books, books, books: 2018 jun-aug

[meitachi]

Ahh this is belated, because September ended up busier than expected. But here is the book post for the past three months. Though it wasn't quite the voracious reading I did in the first half of the year, I still made a decent effort through the summer, I think. Fewer series probably contributed to that, but it was nice to read some standalone things.

1. The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan - I think this was recced right after Harry and Meghan's royal wedding and I was in the mood for some modern royalty AU, except het and published. This was basically Will and Kate's story retold, if Kate were an American commoner... Very fluffy chick lit but overall enjoyable, with the expected (and somewhat unexpected) drama and break-up and getting back together. The ending is not quite a cliffhanger, but doesn't quite resolve all the potential disaster hanging over the protagonists' heads, but it works okay because the main plot was always less about the actual shenanigans than it was about the relationships and their development/growth/change, and those were more or less at a good point at the end.



2. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #1) - Why not start a new series, especially one that is complete? This hold finally came in from the library so I dug in. As always, I love the world-building -- this is future urban fantasy Atlanta rather than Houston (as in Hidden Legacies), but I love the incorporation of real world/current time Atlanta neighborhoods and sites with new magical influences and landscapes. Kate is a great and entertaining hero, badass and with more feelings than she means to have. I did spend the first half of this book guessing who her One True Love would be...of course it would be the one she has the most spark/antagonism with, haha.



3. Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #2) - I love that the world keeps building on itself and we keep learning about new sites and landscapes, and new characters, but that all the old ones we were introduced to continue to make an appearance. Each book has its own mystery/plot, but also feeds into the larger story arc of Kate's secret identity and, let's be real, her developing relationship. Derek reappears as a fun sidekick! He grew on me a lot, and then more and more...



4. His Royal Secret by Lilah Pace - An original m/m take on the modern royalty AU! The royal heir is secretly gay! He accidentally hooks up with a guy who happens to be a journalist! Funnily enough, I just realized this also ends on a semi-cliffhanger where plot threads are not necessarily resolved. In this case, the royal heir is in the closet and finally decides he's ready to come out -- but that is reserved for the sequel. This book stands alone okay. I don't think I was invested in the couple, honestly, because the journalist dude seemed kind of not as emotionally invested, or a jerk, or something. Alternating POVs sometimes work but in this case I felt like mostly made me annoyed at Ben's "reasons" for not understanding why someone -- especially someone so famous and of such rank -- might have reasons for not being out and proud. (See also my annoyace at Simon's friends for being so self-righteous about him keeping his sexuality a secret from them in Love, Simon. You know...this is really not about you at the moment.) Anyway, not going to read the sequel, but it was fine as a quick read. Sex probably would've been hotter if I'd been more invested in the characters. Needed more UST, honestly; they fell into bed way too fast. A common complaint I have for romances in general.



5. Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #3) - Continuing to really enjoy this series although I loled a bit at the secret underground fight club. Because of course! Made me think fondly back of the unending Dressrosa arc in One Piece... Anyway, still entertaining, still great world and characters. I really enjoyed more backstory on Saiman here! And of course Derek.



6. How the Duke Was Won by Lenora Bell - Book 1 of the Disgraceful Dukes series. So this is a frothy light-hearted read much like Tessa Dare's stuff. It's meant to be tropey but also funny. The bastard half-sister pretends to be the heiress half-sister to win over the duke, everyone is shockingly progressive by modern standards... I didn't quite buy the premise and sometimes applying modern feminist values to the characters feels really jarring and anachronistic; at least they were applied equally to the hero and heroine? It's a cute premise and a light read, but I skimmed most of it fast just to finish because I can't decide if I like the author's righting style or not. She does have a tendency to get caught up in pointless sentence fragments for emphasis, over and over.



7. Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #4) - More development of the larger story arc and Kate's family and backstory! The Jewish mysticism was interesting. A good setup for the larger fight we know Kate and company will have to tackle later. Also I think the romance comes to a head here, in a mostly predictable but still cute way. Lots more blood than your traditional romance, sure, but we are in an epic urban fantasy battle world.



8. Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #5) - I only vaguely remember the main plot in this one (there were vampires) but the Pack politics and Kate having to navigate her new role was interesting to me in this one. Oh, they introduced Ascanio in this one! He was a little shit but a great character, especially highlighted against Derek, who remains my favorite. Really just good at further developing the character dynamics and relationships, and especially how they change as the world changes around them. Kate, bless her, now cares about way more people than she ever intended to.



9. If I Only Had a Duke by Lenora Bell - Book 2 of the Disgraceful Dukes series. Now the story of the original heiress half-sister and her own duke adventures! For someone supposedly the polar opposite of the original heroine, she ends up kinda being the same snarky and self-possessed heroine that all these new regency romances track toward to show they are progressive and their heroines have agency. There was a cute/traditioanl premise that sort of fell by the wayside pretty early, and the main plot is her saving the hero from himself, his angsty backstory and trauma, whatever. God, I don't know, it was fun but also really annoying, how anachronistic it all felt. I guess it was just too much bits and pieces of various plots and Progressiveness Points pasted on.



10. Trick Play by Eden Finley - Sequel to Fake Out. Heyyy, I forgot that the first book would get a sequel and honestly I found this sequel even better than the first. Better sexual tension and chemistry, imo, and denial of feelings 'til the end. DENY THOSE FEELINGS, thanks. An angsty rich boy with daddy issues and an outed NFL player in a fake relationship, sign me up for this hot mess. But it worked and the characters actually felt different from each other, with separate issues that I could buy. Hot. Next book is about some journalist (who gives a fuck) rather than the hot stuff QB who totally did not-gay stuff with his BFF in the same room, which is a pity. I want the latter story, please!



11. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie - Hey, a new one for me! I always like stories about trains because the cast of characters is limited and so much depends on the order of events and train departures and all that. This felt very classic Christie to me, including its (surprise~) romance. Very enjoyable.



12. Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #6) - They travel abroad to Europe! I was reluctant to start this because I wasn't sure I wanted that change of scenery and location from the beloved, familiar Atlanta; plus there would be a whole new cast of characters. But of course it worked and the plot was engaging, building again part of the larger story with Kate and Roland. But a little side story about Kate's jealousy and this little tart getting all up in her territory -- that was fun too, because Kate knows better than to fall for it, but was also, understandably, still pissed about it. At first hard to keep track of all the new characters, but you'll end up remembering the important ones.



13. Blame it on the Duke by Lenora Bell - Book 3 of the Disgraceful Dukes series. At this point I was just trying to finish the series! Plus this was a fun background character in the first book and I wanted to see how she'd be fleshed out. It has the same problems as the previous books of just not being believable in the least, but mostly entertaining if you don't engage your brain? But there was still so much Man Pain&tm; for the heroine to save the hero from. A supposed rake is forced into marraige with a blushing virginal bride but it's a business arrangement, but they have sex and it's amazing, blah blah blah, the usual. But he's a fake rake! He is mostly wrapped in angst. And she is magically the smartest woman in England, translating a lost portion of the Kama Sutra (how did she get it?) from Sanskrit. I think maybe I need to stop reading this author because the cute premises don't make up for how much I roll my eyes at the anachronistic and unbelievable elements of literally how it all plays out. Maybe I should reread some Heyer as a palate cleanser.



14. A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie - A classic and often called one of Christie's best mysteries, so I decided it was a time for a reread! I remembered the set up as I began but didn't recall who the murderer was until about halfway through. Miss Marple is delightful, operating in a way that is so different from Poirot but so effective for these tiny little village murders. And always a lively cast of characters and red herrings.



15. Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #7) - Ahh the big confrontation comes! Kind of! And more of Thomas and Robert from Clan Rat, which is intriguing. Never enough Derek. The short story after featuring Julie at school was really cute too. I don't know what there is to say really, except that I need to get through the rest of the series.