Blog Archives - Alyce Caswell - Author

Alyce Caswell - Author

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30/6/2021

Meet Me in Bendigo by Eva Scott

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Annalisa Cappelli is the last one standing - she runs the small hardware store that her family opened during the 19th century. But the arrival of a Carpenter's Warehouse, a chain hardware store, spells disaster. Why does Ed Carpenter, whose family is responsible, have to be so good looking? If only he could be more like GardenerGuy94, her online friend. Perhaps they're more alike than she realises...

Well, this book was always going to have a tough customer in me - I absolutely love You've Got Mail. But you know what? I enjoyed most of it. I'm so relieved to find a romance book that doesn't ignore or dance around the pandemic, but incorporates it into the storyline. Annalisa and Ed were great - but overshadowed by the delightful old guys and Annalisa's nonna.

Now. The big problem. Some lines of dialogue seemed to be copied and pasted straight from You've Got Mail. Mostly tweaked, occasionally verbatim. This was really off-putting to me. If I wanted to experience those scenes again, I could just watch the movie.

Meet Me in Bendigo shines the most when it stands on its own.

A to Z

29/6/2021

Victory's Price (Alphabet Squadron #3)
by Alexander Freed

Alphabet Squadron has suffered losses and the erosion of trust in each other, but the final battle between the New Republic and the Empire awaits them. But personal choices and missions stand in the way of their orders and the squadron will only fracture further.

Oh this was a relief. The previous book was so poor that I worried, but it's clear it was just suffering from being a bridging sequel (without being able to stand on its own). This was the conclusion that I was hoping for and I got it. Despite book 2's issues, I would say this trilogy is superior to the Aftermath trilogy (I really wish I could forget those books), even though it has problems. Alexander Freed's strength has always been his ability to write military situations. Creating characters you can barrack for? Hmm, not so much, but I can overlook it because this felt litttttle bit like the EU/Legends books. The influence of those older X-Wing books is clear.

Badwitched

27/6/2021

A Letter to Three Witches by Elizabeth Bass

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gwen and her cousins, Trudy and Milo, have been forbidden from practicing magic - all thanks to an ancestor and a spell that went awry. So far they've managed lived on the straight and narrow (no one wants the Council to punish them!). Well, as much as they can. But both magic and drama are about to upend their lives, especially after Gwen's foster sister, Tannith, sends them all a mysterious letter.

I found this exceptionally difficult to get into and I was thinking "oh this reaaaally isn't for me". But once the rough start was over and done with, I started to enjoy the shenanigans in Zenobia. Gwen, Trudy and Milo are great characters - I feel like I know them after all that craziness. But Tannith was a Passions-grade villain (not my thing) and oooh that rough start. That said, A Letter to Three Witches is a bit of witchy fun that may just brighten your afternoon.

Winter Warmer

26/6/2021

Kissing Under the Mistletoe
by Suzanne Enoch, Amelia Grey & Anna Bennett

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Three Christmas romances are included this collection. In "Great Scot", Jane feels that she is invisible and too old for love. But Brennan offers her a lot more than a drawing of her dream library. In "Christmas at Dewberry Hollow", Isabelle refuses to believe that this time a man will stay in Dewberry Hollow for her. But she will enjoy her time with Gate while she can. In "My Mistletoe Beau", Eva must begin a fake courtship with Jack in order to rescue her father's watch.

I read this book during winter in Sydney. It certainly helped to warm me up! I adored every story and every couple - though their romances were short, it all felt very believable to me. And all three authors knew perfectly well how to use the shorter length to their advantage - not once did I feel like the stories were missing anything. I've actually just gone and bought the other MacTaggert stories, because I really quite enjoyed "Great Scot".

What I Told You Was True

25/6/2021

From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back
by Various

A collection of short stories that follow the plot around The Empire Strikes Back, featuring minor characters as well as invented ones, those who aren't the major heroes or villains and don't impact the galaxy in a big way.

I really enjoyed these stories. A few authors got very creative with formatting and I'm still thinking about some of the characters the next day after finishing the book. The authors either delivered or didn't, but that applies to all the stories in any given anthology, really. The best stories didn't use a major supporting character extensively. My favourite is definitely "A Good Kiss" by C. B. Lee. And while I wasn't enthused by "There Is Always Another" by Mackenzie Lee, I did cheer madly when Siri Tachi went back into canon.

Thrawn Delivers Yet Again

19/6/2021

Greater Good (Thrawn Ascendancy #2)
by Timothy Zahn (aka the godfather of Star Wars)

Thrawn is tasked with cleaning up what remains of his previous enemies, but some battles are not fought in open space with laser fire and missiles. Agents sent. by the true enemies of the Chiss Ascendency are already here. And they intend on exploiting the Chiss' greatest weakness: family politics. Thrawn must continue to over-perform and alienate those he fights for.

This book, folks. This book brings to mind a certain, famous quote: "But it was so artistically done."

Zahn is allowed to play in his own little sandbox and this continues to be a great decision. While the other Star Wars books are limping along (most of them, anyhow), Zahn has given us the best military sci-fi novel in the entire Disney canon to date. Greater Good's greatest strength also applied to Chaos Rising - not being constricted by canon. But I much preferred Greater Good, because all of the introductions are out of the way and we can get into the good stuff.

Do I really have to wait until November for Lesser Evil???

A Queen and Her Handmaidens

14/6/2021

Queen's Peril (Disney Canon)
by E. K. Johnston

Amidala's election to ruler of Naboo is not unexpected - what she and her bodyguards do next, however, is unique, unprecedented, and might end up giving Panaka a planetoid-sized headache. A prequel/companion to The Phantom Menace.

It was really nice that Padmé was able to be a teenage girl, just a little bit, in this book. I've always enjoyed stories about the handmaidens - heck, I even have that Legends picture book with the plastic amulet lol - so I wasn't too bothered by the lack of a strong plot here. This was an uncomplicated read, but I did like it. However, while the scenes from the POV of other characters were interesting, I did wish that the space had been used for Padmé and her handmaidens instead.

Long May She Write

12/6/2021

Into the Dark (The High Republic)
by Claudia Gray

Padawan Reath Silas is happiest in the Jedi archives on Coruscant, but his Master has taken an assignment in the Outer Rim and so he must follow. He reluctantly boards a ship, but the Great Disaster sees him stranded at a space station which contains secrets to be discovered - and a darkness in the Force.

Claudia Gray has once again proved that she is the best Star Wars Disney canon author (that title in Legends canon, of course, belongs to Timothy Zahn). Unlike the parent novel (The Light of the Jedi), this book has a coherent storyline and I was able to build up a rapport with the characters. Geode, especially. I love that guy! I think this might be one of the few Disney canon books that I'll re-read.

I'm looking forward to "seeing" Reath again, but I am nervous since Claudia Gray didn't helm the next YA book in the series.

Not Great - or a Disaster

7/6/2021

Light of the Jedi (The High Republic)
by Charles Soule

Two centuries before the prequel trilogy, the Jedi are called to assist with the Great Disaster - an unprecedented accident that has the ability to continue endangering billions of lives. A massive coordinated effort between the Jedi and other members of the Republic ensues - while an enemy lurks through Paths in hyperspace.

First of all, the Great Disaster is pretty cool. Great premise. But there were waaay too many characters to keep track of, much less care about. Forcing so many of them into the front end of the book slowed the pace too much - and this then caused everything following it to feel rushed. Also just how long did that kidnapping storyline go on for anyway? It ran concurrent to other events that definitely felt longer. While I'm happy to dive into this time period, I wish this entry had been stronger.

Discover At Your Convenience

3/6/2021

A Convenient Marriage by Jeevani Charika

TW: mentions of self harm

Chaya and Gimhana both work in London, but they are always under pressure from their Sri Lankan families, who want to see them settled. Chaya still pines for a love she lost and Gimhana knows that his being gay will destroy his parents - and dissuade his law firm from promoting him. Gimhana suggests to Chaya that they enter a marriage of convenience. And it's just what they need... until complications ensue.

This is such a beautiful platonic love story. It's quite rare to find that kind of love story in women's fiction and I'm pleased to have happened across it. Chaya and Gimhana have a relationship that enables both of them to grow - we all have many variants of these relationships in our lives, so this felt true to me. The only thing I would have liked to see was a bit more of Gimhana's romantic past, since it was reduced to one violent on-screen incident and some throwaway lines.