This novel was another strong installment in the Chronicles of St. Mary's time travel series, full of both laugh-out-loud and gasp-out-loud moments. I continue to love Max, Leon, Peterson, and the rest of the gang, and Taylor's glimpses into the past are realistic and tantalizing. I think we've established by this point that I adore … Continue reading Review: LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND HISTORY (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #7) by Jodi Taylor
Review: TEMPEST edited by Mercedes Lackey
Favorite story: "Harmless as Serpents" by Rosemary Edghill & Rebecca Fox Perhaps because they are such alien creatures, stories where a point of view character is a Companion always intrigue me. Throw in tantalizing details about the mysterious land of Iftel, the realistic aftereffects of Karse's religious upheaval, and multiple laugh-out-loud moments, and this was easily … Continue reading Review: TEMPEST edited by Mercedes Lackey
Review: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE BUILDING RECENTLY ERECTED FOR THE DEPARTMENTS OF NATURAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM by Richard Rathbun
This is not a typical review, because this is not a typical book. I stumbled across this text while looking for books about the historical design and architecture of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. This was a perfect research resource for what I needed. It was well-written, succinct, and easy to … Continue reading Review: A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE BUILDING RECENTLY ERECTED FOR THE DEPARTMENTS OF NATURAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM by Richard Rathbun
Review: THE PURPLE HEART DETECTIVE AGENCY by Rock Neelly
There are a lot of really great things about this "modern noir" book, which is why I kept reading until the very end. I picked it up primarily because of the disabled main characters, which is a diversity not often seen in fiction. While their combat injuries certainly informed their characters, neither men were ever … Continue reading Review: THE PURPLE HEART DETECTIVE AGENCY by Rock Neelly
Review: UNDER THE EMPYREAN SKY (Heartland Trilogy #1) by Chuck Wendig
I picked up this book on Kindle purely because of a blog post by the author completely owning the fact that he had written about a character who was gay without homosexuality being used as a plot device or some sort of moral lesson. As someone who strives for the same diversity in her own … Continue reading Review: UNDER THE EMPYREAN SKY (Heartland Trilogy #1) by Chuck Wendig
Review: CLOSER TO THE HEART (Herald Spy #2) by Mercedes Lackey
This book had the awkward job of pushing along a trilogy plot that I don't quite understand and a relationship that is already solid. I keep reading Valdemar books because this world has such a special place in my heart, but at this point the drama and intrigue is no longer there for me in … Continue reading Review: CLOSER TO THE HEART (Herald Spy #2) by Mercedes Lackey
Review: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #6) by Jodi Taylor
I find the title to this latest installment of my favorite time travel hijinks series highly amusing because I thought I already knew all the ways in which things would go wrong in this world. It turns out that I was tragically wrong, and I'm so thrilled that this author can keep surprising me. It seems … Continue reading Review: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #6) by Jodi Taylor
Review: THE ANATOMY OF JANE (WJM #1) by Amelia LeFay
This novel was the first (non-fanfiction) three-way erotica I've read, and it both met and failed my expectations in different ways and on different levels. I absolutely don't regret purchasing this ebook. But I'm not sure whether I will be purchasing the sequel, despite the fact that this book ends on a ridiculous cliffhanger (one … Continue reading Review: THE ANATOMY OF JANE (WJM #1) by Amelia LeFay
Review: HOME BIRTH (Kaiju Revisited #2) by Jessica McHugh
Disclaimer: The author and I share a publisher and I consider her a friend. I received an ebook version of this novella in exchange for an honest review. Despite this being the second in a shared-world series by many authors, this story works well as a stand-alone tale. It included just enough science-fiction world-building to … Continue reading Review: HOME BIRTH (Kaiju Revisited #2) by Jessica McHugh
Review: FAIREST, WINTER, and STARS ABOVE by Marissa Meyer
This post includes reviews of the final three installments of the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer. Fairest Reading this novella before the exciting conclusion to this series was perfectly timed. Since Cinder, Queen Levana has been a distant, evil character meant to represent the evil queen of the Snow White fairy tale. In this story, … Continue reading Review: FAIREST, WINTER, and STARS ABOVE by Marissa Meyer
Review: MAGIC STEALS by Ilona Andrews
While Kate and Curron obviously hold a place close to my heart, I think my favorite romantic couple in this series is easily Dali and Jim. Because I've also known these characters as individuals for so long, this makes their relationship all the sweeter. This novella was a fun read because it both plays on … Continue reading Review: MAGIC STEALS by Ilona Andrews
Review: HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
Like many readers, I had a difficult time falling in love with the play that continued the story of the both the original and next generation of wizards from the Harry Potter universe. Since I hadn't read anything in script form in over a decade, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out … Continue reading Review: HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
Review: A STUDY IN SABLE by Mercedes Lackey
I was excited by both the return of Nan and Sarah in Lackey's Elemental Masters series and the introduction of this universe's version of Sherlock Holmes and the Watsons. The aspect of this novel that I was most impressed with was that my brain never once tried to "cast" my mental images of the characters … Continue reading Review: A STUDY IN SABLE by Mercedes Lackey
Review: “Clay Tongue” by Nicholas Conley
Disclaimer: I received an ebook version of this novelette from the author in exchange for an honest review. The gorgeous cover to this novelette is a perfect match for the beautiful language and sweet story contained within. This short tale is well worth checking out for a quick escape. The introduction of this piece is a … Continue reading Review: “Clay Tongue” by Nicholas Conley
Review: ALL-NEW WOLVERINE VOL. 1: THE FOUR SISTERS by Tom Taylor
To be fair, I haven't read any of the original Wolverine graphic novels, so I didn't really know what I was getting into with a female version of the iconic Marvel character. As played by Hugh Jackman, Wolverine has consistently been my favorite part of the X-Men on screen. So I had high hopes for … Continue reading Review: ALL-NEW WOLVERINE VOL. 1: THE FOUR SISTERS by Tom Taylor
Review: “No One On Earth” by Jennifer Loring
Disclaimer: This review is of a novella that is part of the Starstruck Holidays anthology; due to time constraints, I am only able to review one installment of the anthology at this time. The author and I attended the same graduate program and have assisted each other with promotional work in the past. She provided me … Continue reading Review: “No One On Earth” by Jennifer Loring
Review: CLOAK OF WAR (Empress Game #2) by Rhonda Mason
Disclaimer: I attended the same graduate school program as the author and consider her a friend; however, I purchased my hardcopy version of this novel for full price. Often, middle books in a trilogy act as placeholders. Things happen, but mostly just to get the characters from point A (the exciting first installment) to point … Continue reading Review: CLOAK OF WAR (Empress Game #2) by Rhonda Mason
Steel Magic Featured at Library Journal
I had a bit of a SNAFU earlier this year with professional review sites, so I hadn't been paying that much attention to them since the release of the second book in the Steel Empires series, Steel Magic. Therefore, I'm about half a year late in telling you all the fantastic news! Steel Magic received … Continue reading Steel Magic Featured at Library Journal
Review: FROM A HIGH TOWER by Mercedes Lackey
I was thrilled that Lackey once again broke the mold with this installment of the Elemental Masters series. Some things were the familiar, such as a modern (well, Victorian-era) retelling of a traditional fairy tale featuring a strong heroine with elemental magic powers. However, like in Blood Red before it, this novel also transported us outside … Continue reading Review: FROM A HIGH TOWER by Mercedes Lackey
Review: NO TIME LIKE THE PAST (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #5) by Jodi Taylor
After devouring five books in this series, two things are fairly obvious to me at this point: Jodi Taylor is a hell of a researcher/historian. She has also embraced a major facet of writing time travel and run with it rather than fight against it -- Once again, this novel had two major climaxes. One … Continue reading Review: NO TIME LIKE THE PAST (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #5) by Jodi Taylor