ARC Review: Dragon Blood by Eileen Wilks

Dragon Blood
Author: Eileen Wilks
Series: A Novel of the Lupi (Book 14)
Publication: Berkley (January 2, 2018)

Description: The battle against a vengeful goddess reaches a climactic point as Lily Yu must now face the ultimate challenge in a dangerous new realm—without her husband, Rule …

When a mission to rescue five children stolen by an Old One falls apart under the assault of a demon prince, Lily wakes up in a strange reality—and is immediately taken captive by the dragon spawn who rule there. Jumping worlds has fractured her party, and Cynna is her only companion.

Although the clock is ticking, time works differently, and Lily has miraculously gained a week. That means seven days to free herself, find Rule and the others, rescue the children, and make it home alive. All before the dragon spawn holding her hostage trade her to the Old One. It would almost be doable if this weren’t Lóng Jia—also known as Dragonhome: the birthplace of dragons.

My Thoughts: Lily Yu, along with Rule, Cynna, Grandmother, and Gan, find themselves in Long Jia, the fabled Dragonhome, on their quest to rescue the missing Lupi children. The missing children include Rule's son Toby and Cynna's daughter Ryder. Of course, they are also trying to defeat the Great Bitch and it looks like the dragon spawn on Dragonhome have made some sort of deal with her.

They are taken from Dis to Long Jia by Gan who doesn't manage to keep them all together. Cynna and Lily end up in the capitol city which is ruled by dragon spawn. Grandmother, Rule and Gan appear far from the city and need to make their way to it to rejoin the others. Making things more difficult is that Rule is badly injured. We do learn more about Grandmother's abilities and past as she attempts to heal him.

While Grandmother, Rule, and Gan are making their way to the capitol, Lily is being interrogated by one of the dragon spawn. Since he, like all the dragon spawn, is a sociopath, his interrogation techniques are akin to torture. Between sessions which have Lily discussing abstract topics like altruism, faith, and belief, she and Cynna are trying to find a way out of their prison, a way to rescue the children, and a way to gate back to Earth.

When Gan brought them to Dragonhome, she brought them some time before the children were actually kidnapped which does give our heroes some time to come up with a plan to rescue them. Lily does find out why the children were taken and what is planned for them which makes their rescue even more vital.

I liked the setting of Dragonhome which has been colonized by Chinese who essentially fell through a gate from Earth. I liked learning more about the history of the dragons. I liked learning more about Grandmother. The story was filled with action.

While this would not be a good place to start this series since its events follow so closely and are dependent on the events of Dragon Spawn, it is a great episode for long-time fans of the series. This book is not a cliffhanger in that the main plot of this book - rescuing the children - is mostly concluded but the ending leads the way for the next book in the series.

Fans of urban fantasy and dragons will enjoy this long-running series.

Favorite Quote:

People feared choice. With it marched change, and people feared change more than either death or taxes. Easier to do things the way they had always been done. Easier, even, to surrender choice, let others make the decisions, and complain when things went wrong. Easier, for many, to assert that God was in charge, so everything must turn out all right in the end, no matter how bad things looked.

Eh! Did people not understand the vastness they called God reached into this world only through them? That choosing to do nothing when evil walked among them gave God no way to act?

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

Friday Memes: Dragon Blood by Eileen Wilks

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:

Letter from Lily Yu

It had all started on a fairly normal day. Normal, that is, if your husband is a werewolf and the two of you are hanging out with your brother-in-law -- also a werewolf and maybe the deadliest man in the world -- and your best friends, who include a sorcerer, a Rhej, and a part-sidhe computer geek.

Friday 56:

What did you tell her? Rule asked.

Night had fallen. A single mage light hovered up near the ceiling of the cell, courtesy of their jailers. A lot of people here had enough of a Gift to float a mage light or two. Lily and Cynna sat on one of the blankets, huddled up so close an observer could have been forgiven for thinking they were lovers. "I said I required proof of her intentions, and that returning my weapons and ammo would make fairly solid proof."

Cynna snorted. "Like that's gonna happen."

This week I am reading Dragon Blood by Eileen Wilks. This review book came from NetGalley. I have been reading the series since 2004. Here is the description from Amazon:

The battle against a vengeful goddess reaches a climactic point as Lily Yu must now face the ultimate challenge in a dangerous new realm—without her husband, Rule …

When a mission to rescue five children stolen by an Old One falls apart under the assault of a demon prince, Lily wakes up in a strange reality—and is immediately taken captive by the dragon spawn who rule there. Jumping worlds has fractured her party, and Cynna is her only companion.

Although the clock is ticking, time works differently, and Lily has miraculously gained a week. That means seven days to free herself, find Rule and the others, rescue the children, and make it home alive. All before the dragon spawn holding her hostage trade her to the Old One. It would almost be doable if this weren’t Lóng Jia—also known as Dragonhome: the birthplace of dragons.

ARC Review: Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley

Death Below Stairs
Author: Jennifer Ashley
Series: A Below Stairs Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Berkley (January 2, 2018)

Description: Victorian class lines are crossed when cook Kat Holloway is drawn into a murder that reaches all the way to the throne.

Highly sought-after young cook Kat Holloway takes a position in a Mayfair mansion and soon finds herself immersed in the odd household of Lord Rankin. Kat is unbothered by the family’s eccentricities as long as they stay away from her kitchen, but trouble finds its way below stairs when her young Irish assistant is murdered.

Intent on discovering who killed the helpless kitchen maid, Kat turns to the ever-capable Daniel McAdam, who is certainly much more than the charming delivery man he pretends to be. Along with the assistance of Lord Rankin’s unconventional sister-in-law and a mathematical genius, Kat and Daniel discover that the household murder was the barest tip of a plot rife with danger and treason—one that’s a threat to Queen Victoria herself.

My Thoughts: Kat Holloway is a young woman who is a cook. She has worked for a number of homes in Mayfair. Now she has accepted employment in the house of Lord Rankin, a prominent financier and his wife. Also in the household is his sister-in-law Lady Cynthia who enjoys dressing like a man.

She is only in the household one day when she steps into her larder and finds her cook's assistant Sinead beaten to death. Kat immediately contacts her mysterious friend Daniel McAdam who can mingle with all layers of society and who helped her with an earlier problem.

Daniel confesses to her that Lord Rankin's household was already under suspicion. He might be investing for the Fenians who are trying for a free Ireland and using terroristic attacks to advance their cause. A mysterious scrap of paper found near Sinead leads Kat, Daniel, Lady Cynthia, and others on a wild chase to protect Queen Victoria.

Kat tells the story in the first person and we gradually learn some of her secrets including that she was once married to an abusing bigamist and has a ten-year-old daughter living with friends. We also learn that Kat is quite curious both about what is going on in Lord Rankin's home and about her friend Daniel McAdam. She has a strong sense of right and wrong and notable common sense.

Daniel is a wonderful hero too. He is some sort of investigator but says he isn't with the police. He is protective both of Kat and his teenage son James. He has contacts all over London and can transform himself into anything from a man-of-all-work to a dapper middle class gentleman. I really want to know who he's working for.

I like the growing relationship between the practical Kat and the secretive Daniel. It is a romance though between two people who both have secrets to keep. The mystery was engaging and action-packed.

I felt when I began this one that I had missed a previous book which detailed how Daniel and Kat met. There were quite a few references to something that had happened earlier between them. The Aurhot's Note at the back says there is a short story A Soupcon of Poison that does give this information and can't wait to read it. I also can't wait to read more books about Kat and Daniel.


Favorite Quote:

I knew that letting a man like Daniel into my life, more than I already had, would be the height of foolishness. I was still angry with him for his deception, not that my disapprobation had dampened his enthusiasm or his smiles. His smiles made him all the more dangerous.

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

ARC Review: Neogenesis by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Neogenesis
Author: Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Series: Liaden Universe® (Book 21)
Publication: Baen (January 2, 2018)

Description: Menace from Back Space Looming out of the Dust of Time

The Complex Logic Laws were the result of a war waged hundreds of years in the past, when two human powers threw massive AI navies at each other and nearly annihilated themselves.  Being human, they blamed their tools for this near miss; they destroyed what was left of the sentient ships, and made it illegal to be, manufacture, or shelter an independent logic.

Strangely, however, the Free Ships and other AIs did not turn themselves in or suicide, they merely became wary of humans, and stayed under their scans.  A clandestine support network grew up, including hidden yards where smart ships were manufactured, and mentors--humans specially trained to ease a new intelligence into the universe--socialized them, and taught them what they needed to know to survive.

Among those with a stake in the freedom of Independent Logics is Theo Waitley, who is somewhat too famously the captain of intelligent ship Bechimo. Theo's brother, Val Con yos'Phelium, presides over a household that has for a generation employed an AI butler.  Recently, he approved the "birth" of the butler's child, who was sent, with human mentor Tolly Jones, to rescue or destroy an orphaned AI abandoned at a remote space station.

Then there's Uncle, the shadowy mastermind from the Old Universe, whose many projects often skirt the boundaries of law, both natural and man-made – and the puppet-masters at the Lyre Institute, whose history is just as murky – and a good deal less honorable.

All have an interest in the newly-awakening Self-Aware Logic that is rumored to have the power to destroy universes.

The question is:  Who will get to it first?

My Thoughts: This is another exciting episode in the Liaden Universe. Some plot threads begun in THE GATHERING EDGE and other earlier books come to resolution in this episode. It takes place on Surebleak, on Inki's ship Ahab-Esais, on the Uncle's ship Vivulonj Prosperu, on Admiral Bunter, on the Tarigan, and at Tinsori Light.

We learn more about the Uncle where Daav and Aelliana are biding while they get over the Uncle's ministrations fearing that he might have subverted them in some way to Korval's detriment. The Uncle has business of his own too as his sister, who holds the key to one of his plans, disappears from her safe place.

We also get to spend more time with Tocohl, Tolly and Haz who are all variously in peril. Tolly has to find a way to fix Admiral Bunter so that he doesn't take him to the Lyre Institute where he will be reprogrammed. Tolly has to gain the ship's trust so that he can go in and repair the core mandates. Tocohl has been kidnapped by Inki who wants to reprogram her to make her Inki's slave. Haz heads off into space to rescue Tolly and ends up in danger from the Lyre Institute herself.

On Surebleak, Miri and Val Con are dealing with a new inspection by a trade organization to upgrade the status of Surebleak as a port and dealing with the two Pathfinders Theo found in THE GATHERING EDGE and their mysterious briefcases. Ren Zel is dealing with the strengthening of his addiction to his psychic gift which gives him the power to unmake the universe. Theo comes to Val Con in his role as a Scout Commander to get some other Scouts determined to capture and destroy her ship Bechimo off her trail. Those Scouts are convinced that Bechimo is Old Tech and is in violation of the Complex Logic Laws.

What ties many of these plot threads together is the search for an ancient Artificial Intelligence. The Uncle wants it. The Lyre Institute wants it and has dispatched Inki to find it. Haz and Tolly rendezvous with Inki and Tocohl at the Tinsori Light to deal with an AI gone insane and with the power to destroy the Universe in its madness.

This was action-packed and exciting. It was good to catch up with beloved characters and to learn more about characters who were previously in the background and now take a turn in the spotlight. Naturally, since this is the 21st book, some beloved characters are off doing something else and a few only make cameo appearances.

Favorite Quote:

"I am a generalist, I fear. Scout Commander, First-in. There are not very many of us, which must be counted fortunate, as we are all flutterbees, sipping nectar from every flower, indiscriminately. Intuition is wanted most in a Scout Commander. A keen eye, a retentive memory, and being rather too stupid to die are also seen as desirable qualities."

I bought this eARC from Baen. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Black Star Renegades by Michael Moreci

Black Star Renegades
Author: Michael Moreci
Series: Black Star Renegades (Book 1)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (January 2, 2018)

Description: In the tradition of Star Wars, a galaxy-hopping space adventure about a galactic kingdom bent on control and the young misfit who must find the power within before it’s too late.

Cade Sura holds the future of the galaxy in his hands: the ultimate weapon that will bring total peace. He didn’t ask for it, he doesn’t want it, and there’s no worse choice to wield it in all of space, but if he doesn’t, everyone’s totally screwed. The evil Praxis kingdom is on the cusp of having every star system under its control, and if that happens, there’ll be no contesting their cruel reign. Especially if its fanatical overlord, Ga Halle, manages to capture Cade and snag the all-powerful weapon for herself.

Cade can’t hide from Praxis, and he can’t run from the destiny that’s been shoved into his hands. So he only has one option:

He has to fight.

Cade’s not going to let destiny send him on a suicide run, though. With some help from his friends―rebels and scoundrels alike―Cade’s going to use this weapon to chart a new destiny for the galaxy, and for himself.

He just has to do so before everyone around him discovers that he’s a complete and total fraud.

Blending the space operatics of Star Wars and the swagger of Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Star Renegades is a galaxy-hopping adventure that blasts its way from seedy spacer bars to sacred temples guarded by deadly creatures―all with a cast of misfit characters who have nowhere to go and nothing to lose.

My Thoughts: BLACK STAR RENEGADES is a homage to STAR WARS and comic books. Cade Sura and his brother were orphans rescued from a lawless planet and taken to be trained as Rai - peacekeepers - because there rescuer felt that one of them could be the new Paragon and control an ancient weapon which was supposed to bring peace to the universe.

Peace was very much needed since Ga Halle, the self-appointed queen of the Praxis empire, was bent and conquering the galaxy and bending it to her will. The organization that trained Cade was supposed to be her opposition but was strangely ineffective.

Cade was sure that his brother Tristan was the one destined to be the new paragon but he was killed by an agent of Ga Halle soon after recovering the mystery weapon leaving Cade to manage it and become the new paragon - a position he felt unworthy of and that he didn't want.

Cade gathers a few other rebels to the existing order: Kira who was a pilot at the Well, Mig who was a childhood frenemy who was also an electronic genius, and Mig's friend 4Qel who was a fighting droid. These four unlikely heroes need to find a way to destroy the Praxis empire's War Hammer which sucks the energy out of suns and kills their attached planets. They also need to find a way to gather all the various rebel factions to defeat the Praxis empire.

The story was fast-paced and visual but there wasn't much character development. Cade cycled through self-doubt and self-confidence. He also couldn't decide if he should try to destroy the mystery weapon and run off to hide or stay a fight a battle he doesn't think he can win.

Fans of STAR WARS and space operas will enjoy this story but, be advised, it ends with something of a cliffhanger.

Favorite Quote:

There could be a lot of ways to describe Cade -- underachiever, troublemaker, undisciplined. But for all his flaws, there were still a few things Cade had going for him. One such thing, salient to this moment with Kira, was his prowess as an accomplished liar. He could talk his way out of just about any situation, he could connive and cajole to get things he wanted, and, because of that, he could detect his own.

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

First Paragraph/Teaser Tuesday: Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of a book she is reading or planning to read. She provides a linky for others to post theirs.

Here's mine:

London, March 1881

I had not been long at my post in Mount Street, Mayfair, when my employer's sister came to some calamity.

 

Link up here. It is very easy to play along:

• 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! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Here's mine:

I closed the door, resisting the urge to slam it -- my employer's rudeness wasn't the doors fault. In the reflection of its glass, I saw that the master's guest had turned from the window, every line of him taut with anger.

Both of these come from Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley. I got this review book from Edelweiss. Here is the description from Amazon:

Victorian class lines are crossed when cook Kat Holloway is drawn into a murder that reaches all the way to the throne.
Highly sought-after young cook Kat Holloway takes a position in a Mayfair mansion and soon finds herself immersed in the odd household of Lord Rankin. Kat is unbothered by the family’s eccentricities as long as they stay away from her kitchen, but trouble finds its way below stairs when her young Irish assistant is murdered.

Intent on discovering who killed the helpless kitchen maid, Kat turns to the ever-capable Daniel McAdam, who is certainly much more than the charming delivery man he pretends to be. Along with the assistance of Lord Rankin’s unconventional sister-in-law and a mathematical genius, Kat and Daniel discover that the household murder was the barest tip of a plot rife with danger and treason—one that’s a threat to Queen Victoria herself.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Dec. 25, 2017)

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.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup. YA and middle grade reviews will still be posted on  Ms. Martin Teaches Media - my other blog.

Other Than Reading...

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Celebrating or not, I hope your day is filled with love, laughter, and delicious treats.

I am cautiously optimistic about having finally sold my townhouse. I received an offer this week, counter-offered and had it accepted. Because the buyer is in the middle of a divorce, the closing date is a long way out. I'm looking at on or before March 26 before I can say goodbye to a townhouse I moved out of in early June. I am only cautiously optimistic because I have gotten to this stage twice before with the townhouse only to have the buyers back out - one of them two days before the closing.

As I am writing this on Saturday morning, a light snow is falling at my house. It is predicted that the temperatures will also be falling. A high of -9 is predicted for Christmas Day.

On my agenda today is laundry and making my first attempt at creating a French Silk pie. My brother always requested that I bring one home from Baker's Square when I came to Duluth for holidays. Lacking a Baker's Square in Duluth, I found a recipe. Wish me luck!

Read Last Week

• Cast in Deception by Michelle Sagara - latest episode in the Chronicles of Elantra. My review will be posted on Jan. 17.
• Final Girls by Riley Sager - great thriller being released in paperback on Jan. 23. My review will be posted on Jan. 18.
• Baby, I'm Howling for You by Christine Warren - engaging paranormal romantic suspense in a new series. My review will be posted on 24.

Heat by Donna Grant - DNF; I enjoyed the prologue but the story threw in too many characters and relationships for a new reader to hop into this series at book 12.

• Magic in the Moonlight by Ellen Schreiber - a so-so YA paranormal romance that is the middle book in the trilogy. My review will be posted on Jan. 17.
• The Last Girl on Earth by Alexandra Blogier -- YA science fiction that apparently begins a series. Nice characters, interesting world building. My review will be posted on Jan. 19.

Currently

Final Siege by Scarlett Cole is my last January release. So far I am enjoying this romantic suspense story. Release date is Jan. 30.

Next Week

Christmas Day

Lake Silence by Anne Bishop - I know this won't be released until March 6 and I have 21 February releases I should read first but I CAN'T WAIT!

Adult books (some of the February 6 releases)

• Survive the Night by Katie Ruggle 
• Look for Me by Lisa Gardner
• This Fallen Prey by Kelley Armstrong

Young Adult Books (Most also being released on Feb. 6)

• Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce (review)
• Layover by Amy Andelson & Emily Meyer (review)

• Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter (TBR mountain since Oct. 20, 2014)
• The Greed by Scott Bergstrom (review)

Reviews Posted

On Inside of a Dog:

The End of All Things by John Scalzi

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

On Ms. Martin Teaches Media:

Sweet Shadows by Tera Lynn Childs

Firebrand by A. J. Hartley

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

Bought

• Full Moon Kisses by Ellen Schreiber (3rd in trilogy)
• Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (Kindle copy of book on TBR mountain because I prefer reading books on my Kindle these days)
• The Blood Prince Series by Jennifer Blackstream (not free but $.99 for 3 novels is almost free)

Free

• Strangehold by Rene Sears
• Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (I've already read the hardcover and donated it. This is a Kindle copy.)

• Beneath the Knowe by Anthea Sharp
• Crushed by Barbara Ellen Brink

Review

The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg - 4th in Paper Magician series; release date May 15

What was your week like?

Book Review: The House on Tradd Street by Kate White

The House on Tradd Street
Author: Karen White
Series: Tradd Street (Book 1)
Publication: Berkley (Nov. 4, 2008)

Description: The brilliant, chilling debut of Karen White's New York Times bestselling Tradd Street series, featuring a Charleston real estate agent who loves old houses—and the secret histories inside them.

Practical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she's going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog—and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets.

Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that diamonds from the Confederate Treasury are hidden in the house. So he turns the charm on with Melanie, only to discover he's the smitten one...

It turns out Jack's search has caught the attention of a malevolent ghost. Now, Jack and Melanie must unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak—and even murder.

My Thoughts: When Melanie Middleton inherits a historic Tradd Street home from a man she met only once, she has to solve the mystery of the man's mother's disappearance which eerily parallels her own abandonment by her mother. Melanie vehemently denies that she sees ghosts but that doesn't stop her from seeing them.

As she begins to restore the home, with the assistance of Jack Trenholm who is a writer in need of a book idea, her best friend Sophie who is a quirky college professor whose specialty is old Charleston homes, and Chad who is one of her clients looking for a house.

Trying to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Louisa Vanderhorst leads to another mystery. A Vanderhorst ancestor might have hidden some Confederate diamonds somewhere in the house. Melanie could use the diamonds to help restore the house but a descendant of the man Louisa was supposed to have run off with - Marc Longo - is also on the hunt for the diamonds.

Besides ghosts, this book has tangled family relationships. Melanie's father, who turned to alcohol when Melanie's mother left, has been named the trustee of the money left to Melanie to restore the home. Melanie has long since learned that he could not be depended on. Also Melanie's mother has been trying to contact her but Melanie has written her out of her life.

This was an excellent and spooky mystery with a great setting and intriguing characters.

Favorite Quote:

I looked at the windows again, trying to see them with her eyes. But where she saw a work of art and painstaking skill, I saw only an old window that would probably cost a small fortune to repair if it ever got broken. I wanted, for a brief moment, to see the beauty of it, but I hadn't been able to see the beauty in anything since I was seven years old.

I bought this one March 4, 2014. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

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:

Pewter reflections of scarlet hibiscus colored the dirt-smudged windows of the old house, like happy memories of youth trapped inside the shell of an old man.

Friday 56:

I gave her a look that any normal person would have taken to mean "back off" but which Sophie completely ignored. As Jack approached her, she stuck out her hand. "Dr. Sophie Wallen. Pleased to meet you..."

This week I chose The House on Tradd Street by Karen White from my TBR mountain. Here is the description from Amazon:

The brilliant, chilling debut of Karen White's New York Times bestselling Tradd Street series, featuring a Charleston real estate agent who loves old houses—and the secret histories inside them.

Practical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she's going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog—and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets.

Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that diamonds from the Confederate Treasury are hidden in the house. So he turns the charm on with Melanie, only to discover he's the smitten one...

It turns out Jack's search has caught the attention of a malevolent ghost. Now, Jack and Melanie must unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak—and even murder.

ARC Review: Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins

Now That You Mention It
Author: Kristan Higgins
Publication: HQN (December 26, 2017)

Description: One step forward. Two steps back. The Tufts scholarship that put Nora Stuart on the path to becoming a Boston medical specialist was a step forward. Being hit by a car and then overhearing her boyfriend hit on another doctor when she thought she was dying? Two major steps back.

Injured in more ways than one, Nora feels her carefully built life cracking at the edges. There’s only one place to land: home. But the tiny Maine community she left fifteen years ago doesn’t necessarily want her. At every turn, someone holds the prodigal daughter of Scupper Island responsible for small-town drama and big-time disappointments.

With a tough islander mother who’s always been distant, a wild-child sister in jail and a withdrawn teenage niece as eager to ditch the island as Nora once was, Nora has her work cut out for her if she’s going to take what might be her last chance to mend the family. Balancing loss and opportunity, dark events from her past with hope for the future, Nora will discover that tackling old pain makes room for promise…and the chance to begin again.

My Thoughts: This is Nora Stuart's story. It begins with an accident when she is hit by Beantown Bug Killers van while jaywalking and overhears her boyfriend hitting on another doctor while she comes back to consciousness. This is just the final straw that sends her back home to Scupper Island to heal.

Nora left Scupper Island as soon as she could for college and hasn't returned since. During the time she was away she attended Tufts, medical school, and has become a gastroenterologist. (I'm pretty sure this is the first story I've ever read where the main character had that career.) After a childhood with a distant mother and a fun father who disappeared without a trace when she was in fifth grade and a horrible school career when she was sad, bullied, overweight and felt unattractive, she had hoped never to return.

Coming back gives her a chance to catch her breath, get over old trauma, and try to forge a new relationship with her family. After her father left, she and her beloved sister Lily grew more and more distant from each other. When Nora left for Tufts, Lily left for Seattle where she had a daughter named Poe and started a life of crime. Now Lily is in prison, fifteen-year-old Poe is on the island with Nora's mother, and her mother is still distant. Nora would really like to get to know her niece and repair her relationship with her sister but neither one of them is making it easy.

Adding to the family drama, Nora faces resentment from many of the islanders because they feel she stole her scholarship from the local golden boy Luke whose life since high school has been consumed by drug and alcohol addictions. She feels guilty that her winning the scholarship caused Luke to have a car accident that left his brother Sullivan with a traumatic brain injury that is causing him now to lose his hearing. Luke also still blames her for the loss of the scholarship and sort of stalks her which brings back another traumatic event in her life.

This story was by turns funny and heart-wrenching and heart warming and kept me reading late into the night. I recommend this story.

Favorite Quote:

When it finally became clear that my father wasn't coming back any time soon, I did what unhappy girls do all over the earth, and especially in America.

I ate.

That first, joyless summer crept past in inches. A new school year started, and I was hungry all the time. Loneliness for my father was like a sinkhole, and I couldn't find enough food to fill it, despite always taking seconds, always scraping my plate.

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

Book Review: The End of All Things by John Scalzi

The End of All Things
Author: John Scalzi
Series: Old Man's War (Book 6)
Publication: Tor Books; 1st edition (August 11, 2015)

Description: Hugo-award winning author, John Scalzi returns to his best-selling Old Man's War universe with The End of All Things, the direct sequel to 2013's The Human Division

Humans expanded into space...only to find a universe populated with multiple alien species bent on their destruction. Thus was the Colonial Union formed, to help protect us from a hostile universe. The Colonial Union used the Earth and its excess population for colonists and soldiers. It was a good arrangement...for the Colonial Union. Then the Earth said: no more.

Now the Colonial Union is living on borrowed time-a couple of decades at most, before the ranks of the Colonial Defense Forces are depleted and the struggling human colonies are vulnerable to the alien species who have been waiting for the first sign of weakness, to drive humanity to ruin. And there's another problem: A group, lurking in the darkness of space, playing human and alien against each other-and against their own kind -for their own unknown reasons.

In this collapsing universe, CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson and the Colonial Union diplomats he works with race against the clock to discover who is behind attacks on the Union and on alien races, to seek peace with a suspicious, angry Earth, and keep humanity's union intact...or else risk oblivion, and extinction-and the end of all things.

My Thoughts: THE END OF ALL THINGS is the group of novellas that bring the Old Man's War series to a satisfying conclusion. The first novella tells the story of a human pilot who was captured by the Equilibrium - a very secretive organization that wants to bring down the human Colonial Union and the alien Conclave - a government of over 400 alien species. The Equilibrium didn't need Rafe Daquin's body so they discarded it and turned him into a brain in a box to pilot one of the ships they stole. What they didn't realize was that before Rafe was a pilot he was a computer programmer and was thus able to get into the program they were using to subdue him and subvert it. He escaped after causing a good deal of damage and brought all sorts of evidence of the Equilibrium's plot to the Colonial Union.

The second novella concerns itself with the Conclave and the political maneuverings happening in it. It stars Hafte Sorvalh who becomes the Premier of a very divided assortment of aliens and governments.

The third novella tells about current events from the viewpoint of Lieutenant Heather Lee who is leading a platoon of Colonial Defense Force soldiers as they are sent to various planets under the control of the Colonial Union that are in various states of rebellion.

The fourth novella brings together Lieutenant Harry Wilson, Ambassador Ode Abumwe, Ambassador Danielle Lowen, Premier Hafte Sorvalh, and other characters from earlier books in this series as they figure out a way for all three rival groups - the Conclave, the Colonial Union, and Earth - to find a way to defeat the Equilibrium and find a way to live in peace.

This was an excellent story with memorable characters and great world building.

Favorite Quote:

"Interesting times we live in," Danielle Lowen said to me. She and I were at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, in Washington, D.C. Hart Schmidt we with us, on his first trip to Earth - the surface of it, at least. He was determined to be the most touristy tourist who had ever touristed, and was presently snapping pictures of the statue of Jefferson from every conceivable angle. It was late March, and the cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom.

I bought this one August 11, 2015. You can buy your copy here.

First Paragraph/Teaser Tuesday: Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of a book she is reading or planning to read. She provides a linky for others to post theirs.

Here's mine:

The first thought I had after I died was: How will my dog cope with this?

The second thought: I hope we can still go with an open casket.

Third thought: I have nothing to wear to my funeral.

Fourth: I'll never meet Daniel Radcliffe now.

Fifth: Did Bobby just break up with me?

Let me back up an hour or so.

 

Link up here. It is very easy to play along:

• 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! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Here's mine:

"And how is Lily?" I asked, when it became apparent my mother wasn't going to mention her.

My mother's gaze didn't stray from straight ahead. "She's in jail, Nora. How do you think?"

These are both from Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins. I got this book for review from NetGalley. Here is the description from Amazon:

One step forward. Two steps back. The Tufts scholarship that put Nora Stuart on the path to becoming a Boston medical specialist was a step forward. Being hit by a car and then overhearing her boyfriend hit on another doctor when she thought she was dying? Two major steps back.

Injured in more ways than one, Nora feels her carefully built life cracking at the edges. There’s only one place to land: home. But the tiny Maine community she left fifteen years ago doesn’t necessarily want her. At every turn, someone holds the prodigal daughter of Scupper Island responsible for small-town drama and big-time disappointments.

With a tough islander mother who’s always been distant, a wild-child sister in jail and a withdrawn teenage niece as eager to ditch the island as Nora once was, Nora has her work cut out for her if she’s going to take what might be her last chance to mend the family. Balancing loss and opportunity, dark events from her past with hope for the future, Nora will discover that tackling old pain makes room for promise…and the chance to begin again.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Dec. 18, 2017)

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.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup. YA and middle grade reviews will still be posted on  Ms. Martin Teaches Media - my other blog.

Other Than Reading...

The last of the things I ordered as Christmas gifts are trickling in. I have one more book for my brother that has to arrive before I wrap up the quartet of books he asked for. I also did some baking. Not Christmas cookies but two kinds of cookies that we like. We tried another new recipe this week for a quick carbonara made with ground beef and mushrooms which got added to our keeper file.

The Christmas tree is assembled and partially decorated. I was artistically putting on an ornament or two while waiting for each pan of cookies to come out of the oven. I left some so that my brother could do some of the decorating too. If he doesn't get it done today, I might finish up for him. We also have to get the tree in its correct location. We are going to be putting it in a corner but left it out so that we could decorate all the way around it.

I have a bit of interest in my townhouse finally. I am hoping for an offer on Monday. The people did two tours of the property spending about an hour and a half looking it over. Getting an offer would make a wonderful Christmas present. Of course, an offer isn't a sure thing. I've already had two where the buyer backed out. But it would be a hopeful sign.

Read Last Week

I have listed the dates the reviews will be posted on my blog. I have already reviewed them at GoodReads and LibraryThing.

What Doesn't Kill You by Aime Hix - review to be posted on Jan. 10
Wake Up Missing by Kate Messner - review to be posted on Jan. 10
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn - review to be posted on Jan. 11

Vampire Academy: The Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead - review on Jan. 12
Frostbite: The Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead - review on Jan. 12
Shadow Kiss: The Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead - review on Jan. 12

 

Year One by Nora Roberts - review on Jan. 20

Deadly Summer by Denise Grover Swank - review on Jan. 9

A Merciful Secret by Kendra Elliot - review on Jan. 13

Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann was a DNF. I thought it was an iffy book when it arrived with my most recent Macmillan bundle. Everything else was a mystery or a fantasy except for this LGBT contemporary story. A story that focuses on LGBT issues as its major plot just doesn't interest me.

Currently

Cast in Deception by Michelle Sagara is a review book that is also book 13 in the Chronicles of Elantra.

Next Week

YA:

The Last Girl on Earth by Alexandra Blogier (Jan. 23)

Layover by Amy Andelson & Emily Meyer (Feb. 6)

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (TBR mountain since Jan. 13, 2010)

Magic of the Moonlight by Ellen Schreiber (TBR mountain since Jan. 3, 2013)

Adult:

 Final Girls by Riley Sager (review book being released in paperback Jan. 23)

Baby, I'm Howling for You by Christine Warren (Jan. 30)

Heat by Donna Grant (Jan. 30)

Final Siege by Scarlett Cole (Jan. 30)

Reviews Posted

On Inside of a Dog:

Killman Creek by Rachel Caine

Heartstone by Elle Katharine White

Crimson Death by Laurell K. Hamilton

On Ms. Martin Teaches Media:

Prince in Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Almost Everything by Tate Hallaway

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

New Purchases (mostly Kindle Daily Deals)

 Beauty by Robin McKinley (I already have the paperback and a hardcover but didn't have the ebook)

Chasing Christmas Eve by Jill Shalvis

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (my only print book of the week)

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

New Free:

 Christmas Wolf by J. K. Harper

Bullet Drop by BJ Bourg

Pilfered Promises by M. Louisa Locke

Into the Shadows by Carolyn Crane

Wild Irish Heart by Tricia O'Malley

Capital Kill by Mark Rainer

New Review:

 Final Girls by Riley Sager (Jan. 23)

Shattered Fear by Tara Thomas (novella; Feb. 6)

Darkest Night by Tara Thomas (Feb. 27)

 Hooked on a Phoenix by Ashlyn Chase (March 6)

City of Bastards by Andrew Shvarts (YA; June 5)

 Deadly Summer by Denise Grover Swank (Jan. 9)

A Merciful Secret by Kendra Elliot (Jan. 16)

And one of my most anticipated books of 2018:

Lake Silence by Anne Bishop (March 6) - I'm giving myself this book as a Christmas present and plan to read it on Christmas Day.

What was your week like?