Recommendations from Karin for April 2016.

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 am a little late for my recommendations but I hope you can find it in you to forgive me. To make it up to you (hopefully) I have some really good books to recommend this time.

First of all I want to bring another winner by Shelley Laurenston to your attention. It’s

The Undoing



No one would ever accuse Jace Berisha of having an easy life--considering her husband you know killed her. But that was then! Now she fights for mighty Viking gods with the spectacular and vicious Crows. But things are turning very bad, very quickly because a vengeful, ancient goddess has come into the world with just one thing on her mind--ending it. And the only way they can hope to stop her is if the Crows join forces with their one-time enemies, the Protectors. A Viking Clan created to do nothing but kill every Crow they see. Thankfully, Protector Ski Eriksen is a peace loving kind of guy. Because the woman he is desperately trying to get close to is the beautiful and not-very-chatty Jace. Battling Nordic clans? Unkillable goddesses? Jace's mean-spirited dog? None of these things would ever get in the way of a true Viking!


Now I am the first to say that I did not like the first book in this series. There were too many persons, the heroine was not to my liking and I actively disliked the hero. So I was a little hesitant to buy this book and I’m very happy to say that I loved this book.

If you have not read the first book yet I would go so far as to say – don’t bother. Everything is explained nicely, you will have no problems to understand this world and the characters are so much more likeable than in “The Unleashing”. (Just a remark on the side: I enjoyed reading about Kera a lot more than I did in her own book).

Now this book contains everything that I love about Shelley Laurenston’s books: there is a love story that I could enjoy; there is her trademark snarky humour; there are so many ridiculous situations that I was laughing out loud time and again.
Jace, the heroine, is a strong Crow (yes, she is a Crow – the Norse Gods are involved, after all), she is clever, she speaks multiple languages and she chooses her love interest wisely; Ski, the hero, (that was the only think I was not fond of, I think this name is ridiculous, although it’s short for Danski – but that’s not much better in my opinion) – he is a warrior and a Nerd.
He and his brethren, the Protectors, are described in a way that made me love them all.

I really enjoyed this book and I started reading it again after I had finished it – which for me means: highly recommendable.

Then I enjoyed reading

Eidolon by Grace Draven



In a bid for more power, the Shadow Queen of Haradis unleashes a malignant force into the world. Her son Brishen, younger prince of the Kai royal house, suddenly finds himself ruler of a kingdom blighted by a diseased darkness. His human wife Ildiko must decide if she will give up the man she loves in order to save his throne.

Three kingdoms on the verge of war must unite to save each other, and a one-eyed, reluctant king will raise an army of the dead to challenge an army of the damned.

A tale of alliance and sacrifice.

I’m a huge fan of Grace Draven’s and so far she has never let me down. I was a little uncertain about this second installment in the “Wraith King” series because from what I gleaned from Facebook it contained a little more doom and gloom than I really like. I have to say it’s a lot darker than “Radiance” which I love to pieces, one disasters strikes after the other but still it’s a book I would recommend.

Last but not least I would like to bring a new author to your attention.
Michelle Diener wrote

“Dark Horse” and “Dark Deeds”



Some secrets carry the weight of the world.

Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally--a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.

Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead, all except for one strange, new alien being.

She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.

In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.



Rescue might just be the death of her.Far from home . . . Fiona Russell has been snatched from Earth, imprisoned and used as slave labor, but nothing about her abduction makes sense. When she's rescued by the Grih, she realizes there's a much bigger game in play than she could ever have imagined, and she's right in the middle of it. Far from safe . . . Battleship captain Hal Vakeri is chasing down pirates when he stumbles across a woman abducted from Earth. She's the second one the Grih have found in two months, and her presence is potentially explosive in the Grih's ongoing negotiations with their enemies, the Tecran. The Tecran and the Grih are on the cusp of war, and Fiona might just tip the balance. Far from done . . . Fiona has had to bide her time while she's been a prisoner, pretending to be less than she is, but when the chance comes for her to forge her own destiny in the new world she's found herself in, she grabs it with both hands. After all, actions speak louder than words.

They are sci-fi, there are adventures, the characters are well explained, there is a little mystery involved and there are very satisfying romances. I liked both books a lot and I will continue reading this series.

This is it for this month. Until we meet again next month: Happy Reading.



Aurian: Thanks for the recommendation Karin! I might try the Shelly Laurenston book after all. I did re-read Bit me last week. Still love those honey badgers! And I know my friend Linda is a big fan of Michelle Diener as well.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian