You know, July just buzzed by. On one hand, I'm shooing it away because, wow, HOT. On the other hand... you know what. Shoo.
Reading has been a mixed bag of new stuff and rereads. The anxiety about the new stuff is I don't know how the new to me authors are going to treat me. Is there going to be a death of a character that I like? Please god don't let this be a tragedy. Am I going to be strangled with a cliffhanger? Is this going to be dark and they didn't include trigger warnings?
Sometimes I'm fine and I can complete a book but other times, my anxiety nopes right on out and I start a reread of my current favorite series. Despite that, I still test the waters and search for all the spoilers if I'm undecided. LOL
Series: Shining Smith, 1
Author: Faith Hunter
Length: 5 hr 2 min
Genre: Sci-Fi / Post Apocalyptic /
Notes: I used to read the Jane Yellowrock series. I stopped reading at perhaps book five or six. IDK, I'd have to go back and look. There was a couple reasons why I stopped. One of the reasons was because in one book Jane would be attracted to someone and the next book she'd change her mind for an unexplained reason. So it was jarring and eventually became an unreliable character. I could also guess the direction of the plot and characters, which is not a bad thing. But what I really struggled with was the dreariness of the series. I loved the world but with Jane getting on my nerves and how depressing things could be from book to book, I set the series aside thinking that perhaps one day I'd come back to it. I have sampled some of the side stories. Just recently, in the Dirty Deed 2 anthology, she had a short and it had all the hallmarks I remembered. She got me interested in the characters and then bad things happened to people I liked, then some.
All of that above is the reason why I didn't try her newest Shining Smith series, Junkyard Cats. But it was recommended in a book discussion group I'm in and I was in a good place to give it a try. This is a post apocalyptic world. World War III had happened around the time of an alien invasion. The face of the world has changed. How the world works has changed. And we have Shining who just wants to be left alone. I really enjoyed the book and bought the next one right after finishing. I just need to keep reminding myself not to get hopeful because if something sucks rocks now, it will continue to suck rocks in the story going forward.
Blurb: From the author of the best-selling Jane Yellowrock and Soulwood series comes a tough new heroine who is far more than she seems.
After the Final War, after the appearance of the Bug aliens and their enforced peace, Shining Smith is still alive, still doing business from the old scrapyard bequeathed to her by her father. But Shining is now something more than human. And the scrapyard is no longer just a scrapyard, but a place full of secrets that she has guarded for years.
This life she has built, while empty, is predictable and safe. Until the only friend left from her previous life shows up, dead, in the back of a scrapped Tesla warplane. Clutched in her cold fingers is a note to Shining—warning her of a coming attack.
With dread, Shining realizes: someone knows who she is. Someone knows what she is guarding. Will she be able to protect the scrapyard? Will she even survive? Or will Shining have to destroy everything she loves to keep her secrets out of the wrong hands?
Title: Junkyard Bargain
Series: Shining Smith, 2
Author: Faith Hunter
Length: 5 hr 40 mintes
Genre: Sci-Fi / Post Apocalyptic /
Notes: I really wanted the next book when I finished this. I like this world and Shining is a compelling character that I feel for. I can sorta see a possible plot arc for the series though I could be wrong about Shining taking over West Virginia. This is not a romance but there is a part of me that kept whispering, oh man, this would be a great poly series. I know the author is going to deny me that little joy, but still.
Blurb: Sometimes before you can face your enemies—you need to confront yourself.
Time is running out for Shining Smith and her crew to gather the weapons they need to rescue one of their own. But will they even make it to the ultimate battle? First, they’ll need to hit the road to Charleston—a hell ride full of bandits, sex slavers, corrupt lawmen, and criminal bike gangs looking to move in on Shining’s territory.
Shining’s human allies will do anything to protect her—because they must. But will victory be worth it if she must compel more and more people to do her bidding? And will her feline warriors, the junkyard cats, remain loyal and risk their lives? Or are they just in it for the kibble?
Shining knows she’ll need to keep her friends close and her enemies closer. That is, if she’s able to tell which is which.
Title: When He's Sinful
Series: The Olympus Pride, 3
Author: Suzanne Wright
Length: 11 hr. 48 min
Genre: Romance / Paranormal /
Notes: All three of Wright's paranormal shifter series are really good if you want some gritty shifters, but Olympus is my favorite of the three. I'm wondering if Bailey's romance is next?
Blurb: Aspen Montgomery was nine years old when she befriended Camden Priest—a boy with dead eyes and dark urges. Since that day, they'd been inseparable. She hadn't expected to later develop a major crush on him. Or expected that the crush would fail to pass. Or ever thought that she'd grow to wish that she could one day claim him as her mate. It's never going to happen. She knows that. To him, she's a friend, nothing more. So it's time to make some changes to establish some better boundaries. Which would be a hell of a lot easier if he didn't fight her on it.
There is only one person in the world who Camden Priest gives a damn about—Aspen. She's his best friend, his anchor, his conscience, the very reason he's sane. There's only one secret he ever kept from her...he wants more than friendship. Knowing she doesn't feel the same, he put a chokehold on his need for her. But when some asshole claims to be Aspen's true mate and danger starts closing in on her, Camden's control becomes precarious and platonic lines are crossed. He knows what he should do—leave it at a one-night stand to protect their friendship. He's just not so sure he can.
There is only one person in the world who Camden Priest gives a damn about—Aspen. She's his best friend, his anchor, his conscience, the very reason he's sane. There's only one secret he ever kept from her...he wants more than friendship. Knowing she doesn't feel the same, he put a chokehold on his need for her. But when some asshole claims to be Aspen's true mate and danger starts closing in on her, Camden's control becomes precarious and platonic lines are crossed. He knows what he should do—leave it at a one-night stand to protect their friendship. He's just not so sure he can.
Title: Forging A Nightmare
Series:
Author: Patrician A. Jackson
Length: 16 hr. 53 minutes
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Murder Mystery /
Notes: This was recommended in the book discussion group by the same person who recommended Junkyard Cats. I'm only just starting. With it being a murder mystery it is a little dark but compelling.
Blurb: FBI Agent Michael Childs is tasked with tracking down a serial killer with an obsession for victims born with 12 fingers and toes. But he discovers something much more startling about himself....
The only link between a series of grisly murders in New York City is that the victims were all born with 12 fingers and 12 toes. These people are known in occult circles as the Nephilim, a forsaken people, descendants of fallen angels.
After a break in the case leads to supposedly killed-in-action Marine sniper Anaba Raines, Michael finds the soldier alive and well, but shockingly no longer human. Michael then discovers that he is also a Nephilim, and next on the killer’s list.
Everything Michael once thought of as myth and magic starts to blur the lines of his reality, forcing him to accept a new fate to save the innocent or die trying.
The only link between a series of grisly murders in New York City is that the victims were all born with 12 fingers and 12 toes. These people are known in occult circles as the Nephilim, a forsaken people, descendants of fallen angels.
After a break in the case leads to supposedly killed-in-action Marine sniper Anaba Raines, Michael finds the soldier alive and well, but shockingly no longer human. Michael then discovers that he is also a Nephilim, and next on the killer’s list.
Everything Michael once thought of as myth and magic starts to blur the lines of his reality, forcing him to accept a new fate to save the innocent or die trying.
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Title: Dualwick
Series: Misfit Wick Series
Author: Megan Derr
Length: 188 pages
Genre: Romance / Fantasy / Poly
Notes: I barely remembered the first book of this series, enough to know how the world worked. Massy is a bad@ss. Just sayin'. After I finished this I went back to reread the first one. Several things clicked into place with the reminders. So yeah, if you vaguely recall the first stories, you might want to reread them before delving into this one.
Blurb: Massy has been notorious since birth: the son of the infamous Creawick, kidnapped as a child, and a legendary dualwick. He is feared, admired, studied—and alone, long abandoned by his childhood best friends, and betrayed by one lover after another.
In the wake of yet another betrayal, though, he is ordered to go with his old friends to save a woman he met briefly while studying abroad. She has gone missing, and given her connections, his friends fear the worst.
As they set out on their journey, the trio soon realizes the matter is even more complicated than they feared—and Massy learns that everyone, even his beloved father, has been keeping an important secret from him…
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