Tag Archives: Kelley Armstrong

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong-review

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The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 14, 2025

When Samantha Payne’s grandfather dies, she figures she won’t even get a mention in the will. After all, she hasn’t seen him in fourteen years, not since her father took his own life after being accused of murdering a child at their lakefront cottage. Her grandfather always insisted her father was innocent, despite Sam having caught him burying the child’s body, his clothing streaked with blood.

But when she does attend the reading of the will at the behest of her aunt, she discovers that her grandfather left her the very valuable lakefront property where the family cottage sits. There’s one catch: Sam needs to stay in the cottage for a month. To finally face the fact she was wrong and her father was innocent, in her grandfather’s words.

Traveling to Paynes Hollow, Sam is faced with the realities of her childhood and the secrets kept hidden in the shadows of her memories. When her aunt goes missing a couple days into their stay, Sam begins to question everything again. Plagued by nightmares and paranoia, she begins hearing sounds in the forest and seeing shapes crawling from the water as the rippling waves of the lake promise something unspeakably dark lurking just below their surface.

•••••

REVIEW: THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOWS by Kelley Armstrong is a contemporary, adult, supernatural thriller focusing on Samantha Payne in the wake of her estranged grandfather’s death.

Told from first person perspective (Samantha) using present day, memories and journals entries, THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOW follows Samantha Payne as she carries out the directives of her grandfather’s will. As a young girl, Samantha Payne was the only witness to the murder of a twelve year old boy, a witness who pointed the finger at her own father. In order to inherit the family land, Samantha is forced to live in the family owned cottage for one month in Paynes Hollow, or forfeit the land to a third party but Samantha knows her grandfather’s orders come from a dark place of betrayal and vengeance, and in this, our heroine will be targeted when the legends and folklore surrounding Paynes Hollow come to fruition.

The world building is detailed and complex, based in ‘Sleepy Hollow’ style legends and folklore, mythological creatures and the walking dead. Along with the groundskeeper Ben, Samantha begins to unravel the truth, centuries of missing and murdered people, all in the name of protecting the land.

THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOWS is a dramatic, dark and intriguing tale of jealousy and rage, betrayal and revenge, murder and madness. The premise is gritty and thrilling; the characters are determined, desperate and a little bit broken.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Twitter/ Facebook/ Amazon Author Page/

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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Writing Mr. Wrong by Kelley Armstrong-review

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Writing Mr. Wrong by Kelley Armstrong-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 24, 2025

Debut author Gemma Stanton knows romance readers love a bad boy—and she has the perfect prototype for her novel: Mason Moretti. High school hockey god-turned-pro player, Mason was Gemma’s first crush, but she couldn’t forget the sting of his very public rejection. So, she casts him as a hot-headed Highlander in her spicy new historical romance. She never expected readers would find out on live TV when a morning show host invites Mason for a surprise on-air reunion…

As an aging hockey player with a rep for being ruthless on the ice—and roguish off of it—Mason has an image problem. So, when his meet-cute with Gemma goes viral, Mason proposes they build on the momentum with a few fake dates to boost her book sales…and his sagging profile. But when the fictional flirting gets a little too real, Mason realizes Gemma actually makes him want to become a better man—someone worthy of her trust and her love.

Will Gemma give him a second chance? Mason knows it’s a long shot, but taking shots is sorta his thing, and besides, who loves a redemption arc more than a romance author?

••••

REVIEW: WRITING MR. WRONG is the second instalment in Kelley Armstrong’s contemporary, adult, romance series set in the author’s FINDING MR WRITE world. This is divorcee, debut author and college English teacher Gemma Stanton, and thirty-six year old professional hockey enforcer Mason Moretti’s story line. WRITING MR. WRONG can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. Gemma is Daphne McFadden’s sister in law (Finding Mr. Write 1).

Told from dual omniscient third person perspective (Gemma and Mason) WRITING MR. WRONG follows in the wake of the publication of a romance novel wherein the leading male and cover model is a caricature of Gemma’s high school crush. Debut author Gemma Stanton had a high school crush on now professional hockey player Mason Moretti. The humiliation in the aftermath of a schoolyard kiss found Gemma spiralling in the wake of rejection, and twenty years later she is hoping to get her revenge but when a local morning talk show host, Gemma’s high school bully, reveals the reality of the situation, Gemma finds herself face to face with the man who broke her heart, the man with whom Gemma will fall in love. Mason Moretti had no idea what was about to transpire, and with the encouragement of his agent, is forced into a fake relationship with the woman he destroyed. Struggling with the possibility of another broken heart, Gemma battles between head and heart, knowing the fake relationship may be good for both of their careers.

The world building focuses on Gemma’s promise of a second book, and Mason’s life in the final years of his hockey career. The public are hoping for a story book romance but Gemma continues to focus on the past betrayal, and Mason struggles with the pain he inflicted on the woman he loved. With the hope of acceptance, time spent together reveals the actions from the past.

The relationship between Gemma and Mason begins acrimoniously, pushed together by a former high school mean girl in the aftermath of the recent publication of a Highland romance. Gemma’s need for revenge was more subliminal than outright but Mason’s need for forgiveness comes with demons from the past. There are no $ex scenes, everything is implied.

The secondary and supporting characters are limited but energetic. We are introduced to both Gemma and Mason’s agents, as well as the return of Gemma’s brother Chris Stanton and his now wife, author Daphne McFadden.

WRITING MR. WRONG is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and humiliation, family and friendships, forgiveness and love. The character driven premise is thought provoking and inviting; the romance is subtle; the characters are animated and determined.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one FINDING MR. WRITE

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Twitter/ Facebook/ Amazon Author Page/

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong-review

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Death at a Highland Wedding (A Rip Through Time 4) by Kelley Armstrong-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 20, 2205

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.

••••

REVIEW:DEATH AT A HIGHLAND WEDDING is the fourth full-length instalment in Kelley Armstrong’s adult A RIP THROUGH TIME historical, time-travel mystery series focusing on thirty year old Vancouver Detective Mallory Atkinson, and undertaker / investigator Dr. Duncan Gray. DEATH AT A HIGHLAND WEDDING can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lies is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading book one A RIP THROUGH TIME for backstory and cohesion regarding the events that lead Mallory back in time.

SOME BACKGROUND: In the spring of 2019 while visiting her ailing grandmother in Edinburgh Scotland,a then thirty year old, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada police detective Mallory Atkinson is attacked in an alley only to wake up as a nineteen year old housemaid in Scotland, the year 1869, a housemaid who was also attacked and left for dead in the same alley where Mallory was found. Not only has our heroine time travelled back one-hundred and fifty years but she is no longer physically the same woman she was just minutes before. Working as a housemaid for Dr. Duncan Gray and his sister Isla, realizing life as she knew it was no longer under her control, Mallory must assume the position of nineteen year old Catriona Mitchell, a young woman whose history is questionable and dark. Working alongside Dr. Gray and Detective McCreadie, Mallory uses her abilities as a detective to help.

Told from first person perspective (Mallory) DEATH AT A HIGHLAND WEDDING follows Mallory, Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie as they embark on a journey towards Hugh’s sister’s wedding but within hours of their arrival, one of the guests goes missing, later found murdered, and everyone becomes suspect including family, friends, neighbors and the former residents of the estate. Without the 21st century tools to use in her investigation, Mallory and Duncan must improvise in the wake of a questionable probe and inspection by an inexperienced police officer, with only months on the job, a police officer who is too quick to arrest the soon-to-be groom.

The world building follows Mallory, Duncan and Hugh McCreadie as they begin an investigation into the murder of one of the guests but the deeper the trio digs, the clues reveal a dark secret that goes back more than a decade.

The relationship between Duncan and Mallory is slowly progressing to something more. Duncan, Hugh and Isla are aware of Mallory’s true identity, and her outward appearance remains that of a twenty-year old house maid from Victorian England but the morals of the time may force our couple to take their friendship to the next level-here’s hoping the author has plans for something more.

There is a large ensemble of questionable secondary and supporting characters including the return of Dr. Duncan Gray, his sister Isla, Detective Hugh McCreadie, and parlor-maid Alice. We are introduced to Hugh’s former fiancé Violet, and his sister (the bride) Fiona McCreadie, and her fiancé Archie Cranston; best man Cranston, as well as several former school mates, extended family and questionable neighbors.

DEATH AT A HIGHLAND WEDDING is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance,power and control, family and friendships, relationships and love. The premise is enchanting and engaging;the characters are dynamic and determined.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
A Rip Through Time
The Poisoner’s Ring
2.5 Cocktails & Chloroform
Disturbing the Dead
3.5 Schemes and Scandals

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Twitter/ Facebook/ Amazon Author Page/

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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COLD AS HELL (Haven’s Rock 3) by Kelley Armstrong -review

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COLD AS HELL (Haven’s Rock 3) by Kelley Armstrong-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 18, 2025

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.

••••

REVIEW: COLD AS HELL is the third instalment in Kelley Armstrong’s contemporary adult HAVEN’S ROCK mystery, thriller series set in the fictional town of Haven’s Rock, Yukon focusing on Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton. The HAVEN’S ROCK series is a spin off from the author’s ROCKTON series with several of the original series characters moving to Haven’s Rock.

SOME BACKGROUND: Rockton Yukon did not exist on any map, and the residents all had a questionable past, fake names and false histories. Most were once considered to be white collar crimes but with increasing regularity, hardened criminals have somehow paid their way into Rockton, seeking sanctuary against future prosecution, a safe place for two years before seeking asylum somewhere else. A serial killer destroyed the people and ultimately the town of Rockton Yukon, and with the help of some of their former friends and a big influx of cash, Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton, begin the task of building a new town, known as Haven’s Rock, a town that will expose our couple to more murders and questionable inhabitants.

Told from first person perspective (Casey Duncan) COLD AS HELL focuses on several happenings in Haven’s Rock. A drugging at the local bar finds a very pregnant Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton searching for a missing woman but when one woman is found, another is discovered dead, and the entire town begins to suspect everyone connected. Meanwhile Casey’s pregnancy reaches a critical point, and our heroine struggles between doing her job and protecting her unborn child, a struggle that becomes dangerous and deadly.

The world building follows several intersecting paths including the possibility of one of their own wreaking havoc on the town’s residents but not everyone is who they claim to be, and Casey and Eric will face down an enemy with deadly intent.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and questionable secondary and supporting characters, all of whom have a past. Accusations are made; threats are compounded with issues of trust-not everyone will survive.

COLD AS HELL is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, madness and murder, love and loss. The slow building story is dark, dramatic and edgy; the characters are determined, charismatic and energetic. Kelley Armstrong pulls the reader into a world of ice and cold, snow and blizzards-you can feel the temperature drop.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Murder at Haven’s Rock
The Boy Who Cried Bear

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Twitter/ Facebook/ Amazon Author Page/

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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Schemes and Scandals(Rip Through Time) by Kelley Armstrong-review

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Schemes and Scandals (A Rip Through Time 3.5) by Kelley Armstrong-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 1, 2024

It’s Mallory Atkinson’s first Christmas in Scotland. Victorian Scotland, that is. Also, as the twenty-first-century detective learns, Christmas really isn’t a thing in Victorian Scotland. It’s all about Hogmanay. But her boss, Dr. Duncan Gray, treats her to an early gift of tickets to the event of the season: a Charles Dickens reading. There, they bump into Lady Inglis—the lovely widow who has sent Gray sexy letters trying to entice him back to her bed.

Lady Inglis introduces Mallory to Dickens—the meeting of a lifetime—but in return she wants their help. She’s being blackmailed. Someone stole letters she wrote to another lover and is threatening to publish them.

Mallory isn’t sure what to make of Lady Inglis, but no woman deserves that, so she insists on taking the case with or without Gray’s help. Growing tension between them soon tells Mallory that Gray is hiding a secret of his own. She has until Hogmanay to uncover the blackmailer…and, hopefully, to put things right with Gray so they can enjoy the holiday together.

•••••••

REVIEW:SCHEMES AND SCANDALS is an adult holiday novella set in Kelley Armstrong’s SCHEMES AND SCANDALS time travel mystery series focusing on thirty year old, Vancouver, Canada Police Detective Mallory Atkinson, and undertaker/investigator Dr. Duncan Gray. SCHEMES AND SCANDALS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading book one A RIP THROUGH TIME for back story and cohesion.

SOME BACKGROUND: In the spring of 2019 while visiting her ailing grandmother in Edinburgh Scotland, thirty year old, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada police detective Mallory Atkinson is attacked in an alley only to wake up as a nineteen year old housemaid in Scotland, in the year 1869, a housemaid who was also attacked and left for dead in the same alley where Mallory was found. Not only has our heroine time travelled back one-hundred and fifty years but she is no longer physically the same woman she was just minutes before. Working as a housemaid for Dr. Duncan Gray and his sister Isla, realizing life as she knew it was no longer under her control, Mallory must assume the position of nineteen year old Catriona Mitchell, a young woman whose history is questionable and dark. Working alongside Dr. Gray and Detective McCreadie, Mallory uses her abilities as a detective to help.

Told from first person perspective (Mallory) SCHEMES AND SCANDALS focuses on the days before the traditional Christmas holidays but Scotland did not celebrate Christmas in 1869 therefore the tradition of Hogmanay (the arrival of the New Year) was fast approaching, and Mallory and Duncan were about to find themselves involved in another investigation, the theft of some very private and scandalous letters written by a widow to her secret lover. As Mallory and Duncan begin to interview a number of possible suspects, our heroine will employ the use some of the 21st century simple technology in an effort to determined the person responsible.

We are introduced to Lady Patricia Ingles, Lord Charles Simpson, and his brother Arthur, and several local inhabitants of 1869, as well as the return of Dr. Duncan Gray, his sister Isla, housemaid ‘Jack’, housekeeper Mrs. Wallace, and Detective Hugh McCreadie.

SCHEMES AND SCANDALS is a quick read; a fascinating and intriguing tale of ‘whodunit?’. The premise is captivating; the characters are determined and charismatic.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
A Rip Through Time
The Poisoner’s Ring
2.5 Cocktails & Chloroform
Disturbing the Dead

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Twitter/ Facebook/ Amazon Author Page/

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong-a review

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I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 1, 2024

A spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood…

Nicola Laughton never expected to see adulthood, being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Then medical advances let her live into her thirties and she met Anton, who taught her to dream of a future… together. Months after they married, Anton died in a horrible car, but lived long enough to utter five words to her, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

That final private moment became public when someone from the crash scene took it to the press—the terminally ill woman holding her dying husband as he promised to wait for her on the other side. Worse, that person claimed it wasn’t Anton who said the words but his ghost, hovering over his body.

Since their story went public, Nicola has been hounded by spiritualists promising closure. In the hopes of stopping her downward spiral, friends and family find a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.

The medium barely has time to begin his work before things start happening. Locked doors mysteriously open. Clouds of insects engulf the house. Nicola hears footsteps and voices and the creak of an old dumbwaiter…in an empty shaft. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past. Because, unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead. And Nicola isn’t her real name.

That’s when she finds the first body….

••••

REVIEW:I’LL BE WAITING by Kelley Armstrong is a contemporary, adult, supernatural thriller focusing on thirty something widow Nicola Laughton.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from first person perspectives (Nicola) using present day, and memories from the past, I’LL BE WAITING follows Nicola Laughton in the wake of the death of her husband. Approximately twenty-two years earlier, a group of high school friends went into the woods to perform a seance but in the ensuing aftermath death and destruction would follow. Fast forward to present day, wherein Nicola’s husband Anton would die tragically in an early winter snow storm, and in the months that follow Nicola would be contacted by mediums and psychics claiming they have been in contact with the dead but when a certified parapsychologist is willing to help NIcola contact her dead husband, the resulting fall-out sees more death and destruction for our story line heroine.

I’LL BE WAITING is a story of obsession and madness, secrets and lies, grief and acceptance, betrayal and vengeance. Nicola’s extended family struggle with her need to contact her late husband; a new friend is determined to help Nicola get the closure she needs and wants; and the angry spirits refuse to give up until everyone has paid. The premise is dramatic, dark and thrilling; the characters are determined, destructive and dynamic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Twitter/ Facebook/ Amazon Author Page/

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong -a review

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Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong -a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 25, 2024

Daphne McFadden is tired of rejection. After submitting her manuscript to dozens of agents, she’s gotten rejection after rejection, and now it’s time for something drastic. And so, Daphne submits her manuscript again… under a man’s name.

Imagine her surprise when it sells for big money at an auction and soon becomes a publicity darling. Only she needs a man to play her super macho alter ego Zane Remington. Enter Chris Stanton, who absolutely looks the part of a survivalist and has a talent for pressing her piss‑me‑off‑I‑dare‑you buttons while somehow being endearing at the same time. But Chris has a few secrets of his own, including the fact that he’s really an accountant who has no idea how to chop wood or paddle a canoe. When Daphne’s book becomes a bestselling sensation and they’re forced to go on tour together, Daphne finds herself wondering if this city‑boy geek is exactly what she needs to push her to claim her dreams.

•••••

REVIEW:FINDING MR WRITE by Kelley Armstrong is a stand alone, contemporary, adult, romance story line focusing on author Daphne McFadden and accountant Chris Stanton aka Zane Remington.

Told from omniscient dual third person perspectives (Daphne and Chris) FINDING MR. WRITE follows in the wake of Daphne McFadden’s struggle to get her manuscript aka latest book published. Believing the book would be better accepted from a male author, Daphne McFadden invented author Zane Remington, a pseudonym that would quickly need a face to be placed into public domain. Enter Chris Stanton, an accountant who claims to be a model and actor but a man who is completely unaware of what is about to transpire. As Daphne’s book becomes a number one best seller, a book and media tour requires a public face, and Chris is about to be thrown in head first. All does not go according to plan as guilt begins to blur the edges of success, and betrayal comes at the cost of Daphne’s life back home.

The world building follows Daphne and Chris as they continue their ruse. Daphne as ‘Zane’s assistant, and Chris as Zane Remington, number one best seller but someone is about to uncover the truth, and our couple must come clean or face the fall-out to come.

The relationship between Chris and Daphne begins when Daphne hires Chris to be the face of her new book. Chris claims to be an actor and a model but his own persona is predicated upon a lie. As the couple are forced to work together, their attraction to one another, cannot be denied. The $ex scenes are passionate but mostly implied.

We are introduced to several members of Daphne’s publicity and publishing team, most of whom are completely unaware of what is about to transpire.

FINDING MR. WRITE is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and blackmail, friendships, family, acceptance and love. The premise is charming and captivating; the characters are desperate and dynamic; the romance is subtle.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Twitter/ Facebook/ Amazon Author Page/

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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Disturbing the Dead (Rip Through Time 3) by Kelley Armstrong

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Disturbing the Dead (Rip Through Time 3) by Kelley Armstrong-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play / Chapters Indigo Paper /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 7, 2024

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else’s body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she’s not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends—and feelings—in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn’t that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it’s not a mummy they’ve unwrapped, but a much more modern body.

••••

REVIEW: DISTURBING THE DEAD is the third instalment in Kelley Armstrong’s adult A RIP THROUGH TIME time travel, mystery series focusing on thirty year old, Vancouver, Canada Police Detective Mallory Atkinson, and undertaker/investigator Dr. Duncan Gray. DISTURBING THE DEAD can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading book one A RIP THROUGH TIME for back story and cohesion.

SOME BACKGROUND: In the spring of 2019 while visiting her ailing grandmother in Edinburgh Scotland, thirty year old, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada police detective Mallory Atkinson is attacked in an alley only to wake up as a nineteen year old housemaid in the year 1869, a housemaid who was also attacked and left for dead in the same alley where Mallory was found. Not only has our heroine time travelled back one-hundred and fifty years but she is no longer physically the same woman she was just minutes before. Working as a housemaid for Dr. Duncan Gray and his sister Isla, realizing life as she knew it was no longer under her control, Mallory must assume the position of nineteen year old Catriona Mitchell, a young woman whose history is questionable and dark. Working alongside Dr. Gray and Detective McCreadie, Mallory uses her abilities as a detective to help.

Told from first person perspective (Mallory) using two timelines, DISTURBING THE DEAD follows in the aftermath of the murder of Sir Alastair Christie. The unveiling of an Egyptian mummy finds the people of Victorian Scotland both curious and disturbed including several women who are trying to establish themselves as students at the local medical college but when Sir Alastair goes missing along with several Egyptian artifacts, and his body is discovered in the most unlikeliest of situations, fellow curiosity seekers Dr. Duncan Gray and Mallory Atkinson, with the help of Detective McCreadie, begin an investigation of their own. When fingers are pointed at several potential suspects, Mallory and Dr. Duncan Gray find themselves surveying secret tunnels and underground markets for answers, only for Mallory to be attacked, once again.

The secondary and supporting characters are numerous and colorful. We are once again introduced to Dr. Gray’s household, as well as his sisters Annis, and Isla, as well as Detective McCreadie. The requisite evil has many faces.

DISTURBING THE DEAD is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, jealousy and greed, time travel and acceptance. The premise is intriguing and captivating; the numerous characters are entertaining and charismatic.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
A Rip Through Time
The Poisoner’s Ring

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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