🚀 Thirteen books into The Survivors saga, Nathan Hystad escalates the stakes to cosmic proportions: the Zan’ra have returned, a Deity demands freedom from imprisonment, and Dean Parker must travel to a distant planet seeking one of the Terellion’s hidden treasures to stop an ancient enemy. For newcomers intimidated by jumping into book thirteen, Hystad writes space opera that balances epic scope with clear character focus—while long-time readers will appreciate seeing threads from previous books converge, new readers can follow Dean’s desperate quest without feeling lost.

⚔️ Jules faces perhaps the most interesting dilemma: her loyalty is tested when she’s drawn to others of her own kind, but a secret threatens to determine which side she ultimately chooses. That tension between species loyalty and personal conviction creates rich character drama beyond the space battles and planet-hopping. Hystad excels at grounding galaxy-spanning conflicts in individual choices—Jules isn’t just caught between sides in an abstract war, she’s wrestling with identity, belonging, and what she’s willing to sacrifice for either.

💥 The stakes here are genuinely apocalyptic: “In an effort to thwart Lom of Pleva’s disastrous plans, a world must be destroyed. Will it be enough?” That question—whether planetary destruction might still be insufficient to stop the villain—raises the tension beautifully. Hystad isn’t afraid to make his heroes face impossible choices and pay terrible costs. The guidance from Fontem (presumably an ally or mentor figure) and the mention of Terellion treasures suggest a deeper mythology at play, with ancient powers and old secrets finally coming to light after thirteen books of buildup.

Why jump in here: While this is deep into a series, Hystad’s brisk pacing and clear conflicts make it accessible for new readers willing to piece together context clues, while series fans get the payoff of long-running mysteries finally converging. For readers who love the scale of Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn novels or the character-driven space opera of James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series, The Survivors delivers similar pleasures: vast galactic stakes filtered through deeply personal struggles, where saving the universe might require losing everything that makes you human.

🏚️ Twenty-five years ago, Eve Marsh’s little sister Rebecca vanished without a trace—and the family never spoke her name again. Now a violent storm forces Eve back to the decaying family home where her frail, paranoid father still lives, haunted by something he refuses to name. Amy Cross, prolific horror author with over 100 published novels, delivers atmospheric dread that builds from that most primal fear: what if the house itself remembers what we’ve tried to forget?

👻 The setup is chillingly effective: “Some houses don’t forget. Some sisters don’t forgive.” As the storm traps Eve inside with her father, the manifestations begin—whispers in the dark, cold fingers on skin, a child’s voice crying for revenge. Cross excels at making the familiar terrifying; this isn’t a random haunting but something deeply personal and accusatory. The walls “pulse with something alive,” suggesting the house itself has become a entity animated by whatever happened to Rebecca. That detail about buried memories resurfacing creates genuine dread—Eve might be trapped in a house with truths she’s spent twenty-five years avoiding.

⚡ The central mystery twists expectations: “Is her father the monster she’s always believed him to be? Or is something worse still hiding in the shadows?” That ambiguity—whether dad is villain or victim, whether Rebecca is haunting them or something else is using her form—keeps the horror morally complex. The revelation that “Rebecca never really left” and “what happened all those years ago is far more twisted than anyone admitted” promises genuine surprises beyond simple ghost revenge. Cross layers family trauma with supernatural horror, making the psychological terror as potent as the paranormal.

Why this haunts me: Cross writes horror that understands how family secrets fester and corrupt. For readers who loved Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic or Jennifer McMahon’s The Winter People, this delivers that same combination of claustrophobic setting, family dysfunction, and the past literally coming back to exact vengeance. The storm isolating Eve creates perfect gothic conditions—no escape, nowhere to hide, just her father’s paranoia, Rebecca’s ghost, and truths that have been rotting in this house for a quarter century.

🎄 After five years running the Holiday Haven Inn, Carolyn Highcrest thought she could handle anything—scheming rivals, melodramatic theater groups, overenthusiastic carolers, you name it. But Elle Adams throws her innkeeper protagonist a curveball: an eccentric family visit (complete with cringeworthy custom hats), a stolen magical wishing box, and a cascade of inexplicable pranks that seem powered by the box’s magic. Adams, author of the Witches of Wedgeford series, brings her signature blend of cozy mystery warmth and magical mayhem to this festive standalone.

✨ The magical wishing box is a brilliant device—it’s supposed to be the centerpiece of the weekend’s celebrations, but once it disappears, wishes start manifesting in wildly inappropriate ways. Carol naturally suspects her long-term business rival Janice (every cozy mystery needs a good nemesis), but the chaos quickly spirals beyond simple sabotage. The combination of holiday stress, family dysfunction (those custom hats sound aggressively embarrassing), and magical mishaps creates comedy-of-errors potential that escalates from annoying to dangerous.

🎁 What makes this work is Carol’s grounded competence meeting forces genuinely beyond her control. She’s not a bumbling amateur; she’s a successful businesswoman blindsided by magic she doesn’t fully understand. Her partnership with best friend Mercy provides the emotional anchor as everything else goes haywire. Adams excels at balancing genuine mystery plotting with the cozy comfort of holiday settings—readers get both the satisfaction of solving the theft and the pleasure of watching Carol navigate family drama while trying to save her festive weekend from complete disaster.

What hooked me here: The combination of practical hospitality problems (running an inn during peak holiday season) with wildly impractical magical complications creates delightful contrast. For readers who love Heather Blake’s Wishcraft Mysteries or Bailey Cates’ Magical Bakery series, this delivers that same cozy-meets-magical sweetness with a Christmas bow on top. Adams proves you can have high stakes (magical chaos threatens Carol’s livelihood) while maintaining the warm, escapist comfort that makes cozy mysteries perfect holiday reading.