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Book Review: The Last Drop of Hemlock

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Title: The Last Drop of Hemlock
Author: Katharine Schellman
Release Date: 6 June 2023
How I Got It: Bought print copy
Rating: 4 Stars

Last year I wrote a review for Katharine Schellman’s book Last Call at the Nightingale, which is a Jazz Age-set historical murder mystery. You can find that first review here. The sequel to that book came out in June, so of course I had to get it. I’ve mentioned before (I think) that Schellman became an instant-buy author for me the minute I read her debut novel, a regency-era mystery called The Body in the Garden, which came out in 2020 and which I wrote about here. I am so happy I found this author. I have loved everything she’s published so far, and this newest book, The Last Drop of Hemlock, is no exception.

The Last Drop of Hemlock picks up a couple months after the end of Nightingale (you will need to read the first book to get some reference and know who all the main players are). Our resident disaster bi (and my personal mascot) Vivian Kelly (Viv) is getting used to her new job working at the Nightingale, the speakeasy owned by the dangerous woman she is dangerously attracted to, Honor. As she did in the first book, Viv quickly finds herself entangled in a murder: this time she has promised to help her best friend Bea find out who murdered her uncle with poisoned whiskey. This investigation leads her to asking for favors from Leo, whom she has indecisively kept at a distance since learning of his deception at the end of the first book. She also has to make deals with mobsters, gets attacked, uncovers a bizarre plot of threats and blackmail, and steals a priceless dress covered in gems.

In the midst of this, she finally convinces her straight-laced sister, Florence, to come to the Nightingale where Honor’s right-hand man, Danny, takes an immediate liking to her and the two begin a (truly sweet and adorable) flirtation. For reasons Viv can hardly explain even to herself this budding relationship makes her strangely jealous. It’s not that she has any designs on Danny for herself. It’s more that she is lonely, stuck and confused by her attractions to both Honor and Leo, and hurt by Honor’s decision to push her away despite acknowledging that the attraction is mutual. So, even though she is happy that her serious sister is having fun, becoming more joyful, she is also afraid of losing her place in Florence’s affections, and she’s jealous that she has not likewise found someone who makes her happy the way Danny seems to make Florence happy.

I would say this installment is not quite as good as the first, which I absolutely adored. But it’s still a ton of fun. The murder mystery in this book doesn’t shock me the way the first one did. The way all the pieces fall together in the end is still very satisfying, but I did actually figure it out ahead of the characters this time, which I did not quite manage in the first book.

As with the first book, the research and attention to historical detail is impeccable. As someone who is trying (and mostly failing) to write a 1920s set historical fiction novel, I know how much work that takes, and I am duly impressed. Schellman really does a great job building the setting with rich detail. This version of Jazz Age New York feels real and lived in. The Nightingale in particular comes to life with technicolor and Dolby surround sound. And even the streets and shops and Chinatown and the various incidental characters that live there all feel real and alive.

There are many things I love about the series in general. First, of course, is Viv. As a disaster bi myself, I have a lot of fellow-feeling for Viv. For her chaotic tendencies, her attractions to two very different but both wildly appealing people, her confusion, her need to get lost in the smoke and the sweat and the music at the speakeasy. This is a character I know and understand. One of the things about this installment was getting to see/learn more of the other supporting characters, especially Bea, Florence, and Danny.

I also really liked some of the small bits of social commentary threaded throughout the plot. As Danny shows Viv and Florence his home in Chinatown, they (and we as the readers) learn more about the way the Chinese immigrant community lived in the 20s, and the kinds of racism and obstacles they had to face when they arrived in New York. These books (both of them, but especially this one) also do not shy away from examining the huge gaps between the wealthy and the working class during this time period. So often, Jazz Age stories focus on the wild lives of the rich, but this book stays with the working class and the poor. The ones living in cheap, rundown tenements, who are struggling to scrape by. And in these spaces we see the ways these working class communities supported each other and helped each other in times of crisis. This is one of the biggest strengths of the book in my opinion.

Was this book on quite the same level as the previous one? No. But that is a common issue with the follow-up to a strong opener. That said, I did still really enjoy it and recommend it. And I am looking forward to the next installment. The ending of the Last Drop of Hemlock does, of course, wrap up the big mystery plot of the novel. But it opens up new possibilities for Viv’s personal/romantic life that I am very excited to return to. I am also interested in seeing how the budding romance between Florence and Danny shakes out. Obviously, I don’t know for certain that there will be a next book, but mystery novels like this tend to be popular in long-series form, and provided this one does well enough it seems a safe bet to assume there will be a follow up.

In the meantime, Murder at Midnight – the next book in Katharine Schellman’s other series, the Lily Adler Mysteries, is due out in September. As I said at the top of this post, the first Lily Adler book was Schellman’s debut and I loved it so much that she became an instant-buy for me based on that single book. The third book in the series came out last year, and while I absolutely enjoyed it, I felt strongly that it suffered from missing Lily Adler’s staunch supporter, Captain Jack Hartley. It seems like he should be back in the next book and I am SO excited for it. Yes, I swoon over this character. So sue me. (Don’t actually sue me, I have no money.) If you read these books you will probably understand. And in all fairness, I’m also swooning over Lily the entire time too. And in the grand tradition of many murder mystery series, this one appears to be a Christmas installment!

So, you will no doubt be getting another Katharine Schellman-centered book review in September.

My Fave Reads of the Year, 2022 Edition

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Hello all and welcome to the last Friday of the year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday week last week, and that you are excited for the new year and all the possibilities that might bring. The last year, or two years really, have been pretty rough, and I am really hoping that 2023 will be a bit kinder to us all. But I am… skeptical, let’s say. Still, I am trying to approach the new year with a feeling of cautious optimism. We shall see how it goes.

Before I jump into my fave reads list, I have several things in the works I want to mention. I have officially started my work as a freelance editor. And I am preparing to launch an etsy shop to sell the fluid paintings I’ve been making off-and-on for the last couple months. The first handful were all gifts to various family and friends, but I have a bunch now that are piling up in my office, so I’m hoping to sell them for just a bit – enough to clear out the space in my office and buy supplies so I can make some more. I’ll have the shop linked here probably in the first week of January for the curious.

I am also considering changing the name of the blog… though, I am still on the fence about that. As I mentioned in my About page ages ago, I chose the name “Night Forest Books” as the name of my hypothetical future bookstore. I’ve had the name in mind since AT LEAST 2016. It’s a reference to my favorite book, The Neverending Story, and the location called “Perilin, the Night Forest.” When I first chose the name I did a lot of research to make sure no other bookstore or related business had claimed the name already. I bought the .com domain for future use, and I claimed the IG name (@night.forest.books) and this blog title. However, I was nowhere near ready to actually register a business or LLC name as I knew it would be probably years before I was financially ready to start the bookstore.

Well, apparently in mid-2020 a brand new micro-press started in CANADA, and they named themselves Night Forest Press. Obviously, even if they did research on the name, they did not consider my teeny-tiny blog a problem, whether it had essentially the same name or not, and since I didn’t have an actual business registered under that name it was legally up for grabs. I could probably still get away with naming a bookstore Night Forest Books if I really wanted to (maybe, I’m not certain), but googling “Night Forest Books” right now just brings up the press website. And I had vague ambitions of maybe someday starting a press associated with the hypothetical bookstore, which would no longer be a viable option under the current name. So, I will need to find a new name for the hypothetical bookstore…

Of course, the blog name is still fine right now. However, as I said, googling for “Night Forest Books” right now does not remotely lead to my blog, which is really disheartening. Besides which, my initial thought was that the blog would be a good way to establish some recognition among readership in advance of opening the bookstore, and if the bookstore has an entirely different name from the blog that kind of defeats the purpose…

So… yeah… I’m on the fence about changing the blog name, or just letting it be and worrying about the bookstore name later. Maybe I’ll just go back to using my actual name for the blog for the time being. That might at least make it obvious in search engines again… maybe. *shrug* If anyone has any thoughts, please feel free to share.

OKAY! And now the thing I’m supposed to actually be writing about today. My Favorite Reads of 2022 List!

I had a really difficult time narrowing the list down this year. (Well, ok, every year). What I have ended up with is a list of 10 books. My top 5 favorite new release fiction books, released in the calendar year of 2022, plus my top 5 favorite nonfiction books, none of which were new releases for 2022 but which were all new reads for me.

My Top 5 Fiction New Releases:

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher: This book by the masterful T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) is a beautiful dark fairy tale with prose that makes me weep with awe and jealousy. I wrote a full review for Nettle & Bone way back at the beginning of the year, where I predicted that it might end up being my favorite book of the year when it was all said and done, though I conceded that Nona the Ninth might easily change my mind when it was released. But lo and behold! I stand by my initial statement! I absolutely adored this book and it remains my favorite book of the year.

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske: you can find the full review of this one and the first book in the trilogy just a few weeks back. This one is a historical romance fantasy set in Edwardian England, featuring a murder mystery, lots of magic, and some very steamy sex. I loved it (and the first one, A Marvellous Light), and I’ve already re-read it once since finishing it.

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: I know I still owe you all an actual review of this one, oops… For those still in the dark (how?) this book (and series) is a mind-bending, genre-busting, space opera mixed with necromantic magic, and one of the most complex examinations of love in all its forms (including toxic and self-destructive) that I have ever read. I’ll admit that I fully expected this one to overtake Nettle & Bone as my favorite, but though I loved it immensely, it ended up slipping down to third place. Nona the Ninth, the third of the Locked Tomb series, was excellent, and mind-boggling, but of the three it is my least favorite. Nona was a delight of a character, but the first book is still by far the most FUN. So far I love them in order, lol (Gideon, then Harrow, then Nona).

Last Call at the Nightingale by Katherine Schellman: here’s another one I read and reviewed pretty early in the year! It’s a historical murder mystery novel set in the 1920s, which is of course a good portion of what I love about it. And it features a disaster bi protagonist that I relate to rather strongly, lol! I read the whole thing in one sitting, just absolutely DEVOURED it. I fervently await the sequel!

The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews: I have not written a full review for this one yet, but I might try to put one together for it and its sequel later. This one is straight romance novel material, historical (Victorian setting), and absolutely lovely! I read it about a month ago and I am currently in a big Victorian-set historical romance brainrot mode. I also read the sequel to this one, The Belle of Belgrave Square. There will be a third one apparently sometime next year, so maybe I’ll do a double review for books 1 and 2 in time for the 3rd release. This book just really made me happy, with a headstrong intelligent female lead and a Indian-immigrant working-class love interest, and lots of witty banter.

My Top 5 Nonfiction Books:

Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh: this is the last book that came out before Thich Nhat Hanh’s death in 2021. If you are unfamiliar with him, he was a very famous well-respected Buddhist monk who wrote many books on Buddhist, meditation, and finding peace in your own life. He gave lectures, met with world leaders, ran retreats, and generally just made the world a better place by his existence. He was/is one of the greatest heroes in my life, and I was absolutely DISTRAUGHT when he died last year. (And, shit, I am genuinely getting choked up just typing this.) This book is kind of exactly what the title suggests: a way of approaching the crises of our planet (ecological, political, systemic, personal) from a Buddhist perspective but also from a largely non-denominational place of deeply human spirituality and compassion. It made me cry at least three or four times, and the minute I finished it I threatened to buy a copy for every person I know to make them read it (if I’d had the funds, I really probably would have).

Make Your Art No Matter What by Beth Pickens: I have a soft-spot for self-improvement books, but more specifically I really love self-improvement books about living an authentic and creative life. For instance, I also liked Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (though I do find Gilbert a little too woo-woo and mystical hand-wavy at times). This book by Beth Pickens is about living life as an artist — and she defines “artist” very broadly — and offers real concrete advice on how to live that life to the best of your ability and with the most fulfillment you can manage, whether you are a full-time professional artist or someone trying to eke out a practice around a day job and family and other responsibilities. I found it incredibly insightful, down-to-earth, actionable, and really inspiring.

The Dragon Behind the Glass by Emily Voigt: I really love nonfiction books about history or science, and this one is kind of both. I picked it up on a whim and found it absolutely fascinating. It’s about the exotic fish trade, of all things! Specifically about a rare exotic fish called an arawona, which is allegedly the most expensive kind of collector/live fish in the world (most expensive fish of any kind in the world are, I think, some of the giant tuna caught/killed in Asia and sold by auction to high-end restaurants for sometimes millions of dollars). This book, and the exotic fish trade, includes: trips into the deepest barely-explored jungles of Asia and South America, run-ins with the black market and the mob, and devolves into fraud, betrayal, and even murder. It’s absolutely shocking and enormously fascinating!

1920: The Year That Made the Decade Roar by Eric Burns: I think I’ve mentioned before I am a bit obsessed with the 1920s Jazz Age era? So I assume no one is surprised that I picked up this book. It is pretty much exactly what it says it is: its a history book that focused on JUST the single year of 1920, and makes an argument that the events of that single year was the catalyst and predictor for everything that came after it. One of the major events the book focuses on is the 1920 Wall Street bombing, which remained the most destructive incident of domestic terrorism until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. (I found that section SO interesting that the Wall Street bombing eventually became the instigating event for the plot in my 1920s historical fiction work-in-progress). The whole book was really enlightening and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in American history.

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier: the subtitle for this book is “The triumphant, turbulent stories behind how video games are made.” It’s a really well-researched account written by a games journalist about the game industry, using an enormous amount of first-persons accounts and interviews. Each chapter focuses on the story of a different game, including (but not limited to) Witcher 3, Uncharted 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Stardew Valley. I’m not even a big gamer (just a dabbler), so I’m not 100% sure why I decided to pick this one to begin with, but I’m so glad I did! It was so cool to learn about how these games are developed and the kind of crazy sheningans that happen behind the scenes. (The dude who made Stardew Valley continues to blow my mind.) It’s also really fun now to watch the comedy tv show Mythic Quest on Apple+ and constantly go “that’s not how that works! That’s not how any of that works!” Lol…

So, that’s my list, for whatever it’s worth. I’d love to hear what books you read and loved this year! Please feel free to share in the comments!

Book Review: Last Call at the Nightingale

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(Apologies for the delay!)

I think I’ve said this before, but Katharine Schellman is an absolute delight on social media. She is so kind and generous with her fans. There is, of course, a certain amount of patience and politeness expected from authors when they interact with fans on social media, but that’s not what I mean. I mean she is genuine and kind and friendly and generous with her time. I have had a couple “conversations” with her on twitter, which mostly consisted of me raving about how much I loved her three Lily Adler books (reviews of which can be found here), and her telling me how much she appreciated the support.

Well, during one of these conversations she asked me if I would be interested in an ARC of her next new release book, Last Call at the Nightingale, which is not part of her Lily Adler series but the start of a new mystery series set in the 1920s. Reader, I’m sure you can imagine what my response was!

Of course I jumped at the chance! Mostly because I love absolutely everything she has written so far, and also because I am actually obsessed with the 1920s and love historical fiction set in the 20s. She asked for my mailing address, and I gave it to her, and then a couple weeks ago the ARC arrived in the mail. She even sent a nice little note with it, which I will treasure.

It took some effort to get the quiet time and space needed to sit down and read it. I knew I was going to need a whole free evening because, based on previous experience, a Katharine Schellman novel is a read-in-one-sitting novel. I did that with both books 2 and 3 of the Lily Adler series, and it is clearly going to be the standard for these. Finally, I did find the time, and true to my prediction, I read the entire book in one sitting.

So, here’s my review, lol!

Title: Last Call at the Nightingale
Author: Katharine Schellman
Release Date: 7 June 2022
How I Got It: gift from the author
Rating: 5 out of 5!

Last Call at the Nightingale is a new mystery set in New York in 1924, and follows the misadventures of Vivian Kelly as she stumbles into a murder mystery, gets in over her head, and flirts her way both in and out of trouble. Vivian Kelly and her older, prim-and-proper sister Florence, are both Irish-descent and orphans, and therefore poor, disdained, and in desperate need of any respectability they can muster. But Florence has enough respectability for the both of them, and Vivian much prefers to be the wild child quietly working as a seamstress during the day, while spending her nights dancing with abandon at the Nightingale, the speakeasy that feels more like her home than any other place she has ever been. During one of her many late nights at the Nightingale, Vivian and her best friend Bea, a waitress at the speakeasy, accidentally stumble across a dead body. And not just any dead body – judging from his expensive clothes and the secrecy around his death, this dead body was someone important.

At first, Vivian intends to stay well clear of the trouble. Then, she gets caught up in a raid at the speakeasy. Poor and unwilling to call her sister for help, she is bailed out by the owner of the Nightingale herself: the dangerously alluring Honor Huxley. Honor has a deal for Vivian: in exchange for the bail money, Honor would like Vivian to snoop for her, get in close with anyone who might know about the dead man, and find out who killed him. This will be especially easy for Vivian, Honor claims, because Vivian likes to make friends and knows everyone who frequents the speakeasy, and because Vivian was just that night dancing with one of the men Honor suspects was involved – the charming Leo Green, newly arrived from Chicago.

And so Vivian finds herself questioning maids, sneaking into the offices of wealthy women, being attacked and threatened by brutes, and flirting with the increasingly attractive Leo, all in the name of finding a killer and paying off a debt.

This book was SO MUCH FUN. The 20s New York setting is well executed and believable, details and ambience applied with a deft touch. The smoky speakeasy, the crooked cops, the realities of living as a poor woman in the middle of the glitz and glamor of the Jazz Age. The characters themselves were absolutely the highlight. I adored Vivian – the absolute definition of disaster bi who is constantly being pulled in different directions by her attractions to both Honor and Leo (you and me both, girl!), and her smart mouth that got her in and out of trouble on quite a few occasions. Vivian’s best friend, Bea, was also a highlight – a well-educated black woman working at a speakeasy to support her mother and keep her siblings in school. There was also Danny Chen, a Chinese immigrant who works as Honor’s bartender and second-in-command at the speakeasy.

And then, of course, there were Honor and Leo, the two equally attractive people pulling Vivian in different directions. Honor is dangerous and intelligent and more than a little manipulative and absolutely SEXY. Leo is gentle and charming and honorable, with an aura of safety about it. Like Vivian, I was pretty in love with them both by the end.

I was kind of in love with all of the characters actually. I was live-tweeting a bit while I read the book, and I think some of these tweets are pretty indicative:

On top of all that was the mystery itself. And BOY was it twisty! I thought I had it figured out about halfway through, but I realized I was wrong at about the ¾ mark. Then at about the 80% mark the CHARACTERS think they have it solved, but I KNEW they were wrong – both because it didn’t feel right, and because there were (of course) like 30 or 40 pages left… (lol). When the final pieces came together and Vivian had it all figured out I was shocked. Did not see it coming at all.

Here, my tweets are pretty good gauge there as well:

This novel was HIGHLY enjoyable. I really loved all the principal characters. And I really hope the book does well enough to guarantee a second installment (and hopefully many more of that *fingers crossed*). The book releases on June 7th. The supply chain being what it is, I highly recommend pre-ordering, but alas, I know that is not always possible. In any case, if you enjoy a good twisty mystery novel and historical fiction set in the Jazz Age, you should definitely pick this one up!

Book Review: The Body in the Garden

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Book: The Body in the Garden
Author: Katharine Schellman
Release Date: 7 April 2020
Source: ARC provided by publisher (obtained through my work)
Rating: 6 out of 5 Stars (I can do that if I want to!)

Photo by me

Let me begin this review with a little backstory (kind of like I did for Disney’s Land). I love many things. I am a very enthusiastic, some might say obsessive fan, of quite a few pop culture subjects. But here are a few of my EARLIEST obsessions: Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes, the Regency England fantasy novels of Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, and murder mysteries in general.

I read my first Jane Austen novel – Pride and Prejudice – in 5th grade (I was reading WELL into a college-level by fourth and fifth grade) and became immediately obsessed, proceeding to read all of her novels. At about the same time, I had become obsessed with mystery novels. I started with age-appropriate books such as Nancy Drew and the Boxcar Children, but very quickly moved on to Sherlock Holmes, who is still one of my greatest loves. Not long after that I read Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede – a book that combined Regency England historical setting, fantasy, and a pair of beloved character solving a mystery. Her sequel The Magician’s Ward, and her trilogy of related Regency Fantasy novels co-written with Caroline Stevermer (Sorcery and Cecilia, The Grand Tour, and The Mislaid Magician) all follow in this same delightful vein.

I would easily rank Mairelon the Magician as one of my top 5 favorite novels – it is my most-commonly-read “comfort novel.” When I am sad or restless or can’t focus enough to read anything else, I read Mairelon the Magician. I have read it approximately 5 PER YEAR since I first picked it up 1995 or 1996, which means I have read it approximately 120 times!

So, to bring it back to the present: I received an ARC of The Body in the Garden by Katharine Schellman through my work. I discovered to my delight that it combines my favorite things: it is takes place in Regency (1815) England, it is a murder mystery, and it features an awesome woman detective and a dashing sea captain (a la Captain Frederick Wentworth from Jane Austen’s Persuasion). I told my friend about this perfect storm of my favorite things in one book and he replied with this Doctor Who gif:

(if you’ve seen the Doctor Who episode “The Doctor’s Wife” you get why this is so funny)

I was only 20 pages into the book and I was already absolutely DELIGHTED!

The main plot is this: Mrs. Lily Adler, recently widowed and heartbroken has returned to London from the country at the insistence of her (former) mother-in-law. There she meets up with two old friends: Lady Serena Walter (a school friend) and Captain Jack Hartley (her husband’s best childhood friend). While attending a ball thrown by her friend Serena, Lily has the supreme misfortune of accidentally overhearing an argument, pertaining to a blackmail, between persons unknown through a hedgerow, which then leads to gunfire. She and Captain Hartley then discover the dead body of an unknown young man. When the Bow Street Runners (the very early version of a police force only recently coming into itself in the early 1800s) are bribed into NOT investigating the murder, Lily Adler decides that something must be done, and determines to take on the case herself. She quickly enlists the aid of the dashing and protective Jack Hartley, and a smart determined young heiress from the West Indies who has been uncomfortable in London society because of her mixed parentage. Together they risk their reputations and their lives to solve the murder.

To say I enjoyed this book would be gross understatement! I should add, as further backstory, that I suffer from severe depression. I USED to be a prolific reader (2-3 books per week) but as some know, depression can absolutely DESTROY higher brain function. The ability to read, to write, to concentrate and focus just completely EVAPORATE. I haven’t been able to really read in at least 4 years. I switched to audiobooks a couple years ago, which helped. And in the last few months I have been slowly relearning how to read again. But VERY slowly.

So when I say I inhaled this book in THREE DAYS (just 20 pages the first night, then about ⅓ the second night, and finally finishing the whole last ⅔ in one sitting on a third day), you may perhaps understand how big a deal this is for me!

I just loved this book THAT MUCH. It was like my brain just CLICKED back on for awhile! It was AMAZING.

The two main characters, Lily and Jack (well, three I suppose if you include the heiress Ofelia Oswald), are completely wonderful. They are fully-realized, complex people who bond over their shared love for and grief over the loss of Lily’s husband, Freddy. But they also share a sense of justice, and fairplay, and hilarious SARCASM and wit. I was glad to see that they did NOT form a romance over the course of the book, but a great and touching respect and friendship. I adored them both, and I am going to jump in now, before the book is officially released in April and other people discover these characters: I am going to marry both Lily AND Jack. They are mine. You cannot have them!

The plot of the murder mystery was well-crafted and clever and kept me guessing. I thought I had it figured out and then a twist about ⅔ of the way through proved me wrong. I didn’t figure out the truth until RIGHT as the characters were ready to reveal themselves.

In addition, this book was ENORMOUSLY well-researched. It is clear that Katharine Schellman both loves the time period and has the work ethic and attention span to research the fine details that give a good story its texture and its realism. I have taken several college and graduate level courses on the subject of Jane Austen, and both Georgian and Regency-era novels, and so I recognized (perhaps more than the average reader) the kind of historical research that went into this book. It was very impressive! And really added to the overall effect and enjoyment of the book.

I really cannot stress enough how much I loved this book! I was on twitter a couple nights ago raving about it and the author herself very kindly responded. She was so friendly and she is seriously becoming one of my new favorite internet-people.

What makes me even more excited is that the cover of the book announces that it is “A Lily Adler Mystery.” Both this and the ending imply that another book (possibly many other books!) is either already being written or is at least contracted to be written. I am so happy that there will be more of these! The only downside to reading a book before it has even been released is the fact that it means waiting EVEN LONGER for the next one!

Everyone should go pre-order this book NOW while you can! (Katharine Schellman also has a pre-order sweepstakes going on her Instagram, so there’s that).

For links to pre-order there is, of course: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound

For the Instagram sweepstakes head here to Katharine Schellman’s profile