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Off Leash

Book Review of Off Leash (Freelance Familiars Book 1), by Daniel Potter

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Off LeashAuthor, Daniel Potter sent me an ecopy of his fantasy novel, Off Leash.

Description from Goodreads:
When Thomas Khatt awakens to the magical world following the sudden, violent death of his elderly Archmagus neighbor, he doesn’t get the standard package of awesome power combined with a hero destiny. Nope, he trades his thumbs in for a tail, tawny fur and four feet with a very low co-efficient of friction on linoleum. His destiny as one of three talking mountain lions in the magical world? To be sold at auction and bonded to some pimply faced apprentice for life. 

Thomas would rather eat dirty kitty litter. 

Armed only with an impressive set of chompers and buckets of snark, Thomas faces off against a lightning-bolt throwing granny and a sexy union recruiter as he desperately tries hold the threads of his old life together. To stay off the leash he’ll have to take advantage of the chaos caused by the Archmagus’ death and help the local Inquisition solve his murder. A pyromanic squirrel, religious werewolves, and cat-hating cops all add to the chaos as Thomas attempts to become the first Freelance Familiar.

Review:
I was charmed by Off Leash. I enjoyed Thomas’ refusal to accept his given situation and insistence on doing the right thing. The magic was surprisingly well developed and there was an interesting and amusing set of characters that were largely more than shadows on the page.

However, I thought that as hard as Thomas tried to get his human self back, we never fully came to grips with him. I never missed him as anything other than an idea.

Further, I thought the plot took so long to become apparent that it felt non-existent. Let me clarify that. There is a plot, but it ties itself together at the end and up until the last few pages, when all the decisions Thomas makes throughout the book culminate, it just felt like he was running around randomly reacting to stimuli placed before him. It seemed a bit scattered.

Lastly, I had little trouble placing the genre. It’s fantasy certainly, and if it weren’t for the cursing and oblique references to sex I’d call it upper Middle Grade Fantasy (especially with the illustrations that feel geared toward young readers) but there is cursing and references to sex (though not a lot), so…not MG despite feeling MG. The whole thing had a bit of a Terry Pratchett feel, in the sense that it’s sometimes ridiculous just for the sake of ridiculousness. There were a few delicious ironies, humor and some very readable writing. So, if you like that sort of book, pick this one up.

Untamed

Book Review of Untamed, by Anna Cowan

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UntamedI bought an ecopy of Untamed, by Anna Cowan.

Description from Goodreads:
Outspoken and opinionated, Katherine Sutherland is ill at ease amongst the fine ladies of Regency London. She is more familiar with farmers and her blunt opinions and rough manners offend polite society. Yet when she hears the scandalous rumours involving her sister and the seductive Duke of Darlington, the fiercely loyal Katherine vows to save her sister’s marriage – whatever the cost.

Intrigued by Katherine’s interference in his affairs, the manipulative Duke is soon fascinated. He engages in a daring deception and follows her back to her country home. Here, their intense connection shocks them both. But the Duke’s games have dangerous consequences, and the potential to throw both their lives into chaos…

Review:
Oh so marvelous! I was recently bemoaning the fact that I am so often disappointed in het romance book. In fact, I’ve largely given up reading them. Then someone described this book to me and I thought, ‘well I have to try that don’t I?’

But before I do, I want to address that cover. It’s a perfectly fine cover, but it doesn’t give you a clue to the raucous characters you will find within it.  I’d never have picked it up had I not been given a very strong recommendation.

Ok, with that out of the way, I loved Kit and the Duke. I just loved them. I loved the way she was so strong and he was so fragile. I just loved it. Now, another reviewer that I respect spoke to the fact that this is only just a reversal of male/female characteristics, not a true subversion of them. And I agree whole-heartedly. Really, it just highlights them in relief, which is still reinforcing them in a sense. But, experientially, I so enjoyed reading it that I’m going to overlook this fact.

There was also a certain intensity to the writing that I just wanted to roll around in. It was lush, even if it did occasionally cut into clarity. Again, just the experience of submerging myself in it was diabolically wonderful.

And (mild spoiler) as much as I loved that the happy ending came about almost entirely at the active, purposeful hand of Kit, I did think it was all a little too saccharinely perfect. She got her man, her title, her riches and her revenge. It was too much. But I’m still going to overlook that fact simply because I otherwise loved the book so much.

The Golden City

Book Review of The Golden City, by J. Kathleen Cheney

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A note before I get to this review: Most summers my in-laws come for an extended visit to play with the kiddos. That includes this year. I currently have house guests. They will be here for six weeks. As you can imagine, trips to the zoo, dinners, socializing and basically having a grand old time is cutting into my reading time. So, for the next month and a half you can expect reviews to appear less frequently and probably in spurts. It will pick up again, I promise.

The Golden CityI won a paperback copy of The Golden City, by J. Kathleen Cheney from a Goodreads giveaway.

Description from Goodreads:
For two years, Oriana Paredes has been a spy among the social elite of the Golden City, reporting back to her people, the sereia, sea folk banned from the city’s shores….

When her employer and only confidante decides to elope, Oriana agrees to accompany her to Paris. But before they can depart, the two women are abducted and left to drown. Trapped beneath the waves, Oriana survives because of her heritage, but she is forced to watch her only friend die.

Vowing vengeance, Oriana crosses paths with Duilio Ferreira—a police consultant who has been investigating the disappearance of a string of servants from the city’s wealthiest homes. Duilio also has a secret: He is a seer and his gifts have led him to Oriana.

Bound by their secrets, not trusting each other completely yet having no choice but to work together, Oriana and Duilio must expose a twisted plot of magic so dark that it could cause the very fabric of history to come undone….

Review:
I’m pretty ‘meh’ about The Golden City. I liked the writing. The editing was fine. Finding it set in Portugal was a change from the regular US/UK based fiction one normally finds (though I’ve seen others comment it wasn’t accurate, I don’t know one way or another) and Selkie, Otterfolk and Seria were outside the norm magical creatures.

I even liked Oriana and Duilio. But I found them dull. Really, they seemed to exist in parallel plots that they then occasionally talked about. And they were so bound by social convention that there seemed to be no passion in them at all. And Oriana has to be the worst spy in history.

The mystery seemed shaky. Almost 50 people disappear and no one notices? I mean sure, employers might be oblivious, but did none of these people have families or friends that might report them missing? The great magic that was supposed to happen seemed questionable at best, though even the book admits that. And it all seemed to fall apart for no real reason at all. Oriana was still walking around as if no one was after her, and it didn’t seem anyone was despite claims to the contrary. Sure, Duilio dodged assassination attempts, but it’s Oriana that’s supposedto be in danger, but I never once felt that.

And I was distinctly dissatisfied with the ending. It’s not a solid HEA, which I don’t always have to have, but it felt like something had been left incomplete. In fact, what it felt very much like was an obvious tie-in for a sequel, which irks me.

All in all, I would call this OK, not great but not wholly bad either. I’d read a sequel if I came across it for free or could borrow it. But I doubt I’d spend money on it.