Book Review: Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston

Badger to the Bone
Author: Shelly Laurenston
Series: The Honey Badger Chronicles Book 3
Publication: Kensington Books (March 31, 2020)

Description: She’s the woman he’s been hired to kidnap. But ZeZé Vargas has other ideas . . . like getting them both out of this nightmare alive. Just one problem. She’s crazy. Certifiably. Because while he’s plotting their escape, the petite Asian beauty is plotting something much more deadly . . .

Max “Kill It Again” MacKilligan has no idea what one of her own is doing with all these criminal humans until she realizes that Zé has no idea who or what he is. Or exactly how much power he truly has.

But Max is more than happy to bring this handsome jaguar shifter into her world and show him everything he’s been missing out on. A move that might be the dumbest thing she’s ever done once she realizes how far her enemies will go to wipe her out. Too bad for them Zé is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her alive . . . and honey badgers are just so damn hard to kill!

My Thoughts: This is the third story in the Honey Badger series and focuses on middle sister Max. It begins with Max letting herself be kidnapped so that she can get to the kidnapper. Unfortunately, she doesn't know that a force is gathering to "rescue" her. Zé is a former Marine and now a mercenary. Max takes one look at him and knows something about him that he doesn't know about himself.

When Max tells him that he is a shifter, he thinks she is crazy. And when she takes him with her in her escape and brings him home with her, Zé enters a world that he had never heard of. Of course, Max's world is likely not typical for shifters. Her older sister Charlie doesn't shift but is a crack marksman who terrifies everyone around her and stress bakes when she gets tense. Stress baking works just great for her because they are living in a part of New York City which is a haven for bear shifters who just love all the baking. Her younger sister Stevie is a genius who is frightened of bears and who shifts into a very large Siberian tiger/honey badger hybrid but more usually hides in the kitchen cupboards or hangs from the ceiling.

The sisters have a variety of problems. Because they are all hybrids or one kind or another, they aren't well accepted by their honey badger relatives who are after them all because their loser of a father has stolen money from them and want the girls to find him for them. Max is also under threat from a cousin who is jealous of her and wants her dead.

Zé is busy learning all about the new things he can do and meeting all the zany characters we have come to know in Laurenston books. I liked his growing relationship with Max - once Max gets used to having him around and stops forgetting he exists.

I liked the story and liked that a number of characters from earlier books had roles in this one. Max is an intriguing character who embodies all the best honey badger traits. She's tough and fearless and willing to tackle being much bigger than she is. I liked her friendship with her basketball girlfriends. I also really liked her relationship with her sisters.

Laurenston writes urban fantasy that isn't short on the humor and still has some surprising sexy bits. This is another great example of her writing.

Favorite Quote:

"Livy asked about you."

"Livy who?"

"Your cousin."

Max frowned, confused.

"The one you've threatened with death many times?"

"Still unclear."

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

Friday Memes: Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston

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:

Max MacKilligan didn't see it coming. For once. But how could she when she'd been so focused on the white kidnap van and her ice cream cone? It wasn't until her psychotic cousin grabbed her from behind and yanked her deep into the alley that she realized the bitch had been standing behind her.

Friday 56:

"You're back."

"I am. You told my sister."

"I did. I called Stevie but she put me on the phone with Charlie and I don't like lying to her. Of teh three of you, she does seem the most rational."

"Most of the time."

This week I am spotlighting Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston which is a humorous urban fantasy I recently added to my TBR pile. Here is the description from Amazon:

She’s the woman he’s been hired to kidnap. But ZeZé Vargas has other ideas . . . like getting them both out of this nightmare alive. Just one problem. She’s crazy. Certifiably. Because while he’s plotting their escape, the petite Asian beauty is plotting something much more deadly . . .

Max “Kill It Again” MacKilligan has no idea what one of her own is doing with all these criminal humans until she realizes that Zé has no idea who or what he is. Or exactly how much power he truly has.

But Max is more than happy to bring this handsome jaguar shifter into her world and show him everything he’s been missing out on. A move that might be the dumbest thing she’s ever done once she realizes how far her enemies will go to wipe her out. Too bad for them Zé is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her alive . . . and honey badgers are just so damn hard to kill!

Book Review: A Liaden Universe Constellation Vol. 2 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

A Liaden Universe Constellation Vol. 2
Author: Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Series: Liaden Universe
Publication: Baen Books; 1 edition (December 15, 2013)

Description: BOOK 2 in  The First Liaden Universe ® Collection. Fifteen short tales of the Liaden Universe® brought together for the first time. Space opera and romance on a grand scale in a galaxy full of interstellar trading clans.

Thirty-three shorter tales of the Liaden Universe® brought together for the first time in two mega-volumes. Fifteen tales complete Volume Two!

The nationally best-selling Liaden Universe® novels are treasured by space opera aficionados for their wit, world-building, strong characterizations, tender romance, and edge-of-the-chair action.

Since 1995, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller also created shorter tales, illuminating additional facets of the Liaden experience. Here is a vast tapestry of tales of the scouts, artists, traders, priestesses, sleight of hand magicians, and pilots who fill the Liaden Universe® with the excitement, action, and romance that readers of the hit series have come to adore.

My Thoughts: This collection of 15 previously published stories adds depth and detail to the Liaden Universe. Some of the stories feature characters who have a bigger role in other Liaden Universe books. We have the history of Inas Bhar who becomes Natesa the Assassin and Pat Rin's lifemate. We have a story about how Clarence O'Berin came to Liad and met Daav. We find out what happens when Val Con and Nelirikk go to Vandar to rid it of the Department of the Interior. We see what happened when Plan B was called by Kareen had a meeting she didn't want to miss. We have a story set in Runig's Rock where the Clan children are hidden until it is time to call them home.

Some of the stories are about side characters who make a brief appearance in the novels. We have a story that takes place at the same time the Clutch turtles visit Shaltren told from the point of view of a pilot/ship owner coming to rescue a friend. We learn about the people Pat Rin bought rugs from to stock his new store on Surebleak. We have the story of the taxi driver who took Cheever to Korval and also drove mercenaries around when Korval fired on the planet. 

I was less familiar with these stories than the ones in Volume 1 and enjoyed learning more about the Liaden Universe. I also like the idea that I have all the stories in one convenient location on my Kindle. 

Favorite Quote:

"If Clonak was half as stupid as he acts, something with lotsa teeth would've had him for lunch a long time ago."

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

Audiobook: The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Leonard Goldberg

The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Leonard Goldberg
Narrator: Steve West
Publication: Macmillan Audio (June 6, 2017)
Length: 9 hours and 36 minutes

Description: From USA Today best-selling author Leonard Goldberg comes The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes, a new thrilling tale of the great detective's daughter and her companion, Dr. John Watson Jr., as they investigate a murder at the highest levels of British society.

England, 1914. Joanna Blalock's keen mind and incredible insight lead her to become a highly skilled nurse, one of the few professions that allow her to use her finely tuned brain. But when she and her 10-year-old son witness a man fall to his death, apparently by suicide, they are visited by the elderly Dr. John Watson and his charming, handsome son, Dr. John Watson Jr. Impressed by her forensic skills, they invite her to become the third member of their investigative team.

Caught up in a Holmesian mystery that spans from hidden treasure to the Second Afghan War of 1878-1880, Joanna and her companions must devise an ingenious plan to catch a murderer in the act while dodging familiar culprits, Scotland Yard, and members of the British aristocracy. Unbeknownst to her, Joanna harbors a mystery of her own. The product of a one-time assignation between the now dead Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler, the only woman to ever outwit the famous detective, Joanna has unwittingly inherited her parents' deductive genius.

My Thoughts: This story takes place in 1914. Dr. Watson is living at 221B Baker Street but Holmes has passed away. When a young woman comes to Watson to ask him to look into the apparent suicide of her brother, Watson calls on his son John Watson Jr. to act as his assistant.

They are quickly joined in their investigation by one of the witnesses to the death. Mrs. Joanna Blalock and her young son were walking by the site. Watson knows Mrs. Blalock and confides to his son that she is the daughter of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler who was put up for adoption at birth. Her mother didn't long survive the birth and Holmes knew he wouldn't make a good father. Watson believes that she doesn't know about her parentage. He only tells his son because there is a trust for Mrs. Blalock that John will administer after his father's death.

Joanna grew up, became a nurse, married, had a child and was widowed. She always had a powerful intellect and great powers of observation. She read widely including works by Holmes about being an investigator. Her son Johnny is the very image of Sherlock as a young boy and looks to be his equal in intelligence and observation.

Together the three investigate and learn that the first victim was to be followed by two more victims leaving the murderer in sole possession of a treasure stolen during the Second Afghan War and kept secret for these many years.

I liked the action in the story and the shadow of the original Sherlock Holmes' stories that are glimpsed in this one. I thought the characters were a trifle one-sided with Watson being primarily a cheerleader praising Joanna for her marvelous deductions and Joanna herself being primarily noted for her intelligence. The younger Doctor Watson did have a good part to play but I found his immediate attraction to Joanna to be a little unbelievable.

The story was told by the younger Doctor Watson and narrated by Steve West who had a quite convincing British accent. I was amused by the various pronunciations of some words that are so different than American English.

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

ARC Review: The Mountains Wild by Sarah Stewart Taylor

The Mountains Wild
Author: Sarah Stewart Taylor
Publication: Minotaur Books (June 23, 2020)

Description: In a series debut for fans of Tana French and Kate Atkinson, set in Dublin and New York, homicide detective Maggie D'arcy finally tackles the case that changed the course of her life.

Twenty-three years ago, Maggie D'arcy's family received a call from the Dublin police. Her cousin Erin has been missing for several days. Maggie herself spent weeks in Ireland, trying to track Erin's movements, working beside the police. But it was to no avail: no trace of her was ever found.

The experience inspired Maggie to become a cop. Now, back on Long Island, more than 20 years have passed. Maggie is a detective and a divorced mother of a teenager. When the Gardaí call to say that Erin's scarf has been found and another young woman has gone missing, Maggie returns to Ireland, awakening all the complicated feelings from the first trip. The despair and frustration of not knowing what happened to Erin. Her attraction to Erin's coworker, now a professor, who never fully explained their relationship. And her determination to solve the case, once and for all.

A lyrical, deeply drawn portrait of a woman - and a country - over two decades - The Mountains Wild introduces a compelling new mystery series from a mesmerizing author.

My Thoughts: This is a beautifully written mystery which debuts a new character. Maggie D'arcy is a homicide detective who has a trauma in her past. An only child, she was raised with her cousin Erin, who was also an only child.

Erin had always been a sort of wild child and their relationship had gotten more distant as the girls grew up. When Erin decides to move to Ireland after the death of Maggie's mother, Maggie believes that she is just trying to one-up Maggie who had plans to attend Trinity College in Dublin.

But then Erin disappears and Maggie, at the urging of her father and her Uncle Danny, heads to Ireland to try to find her. She meets the housemates who shared a house with Erin and tries to retrace Erin's steps interviewing many people along the way including Conor Kearney who met Erin at a coffee shop.

Maggie also gets to know the police who are looking into Erin's disappearance. Erin stays for a couple of months but Erin isn't found and the trail grows cold. But Maggie does develop a relationship with Conor. They fall in love despite Conor's girlfriend but secrets keep them from staying together.

Maggie goes back home, marries and has a child, and becomes a police officer. Twenty-three years later, now divorced with a fifteen-year-old daughter, something new is discovered in Ireland which might finally give them a way to discover what happened to Erin.

Maggie returns to Ireland to try to pick up the pieces of the long ago investigation and to find out if Erin's disappearance is related to a number of other disappearances of young women in the same area that have happened since. But those young women's bodies were recovered and Erin's was not. In the course of searching for the latest young woman victim, a body is discovered. Erin's scarf (a distinctive gift from Maggie) is found in the grave but the body isn't Erin's.

The story is told with a number of interwoven flashbacks from memories of Maggie and Erin when they were growing up and to the investigation in 1993 besides the current investigation in 2016. There were so many twists and turns and clues and dead ends all woven into a compelling page turner.

The story is also a love letter to Ireland with its scenic beauty and complicated politics. I recommend it to fans of mysteries.

Favorite Quote:

He was angry for a while, after we split up, but now he's forgiven me for my together life, my career success, the nice house, inherited from my parents, which was half his before the divorce, the fact that I stopped loving him before he stopped loving me, the fact that maybe I never loved him at all.

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

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 15, 2020)

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.

Other Than Reading...

This was a lazy week for me which was good because I read eight books including 4 audiobooks, 2 review books, one new addition to my book collection, and one book that I've had for almost 10 years. I didn't get out to walk much. I was too busy reading.

I did have to get up early one day to chauffeur my brother to his car dealership since he needed to bring his Prelude in because his window wasn't rolling up and down. Having to get up early wrecks me for a couple of days. I so seldom have to rise to an alarm these days. They had to order the part. So I'll be rising early again the day he needs to drop it off for repair. I am so not looking forward to that.

I don't think I left the house other than that one excursion. But I did stop at the grocery store after we took care of the car drop off and pick up. The grocery store run led to meals of chicken Parmesan, beef tenderloin steaks, and tomorrow beef stroganoff. Today it is homemade pizza topped with our homemade Italian sausage.

This coming week should also be quiet. I have a number of review books to read and I also want to keep listening to the Mercy Thompson series.

Solar

This has been a nicely sunny week but it is also cold. It is 11:15 Saturday morning as I'm writing this and the temperature is less than 50 degrees. We had a frost warning overnight! I don't know if we actually got frost where I live. My plants will just have to survive without coddling since they are all ornamental shrubs.

We have four days left in our billing cycle and only need to produce .06 MWh to beat last month's total. We should do that today. Now if the temperature should just get warmer...

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt (Mine since 9/15/2010) - This is the first Andy Carpenter mystery. I found it buried on TBR mountain. I liked it enough to get the next couple from Audible. My review will is linked below since I posted it last Saturday.
• First Degree by David Rosenfelt (Audiobook, Mine) -- 2nd Andy Carpenter mystery has him trying to clear his girlfriend of murder charges. My review will be posted on July 9.
• Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (Audiobook, Mine) -- The 4th Mercy Thompson adventure has her dealing with the aftermath of her rape, her entry into the werewolf pack and mating bond with Adam, dealing with the vampires desire to kill her, and fighting the only vampire in Spokane. My review will be posted on July 14. 

• The Mountains Wild by Sarah Stewart Taylor (June 23) - Entertaining mystery told in a number of flashbacks about a homicide detective going to Ireland to search for her cousin who has gone missing. My review will be posted on June 16.
• Alpha Night by Nalini Singh (Mine) - This is the newest in the Psy-Changeling series and focuses on the romance between wolf Alpha Selenka and Arrow Ethan Night. Fast paced and engaging. I have both the Kindle and the audiobook. The first time I read it I read the Kindle so that I could see how all the Russian names were spelled. My review will be posted on June 27. 
• The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton (June 30) - New mystery stars dog trainer Mace Reid and his Human Remains Detection dog Vira and tells what happens when Mace and Vira attract a serial killer, My review will be posted on June 23.

• Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs (Audiobook, Mine) -- The 5th Mercy Thompson adventure has Samuel trying to commit suicide, fae attacking Mercy to get back a book she was lent, and Adam fighting for control of his pack. My review will be posted on July 21.
• River Marked by Patricia Briggs (Audiobook, Mine) -- The 6th Mercy Thompson adventure has Mercy and Adam on their honeymoon where they encounter a river demon and Mercy's father Coyote. My review will be posted on August 4.

Currently

• To Catch an Earl by Kate Bateman (June 30)

Next Week

• Outsider by Linda Castillo (July 7)
• Once You Go This Far by Kristen Lepionka (July 7)

• Out of Time by David Klass (July 7)
• Hometown Hero by Liza Kendall (July 7)

Reviews Posted

• Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
• A Liaden Universe Constellation Vol. 1 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller 

• Storm Front by Jim Butcher
• Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt

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

Kindle

• Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King
• Alpha Night by Nalini Singh
• Murder in Thrall by Anne Cleeland 

• Scarlett (A Very British Witch) by Isobella Crowley
• The Pursuit of the Pankera by Robert A. Heinlein

Audiobooks

• First Degree by David Rosenfelt
• Alpha Night by Nalini Singh
• Murder in Thrall by Anne Cleeland 

• Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
• River Marked by Patricia Briggs
• Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs 

• Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
• Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
• Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs 

• Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs
• Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs

What was your week like?

Book Review: Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt

Open and Shut
Author: David Rosenfelt
Series: Andy Carpenter (Book 1)
Publication: Warner Books; First Warner Books Printing edition (May 1, 2003)

Description: "There is nothing like a golden retriever. I know, I know, it's a big planet with a lot of wonderful things, but golden retrievers are the absolute best. Mine is named Tara . . . The only problem she has ever caused is that I spend so much time with her in the mornings that I am almost invariably late for work."

Whether dueling with new forensics or the local old boys' network, irreverent defense attorney Andy Carpenter always leaves them awed with his biting wit and winning fourth-quarter game plan. But Andy prefers the company of his best friend, Tara, to the people he encounters in the courtroom. Tara, a golden retriever, is clearly smarter than half the lawyers who clog the courts of Passaic County. However, just as it seems Andy has everything figured out, his dad, New Jersey's legendary ex-D.A., drops dead in front of him at a game in Yankee Stadium. The shocks pile on as he discovers his dad left him with two unexpected legacies: a fortune of $22 million that Andy never knew existed . . . and a murder case with enough racial tinder to burn down City Hall. Struggling to serve justice and bring honor to his father, Andy must dig up some explosive political skeletons-and an astonishing family secret that can close his case (and his mouth) for good.

My Thoughts: This is the story that introduces lawyer Andy Carpenter. It begins with his father Nelson, who is a retired District Attorney, asking Andy to take a case to get a retrial for a convicted murder who has been on death row for seven years. Willie Miller is accused of murdering a young woman outside the bar where he worked. Andy's father is the one who prosecuted the case but now he is having second thoughts.

When Andy's dad dies at a Yankee's game which he is attending with his son, Andy is devastated. He becomes confused when his father's lawyer tells him that his father left him $22 million. Andy had no idea his father had that much money and begins to investigate where the money came from. He discovers a photo hidden behind another in his father's house which deepens the mystery. The photo is dated just days before his father received a cashier's check for $2 million and shows a group of young men including his father. Andy is determined to figure out who the other men were and how that relates to the money.

Even though he identifies a couple of the men, they deny that it is a picture of them which deepens the mystery. Also adding to the mystery is that the son of one of the men was dating the woman Willie Miller was convicted of murdering.

Andy is an interesting character with a really smart mouth. He also has a golden retriever named Tara who is his best friend. And he has an estranged wife who wants to rekindle their romance and save their marriage. Of course, Andy has begun a new relationship with his chief investigator Laurie and has very mixed feelings about his wife's plan.

I liked the courtroom drama and all the things discovered as Andy investigates events of thirty-five years earlier and seven years earlier. I enjoyed Andy's confusion when someone starts pressuring him to give up the Miller case because he has no idea what he has done to make anyone worry about what he might learn.

This is an entertaining start to a new mystery series that has already reached 22 books. I look forward to reading more of Andy's adventures.

Favorite Quote:

I take the elevator up to the lobby, which is large enough for the Knicks to play their home games. I enter another elevator, and this time a computer-generated male voice addresses me. "Welcome to Markham Plaza. Please press the floor of your choice."

"Will do," I say. "By the way, there's a gal in the parking lot you might like. Short, a little metallic-looking, but a good personality."

Unfortunately, a couple is getting on the elevator behind me, and they hear my conversation.

They don't respond, and we have an uncomfortable ride up, especially for them. They're the ones trapped in an elevator with a lunatic.

I smile lamely at them. "The elevator talks." Heh, heh.


I bought this one Sept. 15, 2010. You can buy your copy here.