Blog

Posted in Audiobooks, Books, Fantasy, Review, Young Adult

Shadows Over London – Audiobook Review

Posted on by Tawny Molina

Shadows Over London is the first book in the Empire of the House of Thorns series by Christian Klaver. This first novel introduces Justice Kasric and her family as they are violently torn from their pleasant lives in Victorian London and tossed into a paranormal war against the Faerie. As if finding out her family is attached to supernatural creatures is not enough, Justice still has to cope with internal family struggles, sibling rivalry, and a mother who downright dislikes her. These are all painfully relatable issues for anyone who is, or was ever, a teenager.

Shadows Over London, like many books in the young adult genre, follows a teenager through the trials of life and the even greater conflicts they find themselves buried. Christain Klaver does a fantastic job of balancing the complications of being a sixteen-year-old girl with the epic war story that builds up around Justice. She and all the characters of this novel are realistic in their behavior and actions, making them solid and believable characters with personalities. The world that our author has built is also fantastic. While Victorian London is well documented, the bits and pieces of Faerie, the fictional side of the war in this series, are creative and colorful and have a delicate balance of common myths and original creations.

As I was given a copy of the audiobook of Shadows Over London to listen, I will take a moment to cover that aspect. Fiona Hardingham’s reading is spectacular. A talented narrator Fiona Hardingham gives us a well spoked and brilliantly acted narration. Each character has a voice that fits perfectly. The narrator’s voice and accent are spot-on for the characters and locations of this novel. In short, I can’t find a single complaint about Shadows Over London and suggest you pick it up.

Posted in Books, Fantasy, Review, Spooky

The False Prophet – Book Review

Posted on by Tawny Molina

The False Prophet by J.M. Hart is the fifth book in her Chronicles of the Supernatural series. This exciting novel, picking up right after book four, Separated by Evil, follows the characters, Jade and Casey, as they travel back to the US and, with the assistance of some of Jade’s native friends who she got close to in a previous book, try to get as many people as they can to a sacred site to prepare for the end of the world. The two go through various physical and emotional complications. Dealing with loss, particularly during an apocalypse, more so when you are still a teenager is difficult.

As this is the fifth book in the series, you can tell J.M. Hart has grasped the characters she has created. They remain in the same vein as in previous books though they also have further development. After five books, how much further can characters develop? Well, you will be amazed! Jade comes into her own in this novel, and Casey manages to at least cope with the difficulties he has been facing. The story of this novel is as exciting as the previous ones. The high-stakes feeling remains in most of the actions of the characters. The story itself remains compelling, and you are on the edge of your seat, wondering what will become of the survivors. Will they get to ascend?

Like the rest of J.M. Hart’s work, this book is worth picking up. However, I can not wait till the last book comes out!

Posted in Books, History, Review

Real Women of the Regency – Book Review

Posted on by Tawny Molina

Real Women of the Regency by Leah Gail is an entertaining dive into history. Written in a casual tone this book is easy to read and follow. While not as in-depth as if we were presented with the work of each individual covered in the book, in fact, in some cases, there is so little known of the women mentioned that their book would be impossible, we are still given a fair amount of information on each one. We are given information on romances, fashion, authors, etc. Some of the information is widely known. Other bits I was excited to learn. As a reader from the US, I found some of the information on Regency UK and Europe to be particularly interesting. For instance, women who worked towards abolishing slavery in the UK are not something they cover in our schooling over here. (They barely cover it in our own case.)

Back to the book. As said above, Leah Gail’s writing is easy to follow, and she moves smoothly between each individual covering several women in each chapter. We are given dates of birth, where they are known, the most well-known details of each individual, and eventually, the date of their passing. Despite the many lives covered in this book, each woman seems to be given the perfect amount of time needed to tell their story. None of the tales feel rushed. So if you are looking for an entertaining and informative view of Regency-era women, you should certainly pick this one up.

Posted in Books, Novella, Review, Thriller

Darcy Lane – Book Review

Posted on by Tawny Molina

Darcy Lane by James T. Graham is an exciting novella following the journey of Elise Rose, a young woman fresh out of a mental health unit, as she tries to cope with her childhood trauma and the difficulties of readjusting to the world after two years in a medical facility. I will state from the beginning this novella is dark. It starts on a particularly dark note and remains pretty level with this first violent act for the remainder of the story. So if you have any qualms about murder, child negligence, or alcoholism, I strongly suggest you avoid this. However, for everyone else, this simple yet intriguing story will keep you wondering what will happen next.

James T. Graham’s writing is simple to follow. He does not use needlessly large words to describe the very dark and complex situations that Elise goes through. This is good and allows the reader to focus more closely on the problems. A reader with experience in mental health issues, either firsthand or through someone else, may quickly recognize Elise going through some very common and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Graham has done a great job displaying these mental complications without making them seem cartoonish, a common issue with many writers regarding certain mental illnesses. Now moving on from the mental health aspects of this novella, the plot is entertaining and moves rapidly. I found myself constantly wondering what was going to happen next.

Pick up this book if you want an entertaining and quick read.

Posted in Books, Chapbook, Paranormal, Reviews, Short Stories

Family Curses Field Notebooks (1880-2020) Chapbook Review!

Posted on by Tawny Molina

Family Curses Field Notebooks (1880-2020) by Tenacity Plys is concise but exciting. I read this short story in a cute little chapbook-style printing that was mailed to me. At 33 pages, it’s definitely a short story, but the fact that it is delivered in such a nice packet with a pleasant paper texture fulfills the physical need I and many others require from our books. More so as you work your way through the story and realize what the cover is displaying. Now this chapbook is more than your usual short story. We are given quite a bit in the 33 pages. The story follows Virgil Sykes as they clean out their aunt’s attic and stumble onto the writing of another aunt, which contains more papers inside it!

We have four characters in Family Curses, Virgil Sykes, whose writing is dated 2020, and their aunt Virginia who’s writing took place in 1993. Her uncle who’s essays took place in 1965, and finally, his father who’s writings took place in 1880. Now you might fear that having four different voices in one 33-page book might be confusing but fear not! This short story is written clearly, with each writing set denoted clearly. It reads much like a textbook with various brackets and footnotes that allow you to get each writer’s opinions. My only complaint is how this short story comes to a close! I want to know what happened, darn it! Honestly, not knowing what happened at the end of a book is like saying you just got a bite of your least favorite candy bar. It is still fantastic. This is a must-read! Go pick it up!

Posted in Books, Review, Science fiction

Dark Cascade – Book Review

Posted on by Tawny Molina


Dark Cascade (Galacticide) by Bert-Oliver Boehmer is a sprawling space epic that ranges multiple races and characters, soaring through dark voids and zealous AIs and reality-bending multi-universe concepts. This story follows Kel Chaada as he travels through the galaxy attempting to prevent another galaxy-wide devastating event by taking the fight directly to the enemy’s home. This story is filled to the brim with amazingly creative alien races, some humanoid some as far away from human concepts as possible. It is difficult, to sum up, this novel in a way that will give it any credit as so much happens. And the whole ordeal is exciting!

I honestly am finding it hard to describe this fantastic novel in a limited word count. This novel offers so much from the fantastic super dramatic aspects expected of a space drama to science fiction world-building that puts many a classic to shame. I found the alien races, in particular, to be particularly interesting to read about. Many science fiction novels will pile on hundreds of humanoid aliens never really departing from what we know. The races in Bert-Oliver Boehmer’s work are so varied that I can not even list them here. As stated before the world-building of Dark Cascade is heavy and multi-layered, you can tell a lot of time and love went into this book. I know after reading this I plan on going back to read more of Boehmer’s work. I would suggest any sci-fi fan does the same. Totally worth it!

Reviewed for Reader’s Favorite

Posted in Books, Dystopian, Review, Reviews, Science fiction

Dusk Upon Elysium – Book Review

Posted on by Tawny Molina

Dusk Upon Elysium follows Geoff as he does his best to cope in a world that has been overcome by the dreadful Nergal virus, a terrible disease said to have infected even plants and animals. Locked away inside small enclosed homes with only government-distributed work and food to keep them busy, the people of the world trudge along assuming what they are told by the news outlets is true. There is hope, however. A virtual reality program called Paradiso allows people to escape their troubles and reality into the paradise they always wished they could have had before their lives were torn apart by disease and questionable government tactics. nothing bad could come from this situation. What could happen here?

I found Dusk Upon Elysium to be a really exciting book one that I found managed to skirt the line of being just similar enough to our post-COVID reality without being too close for comfort. That nearness in the story, while done in many a dystopian novel, particularly the ones written in the last few years, is particularly well done by Tamel Wino in this novel. I found the slight hint of biological horror and the ideas of what could be happening outside of the assumed safe homes of the people of the world intriguing. Even more so I found the mental tribulations of the people of the story even more exciting. Geoff and other characters are thrown through a variety of mental turmoil that is both relatable and traumatizing. 

Reviewed for Reader’s Favorite

Posted in Audiobooks, Books, romance, steamy

Blood of Zeus – Book Review

Posted on by Tawny Molina

I found the Blood of Zeus audiobook while scrounging around on my local library’s website. This steamy romance novel by Meredith Wild and Angel Payne. I had never read either work before but I am always excited to pick up an audiobook. So I snatched up this discovery and brought it home to listen to. Now I am one of those strange people that still have a CD player just in case of audiobooks so I was able to enjoy this in a seven-disc format. Don’t worry you can also find it on Audible or just read it if you like.

Blood of Zeus is the first in a series, while I have not yet read the rest of this steamy series much of the story was rather entertaining. The involvement of mythology creatures both demonic and godly was given an interesting tie-in to this story, though I do wish this first book had more background information. Unfortunately despite enjoying the story at the moment, I doubt the series had enough substance to make me want to come back to it, at least not till I whittle down my TBR a bit further. Maybe I will come back.

Posted in Books, Non-fiction, Spooky

Haunted Tampa – Spirits of the Bay – Book Review

Posted on by Tawny Molina

So as many of my review readers know, I do not often touch non-fiction, and even less often do I publicly review any non-fiction books based on local areas. Why? Because the majority of the people who read my blog are international, there isn’t much desire on their end to read books about the area I live in. However while once again wandering the website of my locale county library I tumbled upon Haunted Tampa Spirits of the Bay by Deborah Frethem so I figured I have lived in this area for a long time now, I might as well take a peak in at its creepy background. 

While I intended this to be a casual spooky Halloween read it ended up being a bit of a black hole of study as I study as I found myself Googling most of the locations mentioned in the book. Sure I’d driven past pretty much all these spots at least once but there were a few I missed. The information from the book had been fantastic tidbits that made me want to go out and find some more information. This was mostly due to the fact that the book is now quite old as far as non-fiction goes and some of the details were obsolete but certainly entertaining none the less.

If you are from the Tampa Bay area, or visited, or just like spooky knowledge, this may be an entertaining read for you.\