Pearl (The Sisters' Secret #3) by Katlyn Duncan
** spoiler alert ** Recap: Pearlina must complete her Drywalking Ceremony and bring back a human sacrifice but love gets in the way.
Review: I have enjoyed all three books in this series. The mermaid POV this time was so well written that you felt sympathy for them from the beginning and I was assessing each human Pearl met as to whether they would be a good sacrifice! My only niggle was that when she decided not to go back there was a lot of she never fit in any way but prior to her ceremony she was a model mermaid and that was all she'd ever wanted. Obviously, it's a fast love story, she only has a few days, but the emotion feels real and fits with what we know from the previous books.
Jade by Rose Montague
Recap: Jade Smith is the new cop in town. She's part shifter, part witch, part vamp and part fae. But not even Jade can handle what happens next on her own.
Review: A fast-paced, easy to read, fun novel. On the surface, it looks like the author couldn't decide what aspect of urban fantasy to write about so she threw it all in and you know what? It works brilliantly. Ok, so it might be super convenient for one character to have all the power she'd ever need to win the day but the reasoning behind this power is fascinating. My only complaint would be that there were so many interesting characters that I wanted to know more about them and I felt like we just met them so fleetingly. I'm looking forward to getting stuck in to book two. And my god woman! That was one helluva cliffhanger ending!
The Harvest by Alanah Andrews
Recap: Luc has reached final harvest and his superb emotional control guarantees a high ranking position. But he never clears harvest putting his sister in danger when she reacts wildly.
Review: Excellent sinister world building of a dystopian future with echoes of Divergent. A prequel that leaves you with lots of questions and the immediate desire to read on. The characters were intriguing and the setting was well described.
Recap: Luan is a second son and has chosen the sword path. This short story tells of his journey to the Guild of the Sword.
Review: all the elements of epic fantasy are present - a special sword, access to a magical realm, old mentor, feisty sidekick and lots of coincidences. But it's well written despite the obvious trope and fans of fantasy will enjoy the familiarity. There's a degree of sympathy for naive Luan and a great deal of mystery surrounding what will happen next. The story had natural pace and I'd read the next book.
Year of the Guilty Soul by A.M. Leibowitz
Recap: We follow a year in the life of teenager Toni, as they try to figure out who they are.
Review: A sensitive insightful coming of age short story that deals with the entire gamut of emotions. It's compelling because the characters are so realistic, the social and family groups so natural. It feels like you were there watching and listening, very well done.
Recap: Charlie Worthing just made Novice Winter Consul. Armed with her wonky face and a good memory, all she has to do is survive the Winter. And HiberTech. And The Gronk. And nightwalkers. And figure out the whole Toccata/Aurora thing. She'll be fine as long as she doesn't dream...
Review: As enjoyable as ever, Fforde takes winter to the nth degree and makes it insane to survive through. It's intelligent prose that makes you think twice with some great characterisation and a main character you want to root for. It has all the lovable quirks you'd expect from a Fforde novel and I almost expected Thursday Next to turn up.
Star Mage Exile by J.J. Green
Recap: Carina is an unlikely merc with a big secret. When the latest job for the Black Dogs goes south, she risks revealing her true nature to survive.
Review: This is a great short story prequel that delivers in world-building, characterisation and laws of magic. I like that it's not click your fingers and bang. It felt like there was a real richness to the background detail and the characters were so well defined that you felt sad to leave some of them despite the brief tale. It's a great entry book to the series with lots of intrigue and no real idea of what exactly is going to happen next. I also enjoyed the blend of sci-fi tech, a proper fantasy space opera!
Coffee, Kids and a Kidnapping by Alyssa Helton
Recap: Charlie is a single mum with three kids, two of them on the spectrum. She holds down a full-time job and drinks a lot of coffee! Her work includes confirming children up for adoption have no outstanding relatives wanting to make a claim.
Review: A real insight into Charlie's daily life which speaks of experience either on the job front or the special needs kids scenario. The characters feel drawn from real life and the dialogue, on the whole, is pretty natural. I don't read many first person POV books but this was done well, maintaining pace and interest. I'm not religious yet found the references to church and daily devotions interesting at how integrated it was in her life. Oh and there's lots of chicken dinners as well as coffee lol.
Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik
Recap: Sofia Khan is not getting married. She captures her woes on her blog leading to a book deal about dating (lucky thing) and then meets a string of very different men while all around her life stubbornly continued to churn out the unexpected.
Review: I enjoy reading books that offer a glimpse into other people's way of life although that said, we all have families and the dramas that come with them! The writing style was chatty and easy to read and the diary entries were much more emotional impactful than I expected. I was shedding a tear in several places. I'm also a sucker for a love story and this one had me all gooey in the middle.
Smile Again - A collection of short stories by Eunice Nascimento
Recap: A collection of heart-warming short stories.
Review: The nicest thing about this collection is all the hope and happy endings. A day of sunshine on a gloomy day. All the characters are lifelike, the dialogue realistic and stories that make you smile.
Checking Out: Clockwise by T.W.M Ashford
Recap: Pierre, the concierge of Le Petit Monde, has an unexpected visit from a hotel inspector. He accidentally sends her into the jaws of the Yakuza yet on a rescue mission the gangsters have been slaughtered. On a quest to find the inspector, he dodges bullets in the Wild West and inadvertently releases a banished species back into the universe.
Review: I liked the character Pierre from book one so I was pleased to see him taking centre stage in book two along with his girlfriend Viola who is feisty and bad-ass. It's fun multi-world building with interesting alien species. Poor old Pierre lurches from one disaster to another and compels you to read on to find out what happens next. It's a fast-paced, gunslinging, time travelling, adventure! The addition of the random narrator and change in POV in the odd paragraph/chapter was a little jarring but at least George appeared in book two, especially after the cliffhanger ending of book one! But now we are left with a what on earth will happen next so I know I will have to read book three and that's a sign of good writing.
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.
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