Review: Ill Wind (Weather Warden, #1) by Rachel Caine.

Ill Wind is another book that's been sitting on my TBR for nearly a decade, and I probably would have enjoyed it more back then. I still enjoyed it, especially at the end, but it feels dated and I've certainly read better Urban Fantasy. This one is unique though in that it does lean heavily on meteorology. And I am a sucker for combining Science with the Paranormal.

Joanne is a weather warden. She controls air and water, which essentially means that she controls the weather. Other wardens can control earth or fire. When we meet Joanne she's being chased by a storm and we have no idea why. She's looking for some guy named Lewis and again, we don't know why. In fact, we don't find out anything in regards to the plot until about 2/3 in. Which is only three chapters, since they're all 70+ pages each.

The majority of this book is flashbacks and most of them aren't even relevant to what's happening now. We get Joanne's dating history from her first kiss to losing her virginity. We're told all about her parents' divorce, her mom's new man, and a trip to Disney World. Yet, we still don't know why Joanne is running, why she killed a man, and why she thinks this other man can save her.

The plot does deal with an interesting twist on demon possession. I liked that a lot, once it was actually discussed. There's also Djinn which are pretty interesting, and they're actually the only reason I'm interested in reading the next book. I think now that all of the world set up is out of the way, and we know Jo, the sequel should actually focus on plot. At least, I hope so.

Waiting on Wednesday #9: Birthday Smarty (Lumberjanes, #15) by Shannon Waters

I just love this series. It makes me so happy.

Sunday Post #9: I am getting my life together!

I have been in hustle-mode all week! You may or may not have noticed that my Beta Reading Service page is back up, and I've been tweeting about it. I signed up for Fiverr to hopefully expand my reach. I've also been looking into more work-from-home opportunities, because I have decided that I don't want to go back to a traditional 40-hour a week job. I just don't, so I won't. I'm going to make this happen.

Series Report: Unfinished Fairy Tales by Aya Ling

This series is a re-imagining of Cinderella. Kat gets sucked into the fairy tale's book and is placed into the life of one of the evil stepsisters. She can only return home if she finishes the story, so she has to help Cinderella get to the ball and marry the prince. Or so she thinks. At least in the first book. The other books are what come after "happily ever after." I didn't enjoy those books as much, but they were still cute. If you like fairy tales, you'll likely enjoy this series.

Waiting on Wednesday #8: The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite

I really enjoyed The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics, so of course I'm looking forward to more WLW Historical Romance! This cover is kind of awkward though...

Sunday Post #8: I'm so tired...

I don't know why, but I have been sooo tired this week. Fiona is sleeping through the night, so it's not her anymore. I don't know, but I keep crashing about 1PM. Also, all of this reading is making my eyesight worse. Oops.

Review: Dearly Departed (Gone With the Respiration, #1) by Lia Habel

This has been on my to-read for way too long, and I'm so glad that I finally read it. It felt oddly timely, since the world has been mostly destroyed by a virus and other natural catastrophe. Civilization has rebuilt in South America, and has fallen back to Victorian times. But with zombies and technology.

There are five narrators here, which always makes me suspicious. It usually means that someone is going to die or that they're a mole. I'm not saying that this is what happens, but, lots of perspectives. Captain Wolfe only has two short chapters, and they're nonessential. Nora's not really dead father has a handful of chapters as well, but those easily could have been a recap saved for when he was rescued near the end. It also would have allowed for a good plot twist of revealing he's alive 300 pages in rather than 30 pages.

Our main characters are Nora and Bram. Bram kidnaps Nora to save her from being kidnapped by someone even worse. And he is one of the undead who retained their personality and brain functions. She's the daughter of the scientist who has been working on a vaccine for the Lazarus virus. Our secondary character, Pamela, is Nora's best friend who's stuck at home during a zombie invasion and allows us to see what's going on in the real world while Nora is being held with the zombie army.

This book is 470 pages, which is quite long for a YA novel, but I was never bored. Oddly, it took be nearly 2/3 of the book to even realize that nothing important had been happening. I was just enjoying it so much! The relationship between Nora and Bram and the other "good" zombies reminded me of that Disney Channel movie, Z-O-M-B-I-E-S. It was just fun, despite all of the violence and gore. A very strange combination, but it worked.

Ultimately, I just really enjoyed Dearly Departed. I normally don't like Steampunk, and zombies tend to be hit or miss, but this one was 100% hit! While this could work as a standalone with a bit of an opening ending, I'm eager to find out what happens next.

Waiting on Wednesday #7: Nightfall (Devil's Night, #4) by Penelope Douglas

I am obsessed with this series. It is dark and twisted and everyone is awful. But I cannot stop reading!

Books That Made Me Smile in 2020 So Far...

Again, I narrowed this topic down a bit, because there are way too many books that made me smile.

Sunday Post #7: I need a vacation!

Disney World is open! And I wanna go! But I'm not! I was suppose to go in May with my mom, but clearly that did not happen. Now I'm getting extra antsy. When will this madness end?!

Series Report: Romancing the Page by Laura Ambrose

I read this series for the #Sapphicathon. With that said, obviously these are F/F romances. They're also all about bookish ladies! They're authors, editors, etc who fall in love with other bookish ladies. Each couple has their own issue to overcome: second chance, boss/employee, agoraphobia, and revenge! They're all novella length, so it's a quick, bingable series if ladies loving ladies and books are your thing.

Waiting on Wednesday #6: The Fell of Dark by Caleb Roehrig

I loooved Last Seen Leaving, and I love vampires, so obviously.

Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By in 2020 So Far...

I decided to narrow this topic down to just this year, since it was easier and felt more relevant. And it's my blog. I do what I want.

Sunday Post #6: Wow, it's July?!

Well, we seem to have survived the first half of 2020. That's good.

This was a tiring week, as I've been bonding and training little Fiona. She's actually really smart and knows how to use puppy pads already. I still have to get up with her at night though to get her to the pad.

June 2020 in Review

Half of the year is officially gone. Thank goodness. 2020 has been a trip and June was the worst.

If you read my Sunday Posts or follow me on Instagram, you'll know that my precious dog Lulu died from meningitis. It's been a rough few weeks. We did get a new puppy, Fiona. She's cute, but it's just not the same. I don't feel that connection with her. Maybe with time.

I did start an internship with a publisher a couple weeks ago. It's been fun so far. Certainly keeps me busy on the days that I have a manuscript to work through.

I kind of continued my never ending quest on getting back caught up on my subscribed podcasts. This month I only managed to finish Nancy , Queer as Fact, and History is Gay. I'm working on ChooseFI, which is the one I'm most behind on since they started posting 3-5 episodes per week during the lockdowns.

Wishlist Wednesday #5: Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

This book has been all over Twitter, but if you haven't seen it, it's a queer, Black, feminist retelling of Cinderella. Basically it sounds super awesome. I love me some fairy tale re-imaginings. It's out next week!