Just Finished Reading: Seattle on Ice

Seattle on Ice by Mike Attebery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It's snowing in Seattle, there's corruption at every turn & Ransom needs a good meal. This was a fun read for a weekend. A cop trying to keep witnesses safe for a big trial the next day is difficult enough but our cop, Ransom is having to do so in a snow storm of epic proportions not knowing who he can trust & on a very tense run. The action was vivd & very much like watching a movie (especially the library & market chases). The characters were well drawn & honestly, I was very much a fan of all the food references. I wanted a bowl of Mrs. Ransom's beef stew with warm bread (no offense to the divine osso bucco or onion tartlet). When your cop is channelling Martha Stewart-isms to get him through his travails, I think that's pretty special. This isn't going to change your life or anything but it is darned entertaining. I suggest having good food & wine nearby. I would read another book with Ransom as the main character.


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Just Finished Reading: The Second Duchess

The Second Duchess by Elizabeth Loupas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this! From beginning to end I was caught up in the mystery & suspense. I wasn't sure Barbara would survive it all & I long wanted to give Alfonso a good thrashing in kind. I laughed at the tone & tellings immobili Lucrezia &some of the others in court at Ferrara.The characters of Barbara, Alfonso & Lucrezia all evolve in a believable way. It was all well done in the telling. I won't give up the ending because it's too good & must be read for oneself. It's worth it! Trust me.

I read this after reading Gabrielle Kimm's His Last Duchess & must say that I love both portrayals of Lucrezia offered. I like not having to decide which is so but I must say that I understood Alfonso a lot more in this book. I wanted to understand him more fully in the other book, so I feel sated on all accounts. I am hoping tha the author does write another story with Barbara & Alfonso as she mentioned in her interview at the end of the book. She handled them so expertly, I would love to spend more time with them.



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Just Finished Reading: The Rook: A Novel

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was such a fun & clever read! I'm not really a supernatural or superheroes person (I like aliens, vampires & wearwolves but I've never seen or read X-Men & the like) but this novel was so amazing I may be a convert.

The opening of the story has our heroine, Myfanwy Thomas, having just survives a rather harrowing ordeal & awaking drenched in the park surrounded by dead people wearing laytex gloves. And she has no memory of who she is. The story takes us along as she learns about her predecessor & also becomes her own person. I won't go into the spoilers because I think the story's strength is in the reveals. There was plenty of wry wit to go around & I actually laughed out loud. I found the other characters very compelling. Gestalt is both attractive & squick inducing, from beginning to end & the field ops Myfanwy finds herself on will not be forgotten for some time. The author's descriptions are very well done.

My only departure of thinking this was all-time were two things. As another reviewer mentioned, Ms. Thomas is thirty-one but she seems to have no sense of her own womanhood. I wanted to allow that according to what we read, the first incarnation didn't have any either but the second version seemed to be able to come into her own & break away from the first so much, I didn't understand why she retained the rampant prudishness. No accomplished, 30+ year-old with so much power should repeatedly blush & threaten to lose composure when she simply realizes that a man in the room happens to be handsome. I get that probably she had baggage due to the way the training she endured & has intimacy issues but she seemed pretty keen to embrace completely-unknown-sister, Bronwyn. So quickly & with so little credulity that I was worried it was a ruse. Maybe this was set up to show that it was another break from Myfanwy 1.0 but I wasn't sold. I did like that she & Shantay struck up a friendship. I'm holding on to the hope that the card she finds in the shirt pocket means she'll give the man from the hotel who lent her the shirt a call & get herself a little romance.

Other than those two little things, I think it was outstanding & very much enjoyed this.



And yes, I'm still crocheting & dreaming up new things for the 'tique. I've just missed reading & am on a serious jag right now. Happy reading! xoxo



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