stars

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, prompt 1: Differently-abled main character. March is National Disabilities awareness month. I choose this book because the main character has Tourette's, a "hidden" disability. 

A girl tries to hide her quirks at a new school in this middle-grade novel from debut author Ellie Terry.

Astronomy-loving Calliope June has Tourette syndrome, so she sometimes makes faces or noises that she doesn't mean to make. When she and her mother move yet again, she tries to hide her TS. But it isn't long before the kids at her new school realize she's different. Only Calliope's neighbor, who is also the popular student body president, sees her as she truly is—an interesting person and a good friend. But is he brave enough to take their friendship public?

As Calliope navigates school, she must also face her mother's new relationship and the fact that they might be moving—again—just as she starts to make friends and finally accept her differences.

Partially in verse and partially in prose with two intertwined points of view, Ellie Terry's affecting debut will speak to a wide audience about being true to oneself.

This beautiful story is told part in verse, in alternating viewpoints. The story of a girl with Tourette's who has been convinced to hide her illness at new school after new school. Her and her mother have moved 10 times. The girl hopes this time she can make a best friend. I fell in love with this girl. How she clings to her hope, despite being moved over and over again. She longs to be enough for her mother, just her. Have her mom not need another boyfriend, another man in her life. This book was a beautiful story to listen to, the story flows from this narrator's mouth like a song. I just loved it.

What Have We Done

What Have We Done

By Alex Finlay 

Narrated by Brittany Pressley; James Patrick Cronin; Jon Lindstrom and Maggie Thompson

Listening length: 8 hours, 47 minutes 

Publication date: March 7, 2023

My review: 4 out of 5 stars

In one of the year's most anticipated thrillers #1 New York Times bestseller Sarah Pekkanen calls "Alex Finlay's best yet," What Have We Done is a tale about the lives we leave behind and the secrets we carry with us forever.

A stay-at-home mom with a past.
A has-been rock star with a habit.
A reality TV producer with a debt.
Three disparate lives.
One deadly secret.

Twenty five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were the best of friends, having forged a bond through the abuse and neglect they endured as residents of Savior House, a group home for parentless teens. When the home was shut down—after the disappearance of several kids—the three were split up.

Though the trauma of their childhood has never left them, each went on to live accomplished—if troubled—lives. They haven’t seen one another since they were teens but now are reunited for a single haunting reason: someone is trying to kill them.

To survive, the group will have to revisit the nightmares of their childhoods and confront their shared past—a past that holds the secret to why someone wants them dead.

It’s a reunion none of them asked for . . . or wanted. But it may be the only way to save all their lives.

What Have We Done is both an edge-of-your seat thriller and a gut-wrenching coming-of-age story. And it cements Alex Finlay as one of the new leading voices in thrillers today.

While I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen!

Boy was this one a ride. Just when I thought the book was over, there was one more punch left. It really was one that just kept me listening. The cast of characters is diverse, each comes from a different background, but the same group home. They are all brought back together because of a shared past. No spoilers, but it will just keep you going. I had no idea what the ending what going to be. While I did make a few guesses, none were even close to correct. Finlay is definitely going on my list of authors to follow. This was a great one to get me listening to her books

Terrible Typhoid Mary

Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook In America

By Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Narrated by Donna Postel

Listening length: 3 hours 20 minutes 

Published August 4, 2015

My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, prompt 8: less than 300 pages/less than 6 hours. 

What happens when a person's reputation has been forever damaged? This riveting biography of Mary Mallon by the Sibert medalist and Newbery Honor winner Susan Bartoletti looks beyond the tabloid scandal of Mary's controversial life. How she was treated by medical and legal officials reveals a lesser-known story of human and constitutional rights, entangled with the science of pathology and enduring questions about who Mary Mallon really was. How did her name become synonymous with deadly disease? And who is really responsible for the lasting legacy of Typhoid Mary?

I have really been enjoying my non-fiction books lately, this is the story of the person behind the terrible name "typhoid-Mary." 

Before the laws that protected our health information, before the germ theory was commonly known and believed thing, epidemics were widespread and deadly. While we may not see much of it here, thanks to vaccines, typhoid still kills hundreds of thousands of people per year and back in the years before the vaccine was widely available (not to mention running hot water and sanitation), typhoid was rampant. We've all heard the name "typhoid Mary" but did yo know she was a real person? A real woman who carried the typhoid virus but was not symptomatic.

 
She was actually the first person in the US "discovered" with non-symptomatic typhoid. Meaning she carried (and could spread) the virus, but wasn't sick. Unfortunately, Mary distrusted science and the medical community. When an epidemiologist wanted samples for his research into an outbreak, she fought against him. He eventually went to the New York Health department and convinced them she was a danger to public health. This is a story you are going to have to read (or hear) to believe! It is worth the listen though. Short story but something I think anyone in the health or community health area or work needs to listen to.

Burying Eva Flores

Burying Eva Flores 

By Jennifer Alsever 

Narrated by: Moira Todd, Gail Shalan, Michael Gallagher, Eleanor McCormick, Whitney Dykhouse, Amy McFadden, and Zac Aleman

Listening length: 9 hours, 17 minutes

Published November 29, 2022

My review: 4 out of 5 stars 

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, Bonus prompt 1: Eldritch "uncanny, unearthly and weird in a supernatural way." 

Everyone thinks I killed Eva Flores.

Sure, I hate how everyone was over the moon about her TikTok fame. And I suppose I got a little bit carried away with vengeance when she tried to ruin my life.

But seriously, when my friend gave me that leather journal, I’d never had so much power in my life. It was intoxicating. Who wouldn’t have done what I did to Eva?

Now everyone thinks that just because she vanished in the forest after a party, that I killed her. That the blood on the jackets is proof. Or the text messages. The slightly weird thing I had with Eva's dad. The fire.

The whole thing is far more complicated than you’d think.

What happened to the horribly obnoxious, very complicated Eva Flores? I can't really say.

Perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen M. McManus, this book will grab you and won't let you go!

While I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.

 
This was a book that just kept you guessing. The viewpoints jump around to different people. You get some chapters from the past, some from the present, some from the police files. It follows the disappearance of a young tik-tok famous girl, gone missing during a class trip. Oh, but this book is so much more wild than that. When Sophia is given a blank journal by a friend, inspiration to complete a school project, she begins to write a story inside. When that story beings to play out in real life, she sees the power she now holds and begins to write a new story... but just what is she really writing.

I loved how the author chose to wrap this up. It isn't a "happily ever after" but it also closes and leaves you feeling like there is an ending to the story. This one is worth picking up and listening to. The audiobook has a whole cast of characters in it and is simply fun to listen to. Plus, just take a look at that fun cover!

The Grace of Wild Things

The Grace of Wild Things 

By Heather Fawcett 

Published February 14, 2023

368 pages 

My review: four out of five stars 

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, prompt 6: surrounded by Wilderness: takes place in, ends up in, on the cover, is about. This one starts out with a girl seemingly lost in the woods and then takes place mainly in a witch's cabin in that woods. 

An inventive and fantastical reimagining of Anne of Green Gables—with magic and witches!—that explores found family, loss, and the power of a girl's imagination, from the acclaimed author of The Language of Ghosts and The School Between Winter and Fairyland. Perfect for readers who loved The Girl Who Drank the Moon and Serafina and the Black Cloak.

Grace has never been good at anything except magic—not that anyone believes her.

While other children are adopted from the orphanage, nobody wants Grace. So she decides to make a home for herself by running away and offering herself as an apprentice to the witch in the nearby woods. After all, who better to teach Grace to use her magic? Surely the witch can’t be that bad.

But the witch is that bad—she steals souls for spells and gobbles up hearts. So Grace offers a deal: If she can learn all 100½ spells in the witch’s grimoire, the witch will make Grace her apprentice. But if Grace fails, the witch can take her magic. The witch agrees, and soon an unexpected bond develops between them.

But the spells are much harder than Grace expected, and when a monster from the witch’s past threatens the home Grace has built, she may have to sacrifice more than her magic to save it.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book! Although I received a copy of this e-book in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own.

This book is not what I was expecting and I'm glad. Full disclosure, I've never read Anne of Green Gables, so I don't have that to compare it to. This is said to be a reimaging of Anne, but I couldn't even tell you if it was close lol. Grace is an orphan, but she doesn't think she ever has a chance at being adopted. Not with her magic ability. So, she runs away from the orphanage to find the witch to see if she can live there, learn to be a witch from her. The reluctant witch makes a deal with Grace, learn all 100 and 1/2 spells in her grimoire, and she will train her.

This turns out to be much more than just learning and performing spells for Grace though. I loved watching her make friends in the nearby town, figure out how to use her magic, basically without the help of the witch (or anyone else for that matter) and figure out how she's going to get through this grimoire.

I loved the way this story ended. Not at all what I expected, but perfect for this tale. Overall, this book gets a solid four stars for me. There were parts that felt a little bit long, but in the end, it did tie in quite well. The only concern I would have with younger children reading this is, if they have an overactive imagination (like I did) they may have bad dreams because of some of the magic and interactions between the witch and Grace. There wasn't anything terrible, but it does lead my active mind down its own little road.

The Right Wrong Match

The Right Wrong Match 

by Sarah Jane Woodley 

Narrated by Justis Bolding and David Bendena 

Listening length: 7 hours, 50 minutes 

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I didn’t ask to have a hopeless (and unrequited) crush on my best friend’s grumpy older brother. For years, I’ve had feelings for Luke Brooks, but it’s time to move on—I’m on a mission to find my perfect match and secure my very own happily-ever-after.

But then one tiny mishap with a dating app lands me a new job: planning singles events for the whole town. It seems simple enough…until the town council forces Luke to play cupid with me. As I discover the soft side beneath Luke’s grumpy exterior, getting over my crush becomes a whole lot more complicated—especially once it starts looking like my feelings might not be so unrequited after all…

The Right Wrong Match is a sweet romcom with plenty of swoony kisses and chemistry, a hilarious cast of quirky small-town characters, and a heartwarming HEA that’s sure to give you all the feels.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy of this audiobook! Although I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own. 

What is your favorite romance trope? This book has a list involved where the main character is trying to put herself into each of them (ie friends to enemies, blind dates, ect). In fact, the beginning of the book starts in her in a blind date, to her best friends wedding. But that's okay, because her best friend was the one doing the setting up. 

There were times I laughed out loud at these characters. People in this small town are people we all know (the gym rat too busy taking selfies and posting on his insta to realize he's forming a line for his equipment, the self involved "social media influencer" who just wants something bigger, the town gossips who make sure everyone knows what is going on all over town. I just loved the small town feel in this book. Hopefully there are more by this author because it was just a fun book to listen to.

Off The Map

Off The map 

By: Trish Doller

Narrated by: Sarah Naughton

Listening length: 6 hours, 37 minutes 

Publication date: March 7, 2023 

My review: 4 out of 5 stars

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, prompt 9: Luck of the Irish: character, author, story. This one has Irish characters. Based in Ireland. 

Trish Doller's idyllic romance Off the Map proves sometimes a wrong turn can lead to the exact right destination.
On the road to love, you don't need a GPS...

Carla Black’s life motto is “here for a good time, not for a long time.” She’s been traveling the world on her own in her vintage Jeep Wrangler for nearly a decade, stopping only long enough to replenish her adventure fund. She doesn’t do love and she doesn’t ever go home.

Eamon Sullivan is a modern-day cartographer who creates digital maps. His work helps people find their way, but he’s the one who’s lost his sense of direction. He’s unhappy at work, recently dumped, and his one big dream is stalled out—literally.

Fate throws them together when Carla arrives in Dublin for her best friend’s wedding and Eamon is tasked with picking her up from the airport. But what should be a simple drive across Ireland quickly becomes complicated with chemistry-filled detours, unexpected feelings, and a chance at love - if only they choose it. 

Thank you Netgalley for providing me a copy of this audiobook. Please note, although I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own.

This started out as a light fluffy romance book and quickly turned into something more serious. When Carla goes to Ireland for her best friend's wedding, she meets Eamon, what they find together is something neither of them was expecting. Carla's "here for a good time, not for a long time" life motto is about to be challenged by her time with Eamon. 

What happens in her time in Ireland is just amazing but what happens after is even more special. I loved the story that develops when Carla lets the walls come down (so to speak). While I found myself tearing up a few times, it wasn't ever out of control for me and overall, the book ended quite beautifully for me. This is an author I would definitely listen to again.

Weyward

Weyward 

by: Emilia Hart 

Narrated by: Aysha Kala; Helen Keeley and Nell Barlow

Listening length: 10 hours, 51 minutes 

Publication date: March 7, 2023 

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Read for my March 2023 Reading challenge, prompt 3: flowers/leaves on the cover. This one has both! 

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives—and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

While I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own.

This was a creative weaving of three individual stories into one beautiful tapestry of a family line. I just loved the way that Hart put this family's entire history into this story and you really get a feeling for the Weyward women. I would love to read more of her stories if they are all like this. This book has an amazing element of magic in it, plus one of the story lines is back in the times of the witch trials, so you have that working against the Weyward woman of that time. Each woman, in her time, has a problem to work through, and each one works through it in their own way. I love the way that the future Weyward women use the stories of those they find in the past and learn from them. It is a beautiful way to learn from those who have come before us.

Anyway, a beautiful story and one I would gladly listen to again. If you want to give this book a listen, you can pick it up from your favorite book vendor on March 7. 

Immortality: A Love Story

Immortality: A Love Story

by Dana Schwartz
Narrated by Mhairi Morrison and Tim Campbell
Listening Length 12 hours and 2 minutes
Published date February 28, 2023

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

"The Scottish accents of narrators Tim Campbell and Mhairi Morrison introduce YA listeners to this historical romance/mystery set in nineteenth-century Edinburgh." —AudioFile

Immortality: A Love Story is the eagerly anticipated sequel to Dana Schwartz's #1 bestselling gothic romance, Anatomy: A Love Story.

Hazel Sinnett is alone and half-convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know if Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her.

When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: Hazel has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly granddaughter of King George III. Soon Hazel is dragged into the glamor and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death.

As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn't the only thing at stake for her. Malicious forces are at work in the monarchy, and Hazel may be the only one capable of setting things right.

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

Although I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own.

This was simply a beautiful conclusion to the Anatomy duology. I loved the first book and loved the second one just as much. This duology is going into my personal collection. It has romance, it has suspense, it has medical mystery and murder. What else can you really ask for. I just love the main character, Hazel, being a doctor. Well, she doesn't have all the certifications because you couldn't as a woman back then, but she's done all the training. This time she is called upon to treat the princess Charlotte. - will she be able to help the princess under the eye of the Royal court with all the other goings-on? It really is a wonderful story and so beautifully written. I couldn't wait to see what would happen with Hazel.