#CBR11 Book 88: "Wolfsong" by T.J. Klune

Page count: 400 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Official book description:
Ox was twelve when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.

Ox was sixteen when he met the boy on the road. The little boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the little boy hadn’t spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the little boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.

Ox was seventeen when he found out the little boy’s secret and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet, of Alpha and Beta and Omega.

Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his bloodred eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.

It’s been three years since that fateful day—and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.

Ox' father is an alcoholic and a complete waste of space, who leaves his wife and son and manages to leave his son with some serious emotional scars that take him a very long time to heal from. Luckily, his mother is amazing, supportive, hard-working and kind and does her very best to counteract her husband's poison. Also helping to build Ox up and make him feel loved and valued, is Gordo, the owner of the garage where Ox starts helping out and later working part-time, to help his mother with the bills. Gordo, as well as the three other guys who work there pretty much become Ox' found family.

When Ox is sixteen, his life changes as the big house next door to the little cottage where he and his mother live suddenly have residents again. The large Bennett family, husband, wife, uncle, three sons, including the extremely energetic, talkative and exuberant Joe, the baby of the family. Joe pretty much idolises Ox from the very first moment he sees him, and Ox is shocked to discover that while the kid simply wouldn't shut up when they first met, that was the first time he spoke in two years. Having been abducted and tortured by a very sadistic and cruel man, trying to influence Joe's parents, the child is traumatised in a number of ways, and habitually plagued with nightmares. Meeting Ox seems to start bringing him out of his shell, and from their first meeting, there's a special connection between the sixteen- and the eleven-year-old.

As a result of the connection between Joe and Ox, the Bennetts pretty much adopt Ox as one of their own. The two older brothers go to high school with him, and Ox finds he is no longer the sad loner, but part of a tight knit group, suddenly getting positive female attention because he keeps company with the handsome Bennett boys. Gordo knows the Bennetts from before (they used to live in the big house, but moved away) and keeps warning Ox to stay away. He, however, refuses to listen.

When he turns seventeen, Ox discovers why Gordo is so hostile to the Bennetts. They are all werewolves, while Gordo is a witch, whose family used to have ties to the family, until his father betrayed Joe's grandfather, and went off with the psycho werewolf who eventually kidnapped and tortured Joe. Gordo and Mark, the Bennett boys' uncle, have a romantic past that they're now both studiously ignoring.

As Ox grows older and more confident, he comes to realise that he's most likely bisexual. No matter who he seems to flirt with, Joe gets furiously jealous. When Ox turns 23, and Joe is close to 18, Ox is shocked to discover that the person he really fancies is the kid who used to follow him around like a puppy. He's extremely uncomfortable, while the entire Bennett pack, who have seen it coming for years, are highly amused that it's taken him so long to catch on. Joe is going to be the next alpha of the pack, and while it's unusual that an alpha have a human, non-shifter mate, the entire family love Ox and already accept him as part of the family.

Sadly, before Ox and Joe have a chance to really explore their changed, much more sexually charged relationship, tragedy strikes, and Ox is left behind to grieve and try to pick up the pieces of the Bennett pack when Joe takes his brothers and Gordo and runs off to get revenge on the psycho who has haunted him for most of his life.

It takes three years for Joe and his revenge posse to return, and in that time, Ox has taken on responsibilities he never thought he'd have to face, mainly because he had no choice. Impossible though it should be, Ox is now an alpha in his own right, even though he is still human. His pack includes both wolves and other humans, who all support each other and defend their little town from any rogue shifters who try to come to challenge them. Can Joe and Ox heal the bond they had, which was torn apart by grief, pain and anger? Will they be able to protect their pack and their town from the dangers following close on Joe's heels, or are they doomed?

I wanted to like the romance between Joe and Ox, but felt a bit uncomfortable because a) Joe is a child and Ox is a teenager when they first meet, and b) the whole fated mate aspect is one I've never been a huge an of. Also c), Joe does the whole "I have to leave you to keep you safe" and runs off and abandons Ox for more than THREE years, right after Ox has already suffered two absolutely crushing losses and is reeling from grief. I get that the kid wants revenge, but it's still a super shitty thing to do. Ox is amazing and a big cinnamon bun and I honestly think he deserves better than Joe, even after he comes back, all tough and manly and eventually apologises. He does not grovel enough, is all I'm saying. I might have been more forgiving of Joe if the entire book hadn't been from Ox' POV. If I had more insight into Joe's actual thoughts and emotions, I may have taken his side a bit more.

What I did like was the different take on werewolves that this book presented, and also the bond between wolf packs and witches (can be both genders). Not all of that was as fully explored in this book as I would have liked, and I'm hoping to find out more in Gordo's book (one of the sequels).

While I thought the villain was far too moustache-twirly and psychotically evil, without really any good nuance, the supporting characters were all absolutely amazing and I loved each and every one of them. They are a large reason why I will absolutely be reading the follow-up novels to this, as I want to spend more time with all of them.

Judging a book by its cover: I kind of like the simplicity of this cover. The black background with the pale paw prints as a contrast. It's not fancy or elaborate, but it doesn't need to be. The orange of the title draws the eye in.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 87: "Angel in a Devil's Arms" by Julie Anne Long

Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Official book description:
He has devil's blood in his veins. At least, that's always been the legend. How else could the Duke of Brexford's notorious bastard son return from the dead? The brutal decade since Lucien Durand, Lord Bolt, allegedly drowned in the Thames forged him into a man who always gets what—and who—he wants. And what he wants is vengeance for his stolen birthright...and one wild night in Angelique Breedlove's bed.

Angelique recognizes heartbreak when the enigmatic Lord Bolt walks into The Grand Palace on the Thames, and not even his devastating charm can tempt her to risk her own ever again. One scorching kiss drives home the danger.

But in the space between them springs a trust that feels anything but safe. And the passion—explosive, consuming—drives Lucien to his knees. Now his whole life depends on proving his love to a woman who doesn't believe in it...because his true birthright, he now knows, is guardian of Angelique Breedlove's heart.

This is the second book in Julie Anne Long's return to historical romances, her The Palace of Rogues series. While this book works perfectly fine on its own, it follows on pretty much directly from the first, Lady Derring Takes a Lover, which is also very worth reading. In a year when there really haven't been many romances that impressed me much, the fact that Long has written two is both remarkable and encouraging.

While Angelique Breedlove was quite the fallen woman before she entered into a partnership with the widow of her recently deceased lover, at the start of this book, she has a home, a business she's proud of, friends and a lovely found family. Delilah, the former Lady Derring, who should probably have hated her for being her husband's mistress, is instead her best friend and staunchest supporter. Captain Tristan Hardy, the naval hero who swept Delilah off her feet in the previous book, is a trusted friend. The ladies' boarding house, the Palace on the Thames seems to be doing well enough that the ladies are even thinking of expanding, hoping to buy the property next door.

So it's rather a surprise when the mysterious man who's been paying them to keep their nicest suite of rooms available shows up, with proof that he's in fact the scandalous Lord Bolt, who possesses a marquess' title, despite being the illegitimate eldest son of the Duke of Brexford. Everyone believed him to be dead, but instead he's been off making himself frightfully wealthy in the far East. Now he's back, bent on revenge on the people who had him set upon in the night, stabbed and pushed in the icy Thames. He believes the mastermind behind the plot against him is his own stepmother, the Duchess of Brexford (not a popular person in the Palace on the Thames after trying to steal their cook on more than one occasion) and he's determined to make it uncomfortable for the guilty parties by showing London that he's back, he's very much alive, and he's just as scandalous as ever.

Of course, while Angelique finds him extremely attractive, she has no wish to involve herself with a scandalous rake, no matter how handsome and wealthy he might be. She's had her share of drama, and now wants to live comfortably, happily unnoticed by the ton, securing the boarding house's reputation as a place of high standards and impeccable morality. She and Delilah explain their house rules to Lucien, believing he will choose to move elsewhere. They are surprised when he agrees to abide by the curfew, show up to the joint dinners and the communal evenings in the drawing room. He further impresses them by being pleasant to the other guest and quickly making friends with his charm and entertaining stories.

While revenge might have been Lucien's initial goal, he comes to realise that his provocative behaviour is keeping Angelique at arm's length. Against his wishes, he also meets his younger brother and finds that he likes the young man. His plans of causing a scandal and exposing the Duchess of Brexford to all of society would be very damaging to more than one person he has come to care about. To his credit, he uses his charm, intelligence and ruthlessness to redeem his former scandalous image instead, showing Angelique that he can be a worthy partner for her. When he gets a bit too alpha male and tries to defend her reputation in public, ending up confirming the gossip about her past, he works very hard to grovel and earn her forgiveness.

I said in my review of the first book as well, but I'm SO glad that Long is back to writing historical romances. Her contemporaries were perfectly fine, but her Regency romances truly shine. It seems that really good and memorable romances are fewer and far between these days, but I suspect I will enjoy re-reading this one.

Judging a book by its cover: I think the only thing I like about this whole cover is the font, and I'm not entirely sure about that one either. I hate the awkward posture of the dude in the background (who looks nothing like Lucien is described, apart from having dark hair). I hate that he looks like a cheap lookalike for Antoni from Queer Eye. While the female cover model's face is pretty enough, there's something about her posture and facial expression that makes me think they found her picture in some advert for a phone sex ad and photo shopped it onto the cover, then pasted the dress on paper-doll style. While I normally like yellow and it can be nice and cheerful, this whole ensemble just rubs me the wrong way. I think this cover actively detracts from the really excellent story inside the book and hope Ms. Long is luckier with her next one.

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 85: "The Art of Theft" by Sherry Thomas

Page count: 304 pages
Audio book length: 10hrs 17mins
Rating: 4 stars

This is the fourth book in a five book series. It's not really the best place to begin. This review will also possibly contain spoilers for earlier books in the series. A Study of Scarlet Women is where you want to start.

Official book description:
As "Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective," Charlotte Holmes has solved murders and found missing individuals. But she has never stolen a priceless artwork—or rather, made away with the secrets hidden behind a much-coveted canvas.

But Mrs. Watson is desperate to help her old friend recover those secrets and Charlotte finds herself involved in a fever-paced scheme to infiltrate a glamorous Yuletide ball where the painting is one handshake away from being sold and the secrets a bare breath from exposure.

Her dear friend Lord Ingram, her sister Livia, Livia's admirer Stephen Marbleton—everyone pitches in to help and everyone has a grand time. But nothing about this adventure is what it seems and disaster is biding time on the grounds of a glittering French chateau, waiting only for Charlotte to make a single mistake...

Having now completed the fourth book in the series, it feels strange to think that at the start of this year, I hadn't read a single Charlotte Holmes novel. They feel like they've been part of my life for so long. While the previous three books have been rather twisty murder mysteries, here the main narrative involves a potential robbery (clever heist stories are my catnip!), something neither of our principal cast have much, if any, experience with. Not one to turn down a challenge, Charlotte sets her ingenious mind to plotting and organising, and soon, with the help of some trusted friends and allies, she has a plan to set in motion.

I like that Sherry Thomas has clearly set these books in the same world as her historical romances, made obvious by the fact that there is a guest appearance of one of her romance heroes. Leighton Atwood from The Heart of the Blade duology is one of the people aiding Charlotte, Lord Ingram, Mrs Watson and gang with their heist. That sort of cross referencing will mean nothing to most readers, but is a fun extra for long time fans of Thomas.

I don't know if there was much new revealed about any of the characters here. Livia and young Mr. Marbleton's romance is further developed, only for some truly disastrous news to derail it towards the end of this book. Charlotte and Lord Ingram spend far too little time together. Mrs. Watson continues to be awesome. The final third of the book sets in motion a number of things that will clearly come to fruition in the fifth (and final?) book, which is out next year. As someone who never found Moriarty all that interesting (except possibly when portrayed by Natalie Dormer on Elementary - no, I'm not going to spoiler tag seasons that are 5-6 years old by now), I wish I cared more about the big show-down that is no doubt coming. In anyone else's hands but Ms. Thomas' capable ones, I would possibly be bored, but I'm sure the conclusion to the series will also be very enjoyable.

Judging a book by its cover: These books pretty much all have lovely and suitable covers. I don't have much else to say, really.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 84: "The Book of Speculation" by Erika Swyler

Page count: 352 pages
Rating: 3 stars

Official book description:
Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival.

One June day, an old book arrives on Simon's doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on speculation. Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s, who reports strange and magical things, including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. Since then, generations of "mermaids" in Simon's family have drowned--always on July 24, which is only weeks away.

As his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly worried about his sister. Could there be a curse on Simon's family? What does it have to do with the book, and can he get to the heart of the mystery in time to save Enola?

One of the many reading challenges I'm doing this year is the Monthly Motif Challenge, and for October, the challenge was "Read a book set in a theater, an amusement park, a circus, or a book involving magic, illusions, or characters with special powers." This was pretty much the only TBR book I had involving a circus. It features a lot of things I usually like, librarians, old books, intricate family histories, folklore, mysterious curses and a romantic subplot, yet it failed to really wow me.

Simon spends pretty much all his time not working in a library desperately trying to keep his childhood home from falling apart. After his mother committed suicide in the water nearby, his father just refused to do any work on it, and now it's getting so bad Simon's no longer sure he can save it. Nevertheless, he keeps trying, as he doesn't want to lose the connection to his past, and he wants his younger sister Enola to have something to come back to when she's ready for it.

He's sent a mysterious old book by an antiquarian who claims that it is relevant to his family history. While he initially dismisses the claim, he gets more and more caught up in the tales told in the book's pages, and as he keeps digging, he discovers that his mother is just the last in a long line of women in his family who, despite being absolutely amazing swimmers, able to hold their breaths for unprecedented amounts of time, they have all died by drowning, on the exact same date. As Enola suddenly returns after several years' absence, and the fateful date is approaching fast, Simon becomes terrified that the curse will strike her as well, unless he finds a way to stop it.

I liked the historical bits of the novel, the ones exploring how the curse came to start in the first place, to be the most interesting, but even those sections failed to entirely hold my attention. I also found some aspects of the story to just be too difficult to suspend my disbelief about, and I genuinely couldn't understand why Simon would spend so much time, money and effort to try to save a crumbling old house, especially considering his memories concerning it were more negative than happy.

It's a definite downside when I fail to entirely connect with the protagonist of a novel. Here, I just didn't care all that much about Simon. I liked Enola a lot better, as well as his fellow librarian/childhood friend (although I think she could do way better romance wise). Still, a lot of the Eastern folklore bits in the historical sections of the book, as well as the depictions of the travelling circus were good.

I don't regret getting this book in a sale, or the time I spent reading it, but I doubt I'll ever feel the need to re-read it, either.

Judging a book by its cover: I'm wondering the publisher made a conscious choice to have a woman holding a stack of old books on the cover is because this book is clearly aimed more at a female than a male audience, and it was assumed that this would be more appealing? We basically see the story through the eyes of several men, our protagonist himself being a librarian. It seems a bit odd to me to have the pile of books being carried by a woman (even though, yes, there are lady librarians in the book, as well).

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 83: "Gideon the Ninth" by Tamsyn Muir

Page count: 448 pages
Audio book length: 16 hrs 50 mins
Rating: 4 stars

Official book description:
The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as necromantic skeletons. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.

Selling this books under "Lesbian necromancers in space" feels a bit disingenuous. Yes, Gideon likes women, but there is very little romance of any kind to speak of, people are far too busy sniping at each other, challenging each other to duels, exploring their super creepy surrounding, solving grisly murders or trying to be the best necromancer they can be. I don't think the word lesbian is even used at any point throughout the story.

I've seen some people get completely beside themselves with enthusiasm about this book. Like full heart eyes emoji. I've seen it mentioned on more than one "Best of 2019"-list, which considering it came out in September, is impressive. While I really did think the book turned out to be a lot of fun, and rather splendid once we got past the rather draggy start and introduction of the ridiculously large cast of characters, there are absolutely things about the plot, characterisation and world building that could have been better. Quite a few times while reading, I found myself confused as to what was going on or who Gideon and/or Harrow were dealing with, and in a perfect book, that wouldn't be the case.

We find out far too little about most of the characters, or their motivations. A lot of them seem a bit anonymous and are really just names, so the impact once they turn up dead (and SPOILER! a LOT of the cast introduced at the beginning will end up dead over the course of the story, in many varied and increasingly horrible ways). I suppose the ones who survive longer become more familiar in the reader's mind. Even Gideon, our point of view character, could have been given more depth of characterisation. To be fair, I've seen several comparisons between this book and classic Agatha Christie mysteries, and in the ones with the really large cast of characters, it's not like most of the background characters get all that much attention. Then again, as the death count mounts, you can tick them off the list of suspects.

This book is technically a science fiction novel, as it's set in space and there is some sort of all-powerful God Emperor and there are space ships and each house seems to originate on a different home planet, but there's very little actual technology and most of the book is concerned with all kinds of necromancy and bone magic, all of which it's just taken for granted that the reader will understand. I will also warn those who don't like gore that there are some pretty horrific deaths that are described in really very visceral detail (see what I did there), but it's also very funny at times, and in places surprisingly moving.

There really is so much to like about the book as well. Gideon, our titular heroine, is almost frustratingly irreverent and defiant, while her patron/nemesis Harrow is a delightful and very crabby enigma. The whole contest in a crumbling wreck of a building/near-abandoned planet seems very devious and there are so many cool details revealed throughout, which is why I'm frustrated some of the details in the world building wasn't more clearly explained. Once we get past the slow set-up and things really start going off the rails, I was pretty much hooked and kept finding new excuses to listen to the book, so I could find out what would happen next.

I listened to this in audio, and Moira Quirk, the narrator, did an absolutely amazing job creating distinctive and engaging voices for the (at least initially) rather large cast. In the hands of a lesser narrator, a book with a plot this twisty and winding would have been almost incomprehensible, so I'm very impressed and probably enjoyed the book more thanks to her work making the characters come alive.

I should also warn that this is the first book in a series and it ends on a heck of a cliffhanger, so if you don't like waiting around for sequels, maybe wait until the full trilogy is published.

Judging a book by its cover: I am in utter awe of this cover, it's so incredibly badass, just like the book's titular character. Gideon in full action movie pose, striding away from what appears to be an explosion of bone and skeletons, supremely confident, with her rapier, her gauntlet, her corpse paint and her sun shades. While I think the publisher's chosen tag line for the book could be better, the cover art is perfection. If I were to do a list of favourite cover art of the year, this would certainly be included.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 82: "Aurora Blazing" by Jessie Mihalik

Page count: 400 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This is the second book in a series. While this book can be read independently, there are details to the world building and continuity that's better explained in book 1, Polaris Rising, so you may want to begin with that one.

Official book description:
Bianca von Hasenberg did her duty for High House von Hasenberg and ended up trapped in a terrible marriage. When her husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her a happy widow, she vows never to marry again. Instead, she uses her connections to save other young women. Information is power and Bianca has a network that would be the envy of the ’verse—if anyone knew about it.

After an attack, Bianca’s oldest brother, the House von Hasenberg heir, disappears from Earth without a trace. Determined to find him, Bianca leaves against orders. When she refuses to return, her father sends Ian Bishop, the director of House von Hasenberg security, to haul her home like a recalcitrant child.

Bianca leads Ian on a merry chase across the universe, but when their paths finally collide, she persuades him that they would be far more successful at finding her brother if they worked together. She will do anything to save her sibling, even if it means spending time alone on a small ship with the handsome, infuriating man who once broke her heart.

As clues lead them deep into rival House Rockhurst territory, Bianca must decide if she can trust Ian with the one piece of information that could destroy her completely. . .

I read the first book in the series back in March, but didn't get round to reviewing it until June. I read this book in October, and am forcing myself to catch up on reviews now, two months later, otherwise I won't actually manage to complete my double Cannonball this year. There was a time when I could write ten to fifteen reviews in the last days of December, but that was before I had a nearly two-year-old child. Hence taking time I should probably spend grading (but all work etc.) to do some book blogging.

This book had a slow start, but managed to hold my attention and even when I wasn't reading, I kept wanting to pick it up. That's not as common as I'd like these days, so kudos to Ms. Mihalik for managing it. Both the heroine and hero appear as minor supporting characters in the previous book, and had undeniable chemistry in the few scenes they shared there too. I think my main complaint with this book may be that it's just a little bit TOO slow burn. It would have been nice to have some indications earlier in the story that Bianca's attraction to Ian wasn't a one-sided thing. Ian keeps his emotions bottled up just that little bit too much.

Also, in slight spoiler territory, I would have liked it if Ian's deep dark secret hadn't pretty much turned out to be more or less exactly the same as Marcus' in the first book. It seemed a little bit too convenient, but didn't exactly ruin my enjoyment much, so I'll let it pass.

This is a thrilling space adventure featuring two damaged individuals who are both extremely good at what they do, and much in the same way as Marcus and Ada keep ending up in scrapes and then rescuing the other, Bianca and Ian get each other out of trouble while trying to outsmart House von Hasenberg's enemies. To be entirely honest, if you asked me for detailed specifics of the plot now that two months have passed, I'd be hard-pressed to remember much, but Mihalik writes a really entertaining blend of sci-fi, romance and action adventures, and I'm already looking forward to the concluding volume, out in May of next year.

Judging a book by its cover: I like this cover better than the previous book in the series, but that may be entirely because it's dominated by shades of red and purple, which are both favourite colours of mine. I like the choice to not show the whole of the cover model's face, making it easier for the reader to project their own idea of what the heroine looks like.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.