Category: Book Review

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#BookReview: Abandoning Ship by Susan Hawke

This one time, NOT at band camp…

When Ryan Met Sawyer…

The universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has generally been regarded as a bad move.

If you enjoyed the trip down this rabbit hole that the top line being in the book sent my brain down and you like pop culture references like the end battles of Avengers: Endgame, the Battle of Winterfell from Game of Thrones, and others… you’re going to love this book. So quit reading this review and go read the dang book already!

This review of Abandoning Ship by Susan Hawke was originally written on September 6, 2019.

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#BookReview: Shipping Our Loves by Sammi Cee

Brand New Characters Feel Ultra Deep. (And not always in a sexual way.) This is a MMM romance that is brand new yet feels like it is a continuation of a very deep series – and is very intriguing because of it. The dynamics of the setup of the story work well, then the rest of it falls into place in a very well paced shortish novella. My first from this author (somehow), will not be my last. Very much recommended.

This review of Shipping Our Loves by Sammi Cee was originally written on September 6, 2019.

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#BookReview: The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

Solid British Police Procedural. This was an excellent book for fans of any combination of mystery, British fiction, or police procedurals. And generally, I’m a fan of all three. But for some reason this book was a bit slower of a read than most books of its size, and I’m struggling to figure out why. MAYBE because it used *several* more British terms that I’m less familiar with, despite reading more and more British fiction these days? (Full disclosure: I’m an American who has lived nearly all of my days in its southeastern corner.) Regardless, truly a solid book and very much recommended, despite my personal difficulties with reading it.

This review of The Long Call by Ann Cleeves was originally written on September 5, 2019.

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#BookReview: Mischief And A Marathon by Maddie Evans

Mischief And Mirth. In this continuation of Evans’ Brighthead Running Club series, we get the story we have been waiting on for a couple of books now – Julie and Cashman. And we learn some very startling things about Cashman throughout, but some of the biggest surprises are right up front… Excellent book, and one that can serve as an introduction to the series with only minimal spoilers at all. Very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

This review of Mischief And A Marathon by Maddie Evans was originally written on September 3, 2019.

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Featured New Release of the Week: Third Party by Brandi Reeds

This week, we are looking at a mostly intriguing book by yet another Lake Union author. This week, we are looking at Third Party by Brandi Reeds.

This book opens with a scene shocking enough to suck the reader straight into the mystery and for the most part only gets better from there. Weaving in and out mostly between two female perspectives who at first seem completely unconnected, we are also introduced to a third perspective sporadically – the murder victim herself. And we even, exactly once, get a fourth perspective of events. The topics introduced here, specifically underground sex clubs and the strict yet also laissez faire rules they operate under, are rarely mentioned in these types of books – and in particular, the exact kink featured heavily is almost unheard of in my experience with fiction. So on all of these points, this book is absolutely a thrill of a read.

But ultimately the book disappoints in its final act. Instead of continuing the unorthodox-bordering-on-bold approaches used before a certain point, instead the author chooses to go a direction that can’t be openly discussed as it features major spoilers, but was ultimately disappointing for me. Far too pedestrian, particularly in the current era and particularly after the refreshing nature of the 80%+ of the book that preceded this particular sequence.

Still, a very worthy read even with a disappointing ending, as at least the ending did in fact make sense within the context of the story.

And as always, the Amazon/ Goodreads review:
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#BookReview: The House By The Cypress Trees by Elena Mikalsen

Beautiful House. In this comedic romance, Mikalsen does for all of Italy what Under the Tuscan Sun did for just Tuscany. With Rome, Florence, Milan, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast all making appearances in this tale, we get a wide view of the beauty of the land even as we concentrate on a very specific comedy of errors and miscommunications romance between a Brit and an American, both drawn to Italy for dramatically different reasons and yet finding themselves just as drawn to each other. Excellent work, and I’ll be looking forward to more from this author. Very much recommended.

This review of The House By The Cypress Trees by Elena Mikalsen was originally written on September 1, 2019.

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#BookReview: A Bittersweet Surprise by Cynthia Ellingsen

More Sweet Than Bittersweet. I fully admit that when I got this book, I didn’t realize it was the third book in a series. And yet it doesn’t really read like one, since it uses the shared world style of building a series – yes, some other characters have already had their tale told, but this book focuses on characters who haven’t yet. And it does a really great job of showing a caring young woman scarred by events of the last 20 ish years trying to move forward and achieve her dreams… while finding some startling personal and municipal history along the way. Excellent Hallmark type book, and very much recommended.

This review of A Bittersweet Surprise by Cynthia Ellingsen was originally written on August 27, 2019.

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#BookReview: The Secrets of Lost Stones by Melissa Payne

Loose Threads Come Together Quickly. And Explosively. The front half of this book is very much setup for the back half, but it is intriguing in a very mysterious way in its own right. But then at around the halfway point, Payne inserts a “Holy Hell!!!” moment that explosively changes everything and sets in motion the back half of the book – with some explosive revelations of its own, up to almost literally the last page of the tale. Truly excellent book, and I’ll very much be looking for future books from this new author. Very much recommended.

This review of The Secrets of Lost Stones by Melissa Payne was originally written on August 27, 2019.

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#BookReview: End Times by Bryan Walsh

Much Of This Book Should Terrify You. Walsh does an excellent job of sharing the current state of research into the various existential crises humanity faces – crises that would make the human species extinct if they fully come to fruition. He lays out the narrative in such a way that after beginning with asteroids, each crisis leads into a discussion of the next. Some of his own commentary is hit or miss and different readers will appreciate more or less, but overall the work is solid in its journalism standards. Very much recommended.

This review of End Times by Bryan Walsh was originally written on June 21, 2019. In accordance with its publisher’s wishes, it was originally published in wide circulation on release day, August 27, 2019.

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Featured New Release of the Week: Shanghaied by K’Anne Meinel

This week, we look to an excellent lesbian historical fiction novella. This week, we’re looking at Shanghaied by K’Anne Meinel.

One of the things I like about Meinel is that she tells stories where the characters happen to be lesbians – and romance and sex aren’t driving features. In this opening to a new series, she stays true to that form.

In this book, we get a survival story in the present day – a woman has been mistaken to be a man and has been shanghaied in circa 1900 San Fransisco and is now trapped on a ship full of men who have no idea she is a woman. Here, Meinel does an excellent job of showing the stress and creativeness necessary for her heroine to survive such a situation, and she truly makes the reader feel the heroine’s terror.

In flashbacks, we get the heroine’s history – including the romance that eventually put her in San Fransisco to begin with. Here we do get a bit of the sappy, played well to the period of the book. And yes, there are indeed a couple of sex scenes. But even through these events, the focus is on showing the heroine’s history and motivation while giving a bit of a well needed reprieve from the stress of the present day storyline.

Excellent work, and very much recommended.

Also, the author would like me to note that the rest of this series will be available shortly after the release of this book and thus is very bingeable. 🙂

As always, we end with the Goodreads/ Amazon review:
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