Sunday, January 31, 2021

January Rereads 2021

As always, all opinions are my own

Naked Once More
Jacqueline Kirby #4
Five Stars
Follows Die for Love
This book came out August 1st, 2989
Borrowed from Audible Premium Plus






Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston
Honey Badger Chronicles #1
Three stars
Follows Bite Me
Followed by In a Badger Way
This book comes out March 27, 2018
Hard copy I own  

In a Badger Way by Shelly Laurenston
Honey Badger Chronicles #2
Three and a half stars
Follows Hot and Badgered
Followed by Badger to the Bone
This book came out March 26, 2019
Ebook borrowed from Libby





Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston
Honey Badger Chronicles #3
Follows In a Badger Way
eBook borrowed from Hoopla



Appleby Talks Again by Michael Innes
Sir John Appleby #15
Three stars
This book came out November 19th, 2019
Hard copy I didn't keep






Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews
Hidden Legacy #3
Follows novella Diamond Fire
Followed by Emerald Blaze
This book comes out August 27th, 2019
Ebook borrowed from CloudLibrary




Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews
Hidden Legacy #4
Four stars
Follows Sapphire Flames
This book came out August 25th, 2020
Ebook borrowed from CloudLibrary



Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

 This book was a little easier to follow as an audiobook than the first one. Kate is trying to retrieve some maps for the Pack when her colleague is killed. That leads her into an investigation of trying to find the mother of a 13-year-old girl who has a rare power and the coven of witches that disappeared with her mother. She'll have to face the Oracles, deal with The Shepherd, and defeat Morrigan herself in order to survive. Also involved, Ghastek, the man who controls vampires, Derek, Kate's blood-bound werewolf friend, and Curran, the leader of the Pack. All while the magic seems to be heading for a flare...
Favorite line? "Asshole innocent bystanders" Ha!

Three and a half stars
Follows Magic Bites
Followed by Magic Strikes
This book came out April 1st, 2008
Borrowed as a hard copy from the library
Opinions are my own

Saturday, January 30, 2021

Faithless in Death : An Eve Dallas Novel by J. D. Robb

I loved this return to normal. The last book was fine but there was too much trying to bring back every character ever. The "bad guys" were a little two-dimensional but not horribly so. It was more building off of stereotypes to create a shortcut so that each person could get a little more depth. We also got more about our favorite characters with Mavis and Leonardo taking a pretty big life step that is just so true to their family.
The case starts out with the murder of a young artist. A wealthy, engaged socialite discovered the body and made a frantic 911 call. She claims that she was just visiting a friend but Eve and even Peabody are seeing cracks in the story. As they dig, they begin to find that the case might not be as simple as they originally thought and that finding the killer might mean having to take down a giant cult at the same time.

Four stars
This book comes out February 2nd, 2021  
Follows Shadows in Death
Followed byForgotten in Death
ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Reread August 2023 as audiobook from Libby

Friday, January 29, 2021

Convincing Alex by Nora Roberts

Bess McNee just wants to do a little research for the soap opera that she is a writer on. Dressing up like a prostitute seems like a good idea to create some realism in her characters. She doesn't realize that she might get pushed into picking up a couple of guys. Or that they might be cops. When she ends up at the police station, she is delighted. 
The arresting officer, Alexi Stanislaski, is not so delighted. There have been several women killed lately and he doesn't need some... writer... out making it worse. But she just keeps putting herself in his way. And she might seem a little ditzy but she has a sharper mind than he first sees.
A nice addition to the series. Maybe doesn't age as well as a couple of the other books but isn't egregious.

Three stars
This book came out March 1st, 1994
Follows Falling for Rachel
Followed by Waiting for Nick
Borrowed as ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own


Thursday, January 28, 2021

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

The Smart Bitches podcast recommended this book as being better than the Dresden Files.
Kate Daniels doesn't belong to the Order but when her guardian is killed, she's pulled into the investigation. She's not official but at least she's involved. She'll encounter vampires, shifters, and an "Unpire" (maybe, not sure on spelling since I was listening) before the book is over.
This was a little hard to keep up with on audio but I enjoyed it as much the second time I listened.

Kate Daniels #1
Three stars
This book came out March 29th, 2009
Followed by Magic Burns
Borrowed as an audiobook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Reread March 2024

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Lady Osbaldestone’s Plum Puddings by Stephanie Laurens

For the third year, Lady Osbaldestone's grandchildren have decided they want to come visit her before going to the larger family gathering. This year, the original three and their cousin Melissa are joined by her sister Amanda (Mandy). They come to the village in a propitious year. Lady Osbaldestone's plum trees have cast off an abundance of fruit. Her cook has offered to make everyone in the village a plum pudding in order to have something to do with them all. The village has been taking up a collection of pennies in order to have something to put in the plum pudding and that is the children's first task, to sort the coins and clean them up so they can be put into the food. But when they find three coins that are obviously older than the currently used currency, it's time to call in reinforcements. A professor and his amanuensis niece are called in and a mysterious gentleman with ties to the professor show up. The stories of love and mystery don't twine as well in this book but still a fast, fun, and fluffy that would be good to pick up when you just need a palate cleanser.

Three stars
This book came out October 17th, 2019
Borrowed as an audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own 



Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Die for Love by Elizabeth Peters

 Ah, Jacqueline Kirby, I love you. An older, sexually-liberated female who solves mysteries? Um, yes please. It's a little disconcerting to read how romances are described in this book but this was written in a different time so...
Jackie is going to a Romance Novel convention, just to get out of Dodge. Her current love is getting a little clingy and this librarian (!) needs her space. So it's off to New York and some down-time with authors. Except that it's not really less stressful. Backbiting authors, conniving agents, and sneaky reporters all add up for a scintillating time for Jackie, until one of the reporters gets murdered. And there is a surfeit of suspects so, while it took a while to get into the book, the solution was not what I expected.

Four stars
Follows The Murders of Richard III
Followed by Naked Once More
This book came out January 1st, 1974
Audiobook from Audible Premium Plus
Opinions are my own