Mixed Bag

Here are more books that I read last May.  Speaking of which, I’m finding it hard to remember that we’re already in February 2012.  Every time I see something dated February, I keep on thinking 2011.

This is a bit of a mix – a few books I loved, one I didn’t, some new-to-me writers, and some auto-buy authors.

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A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James (historical romance)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The “it’s not you, it’s me” when it comes to DNFs… so true.

I started reading this ages ago, but stalled after about one-fifth of the book and put it  aside. Well, I eventually returned to the book and just fell in love.

Fairytale retellings are not my favourite, but Eloisa James pulled this off perfectly. I loved the banter between the h/h pairing and their relationoship came across as a strong connection, both mentally and physically. There was both humour and passion, and of course, a perfect HEA. Great secondary characters as well, and I am glad Wick’s story was told in Storming the Castle. I closed this book with a silly grin on my face.

I should have included this in my previous post when I talked about WHEN BEAUTY TAMED THE BEAST.  Because after finishing this one, I dived straight into BEAUTY and couldn’t put it down.

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Faster Than The Speed Of Light by Lucius Parhelion (m/m romance)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a lovely and quiet sort of romance and captured the feel of the 1940s very well. A lot of the American history and physics talk just went over my head – if not, I think I would have liked this book a bit more. And unfortunately, historical m/m romances always leave me with slight doubts over the HEA just because of the period.

This was  a new-to-me author – I can’t remember what piqued my interest in the first place, I think it was a review blog somewhere.   I think someone more familiar with American history or into physics would have really liked this book.

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And Thereby Hangs A Tale by Jeffrey Archer (mystery)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Say what you will about Jeffrey Archer, he’s a true story-teller. An entertaining collection of short stories, all with a twist in the ending.

I borrowed this one from the library, and finished within a couple of days.  One of the few short story collections I actually completed reading last year – I usually tend to skip some stories, but not with this book.

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Warcry by Elizabeth Vaughan (fantasy romance)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t come across many fantasy romances (maybe I’m hanging out in the wrong places) but this is very definitely one. I originally hesitated over this book as I couldn’t get into Elizabeth Vaughan’s previous trilogy, though I loved the original Warlands trilogy. This was a good one though.

The humour in this book caught me by surprise, but it worked – it kept the book on the side of light and easy reading. The characters were appealing and engaging, and it was good to revisit Lara and Keir from the original trilogy. Yes, some fantasy tropes were way overused (long cheesy titles, anyone?) but it was great to spend a couple of hours in a slightly different world.

I’m not convinced this book would work for readers new to the world, but I think I still stand by my recommendation for the original trilogy, and I’ll definitely get the next book she writes.

Nath‘s strong recommendation for this book persuaded me to pick it up sooner rather than later, and I’m glad I did.

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Paper Planes by M. Jules Aedin (m/m romance)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A really good voice and smooth writing – I sank straight into the story right from the start. The slightly unusual h/h pairing with disability, age, and cultural differences was handled well IMO.

The falling in love part was nicely done and I loved the humour in this book, but I think the eventual lack of conflict meant the book sort of fizzled out – once the initial issues were worked through, the main conflict was really just a lack of time to see each other.

Good read though, and I am definitely on the lookout for more books by this author though.

Another new-to-me author – haven’t read any more of her books yet, but maybe this year…  

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Private by Kate Brian (YA)

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

You know, I usually say I wouldn’t finish a book I disliked… well.

The frustrating thing about this story was that I kept hanging on, hoping that Reed would grow up or that the characters would redeem themselves or you know… something, anything that would make this book worth the time spent reading it. And it never came.

This was the sort of story which is one step forward, two steps back – you think Reed has grown a backbone, and then she suddenly she is exactly where she was a couple of chapters ago. It’s the sort of YA book that is candy with no nutritional value whatsoever.

And finally – I read the ebook version and there were typos galore – at least one per chapter.

Sigh.

Err… I don’t think I have anything to add to that.

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Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White (YA)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was really engrossed in this book from start to finish and the only reason I hesitated over the 5 star/favourites rating was the overall tone of this book. It’s gritty. Depressing may not be the right word but it is very personal and well, not an entirely uplifting story.

I posted about this earlier in the year, and ended up choosing this book as one of my 2011 favourites.  

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Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh (paranormal romance)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Definitely better than the first book IMO. I’m not sure if the melodrama (which I thought was OTT in the first book) in this one has been toned down or whether it was just more suited to the story. I did want more urban New York – I didn’t really care for the Refuge setting and we didn’t really get much China either. I am starting to feel the romance in Elena/Raphael’s relationship and would definitely read the next book.

A bit of an uneven series this, at least from my perspective.  I read the next book the following month, and if you read my Goodreads reviews, you’ll know I did not love it.  

Another UK v. US Cover

I swung past the bookstores today, and while I didn’t see Patricia Briggs’ “Bone Crossed” on the shelves (and no, my Amazon order hasn’t shipped yet), I did see this book (right) in the SF/F section.

I thought it looked vaguely familiar, and had a closer look – yep, it’s Elizabeth Vaughan’s “Dagger-Star”, not just with a different title and cover art, but also with the author’s name changed from Elizabeth to Beth.

Am wondering what the reason for the change is; while US and UK versions do have different cover art quite often (and also different titles to a lesser extent), the author’s name tends to remain the same.  Especially since Ms Vaughan’s previous Warprize trilogy was released here under her full name.

 

Review – Elizabeth Vaughan’s “Dagger-Star”

Nath very bravely invited Katie(babs) and myself to do a three-way review of Elizabeth Vaughan‘s “Dagger-Star”.  What did we think?  The short version is that Katie(babs) loved it, Nath thought it was all right, and I err… didn’t really get it.  The (much) longer version is up at Breezing Through.

Books for April

ETA: I’m rubbish - I completely forgot about Jo Beverley‘s “A Lady’s Secret” (historical romance).  Seeing it in the bookstore today was a nice surprise!  It’s set in the Georgian era, and I’m pretty sure it’s part of her Malloren family series.  I’m also getting her two-in-one traditional regency reissues, ”Lovers and Ladies”, when it appears on the shelves.  Ms Beverley blogged a bit about ”A Lady’s Secret” on Word Wenches, btw. 

Excerpt here .

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Books I want to get this month:

Elizabeth Vaughan‘s “Dagger-Star” (fantasy romance) – I loved her Chronicles of the Warlands trilogy, and am looking forward to this one, which is set in the same world but with a different cast of characters, from what I can gather.  I think it’ll be interesting to see the Warlands from a different perspective.  The cover’s very… bright.  Striking.  I’m pretty sure it’ll stand out on the shelves due to colour alone. 

Excerpt here (out April 1).

Karen Chance‘s “Embrace the Night” (urban fantasy) – Third book in the Cassandra Palmer series.  I really like this series - my thoughts on the second book “Claimed by Shadow” are here.  I’ve uploaded both the UK and US covers – UK on the left, US on the right.  Same picture, it’s just that they’ve gone for monochrome in the UK and changed the position and fonts used for the title and author’s name.  No idea why. 

Excerpt here (out April 1).

Lois McMaster Bujold‘s “Passages” (fantasy) – Third in her Sharing Knife series.  After my little fangirl squee over ”Legacy”, I’m obviously going to get “Passages” now.  Not blown away by the cover, but I don’t think it’ll be the deciding factor for people buying this book. 

Umm… can’t find an excerpt, but blurb here (out April 22). 

 Lisa Shearin‘s “Armed and Magical” (fantasy) – Second in her Raine Benares series.  I wasn’t completely blown away by the first book “Magic Lost, Trouble Found”, but I thought the ending was clever and that this series had potential.  I love the cover too - it captures Raine’s attitude perfectly, IMO. 

Excerpt here (out April 29 – so I suppose this is technically a May book).

Elizabeth Peters‘ “Night Train to Memphis” (mystery) – Heh.  This is not a new release, but a re-issue.  It’s the one Vicky Bliss book I haven’t yet read (until the new one comes out in September!).  I have been searching everywhere for this one, so I’m super-happy they’re reissuing it (out 24 April).

I’m wondering about:

Sherry Thomas‘ “Private Arrangements” (historical romance) – I can’t remember the latest book that got so much buzz in blogland.  Maybe Joanna Bourne’s “The Spymaster’s Lady”?  Which err… is sitting in my TBR pile.  And has been since Jan.  Sigh.  I’ll probably get this one too, but not just yet.  I like the cover, but to me, it conveys this medieval feel.  And I’m pretty sure it’s set in the late 1800s.

Some covers…

It’s been, oh, a week since I last mentioned my ebook reader so…

It’s the little things that add to the experience, like when I press the Bookmark button on my Sony Reader, it changes the top right corner of the page so that it looks as though I’ve folded the corner of the page.  Rather clever.  I have to say though – if Apple came out with an ebook reader, I’ll be the first in the queue.  I don’t think anyone can top Apple when it comes to design. 

What I do miss about print books though are the covers.  Sigh.  Some ebooks have covers, but black-and-white pictures don’t do it.   Just to indulge myself, here are some covers from upcoming releases this year:

Kelley Armstrong‘s “Personal Demon” (March 2008) – The UK cover (left) beats the US one (right), IMO.  Too many colours on the US cover, I think.  The girl looks orange, and the purple background and green letters don’t help!  Maybe it’ll look better in real life.  On the UK cover, I wonder what the mask represents?  The UK covers in this series can sometimes be a bit blah, but they have a pretty consistent look and feel.

Elizabeth Vaughan‘s “Dagger-Star” (April 2008) – Ms Vaughan has posted some info on her new book (finally!) – same universe as the Warlands trilogy, but different characters.  Sample chapter here.  A rather eye-catching cover, methinks.

My Sunday Trip to the Bookstore…

Or bookstores rather.  There’s this area in Central London where there are several great bookstores within easy walking distance of one another.  First up, on Charing Cross Road, you have a Borders – this isn’t as large as the one on Oxford Street, but it’s still pretty good for romance, mystery and SF / fantasy. 

A couple of minutes down the road is a small bookstore called Murder One – yes, they stock crime and mystery novels, but they also have a very comprehensive romance section.  Good for US imports (i.e. books released in the US, but not yet in the UK) that Borders don’t have, but they are admittedly on the pricey side.  I go there if I *have* to get a new release straightaway, as they are really good at getting the latest books.

Just five minutes away around the corner, heading down Shaftsbury Avenue, there’s a Forbidden Planet – yes, the website has loads of action figures, comics and toys, but in the basement of the store, they have a fantastic SF and Fantasy book section, and even with a special section for Fantasy Romance!

I could happily spend the whole afternoon browsing through these three bookstores, followed by a wander around the Covent Garden shops – especially if it’s a lovely sunny day, as it was yesterday!

Anyway, I did come back with a few books – of course.

Firstly, “Warlord” (Elizabeth Vaughan), which was on my March book list.  I’ve already started it, and it’s shaping up to be an interesting read.  I didn’t bother to re-read the first two books in this trilogy before starting this one, and there are a couple of references to events in the second book that I can’t quite remember.  Not enough to take me out of the story, but it’s slightly annoying…

I also bought Keri Arthur‘s “Tempting Evil”, the third book in her Riley Jensen Guardian series (paranormal romance with werewolves/vampires, set in Australia).  Despite having read the first two, I still haven’t quite made up my mind about this series - after this book, I’m hoping I’ll have decided whether to continue or not!  The publisher did that clever trick of issuing three books in consecutive months, which definitely persuaded me to pick this one up, as the last two are relatively fresh in my memory. 

Finally, I bought a new-to-me author, Susan Wright‘s “To Serve and Submit” – it’s a fantasy novel, with shades of BDSM, I think.  The back cover blurb from Library Journal said it would appeal to fans of Jacqueline Carey, and while I do take blurbs with a pinch of salt, I thought I’d give this one a shot.  My impulse buy of the day!

And finally, my sister dropped off her copy of Nora Roberts‘ “Angels Fall”, which I still haven’t read.

That TBR pile is growing ever larger…