CBR15 Book 24: "A Sinister Revenge" by Deanna Raybourn

Page count: 320 pages

Rating: 3 stars

This is book 8 in the Veronica Speedwell series. It's not a good place to start. You want the first book, A Curious Beginning.

15-word review: Veronica tries to discover who wants to murder Stoker’s brother. Stoker is sadly mostly absent.

Official book summary:

Veronica's natural-historian beau, Stoker, has been away in Bavaria for months and their relationship is at an impasse. But when Veronica shows up before him with his brother, Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane, he is lured back home by an intriguing job offer: preparing an iguanodon for a very special dinner party.

Tiberius has received a cryptic message - along with the obituaries of two recently deceased members of his old group of friends, the Seven Sinners-that he too should get his affairs in order. Realizing he is in grave danger but not knowing why, he plans a reunion party for the remaining Sinners at his family estate to lure the killer out while Veronica and Stoker investigate.

As the guests arrive and settle in, the evening's events turn deadly. More clues come to light, leading Veronica, Stoker, and Tiberius to uncover a shared past among the Sinners that has led to the fatal present. But the truth might be far more sinister than what they were prepared for.

Good things: 

- We get an exciting new location, the Templeton-Vane's family estate.

- Stoker's brothers are always entertaining - we get both Tiberius and Merryweather in this one.

- Who doesn't love a dinosaur fossil?

Bad things:

- Stoker is mostly absent for the majority of the book. He's off restoring the model of the iguanodon and avoiding Veronica.

- The mystery of this one ended up being a bit preposterous.

- I found Veronica pretty insufferable in this one. 

While I have enjoyed a lot of the previous Veronica Speedwell mysteries in the past, this one felt underwhelming and it took me longer than usual to get through it. Veronica is a character who is frequently portrayed as somewhat self-centred and oblivious to those around her, and while I fully respect Ms. Raybourn's choice to let her heroine be flawed and dislikable, I'm not sure I want to keep reading the series unless Veronica, our main protagonist, goes through some changes. Stoker is by far my favourite character in these books and the choice to have him off-page for much of the mystery certainly didn't help things. 

I'm choosing to hope that this was just a weaker entry in the series, and will give the author at least one more chance, based on the many novels of hers I've enjoyed in the past. 

Judging a book by its cover: I'm really not sure why the little silhouette that's supposed to be Veronica is holding a butterfly net, as her main pastime of lepidoptery seems to have been entirely forgotten by now. I do, however, really like the various dinosaur bones and other fossils decorating the cover on this one. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR15 Book 23: "Three Little Words" by Jenny Holiday

Page count: 369 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

CBR15 Bingo: Bodies Bodies (self-esteem issues, eating disorder)

15-word review: International supermodel Gia has an eating disorder, but eats when restaurant owner Bennet feeds her. 

Longer review: Gia Gallo is used to travelling in her job as a globe-trotting fashion model. Recently, she struggles with the fact that she doesn't fit into the teeny tiny sizes of the clothes she's supposed to model, and she's not really sure if she's not outgrown the whole industry, both in body size and motivation-wise. Having never been in anything outside of the fashion world, however, she doesn't really feel like she would be qualified for anything else if she were to retire. The pressures of her job are causing her to have massively disordered eating. Deep down she knows it's a problem, but she doesn't really want to own up to it, and she's certainly not ready for anyone else to find out, especially not her best friends.

One of those best friends, Wendy, is getting married in Florida in six days. Gia has Wendy's late mother's wedding dress and needs to get to Florida in time to have the dress altered before the ceremony. Unfortunately, she's stuck in New York in a snowstorm, and no matter how much she threatens or pleads with airline staff, is she getting out of there by air. It just so happens that the best man for the wedding, restaurant owner and chef Bennett Buchanan is also stuck in the city, with the wedding rings, and he gets the last rental car but offers to let her come along for the road trip if she dials down her fashion diva behaviour. 

Because the weather is decidedly not on their side, Bennett and Gia decide to drive all the way to Florida. They fight their obvious attraction for one another, because Gia is only interested in a short-term fling, while Bennett only doesn't do casual hook-ups. Their differing outlook on relationships doesn't keep them from jumping one another for too long, though. As their road trip progresses and they get to know each other better, it also becomes very obvious to Bennet that Gia has an eating disorder, but she never seems to refuse food as long as he's the one cooking it for her. He tries to encourage her to open up to her friends about her troubles, while she helps him get more comfortable with his past and his relationship with his family. 

This is the third and final of the Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series, and by the end of it, all three friends introduced over the course of the series end up married. I enjoy Holiday's books, although none of them have impressed me enough to rate five stars yet. She's not on the 'buy at full price', and certainly not on the extremely rare 'buy in pre-order as soon as it becomes available' list, but I will keep picking up her book on sale.

Judging a book by its cover: This cover is perfectly fine, but since Gia has her hair dyed for the majority of the book, I really think the cover model's hair should have reflected that. I'm sure it's possible to do that sort of thing in editing after the photo is taken, so the model wouldn't even have had to dye her hair for real. 

CBR15 Book 22: "It Takes Two" by Jenny Holiday

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 4 stars

15-word review: Bridesmaid Wendy keeps hooking up with former crush Noah, who’s the brother of the bride.

Wendy's best friend Jane (from One and Only) is getting married, and she's delighted to be asked to be the maid of honour. Unfortunately, the best man is the bride's older brother, Noah, who Wendy nursed a crush on for pretty much her entire adolescence until he broke her heart by standing her up at the prom. She has spent most of her adult life going on strategic trips to avoid spending time with Jane when she knew Noah was around, but now she's going to have to spend quite a lot of time in his company and it has her on edge. Determined to not show him how much he still affects her, Wendy challenges him to a "friendly" competition, about making the most memorable bachelor or bachelorette party. 

Since Wendy spent almost all of her time at their house growing up, Noah is very comfortable in her presence. His sister's friend is all grown up now, however, and initially, he feels almost guilty at how much she's now affecting him. She also seems to go out of her way to either avoid him entirely or snarkily disagree with him. As they are both trained lawyers, they can certainly both dish it out verbally, but the closer his sister's wedding they get, the more he seems to forget that Wendy was his sister's childhood companion because he can't stop thinking about how much he wants to kiss her. 

The major obstacles in the path of Wendy and Noah's HEA are Wendy's reluctance to ever let herself be vulnerable around him again and both of them having to get over their past relationship, where Wendy spent so much time with Jane that Noah came to see them both as little sisters. While Wendy nursed her crush for years, Noah was so busy working part-time jobs to help support his family after his father's untimely death and to cover for his grieving mother's depression that he didn't really have time to think about romance. A few years older than Wendy and Jane, as an older teen that age difference was great enough that he never really considered Wendy as a potential love interest. Now that they're both adults, however, the age difference is negligible, and really spending time with her makes him see her in an entirely new (and much more desirable) light.

I liked this one better than Jane's book, where I felt that the ending got a bit silly and the obstacles put in the way of the couple's HEA were a bit forced. Jane and Cameron make for fun supporting characters in this one, though, and it was nice to see them in a different light than in their own book. 

Judging a book by its cover: While the current trend of cartoony romance covers can be exasperating and make the books seem overly cutesy, I'm not sure I miss having photos of actual people on the covers either, as they so rarely match the images I have in my head. Neither of these cover models look anything like I pictured Wendy and Noah. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR15 Book 21: "He's Not My Boyfriend" by Jackie Lau

Page count: 180 pages

Rating: 3 stars

15-word review: Annoyed by family meddling, Iris tries to ignore her growing attraction to hot one-night-stand Alex

Iris Chin is happily single and doesn't ever want to enter into a long-term relationship, certainly not marriage. She can't understand why her mother and grandmother are so eager to set her up, both seem to have made very poor choices in their own marriages. One-night-stands feel much more uncomplicated to Iris, but once it turns out that one of her previous hook-ups, Alex Kwong, works on the construction site she's the head engineer for, and she'll keep running into him when on the job, things absolutely get more confusing for her.

Iris has also had to move in with her grandmother after her flat lease was finished, which brings with it several additional challenges. Obviously, saving money and having her grandmother cook for her is great, but she also has to contend with her grandmother's well-meaning meddling a lot more. 

This is one of Lau's earlier romances, and while it's not bad, as such, it doesn't have as much of the wit and sparkle that makes her more recent books stand out. This book was perfectly fine, but it didn't exactly blow my socks off, and now, a few months later, I'm struggling to remember the finer details of the plot. 

Judging a book by its cover: Just as I think Lau's general writing has improved with time, her covers featuring stock photo images have also definitely become better. This lavender colour-scheme is nice, but who cuddles in bed fully clothed, covered by a top-sheet?

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

CBR15 Book 20: "Miss Buncle's Book" by D.E. Stevenson

Page count: 304 pages

Rating: 4 stars

15-word review: Anonymous spinster Barbara Buncle writes a book to pay the bills, her entire village rages.

This witty novel, originally published in 1934, features rather plain and unassuming village spinster Barbara Buncle falling on hard times and writing a novel to make enough money to be able to pay her bills. She briefly considered keeping chickens but doesn't like birds. As Miss Buncle hasn't really been anywhere or experienced much outside village life, she uses her own neighbours and the village of Copperfield where she lives as her inspiration. It's only when her novel, "Disturber of the Peace" comes out, under the assumed name of John Smith, that the shenanigans begin. 

Once a couple of the villagers read the novel, and recognise themselves and others around them in the thinly veiled caricatures, the rumour mill starts and soon everyone needs their own copy. Miss Buncle's London publisher, who wasn't entirely sure if the book he agreed to publish is a brilliant satire or just a strange little tale about a seemingly innocuous country village, visited one night by a mysterious piper, who sets in motion a lot of life-changing events for the inhabitants, is delighted. It's quite clear that the scandalised villagers have no idea that with every copy sold, the mysterious "John Smith" makes even more money so they're rather playing into "his" hands with their outrage.

Several prominent villagers become determined to uncover the true identity of the author, leading to some truly amusing conversations and meetings in sitting rooms. Then, several of the events in the novel in fact seem to start happening in reality as well. A confirmed bachelor proposes to his neighbour, and they elope. Two confirmed spinsters leave town together to visit warmer climates (as one is rather in need of somewhere less damp than an English village). As the weeks pass and more and more of the villagers read the novel, the search for the identity of the author gets a bit out of hand. Meanwhile, Miss Buncle has been tasked with writing a follow-up to her debut, as "The Disturber of the Peace" is selling like hotcakes all over the country. 

This book felt extremely British to me, and to anyone who's watched Agatha Christie adaptations, or other pleasant stories set in quaint English villages shouldn't have any problem imagining the various characters who populate Copperfield. Stevenson manages to flesh out and bring to life a large cast of characters, some very sympathetic, others rather loathsome. There are very few irredeemable individuals in the story, in fact, there is a refreshing amount of complexity in the sprawling cast. Miss Buncle is a very likable protagonist, and the reader can't help but be amused as she not only overcomes her initial financial difficulties but comes to realise that her little book has made her quite wealthy. With the advice of some new friends, she allows herself to splurge a bit and give herself a makeover. Even with her new expenditures, no one in the village seems to figure out that she's "John Smith".

I think I first saw this book recommended on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and bought it in an e-book sale ages ago. In March, it fit into a number of my reading challenges, and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. Apparently, it's the first in a series. I'm not entirely sure I need to read the continuing adventures of authoress Barbara, however. This doesn't feel like it needed sequels. 

Judging a book by its cover: This cover is obviously not the original, and until I got to the latter half of the book, when Barbara finally gets to spend some money and gets a fashionable haircut and new clothes, the lady on the cover seemed stylish, but rather inappropriate in what was the story of a dowdy village spinster. I especially love the scarf blowing in the wind. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR15 Book 19: "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" by Christopher Paolini

Page count: 880 pages

Audio book length: 32 hrs 29 mins

Rating: 4 stars

#CBR15 Passport Challenge - Different genres (Sci-fi)

15-word review: Kira touches the wrong alien artifact and things escalate wildly from there. Excellent audio book.

The audio book, which even listening at x1.5 speed felt like it lasted approximately forever, is narrated by Jennifer Hale and she does an amazing job. I was surprised to see, that with the exception of this and the upcoming follow-up (the book is set in the same universe, not sure if it's a sequel, prequel, or companion novel), she has only really narrated a few books (although she appears to have done voice acting in cartoons for years). I'm not sure I would have kept going with the book if not for her pleasant voice and ability to make the story come alive. Even so, when I had about 20% of the book left, I did the thing I often end up doing, which is read the rest myself, since I just want to get to the end.

Outland is the fantasy/sci-fi/all-thing-nerdy shop in Oslo where I help chair the monthly book club. This was the book selection for March, and it feels like I spent much of the month getting through it. I was rather skeptical to when it was first announced. Can't say I was terribly impressed with Eragon when I read it back in the long long ago (I don't seem to have a record of when I read it, but it will have been before 2007), and the book was also absolutely massive. Still, I was pleasantly surprised.

Was the book at least 150 pages too long? Yup. Did the spaceship crew that end up sort of adopting Kira feel like the cast of Firefly? Yeah, a bit. Was Gregorovich the ship mind the most awesome character in the entire story? You betcha. This is one of the areas where Hale's narration just elevated the story. Her depiction of Gregorovich is pretty much one step away from completely unhinged the whole time, and helped really establish him in my mind (which is ironic, since he's a disembodied voice on a ship). 

I didn't really think I'd enjoy this much, and am glad to have been proven wrong. I'll probably end up checking out the next Fractalverse novel as well. 

Judging a book by its cover: I like this cover, with the person looking like they're taking an elegant dive into water, but instead of water, she's surrounded by stars and floating in empty space. The neon blues also look really good. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR15 Book 18: "Georgie, All Along" by Kate Clayborn

Page count: 366 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

15-word review: Trying to get some direction in her life, Georgie turns to a new-found teenage journal

Georgie is feeling adrift. She's worked as a personal assistant for a number of industry people in L.A, and was really good at it. Now, however, her former boss decided to retire to the countryside and doesn't need a P.A. anymore. Georgie is free to go home to her family to realise her own dreams, the only problem is, she has no idea what those are. She had hoped to help her best friend Bel get settled before having a baby, but discovers that with the exception of one room, her friend has a picture-perfect home and doesn't need much of anything from Georgie except her company.

As Georgie's parents are going travelling, she can stay in her childhood home and take care of their plants. Unexpectedly, her parents had also made an arrangement with Levi Fanning, former wild child, and current grouchy recluse, to let him stay at their place while his house is having the floors redone. Georgie, used to her parents being scatter-brained, takes the surprise house mate (and his dog) in her stride and they agree to share the space. 

While sorting through her Bel's one messy room, Georgie rediscovers an old journal, where she and Bel used to write stories about their dreams and goals in high school. Looking through it, she realises that she hasn't always been without plans or purpose and she becomes determined to complete a number of the goals in the book. Once Levi finds out about her quest (after rescuing her from a near-drowning attempt) he offers to help her achieve her goals. 

Kate Clayborn writes romances about complicated, messy people who feel entirely real and she makes you feel privileged that you get to spend time with them throughout their story. Georgie has had a loving and supportive upbringing, while Levi was literally cast out by his family and has worked very hard to overcome his teenage rebel reputation in his hometown. There is definitely some tension developed in the friendship/tentative romance between him and Georgie once he discovers that she's friends with his younger brother and sister, neither of whom he's seen for years. Things are further complicated when the truth comes out about Georgie's teenage crush on his brother, who is now the successful manager of the family hotel.

Georgie could have been an annoying character, but I feel like a lot of people today can identify with her seeming aimlessness. Society seems to expect that everyone has their lives planned out and clear goals for their future by the time people graduate high school, and that's obviously not the case for everyone. While she doesn't have a college education or a standard career path, Georgie is clearly a creative person who adapts quickly to new challenges and has been a very successful personal assistant to several demanding clients because she's really good at anticipating people's needs and shows a willingness to problem solve. Seeing the successes of Bel (beautiful new home, career, successful husband, baby on the way) makes it even more difficult for her to see that her life choices haven't necessarily been as poor as she seems to think they are.

Levi made some poor choices during his teenage years mainly in direct response to his overbearing father's unreasonable demands of him. His experimentation with drugs and alcohol led to a very unfortunate episode when his younger siblings were endangered, and since then, Levi hasn't had any contact with them, because his father sent him away. He assumes that his siblings resent him for what happened way back when, and has made no attempt to reconnect with them, even after moving back and taking over his mentor's construction business. Without any help from his family, he's had to remake his life on his own and find his own support network. It's clear that he doesn't always realise that he's done a remarkable job, because he works with manual labour rather than has a business degree, and his only family is his neurotic pitbull and the people who work for him. He's definitely thrown for a loop when he discovers that Georgie has been working part-time at his family's hotel, and that she may be more interested in his brother than him. 

As well as the romance between two vulnerable people, this book also focuses on the complicated friendship between Bel and Georgie. Having been each other's best friends growing up, it's clear that the women are now at different points in their life. Georgie seems to think that Bel has everything anyone could ever want, and how is there even space for Georgie in this life now? While she may not realise it, the reader can see that Bel's insistence on joining Georgie on a lot of her journal quests suggests that she may not be as content in her life as Georgie believes, it's clear that Bel is chafing a bit at her situation. It's another very relatable situation, friendships change as people themselves grow and change - but the obvious love between the two women is still very much present, and while they haven't been able to see each other as much during the past few years, Georgie is wrong to think that Bel has "moved on" without her.

This is probably my favourite of Clayborn's romances so far. She's only getting better with each new book. I look forward to seeing what we get next. 

Judging a book by its cover: I think this cover is lovely, and in a fairly different style from most cartoony covers on romances. The colour combination, the messy hairdo, and the woman's face hidden behind the book, it all works for me.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.