eyes.2c Reviews

A Lyon for Luck : The Lyon’s Den Connected World by Chasity Bowlin      ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Miss Daphne Aces has been hard done by that’s for sure. She’s an heiress but her parents want her inheritance to clear their debts. Parents who are willing to trade you for money to a despicable future husband. Mrs. Bessie Dove-Lyonx helps solve her problem and introduces her to the newly and unexpectedly peer, Fletcher Quill, Lord Aldwyn  who’s come into an inheritance that’s in debt to the hilt. Once before Daphne had been abducted by someone fleeing to Gretna Green with her. As a result her fiancé broke the engagement and she is shunned by society. This time Daphne flees on her own terms. A rather untaxing lovely read. A Dragonblade ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.

False Relation  (Abbot Agency Mystery #19) by Veronica Heley        ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Returning to the world of Bea Abbot and her husband Piers, Bea’s friends Sir Julian Marston-Lang and Lady Polly of Marston Hall and the connected village, brings unforeseen challenge for Bea. For starters Julian’s step-cousin Mona has been murdered and Marcus her husband accused, although the police from the neighboring town of Askin feel that really Lord Julian has done the deadly deed.  Village life is under the microscope as Heley gives us another mystery novel with characters we love, and love to hate. I particularly liked Old Jenny and her relationship to the spirits of the Spring. I did feel that this story had run its race in the previous title. This book added a further dimension which pleasantly surprised me. A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.                                     ...

Deadly Force  (Detective Inspector Slider #26) by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If nothing else I’d give 5 stars for the wonderful banter between DCI Bill Slider and his sergeant Jim Atherton.  Their conversations around food, marriage and life are gems.  As are those between Sidler and his wife Joanna who’s an orchestral violinist. The understatements are delicious. One of their own, a cop, Constable Peter Bentley, has been found brutally bashed. The  ‘powers that be’ are pulling out all stops to find out the whys and whats.  Nothing is adding up or making sense.  It’s up to Slider and his team to do so. I’m blinking my eyes at the spoonerisms or maybe mixed metaphors of Detective Superintendent Porson. An unexpected ending reveals all. I don’t know how I’ve missed this series but I must read more. A jolly good British police procedural mystery with wit and insights. A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.       ...

  I, Spy : A Novel  by L. M. Kemp       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kendal Carter had been training as a spy all her life, since she was a very young child. She’d had so many aliases it was hard to remember them all. Her mother had been an operative and Kendal was a part of it. Now, herself a single mother, Kendal is living in Zurich with her daughter Rosie. She always has various plans for escape if needed.  As it was she was forced to take action.  Kendal found herself back in London living a somewhat normal life with Rosie attending school.  Except nothing was normal and she had been tasked to find a way of stopping a tech company from introducing an educational app that would illegally gather data on the children of the UK The lengths a mother will go to save her child is brought to the fore, but sometimes it messes with her honed instincts. An unusual tale of a spy, mother, killer, and protector. A St. Martin’s Press invite ARC via NetGalley.     ...

Fast and Fastidious  by R. M. Caldwell        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lucy Elliot is different. Operating in her world means she needs guidelines to take her through social occasions. If all she had to do was fathom a mechanical problem or design a carriage, things would be fine. Walking into a ball has her heading to a quiet nook to acclimatize. By accident Lucy discovers the Night Races. The egalitarian event is held near to the village, once a month when the moon is full at midnight. Lucy’s life is changed.  Two years later Lucy meets a cavalry Captain at the races. She’d already met the indisputable champions of the Night Races, Dante Torres and his crew. Captain James Dashwood had arrived in the neighbourhood to stay at one of his father’s properties, Ellsworth Manor. Lucy suspects he’s been sent here to avoid gambling debts or something else. Interestingly there’s been a series of government papers, coaches and men have gone missing. This quiet village has be...

The Alias Agenda  by Holly James         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Erin Daniels had been trapped into being run by Agent Wallace for over ten years She’s been undercover with as many aliases as good dinners. Now her handler has disappeared and she’s being run by another agent, Calvin Bray,  who’s just a bit too much of everything to be true. Her new assignment is to find out how a group of glam moms from a high class neighbourhood were smuggling in high end baby carriages. A walk in the park until her past and a large unaccounted for diamond come back to threaten her. A tightly written novel with enough action, empathy and romance to satisfy. A Kensington ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.