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David McK (3372 KP) rated The Blood Crows (Eagle, #12) in Books

Jan 30, 2019

Book number 12 in Simon Scarrow's (what was originally called) Eagle series (before the 'Eagle' moniker was dropped with the publication of [b:Centurion|2993197|Centurion|L.D. Alford|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347251292s/2993197.jpg|3023669]), with this one seeing the return of Roman soldiers Macro and Cato back to the scene of the first novels: back to the still-untamed Britain.

The newly promoted Prefect Cato (who has thus overtaken his old mentor and friend Macro - now a Centurion - in rank), as well as Centurion Macro, are given the task of taking command of a military outpost on the borders of the empire: a military outpost in which the previous Prefect has been killed in mysterious circumstances, and in which (it proves) the current Commander and his Blood Wolves are carrying out a policy of total war against the inhabitants of the valley in which the fort is situated.

It's not long before Cato has to assert his own authority, as well as finding ways to deal with hordes of vengeful natives on his doorstep ...

As before in the series, I found this to be an enjoyable read: it will also be interesting to see where the series goes next! :)

Kudos

Merissa (11961 KP) rated One Wish Away in Books

Dec 17, 2018

I received this book from YA Bound Books Tours and NetGalley as part of the blog tour in return for a fair and honest review.

This book has a unique (as far as I know) concept in that scientists have figured out the way to harness the energy from stars into actually making wishes come true. The name for this project is the Cricket Project ie Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio.

It is a slow burner that builds up and tries to incorporate a lot of different elements into it - high school, romance, sci-fi, government plots, time alteration to name just some. Because of this, it can be quite jumpy as it flits from one aspect to another. There were also some aspects of it that just seemed completely unbelievable - and that's if you turn a blind eye to the actual star part of it. For example, a 16-year-old that thinks it is perfectly acceptable to go sneaking into a government building by stealing her dad's pass-card. And then nothing happens once she is caught except that she is offered a job!

An interesting concept with a twist but just not right for me. I liked it but I won't be going any further with the series.

Kudos

Merissa (11961 KP) rated Outrageous Offer (The Double O Saga #1) in Books

Dec 17, 2018

I received this book from Totally Bound Publishing in return for a fair and honest review.

This is a short but steamy tale of the old West, when men were men and women did what they were told. Hyacinth has been left high and dry by the two men she was supposed to marry, left in a town in the middle of nowhere and no-one will help her. Only one person will help but his offer comes with conditions.

In spite of this, he is her only chance of not working in a saloon so she accepts. Things very quickly heat up between them. The more time the spend together, the more they fit. Life doesn't have a way of running smoothly though and Offer and Hyacinth have their own hurdles to cross.

This was very well-written and moves at a very swift pace. My only concern is that it finishes quite abruptly, even though it is an 'ending' and not a cliffhanger. The characters are all relateable, whether you're supposed to like them or not, you follow the author's lead.

For a swift read about the Wild West, I can recommend this book.

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

Kudos

ClareR (5686 KP) rated Close to Home in Books

Jan 7, 2020

Close to Home

Cara Hunter | 2017 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller

7.6

(7 Ratings)

Book Rating

I didn’t want to put this down!

Eighteen months ago, I wouldn’t have picked up this book. I thought I didn’t like police procedural, crime or thriller novels. However, The Pigeonhole has opened up a whole new genre to me, and I’m so glad - I wouldn’t have read this book for a start!

I think Adam Fawley is going to be a detective that I will enjoy reading about. This isn’t a pleasant subject: an eight year old child, Daisy Mason, goes missing, and rather than doing everything they can to help find her, her parents are positively obstructive. Her younger brother is withdrawn - in fact it really doesn’t look good for the parents.

The police team are all great characters to read about, and DI Fawley is very human. We learn about his tragic background, and the reason why he works so hard to find Daisy.

I just really liked everything about this - the storyline isn’t needlessly gruesome, the characters are really well described and the ending was so good (oh, it had me rubbing my hands together!). To be honest, I’ve already bought the next two books in the series!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and Cara Hunter for reading along.