Archive for January 2022

New Year’s Resolution:

Have a baby
Preferably with Josh Lewenthal

Meet Gemma Jacobs. She’s driven, energetic, and a positive thinker. She has a great career working for famed self-help guru Ian Fortune, she lives in a cute studio apartment in Manhattan, and her family is supportive and loving (albeit a little kooky). Her life is perfect. Absolutely wonderful.
Except for one tiny little thing.

After a decade of disastrous relationships and an infertility diagnosis, Gemma doesn’t want a Mr. Right (or even a Mr. Right Now), she just wants a baby.

And all she needs is an egg, some sperm, and IVF.

So Gemma makes a New Year’s resolution: have a baby.

Josh Lewenthal is a laid back, relaxed, find-the-humor-in-life kind of guy. The polar opposite of Gemma. He’s also her brother’s best friend. For the past twenty years Josh has attended every Jacobs’ family birthday, holiday, and event – he’s always around.

Gemma knows him. He’s nice (enough), he’s funny (-ish), he’s healthy (she thinks) and he didn’t burn any ants with a magnifying glass as a kid. Which, in Gemma’s mind, makes him the perfect option for a sperm donor.

So Gemma wants to make a deal. An unemotional, businesslike arrangement. No commitments, just a baby.

To Gemma’s surprise, Josh agrees.

They have nothing in common, except their agreement to make a baby and their desire to keep things businesslike.

But the thing about baby-making…it’s hard to keep it businesslike, it’s nearly impossible to keep it unemotional, and it’s definitely impossible to keep your heart out of the mix. Because when you’re making a baby together, things have a way of starting to feel like you’re making other things too – like a life, and a family, and love. And when the baby-making ends, you wish that everything else didn’t have to end too.

Review:

What an utterly sweet read! This was so enjoyable. It was fun but then it sucker-punched me too and had me ugly crying (quietly) at two in the morning, trying not to wake my husband up.

The story follows Gemma; a witty, likeable 32-year-old who's getting a little sick of her mother's attempts to set her up with a new date at each family function.

And they're getting older, too. Since Gemma discovered during her first marriage in her early twenties that she had endometriosis and wouldn't be able to conceive naturally, and since she's now in her 30's and still single, her well-meaning but misguided mother is of the opinion that she needs to set her up with older men who have already had, or just never wanted, children.

Gemma, on the other hand, ain't having none of it. She's taking matters into her own hands. After all, she doesn't have to be in a relationship to have a baby. She can try to conceive through IVF, she just needs a little something from someone and decides she knows just who to ask.

Josh is described as a laid back, relaxed, find-the-humour-in-life kind of guy. At first, we only have Gemma's description of his character to go off. She's known him most of her life, made her mind up about him years ago, and hasn't really paid attention since.

It got a little bit frustrating at times to see how blind Gemma was about not just Josh's character, but other things too. I guess in some ways it's fun to be more in the know as the reader than the characters themselves but Jiminy Crickets! Open your eyes, Gem!

My only other criticism is some of the scenes felt a little slapstick in their attempts to make me laugh. I already found both main characters funny, I didn't need the physical comedy. So this is the only reason it wasn't 5 stars for me as otherwise I really, really liked it.

I feel like people who loved The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez, or heck, even good ol' Bridget Jones by Helen Fielding, would really enjoy this book.

Hope it makes you ugly cry, too (in a good way).

4 Stars ★★★★

ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I am Maia Delacroix and I hunt people and relics. My life does not lack excitement or danger. I have it in spades.

Then the Mageri surprised me with an orphan...yes, an orphan. I can’t even keep a house plant alive, let alone a kid. It turns out that I’m her only living relative, and even though we’ve never met, I’m her only hope. Great. Can I feed her after midnight? What does she eat? I have no idea what I’m doing.

They tell me this little witchling will need care for a few years until she comes of age. The bizarre fire leaking out of Elaina’s hands is a pretty good indicator that she is no witch.

Then the coven comes—they want her back. Necromancers show up, turning my vampire friends into enemies. If that isn’t bad enough, I have a demon problem now too.

Join me, and see if we can make it out alive!

Review:

A very promising start to a new Urban Fantasy series

This was great. I think I've read (or at least started reading) every Urban Fantasy series on the planet at this point and am pleased to report I have a very good feeling about where this series could end up once we're a few more books in.

It follows perennially 25-year-old bounty hunter and mage, Maia, who's somehow both well-liked and a bit of a loner. Maia is abruptly summoned before the Mageri and informed that she has a young relative who's been recently orphaned. Maia has not kept track of her mortal family since her transformation to a mage some 30-odd years ago and had no idea 15-year-old witchling Elaina existed.

Talk about a turn up for the books...

I loved the fledgling relationship between Maia and Elaina. Maia definitely gives off cool aunt vibes rather than anything parental. I was getting flashes of familiarity in a good way to a couple of other series I love where there's a teenage character and that sort of mentor-mentee relationship. They can be very rewarding to read and I can't wait to see more of this as the series goes on.

Elaina, quite naturally, has a few issues in this book. She's a teenager, for one. I mean, need I say more? But she's also just lost her mother, been dumped with a stranger who doesn't even have food in her fridge and has some rather unsettling powers that don't seem to gel with her status as a teenage witch.

I thought Maia handled everything Elaina threw at her with way more chill than I would have. I liked the way she talked to Elaina right off the bat as an equal and a friend. Maia's character is pretty laid-back despite being a kick-ass bounty hunter. She strikes me as someone who only chooses violence when she has to. She's a naturally caring and protective person and she's made a name for herself as someone trustworthy and decent among the many different supernatural breeds she comes into contact with and has some friends in high places because of it.

Now, there wasn't any romance in this book at all, but... don't think I don't see what you're up to, Kim.

I know what you're doing and where you're going but I'm willing to play along. After all, I love a sloooooow burn. ;)

The plot was shared between a couple of different mysteries as well as establishing some worldbuilding and the characters, of course. Quite a busy little book but I thought it all balanced out beautifully. I'm looking forward to being able to delve deeper into the characters and relationships and for a more in-depth mystery in future books that don't have quite so much groundwork to take care of.

I think if you like series such as Shannon Mayer's Rylee Adamson series or The Beginner's Guide to Necromancy series by Hailey Edwards, then I have a strong suspicion you may like this one also. It's early days yet to know if it will reach such levels of awesomeness, but it's looking good.

4 Stars ★★★★
ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title

Blood and Fire by Kim Mullican
ISBN13
9781942632382
Edition Language
English
Series
Alpha and Omega #1

Secrets don’t stay buried forever.

After surviving a brutal attack by a deranged fellow employee, Jorja Knight is eager to start life over as a private investigator. Her first big challenge—shed expectations that things will turn out badly—or fatally. Her second challenge—find Johnnie Gorwitz.

Zosia Gorwitz escaped the horrors of WWII but not the guilt that comes with harboring a family secret. When new information surfaces that a nephew may have also survived, she hires Jorja, who harbors her own family secrets, to track him down. Jorja finds someone who seems to fit the bill, but something’s wrong.

Johnnie Gorwitz’s street buddies claim he’s gone missing, along with other of their pals. They know more but are afraid to talk. When another of their buddies goes missing, and a man known to Johnnie turns up dead, Jorja knows she’s backed into something deeper and deadlier than she ever imagined. Now someone wants her and her street informants dead.

Review:

This was a gently-paced private investigator mystery debut and, although I did absolutely love it, it was a very pleasant way to pass a few hours.

Newly-minted private investigator, Jorja Knight, has a fledgeling PI business and about $600 dollars to her name when she's approached by a very well-off friend of a friend in her 80s looking to find the family members she lost track of when they fled the horrors of WWII decades ago.

The information provided sets Jorja off on a seemingly simple and straightforward search that, honestly was mostly completed on Google. But there's much more to the story and pretty soon, Jorja is hunting for answers that were not on her initial to-do list, and paying for them out of her own dwindling funds. Before long, Jorja is doubting herself, her skills and whether or not she's finally lost the plot, but she can't seem to stop until she has the answers she needs.

This is Alice Bienia's debut novel and will be kicking off her Jorja Knight series. There is potential for character growth here and did I maybe see the tiniest (and my god I do mean tiniest) hint of a potential future love interest? Honestly, it was so small I could be wrong but if it had been a little more obvious it probably would have been enough to have me decide I'll definitely pick up the next one. As it is, I could probably take it or leave it.

Jorja's characterisation was very muted. I found her smart and intelligent, despite her own doubts at times, but other than that I don't feel as though I truly got to know her very well in this book.

In general, I found the book a little bit too putdownable for me; the pacing too slow, too much driving around not doing much. It took too long for that first hook of the mystery to sink into you, and then the climactic ending could have been SO much bigger and more exciting.

The writing itself was the best thing about the book for me, and what makes me not want to give up on this series entirely quite yet...

Standing in my Wonder Woman pose I stared into the mirror, unflinching eyes stared steadily back. I got myself into this situation, I’d get myself out. With my mojo somewhat restored, I locked up and strode to the elevator, hardly recognizing the put-together woman in the mirrored elevator doors. I reminded myself success didn’t come in a straight line. Ask any successful person and they’d tell you they suffered many setbacks along the way. The trick is to not let one of those setbacks stop you. Say… like getting killed.

I'd recommend this book to mystery fans who don't mind a lack of action (or perhaps don't even like action scenes) in their mysteries, to fans of PI sleuth tales, cosy mysteries and slow to steady-paced books.

3 Stars ★★★
ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Anna never knew werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack... and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she'd learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. Then Charles Cornick, the enforcer—and son—of the leader of the North American werewolves, came into her life.

Charles insists that not only is Anna his mate, but she is also a rare and valued Omega wolf. And it is Anna's inner strength and calming presence that will prove invaluable as she and Charles go on the hunt in search of a rogue werewolf—a creature bound in magic so dark that it could threaten all of the pack.

It is recommended you read the prequel "Alpha & Omega" before reading Cry Wolf.

Review:

I don't think anyone does pack structure and the dominance hierarchy of werewolves quite like Briggs. The subtleties in behaviour and body language she showcases are so incredibly well written and the depth of her research on wolf behaviour so evident, even from the very first page.

I've just re-read this, the first full-length novel in the Alpha and Omega series, and have upped my rating from 3 stars to 4. I think at the time of my original reading it paled in the shadow of the main Mercy Thompson series that I'd just finished. I found it lacking the humour and wit that I'd so recently fallen in love with in Briggs' writing. But now, having re-read it a good two or three years later, I have to once again applaud Briggs' writing of these supernatural creatures. Both in their animal natures, and their very human ones.

Anna is an almost broken character when we first meet her, having suffered terribly at the abusive hands of her former "pack mates". This back story all takes place in a novella, Alpha and Omega, and in that short story is also where Anna and Charles (Bran's son and Samuel's brother from the Mercy series) meet for the first time and realise their wolves have mated.

Now, this is something that I feel should have been handled better because if anyone wasn't aware of the novella, and that it's essential to read it first, their enjoyment of this book is really going to suffer. I really am not a fan of series' starting with a novella unless the story is optional. In my opinion, if you are going to start with a short story it should just be a teaser, an example of writing style for people that actually like buying anthologies. Not a necessary read in terms of plot and character development. Me, personally, I can't be doing with anthos so I am a bit disappointed that something so vital as your main couple meeting, was covered in such a way.

Anyway, they meet, and their wolves mate. This is the exact opposite of how the mating bond is supposed to work. It's meant to be that the human side chooses a partner, and the wolf then decides to accept, or not. Doing it this way around means the pair to have to deal with an instant bond with a complete stranger. Add into that Anna's recent abuse, and Charles' "I am an island" mentality, and you've got the recipe for some great scenes.

Charles is a gentle giant of a wolf where Anna is concerned, which I found incredibly endearing. Considering he is also the Marrock's enforcer/executioner, the fact that she brings out this gentler side of him, and his child-like excitement over the newness of it all, is just too cute. He delights in little things such as making her walk with a bounce in her step. Making people happy is not normally part of his day to day life, given his job. I really think they were perfectly suited characters and Charles is probably the only one who could have helped her overcome her past demons in such short a time. He was so patient with her, even when his own inner wolf was screaming at him to make her his.

The plot after this point wasn't the strongest I've ever read from Briggs, but it was interesting enough and lay a great foundation for Anna and Charles to spend some quality time together, getting to know one another and exploring their new bond.

Overall, I still prefer the Mercy series, but I would urge anyone that hasn't already to give this spin-off a try too. Even if just for the incredible insights you will get into Bran's character!!!!

4 Stars! ★★★★

Original Title
Cry Wolf
ISBN
0441016154 (ISBN13: 9780441016150)
Edition Language
English
Series
Alpha & Omega #1

The Supernatural Summit is about to start at the DeVane Hotel in London. Vampires and werewolves, ghouls and gremlins, and pixies and druids have all come together to find better ways to get along with the human community and address the strict laws which govern their existence. It's a real opportunity to change the world for the better and I'm proud to be a part of it.

But there are protestors camped outside the hotel and dangerous rumours circling about one of the delegates. When a dead body is discovered, I know it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.

I have to find the murderer. And I have to find them quickly.

Dark Whispers is the fifth book in the action-packed urban fantasy Firebrand series.

Review:

Book 5 in the Firebrand series and another thoroughly enjoyable supernatural mystery.

I haven't reviewed any of the previous books so let me recap the vibe a little.

This series, set in London, is focused on newly-qualified detective constable Emma Bellamy, her recent change in supernatural status and her relationship with the Lord of all Vampires. There's a new, juicy crime to solve in each instalment and the main character is more than up to the job. She's competent, witty and independent. There's not actually a massive focus on the fantasy side of things the way other Urban Fantasies featuring vampires, werewolves, etc., may have. We're not given much in the way of lore or origin stories. It's more the case that it's already a well-known and accepted fact throughout the world that these supernatural beings exist, humans are fully aware of them and have been for decades (although many of them outside London have had little to no contact with any non-human), and basically, it's all NBD at this point and everyone gets along fine...Just like in the real world, right? Right.

What is interesting, though, in terms of the fantasy side, lite as it may be, is how the author explores the way each different supernatural race treats the other races and the way they in turn treat humans and vice versa. This theme is poked and prodded even more in the particular episode.

Detective Bellamy has organised a "Supe Summit". A chance for the different supe factions to rub shoulders and get along and also to brainstorm ways to improve their public perception with humans.

Then, naturally, there's a murder. Which, needless to say, will do little for public relations. Emma is under pressure to solve this one both quickly and quietly.

I'll admit this wasn't my favourite mystery of the 5 so far. (I loved the third book with its Groundhog Day theme especially!), but it was enjoyable all the same. And I didn't guess the killer which is always a bonus in a mystery!

I hope you'll check this series out if ever you're in the mood for a lighter version of UF with a main character that uses brain more than brawn.

4 Stars ★★★★
Kindle Unlimited Read

Original Title

Dark Whispers

ASIN
B09KCDCD21
Edition Language
English
Series
Firebrand #5,