When it comes to historical romance, I tend to be set in my
ways. I have a couple of favourite authors, like Suzanne Enoch, and I’m
reluctant to try new ones. They disappoint too often. I hadn’t read Sabrina
Jeffries before, but when I spotted her book at NetGalley, I decided to give
her a chance.
Who Wants to Marry a Duke is the third book in a series
called Duke Dynasty. Each book tells the love story of one of the siblings of a
large family, on top of which there’s a continuous story of a murder
investigation. I haven’t read the first two books, but it didn’t matter at all.
The characters of the earlier books are introduced well, and the murder
investigation doesn’t really kick in until here.
The main couple of this book is Olivia Norley and the Duke
of Thornstock, or Thorne. (He does have a real name, but it’s never used and
came as a bit of a surprise when I checked the book description just now.) They
have a bit of past together. He has been forced to propose to her ten years
earlier, but she’s refused. For some reason he’s held grudge for it ever since.
The murder investigation brings them together again. Olivia
is an aspiring chemist, beggaring belief in those of us who want some
historical accuracy (the book takes place in 1809), but it’s done well enough and I could let it stand. She’s
hired by Thorne’s brother Grey to investigate the body of Grey’s father for
traces of arsenic. Thorne wants to keep an eye on her, because he doesn’t trust
her. But of the two, he’s the one who’s keeping secrets.
Olivia is a forthright character who is curious about
everything new, including romance and sex. Thorne is slightly annoying with his hot
and cold act, and the grudge he holds seems a little contrived and manufactured
for the sake of drama. And when his secret is revealed, the following fight
seems out of proportions for the transgression. They make up easily enough
afterwards. But they’re a good couple together, Thorne especially grows as a
person, and the naughty scenes are satisfying. All in all, a nice romance.
The murder investigation is the weakest part of the
narrative and doesn’t really have much of a role despite starting the events. There’s
a lot of conjecture about the identity of the villain(s) and their motives, but
nothing concrete. The villains aren’t characters in this book, and despite some
mayhem caused by them, there’s no suspense. And the murder isn’t even solved in
the end.
What made me give only three stars, however, is that the
book is one act too short. The last twist, the final push and test of the
couple and their love never takes place. It’s even set up perfectly. There’s a
probable threat to Olivia’s life, a mirror of an earlier attack, and Thorne
rushes in to warn and protect her. But the attack never happens and the book
just ends, followed by an epilogue that rehashes the murder investigation, lessening
the emotional impact of the last chapter. So, a bit of a let-down in the end.
But I liked the writing style well-enough that I’ll likely read the last book in
the series, if only to find out who is offing the dukes and why.
I took a few weeks off from this blog for a summer vacation and
so haven’t updated anything since June. I didn’t stop reading though. On the
contrary. Here’s a quick recap.
False Security by Lindsay Buroker
False Security by Lindsay Buroker continues her exciting UF
series Death Before Dragons. In this fifth book, vampires are going missing,
including Val’s vampire friend; Val accepts a job as a bodyguard to a tech
billionaire, Zav takes her to the realm of elves to see her father, and Val
ends up with roommates—and a new house too. For a woman who’s kept people at
arm’s length, she’s building a nice new family for herself. Zav talks a lot
about vigorous mating, now that he’s officially claimed her, but nothing really
happens. There’s a lot of action, like always, and the final battle has bears
and naked vampires in it. You don’t want to miss it. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)
Twisted Twenty-six by Janet Evanovich
Twisted Twenty-six is the latest in Janet Evanovich’s
long-running Stephanie Plum mystery series. The series has felt tired for quite
long now, but here it returns to its old form—to an extent. The stakes are
genuinely high, violence has consequences, and humorous incidents don’t
dominate everything else. Stephanie takes stock of her life, giving an
impression of continuity between the books, which is usually lacking. Lesser
side characters, Connie and Stephanie’s parents included, have actual roles.
And the ending hints at the same story continuing in the next book. I’m really
looking forward to it. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)
False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
False Value is the eight book in Rivers of London series by
Ben Aaronovitch, and it doesn’t let down. I had a brief scare at the beginning
that Peter wouldn’t be his usual copper self, but luckily that didn’t turn out
to be the case, as he’s undercover. The first part of the book was slightly
different than usually, as it was told in alternating chapters in the present
and the past to set up the reason for Peter’s latest assignment. Once that was
over, the story advanced in the usual meandering manner where the reader isn’t
entirely sure what’s going on until it’s all over. There was a bit more Beverly
in this book than before—she is pregnant after all—and she is becoming a real
person, but the other side characters remain a bit two dimensional. This
includes the staples like Nightingale and Sergeant Guleed. There was some
mayhem at the end, but Peter managed not to destroy half of London this time
round. I’m not sure if I’m disappointed or not about that. (4/5 stars on
Goodreads)
Engagement and Espionage by Penny Reid
Engagement and Espionage is a spinoff of Winston Brothers
series by Penny Reid and starts a new Solving for Pie series. It features Cletus, the devious mastermind in hillbilly’s
body, and his betrothed Jennifer the pie queen, and it’s a mystery, not romance—most
of the time. The mystery of strangled chickens wasn’t terribly difficult to
solve, but Jenn’s strained relationship with her parents took some work. And
the two of them just couldn’t catch a break, mostly because Cletus couldn’t see
past his romantic machinations. It was fun and emotional, like Ms Reid’s books
usually are. I’ll definitely read the next book. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)
Queen’s Gambit by Karen Chance
Queen’s Gambit continues Karen Chance’s Dorina Basarab UF
series. It’s the fifth book, but as the series is parallel with Chance’s other,
longer series, it feels like Dory’s been around forever. The book has a
promising start: a sneak attack separates Dory and Dorina, giving the latter a
body of her own. From there, we follow two separate adventures, as they both
try to figure out what has happened, why and by whom, and how to get back
together again.
Unfortunately, instead of a proper plot, we have endless
battles in both storylines, some of which don’t really have anything to do with
the actual aim of the book. And then the book ends without any conclusion to
either story. Dory ends up where she began, practically none the wiser, and
Dorina’s story ends with a kind of a cliff-hanger.
This was not my favourite in the series by any means. But
these books have had greatly uneven quality before, so I’m not giving up yet.
And the way Dorina’s story ended, it gives me hope that the two series will
connect properly for the first time in the next book. We’ll see. (3/5 stars on
Goodreads)
The Enforcer Enigma by G. L. Carriger
The Enforcer Enigma is the third book in San Andreas Shifters
M/M paranormal romance series by Gail Carriger, writing as G.L. Carriger. It’s
been a while since I read the previous book, but it felt like coming home, warm
and cosy. The characters and the entire pack are coming together nicely and
they’re not constantly on defensive anymore, which changes the dynamic of the
story.
Perhaps that’s why it felt like the love story of Colin and
Judd took a backseat to the main plot. It was a nice mystery plot that was
solved really fast, but I really would’ve liked to read more of the lovely
pair. That said, the two stories went hand in hand, there were really good
moments between the pair and it felt believable all the way. Colin opened up
nicely and Judd finally found his home in Colin. On top of that, Trick was a
great new addition to the group and I’ll definitely read how it’ll turn out
with his bear in the next book. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)
On top of these books, I read a few I’d received free from
NetGalley. I’ll write separate reviews of those later.
I’ve previously read and loved the
Winston Brothers series by Penny Reid, so I jumped to download this box set
when it was offered for free a while ago. It contains books 1 and 1.5 from her
Knitting in the City series, three follow-up novellas with the same characters,
and a couple of preview chapters from Reid’s other books. So it’s well worth
the expense, even if you pay for it.
The first book, Neanderthal Seeks Human,
introduces the main couple, Janie and Quinn, plus all the other characters in
the series, a group of women that belong to a same knitting group in Chicago.
It’s a fun and not entirely typical romance. Reid has a great knack with writing
characters that tend towards unique way of thinking and regarding the world
with understanding and love, and making the other characters accept them just
the way they are.
Janie is a math-wizard with a habit of
collecting data and blurting it out in stressful situations with absolutely
zero filters. Sometimes they relate to the situation, but most of the time the
workings of her brain baffle people around her. Quinn is different though and
he finds her mind fascinating. A great basis for their romance.
Quinn is a head of a private security
firm and insanely wealthy. He becomes Janie’s boss, but for the better part of
the book she has no idea of it and believes him to be a regular security guard—a plot-line that dragged on a bit too long. The Neanderthal
mentioned in the title is Janie, who sees herself as one, because she’s larger
than other people with an odd mind. It’s not until the second book that we
really learn the reason for her habit. It’s an emotional coping mechanism she’s
learned in childhood to deal with physically and emotionally absent parents.
It’s a good book, but long. Really
long. According to the author’s own notes, it’s over a hundred thousand words,
which is about twenty thousand more than a regular romance novel. It would be
fine, if there were side plots to fill the pages, but it’s really just the two
of them working towards the happily ever after. There are several side
characters introduced, but despite the length of the book(s), they remain
distant and two-dimensional. Some of them get their own books later in the
series, but Steve the co-worker would’ve deserved a better treatment than he
got.
The second book, which is marked as an
in-between novel, is equally long. Neanderthal Marries Human starts with Quinn
proposing to Janie and then follows the subsequent wedding planning. The actual
plans are in the side-lines though. It’s more about family bonds and healing.
Quinn has been cast out by his family, so Janie sees the wedding as an
opportunity to bring them back together, and maybe gain a family that she’s
never really had. It’s sweet and touching at times, but—again—really long.
The three short stories at least live
up to their name. First one is about the honeymoon, where Janie decides to rid
the tropical island of invasive toad species, much to Quinn’s bemusement.
The other two are about Janie getting pregnant and the latter stages of her
pregnancy. I haven’t read the other books in the series, so I don’t know if the
child is ever born during the course of it, but that might be an amusing story
too.
All in all, this was an entertaining
package. However, I don’t feel the need to follow it up by reading the rest of
the series, with maybe the exception of the last book that has Quinn’s best
friend as the hero. I liked him. But there’s a Winston Brothers spin-off coming
soon with Cletus as the main character. I’ll definitely read that.
It’s been three weeks since I updated this blog the last
time, so this is going to be a long post of everything I’ve read since.
I’m not sure why I bother reviewing Nalini Singh’s books
anymore. They’re all great. Five stars. Even if the plot in some is slightly
thinner than in others, she has the amazing ability to write unabashedly
emotional characters who manage to convey their emotions straight to reader’s
heart. Alpha Night is no exception.
It’s the fourth book in the Psy-Changeling spin-off series
called Psy-Changeling Trinity. It’s again set in Russia, this time with a wolf
pack there. Selenka is the alpha of the pack and Ethan is a damaged Arrow (as
if there were any other kind). The book starts with a mating bond forming
between the two at the first sight, and takes the romance from there. Obstacles
on their path rise from Ethan’s mental damage that can only lead to death, on
top of which the enemies of Selenka’s pack move in on them. And then there’s
the larger plot of the psy-net unravelling, which may lead to the death of the
entire psy-race. There are high emotions and a great reward at the end. All in
all, a perfect romance novel.
The Graveyard Shift by Darynda Jones
It’s not the only book I’ve read since my last blog post. Darynda
Jones published a short romance set in her Charley Davidson world. The Graveyard Shift takes place a few years after the final book in the series and
features Garrett Swopes, a PI friend of Charley’s who has one task: keep
Charley and Rey’s daughter safe. And then she disappears. Out of options, he
seeks help from the mother of his son, whom he resents for various reasons.
It’s an opportunity for a second chance romance for them. However, the book is
curiously thin on romance—though there’s of
course a happily ever after ending. The main focus is on Beep, the daughter,
and what happens to her during her absence. Basically, the book sets up the
next phase in the series. So, even if the romance is a bit dull, the book is
essential reading for anyone who wants to keep reading the series.
The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole
The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole is a delightful love story between two people who are both recovering from an
accident that has affected their memories, but with a twist—revealed in the title—that
one of them is a biomechanical human, basically a replicant from Blade Runner.
It’s set in somewhat dark future, after WW3. America is run by an organisation
called Hive that controls people, or at least its employees with AIs, robots
and fear. The focus is on the love story though, emphasised by the fact that
the two never leave the apartment complex where they live. There’s a mystery
unfolding on the background that upends both their lives when its revealed,
done well-enough that I never even suspected it. Quite a lot was left
unexplained in the end though, so I assume there will be a series focusing on
other characters mentioned in this book. I’d read them.
Firelight by Kristen Callihan
Firelight by Kristen Callihan was a
disappointing historical fantasy romance that I gave only three stars
to. Two people with curses they want to keep hidden from the world and each
other fall in love and then have to save the world from the Big Bad. There was
a bit too much artificially forced secrecy between the two, and the falling in
love seemed to happen outside the narrative and was simply given to the reader,
but the plot was interesting and the solution to the curse was unique. I liked
Archer and Miranda, didn’t instantly guess who the baddy was—or why—and approved the way the day
was saved in the end, but the narrative dragged and the outside threat to the
couple never felt immediate. The main character of the next book was introduced
in this one, but I didn’t like him and I probably won’t read his story.
Changeling by Molly Harper
Another historical fantasy I read is
Changeling by Molly Harper. It’s a delightful middle grade story of a servant
girl who learns she can do magic in a society sharply divided to haves and have
nots based on their ability with magic. It has everything such a book needs: a
rags to riches story, adventure, making new friends in a boarding school for
witches, and even a little romance. Sarah/Cassandra is a good-hearted girl who
learns to survive in her new reality with the help of a magical book and her
two new friends. I’ll definitely read the next book too.
Elven Doom by Lindsay Buroker
On top of these romances I read Elven Doom by Lindsay Buroker, a fourth book in the Death Before Dragons urban
fantasy series. It’s yet another solid four star book from her: action packed,
funny and romantic. Val and Zav’s romance should’ve moved to a new level, but
things are ruined by Zav’s sister. Also the dark elves are ready to destroy the
world. The book has a slight wrapping-things-up feel to it despite leaving
much unsolved, but I hope this isn’t the last we hear from these characters.
Things are just getting interesting. I also read a collection of short
stories and scenes written from Zav’s point of view called The Forbidden Ground,
which was a nice addition to the series. I’m not sure if it’s on sale yet, as
it was a newsletter gift from the author to her readers.
These books were joined by three I
received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. And, honestly, two of
them weren’t anywhere near being published yet. Calypso’s Heart by M.C. Solaris
resulted in my first ever one star review on Goodreads (I usually never write a
review if it’s going to be that bad) based on the eight chapters I managed to
read before giving up in rage. Paradise Rising by P.G. Shriver got two stars,
but only because I actually finished it. Into the Black was a fairly
interesting sci-fi mystery/romance I gave three stars to. Nothing terribly
wrong with that one, but it failed to properly engage my interest. You can read
my Goodreads reviews by clicking the name of the book.
All in all, a busy and interesting
month of reading. NetGalley has definitely broadened my reading habits with
books that I might not otherwise choose to read. If I’m not always happy with
them, I at least learn a lot from them for my own writing. And that can only be
a good thing.
Second Chance Angel by Griffin Barber and Kacey Ezell
Second Change Angel is a sci-fi mystery set in somewhere in
space, somewhen in the future. Full disclosure: one, I received a free copy
from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and two, I stopped reading
around the 70% mark and didn’t finish it.
Second Change Angel is one of those unfortunate books that don’t
give the reader any roadmap to work on when it comes to characters, time and
space—and space. I put the latter in twice, because apparently
it takes place in a space station, though we only get a confirmation of that
when the main character leaves the place. Until then, we could’ve been on a
random planet or a moon just as well.
Time is somewhere in the future after a devastating war with
an alien race that has blown up the earth. The war was apparently long, but the
earth has been gone for only seven years. Does this upset the remaining humans?
No, it doesn’t. Maybe they’re too far removed from the home planet already.
Maybe the human race has spread so far that the loss of the planet doesn’t
matter. I don’t know, because I don’t know where we are in relation to the
earth and how long ago humans have left it. Space travel is sort of fast, and
although it depends on tricks like slingshots around a sun and using a planet’s gravitational
force for deceleration, I got the notion that we’re far, far from our solar
system.
Place is a space station that seems to be built to accommodate
humans, though not by humans, if I got that right. The place is so poorly
described that all I have are weird, confusing and frustrating impressions that
don’t really make any sense when put together. The place is apparently huge,
because people travel by vehicles. It’s built on one level, with very tall
houses rising from it, so that the ceiling has to be high, but it’s also
curving. The ceiling is apparently non-transparent, because the place is
artificially lit. But despite all this, there is only one level below ground?
How does that even work?
Characters are the greatest weakness. There are four point
of view characters, three of which are AIs. That was why I initially chose the
book, having read and loved books like Murderbot Diaries where the AI tries to
cope among humanity, but remains essential alien to it. Unfortunately that wasn’t
what I got.
The AIs are very human-like with emotions and petty
grievances, and inability to concentrate on more than one task at the time. They
are gendered and very stereotypically at that. LEO, a male, is a law
enforcement AI and SARA, a female, a station administrative AI. Both behave
according to their assumed gender as well. The station AIs have their own
mystery plot unfolding concerning a virus or some such that cause their emotions
and prevent them from correcting the malfunction. They also provide a bird’s
eye view on some characters, so that we learn more than just the main character’s
point of view.
The main AI character is a personal AI called Angel.
Developed for soldiers, personal AIs are mainly supposed to enhance their users’
physical and mental abilities during the battle, but the war is over and the
AIs remain. Angel belongs to a former special ops soldier Siren who works as a
lounge singer in a seedy bar. She goes missing and somehow Angel ends up in the
body of another former soldier who has had his AI removed as a disciplinary measure.
Angel is a female and behaves like one to get her way with
her new host, like making him feel like he’s being caressed by her. She’s manipulative and doesn’t hesitate to take over the host’s
body when she feels like it with no regard to his right to govern his body—nor is that philosophical question brought up in
the narrative. She sulks and is in general a great nuisance and a very annoying
character. As an AI, she’s a failure. As a narrator, she’s really difficult to
follow, because she wavers between I, we, and he when she describes the actions
of the body she inhabits.
The only human character is Muck, the former soldier whose
body Angel invades—uninvited, I might add. We don’t
learn anything about him initially, and titbits about his past spring up only
when the plot so requires. For example, he needs a rescue on a desert and it so
happens that the religious order that saves him is the one he grew up in.
Wouldn’t that have made a great starting point for building his character? How
does a man who grows up with an order who shuns AI technology end up becoming
an AI enhanced soldier? Maybe the answer is given at the end of the book, but I
didn’t get that far. At some point Angel also informs him that the memory he
has of the events that led to his disgrace are altered. It’s a meaningless
titbit at that particular point, but maybe all is revealed in the end—and hopefully it links with the overall plot
somehow too. I don’t know. What I know is that it would’ve been more meaningful
if Muck had even remotely suspected it earlier.
All in all, Muck is a spineless character in a thug’s body
who is pushed this way and that by Angel. He’s seemingly in lead of the
investigation that Angel forces him to do, but that’s about the only thing that
distinguishes him in any way.
What about the plot then? Siren goes missing without the
knowledge of her AI who somehow gets booted off her body and ends up in Muck’s,
so she forces him to investigate the disappearance. Do they start by
investigating who might have the technological skills to remove an AI? No, they
go after the biggest drug baron. Do they search the most obvious places for her,
like the station itself? No, they head off the station to a planet the drug
baron directs them to. Do they find her there? No.
This is where I stopped reading, by the way. The events so
far had been so illogical and stupid and filled with out of the blue attacks
and pointless detours, like getting weapons from an arms dealer Muck then never
even uses before they get blown up. The secondary plot with the station AIs
about the virus infecting them might have been more interesting, but they were
so annoying characters that I couldn’t really care.
The task of making sense of the plot wasn’t made any easier
by the narrative that was mostly dialogue between talking heads. Most of the
time there was no indication about who was talking—not
a single ‘he said, she said’, or even the occasional action beat of ‘she smiled’,
‘he nodded’—so that I had to actually count
the exchanges to figure out who was saying what. This was made infinitely more difficult
by the file I received from NetGalley that was dismally formatted, with
paragraphs that either had no indents or had indents in the middle of the sentence,
and dialogues that bled together in endless rows.
So, all in all, a disappointing experience. Why, then, did I
give it three stars? I don’t know. It had some draw that kept me reading
despite the difficulties, like the struggle with PTSD Muck and Siren originally
dealt with—though that was soon forgotten—and really imaginative aliens—who
were all criminals, by the way. And who knows, maybe it redeems itself in the
end. I couldn’t make myself finish the book, but I don’t want to rob others the
chance to find out by giving the book only two stars. If it improves, let me
know.
