Joy's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 17 Apr 2025 02:42:54 -0700 60 Joy's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Yotsuba&!, Vol. 8 (Yotsuba&! #8)]]> 6954750 224 Kiyohiko Azuma 031607327X Joy 4 4.52 2008 Yotsuba&!, Vol. 8 (Yotsuba&! #8)
author: Kiyohiko Azuma
name: Joy
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2010/03/31
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: 21c, chromatic, manga, seinen-manga
review:
I don't know how Azuma manages to make this manga so consistently wonderful, but it is! I especially liked the chapter with the typhoon.
]]> <![CDATA[Sand Chronicles, Vol. 1 (Sand Chronicles #1)]]> 52948513 192 Hinako Ashihara 142151477X Joy 3 3.97 2003 Sand Chronicles, Vol. 1 (Sand Chronicles #1)
author: Hinako Ashihara
name: Joy
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2008/05/18
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: manga, shojo-manga, chromatic, high-school-shojo
review:

]]> Batman: A Death in the Family 6480130 272 Jim Starlin 1401225160 Joy 2 20c, superhero, comics 3.90 1988 Batman: A Death in the Family
author: Jim Starlin
name: Joy
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1988
rating: 2
read at: 2011/08/13
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: 20c, superhero, comics
review:
I didn't think a title from the late eighties would look this dated, but wow it does. (And the casual bigotry of the portrayal of the Middle East doesn't help either!) It's DC universe backstory, but seriously, this may be one of those cases where Wikipedia summaries are a better option.
]]> <![CDATA[Gotham Central, Book One: In the Line of Duty]]> 3316474 240 Ed Brubaker 1401219233 Joy 5 21c, comics, superhero 4.35 2008 Gotham Central, Book One: In the Line of Duty
author: Ed Brubaker
name: Joy
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2012/06/08
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: 21c, comics, superhero
review:
LOVE this. Batman's only a peripheral figure here, and this only counts as superhero title by that slim association. The focus is real on the very human detectives of the GCPD. Has a wonderfully diverse cast that manages to avoid feeling like diversity via quota--and oh how I wish that wasn't unusual, but we all know it still is in Big 2 comics. And Lark's art does a perfect job of establishing the tone and atmosphere of this noir narrative.
]]> <![CDATA[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Edition, #1)]]> 10862575
This new edition of Sailor Moon will feature:

- An entirely new, incredibly accurate translation!
- Japanese-style, right-to-left reading!
- New cover art never before seen in the U.S.!
- The original Japanese character names!
- Detailed translation notes!

This version of Sailor Moon will be completely true to original. Join us as Sailor Moon returns to the U.S. for the first time in years!]]> 240 Naoko Takeuchi 1935429744 Joy 0 to-read 4.29 2003 Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Edition, #1)
author: Naoko Takeuchi
name: Joy
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Odyssey (All-Action Classics, #3)]]> 4247407 128 Homer 1402731558 Joy 0 3.45 -800 The Odyssey (All-Action Classics, #3)
author: Homer
name: Joy
average rating: 3.45
book published: -800
rating: 0
read at: 2010/06/23
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: ggnt11nom, 21c, american, mythology
review:

]]> Black Jack, Vol. 1 2479215 288 Osamu Tezuka 193428727X Joy 3
Overall, a reminder that my taste in manga leans strongly toward the contemporary.]]> 4.01 1974 Black Jack, Vol. 1
author: Osamu Tezuka
name: Joy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1974
rating: 3
read at: 2009/12/31
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: 20c, manga, shonen-manga, chromatic
review:
Not for the squeamish, and occasionally leaves me thinking, "Not all medical problems can be solved by surgery!" But it has a weird charm of its own. Very episodic so far, with no apparently long-term story arc.

Overall, a reminder that my taste in manga leans strongly toward the contemporary.
]]> <![CDATA[At Bertram's Hotel (A Miss Marple Mystery)]]> 31303 224 Agatha Christie 0451199936 Joy 2 mystery, british, 20c 3.52 1965 At Bertram's Hotel (A Miss Marple Mystery)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Joy
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1965
rating: 2
read at: 1992/01/01
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves: mystery, british, 20c
review:
The thing I remember best about this Christie novel is the descriptions of the muffins at Bertram's. Mmm. Muffins.
]]> <![CDATA[Rosemary and Rue (October Daye, #1)]]> 8163827
The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening-s dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening's killer.]]> 368 Seanan McGuire 1101140100 Joy 3 3.92 2009 Rosemary and Rue (October Daye, #1)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2012/12/08
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> Cold Dawn (Black Falls, #3) 9478569 384 Carla Neggers 1426874359 Joy 2 4.14 2010 Cold Dawn (Black Falls, #3)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2011/11/26
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense
review:
Read this without having read the other books in the series, and was occasionally bewildered by references to earlier events. Clearly this is a series that should be have been read in order! Neggers evokes the rural Vermont setting well, but aside from that, this is pretty generic romantic suspense.
]]> <![CDATA[Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, #2)]]> 8130498
Anna and Charles have just been enlisted to attend a summit to present Bran’s controversial proposition: that the wolves should finally reveal themselves to humans. But the most feared Alpha in Europe is dead set against the plan � and it seems like someone else might be too. When Anna is attacked by vampires using pack magic, the kind of power only werewolves should be able to draw on, Charles and Anna must combine their talents to hunt down whoever is behind it all � or risk losing everything...]]> 308 Patricia Briggs 1101133481 Joy 3 4.45 2009 Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, #2)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Joy
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2012/04/26
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heart of Steel (Iron Seas, #2)]]> 11535555 introduced the gritty, alluring adventure of the Iron Seas. Now, Meljean Brook returns to the world where nanotech fuses with Victorian sensibilities—and steam.

As the mercenary captain of Lady Corsair, Yasmeen has learned to keep her heart as cold as steel, her only loyalty bound to her ship and her crew. So when a man who once tried to seize her airship returns from the dead, Yasmeen will be damned if she gives him another opportunity to take control.

Treasure hunter Archimedes Fox isn't interested in Lady Corsair—he wants her coldhearted captain and the valuable da Vinci sketch she stole from him. To reclaim it, Archimedes is determined to seduce the stubborn woman who once tossed him to a ravenous pack of zombies, but she's no easy conquest.

When da Vinci's sketch attracts a dangerous amount of attention, Yasmeen and Archimedes journey to Horde-occupied Morocco—and straight into their enemy's hands. But as they fight to save themselves and a city on the brink of rebellion, the greatest peril Yasmeen faces is from the man who seeks to melt her icy heart.]]> 236 Meljean Brook 1101545674 Joy 3 The Iron Duke. Whereas the romance plot of that novel was your basic alpha-male claptrap, here we have the romance where the heroine is definitely the dominant character. Yasmeen is a wonderfully fierce and smart mercenary airship captain; Archimedes is a marginally successful treasure-hunter who has decided to fall in love with her--even through she threw him off her ship and into a crowd of ravening zombies the last time they met.

I really had no idea what was going on with the rest of the plot much of the time but that doesn't really matter: I was just sticking around for the action sequences and UST anyway.

Note: many of the worldbuilding details explained in the first book aren't re-explained here, but honestly, I'd recommend starting with Heart of Steel anyway if you, like me, have a limited patience with alpha male leads.]]> 4.08 2011 Heart of Steel (Iron Seas, #2)
author: Meljean Brook
name: Joy
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: 21c, american, paranormal, romance, steampunk
review:
This is a vast improvement over The Iron Duke. Whereas the romance plot of that novel was your basic alpha-male claptrap, here we have the romance where the heroine is definitely the dominant character. Yasmeen is a wonderfully fierce and smart mercenary airship captain; Archimedes is a marginally successful treasure-hunter who has decided to fall in love with her--even through she threw him off her ship and into a crowd of ravening zombies the last time they met.

I really had no idea what was going on with the rest of the plot much of the time but that doesn't really matter: I was just sticking around for the action sequences and UST anyway.

Note: many of the worldbuilding details explained in the first book aren't re-explained here, but honestly, I'd recommend starting with Heart of Steel anyway if you, like me, have a limited patience with alpha male leads.
]]> Cold River (Black Falls, #2) 8276194
Sean Cameron returns to the snowy cold of his Vermont hometown to unmask his father's killer. Sean has the skills and resources to mount his own search, but he must convince the resistant Hannah to cooperate—because the killer is ready to strike again…and closer than anyone ever imagined.]]> 352 Carla Neggers 1426844220 Joy 2 4.04 2009 Cold River (Black Falls, #2)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2011/11/26
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense
review:
Very much the second book in a series--a lot of spillover plot from the first books distracts from the main story (Hannah and Sean) in this one.
]]> <![CDATA[The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld, #28)]]> 6441351 Winner of the 2001 Carnegie Medal

One rat, popping up here and there, squeaking loudly, and taking a bath in the cream, could be a plague all by himself. After a few days of this, it was amazing how glad people were to see the kid with his magical rat pipe. And they were amazing when the rats followed hint out of town.

They'd have been really amazed if they'd ever found out that the rats and the piper met up with a cat somewhere outside of town and solemnly counted out the money.

The Amazing Maurice runs the perfect Pied Piper scam. This streetwise alley cat knows the value of cold, hard cash and can talk his way into and out of anything. But when Maurice and his cohorts decide to con the town of Bad Blinitz, it will take more than fast talking to survive the danger that awaits. For this is a town where food is scarce and rats are hated, where cellars are lined with deadly traps, and where a terrifying evil lurks beneath the hunger-stricken streets....

Set in Terry Pratchett's widely popular Discworld, this masterfully crafted, gripping read is both compelling and funny. When one of the world's most acclaimed fantasy writers turns a classic fairy tale on its head, no one will ever look at the Pied Piper or rats the same way again!]]> 368 Terry Pratchett 006197515X Joy 3 4.34 2001 The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld, #28)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Joy
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2011/11/06
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, british, fantasy, teen, humor
review:
A talking cat, a clan of talking rats, and a "stupid-looking boy" arrive in the town of Bad Blintz to pull of their usual scam of a fake rat plague. All goes as planned, until they discover some other less ethical folks have beaten them to the punch. Like most Pratchetts, this is a quick, funny read. I wouldn't consider it one of his top-tier books, only because I didn't think any of the non-talking-animal characters were very interesting at all.
]]> <![CDATA[The Off Season (Dairy Queen, #2)]]> 13119425 296 Catherine Gilbert Murdock 0547349416 Joy 4 4.02 2007 The Off Season (Dairy Queen, #2)
author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
name: Joy
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2011/11/09
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, american, realistic, teen
review:
It's been a long time since I read the first book in this series, but I am pretty sure I loved this a lot more than its predecessor. This is a story that doesn't rely on the latest gimmicks (see: steampunk. dystopias.) to make an impact; the family dramas, both small and large, are where this story shines. DJ's narrative voice is likable and realistic. And I especially loved the ending, which is upbeat without being pollyanna, and the bit where [spoilers removed]. How often do you see that in teen fiction? Not enough.
]]> <![CDATA[Front and Center (Dairy Queen, #3)]]> 8720694 281 Catherine Gilbert Murdock 0547417489 Joy 4
I especially appreciated how this was ultimately DJ's story. It wasn't a story about her romance with Brian (though I liked how that worked out); it wasn't even primarily about her family (though I loved how that all came together, and that's why the ending made me tear up). It was about DJ being, well, front and center, and finding her feet as an individual in the same way previous books saw her finding and redefining her place in her family.

I still primarily think of myself a reader of genre fiction, but this is the sort of realistic fiction that makes me think I need to branch out and read more of it.]]> 4.04 2009 Front and Center (Dairy Queen, #3)
author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
name: Joy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2011/11/10
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, american, teen, realistic
review:
A very satisfying conclusion to the Dairy Queen trilogy. The various subplots in this book tie together so well with the themes and arcs of the trilogy as a whole. The ending made me cry.

I especially appreciated how this was ultimately DJ's story. It wasn't a story about her romance with Brian (though I liked how that worked out); it wasn't even primarily about her family (though I loved how that all came together, and that's why the ending made me tear up). It was about DJ being, well, front and center, and finding her feet as an individual in the same way previous books saw her finding and redefining her place in her family.

I still primarily think of myself a reader of genre fiction, but this is the sort of realistic fiction that makes me think I need to branch out and read more of it.
]]> <![CDATA[When Beauty Tamed the Beast (Fairy Tales, #2)]]> 10277606 an alternate cover edition can be found here

Miss Linnet Berry Thrynne is a Beauty . . . Naturally, she's betrothed to a Beast.

Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, lives in a castle in Wales where, it is rumored, his bad temper flays everyone he crosses. And rumor also has it that a wound has left the earl immune to the charms of any woman.

Linnet is not just any woman.

She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love—in just two weeks.

Yet Linnet has no idea of the danger posed to her own heart by a man who may never love her in return.

If she decides to be very wicked indeed . . . what price will she pay for taming his wild heart?]]> 384 Eloisa James 0062041754 Joy 2 21c, american, romance Beauty and the Beast and, of all things, the tv show House. When rumors claim that society beauty Linnet is ruined and pregnant with a prince's child, her family plots to marry her off to the irascible, impotent son of a duke working as a doctor in Wales. (Oh, romance genre...) The doctor is appalled by the idea of marrying someone selected by his despised father, but finds himself attracted by Linnet's intelligence and beauty; Linnet herself finds freedom away from the requirements of being one of the Season's great beauties. If you read any romances, you can probably guess how this works out.

I have mentally filed James in my second tier of romance novels. She's reliably entertaining, often funny, but a bit sloppy as a writer; I find her books mostly forgettable, but pleasant to read when I am in the mood for a romance and none of my favorites have something new out. This is a fairly representative offering. It could have been more interesting. What if the male lead actually was incapable of fathering a child? What if Linnet actually lost some of beauty when she was ill? I realize that HEA is a requirement of the genre--I read with that expectation too--but surely there can be some other paths to that ending?]]> 4.18 2011 When Beauty Tamed the Beast (Fairy Tales, #2)
author: Eloisa James
name: Joy
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2011/03/03
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:
Historical romance loosely inspired by Beauty and the Beast and, of all things, the tv show House. When rumors claim that society beauty Linnet is ruined and pregnant with a prince's child, her family plots to marry her off to the irascible, impotent son of a duke working as a doctor in Wales. (Oh, romance genre...) The doctor is appalled by the idea of marrying someone selected by his despised father, but finds himself attracted by Linnet's intelligence and beauty; Linnet herself finds freedom away from the requirements of being one of the Season's great beauties. If you read any romances, you can probably guess how this works out.

I have mentally filed James in my second tier of romance novels. She's reliably entertaining, often funny, but a bit sloppy as a writer; I find her books mostly forgettable, but pleasant to read when I am in the mood for a romance and none of my favorites have something new out. This is a fairly representative offering. It could have been more interesting. What if the male lead actually was incapable of fathering a child? What if Linnet actually lost some of beauty when she was ill? I realize that HEA is a requirement of the genre--I read with that expectation too--but surely there can be some other paths to that ending?
]]> <![CDATA[Lavender Lies (China Bayles, #8)]]> 6672035 322 Susan Wittig Albert 1101127538 Joy 3 20c, american, mystery 4.32 1999 Lavender Lies (China Bayles, #8)
author: Susan Wittig Albert
name: Joy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2011/09/10
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 20c, american, mystery
review:
Does a slightly better job of balancing the mystery plot and China's interpersonal stuff than some of the other books in this series. The herbal details in this one were particularly fun.
]]> <![CDATA[Who Fears Death (Who Fears Death, #1)]]> 9260376 The critically-acclaimed novel-now in paperback. In a far-future, post-apocalyptic Saharan Africa, genocide plagues one region. When the only surviving member of a slain village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand, and instinctively knows her daughter is different. She names her daughter Onyesonwu, which means "Who Fears Death?" in an ancient African tongue. Reared under the tutelege of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers she possesses a remarkable and unique magic. The journey to fulfill her destiny will force her to confront nature, tradition, history, the spiritual mysteries of her culture, and eventually to learn why she was given the unusual name she Who Fears Death?]]> 362 Nnedi Okorafor 1101188219 Joy 5 3.91 2010 Who Fears Death (Who Fears Death, #1)
author: Nnedi Okorafor
name: Joy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2013/04/21
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, fantasy, ebook, 50books-poc-2013, american, chromatic
review:

]]> Matched (Matched, #1) 8886579
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.]]> 384 Ally Condie 1101445440 Joy 2 The Giver by Lois Lowry; the rest of the book is a by-the-numbers love triangle, descriptions of eye and hair color, and the occasional example of just plain terrible writing. (Sorry, I can't read a scene where a first-person protagonist glances at their reflection and then conveniently describes themselves for the reader in loving detail without wanting to laugh.)

Still, this is stuff intended for the teen id and works as such; no wonder it's been such a success.

I'll pass on the sequels though; I think my librarian duty on this front is done.]]> 3.56 2010 Matched (Matched, #1)
author: Ally Condie
name: Joy
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2011/11/08
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, american, dystopia, science-fiction, teen
review:
Meh. Most of the ideas were better executed in earlier dystopian fiction, like The Giver by Lois Lowry; the rest of the book is a by-the-numbers love triangle, descriptions of eye and hair color, and the occasional example of just plain terrible writing. (Sorry, I can't read a scene where a first-person protagonist glances at their reflection and then conveniently describes themselves for the reader in loving detail without wanting to laugh.)

Still, this is stuff intended for the teen id and works as such; no wonder it's been such a success.

I'll pass on the sequels though; I think my librarian duty on this front is done.
]]> <![CDATA[Going Postal (Discworld, #33; Industrial Revolution, #4; Moist von Lipwig, #1)]]> 8257073
By all rights, Moist should be meeting his maker rather than being offered a position as Postmaster by Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork. Getting the moribund Postal Service up and running again, however, may prove an impossible task, what with literally mountains of decades-old undelivered mail clogging every nook and cranny of the broken-down post office. Worse still, Moist could swear the mail is talking to him. Worst of all, it means taking on the gargantuan, greedy Grand Trunk clacks communication monopoly and its bloodthirsty piratical headman. But if the bold and undoable are what's called for, Moist's the man for the job -- to move the mail, continue breathing, get the girl, and specially deliver that invaluable commodity that every being, human or otherwise, hope.]]> 484 Terry Pratchett 0061807192 Joy 4 21c, british, fantasy, humor 4.58 2004 Going Postal (Discworld, #33; Industrial Revolution, #4; Moist von Lipwig, #1)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Joy
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2013/04/27
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, british, fantasy, humor
review:

]]> My One and Only (Hqn) 10757248 Divorce attorney Harper James can't catch a break. Bad enough that she runs into her ex-hubby, Nick, at her sister's destination wedding, but now, by a cruel twist of fate, she's being forced to make a cross-country road trip with him. And her almost-fiance back at home is not likely to be sympathetic.
Harper can't help that Nick has come blazing back into her life in all of his frustratingly appealing, gorgeous architect glory. But in Nick's eyes, Harper's always been the one. If they can only get it right this time, forever might be waiting--just around the bend.
]]> 385 Kristan Higgins 1426888880 Joy 3 21c, american, romance 4.07 2011 My One and Only (Hqn)
author: Kristan Higgins
name: Joy
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2014/05/19
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Eclipse Bay (Eclipse Bay Trilogy, # 1)]]> 8485306 FIRST IN THE STUNNING TRILOGYEclipse Bay has grown and flourished amongst the sharp cliffs and hidden coves of the rugged Oregon coast. But this small town is also filled with secrets as treacherous as the landscape and rivalries as fierce as an ocean storm.Their grandfathers hated each other. Their fathers hated each other. But they don’t hate each other. Not at all....Hannah Harte remembers the long-ago night on the beach that revealed Rafe as more than just “that disreputable Madison boy.â€� And Rafe remembers the heroic gesture that proved Hannah’s fierce spirit was stronger than any feud—and saved him from near-certain imprisonment.ĚýNow—reunited by a surprising inheritance after years of living their separate lives—Rafe and Hannah return to Eclipse Bay, and the hostilities that still divide, and bind, their families. And they are discovering something that is at once delightful and deeply disturbing....]]> 353 Jayne Ann Krentz 1101214341 Joy 3 4.33 2000 Eclipse Bay (Eclipse Bay Trilogy, # 1)
author: Jayne Ann Krentz
name: Joy
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2011/10/11
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 20c, american, romance, romantic-suspense
review:
Fairly standard Krentz novel, with all of the usual elements in place. Wished there had been more detail on the setting or even of the house that Rafe and Hannah both wanted--either would have helped make this less forgettable.
]]> The Waterfall 6677249 365 Carla Neggers 142682887X Joy 2 3.80 2000 The Waterfall
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at: 2011/12/03
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: american, romantic-suspense, romance, suspense, 20c
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rapids (Cold Ridge/U.S. Marshals, #3)]]> 8481645 384 Carla Neggers 1426833474 Joy 2 3.88 2004 The Rapids (Cold Ridge/U.S. Marshals, #3)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2004
rating: 2
read at: 2011/12/04
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mourning Gloria (China Bayles, #19)]]> 10783756 Susan Wittig Albert, “who consistently turns out some of the best-plotted mysteries on the market,â€�* delivers the charm and suspense in her latest herbal treat, Mourning Gloria. Now ex-lawyer and current herbalist China Bayles must stop a killer whose evil is burning through Texasâ€� Ěý

China isĚýrelishing the scents, produce, and even the showers of spring. She’s also busy hosting Pecan Springsâ€� Farmersâ€� Market. It brings additional customers to her herb shop Thyme and Seasons. And residents find rare ingredients they wouldn’t otherwise find in the supermarket. Everybody winsâ€�



But as the town bustles back to life in the warmth of the season, one woman’s life is tragically brought to an end. China happens upon a burning house trailer and hears a woman screaming for help. The evidence leaves no doubt that it’s arson homicide—but who would commit such a ghastly crime?



AnĚýintern-reporter at the local paper, Jessica Nelson, is assigned to cover the story. Drawn into the case by its similarity to her own tragic loss—Jessica’s family died in a fire—she soon finds herself deeply involved and in danger. And when Jessica disappears, China becomes determined to help find her, before she becomes headlines herselfâ€�*Houston Chronicle]]> 321 Susan Wittig Albert 1101476273 Joy 3 21c, american, mystery 4.24 2011 Mourning Gloria (China Bayles, #19)
author: Susan Wittig Albert
name: Joy
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2012/07/07
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, american, mystery
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Shepherd's Crown (Discworld, #41; Tiffany Aching, #5)]]> 25398409
A SHIVERING OF WORLDS

Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength.

This is a time of endings and beginnings, old friends and new, a blurring of edges and a shifting of power. Now Tiffany stands between the light and the dark, the good and the bad.

As the fairy horde prepares for invasion, Tiffany must summon all the witches to stand with her. To protect the land. Her land.

There will be a reckoning. . . .

THE FINAL DISCWORLD® NOVEL]]> 288 Terry Pratchett 006242999X Joy 4 21c, british, fantasy, teen
Also: Chapter Two? I was so not prepared for that, even though it was done right.]]> 4.54 2015 The Shepherd's Crown (Discworld, #41; Tiffany Aching, #5)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Joy
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/01/22
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: 21c, british, fantasy, teen
review:
Not the best Pratchett ever, but a pretty good Pratchett is still something that's well worth reading. Wish I had reread the earlier Tiffany Aching novels as prep, but that's on me, not on this book.

Also: Chapter Two? I was so not prepared for that, even though it was done right.
]]> <![CDATA[Dark Sky (Cold Ridge/U.S. Marshals, #4)]]> 6617211
But hot on her suspect's trail is Special Forces officer Ethan Brooker, who has a way of dropping into Juliet's life without warning. Haunted by his wife's death, Ehtan is a man Juiet knows she shoul davoid. And now he's focused on a related missionof his own and can't � or won't � give Juliet any details.

When she finds her doorman dead and her New York apartment ransacked, Juliet tracks down Ethan -- this time she wants answers. They agree to team up, and as they fight heir grwoing attraction to each other, their race to stop a ruthless killer takes them north to Juliet's family in Vermont...and into the heart of a dangerous web of lies, greed, deceit � and murder.]]> 381 Carla Neggers 1552543404 Joy 2 3.68 2005 Dark Sky (Cold Ridge/U.S. Marshals, #4)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at: 2011/11/28
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense, suspense
review:
A mix of effective and not-so-effective story elements. On the plus side, Juliet's family dynamics and the somewhat twisted attraction between Juliet and Ethan. On the downside, there was only one possible candidate to be the unknown bad guy, because Neggers hadn't bothered introducing any other characters to the plot. And having read a little stack of Neggers's novels now, I am beginning to see she is a little overly fond of male protagonists who are teetering on the edge of burnout.
]]> <![CDATA[Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1)]]> 6705943
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.]]> 402 Maggie Stiefvater 0545227259 Joy 3 3.76 2009 Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1)
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: Joy
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2014/07/01
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, paranormal, romance, teen
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas, #1)]]> 18689531 From Charlaine Harris, the bestselling author who created Sookie Stackhouse and her world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, comes a darker locale - populated by more strangers than friends. But then, that’s how the locals prefer it...

Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.

There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).

Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...

]]> 320 Charlaine Harris 1101598794 Joy 3 3.96 2014 Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas, #1)
author: Charlaine Harris
name: Joy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2015/03/29
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: 21c, american, mystery, paranormal
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Proof by Seduction (Carhart, #1)]]> 8251054
A gifted fortune-teller from a humble background, Jenny can make even the most sophisticated skeptic believe her predictions simply by batting her smoky eyelashes. Until she meets her match in Gareth Carhart, the Marquess of Blakely, a sworn bachelor and scientist.

He just didn't know it yet

Broodingly handsome, Gareth is scandalized to discover his cousin has fallen under the spell of "Madame Esmerelda," and vows to prove Jenny a fraud. But his unexpected attraction to the fiery enchantress defies logic. Jenny disrupts every facet of Gareth's calculated plan—until he can't decide whether to seduce her or ruin her. Now, as they engage in a passionate battle of wills, two lonely souls must choose between everything they know …and the boundless possibilities of love.]]> 350 Courtney Milan 1426845995 Joy 3
Anyway, a fairly promising debut Regency historical romance--my reaction to this reminds me a lot of my reaction to Sherry Thomas's first books: I think this is good rather than great, but it makes me interested in seeing what else Milan can do. ]]> 3.79 2009 Proof by Seduction (Carhart, #1)
author: Courtney Milan
name: Joy
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2011/11/14
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: 21c, 50books-poc-2011, american, romance
review:
Jenny Keeble is a scam fortune-teller, and naive Ned Carhart is one of her best clients. Gareth Carhart, the Marquess of Blakely, is Ned's cousin and intent on exposing Jenny as a fraud . . . all for Ned's own good, of course. Of course, things don't quite turn out the way Blakely planned. This comes together pretty nicely, though I've seen all the elements in other Regencies. Well, except the elephant.

Anyway, a fairly promising debut Regency historical romance--my reaction to this reminds me a lot of my reaction to Sherry Thomas's first books: I think this is good rather than great, but it makes me interested in seeing what else Milan can do.
]]> <![CDATA[The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton (Laurence Bartram, #2)]]> 19386895 421 Elizabeth Speller 0547727402 Joy 4 4.07 2011 The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton (Laurence Bartram, #2)
author: Elizabeth Speller
name: Joy
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/09
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: 21c, historical-fiction, mystery, world-war-i
review:

]]> Smoke in Mirrors 6571785 273 Jayne Ann Krentz 1101214597 Joy 3
Typically convoluted Krentz setup, and a lot of her usual types (of course Leonora is a research librarian...). Another enjoyable but not particularly memorable read--I had to look up the characters' names to write up this little blurb.]]> 4.39 2002 Smoke in Mirrors
author: Jayne Ann Krentz
name: Joy
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2011/10/09
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: 21c, american, romance, romantic-suspense
review:
What does the death of a con artist in SoCal have to do with the suicide of a math genius at a ritzy conservative college? Everything, according to the math genius's brother-in-law, who recruits (with a little strongarming) the con artist's half-sister to help him discover the truth of the matter.

Typically convoluted Krentz setup, and a lot of her usual types (of course Leonora is a research librarian...). Another enjoyable but not particularly memorable read--I had to look up the characters' names to write up this little blurb.
]]> The Next Best Thing 18302599
She's looking for a nice, decent man. Someone who'll mow the lawn, flip chicken on the barbecue, teach their future children to play soccer. But most someone who won't inspire the slightest stirring in her heart...or anywhere else. A young widow, Lucy can't risk that kind of loss again. But sharing her life with a cat named Fat Mikey and the Black Widows at the family bakery isn't enough either. So it's goodbye to Ethan, her hot but entirely inappropriate "friend with privileges," and hello to a man she can marry.

Too bad Ethan Mirabelli isn't going anywhere. As far as he's concerned, what she needs might be right under her nose. But can he convince her that the next best thing can really be forever?]]> 400 Kristan Higgins 1460318072 Joy 3 21c, american, romance 3.95 2010 The Next Best Thing
author: Kristan Higgins
name: Joy
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2014/05/16
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us]]> 8220160
Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does-and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation- autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.]]> 272 Daniel H. Pink 1101152141 Joy 4
Which is all well and good, though easier said than done outside certain types of cubicle culture. My main reaction was: "Great ideas, but someone has to open the library! How do we do both?" Food for thought, I guess.
]]> 4.11 2009 Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Joy
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2011/12/21
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: 21c, american, business, career, psychology
review:
An examination of different types of motivation and how they operate in organizations and workplaces. Pink argues that modern workplaces tend to be structured around extrinsic motivation--the carrot-and-stick approach--a tactic that is fine in factory-like settings that are based on rote, algorithmic work but is counterproductive when it comes to creative work. He puts forward a different model of motivation--one based on giving workers autonomy, encouraging mastery, and building a sense of purpose.

Which is all well and good, though easier said than done outside certain types of cubicle culture. My main reaction was: "Great ideas, but someone has to open the library! How do we do both?" Food for thought, I guess.

]]> <![CDATA[Cold Ridge (Cold Ridge/U.S. Marshals, #1)]]> 6617210 384 Carla Neggers 1426828926 Joy 2
This is another story about a couple with a lot of history before they actually get romantically involved: I sense a trend.]]> 4.08 2003 Cold Ridge (Cold Ridge/U.S. Marshals, #1)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at: 2011/11/26
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves:
review:
Your standard romantic-suspense, but I enjoyed the details of the setting (half in Boston, half in rural New Hampshire). The setup of the POVs, though, made if painfully obvious who the bad guy was in this one.

This is another story about a couple with a lot of history before they actually get romantically involved: I sense a trend.
]]> <![CDATA[Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2)]]> 6282698
But this new vampire is hardly ordinary - and neither is the demon inside of him.]]> 335 Patricia Briggs 1101208554 Joy 2 4.38 2007 Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Joy
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2012/03/31
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: 21c, american, paranormal, fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?]]> 8314165 Linchpin, he turns his attention to the individual, and explains how anyone can make a significant impact within their organization.

There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there's a third team, the linchpins. These people figure out what to do when there's no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.

Have you ever found a shortcut that others missed? Seen a new way to resolve a conflict? Made a connection with someone others couldn't reach? Even once? Then you have what it takes to become indispensable, by overcoming the resistance that holds people back.

As Godin writes, "Every day I meet people who have so much to give but have been bullied enough or frightened enough to hold it back. It's time to stop complying with the system and draw your own map. You have brilliance in you, your contribution is essential, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must."]]> 257 Seth Godin 1101196319 Joy 4 4.03 2010 Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
author: Seth Godin
name: Joy
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/12/17
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: 21c, american, career, business
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Equal Rites (Discworld, #3; Witches, #1)]]> 6567830 277 Terry Pratchett 0061804835 Joy 2 british, fantasy, humor, 20c I Shall Wear Midnight for various spoilery reasons).

I can't argue for a strict by-publication-date reading order for the Discworld books, since I thought The Colour of Magic was fairly terrible, but I suspect Equal Rites would read better if you did encounter it that way.
]]> 4.29 1987 Equal Rites (Discworld, #3; Witches, #1)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Joy
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1987
rating: 2
read at: 2013/04/26
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: british, fantasy, humor, 20c
review:
I've read the Discworld books entirely out of order, and that's not a reading order that's particularly kind to the first books in the series. Pratchett definitely hadn't quite hit his stride yet. I was especially thrown by the characterization of Granny Weatherwax, which feels off if you know her, as I do, mostly from the mid- and late-series books. That said, it is interesting to read this with knowledge of the much later Tiffany Aching books (and I now want to re-read I Shall Wear Midnight for various spoilery reasons).

I can't argue for a strict by-publication-date reading order for the Discworld books, since I thought The Colour of Magic was fairly terrible, but I suspect Equal Rites would read better if you did encounter it that way.

]]> <![CDATA[Late Eclipses (October Daye, #4)]]> 10683729 372 Seanan McGuire 1101502533 Joy 3 4.34 2011 Late Eclipses (October Daye, #4)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2015/09/05
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Harbor (Carriage House, #4)]]> 6602690
Shattered by her father's murder, Zoe West left Goose Harbor, Maine. Still struggling, Zoe realizes only one thing will help to repair the damage—returning home to confront the past.

FBI special agent J. B. McGrath is burned-out after working undercover for a year. Forced to take a break, he chooses Goose Harbor as a retreat. But he isn't lying low. He believes a killer is still loose in the town—a killer who isn't happy to see Zoe West return.

Zoe isn't sure she can trust the unpredictable FBI agent—or their growing attraction to each other. But the danger mounts, and one wrong move could destroy everything she and J.B. care about. Someone got away with murder and is determined to keep it that way.]]> 384 Carla Neggers 1426828888 Joy 3 Saint's Gate. I probably would have enjoyed this a little more if there had been more time between my reading this and that; as it was, I kept thinking about how Neggers was repeating herself.]]> 4.13 2002 The Harbor (Carriage House, #4)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2011/11/27
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense, suspense
review:
Nicely detailed Maine setting and two strong-willed protagonists, but the romantic setup is rather depressingly close to that of Neggers's recent Saint's Gate. I probably would have enjoyed this a little more if there had been more time between my reading this and that; as it was, I kept thinking about how Neggers was repeating herself.
]]> <![CDATA[Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight (The Duke's Daughters, #3; Windham, #6)]]> 18940739 'Tis the Season for Scandal...

Years ago Lady Louisa Windham acted rashly on a dare from her brother, and that indiscretion is about to come to light. She knows her reputation will never survive exposure. Just as she's nearly overwhelmed by her dilemma, Sir Joseph Carrington offers himself to her as a solution...

But Sir Joseph has secrets as well, and as he and Louisa become entangled with each other, their deceptions begin to close in on them both...]]> 365 Grace Burrowes 1402268645 Joy 3 21c, american, romance 4.22 2012 Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight (The Duke's Daughters, #3; Windham, #6)
author: Grace Burrowes
name: Joy
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2013/08/04
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:

]]> Kiss the Moon 10396090
Rumors of her discovery bring Wyatt Sinclair to Cold Spring, determined to put to rest a family scandal and learn what really happened to his legendary uncle, who had disappeared with his adventuress lover years earlier.

As Wyatt and Penelope investigate, old motives are uncovered and new ones created, including a growing attraction between the pair. But when an unknown enemy emerges with a violence rooted in desperation, uncovering the truth will be far less problematic than surviving it.]]> 380 Carla Neggers 1426884281 Joy 2 4.16 1999 Kiss the Moon
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1999
rating: 2
read at: 2011/12/02
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: 20c, romance, romantic-suspense
review:

]]> <![CDATA[No More Dying Then (Inspector Wexford #6)]]> 8736396 No More Dying Then is Rendell at her most chillingly astute.With her Inspector Wexford novels, Ruth Rendell, winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, has added layers of depth, realism and unease to the classic English mystery. For the canny, tireless, and unflappable policeman is an unblinking observer of human nature, whose study has taught him that under certain circumstances the most unlikely people are capable of the most appalling crimes.]]> 226 Ruth Rendell 0307558649 Joy 3 british, 20c, mystery 4.16 1971 No More Dying Then (Inspector Wexford #6)
author: Ruth Rendell
name: Joy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1971
rating: 3
read at: 2012/01/20
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: british, 20c, mystery
review:
I don't love Rendell's Inspector Wexford mysteries to find and read all of them in order, but they're something I do like to pick up here and there when I'm in a mood for a procedural. It's interesting how much of the story here is timeless (the reactions to the missing children, some of the interpersonal stuff), and how much of it is so dated (the assumptions about and attitudes toward women). Not the best mystery novel ever, but good as airplane reading.
]]> <![CDATA[Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid, #2)]]> 17409133 1. Any creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven scientifically. Term officially coined by cryptozoologist John E. Wall in 1983.
2. That thing that's getting ready to eat your head.
3. See also: "monster."

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity--and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn't quite work out that way...

But now, with the snake cult that was killing virgins all over Manhattan finally taken care of, Verity is ready to settle down for some serious ballroom dancing—until her on-again, off-again, semi-boyfriend Dominic De Luca, a member of the monster-hunting Covenant of St. George, informs her that the Covenant is on their way to assess the city's readiness for a cryptid purge. With everything and everyone she loves on the line, there's no way Verity can take that lying down.

Alliances will be tested, allies will be questioned, lives will be lost, and the talking mice in Verity's apartment will immortalize everything as holy writ--assuming there's anyone left standing when all is said and done. It's a midnight blue-light special, and the sale of the day is on betrayal, deceit...and carnage.]]> 369 Seanan McGuire 1101635452 Joy 3 4.18 2013 Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid, #2)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/23
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> Dust to Dust 40932326 Sorry. The single word was written on a mirror. In front of it hung the Minneapolis Internal Affairs cop. Was it suicide? Or a kinky act turned tragic?Either way, it wasn’t murder. At least not according to the powers that be. But veteran homicide detective Sam Kovac and his wisecracking, ambitious partner Nikki Liska think differently. Together they begin to dig at the too-neat edges of the young cop’s death, uncovering one motive and one suspect after another. The shadows of suspicion fall not only on the city’s elite, but into the very heart of the police department. Someone wants the case closed–quickly and forever. But neither Kovac nor Liska will give up. Now both their careers and their lives are on the line. From a murder case two months old to another case closed for twenty years, Kovac and Liska must unearth a connection the killer wants dead and buried. A killer who will stop at absolutely nothing to keep a dark and shattering secret . . .From the Paperback edition.]]> 512 Tami Hoag 0553898485 Joy 2 suspense, american 4.36 2000 Dust to Dust
author: Tami Hoag
name: Joy
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at: 2015/12/24
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: suspense, american
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Red-Rose Chain (October Daye, #9)]]> 24697990
For the first time in what feels like years, October “Toby� Daye has been able to pause long enough to take a breath and look at her life—and she likes what she sees. She has friends. She has allies. She has a squire to train and a King of Cats to love, and maybe, just maybe, she can let her guard down for a change.

Or not. When Queen Windermere’s seneschal is elf-shot and thrown into an enchanted sleep by agents from the neighboring Kingdom of Silences, Toby finds herself in a role she never expected to play: that of a diplomat. She must travel to Portland, Oregon, to convince King Rhys of Silences not to go to war against the Mists. But nothing is that simple, and what October finds in Silences is worse than she would ever have imagined.

How far will Toby go when lives are on the line, and when allies both old and new are threatened by a force she had never expected to face again? How much is October willing to give up, and how much is she willing to change? In Faerie, what’s past is never really gone.

It’s just waiting for an opportunity to pounce.]]> 368 Seanan McGuire 1101601787 Joy 4 4.43 2015 A Red-Rose Chain (October Daye, #9)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/09/01
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Finnikin of the Rock (Lumatere Chronicles, #1)]]> 8757361
Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance . . . and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father.

But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her . . . but in himself.]]> 417 Melina Marchetta 0763651753 Joy 5
This definitely reads like fantasy written by someone who is not steeped in the genre, and that's both a good and bad thing. The worldbuilding feels very generic Eurofantasy; this is not a book that I'll be telling someone to read because the setting is so cool. (I especially winced at the depiction of the spirit warriors...) At the same time, a lot of traditional fantasy is so much about the worldbuilding that it makes my eyes glaze over: that doesn't happen here.

This is plot- and character-driven writing. The two lead characters, Finnikin and Evanjalin, are both charismatic--especially Evanjalin. They are exiles/refugees who actually feel like such; their angst doesn't feel pasted on. There are many thoughtful details in the characterization and plotting about the costs of war and what it means to be a survivor of war and/or violence. I also especially like some of the things that Marchetta does with gender in the second half of the book; I wasn't watching out for it at the beginning and didn't even notice she was doing it until it had become a major theme in the book.

Am looking forward to reading more of Marchetta's books! It's probably a good thing that I have Jellicoe Road lined up on my iPhone.]]> 3.92 2008 Finnikin of the Rock (Lumatere Chronicles, #1)
author: Melina Marchetta
name: Joy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2011/02/27
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: 21c, australian, fantasy, teen, favorites
review:
I read most of this book in one long sitting (on a train trip), and as soon as I was finished, I began flipping back to earlier bits to reread them in light of what I now knew.

This definitely reads like fantasy written by someone who is not steeped in the genre, and that's both a good and bad thing. The worldbuilding feels very generic Eurofantasy; this is not a book that I'll be telling someone to read because the setting is so cool. (I especially winced at the depiction of the spirit warriors...) At the same time, a lot of traditional fantasy is so much about the worldbuilding that it makes my eyes glaze over: that doesn't happen here.

This is plot- and character-driven writing. The two lead characters, Finnikin and Evanjalin, are both charismatic--especially Evanjalin. They are exiles/refugees who actually feel like such; their angst doesn't feel pasted on. There are many thoughtful details in the characterization and plotting about the costs of war and what it means to be a survivor of war and/or violence. I also especially like some of the things that Marchetta does with gender in the second half of the book; I wasn't watching out for it at the beginning and didn't even notice she was doing it until it had become a major theme in the book.

Am looking forward to reading more of Marchetta's books! It's probably a good thing that I have Jellicoe Road lined up on my iPhone.
]]> The Best Man (Blue Heron #1) 17189502 Sometimes
The Best Man
Is The One
You Least Expect...

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she’s ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family’s vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there’s some great scenery there....

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief - and best friend of her former fiancé. There’s a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it’s not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she’s having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.]]> 431 Kristan Higgins 1460306457 Joy 3 21c, american, romance 4.12 2013 The Best Man (Blue Heron #1)
author: Kristan Higgins
name: Joy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2014/05/19
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[River Marked (Mercy Thompson, #6)]]> 10631790 Ěý
Being a different breed of shapeshifter—a walker—Mercy can see ghosts, but the spirit of her long-gone father has never visited her. Until now. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River—and innocent people are dying. As other walkers make their presence known to Mercy, she must reconnect with her heritage to exorcise the world of the legend known as the river devil.]]> 337 Patricia Briggs 1101475552 Joy 3 4.40 2011 River Marked (Mercy Thompson, #6)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Joy
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2012/04/04
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, urban-fantasy
review:
This benefits a good deal from taking Mercy and Adam out of the Tri-Cities area and mostly away from the usual cast of supporting characters. I wasn't wowed by the use of Native American legend, but appreciated the variation on the usual formulas.
]]> <![CDATA[The Carriage House (Carriage House, #1)]]> 6494779
Then Ike disappears and Tess finds herself with much more than a simple weekend project to get her out of the city. It's not just the rumors that the carriage house is haunted—it's the six-year-old Dolly Thorne, her reclusive babysitter, Harley Beckett…and especially Dolly's father, Andrew Thorne, who has his own ideas about why Tess has turned up next door.

But when Tess discovers a human skeleton in her dirt cellar, she begins to ask questions about the history of the carriage house, the untimely death of Andrew's wife…and Ike's disappearance. Questions a desperate killer wants to silence before the truth reveals that someone got away with murder.]]> 362 Carla Neggers 1426828896 Joy 2 3.86 2001 The Carriage House (Carriage House, #1)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2001
rating: 2
read at: 2011/11/28
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: 21c, american, suspense, romantic-suspense
review:
Not Neggers's best work, but also not her worst: if that's not damning with faint praise, I don't know what is! The suspense plot was...not very suspenseful, since it was pretty obvious who the villain was from the start. However, I liked how the missing Ike Grantham was such a vivid figure for someone who turns out to be dead for most of the book.
]]> <![CDATA[Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3)]]> 6584407 321 Patricia Briggs 1101128518 Joy 2 4.43 2008 Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Joy
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 2012/04/01
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: 21c, american, paranormal, fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Winter Long (October Daye, #8)]]> 20945704 368 Seanan McGuire 1101601752 Joy 4 4.47 2014 The Winter Long (October Daye, #8)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/09/04
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: 21c, american, urban-fantasy, fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Aftermath (Inspector Banks, #12)]]> 8355181 New York Times bestselling and Edgar award-winning author Peter Robinson comes this brilliant novel of suspense—a thrilling tale of family secrets and past evils that have spread from one generation to another and wreaked havoc on an unsuspecting town.

One phone call from a concerned neighbor has inadvertently led police to Terence Payne, the elusive serial killer known only as "Chameleon." Now Payne is in custody, perhaps dying, and a long nightmare appears to be over at last. But is it?

For Alan Banks � currently head of the local police force � too many questions remain unanswered at the chamber of horrors the press will dub the "House of Payne." Because the darkness has not yet lifted, the casualties are still mounting...and there are still monsters loose in the world.

Showcasing the dark forces of human nature, master of suspense Peter Robinson is at the height of his storytelling powers in a novel that will leave readers guessing until the final page.]]> 480 Peter Robinson 0061803855 Joy 4 21c, british, mystery, ebook 4.16 2001 Aftermath (Inspector Banks, #12)
author: Peter Robinson
name: Joy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/25
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: 21c, british, mystery, ebook
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Half-Off Ragnarok (InCryptid, #3)]]> 18486250
Worse yet, the bodies have all been turned partially to stone...

The third book in the InCryptid series takes us to a new location and a new member of the family, as Alex tries to balance life, work, and the strong desire not to become a piece of garden statuary. Old friends and new are on the scene, and danger lurks around every corner.

Of course, so do the talking mice.]]> 368 Seanan McGuire 1101602384 Joy 3 21c, american, fantasy 4.12 2014 Half-Off Ragnarok (InCryptid, #3)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/23
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Widow (Ireland Series, #1)]]> 6539237
That's the question that has haunted Abigail, now a homicide detective, for the past seven years. Determined to find her husband's killer, she returns to the foggy Maine island after receiving an anonymous tip. Is it just another false lead, or can she finally prove that Chris was murdered?

Owen Garrison, the search-and-rescue worker who located Chris too late to save him, still carries guilt from that fateful night. As he helps Abigail unravel the mystery, they learn that the layers of deceit and lies are even thicker than they could have imagined. Now it's up to Abigail and Owen to keep pushing for the truth—and stop a killer from striking again�.]]> 352 Carla Neggers 1426809417 Joy 2 The Mist). Abigail Browning's FBI agent husband was murdered on their honeymoon; seven years later, a series of anonymous phone calls sends her back to the small Maine town where her late husband grew up on a renewed quest for answers.

I didn't find the course of the romance entirely convincing, and as usual, you can figure out who the villain is by the simple process of elimination (some candidates are too obvious, others too peripheral to ultimately be such a central figure), but the small town setting is nicely evoked.]]> 3.58 2006 The Widow (Ireland Series, #1)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 2011/12/02
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense, suspense
review:
Better than I expected, though my expectations were quite low, as a later book in this series is a hot mess (The Mist). Abigail Browning's FBI agent husband was murdered on their honeymoon; seven years later, a series of anonymous phone calls sends her back to the small Maine town where her late husband grew up on a renewed quest for answers.

I didn't find the course of the romance entirely convincing, and as usual, you can figure out who the villain is by the simple process of elimination (some candidates are too obvious, others too peripheral to ultimately be such a central figure), but the small town setting is nicely evoked.
]]> Until There Was You 12514193
When Posey was sixteen, the bad boy of Bellsford, New Hampshire, broke her heart. But now he's back, sending Posey's traitorous schoolgirl heart into overdrive once again. She should be giving him a wide berth, but it seems fate has other ideas.]]> 384 Kristan Higgins 1459215257 Joy 2 21c, american, romance 4.07 2011 Until There Was You
author: Kristan Higgins
name: Joy
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2014/05/18
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Truth or Dare (Whispering Springs, #2)]]> 8160847 409 Jayne Ann Krentz 1101214767 Joy 3 4.46 2003 Truth or Dare (Whispering Springs, #2)
author: Jayne Ann Krentz
name: Joy
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2011/11/25
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense, romance
review:
Thought I'd already booklogged this one, but apparently I was wrong! This one has likable, if a bit overly quirky characters, and a fairly standard suspense plot that picks up on threads from the previous book in this duology. There's also some very faint paranormal elements: this could easily have been an Arcane book, and you can see how Krentz is definitely revisiting themes from her earlier works in that particular series.
]]> <![CDATA[Ashes of Honor (October Daye, #6)]]> 10184345
To make matters worse, Toby’s just been asked to find another missing child…only this time it’s the changeling daughter of her fellow knight, Etienne, who didn’t even know he was a father until the girl went missing. Her name is Chelsea. She’s a teleporter, like her father. She’s also the kind of changeling the old stories warn about, the ones with all the strength and none of the control. She’s opening doors that were never meant to be opened, releasing dangers that were sealed away centuries before—and there’s a good chance she could destroy Faerie if she isn’t stopped.

Now Toby must find Chelsea before time runs out, racing against an unknown deadline and through unknown worlds as she and her allies try to avert disaster. But danger is also stirring in the Court of Cats, and Tybalt may need Toby’s help with the biggest challenge he’s ever faced.

Toby thought the last year was bad. She has no idea.]]> 363 Seanan McGuire 1101594802 Joy 3 4.37 2012 Ashes of Honor (October Daye, #6)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2012/12/17
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: 21c, fantasy, urban-fantasy, ebook
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Surprising Lord Jack (Duchess of Love, #2)]]> 17840744 Unladylike Behavior

Frances Hadley has managed her family's estate for years. So why can't she request her own dowry? She'll have to go to London herself and knock some sense into the men interfering in her life. With the nonsense she's dealt with lately, though, there's no way she's going as a woman. A pair of breeches and a quick chop of her red curls, and she'll have much less to worry about...

Jack Valentine, third son of the famous Duchess of Love, is through being pursued by pushy young ladies. One particularly determined miss has run him out of his own house party. Luckily the inn has one bed left--Jack just has to share with a rather entertaining red-headed youth. Perhaps the two of them should ride to London together. It will make a pleasant escape from his mother's matchmaking melodrama!]]> 343 Sally MacKenzie 1420132024 Joy 2 21c, american, romance 3.96 2013 Surprising Lord Jack (Duchess of Love, #2)
author: Sally MacKenzie
name: Joy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2014/02/02
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Night's Landing (Cold Ridge/U.S. Marshals, #2)]]> 8162395
Archaeologist Sarah Dunnemore is prepared for almost anything when she returns to her family home in Night's Landing, Tennessee...except the news that her twin brother, Rob, has just been seriously wounded in a sniper attack in Central Park. She rushes to New York to be with him, only to come up against no-nonsense Nate Winter, who was slightly wounded in the attack. In his work as a deputy U.S. marshal, Nate is the best, but he's willing to break the rules to track down his and Rob's would-be killer. Nate believes the official investigation is going in the wrong direction--especially when he learns that Sarah is like a surrogate daughter and a confidante to her family's famous Night's Landing neighbor--the president of the United States.

When Nate suspects that Sarah has held back crucial information, he follows her to Night's Landing. Because Nate will let nothing--not his and Sarah's growing attraction for each other, not the mounting danger they face--stand in the way of the truth. But in a place filled with betrayal, greed and long-held secrets, truth is guarded with a deadly vengeance.]]> 384 Carla Neggers 1426828934 Joy 2 4.04 2004 Night's Landing (Cold Ridge/U.S. Marshals, #2)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2004
rating: 2
read at: 2011/12/10
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense, romance, suspense
review:
Not one of Neggers's best efforts: the plot's a hot mess, with so many subplots that the central characters and their romance don't shine.
]]> <![CDATA[Legacy Of The Dead (Inspector Ian Rutledge, #4)]]> 8202548 386 Charles Todd 0307418219 Joy 3 An Impartial Witness. Perhaps it was my bad luck to pick up the two books where Todd repeats themselves in such quick succession.]]> 4.38 2000 Legacy Of The Dead (Inspector Ian Rutledge, #4)
author: Charles Todd
name: Joy
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2011/01/23
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: 21c, american, historical-fiction, mystery, world-war-i
review:
Fourth book in the Ian Rutledge series. I don't think I like these quite as much as the Bess Crawford ones--the central conceit of Hamish doesn't work for me--but this is still a pretty strong mystery novel. As with Todd's other books, the whole is better than the sum of the parts; there's enough historical detail and interesting characterization to make up for some transparencies and conveniences in the actual mystery. That said, I found the whole "innocent person insisting they are guilty" bit to be a bit tired so soon after reading An Impartial Witness. Perhaps it was my bad luck to pick up the two books where Todd repeats themselves in such quick succession.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mapping of Love and Death (Maisie Dobbs, #7)]]> 8174093
August 1914. Michael Clifton is mapping the land he has just purchased in California's beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, certain that oil lies beneath its surface. But as the young cartographer prepares to return home to Boston, war is declared in Europe. Michael—the youngest son of an expatriate Englishman—puts duty first and sails for his father's native country to serve in the British army. Three years later, he is listed among those missing in action.

April 1932. London psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs is retained by Michael's parents, who have recently learned that their son's remains have been unearthed in France. They want Maisie to find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were among Michael's belongings—a quest that takes Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime love. Her inquiries, and the stunning discovery that Michael Clifton was murdered in his trench, unleash a web of intrigue and violence that threatens to engulf the soldier's family and even Maisie herself. Over the course of her investigation, Maisie must cope with the approaching loss of her mentor, Maurice Blanche, and her growing awareness that she is once again falling in love.

Following the critically acclaimed bestseller Among the Mad, The Mapping of Love and Death delivers the most gripping and satisfying chapter yet in the life of Maisie Dobbs.]]> 482 Jacqueline Winspear 0061987875 Joy 3
There's a lot going on in Maisie's personal life in this volume, which is a partly satisfying and partly frustrating--one major strand doesn't pack the emotional punch that I wish it did.

This is a series that I'll continue to dip into here or there, but it's not enough to my liking for me to be completist about it.]]> 4.54 2010 The Mapping of Love and Death (Maisie Dobbs, #7)
author: Jacqueline Winspear
name: Joy
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/03
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: 21c, british, historical-fiction, mystery
review:
This is one of those mystery series where the whodunit is less important than the characters and their relationships. In general, that is right up my alley...but nevertheless, I have enough of an interest in the whodunit part of the story to be frustrated when it is so predictable. So read these books for the mood rather than the plot.

There's a lot going on in Maisie's personal life in this volume, which is a partly satisfying and partly frustrating--one major strand doesn't pack the emotional punch that I wish it did.

This is a series that I'll continue to dip into here or there, but it's not enough to my liking for me to be completist about it.
]]> <![CDATA[An Artificial Night (October Daye #3)]]> 9314023 October "Toby" Daye is a changeling-half human and half fae-and the only one who has earned knighthood. Now she must take on a nightmarish new challenge. Someone is stealing the children of the fae as well as mortal children, and all signs point to Blind Michael. Toby has no choice but to track the villain down-even when there are only three magical roads by which to reach Blind Michael's realm, home of the Wild Hunt-and no road may be taken more than once. If Toby cannot escape with the children, she will fall prey to the Wild Hunt and Blind Michael's inescapable power.]]> 368 Seanan McGuire 110144276X Joy 4 4.26 2010 An Artificial Night (October Daye #3)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2015/09/05
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, urban-fantasy
review:
Hmm, apparently I never logged this when I first read it, so I will log this fall's re-read!
]]> <![CDATA[Stonebrook Cottage (Carriage House, #3)]]> 6617209 384 Carla Neggers 1426828918 Joy 2 4.02 2002 Stonebrook Cottage (Carriage House, #3)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2002
rating: 2
read at: 2011/12/01
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: 21c, american, romance, romantic-suspense
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Canyons of Night (Arcane Society, #12; Harmony, #8; Looking Glass Trilogy, #3)]]> 11548308
They met several years ago when they were in their teens spending the summer on the island. Slade saved Charlotte from a gang of drunken toughs, but then at the end of the summer Slade and Charlotte went their separate ways and started their adult lives.

Now, fifteen years later, they have both been drawn back to Rainshadow Island. They will discover the adult passion they have for each other and start to explore some of the mysteries of the forbidden section of the island known only as the Preserve.]]> 371 Jayne Castle 1101543604 Joy 2 4.36 2011 Canyons of Night (Arcane Society, #12; Harmony, #8; Looking Glass Trilogy, #3)
author: Jayne Castle
name: Joy
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2011/09/01
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: 21c, american, romance, paranormal, romantic-suspense
review:
I found the last two Arcane books to be underwhelming (even in comparison to my not-super-high expectations), but this was an improvement. (Which is somewhat surprising, since the Harmony books are usually the silliest ones.) Anyway, I think this benefited from having few Guild-shenanigans (I think that territory has been very thoroughly covered in earlier books) and different setting from earlier books. And the romance was between two people who had a meaningful history, rather than two people pretty much thrown together by the contrivances of the suspense plot. Overall, a pleasant enough end of summer read.
]]> <![CDATA[Feet of Clay (Discworld, #19; City Watch, #3)]]> 6567840 371 Terry Pratchett 0061807028 Joy 3 20c, british, fantasy, humor 4.51 1996 Feet of Clay (Discworld, #19; City Watch, #3)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Joy
average rating: 4.51
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at: 2013/05/05
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: 20c, british, fantasy, humor
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death Echo (St. Kilda Consulting, #5)]]> 40695286 This is an updated cover of this Kindle edition. *

When she joined St. Kilda's, the elite security consulting firm, Emma Cross thought she'd left behind the blood, the guilt, and the Tribal Wars that defined her life at the CIA. Yet trading spying for investigating yacht thefts didn't alleviate the danger. Now, the same good instincts that got her into trouble at the agency might be the one thing that will help her survive her latest case.

St. Kilda and Emma are tracking a yacht named Blackbird. Emma knows the boat's intended cargo is lethal. What she needs to find out is whether it's biological, chemical, or fissionable. And she's only got seven days to uncover the truth . . . or a major American city will be lost. Fortunately, she's working with a new partner as menacing and distrustful as the worst enemy she's ever faced—Mackenzie Durand.

But Emma and Mac aren't the only eyes watching Blackbird. Taras Demidov, an expert in extortion and execution in the pay of oligarchs running the Former Soviet Union, is also waiting in the shadows, determined to intercept a fearsomely powerful arms dealer with the money, weaponry, and connections to alter the geopolitical balance.

]]> 576 Elizabeth Lowell 0061997986 Joy 3
Much more suspense than romance in this novel, though the romance doesn't make for a bad subplot. Though the threat here is pretty much run of the mill for a suspense novel (I have to say the phrase "dirty bomb" now instantly makes me think of the tv show Spooks), the execution is mostly pleasing. I liked the details of the yachting/Pacific NW setting, and the warm attraction between Emma and Mac. I do wish, however, that Lowell didn't rely quite so much on the plot device of "agents who are attracted to each other must pretend to be involved to completely their mission"; it's getting a wee bit tired.]]> 4.33 2010 Death Echo (St. Kilda Consulting, #5)
author: Elizabeth Lowell
name: Joy
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2011/03/05
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense, suspense
review:
Emma Cross's easy assignment to discover the whereabouts of a stolen yacht takes a turn for the serious when terrorists attempt to use a dead ringer for the missing yacht as a vessel for a dirty bomb. To avoid disaster, she'll have to join forces with Mac Durand, a transit captain with a background in special ops.

Much more suspense than romance in this novel, though the romance doesn't make for a bad subplot. Though the threat here is pretty much run of the mill for a suspense novel (I have to say the phrase "dirty bomb" now instantly makes me think of the tv show Spooks), the execution is mostly pleasing. I liked the details of the yachting/Pacific NW setting, and the warm attraction between Emma and Mac. I do wish, however, that Lowell didn't rely quite so much on the plot device of "agents who are attracted to each other must pretend to be involved to completely their mission"; it's getting a wee bit tired.
]]> <![CDATA[Saint's Gate (Sharpe & Donovan, #1)]]> 12245387
Colin Donovan is one of the FBI's most valuable assets--a deep-cover agent who prefers to go it alone. He's back home in Maine after wrapping up his latest mission, but his friend Father Bracken presents him with an intrigue of murder, art heists and a convent's long-held secrets that's too tempting to resist. As the danger spirals closer, he's certain of only one thing--the very intriguing Emma Sharpe is at the center of it all.

A ruthless killer has Emma and Colin in the crosshairs, plunging them into a race against time and drawing them deeper into a twisted legacy of betrayal and deceit.]]> 400 Carla Neggers 1459211804 Joy 3
This is romantic-suspense but light on the romance and heavy on the suspense. It seems to benefit from that particular balance, at least compared to some of Neggers's other books, which suffer from a scattered focus because she tries to follow half the romantic entanglements of a small town. This book also takes place primarily in New England (Boston and Maine), which a short jaunt to Ireland, and promises to be the first in a series. Overall, a fast, entertaining read; reminds me of some of Elizabeth Lowell's St. Kilda's books.]]> 3.72 2011 Saint's Gate (Sharpe & Donovan, #1)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2011/11/27
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense, suspense
review:
The murder of a nun and the disappearance of a painting brings FBI agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan into an uneasy partnership. Sharpe is a relative newbie of an agent, whose expertise in art theft makes her perhaps better suited for a desk than the field, while Donovan has been undercover so long that some of his colleagues think he is dead.

This is romantic-suspense but light on the romance and heavy on the suspense. It seems to benefit from that particular balance, at least compared to some of Neggers's other books, which suffer from a scattered focus because she tries to follow half the romantic entanglements of a small town. This book also takes place primarily in New England (Boston and Maine), which a short jaunt to Ireland, and promises to be the first in a series. Overall, a fast, entertaining read; reminds me of some of Elizabeth Lowell's St. Kilda's books.
]]> <![CDATA[Somebody To Love (Gideon's Cove, #3)]]> 13502790 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Kristan Higgins is back with a hilarious and heartwarming new story about a rich girl who discovers that a little hard work may be just the thing she needs�.

After her father loses the family fortune in an insider trading scheme, single mom Parker Welles is faced with some hard decisions. First order of go to Gideon's Cove, Maine, to sell the only thing she now owns—a decrepit house in need of some serious flipping. When her father’s wingman, James Cahill, asks to go with her, she's not thrilled…even if he is fairly gorgeous and knows his way around a toolbox.

Having to fend for herself financially for the first time in her life, Parker signs on as a florist’s assistant and starts to find out who she really is. Maybe James isn't the glib lawyer she always thought he was. And maybe the house isn't the only thing that needs a little TLC�.]]> 432 Kristan Higgins 1459226992 Joy 2 21c, american, romance 4.08 2012 Somebody To Love (Gideon's Cove, #3)
author: Kristan Higgins
name: Joy
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2014/05/17
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spell Bound (Women of the Otherworld, #12)]]> 7797032 352 Kelley Armstrong 1841498076 Joy 2 4.24 2011 Spell Bound (Women of the Otherworld, #12)
author: Kelley Armstrong
name: Joy
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2012/01/09
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves: 21c, canadian, fantasy, paranormal, urban-fantasy
review:
Again, I would have expected a Savannah-POV novel to have more spark than this did. Also, for a book advertising the return of other beloved characters from the Otherworld series, they were sadly minimal presences in the story: this is still very much Savannah's narrative.
]]> <![CDATA[Spell Bound (Women of the Otherworld #12)]]> 11814912
Powerless and on the run from witch-hunting assassins, Savannah stumbles upon a gathering storm that threatens the very existence of the Otherworld. The danger is real, and Savannah must somehow join forces with old friends like Elena, Clay, Paige, Lucas, Jaime, and Hope to face their world's greatest threat-and one that just might come from within.]]> 354 Kelley Armstrong 1101535474 Joy 2 4.29 2011 Spell Bound (Women of the Otherworld #12)
author: Kelley Armstrong
name: Joy
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves:
review:
Again, I would have expected a Savannah-POV novel to have more spark than this did. Also, for a book advertising the return of other beloved characters from the Otherworld series, they were sadly minimal presences in the story: this is still very much Savannah's narrative.
]]> Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, #1) 8141390 #1 New York TimesĚýbestselling authorĚýPatricia Briggs presents the first Alpha and Omega novel—the start of an extraordinary series set in Mercy Thompson’s world, but with rules of its own...Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack…and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country is about to recognize her value as a pack member—and as his mate.]]> 321 Patricia Briggs 144063081X Joy 3 21c, fantasy, paranormal 4.28 2008 Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, #1)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Joy
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2012/04/07
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves: 21c, fantasy, paranormal
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Discount Armageddon (InCryptid, #1)]]> 13345605 368 Seanan McGuire 1101576871 Joy 3 4.01 2012 Discount Armageddon (InCryptid, #1)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/22
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> Jaran (Jaran, #1) 18371527 A woman seeks her destiny among a clan of nomadic warriors trapped in interstellar intrigue.

In the past, humans were the dominant star-traveling species in the universe—until the Chapalil came, conquered, and absorbed the Earth into their intergalactic empire.

One of the only humans ever granted nobility by the Chapalil, Charles Soerenson once led a failed rebellion against the alien overlords. Now his sister, Terese, has abandoned her homeworld, impelled by a broken heart to seek a new life among the worlds her brother rules.

On Rhui, a planet off-limits to interstellar voyagers, Tess inadvertently stumbles upon a dangerous Chapalil conspiracy—and only the timely arrival of the Jaran saves her from near-certain death in the wilderness. A tribe of nomadic humans roaming the plains of Rhui, the Jaran have long forgotten their ancient Earth history and heritage. Intrigued by their world and their ways, Tess shares an immediate emotional connection with Ilya, the Jaran’s brilliant, charismatic leader, a man of extraordinary passion and vision.

But despite her growing loyalties to this proud chieftain and his people, Tess must take care. For Ilya’s ambitions threaten to trigger violent planetary upheaval. And the Jaran have been chosen to play an unwitting role in a plot that could have powerful repercussions far beyond the nomads� volatile world.

The first book in Kate Elliott’s acclaimed Novels of the Jaran, this masterful science fiction classic combines rich characterization and world-building with adventure, intrigue, and romance. It is both a magnificent introduction to a compelling universe and a stellar standalone reading experience.

Jaran is the first volume of the Novels of the Jaran, which continues with An Earthly Crown, His Conquering Sword, and The Law of Becoming]]> 494 Kate Elliott 1480435414 Joy 0 4.06 1992 Jaran (Jaran, #1)
author: Kate Elliott
name: Joy
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at: 2015/10/11
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: 20c, american, science-fiction
review:

]]> An Earthly Crown (Jaran, #2) 19196791
In the second book of Kate Elliott’s Novels of the Jaran, Tess Soerensen is pulled between two powerful men—her brother and her husband—and their competing revolutions

On the planet Rhui, the nomadic tribes of the jaran are uniting the settled cities of their homeland one by one. Their charismatic leader, Ilya Bakhtiian, has his loyal wife by his side, but there is something about her he doesn’t Tess Soerensen is a human. And not just any human—back home, her brother, Charles, led an unsuccessful revolt against the all-powerful Chapalii empire. Even though Charles was later made a duke in the Chapalii system, his revolutionary bent has not faded, and he is traveling to Rhui to locate Tess and uncover precious information about a past insurgency. Charles’s insistence that Tess join him is as strong as Ilya’s reluctance to part with his beloved wife—and neither considers that Tess may have her own plans for the future. As three fiercely independent spirits struggle for a solution, the fates of both the human race and the jaran hang in the balance.
ĚýAn Earthly Crown is the second volume of the Novels of the Jaran, which also includeĚýJaran, His Conquering Sword, and The Law of Becoming.Ěý
]]> 515 Kate Elliott 1480435333 Joy 0 3.97 1993 An Earthly Crown (Jaran, #2)
author: Kate Elliott
name: Joy
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at: 2015/10/12
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: 20c, american, science-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Local Habitation (October Daye, #2)]]> 7884731
Toby Daye-a half-human, half-fae changeling-has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating to a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world had other ideas...

Now her liege, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills, has asked Toby to go to the Country of Tamed Lightening to make sure all is well with his niece, Countess January O'Leary. It seems like a simple enough assignment-until Toby discovers that someone has begun murdering people close to January, and that if the killer isn't stopped, January may be the next victim.]]> 390 Seanan McGuire 1101171731 Joy 3 4.04 2010 A Local Habitation (October Daye, #2)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Joy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2012/12/09
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: 21c, fantasy, urban-fantasy, ebook
review:

]]> Think Like a Cat 12190339 A fully revised and updated edition of the bestselling feline behavior bible. There are approximately eighty-five million cats owned as pets in the United States alone. And-thanks to her regular appearances in the media and at veterinary conferences and humane organizations-most of their owners already recognize Pam Johnson-Bennett as the authority on all things feline.The award-winning author and host of Animal Planet UK's Psycho Kitty, has continued to refine her work and techniques. From basic health care to more serious behavioral issues, from training cats to use a scratching post to avoiding litter box problems this newly revised edition of Think Like a Cat covers all of a cat parent's most pressing concerns-and solidifies its position as the topic leader for years to come.]]> 434 Pam Johnson-Bennett 1101552670 Joy 0 pets 4.08 2000 Think Like a Cat
author: Pam Johnson-Bennett
name: Joy
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at: 2018/04/26
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: pets
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Waking the Witch (Women of the Otherworld, #11)]]> 8700331 337 Kelley Armstrong 1101434872 Joy 2 4.26 2010 Waking the Witch (Women of the Otherworld, #11)
author: Kelley Armstrong
name: Joy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2012/01/07
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: 21c, canadian, fantasy, paranormal, urban-fantasy
review:
I expected a Savannah-POV book to be more fun than this turned out to be.
]]> <![CDATA[Only a Kiss (The Survivors' Club, #6)]]> 24563495 The Survivors� Six men and one woman, injured in the Napoleonic Wars, their friendships forged in steel and loyalty. But for one, her trials are not over....Since witnessing the death of her husband during the wars, Imogen, Lady Barclay, has secluded herself in the confines of Hardford Hall, their home in Cornwall. The new owner has failed to take up his inheritance, and Imogen desperately hopes he will never come to disturb her fragile peace.Percival Hayes, Earl of Hardford, has no interest in the wilds of Cornwall, but when he impulsively decides to pay a visit to his estate there, he is shocked to discover that it is not the ruined heap he had expected. He is equally shocked to find the beautiful widow of his predecessor’s son living there.Soon Imogen awakens in Percy a passion he has never thought himself capable of feeling. But can he save her from her misery and reawaken her soul? And what will it mean for him if he succeeds?]]> 400 Mary Balogh 0698156102 Joy 3 21c, romance 4.32 2015 Only a Kiss (The Survivors' Club, #6)
author: Mary Balogh
name: Joy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2015/11/11
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: 21c, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5)]]> 7891248 351 Patricia Briggs 1101186119 Joy 3 4.44 2010 Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Joy
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2012/04/03
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: 21c, american, fantasy, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Dilly of a Death (China Bayles, #12)]]> 6496749 338 Susan Wittig Albert 1440622019 Joy 3 21c, american, mystery 4.23 2004 A Dilly of a Death (China Bayles, #12)
author: Susan Wittig Albert
name: Joy
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2011/12/05
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves: 21c, american, mystery
review:
It was good to return to this series after a short break; what has previously felt tired felt fresh and amusing again here. I am embarrassed to admit that I was especially amused by all the terrible puns and jokes that China inflicts on McQuaid. The mystery is fairly transparent [spoilers removed] but the charm of these books has never been the whodunit.
]]> <![CDATA[Men at Arms (Discworld, #15; City Watch, #2)]]> 6567844
The fate of Ankh-Morpork and the Discworld itself rests on the unlikely shoulders of newly promoted Corporal Carrot and his hapless charges in the City Watch in this wildly wacky Discworld novel from the legendary New York Times bestselling author Terry Pratchett.

Corporal Carrot has been promoted and is now in charge of the new recruits guarding Ankh-Morpork from Barbarian Tribes, Miscellaneous Marauders, unlicensed Thieves, and other dangerous Discworld denizens. It’s a big job for an adopted dwarf keeping the likes of young coppers Lance-constable Cuddy (really a dwarf), Lance-constable Detritus (a troll), Lance-constable Angua (a woman) and Corporal Nobbs (disqualified from the human race for shoving) in line.

Especially since someone in Ankh-Morpork has been getting dangerous ideas about crowns and legendary swords, and destiny—which points its crooked finger again when an ancient document reveals that Ankh-Morpork has a secret sovereign . . . and his name is Carrot.

It’s the beginning of the most awesome epic encounter of all time (or at least all afternoon), in which the fate of a city—indeed of the universe itself!—depends on a young man’s courage, an ancient sword’s magic, and a three-legged poodle’s bladder.

The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Men at Arms is the 2nd in the City Watch collection and the 15th Discworld book.

The City Watch series in

Guards! Guards!Men at ArmsFeet of ClayJingoThe Fifth ElephantNight WatchThud!Snuff]]> 387 Terry Pratchett 0061804711 Joy 3 20c, british, fantasy, humor 4.59 1993 Men at Arms (Discworld, #15; City Watch, #2)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Joy
average rating: 4.59
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at: 2013/05/27
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: 20c, british, fantasy, humor
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Trial By Fury (J.P. Beaumont, #3)]]> 6602459 384 J.A. Jance 0061754714 Joy 2 4.41 1986 Trial By Fury (J.P. Beaumont, #3)
author: J.A. Jance
name: Joy
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1986
rating: 2
read at: 2011/08/14
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: american, 20c, mystery, pacific-nw
review:
I may need to stop reading these JA Jance novels. I always figure out who the criminal is WAY before the detectives.
]]> <![CDATA[The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway, #1)]]> 6688087 304 Elly Griffiths 0547229895 Joy 3 mystery, british, 21c 3.88 2009 The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway, #1)
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Joy
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2015/04/12
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: mystery, british, 21c
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway, #1)]]> 9787054
When a child's bones are found on a desolate beach nearby, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls Galloway for help. Nelson thinks he has found the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing ten years ago. Since her disappearance he has been receiving bizarre letters about her, letters with references to ritual and sacrifice. The bones actually turn out to be two thousand years old, but Ruth is soon drawn into the Lucy Downey case and into the mind of the letter writer, who seems to have both archaeological knowledge and eerie psychic powers.

Then another child goes missing and the hunt is on to find her. As the letter writer moves closer and the windswept Norfolk landscape exerts its power, Ruth finds herself in completely new territory—and in serious danger.

The Crossing Places marks the beginning of a captivating new crime series featuring an irresistible heroine.]]> 306 Elly Griffiths 054744317X Joy 3 4.04 2009 The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway, #1)
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Joy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Return of Captain John Emmett (Laurence Bartram, #1)]]> 11349876 A man investigates the deaths of his fellow veterans in this “haunting and beautifully writtenâ€� novel of post–World War I England (C.ĚýS. Harris, author of the Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries). Ěý London, 1920. In the aftermath of the Great War and a devastating family tragedy, Laurence Bartram has turned his back on the world. But with a well-timed letter, an old flame manages to draw him back in. Mary Emmett’s brother, John—like Laurence, an officer during the war—has apparently killed himself while in the care of a remote veteransâ€� hospital, and Mary needs to know why. Ěý Aided by his friend—a dauntless gentleman with detective skills cadged from mystery novels—Laurence begins asking difficult questions. What connects a group of war poets, a bitter feud within John’s regiment, and a hidden love affair? Was his friend’s death really a suicide, or the missing piece in a puzzling series of murders? As veterans tied to John continue to turn up dead, and Laurence is forced to face the darkest corners of his own war experiences, his own survival may depend on uncovering the truth. Ěý At once a compelling mystery and an elegant literary debut, The Return of Captain John Emmett blends psychological depth with suspenseful storytelling that calls to mind the golden age of British crime fiction, “full of jolting revelations and quiet insightsâ€� (The Wall Street Journal). Ěý “A captivating wartime whodunit.â€� —The Boston Globe Ěý]]> 453 Elizabeth Speller 0547511760 Joy 3 3.92 2010 The Return of Captain John Emmett (Laurence Bartram, #1)
author: Elizabeth Speller
name: Joy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2012/12/08
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: 21c, historical-fiction, mystery, world-war-i
review:
Great war veteran Laurence Bartram investigates the suicide of an old school friend at the request of that friend's sister. I'm always looking for more books set in this period, and this one didn't disappoint; it's less a procedural than a look at that specific time in history, which tends to be what I'm looking for in times like these. I'll forgive the obviousness of some of the clues for the layered portrayal of Laurie's post-war ennui.
]]> <![CDATA[Tall, Dark and Dangerous: Prince Joe / Forever Blue (Tall, Dark & Dangerous #1-2)]]> 13073387
Prince Joe

Media consultant Veronica St. John has been hired to teach a rugged Navy SEAL to impersonate a European prince who has been targeted by terrorists. But one conversation and Veronica knows there's no way she can turn streetwise New Yorker Joe Catalanotto into nobility. Joe, on the other hand, is confident he's got what it takes to complete his mission. Two days isn't a lot of time to get the job done…but it's just enough time to fall in love.

Forever Blue

Lucy Tait has fantasized about Blue McCoy since high school. With the Navy SEAL back in town, nothing's changed…except that Lucy's a police officer and Blue's been charged with murder. As the investigation heats up, so does their relationship. Now they're working to save Blue's future—before they lose their hearts.]]> 586 Suzanne Brockmann 1426865597 Joy 2 4.26 2005 Tall, Dark and Dangerous: Prince Joe / Forever Blue (Tall, Dark & Dangerous #1-2)
author: Suzanne Brockmann
name: Joy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at: 2011/08/01
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: 20c, american, romance, romantic-suspense
review:

]]> The Golden Season 6601260 400 Connie Brockway 0451412834 Joy 3 So Enchanting, but a decent library checkout.]]> 3.44 2009 The Golden Season
author: Connie Brockway
name: Joy
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/08/14
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: 21c, american, romance, historical-fiction
review:
While I am glad to see Brockway writing historicals again, this one is fairly run-of-the-mill by her standards; she can push genre boundaries more than this. Overall, lacks the sheer fun of So Enchanting, but a decent library checkout.
]]> <![CDATA[Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence, A True Story in Black and White]]> 7684018 Long before President Barack Obama praised his work as “an all-encompassing, all-hands-on-deck anti-poverty effort that is literally saving a generation of children,� and First Lady Michelle Obama called him “one of my heroes,� Geoffrey Canada was a small and scared boy growing up in the South Bronx. His childhood world was one where “sidewalk boys� learned the codes of the block and were ranked through the rituals of fist, stick, knife, and, finally, gun. In a stunning pairing, acclaimed comics creator Jamar Nicholas presents Canada’s raw and riveting account, one of the most authentic and important true stories of urban violence ever told.

]]> 124 Geoffrey Canada 0807044490 Joy 0 4.01 1995 Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence, A True Story in Black and White
author: Geoffrey Canada
name: Joy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at: 2010/12/16
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: ggnt11nom, 21c, 50books-poc-2010, american, graphic-novels, memoir, african-american
review:
This GN is adapted from the memoir by Geoffrey Canada of Harlem Children's Zone fame and chronicles his childhood in the South Bronx.
]]> The Mist (Ireland Series, #3) 8181755
From nowhere arrives the mysterious Brit, Will Davenport. Lizzie isn't sure which side he's on, but his mercenary talents may help end the violence. Now, emerging from a year of secrets and lies as a double agent straddling two worlds, Lizzie has little choice but to trust a man answering to no one. When the mist clears—and the frightening truth is revealed—who knows which side she herself will end up on.]]> 345 Carla Neggers 1426851626 Joy 1 3.95 2009 The Mist (Ireland Series, #3)
author: Carla Neggers
name: Joy
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2009
rating: 1
read at: 2011/11/29
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense, suspense
review:
One of Neggers' lesser works: there's too much plot baggage from earlier books in this series. Plus, it totally has an overly romantic view of Ireland and the hero is a Brit, who is a marquess, and also a spy. Seriously? I accept that sort of nonsense in historical Regencies, because, hello, tropes of the genre, but it's not even amusingly silly in contemporary fiction.
]]> <![CDATA[Dawn in Eclipse Bay (Eclipse Bay Trilogy #2)]]> 8454570 From New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz comes the second novel in a dramatic trilogy set in breathtaking Eclipse Bay, a town filled with rivalries as fierce and compelling as the rugged Oregon coast...Nothing was ever simple between a Madison and a Harte. The feud that had divided their families still simmered. Now, only months after their siblings� wedding, Lilian Harte and Gabe Madison are at each other’s throats.

Successful CEO Gabe had insisted on becoming a client of Lilian’s matchmaking service. And after five disastrous dates, Lilian is at her wit’s end. If she hadn’t already decided to close her business and move home to Eclipse Bay, Gabe would have been the final straw. But when she finds Gabe at her door demanding she fulfill their business contract, the sparks between them suddenly turn personal. Once again, Eclipse Bay will witness a showdown—between a relentless Madison and an irresistible Harte...]]> 354 Jayne Ann Krentz 1101214392 Joy 2 4.32 2001 Dawn in Eclipse Bay (Eclipse Bay Trilogy #2)
author: Jayne Ann Krentz
name: Joy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2001
rating: 2
read at: 2011/10/10
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: 21c, american, romantic-suspense, romance
review:

]]> Too Good to Be True 17210848
When Grace Emerson's ex-fiancé starts dating her younger sister, extreme measures are called for. To keep everyone from obsessing about her love life, Grace announces that she's seeing someone. Someone wonderful. Someone handsome. Someone completely made up. Who is this Mr. Right? Someone…exactly unlike her renegade neighbor Callahan O'Shea. Well, someone with his looks, maybe. His hot body. His knife-sharp sense of humor. His smarts and big heart.

Whoa. No. Callahan O'Shea is not her perfect man! Not with his unsavory past. So why does Mr. Wrong feel so…right?]]> 383 Kristan Higgins 1460300335 Joy 2 21c, american, romance 4.04 2009 Too Good to Be True
author: Kristan Higgins
name: Joy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2014/05/19
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lord of Darkness (Maiden Lane, #5)]]> 12907444 When Strangers In The Night

He lives in the shadows. As the mysterious masked avenger known as the Ghost of St. Giles, Godric St. John's only goal is to protect the innocent of London. Until the night he confronts a fearless young lady pointing a pistol at his head—and realizes she is his wife.

Become Lovers...

Lady Margaret Reading has vowed to kill the Ghost of St. Giles—the man who murdered her one true love. Returning to London, and to the man she hasn't seen since their wedding day, Margaret does not recognize the man behind the mask. Fierce, commanding, and dangerous, the notorious Ghost of St. Giles is everything she feared he would be—and so much more.

Desire Is The Ultimate Danger

When passion flares, these two intimate strangers can't keep from revealing more of themselves than they had ever planned. But when Margaret learns the truth—that the Ghost is her husband—the game is up and the players must surrender...to the temptation that could destroy them both.]]> 360 Elizabeth Hoyt 1455508306 Joy 3 21c, american, romance 4.02 2013 Lord of Darkness (Maiden Lane, #5)
author: Elizabeth Hoyt
name: Joy
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/04/14
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves: 21c, american, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lord of Darkness (Maiden Lane, #5)]]> 15704041 "Elizabeth Hoyt has outdone herself." --Jennifer Ashley, New York Times bestselling author

WHEN STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

He lives in the shadows. As the mysterious masked avenger known as the Ghost of St. Giles, Godric St. John's only goal is to protect the innocent of London. Until the night he confronts a fearless young lady pointing a pistol at his head-and realizes she is his wife . . .

BECOME LOVERS . . .

Lady Margaret Reading has vowed to kill the Ghost of St. Giles-the man who murdered her one true love. Returning to London, and to the man she hasn't seen since their wedding day, Margaret does not recognize the man behind the mask. Fierce, commanding, and dangerous, the notorious Ghost of St. Giles is everything she feared he would be-and so much more . . .

DESIRE IS THE ULTIMATE DANGER

When passion flares, these two intimate strangers can't keep from revealing more of themselves than they had ever planned. But when Margaret learns the truth-that the Ghost is her husband-the game is up and the players must surrender . . . to the temptation that could destroy them both.]]> 385 Elizabeth Hoyt 1455508314 Joy 3 4.00 2013 Lord of Darkness (Maiden Lane, #5)
author: Elizabeth Hoyt
name: Joy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:

]]> The Fox (Inda, #2) 7069608
As the second son of the Prince and Princess of Choraed Elgaer, Inda was fated to protect the realm his older brother would inherit. Forced to flee his homeland before his thirteenth birthday, he finds himself on the perilous decks of a pirate ship, forcing himself never to think of all he has lost.

But his military skills and inborn natural leadership ability cannot be erased, and four years later, Inda has become head of his own mercenary marine company, with a reputation for protecting merchant vessels against the marauding bands of pirates that plunder the waters.

Meanwhile, after the untimely death of Inda's brother, his parents are desperately searching for their second son—for Inda is now the heir to Choraed Elgaer.]]> 784 Sherwood Smith 1440637040 Joy 4 4.24 2007 The Fox (Inda, #2)
author: Sherwood Smith
name: Joy
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2013/08/12
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spanish Dagger (China Bayles #15)]]> 5627160 306 Susan Wittig Albert 1101207132 Joy 3 21c, american, mystery 4.32 2007 Spanish Dagger (China Bayles #15)
author: Susan Wittig Albert
name: Joy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2011/12/08
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves: 21c, american, mystery
review:
This isn't quite as charming at the character/setting level as some of the other books in this series, but the mystery is stronger to make up for that.
]]> <![CDATA[The Body Finder (Body Finder, #1)]]> 8548708
Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer-and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.]]> 338 Kimberly Derting 0061985740 Joy 0 unfinished-read 3.86 2010 The Body Finder (Body Finder, #1)
author: Kimberly Derting
name: Joy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/23
shelves: unfinished-read
review:
Didn't get a chance to finish this before my ebook checkout expired. Liked the premise and the local setting, but was tired of the romance by page 5. Not a good sign.
]]> Magic Under Glass 9638691
Unsettling below-stairs rumours abound about ghosts, a mad woman roaming the halls, and of Parry's involvement in a gang of ruthless sorcerers who torture fairies for sport. When Nimira discovers the spirit of a dashing young fairy gentleman is trapped inside the automaton's stiff limbs, waiting for someone to break the curse and set him free, the two fall in love. But it is a love set against a dreadful race against time to save the entire fairy realm, which is in mortal peril.]]> 233 Jaclyn Dolamore 1599905809 Joy 0 3.62 2009 Magic Under Glass
author: Jaclyn Dolamore
name: Joy
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/23
shelves: unfinished-read, fantasy, teen
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1)]]> 6354356 Moon Called is the novel that introduced Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson to the world and launched a #1 bestselling phenomenon...

Mercy Thompson is a shapeshifter, and while she was raised by werewolves, she can never be one of them, especially after the pack ran her off for having a forbidden love affair. So she’s turned her talent for fixing cars into a business and now runs a one-woman mechanic shop in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State.

But Mercy’s two worlds are colliding. A half-starved teenage boy arrives at her shop looking for work, only to reveal that he’s a newly changed werewolf—on the run and desperately trying to control his animal instincts. Mercy asks her neighbor Adam Hauptman, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack, for assistance.

But Mercy’s act of kindness has unexpected consequences that leave her no choice but to seek help from those she once considered family—the werewolves who abandoned her...]]> 298 Patricia Briggs 1101208430 Joy 2 4.27 2006 Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Joy
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 2012/03/30
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves: 21c, american, paranormal, fantasy
review:

]]>