Month: April 2017

Special deals, a giveaway and – the next book! Free!

Special deals, a giveaway and – the next book! Free!

Some special deals Here’s an opportunity to pick up some of my books at a special low price. Book 1 of the series, The Plains of Kallanash, is now just 99c, and so is book 2, The Fire Mages. And if you’re a fan of trilogies (and who isn’t?), you can buy books 2, 5 and 7 at the new low price of just $6.99 (or equivalent). All the books are also free to download if you have a subscription to Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime. Click to buy or borrow. I’m giving stuff away! I have some cool swag for 6 lucky people – mousemats and drinks coasters commemorating the awesome original covers of my books. To have a chance to win, all you have to do is email me and tell me which is your favourite character from any of the Brightmoon books. Not read them yet? Can’t […]


Fantasy romance review: ‘Source-Breaker’ by Kyra Halland

Fantasy romance review: ‘Source-Breaker’ by Kyra Halland

Kyra Halland’s one of very few authors who writes proper fantasy romance, that is, stories that have a fully-formed romance at their heart, but are also well-constructed fantasies. It’s a hard trick to pull off (I know because I’ve tried and failed) but she does it superbly. This book drew me in from the very first paragraph. I loved the idea of a man whose job it is to fix magical sources (the well-springs of magical power, each one different). Kaniev travels around the country to wherever his lodestone tells him a source needs attention, fixes it with a bit of arm-wavy business that only he is trained to do, and then goes on his way to the next job. That makes it sound very prosaic, like an old-fashioned tinker who turns up out of the blue, fixes your bucket and sharpens your knives and then vanishes until the next […]

Posted April 20, 2017 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Urban fantasy review: ‘Nothing But The Truth’ by Angela Holder

Urban fantasy review: ‘Nothing But The Truth’ by Angela Holder

I’ve had some mixed experiences with Angela Holder’s writing in the past. White Blood was a wonderful 5* read for me, a quirky and original story based around an unusual heroine, a wet-nurse. But the first part of her Tevenar series, The Fuller’s Apprentice, was a less resonant read. I enjoyed the intriguing magic system, the detailed world-building and the philosophical points raised. I was less enamoured of the glacially slow pace, the info-dumping and the lack of plot development, so much so that I never managed to get round to reading the rest of the series. The writing was uniformly excellent, however, so when I saw this new book out with its intriguing premise, I had to give it a go. Nothing But The Truth depends upon the conceit that Allison, the main character, has a physical reaction to lies. If someone lies in her vicinity, she’ll either throw […]

Posted April 20, 2017 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

Review: ‘Water For Elephants’ by Sara Gruen

Review: ‘Water For Elephants’ by Sara Gruen

The framing story here is that of an old man looking back on his life with a third-rate circus in the thirties. Is it a romance? An action story? Making a point about circuses? Not a clue. It was an easy read, and I was never tempted to abandon it, but frankly I have no idea what to make of it. Parts of it were wonderful, parts were ho-hum and a few parts were downright stupid, a real curate’s egg of a book. Let’s start with the good bits, which was basically everything involving elderly Jacob (who’s 90 or possibly 93) in the care home. The descriptions of the other residents brought them to vivid life, Jacob himself was utterly believable as a curmudgeonly old man falling out with another the same, and the daily frustrations of age and an institutionalised existence were filled with pathos. The ho-hum bits were […]

Posted April 5, 2017 by PaulineMRoss in Review / 0 Comments

One to watch out for: ‘Rivers of Hell’ by Marina Finlayson

One to watch out for: ‘Rivers of Hell’ by Marina Finlayson

Anyone who’s been following this blog for any length of time knows how much I love Marina Finlayson’s writing. I don’t normally get along with urban fantasy, but something about Finlayson’s style is a perfect fit for my reading needs. Maybe it’s that the characters feel so real I’d love to have a drink with them, maybe it’s that the stories are convoluted yet easy to follow, or maybe it’s the quirky Aussie humour, but I’ve loved everything she’s written to date. It’s no great surprise, then, that I’m excited to see that the third part of Shadows of the Immortals is out. I can’t wait to find out what Lexi and Syl and friends get up to this time round. And look at that cover – awesome or what? You can find it on Amazon.com.

Posted April 1, 2017 by PaulineMRoss in Books that caught my eye / 0 Comments