All posts by skyebjenner

The Curse of Wolf Crag by Susan Sizemore

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of scottish romance book cover

Title: The Curse of Wolf Crag
Author: Susan Sizemore
In: The Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance (Trisha Telep)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Scottish romance, Werewolves
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: I tricked you, all right.

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Synopsis

Tara left Wolf Crag to escape a past, but when the past comes back to haunt her she begins to wonder if maybe running away wasn’t such a great idea after all.

Thoughts

This story needed to be longer. I loved it. I thought that the romance in it was great. But the development of the relationship went from negative to positive waaaaaaaaaaay too fast. I love when past antagonisms fester and must be overcome to create a happy future together. However, in the caes of The Curse of Wolf Crag, one moment Tara is yelling at her beau and the next she is having sex with him. Talk about negative to positive on the flip of a coin…

The imagery of the Scottish isles where the worlds of fae and human collide works so nicely. Especially when juxtaposed against the modern setting in which the story starts. Talk of curses, fae and the past give this tale a very romanticised, beautiful feeling. The mists across the crag give the story a further feeling of mysticism and otherworldliness. And although I loved this story, I think that it would have been ten times better if it was just that wee bit longer.

 <- The Rebel ReviewBeloved Beast Review ->
Image source: Hachette Australia

Sleepless in Calgary by Kevin Cockle

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Evolve

Title: Sleepless in Calgary
Author: Kevin Cockle
In: Evolve (Nancy Kilpatrick)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Urban fantasy, Vampires
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Edge
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: David pulled his arms back then struck again.

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Synopsis

A chance meeting with a vampire no one else can see on his daily commute causes David to start seriously thinking about the way he’s living his life.

Thoughts

This short story took an exceptionally unexpected turn. I thought that the man would either be insane or turn into a vampire. And he kind of did… to both. But not even remotely in the way that I was expecting. Actually… it was kind of super weird and tripped out to be honest. Fun though. And it gave me a good little giggle.

I’ve read a number of stories and theories that feature the idea that we just have to all believe in something strong enough for it to become reality. Cockle is able to harness this idea in a way that was completely unexpected. And one that was quite humorous and twisted in and of itself.

 <- The Drinker ReviewCome to Me Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Christmas for One by Amanda Prowse

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for christmas for one amanda prowse book cover

Title: Christmas for One
Author: Amanda Prowse
Series: No Greater Love #5
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Chic lit, Christmas, Contemporary, Romance
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Head Zeus
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: Juno nodded.

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Synopsis

As a child, Meg always dreamed of the perfect Christmas…

This year, she can make it come true for her own little boy. There will be turkey and all the trimmings, a glittering tree, and a stocking hung up by a roaring fire. Who cares if there’s no devoted husband in the picture? She and Lucas will be just fine on their own.

But then a chance meeting with a stranger in New York unravels everything she’s planned. Will Meg finally get everything she wished for? Or will she be alone this Christmas after all?

Thoughts

I bought this as part of the Black Friday sales, thinking it would be an interesting little Christmas read. I didn’t realise that it was part of a greater series until I was about halfway through, but it didn’t really matter since it stands by itself beautifully. And beautiful really is the best word to describe this novel. It is simple, easy, sweet and has the picturesque backdrop of Christmas in New York and London.

A lot of the romances that I’ve been reading recently involve a paranormal aspect of some kind. So it was kind of nice to settle into a contemporary romance that didn’t require magic and mayhem to make the storyline work. Rather, it was all about the love and romance between two people. And the fact that it could truly happen to anyone made it somehow sweeter. I love the realism in the story, and it made such a great break from these tales that involve a magical mating bond and fate, and destiny…

Most romances that I read feature a young adult (normally in their mid to late twenties) who might have a history, but aren’t significantly attached to anyone or anything. Now, I am in that age bracket, and I don’t have dependents that rely on me either, so I do enjoy the ways in which I can relate to these stories. BUT it was really nice and a great change of pace to read about a woman who has a son. Not only did this romance feature her and Ed, but it also meant that there was a constant extra stake in their relationship – the son.

Although this novel features Christmas, it isn’t necessary to read at that time of year. It is a great, sweet, kind and warm-hearted story that will be thoroughly enjoyable all year round.

 <- A Little Love ReviewWill You Remember Me? Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Up the Down Beanstalk by Peter S. Beagle

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for troll's-eye view book cover

Title: Up the Down Beanstalk: A Wife Remembers
Author: Peter S. Beagle
In: Troll’s-Eye View (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Comedy, Easy reading, Fairy tales
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: The things they believe about us down there!

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Synopsis

We all know about Jack’s journey up the beanstalk – but what really happened up there? The giant’s wife reveals all!

Thoughts

I love different points of view on fairy tales. And Jack and the Beanstalk is an incredibly well-known tale. The fact that this story is told with him as a kind of villain made this thoroughly enjoyable. After all, if you think about it… how does the good guy end up killing someone and stealing things? There is nothing very virtuous and “good” about this at all.

Although Jack is mildly cast in the role of villain… he is also looked upon with favour by the giant’s wife. After all, it is all from her point of view, and the frustrated affection she feels towards her husband (ew, who is called Harvey?) highlights her independence and intelligence. The fact that Jack is as quick-witted and quick-footed as the giantess and an equal match for her just made everything all the more entertaining. Especially when you consider the brilliant ending of this story.

 <- Rags and Riches ReviewThe Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Blade’s Escape by Bec McMaster

Book Review,
Overview

Title: Blade’s Escape
Author: Bec McMaster
Series: London Steampunk #0.5
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Romance, Steampunk
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Bec McMaster
Year: 2016
5th sentence, 74th page: “Little runt,” the other man muttered.

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Synopsis

Henry has just escaped from his prison with the blue bloods, but his first meeting has the feeling of fate and the shaping of many future lives.

Thoughts

This is an incredibly short short story (go figure) that is almost a scene taken from Blade’s earlier life. There’s not really much of a storyline here, but it still gives a little extra background into the enigma that features in Kiss of Steel.

Since this is so short, and I haven’t yet read Kiss of Steel, it is a little hard to make much commentary on it. it’s a basic missing scene moment from a former life and a good insight into how distraught and confused Blade was at the beginning. It is also the pivotal moment of change. But that is all that it indicates, there isn’t much of a storyline. There is an introduction of characters, but no real change, just a sense of a future shift in personhood.

 <- Of Silk and Steam ReviewKiss of Steel Review ->

I Know Who You Ate Last Summer by Nancy Holder

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Blood Lite

Title: I Know Who You Ate Last Summer
Author: Nancy Holder
In: Blood Lite (Kevin J. Anderson)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Comedy, Horror
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Edge
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Because I thought you told Carla M.

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Synopsis

Two cannibal rockstars are about to be found out… but will they turn on each other before they can escape the truth?

Thoughts

It’s obvious that this story will have something to do with the consumption of people in some way shape or form. I was honestly betting on vampire. And even after reading the first few pages – I still thought vampire. Until I got a little bit further along in the story and realised that no, these aren’t vampires, they’re just really weird and disturbed cannibals.

This is one of those sick and twisted stories that I love and keep thinking about it long after I have finished the tale. Two cannabilistic rock stars running free and wild. Two men who have been eating and killing their way across the country. Who have also joined AA and found a whole heap of new “friends” that were previously unexpected.

 <- Love Seat Solitaire ReviewBitches of the Night Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Abby’s Christmas Spirit by Erin McCarthy

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for abby's christmas spirit book cover

Title: Abby’s Christmas Spirit
Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: Cuttersville #2.75
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas,Contemporary, Romance
Pace: Slow
Format: Novella, Poem
Publisher: Erin McCarthy
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: “Psychic visions, or just like a checklist?” Bree asked.

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Synopsis

When Abby Murphy returns home to Cuttersville, it’s to buy back her grandmother’s house that was sold… and to meet the man she is convinced is destined to be her future husband. Being a psychic gives her that crystal ball advantage and she’s seen the face of the man she’s going to marry since she was seventeen. In the years since her first vision, she has spent many a night inserting herself into his dreams in some very sexy ways. So imagine her surprise when she discovers that her destiny lies with the man she can’t stand, the man who bought her grandmother’s house, the skeptic ghost hunter, Darius Damiano.

But sometimes reality can be even better than dreams…

Thoughts

This didn’t quite go as I had expected. Where the previous two Cuttersville novellas and Murphy sisters featured a kind of slow seduction, Abby was incredibly gun-ho. She also got twisted up and confused far more than either of her sisters, and it ultimately took a lot more to get to her happy ending.

Like the other novellas I have read so far (the novels in the Cuttersville series have only just arrived on my doorstep), this story left me with a happy, contented smile on my face. It was simple, it was cute and it didn’t involve a lot of in depth thinking. The slight snags along the way weren’t completely unexpected, and they weren’t so intense that you didn’t think you’d eventually get your happy ending anyway. I honestly just love the simplicity of stories like this, and I can’t wait to go back to the beginning of the series and sink my teeth into A Date with the Other Side.

 <- Christmas Bree ReviewSeeing is Believing Review ->
Image source: Erin McCarthy

Clockmaker’s Requiem by Barth Anderson

Book Review, ,
Overview
The Mammoth Book of Steampunk

Title: Clockmaker’s Requiem
Author: Barth Anderson
In: The Mammoth Book of Steampunk (Sean Wallace)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Steampunk
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: It needs little hands.

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Synopsis

Is time supposed to be a constant? Or is it something that is a little more random and should be controlled by all?

Thoughts

Time is a human construct. Ideas of it change across cultures and peoples. Across time and space. So it was kind of fun to read a steampunk short story that featured time in a number of ways. From the current idea of time in the story. Which from my understanding was controlled by each individual clockmaker to the more common and well-known ideal of time. The idea that it is uniform and governs everything.

There is a stark contrast between uniformity and total chaos. And a great sliding scale of everything in between. Using clocks and the concept of time are a great way in which to highlight the differences in this. There is this sense of loss when a clock of standardised time is introduced. This sense that individuality and independence no longer exists. And I was actually sad as I turned the last page of this story.

 <- To Follow the Waves ReviewDr Lash Remembers Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Christmas Bree by Erin McCarthy

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for the magical christmas cat book cover

Title: Christmas Bree
Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: Cuttersville #2.5
In: The Magical Christmas Cat (Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, Nalini Singh & Linda Winstead Jones)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: What the hell are you doing here?

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Synopsis

Ian has an offer for Bree’s house… but, with the magic of Christmas and a meddlesome feline, their about to find out that there is a lot more at stake than real estate.

Thoughts

If you’re in the mood for an easy, cute, a little bit funny read… then this is certainly the sort of novella you should be picking up. It’s one of those find-your-true-love, Merry Christmas type of stories that may not rock your world, but certainly leave you with a big, happy smile on your face when you have finished reading them. Which, let’s be honest, is something that we all need sometimes.

In Charlotte’s Web, there was a hint of Bree’s future beau, and I like that, twelve months later, they finally reconnect. From the glimpses in the previous novella, and Bree’s initial reactions to Ian, I was expecting a lot more reluctance and build up to the moment when the romantic leads end up together. And then it falls apart even quicker. And ends up perfect in the blink of an eye. It really is one of those stories that has an immensely fast paced romance that forms in a moment.

Not that the fast pace is a problem, but I could see how this could have almost evolved into an entire novel on and of itself. I was kind of disappointed that it ended so quickly. There was so much that happened that I finished this novella with both a smile stretched across my face, and a bemused look of what-do-I-read-next.

 <- Charlotte’s Web ReviewAbby’s Christmas Spirit Review ->
Image source: Amazon

A World Done In by Great Granny’s Grateful Pie by Ken Scholes

Book Review, , ,
Overview
A Fantastic Holiday Season

Title: A World Done In by Great Granny’s Grateful Pie
Author: Ken Scholes
In: A Fantastic Holiday Season (Kevin J. Anderson & Keith J. Olexa)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Comedy, Family
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: World Fire Press
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: What’s that supposed to mean?

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide
Synopsis

It’s best to use fresh ingredients… especially when you are making a pie with a bit of a kick…

Thoughts

Family is always messy. It is always difficult. And it is always filled with crazy amounts of love (sometimes with extra helpings of the crazy). So an anthology of Christmas stories just wouldn’t be complete without a tale featuring a not-quite-functioning family. A set up. And a potential zombie apocalypse gone mad.

Although the potentially poisoning grateful pie is quite funny, as is the patient zero for the potential virus. What I loved most about this tale was the way in which everyone in the family is trying to set Kay Ann up. The plus ones that the family brings along all show what kind of person they think makes the perfect mate… and man do they run the gammitt. Yet, everything seems to work out well in the end with the craziness of family and the holiday season. Ending in a great scene with the lead striding off into the sunset, gun in hand…

 <- A Christmas Feast ReviewSanta’s Mortuary Review ->
Image source: Goodreads