Sunday, October 26, 2014

Melanie's Week in Review - October 26, 2014





I am baaaaccccckkkkk. I may have to change the title of this to Melanie's Two Weeks in Review.  I hope you haven't missed me too much.  I went home to Canada and had a great Thanksgiving with my family and now back in the UK to a very mild October. I am not only recovering from jetlag but also the clocks going back.  I used to love the extra hour in bed but now I just lament hardly ever seeing the sun! Anyway, I digress.You are probably thinking you wish she would just get to what she read!

I started my holiday with Binary by Stephanie Saulter which is the second book of the Gemsigns series.  Saulter was part of the Debut Author Challenge in May this year with her first book Gemsigns which I reviewed. I loved this first book and book 2 didn't disappoint. I will be writing a full review of Binary so I don't want to give too much away. I would advise you to start reading Gemsigns if you haven't already.

I decided that I needed quick and easy reads while I was on holiday so I popped over to NetGalley to see if they had any HEA for me to read. I found Light My Fire by G.A. Aiken. I have been reading the Dragon Kin novels despite them being a bit too 'erotica' for my liking. I found the first two or three novels (I started at the second novel About a Dragon) amusing and with enough humour I could forgive the non-stop sex. The further I get into the series the more I am getting a bit bored. I feel that Aiken needs to pair off almost every character in some 'stop it, I love it' tale. Light My Fire was set about 10 years after How to Drive a Dragon Crazy and tells the story of Celyn the Charming and the human Elina Shestokova from the Outer Plains. Celyn was your fairly typical drop dead gorgeous dragon who has something to prove and paired with Elina who I thought jumped out of From Russia with Love. Their love story was quite dull but I did enjoy the passages dedicated to Gwenvael and Dagmar who have featured in the last few novels. Normally, Aiken focuses the story from the female lead characters but even in the sub-plots there was much more male dominance in this instalment. I also thought that Aiken almost repeats the ending of book 5 in this book which made me wonder despite the wait, whether this one was a bit of a rush job.

Book 2 from NetGalley was 'Til Dragons Do Us Part by Lorenda Christensen. I was hoping that this was going to be a 'feel good' read as I was going to read it during my flight back. I was glad this was a quick read as boy, it was boring. This is the story of of Savanagh, dragon shifter and art thief. One last heist may well be her very last of everything. Savanagh needs to steal a famous painting from a another dragon's horde but all her plans look like they are going to be foiled by the hunky head of security, Cameron.

The cover is definitely the best part of this book as the plot line was dull, dull, dull. Savanagh was just too good and caring to be considered a famous thief. Cameron was slightly more believable but only just slightly. It was pretty clear that he wasn't that good at his job as he totally missed the fact that a dragon shifter was posing as a wedding planner. I haven't read the other books in this series so perhaps they are better than this one but I don't think I will attempt to find out.

I will only tell you about one more book that I read on my return. My third NetGalley treat was The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes. I was super excited when I read that Patrick Weekes also writes for my 2 all time favourite video games - Mass Effect and Dragon Age. This first instalment of the Rogues of the Republic series brings together the 'dream team'. The baroness/ex-soldier/thief Loch assembles a motley crew to pull the biggest heist ever. She is determined to steal back the priceless elven manuscript from the man that killed her family and turned her into an outcast. Together with a unicorn, a death priestess, a talking war hammer, a magician and a boy with a mysterious birthmark Loch embarks on a journey to break into the most impregnable fortress ever - Heaven's Spire. 

This is a great read which I thoroughly enjoyed. Weekes has combined great characters, humour and adventure. There is also a smattering of romance for those of you who don't want to read about swashbucklers. In parts I felt like I was reading a script from Dragon's Age but as I love these games it wasn't a problem. Weekes really knows how to create great characters and ones  you want to spend more time with. I am really looking forward to what happens next. Also, I LOVE the cover!

That is it for me. I am sure to have more to tell you about next week as with the clocks going back I have a whole extra hour to read something new! Until next week Happy Reading.



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