Tag: 2012 Ebook Challenge

Review: Racing With The Wind by Regan Walker

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Format read: ebook received from the publisher
Formats available: ebook
Genre: historical romance
Series: Agents of the Crown #1
Length: 266 pages
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance

The intrepid daughter of an earl leaves Regency London for the Parisian court of Louis XVIII, where she finds adventure, mystery, and above all, love.

THE NIGHTHAWK
Hugh Redgrave, marquess of Ormond, was warned. Prinny had dubbed Lady Mary Campbell “the Swan,” but no ordinary man could clip her wings. She was a bluestocking hellion, an ill-advised match by every account. Luckily, he sought no bride. His work lay on the continent, where he’d become legend by stealing war secrets from Boney. And yet, his memories of Lady Mary riding her stallion were a thorn in his mind. He was the son of a duke and in the service of the Prince Regent…and he would not be whole until he had won her hand.

THE SWAN
It was unheard of for a Regency debutante to postpone her first season, yet Lady Mary had done just that. Far more interested in politics than a husband, she had no time for foolishness or frippery. Already she had assisted her statesman uncle in Paris, and she swore to return to the court of Louis XVIII no matter the danger. Like her black stallion, Midnight, she would always run free. Only the truest heart would race beside her.

Regan Walker’s Racing With the Wind is not your typical Regency romance. But then, Lady Mary Campbell is not your typical Regency romance heroine, either. Not from the minute she comes galloping into the story, and Hugh Redgrave’s life, riding astride her stallion Midnight.

And that pretty much defines Mary. She rides in men’s clothing, she doesn’t ride sidesaddle, and she’s riding a stallion. And just about from the first minute he meets her, Hugh Redgrave, Marquess of Ormond, spends most of his time in Mary’s company trying, and generally failing, to suppress his desire to either tame Mary Campbell, or simply suppress his desire to have her ride him like that stallion.

Besides the obvious, there’s another reason that Hugh keeps trying to tame Mary, or at least rein her in a little. She keeps getting herself into trouble.

Not little trouble, not minor peccadilloes. This is not your standard Regency. There are no drawing room scandals. Mary’s uncle is one of the English envoys to France in the years just after Waterloo. Mary has traveled with him on his business with the French government, and she has been very helpful on his mission. While the French, (and the Prussians, and the Austrians) don’t think she’s paying attention, Mary makes a very good spy.

The Prince Regent thinks she’s wonderful. Hugh Redgrave thinks she’s dangerous. And he should know. He really IS a spy. During the war the French knew him as “The Nighthawk”. Now that the war is over, he still does occasional “work” for Prinny. Hugh is having a difficult time settling down to his noble duties now that the excitement of the war is over.

Attempting to keep Mary out of trouble in Paris provides all the excitement that Hugh could possibly need. And more. Mary’s investigations uncover a French double agent and an Austrian plot to restore Napoleon (again). Her life is threatened more than once.

To save Mary, her uncle entrusts her to Hugh, sending them on a cross-country journey by horseback through the French countryside, alone and unchaperoned. He hopes they will finally see what everyone else already knows, that they are perfect for one another.

Running from safe-house to safe-house with the hounds of three countries on their heels  forces Hugh and Mary to confront the simmering sexual tension that has driven them to distraction every time they have crossed paths. But just when they think everything is resolved, there is one last obstacle to overcome

Escape Rating B: This story took a long time to get itself set up, nearly half the book. Once all the pieces were finally in place on the chess board, the action was fast and furious, and I couldn’t put it down, but the first half needed a bit of tightening. Some of these preliminaries were necessary to set the historic backdrop, and this is book one of a trilogy, but still…

The concept of this story, two spies who fall for each other, reminded me of Shana Galen’s Lord and Lady Spy, although this is the “before” version, since Hugh and Mary know what they are before they marry. It also reminded me of the historic parts of Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation series. The Napoleonic War period and its aftermath seems to be fertile ground for spy-type love stories.

One part of the story I very much enjoyed was that Hugh and Mary compromised on what would and wouldn’t be acceptable for both of them. They had not led conventional lives, and would not be content doing so. They each recognized that was part of what they needed in the other one, and that changing too much would destroy their relationship. She did not become a simpering twit, and he did not become a boring idiot.

I do want to read the next book in the series. This period is always fascinating!

***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 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 Cowboy and the Vampire by Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by the authors
Formats available: Trade paperback, ebook
Genre: paranormal
Series: Cowboy and Vampire #1
Length: 408 pages
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Reporter Lizzie Vaughan doesn’t realize it, but she has 2,000 years of royal Vampiric blood coursing through her veins. Neither she nor Tucker, her cowboy lover, has any idea that Julius, the leader of the undead, has a diabolical plan to reign over darkness for all eternity–with Lizzie at his side. Lizzie battles for her life–and her soul–as she and Tucker find themselves caught up in a vampire war, pursued by hordes of Julius’ maniacal, bloodthirsty followers. Who will be left standing when the sun rises?

To use the western vernacular that the cowboy-hero of this tale wears like a second skin, this dog should not hunt, but somehow, it does. It should buck the reader off like a ride on badly broken bronco. Instead, you stick with the tale until the bloody and bittersweet end. It’s a compulsion. Lizzie and Tucker were mis-matched when she was just a New York magazine writer and he was the man she dubbed “The Last Cowboy.”

By the end of the story, they should be even wronger (and yes, in this story that IS a word) for each other, but they have earned a little bit of peace.

Their enemies will be back. After all, I read The Cowboy and the Vampire to get ready for Blood and Whiskey, the second book in the series (review and interview with the authors on Thursday).

There’s more mystery than romance in this story that the authors subtitled “A Darkly Romantic Mystery” and with good reason. When the book opens, Lizzie and Tucker are already in the middle of their love affair. Their only problem is that Lizzie has gone back to NYC, and Tucker is in LonePine (all one word) Wyoming. Their worlds don’t normally intersect. Only they do. They just can’t figure out how to make anything long term work, no matter how badly they want to.

Then Lizzie’s heritage rises up to bite her. Literally. And there’s the mystery. And the solution to Lizzie’s and Tucker’s relationship problem, as well as the cause of a few zillion more problems. As the deep, dark secrets of Lizzie’s past, and her potential future, are revealed, she turns to Tucker as the only person she can trust when her world turns upside down. In life, or in death. And whatever comes after that.

Escape Rating B+: The idea that vampires have their own biblical-type texts and their own version of the creation was kind of cool, and more than a bit twisted, in a neat way. Also that one of the leaders of the opposing vampire camps was THE Lazarus. Eternity seems to make for twisted politics yet again, and this set of vamps was wackier than the usual run.

Tucker’s family and friends were an absolute hoot. Lenny as the crazy cowboy version of James Bond’s Q was beyond priceless, but he’s just who you’d want in this situation, not that anyone half normal would ever be in this situation.

I enjoyed the differences between Tucker’s internal thoughts and his actual words, he was always more sentimental inside than what he said out loud.

Julius, the evil vampire (this is not an oxymoron in context) was a bit overblown and over-the-top. I’d have believed in him as the big bad a little more if he’d been just a tad less out there on the demonic bwahaha scale.

I also sincerely hope that in the next book there will be an explanation of who or what Lizzie’s “voices” are. That one is driving me crazy. Blood and Whiskey, here I come! (The book, not the liquids–maybe I’ll need the whiskey…)

***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 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: Delusion in Death by J. D. Robb

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook puchased from Amazon
Formats available: Hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Genre: Futuristic, police procedural, mystery
Series: In Death #35
Length: 416 pages
Publisher: Putnam
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

It was just another after-work happy-hour bar downtown, where business professionals unwound with a few drinks . . .until something went terribly wrong. And after twelve minutes of chaos and violence, eighty people lay dead.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is trying to sort out the inexplicable events. Surviving witnesses talk about seeing things—monsters and swarms of bees. They describe sudden, overwhelming feelings of fear and rage and paranoia. When forensics gives its report, the mass delusions make more sense: It appears the
bar patrons were exposed to a cocktail of chemicals and illegal drugs that could drive anyone to temporary insanity—if not kill them outright.

But that doesn’t explain who would unleash such horror—or why. And if Eve can’t figure it out fast, it could happen again, anytime, anywhere. Because it’s airborne. . . .

The near-term future looks pretty bleak in the rear-view mirror of Robb’s  2058. Between our now and Eve Dallas’ then lurks the devastation that goes by the seemingly innocuous name, “the Urban Wars”.

There are two types of Dallas and Roarke stories, ones where the case seriously delves into the skeletons in one or both of their closets, and there are plenty, and the current case rattles loose a lot of personal trauma. New York to Dallas was one of those, and it was a terrible beauty, as my review indicated.

The other kind are those where the murder investigation is the point of the exercise. Those type are necessary to keep the whole series from slamming the willing suspension of disbelief into the dust. Not even with Dallas and Roarke’s troubled pasts could they manage to survive the kind of emotional crash that making every single case personal would mean. Some murders need to be just murders, no matter how awful.

One of my favorite books in the series, Fantasy in Death, was an “ordinary murder case” type story.

While Delusion in Death is not one of the truly personal cases for Dallas and Roarke, the murders are anything but ordinary. Their roots lie in the murky dark of the Urban Wars. A time that Summerset remembers all too well. He and Eve call a temporary truce to their domestic hostilities, because a bio-terrorist weapon from those bad old days has re-surfaced in New York, and Summerset’s contacts might have information that will lead Dallas to the killer–before he makes another venue full of innocent people into raving lunatics that turn on each other in a murderous rage.

Escape Rating B: I re-read my review of Celebrity in Death, where I said Celebrity needed a few more bodies to give it flavor. Delusion in Death has all the bodies it needs and then some. What this one needs is a clearer motive for the killers.

The Urban Wars have always been a bit mythic in the timeline for the In Death series, so it’s difficult to bring them out of the deep, dark as the motivation for the ultimate evildoer in this story. This person stays too deep in the background, and the history has been too shadowy. I accept that this person was the puppet-master, but I don’t totally understand the reasoning. The mastermind is less awe-inspiring (even in a bad way) when you don’t buy into what makes them masterful.

***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 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: Yesterday’s Heroes by Heather Long

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Format read: ebook from author and tour host
Formats available: ebook
Genre: science fiction romance
Series: Boomers #1
Length: 89 p.
Publisher: Carina Press
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks

Rory knows she’s being watched, and she’s not about to let the hunter catch her in his trap. She’ll confront her stalker, a man she suspects is involved in the disappearances of other superheroes—if she can ignore the sensual heat that fills her every time he’s near…

Michael Hunter
Codename: Hard Target
Abilities: expert tracker and sniper
Mission: kill Rory Graystone

One of five desperate men sent back in time to save the future, Michael believes eliminating Rory is the key to his mission. But even as he takes aim, a split second of doubt causes him to miss his shot.

Drawn together by passion, and on a collision course with fate, can Rory and Michael work together to change the future? Or have they set in motion the horrific history the time travelers are trying to prevent?

Tomorrow is yesterday.

It is for Michael Hunter and the men of his Bio-Mechanical Recon Unit. The Boomers. In 2115 this group of men with forbidden superpowers is sent back in time, in order to prevent the future that has branded them worse than outlaws.

In 1969 they start over as sleeper agents, blending in and waiting. Hoping to prevent the key events that their future believes will make a better tomorrow. In addition to the superpowers they were born with, they’ve been given a chemical cocktail to help them heal and survive the 150 years of waiting…while they change the future. Or is it the past.

Telepath, shapechanger, bioweapon, supersoldier, and tactician. A team. With instructions about the key points and people that should make the timeline shift in favor of less retrictions on supers. Heck, less restrictions on everyone.

9/11 was one of those key points. That’s a chilling thought. And it grounds the story in the real. The only problem is that the Boomers weren’t successful in derailing the train to future nightmare city.

Forty plus years after their insertion point, things aren’t going so well. They’ve missed their targets. The bad future is still on course. That’s when the story begins, and the future changes.

The Boomers know who the bad guy is in 2115. Their plan is to wipe him out before he takes power. In order to bring Hans Geiger out of the shadows, the plan is to assassinate his daughter, Aurora Greystone.

But the data is faulty. Aurora Greystone is a super. Just like the Boomers. She thinks they’re responsible for the disappearance of two of her teammates. So instead of a planned hit, this is a game of cat and mouse. Her super ability to sense the probabilities cancels out his tactical skills.

Michael Hunter has to confront the only person he’s ever shot at, and missed. He’s followed her for weeks, and she tempts him beyond all reason. This confrontation, it shouldn’t happen, but he can’t resist.

Rory knows she’s being stalked, and she’s let it happen. She’s told herself it’s to find out what happened to her teammates, but that’s not all it is. She wants to hunt the hunter. He tempts her beyond all sense.

Their confrontation is explosive in a way that neither of them imagined. They should kill each other. Instead, they claim each other. To the point that Michael turns on one of his own to protect Rory.

And his implant, silent for twenty years, comes back to life. Rory might bring the future back on track. Or destroy it.

If they can figure out which before it’s too late.

Escape Rating A-: Mix the Terminator with the X-Men, and add some werewolf fated mate trope for flavor, and you’ve got something like Yesterday’s Heroes. But there’s more.

The idea of traveling back in time to fix the present is definitely Terminator-esque, but what I liked about the way that it gets handled in Yesterday’s Heroes was that knife-in-the-gut twist, that the Boomers might have created the bad history they want to prevent by going back in time.

There’s also the heartbreak that one of the Boomers had a life in the future he wanted to get back to, one way or another. Once Rory and Michael change the path, the future that the Boomers came from will not be the one they live to see, if they manage to live to see it. For Rex, there’s a ton of pain in the new future. His story would be a three-hankie special.

I ended up with some questions. Who is/was Hans Geiger? In the future, he’s the dictator. He’s supposed to be Rory’s father. She says he’s not. She’s being honest, but that may mean that she doesn’t know that he’s her father. Or, since in the future he’s the big bad (he’s also immortal) the whole Boomer project may have been designed to bring about his reign of terror. The whole thing could be a conspiracy.

I’d also have liked a bit more explanation of why Michael and Rory literally had the instant chemistry. And it seemed to be actual chemistry. It was necessary for the plot to work, but it never got explained. Was it something about them both being supers? Did it have to do with the chemicals used on the Boomers, and if so, why did it also affect Rory? Or was it part of Rory’s talent for finding the only avenue to survival, and if so, why did it work on Michael?

Too many possibilities, and no way to get answers until the next book. I want the next book!

***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 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: Ravished Before Sunrise by Lia Davis

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Format read: ebook from author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: paranormal romance,
Series: 1Night Stand
Length: 31 pages
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks

Born with the unusual ability to see what truly lies in the shadows, Emalee Black is stuck between two worlds, the paranormal and the human. Neither one accepts or understands her and she’s forced to live a quiet, boring life in hiding. When her best friend mentions 1Night Stand dating service, Ema chooses a role-playing adventure straight out of her romantic fantasies. She’s to hunt her very own vampire and have her wicked way him.

Vampire Darian Wyman is surprised when his daughter signs him up for a one-night stand with an exclusive matchmaking agency. At first he’s appalled by the idea, but as he reads the details of the date, he becomes intrigued. For one night he will get away from the life he has long grown tired of to be hunted and captured by a would-be huntress. But he has plans of his own for his little vixen.

However, when Darian discovers the truth about Ema’s inhuman abilities, the date could end before it gets started.

I’ve confessed this before, the 1Night Stand series is kind of a guilty pleasure for me. They’re short, and when they’re done well (and this one is done quite well) they manage to pack a naughty but nice little happily ever after into a tidy package. Whoever came up with this idea was a genius.

Emalee wants to be the hunter, just for one night. She wants to live out the fantasy in her paranormal romances, and hunt a vampire. She thinks it’s going to be make-believe, except that Ema has a secret. She knows there really are vampires. She can sense them. And shifters. And demons. Oh yeah, and her BFF is a witch.

Darian doesn’t want this little one night stand at all. But there is one woman on earth that he can’t say “no” to. His daughter. She bought it for him as a present. He’s been moping around a bit too long since his wife died. When you’re a vampire, a real one, being a widower can last pretty close to forever.

The one night stand is supposed to be just that, one night. But it can be more. Especially when both parties find exactly what they were looking for. Even though neither of them knew they were looking at all.

Escape Rating B+: Just plain fun. Absolutely marvelous decadent and deliciously sexy fun. Darian and Ema find so much more than they are looking for. Ema finds stuff she didn’t even know was available to be found, like the secret to her powers. She doesn’t even know what she is, and Darian opens up an entire universe to her. In return, she brings him back to life. Almost literally, she gives him a second chance at feeling alive. But I liked that it didn’t resolve immediately. The epilogue is 6 months later, so it’s insta-lust and insta-recognition, but not insta-love.

Good story for such a short package. I wish there were more.

***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 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: All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews
Format read: eARC from NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, Mass Market Paperback
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Kowalski Family #4
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Born to Roam

Mitch Kowalski lives out of a suitcase—and he likes it that way. Traveling for work has the added bonus of scaring off women who would otherwise try to tie him down. But when he’s called home to help with running the family lodge, he’s intrigued by the new girl in town and her insistence that she doesn’t need a man—for anything. If there’s one thing Mitch can’t resist, it’s a challenge, especially a beautiful one.

Looking for Home

After a nomadic childhood, Paige Sullivan is finally putting down roots. Determined to stand on her own two feet, she lives by the motto men are a luxury, not a necessity. But when Mr. Tall, Dark and Hot pulls up a stool in her diner and offers her six weeks of naughty fun with a built-in expiration date, she’s tempted to indulge.

Mitch won’t stay put for a woman, and Paige won’t chase after a man—they’re the perfect match for a no-strings fling. Until they realize the amazing sex has become anything but casual…

If you like contemporary romance and you haven’t met Shannon Stacey’s Kowalski Family series, what are you waiting for? The Kowalski family are just plain fun. You’ll either want to be adopted by them, or marry one of them, after reading Exclusively Yours, the first book in the series.  (I wasn’t all that fond of book number two, Undeniably Yours, but I loved Yours to Keep, book three)

Ms. Stacey really needs to do a family tree of the Kowalskis, just so we can keep everyone straight. Sean, the hero of Yours to Keep, is the brother of Mitch, the “He” in the title of All He Ever Needed. Joe and Kevin, the heroes of the first two books, are their cousins. It’s all one big mostly happy family.

In All He Ever Needed, Ms. Stacey tells the kind of story she does best, a contemporary romance about two adults who have loved and lost and need to find their way through a little bit of pain to a place where they can find their happily ever after in a small town that’s willing to become their home.

In this case, it’s Mitch Kowalski, home to take care of his brother Josh and help fix up the family B&B in Whitford, Maine. A town where everyone remembers every girl Mitch ever kissed (or more) and every prank he ever pulled. Mitch owns his own company now but no one in Whitford ever seems to remember that. He’s back until they get the family’s Northern Star Lodge and Josh back on their respective feet.

Paige Sullivan owns the Trailside Diner. Her car broke down in Whitford, and she just stayed. She’s finally found a place where she belongs, just for herself. Owning the diner has made her put down roots, and she believes it’s kept her from becoming the kind of woman her mother is, chasing one man after another, suppressing her own personality to fit whoever she thinks she loves.

Mitch figures that while he’s in town he’ll have a fling with someone, on his usual terms, no strings, no ties, no tears when he leaves.

Paige doesn’t date. Not anyone. Not in the entire two years she’s been in Whitford.

Mitch tempts her off the wagon. After all, they both know the rules. Until they both break them.

Escape Rating A:  If you love small-town romances, or even think you might, get Shannon Stacey. If you liked any of the first series, you’ll love this one. Whitford is a terrific place, and she’s started a whole bunch of interesting stories that I can’t wait to find out how they resolve. But this one, this one was just so good. Paige has made a good life for herself, and you can see how she wants to make it work. Mitch has been running so fast, he doesn’t know what he really wants. Their chemistry absolutely sizzles and steams, but they take it slow, and for good reasons. Everyone knows the name of every girl Mitch ever slept with in town, and they’re all still smiling. Readers will be smiling at the end of the book, too.

I want to find out how the other stories in town turn out. All He Ever Desired and All He Ever Dreamed are coming out in October and November so I thankfully won’t have long to wait.

***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 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: Blind Traveler Down a Dark River by Robert P. Bennett

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | book reviews> C Reviews
Format read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: paperback, ebook
Genre: Mystery
Series: Douglas Abledan #1
Length: 204 pages
Publisher: PublishAmerica
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Douglas Abledan is a blind man using a GPS unit to navigate the world. One day the device malfunctions. He stumbles upon the scene of a murder about to take place. Due to the confusion caused by the failure of his technology, it isn’t until he hears a radio announcer reporting an accidental shooting that pieces start falling into place. Unable to convince authorities to look into the matter, he launches his own investigation. In the year 2021 increasing global earthquakes threaten civilizationas infrastructure. Unimat Incorporated is trying to stop the destruction by introducing a new building material. Special interests are up in arms. Environmentalists blame technology for the problem and want a different solution. Steel workers worry about jobs and safety. Now someone has hired a contract killer to stop the project. How can Abledan expose the killer without becoming a target?

Blind Traveler Down a Dark River is a near-future murder mystery. I wanted to settle into following the amateur detective as he solved the mystery, but the near-future part kept tugging at my willing suspension of disbelief until it got partially resolved. Why? Because the reason for the murder hinged on it.

The reader needs to accept that this near-future earth is close enough in time that the 1990s GPS satellites are still used as a historical touchpoint, but earthquakes have increased in frequency all over the planet, and faultlines that are currently dormant, have become violently active.

It turns out that the earth’s magnetic poles have reversed. Again. A once every 700,000 years or so event. But okay, I read science fiction. I can go with this. It’s an explanation. I just needed it a little sooner in the book than half-way through.

Back to the story. About those GPS satellites…take GPS technology and imagine how far it can go into the future. What if everything had an active GPS tag, including moving vehicles.  Including people. If cars could sense other cars, buildings, and people, then cars wouldn’t need drivers. Driver-less taxis and buses.

Personal GPS devices. Personal navigators for the blind. Better than any cane, even one with radio and sonic devices. Not as cuddly as a dog, but with a much longer life expectancy.

What happens if the programming on the navigator glitches, and gets its signals from the wrong street? A person might walk into traffic instead of away from it. A person might “witness” a murder they didn’t see. And no one would believe them.

That’s what happens to Douglas Abledan. A blind computer genius who figures out that the event he witnessed was a murder, and not the drive-by shooting the police claim it was. Abledan knows all about drive-by shootings, and exactly how much, or how little effort the police put into solving them. He lost his sight in a drive-by shooting.

He’s compelled to solve this murder. No matter what it takes. And no matter how much his  lack of sight, lack of experience, and lack of resources hamper his investigation.

Then there’s the murder he’s investigating. Earthquakes can be devastating, particularly when they are hitting densely populated areas that contain buildings that were never intended to be earthquake-resistant. People are dying (Think of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and move the devastation to 21st century New York City. Groan loudly for emphasis)

But changing construction materials and methods always causes disruption to jobs. A lot of power and money is involved. Secret government project money, environmental protest groups and union bosses afraid that union members will lose out if new materials use different processes. There’s more than enough motives for murder.

Abledan is going up against some very big boys and girls. And he can’t even see them coming to get him.

Escape Rating C+: The setup is interesting, once you get past trying to figure out when this takes place and how the world got into the fix it’s in. I had the feeling that the author had some very cool ideas, and needed certain tech in place to make them work. As a reader, I just needed to know how the world got that way much earlier.

Douglas Abledan is an amateur detective who gets caught up in the thrill of the chase. As such, he’s a member of a long line of private eyes, no matter how ironic that moniker might be in his case. For this series to continue Abledan needs to have a few more people to interact with who are a little more sympathetic than Speckler, the researcher who helps him figure out some of the ins and outs of his Navigator.

I found the reasons for the murder all too believable, with or without the near-future technology. But then, human nature doesn’t change. What made the story different was the detective. Douglas Abledan working both with his limitations, and rising above them. Also his determination to solve this crime, because his own case was never resolved.

Abledan’s amateur sleuthing continues, and gets more wrapped in the problems of the near-future world he inhabits, when he goes on vacation to Chicago in Blind Traveler’s Blues. Take a look at my review on Book Lovers Inc for the details of how earthquakes in the Windy City, murder and eco-terrorism, stir up more adventures.

***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 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: Druid, Mine by Kerry Adrienne

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Format read: ebook from author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: time-travel romance, erotic romance, novella
Series: All Mine #2, 1Night Stand
Length: 39 pages
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks

Anya’s wish for a normal date—away from the old man she is caretaker for—comes true in unexpected ways when she finds herself whisked to an ancient Irish stone circle on solstice eve.

Carrick’s decision to follow the path to become an Ovate druid has not come lightly, and he plans to spend the solstice eve in meditation unless fairies or evil spirits disrupt the circle. When a feisty girl walks right up to the fire, more than sparks fly.

They each seek healing and a connection, but the darkness of summer is short, and once the solstice sun breaks through the circle at dawn, the magic of the night will be over. Even Madame Eve can’t stop the day from rising.

The story of Druid, Mine sounds a lot like the one from the first book in Kerry Adrienne’s All Mine series. And it’s almost as much fun the second time around. But not quite.

Anya seeks out Madame Eve’s services because she just wants a normal date…and she doesn’t have any way of getting one when all of her time is taken up being caretaker to an old man. He’s not family, it’s a job. But she’s traded security for any chance at her own life. Why, we don’t know.

Carrick is a mystery. He the druid in this story, and he’s just about to take his vows as an Ovate. Vows that will cut him off from his own society, but will allow him to travel in time, something he does believe in.

There’s that sticky time thing again. We don’t know exactly when Carrick is in time, but he’s way closer Darius than to us, both in time and in location. Carrick is in what we will call Ireland, and maybe less than a century before Darius’ Rome in Senator, Mine. And he has even less idea what he’s in for than Darius did. But he is questioning whether he’s ready to take his vows.

Carrick is tending the fires the night before the Summer Solstice, just outside a standing stone circle. It’s the longest night. From his perspective, one of the fay asks him if he wants one last night with a woman, before he has to be celibate forever. He’s a man, of course he says yes.

Anya is dropped off on in the middle of his lonely vigil. She knows she contracted for a 1Night Stand. She did not expect Carrick, or time travel.

They each get one perfect, beautiful night. A glorious sunrise directly over the standing stones of the henge. And a choice that comes all too soon.

Escape Rating B-: The relationship between Anya and Carrick is sensuous and beautiful, but the problem is that as a love story, this just wasn’t complete for me. Senator, Mine may have needed less backstory because the Roman period is so familiar. The Celtic Druids are very mysterious, and not a lot is known. With such a short story, the problem is that not a lot is known about Carrick’s background or the choices he is facing. We know he’s unhappy, but why? What is driving him to this lonely life? Being ripped out of time is a desperate choice, even for love. I needed to know more to make this work as well as Senator, Mine, but I still had fun with the parts of the story that encapsulated their night by the henge.

***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 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: Senator, Mine by Kerry Adrienne

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Format read: ebook from Author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Time travel romance, erotic romance, novella
Series: All Mine #1, 1Night Stand
Length: 40 pages
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks

Eleanor’s romantic tour of Italy shatters when her long-time boyfriend dumps her in Pompeii. Hoping an evening with a handsome Roman might save her trip, she contacts Madame Eve at 1Night Stand, then goes out to explore, buying a small golden signet in a mysterious antiquities shop near the Forum.

Darius, a hard-working Senator in Ancient Rome, is puzzled by the Sibyl’s words: You will not find love in your lifetime. Following her directions, he spots Eleanor, a barbarian wearing his stolen senator’s ring.

A night spent together may be just what they both need to break down the columns of time that stand between them.

Decadent Publishing’s 1Night Stand series books have a fairly simple premise. Two people, occasionally using a fairly loose definition of the word “people,” contract with a mysterious being known as Madame Eve, or some name close to that, for one night of sex with their perfect match. The parties always think it’s just for one night, but Madame Eve is a much better matchmaker than they realize. What they find, for those willing to take a chance, is a lifetime of happiness.

After all, if someone is your perfect match for one perfect night, why wouldn’t they be your perfect match for a lifetime?

But occasionally, Madame Eve faces a real challenge. When the Sibyl predicts that Senator Darius will not find love in his lifetime he believes he is condemned to live alone. Or live in a loveless, soulless marriage as so many of his fellow senators do in the Imperium of Rome.

Instead, the Sibyl tells him to meet with a mysterious Eve.

In the 21st century Eleanor has just purchased the Senatorial ring of Darius from an antiquities shop after contracting with Madame Eve. Eleanor, at least, thinks she knows what she’s getting into with her 1Night Stand, but she thinks it’s just a date. Or a date with benefits.

Eleanor was dumped by her chump of an ex at the beginning of her Roman Holiday. She’s discovered that she doesn’t miss the man, but she does miss the confidence he stole from her. So, a 1Night Stand it is.

But the Sibyl and the ring, with the help of Madame Eve (whoever or whatever she is) take   Eleanor and Darius outside of time, to a place where they can have their 1Night Stand, even though they should never have met. Ever.

They both want to live, for just one night. He wants to forget his responsibilities. She wants to forget her mistakes.

He thinks she’s a barbaraian. She’s sure he’s pretending to be from Ancient Rome, that his ignorance of computers and modern conveniences must be an act, part of the setup.

And they are more comfortable with each other than either of them have ever been with anyone of their own time and place.

But once they figure out the truth, can they find a way to be together, forever?

Escape Rating B+: This was delicious. Both Eleanor and Darius are well-developed characters, which is surprising but delightful for a story of this length. It helps a lot that Ancient Rome is a time and place that readers are familiar with, so it was easy to fill in the blanks (This is the I, Claudius period, give or take a bit)

While I wish this were longer, because I would have loved to explore more of the story at every point, it totally works. The reader understands the motivations for both hero and heroine entering into the 1Night Stand arrangement, and their exploration of each other is beautifully done, not just on the sexual side but also the emotional and cultural side as they figure out that they really are from different times and places, and that it doesn’t matter.

I really wish this was longer. I’d love to know how they worked things out when Darius got to the 21st century.

 

***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 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: Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews
Formats available: Hardcover, ebook
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Series: Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #12
Length: 288 Pages
Publisher: Bantam
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher, Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Book Depository

Laurie R. King’s New York Times bestselling novels of suspense featuring Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, comprise one of today’s most acclaimed mystery series. Now, in their newest and most thrilling adventure, the couple is separated by a shocking circumstance in a perilous part of the world, each racing against time to prevent an explosive catastrophe that could clothe them both in shrouds.

In a strange room in Morocco, Mary Russell is trying to solve a pressing mystery: Who am I? She has awakened with shadows in her mind, blood on her hands, and soldiers pounding on the door. Out in the hivelike streets, she discovers herself strangely adept in the skills of the underworld, escaping through alleys and rooftops, picking pockets and locks. She is clothed like a man, and armed only with her wits and a scrap of paper containing a mysterious Arabic phrase. Overhead, warplanes pass ominously north.

Meanwhile, Holmes is pulled by two old friends and a distant relation into the growing war between France, Spain, and the Rif Revolt led by Emir Abd el-Krim—who may be a Robin Hood or a power mad tribesman. The shadows of war are drawing over the ancient city of Fez, and Holmes badly wants the wisdom and courage of his wife, whom he’s learned, to his horror, has gone missing. As Holmes searches for her, and Russell searches for herself, each tries to crack deadly parallel puzzles before it’s too late for them, for Africa, and for the peace of Europe.

With the dazzling mix of period detail and contemporary pace that is her hallmark, Laurie R. King continues the stunningly suspenseful series that Lee Child called “the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today.”

So many shadows. The story begins in the shadows of Russell’s memory…she has been struck on the head and has forgotten who she is. All she knows is that she has enemies after her. If only her life were that simple. But it never is.

If it were, she would not be Mary Russell, and she would not be the partner and wife of the world’s first consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. And, most importantly, her life would not interest us.

The shadows of the title are in this case a metaphor. There are many shadows. Russell’s memory clears up. Eventually.

But the year is 1925, and the place is Morocco. North Africa during the shadow war between the great powers, in that uneasy temporary cessation of hostilities between World Wars One and Two.

Russell came to Morocco at the behest of Inspector Lestrade to investigate a film company, but mostly because she is waging her own private little war with Brother Mycroft. This would not be conducive to good family relations under normal circumstances, but Mycroft Holmes has occasionally been, at times, the British government. At least the secret parts of it.

In Morocco, Russell and Holmes meet old friends from their travels in Palestine. The only problem is that they are not sure whether Ali and Mahmoud Hazr are there to plan an assassination, or to stop one.

And which would best serve the interests of the people of Morocco, the people of England, and the interest of Mycroft Holmes?

Russell, for one, is very, very tired of worrying about the puppet-master in the shadows, manipulating her life, and the lives of those around her, thinking he knows what’s best for everyone. What if he’s wrong?

Escape Rating A-: What sticks in the mind at the end of this tale are two facets. One was the way that the story slid into historical events. This could have happened and would have left this little trace in history. This is just cool.

Then there’s the question that comes up so often, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”  But when the decision is between this many over here and that many over there, the side with the bigger and better guns generally wins. “Might makes right” in other words.

But might isn’t always right. The way that the Hazr brothers questioned the British treatment of the Moroccan people is intended as reminiscent of T.E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) with good reason. What may have looked reasonable from London was undoubtedly balderdash from a closer perspective. Think of the U.S. Revolution for an example that may be more familiar.

Starting the story with Russell in a mental fog made for somewhat of a slow start. She normally has a very clear and direct narrative voice; even when she doesn’t know where she’s going, she knows what she’s doing while she’s getting there. The story took a while to gather itself together as Russell reassembled herself. Once she remembered who and what she was, and the plan pulled together, the story took off!