en-US Fri, 24 Jan 2025 19:59:09 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7253714135 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 19:59:09 -0800 /review/show/7253714135 Kat gave 3 stars to Kingscastle (Kindle Edition) by Sophia Holloway
I saw Soohia Holloway on a list of authors following in the footsteps of Georgette Heyer.

Nowhere near the level of perfection Heyer was capable of in terms of character and dialogue, but not bad. One of Heyer’s many strong points was being able to combine romance, humor and absurdity in a very Austen-like manner, and she had a great sense for Austen’s writing style. With Heyer it feels effortless.

Not so with this author. The framework was strong, but the humor wasn’t as delightful, the prose was more effortful than effortless and the “villain� was just too plain mean without the overlying layer of absurdity that Austen and Heyer gave their villains.

Lady Willoughby is not a new character type, Austen and Heyer are chock full of her literary sisters. Lady Catherine and the dowager countess of St. Erth come to mind. Neither of those redoubtable ladies could be called simply mean.

Fortunately, you can fall short of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer and still have a perfectly enjoyable story. I will be reading more of this author in the future (between visits with Heyer and Austen, of course.) ]]> Review7253632209 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 19:29:14 -0800 /review/show/7253632209 Kat gave 4 stars to Bride (Bride, #1) by Ali Hazelwood
I had never heard of this author and picked out this book bc on a day everything else I wanted to check out had a hold queue of infinity, it was on the available right now list on my library’s ebook app. I was pleasingly surprised that there was a high ratio of actual plot to sexy fun times with bonus mystery, funny dialogue from the quirky (and sometimes even sassy) female narrator, and interesting side characters. Not that I haven’t read plenty of smutty werewolf, vampire, werewolf/human, vampire/human, werewolf/vampire, werewolf/witch, (even once a vampire/dentist lol) etc etc etc books with barely a plot to their titles—just I appreciate an author that goes above and beyond for her readers.

I do think the author tried too hard to make her “vampyres� and “weres� unique. Unless it’s going to be the most mind-blowing new take on the creature, just leave it alone. She could have left out all the purple eyes and green blood and other details and other biological differences and the story would have been just as good. Too much explanation takes away the intrigue. (Also, every time someone blushed faintly green I rolled my eyes.)




]]> ReadStatus8461611011 Sat, 28 Sep 2024 15:07:56 -0700 /review/show/6885377508 Kat has read Growing up Absorbed: Religious Education Among the Unitarian Universalists by Richard S. Gilbert
]]> ReadStatus8335119942 Mon, 26 Aug 2024 22:01:06 -0700 /review/show/6794531009 Kat wants to read Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
]]> ReadStatus8335109938 Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:56:24 -0700 /review/show/6794523751 Kat wants to read Wake Me After the Apocalypse by Jordan Rivet
]]> ReadStatus8335097695 Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:50:56 -0700 /review/show/6794515180 Kat wants to read The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
]]> ReadStatus8335094661 Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:49:31 -0700 /review/show/6794513063 Kat wants to read The Inverted World by Christopher Priest
]]> ReadStatus8335092806 Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:48:42 -0700 /review/show/6794511705 Kat wants to read The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
]]> ReadStatus8335090218 Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:47:30 -0700 /review/show/6794509850 Kat wants to read The Pesthouse by Jim Crace
]]> ReadStatus8335076407 Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:41:22 -0700 /review/show/6794499997 Kat wants to read The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
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