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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
leiah has commented on (20) products
Beautiful Blue Death
by
Charles Finch
leiah
, September 25, 2015
1865. While the US is enjoying the end of the Civil War, in London the Liberals take over Parliament in the form of Lord Palmerston, who died that same year leaving Lord John Russell as Prime Minister. And Lady Jane Grey has sent a note to her platonic love, Charles Lenox. Dearest, Would you come over before supper, perhaps at a little past six o’clock? Something has happened. Do come, Charles. Yours, faithfully, &c. Jane What follows is a tale of mystery, politics, society and the upper-crust formality for which the Victorian period is so well known. Lenox is no Lord Peter Whimsey �" he is much more reserved, his intelligence sharp, but quieter and more reserved. This is very much a “Victorian Cozy” mystery, with interesting characters and a landscape that pulls you into the sights, scents and sounds of Victorian London. Honestly, I requested the book by mistake, as I wouldn’t normally read a historical (it simply isn’t my genre) but I still enjoyed it. I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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The Time Garden: A Magical Journey and Coloring Book
by
Daria Song
leiah
, September 24, 2015
“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” - Ashley Smith Joy and beauty. Two things we miss most in this hurry-hurry world of ours. The sound of wind through the trees. The sight of a field of flowers. The scent, and taste, of chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven. Joy. I felt a bit of that joy when I received Daria Song’s “The Time Garden.” Printed in a large format on beautiful paper, the cover pictures an ancient tree, dropping copper and gold blooms through the sky. The shimmer immediately caught my eye and made me smile. Flipping through the pages, I immediately thought of the excesses of the Victorian times �" pattern and design just this side of overwhelming, and yet balanced and flowing in line. And there is a rather sneaky SteamPunk Vibe as well �" clocks, gears and engines scattered about like secret whispers in the wind. Artful references to opera (Ouvre Ton Coeur by Georges Bizet), a trip to the Salle du rêve (the dream room). The wisdom of the owl, juxtaposed with the transience of the Sakura, the Japanese Cherry Blossom. The movement and pure merriment of the Ghirardelli Cable Car, the Pier 39 Carousel. And when is the last time you browsed an antiquarian book store? How I miss Borderlands Science Fiction Bookstore in San Francisco . . . how I miss San Francisco! This ‘coloring book’ is so much more than that. As an adult, I love colour, and this gorgeous format, the story of a little girl and her miraculous journey, is so amazing. Drawn in meticulous detail, it is such a joy to flip through, searching for the tiny messages and beautiful storyline. I haven't started playing with it yet, but it is very high quality paper, and I think I will try it with coloured inks? The frontispiece will be the perfect place to try out colour before I begin, but for now just turning pages is relaxing. “Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” - Greg Anderson I received this book from Penguin books and Bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own, though, and I really do find it to be amazing!
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Cold War
by
Alan Russell
leiah
, September 16, 2015
“Nothing could be more heart rending than this mute and motionless dispair” �" ― Émile Zola, Thérèse Raquin “She was a genius of sadness, immersing herself in it, separating its numerous strands, appreciating its subtle nuances. She was a prism through which sadness could be divided into its infinite spectrum.” ― Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated Despair. Horrible, gut wrenching, soul destroying despair. Nina Granville’s life has become a hell on earth unlike any most ‘normal’ people could ever understand. Fear so deep her bones ache with it. Because Nina is a captive. A captive of a monster in a land where ice, snow, and death are balanced on the head of a pin. Where the wrong breath, the wrong move, can mean immediate, or long, drawn-out death. Captured and held in the wilds of Alaska by a sadistic monster, Nina is doing everything she can to survive, but the brutality is nearly unbearable, the psychological terror breathtaking. Nina is, very literally, in hell. A frozen hell, buried in ice and snow. Repeatedly raped, beaten and terrorized, she has little reason to continue living. “There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run Cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGree. The same poem. Over. And Over. And Over. The repetitive dirge, of a madman. No hope. No hope. . . Until she finds Elese Martin. Or at least, Elese’s journal. Elise �" the madman’s last victim. Elise suffered as Nina does now. The beatings. The rapes. The terror. Elise, who was held on for years. Who had, and lost, a child by the monster. Who made a plan. Now, Nina needs to plan. To plan, to hope. This book was, literally, heart wrenching. Alan Russell literally broke my heart with his writing. Nina’s pain, her struggle, was written so well I felt it. The story is incredibly well-written, well-paced and the characters and landscape feel so very real I could almost smell the smoke, the cold, the forests of Alaska. There are so many layers in the book, layers that I fell through as if through water, sinking into blackness. It is an important story, an important book, with strength and depth. I can’t recommend it highly enough, but be ready to feel Nina’s and Elise’s pain, their desperation and despair. It is breathtaking, twisted, and amazing. I received A Cold War from the publisher in an uncorrected proof. All thoughts are my own, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Strap in for the ride of your life.
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In the Company of Wolves
by
Paige Tyler
leiah
, September 14, 2015
“There is no life to be found in violence. Every act of violence brings us closer to death.” - bell hooks A meth addict mother. Check. A brutal, drunken stepfather. Check. Living in a hellhole of an apartment, waiting for said stepfather to storm into her room and rape her. Double check. Jayna Winston fled into the night on the very night that nearly happened. Bloody, beaten and alone. Fast forward to the present day, and Jayna finds herself in a hell of a mess. In Paige Tyler’s mythology, werewolves are created at times of great terror and pain, and Jayna’s change came that terrifying night. Now, her alpha, Liam, has placed his small pack into the hands of the Albanian mob, locked them into committing crimes, from theft to murder. Murder. And Liam apparently doesn’t care that his tiny pack is in danger of being killed every time they commit a crime. That right this very moment Jayna’s life is in danger. Because Liam said there were no werewolves in Dallas. Especially no alpha werewolves. But now, in a warehouse in a bad part of Dallas, Jayna and the omega wolves Liam has taken in �" huge, ruthless, savage �" are surrounded. Surrounded by a SWAT team composed completely of wolves. Alpha wolves. A whole pack of alpha wolves. Toe-to-toe to one of said wolves, Jayna knows she will never survive. Until the alpha wolf dumps her into a packing crate, tells her to be very, very quiet �" and then pours a shipment of very expensive perfume over the crate to block her scent. What the . . . ? Why did that happen? And to make it even weirder, the alpha, Eric Becker, tracks her down. But he doesn’t arrest her. He wants to help. Liam may have dropped Jayna and her tiny pack into certain death, but Becker wants to help. No one has ever offered to actually help Jayna. Now she and Megan, Moe, Joseph and Chris, three beta wolves, can no longer rely on Liam. And without Liam’s strength, they can’t leave, can’t fight back. But Becker has a plan. First, he has to present himself as an omega, and be accepted by Frasheri, the Albanian mob boss, and his underboss, the psychopath Kostandin. And then? Well, here is what is going to happen . . . Tyler’s mythology is interesting in its difference. Neither Jayna nor her pack members, or Becker himself, have been wolves for very long, all learning what it means. All have things to teach one another. Jayna is terrified, of course, of losing her much loved pack members, even Liam who sold them out to the mob in exchange for money and the illusion of power. To save them she will have to be stronger than she ever could have imagined. And she comes through beautifully. Becker and his people are strong, of course, but also very human in the best sort of way. A pleasant read. I received In the Company of Wolves from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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Owl and the City of Angels: Volume 2
by
Kristi Charish
leiah
, September 08, 2015
“Many people out there don't have a choice in choosing their friends and the people they're being manipulated by. Thank God, I have that choice. I can use my judgment and choose.” -- Javier Bardem “When it comes to controlling human beings, there is no better instrument than lies. Because you see, humans live by beliefs. And beliefs can be manipulated. The power to manipulate beliefs is the only thing that counts.” -- Michael Ende Owl just can’t catch a break. She should have learned, from her run-ins with all that is supernatural in Owl and the Japanese Circus that, the more she learns about the supernatural, the more there is to learn. And the more she would regret breaking her one rule. It was so simple, really. Don’t mess with the supernatural. Well, that’s all blown to hell and back. And hell is exactly where she might end up this time. She had to go and open up that sarcophagus, hence pissing off the vampires. Bloody cockroaches. Then she had to get on the wrong side of a Naga and a dragon. Oh, and if that isn’t enough? Now it is curses and mummies. You just had to touch it, didn’t you? Just had to unwrap it and touch it. Sigh. I said about Owl in my last review, “Owl is a damaged character. Her default reaction to, well, everything is to break and run for the hills. Sure, it can save your backside to run away. But sometimes, you are just running further into the fire. And sometimes, the people you believe you know are not the people you thought they were at all. For good, or for bad. And Owl needs to learn the difference, quickly, if she wants to live, and to grow into something more than a child in a grownup world. Owl definitely needs to grow as a person, and as a character.” And I have to say, she definitely does show personal and professional growth in “Owl and the City of Angels.” Oh, that isn’t to say she doesn’t still make dumb choices �" she does. Hence the whole “mummies and curses” thing. But she is growing. “Come to think of it, I’m amazed how much I’ve grown over the past few months. I’m becoming an interesting person. Not well adjusted, but someone who occasionally sees through the messes they create.” Of course, Owl being Owl, she winds up in shitstorms of monstrous proportions, but that is to be expected. And vacillates between funny �" and just plain causing me to plant a face-palm. “You are correct in your assessment of the City of the Dead. Keep in mind that even we supernaturals sometimes lose places for a reason.” The story itself is as good as Japanese Circus. There is as much going on in this book, if not more, and as the cast of characters expands Owl begins to learn more about the supernatural, and more about herself as well. Old characters come back, both good and bad, and Owl becomes a pawn once more in the political power struggles of both the supernatural and of the IAA. Layers are peeled back, only to reveal more layers of rot and lies underneath. As always, this is an adventure heavy, Indiana Jane sort of tale, and Owl impresses me more and more with both her capability, her savvy, and her ability to piss everyone around her off in new and inventive ways. And the authors interest in, and knowledge of, archaeology really adds depth and dimension to the story. I am, of course, a geek at heart, and I found all sorts of things to highlight and look up later. I can’t recommend this series highly enough for readers who like strong women characters who are still learning about themselves and about how to manage their pain and grow. Some wrongs are righted in this volume, though some even more horrible wrongs occur �" one particular one which ripped my insides out. Captain, Owl’s Egyptian Mau partner is still a strong part of the story �" who can’t love a cat who was bred specifically to attack and poison vampires with his teeth and claws? Awesome! The only bad part? I have to WAIT for the next volume! And from the epilogue? Oh, yeah. The waiting is gonna be very, very hard. Everyone wants to use Owl for their own plots and plans . . . and here is hoping that at least a couple of those people get exactly what is coming to them!! I received Owl and the City of Angels from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. Kristi Charish has assured her place on my Auto-Read list. Very highly recommended!
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Bear Meets Girl
by
Shelly Laurenston
leiah
, September 05, 2015
“See,” Cella shot back, “that’s a ridiculous thing to say, because I don’t even know this guy or whether I like him or not. I was just going to kill him.” Yep. The Smith wolf pack is back. Along with the van Holtz pack, the Llewellan Pride, all the members of the Carnivore Shifter Team, and everyone’s assorted friends, family and pack members. And any strays that happen along. But when you add in the Malone family, especially Cella “Bare Knuckles” Malone, She-Tiger, hockey enforcer for the Marauder, ex-Marine sniper, daughter to Butch “Nice Guy” Malone and hit-woman for Katzenhaus Securities, or KZS, the international feline protection agency. . . well, things get “interesting” in a very “Holy Homicide, Batman!” sort of way. Gotta love me some Cella! Bear Meets Girl is another of Shelly Laurenston’s Pride series, and is just as good as all the others in the series. Although, I have to admit, the cover is really bad. As in, sticking “Cella” down there at Crushek’s feet like some prissy little weakling really sort of ticked me off. As IF Bare Knuckles Malone would whimper and mewl at some dude’s feet! Anyway, off my “Hate the Cover” Rant Horse (and what is up with that wimpy title, anyway? Just sayin’.) and on to the story. I had read the book before I saw it on Netgalley, but who could pass up being able to read any of Shelly’s Pride series once more? I mean, the books are freakin’ awesomesauce!!! I love humour in my urban fantasy/paranormal romance, and Shelly always offers something fun. In this case, watching poor Crushek wake up from a horrendous hangover in bed with a feline of all things (He knew lots of felines, but he didn’t spend time around them because they were, as he’d already stated and everyone knew, totally untrustworthy. It was a fact. Look it up!) he only came to the party because, well, yeah, he was depressed. Well, he was getting transferred, of all things! And Crushek hates change. Like the fact that his favorite shoe store moved six years ago. And he still goes by and stares in the window and wishes that things didn’t change. At least, until the people in the tea shop called the cops on the meth dealer standing around outside the window and scaring them all. Well, when you are a 6’9” 350-lb polar bear shifter who works as an undercover cop (yes, normally as a meth dealer. Sometimes a hired killer. But mostly? Yeah, a meth dealer) that isn’t all that hard to understand. But that whole ‘change’ thing? Crushek just doesn’t care for it. Like, At. All. Sigh. But change is here, and what happens? He finds himself mixed up in all sorts of change. Oh, and poachers. And taxidermists. And let’s not forget Novikov. And Nice Guy Malone. And a whole lot more of his hockey heroes. Because while he may not be able to play all that well, Crushek is a serious (and I mean really serious) hockey fan. And the fact that Cella, who he is sure is a whacked out female who is a danger to her toddler daughter (Snort. Giggle. Wait till you meet Cella’s “toddler” daughter. . .) keeps pretending to be his girlfriend, sitting in his lap and basically driving him right out of his tree? Ha! Gotta adore some Cella! Shelly Laurenston’s Pride series is in my top five of the best paranormal series out there. The characters are amazingly fun, diverse, and consist of quite a few asskicker women who don’t put up with any sort of garbage from anything or anyone. The underlying storyline of the families is well laid out and developed. But what I really like is her continuing story of how the shifters are working hard against humans, and even other shifters, who are running hunting camps where shifters, some as young as six, are turned loose on private preserves, hunted and slaughtered by anyone who has the money to pay �" their bodies then stuffed, mounted, and kept in the homes of the rich and depraved. It isn’t the animals who are the true monsters. The story gets deeper, and meaner, this time around. The BPC, the Bear Preservation Council, and their leader, Peg Baissier, are up to something. Isolationists, the BPC don’t like that Crushek works for the police department. Something bad is going down, and Peg seems determined that Crushek will fall into line. And if that means Crushek’s cover was blown, and Crushek himself blown-away, well. The hunters are bad enough. But Peg Baissier may be even more deadly. Especially to Crushek �" her foster son. If you are a lover of PR and UF and haven’t picked up this series after all the praise I have given it, why not? If you like humor, action, truly likable (and hatable) characters, solid world building, and a tight storyline, well, you can’t do much better. I received this book from the publisher (and Netgalley) in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. I love this whole series!
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All I Want
by
Jill Shalvis
leiah
, September 05, 2015
“Got your 911 freak-out text.” Zoe is freaking out, that is true. After raising her brother and sister pretty much on her own (tell me �" what kind of parents tell their twelve-and-under children that they will meet them in Budapest, and then don’t show up for three days? Even if they are diplomats, surely they could have sent someone from the consulate to watch over their kids!) Zoe is finally on her own in the home she inherited from her grandparents. She is going to fix it up and live there. Finally have a normal life, with dates and everything. Of course, it would help if she actually had any carpentry skills �" at all �" and it would also help if she didn’t get stood up for her first blind date. But she has a dog, a rescued Bernese mountain dog, and her brother and sister love her. She adores her life as a private pilot and flight instructor, so everything else is pretty much OK. Even if she does get lonely sometimes. But back to the date. Zoe opens her front door and, taking her younger, engaged sister’s advice, gives the hunk on her doorstep a peck on the lips. Only. Oh, snap. It isn’t her date. It is her brother Wyatt’ best friend, Parker James. Parker James, who is to be her tenant for a while. Embarrassing! Parker sort of likes that kiss. But he is only there for a while, and then he is back to DC in his job as a supervisory special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He is supposed to be on vaycay after the death of his partner who was murdered during an attempt to arrest a wildlife trafficking ring. A trafficking ring that is behind a large part of the thirty thousand elephants slaughtered last year for their ivory, thousands of rhinos slaughtered for their horns, and countless tigers, leopards and other endangered animals whose very existence as balanced on a razor’s edge due to poaching. Now, Tripp Carver, the man who killed Parker’s partner and nearly killed Parker himself, is planning to move 4.5 million dollars’ worth of death and agony from a hidden location in Idaho, a place called Cat’s Paw. Parker isn’t supposed to be there. He is supposed to be resting someplace warm and far from Carver. The FBI and the ATF, and multiple other alphabet agencies, apparently have a ‘deal’ with Carver to turn in his brother, the head of a dangerous militia group. Carver is to go free. But Parker won’t have it. All that death, all that horror, his partner’s life. No. Just No. This is, of course a romance novel, and Jill Shalvis is good with those, especially when you bring animals into the story. Oreo the Bernese is a favorite character of mine in the story. Rescued from a brutal situation, he is absolutely hysterical as he deals with a new person in the house, two new rescued kittens (he is terrified of kittens, go figure!) The story of the cruelty and uncaring slaughter of rare animals by monstrous human poachers is heartrending, and I really appreciated Ms. Shalvis addressing the situation in an intelligent and knowledgeable manner. And the clown show of the ATF, FBI and other agencies all tripping all over themselves to give Carver an out in order to capture “bigger fish” shot my blood pressure through the roof �" because I know that nonsense is spot-on. If you enjoy romance novels with strong women characters (I loved Zoe’s strength) and great animal characters, this is the perfect books for a lazy Sunday afternoon. I received All I Want from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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Accidental Alchemist
by
Gigi Pandian
leiah
, September 02, 2015
“This is why alchemy exists,” the boy said. “So that everyone will search for his treasure, find it, and then want to be better than he was in his former life. Lead will play its role until the world has no further need for lead; and then lead will have to turn itself into gold. That’s what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby The Accidental AlchemistWhen Zoe Faust moved to Portland she was hoping for a quiet, unobtrusive life, away from her memories. She wanted to start a new life. That isn’t anything unusual. Many people move to Portland to start over, away from their old lives. Of course, the fact that Zoe is over 300 years old and studied as an alchemist under Nicholas and Perenelle does make her a bit different from those others who have washed up upon the green and fertile shores of Portland. To-ma-to, to-mah-to. It seemed so simple. Buy the old, rundown house in a good neighborhood. Set up her online herb and antiques business. Have a nice, quiet life. At least for as long as she can get away with it. All-in-all, it might have been better to stay in France. Things began well enough. Find a discreet contractor to come in, fix up the house (including the nearly fallen in roof) and while he is at it, have him build an alchemical oven in the basement cum lab, then take his money and forget he was ever there. But as with all things, issues arise. Such as the fact that said contractor winds up dead on her front porch before he can even pick up a hammer. Then of course there is the three-and-a-half-foot gargoyle who climbs out of one of her packing boxes. There is the break-in in which the gargoyle’s ancient alchemical volume, and several other volumes and items of great financial and alchemical value, are stolen. At least Dorian Robert-Houdin can cook. Although he really doesn’t get the whole vegan thing �" but when it becomes a challenge, well, the food that comes from the kitchen is enough to make even a non-vegan’s mouth water. A chemist, a cop, a tea shop owner and a 14-year-old housebreaker are only a few of the interesting characters you meet in The Accidental Alchemist. The mystery is well plotted and very well executed, and the author’s knowledge of the history of alchemy truly adds to the story. Being born in 1600’s Salem, Zoe has seen a lot in her time on Earth, not all of it good �" but not all of it bad either. Now, in order to save not only the tea shop owner, Blue Sky, from being convicted of a murder she did not commit, but also to save Dorian from returning to stone �" an excruciating way to “die” when he won’t really be dead, only trapped in an stone body, his mind still alive and functioning �" Zoe must find out who really killed her contractor and get Dorian’s alchemical text back in order to save Dorian’s life. There are some things about the book I really liked that others seemed to abhor. I loved how the author talked about food and cooking. I could nearly smell the scents from the kitchen as Dorian cooked �" something he learned from a well-respected, but tragically blinded, chef long ago. It felt to me like a commentary on what it is like to live so very long, to be so very different that you have to hide yourself away. How lonely that life must be, and how Dorian immerses himself in cooking to fend off that aching loneliness. Coming to Zoe for help not only gives him hope that she might save him, but feeding her is a caring act, designed to show his respect and understanding of Zoe and her long, long life. So, I will respectfully disagree with those who found that part of the book unnecessary. To me, it was a very necessary part of the dialog �" the understanding of the depths of loneliness and loss that surely burns at the soul of those touched by the Philosopher’s Stone. The same can be said for the complaints about Zoe not being ‘omniscient’ �" not automatically remembering how to do absolutely everything she has ever learned. Being long lived must certainly be, in many ways, incredibly boring. You can’t retain relationships �" someone might catch on that you aren’t aging. As the days flow on, pouring one unto the other, time certainly must begin to have no real meaning, lessons learned fading away until memory becomes dream. I really, really liked this book, and look forward to more by Gigi Pandian. I listened to the audio version and Julia Moytka does a wonderful job with the narration. Her voice simply “fits” the characters, and her rendition of Dorian, rather than being “overly Frenchy” as one reviewer put it, is warm, carrying over the old fashioned French of the 16th century. If you try this book, I hope you enjoy it as much as I.
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Spiral of Need
by
Suzanne Wright
leiah
, August 29, 2015
“Nothing like being accused of attempted murder to complete a girl’s Friday evening.” What a great opening line to a new series by a favorite author! I have been a fan of Suzanne Wright for quite some time �" since I first found her “Phoenix Pack” series. The stories are well written, have great backstory and, within a paranormal romance setup, speaks to issues we all face today. Prejudice, hatred, all the nasty habits of humanity. But her works speak of the good as well �" love, duty, honor. All the things that, if we would only concentrate on those instead of hating one another, we could become better, stronger, and more worthy of our presence on this beautiful planet. Now, Ms. Wright has a spin-off that melds the Phoenix Pack with the newly created Mercury Pack. Led by Nick Axton and his mate, Shaya Critchley, a previous member of the Phoenix Pack, this first book is just as strongly written, and just as filled with wonderful characters and situations as the Phoenix series. We first met Derren, the unwilling Beta of the Mercury Pack, in “Carnal Secrets,” book three of the Phoenix series. Broken and bitter from years imprisoned as a 14-year-old for a crime he didn’t commit, Derren is tough, introverted, and brutal. And the one thing he hates, more than anything else, is a Seer. But when Cain Holt calls, Derren can’t say no. He owes Cain, another shifter juvie prisoner, a favor. And he can’t turn down Cain’s request to rescue, and protect, Alyssa “Ally” Marshall from an intolerable situation in her present pack. Of course, Derren has every reason to hate Seers. Not only was he betrayed by a Seer, whose son committed the rape Derren was accused and sent to prison for. His Alpha and best friend, Nick, and his enforcers Marcus and Roni were also betrayed by Seers. Yep. Having a Seer in your pack can be a wonderful thing �" but a bad Seer can be as bad as a bad Alpha �" deadly and destructive. Suzanne continues her wonderful world-building and character building, her story telling strong and well designed as usual. Betrayal, hatred, back-stabbing and murder are all part of the story �" and yet the strong bindings of family and pack are intertwined, pulling the story forward and drawing me into Suzanne’s world once again. Suzanne, like Eve Langlais, is a strong writer of paranormal romance without the ridiculousness of so many other paranormals. Her female characters, both the good and the bad, are truly strong characters, whether you love them or hate them �" and some of them you really, really hate! My ‘go-to’ authors for nights when I need to read strong women, complex plots and a great world so close to our own. I received “Spiral of Need” from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. The only thing I would change is the title �" in my opinion it doesn’t really ‘fit’ the book, but otherwise, I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes strong characters and well written storylines. I would call it more "Romantic Paranormal Suspense" than simple "Paranormal Romance." It is stronger than simple PR.
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Promise Me
by
Tara Fox Hall
leiah
, August 25, 2015
“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. -- Marcus Tullius Cicero What must it be like, to be born in 1601, a destitute dirt farmer, desperately trying to feed a wife and child? Completely illiterate, superstitious, held under the thumb of the rich, little more than a slave. Then, to find oneself suddenly immortal, seen as a demon, unclean, a monster in god’s eyes and those of your family. To make connections, fall in love, only to see the object of your affections wither and die time after time. To exist the next 200 years in the same crushing poverty and ignorance, until the world begins to turn, and opportunity begins to appear. And four hundred seventy five years later, to exist in a world completely at odds with the one you knew for so long. A world of cars and planes and space exploration. A world where intelligent, educated women are not inclined to take any crap from the men who used to rule their worlds completely? “With some bitterness, he wondered why he was fighting so hard to survive. His life had been pointless for the last half century. Modern books and novels talked about how fun it was being a creature of the night’ so romantic and glamorous. What a crock of s**t.” Four hundred seventy five years. Only to wind up poisoned, sprawled on the side of an isolated quarry road, alone. Well, until Sarelle comes along, with her front end loader, and her two dogs, Ghost and Darkness, to load him up and carry him to her basement. Well, she thought he was just a human . . . until she saw his teeth the next morning. Hum. A real live vampire. Sar is a kind woman, the type of woman who rescues animals off the side of the road at her own peril. So, she feeds him. But she swears she won’t be like all the silly little girls out there. She is, after all, a grown woman, over thirty and a widow. She will feed him, give him a place to stay, then send this vampire, whose truck is loaded down with silenced handguns and sniper rifles, on his way. She won’t be some stupid fan girl, fainting and squealing at the thought of a sexy vampire. Until she is. Part way through the story began to lose coherence. From a good start, the author begins to throw in unnecessary plot points willy-nilly, as if she had lots of ideas she suddenly decided she wanted to explore. Humor disappears and histrionics ensue. There were flashes of story line that appeared, and then just as suddenly disappeared, like a shark flashing by under the surface of the water. It became somewhat of an overwrought mess of genre-specific tropes, with no real point at all. Contiguous to the breakdown of the story line, character personalities began to devolve, and distressing mannerisms and dissociative personality disorders began to appear where there were previously none. Sar goes from being a strong, capable woman, maybe not willing, but fully capable of blowing away an intruder with her own handgun, to a fluttery mess, standing around twisting her hands while her lover fights off a demon, intent on murdering them both, all the while said lover is screaming for her to run. “You might need me!” Yeah. Not so much, when all you can do is stand there and hop from foot to foot and whimper. Pft. Of course, in a lot of ways, Danial isn’t any better �" just saying, “Watch out for other vampires at the party,” not, “If my brother the King of the Vampires demands to kiss you, turn him down because . . .” is just plain stupid. Secrets and lies. Lies and secrets. So, don’t get mad at her when you don’t give any real guidance, just vague generalities! Again, pft. There are some really well-written parts, especially as we learn more about Danial’s history, from a poor peasant in rural Spain to well-off security company owner in modern day America. But the rest of the story broke down for me, for all the reasons listed above and more. I don’t normally read vampire novels, but the thought of a human woman who could stand up to the supernatural world and be strong was appealing �" though the whiny, schizoid mess that began to appear two days later put paid to those expectations. It wound up being typical ‘sparkly vampire’ tropism. I received this book from ReadingAlley.com in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. All thoughts are my own.
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Minute Zero
by
Todd Moss
leiah
, August 20, 2015
“For every African state, like Ghana, where democratic institutions seem secure, there is a Mali, a Cote d’Ivoire, and a Zimbabwe, where democracy is in trouble.” �" Michael Ignatieff “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” ― Nelson Mandela Zimbabwe. Like so many African countries, and honestly so many countries across the world, “Zimbabwe was poisoning itself with a toxic cocktail of greed, dictatorship, and fear.” This is the Zimbabwe the American is concerned with, as he stands upon the bridge spanning Mosi-oa-Tunya, “the Smoke That Thunders,” the breathtaking expanse of Victoria Falls. And it is from here that he plunges to his death, a victim of all that is hidden in Zimbabwe. “Minute Zero.” That time, even more urgent than the “Golden Hour” �" as Dr. Judd Ryker, head of the State Department Critical Response Unit, describes it, “In analyzing cases of major political shock . . . Immediately after an upheaval, there can be a very short period of breakdown. A window of chaos . . . (when) the entire political system, even one that seems highly stable, is suddenly up for grabs.” The minute in time when chaos sits on the edge of the blade, when the edge turns one way to political stability, the other to war. Zimbabwe sits on that edge �" the edge between continuing dictatorship, murder, genocide and military control is faced by the hope of democracy in the form of Gugu Mutonga, the candidate for the opposition Democracy Union of Zimbabwe. The US has a chance here �" a chance to help the Zimbabwean people to move out from under the thumb of the dictator who has drained the economy and the lives of the people for the past thirty years under President Tinotenda. It can happen. Except. As always, as with so much that makes America a joke in the international community �" and for the same reason 9/11 was so easily carried out �" “The Boys” can’t seem to play well together. The Secretary of State, the Zimbabwean counsel, the various and sundry Department Heads. Nobody wants to share their toys. And in this case? It isn’t just the political scene that is a cluster. There is a new variant of uranium hitting the world market. And that uranium has unusually high levels of the U-235 isotope. Of course, “The Boys” still don’t want to share their toys, their political flag waving and ladder climbing, their chance of impressing the next person up the ladder �" their intel about the isotope and its mining in the backwaters of the world, even between their own agencies, not to mention the countries where the danger is perilously high. So. What happens next is a cluster of the highest order as “The Boys” spend their time pissing into a high wind, the world sits on the edge of the knife, and a small group of people, including Dr. Ryker, attempt to dance along the brink of catastrophe. Todd Moss has a tight grasp on the idiocy of the political machine, the manipulations and missed chances, the stunted growth and stunted capabilities of the military industrial complex, and the horrors inherent in so many countries �" not just Africa, but the rest of the world as well. If you like military/political intrigue, give Todd Moss’s “Minute Zero” a chance. It will be released on September 15, 2015 by Penguin. I received this book from Penguin in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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Jaguar at the Portal: A Mythological Shifter Fantasy
by
Aimee Easterling
leiah
, August 17, 2015
"You will not apply my precept," he said, shaking his head. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” �" Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of the Four, ch. 6 (1890) “Okay, yes, Tez admitted that he was lowering his own standards by accepting a prayer that wasn’t couched in more flattering terms and that didn’t come served up on a bed of human sacrifice. But Whatcha gonna do? A god’s gotta do what a god’s gotta do, times were apparently changing, yada, yada, yada. �" Tezcatlipoc, “I am the Smoking Mirror, the Black Tezcatlipoca, the Enemy of Both Sides!” Yeah, total Jerkface is more like it . . . Ixchel thought growing up with five older brothers was hard enough, but when they started sneaking out and coming home with bruises, blood, and items they certainly didn’t earn themselves, her heart broke and she begged them not to continue what they were doing. However, all her begging was for naught, and Ixchel was left to mourn and fret - until her wonderful, hard working parents were gunned down in their own home by enemies of her brothers gang. Turning states evidence was hard �" knowing her brothers would kill her when they got out of prison if she didn’t flee was even harder. And lonelier. Now, Ixchel is far away and, having put herself through school, she is now a vet in tiny southern town, still looking over her shoulder after fifteen years, waiting for her brothers to track her down. But life as a veterinarian makes her happy, and life is peaceful. Well, until the jaguar in the tree. Then things get very interesting, very fast. Finn, the jaguar in question, has been on a quest for many years. Ever since he suddenly turned into a human and his mother and twin sister drove him away. Now, he is looking for an ancient idol, one he hopes will lead him to other jaguars like himself. Ah . . . but have a care, young jaguar, for you know not what your efforts will lead you to. Such as a lovely young woman who turns out to be a jaguar priestess �" she just doesn’t know it yet. And an immature, self-indulgent, spoiled-rotten Aztec god on a mission to release himself from his prison in the idol and go on a human sacrifice rampage. Sigh. Now Ixchel and Finn are playing “god worshippers” to an adolescent god on a mission and a hunter is on their tail. Oh, and Ixchel’s brothers? Yep. They found her . . . This book was a great deal of fun. Tez is indeed a jerk �" but a funny one at times, and watching the interactions of this unusual threesome is at times irritating, at times painful, and at others truly funny. This was my first Amiee Easterling, but won’t be my last. But I really hope she doesn’t continue the habit using her character’s titles as personal pronoun. Totally irritating. But that’s just me.
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Duty, Honor, Love
by
Angela S. Stone
leiah
, August 14, 2015
“As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion.” �" Antisthenes “That's why crazy people are so dangerous. You think they're nice until they're chaining you up in the garage.” -- Michael Buckley, The Fairy-Tale Detectives “A new audit of the California foster care system has revealed that over 1,000 foster home addresses match those of registered sex offenders, according to the Los Angeles Times. It seems that child welfare official failed to compare the addresses even after they were told to do so in 2008. According to the Sacramento Bee, about 600 of the highlighted offenders were considered high risk.” -- The Huffington Post - By Dean Praetorius, 1,000 California Foster Care Homes Match Sex Offender Addresses: Report Her name is Marissa Preston. Nine years old. Blond and blue. Her mother is frantic to find her, and Detectives Jaden Black and Cameron Olsen know that, if they don’t find her soon, the worst will happen. But the worst quickly becomes even more horrific. For Marissa isn’t alone in her dark and painful place. There is another little girl with her, in a dark and terrifying basement. Emily Knight looks enough like Marissa to be her twin, and she too is missing. Finding these little girls is urgent if they are to live. Of course, Cameron and Jaden have a secret weapon �" Jaden is the most powerful telepath in the Toronto PD. She may be the most power telepath anywhere �" and she has just found Emily Knight’s mind. ““She’s being held captive by a man. She thinks a new girl who joined her looks like Marissa. So there’s a chance she might be alive. The girl also said there were others, but they’ve all gone.” There. Were. Others. Those words hit Cameron like a sledgehammer to the heart. This isn’t just a single kidnapping, or even two. There. Were. Others. And as Jayden and Cameron begin to dig, the picture becomes darker and darker, until the sheer evil of the tale reveals itself in a horrifying miasma that stretches long into the past. “Missing and unsolved, all in the last three-and-a-half years. Six girls, including Emily. Why the heck has no one noticed?” Easily explained, with a bit of research. Six little girls, all six to nine, all blond haired, pretty and fragile. All, in one way or the other, have been involved in the foster system. A foster system broken and criminally mismanaged, a system which ignores repeated reports of sexual and physical abuse �" of the deaths of children in their care. According to a report published in 2005 by Rick Toma, “A Critical Look At The Foster Care System”: “. . . in nearly half the states (studied), cases take years to come to completion as agencies repeatedly fail to investigate abuse reports in a timely fashion, find permanent homes for children, or even keep track of those children under their care and custody.” -- Fred Bayles and Sharon Cohen, "Chaos Often the Only Parent for Abused or Neglected Children," Associated Press as reported in Los Angeles Times, (April 30, 1995) Just one case of thousands: “. . . case involved a nine-year-old boy who weighed only 28 lbs., and who could hardly speak after the suicides of his parents. County social workers failed to visit him in his foster home for four months. During that time, he was beaten, sodomized, burned on his genitals and nearly drowned by his foster parents. He became a spastic paraplegic.” Margot Hornblower, "Fixing the System," TIME Magazine, (December 11, 1995). I used to think this sort of abuse was more prevalent in the US. Surely those nice Canadians didn’t wallow in the kind of monstrous mismanagement we suffer here? Apparently, this isn’t the case. You see, three of these little girls had been moved through a single foster placement �" and all six had, at one point or the other, been shuffled through other homes in the system. And the terrors these children suffered . . . “Duty, Honor, Love” is a brutal tale of the kind of sadistic treatment children are routinely subjected to in the foster system told through a story of psychopaths, pedophiles, and the people who are left to clean up the mess. This is a fast paced tale of suspense that kept me turning pages on my reader so fast I nearly set my fingers on fire. But Marissa and Emily’s story isn’t the only tragedy involved in this narration �" for there are other monsters trolling the darkness �" and one of them is after Jaden. Parts of this book I absolutely adored. There is the truly excellent tale of pedophiles and stalkers, of the police who work tirelessly to capture them, and a foster system that allows the horrors to occur over and over again, ignoring report after report of child abuse in foster homes. But there is also a very heavy sexual storyline that, in my opinion, lowered the overall tone of the storyline. There is M/M, M/F, and M/M/F action in the book, which is perfectly fine in the right setting. Hey, I can get into erotica just as well as the next person. Here, however, it ate up too much of the storyline and detracted from the very important writing that the author accomplished, leaving me dissatisfied with the overall tone of the book. The sex scenes could have been paired down to a couple and been an enhancement to the overall story. Spending more time on character development and background for the characters would have been a more efficacious use of word count. However, a good third of the book was down to sex. I like spicy �" but not so much that it debases the narrative. I still highly recommend the book. As I said, it kept me turning pages at a blistering pace to see what happened next. It will stay on my reader, and I will be looking forward to more from Angela S. Stone. I just hope she can find the line between writing erotica and writing a solid novel with an important story line. “Duty, Honor, Love” came to me from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. If you enjoy my reviews, please click “Like” on Amazon. It helps my authors to draw attention to their books through my reviews. Thank you!
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Cold Moon
by
Alexandra Sokoloff
leiah
, August 09, 2015
“Josephine Butler (1828-1907) writes in her journals, pamphlets and diaries of the second half of the nineteenth century about seeing thousands (yes, thousands) of little girls, some as young as four or five, in the illegal brothels of London, Paris, Brussels, and Geneva. …The children had a life expectancy of two years, yet the brothel owners, frequently women, seemed to have an unlimited supply…. ‘Clean’ children, who were free from venereal disease, commanded a high price.” ― Jennifer Worth “. . . outright abduction of children and teens was more and more common, ever since gangs had caught on to the fact that selling kids was more lucrative than selling drugs and carried lighter criminal penalties.” �" Rachel Elliott, Cold Moon Cara Lindstrom is a legend. Victim of a horrific, borderline mythic crime of unimaginable violence. Five years old, her throat slashed, her family dead, her mind shattered. Five years old when IT came to call. The monster. The Beast. IT. Twenty-five men, women and children slaughtered. Only Cara lived. Jailed at twelve, payback for fighting off the counselor in the group home she had been shuttled into most recently. The counselor who meant to rape her while the thirteen-year-old facility bully held her down. And now, Cara is locked up in Los Angeles County Women’s #8. Locked up, where male sexual predators dressed as guards are free to rape and torture those in their care. “Other countries prohibited the overseeing of female prisoners by male guards, but US laws put its incarcerated women in constant physical jeopardy in the name of equal opportunity employment.” Cara is jailed for the murder of a pimp who ran underage girls in the sewers of Los Angeles. Jailed, with no possibility of bail, after rescuing twenty-two young girls from a life of sexual slavery in the good old US of A. After rescuing the head FBI agent on her case from death at the hands of The Reaper, the same sadistic monster who attacked Cara and killed her family, and so many others. Thirty-two-billion dollars a year. Two and a half million children and young girls, some as young as five, sold into sexual slavery, locked up twenty-four hours a day, servicing an average of twenty men a day. Their jailers walking free, their rapists walking free. While Cara sits in a cell. To the girls and young women she saves, Cara is “the Eighth Archangel”, “The Santa Muerte of the Seven Powers”, “The Lady of the Shadows”. Lady Death. Patron saint of the incarcerated and the poor, those who suffer on the fringes of society, the downtrodden and hopeless, the ill and the dying. Lady Death came to Marisol, the tinyLa Santa Muerte by angelero girl locked in the belly of a cement mixer and carried with twenty-one other girls across the border, two dying en-route from abuse, hunger, dehydration. The Lady came, snatching Marisol from under the body of the trafficker who meant to rape the baby girl. . . Santa Muerte, the savior of young girls destined for brutal lives, and more brutal deaths. Their Savior �" their Savior, who actually sees the monster inside the men that IT takes for Its own. “. . . years of looking into the depths. Of a beat that hides behind the masks of ordinary faces: fathers, brothers, uncles, husbands, random men on the street . . . and the mothers and grandmother who turned a blind eye to the abuse.” Why is Cara in jail? Because she doesn’t carry a badge. It isn’t ‘politically correct’ to call them prostitutes any more. “Commercially sexually exploited youth.” Let’s call a spade a spade. Child victims of men with no souls, no hearts, brutal monsters who take what they want, pay their fee, and go back to their wives and children, their pretty little houses and pretty little lives. Cara means to save as many of the as she can. And Santa Muerte? Her followers gather. . . Tortured, convoluted. Alexandra Sokoloff’s Huntress series has been both horribly painful and deeply rewarding. Huntress Moon introduced us to Cara and to her opposite number, Matt Roarke �" FBI Special Agent and hunter of monsters of the human kind. Brilliantly crafted, with an almost dreamlike feel, well-written and well-researched, the first book captured me and led me straight into Blood Moon. ““You can never kill them all,” she whispered. “They keep coming back.” Roarke still tracks Cara Lindstrom �" the woman who, as a child, drew him to FBI Profiling�" the woman who changed his life with the very fact of her own. “Twenty-five girls to a block, locked in the rooms and drugged to the gills, servicing twenty-five to forty men a day, twelve hours a day, seven days a week.” Free them. Free them. Roarke seeks “Justice” �" but is it justice, truly, to capture Santa Muerte? This third installment is just as painful, just as mind-blowing, just as fulfilling, as each of the previous books. If you haven’t read the first two �" DO. Your life will never be the same. Then? Go out and do something about it. “There are moments when even to the sober eye of reason, the world of our sad humanity may assume the semblance of Hell.” ― Edgar Allan Poe I received Cold Moon from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. This series is, in a word, amazing. If you enjoyed my review, I would appreciate a “Like” for my Amazon review. It helps draw attention to my reviews, which helps the authors whom I review. Thank you!
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Red
by
Kate Serine
leiah
, August 08, 2015
“The wolf said, “You know, my dear, it isn’t safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone.” Red Riding Hood said, “I find your sexist remark offensive in the extreme, but I will ignore it because of your traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop your own, entirely valid, worldview. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way.” ― James Finn Garner, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories “She talks like you. It’s not every day you hear a four-year-old say Prince Charming is a douchebag who’s only holding Cinderella back.” “That’s my girl.” ― Emma Chase, Tangled Once upon a time, a girl in a red hood met a wolf. And then? Everything went to pot. Well, that is how it goes, isn’t it? You think it is love, true and total devotion. Then he punches you in the gut and wanders away, whistling a merry tune, leaving you laying in the forest, staring into the eyes of the Grim Reaper. Pft. And as if that’s not enough, “an egomaniacal fairy godmother, an arrogant genie, and a couple of wandering plagiarists whose idea of cultural preservation is stealing the stories of unsuspecting villagers and passing them off as their own” get into a pissing contest �" and suddenly? You find your red-hooded backside stuck in the Here and Now as an enforcer for the fairy tale cops, and isn’t that just a hard, cold awakening? Now, Goldilocks and Snow White are well paid prostitutes. (Well, in the original tale, the three bears were bachelor brothers �" and the whole ménage thing? Well, duh. And Snow White’s Prince wasn’t so ‘princely’ after all �" he dumped her for an Ordinary, and the prenuptial agreement left her without a dime. Cheating creep.) Of course, that isn’t the only cheating creep of a Prince in the woodpile . . . Mistress Mary Mary Quite Contrary is the FMA prosecuting attorney, Vlad Dracula Is a business man, and The Sandman? He makes The Godfather and all of John Carpenter’s bad guys look like characters from My Little Pony. When Red goes to collect Dave “The Pied Piper” Hamlin to haul him back to jail for his “latest screwup”, i.e., being a registered sex offender who’d blown the terms of his parole: no kids, no hookers, no booze �" and he blows his head off in the alley outside the Red Door, Snow’s den of delights �" things suddenly get very, very nasty as Tale bodies start dropping in very bloody, very savage ways. And the suspect list is very short �" consisting of three of Red’s former lovers. Seth “Big Bad” Wolf. Vlad Dracula (the Literary and Nursery Rhyme Migration brought over some really ‘interesting’ characters). And Todd Caliban. Shakespeare wrote Todd as a monster, but he also wrote Prospero as one �" Caliban was only trying to save his island from the depredations of an invading force, after all. Red was more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt �" and her bed . . . And since Vlad came over, and was ‘captured’ and ‘rehabilitated’ by Red he has been behaving himself. (Hasn’t he?) But all signs point to Seth, Red’s first, and most beloved. Even if he did rip her heart out and stomp on it �" and then leave her in the forest to die . . . what women put up with for their men. Sigh. Al Addin, the FMA Chief Director, (and just incidentally the master of the genie mixed up in the aforementioned ‘a genie, a fairy godmother, etc.’ scenario) knows they have to get this case under control, pronto, before any more Tales are killed �" and before the Ordinaries get ahold of something that could blow the Tales existence out of the proverbial water. Enter Nate “Grim Reaper” Grimm, detective extraordinaire, as her newly assigned side-kick. As they work through the case together things get even bloodier as Trish “Little Miss” Muffet, the coroner and lead investigator (So not afraid of spiders, just sayin’) finds more and more Tales on her slab in the morgue. And Red seems to be right in the crosshairs of the killer. This is fairytale on crack �" a modern, updated, happy-sad, hopeful-disturbing tale of humour and horror that kept me reading until my eyes stuck open and I had to turn out the light. Sharp and witty, this story cuts with a wicked blade, turning literary and fairy tale characters into a contemporary parody of life. Awesomesauce!! (Yes, I stole that word from Celia Kyle �" hey, it’s an awesomesauce word! LOL) “Did I ever tell you the difference between a Northern fairy tale and a Southern one?” she asked him, indulging herself and letting her head rest on his shoulder. God, he felt good. Her man. Where her head was meant to lie, right there, on him. “What’s the difference?” “A Northern one starts ‘once upon a time,’ while a Southern one starts ‘y’all ain’t going to believe this shit.” ― Erin McCarthy, Hot Finish I LOVE this book!!! And I look forward to reading more of the Transplanted Tales series. If you like my review, please let me know by clicking “Like” on Amazon. It helps the authors I review by drawing attention, and helps me as well. Thanks! Oh, and as an aside? Hey! PUBLISHERS!!! Now THIS is how a cover of a book about a strong woman character SHOULD look . . . Can we just freakin’ STOP with the half naked male chests? Please? Pretty please with a “I’m not buying any more books with half naked men on the cover” warning label slapped on the front? Thanks. AAANNNNDDDDD of course, that whole, “No More Naked Men” thing gets blown out of the water due to the other books in the series having blown the positive beginning of RED and putting HALF-NAKED MALES on the covers if the following books . . . EVEN for the story of Lavender, Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother! PFT. If I hadn’t read Red first? I doubt I would continue, based on the covers alone. . . Grrrrrrr. Don’t get me wrong, hot bodies are good (especially the one with Nate Grimm on the cover �" those painted on tattoos are gorgeous!) but still �" do publishers think all we care about is the body on the cover, not the contents of the book? Humph. The covers just shove the books directly into the PR/Romance category, catering to readers who only care about nooky, not good storylines. And this was a killer storyline! Wake up, Publishers . . . we readers who prefer good stories will abandon your books willy-nilly because we expect the books to contain mearly pablum for the ‘sex only’ crowd. Chocolate is a tasty treat �" but in excess gives you gas. Rant concluded.
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Smoke on the Water
by
Lori Handeland
leiah
, August 05, 2015
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” �" Martin Luther King, Jr. Four-hundred years. Infant Willow Black was sent four-hundred years, to today, this time and place, a place “without magic.” A place where she and her sisters, triplets all, can be safe. But now, Willow is an inmate of the Northern Wisconsin Mental Health Facility �" i.e., the loony bin. Not so safe after all. To save their daughters from slaughter at the hands of McHugh, an evil, vicious “witch hunter” Henry and Pru willing gave their lives in the flames of the pyre in order to send their daughters forward in time �" to a time when no one believes in witches. But the thing is, now time is rolling back around again �" and the evil of those who call themselves “hunters of evil” yet are truly the most evil of all, have brought McHugh back into the world, spreading slaughter and fire in their wake. Today, magic has been overrun by technology. But Wiccans still exist �" Wiccans, whose one immutable law is “Harm None”. The followers of McHugh, the Venatores Mali, are so cruel that those who harm none are considered evil by those who commit the most evil of deeds in the name of so-called ‘good’. Such twisted minds, that ritual slaughter of innocents is considered godly. McHugh is back. Reborn into the world, his followers gathered around him. And now, the three girls, Raye, an Air Witch, Becca, an animal communicator, and now Willow, Water Witch and the third of the triplets, must work together to stop the Hunters, to send McHugh back to the darkness. “Ignorance. Illiteracy. Hubris and insecurity, mad obsession. Once upon a time, long ago, in the bad, ignorant, evil times of King James and his Danish queen, there was a great storm. James, an ignorant, religious fool, thought to himself, “Such a storm can only have been caused by witchcraft!” And in his ignorance and fear, he called to himself Roland McHugh, witch hunter, who he placed in charge of a secret society, known as Venatores Mali �" Hunters of Evil. And from those savage beginnings there began an age of slaughter, of blood and death of innocents such as hearkened to war. And Roland McHugh spread his evil across Europe, spraying blood and hatred in his path. . . Roland McHugh �" who, according to his Wikipedia entry, “had burned more witches than anyone in history.” (My words, not the author’s) This is the third, and final, book of the Sisters of the Craft series. You can read my reviews for books one and two at tinyurl (dot) com/p8yvpat . I enjoyed all three of the books. They easily fit within the Paranormal Romance category, but they can also fit well within Urban Fantasy. The storylines are interesting, the characters well designed, and the meld of history and fiction is quite good. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. If you enjoy my reviews, please click “Like” at goodreads and Amazon so that my reviews will draw more attention for the authors. Thank you!
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Demons Librarian
by
Lilith Saintcrow
leiah
, August 05, 2015
The original cover, from the edition published February 1, 2009, (the one you see here) is a much more appropriate cover based on the story. The silly paranormal romance style cover of the new edition, published July 31, 2015 is completely inappropriate to the strength of the storyline. So, ignore the new cover, ignore the Paranormal-Romance style blurb, and read the review instead. Then read the book - it's really good! Also, if you have this title in your library, see if it updates. This is the same book! “Keep it secret. Keep it safe.” �" Gandalf, Lord of The Rings: The Hobbit “The books always make this stuff sound so goddamn easy. They don’t mention the smell. Or the way getting hit in the face with a tentacle as big around as your thigh hurts.” �" Francesca “Chess” Barnes, The Demon’s Librarian It is hard enough being a librarian when “the ‘good citizens’ of Jericho City would pay thousands yearly for plastic surgery and to pad the pockets of the mayor’s friends, they simply would not vote a couple of measly bucks onto their property taxes to take care of her library.” Nope. That is minor compared to having to track down a skornac in the sewers and kill it with a knife. Bloody tentacled demon was eating kids �" what else was she supposed to do?! But killing a skornac demon draws attention �" attention that could very well make her a bloody librarian smudge on the ground. I read Lilith Saintcrow’s Jill Kismet series several years ago. (Wow. Hard to believe 2008 was ‘several years ago’!), back before I started writing reviews, but I rated them four and five stars. Then? I just wandered away. So many books, so little time! So, when I had the opportunity to read The Demon’s Librarian, I was well pleased. It is nice to greet an old friend. This book didn’t disappoint. Chess is one tough librarian. Since finding (or being found by) a sorcerous library hidden behind a magical wall in the basement of the Jericho City library, life has been, well, interesting. Interesting in the Chinese, “May you live in interesting times” sort of interesting. Interesting enough that she spends a lot of the time in the fight gym learning how to protect herself, and a lot of time in the basement learning sorcery. Then, things get truly, well, ‘interesting’ in a very bloody, very painful way. When a tall, handsome, tweed-jacketed fellow comes into the library one day, walks straight to Chess, and asks for Delmonico’s “Demons and Hellspawn” �" and when the Phoenicis Fang at her hip, the magical knife she created herself, goes hot and vibrates - she knows she has problems. What sort of creature is this? Certainly not human �" he smells too much like demon for that. But what is he? Then, a demon tries to break into her apartment through her wards �" and another creature attacks the demon, taking it out in a smelly, messy manner - all Hades breaks loose. Because it isn’t just demons she has to worry about. The Order of Dragons has their own knife to grind. And Chess is not only a newly-minted demon hunter. She could very well be more. And everyone suddenly has way too much interest in using Chess for their own purposes. “I’m lost in a fairy tale. Why do they call them fairy tales, when there aren’t any fairies in them? Troll tales. Giant tales. Witches and gingerbread tales.” I like Chess a lot. Her character is strong and tough �" but not too tough. She is genuine. She holds her own against some really nasty creatures, but she also has the occasional “break down into a crying, quivering mess” moments that make her real. Yep, sometimes I wanted to shake her, but in her place? Uh. I wouldn’t be as brave as she is! If you like Urban Fantasy with lots of blood, a creative storyline, interesting characters, and a solid storyline, this is one to pick up and enjoy. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. If you enjoy my reviews, please let me know by “Liking” my reviews on GoodReads and Amazon. Thank you so much! Oh. The new cover. Well, see what I mean? Pft. The book is about the Librarian! Yeah, yeah. There is 'romance' in a way - but the story is much stronger than a PR. No sex included in this one, just a couple kisses. Goodie - Great UF! Not putting them down, just saying that this is More than that . . . the poor reviews seem to be from people who expected hot sex and PR instead of UF. The Demon's Librarian Published Jul 31, 2015
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The Demon's Call
by
Kim Gravell
leiah
, August 04, 2015
“He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.” ― Cormac McCarthy, The Road It started simply enough. A sheep worrier �" not common, and yet not uncommon in the mid-Wales Hills. The shadow of a black dog, lost or gone rogue, who endangers the sheep �" the life’s blood of the Shropshire farmer. Nerys and Bryn’s son, John, has been worried. And he has been dreaming. Dreaming of the black dog. And now? Now, John hasn’t come home. When Aidan Morgan, neighbor and family friend, goes out to search for John, he thinks that John is simply out searching for the worrier. But when he finds John’s Border Collie, Nan, tied to a gate and hysterical, he knows things are wrong. Very, very wrong. And what he finds is more horrible than he could have possibly believed. “Black it was. Black as coal and big yellow eyes. I tell you it looked at me like it was weighing me up, judging me. Right weird it was.” Kim Gravell has a lovely writing voice, full of the rich tones of the Welsh, the lands and the stories abundant with myth and magic .Lyrical names - Cadair Cawr, the giant’s chair, Aberystwyth, home of Elizabeth, Aidan’s sister. Aidan’s own beloved Cwm Broch. Beautiful given names, Alwyn and Gwynyfa, Beris and Eldritch. Simply reading the words pulls you into the story, and soon you are walking over the bracken covered hills, amongst the ancient stones. The story line is laid out in the blurb, which is sort of a downer as I feel it gives a bit too much away, but I am still happy that I finally found the book in my huge collection and was able to read it. Yes, I was supposed to get the review done quite some time ago �" life happened, but I have read it �" and will read it again. It is lyrical, as I stated before, and that always draws me in. The characters are well written, the story is a good start, and the landscape of mid-Wales drew me in until I could nearly smell the air. Overall, this is a lovely book filled with myth and mystery, terror and magic. Well worth your valuable reading time. I am sure I owe Kim Gravell an apology. I seem to have had this book for quite a while, and no doubt received it from her for review, as it is a proof version. My apologies, and I thank you for providing The Demon’s Call to me for review. I hope late is better than never!
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A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas
by
Kim Redford
leiah
, August 04, 2015
Please see my website for a full review with photos! “Every quirky girl doesn’t have to be the best-friend character. It’s a very limiting and self-fulfilling prophecy. People only write things that will get green-lit, so they write to those stereotypes.” Felicia Day But Then . . . “Stereotypes lose their power when the world is found to be more complex than the stereotype would suggest. When we learn that individuals do not fit the group stereotype, then it begins to fall apart." Ed Koch The author of “A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas” has tried very hard to stereotype herself and her work, to fit into a very narrow, very self-limiting pigeonhole. Pigeonhole: Verb (used with object) to assign to a definite place or to definite places in some orderly system: to pigeonhole new ideas. The Blurb: Trey Duvall is a rancher, proud as can be of his Wildcat Ranch. He’s also the top volunteer firefighter of Wildcat Bluff, the town that pulls out all the stops for its Christmas festivities. Misty Reynolds pulls into town just in time to help Trey put out a suspicious fire, leading him to dub her his “Christmas angel”. Unfortunately, Misty’s past has left her with terrible memories of fire, and of Christmas time. As the two are unwittingly thrown together again and again, can Trey win Misty’s trust - and her heart? (Photo) Sigh. I hate when this happens. You see, like other books I have reviewed, and suggested a wider audience consider, this book doesn’t fall into the “Only Read If You Like Mushy Romance” category. The characters shouldn’t be typecast as “Hunky Hero” and “Insipid Pseudo-Heroine” with a “Hero Rides in on His White Horse and Saves the Day” insipid sort of blurb such as this book is stuck with. It needs something more along the line of pointing out that the town of Wildcat Bluff is filled with quirky, unusual characters who care deeply for their town, their people, and their history. An important part of that sense of community is their volunteer fire department and all it does to keep their community safe. A More Appropriate Blurb: “There are bad things happening in Wildcat Bluff just before their Christmas in the Country celebration. Arson fires are spreading in the tinder-dry countryside, exasperated by the ongoing drought, and cut fences and grass fires are threatening Trey Duvall’s historic cattle ranch. When Misty Reynolds rolls up to a grass fire Trey is putting out in his pasture and he runs out in front of her to try and stop her for help, he has no idea that she is actually there as a troubleshooter for Texas Timber, the company that has had a Christmas tree farm burned already, and had others threatened. Finding the arsonist means that Misty has to stay undercover and spend time questioning, and suspecting, everyone in town. And when she learns that Trey has a bone to pick with Texas Timber, he moves straight to the ‘suspect’ column.” OK, I am not known for my stellar ability to write blurbs, I give you that. But mine gives a better feel for what is going on. Misty isn’t a blond bimbo, Trey isn’t a hulking Alpha male bent on getting into every woman’s pants he can hold down long enough, and the people of the town are as important to the character list as the two main characters. There are important messages in the book about community, about overcoming horrors in your childhood that carry over into adulthood, and about the ways in which power and greed can destroy everything a community tries to build. The people of Wildcat Bluff are kind, they help one another, and the volunteers literally risk their life every time they go out on a call. The community has pulled together to form a strictly volunteer department, put on bake sales to buy equipment, and are proud of who they are and what they do. That deserves a lot more credit than it gets - either with the cover, or with the blurb. (Photo) Volunteer firefighter saving the life of a kitten with a pet oxygen kit. Please as your volunteer fire department if you can help with a benefit for Pet Oxygen Kits to help save pets caught in fires! Thank you!!!!! (Photo) Memorial Service for West, Texas (my old hometown) volunteer firefighters killed while fighting the April 17, 2013 fertilizer plant explosion. The memorial service honored those first responders and two civilians who tried to fight the fire and were posthumously named volunteer first responders. If you like books that highlight a sense of community, that include a mystery, suspense, a few thrills-and yes, a good romantic storyline-overlook the blurb and the cover and give this one a try. You will note I didn’t post the cover of the book in my review. Any of the photos on this page give more respect to the book than the totally lame cover does. I am disappointed that the publisher tried so hard to minimize, pigeonhole and lower the impact of the book. I hate seeing that happen to books with such promise, that many will simply skip over based on poor art and a poor blurb. It is still available for request on Netgalley. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. If you enjoy my reviews, please take a moment to “Like” my review on GoodReads. Thank you! “A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas” is in preorder status until publication on October 6, 2015. (Photo: "Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.") About The Author Kim Redford draws her inspiration from a Texas lifestyle of cowboys, cowgirls, horses, cattle, rodeos and small towns to create her bestselling novels. When she’s not writing steamy romances, she’s a rescue cat wrangler and horseback rider. She divides her time between Texas and Oklahoma. A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas is first in her Smokin’ Hot Cowboys series with Blazing Hot Cowboy coming soon. I don’t know about the “bestselling novels” thing. Her site is nonexistent, and goodreads shows only this book, set to publish October 6, so maybe she is writing under a pseudonym? If this is indeed her first book, I hope she will widen her audience by moving away from sticking herself into a single cubbyhole with her publication, marketing and cover strategy. The whole “steamy romance” thing is self-limiting when she can write good stories that encompass a wide ranging storyline such as this book exemplifies.
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Montana Cherries
by
Kim Law
leiah
, July 24, 2015
“Triangulation: a tactic used by narcissistic parents to change the balance of power in a family system. For example, rather than allowing two siblings to work together, the Narcissistic Parent insists that he or she be the go-between. This controls the way the information flows, the way it is interpreted, and adds nuances to the conversation.” �" Band Back Together, adult children of narcissistic parents resources “Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself.” -- Walter Anderson What do we naturally forget, and what do we force from our minds, wipe the slate clean, when it comes to our childhood? Where in our minds is the blackness and pain packed away, hidden? Behind locked doors? Or in solid chests, pushed to the back of the mind, covered in dust and ashes, only to crack open, leaking out poisons that eat away at body, mind and soul, tiny currents, lapping away at the foundations of life until it is simply not worth living any longer. Crippled lives, crippled relationships. And the pain. The pain, constant and unyielding, thrumming in the background, dark drums in the night, throbbing … throbbing … throbbing … But the guilt? The guilt is, in a way, can be even more debilitating. You are never enough. Never good enough, never sane enough, never pretty enough or smart enough not not not. . . The thing is, Dani Wilde doesn’t even know she is damaged. You see, she doesn’t remember. She thinks things are fine. Her life is finally opening up. The four younger brothers she raised are taken care of, all grown up, have good positions, and even the youngest is graduating from college. Finally, finally she can reach for her own dreams. She can take her skills at marketing and accept the position at a New York firm that has been following her through her career as a freelance marketing specialist in Montana. Dani is responsible for keeping the cherry farm her family owns financially stable. She cooks and cleans for a family of six, runs a store featuring local products, runs an online business selling the stores wares, and has a separate business as a marketing specialist for local businesses. She never stops working, never stops caring for others. Just. Never. Stops. But now? Now she can have the life she gave up when her mother died in a car accident, a death that brought Dani back from her full ride at Columbia to take over the household on their cherry farm and raise the four brothers that her mother left behind. These are good time, wonderful times. Dani can finally have a life which doesn’t include having to be everything to everyone else. But. Something is happening inside her. Flashes of memory, scenes in her mind that can’t possibly be real. Can they? The door is opening, the chest creaking as the top rises. The dust is blowing away. And what crawls out of the darkness, pale and ephemeral, could very well destroy Dani. And the larger that shadowy presence grows in her mind, the wider the opening, the darker the memories . . . Memories that will literally rip her life to shreds, destroying everything she ever thought about herself, her family, her very life. The pain . . . I am not ashamed to say that I cried like a baby over this book. It took me a couple of days to even write this review. Looking back, this almost sounds like a horror story, doesn’t it? And in a way, it is. But it is also a story of incredible inner strength, a story of just how devastating the actions of one member of a family can be upon the lives of all around them. Especially the lives of their own children. This book hurt on a level that is hard for me to even explain. But that isn’t a bad thing. You see, it is nearly impossible for anyone who hasn’t been there to understand just how Narcissistic Personality Disorder in a parent can shatter the very soul of a child. And that is what this family has suffered, though Dani doesn’t even remember it. And when she does, when her memories finally return, here it becomes not just Dani’s story, but the story of a family so deeply damaged that they may never be completely healed. But it is also a story of a family finding their way towards that healing, towards understanding and relearning how to love one another. This is, on the surface, a ‘sweet, home town romance.’ And yes, there is romance here. But what makes it SO much better than a ‘boy meets girl’ romance is the cast of characters. Armed with a sharp and unrelenting pen, Kim Law draws a picture of family life that is far from perfect. And it isn’t just Dani’s family that is far from Norman Rockwellesque. Ben was Dani’s first love, first lover, and best friend ten years ago. But one single night separated them. Now Ben, who had his own issues with the coldness and disregard of his famous actress mother finds himself the single father of a four-year-old little girl who is dropped off on his doorstep one day like a load of laundry by a mother who never looks back. Bringing her back to Montana where he spent as much time as possible at one time with the Wilde family, he is looking for some way to connect with the child. Yes, all of these people are heartbreaking. And all of them �" all of them �" even the ones I wanted to hit over the head with a very large rock, are worth spending time with. Worth coming to know, coming to understand �" if for no other reason than to understand your own heart, your own pain. And some of them? Some of them are worth loving so very much simply for their ability to continue to survive, continue to love, to even know how to love under the crushing weight of betrayals beyond comprehension. This is what makes this book so very heartbreaking �" and so very, very worth reading. This is a six tissue read, and I have to say, when I finished it? I felt, well, cleaner. Like one of the many wounds in my soul had been lanced and bled, and can now heal. Not all, but you know what? As Ms. Law says in her postscript, “You’re not alone. You’re a survivor. You got dealt a rotten hand in life. But you can move on.” Watching her characters do just that? Well, that is the very definition of cathartic. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. Here is the skinny. If you are looking for a ‘simple’ romance story, this isn’t it. If you are looking for a well written book with a strong story, wonderful characters, a realistic look at the damage a serious but under acknowledged disorder can cause, well, you are in for a true treat. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you like my review, I would really appreciate it if you would click to “Like” my review here and on Amazon when the book is published on the 28th. It helps draw attention to my reviews, which helps the authors I review garner more readers. Thank you!
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