Rosh's Reviews

  AUTHOR:  M.K. Hill GENRE: Gothic Paranormal Thriller. PUBLICATION DATE: April 21, 2026 RATING:  4 stars.  In a Nutshell: A Gothic psych thriller. Fabulous use of the Gothic house and the woodsy location. Aggravating MMC (as usual), agoraphobic FMC (not so usual). Fast-paced writing. Loads of creepy vibes and twisty turns. A bit too much telling at times and slightly convenient towards the end. But overall, a great entertainer. Definitely recommended. As always, suspend disbelief while reading this genre to enjoy it better. Go in blind. Plot Preview:  England. Since eighteen months, Eleanor Teague has been staying in the remote but beautiful Haddon Hall, confined to the house because of her severe agoraphobia. Her peace of mind is further affected by almost-daily nightmares about the death of her daughter and her role in the same. Haunted by this guilt, she is ever restless, and entirely dependent on her loving but controlling husband Ezra, and on the hous...

AUTHOR:  Caroline James GENRE: Romance. PUBLICATION DATE: January 15, 2026 RATING:  3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary fiction set on a cruise. Decent plot with multiple character POVs. Looks like a typical romance, but is more of a general fiction. The “romance” involves senior citizens, which isn't indicated by the cover or the blurb. Ensemble cast, but each character is slightly one-noted. Has some dark themes. Some of the writing choices didn’t work for me. But I grabbed it for the promised Arctic cruise, and that worked well. A good option for those who like ensemble stories with older characters. Plot Preview: Frequent cruiser Joy, 63, was supposed to go on an Arctic cruise with her husband Tom for their fortieth wedding anniversary. Now widowed for more than a year, Joy is convinced by their daughter to go on the cruise anyway. Retired teacher Henry, 70, is a lifelong bachelor who wants to fulfill his dream of seeing the Northern Lights. This is his first ti...

AUTHOR:  Karmen Špiljak GENRE: Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: January 23, 2026 RATING: 4.05 stars. In a Nutshell: A short story collection containing some dark speculative fiction tales. The darkness isn't outright paranormal, more like suspenseful or atmospheric. Creative plots, good writing, mostly good endings. A tad repetitive and/or confusing at times due to flashbacks, but this isn't a major issue. I enjoyed most of the stories. Much recommended.  I am very much a judge-a-book-by-the-cover reader. ( Feel free to judge me for this! 🤭) This often results in my missing out on some exemplary works just because the cover didn’t catch my eye. This is one such case. Had an offer to read-&-review this book not popped up through another source, I would have missed out on an entertaining collection of dark suspense.  This indie collection contains ten stories from varied speculative fiction subgenres. None of the stories are outright paranormal, though there are...

AUTHOR:  Eva Glyn SERIES: Bookish Escapes, #3 GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: January 16, 2026 RATING:  3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary fiction set on a floating library travelling across the Croatian islands. Character-oriented, slow-paced. Good use of the found family trope. More focus on the humans behind the library than the library itself. Some great themes, but slightly repetitive at times. A few scenes felt unnecessary. Not much romance, which I appreciate. A nice choice for fans of the genre.  Plot Preview: Thirty-five-year-old Ana Meštrović has accepted a new government contract to use her catamaran as a library carrying books across various islands of Croatia. She needs to make this project a success so that she can prove to her parents that she can have her own career independent of their oyster farming business.  Two new crew members will join Ana for this summer project: fifty-three-year-old British national Lloyd – the l...

AUTHOR:  Lisa Fox GENRE: Satirical Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: 7th December 2025 RATING: 3.6 stars. In a Nutshell: A short story collection that takes a satirical look at several relevant topics. Varied in genres and protagonists. The humour is somewhat dark. Entertaining enough, as long as you expect the OTT tone common to satire.  Author Lisa Fox has penned two short story collections prior to this one: ‘Core Truths’   and ‘Passageways’ . I had enjoyed both of these speculative collections and hence looked forward to her latest set of stories. This one is slightly different from the earlier two, in that it doesn’t contain a unifying theme.  The stories in both “Core Truths” and “Passageways” were embodiments of their respective titles, with every story containing a “core truth”/“passageway” as applicable. I think that helped me appreciate the author’s cleverness and creativity better. This time, there was no thread connecting the stories beyond the sati...

AUTHOR:  Suzanne Rogerson NARRATOR:  Colette Davies-Kerwin GENRE: Contemporary Christmas Short Stories PUBLICATION DATE: November 17, 2025 RATING: 3.8 stars. In a Nutshell: A sweet collection of holiday short stories. Covering varied characters and emotions. Utterly feel-good and perfect for the festive season.  This collection contains eight short stories. As the title promises, each of them contains “a little Christmas magic”. The word ‘magic’ is used in both its interpretations: figurative and actual. Goodreads shows this book to be a part of the Winter Warmers series, but the series comprises short story collections that are independent of each other and hence can be read in any order.  As feel-good stories set during the Christmas season, the tales are obviously heartwarming. You might even assume that these are predictable, and many of them are. BUT this genre is anyway not meant to be twisty. AND there are a few stories that offer unexpected surprises, so...

  AUTHOR:  Brian Frederick ILLUSTRATOR: Vivien Sárkány GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE:  November 27, 2025 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A picture book about a little dachshund trying to help someone without getting tempted by distractions. A quirky story matched by equally quirky art. Has unexpected fantasy additions, which could go either way. The title doesn’t represent the plot accurately. Going in with the right expectations will make this an enjoyable story for dog-loving kids.  Plot Preview:  Siggy the dachshund lives with Phyllis and her family in a small hamlet called Hope in Somerset, England. Siggy knows all the villagers and they know him too. Siggy even talks to all the villagers, but only a few can understand him back. One day, Siggy tries to rescue a flyaway birthday gift, but there are so many distractions along the way! Will he be successful in retrieving it without losing his focus?   The story is written...