What Else I Read in July

Here are the books and audio books I read but did not review this month.

Books:  

Treasured (Secrets of the Loch #1) by Candace Camp - Another

familiar trope.  Brother loses home in card game and his sister will have to find another home.  Solution!  To keep a place to live the sister needs to marry the winner of the house.  I loved Jack Kensington.  He won Baillannan fair and square and really feels bad that Isobel is losing her home but that does not mean he is going to change his ways even if Isobel is very appealing.  Look for attraction, romance, danger, and attempted murder before Jack and Isobel reach their HEA. 


Peanut Goes to School by Thea Harrison - Peanut Goes to

School is the last short story in a three story arc. It can stand alone but is better if you read the previous two. Peanut or Liam is a very precocious child. In this cute story we follow Peanut as he eavesdrops on his parents, starts his first day of school and finds himself in trouble. Trouble that he handles with a great deal of maturity. Liam is a great character I could tell from the story that he will be both powerful and wonderful when he grows up.

The Collector by Nora Roberts - I had not read a Nora Roberts book for a long time and then I read Whiskey Beach and really liked it. I wish I could say the same for The Collector.  I could not warm up to Lila who thought looking in other peoples windows was OK.  The book is 483 pages and that was much too long.  The story just moved at a snails pace.  It would have been much better if edited down to 300 pages.  I made myself finish but was tempted to quit more than once.  Probably died in the wool Nora Roberts fans will love the book but I did not.

American Craftsmen by Tom Doyle - American Craftsmen

is a different take on the history of the US. After the Europeans came to America they found that some families had magical gifts. Those were called Craftsmen and they have been a secret part of the US military every since. This requires a lot of world building and back story to work. Tom Doyle does good job of working both into the story. It does take the entire book and an Appendix and Brief Notes at the back to get everything in. The book is written from several POV's and at times the jumps were a little disorienting. Even so the story line is very good and seems to be a set up for this to become a series.

The book is also full of great characters but alive and dead. My final word. Very interesting concept.

Her Temporary Hero (Once a Marine Book #2) by Jennifer Apodaca - I don't read many excerpts when they arrive in my email.  I have too many books on my TBR pile to add more but I did read the excerpt from Her Temporary Hero and it hooked me so I purchased the book.  This is a very well written story with some interesting characters.  Becky Holmes and Logan Knight need each other.  Becky to keep her baby and Logan to keep his land.  A marriage of convince is the solution but it brings additional problems.  I read it in one sitting and enjoyed it enough that I purchased book #1 in the series.

Something Borrowed, Someone Dead by M.C. Beaton - Agatha

has another hard to solve mystery.  Not only is it hard to solve but it also puts Agatha and several of her friends in danger.  In spite of looking Agatha does not find a man this time however James is around.  Both still have very mixed and confused feeling about their relationship.  This was not the best book in the series but still a quick fun read.

Audio Books:

Transcendental by James Gunn - Transcendental is a different

Science Fiction novel.  It starts with a ship load of crew and passengers looking for the transcendental machine.  There is a mix of human and alien  on the ship and as the voyage progresses several share their stories.  The two main characters, Riley and Asha, have their own agendas.  It was an interesting book to listen too.  There was a conclusion to the journey but I was left wondering if Riley and Asha would show up in a future book.