The Hangman by Louise Penny

4 STARS

Inspector Gamache Series

It's Louise Penny. It's Inspector Armand Gamache. It's Three Pines. What's not to love???

My only complaint? It was far too short. *LOL*

Sloe Ride by Rhys Ford

4 STARS

Sinners Series - Book 4


The 4th book in the Sinners series stars the 3rd of all those Morgan brothers (I think there are 7 brothers and one sister) and the man destined to become the band's bass player.

I think that Quinn and Rafe just might be my favourite of all the Sinners pairings. I love how Rafe just gets Quinn and doesn't question the whys or wherefores of it all. They really are quite perfect for each other.

I also really enjoyed Quinn's interactions with Miki and Damie. Although I did wonder when the two of them got so damned prickly (read bitchy. *LOL*).

This was a quick read and pretty much a comfort read for me, just what I count on a Rhys Ford to be.  

Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale

4 STARS

What a yummy book! Ginn Hale has created two wonderful protagonists in Belimai Sykes, a Prodigal descended from ancient demons and Captain William Harper who is a member of the constabulary aka the Inquisition.

Captain Harper seeks out Belimai's help to solve a series of murders and disappearances and the tale begins. And isn't Belimai Sykes the most delicious of names? The two men don't seem to have much to draw them together at the beginning, but as time goes on, things change... as they will. Their banter, even in the darkest of situations, is immensely enjoyable.

Watching the relationship between these two men grow is delightful. There is not a lot of overt sexytimes to be had, but that's okay by me. I'm not convinced that it would have fit with the atmosphere that the author created. The world building is fascinating. I wanted to know more and more about the Prodigals and how they were descended from the one-time angels cast out of heaven and the other-wordly powers they have. Fascinating.

I do hope that Ginn Hale brings us more of this world and these characters. They are WONDERFUL!

Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay

4.5 STARS

This man writes the most beautiful books. I can totally immerse myself in the worlds he creates, worlds that are almost ours but just a step to the left. :) He does things with words and sentences that should be so completely wrong, but they work! THEY WORK!

Along with amazingly real worlds, GGK creates the most real and intriguing characters, be they rulers or workers, priests or artists, they're all so complete and authentic. If I stop to think about it, it boggles my mind. In a good way of course!

I wish I was clever enough to write coherently about how I feel about this book, but I just want to stand up and shake my hands while jumping up and down. *LOL*

Here's a link to a review by someone who says things far more eloquently than I ever could.

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.ca/2016/04/children-of-earth-and-sky.html

The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny

4.5 STARS

Chief Inspector Gamache - Book 3

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has firmly established himself as one of my very most favourite book detectives up there with Benjamin January (Barbara Hambly) and Trixie Belden (Julie Campbell/Katheryn Kenny). I love him, it's as simple as that.

The Cruellest Month is the 3rd of the Inspector Gamache books and not only does it have a fascinating mystery at the centre of it, it also brings to a close what I'm assuming is the first of the Gamache series arcs. (The 12th book is due out this August after all). And it solves both of these things in a very Louise Penny type of way - meaning that it left me very thoughtful about people and what motivates them.

Back to Three Pines we go, of course, and in and around the murder to be solved, we begin to see what exactly makes it special. A place out of time? Sorta. :)

We meet all our old Three Pines friends again, Clara and Peter, Gabri and Olivier, Ruth, Myrna. And we get our team assembled once again too. The stalwart Inspector Beauvoir, Agent Lacoste, Agent Nichol and Officer Lemieux have joined Gamache to solve the mystery of the woman apparently frightened to death in the middle of an Easter Sunday seance.

The growth of all these characters - and the AHA! moments near the end OMG!! - is what elevates this series above the normal police procedural novels. And the way Gamache's mind works sometimes is just amazing!

I love them and I am seriously debating my rule about not immediately jumping to the next book!

Prudence by Gail Carriger

4 STARS

The Custard Protocol - Book 1

Another rollicking romp though an alternate Victorian world full of fun and adventure and wonderfully clever banter. :)

In this book, the first volume of The Custard Protocol, we meet Prudence, the all-grown-up daughter of Alexia and Lord Maccon and the other grown-up little ones from the Parasol Protectorate series. We have the twins, Primrose and Percy as well as the cocky Quesnel. Off they go adventuring in Rue's airship, the Spotted Custard, headed towards India in search of tea.

There is the beginnings of romance, some rambunctious adventures concerning shape-shifters of a different sort, meetings with old friends (that are never long enough - Lyall is still my fave of fave characters, but I have to admit, young Spoo has quite endeared herself to me already), and of course manners and etiquette all over the place.

My only problem was that I kept getting muddled up between Rue and Prim! *LOL* I guess Prudence is too close to Primrose in my old brain. But honestly, that was the only wee complaint I had and it's entirely my own problem.

Another series I'm going to have to collect! :)

Point of Dreams by Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett

3.5 STARS

Astreiant Book 3

The third installment of the Astreiant followed in the footsteps of the first two (Point of Knives and Point of Hopes) and was very, very good. We continue to follow our heroes, Nico Rathe, the pointsman and Philip Eslingen, the one-time solder on the latest of their mysteries. This one concerns flowers, the theatre, and the nobility.

Philip is now working as a member of the Masters of the Guild of Defense, who provide all military and/or fighting performances in Astreiant's theatres. There are murders in the theatre and environs where he's working and since the theatre district is in the point (district) served by the Point of Dreams, Nico takes it on. Thereby hangs the tale.

In this book, we get to meet Nico's mother, which I really liked. Nico and Philip's relationship grows and I guess you could say expands to the point where they're openly acknowledging each other as their leman.

My only problem - and the reason I didn't give it 4 stars - was that there was so much stuff about the play being rehearsed and the previous play that I got a tad befuddled at times. And, there were a few big-time secondary characters whose names were similar, all starting with the letter A for some reason.

The Astreiant series has become one of my favourites and I really love both Nico and Philip. :)

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

3.5 STARS

Shades of Magic Book 1

I got so involved with my new SIMS 4 game that I forgot to post about this read! YIKES!!!

So..

I really, really enjoyed it. It was recommended on a lot of Best Books of lists and I think deservedly so. Even if it is sort of YA/NA. The writing was very good, the author's voice fresh, the plot really interesting and the world building was stellar. The characters were good too. A little stereotypical, but that might have been down to their youth - around 20ish years old.

It will be interesting to see where the author takes the next book. And how the characters will grow. I'm looking forward to it. :)

Such a Dance by Kate McMurray

3 STARS

Well, it wasn't the greatest, but it was by far not the worst I've read, that's for sure.

Eddie is a dancer and Lane is a mobster in the late 1920's in NYC. They meet, there's attraction and they begin to see more and more of each other until they fall in love and then decide what they're going to do with the rest of their lives. That's pretty much it.

I never really connected with either of the two main characters. I didn't find anything much special about Lane other than that he seemed to be a nice guy. Eddie was a lot less sympathetic - I think he was supposed to be a cranky sort but he just came across as an unlikable, negative type fellow. I have no idea what Lane really saw in him past the physical attraction. I was honestly far more invested in the secondary characters of Julian and Frankie.

I wished that the mob parts of the part could have been more explored - it seemed to me that Lane got lucky far too many times in his dealings with them. I also wished that we could have seen the baddie - Hardy - get his comeuppance. That would have been satisfying.

The parts of the plot dealing with Eddie and his dancing partner, Marian, seemed rather meaningless to me. Not meaningless, no... pointless. I never felt that I saw Eddie rising above the whole debacle of the breaking up of the team. I also wanted Jimmy, the show promoter, to get his comeuppance too. Just telling me that his show will probably go in the toilet wasn't enough.

So, all in all, it was rather a bland read for me. McMurray's writing is good, so it wasn't as awful as it could have been (I saw one knob on Goodreads give it 5 stars because the book was grammatically correct and punctuated correctly. WHAT??), I just didn't really care much about Lane and Eddie. And it just proves to me that I must have good characters in my reads. Most important thing.

Saint's Blood by Sebastien de Castell

4.5 STARS

The Greatcoats - Book 3

It felt like I waited forever for this third book about my wonderful Greatcoats! Okay, they're not mine, but they're still wonderful and I love them, so... :)

This third book in the Greatcoats series is not really as much of a romp as the previous two and I think that's because we are reading about Big Events - Really Big Events - concerning Saints and Gods and Thrones and the 'terribleness' of them all.

Once again, Falcio seems to be tilting at windmills, never quite sure why he's doing what he's doing and why he's leading his friends and loved ones into all these dangers, he just knows he must. He has a new horse, bless him, a horse he's named Arsehole. Of course it is. *LOL* And poor Falcio, he's destined for even more tragedy and heartbreak and wounding and loss. Was there ever a more tragic figure yet one who can make me laugh out loud at his wry outlook on just about everything? Sometimes I just want to shake him until his teeth rattle and I am by far not the only one.

Kest and Brasti are back too. I love them. Both of them. There is a part in the book where Kest talks to Falcio about when they were boys and I was in tears! And Brasti, bless his humongous ego, he always seems to know when that ego is most needed. :) Brasti Goodbow, another archer I have fallen in love with.

And the ladies are all there. Aline, Ethalia, Valiana. All of them proving to the men who would protect them from all that is evil that they are more than able to do that protecting themselves. I mean, there is no one more heroic that Valiana in my opinion!

And I have a new fave. Quentis. Thank you, Sebastien, for not doing the predictable with him.

I mentioned that there was a lot about Gods in this book. I am not really fond of the stories where Gods walk the Earth and I wasn't really fond of the trope in my Greatcoats book. But that being said, there was a lot of interesting discussion, both internal and external about the nature of Gods, religion, faith and the like - but while quite fascinating at times, it took away from the swashbuckling of the book. So I had to take off a half a star.

And just like the Marvel movies that we so love, if you make it through the credits, you get a little bit extra - in this case ... well, I'll leave that surprise to you. :)

And joy of joys! There will be a Greatcoats 4!! Tyrant's Throne. I can't wait!!