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Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf
Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf
David Gemmell | 1993 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
David Gemmell is (was) one of my favourite authors.

Of his works, I find the Drenai series to be the best.

There, what, eleven novels in that series, all of which are largely stand-alone.

Out of those eleven, there's only a handful of novels centred around recurring key characters characters: most noticeably those with Druss (in order published, Legend, The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend and The Legend of Deathwalker (although he also appears in both White Wolf and The Swords of Night and Day), and those around the assassin Waylander)

This is the second of the three Waylander novels (Waylander, Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf and Hero in the Shadows ) which starts with Walyander and his adopted daughter Miriel living in quiet harmony in the wooded peaks, with Waylander - Dakeyras - mourning the death of his love Danyal. However, when a price is once more put on his head, Waylander finds himself pulled back into action, as Miriel and several of her companions find themselves going to the aid of the nomadic Nadir.

There may be an element of truth in the charge against Gemmell that some of his novels may be formulaic - we usually have a troubled hero, the mystic Source priests and their musings on life and death and the nature of evil, and - more often than not - a siege of some kind, but when the novels are all as good as this ... ?

Who cares!
  
Moonbound Bonds (Wild Divide #1)
Moonbound Bonds (Wild Divide #1)
Annie Anderson | 2026 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
MOONBOUND BONDS is the first book in the Wild Divide series, BUT it is preceded by A Silence of Shadows (Whisperbound #1) and Moonbound Lies (Wild Divide #0.5). I didn't know and haven't read either of them, so I did feel as though I'd dropped into a story already half written.

It begins with Sable plotting her escape from Varro, the bond now broken due to Harken's bite. It's not necessarily that she doesn't want to be bonded to Harken, but more so that she's just spent the last thirteen years bonded against her will to Varro. So she tries to run, Sable and her little fox familiar, Trouble. They don't make it very far, but Harken is there to save the day.

Although their story starts partway through, I was gripped by the ongoing crisis and the characters that move it along so perfectly. Sable and Harken are perfect for each other. Sassy and overprotective - and I'll let you figure out which half is which!

I am loving this story and the characters, and can't wait to see more of them as Sable and Harken's story continues. A great read that I definitely recommend, but I do wish I'd read the others first.

** 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!
Apr 16, 2026
  
Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen
Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen
Alison Weir | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
9
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
186 of 250
Book
Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen ( Six Tudor Queens book 3)
By Alison Weir

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

THE WOMAN HAUNTED BY THE FATE OF HER PREDECESSOR.

Eleven days after the death of Anne Boleyn, Jane is dressing for her wedding to the King.

She has witnessed at first hand how courtly play can quickly turn to danger and knows she must bear a son . . . or face ruin.

This new Queen must therefore step out from the shadows cast by Katherine and Anne. In doing so, can she expose a gentler side to the brutal King?


I went into this not knowing very little of Jane Seymour and I found the book enchanting. She was a pure soul and in Alisons words she was portrayed so well. You felt the love she had for Katherine and the love she had for Henry and of course the shared dislike for Anne! I actually cried reading the last two chapters it was a very unjust end for a woman who had just become a mother to a son that was craved so much! I absolutely love this period and I find Alisons books just a brilliant outlook on the events. After i read Anne Boleyn I was just angry with the ending of this I’m saddened. Highly recommend such a beautiful tale of a short lived queen.
  
The Pocket Wife
The Pocket Wife
Susan H. Crawford | 2015 | Mystery, Thriller
3
6.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
182 of 250
Book
The Pocket Wife
By Susan Crawford

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

 
A stylish psychological thriller with the compelling intrigue of The Silent Wife and Turn of Mind and the white-knuckle pacing of Before I Go to Sleep—in which a woman suffering from bipolar disorder cannot remember if she murdered her friend.

Dana Catrell is shocked when her neighbor Celia is brutally murdered. To Dana’s horror, she was the last person to see Celia alive. Suffering from mania, the result of her bipolar disorder, she has troubling holes in her memory, including what happened on the afternoon of Celia’s death.

Her husband’s odd behavior and the probing of Detective Jack Moss create further complications as she searches for answers. The closer she comes to piecing together the shards of her broken memory, the more Dana falls apart. Is there a murderer lurking inside her . . . or is there one out there in the shadows of reality, waiting to strike again?

A story of marriage, murder, and madness, The Pocket Wife explores the world through the foggy lens of a woman on the edge.


I just didn’t click with it. It started out ok but I just got so bored it became a chore to read. I didn’t get a good representation of Bipolar disorder either as some one who has Bipolar it just didn’t feel authentic.