August 2025 Reading Catch Up

I adored this book. It was my very first T Kingfisher book, and it will not be the last. I love her writing style and can't wait to dive into more of her books. 

This book is more character-driven than fantasy, but the characters are so beautifully written that you are more than ready to go along on the ride with them. 

In this book, we are introduced to Cordelia, the teenage daughter of a sorceress named Evangaline. She is more than prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals, and she has the power to pull it off. What she wants is a rich husband to live off, and then she can focus on getting Cordelia married off to a wealthy husband as well. Evangaline has set her sights on a wealthy older man, the Squire, who lives in a large home with his unwed sister Hester. 

The book is told from two points of view - Cordelia's and Hester's. 

As Evangaline starts to work her way into the heart of the Squire, Cordelia quickly becomes very close to Hester, and doesn't want her mother to do anything to ruin their lives, which she will have no problem doing. She doesn't know what she can do as her mother has the power to control her, making rebellion difficult. 

Cordelia is such a sweet and trusting young woman; you want the best for her. Hester is a force to be reckoned with, and I love reading from her point of view where she can show off her fiestiness. 

This is such a wonderfully enjoyable book, and I loved delving into the world of these marvellous characters. If you love to read strong female characters with a dash of fantasy thrown in, then this is the book for you. 

This is the book when I officially fell in love with T Kingfisher books. If I could give this book six stars I would. 

This book is endearing, laugh out loud funny and full of heartstopping drama. The characters are beautifully written and impossible not to fall in love with. The banter between Halla, Sarkis and Zale is hysterical as well as heartwarming, and I adore Brindle the Gnole. 

In this book, we meet Halla, a woman who has spent the last decade looking after her late husband's brother. When he passes away, he leaves everything to Halla, much to the disgust of his sister and her son, who intend to marry off Halla to the son so that they can keep the house and money. She wants to escape the house and head to another town to get the will verified as accurate by a religious order of lawyers. She unsheaths a sword and is stunned when a warrior man appears from the sword, standing in front of her. His name is Serkis, and since she is the wielder of the sword, he must help her escape and keep her safe. On their travels, they encounter bandits, religious fanatics and other unscrupulous folk. The adventure changes all lives involved forever. 

I am delighted that there will be more books in this series, as one book with these amazing characters is not enough. This book will be a fantastic read for anyone who loves fantasy with a lot of humour. Highly recommend. 

This was such a fun and scary read, and I loved every minute of the ride. It's a great addition to the horror story section of any book collection. 

In this book we meet a group of characters who have been invited to the home of the recently deceased writer Mortimer Queen. He has a huge fan base amongst his readers, but amongst other writers in the horror genre he is known to be a not very nice person, who can get away with it because of his status as a well loved author. 

The reason for the meeting at his home is for the reading of his will. Most attendees don't know why they are there, because, for reasons that will become known throughout the book, all of the characters have had a run-in with Mortimer that would surely make them unworthy of mention in his will. 

It turns out, they are to take place in a game. They are to go from room to room within the house and solve a puzzle. If they solve the puzzle before the time runs out they can move onto the next room. If they don't, one of them will pay for this with their lives. Will anyone survive to the end?

This is a fantastic horror story that keeps you turning pages. Each room and each puzzle has mixed results that keeps you reading. There is some gory detail involved,, so if you are not into that then this book may not be for you. 

I love that there are two stories in one, in a way. The main story with the characters meeting and moving around the rooms, and then the chapters involving each of the characters back stories and how they came to know Mortimer Queen. It's a thrilling ride, and the end had my chin bouncing on the floor. Highly recommend. 

This was a page turning rollercoaster ride of a book. It starts off a little slowly, but when it starts to ramp up it really becomes exciting and unable to put down. 

In this book we meet Di and Christian, and their son Kai. Di is expecting their second child, and so with their expanding family they are looking for a bigger place. As they are under a bit of a time crunch they move into a brand new, never been lived in home within a new neighbourhood that is being constructed,  But Di is feeling very uneasy about the place. The man who is responsible for the new neighbourhood is a bit creepy, and the neighbours seem to be a bit strange. Then Di finds a note that says that they are not the first people to live in this house. Now she is on a mission to find out more about this couple. But who can she trust? So many people around her are acting strangely, and when that starts to include her husband she has much to be fearful off. What is the truth about this new housing neighbourhood?

If you are a fan of books with lots of twists and turns then this is the book for you. 

This is a short and sweet book that is funny and has little dashes of sweetness. 

In this book we meet Jefferson Van Helsing, who is a demon and vampire hunting descendant of the well-known hunter who hunted down Dracula. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his friends, the invisible man Harvey and Oliver the werewolf. 

Jefferson is looking for love, and having a hard dealing with the attacks from demons and vampires and his date's curiosity with vampires. He's getting nowhere, and so he decides to put together a guide to dating as a vampire hunter. 

One of the favourite things is the multiple dating profiles for the characters from Jefferson and his two friends to some of the characters he meets along the way. There are many sketches throughout the book, some of which are laugh out loud funny, such as the essential supplies you will need if you are looking after your werewolf friend. 

This is such a funny book, and would be a brilliant addition to the book collection of anyone who loves the world of monsters and vampires, as well as Van Helsing and Dracula. 

This audiobook is such a cosy murder mystery and such a pleasure to listen to. The narrator, Vanessa Daniels does a fantastic job with the characters and makes it a joy to listen to. I also love the chapter titles - so many of them made me laugh out loud. 

In this book, we meet a young woman named Meg, who is leaving her home in Seattle after the end of her relationship to move back to her hometown. She gets a job working with her Mum in her bookstore as well as helping out a local author with research for her upcoming book. When the not well loved manager of the author is found dead there is suspicion whether it was accidental or murder. Since Meg has started writing a how to book for solving crimes she jumps on the chance to put her book chapters to the test, especially when her friends become suspects. 

I love the character of Meg, and her beloved dog Watson, and can't wait to read/listen to more books from this new series.  

This book is a page turning, edge of your seat horror thriller. The tension keeps building throughout the book, right up to the nail-biting finale. 

In this book we meet Jodi, her boyfriend BB and their best friend Matt. When Jodi suggests breaking into a rundown and abandoned old house to see if they can find some forgotten treasures, BB and Matt are apprehensive, but decide to go for it. It will be an adventure if nothing else. 

When someone from Jodi's past finds them at the house everything becomes dangerous. The three of them must escape the house and run for their lives, but Jodi's past is right on their tail. He wants something from Jodi, and doesn't care what he has to do, or who he has to hurt to get it. 

This book was so hard to put down, especially when it got to the 70% mark. I just wanted to keep reading.

If you like horror books that are filled with terror and huge drama, with a touch of the supernatural, then grab yourself a copy of this book. You don't regret it.