Flat Out Love
I’m pretty much unable to resist a good bargain and when this book cropped up in the 99p daily Kindle deal with the promise of a good romantic comedy I jumped at the chance.
Imagine my disappointment when this turned out to be full of cliche characters and crashingly obvious plot twists.
The author has a pleasant, readable voice but the book is utterly forgettable.
Kill The Dead
Stark returns to fight off a zombie invasion of Los Angeles. He does this while also acting as Lucifer’s bodyguard and mingling with the Hollywood elite.
It’s a fun enough book and the central character remains enjoyably cynical but it’s just not as good as the first book.
Recommended if you enjoyed the first book.
The Song of the Quarkbeast
The second of Fforde’s YA fantasy sequence sees our heroine plunged into a battle for the future of magic.
It’s a fun little romp – if a little disjointed feeling compared to the first book.
I’m looking forward to book three – which looks like it’s going to be very interesting.
Certainly recommended if you’re looking for an amusing YA fantasy.
Rosemary & Rue
I don’t normally re-read books so quickly but I was looking for something to divert me at lunchtimes now that I no longer eat at my desk. This, the first Toby Daye book, just happened to be on my phone.
It’s a very enjoyable urban fantasy novel that sets up the series with a deft hand. There’s a lot of seeds planted in this first book that go on to pay off with interest in later volumes and it was fun to catch that this time around.
If you have any tolerance for urban fantasy please check out this series – it starts well and gets better.
This Lullaby
Remy is a cynical young woman about to graduate from high school and escape her home town to Stanford for college. Convinced love is a sham following her Mother’s many marriages she jumps from boyfriend to boyfriend without ever getting emotionally invested. Then she meets Dexter – the singer of an indie band newly arrived in town and things stop being so cut and dried.
This is an expertly constructed and very enjoyable slice of teen romance. Recommended by a fellow fan of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries I raced through this in a couple of days.
It nicely hits that funny, smart romantic tone that I’m sucker for in films and TV without ever getting too melodramatic.
Fletch
IM Fletcher is a reporter. While under cover as a beach bum investigating a drug ring he’s approached by a wealthly stranger with an unusual proposition.
This is a well constructed and sardonically funny thriller.
Fletch is the epitome of the likeable asshole and the central mysteries remain compelling right until they’re wrapped up in a satisfying fashion at the end.
Recommended if you like entertaining, fast-paced comic thrillers.
Mr Darcy’s Diary
This book retells the story of Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of Darcy.
Yes I only read this because I miss The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
To be fair though this is a pretty enjoyable read. It helps that it’s an epistolary novel and that the language is less mannered than in the original novel.
I don’t really think the author consistently captured Darcy’s perspective and voice but it’s really good fun to see some of the famous sections of P&P told from his perspective.
I can only recommend this to people who love Pride & Prejudice or one of it’s adaptations. Otherwise you should read the original, or you know maybe watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
Sandman Slim
Stark escapes from Hell intent on the murder of the circle of magicians responsible for the death of his girlfriend and his exile to the demon’s arenas.
This is an enormously entertaining mix of urban fantasy and noir thriller. The protagonist is a likeable asshole that the author manages to avoid turning into a walking set of cliches.
There’s nothing truly original about this novel but it’s a lot of fun and lays enough groundwork for future sequels for you to care about the world he’s built.
If you want a well constructed piece of urban fantasy with an ass-kicking lead character then this is definitely a book for you.
City of Bones
The first book in the Mortal Instruments introduces the protagonist – Clary – to a world filled with demons, monsters and the humans who hunt them.
It’s a very readable piece of young adult urban fantasy with a slightly dodgy romantic triangle subplot.
I blasted through this really quickly and yet I really can’t see myself reading any further books in the series. There’s nothing really wrong with it – I just don’t think it’s for me.
Recommended if you’re looking for a solid piece of YA romantic fantasy.
Midnight Blue-Light Special
The second InCryptid book returns to follow Verity Price as she looks to defend New York’s Cryptid population from a Covenant purge.
Like the first book in this series (Discount Armageddon) this is a fun, action filled piece of urban fantasy.
It’s all wee bit generic but way too entertaining to quibble about it.
Recommended for urban fantasy fans.