Books 10-14
Apr. 8th, 2020 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavendersparkWith the shelter-in-place order we're currently under, my reading had increased a bit again. And as usual, I'm terrible at writing them down in a timely fashion, so here's a book dump.
eBooks:
Evie has lived most of her life as a recluse, terrified that she might hurt someone. On her twenty-first birthday she meets Derek who informs her there’s a reason behind her gifts.
As someone that had to spend her entire life avoiding human contact, learning the truth about her origins as one of the Four Horsemen was a hard pill to swallow. Especially once she realizes that her fellow Horsemen are the only people she’d ever met that can withstand her touch.
The struggle to overcome her seclusion becomes very real when Evie discovers an attraction has sprung up between herself and one of her fellow Horsemen. Nothing good can come from pursuing the allure, especially when she knows that it not only would jeopardize her team, but her heart as well. I liked the idea of the four horsemen as actual people with supernatural powers. I went into it thinking it was a reverse harem, so I was mildly disappointed, lol. But it turned out ok, though I was irritated by the jealousy, it seemed overly dramatic and went on too long.
I was burned at the stake when I was fourteen...
I was drowned in a lake when I was twenty-four...
At twenty-seven, I was stoned in a public square...
Maxima Alcado has died a hundred times in a hundred different ways, usually at the hands of the humans she tries to save. But when this centuries-old Witch helps the wrong person, things go horribly wrong.
Max might just die in a way that sticks.
Permanently. Overall, this was an interesting story, but the continuity was off. I found myself confused a lot while reading and with it being on my Kindle, flipping back to the beginning isn't easy. Maybe it sorts itself out later on in the series, I don't know.
One wedding, two best men, one hell of a love story!
Declan Ramsay's brother Oliver was marrying Annabelle Aiken at a fairy tale castle on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland. The bride and groom decided, so that he didn't feel left out, that Annabelle's gay younger brother could share the best man duties with Declan.
Declan had never met the kid who was to be his joint best man. Sam Aiken was abroad, working as an interpreter and finishing his studies. He wouldn't meet Declan until a few days before the wedding, so the best men communicated and planned their speech by email for more than a year. But on meeting Sam Aiken, Declan is surprised to realize the kid isn't a kid at all, but a tall, blond and athletic young man. Declan is sure he's straight, so he's alarmed by the ferocious attraction he feels for Sam. And as the attraction is reciprocated, the events at Dunloch Castle change everything Declan has ever believed about himself. But, is Samuel Aiken all that he appears to be? This is an M/M romance story. I feel like some things progress a little too quickly, but that's true of most romance stories. Overall their coming together and relationship is fun and sweet.
Fired, close to eviction, and determined not to ask anyone for help, Amaya Reynolds's last hope is a job at the local vampire blood bank. But on her first night there, she learns that blood isn't the only thing on the menu—and consent isn't always required. When dark and mysterious Vasily rides to her rescue with his four warlock roomies, she's grateful, then confused when they all insist she’s something special. But she’s not. She’s just another boring human living in Distant Edge, where supernaturals roam free. Right? This had an interesting story, though there were some clunky bits. I'm not sure why there was a need to have it start in a "blood bank"/brothel.
Paperback:
Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne’s Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox’s Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald’s The Drowner, and Donna Tartt’s A Secret History.
But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. There is killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.
To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape. I found this to be rather disappointing. I kept waiting for a twist that never happened. We know next to nothing about any of the characters, so I didn't care what happened to any of them. If the book had been any longer I probably wouldn't have finished it.
eBooks:
Evie has lived most of her life as a recluse, terrified that she might hurt someone. On her twenty-first birthday she meets Derek who informs her there’s a reason behind her gifts.
As someone that had to spend her entire life avoiding human contact, learning the truth about her origins as one of the Four Horsemen was a hard pill to swallow. Especially once she realizes that her fellow Horsemen are the only people she’d ever met that can withstand her touch.
The struggle to overcome her seclusion becomes very real when Evie discovers an attraction has sprung up between herself and one of her fellow Horsemen. Nothing good can come from pursuing the allure, especially when she knows that it not only would jeopardize her team, but her heart as well. I liked the idea of the four horsemen as actual people with supernatural powers. I went into it thinking it was a reverse harem, so I was mildly disappointed, lol. But it turned out ok, though I was irritated by the jealousy, it seemed overly dramatic and went on too long.
I was burned at the stake when I was fourteen...
I was drowned in a lake when I was twenty-four...
At twenty-seven, I was stoned in a public square...
Maxima Alcado has died a hundred times in a hundred different ways, usually at the hands of the humans she tries to save. But when this centuries-old Witch helps the wrong person, things go horribly wrong.
Max might just die in a way that sticks.
Permanently. Overall, this was an interesting story, but the continuity was off. I found myself confused a lot while reading and with it being on my Kindle, flipping back to the beginning isn't easy. Maybe it sorts itself out later on in the series, I don't know.
One wedding, two best men, one hell of a love story!
Declan Ramsay's brother Oliver was marrying Annabelle Aiken at a fairy tale castle on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland. The bride and groom decided, so that he didn't feel left out, that Annabelle's gay younger brother could share the best man duties with Declan.
Declan had never met the kid who was to be his joint best man. Sam Aiken was abroad, working as an interpreter and finishing his studies. He wouldn't meet Declan until a few days before the wedding, so the best men communicated and planned their speech by email for more than a year. But on meeting Sam Aiken, Declan is surprised to realize the kid isn't a kid at all, but a tall, blond and athletic young man. Declan is sure he's straight, so he's alarmed by the ferocious attraction he feels for Sam. And as the attraction is reciprocated, the events at Dunloch Castle change everything Declan has ever believed about himself. But, is Samuel Aiken all that he appears to be? This is an M/M romance story. I feel like some things progress a little too quickly, but that's true of most romance stories. Overall their coming together and relationship is fun and sweet.
Fired, close to eviction, and determined not to ask anyone for help, Amaya Reynolds's last hope is a job at the local vampire blood bank. But on her first night there, she learns that blood isn't the only thing on the menu—and consent isn't always required. When dark and mysterious Vasily rides to her rescue with his four warlock roomies, she's grateful, then confused when they all insist she’s something special. But she’s not. She’s just another boring human living in Distant Edge, where supernaturals roam free. Right? This had an interesting story, though there were some clunky bits. I'm not sure why there was a need to have it start in a "blood bank"/brothel.
Paperback:
Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne’s Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox’s Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald’s The Drowner, and Donna Tartt’s A Secret History.
But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. There is killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.
To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape. I found this to be rather disappointing. I kept waiting for a twist that never happened. We know next to nothing about any of the characters, so I didn't care what happened to any of them. If the book had been any longer I probably wouldn't have finished it.