Thursday, March 19, 2015
Free - Gail Carriger
I'm going to be honest, I have no clue what precisely this is, and I've not read it yet. But there appears to be an anthology about mummies that includes a Gail Carrier story. It's free on Amazon.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Review - Prudence
Prudence
By Gail Carriger
This is a spin off from The Parasol Protectorate Series. You could probably read this without having read that series, but why would you want to? It's got steam punk and gaslight elements with all sorts of supernatural creatures, and manners, it is quite the most mannerly steam punk series to date. Plus, if you don't read the Parasol Protectorate and maybe the Finishing School series first, I may just spoil them for you. Alexia Tarabotti, being soulless, had to come up with some way to behave in polite society, and manners worked nicely enough. Her daughter on the other hand is an entirely different sort of creature.
“Frankly, all I learnt is that I must give up bloomers. Perhaps a short silk underskirt would work better? It’s the tail, you see, it rips the seams."
Rue (and she definitely still hasn't forgiven her mother for naming her Prudence), grew up to be just as spunky, and funny, and slightly spoiled as I had expected her to. How could she not, having been raised by the most fashionable Rove vampire, the Alpha werewolf, and a soulless mother - yes there were politics involved in that decision, but you are going to have to read the Parasol Protectorate to get that cleared up. Primrose, on the other hand, grew up to be no where near the flibbertigibbet her mother was. And Quesnel grew up to be quite a rake, though that's hardly a surprise as he is after all, French.
When Lord Akeldama gives Rue a new dirigible and a mission for new tea in India, a precipitous leave taking due to a fashion emergency leaves our intrepid heroines in the lurch as far as information. Rue is well on her way in espionage, like her mother, though she doesn't precisely know that. Rue and Primrose have mad cap adventures, intrigue, and disasters. And they discover the world isn't quite what they were led to believe, and that with adventure comes responsibility.
That sounds rather staid, but frankly, this book is charming, and for the most part so is Rue. It is sort of like the film The Avengers, except charming instead of irritating. Rue and Prim put on these ridiculous characters, for the most part, knowing they are being ridiculous but not caring so long as it obtains their ends. Overall, I really enjoyed this story, and I think the travel angle was an excellent choices so the reader could learn about Rue as an adult instead of merely being bogged down by characters from the previous series. But, I'll admit, I am definitely looking forward to the next book when Rue will be back in the heart of London. There was also a touch of a romantic element, but nothing that detracts from the story.
4 stars
By Gail Carriger
This is a spin off from The Parasol Protectorate Series. You could probably read this without having read that series, but why would you want to? It's got steam punk and gaslight elements with all sorts of supernatural creatures, and manners, it is quite the most mannerly steam punk series to date. Plus, if you don't read the Parasol Protectorate and maybe the Finishing School series first, I may just spoil them for you. Alexia Tarabotti, being soulless, had to come up with some way to behave in polite society, and manners worked nicely enough. Her daughter on the other hand is an entirely different sort of creature.
“Frankly, all I learnt is that I must give up bloomers. Perhaps a short silk underskirt would work better? It’s the tail, you see, it rips the seams."
Rue (and she definitely still hasn't forgiven her mother for naming her Prudence), grew up to be just as spunky, and funny, and slightly spoiled as I had expected her to. How could she not, having been raised by the most fashionable Rove vampire, the Alpha werewolf, and a soulless mother - yes there were politics involved in that decision, but you are going to have to read the Parasol Protectorate to get that cleared up. Primrose, on the other hand, grew up to be no where near the flibbertigibbet her mother was. And Quesnel grew up to be quite a rake, though that's hardly a surprise as he is after all, French.
When Lord Akeldama gives Rue a new dirigible and a mission for new tea in India, a precipitous leave taking due to a fashion emergency leaves our intrepid heroines in the lurch as far as information. Rue is well on her way in espionage, like her mother, though she doesn't precisely know that. Rue and Primrose have mad cap adventures, intrigue, and disasters. And they discover the world isn't quite what they were led to believe, and that with adventure comes responsibility.
That sounds rather staid, but frankly, this book is charming, and for the most part so is Rue. It is sort of like the film The Avengers, except charming instead of irritating. Rue and Prim put on these ridiculous characters, for the most part, knowing they are being ridiculous but not caring so long as it obtains their ends. Overall, I really enjoyed this story, and I think the travel angle was an excellent choices so the reader could learn about Rue as an adult instead of merely being bogged down by characters from the previous series. But, I'll admit, I am definitely looking forward to the next book when Rue will be back in the heart of London. There was also a touch of a romantic element, but nothing that detracts from the story.
4 stars
Surprise Sale - Burn For Me
Illona Andrews' Burn For Me is on sale for $0.99, presumabley for a very limited time, at Amazon. I highly recommend this book, so get it while you can.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Review - Flirting With Disaster
Flirting With Disaster
By Victoria Dahl
Book 2 in the Jackson: Girls Night Out series. This series has GROWN UPS. I'm not even kidding, they're not even people who claim grown up ages but act like teen-20's, these are actually grownups. And I'll just devour romances with adults. The first in the series was a novella and really sucked me into the series. Who doesn't adore a fireman and a librarian? The second wasn't quite as good for me on the romance front, BUT it's got another form of addiction for me: females who are actually friends. Can you sense my giddiness?
Isabelle is a mess. A 36 year old, highly distractable artist. But she's grown into herself as a person and far away from the sheltered 22 year old she was forced to leave behind. Unfortunately, even when you leave your past behind, the secrets go with you. Tom's a Federal Marshall on a local case when he butts heads with Isabelle. There's teasing, and banter between the two of them, and equally as important, between Isabelle and her friends. Lauren from Fanning the Flames and Sophie from Looking for Trouble are both reprised. And we've added Veronica (whose story is up next) and Jill, who might be my favorite character yet. I am going to be slightly devastated if we don't get Jill's story. They're not just sequel bait, they're people I'd be thrilled to go on a girls night out with. There's also some of the most realistic and sexiest scenes I've read in a long time. Tom and Isabelle just work, in a carnal sense, and Dahl's writing of their intimate scenes was masterful.
Frankly, the relationships and the sex were enough to make me forgive some pacing issues, the fact that normally I hate stories where the main conflict is that people just aren't communicating (in this case it mostly did make sense), and a few plot holes. It's kind of like Nora Roberts' Witnesses, just lighter, and with more relationships, fun, and raunch.
Plus, we've got Fanning the Flames at the end of it. So if you've not picked this series up yet, just know, you don't have to pick up the first novella, it's right here.
4 stars
By Victoria Dahl
Book 2 in the Jackson: Girls Night Out series. This series has GROWN UPS. I'm not even kidding, they're not even people who claim grown up ages but act like teen-20's, these are actually grownups. And I'll just devour romances with adults. The first in the series was a novella and really sucked me into the series. Who doesn't adore a fireman and a librarian? The second wasn't quite as good for me on the romance front, BUT it's got another form of addiction for me: females who are actually friends. Can you sense my giddiness?
Isabelle is a mess. A 36 year old, highly distractable artist. But she's grown into herself as a person and far away from the sheltered 22 year old she was forced to leave behind. Unfortunately, even when you leave your past behind, the secrets go with you. Tom's a Federal Marshall on a local case when he butts heads with Isabelle. There's teasing, and banter between the two of them, and equally as important, between Isabelle and her friends. Lauren from Fanning the Flames and Sophie from Looking for Trouble are both reprised. And we've added Veronica (whose story is up next) and Jill, who might be my favorite character yet. I am going to be slightly devastated if we don't get Jill's story. They're not just sequel bait, they're people I'd be thrilled to go on a girls night out with. There's also some of the most realistic and sexiest scenes I've read in a long time. Tom and Isabelle just work, in a carnal sense, and Dahl's writing of their intimate scenes was masterful.
Frankly, the relationships and the sex were enough to make me forgive some pacing issues, the fact that normally I hate stories where the main conflict is that people just aren't communicating (in this case it mostly did make sense), and a few plot holes. It's kind of like Nora Roberts' Witnesses, just lighter, and with more relationships, fun, and raunch.
Plus, we've got Fanning the Flames at the end of it. So if you've not picked this series up yet, just know, you don't have to pick up the first novella, it's right here.
4 stars
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Review - Rocky Retreat
By Vivian Arend
This is book 7.5 in the Six Pack Ranch series. I've reviewed 1-6 previously, and really enjoyed them. They don't make my top re-readable list, but nice family stories with some smexy times and romance are exactly what I need on occasion. Book 7 was kind of meh for me, but didn't stop me from wanting to continue the series.
We'd met Rachel and Lee previously, and as much as he wanted her, it wasn't enough for her to choose him over their age gap. She picked the wrong man. And now that Rachel's seperated and thy're both trapped in a snowbound cabin, Lee's absolutely ready to show her he's the right man for her.
The snowbound enforced intimacy trope works for me as a device to speed up the connection between the two main characters in a novella, particularly when those two characters have past history and knowledge of each other. It neatly side steps many of my issues with romance novellas. Though they don't stay stuck, it was a nice bridge between their past relationship and their new more intimate one.
And I adore condom positive scenes:
“Condoms, yes. I know you’re clean, but…” He shook his head. “This is your choice, your body, and you never have to explain.”
Plus we got the reprise of Jesse the Jerk. I'm not sure how Arend is going to salvage that spoiled brat, but it should be interesting.
Lee and Rachel's romance was sweet and I enjoyed catching up with the Coleman's. There were just two things I didn't care for, them hooking up before her divorce was finalized, and using a big dramatic thing to finally get them talking. What I like about this series is that it's about families and real seeming people, no matter how ridiculous some things in life get (life gets ridiculous for real people too), so the drama seemed like cutting corners. But I still really liked their story and look forward to getting the rest of the horde of Coleman's settled down.
3.5 stars
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Review - Dead Heat
Dead Heat
by Patricia Briggs
Patricia Briggs is one of my auto buy authors. I adore her Mercyverse, which includes the Alpha & Omega series. Some people suggest that you don't really need to read the Mercy Thompson series in order to understand or read the Alpha & Omega series, but I am going to have to politely disagree. Events that happen in each series influence and inform the events of the other series. This is the 4th story in the Alpha & omega series, and there are 8 stories in the Mercy Thompson series. In my opinion, you need all those stories, and you need to read them in order. But, at the least you will need to read the preceding Alpha & omega books before reading this one.
Up until this point, I would have said that the Mercy Thompson series was the Urban Fantasy branch, and the Alpha & Omega series was the Paranormal Romance branch. Dead Heat tends to move away from a stricter paranormal romance sensibility and more into an urban fantasy one, and despite my die hard romance reader soul, I was not only OK with that, I was thrilled. Charles and Anna are settled, their relationship is strong, yes there is and will be friction to their relationship because of how their pasts have shaped them, it would be impossible to be otherwise. But their relationship is strong. And that was the problem I had with Fair Game, it seemed to be trying so hard to be relationship focused and romance novel centric, that in places if made them caricatures of themselves. Not to say I didn't like Fair Game, because I did, but there were some uncomfortable moments for me, and not because of story elements, but because the character's actions didn't always seem to fit them. Dead Heat wasn't like that at all. This story was positively joyous despite the threads of violence and endangerment of children. We got to see more of how Charles and Anna are as part of a larger world, one that isn't all misery, but spans the scope of human (and werewolf) emotion and experience. Joy, love, anger, regret, fear, compassion. Yes, they focus on each other and continue and learn each other, as they should, but their relationship isn't the only focus of their lives and their actions. And that for me is what makes it possible for a series and a couple to continue to progress. We also saw the return of Special Agent Leslie Fisher, which I appreciated for one thing because I simply like her, and for another, because just as we are seeing Charles' relationships outside of Anna, I'd like to see Anna develop relationships outside of Charles.
Some threads that were picked up are: Anna's wish for children and Charles' fears, the effects of almost-immortality matched against the reality of loved ones who die, how werewolves are changed and the politics involved in that, the Fae war, and of course, good vs. evil because it wouldn't be Patricia Briggs if we didn't have that. This wasn't the sexiest or most sensual book, and we didn't get to see as much of Anna's wolf as I would have liked (yes we saw her in werewolf form, but not really her wolf), but it kept me frantically flipping pages and completely absorbed for the entire book. It doesn't resolve everything, which is good because that would cause the book and the series to feel static, but nothing pressing was left out.
5 stars
by Patricia Briggs
(P.S. I am going to try adding covers again and see if I can keep them without breaking them now)
Patricia Briggs is one of my auto buy authors. I adore her Mercyverse, which includes the Alpha & Omega series. Some people suggest that you don't really need to read the Mercy Thompson series in order to understand or read the Alpha & Omega series, but I am going to have to politely disagree. Events that happen in each series influence and inform the events of the other series. This is the 4th story in the Alpha & omega series, and there are 8 stories in the Mercy Thompson series. In my opinion, you need all those stories, and you need to read them in order. But, at the least you will need to read the preceding Alpha & omega books before reading this one.
Up until this point, I would have said that the Mercy Thompson series was the Urban Fantasy branch, and the Alpha & Omega series was the Paranormal Romance branch. Dead Heat tends to move away from a stricter paranormal romance sensibility and more into an urban fantasy one, and despite my die hard romance reader soul, I was not only OK with that, I was thrilled. Charles and Anna are settled, their relationship is strong, yes there is and will be friction to their relationship because of how their pasts have shaped them, it would be impossible to be otherwise. But their relationship is strong. And that was the problem I had with Fair Game, it seemed to be trying so hard to be relationship focused and romance novel centric, that in places if made them caricatures of themselves. Not to say I didn't like Fair Game, because I did, but there were some uncomfortable moments for me, and not because of story elements, but because the character's actions didn't always seem to fit them. Dead Heat wasn't like that at all. This story was positively joyous despite the threads of violence and endangerment of children. We got to see more of how Charles and Anna are as part of a larger world, one that isn't all misery, but spans the scope of human (and werewolf) emotion and experience. Joy, love, anger, regret, fear, compassion. Yes, they focus on each other and continue and learn each other, as they should, but their relationship isn't the only focus of their lives and their actions. And that for me is what makes it possible for a series and a couple to continue to progress. We also saw the return of Special Agent Leslie Fisher, which I appreciated for one thing because I simply like her, and for another, because just as we are seeing Charles' relationships outside of Anna, I'd like to see Anna develop relationships outside of Charles.
Some threads that were picked up are: Anna's wish for children and Charles' fears, the effects of almost-immortality matched against the reality of loved ones who die, how werewolves are changed and the politics involved in that, the Fae war, and of course, good vs. evil because it wouldn't be Patricia Briggs if we didn't have that. This wasn't the sexiest or most sensual book, and we didn't get to see as much of Anna's wolf as I would have liked (yes we saw her in werewolf form, but not really her wolf), but it kept me frantically flipping pages and completely absorbed for the entire book. It doesn't resolve everything, which is good because that would cause the book and the series to feel static, but nothing pressing was left out.
5 stars
Monday, March 2, 2015
ARC Review - Delirium
Delirium
by Erin Kellison
I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
This is the 6th story in Erin Kellison's Reveler series. I am not entirely sure how I missed this for so long, as it came out in January, but I am glad to get it.
1. Darkness Falls
2. Lay Me Down
3. Darksider
4. Night's Deep Hush
5. Bring Me a Dream
As I have previously said, I cannot in any way, shape, or form guarantee a spoiler free review. These are not stand alones, they aren't even interconnected novels, this is a serial.
This is the second entry covering Marshall Harlen Fawkes and Sera. There isn't a ton of growth in their relationship, though there is some, but this sixth novella really drives the story arc, the relationships, and it brings back Steve Coll. I still love the premise and the world building, I still love the characters, and I absolutely need to find out what is happening with the Sandman and with the Scrape (those are also the titles for the upcoming stories according to Kellison's website). Shared dreaming and lucid dreaming are such fascinating concepts and the way this is executed in this series is enthralling. What I am still not fond of is the price, and the way this is being dragged out. Assuming there will be a total of 8 novellas, and assuming the first one remains free (not things I am entirely sure you can assume any more), you are looking at $20.93 to buy this story. I am just going to reiterate, as much as I really enjoy these stories, if I had to buy them, I don't know that I would do so at this price point. I am hopeful when Ms. Kellison has completed the serial, she'll put them all together into one book and sell at, what I would consider, a more reasonable price like Ms. Brook did for the Kraken King, because the story itself is excellent.
by Erin Kellison
I received an ARC of this book from the Publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
This is the 6th story in Erin Kellison's Reveler series. I am not entirely sure how I missed this for so long, as it came out in January, but I am glad to get it.
1. Darkness Falls
2. Lay Me Down
3. Darksider
4. Night's Deep Hush
5. Bring Me a Dream
As I have previously said, I cannot in any way, shape, or form guarantee a spoiler free review. These are not stand alones, they aren't even interconnected novels, this is a serial.
This is the second entry covering Marshall Harlen Fawkes and Sera. There isn't a ton of growth in their relationship, though there is some, but this sixth novella really drives the story arc, the relationships, and it brings back Steve Coll. I still love the premise and the world building, I still love the characters, and I absolutely need to find out what is happening with the Sandman and with the Scrape (those are also the titles for the upcoming stories according to Kellison's website). Shared dreaming and lucid dreaming are such fascinating concepts and the way this is executed in this series is enthralling. What I am still not fond of is the price, and the way this is being dragged out. Assuming there will be a total of 8 novellas, and assuming the first one remains free (not things I am entirely sure you can assume any more), you are looking at $20.93 to buy this story. I am just going to reiterate, as much as I really enjoy these stories, if I had to buy them, I don't know that I would do so at this price point. I am hopeful when Ms. Kellison has completed the serial, she'll put them all together into one book and sell at, what I would consider, a more reasonable price like Ms. Brook did for the Kraken King, because the story itself is excellent.
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