My thoughts on The Scald Crow (Beyond the Faerie Rath Book 1) by Hanna Park

The Scald Crow
(Beyond the Faerie Rath Book 1) 
By Hanna Park

Publication Date: 26th May 2025

Publisher: Baisong Press

Print Length: 260 Pages

Genre: Fantasy / Romance

Calla left her life behind, haunted by a curse she cannot control. She seeks refuge in the land of a thousand hellos, Ireland, for a fresh start—a place where no one knows who or what she is.

Colm fled from Clonmara seven long years ago, but now it’s his father’s birthday, and the clan has gathered to celebrate the ould one. Each day brings back the memories that ruined him.

Saoirse dwells in the shadows of a lost love, unwilling to move on and unable to forget. The crystals say one thing, but the cold, hard truth tells another.

Ciarán walked away from the woman he loved for the fun, for the craic. He didn’t realize that one rash decision would impact the lives of so many, least of all his own.

Four broken hearts, brought together by the thread of love.

Universal Buy Link

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cover Art: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.

The story follows Calla, who inherits a property in Ireland, possibly from her biological father. After being fired and wanting a way out of her life, she decides to go and claim it, hoping for a fresh start. At first, everything seems fairly normal, but it doesn’t take long before things start to feel a bit strange. Small details don’t quite add up, moments feel slightly off, and there’s this underlying sense that something else is going on beneath it all. The book doesn’t rush to explain anything, which I actually liked—it makes you pay attention.

There’s also a strong romance running through the story. Calla and Colm don’t have a slow build-up—it’s more immediate than that. There’s a clear pull between them from the start, and it only gets more intense as the story goes on. Some of their connection plays out in these dreamlike moments, which makes it feel a bit surreal at times, and when they’re actually together, it can feel quite impulsive and hard to ignore. It adds another layer to the story, especially because it never feels entirely simple or straightforward.

I found it quite a slow read, and that won’t be for everyone. The author really builds a picture up of the background, which I kind of liked, but again, it would not be for everyone.

The ending definitely doesn’t wrap everything up. It finishes on a bit of a cliffhanger, clearly setting things up for the next book. I don't usually like endings to not be resolved, but for this book, I will make the exception.

I began my writing career in the pre-dawn of a winter morning while my husband snored like a train. We could call my husband the catalyst. If it weren’t for him, I would never have gone to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, feed the cat, and sit on the loveseat in front of the fire. It was there, in those moments of wondrous quiet, that I did something I had never thought possible. I opened my laptop, and while the coffee went cold, I wrote a story. My husband had no idea that these sojourns to the loveseat in front of the fire would become a daily occurrence, that writing would become an obsession, but the cat knew. She knows everything.

I write stories that make you laugh, make you cry, and make you love. Thank you, friends, for reading!

In the beginning, there was an empty page.

I am a writer who lives in Muskoka, Canada, with a husband who snores, a hungry cat, and an almost perfect canine––he’s an adorable little shit.

Website

Instagram

Facebook

BookBub

Goodreads

Tour Schedule

 

My thoughts on The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven (The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven trilogy) by Jennifer Ivy Walker

The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven
(The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven trilogy)
By Jennifer Ivy Walker

Publication Date: 1st May 2025

Publisher: Green Mermaid Publications

Print Length: 522 Pages

Genre: Arthurian Fantasy / Historical Romance Fantasy / Paranormal

In this paranormal fantasy adaptation of the medieval legend of Tristan and Isolde, the rightful heir to the Irish crown must flee the wicked queen, finding shelter with a fairy witch who teaches her the verdant magic of the forest. Fate leads Issylte to the otherworldly realm of the Lady of the Lake and the Elves of Avalon, where she must choose between her life as a Celtic healer or fight to save her ravaged kingdom from the ruthless Black Widow Queen.

Tristan of Lyonesse is a Knight of King Arthur's Round Table who must overcome the horrors of his traumatic past and defend his kingdom of Cornwall against a Viking invasion from Ireland. When he becomes a warrior of the Tribe of Dana, a gift of Druidic magic might hold the key he seeks.

Two parallel lives, interwoven by fate. Haunted and hunted by the same Black Widow Queen.

Can their passion and power prevail?

Triggers: sexually explicit, cursing, battle scenes, and dark magic.

Amazon - Read with #KindleUnlimited

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cover Art: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book kind of snuck up on me.

At first, I was just settling into it—the world, the characters, all the detail. It doesn’t rush you, which I actually liked. It feels like you’re slowly stepping into the story instead of being thrown into it. And then somewhere along the way, I realized I actually cared—like really cared about what was happening.

There’s this really strong mix of beauty and unease running through the whole book. Everything feels vivid—the castle, the forest, the court—but there’s always something a little off underneath it. Even the quieter, softer moments don’t feel completely safe, and that tension builds in a way that just sits with you.

A big part of that comes from Morag. From the moment she appears, there’s something unsettling about her. She’s beautiful and composed, but it’s very clear she knows exactly how to use that. The way she completely pulls Issylte’s father in—almost like he’s under a spell—is honestly hard to watch. Once she becomes queen, everything changes. The warmth disappears, the atmosphere turns cold, and Issylte’s life becomes much more controlled and isolating. You can really feel how quickly things shift for her, and it makes everything that follows hit harder.

Issylte’s story is the one that stayed with me the most. She just wants freedom, something simple and real, and instead her world keeps closing in around her. The loss she goes through—and the way it’s handled—feels quiet but heavy, like something she has to carry rather than something that gets resolved.

The magical side of the story is also really well done, and I liked that it’s not overwhelming—it kind of weaves in naturally. The forest feels alive in a way that’s hard to explain, like there’s something older and watching just beneath the surface. And then there’s Ronan, the Avalonian elf, who brings in that deeper sense of magic and calm. His presence feels different from everything else—steadier, warmer—but still tied to that same underlying mystery. He adds this almost dreamlike quality to parts of the story, while also becoming something much more personal for Issylte.

Tristan’s storyline adds a completely different kind of energy. He’s from Lyonesse, and his past is honestly brutal—he witnessed the massacre of his family during a Viking attack when he was a child, and that trauma really shapes everything about him . His journey is more physical and driven—training, fighting, pushing himself—but it’s also tied to something bigger. The whole Tournament of Champions and the chance to become one of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table, training under Lancelot, adds this epic, legendary layer to his story. It gives his path a sense of purpose that balances out Issylte’s more emotional, internal journey really well.

I also really liked how the setting actually matters. It’s not just there for atmosphere—it shapes the characters and their choices. The pressure of royal life, the expectations, the lack of control… all of that feels very real within the story.

The only reason this is a four-star read for me instead of five is the repetition. Certain phrases and descriptions come up a bit too often, and while the writing is beautiful, it occasionally pulls you out of the moment.

By the end, I wasn’t completely emotionally wrecked—but I was definitely invested. I wanted to keep going, especially with the way the story hints at something bigger still unfolding.

This is one of those books that slowly gets under your skin. It’s immersive, a little haunting, and layered with just enough magic and emotion to keep you hooked. Not perfect, but definitely one that stays with you.

Jennifer Ivy Walker is an award-winning author of medieval Celtic, Nordic, and paranormal romance, as well as contemporary romance, historical fantasy, and WWII romantic suspense.

A former high school teacher and college professor of French with an MA in French literature, her novels encompass a love for French language, literature, history, and culture, including Celtic myths and legends, Norse mythology, Viking sagas, and Nordic lore.

Website

Instagram

Twitter / X

Facebook

Bluesky

BookBub

Pinterest

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads

Tour Schedule

Book Spotlight - Quetzalcoatl: Time Stones Book II by Ian Hunter

 

Quetzalcoatl: Time Stones Book II 
By Ian Hunter

Publication Date: 22nd April 2021

Publisher: MVB Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels GmbH

Print Length: 277 Pages

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Jessie Mason lives with her nose in the pages of history. But she is discovering that the past is a dangerous place where she doesn't belong, and knowledge alone is not going to save her.

Jessie’s life has become a series of terrible challenges. Now she must lead her friends in the hopeless task Grandfather set them: hunt down and destroy the Time Stones. But her leadership has already failed. Tip has left them and Abe has simply disappeared, while she and Kes are trapped in the heart of an ancient empire in turmoil.

Thrust into a fractured, threatened Mexica nobility, Jessie is immersed in a way of life, fascinating and disturbing in equal measure, yet powerless before the approaching Conquistadors and the impending clash of cultures.

Even as the fabulous city of Tenochtitlan descends into savage violence, Jessie’s determination to succeed is undiminished. But with world history taking a new, bloody direction before her, she is finally forced to decide which is more important: continuing the task or simply surviving.

Amazon - Read with #KindleUnlimited

Books have been an important part of my life as long as I can remember, and at 54 years old, that’s a lot of books. My earliest memories of reading are CS Lewis’, “The Horse and His Boy” – by far the best of the Narnia books, the Adventures series by Willard Price, and “Goalkeepers are Different” by sports journalist Brian Glanville. An eclectic mix. My first English teacher was surprised to hear that I was reading, Le Carré, Ken Follett, Nevil Shute and “All the Presidents’ Men” by Woodward and Bernstein at the age of 12. I was simply picking up the books my father had finished.

School syllabus threw up the usual suspects – Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dickens, Hardy, “To Kill a Mockingbird” – which I have reread often, and others I don’t immediately recall. By “A” level study, my then English teachers were pulling their hair out at my “perverse waste of talent” – I still have the report card! But I did manage a pass.

During a 35 year career, briefly in Banking and then in IT, I managed to find time, with unfailing family support, to study another lifelong passion, graduating with an Open University Bachelors’ degree in History in 2002. This fascination with all things historical inspired me to begin the Time Stones series. There is so much to our human past, and so many differing views on what is the greatest, and often the saddest, most tragic story. I decided I wanted to write about it; to shine a small light on those, sometimes pivotal stories, which are less frequently mentioned.

In 1995, my wife, Michelle, and I moved from England to southern Germany, where we still live, with our two children, one cat, and, when she pays us a visit, one chocolate labrador. I have been fortunate that I could satisfy another wish, to travel as widely as possible and see as much of our world as I can. Destinations usually include places of historic and archaeological interest, mixed with a large helping of sun, sea and sand for my wife’s peace of mind.

Website

Twitter /X

Amazon Author Page 

Goodreads

Tour Schedule

My thoughts on Love Lost in Time by Cathie Dunn

Love Lost in Time

By Cathie Dunn

Publication Date: 28th November 2018 (ebook)

Publisher: Ocelot Press

Print Length: 274 Pages

Genre: Duel Time-Line / Historical Mystery / Romance

A reluctant daughter. A dutiful wife. A mystery of the ages.

Languedoc, France, 2018

Historian Madeleine Winters would rather research her next project than rehash the strained relationship she had with her late mother. However, to claim her inheritance, she reluctantly agrees to stay the one year required in her late mother’s French home and begins renovations. But when she’s haunted by a female voice inside the house and tremors emanating from beneath her kitchen floorboards, she’s shocked to discover ancient human bones.

The Mediterranean coast, AD 777

Seventeen-year-old Nanthild is wise enough to know her place. Hiding her Pagan wisdom and dutifully accepting her political marriage, she’s surprised when she falls for her Christian husband, the Count of Carcassonne. But she struggles to keep her forbidden religious beliefs and her healing skills secret while her spouse goes off to fight in a terrible, bloody war.

As Maddie settles into her rustic village life, she becomes obsessed with unraveling the mysterious history buried in her new home. And when Nanthild is caught in the snare of an envious man, she’s terrified she’ll never embrace her beloved again.

Can two women torn apart by centuries help each other finally find peace?

Love Lost in Time is a vivid standalone historical fiction novel for fans of epoch-spanning enigmas. If you like dark mysteries, romantic connections, and hints of the paranormal, then you’ll adore Cathie Dunn’s tale of redemption and self-discovery. 

Amazon - Read with #KindleUnlimited

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cover Art: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the kind of book that doesn’t just tug at your emotions—it grabs them and refuses to let go. The opening feels like a quiet warning of what’s coming, and even though the pieces don’t fall into place right away, when they finally do, it hits with full force. I didn’t just cry at the end—I was completely undone. By the time this book was finished with me, I felt wrung out, hollowed, and deeply moved.

What made it hurt so much is how Love Lost in Time slips so easily between comfort and dread. It gives you moments that feel almost safe—small, familiar, gentle—and then quietly pulls the rug out from under you. Everyday actions turn into revelations. Simple sensations turn into memories that don’t belong where they surface. The book doesn’t rush these shifts, and it doesn’t soften them either. You’re allowed to sit in the discomfort, and that’s exactly why it lands so hard.

The medieval storyline broke my heart in the best and worst way. Life is harsh, choices are limited, and love exists under constant pressure from duty, belief, and survival. There is tenderness here, but it’s fragile, always at risk of being taken away. Even the moments of warmth carry a sense of loss, as if you know they won’t last—and that knowledge hangs over everything.

The modern timeline feels deceptively ordinary at first, which makes the emotional cracks that appear later even more painful. When the past starts bleeding into the present, it doesn’t feel dramatic or theatrical—it feels personal. Unavoidable. Like something that was always waiting to be found.

What stayed with me most was the atmosphere. The past in this book doesn’t shout—it lingers. It seeps into the story through touch, scent, fragments of memory, and half-understood truths, until you realize it’s not content to stay buried. There’s something deeply intimate about the way it unfolds, like you’re being let in on a grief that was never properly laid to rest.

By the end, I wasn’t looking for answers—I was just sitting there, emotional and shaken, trying to catch my breath. The book doesn’t offer neat resolutions or easy comfort, and that feels intentional. It leaves you changed, carrying the weight of what you’ve witnessed, knowing that some stories don’t end cleanly—they stay with you.

This is not a gentle read. It’s a beautiful, painful, emotionally demanding one—and I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.

Cathie is an Amazon-bestselling author of historical fiction, dual-timeline, mystery, and romance. She loves to infuse her stories with a strong sense of place and time, combined with a dark secret or mystery – and a touch of romance. Often, you can find her deep down the rabbit hole of historical research…

In addition, she is also a historical fiction book promoter with The Coffee Pot Book Club, a novel-writing tutor, and a keen reviewer on her blog, Ruins & Reading.

After having lived in Scotland for almost two decades, Cathie is now enjoying the sunshine in the south of France with her husband, and her rescued pets, Ellie Dog & Charlie Cat. 

She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Richard III Society, the Alliance of Independent Authors, and the Romantic Novelists’ Association.

Website
Instagram
X
Facebook
Bluesky
BookBub
Amazon Author Page
Goodreads

Tour Schedule