Jane Litte's Blog, page 14

REVIEW: Vixen (Forbidden Pleasures Book 1) by Jade Lee

Zhi Hao has one goal: to pass the imperial exam, and eventually become a magistrate. That will get him the salary to support his parents and sisters. Eventually, he wants a wife and children, but not now. So, he is completely unprepared when a mystical fox spirit, in the shape of a beautiful woman, comes to seduce him. One night’s weakness might end his bright future, and yet he is unable to resist.

Ling Xin is no vixen. She’s a woman competing to become Empress of China. She knows everything ...

Review: Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer

A lightsome, brightsome comedy.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Nimble, light-hearted chronicle of high London society in the time of the Regency.” —The New Yorker

Georgette Heyer’s sparkling romances have charmed and delighted millions of readers. Her characters brilliantly illuminate one of the most exciting and fascinating eras of English history—when drawing rooms sparkled with well-dressed nobility and romantic intrigues ruled the day. Heyer’s heroines are smart and independent; her heroes are dashing no...

REVIEW: Pets and the City: True Tales of a Manhattan House Call Veterinarian by Amy Attas

New York City’s premier “house call veterinarian” takes you into the exclusive penthouses and four-star hotel rooms of the wealthiest New Yorkers and shows that, when it comes to their pets, they are just as neurotic as any of us.

When a pet is sick, people—even the rich and famous—are at their most authentic and vulnerable. They could have a Monet on the wall and an Oscar on the shelf, but if their cat gets a cold, all they want to talk about are snotty noses and sneezing fits. That’s when ...

REVIEW: The Five-Year Lie by Sarina Bowen

I’ve enjoyed so many Bowen romances over the years – a number of college hockey books and then professional hockey books. (Hockey is my least favorite of the Big 4 of American sports, but somehow it’s 99% of of my sports-related romance reading. Go figure.) I’ve also read a couple that weren’t hockey-related. When I heard she had a new suspense book, I snapped it up.

I would say The Five-Year Lie is more of a romance/suspense hybrid, told in a split timeline and with most of the romance content...

REVIEW: Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs

Advice to Readers: Do yourself a favour and re-read at least the last 30-40 pages (if not the whole book) of Soul Taken before diving in to Winter Lost. You’ll thank me. Also, for more Easter egg enjoyment, I recommend reading/re-reading Grey from the Shifting Shadows anthology before this one as well.

Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for the previous book in the Mercyverse, Soul Taken, follow.

 

Dear Patricia Briggs,

I hadn’t realised it’s been more than a year since Soul Taken came out. Turns out, it...

Review: Spook Street (Slough House Book 4) by Mick Herron

What happens when an old spook loses his mind? Does the Service have a retirement home for those who know too many secrets but don’t remember they’re secret? Or does someone take care of the senile spy for good?

These are the paranoid concerns of David Cartwright, a Cold War–era operative and one-time head of MI5 who is sliding into dementia, and questions his grandson, River, must figure out answers to now that the spy who raised him has started to forget to wear pants. But River, himself an a...

Jayne’s Early Summer Children’s Reading List

[image error] Dog vs. Strawberry by Nelly Buchet

A dog and a strawberry find themselves nose to stem in this hilarious picture book that’s perfect for dog lovers. An epic battle ensues—who will come out on top?

Welcome to the Greatest Race of All Time!
Give it up for our reigning champion, the one-and-only DOG!
And let’s have a hand for her opponent: the formidable STRAW-BER-RYYYY!

When Dog is handed a strawberry from the fruit bowl, she sizes it up, dances around it, and decides she is going to race the St...

REVIEW: One of a Kind by Jane Lovering

A long-held secret, and a beautiful heart hoping to be understood.
Cressida Tarbet loves her job at an animal rescue centre, even if it means she’s resigned herself to scrimping to make ends meet – a lifestyle far removed from her best friend Ivo’s, in his ancestral gatehouse stuffed with antiques and art.

But although their upbringings were different, Ivo has held Cress’s heart ever since she clapped eyes on him at university. The trouble is – she has never told him. So, when a mystery and a ...

REVIEW: The Phoenix Ballroom by Ruth Hogan

From the wildly popular bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things: a heartfelt and inspiring story about a wealthy widow who revives a beloved famous local landmark—and restores joy and sparkle to her own life in the process.

It’s never too late to start dancing again…

For fifty years, Venetia Hargreaves’s world revolved around her husband. She built their life around his big career, with dinner on the table at six, a lovely home, and a dutiful son just as business-minded as his father...

REVIEW: Margo’s Got Money Troubles: A Novel by Rufi Thorpe

A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman’s attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world …

As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet’s always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English ...