Review of Jessica L. Webb's novel Trigger

Jessica L. Webb’s Trigger is a suspenseful read with a unique premise: Someone has rigged human beings to spontaneously combust. One of these walking bombs wanders into the emergency room in Vancouver where Dr. Kate Morrison works, feebly warning her not to touch him before a team of police bursts in, fearing the hospital staff touching the patient will trigger an explosion. But Kate, for reasons unknown, appears to be the only person who can touch these human bombs without setting them off.

Since Kate is the only one who can treat the sick man, she teams up with the policewoman working on the case, Sgt. Andy Wyles, to whom she is immediately attracted. Andy, Kate, and Andy’s geeky partner Jack transport the sick man to a special facility where Kate can treat him and the police can try to figure out who turned him into a weapon -- and, together with Kate, find some way to “disarm” these human bombs without hurting them. And, of course, Kate falls for the confident, no-nonsense Andy.

The story is suspenseful, exciting fun. The premise drew me in immediately. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by spontaneous human combustion? (Don’t worry, there are no horrifying descriptions thereof.) But beyond just being an eye-catching premise, it’s interesting throughout. An ER doctor deals with danger and makes split-second decisions… but she doesn’t normally deal with defusing bombs. A police officer solves cases and deals with threats… but she doesn’t normally think of the bombs she must defuse as people she needs to care for.

The characters play off one another well, their building chemistry is both exciting and a sweet counterpoint to the suspense. I would recommend it both for the exciting plot and for the romantic elements. The contrast between the characters -- cerebral doctor, blunt cop -- is vivid and interesting, and the ways they bond and connect about what they do share are both believable and intriguing. And Jack is an adorable supporting character, awkward and clever.

I did have a couple of issues with the pacing. “This guy I’m trying to save might spontaneously combust” made for a very exciting hook, but since Kate can touch him safely, the suspense wore thin for me after a while. I would have liked to see an explosion happen in earlier chapters -- not to  one of the main cast of characters, but perhaps to someone else they encounter, just to prove to both Dr. Morrison and the reader from early in the story that yes, this is a real threat.

The other issue I had was a minor nitpick that may not bother anyone else, but: I liked the small mystery of Dr. Morrison being able to touch the human bombs (and their seeing her as a kind of savior for it, given that they’ve been starved for human touch since they were made into weapons!) But when we discover why Dr. Morrison can touch them, it’s because of something very unique about her that I had trouble believing she wouldn’t have thought of sooner. It’s needed to make the plot work, and it didn’t ruin the enjoyment of the book for me (there’s a lot you’re just going with when you’re reading about exploding people!), but it did stick out for me.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a unique, suspenseful book with a fascinating premise.

Review of Laydin Michaels' novel Bitter Root

Laydin Michaels has a knack for creating interestingly creepy villains, and characters whose lives their actions affect profoundly.

In her first novel, Forsaken, the villain’s companion was a young child who the two protagonists fought to get away from him and to protect. In Bitter Root, it’s one of the main characters, Adi Bergeron, whose life is shaped by the abusive stepfather she escaped.

The two novels are very different in some ways. Forsaken is a police procedural, where one of the protagonists is chasing a serial killer while falling for one of his victim’s friends. Bitter Root is a story about a curious reporter, Griffith McNaulty, who becomes interested in Adi’s past when assigned to write an article about the restaurant where Adi now works as a cook.

But to me, the novels had plenty in common. Griffith isn’t an up and coming state trooper, but she is uncovering a mystery. Adi isn’t a child, but she struggles to live with the fear she still has of her stepfather and build a new life without him. Bitter Root isn’t set in rural Texas, instead in the Louisiana bayou.

But just as in Forsaken, the setting is vivid, unique, and central to the characters and plot. Although I’ve never been to either place, the novels made me feel like I was there, immersed in the culture and invested in the people.

The pacing of the romance is much better this time around. In Forsaken, the suspenseful parts of the story took over in some places, overshadowing the budding romance. In this novel, since Griffith is trying to uncover Adi’s secrets, there’s a natural flow between Griffith’s curiosity about who Adi is and her budding romantic interest. Adi’s stepfather’s shadow over her new life works very well as a source of tension -- on the one hand, she has a deep need for Griffin’s comfort and companionship, and on the other, feels understandable terror that Griffin’s nosiness will doom them both.

I also  liked that in this novel, Adi herself is the one hiding from the villain. I loved the child in Forsaken and her relationship with the protagonists, but in Bitter Root, the looming prospect of a confrontation between Adi and her abuser felt more immediate and intense, because it directly affected one of the characters in whose head we see the events.

I enjoyed Forsaken and was looking forward to this novel as well. It was worth the wait. While it's different from Forsaken in several ways, I would definitely recommend it.

Review of Jenny Frame's novel Heart of the Pack

Lesbian werewolves.

I seem to keep reading about lesbian werewolves. This is a good thing.

Jenny Frame's novel Heart of the Pack is set in Wolfgang County, a small rural county in Utah, most of whose population is a pack of werewolves. The Wolfgang pack is close-knit, warm, and loving -- and rigidly structured in a hierarchy of dominant and submissive wolves. Dominants and submissives alike are equally valued within the pack -- for example, the Alpha's mate Eden, though submissive, is a respected and wise mother figure.

The story follows the werewolf Caden Wolfgang, second in command of the Wolfgang pack, and her budding romantic interest in a young human, Selena (Lena) Miller, who's taken an accounting assignment out in Wolfgang County to escape her overbearing family.

Lena is nervous and skittish and convinced no one could like her, thanks to a combination of what seems to be OCD and deeply internalized shame from her family, who endlessly harangue her about her weight. Caden is no-nonsense and strong outwardly, but troubled because her grandmother, a seer, foretold that she has no "wolf mate." Although she has a strong desire to make a den of her own, she resigns herself to loneliness.

Of course, Caden and Lena are destined for each other. Lena is put off by Caden's commanding nature, and Caden refuses to believe she could ever love a human, despite "her wolf" growing ever more insistent about wanting to be with -- and have all the hot sex with -- this mousy little human.

But of course, they grow closer as the story unfolds. Unlike Lena's family, Caden is kind, and means her "commands" in protective ways. Lena senses this, even if she doesn't know it consciously, and finds her voice by standing up to Caden because she knows, deep down, it will be all right in the end.

Against this whole backdrop, the pack is threatened by an external enemy, the Alpha of a rival pack who is bent on stealing the Wolfgangs' wealth -- and stealing Eden away from the Wolfpack Alpha.

The story was a very fun ride. The protagonists are drawn vividly and well. Caden's loneliness in the midst of a, well, pack of creatures whose lives center around den and family and finding one's submissive or dominant counterpart is clear and understandable. And Lena, an average human with average insecurities, is a great contrast to the well-organized and happy pack around her.

I especially liked the way the novel handled Lena's anxiety. It's clear it affects her negatively, and very intensely when helped along by her family's criticisms and mockery. But it's never presented in a way that makes Lena less likable or makes her tragic.

In fact, one of my absolute favorite things about this book was that one of her rituals when anxious -- counting the pens in her pen case several times over -- is portrayed not as some horrible, enslaving compulsion but as a soothing ritual. Caden never shames or pressures Lena over it, andone of the most touching moments for me was when an injured Lena, doped up on painkillers in the hospital, worries because she can't find the pens, and Caden rushes off to go and get them.

I felt the same way about how the story handles Lena's shame over her weight. Long before Caden is willing to entertain the idea of sex with a human, she's baffled and angry that Lena would think of herself as anything but voluptuously beautiful. I liked that a lot. I'd recommend the book to bigger people who struggle with feeling beautiful or desirable, just for that alone.

I also liked the way the werewolves were depicted as good, kind creatures with stable and loving families. I tend to like my monster stories a bit more dark than Heart of the Pack, and I sometimes found the whole thing a little too sweet, but I also really like seeing a softer side to "monsters." Especially if it still fits with their nature. The Wolfgangs really did feel like a dog pack in many ways, loving, devoted, and tight-knit, and I found that refreshing.

That said, as I mention above, I would personally have preferred them to feel a little more like werewolves. They talk a lot about how they're not human, but spend much of their time "shifted to skin." The story tells us "their wolf" gets more insistent when they're feeling intense emotion, and there are a few scenes where they can't control their need to shift, but I would have liked to see more of the relationship between their wolf side and their emotions. They're not monsters in the traditional sense, no, merely "a different kind of people" as Caden puts it -- but I'd still like to see their shapeshifting happen unpredictably more often, and get them into a bit more trouble.

I also would have liked a little more from the other plot. Part of this may just be that I'm a sucker for well-developed villains, but I wanted to know much more about the antagonist. She was a werewolf and Alpha of her own pack, but cruel and selfish where the Wolfgangs are loyal and tight-knit. How does a werewolf become so greedy, when werewolves' lives are so intensely focused on pack, family, and den? I found the idea fascinating, but felt I didn't see enough of it. The villain kept the plot moving, and given all the many pieces of the story, a bigger role might not have worked well. Still, I wanted a bit more from her and to see more of her pack.

All in all, I would recommend the book. The whole cast of characters is warm and good-natured, so I found the whole book soothing and reassuring. It's been gloomy and depressing around here for various reasons, and it was nice to have such a sweet book to escape to.

Review of Rachel Bailey's novel Dyre: By Moon's Light

When I heard that Rachel Bailey's novel Dyre: By Moon's Light was urban fantasy about lesbian werewolves, I jumped at the chance to read it.

The best thing about this book is the voice it's written in. The language is smooth and vivid, as is the protagonist's personality. Jennifer "Des" Desiderio is a young, impulsive werewolf with an important duty: serving as the protector and bodyguard of the most important werewolf, the leader of all the werewolf packs in North America, called the Dyre.

But her irresponsible nature means she fails to protect the Dyre when he most needs her protection, and she fails to stop an assassin from finding and attacking him. Dying from his wounds, he bites a young human named Ruby, passing on his Dyrehood to her before having a chance to reveal his true nature.

It falls to Des to protect and guard Ruby as she falls ill from the bite -- and to explain to her not only that werewolves exist, but that she is destined to become their queen. This is a pretty conundrum for Des, who fights fiercely but who continues to struggle against her impulsive nature and the destructive nature of the wolf within her. And an amusing conundrum for Ruby, whose response to learning she's a werewolf is "I fucking hate dogs!"

Des finds herself unsure if her growing feelings for her charge are a werewolf's natural feelings of loyalty toward her Dyre, her own need to fulfill her former Dyre's charge, or real attraction. Des is a memorable and interesting character, with a fiercely loyal nature and enough flaws to keep her vivid and interesting.

The worldbuilding is suggestive as well, with plenty of clever little details. Des thinks of humans pejoratively as "Humes," and while she's a scrappy, streety person who fights fiercely as a wolf, she also becomes a cute, playful puppy around her new Dyre. Those sweet touches keep the story light despite its dark bits. A few mysteries linger after the book ends -- like a werewolf from a European pack fearing that Des is a "rabid pup" and wondering if other American werewolves are. It left me curious: are the American werewolves ill, or are they just culturally different from Old World packs?

That leads me to the main flaws of the book. Details of werewolf packs' politics and intrigues hit the reader all at once in later chapters, just as Ruby is struggling to understand her new nature and role. It might be somewhat realistic -- she's just recovered from her illness and has a lot to learn quickly -- but it confused me as a reader and made it difficult to invest myself as deeply in the new characters as I did in Des and Ruby and the fallen Dyre, George.

Because of this, when an attack presented the first major threat to Ruby's rule, I felt a bit less worried than I should have. I hope that future novels in the series have more consistent pacing, so I can feel as invested throughout.

I also felt that the terminology could sometimes get heavy. I already knew that "loup-garou" means "werewolf," so I didn't have trouble with the werewolves calling themselves "Loups" and "Garoul," and while I was a little confused by "Hume" I figured out quickly that it meant "human." But I can imagine that a reader less familiar with these terms might get a little lost in them.

All in all, though, I found the novel a fun and exciting read, with a natural voice and characters who blended the familiar and the fantastic in an interesting way that kept me invested. The cast of characters is also quite diverse. Both Des and Ruby are women of color, and several other characters of color figure prominently in the story.

And did I mention just how much of it's wickedly funny?

If lesbian (and bisexual! Yay!) werewolves sound like fun to you, go ahead and give this one a read.

Review of Laydin Michaels' novel Forsaken

I decided to read Laydin Michaels’ novel Forsaken after watching this interview.

Two things intrigued me. One, I was interested in reading a novel where one of the protagonists had social anxiety, and two, I am a sucker for stories with interesting villains. I knew from the video that parts of the story get inside the head of a serial killer, so I had to give the novel a try. I’m happy to say it delivered on both counts.

The story begins as a romance between Blake, a teacher who struggles to overcome her social anxiety, and Lindsay, a state trooper who dreams of becoming a Texas Ranger. But their budding romance is cut short when a serial killer murders Blake’s best friend, badly injures both Blake and Lindsay, and kidnaps Blake. Worse, they discover that the killer travels with a young child who has witnessed his murders. Lindsay fights to track down and capture the killer and Blake vows to -- somehow! -- save the child.

The romance is sweet and cute, if a little slow-moving. Blake struggles to work through her anxiety, take initiative, and show Lindsay how she feels. Workaholic Lindsay has always put her dream before dating, and wrestles with whether to embrace her feelings or keep Blake at arm’s length.

The suspense picks up as soon as we meet our killer. I couldn’t put the book down, even though I’d decided just before that it was slow. Once he comes on the scene, things happen fast and furious.

And that’s where Blake’s social anxiety, and its effect on the story, gets fascinating. We meet the serial killer before Blake does. So when Blake goes outside on the fateful day he murders her best friend, we know something is terribly wrong. Blake feels nervous and scared for no apparent reason and quite sensibly attributes this to her anxiety acting up. But we know that, in this case, something is about to happen -- which makes the suspense more powerful than it might have been otherwise.

And which made the story into a page-turner. I was on the edge of my seat from that point until the end of the book.

I found it fascinating to experience the events of the story, which would traumatize and horrify anyone, from the perspective of a character I knew was already prone to anxiety. It kept me invested and made me want to see when and how Blake would manage to be strong, and when things would be especially difficult for her to handle.

I also liked how the story handled injuries and danger. The characters aren’t superheroes, and Lindsay gets laid up pretty seriously by a concussion. There are real consequences when she tries to ignore it and put Catching The Bad Guy over her own health. That makes the protagonists feel like real people, not just Brave Heroes. Both women are brave, as is the little girl, but they’re also regular people, clearly in over their heads.

I also liked the villain. At first I worried that he would be an uncomfortable caricature -- he’s both a veteran with PTSD and a fundamentalist Christian, and I worried about stereotypes of either or both. But his experiences, values, and ideals mixed together in ways that made him a unique and creepy character. And his relationship to and feelings about the child made him more complex than Just Pure Evil. And just like I thought I would seeing the video, I really liked seeing things from his perspective. I found that much more interesting than just watching other characters try to piece him together.

The story is weak in a few places, though. While the chemistry between Blake and Lindsay is fun and hot, the romance felt a bit clunky. I would have liked to see more of the characters growing into their comfort with one another, and to see it spread out more throughout the story.

There were also a few bits of the plot that I felt iffy about.

(spoilers below) 

For one thing, the killer disposes of bodies in a unique way. The novel nods to this by telling us the police missed it because the bodies are spread out over different jurisdictions, but I had a hard time believing no one would notice. For another, the police eventually catch the killer when the child falls ill. When faith healing doesn’t work, the killer takes her to a hospital, and is promptly apprehended.  I quite liked that his compassion ultimately triumphed over his warped “mission from God." But it also felt a bit anticlimactic.

(end spoilers) 

All in all, though, I enjoyed the novel and would recommend it. It snuck up on me and got me so invested I felt compelled to go back and read more any time I tried to put it down.

If you’re interested in a novel about cute lesbians whose romance becomes an exciting story about police catching a serial killer -- or any of the aforementioned things, really! -- go ahead and give Forsaken a read.

Another review of Downpour

User Rhayne on Goodreads reviewed Downpour recently. Rhayne had this to say:

Each of the stories in this anthology had something unique to keep the reader interested. From penguins to ghosts, magic to witty humor there's a little bit of something for everyone. While some of the stories were off the wall and hit out into left field, each one followed the theme of the book well and had it's own twists and turns.

And said this about my story, Thunder:

This story was strange and unusual in the best kind of way. It kept me guessing and left me wishing it had been just a bit longer.

I'm thrilled to hear it! I'm often going for strange and unusual, and I love when it works for other people.

As far as length, I'm working on a longer modern-day fantasy story now... ;-)

Reviews of Downpour

User Grey Liliy on Goodreads posted a thorough, detailed review of all the stories in Downpour here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1384739152

This little collection seemed to promise a little bit of everything from steamy erotica to cute fluff all dealing with Rain!! (Yay!) Between the eight stories, I'd say that was pretty accurate. Definitely something for everyone to like in here, and I ended up enjoying nearly all of the stories. Or rather, I sat down and read all eight in a row without stopping, so definitely enjoyable.

Each story is different, so I figured I'd talk about them one at a time. :3 I've listed the mini reviews in order that the stories appear in the collection, but if you're curious, these were my favorites: Shadow of Storm, Magnetism, Thunder, & Port In The Storm.

There's also another one from Christine Close here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1392449241

The 8 short stories have the link stormy weather in common. Apart from this common theme I found the range of stories very eclectic. It's the sort of collection you can dip into whenever you fancy a quick read and change of mood.

Check out the full reviews at the links, and thanks very much to both reviewers!