Stay #3, The third and youngest Bishop sibling has met her match. I love this series it was so emotional and heartwarming with Jennifer Probst fusion of humor all three books are such great reads. I had high hopes for this one and it was definitely was worth the wait.

Harper Bishop has been the black sheep of the Bishop family always preferring animals over other people with a soft heart when it comes to abandoned and abused animals. When she found a spirited black racehorse who'd been abused both Harper and her brother knew the horse was something special. Aidan O'Connor is looking for a new start after a backstabbing of both the professional and personal nature he's looking for something that will prove he's better than his old business partner. With no luck of finding the right horse yet his visit to the Robin's Nest B&B was suppose to be a vacation but then he met Harper and her horse Phoenix.

Aidan's vacation turned into a working holiday when he offers to train Phoenix. Harper is hesitant about accepting the offer but Aidan is who he says he is and if he believes he can train Phoenix and win why not let him try. Their working relationship has the undercurrent of lust. Both finding each other attractive but Harper is hesitant about this too, for reasons of her own she doesn't take things a face value, she always doubts people's motives. The more time she spends with Aidan the more she get to know him and the fact that he plans on leaving she agrees to a discreet affair. But the closer they work together the more the attraction grows into something more. But Aidan hasn't admitted something from his past and it could potentially ruin what he has going on with both Harper and with training Phoenix.

Overall, I really really enjoyed this one. Hei Hei as usual is his crazy little chicken self and with a new addition of the adorable goat Captain Hoof it adds nicely to their menagerie. The romance as always was great, the dynamic between Harper and Aidan is wonderful and the chemistry was pretty smokin' too.     

 

An excellent supernatural AU in which badass 'alone in the world' Dean abducts ambulance tech Seth and discovers a deep attraction. 'This pretty fucking kid he really knew nothing about who stumbled into his life out of nowhere was becoming painfully, infuriatingly important. And Dean was scared shitless. Scared and angry.'

Pliny took some getting use to. For about the first half of the book I found him to be an arrogant, know-it-all. Once things settled down and was able to focus on the mystery in front of him, he was much more tolerable.
I appreciated the lack of a big twist at the end. The author had made the manner of Cornutus' death pretty clear. Pliny had the manner of death as well as the culprit figured out relatively quickly. I appreciated that the author did not really stray from Pliny's original conclusion. Part of my feelings might have to do with the journey the author laid out for the reader. The path Pliny took to prove his conclusion was correct was compelling. The author weaves a wonderful thread. I look forward to finding more of his work.

"She couldn't wait for him to meet Choi -- when the laconic met the terse, who knew what might go unsaid."

 

I've never heard this particular word combination before.  Has anyone?

 

it feels a little bit genius to me.  (Yeah, I know I don't get out much.  And I'm weird.)

And maybe it has to be taken in context.  But I love this sentence.  And several others that I haven't bothered to   share. 

and why is s/he making me care so much?

 

A Crown For Cold Silver is the epic fantasy debut novel by Alex Marshall.  But Alex Marshall is the pseudonym for some renowned author who is doing a very good job of keeping his identity quiet.  Who is she, or he?  Orbit the publisher has refused to disclose so much as the gender of the author.  It is a very big secret. . . 

 

making for wild speculation all over the Internet.  There are votes for George R . R. Martin and Joe Abercrombie, Brent Weeks or Daniel Abraham, Charles Stross or Alistair Reynolds.  Maybe even K. J. Parker (because he doesn't have enough aliases already?)

 

not one woman in any of those guesses.  I'm pulling for Elizabeth Bear.

 

since I can't say for sure whether it's a he or she, I'm just going to go with the word "they" when I'm speaking of the author from now on.

 

so I've tried to glean some clues.  First of all.  They said "drank" instead of "drunk!"  Can I get a YaY on that?  But then I was saddened when they used sunk instead of sank.  How screwed up is that?  Not much of a clue there.  But here's one;  they use whinging instead of whining.  Sounds British or Australian, right?  But they threw me off when they spelled leaped instead of leapt.  Very tricky, this one.

 

Anyway, enough speculation.  All I know is, they can write and I like it.  I'd read 180 pages over the weekend, and this morning, I read them again.  Because I couldn't help myself.  

 

 

I'm on page 226 of 626, and according to rumors, there are two books to come.  I'm already waiting.