Vanessa’s
Comments
(group member since Jun 15, 2017)
Vanessa’s
comments
from the Read, Reading, Planning to Read and More group.
Showing 341-360 of 1,372
For the historical readers... Has anyone, (Lisa?), read Phillippa Gregorys' Fairmile series yet? I have the first book, Tidelands
in my wish list and the second book, Dark Tides
came out today. I used to love her writing and have gotten away from it for a while. I can't believe that I have an ARC for Ten Things I Hate About the Duke
by Loretta Chase in my Netgalley shelf and I didn't know that I was awarded it. I have until Dec. 1st to read and review it.ETA... The Awakening
by Nora Roberts, also came out today.
Carol and other fans of the Alex Verus series, Forged
came out today. I finished a WWII era story, The Beantown Girls.
It started out a little bit pat, all of the usual tropes, bad at their jobs, bad at driving, etc, etc. But eventually the story became better and the writing improved. I would probably rate it a 3.5- 4*read. There are a couple of things that I'm not sure actually occurred or were around yet at the time of the story, and they knocked me out of the story a bit. The narrator was reasonably good but needed a better accent for some of the characters.
I just want to wish Doug a very Happy Birthday! I hope that your day is a wonderful one! :-)
Melindeeloo wrote: "I think this series is one of the hot-flash paranormal series that started earlier in the year and I enjoyed this episode Magical Midlife Invasion - her parents come to visit and th..."Melindeeloo... I think that the KF Breene books are my favorites of the Paranormal Women's fiction series. I like you title much better! :-)
I haven't been reading much lately, I have been too busy and at night I feel like watching all of the series that I haven't had a chance and watch yet.
I am almost done with both A Stitch in Time
and a cheap or free WW2 book, The Beantown Girls
.
HappyBookWorm.... I haven't peeked at the end of a book since I was a teen. (Which was quite some time ago). Did you know that the upcoming anthology Under a Winter Sky
Has a Bronwyn story in it? I pre-ordered it for that reason. Which Balogh series are you talking about? Her Survivor's Club series? I've listened to a few of those but I am a book or 2 behind. Also, Kelley Armstrong also has a collection of 4 stories, (which were previously published and/or on her website) that are all scary reads for $.99/US. Dreaming Darkness: Volume One
She is going to publish more of these each year near Halloween. I saw that Kim Harrison has a pre-order up for The Hollows Book #15. I thought that the last book was a one-off but I guess that she is going to continue this series. Million Dollar Demon will be out next June. I think that it will have something to do with Bis, her happy house gargoyle. I used to gobble these up, but after the incident with her love(r), it became not that important to read as soon as they were published. I haven't even read book #14, American Demon.
I'm still on a Winston Brothers listen.
Happy Book Worm..."is life worth living without tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers?" That would sure limit my food intake. I love to add tomatoes or colorful peppers to a meal.
On the reading front... I have been reading Kelley Armstrong's A Stitch in Time
It's beautifully written and the h's (Bronwyn's), home complete with ghosts and specters sounds wonderful. But.. for some reason I want to just jump to the end. I want the answers not to meander around to get to them. I guess that I am just antsy in general. On audio I have been listening to the last books in Penny Reid's Winston Bothers series. (They are the only thing that I have found to listen to in Audible's Plus Catalog). Beard with Me.
I have had this particular book for some time, so I picked up book 7, (the conclusion if you will to the Billy/Scarlet love story) and A Beardy Bonus: Bonus and deleted scenes from the Winston Brothers Series
Lisa.. J.R. Ward has a new book coming out next June, Claimed
It is available for pre-order. I hope it is the story of one of the prisoners from The Jackal
I really liked his character.
Ilona Andrews has an excerpt of the revised first chapter of Blood Heir. I like it very much, her mission is made clear instead of the bits and pieces that we were trying to gather together in the online posts. https://ilona-andrews.com/featured-re...
I'm not sure if anyone here is interested into the "Western Romance" type of books but free on KU is a 3 author collection of 25 books. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M45KW8B?...
I just got a newsletter from one of the author collectives Fresh Book Deals and the author TS Paul passed away recently too. I quote..."Scott (TS Paul) published in The Kurtherian Gambit universe. Anyone remember the Alpha Class series?"
I know that there are fans of the Kutherian Gambit series here.
Because of the political tempest that has been brewing here in the States, I have been trying to read "sweet" books. I have been listening to the latest of the Virgin River series, Return to Virgin River.
It is book 21! I can't believe that, wow it sure doesn't seem like that many.
Kristi.. It's really bad that I only had a little more than an hour on one of the books, and the other book is the finale for the series.
Wow the irony of meeting her husband at a convention on Halloween weekend and her dying 29 years later on Halloween weekend is just too much. My heart goes out to her family friends and fans. She was a very nice woman and was a part of a meet and greet at the Dallas RT. She was pleasant and that big smile was how I remember her.
On an unrelated note, unfortunately I didn't get to finish two of my titles on audible Escape before they yanked it. I guess that I finally got my answer, yes they will disappear from your actual downloaded library on November 1st. It is not on KU or in their new "Plus" catalog. Sadly, I haven't seen anything that I liked in Plus. Typical take something that everyone loves and mess with it until it stinks!
Melindeeloo wrote: "I've been working my way through Lyndsay Buroker's Death Before Dragons series (Sinister Magic). I just finished the 4th book and think the series is pretty decent. It's KU and I th..."I just finished that series too. (Death Before Dragons). I am very happy that there will be more, I felt like it needs a bit more explaining, (view spoiler) These are great books and free on KU to boot!
I have been trying to listen to my Audible Escape books before they take them back in November.
Nora Roberts has a new fantasy book coming out November 24th, The Awakening
As Doug and some others here will attest to, she has written a pretty good fantasy series in the past and this one seems to have potential. The annual Christmas Chronicles of St Mary's short story is up for pre-order. The Ordeal of the Haunted Room
Before LAB posted about the Mercy Thompson book, I added The Ippos King
to the Goodreads fantasy Choice Awards just because I wanted to throw a different book into the mix.
For the Veronica Speedwell series fans, book 6 An Unexpected Peril is up for pre-order. It will be out on 3/2/2021. Also, if you haven't read the Lady Julia Grey novellas, Lady Julia Grey Mysteries will be out 12/7/2020.
TINNGG... I think that is an unwritten rule, if you have all of the books of a series, then you have to read said series! ;-) I once read in Yankee Magazine that there is an old fashioned way to clean oriental rugs by laying them in the snow. I don't recall all of the steps but it did seem to make sense when I read it.
I went through all of the books and I haven't read any of them. I haven't even heard of most of them and I read about books online, in the paper, (occasionally), and in different magazines. Where did they come from? Did they take the first books that had more than 2 votes? I can't believe that none of the boks that I have read this year are in the fantasy category.
I have been reading Lindsay Buroker's entire Death Before Dragons series, (so far). I am on book 6, Storm Forged
and I think that I will be very sad when it is over. The sarchasm and witty comments make me laugh. The fighting is realistic, there isn't one fight where the heroine doesn't get some kind of injury. I like the enemies to friends relationship that Val and Zav have. I like the slowburn and the non-stop action. Thank you to whomever posted that this series was free on KU. I was meaning to read them and had forgotten all about them. On audio, I am still listening to The Rising series by Kristen Ashley. I am on book 3, The Dawn of the End
. I haven't had much time to listen to these lately. Does anyone know if you have books downloaded to your listening device, if they will disappear when the Audible Escape feature disappears next week? I asked the question on their Q & A but I didn't receive an answer. I have to admit, I'm not liking their new "Audible Plus" catalog. I'm sad to see the Audible Escape feature disappear.
Douglas wrote: "Whoops, found an ARC I should have read back in September but it looks goodBeauty Tempts the Beast"
Doug how is it? I used to read Lorraine Heath all of the time.
For the Chronicles of St Mary' readers, the pre-order is up for book # 12 Another Time, Another Place. It sounds kind of bad for Max, not sure that I want her to go in that direction, again! https://smile.amazon.com/Another-Time...
Just a little thorn in my paw... Why is the second book in the Chronicles spin-off Time Police more money that the first book in the series and the 12th book in the Chronicles of St Mary's? It irks me when they play around with the pricing. Does it cost more to do the kindle edition of Hard Time
this year than it will next year? I like that they are reasonably priced @ $4.99 to $5.99 U.S. But Hard Time is $8.99. Are we going by page count now?
Lisa... Yes I did read that one. I liked it and it's potential, but it was a slow action story until the last 1/3 or so. The main character is an unusual sort, and I think that there is a possibly good series there, but I felt that there was a drag to the story. Liobhan seems like her mother, and I did like the investigative bend to the story. Let me know what you think about her brother after you finish this book. I think that I loved the Blackthorn and Grimm stories because they rose from such a terrible place to find their own way of life and finally their happiness.
Demetra... I'm also worried, but on the other hand, I haven't seen any posts from Julia Quinn that they have only the "licensing" to use the characters she created. (True Blood comes to mind). It appears that they are going to actually replicate the books. I sincerely hope so! I would be so disappointed if they didn't. I finished a couple of books these last few days. I read Born Magic: The Diary of Scarlett Bernard
This is written like Scarlett is writing in a diary about having a child to be read at a later date by another null, Corry, who is in her late teens, (19?). It also chronicles her relationship with Jesse and her discovery of a very potent plant that can kill werewolves. Jesse has become her partner in every way, and it is nice to see Scarlett has help and love. Her daughter, Annie, is basically an eating, sleeping, and pooing machine, (Like all newborns are), except she has the potential to be a very powerful witch and Scarlett is always on her guard for any trace of her magic.
You get a couple of cameos with the others on the Old World Council of LA, some of the characters from previous books, and a few scenes with Eli and some of the other werewolves. Scarlett and Eli come to somewhat of an accord. Lots of people didn't like the format, (a diary), but I thought that it was fine.
I have been trying to catch up with the next books in the multi-author Paranormal Women's fiction series, I Magical Midlife Dating: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel
. This has to be one of my favorites in this series. There is a cast of paranormal social misfits all trying to support the chosen heir to Ivy House, Jessie, (Jacinta) but all are all kind of rejects. In the first book, Jessie chose to accept Ivy House and all of the magic that it contains. She originally thought that she was going to be the caretaker of an old house that she had visited with a friend and enjoyed as a child. She had no magic, (a "Jane"), and knew that she had experienced a few quirky things in the house as a kid. Now she is magically charged and is slowly learning all that the original owner had put into the house, except one thing, she can't access her wings. I won't say what kind of magical creature that she is but there are a lot of funny incidents in the attempt to coax her wings out. There are, of course, dark mages who are trying to capture Jessie and they very nearly do a couple of times. I like the humor in these and I think that K.F. Breene does a fine job with this 40 something year old theme. I can't wait for the next book to come out next month, Magical Midlife Invasion
I also tried another author in this series and while not written as a funny story, it was a great take on a "witch" town and women drawing on their strengths. Grace is the typical woman in this series, Husband left 40 something year old wife for a younger model. She is a realtor and has to go to the competition for a job. She is hired on the condition that she sells three haunted properties. She has a couple of friends that she has known for most of her life, and they form her tiny coven. I believe that the next books will be about those women and their bond to get through anything that life throws at them. It was a fast and pretty good read. Witching For Grace.
