Reading Fanatic Reviews
Books to Add to Your TBR list... or Not!Hey, ya’ll! I’m VERY behind getting my reviews up on the website! I’ve increased the reading and reviewing, leaving less of my leisure time available to update this website. I’ll do weekly posts with links to my reviews at Amazon; you can also check out my Amazon and Goodreads profiles.
By the way, I’m now a top 50 Amazon.com reviewer (#12 currently) and the top 8 US reviewer of all time on Goodreads (and top 9 in the world)… and the #6 US reviewer and #8 in the world in the past year. Cool stuff!
I hope to make updates to this site soon!
The Aristocrat’s Charade by Joyce Alec
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Aristocrat's Charade*
An Unlikely Couple Embroiled in Mystery and Romance
This novel turns some Regency romance tropes on their proverbial ears. I love how in the prologue Ophelia, the heroine, was quite pleased when her noble suitor, Peter, broke off their courtship after only two weeks. She, too, believed they were ill-suited. So imagine her surprise when the next day, I think, he is back and requesting that they resume their courtship. He is actually quite adamant about it, but she resists until her aunt insists that she should give him a second chance after he spouts a flowery declaration. His attempts to woo her back (and her reaction to it) made me smile as it was quite humorous What Ophelia doesn’t know, and Peter doesn’t say for quite a while, is that her fickle suitor has received a threat against his brother unless he continues the courtship and even marries her. When he does reveal his reason, Ophelia understands and wants to help. As they try to unravel the mystery, will this become a real courtship?
Like some of this author’s other works, I found the language in this one to be stilted at times; the attempt to sound “historical” yet realistic doesn’t always work. There were some pretty big informational dumps at the start of the book, both on Ophelia’s side as well as Peter’s. However, I found this intriguing plot to be just different enough from the common Regency ones that I could pass over these issues and still enjoy the twists and turns of the suspense plot (and the budding romance), as the couple eventually worked together to figure out who was threatening his brother. I ended up enjoying this book more than I imagined I would!
Brody’s Bride by Kathleen Lawless
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Brody's Bride*
Complex Romantic Tale of the Old West
This second-chance-at-romance Western tale is surprisingly full of subplots, crazy characters, and double crosses that often happen in stories of the Old West. A greedy land grab? A murderous old man? Precious minerals? Perhaps lost treasure? Long-lost mother showing up? This author has packed a lot into a novella, that’s for sure. Laura has come back to Bullet, Arizona, because she fears that her love from ten years ago is at the crux of the machinations of a dastardly older man who wants Brody’s property. She was able to ingratiate herself with that man’s son and let him think that it was his idea that she become the new schoolmarm in Bullet. But what she really wants to do is figure out this man’s plot against her teenage love. Her and Brody’s relationship ended poorly because she made a bad decision. He has remained unwed, and his heart was broken by her because of her treatment of him back then.
Bullet is a nest of vipers, most working at the behest of Hawkes (the bad older man), as well as a place where good people are just trying to live their lives. The most interesting characters are the men who live at Brody’s ranch, the Copper Moon. They called themselves brothers, and while some are, they are more brothers bound by hard work, a shared history, and a desire for a better future. I really enjoyed the brother characters, and I look forward to their future romances, as the title of the series suggests. All in all, I enjoyed this complex story about the happenings in the small town of Bullet sometime in the late 1800s, and I’m eager to learn more about these characters and seeing what else unfolds in this small town.
Lemon Chiffon Lies by Diana DuMont
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Lemon Chiffon Lies*
More Murder and Boozy Pies in Sunshine Springs
Izzy, Grams, and Sprinkles are at it again! I’ve read the other books in the series, and I enjoyed this trip to Sunshine Springs as well. Like some characters in the book, I think Izzy puts herself in too much danger at times to figure out this murder that she couldn’t seem to help get embroiled in. I have come to enjoy the interaction between Izzy, Grams, and Sprinkles so much, and I love the zany boozy pie ideas that Izzy comes up with. In this book, like the others in the series, there are some good twists and turns to the plot, a good level of suspense, and a cast of delightfully quirky characters that we continue to get to know. A solid cozy mystery, and a delightful read.
Betraying Her Vikings by Skye MacKinnon
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
Betraying Her Vikings*
Too Abrupt End; Wanting More of Story
While this final installment wrapped up the serial neatly, I felt like the whole episode was too short and ended abruptly. I’ve read every installment of this serial, and honestly I feel like this story is just getting started… but instead, it’s the end! I’ve read a few reverse harem stories, and in most of them, the bulk of the book takes place after the group gets together. The combined serial story (all five episodes) just looks at how they all came together, with some very interesting parts in each episode to be sure, but still, it ends before we can see much of the group dynamic. I really wish there was more, as I really like Lainie and each of her men.
The N Word by Michelle MacQueen & Ann Maree Craven
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The N Word*
Wonderful Installment of Thought-Provoking Series
This is my second book to read in this series, and I am pleased to say that I am as delighted with it as I was with the first one. I absolutely adored Nari in the first book. I believe I even mentioned her in my review of that book, calling her the “truth teller” in that installment. I see that it is ironic now, as Nari’s book shows that she is full of secrets.
Nari leads a double life as a country rock keyboardist with some school bandmates. It is only when she is performing that she truly feels alive, but nobody outside of her band or a few close friends know about this… not her parents or other kids at school. Her other secret is that while the kids at school call her a nerd because she is Asian and wears nerdy glasses, she actually struggles to learn and is doing poorly in her classes. As a first-generation American, she feels pressure from her parents, especially her mother, to live their version of the American dream, whether or not it is Nari’s. The other half of the romantic relationship in the story is Avery, the football star. After making a bad play that kept his team from advancing to the playoffs, he broke up with his long-term girlfriend after he determined that it was no longer working for him because the relationship was so one-sided (all about her); he came to the conclusion that same night that continuing with football may not be what he truly wants to do, either.
Both Nari and Avery are dealing with issues at home as well as problems at school. They decide to help each other out, in a trope that is familiar to romance readers. It is well done here, though. I never mind when a trope is well done!
I’ve got to say that I absolutely adore this series. The authors are able to explore complex and challenging issues in this series in a way that resonates with me, bringing me to tears at times or making me laugh. Themes at the forefront of this novel include the pressures of expectations, the multifaceted nature of friendship, bullying, and being your true self. It certainly looks at a variety of stereotypes, showing that perceptions are not always reality. All of this is handled beautifully, with easy-to-read prose that shows us exactly how these characters think and feel and how this informs how they act. This well-rendered story is an example of why I still continue to read young adult novels even though I am way past that age!
The First Village by Ian M. Evans
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The First Village*
A Knight’s Tale in Old Wales
If you look at the cover of this book, you might think that it is a serious work of historical fiction. It is anything but! In fact, it reminds me very much of Heath Ledger’s movie A Knight’s Tale in its approach to history. The author doesn’t even attempt to use what some would think of as historical language, or any other sort of elevated speech. I’ll admit my eyebrows lifted when I saw one character call another a “meanie.” While the places and the politics of the novel are based in truth, the characters themselves are fictional. The story is about a cultural shift, when the Romans were leaving Britannia after having lived and ruled there for over 300 years. What does that mean for the soldiers, some of whom do not want to go back to a place they’ve never known and perhaps their families have never been from? What does that mean for all of the various tribes around Britannia, who often engaged in internecine battles before the Romans? There’s also a romance at the heart of this book, and I found the couple to be an intriguing one to watch. This book is full of humor: slapstick, dry, and tongue in cheek. Again if you enjoyed the movie A Knight’s Tale, you would most likely enjoy this book.
Redemption for the Rakish Earl by Jilian Rouge
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Redemption for the Rakish Earl*
Heat Level Goes to STEAM Very Fast
Goodness! I don’t know quite what to make of this book. When I read about the couple’s passionate relationship, I wasn’t quite prepared for what happened in the first chapter. My goodness, the author raises the heat level to Steam very fast. The writing of the text actually felt a little clunky to me, and not just the sex scenes, as the author has the characters speak and think in ways that are unlike how real people express themselves. She also engaged in a bit of head hopping, which I can find distracting. Even though this is a historical novel, some of the sensibilities seem more modern than post-Regency. The heroine’s views on marriage, in particular, seemed far too modern. But there is more than romance at the heart of this story. In fact, it appears that historical suspense is becoming quite a sub-subgenre of romance and suspense. After their passionate scene nine years earlier, the couple is reunited, but they have more to get beyond than their past mistakes as it appears that someone is out to do them harm. I had a hard time warming up to the hero. The way he acted after the initial passionate encounter with the heroine was truly rakish, and he wasn’t really repentant about his habits. Instead, he returned to the heroine’s sphere because it was challenging to keep the married women he’d slept with and their husbands at bay. All in all, I’ve read better historical romance and better romantic suspense.
Moonshine and Magnolias by Abigail Sharpe
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Moonshine and Magnolias*
Good Southern Vibe, But Overlong and a Little Crazy
This is a surprisingly long read for a contemporary romance, and I think the story actually would have been better served by having some of the extraneous and absurd subplots trimmed or removed completely. This is a potentially good book that is in serious need of a developmental reader (or a stern beta reader team!). There was just too much going on, and some of it strained credulity. It is hard to believe that Rob, who is a serious historian, would give much credit to the idea of a family curse and work so hard to get it lifted. Romances, of course, have to have the “boy loses girl” moment, but elements of that felt contrived. I enjoyed the couple at the heart of the romance, Wendy and Rob, but felt that they were overshadowed by all the crazy going on. Still, the author did a good job of setting time and place. The whole book definitely has a very southern vibe about it, which not all books that take place in the American South do!
Aldo by Betty Jean Craig
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Scribd, Smashwords, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Aldo*
Terrorism and Genetic Research
This book has so much going on! It is steeped in academia and germ-line genetic research. The author herself is a longtime professor at a university, so her insights into academic life ring true. At its core, this story is about who controls scientific research and to what end. It’s told in a very different way. It starts off as if it is a letter from the professor protagonist to her teenage son, but we actually see many perspectives, including the interactions of the Night Watch Facebook group that wants to make all genetic research, like the protagonist is working on, go away. There is plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning, and there is a hint of romance for those who like that in a thriller. The author seemed to have a good grasp of the science involved in this story. The characters aren’t super complex, but I find that acceptable in a thriller. I did find the switching back and forth between the Facebook posts and communications of the Night Watch and the narrative parts to be a little jarring, but the book was compelling enough that I wanted to see what happened next. If you enjoy thrillers that are strongly based in science (and especially genetics), you may very well enjoy this intriguing tale.
Regency Rumors by Bethany Swafford
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Regency Rumors*
A Good Regency Suspense
In this Regency suspense, the reader can figure out pretty quickly that there is something strange going on both at the Burnham household and with the heroine’s family. But the author doesn’t give away too many details too fast. We know that something has happened to the Sinclair family’s reputation, but we don’t know what precisely nor do we know what greater problem this has caused. Juliet, the heroine, is first mistaken for someone applying for a job as a lady’s maid in the Burnham household, but then she decides to take the job–rather foolishly–in order to help both sate her curiosity and see if she can do damage control for her family. She gets involved in a world that’s far different than her imaginings.
The author did a good job building the suspense and just the oddness factor of the Burnham household, where Juliet worked in disguise. I will admit I felt a little frustrated at times not knowing more of the greater picture, but it was so intriguing that I kept going. I quite enjoyed this little romp into Regency suspense and rumors.
Jamie Brydone-Jack
Reader, Editor, Writer
I’m an avid reader, for both fun and work/business. I enjoy a wide variety of books, including literary fiction, romance, thrillers, cozy mysteries, and fantasy for fiction and history, contemporary issues, philosophy, music, medicine, and cookbooks for nonfiction. I’m a freelance copyeditor who also does beta and alpha reading. I have two websites that are all about romance and mystery. You can also follow my reviews at Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
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