Reading Fanatic Reviews
All Kindle Unlimited ReviewsNOTE: These books were in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program at the time that I posted the reviews. They may not still be in the program, as authors can opt out every 3 months. If you find a book that is no longer in the program, don’t hesitate to contact me, and I will update the review.
Beyond the Shadows by Dixie Carlton
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Beyond the Shadows*
A Unique Long-Distance Relationship
We meet Penny and Erik as they are about to embark on a unique long-distance relationship. Reminiscent of Same Time, Next Year, they plan to meet at a different location on the globe every six months while they maintain their relationship electronically in between. Penny is an Australian single mom of adult children while Erik is a forty-something-year-old who lives in Amsterdam. They initially met at a Las Vegas convention and shared an attraction, making them both want to keep in contact long distance. After 18 months of just digital communication and an occasional phone call, they decide to meet physically twice a year. During their first time together in Italy, Erik questions whether he wants to take the relationship further physically, as he has some fear of losing her as a friend.
All of this is complicated by Helena, a past former lover of Erik’s. She is the jealous sort and doesn’t appreciate him getting involved with another woman, and she is able to cause problems.
The book goes back and forth between their visits as well as the times they are at their homes. I would have liked to have seen a bit more balance in the amount of time the author spent at each of their worldwide destinations. A great deal of time was spent in Italy and England, but Fiji was only touched on briefly. Fiction is such a fun way to experience the world, and it would have been more fun to spend a longer time globe-hopping with this couple.
As in other books I’ve read by this author, there are significant issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage, though some of that may stem from her being Australian and me being an American copyeditor; I am not too sure of Australian rules for such. It was, however, a little distracting at times, though it didn’t diminish my overall enjoyment of the novel.
The book is definitely a steamy read, as they do decide to become lovers. The book has a paranormal twist that I didn’t see coming in a work that is otherwise fully grounded in this world. It is nice to be surprised when reading, though, as it doesn’t happen often, especially in romance.
This book is a very unique take on one way to approach long-distance relationships. If you enjoy steamy reads about more mature characters and don’t mind a little bit of the paranormal, you might find this to be a page-turner.
Sauce for the Gander by Jayne Davis
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Sauce for the Gander*
Forced Marriage and a Rogue Ready to Reform
This book opens dramatically with a duel between Will, the hero of the book, and a husband whom he has cuckolded. His father soon sends for him, angered by his son’s profligate ways. The earl has determined that Will will wed in the hopes of settling him down and gaining a few heirs as well as hoping to protect his younger daughters’ reputations by being besmirched by having a brother who is such a scalawag. He has arranged a marriage with a viscount’s son’s daughter, Connie. Conni has been treated more like a servant by her father, who is eager to marry her off and is quite pleased to have captured a viscount. The wedding is to take place in just a few days’ time.
The earl actually threatens Will into compliance while Connie consents because she is more afraid of what her life will be like if she refuses him. Both Will and Connie talk with the vicar and his wife about the coming nuptials. Connie, in particular, who has long been a friend of the couple, gets a lot of advice from the vicar’s wife.
I found this book to be an enjoyable read. There is dry humor throughout much of it, on both Will’s and Connie’s sides. In fact, before they even marry, I could sense—just like the vicar’s wife—that they would have much in common and get along well once they got past the initial circumstances of their forced marriage. Will, in some ways, in his cockiness reminds me of Ross Poldark. In fact, much of the book–with the secondary story around smuggling–is reminiscent of the Poldark story.
The earl had done some vetting of Connie before he agreed to the match, but he did so in front of her father, so she wasn’t entirely honest. Though she has been much put upon by her father, she is quietly willful in her own way. This is something her husband will come to appreciate.
The way that Will and Connie come to understand and better know each other was done naturally and organically. They both truly do have qualities that would appeal to the other. Connie appreciates—even if she doesn’t first fully believe—that Will is so different from her father. Will likes her intelligence, especially as she helps him manage the estate and as they try to figure out what precisely is going on in the old family house by the sea.
I found this Georgian romance to be a delight.
Here are two brief quotes to show you the dry wit in this book First, Will and his father:
The earl slammed one hand down on the desk. “You know it’s your duty to marry and get an heir, yet you have done nothing but gamble and whore your way through London since your brother died. I will wait no longer.”
That was unfair—he’d never had to pay for a lover.
And this between Constance and her father:
“Sit down, Constance. I have good news for you.”
That sounded ominous.
Soulshift by Laura Greenwood
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
Soulshift*
Soul Swapping from Arya’s Perspective
In this book, we get to see Arya’s and Tate’s soul swapping through Arya’s eyes. Arya is a vampire who has never like blood. Something always felt off to her about being a vampire and about her relationship with Sian, even though she loves her. When the soul swapping starts, Arya thinks it’s just a dream, but soon she realizes it’s real. At first, she feels like she is betraying Sian, but her relationship with Devon is giving her more of what she needs but never got with vampire lover.
Will the soul swapping continue? Will they be able to control it? Will Arya continue to fall for Devon? What’s going on with Tate and Sian? (Of course, the answer to that last one is in Soulswap!)
I’ve read all the books in this series, and I loved seeing Arya’s and Devon’s relationship from her perspective. She’s quite different from Tate. Honestly, Devon should have realized that, even though the body looked the same, the woman inside was quite distinct from what he knew before. Arya’s and Devon’s love story is sweet to follow, even though Devon has a hard time adjusting once he finally is told what is truly going on. I love that Arya/Tate could now experience life in dragon form, which Tate has never been able to do. The author did an excellent job lining up events in the two books of this trilogy that were concurrent, this one from Arya’s perspective and Soulswap from Tate’s perspective.
There were a few issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage, but that didn’t detract from the story.
Spelled by Camille Peters
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Spelled*
Unsympathetic Heroine Hinders Enjoyment of Book
As is shown in the first scene the book, Rosie isn’t the best at the baking spells she longs to do. Nevertheless, she decides the cast a culinary spell to try to attract her prince charming, who already happens to be betrothed to another woman. Her best friend is a princess, so why shouldn’t she take charge and have her own happily ever after?
Will Rosie get a spell right after all? Will she make Prince Liam fall for her? Will he be able to get out of his betrothal? What would that mean for the relations between the kingdoms the marriage was meant to unite?
The story is told from Rosie’s first-person perspective. As is unfortunately too common in books written from this point of view, there was far too much narrative prose compared to dialogue. I find it tedious to hang out in one person’s head for so long, especially when the narrator is unsympathetic. I did not find Rosie to be a character I could empathize for. She is bold to be sure, but she only thinks about herself and not about the repercussions of her actions. She comes across as spoiled and narcissistic. If this were done with some irony or humor, it would have made her and the story more palatable. However, as it stands, she was too self-absorbed as a character to make this story a good read. There were some odd wrong words as well, like “crock” of an elbow instead of “crook.”
Song of Sacrifice by Janell Rhiannon
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Song of Sacrifice*
Stunning Look at Ancient Troy from Women’s Perspectives
The book opens with a scene of Queen Hecuba of Troy having a hard time sleeping as she ponders the child she carries and the disturbing visions she’s been having of coming conflict. She also reflects on her life as one of the wives of King Priam.
What a simply stunning book! It brought to life the myths and legends of ancient Greece in a most complexly detailed way. But, unlike the way we usually hear about them, the story is not told through the eyes of the heroes. Instead, it unfolds as seen by the heroines. I would venture to say that behind every hero stands a heroine or two. This is their story. It starts just before the Fall of Troy.
The author is able to convey the thoughts, fears, and emotions of these women as they see history unfold around them a compelling way. Though we are separated from these ancient heroines by millennia, the issues they confront are universal and timeless. The author’s ability to get inside these women’s heads was amazing in its depth; it made their emotions real and their plights understandable on a deep level. This book is immersive; I felt like I was there with them, seeing what they were seeing and feeling what they were feeling. It’s rare to find an author who writes in this fashion, and it was amazing to be a part of this world. For me, this was even more powerful as this era is not one I’ve gone to often in my historical fiction reading.
There were a few issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage, but that did not detract from the story.
Diamonds & Disguises by Laina Turner
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Diamonds & Disguises*
Murder on the Back Burner
Presley’s back in Chicago after her vacation in Wisconsin, and the store is doing record business under the direction of the new staff. Presley’s barely settled in when a customer is murdered right in her store. The woman looks like she has just collapsed, but she was overdosed with insulin, apparently right in the store. Cooper’s back from New York, and it seems like he’s in Chicago to stay as he has hired a new worker who can do a lot of the legwork. But then someone breaks into Cooper’s office.
Who killed Susan in the shop? Will Presley be under investigation? Who’s the culprit at Cooper’s office?
I’ve been reading the series in order over the last couple of weeks. I found this installment a little frustrating on several levels. I was definitely happy to see Cooper back as I enjoy his and Presley’s interactions. But I felt like the mysteries took second place to relating what was going on in Presley’s life, like the time she spends with Cooper and at Silk. This book seems to have a more significant number of issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage compared to early books of the series as well as other current published fiction. Commas were hugely problematic, not being where they needed to be—like between independent clauses in a compound subject or after introductory phrases—as well as improperly used in a way which formed comma splices. A character’s name was misspelled. I am an RN, so I can state that the way she had Presley discuss insulin was not true to fact; Presley states, “I thought those injectors came in regulated doses.” Insulin is not given to a person in preset amounts like a pill (though a specific number of units is prescribed depending on need). Instead, a person would either draw up the amount from a vial or use an insulin pen, dialing up or pulling back the number of units needed. So a person with ill intent could definitely draw up and inject a lethal dose.
By the way, this book ends on a cliffhanger.
A Song Out of Time by Dixie Carlton
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A Song Out of Time*
Naive Girl Comes of Age in 1930s New Zealand
We meet Margaret, the protagonist of the story, in 1935 when she is on a ship heading from England to New Zealand just after her brother died on the journey. Margaret’s relationship with her parents is difficult at times. She starts working in New Zealand and soon moves out on her own. What will happen to an inexperienced young woman living on her own at that time?
I think it is interesting that the author chose to fictionalize the story of one of her distant relatives. She only knew a little bit about her but developed a story that touches on the struggles that women faced in that era, especially women with an independent spirit. Margaret was definitely a green girl when she came to New Zealand, and the author explores that in vivid detail. Margaret eventually gets involved with men and discovers sex, which goes on to shape her life in a variety of ways. She also becomes a singer in a jazz club.
The story is written in the first-person past. There were a couple of problems with this. First, that point of view lends itself to an excess of narrative prose versus dialog; that did happen here. Second, the author chose to write it in a style as if the narrator was telling it looking back on her life rather than as she lived it. Using this technique, the author lends the narrator a degree of omniscience about herself; the narrator comments at critical junctures, stating that they are important turning points for her. I’m not accustomed to this use of the first person, so I found the effect to be distancing for me.
This book is very steamy. When the book starts, Margaret is truly naive and innocent, but that quickly changes, and we are there every step of the way as she learns about her body and how to interact sexually with men.
The author is Australian, and I will admit that I do not know the differences between American and Australian grammar and punctuation rules. That being said, the book seemed filled with those errors, mostly revolving around commas. They were missing at the end of long introductory phrases, at the separation point between independent clauses in a compound sentence, and before the direct address of a person (along with other issues). There are also a few places where punctuation around dialogue does not look correct.
That said, I think this is a fascinating piece of women’s literature that gives us a window on a time and place that is different to our own.
Weddings & Weapons by Laina Turner
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Weddings & Weapons*
Murders in Wisconsin
Presley heads off to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, staying at one of her boutique client’s rental properties. She’s gotten a new manager at Silk, and even though Katy’s gone, Presley is able to take a little time off. She goes out to walk on the beach along Lake Michigan and what she thinks might be a big piece of driftwood is actually a dead body! Can’t she get some proper time off? She starts interacting with the locals and gets invited to a wedding. The bride discovers another dead body. What’s going on in this town? Will Presley be in danger.
I missed seeing Presley’s interactions with the familiar characters like Katy and Cooper, but it was fun to see Presley off on her own finding more trouble. I found myself wondering if the author is a Jane Austen fan, as the name of the militia compound was Wickham Place. I liked the slice-of-small-town life we get in this installment of the Presley Thurman Mystery series.
The Taboo Conversation by Dixie Maria Carlton
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The Taboo Conversation*
It Isn’t Over Until It’s Over
How to start talking about the taboo conversation! This is a guide to dating, intimacy, and sex for women over 50. The author was inspired to do so after having a frank, impromptu, but fascinating discussion about sex with two women in their 60s and 70s. In this book, the author gives a ringing endorsement to all manner of intimacies as people approach later middle age and in old age itself. She first talks about attracting a mate and dating if you don’t already have a significant other. She touches on topics like cheating, body image as a woman ages, and protection. Then, as she says, she gets to the good stuff, the seduction and sex itself, whether you prefer vanilla or multiple flavors. She also doesn’t shy away from talking about potential problems and pitfalls and how to avoid or solve them. In most chapters, she touches on how sex and intimacy change as we age, mentally and physically.
The book feels like a conversation you would have with a more experienced girlfriend who knows a lot about and cares about sex. There are a few naughty words here, as you may expect, but surprisingly, not as many as you might think given the topic. But this is certainly not a book for prudes, as the author discusses all these topics openly and without hesitation. The book is a fun and sometimes enlightening read. I loved the quotes about sex and intimacy throughout the book as well as the random collection of fun facts at the end. More than one made me smile.
Spring’s Dragons: Withered Rose by Eva Brandt
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Spring's Dragons: Withered Rose*
Complexities in The Realm of Eternal Youth . . . and Beyond
In this first book of the Spring’s Vampire portion of the newly renamed Soulmates of the Seasons series, we first meet Queen Eiar—Eranthe (private name), Lady of Spring, and ruler of The Realm of Eternal Youth. This is a land that has unicorns and leprechauns; there is a dreamlike quality to Eranthe’s descriptions. Vampires are forbidden in the Land of Time, which encompasses all the realms of the seasons, because of some past wrong actions by their predecessors. So the queen is surprised to find three show up in her realm. What are there vampires doing there? What are their plans?
This queen comes across as more naïve than her sister Cassia, though—I have to say—the kitten does have some claws. She lives in a charmed world very different from The Realm of Eternal Ice. As in the Winter’s Dragons portion of this series, this book is narrated by both the queen and the men. Eranthe’s sections have a childlike quality to them, which is very different from Cassia’s in the earlier part of the series. The vampires come across much more forcefully and aren’t quite as distinct as I would have hoped. The dragon shifters in the Winter’s Dragons books definitely each had their own voice. We get to meet the queens’ mother for the first time in this book.
Even though I read all previous books in the series, I found this book to be confusing. There are lots of names of places and worlds (and most places and important people have two names), and these don’t use variants of common English spellings; they are unusual names, so they can be a little hard to wrap your mind around. There also seems to be a complicated history between these different worlds that isn’t fully spelled out, so you have a lot to keep straight in your head as you reading this. An added complexity is that many of the magical beings in this book actually come from the myths of different cultures, some of which are familiar and some of which are not. It’s a little taxing to keep track of and detracts from the enjoyment of the story. The author does have a small guide to the realms in the back of the book, listing the queens and the other essential characters and beings in each realm.
I enjoyed the Winter’s Dragon’s portion of the series more than I enjoyed this installment of the new next part of the series. I will still check out the next book and hope that I will get and keep my bearings better in it than I did in this one.
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