Burning Alive (The Sentinel Wars, bk 1) by Shannon K. Butcher

Posted on April 3, 2010 by janicu

Shannon K. Butcher

I received this book for review from the publisher so I could catch up on the series for the release of the newest book, Running Scared which comes out in May.

The Premise: Helen Day has a horrible fear of fire because she’s always had visions of being burned to death while a man watches on and smiles. One day she’s at the local diner with friends when sees the man in her vision sitting a nearby booth, and inadvertently gets his attention. The man Helen fears is Drake, a warrior and member of the Theronai race, one of the Sentinel races that are fighting a secret war against monsters called the Synestryn. The Theronai are slowly dying. They’re getting older, Theronai women are rare, and the race has become infertile, but Helen somehow lessens the constant pain Drake is under and Drake is desperate.

Read Chapter 1 of Burning Alive

My Thoughts: At the start of this book, there’s a lot information about the world of the Theronai and their battle against the Synestryn that the reader and Helen don’t know. It takes a while to get some of the information and in the meantime, Helen is confused and afraid. Of course it doesn’t help matters that Theronai blood draws the horrific Synestryn to them, and Drake and his friends have to protect Helen and her friends at the diner. Helen along with her friends, an elderly school teacher, and the waitress, Lexi fight them every step of the way. Helen believes her vision and so she’s terrified of Drake.

Helen’s fear of fire was understandable. She’s had her visions for a long time and they are very real to her. The story often brings up this fear as a stumbling block for her and she freezes up, unable to continue when she encounters it. I know I should feel for Helen, but most of the time I found myself wanting to sympathize, yet not being able to. Instead I felt exasperated, especially when her freezing up leads to harsh consequences for others. Helen’s low self-esteem in her looks didn’t help either. The combination of her constant fear and hang-ups disappointed me. I prefer reading about heroines who have more confidence than Helen does.

Drake was even harder to connect to than Helen. He’s a strong warrior who loves his brothers-in-arms and has the weight of decades of killing and of his body’s pain on his shoulders. He is desperate and willing to omit some truths to make Helen his (When I discovered this, he didn’t win any points from me), but I didn’t know much else about his personality.

Even though there are pages and pages of sex scenes which were detailed and explicit, I the relationship didn’t interest me. I felt like there was way too much telling over showing, and we’re in the heads of the hero and heroine a lot yet I wasn’t gleaning much besides the superficial from it. I was being told that Drake thinks Helen is so beautiful and told that Helen thinks Drake is so strong, but it didn’t mean as much to me as being shown why they had those qualities and why he and Helen were right for each other. All there seemed to be was the “soul-mate” concept that is used here – the concept of the Theronai and his mate. And that too bothered me (the soul-mate idea in romance often does). The story suggests Helen has free will and there are other options besides Drake, but the plot really gives her very little choice, so I ended up feeling like they got together because of physical and practical reasons, not emotional ones.

There are secondary characters who were on the page for small moments who had more impact than the main couple. I liked Sybil, who was a truly alien character, and Gilda, the powerful Gray Lady lived up to her title and was ambiguous character. I also liked Lexi a lot – she fought back and acted quickly during stress, unlike Helen, and Zach, the Theronai who desperately searches for Lexi suggests that there will be a sequel for the two of them (looks like the third book) which I’m more interested in reading.

I found the concept of the strapping warriors of the Theronai and their fight against monsters, their life trees on their chests with leaves that fall as they age, and the souls of who they kill in their swords, a little hokey, especially at the beginning of the book. The names – Theronai, Synestryn, Gerai, Sanguinar (a sort of vampire race), Athanasia, didn’t help either. That aside, the story became more complex as the book went along and the author probably has a bigger story arc planned that will span several books. Even the “good” guys aren’t what they seem.I think a few characters introduced here will reveal hidden agendas and we’ll also find out more about what the enemy Synestryn are up to. It could be an interesting story if I could warm up to the characters more. I hope that the next book has a couple I can connect to better because it’s waiting in my TBR.

Overall: This paranormal romance ended up being a miss for me. There is potential in the underlying story arc over the course of the next few books, and there are a couple of intriguing characters, but in Burning Alive I wasn’t invested in the primary relationship and had to push myself to keep reading. I hope I connect better to the hero and heroine in the next book.

Buy:
Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
The Good, The Bad, and the Unread – C
Babbling about Books and More – C
Book Binge – 4 out of 5

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder

Posted on March 30, 2010 by janicu

Inside Out (Harlequin Teen)

Maria V. Snyder

I got a copy of this book for review from the publisher, HarlequinTeen, through NetGalley.

The Premise: Trella is a scrub, a worker who cleans pipes and air ducts in the world of Inside. She’s a loner and has been nicknamed The Queen of the Pipes because of her habit of hiding and sleeping in them. She hates the scrubs and her job, and her only friend is Cog, one of her care mates. Cog’s a dreamer and popular with the scrubs. He believes in Gateway, a way out of Inside, and one day introduces Trella to a prophet who claims he can prove it’s existence. Broken Man, the prophet, once lived among the Uppers, the group that lives above the scrubs, and he claims he hid some disks above his sleeping quarters before he was captured by the Population Control Police (aka the Pop Cops). He asks Trella to try to get the disks but when she’s almost caught, it unleashes a series of events that changes Inside forever.

Read an excerpt of Ch 1-3 of Inside Out

My Thoughts: I *loved* Snyder’s first book Poison Study, but after that one I didn’t find myself as in love with the rest of the series and I didn’t really have high expectations of Inside Out. I was wrong. I started it late at night thinking I’d read a couple of pages and then go to bed, but before I knew it I was 60 pages in and not wanting to go to sleep. Eventually there were some lulls for me in the reading but for the most part I found the book an easy read.

I think it hits a few things that I personally like in my books:

A strong female protagonist with a great voice – I’m glad I liked the main character because it’s from her first person POV. At first Trella is a cynical loner who thinks she knows everything, but as the book continues she becomes more positive. She’s smart, she’s resourceful, and she’s also growing and learning that her preconceptions need to be questioned. I loved seeing how she changed from when we first meet her when Inside Out begins and when the book ended. I think it helps that I never disliked Trella even when she was negative. She had some bad experiences when she was young and she closed herself from others and she built a wall around herself. I couldn’t blame her for it.
Strong relationships – I liked how Cog’s personality was the complete opposite of Trella’s, but he still supported her and was a positive force in her life. I loved Cog. I think we should all have one in our lives – the friend who is open and genuinely LIKES people. I liked how he accepted Trella no matter what.
Great world building – At first I wasn’t sure what to make of Inside, but once I decided to imagine something like the City of Ember, I imagined the world as a maze of white corridors and rooms, lots of people wearing colored-coded jumpsuits and endless pipes and ducts. And it’s an integral part of the story. I already like science fiction so I warmed to the world quickly.
A little bit of romance – it’s not a big focus and the romantic interest has a small role, but it was a nice counterpart to all of Trella’s stress to have one person, Riley, a boy who is an Upper, who had her relaxing her constant guard.

When I look at some of the other blogger’s reviews of this book I was initially surprised to find negative reviews. The problem it seems is that the world building can feel too confusing and Trella can come off as unlikeable. I am more surprised that people didn’t like Trella than I am about the world building. I will agree that the dimensions of Inside plus imagining a three dimensional blueprint of it can get tedious at times. There is some awkwardness in describing Inside as a tic-tac-toe board in 3D, and then labeling each square, and I skimmed over the explanation of weeks and centiweeks, workdays of 10 hours on, and 10 hours off. I am still iffy on Trella’s age in our system.. I think it’s 17 years old. But Trella never really felt unlikeable to me. Anyway, it just illustrates how you never know what will make or break a book for people!

The ending to this book has a bit of a surprise to it, but in a good way I think. The book slowly adds up to the end, and I had my suspicions for a while but I still liked the way Snyder presented it. I felt that the book ended quite nicely and I am not sure what the author can come up with for the next book Outside In. I hope it’s something good because she set the bar high for me with Inside Out.

Overall: This went above my expectations and I really enjoyed this young adult science fiction story. I felt satisfied by the way things ended – it got a rare happy sigh from me. I recommend it highly, but I think you have to be a reader who likes imperfect protagonists and has patience for confusing world building.

Bonus – Check out the Inside Out website
(there’s a quiz to see what you’d be assigned to in Inside. I got ” INVALID: You are too confounding to place. Inside has no use for anomalies. Report directly to the Chomper.” *CRY*!?)

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews (mix of disliked and really liked)
Book Love Affair (7 out of 10)
Genre Reviews – 4 pints of blood (out of 5)
Reading with Tequila (5 shots out of 5)
Lurv a la Mode – 4 out of 5 scoops
The Last Blog in the Universe – a negative review
Tez Says – found the concept befuddling
Presenting Lenore – 5 zombie chickens (out of 5)

Book Trailer:

Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep

Posted on March 13, 2010 by janicu

Spider’s Bite: An Elemental Assassin Book

Jennifer Estep

I liked the fun series set in Bigtime about superheroes by Jennifer Estep, so when I found out she had an urban fantasy series in the works, it went on my wishlist. I won a copy of this book over at vampirewire.

The Premise: Gin Blanco is an assassin who works at a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit during the day. She relies on her knives and tools for her job, but in case she needs it she’s also a Stone Elemental – someone with power over rocks and Earth with a small amount of Ice Elemental power as well. One day, Gin is hired to kill an embezzler, but is surprised during the job by a double cross by the client. Within moments, Gin is wanted by the police and everyone around her is in danger. To clean things up Gin makes a surprising move: she teams up with a straight-laced cop, Donovan Caine.

My Thoughts: Reading Spider’s Bite right after The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay really highlighted how expectations of a character’s morals and whether they live up to them is part of what affects my reading experience. Although I didn’t always agree with what Gin did, I expected her to be ruthless, and it wasn’t as much a problem for me when she was. I understood her rules, and although she was not above doing something I find questionable, she was consistent with what my expectations were: a killer who doesn’t pretend to be one of the good guys. The interest is in knowing up front that Gin walks a fine line, and I’m not sure whether or not she will go over. Somehow, I root for her despite her profession.

Because of the female assassin, this book reminds me of Kelley Armstrong’s Nadia Stafford series, which is a series I LOVE and am patiently waiting to continue. Of course this book is really different, but the smart, capable heroine is similar. I feel like this series, which has three books out this year (Web of Lies comes out in May and Venom comes out in September), fills some of the void I feel over Nadia Stafford, and I recommend this series for people who like that one.

What I really like about this book is how the hero, Donovan Caine, an honest detective with ideals, has to work with with an assassin in this story! He’s the one trying to make sure that Gin doesn’t do things that go over the line, and he has a moral dilemma – he likes and is attracted to her while he thinks that she’s a cold-blooded killer. His his physical attraction to someone who may have murdered his partner and all the mixed up feelings of guilt and anger involved with that make their relationship kind of delicious. I’d love to see how things develop in the next two books. One thing I’d say though – Gin isn’t subtle about her appreciation of the detective. Her thoughts are clear to the reader and I think that romance readers would be unfazed but readers who don’t like anything explicit could be turned off.

The relationships in this series feel real life, maybe because I thought Gin felt like a three-dimensional character. The people in Gin’s life felt like family – her handler Fletcher and his son Finnegan, and the twin dwarf sisters Jo-Jo and Sophia have a long back story that is hinted at but you feel like they’ve had years together to build their relationships.

Another thing I liked was the idea of the Elementals and how they are a normal part of society (along with giants, vampires and dwarfs). There are different shades and kinds of Elemental power: Ice, Stone, Air and Fire, and Elementals veer to certain jobs because of it just like any other talent. It’s also common for people to have their own personal rune to reflect this talent.There’s a promising introduction to Fire Elemental and Big Bad, Mab Monroe, who sounds like she owns the town and may be someone Gin will eventually confront in the next couple of books. Mab and Gin’s past looks to be part of a larger story arc I”d like to read.

Note: for fans of Estep’s Bigtime series – the Elemental Assassin series has a very different voice and a darker tone, but I noticed a nod to Estep’s previous series in the form of a mention of Fiona Fine. It tickled me. 🙂

Overall: The more I think about it the more I like this book. I recommend this urban fantasy for people who like a smart, practical kind of heroine with a hard edge. If you liked Kelley Armstrong’s Nadia Stafford, I think you will like Gin Blanco. I plan to buy the rest of these books.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
Fantasy Dreamer’s Rambings – 5 out of 5
Smexy Books – 5 out of 5
A Buckeye Girl Reads – found the first half slower than the last but positive review
Literary Escapism – positive review

The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay

Posted on March 7, 2010 by janicu

The Better Part of Darkness

Kelly Gay

mardelwanda was kind enough to forward on her copy of The Better Part of Darkness after I’d commented on wanting to try out the book in her review.

The Premise: In this urban fantasy series, the existence of races from other worlds became known when scientists discovered two parallel planes of existence called Elysia and Charbydon. The beings in them have immigrated to Earth and were named goblins, ghouls, imps, sirens, nymphs, jinn, and fae, because those were the closest words people had to describe them. Charlie Madigan works for Atlanta’s Integration Task Force (the ITF) with her siren partner, Hank, to take down any off world offenders. When Charlie and Hank find Amanda Mott, Charlie’s daughter’s babysitter and friend in a coma-like state, they begin to investigate an off-world drug called ash which is believed to be responsible. Complications arise when the investigation unearths problems that personally involve Charlie and threaten those she loves.

My Thoughts: This is one of those urban fantasies where the heroine has a dark side. Think Dante Valentine in the series by Lilith Saintcrow. The story is in the first person POV and her personality colors the story.

There’s a healthy dose of angst in Charlie’s life. She is a divorced mother whose husband did a really bad thing to get the divorce. She lost a twin brother in a violent way when she was a teen. And she died eight months ago. The circumstances to that death are known, but her resurrection is shrouded in mystery. Charlie has nightmares and notices that she’s different than she used to be. Charlie has good reasons to be angry, but her anger can take over, and that’s where the darkness comes into the story.

To balance some of the angst and anger, Charlie has people who support her like family (her sister Bryn, and parents who are traveling), and friends ( such as her partner Hank). She’s a mom to a tween, Emma. She also meets Aaron, a powerful mage, and Rex, a demon spirit. Yet, while she has so much to protect, Charlie is a heroine who rushes headlong into trouble without a moments thought. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one thinking this: her sister and Hank and everyone else lecture her to be more cautious and to not try to solve everything on her own without letting other people in. I was glad that Charlie finally started listening to them and let them help her when things got worse, but it takes her a least half the book to get there which can give you a bad first impression of her as a main character.

I think that Charlie’s seeing reason helped me a lot with her character but I still had a problem with her. I think my issue was that I still don’t like some of her actions. It began with her impulsive running-into-danger, but I also thought she did things that were wrong and I didn’t believe in her justifications. Despite being someone who is supposed to uphold the law, she uses violence often to get what she wants. I think I expect more when a character is identified as law enforcement, rather than say, an assassin. I can accept killing in self defense for a cop, but killing a random guard in cold blood and they didn’t put up a fight? Torture and humiliation for information? Maybe being a mother trumped being a cop and that was justification. I’m not sure. It made it hard for me to enjoy the story while being uncomfortable with the heroine.

It’s too bad I couldn’t warm to Charlie in the book because I did enjoy the writing and the secondary characters a lot. The side characters all had distinct personalities and depth. I think I was particularly fond of Rex and his sarcastic comments. The world building felt unique and interesting. Justina Robson did something similar in Keeping It Real with the worlds from different dimensions meeting, but The Better Part of Darkness still put a unique spin on the idea. And the plot and pacing felt like it had the right amount of action versus downtime.

A note on the romance. I’d read in another blog that there was a love square in this book. There are quite a few men that Charlie found attractive – many are supernaturally gorgeous, but I didn’t really see anyone as a possible love interest for her. There are hints at first but I don’t think anything pans out. I am not sure where the other blogger was seeing the love square, because I certainly didn’t see it. There may be something in a later book, but in this one it felt like an urban fantasy without a real romantic element.

Overall: There’s a lot that I liked about this book, but unfortunately I never warmed to the main character, which brought down my overall enjoyment. I would read the second book if I hear that Charlie does some learning from her mistakes.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
mardelwanda – positive review
Tez says – positive review
Scooper Speaks – “I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would.”
Fantasy Dreamer’s Ramblings – 5 out of 5 stars

A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire

Posted on March 4, 2010 by janicu

A Local Habitation: An October Daye Novel

Seanan McGuire

Seanan McGuire may be my new favorite writer from last year. I have been anticipating A Local Habitation ever since I put down the first book in the series, Rosemary and Rue (which I reviewed here:

When I won a copy of the book at Book Love Affair (awesome blog), I was ecstatic. I read this book RIGHT after I received it.

The Premise: October (Toby) Daye is a Daoine Sidhe changeling. Her mother is well known for her ability to “ride the blood” and garner memories from it. Toby has a diluted ability which she uses in her PI practice, and in her investigations as a Knight under the Sylvester Torquill, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills. At the start of this book, she’s asked to check in on the county of Tamed Lightening by Sylvester. His niece, the current ruler has stopped calling him for five weeks and he wants to know that she is OK. Sylvester sends Toby along with a foster at his court, Quentin, so that Quentin can learn something. It looks to be a simple mission, but once they get there, Toby and Quentin find it’s anything but. People are dying one by one under mysterious circumstances.

My Thoughts: I am so easily sucked in by the writing of this book. I’ve seen comparisons to Patricia Briggs, Ann Aguirre, and Ilona Andrews and I would agree that if you like those authors you will probably like Seanan McGuire too. It has only been two books but I’m already on giddy auto-buy mode. I didn’t think Rosemary and Rue was perfect, but the world building was amazing, and I’ve been anticipating what would happen next for Toby. There are a lot of hints about unfinished business in her life in the first book which have me hooked to this series already.

Like a lot of urban fantasies, the books are narrated in first person by Toby. Her character is interesting in that she has some power – the ability to read blood and to do small magics that most fae can do, but she’s a lot weaker than the purebloods and there’s a high price for even simple tasks, often in the form of a killer headache from overexertion. So Toby straddles the line between human weakness and fae power, and this along with small reminders that she isn’t considered to be in the same league as purebloods are, makes her a sympathetic character.

Although Toby isn’t one to really dwell on her differences, she is aware of them, and we are aware as readers by how banged up Toby gets in her investigations, that she’s not without weakness. I like how her bit of humanity along with her Daoine Sidhe blood makes her more able to deal with death than the regular fae, who don’t die of old age. She spent some time in the Summerlands so she knows a lot about fae culture and thinking, and we don’t have a heroine who needs things explained to her. She explains things to us as the story moves along, and she’s only ignorant about things most fae don’t know about or who the murderer is. Otherwise she is a heroine who is respected for her experience, which is something I can appreciate.

In A Local Habitation, there’s a new cast of characters from the county of Tamed Lightening and we’re introduced to some new kinds of fae. As in the first book, I enjoyed learning through Toby about these new fae and what their abilities are, particularly the Bannick and the Dryad. We’re also treated to reappearances from the first book from Sylvester and Quentin, and from Tybalt and Connor. The reappearance of Quentin and Toby’s taking him under her wing reminds me of how I thought she had a soft spot for young people in Rosemary and Rue. And there is of course Sylvester, the Duke of Torquill who Toby never thinks is anything but the perfect ruler. I wonder if he will stay untarnished for the rest of this series. In my mind Toby is a bit of an unreliable narrator, and she doesn’t see things that the reader may notice. Anyway, I’m speculating out loud about where things may go, which is what this series makes you do (and I love that).

There’s not really any romance in this book. There were hints of possible interest in Rosemary and Rue from both Tybalt and Conner (Toby is more aware of Connor than Tybalt because of their past history) which continue in this book, as well as from a new character. I am really fond of Tybalt, and although there is a promising early scene in A Local Habitation, there’s very little interaction between them which made the situation hard to read into. On the other hand I thought Toby was getting herself into messy waters with Connor in this book, which you could have seen happening a mile away after Rosemary and Rue. The guy is married to an unhinged woman who hates Toby. You can’t expect anything good to come out of that.

In Rosemary and Rue, I thought the second part wasn’t as strong as the first, but in A Local Habitation I didn’t have this problem, so I liked this book more. If I were to look for problems, I’d say the mystery may be the weakest part. There’s a small pool of suspects and throughout the story, the pool dwindles as more characters become victims. There are some hints which point at someone who Toby kept discounting, so I had my suspect who turned out to be the murderer. On the other hand, I didn’t guess the whole thing, especially why the murders were taking place, and I don’t think most people would guess the Why, although they may have the Who.

Overall: I liked this one better than the first book. I love the heroine and the pacing of the story seems just right, although I wish there was a tad more romance (I hope there is in future releases). I highly recommend this series if you like Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs or Ann Aguirre. The author writes complete installments but threads each book with hints as to the ongoing drama of Toby’s life,and anticipating what could happen next is delicious. This is actually a series that I hope won’t end at three books.

The third book An Artificial Night comes out this September (I’m glad there isn’t a long wait).

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
Book Love Affair – “Seanan McGuire takes the best parts of mystery, the best parts of urban fantasy, mixes them up, and mixes everything up.”
The Book Pushers – positive review, 4 out of 5 stars
Lurv a la Mode – 4.5 out of 5
bookblather – Her enthusiastic review represents how I feel about this series. And I think Quentin is a favorite character of hers..

Rebels and Lovers by Linnea Sinclair

Posted on February 28, 2010 by janicu

Rebels and Lovers

Linnea Sinclair

Linnea Sinclair was kind enough to send me an eARC of her newest book in the Dock Five Universe, Rebels and Lovers.

The Dock Five Universe series so far:
1. Gabriel’s Ghost (reviewed here: , with addendum here:)
2. Shades of Dark (reviewed here:)
3. Hope’s Folly (reviewed here:)
4. Rebels and Lovers

******* Warning: VERY MILD SPOILER about Philip Guthrie FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS (although I think this book can be read without reading them) ******

The Premise: In Hope’s Folly, the focus was on Admiral Philip Guthrie, a commander of rebel forces of the Alliance. Now the focus on one of his brothers: Devin. Devin Guthrie is the youngest Guthrie brother, and the quiet, numbers crunching, computer guru. He’s had a crush on Makaiden Griggs for years, but she was married and in his family’s employ as a captain of one of their many private ships. And in the aftermath of his brother’s defection from the Empire, Devin is being pushed to marry someone the family approves of. When Devin’s nephew Trip, heir to the Guthrie empire goes missing, Devin takes action to find him and in the process Devin and Makaiden cross paths once more.

My Thoughts: This is a book that stands enough on it’s own that I think you will be OK reading it without reading the first three books. Past characters make very small cameos or are talked about while they are off-screen, but aren’t the vital to the story. I think that Sinclair does enough explaining in the first few chapters that a reader will have the basics – that the Guthries are a wealthy family with lots of holdings and with a second son who has rebelled against the current regime. Although that does color Devin’s current situation, the focus is squarely on Devin and his problems, and since he’s a character who hasn’t really shown up till now, you don’t need to have read past books.

The book is action packed as Makaiden, Devin, and Barthol, a long time Guthrie employee with an Imp-Sec background protect Trip and try to discover who is behind the security breaches on the Guthrie properties and the murder of Trip’s bodyguard. The world building in this book is what I expect from Sinclair now – it’s seamless. She makes it look easy and believable. The action too is well paced. It’s a game of chase as Devin and friends stay ahead of whoever is following them, while trying to learn as much as possible why the bad guys are so interested in Trip. I had my guess who was behind their problems but I was perplexed as to why until the end. The surprising accomplice was also something I suspected but I saw in the review I’m linking below that it was unexpected to others.

In Rebels and Lovers we get a closer view of the Guthrie family than we ever had before. Details about the family dynamics and holdings come to light. I didn’t know that the patriarch, J.M. had such power over his children, or what roles each of his sons had in the family company. It was interesting to find out what Guthries had similar traits and how they got along with each other.

Since I have a soft spot for geeks, I liked Devin’s character. He’s not comfortable in social situations, but he’s good at his job as a senior analyst at his firm. His geekiness does not mean he’s weak or incapable. The only big problem he has is knowing how to tell Makaiden that she means something to him.

Devin thinks that Makaiden is married and in love with her husband Kiler. When Kiler was fired from the Guthrie employ, she left with him. Meanwhile Makaiden believes that her low beginnings would repel Devin an the rest of his family. This is where all the romantic conflict stems. I understood Devin’s point of view, but I got a little tired of Makaiden being so easy to jump to conclusions before talking to Devin about her fears. I’m not sure if this is very healthy. She often spends time assuming how Devin will feel and acts based on these assumptions. I was expecting the two of them to resolve this issue by the time the book ended so I was surprised they never really do. Maybe their talk happened off the page, or suddenly became a non issue after they survive near death in the climax. The ending threw me a little because it felt rushed after the rest of the book. It was a summarized version of things tidily and quickly wrapped up and I wanted more than what I got.

This book comes out March 23

Overall: It felt like classic Linnea Sinclair so it was what I expected and wanted to read. A straightforward science fiction romance, with the emphasis on a relationship amid action packed space opera. No frills added. Despite wishing the ending wasn’t so abrupt, I enjoyed this one.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Cover comment: Whoever did the cover for this book did try to get models that looked like the characters. Devin has glasses and Makaiden has short blond hair. Not too bad..

Other reviews:
Jace Scribbles (conversational review) – 4 to 4.5 out of 5 (I found myself agreeing more than disagreeing with this review)

Book trailer:

Wild Hunt by Margaret Ronald

Posted on February 20, 2010 by janicu

Wild Hunt

Margaret Ronald

I read the first book in this series, Spiral Hunt, last year, and I liked the story enough to get Wild Hunt when it came out this year.

My review of book 1: Spiral Hunt:

The Premise: This is an urban fantasy series set in Boston, where the protagonist is Genevieve (Evie) Scelan, a bike messenger who also has a side business finding things for people with her highly advanced sense of smell. A sense of smell that is a genetic gift from a famous ancestor, which is the reason for her nickname – Hound. In this installment of the series, Evie is called in for a special last request for a customer, and finds out about a foul family artifact and an ill-fated expedition to Boston. Another customer asks her to find out about some objects that their ancestor stole. As Evie tries to do her job, she discovers more connections between the two jobs, and strange goings on in the city, like a call to Hunt which Evie can’t help responding to.

Browse inside Wild Hunt here

My Thoughts: The main character in this series is a working class girl with a little bit of power and a lot of responsibility. She knows some things about magic but it’s what she’s learned on the street, and it’s not very much. She has a small group of friends, who make reappearances from the first book – Rena the cop, her friend Sarah, and Nate, a graduate student raising his younger sister. You need to read this book after reading the first book in the series, otherwise you will probably be very confused about what’s going on. I had some trouble remembering things myself, which made me wish I had the first book to flip through, but I remembered the ending at least which is referenced a lot in Wild Hunt.

In this book there isn’t really a clear objective for the protagonist other than to try to do a job or two and to do the right thing. We follow Evie in her day-to-day work, and like Evie, we know something is going on, but we don’t have an idea of the big picture until three quarters of the book is done. This is a urban fantasy where the heroine does a lot of catching up: she isn’t really investigating anything in particular, just doing a couple of jobs for customers and stumbling onto odd things, but eventually discovers connections. Despite being considered one of the big guys in Boston after her role in the last dust-up, Evie is fairly unschooled in magic. The other characters expect her to know more than she does, and then berate her when she shows her ignorance. This was an irritating thing for me – I’m not sure where people expect Evie to have gained this knowledge, and I’m not fond of this device. Fortunately for Evie, her tenacity counts for something, and she comes out stronger than before. It’s done without fanfare and a lot of work, but I think that through no plan of hers, Evie gets more knowledge and power each time she has one of her adventures.

One of the things I enjoy about this series is that the author integrates myths I hadn’t heard of before. There’s the Celtic mythology of the first book, and in this second one there’s mythology and magical lore from other places which combine well with what Evie has learned thus far.

Another thing I liked was the romantic relationship in this series. The love interest is a nice guy, and his relationship with Evie feels like real life. It reminded me a little of the relationship in the Kitty books by Carrie Vaughn. In fact, I would recommend this series for people who like Kitty Norville. There is interest in both sides but both people are too shy to admit it, and it’s sweet when they finally get together as we hope (thankfully the author doesn’t torture us)!

Overall: I enjoyed this one more for the characters than what Evie gets involved in. It has a more character driven feel despite the fast-paced plot, and the author left me curious as what would happen to Evie next. Not in a cliffhanger way, but I’m definitely interested in finding out more.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews/links:
Calico Reaction – Worth the Cash

The Big Idea @ John Scalzi’s blog: Margaret Ronald – the author tells us about Boston as a setting

Pemberley by the Sea by Abigail Reynolds

Posted on February 17, 2010 by janicu

Pemberley by the Sea:

A modern love story,

Pride and Prejudice style

Abigail Reynolds

I am still working on my Everything Austen challenge (ummmm… 2 months after it officially ended), and so I picked up Pemberley by the Sea at my library when I did a search of their catalog for Jane Austen and this showed up.

The Premise: This is a modern day Pride and Prejudice with Cassie Boulton, the Elizabeth Bennet character as a marine biologist, and Calder Westing, the Darcy character is a Senator’s son. They first meet in summer at Woods Hole, Cape Cod, where Cassie asks Calder to dance to avoid an ex-boyfriend but is coldly turned down. Cassie’s best friend Erin his the Jane character and has a relationship with Calder’s best friend, Scott (the Mr. Bingley of this book).

Excerpt of Chapter 1 of Pemberley by the Sea (link is to a .pdf file)

My Thoughts: Yes, yes, I am quite a sucker for the modern-day Jane Austen stories. Avert your eyes if you hate them, for I am an addict. This author has quite a few Jane Austen books – but she specializes on Pride and Prejudice what-ifs (What if Elizabeth accepts Darcy’s first proposal? What if Elizabeth gets engaged to someone else while Darcy is away?) and veers off from the original story from that point onward. This is her first modern-day retelling.

I would say that this really a exact retelling, it more takes the basic frame of Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth and Darcy meet, Elizabeth dislikes Darcy from this first meeting while he starts to be intrigued by her in their subsequent meetings. The Jane and Mr. Bingley story in the meantime is even more loosely based on the original: they meet and date but encounter problems when summer is over. There isn’t really a Wickham, lots of sisters, or a silly Mr. Collins.

The focus is instead on the two characters and their relationship. The book is modern in that there are a few intense sex scenes, but I didn’t find them distasteful. From the beginning there is substantial chemistry between Cassie and Calder, which is obvious to the reader, but maybe not so obvious to the characters themselves. The tension is palpable, and when their relationship becomes physical (in a very memorable way) it’s too early for them to turn it into a relationship. When they move their separate ways, but keep running into each other anyway, the tension continues. Calder assumes how he feels is obvious, but to Cassie, his face is unreadable, and she assumes that she doesn’t belong in his world, especially with her low beginnings and a brother in jail. The revelation of how Calder really feels in the form of his “letter” to Cassie was one of my favorite parts of this book.

I enjoyed the setting of this story. The academia that surrounds Cassie’s day to day life was really well done – her hours in the lab or in the field, looking at results or teaching students worked well as a backdrop to her story. I liked the camaraderie and traditions, like playing Trivial Pursuit while eating the lab stew. The author does a good job of making the characters lives seem real. Likewise their pasts and family backgrounds are delved into deeply and are an integral part of the plot. I already mentioned that Cassie comes from a low income background. She distances herself from her past and hides it from her associates, thinking that they would judge her for it. Calder too has a childhood that haunts him. His upbringing as a Senator’s son was full of trauma and he’s learned to put on a mask to the world because of it. It explained why he came off as stony to Cassie, and it’s really sweet to read how he really felt and how she responds.

The only problem I had with this book, was that it seemed to continue far past where you’d think the Happily Ever After was. There was a lot of drama from both Cassie and Calder’s pasts that kept coming between them, but then they’d find away around it, and something else would come up. I didn’t feel like this part of this book was uninteresting, and it is original stuff (very different from the Pride and Prejudice story), but it seemed to go on much longer than it needed to. I found myself wanting to move ahead and flipping past to find out that Calder and Cassie were OK, then coming back to reread from where I skipped. One part I managed to miss the first time was what happened to Scott and Erin, and at first I thought the author had left their story unfinished – the focus was so much on Cassie and Calder’s family dramas that the other relationship was swallowed up in it if you get too impatient. I think I would have been a little happier with this book if the second half was edited substantially, because it doesn’t have the same pull for me as the first half, which I adored.

Ooohh, *gasp*, I just discovered that there is a sequel to this book which is coming out this year, called Morning Light, and it sounds like it retells Persuasion but in the same world – in Woods Hole, and the protagonist Annie Wright is friends with Cassie. I will definitely look for it.

Overall: This was a keeper, I plan to buy myself a copy. I loved the first half of this book, but the second half was a little long once the author continued the P&P story past it’s original end (and there was a lot of family drama that didn’t interest me as much as the romance did).

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews/ Links
Diary of an Eccentric – a positive review (“impressive”) – also an interview at this link
Diary of an Eccentric – interview with the author about another book

Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn

Posted on February 11, 2010 by janicu

Silent In The Sanctuary (Lady Julia Grey)

Deanna Raybourn

This is the second book in the Lady Julia Gray mysteries. I found a used copy of this book for sale at Savers in Phoenix, AZ. Getting the second book actually prompted me to start the first one. The review for Silent in the Grave (book 1) if you missed it, is here –

The Premise: After the events of the first book and a trip overseas, Lady Julia and her brothers are called back to the family home for Christmas. Julia’s father, Lord March, has a few family and assorted guests over at the March home, Belmont Abbey. Amid the usual family drama, odd occurrences start to happen and (of course, this is a murder mystery series after all), things culminate in a murder.

My Thoughts: I read this over my Holiday vacation, and it’s a book that goes with that season. It’s got snow, and family coming together, and holiday traditions. It is a good book to read curled up in a chair during winter and read for hours. The book is not a short one, but with so much going on, it entertains quite well.

Compared to the first book, Silent in the Sanctuary had more story threads and twists. Which is not entirely surprising because there are a lot more characters, and they’re all staying in the same house, which makes things ripe for conflict and mystery. Along with Julia and her immediate family (Julia’s sister Portia, her father, her two brothers Plum and Lysander, and Lysander’s wife Violante), there are several guests – Alessandro, Madame Hortense de Bellefleur, Lucian Snow (the local curate), Julia’s two cousins Lucy and Emma, Lucy’s fiance Sir Cedric and his clerk Henry Ludlow, Julia’s aunt Dorcas, Nicolas Brisbane, and Charlotte King. It’s a long list, and I may be forgetting someone!

The story is like a game of Clue, full of possible suspects in one house, and plenty of hints at odd things afoot. There were missing items and people, and sneaking about in the middle of the night. In the end we don’t have just one mystery to solve, and there are a few surprising twists I never saw coming. I think I was more surprised at the twists in this one than the first.

And then there is the romance between Julia and Nicolas. Brisbane. His presence is a surprise for Julia, thanks to her meddling father. At the end of Silent in the Grave, she thought that they had romantic possibilities, but he never writes her while she is away. Julia is even more annoyed to find out that he got engaged in the meantime. Delicious I say! It’s a little different now that Julia has gotten used to being an independent widow. Julia is a lot more assertive, in a very March family way. She holds her own in solving the mysteries and even discovers some things Brisbane has missed. It also means she doesn’t worry as much about societal rules, and if she thinks Brisbane is in the wrong, she lets him know it. It’s an engrossing dance between Julia and Brisbane, but but both parties have their baggage, and this affects how they see the other person. I had the feeling this was especially true of Brisbane. Julia was so different from when we first met her that it sometimes surprised me. I think I may have read this second book so close to the first that wisps of the Old Julia stayed in my brain so there was a clash with the new one, but that was a minor issue that I think only I had.

Overall: Loved the first one and the second one is again a strong book – I think I liked the twists in the mystery in this one more than the first book, but I’m undecided on which book I liked more for the romance. I really need to read book 3, Silent on the Moor! This series is shaping up to be one of my favorites, and if you are even considering reading these books, I strongly urge you to try them.

Mom’s verdict: She liked this one too. I think it took her longer to read than Silent in the Grave, but she agreed that the mystery had multiple surprises. She wants me to get book 3 so she can borrow it.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
Historical Tapestry – 4.5 out of 5
Angieville – “I went in with the highest of expectations and Silent in the Sanctuary more than lived up to them”
Dear Author – B+
Tempting Persephone – also positive

Airhead by Meg Cabot

Posted on February 8, 2010 by janicu

Airhead

Meg Cabot

I received this book for the Book Blogger Holiday swap from Marireads.

The Premise: Teenager Emerson Watts has always been a little bit of a outsider. A smart girl who likes to play video games and isn’t interested in fashion or girly things, she mocks the popular kids and despairs that her sister wants to be a cheerleader. Then one day, Em suffers a fatal freak accident. Well, almost fatal. In order to save her, her brain is transplanted into the body of supermodel Nikki Howard.

Read an excerpt of Chapter 1

My Thoughts: We’re introduced to Em in her old life, arguing with her younger sister, feeling resentful of the way the popular girls are treated just because they are pretty (even when they spout superficial things), and crushing on her best friend Christopher, a fellow geek. Then disaster strikes, and Em wakes up in a hospital and learns she’s in someone else’s body. Of course, despite her new celebrity status, this is not a dream for Em. Officially she’s dead -only her immediate family, and the Stark Corporation, Nikki’s main employer, knows that Em is still alive. She has to learn how to be a model, figure out the complexity that is Nikki’s lovelife, and hide the fact that she’s not Nikki. Turns out that being a teen-aged supermodel is not as simple as you’d think.

Surrounding Em/Nikki are several secondary characters. At first they are what you’d expect – Nikki’s bubbly best friend, the rich boys who follow her around, the annoying kid sister, the quiet geek, but as the book progresses, you see that they are more than that. Lulu is the best example of this. She starts off as a perky ditz, but you discover that she really IS Nikki’s friend and has Nikki’s back. She listens and gives her own special brand of advice, and it may not be what you’d expect, but she’s very sweet nonetheless. She surprised me. Similarly, Nikki’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Brandon at first seems like the typical playboy, but there are hints about Brandon’s relationship with his father, the head of Stark Enterprises, which suggest that his life isn’t that golden. And Christopher, who is on the page very little, has one of the most interesting characters because whenever he does (or doesn’t) speak, his body language conveys volumes more.

This is the first book in a series, and there looks to be a lot of set up for the next books. The story really feels like a beginning and I didn’t feel as satisfied closing this book as I have with other Cabot stories. There seems to be more going on with this brain transfer than it would initially seem. Stark Enterprise is painted as doing some shady things – from doing this to Em and making her family sign confidentiality agreements and contracts, to spying on it’s employees. Meanwhile, there are a gaggle of boys pursuing Nikki/Em (who discovers that in Nikki’s body, she gets addle-brained no matter who is kissing her), and Em still harbors her crush on Christopher. And that’s not even counting Em having to learn how to be a model and go to high school at the same time. There should be plenty of fodder there for an interesting series. I particularly like how Meg Cabot seems aware of the current celebrity news and fashion, and it’s reflected in this story. I found myself wondering what real life teen idols Cabot had in mind while she created some of these characters.

Also: The model in this cover looks a lot like Kate Bosworth, doesn’t she?

Overall: Well, this is Meg Cabot, so the story is a light bit of fun. Cabot has a way of writing that’s warm and entertaining and has the right voice for a young adult novel, but this one spends so much time setting up the premise for the series so I feel like I got just the beginning of a story. it made me feel unsatisfied, but maybe reading the next book will fix it.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
xicanti – 4 out of 5 stars
Liv’s book reviews – “I would highly recommend it”
Ms. Bookish – B+