eyes.2c Reviews

The Unicorn Hunters : A Novel  by Katherine Arden        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reading Katherine Arden’s notes gives me a glimpse into her fertile and often whimsical imagination, always with an edge. Loosely based around Anne, the Duchess of Brittany, her plans and contrivances to avoid marriage to Charles VIII of France, a proxy marriage to Maximilian of Austria, her valiant attempts to keep her duchy and people free. All of which came to naught. Here in Arden’s tale Anne seizes the moment, aided by magical forces and a unicorn the true story gives way to a startling story of light, duty and magic woven unhesitatingly through the pages. I love that Arden has connected the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries in the Cloisters in New York City to the tale. As always—a splendid read! A Del Ray ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many than...

The Tea Planter’s Secret  (Ceylon series #2) by Clare Flynn       ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A young married woman leaves Ceylon to accompany her father on a trip back to Oxford. Stella Baxter has acted as a researcher for her father, Sir Michael Polegate, an esteemed Professor of Anthropology who’d been working on an ethnographic study contrasting the Tamils of northern Ceylon and India. It’s over eighteen months before Stella can return home to her beloved husband Norton. Her father has died and Stella has a baby girl born upon arrival in England, a baby she can scarcely look at. Complex in plot and relationships—the dreadful Bertie Frobisher, assistant to the Governor and bully; the Governor’s wayward daughter; Stella’s brother, who apart from being an unprincipled lothario, steals his father’s and Stella’s works. Just  a  few of the subplots moving through the story.  Interesting read although somewhat thin at times. I’m undecided about picking up the series, altho...

No Ordinary Lyon  (Lyon’s Den Connected World) by Sherry Ewing      ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Waterloo injured hero, Captain Gideon Tyler, scarred and withdrawn, with memory loss is a common enough trope.  The woman, Miss Violet  Barnet, a practicing apothecary, is come to London at the behest of her cousin, Patience, a recently married countess. Violet has agreed to look for a possible husband at the Lyon’s Den gambling establishment. Perspective suitors  were  introduced to her by Mrs. Dove-Lyon. Patience has paid the match makers fee. Of course there’s a wretched villain who has evil on his mind, and knows our hero Gideon from time spent together in the war.  I find it hard to get over the pet names the main characters call each other, Sir Knight and Lady Angel. Very twee. A Dragonblade ARC via NetGalley.                                           ...

Behind Five Willows  by June Hur         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When did a novel become legend? Hur has woven Pride and Prejudice into Behind Five Willows as the basis for a legendary / historical tale of 1780’s Korea. Set at a time when an edict for spinsters to marry was dispensed, and another to restore pure writing styles was decided. These two edicts become central to this Korean Austen like tale. The scholarly father, the unable to cope gossipy mother, the perfect nobleman, the beautiful shy daughter, the wilful daughter, and the thoughtful, protective one. All mesh together into a wonderful tale of forbidden novels and forbidden love. A time of book banning, government censorship and detentions, and forced marriages. A noble son Lord Yu Seojun is secretly writing fiction. The protective daughter, Shin Haewon is a secretly transcribing works. Instead of Lady Catherine de Bourgh seeking promises it’s Yu’s father, Minister Yu. It’s not Haewon who won’t promise not to ma...

Valley Of Death  (Detective Mike Nash #20) by Bill Kitson        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A body is discovered at an archeological dig on farmland moors near Rowendale Village . The death occurred some twenty years ago. That’s the first body. Later another body is discovered by birdwatchers at the edge of the Ghyll Head Marshlands.  A police drone survey finds more. A convoluted story that has Detective Inspector Mike Nash and his team chasing genealogies, real estate ownership in their efforts to uncover the truth. This is just the beginning. A seperate case is being surveyed—a drug distribution system. Will the two link up? A long shot! I really liked the various characters and their interactions.  I haven’t read any of the previous titles in the series but this British police procedural/mystery encourages me to do so. A Joffe Books ARC via NetGalley.                                 ...

Falconbrow  (The Painted Blade #1) by Peter Eliott         ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hell’s Labyrinth was once an artistic city state now it’s a ruined wasteland run by criminal overlords. A fourteen year old girl, Terza Jaidenson’s very existence is challenged by the world around her. Daughter of the Foreman, a soldier, Terza has been trained in fighting.  Her interest is in art. Both figure in her journey towards fulfilment. This is Terza’s story. Of how she “ turned into the notorious Contract Blade, Terza Falconbrow, one of the most imposing figures to ever work the criminal byways of Hell’s Labyrinth.” Dark and dangerous, yet empathetic. An absorbing read. A Victory ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher. Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change.