Ahoy there me mateys! I binged this series. The four books are pretty short (80 to 172 pages). The main character is detective James Keeley who doesn’t have a lot of money but does have a magical gun.

The third book has Keeley getting involved with the fae unwillingly. This was me favorite of the four. I was so excited to see that the fae in this were more of the old school kind. The dragon, Oz, remains the highlight even if he didn’t get as much page time. I enjoyed the introduction of Vic and his charge. I didn’t love the battle so much but time spent with this series continued to be fun so I grabbed the next one.

All things considered, I am glad to have read this series. It was light and fun and just what I needed. And the dragon made it all worth it. I loved him. Arrrr!

Ahoy there me mateys! I binged this series. The four books are pretty short (80 to 172 pages). The main character is detective James Keeley who doesn’t have a lot of money but does have a magical gun.

The previous books led me to wondering how Keeley got his wonderful gun. That is explained in this tale. This was me least favorite of the series. I did like the new character who is the demon of the title. I did like getting an idea of how Keeley grew up and the crazy dude he worked with. I loved how the bad guys from book one were used in this tale. I did not really love the big battle and how anticlimactic the resolution of the problem was.

All things considered, I am glad to have read this series. It was light and fun and just what I needed. And the dragon made it all worth it. I loved him. Arrrr!

PS I did not know there were two more. I will have to look into them.

Ahoy there me mateys!  This book lured me in with its promise of a closed room (erm hotel) murder mystery in the year 2072.  This hotel is for rich guests who time travel but time has begun behaving strangely.  And only one person can see the dead body - January Cole.  Can she solve the murder? Or better yet stop it from happening?  This should have been a recipe for love.  Instead, I sadly got an abandoned ship at 58%.

To be fair, I loved the set up and the beginning of the novel.  I really enjoyed the idea of time slipping and how January dealt with it.  Her grief was palpable and I did sympathize with her.  I loved her AI.  The main issue with this book is that I just got too confused.  As the book progressed I wasn't sure what was happening in terms of the mystery or subplot of the rich investors.  The reader is also left in the dark about January's hunches about what might be going on.  So this book slowly became less appealing and I struggled to pick it back up.  After the fifth attempt to read to the end, I gave up.

This book ended up not to me taste but I seem to be in the minority.  Arrr!

So lastly . . .

Thank you Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Del Ray!

Ahoy there me mateys!  This be the 16th book in the Elemental Masters series which retells fairy tales in an alternate magical universe.  I have only read one other book out of the series but from what I understand they can be read as standalones.  I loved Lackey's work as a child and I love the Annie Oakley "myth" so I was excited to read this.

This ended up being okay.  Lackey often seems to write in a way where ye are not sure of the intended audience.  In this book Annie is a married woman who felt as though she was a young child at times in the tone of her thoughts and in the writing style itself.  I expected the character of Annie to be more headstrong, fierce, and independent.  She felt too much like a frail woman who was dependent on her husband. She also spent a lot of time focused on clothes and comfort.  This just wasn't tied to the version I had of Annie Oakley growing up.  Other readers may have more success with the character than I did.

I also thought the plot was kinda boring overall.  So much of this novel was talking about the magic and not really using much.  And what was explained of how the magic worked didn't seem very clear or detailed.  I wouldn't usually expect a lot of explanation in a later book of a series except that Annie was learning about magic for the first time.  Her training seemed nonsensical and haphazard.  Not a lot seemed to happen while waiting for the final showdown that is blatantly going to happen. Even the circus portion of this book had no real descriptions except for how they loaded trains and the tours given of the encampment.

And the final showdown was lame.  I mean seriously bad.  I did think I was going to abandon this book around the midway point.  Nostalgia for the author and Annie Oakley made me finish.  I can't say that I would recommend this book to anyone but I am now more curious about other retellings in this series.  I will have to track some down to satiate me curiosity given how much I remember enjoying the other book of this series that I read.  Arrr!

Thank ye kindly DAW for the eArc!

Ahoy there mateys! This was a very interesting modern fairy tale. I really did enjoy the friendship between the main character Zinnia and her best friend Charm. I enjoyed the exploration of the fairy tale tropes and the twists. I like the LGBTQ+ rep. But a lot of this book didn’t work for me. Zinnia did not have much of a personality beyond being a dying-girl. Cell phone work across the multiverses. Too much dropping of pop culture references. The book is clever. I can see that it might be the perfect kind of fairy tale for the younger adult audience. But I was left feeling unsatisfied and sort of bemused for the wrong reasons. Though some of this could be that apparently this is the first book in a series. Or that I never seem to fully connect with Harrow’s work. Arrr!

Ahoy there me mateys! Ever since I read the bear and the nightingale, I have been in love with this author’s writing. So of course I have been reading her middle-grade novels because I don’t put age limits on reading. And this was a fun third book. Aye, this is a review of a book three where I will try to post no spoilers but continue at yer own peril . . .

In this one, the gang (Coco, Ollie, and Brian) are supposed to go on a fun cruise on Lake Champlain to search for a sea (lake!) monster! A sea yarn with beasties. I read this one by a lake with the foggy mist roiling across the water as far as the eye could see. And I loved every minute.

This be Brian’s story mostly. The lovely sail turns into a nightmare. There be shipwrecks, ghosts, monsters, a deserted island, a countdown, and of course the Big Bad. This book gave me tingles and I read it in one delicious sitting. It is action packed, creepy, and wonderful.

One of the best parts about this series is that there are consequences for the kids having experienced the prior dangers. Bad dreams, worry, and friendship tensions are all realistic effects of their adventures. And yet, Brian, Ollie, and Coco are still trying to overcome their situations and be understanding of each other. The parents are also very concerned and caring even if they don’t completely understand.

Another element of interest was how the “frenemy” Phil is dealt with in the novel. I can’t get into details because of spoilers but I loved how assumptions on all sides are examined and especially how they are resolved.

This was an excellent book for the beginning of the Halloween season. I am looking forward to the last book in the quartet. So far we have dealt with autumn, winter. and spring Can’t wait for summer’s grand finale. Arrrr!

Side Note: Lake Champlain in Vermont is awesome. I loved it there. As for searching for sea monsters. Not only is their supposed to be one in Lake Champlain but back in the old home port of Baltimore, there is Chessie, the Chesapeake Bay monster. I haven’t seen either of them but I will keep a lookout!

Ahoy there mateys! I don't know where I heard about this book either.  The version I bought contained the first book and the story "Psiren."  The book follows Cat, an orphan, as he develops his telepathic powers and learns to trust other people.  It is a strange sci-fi that is classified as a young adult book.  I enjoyed the character of Cat very much.  The plot was interesting and the world building felt a bit light.  Cat carries the story because I wanted to know what happened to him.  I did not like the story "Psiren" at all even if I enjoyed reading more about Cat.  I am not sure if I will read the next two books in the series.  Arrr!

Ahoy there mateys! I have no idea where I got this book but I really loved it.  Malcolm is trying to start over and moves to a small town in Oregon.  When he gets to his house, he is surprised to find a letter, addressed to him, from Dusha Chuchonnyhoof, who claims to be the real owner of the property.  Chuchonnyhoof also claims to have been jailed for 117 years, that he is innocent, and says he is about to be released from prison soon.  He wants Malcolm's help to prepare.  The town is weird, the house is weird, and the people are weird.  I loved how the ending went against what I was expecting.  Short novella and excellent. Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! This is the second book in the series dealing with space nuns.  The Order of Saint Rita is in crisis from standing up to Central Governance.  They are on the run, suffering from PTSD, and upset that their actions seem to have led to revolution which, of course, is in opposition to their mission of aid.  This is a quieter story which was more like a character study then a plot-driven narrative.  The ending felt like closure on the world and the characters though I would read another book in this series if there is one. Arrr!

Ahoy there mateys! I won this book from Matey Tammy.  Though urban fantasy is not me thing, this just sounded so fun.  The main character, Kincaid Strange, is 27, lives in Seattle, and is a voodoo practitoner.  She lives with a ghost, is always broke, and raises zombies.  She has to solve a murder mystery.  It was a satisfying read even though I don't feel the need to pick up more of the series.  I did pass me copy to the First Mate's sister who absolutely adored it.  So if urban fantasy floats yer boat, I suggest ye pick this one up.  Arrr!