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A To Z Book Review: White Hot Kiss By Jennifer L. Armentrout

My letter “W” pick for the A to Z Challenge was WHITE HOT KISS by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I’ve made no secret that I adore this author. She’s got a huge following in Romantasy and Contemporary Romance, but this is one of her earlier works and is targeted at YA (though it is slightly on the line of spicy by YA standards).

Layla has the typical problem of most magical teen protagonists – she just wants to be like every other teen she knows. Most of these are made up of Wardens, magical demon-hunting people who can shift into literal stone gargoyles when they fight or need to rest. Layla is an orphan who was raised by a clan of Wardens, as he herself is half Warden. The problem arises shortly after her seventeenth birthday, when the other half of her heritage starts drawing demonic attention, including that of a really hot demon prince named Roth. Layla discovers that her mother is none other than the powerful demon Lilith (something her Warden clan knew but never told her) and as the only half-warden, half-demon in existence, there are several factions in hell that find her valuable.

With the help of Roth, and to a lesser degree, her best friend/unrequited love interest – a Warden named Zayne (who of course, is set to be a part of a very messy love triangle), Layla begins the quest to learn about her demon and Warden legacies and what the fallout of her conception means for mankind. We only to scratch the surface of all the various cover-ups and lies in this book. Roth the demon prince carries a powerful attraction – and knows a lot more of the truth about the Wardens – than Layla had anticipated. The chemistry between these two is sizzling, despite Layla’s initial longing for Zayne, whom she can never have because if Layla kisses anyone with a soul, her demon instincts take over and compel her to consume it.

All in all, this book had rich world-building, fully-fleshed out characters, and left on a cliffhanger that perfectly sets up book two of this series. It was a fast read, a little predictable and filled with teen angst, but a good story overall. Four stars.

I Made The Move To Bluesky

So I finally dumped Twitter/X and made the move to Bluesky. Follow me there or on any of my social media sites.

A To Z Book Review: The Vine Witch By Luanne G. Smith

My letter “V” pick for the A to Z Book challenge was THE VINE WITCH by Luanne G. Smith. I wanted to like this book more, I really did. It has a wonderful gothic feel at the start, and beginning a book with the protagonist as a toad is definitely intriguing. From there, the story sort-of dragged for me as Elena, our young witch emerges from a seven year curse and begins the journey to find out who cursed her to get her revenge.

The story meandered and it felt like the author couldn’t decide if it was historical fiction, fantasy, YA, or a gothic horror story. The romance between Elena and her love interest was slow and without much substance until it suddenly accelerated out of nowhere with minimal chemistry. I did like that Elena wasn’t a stereotypical heroic protagonist, and the prose in this book was rich and lush and perfectly suited to the story. The ending, however, lacked credibility and overall, I have no real urge to move on to book two. Three and a half stars.

A To Z Book Review: The Upside Down Christmas by Kate Forster

My letter “U” pick for the A to Z Challenge was THE UPSIDE DOWN CHRISTMAS by Kate Forster. This was a very quick and easy read with no real surprises. Marlo is a British girl living in Sydney with a gorgeous, funny, caring, and supportive flatmate named Alex. It’s December, and she’s being ghosted by her current boyfriend, so Alex (who coincidentally has a girlfriend that’s just not working out for him) tries to distract her by showing her all the fun to be had celebrating Christmas down under. Along the way, they – surprise! – discover they’re both better off ditching their current romances and acknowledging what they have with each other.

The story was simple, and the only thing really “Christmas” about it was the fact that it was December, otherwise, the holiday wasn’t much of a focus in the book. Marlo was a bland sort of girl, and the author made very sure that within the first chapter of the story we knew she liked Alex more than her jerk boyfriend – a boyfriend who strangely never liked her handsome, charming, empathetic male roommate. Go figure.

There was a bit of a subplot with Marlo helping a sick friend that pulled at the heartstrings, but this was an otherwise very predictable, slow-paced, closed door romance. The story was pleasant enough but I would have loved more development on the characters and plot. Three stars.

A To Z Book Review: The Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

My letter “T” pick for the A to Z Challenge was THINGS WE NEVER GOT OVER by Lucy Score. I had the privilege to meet Lucy face-to-face at a local bookstore event earlier this year, plus a book show or two afterward, and she was one of the nicest, most genuine people you will ever meet. She’s a local celebrity in my area and breathing the same air with her was a serious pinch-me-I’m-dreaming kinda thing.

That being said – I shamefully admit this was my first Lucy Score book (it’s been on my TBR for ages) and holy cow what a book it was. I adored Naomi, the runaway bride with the evil identical twin who decided to wreck her life and leave her stranded in the awesome little town of Knockemout, Virginia with the eleven year old daughter her twin never told her about.

When she battles the gorgeous town grump, Knox, over mistaken identity with her terrible twin, the sparks fly and set fire to everything around them. The chemistry between these two is riveting, and the banter is second to none. Every one of their interactions was *chef’s kiss* delicious.

Add to that her growing love for her newly found niece, Knox’s family who swoops in to adopt and enfold her, and a small town full of memorable, quirky characters that embrace her, and you have a formula for a book full of heart, humor, and loads of heat. Lucy doesn’t hold back on the spice – which I loooove.

Throw in the main love interest’s handsome, heroic brother and his gorgeous and mysterious rich friend, and you’ve got yourself a trilogy – and Lucy Score has herself a new avid fan. I’m giving this 4 1/2 stars only because the three sexy dangerous hunks took out the bad guy and somehow let him get away despite their often alluded to skilled deadly dangerous-ness and one of them being armed. It set up book two I’m sure, but it strained credulity. The ending also wound up a little to quick and neat for me. I would have loved more buildup to the danger and a solid heart-to-heart between the sisters. Other than that, a perfect, romance.

A To Z Book Review: Sword Catcher By Cassandra Clare

My letter “S” pick for the A To Z Challenge was SWORD CATCHER by Cassandra Clare, one of my all-time favorite authors. I have not only enjoyed but downright loved every single book in her Shadowhunters world, and there are a lot of them, so when she decided to step out of that world and create a new one, I was more than happy to take that trip with her.

While she did indeed create a magnificent world in the city state of Castellane, I found it to be a bit too long-windedly magnificent. I am blown away how this woman creates such rich and detailed worlds, cultures, and customs – the fact that she’s done it twice is worth applauding, but she overdid it on this one. The book was an extremely slow read for at least the first half due to pages upon pages of excessive descriptions of castles, hovels, clothing, ceremonial banners, dinners, etc. It was like reading George R.R. Martin on amphetamines. I love me some good world building but when it slows your plot to a crawl and doesn’t let your main characters get to what needs to happen at a good pace, a red pen should be used, and frequently, by an editor.

Still, Kel, our orphan-turned-decoy-for-the-prince, and Conor, the prince who must be protected form a heartwarming and intriguing friendship despite the fact that one will spend and end his life dying for the other. Lin, our female main character, wants to be a doctor despite it being unheard of for someone like her, which of course, means she’s going to find a way to do it anyway. When a failed assassination attempt throws her together with Conor and Kel, the plot finally begins rolling slowly forward, and gains just enough momentum to keep you interested before it ends and you have to wait for book two. I can’t really get into too much more without spoilers, but the characters, as always with Cassandra Clare, are beautifully fleshed out and flawed and the interactions between them are often captivating and intense.

It’s a good book, but a long one when it didn’t need to be and would have been better in a more compact version. Three and a half stars on this one.

A To Z Book Review: RIVERWORLD by Philip Jose Farmer

My letter “R” pick for the A to Z Book Challenge was RIVERWORLD by Philip Jose Farmer. This book was a recommendation from a friend with the endorsement of this isn’t your usual sci-fi story. It most definitely is not.

The premise of Riverworld is this: Sir Richard Francis Burton, a prominent English explorer (look him up if you need to) dies and discovers the afterlife is not what he expected. He finds himself instead lying on the bank of an enormous river, bald, naked as the day he was born, and clutching a metal bowl attached to his wrist. Here is where it gets really fascinating. All humankind, even proto-humans, are reborn into Riverworld at about twenty-five years of age, regardless of how young or old they were at death. The metal bowl is known as a grail, and three times a day, objects known as grailstones dispense food, toiletries, and even things like cigarettes, alcohol, and hallucinogenic gum known as dream gum. Riverworld is a massive construction, and the river loops around the planet beginning and ending its loop at the north pole. There is no disease. no animals other than fish, a temperate climate everywhere, and a complete lack of metallic ore other than meteorites, which are incredibly rare.

In his travels along the river, Burton meets a wide variety of people, including several historical figures, the most entertaining and well fleshed-out being Mark Twain, who becomes an integral part of the story. There are hundreds of kingdoms and fiefdoms, power struggles, wars, and even slavery – forcing others to give their filled grails to their masters. The most expedient way to travel seems to be suicide, as it merely regurgitates you somewhere else along the river at random. There’s a limit, however, of 777 deaths before it happens for good.

The world building in this book was incredibly detailed and immersive, and the premise is so utterly unique it quickly drew me in. That being said, for every single human throughout recorded time inhabiting this world, Burton seems to run into more historical celebrities than seems credible. Also the mysterious “Ethicals” who created this mass experiment in humanity have very little presence in the book, and very few humans seem to have much curiosity about them. The story concentrated so much on the interactions of the human characters but I really wanted a good mix of that and reveals about the creation and purpose of this crazy, captivating world. There just wasn’t enough of that for me. This is book one of a series, so maybe the reveals come book-by-book, but the vagueness in this one left me wanting. I’m going three stars for a fantastic premise that meandered a bit too much.

A To Z Book Review: The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

This was a hard read. Not because it was poorly written, mind you, but because of the subject matter. Anytime you deal with child rape and murder, it’s a difficult thing that needs to be handled in a way that builds suspense and evokes emotion without overly sensationalizing the story. Add in the additional elements of multiple child rapes/murders, rampant cover-ups, unsolved cases, a town full of really awful people in charge, and the complication level ramps up exponentially.

This book is based on the true-life crimes known at the St. Cloud Quarry murders, which took place in St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1977. Mary and Susanne Reker were sisters, ages 15 and 12 respectively. They went missing in early September of that year, and their bodies were found, nude and stabbed at the local quarry later that same month. Told in alternating points of view (though mostly from the view of their teenage friend, Heather), this story is a twisting, turning mass of subplots and heart-wrenching and horrific revelations. This town was a terrible place to live with multiple pedophiles and multiple serial killers both residing in town and passing through. This is a story that as a parent will eat you alive with dread and keep you up at night. Most especially because it’s true. Look up the news reports – all of this actually happened, even though you can’t (or don’t want to) believe it did.

Jess Lourey’s telling of the story is masterful, but the plot twists and subplots were overlayed and intertwined to the point of leaving me confused and re-reading here and there. This was one hell of a story – but God almighty, I wish I’d never read it. Four stars.

A To Z Book Review: Poison Study By Maria V. Snyder

My letter “P” pick for the A to Z book challenge was POISON STUDY (The Chronicles of Ixia, 1) by Maria V. Snyder. I had the pleasure of meeting Maria (and attending one of her workshops) at the Pennwriters conference this year, and grabbed one of her books from the bookstore. Of course, I grabbed book two. So I got ahold of book one and was promptly whisked away to an amazing world in an intricate plot.

Yelena (our protagonist) is currently emaciated, filthy, and rotting in a dungeon after murdering her rapist/abuser. She’s dragged out – she assumes – to finally head for the gallows only to be offered a reprieve: she will be given a room at the palace, clothing, and food, but she has to take the job of becoming the Commander’s personal food tester. She agrees and is now thrown into the care of Valek, the Commander’s head of security, who trains her thoroughly on all sorts of poisons so that she can properly recognize them. In addition, he secretly poisons her as well, forcing her to get the antidote from him daily if she wants to stay alive. This, of course, ends all hope of escape.

Meanwhile, the father of her former abuser (and a general) wants her dead, she has enemies at the palace, and despite their rocky beginning, she and Valek start gravitating toward each other. To add even more to the whirlwind, Yelena is involved in a conspiracy, and she begins developing frightening new magical powers. This story is a twisting, turning rollercoaster ride that will leave you breathless and waiting to see what’s lurking around every turn all the way to the not-quite-so-happily-ever-after. I’m so very glad I already have book two!

Yelena is a fierce and clever protagonist and Valek is a hard-ass with a heart of gold (I was getting serious Chaol and Celaena vibes from the early books in Sarah J. Maas’s THRONE OF GLASS series). The world building and culture were lush and intricate, but a bit too much of an info dump at times. I found myself having to go back in places, particularly early on, to review and refresh details. For that reason, I’m giving 4 1/2 stars (really it’s more like 4 3/4). An intriguing and immersive YA (that reads more like NA) story.

A to Z Book Review: One For The Money

My letter “O” pick for the A to Z Book challenge was ONE FOR THE MONEY by Janet Evanovich.

Janet Evanovich is a writing superstar, NY Times bestselling author over and over, and a total badass. Along with that, she’s goes above and beyond to help other authors – especially those that are new to the craft. I adore her. I don’t, however, read her. I confess I’m not a big mystery fan (I always skip to the end after a few chapters in), but the whole point of this challenge is to stretch and read outside my normal picks, and this first book of the wildly popular Stephanie Plum mystery/crime series seemed like an ideal pick.

Stephanie Plum is an instantly engaging down-on-her-luck protagonist who just got laid off, needs to pay rent, and is desperate enough to take work as a bail bondsperson working for her cousin. Her target is a cop who was accused of murder – a cop she grew up with, once had a fling with in high school with, and a jerk who never called her after.

She’s snarky, plucky, and generally good fun, but I had a really hard time with her being so smart at times, and then doing really stupid things (like hanging around the area near a gym where a prizefighter came precariously close to raping her). Along with that, when the prizefighter finds her home address and comes to find her (along with leaving some rather disgusting DNA on her door when he can’t seem to get her to let him in), she just shrugs it off and doesn’t bother filing a police report or anything. Along with that, she was sexually molested as a kid by none other than the cop she’s after – a man she still holds a torch for despite all he’s done to and with her. It should be noted he was also a child at the time of the assault (though a bit older), but still. I had such a case of ick over it it cast a pall over the story for me.

Other than that, the plot was masterfully executed, and Stephanie was nearly, nearly a hilarious, lovable character I wanted to see more of. This may be thousands of reader’s cup of tea, but I’m not one of them. Three stars.