Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

A stitch in time by Kelley Armstrong

Narrated by: Samantha Brentmoor

Series: A Stitch in Time, Book 1

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Release date: 10-13-20

Publisher: K.L.A. Fricke Inc

Categories: Literature & Fiction/

Historical mystery romance /own

I really enjoyed her books so I wanted to try this series too, and, well it was good, just not AS great as her other timetravel or her thriller books. Just like when I read her romance and it was meh.

Bronwyn inherits a house, a house that made her timetravel as a kid, a house that made her see ghosts. And so she goes back in time and this time meets the boy she played as a grown man. William is the owner of the manor house and townspeople find him weird and tell tales...

Something is going on. There is an angry ghost, scared ghosts. And Brownwyn is falling for William.

I did like it, but not as much. I could continue, but eh, I will rather use my credits on new things. As there are new people that time travels in the next one.

Thorne Manor has always been haunted...and it has always haunted Bronwyn Dale. As a young girl, Bronwyn could pass through a time slip in her great-aunt’s house, where she visited William Thorne, a boy her own age, born two centuries earlier. After a family tragedy, the house was shuttered and Bronwyn was convinced that William existed only in her imagination. Now, twenty years later Bronwyn inherits Thorne Manor. And when she returns, William is waiting.

William Thorne is no longer the boy she remembers. He’s a difficult and tempestuous man, his own life marred by tragedy and a scandal that had him retreating to self-imposed exile in his beloved moors. He’s also none too pleased with Bronwyn for abandoning him all those years ago.

As their friendship rekindles and sparks into something more, Bronwyn must also deal with ghosts in the present version of the house. Soon she realizes they are linked to William and the secret scandal that drove him back to Thorne Manor. To build a future, Bronwyn must confront the past.

Tuesday, 23 June 2026

TMST

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating,

6/23/2026 Do you have any summer plans? If not, what would you like to do?

Not really, we usually do do a daytrip and the plans are more like, ohhh look at that sign, let´s go there. It might begin with a plan and then we do more things. Last year we started with going to the biggest crater lake in Europe, and ended with going to this famous beach with amazing dunes.

I usually just want to chill and read

6/30/2026 Mid-Year Check-In: What books have you loved so far in 2026?

If you are interested in participating in TMST or receiving periodic emails that list the upcoming TMST topics and questions, please fill out this GOOGLE FORM. Participation is optional and never required.

Monday, 22 June 2026

Carole´s Monday: Off-Campus

Author: Elle Kennedy

Title: The Deal

Series: Off-Campus #1

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: ebook

Pages: 342

Published: February 24, 2015

Where I got It: Borrowed from library

Summary:

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

...and it’s going to be oh so good

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

Review:

This FINALLY arrived from the library! I think with this becoming a show, it has become very popular again.

Here we have Hannah and Garrett. The two couldn't be more different. He's a hockey player and doesn't date. He only cares about hockey... school is secondary. Hannah is in the music program and has a lot of baggage from her past that she thought she left behind. Garrett needs help passing a test to stay on the college hockey team. Hannah helps if he can help her bag the cute boy.

The beginning was a little rough for me. It took me a few chapters to get sucked in, but once I was sucked in, I couldn't stop reading. I adored our two mains here...esp Hannah. Awww.

I loved watching them go from strangers to study-partners to friends to lovers to more. It was lovely, and the transition worked for them. They needed the time to find love.

There is some drama, especially with what happened to Hannah in High School and with Garrett's asshole dad. However, it felt naturally dealt with. It wasn't a soap opera or swept away quickly; I appreciated how the author dealt with these issues. They are serious but didn't derail the story.

There are some cringe dialogue, but not as much as the spin-off. This felt more natural. I wonder if she was trying too hard in the other one?

But yes, I really liked this one. I am tempted to keep going. I might even watch the show! ;)

4 stars.

Reading Challenges:

- Library Love #16

Saturday, 20 June 2026

The wedding people by Alison Espach

Format: 367 pages, Paperback

Published: July 3, 2025 by Phoenix

Lit fic/own

This one was boring on one hand, and interesting on the other hand. I am very conflicted. I was bored at time, but I also really wanted to know what would happen.

I also got really annoyed when Pheobe said that women read romance novels to get an orgasm. Ok FU Pheobe, that was uncalled for. Does the author think the same? That all romance novels are pRon?

Anyway, Phoebe was left by her husband and goes to a Hotel to kill herself. It seems there was a mistake and she shouldn't have gotten a room cos a wedding party has booked everything. Long story short, the bride shows up, Phoebe tells the truth. The bride says no! This is her wedding and Phoebe can not kill herself. Little by little Phoebe gets involved in the wedding and sees that everything is not as it should be.

So obviously I wanted to know if Phoebe would kill herself. Then I wanted to see what happened to the wedding. There was always something new to get invested in.

A good book, also a boring book in the beginning. But still a book where you want to know if she can be happy again.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, without luggage, alone. Everyone in the lobby mistakes her for one of the wedding people at an impending wedding on the site, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t there for the big event.

Phoebe is there because she’s dreamed of coming for years. She hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

Friday, 19 June 2026

The Fisherman by John Langan

Format: 348 pages, Paperback

Published: October 9, 2023 by Canelo

Horror/borrowed

Abe starts fishing when he becomes a widower, then later on he meets Dan, who also lost his wife, and they start fishing together. Soon their fishing will take them to Dutchman´s creek.

I liked the beginning. Abe was really struggling with his grief and fishing saved him. He notices Dan is struggling too and fishing becomes the calm in a storm.

But then it got really boring. They meet this guy at a restaurant and he tells the story of The Dutchman´s creek, and how dangerous it is. And I was like ok some chapters and it is over but it was 200 pages! Luckily after some time it got better. It told the story of a stonemason and his family and then things become darker and darker. And then I was hooked again. It got crazy.

After that we are back at Abe, and he really should not have gone to that creek with Dan. It gets dark again, and that end, damn. I liked that

Yes I did like this horror story, it is more Lovecraftian in its horror.

In upstate New York, within the woods, Dutchman’s Creek flows out of the Ashokan Reservoir. Steep-banked and fast-moving, it offers the promise of fine fishing, and of something more, a possibility too fantastic to be true.

When Abe and Dan, two widowers who have found solace in each other’s company and a shared passion for fishing, hear rumours of the Creek and what might be found there, the remedy to both their losses, they dismiss them. Soon, though, the men find themselves drawn into a tale as deep and old as the Reservoir.

It’s a tale of dark pacts, of long-buried secrets, and of a mysterious figure known as the Fisherman. It will bring Abe and Dan face to face with all that they have lost, and with the price they must pay to regain it.

Wednesday, 17 June 2026

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

Format: 319 pages, Paperback

Published: August 30, 2022 by Berkley

Paranormal/borrowed

So this is listed as a horror. Someone called it pink horror. But yeah there is no horror, it is more a supernatural story.

Annie decides to make a new life as her boyfriend leaves her. This takes her to a teaching job in a small town. There she meets a Fabolous woman! Everyone loves this woman....or do they?

Her and Sophie becomes great friends. Sophie in her big empty house. Spiders. Strange things happening.

But this was about Sophie finding herself and being happy what she finds.

I liked it. It was another easy fun read

All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.

Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem…a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power…but she couldn’t be…could she?

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

TMST

6/16/2026 Have you ever been surprised by a book that you didn't expect to enjoy?

I guess that happens a lot. Like I did not expect to like I who have never known men, but I gave it a go and it was AMAZING!

My friend has been lending me horror books now for 6 months, and well, I have really liked some of them! I did not expect that at all, like Horrostör. I would never have gotten it, but it was so well done.

And that was just the last 2 months :D

6/23/2026 Do you have any summer plans? If not, what would you like to do?

6/30/2026 Mid-Year Check-In: What books have you loved so far in 2026?

Monday, 15 June 2026

Carole's Monday. Murder ar Raven's edge

Author: Louise Marley

Narrator: Christopher Bonwell
Title: Murder at Raven's Edge

Series: An English Village Mystery #1

Genre: Murder Mystery, Thriller, Romance
Format: Audiobook
Published: May 7, 2024
Where I Got It: Audible

Summary:

When Milla Graham returns to her childhood home of Raven's Edge after eighteen long years away, she finds the perfect English village looks much the same – all rose-covered cottages, nosy neighbours, and chintzy teashops full of scones and gossip.

But her nostalgic visit takes a dark turn when the body of a local woman is discovered in an abandoned manor house on the edge of the forest. The murder scene is chillingly close to that of Milla’s own mother, whose death was never solved. As she begins to investigate the connection, Milla realizes this adorable village is guarding some dark secrets.

Handsome, grumpy local policeman Ben Taylor doesn't believe in coincidences, and he doesn’t think mysterious newcomer Milla Graham is as innocent as she seems. Why is she really here in Raven’s Edge, and how come she keeps turning up at his crime scenes, causing trouble? Can he solve this murder case without losing himself – or his heart – to the rather distracting Miss Graham?

When another body is found, everyone becomes a suspect – from the barmaid at the local pub to Milla Graham herself. It seems that in Raven's Edge, not everybody is as friendly, or as innocent, as they first seem...

Review:

This was my pick for book club!

Here we follow Milla and Ben. Ben is a grouchy policeman who doesn't believe in coincidences, and he doesn't trust newcomer Milla Graham. Why is she really here in Raven's Edge? How come she keeps turning up at his crime scenes? There is a murder, and she is connected somehow. Milla returns home to Raven's Edge after 18 years. She is here to figure out who really killed her mother and why. When a body shows up that is eerily similar to her mother's...she knows that her life could be in danger. Can she trust Ben? Can she trust herself?

It took me a minute to get fully into the story. I didn't like Milla. I didn't trust her. Every other word is a lie. I guess I'm a grumpy man like Ben hahahaha. But once we really got past her web of lies to others and to herself, I grew to like her. I wanted the truth to come out.

Honestly... my biggest takeaway from this book is that if people told the truth, none of this would have happened! Yes, some lies were meant to protect, but in the end...it made things worse. I wanted to shake everyone. THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREEEEEEE!

I enjoyed the mystery and uncovering it. There were times I was super confused, but then by the end it ALL made sense. The ending made me happy.

The narrator did an okay job. His voices for characters weren't that different, so you really had to pay attention.

Overall, I did end up liking this story. The beginning and the one main character were a slow start for me, but it was worth it. Nice mystery and interesting charatcers. I know there was a murder there...but can I move to the town? It sounds like an adorable small town.

4 stars from me.

Reading Challenges

- Audiobook #24

Saturday, 13 June 2026

Audio: So material a change

By: Amy D'Orazio

Narrated by: Stevie Zimmerman

Series: The Engaged to Mr Darcy Series

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Release date: 09-15-21

Publisher: Quills & Quartos Publishing

Own

Another engaged to Darcy book!

In this one someone tries to compromise Darcy and he ends up blurting out he is already engaged...to Lizzy! She says she can play along for a little while, but that is it. The she goes home and Collins proposes. And her mother and father tells her she must marry. So then she also blurts out that she is already engaged.

Both lies. But both better than the alternative.

Caroline is a scheming B. Collins is a creep. Wickham is a creep. Miss Darcy is a mess. Mr Bingley has no spine. Society looks down on Lizzy. They have their work cut out for them.

But as always, it all works out, happily. And I wonder how they will get engaged in the next book.

Great narration too. I enjoy her voice.

MATRIMONY IS THE LAST THING on Elizabeth Bennet's mind when she arrives at Netherfield Park to tend to her ill sister. When proud Mr Darcy acts rashly to thwart a compromise and tells her that the entire household believes they are engaged, she dismisses him outright and refuses his offer of marriage.

BUT MORE SURPRISES AWAIT her at Longbourn. Mr Collins is ready with an offer of marriage and it is not only her mother who thinks it a fine match; Mr Bennet is willing to press the point until Elizabeth makes clear such a connexion is impossible-because she has accepted an offer of marriage from Mr Darcy.

IT IS AN INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNING, an engagement neither desires, driven to by the machinations of others. Yet what begins as a forced alliance soon changes into something quite different. Will it be enough to lead them into love?

Thursday, 11 June 2026

The spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

Series: Spellshop (#1)

Format: 376 pages, Paperback

Published: July 9, 2024 by Tor UK

Cozy fantasy/own

This was a cozy fantasy, I am a bit afraid of those because not a lot happens, but this was sweet.

Kiela is a librarian who flees the city with books as the city burns . She has a talking plant with her and goes back to the island she left long ago. She settles in her parents house and decides to make the best of it.

The islanders are nice, well except for one. There is a nice fisherman too. But she is always afraid the rebellion and the books she took will catch up with her.

I enjoyed it and it was a sweet and easy read. I will def read more

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Wednesday, 10 June 2026

Audio: Nobody´s quest by Alyssa Day

Narrated by: Maeve York

Series: The Nobody Chronicles, Book 1

Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins

Release date: 06-02-26

Publisher: Tantor Media

Categories: Romance, Fantasy /to review

Soli is an indentured servant and will be that for the rest of her life. She is a nobody, and something called a greymind that makes her mind slip away at times.

And then she is dragged away with others to try and put their hand in a box. And if they burn they are the wrong person. Well that is not good.

She is the chosen one, as she is not dead. But she probably will be as she and some others are going on a quest to save their missing Goddess. Through lands ravaged by war and monsters.

There will be some romantic tension growing on this quest. There will be danger, and hopefully some answers for her greymind situation. But as it ends the journey is not over, but just beginning.

I enjoyed it, and I wonder if they will get to save their missing Goddess.

The narrator was also well done, and she did different voices well.

For a hundred years, Altarra has burned. The goddess of war, Morrigan, has conquered kingdom after kingdom, leaving only ruin in her wake. Every prophecy says the same thing―nobody can defeat her. And after a century of failure, someone finally takes that literally.

When the goddess Artemisen chooses Soli Graymind―a nobody from the lowest caste who suffers from chronic depression―to lead one last desperate quest, the world laughs. But Soli won't be alone. She's joined by five others just as broken, just as A thief with no Guild. A noble with no wealth. A sorcerer with no hope. A warrior with no morals. And a prince with no kingdom―the one man she can't stop thinking about, even when hope itself is dying.

Together, they are Altarra's last chance.

Because maybe being a "nobody" is more powerful than anyone imagines―including themselves.

Tuesday, 9 June 2026

TMST

6/9/2026 What’s your favourite board/card game?

Well, I only play kids games. Labyrint the board game is fun, UNO is fun. What else do we have? Scrabble is fun! Ohh I always wanted to pay Cluedo and see if we could play that.

6/16/2026 Have you ever been surprised by a book that you didn't expect to enjoy?

6/23/2026 Do you have any summer plans? If not, what would you like to do?

6/30/2026 Mid-Year Check-In: What books have you loved so far in 2026?

Monday, 8 June 2026

Carole's Monday: Whisper of Sin by Nalini Singh

Author: Nalini Singh

Title: Whisper of Sin

Series: Psy-Changeling #0.75

Genre: PNR, Fantasy, Novella, Short Story

Format: ebook

Pages: 80

Published: August 3, 2010

Where I got It: Borrowed from library

Summary:

San Francisco is under threat from a violent gang…a gang that has no idea who they’re challenging. The DarkRiver pack of leopard changelings has already claimed the city as their territory, and they will fight with wild fury to protect its residents. Emmett, a lethally trained leopard soldier, isn’t about to let outsiders muscle in on his home ground—especially when they target a human named Ria.

Emmett has one word for the smart stranger with her curvy body and tough mine.

Possessive, dominant, unyielding in his demands and desires, Emmett is unlike anyone Ria has ever before met. But while the sexy leopard changeling makes her body ignite, his kisses molten and his touch addicting, she’s no pushover and she has a few demands of her own. This leopard has met his match…

Review:

I've really been feeling these quick PNRs of this series! Not sure why, but it's been all I want to read.

Here we have Emmett and Ria. There is a violent gang causing trouble and thinking they can take on the DarkRiver. Things go from bad to worse when they target Ria. Emmett will never let anything happen to his human. His? Uh-oh.

Emmett was fun, and I liked Ria a lot. I think I really adore human/changeling a bit more. We got a nice break from the Psy issues.

Dumb gang. SMH.

This was quick and just what the doctor ordered.

This was short but perfect. Mystery, action, passion, and even some humor! It hit all the marks and quickly.

I'll give this 5 stars.

Reading Challenges:

- Library Love #14

Sunday, 7 June 2026

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

Format: 309 pages, Paperback

Published: April 22, 2025 by Bloomsbury Publishing

Litfic/own

This book had calm pace, and sure not a lot happened, but it was good and sometimes you will just drift along.

It is about Yeongju who is burned out and opens a bookstore. At first it goes, not so well, but little by little she finds herself and the bookstore starts to to become a place people wants to visit.

She meets new people who becomes friends. The man who cant find a job and becomes a barista. A student unsure about his path in life, a office guy turned writer, a woman who turns about and just stares for hours. They all have their reason and they all fall in love with the bookshop.

Have I heard about Korean work ethics? Sure, but damn, no wonder people are burned out. And there is a lot of talk about that here. People who work until midnight, go home and start again. People who have non permanent positions but are not given real ones because they are easy to fire. And then those who downtrade, they have a better job but then do a lesser one. But are happier, still society values those better jobs more.

Will this bookshop thrive? Who knows, but Yeongju and the people she has met will do their best.

I enjoyed it, but yes it is a slower one and about people. You just have to go with the flow.

Yeongju is burned out. With her high-flying career, demanding marriage, and busy life in Seoul, she knows she should feel successful, but all she feels is drained. Yet an abandoned dream nags at her, and in a leap of faith, she leaves her old life behind. After quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeongju moves to a small residential neighborhood outside the city, where she opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.

For the first few months all Yeongju does is cry, but the long hours in the shop also give her time to mull over what makes a good bookseller and store. As she starts to read hungrily, host author events, and develop her own bookselling philosophy, she eases into her new setting. Surrounded by friends, writers, and the books that connect them all, she finds her new story as the Hyunam-dong Bookshop transforms into an inviting space for lost souls to rest, heal, and remember it's never too late to scrap the plot and start again.

Thursday, 4 June 2026

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

Format: 248 pages, Paperback

Published: September 23, 2014 by Quirk Books

Horror/borrowed

First of all, the book itself is a masterpiece. It is built like an Ikea catalogue with pictures of furniture (that get darker), notices from Orsk and more. A real masterpiece that really builds the book. They were as fun reading as the book itself.

As for the book, sure sure it was Orsk ;) But dang, I am not stepping into an Ikea again after this.

Amy is rather tired of her job at Orsk, and then her boss tells her and another employee that they must stay overnight cos someone vandalizes the store. And soon things turn dark. So very dark.

I really had to know what happened because this was scary. A total nightmare. But so very good! And the end srsly! I would read more.

I really enjoyed this one

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.

To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör is designed to retain its luster and natural appearance for a lifetime of use. Pleasingly proportioned with generous French flaps and a softcover binding, Horrorstör delivers the psychological terror you need in the elegant package you deserve.

Wednesday, 3 June 2026

We used to live here by Marcus Kliewer

Format: 312 pages, Paperback

Published: July 1, 2025 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Horror/borrowed

Why did you let those people into your house Eve?!?!?

Eve and Charlie bought an old house that they are renovating. And one day strangers knock on their door asking to be let in, and Eve who is afraid to say no, says yes. Noooooo! Eve, noooooo!

So Charlie is out and we have a family going through the house and a kid hiding, and well when you let them in they will never leave again.

This nightmare slowly grew and grew, and something is in that old house. Eve is starting to loose control and I had no idea what was going on.

I really enjoyed this one, it came to a point where I had to know! And let´s just say, that house is damn creepy.

As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?