Book Review - The Hexed

The Hexed
Krewe of Hunters #13
Heather Graham

Published: July 2014

Harlequin MIRA, mass market pbk, 390p.
ISBN: 978-174356597-1

A place of history, secrets. . . and witchcraft

Devin Lyle has recently returned to the Salem area, but her timing couldn't be worse.  Soon after she moved into the eighteenth-century cabin she inherited from her great-aunt Mina - her 'crazy' great-aunt, who spoke to the dead - a woman was murdered nearby.

Craig 'Rocky' Rockwell is a new member of the Krewe of Hunters, the FBI's team of paranormal investigators.  He never got over finding a friend dead in the woods.  Now another body's been foud in those same woods, not far from the home of Devin Lyle.  And Devin has been led to a third body - by a ghost?

Her discovery draws them both deeper into the case and Salem's rich and disturbing history.  Even as the danger mounts, Devin and Rocky begin to fall for each other - something the ghosts of Mina and past witches seem to approve of.  But the two of them need every skill they possess to learn the truth - of Devin's might be the next body in the woods. . .

Ghosts, ghosts and more ghosts!  Throw in some witches, Salem, a couple of bodies and you've got The Hexed in a nutshell.  I'm a sucker for witches and genealogy, so I really enjoyed the history that Heather Graham incorporated in to the storyline.  

The characters in The Hexed were exactly what you'd expect from a Romance book.  You have a pretty girl who meets the handsome, strong and possibly heroic guy.  They get into trouble, fall in love/lust, make out like little bunnies, solve a murder and possibly live happily ever after.  So if you're looking for amazing characters that will break your heart with their realism, then perhaps this isn't the book for you.

However if you are still interested The Hexed follows Devlin, said pretty girl, and our protagonist who has recently moved into her great-aunt's cabin.  There, along with Poe - the raven she inherited -  Devlin writes childrens books.  One day she hears cries for help from the woods surrounding her home.  In true romance fiction style our budding sleuth heads out to see what's happening, only to stumble upon the body of a newly dead woman.  Devlin runs for the road and flags down a car - this car belongs to Rocky, our potentially heroic love interest, who has been sent to find out who is killing the women.  Mystery and chaos ensue.

Apart from our lovers, Devlin and Rocky, there are more than the usual number of secondary characters that don't hesitate to jump into the action.  All are interesting in their own way, and all have links to a murder that took place over 10 years earlier.  Out of all the characters, my favourites would have to be Great-Aunt Mina - yes, she does have a part to play - as well as Poe, the guard Raven who protects Devlin.

On to said mystery angle.  It was well constructed and executed, with suspect all over the place.  They make good grist for misdirection mill by the author, and it worked.  My attention was successfully diverted from the identity of the real killer - I definitely didn't see it coming.  The identity of the killer came right out of left field.  So congrats to the author in that respect.

I will say that while most of my experience reading The Hexed was positive, there were a few issues that really niggled.  The first is that there is no real relationship between Devlin and Rocky.  Just a closeness enforced by a murder investigation.  Amazingly, they managed to hold off jumping into bed until the last third of the book (which is quite refreshing for a change!).   Also - and this is my biggest criticism - that there was no real resolution in regards to the punishment of the killer once he/she/it were caught {trying not to give any spoilers away there ;-D}.  There was no trial, or any other measurable means of justice.  Very annoying to invest in a book and then feel let down at the end.

So in conclusion, while The Hexed is not in the same literary league as War and Peace, or even The Diviners, this book did tick most of the boxes that I look for in regards to a M&B style romance book.  It was fast paced, and the world building let me envisage the characters, and their story easily.  Harlequin MIRA has been publishing some amazing mysteries in the last couple of years and I would recommend that you try them as they aren't all straight up romance with a bit of mystery on the side.  In all I really enjoyed reading The Hexed.  It is a quick read (I finished in under 4 hours) and would be great for travelling.

Until next time,

 

Book Review - Gilded

Gilded
The St. Croix Chronicles #2
Karina Cooper

Published: January 2013

AVON, mass market pbk, 372p.
ISBN: 978-0-06-212766-2

In the gleaming heights of Victorian London, a world of deceptin awaits an uncovnentional Society lady whose taste for adventure makes her a most formidable adversary...

Though Society demands that I make a good marriage, I, Cherry St. Croix, have neither the time nor the interest.  Iam on the trail of a murder with no victim, a mystery with no motive, and the key to an alchemical formula that could be my family's legacy.

Yet the world is not so kind as to let me pursue simple murder and uncomplicated bounties.  Above the foggy drift, an earl insists on my attention, while my friends watch my increasingly desperate attempts to remain my own woman.  From the silken demands of the Midnight Menagerie - to whose dangerously seductive ringmaster I owe a debt - to the rigorous pressures of the peerage, all are conspiring to place before me a choice that will forever change my life.

I just don't think I can convey to you just how much I detested, disliked and or how much this book disappointed me.  So for that reason, be warned that there are no warm and fuzzy feelings in the below review ;-D

I picked this copy of Gilded up at a local booksale {see here} and I'm so grateful that I didn't pay more than $1 for this absolutely depressing book.  While the cover art depicts a suitably Victorian/paranormal - edging towards a slight Steampunk vibe - it does little to make up for this story.  Which was surprising given the suitably dark and mysterious atmosphere that the author was able to convey.   {note, that was my only positive point about Gilded!}

The characters were tolerable at best, and our main protagonist, Lady Cherry St. Croix, was nothing more than an adventure seeking drug addict who had a penchant for opium and laundenum to escape her worries.  Now I haven't read book one - and I have absolutely no desire to - but I think her drug use stems from something that occured during that book.  Nethertheless, I really dislike reading about characters who rely on drugs to get through their days.  Also, as an heiress, she is supposed to be at least competent in society, but I found her floundering in social situations to be just stupid.  She would have been brought up to cope with any verbal riposte.

Other characters that we are introduced to did nothing for me, and I couldn't feel any emotional connection, and therefore didn't give a sh*t about any of them.

The ending was just plain crappy.  After investing in the book, a reader likes to get an emotional payoff rather than the character falling totally from grace and doing a complete 180° in social standing and fortune (from what happens).  Why couldn't it have ended on a high note with the wedding, and have the sh*t hit the fan at the beginning of the next book?

WILL NOT BE READING ANY MORE OF THIS SERIES!

 

 

 (for cover art, and Victorian setting alone)

Until next time,

 

Top 5 Wednesday - Couples

Sorry that I'm a little late this week.  For some reason I chose to start reorganising my bookshelf yesterday.  So my bookshelves are still a wreak, I've got books piled up on random pieces of furniture and I won't be able to get things sorted out properly until I get a new big bookshelf.  I know.  Why did I do that? 

Now that that mini-rant is out of my system, it's on to this weeks Top 5.  This week I chose books from adult series.  So if you're after any YA recommendations - sorry!

 

 

 

 Meg Corbyn {aka cs759} & Simon Wolfguard

This is my favourite not-a-couple-at-the-moment couple.  Meg is different ... special.  Her blood a portal into the future, where a single cut on her skin can go for thousands of dollars.  After escaping the facility where her kind are held, she finds herself at a Courtyard.  Home of the Others.  A race of shapeshifting natives who control the land - and it's resources.  There she meets Simon, leader of the Courtyard, and a wolf-shifter. . .  and that's all I'm telling you about this amazing series ;-D

Their budding romance is definitely forbidden, but they are so good together, very sweet and almost innocent (on Meg's side), that watching them fall in love is a joy.

If you want to follow Meg and Simon's adventures, start with Written in Red by Anne Bishop.

 

 Stephanie Plum & Joe Morelli

I procrastinated over adding Steph & Morelli to the list, but this is one of my go-to series to read when I just want a fun bit of escapism so in the end I just had to include this on-again-off-again couple.  Stephanie is a bumbling bounty hunter who has a thing for Morelli, a Trenton cop.  They love, laugh, fight, break-up, lie for each other (and to each other), and are just a fun couple to read.

If you would like to catch up with Stephanie & Morelli (and Ranger) then start at the beginning with One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

. . . and don't watch the movie first!

 

 Elena Devereaux & Raphael

Of all my top 5 couples, this is one of the most 'out there'.  A mortal who falls in love with one of the most powerful beings on Earth - an Archangel.  Amazingly, he returns her feelings.  These two are now learning how to live, and love, in a world where Archangel's are the apex predator.

First book in the Guild Hunter series is Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh.

 

 Diana Bishop & Matthew Clairmont

I really have come to love Diana and Matthew.  They are all about the forbidden love, and breaking the rules to be with the one you love.  Funny, and heartbreaking at times, their story is amazing.

If you want to read Diana and Matthew's story, start with A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

 

Lt. Eve Dallas & Roarke

I think Eve and Roarke are my favourite couple because they are just amazing characters.  They both share shitty childhood's, and had built themselves a better life - until their worlds collided when Eve was investigating a homicide, and Roarke was her suspect.  Fierce loyalty, compassion, love, and a myriad of other qualities are words I would use to sum up this couple ;-D

If you want to start reading this massive series read: Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

So once again my lovelies, that's it for yet another week.  Hope you enjoyed my favourite book couples list.  I'd love to hear what you think of them.

 

And if you want to find out more about this series, it was created by the lovely Lainey at GINGERREADSLAINEY and I'll include a link to the Goodreads group {here} if you would also like to participate.

I will try to start uploading videos at some point in the future.  Ever time I've tried in the last few weeks, something had happened.  This week it's roadworks on my street!

Until next time,

 

Book Review - Graveminder

Graveminder
Melissa Marr

Published: 2011

William Morrow (HarperCollins Imprint), hardcover, 324p.
ISBN: 978-0-06-182687-0

Three sips to mind the dead . . . 

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the attention her grandmother Maylene bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the small town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each one Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: She took three sips from a silver flask and spoke the words "Sleep well, and stay where I put you." 

Now Maylene is dead, and Bek must go back to the place she left a decade earlier. She soon discovers that Claysville is not just the sleepy town she remembers, and that Maylene had good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in Claysville the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected; beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. If the dead are not properly cared for, they will come back to satiate themselves with food, drink, and stories from the land of the living. Only the Graveminder, by tradition a Barrow woman, and her Undertaker--in this case Byron Montgomery, with whom Bek shares a complicated past--can set things right once the dead begin to walk. 

 Although she is still grieving for Maylene, Rebekkah will soon find that she has more than a funeral to attend to in Claysville, and that what awaits her may be far worse: dark secrets, a centuries-old bargain, a romance that still haunts her, and a frightening new responsibility--to stop a monster and put the dead to rest where they belong.

Graveminder is the first book by Melissar Marr, and also the first book of hers that I've read.   It follows the story of Rebekkah who returns to the strange town of Claysville after the death of grandmother. 

Plot wise, Graveminder had some truly eerie elements.  That creepy quote on the front cover, "Sleep well, and stay where I put you", is not just a random bit of advice.  The dead will truly rise in Claysville if not properly seen to by the Graveminder, a woman who's sole purpose is to mind the dead, and who along with her partner, the Undertaker, keep the dead from rampaging.   However, at the start of this book all we know is that Maylene, the current Graveminder, is dead.  Byron, son of the funeral director, has a long history with Maylene's granddaughters.  When he comes to collect the body, he is shocked that the murder of Maylene isn't being investigated properly.  The body is moved, and the house cleaned within hours.  The mystery surrounding the actions of the Sheriff, and other important people in town, only adds to the sense that something is not quite right in this town.  And it isn't.  Claysville has a compact with Mr. D., and a doorway to the underworld - that just happens to lie under the funeral home.

I did like the characters in this book.  They are engaging and whether you love them or hate them, they have virtues and flaws that make them believable.  Maylene Barrow, what little we do see of her, is a stoic woman who believes in the importance of her role in this town.  I liked her, and felt bad for her having to leave this legacy to Bek.  William Montgomery is secretive and I just wanted to shake him a few times.  He has answers, but he's not going to give them up without a fight.  Rebekkah Barrow is strong, yet there is a part of her that wants to lean on her childhood crush, Byron.  While Byron is as steadfast as ever.  Still in love with Bek, even though the suicide of his girlfriend - and Bek's cousin - Ella scarred them both.  Ella, while not in the book, is revealed to have a part in this story as well.  Daisha, a tormented dead teenager, plays havok with the locals.  Forever hungry.  Powerful. Maylene's daughter, Cissy, is such a bitch that I wanted to slap that smug smirk right off her face.  She expected to inherit the title of Graveminder.  She knows the rules inside and out.  However, being passed over for Bek, a girl who isn't even a blood relative, has pushed this woman to do the unthinkable.

Marr's world building is suitable spooky.  Claysville is a town that nearly no-one leaves... at least not for long, and where people don't get sick, or die from diseases.  Having children is a lottery, and there are way too many cemeteries for a town of it's size.  It's a spooky slice of Americana.  

On to the book itself.  I did love the cover art.  It was suitably creepy - and as I bought this in the lead up to Halloween, it was precicely what I was looking for.  The naked cover itself is quite attractive.  A simple tan and dark brown that is utilized on the dust jacket, and the title on the spine is a simple gold embossed font.  My only criticism of the spine text is that I would have loved them to have used the same typography for the title that was on the dust jacket.  That font is quite eerie when matched to the old sepia toned building.

Overall I would recommend Graveminder to anyone who likes paranormal or ghost stories, and I'll definitely be reading more of Marr in the future.

Until next time,

 

Book Review - Enchanted Ivy

Enchanted Ivy
Sarah Beth Durst

Published: 2010

McElderry Books, hardcover, 310p.
ISBN: 978-1-4169-8645-4

What Lily Carter wants most in the world is to attend Princeton University just like her grandfather.  When she finally visits the campus, Grandpa surprises her; she has been selected to take the top secret Legacy Test.  Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeston.  Sweet!

Lily's test is to find the Ivy Key.  But what is she looking for?  Where does she start?  As she searches, Lily is joined by Tye, a cute college boy with orange and black hair who says he's her guard.  That's weird.  But things get seriously strange when a gargoyle talks to her.  He tells her that there are two Princetons - the ordinary one and a magical one - and the Key opens the gate between the worlds.  But there are more secrets that surround Lily.  Worse secrets.

When Lily enters the magical Princeton, she uncovers old betrayals and new dangers, and a chance at her dream becomes a fight for her life.  Soon Lily is caught in a power struggle between worlds, with her family at its center.  In a place where knights slay mosters, boys are were-tigers, and dragons might be out for blood, Lily will need all of her ingenuity and courage - and a little magic - to unite the worlds and unlock the secrets of her past and her future.

 

 

Enchanted Ivy is a quick, and uncomplicate YA book.  Firstly, the cover is very attractive (although it doesn't scream university setting) and the muted shades of grey and purple added to overall appeal of the cover.  Even the naked cover was quite attractive, and I loved the shimmery purple text used against the mottled grey and white paper on the spine (which was paired with a plum coloured cover.)  These colours are also mirrored on the dust jacket in the title.

On to the world building.  It is okay - for the limited settings - but could have been embellished more so one really had a sense of both Princetons.  The author seemed to focus more on the characters than their surroundings.  Except for the description at the end of the struggle Lily has with the dragon.

The characters were entertaining.  I enjoyed the relationship between Lily and her mother, who is losing her memories, as well as the relationship she has with her Grandfather. Very true to a multi-generational household. Tye is very mysterious, and the attraction between him and Lily is almost comically instantaneous - but this is a short book so I didn't expect a long courtship.  Jake, and his connection to Tye, was a real surprise.  I enjoyed his reactions to the 'other' world, however his loyalty to his twisted grandfather was very frustrating, but realistic.  Speaking of the grandfather, Mr Mayfair at first seems to be a nice old man, but as Lily gets drawn further into a magical war the gentle facade gives way to the zealot underneath.  Definitely a character I love to hate.

I did love the inclusion of all manner of magical creature.  The talking gargoyle reminds me of Sam from Shanna Swendson's MSI series (go read it, it's fantastic!).

There were only a few negative points, and the main one was the huge size of the text.  Seriously, it was like reading a large type book! Secondly, it got quite repetitive in places which bogged down the fast pace.  Also I found some of the plot devices to be quite predictable.  Corrupt leaders, betrayals, secrets and lies.  However these negatives didn't dampen my overall enjoyment of the book - and a younger reader may not even notice them?

This was my first Sarah Beth Durst book, and although it wasn't the best fantasy I've read, I'd like to try some more books by her as I found her style to be interesting.

Beautiful Dead Ever After Box Set

The Slipcase

 The Book - Clothbound

Between the Covers

What more can I say.  It's so pretty ;-D

 

All Souls Trilogy Boxed Set so pretty

Hello my lovelies!  Just had to share this with you.  My boxed set of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness arrived yesterday from Book Depository.  OMG!  I can't believe I finally have the US hardcovers.  Anyway, here are a few pics for you to enjoy as I can't help but admire my pretty new books ;-D

Aren't these spines GORGEOUS!  My only regret is that they are't signed copies :-(

Until next time,