Monday, August 11, 2025

Badlands

Title: Badlands
Author: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Published: June 3, 2025, by Grand Central Publishing
Format: Audio, Kindle, Hardcover, 355 Pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Nora Kelly #5

Blurb: In the New Mexico badlands, the skeleton of a woman is found—and the case is assigned to FBI Agent Corrie Swanson. The victim walked into the desert, shedding clothes as she went, and then died in agony of heatstroke and thirst. Two rare artifacts are found clutched in her bony hands—lightning stones used by the ancient Chaco people to summon the gods.

Is it suicide or… sacrifice?

Agent Swanson brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate. When a second body is found—exactly like the other—the two realize the case runs deeper than they imagined. As Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, haunted ruins, and long-lost rituals, they find themselves confronting a dark power that, disturbed from its long slumber, threatens to exact an unspeakable price.

My Opinion: If you’re planning a long drive and need something gripping enough to make nine hours feel like ninety minutes, Badlands delivers. I literally laughed out loud when one of the characters mentioned listening to a Preston & Child audiobook during a long trek. Felt like an odd full circle moment.

Once again, the writing team has pairs archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson, two women with wildly different temperaments and skill sets who somehow make a compelling crime-solving duo using skill, sarcasm, and just the right field gear, as they navigate some seriously harsh terrain, both literal and moral, in their pursuit of the truth.

Yes, Homer Watt took his sweet time entering the scene, but once he arrived, the energy shifted in all the right ways. And Skip… Skip just can’t help himself. He’s the kind of character you root for while shaking your head.

Between cults, sacrificial rites, shadowy professors, priceless artifacts, and a buffet of ethically challenged individuals, this novel serves up plenty of intellectual insight, intrigue, and a splash of horror. One of the twists blindsided me in the best way. I’d given little thought to one particular character, and that was precisely the misstep the authors were counting on. Way to go, Preston & Child.

Their ability to describe grotesque scenes with vivid detail might test your gag reflex, but somehow, not including those moments would feel like cheating the reader out of the raw intensity their work is known for. It’s part of their signature that readers are expecting.

What I love most is how this writing team consistently introduces readers to concepts and histories that feel like secret chapters ripped from dusty archives. I left the book not only entertained but curious, diving into rabbit holes I hadn’t even known existed before page one.

When Nora and Corrie are driving the narrative (with Homer hitching a ride now and then), I’m in. The ending? Intense. It grabs you, shakes you, leaves you breathless, and doesn’t quite let go even after you’ve hit the last page.

Saturday, August 9, 2025

A Lethal Engagement

Title: A Lethal Engagement
Author: April J. Skelly
Published: April 22, 2025 by Crooked Lane Books
Format: Kindle, Paperback, 336 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

Blurb: 1890. American heiress, Cora Beaumont is celebrating her engagement to Terrance Tristan, the second son of a duke. Their union will solidify Cora's place in British society and put her in a rare position of power, but as they embark on the Lady Air’s maiden voyage to England, Cora soon finds that not everyone in society is accepting of her recent engagement, and tensions fly as high as the airship. When a body is discovered the first night on the ship, with a calling card for Cora on the victim, she’s determined to find the killer hidden among the passengers before they come for her next.

As Cora tries to solve the murder without attracting unsavory attention, her fiancé’s wandering eye may cause even more problems for her position in society. Gossip travels fast aboard the airship and bad news could sink the Lady Air, as well as Cora's own social status, before they reach their final destination. When more bodies are discovered, Cora teams up with her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Nicholas, as they scour the ship for clues. If she fails, it won’t only be her reputation visiting the undertaker.

My Opinion: I knew I was in trouble from the first couple of chapters when nothing grabbed me. I switched to the audiobook, hoping it might redeem the experience, but instead it became white noise. This one was background static with delusions of more. Set in 1890, the book attempts to captivate the reader with a high-society mystery aboard an impossibly massive airship, but the atmosphere feels cardboard and cut-and-paste. It has been arranged that American heiress Cora Beaumont is to marry the son of a Duke, in thanks for some favor her father once arranged for getting the duke out of sticky situations. Predictably, she’s engaged to the unremarkable “spare,” Terrance, while the elder brother Nicholas slides into the brooding helper role and the obvious love interest slot. It’s paint-by-numbers romantic plotting.

The tone flip-flops at every turn. Cora is treated like a disposable ornament in one chapter, then suddenly equals the aristocratic men in the next, as if historical constraints and character consistency just weren’t worth editing for. The period language reads more like checked boxes, while modern vocabulary sneaks in, throwing off the immersion entirely.

Comparisons to Deanna Raybourn and Agatha Christie? Please. That’s wishful thinking. The mystery isn’t compelling, the twists come too late to matter, and by the time the “big reveal” happens, I’d already stopped caring. The writing felt clunky, overstated, and desperate to be clever. Honestly, this needed a ruthless red pen and some tough talk.

Thursday, August 7, 2025

Hitches, Hideouts, & Homicides

Title: Hitches, Hideouts, & Homicides
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: December 1, 2023 by Tonya Kappes Books
Format: Audio, Paperback 170 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals #7

Blurb: Everyone in Normal is excited for the Hoe Down to celebrate the opening of the new Old Train Station motel grand opening.

The evening comes to an abrupt end when a lightning storm knocks out all the power. At least, that's what appears to have knocked out the electricity. But things aren't always as they appear.

Mae West has a way of sticking her nose where it doesn't belong and finds herself in a dangerous situation when she finds a treasure map that leads to more than just treasure... a dead body!

My Opinion: Seven books deep into the Camper & Criminals series and it seems we’ve officially reached the land of rinse and repeat. I’ve enjoyed these cozy mysteries as breezy palate cleansers between other reads and think of them as light and fun popcorn. But this latest installment feels more like stale leftovers.

Kappas leans on her signature formula of quirky small-town, unexpected crimes, and Mae West running circles around local law enforcement, and boyfriend, Hank. This time, we get a Hoe Down, a motel grand opening, a suspicious bank robbery, a conveniently timed power outage, and, naturally, a murder. Sprinkle in some cute pups and the ever-gabby Laundry Club ladies, and voilà! Another installment wrapped up with a bow.

To be fair, the series does a solid job of random onboarding with quick introductions to key characters and town dynamics, so you won't feel lost even if you’re landing in mid-series. But for longtime fans, the narrative pattern is starting to show its wear. It’s like déjà vu with a southern twang.

Rumor has it Hallmark may be eyeing this for adaptation. That tidbit’s been floating around for a while, though, so it’s hard to tell if it's a real possibility or just wishful thinking.

Monday, August 4, 2025

Love on the Brain

Title: Love on the Brain
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Published: August 23, 2022 by Sphere
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
Genre: Romance

Blurb: Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project - a literal dream come true - Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.

Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school - archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

But when her equipment starts to go missing and the staff ignore her, Bee could swear she sees Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas... devouring her with those eyes. The possibilities have all her neurons firing.

But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?

My Opinion: It’s funny. It’s goofy. It’s grounded in glorious miscommunication and the delicious chaos of smart people who can’t read a room. That’s the best way to sum up Love on the Brain. Ali Hazelwood’s spicy dive into enemies-to-lovers with a STEM twist.

This was my second Hazelwood read after Love, Theoretically, and I’m happy to say it delivers the same sharp wit, swoony tension, and heart-squishing charm. Bee Königswasser, a petite neuroengineering nerd who might worship at the altar of Marie Curie if she weren’t busy trying to survive NASA bureaucracy, project sabotage, and the confusing signals coming from her broody co-lead.

Levi Ward is tall, handsome, and radiates frustration behind piercing green eyes. Compared to Bee’s petite, chaotic brilliance, and signature Target dress aesthetic. Levi’s is the epitome of quietly tortured intellect. Bee will poke all his buttons. That mismatch leads to some amusing physical logistics down the line, but Hazelwood makes the journey to that point fun. Their banter alone is worth the price of the book. The email chain between “Marie” and “Shmacademics” is heartfelt in the way that “if they only knew” tugs at you. It’s the kind of dialogue that’ll have readers grinning and shaking their heads.

Just as things begin to move in the right direction, the inevitable wrench is thrown. A failed project. A haunted past. One partner is ready to fight. The other is unsure if she’s even worth the battle. Cue drama. Cue longing. Cue Hazelwood’s signature ability to twist the knife just enough before healing the wound with warmth and connection.

Do I understand the science? Not a clue. Do I care? Nope. That’s not what this book is about, and frankly, that’s not why Hazelwood fans keep coming back. We’re here for the tension, the heart, and yes, the spice. And it’s all there.

If you're into rom-coms with brainpower, snark, and bite, Love on the Brain won’t disappoint. Consider me officially invested in Hazelwood’s STEM standalones.