Welcome to the May 2025 roundup!

I don’t know how your May was, but mine was busy! Putting the final touches on my upcoming checklist books took up time, as did the inner workings of indie-publishing to get said books out into the world. I also did some website housekeeping and finally added categories to my blog posts. It’s something I should have done when I first launched in 2017, but I guess late is better than never . You can find the categories listed at the bottom of the blogs page if you’d like to check it out, and I also added a ‘Blog Search’ to help make things easier to find.

Another thing I did this month was spend a week with my Evil Twin! She came for a visit and we went to the movies, played mini-golf, and chatted our way through some very chilly morning walks (see the Photos section below for pics).

As for what else I got up to in May, read on…

At the start of the month, I caught up with Belinda and K.D. from the #6amAusWriters at the beautiful State Library (pics in the Photos section below) and managed to write first drafts for three new blog posts. I thought if I kept that up, I’d be able to write the majority of my blogs for the rest of this year, but as usual, other priorities popped up, and those three drafts were as far as I got. I also spent time making feedback changes to my checklist books and getting them all ready for release. I then did the cover reveal for the Writing and Editing Checklists earlier this week, which you can find here if you missed it.

Thunderbolts

Although not as great as the best Marvel films, this is a return to form and a step in the right direction from the last few releases.

Thunderbolts opens with Yelena Belova doing missions for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, but wanting more front-facing, “good” work. Valentina promises it, but isn’t exactly trustworthy. This results in Yelena teaming up with the others on Valentina’s payroll, John Walker, Ava Star, and Bob, who they find at a dump site, and who isn’t as ordinary as they think he is. Throw in Red Guardian and The Winter Soldier, and you have yourself the Thunderbolts, good action, great acting, and a promising new start going forward. As usual for a Marvel movie, stick around for the mid-credit and post-credit scenes.

Final Destination: Bloodlines

Personally, I don’t think anything tops the OG Final Destination or the twist of Final Destination 5, but the sixth installment of this franchise does take the best bits of the movies (interesting deaths, fun lore, and nods to the other films) and makes something that’s entertaining.

In Final Destination: Bloodlines, instead of someone having a premonition and then trying to save themselves and strangers/friends, a family is targeted by death. When Stefani Reyes starts having a recurring nightmare, she realizes her dream of a 1968 high-rise restaurant collapse was something her estranged grandmother survived. Tracking her grandmother down, Stefani finds out that her whole family wasn’t supposed to exist, and now death is trying to correct things. It’s an interesting take on the rules of these movies, and allows for the jump scares and gore that fans of horror films will enjoy.

The Connections We Keep by Pauline Yates

An excellent collection of scary, thrilling, and thought-provoking stories that are well-written by an author who knows her stuff. Invoking everything from the shocking truth behind a series of missing hikers, how nature can turn on us, ghost stories with twists you won’t see coming, and captivating tales that turn emotions into weapons and lessons. Each story is crafted with care, bringing whole worlds and characters to life in just a few short pages, and most end in a way that ensures you’ll be thinking about them long after you’ve turned the last page. Highly recommended for fans of Horror.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

I added this book to my TBR list after liking the blurb when seeing it as a Reese’s Book Club pick, and it did not disappoint.

Broken Country is the story of Beth Johnson’s first love as a teenager and what happens when he returns to her adult life, bringing back that spark of love and setting off a chain of events that ends in a murder trial. This story will keep you guessing—and just when you think you know everything and how it will end, the story is flipped in the final chapters. Heartbreaking, compelling, and full of twisted truths that are masterfully crafted, I had tears in my eyes when I read the last page, and immediately wanted to tell everyone to pick up this book! Grab it if you’re a fan of thrilling historical fiction mixed with romance and mystery.

The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games Book #3) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

While there are more than three books in The Inheritance Games series, The Final Gambit ends the main story for Avery Grambs and her inheritance of Tobias Hawthorne’s fortune.

Events and questions from the first two books are answered, cliffhangers resolved, and the real reason Avery was chosen is finally revealed amongst the family secrets and decades-long mysteries. There are also new riddles to solve, and the introduction of a foe that Tobias couldn’t beat gives this installment its hook. Riding along with the characters as they come full circle is exactly how a series should end, and Jennifer Lynn Barnes pulls it off beautifully.

The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Even though the main Inheritance Games story wrapped up in the first three books, there are some spin-off stories set in its world, The Brothers Hawthorne being the first.

This book features Jameson and Grayson as the main characters and follows them as Jameson tries to become part of an ancient secret society and Grayson tries to unravel some hard truths about his father. Like all the books in this series, I enjoyed the puzzles and stakes just as much as the characters, and there were plenty of secrets and story threads left to lead to the later books, which I’m looking forward to also reading. Recommended for fans of YA mysteries.

Let’s Be Book Friends!

If you’ve got any good book recommendations, let me know in the comments, or be my friend on Goodreads and share your faves! You can also find and follow my book reviews on Amazon and BookBub.

This month, I’ve been taking photos of… writing time with friends and hanging out with my Evil Twin.

I hadn’t actually been inside the state library before, so I very much enjoyed the visit and writing in a grand room full of books. Belinda, K.D., and I also celebrated our catch-up with fluffy pancakes. Although my sister was here for a week, time flew by as we were out almost every day doing different things.

In case you missed any of my posts or want to reread them, here are the latest blogs.

Other blogs…

A huge shout-out to author Emily Wrayburn at A Keyboard and an Open Mind, who has posted an awesome review for Writing and Editing Checklists on her blog, which you can view here!

Her book reviews have helped me find some great stories to add to my TBR list (I started reading The Inheritance Games thanks to her reviews). Thank you so much, Emily. I’m happy you found my new book helpful and that it’s already helped you strengthen your current WIP.

And that’s it for this month. I hope you’ve enjoyed my May Roundup. Let me know what you got up to in the comments!

— K.M. Allan

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