The Restorer (The Graveyard Queen, #1)

The Restorer
by Amanda Stevens
Rating: ★★★★½
isbn: 9781742902289
Series: The Graveyard Queen #1
Publication Date: May 6, 2023
Pages: 374
Genre: Fiction, Paranormal
Publisher: Mills and Boone

Never acknowledge the dead
Never stray far from hallowed ground
Never associate with those who are haunted
Never, ever tempt fate.

My father’s rules. I’ve never broken them…until now.

My name is Amelia Gray. I’m a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I’ve always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.

It started with the discovery of a young woman’s brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I’ve been hired to restore. The clues to the killer—and to his other victims—lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I’ve vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

Another LT rec, and a winner. This was some grade-A-ghost-story stuff, and in a passage or two, it toed the boundary with Horror (my definition of horror anyway). I really enjoyed the graveyard background information, and the facts involving the symbolism used on gravestones.

The plot of the mystery is a tad gruesome for my taste, although it’s not graphic at all until the end, as they get closer to identifying the murderer, and details start to emerge that I could have done without.

I thought the characters were well written and well developed and I really got engrossed in the story, and was sorry to see it end. Saying that, however, I’m not feeling confident about continuing with the series. Reading the synopsis’ and a handful of reviews for subsequent books makes me think that author is more interested in yanking her characters around emotionally than writing good, spooky mysteries. I’ll have to see how I feel as time goes on – will memories of this story draw me back in, or will they fade altogether.

NB: I rated this 4.5 stars just after I finished it; with a few days distance, I really want to nudge it back down to 4 stars and will probably do so, as I can no longer remember why I thought it was worth that extra .5 star.

Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries, #2)

Artificial Condition
by Kevin R. Free (narrator), Martha Wells
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9781501977237
Series: The Murderbot Diaries #2
Publication Date: May 8, 2018
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure." It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself "Murderbot." But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more. Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don't want to know what the "A" stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue. What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.

Ok, so I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as All Systems Red; there wasn’t enough action and the start of the book, when it’s just murderbot and ART left me flat. I didn’t see the appeal of ART at all, in fact, until Murderbot landed on whatever-it-was (space settings = blah blah blah) and started interacting with people. Everything picked up a bit after that, and I enjoyed it enough that I finished it up after I got home (usually Audiobooks are car-only distractions from road rage for me).

I’ve stared the third one on this morning’s drive.

The Kiss Curse

The Kiss Curse
by Erin Sterling
isbn: 9780063027527
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
Pages: 320
Genre: Fiction, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: HarperCollins

Gwyn Jones is perfectly happy with her life in Graves Glen. She, her mom, and her cousin have formed a new and powerful coven; she’s running a successful witchcraft shop, Something Wicked; and she’s started mentoring some of the younger witches in town. As Halloween approaches, there’s only one problem—Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow.

Wells has come to Graves Glen to re-establish his family’s connection to the town they founded as well as to make a new life for himself after years of being the dutiful son in Wales. When he opens up a shop of his own, Penhallow’s, just across the street from Something Wicked, he quickly learns he’s gotten more than he bargained for in going up against Gwyn.

When their professional competition leads to a very personal—and very hot—kiss, both Wells and Gwyn are determined to stay away from each other, convinced the kiss was just a magical fluke. But when a mysterious new coven of witches come to town and Gwyn’s powers begin fading, she and Wells must work together to figure out just what these new witches want and how to restore Gwyn’s magic before it’s too late.

I got to 60% and thought … why am I doing this? So, nope. The first book, The Ex Hex, had enough humor in it that I could mostly overlook the romance, but this one is just straight up romance and it’s not my jam.

Not badly written, just not my thing, which is why I’m not rating it.

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

All Systems Red
by Kevin R. Free (narrator), Martha Wells
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781501977824
Series: The Murderbot Diaries #1
Publication Date: December 1, 2017
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books

All Systems Red is the first tense science fiction adventure novella in Martha Wells' series The Murderbot Diaries.

The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans. In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid - a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Elentarri caught me in a weak-ish moment and convinced me to put aside my natural, deeply in-bred bias against all things space and most things science fiction to give The Murderbot Diaries a try.

She can chalk one up in the win column, because I enjoyed this soooo much more than I thought I would, and that’s entirely due to the Murderbot character. I have a suspicion that I’ll be hard pressed to describe the plot of All Systems Red after next week (and in truth, there’s not really a lot of plot), but I will remember Murderbot vividly. I thoroughly enjoyed his irreverence, his humor, and his introverted reactions to the people around him.

This was a fast audio listen and I thought Kevin Free did a very credible job. He does speak unnaturally slow overall, but he brings Murderbot to life and gives it personality. I’ve already started the second one, Artificial Condition.

India Black (Madam of Espionage Mystery, #1)

India Black
by Carol K. Carr
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9780425238660
Series: A Madam of Espionage Mystery #1
Publication Date: January 4, 2011
Pages: 296
Genre: Historical, Mystery
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

I needed a break from all the new, experimental reads and grabbed this off my shelf to re-read. My original thoughts were succinct:

Excellent first novel. I was amused and enthused from the first chapter. The book is categorised as an “historical mystery” but there really isn’t much mystery involved. A lot of the story reads a bit like keystone cops play spy, but truly, I found the book entertaining and the characters interesting enough for me to care what happened to them. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Mostly, that hasn’t changed; I originally gave it 4 stars, but on re-reading I nudged it down to 3.5 stars. There were a few verbose expository passages I found myself skimming; I found them mostly irrelevant to the plot and they felt like padding. But otherwise, it’s a highly irreverent spy adventure and entertaining in a way that only a sassy madam of a brothel MC can make it. High on humor, but historically accurate in its broad strokes. Where the fine details are (ie anachronisms), I couldn’t say; I’m pretty terrible at spotting any but the most egregious examples.

A bit of familiar fun that served as a quick palate cleanser before moving back into uncharted territory.

The Boardwalk Bookshop

The Boardwalk Bookshop
by Susan Mallery
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9781867254027
Publication Date: June 1, 2022
Pages: 332
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins

When fate brings three strangers to a charming space for lease on the California coast, the Boardwalk Bookshop is born. Part bookstore, part gift shop, part bakery, it’s a dream come true for Bree, Mikki and Ashley. But while their business is thriving, their personal lives are...not.

Bree, wounded by brilliant but cold parents and her late husband’s ultimate betrayal, has sworn to protect her heart at all costs. Even from Ashley’s brother, a writer and adventurer who has inspired millions. He’s the first man to see past Bree’s barricades to her true self, which terrifies her. Mikki has this divorce thing all figured out — somehow, she’s stayed friends with her ex and her in-laws...until a new man changes how everyone looks at her, and how she sees herself. Meanwhile, Ashley discovers that the love of her life never intends to marry. Can she live without being a wife if it means she can have everything else she’s ever wanted?

At sunset every Friday on the beach in front of the Boardwalk Bookshop, the three friends share a champagne toast. As their bond grows closer, they challenge one another to become the best versions of themselves in this heartachingly beautiful story of friendship, sisterhood and the transformative power of love.

Another LT Recommendation and another average-ish read. It would have been better but …

In my own categorisation system, I’ve got this under ‘chick-lit’, a term that offends many but I have no problem with. It’s a book written by a woman, about young women and their issues. My best comparison would be to Mary Kay Andrews, except these women (and their men) all talk very explicitly about sex. Why is this weird? Well, because the story itself has no explicit sex scenes, or even any implicit sex scenes – it’s all very vanilla. Except for these random conversations where they start throwing around language and topics that are usually reserved for actual sex scenes. I like to think I have a wide variety of acquaintances and I no no-one who talks like this, although maybe they do in the privacy of their own home. Either way, it was jarring and felt out of sync with the rest of the story’s style.

Putting that aside, the story was good. All three of the females are confronted with challenges, and one of them is pretty broken. I found her annoying. Not because I didn’t like her (she’s very together for someone so broken), but because the author harped on about her broken-ness and by about 75% in, it felt way over played.

I’m not sorry I read it, but I’m unlikely to seek out any more of her work. I genuinely enjoy a good chick-lit once in awhile, but this one felt like it was trying a little bit too hard to be something else, and I have no idea what.

The Book Haters’ Book Club

The Book Haters' Book Club
by Gretchen Anthony
Rating: ★★★★½
isbn: 9781867260110
Publication Date: October 10, 2022
Pages: 335
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins

All it takes is the right book to turn a Book Hater into a Book Lover...

That was what Elliott – the beloved co-owner of the Over the Rainbow Bookshop – believed before his untimely passing. He always had the perfect book suggestion for the self-proclaimed ‘book hater.’ Now, his grief-ridden business partner, Irma, has agreed to sell the cozy Over the Rainbow to condo developers.

But others won’t give up the bookshop without a fight. When Irma breaks the news to her daughters, Bree and Laney, and Elliott’s romantic partner, Thom, they are aghast. Over the Rainbow has been Bree and Laney’s sanctuary since childhood, and Thom would do anything to preserve Elliott’s legacy. Together they conspire to save the bookshop, even if it takes some snooping, gossip and minor sabotage.

Filled with humor, family hijinks and actual reading recommendations, The Book Haters’ Book Club is the ideal feel-good read. It’s a love letter to everyday heroes – those booksellers and librarians dedicated to putting the right books in the right hands every day.

Ding ding ding! LibraryThing has served up a winner! I loved this book, and have ordered up a copy for my library. Gretchen Anthony serves up a great story, well written, with delightful interludes between chapters, that for me, elevated this book from ‘good’ to ‘really, I’m enjoying the heck out of this’. Some of the interludes add a bit of backstory to what’s going on, as well as a bit of depth. Truly, without these, I think the book would still be good, but average, and I’d argue that Anthony’s best writing is found here.

The dynamics between the mother and her daughters here hits close to home for me, so I enjoyed the dip into the familiar, and I loved watching how they conspired to save the bookstore. Laney has all the best lines, and I’ll admit I found Bree a bit too fragile for my tastes, but she finds her own in the end. The conflict at the beginning of the story isn’t the real conflict of the book, but even so its resolution was stunningly anticlimactic. Making it more realistic wouldn’t have really added anything to the real story, so I have no problem over looking it.

It’s just a fun book and well worth investigating if you’re in the mood for some heartfelt entertainment.

Blood Kissed (Lizzie Grace, #1)

Blood Kissed
by Keri Arthur
Rating: ★★★½
Series: Lizzie Grace #1
Publication Date: January 1, 2017
Pages: 336
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Self-published

In a world where magic and science sit side by side, and powerful witches are considered necessary aides for all governments, Lizzie Grace is something of an outlier. Though born into one the most powerful blue blood witch families, she wants nothing to do with either her past or her magic.

But when she and Belle, her human familiar and best friend, open a small cafe in the Faelan werewolf reservation, she quickly finds herself enmeshed in the hunt for a vampire intent on wreaking bloody havoc. It’s a hunt that soon becomes personal, and one that is going to take all her skills to survive–that’s if the werewolves, who hate all things witch, don’t get her first.

Another book from LibraryThing’s recommendation engine, and another good library book. Fortunately, as the author is apparently an Aussie, my local libraries have it; I think if I’d bought this one I might have felt more ambivalent about it.

Blood Kissed is a pretty standard Urban Fantasy story with your wares, vampires, witches, etc. and it’s surprisingly well written for a self published book (yes, I’m biased and I’m comfortable with it as the vast body of self published works out there support my bias against them). It’s not on a par with Ilona Andrews or Patricia Briggs, but it does a respectable job of coming close. The characters are engaging, the world building seems solid and the plot is very straight forward. An easy and engaging read for when one is in the mood for some urban fantasy.

My library seems to have the entire series, so I’ll likely be dipping back in sooner rather than later.

In the Company of Witches (Evenfall Witches B&B Mystery, #1)

In the Company of Witches
by Auralee Wallace
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780593335840
Series: Evenfall Witches B&B #1
Publication Date: October 19, 2021
Pages: 336
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal
Publisher: Berkley

When a guest dies in the B&B she helps her aunts run, a young witch must rely on some good old-fashioned investigating to clear her aunt’s name in this magical and charming new cozy mystery.

For four hundred years, the Warren witches have used their magic to quietly help the citizens of the sleepy New England town of Evenfall thrive. There’s never been a problem they couldn’t handle. But then Constance Graves–a local known for being argumentative and demanding–dies while staying at the bed and breakfast Brynn Warren maintains with her aunts. At first, it seems like an accident…but it soon becomes clear that there’s something more sinister at work, and Aunt Nora is shaping up to be the prime suspect.

There’s nothing Brynn wants more than to prove Nora’s innocence, and it hurts her to know that even two years ago that might have been easier. Brynn, after all, is a witch of the dead–a witch who can commune with ghosts. Ghosts never remember much about their deaths, but Constance might remember something about her life that would help crack the case. But Brynn hasn’t used her powers since her husband died, and isn’t even sure she still can. Brynn will just have to hope that her aunts’ magic and her own investigative skills will lead her to answers–and maybe back to the gift she once thought herself ready to give up forever.

Pure paranormal cozy, but better than the average cozy output of the last decade. Zero romance, at least in this first book, without even so much as a prospect on the horizon. There’s a bit of heaviness here, as the MC is struggling to accept the death of her husband, and the author writes her grief in an almost palpable way at times.

The characters are written well, although the cat and the crow (whose name is Dog) steal the show whenever they’re on the page. At the point where any one character seems too 2 dimensional, the author offers up a peek into another layer that balances them out realistically, so that no one is too nice, or too evil.

The mystery plotting was skilfully done and the murderer was unexpected.

I’m definitely requesting the second book from my library, and if it continues in this vein, I’ll have a new cozy mystery to enjoy for the first time in years.

Spider’s Bite (Elemental Assassin, #1)

Spider's Bite
by Jennifer Estep
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781439147979
Series: Elemental Assassin #1
Publication Date: April 15, 2010
Pages: 395
Genre: Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Follow Gin Blanco, a kick-butt female assassin who moonlights at a BBQ joint in Tennessee, as she searches for the person who double-crossed her in this heart-pounding and fresh paranormal romance series.

After Gin’s family was murdered by a Fire elemental when she was thirteen, she lived on the streets and eventually became an assassin to survive. Now, Gin is assigned to rub out an Ashland businessman, but it turns out to be a trap. After Gin’s handler is brutally murdered, she teams up with the sexy detective investigating the case to figure out who double-crossed her and why. Only one thing is for sure—Gin has no qualms about killing her way to the top of the conspiracy.

Good. Similar in tone to Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels, but without the humor. The characters are well written, though without any levity to speak of, they’re hard to connect with. The world building leaves a bit to be desired; I’d have liked a little bit of information about how elementals and vampires and dwarves are integrated into society – have they always been in this alternate world, or was there some event that changed everything? It’s not necessary, but my curiosity is a little tweaked over it.

The ‘mystery’ was ok, although not much of a mystery in terms of who the villain is; the pool is tiny. The writing teeters on the edge of being too graphic, although it’s not as dark and confronting as Briggs’ work. Mostly, I liked it enough to stay up wwaayy too late last night to finish it, and I’ll be requesting book 2. But I didn’t like it enough to gush about it.