In this 14th book about the Wizard Dresden you get some things you expect and some things you might not see coming. I love these stories because I get to check out of reality and step into another world when I start to read/listen to this series. The characters are fun and continue to grow and change as the series does. This parallel universe is peopled by some of the most fantastic creatures and a lot of them are seriously deadly.
Harry comes back to himself after being dead (see Ghost Story) at the mercy of Mab in her court. He has a nurse who helps bring him back from the brink and when she does Mab starts his true training. Harry now carries the mantle of the Winter Knight and he is going to have to fight every day to keep it from taking his humanity. That is going to hard going with less than scrupulous beings surrounding him day in and day out.
His first assignment as the Winter Knight is not something you would ordinarily have right out of rehab, but it is par for the course. Mab tells Harry that he must kill a member of the Winter court and do so swiftly. There is only one problem with the order and that is Harry needs to figure out how to kill an immortal being. In the midst of that dilemma Harry also finds that he must defend his Island and all of Chicago from annihilation.
Once again James Marsters brings Harry and Company to vivid life. I could listen to him all day and never get tired of his voice. I see Harry and everything that happens as I follow the narrative. Ready for the next book and hoping that James Marsters will be continuing to bring me enjoyment of my favorite wizard/knight.
I have been in love with this series since reading Claimed after getting it because it was free. The stories always make me feel like I am a part of what is going on. The introduction of each new couple brings something a little different to the mix while still allowing you to keep up with those who came before. The planets as well as the inhabitants are so imaginative and strange that they keep you coming back to see what will happen next.
Stavros Rii was in charge of the HKR building in Asheville and stayed on Earth after the declaration of war against the Kindred because two people, a Kindred warrior and his bride were not allowed back onto the Mother ship by Councilor Terex. Stavros has not and does not plan to claim a bride but feels that the war is stupid. He has left the remote cabin where they have been staying because he has a feeling that someone on the mother ship is trying to contact him. He just wants to get to the HKR and find out what is needed of him.
Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Sayers had been a detective with the Asheville PD when war was declared on the Kindred. She is more than happy to sign up with the special force that is formed to kick the big aliens off the planet or lock them up as war criminals. She has had a special hatred of the Kindred ever since tragedy struck her family because of the draft. After getting off work she spots and starts to follow Stavros hoping to take him into custody. What follows is more than she bargained for and brings into question her feelings against the Kindred.
Stavros and Charlie are definitely one of the hotter couples to grace the pages, maybe because they are both hurt and need each other so badly. I cannot help but feel that everyone should give this series a read because you are either going to love it or hate it. While there is always a level of sameness involved the characters are always great and the story entertaining. You just have to get started.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Why can I feel her? Is it just because I’ve never let a female drink from me before? He didn’t know. He only knew that Charlotte Sayers was different and special somehow. And judging from the horrified look she’d given him as she backed into the fresher, she was also scared to death right now. Even if she wasn’t, she was still completely off limits and out of his reach. That didn’t stop him from wanting her. With a low groan, he threw an arm across his eyes. What have I done? Oh Gods, what have I done and how can I ever undo it? *”
I don’t want to rate this because I did not finish it. While I found the premise interesting I could not find my way into the story long enough or far enough to really lose myself in it. The characters were alright but seemed bland and since the hospital was supposed to be a character I expected a lot more from it. To be perfectly honest it bored me. I started and stopped the book for almost a month before I just gave up. I may give it a go some other time.
I am always happy to enter the world of the Kindred because it is one that will usually take me on an intergalactic adventure with romance and danger. Have you you ever read a book that you loved, with characters you care about so much you could not stand the thought of something bad happening to them? I was not disappointed in any way by this one. The characters continue to be rich and approachable, the world building continues to fascinate and hold me. The stories are a bit predictable but that is not necessarily a bad thing at all, it just means that they have be written even better to compensate for that fact. In the case of these stories they are written perfectly and make me keep coming back for more.
Mei-Li Hastings is the daughter of Senator Hastings and has been dreaming of a Kindred who scares her because of the way he looks. She tells this to her father who goes and demands that his daughter not be claimed even though she is registered like all the eligible females on Earth, he wants special privileges.
Six is a Dark Kindred who has been Enhanced as is the way of the inhabitants of the planet on which he lives. Six is disturbed by the dreams partly because he does not understand what is going on. When he told, he does not plan on claiming her because it is something the Dark Kindred do not ever do, but he is ordered to do so by One. This claiming sets in motion things that will bring darkness to both the Earth and the Kindred.
This is another great story that takes us to the other side of the galaxy and back with some very hot scenes. I think that this is a great series and I look forward to the next entry. I highly recommend this series and this book.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“A strange, strong feeling came over her, prickling the skin on her arms and raising the short hairs at the back of her neck. Somehow she knew that if he left her, she could never love anyone else. She was his—Six had taken a piece of her soul and welded it permanently to his. Without him, she would never be whole again. Never”
I started this story totally not sure what to expect and found myself pulled in immediately. Truthfully I am not sure what made me like this so much but I really got into the characters from the moment they were introduced. Each one was very unique and even on short acquaintance made me like them. The world they inhabit is still a little vague and could use some more fleshing out to make it seem more real. I had a few instances of the names of characters changing within the same paragraph in some instances, which can be quite disconcerting. Other than that one thing it is written in a style that definitely grabs your attention if you like the subject matter.
Jean Baptiste also known as J.B. is running his fathers detective agency, though it is not for a good reason. Someone ran down Jean Baptiste Sr. and he is lying in the hospital in a coma while his son tries to save the family business. Working with J.B. are an interesting cast of characters, there is Zhanna who is a six inch faerie of the Irayisi race working off her probation there, Nikki a half elf/ half imp, and the twins Gemma and Jason.
Hekate sends her niece to enlist Jean Baptiste Sr. to locate her chalice which has come up missing at a very bad time. She needs it back soon and so takes a chance on J.B. and his crew. What they find out is more complicated than they expected. The search for the person who hit J.B. Sr is also not going well. They have to find the chalice to keep the agency going but there is danger involved that they do not see.
Definitely want to read more about these characters and see where they go from this point. Well worth the time of anyone who likes a little magic and mayhem.
I do not read a lot of biographies because I am not always very interested in the lives of others. It has always seemed a bit voyeuristic reading about the lives of living people in particular. I can count on one hand the number of biographies I have read. I read this one particularly because I have followed what has been done to this couple from the announcement that they were dating to this very day. I wanted to get an idea of why and how things seemed to get so out of hand. It gets 5 stars for pushing for truth and integrity instead of lies and hate-mongering.
If you go into this expecting major revelations then you will be disappointed. This is not intended as a tell-all or reverse smear campaign against those who bashed them. This is about setting the record as straight as can be while still maintaining a sense of personal responsibility. This is not a counter to the trashy novels which have come out which merely continued to bash the couple and continue their agenda of smearing globally. I would also say to avoid the one-star reviews which are also a part of the wider agenda by those who have a bias against the subjects of the book.
I like the overall set-up of the book and can feel the differences in which the author had input into what as it was written. Each chapter is a self-contained capsule dealing with an individual idea or situation. For instance, we get to start with the first dates after they are set up and move forward in time from there. The extra information regarding what happened around their personal lives is great but we also get some insight into those nasty headlines and the people who helped to keep the hate and ugliness going. As I said above, there are no major revelations but there is still good fleshing out and debunking of a lot of the salacious and sensational articles which have been written over the past years about the couple.
This is not perfect because there are several issues with missing words, the wrong word, and grammar pretty much throughout the book. They needed a good proofreader. I do the same thing because my mind is moving faster than my fingers and I am sure I caught everything I had in my head, so I always cut a little slack when I see it. It was not as distracting as it could have been though. The jumping around in time was distracting the first time it happened but you get used it. When talking about one thing they will segue into a past situation that is connected to one or the other.
I enjoyed the read and I have a great deal of respect for the authors, particularly Omid for taking the time to try and set the record straight even at the expense of being bullied for doing so. We got some information that was withheld originally, though I wonder if anyone noticed that some tidbits were revealed. For those interested in the subject matter this will be a good read, for those not so interested but who need to purchase to malign it is what it is.
Maybe not a masterpiece but well worth the time and effort to give it a listen or read. I have three ways of doing so, and it has a great place in my library.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Racism in the UK takes a different form than it does in the United States, but there is no mistaking its existence and how engrained it is. A major theme of racism in the UK centers on the question of who is authentically “English.” It can come through in subtle acts of bias, micro-aggressions such as the Palace staffer who told the biracial co-author of this book, “I never expected you to speak the way you do,” or the Daily Mail headline, “Memo to Meghan: We Brits Prefer True Royalty to Fashion Royalty.” While their columnist was criticizing Meghan for her Vogue editorials, there was another way to read it, and that was that to be British meant to be born and bred in the UK—and be white.
I am enjoying listening to this series and find that I can keep up with the action even better. This was an author I had never read before but I continue to be happy that I was introduced to her because this keeps getting better. I find all the characters interesting and more than engrossing. These are people I could see myself around, even if they do tend to find danger at every turn. The descriptions of the world that Mac has found herself in and the types of people she meets continues to draw me in.
MacKayla Lane continues to live with Barrons and seek revenge for the death of sister. She still has not come to the understanding that her life as it was no longer exists and this is going to be that rude awakening she needs. Jericho Barrons has made life for Mac easier even if she does not see it. The fact that you cannot put your finger on what he is only adds to his mystic as he continues to save MacKayla from herself.
New players continue to enter the game with V’Lane making himself more available to Mac. Rowena finally acknowledges Mac as more than just a stupid girl who could get them all killed, but what does she really want from silly American? Can Mac trust any of these people since they all seem to want to use her in way or the other?
I will certainly be reading the next book to see what happens next. While I like Mac most of the time sometimes she seems like a total airhead with her Southern manners and ideas about how things should be. Then she will do something totally bad ass and I am sure we could hang. As for Barrons, I wouldn’t kick him out bed. This is a series that is starting pretty slowly but seems to be moving steadily forward, and it draws me in completely when I start to listen.
While I liked the idea behind this I never could get into the characters or their stories. I had to set it aside because it just was not doing anything for me. Biggest problem is that it was running with a lot of chapters for a little information and after reading 22% I only had seen one zombie for less than 10 minutes.
I will try to give it a go again near the end of the year.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
All of the people gone and forgotten and scattered about, in a way he found them. He collected them and cared for them. That was his life. Collecting the scattered and the dead.
I liked this but was not blown away by it at all. The way it was set up was kind of interesting but made me think more of a stream of conscious type of thing. It was supposedly a letter being written that kind of gets out of hand. The character, and we really only meet one is never really well defined at all. You get information about him and all but you never really get to know him if you know what I mean. I guess what I am saying is that I never really cared about him much one way or the other except as a way to move the story forward. The biggest thing that lowered my rating was the fact that it incorporates one of my pet peeves, and that is having a large number of chapters (72) in a relatively short form (162 pg).
Decker is about to lose his mother and only real link with the outside world. His life has become shopping to prepare for the plague, being online and television. Never much for socializing he has become more of a homebody since the start of the crisis. There is a bright spot, the girl down the hall who he wants to speak to but can’t find the courage. What he decides to do is write to her and introduce himself in a way, but like most shy men he gets side tracked.
This gives you a glimpse into the world as it falls and one of the survivors. No real action. This is more of a character study. I will be reading more so I guess that says a lot right there. I see it getting more interesting. Try it!
OK, this took me a while to get through but I liked it none the less. The story and the execution are rather slow moving which is what held me back. The characters are interesting even before you get their full story because they start out strong. I can see both women very clearly for who they are and what they stand for immediately upon meeting them.
What do you do when a whole town is haunted?
In 1899, in the North Yorkshire market town of Thorpe Morton, a tragedy occurred; 59 people died at the market hall whilst celebrating Christmas Eve, many of them children. One hundred years on and the spirits of the deceased are restless still, ‘haunting’ the community, refusing to let them forget.
In 1999, psychic investigators Theo Lawson and Ness Patterson are called in to help, sensing immediately on arrival how weighed down the town is. Quickly they discover there’s no safe haven. The past taints everything.
The investigation into what is happening in Thorpe Morton makes for not a lot of drama but some good human interest. This is a story about the people of the town as well as about the women who come to help them. What they face sets the tone for future stories about our psychic investigators. I think it at least gives enough of a look that you may want to see what happens when they finally start to really work together.
I would recommend it to anyone who likes stories of ghosts.
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