The nitty-gritty: Engaging characters, romance, intrigue and dragons make Claws and Contrivances another delightful entry in Stephanie Burgis’s Regency Dragons series. “It has been delightful to meet you, Mr. Aubrey. I shall look forward to meeting you again, for the first time. Just remember: you’ve never seen me before!” I’ve been a fan of Stephanie […]
The nitty-gritty: The “cursed movie” trope is alive and well in Josh Winning’s latest, a creepy, madcap adventure that, while a lot of fun, falters when it comes to the characters and their actions. It pains me to give Burn the Negative anything less than five stars, since I really expected to love this. Josh […]
The nitty-gritty: Caroline Hardaker’s latest explores the pain of transformation and the beauty of becoming one’s true self in this emotional tale of one man’s journey through mental illness and grief. Mothtown is an unusual, dreamlike novel that follows a character named David through childhood and into adulthood as he tries to come to terms […]
The nitty-gritty: A unique glimpse into the mind of a mountain lion as he navigates the hazards of Los Angeles. “I’ve never eaten a person but today I might” Open Throat has such a great concept. The story is told from the perspective of a lone mountain lion who lives in the hills near the […]
The nitty-gritty: A dark and gritty look at a codependent relationship, with vampires. “At six o’clock, I break a teacup from the kitchenette against the wall and use a shard of porcelain to cut a second hole in my arm. I let it pool into a paper Dixie cup and tell Mom to come drink […]
The nitty-gritty: A feel-good romance with substance and just a touch of the speculative, The Seven Year Slip was a delight from start to finish. Color me surprised. This horror, sci-fi lovin’ girl just fell for a contemporary romance, and I’m totally OK with that! I’ve enjoyed Ashley Poston’s YA series Once Upon a Con, […]
The nitty-gritty: Another thrilling entry in David Walton’s series, Deadly Memory delivers fast-paced action—and dinosaurs. Dinosaurs. A deadly pandemic. A Thai Queen. An ancient extinction event. A group of dedicated scientists. What do all these things have in common? They are all elements in Deadly Memory, the exciting sequel to David Walton’s Living Memory. I […]
The nitty-gritty: Ai Jiang explores a couple of current hot topics—AI art and the human versus machine argument—in a short but engaging story that gives readers plenty to ponder. I Am AI is a short novelette that explores the pitfalls of AI generated art, a quite timely story in fact, since the headlines have been […]
The nitty-gritty: Wonder, whimsey, science and fantasy come together in Charles Soule’s latest, a highly original ode to finding happiness. Charles Soule comes up with the most unusual ideas for books, and in my opinion he’s outdone himself with The Endless Vessel. This is my third book by the author and my favorite so far. […]
The nitty-gritty: Atmospheric and eerie, All the Dead Lie Down is a nice mix of horror, coming-of-age and family secrets. It was the creepy, evocative cover of All the Dead Lie Down that caught my attention, and I have to say Kyrie McCauley’s story matches the cover perfectly. This was such an atmospheric story with […]