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Benedict Sorellin-Lancaster is the titular warriorborn member of the Spire Albion nobility. He has much more advanced senses and abilities. He is sent on a special reconnaissance mission to a colony spire that has very suddenly stopped answering all call.  He is sent with three warriorborn prisoners as his backup. This, of course, is to create plausible deniability should the mission fail ... which it most certainly will. The book is billed as a Cinder Spires novella, but at only 137 pages (compared to book one's 650 pages and book two's 610 pages) it comes across as more a short story than a novella. But this is okay because there's enough action and story from start to finish to satisfy most readers. I've admittedly been slightly less than enamored with this series - I'm not a huge fan of epic fantasy which the Cinder Spires books seems to be. Mostly because I'm not patient enough for the format - I want more character and action instead of history, plotting, ...

This is one of the most impressive books I've read in a long time. Part western, part mystery, with a hint of macabre, Lady or the Tiger ticks all the right boxes when making a checklist of what makes for an excellent read. Belle King was an infamous teenage serial killer and when she willingly walked into the Dodge City, KS jail to turn herself in it was a momentous occasion. But the last thing she expected to see, standing outside her jail cell, was her husband ... the first (but not the last) man she set out to kill. Not only was he not dead, but he was wanting to take charge of the girl. But justice was intent to have its way, and the only end for Belle would be the gallows. The writing by Heather M. Herrman is strong and poetic. We fall easily into this story and even before we know much about Belle King, we can't help but side with her, understanding what she's been through. We already know what life is like for women in the U.S. west in the 1800's. Those women w...

I was a little late to the game in reading this Gunnie Rose series, just as I was very late in reading Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books (ie True Blood) but I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I've enjoyed both of these series. The Gunnie Rose series is a sci-fi, paranormal western where the United States has been split into fragments and controlled by different countries after the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt. It is also a world where magic may not be the norm, but is most definitely possible. Lizbeth "Gunnie" Rose is a mercenary who is wickedly deadly with gun. Her sister, Felicia, has indescribable wizard powers. Felicia is also an incomparable beauty and it falls to Lizbeth to keep her sister safe from the men who are always wanting to take advantage of her. Felicia is about to attend the Grand Wizards’ Ball. As one of the most powerful wizards there, as well as the most beautiful, Felicia will get a lot of attention. In distant Europe, ...

Grimshaw Grimsby is a junior Auditor in the magical Department of Unorthodox Affairs and Huntsman Mayflower is his mentor. Grimsby has been struggling to find his way within the department and has made more than his fair share of mistakes along the way.  His gruff mentor, whom he looks up to, hasn't been as forthcoming as Grimsby has hoped. In fact, Grimsby is sure that Mayflower is holding back on something. Mayflower leaves Grimsby alone to go to Boston to help another Huntsman - there being plenty of complications with Mayflower being in Beantown. Grimsby is on his own then to help the imp Wudge; hoping it will result in Wudge leaving Grimsby alone (he can fail on his own without any help thank you very much). Rayne needs to be saved but the biggest issue facing the you Mr. Grimsby is the day-to-day work necessary in the department office - meaning he'll have to skirt the rules and push the boundaries of the laws to complete his other tasks. There's plenty of action here...

I have been reading Anne Tyler books since the early 1980's when a college professor had us read Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant for a modern lit class and I then went and found and read everything she'd written prior to that. You could call me a fan. She captures the extraordinary moments of ordinary people better than anyone else I've read. Three Days in June is a really splendid tale of human ordinary-ness and how remarkable moments in our lives can stir up the ghosts we'd rather leave forgotten. Gail Baines, second in command at the Ashton School in Baltimore, learns that not only has she been overlooked for the open headmaster position, but the new headmistress is bringing her own deputy. The news comes only days before her daughter's wedding and the arrival of her ex-husband, who seems to not understand the boundaries of being divorced - making himself at home in her home before the wedding. The ex-couple try to get along for the sake of their daughter, bu...

Dolores de la Cruz has a lower-mid-level job in an office. Jake Ripper is the new office temp. Dolores has a hobby of looking for serial killers 'in the wild.' Jake, with his smooth good looks, sense of danger, and 'serial killer gloves' might just be Dolores' find. The pair begin some intense cat-and-mouse flirting and things begin to get more and more serious. Until one of them asks the other for help disposing of a body. Like an iceberg, what a person hides about themselves might be much more interesting than what we see. As someone who loves to read and who enjoys listening to a few true crime podcasts, I was really excited to read this first book by new author Kate Posey. I really got into this book early on. The unreliable narrator, the back-and-forth actions of both Dolores and Jake, and the anticipation of where this will all lead - really builds a tense excitement. But for me, this tension and excitement drops quickly.  I can almost pinpoint the moment that...