A Duke By Default by Alyssa Cole

4 Stars

The Reluctant Royals - Book 2

So this is a daunting book only because it's one of the darlings of 2018.  EVERYONE loves this book and it's a darling of Romancelandia.  So I was a little wary going into it.  The last time I read a book that was so universally loved, it was The Bollywood Bride, and I hated it.  Did not see what any of the fuss was about.

Thank God, this book was a different experience.

So, I had been advised that I didn't need to have read the first book in the series to enjoy this one, but I'll tell ya, I wish I had.  There were so many instances where the heroine's past was mentioned that had important bearing on the plot but were never explained that my wondering took me out of the story.  And the story was GREAT, so this was quite bothersome.  I STILL don't know the deal with Portia's (the heroine) sister.  And it BUGS me.  So YES, READ THE FIRST BOOK.

So, Portia is a screw up, who, it turns out, suffers from ADHD.  This explains many things about her and her issues.  I liked her.  I liked her a lot. I liked that she was smart and clever. I liked her smart mouth and like many of her friends and her sister, I often wanted to shake her to make her believe she wasn't the mess she thought she was. 

I liked the hero, Tav, the Duke by Default of the title.  He was older, 37 to her 30 (THANK GOD for mature characters!!) and your typical taciturn Scot.  And he was HOT.  And he forges weapons, swords, daggers, axes... the whole thing!  That's darned sexy.  Anyway, he hit all the right buttons for me. 

From my lofty 62 years of life, I thought that if they only would take an hour or two to actually talk about all these things that bothered each of them about themselves, the whole emotional mess could have been dealt with quickly and easily.  But we wouldn't have a story then.  *LOL*  And it was a good story, maybe a little heavy at times with the ADHD and the immigration problem, but the author's writing style is breezy and fun (a big reason why AC is a fave of mine.) which saved it from being too lecture-y. 

In the end, it was a really good romance.  I totally enjoyed it and I can easily see how it garnered so many accolades and such noisy support. Just read the first book first!

Of Sand and Malice Made by Bradley P. Beaulieu

3.5 Stars

The Shattered Sands - Book 0.5

So this is a big novella that takes place before the beginning of the epic series and introduces us to a teenage Cedi. It's basically the story of Ceda and her battle with the ehrehk, Rumayesh.  Ehrehks are creatures created by the gods long ago and there's nothing good about them. 

The book reads like three serial installments of a story which, for me, was a little off-putting.  Flow-wise.  A matter of personal preference, I think.  Other than that, it was a pleasure to sink into the author's writing again.

At any rate, it was cool to see more of young Ceda and indeed just to visit Sharakhai again.  We get to see a bit of other favourite characters too.  It was a fun read.

Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey

4 Stars

The Expanse - Book Two

Excellent sequel to the first book of the series.  All our favourite characters have returned... well most of them.  :)  I have been firmly confirmed in my favouritism towards Amos and Chrisjen Avasarala. That being said, I love most of the characters.  And we get to meet the stellar Bobbie Draper, Martian marine extraordinaire. She and Chrisjen working together are the absolute best.

The plot of this book clips along at a decent pace and the writing style makes it an easy, fluid read.  I have to say that I've watched all 3 existing seasons of The Expanse and have found that the they're fairly faithful to the books and the changes not too jarring. 

Anyway, loved my read and am looking forward to getting to book 3, which I have on tap soon.  :)

Jacked Cat Jive by Rhys Ford

4 Stars

Kai Gracen - Book Three

Thank you Rhys!  I swear, Rhys' books never disappoint, and this, the 3rd in the series that stars my favourite of her characters certainly followed suit. 

I don't quite know what to say, except that Kai is his usually cranky, soft-hearted, brave, cynical self and I still am in love with him.  :)  I was happy that his relationship with Ryder, the elfin lord made some progression.  I love their banter, I love what's unsaid between them and I love how they have each others' backs, no matter what.  Ryder makes me chuckle. 

I was also happy to get the chance to know Cari a little better.  I wish she'd had a little more to do though and that we could have explored her special power a tad.  But she's a ballsy young lady and I quite enjoy her.  The new character of Kerrick was interesting - Ryder's cousin yet so very unlike Ryder.  And then there was Bannon who I found even MORE interesting.  No doubt we'll be seeing more of her in future books.  And we got the chance to visit with that uber crankass, Dempsey.  I enjoyed that too. 

So there was adventure, some sadness, some great fights, some romance, some growing social awareness and loyalties being forged stronger. It was a thrill ride and I loved it!  It's going to feel like FOREVER until the next one!

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

4 Stars

The Salvagers - Book One

I hemmed and hawed about rating this book between 3.5 and 4 stars, but I went for 4 stars because it was a lot of fun.  I saw it described somewhere as a Firefly-esque story mixed in with some Fast and Furious and that works for me. We have a rag-tag group of characters hieing their way across the galaxy in search of a rather mythical warship that would be one helluva salvage score.  It's mostly space opera with a hefty side order of magic and while the magic was never really explained, I found it didn't matter much to me.

There are some fun characters here and I became fond of most, if not all of them.  I loved the banter between them all and even if one of the main characters, the youthful race car driver, Nilah, made me want to shake her at times, it was an amused shake. 

Only a couple of things bothered me, and they were probably small, but whenever I came across them in the book, it threw me right out of the story for a moment or two.  Firstly, the author decided that ships aren't "she" in this far future universe, they are "he". Don't know why, there's never an explanation or anything, but every time the ship was designated this way, it gave me pause.  The other thing was that the Captain called his crew Miss Thing, Missus Thing, Mister Thing (whatever their family names were) and it felt so out of place in this futuristic universe that I was pulled right out of the story.  I found it peculiar. 

Anyway, all in all, it was a super fun read and if you enjoy KB Wagers Idranan Trilogy or James Corey's Expanse series, you'll probably enjoy this one. I'm looking forward to the next book - it's on my list. 

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

3 Stars

Well, this wasn't for me, I guess.  It got lots of good press and I can understand why, but for my own taste, it didn't satisfy.  (And this is where I remind folks that I rate on my reading experience.)  It was too.... I felt like I was missing something, something that would give me the deeper understanding that the book was trying to give me. And that annoyed me at times.

The premise was interesting, but I felt overwhelmed by all the social stuff I was supposed to be getting riled up about.  There are a lot of interesting concepts in the book having to do with the Earth's future, computer programs taking over so many things, nanosomething or others that sort of enable a melding with animals... just so so much.

The world-building is to be lauded, however.  And the characters were interesting and intriguing. I just... I wish I liked it more.  It felt like I SHOULD like it more.  It's up for a Nebula award this year for best novel and I can see why.  The nomination is deserved, I think.  The book just isn't really for me.  I will say though, it does leave me wondering what happens to the main characters left at the end.  Whether or not their story continues and how it does. 

Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

3.5 Stars

Legends of the First Empire - Book Two

Let me begin by saying that I had no idea we were so far back in the history of this world when I read the first book.  Thinking it was just me, I asked my son who just read book one at Christmas what he thought the 'age' of the world was and turns out it's not just me.  *LOL*

Anyway, after the first quarter of the book being rather slow and um... explanatory?... the tale picked up and I adventured along with the familiar characters I had grown to enjoy from the first book.  And while there were adventures to be had and new locations to be explored, I felt as if this book was very much a setting of the stage for the next book.  Yes, the over-arcing plot lines advance and we get an answer or two or three to some things, but you can just feel that there's a lot more of this story to tell.

I very much enjoy the overall tone and flow of Sullivan's books and he creates characters that I fall in love with, so even though the plot and action of this book might have been a little slow, I still enjoyed it muchly and am looking forward to reading the next book!

Oh, and I have to shout out the cover artist, Marc Simonetti.  The whole series is terrific!

The Cold Between by Elizabeth Bonesteel

3.5 Stars

Central Corps - Book One

Don't be fooled by the first couple of chapters of this book.  It reads like a steamy romance heading towards erotica land at first.  I was a little confused, but then the mystery kicked in and we were off to the races.  The science fiction wasn't earth-shatteringly different, but it felt mostly familiar to me.

So this is a busy book.  A lot of things happening and often happening quickly - I found myself thinking on more than one occasion that a little streamlining wouldn't be amiss.

There is a thing that authors do sometimes, and that's have something in the backstory of one or all of the main characters that has great import on the characterization, the plot or both that is only hinted at in the inner workings of the characters thoughts.  If it's not done well, it feels like a 'nya-nya-nya, I know something you don't' and I find it quite annoying.  This happens here with Elena and whatever happened between her and her captain six months ago to cause such a rift.  I would rather have known from pretty much the get go because the not-knowing felt rather manipulative.

I enjoyed the characters for the most part, especially the character of Trey.  I loved his speech patterns and thought the author did a terrific job of making him feel 'outside the norm' to the reader.  I also loved that he wasn't a young sprout.  He was definitely sigh-worthy.  There was nothing overly new or different about them, really, but I enjoyed reading about them.  I had a hard time warming up to Elena, the main character, because she just felt a little too... edgily perfect?  There was just some spark missing for me. I have no idea what, but it was there. 

Is it a romance?  Nope, I wouldn't consider it so - there's no HEA, nor even a real HFN.  Yeah, there's a romantic element to the story but I wouldn't term it romance.  Space opera mystery works for me. :)

Anyway, it was a fun read for the most part and I'll be adding the second book to my 'watch for a sale' book list. 

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

3.5 Stars

Lady Astronaut - Book One

I started this book thinking I was about to read an alternate history about a group of women pioneering space flight on an alternate, historical planet Earth.  What I felt I just read was an autobiography of one of the first women in space.  An AU space, but still... not what I expected.

The story is told from the first person POV of Elma York, who is a mathematician and was a WASP pilot during the war.  World War 2.  She's also married to Nathaniel, who is an engineer and they are both Jewish.  (Although, for some reason - I suspect because of Hidden Figures - I kept thinking of her as black.)  Both of them are very, very smart.  The story begins in alternate 1952 and t the world isn't that much different from reality.

There is an awful lot of Elma becoming more and more aware of racial discrimination against people of colour while being subjected to antisemitism and prejudice against women personally. The latter half of the book is taken up with the beginnings of integration in the International Aerospace Coalition and Elma's learning to deal with her crippling - at times - anxiety as she moves closer to her goal of getting into space.

So, I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't get the story I expected to get when I picked up the book.  BUT, the book was a good read if I look at it as an AU auto-biography.  And because of that, I've added book 2 to the 'want to read' list. 

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

4 Stars

I think this book broke my brain.  *LOL*  I picked it up because it had been recommended to me by a very good friend.  It also had a lot of good buzz about it.

It's a differently structured book.  We get differing first person POVs and flashback scenes/chapters.  It's also written mostly in present tense, I think... At this point, there's so much of that being written that I seldom actually take notice of it.

At any rate, I was luckily able to avoid all the spoilers about the book, only knowing that there was one helluva twist to it.  And I would say that it's really, really important to do that.  I think the book would be pretty much ruined if you were spoiled.

I hemmed and hawed about my rating (between 3.5 and 4) because while I thoroughly enjoyed my read and was pretty much surprised about the main twist (I had suspicions as the end got nearer and nearer), the mechanics of constructing that twist felt just a wee bit deux ex machina to me?  But maybe that was my expectations?

And Netflix is making a limited series from the book, so I suggest you read it before watching. :)

Anyway... it was very good.  Read it.  Don't get spoiled.