March has been a busy month. Here are some of the best books I read:
1: The Book of Secrets – by Melissa McShane — 5 – YA Fantasy-Mystery — Helena Davies gets a job in a disorganized bookstore, only to discover the owner’s dead body in the basement and to find out that she has inherited the bookstore (which is full of magic). Loved it!
2: Rook – by Sharon Cameron — 5 — Fantasy — A retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel which takes place in a future dystopian world, where Sophia Bellamy is the beautiful, daring Rook who rescues people from the guillotine, barely escaping the clutches of the evil LeBlanc. Meanwhile she is trying to escape an arranged marriage with the handsome Rene Hasard, who is not at all what he seems. A fun adventure and romance, at times very gruesome, with intriguing world building.
3: Ashes on the Moor – by Sarah M Eden — 5 – Clean Historical Romance – The beautifully told story of an English young woman and an Irish man who have lost everything but still keep hoping and trying to make the world a better place. Very poignant.
4. Crow Smarts – Pamela S. Turner – 4 — Nonfiction — All about crows – truly fascinating birds — written in a delightful conversational voice.
5. Mage Slave – by R.K. Thorne — 4 – YA Fantasy – An interesting beginning to a series, good world building and interesting characters. Prince Aven, who has latent elemental powers, sets out on an adventure and is kidnapped by Miara, an enslaved mage who has been ordered to bring him back to her city. They soon begin to fall in love and must figure out a way for them both to be free.
6. Check Me Out – by Becca Wilhite — 4 — Clean Romance – A mousy librarian must rise above her self-imposed limitations to save her library. Meanwhile her best friend (a guy) reluctantly helps her to start a romance with the wrong man.
7. The Names They Gave Us – by Emery Lord –4 – YA Contemporary Fiction — A girl is devastated when she discovers her mother’s cancer is back. Her mom sends her to be a counselor at the camp across the lake, where she begins to find herself, grieve, and learn the truth about her mother. Beautifully told and very moving. Contains swearing.
8. Along the Broken Road – (#1) by Heather Burch — 4 — Clean contemporary romance – Ian Carlisle returns home from military service to fulfill a promise made to his commanding officer: find his daughter and read his journal to her, one page a day. But Charlee McKinley has had her heart broken and trusts no one – not her father, and especially not this handsome man who is hiding something.
9. Down the Hidden Path – (#2) by Heather Burch — 4— Clean contemporary Romance – Jeremiah McKinley returns home from military service to his family’s land in Missouri, grieving for his dead father and hoping to settle down. There he meets Gray (Grace), a friend from high school who wants nothing to do with him. When his brother comes home injured and needs a physical therapist, Jeremiah hires Gray. But Gray is hiding a secret, and when the truth is discovered, it will shake both their worlds.
10. E is for Evidence – by Sue Grafton — 3 — Adult Mystery #5 in series — Kinsey Millhone is a hardened, experienced Private Investigator who needs no one – until money mysteriously appears in her bank account, she is framed for an industrial arson, and bodies start piling up. The last person she wants help from is her ex. Well written mystery starring a sleuth that grows on you.
11. The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre — by Gail Carson Levine — 3 – Middle grade fantasy – A girl raised by the elite class of her land discovers she was actually born to the lower class and stolen away as a baby. She must use her gifts to save both groups of people from a war that will destroy them all. Good story.
I also reread all twelve of Sibella Giorello’s Raleigh Harmon mysteries – but I’ll save that review for another day.
Happy Reading!
Carol Nicolas 