Friday Book Club #8

I read some new books! Lets talk about them.

Read & Loved: 

Snow-Kissed & Sun-Kissed by Laura Florand

In a snow-kissed Christmas cabin, a heart-wrenching tale of love, loss, forgiveness–and new hope.

After the utter destruction of her marriage and her happiness, Kai knew it was better to shut herself away from the world than to hurt and be hurt.

Holed up in her mountain cabin, she plans to spend her Christmas alone. Until her not-quite-ex-husband shows up as the first flakes start to fall.

Now should she send him back out into the cold? Or can she be brave enough to let this winter snow bind them back together?

They called her the Ice Queen.

Anne Winters. Self-made billionaire. Household name. Divorced single mom. Convicted felon. She didn’t let anyone or anything get to her. No one was allowed to breach the walls around her heart except for her own son. She had only one trusted friend: her vacation house neighbor. They’d been walking the beach together for twenty years. Not that this gave him access to her heart, of course…
They called him a man who got what he wanted.

Mack Corey. Self-made billionaire. Dominant world player. Widowed father of the bride. No felony convictions yet, although his daughters had come close. He’d transformed his family company into one of the top 500 by the age of thirty. He’d raised two daughters who dumped him for idiot arrogant French chocolatiers and went off to live in Paris. Hell, he even managed to tolerate his dad. But that Ice Queen act Anne Winters had going was really starting to get to him…

They’d been friends for twenty years. Could they become lovers?

Could a frozen heart be kissed by the sun?

My Thoughts: I talked about my sick (and possibly unnatural) love for Laura Florand a few months ago, and after reading these two stories I can't say anything has changed. Her words just have a way of tugging on my heartstrings, especially in a story like Snow-Kissed. I made the unfortunate decision of reading some of it while I was at work and had to do that "tilt the head up and blink rapidly while trying not to cry thing". Sun-Kissed is another fantastic follow up, with older protagonists, which I just don't see as often in romance stories. It's also a lot of fun to read because it allows followers of her Chocolate series to catch up with some of their favorite chefs. Both are so, so good, and I highly recommend that you pick them up for yourself.

One Fell Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles) by Ilona Andrews

Gertrude Hunt, the nicest Bed and Breakfast in Red Deer, Texas, is glad to have you. We cater to particular kind of guests, the ones most people don’t know about. The older lady sipping her Mello Yello is called Caldenia, although she prefers Your Grace. She has a sizable bounty on her head, so if you hear kinetic or laser fire, try not to stand close to the target. Our chef is a Quillonian. The claws are a little unsettling, but he is a consummate professional and truly is the best chef in the Galaxy. If you see a dark shadow in the orchard late at night, don’t worry. Someone is patrolling the grounds. Do beware of our dog.

Your safety and comfort is our first priority. The inn and your host, Dina Demille, will defend you at all costs. We ask only that you mind other guests and conduct yourself in a polite manner.

My Thoughts: Have you read Clean Sweep and Sweep In Peace? If so then HOW COULD YOU NOT BE READING THIS SERIAL?! Ilona Andrews does it again with a fantastic story, an incredible cast of characters, and a way of getting you invested in both that very few authors can match (IMO obviously).

Cast in Flight by Michelle Sagara

Private Kaylin Neya already has Dragons and Barrani as roommates. Adding one injured, flightless Aerian to her household should be trivial. Sure, the Aerian is Sergeant Moran dar Carafel, but Kaylin's own sergeant is a Leontine, the definition of growly and fanged. She can handle one Aerian.

But when a walk to the Halls of Law becomes a street-shattering magical assassination attempt on the sergeant, Kaylin discovers that it's not the guest who's going to be the problem: it's all of the people who suddenly want Moran dar Carafel dead. And though Moran refuses to tell her why she's being targeted, Kaylin is determined to discover her secret and protect her at all costs—even if keeping Moran safe means dealing with Aerian politics, angry dragons and something far more sinister.

My Thoughts: I wonder about my reading preferences sometimes, and going from Florand to Sagara does make think I like authors with a more....wordy sensibility. Not always mind you, reading preferences are are not a place for absolutes, but both of these women write incredibly vivid worlds and characters, where you have to pay attention to grasp what's just happened (or what's going to happen next). It doesn't always make them casual reads, more of a binge so you don't forget the details when they're important in the climax, but they are invigorating to finish. All of that to say is that Sagara continues to take what could be a Mary Sue character and make her fallible and open to growth in a world where black and white are almost always subsumed into the gray.

I'm Looking Forward To:

...you know what? I don't have a lot on the docket for the rest of 2016. I'll continue to read (obviously) and hope that the book bloggers I follow suggest new authors to try, but my calendar is pretty empty. 2017 will hit with a vengeance, especially in the first half of the year, so I'll try and keep ya'll updated?