The Book of Delights: Essays
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“Ross Gay’s eye lands upon wonder at every turn, bolstering my belief in the countless small...
How Far She's Come
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From the highly acclaimed author of Don't Try to Find Me and This is Not Over comes the...
The Poe Shadow
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“I present to you . . . the truth about this man’s death and my life.” Baltimore, 1849. The...
The Sugarless Plum
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It started as the perfect story. Zippora Karz was a member of the famed New York City Ballet by the...
Once Upon a Wardrobe
5.0
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Now available in trade paper with an eye-catching new cover from the bestselling author of Becoming...
Merissa (14068 KP) rated The Bookshop of Secrets in Books
Feb 13, 2025
I loved this story! It is the third or fourth book by this author I have read and, just like the others, I was gripped by the story and the characters. The descriptions of the world Lara lives in are crisp and clear, defining the current state of affairs for her without hitting the reader over the head!
Fleming is a name that is dropped (which I loved!) as well as Edward and Wallis. There was also a hint about Sandra's background which was perfect and I would love the know who the inspiration was for her part. How the story was woven around these characters and situations astounds me. I found it to be phenomenally written and perfectly paced.
If I had one bad thing to say it would be that my romantic little heart was desperate for an official, rock-solid HEA for Lara. Don't get me wrong, it was alluded to, but I want to know for sure. In fact, not just for Lara, but for Bill, Phil, Miguel, Bea, Hector, Sandra... do you want me to continue? Suffice it to say, this book was outstanding but I'm not ready to let go of these characters yet. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by me and I can't wait for the next book by this amazing author.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 5, 2025
Tentacles Rock (Tinsel and Tentacles)
8.0
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A tentacled waiter. A grumpy musician. A song that brings them together. Nereus I arrived in...
Rockstar Paranormal MM Romance
David McK (3843 KP) rated The Last Guardian (Jon Shannow #2) in Books
Jul 5, 2026
Gripping words in David Gemmell's so-called Jon Shannow trilogy of novels (and about the fourth in the Sipstrassi - or Stones of Power - series), that are required after the ending of Wolf in Shadow: reading this, I often wonder did Gemmell not realise that Jon Shannow aka The Jerusalem Man would be such a popular character when he first wrote that book, and had initially intended it to be a one-off (quick Google search: yes).
This particular series, however, is essentially a post-Apocalyptic Western, with it hard not to imagine the character as Clint Eastwood appears in Unforgiven.
On a more literary front, I also wonder whether Stephen King The Dark Tower series was either inspired or provided the inspiration for this, with both sharing a few (superficial, at least) similarities.
Freed from most of the heavy-lifting of the world building done in the previous entry, this particular work instead is more able to concentrate on the character of Jon Shannow, providing a bit more flesh (as it were) to the world he inhabits, while still also calling back to those previous events in passing.
I'm not entirely sold on the Lizard enemies that appear roughly about half-way, thinking it might have been better to stick with more traditional (if I can use that word in this context) heroic fantasy enemies, but even they are given more of a character than you would normally expect from supporting characters. Talking of supporting characters: this one also has Nu-Khasistra (an Atlantean from before the Fall - trust me, it makes sense once you read it!) and the Parson to provide counter-balance to Shannow himself: the former a ship-builder whose faith has much in common with that of Shannow and who provides some sage words of advice; the latter showing what can happen when a man believes in absolutes.
As with most of Gemmell's works, well worth a read