melita's booklog - mostly

Even with school starting for my kids, I still managed to finish a bunch of books. Mostly romance plus some fantasy rereads. 

I reread the first three books of the Raksura series by Martha Wells. It's set on another world with a bunch of different races. The main character, Moon, was separated from his race as a child but was rediscovered about 20-odd years later by another group. So it's about found family, abandonment issues, etc. I think Martha Wells does great characters who are smart and capable. Catnip for me!

Based on Kindle rec, I tried In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish. I was drawn to it because it's set in northern Michigan. An academic, Daniel, heads there for an interview for a tenure position at a small college. While the interview goes well, he ends up driving into a ditch and rescues a dog. There's no cell service, of course. He ends up rescued by a local man, Rex, and sparks fly! I liked it enough that I continued reading a bunch of Parrish's other books. Where We Left Off is the story of a side character in the previous book, who ends up going to NYC to college. I skipped book 2 in the series because the main character (brother of book 1's main character) is a mean bastard. Several reviewers found the book difficult because of that (even though there's a HEA, I think) so I decided not right now. 

Parrish's Small Change duology uses characters from the previous trilogy. Small Change focuses on Ginger, a tattoo artist and best friend of Daniel. Ginger's been so busy with her business that she's really had no time for herself. Then she meets Christopher who's opened a sandwich shop down the street...

Invitation to the Blues focuses on Faron, a tattoo artist in Ginger's shop, and Jude, a gifted pianist who suffers from mental illness. As Jude gets his life back together, will he be able to continue his burgeoning relationship with Faron?

The Riven series starts with the self-titled book about Theo, super-famous, chased by paparazzi lead singer of ahem, Riven. He meets Caleb, a recovering addict and fabulous musician himself. Caleb is very attracted to Theo, but can he stand to be around the music scene which got him into trouble in the first place? 

Book 2, Rend, has another musician, Rhys, and Matt. I can barely remember anything from this book except that Matt has insecurity issues. So ddn't like it as much as Riven. 

In book 3, Raze, Huey has been a bar owner for a while, and sober for even longer. He comes off as a big, hulking, laconic, bruiser which most people don't look beyond. Felix has been taking care of his younger siblings for years after the death of their parents. He and his sister sing a Riven song in Huey's bar one night and Huey arranges an audition with Riven's ex-singer Theo. Liked this one better than book 2. 

The Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan Parrish edges into fantasy. Corbin is fey, raised by two aunts in an old house in the woods. We're never quite sure of the entire backstory. Why did the aunts die together one day? What happened to his parents? Alex ends up losing home and job in the big city and heads home to Michigan to lick his wounds. His mother runs a bakery/coffee shop there. Alex decides to redo it so she can retire. One day Corbin walks in and sits in the corner. Alex is drawn to him and over weeks, begins to draw Corbin out...a really nice, quiet story. 

Looking for Group by Alexis Hall is set at a college. Drew play a MMO, Heroes of Legend and has a good friends group that gets together to watch movies, play board games, and so on. Drew rage quits his guild and applies to join another one. There he meets a female elf-healer who's really cool and attends another university in the same city. Imagine his surprise when Drew finds out that Kit is a young man, but does it really matter? I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'm not a gamer but know enough that I could figure out most of the jargon and the online conventions like something marked as "so-and-so whispers" means that it's a private message. 

The Engineer by C.S. Poe is a steampunk, magic alternative western set around 1880s. Gillian Hamilton (is supposed to be a call-out to Niven's Gil Hamilton? I don't know) works for the government as a magic-user about the only way it's legal. He's sent out west to arrest a madman named the Tinkerer, a gifted inventor of steampunk devices. Gillian runs into Gunner the Deadly, another wanted criminal except Gunner is more of a Robin Hood or masterless samurai, taking out the villains who threaten hard-working folk. Gillian and Gunner team up to get capture the Tinkerer and find their mutual attraction complicates matters. I liked it, but so far not enough to see if there's a book 2. I was disappointed that the bad guy was literally a madman so no real reason to kill random people as he'd done.

I then read two shortish books by Joanna Chambers, Introducing Mr. Winterbourne and Mr. Winterbourne's Christmas, both Regencies or maybe later--19th century anyway. Lysander Winterbourne is a charming younger son. His sister is engaged to an ambitious mill owner's brother who sees the connection as his path into politics. The Winterbourne family is deeply in debt so this will help put them on a stable footing. Lysander agrees to take Adam Whitman (mill owner) around society to help easy the brother's way and make him feel welcome. That goes swimmingly (ha-ha-ha) until Lysander and Adam end up in a fencing salon and they start to see each other's true selves. Lysander ends up working for Adam on his country estate which leads to other issues in Mr. Winterbourne's Christmas. Eh. If there's more about these characters, I'll read it, but her other books haven't attracted me. 

I then decided to pick up a present-day comedy-romance that I've seen a lot of recs for: Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Actually fantasy/alternative history. Alex is the first (and only) son of the first woman president of the US, Ellen Claremont. He's also half-Hispanic from his mom's ex-husband. While he's run into the spare heir of the UK, Prince Henry (third in line, if I figured it out right), they've never really gotten on. Sent to the UK to a royal wedding, their latest encounter causes the destruction of the wedding cake. To counter the bad press and relations between the two countries, the two are required to pretend to be best of mates...which gets interesting very quickly. Loads of fun. I've already preordered her next book, One Last Stop. 

Yesterday (okay, Monday night), a new Roan Parrish was release, Better Than People, was released. Jack's life has been on hold for most of a year after being betrayed by his long-time friend (hah!) and collaborator. He hasn't drawn anything since. He badly breaks his leg while out walking his pack of 4 dogs (1 cat tags along) so he looks for a dogwalker. Simon has extreme anxiety issues and works remotely as a graphic designer. He can't have pets because his grandmother is allergic. Simon and Jack are attracted to each other, but once Jack can get out again, where does that leave Simon? 

Books without an author listed are by KJ Charles.

Another Society of Gentleman entry (#1), A Fashionable Indulgence. Harry Vane is the son of Radicals. He’s actually heir to a fortune, so to make his grandfather happy, the nonpareil Julius Norreys take on the task of turning this Cit into someone who can navigate the ton. Julius has been desperately unhappy since Waterloo but finds himself attracted to the happy Harry. Add in a cousin Harry’s supposed to marry to please the old man, and who’s giving mixed signals, some suspicious deaths, and it’s another excellent entry.

Jordan L. Hawk, Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1). Whyborne is a linguist working at a museum in a town famous in the past for witch hunts. Griffin is an ex-Pinkerton agent looking for someone to translate a journal written in code for his current job. Both have lost people important to them in the past. Whyborne turns out to be integral to solving the mysteries swirling around the town of Widdershins. I liked it fine but so far not enough to read book 2.

Terry Moore, Five Years #10, a series uniting his earlier comic book series: Strangers in Paradise, Echo, Rachel Rising, and Motor Girl. The element discovered in Echo united with some material written by Lilith will destroy the earth. The people from the earlier series unite to stop its development. They estimate that they have 5 years. I’ve only read SiP and Echo and didn’t have much trouble following this, but I think at least part of SiP should be read first.

For a cross-country trip which ended up being about 8 hours longer than planned, 3rd read of Martha Wells’s Network Effect (best of month).

Spectred Isle (Green Man #1, sequel not out yet). Saul Lazenby is an archaeologist working for a man researching arcane places and events. He was disgraced in the war and otherwise unemployable. While investigating a place for his employer, a tree catches fire and he meets a man called Glyde. Glyde turns out to work for a government agency that also keeps track of magical occurrences and both men can’t figure out way they keep running into each other.

The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal. The true stories behind some of the magical doings of Feximal and his friend and chronicler, Robert Caldwell. So somewhat reminiscent of Holmes and Watson, but Feximal isn’t a genius, but he can settle ghosts. Caldwell is very observant and often helps figure out the story behind why a ghost is haunting a location. Some of the stories in this book have been published separately.