Jane Litte's Blog, page 127

REVIEW: Ruby’s Christmas Gifts by Nancy Oswald

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Its Christmas time in 1896 Cripple Creek, Colorado, and Ruby May Oliver and her donkey, Maude, roam the streets in search of Maudes missing foal. Along the way, Ruby comes upon four people in need of giftsgifts she discovers she can give. This gentle tale, enhanced by the evocative illustrations of Nathaniel Jensen, is a great read-aloud or independent read for grades 2 thru 4. Readers who have enjoyed the antics and adventures of Ruby May Oliver and her donkey, Maude, through the...

REVIEW: Criminal Past by Gregory Ashe

Readers please note: The following review contains spoilers both for this book and for some of the other books in Gregory Ashes Hazard and Somerset gay mysteries. If you want to avoid spoilers, do not read further in this post and check out my review of book one, Pretty Pretty Boys.

Trigger warnings:

Spoiler: Show

child rape, violence, homophobic slurs, fat shaming.

Content warnings:

Spoiler: Show

on-page torture, child in jeopardy, violence

Dear Gregory Ashe,

So this one wasnot good. I...

REVIEW: Mangos and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera

Kiskeya Burgos left the tropical beaches of the Dominican Republic with a lot to prove. As a pastry chef on the come up, when she arrives in Scotland, she has one goal in mind: win the Holiday Baking Challenge. Winning is her opportunity to prove to her family, her former boss, and most importantly herself, she can make it in the culinary world. Kiskeya will stop at nothing to win, that is, if she can keep her eyes on the prize and off her infuriating teammate’s perfect lips.

Sully Morales, ho...

REVIEW: The Play by Elle Kennedy

Dear Elle Kennedy:

This is the third of four books in the Briar U series; I gave the first a B+ and the second a B-. This book pairs one of the hockey players from the first two books, Hunter Davenport, with a new character, Demi Davis.

Hunter had a crush on the heroine of the first book, Summer, and when she ended up choosing his roommate Colin over him, Hunter didn’t take it well. He dealt with his disappointment by drinking and screwing his way the first two books. At the end of the second b...

REVIEW: Ten Things I Hate About the Duke: Difficult Dukes by Loretta Chase

This time, who’s taming whom…

Cassandra Pomfret holds strong opinions she isn’t shy about voicing. But her extremely plain speaking has caused an uproar, and her exasperated father, hoping a husband will rein her in, has ruled that her beloved sister can’t marry until Cassandra does.

Now, thanks to a certain wild-living nobleman, the last shreds of Cassandra’s reputation are about to disintegrate, taking her sister’s future and her family’s good name along with them.

The Duke of Ashmont’s look...

REVIEW: Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir

When the witch built the forty-flight tower, she made very sure to do the whole thing properly. Each flight contains a dreadful monster, ranging from a diamond-scaled dragon to a pack of slavering goblins. Should a prince battle his way to the top, he will be rewarded with a golden sword—and the lovely Princess Floralinda.

But no prince has managed to conquer the first flight yet, let alone get to the fortieth.

In fact, the supply of fresh princes seems to have quite dried up.

And winter is c...

REVIEW: Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis

Ori’s holidays are an endless series of elaborately awful meals cooked by her one-time stepfather Dave’s latest bride. Attended by a loose assemblage of family, Ori particularly dreads Grandma Elving—grandmother of Dave’s fourth wife—and her rhapsodizing about the Christmas she worked at Woolworth’s in the 1950s. And, of course, she hates being condescended to by beautiful, popular Sloane and her latest handsome pre-med or pre-law boyfriend.

But this Christmas is different. Sloane’s latest ca...

REVIEW: Archangel’s Sun by Nalini Singh

Dear Nalini Singh,

In Archangel’s War, the last book in your Guild Hunter series, Illium’s father, the archangel Aegaeon, awoke from Sleeping. His return caused a seismic shift in Illium’s mother, Sharine, otherwise known as the Hummingbird. After centuries spent in emotional pain and in and out of a fog, with little left to hold on to, Sharine was seized by anger at Aegeaon and it snapped her back to reality. Sharine, considered angelkind’s greatest artist, even took over the running of Lumia, ...

REVIEW: The Hidden Moon: A Lotus Palace Mystery (The Lotus Palace Mysteries Book 4) by Jeannie Lin

A well-bred lady and lowly street hustler team up in a historical murder mystery set during China’s glittering Tang Dynasty. Part of the best-selling Lotus Palace series.

Impetuous and well-educated, young Lady Bai has always been the forgotten daughter between two favored sons. However, when Wei-wei’s older brother is tasked with investigating a high-profile assassination, he turns to his clever younger sister for assistance.

Gao is a street-wise scoundrel with a checkered past and a shady re...

REVIEW: Thanksgiftings: Six Short Stories Celebrating the Season by Linda Mooney

BARNEY – She looked forward everyday for him to come by. Then came the one day when he didn’t.

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE – All it took was one missing ingredient to melt the heart of a lonely old man.

AN EXPLOSIVE COMBINATION – In a post-apocalyptic future, a group of survivors reminisce about their first Thanksgiving after that climactic event.

THE LEG – Doug was determined to have turkey legs for his Thanksgiving dinner. He never planned on getting so much more.

THE WISHBONE – A grandfather finds...