Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side

Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side Edited by Charlaine Harris

Pages: 358

Rating 3 out of 5

Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series and several mystery series, edits this collection of short stories about crimes and vampires. The volume includes a short story set in the world of Sookie Stackhouse and the events in the story occur between books 7 and 8 of the series.

Other authors in the collection are mystery writers but for some this was their first venture into supernatural fiction. They include: Steve Brewer, Dana Cameron, Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane, Barbara D'Amato, Carolyn Hart, Toni L. P. Kelner, Lou Kemp, William Kent Kreuger, Margaret Mahon, Elaine Viets and others. 

Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas #1)

 Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas #1)

by Charlaine Harris

Pages: 305

Stars: 5 out of 5 stars

A fun read from the creator of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Aurora Teagarden series and other supernatural mysteries. Midnight, Texas is a very small town with the few businesses lining Davy Road and situated at the crossing of Witch Light Road. It is a small, old, western town. But newcomer, Manfred Bernardo is happy with the quiet location and the locals who keep mostly to themselves. There's a small diner and a gas station but you have to drive into Davy to find a grocery store and most other services. 

Everything starts out quiet and friendly enough, but a gathering for a picnic just outside of town reveals a murder. Now the county sheriff and other out of town people are snooping around and the local residents do not appreciate any digging into their past. They all have something to hide, but who is a murderer?

In a Witch's Wardrobe by Juliet Blackwell

I'm really not much of a mystery person, but I've enjoyed these. The main character is a witch who owns a vintage clothing shop in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. The mystery always involves something supernatural, with ghosts and curses and secret societies. This one centers on a murder and a half-one woman's body is in a coma, while her spirit is trapped in a mirror. I also enjoy the character development across the books, as we see Lily slowly trusting people after coming from a less than supportive Texan upbringing. And Oscar, her potbellied pig/half-gargoyle/half-goblin is too stinkin' cute! All in all, this book was a fun weekend read.

322 pages

Mama Day by Gloria Naylor

Cocoa, whose real name is Ophelia, is a young southern woman living in New York who is still deeply connected to her family and ancestry. George grew up an orphan, overcoming a multitude of challenges in order to become an engineer who  and the co-owner of an engineering company. Cocoa and George meet when Cocoa interviews for a job at George's firm. George and Cocoa begin to date and marry suddenly, but George doesn't visit Willow Springs with Cocoa for four years, during which time Cocoa never shares with him the more unusual and even supernatural aspects of Willow Springs.

After several years they return to Willow Springs together. When George finally does accompany her, he has a hard time believing in or understanding some of the events that take place. When he discovers that Cocoa is dying because of a hex put on her by a conjure woman, George wants to use practical means to save her life.

338 pages

The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy Book #3)

 The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy Book #3)
by Deborah Harkness
Pages: 561
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This novel picks up at the end of book two and is one of the more satisfying trilogy conclusions I have read in awhile. Diana and Matthew must travel back to the present day to escape old and new enemies, even though they know some of those enemies will be waiting for them in the present day as well.

Arriving at Matthew's ancestral home, they reunite with many friends and family from before. The realize they must find Ashmole 782 and it's missing pages and reunite the broken book before their future and the future of those they love is doomed.

The Custard Protocol Series by Gail Carriger

Prudence (Book One)

3.5/5  |  357 pages

Imprudence (Book Two)

4/5  |  355 pages

Competence (Book Three)

4.5/5  |  309 pages

Reticence (Book Four)

5/5  |  339 pages


I love this writer.  I love this world.  If you're interested in reading any of Gail Carriger's work (and I recommend that you do), start with Soulless or Etiquette & Espionage, depending on if you want adult characters or teen characters, respectively.  I only have Carriger's novelettes and short stories left, but you better believe I'll be reading them!

 

Timeless (Parasol Protectorate #5) by Gail Carriger

Timeless (Parasol Protectorate #5)
by Gail Carriger

5/5

407 pages

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a dampener on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle.

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

What an excellent conclusion to this series.  I'm so sad it's over!  Thankfully, there is a series after this one which features her daughter.  Onward!

Heartless (Parasol Protectorate #4) by Gail Carriger

Heartless (Parasol Protectorate #4)
by Gail Carriger

4/5

374 pages

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

The fun continues!  Thoroughly enjoyed. 

Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger

Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2)
by Gail Carriger

4/5

374 pages

Alexia Maccon, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears; leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. So even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

CHANGELESS is the second book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking. 

Gail Carriger's books are some of my guilty pleasures.  I adore the over-the-top victorianness of it all.  It's supernatural, mysterious, and all sorts of proper.  :)

Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

On the battlefields of the American Revolution, vampire Matthew de Clermont meets young surgeon Marcus MacNeil. Intrigued by the dying boy, Matthew offers Marcus a chance at immortality. A patriot through and through, Marcus finds his deeply held ideals of liberty and equality are at odds with the responsibilities and traditions that come with being a de Clermont. In present day Paris, Phoebe Taylor, the young woman Marcus has fallen for, is facing her own journey, having chosen to become a vampire for Marcus. Meanwhile, Matthew and Diana, whose story is told in the All Souls trilogy, struggle with raising Bright Born twins.

448 pages.

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

Matthew and Diana arrive back in the present day from their jaunt to Elizabethan England. As usual with the de Clermont family, secrets and intrigue plague them once more. On the verge of forming a family, Matthew is more desperate than ever to keep Diana safe. As danger closes in from all sides, their desire to reunite the pages of Ashmole 782 becomes paramount.

Book 3 in the All Souls Trilogy. 561 pages.

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont, a mated witch and vampire, must find a witch to tutor Diana before her powers spin out of control. The problem is witches of Diana's prodigious skill are presently few and far between. Thus they decide their best bet lies in witches of the past. Diana and Matthew timewalk to Elizabethan England, where they rely on Matthew's friends, the mysterious School of Night, to protect them. Plunged into a world of spies and magic, Diana and Matthew find themselves in a race against time to find Ashmole 782 and figure out the gaps in Diana's magical education. The past, however, harbors far more dangers than they ever imagined.


Book 2 in the All Souls Trilogy. 584 pages.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Diana Bishop, an American historian, plans to spend most of her spare time throughout the summer and fall in Oxford's Bodleian Library, perusing alchemical manuscripts. When she recalls Ashmole 782 from the stacks, she discovers it is bewitched and hastily sends it back. Though Diana is a witch who refuses to use her powers since the deaths of her parents, she knows enough to recognize when something--or someone--is bewitched. Diana's ability to recall the manuscript, supposedly lost for centuries, causes the underworld of witches, vampires, and daemons to descend upon Oxford. Their sudden appearance sets Diana on a course that will irrevocably change her life.

Book 1 in the All Souls Trilogy. 579 pages.       

The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld #1)

The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Meh. I just couldn’t with this one. If the first book is the absolute worst book in the series, and it gets better (a lot better), someone let me know. Otherwise, I won’t be continuing on with this.

To me, this was silly, shallow, and not even remotely dark, despite the enticing dark concept. It’s a concept that sounded great on paper, but when written in such a frilly, shallow way, it took away everything that should have been great about this.

This could have been deep, dark, angst-filled, and emotional. Instead, what you get is 2D characters, a plot that is only there to forward the romance, underdeveloped side characters, shallow and lazy villains, and weak world building. Honestly, I’m most upset about the weak world building and boring, one-note characters.

Yes, this is fiction, but you’ll have to suspend disbelief to an ultimate level to be able to swallow the lazy dialogue and plot.

And I take it back. I’m most upset that this is a high concept failure, because there’s just so much that could have been done with this dark, demon-filled world. And instead, I got a bunch of annoying, emotionless fluff. Bummer.

Book 274 read in 2018

Pages: 379

Fated by Karen Lynch (Relentless Series- Book 6)

Fated by Karen Lynch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I never expected Christian's series to be so sweet and emotional, but it's also full of fierce warriors and crazy demon escapades, which keeps the story hopping along.

This series is fantastic. I hope it never ends.

Book 270 read in 2018

Pages: 288

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

Zach Barrows is an ambitious young White House staffer whose career takes an unexpected turn when he's partnered with Nathaniel Cade, a secret agent sworn to protect the President. But Cade is no ordinary civil servant. Bound by a special blood oath, he is a vampire. Cade battles nightmares before they can break into the daylight world of the American dream, enemies far stranger-and far more dangerous-than civilians have ever imagined.

This is a re-read for me (multiple times over).  It's a book I go to when I want to escape into something fun and fast.  The audiobook is excellent.  Give it a go if you like thrillers and vampires but are tired of all the teen angst and romance.  This vampire is a vampire.  And the monsters (both human and supernatural) are intense.

5/5

400 pages

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

#BecRereads2018

I am revisiting this one, in preparation for reading The Dark Calling, which was just released. It has been fun to listen to this on audio, since I read it in print the first time. The audio has characters with Cajun accents, which is appropriate to the story and appreciated.

I still love this confusing, mystical world (I should be clear here and say that this story isn't confusing--just the complexity of the tarot card details and the 22 Major Arcana can sometimes overwhelm me. I am intrigued by all the minor details, which I really don't have to remember to appreciate the story, yet I still wish I could keep them all straight.)

Kresley Cole writes stories that are unique, a bit dramatic, rather dangerous, often racy, full of characters with special powers, and occasionally funny. It's a good combination, and the suspense always makes me want to turn the next page. Since this book is in the YA realm, it falls significantly harder towards the fantasy genre, and the thread of romance is just a fun side vacation on an extreme journey.

Book 75 read in 2018

Pages: 369

The Restorer by Amanda Stevens

The Restorer by Amanda Stevens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As a taphophile and history-lover, I can't get enough of this series. Better yet, it is set in one of my favorite places, Charleston, SC.

368 pages

Day Zero by Kresley Cole

Day Zero by Kresley Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Novella - Book 3.5

This is a good companion novella for someone who is obsessed with the series. It reads like a guide to the characters, followed by short backstories about many of them before, during, and after the flash.

I really enjoyed the short stories, because I am fascinated by the characters.

If you are not a fan, this is obviously not for you. Make sure you don't read it until after book 3. It can be read between books 3 & 4, which was the intention. It can also be read after book 4, if you somehow skipped it.

Pages: 174

Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson

Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a pretty solid follow-up to book one, which I really loved. I enjoyed having more time with some of my favorite characters, and it wrapped up more thoroughly than a lot of 2nd books do, which I appreciate.

Rae Carson has a great voice in the YA world. She writes strong, interesting female characters, grows relationships slowly, and includes a lot of diverse characters and perspectives which provides a nice depth to her worlds. I will definitely read book 3.

Pages: 432