Review: It's Not You, It's the Dishes (originally published as Spousonomics): How to Minimize Conflict and Maximize Happiness in Your Relationship

It's Not You, It's the Dishes (originally published as Spousonomics): How to Minimize Conflict and Maximize Happiness in Your Relationship by Paula Szuchman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has some seriously good concepts and ideas that are easily taken out of economics and into a marriage. Marriage is full of transactions, and as such, economic theory can be applied in some interesting ways, and this book translates them well.

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Review: The Bishop's Pawn

The Bishop's Pawn by Steve Berry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Cotton Malone is one of my favorite series protagonists of all time. He's brave, he's honest, he's heroic, he's loyal, and he's got depth of character beyond the likes of many series leads. When we first started with Cotton, way back in The Templar Legacy, he was already retired from the Magellan Billet, and for the first time, we get to see one of his cases from when he was younger. In fact, in this one, we get a glimpse of his very first case working for Stephanie Nelle, an audition if you will, and boy is it a doozy! It revolves around the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a supposed FBI conspiracy behind it.

I won't drag you down in the details, especially since Berry has produced a fast-paced, unputdownable read about Cotton's first taste of the spy life, and for the first time, the entire book is from just Cotton's perspective.

Plus, we get to go to Walt Disney World, one of my favorite places on the planet. Of course, after Cotton's romp through the lands of the Magic Kingdom, I'll never view it the same way.

Take a trip down memory lane with Cotton Malone, and enjoy.

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Review to come on release date. Damn what a ride! And I'll never think of WDW the same way :)

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Review: Small Magics

Small Magics by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So I was going to save Magic Tests for when I got through Kate #5 on my reread of the series (I'm currently on book #3), but I was so close to finishing this little anthology that I couldn't resist just finishing. :)

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Review: How to Hang a Witch

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really feel like this was more of a three star book in that I enjoyed it but wasn’t wowed by it, but I loved the author’s message, though presented in a cheesy manner, that kindness is one of the most important choices we can make. The book was predictable but still fun, and overall, the kindness message made me bump it up half a star and thus, 3.5 stars rounded up.

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Review: The Echo Killing

The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. Harper McClain was a great character, damaged enough to be "interesting" but really strong, smart as a whip, and highly entertaining to watch do her thing. The secondary characters were pretty good too, but Harper was definitely a powerful main character.

The mystery itself was a good one. I will admit, I solved the murder (or at least guessed the identity of the murderer) near the beginning, but not all the details. As the story came together, I started to sway in my opinion, so good job by Daugherty on sending enough mixed signals to make the mystery work harder. I don't think everyone will get the killer's identity, but it was just a gut feeling I had. Honestly, being proven right just made me enjoy the book more, especially because of the author's path on getting to the reveal.

Glad this one is going to have a sequel. It left enough open for another book at minimum, and I want to know more... and spend more time with Harper.

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Review: Mine to Possess

Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this one, but not as much as the rest of the series so far. I wasn't a huge fan of Clay or Tally, so that probably marred my reaction a bit. But it progressed the main storyline along nicely, so that was entertaining. :)

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Review: Reflections

Reflections by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really need Amazon Serials to pick up another installment. Such a cool world and a great cast of characters... I need, at the very least, a real and satisfying conclusion that ties everything up :D

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Review: The Girl With All the Gifts

The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not a huge fan of zombie literature, but this one was pretty good. Carey does a fantastic job of making you care for this ragtag group of survivors, especially Melanie.

Not sure how I feel about the ending -- it felt necessary but also maddening and heartwrenching and almost a little bit hopeful. I just feel pity for one specific character in the end.

Overall, wasn't a "really liked it" and wasn't a "didn't like it" so three stars.

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Review: Lake Silence

Lake Silence by Anne Bishop
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to Berkley/Ace/Daw and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'd like to start with a cheer! I am SO glad that Anne Bishop was able to continue writing in the world of the Others. The first five books are stories surrounding Lakeside and involving Simon Wolfgard and Meg Corbyn, cassandra sangue. And they're fantastic. Book six, Lake Silence, picks up with a new set of characters in a new area of the world. This time, we're following a regular human, Vicki DeVine, who just happens to get thrust into the limelight in the small town she moved to in order to start over. Her abusive ex-husband left her some seemingly worthless property in the small town of Sproing as part of the divorce, and she has moved to the Jumble to fix up the cabins and get it ready for visitors. Little does she know, she's about to be embroiled in a battle for the future of the town between the Others and a shady group of sociopathic ambitious business people.

The cast of characters was great, but it did take some getting used to after five books of Lakeside and falling in love with that cast.

I won't spoil any more, but it's a great expansion of the world we've experienced for five prior books, and the characters are entertaining. A few of them felt a little like carbon copies of some of the first series' characters, but as they go along, they get more fleshed out.

All in all, I'm excited about reading more in this world, and can't wait for what comes next for Vicki and friends.

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Review: Burn Bright

Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite authors. She consistently produces top-notch books, both in her Mercy Thompson series and in this one, the Alpha & Omega series, which is a spinoff of Mercy's stories and intertwines back and forth.

This novel picks up right around the events of the most recent Mercy book, Silence Fallen, and follows Charles and Anna as they handle some events surrounding the wildlings of the Aspen Creek pack. To me, Briggs is at the top of her game when she's writing Charles and Anna stories. I'm not sure what it is, but just like with Faith Hunter and her Jane Yellowrock series and Nell Ingram spinoff, as much as I love the main series, the spinoff set in the same world really works for me in a much deeper and more satisfying way. I think I just love the connection between Charles and Anna and their wolves and how they balance each other out.

As many of you may not know, Briggs lost her husband unexpectedly in early 2017, and this is the first book she's published since losing him. This book was very clearly influenced by this loss, and focuses heavily on the bonds between mates - Hester and Jonesy, Charles and Anna, Bran and Leah, even Asil and Wellesley and their lost mates. She also dedicated the book to her husband. It was an amazing book, and such a fitting tribute to the man who was, in fact, her own mate, and she couldn't have done a more beautiful job. "But that is the dual gift of love, isn't it? The joy of greeting and the sorrow of good-bye." ~from Patricia Briggs' Dead Heat, the prior book in this series.

If you haven't picked up Briggs and her Mercyverse, you're doing yourself a disservice. Start at the beginning and lose yourself in the beautiful, heartbreaking, heartwarming, deep world that Briggs has created. You won't regret it. (And if I may offer a tidbit of advice, follow this reading order: Moon Called, Alpha & Omega [short story], Cry Wolf, Hunting Ground, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed, Silver Borne, River Marked, Fair Game, Frost Burned, Dead Heat, Night Broken, Fire Touched, Silence Fallen, Burn Bright)
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Review to be published on release date... but I will say, this book was a very fitting and beautiful tribute to her husband, Mike, who passed away in early 2017, and of course, another strong entry into the Charles and Anna series (which I love so much!)

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Review: Tricks for Free

Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Seanan McGuire is one of my favorite authors. Seriously, she's on my auto-buy list. I love the worlds and characters she creates.

Incryptid is one of those worlds, and I struggle with deciding if it is my favorite or if October Daye is. Every time I read one of the books in either series, I decide that one is my favorite Seanan series. Then I read one in the other, and change my mind.

Tricks for Free picks up with Antimony's story, following the crazy events of Magic for Nothing. There is a shorty included that takes place in between the two novels, but I read that last year when it was a Patreon story, and I highly recommend reading that one first, since it takes up the story immediately while Tricks for Free's narrative starts a few months later.

Antimony has been on the run, and found her way to a theme park (of course!), hoping to hide from the Covenant in the crowds. But of course, Seanan never lets her protagonists' plans work out like they expect, so hijinks ensue. We did see some returning characters, both expected and unexpected, and made a few new friends along the way.

I'd like to say I was satisfied with this one. I loved it, but it wasn't, and doesn't ever seem to be, enough. I'm already ready for the next book -- supposedly "That Ain't Witchcraft" starring Antimony again!* -- and can only hope that the next October Daye book's release (usually a fall thing) can tide [Luidaeg joke!] me over until I can get my next Seanan fix.

*After this, Seanan has mentioned the next two will be Sarah (Imaginary Numbers, Calculated Risks) and then ALICE (Spelunking through Hell: A Visitor's Guide to the Underworld)!!!!
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Review to be published on release date... but damn, I need news from her that we are getting more and who the POVs will be!

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