Short and Sweet Book Reviews #92 - Slow Burn Cowboy by Maisey Yates, Avenger of the Moon by Allen Steele, Cinderella And the Major by Cynthia VanRooy

Slow Burn Cowboy by Maisey Yates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Once again two people with serious issues in their past have to make the journey from friends to lovers. For Finn Donnelly and Lane Jensen this is not an easy journey. Having all of his brother come home adds to Finn's problems. For Lane it is the appearance on TV of someone from her past. All of this leads to each doing a lot of serious thinking and some very hot action. This is the first Maisey Yates novel I have read. It started out great and I did like the story line and the characters however all of the pages and pages each character did inside their heads really slowed the story down. The fact that I like pages of action and dialog instead of pages of subjective thinking kept this from being a five star book. I found that I was skimming trying to get to the dialog and action. Still a nice story.


Avengers of the Moon by Allen Steele
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love the cover of Avengers of the Moon. It really sets the tone for the story. Steele has gone back to a group of stories he read as a young adult and upgraded the hero in a story that fits in the world today. This is pure space opera with a hero who has spent most of his life in hiding after his parents were murdered. The three people who raised him are not exactly human but they have prepared him for life outside. I loved the characters, the action and the plot. This is space opera as I first started reading it and it was great finding something new and fun. I hope this is the start of a series as I would love to visit again.

 Cinderella and the Major by Cynthia VanRooy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a free book on Amazon. It turned out to be as cute and fun as it sounded. Harmony McMahon is a Mensa member and computer genius. What she is not is a social success. Her 10 year high school reunion is coming up and she need a date. Enter Major Conner Talbot. He is up for auction and Harmony has the winning bid. From there it is fun and cute. Conner really likes a lot about Harmony and some of the things that she thinks will turn anyone off he finds adorable. Harmony is very insecure and very attracted to Conner. Both have some issues that they work through as they get to know each other. This is novella length so pick it up for a fun short read.

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LOOK BACK WEDNESDAY - ANGEL OF EUROPA BY ALLEN STEELE

LOOK BACK WEDNESDAY IS A FEATURE HERE ON THE BLOG.  THERE ARE SO MANY REALLY GOOD BOOKS I HAVE REVIEWED ON GOODREADS SO I DECEIDED TO HIGHLIGHT SOME FROM THE PAST.  THIS MONTH I AM FEATURING BOOKS POSTED ON MY GOODREADS MYSTERY SHELF.  EACH REVIEW IS A DIRECT POST FROM MY GOODREADS REVIEW. 

Angel of Europa by Allen Steele
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a short 90 page story published in hardcover. It is a quick read with a twist at the end. It is set in space and on Europa but is more mystery than science fiction. I like what Allen Steele writes and I enjoyed the this story.

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V-S Day:A Novel of Alternate History by Allen Steele

Alternate History

From Goodreads:

With a gift for visionary fiction that “would make Robert A. Heinlein proud” (Entertainment Weekly) three-time Hugo Award-winning author Allen Steele now imagines an alternate history rooted in an actual historical possibility: what if the race to space had occurred in the early days of WWII?

It's 1941, and Wernher von Braun is ordered by his Fuehrer to abandon the V2 rocket and turn German resources in a daring new direction: construction of a manned orbital spacecraft capable of attacking the U.S. Work on the rocket—called Silbervogel—begins at Peenemunde. Though it is top secret, British intelligence discovers the plan, and brings word to Franklin Roosevelt. The American President determines that there is only one logical response: the U.S. must build a spacecraft capable of intercepting Silbervogel and destroying it. Robert Goddard, inventor of the liquid-fuel rocket, agrees to head the classified project.

So begins a race against time—between two secret military programs and two brilliant scientists whose high-stakes competition will spiral into a deadly game of political intrigue and unforeseen catastrophes played to the death in the brutal skies above America.

V-S Day by Allen Steele has been on my wish list since it came out in February.  When I found it on the new books shelf at my library I checked it out and started reading.  Set in the present and the past it tells a great story of what might have been.

History and how it is changed is the main thrust of the story.  The change started in December of 1941.  Germany started a new space program and the U.S followed.  V-S Day tells what happened in both the U.S. and Germany as they work to develop a space plane.  The story line is very well developed, the characters interesting and the plot is full of tension. 

When all is said and done I think many of us will wish that this were our history instead of an alternate history. 

I loved the book, the writing and the story.  I enjoyed reading a story where we got to space and stayed instead of how we have shut down and stayed on earth.

ACE Books published V-S Day, a Novel of Alternate History by Allen Steel in 2014.

Stacking the Shelves, May 17, 2014

Books Stacked on My Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books I added to my shelves this week. They may it be physical or virtual. I include books I buy in a physical store or online, books I borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews.  Follow the link to see what others have on their shelves.

All the books I got this week are from the public library.

Influx by Daniel Suarez

Concealed In Death  by J.D. Robb

V-S Day A Novel of Alternate History by Allen Steele

Stacking the Shelves May 19, 2012

Welcome to my Stacking The Shelves post!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews so follow the link and check out what other stacked on their shelves this week.  

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest books.

I am trying to be so good and not get any new books until I have finished the big pile I already have so I only got one book this week and it is from the library.  Then I read several other Stacking the Shelves posts and requested several new books from NetGalley so if I get my requests I will be adding not subtracting books next week.  Here is my one book this week. 

Angel of Europa by Allen Steele - This is almost a short story.   It is only 90 pages long.

Hex by Allen Steele

Science Fiction

I like the Coyote series so I have to give Hex a mention.  This is Space Opera with Coyote characters.   It is not set on Coyote and is a side story to that universe.

The danui offer information about planet suitable for human life located in their star system.  Coyote sends a ship to check it out.  For conflict we have the Captain and her estranged son both on the ship.  For further conflict once they get to the system them find no planet but a massive sphere orbiting the system.  No one talks to them when they arrive so they just blunder in.  Adventure and danger follow.

It is a good Space Opera and if you like Science Fiction I recommend you give it a try.  It can be read as a stand-alone.  For me I did not feel much connection to the Coyote series.  Anyone who has followed the Coyote series will want to read the book.  To me that was the main reason for it to be written.  It was predictable but fun to read.

Berkley Published Hex by Allen Steele in 2011.

Coyote Horizon, A Novel of Interstellar Discovery by Allen Steele

Science Fiction

Coyote Horizon is Allan Steele’s latest book about Coyote. Set after the Coyote trilogy, things are changing on Coyote and on Earth. Everyone is dealing with the discovery of other intelligent species. Earth is collapsing and wants to send as many people to Coyote as possible. The settlers on Coyote want controlled immigration. All of these factors lead to unexpected consequences. Many of the characters from the earlier books play a major role in Coyote Horizon. Fans of the series will not be disappointed and new readers will want to go back and read the first books.

Ace published Coyote Horizon by Allen M. Steele in 2009. According to Allen Steele the second book in the duology, Coyote Destiny, will conclude the story arc.

Coyote Horizon is available from Amazon and from Fictionwise.

Galaxy Blues by Allen Steele

Science Fiction/Space Opera is in my Mixed Book Bag today.

Galaxy Blues was published by ACE in 2007. This is the second book written in the Coyote Universe and joins the four books written about Coyote. It can be read as a standalone. I had read two of the books written about Coyote but even if I had not I would have had no trouble following the story in Galaxy Blues.

Galaxy Blues has all the elements Space Opera. Aliens, humans who read minds, a young hero rising above the odds, and new ways to travel in space. Through in a romance (I notice that more and more Science Fiction contains a romantic element. Maybe authors are noticing that romance sells!) to spice things up and you have a great story.

In Galaxy Blues as in all the Coyote books Allen Steele writes an entertaining and engaging tale. If you like science fiction/space opera be sure to read Galaxy Blues. If you have never read any of the Coyote series you can start here and keep reading.