ARC Review: Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie N. Holmberg

Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet
Author: Charlie N. Holmberg
Publication: 47North (June 28, 2016)

Description: Maire is a baker with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.

When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.

During her captivity, Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences.

From the author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.

My Thoughts: MAGIC BITTER, MAGIC SWEET was an entertaining fantasy novel. Maire is a baker who can infuse her baked goods with emotions and abilities. She doesn't know her past. In fact, her memory begins only a few years previous to the story when she was found and taken it by Arrice and Franc.

When her town is invaded by marauders, she is captured and sold to Allemas who treats her badly and forces her to use her gift for baking to satisfy her clients. She is forced to make a house of gingerbread among other things.

Maire is visited by an ethereal being named Fyel who seems to know her but who won't tell her about her past. She needs to discover it for herself. I found her discovery, once she made it, the best part of the book.

Fans of fantasy will enjoy this one which talks about choices and the consequences of those choices.

Favorite Quote:

Sugar is like medicine. It swirls on the tongue and settles the gut and inspires happier thoughts to the mind. I've started to take it regularly.

I got this eARC from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Boundary Born by Melissa F. Olson

Boundary Born
Author: Melissa F. Olson
Series: Boundary Magic (Book 3)
Publication: 47North (June 21, 2016)

Description: Something wicked is at work in Colorado’s supernatural community. Vampires are being paralyzed or killed with poison…a weapon favored by witches. This offense threatens to break apart the already-fractured alliance between witches and the undead.

The state’s cardinal vampire, Maven, summons boundary witch Allison “Lex” Luther to stop the killing before it ignites a war. Lex has barely started investigating when she gets another surprise: the biological father she’s never met arrives on her doorstep. He has answers to all of Lex’s questions about her bloodline, but getting those answers could mean betraying the life she’s already built.

Then the next vampire is poisoned—and this time it’s Maven herself. The new evil that hunts Lex is powerful and ruthless enough to stop the strongest supernatural creature in the state. In order to find such a killer, Lex will have to face down her own birthright and call on every ally—both living and dead.

My Thoughts: This third Boundary Magic book has Lex learning more about her past while investigating balladonna attacks, mysterious deaths and magicians using crystals to attack and sedate people.

Lex and her twin sister Sam were adopted at birth by the Luthers. Her mother died giving birth to the twins. Lex knows that her magic came from her mother but knows nothing about her. Imagine her surprise when a man named Emil Jasper shows up at her door claiming to be her biological father. Dealing with a mysterious biological father is not something she really has time for. Her boss Maven has been poisoned with belladonna - one of the few things that can harm a vampire - and Lex has to find a cure before chaos erupts in Colorado.

Lex isn't working alone. She has help from witches Simon and Lily Pellar. She also has help from her deceased sister who visits her in dreams but isn't able to give her straight answers to her many questions. She also has the assistance of a ghostly boundary witch who was a madam in Colorado's more wild past. And we can't forget the assistance she has from Quinn who happens to be her love interest and Maven's enforcer.

This story was exciting and filled with revelations about Lex's birth family. Lex also has to find a purpose for her life beyond protecting her niece Charlie. She also has to accept the boundary magic that is a major part of her.

The author states that she is leaving Lex to her adventures for a while to concentrate on another series but leaves open the possibility that she will write about her again. I look forward to finding out what is next for Lex someday.

Favorite Quote:

"Right, anyway. Blossom Wheaton works at the crystal shop in downtown Longmont. You didn't know?"

Blossom lived thirty miles outside of Boulder in a little house with two defense-trained Dobermans and an armful of rifles. I'd never considered what she did for money. "I guess I just figured she ate the kids she lures into her gingerbread house." Simon mad a choking noise in the back of his throat.

Anna just laughed. "She's not that bad, Lex. She actually helped me with a paper on ceremonial applications for various quartzes. She's just a little ... mmm ... prickly."

I got this one for review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Teaser Tuesday: Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie N. Holmberg

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:

Cleric Tuck licks his lips, which sport several cracks. "They'll sell us."

This week my teaser comes from Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie N. Holmberg. I got this eARC from NetGalley. Here is the description from Amazon:

Maire is a baker with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.

When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.

During her captivity, Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences.

From the author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 20, 2016)

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

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

Other Than Reading...

I am finally at my summer home! After medical tests on Monday, I didn't feel well enough to come home until Wednesday. I'm all unpacked and settled for a summer of reading and relaxing. I've been out to eat twice since I got home - once alone and once with my brother. I still have leftovers from the second outing.

Today is Grandma's Marathon day in Duluth. It is my intention to go nowhere near it. I don't want to deal with the traffic or the tourists today. I am, however, considering interrupting my reading with a little baking today.

I am trying something new and actually writing this post on Sunday afternoon. It has been my custom to write this post after work on Fridays and to just update the links on Saturday morning. This week I made it to Saturday morning. Maybe next week I'll get all the way to Sunday.

This is the 2500th post on this blog.

Read Last Week

I began the week by reading Forgotten Secrets by Robin Perini. This was an excellent thriller that I got for review. My review will be posted on July 13 for this July 19 release.

The Wild Ways by Tanya Huff has been on my TBR mountain since 2011. It is the second book in the Magic Emporium series and stars Charlie Gale - musician and wild talent. I enjoyed this one once I got back into the world that was created in the first book. My review will be posted on July 14.

I received Allegiance of Honor by Nalini Singh this week as a Kindle download and read it immediately. I loved catching up with many of the characters from earlier in the series. I am also curious about how the new plot threads are going to be resolved in later books. My review will be posted on July 16.

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig is the fourth book in the Pink Carnation series. It has been on my TBR mountain since 2011. This one stars two "villains" from earlier books but I enjoyed getting to know them better and watch them fall in love. (It is my intention to finish this twelve book series this summer.) My review will be posted on July 20.

Currently

Once I finish the silly middle grade review book I'm reading, I will be reading Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts.

Next Week

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig is the 5th in the Pink Carnation series.

City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong begins a new series. I am a huge fan of the author.

Two review books are also on the calendar for next week:

• The Bluebonnet Betrayal by Marty Wingate (August 2)
• Gone Too Deep by Katie Ruggle (August 2)

Both of these are the most recent books in series that I have been following.

Reviews Posted

• The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig
• Boundary Lines by Melissa F. Olson
• Veil of Night by Linda Howard

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

I bought a print copy of Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold and had it autographed when I made a quick day trip to Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore last Saturday. I also had my copy of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen autographed and bought a new tee-shirt too.

To Save a Mate by Krystal Shannon was free for my Kindle and I just can't resist books about werewolves.

Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts which I had ordered some time ago arrived this week. It is the second book in her latest trilogy.

I needed The Future Falls by Tanya Huff which completes the Magic Emporium trilogy (since I seem to be unable to finish a series). I bought a Kindle copy.

One of the ladies I lunched with last week at the Senior Center recommended House Rules by Jodi Picoult and, since I'd been meaning to try one of her books, I decided to buy myself a copy. This is a print book from Amazon Marketplace.

I also got The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig which will complete my collection of the Pink Carnation books. This was also an Amazon Marketplace re-purchase as the first one I bought from there hasn't arrived.

I added some review books too.

The Widower's Wife by Cate Holahan is from NetGalley. Published by Crooked Lane Books, it will be released on August 9.

Shadow Falling by Rebecca Zanetti is an Amazon Vine pick. It is an urban fantasy that will be released on August 30.

These next two are published by Sourcebooks Casablanca. I got the eARCs from NetGalley. Both will be released on September 6.

• Roadside Assistance by Marie Harte is a contemporary romance.
• My Wild Irish Dragon by Ashlyn Chase is a paranormal romance.

To see what Young Adult books I have been reading and plan to read, check out Ms. Martin Teaches Media - my other blog.

Book Review: Veil of Night by Linda Howard

Veil of Night
Author: Linda Howard
Publication: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (August 10, 2010)

Description: Jaclyn Wilde is a wedding planner who loves her job—usually. But helping Carrie Edwards with her Big Day has been an unrelenting nightmare. Carrie is a bridezilla of mythic nastiness, a diva whose tantrums are just about as crazy as her demands. But the unpleasant task at hand turns seriously criminal when Carrie is brutally murdered and everyone involved with the ceremony is accusing one another of doing the deed.

The problem is, most everyone—from the cake maker and the florist to the wedding-gown retailer and the bridesmaids’ dressmaker—had his or her own reason for wanting the bride dead, including Jaclyn. And while those who felt Carrie’s wrath are now smiling at her demise, Jaclyn refuses to celebrate tragedy, especially since she finds herself in the shadow of suspicion.

Assigned to the case, Detective Eric Wilder finds that there’s too much evidence pointing toward too many suspects. Compounding his problems is Jaclyn, with whom he shared one deeply passionate night before Carrie’s death. Being a prime suspect means that Jaclyn is hands-off just when Eric would rather be hands-on. As the heat intensifies between Eric and Jaclyn, a cold-blooded murderer moves dangerously close. And this time the target is not a bride but one particularly irresistible wedding planner, unaware of a killer’s vow.

My Thoughts: Eric Wilder and Jaclyn Wilde meet when she is at the police station to pay a speeding ticket. She literally runs right into him. They are attracted but go on about their day. Eric is a police detective and Jaclyn is an event planner. They meet again later that evening when she happens to stop into a cop bar to get a drink to unwind from a tough day. Sparks fly, the conversation flows, and, ultimately, they wind up having a one-night stand. He leaves in the morning promising to call her in a week of so when her stretch of six weddings in five days is over.

Jaclyn has a meeting with one of the worst bridezillas ever the next day. Carrie Edwards is marrying the son of a state senator and is determined to have a perfect wedding. Unfortunately she is just mean and seems to delight in throwing everyone else into chaos. She wants new bridesmaid dresses custom made with only a month to go. She doesn't like the flowers. She won't make a decisions about the food. Jaclyn has to try to soothe the venders and pacify the bride. Carrie has a tantrum, slaps Jaclyn across the face and fires her company. Jaclyn is angry and upset. Not about being fired, because she has hated working for Carrie and knows that they will still be collecting most of their contracted fess, but because she so badly wanted to hit Carrie back.

Next thing she knows, someone has killed Carrie by stabbing her with multiple kebob skewers and she is the number one suspect. Eric is assigned to the case and has to act professionally to clear her name which makes her very angry and hurt. Eric doesn't want the investigation to put a stop to their new romance and thinks that the quickest way to get back to the romance is to clear her name as convincingly as possible.

It turns out the Jaclyn saw the probable murderer as she was leaving the meeting with Carrie. She was so upset and angry that she didn't really notice him other than that he was a grey-haired man driving some kind of silver car. Eric investigates Carrie's murder by interviewing her family and friends and discovers that quite a number of people want her dead. His fears that the murder will come after Jaclyn for fear that she recognized him are realized when Jaclyn becomes a near victim of a drive-by shooting.

Besides the intense action, there are some really nice moments of humor in this one. Eric has had the recent bad luck of stopping for coffee two mornings in a row and foiling attempted robberies at each location. In neither case did he take down the criminal with his gun. More humor comes when Jaclyn is doing wedding planning for a hillbilly wedding and trying to help the mother of the groom keep it from being a complete fiasco.

This was a fun and intense romantic suspense novel. I enjoyed it very much.

Favorite Quote:

The sharp twist of pain in her chest both surprised and dismayed her. She didn't want to feel hurt. It was stupid. Intellectually, she knew that Eric was doing his job, knew she couldn't expect him to say anything else. They had no ties. They hadn't even dated. There was nothing between them other than a one-night stand.

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

Friday Memes: Veil of Night by Linda Howard

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:

Six weddings in five days. Holy shit.

Friday 56:

Instinctively he ducked down, hiding himself from whoever came through the door. Maybe it was nothing.

This week I am spotlighting Veil of Night by Linda Howard. This one has been on TBR mountain since 2010. Here is the description from Amazon:

Jaclyn Wilde is a wedding planner who loves her job—usually. But helping Carrie Edwards with her Big Day has been an unrelenting nightmare. Carrie is a bridezilla of mythic nastiness, a diva whose tantrums are just about as crazy as her demands. But the unpleasant task at hand turns seriously criminal when Carrie is brutally murdered and everyone involved with the ceremony is accusing one another of doing the deed.

The problem is, most everyone—from the cake maker and the florist to the wedding-gown retailer and the bridesmaids’ dressmaker—had his or her own reason for wanting the bride dead, including Jaclyn. And while those who felt Carrie’s wrath are now smiling at her demise, Jaclyn refuses to celebrate tragedy, especially since she finds herself in the shadow of suspicion.

Assigned to the case, Detective Eric Wilder finds that there’s too much evidence pointing toward too many suspects. Compounding his problems is Jaclyn, with whom he shared one deeply passionate night before Carrie’s death. Being a prime suspect means that Jaclyn is hands-off just when Eric would rather be hands-on. As the heat intensifies between Eric and Jaclyn, a cold-blooded murderer moves dangerously close. And this time the target is not a bride but one particularly irresistible wedding planner, unaware of a killer’s vow.

Book Review: The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig

The Deception of the Emerald Ring
Author: Lauren Willig
Series: Pink Carnation (Book 3)
Publication: NAL; Reprint edition (September 4, 2007)

Description: Eloise Kelly has gotten into quite a bit of trouble since she started spying on the Pink Carnation and the Black Tulip-two of the deadliest spies to saunter the streets of nineteenth-century England and France.

Not only has she unearthed secrets that will rearrange history, she's dallied with Colin Selwick and sought out a romantic adventure all her own. Little does she know that she's about to uncover another fierce heroine running headlong into history.

My Thoughts: I am really enjoying this series. In this episode another member of the band of aristocratic spies finds himself inconveniently married to the sister of the woman he loves. Letty is the younger sister and the practical family "fixer." She isn't the sort to inspire poetry like her sister. She is short, round, outspoken, and completely unable to convincingly tell a lie. Geoff is a seasoned spy but more usually works in the background to prepare things for the more intrepid spies. They get together by accident but he persists in seeing Letty as some sort of schemer who wanted to trap him into marriage.

The two of them find themselves in Ireland just in time to thwart the 1803 Irish rebellion. Things are complicated by the interference of our hero Geoff's dastardly cousin and the mysterious and enigmatic Lord Vaughn who seems to be everywhere in this series.

Hurt feelings, misunderstandings and too much pride manage to keep our young lovers at odds for much of the story which is filled with action and danger and all sorts of mysterious characters.

In the present story line, Eloise finds herself obsessing over an absent Colin who turns up at the most inconvenient time - just as she is out on a blind date that was set up by her grandmother. What is so intriguing to me about this bridging story line is that only a couple of weeks have passed since Eloise met Colin. After following three romances in the historical time period, it feels like more time must have passed in the present day one.

I can't wait to read the next book in this series and am really glad that there are twelve books in the series. Looks like I have lots of enjoyable books in my future.

Favorite Quote:

A fat lot of right I had to be psychoanalyzing Geoffrey Pinchingdale-Snipe, when I was doing the exact same thing, pinning all my hopes and desires on someone I barely knew—largely because I barely knew him. There's nothing like a blank slate. Take one attractive man, slop on a thick coat of daydream, and, voila, the perfect man. With absolutely no resemblance to reality.

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