Audio: Lady Derring takes a lover - Julie Anne Long

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins

Release date: 02-26-19

Publisher: HarperAudio

Series: The Palace of rogues #1

Historical romance

Thank you Harper for this audiobook!

My Thoughts

Delilah is a young widow left with nothing. Her husband was in debt, but he did leave her a house by the docks. And she gets the idea of making into a boarding house...by the docks...

She was kind, but she did have a side she never got to show as she was the nice little wife for her husband. I did like her snark, you never saw it coming.

Tristan is looking for smugglers and his quest leads him to her door. And honestly why this was I do not know. i mean I get why, but two and four does not five make. Still he fancies her, she fancies him back. He is the stoic kind, but there is more to him, even if not shown a lot.

The boarding house proved to be a fun idea. A weird collection of people with nothing in common. A quest for smugglers, and a couple falling in love. The next book looks to be a fun one too.

Conclusion

Cute and fun

Narrator
Justine Eyre! Ha, I can not grow bored with her voices.  Her narrations are always fun

Blurb

Delilah Swanpool, Countess of Derring, learns the hard way that her husband, Dear Dull Derring, is a lot more interesting-and perfidious-dead than alive. It's a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the one building Derring left her, are the seeds of her liberation. And she vows never again to place herself at the mercy of a man.

But battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing if not merciless. When the charismatic naval hero tracks a notorious smuggler to a London boarding house known as the Rogue's Palace, seducing the beautiful, blue-blooded proprietress to get his man seems like a small sacrifice.

They both believe love is a myth. But a desire beyond reason threatens to destroy the armor around their hearts. Now a shattering decision looms: Will Tristan betray his own code of honor...or choose a love that might be the truest thing he's ever known? 

Audio: When you read this - Mary Adkins

Narrated by: Sarah Naughton

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 02-05-19

Language: English

Publisher: HarperAudio

My Thoughts

This was different. I have read books like this but I have never done it in audio. At first I was not sure, but it did work really well and you felt really close to everyone.

The book takes place after Iris' death. Her boss Simon is struggling with losing her. Her sister is struggling with loosing her. He wants to publish her blog (as was her wish), and her sister does not like it.

So what do we get? We get emails and text messages between these too as they get to know each other better. We get emails from his intern Carl, who is so so annoying, but whom you still have to like. And everything else in a modern world. Online therapy, spam, you name it. And it does work.

I'd say the only thing I did not get a sense of was how everyone looked. I really could not picture them at all when it was in this way.

Also, yes we do get Iris too, but only though her blog posts, which I guess does not make this as sad as it could have been. which is a good thing.

As it was now. I enjoyed it. It was sure a different way to listen to audio.

Narrator

I liked her, and omg her Carl voice was exactly him! She brought order to this book as it was done in this format.

City of Lies - Sam Hawke

Paperback, 559 pages

Published July 3rd 2018 by Tor Books

Series: Poison Wars #1

Fantasy

Own

My Thoughts

I wish I could have read this one faster, but alas, life with a  toddler does not always make it so. But I did take it with me any chance I could because it was that good!

It is a siege story wrapper in a murder mystery. Thrilling!

The story starts with poison. Soon the country's leader is dead and the city is under siege. The question is now, why are they under attack? Is there something more at play? And who killed the Chancellor?

Jovan was brought up knowing poisons so he could protect the Chancellor the day it came to that. Jovan was honorable and took his work seriously. I did like him.

His sister Kalina is more reckless, but at the same time not. She is sickly and could not take on the poisoner mantle. But she has her own part to play and I liked how she did not let anything hold her back.

And the questions kept on piling up. What is going on with this brutal siege? I really wanted the answer and kept reading faster and faster. I also liked how we did get an ending, but there will be more books so I guess life is not done with these characters yet.

Conclusion:

Great storytelling. More now please.

Cover

Simple and pretty. The details are great 

Blurb

I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me... 

Outwardly, Jovan is the lifelong friend of the Chancellor’s charming, irresponsible Heir. Quiet. Forgettable. In secret, he's a master of poisons and chemicals, trained to protect the Chancellor’s family from treachery. When the Chancellor succumbs to an unknown poison and an army lays siege to the city, Jovan and his sister Kalina must protect the Heir and save their city-state. 

But treachery lurks in every corner, and the ancient spirits of the land are rising...and angry.

The Dinner List - Rebecca Serle

Paperback, 278 pages

Published 2019 by Allen & Unwin (first published September 11th 2018)

Fiction

For review

My Thoughts

Well this was bullshit. That is not a good way to feel when finishing a book. It was frankly boring from start but I was curious if she was like in a mental hospital or what the H was going on. 

The thing is, it is never explained. What the hell? That is not magical realism. She has dinner with dead people and alive ones and we never get an explanation how. No, sorry, that does not work for me.

Audrey Hepburn was there, why, god knows, she brought nothing to the book.

An old professor was there, and brought nothing either.

The dead dad did bring things to the table.

Her best friend did contribute.

Her ex, omg, I am not even gonna start at that cos that was BS! But yes this whole book is about us seeing their love story and them being idiots.

And then the book ends and I still have no freaking clue how she can have dinner with dead people and NO ONE thinks that is weird.

I hate this book. I am giving it away the first chance I get, ugh, so mad at it.

Blurb

“We’ve been waiting for an hour.” That’s what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That’s the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed.”

At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends with in her utterly captivating novel, THE DINNER LIST, a story imbued with the same delightful magical realism as One Day, and the life-changing romance of Me Before You.

When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together.

Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, THE DINNER LIST is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.