Making Up by Lucy Parker

4 Stars

London Celebrities - Book Three

Another fun romance from Lucy Parker that's filled with great dialogue and banter.  Lucy has become one of my favourite romance authors with her London Celebrities series.  I love the settings of the theatre world in London as well as the actors, directors, and performers who populate her world. 

This time around the setting vehicle is a show that is very Cirque de Soleil-esque and our main characters are the circus artist, Trix, who is suddenly thrust into a starring role in the show and Leo, the uber-talented make-up artist.  We know Trix from the previous book, as she is that book's heroine's best friend. 

Trix and Leo felt to me a bit edgier than previous couples in the series, their dialogue more sharp and defensive much of the time.  But it worked because Trix has a past relationship that has left her unsure of herself and very defensive in her dealings with other people.  And trusting other people.  Been there and done that, so I recognised it right off and felt it was well done.  This, of course, made this book a little less light-hearted than the two previous. 

The romance worked for me as well - important in a romance novel, yes?  *LOL*  But it worked and I enjoyed going along for the trip.  :)  *two thumbs up*

Hanging the Stars by Rhys Ford

4 Stars

Half Moon Bay - Book Two

Rhys never lets me down.  Whether it's some adventurous urban fantasy, rockstar dramas or, like this one, a romantic mystery I always enjoy my Rhys reads.  :)

Book two in the Half Moon Bay series focuses on the twin brother of one of the MCs of the first book. In the first book he was not the most sympathetic of characters, but as we delve into his life in this book, we come to understand his whys and wherefores.

While the main characters of West and Angel might be somewhat typical, the rich full-of-himself guy and the hard-working, blue-collar, doing-his-best guy, Rhys infuses them with quirks and humanity and courage and flaws and makes them come alive on the page.

Yeah, there's a mystery involved, but it really takes a somewhat backseat to the relationship between West and Angel.  A relationship I became invested in and with characters I came to care for very much. Main and secondary!  (I really want to know more about West's friend/bodyguard.)

So another great read from a fave author.

The Watchmaker's Daughter by C. J. Archer

3.5 Stars

Glass and Steele - Book One

Upon starting this book I was worried that it was going to fall into DNF land or at least 2 Star Land at the very least, but you know what?  It surprised me! 

Yes, it has problems.  The heroine is sometimes a little slow on the uptake, as my mom used to say and things would have gone much smoother had she and the hero, or even she and some of the other characters, actually talked about things.  But you know... I couldn't put it down even with all that!

I wish there was a bit more explanation of the magic that is hinted about through most of the book.  And I wish we had some resolution of the hero, Matt's, problem.

I loved the cast of secondary characters - they are very found family and that, admittedly, is one of my most favourite things. 

I honestly shouldn't have enjoyed this book but I did!  I'm ready to read more.

Come Hell or Highball by Maia Chance

3.5 Stars

The Discreet Retrieval Agency - Book One

This was a fun cozy mystery read.  Set in the Jazz Age, the age of Prohibition, the age of silent films, when the movie industry was beginning and mostly in New York, it's rightly described as a fun-filled romp.  There's a taste of madcap about it too.

I really enjoyed the characters: our heroine, the society widow Lola, her Swedish cook Berta, the mysterious Ralph and of course the dog whose name escapes me now because I waited too long to write this.  *LOL*  Most of the dialogue was fun banter, especially between Lola and Berta.  The mystery was okay and kept me engaged.

My one problem was the constant harping on Lola's weight.  It got old, really quick.  I loved that she was not the slender, boyish framed woman of that age, but dear God, the jokes got old and somewhat distasteful and there were far too many.  They took away from my enjoyment of the book.

Will I continue on with the series?  Probably.  Overall, I liked it.  And it's one of my favourite eras. :)

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson

DNF

I made it almost halfway before throwing in the towel.

There is nothing happening in the first part of this book.  Nothing interesting at least - it's just a bunch of daily vignettes of what are actually very interesting characters when they're not being mired in unnecessary narrative over and over and over again. 

This man obviously does not like to show.  He's a teller.  A big boring teller.  Treatises on finance and the 'stock market' in 2140, essays on real estate values after the flood, nonsense after nonsense. 

I was very disappointed, but when I realised that I'd been working on this book for almost 2 weeks and wasn't enjoying much of it at all, well... it was time to give up.  I'd have liked to know more about the story of the girl with the airship who was flying polar bears from up north to Antarctica to preserve them. Sadly, I've not the patience to wade through the rest of the stuff. 

Witchmark by C.L. Polk

4 Stars

The Kingston Cycle - Book One

I'm going to be frank.  A big reason I bought this book is because the online advertisements for it that featured the cover were so darned clever! If you haven't seen them, the two figures reflected from the bicycle wheels actually walked!  I tried to find a link, but was unsuccessful.  Anyway, that's one of the reasons.  Other reasons include recs by authors I like and an intriguing book blurb.

So, as Deborah Ross stated in her review on Goodreads, "The setting, very much like England in the throes of national PTSD following the First World War, a magic-yielding aristocracy, a conflicted hero and so forth, are familiar enough to be recognisable, yet integrated into a freshly imagine world."  I think that explains it perfectly.  😊

Just about everything works. There were a few places that I thought could use a bit more editing to make things a bit clearer, and maybe a tweak or two for the pacing, but they're mostly quibbles. The character of Miles is terrific and sympathetic and you can' help but like him. The secondary players - it's written in the 1st person POV so everyone else is a secondary for me - are interesting and possess more than one dimension.  The mysteries of the plot are intriguing and kept me guessing in many cases, and when they didn't, when I guessed what was happening, I kind of felt that maybe I was supposed to.

My one caveat is the whole romance angle.  The book is marketed as a fantasy romance, but it seems to me to be more a fantasy novel, set in an AU of WWI England with an important romantic subplot.  The romance is really far from the main element of this story.  So much so that the light-heartedness that permeated the last pages seemed almost out of place for the rest of the novel.  So beware, if you're looking for a romance-heavy story, I don't think this is it.

That being said, I cannot WAIT for the next book to come out.  It's coming out in February of 2020 according to both Kobo and Amazon.  On Goodreads, the author has responded to the question by saying summer of 2019.  God only knows.  And not only that, the images for Book Two have as its title Greystar while the text shows it as Stormsong.  Again, your guess is a good as mine.  All I know is that I will be there to read it. :)

Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher

3.5 Stars

The Clocktaur War - Book 1

This was a good, fun, intriguing read, despite how long it took me to finish it.  I was suffering from a bad cold and could not concentrate for long periods of time.

That being said, I totally enjoyed the 3 main characters and their 'misfittedness'.  There is a lot of snark back and forth which made me chuckle.  And while one of the main characters is indeed a paladin, he's not insufferably upright.  Well, not really.  Just enough to make it fun.

The one glaring downfall to this book - for me - is that it ends rather abruptly.  Not exactly a cliffhanger, but honestly?... not many questions have been answered.  The book felt more like Part One of a two or three part novel.  Even in the author's notes, reference was made to the fact that it was originally 130K + in draft form so it was split into two.  Honestly?  I'd have preferred the whole thing.  So I docked a half a point for that, because things like that matter to me and my reading enjoyment.

Anyway, it's a fun, sometimes dark, swords and sorcery adventure with great dialogue and memorable characters and I WILL be picking up the second book.  :)

Point of Sighs by Melissa Scott

4 Stars

Novels of Astreiant #5

I love this series and I love the two main characters, Philip Eslingen and Nico Rathe.  I love that in this book they're getting a little more settled into their relationship.  And they've not forgotten Sunflower, the dog!  I love that Nico is a born pointsman (policeman), smart, logical, observant and so upright sometimes that it hurts!  And I love that Philip, one of the leaders of the new City Guard (a type of militia unit), is more of a running on instinct fellow, more liable to jump to the right conclusions and just sly enough to get by.  And I love that the author doesn't forget to remind us of his soldiering/cavalry roots.

The mystery this time around focusses on the water.  The weather, the river, the tunnels beneath the city. Philip is quite unlucky with water, his stars being very bad for it.  There are abductions, murders, thugs and bribery.  There are river monsters and a river spirit who is absolutely evil.  And there are some pointespeople at the Point of Sighs office that we start to get to know, mostly don't trust at the beginning but then see Rathe be Rathe and grudgingly they begin to be won over.

One thing that bugged me however, and I don't remember it being the case in previous books.  The society of Nico and Philip's world is matriarchal. No problem, I'm good with that.  But in many instances, the narrative would read something like...  oh... he was looking for a place where a woman might hide - it was every woman for herself - which is all well and good, but when the story is being told from a man's POV, it's kind of jarring for me.  Because I find myself wondering if why they're looking for a woman, if they're ONLY looking for a woman, did I miss why it's a woman.  It felt almost obnoxious to my reading ear, but maybe that's because I'm 61 years old with 55 years of reading under my belt and habits are hard to break. 

But I loved this visit to Astreiant and I truly hope there are more, 'cause I'll be there to buy them!

Gideon's Sword by Preston & Child

3.5 Stars

Gideon Crew - Book One

When I finish a book that totally blows me away, I have to either change genres completely or go to reread a very old fave.  This time, I chose to change genres and try a new - to me - series.  And it did the trick!

This was an enjoyable read.  Sort of like the Ilona Andrews book, it  felt like some good junk food to my reading brain.  The story clipped along at a decent pace - the chapters weren't very long which helps a lot, keeps things from dragging.  The plot was intricate enough to keep me interested yet not so complicated that I was stopping to try and figure out things. 

The main character, Gideon Crew, is an interesting fellow.  Clever and smart, he reads people really well.  He has a great sense of humour.  And he has a sense of purpose and is just dark and cynical enough to appeal to me.  I liked following along with him on his 'mission'. 

There is a small cast of supporting characters that have the potential to increase their interestingness over the coming books. Apparently one of the guys comes one of the writing duo's other series, but I'm not ready to go hunt that down yet.  :)

So, I've found another series to follow when I need some tasty junk-food reading and that's a good thing!

There Before the Chaos by K. B. Wagers

5 Stars

The Farian War - Book One

I am in book hangover.  :)  That's not a bad thing - means I ADORED this book!  In the interests of full discolsure, I won the ARC of the book via a contest on K.B.'s patreon, but that in no way changes how I feel about it.

This is one of those times where I wish I was a good review writer.  Sadly I am not. 

When I was 3 chapters in, I already felt like I had met up with a gang of friends I had not seen in a long while and whom I had missed terribly. 

Now, there is not be quite as much harum-scarum action as there was in the first trilogy of Hail Bristol's tale, the last five chapters notwithstanding.  This book gives us more of a sharing of Hail herself, who she was, who she wishes to be, and who she really is.  We also learn more of certain important characters, through Hail's eyes of course, and maybe grow to love them as she does.  Well, I did.  :)  I think it's a more personal feeling book, if that makes any sense.

I need more Dailun and Hail in my life too!

There's something going on and despite many hints and answers and discoveries in this book, I still don't know what's going on.  *LOL*  But that's okay.  It's a trilogy and I know I'll get answers before the end, I just have to be patient.  And thanks to the way that K.B. Wagers weaves the story, it's never dissatisfying. 

If I have complaints, they're... negligible in the whole scheme of things.  One is that every damned character winks.  Some more often than others, but there are far too many winks going on.  It's K.B.'s tic I think.  I'm sure I've mentioned it before.  The other is the THRICE DAMNED CLIFFHANGER!!!  Thank GOD the format I read - the ARC of the trade paperback - had an excerpt of the next book because I was starting to hyperventilate!  And I must add, the excerpt was FASCINATING!

I cannot believe how long I have to wait for the next book!  I love these books and I love Hail Bristol and her crew of found family, so I will wait.  And try to be patient.  It's not something I'm very good at.