Reading Fanatic Reviews
Romantic FantasyThe Girl in the Painting by Renita D’Silva
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
The Girl in the Painting*
Lyrically Written, but Tense is Annoying
This is my first time to read this author, and I am impressed with the way that she describes settings and emotions with such lyrical fluidity. This book is complex, with suspense that was kicked off in the very first section. The author seamlessly weaves between an early 20th-century past in India and present-day England. The story deals with loss, choices, and forgiveness, amongst other themes. The only thing I didn’t like about this book is that it is written in the present tense. I just find that a really awkward narrative tense to read; it jars me when I just want to be immersed in the story. The present tense sticks out like a sore thumb, beckoning me to acknowledge it when I just want the mechanics of language to fade into fade into the background. That said, I do appreciate this author’s poetic way with words; I just wish it was in the past tense!
Pagan Death by Sam Taw
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Pagan Death*
A Violent Look at Pagan Britain
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at the level of violence that’s in this book, given the title. But I have to say that, nonetheless, I was surprised. The book starts off with a violent scene of human sacrifice. Fiction books about this time period are rare, so it intrigued me when I saw it on my favorite book review site. Unfortunately, at that site we only have the blurb to go on, so I wasn’t prepared for what this book actually was. I just found it to be too violent without much letup. In a story, there needs to be balance, and this story felt too dark. As one who has done some pagan studies, I also thought that the author showed a bias towards only showing the worst imaginings of what pre-Christian societies could be. Yes, it does make for more drama, but I don’t like the demonization of these ancient cultures.
A Spellbinder’s Denial by Marie-Claude Bourke
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, and Bol.de
A Spellbinder's Denial*
Another Well-Written Installment in the Series
I believe this is the third book that I have read of this Black Oak warlock series, and I enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed the other two. This author has a way of drawing you right into the book because she creates such believable and sympathetic characters. Even in the first chapter at the auction, I felt I already had a good sense of who the hero and the heroine were, what they had gone through, and what it meant for them to meet again. There was a slight feeling of an information dump at the beginning, but actually it was mostly woven in pretty well compared to most narrative sections of that ilk. The story truly is character driven. I very much enjoyed watching this story unfold with two such decent people who are doing their best to protect those they love and care about. I’m a sucker for stories with a wounded hero or a wounded heroine; this story had both.
Wyndcross by Martha Keyes
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Wyndcross*
Well-Written Regency Romance Debut
What a delightful Regency read! After reading so many of this subgenre lately that had stilted language that was trying to affect a historical tone, it was a pure pleasure to read an author who not only knew how to properly do a faux historical dialogue but also wrote it in such a clever and witty way. Right from the start, I loved the banter between William and Kate. This book has several levels going on, including a subplot about smuggling and an arc that is built on many layers of deviousness and deception. I found the characters to be well drawn. This book was just a great read if you love well written Regency, like I do.
Cursing by Lynne Murray
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Cursing*
Humorous, Men-in-Black-style Story
What a fun read! In a book that is very reminiscent of Men In Black but magic-like powers and paranormal creatures, the heroine is indoctrinated into a secret society that is a part of, but separate from, our own—one that seeks those with unique abilities so they can protect the regular part of humanity from dangers that the everyday people don’t know about, after she accidentally kills her boss using powers that she never knew she had or even existed. The heroine has a quirky sense of self that is a delight to read in this first-person narrative. There’s a lot of ironic humor in the book; it’s fun to come across these little nuggets. There were some delightful twists and turns, and I loved the ending. Hoping there is more to come. I very much enjoyed this urban fantasy with a paranormal, alien twist!
The East End by Jason Allen
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
The East End*
Not My Cuppa Tea
I did not like this book. When reading a contemporary book, I like it to feel at least moderately close to my reality, and this book depicted lifestyles that I hope aren’t realistic. Everyone in this book seems to be messed up in some way: problems with alcohol, problems with drugs, problems with petty crimes, problems with terrible spouses, etc. The first near quarter of the book just showed a teenager who vandalizing the rich mansions on his Island on the Hamptons (while contemplating actually stealing) and then one of those owners coming back to town from New York City while he just got crazy high and drunk on the way. I actually wondered, Can somebody do that much cocaine as he did on that short drive and still live?! Plus he was drinking scotch after scotch at the same time. This book had a world I just didn’t want to live in, even in my imagination. The author did have a good way of describing things and getting you into the characters heads, but at times in the early part, it felt like the description was too much, making the pacing slow to a crawl. After the incident with Henry in the pool, things did speed up. But I still just couldn’t get into this world because I just didn’t like it or the people in it.
The Disgraced Bride by Rose Pearson
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Disgraced Bride*
Story Arc Good; Language Use Distracting
This story combined ideas that are quite often seen in Regency romance but rarely together. There is a spinsters’ guild; spinsters and avowed bluestockings definitely seem to be recurrent themes in Regency lately. The heroine is suffering in society because of the downfall of her father. She still hopes to marry, so she goes to London in hopes of finding a suitor. The hero did have some involvement in her father’s nasty business, but he feels sorry for the heroine, as he knows that she is at no fault but is being punished for it, and he wishes he could do something to help ease her way in society.
I found the writing in this book to be a little stilted, particularly the dialogue. I can tell the author is striving to make it sound like historical speech, but not only were some phrases awkward, the characters unfortunately all sounded alike in mimicking this variant of historical-like speech. I also found it confusing that two of the female characters were named Emma and Emily, one of them the heroine and the other being the head of the spinsters’ guild. There were some issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage (beyond the UK spellings), but nothing that was overly distracting. I found that I actually liked the arc of the story, but I was put off by the very unnatural-sounding language.
Intraterrestrial by Nicholas Conley
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
Intraterrestrial*
Complex Speculative Fiction that Surprises
Oh, my gosh, what a story! The author has such a vivid imagination and such a creative way of thinking to even be able to conceive of such a story! The book is very well written. All of the characters have unique voices, and the important ones have super unique character arcs. I love speculative fiction, but this one ratchets it up a notch or 100. After the accident that literally cracks open Adam’s world, the book actually follows two storylines, one about what’s happening with Adam and his intraterrestrial journey and the other about his parents as they cope with their own injuries and try to deal with Adam’s. Camille in particular is a complex and very well done character. She acts just like one would expect a mother to act in this situation, as one grappling with her son’s traumatic brain injury and his subsequent battle to remain alive, at times a crusader and at other times a woman who is grappling with too much. This can make her unlikable at times, and I think it is actually brave of the author to write the character this way. I don’t want to give too much away about Adam’s story arc, but it definitely is both an inner and outer journey for him. Brilliantly done all the way around. If you’re looking for a speculative fiction book is completely different from anything you’ve read, but still is very human, you should definitely check out this book.
The Other Blue Sky by Shari J. Ryan
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Other Blue Sky*
An Enthusiastic 5+ Star Read
Having recently read Last Words, I was very interested in Annie’s story. I’ll admit that I started the book in an already emotional state because I just knew that her story, as told by this author, was going to blow me away. I was not wrong. The author has managed to craft yet another tale that is heartbreakingly beautiful and poignant, that will resonate with you for long after you’ve finished it. The story weaves between the modern-day where Annie is talking with her mother and Charlie, filling in the gaps of what she knows of her history, and the past starting when Annie realized that she wasn’t her parents’ biological child and going through the years as she developed as a young woman, wife, and mother. This book touches on so many themes I hardly know where to start. It is about identity, family, your place in the world, grief, forgiveness, love of several sorts, and grace. And I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. I don’t know how this author can create such heartfelt and beautiful words that perfectly express such a wide range of human emotions and experience. This book, like Last Words, is simply stunning. As it does deal with the aftermath of the Holocaust, parts of it are not an easy read, but the author doesn’t dwell on this. Rather, this book—like the other one—is about the triumph of the human spirit. That sounds a little high falutin’ and cerebral, but the author makes it real with believable characters that we can immediately identify with and root for as they face the challenges in the book. I can recommend this fantastic book wholeheartedly.
Pledged to Mr. Darcy by Valerie Lennox
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Smashwords, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
Pledged to Mr. Darcy*
Misses the Mark
I will admit that I am a sucker for Jane Austen fan fiction. In fact, when I bought my first Kindle some years ago, I gorged myself on all the available Pride and Prejudice fan fiction, both on Kindle Unlimited and ones I bought straight out. So I always love to discover both a new story and a new author in this sub-subgenre of Regency romance. I was intrigued by the very first chapter of the book. We start in the sitting room of Mr. Collins vicarage at Hunsford just after Elizabeth has received a terrible letter from Jane. She is reading this when Mr. Darcy comes in to make his infamous, and infamously bad, first proposal. He doesn’t even notice her upset so lurches forward with his inept proposal, which is even worse than the one usually portrayed in the movies. She doesn’t give him a direct answer and instead tells him about the contents of the letter. Jane has told her that their father has died and much of the rest of the family is sick from a sudden illness that is sweeping through town. Mr. Darcy immediately offers to take Elizabeth back to Hertfordshire so she can be with her family.
I actually thought that having Elizabeth receive such a letter from Jane was a great start for a Pride and Prejudice variation. However, after that, the book kind of fell apart for me. Once they got back to Hertfordshire, it seemed like everybody was just dying off at the level of a Shakespearean tragedy: Mrs. Bennet, Mary, Kitty, some servants, and even poor Mr. Bingley. As an RN who has studied infectious and communicable diseases, I find myself wondering what could have been so virulent and always fatal? There are few (none?) that are both.
I didn’t like this Mr. Darcy; for a P&P variation to work for me, I have to be able to fall in love with him along with Elizabeth. One of the keys to Mr. Darcy, I think, is that he must be absolutely constant in his love or Elizabeth once he figures out that’s how he feels about her. To me, this is an immutable part of Darcy’s character that must be in a variation, or for me, the story will fall flat. Much of what happens to Mr. Darcy in the later part of the original, how he becomes a better version of himself, hinges upon this constancy of love (even when it was unrequited). In this variation, as he sees Elizabeth struggle with the deaths of most members of her family, while he expresses compassion and understanding to the remaining Bennets, he actually doesn’t feel himself to be in love with her anymore now that her bright smiles and witty rejoinders are gone and hopes that in the time of her mourning—she has asked that they wait six months to marry to mourn her parents—that they will grow closer and he will again feel that same love that he purports to have felt before the deaths. All I can say is: no, no, no! Even though Darcy has not been humbled in the proposal scene as in the original and the movies, that constancy of love should be present, or it just isn’t a viable Pride and Prejudice variation. While I think the story had some potential, I thought it was those too dark and Mr. Darcy too inconstant to be a truly good spin on the classic.
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