Books Read 2017

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Man of War by M. R. Forbes

In the year 2280 Earth was invaded by aliens with impenetrable armor and plasma weapons. Cities were incinerated. Military scattered and destroyed. Only ONE starship made it through the alien blockade, the colony ship Magellan, and made it away from Earth. Equipped with then experimental quantum slipstream drive, the ship made it to a different star system and was able to build 4 domes, but the 20K survivors can't do much. Still Earth was never forgotten. In the subsequent fifty-two years periodic recon flights made it to Earth to pick up any broadcasts from the resistance left on Earth. Not all of them made it back. Then one message changed everything. The remaining commander of the Resistance on Earth was about to give up, when a team around the remainder of Mexico City made an amazing discovery... that can give Earth a fighting chance, even as the colony was ready to pull up stakes to find a planet elsewhere away from the war. Now an old crippled general, his hotshot pilot son, and a ground pounder on Earth had to make the ultimate gamble and mutiny... They have to steal the old colony ship Magellan, fly to Earth, get the discovery away from Earth so it can be studied... even if it mean sacrificing the entire resistance cell of hundreds, with no weapons other than their own ingenuity.

Actually quite good for a scifi yarn, the enemy was not as invincible as first thought, and characters are quite deep for typical military scifi stories. 7 out of 8. It sorta ends on a cliffhanger to setup for the next book though.

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Finished It's in His Heart by Shelly Alexander FREE on Prime Reading

Ella Dennings just wanted to get away to her late husband Bradley's Red River Valley cabin. He had died a long painful death due to cancer, and to partly escape she had taken to erotic romance writing, and wrote novels where she hoped what she'll do with her husband should he recover. The first two were major hits that she no longer had to teach. Her car skidded in the mud and stuck in a ditch. She had to walk to cabin with her beloved bulldog Winston in a raging rainstorm, already muddy from several falls, only to find the cabin was occupied... by her late husband's best friend, Cooper. Cooper was hiding from the public having been falsely accused by an ex of sexual impropriety and had to sell his old home to cover his legal fees for the court battle. He had nowhere to go except the cabin, and the last thing he wanted was to spend time with his (dead) best friend's widow that he was also very much attracted to, even if Ella was willing to move on from Bradley. When Ella's secret came to light and rocked the small town, will it doom Cooper's chances in court? Or be his ultimate salvation?

Fun read, and the darkest hour was pretty dark, but somehow the ending felt like it just dragged on a bit too long. 6 out of 8.

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Finished The Paramedic's Rescue by Patty Blount FREE on Amazon

Kara Larsen is a single mom in a financial planning/consulting firm and barely works half-time to make sure she can spend a lot of time with her 18-month child Nadia and be ready for every contingency, even went as far as getting certified in infant and child CPR, which bring her to meet FDNY paramedic Reid Bennett the instructor, with his own heavy baggage regarding a daughter that didn't get to grow up. When Reid found Nadia wandering the department store and her mom's total panic, Reid had a complete meltdown and lectured Kara in the department store with harsh words, which brought out both indignation (Doesn't he realize single mom is difficult?) and fear of failure (My mom never had trouble...) When baby Nadia had breathing problems and some limbs had turned blue, 911 was called and Reid was among the first responders. Kara knew that Reid is handsome, but she can't get involved with any one, not after Nadia's father basically left town after learning she's pregnant, leaving her doubtful of herself, her looks, her... everything. But Reid kept appearing near her, and he's so good with Nadia. He suggested a Montessori school for Nadia, which both solved Kara's sleep problem and made her sad that she wasn't the supermom she believed she should be. When Kara's ex Steve reappeared with the news that he disappeared because of a heart condition and should not father children, Kara panicked again... and Reid had to confront his own demons and losses before he could love Kara...

Surprisingly deep characterization for a short novel (less than 200 pages) invoking 9/11 a lot (Kara's mother died in the Twin towers) and potential and actual loss of children are enough to tear any family apart. For a moment I thought Steve was going to at least not be a complete douchebag when he explained why he ran, then his subsequent behavior quickly disproved that. 6.5 out of 8

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Finished Forever Dreams by Leanna Morgan FREE on Amazon

Gracie Donnelly is visiting Montana from New Zealand to visit a ranch, but her real mission is to locate her birth father, who was a cowboy that got her mom pregnant while on an international tour. And the ranch owner Trent McKenzie knew Gracie is trouble, all 5 foot 2 of her, the moment she stepped on his ranch. Trent can never trust a woman again when his first wife thoroughly broke his heart, but the more he got to know Gracie, the deeper in love he fell. But the main thing she is searching for may be the thing that will send her away...

Somehow this book FEELS much longer than it is as there was a LOT of push-pull between the pair, and the darkest hour was pretty darn dark alright, but the grand gesture somehow doesn't quite feel grand enough. 5 out of 8.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Cowboys Don't Cry by Anne McAllister FREE on Amazon

Robert Tanner promised to help out the new owner of the Three Bar C Ranch after the old matron had passed on. What he didn't expect was the new owner was not only female, but a city girl school teacher that knew nothing about ranching. Maggie MacLeod was also a feisty redhead that everybody would not mind to court, but would be inappropriate as she was their boss. However, Tanner was burned out from a bad relationship before, when his wife miscarried then divorced him and left him for the city. He should have just left and avoid the temptation, but he was as good as his word, and the more he stayed, the more he wanted to kiss Maggie and do all the inappropriate things...

I don't know what's with these cowboy stories, but sometimes they have the MC (either FMC or MMC) basically just do a runner... leave town and come back months/years later and finally admit "Yes, I really do love you" and the SO somehow found in in his/her heart to take him/her back. I've read a COUPLE western romances that used this kind of ending. It's... horribly annoying and unrealistic, IMHO. 4.5 out of 8

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Finished The Shadow Order by Michael Robertson FREE on Prime Reading

Seb Zodo has a natural gift... When he needed to, his mind shifts into hyperspeed and world slows down for him, and he can instantly spot the weakness in his opponent, the environment, and so on, so he can attack with the utmost efficiency, or achieve amazing accuracy with weapons (like shooting hands and legs to disable, not kill). As a result, he always wins, which is not good for a guy trying to stay under the radar. Having his possessions stolen by a little thief named Sparky didn't help. Forced into an arena fight, Seb came to the attention of Simon, the most notorious crime boss in the galaxy... and some thing known as "The Shadow Order"...

One guy's adventure, there's very little space in this space opera. It's basically this guy forced into situations that didn't really leave him much choice. 6 out of 8.

[A nonny mouse]

I'm sorry - but just how many books have you read in 2017 already KC? Over 30?

this should be changed to "brief book reviews" since there isn't a whole lot of reading going on. At least I don't consider audio as reading. but the synopses are good.

I do 97% of my reading on paper, and I have a mixed relationship to audiobooks. Good prose is good on the ear (last year I painted half my house while listening to The Lord of the Rings on CD, and it was great fun), but weak writing is made even worse by hearing it aloud.

My thing is that I refuse to go far with a mediocre book. Maybe audiobooks would help me identify the bad ones faster, but I usually don't get into anything without having some sense (reviews, reputation, intuition) that it will be worth the time. With a completely unknown writer, the first five pages are enough to tell whether they have any talent.

Very true. timing in prose is just like timing in anything else (sports, music, comedy). if it works, it is great. Although, of the few audio books I have tried, a few of the narrators were not good so that kind of threw it off for me. One woman sounded like a robot (Siri-ish), and the other kept doing foreign accents based on the person's last name - regardless if they were American or not. Very strange.

I am hoping to contribute to this thread more than just critiquing, so save me a spot.

Thanks.

[gilraen]

this should be changed to "brief book reviews" since there isn't a whole lot of reading going on. At least I don't consider audio as reading. but the synopses are good.

I don't think that's a fair statement. I consider audiobooks to be the same as reading, as long as the audio version is unabridged - you get the contents of the entire book, same as if you'd read it yourself. I agree with Jeff V that some types of books don't lend themselves well to listening, when lacking the visual component (graphs, art, etc.) I also try to stay away from hardcore sci-fi/cyberpunk/anything where they throw lots of unfamiliar names and places at you, where I would have to periodically flip a few pages back because I lose track of what's going on. But action, YA, crime mystery - that works great. Although now that my commute to work is less than 10 minutes, it takes me weeks to get through even a short book

Actually *read* this year so far:
The Watched - book #4 in CSI Reilly Steel series, by Casey Hill. I read the first 3 books last year when they were a freebie on Amazon, and the series (so far) are good enough to keep reading. Straightforward "whodunit", with the main character working in a police crime lab (in Dublin for the first 3 books, but she's temporarily in the U.S. in the 4th book). Good action, decent character development.

Turbo Twenty-Three - book #23 in the Stephanie Plum series, by Janet Evanovich. She is a fairly inept bounty hunter in Trenton, NJ, and the genre of the series is comedy action. I keep reading the books for the past 15 years because they are mildly funny and mostly entertaining, but the series has jumped the shark about 10 books ago. Most characters are very likeable but there has been about zero character development since pretty much book #3.

[Jeff V]

Very true. timing in prose is just like timing in anything else (sports, music, comedy). if it works, it is great. Although, of the few audio books I have tried, a few of the narrators were not good so that kind of threw it off for me. One woman sounded like a robot (Siri-ish), and the other kept doing foreign accents based on the person's last name - regardless if they were American or not. Very strange.

There are good readers and bad readers. There are amatuer productions that are largely just bad. There are books read by professional actors (I like the Preston/Child Pendergrass series read by Rene Auberjonois just because the reading is so good). There are authors that read their own books -- with mixed results. Neil Gaiman is a fantastic reader, I love listening to him read his stuff, even if I don't care for the content all that much. All I listen to these days are professionally-produced audiobooks, and rarely is the reader so mismatched that it negatively impacts the production. There are the occasional annoyances, particularly if a series changes readers and the second one pronounces things differently (as if they never listed to the earlier production (s)).

I think I'll start posting the format for the books I consume this year on my master list. The number of physical books I read per year is down to just a few. I haven't bought a physical book in several years now, although I get them from time to time from Librarything along with the obligation to read and review it. Several years ago I put my entire physical library up for sale and probably have liquidated a third to a half. It's been several months since my last sale though; soon I'll be toting some boxes full to Half Price Books to sell for scrap value.

[Isgrimnur]

I'm currently listening to an audiobook narrated by Bronson Pinchot, and he certainly adds some emotional weight to the text. Apparently he's been doing it for years.

[Kasey Chang]

FWIW, I'm using the Kindle's TTS capability to read the book back to me, NOT audiobook. Audiobooks have 1) real people reading and don't make mistakes like saying "Doctor" instead of "Drive" (both are "Dr.") or "California" instead of "Cal." 2) the TTS voice can get grating and don't carry through any emotion. I've listened to ONE audiobook so far (Prime Reading program now comes with audiobooks when available) but choosing faster read speed wasn't convenient.

[Jeff V]

FWIW, I'm using the Kindle's TTS capability to read the book back to me, NOT audiobook. Audiobooks have 1) real people reading and don't make mistakes like saying "Doctor" instead of "Drive" (both are "Dr.") or "California" instead of "Cal." 2) the TTS voice can get grating and don't carry through any emotion. I've listened to ONE audiobook so far (Prime Reading program now comes with audiobooks when available) but choosing faster read speed wasn't convenient.

I did this once, and IIRC, the experience was just ok. With a professional reader, it's easier to become engaged; although often my mind will wander during the early chapters of a book before my brain locks into the story.

[xenocide]

I think I'll start posting the format for the books I consume this year on my master list. The number of physical books I read per year is down to just a few.

I'm similar, I read fewer physical books then I used to. This is why I broke my list up, more for my own curiosity. A couple of my duties at work allow me to listen to audio books while working. That means when I have free time at home and I am deciding what to do (read, movie, video game, etc) my reading itch has often been scratched and I am more likely to do something else. Unless it is before sundown in the summer and then the answer is always golf.

But I wouldn't give up audio now at all. My overall reading is up with audio.

Fastest I can do is x1.1 though. I tried x1.2 and even that was too fast for me. I can't even imagine x3. Perhaps a non person reading would be a little easier as the faster speeds throw off the voice of a real person too much for my tastes. Even 1.1 saves me an hour every 10 though.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished His Tempting Bride by Jenn Roselon FREE on Amazon

Heather was working in a New York hotel as an event planner when she had to sub for front desk duty, and met Gage Coltson. Heather is a BBW and basically figured that no man would be interested in her. Gage was checking in and lost his wallet, and Heather impulsively trusted Gage to pay for his hotel room herself and let him check in, trusting him to pay her back later. Next day he paid her back and took her out for a memorable drinks and dinner, and declared his intention to woo her, but he was going so slow she wasn't sure. Then he invited her to visit his ranch in Montana (that he shared with his 6 brothers) for two week vacation and she went there, and he was still going so slow she wasn't quite sure. it didn't help when her sister showed up with her boyfriend... Turns out they were distant in-laws (back in their grandpa's generation) and sorta enemies each believing the other had wrong them. More than a week passed before he finally got her into his bed, as they keep getting interrupted. Now Heather needs to make a choice: go back to New York and settle back into her life... or take a chance on Gage and live in Montana?

Cozy romance, not much threaten the two wooing each other. The "family" angle was resolved quickly. It's basically up to the FMC to overcome her own feelings of inadequacy. 4.5/8

[Bad Demographic]

Too Many Curses by A. Lee Martinez --- 7
Morgle the Horrendous never kills his opponents, instead, he curses them and traps them in his castle. When he dies suddenly his castle keeper (housekeeper) Nessy chooses to stay and try to find a way to free Morgle's victims. Then a legendary wizard arrives to meet with Morgle. Nessy and her cursed fellow residents must hide Morgle's death from her and also cope with other magical problems that arise.

Martinez is probably my favorite new (new to me, that is) author and Too Many Curses now ranks as one of my favorite Martinez books. I'm always attracted to stories with ordinary protagonists who overcome extraordinary obstacles

[A nonny mouse]

At least I don't consider audio as reading.

Why not? Just because someone besides the voice in your head is enunciating the words?

Sometimes science and history books are more difficult to listen to than they are to read (and yes, I realize this does not apply to KC). Missing various charts, graphs and illustrations is bothersome at times. Audiobooks are often slower, as well. The book I'm listening to now is almost 1300 pages in print and the audio version is over 48 hours long. I'm pretty sure I could read the print faster. But audiobooks do leverage time spent doing things like driving or exercise - otherwise wasted time.

Well, without getting into a pissing contest, reading involves the eyeballs, not ears. Symmantics? Maybe, but whether TTL or audio, i guess I'm alone in reading being, you know, reading. /shrug.

Now I'm going to go and read some television

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Operation Date Escape by Lindsey Brookes FREE on Amazon

Kelsie had been guarding her heart for two years after her divorce from her douchebag husband, until her best friend and her mom keep trying to set her up on bad blind dates that prompted her to write "Operation Date Escape", that chronicled her antics to escape from horrible bad dates. And in one of those bad date escapes, she met firefighter Cole Maxwell. Cole was delighted that the sexy little redhead was full of thanks, then deflated when she told him he's "too perfect" to date. He's had women who can't do relationshp because he's constantly going into danger, but never had he been... "too perfect". When Cole had to rescue Kelsie from a tree (yes, another bad date), Cole was not about to let Kelsie get away again, and they were simply on fire, but meddling friends and relatives, snickering colleagues, and more tend to make things worse, not better, even as Cole set out to prove he's not perfect, but he's good enough for Kelsie... But can Kelsie find it within her to love someone? Or will Cole end up as another chapter in Operation Date Escape?

Fun book to read, plenty of rom-com situations. 7 out of 8 if you dig that genre.

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Finished Kiss a Girl In the Rain by Nancy Warren FREE on Amazon

Evan Chance decided to run from his corporate attorney life when his mentor dropped dead from a heart attack, making him realize he hated his job. Discovering his bucket list from when he was 12, he chose to ride a motorcycle across America and fulfill his bucket list... when he got into a small town Miller's Pond... and ran over a dog. He took the dog to the closest doctor, Caitlyn Sorenson, and she treated the dog without question when he realized Caitlyn was actually not a veterinarian (thanks to a prank by the sheriff). Stranded in town due to damage to his bike, Evan decided to romance Caitlyn, who seems to be not that happy in town, while looking for the dog's owner, but basically adopted the dog. Caitlyn knew Evan was just passing through, so a lasting love affair is out of the question, but she was lonely and that nobody in town had raised her heartbeat like Evan had. What really is keeping Caitlyn in town? What really is keeping Evan from settling down? Do they have a future together?

Fun and cozy romance, where nothing but self-declared inadequacy is keeping either from love. 5 out of 8

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Finished Soldier's Promise by Laura Scott FREE on Amazon

ER nurse Julie was recovering from her broken engagement that scandalized the town, but her job must go on, and when a single father Derek and his daughter Lexi needed a place to stay after an accident that totaled his vehicle and left him wounded, Julie offered to take them in, while guarding his heart against this loving father. But Derek has a secret... the mother (dead of cancer) gave him custody without consulting her parents. Now her parents vowed to do EVERYTHING to take Lexi from Derek... as Derek was just a poor soldier, but he promised the mother he will care for their daughter...

Frankly, any story that requires the "bad guys" (in this case, "grandpa and grandma" to change their mind right at the climax "it's the right thing to do") is a LAME plot and CHEAP ending. There was no struggle. And this book drops spiritual guidance all over the place, like "maybe you lost your faith in God, but He never lost his faith in you". LAME! 4/8

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Lover's Quarrel by Jessica L. Randall FREE on Amazon

Radio DJ Karina Kruz hosts Lovers' Quarrel, the hottest confrontational call in show that vowed to confront infidelity in the city, one caller at a time. However, she seems to have met her match in Ben Adler, after a confrontation caused him his city's career as a wedding planner AND his girlfriend. Hoping to redeem himself, he gets on the show and ended up with a wager against Karina... If Karina can dig up dirt on him that proved he's a cheating bastard, Karina will apologize on air and pay for the engagement ring, else Ben gets roasted on air... again. When Karina went to Ben's hometown Willow Grove hoping for dirt, Ben joined her program on air, and the town folks are caught in the crossfire for popularity ratings... in very unexpected ways. And as Ben and Karina found out a lot about each other (as they went to dig up dirt on each other), they found that perhaps, they are not as hostile to each other as they thought... and they really do have their own demons they must confront...

Basically enemies into lovers trope, it's very funny at times, as there are often secrets that must be kept, like male buying a house but have to keep it secret for 24 hours so he can show it to proper effect for the female, or how the guy's "partner" is really his pet cat... It's LOL at times, and heartwarming at others. 6.5 out of 8

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Finished Healing Her Heart by Laura Scott Novella FREE on Amazon

Doctor Gabe Allen has a rule about NEVER dating nurses, esp. ones in the same hospital, because one of them ruined his career in the big city, forcing him to move to a smaller town. Upon meeting Larissa, the ER nurse, whose faith had brought him back to Church, he was tempted to break his own rules, only to find that Larissa herself was a wounded soul that came to the small town to escape. When a crazed spouse abuser held Larissa hostage in the hospital, Gabe and the police force are Larissa's only hope of survival... and perhaps, redemption for both Larissa and Gabe from their personal demons.

A short novella (only 70 some pages), the plot was actually very tight and the incidents that brought them together got tied back all together. Each of the plot lines all converged at the end for a satisfying conclusion. 7 out of 8.

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Finished The Almost Wives Club: Kate by Nancy Warren FREE on Amazon

Kate Winton-Jones was content in letting everybody else setting her course... into marrying Edward Carnarvon III, who's rich, handsome, and a proper match to her beauty and social standing. That was, until she discovered, by accident, that her fiancee had set up a honeytrap test for her by sending a private investigator to attempt to seduce her, right after she had signed a pre-up. Thoroughly humiliated and betrayed, she threw the engagement at Edward (drawing blood), left the estates on a bicycle, took Uber into town, swapped cars with her best friend, sent her phone to Miami, booked a vacation to Phoenix, bought a train ticket to New York, and drove her friend's horrible VW bug and ended up in Carlsbad, not too far from LA, where she proceed to live the life she truly wanted... as a surfing instructor, for she was at one time, a top surfer, until the "proper" life claimed her. She was surprised when the PI showed up as one of her students... He had tracked her down, but he claimed he was just there looking for her on his own behalf and he was absolutely honest when he said "Don't marry him, Kate" back at the sting. She decided that she's tired of being the good girl... and sleeping with the PI, who was his fiancee's best friend, may be indeed the right thing to do...

Surprisingly emotional, there were a TON of character growth, for Kate was basically running AWAY from problems instead of solving them. And sleeping with the PI wasn't solving the problem either. (Though it did make sense at a certain level). She chose a different option at the time, for Edward had his own secrets. It's just too bad that the families are so completely unsupportive and shallow as heck. As for the PI, as you can guess, he and Kate will get together. 6.5 out of 8

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Finished Going Down by Elise Sax: 5 novellas FREE on both Amazon Kindle and Audible (!)

Five different romantic comedies, slightly linked, in the fictional town of Esperanza, California, with plenty of LOL moments. Aspiring actress with claustrophobia got stuck with her hottie landlord in the elevator... BBW wanted to woo an old crush was instead wooed by hottest star in Hollywood, who will wrestle her family AND a bear for her love... Nerd hottie kicked out of school for (falsely accused) plagiarism had a one-night-stand with a billionaire (!) who needed her to inherit the company... bar owner girl got stuck with guy who bought out her bar in the middle of nowhere Mexico and had to escape across the border running from narcos... mercenary problem solver had to deal with one off-kilter muffin baker about her family farm and the bunch of toughs that tried to take it over ...

These stories are downright LOL at times, esp. the last one where the baker was pretty much... let's just say, nuts, loud, and was kinda sweet underneath, kinda like her muffins! Her total freakout near the end, when there seems to be no hope whatsoever that they will survive, about how many orders she still had to fill and how she haven't really felt the big O and lots of other stuff was enough to make you drop your jaw in amazement. 7 out of 8 for sheer silliness.

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Finished Waffles and Weddings by Ashley Lauren FREE on Amazon

Cupid's Cafe is the best kept secret in Berkeley California, where Katy Cupid had been helping people for years in her 50's style cafe via her gift, and she's not above using some schemes. When Sophie's partner did a runaway groom, stranding her in Berkeley, the jilted bride ended up in Cupid Cafe where Katy fed her waffles and introduced her to the handsome Chase who happens to have a room for rent. Chase knew Sophie is exactly the woman he wanted in his life, but Sophie's a bit gun-shy after the recent incident. Can Chase romance Sophie properly without driving her away?

Fun and clean romance novella, 6 out of 8

[Kasey Chang]

Fastest I can do is x1.1 though. I tried x1.2 and even that was too fast for me. I can't even imagine x3. Perhaps a non person reading would be a little easier as the faster speeds throw off the voice of a real person too much for my tastes. Even 1.1 saves me an hour every 10 though.

On podcasts I can do up to 2.5x. On Kindle TTS I can do 4X though 3x is more comfortable. 1X just sounds way too slow.

[Kasey Chang]

Quite a few bad or troubling novels.

"Alien General's Bride"... eek. Basically, a human female researcher that was supposed to be on a diplomatic expedition was left behind. The only other way to get her there on time was to beg passage on a somewhat hostile alien's military ship, the Brions. And these guys are so male, so virile, the female researcher can't help but fall for the alien general, who's so alpha she got wet and almost started panting just catching sight of him. *sigh* ARGH. Can't finished the first 10%. It's just ARGH!

"Irrationally His" ... I generally have problems with stepbrother romance. It's kinda... icky.

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Finished The Vixen and the Vet by Katy Regnery FREE on Amazon

Savannah Carmichael, betrayed by a source, returned as a disgraced ex-investigative reporter to her home of Danvers, Virginia ostensibly to help her little sister's wedding, but in reality, trying to prove herself again. When a paper in Phoenix offered her a chance to write a July 4th Lifestyle section, Savannah chose to interview the local recluse, Asher Lee, who was disfigured by an IED that look one of his arms, and disfigured half of his body and his face. He returned but not ready to rejoin the human race, and only a housekeeper kept him company for the last eight years. Savannah somehow broke through, and Asher surprising himself, granted an interview, and they slowly fell in love, much like Beauty and the Beast. But when Savannah had to rewrite the story and ended up writing it as how she fell in love with the disfigured warrior... but she did not tell him. He thought she was writing a piece on IEDs and the damage they do to the warriors. When the truth came out, and Savannah was betrayed again, will their love survive? Or is this fairy tale going to get a sad ending?

"Inspired by Beauty and the Beast", Savannah tried to have it both ways (her career and his love) and almost ended up getting neither except for the grand gesture. 7/8

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Sorta finished Rustled Trilogy by Natasha Stories

A girl about to be "married" to an old man in a fringe Mormon cult managed to escape and ended up stranded in the blizzard and rescued by a mysterious cowboy, who has some secrets of his own...

Volume 2 and 3 are sorta sequels on the idea. I actually stopped reading in vol 2.

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Finished Diesel by Terra Wolf FREE on Amazon

A BBW/Paranormal/Shifter Romance, Sadie wanted to visit her sister Reagan in Alaska, ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, got scared into unconsciousness by a bear (yes, this girl passes out when things are too scary). When she woke up, she's in this guy's house, who's soft spoken, actually clumsily spoken, as if he had been with a woman before. He said his name is Diesel, and he has two other brothers, Hunter and Blaze. They are known as the Grizzly Triplets. He took her home, she found this kind giant gorgeous, and they were so overcome by passion, he was bonking her when her sister and his brothers came barging into the house... Sadie enjoyed the fling but she's leaving in a few weeks, but Diesel was sure he and found his true mate... For he's a bear shifter and he was absolutely sure. But how could he convince Sadie to stick around, and not scare her off?

Not much plot in the thing. There's a grand gesture, but not much of an darkest hour. 4.5 out of 8

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Finished One True Mate 1: Shifter's Sacrifice by Lisa Ladew

Unknown to the general populace, the world is full of shifters, but the shifters have a major... propagation problem. Years ago, the demon Khain managed to accomplished the Great Reaping... He managed to kill 99.9% of the female shifters. Now the male shifters have nobody to mate with, and shifters are in danger of going extinct. But the prophesies foretold arriving of One True Mates, who are half-angel and half-human. The Wolven have a special task force dedicated to track down Khain, but due to his dimension portals, he can appear and disappear almost at will. As Trevor tried to follow Khain, they found that Khain seem to be after a girl named Gabriela "Ella" Carmi, who may be a One True Mate. Ella was aware of an evil presence following her around, and her special ability allowed her to escape (that only came out under pressure), but she had no family left, and no one to care for her, until Trevor took her in, because Trevor knew that she was his. When Khain took Ella's sister then Ella, the Wolven must call in help from the last Dragon shifter and Feline-shifters to mount a rescue operation...

"Heavier" than the fun / "hiding from humans" typical shifter story, a lot of blah blah about prophesy and fate and angels and stuff. 5.5 out of 8 for nice world building. Plot and characterization was average.


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[Kasey Chang]

Finished Alien Attachments by Sabine Priestly FREE on Amazon

Aliens have been living among humans peacefully for a long time, but things are about to get ugly. Ian appears to be just a hunky and rich guy, but he's his alien family heir, and a part of his family's "Earth Protector" team against hostile aliens transgressing on Earth, even as the Empire they swore fealty to was disintegrating and soon his family may have to make a bold move. Dani was just a girl, but she always had visions and her stick fighting skills impressed Ian. When Ian tried to heal her with PSI skills, he found to his surprise (and horror) that Dani has untrained but raw powerful PSI talent, something Terrans are not supposed to possess, and Dani would be his PSI-mate. But in the disintegrating empire, taking a Terran mate will mean the family will be blackballed and destroyed by the enemies in the Council. So he had to deny her even as they managed to bond partially on PSI level. When hostile aliens infiltrated Earth and started to attack the family holdings, Ian and his family will have to protect Dani, and execute the bold contingency plan... and discovered the enemy's secret weapon...

Deeper than first suspected, this is how a scifi adventure romance *should* be written, though in a way, this is a lot like the paranormal romances where you got a female that found her beau was a shifter and the world she thought she knew was merely a facade. 6.5 out of 8.

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Finished It all started with a lima bean by Kimi Flores

Abby Sullivan has finally found purpose in life: teaching kindergarten at a charter school in Santa Barbara. She has a great best friend Leah, a supportive mother, and a past she tried to bury for more than six years. Then her world shifted when she encountered Caleb Hunter. Caleb had been living almost like a zombie for four years, his only solace in life was raising his little girl Madison, whose mother and his wife died soon after Madison's birth. Then he met Abby, and his world shifted. Abby and Caleb both loved little Madison, and from that common goal their friendship grew, but both Abby and Caleb needed to forgive the demons in their past and let go before they can be together...

A bit long, but definitely sweet, the sweet kid Madison was used to good effect. And having a kid around means this is a clean romance (no sex) if you need to know that kind of thing. 6.5 out of 8.

[Jeff V]

Filthy Rich by James Patterson (A)

A word of warning - this book contains explicit testimony from under-aged girls victimized by Jeffrey Epstein.

Patterson doesn't often do non-fiction books, but when he does, he spins it into a good story. This one hit close to his home, local Palm Beach billionaire taste for young teenage girls finally caught up with him after police began investigating complaints of many young girls coming to his mansion. The stories the girls told were all the same, they were recruited to provide massages, but if they "did more" they could make more money.

Epstein is a self-made billionaire, and there is a lot of name dropping in this book, including President Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz, and other billionaire businessmen. Not all have broken ties with Epstein, even after his conviction and too-short prison term. Epstein characterizes his serial molestation of young girls compared with being a sexual predator as being the "difference between shoplifting and murder." Patterson makes it clear he is not someone who you would welcome to the neighborhood.

Patterson also speaks of the class privilege enjoyed by Epstein throughout the investigation, incarceration and parole. He points out that a house keeper who secretly collected evidence got an equal jail term, but was not released early as Epstein was. Epstein was also able to purchase the freedom of his collaborators Clearly, Epstein not only believes himself above the law, but the law tends to agree.

[Isgrimnur]

What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes, read by Bronson Pinchot

An Marine Reserve officer in Vietnam, Marlantes offers an amalgam of psychology, spirituality, and sociology to address the issues that he had to deal with during and after his time in-country as an infantry officer and airborne forward air controller. While he was a marine officer, the author is also a Rhodes Scholar and a Yale graduate, so he's no run-of-the-mill grunt.

Pinchot's reading definitely added to the experience, and made the book seem more engaging than a lesser narrator could have made.

All in all, while I enjoyed the book, it's not one that I would recommend as a general rule. It's highly dependent on the interest of the reader. Jeff V need not apply.

6 of 8.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Lovestruck in London by Rachel Schurig FREE on Amazon

Lizzie Medina, having always had a fascination with London, and tired of being the runt (baby sister) of the big Latino family, decided to combine her passion and her career (studying to be a teacher, but not really her choice, but rather, her blue collar parents' choice) into 9 month post-grad course in a London university with her best friend (who has a lot more money). Lizzie wanted to reinvent herself, be a fun girl, read a lot, write a bit, explore London, and a bit of excitement...

She did not expect to meet Thomas Harper, the hottest co-star (but 2nd fiddle) in the hottest movie franchise in decades. And as their relationship blossom, Thomas' career takes off, taking Lizzie on a wild ride involving paparazzi, red carpet walks, catty co-stars, and gossip rags. And all the while, she knew her adventure in London has an expiration date: she will have to head home at the end of the program, and settle into life of a new teacher... or she can take a chance, take a job in an unrelated field in London... and be with Thomas. But is she strong enough to stand up to angry parents, sneering older siblings, and most of all, her self-doubts?

Surprising amount of family drama and proper usage of British English while in London, but the conflict was almost all in Lizzie's own head. Thomas did everything for her, and she wasn't confident enough to walk away from the life planned for her to a life she truly wanted. Thomas was VERY accommodating and there really wasn't much of a struggle as basically it's all in her own head. OTOH it's nice to see a "walk away from life planned" plot that doesn't involve a blueblood marrying another blueblood. 6.5 out of 8 (for being so long)

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Finished Breaking Up With Barrett by Katy Regnery FREE on Amazon

Barrett "The Shark" English is the tough head of the most prestigious investment banking firm in Philadelphia, who always gets what he wants, even if he had to play a little dirty. When his reputation started to affect his business deals, he was advised to find a fiancee... and he picked a fake one... Emily Edwards, daughter of his family gardener/housekeeper, someone who was forever at the periphery of privilege... but only as an observer. In fact, she's being paid for each appearance alongside Barrett to his functions. And Emily had a crush on Barrett for a long time, even as she knew she did not belong in that esteemed circle... and one way, she will have to break up with Barrett, for real. But what the Shark wants, the Shark will get...

Basically, a variation on the "fake romance turned real", with a bit of interesting subplot / subterfuge hiding in the background, for Barrett had designs (nothing really bad, merely a little, manipulative) on Emily for a long time. 5 out of 8, the girl was so fatalistic it's sad to read.


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Finished Mail Order Mishap by Barbara Goss

Amber Wakefield travels to Hunter's Grove Kansas to marry a "hotel owner" as a mail order bride. Her intended, Charles Turner, seems to not be attracted to her, but rather, to her dowry, while the brother, Garrett Turner, was just plain rude. When her chaperon fell ill, she was forced to stay, and learned that both Charles and Garrett kept a huge secret from her. When she found out, she refused to consummate the marriage and wanted nothing to do with the Turners... but secretly, she's in love with Garrett, but can she forgive him for the deception?

Surprisingly modern sensibility for Old Western novel, as Charles is actually gay and basically needed Amber's dowry to expand his "hotel" (more of a small inn) to make $$$. His brother (could be half brother) was not gay, and refused to go along with the plan but was kinda blackmailed into doing it, and really wanted Amber for himself, but not while she's betrothed to his brother, even if his brother basically told him to take her in the dark, pretending to be him (WTF?!) and they got to 3rd base, but didn't go any further. She knew it wasn't Charles, but Garrett, but she was willing... Argh. 5 out of 8

[xenocide]

Finished Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

I would assume most people are familiar with this book, it was my first time. It's a story about a mentally handicapped person who undergoes a treatment to become more intelligent and the changes that involves.

I have a bit of a mixed relationship with books many people consider classics that I read now for the first time. There have been several that definitely did not live up to the billing for me. This was one I was pretty confident I would like.

I liked the book but to be honest I felt a little "meh" about it. My expectations might have been too high, I thought I would really love it (I've heard people mention it as one of their favorites of all time). It felt too long to me which seems weird considering I read epic fantasy that is often 3-5x as long. I was thinking that I would probably have enjoyed it a lot more as a short story. Lo and behold I was looking it up before I wrote this because I was curious when it was written and I see it was a short story first! Maybe some day I'll get to that but not just now.

[Isgrimnur]

We got a sanitized version in our HS literature book (sexual prudes FTL!), and I actually read the book later and got the full treatment, as it were. It's a good book, but I certainly don't rank it among my favorites.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Rescued by the SEAL by Riley Moreno FREE on Amazon

Bogus, bogus, bogus. It wasn't even about a SEAL but a marine. Story is fine. 3/8

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Finished Commanding Her SEAL by Kat Cantrell

SEAL Lieutenant on vacation met marine biologist on vacation, and had some very memorable days and nights. Not much of a conflict except a reminder that this fling has an expiration date. 5.5 out of 8

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Finished SEAL Team Bravo Black Ops: Raid on Afhganistan by Eric Meyer

Bravo Platoon of SEAL team seven found itself short a guy when CPO Kyle Nolan had to go home... his wife had been gunned down in a drive-by, probably just wrong place, wrong time, a turf war between the Latino gang and the new Afghani gang. Nolan drank himself into a stupor and had black-out episodes, but eventually returned to duty, for Bravo has a new mission: go into this Taliban stronghold village, kill the bomb maker that helped ambushed Charlie Platoon. However, when they got in, they found that the threat was much worse than they had suspected... a potential "broken arrow" scenario (rogue nuke) being financed by drug trafficking money... Now Bravo must rally to attack the lab in the Hindu Kush mountains in the middle of a wind storm, with minimal support, and perhaps a chance for Nolan to get some justice...

The insertion of a REMF in the middle of the mission who turned out to be short-lived (literally) seems to be completely unnecessary. As a result, the book read a bit long, and tying up loose ends took even longer. Still, not a bad book for this sort of fiction. 6.5 out of 8

[xenocide]

Finished The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

20 years ago a war was fought overthrowing the old magical rulers the Augers. Men and women with a lesser ability known as the Gift also had restrictions put on the use of their magic at that time. Follows the story of a few young magic students. Also a lot of ancient lore.

Debut novel, epic fantasy, first released as an indie publication, part one of The Licanius Trilogy, book 2 release June 2017. Lots of comparisons to Sanderson and Jordan which I agree with when it comes to the style of the book. More of an old school quest epic fantasy feel than a lot of novels released now days. I really liked it. Good characters, interesting lore with some mysteries. I did notice a couple of things a non-indie book would probably avoid, like using the same turn of phrase to close together. But a very good debut novel IMO. Looking forward to the sequel. Plus I think the title and the cover art are excellent.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Marine's Second Chance by Marissa Dobson FREE on Amazon

Wyoming Dorset married a marine, but Jeffrey, the man she married for 5 years, was not the man that stood before her today... He was... hollow, and lost his spark of love. And now he's going away for another deployment... But this time, he will go knowing that she's pregnant... Will Jeffrey get a second chance for his love? When he's back in six months, what will happen to their marriage? She will wait around, but which Jeffrey will be she be getting back?

Short novella of only like 70 pages, it's exactly what it says: second chance. It's not that much of a struggle, or darkest hour, but it's a sweet read. 6/8

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Finished Loving Lindsey by Patricia Keelyn FREE on Amazon

Lindsey Baker and Will Claxton had once been best friends, until Lindsey's father foreclosed on a loan that cost Will his family's land. That ended that friendship. But now Will is back, and managed the largest ranch in the area, and he'd love to buy Lindsey out of her ranch, even if just a piece of it, to get back his family land. And it just happens that a series of accidents and sabotage on Lindsey's ranch set the ranch hands on edge... But Will claimed he had nothing to do with it. Lindsey would love to sell the land but she promised her dying father never to break up the ranch, much to her brother's dismay. And Lindsey did not like the new affection toward her by Will... Could it be that Will finally saw her not as a little sister, but a real woman? Or was he just messing with her head trying to get her to sell? Who's sabotaging her ranch if it's not Will?

Spoiler:

It's her brother, who hired two thugs trying to push her to sell out, and it got out of hand

Romance is kinda fun, though at the end, it turned back into kidnapping the FMC and the MMC had to do a rescue. The "can I trust him/her" push and "how can I make her trust me" pull are very nicely written though. The darkest hour was the kidnapping, and there were two different grand gestures, which makes it a nice ending. 6.5 out of 8.

[A nonny mouse]

Finished Spartan up!: A-take-no-prisoners guide to overcoming obstacles and achieving peak performance in life.
Joe De Sena with Jeff O’Connell.
Eyeballs reading in codex. (being gracious)

If you have done Spartan races or not done them, the outcome of reading this book will be the same. You will simply say “what?” It is a very disjointed book in desperate need of an editor to make it flow. It doesn’t do what the name suggests, rather it is bits and fragments of stories or ideas of Joe De Sena’s life advice.

He says he has ADD, and it is evident from the book. He seems to be a very intense person, not wasting a moment of any day on sitting down or not doing some hyper-intense grueling activity. He even lamets that when his kids were grumbling on a 4 hour hike, that(paraphrasing) “if they hiked 8 hours a day this wouldn’t be a problem.” The book has stories that don’t end, random chapters, no real backstory for him or how the races got started.

There are many “factoids” (or alternate facts) in the book that are not backed up by citations, except “a paper did a study on . . . “
If you are looking for a book about the Spartan races, this is not it.
If you are looking for a book about the founders, this is not it.
If you are looking on how to actually “Spartan up” this is not it, with the exception of a few bulleted rules of what Spartans are.

Cannot recommend, although I would like to participate in a race someday.

Finished Robbing the bees: A biography of Honey – The sweet liquid gold that seduced the World.
Holley Bishop
eyeball reading in Codex


Ms. Bishop presents a good combination of not just honey facts, but beekeeping in all its facets. She herself keeps bees, so this is not a Sue Hubbell or researcher writing a book and not walking the walk, so-to-speak.

It is part her story (very minorly), part story of a commercial bee keeper in Florida who she shadowed, and part historical document of bee keeping and all the uses of the animals, from pollination to honey and wax production.

Ms. Bishop’s biology is correct – being an Entomologist this is something that irks me about authors writing on subjects and getting basics incorrect. Another flowery-style type book referred to the “octagonal cells of bees.” Gak!

The historical is very interesting and presented probably not to a Historian’s style, but not romanticized either. Ms. Bishop needs to have a bit more of her story with the bees in here, trials and tribulations or successes, but maybe she thought it would detract from the book.

If you are interested in Honey Bees, even if you are not going to keep bees (I am), this is a nice read. Not overly science-y dry, and not to flowery prose-y.

currently reading

the Andalucian friend: a thriller
eyeball reading kindle (from library)

still working on A Dance with Dragons - George R. R. Martin
eyeball reading kindle (from Library)

Old Man's War
John Scalzi
eyeball reading in codex

[Kasey Chang]

Finished The Reclusive Billionaire by Lucy McConnell FREE on Amazon

Lucas Scott was desperate to find a cure for the potential pandemic "butterfly flu", but he was banned from his lab when his sister died from the disease and potentially, his experimental treatment. Retreating to the Santa Barbara harbor, he met a vivacious veterinarian Becca Lee who also enjoys taking in strays (but was banned from doing so by the harbor). Becca did not have a good impression of Lucas, thinking him on the run from an ex-wife or something. But soon both found each other have a kind heart, though his was deeply wounded by the secret he had to keep. When Becca brought an insight that may inspire the solution to the Butterfly flu, she also had to decide whether to let Lucas sail off into the sunset...

Not that much of a darkest hour, and I'm hardly a communicable disease expert, but the idea that butterfly flu may be linked to other diseases was a fascinating concept and its resistance to culturing was definitely something scientific sounding. The idea that Lucas had to keep a secret was interesting as well.

Spoiler:

Lucas was blamed, but he wasn't the perp. The perp was his brother in law. His sister couldn't conceive, and adopted from all over the world. She went to India, hotbed of butterfly flu, to adopt a new baby. She came back with it, and both died in quarantine on company campus. His brother in law was the one who administered the treatment without approval, but he chose to take the blame because his brother still has a couple kids to raise and he was alone.

Overall, as there's technically not an HEA, but HFN (happy for now) ending, 5.5 out of 8

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Finished Operation Endgame by Christi Snow Free on Amazon

Colton, and the twins Chris and Cassie are the Robertsons, and together with their neighbor Jake Madsen, all grew up together and got involved with the military. Colton is in the air force intelligence, Chris was a F-22 pilot, Cassie is a military historian and a game consultant, and Jake is an elite Airforce Pararescue Jumper. When Chris was lost in a classified mission, Cassie was devastated, and Jake was ashamed that he was unable to get there in time to rescue Chris. And in a moment of weakness, Jake and Cassie stepped over the line, and the friendship is no longer the same. Six months later, when Cassie found herself at the mercy of a stalker who seems to know her every move, Jake must swallow his guilt and shame, and do whatever he could to protect Cassie from whatever threat that comes, because he owe it to his dead friend Chris, and to Cassie... but what they find will devastate them both, and offer new hope...

The stalker was kinda interesting twist and a true psychopath with almost unlimited resources. My main problem is...

Spoiler:

Chris wasn't dead, and a fake body was placed at the site to convince the US authorities he's dead. The drug lord decided that he wanted Cassie, and he was the stalker, and he'll use Chris to control Cassie.

This makes no sense. If there are no dental records to ID the body, how about DNA? And why was Chris moved from Colombia to Lubbock TX, i.e. on the US side? Just so Cassie and Chris could have a little reunion?

At least the threat was kinda cute. 5.5 / 8

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Finished Se7en deadly SEALs books 1 and 2

Kinda serial adventure where SEALs are portrayed as party-hardy off-duty kinda of folks, and when a hooker died in a SEALs bed, the guy was charged with murder, and to cover up something else, the guy would rather take the rap for it then figure out who did it. The story is about his sister, who took the inheritance, got plastic surgery, got trained in language and accent, and adopted a new persona in order to go under cover to ferret out the truth from the other SEALs that were there.

Frankly, this idea sounds ridiculous, as one of the SEALs the sister will seduce was her own lover except now she had to act very differently... but his dog knew it's the same person. Eh? So who's fooling who? It's pulp adventure written romantic suspense style. And there's 5 more volumes of this, each about 60-70 pages. Each with a twist on the plot. Eh... Too contrived.

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Finished Unafraid by Melody Grace FREE on Amazon

Brittany "Brit" Ray has an outcast mom and a runaway dad in a sleepy beach town, so she was already seen as "easy", "white trash", and happy dreams and ambitions are not for girls like her. But she does have dreams of making it in the fashion industry... and she dreamed of Hunter Covington, a man she can never have. For Hunter is practically Charleston Royalty, rich, but they were friends when young, and they did spend one unforgettable night... but she slipped away before dawn, for she knew she'll be kicked out before then. She did not expect Hunter was back in town, managing his grandpa's ranch, leaving behind his law school, leaving behind his family. He no longer wish to be caged. And seeing Brit made Hunter realized he always had something for Brit, but he also had family obligations that he may not be able to dodge... As their passions ignite, both are doubtful of their ability to sustain their relationship...

Interesting push-pull, but the girl was simply a bit too damaged and low on self-esteem that she pushes away people who wanted to love her. It doesn't help that her viewpoint was so different from his blueblood views that he didn't quite understood what was she yelling about in the darkest hour. When both sides did a grand gesture, and lead to the HEA, it was kinda satisfying. 6.5 out of 8

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Commander Big by Tia Siren

PTSD'ed SEAL commander refused to talk to a navy shrink after a disastrous mission that got his men killed. He went out of town, encountered a female rider, had sexy time in the forest. Next day he had to go to see a civilian shrink, only to find it was the girl he banged the day before. In order to avoid being grilled, he started to talk about their sexy times to refuse to talk. This went on for another session or two. The shrink decided to visit him off-hours, they had sexy times, then he kicked her out for trying to get into his head. Next day, he had a total breakdown and called her "help me". He revealed why he didn't talk about it, she showed him he was being stupid and managed to keep it out of official records. They bonk some more. The end.

2/8 The background info is impossible. A navy commander (O-5) would be in command of the ENTIRE SEAL team and would never be on a mission. And the secret? One of the team members transposed two digits that caused the team to be dropped at the wrong place? CANNOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE. Absolutely positively bogus.

[xenocide]

Finished Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke


Another classic sci-fi novel read for the first time by me. This is what I like to get when I read a classic. Interesting concept and a very good mix of mystery vs reveal. Finally getting a look into the aliens and their motives/situation was my favorite part.

This was my second Arthur C. Clarke book. I would rate Rendezvous with Rama a bit higher.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Loving Ellie by Lindsey Brookes

Lucas Tanner returned from Brazil to handle his late brother's estate. He did not expect to find his brother's very pregnant fiancee living in the ranch house, tending to the animals, AND running the coffee house in town. Lucas had bear the burden of watching his wife die with their child... She had a heart condition she refused to disclose. And watching his brother's girl with child brought out all of his protective instincts. But Ellie does not want his help. Every body she loved left her. Her father ran off. Her mother left her at grandmas. When grandma can't handle it she was left at her aunt, who send her into the foster system later. She loved Jarett, and one night lead to... pregnancy. And Jarrett didn't love her, but want to make things right. And Ellie refused to be made a charity case... i.e. marry not for love, but for child. She believed herself to be incapable of love that a child needed. And her decision to to give the child up for adoption sent Lucas' blood boiling... for a different reason... Lucas may have fallen for his brother's girl, even if it was a bit weird. Ellie can love Lucas... but she didn't see herself capable of such love, or Lucas capable of loving back...

Somehow this novel just felt too long, and the FMC just too obstinate, and not enough self-esteem to believe in ability to love a child, and refused to marry for child either. 6/8

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Finished Some Girls Do by Amy Andrews FREE on Amazon

Fashion student Lacey Weston is tired of being shoved around by her 3 big brothers. Their mother, on her deathbed, made the brothers vowed to keep Lacey in design school, but Lacey, missing home too much, has turned self-destructive, including sleeping with professors. One night, betrayed by said professor (he's married with children), she almost froze to death on her friend Coop's door. Coop was in Brisbane watching out for Lacey, despite Lacey's previous pining for Coop when she's only 19. Now years older, Coop still wanted Lacey, but still know he can't touch her. So he took her home instead. Upon meeting the three brothers, none of whom wanted Lacey to stay, Lacey played the ultimate gambit: threatening that she's pregnant... and then Coop stood up and claimed he's the father, and took a blow in the jaw for it. Now Lacey can stay... and Coop had to stick around... for a little while. Now he and Lacey are living together (platonically), he's the substitute town mechanic, and they're going out as BF/GF. How can Lacey and Coop figure their way out of this mess... and confess their feelings for each other?

Set in Australia, the book was rom com, and really funny at times. Esp. when the deception (it sounded good at the time) was just getting messier and messier. 6.5 out of 8.

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Finished Rescued by Phoebe Rose FREE on Amazon

Thomas is Geek Entrepreneur with no time for dating after breaking up with his girlfriend. Tessa is a college senior trying to get her psych degree and just had her heart broken by her boyfriend. The two should have never met, except for a litter of stray kittens and their mama cat that took up residence near Thomas' lakehouse, for Tessa runs a stray cat trap and rescue. Thomas found Tessa's straightforward attitude refreshing, while Tessa found Thomas witty and ambitious, and rich (compared to her, of course), and they agreed to see each other on and off. But can such a relationship work?

It's fun to read, but there's a lot of extra plot like Tessa's parents being super-paranoid hippies, Thomas got fired from the company he founded, and so on and so forth. The ending wasn't even much of a darkest hour but forced proximity so they finally admit they love each other. 5 out of 8.

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Finished Just Dessert by Kelly Collins

Katarina just wanted to finish school and find a job, but her roommate, needing an extra girl to do a dinner date escort, managed to convince her to take a shot when another girl fell sick. Kat found Damon Noble to be a true gentleman, with one problem... He wanted to see some more of her. Damon didn't do relationships due to past... problems, but something pure in Kat made him reconsider, but his directness, i.e. why ask for the menu when one can order just dessert, troubled Kat, even as they found commonalities such as a book club and dessert. Is there a future for a relationship that started this way?

Not bad, good push-pull, but it just felt a bit... long. 6/8

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Untamed Hearts by Melody Grace FREE on Amazon

Prequel novella to UNAFRAID (reviewed earlier). where Brit, the wounded and free girl meet up with Hunter, the blueblood that loved her, but had to leave her behind one day.

Finished Unmasked by Melody Grace FREE on Amazon

Prequel novella to UNFORGETTABLE. Noelle Olsen was ready for yet another bad date until a kind stranger rescued her, and showed her a side of New York she never suspected. Ash Callahan is a cold logician but when rescuing Noelle he acted on impulse, something he thought he never had. One night, two hearts, no holding back.

Finished Untouched by Melody Grace FREE on Amazon

Prequel Novella to UNBROKEN. Emerson Ray is the troubled bad boy of Beachwood Bay, with reputation of a different girl every night but only because of his broken famiily. Juliet McKenzie is the virgin visiting for the summer as the family continues to deny it had any problems. Emerson knew Juliet is trouble in that her innocence and passion set him on fire, something he did not believe he could feel. Juliet saw Emerson as the handsome guy that she connected with... but can she give him that one thing that she can never take back?

All three are almost formulaic, yet ticked all the right boxes. 6/8?

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Winter Thaw by Alexis Jacobson FREE on Amazon

Jenna had a good life, until she found herself alone on a romantic ski trip for two... Her fiancee couldn't make it. By chance she met up with super hunky Brett, who seems to be interested in her. And she's interested right back, and Brett set her on fire that her fiancee never did. But she's engaged... can what happen on the slope, stay on the slope? Will she lie about NOT having a BF to make out with Brett? Can she live with herself if she did let go? Or even if she didn't?

The twist was kinda expected, but VERY believable, and that indeed lead to the darkest hour. It's the resolution (grand gesture) that was kinda lame. 5 out of 8

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Finished Illegal Alien by Carrie Harris

Audrey Vorkink is a no-nonsense police detective in Toledo, Ohio, and very tired of being called soccer mom. Her trainee Ronda and her make a good team, as they collar perps. When a strange accident occurred in front of Audrey when she's off-duty, a man was killed on impact, and the other driver, who should NOT have time to get away, somehow did. And all the evidence seems to suggest whoever did this is NOT human. And that made no sense. When Audrey's home was tossed, then Ronda, when confronting the perp, was tossed off a six-story building's roof and died (and the perp, who also fell off, managed to escape) Audrey knew for sure now the perp's not human. Grounded by the shrink, and hounded by internal affairs, Audrey can't officially investigate, not that it will prevent her from chasing down the perp, alien or not...

Snarky police procedural with an ET twist, think X-files but instead of FBI, you have Toledo PD. Fun, and left a lot of room for sequels. 6/8

[hitbyambulance]

i mentioned this in a previous thread, but i can not do audio/voice narration at all. my brain has a hard time keeping up and it generally 'feels' uncomfortable. i can't do 'podcasts'/talky shows for that reason either. (i do go through a lot of new music albums, however...) and reading on computer screens is not ideal. paper is the way to go, for me.

read this year:
The Sleeper Awakes - H.G. Wells
The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad

currently reading:
Ulysses - James Joyce (... on my fourth attempt in 15 years. it's not going well.)
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Nation - Terry Pratchett (first novel of his i've ever read)

up next:
I Am Error: The Nintendo Family Computer / Entertainment System Platform- Nathan Altice (MIT Platform Studies series.... i've already read the books on the Atari 2600 and the Commodore Amiga)

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Confessions of a Wedding Planner by Michelle Jo Quinn FREE on Amazon

Wedding planner Veronica Soto-Stewart had her heart broken when her boyfriend moved on to engage with a French socialite. She's about to have her heart ground to dust when the ex came back to beg her to plan their wedding, in only one month, involving 400+ guests, haute coutoure gown from France... and more... and her ethics dictate she will do her best, even as her heart was ground to dust. So when the groom's best man Levi Laurent, a known playboy, really really wanted to get into her pants... Veronica is not in the mood... But Levi has both money... and patience, and he's serious that it's not a fling. But how do you convince a girl that her happily ever after is still achievable?

Waking up naked in bed with the playboy (also naked) makes for a great rom com situation, if a bit embarrassing. The "enemies into lovers" trope was exploited properly with a lot of layers of conflict. 6.5 out of 8

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finished Warrior's Bond by Emma Alisyn FREE on Amazon

Yadeshi has been on Earth for more than a decade, recruiting Terrans for training to be defensive warriors, technicians, or even baby surrogates if they choose to. Alien warrior Benyon has no family and the closest he saw were three Terran children of a single mother. They have true warrior spirit. But the mom Zoriah did not want her son to be trained as an alien warrior, even if it was the only way to keep her family from being broken up by the bureaucracy. But when Zoriah meets Benyon things change...

Marketed as BBW Scifi Alien Romance, the Yadeshi are basically blue handsome hunk, with thoroughly humanoid anatomy, and they know how to pleasure human females as their females are about the same. *sigh* At least this didn't involve any stupid kidnapping / abduction plot or "he's so alpha my panties just about melted" stupidity. But there really wasn't that much of a plot either. 4.5 / 8

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Finished Broken Love by Evan Grace FREE on Amazon

Abby Carmichael was raped one night, and it almost destroyed her. It took 18 months of self-destructive behavior and therapy for her to feel somewhat normal, and she had taken up job as a dance teacher to kids. That brought her to contact one of the girl's dad... Deputy Ben James. Abby was surprised when Ben stirred something in her that she hadn't felt for a long time... And Ben also felt the connection, even though his first priority is for his daughter. But when Natalie wanted Abby too, there is no avoiding the mutual attraction, despite Abby being white and Ben being black. They are just good together, and their families are fully supportive. But how can Abby explain she won't be ready to get intimate... for a long time? Would Ben still want her when she had a panic attack? Or find out how messed up her life is? And that rapist is still out there...

The darkest hour was nice, and resolution was indeed Abby's own accomplishment, which made it that much sweeter. The interracial issue was not a problem except for a minor motivational issue for the rapist. Suspense was merely hinted at, but there was definitely escalation throughout the book culminating in the darkest hoour near the end. 6.5 /8 (it'd be 7 but the start was very slow and kinda bored me)

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Finished At Any Price by Brenna Aubrey FREE on Amazon

Mia Strong, popular gaming blogger, decided to auction off her virginity online, partly because she needed the money to save her mother and her little bed and breakfast... partly because she did not believe she deserved love due to prior trauma. But the winner, Adam Drake, is as handsome as he is mysterious... Made his millions in his 20's, Adam overcame horrible circumstances, including loss of his sister. But he doesn't act like he just want one night with Mia... It seems he wants Mia long-term... Why? What secret is Adam keeping? And can Mia go through with whatever what was... purchased? What then?

The book is part 1 of a quadrilogy, and even as only one part, this book just feels... way too long. The push pull between Mia and Adam started with him being a cocky bastard so there's a bit of enemies into lovers trope, but basically both of here are wounded souls and while the onion peeling is fun, you have to read a lot of pages to get to the meat of the story. 5 / 8

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Finished Highway Song by Jessa Jacobs

After witnessing a murder of her mentor/savior, Amy's running from a vicious cartel who almost destroyed her... TWICE. She ran for years, and only took jobs under the table, and her last dollars brought her to Smokey's Roadhouse, a biker bar in the middle of nowhere Wyoming, where she took a bartender /waitress job hoping to save some money before they caught up with her. She never expected to run into her ex-stepbrother, Rex, at the bar, when their band bus broke down in front of the bar. 18 years ago, she was just a kid, but she remembered the kind big step-brother who saved his mother from her father's abuse... but they left her there... And she did whatever she could to survive. And now, he didn't recognize her. When circumstances forced them to resume their road trip for a chance in Seattle for a chance a recording contract, she joined them, and they fell in love... even as she told herself it was not right to keep them in the dark, and they won and got a recording contract. And they just finished their first concert until they came for her... But NOT the gang... but FBI...

This is one of those stories that may be a bit hard to read as Amy (not her real name) got a real sob story to tell. (Beating started at 10, ran away at 15, and got nabbed by a pimp, and forced her into prostitution and meth, got so zonked out they left her naked to die in a ditch and was rescued by a cop, who got her clean in exchange for her testimony against her pimp. She got a bartending job, and one day her pimp found her, kidnapped her, pushed her to see the cop, and shot him dead. Then the pimp dragged her back and let his gang loose on her. But she escaped and been on the run since.) Nice emotional, but the ending is a bit too pat. 6 out of 8

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Saved by Lorraine Eckhart FREE on Amazon

A pregnant girl was found in a dinghy in the middle of Persian Gulf and pick up by a US Navy destroyer. The captain Eric Reynolds was immediately smitten and the girl was just too innocent. Turns out she was snatched by human traffickers in Paris and sold to a sheik who may be a terrorist financier. Captain wants to protect her, even as she's about to give birth, on-board, while a female sailor onboard wants to use captain's chauvinist attitude to further her career by lodging a sex harassment claim. And CIA wants the girl and the newborn as bait. Is there a chance for them to work out their romance?

This book doesn't has much of a conflict to the romance, just captain fighting the false charges and keeping the CIA away. And the girl's pretty much PTSDed out that only the love got her back on a somewhat even keel. It's a fairy tale, but a very poignant one. 5/8

*there's s second and third volume too.


Finished Werebear's Mail Order Mate by Candace Ayers

Fun little tale that relied on a lot of coincidence... `10 yar old Chloe decided to get a mail order bride for her dad Tanner out on a ranch in Wyoming. Heather was summarily dismissed by her fiancee after her father died and he gained control of the firm. Neither knew that man of the house is a werebear... I. E. A bear shifter, and he realized that Heather is his one true mate and what are the chances of she came in the mail... so to speak? Funny at times, poignant at times, and short. 6/8


Finished Rescuing Finley by Dan Walsh

A dog managed to bring together several people and help them work through their losses in life. Finely was Chad's dog until he went to Afghanistan, and didn't come back. His mom had to surrender Finley to the shelter, and the dog was picked for a prison program training therapy dogs for PTSD veterans. Amy went to prison because she was caught stealing jewelry and get to train Finley. Chris was in Afghanistan and lost a leg on a landmine. He asked for a dog and got matched with Finley and Amy. They fell in love, and Chris wanted to marry Amy when she get out, and live with Finley too. The end.

Actually a pretty good tale, including dog's POV. 6.5/8

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Finished Someone to believe in by Kathryn Shay

Bailey O'Neil, aka Street Angel and Senator Clayton Wainwright has been on opposite sides for a decade. Once upon a time, he was the district attorney, and she was the social worker who harbored a gang member accused of murder. And he put her behind bars for 6 months, which even offended the judge. Nowadays, she's an anti-gang specialist who operated a strictly anonymous rescue organization trying to get kids out of gangs, and he's trying to kill any funding that's going to such, believing gang is a law enforcement problem. The two are mortal enemies, but when they meet in person (and she's under protection of four older brothers), they actually found they are attracted to each other... But can they make a life together with such huge differences in opinion? When a gang member finally got out, and her former homies threatened street angel, how far will he betray her trust to protect her? And can their love survive such challenges?

Very emotional, that betrayal was so raw and devastating, it is truly a darkest hour. 7/8

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Finished Thrill Ride by Julie Ann Alex

Rock is an operative on the run, having been issued a burn notice and being gunned at by everybody. He knew he can't reveal the truth, so to protect everybody else, he ran. And the only one who can track him down is one of their own, his partner, Vanessa. And she did... but not without bringing down on them more hit teams out to collect his head, as well as the rest of the Black Knights Team, out to save him. So what lead to the burn notice? What was the mission that started it all? Will this save everybody... Or doom everybody?

Cute tale, except for the part where they manufacture squibs out of c4 and used them on Rock to simulate death and bluffed the CIA hit team. That is not believable. 5/8

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Relentless by Lauren Landish

Daniel is one of the enforcers for Don Carlo, the Don of the Bertoli family in control of the Seattle-Tacoma area. Dan is well known for his simple lifestyle, brutal efficiency, and utter cold-bloodedness that he's sometimes known as Terminator. But this latest assignment is going to be sheer torture... For the VIP he needed to guard with his life is none other than Adriana Bertoli, niece of Don Carlo, under threat of death that NOBODY is to touch her. But when she wants to touch him... this will be difficult. He would have asked for another assignment, but a serial killer is after her, having already killed her roommate. As the forced proximity and danger pushed them together, they surrendered to their passion... but to what consequences?

For romantic suspense, it's actually quite good, but the story kinda went off kilter in order to fit it back to the stalker/killer plot line. In fact, even the author realized this and had one of the secondary characters remarked on it, calling the MMC and FMC "estupido". Still, it's good. 6.5/8 at least.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Sweet Home Alaska by Rebecca Thomas Novella free on Amazon

Lauren Kinkade left Alaska and her grandma behind to pursue a dream of acting in Hollywood, and got nowhere. Instead, a chance encounter lead her to catering, and her passion. When her grandma passed away and left her the bakery, it is time for Lauren to go home. But the town wasn't that welcome, so Lauren had to concentrate her efforts on convincing the one guy that can make a difference... Trey Briggs, owner of the local hotel that is holding his grand opening in a few weeks. The problem is Trey was always intimidated by Lauren's beauty back when she was around in high school, and he got his nickname "Crash" because he was always clumsy around her. So he'd rather not see her... ever. But soon Lauren got him to change his mind... and a lot more... But is Lauren going to stay in Alaska?

Sweet romance, there is sex, but food wasn't quite used to full effect, IMHO. 6/8

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Finished Covet by Alison Ryan

Scarlet walked away from her lover five years ago and never looked back. She can't afford to. She has her reasons that she can't share. She's "white trailer trash". She doesn't belong with Barrett Evers, scion of Evers Holdings. His mother Patricia made that abundantly clear, over and over. She had to. She did not count on running into him in Las Vegas, or the feelings she still had for him or how he won't take no for an answer, and he's never going to let her out of his life again. But can he deal with the secret she had been hiding? And when bad things started to happen, and it must be someone in close confidence, who was being played by whom?

Advertised as "with soap opera twists", this book was basically over-the-top LOL melodramatic crap you really would see on soap operas, like "MMC's loyal bodyguard was secret a spy sent by his unapproving mother, who was also her squeeze at one time. Wanting to get back into her good graces (and her bed), he concocted a plan on his own to punish her wayward son for her through kidnapping and murder." WTF?! 4/8

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Finished Burn for you by Marquita Valentine (temporarily free on Amazon)

Beau Montgomery is rich, famous, and a racing driver, and part of the Montgomery racing clan. But his history of women wasn't as clear cut, for right now he's sharing custody with an ex-wife of a daughter Mia that he wasn't sure was his biological daughter. When a chance to race in Monaco came up, he had to go there for a month, and he needed to hire a babysitter. And he got... Landry Basnight. Landry is a broke college student who's hot, and had nothing else to do and likes kids. It didn't hurt she liked the Montgomerys racing. So when Beau turned on his charms, she find it hard to resist. But when Beau's ex-wife re-enters the picture, what did she want? Is there a future?

The twist was kinda interesting. The ex-wife Paisley turned out to be seriously ill but covered it well. She wanted to make sure Landry will treat her daughter right. But really, it doesn't make that much more sense either. 4.5/8

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Finished Marriage of Convenience by Amanda Kelly 40 story regency romance short story bundle

Nice collection of regency short romances, some of them are not bad, interesting, others are "wait, what?" 5/8

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Finished The Lawyer's Mail Order Bride by Mercy Levy

A collection of various stories, the main story wasn't even about a lawyer though. 4/8

[Kasey Chang]

Finished Fireman Romances by Leslie Johnson

Collection of 3 stories each about a fireman and his love.

Jessie ran from her cheating BF and took a summer for herself... and fell for the sexy firefighter next door, Ryan. And they had a beautiful two months... Then when asked to spend more time with him, she panicked and ran back home, and found her cheating BF, who wanted a second chance, never changed. So Jessie ran again... Setting up life elsewhere... then Ryan entered her life once again...

Cassie has a choice to make... accept the wooing by the rich Nick Mandeville, who's reeling from his own broken heart... or revel in the attention from the Aussie firefighter Brendan who moved to town. But when life threw her a curve... her best friend moved away, and her new apartment was rendered uninhabitable, the person who thought offered her shelter turned out to be wolf in sheep's clothing...

Francine was supposed to go back to the US after spending a year in Poland teaching, but her oma want her to settle in Europe, and she ended up living in Germany and met handsome firefighter Erich, but who is this female companion that was so close to Erich, yet not a girlfriend? What was their story, and how do they fit into her new life?

First one was long, but okay. Second one was pretty tense for a while. Third one is a bit of meh. 5.5 / 8

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Finished Protector by Piper Page FREE on Amazon

Allie was supposed to just be normal college girl enjoying a bachelorette party with her girls on San Juan Puerto Rico when she heard something she wasn't supposed to, and got hauled off by Santiago, an enforcer in the PR Mafia family. The fact that she's daughter of a US Senator made no difference to the thug... but Santiago was not merely a thug, and when everybody else told him to slit her throat and dump her, Santiago refused. All he needed is a little time for the mission to take place, then what she knew wouldn't hurt her and he can let her go... but would he want to?

These "mafia bad boy" romances are pretty darn lame and rely on Stockholm syndrome and anti-hero MMC to develop the romance. Frankly, girls hauled off caveman style would be way too scared to think of sack time, no matter how good looking the guy is. The fact that he got her over the fear of being touched by male was different problem. 3/8

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Finished It Takes Two: Book 1 by Ellie Danes

Teaser volume (only 43 pages), part of a 6 book series.

Harper is a financially struggling grad student trying to make ends meet... and not finding any luck in love, having looked in all the wrong places. She can set other people up, but not herself. When she was invited to a seemingly innocent party with her friend Avery, things changed... As she came to the attention of Mason, who runs a special invitation only matchmaking service for the rich and powerful. But Mason can't seem to find the right woman for him as well. That is, until he saw Harper from the monitoring room...

As a teaser, it wasn't bad, but it's clearly a cliffhanger. 4/8

[xenocide]

Finished Spellbound: Book II of the Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia

This series is a 1930s alternate history where magic is real and also has some Lovecraftian elements. Book II follows the same characters from book I. When a magical assassin makes an attempt on the life of President Franklin Roosevelt, the crime is pinned on the Grimnoir. The knights must become fugitives while they attempt to discover who framed them.


More Correia, more love from me. Grimnoir has a cool magic system that would fall into the "hard fantasy" realm with more defined rules, kind of similar to a Sanderson magic system. Lots of excellent fight scenes and good exploration of the magic. 2017 looks to be a good Correia year for me as I will read the next Grimnoir book very soon and I am sure to read the next monster hunter book when it is released later in the year.

[xenocide]

Finished The Lost Fleet: Relentless by Jack Campbell


Military Sci-Fi. Plenty of space starship battles and also a good amount of internal politics. Tells the story of an Alliance fleet lost deep behind enemy lines and Captain John “Black Jack” Geary's struggles to get them home.

Book 5 of 6. A good entry in the series. Wraps up a couple of ongoing story lines while leaving a good place for the final book to go. There are two characters who have had an antagonistic relationship for a couple books now and their reactions to each other are starting to get a little old. Not as many battles as some books in the series but it does move the overall storyline forward more than some of the middle books.