CBR16 Book 13: "Bride" by Ali Hazelwood

Page count: 410 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo: One-word title

CBR16 Sweet Books: Exciting (This was one of my most anticipated book releases of the first half of 2024)

Misery Lark is the only daughter of a powerful vampyre councilman, and for much of her life, she lived among human strangers as a diplomatic hostage, to maintain the fragile peace between vampyres and humans. To make her a bit less lonely, an orphan named Serena came to live with her, and now that Misery is all grown-up, Serena is her only friend. She also has a twin brother, but since she's lived away from him for so long, they don't really know each other particularly well.

Misery is no longer a hostage, but Serena has gone missing and Misery is desperate to find her friend. When her father wants to use her to secure another alliance, this one a rather fragile one with the volatile werewolves, her first instinct is to say no. But then she discovers the name of the new werewolf Alpha, Lowe Moreland, and remembers a clue she found in Serena's apartment. Convinced that the werewolves must have something to do with her BFF's disappearance, Misery agrees to marry a complete stranger, a man she won't even meet until the wedding ceremony. 

Early in their marriage, Misery is convinced that Lowe is disgusted by her, and he tries to keep his distance from her as much as possible. It's difficult for her to snoop around and investigate since there are guards watching her at all times. A lot of the werewolves are suspicious and distrustful of Misery, but Lowe's little sister seems delighted by her and takes any opportunity to spend time with her (much to Misery's initial annoyance, she has no idea how to relate to a child, let alone a constantly chirpy one). 

While Misery is a very skilled hacker, she sucks at subterfuge and sneaking around. She also fails to account for her husband's excellent sense of smell - it's not really difficult for him to tell when she's been snooping in his quarters. She's forced to tell him why she agreed to the marriage, and while he's never even heard of Serena, he promises to help her search for her friend. Once they start working together, Misery and Lowe obviously have to spend a lot more time together, and once they do, Misery is about to discover that the reason her husband has been keeping her at a distance isn't because he hates her - rather the opposite.

By now, it should be clear to readers of my reviews that I am a big fan of Ali Hazelwood. I've read everything she's published, and when I found out she was doing a paranormal, I nearly lost it. I keep joking that I'd like her to switch things up and finally write a book with a short, shy, introverted hero. A novel featuring werewolves and vampires was never going to have that. Of course, Lowe is big and imposing, he's an alpha werewolf. However, Misery is at least not a petite waif with some sort of chronic condition, she's described as nearly six feet tall, which is a bit of a change from Hazelwood's normally pocket-sized heroines. 

I am vaguely aware that there is something out there called the Omegaverse, but I haven't really wanted to mess up my search history by actually looking up what it entails, and as far as I'm aware. I also don't read fan fiction (far too little time to read actual books, I don't have time to get distracted by fan fic), but I have read a fair amount of paranormal romance, many MANY of them which feature shapeshifters and were-creatures of some form or another. Even so, I have never come across the concept of 'knotting' before this book. It wasn't like I didn't understand from the sexual situations described in this book entailed, but I had to go on the interwebs and look up where the term originated, and this is the first book where I can say I've come across its use. Gotta say I'm not a fan. Apart from that, I really enjoyed this book, even with the fated mate stuff that's clearly happening (just because Misery doesn't understand what's going on, and keeps misunderstanding all the conversations involving Lowe's mate, doesn't mean that it's not pretty obvious from pretty much the wedding ceremony to anyone who's read any paranormal romance at all).

Hazelwood has in the past had some characters appear in more than one of her STEM romances, but so far she doesn't really seem to do sequels. However, now that she's written this paranormal, I'm desperate for her to write at least one more book set in this world, preferably two. It seems pretty obvious, from the final scene in this book, that Serena is likely to get her own novel. I want one for Owen, Misery's twin brother, as well though, as he's an intriguing character from what we get to see of him in this book. I want to see what romantic match Hazelwood has in mind for him. 

Judging a book by its cover: Compared to Hazelwood's previous novels, which all have bright almost candy-coloured covers with the lovers in fairly traditional embraces, this is very monochrome. The black, white, grey, and red colour scheme here is clearly yet another nod/wink to Twilight, however, and I for one think it's a fun one. Could it have had a more interesting image? Possibly, but I really like the wolf in the background with the glowing eyes. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR15 Book 39: "Magic Claims" by Ilona Andrews

Page count: 240 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

CBR15 Bingo: In the Wild (partly set in a big, spooky wood AND featuring shifters)

This short novel, which originally was planned as a novella (but the authors just couldn't fit all of the story into such a short format, for which their fans are grateful) is the second of the Wilmington Years stories, which could clearly also be called Kate and Curran spectacularly fail at a quiet and uneventful retirement.

In the previous story, Magic Tides, Kate has to rescue a bunch of people from a magical threat (so nothing new there), and despite her wish for anonymity becomes more noticeable in her newly adopted neighbourhood. 

In this follow-up (popularly known among fans as Magic Clams, because of frequent mis-typings of the title) Kate and Curran are approached by Edward Calloway, the great-uncle of one of the people Kate recently saved. He explains that much of their family still lives in the village of Penderton, which seems to have been more or less swallowed up by the surrounding forest. The residents there can no longer leave even if they want to, without risking death. Sinister magic users come once a year to demand a human sacrifice, and this year, they've decided to demand a rather large number of people to allow the rest of the residents to stay safe. The residents of Penderton desperately need help and are willing to pay a lot for assistance from stronger, more powerful forces than the evil in the woods (those forces being Kate and Curran). Remaining quiet and unobtrusive would mean sending a lot of people to their deaths. Our heroic couple doesn't need a lot more motivation than that. 

In addition to this new threat nearby, Kate is also faced with the arrival of two powerful individuals who used to follow Roland, her father. Now that he is locked away in a separate realm, the men want to swear fealty to Kate, his powerful daughter, and very reluctant heir. To aid them, Kate and Curran also have a group of local shapeshifters, and of course their were-lion son, Conlan. 

I never fail to be amazed at how well Ilona Andrews manages to balance action, fairly serious violence, super creepy magical threats, humour, and more quiet character moments so excellently. Having now been married for several years, it's nice to see some of Kate and Curran's domestic life and how completely comfortable they are with one another (and how proud and entirely non-threatened Curran is of his wife, an absolute powerhouse of magical talent). Kate and Curran have both been trying to do what they feel is the right thing, laying low, staying unobtrusive, and hiding their powers. When danger really threatens and they are the only ones who can help, it's quite clear that they thrive a lot more when they get to flex their unparalleled magic abilities or incredible shapeshifter fighting skills. 

Since finishing all their existing publishing contracts, the husband and wife team who make up Ilona Andrews are now free to write whatever they want and publish it at their own leisure. They don't announce what they have been working on until they're getting close to publication. It's quite clear that after some years away from the world of Kate Daniels, they now have new ideas and find it creatively interesting to play in this figurative sandbox again. In various promo interviews they did via YouTube, the couple have made it clear that for the foreseeable future, they will be working on sequels or spin-offs in the Kate Daniels universe. There's going to be at least one more story about Kate and Curran and their family in the Wilmington Years, there will finally be a new book about Hugh D'Ambray (the first book, Iron and Magic, came out in 2018) and they will be writing a follow-up to Blood Heir (or the continuing adventures of Julie and Derek, as I like to think of it). They've dropped some serious hints of what will be coming, and I am very excited to see what they come up with next. 

Judging a book by its cover: This cover is perfectly fine. Sassy-looking lady with a sword, a big ghostly lion in the background. Misty, spooky-looking woods. It fits with the themes of the previous books and is not a complete eye-sore. I'll take it. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR15 Book 29: "Both Feet in the Grave" by Jeaniene Frost

Page count: 348 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

15-word review: Bones tells his side of the story of how he reunited with his Red Reaper. 

Jeaniene Frost's retelling of her successful paranormal fantasy series from the point of view of Bones the vampire continues. This book is a take on the events of One Foot in the Grave. It's been four long years since Kat Crawfield left him to protect him, not really understanding that if he'd managed to stay alive for two hundred years before meeting her, some secret government paranormal division wasn't going to pose much of a threat to him either. Even with all of his resources and skills as a hunter, it's almost a lucky break that makes it possible for Bones to reunite with his half-vampire love - at the wedding of a human Bones befriended in a bar, in fact. Completely taken by surprise during the ceremony, Kat can't hide her overwhelmed reaction to seeing Bones again, and while she tries to cover it afterward, Bones can tell she still loves him.

Of course, in the years since they last saw each other, Kat has become even more of a bad-ass, and now leads a whole team of skilled vampire hunters. One of the vampires they've pissed off with their operation is Ian, Bones' sire, who is now very interested in adding the Red Reaper to his exclusive collection. He also has Kat's father, the vampire who got her mother pregnant, working for him, and plans to use him as a trap to lure Kat into his power. Bones has no intention of letting that happen, and will only let Kat keep working with her government spooks if he gets to work alongside her to make sure she is safe. Since he has some interesting blackmail material on Kat's boss, he doesn't really have that much trouble convincing them to let him join "the gang". 

Now Bones needs to call in all of his allies and use all his cunning to outsmart Ian, so the devious Master vampire doesn't gain control of Kat forever.

This was another fun book by Jeaniene Frost, but I suspect one of the reasons I liked it less than the previous one is because the source material she's retelling isn't as entertaining. The first book sets up the world and the dynamic between Kat and Bones, a lot of this book is bogged down in Bones trying to locate Kat, then convincing her that they are meant to be together and then all the power play stuff with Ian. I don't regret the time I spent reading the book, and I will probably keep getting them if Frost decides to keep doing them (I often find Bones a more engaging narrator than Kat). But I'm not going to add them to my pre-order list or anything.

Judging a book by its cover: Really not a huge fan of the cover art for these books. I think it's a different dude portraying Bones on this one, and he just looks wrong to me. Wasn't wild about the last guy either, but it's not like I'm buying these books for the covers. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR15 Book 4: "Magic Tides" by Ilona Andrews

Page count: 163 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

While this book is the start of a new chapter in the lives of Kate Daniels and her family, I suspect this book will work a lot better if you've read at least some of the previous thirteen books and various novellas. As always, I would recommend strongly skipping the first book (as do the authors themselves). Start with book 2, Magic Burns. 

Set seven years after Magic Triumphs (and about two years before the events of Blood Heir), Kate, her former Beast-Lord husband, and their extremely powerful shapeshifter son have moved to Wilmington to start a new life, determined to keep a low profile. This doesn't exactly last very long. When it turns out the nephew of their contractor has been abducted by human traffickers, Kate straps on her sword and goes to kick some ass. The boy's father accompanies her, very doubtful about this woman's promises, but after Kate beats several goons unconscious, beheads the gang leader, rescues a handful of children, and torches the compound to the ground, he's shell-shocked but a lot more optimistic.

Kate's rescue mission takes her first to the Order of Merciful Aid, and then she has to pay a visit to the vampire training ground of the People (her megalomanic magical overlord father's former minions), praying that no one there recognises her for who she really is (their now deposed and exiled god-king's even more powerful daughter) and either challenges her or decides to swear their undying allegiance to her. While Kate is off on her rescue mission, Curran and Conlan are left making sure their contractor's whole family is safe behind the walls of their fortified estate, waiting for the rest of the enraged human traffickers to show up and demand payment in blood. 

This was a very unexpected surprise from my favourite author team, announced in mid-December, only a few weeks before the actual release date. After a five-year break from the main Kate Daniels series and about two years since the first book in the sequel series about Julie, Kate's adopted daughter (all grown up and a magical powerhouse of her own), it was a delightful treat to discover that there would be a series of novellas about Kate and her family in their new home. I have said before, and will no doubt say it again, I will pre-order and probably buy in multiple formats anything that Ilona Andrews publishes. In my eyes, they can do no wrong.

As with all their books, this has an excellent mix of quips, action, strange mythological enemies, and a great family dynamic and it was just so nice to revisit already familiar characters. My reason for withholding half a star is just that I'm petty, and I wanted more than a 163-page novella. Like the rest of the Book-Devouring Horde, I'm insatiable. 

Judging a book by its cover: This fits into the other books about Kate in that it features a skinny, dark-haired chick with a sword and there's a ghostly lion on the cover as well. I did like the treasure chest of gold in the lower right corner, but generally, this slots into the many many bad covers these authors have had over the years. I get that it's even harder to get good covers when you self-publish, but this seems pretty generic. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

CBR14 Book 14: "The Other Side of the Grave" by Jeaniene Frost

Page count: 424 pages

Audio book length: 13 hrs 13 mins

Rating: 4 stars

Back in 2007, Jeaniene Frost published the first volume in her paranormal fantasy series Night Huntress, Halfway to the Grave, about half-vampire Catherine "Cat" Crawfield (the unlikely offspring of a vampire and a human), who hunts vampires because her mother has raised her to hate them, and since Cat has never really felt loved or accepted by her mother or grandparents, hopes that her crusade to end as many undead as possible will earn her family's affection. Cat runs into English master vampire Crispin "Bones" Russell one day, and once he discovers her unique nature, not to mention starts falling head over heels for the hot-headed young vampire slayer, decides to train her to become much better at her chosen extra-curricular activity, mainly so she doesn't get herself killed the next time she runs into a really strong vampire. That the training forces her to spend lots and lots of time with him, well, that's also a bonus.

The series, where Cat and Bones inevitably fall in passionate love with one another, ended up being seven books long, not to mention there being a bunch of novellas, not to mention spin-off books where Bones' vampire friends found HEAs of their own eventually. Now Frost (whose books I think I initially picked up because she's BFF with Ilona Andrews) has decided to pull an E.L. James, or Stephenie Meyer, or what will you, and rewrite her first book in the series from Bones' POV. Selfish cash-grab? Maybe, but I found myself really enjoying the book, and wanting to revisit the series once more (I read the first books in the series back in 2009). Since I own at least the first few of the books in paperback, I found myself curious and compared a lot of the scenes. Frost writes that it's obvious that people remember things in different ways, so some scenes are pretty much word-for-word recreations, while a lot of the book covers all the stuff Bones did when Cat wasn't around. 

As I said, I found myself amused by the book. Frost has updated a lot of the technology and references in the book to make it seem like it was set now (apparently Bones had a beeper in the first book, that's just objectively hilarious). After reading about a third, I got the audiobook version because I wanted to be able to listen to it when I was taking walks, and doing chores, and the narrator is mostly very good. I very much disagree with his accent and intonation for Bones (he sounds too thuggish), but all in all, it was a really fun listen, and at a time when I can barely find entertainment that holds my attention, the fact that I wanted to keep listening was absolutely a plus. Not sure Frost needs to write the rest of the series from Bones' POV though.

Judging a book by its cover: While this book has a pretty bad cover (that is just NOT how Bones looks in my mind's eye), it's a million times better than the eyesores that were the early covers of the Night Huntress series. Seriously, paranormal fantasy covers back in the day were SO ugly, you guys. Like so very very bad. The fact that the cover model portraying Cat on the first book looked to be in her mid-thirties (Cat is 22) didn't help. So I guess I shouldn't complain too much about this cover. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR13 Book 35: "Any Way the Wind Blows" by Rainbow Rowell

Page count: 579 pages

Audio book length: 15 hrs 3 mins

Rating: 5 stars

CBR Bingo: People 

Spoiler warning! This is book 3 in a trilogy, which wraps up a number of very important threads left dangling after the previous book. So after the brief plot summary, there WILL be spoilers in the review. If you are new to the wonderful world of Simon Snow (and Baz, and Penny and Agatha), the place to start is Carry On. 

This book starts pretty much immediately after our fearsome foursome (and Shepard)'s return from America to England. Simon, still in emotional turmoil after losing his magic and feeling like a burden to his friends, is given unexpected and very surprising news by Agatha's father, Doctor Wellbelove. He decides he wants to have his big dragon wings and tail surgically removed, and move out of his and Penelope's shared flat. He's done with the world of magic, which sadly also means being done with the love of his life, Baz.

Penelope would be devastated that her best friend is moving out and demanding his own space, but she's also distracted by her promise to help their new friend, non-magical Shepard, break free of his curse. However, when she tries to ask her mother for help, Professor Bunce (now headmaster of Watford) is appalled that Penny not only would reveal magical secrets to a "normal", but that she's brought him home to her family. Professor Bunce tries to wipe Shepard's memory (something he's thankfully immune to) and Penny is forced to realise that for once, it's up to her alone to solve the challenge, without help from either Simon or Baz.

Baz has to bail his aunt Fiona out of prison for having broken in at Watford and returns to his family in Oxford to find that his stepmother has left and his father is at his wit's end. His aunt Fiona claims that Daphne (his stepmother) has started following one of the NEW Chosen Ones, which piques Baz' curiosity. Of course, he's sidetracked from investigating when he returns to London to discover a note from Simon saying "he's sorry". After everything Baz and Simon have survived together, a break-up is not something Baz is going to accept without a fight.

Agatha's parents are glad to have her back from America, but as she hasn't actually told them anything of what happened to her there, they don't allow her a lot of time to wallow, giving her a job in her father's doctor's office instead. Rather intimidated by her father's intern, Agatha can't really say no when the forceful young woman insists she come along to Watford to care for the goats, who are scattered all over since Ebb Petty's tragic death over a year ago. Agatha is surprised to learn that apparently, the goats are essential to Watford's magical survival and while she was terrified of going back to the school where she experienced so many unpleasant things, taking care of goats is something she's good at. 

From this point on, there be spoilers. You have been warned!

When first reading Wayward Son, I was surprised to discover that it was, in fact, a bridging book, the second book in a completely unexpected trilogy. Considering how much I loved Carry On, the prospect of a THIRD book about my beloved characters was a very pleasant surprise. Of course, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a number of other factors, it took Ms. Rowell some time to finish this last installment, but thankfully, for me at least, it was more than worth the wait.

While a whole load of plot threads were left dangling after the second book, which was by far the most difficult read of the three, as it explores PTSD, depression, grief and allows Rowell to explore what in the world the chosen ones do after the great confrontation/battle/conclusion they were destined for is over, and they're still alive. How do you continue to live your life and get a job and just stay alive, not to mention manage a romantic relationship after you believed yourself most likely to be dead before graduation?

In this book, a lot of thinking, angsting and road trip adventures have led Baz, Simon, Penny and Agatha back to England, where their pasts still affect them, try as they might to move on. Having had Penny and Simon and then Baz and Simon together for most of the first book, while the three of them were nearly inseparable in the second, Rowell now chooses to explore what happens to the hero's best friend, the plucky sidekick, when she's not at the hero's side. Penelope is on her own for much of this book, discovering that she can't really rely on her parents' help and with Baz and Simon being far too busy figuring out their relationship drama. The good news is, Penny is more than capable to manage things on her own. Frightfully so. The revelation that possibly some of the scrapes that she and Simon ended up with during their years at Watford being just as likely to have been initiated by her and her intense need to take over and control any situation was a nice touch. Penelope Bunce is a fearsome witch and she proves it to both herself and those around her in spades in this book. It's no wonder Shepard is completely head over heels for her. Considering how many ill-advised deals he keeps making with supernatural creatures, he really needs someone like her in his corner. 

My greatest worry when going into this book was obviously what was going to happen with Baz and Simon, who have gone through so much and love each other so desperately, but are completely hopeless about dealing with their emotions due to all their previous trauma. It was very encouraging to see Baz finally stand up for himself and realise that much as he adores Simon, he's not going to allow himself to be taken for granted, ignored, or simply left behind. A proper relationship requires work, and the work needs to be done by both parties involved. 

Simon finally gets the chance to have some independence, and while he initially believes that what he wants is to sever all ties to the magical community, it quickly becomes obvious that while he may no longer have the ability to do magic, he's entirely hopeless on his own. He slowly accepts that he's worthy of being loved and that he wants to prove that to himself and Baz. Both Simon and Baz seem to think that the other one is much better off without the other, and it's only when Simon actually tries to break it off, that they figure out what a terrible idea that actually is. So much of Simon's life has been defined by him being different from everyone else, not really belonging properly anywhere or with anyone. By the end of this book, it's thankfully clear to him that he not only has a loving and loyal boyfriend, a fierce BFF, but an extended family who are overjoyed to finally get to know him. 

I know Agatha is a character that Rowell always found challenging to write, but her point of view is so important in these books. Agatha never wanted to be the girlfriend of the Chosen One. She certainly didn't want to get kidnapped or face near-death experiences on a regular basis, just because of her connection to Simon Snow. Having tried to completely sever her ties to magic in the previous book, she seems to be more grateful to have the option to use magic in self-defense, but she's still looking for her place in the world, and it's obviously not with Simon, Baz, and Penny. Her growing friendship with Niamh and newfound affinity with the magical goats of Watford wasn't at all where I was expecting her character arc to go, but it worked out beautifully, and Agatha finding her peace at the end of the book was one of the most satisfying things I got out of it, to my own surprise. 

I tried to temper my expectations for this book, but it was still one of my most anticipated releases of 2021 and I'm not going to lie about how much I wanted and needed it to have a satisfying ending for my beloved characters. Your mileage may vary, but I was very happy with this book, and by the time of writing this review, have already read it twice (first devouring the e-book in less than 24 hours, then a more leisurely re-read by listening to the audio book). I understand why Ms. Rowell may consider herself done with these characters and this universe now, but will always hope for more stories about them at some point in the future. 

Judging a book by its cover: I chose this book for the "people" category of Bingo since it features Baz and Simon in yet another exciting action pose. Simon still has his big dragon wings and tail and Baz, freed from having to wear school uniforms, still dresses sharply as ever. I love the cover art by Simon Wada so much that I had to buy a new paperback edition of Carry On so it matched the rest of my books. 

 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.  

#CBR13 Book 4: "Big Bad Wolf" by Suleikha Snyder

Page count: 320 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer! I got an ARC from NetGalley. That has in no way influenced my review.

In a dystopian alternate reality, where the 2016 election led to the USA becoming a tightly regulated surveillance state, pretty much at the same time as the existence of a number of supernatural beings were revealed, several big cities, including New York, are now a Sanctuary City for supernaturals. 

Joe Peluso, an ex-soldier turned werewolf through military experimentation, is in prison for murdering six bear shifters with ties to the Russian mafia. His legal team is determined to give him a proper defense, but Joe believes himself beyond redemption. He has no regrets about the murders that landed him in prison, which were in retaliation for the death of his foster brother. However, he is haunted by his years as a soldier and all the lives he ended during his long military career. He has no intention of sharing any information or revealing anything to his lawyers that might help him get a lighter sentence and fully expects to be killed in prison by Russian mobsters soon enough.

Neha Ahluwalia, one of the lawyers on his team, as well as a trained psychologist, believes that everyone deserves a chance. She can't really explain her near-instant attraction to Peluso, which just seems to grow with each of their meetings. Falling for one of their clients, let alone a werewolf with a long history of violence is utter madness, but Neha can't stay away. On the day of Joe's trial, she agrees to a brief meeting alone with him, and they end up going on the run together after the Russian mob attempts to kill Joe and creates chaos at the courthouse. While he might not see himself as worthy of love or affection, Neha has caught glimpses of the wounded and vulnerable man behind the gruff facade, and she's determined to fight for their happy ending. 

I had hoped to have this review finished by the book's release date last week, but my depression had other ideas, and quite a lot of the things I wanted to achieve have had to be postponed. My friend and fellow Cannonball reviewer Emmalita reviewed this back in December (and has already used one of my favourite lines from the book as her review title and made me very excited to get to this. I've only ever read Ms. Snyder's contemporary romance novella Tikka Chance on Me, so seeing her take on urban fantasy/paranormal romance was interesting and quite different. 

There's a lot to like in this book, including the two main characters. I adored pretty much everything about Neha, including how completely unapologetic she was about was about embracing her desires once she admitted to herself that she fancied the pants off Joe. I could have done with a lot less self pitying, recriminations and angst from Joe (I have never had much patience with the oh woe is me, I'm so dark and unlovable because of my past dudes), but I guess feeling constantly guilty and not worthy of a wonderful lady like Neha is better than being an unapologetic sociopath who's full of himself. 

It's quite clear that as well as the central romance between Neha and Joe, this book is setting up the wider world in which the Third Watch, the secret agency staffed by both humans and paranormals who end up helping our protagonsists on the run. There's a whole host of supporting characters, including an incredibly charming and very scene-stealing vampire, as well as a no nonsense surgeon, both of whom I hope feature in future books. There's a really nice focus on friendship and community thoughout the book and while I have a few niggles about the book as a romance (everything happens VERY fast between Neha and Joe - I would have liked a bit more time for them to get to know each other before declaring eternal love), I loved this as the start of a new paranormal fantasy series full of competence porn, great world building and interesting characters.

As far as I can tell from Ms. Snyder's Twitter, this series will be at least a trilogy. I can't wait to get my hands on more. 

Judging a book by its cover: I absolutely see what the cover designer was trying to do here, but I'm not sure it entirely works.While I totally get that showing that just underneath the surface of our hero lurks a big, dangerous wolf, the actual effect of having two big yellow wolf eyes basically looking out at you from the torso of the muscular and very fit cover model is more distracting than enticing. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR12 Book 64: "Peace Talks" by Jim Butcher

Page count: 352 pages

Audio book length: 12 hrs 52 mins

Rating: 3 stars

Spoiler warning! This is book 16 in a long, ongoing series. This really isn't the place to start. Normally, I'd recommend that you start with book 1, but the first three books of The Dresden Files are pretty bad, so you'd be better off starting with book 4, Summer Knight. I highly recommend the audio books, narrated by James Marsters. They're what finally sold me on the series. 

Official book description:

When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, joins the White Council's security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago--and all he holds dear?

It's been six full years since Butcher published the previous Dresden Files novel, if you don't count the short story collection Brief Cases (and I don't). Unless you're one of the people who still haven't given up on George R.R. Martin or Patrick Rothfuss (which I'm honestly close to doing, just finish the books, guys), that's a very long wait in between installments of an ongoing fantasy series. 

It's certainly long enough that I had to go online and read detailed plot summaries of the last few books in the series because I remembered only the barest hints of what happened in them. This is most definitely not the book you want to pick up if you're a Harry Dresden newbie. 

As the brief book description says, there's going to be a big supernatural peace summit in the middle of Chicago, and Harry Dresden has been selected to be on the White Council's security team, despite the fact that there are clearly a whole bunch of wizards who distrust him and question where his true loyalties lie. Harry doubts that the various parties meeting for the summit can ever find common ground, but he also has bigger worries to deal with, when Thomas Raith is taken down after trying to assassinate the leader of the Svartalves, causing a major supernatural diplomatic incident. Thomas' sister Lara certainly doesn't intend to let her brother be sentenced to death and uses favours owed to her by the Winter Court to get Harry to help her rescue him.

I haven't really looked into why it took Butcher so long to write this book. I know that Peace Talks and Battle Ground (out tomorrow) were originally intended to be one book, that just grew far too big and subsequently was split in two. As a result, this book very much feels like one of the many YA movies they decided to split in two to make more money. There's very few efforts made by Butcher to make this storyline wrap up neatly, and while some things seem a bit more resolved at the end of this book, it's clear that there's a whole lot more coming in the next book, making it impossible for me to rate the book, or even get proper closure to the story.

I listened to the book in audio, because to me, James Marsters is now the voice of The Dresden Files, and it felt very comforting to hear him telling me the story once more. For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me (maybe Butcher just had a weird misogynistic backslide), there's a whole lot more of the rather uncomfortable male gaze that happened all the time in the earliest books in the series. If this isn't explicitly explained to be something that's happening to Harry because he's losing control of his baser urges because of the Winter mantle, I'm going to be pissed. 

I like that Butcher has a number of interesting and different female characters make up part of the supporting cast now, but I really wish we didn't need to feel like Harry is leering at all of them, all the time. I'm a big fan of the further developments between Harry and Murphy and will rage quit the series if something bad (or at least worse than she's already suffered) happens to my girl Karrin. 

It's taken me long enough to get round to this review of a book that came out at the end of July, that the second half, Battle Ground, will be released tomorrow. I hope that the various story strands left dangling come to a slightly more satisfying conclusion, and am very curious to see what Butcher has planned - it sounds like it could have wide-reaching ramifications for the rest of the series.

Judging a book by its cover: These books have very little variety when it comes to cover design. Broody dude with a dark coat, big black hat and a staff, supposed to portray our hero Harry. This cover is even more forgettable than some others earlier in the series, with the cover model crouching down and random debris apparently flying around him. It gives you little to no idea of what the book will be about, except that it's yet another installment in The Dresden Files. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR12 Book 22: "Dark Lover" by J.R. Ward

Page count: 432 pages
Rating: 2 stars

Official description:
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Where do I even begin with this book? J.R. Ward is a big name in the paranormal romance circles. This book came out in 2005. There are now 18 books in the series, which does not seem to be wrapping up any time soon. Am I going to be reading any of the rest of the series, two more of which I own (but thankfully only paid e-book sale prices for)? Unlikely. I knew about Dark Lover long before I bought it, on sale, back in 2014. I enjoy a lot of paranormal fantasy, although the romance sub-genre frequently tends to feature the "fated mate" trope a lot more often than I like. It's not a genre trope I am fond of. I like to believe that the characters I read about have some kind of choice about who they end up with.

I didn't know too many details about the series, except that it's been running for a long time, has a huge amount of devoted fans, and the vampire protagonists all tend to have implausible names, often featuring an unnecessary letter or two (seriously: Rhage, Zsadist, Vishous, Phury, Tohrment, the list goes on). In contrast, Wrath has a perfectly normal spelling to his name, but he does get to be the super-tormented king of the vampires. Wrath is a trademark alphahole hero. He is in fact even referenced in the very entertaining little essay that Ilona Andrews wrote and published on their blog. He's nearly seven feet tall, and built like a tank and is all tortured because his parents were killed while he was hidden away and unable to stop the killers. The only feelings he allows himself are those of brotherhood and fraternity, anything softer is clearly far beyond him.

Elizabeth "Beth" Randall is a journalist who grew up in a series of foster homes. She never knew her parents. She's also half-vampire and her father is blown up in a car bomb by vampire hunters at the start of this book. Vampires and half vampires don't come into their full powers until they're in their early twenties. Beth is clearly going to go through her transition soon, and a letter to Wrath, her father begs him to find her and help her through the change (which could be deadly for her). Initially, Wrath has no interest in this, but loyalty and honour to his dead friend compels him to seek Beth out, and once he sees her, it's pretty much inevitable where things will be going.

Beth, who starts the book narrowly escaping sexual assault, has never really been interested in any guy, even though they seem to be throwing themselves at her, left and right. One of her potential suitors is a cop named Butch, who beats up the arrested suspect in her assault case. However, once Beth meets Wrath, it becomes clear that she has a thing for tall, muscular, brooding dudes with rage and commitment issues.

Vampires in this world only really survive by feeding on other vampires. In a very heteronormative twist, men seem to have to feed on women, and vice versa. Hence, Wrath has a mournful lady vampire who he feeds from but refuses to in any way treat with respect. Since he's the king of the vampires, she's bound to him and can't go elsewhere and is generally pretty miserable. She's initially a bit upset, then very relieved, once Wrath sets his sights on Beth and she goes through her transition. Sad lady vampire never did anything to stir Wrath's desires, but between him and Beth things are very different.

There's a lot of world-building here, much of which is really annoyingly old-fashioned. This world does not seem to be very progressive or feminist. Vampires are a separate race from humans, but can clearly mate and create offspring with them. As I mentioned before, the vampires come into their full powers in their early twenties. Not everyone survives the transition. There's a secret society of vampire hunters, who all seem to be incels, trying to kill all the vampires. They are controlled by a being called the Omega, and have to sacrifice their hearts and humanity (literally) to their cause. Based on the representatives we see in this book, the vampire hunters are really not much of a threat, unless they're deploying car bombs.

This is a fun enough, but really rather dumb book. Other people have reviewed it WAY better than I have. See, for instance Navessa's review on Goodreads or romance author Alexis Hall's review over on Dear Author. While 18 books and counting might at one point have been appealing to me, now it's a strong deterrent, and the official book descriptions of most of the sequels had me rolling my eyes so hard it hurt. I really don't see myself spending more time reading about Ward's alphahole heroes and the women and/or men that fall for them.

Judging a book by its cover: This cover couldn't belong to any genre but paranormal romance, really and one featuring vampires at that. Bladed weaponry - check. Neck biting pose - check. Tattoos - check. And just in case you hadn't already figured out that it was about vampires, the cover is nice and bright red. At least you're unlikely to think this is a chick-lit book about a twenty-something single woman in the big city (although our heroine fits all those descriptors as well).

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR12 Book 1: "Archangel's Viper" by Nalini Singh

Page count: 367 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars

This is book 10 in an ongoing series, so really not the place to start. The first book in the series is Angels' Blood. This review will contain some spoilers for that book.

Holly Chang, who for a while renamed herself Sorrow, was the only survivor of the terrible carnage perpetrated when the archangel Uram went crazy and kidnapped her and all her friends and proceeded to torture and kill most of them. He forced Holly not only to drink his blood, but to watch the atrocities he visited on her friends. The archangel of New York, Raphael, challenge and defeated Uram in a battle above New York, his consort Elena becoming an angel in the process. Elena, a former Guild Hunter, also found and rescued Holly, who was forever changed by her ordeal, not just emotionally, but physically.

Not really a vampire, but certainly not entirely human either, Holly now has lightning reflexes, small fangs, can paralyse her victims with extremely potent venom and while she enjoys and still consumes human food, she also has to drink blood to not lose control. While she's worked to process her traumas, reconnected with her family and is working with the Tower to help the less fortunate in society (so she can feel useful, and the Tower can make sure she doesn't lose control, Holly still feels like she's being kept on too tight a leash, while also being terrified of the changes she's still experiencing inside. She doesn't dare tell anyone of the strange voice that seems to be speaking to her, for fear that she will be deemed crazy and put down for the safety of everyone.

The only other individual working for the Tower with any understanding of venomous toxins and bloodlust is Venom, one of Raphael's Seven, the ones closest to him and most trusted. Turned into a vampire in India by the archangel Neha after she discovered he seemed to be immune to snake venom, Venom is a wholly unique creature, a vampire with snake eyes, whose saliva is also highly venomous. Interestingly, the Tower scientists have concluded that Holly and Venom's toxins cancel each other out. While they are both extremely dangerous to most others, they are immune to one another. Hence Venom has been given special responsibility in Holly's training, and adores frustrating and teasing her every chance he gets. For the past few years, their weekly lessons have been by phone, but now Venom is back in New York.

While Holly finds Venom extremely annoying, she cannot deny that he, like all of Raphael's Seven, is also gorgeous and very attractive. If she's being totally honest with herself, he also seems like the only one who doesn't treat her like a victim or some volatile thing about to explode and that he does seem to have useful things to teach her. Venom and Holly have to spend a lot more time in each others' company once it becomes clear that someone has put a five million dollar bounty on Holly's head. She's to be taken alive, and it seems very likely that the reason she's to be abducted is because someone wants to to figure out exactly what surviving Uram did to change her physically. Venom is assigned as her bodyguard, and the two work together to find out who's hunting her.

During their search, it's clear that whatever alien thing is within Holly is trying to manifest in some way. She starts having acid green lines glowing on her chest, and the voice inside her is becoming more insistent. Holly has no choice but to confide in Venom and Dimitri, the head of Raphael's Seven, and they need to figure out if she's going to be overtaken by whatever bloodlust drove Uram crazy.

I finished this at around 2.30 am on January 1st 2020, meaning I can count it both as my last book of 2019 (anything finished before sleep belongs to the day before - them's the rules), but also don't feel too bad about reviewing it as my first entry in Cannonball 12. Based on what a scramble it was for me to reach the double in the final days of December, I'm not going to have the luxury to skip reviewing anything I read this year (I'm aiming for a single Cannonball, but hoping for a double).

The Guild Hunter books started out focusing on Elena Devereaux, a smart and fierce warrior who through extremely unusual circumstances became an angel (believed to be impossible) and fell in love with the archangel Raphael. Some of the books in the series focus on her and Raphael and the wider changes going on in the world and the complicated politics between the archangels. Other books in the series, such as Archangel's Blade, Archangel's Storm and Archangel's Enigma focus more one particular member of Raphael's Seven, and how they end up with the love of their life. There is also Archangel's Shadows, about Elena's fellow hunter Ashwini and how she gets her man. The quality of the various instalment vary, and how interested you are in the protagonists in question absolutely play into how effective the books end up being.

In the case of Holly and Venom, the romance very much takes the backseat to the twin mysteries of what exactly is happening to Holly and what the changes she's going through will mean, and figuring out who wants to kidnap her and why. Venom always seemed overly arrogant and smug to me, and as I find snakes kind of unnerving, he wasn't exactly one of the supporting characters that appealed to me all that much. Holly has appeared as a supporting characters in a few of the books, as she works through her horrible trauma and tires to reclaim her life.

Venom insists on calling her "Kitty", "Kitten" or "Hollyberry", all to get a rise out of her. Even when Holly repeatedly asks him not to, he keeps up this "fun" game, which got really tiresome to me. Good-natured ribbing is one thing, but continuing with patronising nicknames despite the express wishes of the other person in question is akin to bullying and a d*ck move. I seriously think he calls her by her actual name exactly once in the entire book. Another frustrated book reviewer on Goodreads claims that he calls her variations on kitty/kitten over ninety times over the course of the book. The really bad thing is that a few of the other supporting characters do it too, and he has the gall to be annoyed, because that's HIS thing. Urgh

For enemies to lovers to work, I need to be convinced that the initial antagonism and dislike stems in part from repressed feelings, which I really didn't get here. Venom seems to consider Holly more as a child than a grown woman in the early chapters, although he keeps having to re-check his assumptions. Holly finds Venom a pain in the ass, and considering the way he keeps patronising her and ignoring her wishes, that's not really surprising. Once Venom notices that Holly seems terrified of really using her new abilities, he starts pushing her and showing her that repressing will probably be more harmful in the long run than exploring her them in a controlled environment.

One of the things I really did like with the book was Holly's interactions with her family, who love her profusely no matter how different she is now, as well as with her new found family at the Tower. Venom's flashbacks back to his own family and how he ended up being turned into a vampire were also interesting, and I would have liked him a lot more if Singh hadn't insisted on him keeping up the "kitty"-thing throughout.

The next two books in the series (I'm really quite a ways behind, I used to read one of these a year) both seem to focus more on the bigger picture and Raphael and Elena again. I should probably get round to reading those at some point.

Judging a book by a cover: Oh heavens, does the cover model they've gotten to portray Venom look smug and self-satisfied and douchy on this. Which to be fair, seems pretty in character. I think the only think they should possibly have changed is the style of sunglasses, these don't really look like the wrap-around ones that Venom keeps being described as wearing.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 86: "Midnight Crossroad" by Charlaine Harris

Page count: 320 pages
Audio book length: 9 hrs 26 mins

Official book description:
Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.

There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).

Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...

I really have read a LOT of Charlaine Harris' books. For my sins, I managed to force myself through the entirety of her Sookie Stackhouse series, just to see how it would end, long after I derived any enjoyment from them anymore. I've read her Lily Bard books, where apparently the character Bobo Whinthrop originates (I don't remember him, or much of the plot of the books at all). I have also read all of her Harper Connolly books, where Manfred Bernardo first appears (I vaguely remember him, but nothing of consequence). Generally, I find Harris' books perfectly entertaining while I'm reading them (except some of the later Sookie books, that pretty much just annoyed me), but shortly after reading them, I remember little to nothing of the plots.

Midnight Crossroad, which was adapted into the TV series Midnight, Texas on NBC (cancelled after two seasons) features a bunch of peculiar individuals living in the little town of Midnight in, you guessed it, Texas. Manfred Bernardo, a genuine psychic who makes his living telling fortunes over the phone and internet, moves there after the death of his grandmother. His new landlord is Bobo Winthrop, owner of the local pawnshop. One of Bobo's other tenants is a vampire, who lives with a gorgeous, but apparently very dangerous woman who travels a lot. There's Fiji Kavanaugh, who is a very powerful witch, but hides her actual powers by running a magic shop full of nick knacks. She has a talking cat. There's a nice gay couple, the rather strange reverend who gives non-denominational services at the local chapel (and conducts a lot of pet funerals), and Manfred falls pretty hard for Creek Lovell, the beautiful young woman whose overprotective father runs the gas station.

Harris' books always have a mystery element to them, as well. In this book, there's a group of neo nazis trying to harass Bobo, because they believe he knows the location of his crazy grandfather's legendary weapons arsenal. There's also a dead body found about a third of the way through the story, which turns out to belong to Bobo's ex-girlfriend, who he believed got sick of him and just up and left him one day. No one really believes that Bobo is guilty of murdering her, but it still takes quite a lot of time to figure out the guilty party.

As well as having been on my TBR list for years and years, this book fit into my Monthly Keyword Challenge in October. I listened to it on audiobook and it was perfectly fine, but really nothing more than that. Now, a month and a half later, I am hard pressed to remember any particular details - although I really did like Fiji's cat a lot - and the lisping way the narrator voiced him. My records show that over the years, I've acquired the entire series in various e-book sales, so I will most likely read the second two books eventually, as well, but I'm in no particular hurry to do so.

Judging a book by its cover: As with a lot of books, this one comes with several different versions of cover art. I think I like this one, with it's weird, crooked bird's eye view (which gives me a headache if I look at it for too long) of parts of the little town is my least favourite. Still, I own it in e-book, so it's not like I'll actually look at the cover a lot. I suspect Harris could sell books no matter what the cover art actually looks like.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

#CBR11 Book 75: "Wayward Son" by Rainbow Rowell

Page count: 416 pages
Audio book length: 8 hrs 57 mins
Rating: 4.5 stars

Spoiler warning! This is the second book in a series, and this review will contain spoilers for the first book, Carry On. If you haven't already read it, you should do yourself a favour and do so.

Simon Snow was the Chosen One, destined to bring an end to the threat to all magic. Of course, it turned out that he himself was in fact the thing that was threatening the magic in the first place, and his mentor/father figure (and actual biological father, although none of the characters in the story ever found out that part, only the readers did), the Mage, died in the process. As did Ebb, one of Simon's only true friends. Saving the world also meant Simon losing all his previously unlimited reserves of magic, so now he's just a normal human, albeit one with big red wings and a devil's tail. Dealing with the aftermath of saving the world is not going well for Simon. He spends most of his days on the couch, drinking cider and not really engaging with his boyfriend Baz or Penelope, his best friend and flatmate. He's not entirely sure why they bother with him anymore, considering how powerless and useless he is right now.

Basilton "Baz" Pitch spent most of his time growing up loving his roommate Simon in secret, hiding the fact that he was a vampire and mentally preparing to probably have to face Simon in some cataclysmic battle. Instead, he and Simon became boyfriends and he helped Simon stop the Mage. Unfortunately, Simon no longer seems to want to talk to Baz, or even be touched by him. He's clearly pulling away and in serious need of help in some way, but Baz really doesn't have the faintest idea how to help.

Penelope Bunce was so relieved when she, Simon and Baz managed to save the world without any major casualties (except poor Ebb, of course, and the Mage, but he was the villain, so he probably deserved to die). She couldn't really face going back to Watford for her final semester, but nevertheless graduated with top marks, and is really enjoying her time at University. It's a terrible shame that Agatha, Simon's ex-girlfriend and Penelope's sort-of friend, abandoned her wand and swore off magic and moved all the way to California, where she now pretty much refuses to answer Penny's calls or texts. Penelope also can't help but observe how miserable both Simon and Baz are, and desperate measures are clearly required to snap everyone out of their funk. She breaks multiple laws of magic to secure them tickets to the USA, and even magically forges a passport for Simon.

Agatha Wellbelove did indeed travel about as far away from Britain and her former life as she was able. Now she's enjoying her time as a college student in San Diego and trying to forget all the times she was kidnapped and/or threatened as a result of being Simon's girlfriend. She wishes Penelope would just take the hint and just leave her alone. Agatha's managing fine without magic, and has human friends now, like Ginger. It's not even like Agatha will be home when Penelope and the others are planning to visit, she's going with Ginger to some exclusive corporate retreat in the desert, along with Ginger's tech mogul boyfriend Josh. There will be yoga, and vegan cupcakes and all manner of chances of 'levelling up'. Agatha is doing just fine, she doesn't need any ties to her old life.

Penelope's plan is that they go visit Agatha, to ensure that she is actually doing as well as she claims she is. They'll start their journey in Chicago, so Penelope can catch up with Micah, her long distance boyfriend of many years. Of course, everything starts off badly (Micah has in fact tried to break up with Penelope for ages, and even has a new girlfriend already) and just keeps getting worse. Our three young wizards (as Penelope says, Simon is still a wizard even if he can't do magic anymore, just like an air plane doesn't stop being a plane just because it's on the ground) have absolutely no idea how magic really works in the USA, they don't really have a lot of money, and they are completely unprepared for just how vast the country is. All three of them are shocked to discover just how long the trip from Chicago to San Diego will be, although Simon is excited about the road trip.

They slay vampires at a Renaissance Faire, they get cornered by mysterious supernatural creatures with big guns in a magical dead spot, they have a rather tense run-in with an actual honest to God-dragon and discover that Penelope may have been right about Agatha, she really IS in trouble. Our intrepid trio also Shepard, a human with an all-consuming curiosity about magic and magical creatures of all kinds. He's not as easy to ditch as they were hoping, and comes to be an invaluable ally to them. Will he be able to get them to Agatha before it's too late, and she's turned into a vampire by corporate tech-vamps?

Carry On was my favourite book of 2015, and remains (with heavy competition) my favourite of Rainbow Rowell's novels. So Wayward Son is by far my most anticipated book release of 2019. Since it came out in September, I have now read it once in e-book, and re-listened to it in audio format (Euan Morton's interpretation of the various characters is now how I hear the voices in my head). When I greedily started devouring it, I had no idea that the book isn't just a long-anticipated sequel (four years is a long time), but in fact a bridging book, the second part in a planned trilogy. The book starts with an epilogue, and ends with a prologue. This made me very hopeful, and only a few days after the book's official release, Rowell announced the title of the third (and probably final book, Any Way the Wind Blows). Re-reading the book, knowing that this story isn't meant to be the end point for Simon, Baz, Penelope, Agatha and now also Shepard means that a lot of the questions and misgivings I had about the pacing and plot of Wayward Son were put to rest.

With Carry On, Rainbow Rowell wrote her own very clever take on the Chosen One story. Of course, we rarely, if ever, find out what happens to the Chosen One, and his allies and sidekicks afterwards. I can't really think of any other author who has explored the aftermath of surviving the big, cataclysmic events at the end of such a story, and what it would do to the characters left standing. So much of this book is exploring PTSD, and depression, uncertainty and fear. Anyone who was hoping for sunshine and kittens and Baz and Simon living happily ever after will have been disappointed.

While it was exciting and romantic and lovely that Simon and Baz got together during Carry On, there is no denying that their history prior to suddenly kissing and holding hands was a very fraught one. They believed themselves to be destined enemies, and even ignoring that, the sort of trauma Simon was put through throughout his childhood had to cause damage, even before he was forced to confront the fact that the only father figure he'd ever known was evil and had in fact murdered several people to get into and maintain power. As Baz observes at one point during Wayward Son, Simon is a warrior, a blunt instrument. He was never allowed to be anything else, trained by the Mage to fight and kill any threat. Simon was never particularly intellectual, but he didn't need to be, because he was so tremendously powerful, with inexhaustible magical reserves.

Simon never needed to really fear injury or death when facing off against terrible creatures, because his magic always allowed him to pull through. Of course, he discovered that he never ran out because he was literally sucking the magic out of everything around himself, and that would obviously have to stop. Simon Snow has completed the task he was chosen to do, now he has no magic anymore, no purpose and absolutely no idea what he's going to do with himself for the rest of his life. Now he feels like a burden, and is constantly reminded of what he's lost, because Baz and Penelope are both such powerful and effortless magicians.

Baz was only spoken of, but didn't appear until a full third into Carry On. He's by far my favourite character (Rainbow Rowell doesn't really hide the fact that he's her favourite too) and steals pretty much every scene he's in once he actually shows up, having escaped a kidnapping.  In Wayward Son, not only do we get him for the whole of the book, he is probably even more of a protagonist than Simon is. Baz is that incredible and forbidden thing, a vampire who can do magic. The mages of Britain hate vampires and hunt them down. In the USA, Baz discovers that not only do the wizards really mainly keep to themselves, in parts of the country, vampires pretty much rule whole cities. Having been bitten and turned as a child, Baz has always had to hide who he is, and feared and loathed the part of himself that needs to drink blood to stay alive. He only ever drinks animal blood, and he always kills the animal, terrified he may accidentally turn the animal otherwise. He comes to discover that he knows very little about what being a vampire actually means, and that in America, the furtive way he's been forced into hiding his true self may not be necessary.

My fellow Cannonballer, Jen K, found Penelope especially insufferable and annoying in this book. I can see where she's coming from, but I disagree. Penelope, even in Carry On, was always a bit self centred and oblivious to the true state of affairs. It takes her the longest time to actually catch on to the fact that Simon and Baz' relationship has changed and she has truly staggering capacities for denial if there is something unpleasant she doesn't want to face up to. She refuses to stop contacting Agatha, despite all hints and signs suggesting that Agatha has no wish to maintain a friendship. She impulsively decides they all need to go to the USA for a change of pace, breaking any number of magical laws to do so (despite the fact that her mother is the current head of the Coven and would be beyond appalled if she discovered what her daughter had done).

Penelope has been used to being the brains to Simon's brawn and thanks to a lot of luck and Simon's magical powers, they clearly got through a lot more scrapes than they should have. In America, she is completely adrift, with nothing working out the way she has planned and society functioning in entirely different ways to what she's used to. While she tries for the longest time to avoid it, Penelope needs to take a good hard look at who she is and take steps to change, because the person she was makes terrible decisions and ignores the well being of others. She needs to stop being selfish and so blindingly sure of her own rightness, and start listening more to those around her.

I very much liked the introduction of Shepard, the "normal" who thanks to kindness, politeness and a healthy curiosity has discovered all manner of magical secrets. Through him, it becomes obvious just how arrogant, prejudiced and unaware of their own privilege the British magicians are. Seeing Simon, Baz and Penelope through his eyes was fun, and he's quite obviously being set up as a new, better love interest for Penelope. She took Micah entirely for granted and has hopefully learned that she needs to be a bit more present in a relationship to actually make it work. There are a lot of loose threads surrounding Shepard, but I have no doubt they will be tied off nicely in book 3.

In Carry On, Midwestern Rowell takes on the UK and boarding schools and does a truly excellent job at writing characters that feel properly British, complete with class differences, snobbery and the like. In Wayward Son, she gets to expand her world building and show how the magical system she has created works in a large, decentralised country like America. Baz' list of things he hates about road tripping through the Midwest is comedy gold, and I really liked the idea of magical dead zones in places too far away from humans for magic to work.

Discovering that of course all the other magic-possessing creatures and beasties don't much like the "speakers", as the magicians are known, because of their arrogance and their belief that their control over and ability to do magic is the only one that really counts. Getting to read about the various different attitudes of vampires, and how sheltered poor Baz has been. Penelope seems shocked that Shepard knows so much about magic and the supernatural, and that there are internet message boards discussing these things. Wizards and magical abilities are topics that should be totally secret, she cannot imagine that normal humans might be fascinated by it and want to learn more.

This book is a lot shorter than Carry On, but also moves at a much quicker pace, since it doesn't need to spend as long setting the stage as the first book. Jen K complains that the ending is rushed, and I agree with her, but I still liked that against staggering odds, mostly disillusioned and deprived of their magic, our intrepid heroes still banded together and did their best to rescue their friend, even knowing they might all die in the attempt. I can't wait to see what the third book holds, and desperately hope that having set her various characters on a path of self discovery and gradual healing, we get a more hopeful tone as the series wraps up. This turned out to be a very different book than I was expecting, but since it turns out that there's more Baz, Simon, Penelope, Agatha and Shepard in my future, I'm happy.

Judging a book by its cover: This book has been released with a huge variety of alternate covers, depending on which country it's coming out in, or what book store is selling it. All of the covers feature amazing artwork by the very talented Kevin Wada, and I absolutely love both Simon and Baz' looks here. My only complaint is that the little car at the bottom doesn't seem to contain Penelope, although I suppose the scene could be from when she was lying down in the back seat of the car, all depressed and gloomy.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 53: "Sweep of the Blade" by Ilona Andrews

Page count: 320 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This book, which was originally intended as a novella, is book 4 in the Innkeeper Chronicles. While it's not necessary to have read the entire series to fully appreciate this book, it might be helpful to at least have read book three, One Fell Sweep, where Maud and Arland meet for the first time.

Official book description:
Maud Demille is a daughter of Innkeepers—a special group who provide ‘lodging’ to other-planetary visitors—so she knows that a simple life isn't in the cards. But even Maud could never have anticipated what Fate would throw at her.

Once a wife to a powerful vampire knight, Maud and her young daughter, Helen, were exiled with him for his treachery to the desolate, savage planet of Karhari. Karhari killed her husband, and Maud—completely abandoned by his family—has spent over a year avenging his debts. Rescued by her sister Dina, she's sworn off all things vampire.

Except... In helping Dina save the world, she met Arland, the Marshal of House Krahr, one of the most powerful vampire houses. One thing led to another and he asked for her hand in marriage. She declined. Arland is not used to hearing the word ‘no;’ and try as she might, Maud can't just walk away from Arland. It doesn't help that being human is a lot harder for Maud than being a vampire.

To sort it all out, she accepts his invitation to visit his home planet. House Krahr is extremely influential and Maud knows that a woman—a human, with a very questionable past—who's turned down a proposal from its most beloved son won't get a warm reception. Maybe she’s not sure about marrying Arland, but House Krahr isn’t going to decide for her. Maud Demille has never run from a fight, and House Krahr will soon discover that there's a lot more to Maud than they’re expecting. 

As with all the other Innkeeper Chronicles books, this started as a free online serial on Ilona Andrews' website. The authors had intended it to be a bonus novella, but it clearly took on a life of its own and by the time they had finished it, it had become a short novel. With the published book, they have added a prologue showing the readers some of Maud's time on Karhari, and also how she reacted to the potentially world-ending threat that Arland risked his life to twart in the conclusion to One Fell Sweep. To some, it may feel like an unneccessary retread, as it repeats scenes from the previous book - but all of those were told from Dina, Maud's sister's POV, and as someone who doesn't exactly have photographic recall of all the books I read, it was nice to have my memory refreshed (with some pretty kick-ass action sequences, as well).

I feel like with every new Ilona Andrews review I write, I gush and go on about what amazing writers they are and how I am literally willing to hand them my money for absolutely everything they write (sometimes in multiple formats). Yet it's so incredibly comforting to know that with each new release, I'm going to get something that makes me laugh, makes my heart race, makes me excited and sometimes genuinely touched. I love their dialogue and the family dynamics they always manage to create, even though the families they portray in their various books and series often are wildly different. The children in their stories feel real, never like annoying plot moppets. Helen, Maud's precocious half-vampire daughter, is a delight.

Maud has had a very difficult time of it, and to say that she's been burned in her previous relationship is an understatement. Her husband royally f*cked up, and Maud and her daughter paid the price for that. The space vampire clans in these books value strength and martial prowess, and while Maud may be human, she became extremely adept at killing and defending herself and her child while exiled on Karhari. She swore off all things vampire, yet can't help but fall for Arland, who is everything her first husband could only dream of becoming. Maud and Helen were abandoned entirely by her first husband's family, and left to die in an uncivilised back water of the universe. The things Maud had to do to keep them alive haunts her. She cannot risk that happening again. So she knows it would be better if she outright rejected Arland, but he also makes her feel good and safe for the first time in years, and is clearly a much better man than the weasel she used to be married to.

With the exception of Arland's uncle, who has met Maud and seen how perfect she is for him, most of Arland's family are extremely hostile to the idea that he's bringing a human girlfriend home for a big wedding celebration, a woman who had the temerity to say no to his proposal. They're convinced she's some sort of scheming gold digger, and also, because she's human, that she must be weak and/or very stupid. Arland is convinced that if his family just gets to meet Maud and Helen, they'll be as crazy about them as he is. He loves and wants Maud, he understands her reluctance and the reasons for her misgivings, but he wants to be with her any way he can, and will therefore patiently wait until she is ready to accept him. While he is the military leader for his entire vampire clan and the beloved son and heir to an ancient and prestigious family, he's also found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and any ultimatums issued by his mother or other member of his family will not go in their favour.

House Krahr is having to host a wedding between two formerly feuding families. There's clearly something fishy going on, but it's difficult to find out exactly what without offering mortal offence to one or both parties. Arland knows that pretty much all the vampires will be underestimating Maud, yet eager to prove themselves better than her and constantly trying to provoke her. So she is his best weapon to finding out what is going on in a timely manner.

I love that Arland is a big, strong alpha hero who can take on a horde of armed combatants single-handedly, and who is also entirely devoted to Maud, loving her perseverance, intelligence, strength and love for her family, on top of the physical attraction he clearly feels for her. He respects and defers to her wishes, but is also willing to completely sever ties with his own family if they don't welcome Maud and Helen properly. He understands that Maud will have to prove herself, both in a fight and by showing just how intelligent she is, but he never doubts for a second that she will succeed in this.

It sounds like Ilona Andrews will be busy with other writing commitments in the next year, so I'm not sure when the next instalment of The Innkeeper Chronicles will see the light of day. Since they tantalisingly hinted that Dina and Maud's previously missing brother Klaus has just turned up, I really hope they get round to writing more eventually, but as these bonus stories are already a generous gift, I will be happy if these four books end up being what we get, as well.

Judging a book by its cover: See, as Ilona Andrews covers go, this isn't a complete eyesore, probably because they self-publish these books and therefore commission the cover art themselves. Maud looks pretty bad-ass, but I don't think the armour looks tough or durable enough (especially compared to the way it's described in the book) enough, she just looks like she's wearing a weirdly patterned body suit. Also not sure why there appears to be flaming meteorites raining down around her, that is not something that happens at any point in Maud's story.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 13: "Skinwalker" by Faith Hunter

Page count: 320 pages
Audio book length: 14 hrs 29 min
Rating: 3.5 stars

Jane Yellowrock is, as far as she's aware, the very last of her kind. She's a skinwalker of Cherokee descent and has never encountered anyone with the same powers as her. She makes a living hunting vampires, but finds herself in the unusual position of working for the vampire council in New Orleans, to track down a rogue vampire. Jane has ten days to locate the creature if she wants to get the exclusive bounty, but there are other individuals in the city who seem to be on the same mission. As her hunt intensifies, it seems as if the vampire doesn't just feed on humans, but other vampires, and has the ability to change it's scent - which just shouldn't be possible.

In my experience, it's a rare paranormal/urban fantasy series that has the perfect first book and just hooks you in right away. Most series tend to take at least a book or two (or until book 4, in the case of The Dresden Files) to really get good. Even my beloved co-writing team Ilona Andrews doesn't hit it right out of the park with their Kate Daniels books (but in later series, they had me hooked right from the start). Faith Hunter is a new author for me, but considering there are currently 12 full novels in this series, as well as a number of novellas, I'm guessing she's doing ok for herself and the books are popular enough to justify the extended series length.

While our kick ass heroine, Jane, projects a pretty serious loner vibe to everyone she meets in New Orleans, it's clear that she has a found family that she adores and misses. In the universe Faith Hunter has created, there are vampires and witches, but she hints at the existence of other paranormal entities like were-creatures and possibly fairies as well, plus there is Jane's possibly unique ability as a skinwalker (call me cynical, but I'm willing to bet that somewhere down the line of the series, Jane is going to discover that she's not as alone as she believes herself to be and that her heritage is more complicated than she realised - that's just storytelling 101 in a series like this). Jane's best friend is a witch, who has at least one plot moppet daughter who is apparently off the scale powerful (I did not enjoy the lisping way the narrator voiced the child AT ALL).

There are a bunch of vampire clans in New Orleans, and because they're paying her bills, Jane forces herself to set aside her aversion to them. Like most paranormal heroines on a mission, she doesn't exactly exude charm and make friends whereever she turns up. Jane manages to piss off several high ranking vampires, as well as members of the city's police force while she snoops around and unearths secrets. While there are some guys that Jane clearly finds attractive introduced over the course of the novel, no clear love interest has presented itself, which I like. Romance doesn't have to be a leading subplot for these books to work, and I would rather that the author take a bit longer to establish the world and her main character before introducing potential love interests into the mix.

This book entertained me enough that I will probably check out more in the future. With several of my long-running paranormal series completed in the last few years, I'm on the look-out for new examples of the genre. I didn't hate how Khristine Hvam narrated the book, but didn't love it either, so may read the next ones myself, rather than get them in audio.

Judging a book by its cover: While the cover model portraying our heroine no  doubt looks pretty bad ass, I'm not sure whose marketing decision it was to do the cover pretty much exclusively in shades of black and brown. It brings to mind smudging and dirt, and I'm not a huge fan. It's could also only be a more stereotypically paranormal/urban fantasy cover if the cover model was wielding a crossbow rather than shotgun.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.