ARC Review: Project Elfhome by Wen Spencer

Project Elfhome
Author: Wen Spencer
Series: Elfhome (Book 1)
Publication: Baen (September 6, 2016)

Description: Stories exploring the fascinating realm of Elfhome, a world where modern day Pittsburgh has collided with the kingdom of the Elves. A special entry in the the best-selling Romantic Times Sapphire award winning Elfhome series. Contains some of Wen Spencer's best shorter works including gems "Bare Snow Falling on Fairywood," "Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden," "Peace Offering,” and more tales set in the world of best-selling Elfhome series entries Tinker, Wolf Who Rules, Elfhome, and Wood Sprites!

Pittsburgh: a sprawling modern Earth city stranded in the heart of a virgin forest on Elfhome.  Sixty thousand humans, twenty thousand black-winged tengu, ten thousand elves, an unknown number of invading oni, four unborn siblings of an elf princess, three dragons, and a pair of nine-year-old geniuses.

For every story written, there's a thousand others not told. Lives interweave.  Fates intersect.  People change one another, often without realizing the impact they've made on others.  They come together like a mosaic, little pieces creating a greater picture.

Project Elfhome tells the stories of those impacted by Tinker and Windwolf as they struggle to make Pittsburgh a safe haven.  Some of the characters are familiar: Stormsong, Pony, Blue Sky, and Lain.  Others are new to readers.

Law forages for wild plants and fish to sell to elf enclaves.  A social misfit, she drives a hundred year old Dodge, has a pet porcupine, and saves damsels in distress in her spare time.  A mysterious phone call sets her on a collision course with danger as she races to save a young female elf.

Jane Kryskill is the producer for the popular TV series Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden.  She spends her days keeping her host, Hal Rogers, from getting himself killed as he takes on man eating plants.  She's not happy when the network drops famed naturalist Nigel Reid and his cameraman in her lap to film Chased by Monsters.

Olivia is sixteen, a runaway wife of a religious cultist, illegal immigrant, and soon to be mother.  As Pittsburgh plunges into war, she makes a desperate bargain with the mad elf lord, Forest Moss.

As the war between the elves and the oni builds to a head, these three women struggle with their own problems, supported by a circle of unique friends, yet entangled with each other.

My Thoughts: This is a set of interconnected stories which highlight characters who are not the main characters in the rest of the Elfhome series. The three main characters around whom the stories revolve are all human women. Law and Jane were born in Pittsburgh and have grown up with it being part of Elfhome. Olivia is a sixteen-year-old runaway from Earth who is trying to get as far away from her abusive husband as possible.

Some of the main characters from the other books make brief appearances in this book but the main focus is on how "ordinary" humans are dealing with the war between the elves and the oni and dealing with the fact that Tinker has cut the gate back to Earth.

Law's part of the book talks about someone who is a forager with a strong hero complex who finds herself rescuing a young elf who has no clan ties to anyone in this part of Elfhome. She has been rejected by all the clans there.

Jane's part of the book was the funniest. She is the producer for Pittsburgh's version of a home gardening show. Only plants on Elfhome are much more dangerous than any Earth plants. Jane is in charge of keeping the accident-prone start of the show from doing anything too extreme. She is also put in charge of baby-sitting a new crew from Earth who wants to make a show about the dangerous animals living there. Of course, she is also looking for her young sister who disappeared when she was six.

Olivia has run to Elfhome to escape her abusive husband and the religious cult that she was living in. She's pregnant, there illegally, and searching for a way to make a place for herself. When she learns that there is an insane elf who needs a domi she decides that becoming his will make a place for herself in this new world.

I liked the way all the stories were woven together to make a cohesive whole. I also liked the author's notes at the end that told how she came to write each story. Fans of the Elfhome series won't want to miss this fascinating new glimpse into the world of Elfhome.

Favorite Quote:

Law was not one to give credit to rumors. People liked to talk. Just because they ran out of facts didn't stop the mouth from flapping.

I got this one in exchange for an honest review from Baen Books via Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Project Elfhome by Wen Spencer

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

Pittsburgh: a sprawling modern Earth city stranded in the heart of virgin forest on Elfhome. Sixty thousand humans, twenty thousand black-winged tengu, ten thousand elves, an unknown number of invading oni, four unborn siblings of an elf princess, three dragons, and a pair of nine-year-old geniuses.

Friday 56:

Jane followed Hal down the hall wishing it wasn't a good thing they were known for their mayhem.

This week I am reading Project Elfhome by Wen Spencer. I got this eARC from Edelweiss. Here is the description from Amazon:

Stories exploring the fascinating realm of Elfhome, a world where modern day Pittsburgh has collided with the kingdom of the Elves. A special entry in the the best-selling Romantic Times Sapphire award winning Elfhome series. Contains some of Wen Spencer's best shorter works including gems "Bare Snow Falling on Fairywood," "Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden," "Peace Offering,” and more tales set in the world of best-selling Elfhome series entries Tinker, Wolf Who Rules, Elfhome, and Wood Sprites!

Pittsburgh: a sprawling modern Earth city stranded in the heart of a virgin forest on Elfhome.  Sixty thousand humans, twenty thousand black-winged tengu, ten thousand elves, an unknown number of invading oni, four unborn siblings of an elf princess, three dragons, and a pair of nine-year olds geniuses.

For every story written, there's a thousand others not told. Lives interweave.  Fates intersect.  People change one another, often without realizing the impact they've made on others.  They come together like a mosaic, little pieces creating a greater picture.

Project Elfhome tells the stories of those impacted by Tinker and Windwolf as they struggle to make Pittsburgh a safe haven.  Some of the characters are familiar: Stormsong, Pony, Blue Sky, and Lain.  Others are new to readers.

Law forages for wild plants and fish to sell to elf enclaves.  A social misfit, she drives a hundred year old Dodge, has a pet porcupine, and saves damsels in distress in her spare time.  A mysterious phone call sets her on a collision course with danger as she races to save a young female elf.

Jane Kryskill is the producer for the popular TV series Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden.  She spends her days keeping her host, Hal Rogers, from getting himself killed as he takes on man eating plants.  She's not happy when the network drops famed naturalist Nigel Reid and his cameraman in her lap to film Chased by Monsters.

Olivia is sixteen, a runaway wife of a religious cultist, illegal immigrant, and soon to be mother.  As Pittsburgh plunges into war, she makes a desperate bargain with the mad elf lord, Forest Moss.

As the war between the elves and the oni builds to a head, these three women struggle with their own problems, supported by a circle of unique friends, yet entangled with each other.

ARC Review: Hard to Hold by Katie Rose

Hard to Hold
Author: Katie Rose
Series: A Hard to Play Novel
Publication: Loveswept (September 13, 2016)

Description: New Jersey Hurricanes striker Logan Hart lives for the grind of training, the adrenaline of competition, and all the perks of the road—until his ex hands him a baby and tells Logan to raise her on his own. He’s eager to pass this bundle of joy into more capable hands and get back to his hard-playing, hard-partying ways. But when a beautiful, blond drill sergeant of a nanny turns Logan’s life upside down, he sets a new goal: winning her heart.

Isabella Bennett takes pride in teaching the rich and famous how to become loving families. Her no-nonsense style is just what Logan and his crying, copper-haired cutie need. So why can’t she get the image of Logan’s tanned, muscular body out of her head? Isabella’s here to whip a new father into shape, not fall for a sexy ladies’ man. But their chemistry is too tantalizing to ignore, much like the temptation to trust someone with her deepest secrets—and embrace a loving family all her own.

My Thoughts: Logan Hart has returned from Italy to play soccer for a New Jersey team. He's catching a drink with some of his teammates when Desiree, a woman he had a one-night stand with before he left for Italy, stops in with a baby carrier and drops a three-month-old baby girl right in front of him. She says Cinnamon is his and it is now his turn to take care of her. It would be quite an understatement to say that he was boggled and astonished.

His sister Jess helps him find a nanny to help him cope with his new responsibility. Isabella Bennett is an experienced nanny who also happens to be drop-dead gorgeous. She is also quick to tell Logan that she is there to help him but he is the one who has to learn to take care of his daughter. Logan isn't so sure that Cinnamon is his daughter at first. Hey, one-night-stand and he used a condom. His main goal is to find Desiree and give Cinnamon back.

It doesn't take long before both Cinnamon and Isabella work their way into his heart. But he might not be the baby's father, Desiree has vanished, and Isabella has a big secret of her own.

This was a wonderful romance. Both Logan and Isabella were great characters.

Favorite Quote:

"Whoa, baby girl," Logan whispered as Cinnamon let out another wail. He picked her up, aware that she immediately stopped crying and looked at him in recognition and delight. Logan's heartstrings tugged. Shit. If he didn't watch his ass, he would be lost to another female, this one cradled in the crook of his arms.

I got this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: The Passion of the Purple Plumeria by Lauren Willig

The Passion of the Purple Plumeria
Author: Lauren Willig
Series: Pink Carnation (Book 10)
Publication: NAL; 7.7.2013 edition (August 6, 2013)

Description: Colonel William Reid has returned home from India to retire near his children, who are safely stowed at an academy in Bath. Upon his return to the Isles, however, he finds that one of his daughters has vanished, along with one of her classmates.

Because she served as second-in-command to the Pink Carnation, one of England’s most intrepid spies, it would be impossible for Gwendolyn Meadows to give up the intrigue of Paris for a quiet life in the English countryside—especially when she’s just overheard news of an alliance forming between Napoleon and an Ottoman Sultan. But, when the Pink Carnation’s little sister goes missing from her English boarding school, Gwen reluctantly returns home to investigate the girl’s disappearance.

Thrown together by circumstance, Gwen and William must cooperate to track down the young ladies before others with nefarious intent get their hands on them. But Gwen’s partnership with quick-tongued, roguish William may prove to be even more of an adventure for her than finding the lost girls….

My Thoughts: How wonderful that Miss Gwen finally moves from side character to star! When Jane Wooliston's younger sister Agnes disappears from her English boarding school along with her friend Lizzie Reid, Jane and Gwen head off to England to find them. Joining them in their search is Colonel William Reid, newly arrived from India and expecting to find his daughter safely at school.

All of a sudden there are French spies, missing jewels, and Gothic novels all competing for time on stage. Gwen and William track his older daughter to a hovel where she takes in laundry to support her grandmother who is having memory issues. They also attract footpads which results in William being stabbed and he and Miss Gwen taking shelter in a dubious inn until he heals. This gives William a chance to get to know someone other than the imperious Miss Gwen.

I liked that this one brought together earlier plot threads like the missing Jewels of Berar and William's son Jack who is also the Moonstone. I liked that many chapters began with excerpts from Gwen's Gothic novel. I also liked getting to know more about Gwen's backstory and how she became the formidable character we've seen through earlier novels in this series. Colonel William Reid is also a pretty fascinating character who is receiving all kinds of shocks when he arrives in England. I liked getting to know him better. He makes a great partner for Miss Gwen.

The current storyline is also concerned with finding those still-missing Jewels of Berar and has Eloise and Colin very reluctantly teaming up with cousin Jeremy.

Favorite Quote:

Gwen was tempted to point out that Colonel Reid wasn't a rogue of a Frenchman with dubious antecedents. No. He was a rogue of an American with dubious offspring. Since that argument wasn't going to go very far, she stuck her nose in the air and said, "Do what you like. It's no concern of mine."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Teaser Tuesday: Hard to Hold by Katie Rose

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. 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 and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:

Logan nodded his head. What the hell was he thinking, checking out this woman who would be working for him? Making eyes at a nanny was so cliche it was embarrassing.

This week I am reading Hard to Hold by Katie Rose. I got this eARC from NetGalley for review. Here is the description from Amazon:

New Jersey Hurricanes striker Logan Hart lives for the grind of training, the adrenaline of competition, and all the perks of the road—until his ex hands him a baby and tells Logan to raise her on his own. He’s eager to pass this bundle of joy into more capable hands and get back to his hard-playing, hard-partying ways. But when a beautiful, blond drill sergeant of a nanny turns Logan’s life upside down, he sets a new goal: winning her heart.

Isabella Bennett takes pride in teaching the rich and famous how to become loving families. Her no-nonsense style is just what Logan and his crying, copper-haired cutie need. So why can’t she get the image of Logan’s tanned, muscular body out of her head? Isabella’s here to whip a new father into shape, not fall for a sexy ladies’ man. But their chemistry is too tantalizing to ignore, much like the temptation to trust someone with her deepest secrets—and embrace a loving family all her own.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Sept. 5, 2016)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Other Than Reading...

Well, I am a homeowner again. Currently my brother and I own three houses (but only have one mortgage).

After a busy week of beginning of the school year workshops and elementary Open House, I drove back up to Duluth to close on the new house Friday morning. I spent the next couple of days getting familiar with the place and learning that the one key the former owner gave me only opened some of the doors. Needless to say, a locksmith is first on the list for my brother on Tuesday. (I left him a long list since he's in town and I'm working 250 miles away from the new house. He'll be dealing with getting utilities, interviewing movers and scheduling the moving date, sorting through what he wants to take from our parents' house where he currently lives, etc. Time permitting he'll also be working on having a garage stall built for our third car.)

I have given my unofficial notice to my elementary principal that this will be my last year as Dover-Eyota's media specialist. My official notice will go the the superintendent and the school board next spring.

I'm back here in Eyota today getting ready to start the new school year. There was a slight change in my schedule. I thought I'd be seeing 5th graders, 3rd graders, and 1st graders this semester. Instead I'll be seeing 2nd graders this semester and 1st graders next semester. I know what all my classes are doing the first week of school which is the advantage of a four-day rotation of classes and a four-day week. Each day will be the same! However, I need to plan for the next few weeks before school starts on Tuesday.

Read Last Week

I read Betrayals by Kelley Armstrong this week which is the 4th book in her Cainsville series. I liked the way the relationships between Olivia, Gabriel and Ricky are deepening. I like all the characters in this series and can't wait to read the next book. My review will be posted on October 12.

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead had been sitting on my TBR mountain for more than three years. Once I began it, I really enjoyed this fantasy story and immediately purchased the next book in the series. My review will be posted on October 8.

I read Friday Barnes Under Suspicion  by R. A. Spratt which was an entertaining middle grade mystery. I like that Friday is an eleven-year-old Sherlock Holmes. There is lots of humor in this series too. My review will be posted on October 8.

Currently

I am currently reading Afterglow by Karsten Knight which is the conclusion of the Wildefire YA paranormal series. I like that the characters are reincarnations of gods from a wide variety of mythologies.

Next Week

The next two adult books on my calendar are both review books:

• Home by Harlan Coben (Sept. 20)
• IQ by Joe Ide (Oct. 18)

The next two YA books on my stack are also review books:

• The Emerald Tablet by Dan Jolley (Oct. 18)
• The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz (Oct. 18)

Reviews Posted

These were posted on Ms. Martin Teaches Media this week:

• The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
• The Ones by Daniel Sweren-Becker
• Diplomatic Immunity by Brodi Ashton

These were posted here on Inside of a Dog:

• The Garden Intrigue by Lauren Willig
• My Wild Irish Dragon by Ashlyn Chase
• Roadside Assistance by Marie Harte

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?


This week all my additions were adult books.

I bought The Immortal Crown by Richelle Mead after enjoying Gameboard of the Gods.

I received both print and Kindle versions of two books I supported in a Kickstarter campaign.

• Alien Artifacts edited by Joshua Palmatier
• Were- edited by Joshua Palmatier

I also received two new review books this week:

• Home by Harlan Coben (Sept. 20)
• Only You by Denise Grover Swank (Oct. 25)

ARC Review: Roadside Assistance by Marie Harte

Roadside Assistance
Author: Marie Harte
Series: Body Shop Bad Boys (Book 2)
Publication: Sourcebooks Casablanca (September 6, 2016)

Description: Underneath the axle grease and tats

He's a gentleman

Foley Sanders figured he'll always be content with a life of cars and casual hookups. Until a run-in with Cyn, a statuesque firecracker with a hate-on for men, leaves him bewitched and intrigued-much to her annoyance.

Maybe Cynthia Nichols was a little hard on Foley, that muscular, tattooed, super-hot mechanic next door. But she's tired of feeling defensive about her size and has sworn off men. She's got a new job, new life, perfect plan. Foley has trouble written all over him-no way is she going to fall for his charms.

Foley might look like a bad idea, but underneath, he's all gentleman. Too bad Cyn's not buying it. What's a bad boy to do when the goddess of his dreams won't give him the time of day?

My Thoughts: This was an interesting romance with a huge cast of characters. Foley Sanders is a big mean-looking, tattooed mechanic. Cyn Nichols is a plus size businesswoman who co-owns the coffee shop next door to the garage where Foley works.

Foley and Cyn meet when she comes to the garage to complain - loudly - about garage cars overflowing into her business's parking lot. Foley takes one look and decides that she is the one for him. He works really hard to get that first date and then the fireworks happen. They start a hot and heavy relationship.

The main problem in this story has to do with Cyn's problems with her body. She has been raised by a toxic mother who constantly belittles her as a way of "helping" her. Cyn has a terrible self-image and can't believe that Foley really likes her. Meanwhile, Foley has problems too. His best friend/brother Sam is jealous of his relationship with Cyn because he is afraid of being left behind.

I liked a lot of things about this romance. I liked Foley's relationship with his mother. I liked the strong bonds of friendship between the guys at the garage. I liked Cyn's relationship with her sister-in-law Nina. I wasn't so fond of the the crude descriptions in the love scenes and the constant bad language of so many of the characters.

Fans of grittier romances will enjoy this one.

Favorite Quote:

Yet even as she felt it, she chastised herself for allowing a man to make her feel one way or another about herself. She had to stop fixating on her looks. If she wanted other people to see past her body parts, maybe she should start with herself. 

I got this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.