March 2023 Book Club: Wizard's Alley by James Haddock

  

 My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult, Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

Scraps, a gutter child, is sitting in his hiding place in a back alley, waiting for the cold thunderstorm to pass. Suddenly, lightning strikes in front of him, and then a second time. The two lightning bolts become men—two wizards—one from the Red Order, the other from the Blue.
The Red Wizard, chanting his curses, throws lightning bolts and fireballs. The Blue Wizard, singing his spells, throws lightning bolts and ice shards. So intense is their fighting, they become lightning rods. It seemed as if God Himself cast His lightning bolt, striking the ground between them and consuming both wizards in its white blaze. Scraps watched as the lightning bolt gouged its way across the alley, striking him.

Rain on his face awakens Scraps. The only thing left of the fighting wizards is a smoking crater and their scattered artifacts. He feels compelled to gather their possessions and hide them and himself. The dispersed items glowed red or blue, and he notices that he now has a magenta aura. Magenta, a combination of both red and blue, but more powerful than either.
Scraps then does what he has done all his life to survive. He hides. And unknowingly, he has become the catalyst for change in the Kingdom.

 

This is the story of an overpowered Gary Stu wizard. There isn't much substance to it. It kind of reads like an off the cuff bedtime story to a six year old. It starts out with a gutter rat being hit by the powers of two dueling wizards, and somehow obtaining their powers. He then goes on to better his life, but he has no challenges. All he ever has to do is say, "give me all your knowledge" to someone and then he knows what they know. He heals people. He kills people. He magically builds things. He steals other people's money. He makes lots of his own money. He even has the queen fall in love with him. There are no limits to this power, except for getting a little tired on occasion.

It reads like a travelogue, "I did this, and then I went here and did that." The story would have been so much better if there had been challenges, like having to learn how to use the magic, for one. Limitations on the magic would have been more interesting too. And for goodness sake, some character development. I was 74% into this book when I looked down to see how much longer I had left, and realized I had had enough. I just couldn't take 2 more hours of it. I've never rolled my eyes so much during a book.

The Sisters of Sea View (On Devonshire Shores, #1) by Julie Klassen

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance, Clean Romance, Historical Romance
Content: Clean

 

When their father's death leaves them impoverished, Sarah Summers convinces her sisters to open their seaside home to guests to provide for their ailing mother. Emily and Georgiana agree, but Viola, who wears a veil to cover a scar, detests the idea.

Determined to stay together, the sisters begin the new venture. Instead of the elderly invalids they expect, however, they find themselves hosting eligible gentlemen. Sarah is torn between a growing attraction to a mysterious Scottish widower and duty to her family. Meanwhile, the new situation exposes Viola's scars--both the visible and those hidden deep within--and her cloistered heart will never be the same. 

 

I loved this book! Most of Julie Klassen's  books are standalones, but I thoroughly enjoyed her Tales from Ivy Hill series, so I was excited to start another series by her. I liked the episodic nature of this book, where it jumped from one character point of view to another. We get the perspective of each sister, and I loved each of their personalities. The guests that stayed at the guesthouse where all interesting as well, and I liked getting to know each of them. 

This book focused on the romance for one sister more then the others, and I enjoyed reading how it developed. I'm assuming each book in the series will be like this. I'm really eager to find out what happens with the other sisters, and who they end up with. 

This reminded me a little of Sanditon, with the guesthouse and the beach, and the guests coming and going. I thought the bathing machines were interesting, and what a double standard for the ladies and men on the beach! Although I'm not really surprised for the time period.

 

Book Mail!

I got an ARC from Elana Johnson of her book, The Relationtrip! I've never read anything by this author before, but I'm looking forward to reading this. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the book blurb- 

Question: What do a reclusive author and an outgoing travel agent have in common?

Answer: Nothing.

But fate brought them together on a vacation five years ago, and as Logan and Sloane prepare for their annual get-together, there are sparks flying between them.

Sloane:
When Logan Murphy, my accidental best friend, calls to say our annual mid-winter trip has to be "redone," he's already got the solution.

Belize. An adults-only resort, and we leave in two days.

I'm giddy with excitement, because I need this trip more than I can express. When I see Murph standing in the airport, my heart twitches to a beat it hasn't since my fiancé left me to tell our friends and family that he couldn't make it to the wedding.

So it's a short-lived twitch, because I'm never going to get into the dating boxing ring again—and least of all with my best friend.

Logan:
I've never told Sloane what I do for a living, and she doesn't know how I feel about her either. But I want her to know all of my secrets.

I want my best friend in my life more than once a year, and I've already started penning a happily-ever-after for the two of us.

This year, I tell myself, as my crush on the vibrant woman is at least two years old now.

If only I knew how to tell her...

 

The Soul of a Lady by Wanda Luce

 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance, Clean Romance, Historical Romance
Content: Clean

 

At six and twenty, Lydia Hathaway has endured years of heartbreak, longing for a love that never came. Her deceased father’s foolhardiness has left her family bankrupt, and she is eventually left no alternative but to take a position as a companion to Susan Ashcroft of Danbury Park in Surrey. Early one morning, Lydia rambles across the muddy wilds of the Ashcroft estate, where she has a most unimaginable encounter with Connor Parkhurst, the notorious Viscount Denton.

As their paths continue to cross, Lydia falls ever deeper in love with the charming rogue while battling against his growing assault on her heart. In spite of his forward attentions, she considers his behavior toward her as nothing more than idle flirtation. And why should she think otherwise? As the wealthy son of an earl, Lord Denton may choose from among the most beautiful women of England’s first circles. Tormented in a relentless battle to suppress a love she cannot overcome, Lydia resolves to leave the Ashcrofts and Danbury Park forever. After all, she is nothing to Lord Denton—isn’t she?

 

This was a swoony romance and I enjoyed it, but it wasn't without flaws. 

The main problems I had with the story were:

-Switching the point of view suddenly to Lord Denton several times, starting halfway through the book.  I didn't mind his point of view. I even thought it added to the book, but his points of view probably should have been included from the beginning. 

-All the coincidental meetings between Lydia and Lord Denton. He was always showing up wherever she was and surprising her. It was a bit overdone.  

-The whole trope where they assume something and don't talk to each other about it happened a lot. 

-The fact that Lydia had taken a job as a governess and was being included in all the social events as an equal. Despite the fact that she grew up as an equal, her station in life had changed when she sought employment, and I don't think governesses were treated as family friends. It seems more like she was employed as a lady's companion than anything else, and I think that's what the author should have gone for. 

-The intrigue with the slave ship that felt a bit out of place. There should have been more about this from the beginning of the book. There were a few parts in the book about Lord Denton trying to use his position to help the commoners, and the slave trade was briefly mentioned, but there was never a sense of how deeply he was involved in that, until suddenly, we find out about a whole other side of what he's been doing, trying to enforce the end of the slave trade, and it didn't fit well into the story. If this had been introduced earlier on, or hints had been given about what he had been up to, it wouldn't have felt shoehorned into the story so much.

Despite the flaws, I really liked the characters, and the book in general. I had a very hard time putting it down. Maybe I was just in the mood for a swoony romance and nothing else mattered. I don't know. I do know that I enjoyed reading how Lydia and Lord Denton fell in love with each other, and the slow burn romance aspect of the story was perfect for me.  

 

 

 

 

Planned Reads for March 2023

There are 11 books that I'm planning on reading in March. There will be more for the March reading challenge, but none of those are planned ahead of time.   

 

Reading with the Mystery Book Club-

 

 

 

 

 

Reading at Fantasy Buddy Reads-

 

 

 

March Book Club Read-

 

 

The March 'pick it for me' book-

Others-