Gentleman Jim

author: Mimi Matthews

I love a good yarn (in all senses of the word) and this book delivers a belter. This is an historical romance that feels fresh, vibrant and made me sing the Good Book Noise.

Margaret Honeywell is in love with Nicholas Seaton. But there are so many barriers that stand between them, not least of which is that Nicholas works in the stables on her father’s estate. Their love is pretty much doomed. Especially as Margaret is meant to marry her neighbour, Frederick Burton-Smythe (a more unpleasant bully has not crossed my reading path for some time). All good romances need a pair to believe in, and we have that in Maggie and Nicholas.

After a particularly vicious fight between Nicholas and Frederick – the injustice of which infuriated me – the story then jumps forward 10 years. And with the time jump, we meet someone new: John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare. He’s a strapping man with swoonworthy looks, a fortune and a title; and he is all but consumed by Maggie Honeywell. The man is besotted. But is Maggie?

Lara, I hear you cry, why are you not telling me more? WHY? If you love this book, why have you not written a full review? Dear Reader, I hear you, but trust me on this. You do NOT want any of the plot’s twists and turns revealed to you in my lowly review. You want to experience them while reading. To the extent that even though I knew this was a romance novel, I was still not convinced that a HEA was possible for Maggie. In fact, I have opted to write a lightning review because it is impossible to wax lyrical about the beauty of this plot without giving all the spoilers. This book is an alchemy of opposites: wild and comforting, powerful and gentle. In fact, if I were in your position, I would stop reading this review right now and just immerse yourself in the book. Don’t even read the blurb. Just let the book roll through you, like the perfect ocean wave or the heat from a cosy fireplace.

For those who need a little more convincing, I present for your consideration two additional points.

First, let me tell you about the characters, of which Maggie is my favourite. In between loving Nicholas and meeting John, Maggie’s had a tough time of it: illness, bereavement, and so much more. But her resilience pulls her through these difficult times. When her story becomes enmeshed with John’s, I couldn’t help but fall a little bit in love with Maggie myself. She’s headstrong and stubborn but self-aware enough to know when something is a bad idea or when she owes someone an apology. She is a (slightly) flawed heroine and I love that about her.

Second, here is a mysterious hint about the HEA…. Ultimately, Maggie chooses the right guy, but for a LONG time, I did not know which guy that would be! If you like historical romance, and you like a twisty plot with a great cast of richly-drawn characters, then this book is the one for you. I hope you are as charmed by it as I was.

– Lara

Historical: European, Regency, Romance

The Alpha’s Warlock

author: Eliot Grayson

The Alpha’s Warlock would have been a great book if it was twice as long. As it is, it is entertaining and emotional, but does not contain enough backstory and time to let the characters properly develop.

Nate Hawthorne is a warlock with a lot of power, insufficient training, and an evil dad. Because of pack politics plus vampire stuff, he is forced to enter a mating bond with werewolf Ian Armitage. The two have a long history of what Nate (the narrator) assumes is mutual dislike and yet within the mating bond they have amazing sex. Despite their inability to exchange two sentences without arguing, the two men have to work together long enough to survive what appears to be a full-on war between Ian’s pack and a rival pack that may or may not have allied with vampires and warlocks.

Y’all, I’m never going to dislike a book which includes the line, “I was so, so done with decapitation for one day.” I found Nate and his never-ending quest for a decent cup of coffee amid the mayhem to be adorable, and Ian’s awkward protectiveness is touching. This book involves several tropes that are not to my liking (the forced mate bond, for example) but these tropes, which are pretty common in shifter romance, are handled well and I think that many people will enjoy them, alphas and all. Be prepared for explicit violence and a lot of mis-communication.

Sadly, the book is just too short to give justice to all the fascinating characters it contains. It drops me into the middle of conflict, which is fine, but never backs up to let me know how the characters became who they are, what their lives have been like, or what they want other than to be left alone. Nate and Ian both go through major character development arcs, especially Nate, and these arcs deserve to be explored more fully. Without expansion, the story is not terrible, but it is confusing and not as gripping as it ought to be since I barely know who any of these people are or why I should care about them.

Shifter fans who want some light (but violent!) reading will enjoy this book. Nate has an engaging voice and I liked spending time with him. I just wish there was more of it.

– Carrie S

LGBTQIA, Paranormal, Romance

Vanishing Falls

author: Poppy Gee

Vanishing Falls is one of my few DNF’s of the year, and it’s extremely unusual for me to DNF a mystery at all (I need to know what happens!). This book pretty much failed on all counts, though, and I couldn’t force myself to finish it.

First of all, I picked up this book expecting a Gothic mystery, but that’s not what this is. The book is set in the Tasmanian town of Vanishing Falls. The premise is that wealthy socialite, Celia Lily, disappears one day and that her vanishing exposes secrets within the community. The synopsis also mentions Calendar House, the 52 room home built in the 1800s that the Lilys own.

A mysterious disappearance and a unique, old house sounds like the perfect set-up. Unfortunately Calendar House really plays no role in the story at all and Celia doesn’t even disappear until halfway through the book.

The novel is really about a community plagued by methamphetamine and poverty. Celia’s husband, Jack, is afraid his illicit drug use will become public knowledge, and his best friend, Cliff, spirals into addiction even as his farm goes bankrupt.

Honestly the synopsis on the back of the book felt like it was describing an entirely different novel than what I picked up.

Then were issues with the heroine, Joelle Smithton. Joelle is extremely literal and struggles with nuanced social cues. For example, when Celia goes missing Joelle lists her theories of what might have happened to her while chatting up some women in a grocery store. It’s clearly not appropriate for the conversation the other women intended to have, but they asked Joelle what she thought so she tells them, in too much and too disturbing detail. I read Joelle as being somewhere on the neurodivergent spectrum.

My struggle with Joelle was that people around her often manipulate her and treat her unkindly, and she doesn’t always realize it. I felt so hurt and embarrassed on her behalf. When Joelle sees Jack getting high while volunteering at his childrens’ school fundraiser, Celia fears Joelle will tell the police and so she befriends Joelle in order to gain her silence. For Joelle having a friend is a huge deal (other than her husband and a woman they’ve hired to help her, she really has few social connections) and she’s so earnestly excited to have Celia in her life that it broke my heart knowing none of it was real.

Overall Vanishing Falls is nothing that the cover copy seems to promise. It’s not a Gothic mystery at all. Between the cruelty to Joelle and the animals in the book, it was actually painful for me to read and I had to set it aside.

– Elyse

Mystery/Thriller