Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare

A charming story of misguided love that goes the right way in the end.

Lucy Waltham has been in love with her brother’s friend Toby for ages, or so she thinks. He is about to be engaged to Sophie, who has been invited to their estate for their annual autumn hunting party. Lucy decides that she must take action and attempts to elicit the help of Jeremy, Earl of Kendall, another close family friend, with unexpected results.

At first, I did not like Lucy, the heroine. The first few chapters had me wanting to tear out her hair. Slowly though, as she grew as a character, I began to warm up to her. She wasn’t really a silly chit, just sheltered with the naivety of youth, the kind that in this day and age would write ILU 4EVER TOBY in a high school notebook. (God, I feel old.) Tessa Dare did an excellent job of developing the character throughout the book, and while Lucy may start out a bit silly, by the end of the book she has grown into a more mature, likeable person in a natural fashion. I think Dare does a great job of showing and not telling with the characters and how events shape them (more)

This month’s Mixed Bag features wildly different stories by Aussie authors, which have left me with…well, mixed reactions.

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Micah Williams is a compulsive liar, and Liar is Michah’s attempt ‘to tell you my story…No lies, no omissions. That’s my promise.’ Zach, Micah’s friend, has gone missing and Micah’s story is a non-linear narration of events leading up to and following from Zach’s disappearance, interspersed with her family history.

You may have heard of this book due to the US cover controversy (a non-issue for Aussie readers because we got a different cover), but it’s  just as likely you’ve heard of it from the many great reviews it’s received. The praise is well deserved. Larbalestier has created an original and compelling if notoriously unreliable narrator in Micah—something the story depends on for its success.

If you know me at all, you know I almost always peek at a book’s ending. I have no problem with spoilers (more)

Take Me by Lucy Monroe (Langley Family, Book 3)

A well-paced drama from Wandergurl’s new favourite I-will- buy-everything-you-have-ever-written author.

When Jared, Viscount Ravenswood’s, housekeeper and childhood friend, Mary, dies she leaves him her daughter, Hannah. She makes him promise to introduce Hannah to Calantha, Duchess of Clairborne, whom she once served. Jared is reluctant to do so, as she is the widow of the evil man who raped Mary and sired the child. He has no way of knowing if she was aware of this act and has his doubts about this reclusive widow.

Calantha suffered an abusive past at the hands of her husband and generally keeps to herself, indulging her passion for roses. When she meets Jared and Hannah, though, things begin to change and she slowly comes out of her shell, just in time for romance to blossom.

Lucy Monroe is my new favourite I-will- buy-everything-you-have-ever-written author. (Thanks, @EloisaJames!) This book had excellent characterisation, from the back story to the use of dialogue, to reflect their personalities. My favourite (more)

Skykeepers by Jessica Andersen (Final Prophecy, Book 3)

This clearer, more streamlined instalment in the Final Prophecy series features a gutsy heroine and an angsty but decent hero.

Sasha always thought the prophesies that her dad, Mayanist Ambrose Ledbetter, talked about were a little bit nuts and nothing more than figments of his imagination, but when he suddenly disappears in the jungles of Central America she rushes off to find him.

In the process, she is kidnapped by the Order of Xibalba, who believe that she holds the key to finding an ancient library. She thinks they’re insane but when she is rescued by the Nightkeepers, a group descended from the original order created to prevent the end of the world, she is forced to think twice.

Michael Stone is a Nightkeeper with issues, issues, issues. He’s spent the last year trying to get away from his past, manage his growing Nightkeeper talents and keep control of his sort of psychotic dark side, which he calls The Other. Charged with finding Sacha (more)

Source: perfect gift 1 by lusi via stock.xchng

But first, a big congratulations to the winner of our Solace & Grief giveaway…*drumroll*…Mary Preston! To win, Mary had to tell us what mysterious door she’d like to open and where it would lead, and this was her comment:

My Grandmother had a back room we were never allowed to enter. It was kept locked & no-one would say why.  A solid old door locked with a key that lay heavily in my hand. As a child it was always a source  of intrigue for an overactive imagination. I think now it would just lead me to – the skeletons in the closet.

Mm, delicious! Mary, please send me your mailing address and I’ll post the book out to you.

For those who missed out, don’t forget that we’re giving away a copy of Covet by J. R. Ward (click on the link for details and Decadence’s excellent review of the book). (more)

Covet by J. R. Ward (Fallen Angels, Book 1)

I opened this book with mixed feelings. I love J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, which means that before this book was even released a part of me already resented the angels for taking Ward’s time away from the Brothers and leaving me with only one Black Dagger Brotherhood book a year instead of two.

BOOK GIVEAWAY: Read on for a chance to win a copy of Covet. Ends Friday, April 2 AEST.

Jim Heron accidentally dies and is blackmailed by the angels into saving the seven souls (one for each of Dante’s deadly sins) who will tip the balance between good and evil for all time. So, no pressure there.

Vin diPietro is Covet’s romantic hero and the first of the souls Jim must save. Having fought his way to obscene wealth, it’s obvious which sin Vin is most guilty of, and Jim believes that part of his mission is to get him to warm up to his girlfriend and pop the question. (more)

Deadtown by Nancy Holzner

For lovers of zombies and urban fantasy.

Victory ‘Vicky’ Vaughn is the only professional demon slayer in Deadtown, the section of Boston reserved for its inhuman and undead residents. Years and years ago a plague hit the city, turning a large number of its residents into zombies—walking, talking, thinking, eating undead. Deadtown was primarily created to regulate their residence and that of the other supernatural creatures that made their presence known after the plague.

Vicky is Cerrdorion, descended from the Welsh goddess Cerridwen, and can shapeshift. Ten years ago, when she was learning to be a demon slayer, her father was killed by an evil Hellion who has somehow made its way to Deadtown. Vicky has to find a way to kill it before it takes over the city.

Vicky was a kick-arse heroine. I couldn’t help but picture Milla Jovovich from Resident Evil, guns blazing over a wasteland, as I read about her (except Vicky has a sword). Heltzer did a good job of depicting the scenario—Deadtown is what happens a few years after the apocalypse (more)

In which I continue my undignified squeeing over a fantastic Australian author.

Thanks to Adele at Persnickety Snark I discovered that this week is Author Appreciation Week. How perfect.

Everyone who follows me on Twitter is groaning, I’m sure. For the past few weeks most of my book conversations have revolved around—or eventually ended up with—Melina Marchetta.

I love her work. I want to marry her books and grow old with them.

When Looking For Alibrandi first came out, I was heavily into category romances and the last thing I wanted to read was an angsty teen novel set in Australia. It wasn’t until last year that I first picked up Marchetta’s work when I read her short story, Twelve Minutes, in last year’s Books Alive anthology. Even then I wasn’t sure I’d read the novel that the short story was based on, The Piper’s Son. (more)

Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale

Laura Kinsale’s long-awaited new release is a bit of a romp and a laugh—the Kinsale book for readers who don’t like Kinsale.

Laura Kinsale is my favourite romance author bar none, so when I found out that Sourcebooks was releasing her Regency romance this year, and then AnimeJune offered to lend me her ARC for review, I lost my mind just a tad.

That said, Lessons in French isn’t my favourite Kinsale.

Callie Taillefaire is a thrice-jilted spinster who suddenly finds herself reunited with her childhood friend and almost-lover, Trevelyn. Callie’s father once caught them in a compromising situation and Trevelyn disappeared soon after. She later learned that he had gone to France to reclaim his family estate.

When Trev returns to take care of his dying mother, Callie becomes embroiled in a madcap scheme involving a not-technically-stolen bull, a suitor who seems intent on unjilting her, and conflicted feelings about Trev. (more)

Solace & Grief by Foz Meadows (The Rare, Book 1)

If you’ve ever wondered what Sydney would be like with paranormal beings lurking about, Foz Meadows’s debut YA novel pits vampires and psychics and a swan-obsessed cat in a medieval dungeon under Hyde Park.

BOOK GIVEAWAY: Read on for a chance to win a signed copy of Solace & Grief. Ends Wednesday, March 24 AEST.

In all my years at Sydney Uni, I’ve always wondered about this door. It’s hidden in a little garden between the Main Quad and the Pharmacy building. Every time I walked past it I wondered. So imagine my delight when I realised that Foz Meadows opens that door for me in Solace & Grief … and leads me to a world of magic, vampires and prophecies.

Solace Morgan walks out of her foster home the day she turns 17, convinced she’s a vampire and that she no longer belongs to her old life. She ends up at the Downstairs Club and meets a bunch of squatters, gets drunk, and before she knows it she’s living with her new set of best friends. (more)