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Tag Archives: humor

Shadows from Another Life (More in Heaven and Earth) by Katherine Gilbert – Review

02 Thursday Mar 2023

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

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Tags

5 stars, angels, Book Review, humor, Katherine Gilbert, magic, paranormal, romance, series, vampires, werewolves, witches

Review of Shadows from Another Life

Teena Jones can see other people’s past lives.  Not that she wants to.  Teena herself is living a reincarnation.  However, because of her skill, the Magical Council wants her to look into their latest case.  She has a team of Irregulars to help her, made up of several other supernaturally gifted folks, including William, the ghostly love of her life, who looks really great in a bowler hat.

The case involves a murderer, Nicholas Brown, who is targeting those who he feels wronged him in a previous life and Teena is probably on that list.  Actually, it seems like he is the one who wronged Teena, but who can reason with a crazy power-hungry man?

The case takes the team to several interesting locations, including a ride on the Orient Express.  It seems they are chasing a man, who in his previous life, had ties to the Nazi’s.  And now, Brown wants to try again, bringing back the Nazis take over the world. Are you kidding me?!  How did we get to this? 

“….for the last decade or so, the masks were off, and any irrational hatred or prejudice was not only acceptable again. It was often valorized and cheered. There were too many attitudes which were similar to those during the rise of the Third Reich lately….” (From Shadows from Another Life by Katherine Gilbert)

If this is not a comment on certain aspects of the world today, I don’t know what is.  This is the second book that I have read from this author, and in both, Ms. Gilbert has presented socio-political views that are deftly woven into the story.  The story may appear to be a paranormal romp through multiple locations involving a veritable smorgasbord of supernatural beings, but there is a point to all this.

This book is a follow up to Postcards from Another World, with the heroine and hero (Gillian and Nasser) of that story in charge of this investigation.  Both Teena and William seem to be unassuming people, content to stay in the background, except when they feel it is important not to be.  Most of the team is similar, with very little real leadership needed.  The play to their individual strengths and do whatever it takes to complete the task.  They exemplify teamwork.

While part of the More in Heaven and Earth series, Shadows from Another Life stands on its own.  I liked this book as much as I liked Postcards.  The story is mapped out in a similar way.  The plot is simple, but takes the reader on many side streets before getting to the final destination and ultimate confrontation.  The characters are diverse, including a talking dog, vampire, sorcerer, angel and werewolf.  And the romance between Teena and William is sweet!  Reader’s who enjoy a good paranormal adventure will appreciate this story and probably the entire series.

Through StoryOrigin, the author provided a copy of this book.  My review is my honest opinion.

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About Shadows from Another Life by Katherine Gilbert

Teena Jones has always known about being murdered in her past life. That’s no biggie. But when she falls in love with a revenant, things get complicated. Still, can’t a girl break up with the undead man she loves for reasons even she doesn’t understand without the Magical Council sticking their noses in? If only.

The Hon. William Ambrose Deighton was the younger son of a minor baron a century or so ago, and nothing in that lifetime prepared him for the afterlife he’s living. Or for Teena, who–despite the fact that they’re perfect for each other–won’t let him love her.

But suddenly the Council comes calling. It seems Teena’s murderer has been reincarnated and is leaving behind bodies again–including Teena’s, if she doesn’t look out. Together with the Council’s Outer Banks Irregulars–which include a psychic, a sorcerer, a dog-shaped magical parolee, a revenant who dreams of the circus, and a drag queen vampire–they need to figure out why, and how to stop him.

Still, as they race across Europe, through stately homes, stone cairns, Parisian cemeteries, and ancient Venice–not to mention a ride on the Orient Express–the case becomes much more complex. It seems this killer has accomplices from his former life, and, this time, the changes they plot will drag the world into a cruel and heartless past from which it might never escape. Can the paranormal world’s weirdest (and occasionally entirely unprepared) detectives find a way to stop them?

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Catagenesis (Cat Ship, #3) by Jody Wallace – Review

23 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, cats, humor, Jody Wallace, pets, romance, scifi romance, series, talking cats

Review of Catagenesis

First – I love this series!  Cats that can teleport and sometimes read minds.  To be honest, I am not so sure that part is science fiction.  In the Catship series, cats have also evolved to be able to talk.  To humans.  Using human words.  So, cool!

Humans also play a large role.  In Catagenesis, we have Han-Ja Gee.  Drug / information dealer, in debt to a mobster.  “Smarmy” to quote Farah Shine Collins.  (Han-Ja was also in Catapult (book 2) in a very memorable scene involving mind altering drugs (mota), and a talking feline masquerading as a robotic cat.)

Farah is newly awakened after sleeping on a generation ship for 3,000 years.  A former law enforcement liaison, she is not nearly naïve as Han-Ja believes or as she is first presented.  Her mom is Dear Barbara (the cat’s name for her). 

After a murder on the gen ship, Farah and Han-Ja team up to figure out what the heck happened.  Dear Barbara is the prime suspect since she is the one who found the body.  Otherwise, clues are nearly non-existent.  What is not non-existent is a lack of suspects.  The non-cat loving crew members blame the cats.  There is of course, much disagreement on that, especially from the cats. 

More murders, riots and pandemonium ensue.  The author continues to throw in little mayhems to complicate the story and provide plenty of humor.  For cat lovers, you will get plenty of tail swishing, face washing, brushing against legs and sudden bolting from the room.  Plus, a gigantic superior attitude.  Yep, cats.

Romance is there too.  Farah and Han-Ja do not hit it off at first.  But as these things go, each begins to see the appeal of the other.  Kissing and heroics ensue.

This book is for anyone who enjoys sci-fi romance, cats, mystery and hilarity.  It stands alone, but the first two books are just as good and several characters cross over.  So read the entire series I say!

I received a copy of this book from the author. My review is my honest opinion.

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About Catagenesis by Jody Wallace

Han-Ja Gee has made a fine living on Trash Planet trading information and secrets with those who are willing to pay, either in money or in more secrets. He thought he knew everything…until a talking cat interrupted a business meeting. But cats can’t talk. Cats are so rare that only very wealthy people own them. If he can discover the truth about the cats, he can pay off the life-debt he owes and leave Trash Planet forever.

Farah Shine Collins is a passenger on an ancient generation ship who wakes up two thousand years late in a galaxy that barely survived a catastrophic war…and the cats on her ship have become sentient. Her struggle to adjust becomes infinitely worse when she’s asked to partner with an information broker named Han-Ja, who is clearly trouble, to solve a murder on board the ship.

A murder for which the primary suspect is Farah’s mother. A murder that not even mind-reading cats seem to know anything about. A murder that is only the first in a string of deadly attacks that threatens to tear the whole ship apart.

Han-Ja just wanted to escape a brutal racketeer. Farah just wanted a place that she and her mother could call home. Neither expected to fall in love while locked on a murder ship with three thousand terrified colonists and almost as many angry cats. But if they cannot stop the killer, the collateral damage will be a lot more than their hopes and dreams. It will be their lives.

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Links

Add Catagenesis to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase books in the Cat Ship series:

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Another Year!

16 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

5 stars, academia, Ahsley Poston, Blake Crouch, books, cartography, Contemporary Romance, fairies, genetic engineering, ghosts, Heather Fawcett, historical, historical romance, humor, India Holton, Madeline Martin, magical realism, maps, Mimi Matthews, paranormal romance, Patricia Briggs, Peng Shepherd, romance, scifi, series, urban fantasy, witches, WWII

7 years ago today, I shared my first book review on Whiskey With My Book.  To mark this occasion, I thought I’d recap last year by listing my 10 favorite 5-star books of 2022.  It is really hard to choose only 10, but for your sake and mine, I did.  It is even harder to rank them, but I managed.  Note: If I reviewed the book, I included the link. Clicking on the cover will take you to Amazon. Use of these links supports this blog and is very much appreciated. I also recommended checking with your library (if you want to save some $$$)!

10 and 9 – The Bell of Belgrave Square and The Siren of Sussex.  These are the first two books in The Belles of London series by Mimi Matthews.  The historical romances are about women and men who find love outside society’s expected boundaries. 

8 – Soul Taken (Mercy Thompson, #13) by Patricia Briggs.  Between 2021 and 2022, I read (or listened to) the entire Mercy Thompson series.  Binging the urban fantasy series was a great way to soak it up. I reviewed 1-12 before I read #13.

7 – The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin.  Wartime in London is fraught with danger and heartbreak.  This was a moving story enriched by historical detail, complex characters, and books.

6 – The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd.  An absolutely fascinating bit of magical realism, secrets, maps, mapmakers, and intrigue. 

5 – Upgrade by Blake Crouch.  This was one of two Blake Crouch books I read last year.  Upgrade examines the ethics of scientific advancements.

4 and 3 – The League of Gentlewomen Witches and the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton.  The first two books in the Dangerous Damsels series are highly entertaining.  Crammed full with humor, romance and flying battlehouses, what’s not to love?

2 – Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.  I was completely charmed by this tale of two academics whose study of faeries becomes an adventure you will never forget.

1 – The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston.  I don’t read a lot of fiction set in current times, so I was quite surprised that this contemporary romance turned out to appeal to me so much!  I even recommended it to my library’s book club.  I hope they love it as much as I did.  I plan to share a review of this book eventually.  I might save it for Valentine’s week.

Thank you for following my blog. I hope, if you are looking for a good book to read, you will find something great here! 

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