August 19, 2019

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Echo in Onyx by Sharon Shinn, narrated by Emily Bauer

JanineA- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / C Reviews / Recommended ReadsFantasy / hidden identity / Impersonation / look alikes / maidservant / Regency-based world / romantic-elements / Uncommon Echoes series4 Comments

Dear Ms. Shinn, When you offered me review copies of three new audiobooks in your Uncommon Echoes series of fantasy novels, I wasn’t sure if I could get to reviewing them in time or even at all, but you suggested that I take them anyway. I’m glad you did because ... more >

July 23, 2019

REVIEW: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

JanineA- Reviews / Recommended Reads#ownvoices / 1920s / Fantasy / gods / love story / Mexico / POC / quest / strong heroine15 Comments

Please note: The following review contains some spoilers. Dear Ms. Moreno-Garcia, It was the setting of your new fantasy novel, Gods of Jade and Shadow, that first caught my attention. I had never read a book set in 1920s Mexico before. This one also promised to feature a young woman ... more >

June 5, 2019

JOINT REVIEW: Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh

JanineB+ Reviews / B- Reviews / Book Reviewschangeling / joint review / kidnapping / Paranormal / paranormal romance / PNR / psy / Psy-Changeling Trinity Series / psychic powers / Shapeshifter / traumatic-past / wolf48 Comments

Wolf Rain can be viewed as either the eighteenth book in Nalini Singh’s the Psy/Changeling series, or the third book in the Psy/Changeling Trinity series. Jennie and I have reviewed six Psy/Changeling books together, so when Wolf Rain came out, it was almost a forgone conclusion that we would keep ... more >

May 31, 2019

REVIEW: The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch

JanineB+ Reviews / Recommended Readsgenius loci / Germany / Magic / police procedural / Recommended Reads / Urban-Fantasy18 Comments

Trigger warning (for the book, not the review) Dear Mr. Aaronovitch, I’m a longtime reader of Rivers of London, your Urban Fantasy series featuring detective constable Peter Grant of the London Metropolitan police. When I heard you were working on a new, Rivers-of-London-adjacent short (216 pages) book set in Germany ... more >

May 22, 2019

JOINT REVIEW: Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

JanineD Reviews / DNF Reviewscampaign / England / joint review / m/m / NA / politics / prince / publicity / Washington DC26 Comments

Sirius and I both read accolades for Casey McQuiston’s debut, Red, White and Royal Blue, an m/m New Adult romance. We decided to review it together. – Janine What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales? When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was ... more >

May 20, 2019

REVIEW x 2: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

JanineA- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads#ownvoices / accountant / arranged-marriage / Asperger's / autism / California / Contemporary / immigrant fiction / matchmakers / Vietnam / waitress11 Comments

Dear Ms. Hoang, As I enjoyed The Kiss Quotient, I was eager to read your follow-up contemporary romance, The Bride Test (It is not necessary to read The Kiss Quotient first; The Bride Test stands on its own).