Summer’s heat (and winter’s chill down under), along with continued distancing, has led to more reading for some – certainly the Wenches found plenty of books to their liking in August. Romance, mystery, monsters, history, witches – and two books about hockey (!!) - read on to find out what we’ve been reading!
Mary Jo says:
Here I am talking about Jasmine Guillory again! Her most recent book, Party of Two, is another smart, funny romantic comedy with interesting depths. The heroine, Olivia Monroe, is a native Californian who went east to get a law degree from Harvard, worked at a high pressure New York law firm for several years, and then decided to return to California to start a law firm with her best friend, Ellie, because they are both tired of dealing with condescending and worse male colleagues.
Just back from New York and staying at a hotel while waiting to move into her house, she falls into a conversation with guy at the hotel bar. He's wearing a baseball cap, is really good looking, and has a great sense of humor. She wouldn't mind going up to his hotel room for a little stress relief, but nothing happens and she goes back to her room--and sees on the TV that the bar guy is Max Powell, the hot junior senator of California.
She tells her sister so they can both laugh about it and moves on, but Max was fascinated by her and kicking himself for not getting her phone number. When he sees her in the audience at an event a couple of weeks later, the chase is one. Max falls for her hard, but Olivia is starting a new law office and soooo not interested in a relationship.
The attraction is strong and mutual, but the conflicts are powerful when both of them are ultra-busy and he lives a very public life. Major and negotiations and adjustment may be required! That, and a lot of cake. <G>
Here's Nicola:
The Wenches are big fans of Lucy Parker and this month I treated myself to Headliners, the latest in her London Celebrities series. When Sabrina Carlton and Nick Davenport are forced to work together to host a live morning TV show their past feuding threatens to derail their professional partnership. Sparks certainly fly! I’ve loved all of the series but this enemies-to-lovers story could be my favourite yet. It’s completely convincing, the barriers between the two of them aren’t minimised and the emotion is really profound. Plus, the chemistry is amazing and it’s hot, even when they are stuck together in the Alpine wine cellar! I also loved the celebration of families and friendship in its different forms.
Completely different but a very welcome birthday present was The Face of War by Angus Haldane which is a collection of portraits from the English Civil Wars, each with a fascinating commentary. Many of the portraits of both the Royalists and Parliamentarians were painted during the conflict and show the character and loyalties of the sitter. It’s a fascinating insight into a tumultuous period and if you enjoy art history and the seventeenth century, it’s a must. It’s not just men in armour, though some of those look pretty good, and both Prince Rupert and his brother Maurice are included. There are a number of prominent women from the era who are featured and also a beautiful family portrait of William Lenthall, the Speaker of the House of Commons, holding the hand of his wife. A fascinating book on many levels.
Pat read Broken For You by Stephanie Kallos:
Once upon a time I gobbled up literary fiction—the good stuff, the Vonnegut and Gunter Grass and Joseph Heller. But too much of it turned into mournful paeans to shattered society and everybody dies, and I got bored. I turned to genre fiction where people found love and justice and the world made sense and lived happily ever after.
But for whatever reason, I recently bought this book, the author’s debut novel. I can see why it was a bestseller. I am in awe. Yes, there is death and birth, but mostly, there is universal love. It starts out so slowly that I almost gave up, but unlike most books, I could see no predictable ending, so I kept reading. And then the story of an older woman with a tumor living in an enormous house with wall-to-wall fragile objects intersects with the story of a younger woman who has made a life of fixing things, and the book becomes compelling. It’s an insane, completely improbable book, but see my list of literary authors above and you’ll understand that insane and improbable appeal to me. Reciting the story summary is useless. I’ll just say that the ending is joyous and uplifting and leave you to decide if it’s worth the journey.
Christina says:
Recently I’ve had a total Wench reading fest as I’ve been lucky enough to read three new and/or upcoming releases. They have all immersed me in the Regency period – one of my absolute favourites – and I have really enjoyed the different angles the authors take. First there was Anne Gracie’s Marry in Scarlet, the final book in her Marriage of Convenience series which I’d so been looking forward to. There is always something extremely satisfying about a series being concluded in exactly the way you wanted it to, and this one definitely did not disappoint! It is Lady George’s story – George being a tomboy, very unconventional and determined never to marry and lose her freedom. It was extremely satisfying to watch her finding out that things don’t always go to plan, especially when love is involved. As for the hero, I already had a soft spot for him as he’d appeared briefly in one of the other books in the series and I thoroughly enjoyed finding out how he was going to persuade George to marry him, not for convenience as he had thought, but for love. I’m really going to miss these characters!
Then there was an ARC of Once Dishonored by Mary Jo Putney – I decided to have a quick glance at the first chapter of this book at bedtime and I was still reading three hours later! Literally couldn’t put it down and I was instantly engaged in both the hero and heroine’s lives. They are both considered ‘dishonoured’, and although this takes a different form for each of them, their shared experiences and feelings of being outside society draw them to each other. I loved the way they battled each other’s enemies and stood up for one another, and it is always immensely satisfying when a truly horrible villain gets his comeuppance. Add a couple of delightful children, a whole host of protective and helpful friends, and you have a wonderful story!
Last but not least, I read an ARC of Murder at Queen’s Landing by Andrea Penrose. I had been eagerly awaiting this continuation of Andrea’s Regency murder/mystery series and I absolutely loved it! It had everything I was looking for – adventure, romance, unshakeable friendships and a perfect ending. I love the characters, including the ever-growing cast of secondary characters, and I really like how they have all developed from book one through to this one. The reader is drawn into their lives in a way that makes it difficult to stop thinking about them when the book is finished. Although the story can be read as a standalone, I would advise anyone wanting to read this series to start with book one – you won’t regret it and it will make reading this one even more amazing!
I have read other books this month, but most of them failed to enthrall me, although for anyone who wants a very unusual YA romance, I can recommend Reign of Shadows and Rise of Fire by Sophie Jordan. The heroine is truly special, but I won’t say in what way as that is part of the plot. She is a fascinating character though and I very much enjoyed the blossoming romance between her and the hero, with him fighting his feelings all the way. He was great too, and the emotional baggage he carried made him very interesting. They live in a world which is dark for most of the time as there has been an eclipse of the sun that seems semi-permanent, and everyone has had to adapt to spending most of their time in darkness. This has also allowed certain species to thrive to the point where they threaten everyone else … An intriguing premise, but be warned – you have to read both books in order to find out how the story ends.
Joanna here:
I’m reading two (two !) new books by the husband-and-wife writing team Ilona Andrews. One is a brand new, just released book from the Hidden Legacy Series, Emerald Blaze.
Prime Catalina Baylor is plunged into deep water by the first challenges she has to face as new Head of House Baylor. There’s hordes of murderous metal-and-plant hybrid monsters coming at her out of the swamp; there’s intrigue, Texas-style, facing down the rich and powerful of Houston; a mysterious murder to sort for her client at Baylor Investigations; her warm, nosy, extensive, and interfering multi-generational family to keep secrets from; there’s her insane, powerful, frankly evil grandmother ... and, of course, Alessandro Sagredo, the man who broke her heart and skedaddled off to parts unknown.
He’s back and he says he loves her. Oookay. But they’re both going to get killed by a (jo checks her notes) huge, telepathic all-powerful, doomsday monster that can read minds and has fallen obsessively in love with her.
Talk about awkward.
I’m also reading Blood Heir, a work-in-progress by Ilona Andrews. It's a spin off from the Kate Daniels world.
This one’s the further adventures of Julie Lennart-Olsen after she left Atlanta for good.
The problem with this book is that it isn’t finished.
You get to read along with Ilona Andrews as they work on it. Here.
I find the construction work interesting but it might drive you nuts not to know what comes next,
so I’d say to approach with caution.
Anne here:
Last month I was on a reading glom of Juliet Blackwell's "witch" mystery series. Now I'm onto the Juliet Blackwell's haunted house/renovation series, which is the series Pat recommended a couple of months ago. I'm enjoying them very much. It stars Melanie Turner, who has taken over her family building company, specializing in renovating gorgeous historic houses. The only trouble is that there are ghosts in them there houses, and Mel seems to have a talent for seeing them. However dealing with them is another matter, especially when dead bodies turn up. Lighthearted, fun cosy crime. The first book is If Walls Could Talk, and it's currently on special.
In between I've been rereading Sarina Bowen's contemporary "hockey" romance series, which follows the players and the ensemble of people that support the team. This is a favorite series of mine, hence the rereading. The first in the series is Rookie Move. I also read The Big Man Upstairs, the latest in JD Kirk's Scottish crime series. It's a contemporary crime series, a bit gritty, and all from the perspective of the police detective investigating the crime. I've read all of the series, and recommend they be read in order, as the relationships between the various characters develop over time. Start with A Litter of Bones.
Here's Andrea:
I very rarely read psychological suspense, so it may weird that I chose such a stressful time to delve into a chilling book. But I had read such interesting reviews about The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley that I was intrigued enough to try it. The story sounded so interesting—a group of 30-somethings, best friends from their Oxford days, have a ritual of going away to some really fabulous over-the-top New Year’s getaway.
Each year, one of the group finds the spot and organizes the sumptuous food and memorable entertainment experiences. This year, the recent girlfriend of one of the inner circle of friends has found a magnificent and exclusive—and very remote—Scottish hunting lodge that rents itself out for private parties. The girlfriend is a fabulous cook, and she’s had the lodge stock the kitchen for her to cook amazing meals. There are only three staff to serve the group, including a surly gamekeeper who assigned to take them stag hunting on the 50,000 acres surrounding acres. As they arrive by train at the tiny station and are picked up by the gamekeeper, it begins to snow. By the next day, it’s still snowing and the roads are impassable. No one can get in or out.
That’s fine with everyone—in fact, they’re delighted. They’re all best friends with plenty of premium booze and wonderful food. The partying begins . . . and suddenly the perfect marriages and close friendships begin to show some tiny cracks . . .
The story is told from multiple points of view, including that of the estate concierge, a woman who has fled her own dark past. And in the very beginning you learn that one of the people has ended up dead. The chapters go back and forth from the group’s arrival, to several days later when the body is first discovered. So who did it? The killer has to be one of the people at the lodge. It’s really well done, and riveting, even if, like me, you’re squeamish and don’t like being scared. The unraveling of the relationships and the revelation of secrets within secrets is so well-done. I highly recommend it!
And Susan:
In high school, I didn’t play sports (well, not willingly!), and I never thought years later I would love a book about girls’ field hockey, but I am here to testify! And what a fun, quirky, wildly enjoyable book it is. We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry mixes girls’ high school field hockey in 1989, witchy magic, comedy and pathos in brilliant combination. It’s whip-smart on every page, laugh-out-loud funny (really, I mean that), unpredictable, and at times a little dark. The girls of the Danvers High School field hockey team are on serious losing streak until one of them invites the help of team dark, essentially, not unlike their historical teen sisters in the nearby town of Salem in 1692, to rise up the team rankings. They write pledges in a spiral notebook with their celebrity crush, Emilio Estevez, on the cover. As the pledges to Emilio get more complicated, the consequences pile up, ranging from ominous to poignant to comical.
Quan Barry played field hockey herself in the 1980s, and it shows—her conjuring of the ‘80s vibe is spot on, from bodacious language to girls discovering spitfire feminism, to questionable fashion choices and wild hairstyles (one girl’s teased bangs, called “It,” is a wacky barometer of its owner’s feelings). As the spells and repercussions mount, and the girls and their dark-but-innocent magic hurtle toward the championship game, the story never flags and the characters are fully real—they become your own teammates, every quirky, vulnerable one of them. It’s masterfully constructed, brilliantly written, and the ending finds perfect resolution. Can you tell how much I loved it? Duh, totally!
What have you all been reading lately? Do you find yourself reading more books during these long, strange months of keeping your distance from normal life?