Review: Across the Vanishing Sky [Starlight Grove 01] by Catherine Cowles!

Publication date: 3rd March 2026
Paperback edition: -
Source: Kindle
Rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis: He spent a lifetime trying to escape his dark past…but to save her, he’ll wade back into the shadows.

Braedyn Winslow never expected to return to Starlight Grove—the town that took everything from her. Not after her best friend, the one who’d sacrificed so much for her, vanished without a trace. But with a young son to raise and a past that won’t stay buried, Brae is back…and determined to uncover the truth.

She just didn’t count on the brooding, reclusive mountain man living next door.

Dex Archer is the stuff of local legend—silent, rugged, and surrounded by whispers of his and his brothers’ violent father. But Brae sees through the scowl and his parentage to the man beneath: fiercely loyal, unexpectedly kind…and just dangerous enough to protect her when someone starts warning her off her search.

The closer she gets to the truth, the harder it is to stay away from Dex. And as things get more perilous, Brae realizes the only person she can rely on is the one man who swore never to trust again.

Only someone isn’t happy that Brae has been digging, and they’ll do anything to stop her. But Dex? He’ll do anything to save her, even slip back into the dark…

I’ve read a few books from this author now and I’ve enjoyed the books I’ve read from her! I was excited about this book because it sounded like exactly my kind of read! I grabbed a copy as soon as it released and read it as soon as I could! After reading, I can say that as much as I liked this book I did find that it dragged at a few points! I was more invested in the suspense element and I wanted more of it as the plot progressed! I found that the plot didn’t maybe progress as quickly as I would like! There was a lot of romance in the plot and I loved the way it developed because it was very back and forth! It allowed for some sexual tension and some very steamy scenes! There was also some action and suspense, which as I said, I wanted more of it, but I still enjoyed it and the impact it had on the plot! The characters were also amazing and made this book even better! Braedyn was the main female character, and in this book she has moved to a town that she had a past with! I had a lot of respect for Braedyn because she refused to give up on finding her friend and she wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to looking for her! Braedyn also tried her best with her son and she wanted the best for him! Dex was the main male character and love interest of Braedyn! Dex was a guy who was close with his brothers and he was judged for his father’s actions! I felt for Dex because he was hard on himself and he really shouldn’t have been because he was nothing like his father! I also loved Dex with Braedyn and he wanted to help her and supported her! It was also easy to see his feelings for her grow! This book was written from both Braedyn and Dex’s point of views! I was hoping that it was going to be before I started reading and the synopsis gives the impression that it’s going to be! I loved that it was because it helped me connect more with both characters and see their feelings for each other develop! It allowed for more things to happen in the plot as well, which helped as Braedyn and Dex didn’t spend every second of the plot together and they were both going through their own situations and dealing with a lot! I now can’t wait to read the next book in this series! I know that it releases very soon and I’m very excited about who the main characters are going to be! I’ll definitely be grabbing a copy as soon as it releases and reading it as soon as I can! I'm very excited for it! I also love the cover for this book a lot! I know that there’s a model cover for it and I adore that cover a lot! I do love the more discreet cover as well and both covers match the book perfectly!

Stacking the Shelves [132]!

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality where we show what books we got recently. I do this post once a month.

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you’re adding to your shelves, be it buying or borrowing. From ‘real’ books you’ve purchased, a book you’ve borrowed, a book you’ve been given or an e-book, they can all be shared!

Purchased (Ebooks):

Breathe Me In [Wired to Kill 01] by J.L. Drake (Read)

Choked in Love by Alexis Grace (Read)

Broken Trust [Wildhaven Cowboys 01] by Amber Kelly

I Dare You [Ruin Me Duet 01] by Monica James

Hooded [Post-Apocalyptic Fairy Tales 03] by Claire Kent

Break Me [Knighton Equestrian 01] by Tillie Cole

Untamed [Wild Sage Ranch 01] by Julia Soren

Grumpily Yours [Stick Tap 02] by Teagan Hunter

Into the Fading Twilight [Starlight Grove 02] by Catherine Cowles (Read)

Purchased (Paperbacks/hardbacks):

Obsidian [Lux 01] by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Read)

Into the Fading Twilight [Starlight Grove 02] by Catherine Cowles (Read)

In Stormy Weather by Chelsea Curto

Break Me [Knighton Equestrian 01] by Tillie Cole

Gifted from Authors/Publishers:

I, unfortunately, didn't receive any paperbacks or hardbacks this month.

For Review from Author/Netgalley/Edelweiss:

I, unfortunately, didn't receive any review copies this month.

Currently Reading:

The Edge of Life [Love and Survival 01] by Lena Gibson

Cover Reveal: Eternal Craving [Eternal Desires 01] by Vanessa Fewings!

Immortality was my rebirth. Eternity may become my damnation.

I crossed Spain and England hunting the men who destroyed my life and left me hollow with grief and rage. Then she found me. Sunaria was darkness and temptation wrapped in immortal beauty, a woman with ancient secrets and the power to transform me into something terrifying. Reborn as a creature of blood, hunger, and ruthless power, I now walk a brutal hidden world where vengeance is survival and love is the most dangerous weakness of all.

Revenge brought me back from death. It may cost me what little humanity I have left.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Pre-order your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

Vanessa is a British-American, internationally bestselling author of the Enthrall Sessions and the Eternal Desires series, an epic vampire romance. Her novels blend romance, emotion, and intrigue, earning readers around the world and translations into multiple languages.

Known for creating compelling characters and emotionally rich stories, Vanessa has also seen two of her novels optioned for film.

She lives in California with her rescue foxhound, Sherlock.

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Book Blitz: The Field of Purple Bonnets by Dave J. Brown!

You've been standing in the field your whole life. You just couldn't see it yet.

If you've spent any time in Texas in spring, you know the bluebonnets. Now imagine a pair of glasses that shows you what you had been missing: every ultraviolet the flower had been wearing all along, a field suddenly purple, a world you had been standing inside without seeing.

That is love, for Richard Smith. That is Zin. Richard is the kind of man who learned early how to disappear. Quiet. Careful. Brilliant in ways he rarely lets anyone witness. He writes poetry in notebooks no one is allowed to open and gives his best hours to work that asks nothing of his heart.

Then Zin walks into his life—sharp, guarded, beautiful, and impossible to reduce—and does the thing he never prepared for.

She sees him.

All of him.

And instead of flinching, she stays. Together, they help bring a technology into the world that does for millions what Zin did for Richard: it lets people see what was always there.

Hidden color.

Hidden beauty.

Hidden power.

A cheap, wearable lens that reveals the spectrum just beyond ordinary sight. For a moment, it feels like freedom. But a world that profits from keeping people blind does not celebrate new sight.

It studies it.

Owns it.

Sells it.

Weaponizes it.

What began as wonder becomes surveillance.

What began as intimacy becomes empire.

And as the device they helped create starts tracking faces, movements, desires, and private lives, Richard and Zin are forced to confront the difference between being seen, being wanted, being protected, and being controlled.

The world Richard wanted to open is becoming a machine that watches everyone. And the woman who first opened him may be the only person brave enough to tear it down.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo or Apple Books

Author bio:

Dave J. Brown writes fiction about love, technology, consciousness, and the strange systems people build to survive themselves. Field of Purple Bonnets is his most ambitious work to date.

He pays his bills helping organizations navigate enterprise technology rollouts, building small applications, and consulting on the kinds of complex implementations that make most people's eyes glaze over. The technical fluency shows up in his writing… not as exposition, but as texture. When Richard designs BeeVision, the engineering feels real because it comes from someone who thinks in systems.

He lives just south of Austin, not far from a field of bluebonnets that looks exactly the way you'd imagine.

 

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: Love On the Line [Women At Work] by Kirsten Fullmer!

Love On the Line 1 [Women At Work 01]

Her dad always said A little dirt never hurt anybody. He was wrong.

Andrea’s excitement about her first job engineering a pipeline through the mountains of West Virginia turns to disaster when she faces grueling work, harsh weather, and crushing homesickness. If she can’t pull herself together and keep up, she’ll be sent home.

When she dropped out of grad school to work on the line with Grandpa Buck, her parents were disappointed, widening a bitter family divide. If she goes home now, she’ll miss the opportunity to know Buck and lose his respect as well.

There's one worker, a foreman, who might offer comfort and support, but when Andrea finally trusts him, things get even more complicated.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon

Love on the Line 2 [Women at Work 02]

Andy could only stare, wide-eyed, at the keys in her hand. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Only foremen got a company truck.

Andy is pleased to work with Grandpa Buck again, even though the long hours limit her time with Rooster. But her contentment is cut short when a serious on-the-job accident tips the scale of leadership, throwing Rooster and Andy into conflict.

Rooster must prove he is unbiased toward Andy and her work, or lose his promotion. When her parents show up, Andy has to deal with Rooster, her mother’s interference, and her own insecurities to keep the job going. If she can’t cope she’ll lose her job, and worse yet, she’ll let down Buck.

If Andy and Rooster can’t find a way to work together and complete the pipeline, their relationship is over.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

Kirsten is a writer with a love of art and design. She worked in the engineering field, taught college, and consulted free lance. Due to health problems, she retired in 2012 to travel with her husband. They live and work full time in a 40' travel trailer with their little dog Bingo. Besides writing romance novels, she enjoys selling art on Etsy and spoiling their four grandchildren.

As a writer, Kirsten's goal is to create strong female characters who face challenging, painful, and sometimes comical situations. She believes that the best way to deal with struggle, is through friendship and women helping women. She knows good stories are based on interesting and relatable characters.

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Enter the Love On the Line Giveaway Here

Kickstarter Blitz & Giveaway: Immortality Island by Nikki Jefford!

Excerpt!

   My pulse thunders, loud enough that I’m sure he can hear it.

   “You have a terrible poker face,” Sterling says.

   Only when it comes to him.

   When I glare, he laughs—a low, warm sound that does infuriating things to my nerves.

   “And you don’t know when to give up,” I say.

   “There it is,” he says, clearly pleased. “No more playing pretend.”

   I tap my wand against my hip, right where the rune tattoos hide beneath my jean shorts. It’s meant to remind him of my powers. What I’m capable of.

   Instead, his gaze drops.

   Sterling is fit in a way that looks effortless—long lines of muscle beneath his shirt, all restraint and coiled strength. The Bahamian sun has done irritating things to him. His skin, once pale, has picked up color. Not much—but enough that it warms his face and makes his gray eyes look brighter. Even his thick silver hair catches the light differently now, almost luminous against the blue of the sea.

   I hate that I notice.

   But it tracks. I have terrible taste in men. Not that I’m into Sterling Alder! He’s literally here to kill me.

   When his gray eyes slide back up to mine, his fangs descend.

   Hunger flashes across his face—raw, quick, and unmistakable.

   My body reacts before my brain has a chance to step in. A traitorous heat curls low in my belly, and I clamp down on it hard.

   Absolutely not.

   I need to shut down this freak show before it goes any further. And I know just how.

Survivor meets Fear Factor in this romantic fantasy filled with magic, vampires, and enemies-to-lovers adventure.

Hunting her was meant to be easy . . . until desire got in the way.

Twenty human spellcasters. One deadly island. Four cutthroat vampire masters. Only one caster can make it to the end . . . and win a place in a vampire clan for eternity.

After her doctor discovers a brain tumor and gives her months to live, Joni Mullins sees winning the show as her last chance at survival.

Sterling Alder is a vampire master with a personal vendetta and a mission: destroy her. But on Immortality Island, survival isn’t just about magic—it’s about temptation, betrayal, and falling for the one person he should never want.

Welcome to Immortality Island, where contestants are literally thrown to the sharks!

Check it out on Goodreads!

Pre-order your copy from Amazon

Visit the Kickstarter here

Author bio:

Nikki Jefford is a third-generation Alaskan nomad married to an amazing Frenchman. She loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt! Books, travel, TV series, hiking, writing, and motorcycle riding are her favorite escapes. The dark side of human nature fascinates her, so long as it's balanced by humor and romance.

To get in on the fun and adventure, visit Nikki at her website for release alerts, updates, exclusive giveaways, and a free story when you subscribe to her newsletter: https://nikkijefford.com/newsletter

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Immortality Island Blitz

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Death Takes a Holiday [The Mortimer & Mrs Morris Trilogy 01] by Tammie Painter!

Death is bored. Immortality will do that to you.

** A hilarious new series from the author of The Cassie Black Trilogy! **

After an eternity of escorting souls to the afterlife, Death — who really prefers you call him Mortimer — is bored. There’s been departmental divisions, technical developments, and fitness crazes that mean people just aren’t dying like they used to.

What’s worse… He’s running low on romance novels to keep himself occupied.

His solution: a working holiday to Top World, where he expects room service, infinity-high thread counts, and an easy solution to get business booming again.

What he doesn’t expect is Mrs Morris, a seventy-three-year-old detective with a tightly packed schedule that leaves no room for an immortal assistant.

But Mortimer refuses to go away. After all, detectives find murderers, and having his very own killer would be the perfect way to nudge up those mortality rates.

Luckily, someone’s just been murdered — and Mrs Morris has been hired to find the culprit. The only trouble? The victim reeks of demons, turning Mortimer’s perfect opportunity into a great deal of trouble that could end his career. Oh, and the human race.

Death Takes a Holiday is a humorous fantasy novel about the most inconvenient partnership in the history of the afterlife, where a pair of unlikely allies are thrown together by broken bones, murder mysteries, pesky demons, and the deadliest cup of coffee in Portland.

Add it to your TBR list on Goodreads!

Pre-order your copy here

Author bio:

Author of humorous fantasy whodunits full of mythical misfits and magical mishaps

Many moons ago I was a scientist in a neuroscience lab where I got to play with brains and illegal drugs. Now, I take wickedly strong tea and turn it into comic fantasy whodunits full of mythical misfits and magical mishaps that I hope give you a giggle.

My tales run the gamut from the ever-expanding Cassie Black Trilogy with its wryly humorous paranormal mysteries to the comical fantasy whodunits in The Circus of Unusual Creatures, and from light-hearted novellas celebrating my love of books to short fiction in which I really flex my myth-loving and humor-craving muscles!

When I’m not creating worlds or killing off characters, I can be found gardening, planning my next travel adventure, concocting some sort of mess in the kitchen, or working as an unpaid servant to one very spoiled cat and some very demanding squirrels.

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Giveaway!

Enter the Death Takes a Holiday Giveaway Here