Carole's Monday: Whisper of Sin by Nalini Singh

Author: Nalini Singh

Title: Whisper of Sin

Series: Psy-Changeling #0.75

Genre: PNR, Fantasy, Novella, Short Story

Format: ebook

Pages: 80

Published:  August 3, 2010

Where I got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

San Francisco is under threat from a violent gang…a gang that has no idea who they’re challenging. The DarkRiver pack of leopard changelings has already claimed the city as their territory, and they will fight with wild fury to protect its residents. Emmett, a lethally trained leopard soldier, isn’t about to let outsiders muscle in on his home ground—especially when they target a human named Ria.

Emmett has one word for the smart stranger with her curvy body and tough mine.

Possessive, dominant, unyielding in his demands and desires, Emmett is unlike anyone Ria has ever before met. But while the sexy leopard changeling makes her body ignite, his kisses molten and his touch addicting, she’s no pushover and she has a few demands of her own. This leopard has met his match…

Review:

I've really been feeling these quick PNRs of this series! Not sure why, but it's been all I want to read. 

Here we have Emmett and Ria. There is a violent gang causing trouble and thinking they can take on the DarkRiver. Things go from bad to worse when they target Ria. Emmett will never let anything happen to his human. His? Uh-oh. 

Emmett was fun, and I liked Ria a lot. I think I really adore human/changeling a bit more. We got a nice break from the Psy issues. 

Dumb gang. SMH. 

This was quick and just what the doctor ordered. 

This was short but perfect. Mystery, action, passion, and even some humor! It hit all the marks and quickly. 

I'll give this 5 stars. 

Reading Challenges:

- Library Love #14

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

Format: 309 pages, Paperback

Published: April 22, 2025 by Bloomsbury Publishing

Litfic/own

This book had calm pace, and sure not a lot happened, but it was good and sometimes you will just drift along.

It is about Yeongju who is burned out and opens a bookstore. At first it goes, not so well, but little by little she finds herself and the bookstore starts to to become a place people wants to visit.

She meets new people who becomes friends. The man who cant find a job and becomes a barista. A student unsure about his path in life, a office guy turned writer, a woman who turns about and just stares for hours. They all have their reason and they all fall in love with the bookshop.

Have I heard about Korean work ethics? Sure, but damn, no wonder people are burned out. And there is a lot of talk about that here. People who work until midnight, go home and start again. People who have non permanent positions but are not given real ones because they are easy to fire. And then those who downtrade, they have a better job but then do a lesser one. But are happier, still society values those better jobs more.

Will this bookshop thrive? Who knows, but Yeongju and the people she has met will do their best.

I enjoyed it, but yes it is a slower one and about people. You just have to go with the flow.

Yeongju is burned out. With her high-­flying career, demanding marriage, and busy life in Seoul, she knows she should feel successful, but all she feels is drained. Yet an abandoned dream nags at her, and in a leap of faith, she leaves her old life behind. After quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeongju moves to a small residential neighborhood outside the city, where she opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.

For the first few months all Yeongju does is cry, but the long hours in the shop also give her time to mull over what makes a good bookseller and store. As she starts to read hungrily, host author events, and develop her own bookselling philosophy, she eases into her new setting. Surrounded by friends, writers, and the books that connect them all, she finds her new story as the Hyunam-dong Bookshop transforms into an inviting space for lost souls to rest, heal, and remember it's never too late to scrap the plot and start again.

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

Format: 248 pages, Paperback

Published: September 23, 2014 by Quirk Books

Horror/borrowed

First of all, the book itself is a masterpiece. It is built like an Ikea catalogue with pictures of furniture (that get darker), notices from Orsk and more. A real masterpiece that really builds the book. They were as fun reading as the book itself.

As for the book, sure sure it was Orsk ;) But dang, I am not stepping into an Ikea again after this.

Amy is rather tired of her job at Orsk, and then her boss tells her and another employee that they must stay overnight cos someone vandalizes the store. And soon things turn dark. So very dark.

I really had to know what happened because this was scary. A total nightmare. But so very good! And the end srsly! I would read more.

I really enjoyed this one

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.

To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör is designed to retain its luster and natural appearance for a lifetime of use. Pleasingly proportioned with generous French flaps and a softcover binding, Horrorstör delivers the psychological terror you need in the elegant package you deserve.

We used to live here by Marcus Kliewer

Format: 312 pages, Paperback

Published: July 1, 2025 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Horror/borrowed

Why did you let those people into your house Eve?!?!?

Eve and Charlie bought an old house that they are renovating. And one day strangers knock on their door asking to be let in, and Eve who is afraid to say no, says yes. Noooooo! Eve, noooooo!

So Charlie is out and we have a family going through the house and a kid hiding, and well when you let them in they will never leave again.

This nightmare slowly grew and grew, and something is in that old house. Eve is starting to loose control and I had no idea what was going on.

I really enjoyed this one, it came to a point where I had to know! And let´s just say, that house is damn creepy.

As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?