Darlene's Digest

Rebel Hard by Nalini Singh My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Blue Moon by Lee Child My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Secret She Keeps by HelenKay Dimon My rating: 4 of 5 stars Dimon's latest features the snappy dialogue and tense situations that are the hallmark of her writing, and this was a perfect airplane read. Great characters, fun secondary characters, a strong heroine and the hero who gets where she's coming from. I've really enjoyed these connected stories and look forward to the next one. View all my reviews

The Wicked King by Holly Black My rating: 4 of 5 stars Middle books of trilogies are often where the really, really bad stuff happens, setting up for the third, concluding book. THE WICKED KING brings the angst, pain, and drama, and I was left wanting more. Jude's complicated relationship with King Carden continues to evolve, but where before she was seen as a largely unthreatening human, now she's got a target on her back as the king's seneschal. Everyone is out to use her or remove her, preferably by killing her. I'm looking forward to reading THE QUEEN OF NOTHING, though at this point if I were Jude I'd be wondering if being accepted by Faerie and living in their land is really the HEA she's been longing for. View all my reviews

Into the Fire by Gregg Hurwitz My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Orphan X books just keep getting better and better. As Evan Smoak's circle of friends and dependents expands, his life becomes more complicated. Each one is a hostage to fortune, and while he's no longer a lone Orphan, this ramps up the stakes on his missions. This was a roller-coaster ride of excitement where just when you think Evan's life can't become more complicated and dangerous...it is. Characters who are reader favorites return (including the Home Owners' Association, where Evan is tasked with bringing the nibbles to their meeting--not an assignment the world's deadliest former assassin is prepared for), as well as more interaction with the snarky, messy teen who's Robin to his Batman. I love the Orphan X books and I nearly missed two appointments because all I wanted to do was stay home, keep turning the pages, and find out what happens next. That's so...

An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris My rating: 4 of 5 stars My catnip is short, kickass heroines (and anyone who knows me would know why.[g]) I loved this first in a new series set in an alternate history North America and featuring Lizbeth "Gunnie" Rose, a gun for hire who works in the old US Southwest escorting people and cargo through dangerous terrain. US history as we know it ends in the 1930s with the assassination of newly elected president Franklin Roosevelt and the country devolves into chaos with White Russians taking over the west coast (and they have magic to assist them), Britain regaining its 13 colonies minus Georgia, the Old South forming a new country called "Dixie" and so on. Oh, and the native Americans and Mexico have seized back much of their land in the west. Liz is young, but not naive, and has secrets of her own to keep as she takes on new, mysterious Russian clients. I loved the roller coaster ride of violen...

A Modest Independence by Mimi Matthews My rating: 0 of 5 stars This was a wonderfully researched Victorian-era road romance with the kind of beta hero I adore--a quiet, unassuming guy who gets things done. Matthews takes us on the long voyage from Britain to India in 1860 as the heroine searches for proof of life for her cousin, who also happened to be her first crush. I'm enjoying the Parish Orphans of Devon series and look forward to more from @ Mimi Matthews View all my reviews

Yes, it's that time of year. I'll be winging my way (weather permitting) up to Boston for New England's Longest-Running Science Fiction Convention, Boskone57 . Despite having to dig out my seldom worn snow boots, I do love visiting my friends and meeting other fans. I'll also be on a few panels, so here's my schedule. Where you see the "M" next to my name, I'm the moderator: Journalism in Speculative Fiction* Format: Panel 14 Feb 2020, Friday 17:00 - 17:50, Marina 2 (Westin) From Wells and Orwell to Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow, and Annalee Newitz, there’s a long tradition of reporters becoming writers of SF/F/H. Our veteran newshounds report on what a background in journalism can bring to genre work. Are you already accustomed to research, deadlines, and low wages? Does the drive to get the facts mean it’s harder to make stuff up? Can reporters be written as good genre characters? While pounding out a hot story, must you wear a fedora? Darlene...

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo My rating: 5 of 5 stars Fabulous debut (adult) fantasy novel from YA author Leigh Bardugo . This engrossing tale of an alternate Yale University where magic is real and needs to be policed by Lethe House is a great cliff-hanger beginning to a new series with unforgettable characters. Alex Stern has had a rough life, to put it mildly, so when she wakes up in a hospital with a strange man in her room who offers her a way out, she grabs it. I loved Alex. She's a kick-ass heroine, a survivor, and one whose streetsmarts will carry her through tough situations with dangerous frat boys, preppies, professors and townies who all may have had a hand in a tragic murder. I also liked how Bardugo wove Sephardi culture and life into Alex's story, something we don't see enough of in literary portrayals of American Jews. I can't wait for the next book! View all my reviews

Regency Royal Navy Christmas by Carla Kelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars With a Carla Kelly Christmas Regency collection you know exactly what you're going to get--no dukes or billionaires, but rather ordinary people being good to one another, and finding love along the way. Sometimes, that's exactly what you want. In crazy times you want to read stories that give you hope, and bring the schmaltz , and maybe open a tear duct or two along the way. If that's what you're looking for, then this collection delivers the goods. View all my reviews

Contracted as His Countess by Louise Allen My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was different, and enjoyable. Madelyn is raised largely in isolation by a father obsessed with Medieval life. His dying wish is that she marry Jack Ransome, a nobleman in need of a fortune. It's an odd pairing, but they're determined to make it work, even though Madelyn finds much of Society life not to her liking (the fashions are a particular thorn in her side.) Jack and Madelyn have a great deal to learn about, and from, one another on their road to their HEA, and it was fun to see Regency life through the eyes of someone for whom it's almost a foreign land and language. View all my reviews

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was such a fun book that I had to give it five stars. Fun, but also very meaningful as it explores the pains and growth of a marriage and the complications that arise when communication goes south. As it says in the blurbs, "The first rule of Book Club is...you don't talk about Book Club." After all, when a bunch of testosterone laden athletes and bros get together, they don't want anyone to know they're reading historical romance to Get A Clue About What Women Want. The H&H seemed very real, as were their problems. I liked how the author dealt with the hero's speech impediment, and what that meant to him in and out of relationships. We got a hint at where Lyssa Kay Adams 's going to go next with the Bromance Book Club and I can't wait! View all my reviews

His mother’s favorite of his pieces was the elaborate Chanukah menorah with the rampant Lion of Judah he’d made when he first started crafting his own designs. The holder for the shammes that lit the oil in the eight other lamps leaned in slightly, but she swore she would have it no other way. “It’s eager to perform its task,” she’d say every year with a smile as his father lit the first light. --[WIP] Untitled Chanukah historical novella Happy Hanukkah! Chanukah Sameach! No matter how you say it (or spell it) the Festival of Lights is a special time around the world. In the Northern Hemisphere the Jews gather at the darkest time of the year to kindle small flames in the cold night, while in the Southern Hemisphere they wait...and wait...and wait for sundown to light the chanukah menorah (and have a cookout at the beach). Regardless of how it's celebrated, the festival commemorates the victory of the weak over the strong, the small against the mighty, and faith i...

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh My rating: 4 of 5 stars An excellent mystery which kept me guessing "whodunnit" up until the end. At one point I thought I knew who the guilty party was, but I was mistaken. I love it when that happens. The setting of Nalini Singh 's New Zealand was also a treat, where the landscape itself becomes part of the story. The heroine was bright and capable, and didn't make TSTL mistakes, the hero was enigmatic and wounded, and his passion for justice helped push the story forward. I'd definitely read more with these characters, or any future mystery/suspense novels from Ms. Singh. I'm already a fan of her paranormal romances, this adds another level of enjoyment. View all my reviews

Just Watch Me by Jeff Lindsay My rating: 2 of 5 stars I wanted to like this more. When Darkly Dreaming Dexter was released I loved it, and told all my friends to read it. After all, not only was it an excellent suspense story, but Dexter had a moral compass. He'd promised his stepfather that when he got the urge to torture and kill, he'd use it to take out the trash--evil people who prey on the weak, and damage society. Riley Wolfe is missing that moral compass. While I enjoyed the caper aspect of the book, I couldn't feel much for the amoral protagonist who is perfectly willing to murder and harm people who stand in his way. people who would interfere with his heist. Not just bad people, not just the ones who prey on the weak. To his credit, Jeff Lindsay points out this flaw in Wolfe's character, many times. And yet just as one character at the end rejects Wolfe for his sociopathic tendencies, I'm not sure I would want to read ...

My car broke down yesterday, and after the first moments of confusion and panic I thought, "I am so fortunate." This is why I felt that way: It happened in the parking lot of a grocery store less than two miles from my home, meaning I could have walked home if I needed to. I didn't have a trunk full of melting ice cream since I hadn't gone grocery shopping. I'd finished all my appointments for the day. The dog had been walked within the past two hours and could wait a little longer at home. I didn't have a dog or kids in the car. It was a stunningly beautiful day, perfect for hanging around for the tow truck. I had a book with me and I was next to a used book store.  I have a AAA app on my phone to call a tow truck. I can afford a yearly membership to AAA. I had a bottle of water with me.  Most importantly, I knew if my car needed a new starter (the most likely scenario based on the sounds it wasn't making) I could pay for it. I wasn't one car re...

The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller My rating: 4 of 5 stars A solid debut with a small "woo woo" element (in fact, that was what I liked least about the book, how the ghostly presence contributed to the resolution, but your mileage may vary) that sets up future books with a fascinating family of scientists during the Gilded Age. There's a hunky hero who gives new meaning to "absent minded professor", heroine who discovers her true self, and entertaining secondary characters. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Biller. View all my reviews

When she turned back to him, Dr. Murray had a chest of instruments open and was examining them. “Is that what you will take with you?” He held up a lancet, wiped it on his coat sleeve, then examined its edge in the light. “My chest is the most valuable item I own. If there is time to take any one thing with me, this is what I will take.” He put the blade down and looked at her. “Again, abandoning ship is a last resort and I do not expect that to happen. It is always best to be prepared for the worst situation, though. If it happens, you are ready; if it does not happen, you can count yourself pleasantly surprised.” --CASTAWAY DREAMS I wanted to post some more pictures from the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum  in Savannah because it had so much cool stuff, or at least cool to someone who writes about scurvy and scabies and surgery below decks. This chest on the right is a surgeon's chest of the kind that would have been used by Alexander Murray in Castaway Dreams or Charley Alc...

The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina—Separating the Myth from the Medicine by Jennifer Gunter My rating: 5 of 5 stars To paraphrase the cover blurb, this book is a must-read for anyone who has a vagina or is close to someone who has one. There is so much misinformation about female anatomy (I see all kinds of weird hymen stuff in novels, even in the 21st c.) that it's helpful to have a good reference guide at hand no matter what your age, the status of your sex life, or what you think you know about what's going on down there. If I had a daughter or a sister I'd want them to have and read this book by a well-respected OB/GYN who has a vagina, and knows how much facts matter. View all my reviews

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow My rating: 5 of 5 stars I'm going through book withdrawal. I was so caught up in January Scaller's story and her world(s) that I stayed up long past my bedtime and hated to see the book end. An astoundly good debut novel about a young woman who find magic in books, writing, and storytelling, and what reader and author can't relate to that? It's a special delight when a debut novel stuns the reader with the sheer joy of the storytelling, and The Ten Thousand Doors of January is such a novel. While it can be classified as YA because of the protagonist and her journey, it shouldn't be overlooked by any lover of literary fantasy. View all my reviews