Carole´s Monday: Sight Unseen by Alexis Marie

 

Author: Alexis Marie

Title: Sight Unseen

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Mystery

Format: ebook

Pages: 393

Published: March 1, 2026

Where I got It: My shelf (Goodreads giveaway)

Summary: 

Veda Thorne is living on borrowed time. After exhausting every magical cure for the fatal curse trapped inside her, she’s accepted her fate. But Veda’s self-imposed isolation begins to crack when she’s asked to tutor Antaris, a child whose pain calls to her own.

Hiram Ellis left his wealthy, prejudiced family years ago. Now unexpectedly thrust into single fatherhood, he returns to his hometown, determined to build a life far from the cold privilege that stifled his own childhood. The last thing he expects is to be drawn to the fiercely protective, sharp-tongued woman helping his son.

When a trail of enchanted spider lilies leads Hiram and Veda to discover their deadly tie to a prolific serial killer, they’re forced to set aside their differences to unearth long-buried secrets. But the truth is as deadly as Veda’s curse, and both come at a devastating cost. As victims mount and motives emerge, their greatest challenge is choosing to trust and love each other.

Review:

Yayy. Another random giveaway book that I won! Weeee! 

Note - even though I was given this in a giveaway, my review will be honest and unbiased. 

In this one, we follow Veda and Hiram. Veda is living on borrowed time because of the curse that was placed on her. She wants to just live and be left alone. However, her isolation cracks when she is asked to tutor a boy whose recent loss resonates with her. Hiram left his wealthy, but prejudiced, family years ago. He wants nothing to do with them or to be like him. Fatherhood is dropped on his lap. He had no idea his ex had a baby, and now that she is passed, he will do his best to give his son the life and upbringing he never had. He hires Veda to help get his son on track, but he didn't expect to fall for her. On top of all this, there is a trail of spider lilies that is pointing to a serial killer. The two will have to put aside their differences and figure out what is going on. 

This book was a roller coaster for me. One moment, I was glued to the pages and couldn't stop reading. The next moment.....I was clock-watching and bored. And then I was itching for more and wanted more. Def all over the board with this one. 

I went back and forth on how I felt about Veda. I liked Hiram. The kid was sweet. Poor angel.

Peter was nice. I would've liked more of him. 

Some of the side characters seemed cool, but we needed more time with them. Some felt a little....2D?

The mystery was interesting enough. It didn't get really good until a tipping point.

The ending was lovely. Nice bow there. 

Honestly, I would've loved more romance. Yes, yes, I did enjoy the enemies-to-lovers aspect, but it took SOOOO long. A hair too long for my liking. Maybe a few more kisses would've been nice. Oh! Maybe a scene or two of them being close to kissing after fighting. 

Overall, this had a lot of potential, and it would make for a nice series, methinks. I would love to explore more of the world and the system. Maybe some side characters can have their moment in the sun. I wanted more out of this, but I did enjoy lots of it. Thus why it was an emotional roller coaster for me. The parts I liked...I LOVED. The parts I didn't like? Meh.

3 stars. 

Reading Challenges:

- Reading Romance Challenge #14 (Published 2026)

Audio: Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong

Narrated by: Kate Handford

Series: Book 4,  A Rip Through Time 

Release date: 05-20-25

Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Historical mystery/own

Yay, I read one more! This one was a tad different. They all travel to attend a wedding, but of course there is a murder. They do want to investigate, but the local police (a tool) is in charge.

Mallory accompanies Gray, Isla and Mccreadie to his sister´s wedding. She is again put in that weird position as she is not staff, but she is not a real guest either. And most people do think she might be Gray´s mistress (she wish).

That whole thing is something they do think about here. She thinks about Gray´s reputation, he thinks about her. And they do totally fancy each other.

Murder. Who did it? They dig deeper, and try to stay out of the sight of the local cop.

A good mystery with deep disturbing roots. I liked this installment. It was fun to see them away from the city

Great narration. She is always good

After slipping 150 years into the past, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson has embraced her new life in Victorian Scotland as housemaid Catriona Mitchel. Although it isn’t what she expected, she's developed real, meaningful relationships with the people around her and has come to love her role as assistant to undertaker Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie.

Mallory, Gray, and McCreadie are on their way to the Scottish Highlands for McCreadie's younger sister's wedding. The McCreadies and the groom’s family, the Cranstons, have a complicated history which has made the weekend quite uncomfortable. But the Cranston estate is beautiful so Gray and Mallory decide to escape the stifling company and set off to explore the castle and surrounding wilderness. They discover that the groom, Archie Cranston, a slightly pompous and prickly man, has set up deadly traps in the woods for the endangered Scottish wildcats, and they soon come across a cat who's been caught and severely injured. Oddly, Mallory notices the cat's injuries don't match up with the intricacies of the trap. These strange irregularities, combined with the secretive and erratic behavior of the groom, put Mallory and Duncan on edge. And then when one of the guests is murdered, they must work fast to uncover the murderer before another life is lost.

Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong

Series: Haven's Rock (#3)

Format: 368 pages, Paperback

Published: February 17, 2026 by Minotaur Books

Thriller/own

Srsly, how do they do it? They built a new town and still there are murders! Poor Casey, she is 8 months pregnant, and it is a risky pregnancy. And now someone is almost take, and then they later do find a dead naked body. They tried so hard getting the right people in, people who needed to disappear, who were in danger. And still someone snuck in. Or was it an outsider?

Casey and Eric is on the case, suspects are many. But the who and why? And she is supposed to take it easy!

Haven´s rock is up there with Rockton now, places I would not want to live in. Nope. But then you never really know anyone. Nowhere is safe from psychos.

Fast and easy read. Thrilling. I did not see it coming

Haven’s Rock is a sanctuary town hidden deep in the Yukon for those who need to disappear from the regular world. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are starting a family now that they’ve settled into their life here. As Casey nears the end of her pregnancy, she lets nothing, including her worried husband, stop her from investigating what happens in the forbidden forest outside the town of Haven’s Rock.

When one of the town's residents is drugged and wanders too close to the edge of town, she’s dragged into the woods kicking and screaming. She’s saved in the nick of time, but the women of the town are alarmed. Casey and Eric investigate the assault just as a snowstorm hits Haven’s Rock, covering the forest. It’s there they find a frozen body, naked in the snow. With mixed accounts of the woman's last movements, the two begin to question who they can trust—and who they can't—in their seemingly safe haven.

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis

Format: 368 pages, Hardcover

Published:  May 27, 2025 by Titan

Urban fantasy/own

Well this was different, and it really has a lot to do with the PTA.

Vivian´s daughter is horribly mutilated and bit by a werewolf...and now she is one! Wtf to do?! The werewolf clan gets them into a magical school, but life is hard.

Everyone has powers. There are sirens, wizards, you name it. And Aria stands out, not everyone is all shifter friendly. And who knew kindergarten was a cut throat business? You have to do well in 3 trials cos else you are kicked out of school.

Vivian navigates trying to prepare her child for kindergarten, the trials, a scary prophecy going around, and even scarier PTA ladies. It is hard to know who your friend is.

I liked it, but it took a few chapters, mostly cos we were as thrown into this world as Vivian was.

Two parents and their recently-bitten-werewolf daughter try to fit into a privileged New England society of magic aristocracy. But deadly terrors await them – ancient prophecies, remorseless magical trials, hidden conspiracies and the PTA bake sale.

When Vivian’s kindergartner, Aria, gets bitten by a werewolf, she is rapidly inducted into the hidden community of magical schools. Reeling from their sudden move, Vivian finds herself having to pick the right sacrificial dagger for Aria, keep stocked up on chew toys and play PTA politics with sirens and chthonic nymphs and people who literally can set her hair on fire.

As Vivian careens from hellhounds in the school corridors and demons at the talent show, she races to keep up with all the arcane secrets of her new society – shops only accessible by magic portal, the brutal Trials to enter high school, and the eternal inferno that is the parents’ WhatsApp group.

And looming over everything is a prophecy of doom that sounds suspiciously like it’s about Aria. Vivian might be facing the end of days, just as soon as she can get her daughter dressed and out of the door…