Book Review: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik

Title: Throne of Jade
Author: Naomi Novik
Publication date: 1998 (more recent editions available)
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Bought
Series: Temeraire #2

Description: When Britain intercepted a French ship and its precious cargo – an unhatched dragon’s egg – Capt. Will Laurence of HMS Reliant unexpectedly became master and commander of the noble dragon he named Temeraire. As new recruits in Britain’s Aerial Corps, man and dragon soon proved their mettle in daring combat against Bonaparte’s invading forces.

Now China has discovered that its rare gift, intended for Napoleon, has fallen into British hands – and an angry Chinese delegation vows to reclaim the remarkable beast. But Laurence refuses to cooperate. Facing the gallows for his defiance, Laurence has no choice but to accompany Temeraire back to the Far East – a long voyage fraught with peril, intrigue, and the untold terrors of the deep. Yet once the pair reaches the court of the Chinese emperor, even more shocking discoveries and darker dangers await.

My thoughts: This is the second book in the Temeraire serious, although it had been about ten years, probably, since I read the first so maybe I should have done a reread! There were a few characters who I didn’t remember from the first book, and some nuances of the internal politics in the fictional Britain of the book that I know I wasn't catching. Even so, I really enjoyed the book. It’s a lovely historical setting and I like the measured pace.

Temeraire is still very young, and over the course of the book, both he and Laurence are forced to look at slavery, servitude and duty in different guises, and consider their opinions on different issues. It’s a very interesting look at culture, I think.

I love the feel of this world, and although Throne of Jade felt like a bit of a set up book for things to come, I still really enjoyed it. I’m really excited to get to the rest of this series. I’m giving this book 7/10.

Book Review: The City Stained Red by Sam Sykes

Title: The City Stained Red
Author: Sam Sykes
Publication date: 10th September 2015
Publisher: Gollancz
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 7/10
Series: Bring Down Heaven, #1
Source: Review copy from publisher

Description: Cier'Djaal, the City of Silk. This is the great charnel house where poor men eat dead rich men and become wealthy themselves.

Thieves and cultists clash for supremacy of the city's underworld. A religious war is brewing within its walls. The fury of the savage races in its slums is about to explode. Demons begin to pour from the shadows, the language of dead gods upon their lips. 

And it is here that the adventurer Lenk and his unfortunate companions find themselves in the middle once more. 

And the city bleeds...

My thoughts: I believe this is the second trilogy Sam Sykes has written, although this book is my first foray into his work. The story starts with a group of misfits who clearly already know each other well arriving at the port city of Cier'Djaal, armed with a large bag of money with which they will all start their new lives. Very shortly after arrival, the money is stolen.

The City Stained Red feels like a typical 'band of misfits thrown together to save the world' kind of story, with strain between some members of the group, and a budding romance between others. At the same time, it has the added interest of also feeling like "what happens to that band of misfits after they've saved the world?". There are problems in the growing relationship, ties that kept people together seem to be fraying fast, and there's the question of what mercenaries do in peacetime to keep a roof over their heads. I enjoyed this set up, and I think you can read the book happily without having read the previous trilogy, but I think some people might find the gang a trope that they've read before. I found it really fun to look at this aspect, what happens to them next, quite interesting though, as I think it gets to go a bit deeper into how strong the ties formed between people during an intense, stressful experience can really be - or not be.

Another thing I felt like while reading this was like I was playing a fantasy RPG. There was a main aim to begin with - getting into the city, and getting the money back - then side quests came along, and quests that turned out to be much bigger and more important than the initial aim, and romance subplots, and marauding locals getting you caught up in skirmishes, and a host of other fun things! I actually really enjoyed that, but again, I'm not sure it would be everyone's cup of tea.

I did enjoy this book, and Gollancz kindly sent me the whole trilogy, so book two is on my upcoming reads pile. Overall, I'm giving this one 7/10 stars.

Book Review: A Debutante In Disguise by Eleanor Webster

Title:  A Debutante In Disguise
Author: Eleanor Webster
Publication Date: 30th May 2019
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Genre: Historical Romance
Source: Review copy from the publisher

Description: A society lady... with a secret! 
Determined to help people, Letty Barton has a double life – she’s a trained doctor! No-one must know 'Dr Hatfield' is actually a woman. Called to an emergency, she comes face to face with her patient’s brother, Lord Anthony Ashcroft… They’d once shared a spark-filled flirtation – now he’s a brooding, scarred war-hero. But how long will it be before he recognises her, beneath her disguise, and the sparks begin to fly once more…?

My thoughts:  Letty has been able to train as a doctor, disguising herself as a man and with the help of her brother and his wife. She is popular with the poorer people in her area, respected as a doctor, but lives with the constant fear of discovery. She is determined that she will not marry, never having cared for a man and determined to keep practicing as a doctor.

Tony lost both his best friend and his brother at the Battle of Waterloo, then his father soon afterwards. He’s left with scars, nightmares, and the responsibility for his family estates. He’s heavily dependent on alcohol when he meets Letty and his pregnant sister befriends her. It’s a huge risk for Letty to keep spending time with Elsie when Tony ask Dr Hatfield to be Elsie’s doctor, but she can’t suppress her need to help people.

I loved Letty’s conviction about being a doctor. She is absolutely set on what she is doing and why. She’s not one of these historical romance heroines who either finds a noble calling right at the end of the book, or realised that they can set aside what they’ve always planned to do in favour of marrying the hero. It was also good to see a hero who isn’t the gorgeous rake everyone finds attractive.

 While there were many aspects of this book I enjoyed, I felt like there was a lot of potential that went unexplored. I would have liked to see a much more detailed development of Tony coming to terms with his scars and more of a look at him coping (or not) with the after effects of the battle. We very briefly see that he’s clearly an alcoholic, then all of a sudden he’s not drinking anymore. While some people can choose to just stop, most people who are dependent on something have to fight to build new habits without those vices. The author never explains why Letty is called ‘Lettuce’, either. It seems like it was just to make one small joke in the opening chapter. Those complaints aside, it was an enjoyable read, a nice little escape, which is what I always hope for with a historical romance novel. I’m giving A Debutante In Disguise 7 out of 10.

Book Review: Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Title: Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda
Author: Becky Albertali
Publication date: April 2015
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Library

Description: Straight people should have to come out too. the more awkward it is, the better.

Simon Spier is sixteen and trying to work out who he is - and what he's looking for.

But when one of his emails to the very distracting Blue falls into the wrong hands, things get all kinds of complicated.

Because, for Simon, falling for Blue is a big deal …

It's a holy freaking huge awesome deal.

My thoughts: I had heard great things about this book, and planned to read it before Love, Simon (the film adaption) came out last year. Then I ended up getting early tickets with a group of my friends, so I actually came to the book with expectations and impressions for the film. I have a bit of a hit & miss relationship with contemporary YA, and find a lot of it either feels like I've read it before or the stakes just don't feel high enough for me to care about the story, but I was quickly sucked in to Simon Vs.

Simon already knows that he's gay at the beginning of the book, and when someone leaves an anonymous post with the pseudonym Blue on the local community message board, Simon sets up his own anonymous email account to reply. The book is a portrayal of friendship, growing up, and making mistakes, mixed in with a lovely epistolary love story. I enjoyed that with the book, you got to see so much more of Simon's friendships, and his encounters with both the person who turns out to be Blue, and people who Simon thinks might be.

It was a quick, enjoyable, mostly-light-hearted book that I really enjoyed and definitely recommend to fans of YA. I also think that if you enjoyed the film, you should definitely try the book too - as always with a book-to-film adaption, the original has way more stuff packed in, giving a much more emotional journey. Overall, I'm giving Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli 7 stars.

~Ailsa

The Earl's Countess of Convenience by Marguerite Kaye

Title: The Earl's Countess of Convenience
Author: Marguerite Kaye
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Publication date: 4th April 2019
Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)
Source: Review copy via NetGalley

Description: Eloise Brannagh has witnessed first-hand the damage unruly passion can cause. Yet she craves freedom, so a convenient marriage to the Earl of Fearnoch seems the perfect solution! Except Alexander Sinclair is more handsome, more intriguing, more everything, than Eloise anticipated. Having set her own rules for their marriage, her irresistible husband might just tempt Eloise to break them!

My thoughts: The book opened with several pages of serious info-dumping as Eloise and her family discuss their past and set up the facts of the story opening: that the Earl has written to propose a marriage of convenience with Eloise. The slew of telling went on to the point that I completely lost track of who was being talked about. Despite that quite off-putting start, I did quickly get drawn in once Alexander Sinclair arrive at Eloise's house and they started talking. Each had formed various opinions about the other and now found that not only were those ideas quite wrong, but actually the other person was quite attractive and they were really enjoying talking to them.

I loved that the drama of the story is totally built around their relationship. Often in the historical romance books I've read, there is some kind of dramatic event near the end - a duel, a kidnapping, blackmail - that causes the hero and heroine to realise their true feelings for each other. In The Earl's Convenient Countess, Marguerite Kaye keeps the focus on the evolving relationship between Eloise and Alexander, looking at how time changes their opinions of each other, how they modify their behaviour based on what the other is saying or doing, and how they questions their own plans and desires. It gets so much more into the little actions that affect dynamics of a relationship than some historical romance novels do.

Marguerite Kaye's writing really flows, and I thought her descriptions of people and places were just right: bringing a scene to life without it feeling laboured or overdone. It's not a book full of glamorous parties (although there are some nice dinners and a shopping trip) or too much intrigue, but I don't think that detracts from the story in any way or made it feel like less of the kind of historical romance I was expecting. Overall, I'm giving The Earl's Countess of Convenience 7 out of 10. I found it a really interesting study of a relationship and it definitely lived up to my expectations of Marguerite Kaye's writing, which I've always enjoyed in the past.

Book Review: Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

Title: Foundryside
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Publication Date: 23rd August 2018
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Divine Cities trilogy #1
Source: Review copy from publisher

Description: The city of Tevanne runs on scrivings, industrialised magical inscriptions that make inanimate objects sentient; they power everything, from walls to wheels to weapons. Scrivings have brought enormous progress and enormous wealth - but only to the four merchant Houses who control them. Everyone else is a servant or slave, or they eke a precarious living in the hellhole called the Commons.

There's not much in the way of work for an escaped slave like Sancia Grado, but she has an unnatural talent that makes her one of the best thieves in the city. When she's offered a lucrative job to steal an ancient artefact from a heavily guarded warehouse, Sancia agrees, dreaming of leaving the Commons - but instead, she finds herself the target of a murderous conspiracy. Someone powerful in Tevanne wants the artefact, and Sancia dead - and whoever it is already wields power beyond imagining.

Sancia will need every ally, and every ounce of wits at her disposal, if she is to survive - because if her enemy gets the artefact and unlocks its secrets, thousands will die, and, even worse, it will allow ancient evils back into the world and turn their city into a devastated battleground.

My thoughts: I haven't read anything by Robert Jackson Bennett before, but I thought the blurb sounded interesting, so I was excited to give Foundryside a go. It starts with a young woman called Sancia stealing a mysterious object for her unnamed client. She wouldn't normally take a job this big and complex, because the consequences if she gets caught could be death or the painful loss of a limb, but this time the money was so good she couldn't say no. She duly gets hold of the box, but she can't resist the urge to look inside - despite having been told specifically not to by the client - and see what someone would go to all this trouble for. It turns out to be a magical object that's totally different from anything else, and Sancia realises her client wont let her live with any knowledge of it.

The book hooked me quickly, with Sancia's street-smart attitude and a lot of action that painted a good picture of the city and how the magic in this world works. Be warned, it's not a short book. I found the 10-20% section dragged a bit, but then things picked up again and I got sucked right back in. The last 30% flew by, and where part way through there had been moments where I wasn't sure if I'd continue with the series after Foundryside, by the time I finished reading it last night I knew I need to read the next book!

The majority of the book is focussed on Sancia, but there are occasional short paragraphs from some of the other key characters. There are a variety of narrators, and I think Robert Jackson Bennett did a really good job at giving the main characters distinct personalities and motivations. I liked the character development of all the key players over the course of the book, and I'm interested to see what happens to them in the sequel.

With Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett has created an exciting, believable world and a plot full of twists. It picks up momentum as it goes along, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the second book in the series has in store for readers. Overall, I'm giving Foundryside 7 out of 10.

Book Review: Eat, Drink, Run. by Bryony Gordon

Title: Eat, Drink, Run.
Author: Bryony Gordon
Publication date: 31st May 2018
Publisher: Headline
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Source: Review copy from publisher

Description: Bryony Gordon was not a runner. A loafer, a dawdler, a drinker, a smoker, yes. A runner, no. But, as she recovered from the emotional rollercoaster of opening up her life in her mental health memoir MAD GIRL, she realised that there were things that might actually help her: getting outside, moving her body and talking to others who found life occasionally challenging. As she ran, she started to shake off the limitations that had always held her back and she saw she had actually imposed them on herself. Why couldn't she be a runner?

In April 2017, Bryony Gordon ran all 26.2 miles of the London Marathon. In Eat, Drink, Run., we join her as she trains for this daunting task and rises to the challenge one step at the time. Of course, on top of the aching muscles and blistered feet, there's also the small matter of getting a certain royal to open up about his mental health. Through it all, Bryony shows us that extraordinary things can happen to everyone, no matter what life throws our way.

My thoughts: I read Mad Girl, Bryony Gordon's previous book, in the autumn. To say I enjoyed it is not quite the right sentiment; it's mostly not a happy book, as it documents Bryony's life living with OCD and the frequent lows that the condition brought her to. It was a very moving book that had a lot of effect on me, though, so I was very interested to see what direction her next book would take. While I enjoyed Eat, Drink, Run., it's a very different book to Mad Girl. The book begins by setting up how she decided to run the London Marathon in the first place. It talks a bit about her OCD and how that led to her setting up a support group, beginning to write a lot more about her mental health in her Telegraph column and working on writing Mad Girl itself. She's invited to an event about mental health hosted by Price William, Princess Catherine and Prince Harry, where one thing leads to another and she tells them she'll run the marathon.

While it's just as readable as her previous book, there were places where I felt like Eat, Drink, Run. was an extended column. There are a lot of anecdotes that, while funny, don't necessarily tie in to the rest of the book very well. That aside, it manages to be a very entertaining book while looking at the serious subject of mental health, and how we can all tackle something big by taking it in small steps. It doesn't focus much on Bryony's particular marathon training plan (except to say that for a while there really wasn't one). You get a general picture of how training is progress, but it's more of a background, framing how the increased exercise is changing her habits for the better, and how the journey to running the marathon lead to her crossing paths with the royals on several occasions.

The book is light, entertaining and inspiring, while still drawing attention to what it can be like to live with a variety of mental health problems and how we can do better to help people living with them. It's a very accessible book for those who want to learn a little bit more about OCD without getting into something too emotional or draining, and I think that's who I'd most recommend this book to. If you've enjoyed reading Bryony's columns, but didn't feel like Mad Girl was right for you, I'd suggest picking up Eat, Drink, Run. I'd still very much recommend it to people who did enjoy her other books, but just caution that it is quite different from Mad Girl. Overall, I'm giving Eat, Drink, Run. 7 out of 10.

Book Review: Make Me Want by Katee Robert

Title: Make Me Want
Author: Katee Robert
Publication date: 22nd February 2018
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Review copy via NetGalley

Description:
Lucy Baudin’s ex dented her self-esteem and it’s time to regain control. In her job as a lawyer she’s bold, confident. But in the bedroom…she needs inspiration to reawaken her inner seductress. Asking her friend Gideon Novak for help seems wrong, yet so deliciously right!

My thoughts: 
Lucy split up with her ex a couple of years ago, and her confidence has yet to recover from the damage he did. Although she's a successful lawyer, she feels like she needs a partner to be taken seriously for further promotion at work, so she hires Gideon to help her find a husband. He's known as a good head-hunter, but finding a husband is quite different. Then there's the fact that his former best friend is Lucy's former boyfriend, and he hasn't seen her since the break up. On top of everything, Lucy doesn't just want him to find her a husband, she's also asked him to teach her how to get better with physical relationships.

The entire set up sounded fun, and the book jumps right in to the action, with Lucy negotiating with Gideon over her proposal that he find her a husband and give her sexual lessons. You can feel the tension between them straight away, and once it flips to Gideon's point of view, we learn that he has always found Lucy attractive. The main issues which the couple face over the course of the story are Gideon's guilt over how badly his former friend treated Lucy; Lucy's damaged confidence from her last relationship; and how determined each of them is to stick to their initial agreement of the rules of their interactions.

It was a fun and fast read, frustrating at times when the characters chose not to talk about certain things with each other, or jumped to (wrong) conclusions. Of course they ultimately end up together, and I enjoyed the way that was worked out. For all that there is a fair amount of sex in the book, it was actually quite a sweet romance. Which brings me to another point: although this is part of the new Mills & Boon range 'Dare', which is meant to be their sexiest books yet, it didn't stand out to me as particularly more sexy that other things I've read. It's perhaps more detailed than some of the others in the Mills & Boon stable, and it was steamy & well written, but nothing out of the ordinary really.

Overall, Make Me Want is a fun, sexy romance novel, perfect to cheer up a gloomy spring weekend. I'm giving it 7/10.

Book review: Because We Are Bad by Lily Bailey

Title: Because We Are Bad
Author: Lily Bailey
Publication date: March 2018 (paperback)
Publisher: Canbury
Genre: Non fiction: Memoir
Source: Review copy via publicist

Description: 
As a child, Lily Bailey knew she was bad. 

By the age of 13, she had killed someone with a thought, spread untold disease, and spied upon her classmates.

Only by performing a series of secret routines could she correct her wrongdoing. But it was never enough. She had a severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and it came with a bizarre twist.

This true story is from a startling new voice in non-fiction. It lights up the workings of the mind like Mark Haddon or Matt Haig.

Anyone who wants to know about OCD, and how to fight back, should read this book. Immerse yourself in a new world.

My thoughts: 
I've read a few books (fiction and non-fiction) which look at OCD, but Lily Bailey highlights a whole new angle of the illness in Because We Are Bad. The book flows as though it were fiction, following Lily's life chronologically from when she is a young girl through to her early twenties. And for most of that period, she has a second voice in her head, telling her what to do. This other person in her head gives voice to the OCD thoughts - you should wash your hands again to make sure you don't spread that disease. You're horrible, you need to do this thing to make up for it. 

It was quite hard to read in places, because the reader can see how much harm Lily was doing to herself, and how much she needed help. Even once she starts seeing a therapist, the OCD remains severe. I found it really interesting to read about the therapy sessions, what people tried to do to help, and the effects (or sometimes lack of them) on Lily and her illness.

It's a very different sort of book than Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon, which I read in the autumn & is about her journey with OCD. Lily's experience with OCD, with the voice in her head being a distinct, separate, constant presence, is not something I've read about before. But because it's so different, I think it's very worth talking about. The more people talk about what their experience with a particular issue is, the higher the likelihood that someone reading these books will be able to identify themselves in one of them.

Overall, it was a very well written book. I found it very readable, which isn't always the case with memoir, or non-fiction more broadly. I admire Lily Bailey for how open she has been with this book, and I hope that it will help people living with OCD. Overall, I'm giving it 7 out of 10.

Book Review: A Conspiracy of Alchemists by Liesel Schwarz

Title: A Conspiracy of Alchemists
Author: Liesel Schwarz
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication date: August 2013
Genre: Steampunk/Fantasy
Source: Bought

Description: In a Golden Age where spark reactors power the airways, and creatures of Light and Shadow walk openly among us, a deadly game of Alchemists and Warlocks has begun.

When an unusual cargo drags airship-pilot Elle Chance into the affairs of the mysterious Mr Marsh, she must confront her destiny and do everything in her power to stop the Alchemists from unleashing a magical apocalypse.

My thoughts: I love this sort of fantasy novel: a slightly historical setting, lots of steampunk creations, and a female lead who knows what she wants from life and won't let the fact that she's a woman stop her. The book begins with Elle in Paris, meeting a contact who gives her a mysterious package to take back to England. Unfortunately, she's attacked before she can leave Paris, and this kicks off a journey where she and the enigmatic Mr Marsh are chased to her Cambridge home, then across Europe, to Constantinople.

The chase added a sense of urgency to the book, which I think might have lacked a little otherwise. Although there is a deadline driving the bad guys, our good guys are just trying to keep one step ahead of the danger. In a lot of places, then, Elle is forced into action because of outside factors, rather than her own drive. The events of A Conspiracy of Alchemists affect her a lot, however, so I'm optimistic that she'll be different in the rest of the trilogy.

The descriptions of the settings and scenery around our main characters are very well done. Liesel Schwarz brings Paris, Venice and Constantinople to life. I hope book two has as much traveling for Elle, because I'd really like to see what else Ms Schwarz can conjure up for the reader.

Overall, this was a great book. The plot carried me along, I feared for the characters' safety, despaired over some of their decisions, and cheered at their successes. I love the world Liesel Schwarz has created, and I found it a lot of fun to read this book as well. It's not written to be funny, as Gail Carriger's books are, but there is a certain sarcasm to some of the interactions which made it very entertaining. I really enjoyed the book, and I'm looking forward to the sequel when I can get a copy. I'm giving this one 7/10.

Book Review: The Unmumsy Mum by Sarah Turner

Title: The Unmumsy Mum
Author: Sarah Turner
Publisher: Bantam Press
Release date: 11th February 2016
Genre: Non-fiction, advice/memoir

Description: The Unmumsy Mum is a blogging and Facebook sensation! Her posts are adored by thousands of fans for delivering a hilarious, unapologeticaly honest account of motherhood. From the soaring highs of life as a parent to the emotional lows of feeling like you might not be cut out for the job, this uncensored portrayal of what it's really like to be a mum has won a place in the hearts of parents everywhere. 
No subject is off limits for the Unmumsy Mum - from distinctly unglowing pregnancies to seemingly endless night feeds; from finding your feet at baby group to the reality of returning to work; from dealing with toddler tantrums to navigating around soft-play hellholes. 
This book won't tell you how to parent, what to buy or how you should feel. Its refreshing frankness is guaranteed to make you laugh, may well make you cry, and will no doubt leave you breathing a sigh of relief that it is definitely not just you...

My thoughts:
I picked this book up from someone who was rehoming it because I thought it would be full of funny, honest stories. It sat on my bookshelf for a little while, than I started it earlier this month, looking for some light reading and a change from fiction.

While the book does have some amusing anecdotes from Sarah's life as a mother, and some short funny things that some of her blog readers have written to her about, the book is much more like an honest look at all aspects of being a mother to very young children. She writes about the miserable side to being pregnant, giving birth, and not getting enough sleep. She talks about deciding to have a second child, and the adjustment needed to cope with having two children rather than one.

It's an incredibly informative book, and I think it would be a very reassuring read for mothers of young children. However, although I might have kids sometime in the next few years, I'm not at that point yet. While it was very educational to read as it went into aspects of parenthood that I didn't know anything about before, or had never even considered, I didn't find it as engaging to read as I think I will in a few years time when I'm expecting a child. I'll definitely be keeping this on the shelf until then, though, because I do think it will be very reassuring and useful when I reach that stage in my life. 7/10.

Book Review: Last Christmas in Paris, by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Title: Last Christmas in Paris
Author: Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Release date: 3rd October 2017
Publisher: William Morrow (available in the UK through Harper 360)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Review copy from Harper 360

Description: 
Christmastime in Paris... Thomas Harding travels to the City of Lights, a packet of cherished letters in hand... letters that tell a story of love a loss, friendship and family, and the innocent hopes of a generation devastated by war. As he reads the letters one more time, Tom is transported back to 1914 and the sunlit August day when Evie Elliott waves goodby to him and her brother Will, as they head to the Western Front. 

All believe the war will be over by Christmas when the trio plan to reunite and celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris. But it is not to be. As months slip into years, Tom's and Evie's lives become bound together by the letters and telegrams, notes and stories that travel between them, from the front line in France to a quiet suburb of London. But as their friendship flourishes, there is far more than words held between the pages of Tom's and Evie's letters. 
Now, decades later, Thomas finds himself once again in his beloved Paris, determined to fulfill a last promise and to lay to rest the ghosts of the past... but one final letter is waiting for him. 

My thoughts: 
The basic premise of Last Christmas in Paris is quite straightforward: Evie and Tom write letters to each other during the First World War, with occasional letters to other friends and family included too. Tom and Will go off to France all excited, eager to do their part, sort out the enemy, and meet their friends a couple of months later. We all know how it actually turned out, and the horrors of the Front.

I loved that it was all told in letters, and I found it very quick to read in that format - 'just one more letter' is a lot faster than 'one more chapter', so I'd end up reading far more at once than I expected to! It was really interesting seeing how their lives developed, and how things went unsaid, and their slow realisation that in fact they did love each other. But the framing of the story is that Tom is rereading these in Paris years later, and it's vague enough that you really don't know up until the very end if it all turns out ok for them. I liked the fact that that tension remained throughout the whole book.

Although this is a fairly typical war story, with ups and downs and lots of personal growth and a slow building romance, I did really enjoy it, and was in tears in several places. A well written book, in a really enjoyable format that managed to sustain the tension right through to the end. Overall I'm giving it 7 out of 10.

Book review: King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Title: King of Thorns
Author: Mark Lawrence
Publication date: April 2013
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Free copy through previous job

Description: To reach greatness you must step on bodies. I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood…

A six nation army marches toward Jorg's gates, led by a shining hero determined to unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.

Faced by an enemy many times his strength, Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan...

My thoughts: I love a good epic fantasy, and all of Mark Lawrence's books are that promising door-stopper size that suggests a good adventure happens within the pages. King of Thorns is book two in the trilogy, and picks up about four years after the end of book one. I was a bit thrown off by this, as it seems like a lot has changed, and I wondered if I'd misremembered the ending of book one, but luckily the story splits into two timelines: one carrying on in the present day, and one that starts four years previously and gradually shows how Jorg got from where he was to where he is now.

It's a fairly grim series in a lot of ways. Jorg hasn't had an easy life and it doesn't get any better. But despite that, he fights his corner and has quite a lot of luck to help him out. I like that there's a strong 'characters move from city A to city B and encounter various stumbling blocks on the way' plotline to the book, and that Jorg's personality continues to evolve as he grows up and experiences more. It was a satisfying book, and once I got stuck in, I couldn't put it down. Luckily I already have book three, so I'll be starting that one soon! I'm giving King of Thorns 7 out of 10.

Book review: Beyond Forever by Kit Rocha

Title: Beyond Forever
Author: Kit Rocha
Publication date: 24th October 2017
Genre: Dystopian/Romance
Source: Review copy
Series: Beyond (bonus novella)

Blurb: Before they were the King and Queen…
Six years before the Beyond series started, an ambitious bootlegger named Dallas O’Kane caught a very pretty thief named Lex with her hand in his safe.
The rest is very sexy history.
In Beyond Forever, follow Dallas and Lex through the turning points in their relationship, from the night he caught her trying to rob him, through his rise to successful bootlegger, to legend, to Sector Leader--with Lex always there, willing to give him the push he needs.

Beyond Forever is a prequel novella that jumps through time to tell the story of the biggest moments in the formation of the O’Kanes and their King and Queen. It will be far more enjoyable if you’ve already read Beyond Control, and contains spoilers for the entire Beyond series.

My thoughts: Beyond Forever begins with the reopening of the Broken Circle after the events at the end of the Beyond series. It then jumps back to the very beginning of Dallas O'Kane's journey in the Sectors, and his first meeting with Lex, and hops forward to critical moments in the founding of the O'Kane gang & business and Dallas's relationship with Lex, finishing a little bit before Beyond Shame begins.

As a big fan of the series, I loved this novella. It's my favourite sort of extra: when we first meet Dallas & Lex, it's obvious they've already got quite a history together, so to go back and see some of that history was great. Partly that's because they're characters who bash up against each others' personalities a lot, which is always fun to read about, especially when you know that they're going to end up very much together in the future.

There isn't a particularly strong plot line as such; instead it's a series of little glimpses at crucial moments. Each chapter looks at one critical moment, and gives enough information, context and conflict for that little bit. And it was so much fun to see Lex upsetting Dallas's world, from his personal opinions to how the business was going to run to how the gang was running. Through the little snippets you get a really good picture of how Dallas and Lex each became who they are at the beginning of the Beyond series.

As an extra to read after you're done with the series, Beyond Forever is a real treat, and I'm sure all Kit Rocha fans will love it. It's intended as a happy bonus, and it definitely delivers as that. I loved getting to know some more secrets about the founding of the O'Kane legacy, and particularly the peaks of Nessa, one of my favourite characters, when she was younger. I'm giving Beyond Forever 7 stars.

Book review: Coming Home to the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson

Title: Coming Home to the Comfort Food Cafe
Author: Debbie Johnson
Publication date: October 8th 2017
Publisher: HarperImpulse
Genre: Contemporary
Source: Review copy from publisher, through NetGalley

Description: Welcome to the cosy Comfort Food Café, where there's kindness in every cup of hot chocolate and the menu is sprinkled with love and happiness…

Moving to the little village of Budbury, Zoe hopes the crisp Dorset sea breeze and gentle pace of life will be a fresh start for her and her goddaughter, Martha.

Luckily for them both, the friendly community at the café provide listening ears, sage advice, shoulders to cry on, and some truly excellent carrot cake. And when Martha's enigmatic, absent father suddenly turns up, confusing not only Martha but Zoe too, the love and support of their new-found friends is the best present they could ask for.

Have Zoe and Martha truly found their home at the Comfort Food Café?

My thoughts: I've read a couple of the Comfort Food Cafe books before, and really enjoyed them, and I'm happy to say that Coming Home... is another excellent book from Debbie Johnson.

Zoe is our narrator for this book, a new character who hasn't been in the previous ones. The story starts in the summer of the year Zoe's best friend (and Martha's mum) has died. Following Kate's wishes, Zoe has become Martha's guardian, and they now live together, but unsurprisingly they're both struggling a lot. For 16-year-old Martha, that's taking form in her sneaking out the house, sneaking into clubs, and drinking too much. Zoe is worried for both of them, so uses her savings to quit work for a few months and take them down to the Dorset coast to stay in a picturesque holiday village.

One of the things I like about Debbie Johnson's writing is that she does a 'tragic backstory' very well. It's not overdone, it doesn't feel forced - she writes grief very well, and that comes through in all the Comfort Food Cafe books. I'm reluctant to call the book 'contemporary romance' - there is a slight romantic element to the book, but predominantly it's about dealing with tragedy, making fresh starts, and raising a teenager. I really enjoyed the focus on those elements, and how the importance of friendship shines through in the books. The village of Budbury, with its social focus being the Comfort Food Cafe, has a really strong little community, and gradually Zoe and Martha both start to engage with it, and discover some incredibly supportive friends.

Coming Home to the Comfort Food Cafe is a beautifully heartwarming story that will have you crying both sad and happy tears! It's about the ups and downs of starting over, the importance of friendship, and about being a parent. Cosy autumn reading, with a lovely Christmassy finish. I'm giving it 7/10.

Book review: The Bastard Legion by Gavin Smith

Title: The Bastard Legion

Author: Gavin Smith
Release date: 5th October 2017
Publisher: Gollancz 
Genre: Science Fiction 
Series: The Bastard Legion #1
Source: Review copy from the publisher

Description: Four hundred years in the future, the most dangerous criminals are kept in suspended animation aboard prison ships and "rehabilitated" in a shared virtual reality environment. But Miska Corbin, a thief and hacker with a background in black ops, has stolen one of these ships, the Hangman's Daughter, and made it her own. Controlled by explosive collars and trained in virtual reality by the electronic ghost of a dead marine sergeant, the thieves, gangsters, murderers, and worse are transformed into Miska's own private indentured army: the Bastard Legion. Are the mercenaries just for fun and profit, or does Miska have a hidden purpose connected to her covert past?

My thoughts: I loved the concept of the book as soon as I heard it, and since I'd heard good things about Gavin Smith's writing, I thought it would be a good book to start with. The story starts as Miska is about to take a small group of the prisoners she has been trying up onto an asteroid to take back control of it from a rebel group. It quickly becomes apparent when they arrive that Miska has not been given the full story about the rebels, their capabilities, and any reasons they might have to rebell. The bulk of the story focuses on the campaign to take over the asteroid, with occasional flashbacks to Miska's past: partly as she was securing the job and beginning to train the prisoners and partly looking at the events that led her to steal the prison ship in the first place and the bigger reasons for her taking it.

There aren't too many scientific terms or explanations in the book, but there are a lot of sci-fi weapons, equipment and body modifications. The fights between Miska's team and the rebels, and a few other people, are described in great detail. Personally I didn't need to know the names of each weapon being used at any time, but as Miska has been a marine, I think it makes sense that she (as the narrator) would call things by their proper names, so I adjusted to it after a while.

I liked the characters, particularly Miska who we get to know best. Some of the others are very intriguing as well, and I'll be interested to see how they develop over the trilogy and to learn more about their backgrounds. Overall I enjoyed the book - it's a fun read with a lot of mouthy mercenaries and vivid gunfights, as well as some interesting imaginings of technology and society in the future. I'm giving The Bastard Legion  by Gavin Smith 7/10. And I'm glad to hear that book 2 is also out this month, on ebook! 

Book review: Wychwood by George Mann

Title: Wychwood
Author: George Mann
Release date: 12 September 2017
Publisher: Titan
Genre: Crime
Source: Bought

Description: After losing her job and her partner in one fell swoop, journalist Elspeth Reeves is back in her mother's house in the sleepy village of Wilsby-Under-Wychwood, wondering where it all went wrong. Then a body is found in the neighbouring Wychwood: a woman ritually slaughtered, with cryptic symbols scattered around her corpse. 

Elspeth recognizes these from a local myth of the Carrion King, a Saxon magician who once held a malevolent court ddp in the forest. As more murders follow, Elspeth joins her childhood friend DS Peter Shaw to investigate, and the two discover sinister village secrets harking back decades. 

My thoughts: The story begins with Elspeth pulling up to her mum's house, come to stay for a while, only to find that police have blocked off the road. No one is allowed into the crime scene area, but Elspeth pops through her house and hops over the wall at the bottom of their garden. While sneaking around, she not only sees the body, but also bumps into her childhood friend Peter, now a police officer.

I really liked Elspeth as a character. She's warm and relatable, and determined to get back on her feet after the blow that sent her back to her mum's. She works hard, and her curiosity almost always gets the better of her. Wychwood is a fairly standard police investigation into a string of murders, with Elspeth accompanying Peter as he interviews several people who might be able to shed light on things.

It's a really good book, I was hooked early on, but I was disappointed by the lack of magic or fantasy elements in the book. I guess I went into it expecting something more like Ben Aaronovitch or Paul Cornell's books, where police discover that there's magic in the world, and the magical becomes a big part of the story. In Wychwood, the only reason the reader knows that magic is definitely involved is because of occasional short interludes from the killer's point of view. I'd also hoped that it might be the start of a series, but while there can easily be more cases for Elspeth and Peter, I'm not sure how believably anything magical could be tied to the town again, after the events of Wychwood.

All in all, I did enjoy Wychwood a lot, and have been recommending it to people, but it wasn't quite the book I was expecting when I started reading. A page-turning crime thriller set in a cosy English town, this book is a perfect autumn read, particularly with Halloween coming up. I'm giving it 7/10, but I'll be more cautious going into future books by George Mann.

Book Review: Marked by Sue Tingey

Title: Marked
Author: Sue Tingey
Publication date: May 2015
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
Source: Bought

Description: Lucky de Salle can see ghosts, but it's daemons she should be worried about. 

With no family and very few friends, Lucky's psychic ability has always made her an outcast. The only person she can rely on is Kayla, the ghost girl who has been with her since she was born. 

But Kayla is not all that she appears. 

Then again, neither is Lucky... 

My thoughts: Marked gets off to a quick and spooky start, which drew me in and made me very glad I'd picked it up. Unfortunately it then slowed right down for a few chapters, while more of Lucky's life is set up and she meets up a couple of times with a mysterious man who is supposedly asking for her help, but seems to know a lot more than he is willing to share. Lucky also made a lot of really dumb decisions in this part of the story. Hopefully it means that we'll see a marked growth in Lucky's decision making over the course of the series, but it made her a lot more irritating as a point-of-view character for a while when it was obvious she was doing silly things.

After a few slow chapters, Marked thankfully picked up again. My favourite parts of the book happen after Lucky heads for the daemon underworld, accompanied by three bodyguards she has met earlier in the book. I loved seeing her adjust to the underworld, which has a similar feel to it as many of the 'fae lands' you see in other books. Lucky is in a position where she's going to get tangled up with the court politics of the underworld, and she has to learn quickly that things work very differently here than they do in the normal world. I also got a bit of a Merry Gentry vibe as Kayla's retinue of bodyguards is increased and they all happen to be very good looking men, particularly as two of them are very strong in their own right and have clashing magical powers. That's definitely a good thing though, as I loved that series, but I hope the love triangle doesn't end up taking over the plot in the rest of the series.

I really enjoyed the political manoeuvring, and I'm looking forward to more of that in the next book, Cursed. I think the characters are well written - there are a lot of opinionated people, but they all have their own distinct personalities, which can be hard to pull off. And there's a dragon who can change his size, and dragons are always a good thing.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, and will picking up book two in the series when I can find it. I'm giving it 7/10.

Book review: Duke of Pleasure by Elizabeth Hoyt

Title: Duke of Pleasure
Author: Elizabeth Hoyt
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Piatkus
Release date: November 2016
Series: Maiden Lane
Source: Bought

Description: IN THE ARMS OF DANGER
Bold. Brave. Brutally handsome. Hugh Fitzroy, the Duke of Kyle, is the king's secret weapon. Sent to defeat the notorious Lords of Chaos, he is ambushed in a London alley - and rescued by an unlikely ally: a masked stranger with the unmistakable curves of a woman.

IN THE HEAT OF DESIRE
Cocky. Clever. Courageously independent. Alf has survived on the perilous streets of St. Giles by disguising her sex. By day she is a boy, dealing in information and secrets. By night she's the notorious Ghost of St. Giles, a masked vigilante. But as she saves Hugh from assassins, she finds herself succumbing to temptation . . .

ONE KISS WILL CHANGE THEIR LIVES FOREVER
When Hugh hires Alf to investigate the Lords of Chaos, her worlds collide. Once Hugh realizes that the boy and the Ghost are the same, will Alf find the courage to become the woman she needs to be - before the Lords of Chaos destroy them both?

My thoughts: I always find historical romances a fun escape for a few hours. I hadn't read anything by Elizabeth Hoyt before, and while this is part of the Maiden Lane series, it works well as a standalone book - I think each story follows a different pair, so while there is probably some overlap in characters, I didn't feel like I was missing out.

Hugh quickly realises that the Ghost of St Giles, Alf in disguise, is female, although he is fooled into thinking Alf is a boy for much longer. When he puts the two together, he keeps the information to himself, protecting her identity and safety. But knowing that the Ghost, whom he has been fantasising about, is actually working with him puts him in an interesting position!

The romance in this book is quite sexy, I think partly because unlike in a lot of historical romance novels, the heroine is not part of respectable society. So there is no expectation or assumption that sexual activity will lead to marriage. They are both able to be more free with their affections than in many cases, and it leads to some very steamy scenes!

While the romance is of course a big part of the story, the intrigue of trying to uncover a secret society who are known to do awful things is also a big focus. I really enjoyed the mystery, and following the various characters as they put clues together.

Overall I really enjoyed this book - it was a lot of fun! I don't know if I'll go back & read earlier books in the series, but I do want to read the sequel as it focuses on a character who we see a lot of in Duke of Pleasure. A fun historical romance with a dangerous plot to uncover, I'm giving Duke of Pleasure 7/10.

Book Review: Ashwin by Kit Rocha

Title: Ashwin
Author: Kit Rocha
Release date: 7 March 2017
Series: Gideon's Riders #1
Source: Review copy

Description: Lieutenant Ashwin Malhotra is a Makhai soldier—genetically engineered to be cold, ruthless. Unfeeling. His commanding officers consider him the perfect operative, and they’re right. Now, he has a simple mission: to infiltrate Gideon’s Riders, the infamous sect of holy warriors that protects the people of Sector One.

He’s never failed to execute an objective, but there’s one thing he didn’t anticipate—running into Dr. Kora Bellamy, the only woman to ever break through his icy exterior.

When Kora fled her life as a military doctor for the Makhai Project, all she wanted was peace—a quiet life where she could heal the sick and injured. The royal Rios family welcomed her like a sister, but she could never forget Ashwin. His sudden reappearance is a second chance—if she can manage to touch his heart.

When the simmering tension between them finally ignites, Kora doesn’t realize she’s playing with fire. Because she’s not just falling in love with a man who may not be able to love her back. Ashwin has too many secrets—and one of them could destroy her.

My thoughts: Ashwin launches the latest series from Kit Rocha, which will follow the fates & fortunes of the motorbike-riding bodyguards & enforcers who patrol the area known as Sector One - Gideon's Riders. There are eight 'sectors', arranged around the edge of a city called Eden, and Gideon is the leader of Sector One.

The book launches straight into the action. Ashwin and Kora cross paths in chapter two and you can feel the tension (and heat) between them straight away. Most of the conflict for the relationship comes from Ashwin's side of things: he knows some things about Kora and her past which she doesn't; will he/won't he tell her them? And he has some additional mission on top of inflitrating the riders: will people find out about that, will Ashwin stick to it as he becomes closer & closer to her, what consequences will it have for the relationship?

The story is told from several points of view, mostly Ashwin & Kora and I enjoyed hearing from both of them. Kora is an incredible doctor but is building a life for herself which doesn't just revolve around that. She's made choices to bring her to where she is, and she's a very determined person. Ashwin is very observant but doesn't really have people skills worked out well. He's not my favourite POV character but he was still very interesting to read about.

Looking at the bigger picture, this book lays a lot of groundwork on what life in Sector One is like, and some of the problems which might come up in later books. Kit Rocha has talked about there being a lot of 'court politics' type scheming in these books, with the hierarchy between the noble families being a very important aspect of Sector One. I'm really looking forward to that, but felt like we only dipped a toe into the pool of it in Ashwin.

Ashwin is a really good book to set up a new series and I can't wait to see where it goes. You meet a lot of interesting characters and I want to know more about almost all of them. The romance in this one was enjoyable to read, and I couldn't put the book down once I'd started. I'm giving it 7 out of 10.