Recommendations from Karin for October 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 did not really buy many new books in October because I was very busy at school and so I found myself falling asleep to the TV more often than not. Still this month did have 3 highlights for me. In no particular order they are:

Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews



In the latest Kate Daniels novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews, magic is coming and going in waves in post-Shift Atlanta - and each crest leaves danger in its wake....

After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate - former Beast Lord Curran Lennart - are adjusting to a very different pace. While they're thrilled to escape all the infighting, Curran misses the constant challenges of leading the shapeshifters.

So when the Pack offers him its stake in the Mercenary Guild, Curran seizes the opportunity - too bad the Guild wants nothing to do with him and Kate. Luckily, as a veteran merc, Kate can take over any of the Guild's unfinished jobs in order to bring in money and build their reputation. But what Kate and Curran don't realize is that the odd jobs they've been working are all connected.

An ancient enemy has arisen, and Kate and Curran are the only ones who can stop it - before it takes their city apart piece by piece....



I was really happy with “Magic Shifts”. I have read the whole series and I really enjoyed most of the books. However the last two books I only liked, I did not love them. So I hesitated to buy the latest installment especially as it is a hard cover and therefore it’s quite expensive. Still I yielded to my curiosity and: Boy, am I glad I did.

This book once again has everything that I as a reader can wish for. There is the action, the fighting I want to read about. There are the characters I came to love while reading the series – although Kate and Curran have resigned from their positions the interaction with the Pack is still there. I love Jim and Dali as the Beast Lord and Lady.
I love the development in Kate and Curran’s relationship which is always peppered with the Andrews’s trademark humour.
I think this book is the beginning of the third story arch and I can really highly recommend it. Hopefully Ilona and Gordon Andrews will keep up the high standard. This is one of the times where I think the next installment can’t come fast enough.


Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh



Enter the world of The Survivor's Club, where Regency England, in its drama and romance, comes vibrantly to life Six men and one woman, injured in the Napoleonic Wars, their friendships forged in steel and loyalty. But for one, her trials are not over ...Since witnessing the death of her husband during the wars, Imogen, Lady Barclay, has secluded herself in the confines of Hardford Hall, their home in Cornwall. The new owner has failed to take up his inheritance, and Imogen desperately hopes he will never come to disturb her fragile peace. Percival Hayes, Earl of Hardford, has no interest in the wilds of Cornwall, but when he impulsively decides to pay a visit to his estate there, he is shocked to discover that it is not the ruined heap he had expected. He is equally shocked to find the beautiful widow of his predecessor's son living there. Soon Imogen awakens in Percy a passion he has never thought himself capable of feeling. But can he save her from her misery and reawaken her soul? And what will it mean for him if he succeeds?


I have recommend Balogh’s Survivor’s Club more than once and I want to tell you that “Only a Kiss” is the best book for me so far.
I could easily find a connection to Percy our hero. He is bored to death what with his thirtieth birthday having arrived. He has done and seen everything. But he is such a loveable character. It’s not often that I think a hero in a HR is just an all around nice guy. No dark secrets (he leaves that to his leading lady – and does she have dark secrets!)
Although being a member of the Survivor’s Club you can feel that Imogen is leading a half life. She has all that great support from her friends, she likes her relatives well enough but still you get the impression that she only “survives”.
I find that the way these two get together is comprehensible, the way Percy is attracted to Imogen (he blurts out questions that he would like to take back as soon as he has uttered them – and still he can’t help himself); Imogen’s attraction to this quirky, lovable man – it’s all written beautifully.
My only complaint: Now I have to wait until May writes the last book in this series and this is one that I’ll be waiting for eagerly – see above!



Dark Blood by Christine Feehan



At long last you are truly back with us ...Zev Hunter was an elite warrior, a dark-blood dealer of death to rogue Lycans who preyed on mankind. He was a loner, never given to personal attachments, and damned fierce at his job. But Zev begins to question his past and his purpose when he awakens in the darkness of the sacred cave of warriors-and is soothed back to consciousness by the sensuously familiar voice of one woman, the woman who has haunted his fantasies for centuries: Branislava, member of the Dragonseeker clan. Mother Earth called the ancients to witness your rebirth ...For this half-mage, half-Carpathian temptress, the ritual of awakening Zev to the council of warriors was the only way to save him. Locked away for his own protection, the time has now come for his rebirth, for his blood to stir with that of the ancient warriors before him. He has been assured by Branislava that their fates are entwined, that their spirits are woven together for eternity and that his new purpose in life is beyond imagining. Now, with a blood-sworn vow of honor, mercy and endurance, and under the influence of a siren as bewitching as Branislava, Zev begins to wonder what his purpose is, what it means for the future of the Carpathians and what it is about his rebirth that he has to fear ...


As this is quite a long post I will restrict myself to a few sentences abut Christine Feehan’s “Dark Blood”
I discovered the “Dark Series” quite a few years ago and made the mistake to read one book after the other. I loved the first installments so much that I couldn’t stop myself. Then I found that Feehan started repeating herself over and over again. So I just picked out a book here or there when it really appealed to me. (On a side note: I HATE that Feehan keeps developing the Carpathian Language and adding more and more pages in an Appendix that I don’t want to read, don’t care about and especially: I don’t want to pay for 40 pages that I don’t have any intention of reading.)
Still: “Dark Blood” (even with the evil Appendix!!) just sucked me in. I enjoyed both the hero and the heroine (even though she has that terrible name. I like Zev’s petname much better).

This book is no way to start reading the series – I think one would be completely lost. If I were new to the series I would take a close look what books would really interest me and then:
Buy new books and have great fun reading them. Until next time!




Aurian: Thanks for the recommendation Karin! I do envy you for reading the Ilona Andrews book, as I will wait for the paperback. I refuse to buy hardcover books when I have the rest of the series in paperback. I still have to start reading Mary Balogh, although I have plenty of her books on my shelves. And I am a huge Christine Feehan fan, and have Dark Blood on my table to read soon.

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian