Review: A Depth of Understanding (April Series Book 5) by Mackey Chandler

A Depth of Understanding by Mackey Chandler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

War on Earth

This is the fifth book in a continuing series that ends at a natural break but the narrative continues in future books. There is also a series that is set in the future and shares some characters, Family Law. The current reading order is given in this post.

After being attacked by the USNA again, and losing citizens to the action, Home decides they need to move further away from Earth. Thankfully Barak suggested the move some time ago so Jeff had already worked out how to do it and was able to activate the plan on short notice for safety reasons. After their move Home demanded that no armed vessels would be allowed past L1 and would be met with force. Central also supported the statement.

USNA seemed to accept that statement and things were quiet for a very short time when a motion was raised in the UN and China decided to test things leading once more to armed conflict.

As well as all the warfare and political shenanigans in this book we see personal relationships flourish. April, Jeff and Heather seem to have come to an agreement about their personal relationship, but don’t seem to be excluding others. It’s a relaxed attitude to romance that seems to be based on the polyamorous model of relationships. Things on this subject are quite coy and nothing is really explicitly stated but broadly hinted at. It seems a very adult attitude for young people who are probably going to live for centuries. Their intelligence probably has a great deal to do with it as they are able to work their way through the ramification of their actions quite quickly.

Home continues to attract interesting people and I look forward to seeing how things shake out with some of the characters that may initially look suspect, but may prove to be redeemable. I’m also enjoying how the next batch of young people are starting to spread their wings in relation to their own businesses. Jeff, April and Heather are starting to look like elder statesmen despite being under 20!

This has definitely become my comfort reading of late. It’s not too emotionally or mentally challenging, but the characters and plot are interesting enough to engage my mind without overwhelming it. It hits my current personal sweet spot for my reading needs. It happens rarely so I’m grateful when it happens. Now on to the next book!

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Review: Puck Drop (Utah Fury Hockey Series Book 1) by Bittney Mulliner

Puck Drop by Brittney Mulliner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Clean Sweet Hockey Romance

I’d probably give this book 3.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This is the first in a series of standalone novels that relate to the same ice hockey team. There is cross over of characters and shared history, but each story is complete by the last page.

Chloe is the digital marketing manager for Utah Fury and her twin brother is one of its star players. They share a fancy apartment and Chloe’s life revolves around the team and her brother.

Reese is a last-minute trade to Utah Fury and he was not expecting to leave the team he’d been with for years. He’s quite grumpy when he arrives and he puts his foot in it with both Chloe and her brother.

Both Chloe and Reese are attracted to each other, but they don’t want to jeopardise the team harmony, so they have to make some tough choices.

This book is entirely too predictable for my taste, however it’s well written, the characters are interesting and it’s very sweet. This is a clean romance and I’m not really a big fan of those, but I know that a lot of people really enjoy them. I probably won’t read the rest of the series because of that, but if you like a sweet romance this a good one.

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Review: Interference / Insurgency (Verdant String Series Book 0.5) by Michelle Diener

Interference / Insurgency by Michelle Diener
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Two Interesting Sci-Fi Novellas

This book contains two novellas set in the Verdant String universe. They are self-contained but the reading order given on Goodreads seems to indicate that these novellas come before the others.

Both novellas revolve around women of the Halatian people. They came from a world that was destroyed and the people were spread around the Verdant String. Not many of them were left and more could have been done to rescue them if the rest of the Verdant String has acted sooner. They have a strange place in society because the guilt and shame that they didn’t act sooner is always felt whenever a Halatian is faced.

In Interference Nyha is on a moon with her four wards, and they are all Halatian. They are visiting the ruins of an ancient civilisation that predated the advent of the Verdant String as it stands now. The moon is set to be destroyed because its orbit changed and it is set to crash into the planet below. They are waiting to be picked up from their trip when instead their pick up contains a group of attackers come to take the Halatians hostage whilst they search for something.

In Insurgency Tila, another Halatian, is at work when her building is attacked by terrorists. She is taken hostage when the terrorists are stopped before they can escape after setting a bomb. Drake, the commander who rescued her when she was a child, and Nick, his subordinate and her neighbour, do not plan to let her come to harm, no matter the political delays this time.

Both these novellas are set around a similar subject, though they involve different characters. They are also are connected via an overarching plot.

I really enjoyed these books as the characters were really interesting. There is a hint of romance in both but essentially they are clean books. The women both had very different reactions to their horrible experiences escaping as children. Nyha learnt martial arts and taught it to her wards. She became their defender and taught them to be strong and brave as she had wished herself to be when she escaped. Tila was withdrawn and shy. She was much more fearful and risk-averse because of her traumas. They also ended up on different planets with their different cultures and they have never met.

The world-building was fascinating. I love the idea of a string of planets being found and settled by the same group simultaneously to avoid all their eggs being in one basket, then going their separate ways until so much time passed they forget the other planets existed. The societies share common morals and philosophies but are still different enough to be noticeable. It’s an intriguing setup for a series and I can’t wait to read the other books in the series as a result.

The plots were interesting and tightly written to fit into the novella structure. Once I started reading both novellas I had to keep going until they ended because I was so drawn in.

I really hope that these characters appear later in the series because I find them interesting and likeable for their bravery, intelligence and compassion. It’s an engaging blend of characteristics.

I must go and read the ‘first’ book in the series now!

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Review: Magic Unleashed (Hall of Blood and Mercy Series Book 3) by KM Shea

Magic Unleashed by K.M. Shea
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Satisfying Conclusion

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This is the third book in a series and the previous two books need to be read in order to understand this book.

A lot happens in this last book of the trilogy. Hazel is now officially the Adept of House Medeis and the House itself has transformed itself to house the new Adept and enable her to take the House in the direction she wishes to. She wants her House to protect all supernaturals and to prevent the larger and more powerful groups of supernaturals from bullying and harming the smaller groups and individuals. She’s drawing on her training with House Drake to help train the other members of her House how to change their magic use to best effect in battle.

Killian is missing Hazel and the fun that she brought to House Drake, which the other vampires are also missing. He knows that he did the right thing in getting her to leave for her own protection but he really wants to find a way he can protect her and still have her in his life. When he finally works out that she doesn’t need protecting he has to find a way to gain her forgiveness.

From this introduction, it may seem that this is a romance but it’s only a small part of the book. In fact, this is a clean book as it’s such a slow burn the romance only happens at the very end of the book. What is more important to the book are the politics and the negotiating between Houses and species of supernatural. Alliances are made and battle lines are drawn. Strategy plays it’s part in the battles as does the fighting, but at heart, it’s all about negotiation and finding a path where different races of supernatural can learn to get along and how Hazel and Killian are at the front of this.

This book has lots of little twists in it so if you don’t know how things are going to end at the very least you don’t know how they get there. I love all the support characters in this series and they all get their chance to shine in this final book. They all play their part in getting everything accomplished, even Rupert the grumpy red-headed vampire!

This is a light and kind of nice urban fantasy, but it’s by no means sickly sweet. I love the world-building and the plot structure is great. If anything I would prefer a small piece of darkness but that’s just personal because I like a strong contrast between dark and light. Though there are bad guys, we don’t really focus on them and why they are so bad, they are just bad and they have to be defeated.

There are some things left unresolved at the end of this trilogy, but not in an obvious way, in fact, it took me a while to remember that there were a couple of loose endings that needed tying off, so it’s good that there is another series set in this world involving a tangential character from this series, which I really look forward to reading.

All in all, this was a very satisfactory conclusion to a well written and fun series.

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Review: Magic Redeemed (Hall of Blood and Mercy Series Book 2) by KM Shea

Magic Redeemed by K.M. Shea
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Politics and the Nature of Trust

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This is the second book in a continuing series. You need to have read the first book to make sense of this one.

Now Hazel has unsealed her power she has to learn how to use it. She knows how to do all the standard spells from learning how to manage her much lesser powers, but to take on the vampires at Drake House in training, she has to think outside the box. As she starts to think experimentally things start to click together for her.

As she thinks once more about retaking her House, she knows she has to get the signet ring that belonged to her Father that is used to unite the House and the Adept together when the care of the House passes to a new Adept.

Killian faces more antagonism from the Night Court and seems to be using Hazel to do it. Killian finds he has become very protective of his little wizard, as have many of the vampires in his family.

There are a lot of politics in this book. Hazel has to try and wrangle the House back from her cousin Mason because her family are suffering whilst at his mercy. To do so, she needs the support of the other wizard Houses and the Wizard Council but somehow Mason seems to be beating her at every turn. We also see Killian pull out all of the political stops to help keep Hazel safe, even though he can’t quite understand why.

It’s nice to read an Urban Fantasy book that isn’t just all about the magic and the fighting but also accepts the strength of political manoeuvring. It’s not just how to fight that Hazel learns from Killian, but also his political acumen.

I like how gradually Killian and Hazel start to grow closer and develop feelings towards each other. They are cautious of each other but gradually start to trust a little it each day.

This really is a fantastic series and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

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Review: Lock and Key (Nocturne Academy Series Book 1) by Evangaline Anderson

Lock and Key by Evangeline Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

YA Paranormal Romance

I’d probably give this book 3.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This is the first book of a trilogy, but though there is a story arc continuing through the series, there is no real cliffhanger at the end of the book.

I got this book free and downloaded it because I enjoyed the Kindred books this author wrote. This book is NOTHING like those books, except for the ‘fated love’ element. It is a clean YA romance, which is pretty much the exact opposite of the Kindred books.

Megan has gone to live with her aunt, after the death of her mother and her father decided he no longer wanted to raise her. Her aunt managed to get her enrolled in Nocturne Academy the school she and her sister attended. The school appears on no maps and is inhabited, almost entirely, by Others. Others are members of the magical races; vampires, witches, fae and drakes (dragon shifters). Megan was unaware of magic before she arrived at the school and she is thrown in at the deep end.

When Megan meets Griffin, when she’s enrolled, they are instantly drawn to each other. He is a nocturne, or vampire, and the magical races are not allowed to mix romantically.

This is very definitely a YA book aimed at young adults. The language isn’t complex, nor is the plot. It involves a girl unaware of her magical heritage, a forbidden love, plucky friends, an evil witch and a secret prophecy. It’s all been done before. It’s quite entertaining and I wanted to finish the book to see where it went, so it’s fairly compelling, but it didn’t break my expectations in any way.

Megan doesn’t really have any of her own agency, everything that happens to her and that she does seems to be driven by magic. It made her a little dull for me. The only thing that seemed to be decided for herself was to stick up for her friends. Those actions helped me like her a bit more. However, every activity, other than protecting her friends, was preceded by a feeling she ‘had to’ to in order for her to do it.

I won’t be reading the next book. It’s not for me. I think, however, that it might be suitable for the actual YA it’s aimed at. It’s rare to find a book about YAs that is suitable for them as there are an awful lot that are about YAs that are aimed at a much more mature reader, which is what I thought this was. I didn’t realise the protagonist was 16 but if I had I wouldn’t have read this book. However, I would recommend it to a younger teenager.

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Review: Don't Play with a Player: A Sweet Office Romance (Laws Of Love Series Book 2) by Agnes Canestri

Law #2: Don't Play with a Player: A Sweet Office Romance by Agnes Canestri
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sweet Romance

First I need to warn people who normally read my reviews that this is a little different to what I normally read and is actually a clean romance. I know it’s a bit shocking for you that I would read something without heat, but it’s a really sweet romance and I really enjoyed it. It reminded me a little of Mariana Zapata’s writing in style, just without the bedroom scene at the end.

This is a very slow-build romance with two people who seem so different but actually have quite a lot in common. Laia is a sweet, clever and pretty Hispanic woman, who has just finished her master's program and is desperate for a job. She’s creative and romantic but constantly underestimates herself and other people’s opinions of her.

Devon owns a very successful marketing company and is known as a bit of a playboy around town. He doesn’t believe in love and soul mates and would rather have a meaningless fling than a proper relationship. What he does need though is a PA.

Laia’s best friend puts her name forward for an intern position at Devon’s company. Devon ends up hiring Laia as his PA because he believes she is serious about her job and her terrible taste in clothes leaves her hidden away and not particularly attractive to him, so she isn’t too distracting.

These two people are very different but at the same time, they discover the things that they have in common are more than they thought. Laia discovers that she enjoys working with Devon and he enjoys having someone incredibly efficient and talented working as his PA, even if after her best friend’s makeover she actually now looks very attractive indeed.

There is a psychological element to this romance with the two of them starting to understand their behaviour and mindset. It’s a very gradual unveiling of secrets and histories, that reveals the motivations for their actions. The plot is quite predictable, but it’s still an enjoyable ride.

My one complaint is the use of the verbal tic of ending sentences with the word “......, no?”. I can understand it being the tic of one of the people in the story, but it was used by so many of them that it became very annoying. I don’t know if it’s because of the region the author comes from, or her heritage, but it just isn’t something I’m used to and it felt forced, even though it may not have been. It made the conversation more stylised and less natural. Other than that and the plot predictability, which sometimes is enjoyable in its own way, the book was a nice, sweet and fun romance.

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Review: Swing Shift (Swing Shift Series Book 1) by William D Arand

Swing Shift by William D. Arand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really Interesting Urban Fantasy/Harem Romance

I came across this book and thought it looked interesting and I was right. This was quite a different book to the one I was expecting. The main male character is named Gus. Gus is a Boogieman, a creature that feeds off the fear of others and is able to do magic with that area of the psyche.

Gus was in the military and got into a really bad situation in the Middle East, which only he and two other people came out of. Mark, his boss, is the only other one who survived in the long term. As well as being his boss, Mark is his best friend and one of the only people he truly trusts, as his race has been hunted virtually to extinction.

Gus’s job is working as a detective for the Paranormal Investigative Department. He works to help keep humans unaware of the paranormal world, which he does by solving crimes. The telepathy he inherited from his father helps in his work.

Gus has been mainly going through the motions of life since he got back to the US until he comes across a Contractor on a job. The Contractor, Melody is a genius, beautiful, determined and a little unhinged. Meeting Melody has the effect of completely overhauling his life.

This book is written from Gus’s point of view, however, the women in his life are very strong, almost dominant. This is harem novel, ie one man and several women, however Melody is the real centre of the harem, as she is the main force in it's construction.

This book has great world building and the characters are fascinating. The plot was interesting, though it seemed to take a while to get going, initially. The romance aspect of the book is very sweet. There is little steam and the harem doesn’t actually have sex in this book. It’s more about the emotional connection than the physical one.

I really enjoyed the book and hope to read more by this author.

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Review: Krimson Run (Krimson Empire Series Book 1) by Julia Huni and Craig Martelle

Krimson Run by Julia Huni and Craig Martelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Evading Certain Death Whilst Having a ‘Mom-Bod’

If you liked The Space Janitor Series, you’ll enjoy this just as much. It has the same lightness of touch, humour and incredulity at what the universe has thrown at the poor protagonist.

Quin is a retired Lt with the Federation. She’s married to a current officer and they have two children. Quin loves her children passionately, her husband less so. When the base they are living on is evacuated she is separated from her children and then abandoned. Dubbed a Krimson Empire spy, she will do anything in her power to get her children back, no matter the cost.

I loved that Quin had a Mom-Bod and barely remembered the military training she had, but she still stepped up when she needed to and her old command presence reasserted itself. She’s a strange mixture of confident and assertive in a professional setting and submissive in a private one.

I loved the supporting characters in this book a lot. Tony is a fantastic friend to Quin and goes above and beyond to help her and her kids. His family of criminals is entertaining and tightly woven together.

This is a really promising start to a new series and the world building is pretty tight, with hints of what’s to come. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book, despite the HFN ending.

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Review: Triana Moore, Space Janitor: The Complete Humorous Sci Fi Mystery Series by Julia Huni

Triana Moore, Space Janitor: The Complete Humorous Sci Fi Mystery Series by Julia Huni
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fun Sci Fi

I really loved the concept for this series. The main protagonist, Triana, is a janitor on a space station. She programs and maintains the bots that keep everything running. She leads a quiet life down in maintenance, surrounded by screens and no one else and that’s how she likes it. Until one of her bots gets caught on a dead body, then her previously quiet life gets hijacked by a handsome station security officer, Ty.

Ty needs her help because she knows the station like the back of her hand and the systems are something she flips her way through with ease. She’s also worked in nearly all the departments on the station until she finally settled in maintenance. In other words, she’s a great resource, the fact Ty thinks she’s interesting and attractive is beside the point!

There are quite a few plot twists through this series and it’s fun watching them unravel. The world building is at times a little silly, but that adds to the fun, as the whole thing doesn’t take itself too seriously.

There is some very very slow burn low key romance with some kissing and not much else. This is a sci-fi series where plot and humour come first, romance is WAY down the list of the author’s priorities.

It’s an entertaining series and I devoured the box set in one chunk and was done in a couple of days (I read all day, every day and quickly, so bear that in mind) and I recommend it for a bit of escapism and easy reading.

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Review: Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Making Faces by Amy Harmon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You’ll Need Tissues

I swear this book had me choked up for around 50% of it. It’s a proper tear jerker. This is a story about youth, leaving it behind and learning to live.

Fern is petite, has a head of bright red curls and wore glasses and braces through high school. She was teased and overlooked but she was beautiful inside. Her cousin Bailey was almost exactly the same age as her and they lived next door to each other growing up. They were best friends and close as siblings. Bailey also had Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy. He had the heart of a lion, the wiseness of an old man and a mighty brain. He was also unlikely to live much past aged 21.

At school Fern had a huge crush on Ambrose, a boy who was strong, tall and good looking, and had the weight of the town’s expectations on his shoulders, and barely had any time for a girl like Fern. Instead of heading to college after high school on a full wrestling scholarship he decided to sign up for the army and talked his best friends into joining him.

The book skips back and forth between high school and the current day. We see how each character saw the other and how they relate to each other now they are in their twenties. It’s a really beautiful book and I devoured it in one sitting. I sat with tears streaming down my face for quite a few pages, which is unusual for me. I might get a bit of dampness in the eyes, but never to the point of actual tears.

This book is full of wise and sad things, about the poignancy of grief and loss of loved ones. It’s also about grabbing life with both hands and living it to it’s fullest no matter what. I will say that this is a less a romance and more a book about friendship. It’s definitely a clean romance as there is nothing more than a few kisses. Fern is the daughter of a pastor and her faith and that of her parents is front and centre in the book. As an atheist I find that sort of thing in a book difficult to deal with, but it wasn’t overdone, it was just part of the characters and how they dealt with life.

This is the first book I’ve read by the author and next time I feel the need to bawl my eyes out I’ll look for one of her books.

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