Recommendations from Karin for April 2015.

In order to bring some more variety to my blog, I have asked some of my bookish friends to tell about the books they have in the past month, and to give us a recommendation. Today’s post is made by Karin from Austria.

Karin:

I have read 9 new books this month and numerous old and beloved ones. From the new ones I enjoyed most:

Louisiana Longshot by Jana Deleon



It was a hell of a long shot.... CIA assassin Fortune Redding is about to undertake her most difficult mission ever - in Sinful, Louisiana. With a leak at the CIA and a price placed on her head by one of the world's largest arms dealers, Fortune has to go off-grid, but she never expected to be this far out of her element. Posing as a former beauty queen turned librarian in a small bayou town seems worse than death to Fortune, but she's determined to fly below the radar until her boss finds the leak and puts the arms dealer out of play. Unfortunately, she hasn't even unpacked a suitcase before her newly inherited dog digs up a human bone in her backyard. Thrust into the middle of a bayou murder mystery, Fortune teams up with a couple of seemingly sweet old ladies whose looks completely belie their hold on the little town. To top things off, the handsome local deputy is asking her too many questions. If she's not careful, this investigation might blow her cover and get her killed. Armed with her considerable skills and a group of elderly ladies the locals dub The Geritol Mafia, Fortune has no choice but to solve the murder before it's too late.


I really think this is one of the funniest books that I have read in a long time. The heroine is most likeable, there is a hint of a budding romance (really, a very tiny hint), but what makes this book so unique is the supporting characters – especially the ladies Ida Belle and Gertie. Everything is grossly exaggerated (or so I like to think having no direct experience with Southern Belles) but the whole book made me feel better after I had read it.
It is by the way the first in a series but I have not continued with the books so far.

As for almost the rest of my recommendations I want to once again toot the horn for Loretta Chase. I’m afraid I have done so before but I can’t resist. Just the other day I downloaded an anthology that was put together from two previous anthologies – but it was announced on Amazon and on Chase’s website that these are not new publishings.
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this little gemstone – especially the first novella (short story) “Lord Lovedon’s Duel”.
Never before have I read a historical romance that featured a drunk bridesmaid who challenges a peer to a duel because he made her sister cry on her wedding day. Here and now I want to state that I don’t think it plausible for one minute that something like this could have happened – but still: even in this short story Chase succeeded in writing a believable romance, added her brilliant humour and in general made me feel good after I had finished the book.

The second story is very nice to read to, but I already knew it. The topic – a peer in dire need of money has to marry an heiress – is nothing new of course. The way it was treated here is nothing unique either but it was good to read.

And to finish this long post I would like to recommend one of my beloved older books. It’s

Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair



Independent trader Trilby Elliot is making some not-quite-legal modifications to her starfreighter, when an unexpected visitor falls out of space. Literally. He's crashed onto the uninhabited planet of Avanar in a crippled 'Sko fighter-the last place you'd expect to find a Zafharin military officer because the 'Sko and the Zafharin have been at war as long as Trilby can remember.
Rhis Vanur is your typically arrogant Zafharin. But to Trilby's surprise, he doesn't look down on her or her slapdash ship. Still, Trilby's learned the hard way that even though she found Rhis, she can't keep him. She's just a low-budget jump jockey as far as men like him are concerned. She's not falling for his offer to help...until Port Rumor reports her best friend missing and Trilby learns that the 'Sko are hunting both her and Rhis. Now they're in it together for better, for worse-or till death blasts them to oblivion....


This is science fiction and yet not. It’s the story of “The Prince and the Pauper” in the far away future. It’s a story about THE BIG MISUNDERSTANDING – a trope I normally hate, and I mean: REALLY HATE.
And yet it’s one of the books I return to time and again. I don’t know – is it the heroine who has carved out her spot despite the circumstances she grew up, who is so likeable.
What about the hero (he wears a moustache; this is something I don’t appreciate normally but I forgive him for this sign of bad taste) who has hidden behind several layers of icy walls to hide that he has been hurt one time too many?
Is it once again the supporting characters whom I thought were not only supportive but also at times funny, logical or empathic?
I don’t really know – maybe it’s the sum of everything I have mentioned and so much more that this book has become one of my favourites?
Maybe you want to give it a try?

Until next time – after the LLC – where no doubt we will have lots of fun!



Aurian: Thanks for the recommendation Karin! I have actually recently read Lord Lovedon’s duel, not a storyline you forget indeed. I know Freya likes Linnea Sinclair as well, but I still have not read a book by her. I will borrow one from Freya soon!
But Karin, you read a cozy mystery! And I am glad you enjoyed it, putting it on my wishlist 

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian