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Angela Korra'ti

Book Log

Book Log #1: Don’t Look Down, by Suzanne Enoch

Don't Look Down (Samantha Jellicoe Series #2)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn’t get into Book 2 of the Samantha Jellicoe series as much as I did the first–but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. This book’s set three months after the first, and changes have come into our cat burglar heroine’s life; she’s not only got a real, blossoming relationship with billionaire Rick Addison now, she’s even trying to go straight. Instead of robbing people blind, she’s now trying to advise them on their security.

It’s a great plan on paper, but it just goes to figure that one of Sam’s very first clients is murdered shortly after hiring her. Nor does it help matters much that Rick’s ex-wife arrives on the scene, ostensibly to integrate herself into Florida society–but as far as Sam’s concerned, clearly trying to integrate herself right back into Rick’s life, and Sam just can’t have that, now can she? Toss in complications with Sam’s former fence being a suspect in the murder of her client, and all in all, it’s a tasty little mystery.

The main reason it didn’t work quite as well for me as the first one, I think, lies with how there’s a bit more emphasis on the whole OHNOEZ EX-WIFE plot than I would have liked, vs. the OHNOEZ Sam is Trying to Go Straight But Her Past is Complicating Things plot, which was quite a bit more interesting. However, I’ve got to give Enoch credit for avoiding getting too cliched with the ex-wife, and for keeping Sam and Rick’s developing relationship lively. I’ll be proceeding on to book 3! Three stars.

April 3, 2011 by
Books

Yet another book roundup

Picked up in print:

  • Harmony, by Project Itoh. SF. Grabbed this in print because it’s up for a Seiun Award in Japan, and so that userinfosolarbird could read it too, since it’s not available for the nook.
  • Hidden Cities, by Daniel Fox. Fantasy. Grabbed this in print because userinfodesperance, like userinfomizkit, is Awesome. ^_^
  • Haunting Jordan and Ghost Ship, by P.J. Alderman. The same books I mentioned as ebook purchases in my last roundup–because I decided I liked these two books enough that I wanted them in my print library too!

Electronically, from B&N:

  • God’s War, by Kameron Hurley. SF. Grabbed it since it was available for free this weekend on bn.com!
  • Line of Sight, by Rachel Caine. Romantic Suspense. I’d previously bought this Athena Force book from Stanza’s Fictionwise site, but now that that site’s shut down, I wanted this in my nook catalogue.
  • Devil’s Bargain, by Rachel Caine. Romantic Suspense. Same as previous.
  • Death Echo, by Elizabeth Lowell. Romantic Suspense. Bought because I love me some Elizabeth Lowell, and this is her latest, finally available electronically at mass market price.
  • The Sword-Edged Blonde, by Alex Bledsoe. Fantasy. Bought because bn.com had it for cheap at 2.99, and because the melding of detective noir and fantasy sounded like fun.

Up to 71 for the year. I think I need to pause and read for a while! And I need to write some reviews, too. I’ve finally caught up on 2010 reviews, so I can start the 2011 reviews now!

ETA: Whoops, in organizing my ebook library I found another freebie I’d scarfed from B&N and forgotten to add a couple weeks ago: Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America. Period mystery that sounds like fun. Which puts me at 72.

April 2, 2011 by
Books

A lovely post-session sort of book roundup

Picked up in print:

  • Spirit Dances, by userinfomizkit who is Awesome. Urban fantasy, Book 6 of the Walker Papers, which I am greatly looking forward to reading on general grounds of mmmmmmmmMorrison.

And, electronically from B&N:

  • Spirit Dances, again! Since Kit comes with so much Awesome, it cannot be contained in one format! Pre-ordered since it’s not actually out electronically till Friday.
  • Huntress, by Malinda Lo. YA/Fantasy. This is her followup to last year’s delightful Ash, and is set in the same universe. Another pre-order; it’s out for real next week.
  • Haunting Jordan and Ghost Ship, Books 1 and 2 of P.J. Alderman’s Port Chatham series of cozy mysteries. Which, I might add, I have already now read! They were an impulse buy when I was in the downtown B&N the other night, and I was all “oh hey cozy mystery with ghosts set in a Pacific Northwest town, this sounds like fun!” Turned out to be enough fun that I burned through both books very quickly.
  • Village Affairs, by Cassandra Chan. Mystery, Book 2 of her Gibbons-Bethancourt series. Which I have also already read; bought electronically now because it was finally available and I wanted it in my library.
  • The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf, by Molly Harper. Paranormal romance. This is the second book in the series started by How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf, which I liked well enough that I have yea and verily pounced on Book 2.

From Kobo:

  • Touch, by Gayleen Froese. Suspense. Bought on the grounds that this is a friend of my fellow Drollerie author userinfothunderpigeon, and the writing came highly recommended, and because YAY it finally is available electronically.
  • Girl from Mars, by Julie Cohen. Fiction/probably chick lit? Bought on the grounds that it was favorably reviewed by the Smart Bitches and I’ve been wanting to check it out. Again, YAY, finally available electronically!

And lastly, from Smashwords:

  • Shadow Man, by Melissa Scott. SF. Bought because I heard about this on the Outer Alliance list, a novel in a future society where there are five, count ’em, five genders–but on one world, one must choose to be a man or a woman, and the protagonist is neither. Am interested in this to see what it does with gender and sexual identity.

Yes folks, this is why I shop from a variety of places for my ebooks! And that brings me up to 62 for the year. Yes, I’m counting Kit twice. Because I’m buying her twice!

March 30, 2011 by
Books

Time for another book roundup

In print:

  • The Dark and Hollow Places, by Carrie Ryan. YA/SF. This is her third book set in the world of The Forest of Hands and Teeth.
  • Pushing Ice, by Alastair Reynolds. SF. Bought in print since it’s not available electronically to US customers, and because I’d seen it favorably reviewed on Goodreads.

Electronically:

  • Memories of You, by Bobbie Cole. Romantic suspense. This is a Carina Press book, and I grabbed it since I’m a sucker for an amnesia plot.
  • Steam & Sorcery, by Cindy Spencer Pape. Steampunk. Again, Carina Press, and bought in no small part because I was enchanted by a cover with a heroine on it who not only has a visible head, she’s also wearing glasses.
  • Arabesque, by Hayden Thorne. Fantasy. Grabbed this off of Smashwords; it’s an M/M adaptation of the Snow White fairy tale, which I heard about via the Outer Alliance. Sounded like fun.
  • The Phantom of Pemberley, by Regina Jeffers. Mystery. This is yet another of the wave of sequels to Pride and Prejudice that have emerged since Jane Austen went into the public domain, and this time around, it’s a murder mystery taking place at Pemberley not long after Elizabeth and Darcy get married. Picked it up because it’s this week’s freebie on bn.com.

This post’s total brings me to 52 for the year!

March 26, 2011 by
Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea at the Moore in Seattle, 3/12/2011 (Part 3 of 3)

In which our heroine is super-late posting the last bit of the concert writeup from the 12th, she admits! But I beg your indulgence, my fellow GBS fans, for lo, I have been stricken this last week or so with the plague. STRICKEN, I tell you. Handsome and talented as The Doyle is, not even he can make me string coherent thoughts together when I’m in a Sudafed-and-Nyquil-induced coma. And I’m assuming y’all want me to finish this report off with something a bit more substantial than “mmmm Alan is so pretty mmmm”, anyway!

Continue Reading

March 24, 2011 by
Books

Book Log #86: Flirting with Danger, by Suzanne Enoch

Note: This is a late review from my 2010 book log, posting as I’m trying to get caught up. The 2011 book log will commence once the 2010 reviews are up to date!

Flirting with Danger (Samantha Jellicoe Series #1)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Flirting With Danger is actually a re-read for me. I originally read this as a borrowed paperback, and once I found out there was a whole series involving these characters, I wanted to come back and start reading them in ebook form. I was very pleased to find that Book 1 held up nicely to a second pass through.

If you’re old enough to remember the TV show Remington Steele, this book is pretty close to what you’d get if you take Steele and Laura from that show and reverse their roles. Samantha Jellicoe is an expert jewel thief; Rick Addison is a dashing British billionaire, and Sam’s latest target. When she breaks into his house one night only to discover someone else has planted a bomb in his house–and she not only has to save Rick’s life, she also has to throw in her lot with him to find the actual would-be killer.

There’s a great deal of fun to be had here. Samantha’s nicely earthy in contrast to the suave Rick, and while the chemistry between them is often blunt, it’s never over the top for my tastes. The mystery of who’s gunning for Rick is engaging, too. Quick, light read overall. Four stars.

March 21, 2011 by