Tag: fantasy

Men Under the Mistletoe

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> B Reviews> book reviews> C Reviews

As far as this reviewer is concerned, all ebook novella anthologies should be published the way that Carina Press has published their three Christmas collections. I know the whole point of a collection is to get readers to try an author they haven’t tried before. And novellas just aren’t long enough to print by themselves, so in the print world, grouping them made sense. But this isn’t the print world. Grouping them at a discount as an incentive to try new authors, and giving readers the option to buy just the one story they want if, say, they only want the one by Josh Lanyon in this collection, that’s the freedom of ebook publishing.

Now about those stories…

The stories in Men Under the Mistletoe are all about second chances. Not just second chances at love, but second chances at love with the one that got away. In every story, past lovers re-unite to try one last time in an attempt to re-kindle the spark between them during the Christmas season. Will they succeed? Let’s see.

My True Love Gave to Me by Ava March is the only historical in this collection. Set during the Regency period, this story concerns two very young men who are just not ready for the consequences of loving each other in a world where discovery means not just social censure, but possibly prison. At 19, they are both too young to deal with maintaining the multiple layers of identity required to be homosexuals in the ton and still keep their families unaware. Alexander Norton can handle that part, what he can’t handle is Thomas Bennett’s rejection of their first chance to spend a night together. Thomas doesn’t just run from Alexander, he runs away to America. When he returns four years later, neither of them is the same as they were. Can they find a way back to each other?

Escape Rating C: This was the weakest story in the collection. There was too much teenage angst and not enough story. If the author is going to spend most of the story in someone’s head, I want to know what they’re doing, not just what they’re thinking.

Winter Knights by Harper Fox gave me chills. Think of it as Dickens’ A Christmas Carol meeting Camelot, only spookier, and you’ll get the idea. Gavin Lowden is a historian. He is in Northumberland for Christmas, researching the origins of the Arthurian legends. He hopes to find the factual basis for those legends, that Arthur really existed, as a historic leader just after the Romans bugged out of England. He also hopes to find evidence that the bond between Arthur and Lancelot was romantic, not just brothers-in-arms. And, he hopes that his own lover will finally tell his very conservative Catholic family that he is gay. The night he spends under the hollow hill gives him more than he could have ever dreamed, but not in any way Gavin could ever have imagined.

Escape Rating B: This story relies on a lot of myths to make it work. The Arthur myth, the spirit of Christmas, and a certain willing suspension of disbelief. I’m not sure it would work at any time other than Christmas. And it’s a ghost story, I just liked it, but then, I’m a sucker for King Arthur stories, and this kind of is one.

Lone Star by Josh Lanyon is a story that would work any time of the year. Mitchell Evans’ always dreamed of becoming a great dancer with a major ballet company. In order to achieve his dream, he needed to leave the rural Texas town he grew up in. Web Eisley always wanted to be a Texas Ranger. He could achieve his dream right where he grew up. Web and Mitch were each other’s first loves, but their dreams took them 1,800 miles apart. When Mitch returns home for Christmas 12 years after he left, can they find a way back to each other? Can they find a way to reconcile their dreams?

Escape Rating A: This is simply good storytelling. And the theme is universal, which is part of what makes it so good. Mitch’s dreams demand that he leave, and Web is solidly rooted in their Texas hometown. He would be miserable in New York, where Mitch has to go to get the training he needs. They have to part, although Mitch didn’t have to run away. There’s some anger to get past, but this is what happens to people. But the situation is what it is. Can they find a way to be together now? Great story.

The Christmas Proposition by K.A. Mitchell was a tree farm story. (There was one in the Holiday Kisses collection too). This story is better. Mel Halner runs his family’s Christmas tree farm in Epiphany, PA. He also works shifts at a local diner to make ends meet. The Christmas tree farm business isn’t all that great. He’s supposed to be taking a two week vacation in the Caribbean to watch his sister get married, but he gets a phone call. The wedding planner ran off with everyone’s money. Can Tiffany have the wedding at the farm? Of course she can. Mel is not just disappointed about losing his family’s money, and his lost vacation, and his sister’s wedding disaster. There’s more. His ex, Bryce Campion, is his soon-to-be-brother-in-law’s best man. Mel was hoping to see Bryce after they got to St. Thomas, when he could pretend to be tanned and devil-may-care about the whole thing. Instead he would still be in Epiphany, covered in slush and surrounded by reminders of why he should have escaped his small town with the rich and handsome gas company owner. Three years ago, Mel and Bryce let each other get away. Can they catch each other this time?

Escape Rating B+: The description of this story doesn’t do it justice. The story is much better and deeper than the description. This isn’t about Bryce making Mel see what he missed out by passing on the high-life his riches can offer. Instead Mel makes Bryce see what Bryce misses by not being part of a family and having roots in a community. They meet in the middle and make a true partnership.

Hearts and Swords

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews

I pre-ordered Robin D. Owens collection of Celtan novellas, Hearts and Swords, because I love this series. When the book auto-shipped itself into my iPad at midnight on Tuesday, I dropped what I was reading and dived right in. I’m glad I did. (And this is what I love about ebooks!)

The first story in the collection is Heart and Sword. It doesn’t actually take place on Celta. It’s about the discovery of Celta, and takes place on Nuada’s Sword, one of the colony ships. Which is both off-course and way overdue, in a manner of speaking. The three-ship expedition planned on being in space for about seventy-five years. A century-and-a-half tops. Instead, when the Captain’s Exec wakes Kelse Bountry from cryo-sleep, it’s been 250 years, and Kelse has a mutiny on his hands. And all three ships are running out of critical supplies. Like food. And fuel.

Kelse has been woken to make the life-or-death decisions, because that is his psi-power, his Flair. Everyone on board all three ships has Flair. They ran from Earth because they were being persecuted for their psi. The mutineers believe that a nearby wormhole will return them to a civilized Earth that has hopefully gotten over its prejudices. The loyalists don’t want to take that risk, they remember the psi purges all too well. The last planetary probes tell Kelse that the system just ahead has a planet that should support human life, but the approach path will use up the last of every ship’s fuel.

What does the good Captain choose?

Escape Rating A: This is a fantastic foundation story for the series. It reminded me, quite favorably, of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover Landfall, and a even little bit of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonsdawn, the establishing stories for those beloved series. Robin Owens couldn’t ask for much better company.

There are three other stories in this collection. All concern characters who have appeared in earlier books, and whose stories just needed telling.

Noble Heart is particularly compelling for long-time readers of the series. Members of the Clover family have appeared in many of the stories. Mitchella Clover married into the nobility by marrying Straif Blackthorne in Heart Choice. On Celta, everyone has expected the Clovers to test into the nobility for some time. Their Flair has been increasing with each generation. And unlike the inbred nobility, the commoner Clovers have a LOT of generations. Mitchella’s cousin Walker Clover has been young Nuin T’Ash’s tutor and bodyguard. Walker is not an ambitious man. But Walker’s family has been keeping a secret from him. Walker’s mother is not Fen Clover, but Latif Heliotrope, a noblewoman his father had an affair with just before he married Fen.

Nuin’s first Flair Passage triggers Walker’s Passages. All three of them at once. After five days of fever dreams, Walker new Flair power instantly catapults the entire Clover family to GrandLord status. Not first-tier nobility, but second-tier, and vaulting them over the third-tier in one huge leap. The rise in status produces jealousy among the nobles, which is expected. It also produces a near-civil war inside the family, and the older generation that has always run the very-profitable Clover family business thinks that it can continue to run things with Walker as a figurehead.

Walker didn’t want to be the Head of the Family, but now that he is GrandLord Walker, he damn well will be Head of the Family. He was taught to do his duty, and that is now his duty. Whatever it takes.

Escape Rating A: Walker is a very interesting character. He doesn’t want this, but he’s going to do it. He does complain a little, but he should. His entire identity changes in about 15 minutes. There’s also a love story here, but it’s a part of the changes in Walker’s life and status, and his establishment of himself. Very, very well done.

This was a great collection of stories, but I think you need to be a fan of the Celta books in order to really get full enjoyment out of it. The other two stories, Heart Story and especially Heart and Soul, directly relate to events in previous books.If you are a fan, you are in for a real treat! If you’ve never read the Celta books, and you like futurist romance, start with Heart Mate. You’ll be glad you did

 

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? 12-4-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

We’re back again for another edition of Marlene’s weekly reading diary. Or is that weekly reading planning session? I can never decide…

I just looked at my upcoming review schedule and discovered that my long-anticipated reviewing break is here. I think I hear a rousing Hallelujah Chorus somewhere off in the distance. I may finally get a chance to catch up with myself.

But maybe not. We will be moving house and home the weekend of December 15-18. So things will be slightly disrupted. Or, as they used to say, “at sixes and sevens”. I always liked that phrase.

Reading Reality will be hosting the Unacceptable Risks blog tour on December 18. So one of the books I will be reading in the next two weeks is Jeanette Grey’s Unacceptable Risk. I love science fiction romance, so I’m really looking forward to this one. Jeanette will be writing a guest post on December 18 for the blog tour and she has graciously agreed to give away a copy of her book as part of her stop here for the tour. This is a real wow for me, so I’m really looking forward to it.

I’m also hoping that my connectivity that weekend will not be in the Barnes and Noble in the mall down the street. And I’m trying to figure out whether having a B&N within easy walking distance of our new digs is a bug or a feature of the new place. Browsing in bookstores used to be a serious addiction. “See all the pretty covers…”

The next new book on my list is Rise of Empire, by Michael J. Sullivan. And, if anyone is keeping track, I still need to review Theft of Swords, since it comes first in the Riyria Revelations, and I skipped over that 500 page monster before Thanksgiving. Well, it’s back. Now I need to read it and Empire before December 14. The third book, Heir of Novron, so far has not shown up on NetGalley, unlike the first two. Since it’s not due out until January 31, there’s time yet, but it would be really annoying to have to buy it to find out what happens!

Even before Riyria, I have to go to Hell. (Got your attention, didn’t I?) Last week I picked up Hellsbane, by Paige Cuccaro, from NetGalley. Unfortunately, I picked it up on Tuesday, and it came out on Thursday, and I was already up to my eyeballs in reviews. So I’ll be reading it this week. Hellsbane is the main character’s name, Jane Hellsbane, and this looks like the start of an interesting paranormal series. We’ll see.

Since last week I was already a week behind, this re-cap may be more like a re-top-hat. It needs more capacity than normal.

I did send out my review to Library Journal for Holiday Kisses. I really liked the book–it’s a great collection of holiday love stories. One thing I found interesting, all the stories had an underlying theme of second chances. I don’t know if that was intentional or not. I wish I had more space for the reviews in LJ, I could easily have written a 250-word review for each novella, instead of trying to squish.

Out of the other stuff due for this week, A Clockwork Christmas is done, I just need to write it up. Deadly Pursuit is next.  I just did my ‘mea culpa’ about Theft of Swords, so I won’t go there again, except to read it.

I will probably read Honor Among Thieves first, if only because it finishes the Ancient Blades trilogy, and I get to find out how everything turns out. I like ticking things off the ‘to do’ list. Then it’s on to Laura Anne Gilman’s Paranormal Scene Investigations Series, Hard Magic and Pack of Lies, just so I can review Tricks of the Trade and click that off my NetGalley queue.

Six or seven books will get read this week. Six or seven books will drop out of my queues. The only question is, which six or seven? (Now you know why I like that phrase so much!)

Don’t forget–Samhain Publishing is the featured publisher in tomorrow’s edition of Ebook Review Central.

 

 

 

8 the previously untold story of the previous unknown 8th dwarf

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews

8 by Michael Mullin is just the kind of fractured fairy tale that might have been told in an alternate universe Rocky and Bullwinkle. That’s high praise, I loved those stories. The sly humor operated on multiple levels, which is why more folks than just the famous moose and squirrel attended “Wossamotta U”

But 8, and yes, the title is just the number 8, is the story of the heretofore unknown eighth dwarf, named “Creepy” by his better known brothers.

Creepy’s just moody. He’s kind of a night owl, and he’s not into the whole “Hi ho, hi ho” business. Well, would you sing if you had to work underground in a mine every day? I ask you, would you?

Creepy also had a slight touch of Renfield. He ate spiders. At the dinner table. It kind of creeped his brothers out. A lot.

So they locked him in the basement and slipped his meals under the door. Just for a few less than cheerful comments and a bit of raw spider on the hoof. I mean really, was that so bad?

So Creepy lived under the house, and got, well, creepier. And even less cheerful, listening to his brothers continue their rather carefree life without him.

Then “the Maid” showed up. Fairy tales usually refer to her as Snow White. Creepy saw everything! Absolutely everything. And heard everything too. The floors, well, there were some holes in those floorboards.

His brothers never told the poor girl that there was dwarf literally under her feet. So she cooked and cleaned while he spied on her. What else was he supposed to do? She kept sweeping the dust from the floor into his living space!

But when the Evil Witch knocked on the door, he heard everything then too. Did you ever wonder why Snow White let the witch in? Creepy’s “floor’s eye view” of the classic tale, his understandably jaundiced view, is laugh-out-loud funny. And not to be missed.

Escape Rating A: This is hilariously funny. Also a little sad, because Creepy has been abandoned by his brothers for being just a bit different. But it is an absolutely perfect fractured fairy tale, and it is done completely in verse!

Creepy is an unsung hero. Without him, Snow White would have suffocated in her glass coffin before Prince Charming ever came along. If you want to find out about Creepy’s heroism, spend a few moments with Creepy. He’ll make you smile.

Lord of the Abyss

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews

Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh is the much-anticipated conclusion to the Royal House of Shadows series. While I was glad to see the House of Elden restored, it seemed like the final battle was almost anti-climactic. On the other hand, the reverse “Beauty and the Beast” love story of Micah and Liliana was very well done.

The daughter of the Blood Sorcerer practically sacrificed herself to transport her broken body through the barrier at the edge of the known realms. Why? Because the Lord of the Black Castle was the last of the children of Elden, and his presence was required in order to defeat her father. More than anything else, Liliana wanted to make sure that her father did not maintain his hold on Elden, even if his death also guaranteed her own.

But first she had to make Prince Micah remember who he truly was, and that was going to take something other than sorcery. Sorcery had cost him his memory, a combination of his mother’s dying spell that flung him to safety, and her father’s foul magic ensuring that he never recalled how he came to Black Castle.

The Lord of the Black Castle was the Guardian of the Abyss, the one who scoured the lands for the souls of those who are evil, whose souls must be cast into the Abyss. His body is encased in a carapace of armor, and he does not remember a time before he was the Guardian. But then, he was only five years old when he was the youngest Prince of Elden. He was just a child.

Now Micah is a man who does not even remember his own name. Liliana must make him remember himself and his own magic, and she only has a few weeks. She cannot use her own sorcery, or her father will find her. Even though she is ugly and broken, she is his possession, and he does not like it when his possessions escape.

So Liliana uses a different kind of magic. She appeals to the child within the man, cooking the treats he loved when he was a boy. And she tells him stories of Elden, stories that remind him of the time before. And she is kind to him, and she is not afraid. Her father beat her, tortured her, and murdered anyone or anything she cared for. Micah does not scare her.

But Micah reacts to her in ways she did not expect. She is the first woman he has ever met who is not afraid of him, and he is only a man. He does not care that she is not beautiful, he only knows that she is good to him, that she challenges him, and that she cares for him. He falls in love with her, not her looks.

And he remembers who he really is. Unfortunately, he also discovers who she really is. And that she concealed the facts from him. Deceit is the one thing that he is not sure he can forgive.

But as they race to the last battle, Micah learns that a love that is willing to sacrifice everything, even life itself, is the most important thing of all.

Escape Rating B: I think I would have liked this better if Micah and Liliana’s story had stood on it’s own. Their love story, her sacrifice to get to Black Castle, her temptation of Micah with childhood recipes and childhood stories, as well as their tentative exploration of love when neither of them had a clue, was heartwarming and touching, as well as deeply sensual.

All of the Royal House of Shadows books have been re-interpretations of fairy tales, and this one definitely re-worked “Beauty and the Beast” in some interesting ways. Both Micah and Liliana could be interpreted as Beauty and Beast, depending on which way you looked at things. Not just Liliana’s actual looks, but Micah’s armor and Guardian’s mannerism were also beast-like. They both change for the better. Black Castle even has invisible inhabitants!

But the re-telling of the Fall of Elden needed to end. I’m glad that’s over, and but it may have gone on one book too long. I’m glad the Blood Sorcerer is gone, too. Did he even have a name? Maybe it’s fitting that he didn’t.

Snuff

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews

Only Terry Pratchett could combine a murder mystery, a complex discourse on civil rights and a young boy’s endless fascination with poop into one fantastic story. But this is the Discworld, and million-to-one chances always come through.

Snuff is Pratchett’s 39th entry in the Discworld series. It is also at least the 8th book in the Ankh-Morpork City Watch subseries, depending on how you define the other books set in the city. The City Watch usually manages to turn up when the book is set in the city. Funny how that works.

The Discworld books are just plain funny. Sometimes it’s gallows humor. Sometimes there’s an actual gallows. Death is one of my (and a lot of people’s) favorite characters in the Discworld.

Back to Snuff. There is some literal snuff involved. The tobacco kind. Although I think the stretched pun applies. Sam Vimes, Commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, while supposedly on vacation sees certain things going on and decides “that’s enough”.  Like I said, “snuff”.

Sam Vimes is a cop at heart. Marrying Lady Sybil Ramkin didn’t change anything about his essentially suspicious street cop nature, it just gave him introduction into a whole lot more places to be suspicious in. And it also provided him with two people he loves more than he can possibly admit and will protect with his life and his soul, no matter the cost.

Snuff takes Sam and his family on vacation to the country, to Lady Sybil’s country estate. Their son, Young Sam, will inherit the estate someday, so he needs to get to know the place and its people. And Sam needs a vacation: his wife said so. The fact that Lord Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, thinks there’s something that needs looking into near Ramkin Hall is a fact that Vetinari is keeping very close to his vest. But then, Havelock Vetinari keeps things so close to his vest that they’ve sewn themselves into its embroidery for safety’s sake.

Sam starts out hoping to find something, anything to distract him from the supposed joys of quiet country living. Sam hates the quiet; he wants a good murder to liven things up. But what he finds is much more than he had planned on. Sam starts with a murder, and ends by expanding the definition of “people”, all in a quest to do the right thing. A Guard’s job is to catch the criminals and let the lawyers sort out the details afterwards.

Escape Rating A+: There is a tremendous amount going on in Snuff, and all the various plots keep simmering marvelously until the very end. Sam Vimes is one of my favorite point-of-view characters in the Discworld, and he’s one who has changed the most over the course of the series. He started out as the commander of a very disgraced City Watch, and also a man who had seen too much, done too much, and was trying to forget way too much of it at the bottom of a bottle. Starting with the events in Guards, Guards, the City Watch, and Sam Vimes life, start to turn around, almost as if there is a symbiotic effect. By the time of Snuff, Sam is as happy as he’s ever going to be, but he’s never forgotten who he was or where he came from. He still carries that darkness inside him, literally as well as figuratively. It’s his greatest strength as well as his biggest weakness.

Snuff is about solving a murder. But Sam can’t resist commenting on the world as he finds it. He’s still a street rat from Ankh-Morpork. So when he starts to stir things up, he stirs everything up.  That’s Sam. If a bunch of poor little rich girls are complaining that they can’t find husbands because they have no dowries, he’ll tell them to get off their butts and go to work. Women with jobs find their own husbands, and in the meantime, they’re self-supporting and don’t have to worry about dowries. And if one of them turns out to be the Discworld’s Jane Austen, so much the better.

Murder is murder, and if the person murdered isn’t legally a person, well that’s just plain wrong. The law needs to be changed, because murder is wrong.

This review is being posted on November 24, the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. I chose Snuff for two reasons. I’m always grateful to see another Discworld book. They make me laugh and they make me think, and that’s a difficult combination.

The second reason is that each new Discworld book now is a gift. I hope there will be lots more, but the odds are against it. It’s time for another one of those million-to-one shots to come in.

Anne McCaffrey, First Dragonrider of Pern, RIP

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | obituaries

Somewhere a queen dragon has folded up her great golden wings and closed her rainbow eyes in final rest.  All the Dragonriders who have ever dreamed of Pern have lost the one who showed us one of the best and brightest worlds in both science fiction and fantasy.

Anne McCaffrey died November 21, 2011 at her home in Ireland. Locus posted an announcement earlier today.

My copy of The Dragonriders of Pern is well-loved. It’s one of the old book club editions, so it combines Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon into a single volume. I’ve re-read it so many times that the spine is slightly cracked, and the cover is a little torn. It isn’t even my first copy. I had paperbacks. They sort of…dissolved.

And the story still brings chills. F’lar and F’nor’s desperate search for a true Weyrwoman to lead the Dragonriders before the Threadfall that they and only they believe is imminent. Lessa’s thirst for vengeance against the man who murdered her family. The Weyr’s descent into disrepute and F’lar’s grab for power on the back of his dragon. The story of political ambition that turns into a love that governs not just the Weyr, but conquers time itself.

Dragonflight is a masterpiece. Read it again in memory and honor.

Anne McCaffrey, 1926-2011

Ebook Review Central for Carina Press for October 2011

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Ebook Review Central

We’re back! It’s November, and it’s time to take a look at the Carina Press titles for October 2011.

And let’s not forget those September titles! As promised, the September list has been updated to add new reviews since the first issue was published.  For the books that came out late in the month, or had big blog tours in October, like Elyse Mady’s Something so Right, there were lots of reviews added.

But we’re here for the October titles. And October had some big hits among the 19 titles that Carina Press published during the month.

There were way more contenders for the featured title slots this month. There was significantly more reviewing activity to evaluate, for which I want to give a hearty thank you to my fellow book reviewers.  Now on to the featured titles!

Falke’s Captive, part of the Puma Nights series by Anna Leigh Keaton and Madison Layle, was one of three erotica titles from Carina that received 10 or more reviews this month. What sets this story of a female graduate student finding fulfillment with two mountain lion shapeshifter brothers apart from the others was the consistently positive tone to all of the reviews for this book. To quote the Library Journal review, “authors Layle and Keaton craft a balanced tale rife with the requisite romance, eroticism, and fantastical.” This one sounds like not just good erotica, but also a darn good story.

Val’s Rancher by Debra Kayn is the second featured book. This is part of her Sisters of MacDougal Ranch series, and if the first book, Chantilly’s Cowboy, is as good as this one, she’ll win some fans. Val’s Rancher is a story about learning to live with heartbreak, and about finding ways to trust again when your world is falling apart. This is a “coming back to your first love” story, and there are never enough good ones of those. The review at A Snarky Space, which in this case is not snarky at all, is enough to make anyone fall in love with this one.

My last featured book is a biggie. Because it’s four books in one. Carina and C.J. Barry have brought back her incredible science fiction romance series, Unforgettable, and made them available in ebooks. They were well-reviewed when they were originally published and are getting a whole new crop of great reviews now that they are back. If you like science fiction romance, these look like a must read. In order, the Unforgettable series is: 1)Unearthed, 2)Unraveled, 3)Unleashed and 4)Unmasked. Drea at Judging the Book by its Pages has written excellent reviews for the entire series.

Next week, after we’ve all slept off our post-Thanksgiving turkey comas, Ebook Review Central will return with a look at Dreamspinner Press’ October titles.

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand 11-20-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. We’re driving to my mom’s in Cincinnati on Wednesday. I’ll either get a lot read this weekend, or not much. Also, since it’s an 8-ish hour drive from Atlanta, we need to pick something to listen to while Audible is still having their sale.

But somehow this week I still need to get stuff read for reviews. Next Monday will come all too soon. But this Wednesday will come even sooner!

The first thing on my “to be read” list for this week is for this Wednesday. Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan is due out on Wednesday, November 23, and so is my review. Theft of Swords is the first book in Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations, and is a re-release of the first two books (The Crown Conspiracy, Avempartha) of his series in a single volume. I also have the second volume of the re-release, Rise of Empire, and I’ll be reviewing that in December. I’ve seen a lot of good reviews of the original release of the Riyria Revelations, so I’m looking forward to this. I really hope that the third volume, Heir of Novron, goes up on NetGalley soon, otherwise I’m going to end up buying it just to find out how everything turns out.

If Theft of Swords looks like a traditional epic fantasy, my second book is a different kind of fantasy entirely. Her Christmas Pleasure by Karen Erickson is a romantic fantasy of the historic, hot and steamy variety. This book is short, but probably more spicy than sweet. I have a soft spot in my heart for this author, as one of her other books, Lessons in Indiscretion, was the first title I reviewed for NetGalley.

Two other historic romances are part of my week’s reading; A Midsummer Night’s Sin by Kasey Michaels, and Desired by Nicola Cornick. Both books are part of series, and I have read and reviewed previous titles in each series. Nicola Cornick’s Desired is part of her Scandalous Women of the Ton series. I reviewed Notorious this summer. And I also reviewed The Taming of the Rake, the previous entry to Kasey Michaels Blackthorn Brothers‘ series, on the very same day.

The final book in the Royal House of Shadows series is due out next week. Nalini Singh’s Lord of the Abyss is on my list. I’m looking forward to seeing how this series finishes out. I’ve seen a few ARC reviews for this book, but I’ve tried to avert my eyes. I don’t want to judge the book before I read it.

And last, but not least, one of those things that makes me glad I go through this exercise a week in advance, even when it causes a major “eek” moment. I have Tricks of the Trade by Laura Anne Gilman on my list. I loved her Retrievers series, so I thought I would also like her Paranormal Scene Investigators series too. Tricks is the third book in the series, and I figured that by picking up book 3 from NetGalley, I would finally read books 1 and 2, Hard Magic and Pack of Lies, which I have in print. So now I have to read those first before I start Tricks of the Trade. They’ll be something to read in the car if the iPad runs out of juice (not that we don’t have two Apple device car chargers, but it’s always good to be prepared!) Hard Magic and Pack of Lies are also the only two books for next week that are not from NetGalley. Not only do I own those, they are print copies I moved from Florida to Georgia. It’s high time they got read!


 

 

 

 

Looking back at last week’s post, I didn’t do half bad. A had some help from a couple of sleepless nights, and my husband spent way too much time working, but hey, it all counts, right?

I got everything read for this week, almost. I still have about 2/3rds of Edge of Survival to go, but it’s really good so far. I still need to read Fallen Embers and Burning Embers for Lauri. And that library book, I just bought the thing from Amazon. Since the local library doesn’t even own Charles Todd’s Wings of Fire, I either needed to finish or spend another $2 to borrow it again from some other library. The Kindle version was only $7.99. I did the math, factored in the worry, and gave in.

I have a lot of writing to do to get all these books out of my head. At least the reviews for Frost Moon and Blood Rock are out of my head. Those books were absolutely awesome.

Just a reminder, Ebook Review Central tomorrow will be the Carina Press titles from October.

And tune in next week for another exciting edition of “As the iPad turns”!

 

 

Dark Vow

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews

Dark Vow by Shona Husk was an interesting kind of genre-bending romance. Emphasis more on the genre-bender than the romance. The world-building was really kind of neat, a sort of post-apocalyptic Western. It reminded me a little of a polytheistic Firefly, except with hellsteeds instead of starships. Whoa! I just had a vision of Mal Reynolds from Firefly riding Death’s horse Binky from the Discworld. And it might fit.

The world of Dark Vow is definitely a post-apocalyptic Earth. Someone’s grandmother remembers when the horses were really horses. Now they have a taste for human blood. The central character of Dark Vow is Jaines Cord. She is a gunsmith. Or rather, she would be, if women were allowed to be master smiths. Or master anythings. Since Jaines is a female, the highest grade she can attain is apprentice, with her husband overseeing her work as the master smith. But as the story opens, her husband Lance is away on a buying trip, and Jaines is handling the gunsmithy.

An Arcane Hunter comes to Jaines’ smithy with an order for her to add certain runes to his gun. Two smiths have already worked on this gun, a woodsmith and a metalsmith. Jaines’ specialty is engraving: only she can add these runes to the gun. And the Arcane Bounty Hunter may have phrased his order as a request, but members of the Arcane have magical powers, and certainly earthly ones. If she doesn’t do what he wants, he can kill her and he will not suffer any consequences.

Her husband has always warned her not to deal with any Arcanes, but Jaines feels she has no choice. She is literally damned if she does, and damned if she doesn’t. At least if she does the work, she will earn enough money to pay off their debts.

The work is challenging, but also eerie. When the gun is complete, she can feel its hunger to be used, to kill. Unlike most weapons she makes, she does not test-fire it. The Arcane Hunter returns to pick up his weapon, pays her, and leaves.

Jaines never gets the chance to tell her husband Lance Cord about the commission from the Arcane Bounty Hunter. The evening that her husband returns, the Bounty Hunter bursts into their house and test-fires the weapon on her husband. Jaines is a widow, and it is all her fault. At her husband’s funeral, she makes a vow to his spirit that she will hunt down the Arcane Hunter and kill him. She does not expect to survive, and she doesn’t care.

Jaines begins her journey in the middle of the night. She leaves behind the life she has known for the past eight years. With each mile she travels away from her home, she loses her illusions about the life she has led, and about the husband that she loved. The Jaines that emerges from that forge is a very different woman from the one who goes in. She’s worth meeting.

Escape Rating B+: Jaines’ personality is what carries this book. She was someone I wanted to meet, so I enjoyed spending time with her. That made the book for me. This is a fascinating world. I wanted to find out how things got to where they are, and so quickly! If someone’s grandmother remembers our type of horses, what the heck happened? And what happens next? The greater story does end on a cliffhanger, and I want to know!

The world-building was good, the science fiction and/or fantasy of it worked for me. This is one of those books where I’m not exactly sure which one it is, and I don’t care. It’s speculative fiction in the big tent sense, and that’s good enough. The romance aspects I had a little bit of trouble with. I understood why Obsidian fell in love with Jaines. She’s the heroine, and her character is pretty clearly drawn. She’s holding up really well in a lot of adversity. She’s not just tough, but she’s growing even with all the pressure.

I could get why Jaines might fall into bed, or bedroll, with Obsidian. But we don’t see enough of his character to know why she’d fall in love with him, especially that fast. Her willingness to trust anyone was probably a little shaky at that point. And Obsidian doesn’t exactly put his best foot, face or hand forward. For good reasons of his own, he lies about himself, a lot, and for quite a while into their acquaintance. Just not quite as much as her husband did. But still, one after the other, I’m not sure that’s a foundation for love, at least not that quickly.

But I chose this book because I’d read some great things about Shona Husk’s work. And I’m very glad I did.