Review: Fated Blades

Fated Blades by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's Ilona Andrews, five stars, need I say more?

Ramona Adler and Matias Baena are leaders of their families, two of the three powerful Kinsmen genetically enhanced families that rule the planet Rada. Oh and they are also mortal enemies, for reasons buried in the mists of time. But what happens when your mortal enemy arrives at your door to tell you that your respective spouses have run off together, taking with them the top secret research into universe-altering technology which each family has been progressing.

Forced to work together to recover the technology, Ramona and Matias find that they have more in common that they originally thought.

My only gripe with this was that it was a novella/short novel, I would have been happier if it were the length of the unabridged War and Peace! Great characters, amazing fight scenes, detailed world building and back stories. I am constantly amazed at what this talented duo can achieve in such a small page count, nothing skimped, nothing omitted. Just lush!

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Review: A Fair Warning

A Fair Warning by Dianna Roman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Poppy Prince runs her family's bar The Silver Bullet. She's recently divorced after she discovered her ex banging his girlfriend in their bed, and living at her family home, albeit her widowed mother is travelling Europe with her sister.

Charlie 'Chuck' Duke is the local Deputy. He's been her nemesis since they were at school together, created her hated nickname Poppycock and generally takes any and every opportunity to push her buttons. She loathes him and wishes he'd stop coming into her bar, drinking his hillbilly swill beer, and making annoying comments.

Chuck has loved Poppy since they were kids, he's tried everything to get her to notice him 'that way'. Compliments, teasing, practical jokes, you name it. And he just loves pushing Poppy's buttons. He may have been away for a few years but as soon as he returned home to Grand Valley, Burnam County, Illinois he was as enthralled as ever. She might be a Townie and he's a River Rat but the heart wants what the heart wants. Can he ever get her to give him a chance?

This was pleasant enough but TBH it felt like a novella that had been stretched out to a novel. Most of the romantic tension happens quite early on, and then its just a bit of rinse and repeat as Poppy wonders why he looks so sad, is he breaking up with her and Chuck wonders if Poppy will realise he's not worth the effort and dump him *yawn*.

There's also a bit of tension which I could see telegraphed from miles away which didn't really go anywhere and felt a bit unrealistic to me.

Also, call me a cynic but if the author is dedicated to her writing how can she have the next seven books in the series already mapped out with hero and heroine? I get you have seven other characters for whom you want to find happy endings in future books, but to have already chosen their love interest?

Anyway, it was okay.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Danger on the Atlantic

Danger on the Atlantic by Erica Ruth Neubauer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is apparently the third in a series featuring American widow Jane Wunderly. I haven't read the previous two books and this could be read as a standalone, although the romantic elements probably suffered from not knowing the back story.

Jane is undercover on a cruise across the Atlantic with Redvers Dibble to catch a German spy, trying to obtain secret plans to pass to the German government. Jane and Redvers are posing as a married couple and they have the assistance of one of the stewards, Frances Dobbins. Apparently Redvers works for 'Her Majesty' which I assume is either a typo or a misunderstanding about who exactly was on the British throne in 1926.

Whilst ostensibly Redvers and Jane are investigating the three individuals who have been identified as possible spies: a german passenger; the german bandleader; and an American who runs the photography office; Jane actually spends more time embroiled in the affairs of a fellow passenger, Mrs Vanessa FitzSimmons whose newlywed husband (is that the right way to say it?) Miles Van de Meter has disappeared. Jane happened to see Mrs FitzSimmons and her husband indulging in a PDA as the ship left its berth which is just as well because none of the ship's crew believe a word Mrs FitzSimmons says, even going so far as to call her Miss FitzSimmons, as if she was fantasising about being married.

Whilst there were allusions to prohibition and dancing the Charleston, there was also a reference to dancing the Jitterbug which https://www.bellaballroom.com/dance-l... tells me didn't become universally popular until the 1930s - some four years after this book is set. Generally, there weren't really enough markers to really point the reader at the right decade in which the novel is set.

Overall, I would say there was a lot of talk about coffee, walking on the deck, changing for dinner and very little detective work, most of which happens off-scene and then Redvers updates Jane back in their cabin, over a cup of coffee. I read historical 'cosy' (lord do I hate that word) mysteries for a glimpse into a bygone era and a satisfying mystery, sadly this delivered neither.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.



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Review: The Blood Tide: A shocking, breathtaking, Scottish crime fiction mystery thriller

The Blood Tide: A shocking, breathtaking, Scottish crime fiction mystery thriller by Neil Lancaster
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

A police officer witnesses a suicide, but the man who committed suicide says that he is being forced to commit suicide in order to protect his family, and he references that they have accomplices in governmental agencies and were responsible for a recent murder at a loch. The policeman is sufficiently convinced that the man is being coerced by persons unknown that he records the conversation carefully in his statement to PIRC (the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner) and calls his old friend DS Max Craigie to discuss it and invite him over for a dram while he (Max) is touring the Highlands on his holiday.

When Max arrives to see his friend however he finds him hanging from the bannisters of his home, his police notebook has disappeared, and his witness statement has no references to coercion or any other murders. As the member of a small (three person) team with the long-winded title The Police Standards Reassurance Team, Max is responsible for identifying and tackling corruption and this stinks to high heaven.

So this is a police procedural with a difference, in so far as the reader knows who committed the murders, the mystery is who is the mysterious person feeding them information. I enjoyed the pace and plot of this novel, the first I have read by Neil Lancaster. However, I did have some concerns that there seemed to be a lot of coincidences/strokes of luck where someone not only could make the necessary connection but then off-the-cuff provide chapter and verse about the person and their associates (being deliberately vague). There were at least two separate instances where that happened. Also, I still can't wrap my head around how the final 'thing' happened and how they found out. Maybe I need to reread the book ...

Overall, another Scottish detective series to add to my growing list - what is it about Scottish murder mysteries?

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.


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Review: A Fair Warning

A Fair Warning by Dianna Roman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Poppy Prince runs her family's bar The Silver Bullet. She's recently divorced after she discovered her ex banging his girlfriend in their bed, and living at her family home, albeit her widowed mother is travelling Europe with her sister.

Charlie 'Chuck' Duke is the local Deputy. He's been her nemesis since they were at school together, created her hated nickname Poppycock and generally takes any and every opportunity to push her buttons. She loathes him and wishes he'd stop coming into her bar, drinking his hillbilly swill beer, and making annoying comments.

Chuck has loved Poppy since they were kids, he's tried everything to get her to notice him 'that way'. Compliments, teasing, practical jokes, you name it. And he just loves pushing Poppy's buttons. He may have been away for a few years but as soon as he returned home to Grand Valley, Burnam County, Illinois he was as enthralled as ever. She might be a Townie and he's a River Rat but the heart wants what the heart wants. Can he ever get her to give him a chance?

This was pleasant enough but TBH it felt like a novella that had been stretched out to a novel. Most of the romantic tension happens quite early on, and then its just a bit of rinse and repeat as Poppy wonders why he looks so sad, is he breaking up with her and Chuck wonders if Poppy will realise he's not worth the effort and dump him *yawn*.

There's also a bit of tension which I could see telegraphed from miles away which didn't really go anywhere and felt a bit unrealistic to me.

Also, call me a cynic but if the author is dedicated to her writing how can she have the next seven books in the series already mapped out with hero and heroine? I get you have seven other characters for whom you want to find happy endings in future books, but to have already chosen their love interest?

Anyway, it was okay.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Murder Most Actual

Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Liza and Hanna's marriage is in trouble. Hanna is a high-flying corporate finance-type and Liza has always been this scatty, flighty, artsy type. But now Liza's true crime podcast has really taken off and she has less time to spend with Hanna, it doesn't help that her podcast listeners are shipping romance between Liza and her co-host Rachael.

Hanna, in her typical high-handed fashion has determined that a weekend in a Scottish country hotel will do wonders for their marriage and booked it without consulting Liza which has created a bit of tension. When they arrive the other guests, many of whom are semi-permanent residents, are reminiscent of the board game Cluedo (as is intended by the chapter titles) with a Colonel who wears mustard coloured clothes, the Reverend Lincoln (as in green), a private detective, and a mysterious shadowy underworld figure known only as Mr B, etc, etc.

Then when the hotel is stuck in a blizzard and all internet/telephone lines are down, one of the guests falls/is pushed to his death from his room in one of the turrets. At first Liza thinks this is some kind of murder mystery weekend that Hanna has organised but it all becomes too real and the bodies keep piling up.

I adore Alexis Hall's books but sadly this one just wasn't for me. I see now that the blurb references Clue and Knives Out which should have given me fair warning as I didn't like either of them. Highly stylised to the point of absurdity, I persevered to the end but it didn't redeem itself. So very sorry because I really wanted to like it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Intolerable

Intolerable by Darcy Burke
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 50%.

In one of the previous books two young women sneak into the Phoenix Club disguised as servants to see what happens (unmarried women can't be members). One of them ended up married to her guardian, the other, Lady Cassandra Westbrook, ended up kissed by Ruark Hannigan, Earl of Wexford in a cupboard before he realised who she was (yes I know, the idea that it is okay to kiss servants willy-nilly is a bit distasteful). Neither Cassandra nor Ruark can get the 'incident' out of their minds, unfortunately Ruark is one of Cassandra's brother's best friends which apparently makes her off-limits as a potential bride. In addition, Ruark is Irish and his mother married a Catholic after his father died so that makes him unacceptable to Cassandra's father (who seems to have regressed after his softening in the last book).

Cassandra's father has decreed that she must get married this season, the trouble is his notorious temper has scared away all potential suitors, so Cassandra asks Ruark to pretend to court her, in the hopes that this will encourage other gentlemen to pursue her.

For his part, Ruark is tormented by memories of their kiss, but he promised his father on his deathbed that he would not marry until he was at least 30 years old, so he cannot form an attachment to Cassandra before that date, especially since she is his best friend's little sister (I really don't get this aspect of bro-code, if he's a great guy then why wouldn't you want him to marry your sister, and if he isn't why are you hanging around with him?).

Argh! I tried I really did, but Ruark's promise to his father was so asinine and he couldn't even really commit to it, he and Cassandra behave inappropriately at every opportunity, even getting caught kissing in a cupboard during a game of hide-and-seek FFS!

I am happy to turn a blind eye to the morals of the time in the interests of romance but the sheer hypocrisy of Ruark knowing his sister was compromised, perhaps ruined by being seen kissing a man when he had done much more and got away with it was a step too far in a book that wasn't really grabbing me anyway.

I enjoyed the first two books in this series and would be interested in reading the next book (if, as I assume, it features Ruark's scholarly sister), but this didn't do it for me and I gave up at 50%.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: How to Cowboy

How to Cowboy by Jennie Marts
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 46%.

Cade is a former rodeo rider turned farmer. When his ex is killed in a car accident he becomes guardian to his teenage daughter Allie and responsible for her rehab. Taken away from her home, her friends, her school, and the city (and obviously having lost her mother), Allie is lashing out, especially at Cade who has barely been in contact, albeit that was more to do with his ex making it difficult rather than him not caring.

Now Cade and Allie are back on the horse rescue ranch where he works and his cousin has hired a physiotherapist to live in and help Allie get mobility back. Nora had a catastrophic breakup which tanked her career as well as her love life, a live-in job helping a young girl to walk again, thousands of miles away seems like a great way to lick her wounds in peace.

From the moment they met Cade and Nora have serious sparkage, but with an injured child with abandonment issues to deal with is there any time for love?

I tried with this I really did but honestly ... Cade is fighting an uphill battle to prove to Allie that he does care and that he's in it for the long term, he loves his daughter but he *had* to leave her because of 'reasons' and he carries the guilt to this day (after nearly halfway through I don't know what happened, but I have a strong suspicion). Allie is scared he will walk away just when she's got attached so she attacks him at every opportunity. So Cade (as a mature man) is too stupid to keep it in his pants. Also, he blows hot and cold more often than my hairdryer.

And don't get me started on Nora, her entire life went up in flames because she was involved with a doctor at the hospital where she worked. So she thinks it's a good idea to sleep with the client's father?

I had to stop, I had swiped past the sex scenes but there was throbbing, wet shirts and every cliche under the sun as far as I can tell, but when Cade sleeps with Nora then shuts her down because of the aforementioned 'reasons' I started to grind my teeth.

Sorry, just not my cup of tea and I had to DNF at 46%, I can see how it's going to pan out and it's pretty predictable.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Scot & Soda

Scot & Soda by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

It's Halloween and Lexy Campbell has gone all out with the spooky decor and food as she entertains the inhabitants of the Last Ditch Motel on her houseboat. Unfortunately, when she pulls up the rope which is attached to the 72 bottles of beer she has cooling in the water they come attached to a dead body dressed in a Tam O'Shanter and orange wig (a Jimmy wig as we would say).

The Cuento police don't seem to be taking Lexy seriously, they ignore her comment that there was a large signet ring on the body's finger which seems to have gone missing, so Lexy, Todd and Kathi decide to do some detecting of their own.

There seem to have been a series of incidents on Halloween linked to the events in the Robert Burns poem Tam O'Shanter and all the evidence points to the victim being a former resident Thomas O. Shatner who was in town to attend a fiftieth high school reunion. But who could have murdered him? Was it some sort of retaliation for being gay? Could it be the former senior class president and captain of the football team? Was it one of a quartet of girls that used to hang around with the captain of the football team? Is it connected to the mysterious disappearance of one of those girls after the graduation party?

There are red herrings galore and, I'm afraid, it maybe got a bit too clever for itself partway through and like another reviewer I was left a bit confused at the end. Still enjoyable but a little confusing.

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Review: Scot Free

Scot Free by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having read an ARC of the fourth book in the series I was sufficiently intrigued to buy the first book and see where it all began.

Lexy Campbell is originally from Dundee, Scotland. A marriage counsellor she moved to California in a whirlwind romance and marriage. Unfortunately, things went rapidly downhill, the things she found charming about the small (fictional) town of Cuento, Beteo County are just what her husband hates. He has a beige house and doesn't understand her humour (I have to say taking Spotted Dick to a potluck party seems odd, done just for the novelty factor of the name rather than something anyone would want to eat!). Anyway, the marriage implodes when Lexy finds her husband boinking his ex-wife in their bed and four weeks later, thanks to Reno, the two of them are divorced. Lexy is about to leave California for good, she just has one last couples guidance session booked for a sweet old couple in their eighties called the Bombaros who are finally divorcing. Mrs Bombaro has asked Lexy to witness the signatures on their divorce papers and Lexy is happy to oblige.

Unfortunately, the Bombaros never arrive. Mr Bombaro, a famous firework manufacturer, has been murdered, Mrs Bombaro has been arrested for his murder, and she is asking for Lexy's support. So Lexy shelves her plans to return to Scotland and tries to find a motel room (on the Fourth of July) which is how she comes across the Last Ditch Motel.

The mystery is very reminiscent of the early Stephanie Plum novels (a firework manufacturer being murdered by having a firework inserted in his anatomy), as are the inhabitants of the motel. There's a lot of comedic value drawn from the differences between American English and Scottish English which might get a bit repetitive after a while.

If you like zany or kooky comedy and/or cosy detective stories then I think this series may be for you.



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Review: Code of Matrimony

Code of Matrimony by April White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Anna and Colette might be identical twins but not in personality. Anna is an all-action adrenaline junkie, socially inept, prone to blurting out everything she's thinking, happiest in flat shoes and jeans. Colette is sophisticated and elegant, measured, and easily mistaken for a model.

Anna is getting married to Darius (see Code of Honor, a small beach affair with a few friends and family at her parents' home in Rockport, Massachusetts.

Colette is dating the millionaire Sterling Gray, which is a bit awkward because she only got close to him originally to distract him while Anna broke into his father's vault and stole a painting which belonged to their mother. They've got over that but their relationship is still very formal, very polite, they only see each other once a week. Despite that Colette really likes him, but is he ready to meet her bohemian (swims naked in the sea every day) mother and spend time in close company with her zany sister? She might love them both but they don't strike her as the sort of people Sterling would want to spend time with. Colette aims to avoid the awkwardness by not inviting Sterling to Rockport but instead hosting a dazzling engagement party in the city for Anna and Darius, which is much more to Sterling's taste.

For a novella this packs a heck of a punch.

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