Personal Highlights from this month:

• Started the New Year off with a bang. Vinnie (one of my cats) got bitten by Loki (another one of my cats). An abscess formed (unknown to me), then burst, and after a couple of days’ wait (it burst on a Friday night, the vet wasn’t open until Monday). I got him to the vet on Monday, and he had an infection along with the start of cellulitis. Poor guy was put on antibiotics and pain killers :(.
• The next week, we took Tony (our orange-and-white cat) to the vet. He has allergies and developed a hot spot under his ear. In a week, it grew super large, and his itching was getting dangerously close to his eye. The vet thought it was ear mites (none), then ear infections (none), and finally settled on a flea allergy. She gave him flea-and-tick medication (we used Pet Armour, but she said OTC wouldn’t work), a shot of antibiotics, a shot of steroids, and oral steroids. The oral steroids are working (no itching), but the hot spot looks awful.
• Mr. Z started his internship this month. He is doing IT at a local hospital. He was supposed to do it last semester, but they couldn’t place him. This is also an honors class for him. I love it because he will gain real-world experience in a job.
• We got hit with a pretty bad winter storm at the end of the month.

Reading Highlights from this month:

• I read and finished Hunting Justice by P.L. Clark. It was a very cut-and-dry revenge story with a sub storyline of the main male character having PTSD. I left this book feeling a little underwhelmed because everything was wrapped up too quickly.
• I reread The Descendant by Ally Capraro. I enjoyed the storyline. But I do wish the author had gone into more detail about the Lapo and the Xemlix’s war. I am sure more is explained in book 2, but it isn’t linked on The StoryGraph or Goodreads, so I guess I will wait(and yes, I know I can Google, but I am lazy… lol).
• I read the first two books of The Society Lost series (The Shepherd and Betrayal). They were pretty good books, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
• I read and finished Deadly Deceit by Karen Randau. This book was all over the place, and I mean that in a good way. It went from an implied terrorist mass shooting to internal crimes committed against a Marine to a cover-up by a US Senator (sounds familiar, huh) to crimes committed during war by Marines in Iraq. Also, add in corrupt cops and kidnapping, and it was nuts, and I loved the journey. I am a little disappointed that the other books aren’t on Kindle and will be watching for them.
• I finished Missing – Dead or Alive by Peter Martin. I found this to be a predictable mystery/thriller until the middle of the book. There was a huge plot twist, and then the surprises just kept coming. By the end of the book, I was invested because it had changed so much and because of what had happened.
• I finished The Cascade series (Survive, Rescue, Mutant, Conflict, Siege, Outpost, Beyond, and Salvation). This was a great series to read. The books were fairly short (between 150-250 pages each). The plots moved fast, and the author had no qualms about killing off long-term characters. I will definitely be rereading these books!!
• I read book 1 of The Forsaken Series (Unknown) by Phil Price. While I liked the book, I found the constant jumping between characters and places a little overwhelming. I will read the rest of the series when it becomes free or goes on KU.
• I finished reading the Cold Hollow Mystery series (Cold Hollow, Weaving the Web, The Maestro, Vengeance, and The Butcher). I wasn’t expecting to like this series as much as I did. The author believed in putting her main characters in peril, and she wasn’t shy about killing off unpleasant characters. I would highly recommend this series.
• I finished reading book 1 of The Criminally Insane series (Bad Karma). It was OK. I wish the author had focused more on Agnes’s belief that she was Trey’s reincarnated lover. I do plan on reading the other books in the series (Red Angel and Night Cage) if they ever go on KU.
• I finished reading Flash Drive by Peter C. Foster. It was alright. The plotline was predictable until the last half of the book. Then the author threw in some doozies of plotline twists. I don’t think I will reread this book.
• I finished reading Final Masquerade by Cindy Davis. This was another OK book for me. I honestly thought that Paige was losing it for 90% of the book. But the end proved me wrong. I also thought that Chris (who was OK to cause numerous accidents with his truck) was either part of the conspiracy or with the law. I’m neutral about rereading this book.
• I read and finished Broken by Brooke Linford. It was a very fast-paced book. It was also a little predictable. I wasn’t a huge fan of Amanda or Lucas, but neither of them deserved what was happening to them.
• I finished the first book of the Colorado Chapters (What Survives of Us) by Kathy Miner. I enjoyed reading this book and will be looking for the rest of the series to show up on KU.
• I read and finished The Alessandra Chronicles (The Solitary Apocolypse, Let the Devil In, A Greater Evil) by Jeff Haws. This was a fast-paced, very scary take on epidemics and the fallout. I finished the entire series in 2 days.

Books I Read:

Monthly Playlist (I use songs featured in the book, if there are any, along with a playlist generated by ChatGPT).

Featured Song of the Month