Smashbomb

Come read the first part of the prologue for the political fiction novel TO THE REPUBLIC by Bruce Clavey on my blog. Be sure to enter the giveaway to win a prize pack including: an autographed paperback copy of To the Republic by Bruce Clavey; unisex tee with the "Texas Forever" design; baseball cap stitched with the "Texas Forever" design; ceramic lapel pin with the "Mano de Tejas" design; and a vinyl 5” decal with the "Mano de Tejas" design - three winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/05/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-to-republic.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
A novel for our times. A saga for the ages.

On the eve of passing landmark immigration legislation, the entire Texas Senate and its native Tejano leader, Diego Reyes, vanish suddenly from Austin. When news of the disappearance hits West Texas, cowboy Del Woodward isn't shocked. He knows exactly where the lawmakers are, but he's not telling. Woody's been down on his luck, and a shady bargain he's made puts him tight in the squeeze of Marcos Cepeda, north Mexico's ruthless drug lord. And Cepeda's furious with this new stall in the bill. It's got a loophole he can exploit to add another quarter million square miles of exclusive turf to his cartel—but that territory goes back up for grabs if leader Reyes can't pass the bill before the Senate session expires in mere days. The brutal kingpin wants what he's bought and compels Woody to step up. How the cowboy swings the vote isn't important to Cepeda, but this sure is: if Woody breathes so much as a word of reluctance, it'll be his last. The prize is Texas, nothing less. It's real, and it's on.

The Republic Series launches from true pages of the Lone Star frontera story into a hauntingly modern arena of trade, trafficking, and tradition on the Rio Grande in To the Republic: BOOK ONE.

Kudos Comment

Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Shadowplay (Micah Grey #2) in Books

Nov 10, 2019

Shadowplay (Micah Grey #2)

Laura Lam | 2016 | LGBTQ+, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy

7.5

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Contains spoilers, click to show

Old magics are waking. But will the world survive their return?

Micah Grey almost died when he fled the circus with Drystan - now he and the ex-clown seek to outrun disaster. Drystan persuades his old friend Jasper Maske, a once-renowned magician, to take them in. But when he agrees to teach them his trade, Maske is challenged to the ultimate high-stakes duel by his embittered arch-nemesis.

Micah must perfect his skills of illusion, while navigating a tender new love. An investigator is also hunting the person he once seemed to be - a noble family's runaway daughter. As the duel draws near, Micah increasingly suffers from visions showing him real magic and future terrors. Events that broke the ancient world are being replayed. But can Micah's latent powers influence this deadly pattern?

The second installment of this trilogy and it started very slow for me I did struggle to keep myself focused. But it got better the longer it went on. Learning more about Micah and Drystan was good as well as their relationship development finally seeing them can me together was quite sweet. I loved the magic and introduction of Cyan. What will the 3rd book bring.

⭐⭐⭐

Kudos

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Girl Who Lived Twice in Books

Mar 19, 2020

I can't quite let go of the Millennium series and Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, despite the fact that the late author no writes the books. This novel, however, is timely, covering the topic of Russian trolls and their impact on social media and politics. We get short snippets in each chapter told from the point of view of a variety of characters, so the story moves fairly quickly. Lagercrantz lacks Larrson's meticulous detail and his exploration into the character's psyches, as well as the true intense reporter that shined in Larrson; the trade-off: the books do seem to move at a somewhat quicker pace.

Still, Lisbeth and Blomkvist just don't seem the same as they were in Larrson's world, and I miss my old friends. There's also a lot of focus on Everest in this book--it's plot-related, but it gets to be a bit much. More Lisbeth and Mikael, less mountain, please. It makes the story more complicated than it needed to be, perhaps. Still, there's plenty to keep us entertained, including more from Lisbeth and her sister's dark past.

Overall, a fairly engaging read, but lacking that special flavor and special Lisbeth/Mikael zest that Larrson always brought to the series. 3.5 stars.