eyes.2c Reviews

Paladin by Sally Slater Great new female hero. Slater's writing reminds me a tad of Sarah J. Maas with a dash of Tamora Pierce. A tried and true theme with a difference. Young woman (of noble birth) wants to be a Paladin, lives for sword fighting, and definitely doesn't want to be married off to decorate someone's holdings and birth the required heirs. Disguising herself as a boy, Sam (Samatha) heads off to paladin headquarters to try her luck. (I've got to say that all that breast binding and then hiding how the the 'call of nature' impacts differently for women would wear me out, let alone holding my own in sword fighting against a hulking successful Paladin. How did she get away with it? Privacy would not be the first thing on the travelling Paladins' minds). She succeeds. An unforeseen circumstance--her co-trainee Braeden is a half demon. Her trainer, her hero from her past, Paladin Tristan Lyons, First of the Sword. Training, fighting demons...

JJ Virgin's Sugar Impact Diet Cookbook: 150 Low-Sugar Recipes to Help You Lose Up to 10 Pounds in Just 2 Week s  ( Kindle Edition)  by J.J. Virgin I have been interested in this area of the food trap for some years. Just prior to obtaining this book I watched JJ on a TV show waxing lyrical about the dangers of sugar and it's impact on the body. She's very dynamic and very committed to her message, that's for sure.  I was sold on the theory and this very timely book gave me the practical steps to guide me through the maze of sugar surprises out there. Recommended for all who need to confront the sugar blues! A NetGalley ARC

Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham  What to do when you discover you have a guardian angel, are descended from Solomon and  that your family is responsible for guarding a jar that has to do with jinns, ancient curses and immortality? Mind you all this information comes slowly. The reader is as puzzled about things as Scarlett. Scarlett (as investigator) has taken on a case from nine year old Gemma Archer, who's worried about her brother Oliver. Gemma is right. He's turned weird, very weird, dangerously weird. 'Uh oh,, I thought,  'here come the werewolves!' But no! This plot is so much more. Possibly shades of the Librarians! Scarlett is an interesting mixture of a street wise, cynical, young muslim mid-teen who is definitely not taking the traditional path. She has become a detective, spurred on by her father's mysterious death, seemingly poisoned. Her sister Reem is a more conservative young Muslim woman and is studying medicine, also spurred on by...

The Lady Hellion (Wicked Deceptions #3 ) by Joanna Shupe   This has it all!   Intrigue, spying, murdered young women from brothels, tormented Dukes, feisty women and scorching romance! I really enjoyed the story line; the determination of Lady Sophie; the struggle for Damien Beecham, Viscount Quint, to understand that he was entitled to happiness. His gritted determination to not let himself even feel, let alone love, because he couldn't bear to punish the woman he loved, and to have her saddled to man with a mind that was losing its reason. I applauded Sophie for her spirited commitment to change, to love and life and mostly to Quint. An excellent read! A NetGalley ARC

Uprooted by Naomi Novik   Having enjoyed some of the Tremeraire books I jumped at the chance to read this YA novel complete with dragons. Ok so it's not very dragony but there is a dragon, albeit he's distant, focused and very out of sync with his latest virgin sacrifice. Oh, did I mention that every 10 years he takes, well is given really, a virgin from a local village. Really the Dragon, Sarkan, is here to guard against the dreaded Wood that sends out all sorts of monsters to kill, overrun villages, create new monstrosities and turn humans into such aspects. (Of course there's a back story here!) All very DARK, sort of like the things that come out of the Pelgairs in Mercedes Lackey's novels, only with a central malevolent force behind it all. Well our heroine, Agnieszka, is unlike the other girls. She indeed marches to the beat of her own drum, is not beautiful and tends to well, really, she's always downright messy. But as Sarkan knows, Agnieszka is ...

A School for Unusual Girls: A Stranje House Nove l by Kathleen Baldwin  Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam, 'Georgie', is made of stern stuff, a brave heart and a thirst for scientific investigation and invention. Given that her latest experiment (for a very good cause) burnt down her father's stables, the family decided that she needed stern discipline. Georgie finds herself. Carted off to Stranje House operated by the stern headmistress Emma Stranje, by her unforgiving parents, Georgie is abandoned to her fate.  In her attempt to escape she overhears the dashing Lord Sebastian Wyatt talking about the need for the invisible ink she was attempting to recreate. What's this! All of Georgie's conceptions are turned on their head and she finds herself caught up in the pre-Napoleonic escape from Elba world of espionage! Now her talents are put to the test as is her ability to believe in herself and to face the idea that she might be loveable. The challenge of Georgie a...

A Highland Knight to Remember (Highland Dynasty Book 3 ) by Amy Jarecki Sir Sean MacDougal, a King's enforcer, has known Gyllis Campbell since she was a child. He and her brother Duncan, Sean's best friend, played together at a younger age. Meeting Gyllis again as a grown woman at the Beltane celebrations Sean comes to see her her as a beautiful and alluring woman. However, just as their relationship is ripening, tragedy strikes. Sean is called home to his father's funeral, and to take up his role as chieftan of his clan.  Gyllis, unaware of the reasons for Sean's sudden departure, disappointed and heart sore, leaves for home. En route she is struck down by an illness that leaves her future uncertain and the possiblity of being unable to walk again. Gyllis is sent into her brother John's care at the cloisters of Ardchattan Priory, close to Dunolie Castle. Sean learns of her plight and is able to visit her and soon come to understand his feelings for this bonn...

Rogue (The Talon Saga Book 2) by Julie Kagawa  Having received an ARC for Rogue, I raced through 'Talon' first to put myself squarely in the picture. What a great series! Kagawa has taken a different slant on dragons from other writers. The clever play on the St. George legend, establishing a group dedicated to dragon eradication from that myth, is symbolically awesome. In Talon we were introduced to the major players, Ember and Dante (love the fire associated names) the Talon hatchlings in training, Garrett Xavier Sebastian the Order of St  George soldier and Riley (Cobalt) the rogue dragon. In 'Talon' Garrett saves Ember from the Talon assassin, Lilith. In doing so he has become a traitor to the Order of St. George and will be executed. Here, the tables are turned. Ember is determined to save Garrett. She must convince Riley to help extract Garrett from the secret St George compound deep in the desert...or else she will go alone! Ember is gutsy, loyal and determi...

Captain Hawk (Hawk's Legacy Series Book 1) by SJ Garland Mad dogs and Englishman go out in the noon day sun! Ah! Cricket, in Singapore, I can't even contemplate it. Even the thought of the heat makes me feel faint. Apparently cricket is part of the expat life in Singapore at the time of Sir Stamford Raffles and the First Resident, William Farquhar. Singapore in 1823 was the new trading frontier on the Malay Peninsula--a clearing house for rare spices, silks and porcelains from China. A place where the quest for riches vies with the unruliness of fortune seekers, trade ships and their crews, the Chinese secret organizations, and the Dutch threat.   Nathaniel Hawk has come to Singapore at his fathers request, only to find him gone, out testing a new ship. His father, Captain Sebastian Hawk, a renowned captain for the East India company is due back soon. Only Captain Hawk doesn't return! From a handful of survivors it's determined that his ship was sunk by a rumoure...

The Unlikely Lady (Playful Brides #3) by Valerie Bowman  Of course Jane Lowndes's story was going to be a delight, filled as it is with oddly wry humour and delicious moments. I have loved Jane for ages. Right from the 'get go' Jane, and Lucy's cousin Garrett Upton, have traded insults and outrageous comments. Jane is a wonderful character. Lucy Hunt is still making up stories and creating situations but her energies have faded somewhat, well lie in wait, in this episode. Jane has no trouble taking centre stage and creating her own havoc--ok, with a little help from the irrepressible Lucy orchestrating some surprises in the background, not to mention Cassandra. Upton and Jane continue to exchange barbed, and not so barbed, repartee when they meet at the house party given by Lucy prior to Cassandra's wedding. But when events take a different turn Upton is startled to find this challenging 'blue stocking' is so much more than he thought. Indeed, Jane...

The Scoundrel and the Debutante (The Cabot Sisters #3) by Julia London  Who would have thought it. Prudence was the sensible one! But oh, she so wanted one little adventure before she went off to a life doomed to spinsterhood--all because of the scandal of her sisters.    An innocent decision to visit her best friend in the country turns to something else when Pru encounters the fascinating American, Roan Matheson. The lure of a life with adventure certainly appeals! Roan is chasing his madcap sister who is following her own adventures. Together Pru and Roan's antics and passion cut a sizzling and often hilarious swathe through the English countryside. Roan trying so hard to be the gentleman and Pru determining to go into spinsterhood having loved well and lost.  I must admit that I was quite annoyed with Grace and Honor, her two elder sisters and their lack of understanding about where their actions had placed Pru. I was also all out of charity with Roan...

The Harlot Countess (Wicked Deceptions #2) by Joanna Shupe Rotter! Cad! I don't know who I was angrier at in the opening scenes--the bounder, the trusted friend, or the unsympathetic virulent females of the ton.     Maggie has suffered, been attacked and she is the one who has fingers pointed at her, not the bounder who caused the problem. And then her so called more-than-friend turned his back on her? Well, shame on him and on the rest of the hyaena pack masquerading as the ton! Ten years later Maggie is back in London, using her reputation as the 'Irish harlot' to ensure her freedom, harbouring a heady secret life as the painter and salacious cartoonist Lemarc and quietly working to improve the lot of prostitutes. Simon Barrett, Earl of Winchester has never stopped wanting Maggie. He turned his back on her once. He does not intend to do so again. Certainly they have the occasional very steamy and heady interaction, drawn as they are to each other. Unfortunatel...