Books Read in February 2019

Death at the Priory: Love, Sex and Murder in Victorian England by James Ruddick - 5 stars

Recap: It's 1875 and the young widow Florence Ricardo marries Charles Bravo hoping for happiness second time around. His unsolved, untimely death puts her under scrutiny and ruins the rest of her life. But who did murder Charles Bravo?

Review: Wonderfully written in an easy to digest, factual yet approachable manner. Really interesting research process as well as an insight into Victorian life. A highly satisfying whodunnit.

Rose (The Sister's Secrets #1) by Katlyn Duncan - 4 stars

Recap: Rose Barros works as a waitress, visits her mum Pearl who suffers from dementia and tries to avoid the ocean after nearly drowning as a teenager. The only problem is she lives in a coastal town and she just witnessed a young girl jump to her death. Or did she?

Review: Excellent world building, the place and the characters feel real. Rose isn't a strong-willed main character but that works for the plot. She tends to have huge reactions to emotions and her love interest plotline runs parallel to trope and cliche but we don't mind because we're more interested in the mysterious girl. And secretly we all enjoy a love story!

Reen (The Sister's Secrets #2) by Katlyn Duncan - 4 stars

Recap: Reen Barros, sister to Rose, has returned to her childhood home, her memory-addled mother and her broken-hearted high school boyfriend. Will she stay?

Review: Well written from a different viewpoint this time, the more aggressive and feisty Reen. There was less mermaid mystery which was a shame, everyone smirked a lot and drank an awful lot of wine but the romance lovers will still get their kicks and we did get confirmation of our suspicions from book one. Cliff hanger ending of sorts so will definitely be reading book three. An easy, enjoyable read.

The Book of Abisan by CH Clepitt - 4 stars

Recap: Yfrey is alone in the world, tasked with looking for the Conduit who will help guide the Roghnaithe to save their world. Jacques is attacked by a mysterious priest trying to kill her and receives a magical knife in the post. Then she meets Yfrey. 

Review: A dialogue heavy, fast-paced fantasy novel with strong female leads who have no problem kicking ass and taking names.

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M Harris - 3 stars

Recap: We hear Loki's version of Norse history from his point of view.

Review: The problem is Marvel. I was vaguely aware of Norse mythology before the marvel films happened. Then I watched them all and now Loki, Thor, Odin and Asgard have all been created in my mind a certain way. I spent half the book arguing with it on Loki's portrayal before I was finally able to dissociate myself - completely my fault not the book. I found the retold mythology interesting, some strong kick-ass female characters and at least Heimdal was still Idris Elba lol. But I'm not sure I'll read the others. 

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop.