Spells and Scones by Bailey Cates

Bailey Cates has done it again. It seems like she has found the right recipe for the perfect magical cozy mystery and keeps switching up the ingredients to entertain us with a new story with each new release. In Spells and Scones, not only do we unravel a new murder mystery, but we also have the chance to delve deeper into the relationships between characters.

Katie Lightfoot is a witch. She has only known for the last couple of years yet she has grown into her power relatively fast. She's a hedgewitch, sourcing her powers from plants and their magical properties. As a baker, it comes to her naturally, and as part owner of the Honeybee Bakery, she practices her craft daily by mixing positive ingredients and sending positive thoughts into her food. She also happens to be a lightwitch, meaning she's attracted to situations that need help finding a resolution.

Katie often finds herself near murder scenes and it's definitely true in this book. Only this time, it seems like there's very little magic involved in the crime. A Dr. Dana, a self-help guru and famous radio personality is found dead in the bookstore next to Katie's bakery. Katie feels compelled to help solve the mystery, especially when she learns the main murder suspect is an ex-witch, who just happens to be the previous owner of her familiar, Mungo. Her little terrier seems convinced that Angie is not guilty and for Katie, that's enough to convince her to help the ex-witch.

With the amount of murder scenes she "attracts", you would think Katie could start a side business as a private investigator. However, her true passion is her bakery so I highly doubt she would ever be comfortable leaving her business for a new one. She is good at investigating, using her magical powers only when necessary and only using her skills for good. However, even though it seems like she has everything figured out in her business life, it's her personal life she has a hard time dealing with. Her wonderful boyfriend Declan seems to want more (wants to move in more) but Katie is hesitant because of a past relationship that failed miserably. On top of everything, Steve Dawes professes his love for Katie and will stop at nothing to prove to Katie that he has turned his life around for her. That would put a damper on anyone's one year anniversary!

I love this series because it's light and easy to read compared to some of the other darker books I tend to read. The small town feeling, the sense of community and the wonderful food keeps me coming back for more. One of these days I'll try one of the recipes included. The Pumpkin Spice Softies sound delicious and yes, I just happen to be one of those people obsessed with pumpkin spice anything. Perfect for autumn, fans of Bailey Cates and cozy mysteries will fall for this book.

Read More

by Tynga at Monday, September 19, 2016

 A Magical Bakery Mystery, Bailey Cates, bakery, cozy, food, Library, Magic, murder mystery, Mystery, NAL, Penguin, Review, Witch  Leave your mark

✎

Ink and Bone: The Great Library by Rachel Caine

Jess Brightwell loves books.  Since the family business is selling books, one might think Jess would be like a kid in the candy store.  The problem is, the Brightwell's book business isn't legal by any stretch of the imagination and Jess' father can only see the books for the coin they can bring.

This is the world woven by Rachel Caine in her book Ink and Bone: The Great Library.  A world where being a librarian is more of a calling than a career and libraries hold the keys to all the knowledge and whose power is absolute.  Ms. Caine does a masterful job of bringing us to a world inspiring accomplishments under the iron fist of an authority afraid of what can be done with the knowledge it safeguards.

From the streets of London to the alleys of Alexandria, we learn about Jess' world right along side him as he learns from his father, his family, his friends and of course his instructor, Scholar Wolfe.  A young person's introduction to the way a world works is still by far my favorite way of entering a new reality.  In Ink and Bone, we get not only Jess' views and lessons but, a peek into those of his friends and fellow students.  It makes for a richer is somewhat skewed vision of this world.

Rachel Caine also uses her characters to add depth to the reality she created.  Not only what we see but, also places we're only told of.  Each character is a post card from their homeland and given their complexity, gives us a small window into places we don't get to see in this book.  As we grow familiar with each character, we start to understand how it is living under the control of the Great Library and different ways the different peoples live within that control.

This is a book of sometimes stark and often striking imagery as well as thought provoking and emotionally evoking moments that seem to swirl around a central theme: If knowledge is power, who has the right to own the knowledge.  Of course we all have own thoughts and I, for one, love the way this book challenges and affirms many of them on this subject.

Ink and Bone is not just really good allegory, it's wonderful entertainment.  There is a sufficient  amount of violence and mature subject matter that I would give it a PG13 but, only just.  I actually suggested it to my 14 year old for a school reading assignment.



P.S. On a personal note, I would like to thank again, Ms. Rachel Cain for being so kind and generous with her time during her book signing at San Diego Comic-Con this year!!



 

Read More

by Tynga at Wednesday, September 16, 2015

 Books, Dystopian, NAL, Rachel Caine, Review, Science Fiction, steampunk, The Great Library  1 Person left their mark

✎

The Shadows by J.R. Ward

This is a big book. Honestly, it was a little intimidating at first, but like any other Black Dagger Brotherhood book, it's easy to read. In the last few books, this series disappointed me a little bit, but it has redeemed itself in my view with The Shadows. There's a lot of point of views in this book, which makes it a little hard to follow at times, but each point of view is interesting enough. The continuation of many story lines and the introduction of new characters keeps things intriguing and fresh.

I knew this book would be mostly about Trez and Selena but I didn't realize that iAm would also play a major part. Trez has bonded with the Chosen Selena but Trez feels like he's not at all worthy of her. He feels like he has tainted his body by sleeping around with an infinite amount of women. Selena knows she has little time left to spend with Trez. With the deadly disease she has, she might only have days left. Whether those days should include Trez or not, is an easy decision for Selena but convincing Trez might be a little more difficult. However, life isn't that simple for Trez because he has been engaged since birth to the Princess of his Tribe. As a Shadow, a superior race of vampires, everything is predestined by star charts and all sorts of craziness. And his predestined future has always been to mate with the Princess in order to continue the royal bloodline. For such a "superior" race, they're kind of stuck with primitive ideas, if you ask me.

After the failed mutiny that attempted to overthrow Wrath from his royal throne, he now rules his people as the elected leader. He has decided to take on a more active role by meeting with his people and hearing their troubles. Abalone, a respected member of the vampire society is more or less in charge of his political office, organizing meetings and keeping track of everything. Great news for the vampire society is the Brotherhood opening its doors once more to new trainees. However, now they're not only accepting glymera males, but also commoners and females. At least some vampires are willing to move into the 21st century with forward thinking and new ideals. I think it's great that Abablone's daughter, Paradise, is thinking of auditioning to train with the Brotherhood. As one of the last females of good breeding and of mating age, this is obviously taboo, but it's great to see more females willing to kick ass. This is definitely one storyline I want to continue reading!

One point of view I'm not crazy about is Assail's. The drug dealer/drug addict story is getting old. It feels like his story has been dragging on in the last few books and I just want it over with. I like his story when Sola, the human woman he's attracted to, is present, otherwise I don't care for his drug dealing life. And his involvement with the lessers? I hate that even more.

Compared to the last couple of books, it seems like there wasn't as much slang and product placement. I hate when there's too much of it. I'm all for pop culture references but when J.R. Ward trying too hard to makes her characters sound and look cool, it's a complete fail. I'm just glad she didn't try too hard in this book.

Like so many paranormal romance books, many things in this book were predictable but The Shadows also kept me on my toes. So many great things happen in this book, even though others were not so great. I have mixed feeling about the ending but I guess many J.R. Ward books end like this. Ward knows fatalistic romance and brotherly love and it definitely shows in this most recent book. Although not as great as the first books of the series, The Shadows is decent addition to the series.

Read More

by Tynga at Monday, May 11, 2015

 Black Dagger Brotherhood, brotherhood, J.R. Ward, Library, NAL, Paranormal Romance, Penguin, Review, vampires  1 Person left their mark

✎

Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward

To be quite honest with you, I have some mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, I've been a fan of the series for so long now, that it's nice to see the characters again and to read about what's going on with their lives and their romantic relationships. On the other hand, I found some parts of the story were so repetitive that it felt like some hundred pages was saying the same as the hundred before. Needless to say, it felt like the story dragged on, and maybe it was done on purpose to show the lapse of time, but frankly, I got bored because it felt like the story was never ending.

It's the main romantic story line that feels repetitive, the one between Torh and No'One. Torh lost his shellan (mate) only a while before this novel began and it has taken him a long time to simply get back on his feet, let alone even think about getting intimate with someone else. No'One, a female of worth, has a second chance at life and believes this second chance should be spent serving others, regardless of her past. So when they are thrown together and they must face their feelings for one another, things get difficult because of Torh's mixed feelings about moving on, and No'One vulnerability because of the fact that she was raped when she was a lot younger and has never looked at a male in a romantic way. It felt like J.R. Ward was tiptoeing around their feelings just a bit too much and it felt like an endless cycle of "I want to, no I don't/can't..." Don't get me wrong, their story really is interesting but it dragged on...

One thing I'm usually not fond of is a switch in point of views because it more or less puts the main story on hold, but in this case, I really didn't mind. Especially because we got to read more about John and Xhex, who despite all odds were mated in the previous book. I love the fact that we see what happens after the supposed happily ever after and it just so happens it's not happily ever after. We also see a bit of the Quinn/Blay story which I can't wait for and is coming up in book #11.

LOVER REBORN made me realized that these brothers really are vampires. I mean, I knew they were vampires but since J.R. Ward has modified the lore on vampires in this series to the point of being really original, sometimes it's hard to remember these brothers have fangs. However, in this book, with all the blood feedings, it really hit me on how much they depend on blood to survive. The ongoing war between the Brothers and the lessers is the main reason for the blood feedings, and even if there is quite a number of fight scenes, it's hard to determine who the antagonist really is. The Brothers also have to deal with The Band of Bastards, a group of vampires that want to more or less replace the Brotherhood. It's interesting to read more about these "bastards" and it's a nice twist in the series especially since the lesser war was getting old.

The writing is typically J.R. Ward but I think she was trying to push the gangsta talk just a little too much this time around. It's one thing to have it in conversations between the Brothers but to include it in the narrative is kind of a deterrent. Personally, I don't appreciate it because it's not normal for me and sometimes I found myself rereading a certain phrase because I didn't catch the meaning. I just find it odd that it has a place in the narrative, especially since it's written in the third person. (On another note, this might just be me but I find the Brothers often say "How's it doing?" while I would normally say "How's it going?" or "How're you doing?". I don't know. I just find it strange, enough that I had to mention it. Maybe it's a regional thing...)

I might have been a tad negative with this review, but don't get me wrong! I really enjoy this series as a whole and I'm hoping this is just that odd book in a series that I had a hard getting through. Like I mentioned previously, the next book is all about Blay and Quinn and there's just something about those two Brothers together that makes sense. I'm definitely still a fan of the Black Dagger Brotherhood and I'm ready to ignore the shortcomings of this book to keep the series going. I'm really looking forward to the next books, especially now that I've almost caught up with the series!

Read More

by Tynga at Sunday, May 04, 2014

 Angel, Black Dagger Brotherhood, J.R. Ward, NAL, Paranormal Romance, Penguin, Purchased, Review, vampires  2 People left their mark

✎