BOOK REVIEW: In Blood and Duty Bound

Erin Bales and I attended the same grad program, although we weren’t in the same cohort. However, Erin was in my very first workshop, where I got to read ten early pages of this manuscript. I don’t even remember what the pages were about, but I know I liked them a lot. What I do remember is telling her that I trusted her as a writer, and that still holds true. Throughout the read, I wasn’t always sure where plotlines were going, but I was happy to be along for the ride.

In Blood and Duty Bound features multiple points of view and storylines. Renn, one of the main characters, is the youngest princess in the Morovide royal family and the fourth in line for the throne of Ombratos behind her mother and her three older sisters. She’s overlooked by her mother, the queen, and in love with Dallan, who’s engaged to her oldest sister, Solena. We spend a bit of time seeing Renn’s typical life before the plot kicks in and she’s tested as a princess and as an individual.

Parneo, her twin, is gifted in alchemy, which is the world’s main magic system and based on blood. The Morovides are literally bound to the Ombratos throne via their blood. Healing charms and the like are activated with a drop of blood accompanied by an incantation. Like all the other male twins in his family line, Parneo, because of his talent with alchemy, is prone to the madness that tends to accompany it. This plays a minor part in the story with some major implications.

Getha, my favorite main character, is a royal guard training for the varo, the elite force who protect the members of the royal family. She’s a very straightforward person with tunnel vision toward her goal. It’s always interesting to me when characters like this are forced to pivot when something unexpected demands their attention. Since this is the first book in a series, I’m very much looking forward to how she develops as a character.

Helenia provides the third main point of view and easily the most morally questionable and interesting. While Renn and Getha are youngish and idealistic, Helenia has more experience with life, specifically its disappointments. Dallan’s aunt, she’s from the island nation of Tithen, which has a revolutionary history. Especially intriguing is her relationship with Mayve, her sister-in-law and former wife of the ruler of Tithen.

Which brings me to two of the things I find most effective and refreshing about In Blood and Duty Bound—its female characters and their relationships with each other and with other people. Until we get to a point in the fantasy genre where having a majority female cast is as normal as having a majority male cast, I think it’s worth drawing attention to that. Renn, Getha, and Helenia are all complex people with clear motives, strengths, and flaws, and their relationships shape who they are and affect their actions. The book is at its strongest when Getha and Renn are together. In the interest of not spoiling anything, all I’ll say is that I look forward to seeing where the story takes them.

Like many epic fantasies (including my own!), there’s some pretty intense world-building in the first hundred or so pages. Consequently, I found the book a little slow to start, but I find a lot of books slow to start, so take from that what you will! That said, the world-building pays off, and the intertwining of all the storylines near the end is satisfying.

Ultimately, this has a ton of what I like to see in the genre and some surprises to boot. I’d recommend this for any reader who likes fantasy, especially epic fantasy, and for readers who enjoy books with female main characters. This was one of my favorite reads of the year so far, and I’m very much looking forward to the second book in The Final Queen of Ombratos series.

BOOK REVIEW: The Mists of the Dead, Travis Adkins

★★★★

Travis and I are both indie fantasy authors who, coincidentally, live in the same city. We decided to exchange books, but this review is all my own thoughts.

As I do with all novels nowadays, I'm very much approaching this from a writer's perspective. I think of plot, characters, and world as the major components of speculative fiction, and sometimes, one aspect outshines the others. I tend to be a character-first writer, but there's nothing wrong with any approach. The different approaches are just that--different, and they make for interesting variances. In this case, it feels like Adkins started with his world, which is rich and fully realized, and built from there.

From the characters to the settings, there are lots of good details. But because the world is so fleshed-out and Adkins sometimes stops to explain cool ideas, that means the book gets off to a slightly slow start. We're introduced to the main character, Warrel, in the first scene, but the plot takes a while to get going. Even when Warrel decides to follow Kogliastro the wizard on an adventure, he has loose ends to tie up around town, which means he, Kogliastro, and the third member of their party, the dwarf Gumgen, don't even leave the city until almost a quarter of the way into the book.

There are also a lot of good musings and thoughts packed into the story. One such moment is when Warrel, who grew up orphaned and fighting to survive, is looking for food but his companions are focused on other problems. "Hunger, he knew, was an enemy that could not be outlasted or reasoned or bartered with." There were lots of these small, poignant moments throughout. I very much like little tidbits of wisdom that give insight into the characters like this.

What I liked most, though, is Adkins's insistence on the importance of stories. Warrel is a bard, and he's interested in both stories and language. Once their adventure starts, he bases a lot of his decisions on his knowledge of stories--whether he's the hero or the sidekick, what traditionally happens at certain points in a story. As a writer and avid reader, this was pretty fun to read.

Because I tend to mostly read books with female protagonists, Mists of the Dead probably isn't something I'd pick up on my own. In some ways, the unexpectedness of it made the read more enjoyable in that I didn't have a lot of expectations and was just along for the ride. In other ways, it made it less so. There are really only two non-minor female characters, and they both take a while to appear. What threw me most, though, is that it's very sexualized, more so than books I'm used to reading. The very first scene is Warrel trying to get a girl to sleep with him, and the women are often described as wearing very little clothing. That's definitely a personal thing, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Overall, I always love finding new, interesting indie fantasy, and Mists of the Dead certainly qualifies. While the world-building pulled me in, the story is what got me invested, and I thought the ending was particularly strong. I'll definitely read more from Travis in the future, and I'd recommend this to readers interested in indie fantasy, high fantasy, zombies, and world-building.

BOOK REVIEW: Love on Lavender Lane, Karis Walsh

★★★ 1/2

Love on Lavender Lane is about Paige, a consultant who helps businesses improve profit margins, and Kassidy, a lavender farmer whose dad pays for a consultation from Paige. Though Paige is more accustomed to working with bigger companies, she relishes the chance to get away from Portland, work in the countryside for a bit, and get her hands dirty. Kassidy, on the other hand, doesn't exactly care for her estranged father's gift, and she thinks Paige will advise her to sell the farm. Their attraction is pretty immediate, and although I wouldn't categorize it as insta-love, part of me wish they'd spent longer in the almost-rivals stage.

I'd definitely classify this as a soft story. Not a lot big happens, and I'm very okay with that. The characters are the main focus here, and Paige and Kassidy are both lovely. I liked Paige a little more because she was more outgoing and funny, but I connected with Kassidy more because she's more reserved and likes to stay in her comfort zone. They spend a lot of the book learning about each other, and they both deal with past baggage in a believable way. My biggest complaint about that is the black moment was a little too dramatic. I had some trouble following Kassidy's logic there and wish the characters would've talked it out more.

This book also features a loveable dog named Dante, who was my favorite character--hands down! I only wish Kipper the cat had featured a bit more, too, but Dante stole the show. Although it didn't blow me away, this was a pleasant read with an interesting premise and an even lovelier setting.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bold Strokes Books, and Karis Walsh for the e-copy!

BOOK REVIEW: The Delivery of Flesh (Bulletproof Witch #1), F.J. Blair

★★★ 1/2

As an indie fantasy writer, I love to find other indie fantasy writers who are new to me. I can't quite remember how I came across this novella, but I'm certainly glad I did! This is a fun, quick read with an interesting world and shades of Wynonna Earp. It's about Temperance Whiteoak, whose grandfather was the first Pistol Warlock, people who can make and use hex bullets. Now, though, the Pistol Warlocks are lawmen, and Temperance isn't interested in that nearly as much as she's interested in revenge against the demons who slaughtered her town and family.

But getting revenge means Temperance needs hex bullets, and hex bullets mean she needs money. She agrees to help a marshal escort a prisoner to Benson City in exchange for payment. Things get complicated, though, when the prisoner's men chase them across the wilderness thanks to a magical brand.

Because it's a novella, the plot is pretty straightforward, but I think where the story shines is in the worldbuilding. Little by little, Blair sprinkles in interesting or cool details that add to the world. The concepts of Pistol Warlocks and hex bullets are vital to the story, and the further in you get, the more you know about both. I especially liked the tidbit when Temperance refers to making and casting the bullets as an art form. But even the details that were less important to the plot made the world seem more developed and less cookie-cutter. My favorite was Astor the horse, Temperance's familiar, who can communicate telepathically with her and frequently does to tell her she's making bad decisions.

My biggest complaint is I didn't think Temperance was fully fleshed-out. Part of that is just the length of the story. It's hard to fit a lot of character development into 100 pages. Mostly, I want to know more about what drives her--outside of revenge--and I'm looking forward to seeing where the next novella takes us.

BOOK REVIEW: Proxima Five, Missouri Vaun

★★★

I requested this book on NetGalley because I really like sci-fi and, honestly, it reminded me a bit of the premise for The 100 (which I think has wasted a lot of its potential). This was my first Vaun book, and I'd probably read more in the future.

The premise is that Leah crash-lands on a planet called Proxima B after decades in cryogenic suspension. Her ship was one of ten, and it's the planet they were aiming for. Unfortunately, none of the rest of her crew survived and Proxima B isn't quite as uninhabited as she'd expected. Keegan, a military commander, finds Leah out in the desert and rescues her by taking her back to Hadyn City, where they get caught up in political struggles as well as their growing feelings for one another.

BOOK REVIEW: Gnarled Hollow, Charlotte Greene

 ★★ 1/2

English professor Dr. Emily Murray recently lost her position due to university cutbacks. Depressed, she accepts a timely job offer to live in New England for the summer at a house called Gnarled Hollow, which was the home of the reclusive writer Margot Lewis, one of Emily's subjects of research. She shares the house with Jim, another English professor; Mark, an architect; June, an art historian; and Chris, a landscape historian (or something like that). But they soon realize not all is as it seems.

Unfortunately, I thought I would like this a lot more than I actually did. I'd seen good buzz and was excited for a creepy ghost story. I think my underwhelmed reaction comes down to not really connecting with the writing style and not getting a good sense of the characters. I found the writing to be relatively simple and unexciting.

BOOK REVIEW: Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart

★★★★

One of the things I love about YA fantasy is that it's easy to find female protagonists. One of the things I dislike about it is a lot of it feels repetitive (to me, not necessarily to the main YA audience). So, while I was intrigued by the synopsis for Grace and Fury, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Turns out going in without many expectations means I was pleasantly surprised!

The story follows Nomi and Serina, a pair of sisters who live in Viridia, an Italian-inspired fantasy world where women are oppressed. Serina trains to be a Grace, a woman who could potentially be chosen by the Superior (the leader of the country) or his son, the heir, as a "companion." Nomi, on the other hand, is more of a rebel. Too bad the heir picks Nomi instead of Serina, leaving Nomi in a role she never wanted and Serina to get sent off to an island called Mount Ruin, a women's prison where they fight to the death for the "privilege" of food. (That's not a spoiler because it's right in the synopsis.)

BOOK REVIEW: Sparks Like Ours, Melissa Brayden

★★★★

This was my third Melissa Brayden title (and I have more in my TBR pile). Even after only two books, I knew Brayden would deliver a solid, enjoyable read, and she certainly did.

Sparks Like Ours is the third book in a four-book series following a group of four friends. This is Gia's book, although Isabel, Autumn, and Hadley all appear throughout the story. Gia's a pro surfer and looking to make it to the number-one spot, currently occupied by Elle Britton, surfing's golden girl. While Gia and Elle have crossed paths on the tour, there's little love between them. Until they're presented with a joint sponsorship opportunity and are forced to spend more time together and get to know one another.

BOOK REVIEW, Furyborn, Claire Legrand

★

I tried?

The cover's pretty cool, and I really like fantasy books with female protagonists, but unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me. I think I started this way back in January, but by this past Friday, I'd only made it to 24%. I sat down that night, intending to get a good chunk done, and after what felt like forever, I was only at 29%. So I decided not to finish this one.

I don't think I have much to add to what people have already said. Talking about believability in a fantasy book feels weird, but this story stretched mine. Eliana is supposed to be a serious assassin, but a lot of the times, she just feels incompetent. Her mom is supposed to be an assassin, too, the one who taught Eliana everything, but then she gets captured? It seemed like it just happened for plot purposes.

I also just didn't like anyone. I don't think every female character has to be "likeable," but I have to want to root for someone. The problem was I didn't connect with either Rielle or Eliana, and I can't really pinpoint why. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that their stories didn't feel like they revolved around them, if that makes sense. As for the side characters, no one captured me. It feels like Simon was supposed to be charming, but . . . meh? Because of my disinterest for the characters, some moments that were meant to be emotional just felt silly to me. Like Harkan declaring his love for Eliana right before he does something unwise.

The writing didn't click for me. The prologue confused me rather than got me hooked on the story. Because of the time jumps, a lot of it felt repetitive. The pacing is a lot of action and not a lot of character development. A horse gets killed pretty violently, which I really hated.

All that said, this book obviously works for some readers. That's cool. It just wasn't for me, and that's okay, too. Different strokes, and all that.

Thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Fire, and Claire Legrand for the e-ARC.

BOOK REVIEW: The Princess Deception, Nell Stark

★★★

I really enjoy Twelfth Night, and I'm an even bigger fan of She's the Man. When I saw this available on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. Modern adaptations of older works are always a lot of fun, especially when things get updated in unique ways. Because of that, I really, really wanted to love this one. However, I didn't.

The story is about Viola, the Princess of Belgium. When her twin brother, Sebastian, overdoses right before the month-long bid for the FIFA World Cup begins, she decides to play him while he goes to rehab so the bid can continue. Meanwhile, Missy Duke is a former pro soccer player who was forced to retire early because of a knee injury. Now, she's covering the Belgian-Dutch joint bid for a sports magazine/network. Cue the ensuing misunderstandings.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Duke finds out about Viola's ruse, but I think she finds out way too easily. Ultimately, I think that's what dissatisfied me. The whole conceit of Twelfth Night is that pretty much no one knows that Cesario is really Viola, and a lot of the drama and comedy come from the audience knowing. Instead of being intrigued by "Sebastian" and then having to reevaluate when she finds out Sebastian is really Viola, Duke spends the majority of their relationship trying to figure out why Viola's doing it so she can break a story. More than that, though, they actually just don't spend a lot of time together. We're 40% in before they have a conversation in private, and the black moment comes at 70%, which doesn't leave them much time to develop a relationship.

My main complaint is possibly my own fault. I went into this with high expectations because, like I said, I enjoy Twelfth Night and especially She's the Man. So, my expectation was that this would be funny. Instead, it's very dramatic. That's fine, and the drama is mostly earned. Sebastian's overdose and subsequent rehabilitation are treated with the weight they deserve. Duke is still depressed over losing her soccer career. I just wanted this to be a lot more fun and filled with more shenanigans than it was.

There are some nice moments and observations in the writing, though. At one point, Viola notes how much she appreciates her circle of friends. Both Viola and Duke treat Sebastian's addiction as a disease and defend him against people who would "out" his addiction as a scandal. While posing as Sebastian, Viola realizes she shouldn't say a lot because men are often laconic when it comes their emotions, and she wonders "whether men felt as constrained by the norms governing their behavior as she did emulating them."

Because there's such a focus on a woman pretending to be a man and having to wear "masculine" clothing and on how people present gender, it made me think a lot about transgenderism and gender expression and passing and the "proper" amount of masculinity or femininity. I don't know if this can be classified as transgender representation, especially whether it can be classified as positive transgender representation. What I can say is that it made me think and made me want to learn more about transgender history.

Overall, The Princess Deception is an interesting book, but don't go into it expecting a faithful representation of Twelfth Night.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bold Strokes Books, and Nell Stark for the advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: Where There's Hope: Healing, Moving Forward, and Never Giving Up, Elizabeth Smart

★★★★★

I vaguely remember the media coverage surrounding Elizabeth Smart's disappearance and subsequent rescue. She's only a year older than I am, and I didn't really pay attention to news until I got to high school at least. I remember her disappearance and her eventual rescue, but I didn't know any of the details. When I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway, I decided it'd be better to have more of an understanding of her ordeal. I listened to My Story on audiobook and found it moving and uplifting.

The subject of Where There's Hope: Healing, Moving Forward, and Never Giving Up is fairly self-explanatory. What I appreciated most about the book, though, is that it's not just Smart's story of moving on from her ordeal. In each chapter, she interviews one or two people who have been through or are currently dealing with difficult circumstances, and she doesn't shy away from those whose stories are far different than her own. In this way, it's not Smart telling the reader there's only one way to move on and that's her way. Instead, she presents other peoples' stories and examples in ways that allow the reader to see there are many roads to recovery. I also found the book to be well structured. Smart uses the interviews as well as her own experiences to highlight the themes of each chapter, among them hope, loss, faith, forgiveness, and more.

The one quibble I had is that during one chapter, a mother who lost her daughter to suicide after not being weaned off properly advises alternatives to antidepressants such as exercise and being in nature. The truth is just that everyone needs a different combination of healing options. While certain people do react poorly to antidepressants, they're extremely helpful for other people. I just think it's a tricky topic and Smart could've spent a bit more time on it.

Nonfiction, especially titles in the self-help category, tends to be subjective in a different way than fiction, so I find that I can't really judge this book or recommend it in the way I do novels. The only thing I can say is that if you are even a little bit intrigued, it's probably worth picking up.

Overall, I really enjoyed this reading experience. I dogeared a lot of pages and quotes to return to. I'm probably going to pass this on to my mom because I think she'd appreciate it, too. One of the marks of a really good book, for me, is if it keeps me thinking afterward, and this one certainly has.

BOOK REVIEW: Herding Cats, Sarah Andersen

 ★★★★

If you've read one of Andersen's previous collections, you know what you're getting with this one. The "scribbles" subtitle is accurate, as
each comic is only a page. The first two books were also delightful, and this one follows through on that as well. Because of the length of the pieces, there's no earth-shattering material. Instead, they're short strips that capture the reality of being an adult today.

That can be good and useful in and of itself. It's nice to know I'm not alone in struggling with adult tasks or self-worth. None of us really knows what we're doing, but hey, a lot of us take comfort in books and pets and friends and comics like these.

That's not to say there isn't depth. The comics tackle issues like anxiety, introversion, time management, sexism, politics/the social landscape, and global warming. There are lighter topics, too, like how summer is hot, being a bookworm, bonding with fictional characters, and the little joys of life, like scissors sliding across wrapping paper.

Where this collection veers away from the path of the first two is the discussion that closes out the book. In the last few pages, Andersen intersperses the comics with prose in order to advocate for creativity. She discussing the realities of being a creative person on the internet, where everyone has access to your work but not everyone has good intentions, and she calls for creative types to, simply, keep making stuff, a message that's always nice to hear.

In my opinion, collections like these are best in small doses. pick it up, read a comic or two, have a chuckle or appreciate how relatable or cute it is, and repeat the next day.


Thanks to NetGalley, Andrew McMeels Publishing, and Sarah Andersen for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: Soul of the World, David Mealing

I'm writing this review because I loved this book and great books deserved to be talked about! It's no secret I love epic fantasy. I enjoy a ton of genres, but there's no shaking epic fantasy from the #1 spot. However, it's a very frustrating genre because it's been so focused on straight white male protagonists. To me, and to many other readers, that's tired and boring by now. I don't need the genre to be reinvented. I just need it to be more inclusive, and I'm very happy with this one.

I picked up Soul of the World on a whim. I knew I wanted a big, thick fantasy, but honestly, I often shy away from male authors. That's the majority of the genre, though, so I grabbed this one in B&N one day and decided to buy it because I was excited by the prospect of two of the three main characters being women (and the other being a man of color, but I didn't realize that just from reading the back cover).

Basically, the story takes place in a new world across an ocean from the old, so very much inspired by Europeans coming to North America. In this new world, there are indigenous tribes, colonies of Sarresant and Gand, and a wall that divides the two. The plot isn't easy to distill into a sentence or two because there's just so much going on. There's very cool magic and revolution and a shifting of gender roles and giant animals and gods with mysterious motivations.

BOOK REVIEW: The Queen of Ieflaria, Effie Calvin

The Queen of Ieflaria, by Effie Calvin, is the first book in a fantasy series. Esofi, a princess of Rhodia, has been betrothed to Albion, the heir of Ieflaria, since they were young children. When Albion dies in an accident, Esofi travels to Ieflaria with the intention of marrying the new heir, who turns out to be Adale. Adale, as second child, had never intended on becoming queen and, as such, is found lacking, enough that her two cousins throw their hats into the ring for becoming heir and, consequently, Esofi's betrothed. There's also the small matter of dragons attacking Ieflara and the Ieflarian people not having strong enough magic to repel them. Esofi is a gifted mage and has brought Rhodian battlemages with her to help Ieflaria fight this threat.

BOOK REVIEW: It's Not a Date, Heather Blackmore

It's Not a Date is about Kade Davenport, a tech entrepreneur and investor who is a stickler for punctuality and doesn't let herself get close to anyone, and Jen Spencer, CEO of Creative Care, which aims to pair people who need to hire care for elderly or sick relatives with private-care workers. When one of Creative Care's board members falls ill, Kade is called in to substitute, and Kade and Jen find out they have very different management styles even while sparks fly.

Throughout the read, I was hovering between 4 and 5 stars, but by the end, I was completely charmed by this story. Honestly, I didn't understand some of the stuff about investments and venture capitalists, but it never took away from my enjoyment of the story. I could still very much understand where each woman was coming from and the stakes each was facing.

A lot of Jen's concerns about being a female CEO in the tech industry are real-life issues women face. Her colleague was pushed out of her CEO role for becoming pregnant. Jen thinks that Kade, who basically has no private life, has set an example for successful businesswomen that essentially advises women to value their job over their family. And Jen worries that having to leave work unexpectedly to care for her grandmother, who has dementia, will hurt her prospects in the field.

On Kade's end, she has some very real trauma from her youth that she's never gotten over. Because of this, she's never been in a relationship and only has one real friend. Jen, through her kindness, helps her grow as a person.

This is what I loved most about this book and what ultimately won me over--how Jen and Kade are written. There's always going to be miscommunication and angst in a romance, but it's very subtly done here. Their differences arise from them being completely different people, but I always understood both points of view. There were multiple points where their differences could've been used to amp up the angst. Instead, Blackmore often has the character or characters in the wrong take time to cool off and understand on their own why they were wrong. It's very refreshing.

I also want to say that the ending scene was one of the most satisfying romance ending scenes that I've read. It tied things together in a lovely way.

There were a few things that didn't quite work for me, however. I see from a lot of people's reviews that they loved the beginning set in Maui. While I enjoyed it, I found myself questioning the authorial choice to devote an entire 12% to it. I think it could've been pared down, but I realize I didn't enjoy it as much as some others because I don't care too much for instant attraction. I like when characters have a bit of a struggle getting there.

I also thought the points of view were a little imbalanced, especially toward the beginning. We spent a lot of time with Kade first then lots with Jen before it evened out. Perhaps I would've found the beginning 12% more interesting if there had been more of a balance. Along these same lines, sometimes it took a paragraph or two to figure out whose point of view we were in. These types of things definitely aren't deal-breakers for me, but they could be improved upon in the next book.

I'd definitely recommend this to romance readers, especially those who enjoy f/f romance, and I'll be looking forward to more stories from Blackmore.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bold Strokes Books, and Heather Blackmore for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: Daughters of the Storm, Kim Wilkins

Daughters of the Storm is the first book in Kim Wilkins's Blood and Gold series. I have a lot of thoughts about this book, and they're not necessarily organized, so bear with me. The book is about five sisters who are the daughter of a king. Bluebell is the oldest and a warrior who is rumored to be unkillable. Rose is married to the king of the neighboring nation as part of a peace treaty, and her heart belongs to another. Ash struggles with her burgeoning magic. Ivy lives to be admired by men, and her twin, Willow, is devoted to the gods.

The story starts when their father, the king, takes ill. Bluebell believes it to be the work of magic, so she drags her father and her sisters off to save him. The synopsis also mentions a "treacherous stepbrother" intent on seizing the throne. This isn't untrue, but the sisters aren't really aware of it, which makes for an anticlimactic climax. But more on that later! I'm going to try to split this up into categories in order to keep it more organized than it is in my head.

BOOK REVIEW: Seven-Sided Spy, Hannah Carmack

This was an interesting and unexpected read and, consequently, a bit difficult to review. It's really hard to explain without giving much away. During the Cold War, a group of CIA agents is captured by the KGB and experimented on. They escape but get trapped in a state park, leading to a standoff with three KGB agents.

The synopsis makes it seem like the majority of the story will be these two groups of agents matching wits, but there's really not a lot of plot here.There are a ton of flashbacks. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd say half the book is flashbacks to the agents' previous missions, which aren't even that detailed. As a result, the story is so choppy that I felt adrift most of the read.

The main problem is that there are too many characters for the story to focus on--at least eight. Everyone has code names and real names, and the narration flops between them, so it's sometimes hard to keep track. More than that, though, is that they all get points of view. In fact, some scenes even seemed omniscient, switching between characters' thoughts. Despite all these characters having points of view, it was so hard to get a read on their motivation. Okay, the CIA agents want to get away from the KGB, but they don't do anything about it in the present, and in the flashbacks, their motivations are even murkier. Why is anyone doing what they're doing? The synopsis gave me the impression that Diana is the main character, but after reading the whole book, I still barely have an idea of who she is or what her relationship with the KGB agent was like.

As far as the editing goes, there were many little typos or errors, such as comma splices or capitalizing the first word after a comma. I'm attuned to that sort of stuff anyway, but it felt like this manuscript needed another run-through to catch those things. The writing is decent and flows well, but some of the phrasing is awkward.

It's not that this wasn't an enjoyable read--I definitely liked aspects--but it was frustrating one. I think there are a lot of good ideas here but that the execution is lacking. I'd probably read more from Carmack in the future, but I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone except readers who really like spy novels.

Thanks to Hannah Carmack, NineStar Press, and NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: The Universe Between Us

Ana is a 26-year-old biochemist whose mother has raised her to be part of a private corporation's mission to colonize Mars. She's been training for it since she was 13. Part of her training included building a self-sufficient farmhouse. The problem is she needs someone to take care of it when she's gone if she doesn't want it to fall into dilapidation.

Jolie, a student at the local university, answers her ad for a roommate in order to cut down on living expenses, quit her job, and make more time for her art. The two are immediately attracted to one another, but Ana can't tell Jolie anything about the upcoming mission. All Jolie knows is that Ana will be going away and soon. Is the chance at love, even if it's short-lived, worth it?

This story is set in a realistic near future, one where Earth is becoming less and less habitable, forcing humanity to turn to the next closest planet. Esther threads in details about what this future is like--automatic cars, screens everywhere, bracelets that let people take video calls. It's nothing earthshattering in terms of technology, but these details are enjoyable glimpses of the world, and Esther utilizes them well. If anything, I wanted more from the science. Ana is a biochemist and in charge of the colony's food supply. She mentions experiments but doesn't go in depth. I thought this aspect could have been explored more, but I did like what was there.

I felt like the writing could've been polished a bit more. I liked Jolie and Ana, but I didn't get enough of a sense of who they were outside their relationship. That's partly a constraint of the plot because the characters need to get together if Ana's upcoming departure is going to have emotional heft. I would've liked to see more of Jolie's life at the university and more of Ana's life in her terrarium and with her experiments. I would've been more accepting of it, I think, if the dialogue had felt more natural. It's sometimes stilted, and characters jump from one subject to another without Esther giving us their inner thoughts to make that jump. It was off just enough that it sometimes popped me out of the story.

I'm okay with endings being neatly tied up. However, where this one lost me was in the conflict that separates Jolie and Ana. Without giving much away, if Ana's job was so important, I would think there would be measures in place for replacements, maybe even an entire B-crew. In this way, the conflict felt a little too contrived for me to be worried about the fate of their relationship.

Overall, this was a relaxing, breezy read, perfect for huddling up indoors when it's cold outside. I'd recommend it to readers who are romance fans.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bold Strokes Books, and Jane C. Esther for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

BOOK REVIEW: Hath No Fury

edited by Melanie Meadors

Anthologies are always tough to rate. No matter how many writers or stories you have, there are always going to be some that stand out above the rest. Unfortunately, in this particular anthology, the number of stories I loved was far smaller than I had hoped. This is particularly disappointing because I love female protagonists, especially angry female protagonists. I think my main problem with short stories is there’s just not enough time to delve into the nuances of female anger. As a result, a lot of the stories feel surface-level.

The stand-out stories:

“The Scion,” by S.R. Cambridge. This was masterful.  In a very short time, Cambridge made me care about the main character and her sister. It was interesting, surprising, and poignant. I don’t want to say much more because it’s very easy to spoil a short story, but reading this was a pleasure.

“Casting On,” by Philippa Ballantine. I liked that this one was unexpected. The protagonists were older women whose main focus was knitting. Not only did Ballantine show that women don’t have to be young to be badass, but she also successfully made their weapon knitting, something that’s very female-coded.

Of course, I’m not saying that the other stories were bad. They simply weren’t to my tastes or, if they were, they felt too short and underdeveloped.

One odd thing was that the anthology includes short biographies of admirable women. In theory, I like the idea, but the biographies are short and blandly written. They break up the flow of stories and ultimately take more away from the collection than they contribute, almost like they’re fillers to pack the table of contents. However, I did like the inclusion of non-fiction essays even if, again, most of them were too short to pack much of a punch. It was an interesting attempt to merge what we read in fiction to how we relate to those stories and help bring them to life, both as writers and readers.

I’m sure anthologies, because of their nature, are hit-or-miss for most readers. If the subject matter interests you or you’re a fan of any of these writers, I’d say give it a shot. I think it’s a book best read in small doses, though, rather than straight through.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ragnarok Publications for an e-copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: Run in the Blood

Aela Crane is a corsair with a spear gun and a family made up of her fellow crewmates. The past she’s put solidly behind her comes back to bite, though, when it’s the very reason the king blackmails her into going on a monster hunt. Del, one of the soldiers who accompanies her, is not all he seems to be. And Brynne is a merchant’s daughter who finds herself betrothed to a prince she doesn’t know. Aela’s and Del’s story eventually intersects with Brynne’s in satisfying and surprising ways.

Fantasy is my absolute favorite genre. That means I ask a lot from it. I want it to grow with the times rather than ask me to keep reading the same Tolkien derivatives over and over, especially when authors think it’s still okay to make 90% of their cast male. That means Run in the Blood came as a breath of fresh air. Not only are two of the main characters women, but Aela is a woman of color. The setting is fun and unusual, too. It’s vaguely medieval, sure, but there are pirates and a very cool capital city (whose name I can’t remember right now, sorry) built into a mountain.  It’s just similar enough to be exciting, just different enough to catch my attention.

It’s so rare that I love every narrator in a story, but here, I love all three in different ways. Aela is a joy to read about. She’s brash and a bit of an antiheroine and pretends to be untouchable even while her heart is what drives her. I want her to get everything she wants in life, even if she hasn’t quite figured out what that is yet. Del is an intelligent sweetheart who loves his library and basically wants to protect everyone. And Brynne finds herself in an entirely new situation, one she’s unprepared for and not sure she wants. She’s kind and smart, and I love watching her make a place for herself. As a cast, they gel and complement each other really well.

And that’s because a theme that runs strongly throughout this is friendship, which is one I love to both read and write about. In a fantasy setting, it makes a nice change from characters who are backstabbing each other and grappling for power. This doesn’t seem to explicitly be the first book in a series, but the epilogue certainly provides a nice jumping-off point. I hope there are more books to come because I’d love to see what Aela, Brynn, and Del get up to next!

That’s not to say there aren’t issues. One of my pet peeves in formatting is when one character’s actions are in the same paragraph with another’s dialogue, and this happens here. Sometimes I had to read these paragraphs twice. Not sure if that will be fixed in the final version. I also think the middle section—where Aela trains and Brynne learns more about what becoming a princess asks of her—could have been longer and better developed. Honestly, though, these are so minor that didn’t take away from my enjoyment.

I heartily recommend this one, especially to fantasy fans who are looking for more female-driven stories or readers looking for something a little bit different. Though I don’t think diversity could ever be a bad thing, it’s a very natural part of this story. It seems like Ross paid close attention to how they represented characters of different race, sexuality, and ability.

Many thanks to NetGalley, A.E. Ross, and NineStar Press for the advanced e-copy.  Even though I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review, I already ordered the paperback so I can reread it and then loan it to my friends. That’s how much I loved this book.