A Touch of Purple (The Towers of the Earth, #6) by Nita Round – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, lgbtq, magic, romance, scifi, series, Steampunk

Review of A Touch of Purple

In the 6^th installment of The Towers of the Earth, the action returns to Raven Tower after adventures across the world.  Lucinda has come home, but something is terribly wrong.

Quentin is gone.  Verity Field is locked down and terribly understaffed.  Commanding officers are missing.  For that matter, so are a lot of the other staff.  And there is that dark underground area that no one seems to know anything about.

Lucinda, Magda, and Ascara take on the mission to find out what is going on.  They will find the underground area is much bigger than they had imagined and the things going on there are beyond imagination.  Plots, plans, poison, slavery, spider mechanicals, automatons.  These are all things we have seen in previous stories.  Each story has built on the overall narrative and A Touch of Purple is no exception.  There is even a scene where an evil villain claims responsibility for everything in the past, making one think that this might be the end of the story.   I don’t think so.  There is more to come.

The reason I love this series is really three reasons.  Lucinda, Magda and Ascara.  They love each other, protect each other, annoy each other and just generally make each other better.  The work best together, even if sometimes they think they need to go solo.  They are also great at bringing the world together.  Their backgrounds vary, each with a different cultural heritage.  This enables them to build bridges between peoples.  This, I think, will be very important in the future.

If you are new to the series, pay attention to chapter 2 where Lucinda muses on all that the trio has gone through.  A Touch of Purple does stand alone, but is even better if read as part of The Towers of the Earth series.

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About A Touch of Purple by Nita Round

Hidden in the shadows, something unseen is hunting them all.

The Raven Tower summons the trinity to return home. Neither the tower nor magic tell them why.

One by one the soldiers tasked with defending its people, fall to an insidious contagion. Once infected, they succumb to a rabid and animalistic state. If they survive, then they become minions of the dark to spread their touch even further.

Magda, Ascara and Lucinda must seek out the dark places foretold by the clan dreamers. When they do, they discover more than they expected. As the rot at the heart of Veritas takes hold, no cure is in sight. When all seems lost, they must face their deadliest foe yet.

Now, the war on humanity has become deadly serious. The trinity must triumph. The world depends upon it.

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Still Waters (FBI K-9, #7) by Sarah Driscoll – Review

Tags

4 stars, Book Review, dogs, mystery, romance, Sara Driscoll, search-and-rescue, series, service dogs

Review of Still Waters

A dog on a book cover is one way to get me to check out a book.  Still Waters revolves around the story of FBI agent Meg Jennings and her K-9 partner Hawk.  Along with their partner team of Brian and his dog Lacey, they are taking part in a weekend challenge for search-and-rescue teams.  Combined with the challenge is a series of water rescue training exercises. 

The primary appeal of this book is the dogs, the training and the details of K-9 centered search-and-rescue.  The secondary draw is the partnership bond between human and dog.  Dog lovers will enjoy the book for just these two elements.

On top of all that, though, there is a mystery.  The weekend challenge is supposed to be a friendly competition.  But it turns out to be not so friendly when the body of one of the competitors is found in the water.

The fact that the victim had lodged a lying complaint against Meg, makes Meg look guilty.  Law enforcement jurisdiction, the history of the contestants, and some very intuitive dogs all add complexity and interest to the investigation.

The solving of the mystery relied on suppositions and intuition.  And not nearly enough hard clues for my taste.  Also, one of the major suppositions relied on a previous complaint from the victim and everyone, including Meg, believed it to be true.  Even though the victim had lied about Meg. So, three stars for the mystery.

But five stars for the dog aspect.  Averaging out to 4 stars.  This book is for dog lovers.  Still Waters was my introduction to the FBI K-9 series.  The book stands very well on its own. 

I won an advance copy of Still Waters from the publisher.  My review is my honest opinion.

About Still Waters by Sarah Driscoll

A training session in the Minnesota wilderness becomes a fight for survival for FBI handler Meg Jennings and her K-9 partner . . .

Keeping their search-and-rescue skills honed isn’t just a job requirement for FBI Special Agent Meg Jennings and her Labrador, Hawk—it’s essential to saving lives. A water search training weekend in the Boundary Waters area of Minnesota has attracted participants from all levels of law enforcement, each vying to win. The races are challenging, the rivalry is intense, and Meg is already under pressure when Hawk alerts to a scent in the water—and discovers the fresh body of one of Meg’s fellow competitors.

The contest is called off, but Meg’s still feeling the heat. The victim had made an unfounded complaint about her, one that could cost Meg her job and see Hawk removed from her care. The field of suspects is daunting, and all of them are experts in throwing others off the trail. And though Meg’s team flies out to Minnesota to help uncover the truth, they’re on unfamiliar territory, pitted against a killer with the skills, and the motivation, to stay hidden in plain sight.

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When Gracie Met the Grump by Mariana Zapata – Review

Tags

4 stars, Book Review, humor, Mariana Zapata, romance, scifi, superhero

Review of When Gracie Met the Grump

I enjoyed this story about a woman who is trying to stay under the radar and the superhero that fell from the sky to land in her yard.

All her life, Gracie has tried to keep a low profile.  Never staying anywhere for long.  Moving on before anyone can track her down.  Just as she is about to figure out her next move, the Defender lands in her yard.  Well, he didn’t land, so much as crash.  So, Gracie takes him in and nurses him back to life.  What force could do that to a man who can lift a building?  It is going to be difficult to figure out because he is barely talking.  Demanding yes. Talking no.

Soon their lives become intertwined, as Gracie’s enemies catch up with her and the Defender.  They will be spending lots of time together, protecting each other and finding out each other’s secrets.

This is a cute story about two people who have so many walls around them, it’s amazing they found each other.  Pretty.  Amazing.  It is also pretty amazing that it took over 600 pages for the couple to get together.  Told from Gracie’s perspective, the story drags when she is trying to figure out what to do – over and over again.   Still, the story was entertaining enough for me to just skip over much of Gracie’s inner dialog and get to the good stuff.  You know.  When characters are actually interacting. 

The happily ever after made the 600 pages worth reading (or scanning).  When Gracie Met the Grump is funny, fun Scifi Romance. 

About When Gracie Met the Grump by Mariana Zapata

Of all the things that could have landed in her yard… it had to be him.

For most people, finding a half-naked superbeing in their yard might be a dream come true. Unfortunately for Gracie Castro, it’s the exact opposite. Especially when he’s grouchy, rude, and shows no signs of leaving anytime soon.

But when a hero of mankind needs you, you do what you have to. Even if it compromises everything you know. And totally changes your life.

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