Month: May 2016

Mystery review: ‘Spider’s Web’ by Mike Omer

Mystery review: ‘Spider’s Web’ by Mike Omer

I don’t read many police procedurals, being more of an amateur sleuth type of gal, but I’ve loved the author’s previous books so this new series was a must-read for me. The plot is the usual – there’s a seemingly random killing of a jogger in a park, and it gradually becomes clear that this is just one of a sequence of similar cases. The murderer’s MO is intriguing – the victim receives a text with a picture of something (a gun, a car…) and shortly thereafter is killed with that item as the murder weapon. And there’s a messed-up cop, and an interfering journalist, and a perky forensic psychologist (a profiler) and all the familiar elements. What makes this book different from a thousand others? Firstly, the characters. You’ve never lived until you’ve encountered Rabbi Friedman. I swear he’s not like any Rabbi you’ve ever heard of before. Frankly, […]

Posted May 26, 2016 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Fantasy review: ‘The Fairytale Curse’ by Marina Finlayson

Fantasy review: ‘The Fairytale Curse’ by Marina Finlayson

I’ve loved everything the author has written to date, so this was right at the top of my reading list. It’s not my usual fare (YA? High school? Proms? Really not my thing) but Finlayson achieved the seemingly impossible and taught me to love werewolves, so I was pretty confident she could work the same magic again. Here’s the premise: 17-year-old twin sisters CJ (the pretty one) and Violet (the other one) wake up after a party to find they’ve been cursed. Whenever they speak, they spit diamonds (CJ) or frogs (Violet) from their mouths. And they’re not the only ones to find themselves on the wrong end of a fairytale curse. But strangely, Mum and Dad aren’t quite as surprised as might be expected. Turns out they’re part of a whole organisation devoted to keeping the unpleasant fairies (Sidhe) harmlessly locked away. And wouldn’t you just know it, those […]

Posted May 22, 2016 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Book release: ‘The Dragon’s Egg’ is now available!

Book release: ‘The Dragon’s Egg’ is now available!

Well, blow me down, I forgot to post an announcement about this! Why did I forget? Because I’m an idiot! But also because this is the first book that didn’t have a pre-order set up, so when it was ready, I just – pushed the button. And, of course, forgot to do a lot of the usual things. My sixth book set in the Brightmoon world is now available at your local Amazon. You can buy it for $3.99 (or equivalent) or borrow it for free, if you have a subscription to Prime or Kindle Unlimited. If you’d like to buy it in paperback, you’ll need to wait just a little longer but anyone buying the paperback will be able to download the Kindle version free of charge. Click here to go to your local Amazon to buy or borrow.

Posted May 10, 2016 by PaulineMRoss in The Dragon's Egg / 0 Comments

Authors answer #13: Can you recommend an author who is not well known?

Authors answer #13: Can you recommend an author who is not well known?

Good grief, how much time have you got? Unknown authors are my specialist subject. Not for me the residents of bestseller lists or airport bookshops or the type of book that’s stacked high on tables near the door at Waterstones. In fact, most of my favourite authors don’t make it onto the shelves of bookstores at all. I could go on all day, but here are just a few that I love. H Anthe Davis: an American who writes epic fantasy with a hint of horror, compelling characters and industrial-strength world-building. The first of the War of Memory series is The Light of Kerrindryr. She’s a slow-brew kind of writer, so the series is as yet incomplete, with three books out so far. Marina Finlayson: an Australian who writes fast-paced urban fantasy of the werewolf variety, with added dragons and just a touch of romance, and loads of Aussie humour. […]

Posted May 7, 2016 by PaulineMRoss in AuthorsAnswer / 0 Comments

Urban fantasy review: ‘Grim Haven’ by Jen Rasmussen

Urban fantasy review: ‘Grim Haven’ by Jen Rasmussen

I don’t read a whole heap of urban fantasy, being more of an epic sort of reader myself, but this is a fun, just-one-more-chapter type of read. It’s my kind of book – quirky, original, with a surprise round every corner. When I tell you that the scene that sent shivers up and down my spine involved the bad guys simply walking around a building, you’ll understand that this isn’t your average let’s-hurl-thunderbolts-around urban fantasy. This is Hitchcockian (is that a word?) levels of tension. Here’s the plot: Verity has her own form of magic, a quiet type that involves writing spells on paper, which she uses for self-protection. She likes to keep a low profile, but an accidental encounter with some unpleasantness of the non-human variety draws her into a centuries-old war. She seeks refuge in her home town, where she’s just inherited an old hotel, but this is […]

Posted May 6, 2016 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Regency review: ‘The Lucases of Lucas Lodge’ by Clara Benson

Regency review: ‘The Lucases of Lucas Lodge’ by Clara Benson

This is a real treat for Janeites, or anyone who read Pride and Prejudice and wondered what happened to Maria Lucas after big sister Charlotte married Mr Collins, and three of the Bennet sisters all found husbands. Clara Benson wondered, too, and this is her imagined answer. It’s a charming and light-hearted tale of muddles and misunderstandings, written in a style that any Janeite will love. There are no Bennets in sight, just Maria Lucas, her parents, Miss King (the heiress saved from Wickham’s clutches in P&P) and some new characters renting Netherfield Park. I found all the characters (except one!) to be rather too nice, and perhaps not as quirky as genuine Austen characters, but this just made them all the more realistic. I particularly liked the way Miss King, a tiny bit-part in P&P, is given a great deal of depth here. Nicely done. The setting is quite […]

Posted May 6, 2016 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Fantasy review: ‘The Strength To Serve’ by Claire Frank

Fantasy review: ‘The Strength To Serve’ by Claire Frank

This is the third part of the Echoes of Imara series, which started with To Whatever End and An Altered Fate. It’s truly epic fantasy, with an array of characters pursuing their own agendas and plenty of world-threatening events in prospect. Our ‘heroes’, husband and wife Daro and Cecily and their friends are still dealing with the aftermath of the altered wielders (magic users). Pathius, the son of the former king, is in Imara while the Imarans help him to recover some stability. Meanwhile, the Lyceum loses a valuable artifact and asks Cecily to recover it. And across the sea in Attalon, Isley is imprisoned by the Emperor, as he plans an invasion. One of the highlights of the second book was Daro’s stay in Imara, and this time it’s Pathius learning about the Imaran ways. The Imarans have a wonderfully ‘other’ feel to them, and everything about them and […]

Posted May 5, 2016 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Let’s go camping!

Let’s go camping!

I’ve never joined in a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) before — it just never fitted it with what I was working on, and I didn’t feel I could manage to write 50,000 words in a month. So each November the good ship NaNoWriMo went sailing past without me. But this year the moons aligned sufficiently for me to give Camp NaNoWriMo a go. What changed? The first difference was that I actually planned to start a new book anyway last month. I know some people just carry on with whatever project they’re already working on, but I’ve always liked the idea of having a NaNo project – something written from scratch in NaNo month. I finished my last epic fantasy at the end of March, and April was pencilled in for the second of my Regency romance series. It was planned to be 50,000 words, a perfect NaNo length. […]

Posted May 2, 2016 by PaulineMRoss in Writing musings / 1 Comment

One to watch out for: ‘Six Celestial Swords’ by T A Miles

One to watch out for: ‘Six Celestial Swords’ by T A Miles

I haven’t read this one but wow, look at that cover! And for everyone who grumbles that all fantasy is set in a pseudo-medieval European world, this one is very definitely not! You can find it on Amazon. Here’s the blurb: Inspired by the rising chaos in Sheng Fan, Xu Liang, mystic and officer of the Imperial Court, leaves his homeland for the barbarian outer lands in search of four magical blades to unite with two sacred weapons already in the possession of the Empire. His plan is to bring all of the blades together and return them to Sheng Fan’s Empress as a symbol of unity that will bolster the people’s faith in the Imperial family and assist against the surge of dark forces. Complicating his plan is not the finding of the blades, but finding them with bearers; foreigners who have no intention of parting with them and […]