Review: The Forgotten Kingdom (The Lost Queen Book 2) by Signe Pike

Release Date: September 15, 2020 

The sequel to this series loosely based on Merlin from the Arthurian Legend continues with a broader view told from more than one character's point of view. If I recall correctly, the first book (The Lost Queen) is only told from Languoreth's view point, but now we get to see her brother Lailoken's and her daughter Angharad's thoughts too.  It was a wise improvement, as we got to see more of what was going on beyond Languoreth's world. Interestingly, Languoreth and Lailoken's chapters are told in first person while Angharad's are in third person, perhaps because she is a child.

The series takes an unusual path because my understanding of the Arthurian Legend has always been the Celts battling the Saxons/Angles, but the primary antagonists for most of the book are Christian Britons. The Angles only pose a threat towards the end. It did make me wonder a little bit "where is this going?" But when I say it's loosely based on the Arthurian Legend, I mean loosely - I mean you should throw out everything you know about King Arthur and Merlin before reading it. That's not a criticism, because this is an excellent and arguably more historical reboot, and if you're looking for a totally different take on the Arthurian Legend, this is it.

Advanced review copy from publisher via Edelweiss. My opinions are my own.

And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily, #1) by Tasha Alexander

Emily hastily agrees to marry London's most eligible bachelor in a desperate attempt to get out from underneath her overbearing mother. Before she even has a chance to get to know her groom, he dies on a hunting expedition. Feeling guilty at her lack of grief (she barely knew the man), she begins to discover him through his journal, stories from his friends and family, and by learning more about his interests and hobbies, like art and antiquity. In the process, the young widow begins to discover herself too, and eventually, uncovers her late husband's potential involvement in a crime. Who was he really? And which of his friends can she trust?

Coincidentally, this bore some resemblance to "Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia Grey #1)" by Deanna Raybourn - a young and headstrong widow in Victorian times discovers some threatening notes in her late husband's books and papers and realizes he wasn't the man she thought he was. Since I read them almost back to back, I can't help but compare them. Alexander's novel is certainly slower paced and earns the tagline of "a novel of suspense" but I found it a touch more realistic. Emily doesn't go pursuing an investigation, teaming up with a P.I., and barreling headlong into dangerous situations like Julia did, in fact she largely ignores the clues that drop in her lap until she can't deny them any longer. While amateur sleuthing novels are fun, they can come across as somewhat fabricated sometimes and this one didn't feel that way.

Although slow paced, I really enjoyed watching Emily discover herself through her discovery of her late husband. With a few amusing stumbles and a touch of pretension, Emily evolved from a naive blank slate to a fully formed independent woman - and, oh yeah, uncovered and righted a crime too.

Review: Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia Grey #1) by Deanna Raybourn

After her husband dies suddenly but not entirely unexpectedly, Lady Julia Grey is approached by a private investigator who claims it may have been murder. She refuses to believe him until a year later when she finds a threatening note while clearing out her husband's old things, but has the trail gone too cold to find the killer?

A little bit of a character/scene spoiler warning (not a crucial plot spoiler).

I think I would have enjoyed this more if the main character's love interest hadn't drugged her without her consent. I realize it wasn't for any malicious purpose, but even so, it made it difficult to understand her interest in him after that point, especially given her more modern and feminist beliefs. I suppose the author was trying to make him daring and a bit dangerous but I think there are ways to do that without violating consent like that, especially given that it served no purpose for the plot.

I am still debating whether to carry on with the series or not. With this one exception, I did enjoy the characters, the witty dialogue, and even the plot, although I must say I called whodunit from very early on (though I admit for not the reasons I originally thought). I am a bit curious to see where Lady Julia goes from here.

Review: Lily of the Nile (Cleopatra's Daughter #1) by Stephanie Dray

Selene, the daughter of Cleopatra and Marc Antony struggles with the complexity of her relationships with her parent's enemies, and her loyalty to her home and religion after she and her brothers are orphaned and held captive in Rome.

In the past, I've been known criticize books that are heavy handed with magic and mysticism, but in truth, I don't mind magic being used in the novels I read, I just want it to make sense and not come across as contrived just for the sake of it. In Lily of the Nile, although magic was frequently involved, I didn't mind it since it did not feel contrived. The plot did not rely too heavily on magic, but Selene's relationships and religion did, which is what this novel is all about.

I'm looking forward to completing this series and seeing how Selene uses her power and influence as a queen in a new land.

Review: Side by Side by Jenni L. Walsh

Release Date: June 5, 2018

Intensely eventful, this sequel to Bonnie Parker's life details her crime spree with Clyde Barrow. Although the action never seems to stop, it also feels a little repetitive at times, like the entire book is just Bonnie and Clyde, and sometimes a few others, going around in circles, both literally and not. That's not a criticism, just a description of how crazy their crime spree was.

Popular view tends to paint the picture of Bonnie and Clyde on some kind of fun loving joyride as they commit their crimes, probably partly fueled by the famous photos of them showing off their guns and posing, horsing around, smiling, etc. But this book portrays things much more darkly, with their crimes being more like acts of desperation while they cling onto some fantasy that some day they'll achieve their dreams of living quietly in some remote corner of rural America, as though they are not haunted by the consequences of their choices.

At the same time, the historical view seems to describe the "Barrow Gang" as an organized criminal group, but this novel suggests it was anything but organized and more "fly by the seat of our pants" and "pick up whatever help we can from who we can whenever we can". We get to meet the members of Bonnie and Clyde's so-called gang, but many of them are involved at different time periods, typically not associated with each one another. It definitely felt too erratic to be called "organized", and it wasn't until near the end when it briefly becomes a large group.

Again, none of this is criticism, and it actually appears to be entirely accurate, but it was a little surprising, which made it all the more intriguing.

Advanced review copy from publisher via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

Review: The Tudor Bride by Joanna Hickson

A sequel to The Agincourt Bride, about the latter portion of Catherine of Valois' life. It's as good as the first, and again written in first person from the point of view of Catherine's servant, Mette. It dragged a little bit in the middle, the beginning and end were much more eventful, but I suppose that was to be expected given that not much was going on in Catherine's world at the time. Still, it manages to hold your interest and the ending was moving.

I still think it might have been better written in third person or from multiple character's points of view. Limiting the narrative to one character who was normally by Catherine's side, but not always privy to everything going on felt a little like you didn't get to see everything.

Overall, a read good and good follow up to The Agincourt Bride, though it could be read as a stand alone, if you enjoyed the first book, definitely read this sequel.

Review: Death Below Stairs (Kat Holloway #1) by Jennifer Ashley

The first full length novel in this new Victorian mystery series with cook Kat Holloway was everything I'd hoped it'd be after reading the teaser of a prequel novella. We learn a little bit more about the mysterious Daniel McAdams, and lot more about Kat herself, and they do not disappoint. The character development was every bit as good as the prequel novella promised, including the new characters. The plot takes us around London and into the countryside, keeping you hooked till the end, as things escalate to royal proportions.

I loved the delicious descriptions of food throughout the story too - they made me hungry. It was interesting to see the author's note mention Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management as a main source of her food descriptions. This book is available for free from several venues, if anyone is curious.

I do think Jennifer Ashley has set herself quite the challenge in making the main character a cook. By Kat's own accounts, she rarely has time for anything other than cooking. She is pretty much constantly cooking or buying food for the next meal she has to prepare. She managed to take a break from it to stay in the midst of the action this time, but going forward, whenever will she have the time for amateur sleuthing? I can't wait to find out.

I recommend reading the prequel novella first. Although I'm sure this could be read on it's own, the prequel is a better introduction to Kat and Daniel's relationship.

Advanced review copy from publisher via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

Review: Mistress of Rome (Empress of Rome #1) by Kate Quinn

A Jewish slave and a troubled gladiator fight for their lives and happiness against all the odds and more than one enemy who would bring them down.

I felt like this had a little bit of a slow start - not that it was boring, I just thought it took a little while for the plot to really kick in. But once it did... wow, did it kick in! Kate Quinn is one of those authors who can master both compelling characterization and thrilling plots.

There's so much going on, the plot takes a couple turns I wasn't really expecting, and there's so many interesting characters that you'll either love to love, or love to hate.

I definitely can't wait to read the rest of this series. I don't know why I waited so long to pick this one up (oh, yes, I do - it's because there's too many books in the world, not enough time!).

Review: Blood Debts (Leonidas the Gladiator Mysteries) by Ashley Gardner

Retired gladiator and his slave investigate the murder of a money-changer in ancient Rome.

The time period is certainly a change of pace for this author. I enjoyed it, and I think the new series has definite potential, but I'm not looking forward to it quite as much as I am the Kat Holloway series, another new mystery series from the same author. I'll certainly be reading both though!

One thing I noticed though, I don't think time keeping in ancient Rome was as precise as down to the half hour, or even hour. But I liked the characters and the plot, even though it was only a short novella. I normally feel like they don't allow for enough character development, but I am finding that's not the case with this author.

Review: The Serpent Sword (Bernicia Chronicles, #1) by Matthew Harffy

In 7th century England, Beobrand seeks his brother's murderer while becoming a warrior in a battle torn land.

The book's blurb says "perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell," but that isn't going to do this book any favors, because it does not live up to such hype. In fairness to Matthew Harffy, few could live up to Bernard Cornwell anyway. But even without the hype, this book was a bit of a disappointment.

As I am finding with many novels, it's the characterization that is lacking. I did not feel any kind of connection to the protagonists, and I felt the antagonists were very one-dimensional, they didn't seem to have any real motive for their actions, you were just supposed to accept the fact that they were evil and that's that.

The writing quality was good, apart from the fact that there was way more 'telling' than 'showing', which I think contributed to the poor character development. Likewise, the plot would have been better if I'd cared more about the protagonists, or if the antagonists seemed less superficial. As it was, I didn't really care much what happened and wound up skimming the second half.

Review: The Swan Daughter (The Daughters of Hastings, #2) by Carol McGrath

It's 1075, Harold Godwinson is long dead, and England is ruled by the Bastard King, William the Conqueror. Harold's family is separated and scattered so they can not conspire a rebellion. His daughter Gunnhild is destined for a nunnery, but she has other plans for herself.

I felt like this book was lacking a lot of things, but despite that it wasn't badly written, and the dialogue was believable. It's the only thing that made me bump it up to 2 stars instead of 1.

One of the things I felt it was lacking was good characterization, I didn't always completely understand the main character's thoughts or emotions. For example, when the main character makes an incredibly bold and rash decision that will massively change her life forever, and doesn't really have any idea whether this will turn out to be a good decision or the worst thing she's ever done, there appears to be no trepidation or second guessing. She blindly accepts what she is told without consideration to the fact that she might be being lied to. She does seem to have some moments of convincing herself this is the right decision, but that's the only inkling we get that she deep down might have an idea that this could go horribly wrong. I could maybe attribute it to youthful naivety, and the thrill of being a woman taking control of her own destiny in 11th century England, but I also felt like I never got a good sense of what she was feeling during it either. We hear her thoughts, but we don't feel her emotions. In the midst of this crazy decision she makes on a whim, the only mention of her feelings are "sublime exhilaration". But was her heart pounding? Was her stomach in knots with both excitement and fear at the same time? Were her hands shaking? Who knows? The author never tells us. She should have been boiling over with some kind of emotions but we barely get any mention of it whatsoever.

The complaint I had about the first book in this series was that I didn't really agree with or understand the main character's decisions. I thought that was primarily because the plot demanded those decisions, and so I thought the second book with a different plot would be different, but I think now my issue with both books is a flaw in the author's characterizations. In this book, I didn't necessarily disagree with the characters decisions, I just didn't understand her thoughts and feelings about those decisions.

The plot was also lacking as well. My other complaint about the first book was that it was anti-climatic and again, I attributed this to the nature of the plot, and hoped the second book would be different but unfortunately, I feel the same way. There's so much that could have been done with Gunnhild's life, for example bringing her face to face with King William, whose army killed her father. But Gunnhild's world was very limited to her home life, which may arguably be an accurate representation of the life of a countess at the time, but it felt like it could have been a story about any noble woman at the time. And not that home life can't be interesting, but other authors have done it better. There was a fabricated event near the end which was an obvious attempt to give it a climax or have something interesting happen with the plot, but it just felt deliberately planted.

On a side note, as a rider myself, I have to point out the scene where Gunnhild is travelling on horseback in her best dress she inherited from her beloved aunt, even though she had the opportunity to change into something more practical. Sorry, but that precious dress would have gotten filthy, even with a outer layer covering it, no one would wear their best clothing to ride a horse if they have another option. I could excuse the first time it happened because they had to rush to escape, but the second time it happened, there was no such excuse. The author made a point of the dress being put safely away while they were on a ship, so the salty sea water wouldn't ruin it, but there is no concern for it with the dirt one gets covered in while riding? This is perhaps nitpicking a bit, and I admit this alone wouldn't be enough for me to dislike a book, as it's not very important, but I still felt the urge to mention it.

Needless to say, I will not be continuing with this series.

Review: A Mystery at Carlton House (Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Book 12) by Ashley Gardner

The Prince Regent, later known as George IV, asks for Captain Lacey's help in solving the theft of valuable items from his home at Carlton House, against the wishes of James Denis.

Finally! Captain Lacey meets royalty. Surely, it was bound to happen given that he is best friends with London society's most popular man, and married to one of the most popular women. You'd think London society would run in some of the same circles as the royal court every now and then. Granted, I can appreciate wanting to keep the characters fictional but this just added an extra touch of reality by involving a historical figure.

There's so much more going on in this novel too, but I don't want to spoil it. I'll just say that Donata suffers a difficult birth, Grenville and Marianne's relationship takes a turn as she goes missing, Spendlove is still out to get Lacey, and Brewster questions where his loyalties really lie. That's just what happens in the very beginning, imagine where the rest of the novel goes.

And can I take this moment to ask the author: please, please, pretty please, can we have a spin-off novel of Grenville and Marianne? Carlton House sort of set up an introduction to one rather perfectly...

Review: India Black (Madam of Espionage Mysteries #1) by Carol K. Carr

India Black, madam of a brothel, gets caught up in international espionage after a government official dies in her, er, establishment. She is recruited by the Prime Minister's office to help recover the important papers stolen after the death before they fall into the hands of either two factions who want to use them against Britain/the Prime Minister.

The Stephanie Plum of the 19th century, India Black is headstrong and clever but not always very graceful and it lands her in a number of dangerous yet amusing situations that she handles with dry wit and sarcasm. Hell, she even has her own black sidekick at one point. Then there's the handsome Mr. French, a spy who works for the Prime Minister's office, but he only resembles Ranger with his mysterious background. India has her own secrets though, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series to find out what they are.

I did think the way Vincent, the young street urchin, kept sneaking into the most unlikely places was a little unrealistic, but it didn't play too big of a role in the plot so I was able to overlook it.

I saw a few reviewers saying the "strange" vocabulary like "bint", "cove", and "rogering" used throughout the novel wasn't very historically accurate, but actually, they are. "Bint" is a derogatory British term that dates from the mid 19th century for a woman or girl, like "tart". "Cove" is an informal British term that dates from before the 19th century for a person, especially male. "Rogering" is British slang for having sex and dates from the early 18th century. The authentic language was precisely one of the things I loved about this novel, the author made a good effort to use real slang from the time period. Maybe some readers haven't seen these words used before because most historical novels they read aren't about whores who would use language like that? Or perhaps most historical novelists don't make as great an effort to incorporate authentic language because they don't want to alienate readers so some people aren't used to it (though that's not to say most historical novelists use anachronistic language).

The whole time I was reading the book, I was thinking it would make a great movie. Lot's of adventure and humor, and even the hint of a potential romance in the future. There's not a huge amount of depth, but it is a lot of fun, and sometimes that's just what I'm looking for.

Review: The Boleyn King (Boleyn Trilogy #1) by Laura Andersen

An alternate history novel on what England's monarchy would have looked like had Anne Boleyn delivered a healthy, surviving boy to Henry VIII and subsequently never been executed.

I was a little disappointed by the fact that so many of the main characters were fictional. Obviously, being alternate history, you would expect some fictional characters, but I expected them to be characters born from the alternate event in question. For example, if they were the children of one of the four wives Henry VIII never wound up marrying, that would make sense, but that's not the case. Several fictional characters were born before the birth of Anne's son, sometimes to fictional parents too. I guess I expected everything leading up to the birth of Anne's surviving son to be historical and the only alternate events and people to be anything that would have happened after or as a result of that. The premise of this book is a great idea, but for me, it kind of loses some plausibility when you decide to make up things that occurred before the alternate event the book is based on.

Despite my long rant though, I did eventually get over my initial disappointment. Mostly. It wasn't what I expected but that doesn't mean I couldn't enjoy it for what it was. The character development was good, the plot interesting, the writing quality was very good.

It did feel a little like a young adult romance novel though. Fortunately, it's more than just that - there's also political intrigue, coup plots, mysteries, spying, etc. Marriage was an integral part of politics at the time, so it's to be expected that love and marriage play a large role in the book, but because the main characters are teens or in their early 20s, it had a very teen-like feel to it and I was surprised it wasn't marketed as young adult, as it easily could have been. Nothing wrong with young adult, I probably would have loved this book when I was younger but alas, I'm not that young anymore and usually look for something more mature.

Review: What Gold Buys: A Silver Rush Mystery #5 by Ann Parker

I feel like I've been waiting forever for this book! I really enjoyed the first four books in this series, and I was worried that the author had abandoned it since it has been 5 years since the last book, and never before did she wait so long in between the books in this series. I was so excited to see this new one was out, and I snatched it up immediately.

Coincidentally, I read this first four books in this series while living in England, but since then have wound up living in Colorado, not far from Leadville and right in the heart of where the four book had taken place. So I was doubly excited to read this fifth book now that the location setting is much closer to my heart.

This one introduced readers to the seances which were popular in the late 19th century when a gypsy medium is murdered, leaving a tough but vulnerable daughter behind, while also dealing with Inez's divorce going on in the background. The plot was just as intriguing as the previous books, and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen with Inez's marriage. Hopefully I won't have to wait another 5 years for the next book!

Review: The Alexandria Affair (Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries #11) by Ashley Gardner

Captain Lacey's next case of amateur sleuthing occurs while he's vacationing in Egypt. At first, it seems this mystery will just be about locating an artifact that James Denis wishes him to procure, but of course it's not really a Captain Lacey tale if there's not a dead body. Throw into the mix the mysterious impostor who wants Lacey dead, and a rouge henchman of Denis' and there's a lot going on in this novel!

While I wouldn't have previously said that the London setting in most of the first ten books was getting stale, this one definitely shakes things up a little bit by showing us a glimpse of what was going on in another part of the world during this time period. It was very refreshing and I'm now kind of hoping Lacey will take other vacations elsewhere in future books (my fingers are always crossed that there will continue to be many more books to come in this series).

Review: Rebellion's Message by Michael Jecks

Advanced review copy from publisher via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

Release Date: August 1, 2016

A petty thief happens upon a coded message regarding the rebellion against Queen Mary in 1554 and winds up falsely accused of murder in the process.

Written with a tongue-in-cheek wit, it has a fun plot, but the characterization was lacking. The side characters didn't have much development, and the main character, though a likable rogue, sometimes came across as immature and not very bright. The author was using the main character's ignorance as a way to explain things to the reader (ie, someone explains it to the main character so it gets explained to the reader too). The downside to this is it makes the main character seem stupid but admittedly, the immaturity was often a part of the humor too so sometimes the author got away with it.

It's a good read if you're looking for something quick and light but don't expect too much from the characters.