Book Review: The Once and Future Queen (The Lives of Guinevere, #1) by Paula Lafferty

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Once and Future Queen
Series: The Lives of Guinevere, #1
Author: Paula Lafferty
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Publication date: December 16, 2025
Length: 512 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Outlander-meets-The Princess Bride plus Camelot in a fresh, big-hearted, feminist, timeslip adventure reimagining the epic saga of King Arthur, as told from the perspective of his spunky and surprising queen, Vera – complete with time travel and good running shoes!

Vera always knew she didn’t fit in. When she learns that she is meant to be in another time, she leaps at the chance to embrace a new life in a world of valor, intrigue, and unexpected magic in this bold and romantic retelling of Arthurian legend . . .

22-year-old Vera is at a crossroads: waiting tables, grieving her previous relationship, and jogging aimlessly each morning as if toward an uncertain future. Then an odd man shows up at her workplace, insisting that she was once the legendary Queen Guinevere of Camelot, and that her lost memories hold the key to changing both the past and the present. Somehow, it all feels like the direction she’s been looking for. But when she asks the mysterious man to tell her more about Lancelot, Arthur, and a faithless queen, he can only say that much of what she’s heard about Camelot is wrong. The truth, he claims, is something she must see for herself.

After jumping through a portal in Glastonbury’s historic center, Vera is not prepared for what she finds. Magic is everywhere, but a curse on the kingdom means it dwindles every day. She has no idea how to perform a queen’s duties. Her fast friendship with Lancelot sets gossip flowing, and the stranger she must call “husband” often refuses to meet her eye. Arthur is a puzzle: cold, forbidding, and, while angry to her face, keeps leaving secret tokens of tenderness in her chambers. Worst of all, Vera’s memories—and the answers locked within them—show no signs of returning. If Vera is truly destined to save Camelot, she’ll have to trust her instincts. And her king will have to trust her . .

First things first: Ignore much of the blurb above! Outlander meets The Princess Bride? No. Yes, like Outlander, time travel is key to the story, but if you expect the sweet silliness of The Princess Bride, you’ll find yourself in quite the wrong book. I’ll give them Camelot, though! And “spunky” is not how I’d describe Vera… so let’s get into it.

And before I truly begin, let me just say: The Once and Future Queen will be on my list of favorite reads for 2026!

To the best of her knowledge, Vera was twenty-two years old. And by the time she finished tying the laces of her running trainers on this early October morning, she had ten hours and fourteen minutes remaining of the life she knew in a little town called Glastonbury in the southwest of England.

“To the best of her knowledge”? What does that even mean? How does she not know? Quite the intriguing opening, isn’t it?

Vera is — as stated — 20-something, living and working in her family’s inn in the historic town of Glastonbury. After losing the love of her life earlier in the year, she finds comfort through her daily early morning runs and time with her loving parents. Oddly, Vera doesn’t have many other people in her life. She rarely makes an impression, and has no close friends. It’s lonely, but she accepted that she’s just not particularly memorable long ago.

On the day that the book opens, a strange man shows up, with an even stranger tale to tell. He tells her that she’s actually Guinevere, Queen of Camelot, saved by him — Merlin — from a tragic death and installed in modern-day Glastonbury to give her time to (essentially) regenerate and be ready for a return to her own world… and the time for that return is now. Vera doesn’t believe him, naturally, until her mother confirms the truth of his words, and certain puzzles about her own past fall into place. Vera has no memory of any other life, but according to Merlin, she has Guinevere’s memories locked within her mind, and these hold the key to saving Camelot from destruction. With a promise that he’ll return Vera to her own time when all is done, she agrees to go with Merlin.

Arriving in the 7th century, she immediately meets Lancelot, with whom she feels an instant connection. But her first impressions of Arthur are another matter entirely. He’s cold, even hostile, and Vera has no memory of knowing him or anyone else. Her oddities and momentary lapses are explained away by memory loss following injury — she’s supposedly been away for a year at a monastery to recover from her wounds. With each passing day, Vera settles into life as Guinevere, but the “real” Guinevere’s memories don’t return. Meanwhile, there’s a growing threat to Camelot: The magic that powers the kingdom seems to be drying up and no one knows why, and rumors of an impending invasion become more and more dire. Even Merlin’s magic can’t seem to break through and release whatever memories are locked up in Vera’s mind.

Meanwhile, Vera finds friendship with Lancelot and other knights, and for the first time in her life, feels a sense of belonging. Even Arthur eventually begins to thaw, treating Vera with polite distance at first, but gradually showing concern and kindness toward her, and possibly even more. As Vera is drawn ever closer to Arthur, she’s desperate for the answers Camelot needs, and desperate to figure out whether the feelings between her and Arthur are real or magically induced.

Transporting a 21st century woman into the world of Camelot allows readers a relatable entry into this legendary world (where Vera learns that not all the legends she’s heard are true). Her confusion and sense of displacement are shown through her struggles to navigate daily life (everything from wondering whether the water is safe to drink to figuring out which of the people surrounding her she can actually trust). Relationships are well-drawn and developed, as we see Vera finding easy friendship with some of the people she meets and learning to rely on her intuition when something strikes her as suspicious.

The supporting characters, including Lancelot, the mage Gawain, and lady-in-waiting Matilda, as well as others of the royal household and assembled knights, feel alive and highly individualized. It’s easy to see why Vera and Lancelot become such close friends, and heartwarming to witness Vera breaking down barriers between herself and those who treat her primarily as Queen rather than as a person.

Vera’s presence introduces historical anomalies to Camelot, which are lots of fun. In a bored moment, she teaches Lancelot to play Rock, Paper, Scissors, which becomes one of the kingdom’s favorite games. To ease Vera’s transition to this new life, Merlin has brought back some of her favorite books — and she and Arthur bond over reading The Hobbit together.

It’s not all fun and games, however; Vera’s journey becomes dark indeed, as threats from within and without the kingdom continue to mount, and she herself winds up in grave danger. As we reach the concluding chapters, everything and everyone is in peril… and we end with some important emotional moments, yet with the overall story more or less in cliffhanger status — which makes sense, since The Once and Future Queen is the first book in a trilogy.

I found myself utterly absorbed by The Once and Future Queen, and never wanted to put it down once I started. I completely fell for the characters. Vera’s point-of-view perspective provides readers with a unique lens on life in Camelot, and the storytelling lets us see the wonders of this kingdom as well as the threats and problems that a modern-day viewpoint might more easily recognize. Arthur and Lancelot are especially wonderful, but so are the rest of the people in Vera’s daily sphere.

The author does a magnificent job of balancing light and dark. Of course it’s incredibly entertaining to see a 21st century woman navigating life in Camelot — and yet we never can forget the high stakes for the kingdom and for the individuals, and we come to care deeply about the fate of them all.

The second book in the series, Keeper of the Grail, will be released in January 2027, and I cannot wait. I feel so invested in this story and these people… I wish I had the next book in my hands right now!

For readers who enjoy fantasy worlds, time travel, and retellings of classic tales, I highly recommend The Once and Future Queen. It’s a wonderful book. Don’t miss it.

The book itself is gorgeous! The deluxe edition features painted edges and lovely inside illustrations. And yes, it was the beauty of the cover that first made me pick up the book!

Book #2 looks like it’ll be just as beautiful:

*Up next: Keeper of the Grail, to be released January 5, 2027*

Purchase links: Amaz o n – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

24Oct2026

Book Review: A Symphony of Echoes (The Chronicles of St. Mary’s, #2) by Jodi Taylor

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: A Symphony of Echoes
Series: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s, #2
Author: Jodi Taylor
Publisher: Headline
Publication date: October 22, 2013
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Time travel
Source: Purchased
Rating:

The second book in the bestselling Chronicles of St Mary’s series which follows a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets as they hurtle their way around History. If you love Jasper Fforde or Ben Aaronovitch, you won’t be able to resist Jodi Taylor.

Wherever the historians go, chaos is sure to follow…

Dispatched to Victorian London to seek out Jack the Ripper, things go badly wrong when he finds the St Mary’s historians first. Stalked through the fog-shrouded streets of Whitechapel, Max is soon running for her life. Again.

And that’s just the start. Max finds herself in a race against time when an old enemy is intent on destroying St Mary’s. An enemy willing, if necessary, to destroy History itself.

From the Hanging Gardens of Nineveh to the murder of Thomas a Becket, via an unscheduled dodo rescue mission, join the historians of St Mary’s as they hurtle around History on more hilarious, hair-raising escapades

I’m so glad that this year finally brought me around to starting The Chronicles of St. Mary’s series, which had been on my TBR for ages. I read the first book in the series, Just One Damned Thing After Another, last month, and couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.

In a nutshell, this series follows the adventures of the historians of St. Mary’s, an institute whose staff “investigate major historical events in contemporary time” which means… they time travel! They can’t change anything that’s already happened, but they can go and observe… and they certainly can die or be wounded in an endless variety of gruesome ways while on their hops into the past.

People sometimes think St Mary’s is just a charmingly eccentric bunch of amiable history nuts. And we are. But make no mistake, St Mary’s has teeth. And when we have to – we bite.

In A Symphony of Echoes, some continuing story arcs develop further, even while our beloved historians find themselves in new (and needless to say, extremely dangerous) situations. From a deadly encounter with Jack the Ripper to interfering in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, the historians of St. Mary’s are adept at picking history’s wildest hot spots and then inserting themselves right into the center of the action — even when they’re really, truly intended just to be observers.

The whole scene breathed peace and serenity. When you consider our usual setting was some bloody battlefield, or rat-filled slum, or viewing a spectacular but hazardous natural catastrophe, it could have been a lot worse. We were in a garden. What could go wrong?

The blurbs for these books focus on the madcap nature of the stories, and comparisons to Jasper Fforde, among others, might lead a new reader to expect nothing but laughs. Even after seeing how dark parts of the first book were, I was still taken aback by how very dire and awful certain pieces of this story are. Yes, there’s plenty of humor and very clever writing and dialogue… but also, absolutely terrible things happen, leaving scars and then some. Max (Dr Madeleine Maxwell), the main character, is usually upbeat and highly courageous, but she has her inner demons and occasional crippling bouts of self-doubt and pain. While overall maintaining a light outlook, these book contain plenty of darkness too — something readers should keep in mind.

A little quirk of the author’s is to include heavy doses of foreshadowing. Whenever things seem to be going especially well, little statements like these pop up:

The end of my world was here and I never saw it coming.

Each time, I find myself holding my breath, and resenting the fact that no one gets to be calm and happy for more than a page or two!

Still, there’s plenty of fun too, despite the more dire nature of some scenes and outcomes, and the writing is always a delight. I had to chuckle over a Big Bang Theory shout-out:

Despite the Cooper/Hofstadter papers on the subject, no one seems quite sure what would happen […]

… and even sweet, sentimental moments tend to have a uniquely St. Mary’s spin:

So there we were. All set for a romantic reconciliation. I gazed into his eyes. Rainbows blossomed. Bluebirds sang. The music swelled to a crescendo. The bloody fire alarms went off.

A Symphony of Echoes is a terrific sequel to Just One Damned Thing After Another. While new, thorny problems arise — some dealt with, some not — the overarching storyline and major bad guy from the first book continue, and remain unresolved as of the end of this book. I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes next!

I’ve now read 2 of the 14 published novels in the series… so I do have quite a long way to go, but hope to read at least another one or two before the end of the year.

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

22Oct2026

Short fiction: Warm Bodies by John Marrs

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Warm Bodies
Author: John Marr
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Publication date: November 1, 2026*
Length: 107 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Kindle First Reads freebie
Rating:

From the multimillion-copy bestselling author comes a chilling tale about Brenda: they watched her, judged her, and talked. They should have left her alone.

Brenda lives quietly in a picture-perfect English village. She looks after her grandchildren, restores old furniture, and keeps herself to herself. She’s the sort of neighbour people feel comfortable judging.

And judge they do. Because villages notice everything. The shopping. The visitors. The hours kept behind closed doors. And when the local WhatsApp group begins to turn its attention to Brenda, curiosity hardens into suspicion, and gossip becomes a sport.

As scrutiny tightens, Brenda finds herself navigating busybodies, moral crusaders and a community that believes it knows best. What they don’t know is that Brenda has spent a lifetime solving problems discreetly.

Methodically. Permanently.

Well, this was a fun little diversion! Warm Bodies was one of the free options for Kindle First Reads this month. The cover caught my eye, I read the synopsis, and I just had to know more!

In this short(ish) story, Brenda is just trying to take care of her family and mind her own business. In her fifties, she provides a home for her daughter and three grandchildren. They’ve had the good fortune of moving to a sweet little cottage in a lovely village, where the children are safe and attend good schools. Brenda is a doting grandmother, and after years of just barely scraping by, works hard to provide a good life for the people she loves.

What she actually does for work is revealed and, well, it’s not precisely what you’d consider grandmotherly… but it keeps a nice roof over the family’s heads and food on the table, and she does enjoy the challenge of it all.

But the neighbors are not exactly warm and welcoming, and Brenda has declined invitations to join volunteer committees and clubs once too often. The village chat has zoomed in on Brenda, and they’re determined to drive her away. As the gossip mounts, Brenda finds herself at the center of unwanted attention that presents a danger to herself and her family’s well-being… and she really can’t have that.

The writing here is snappy and a bit twisted. The village WhatsApp thread oozes viciousness under a layer of fake concern. Brenda is a marvel, savvy and practical, incredibly loving yet capable of doing whatever needs to be done, and what needs to be done… well, let’s just say, it isn’t pleasant.

Warm Bodies is a small town thriller with a dark sense of humor. Some scenes may be a bit much for squeamish readers. I found it all oodles of fun. Brenda is a terrific character — I wouldn’t want to hang out with her, but it was certainly entertaining (in a totally macabre way) to be inside her head for a while. I’m glad I stumbled across this short read and gave it a try!

*A note on the publication date: November 1, 2026 is listed as the official release date for Warm Bodies, but it’s available now as a First Reads pick for Amazon Prime subscribers.

21Oct2026

Book Review: As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: As You Wake, Break the Shell
Author: Becky Chambers
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Publication date: October 13, 2026
Length: 480 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Explore a universe of stubborn survival and found family, of persistent danger and quiet wonder in the first installment of a heartfelt new duology from Hugo Award–winning author Becky Chambers.

Life on the resource-poor planet of Fortune is challenging, but for its inhabitants, it’s home. For two of them, Signy and Cora, this home might no longer be enough.

Signy is a brilliant but reclusive botanist who bio-prints medicine from her small plant shop, often bending the rules to help those the system leaves behind. Her life is filled with the green of her store, the warmth of her one elderly friend, and the quiet determination to help others without putting herself in danger.

Cora is a rorqual pilot, one of the few with the unique ability to navigate the massive, living ships that connect the scattered settlements of their solar system. Her bond with her rorqual, Colibri, is profound—a connection that is both her greatest gift and a threat to her career.

It is that threat—the “mindbleed,” a dangerous side effect of her piloting—that brings her to Signy’s shop, and her appearance puts Signy in the danger she so fears. But it’s soon apparent it’s not just about losing her license—this delicate balance between risk and trust has the potential to change everything for them.

Told in an alternating timeline of their initial coming together and a not-so-distant future where they have found domestic bliss, this is a story harrowing and haunting, heartfelt and hopeful. Through a love story centered around survival, we are given a glimpse into the very best of what Becky Chambers does in her writing: explore what it means to be human, and what it means to come together.

As You Wake, Break the Shell is an imaginative, powerful, emotional look at connections, home, and purpose, as told through the story of two women, Signy and Cora, and two timelines — the timeline of their initial meeting and developing romance, and another 15 years later, where we see them living a very different life.

When they meet, both reside on Fortune, a planet that sounds, frankly, hellish. The surface and atmosphere are completely incompatible with sustaining life of any sort. Humans live on rafts inside a liquid filled crater, where going outside means donning gear to protect from acid rain and poisonous air, and the eruption of the planet’s very active volcanoes can send people running for emergency shelter at a moment’s notice.

Humans arrived on Fortune generations earlier through spacecraft originally from Earth, carrying embryonic life and a Primer that explains humanity’s origins. As people were grown from the bio-prints, they built homes and communities following Primer instructions, with the goal of eventually advancing enough to build spacecraft to enable them to reunite with the mothership. Meanwhile, thousands upon thousands of people live on Fortune, ferrying between rafts, building businesses and social structures, and otherwise going about the business of surviving.

Cora is a rorqual pilot, one of the gifted few who are able to mind-meld with giant flying creatures (rorquals) who ferry their pilots to quarry moons to collect the ice needed for Fortune’s water supply. Being a pilot requires skill and advanced training, but comes with high risk: By blending her consciousness with that of Colibri, her rorqual, Cora opens herself up to mindbleed, where she’s no longer able to separate her own mind from Colibri’s. This endangers her life and could ground her as a pilot… and if that happens, it would likely mean death for Colibri too, as rorquals generally cannot bond with more than one person, and would be put down.

Cora seeks out Signy who, under cover of her plant shop, runs a black market pharmacy creating medicines from genetically modified plant templates for those whom the healthcare system would consider beyond recovery, and therefore not provided with medicines other than for palliative care. Cora and Signy see something in one another, and connect on a profound level in love, friendship, and a deep understanding.

Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters, we see Cora and Signy’s lives fifteen years later, where they seem to lead an idyllic life on a distant moon where they’ve established a home and lush gardens. This life of theirs is filled with love, although they remain haunted by distant, painful memories of past losses.

How Cora and Signy get from where we meet them to this future life is something that doesn’t become clear for quite a long time — and in fact, we’re only partially there by the time the book ends. (Fear not — this is book one of a duology, and I trust that the full story will make sense once we get the second book.)

The book is roughly structured as a countdown (sections are labeled T-Minus 7, T-Minus 6, etc) — although, again, we really don’t know what we’re counting down to until we get there at the end. While the weaving of the two timelines and the jumps between the two can be confusing, that seems deliberate: We’re not meant to fully understand until we get to the right moment. Meanwhile, by slowly showing us the depth of the relationships, the book makes sure that what happens later feels right and well-grounded in what’s come before.

The story’s core themes are connection and love. What does it mean to truly open oneself to another? What does it mean to love someone enough to put them first? These seem like simple questions on the surface, but as we see through the characters’ deepening relationship, there are layers upon layers of trust, concern, and care that come into play. Equally important is the role of Colibri. Interwoven chapters show the mind-to-mind conversations between Cora and Colibri, as they struggle to find common language and concepts, a huge challenge for beings whose basic biology means that their perceptions of the world around them are so vastly different as to be practically unfathomable.

The writing in As You Wake, Break the Shell is beautiful, letting us into the characters’ lives and surroundings, illustrating the day-to-experiences of life in the harsh environment of Fortune, while also showing how the fundamentals of human love and connection remain recognizable even in such an unknown time and place.

This book has a darker, more serious feel than what I’ve come to expect from Becky Chambers’s writing, and she does provide some context in the afterward that helps the tone make sense. Overall, the book is lovely and the characters are wonderful, but tragedies inform their lives, and the joy of Cora and Signy’s love has a thread of sorrow as well.

As You Wake, Break the Shell is on the lengthier side and requires concentration. I recommend starting the book when you have time to really sink into it and spend time with it. Now that I’ve reached the end, the more I think back, the more I realize how beautifully told the overall story is. I’ve yet to be disappointed by anything I’ve read by Becky Chambers. As You Wake, Break the Shell is a remarkable achievement and a powerful reading experience. Don’t miss it.

Purchase links: Amaz o n – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

18Oct2026

Book Review: The Harvey Girl (The Harvey Girls Mysteries, #1) by Dana Stabenow

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Harvey Girl
Series: The Harvey Girls Mysteries, #1
Author: Dana Stabenow
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: March 5, 2026
Length: 272 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

From the award-winning author of the Kate Shugak Mysteries, a thrilling new detective series set during America’s wild boom time and frontier expansion of the nineteenth century.

WELCOME TO THE GILDED AGE. WHERE NOT EVERYTHING GLITTERS.

1890. The New Mexico Territory is a lawless frontier where criminals steal money and land alike with impunity. Everyone wears a six-gun and is ready and willing to draw it.

In the new city of Montaña Roja, Fred Harvey’s growing empire is threatened by the robberies plaguing his newest Harvey House restaurant. To get justice, he needs a skilled detective to go undercover and procure answers to questions the law will not ask.

The assignment falls to Clare Wright, a young Pinkerton agent. Disguised as one of Harvey’s famous hostesses, Clare travels west where she risks being exposed at every step of her investigation. To get answers – and to get out alive – there are only two things she can trust: her instincts, and her derringer.

Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak series is one of my favorites, so of course I was eager to try The Harvey Girl, the first book in the author’s newest series. Here, the focus is on crime-solving in the lawless Wild West of the 1890s, as a young woman working for the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency goes undercover to solve a series of train robberies in the booming New Mexico territory.

Clare, at age 22, is young, brave, well-trained, and up for a challenge. She’s hired by Fred Harvey, founder of the Harvey Houses — restaurants located at every major stop of the railroad, where respectable young women offer pristine food service to passengers and locals, held to high standards of conduct at all times. Fred Harvey’s goods have been stolen during brazen train heists, and he needs the crimes solved — and stopped — immediately.

As Clare arrives in Montaña Roja, New Mexico, she begins work as a Harvey Girl, and must quickly unravel the tangle of mining tycoons, bankers, sheriffs, and the various outlaws, cowboys, and businessmen who make up the boomtown’s population. Meanwhile, she works demanding shifts carrying out her Harvey Girl duties according to the high standards expected, while befriending the other girls and hiding her own true purpose there.

The Harvey Girl is at its best portraying frontier life during the Gilded Age, when greed and profit rule, lawlessness runs rampant, and bar fights ending in gun battles are seemingly everyday occurrences. Vibrant descriptions capture the desert settings, the natural beauty, and the feel of a Western town enjoying rapid growth, as well as the personalities of the upwardly mobile and wannabes attempting to cash in on every available source of profit.

Learning about Harvey Houses and Harvey Girls was fascinating. I was unfamiliar with this piece of history, and fell down a few major internet rabbit holes while looking for more details and images. I even stumbled across the IMDb page of a 1946 movie musical called The Harvey Girls, starring Judy Garland! I may have to track it down and watch it, if it’s available to stream.

I struggled more with the mystery around the train robberies and related crimes which Clare uncovers. Honestly, the trail of clues and suspects felt difficult to follow. The conclusion is rushed, with a lot of exposition as Clare explains her findings, but the answers didn’t seem especially concrete or supported by what we actually see happening on the page.

Still, there’s a lot to enjoy here, especially some action-packed moments of danger, a couple of parties that illustrate different types of social gatherings, and cameos from some real historical figures alongside all the fictional characters. Clare herself is an interesting character, although I wish we’d gotten a bit more of her internal life, rather than just snippets of her background and scenes showing her detective skills.

A second book in the series, The Iron Trail, has been announced already, with a projected release date of November 2027. It looks as though this installment will provide Clare with new adventures while also picking up some of the lingering threads from The Harvey Girl. I’ll be interested in seeing where the story goes!

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

14Oct2026

Audiobook Review: Well Versed (Well Met, #5) by Jen DeLuca

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Well Versed
Series: Well Met, #5
Author: Jen DeLuca
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: September 22, 2026
Print length: 352 pages
Audiobook length: 10 hours, 8 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Purchased (audiobook); e-ARC via NetGalleyRating:

It’s a second chance at first love at the Renaissance Faire, where the search for a new queen shapes a destiny, from USA Today bestselling author Jen DeLuca.

Caitlin Parker was eighteen when she fell out of love with the magic of the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire—the site of her first real heartbreak. But now, twenty-four and unemployed, she finds herself in her childhood bedroom and her childhood lady-in-waiting costume, assisting a rotating cast of substitute queens for the season. The very last person she wants to see is Alexander Wright—the sword-fighting, Shakespeare-spouting young man who won and broke her teenage heart. Yet there he is, older, annoyingly hotter, and back on stage at her Faire.

When Alex broke things off with Caitlin the first time, he thought he was just ending a summer fling. He didn’t realize how much he’d fallen for her until he let her go, and he certainly didn’t know he’d tarnished her memories of her cherished Faire and worse, shattered her view on love and relationships. His need to right that wrong this summer brings them together again and again, and this time, it won’t be so easy to let go of this summer fling.

But as summer winds down, real life is catching up to both of them. Caitlin’s always thought that being an adult with adult responsibilities means leaving whimsy behind. Alex, with a life full of stage combat, songs, and sonnets, doesn’t know how to live any other way. Can they go after their dreams and find a future together where they can still say “huzzah”?

It’s good to get back to the Faire! Four years after the release of Well Traveled, Jen DeLuca’s delightful Renaissance Faire romance series is back, delivering her signature mix of Faire fun and modern-day romantic challenges.

In Well Versed, Caitlin — whom we first met way back in book #1, Well Met, as a 14-year-old volunteering at the Faire — is now all grown up! Time flies for sure. Caitlin is now 24 years old and recently laid off from a tech job, and while she job hunts, has moved back home with her mother April and April’s partner Mitch (whose love story was the focus of book #3, Well Matched). And since it’s the start of summer, that means it’s also time for the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire, organized by Caitlin’s aunt and uncle and the focus for their entire community each summer.

Caitlin used to love the Faire as a teen, when she’d don the costume of a lady-in-waiting, get into character, and wander the faire grounds at the side of her queen. But a heartbreaking end to her first love left her disillusioned and absolutely done with anything related to Faire — she hasn’t been back, and even swore off her love of Shakespeare in order to pursue a career in IT. No more swoony sonnets for her!

The past comes crashing back on opening day of Faire, when her ex Alex strolls back into her life. Two years older than Caitlin, he’d broken up with her after their first romance, telling her to find someone her own age (he was 20, she was 18). She’s never forgiven him, and is furious that he’s back, up on a stage spouting Shakespeare and looking unfairly great. It gets worse, though — when Mitch is injured, Alex steps in to take his place in the Faire’s centerpiece swordfighting exhibition, and that means he’s at her house every day to practice. She can’t get away from the guy!

Meanwhile, the Faire itself is missing its queen — the former queen has officially retired, and each replacement seems to miss the mark. It seems inevitable that a certain jaded someone will finally step up and embrace the role, if only she can recapture some of that earlier joy she used to feel at the Faire each summer.

As Caitlin and Alex spend time together, old wounds are finally given time to heal. Caitlin thinks a summer fling with Alex might be a great way to have fun, as a break from dealing with the pressures waiting at the end of the summer — figuring out jobs, where to live, and what to do with the rest of her life. But as things heat up, Caitlin and Alex’s feelings definitely go beyond a mere fling, leaving them wondering how to balance this new beginning with all the demands of adulting that they feel closing in on them.

As always, the sense of delight at the Renaissance Faire is fully embodied here in Well Versed. The book captures the summer experience, the joy of putting on a costume and embracing a different way of being, and the sense of community as people come together to create something magical.

While it was a bit of an adjustment at first to see Caitlin as an adult (we met her as a young teen!), she’s an interesting main character to spend time with. Caitlin’s struggle to get over past hurts, assert herself differently, fit back in with her hometown, and also figure out her future feel realistic for a young woman in that particular phase of her life. I enjoyed seeing her reconnect with family and friends, especially since they’re all so much a part of the Well Met series’s broader story. How fun to catch up with them all and see how they’re doing!

The love story elements are well done, showing the repairing needed before Caitlin can accept Alex as a friend once again. I appreciated that Caitlin comes to realize that Alex’s intentions were good all those years ago, despite his not-great delivery, and that the time wasn’t right back then for a serious relationship. Of course, being set at a Ren Faire, their reconciliation is full of swoony gestures, and all the swordplay and sonnet deliveries don’t hurt!

*I treated myself to a signed paperback, which came with this adorable artwork!*

I did wish for a bit more Faire content — we see them at the Faire throughout, of course, but often it’s just a recap of how the day went after a few brief scenes of the day starting. Perhaps the author felt that we didn’t need full-on scenes of Faire life, after the previous four books… but I did! I wanted to spend just a little more time wandering the lanes, hearing about characters and accents and flower crowns and mead, seeing the jousts… all the little touches that make these books so enjoyable.

The inevitable communication issues pop up right near the end, as is typical for so many romances. Thankfully, here the issues are less about misunderstanding one another than that the characters are so in in their own heads that they’re not fully listening to one another… and also, thankfully, it all gets resolved without too much agonizing to wade through.

Brittany Pressley is one of my favorite audiobook narrators, and once again, she does a terrific job with the characters and the Ren Faire dynamics. She lets the various personalities shine through and keeps them all distinct, conveys the humor and whimsy of so many scenes, and captures the dialects (pirate, Scottish warrior, Queen!) of the Faire voices with flair.

Overall, I really enjoyed Well Versed… and as usual, really hope we’ll get more books set in this world! Huzzah!

Interested in this series? Don’t miss the previous books:

Well Met (published 2019)
Well Played (published 2020)
Well Matched (published 2021)
Well Traveled (published 2022)

Purchase links: Amaz o n – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

11Oct2026

Book Review: Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Dive Bar at the End of the Road
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: October 6, 2026
Length: 288 pages
Genre: Horror
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Final Destination meets The Cabin at the End of the World in this supernatural horror from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, in which a series of car accidents traps a group of strangers at a dive bar.

A forested road at night, slick from the pounding rain and eerily illuminated by flashes of lightning. Just before midnight, a car swerves to avoid something―or someone―mysteriously standing in the road, only to slam into a fallen tree instead. In the pitch black, four more cars follow in a pileup no one can seem to avoid.

Stumbling out of the wreckage, soaked from the rain and nursing various injuries, five strangers find themselves in a backwoods dive bar, waiting for daybreak and hoping for cell service. But as tensions rise and the storm rages on outside, the occupants of the dive bar start to notice that not everything is as it seems. Time is moving differently, and they quickly learn that going outside―whether to assist another accident victim or to hike for help―is a very bad idea.

There’s something in the woods, something that isn’t natural. Could the figure in the road have been a warning? Or something more sinister? None of this is normal, and they’ll need to work together to figure out what’s happening if they have any hope of surviving the night.

If it’s October, it must be time for a new stand-alone horror novel from the prolific and talented Kelley Armstrong! Dive Bar at the End of the Road delivers a menacing sort of existential horror, as a puzzling situation turns life-threatening and characters find themselves in a trap that defies logic and understanding.

Ellie drives through a storm to reach her parents’ home, but ends up on a deserted road with no GPS or cell service after following detour signs. A shocking crash leaves her stranded, and within moments a second car collides with her own. Wounded and disoriented by their sudden accidents, she and Henry stumble up the road in search of help, following lights to a bar in the middle of nowhere, empty except for the bartender and one strange woman. Before long, they hear the sounds of further crashes, and soon, there are five accident survivors huddled in the bar, seeking shelter until the storm passes and cell service is restored.

But this is no ordinary storm, and these are not ordinary car crashes. Dangerous anomalies abound; they’re all sure that they left their hazard lights on when leaving their totaled vehicles, but each new driver swears that the cars were in pitch blackness with no lights on at all. Could someone or something have intentionally caused the massive pile-up? If so, why?

More terrors await. Venturing off the road into the forest, Henry swears he sees zombies… but another driver encounters a rabid dog, and Ellie is sure someone is hunting her with a gun. Meanwhile, the bartender cracks jokes and the strange woman makes only cryptic comments. As the night wears on, some answers surface, but not before there’s bloodshed and absolute nightmares that are all too real.

Dive Bar at the End of the Road delivers chilling moments of horror, as experienced by a group of seemingly ordinary people who simply have the bad luck to be on that particular road at that particular time. But as we learn, it may not be random or bad luck… and each may have a reason why they find themselves stuck at this awful bar.

One of the most fascinating elements of this book is the character focus, as the various people — especially Ellie and Henry — are revealed to have backstories that add complex issues to their current lives. For a story that takes place over a relatively short time frame, we get to know most of them very well. The author lets us really feel the conflicts that drive each of them, as well as the deeply embedded fears and issues that they carry.

The action is compelling, and while much of the horror feels psychological, there’s also plenty of blood and gore. Some scenes are particularly brutal and frightening. While I had a few ideas about what might actually be going on, the revelations about the meaning of it all were nothing that I could have anticipated, and I could empathize with the sense of disbelief, shock, and denial the characters experience when answers are finally provided.

Dive Bar at the End of the Road is a fast, compelling read that’s impossible to put down. Scary and disturbing, it’s a great choice for a horror-filled October.

Kelley Armstrong’s previous stand-alone horror novels:

Hemlock Island (2023) — on my TBR (still)
I’ll Be Waiting (2024) — I gave this book 5 stars! Check out my review.
The Haunting of Payne’s Hollow (2025) — 4.5 stars! My review.

Purchase links: Amaz o n – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

9Oct2026

Book Review: Wool (Silo, #1) by Hugh Howey

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Wool
Series: Silo, #1
Author: Hugh Howey
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication date: 2012
Length: 594 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

The first book in the acclaimed, New York Times best-selling trilogy, Wool is the story of mankind clawing for survival. The world outside has grown toxic, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. The remnants of humanity live underground in a single silo.

But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they want: They are allowed to go outside.

After the previous sheriff leaves the silo in a terrifying ritual, Juliette, a mechanic from the down deep, is suddenly and inexplicably promoted to the head of law enforcement. With newfound power and with little regard for the customs she is supposed to abide, Juliette uncovers hints of a sinister conspiracy. Tugging this thread may uncover the truth . . . or it could kill every last human alive.

I’ve been hearing about Wool for years and years, and now that I keep seeing the AppleTV adaptation (Silo) popping up on my recommendations list, I finally had both the time and motivation to pick up this chunky book and dive in.

Wool is structured around five stories, originally self-published as stand-alones, later picked up by a traditional publisher and bundled together into this very large (and totally engrossing) novel. The five stories work extremely well as parts of the whole; all together, they tell a fascinating story of a post-apocalyptic world where secrets abound and where the people at the heart of the story slowly learn the truth about their own existence.

Wool starts with a dramatic short section, introducing the novel’s world and core concepts. Wool takes place in a silo — a structure buried deep within the ground, with only the very top level having a view of the outside world. Outside is a place of death; the air is toxic and the earth is barren. Inside the silo, 144 descending levels provide life for thousands of people, from the sheriff and mayor who live on the highest floors, to the all-powerful IT department on the 30s, and further down to medical, farming, supply, and mechanics at the very bottom (where the generators, oil rigs, and mining functions keep the silo powered and functional).

The silo has existed for hundreds of years. No one really knows the origin, although priests say that the silo came from the gods. There are rumors of an uprising at some point in the past, but that’s not to be discussed. Breaching taboos — especially the absolute taboo of expressing an interest in going outside — is the ultimate crime, and those who do so are sent to “cleaning” — sent outside the silo to clean the sensors that allow those inside to see the outside world. Cleaners don’t survive — the cleaning suits protect for a short time, but eventually, the toxic environment eat away at the suits and the cleaners die.

As the story opens, we’re introduced to the basics through one memorable character, and the narrative shifts to yet another interesting person in the 2nd story. But it’s in the 3rd story and beyond that the action and investment really kick in, as a woman from Mechanical, Juliette, shifts places within the silo’s hierarchy and finds herself in possession of dangerous secrets — putting herself in danger, but also endangering the secrets guarded closely by the people who truly hold the reins of power.

I can’t go too much further into plot without divulging spoilers, which I really don’t want to do. What I will say is that each section of this book opens up new territory for thought and consideration, and reveals even more secrets about the inner workings and history of the silo. It’s fascinating, start to finish, and although I felt a bit daunted at the beginning, I quickly became hooked and raced through to the end. I can see why Wool has attracted such a devoted following over the years!

I will definitely be continuing with this series. From what I understand, book #2, Shift, is a prequel, and book #3, Dust, picks back up where Wool leaves off.

Thanks to Reddit, I’ve learned that I can safely watch seasons 1 and 2 of the AppleTV series without getting spoiled for future books… and while part of me is more inclined to wait until after I finish reading the trilogy, I’m not sure I’m all that patient!

Wrapping things up… I highly recommend Wool for those who enjoy sci-fi with a dystopian/post-apocalyptic focus. Great characters and an intriguing premise make the pages fly by!

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

8Oct2026

Audiobook Review: No Matter What (Hearts of New York, #3) by Cara Bastone

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: No Matter What
Series: Hearts of New York, #3
Author: Cara Bastone
Narrator: Alex Finke
Publisher: Dial Press
Publication date: March 3, 2026
Print length: 352 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 39 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

Sometimes love sends you back to the drawing board.

After a traumatic accident threatens the foundations of their happy marriage, a couple tries to rebuild and find their way back to each other—and themselves—in this tender, slow-burn romance.

Roz and Vin can’t look each other in the eyes anymore, let alone share a bed. It’s been a year since they survived a life-altering accident, and their marriage hasn’t been the same. But Roz has held out hope that they can fix things, until she discovers Vin has signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced Manhattanite would do: sign up for a figure-drawing class.

Between Roz’s determined attempts to improve her artistic skills and her adventures with her best friend, Raffi, she can almost ignore Vin’s impending move-out date and his footsteps in their previously unoccupied guest room. But it would all be a lot easier if Vin wasn’t Raffi’s older brother, and if she didn’t still find him incredibly, debilitatingly attractive and kind.

So kind, in fact, that Vin offers to let Roz draw him. What is she supposed to say? It’s probably better than her original plan of finding some random male model online, and she needs all the practice she can get. Plus, that’s sure to make a separation easier, right? Focus on every detail of your estranged spouse’s body while drawing him in the nude? But after the year they’ve spent avoiding each other, it feels good to see and be seen by one another again.

As Roz works to capture the wholeness of the person she fell in love with, will they both be able to draw upon the feelings they buried deep inside to finally heal together?

Cara Bastone excels at portraying people going through difficult times and responding in ways that feel real, and No Matter What is another fine example of her compelling storytelling. What’s more, this book has a quite lovely reversal of a standard romance trope — more on that in a moment!

Quick note first, though: No Matter What appear on Goodreads and elsewhere as #3 in the Hearts of New York series — but if you didn’t see that on the description, it wouldn’t really matter. The series is actually just different stand-alone stories, all set in New York. There’s a teeny bit of cross-over between books, but in No Matter What, you could blink and miss it. My point is — while I’ve enjoyed each of these books, there’s no actual reason to go in a particular order, so if the synopsis for this book appeals to you, there’s no need to worry if you haven’t read the other books.

Onward with the story: No Matter What opens with main character Roz contemplating the end of her marriage. Married for eight years to Vin, the man she expected to spend forever with, Roz comes home one day to find a lease for a new apartment on her kitchen counter. They’ve had the year from hell: Following a devastating accident that left her, Vin, and Vin’s brother (and Roz’s best friend) Raffi with serious injuries and lasting trauma, she and Vin can barely be in the same room together any more, and he’s been sleeping in the guest room ever since Raffi finally recovered enough to move back out on his own. So it shouldn’t be a total surprise that Vin is leaving, but Roz is distraught. Fleeing her apartment, she goes to check out the building he’ll be moving into, and stumbles across a figure drawing class taking place there. Although it’s been many years since she explored her artistic side, Roz picks up pencils and begins to draw.

As the story unfolds, we start to learn more about Roz, Vin, and Raffi, and see the lingering after-effects of the accident. Roz and Vin clearly still love one another, but that doesn’t seem to be enough to move them past the horrible experiences of the past year. But as Roz continues attending the drawing classes, she finds herself looking not just at the models, but at the world around her with fresh eyes — and learning how to see helps her finally start to view Vin’s behavior and their crumbling relationship in new ways.

I could feel the tension and pain between Roz and Vin, and loved how Raffi — a total cinnamon roll character — manages to bring joy to the people he loves, even when things clearly aren’t going well. Roz’s exploration of drawing gives her a way to get out of her own head, and also helps her look at Vin in a different way — including literally, when he offers to model for her when she needs extra practice. Nothing like carefully viewing your nude husband to make you truly see him!

I mentioned early on the inversion of expected tropes. What I’m referring to is the classic 3rd act break-up, which can be maddening when it feels more like a plot device than an organic development in the course of a love story. Here, we get something that feels fresh: a 3rd act reconnection! Roz and Vin are separated by pain and trauma and emotional struggles when we meet them; he’s on the verge of moving out, she’s angry and feels abandoned. No one is happy. Their love story seems to have come to a screeching halt. But over the course of the novel, they finally begin to inch back toward one another, so that the 3rd act becomes a focus on rebuilding from the ashes left behind after the accident, and committing to finding a way to rediscover their love and learn to be together once again. It’s lovely.

On the flip side, these are two people in desperate need of therapy, both as a couple and as individuals who clearly suffer from PTSD. Their communication is absolutely awful — and perhaps it’s especially maddening via audiobook, where the stilted sentences, incomplete thoughts, and awkward pauses are all the more obvious. I had to wonder what their communication style was like before the accident. Were they just so happy then that it didn’t matter that they didn’t know how to express themselves directly? It can be painful to read/listen to their interactions in the first two-thirds or so of the book, and while it’s a huge relief when they finally start to truly talk, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated by their inability to have a complete conversation for so long.

My other, quite minor quibble about this book is that the drawing scenes go on a long time. Maybe this will work for readers who are more drawn (pun intended) to artistic pursuits. For me, a little goes a long way, and the descriptions of the class and the drawing styles and lessons felt repetitive after a while.

The narration by Alex Finke is highly engaging, with a great deal of expression in both the sad and funny moments. Certain characters are especially fun to listen to, and the narrator delivers distinct voices, full of personality.

Overall, I enjoyed No Matter What, and look forward to reading more by Cara Bastone, including the next book in the Hearts of New York series, I’ve Got You, scheduled for release in March 2027.

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

2Oct2026

Book Review: Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Exit Party
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Publisher: Picador
Publication date: September 15, 2026
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

From the bestselling author of Station Eleven, Exit Party is Emily St. John Mandel’s epic new story of crimes committed and loves lost across worlds and decades.

2031. America is at war with itself, but for the first time in weeks there is some hope: the Republic of California has been declared, the curfew in Los Angeles is lifted, and everyone in the city is going to a party.

Ari, newly released from prison, arrives with her friend Gloria just as a fragile new era begins. But there are people at the party who shouldn’t be there. Something is very wrong…

Years later, living a different life in Paris, Ari remains haunted by that night. Whatever happened at the party fractured her sense of reality – and may hold the key to a very different world.

Freedom and surveillance, art and survival, love and loss in a broken world: Exit Party is the electrifying new novel from Emily St. John Mandel.

Emily St. John Mandel’s books are always startling and practically impossible to describe. They have to be experienced; there’s a sense of wonder that comes with seeing her stories unfold on the page. Exit Party is another fine example of her strange, lyrical storytelling.

In 2031, the United States is no more. After a coup d’état, the country has fractured into a myriad of territories and republics and city-states. As the story opens, war has ended — at least for the moment — in Los Angeles, and people are ready to celebrate. The main character is Ari, recently released after an eighteen-year prison sentence, who lives in LA with her roommate Gloria. Gloria had intended to bring Ari to a friend’s party, but has a hard time leaving the apartment; Ari — after a lifetime of premonitions that come true — feels strongly that they need to attend.

The party is fun at first, but odd things happen. A woman Ari’s never met calls her by the name on her birth certificate — a name she never uses — and then seems to appear in a completely different outfit moments later. Another woman looks almost exactly like Gloria, and Ari sees more things that she can’t explain. Later, the party’s host disappears, and is never heard from again.

Following the party, Ari’s life goes on, as she move from place to place, in and out of danger, finding new ways to survive and making new connections, navigating a world of militias and checkpoints and violence. The mysteries surrounding that party never really leave her mind, and we see how the ripple effects follow her across decades.

All this is in the “A-Side” section of Exit Party; the book’s second half is “B-Side”, and without going into too much detail, it provides a look at a very different version of the world. In “B-Side”, there’s no longer a United States — instead, there’s the State, a surveillance based country in which life is supposedly safe, because it’s absolutely controlled. There’s no war, because the Service knows and sees everything and stops problems before they start. There’s a connection to Ari’s story; let’s leave it at that.

Exit Party is astounding in all the right ways. The parallels between the halves of the book are a joy to discover, a puzzle to unravel and muse over. Characters weave in and out of both halves, some fully fleshed out and alive, some who make brief but memorable appearances before disappearing again. Both halves show worlds that seems awful in their own ways, yet it’s intriguing to see how events play out in both, and scarily possible to imagine a path from our own world to these other versions.

My one minor quibble with this book is that despite how much I loved the writing and was fascinated by the complex storytelling, I often felt emotionally disengaged. I was interested in the characters, but not actually connected to them on a deeper level. The plot threads are woven together beautiful and I was intrigued by the characters’ lives and experiences; I just didn’t feel that I was in the story alongside them, if that makes any sense.

Despite that, I was very absorbed throughout my time with Exit Party. The author’s writing casts a spell, and the book as a whole is a fascinating journey. Highly recommended for fans of the author as well as for readers new to her work.

Interested in this author? Check out my review of more books by Emily St. John Mandel:
Station Eleven
The Glass Hotel
Sea of Tranquility

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.