It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (March 10, 2025)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

This was generally a nice quiet week. My big excitement was getting a haircut. It's the first time I've had bangs for many, many years. The cut is still a work in progress. I think I want to go still shorter next time its cut. 

We had a bit of snow - enough to cover the spots of bare ground - last Wednesday. Warm weather since has melted that new snow but not made inroads on the remaining snow cover yet. We are set to break a high temperature record today. It's already 48F with 53F expected. Tomorrow should be even warmer with 57F expected. There should be lots of melting. Temperatures will cool by the middle of the week, and we might get a little bit more snow. 

Bill has someone stopping by after work to see if they want to buy his 2003 Outback. He hasn't advertised but was talking about it at work and a fellow employee's boyfriend happens to be looking for another car. Fingers crossed that we can soon go from a four-car family to a three-car family (which still seems excessive for two people.)

I should bake some bread but think I'm going to read. I have a couple of books to read before my March calendar is full. I have set up the posts for my April calendar, but I need to finish getting them ready for my thoughts. So far, they are just placeholders. The audiobooks I chose are mostly ones that have been on the TBR stack for at least a couple of years. The Kindle books that aren't review books are ones I've received in 2025. I buy many more books than I have time to read especially considering that I enjoy rereading old favorites, but I can reduce the number I carry over from 2025, I hope.

Read Last Week

• The Lady Sparks a Flame by Elizabeth Everett (Review; March 25) -- Historical romance set in 1845. My review will be posted on March 19.
• Witness in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)
• Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell (Review; March 25) -- Set in the Marvel Universe, this novel tells Jessica Jones' story. My review will be posted on March 20.

• Judgment in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)
• Betrayal in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)
• Dead Post Society by Diane Kelly (Review; April 1) -- Seventh in the House Flippers Mysteries had Whitney trying to solve a forty-year-old crime that first looked like a murder suicide but was a murder. My review will be posted on March 25.

• The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chen (Review; April 1) -- Eleventh in the Noodle Shop Mysteries. First person narrative. My review will be posted on March 25.
• Seduction in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)
• Reunion in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread)

Currently

• A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (Review; April 1)
• Written in Stone by Paige Shelton (Review; April 1)

Next Week

• The Wind Weaver by Julie Johnson (Review; April 8)
• Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd (Review; April 8)
• A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper (Review; April 8)

• Executive Order by Max Allan Collins (Audiobook; Mine since June 28, 2024)
• Undone by Blake Pierce (Kindle, Mine since December 16, 2022)
• One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman (Review; April 15)

Reviews Posted

• Born in Ice by Nora Roberts (Chirp Audiobook)
• The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli (Review copy)
• Shadow Beasts by Nellie H. Steele (Chirp Audiobook)

• Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn (Review copy)
• White King by Juan Gomez-Jurado (Review copy)
• Code Word Romance by Callie Walker (Review copy)

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:

• The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos (Review; July 8)
• The Deepest Cut by P. J. Tracy (Review; September 9)
• Dying Cry by Margaret Mizushima (Review; October 14)

Bought:

• Friends Indeed by David Weber & Jane Lindskold (Kindle, $9.99 after Rewards; Audiobook Add-On, $7.47)
• Soothsayer by Mike Resnick (Early Bird, $1.99)

• The Third Circle by Amanda Quick (Chirp Audiobook, $3.99)
• Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz (Chirp Audiobook, $3.99)
• Second Sight by Amanda Quick (Chirp Audiobook, $3.99)

• Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh (BookBub for $.99, Audible Add-On for $2.66)
• A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley (BookBur for $1.99; Audiobook - Audible Plus)

What was your week like?

ARC Review: Code Word Romance by Callie Walker

Code Word Romance
Author: Callie Walker
Publication: Berkley (March 18, 2025)

Description: One fake prime minister, one ridiculously hot handler, and one Italian summer collide in this thrilling adventure rom-com.

Max is just your average girl. She works odd jobs, has a soul-crushing amount of debt, and happens to bear an uncanny resemblance to Europe’s youngest female prime minister, Sofia Christensen. Sofia is powerful, beautiful—and unfortunately, someone is trying quite hard to assassinate her.

When the CIA approaches Max with a deal, a life-changing amount of money if she pretends to be Sofia on the prime minister’s annual Italian vacation, Max packs her bags for the Amalfi Coast. The delicious food, the breathtaking views—this trip would be a dream if it weren’t for those pesky assassins and Flynn, the handler assigned to Max’s case. Flynn, who has an unexpected history with Max, from another sun-drenched summer years and years ago. Now he’s instructed to stay in Max’s suite to protect her, as old passions and assassins collide.

Losing herself in the role of a prime minister is one thing. But losing her heart to Flynn again? Now that’s a risk she isn’t willing to take . . .

My Thoughts: This romance is the story of a young chef who lost everything in the pandemic, is vastly in debt, and guilty for losing the money of people she loves, who gets a chance to be the body double of the youngest Prime Minister in Europe who is facing assassination. 

Max finds herself in Italy with a CIA handler with whom she has a past. Flynn was the summer boyfriend she lost track of when she was a teen. They had a wonderful summer romance in Kennebunkport, Maine, and never saw each other again -- until now. 

It seems that neither the CIA nor Max are told the whole story since Max finds herself with a seeming horde of assassins on her trail. But while running from assassins and pretending to be a Prime Minister, Max finds what she has lost - love and a sense of optimism about the future. 

This was a fun story. Her roommate Kevin adds a lot of comic relief to the story and might be my favorite character of all. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Code Word Romance by Callie Walker

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

Beginning:

Night air slaps my face. We're speeding faster on the motorcycle, swerving around a restaurant with patio tables, and I accidentally clip one, rattling several plates full of antipasti.

Friday 56:

"I've been thinking," I tell Flynn from the back seat, eyes almost watering at the corners. "If someone did get to the PM, what're they going to think when my face is splashed all over the papers? That I'm the decoy, or she's the decoy?"

This week I'm spotlighting Code Word Romance by Callie Walker. This book is on my stack of review copies. Here's the description from Amazon:

One fake prime minister, one ridiculously hot handler, and one Italian summer collide in this thrilling adventure rom-com.

Max is just your average girl. She works odd jobs, has a soul-crushing amount of debt, and happens to bear an uncanny resemblance to Europe’s youngest female prime minister, Sofia Christensen. Sofia is powerful, beautiful—and unfortunately, someone is trying quite hard to assassinate her.

When the CIA approaches Max with a deal, a life-changing amount of money if she pretends to be Sofia on the prime minister’s annual Italian vacation, Max packs her bags for the Amalfi Coast. The delicious food, the breathtaking views—this trip would be a dream if it weren’t for those pesky assassins and Flynn, the handler assigned to Max’s case. Flynn, who has an unexpected history with Max, from another sun-drenched summer years and years ago. Now he’s instructed to stay in Max’s suite to protect her, as old passions and assassins collide.

Losing herself in the role of a prime minister is one thing. But losing her heart to Flynn again? Now that’s a risk she isn’t willing to take . . .

Audiobook Review: Born in Ice by Nora Roberts

Born in Ice
Author: Nora Roberts
Narrator: Fiacre Douglas
Series: Born In Trilogy/Concannon Sisters Trilogy (Book 2)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (June 10, 2008)
Length: 10 hours and 38 minutes

Description: When the harsh storms of winter descend upon western Ireland, the locals stay indoors - and visitors stay away. Brianna Concannon's bed-and-breakfast becomes a cold and empty place. And that's fine with Brianna. She enjoys the peace and quiet, even when icy winds howl at her window.

This year, though, she's expecting an unusual guest: mystery writer Grayson Thane, from America. A restless wanderer with a dark past, he plans to spend the cold winter alone. Yet sometimes fate has a plan of its own. Sometimes a fire can be born in ice...

My Thoughts: Brianna Concannon runs a bed and breakfast in Western Ireland. She loves being an innkeeper and making a comfortable home for her guests. She sometimes regrets that she isn't making a home for a husband and children but tries to be content with her life. 

Grayson Thane is an American mystery author who comes to Brianna's bed and breakfast during the quiet winter season to write his latest mystery surrounded by the setting he has decided on for it. He's very successful as an author but doesn't have anything but a sense of wanderlust. He's always leaving people and places behind before he allows himself to get attached. 

They seem that they would be unlikely lovers, but a romance grows between them during their winter together. Brianna is willing to love even though she sees heartbreak in her future. Gray is much more reluctant to fall in love and decide that he has found a place to stay and a woman to love. 

While this is primarily a romance, discovered letters to Brianna and Maggie's father from a woman he fell in love with when Bri was an infant and the discovery of 10,000 shares of stock in a company Maggie's Rogan can't track down add plot threads of suspense to the story. 

I loved the setting, and I loved both Gray and Brianna whose damaged and empty spots found filling in each other. 

I bought this one from Chirp November 12, 2024, for $3.99. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: White King by Juan Gomez-Jurado

White King
Author: Juan Gomez-Jurado
Series: Antonia Scott (Book 3)
Publication: Minotaur Books (March 11, 2025)

Description: Antonia Scott returns in the explosive climax in this sequel to the international bestselling book and streaming series, Red Queen.

Antonia Scott has an unusually gifted forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solve baffling murders is legendary. She’s the lynchpin of a top-secret project, Red Queen, created to work across borders and behind the scenes to solve the most devious and dangerous crimes, those that are beyond the skills of the regular police forces.

But the Red Queen project is under attack on all fronts. Across Europe, its agents are murdering each other and cases from the past, long believed resolved, are rearing their deadly heads again. At the center of it is the mysterious Mr. White, who has been weaving a web around Antonia for a very long time. He is as smart and capable as her but, unlike her, he's a psychotic killer who has isolated Antonia Scott. Jon Gutierrez, Antonia’s protector and the only person she trusts, has been kidnapped. Antonia’s husband has been killed and her remaining family is in hiding. With Jon’s life at stake, Mr. White gives her a seemingly innocuous challenge: solve three crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice. The only way to keep Jon alive is to play Mr. White’s game, but can even Antonia win a game when she can only see part of the board?

My Thoughts: This is the third in the Antonia Scott series of thrillers. Antonia has an unusual mind. She has a spooky ability to put clues together to solve crimes. She also has a nemesis in Mr. White who is determined to beat her and prove his superiority.

The book starts with Antonia's partner Jon being kidnapped and then found with bombs wired into his spine. Antonia and Jon have to solve three murders with very short timeframes or Mr. White will detonate the bombs.

As they are rushing to solve the crimes - one a 4-year-old cold case and one not committed until they are on the scene - Antonia is putting clues together that lead her to the big picture; the picture that started for her when her home was broken into, her husband was fatally shot, and she was also shot. 

The key to this twisty thriller is Antonia who doesn't know how to relate to people and relies on Jon to humanize her. Fans of the twisty will enjoy this one. I don't recommend starting with it though. Start with RED QUEEN and continue to BLACK WOLF before winding things up with this one. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn

Kills Well with Others
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Series: Killer of a Certain Age (Book 2)
Publication: Berkley (March 4, 2025)

Description: Four women assassins, senior in status—and in age—sharpen their knives for another bloody good adventure in this riotous follow-up to the New York Times bestselling sensation Killers of a Certain Age.

After more than a year of laying low, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie are called back into action. They have enjoyed their time off, but the lack of excitement is starting to chafe: a professional killer can only take so many watercolor classes and yoga sessions without itching to strangle someone...literally. When they receive a summons from the head of the elite assassin organization known as the Museum, they are ready tackle the greatest challenge of their careers.

Someone on the inside has compiled a list of important kills committed by Museum agents, connected to a single, shadowy figure, an Eastern European gangster with an iron fist, some serious criminal ambition, and a tendency to kill first and ask questions later. This new nemesis is murdering agents who got in the way of their power hungry plans and the aging quartet of killers is next.

Together the foursome embark on a wild ride across the globe on the double mission of rooting out the Museum’s mole and hunting down the gangster who seems to know their next move before they make it. Their enemy is unlike any they’ve faced before, and it will take all their killer experience to get out of this mission alive.

My Thoughts: Our favorite retired assassins are back in the sequel to Killers of a Certain Age. When a former colleague is murdered, they are recruited in an off the books assignment to find out who killer her and take care of the problem. 

The case has echoes from an earlier assassination conducted by the quartet. A child of their target has decided to get even. They need to find the intended killer before they are killed. There is also a tie-back to another case in which Nazi loot, including a very valuable painting by Raphael, was the focus of an investigation. 

The four along with Mary Alice's wife, Billie's significant other, and a mentee are off to England, Italy, and Montenegro on the trail of the one who wants them dead and who is dealing for the long-missing art. 

I enjoyed this story and the comradery among the four aging assassins. I liked the way they cleaned up problems from the past so that they could go on to a new future. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Shadow Beasts by Nellie H. Steele

Shadow Beasts
Author: Nellie H. Steele
Narrator: Dana Allen
Series: shelving Magic (Book 1)
Publication: A Novel Idea Publishing (September 10, 2024)
Length: 9 hours and 38 minutes

Description: If Paige isn’t careful, her new job could land her in an early grave. Paige Turner’s zero-balance bank account demands she take on a new job, but she never expected it would be as Shadow Harbor’s newest librarian. Now the unlucky orphan is learning it’s not books she’ll be shelving…but magic. Dark, dangerous, deadly magic.

Her new position requires she keep the supernatural subworld at bay while retrieving and archiving magical artifacts from around the globe. If she fails, the world may just be doomed…but even trying could get her killed.

Teaming up with a snarktastic teacup dragon doesn’t seem to be helping, either. Paige still struggles to master magic and shelve supernatural secrets. And when her first assignment involves massive multiplication of a group of wayward werewolves, she fears the world may not survive her tenure as librarian.

Fans of The Librarians and Warehouse 13 will love this enchanting new cozy contemporary fantasy series. Buy Shadow Beasts now to start shelving magic today!

My Thoughts: This urban fantasy that begins a series was cute. Paige Turner is a clumsy, down on her luck, thirty something who has always dreamed of getting a job as a librarian. She is surprised when she is hired for her dream job as a librarian at the Shadow Harbor Library though since she is really underqualified. However, a charm bracelet that is the only reminder of the mother who left her in foster care identifies her as the daughter of a former librarian who disappeared. 

Paige is eager to do a good job, but she isn't at all sure what the job actually is. She finds out that her research assistant is a pocket-sized dragon named Dewey Decimal (pronounced De-see-MAL) who is filled with snark. 

When Paige is scratched by a werewolf, she needs a magical talisman to heal her which results in a worldwide search for clues and magical objects. They are pursued by enemies who want them to fail to find the magical objects they are seeking. 

Paige and Dewey find themselves in lots of harrowing situations before their quest is complete. 

The story has lots of action, interesting characters, and adventure. It was fun.

I bought this one from Chirp for $.99 January 19, 2025. You can buy your copy here.