The members of the little Ursa Minor chat group are getting more keyed up - Rika (11) has done something she regrets, Mr. Money is forcing himself to be more open about the situation with his mother and what it's done to his state of mind, Polaris is going to be forced to take part in a swimming relay race and feels anxious just thinking about it, and Jangalian still doesn't know how to gracefully put a stop to his obsessed stalker and the rumors she keeps spreading. Things are coming to a head now that everyone's been pushed into a corner.

Mizushiro managed to wrap this up better than I expected. Even though I had some issues with the way things played out, everyone's motivations and actions seemed more solid and believable in this volume than they did in the first volume. That said, I still had issues with how things worked out.

Mizushiro's handling of Mr. Money and his family situation struck me as being overly simplistic.

All in all, this series got off to a shaky start but managed to find its footing by the end, even though I wasn't always comfortable with the way everything played out.

Extras:

The last quarter of the volume was devoted to a short called "The Last Supper." Oh man, this story was dark, weird, and horrifying.

It's science fiction in which humans struggle to survive a plague that keeps cropping up every few years. The sky is now lit by an artificial sun, and the weather, too, is artificially controlled. Cows have long since died out and have been replaced by cow-human hybrids. Which we still raise for food, and eat. Lambda 26 is one such cow. After his father is slaughtered and eaten, Lambda tries to escape but ends up being found by Mitsuhiko, the rancher's son. Mitsuhiko insists on having Lambda as his playmate and servant, thereby protecting him from being killed and eaten. Lambda initially wants to be free but eventually begins to care for Mitsuhiko. (Major spoilers from this point on.)

That last story was definitely not my kind of thing, and I feel icky just thinking about it.

Rating Note:

If I could rate X-Day's conclusion separately from "The Last Supper," I'd give the former 3 stars and the latter 1 star. "The Last Supper" only takes up a quarter of the volume and therefore maybe shouldn't have as much weight, but since it had a pretty significant negative emotional impact on me, I'm just going to average the two ratings and give this 2 stars.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

@HotTreePromos, @heidireneemason, #TheVows2_Release #HTPubs #RomanticSuspense #HeidiReneeMason #Sale

Emma survived a madman's attack, and now she is ready to put the pieces of her life back together. After the horror she has endured, that is easier said than done. Just as she begins to feel in control once again, Fate steps in with a plan of its own. Emma must find the strength inside of herself to protect those she loves before everything is stolen by forces who wish to destroy her. 

Book 2 of 3 in Heidi Renee Mason’s romantic suspense trilogy, The Vows. This is not a stand-alone romance. 

**Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned**

This was an intensely insane book. It was filled with such tension and apprehension that you’re filled with pins and needles all throughout the book. You knew it was inevitable and everything was going to be crumbling down with Nat’s plan but the question was how and when. 

You have to admit, despite everything Nat’s plan was just so well thought out all for one thing - relying on a drug dealer. Of all kinds of people, she relies on one that could (and did) ultimately turned tail and pretty much ruined the entire plan. That was the biggest flaw of the entire thing and you have to wonder if she didn’t rely on him, would the whole thing have worked out?

You have to admire her smarts for pulling this off. Her character is excellent and she’s fiercely protective of her family as a unit (understandably so) it’s almost scary to underestimate her as Will seems to have done (and is still doing.) And it’s so hard to like Will in fact he’s so unlikable you don’t understand why Nat just picks up her things and leaves. Aside from also nearly ruining Nat’s plan he’s pretty much a spineless nitwit and doesn’t contribute much to anything. Nat should have kicked him to the curb a long time ago (or when she found out about his stupidities)

The plot itself was so well done it was hard to stop reading. It pretty much grabs you from cover to cover. It’s seamless with no interruptions, it can get frustrating because of some of their actions, but it’s such a good read. The ending, although everything did come to a close, makes you want to be extra careful of Nat.

I enjoyed reading this one and it’s definitely recommended.

I enjoyed the first Inspector Drake novel, Brass in Pocket, and the prequel, Devil's Kitchen, so I was looking forward to this next episode. Unfortunately, I think I would have been better off reading it than listening, as I found the number of characters just too confusing to keep up with in audio format.

Ian Drake is an interesting character, with his compulsions and obsessive habits. In some ways I can see these traits actually contributing to his effectiveness as a police officer. His side-kick, Ceren, is his total opposite, but they seem to work well together. Along with two male officers, who we get to know better with each novel, they form a team that looks set to take us through a good few cases.

In Worse Than Dead, we have a dead crewman on a ferry. This would imply that the murderer was also there, in front of our eyes. The ferry manager, however, is pressing to get the ferry out on the water again and Drake is thwarted in his attempt to gather information.

As more and more people were added to the mix, I quite literally lost the plot, which was very frustrating. I kept with it, in the hope of some resolution, but I had obviously missed too much detail by then.

I should put in a mention for the excellent narrator, Richard Elfyn I loved his Welsh accents and correct pronunciation of the Welsh place names. He did a pretty good job with the Irish characters too. My failure to stick with the narrative was in no way a reflection of his narration.

The plot idea behind this book is good. It's really interesting, but as it is used in this book, it doesn't quite work. Possible spoilers, though I will try to keep it non-spoilerish.

The book opens with a couple on a first date, talking about how, since they are smart, they could get away with killing someone. Then we jump to years later where said couple -Will and Nat (short for Natalie) are married with a young son and the marriage might not be doing well. Nat is a bit too anal and Will might be having an affair.

And then Nat finds out that her son has been molested. Since she is a defense attorney, she knows what children go though when questioned, so she decides to kill the pedophile. But Will has to step in at the last minute to clean up the mess.


And that's part of the problem - if I am suppose to believable that Will is willing to back his wife up, I have to buy that he has some type of feeling for her. And I just don't buy it. The reader is shown a first date and then a marriage that is a degree of trouble. There is no in between. There is mention of happy times, but since we don't really see them working as a couple, it's hard to fully buy Will not caving.


Nat too is a problem, mostly because she seems too judgmental and superior to those women around her. In fairness, this could be a comment on suburban women who have one rule for themselves and another for everyone else. But you don't even feel intense dislike for her. Unlikable characters are fine, but you should feel something.

Finally, there is too much repetition. The author tells you the same thing more than once, and most times it sounds like an info dump.