Nic Dempsey

1. Planesrunner (Everness 1) – Ian McDonald

2. Be My Enemy (Everness 2) – Ian McDonald

3. Empress of the Sun (Everness 3) – Ian McDonald

I’m going to take these three books at one because I read them all at once. I’ve had them sitting in my to be read list on the Kindle forever, I bought them when there was a sale and forgot about them. L picked up the first one, completely independently from me and had some issues with the use of polari. When he asked his grandfather about it, Michael directed him to Round the Horne. He and I then spent a happy evening, talking and googling polari and that was fun. So I read them at a run. I really liked them, I liked that the characters are mixed race, I liked the use of London, I loved that the palari in the books doesn’t slow and the reader has to work it out. I liked the fantastic imagination of parallel worlds, what might be the same, what might be different and the way that built through the books. The only thing I didn’t like was that it seems very open ended. I know that series are the new trilogies but this could go on forever! L is really enjoying them and we’re having fun talking about them.

4. Lick (Stage Dive 1) – Kylie Scott

5. Play (Stage Dive 2) – Kylie Scott

6. Lead (Stage Dive 3) – Kylie Scott

I’m going to take these three in one go too but I’m going to direct you to this post that explains how we (parents/grandparents/godparents) ‘police’ L & H’s reading. The books are new adult, they’ve been on my radar for a while (thanks to Smart Bitches) and I’ve seen some people recommend them. So I may have picked them up eventually. However, H did pick them up, they are apparently very popular at school and while I wasn’t all that happy about it, I agreed to read them with her. As romance books, they’re not the worse I’ve read and made for easy, unthinking reading, with my usual issues, girls in their early 20’s don’t often find true love, let alone true love with sexy, successful, rich rock stars. That said, issues in the books were handled in as a realistic way as possible, none of the women just did as they were told and there was change and growth on both sides, given that the time frame is a week or so.  What worried me was the sex. There was quite a bit of it and I don’t like to think about my nearly 14 year old god-daughter (or godson for that matter) reading it in quite that detail. However, it’s not about me and I was probably reading similar stuff at her age and we’ve had some uncomfortable (for me) talks about it!

7. Far in the Wilds – Deanna Raybourn

8. A Spear of Summer Grass – Deanna Raybourn

I loved these. Far in the Wilds is a short story about one of the characters A Spear of Summer Grass. Deanna Raybourn has a knack for getting into the mannerisms of the time she’s writing in and it was a lovely story that has stayed with me.

9. Never Judge a Lady By Her Cover – Sarah MacLean

I really don’t like it when characters don’t talk to one another and that was my major problem with this book. I did like that for a lot of the story the hero was just trying to keep up with the heroine who was smart and in control. While I enjoyed it while I was reading it, the plot didn’t really hang together for me.

10. Lighting the Flames: A Hanukkah Story – Sarah Wendell

Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, has a rule, if she complains about something twice she has to do something about it or shut up about it. Romance books go big on Christmas stories and Sarah wished there were more non-Christian holiday stories, especially aimed at Hanukkah, because she’s Jewish. So she wrote one. It was 77p on Amazon and it was three delightful hours of my life!

11. Worth the Fall – Claudia Connor

I could have done without the rubbish cover but this was a lovely, easy book with a HEA. I loved that the hero’s family weren’t exactly keen on the heroine and her brood but were prepared to accept for the hero’s sake.

12. Hold on My Heart – Tracy Brogan

Another easy romance read. If you like that sort of stuff, read it.

13. Never the Bride – Paul Magrs

One of my Barter Books haul. Brenda lives in Whitby and runs a B&B, it’s a nice place and if anyone notices her scars and that her feet are different sizes, they don’t say so to her face. This is the first in a series, it’s very funny and was perfect for reading over the break.