Gods of Jade and Shadows

Gods of Jade and Shadows- Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Del Ray
Release Date: July 23, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. 

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.

In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.

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Casiopea Tun is the poor relation of the wealthiest family in a small town in southern Mexico.  She resents every cruelty aimed at her, and dreams of escaping to live a life of her own.  What she doesn't expect is to accidentally free a trapped god and travel with him on a cross-country quest to return him to the throne stolen by his brother.  From small dusty towns in the Yucatan to the bright lights of Mexico City to the shadowy realm of the Mayan underworld, Casiopea's greatest journey may be the realm of the mortal, and immortal, heart.

Gods of Jade and Shadow is a book for anyone who loves fantasy and loves to imagine the crossing paths of ancient gods and the modern world.  Here the modern world is Jazz Age Mexico, with short hair, fast cars, and bright lights; while the ancient world is Xibalba, the Mayan Underworld, and the struggle between twin brothers Hun-Kamé and Vucub-Kamé, the Gods of Death.  Moreno-Garcia uses a beautiful, almost lyric, style of writing that reminded me of hearing classic myths and fairy tales spoken aloud.  She paints the world in brilliant colors of jewels and shadows and you can feel the heat of the sun and the dust of Casiopea's travels on your skin.  Casiopea delights in seeing the exciting world outside of her tiny village and the reader- and Hun-Kamé- cannot help but share in her innocent delight.  We also easily share in her terror as Hun-Kamé draws her further in his quest to regain his throne and she faces sorcerers and ghosts straight out of horror stories.

Above all, Gods of Jade and Shadow is a story about building your own world and choosing your own path, even when you are sure that you have no choices.  Casiopea learns who she is and her own inner strength in ways that are both heart-breaking and heart-filling.  A story full of duality every step of the way, it had me smiling and crying, fearful and hopeful, and seeing the characters and their worlds change along with the adventure was completely wonderful.  

It would not be wrong to call this a modern classic, and a must-read tale for fantasy lovers, those who love myths and legends, from Beauty and the Beast to The Odyssey to Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Work of Art

The Work of Art- Mimi Matthews
Perfectly Proper Press
Release Date: July 23, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: An Uncommon Beauty…

Hidden away in rural Devonshire, Phyllida Satterthwaite has always been considered more odd than beautiful. But in London, her oddity has made her a sensation. Far worse, it’s caught the eye of the sinister Duke of Moreland—a notorious art collector obsessed with acquiring one-of-a-kind treasures. To escape the duke’s clutches, she’s going to need a little help.

An Unlikely Hero…

Captain Arthur Heywood’s days of heroism are long past. Grievously injured in the Peninsular War, he can no longer walk unaided, let alone shoot a pistol. What use can he possibly be to a damsel in distress? He has nothing left to offer except his good name.

Can a marriage of convenience save Philly from the vengeful duke? Or will life with Arthur put her—and her heart—in more danger than ever?

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Phyllida Satterthwaite's uncle has swept her away from rural Devonshire and to London, promising her a season and a chance at an advantageous marriage.  Little does she know, he has already chosen her husband: the rich and sinister Duke of Moreland.  When neither her uncle nor Moreland are willing to take no for an answer, Philly turns to the one friend she has managed to make in London: Captain Arthur Heywood.  But can even a marriage of convenience save her from an unhinged madman?

Like Matthews' earlier Holiday by Gaslight, The Work of Art is a beautifully written and emotionally satisfying story of two people who discover that they are their best selves when together.  Philly is innocent and trusting, yet not in an obnoxious too-stupid-to-live way.  She has a soft spot for injured creatures, whether animals or people, and is willing to look beyond a person's exterior to see the hurt beneath- making her far more understanding of some of the cruelty the London elite can dish out than Captain Heywood is!  She's patient and kind, and turns out to be exactly who Arthur needs to help him become himself again.  Arthur returned from the Peninsular Wars injured both physically and mentally. He retreats into a reclusive life in the country to handle the nightmares that followed him home and can't imagine being good for anything now that he's permanently injured. When he offers to marry Philly to protect her, it's because he can't challenge the other men to duels and kill them. 

 Philly much prefers marrying the man she has already fallen for to a pile of dead bodies, and it is her sweetly understanding manner, and her love,  that slowly begin to heal Arthur.  I loved how she is always willing to talk to Arthur about what bothers her, and that the frequent misunderstandings they have due to inexperience and poor self esteem get solved without allowing them to build up into weeks-long dramas. The emotional bonds between Philly and Arthur are palpable from the first and Matthews did a wonderful job of strengthening them in natural ways.  Matthews also does an excellent job balancing romance and menace with her villains and the danger hanging over Philly's head throughout the book.  The reader gets to enjoy seeing a beautiful romance unfolding while still feeling on the edge of danger the entire time.

A definite must read for romance lovers, and one of the best Mimi Matthews books I've read in ages!        

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Fire and Fortitude

Fire and Fortitude: The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943- John C. McManus
Dutton Caliber
Release Date: July 30, 2019

Rating:
📚📚

Synopsis: John C. McManus, one of our most highly acclaimed historians of World War II, takes readers from Pearl Harbor—a rude awakening for a military woefully unprepared for war—to Makin, a sliver of coral reef where the Army was tested against the increasingly desperate Japanese. In between were nearly two years of punishing combat as the Army transformed, at times unsteadily, from an undertrained garrison force into an unstoppable juggernaut, and America evolved from an inward-looking nation into a global superpower.
 At the pinnacle of this richly told story are the generals: Douglas MacArthur, a military autocrat driven by his dysfunctional lust for fame and power; Robert Eichelberger, perhaps the greatest commander in the theater yet consigned to obscurity by MacArthur's jealousy; "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell, a prickly soldier miscast in a diplomat's role; and Walter Krueger, a German-born officer who came to lead the largest American ground force in the Pacific. Enriching the narrative are the voices of men otherwise lost to history: the uncelebrated Army grunts who endured stifling temperatures, apocalyptic tropical storms, rampant malaria and other diseases, as well as a fanatical enemy bent on total destruction. 

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Reading about World War II generally begins with the European theater: Normandy, the Battle of Britain, Dunkirk, etc. For Americans, Pearl Harbor may be as far into the Pacific theater as they go.  Further reading generally focuses on the Navy and sea battles.  So I was very interested to read John C. McManus' Fire and Fortitude: The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943 and learn more about the early Pacific war and the army.

Spoiler alert: for readers like me who know very little going in, Fire and Fortitude is not the book for you.  After reading the "Prologue" I almost decided not to continue reading the book. Written as if a college professor is giving a lecture, it put me off the author and made me worry the book was going to be written in the same style: McManus seems to want to show the reader that he knows his military history and compares World War II Pacific army work with both historic and modern day situations.  He 'talks' down to the reader, trying to impress them (one assumes) with his knowledge and the introduction to the book and its topics felt almost secondary to me.  

If you can make it past the prologue and still want to read the book, the writing style at least gets better.  There are fewer comparisons to situations past and future to distract from the present of the 1940s.  Beginning at Pearl Harbor and going to Makin in 1943, McManus provides carefully researched minute details to make the reader feel as if they are experiencing every hardship alongside the soldiers.  For anyone wanting to find out about the intense miseries of jungle warfare, this is your book. From marches along ridges to the psychological terror of being in foxholes at night, Fire and Fortitude had you covered.  It makes you wonder how anyone experiencing it (on both the American and Japanese side) came out even halfway sane.  

What Fire and Fortitude didn't do was give you the bigger picture of the Pacific theater.  When you do get some of the overall plans and decision making from the generals, it quickly gets buried again in the tiny details.  I know I read about McArthur's experiences in the Philippines and why he was obsessed with returning there after evacuating, but after a few chapters I was so bogged down in minutiae that I couldn't remember his reasons for the rest of the book.  As much as I appreciated the miseries that the soldiers went through, I could have handled fewer of the repetitious details of those miseries on every island fight and more of the big picture on why they were fighting on the islands to come away with a better understanding of the war in the Pacific.

Overall, Fire and Fortitude is not a book for a reader new to the Pacific theater.  From ship tonnage to what each soldier carried to the specific divisions and regiments who went to different places, this is a book for historians who already know an enormous amount about this theater and are looking for even more details. For the beginner, like me, McManus spends so much time focusing on the details that the bigger picture is completely lost on you.  Because of this, I found the book an ordeal to get through, and not an author I would go back to for future reading.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Project Duchess

Project Duchess (Duke Dynasty #1)- Sabrina Jeffries
Zebra/Kensington 
Release Date: June 25, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead!

Synopsis: A series of stepfathers and a difficult childhood have left Fletcher “Grey” Pryde, 5th Duke of Greycourt, with a guarded heart, enviable wealth, and the undeserved reputation of a rogue. Grey’s focus on expanding his dukedom allows him little time to find a wife. But when his mother is widowed yet again and he meets the charmingly unconventional woman managing his stepfather’s funeral, he’s shocked to discover how much they have in common. Still, Grey isn’t interested in love, no matter how pretty, or delightfully outspoken, the lady . . .

Beatrice Wolfe gave up on romance long ago, and the arrogant Duke of Greycourt with his rakish reputation isn’t exactly changing her mind. Then Grey agrees to assist his grief-stricken mother with her latest “project”: schooling spirited, unfashionable Beatrice for her debut. Now that Beatrice is seeing through Grey’s charms to his wounded heart, she’s having trouble keeping him at arm’s length. But once Grey starts digging into her family’s secrets, she must decide whether her loyalties lie with her family . . . or with the man whose lessons capture her heart . . .   

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Like all Sabrina Jeffries (Secret of Flirting) series, the new Duke Dynasty series focuses on family: in this case half-siblings trying to discover the truth behind the deaths of their fathers- and trying to mend the bonds between them.  This family promises disfunction, chaos, and five equally headstrong brothers and sister planning to discover the truth behind old family secrets.

 Grey is the oldest, and the most distant. He has become cynical and hardened, and works to keep his distance from everyone- family included.  Grey's belief is that by burying his emotions he can protect himself from pain and betrayal, lessons he learned as a child living with his abusive aunt and uncle. The shocking news that his stepfather has died brings Grey back into his family's orbit- and finds him agreeing to help his half-brother discover the truth behind the death. Grey is the epitome of a man who was abused as a helpless child and is determined to never be at anyone's mercy again.  He projects a ruthless air, arrogant and focused.  It's a front everyone believes, but it cracks almost immediately when Grey meets Beatrice Wolfe, his half-brother's cousin and a woman who says what she thinks and doesn't play the games he's used to from women.  Beatrice stands up to Grey, calls him on his rudeness, and in general treats him like a man instead of a duke.  In short, she's exactly the kind of woman Grey never expects to meet (maybe didn't even believe was real) and is perfect for him.  Except she only wants to marry for love and he refuses to believe in love.

As light and sweet as Project Duchess is, Jeffries also deals with some heavy and emotional issues. Grey was abused and bullied by his aunt and uncle, blames his mother and stepfather, and has never told anyone what happened to him- meaning his mother has no idea why he stays away from the family as much as possible.  Beatrice has been abused by her lecherous old uncle and never told anyone for fear they would blame her.  Her brother Joshua has returned from war a changed man with dark secrets he won't share.  While we don't know the stories of the rest of Grey's siblings yet, you can tell that they are also trying dealing with issues of their own. Jeffries handles these dark issues sensitively but also doesn't brush them aside.  She balances the complex emotions of her characters, their past and present, and allows their individual healing processes to begin through love.  The connection between Grey and Beatrice is powerful and delightful, and watching them slowly find their way to each other was a wonderful journey for me as a reader as much as for them as characters.

Project Duchess is a must-read winner: mystery, murder, and mayhem promise the give readers a wonderful series in Duke Dynasty.  All of Sabrina Jeffries' talents are on display here and I already can't wait to read the next book!    

I received an ARC of this book through a GoodReads contest in exchange for an honest review

Onyx Crown

The Onyx Crown (Book 1)- Alan Hurst
Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: January 27, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: From the searing heat of the desert to the vastness of the savannah,
The Onyx Crown tells the story of Jorann, Gesi, and Sania, three
children who grow up in a pre-medieval era of wars and successions,
not fifteen years after the greatest king in the history of the
continent has been deposed and assassinated.

When the legendary warrior of Numerian history, K’Nan of Loffri is
hired to guide a hunting expedition he is astonished to discover that
one of the hunter’s slaves, Jorann, a boy of thirteen, bears the
legendary mark of the Onyx Crown, a mark he’s been searching for since
the death of his sworn king many years before.

Many miles to the east, Gesi is despairing of his life in East Rhydor
as a commoner companion to Zoe and Zadeemo, the twin siblings of the
tribal prince. Good enough to run their errands, but not learn the
ways of nobility, he astonishes them when one day he shows the uncanny
ability to match the famous knight, Jorell Boro, in single combat.

Deep within the savannah, Sania is working as an errand runner in the
pleasure house where she has been raised since young. As usual, she
is wreaking havoc on the customers with her practical jokes and
tantrums—except this time her antics will lead her on an adventure she
may not be prepared for.

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The Onyx Crown is book one in a trilogy set in a fantasy version of ancient Africa.  Three children discover that their destinies may be much more than they imagined, and that it may be their fate to restore to the throne a deposed noble house.

Jorann, Gesi, and Sania are three children growing up in different parts of their world, different castes, and with vastly different personalities.  But each discovers that they are part of a prophecy to bring the young heir of a deposed royal house back to the throne, before it can be claimed by usurpers.  Like any coming of age fantasy tale, each child must leave home and embark on an adventure to discover their rightful place in the world.  Each begins to discover talents innate with their natures as Chaos, Conflict, and Calm.  Onyx Crown focuses mostly on Jorann, a slave discovered by the renowned warrior K'Nan.  Freed from the tribe who owned and abused him, Jorann learns the skills of fighting and peace from K'Nan, and once separated from his mentor Jorann learns to trust his instincts as new groups appear to challenge and assist him in his quest.  Gesi and Sania get smaller roles in this book (though probably will get larger ones in the rest of the trilogy), but their stories mesh well as the book progresses instead of jerking the reader from one story to another.  Potential allies and enemies have shadowy motives and by the end of the book you aren't sure who the three should trust.

Overall a pretty well-written book, although there were a few times (especially in conversation) where things got awkward or jerky.  The main style of writing is a lovely rhythm with a slightly formal feel to it, so when someone suddenly starts talking in a very 'modern' way, or a description gets too 'modern', that threw me off.  But I very much enjoyed the overall style. I hope the future books will let us get to know the main characters in a more three-dimensional way, at the moment they are still a little more stereotypical general characters for me to really connect to.  Hurst definitely shows that he has the potential for good pacing, devious villains, and tricky plot twists so I am definite looking forward to reading the next book in the series when it comes out.

A fantasy book for young adults and adults alike. As a coming of age type of book it may appeal more to older teens, and I don't think they'd be bothered much by the level of violence here.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Girl In Red

The Girl in Red- Christina Henry
Berkley Publishing
Release Date: June 18, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead!

Synopsis: It's not safe for anyone alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night: critters and coyotes, snakes and wolves. But the woman in the red jacket has no choice. Not since the Crisis came, decimated the population, and sent those who survived fleeing into quarantine camps that serve as breeding grounds for death, destruction, and disease. She is just a woman trying not to get killed in a world that doesn't look anything like the one she grew up in, the one that was perfectly sane and normal and boring until three months ago.

There are worse threats in the woods than the things that stalk their prey at night. Sometimes, there are men. Men with dark desires, weak wills, and evil intents. Men in uniform with classified information, deadly secrets, and unforgiving orders. And sometimes, just sometimes, there's something worse than all of the horrible people and vicious beasts combined. 

Red doesn't like to think of herself as a killer, but she isn't about to let herself get eaten up just because she is a woman alone in the woods....

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If you're a fan of horror movies or post-apocalyptic novels, you know the rules. Stay together. Keep your gear on you at all times. Never deviate from the plan. Follow the rules and you live. Don't and Something Bad Will Happen. But what happens when you aren't the hero of the horror movie, but just trying to get to grandma's? 

Red is a twenty year old college student who is addicted to horror movies when the Cough starts. A virus that infects at random, within months the world has changed. Millions are dead, the electricity is out, communications are down.  The military is sending people to quarantine camps for their own good. But Red doesn't believe that.  A naturally suspicious and paranoid individual, she convinces her family they need to hike hundreds of miles through the woods to her grandmother's house, where they would be safe. But even though millions are dead, others are still alive.  And what Red has forgotten about the movies is: it isn't the apocalypse that's the problem.  It's what happens after.

The Girl in Red is one of Christina Henry's (Lost Boy) dark twists on a classic fairy tale, in this case Little Red Riding Hood.  Red is a stubborn, often obnoxiously know-it-all type who isn't less annoying for being right most of the time. She's a loner, paranoid and suspicious, but when the world changes those are some of the best survival skills to have.  She often seems younger than twenty (if I just get to Grandma's house everything will be ok), but also has the world weary wisdom of someone much older.  She doesn't need to learn the hard way that just because someone is human they aren't also a predator, or that there are things even in the post-apocalyptic world that are worse than death.  She knows, as we all do deep inside, that the darkness of humanity doesn't go out just because a Crisis Has Occurred. As emotional as the book is, Red can only function by mostly being in a state of shock or emotional numbness the wholes time.  It is the reader who mourns for the ones who die, because Red can't (which made me feel a little guilty for not especially liking her. Who would be at their best in this situation?).  

The reader also wonders more than Red about the Big Picture.  What is the virus killing people and can a cure be found? How many people are dead and how are others surviving? What really happens at the quarantine camps? What are the monsters and what can be done to stop them? Will civilization be able to rebuild in any way? Red isn't (as she admits to herself) the Chosen One who can discover the answers and solve the world's problems.  She (and the reader) learn more than others might about the monsters in the dark, but she accepts (as the reader must) that it isn't her place to find the answers.  She is the Every Person just trying to stay alive based on knowledge gleaned from genre fiction and the childish belief that getting to grandma's will make everything ok again.  And maybe, in this strange new world, that is the hope that counts the more than anything else.

I recieved an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Take Me Down

Take Me Down (Knight Brothers #3)- Carly Phillips
Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: June 11, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Parker Knight is merely existing.

Emily Stevens is trying to start over.

He didn’t plan to meet her.

She wasn’t looking for someone like him.

With Parker stranded in the small mountain town, his path collides with Emily's reigniting desires they'd both long forgotten. 

Opposites don’t merely attract … they combust.

Can two damaged people living in different worlds find a reason to stay together before their time runs out?

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Parker Knight has merely been existing since the accidents that took his skiing career and his fiancée- working behind a desk at the family firm because he feels like he owes his brother and has no other plan.  When he gets stranded in a tiny mountain town in Colorado he finds more than just a bed and breakfast: he finds Emily Stevens.  Emily is going through the motions, putting her own plans on hold to try and help her father with a rundown B&B.  She's learned the hard way not to trust city slickers and instantly dislikes Parker on sight.  But spending time together might be just what each of them need.

Take Me Down is possibly one of the best Carly Phillips books I've read in awhile.  Both Parker and Emily really spoke to me as people who have either put their own lives on hold to help loved ones or who have stopped looking for what makes them happy because they worry they don't deserve happiness.  It doesn't take long for them to recognize in each other emotionally damaged kindred souls.  What was great (for me as a reader) was that they recognized that in themselves, not just each other.  Parker in particular was refreshingly emotionally honest with himself once on an enforced vacation. 

The chemistry between Parker and Emily was instant and exciting and fortunately they didn't fight it for too long.  Both go in thinking this is a brief vacation fling, but are surprised to discover deeper feelings and emotional connections. It was ironic that as open and honest as they were, communicating fears and pain that they never shared with anyone else, neither was willing to talk about the elephant in the room: if a city slicker and small town baker love each other, how do they make it work long-term?

A light, fun, emotional deep and satisfying, fast-paced read, Take Me Down will thrill long time Carly Phillips fans and be a great introduction for newcomers to a consistently delightful author!

I received and ARC of this book from BookSprout in exchange for an honest review