Not a real hedgehog… This is a flat decorative paving slab in our garden after a particularly frosty night.

Nothing to report for viewing. We’ve been watching series that won’t finish till after November. I abandoned Jamie’s Five Ingredient Meals (Ch 4) after following two of the recipes and being less than impressed with the results.

Books:

Lots to recommend this month. I’ve been uploading stuff to my Kindle and going through it fairly methodically. I think I’m nearly at the end of the things I truly meant to read though there are still a couple of ‘book bundles’ lurking. I also did some review work and borrowed my usual number from KU.

Starting with Secrets by Jackson Marsh**** Not quite the usual five stars because it ends on a number of cliff hangers and I have had to borrow the sequel while the very complex plot is still fresh in my mind. Archer has been left a treasure hunt by his mother and godmother. It is meant for pleasure but attracts hostile actions and ends up with danger for all. Sequel: The Larkspur Legacy. ***** A thrilling and complex ending to a wonderful series that mixes mm romance and crime with historical research. And now I have to go back to the very beginning and read the Clearwater Mysteries.

A Wolf’s Resistance by TJ Nichols.**** Good WWII historical paranormal romance. Just a novella but worth reading and unlike a lot of this author’s work it’s a standalone.

When the law needs help by Jackie Keswick**** Nice trio of shorts about the ongoing investigations into crime by Jack and Gareth. They probably only make sense in the context of the Power of Zero series but I thoroughly enjoyed them so if you’ve read the rest, read these!

Little Magic by MJ O’Shea. Books 1-3**** Light mm romance but the magic is intriguing, with a focus on charmed food and instant transportation. The small town communities and all their inhabitants, magical and mundane, are lovingly developed.

Chance to be King by Sue Brown**** Plenty of angst in this romantic thriller. A film star and a writer meet when the star rents a cottage from the writer. But someone is the target of extreme hate. Hidden Mate by Sue Brown**** Second book in the Sapphire Ranch series about shifters escaping hunters with the help of their human mates. An exciting story about the sheriff who is a closeted shifter and his mate who heads the human team trying to protect everyone. Rogue Mate.**** Continues the story of Sapphire Ranch with a rogue wolf and one of Eli’s team.

Where Foxes say goodnight by Sam Burns**** Exciting and well written paranormal/thriller/romance, with a haunted house, a screen writer without a plot, and two brothers who need somewhere to stay.

Perfectly Imperfect Pixie by MJ May**** Delightful. I really cared about Phil and Sedrick and the magical world was very detailed and interesting. So I got the sequel: Perfectly Perfect Pixie****. This time it’s a vampire who falls for a pixie but the werewolves are still around. Exciting story and the world is beautifully thought out and developed.

Mandatory Repairs by Elle Keaton**** Well written romance with thriller elements set in the countryside. Max has ‘retired’ after making a fortune in the IT industry and wants to help his newly discovered half sister Robin. He meets Nash, a local, but they have to overcome threats from a mysterious source.  This is in the Collier’s Creek series by various authors and I now intend to read the rest.

Silence of the Missing by Rick Reed **** An excellent novel. Sam loses his first love, Jeb, when they are just thirteen. In the present day his husband Marc is missing, but Jeb may have turned up. This is a psychological thriller with an interesting and satisfying conclusion after lots of twists and turns.

End of the Line by Nicky James**** Intriguing story and romance. It took me a while to empathise with the MCs because I wasn’t sure whether they were going to turn out to be villains. However, I have now borrowed book 2 Lost at the Crossing**** Still great writing and a gripping story centred round an elective mute but I’m not sure I can cope with the amount of tension! The main characters of the books, a found family, are ‘rail riders’ in Canada.

The Blue Monsoon by Damyanti Biswas**** Nicely complex sequel to The Blue Bar with more murder set in Mumbai..

Please Tell Me by Mike Omer**** Exciting thriller. A psychotherapist is involved in helping to solve a case about a serial killer. There is a suggestion of mf romance for Robyn but this is not really the focus of the story though it does lead to her rescue when things go wrong. I didn’t foresee the ending so the various red herrings were well placed.

Parker’s Forbidden Mate by Blake R  Wolfe**** The amount of sex made it just a novella but quite a pleasant one. Parker finds a human mate. I think the series will do the same for his friends so probably won’t bother. (Read for reviewing.)

Comfort and Joy by Nicki Bennett**** Good Christmas short story (read for review purposes) with a lot of historical detail about nineteenth century English Christmas traditions, interwoven with romance between Marcus and his valet. Recommended for your Christmas list.

I also got round to some of the fanfic lurking on my computer. If you haven’t read any of Brumeier’s work, just dive in, regardless of fandom, on AO3, but for this month I want to recommend It Ain’t Paranoia**** which has a thriller element in an AU with John (Stargate Atlantis) as a TV investigator, and Spellbound**** with John and Rodney(SGA) in a magical ‘world’ which has sent me searching for the prequel.

I read quite a bit – and abandoned quite a bit too – in Teen Wolf and can only recommend Don’t Speak by fatale**** Stiles has been made aphasic by a hostile alpha group and the whole concept and how he and others dealt with it was fascinating.