October 2022 Wrap-Up

I had five books on my list for October and I read four of them. 

 

A Stroke of Malice (Lady Darby #8) by Anna Lee Huber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Content: Strong Language

 

 

Close to Home (Tracy Crosswhite #5) by Robert Dugoni

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Content: Strong Language

 

 

Three Act Tragedy (Hercule Poirot #10) by Agatha Christie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Content: Clean

See my review here.

 

 

Monster hunter International (Monster Hunter International #1) by Larry Correia 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Content: Strong Language, Off page sex

See my review here.

 

 

I'm still working on the fifth one, Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans. I'm having a hard time getting into this book. It's really slow, and there are character names that are annoying to try to pronounce. I think mostly though, that the writing style is just not clicking with me, and that's a shame because I love fantasy and mystery and this book has both. I'm still plugging away at it, but it may end up being a DNF.

 

I didn't include the books I had intended to read for the monthly challenge, but I should have. If you missed my post about the Owned in October Challenge, these are the books that I read for the challenge in October:

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Women's Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary Fiction

Content: Strong language, Off page sex, Infidelity

 

 

 

Sanditon: Jane Austen's Last Novel Completed by Jane Austen, Another Lady (Anne Telscombe)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult, Classic

Genre: Fiction, Romance

Content: Clean

 

 

 

 

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin Mckinley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Fairy Tale, Romance, Fantasy

Content: Clean

 

 

 

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult, Classic

Genre: Mystery

Content: Strong Language, Racial Slurs

 

I also ended up reading a few other books that weren't planned at all. 

 

Planetside (Planetside #1) by Micheal Mammay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Sci-fi, Mystery, Space Opera

Content: Strong language

See my review here.

 

Junkyard Cats (Junkyard Cats #1) by Faith Hunter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult

Genre: Sci-fi, Post Apocalyptic

Content: Strong language

 

The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult

Genre: Supernatural, Paranormal, Romance

Content: Strong language

 

Review to be posted soon. 

 

Overall, October was a good reading month! I ended up reading more than I planned, and getting to a few books that I've had on my list for a while.

Really Late post for the August Reading 2022 Challenge

 

The reading challenge for August was titled Audio book August.

The challenge was to clean out our audio book collection and get it ready for some cozy seasonal listening. 

I almost didn't post about this challenge because I don't have an audio book collection, or at least not much of one. But I did have a bunch of audio books that I borrowed, and so I decided that was good enough for the challenge. I've already posted reviews for several of these, so I'll post links to the reviews on those.

 Here's my list of audio books I listened to in August:

 

  See my review for this book here.

  See my review for this book here.

This was the last Cork O'Connor book for me. Just when I thought this series couldn't get any preachier, I read this book. I had intended to stop after this one, but wish I had stopped before it. Will I miss Cork and his family? Not really. I also won't miss the narrator, who wasn't a favorite.

 

I'm doing a buddy read for this series in a mystery book club on Goodreads, and I'm really enjoying it. It was actually the replacement for the Cork O'Connor Series. I think as this series has gone along, each book has gotten better. What I really like about it are the twists and turns. I'm currently reading book 4, and so far it's my favorite. Another thing I appreciate about this series is that, so far it's good, solid mysteries without all the soap boxing that annoyed me in the Cork O'Connor books. There might be topics brought up in this series from time to time, but it never feels preachy, and the stories don't revolve around political issues. The narrator for the audio is pretty good too.

  See my review for this book here.

I love Lady Darby. I love the mysteries, and I love her relationship with Gage. It's so romantic without taking away from the mystery, or going into too much detail about their love life. This is so well done! I listen to these on audio every month and I do not care for the narrator. She puts this uptick in her voice at the end of all her sentences and frequently puts emphasis on the wrong words.

 

Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts (and the rest of the Steampunk Proper Romance Series) by Nancy Campbell Allen

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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

 

Emmeline O’Shea is determined to save the world—single-handedly, if necessary. A strong voice for societal reform, she is the natural choice to deliver a key speech at the end of the International Shifter Rights Organization’s week-long Summit in Scotland.

But when a death threat arrives at Emme’s home, she is immediately placed into protective custody, watched over by none other than her personal nemesis, Detective-Inspector Oliver Reed. The two have crossed paths many times, with disastrous results, but now they will have to work together in order to reach the Summit before midnight of the last day in order to ensure legislation is passed to protect the Shifter community.

As unseen enemies close in around Emme and Oliver, they struggle to reach Edinburgh by any means necessary, only to find Emme’s vindictive stepsister, Oliver’s vampire brother, and a dangerous political minefield awaiting them in Scotland.

Even more difficult is their own refusal to admit that the fiery animosity that once burned between them might be turning into the heat of romantic passion. Could a straitlaced policeman determined to uphold the law and an outspoken activist willing to break the rules ever find true love? Or will all their dreams shatter like glass when the clock strikes midnight?

 

This was the last book in the series (I think) and my least favorite of the series. These are retellings of fairy tales and this one was supposed to be a retelling of Cinderella, but it barely resembled Cinderella. In the beginning I thought I was going to hate Emme, but she ended up not being so bad. I enjoyed the steampunk aspects of the series the most. I especially liked the gliders in this one, but disliked how Emme needed rescuing so much. Did she really have to sprain her ankle after using the glider? It just annoyed me. 

Overall this series was fun, but not something I would want to revisit. However, if your looking for something light that has both fantasy and romance elements to it, then give it a try. I think books one and two were the best, with book two being my favorite.

Here are the covers and descriptions for the other books in the series along with my ratings:

 

Beauty and the Clockwork Beast (Steampunk Proper Romance Series #1)

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

 

When Lucy Pickett arrives at Blackwell Manor to tend to her ailing cousin, Kate, she finds more than she bargained for. A restless ghost roams the hallways, werewolves have been reported in the area, and vampires lurk across the Scottish border.

Lord Miles himself is clearly hiding a secret. He is brash and inhospitable and does not take kindly to visitors—even one as smart and attractive as Miss Pickett. He is unsettled by the mysterious deaths of his new wife, Clara, and his sister, Marie. Could Miles himself be to blame for the deaths?

Working together, Miles and Lucy attempt to restore peace to Blackwell Manor. But can Lucy solve the mystery of Miles? Can she love the man—beast and all?

 

Kiss of the Spindle (Steampunk Proper Romance Series #2)

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

 

Doctor Isla Cooper is cursed. Literally. Each night, at the stroke of midnight she falls into a death-like sleep from which she cannot be awakened for six hours. To make it worse, the curse has an expiration date—after a year, it becomes permanent. And the year is almost up.

In a desperate attempt to find Malette—the witch who cursed her—Isla blackmails her way onto Daniel Pickett's private airship bound for the Caribbean, only to discover she's traveling with three illegal shapeshifters and the despicable Nigel Crowe, a government official determined to hunt down and exterminate every shapeshifter in England. Isla and Daniel must work together to keep the identities of the shapeshifters hidden while coming to terms with their own hidden secrets, and their blossoming attraction to each other.

Filled with suspense, intrigue, and plenty of romance, Kiss of the Spindle is steampunk Sleeping Beauty story. It is a race against the clock as Isla and Daniel try to hunt down the elusive Malette before Isla's death-like sleep becomes permanent.

 

The Lady in the Coppergate Tower (Steampunk Proper Romance Series #3)

 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

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

 

Hazel Hughes has spent her life believing she is a Medium—someone who can talk to ghosts. But as of yet, that skill has remained frustratingly elusive. She is also suffering from a reoccurring childhood dream of someone who looks almost exactly like Hazel, but this dream version of herself is slowly going mad.

Sam MacInnes is a talented surgeon who runs in the highest social circles thanks to his family’s position and history. When Sam hires Hazel to assist him with his medical practice, he is immediately drawn to her intelligence, wit, and beauty.

Their potential relationship is derailed one evening when a mysterious count arrives in London and reveals to Hazel the truth about her past: she was abducted at birth and her twin sister has fallen dangerously ill.

Hazel agrees to travel to Romania with Count Petrescu in order to save her sister, and Sam insists on accompanying her. The count has secrets, though, and the journey grows more sinister with every mile that draws Hazel closer to her homeland. Even as her feelings for Sam become deeper and more complicated, she fears she might not survive the quest to save her sister with her heart intact, not to mention her life. She must learn to draw on gifts she doesn’t know she has if they are going to ever return home again.
 
Hazel and Sam must fight their way past dark magic, clockwork beasts, and their own insecurities as they try to reach her sister in the impenetrable Coppergate Tower before time runs out. 

 

 

 

June 2022 Reading Challenge

The reading challenge for June was titled Series Love: make progress on or finish as many series as you can this month. 

Ok, so I had pretty lofty goals for this challenge. I had a huge list of books that I wanted to get read, which probably wasn't very realistic. I ended up reading seven of them, well almost. Realistically, that probably wasn't bad at all. 

I started the month off with the last book in the Kingdom of Birds and Beasts Trilogy by Alice Ivinya, Kingdom of Feathers. I thought this one would go fast and I would have my first completed series for the challenge out of the way. Well, it didn't exactly go the way I planned. I thoroughly enjoyed books 1 and 2 of this trilogy, and there really isn't anything wrong with book 3, but for some reason I've been almost forcing myself to read this book. This is the complete opposite experience I've had with every other book I've read by this author. Her books have been easy to read and hard to put down, until this one. I wasn't feeling it, and I think it's just my mood getting in the way. I can be a real mood reader at times. It may also be that the story has just been too drawn out for me. Trilogies, or quartets feel this way to me sometimes. I'm just ready for the story to be over and it's just not holding my interest any more. Either way, this is not a bad book and I'm about halfway through. I'll keep going at my own pace until I'm done, because forcing it doesn't work. So, no rating or review for this book or series, at least not now, but I did rate and review the first book in the series here.

 

Next up was the third book in the Lady Darby Series by Anna Lee Huber. I've been buddy reading this series on Goodreads in a mystery book club and enjoying it quite a lot. I've neglected to write any reviews of this series, but I think it's a nice historical mystery series that has a few cozy mystery elements to it. I've been listening to the audio versions because they are free for me on Hoopla, but I am not real crazy about the narrator. I like the main character a lot. She is dealing with some trauma from her past marriage, and I do hope that she is able to put it behind her soon. I don't mind the trauma being there, but the repetition of what happened, multiple times over three books has gotten old. I would like to start seeing more healing happen so that she can move forward more. I did feel like there was a little of that in this book, and I'm hoping in book 4 she can start looking forward to new things.

 

Series rating as a whole so far: 4 of 5 stars

 

Probably my most anticipated read for June was The Domino Pattern by Timothy Zahn. This is the fourth book in the Quadrail Series and I've been loving it. This author has quickly become one of my favorites. I've been reading these on my Kindle, but I've also just begun buying copies for my bookshelf. This is another series that I've neglected to write any reviews for. I'm not sure how that happened, because when I'm really loving something, I usually want to write a review for it. Anyway, I really love the idea behind this space train, and this book in particular was so good that it slapped me in the face with some reveals that I did not see coming! I also want to point out that The Domino pattern also has a Murder on the Orient Express feel to it that I loved. There's only one more book to go in this series, and when I'm done reading it I'll be sure to post a review for the whole series. 

 

Series rating as a whole so far: 4.5 of 5 stars

 

I've also been listening to this Steampunk Proper Romance Series by Nancy Campbell Allen for free on Audible Plus. I had already read book one and was able to get two more of them read in June, Kiss of the Spindle, and The lady in the Coppergate Tower. It's a nice light diversion and perfect for listening to when I'm cleaning or working on other projects. I particularly liked the second book in the series that was based on Sleeping Beauty. 

 

Series rating as a whole so far: 3.5 of 5 stars

I got another Cork O' Connor book read in June, Tamrack County, and now I'm down to only two left of the already published books in the series. After those two, I think that will be it for me with this series. It's a series I like ok, but I don't love it, and if you read my review of Windigo Island, then you already know my feelings on this series as a whole at this point. I do need to add here that I thought this book was better, and the bad guys were even of the opposite political persuasion this time around, so that was good. However, it seemed like they were not being painted as evil as the others because they had a "worthy cause" so that had me rolling my eyes. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the cause or any political views from either side, nor do I have to always agree with the characters in the books I read. I just don't like when excuses are made for people's bad behavior. Anyway, another one of this series down!

 

Series rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

And finally, I read the second book in the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. I just posted a review on it on June 23rd so I won't say much here. I was unfortunately not crazy about this book any more than I was about the first book in the series, and I decided not to continue on with the series. I'm not going to rate this series as a whole because I've only read 2 books.

  

 

So that wraps up my June reading challenge. I'm glad I was able to make some progress on these series that I have going, and even weed one out.

 

January 2022 Reading Challenge

 

 

I do a lot of book challenges, so I decided to start blogging about some of them. I'm in a group on Goodreads that does challenges every year, and this year we are doing a monthly one where we have a different type of reading challenge for each month. For January the challenge was titled New Year, New Books. We were to read as many books published last year or this year as possible. It's an ongoing challenge so we can add anything later that we want. I posted reviews on here for some of the ones I read already. My list included-

Mickey7

A Far Wilder Magic

The Fortuna Coin

Confessions on the 7:47

Fate's Ransom

To Treasure an Heiress

Shadows of Swanford Abbey 

I also added The Vow  to the list after it was published this month. 

I read a few others that I haven't already posted reviews for. I probably won't get around to writing a review for every one of them, but here are three that I really enjoyed reading.

 

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche Territory (The Murderbot Diaries #4.5) by Martha Wells

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Nothing I can recall

This was a short story set in the Murderbot series. I love this series and I'll take whatever I can get. I mostly enjoyed this because I got to see from Dr. Mensah's perspective following the events of Exit Strategy.

 

Cast in Firelight (Wickery #1) by Dana Swift

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Nothing that I can remember  

 

Adraa is the royal heir of Belwar, a talented witch on the cusp of taking her royal ceremony test, and a girl who just wants to prove her worth to her people.

Jatin is the royal heir to Naupure, a competitive wizard who's mastered all nine colors of magic, and a boy anxious to return home for the first time since he was a child.

Together, their arranged marriage will unite two of Wickery's most powerful kingdoms. But after years of rivalry from afar, Adraa and Jatin only agree on one thing: their reunion will be anything but sweet.

Only, destiny has other plans and with the criminal underbelly of Belwar suddenly making a move for control, their paths cross...and neither realizes who the other is, adopting separate secret identities instead.

Between dodging deathly spells and keeping their true selves hidden, the pair must learn to put their trust in the other if either is to uncover the real threat. Now Wickery's fate is in the hands of rivals..? Fiancées..? Partners..? Whatever they are, it's complicated and bound for greatness or destruction.

 

I haven't read much YA lately, mainly because I've had a hard time getting into them after focusing so much on books written for adults. They also have so many of the same themes over and over, that I got bored with them. I would also like to find one that is well written that doesn't feel like it's pushing an agenda. I read to escape, I don't want to have to read something that is hitting me over the head with a message, and that's how I feel about most of the YA stuff I've tried to read lately. Weave the message into the story in a more subtle way and let me come to my own conclusions about it. So when I picked up this book, I wasn't really sure how much I was going to like it. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. 

There really isn't anything new here. It still follows the same old formula that a lot of YA fantasy follows, but I found it to be a fun and entertaining read. Both Adraa and Jatin were easy to like and I enjoyed the way they turned from being enemies to developing love feelings for each other. The ending left me a bit frustrated, but the second book has already been released. Now to see if my library will pick up a copy of it...

 

 

Feathers of Snow (Kingdom of Birds and Beasts #1) by Alice Ivinya

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale
Content: Some animal cruelty, but nothing is actually shown

 

In Brianna’s new world of ice and snow, the coldest things by far are the eyes of her betrothed...

Brianna bears a deadly secret: she’s not the princess she is pretending to be. If the prince finds out, her life will be forfeit and her country plunged into war.

But there is more to the icy prince than meets the eye, and Brianna slowly unravels the secrets of his dark past while surviving in a strange culture.

However her goodness and wit will only get her so far. Terrifying beasts stalk the border and a murderer is at work in the town. They know the truth of Brianna’s identity and will stop at nothing to destroy all she has fought for.

 

This is a Goose Girl retelling, and that's one fairy tale I honestly have never read, so I can't really say how it compares to the original, but I loved this book. I had already read Queen Avan by this author and loved it, so I was really happy to get to read this one too. I like the easy writing style this author has. She has a way of pulling me right into her stories, and I find them hard to put down. I've already read the second book in the trilogy and will post a review for that one later. I'm looking forward to reading the last book when it's published.

 

The Sworn Saga by Kate Avery Ellison: Red Rider, Silver Wolf, Black Veil, White Mask, and Crimson Heart

It has been a long time since I've read anything by Kate Avery Ellison. She was one of the first indie authors I ever read and for the most part, I liked her Frost series and her Secrets of Itlantis series. I had forgotten how easily I get sucked into her books, until I picked up Red Rider, and holy cow! I could hardly put it down. That isn't to say that I thought it was without flaws though. In fact, there was something really frustrating about the fact that I found this so compelling but also pretty flawed.

I'll start with the things I liked. I like the easy, compelling writing style the author has. When I saw that she had written a Red Riding Hood retelling I had to try it, because I love Red Riding Hood retellings. I enjoyed certain aspects of the story because of that, and I liked that this put a bit of a different spin on Red Riding Hood as well. I liked the main character a lot, and also absolutely loved Vixor Rae. Also, I liked that there was one twist later in the series that I didn't see coming at all, and I always appreciate when a book surprises me.

One of the things I didn't like so much was the constant back and forth between Red and Vixor. They go in circles with their relationship constantly throughout the series and it drove me crazy! I expected this to be resolved in the second book, certainly by the third, but no, it is still going on 5 books in! Overall, there is too much repetition in the series, and I don't think the series needed to be as many books as it is. I also thought that the Wolves didn't do enough as wolves in the series. They rarely change into werewolf form and they didn't feel as threatening or sinister as they should have. I felt like they were kind of upstaged by the tree crawlers, and I'm not really sure why the tree crawlers were included in the first place. There are also some things that I would like more of an explanation for. Why are there werewolves and tree crawlers? What happened to our world to make all this happen? Instead of focusing on answering these questions, the back and forth relationship was focused on too much. 

So normally this stuff would be enough for me to abandon a series after a couple of books, but this one is so compelling that I am loving it despite myself and it's kind of infuriating! So, hats off the Kate Avery Ellison for writing such a compelling series. There is one final book to be released later this year and honestly, I can't wait to read it, flaws and all.

 

Category: Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling

Content: Off page sex between a married couple, some steamy kissing scenes.

 

Below are the descriptions for each book and my ratings for them.  

 

  

 My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a land where a werewolf army called the Sworn rule over the humans and walking corpses called treecrawlers roam the wilderness between settlements, orphaned Red has a secret that she and her grandmother have been hiding for years. She's one of the Chosen, the despised young women selected to bear children in the stead of barren female werewolves.

Red keeps her identifying mark hidden, and she doesn't take advantage of the luxuries available to the future mothers of the Sworn. But her secret is discovered when she rescues her rebel boyfriend from execution for treason, and she can hide the truth no longer.

Red is intercepted by a dangerous young Sworn named Vixor Rae, a prince among the werewolves, and taken through the dangerous wilderness to serve her fate in the capital.

Vixor intrigues Red against her will, but he is her enemy, and she wants nothing more than to see him dead.

But when treecrawlers attack the Sworn caravan headed for the capital, and only Red and Vixor survive, the two must rely on each other to make it out of the perilous wilderness alive.

 

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Meredith Rider, known as Red, has been captured once more by Sworn soldiers and taken to the capital of the werewolf empire. There, she is forced to train with a group of other captive girls in the arts and graces of the Chosen, the unlucky human girls whose DNA is compatible with that of werewolves.

In other words--breeders.

Red isn't about have babies for the enemy. She's going to escape or die trying.

And her conflicted feelings for the darkly handsome, cruelly cunning Vixor Rae, the Sworn champion of the Alpha who goes by the nickname Silver Wolf, are only going to get in her way.

 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

 

Red never intended to be the mate of a Sworn.

She never intended to stay in the capital.

She never intended to fall in love with the enemy.

Now, she has to decide what she's going to do about it, and where her loyalties lie. 

 

 

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

Red Rider has escaped the Sworn capital, and now, she rescues Chosen girls under the code name Red Riding Hood and takes them through the wilderness to a secret city run by the Order of the Crimson. She leaves behind her calling card, a white mask, after every rescue.

Her alias, Red Riding Hood, is growing infamous across the land.

But Red longs for Kassian, who has either forgotten their love or is pretending he no longer loves her for her own protection.

When a Huntsman shows up looking to kill the Silver Wolf, Red finds herself torn between loyalty to helping the Chosen girls and her love for the one she can never have.

 

 

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

Red Rider has been many things. A Chosen girl. A veiled mate of a Sworn officer. A runaway. The fabled White Mask.

Now, she's simply... alone. Abandoned by family and allies.

And Kassian, who traded his life for hers, is imprisoned somewhere she cannot find and awaiting execution.

Red is determined to find a way to rescue her captured mate. She must convince someone from her past to help her find the Red City, and she's desperate enough to strike a deal with an old enemy.

Can Red save Kassian without selling her soul?