Disappearing Nightly - Book Review

 

Disappearing Nightly (Esther Diamond #1)

by Laura Resnick

What is it about:

“I’m not a heroine; I just play heroines. Also psychotics, orphans, vamps, hookers, and housewives.”

When bizarre magical disappearances disrupt performances in the Big Apple, struggling actress Esther Diamond receives a cryptic warning not to appear in an Off-Broadway musical because “there is Evil among us.”

Since the show much go on, Esther teams up with a conjuring cowboy, a banker with stage aspirations, and a group of drag queens. They’re led in their efforts by Esther’s new BFF, Dr. Maximillian Zadok, a 350-year-old mage whose day job is protecting New York from Evil. Also on the case is Detective Connor Lopez, a sexy cop who fears that Max and Esther may be a bigger problem than the vanishing performers.

Boldly facing down an enraged producer, a hungry tiger, and other deadly obstacles, Esther, Max, and their friends pursue Evil to its lair in their fearless determination to find the missing performers and restore harmony to their city.

What did I think of it:

This is a really enjoyable read.

I liked Esther and several of the characters she encounters along the way. The writing is pleasant and I was curious to see what exactly was going on. I didn't much care for the love interest, but what else is new? 

Resnick is generous with clues, and at one point it's clear who the bad guy was. From there on out it felt like the story dragged a bit in it resolve, but that might have been my mood. Still the story was fun enough to keep me entertained. I got hold of the next three books and will pick up book 2 soon.

Why should you read it:

It's a fun and enjoyable UF read.

The Stars That We Steal From the Night Sky - Book Review

 

The Stars That We Steal From the Night Sky (Karma Marx #2)

by Katie MacAlister

What is it about:

There are other worlds with mysteries to solve.

Worlds where not all of the suspects are technically alive.

That’s when Karma kicks in.

Stripped of her position, facing an unsure relationship with potential boyfriend Adam, and still foster mom to an emo sixteen year old poltergeist named Pixie, ghost transporter Karma Marx thought she’d seen it all…and then she is sent on a train ride across Europe to save a woman from her abusive spouse.

The situation, people, and even residents of the train aren’t what they appear to be, and while Karma is trying to find the target of her trip, she struggles to separate deception from truth. When she comes to close to figuring it all out, everything dear to her is put at risk.

Charged with murder, and with the entire Akashic League against her, Karma is desperate to do three things: clear her name, punish the guilty, and finally get Adam into bed. She just has to survive the first two in order to tackle the third…

What did I think of it:

I enjoyed the first book even if it did have some flaws, so put this book on my wish list. I got it as a present from Melliane.

It turned out to be a nice enough read. I liked the setting and some of the characters were interesting. Pixie was more annoying than in the first book, but it could be I just reached my limits on how much Pixie antics I could take.

The story was a bit predictable, but that might be because it felt  like MacAlister is  using the same story telling tricks she used in book one.

Overall an enjoyable, but forgettable read.

Why should you read it:

It's a nice UF read

Teaser Tuesdays - That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon

 

If we really used to live alongside demons, then Myra couldn't be a goddess. She'd be a monster.

(page 36, That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming)

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, previously hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their  TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Exit Strategy - Book Review (Reread/Repost)

 

Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4)
by Martha Wells

What is it about:
Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?

Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught?

What did I think of it:
Until I read this novella Artificial Condition was my favorite of these novellas (ART!), but now it will have to share first place with Exit Strategy.

Murderbot has answers to several of its questions and is on its way to Dr. Mensah, who bought Murderbot from its corporation and thereby giving Murderbot its freedom. But things have happened while Murderbot was gone, and soon it is in the middle of dangerous politics and games.

Once again there is lots of action while Murderbot tries to save the day. There are returning characters as well, and I loved catching up with them. I read this novella in one sitting, because it was just too suspenseful to put down. I needed to know if all my favorite characters would survive.

All in all another awesome read. I'm hooked on this series!

Why should you read it:
It's a really cool SF novella


buy from amazon

Iron Crowned - Book Review

 

Iron Crowned (Dark Swan #3)

by Richelle Mead)

What is it about:

An embattled mystically entwined with our own,

the Otherworld is at the mercy of one woman...

Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear…

Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown’s ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril…

What did I think of it:

Warning: spoilers about the romance coming up!

I'm really enjoying this series, but I will confess I had hoped we were done with that stupid Kiyo after what happened in the previous book. But there he was again annoying the hell out of me. So I decided to look for spoilers to see if it was worth it to continue reading or if I should abandon this series. After finding my answer I decided to read on.

This was (apart from Kiyo) mostly a really cool read. There was the bit where Eugenie gets prescribed antibiotics, and of course this leads to Baby Daddy Drama (Did not see that coming! *eye roll*) , but the rest of the story was cool enough to overlook that particular bit of the book. 

I'll be picking up the last book in this series soon, as I'm curious about the outcome.  (minus the romance, because that I already know) 

Why should you read it:

It's a cool UF Read

Dungeons and Drama - Book Review

Dungeons and Drama

by Kristy Boyce

What is it about:

When it comes to romance, sometimes it doesn't hurt to play games. A fun YA romcom full of fake dating hijinks!

Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she's grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop.

Riley can't waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous.

But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan's Dungeons & Dragons game…or that role playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn't require as much acting as she would've thought...

What did I think of it:

So I couldn't resist picking up a book that's set at a game shop!

This is a fun read.

Are some of the characters stereotypes: yes! Is Riley a bit of a sparkly special unicorn: Yes! But as Boyce did seem to know her games, and the story is fun and entertaining I won't hold it against her. (I do feel I probably shouldn't read her book Hot Dutch Daydream)

Bonus point to the person who made the cover: I had fun recognizing the games they used.

All in all a very enjoyable read. 

Why should you read it:

It's a fun and entertaining read.

Teaser Tuesdays - Dark Descendant

"What the fuck is that?" I whispered.

"It's a glyph," Maggie explained, holding out her hand so I could see the mark on the back of it.

(page 39, Dark Descendant by Jenna Black)

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, previously hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their  TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

An Update on my challenges

 

So I know we're not even 2 months into the year, but I wanted to give an update on my challenges anyway.

So far I read 3 TBR Orphans, oldest so far was on my shelves since April 2021.

Series:

Karma Marx duology: Done!

House Immortal trilogy: Done!

Dark Swan series: 3 read, 1 to go

Jessie Shimmer trilogy: 1 read, 2 to go

Souls of Fire series: 2 read, 2 to go

But.... I  managed to add another series to my list...

The Esther Diamond series.

I found the first 4 books on sale, so it only seemed fair to add them to my list of  series I want to finish in 2024.

So far: 1 read 1, 3 are in my TBR, 3 books to track down. (there is mention of an book #8, but that was never released it seems, so I'm keeping this series at 7 total.)

How's your reading going?

Lying in the Deep - Book Review

 

Lying in the Deep

by Diana Urban

What is it about:

A juicy mystery of jealousy, love, and betrayal set on a Semester at Sea-inspired cruise ship, with a diverse cast of delightfully suspicious characters who’ll leave you guessing with every jaw-dropping twist.

After being jilted by her ex-boyfriend and best friend, Jade couldn't be more ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime—11 countries in 4 months, all from the luxurious Campus on Board ship—and to wedge an entire globe between her and the people who broke her heart.

But when Jade discovers the backstabbing couple are also setting sail, her obsession with them grows and festers, leading to a shocking murder. And as their friends begin to drop like flies, Jade and her new crush must race to clear her name and find the killer they’re trapped at sea with….before anyone else winds up in body bags.

What did I think of it:

This is a nice enough read, with some things that bugged me.

Minor: The use of the word stew for steward...

Is this really a thing? Why would you use stew? They're stewards, not some hearty meal!

The big thing that bugged me: How the people in charge acted. There's been a death and they want to keep it quiet at first. So what do they do: they just let the two students who know about it wander the ship instead of keeping them separate from the other students...

There were more things that didn't make sense or bugged me, but not enough to stop reading, In the end this was an entertaining, but forgettable read. 

Why should you read it:

It's an entertaining YA read

Navigating the Stars - Book Review

 

Navigating the Stars (Sentinels of the Galaxy #1)

by Maria V. Snyder

What is it about:

“The answer is no, Lyra,” my mother utters her favorite—I swear—phrase.

No means I have to travel with them to another planet—again.

No means leaving all my friends fifty years in the past. Thanks, Einstein.

Seventeen-year-old Lyra Daniels can’t truly blame Einstein or her parents for their impending move across the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s all due to the invention of the Q-net, which made traveling the vast distances in space possible—with one big caveat: the time dilation. But that never stopped Lyra's ancestors from exploring the Milky Way, searching for resources and exoplanets to colonize. What they didn’t expect to find is life-sized terracotta Warriors buried on twenty-one different exoplanets.

... Make that twenty-two.

As the Galaxy’s leading experts on the Warriors, Lyra's parents are thrilled by the new discovery, sending them—and her—fifty years into the future. Her social life in ruins, she fills her lonely days by illegally worming into the Q-net. The only person close to her age is the annoyingly irresistible security officer who threatens to throw her into the brig.

After the planet they just left goes silent—meaning no communications from them at all—security has bigger problems to deal with than Lyra, especially when vital data files go missing. But that's just the beginning, because they’re not as alone as they thought on their new planet... and suddenly time isn't the only thing working against them.

What did I think of it:

This is a really cool read!

Lyra can be reckless at times, but I liked her from the start. Not so much her love interest, but what else is new?

The science behind the space travel was intriguing and I loved seeing how Snyder used it. The strange warriors and what going on with them had me invested in the story as well.

Some things I could see coming from miles away, but not in an annoying way. Other things left me guessing, and I am eager to get my trotters on the next book to see where this series is going.

Highly advised to anyone who loves a well thought out SF story.

Why should you read it:

It's a really cool YA SF read.

Teaser Tuesdays - Bride

 

He nods. "And how is your little friend? Once again safe and sound, I trust."

(page 21, Bride y Ali Hazelwood)

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, previously hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their  TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Lost in Time - Book Review

 

Lost in Time

by A.G. Riddle

What is it about:

Control the past.

Save the future.

One morning, Dr. Sam Anderson wakes up to find that the woman he loves has been murdered.

For Sam, the horror is only beginning. He and his daughter are accused of the crime. The evidence is ironclad. They will be convicted. And so, to ensure his daughter goes free, Sam does what he must: he confesses. But in the future, murderers aren't sent to prison. Thanks to a machine Sam helped invent, the world's worst criminals are now sent to the past – approximately 200 million years into the past, to the dawn of the time of the dinosaurs – where they must live out their lives alone, in exile from the human race. Sam accepts his fate. But his daughter doesn't. Adeline Anderson has already lost her mother to a deadly, unfair disease. She can't bear to lose her father as well. So she sets out on a quest to prove him innocent. And to get him back. People around her insist that both are impossible tasks. But Adeline doesn't give up. She only works harder. She soon learns that impossible tasks are her specialty. And that she is made of tougher stuff than she ever imagined. As she peels back the layers of the mystery that tore her father from this world, Adeline finds more questions than answers. Everyone around her is hiding a secret. But which ones are connected to the murder that exiled her father?

What did I think of it:

Time travel and dinosaurs? That immediately grabbed my attention.

Too bad it turned out to be a dud for me.

At first I was enjoying the story. Riddle seemed to have chosen for dimensional time travel, so no worries about mistakes in the timelines. There could have been more dinosaurs though. I also would have liked a bit more emotion to the story.

Then later on in the story there was time travel within the current timeline and things went off the rails for me. I can see what Riddle was trying to do, but it didn't work for me at all. What probably was meant as clever annoyed me and I was left disappointed. 

Why should you read it:

Maybe you like "clever" time travel stories.  

The Grace Year - Book Review

 

The Grace Year

by Kim Liggett

What is it about:

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

What did I think of it:

I had a good time with this book, but I really had to suspend disbelief to do so.

Tierney is the super special - not like other girls - heroine in this "Lord of the Flies-esque" tale.

And where I thought that Alderman didn't really think the behavior of teenage girls through in her book The Power, Liggett doesn't either, but in the other direction.

So soon after starting this book I decided to turn off my critical brain and let myself be entertained and to just go with the story even when it was clear as day  what was causing the girls' behavior. 

All in all an entertaining, but easily forgettable read.

Why should you read it:

It's a nice enough read.

 

Nettle and Bone - Book Review

 

Nettle and Bone

by T. Kingfisher

What is it about:

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.

Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.

What did I think of it:

This is a fun and cozy read.

And yes: I do know it's classified as horror by some, but I can't say I agree.

As grave as the reasons that set Marra on her path may be, I just really enjoyed this story. it felt lighthearted and it's humorous. I love the interaction between Marra and her companions, and I was rooting for them from the start.

It's closer to A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking than to Kingfisher's horror books like The Hollow Places. I will confess I was hesitant to pick up Kingfisher's romances, but after reading this I might take the plunge.

All in all this is a great read, and I'll definitely will reread it.

Why should you read it:

It's a wonderful Fantasy read.

Teaser Tuesdays - Every Other Day

 

Given that the best defense was a good offense, I figured that I could at least be an unknown entity with good hair.

(page 22, Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes)

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, previously hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their  TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Crucible Zero - Book Review

 

Crucible Zero (House Immortal #3)

by Devon Monk

What is it about:

Matilda Case never thought of herself as a hero. But because she is galvanized—and nearly immortal in her stitched, endlessly healing body—she doesn’t have much of a choice. Even if she doesn’t want to save the world, she’s the only one capable of traveling in time to do so.

But her rescue attempt hasn’t gone as planned. She’s stuck in an alternate universe, and her world is in danger of disappearing. Worst of all, an unfathomably powerful man who can also travel through history doesn’t want her to put things to rights. He’s willing to wage bloody war to stop Matilda, unless she surrenders control of time to him.

Now, with the minutes ticking, Matilda must make impossible decisions, knowing that one wrong choice will destroy her—and any chance of saving everything she loves...

What did I think of it:

I will confess I was a bit worried about this last book, as Matilda end up in an alternate universe/timeline at the end of book 2. I love time travel, but often stupid mistakes are made.

Luckily Monk does it mostly right. I could believe in events as they unfolded.

I did think Matilda was a bit quick in giving up her own universe/timeline, but Monk soon had me rooting for everyone in the new universe.

All in all this is a cool ending to this trilogy and it will end up on my keeper shelves.

Why should you read it:

It's a really cool Urban Fantasy Read.

Alert: 200+ Fantasy Romance books on sale!

 

Feb 1st. One day only.

200+ Fantasy Romance books, each only 99c!

Browse at www.FaRoFeb.com on Feb 1st.