Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett Series: Emily Wilde #3
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Published by Penguin Random House on February 11, 2025
Also by this author: Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands
Format: Audio/Physical (368 pages) • Source: Libro.fm, Purchased
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The third installment in the heartwarming and enchanting Emily Wilde series, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she loves
Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.
Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.
Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world: How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
Book Three of the Emily Wilde Series
Don’t miss any of Heather Fawcett’s charming Emily Wilde series:
EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES • EMILY WILDE’S MAP OF THE OTHERLANDS • EMILY WILDE’S COMPENDIUM OF LOST TALES
Unfortunately I don’t know if this was a victim of my reading slump or if I just didn’t love it as much as the other two, but it took me a LONG time to read this. I started in early March right after it came out and ended up putting it on hold for nearly a month while I finished up some other things. I began it again in earnest in early April and didn’t finish until the last day of the month, when I was DETERMINED to get it done. I think if I had just sat down and actually read it I would have enjoyed it more. In my brain this is still a five-star series if that counts for anything.
The story follows Emily and Wendell as they try to fix the curse on his kingdom. I love the two of them plus Shadow and other characters. The pacing of the story was a little off and felt like staccato events happening on and off with some fluff in between. I never felt the real danger or adventure that I felt in the other two books.
I can see this being the final installment but am also a little disappointed by the ending if it actually IS the last book. This series is the epitome of cozy fantasy with a litttttle more action.
The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on January 14, 2025
Format: Audio/Physical (352 pages) • Source: Everand, Purchased
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"A stunning and accomplished debut, with hugely relatable characters and an addictive storyline that kept me turning the pages well into the night. Bravo!" --BA Paris, New York Times bestselling author
"Wow, The Business Trip was nonstop twists and turns. I loved the unusual way that the story was told, and I kept reading all day long because I couldn't wait to see how it ended!" -- Freida McFadden, New York Times bestselling author
IT WAS THEIR CHANCE TO GET AWAY, NOT GO AWAY . . . FOREVER.
Stephanie and Jasmine have nothing and everything in common. The two women don’t know each other but have boarded the same plane. Stephanie is on a business trip and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship.
After a few days, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man—soon, the messages become stranger and more erratic. And then the two women vanish. The texts go silent, red flags go up, and panic sets in.
When Stephanie and Jasmine are each declared missing and in danger, it begs the question: Who is Trent McCarthy? What did he do to these women—or what did they do to him?
Twist upon twist, layer upon layer, nothing is as it seems. The Business Trip takes you on a descent into the depths of a mastermind manipulator. But who is playing whom?
I was debating what thriller to read when I remembered a friend told me how addicting this one was, and I really needed something to bust my reading slump and start the month off right. This was a super unique thriller in many ways and definitely delivered on the addicting front, especially in the first half!
You meet Stephanie and Jasmine as they fly to Denver – Stephanie is on yet another business trip and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. The book quickly turns to other characters who realize that both of these women are missing and appear to be tied to the same man.
I really liked the chaos of the multiple POVs – all of the relatives, friends, and coworkers of these women are trying to figure out what happened to them while the reader is along for the ride, also trying to put the pieces together. I was glad to listen to some of the audiobook for this as well – it’s full-cast and well-worth the listen.
There was a big Gone Girl-esque (not quite that good, but you know what I mean) twist that led to a relatively boring, explanation-heavy stretch of the book. I was still really interested but I missed some of the other elements we had before. The ending got me back in with another surprise or two! I think a lot of people thought it was a bit much but I think the book needed that added punch at the end.
This was a really great way to (hopefully) break out of my reading slump a little bit. I’d recommend it if you want something really hard to put down and unique,
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