Tag Archives: urban fantasy

Greenwood Cove

Book Review of Greenwood Cove (Sunshine Walkingstick #1), by Celia Roman

I received an Audible code for a copy of Greenwood Cove, by Celia Roman.

Description from Goodreads:
I had three loves in my life: my daddy, him what my mama killed in cold blood; my son Henry, God rest him; and tall as an oak Riley Treadwell.

I lost all of ’em, one way or t’other, ’til Riley showed up on my stoop with a monster problem and tried to wiggle his way back into my life.

Only, weren’t no monster bothering him; was the one bothering his ex-girlfriend what’d stirred up a hornet’s nest out on Lake Burton amongst the muckity mucks. Weren’t no never mind to me, see? I was fine letting well enough alone, ‘cept curiosity got the best of me, and Riley, well. He weren’t above using that silver tongue of his to persuade me ’round to his way of doing things. If I’da listened to my gut, maybe I woulda avoided stepping knee deep into somebody else’s trouble.

Then again, I ain’t never been one to heed a warning when monsters come a-calling.

Review: 
I quite enjoyed this, both the story and the narration of the Audible. I struggled at first with Rebecca Winder’s version of a rural accent. It, combined with Roman’s phrasing, came across as artificial at times, more of a stereotypical mountain-speak than anything realistic. But I got used to it eventually.

I generally liked this. I liked the characters, the mystery and the romance. But I struggled at times feeling like the romance overpowered everything else and, well, this really doesn’t feel like a first book. The characters have a lot of history and a certain amount of background is left unexplained. I kept feeling like there must be a prequel out there somewhere. (There isn’t as far as I know.) Some of this feeling probably would have been ameliorated by fleshing some of the plot points out a bit and bringing her whole paranormal investigation into the open earlier. As it was, I wasn’t even sure she’d had paranormal cases, outside of her lost son, before the events of the book, until it was finally mentioned toward the end. It felt like yet one more thing readers were just supposed to know already.

All the same, it was a fun read. There was a certain amount of humor and I’d be open to continuing the series.

Silence Fallen

Book Review of Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson #10), by Patricia Briggs

I borrowed Silence Fallen, by Patricia Briggs, from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes—only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe… 
 
Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise…

Review;
Sloppy. I really hope that this isn’t ANOTHER series that’s become so popular that the author has become complacent about it.

I disliked the little, sarcastic comments by Mercy at the start of each chapter. I saw no reason for the story to be told out of chronological order, requiring these comments to break the third wall to explain where they fall in relation to one another. In fact, it seemed to me as if Briggs just couldn’t be bothered to clean her timeline up. I found it jarring that the whole book, except one or two small snippets, were from either Mercy or Adam’s POV. Those sections felt out of place and lazy. And honestly, I just wasn’t all that invested in the story as a whole. We didn’t get to see much of the pack. Adam and Mercy weren’t together, so we didn’t get any of their byplays, and it never settled into anything truly engaging compared to past books in the series.

It’s still better than many urban fantasy books on the market but nowhere near as good as early Mercy Thompson books. Speaking of the early Mercy Thompson books, I apparently never did post reviews of them on the blog. But I did make notes on some of them on Goodreads. I’ll add them below.

#1 Moon Called:
have to express my surprise at liking this book as much as I did. I’ve found most of my forays into traditionally published UF and PNR to be disappointing of late. But I stayed up until ten past three this morning to finish this one. I was simply enjoying it so much I didn’t notice night passing. Now, it’s not edge of your seat exciting. It’s UF, not PNR, so there is no sex, and the little bit of romance that there is is in the background. But I simply enjoyed Mercy, Adam, Sam, Warren, and everyone else in a kind of mellow, go-with-the-flow way. I’ll definitely be looking to read more of the series.

#2 Blood Bound:
I enjoyed this second instalment of the Mercy Thompson Series. Mercy is still wonderfully independent and I like her tendency to purposefully rile the big bads up. She does seem to be establishing a bit of a harem though. Not sure how I feel about that, but I look forward to seeing where this series goes.

#3 Iron Kissed:

#4 Bone Crossed:
Four books into this series, and I’m still basically enjoying it. However, this one played heavily on Mercy’s status as a recent victim, and it seriously compromised her previous impression as a strong, unflappable character. (Someone please tell me why it’s required that so many UF/PNR heroines have to be traumatised at some point? I don’t get it.) I disliked this and just plain got tired of it. I understand she can’t be expected to have healed instantly, but half the book was dedicated to the aftereffects and her response to being attacked in the last book. IMO, not fun, not fun at all. Writing is still good. Editing is still good. The rest of the characters are still fun. I did find the frequent recaps of previous books repetitive and distracting. Plus, the challenge to overcome was both diluted by virtue of being two-fold, and I felt overcome too easily. All in all, however still a good book.

#5 Silver Borne:
#6 River Marked:
#7 Frost Burned:

#8 Night Broken:

#9 Fire Touched:
The one where, having been married a while, Mercy apparently needs a kid, but no one could bother with a pesky pregnancy.

Not as satisfying as past books. I kept waiting for this to really develop into something, but it felt like a continual building that never culminated into a true plot.

White Hot

Review of White Hot (Hidden Legacy #2), by Ilona Andrews

I borrowed White Hot, by Ilona Andrews, from my local library. I reviewed the first one last in 2015.

Description from Goodreads:
Nevada Baylor has a unique and secret skill—she knows when people are lying—and she’s used that magic (along with plain, hard work) to keep her colorful and close-knit family’s detective agency afloat. But her new case pits her against the shadowy forces that almost destroyed the city of Houston once before, bringing Nevada back into contact with Connor “Mad” Rogan.

Rogan is a billionaire Prime—the highest rank of magic user—and as unreadable as ever, despite Nevada’s “talent.” But there’s no hiding the sparks between them. Now that the stakes are even higher, both professionally and personally, and their foes are unimaginably powerful, Rogan and Nevada will find that nothing burns like ice …

Review:
Can I start by saying that I think this series has some of the most off-putting covers ever? I really hate them and they really don’t represent the tone of the books? Do yourself a favor and don’t judge the books based on them. Ok, having said that, moving on.

It’s been a while since I read the first in this series, Burn For Me, and I admit that I’d forgotten a lot of the details. I was still able to catch up and follow the story well enough. However, I seem to remember loving the characters a lot more than I did here. I mean, I liked them, but with all the action and running around and killing people and blowing things up, I don’t really feel like the story slowed down and gave me much time to get to know them again.

One of the things I like most about Ilona Andrews is their ability to write alpha males who are all alpha, but still able and willing to support and encourage their kick-butt partners (not to mention the strong females). You get that here in much the same way you do the Kate Daniels books and that’s what keeps me coming back. No doubt I’ll be finishing this series out too.

Lastly, I appreciate that there is a pleasantly diverse cast in the Hidden Legacy universe.