Silken Prey. Finished 11-8-13, 4.25/5 stars, fiction, 406 pages, pub. 2013

#23 in the Lucan Davenport series.

Murder, scandal, political espionage, and an extremely dangerous woman. Lucas Davenport’s going to be lucky to get out of this one alive.

Very early one morning, a Minnesota political fixer answers his doorbell. The next thing he knows, he’s waking up on the floor of a moving car, lying on a plastic sheet, his body wet with blood. When the car stops, a voice says, “Hey, I think he’s breathing,” and another voice says, “Yeah? Give me the bat.” And that’s the last thing he knows.    
 
Davenport is investigating another case when the trail leads to the man’s disappearance, then—very troublingly—to the Minneapolis police department, then—most troublingly of all—to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work, and the money, ruthlessness, and sheer will to make it happen.

No matter who gets in the way.

from Goodreads

I have a few series men that make me read them and continue to read them even when they might have an off book or two and Lucas Davenport is one of the them.  I’m not sure when I first discovered him but I am a loyal fan.  His last few have been hit or miss for me so I was happy to see a return to a Lucas story I loved.  It was was political, even more so than the regular politics of Lucas’ job, and just like real-life politics it was dirty and true justice illusive.

I love this series and how Lucas ages and grows.  He is not the same womanizer detective we met in the first book, but he is a man who has found his happiness.  I think to truly appreciate the series you have to start at the beginning with Rules of Prey.

Just Like Heaven. Finished 10-15-13, rating 3.75/5 stars, romance, 374 pages, pub. 2011

Smythe -Smith Quartet #1

Honoria Smythe-Smith is:
A) a really bad violinist
B) still miffed at being nicknamed “Bug” as a child
C) not in love with her older brother’s best friend
D) all of the above

Marcus Holroyd is:
A) the Earl of Chatteris
B) regrettably prone to sprained ankles
C) not in love with his best friend’s younger sister
D) all of the above

Together they:
A) eat quite a bit of chocolate cake
B) survive a deadly fever and the world’s worst musical performance
C) fall quite desperately in love

from Goodreads

I love the cover of this book, don’y you?  Makes me want to buy a white dress just so I can wear killer red heels.  I read this on my Nook so, unfortunately, I don’t get to admire it on my shelves.

This was a very fun, light romance.  I wasn’t sure about Honoria at first, but her devotion to family and tradition won me over and provided more than a few chuckles.  Marcus, the Earl of Chatteris, was easy to feel a warm spot for because of his lack of family and the way he truly appreciated the Smythe-Smith clan.  The two grew up together , but it wasn’t until Honoria’s ill-conceived plan with a shovel that the two realized there was love there.  The story didn’t linger and always felt fresh.

This was a very enjoyable first read of Julia Quinn’s work and I know I’ll read more.  I love historical romances and this is the perfect time of year for light and happy reading.

Finished 11-24-13, rating 4/5, fiction, 352 pages, pub. 2013

I received this book from She Reads.  Go on over and see what other bloggers think about this one.

At twenty-one, Shandi Pierce is juggling finishing college, raising her delightful three-year-old genius son Natty, and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced Catholic mother and Jewish father. She’s got enough complications without getting caught in the middle of a stick-up in a gas station mini-mart and falling in love with a great wall of a man named William Ashe, who willingly steps between the armed robber and her son.

Shandi doesn’t know that her blond god Thor has his own complications. When he looked down the barrel of that gun he believed it was destiny: It’s been one year to the day since a tragic act of physics shattered his universe. But William doesn’t define destiny the way other people do. A brilliant geneticist who believes in science and numbers, destiny to him is about choice.

Now, he and Shandi are about to meet their so-called destinies head on, in a funny, charming, and poignant novel about science and miracles, secrets and truths, faith and forgiveness,; about a virgin birth, a sacrifice, and a resurrection; about falling in love, and learning that things aren’t always what they seem—or what we hope they will be. It’s a novel about discovering what we want and ultimately finding what we need.   (from Goodreads)

This may be the first book I’ve read with a main character, “the Aut-astic Dr. Ashe”, on the spectrum and it was refreshing to see how respectfully Jackson did it.  I was impressed.  William may  have problems in the social department but he was above the grade in mental capacity and physical presence, so there wasn’t a lack of opportunity for him.  Shandi, on the other hand, was a 21-year-old single mother who had convinced herself that her genius boy was a miracle baby and her opportunities were limited.  But because of her loving parents and best friend Walcott she had a great support system and people who wanted to see her succeed. I think too often young single mothers are portrayed as having some missing parental relationship so it was nice to see that, yes, the undesirable can happen to decent parents too.

I found it hard to put this book down. Jackson has a way of drawing you in and making you want to stay in the world she’s created.  Alternating chapters helped this story move along and I loved getting so much backstory with the current one.  There was a shock near the end that I didn’t see coming and for some reason I didn’t like it.  I know I will be in the minority here and I can take it.  It just didn’t work for me.  I get it and I get why people love it, but there were some threads to the story that made this surprising turn of events seem…disappointing in a way.  It didn’t ruin the story because I still loved it, it’s more of a personal preference I guess.

This is my second Joshilyn Jackson book and I consider myself a new fan this year.   I highly recommend this one.