Emmalita

Salivating for the next book

Revisado: 04-25-25

wasn’t really looking for something dark and twisty, but I fell into listening to Ciaran Saward narrate Megan E. O’Keefe’s The Blighted Stars and it was exactly what I wanted. I knew nothing going in, so I’m going to try to say as little as possible while also getting you interested enough to go listen.

Tarquin Mercator is a space Prince, the only son of one of the universe’s ruling families. He is an academic, a geologist, who has mostly not been involved in the family business – mining, or its politics. Until now. He is on the mission to Sixth Cradle to prove that his family’s mining methods are not at fault for the planetary collapse seen on other cradle planets. You know that the rich mining family is involved, but I assure you that it’s not so simple.

Naira Sharp is a former Mercator family exemplar (bodyguard) whose mind map was iced after she accused the Mercator mining process of causing economic-collapse and then turned terrorist (eco-rebel). She wakes up to the smell of burning ship in a body that isn’t hers and wonders if she has finally escaped the Mercator family. No such luck. She and Tarquin (who thinks she is Exemplar Lockhart) must band together to save the remaining ship’s crew and figure out why this planet is already dead.

It’s an environmental mystery and a scifi thriller. There are zombies, people in bodies that are not their own, other people on the planet that should definitely be uninhabited, an alien enemy, and multiple conspiracies. For all the scifi world building, The Blighted Stars is character centered and character driven. By the time Tarquin and Naira are getting off Sixth Cradle, everything they thought they knew has been thrown into question. They have become a team, and might even be falling in love. But, when Naira’s mind map is reprinted into her own preferred body, she doesn’t remember any of what happened and has returned to hating Tarquin. But still, they have to work together and Tarquin must mourn the version of Naira he fell in love with.

Part of what I loved was Ciaran Saward’s narration. He did a great job of keeping me absolutely engrossed. I loved that he voiced multiple female characters without doing that very common high pitched breathy voice.

I can’t wait to get the next book, The Fractured Dark, in my ears. I expect this series to get very twisty before it’s resolved.

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I love this surprise pregnancy romance

Revisado: 04-25-25

Jackie Lau is a delight and one of my favorite authors. Marissa and Vince have a spicy two night stand and then don’t expect to see each other again. When Marissa realizes she’s pregnant she tells Vince, hoping he’ll want to be the fun dad for the baby. He’s rich, but she makes good money. She wants her child to have the family she lacked. Vince is delighted and ready to settle down immediately. Marissa, not so much. This is lovely and fun with a moderate to high heat. Be warned, the food descriptions will make you wish you lived in Toronto.

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My emotional support wolf shifters

Revisado: 04-16-25

When Annie was a child she witnessed the men in the pack commit an act of sexual violence against the women in the pack, sanctioned by the alpha, resulting in one death. Annie has carried that trauma and the attendant anxiety since. Men aren’t safe, and men from the Last Pack are even more dangerous because they steal women away from the more civilized packs. So things don’t go well when Annie, at 18, finds out that Justus, from Last pack is her fated mate. Her trauma is triggered and Justus is too immature and inexperienced to understand that her fear is not weakness. He speaks unkind words that stick in Annie’s mind. When he approaches her again years later, he carries her off to his pack.

This is where The Wild Wolf’s Rejected Mate gets really good. Justus has done a lot of growing up and has become a thoughtful mate and leader. Justus rejects the alpha structure of the “civilized” packs, pointing out that it’s based on observations of wolves in captivity, not wolves in the wild. Justus is sweet, thoughtful, and playful. He learns how to support Annie as she works through her anxiety and trauma. Annie talks about having a voice in her head. She calls it her “pecking voice” because it pecks at her about everything that can go wrong. I have something like that, but it’s more like a hyper vigilant part of my brain sends me a constant stream of memes. Sadly, I can’t shift into a wolf and be carried off by a mate who is willing to fight my devils (which would either be barking at the news, or disabling a whole bunch of cars).

I’ve read too many of Wells’ books to still be gobsmacked by how she gets me to read subgenres I don’t like. At this point, if she writes it, I’ll read it. There’s a yearning for community and belonging in her books that resonates with me. I don’t know if she’s trying to point us somewhere, or working through ideas in her own head. Either way, many of her books have become part of my emotional support library.

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Fantastic narration and a great story

Revisado: 04-08-25

I enjoyed this so much! First of all if you can, get the audio book. Jolene Kim is an amazing narrator. There were moments when I forgot this wasn’t a full cast production. Second, it’s a heist – a queer sci-fi heist. There’s a dash of second chance, friends to enemies to lovers romance, but mostly it’s about Edie trying to figure out their life when they are surprise paroled from prison.

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Excellent middle installment in a trilogy

Revisado: 03-24-25

This series is fun and yes, I can’t wait for the trillionaires comeuppance. I hope we have many more Ada and Ryan adventures in the future

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Lovely and heartfelt

Revisado: 02-08-25

After the Shut Up Ring starts with a banger of a first chapter – Angie’s almost husband reads wedding vows designed to humiliate her in front of their two young daughters and everyone they know. He even gets his groomsmen and the officiant (one of his best friends who got ordained on line) in on the act. After years of making excuses and trying to make it work, Angie says no. She sees the vows are being filmed, looks at her daughters, and refuses. In the audience, her best friend’s older brother, Brandon, stands up, ready to intervene if necessary.

I really enjoyed this a lot. It was an emotionally rewarding read that dealt sensitively with some hard topics. I loved the way Angie reclaims her self worth after years of a toxic relationship. Brandon works hard to figure out how to build a strong and healthy relationship with Angie. One of my favorite scenes is when Angie discloses her herpes status to Brandon. I love a man who does his research when presented with new information.

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A lovely listen

Revisado: 06-23-24

A nice way to while away a few hours. The first half hour dragged a bit, but once June and Mikey really started talking it was fun.

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A fun short listen

Revisado: 07-16-21

I really enjoyed this. This was lovely little bonbon of a story. Catelina and Diego had great banter. Jacqueline Grace Lopez did a great job voicing the characters.

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A Tense and Atmospheric Gothic Romance

Revisado: 04-04-21

I’m going to be clear up front that I am not a fan of the Brontes and I really dislike Mr. Rochester. When he gets held up as a romantic hero my jaw clenches. When Rose Lerner announced she was writing an f/f retelling of Jane Eyre I was delighted. I was delighted Mr. Rochester wouldn’t end up with the love of a good woman, and more importantly, Rose Lerner is an amazing author and I’d read her retelling of my grocery list.

The Wife in the Attic is a very good gothic romance. The narrator, Elsa Lepecki Bean, brings all the suspense, confusion and paranoia that a good gothic needs to the performance.

Miss Deborah “Livvy” Oliver is a plain, poor, well educated woman of a certain age given the opportunity by her patroness, Lady Tassell, to become the governess for young Miss Palethorp at Goldengrove, a remote estate on the coast. Tabby Palethorp is an only child, beloved and indulged by her father, Sir Kit, and it appears, ignored by her invalid mother. When Livvy arrives, she is surprised to learn that Sir Kit locks all of the doors at night. All of the residents are locked into their rooms and into the house. Sir Kit claims a fear of thieves. After confessing her fear of fire, Livvy is given her own key on a beautiful golden chain, courtesy of Lady Palethorp. Livvy is immediately drawn into Sir Kit’s inner circle. He overshares, over steps boundaries, and sends up a parade of red flags that Livvy only half recognizes. As the oddities pile up though, her sympathies begin to fray. Livvy has her own secret – her mother was Jewish.

The Wife in the Attic is a great book, but not a nice book. Everyone is at points unlikable and paranoid. Livvy makes terrible choices and commits a heinous act that will surprise no one who has read Jane Eyre. Livvy ruminates on slavery, misogyny, and the persecution of Jews in Portugal. Lerner makes good use of foreshadowing both in the catastrophe and in the recovery from it. I loved that Lerner kept the atmosphere tense and paranoid even as the summer sun beat down of the beaches and fields of grain around Goldengrove.

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Murderbot continues to be my favorite.

Revisado: 02-14-21

Murderbot has been my favorite fictional character since my first read of All Systems Red. I like Kevin R. Free's interpretation of Murderbot as well. The full length novel requires a little adjustment for pacing expectations, but my response at the end of Network Effect was the same as it was at the end of each of the novellas - I got it ready to restart from the beginning because I'm never entirely ready to leave the universe Wells has created.

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