(read & reviewed in November 2020)

The bad thing I can say about this book is that I read through it while I was already super hungry and it made me even hungrier.

I am excited to try out some of these recipes, and I am finding lots of inspiration here for things to share for the holidays. Considering social distancing, I'm looking forward to making some of these treats, putting them in cute boxes, and dropping them off for relatives.

I greatly appreciate that the vast majority of this book is spent on the recipes themselves and not touching-but-unnecessary stories about how the smell of cardamom reminds you of your great-aunt Gertrude and winter mornings on the farm and on and on and on. (Seriously, who cares?) But I digress.

Highly recommended. I got a digital ARC of this but I plan on putting the hardback on my wish list.

Mattie has been in the cabin in the woods with William for what seems like a lifetime. Sometimes she has fleeting thoughts of being a little girl, playing with Heather and doing typical little girl things -- but William always tells her that those are just tempting hallucinations planted in her mind by the devil, and why should she doubt him? He is her world: her husband, her disciplinarian, the only human with whom she has any contact. Plus, asking William questions will only invite further beatings.

But one day, when she is out in the woods checking the small game traps, she discovers an animal that has been brutally killed, but not eaten, unusual behavior for a predator. As she and William investigate what kind of predator could be sharing their woods and behaving in a way too organized and cruel for an animal, her fear of this predator begins eclipsing her fear of William.

Who is her greater threat? William or the creature? Can she survive either?

I read this book in two sittings but could have easily read it in one if my schedule permitted. An excellent mashup of creature horror and psychological human horror.

I would happily read another horror tale from this author.

Wild Sign is the sixth book in the Alpha & Omega series, a spinoff featuring a secondary character from the Mercy Thompson universe, Charles, and his wife, Anna. At a half dozen books (not counting the dozen or so in Mercy's series) you would expect the story to slow down or devolve, but NOT SO!

Wild Sign was addictive and intriguing and more than a little creepy at times. (Good, in my book.)

The mystery was eerie and excellent and readers will be relieved to learn more about Leah's backstory and why she and Bran make such a strange pair.

Readers of this series will not want to miss this installment.

If you haven't read any from this series before, begin with Moon Called, because this will not make any sense to you. ;)

A quick-paced, unputdownable thriller and love story of the last human in a world overrun by robots.

Rebel has every reason to believe she is the last human left on Earth. Years before, everyone who could evacuated into space, and those left behind were hunted down and killed by the robots who took their directive to stabilize the Earth and it's climate a little too seriously. Lucky for Rebel, she has the recorded teachings and writings of her father, an expert on these robots, so she painstakingly works to understand how they work. But most importantly, she works to understand how to pass as one of them.

Her plan to fly under the radar comes to a dramatic impasse when a robot in her care, Thomas, begins developing human-like emotions and personality.

As any good robot novel should, it ponders questions about the nature of life and being human.

Full of tension, action, and sentimentalism, my only complaint is that it ended on a massive cliffhanger and there is no immediate news on a book 2.

This is a 3 book series. Or, more specifically, a series of one short story, one novella, and a full length novel.

I am posting this review early to give you time to read the short story and novella before the full length novel releases in May. It's worth your time and money, I assure you!

Fatma is an agent of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities in an alternate-history steampunk Cairo where djinn live and work among humans. Having already saved the world once in A Dead Djinn in Cairo, Fatma has a reputation for handling weird, sensitive, and dangerous cases. Her current case, involving a mass spontaneous human combustion event of a secretive brotherhood of wealthy Englishmen, is all of the above.

Perhaps readers could enjoy this book, which is the third that takes place in this world, without having read the previous two -- but I wouldn't recommend it. So much of the plot here depends upon understanding the world that has been built as well as the conclusion of the events in book 1. Book one, A Dead Djinn in Cairo, and book 2, The Haunting of Tram Car 015, are quick reads and more than worth the time.

The plot here is elaborate without straying into confusion, with entertaining literary devices I haven't often encountered. One important theme in the book (without going into spoilers) includes attempting to recover a magical artifact that has been spelled to cause you to forget about its existence. Fatma and her partner, Hadia, must constantly hide notes through their pockets and things to remind them what they are looking for. This also helps the reader stay on top of a complicated case -- we are often reminded alongside Fatma and Hadia what is going on.

There is some romance, but not enough to characterize the work as a romance itself -- just enough to expand the plot, as Fatma's love interest, Siti, has secrets of her own that propel the events forward -- and readers who dislike romance in their plots should not be deterred.

Overall, a smart and creative mystery taking place in an innovative and fresh setting, and highly recommended for fans of detective stories with a healthy dose of fantasy or mythology.

I would happily read another novel or short story from this author that takes place in this world, whether it follows Fatma (books 1 and 3) or Hamed and Onsi (book 2) or delves deeper into any of the intriguing other characters we encounter.

arc received for review

arc received from the publisher for review

I really anticipated this book and was so excited to get an advance copy.

Readers will appreciate learning more about this alternate-history California, meeting Eli's family, and seeing a more emotional side to Lizbeth.

However, this is all overshadowed by the fact that the plot is neatly tied up via a plot hole the size of Texas itself. While the central conflict is Lizbeth's quest to free Eli from prison, that plot takes backseat to political intrigue involving the tsar and a bunch of other characters I'm not interested or invested in.

Overall, it was a fun ride with a disappointing ending, but Ill probably pick up book 4 from the library, if there is one.

Your mileage may vary.

arc received from the publisher for review

Sixteen-year-old twins Portia and Alexandria live a normal life in Chicago. That is, until a chance encounter with an ancient Egyptian artifact at the Field Museum transports them and an unwitting freshman back to ancient Egypt.

There, the three discover that maybe they're not so normal after all and that they have a role to play in fighting an evil force that is trying to destroy Egypt. 

An un-put-down-able YA fantasy adventure that will appeal to children and adults alike. Very highly recommended.