Book Review: Encore in Death by J. D. Robb

Encore in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 56)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (February 7, 2023)

Description: The homicide cop with a passion for justice returns in the captivating crime thriller series by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

It was a glittering event full of A-listers, hosted by Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh, a celebrity couple who’d conquered both Hollywood and Broadway. And now Eve Dallas has made her entrance—but not as a guest. After raising a toast, Fitzhugh fell to the floor and died, with physical symptoms pointing to cyanide, and the police have crashed the party.

From all accounts, he wasn’t the kind of star who made enemies. Everyone loved him—even his ex-wife. And since the champagne cocktail that killed him was originally intended for Eliza, it’s possible she was the real target, with a recently fired assistant, a bitter rival, and an obsessed fan in the picture. With so many attendees, staff, and servers, Eve has her work cut out determining who committed murder in the middle of the crowd—and what was their motivation. As one who’s not fond of the spotlight herself, she dreads the media circus surrounding a case like this. All she wants is to figure out who’s truly innocent, and who’s only acting that way…

My Thoughts: When a mega vid star dies of cyanide in the middle of a party by sipping the drink of his mega Broadway star wife, Eve is called in to unravel the clues and bring the murderer to justice. Only, most of the suspects are actors who lie for a living.

Not being sure who the intended victim was, Eve and her team have to explore all the angles. Brant Fitzhugh didn't have enemies. Even his ex-wife loved him. Eliza Lake, however, wasn't that nice. She was demanding, a micromanager, and a perfectionist. She had an obsessed fan and a number of bitter rivals. And the drink was made for her. 

I enjoyed this story very much. I liked the way the police tracked down the evidence to find the real culprit. I love the way Eve interacts with her team of dedicated homicide detectives. Her relationship with Peabody is growing to be more of a relationship between equals with each book. I also love seeing Eve's relationship with Roarke develop as the series progresses. 

Favorite Quote:

"I'm feeling very fond of you at this moment, Berenski. I'm grateful the feeling will pass, but at this moment, fond."

"Ah, kiss my ass."

"Not that fond," she said, and made him snicker.

I bought this one on the day it was released. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Encore in Death by J. D. Robb

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is 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:

Death, unexpected and tragic, threw open the door to opportunity. At the tender age of eighteen, Eliza Lane walked through the door, entering stage left. And brought down the house.

Friday 56:

"There's that. Could it be it didn't matter which one drank? Kill one, devastate the other?"

This week I am spotlighting Encore in Death by J. D. Robb. This author is an auto-buy for me and, 56 books into this series, I am still intrigued and fascinated. Here is the description from Amazon:

The homicide cop with a passion for justice returns in the captivating crime thriller series by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

It was a glittering event full of A-listers, hosted by Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh, a celebrity couple who’d conquered both Hollywood and Broadway. And now Eve Dallas has made her entrance—but not as a guest. After raising a toast, Fitzhugh fell to the floor and died, with physical symptoms pointing to cyanide, and the police have crashed the party.

From all accounts, he wasn’t the kind of star who made enemies. Everyone loved him—even his ex-wife. And since the champagne cocktail that killed him was originally intended for Eliza, it’s possible she was the real target, with a recently fired assistant, a bitter rival, and an obsessed fan in the picture. With so many attendees, staff, and servers, Eve has her work cut out determining who committed murder in the middle of the crowd—and what was their motivation. As one who’s not fond of the spotlight herself, she dreads the media circus surrounding a case like this. All she wants is to figure out who’s truly innocent, and who’s only acting that way…

Friday Memes: Naked in Death by J. D. Robb

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is 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:

She woke in the dark. Through the slats on the window shades, the first murky hint of dawn slipped, slanting shadowy bars over the bed. It was like waking in a cell.

Friday 56:

Eve treated herself to one precious cup the next morning. Even her temperamental AutoChef hadn't been able to spoil the dark, rich flavor. She drove to the station, with her faulty heater, under sleeting skies, in a wind chill that came in just under five degrees, with a smile on her face.

This week I am circling back to a book I first read in 1995. Naked in Death by J. D. Robb is the first of (currently) 56 books in the In Death series. While I have kept up with the series and, in fact, eagerly anticipated each new one, it has been quite a while since I read the first book. I found that it held up very well for me and made me want to read more.

Here is the description from Amazon:

In the year 2058, technology completely rules the world. But for New York City Detective Eve Dallas, one irresistible impulse still rules the heart: passion…

Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all—and knows her survival depends on her instincts. And she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire—and a suspect in Eve's murder investigation. But passion and seduction have rules of their own, and it's up to Eve to take a chance in the arms of a man she knows nothing about—except the addictive hunger of needing his touch.

Book Review: Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh

Kiss Hard
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Hard Play (Book 4)
Publication: TKA Distribution (May 3, 2022)

Description: New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh brings you a sinfully playful contemporary romance between two sworn enemies turned partners in crime...

Daniel Esera is a young god on the rugby field, a sexy and charming man who's got the world at his feet. There's just one problem: his sudden potent attraction to his number one nemesis--Catie River. No. Just no. Not happening.

Catie River is on her way to Paralympic gold, and she's not about to allow Danny "Hotshot" Esera to derail her plans. Too bad her body isn't cooperating. Even worse? Her heart might be coming along for the ride. No. Nope. Never.

The pair are united in their desire to remain enemies... until a stranger's reckless action threatens both their careers. Now, the only way out for Catie and Danny is to pretend to be in a relationship. How bad can it be? They're adults in full control of their hormones and their hearts. There will be no kissing. No PDA. And definitely no falling in love.

Let the games begin.

My Thoughts: KISS HARD was an engaging sports romance. Catie River is preparing for the Paralympics since she lost her lower legs in an accident when she was a young teen. Danny Esera is a champion rugby player. They have known each other since her sister began her relationship with his brother when both Catie and Danny were young teens.

Catie and Danny have always been frenemies. The delight in teasing each other. Neither could imagine thinking of the other as any sort of romantic interest. Or at least, that's what they try to tell themselves. But when Danny is drugged at a club and Catie manages to rescue him, the optics seem to show that they are in a relationship. 

To preserve their reputations with their sponsors, they have to continue to pretend that they are the newest, hottest item. The only problem is that the pretense soon becomes real though neither wants to admit it to the other. 

After Catie's history with her neer-do-well father, she has difficulty trusting any man with her heart. Danny has been raised in a family where love and trust are natural. He needs to convince Catie that she can trust him.

This was an excellent addition to the Hard Play series.

Favorite Quote:

She and Danny might be frenemies at the best of times, but even she'd admit he was one of the genuine good guys. Smart, loyal, trustworthy - and irritating as all fuck. But when the shit hit the fan, Danny Esera would be the man you'd want beside you.

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

Friday Memes: Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is 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:

Catie stared out the rain-washed window.

Friday 56:

Delicious smells permeated the air by the time she finally finished reading the contract -- she refused to think about why it had taken her so long to concentrate. 

This week I am spotlighting Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh. It is a new arrival on my TBR stack and is the fourth in the Hard Play series. Here is the description from Amazon:

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh brings you a sinfully playful contemporary romance between two sworn enemies turned partners in crime...

Daniel Esera is a young god on the rugby field, a sexy and charming man who's got the world at his feet. There's just one problem: his sudden potent attraction to his number one nemesis--Catie River. No. Just no. Not happening.

Catie River is on her way to Paralympic gold, and she's not about to allow Danny "Hotshot" Esera to derail her plans. Too bad her body isn't cooperating. Even worse? Her heart might be coming along for the ride. No. Nope. Never.

The pair are united in their desire to remain enemies... until a stranger's reckless action threatens both their careers. Now, the only way out for Catie and Danny is to pretend to be in a relationship. How bad can it be? They're adults in full control of their hormones and their hearts. There will be no kissing. No PDA. And definitely no falling in love.

Let the games begin.

Book & Audio Review: Crowbones by Anne Bishop

Crowbones
Author: Anne Bishop

Narrator: Alexandra Harris
Series: World of the Others (Book 3)
Publication: Ace & Penguin Audio (March 8, 2022)

Length: 351 p,; 11 hours and 17 minutes

Description: In this engrossing and gripping fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, an inn owner and her friends must find a killer—before it’s too late.…

Crowbones will gitcha if you don’t watch out!

Deep in the territory controlled by the Others—shape-shifters, vampires, and even deadlier paranormal beings—Vicki DeVine has made a new life for herself running The Jumble, a rustic resort. When she decides to host a gathering of friends and guests for Trickster Night, at first everything is going well between the humans and the Others.

But then someone arrives dressed as Crowbones, the Crowgard bogeyman. When the impostor is killed along with a shape-shifting Crow, and the deaths are clearly connected, everyone fears that the real Crowbones may have come to The Jumble—and that could mean serious trouble.

To “encourage” humans to help them find some answers, the Elders and Elementals close all the roads, locking in suspects and victims alike. Now Vicki, human police chief Grimshaw, vampire lawyer Ilya Sanguinati, and the rest of their friends have to figure out who is manipulating events designed to pit humans against Others—and who may have put Vicki DeVine in the crosshairs of a powerful hunter.

My Thoughts: Vicki DeVine didn't know what she was starting when she mentioned Trickster's Night to her terra indigene employees. Now, they are all trying various looks for their disguises and Vicki is trying to keep them from choosing something too scary.

Vicki has a full house at The Jumble for the holiday too. Her guests range from a couple of almost newlyweds, to some Intuit acquaintances of Julian's, to a mixed-bag of college professors who want to learn more about the Others. 

Things start to go wrong when a trick-or-treater comes to the door dressed as the Crowgard bogeyman Crowbones which scares the feathers off Vicki's Crowgard employees. When the trickster is found murdered and gutted, it soon becomes clear that something more than disapproval of a costume is going on. 

Crowbones is real - an elder and a hunter - who has come to Lake Silence on the track of contamination that is spreading to some adolescents of the Sanguinati and the Crowgard. When the Elementals conspire to block all access to the area, it is up to Vicki and her friends Chief of Police Wayne Grimshaw, bookstore owner and Intuit Julian Farrell, and her vampire attorney Ilya Sanguinati to find out what is going on and stop it before they are all doomed.

The story gradually unfolds through the viewpoints of a number of different characters. And the suspense builds with every page. I enjoyed the chance to catch up on the lives of the beings in and around The Jumble. Alexandra Harris does a wonderful job narrating the story.

Favorite Quote:

She nodded. "I'd better get these groceries up to the house before my guests start thinking nibbling on dead donkey is a good idea."

Even for a human, she said the most peculiar things. That's why he found her appealing.

I got this one on publication day. (Actually, I preordered it on September 21, 2021,) You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Cursed Luck by Kelley Armstrong

 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:

Aiden Connolly is making me an offer I can't refuse, even when I know I should.

Friday 56:

The Necklace of Harmonia carries a curse that falls on the owner. The only way to reliably lift it is to uncurse the object while it's still in that owner's possession.

This week I am spotlighting the first in a new series by a favorite author. Cursed Luck by Kelley Armstrong is an urban fantasy with some romance. Here is the description from Amazon:

Kennedy Bennett comes from a long line of curse weavers. For centuries, her family has plied their trade in Unstable, Massachusetts, an unconventional small town that’s welcomed paranormal practitioners since the dawn of spiritualism. Kennedy has recently struck out on her own, opening an antiques shop in Boston, where her speciality is uncursing and reselling hexed objects.

Then Aiden Connolly walks into her life with an offer she really should refuse. The scion of a wealthy family of luck workers, Aiden has a scheme to get his hands on the most famous cursed object of all: the mythical Necklace of Harmonia. He’s not the only one after the necklace, though. And he’s not the only one looking for a curse weaver to fix it. Kennedy’s sisters are kidnapped, and she finds herself plunged into the underbelly of the magical world where even Aiden is in over his head.

Book Review: The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Assassins of Thasalon
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Series: Penric and Desdemona (Book 10)
Publication: Self-Published (May 10, 2021)

Description: An unholy attack upon his brother-in-law General Arisaydia pitches sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple demon Desdemona headlong into the snake-pit of Cedonian imperial politics. But they will not travel alone. The mission from his god brings Penric some of his strangest new allies yet, and the return of some of his most valued old ones.

My Thoughts: Penric would be perfectly content to stay in Vilnoc translating texts and spending time with his daughter and pregnant wife. But when an assassination attempt targets his brother-in-law and the method is unique, Pen's god sends him and Desdemona to Thasalon to solve the problem.

Pen is traveling with a Saint of his order and the would-be assassin who was spared by his god. The saint is Blessed Iroki who would rather be fishing and the assassin is a young woman named Alixtra who was forced into her new career because of threats against her five-year-old son. Alixtra was given a demon by a Learned in the Bastard's order at the urging of Minister Methani who is one of the minor Emperor's regents. She is completely ignorant about demons and what her responsibilities toward them are. As they travel back to Thasalon, Pen gives her a quick course in the theology of demon handling.

Upon arrival, they seek the assistance of Lady Tanar Xarre and her mother. Tanar is the fiancé of Pen's brother-in-law Adelis. She is wealthy and politically connected but not part of Minister Methani's party. She is also excited to pave the way for her fiancé to return to Thasalon. While Pen is more interested in the theological part of his mission and needs to bring the Saint in contact with the rogue Learned Tronio, he realizes that he is neck deep in the political implications too. 

This was another engaging episode in the further adventures of Pen and his demon Desdemona. I really like the relationship between the two of them. I also like Pen as a teacher setting Alixtra on her path of demon-tending. 

The plot was engaging and fast-paced. The world building was excellent and the characters all well-written. 

Favorite Quote:

"Knowledge is not the same thing as understanding. I have a profound need to understand. Everything."

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

Book and Audio Review: Illusion Town by Jayne Castle

Illusion Town
Author: Jayne Castle
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: An Illusion Town Novel (Book 1)
Publication: Berkley (July 26, 2016); Recorded Books (July 26, 2016)
Length: 351 p.; 8 hours and 19 minutes

Description: A new adventure begins on Harmony… 

With its opulent casinos and hotels, the desert city of Illusion Town is totally unique—and will take you on a thrill ride you’ll never forget.

Hannah West isn’t the first woman to wake up in Illusion Town married to a man she barely knows, but she has no memory of the ceremony at all. For that matter, neither does Elias Coppersmith, her new husband. All either can remember is that they were on the run…

With Hannah’s dubious background and shaky para-psych profile, she could have done much worse. The cooly competent mining heir arouses her curiosity—as well as other parts of her mind and body. And even her dust bunny likes him.

But a honeymoon spent retracing their footsteps leads Hannah and Elias into the twisting underground catacombs, where secrets from both their pasts will come to light—and where the energy of their clashing auras will grow hot enough to burn…

My Thoughts: Hannah West is an orphan with a unique paranormal talent. She is a finder who recently found a family heirloom for Elias Coppersmith. They began an email relationship and Hannah finally agreed to meet him in person for a dinner date.

Neither expected to wake up the next morning in a hot sheets motel, missing memories, and evidence that they had undertaken a Marriage of Convenience. They knew that they were on the run from something but weren't sure what. Elias wanted her to use her skills to rescue some people who were trapped by an illusion spell in Ghost Town. So he thought they were being chased by people who didn't want his crew rescued.

But Hannah had recently completed a necklace which was her only inheritance from her mother and learned it was a psy map which led her to the long-missing Midnight Carnival which was built to house Arcane Society secrets and then lost. Hannah immediately filed her claim and believes her discovery is still a secret.

Unfortunately, Hannah's secret is known to one obsessed collector who will do anything to exploit the treasures of the Midnight Carnival. 

After Hannah and Elias rescue his missing people and discover that there is a conspiracy to steal from the Coppersmiths, they are sidetracked into Elias's problems. Hannah believes that once his problems are solved, he will end their Marriage of Convenience. But Elias is in no hurry to end the marriage and jumps into helping Hannah solve her problem. 

I enjoyed the way the romance built in this episode. I also enjoyed the way orphan Hannah had built her own family in the dark zone of Illusion Town. I liked her dust bunny Virgil who is a great companion. I also liked the references back to earlier books about the Arcane Society that make up attractions in the Midnight Carnival and include Virgil's toy Arizona Snow doll which becomes his constant companion. 

This was another fun episode of Castle's futuristic paranormal romances set on the planet Harmony.

Favorite Quote:

"Look, I'm an engineer, so I'm not always real intuitive or insightful when it comes to conversations of a personal nature, but I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and guess that we're talking about you."

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

Book Review: Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb

Shadows in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 51)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (September 8, 2020)

Description: In the new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series, Lt. Eve Dallas is about to walk into the shadows of her husband’s dangerous past…

While Eve examines a fresh body in Washington Square Park, her husband, Roarke, spots a man among the onlookers he’s known since his younger days on the streets of Dublin. A man who claims to be his half brother. A man who kills for a living—and who burns with hatred for him.

Eve is quick to suspect that the victim’s spouse—resentful over his wife’s affair and poised to inherit her fortune—would have happily paid an assassin to do his dirty work. Roarke is just as quick to warn her that if Lorcan Cobbe is the hitman, she needs to be careful. Law enforcement agencies worldwide have pursued this cold-hearted killer for years, to no avail. And his lazy smirk when he looked Roarke’s way indicates that he will target anyone who matters to Roarke…and is confident he’ll get away with it.

Eve is desperate to protect Roarke. Roarke is desperate to protect Eve. And together, they’re determined to find Cobbe before he finds them—even if it takes them across the Atlantic, far outside Eve’s usual jurisdiction…

My Thoughts: This mystery centers on an old enemy of Roarke's from his childhood in Dublin. It begins with the murder of a woman in a park. While Eve is investigating, Roarke spots an old enemy in the background. He knows that Lorcan Cobbe has become a paid assassin.

It doesn't take Eve long to prove that the woman's husband is guilty of hiring Cobbe to murder his wife so that he can get revenge for her daring to have an affair and so that he could inherit her substantial wealth. Eve's willing to make a deal on the sentence if the husband will turn over information on Cobbe.

The main thrust of the book is trying to track down Cobbe before he can get his revenge on Roarke by killing everyone he loves and then killing Roarke. Eve's detectives are quick to join in on the hunt because they consider Roarke to be one of their own. Also, Cobbe has a previous history of murder in New York which was never solved but which Commander Whitney and Captain Feeney worked. They both want to catch Cobbe and throw in their expertise too. 

I enjoyed all the details of the investigation to find Cobbe. I liked the strong relationship between Roarke and Eve and its contrast with the life of Cobbe. Cobbe was jealous of Roarke when they were kids and always claimed that Roarke's father was his father too and that he was the older son who should be his heir. That jealousy is leading him to make mistakes in the case Eve is investigating that will allow her to finally capture him.

I both read the Kindle version and listened to the audio version of this book. It is the first I've listened to. I thought the narrator sounded a little too old to be Eve and didn't think Roarke sounded Irish enough. Otherwise it was an engaging experience to listen to. 

Favorite Quote:

"Eve. For all my life before you, and had fate been so cruel as to deem I'd never meet you, I'd have nothing, just nothing that could compare even to this single moment."

"Where we're standing in your closet strapped with weapons?"

He laughed, cupped her face. "Yes."

"Let's go find this bastard, and make an even better moment."

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

Friday Memes: Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb

 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:

As it often did since he'd married a cop, murder interrupted more pleasant activities. Then again, Roarke supposed, the woman lying in a pool of her own blood a few steps inside the arch in Washington Square Park had a heftier complaint.

Friday 56: 

"Name of wit?"

"Roarke."

That put a small hitch in Reo's purposeful stride. "That's complicating matters. How does Roarke know a paid killer?"

"He knew him when they were kids in Dublin."

"Friends? Associates?"

"Neither. You can say the opposite."

"Slightly less complicated."

This week I am spotlighting Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb. This is the 51st book in the In Death series. Here is the description from Amazon:

In the new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series, Lt. Eve Dallas is about to walk into the shadows of her husband’s dangerous past…

While Eve examines a fresh body in Washington Square Park, her husband, Roarke, spots a man among the onlookers he’s known since his younger days on the streets of Dublin. A man who claims to be his half brother. A man who kills for a living—and who burns with hatred for him.

Eve is quick to suspect that the victim’s spouse—resentful over his wife’s affair and poised to inherit her fortune—would have happily paid an assassin to do his dirty work. Roarke is just as quick to warn her that if Lorcan Cobbe is the hitman, she needs to be careful. Law enforcement agencies worldwide have pursued this cold-hearted killer for years, to no avail. And his lazy smirk when he looked Roarke’s way indicates that he will target anyone who matters to Roarke…and is confident he’ll get away with it.

Eve is desperate to protect Roarke. Roarke is desperate to protect Eve. And together, they’re determined to find Cobbe before he finds them—even if it takes them across the Atlantic, far outside Eve’s usual jurisdiction…

Audiobook: Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop

Vision in Silver
Author: Anne Bishop
Narrator: Alexandra Harris
Publication: Penguin Audio (March 3, 2015)
Length: 16 hours and 4 minutes

Description: The New York Times best-selling author of The Black Jewels Trilogy transports readers to a world of magic and political unrest - where the only chance at peace requires a deadly price....

The Others freed the cassandra sangue to protect the blood prophets from exploitation, not realizing their actions would have dire consequences. Now the fragile seers are in greater danger than ever before - both from their own weaknesses and from those who seek to control their divinations for wicked purposes. In desperate need of answers, Simon Wolfgard, a shape-shifter leader among the Others, has no choice but to enlist blood prophet Meg Corbyn's help, regardless of the risks she faces by aiding him.

Meg is still deep in the throes of her addiction to the euphoria she feels when she cuts and speaks prophecy. She knows each slice of her blade tempts death. But Others and humans alike need answers, and her visions may be Simon's only hope of ending the conflict.

For the shadows of war are deepening across the Atlantik, and the prejudice of a fanatic faction is threatening to bring the battle right to Meg and Simon's doorstep....

My Thoughts: In this episode of The Others series, most of the blood prophets have been removed from the compounds where they were cut to reveal prophecies for anyone who would pay and have been moved to Intuit and Terra Indigene villages. But all is not going well. Taking care of these girls who are addicted to the euphoria they get from cutting and who are quickly overwhelmed by all the stimuli that bombards them is not something the Intuits and Terra Indigene know how to do.

Meg is trying to control her own addiction to the euphoria of cutting by arranging a schedule of controlled cuts. She knows that her addiction can kill her if she can't get it under control. In her first controlled cut which she has with Merri Lee as her recorder, she sees a number of things that will concern the Courtyard in the next couple of weeks. One of the things she sees are blood prophets who are left on the side of the road to survive or die on their own. All of them are pregnant and have been thrown out of the breeding farms that were run very secretly to keep up the supply of blood prophets. Her vision begins a search by the Others and some humans to locate the girls and the farms and to get the girls to safety. One terrible discovery is made when Others discover what happened to the boy babies born in these breeding farms which causes Simon to go out of control and threaten to kill all the humans in the Courtyard.

Another part of Meg's vision shows growing ties with some humans who are able to work honestly and honorably with the Terra Indigene. Her vision shows gardens and For Sale signs which lead to the Others in the Courtyard purchasing some apartment buildings to provide homes for those "wolf lovers" who are being persecuted by humans of the First and Last Movement. Humans are also concerned about future food shortages which surprise the Others who see no reason why there should be such shortages.

Lieutenant Montgomery's seven-year-old daughter Lizzy also comes to Lakeside when her mother puts her on a train to escape enemies in Toland. Her mother had taken up with inspirational speaker Nicholas Scratch who is trying to convince people to join in the Humans First and Last Movement and who is a visitor from Cel Romano which is preparing for a war with the Terra Indigene to gain more territory. Lizzy brings her toy bear Boo Bear who just happens to be stuffed with stolen jewels that were meant to help finance Cel Romano's war which leads to lots of danger for Lizzy from those who need to get the jewels back. 

This book is filled with growing tensions as the Humans First and Last Movement maneuvers for more power in Thasia. This maneuvering is counterbalanced by more humans working with the Others in the Courtyard and showing them that some humans can be trusted.

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

Audiobook: Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Murder of Crows
Author: Anne Bishop
Narrator: Alexandra Harris
Publication: Penguin Audio (March 4, 2014)
Length: 14 hours and 13 minutes

Description: New York Times best-selling author Anne Bishop's "phenomenal" (Urban Fantasy Investigations) world of the Others - where supernatural entities and humans struggle to co-exist, and one woman has begun to change all the rules....

After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard - Lakeside's shape-shifting leader - wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet - and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Others series of urban fantasy novels. It tells the story of Meg Corbyn and Simon Wolfgard and the Lakeside Courtyard.

Meg is getting used to her new job as the liaison for the Courtyard and is busy making friends and making a place for herself. However, the Controller who owned her and used her to have the prophecies he sold for lots of money hasn't given up on recapturing her. Nor has he given up on plans to make more money helping the Humans First and Last movement eliminate the Terra Indigene from Thasia.

The story concerns itself with two new drugs that are making inroads on the humans in Thasia. Gone Over Wolf builds aggression to the point of not caring for their own survival in humans who use it. The second drug makes the user so passive that they don't care about their own survival either.

The Controller has also developed a new use for the girls who don't have enough valuable skin left. He is having them put through meat grinders while they are alive to mix their flesh in with other ground meat which has the same effect as Gone Over Wolf but is much easier to spread to more and more people.

Humans First and Last are also looking for opportunities to kill Crows in order to keep their curiosity from noticing things they don't want the Others to find out about. One of Meg's first prophecies in this story has to do with saving Crows. She also has prophecies about the man the Controller has sent to find her and return her to him.

Simon calls a meeting with lots of Terra Indigene from around Thasia to discuss what to do about the drugs and the poisoned meat. Their first idea is to kill all the humans or, at least, to kill all the prophets. Simon introduces them to Meg which changes their minds about total destruction and together with Meg's human pack they try to find the Controller.

The story includes a big battle once the Controller's compound is found and the rescue of Meg's friend Jean and five other young prophets. The rest of the girls are going to be spread among the Terra Indigene settlements and the Intuit settlements to keep them safe from being used. But it will be up to Meg to help all those new places learn what to do to keep the girls alive. She is the Pathfinder who will find the way for them to live.

I noticed that some of the pronunciations have changed in this book both of character names and the Cassandra Sangue. Simon's voice hasn't changed and makes me think that the reader must have gone home with a sore throat after each recording session since it sounds like Simon has a sore throat and scratchy voice throughout the book.

I like that Simon and Meg are getting closer even though neither of them realize that they are falling in love while the humans who know them best do realize it. There are lots of cautions to Simon to watch out that he doesn't become too human by Others characters who are seeing him change.

The story was exciting and entertaining. Meg's problem with the Controller and the threat of being recaptured is resolved in this story. However, plenty of problems remain both for Simon and Meg and for all the cassandra sangue who have lost the structure that helped to keep them sane. And the Humans First and Last movement isn't going to go away any time soon despite losing the valuable assistance of the Controller.

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

Audiobook: Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Written in Red
Author: Anne Bishop
Narrator: Alexandra Harris
Publication: Penguin Audio (March 5, 2013)
Length: 18 hours and 33 minutes

Description: No one creates realms like New York Times best-selling author Anne Bishop. Now in a thrilling new fantasy series, enter a world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities - vampires and shape-shifters among them - who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans.

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut - a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg's Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard - a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she's keeping a secret, and second, she doesn't smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she's wanted by the government, he'll have to decide if she's worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

My Thoughts: WRITTEN IN RED is one of my favorite books. I have lost count of the number of times I have read it and I have listened to it twice.

It is urban fantasy with more than a touch of romance. Meg Corbyn is on the run from the man who has imprisoned her and used her all of her life. She finds herself in Lakeside during a terrible snowstorm and wanders into the Others' Courtyard where she gets the job as the human liaison - an interface with the human world.

Simon Wolfgard is in charge of the Courtyard and has opened some businesses in order to learn more about the humans who live there. The Others consider humans just to be another kind of meat who also happen to invent and create things the Others like.

Meg's owner - the Controller - definitely wants Meg back since her prophecies make him quite a large amount of money. He has political influence because a number of his clients are in politics and other influential people. So he puts pressure on the government to try to find Meg and return her to his compound.

Lieutenant Crispin James Montgomery is a new police officer in Lakeside. He had to leave his post in Toland because he killed a man who had kidnapped a young Terra Indigene wolf and Monty rescued her. This made him very unpopular with his fellow officers and caused problems for his live-in girlfriend and his young daughter. His new boss in Lakeside assigns him the duty of being the one who works with the Others. Monty decides to try to change the dynamic between humans and Others to make things safer for humans.

Besides the Controller, there is another villain in this story. Asia Crane has been hired by her backers to try to find information about the Courtyard and the Others which might give them leverage with the Others. She has tried seducing Simon with no success and has tried to become friends with Meg with little success too. That doesn't stop her scheming though. She teams up with the Controller's men to help them recapture Meg and to capture Sam Wolfgard who is Simon's young nephew.

Sam had been locked in his wolf form since he witnessed the death of his mother a couple of years earlier. It takes Meg's unconventional thinking to find a way through to Sam and let him get over the fear which trapped him and arrested his growth. They become very good friends and Meg is willing to do anything to save him when he is threatened.

The story is filled with interesting characters including Vladimir Sanguinati - a vampire who is Simon's business partner in the bookstore they run together, Erebus Sanguinati - an old vampire with a love of movies and lots more power than Simon knows about, Henry Beargard - a sculptor and the Courtyard's spiritual guide, Jester Coyotegard who takes care of the Elemental ponies who have names and powers like Thunder, Lightning, Earthshaker, and Tornado. Then there are the Elementals like Winter, Air, Fire and Water who all become interested in Meg and her well-being.

Alexandra Harris does a good job giving all of these characters unique voices though the male characters fare less well than the female. Harris's vocal range doesn't really have the male characters sound male. This would have been a good time to have a second male narrator to handle the male voices.

I am not quite sure why I love this book and series so much. I do find the characters intriguing. I especially like Meg who wants so much to have a life and a job and to make friends. I also like watching Simon fall in love with her and learn to see at least some humans as more than just meat because of his relationship with Meg.

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

Book Review: Bridge of Dreams by Anne Bishop

Bridge of Dreams
Author: Anne Bishop
Series: Ephemera (Book 3)
Publication: Roc; 1 edition (March 6, 2012)

Description: When wizards threaten Glorianna Belladonna and her work to keep Ephemera balanced, her brother, Lee, sacrifices himself in order to save her—and ends up an Asylum inmate in the city of Vision, far away from all he knows.

But a darkness is spreading through Vision, perplexing the Shamans who protect it—and Lee is the only one who can shed any light on its mysteries...

My Thoughts: This is Lee's book. He has spent his life as a Bridge - connecting different landscapes - and as a support for his sister Glorianna Belladonna. However, the changes that have gone on in his sister's life have made him feel both jealous and unnecessary.

After an angry fight, he is determined to get away. But he is overtaken by wizards who want to use him to get to his sister. The only way he can think to save her is to deny her and travel a bridge to a place he has never seen. There he is tortured and blinded by the wizards until they put him in the asylum which houses those who are mentally ill.

Lee meets Danyel who is a shaman for his people and who, unknown to himself, is a Guide similar to Belladonna and Michael. Lee also meets Zhahar who is one aspect of a tryad who was sent to this new world - Vision - in order to form a connection for her world.

There is a romance between Lee and Zhahar that has also sorts of troubled - mainly from her end - since a tryad falling in love with a one-face is an absolute taboo on her world and has dire consequences for anyone who falls in love.

This had great world building as more parts of Ephemera are revealed and Ephemera itself has an entertaining role in the story. The whole idea of people who are tryads - three people sharing one body - was fascinating.

Favorite Quote:

Everyone lives within the walls built by their own hearts, she thought. But most people aren't aware of that, so they're also not aware of the boundaries - or that some things, no matter how much they are loved, can drift out of reach.

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

Book Review: Belladonna by Anne Bishop

Belladonna
Author: Anne Bishop
Series: Ephemera (Book 2)
Publication: Roc (March 6, 2007)

Description: The Eater of the World is casting its shadow over the landscapes of Ephemera, tainting people’s souls with doubts and fears. Only Glorianna Belladonna possesses the ability to thwart the Eater—but she is not alone.

In dreams, a call has traveled beyond the Landscapes—“Heart’s hope lies within Belladonna”—and reached Michael, a man with mysterious powers of his own. Together, they may offer Ephemera the very hope it needs.

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Ephemera trilogy and focuses on Glorianna Belladonna this time. She is still battling the Eater of the World and feeling very much alone and over-matched. She wants someone of her own to love and share the burden with.

Michael is a Magician in his country. Magicians are feared because they can bring ill-luck. Of course, they can also bring good luck. Michael has traveled his circuit of places trying to keep the world in balance but has been dreaming on someone to love.

Michael and Glorianna do meet and find that they have the same sort of job in their worlds. But there are differences too. Michael's world wasn't sundered nearly as badly in the first war with the Eater of the World. He knows things from old stories that have been passed down in his family that were lost in the landscapes the Glorianna Belladonna knows.

He knows a way that she can defeat the Eater of the World but the cost to her and to their relationship might be more than he is willing to pay.

The story was exciting and entertaining. It builds an interesting world peopled with all sorts of characters.

Favorite Quote:

It won't do, and if you settle for what is easy instead of what you truly want, you may never discover the hope that lives in your heart.

So you choose wisely, and you choose well, and you pick the lock that matters the most at that moment. then the spirit takes the key that was plucked from your heart and slips it into that lock.

It changes you. It doesn't matter if you end up in a place you didn't know existed or in the village where you've loved your whole life. It changes you -- and you will never see the world in quite the same way.

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

Friday Memes: Reflex by Dick Francis

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:

Winded and coughing, I lay on one elbow and spat out a mouthful of grass and mud. The horse I'd been riding raised its weight off my ankle, scrambled untidily to its feet and departed at an unfeeling gallop. I waited for things to settle: chest heaving, bones still rattling from the bang, sense of balance recovering from a thirty-mile-an-hour somersault and a few tumbling rolls. Nor harm done. Nothing broken. Just another fall.

Friday 56:

"But...everyone takes photographs."

"Sure they do. But not everyone takes a long series of photographs which illustrate a whole way of life." She tapped off the ash. "It's all there, isn't it? The hard work, the dedication, the bad weather, the humdrum, the triumphs, the pain...I've only looked through these pictures once, and in so sort of order and I know what your life's like. I know it intimately. Because that's how you've photographed it."

This week I am revisiting a book I read years ago. It was brought back to my mind by Amazon which featured Reflex by Dick Francis as a Kindle Daily Deal. Here is the description from Amazon:

A jockey unravels nasty secrets of corruption, blackmail, and murder in this mystery from grand master of crime fiction Dick Francis.

Longtime jockey Philip Nore is no hero. But when he begins to suspect that a racetrack photographer’s fatal accident was really murder, he sets out to discover the truth and trap the killer. Slowly, he unravels some nasty secrets of corruption, blackmail and murder—and unwittingly sets himself up as the killer’s next target...

Book Review: Horizon by Lois McMaster Bujold

Horizon
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Series: The Sharing Knife (Book 4)
Publication: Harper Voyager; 1 edition (January 27, 2009)

Description: In a world where malices—remnants of ancient magic—can erupt with life-destroying power, only soldier-sorcerer Lakewalkers have mastered the ability to kill them. But Lakewalkers keep their uncanny secrets—and themselves—from the farmers they protect, so when patroller Dag Redwing Hickory rescued farmer girl Fawn Bluefield, neither expected to fall in love, join their lives in marriage, or defy both their kin to seek new solutions to the perilous split between their peoples.

As Dag's maker abilities have grown, so has his concern about who—or what—he is becoming. At the end of a great river journey, Dag is offered an apprenticeship to a master groundsetter in a southern Lakewalker camp. But as his understanding of his powers deepens, so does his frustration with the camp's rigid mores with respect to farmers. At last, he and Fawn decide to travel a very different road—and find that along it, their disparate but hopeful company increases.

Fawn and Dag see that their world is changing, and the traditional Lakewalker practices cannot hold every malice at bay forever. Yet for all the customs that the couple has challenged thus far, they will soon be confronted by a crisis exceeding their worst imaginings, one that threatens their Lakewalker and farmer followers alike. Now the pair must answer in earnest the question they've grappled with since they killed their first malice together: When the old traditions fail disastrously, can their untried new ways stand against their world's deadliest foe?

My Thoughts: Now at the southern end of their journey, Dag has finally found a teacher who can help him learn more about his strange new powers. Arkady is a groundsetter and he recognizes that Dag, even though he is little trained, can be one too. The problem is find a place for Fawn in the Lakewalker camp where she is seen only as a farmer girl. Dag learns a lot in two months but he doesn't agree with the camp's policy of not providing healing for farmers.

When Finch, a young man Fawn has met at the camp market, comes and begs for assistance for his 5-year-old nephew who has lockjaw, Dag doesn't think twice before going to help even though it will likely cost him his place in the camp and his teacher.

When he is kicked out of the camp, he and Fawn decide to work their way north again. She's newly pregnant and would like to find a home before her baby is born. At first, they decide to join a party which includes Finch and some of his friends but the party soon grows with the addition of Arkady and Barr. Also in the party are a couple of untrained half-breeds. They also meet again with Fawn's brother Whit, his wife Berry, and Berry's uncle and younger brother.

Trailing both Dag and Arkady is a jealous young female patroller who has been trying to pry Dag loose from Fawn ever since she met him. Once she realizes that he is the hero of Wolf Ridge, she becomes even more determined to have him for her own. Dag isn't at all interested and is completely in love with and loyal to Fawn but Neeta isn't easily discouraged and reappears throughout the story trying one approach after another to separate Dag and Fawn.

The trip is hard and made even harder when the group runs into two different malices. Luckily, Dag has been working on a way to protect Fawn and has expanded the protection to Fawn's brother Whit and his wife Berry. When the party is scattered during the malice attack, it is up to those protected farmers to find a way to save the group and introduce the malice to mortality.

This was a wonderful story filled with great characters set in a well-developed world. It was about making small changes to bring about a changed future. Dag wants to change the dynamic between farmers and lakewalkers. He wants to change the world and pave the way for a future after the last malice has been destroyed.

Favorite Quote:

The boy who'd fathered her first lost child had feared only for his own threatened comfort. He'd greeted the news of its bare existence with anger, rejection, threats of unforgivable slander.

This astonishing man in bed with her wanted to remake the whole world into a safe cradle for her second. Or leastways turn his heart inside out trying.

She's a sneaking suspicion wisdom was to be found in some happy medium, but on the whole she preferred Dag's approach.

I bought this one in 2008 and am rereading it. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold

Passage
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Series: The Sharing Knife (Book 3)
Publication: Harper Voyager; 1 edition (April 22, 2008)

Description: One of the most respected writers in the field of speculative fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold has won numerous accolades and awards, including the Nebula and Locus Awards as well as the fantasy and science fiction genre’s most prestigious honor, the Hugo Award for Best Novel, four times (most recently for Paladin of Souls).

With The Sharing Knife series, Bujold creates a brand new world fraught with peril, and spins an extraordinary romance between a young farm girl and the brave sorcerer-soldier entrusted with the defense of the land against a plague of vicious malevolent beings.

Passage, volume three in Bujold’s breathtaking saga of love, loyalty, and courage in the face of bigotry and dark magic, the devoted wedded lovers Fawn Bluefield and Dag Redwing Hickory are joined by new companions in their quest to find peace, acceptance, and a place in a most dangerous world.

My Thoughts: In this third volume in the Sharing Knife quartet, Dag and Fawn are off to explore the world to find some answers or maybe just some more questions. Dag is developing new powers as a maker that he never showed before. He has also come to believe that the way Lakewalkers and Farmers interact has to change if the malices are ever to be finally removed from the land.

Dag and Fawn, along with Fawn's brother Whit, begin to explore by retracing Fawn's journey to Glassforge. From there, they find their way to the river. Dag has some idea of showing Fawn the sea as part of a belated honeymoon trip.

There they meet with Boss Berry who is taking her flatboat down the river in the hope of discovering what happened to her father, brother and fiance who went down the river to sell a boat and didn't return. Fawn signs on as cook and Dag and Whit to do general labor.

As they go down the river, they gather problems and people from beguiled Hod, to runaway patrollers Remo and Barr. Along the way they meet Farmers and rivermen and Dag tries out sharing Lakewalker secrets to begin to erase the rear and suspicion between Farmers and Lakewalkers.

The trip takes a turn for the dangerous when they run into river bandits controlled by a renegade Lakewalker. Berry learns the fate of her loved ones and Lakewalkers and Farmers work together to end the threat.

The worldbuilding is very realistic. Bujold mentions the accounts of the real keelboaters and others who traveled the upper Mississippi that she read for background. The characters are well-drawn and all grow and change through the book. I am eager to read HORIZON to get to the end of this epic journey.

Favorite Quote:

Dag said more slowly, "He was just an ordinary patroller, before his knife got broken. But if ordinary folks can't fix the world, it's not going to get fixed. There are no lords here. The gods are absent."

"You know, it sounds real attractive at first, but I'm not sure I'd want lords and gods fixing the world. Because I think they'd fix it for them. Not necessarily for me."

I bought this one in 2008 and am rereading it. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold

Legacy
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Series: The Sharing Knife (Book 2)
Publication: Harper Voyager (June 26, 2007)

Description: One of the most respected writers in the field of speculative fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold has won numerous accolades and awards, including the Nebula and Locus Awards as well as the fantasy and science fiction genre’s most prestigious honor, the Hugo Award for Best Novel, four times (most recently for Paladin of Souls).

Legacy continues the tale of Fawn Bluefield and Dag Redwing Hickory—the dangerous repercussions of their rebellious marriage and the strengthening of their love in the face of dark magic—as duty and disaster call the Lakewalker patroller away from his new bride and toward a peril that could forever alter the lovers and their world.

My Thoughts: Newly married, it is time for Dag and Fawn to go back to his home at Hickory Lake and introduce her to his family and culture. There they run into all kinds of problems starting with Dag's mother and brother. They don't accept that the marriage cords are valid despite being able to use their ground senses to see that they are. They can't accept that Fawn, let alone half-breed children in the future, can have anything to offer the Lakewalkers in their mission.

Before matters can come to a head and a Council session be called, there is a major malice outbreak under a farmer town called Greenspring near the Lakewalker settlement of Raintree. They are calling for help. Fairbolt Crow, who is the Patroller Captain, drafts Dag to lead the rescue attempt. Dag isn't keen since his last leadership role cost him his hand, his wife, and most of his patrol. But he is the most experienced and knows the most people. He is also the tactician who might be able to prevail.

Fawn asks if there is something he can do to their marriage cords that will let her know his condition they way Lakewalkers can tell about each other through theirs. He does something that lets her know where he is and if he's all right. Therefore, when they run into problems with this very powerful malice, Fawn is one of the first to know about it.

Determined to go to him, Fawn takes off with a stolen map and her chubby horse despite being told that she should stay behind. Finding her husband groundlocked in some way despite the death of the malice and with the healer who traveled with her baffled, Fawn uses her brain and some clues that she put together to save Dag though he is gravely injured.

Even though they killed the malice and Fawn saved Dag's life, they still find themselves facing the Council when they return. But Dag has grown because he loves Fawn. He's finally come out the other side of the grief that crippled him after his first wife's death. He's developed new abilities as a healer that he didn't have as a younger man. And his is starting to question the way things have always been done.

The worldbuilding is fantastic. The writing is excellent. The book is filled with fascinating characters who grow and change as a result of the things they do and see. I am eager to see where Dag and Fawn go next in their journey together. 

Favorite Quote:

"Yet every malice kill comes, at the end, down to one man's hand," Fairbolt said, watching him.

"Not true. There's a world balanced on that knife edge. The hand of the patroller, yes. But held in it, the bone's donor, and the heart's donor, and the hand and eye and ground of the knife maker. And all the patrol backing up behind who got the patroller to that place. Patrollers, we hunt in packs. then all the camp and kin behind them, who gave them the horses and teh gear and the food to get there. And on and on. Not one man, Fairbolt. One man or another, yes."

I bought this one in 2007 and am rereading it. You can buy your copy here.