Review: The Long Way Home by Louise Penny

Posted on August 22, 2014August 24, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> book reviews

Format read: print ARC provided by the publisher
Formats available: hardcover, audiobook, ebook
Genre: mystery
Series: Chief Inspector Gamache #10
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Date Released: August 26, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Happily retired in the village of Three Pines, Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec, has found a peace he’d only imagined possible. On warm summer mornings he sits on a bench holding a small book, The Balm in Gilead, in his large hands. “There is a balm in Gilead,” his neighbor Clara Morrow reads from the dust jacket, “to make the wounded whole.”

While Gamache doesn’t talk about his wounds and his balm, Clara tells him about hers. Peter, her artist husband, has failed to come home. Failed to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation. She wants Gamache’s help to find him. Having finally found sanctuary, Gamache feels a near revulsion at the thought of leaving Three Pines. “There’s power enough in Heaven,” he finishes the quote as he contemplates the quiet village, “to cure a sin-sick soul.” And then he gets up. And joins her.

Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers, they journey deeper and deeper into Québec. And deeper and deeper into the soul of Peter Morrow. A man so desperate to recapture his fame as an artist, he would sell that soul. And may have. The journey takes them further and further from Three Pines, to the very mouth of the great St. Lawrence river. To an area so desolate, so damned, the first mariners called it The land God gave to Cain. And there they discover the terrible damage done by a sin-sick soul.

My Review:

The Long Way Home is a marvelously told character-study wrapped around the mystery of one man’s disappearance into the wilds of Quebec, and his own past. The story richly rewards those who have followed Inspector Gamache and the inhabitants of Three Pines from the beginning of his journey in Still Life, as The Long Way Home serves as an exploration into the lives of Gamache and his friends after the climactic ending of How the Light Gets In (reviewed here).

It’s also the story of the disintegration of both a marriage and a man. Peter and Clara Morrow are both artists, but for most of their lives, Peter has been famous (relatively) and Clara has been exploring. And sometimes laughed at. Until her acclaimed solo show at the Musee in Montreal. Now Clara is the famous artist, and Peter is seen as merely a technician.

He can’t bear being demoted to second place in their marriage. He can’t bear being suddenly seen as “less”, when he’s always been “more”. So he left. Left Clara, left Three Pines, left everything behind. But he promised to come back in one year. Then they would see.

But Peter doesn’t come back, and Clara can’t move on with her life until she figures out what happened. Especially since orderly and rule-bound Peter would never forget or miss their “date”–unless something was very, very wrong.

So Clara does what everyone does when they have a mystery to be solved. Clara unburdens herself on a retired and recovering Armand Gamache. She needs to find Peter, whether or not he is lost. And Gamache, who owes the people of Three Pines so much, both for their willingness to stand by him in How the Light Gets In and simply for the way they have taken him into their hearts and provided refuge from the battles he thought he had left behind, knows that he must help her.

For Clara, he is willing to undertake one more case, even unofficially. All his friends, family and even former colleagues come along for this search into Peter Morrow’s whereabouts, a search that turns into an investigation of Peter and Clara’s past as well as the present. As they follow the route that Peter has taken through light and dark places, they discover that someone along their journey has been deceiving the world for too many years.

Suppressing someone’s art, the crime that Peter almost committed against Clara, creates a passion more than strong enough to murder.

Escape Rating A+: While the story is a terrific exploration of mystery, human nature, and how we invent and reinvent ourselves, it particularly rewards readers who have followed the series. Gamache’s brand of solving crimes (or missing persons cases) by examining the nature of the people involved (as opposed to just looking for motive and opportunity) has more depth in this case if you know the characters. There is a lot of bantering humor that is based on the personalities.

The action follows on the heels of How the Light Gets In, and serves in some ways as a coda to that story. If you love these characters, you want to know what happens after the crisis ends, and how they attempt to rebuild their lives. It was marvelous to visit Three Pines again, and I wasn’t sure that there would be a book after Light. This was a terrific look at what happens after “they lived happily ever after” because they don’t. Deep wounds don’t heal cleanly. We forgive but we don’t forget.

There’s a lesson in The Long Way Home. Those who manage to find a balm for their past wounds, move forward in their lives. They may continue to struggle with their pain, as Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Ruth Zardo do in different ways, but they also keep walking on into the light of a new and brighter day. Those who cling to the scars of the past, die in the shadows.

I hope I’ll get to go to Three Pines again. It has become one of my favorite places.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Phantom Evil by Heather Graham

Posted on August 21, 2014August 20, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> book reviews

Format read: ebook borrowed from the library
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: mystery; paranormal romance
Series: Krewe of Hunters, #1
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: March 29, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

A secret government unit, a group of renegade paranormal investigators…and a murder no one else can crack

Though haunted by the recent deaths of two teammates, Jackson Crow knows that the living commit the most heinous crimes.

A police officer utilizing her paranormal intuition, Angela Hawkins already has her hands full of mystery and bloodshed.

But one assignment calls to them too strongly to resist. In a historic mansion in New Orleans’s French Quarter, a senator’s wife falls to her death. Most think she jumped; some say she was pushed. And yet others believe she was beckoned by the ghostly spirits inhabiting the house—once the site of a serial killer’s grisly work.

In this seemingly unsolvable case, only one thing is certain: whether supernatural or all too human, crimes of passion will cast Jackson and Angela into danger of losing their lives…and their immortal souls.

My Review:

After reading The Hexed last week, and loving it, I couldn’t resist going back to the beginning of this series and trying to figure out how the author got here from there.

Besides, I’m a terrible completist and it was driving me a bit nuts that I had so much fun with book 13 in a series and hadn’t gotten around to books 1-12. Now that I’ve read book 1, I can see that this series is going to be my “treat” reading for a while.

Phantom Evil is the first book in Heather Graham’s Krewe of Hunters series, and it establishes both the series and the group in a way that set the bar high for the rest. (The Hexed lived up to that bar!)

There are so many marvelous paranormal series set in New Orleans. There is obviously something about the long and storied history of that melange that inspires writers to do their spine-chillingest. (If you like New Orleans’ set paranormals, try Suzanne Johnson’s River Road.

Although there is a definite ghostly vibe to Phantom Evil, the story also establishes that evil is an act of the living. The ghosts are either icing on the cake, a distraction or possibly an influence, but it is living humans who choose the path that leads to the dark.

The mysterious Adam Harrison puts together a team of elite investigators under the leadership of Jackson Crow. Every member of the team has solid credentials, and experience in dealing with things that go bump in the night.

Not that there isn’t some bumping in the night together, but that’s not the main thrust of the story.

Harrison sends his team on their first mission; to investigate the death of a prominent State Senator’s wife–in a house that’s just chock-full of evil ghost stories.

The death has been ruled a suicide, but the Senator doesn’t believe it. He’s sure that the ghosts killed her.

Crow and his team go in with an open mind. Yes, one of New Orleans most notorious serial killers committed his crimes in the house, but State Senators have plenty of modern day skeletons in their closets.

And the victim didn’t fall from the balcony, she was thrown.

On the very first day, investigator Angela Hawkins finds a century old corpse in the basement. She’s led to the bones by a ghost. More and more evidence piles up that the house really is haunted.

Which still doesn’t mean that the 21st century victim wasn’t murdered by an equally 21st century killer.

The task before Crow’s task force is to determine who had the best motive (and opportunity) to want to relieve the Senator of his marital burden, while putting all of the 19th century ghosts to rest.

It’s especially difficult when there are murderers in both eras who equally want the investigation stopped–dead.

Escape Rating A-: This series seems to be paranormal romantic suspense, with the emphasis on the paranormal and the suspense. The story is chilling because there is both 21st century evil and 19th century evil, and both mysteries have to be solved to get a complete resolution.

That the ghosts don’t commit murder does not make the story any less chilling. Angela Hawkins is particularly sensitive to the ghostly hauntings, a sensitivity that both puts her in danger and saves her.

It’s also a sensitivity that brings out the protective instincts in Jackson Crow. Neither of them expected to find a relationship in the middle of the investigation, but it definitely adds to the story without taking anything away from the suspenseful elements.

In addition to the central mysteries, we also see the team develop. The scene where they decide on the name “Krewe of Hunters” made me want to cheer, but we also get to see the group form into an effective team. Every member has their particular strengths, and their growing partnership is fun to watch.

The investigation was absorbing as the team worked both the ghost angle and the political angle until they were able to solve all the puzzles.

Phantom Evil is a terrific start to the series, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading my way through the rest.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Take Over at Midnight by M.L. Buchman

Posted on August 20, 2014August 19, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback
Genre: military romance
Series: The Night Stalkers, #4
Length: 382 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Date Released: December 3, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Name: Lola LaRue
Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 3
Mission: Copilot deadly choppers on the world’s most dangerous missions

Name: Tim Maloney
Rank: Sergeant
Mission: Man the guns and charm the ladies

The Past Doesn’t Matter, When Their Future is Doomed

Nothing sticks to “Crazy” Tim Maloney, until he falls hard for a tall Creole beauty with a haunted past and a penchant for reckless flying. Lola LaRue never thought she’d be susceptible to a man’s desire, but even with Tim igniting her deepest passions, it may be too late now…With the nation under an imminent threat of biological warfare, Tim and Lola are the only ones who can stop the madness–and to do that, they’re going to have to trust each other way beyond their limits…

My Review:

The Night Stalkers are one of my two favorite military romance series; the other is Jessica Scott’s Coming Home. For being in the same genre, the two series are mining almost opposite ends of the trope; Scott focuses on the stresses and strains that having a spouse in deployment can wreck upon family, or about how damn difficult it is to return to civilian of even U.S. Base living after years in the sandbox. Her stories are gritty, real and sometimes heartbreaking.

On the other hand, The Night Stalkers are at the point of the spear. The stories are about soldiers who are currently serving in a forward theater of war. Which means that the stories have to deal with the “hurry up and wait” tension of war and it also requires that all the parties in the romance be soldiers; the women as well as the men. Because their service is in SOAR, The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, all the soldiers have to be the best of the best at what they do.

An argument could be made that The Night Stalkers are damn close to superheroes, but I digress.

The stories have gone around to all the seats on a DAP Black Hawk Helicopter. The pilot, co-pilot and mechanic have each had their HEAs. Now it’s the gunnery specialist’s turn. “Crazy Tim” Maloney is the last man standing among the Night Stalkers; he’s the only man who hasn’t found a warrior woman to be his match. Not until co-pilot and Chief Warrant Officer Lola LaRue nearly breaks his nose with her helmet as part of her “welcome to SOAR” trip to base.

Of course they fall for each other. But there are multiple roadblocks in the way.

LaRue outranks Maloney, which brings the military non-fraternization regulations into play. She is a Warrant Officer, and he is merely a sergeant. Not that the non-frat regs have stopped two of the previous romances in this series; the Major and the Captain in The Night is Mine (review) and the Lieutenant and the Sergeant in I Own the Dawn (review). Deciding that the rules are worth getting around in their case is just part of the story.

Another factor is the Maloney was born into the same social circle that Captain, now Major, Emily Biehl is part of. A social circle that includes the President, the head of the FBI, and the President’s security detail. Maloney is more connected that he admits, even if he was the family black sheep for a while.

Lola LaRue is not merely New Orleans Creole, but from the wrong side of the tracks and she very nearly took the wrong path. That her corrupt cop dad beat her to the point where her only refuge was a Storyville brothel is just one facet of her story.

But Lola doesn’t trust anyone, particularly herself. And she grew up in a place where sex meant either power or control, but not love. She doesn’t quite believe that she’s worthy of being in SOAR, and she especially doesn’t think that she’s good enough for Maloney.

But when the ultimate test of her capability and her loyalty comes, she proves that she’s more than worthy of taking the pilot’s seat, in SOAR and in her heart.

Escape Rating B: The first books in this series anticipated the Army’s change of heart (or regulation) about women serving in combat positions, and therefore in SOAR. It made the first book a bit more fantastic that it is now that the regulations changed in June 2013.

I enjoyed the story of Take Over at Midnight, and it was great to see how the gang is doing. When I say enjoyed, I mean up until 1 am, because I couldn’t put it down.

At the same time, it felt a bit like I’d read the story before. The problems that LaRue and Maloney face are not that much different from Kee and Archie in I Own the Dawn. The difference is in the rank reversal. LaRue keeps thinking that she isn’t good enough for SOAR or for Mahoney, because her background was so rough, very similar to Kee.

The characters of the couple in this story just weren’t differentiated enough from the previous books. Also, we didn’t really get enough detail on why Maloney went bad for a while, or just how awful LaRue’s dad was. We see that he’s a arsehole, but why? (His disgustingness was necessary for the story, but I didn’t get inside her head enough).

A major subplot has to do with Major Emily Beale’s future. Again, I wanted to be more inside her head to understand why her reactions changed so dramatically. Not that there wasn’t reason, but she doesn’t speak about it and we’re not seeing her point of view. Other characters guess or assume what’s going through her head, but for an about-face as sharp as she pulls, I want to hear her point of view from her.

Still and all, this was a fun military romance of the action/adventure/thriller persuasion, and I can’t wait to read the next one, Light Up the Night. I wonder who’s next?

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Left Turn at Paradise by Thomas Shawver + Giveaway

Posted on August 19, 2014August 17, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews> Giveaways

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Mystery
Series: Antiquarian Book Mystery, #2
Length: 208 pages
Publisher: Alibi
Date Released: August 26, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Michael Bevan is barely scraping by with his used bookstore and rare book collection when he discovers a timeworn journal that may change everything. Dating back to 1768, the tattered diary appears to be a chronicle kept during the first of legendary seafarer Captain James Cook’s three epic voyages through the Pacific islands. If it’s as valuable as Mike thinks it is, its sale may just bring enough to keep his faltering used bookstore afloat for another year.

Then he meets a pair of London dealers with startling news: Adrian Hart and Penelope Wilkes claim to possess the journal of Cook’s second voyage. Is it possible a third diary exists? One which might detail Cook’s explosive final voyage—and his death at the hands of native Hawaiians? Together, all three would be the holy grail of Pacific exploration. But before Mike can act, the two journals are stolen.

Chasing them down will sweep Michael, Adrian, and Penelope across the globe—past a dead body or two—and into a very sinister slice of paradise. High in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, in a remote and secretive Maori compound, a secret rests in the hands in of a man daring enough to rewrite history . . . and desperate enough to kill.

My Review:

This was a really wild ride from antiquarian bookselling to a lost shangri-la in the wilds of New Zealand, by way of a very creative interpretation of Captain Cook’s diaries.

The action never lets up, but the roller-coaster takes some surprising twists and turns as it hunts down the lost diaries of one of Captain James Cook’s senior non-coms; journals that could shed a great deal of light on Cook as a person, and especially what went so very wrong on his last and fatal stop in Hawaii.

But the left turn that takes antiquarian bookseller Michael Bevan torwards this dubious paradise begins with a trip down memory lane.

This isn’t Bevan’s first adventure; The Dirty Book Murder (reviewed here) introduces Bevan and his book shop, Riverrun. He’s trying to make a living as a book dealer in Kansas, and it seems to be satisfying to the soul, but not necessarily filling to the pocketbook. It’s hard to make a living selling used books when people don’t visit bookstores the way they used to.

He’s going through boxes in the attic, looking for something to sell, when he runs across an unopened box of memories from his days in New England, before his wife Carol died and he destroyed his legal career.

In that box he finds the weatherbeaten journal of Samuel Gibson, one of the seamen on Captain James Cook’s first voyage. If it can be authenticated, it’s a treasure that will save his store. So off he goes to an antiquarian booksellers’ convention in San Francisco, where he finds that his journal is one of three, and then he loses it to a thief.

So much for saving his store.

It’s not until he’s gotten so desperate that he’s ready to pick his law career back up that the opportunity to retrieve his property, and maybe solve the mystery of Captain Cook’s fatal voyage, drops into his lap.

If he’s willing to drop everything and go to a remote and nearly inaccessible patch of the South Island of New Zealand, he might find everything he’s been searching for.

Or one of his untrustworthy partners might get him killed.

Escape Rating B-: The place that Bevan ends up reminds me of a cross between Lost Horizon and Lord of the Flies. The journals have come to a beautiful and remote place that has been taken over by the worst kind of thugs. The question he ends up having to solve is why. Not to mention how and most importantly, who benefits from all this mess?

The mystery is way more about Captain Cook than it is about the books. The journals serve as a catalyst for the action, but in the end it doesn’t matter who gets them; the real mystery is something else all together, and it’s much more deadly than any stain that might attach to Cook’s reputation if the contents are revealed.

Cook is long dead, but the man holding the last journal and the people who have been attracted to his vision of a return to the natural Maori lifestyle are alive, at least at the beginning.

The story seemed more like an adventure tale than a murder mystery, but there is plenty of action to keep the reader guessing about whodunnit. Also about who done what? There’s way more going on than meets the eye.

TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY

Thomas is kindly giving away a $25 gift card to the ebook retailer of the winner’s choice! To enter, use the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is part of a TLC book tour. Click on the logo for more reviews.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Black Ice by Susan Krinard

Posted on August 18, 2014August 17, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | book reviews> C Reviews

Format read: ebook provided by Edelweiss
Formats available: ebook, paperback, mass market paperback
Genre: urban fantasy
Series: Midgard, #2
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Released: August 12, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Centuries ago, all was lost in the Last Battle when the Norse gods and goddesses went to war. The elves, the giants, and the gods and goddesses themselves were all destroyed, leaving the Valkyrie known as Mist one of the only survivors.

Or so she thought.

The trickster god Loki has reappeared in San Francisco, and he has big plans for modern-day Earth. With few allies and fewer resources—but the eyes of the gods and goddesses of an old world upon her—it’s up to Mist to stop him before history repeats itself.

My Review:

Black Ice is the followup to the first book in this series, Mist (reviewed here). I can definitely say that the title of this latest entry is appropriate, not just because there is literal “black ice” in San Francisco (in June!) but also in the sense of “things are always darkest just before they turn completely black”.

This story is not an upper. The situation starts out grim and keeps getting grimmer. Also Grimm-er, in the sense of myths and fairy tales coming entirely too true.

Mist, the titular heroine from the first book, spends this story fighting off Loki and other enemies while continuing to both gather and lose followers.

Some die, some betray her. Whichever is the worst outcome on any given occasion. There is a lot of nonstop action, but also a sense that little to nothing is going Mist’s way.

Black Ice feels a lot like a “middle book” in a trilogy, in that the plot is on a downstroke.

Mist gains new allies; she finds a couple of her sister valkyries and one of Odin’s ravens (either Huginn or Muninn, we don’t know which) arrives on the scene with its person.

Meanwhile Loki turns out to have a dangerous new ally of his own, and gets his hooks firmly embedded into some of Mist’s own allies. Things are not looking up.

Oh, and her mother comes back. Mist has no idea that her mother Freya is planning to the biggest betrayal of all, because she’s too wrapped up in the more immediate grief at the loss of her would-be lover, Dainn, back to Loki.

It’s too bad that Dainn is not the first (and probably not the last) from her inner circle to turn their coat towards the god who is trying to bring on the end of the world. The contest isn’t even serious to Loki, he’s just playing a very big game.

Mist wants to save the place that she’s come to love, and all the people who follow her. Some will die. Some have already died. All Mist can do is soldier on and hope that their sacrifices will be worth it.

She has no idea that she is in more danger than anyone else.

Escape Rating C+: The story setup is that Loki is the embodiment of evil, but I’m not sure that anyone is playing the good side of the eternal equation unless it’s Mist herself. Freya is not “good” by any human definition, even though she puts on a very good show of being benevolent. It’s pretty obvious that the agenda she is hiding is every bit as (possibly more) self-serving than Loki’s.

And while Freya’s agenda seems obvious to everyone but Mist, I’m less convinced about Loki’s. He’s still (and always) a trickster, but he’s quite capable of doing evil in the name of not so bad. Or at least survival.

Mist spends the whole story being run off her feet from battle to battle. She never catches a break. Also she gets betrayed so many times, and most of the betrayals are obvious up front. I wish she’d get a bigger clue.

The really interesting character this time out is Anna Strangland, accompanied by her raven-disguised-as-a-parrot, Orn. While Orn is obviously more than he appears, we don’t get a clear picture of what he is. (Bets on Huginn or Muninn). But Anna gets dragged out of her everyday life into Ragnarok, and manages not to be overwhelmed and to make a place for herself.

I hope that book 3 moves the story into an upswing. There really needs to be a bright side to look on, and where Black Ice ends, it isn’t even on the horizon.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-17-14

Posted on August 17, 2014August 17, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Giveaways> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

We just finished watching the Livestream of the Hugo Awards at LonCon. While Livestream is not the next best thing to being there, it was still fun to watch. We both spontaneously clapped when Ann Leckie won Best Novel for Ancillary Justice. That book was positively awesome and deserves every single award that’s been thrown its way.

It was also terrific to see the attempt at Hugo Ballot stuffing by the self-proclaimed defenders of the old guard go down in flames.

However, it’s too bad that all the various nominations for Doctor Who related episodes cancelled each other out. (We still need to watch Game of Thrones).

As much fun as NASFiC was, we missed going to WorldCon this year. Next year in Spokane!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Coming Next Week:

Black Ice by Susan Krinard (review)
Left Turn at Paradise by Thomas Shawver (blog tour review + giveaway)
Take Over at Midnight by M.L. Buchman (review)
Phantom Evil by Heather Graham (review)
The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne (review)

Stacking the Shelves (100)

Posted on August 16, 2014August 16, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

After I read The Hexed this week, I realized how much I’d been missing by not getting into Graham’s Krewe of Hunters series. So I started picking them up everywhere. I think the series is going to be my next binge-reading. The Hexed was just so much chilling fun!

Not that I didn’t pick up a few other titles this week, as usual…

liar temptress soldier spy by karen abbott

house of the rising sun by kristen painter

after the war is over by jennifer robson

red book of primrose house by marty wingate

For Review:
After the War is Over by Jennifer Robson
Alex (Cold Fury Hockey #1) by Sawyer Bennett
Archangel’s Shadows (Guild Hunter #7) by Nalini Singh
Artful by Peter David
The Betrayed (Krewe of Hunters #14) by Heather Graham
The Bully of Order by Brian Hart
Core Punch by Pauline Baird Jones
Empire of Sin by Gary Krist
Fish Tails by Sherri S. Tepper
Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer
Hope Burns (Hope #3) by Jaci Burton
House of the Rising Sun (Crescent City #1) by Kristen Painter
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott
Lives in Ruins by Marilyn Johnson
Mort(e) by Robert Repino
Martyr (John Shakespeare #1) by Rory Clements
A New York Christmas by Anne Perry
One of Us by Tawni O’Dell
Reaper’s Stand (Reapers MC #4) by Joanna Wylde
The Red Book of Primrose House (Potting Shed #2) by Marty Wingate
Ryder (Ayesha Ryder #1) by Nick Pengelley
Spirited Away (Psychic Detective #3) by Angela Campbell
Truth or Dare (Dare to Love #1) by Mira Lyn Kelly

Purchased from Amazon:
Kodiak’s Claim (Kodiak Point #1) by Eve Langlais
The Majat Testing by Anna Kashina
Sacred Evil (Krewe of Hunters #3) by Heather Graham
Unbound by Cara McKenna (review here)

Borrowed from the Library:
The Evil Inside (Krewe of Hunters #4) by Heather Graham
The Heart of Evil (Krewe of Hunters #2) by Heather Graham
Phantom Evil (Krewe of Hunters #1) by Heather Graham

Review: An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd

Posted on August 15, 2014August 16, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by Edelweiss
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, paperback, audiobook
Genre: historical mystery
Series: Bess Crawford, #6
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: William Morrow
Date Released: August 12, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Home on leave, Bess Crawford is asked to accompany a wounded soldier confined to a wheelchair to Buckingham Palace, where he’s to be decorated by the King. The next morning when Bess goes to collect Wilkins, he has vanished. Both the Army and the nursing service hold Bess negligent for losing the war hero, and there will be an inquiry.

Then comes disturbing word from the Shropshire police, complicating the already difficult situation: Wilkins has been spotted, and he’s killed a man. If Bess is to save her own reputation, she must find Wilkins and uncover the truth. But the elusive soldier has disappeared again and even the Shropshire police have lost him. Suddenly, the moral implications of what has happened—that a patient in her charge has committed murder—become more important to Bess than her own future. She’s going to solve this mysterious puzzle, but righting an injustice and saving her honor may just cost Bess her life.

My Review:

One of the things that makes the Bess Crawford series so interesting is the way that Bess manages to get herself into trouble. Naturally, she has to investigate what went wrong in order to get herself out of trouble.

It’s clear that Bess has been doing this pretty much all her life, based on the story The Maharani’s Pearls (reviewed here) which has Bess at age 9 investigating an attempted assassination. Well more like making sure that her parents and the indefatigable Simon Brandon pay attention and investigate for her. After all, she’s only 9.

But in An Unwilling Accomplice, Bess is not the instigator of the particular trouble she has to investigate. Someone else puts her into the soup, and it takes all of Bess’ ingenuity and downright pig-headedness to find the answer that gets her out of it.

It was a thundering great honor for a soldier to receive his medal directly from the King. So when a Sergeant Wilkins requests that Bess accompany him to the ceremony, while she’s puzzled, she complies with her orders. Sergeant Wilkins is both a hero and an invalid, and her nursing services might be required. And, she gets to extend her leave a few more days.

But Bess doesn’t remember Wilkins, nor can she figure out why he’d ask specifically for her. In the cold light of morning, it unfortunately looks like Wilkins picked her specifically because she didn’t know him. During the night, he tossed off all his bandages and walked out of his hotel under his own steam.

In other words, a decorated war hero goes AWOL on her watch. Bess is under suspicion as his accomplice, and her nursing career is in extreme jeopardy.

Just like Caesar’s Wife, the Nursing Sisters of Queen Alexandra’s Nursing Service must be above reproach. And Bess suddenly isn’t.

As if things couldn’t get worse, while Bess is still under house arrest and waiting for a verdict on her own future, Scotland Yard is presented with evidence that her deserter went north and committed a murder. The mystery gets murkier, but Bess is seen as a bit less culpable–based on witness statements, she wasn’t present at the murder and hasn’t been further involved.

Whatever this is, it is way more than a simple case of dereliction of duty, either Bess’ or Wilkins’.

So what is it? That’s what Bess is determined to uncover. Until she can find Sergeant Wilkins and either turn him in or get him to make a clear statement to the police and the Army, there will always be the shadow of suspicion on her otherwise clean record.

With the assistance of Sergeant-Major Simon Brandon, her friend and her father’s attache, Bess sets out to trace the route that Sergeant Wilkins seems to have traveled across country. Along the way she finds deceived nurses, irreproachable eye-witnesses, and a multiplicity of closed-mouth villages protecting too many men who seem to be temporarily on leave from their senses or the Army, or possibly both.

At the end, she has more than enough motives for murder; and too many potential suspects.

Escape Rating B+: The Bess Crawford series does a terrific job of letting readers experience English life in the World War I period. Yes, there is a slight resemblance to Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, but only because of the period setting. Bess Crawford is no debutante, she’s an Army nurse and the daughter of a career officer. She works, and she works hard.

As the daughter of a serving officer, she also has had experience living in India. Her perspective is more cosmopolitan than most gently-bred women of her time. Sybil Crawley she isn’t.

But there are tons of interesting commentaries on how much life has changed for young women since the war. Bess is still subject to some of the strictures, especially while she’s on leave, but at the same time she is a professional who expects to perform up to, and even past, her capacity.

This is still a time when young ladies’ reputations were expected to be protected at all costs in order to save them for marriage. The contrasts between Bess’ nursing practice on the field and the behavior required of her at home can sometimes be jarring, but feels real.

The action of this particular story takes place entirely in England, so Bess often feels those differences. And the impetus for the quest that is the heart of the story exists because her reputation must be spotless for her to serve as a nurse; a restriction that didn’t apply to officers or doctors.

Bess sets off on a cross-country journey to find the man who put her under so much suspicion. She needs to have her name cleared, but equally, she needs to find out why he deserted and why he committed murder.

As Bess hunts down her quarry, she is faced with all the changes that have occurred in England. The war is nearly over, but as a battlefield nurse, she hasn’t yet experienced that for sure. There are still plenty of wounded men. But she will have to come home when peace breaks out, and so much has changed.

While it is definitely interesting to follow Bess along, the journey did double-back on itself several times, especially as Bess and Simon found themselves chasing more than one man and following up more than one red herring. It will be part of Bess’ ongoing development to see how she handles peacetime, but this story rambled a bit while Bess did.

Her relationship with Simon Brandon is hard to pin down. They are friends, and they rely on each other. Without Simon’s assistance, Bess’ journey would not have been possible, and would have also been more dangerous.

They are so very comfortable with each other.

The reader can’t help but wonder if their relationship will evolve into something else after the war. They get closer with each adventure!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Hexed by Heather Graham + Giveaway

Posted on August 14, 2014August 13, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> blog tours> Book Giveaway> book reviews> Giveaways

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: paranormal romance, romantic suspense
Series: Krewe of Hunters #13
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: July 29, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

A place of history, secrets…and witchcraft.

Devin Lyle has recently returned to the Salem area, but her timing couldn’t be worse. Soon after she moved into the eighteenth-century cabin she inherited from her great-aunt Mina—her “crazy” great-aunt, who spoke to the dead—a woman was murdered nearby.

Craig Rockwell—known as Rocky—is a new member of the Krewe of Hunters, the FBI’s team of paranormal investigators. He never got over finding a friend dead in the woods. Now another body’s been found in those same woods, not far from the home of Devin Lyle. And Devin’s been led to a third body—by…a ghost?

Her discovery draws them both deeper into the case and Salem’s rich and disturbing history. Even as the danger mounts, Devin and Rocky begin to fall for each other, something the ghosts of Mina and past witches seem to approve of. But the two of them need every skill they possess to learn the truth—or Devin’s might be the next body in the woods…

My Review:

I was a bit worried starting this. It’s the 13th (unlucky number!) book in Graham’s Krewe of Hunters series. I’ve always meant to read the series, but never got around to book 1, Phantom Evil. This is a mistake that must be rectified!

While I was definitely able to get into the book without having read the others, this one was plenty good enough to make me WANT to read the rest of the series. (Thank goodness the library seems to have them all in ebook!)

The Hexed is paranormal romantic suspense. In other words, both a paranormal romance and romantic suspense. The suspense plot is a chilling search to find a serial killer, but the cops chasing the murderer all have paranormal powers. They don’t just see dead people, they talk to them.

It’s as if the FBI created an entire unit of ghost hunters. Which is a fascinating set up.

Even cooler, in the chilly, thrilly aspect, is that the serial killer is operating in Salem Massachusetts, and it looks like he or she is either a real witch or trying to throw suspicion on the local Wiccan community.

The story starts with a scene out of the movie Stand By Me, a concept that works even better considering that Stand By Me was based on Stephen King’s The Body.

Five friends discover the body of the sixth member of their clique dead in the woods. It’s a horrifying discovery that changes the lives of all the surviving high school students. But it’s more than merely coming across the body by accident.

Craig “Rocky” Rockwell discovers his friend Melissa because he heard her calling out to him, long after she was dead. And her body was positioned ritualistically with a pentacle hanging from her neck.

The discovery changed his life. Not just that his friend was dead, but that he heard her lead him to her body. Rocky set his sights on becoming a cop, and then an FBI agent. He was in the perfect position to return to Salem thirteen years later when more bodies starting turning up; murders that exactly matched the grisly sight he found as a teenager.

The difference is that this time, Rocky returns to his old hometown as part of the FBI’s Krewe of Hunters, an elite unit with special normal and paranormal talents. The other key change is that he meets Devin Lyle just after she has discovered body #3. And that Devin also heard the dead tell her where to locate that body.

Devin is the great-niece of the “Witch of the Woods” and she has been pushed into the paranormal world of the Krewe by the discovery. Or by her late great-aunt, who manifests in the house to watch over her niece.

As the bodies continue to pile up, Devin and the Krewe have to dig deep to figure out the motive for killing one young woman after another, a motive that is rooted not in Melissa’s death 13 years ago, but all the way back in the 1690s, in the infamous Salem witch trials.

The investigation becomes a race against time, as the list of possible suspects narrows, but it becomes clear that the killer is planning to end his spree with the death of Devin Lyle.

Rocky will do anything to prevent Devin turning into the killer’s final victim. But it’s hard to prevent a murder when no one can figure out who the 21st century killer might be. And in the end, all their assumptions and investigations point to the wrong perpetrator.

Escape Rating A-: The Hexed is tremendously fun and entertaining. The romantic suspense element seems to be primary, and it’s such a convoluted mystery! We follow the investigations every step of the way, as Rocky and Devin are forced to investigate all their friends down to their genealogy in order to get close to finding the killer.

Rocky was in a very difficult position. He’s new to the FBI team, and he has an emotional interest in the crime. At the same time, this is a long-postponed homecoming for him, and his old friends all want to connect with him. Meanwhile, he has to investigate them, because they are all potential suspects.

Devin was a terrific addition to the story. She’s a children’s book author, and has made a career out of telling stories using her “witchy” great aunt as the inspiration for her heroine. “Auntie Min” saves the day in every book, using her witchcraft for good. Devin is thrilled to death when her Aunt’s ghost appears, she loves the older woman and misses her terribly.

Although she’s a bit put out when her Aunt’s unscheduled appearances and disappearances put a crimp in her budding romance with Rocky. Ghostly chaperons are even more libido dampening than the regular kind. They are always a bit worried that the ghost is watching them, and she might be.

Devin is also forced to stretch herself in this story. She’s a successful author, but she feels compelled to help find the killer. Her research skills are respected and used by the Krewe to find the killer’s motives and help to determine who the potential victims are. At the same time, she is quite reasonably afraid of the events surrounding her, and while she’s mostly sensible about it, the attacks on her do move her relationship with Rocky into high gear.

Even though the research and investigation were leading up to the murderer, I was still as surprised as Devin when the perpetrator was finally revealed.

If you like a slightly spooky undertone to your romantic suspense (and I do) this was oodles of fun. I’m looking forward to catching up with the series, and also to the next book, The Betrayed. I wonder where the Krewe is headed next?

GIVEAWAY

Heather is generously giving away the winner’s choice of The Cursed, The Hexed or The Betrayed.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is part of a TLC book tour. Click on the logo for more reviews.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Sweet Spot by Stephanie Evanovich

Posted on August 13, 2014March 22, 2016 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by Edelweiss
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, audiobook
Genre: Contemporary romance; women’s fiction
Length: 272 pages
Publisher: William Morrow
Date Released: July 8, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

The amazing Stephanie Evanovich returns with The Sweet Spot, the sizzling story of everyone’s favorite couple from her New York Times bestseller Big Girl Panties: hunky professional baseball player Chase Walker and his sassy wife Amanda

When pro baseball player Chase Walker first meets Amanda at her restaurant, it’s love at first sight. While Amanda can’t help noticing the superstar with the Greek-god-build, he doesn’t have a chance of getting to first—or any other—base with her. A successful entrepreneur who’s built her business from scratch, Amanda doesn’t need a Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet. And a curvy girl who likes to cook and eat isn’t interested in being around the catty, stick-thin herd of females chasing Chase and his teammates.

But Chase isn’t about to strike out. A man who isn’t interested in playing the field, he’s a monogamist who wants an independent woman like Amanda. His hopes rally when she discovers that squeaky-clean Chase has a few sexy and very secret pre-game rituals that turn the smart, headstrong businesswoman on—and into his number one fan.

Then a tabloid discovers the truth and turns their spanking good fun into a late- night punch-line. Is Amanda ready to let loose and swing for the fences? Or will the pressure of Chase’s stardom force them to call it quits?

My Review:

The Sweet Spot is a prequel to last year’s Big Girl Panties. Big Girl Panties drove me absolutely nuts (see review) but the secondary couple in that story is the primary couple in The Sweet Spot.

By the time that Big Girl Panties takes place, all the events in The Sweet Spot have already happened. A significant chunk of the story is revealed as background for the other story, more than enough to make me want to see what happened first. This is it.

Chase and Amanda start out as strangers in the beginning of this story, but they are at much better places in their lives than either Holly or frankly Logan in the other book. So while The Sweet Spot has its own particular brand of crazysauce, the characters are stronger and it makes the early part of the story seem to be on a much higher note.

Chase is a major league baseball player at the absolute top of his game. He’s not just big, gorgeous and generally a decent guy, he’s one of those model players that raises the level of the game he’s in. (His incredible influence reminded me a bit of Michael Jordan during his glory years in the Chicago Bulls.) Everyone loves Chase, and Chase genuinely enjoys his fans, and absolutely loves playing his game.

There’s just one little (!?!?!?) thing wrong with his life. Chase likes to spank his girlfriends, and generally be just a bit dominant when it comes to sex, but not quite to the level of BDSM. (It’s a bit hard to characterize). However, his wholesome image will be shot to hell if information about his bit of kink gets out.

Chase is a genuinely nice guy with more than a bit of a romantic streak. It’s just that there’s a wider kinky streak to go with it.

He walks into Amanda’s trendy restaurant, The Cold Creek, and falls instantly in love with the way that she sasses him and refuses to fawn over him. Amanda normally treats her customers better than that, but Chase’s agent set up the reservation with a level of assholishness that put her back up, and with good reason.

So Chase gently but inexorably goes after Amanda. The problem is that as hard as he falls for her, he sees her as a lady who can’t possibly be into any kink. He’s sure he’s fallen for a vanilla, and it makes him crazy. It also causes a slump in his baseball game.

Chase tries (and fails) to figure out how he can keep Amanda and deal with the wilder parts of his nature, while Amanda falls for the sweet romantic who sweeps her off her feet.

Taking their relationship to where they both need it to be is hot and sweet. But Amanda has gone through her whole life believing that she can never have what she wants. That she’s absolutely destined to settle for second place. As happy as she is, she can’t help but look for the crash that she knows is coming.

When scandal threatens to snatch away everything they have built, Amanda runs away. And Chase makes the terrible mistake of letting her, and the best thing in his life, go.

Escape Rating B: I wish that The Sweet Spot had come out first. Not just because all the big events in Chase and Amanda’s story are spoiled in Big Girl Panties, but because they start out from much stronger places and it makes for a more fun story, especially at the beginning.

Amanda had a good life before she met Chase, and would have continued to be successful if they had never met. They complete each other emotionally, but she doesn’t start the story “so far down that bottom looks like up”, the way that Holly did in Big Girl Panties.

Amanda also has a lot of very reasonable sounding doubts about how the spanking thing is working for her. She is liberated and independent, and she has a difficult emotional journey getting to a place where she accepts that she enjoys Chase’s style of domination to the point where she deliberately provokes it. She keeps her agency, it just takes her a while to figure that out.

I will say that Chase’s reactions the first time he lets his kinky side out bothered me a bit. There was a definite element of him being smug about knowing what was best for her. And while she did enjoy it, he doesn’t explain what is going to happen, and he was a bit condescending about the emotional storm that results. It was one of the few times when I really didn’t like him much.

On the other hand, when the scandal breaks, Amanda’s actions were pretty childish. While I could understand and sympathize, she doesn’t stand up for herself and for their relationship, and leaves Chase holding the bag and dealing with the resulting mess. So they each definitely have big moments that could have been relationship-breakers.

But that drum circle where she finally finds herself and her courage was awesome.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

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