Tag: Linda-Grimes • BookLikes

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review 2016-04-12 16:53

In the mood for a funny UF, I was worried that I'd exhausted all the series possibilities already. Then I stumbled across In a Fix and my problem was solved.

As many of you know, I tend to loathe love triangles. Very rarely do I think that the "third wheel" complication is the one that our MC should end up with. However, in this case, I'm team Billy all the way. He's funny, he respects and supports Ciel, and honestly, Mark, the guy I think I'm supposed to root for, has no real personality. So I'm actually looking forward to seeing how this plays out across the series. (Though I reserve the right to change my mind and get annoyed.)

In a Fix is world building lite. There is a fun mythology with our characters able to borrow auras to take on the appearance of others, and lots of room for procedural mayhem with Ciel as a "fixer". She gets hired by people to become them in order to solve problems they can't or won't deal with.

So there's a lot of possibility for the A-plot cases over the series and also a lot of places for the characters to grow. Ciel is by no means perfect. She's a bit whinier than I generally like my heroines, but I see the spunk and backbone in her and I'm totally willing to go along for the ride. Basically, Grimes has given me a great jumping off point in this book, and I'm looking forward to spending more time in this world with her characters.

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review 2015-09-30 09:00

Review: In A Fix by Linda Grimes

Musings and Ramblings

In A Fix

Ciel Halligan, #1

Linda Grimes

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Books
Date of Publication: September 4, 2012
Number of pages: 335

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon BN Kobo OmniLit

The start of an original new urban fantasy series starring human chameleon Ciel Halligan

Snagging a marriage proposal for her client while on an all-expenses-paid vacation should be a simple job for Ciel Halligan, aura adaptor extraordinaire. A kind of human chameleon, she’s able to take on her clients’ appearances and slip seamlessly into their lives, solving any sticky problems they don’t want to deal with themselves. No fuss, no muss. Big paycheck.

This particular assignment is pretty enjoyable... that is, until Ciel’s island resort bungalow is blown to smithereens and her client’s about-to-be-fiancé is snatched by modern-day Vikings. For some reason, Ciel begins to suspect that getting the ring is going to be a tad more difficult than originally anticipated.

Going from romance to rescue requires some serious gear-shifting, as well as a little backup. Her best friend, Billy, and Mark, the CIA agent she’s been crushing on for years—both skilled adaptors—step in to help, but their priority is, annoyingly, keeping her safe. Before long, Ciel is dedicating more energy to escaping their watchful eyes than she is to saving her client’s intended.

Suddenly, facing down a horde of Vikings feels like the least of her problems.

I don't remember who's blog I saw this on originally, but I loved the look of the book and the blurb sounded awesome. I had to have it. But for one reason or another, it kept sliding down the TBR pile until one day, I just forgot about it. When I was going through my extensive TBR list on Goodreads looking for the perfect books for my Month of TBRs, this one jumped out at me and I knew I needed to make sure that it make it on the list. I am so glad that I finally explored this book.

We first meet Ciel while she is pretending to be Mina, a young, rich pampered young woman who hired Ciel to "get the ring" from her soon to be fiancé Trey while on vacation in the Bahamas. Except as it turns out, Trey too was replaced by another aura adaptor while he is doing a job for the CIA. Then of course, their is the other aura adaptor who was sent to keep an eye on Ciel during her assignment. Let's just say that I don't know which I enjoyed more, the action scenes or the comedy of who's playing who. And that was in just the first couple chapters.

It is so hard to find new and unique ideas, but this was the first time I read anything like these human chameleons. It was truly a breath of fresh air in the Urban Fantasy genre. Plus I was literally torn between laughing out loud and cringing at some of the situations that Ciel managed to find herself in. I'm not normally a fan of younger heroines, but Ciel is spunky enough for me to enjoy her. Then there's the love triangle aspect - normally not a fan. But this one looks like it could prove interesting enough to overcome my normal reservations about them. I had such a good time with this book, I am kicking myself for not reading it sooner. I gave it 4 stars.

Source: www.musingsandramblings.net/2015/09/review-in-a-fix-linda-grimes.html

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review 2015-09-20 00:00

In a Fix

Musings and Ramblings

I don't remember who's blog I saw this on originally, but I loved the look of the book and the blurb sounded awesome. I had to have it. But for one reason or another, it kept sliding down the TBR pile until one day, I just forgot about it. When I was going through my extensive TBR list on Goodreads looking for the perfect books for my Month of TBRs, this one jumped out at me and I knew I needed to make sure that it make it on the list. I am so glad that I finally explored this book.

We first meet Ciel while she is pretending to be Mina, a young, rich pampered young woman who hired Ciel to "get the ring" from her soon to be fiancé Trey while on vacation in the Bahamas. Except as it turns out, Trey too was replaced by another aura adaptor while he is doing a job for the CIA. Then of course, their is the other aura adaptor who was sent to keep an eye on Ciel during her assignment. Let's just say that I don't know which I enjoyed more, the action scenes or the comedy of who's playing who. And that was in just the first couple chapters.

It is so hard to find new and unique ideas, but this was the first time I read anything like these human chameleons. It was truly a breath of fresh air in the Urban Fantasy genre. Plus I was literally torn between laughing out loud and cringing at some of the situations that Ciel managed to find herself in. I'm not normally a fan of younger heroines, but Ciel is spunky enough for me to enjoy her. Then there's the love triangle aspect - normally not a fan. But this one looks like it could prove interesting enough to overcome my normal reservations about them. I had such a good time with this book, I am kicking myself for not reading it sooner. I gave it 4 stars.

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review 2014-09-11 00:00

In a Fix

Steamy reads with a dollop of magic, mystery and hot... hot men

Great premise - but the author failed to deliver. Ended up neither loving nor hating it - just felt incredibly indifferent to the story and the outcome

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5

review 2014-03-13 04:24

Quick Fix by Linda Grimes

Parajunkee

Series: In a Fix #2

Published by Macmillan on 2013-08-20
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy
Size: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Amazon :: Kobo :: More Info ::

PJV Rating: 4 of 5

PJV Quickie: The second installment of the IN A FIX series was another surprise hit. I'm just fangirling all over this series. If you haven't given IN A FIX by Linda Grimes a shot, you don't know what you are missing.

Review: QUICK FIX starts again with even more awesome as we are back with Ciel and the sexy men in her life, Billy and Mark. The book begins with action from the onset, with Ciel on a job. She is posing as an aged Zoo employee, trying to prove that her boss is sexually harassing her when Molly, Billy's little sister comes to visit and turns into an orangutan. Something that is not supposed to happen to aura adapters.

From that point on, Billy and Ciel have to figure out how to turn Molly back into a human, hide her condition from their family and yes, figure out an attempted murder plot with Billy as the main suspect.

QUICK FIX was fast paced, thick with intrigue and hilarity as everything played out. I actually was laughing out-loud as different wacky events happened and Ciel got herself in deeper and deeper in a mess she didn't expect.

The best part about this series is the paranormal element. Ciel is an aura adaptor. She can take on someone's aura and become them, even with their weird quirks. QUICK FIX explains more about the ability and goes into detail about how one can use this ability to do more harm then good. It really is a unique idea and Linda Grimes does a wonderful job in flushing out this element.

Then there is the romance. There is love triangle. The triangle is made with Ciel, her best friend Billy and her long time crush Mark. Ciel and Billy are beginning to explore their budding relationship in Quick Fix, but Ciel is still unsure about it. She knows that Billy is quite the ladies man and doesn't want to ruin their relationship with just a fling. But, Billy seems committed to Ciel and I think his attitude toward her is very charming. I like Billy a lot. Then there is Mark, who is the dark and mysterious one of the bunch. Mark is a CIA agent, good-looking and Ciel has been crushing on him since she was a teenager. He begins showing interest in her once Billy and Ciel begin dating, which I think is deplorable. Stick with Billy, Ciel....who needs Mark. Even though Ciel is unsure if she can trust him.

The boys bring out this crazy dynamic in the book, they are both overprotective and part of covert agencies run by the government, so they always know a lot more then they can tell Ciel, which is frustrating at times, but leads to a believability in the novel. Grimes does it really well, making me as a reader to become frustrated at times, but still enjoy it.

Overall, QUICK FIX and the IN A FIX series is a unique urban fantasy series that I can't get enough of. Two words, fresh and fun can be used to describe both books. There is nothing out there like these books...a

Recommendations: For fans of Urban Fantasy with a fun, quirky tilt, you'll enjoy QUICK FIX. I recommend reading the first book, this is not a stand-alone, even though you could keep up without reading the first.

Contemporary Urban Fantasy