Sunday Post April 14, 2019/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday April 15, 2019

I am linking with Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading now at The Book Date (at Wordpress).

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

Staff tried again to get a Friday Holiday. I'll surprise them this week with Good Friday off.
I continue to work on ... everything!
No word from the architect again. I figured I'd wait until after tax day to reach out.
No eggs in the planter but some in my hubby's make shift crate:

Our cat is still acting more lively and eating more.
Our weather has warmed into the 80s. Today we had the tail end of the storm that crossed the south.
Hubby was anxious to watch Game of Thrones tonight. We also watched Meg.

My reading and listening were enjoyable. I finished 3 books: 2 audiobooks and 1 ebook. I posted three reviews and my usual memes.

I visited 20 blogs last week.
Shout Out this week to The Reading Frenzy "an author interview - review - and all things literary blog."
Thank you to all the nice people who visit me.

These were last week's posts:

• Sunday Post April 7, 2019/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday April 8, 2019.

• NGTBR- #NetGalley Book Review: Trouble on the Books by Essie Land; Amateur Sleuth, Cozy Mystery; My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0

• A2019- Audio Book Review: Apex by Mercedes Lackey; Fantasy, Magic; My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall, Story 4.25 and Narration 4.25.

• Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway April 12, 2019. Open Worldwide. Ending 4/18/2019.

• NG2019- #NetGalley Book Review: Heart of the Storm by Debbie Peterson; Romantic Suspense, Time Travel; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

• Sunday Words of Encouragement April 14, 2019.

Finished Reading:
1. Audible/Smartphone (ATBR)

Oath of Swords
War God, Book 1
By: David Weber
Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
Series: War God, Book 1
Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
I did enjoy this fun fantasy of a reluctant 'Knight in Shining Armor'.
Source: 2012 Audible.
Click on book title for full description.

2. eBook/Kindle (LBC)

Ransomed Dreams (Side Roads Book 1)
by Sally John
This is a very good portrayal of PTSD in an invalid and his caretaker and life issues they face.
Source: Kindle 2011.
Click on book title for full description.

3. Audible/Smartphone (A2019)

The Spies That Bind
A Gallagher Girls Prequel
By: Ally Carter
Narrated by: Rebecca Soler
Series: Gallagher Girls, Book 0.5
Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
This is a fun, quick listen.
Source: January 2019 Free Audible Original.
In this Audible Original prequel to Ally Carter's New York Times best-selling Gallagher Girls series, narrator Rebecca Soler brings her charm, enthusiasm, and impeccable accent work to the world of teen spies and boarding school drama, making for a perfect introduction to the series—or a new favorite for long-time listeners.
The first day at a new school is tough for any kid, but it's especially scary when you're going to a school for spies. Cammie Morgan has spent her whole life dreaming of becoming a Gallagher Girl, but she has no idea what she’ll face when she arrives at The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. Secret passages? Check. Lab experiments that might make you lose your eyebrows (and other body parts)? Check. Classmates who are the smartest, strongest, most intimidating girls in the world? Double check.
Cammie might be a Gallagher legacy, but she's about to learn that the most intimidating part about the Gallagher Academy are the Gallagher Girls themselves. Soon Cammie and her clumsy-but-genius roommate Liz, and the glamorous Bex have to learn the most important lesson of the seventh grade: getting into spy school is hard. Surviving spy school is harder.
©2018 Ally Carter (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Currently Reading:

1. eBook/Kindle (NGTBR)

The Book of Ruin
by W.G Hladky
I'm not 10% into this but hoping it will get better soon.
Source: NetGalley 2018.
Generations after solar storms sent the world spiraling into a Second Dark Age, descendants of American soldiers defend the last NATO stronghold in Germania. From the Asiatic Steppes comes the mysterious Vucari. NATO sends Senior Chief Loveboy Weir and a team of rangers to investigate. Traveling in anti-gravity vessels, they visit the beautiful city-state of New Reykjavik and mountains where Kazaks use giant eagles to hunt enemies. The rangers also journey to the City of Ghost that spews poison and to a floating monastery where monks protect the Book of Ruin. They also encounter Vladimir the Resurrected, the Vucari’s warrior prince, who claims to want peace but decimates any population that resists him. Weir struggles to convince NATO not to trust Vladimir. While politicians and clerics make backroom deals to appease Vladimir, Weir prepares for a war he fears is coming...

2. Audible/Smartphone (ATBR)

SpecOps
Expeditionary Force, Book 2
By: Craig Alanson
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
Series: Expeditionary Force, Book 2
Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
I picked this up for series listen and it is chuckling fun and some suspense.
Source: June 2018 Audible Credit.
Publisher's Summary
Colonel Joe Bishop made a promise, and he's going to keep it: taking the captured alien starship Flying Dutchman back out. He doesn't agree when the UN decides to send almost 70 elite Special Operations troops, hotshot pilots, and scientists with him; the mission is a fool's errand he doesn't expect to ever return from. At least this time, the Earth is safe, right?
Not so much.
©2016 Craig Alanson (P)2017 Podium Publishing

3. eBook/Kindle (NG2019)

SkyLine The Dragon Commander
A Military Science Fiction Romance Adventure
by Kennedy King
I'm alternating longer and shorter NetGalley books to keep working on them.
Source: NetGalley 2019.
It's 2350. Cold Fusion, AI nanotech cops, and the SkyLine between a dying Earth and a developing Mars are parts of life.
Major General Christopher Droan has survived a crisis. It left him with trauma and a deeper understanding of his dad’s distrust for technology.
Now all he wants is to focus on the love of his life, Sheeba.
It’s a turbulent time to be a Major General, even one resigned to desk work. But the calm can only last so long. When tragedy strikes Precinct 117 in Shanghai, Chris and his unit are forced to gear up again.
What waits for them in the heart of a robot with a beta personality matrix will change the planets on both ends of the SkyLine, mankind, and Major General Christopher Droan, forever.

I'll decide on the next audiobook when I get there.


April 14, 2019 - I am enjoying my daily morning devotion and reading with the One Year Bible plan through You Version App. I finished a 4 day reading plan: I Believe In The Resurrection. I'll pick another study tonight or tomorrow. [You can check out audio of the One Year Bible Plan on the companion commentary online.]

I completed three books and posted three reviews. That again keeps me current with three reviews to post for current reading.
I keep working to add newer reviews to NetGalley, Goodreads, Amazon and Audible again. (Eventually I will add older reviews.)
My NetGalley shelf is now at 15 unread (down to one from December). I have 6 that release in April and it isn't likely I will get to them all but I'll just keep reading. I have 4 old titles (2012!) that I might get read this year too.
I still have four author ebook titles in queue.
Still many through InstaFreebie and many new author requests I haven't replied to.

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) and after a tour of hosts has returned to its permanent home at Mailbox Monday. Thanks to the ladies sharing hosting duties: Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit and (yours truly). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
I added one new title from NetGalley.
I purchased one Audible Daily Deal.
I picked up only 11 free kindle titles. (Note these are in my Amazon library, NOT on my Kindle until I download and transfer them.) Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

I received one new title from NetGalley:

Don't Let the Beasties Escape This Book!
by Julie Berry
This cover caught my attention.

Won

NONE

Purchased

4/9/19 Audible Daily Deal $2.95
Solitude
Dimension Space, Book 1
By: Dean M. Cole
Narrated by: R.C. Bray, Julia Whelan
Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
Release date: 04-03-17

Free

I only added 11 free titles to my Kindle library.  Titles found linked through Bookbub, Bookfun, Ereader News Today, Free Par-tay, Ignite Your Book, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.

Sunday Words of Encouragement April 14, 2019

This morning we were reminded it is Palm Sunday although we had no special celebration.
Our Sunday School lesson continued the study of the gift of tongues and its proper use and purpose.  1 Corinthians 14:26-39.

We sang a new worship song called Calvary and another called How Beautiful. Pastor noted that the old rugged cross was not intended as a thing of beauty but became beautiful by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The Sermon was speaking on Love based on the text of Matthew 21:1-12.
It seems to be a human trait that we seek love; we are wired for love. We seek a true companion.
We all enjoy a good fairy tale love story, but he noted that early love, or puppy love grows into a richer mature love.

The Bible message tells us there is someone who loves us more than we can understand. He overlooks are faults and challenges us to grow. Just as we have to be careful not to take human love for granted, we should be careful not to take God’s special love for granted.

God's love for us is a matchless love. We are unable to fully understand how great His love truly is. When we look to Palm Sunday and Easter, we often share in Praising God and enjoying Easter cantatas and programs that portray the triumphal entry as a wonderful event…which it was. But there was more to it. Matthew 21:10-12...
Jesus upsets the market and tells His disciples of times to come. He tells them He is being plotted against, He will be betrayed, denied, beaten and put to death.

Point: No matter what we think, understand or believe... God's love for us cannot be matched.

Jesus shared in the last supper, asking them to remember Him. He showed them that His love would overcome all.
The only right response to God's matchless love is Surrender.
Just try to image: How high, how wide, how deep is the Father’s love!

My mind immediately went to this song: How Deep the Father’s Love

Verse for Today:
Matthew 21:16
“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your praise'?”


Lord, I give you praise and thanks for your unfathomable and matchless love!

#NetGalley Book Review: Heart of the Storm by Debbie Peterson

This was a good mix of time travel and romantic suspense.
Heart of the Storm
by Debbie Peterson

File Size: 2474 KB
Print Length: 277 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc (February 27, 2019)
ASIN: B07MBVKQ3K
Genre: Romantic Suspense, Time Travel
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

DEA agent Aliyana Montijo must stop a drug lord's killing orders and find a government mole. With a contract on her head, she trusts no one. While heading back to Florida with evidence, lightning strikes her plane. As it careens into the ocean, she thinks she sees a pirate ship. What she finds is a dashing and most unlikely ally.
Four centuries ago, Wolfaert Dircksen Van Ness captained a vessel for the Dutch West Indies Company. Then an unearthly storm in the Bermuda Triangle blew him into a parallel dimension. After rescuing Aliyana from a similar tempest, he finds himself drawn to the courageous beauty and wants to aid her mission.
In the midst of danger, the two find themselves falling in love. Then a misunderstanding tears them apart, perhaps forever…

Review:
Aliyana has been working undercover for a Columbian drug lord, Emil. Now that she is completing her security tech work she knows she must escape or face death. The local guards have commandeered her motorcycle so she commandeers Emil’s plane. On her way to Florida, Aliyana is caught in a storm and the plane is hit by lightning. While heading to crash into the ocean, Aliyana thinks she sees a pirate ship. She awakens in a lighthouse to find a handsome, strangely dressed man hovering.

Wolfaert is the Captain of a Dutch West Indies vessel who has been travelling between parallel dimensions. It isn’t easy to explain to this spirited young woman that she has fallen through a time tunnel. Before leaving Columbia Aliyana had stumbled upon information of an assassination plot by Emil against the families of the DEA. She is determined to get back to her world and time to protect those targets.

I enjoyed the steady action and intrigue in this story. This was augmented by the machinations and nuances of time traveling spirits. Then you have the pleasure of a growing romance with a twist very near the end. I found the story creative and the writing well-paced. I would be interested in reading more from Ms. Peterson. I recommend this to readers who enjoy romantic suspense and time travel.

Source: 2019 NetGalley. This qualifies for 2019NetGalley Goal.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway April 12, 2019

Happy Friday! I'm sorry if this late season storm is hitting some people who are longing for Spring.

TO ENTER FRIDAY PICK

US Entrants: Leave a comment and tell me WHICH BOOK you would like to get from the Friday Pick lists.

INTERNATIONAL: Leave a comment indicating "Gift Card" (see further comments near the end of the post.)

CUT OFF TIME IS THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 9:00 PM CENTRAL so I do not have to stay up too late to do the winner post! I will randomly pick two winners to announce Friday mornings with the next Pick post.

Thank you to all who entered the April 5, 2019 Pick. There was one automatic win this week. Automatic wins are those who requested the book four times without other people asking for that book during those weeks. No title was blocked.
BN100 gets Unmasked Anthology

CONGRATULATIONS
to Random.org picked Winners from April 5, 2019 Pick:
READER gets a GC.
and
BECKY gets Bold Conquest

All winners please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me to confirm your win, send your snail mail address information and let me know if you would like bookmarks - sensual, sexy or sweet bookmarks. {The form is new because Google changed their forms and the old one wasn't letting me print out the responses.}

This looks like a fun way to encourage young people to read poetry.
Image found at Virginiaallain Hubpages at Pinterest.

New Book Group #85 March 22, 2019
A variety from my shelves

PAIRS:
Roxanne Becknel: When Lightning Strikes and The Knight of Rosecliffe
Stella Cameron: Target and Now You See Him

SINGLES:
Golden Goddess by Stephanie James
Summer Skies by Judith Christenberry
The Gamble by LaVerle Spencer
Two Brothers by Linda Lael Miller
Windfall (two stories) by JoAnn Ross
Daddy's Little Cowgirl (two stories) by Judith Bowen and Kimberly Raye
Almost Forever by Linda Howard
Bold Conquest by Virginia Henley
Fire and Ice by Anne Stuart
The Forever Year, Cold Pursuit, Lover's Lane and Temporary Sanity (Reader's Condensed)
Forbidden Pleasures (hardback) by Bertrice Small
ToxiCity by Libby Fischer Hillmann

New Book Group #84 December 15, 2018
Here are some Christmas titles to pick from.

One PAIR:
Susan Wiggs: Snowfall and Fireside
SINGLES:
A Family for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving by Janet Evanovich
On this Holy Night
A Rancher for Christmas
Christmas Haven
Christmas Brides Anthology
Holiday in Death
Christmas Homecoming
Together by Christmas Anthology
The Christmas Date
The Christmas Promise (hardback)
A Blue and Grey Christmas (hardback)
The Snow Angel (CD Audiobook)
King Harold's Snow Job


New Book Group #83 November 30, 2018

(Starting bottom left and continuing up then down)
PAIRS:
Kat Martin: Bold Angel and Devil's Prize
Elizabeth Lowell: Death Is Forever and Running Scared
SINGLE
It Takes a Hero by Elizabeth Boyle
Two Alone by Sandra Brown
'Tween a Devil and his hard Place by Sam Cheever
Seductive Secrets by Lynne Connolly
Seven Up by Janet Evanovich - Audio Cassettes
A Good Walk Spoiled by John Feinstein Audio Cassettes
Highland Guardian by Melissa Mayhue
Hot Pursuit by Christinea Skye
Sisters & Secrets Anthology
Three Reader's Digest Condensed Books - each hardback:

Cold Harbour and The Courtship of Peggy McCoy
The Things We Do for Love, Three Weeks With My Brother, The Murder Artist and Night Train to Lisbon
Follow the Stars Home, Hunting Badger, The Quiet Game and Second Wind

New Book Group #82 November 9, 2018

Pairs:
Stella Cameron: French Quarter and Key West
Jude Deveraux: Mulberry Tree and Wild Orchids
SINGLES:
Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
Unmasked Anthology - Jennifer Blake, Janet Dailey and Elizabeth Gage
Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich
Killing Time by Linda Howard
The Finer Things by Brenda Joyce
Wicked Promise by Kat Martin
Countess of Scandal by Laurel McKee
The Leopard's Woman by Linda Lael Miller and White Wolf by Lindsay McKenna
Eagle and the Dove by Victoria Morrow
To Love Again by Bertrice Small
The Wedding Night by Barbara Dawson Smith
Primal Obsession by Susan Vaughn

New Book Group #81 August 17, 2018

There are three audios at the top:
Kisscut is Cassettes
SINGLES

Best Laid Plans
Darkness Tell Us
Cooking More Deadly


New Book Group #80 August 17, 2018

Note: The Final Judgment and
The Book of Fate are Audio Cassettes
PAIRS
Fern Michaels and James Patterson
SINGLES:
Summer’s Moon
The Green Trap
End Game
Night School
The Red Tent
The Final Judgment Audio Cassettes
Secrets of Paris
Linda Goodnight
Irish Charmers, the Mighty Quinns
Firebird
No Getting Over a Cowboy
The Book of Fate Audio Cassettes


New Book Group #79 July 13, 2018
I found this box of books buried under some other boxes.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lenox by Maggie O’Farrell
P.S. by Helen Schulman
Her Sexiest Surprise by Dawn Atkins (personally autographed)
The Maverick Preacher by Victoria Bylin (personally autographed)
The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver
The Doctor’s Forever Family by Marie Ferrarella
Dakota Child by Linda Ford
Branded by the Sheriff by Delores Fossen
The Italian’s Inexperienced Mistress
Calling the Shots by Ellen Hartman
Promises, Promises by Amber Miller
This Time for Keeps by Jenna Mills
Rhapsody in Time by Judith O’Brien
A Daughter’s Legacy by Virginia Smith
Another Man’s Baby by Kay Stockham
The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle by RaeAnne Thayne


New Book Group #78 April 27, 2018

PAIRS
Johanna Lindsey Pair
Judith Krentz Pair
SINGLES
Midnight Rainbow
Blackberry Bush
Breaking Point
A Tangled Affair
To Wicked to Love
Betrayed
My Dark Prince
Roses are Red Audio Cassettes
Brothers of Gwynedd
Fatal Defect
Bones of the Sea and Other Stories
By a Spider's Thread



New Book Group #77 February 16, 2018- All gone

New Book Group #76 November 3, 2017
13 books remain of the original 37:

I finally Have them Listed!
Boots & Booties by Kristine Rolofson
Saucer the Conquest by Stephen Coonts
Echo Burning by Lee Child
The Scorpion Seducer by Bonnie Vanak
Hell On Earth by David L. Porter
Tempted All Night by Liz Carlyle
Day of the Dead by J.A. Jance
White Night by Jim Butcher
Five Gold Rings Anthology Constance O’Banyon and three others
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton
Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell
Crisscross by Harmon Henkin
Wizard’s Daughter by Catherine Coulter
Pearl Beyond Price by Claire Delacroix
Maelstrom by Anne McCaffrey
The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks
The Wicked Wyckerly by Patricia Rice
Inhuman Condition by Clive Barker
Night Whispers by Judith McNaught
101 Commonsense Rules for the Office by John R. Brinkerhoff

This shelf of 35 books are what is left from Groups #1 (11/27/09) through Group #75 September 29, 2017

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top - 14 titles.)
Rehabilitation
Secret Blessing
Named of the Dragon
Daring
Aunt Erma's Cope Book
JoAnn Ross: Confessions
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
The New Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman
A Kiss Before Dawn by Kimberly Logan
The Fireman’s Fair by Josephine Humphreys (Hardcover)
Bound by Destiny by Rayka Mennen
Rainbow Mars by Larry Niven
There Was A Little Girl by Ed McBain (Audio Cassettes)
Love's Brazen Fire by Betina Krahn 

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top - 21 titles.)
Plan of Attack by Dan Brown
(*Three more very old books from my Gothics box.)
*The Man in the Garden by Paule Mason (1969 - yellowed)
Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell
*Four books are very old; pulled from a box of gothic novels I found.
*Maggie – Her Marriage by Taylor Caldwell (1953 very old, yellowed pages, some stain damage doesn't effect reading)
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey- Audio Cassette
Trilogy Of Mysteries Audio Book Shadow Prey, There Was A Little Girl, Smokescreen Audio Cassettes (NOT CDs)
Raintree Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones (spine creases)
The Shadowing by Joan Overfield
The Sweetheart Dance by Patti Ann Colt
BOX 4 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 47-53)
Undateable by Ellen Rakieten & Anne Coyle
Jezebel by Katherine Sutcliff
The Hidden Truth of Cytech's Randall Forty by Vickie Kennedy
Breakfast in Bed by Sandra Brown - Audio Cassette Tapes (link is for mass media version)
BOX 3 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 39- 47)
Shetland Summer by Janet Lynnford
BOX 2 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 24- 38)
The Trailsman: Texas Lead Slingers by Jon Sharpe
A Courtesans Guide to Getting Your Man by Susan Donovan and Celeste Bradley -- NOTE This book has dog bite damage; it is missing half back cover and the edges of pages in the back third of the book... it does not effect the text but I will understand if no one wants this one
An Honorable Man by Rosemary Rogers (spine creases)
The Willful Widow by Valerie King (spine wear)
Foundation (Foundation Novels) by Isaac Asimov
BOX #1 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 1- 23)
Ghost Writer (Shivers #3) by M.D. Spenser
Alien Chronicles - The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester

If you saw the pictures posted of my bookshelves and boxes you know I do have lots of books! And that doesn't include the other eight or so boxes at my office!! And more books as I find deals too good to pass up! I am sharing my book bounty by these Friday Pick Giveaways.

I started Friday Pick on November 27, 2009 and in almost EIGHT years I have posted 82 groups of 16 plus an additional 21 totaling 1,333 books to find new homes! (as of November 9, 2018).

I am happy to say that so far about 1,239+ books have found new homes through this feature! YAY. [A year or so ago I posted I had reached 2000 books given away. As I calculated the numbers 11/2/17 I realized that had to be an error. I realized I went from 1098 to 2001 instead of 1101. Guess I was tired; sorry for the error.] I have to update my print out to check the exact number sent out - a few were never claimed. I periodically update the lists - deleting those won. You can still go to the Friday Pick list link to see older posts and the older lists book pictures if you want!

Note rules here regarding international entries.

Because postage to overseas can be prohibitive I am willing to give a $5.00 book certificate to international winners - Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, ARe, TWRP, ClassAct Books, eTreasures, Desert Breeze, etc....you tell me where and I'll set it up. So for my overseas visitors your comment may indicate a smaller book and I'll check postage or note your choice of gift card.

I learned that The Book Depository does not ship to everywhere. The postage for some of the books to far away places runs between $7.00 and $10.00 and up. Since I would award $5.00 for The Book Depository to an international winner, as an alternative you may choose a smaller book and we will hope the postage will not exceed $6.00. If the postage is more, or if you want to pick a larger book and you are willing to pay any extra postage beyond the $6.00 I will work with you on that. This may not make a difference to many but if it helps one or two of you to give one of my books a home that will make me happy too. :o)

Repeating this helpful blog tip: You can right click on a link and you will be given the choice to open the link in a new window or tab so you do not navigate away from the screen you are on!! I use this all the time!

Audio Book Review: Apex by Mercedes Lackey

This is an engaging sci fi/fantasy series.

Apex
Written By: Mercedes Lackey
Narrated By: Amy Landon

The Hunter Series, Book 2
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Date: September 2017
Duration: 8 hours 49 minutes
Genre: Fantasy, Magic
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall, Story and Narration

Summary:
Being a member of the Elite Hunter Command imperils Joy in more ways than one. In their latest clash with Othersiders, the army of monsters nearly wiped them out. Apex City is safe for now. But within the city barriers, Joy must wage a different kind of war.The corrupt and powerful PsiCorps is determined to usurp the Hunters as chief defenders of Apex City, and Joy is now squarely in their crosshairs. Unused to playing political games, she has very few people she can truly trust-not even Josh, her first friend in Apex City, who broke up with her when it became too dangerous for a Psimon to be dating a Hunter.
Then Josh comes to Joy for help. He fears that Abigail Drift, the head of PsiCorps, will soon use him in her twisted experiments designed to empower PsiCorps and render Hunters superfluous-a scheme that's already killed off dozens of Psimons. Joy manages to smuggle Josh to safety, but he cannot evade Drift forever As Joy faces ever more powerful Othersiders, she is helped by the most surprising ally imaginable-the same Folk Mage she once met in battle on the train to Apex City. But can Joy trust the most cunning and treacherous of all Othersiders?In the thrilling finale to Mercedes Lackey's New York Times bestselling trilogy, Joy must risk everything to end a brutal war before she loses all she's ever loved....

Review:
Joy and the other Elite Hunters are busy defending Apex City from increased attacks by the Othersiders. Many of the engagements are skirmishes but they are repeated and extending to the outer edges of the community including some areas which no longer have fortifications.

The last major attack (in Book Two, Elite) was won thanks to the help of the Psimons. But dozens of Psimons have shown up dead or missing. Joy’s former boyfriend, Psimon Josh fears that the head of PsiCorps is involved in the deaths and is planning to use the PsiCorps to take over the city government from Joy’s Uncle. Joy and her immediate team help to smuggle Josh out of the city but can they keep him safe?

It becomes clear that another major attack is being planned. Joy has unexpectedly made contact with one of the Folk Mages who are believed to be directing the Othersiders. He is offering to be an ally, but can he be trusted?

Should Joy have called on her home hunters for help? Or told Apex officials about the hunters from home? Would she be putting more people at risk? Has her presence caused the escalation of enemy attacks since there are Folk Mage who are clearly focusing on removing her? So many questions and emotional issues to cope with along with daily, exhausting battles. It’s a lot for a young woman to handle.

Although there was some personal angst in all the questioning, I still enjoyed the story and the interaction of the characters. There is good character building as well as plenty of action. I especially enjoyed the intrigue and mystery surrounding the Folk Mages. I am not sure if this series is closing at a trilogy or if there will be more. This book does have a closing but I see room for more and would be interesting in listening to more. I recommend this to readers who enjoy fantasy monster hunter genres.

Audio Notes: As in the first two books of the series, Amy Landon continues her strong narration. She appropriately presents Joy’s youth, angst and confusion. I like the listening experience for the series.

Source: 2019 Credit Purchase Audiobooks.com. This qualifies for 2019Audiobook Goal.