Without a doubt, my choice will be mystery. I can't handle horror (gore or psychological) because I enjoying sleeping and like to do it often. Usually when asked which squares to omit for my bingo card, all my choices are horror. With that being said, there are particular reasons for each of the subgenres of mystery, and those reasons can be contradictory.

Literary mystery - read solely for the puzzle. Most literary characters are either dull or alpha-holes. And since they are usually stand alones, I don't have to be around the characters in subsequent books. Lowest spot on my subgenre preferences, only one I would recommend - In Her Bones by Kate Moretti.

Police procedurals - although I have shared ups and downs with the quality of each book in recent years, my favorite series is still In Death by JD Robb because I get both a great puzzle and characters I can return to again and again (after all, there are 49 books in the series, not counting the novellas). I have been meaning to try more, but the ones at the library are usually male asshole as the main character variety.

Cozy - this subgenre is my jam. Tourist Trap Mysteries by Lynn Cahoon, the first few Liz Talbot books by Susan Boyer, the PJ Sugar trilogy by Susan May Warren, the Debutante Mysteries by Susan McBride, Magical Cats by Sofie Kelly, and the High Heels series by Gemma Halliday are my favorites. Fast reads and a bit more adventurous, so not as interested in the puzzle as I am in the characters and their hijinks and the world building. A big part that plays into my wanting to read cozy mysteries is that I can get my contemporary romance fix as well, since most contemporary romance genre books leave me cold. Plus no gore even though there is usually dead body somewhere (other crimes are hard to come by). I do admit some books go into the too silly for suspension of disbelief territory.

Historical - this subgenre is my newest path through mystery. I like these books because I (usually) get a strong female character plus rich historical details in addition to the mystery. Not as silly as cozies, not as serious as literary. A nice even balance between characters, world building, and puzzle solving. Again dead bodies everywhere yet no gore. So far I am enjoying the Mirabelle Bevan series (although they are hella expensive, so I have only read the first two) and the Maggie Hope series.

Romantic suspense - this used to be a big subgenre for me, but I feel the quality of the work in general has gone down a lot (too much sex, too little puzzle). I can't really suspend my disbelief of the MCs deciding that when the bad guys are chasing them right now would be a good time for sex. Geez, can't the MCs wait until the police come and arrest bad guys and take your statements, then have sex? Now I just read the yearly romantic suspense from Nora Roberts and call it good. 

Classical mystery/horror - only read during Halloween bingo.

TGIF Readers! Today I am taking readers to explore treasures of the deep and to meet a water dragon! Enjoy and don't forget to add Thrilled by J.K. Harper to your shelves!

Dark, dangerous dragon shifters who just need true love ...

Loss froze his heart. She is either his salvation—or his total destruction.

Gorgeous water dragon shifter Kai Long has suffered agonizing loss. Now, he lives only for momentary, forgettable pleasure with any willing woman, numbing out anything that veers too close to pain. His only other goal is to break the death spell that has locked his treasure away from him. It seems like an impossible task - until he witnesses an alluring, fascinating human woman touch his gold hoard.

Gabi Santos is a daredevil whose job as an underwater archeologist fulfills her love for all things oceanic. As for men, who needs them for more than a little fun? But meeting sexy Kai could almost change her mind. Almost. Everything would be perfect, except that she's made a terrible choice out of desperation to save her beloved grandmother's life. A choice that will crush her soul—and possibly end her career.

Despite himself, Kai is wildly attracted to Gabi's fiery passion, her sexy curves, her quick mind. But Gabi has a dangerous secret. The kind that can destroy a dragon and any chance for true love ... forever.

He has suffered agonizing loss and now lives for momentary pleasure with any willing woman and Kai Long’s only goal is to break the death spell that has locked his treasure away from him. A daredevil with an underwater archaeologist job that fulfills her love for all things oceanic, Gabi Santos doesn’t need men for anything more than a little fun. But Gabi Santos has made a terrible choice, one that will crush her soul and possible end her career to save her grandmother’s life. Her secret can destroy a dragon and any chance that Kai and Gabi to have a forever true love.

This romance has a wonderful picturesque setting that adds lots of ambiance, passion and thrills to this exciting story. Gabi and Kai are strong, passionate characters that easily grab readers’ attention and holds on tight. The chemistry between is electrical and their relationship is a tsunami of passion and gripping emotions that flow from the pages.

The plot is fast paced with lots of thrills, excitement and unexpected twists that keeps readers glued to the pages. The story has some unique dragon elements that add spice and flair to the story while the gripping emotional pull of the choices the characters make ensures that reader are completely engaged throughout this thrilling and entertaining story.

Author's Book Page - http://www.jkharper.com/books/dragon-mates/thrilled/

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31117238-thrilled

BookLikes - http://booklikes.com/thrilled-reckless-desires-dragon-mates-book-2-j-k-harper/book,13705066

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/thrilled-dragon-mates-book-2-by-j-k-harper

Riffle - https://www.rifflebooks.com/books/1047141

GBooks - https://books.google.com/books?id=oniSwAEACAAJ&dq=J.k.+harper+thrilled&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjb-9mz3ofiAhUEEqwKHSDfDdUQ6AEIKjAA

Thrilled is the 2nd book in the Dragon Mates series.

Dark, dangerous dragon shifters who just need true love

Author - http://www.jkharper.com/books/dragon-mates/

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/series/179729-dragon-mates

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0742JQMK7?ref=series_rw_dp_labf

1 Dazzled
2 Thrilled
3 Burned

AVAILABLE in print or ebook

Amazon - http://amzn.to/29FDj0b

Amazon-UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01IE2V6BM/?tag=harperbooks-21

Amazon-CA - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01IE2V6BM

Amazon-AU - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01IE2V6BM

B&N
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thrilled-jk-harper/1129408018?ean=9781973982104

J.K. Harper writes about paranormal romance because really fun. She lives in the rugged, gorgeous canyon country of the Southwest, which is a great place to let her imagination run wild.

Website - http://www.jkharper.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JKHarperAuthor

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/jkharperauthor/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/_JKHarper

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5610652.J_K_Harper

Amazon - http://amzn.to/2fSoA7B

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-k-harper

He has suffered agonizing loss and now lives for momentary pleasure with any willing woman and Kai Long’s only goal is to break the death spell that has locked his treasure away from him. A daredevil with an underwater archaeologist job that fulfills her love for all things oceanic, Gabi Santos doesn’t need men for anything more than a little fun. But Gabi Santos has made a terrible choice, one that will crush her soul and possible end her career to save her grandmother’s life. Her secret can destroy a dragon and any chance that Kai and Gabi to have a forever true love.

This romance has a wonderful picturesque setting that adds lots of ambiance, passion and thrills to this exciting story. Gabi and Kai are strong, passionate characters that easily grab readers’ attention and holds on tight. The chemistry between is electrical and their relationship is a tsunami of passion and gripping emotions that flow from the pages.

The plot is fast paced with lots of thrills, excitement and unexpected twists that keeps readers glued to the pages. The story has some unique dragon elements that add spice and flair to the story while the gripping emotional pull of the choices the characters make ensures that reader are completely engaged throughout this thrilling and entertaining story.

I just could not get interested in this book. By the time I waded through all the exposition in the beginning chapters to get to the actual mystery, I no longer cared much. I like the idea of a cat-lady librarian for a main character, but other than judging people by the books they check out, there's not much library to this story aside from the setting. The cats weren't particularly engaging for me, either. 

Anyway, I hate to abandon a book after getting so far into it, but I just couldn't face another seven hours of audio when I was barely paying attention anyway. DNF at 32%

Audio version, borrowed from my public library. Cassandra Campbell's performance was ok. I was attempting to read this for the 2018 Halloween Bingo square Cozy Mystery:  a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Instead, I have picked up book #6 in the Haunted Home Renovation series, Give Up the Ghost - Juliet Blackwell  . 

Previous Updates:

9/23/18 – 3%

Hmm. I'm not sure about this one. I like that the MC is a librarian cat-lady, so maybe this is going to be a library-centric mystery series. The cats are cute. But oh boy this is moving sloooowwwwww. I've been listening for 20 minutes and there's not even a hint of whatever the mystery is going to be. It's all exposition so far.