Darlene's Digest

Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz My rating: 4 of 5 stars If you're a fan of JAK (and I am), you know what to expect, so it's always an enjoyable reading experience when she delivers the goods. Secret Sisters features her trademark laconic heroes and plucky heroines, and this time the heroine was especially plucky, a hotel executive willing to make the first moves for romance. I like a strong-minded woman who knows what she wants, and apparently so does hero Jack Rayner. The mystery is sufficiently convoluted and surprising to keep the reader guessing, the secondary characters are well crafted and interesting, and the ending is satisfying. What more do you want? This book is what JAK fans desire, and it will please new fans as well. View all my reviews

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn My rating: 4 of 5 stars Delightful new entry in the amateur lady detective sub-genre, as Deanna Raybourn begins a new Victorian mystery series. The mystery surrounding Veronica Speedwell's background is intriguing, though I figured out what the big reveal was fairly early. Nonetheless, the characters are engaging enough that we can expect more adventures in the future, and the secondary characters offer their own intrigue and secrets to keep things going. The dialog was snappy, the settings were delightful, and Ms. Raybourn has another winner on her hands with Miss Veronica Speedwell. View all my reviews

Make Me by Lee Child My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love it when a mystery surprises me, especially when we're 20 books into a series. I thought I knew what was going on, I was wrong, and this made me very happy. It's a testament to the author's skills. MAKE ME is classic Jack Reacher. He's got no place to go and no where to be, so he gets off a train one day because the name of the town--Mother's Rest--intrigues him. Of course, since this is a Reacher novel, he stumbles into a nest of WTFery? and spends the rest of the book using his special skill set to straighten things out. There is a woman, not young, and not skinny (another nice treat) and lots of great Reacher moments. Highly recommended for hardcore Jack Reacher fans. View all my reviews

Clockwork Samurai by Jeannie Lin My rating: 4 of 5 stars It's hard to be the second book in a trilogy. You have the "gee whiz!" excitement of new worldbuilding in the first novel, a resolution of conflict in the third, but the second book has to do the heavy lifting with little of the glory. Despite these limitations, Clockwork Samurai carries the load and advances The Gunpowder Chronicles as the action shifts from China to Japan. Both nations are confronting Western interference, paralleling events in our own world in the 19th c. However in this universe, the Asian powers have airships and mechanical automatons and opium zombies and more. New characters are introduced, old characters re-emerge, and the excitement is heightened as the groundwork is laid for an East vs. West confrontation in the next novel. Readers are well advised to start with Gunpowder Chronicles #1 while the rest of us eagerly await the next volume. View all my reviews

Amber Quill Press is offering an early sale on ebooks, half off through Boxing Day (Yes, all that research I did for my Regency & Victorian romances does pay off)! Load your ereader with hot reading for cold nights, and settle in with a cup of your favorite beverage. You've been good girls and boys, and you deserve a treat.

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wonderful, moving, deeply satisfying conclusion to one of the most imaginative SF trilogies published in recent years. It's definitely going to be on my ballot for Hugo Nominees. I'm in awe at Leckie's ability to craft such well rounded characters without gender identification. It made me think about the people involved in an entirely new fashion, a different way of considering characters than the classic Left Hand of Darkness , which showed everything through a male human's eyes. Here we just had Breq and "her" people, both on-station and aboard ship. There were even moments of humor, and the scene with the Thousand Egg Song made me laugh. I look forward to reading more from this talented, award-winning author in the future. View all my reviews

The Crossing by Michael Connelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars Excellent police procedural as Harry Bosch, retired (under duress) from the LAPD, crosses over to the other side by helping his half brother Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer) investigate a case involving one of Haller's clients. Harry's not thrilled about helping the defense put another criminal back on the street, but the more he digs, the more he realizes there's a great deal missing from the murder investigation. Connelly shows his deft touch in laying out the case, piece by piece, even as we see Harry's troubled adjustment to civilian life. This latest Bosch mystery is sure to please the legion of fans who've been following Bosch's adventures for 20 books, and hoping for more from Connelly in the future. Harry may be retired, but he's far from done with investigating crime in the big city. View all my reviews

Doing No Harm by Carla    Kelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars Another sweet tale of good people doing the right thing, one of Ms. Kelly's trademarks. It's especially appropriate to the season and the current world situation, as the people of a small town struggling to survive open their hearts and homes to refugees who just want a chance, and a safe place to raise their families. The long war with Napoleon is over, and RN surgeon Douglas Bowden finds himself adrift, finally washing ashore in the Scottish lowlands town of Edgar. A medical emergency requires his skills and he puts himself to work, never planning on staying. However, he didn't count on spinster Olive Grant, who has worked herself to a nub assisting displaced Highlanders driven from their land by the clearances to make room for more profitable sheep. The novel deals strongly with issues of PTSD, both the form suffered by former military men like Douglas, and the kinds affecting small children who've been traum...

The Immortal Heights by Sherry Thomas My rating: 4 of 5 stars A strong and satisfying conclusion to an excellent fantasy trilogy. The action was non-stop--almost literally. I was exhausted reading it, and the world-building was intense. Titus and Iolanthe, along with their friends and allies, are moving closer to stopping the Bane and removing his threat to their lives and their very world and there's no time to waste. The entire series is a Harry Potteresque world of mages living alongside mundanes, their world mirroring ours in many ways. I missed the scenes at Eton that made the first volumes so interesting, but our characters had outgrown that phase of their lives. If I have one quibble about the books it was characters with names that were too similar (Amara/Aramia), a problem which could easily have been avoided. There was a great deal to keep track of in the wonderfully complex plot, and having to stop and remember who's who didn't help. However, I would cheerfull...

Burning Bright: Four Chanukah Love Stories by Megan Hart My rating: 5 of 5 stars Burning Bright: Four Chanukah Love Stories , is out in ebook, just in time for the holiday: “Miracle” by Megan Hart—This sweet tale touches on a little known issue, very religious Jews who go “off the derech ”, leaving their strictly observant communities for the wider world. It’s a difficult adjustment for Ben Schneider, but he finds his neighbor Amanda willing to help him navigate through new customs and traditions as she shows him her Chanukah celebration of helping her neighbors experience the holidays with joy. “A Dose of Gelt” by Jennifer Gracen—“Gelt” is money, the traditional Chanukah gift, symbolized by foil wrapped chocolate coins. Evan Sontag and Shari Cohen have so much in common and such a great relationship that when Evan brings Shari to his family’s annual Chanukah party, there’s discussion of when they’re setting a date. Honestly, Evan, if you didn’t think that was going to happen at the...