Tag Archives: The Wild Rose Press

dragon(e) baby gone

Book Review: Dragon(e) Baby Gone, by Robert Gainey

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Dragon(e) Baby Gone was promoed on Sadie’s Spotlight. And though I didn’t agree to review it for a tour, I was provided a free copy for my participation. If I’m honest, the cover doesn’t light me up, and I might not have paid it much attention if Robert Gainey‘s interactions in the post’s comments weren’t so genuine (as I discuss here).

Dragone Baby Gone

Overworked. Underfunded. Outgunned. Sometimes the greater good needs a little help from a lesser evil.

“Dragon is hard to overcome, yet one shall try.”
– Nowe Ateny, Polish Encyclopedia, 1745

Diane Morris is part of the thin line separating a happy, mundane world from all of the horrors of the anomalous. Her federal agency is underfunded, understaffed, and misunderstood, and she’d rather transfer to the boring safety of Logistics than remain a field agent.

When a troupe of international thieves make off with a pair of dragon eggs, Diane has no choice but to ally with a demon against the forces looking to leave her city a smoldering crater.

Facing down rogue wizards, fiery elementals, and crazed gunmen, it’s a race against time to get the precious cargo back before the dragon wakes up and unleashes hell.

Oh, I had so much fun with this one. There’s no romance, it’s pure action adventure urban fantasy and it’s a rollicking good time. You’ve got diversity in the cast. You’ve got snarky heroines and sarcastic demons. You’ve got a whodunit mystery and a race against the clock to avoid death and destruction plot line. You’ve got sharp writing and clean editing. Sure, things get a little ridiculous at times and maybe it’s a little hard to believe Morris survives all the crazy antics, but roll with it. It’ll be worth your time.

dragon(e) baby gone

As a bonus, since this is still running over on Sadie’s Spotlight. There’s a giveaway too. (I hope no one minds me sharing it here.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lastly, I’m trying this new thing where I share links to other reviews of the books I read for comparisons sake. I’ve yet to decide if this will be a permanent feature, but I’m testing the idea. Today, I hit my first snag when I realized Dragon(e) Baby Gone doesn’t actually have a lot of blog reviews yet. So, it was a struggle to find one. But I persisted and succeeded.

Helen Johannes’ Blog

alien innkeeper

Book Review: Alien Innkeeper, by Roxanne Barbour

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I picked up a freebie code for an Audible code of Roxanne Barbour‘s Alien Innkeeper.

alien innkeeper

Sylvestine Amera is the manager of the Mars Best-Tycho Basin Hotel. When her first alien visitors arrive on planet, Syl is faced with solving numerous challenges. Not the least of having Dedare Sath rubbing her cheeks in a gesture she is curious to understand. Irion customs are different than what she is used to, but when Dedare who owns a hotel on Irion asks her to leave Mars and manage his flagship hotel, she is more than ready to leave her home planet behind.

Once on the alien planet Syl is subjected to new customs, more alien encounters, adventures, not to mention romance. The only problem is now she has three aliens interested in her. But before Syl is able to choose a mate, a former girlfriend of Dedare’s and several other nemeses attempt to take her out of the equation—permanently. She can’t help but wonder if her out of the world experience is worth dying for.

my reivew

Have you ever wanted to be a hôtelière? Ever imagined yourself tending to all the minutia needed to run a large inn? I’m talking staffing, and menu creations, and billings, and reservation systems, and computer programs, and housekeeping, and tour guides, and productivity management, and employment guides, and job descriptions, and customer services? Have you? I have not. Therefore I did not enjoy this book that is almost entirely dedicated to the boring details of running a hotel, spliced in with the main character being considered amazing for implementing the most basic changes.

Sure, there was some artificial drama toward the end, based entirely on the cliched  crazy is as crazy does, jealous woman, and scorned boyfriend tropes. (I mean could it have been less creative or disconnected?) And there’s a side romance that does nothing but detract from the rest of the story. And then there is the main romance that doesn’t develop even far enough for me to know which man is supposed to be the romantic lead until he puts a ring on her finger. Seriously!

This wasn’t necessarily badly written in general. But the dialogue is very stiff (and not just because of the language barrier between the characters) and the narrator didn’t really do much to alleviate the problem.

All in all, the best I can say is that I’m happy to be finished. If you go into this hoping for something along the lines of Ilona Andrews’ Innkeeper’s Chronicles (which has a similar description) you will be very, very disappointed.

alien innkeeper

Mystic Love, by JJ Keller

Review Mystic Love, by J.J. Keller

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Mystic Love

I picked up a free Audible code for a copy for Mystic Love, by JJ Keller, probably from Free Audiobook Codes.

About the book

Ericka Gilmore dabbles in life and death when she tries to conjure a ghost lover. But when flesh and blood, Joe Reeves appears on her doorstep in the midst of a storm, she has to rethink her destiny.

A car accident left the former cop with the ability to foresee death. No longer willing to watch people he cares about die, Joe goes in search of a shaman to remove his “gift”. His remedy until then is to avoid all relationships. But like a lightning strike, he experiences a strong connection with Ericka. A nearby mystical ley line could be Joe’s solution if he and Ericka combine their gifts. But her secret past and his fear of seeing her death keep them at odds.

I thought this was OK, sweet even, but still not a huge winner for me. The reason is that, as satisfying as seeing two likeable characters fall in love is, I can’t help but notice that they both find and accept their destiny. His is to accept his premonitions of death and serve fate by saving lives; her’s is to become his wife. The two are presented as equal. So, he gets a whole active destiny and she gets to…what, not become an old maid. We could be generous and say ‘support him.’ But that’s still only a supporting role, which is so often the crumb women are offered and told it’s a whole piece of toast. Now, I’m well aware that our culture preaches that becoming a wife is a goal in itself, but I hate when it’s a woman’s only goal, especially one who is otherwise smart and accomplished, as the heroine here is.

You know, there’s another complaint I’ve made dozens and dozens of times in my reviews. it’s when authors don’t label parts of a series as such. This book is the sequel to The Ghost Inside (as far as I can tell)  and it’s not labeled as such anywhere that I’ve yet to see. And it matters, because despite not being labeled, I so felt the lack of history that I went and read the blurbs of all the author’s books until I found the one that comes before this book, 100% certain there would be one. So, obviously I felt the lack of a first book. It is readable alone, but you will know there is a book before it. I sure did.

All in all, not a bad book. The writing is perfectly readable and the narrator (Eric J. McAnallen) did a fine job. But not a winner for me personally. It did get me through a whole day of stripping wallpaper though, so there is that to appreciate.