Posted July 11, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Spectr: Volume 1, Jordan L. Hawk
Reaper of Souls closes the first volume of the Spectr series, so now that I’ve finished it, it seems like an appropriate moment to take a look around and try to review the series so far. Volume one is on a strict timeline: Caleb has been possessed by a drakul, Gray. If Gray can be exorcised before 40 days are up, Caleb can go back to his life. If he can’t, well… there’s normally no hope for a human host/victim after that point. John is an agent with Spectr, and he’s meant to be pretty darn good, but he can’t get Gray out.
As a result, and due to Gray’s unique circumstances (he hunts other paranormal entities, not humans; his possession of Caleb is an accident), John ends up babysitting Caleb while he tries to figure out how to exorcise him — and then Caleb ends up helping him with cases using Gray’s strength and supernatural senses, and then Caleb and John start falling in love.
I enjoyed the ambivalence surrounding Gray — the fact that he seems to care about not harming Caleb, not causing too much trouble, and especially his curiosity about John. John’s confused feelings about both of them add another dimension as well, one that becomes increasingly important toward the end of the volume.
I’m looking forward to reading the second volume and learning how everything shakes out.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Jordan L. Hawk, mystery, romance, SF/F
Posted July 9, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, KJ Charles
I’m pretty much committed to reading whatever KJ Charles writes, and she can pretty much always (with one notable exception) win me over. (The exception is Jackdaw. I wonder if that’ll change when I reread it, but I really didn’t love where the relationship started there, and especially not the tricky middle.) So I started this expecting a good time, and wasn’t too surprised to get it, because it’s KJ Charles.
Admittedly, for a bit I wasn’t sure because Gareth was being a bit of a dick — though as ever with KJ Charles’ characters, you can also see why and where it came from (even if you think it’s a bit overblown; human emotions do that). I wasn’t sure how the two of them were going to figure things out, and honestly the first bit was more fraught than I was looking for in a weird mood.
Still, I gave it time, and quickly found myself sucked in. Gareth has his insecurities, but he also has the strength of them: he knows why he’s insecure, and he doesn’t want to see anyone else feel the same way. Joss has a lot of responsibility and steps up to it with ease, and it’s a delight to see him also learn to share his burdens and to take a little for himself. There are some delightful side characters, too (and some vivid, well-drawn but less delightful ones as well).
The mystery is equal billing with the romance — I didn’t find anything too surprising in how it worked out, but I enjoyed the ride.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, K.J. Charles, mystery, romance
Posted May 18, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Tommy Cabot Was Here, Cat Sebastian
Tommy Cabot Was Here is a second-chance romance where you can feel the yearning between the two main characters early on. Everett’s memories of his closeness with Tommy, of the schoolboy infatuation between them and the horrible uncertainty about how they felt and what exactly they were doing, all ring quite true even now — and make a lot of sense with the decade it’s set in as well, where it would’ve been all that with bells on.
It’s quite a slim book, but that vividly evoked teenage passion works wonders to stir the pot and make their gravitation toward each other feel natural.
Plus, Tommy’s ex-wife Pat is pretty awesome, and I love that she’s portrayed as understanding both of them, and understanding the link between them, and that the divorce is completely amicable.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Cat Sebastian, romance
Posted May 12, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library, Hester Fox
A book about a mysterious library — it might as well come stamped with “Nicky, buy me!”.
The book starts when Ivy inherits Blackwood Abbey, a mysterious and isolated stately home that she had no idea she was the heir to. Without knowing much about the area, or what her new role might be, she travels with hope to take up her position as the new Lady Hayworth. Mysterious things begin to happen as soon as she arrives in the place, but she’s reassured when she finds the library, hoping to find her solace and excitement there.
I’ll try not to say too much, for fear of spoiling the surprise. Suffice it to say: the library isn’t a particularly ordinary library, and Ivy’s role as Lady Hayworth is nothing like she imagined.
For the most part, I enjoyed reading this, but it had a few weaknesses. The main one is difficult to get to grips with, given the plot: a particular character has to both experience things and then totally forget about them, and the book deals unevenly with showing that to the reader. Certain events are never described, and yet the relationship/character-building within those scenes would be essential to really feel satisfied by the ending, to my mind — while it would give the game away too soon to include them. It made certain things feel a bit rushed.
Still, I did enjoy this, and the “click” as certain things came together.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Hester Fox, romance, SF/F
Posted April 23, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
A Thief in the Night, KJ Charles
I always enjoy KJ Charles’ less murdery books, and this novella’s a nice one. There’s not much of a supporting cast, just Miles and Toby, getting to know each other, getting past their hangups, and figuring out how to take a chance on each other. Toby’s a sweetie, and Miles is… somewhat incidentally grumpy — which is to say, not permanently grumpy by constitution, but in a terrible position and not sure how on earth to turn things around.
As always, I love Charles’ careful attention to issues of consent. It really doesn’t take much to show characters being aware of it and ensuring it, and it makes the situations so much more satisfying. You don’t end up thinking “ugh, but X was relying on Y for food to eat, so of course he couldn’t really say no” — because the characters realise that and work with it (or don’t, and later have to work with it, perhaps). It’s not some unspoken, unexamined grossness.
As a result, it’s easy to just enjoy Toby and Miles and how they find happiness together. I really liked Toby, and I really felt for the panic-stricken moments near the end… but of course, Miles comes to the rescue (I won’t spoil you as to how).
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, K.J. Charles, queer fic, romance
Posted April 9, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments
Rattling Bone, Jordan L. Hawk
I didn’t realise this was coming out, and leapt on it as soon as I did! It’s lovely to revisit Oscar and Nigel, and see them a little further into their relationship — in fact, with Oscar taking Nigel to meet his parents. It’s… predictably awkward, especially as soon as they discover Nigel’s job and what the two of them work on together. I like that the contention isn’t about Nigel being trans or about it being a queer relationship, and there’s no tension about the non-binary character either; instead this is pure family dynamics, secrets being kept, etc. I enjoyed that there were complexities there, that it wasn’t just both parents being a united front of anger for exactly the same reasons.
Of course, those secrets are relevant to the story, and Oscar finds himself having to use his newly acknowledged talents to help his family — whether they want him to or not.
I was a little worried that the jealousy/inferiority complex stuff so characteristic of Whyborne in the early Whyborne & Griffin books was going to come out here with the references to Oscar’s childhood friend, but luckily it didn’t really go that way too much. The ending is cute, too.
So much more I’d like to know about the background stuff and their sponsor…
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Jordan L. Hawk, queer fic, romance, SF/F
Posted March 6, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
The Lawrence Browne Affair, Cat Sebastian
The Lawrence Browne Affair features a side character from the first book: none other than Georgie Turner, conman and thief extraordinaire. I wasn’t a huge fan of his character from his portrayal in the first book, but I’ve thought that before with Sebastian’s books, and she made it work once we’re in close-third POV and can see Georgie’s thoughts and understand his damage.
Once again, she surprised me with the way the plot worked out. The easy and obvious conflict was not what happened, and the characters trusted each other and the bond they were forming, in a way that often doesn’t happen in romance novels (and presumably real life, but I don’t enjoy it there either). Okay, people didn’t quite manage to communicate properly and talk out their problems — but at least they avoided throwing away all the evidence they’d seen with their own eyes, and avoided just believing the worst of each other instantly. Even though it would, in fact, be all of a piece with their pasts. (I’m trying to be a little vague here.)
It’s sort of a Beauty and the Beast story, which amused me too, and I enjoyed the way Georgie came to realise that he actually liked a lot of his marks — it’s what made him a good conman, and also a part of why he was so unhappy as a conman.
Overall, a sweet book and one I enjoyed. I loved Lawrence finding himself.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Cat Sebastian, historical fiction, queer fic, romance
Posted March 2, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree
Legends & Lattes is a rare book that I wanted to read again as soon as I was finished with it — it’s warm and cosy, a world with a lot of goodness in it and people who will make an effort and put in work, even when it’s hard. A world where even an orc can quit being a mercenary and make a coffee shop, and a rattkin can come on staff to make baked goods, and a succubus (who doesn’t use any of her charms) can come on board as a barista. It’s a world where a far-fetched dream can come true with a little magic, a little luck, and a lot of willing hands.
Honestly, I got to the end of it and was a little outraged that the bit I thought was left was an additional short story and not more of the same coffee-scented cosiness. I wanted more of Viv, more of the coffee shop, more of the little mysteries around it (the gnome who seemed to be some kind of time traveller, for example).
I think some people have dinged it rating-wise for not being original, which is a little bit confusing to me: it’s not meant to be some spectacular and strange fantasy world with intricate world-building. It’s more like “here’s a generic fantasy world, and here’s the kind of story we don’t tell set in this kind of world very often”. The world-building is far from the point — it’s more taking this basic fantasy world and saying, well, not everyone can be a mercenary all their life. What do they do after? What do they do if killing people isn’t what makes them happy?
So I wouldn’t go in expecting something super original, because it’s not about that. It’s a mug of hot coffee (or hot chocolate, if that’s more your thing, as it is for me) on a cold day; a friend’s shoulder leaning into yours while you’re just going about your day.
Rating: 5/5
Tags: book reviews, books, romance, SF/F, Travis Baldree
Posted February 14, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Hexmaker, Jordan L. Hawk
Back to Hexworld, and this second book is as fun as the first. I think I liked them a tiny bit less than Cicero and Tom from the first book, and I thought they needed to do a heck of a lot more communicating (including about their boundaries during sex, which they just kind of plunge into), but Malachi and Owen have a totally different and interesting dynamic, and it worked out well. The power differential between witches and familiars is present in all of these stories, but most of all here, where the personal relationship balances it.
I think overall I’d have liked a bit longer for Owen and Malachi’s relationship to develop; the compressed timescale didn’t quite work for me here, and I could’ve used seeing a little more trust starting to develop between them. The relationship crisis definitely echoed the one in the first book, but I’d felt more closely connected to the relationship in the first book.
I’m curious to see where the overarching plot is going, and I love the background of the world — Owen’s trans brother, because of course hexes can help with that; Egyptian archaeology being relevant for the history of hexes… It’s all pretty fascinating, and as always the book is pacy and fun.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: alternate history, book reviews, books, Jordan L. Hawk, queer fiction, romance, SF/F
Posted January 30, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Nobody’s Princess, Erica Ridley
Nobody’s Princess gives Graham Wynchester a chance to really shine — something I’d been looking forward to for quite a while after his appearances in The Duke Heist and The Perks of Loving a Wallflower. Here he’s centre stage, romantic hero, and he finally has a chance to rescue a real princess (sort of).
Kunigunde is a visitor from the very kingdom the Wynchesters’ adoptive father Bean came from, and she’s on a mission to become a Royal Guardswoman, the very first. Her brothers have different ideas, and are trying pretty hard to chase her down, but Graham’s at hand to involve himself (whether she likes it or not) and save the day (whether or not she’d have come up with something for herself).
It was nice to see Graham front and centre, and maybe it’d just been a little while since I read the other books, but I was surprised by how silly he was at times. Not that I really should have been, given the Wynchesters’ banter amongst themselves — but I did have a touch of embarrassment squick about his quixotic attempts to be Kuni’s knight in shining armour.
I did love the way Kuni found herself falling in love with not just Graham, but the whole life of the Wynchester family. I wasn’t sure about how things were going to get figured out, but I found the end pretty satisfactory.
I didn’t love this as much as the first two books, and I had a bit of concern about the way Kuni was portrayed (in particular, the kind of language mistakes she made, which didn’t at all seem to fit with her proficiency with the language or my experience of people who speak English as a second language — I’m married to one, so you could say I’ve done extensive research on the subject). That said, I absolutely inhaled the book, and I had a lot of fun.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Erica Ridley, historical fiction, romance
