Review: A Touch of Treachery (Section 47 #3) by Jennifer Estep

Title: A Touch of Treachery

Series: Section 47 #3

Previous books in this series: A Sesnse of Danger (#1) | Sugar Plum Spies (#2)

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Adult, urban fantasy

Publication date: August 26th 2025

Published by: Jennifer Estep

Source: eARC for review from author

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep serves up a new, action-packed adventure in her Section 47 urban fantasy world. This series features secrets, lies, and superspies with amazing magical abilities, along with dangerous missions, double crosses, and a swoon-worthy romance. Perfect for fans of Alias, James Bond, Jason Bourne, Nikita, True Lies, and Netflix’s Bodyguard.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS . . .

My name is Charlotte Locke, and I’m on a mission to capture my nemesis. As an analyst for Section 47, a secret spy organization, I use my magical form of synesthesia to track down paramortal criminals, but one villain keeps eluding me—Henrika Hyde.

Henrika claims to have answers about my father’s death on a Section 47 mission years ago, and she has also created a horrific new weapon capable of killing even the strongest paramortals, which makes her my number one target. Helping me is Desmond Percy, a powerful galvanist who is my partner both inside and outside Section 47.

Desmond wants to take Henrika down just as badly as I do, but our mission quickly goes sideways, and soon we’re surrounded by enemies on all sides with no idea whom we can truly trust.

A TROUBLING FUTURE . . .

The name Desmond Percy is well known inside Section 47, since I’m one of the organization’s top cleaners, aka assassins. Charlotte Locke and I have been tracking Henrika Hyde for months, and when we finally get a lead on her location, we jump at the chance to take down the weapons maker once and for all.

I’m determined to help Charlotte get the answers she is so desperately seeking, as well as taking my revenge on Henrika for killing my best friend.

But the deeper Charlotte and I dig into Henrika and her murky motives, the more dangerous our mission becomes. Henrika is playing her own spy game, and Charlotte and I are just the pawns she is using to achieve her own evil ends—caught up in a deadly legacy of treachery.

My rating: ★★★★★

I think it goes without saying that I loved this book. Jennifer Estep is my favorite author, so I can definitely be biased 😆 But it really was good! We haven't had a new book in this series for quite some time, so I was particularly excited about that, especially because urban fantasy remains my favorite genre to this day. And this series is filled with spies, assassins, and a ton of really cool magic! I love it!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #432: Assassins and Killer Clowns

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #466: FINALLY!

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: A Dragon Rider's Guide to Retirement by Julia Huni

Title: A Dragon Rider's Guide to Retirement

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, cozy fantasy

Publication date: August 5th 2025

Published by: IPH Media

Source: eARC for review from author

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | Julia Huni's store

Synopsis: They survived the war. Now they just have to survive retirement.

When dragon rider William Ordell is grounded by a battlefield injury, he trades conflict for peace and purchases an abandoned lighthouse on the island of Safe Haven. But quiet doesn’t suit a man used to action. After a series of mysterious fires, William finds himself launching the island’s first fire brigade—with help from the local sea dragons.

Calantha Stormbringer has left war behind, along with the last sparks of her fading magic. She retreats to Safe Haven to rebuild her late aunt’s dusty bookshop—and maybe herself. Restoring the shop will require patience, intelligence, and gold. Calantha figures two out of three isn’t bad.

What neither of them wants? To run into each other. Again.

Old grudges, magical dragons, and one cozy, nosy village—what could possibly go right?

A Dragon Rider’s Guide to Retirement is a cozy, low-stakes fantasy filled with magic, mischief, and a slow-burn romance that won't steam your glasses. Perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes, Cursed Cocktails, and J. Penner’s Adenashire series.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I love Julia Huni's cozy sci-fi books, so I was super excited when I found out that she was going to be writing a cozy fantasy! In general, the cozy fantasy genre just doesn’t sound like it's for me. I'm a girly who loves her plot-driven books with lots of exciting action. But like I said, I love all of this author's books, so of course I was going to give this one a shot! And I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed it! And maybe this will be my gateway into more cozy fantasies. Who knows?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #431: Bounties and Lots of Death

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #465: So Many Fun Bookish Things!

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #430: Back to Fear Street

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #464: When It's Not One Thing, It's Another

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Monthly Wrap-Up: July 2025

How is it the end of July already? I don't even know how we got here. Lol. Anyway, this month I had a much better reading month. I read 6 books and a total of 1643 pages, which is about 700 pages MORE than last month! Two things that really helped this month: short books and a readathon.

• 4 were full-length novels (2 of those were re-reads), and 2 were manga
• % were part of a series, and 1 was a standalone
• No series were started or finished this month lol. I did catch up on 1 though.
• 4 were finished copies and 2 were ARCs
• 4 were physical books and 2 ebooks
• 1 was a 5-star read, 2 were 4.5 stars, and 3 were 4-star reads
• 4 were traditionally published and 2 indie published
• All 6 were by authors I've previously read
• 2 were adult books, and 4 were YA
• 2 were action, 2 horror, 1 cozy fantasy, and 1 urban fantasy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #429: Am I Back?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #463: Haunted Farmers Market

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Top 10 Most Anticipated Books of the Last Half of 2025

There are so many books I am looking forward to reading this year, I just hope my mood decides to cooperate... and soon! 😭 Anyway, here are some of the books I'm excited about that will be released in the last half of 2025.

Top 10 Favorite Books of 2025 (So Far)

Continuing with this year's trend of being late with posts, today I'm talking about my favorite books of the first half of 2025 😂 This was oddly diffcult and easy to do this year because as I've mentioned many times before, I feel like I've had a terrible reading year so I haven't actually read that many full-length novels. I feel like most of these are 4-star reads, which isn't a bad thing, but it does make me sad that I've read so few 5-star reads this year 😢 I'll let you know which books below were 5-stars for me though.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #428: Omg I Read a Book...

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #462: Readathon Weekend

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Dewey's Reverse Readathon: July 2025

I don't think I did a readathon AT ALL in 2024. It was honestly probably because I had a pretty good reading year overall. Lol. I tend to do readathons more when I'm struggling, as I have been this year 😆 Unfortunately, every time one of these comes around, without fail, I have something going on 😂 It's crazy! There was one in April that I wanted to do, but I wasn't able to because I was in California on vacation. Well, this readathon starts today and ends tomorrow, and I have a cousin coming into town tomorrow 😂 I'm gonna see if we can do something on Sunday instead. Lol.

2025 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

Okay, I'm finally here with the Mid-Year Freakout Tag 😅 I know I'm late, but it is what it is 😆 Anyway, a couple years ago I smooshed together the questions from the original tag created by Ely and Chami with the revamped version from Jesse the Reader, and I decided to use that same combo this year. It works for me, so I'm gonna keep them like this for now. Lol.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #427: Summer on Fear Street

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #461: Emotionally Exhausted

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Trying To Get Over A 6-Month Reading Slump: Fear Street Edition

If you have seen any of my Mid-Year Check In posts (this one and this one), you know that my reading this year has not been great. And it's been ALL year! So, I'm gonna try something to get out of the slump... I'm gonna attempt to re-read some short books I know I'll enjoy: Fear Street.

2025 Mid-Year Check In: Reading Stats

So, um, this post was meant to go up last week, and it didn't because I just didn't feel like blogging 😅 Which is shocking because stats is one of my favorite things to look at! So let's look at them now!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #426: OMG I Did It

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #460: There's a Reason for the Late Post, But It's Not a Good One Lol

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

2025 Mid-Year Check In: Reading Challenges

I am honestly afraid to be checking in. This is probably one of the worst reading years I have had. Ideally, I would like to be at the 50% mark, but yeah, I don't think so. Lol. Let's see how bad I'm doing! 😃

Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2025

This was another rough reading month. Though not as bad as last month 😅 This month, I read a total of 4 books, which was about 916 pages. That's about 237 MORE pages than last month! So not too bad, but still pretty bad 😂

• 1 was a full-length novel, and 3 were manga
• 3 were part of a series, and 1 was a standalone
• No series were started or finished this month lol
• All 4 were finished copies
• All 4 were physical books
• All 4 were 4-star reads
• All 4 were traditionally published
• All 4 were by authors I've previously read
• 1 was an adult book, 3 were YA
• 1 was a mystery thriller, and 3 were action

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #425: This is a Safe Bet

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #459: The Stress...

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: Cells at Work (Vol. 3) by Akane Shimizu

Title: Cells at Work: Vol. 3

Series: Cells at Work #3

Previous books in this series: Cells at Work #1 | Cells at Work #2

Author: Akane Shimizu

Genre: YA, manga, science, action

Publication date: March 2017

Published by: Kodansha Comics

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books

Synopsis: Strep throat! Hay fever! Influenza! The world is a dangerous place for a red blood cell just trying to get her deliveries finished. Fortunately, she’s not alone... she’s got a whole human body’s worth of cells ready to help out! The mysterious white blood cell, the buff and brash killer T cell, the nerdy neuron, even the cute little platelets — everyone’s got to come together if they want to keep you healthy!

My rating: ★★★★★

In this volume of Cells at Work!, we looked at the circulatory system, the common cold, and acquired immunity. As someone who loves medical science, I love this series and the way it describes things!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #424: This Reading Slump, I Swear...

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #458: Disappointment

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: Cells at Work (Vol. 2) by Akane Shimizu

Title: Cells at Work: Vol. 2

Series: Cells at Work #2

Previous book in this series: Cells at Work #1

Author: Akane Shimizu

Genre: YA, manga, science, action

Publication date: December 2016

Published by: Kodansha Comics

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books

Synopsis: Strep throat! Hay fever! Influenza! The world is a dangerous place for a red blood cell just trying to get her deliveries finished. Fortunately, she’s not alone... she’s got a whole human body’s worth of cells ready to help out! The mysterious white blood cell, the buff and brash killer T cell, the nerdy neuron, even the cute little platelets — everyone’s got to come together if they want to keep you healthy!

My rating: ★★★★★

This series is so much fun! I have loved the anime for such a long time, and I am really glad to finally be getting into the manga! I love it! It’s just so cute and informative, and it honestly does a relatively decent job of explaining medical things and making them easy to understand using these anthropomorphic cells.

Review: The Romara Confrontation (Colonial Explorer Corps #5) by Julia Huni

Title: The Romara Confrontation

Series: Colonial Explorer Corps #5

Previous books in this series: The Earth Concurrence (#1) | The Grissom Contention (#2) | The Saha Declination (#3) | The Darenti Paradox (#4)

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, sci-fi

Publication date: April 24th 2025

Published by: IPH Media

Source: eARC from author for review

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon

Synopsis: Two civilizations. One planet. No second chances.

Lieutenant Serenity “Siti” Kassis has trained her whole life for first contact missions, but nothing prepares her for this—arriving at a promising new world only to find it already inhabited by an advanced, spacefaring civilization. As acting commander, it’s her call whether to push forward or back away. One wrong move could spark a conflict neither side can afford.

On Lunesco, Quinn Templeton is expecting a quiet lunch with an old friend when the planetary defense system flags an unidentified ship in orbit. Since the revolution, she’s learned to negotiate, but first contact with an unknown species? That’s a whole new challenge.

Siti and Quinn could navigate mistrust, politics, and the weight of history to build something neither of their people expected—a future together. But they have to meet first. And something--or someone--is trying to keep them apart.

The Romara Confrontation is book 5 in the Colonial Explorer Corps, and follows Siti, Joss, and Derek Lee as they meet the heroes of the Krimson Empire. If you haven't read either series, I recommend you start with book 1 of the CEC series. If you're short on time, you can jump in at book 4. This book can be read without reading Krimson Empire first. (But I hope you'll read it, too!)

My rating: ★★★★★

I have been looking forward to reading this book since the author talked about writing a crossover between the Colonial Explorer Corps series and the Krimson Empire series. And it met all the expectations I had for this book. It was so good!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #423: Something Spooky

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #457: Library Fun

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

2025 Summer Library Program

One thing I look forward to every summer is our library's Summer Program. I've been participating in it for like 6 years now, I think? I'm always terrible at it, but I find it fun nonetheless. Lol. This year, the program goes from June 6th to August 15th.

Review: Cells at Work (Vol. 1) by Akane Shimizu

Title: Cells at Work: Vol. 1

Series: Cells at Work #1

Author: Akane Shimizu

Genre: YA, manga, science, action

Publication date: November 2016

Published by: Kodansha Comics

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books

Synopsis: A BLOOD-PUMPING JOB

Strep throat! Hay fever! Influenza! The world is a dangerous place for a red blood cell just trying to get her deliveries finished. Fortunately, she's not alone... she's got a whole human body's worth of cells ready to help out! The mysterious white blood cell, the buff and brash killer T cell, the nerdy neuron, even the cute little platelets—everyone's got to come together if they want to keep you healthy!

My rating: ★★★★★

It has been a minute since I last read a manga, but I was very excited to read this one because I loved the anime when I watched it a couple years back. And the manga was just as good!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #422: I'll Get To It...

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #456: reMarkable

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #421: Spooky Books

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #455: Bittersweet Meeting

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Monthly Wrap-Up: May 2025

This was my worst reading month yet 😬 Read 3 books, which was a total of 679 pages... 1144 pages less than the previous month 🫣 Which is particularly funny because last month was my best reading month 🫠😂

• 2 were full-length novels (1 a re-read) and 1 manga
• 2 were part of a series, and 1 was a standalone
• I caught up on 1 series
• All 3 were finished copies
• All 3 were physical books
• 1 was a 4.5 stars, 1 was 4 stars, and 1 was 3 stars
• All 3 were traditionally published
• 1 was by a new-to-me author, and 2 were by authors I've previously read
• 1 was an adult book, 2 were YA
• 2 were horror, 1 was action

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #420: Mood Reading Strikes Again

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #454: In Limbo

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #419: Omg The Prom Queen!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #453: The Struggle is Real

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #418: Some Fun, Short Books

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.