Review: Plan for the Worst

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: Spells for the Dead

Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

Oh, Faith, you know I adore your Jane series, but it seems like every review I give for a Nell book, I say I like Nell just a tad bit more. And it's true. I love your Jane Yellowrock series and don't want it to end, but there's just something about Nell's amazing cast of characters. I'm always just as interested in the personal life parts of Nell as I am the case... especially in this one. There were some huge wins in this book for me:

Occam. Anything and everything Occam. #TeamPlantKitty

Mud. Anything and everything Mud. #TeamAwesome

Ayatas Firewind. So much depth and character development in this one. First time I've truly begun to like the man!

Plant people. Yes a bit more history on plant people. :)

The one big loss for me in this book was that I wanted more time with Rick and Margot, and they didn't get much "screen time."

Also, Faith, dear, I'm not quite sure what you've done here, releasing this scary gross deathy-magic/working/energy stuff out into the Jane/Nell world. Terrifying!

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Review: High Heat

High Heat by Annabeth Albert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

I very much enjoyed this second book in the Hot Shots series by Annabeth Albert. What's not to love about sexy firefighters into dudes???

I liked the progression from helping hand to friends to flirting to more. I liked the age difference being there but only being a minor deal. I liked the originality of the characters - representing actual people and personalities.

The drama at the end between them seemed a little forced and out of place, and the way they talk through their feelings got a little repetitive as they kept saying the same things over and over. Men are capable of talking about their feelings, absolutely, and this was a great representation of that, but it was clearly written by a woman. Don't get me wrong, I love MM and the genre is dominated by women, but sometimes it can be hard to read as a gay man, knowing they'll never actually experience what they're writing about. I guess that they're writing what they want for the huge female MM fanbase as well.

All in all, I really enjoyed this one. I was especially impressed with how the author handled Garrick's injuries, recovery, and acceptance of his situation.

Definitely read the first book before this one, but I'd recommend both for some lovely MM good times.

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Review: The Year of the Witching

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this one. It was so atmospheric and the setting was perfect. It left enough open for my imagination to fill in the blanks. It feels very... Salem Witch Trials time period, but it's farther along than that I think. It was haunting and perfectly paced to slowly crank up the horror-adjacent elements as Immanuelle delves deeper into what's going on.

I don't want to spoil too much, so I won't tell you if my "The Village" vibes were right. I won't tell you if they overcome the plagues. I won't reveal whether there is a happy, almost happy, or sad ending. But I will encourage you to read this book.

4 out of 5 stars. Definitely recommend if you like witchy stories.

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Review: Peace Talks

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Super extra special thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Christmas is coming early this year, everyone. TWO DRESDEN FILES books after years of waiting. Step aside, George Martin. Feel ashamed, Patrick Rothfuss. Jim Butcher has you beat. He went through a dry spell with quite a bit of personal turmoil and came out the other side writing a book so long it had to be split into two. Take notes, authors.

This one was fantastic after the long wait. We jump back into Harry's life, which of course is still cray cray, and it's like coming home.

Of course, Jim Butcher can't let things stay quiet for long. Soon, allies are in trouble, he's got Winter Knight duties, family decides now's the perfect time to add issues, the Council is being its typical self, and a bunch of supernaturals are in town for a peace talk convention that, let's be honest, we all know is bound to go wrong.

If you haven't read the side anthologies, read them before you pick this one up. You'll be happy you did - you'll recognize a character or two and you'll understand what's going on with Ramirez a little better.

Of course, since this was one book that ended up split into two, the ending is semi-cliffhangerish (yeah, I made up a word). Thank Queen Mab we only have a short wait until September for the next bit.

Highly recommended series, but start from the beginning and don't jump in here!

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Review: The Lantern Men

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy the mysteries that Elly Griffiths writes. I've only read one of her Magic Men series, but I plan on eventually rereading that first one and catching up on the series. She's also had a standalone in the past year or two that was quite good. But I absolutely adore the misadventures of one Dr. Ruth Galloway and friends.

This one jumps ahead a little in time after the last one, setting everyone up in different locations geographically as well as in different places in their lives than the last time we saw them. This one also has a large cast of potential suspects, which made it really fun, since it was definitely a hard to solve mystery. We get a little more depth to some of the characters we already know (specifically Tanya), and we get a new character or two that also show some potential. I really like Tony Zhang!

I don't want to spoil anything, but here's a quick rundown: Ivor March is in jail for the murders of two women. There are a few more victims that have yet to be found, and Nelson and team are convinced Ivor March is responsible. Even more so when he tells them he'll reveal the location of the two bodies but only if Ruth manages the digs.

Of course, things get even more twisty after that. So I'll zip my lips and let you read and find out.

I'd really encourage you to read the rest of the series before this one. Lots of personal relationships and plot points from prior books will be spoiled if you don't. But you could read this one in its own if you wanted. Great entry into the series!

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