B&N Launches Premium Membership Program, Happy Birthday Queen Anne Books, Sontag Movie, Fool Me Once Comes to TV, The Liar's Crown by Abigail Owen, Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman, Fuzz by Mary Roach, Last Chance Book Club by Hope Ramsay, and Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Hey Book Dragons! It's the end of February and Mermaid/Pisces season already, as we head into March and hopefully, some early spring warmth! I'm looking forward to some new series and some new seasons of well-loved series returning. There are also a bunch of great new books coming out in the spring by my favorite authors, including a new Shana Abe and some MJ Rose, Maria V Snyder and Devon Monk! I have about 20-30 authors who are my favorites, and whose works I snap up the minute they become available, but that's a list for another post. Meanwhile I have a bunch of new reviews and some great tidbits from the publishing/bookselling world ahead. Enjoy, and hang in there, spring is on the horizon!

I've been a part of B&N's Membership program for decades, though since the pandemic, I've not shopped in an actual store (even before the pandemic, the closest Barnes and Noble to me closed down, so I've not sought another one out in at least 6 years), so I've had no opportunity to use my membership discount card. Now they're offering this premium membership, and I'm torn as to whether to pony up the extra $15 bucks per year when I don't even know where my nearest store is anymore, and Amazon still usually beats B&N online's prices by a lot. But! We shall see how this all shakes out in the future....it might still be worth investigating.

B&N Launches 'Premium Membership' Program

Barnes & Noble has launched a "Premium Membershiphttps://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCPxekI6ak2K09wHQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXXcShpoMLg-gVdw" program that costs $39.99 per year and features "offers, perks, and exclusives," as well as "everyday discounts and many more benefits," the company noted. The Wall Street Journal reported that in asking customers to pay an annual fee for a range of perks, the bookstore chain is following some of its competitors, including Amazon and Walmart, "whose respective Prime and Walmart+ programs offer no-minimum free shipping, among other benefits."

B&N is also launching a free, lower-tier membership program that allows members to earn a virtual stamp for every $10 spent in a purchase (10 stamps = $5 reward).

Noting that both new programs "will give Barnes & Noble the opportunity to learn more about its customers--from what they read to when and how often they buy--so that it can pitch them more effectively," WSJ wrote that the offerings are loosely modeled after a membership program at Waterstones, which is also owned by Elliott Management.

"If you don't have a free program, the vast majority of your customers are blank to you," said James Daunt, CEO of B&N and Waterstones, adding that with such a program, "you can learn what they are buying, and then promote to them and engage them."

Daunt added that the new paid-membership program would replace a previous one, which offered discounts for purchases made inside B&N's physical stores--as well as free shipping for most online orders--and cost $25 a year. He estimated that at least three-quarters of the 5.5 million people currently paying $25 annually would sign up for the new $40-a-year program, and that number will be bolstered by new customers attracted to the Premium Membership.

Ah, Queen Anne, the hill of ill repute in centuries past, and now a hang out for the rich and famous of the Seattle area. I'm so glad that, after QA books went dark that these people decided to reopen a bookstore on QA Hill. I wish I could actually visit it, but the pandemic has had me sequestered for over 3 years now. Still, Happy Birthday to QABC!

Happy 10th Birthday, Queen Anne Book Company!

Congratulations to Queen Anne Book Company https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCPxekI6ak2K09xHQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXXcShpoMLg-gVdw, Seattle, Wash., which will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a weekend long celebration March 4-5. Festivities will include gifts and giveaways, bags of sweet treats for all who stop by, photo opportunities, a Happy Birthday Wall of Wishes from customers, and the donation of 10% of the weekend's proceeds to the Queen Anne Helpline and Mary's Place, two organizations that provide essential services to children and families.

In 2013, the de Jonges, longtime Queen Anne residents, joined with indie bookstore professional Janis Segress, who recently became general manager of Elliott Bay Book Company, to do what at that time seemed risky--open a bookstore to replace Queen Anne Books, the shop that had been shuttered four months earlier. Four veteran booksellers from the former shop returned to work their bookselling magic.

"The past 10 years are marked by the loyal support of this neighborhood," said Judy de Jonge. "Community is our watchword, first and foremost. We support our local schools, our neighborhood literacy programs, we host author events with local writers, and we are here day in and day out helping our customers find their next best book." Queen Anne Book Company's staff includes children's book buyer Tegan Tigani, who is on the board of the American Booksellers Association andhas been nominated to be president for a two-year term, starting in May.

I have always been a huge fan of Susan Sontag's works, and her brilliant mind, which is why I'm a bit queasy to read that dull actor Kristen Stewart is set to play SS in a movie. I've not seen Stewart in many on screen roles, but what I have seen is unimpressive. She deadpans because she doesn't seem to have any range as an actor...she's wooden and disengaged from her fellow actors and the audience. In other words, she's boring on screen. Hopefully she will display something more in portraying Sontag, who was witty and magnificent. 

Movie: Sontag

Kristen Stewart will play Susan Sontag in the tentatively titled Sontag https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCPxekI6ak2K09-Eg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXXcShpoMLg-gVdw, based on Ben Moser's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Sontag: Her Life, Screen Daily reported. The film is directed by Kirsten Johnson, who is co-writing with Lisa Kron.

Stewart is president of the international jury at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, which is taking place now and where filming will begin before moving on to shoot in California, New York, Paris and Sarajevo.

"We're using Berlin as a moment to kick off the project and do documentary footage of Kristen as the head of the jury and talking to her about how she's going to become Sontag," said Brouhaha Entertainment co-founder Gabrielle Tana. "It will be a drama, but with a documentary aspect to it. Kirsten has a wonderful approach to storytelling, and this is reflective of that, so she will use documentary in it."

 This sounds fascinating, and, as I'm a big Richard Armitage fan, I'll be keeping an eye out for this TV show, though I've not read the book.

TV: Fool Me Once

Richard Armitage (The Hobbit trilogy), Michelle Keegan (Brassic) and Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) will lead the cast of new Netflixseries Fool Me Once https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCAlrgI6ak2Kh1-GA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXUpfwpoMLg-gVdw, based on the Harlan Coben novel. Variety reported that the eight-part series, produced by Nicola Shindler's Quay Street Productions, is "the eighth project to emerge from Coben's partnership with Netflix, which has seen his works adapted in four languages." Previous collaborations include Safe, The Stranger and Stay Close. The cast also features Emmett J.Scanlan (Kin), Dino Fetscher (Years and Years) and Adeel Akhtar (Ali & Ava). Coben exec produces alongside Shindler, series writer Danny Brocklehurst and Richard Fee. Charlotte Coben, Yemi Oyefuwa, Nina Metivier and Tom Farrelly are also writing on the show while Outlander director David Moore will lead direct, with Nimer Rashed helming the series' second block.

"I'm thrilled and honored to once again be collaborating with my uber-talented partners Danny, Nicola and Richard," said Coben. "Fool Me Once will be our fourth Netflix series together, and man, it never gets old!... I can't wait to see how this dream cast brings these characters to life."

The Liar's Crown by Abigail Owen is a delicious dark YA fantasy that kept me riveted to the page from the start. The prose seems light and breezy at first, but it builds, along with the juicy, twisty plot, to a crescendo that leaves readers wanting more, like right now! Here's the blurb: Some shadows protect you…others will kill you in this dazzling new fantasy series from award-winning author Abigail Owen.

Everything about my life is a lie. As a hidden twin princess, born second, I have only one purpose—to sacrifice my life for my sister if death comes for her. I’ve been living under the guise of a poor, obscure girl of no standing, slipping into the palace and into the role of the true princess when danger is present.

Now the queen is dead and the ageless King Eidolon has sent my sister a gift—an eerily familiar gift—and a proposal to wed. I don’t trust him, so I do what I was born to do and secretly take her place on the eve of the coronation. Which is why, when a figure made of shadow kidnaps the new queen, he gets me by mistake.

As I try to escape, all the lies start to unravel. And not just my lies. The Shadowraith who took me has secrets of his own. He struggles to contain the shadows he wields—other faces, identities that threaten my very life.Winter is at the walls. Darkness is looming. And the only way to save my sister and our dominion is to kill Eidolon…and the Shadowraith who has stolen my heart. 

I'm fascinated by how many dark fantasies I've read lately that have the trope of magic equating to dark, shadowy beings living inside one or more protagonists. Here the male protagonist, Reven, carries the magic shadows within him, and he soon learns that his evil brother also has powers, but uses his to control people's minds. There's a lot of political stuff, but it never gets too boring, and the romance between the shadowraith and Meren the twin with brains is deliciously slow burning. I can't really say too much more without spoiling a lot of the book, so I'll just give it an A, and recommend it to those who enjoy fairy-tale retellings that are dark fantasy/romances.

Pandora, by Susan Stokes-Chapman is a historical romance-fictional retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Pandora's Box. The prose is meticulous and full of grotesque description of life at the turn of the 19th century, when England was a cesspool of filth and starvation for most of it's population. The plot slowly gains momentum, but if you're in the mood for something that moves at a clip, this book isn't for you. It takes more than 50 pages for it to really get going, and even then, there are redundancies and info dumps that slow things down to a crawl. Here's the blurb:

Steeped in mystery and rich in imagination, an exhilarating historical novel set in Georgian London where the discovery of a mysterious ancient Greek vase sets in motion conspiracies, revelations, and romance.

London, 1799. Dora Blake, an aspiring jewelry artist, lives with her odious uncle atop her late parents’ once-famed shop of antiquities. After a mysterious Greek vase is delivered, her uncle begins to act suspiciously, keeping the vase locked in the store’s basement, away from prying eyes—including Dora’s. Intrigued by her uncle’s peculiar behavior, Dora turns to young, ambitious antiquarian scholar Edward Lawrence who eagerly agrees to help. Edward believes the ancient vase is the key that will unlock his academic future; Dora sees it as a chance to establish her own name.

But what Edward discovers about the vase has Dora questioning everything she has believed about her life, her family, and the world as she knows it. As Dora uncovers the truth, she comes to understand that some doors are locked and some mysteries are buried for a reason, while others are closer to the surface than they appear.

A story of myth and mystery, secrets and deception, fate and hope, Pandora is an enchanting work of historical fiction as captivating and evocative as The Song of Achilles, The Essex Serpent, and The Miniaturist.

Though it takes too long to get going and become interesting, once things start to move, they really get going, and by the end it's one gasping moment after another. I liked Dora and her fight for independence from her odious uncle, but I found the final rehabilitated prostitute/housekeeper trope to be sad and nauseating. Still, I'd give this book a B-and recommend it to those who like mythical re-tellings done in the style of HG Wells or Jules Verne.

Fuzz by Mary Roach is a non-fiction humorous book about so-called "nuisance" animals, like raccoons, rats, bears, geese, etc, who, due to our ever-expanding human footprint, are losing their habitats and are now having to interact with humans in funny or often destructive ways. Here's the blurb: Join "America’s funniest science writer" (Peter Carlson, Washington Post), Mary Roach, on an irresistible investigation into the unpredictable world where wildlife and humans meet.

What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.

Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in the Indian Himalaya to St. Peter’s Square in the early hours before the pope arrives for Easter Mass, when vandal gulls swoop in to destroy the elaborate floral display. She taste-tests rat bait, learns how to install a vulture effigy, and gets mugged by a macaque.

Combining little-known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and trespassing squirrels, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature’s lawbreakers. When it comes to "problem" wildlife, she finds, humans are more often the problem—and the solution. Fascinating, witty, and humane, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat.

I've read a couple of other Roach books, including Stiff and Gulp, and since I really enjoyed them with my library book group, I thought this book would also be a good choice for my book group in March. That said, I wasn't as enchanted with this book as I was with the other two, mainly because Roach seems to have more of a bias and an agenda in this book than she did in her others. She seems determined to highlight humanity as being the real nuisance, and expects farmers and homeowners to find non-violent solutions to animals who invade their homes or eat their crops or cause other vandalism. She skirts over the fact that rats and mice (and squirrels and raccoons) carry disease and foul homes with their urine and feces, as well as causing expensive damage by chewing through wires/power lines and cables of all kinds. Allowing rodents to roam free on your property is a recipe for disaster and diseases that can be life-threatening. If it's a choice between my family's health and that of an invasive species like a rat or a seagull or a raccoon or possum, I choose my family, and if the rats need to die or be poisoned/trapped, then that is what I will do. I believe my grandfathers, both farmers, felt the same way, and often killed raccoons, foxes, rats and other invasive animals that were destroying their crops...and no, they couldn't afford to let a certain percentage of their crops be consumed by pests. That assumes that there will only be one kind of pest predation, and that the pests in question will somehow know when to stop eating the crops so that the farmer can still make a living. Animals are not that smart, and it appears that "city folk" like Roach are into anthropomorphizing these creatures so as to make them seem more human-like and sympathetic, when they're not at all like humans and don't really care if a farmer and his family starve. Roach keeps pointing out how "cute" various animals are, as if that should be the deciding factor as to whether or not to kill them if they're eating holes into your home or eating your crops. Roach's usual humor comes off as snarky and cynical and ill-informed, and her book has way too many info dumps that slow the book down to a snore-fest at every turn. I'd give this lame duck of a book a C, and only recommend it to people who think PETA is a good organization. (I don't).

Last Chance Book Club by Hope Ramsay is a Southern cozy romance that was a lot like Southern Sweet Tea from McDonalds...tooth-achingly over-sugared colored water that really doesn't taste too much like tea, more like liquid candy with a little flavoring. The prose was spritely and silly, which was fine for the first several chapters but got tiresome after the first half of the book. The plot was standard enemies to lovers fare, so you know where this plane is going to land before the first chapter is over. The author also used the tired trope of the petite busty blonde protagonist and the handsome reprobate cowboy male protagonist, who only needs the love of a good woman to set him straight. Ugh...insert eye roll here. He also, of course, provides a father figure to her nasty, snotty 12 year old son. Sigh. I've noticed that the "hot single mom divorced from a bad executive man who ignores his child" trope is used in at least 70 percent of the romance novels that I see these days. Here's the blurb: After a painful divorce, Savannah White wants nothing more than to find her happy place. So when she gets the chance to pack up her life -and her son - and move to the idyllic town where she spent childhood summers, she jumps at the opportunity. Last Chance is just as charming as she remembered. She's even invited to join the local book club, where talk soon turns to Savannah's plan to bring the ramshackle downtown movie theater back to life. A new challenge is just what Savannah needs to move forward.. . .

Dash Randall wants to put his fortune to good use, but he remembers Savannah as the bratty "princess" who descended upon him each June, causing no end of trouble. But the teenager he remembered has grown into a gorgeous and generous woman, and it isn't long before Dash finds himself wanting to make brand new memories with Savannah. But first, Dash and Savannah will need to make peace with their pasts to find a new chance for love.

At least, thank heaven, they make the point that the protagonists, who are all over each other sexually, aren't actually cousins or related by blood. That said, it was still a bit squicky that they still held grudges over silly things they said or did to one another when they were children, decades ago. And that they found that somehow they were sexually attracted to each other though they'd almost been raised as siblings...ewww. Both Savannah and Dash needed to grow the heck up and stop acting like they were still children, especially if they wanted to go into business together or raise that snotty, entitled tween, whose response to everything good in life is that it's "tight," as if that is the only term that teenagers use to discuss their feelings nowadays. Blech. I'd give this gross and goofy romance that made Southerners seem like a collection of stereotypes a C+, and only recommend it to anyone stupid enough to think that's okay.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff is a dark adventure fantasy along the lines of Vespertine and other assassin/steampunk series, many of which I've read and enjoyed over the past few decades. This would almost be a YA romance/horror book, but Kristoff manages to somehow make the gore more palatable by describing it with such lush prose that you almost don't notice that he's talking about a disembowelment or a beheading. That said, there's too many instances of sexuality and gory battles/deaths/torture for this to be appropriate for anyone under the age of 18. Here's the blurb: Nevernight is the first in an epic new fantasy series from the New York Times bestselling author, Jay Kristoff.

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, a sixteen year old Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic — the Red Church. Treachery and trials await her with the Church’s halls, and to fail is to die. But if she survives to initiation, Mia will be inducted among the chosen of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the only thing she desires.

 
The plot is full of surprising reveals, including who the mole/traitor is at the Assassin's school, and that, along with the riveting prose and well developed characters kept me turning pages into the wee hours. Mia and her shadow cat are like something out of a twisted Miyazaki animation (like Kiki's Delivery Service) and her fellow apprentices are all just as interesting (and full fledged). I've already got the second book in the series set up on my Kindle, and I'm looking forward to reading it after I've finished the Book of Most Precious Substance, which is proving to be completely different than I thought it would be. Anyway, I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone interested in Assassin Academies for orphaned youth in a twisted, gore-soaked Harry Potter's Hogwarts-style of environment. 

Geronimo Stilton Movie, Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett and the Cliff's Edge by Charles Todd

Good Evening Book Dragons! I'm going to make this post short, because I'm having a Crohn's flare and dealing with yet another infection, so please bear with me. I can hardly believe that February is almost over! But that means the cold temps are on their way out and spring's warmth is almost here. Meanwhile, I've got three reviews for you after this lone tidbit.

This sounds like a fun, wonderful movie based on an Italian children's book series. I will look forward to seeing what happens with the adventures of a mouse journalist! 

Movies: Geronimo Stilton

Radar Pictures has acquired the feature film rights for Geronimo Stilton https://www.shelf awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCMxLkI6ak2IBtzHg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXXsXxpoMLg-gVdw, the children's book series by Italian author Elisabetta Dami "about the crime-solving adventures of a mouse journalist and his eccentric gang of family and friends," Deadline reported. Canadian animation writer, director and voice actor David Soren (Turbo, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie) is attached to adapt and direct the project.

The character was created by Dami in the 1990s from stories she invented for young patients while volunteering at a children's hospital. "Since then, the character has been featured in more than 300 books, translated into over 50 languages, as well as graphic novels, an animated series, eight live stage productions, video games and toys," Deadline noted. The original books and their spin-offs have sold 180 million copies in 150 countries. The series is published in Italy by Edizioni Piemme and by Scholastic in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries.

"I'm excited to be working with Radar Pictures to bring this incredibly popular book series to life," Soren said. "Geronimo Stilton is beloved around the world, and it's high time for his first hilarious, feature film adventure."

 

Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters is a funny, whimsical lesbian romance novel that was light-hearted and sweet enough to lift me out of the doldrums of a gray winter day. Here's the blurb:

For fans of Casey McQuiston and Abby Jimenez comes a bold, hilarious, and out-of-the-box novel about mixing business with battery-operated pleasure . . .

When it comes to her career, Cade Elgin has it all figured out. Only “professional talk” has become her default mode, relationships are nonexistent, and don’t even mention the word “orgasm.” All work and no play makes Cade a dull human. But when she inherits a sex toy store, Cade is caught between business and a store filled with every imaginable kind of pleasure—including her infuriatingly irresponsible and deliciously sexy new co-owner.

Selena Mathis learned the hard way that she can have too much of a good thing. Which is precisely why she’s taken an oath of celibacy and is focusing on how to make Satisfaction Guaranteed a success. She won’t mess this up. Not this time. But once again, Selena’s emotions are getting in the way and tempting her with a serious attraction to buttoned-up Cade.

But the shop isn’t exactly vibe-ing, and Cade and Selena are on the verge of losing both their income and the possibility of love. Can they find a way to work together . . . before Satisfaction Guaranteed runs out of batteries?

Though the oddball girl and the straight-laced gal is a trope that has been used many times, Somehow Stetz-Waters made it fresh, so that the characters transcended the stereotypes and became interesting. the prose was breezy and light and the plot easy to follow to it's romantic conclusion. I'd give this fun "beachy read" a B, and recommend it to anyone who likes oddball LGBTQ romance novels.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett is a mystery/paranormal fantasy/romance that reads like a fun dissertation on the unseen world of the Folk/Fae. Though the prose was somewhat too detailed and fussy/overwritten, the plot managed to reveal just enough about the fairy folk to keep readers interested until the final page. Here's the blurb:

  A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series.

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party—or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, muddle Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones—the most elusive of all faeries—lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all—her own heart.

Emily comes off as somewhat autistic/Aspergers type of person who is all cold logic and is frustrated with social activities and people in general. Add to that a very social Fae comrade, and you have the makings of an oddball romance and an interesting quest into the very heart of the fae realm. It was interesting that I found Wendell just as frustrating as Emily, because, though it's obvious at the outset that he's in love with her, neither can seem to make the first move or spell out their attraction to the other. However, Wendell does manage to save Emily, along with the kindly townsfolk, and all's well that ends well, though the door is left wide open for a sequel.  I'd give this fantasy book that taught me more about fairy myths and legends than anything else I've read (and I've read a LOT of fantasy novels) a B+, and recommend it to those who enjoyed all the detail in the Lord of the Rings books.

The Cliff's Edge by Charles Todd is the 13th book in the Bess Crawford mystery series by mother/son duo that is now just left to the son, as the mother half of the couple has recently passed on. I've read all the Bess Crawford mysteries, and though I know there is supposed to be a subtle undercurrent of romance, in the last few novels, this one included, there was little to NO romance and a lot more bloodshed and sorrow. It's the end of the Great War (WW1) and the Spanish Flu is rampant, and has been for a year or so, therefore Bess is hoping to transition from working as a nursing sister to being at home with her family. However, this is not to be when she encounters a woman who pushes her to help a relative with an illness, and death and mayhem ensue. Here's the blurb:

In the aftermath of World War I, nurse Bess Crawford is caught in a deadly feud between two families in this thirteenth book in the beloved mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd.

Restless and uncertain of her future in the wake of World War I, former battlefield nurse Bess Crawford agrees to travel to Yorkshire to help a friend of her cousin Melinda through surgery. But circumstances change suddenly when news of a terrible accident reaches them. Bess agrees to go to isolated Scarfdale and the Neville family, where one man has been killed and another gravely injured. The police are asking questions, and Bess is quickly drawn into the fray as two once close families take sides, even as they are forced to remain in the same house until the inquest is completed.

When another tragedy strikes, the police are ready to make an arrest. Bess struggles to keep order as tensions rise and shots are fired. What dark truth is behind these deaths? And what about the tale of an older murder—one that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Nevilles? Bess is unaware that when she passes the story on to Cousin Melinda, she will set in motion a revelation with the potential to change the lives of those she loves most—her parents, and her dearest friend, Simon Brandon.

The above blurb is a bit disingenuous, as Simon and his role in this family drama is only laid out in the last few pages, so that nothing is done about it and it's something of a shock. Though the prose is proper and clean and exceedingly polite, the plot founders at several points and I found it to be rather dull as Bess goes over what has happened in previous pages several times. Redundancy is boring if it does nothing to further the plot. At any rate, I'd give this latest book in the series a B-, (and I'm being generous) and only recommend it to die-hard fans of Bess Crawford.

Allende Launches Literacy by the Bay, Costco Picks Something Wilder, the Night Agent on TV, Blind Date With a Book, The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris, Lightlark by Alex Aster, The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith, and Hang Fire by Devon Monk

Hiya book lovers! It's Valentine's Day Week, and I'm very excited about the 7 new books that I got for Valentine's Day gifts from my hubby Jim. Of course, I also got some vegan chocolate, which is delicious, and the perfect compliment to a day of reading. FYI, yesterday was the SuperBowl, which is the anniversary of this blog, which I started on Superbowl Sunday in 2005. I was just finishing up a book, though, so I had to postpone this post until this evening. But I'm really looking forward to this week, and to discussing Cloud Cuckoo Land with my Library Book Group, and also getting my Inflectra infusion, because last weeks colonoscopy has my guts in an uproar. Anyroad, here are some tidbits and reviews for your edification. 

I love Allende's works, and I think she's amazing for launching a literacy non profit.

Image of the Day: Isabel Allende Helps Launch Literacy by the Bay

Sausalito Books by the Bay https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCJkO4I6alucRx3Sw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXW5GmpoMLg-gVdw, Sausalito, Calif., launched its new nonprofit Literacy by the Bay last week with an assist from legendary local author Isabel Allende. In a rare live event, Allende spoke to an SRO crowd of more than 200--about her writing, her feminism, and leading a passionate life.

Sausalito Books by the Bay owner Cheryl Popp, who was in conversation with Allende, explained that the new nonprofit aims to help children, young adults, people of all ages and backgrounds grow as successful readers, writers, and communicators. "By improving literacy, we enrich and inspire lives, as well as our community," she said. The 501(c)(3) will also help the bookstore remain sustainable, which has been a challenge. (The store opened its doors only three months before the pandemic hit.)

I read and somewhat enjoyed this book, so I'm glad to see that Costco has chosen it as their February book pick.

Costco Picks: Something Wilder

Alex Kanenwisher, book buyer at Costco, has selected Something Wilder by Christina Lauren as the pick for February. In Costco Connection, which goes to many of the warehouse club's members, Kanenwisher writes:

"Because February is a month known for romance, I have a suggestion for a romp of a read: Something Wilder by the writing duo known as Christina Lauren.

"Lily Wilder is ready to lead a group on a treasure hunt, when a man she used to love walks back into her life. Let the adventure, laughs and healing begin."This book is a lot of fun to read. It's full of twists, turns and the kind of surprises I don't often encounter in a romance novel."

I'm looking forward to seeing this in March. 

TV: The Night Agent

Netflix has set a March 23 premiere date and released a teaser trailer

https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCKwesI6alucB4kGg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXWMCjpoMLg-gVdw and first-look images for The Night Agent, based on Matthew Quirk's 2019 novel, Deadline reported. Created and showrun by Shawn Ryan (S.W.A.T., The Shield), the 10-episode series stars Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan, Hong Chau, Sarah Desjardins, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Eve Harlow, Enrique Murciano Phoenix Raei and DB Woodside. 

Deadline noted that when Ryan "announced that he was adapting the show in late 2020, he was discussing some of the favorite books he'd read that lockdown year. He listed The Night Agent in the category of 'Books I Read, Decided to Adapt for Television and May Have Already Finished Writing the Pilot Episode.' Netflix ordered The Night Agent to series seven months later."

I find the idea of a blind date with a book delightful, and though I've only participated once, I found it to be a thrilling experience.

Robert Gray: Blind Date with a Book: 'Who Knows, You May Just Find the Perfect Match!'

It's not an origin story, but in 2013 Shelf Awareness ran a "Cool Idea of the Day" item about a paper-covered books display at Malaprop's Bookstore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCKwesI6alucB4lGA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXWMCjpoMLg-gVdw, Asheville, N.C., with a sign reading: "Blind Date with a Bookseller (or their favorite books, anyway. It's almost the same thing). We love you. We want you to ride off into the sunset with the book of your dreams. But we also want you to enjoy the pleasant surprises of life.... If you're brave and true, step forward. pick one that calls to you. Embrace the sweaty-palmed anticipation of the unknown."

I'm sure this wasn't the first Blind Date with a Book moment in history, but it was definitely a harbinger of things to come, as just a few months later we highlighted other indie bookstores offering them in Valentine's Day promotions.

In this week's bookshop newsletter, Gibson's Bookstore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCKwesI6alucB4lHg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXWMCjpoMLg-gVdw, Concord, N.H., wrote: "If you like to live life on the edge and trust our booksellers implicitly, you should stop in and peruse our Blind Date with a Book Display! At any given time, this display has up to 12 different paperbacks chosen by our booksellers, wrapped up in mysterious little parcels with vague yet extremely specific blurbs written on the outside.

"Browsing the display you might find 'John Tucker Must Die, with bisexual witches' or 'Lesbian necromancers in space' or 'Exiled witch on house arrest for turning her narcissistic, internet-troll, gun-loving, beer-drinking, ex-coworker into a talking cat.' We'll be honest, sometimes the formal publisher marketing lets a book down. We strive to fix that."

Here are the Reviews for this week:

The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris is the 4th book in her Gunnie Rose series about an alternate future Western with magic and gangs and some old fashioned monarchies. Having read all of the Sookie Stackhouse fantasy novels, as well as the Gunnie Rose series and the Midnight, Texas series, I'm familiar with Harris's prose style (straightforward and muscular, yet with a vein of shining light that dazzles) and plots (always swift and sure) enough to know that I'm going to have to read whichever book from her series in one sitting. This particular series is always a thrill ride with a zesty cast of characters and a strong female protagonist. Here's the blurb:

Bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns to her alternate history of the United States where magic is an acknowledged but despised power in this fourth installment of the Gunnie Rose series.

Felicia, Lizbeth Rose’s half-sister and a student at the Grigori Rasputin school in San Diego—capital of the Holy Russian Empire—is caught between her own secrets and powerful family struggles. As a granddaughter of Rasputin, she provides an essential service to the hemophiliac Tsar Alexei, providing him the blood transfusions that keep him alive. Felicia is treated like a nonentity at the bedside of the tsar, and at the school she's seen as a charity case with no magical ability. But when Felicia is snatched outside the school, the facts of her heritage begin to surface. Felicia turns out to be far more than the Russian-Mexican Lizbeth rescued. As Felicia’s history unravels and her true abilities become known, she becomes under attack from all directions. Only her courage will keep her alive.

 Though this book wasn't focused on Gunnie Lizbeth, I really enjoyed getting to know her half sister Felicia, who was so strong and smart and didn't suffer fools that I found myself liking her right away, though I usually have a problem with teenage girl protagonists who are nearly always drawn as bitchy and mean. Felicia doesn't really have the time for that kind of thing, as she's catching up on her growth after years of anti-growth spells and malnutrition, (and crappy parents) and trying to learn, as fast as possible, how to use her newfound killing powers to protect herself and others. Her misogynist grandfather wants to marry her off to use her as a brood mare to create more magic users that he will have power over, and he doesn't care what Felicia feels about it. Felicia and her friends do, though, and many battles are won and lost within this slender volume. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone else who's as fascinated with this "wild West of the future" series as I am.

Lightlark by Alex Aster is a brilliant YA fantasy that combines some of the Hunger Games style battles with dark fairy tale retellings and juicy romances. Here's the blurb:  

Welcome to the Centennial.

Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that only the rulers of six realms are invited to play. The invitation is a summons—a call to embrace victory and ruin, baubles and blood. The Centennial offers the six rulers one final chance to break the curses that have plagued their realms for centuries. Each ruler has something to hide. Each realm’s curse is uniquely wicked. To destroy the curses, one ruler must die. 

 
Isla Crown is the young ruler of Wildling—a realm of temptresses cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with. They are feared and despised, and are counting on Isla to end their suffering by succeeding at the Centennial.
To survive, Isla must lie, cheat, and betray…even as love complicates everything.
Filled with secrets, deception, romance, and twists worthy of the darkest thrillers, Lightlark is a must-read for fans of legendary fantasy writers Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, and Leigh Bardugo.  

Aster's prose is gorgeous, almost poetic, and full of lush character and background descriptions that put you right into the action and the people/place. Her plot was swirling and delirious, yet gripping enough that I couldn't stop turning pages. There are also twist and turns that intrigue and satisfy, though readers are certain to wonder how things will turn out when everyone could be a liar and betrayer. I'd give this beautiful novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who loves fine prose and pristine plots and riveting characters.

The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith is the first Poppy Denby Investigates book in what looks to be a real zinger of a series of mysteries set in the 1920s. Here's the blurb:

It is 1920. Twenty-two year old Poppy Denby moves from Northumberland to live with her paraplegic aunt in London.  

Aunt Dot, a suffragette, was injured in battles with the police in 1910. Her contacts prove invaluable. Poppy lands a position as an editorial assistant at the Daily Globe. Poppy has always wanted to be a journalist and laps up the atmosphere of the news room. Then one of the paper's hacks dies suddenly and dramatically. His story was going to be the morning lead, but he hasn't finished writing it. Poppy finds his notes and completes the story, which is a sensation. The editor, realising her valuable suffragette contacts, invites her to dig deeper. Poppy starts sifting through the dead man's files and unearths a major mystery which takes her to France - and into danger. 

By the end of the story Poppy is a fixture on the paper, and is being courted by a photographer. Further mysteries lie ahead.

'A delightful period romp, neatly sprinkled with the choicest historical detail.'  D.J. Taylor Author of Bright Young People

This book reminded me of a Canadian TV mystery series called the Frankie Drake Mysteries, starring Lauren Lee Smith as the slinky, sexy, and smart Frankie Drake in 1920s Toronto. Poppy is a bit younger and less savvy than Frankie, but she's just as determined to solve the mystery by her wits and resourcefulness alone. I loved Poppy's determination and I enjoyed her insistence on becoming a journalist, having been one myself, and realizing that some of the sexism shown to Poppy is still in play in newsrooms today. The prose was spicy and the plot flew by, so I'd give this first book in a series an A, and recommend it to those who like historical female sleuths in their cozy mysteries.

Hang Fire by Devon Monk was a wonderful short story set in her Steampunk series, Dead Iron and Tin Swift. I've probably read it before, and I just read it so long ago (5 years) that I'd forgotten what it was about when I found it on my Kindle Paperwhite. Plus, I was really jonesing for something by one of my favorite authors of all time, and this story was near to hand. Here's the blurb:

A steampunk short story set between DEAD IRON and TIN SWIFT in the The Age of Steam series. Ceder Hunt gave his word to find an ancient weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. But on the trail out of Oregon, he and his companions discover they have become the hunted. If guns and steam matics won't save them, maybe Cedar's dark curse will. Originally appeared as an online serial.

 As with anything written by Monk, the prose was stellar and the plot enchanting. You can't go wrong with anything Devon Monk writes, because her mastery of prose style and plot are legendary. She is, in my opinion, the Steinbeck of fantasy/paranormal/urban fantasy and science fiction/romance. This short story is no exception, and I was gripped from the first sentence to the last. I'd give it a well deserved A, and recommend it to anyone who has read her Steampunk series. It won't let you down.

Reading in Public Opens in West Des Moines, IA, World Read Aloud Day, LOC and NASA Send Poem into Space, Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare, The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais, Capture the Crown by Jennifer Estep, and Drop Dead by D.N. Erikson

Greetings Bibliophiles! Welcome to February! I hope you all are enjoying the beauty of winter in it's last month before Spring starts making itself felt in March and April. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks of bundling up in a warm blanket with a hot cup of tea and some good books near the fireplace...Reading heaven.  Meanwhile, here's some fantastic tidbits about a new bookstore in my native state of Iowa, and Reading Aloud Day, as well as sending a poem into space, which I think is a fantastic idea, because who knows who will find it in decades or millennia to come?! Also below are four of my latest book reviews. See you all next weekend.

 

I am so excited that a new bookstore is opening up in Iowa, in a part where my family lived for several years. I hope that RIP thrives in WDM, and that they continue to bring diversity to the area. 

Reading in Public Opens in West Des Moines, Iowa

Reading in Public Bookstore + Cafe https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAjen-8I6aluJh8jGw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jPDJ6npoMLg-gVdw is open for business in West Des Moines, Iowa, following a grand opening on January 14. Owner Linzi Murray, store manager Bethany Fast and their team carry books with a strong focus on social justice and diversity.

There are books for children and adults in both Spanish and English, and Murray, who is a Chinese adoptee, reported that most of the store's front-facing books are by authors of color. She added that the bookstore is "very proudly Asian-owned," and noted that as far as she is aware,her store is one of the very few Asian-owned bookstores in the entire Midwest.

The bookstore's emphasis on social justice is also evident in the community partnerships it's formed. Even before the bricks-and-mortar store opened, Murray and the team had partnered with organizations such as the Iowa Abortion Access Fund and Pied Piper Studio, a children's music and movement studio in Urbandale, Iowa.

In addition to books, Reading in Public carries a variety of sidelines for all ages, including stationery, greeting cards, puzzles and toys.

The cafe side of the business, meanwhile, sells coffee sourced from a roaster in Kansas City called PT's Coffee, and Murray has partnered with local vegan bakery Thistle Summit. Pointing out that she's originally from New York City, Murray said she also has a partnership with a bakery called Five Borough Bagels, which makes New York-style bagels and was founded by former New Yorkers.

While Reading in Public has yet to schedule any events, Murray remarked that she plans to host "anything that really serves the community and the interests of the community." Along with author talks and book signings, Murray said she likes the idea of hosting less traditional events like yoga workshops and programs that raise environmental-awareness.

Murray had dreamed of owning a bookstore for a long time, though she had always thought of it as a "far-off dream" that would manifest later in life if at all. When her favorite bookstores were forced to close in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, she started a Bookstagram  https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAjen-8I6aluJh8jGA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jPDJ6npoMLg-gVdw account so that she could continue connecting with other readers and discovering new authors and stories.

Before long she felt compelled to open a bookstore of her own, and she began planning for Reading in Public in July 2021, when she was still living in New York City. Having a cafe in the bookstore was part of the plan pretty much from the beginning, as was the bookstore's general location. Valley Junction, a historic neighborhood in West Des Moines with a tight-knit community of small businesses, was the "only place I wanted to be."

Murray and her husband moved to Des Moines in November 2021, and in early 2022 Murray started looking for spaces in Valley Junction in earnest. There wasn't much available at the time, but there were a few new buildings planned and she "got in that as fast as I possibly could." She signed the lease in February 2022 and had initially hoped to open the store over the summer. Due to some long construction delays, the opening was pushed back into 2023.

"People have been so excited and anticipating this for such a long time," Murray said. The enthusiasm has not been confined to West Des Moines: some of her Bookstagram followers have been telling her "they're going to travel to visit" now that the store is open. "There's been lots of support."

I loved being read to as a child, and I think a WRAD is a wonderful idea!

Robert Gray: World Read Aloud Day--Maybe You Heard the Voices, Too

Maybe you heard it, too. On Wednesday, all over the planet, the sound of children's reading voices was being carried on a word breeze. It couldn't drown out the usual cacophony, so perhaps you thought you'd just imagined it. But imagining all those voices was the point of World Read Aloud Day https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAjewuQI6aluJkp2Sw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jPDMOspoMLg-gVdw.

LitWorld and Scholastic teamed up to celebrate the 14th annual WRAD in 173 countries with 24 hours of free, virtual programming spanning across time zones.

Internationally, children's book authors (including Dav Pilkey sharing his upcoming graphic novel Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea) read aloud and offered pre-recorded messages from 13 countries through Storyvoice.

In anticipation of the big day, WRAD author ambassador Rebecca Elliott said, "It's so exciting to know that millions of people are going to be coming together on World Read Aloud Day to celebrate the joy of story-telling and story-sharing, and I just feel so incredibly honored to be this year's Author Ambassador. I can't wait to bring The Owl Diaries along to the celebrations."

Canadian Independent Booksellers Association: "Today is World Read Aloud Day! There is something magical about sharing a story with other people. Today, why not spend some time reading aloud to someone you care about?"

I like CIBA's advice to "spend some time reading aloud to someone you care about." WRAD is geared for the kids, but it's also a yearly reminder adults might consider. Maybe you already do.

My wife and I are both lifelong readers, professionally and avocationally. We've read aloud to one another many times over the years, though not habitually. That situation changed last fall when she had surgery on one eye and was unable to read for about six weeks.

Audiobooks filled the void at first, but rather quickly I began reading books aloud to her as part of the healing process... for both of us, I suspect. Though I'll never win any awards for my reading voice, there's a gift in the effort. When she was able to read again, my time spent reading aloud declined, but we feel this is something worth sustaining.

In her memoir Coming into the End Zone, the late Doris Grumbach, who read her work in public hundreds of times and had a regular slot on NPR as a book reviewer for several years, wrote: "I dislike reading my work aloud, hearing all the errors that are, too late, cemented into print, noticing the rhetorical slips, the grating infelicities.... The sound of my own voice gives terrible legitimacy to faulty prose.

I'm pretty sure the sound of my pedestrian voice gives no "terrible legitimacy" to anything, but like all those kids who lifted their reading voices to the skies on World Read Aloud Day, I still hope to be part of the global bookish choir. --Robert Gray, contributing editor

This is so cool! Sending a poem into the vastness of space, therein to be read by space-faring generations to come!

The Library of Congress & U.S. Poet Laureate @adalimon are embarking on a mission with @NASA & @NASAJPL to send a poem to space! The poem, written by Ada & dedicated to the @EuropaClipper mission, will be engraved on the spacecraft. Launch is planned for October 2024.

 

The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare is the first book in Clares offshoot of the Shadowhunters series, the Eldest Curses, which focuses on Downworlders like Magnus Bane, the delicious gay warlock whose immortal exploits could fill more than a few books in a series. Here's the blurb: From Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu comes the first book in a new series full of “swoon-worthy romance [and] abundant action” (Publishers Weekly). The Red Scrolls of Magic is a Shadowhunters novel.

All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke.

Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand before the cult can cause any more damage. Demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping. 

 

Magnus and Alec are the odd couple of the Shadowhunter world, and that just makes their serious guy vs flamboyant wild guy romance all the more hilarious and heartwarming. Of course, being an extrovert, I identify much more with Magnus's wild and wacky exploits and his dress to impress style, but I still found myself adoring Alec's sweet insecure need to protect his love at all costs, and with all seriousness, though Magnus has been alive for millennia and can obviously take care of himself. Clare's prose is a perfect balance of sweet and salty, with lots of witty asides and moments that make you go "Awwww." The plot was easy-breezy, and it was one of those books that would be a good vacation read, full of action and adventure and romance. I'd give the book an A-, and recommend it to anyone who has read and loved the Shadowhunter series.

 

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais was a deliciously enchanting  tale of found family, feminism and the value of being an older woman in a society that likes to see any woman over 50 as worthless and invisible. I have to say, right off the bat, that I LOVED this book, which grabbed me and held on from the first page to the last. The prose was brilliant and decadent, while the plot was fulsome and rich. Here's the blurb: A coven of modern-day witches. A magical heist-gone-wrong. A looming threat.

Five octogenarian witches gather as an angry mob threatens to demolish Moonshyne Manor. All eyes turn to the witch in charge, Queenie, who confesses they’ve fallen far behind on their mortgage payments. Still, there’s hope, since the imminent return of Ruby—one of the sisterhood who’s been gone for thirty-three years—will surely be their salvation.

But the mob is only the start of their troubles. One man is hellbent on avenging his family for the theft of a legacy he claims was rightfully his. In an act of desperation, Queenie makes a bargain with an evil far more powerful than anything they’ve ever faced. Then things take a turn for the worse when Ruby’s homecoming reveals a seemingly insurmountable obstacle instead of the solution to all their problems.

The witches are determined to save their home and themselves, but their aging powers are no match for increasingly malicious threats. Thankfully, they get a bit of help from Persephone, a feisty TikToker eager to smash the patriarchy. As the deadline to save the manor approaches, fractures among the sisterhood are revealed, and long-held secrets are exposed, culminating in a fiery confrontation with their enemies.

Funny, tender and uplifting, the novel explores the formidable power that can be discovered in aging, found family and unlikely friendships. Marais’ clever prose offers as much laughter as insight, delving deeply into feminism, identity and power dynamics while stirring up intrigue and drama through secrets, lies and sex. Heartbreaking and heart-mending, it will make you grateful for the amazing women in your life. 

 

As a woman over the age of 60, I could identify with these octogenarian witches who feel every twitch of an arthritic joint and run out of steam after one spell is incanted. Though they're all 20 year older than I am, I certain know what it feels like to deal with the debilitations of age and chronic ailments. Yet not one of the witches lets that stop her from doing her best to try and save the others. Then there's the youngest member of the household, the teenage daughter of the town's mayor who recognizes that these women are being railroaded by her greedy insensitive and misogynistic father. She brings much needed fresh eyes to their situation and ends up helping to save the day. If you're a fan of TJ Klune or Gail Carriger, you're bound to like this delicious book with its sweet and poignant tale. I'd give it an A and recommend it to those I mentioned above, or anyone else who likes modern magical tales full of laughter and fierceness!

 

Capture the Crown by Jennifer Estep is the first book in the Gargoyle Queen series, and, as I've read two of her other series, I thought I'd give this one a try. I was slightly disappointed by the extremely insecure and cowardly heroine who looks to others for answers best found within herself. But, due to childhood trauma, I gather we're supposed to give her the benefit of the doubt. Here's the blurb:

Bestselling author Jennifer Estep returns to her Crown of Shards world with an all-new trilogy and a bold new heroine who protects her kingdom from magic, murder, and mayhem by moonlighting as a spy.
Gemma Ripley has a reputation for being a pampered princess who is more interested in pretty gowns, sparkling jewelry, and other frivolous things than learning how to rule the kingdom of Andvari. But her carefully crafted persona is just an act to hide the fact that Gemma is a powerful mind magier—and a spy. 

Gemma is undercover, trying to figure out who is stealing large amounts of tearstone from one of the Ripley royal mines when she encounters Prince Leonidas Morricone of Morta—her mortal enemy. Gemma tries to steer clear of the handsome prince, but when she finds herself behind enemy lines, she reluctantly joins forces with Leo. Also coming to Gemma’s aid is Grimley, her beloved gargoyle.

Despite the fact that Andvari and Morta are old, bitter enemies, a dangerous attraction sparks between Gemma and Leo. Further complicating matters is Leo’s murderous family, especially Queen Maeven Morricone, the mastermind behind the infamous Seven Spire massacre.

The closer Gemma gets to the stolen tearstone, the more deadly plots she uncovers. Everyone is trying to capture the crown, but only one queen can sit on the throne.

 

Another thing I find annoying about romance threads in fantasy books like this is the way the female protagonists seem unable to control themselves around the overly handsome male protagonist. It's as if they lose all their reasoning faculties and become stupid overnight. It brings into play the ridiculously sexist stereotype of the emotional or "hysterical" female who can't think straight due to hormones, as if men are only prey to hormones when they want to get laid. At any rate, the prose was clean and crisp and the plot very straightforward, almost like it was based on Romeo and Juliet (LOL). I'd give this book a B- and recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy retellings of Shakespeare romances.

 

Drop Dead by DN Erikson  is a paranormal fantasy/adventure/action novel that reads like something written by Jennifer Estep or Deanna Raybourn or Seanan McGuire's October Day series.  This would be a good thing if Erikson had anything new to offer the subgenre, but she does a virtual paint-by-numbers rendition of the strong female protagonist with powers who is in a heap of trouble and has to be the only one able to get herself and her sidekicks, one of whom is nearly always a romantic interest, out of the mess that they're in. If this is done in a deft fashion with unique flair then it's an engaging and wonderful journey. If it's not, it becomes tedious because regular readers of Estep or Raybourn or McGuire know where the plane is going to land at every beat of the story arc. Copying these other writers makes this writer seem like a lazy fangirl or just someone who wants to ride on the coat tails of a trend in order to get a publishing contract for a series. Here's the short blurb:

I just woke up in a motel.
I have no idea who I am or how I got here.
But I do know three things.
There's a body on the floor...and one in the bathtub.
There's a bullet in my shoulder. And it hurts. Bad.
And there's a vampire warlock right outside the door. And he's coming to finish the job.
Drop Dead is the first book in the new urban fantasy series starring Tess Skye.

Erikson's prose is gritty and witty, but the plot is commonplace and predictable. While I'd like to say it was good enough for me to want to read the second book, it was just too much like the other series mentioned for me to really care about the carbon-copycat characters. I'd give this book a C+, and recommend it only to those who haven't read the other series I've mentioned, so it will seem new to them.