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A Lady Knight's Tale

29/11/2025

Lady's Knight (Lady's Knight #1)
by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Gwen, the blacksmith's daughter, has grown up on tales of knights and chivalry and aches to prove herself. She masquerades as a man to win a single joust and intends to stop there. Lady Isobelle of Avington, who is the prize for the jousting tournament's winner, desires to escape her fate. A lady knight may very well be the answer to all her problems. But Gwen will need some persuasion...

A quirky and adorable YA/romance that is so sweet you'll definitely need some tea to wash it down while you read (er...when you're not too anxious to turn the page, that is - Kaufman and Spooner sure put my emotions through the wringer). Sure, it's aimed at a younger audience than us Millennials, but if you have always secretly wanted a mashup of Tamora Pierce novels and A Knight's Tale, this is the book you're been looking for. It's a little light on worldbuilding and it's not perfect... and honestly, I didn't care about any of this. It's a lot of fun.

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Master of None

15/11/2025

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Master of Evil (Star Wars Disney)
by Adam Christopher

The Empire has risen and Colonel Halland Goth of the Imperial Royal Guards has welcomed it. But he is dying and may not enjoy galactic peace for long. When he is sent to spy on Darth Vader during the Dark Lord's search for a vergence in the Force, he realises there may be a way to survive - because Darth Vader survive and he used to be someone else. Time is running out. For more than one man.

Oh. Oh no. This was not good. I was so excited for this book based on the cover and title alone, but I was duped. So few authors get Darth Vader right and Christopher is not one of them (and I am so sad to write this review after his excellent book Shadow of the Sith). Various new characters are introduced to fill out the pages but they hardly seemed relevant to me, even Goth - and it's tiresome when yet another character discovers the Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader link. I've had my fill of this, from both canons. Please stop!

The novel owes a lot to the Charles Soule Darth Vader comics. It even rehashes a scene from that run - and fails to make it any better (actually makes it worse...). The plot is also clearly inspired by events in the comics and...why would you bother to read this book when said comics exist? They are excellent! Christopher seems to have gone for a comic book feel but it just didn't work here, in a novel.

I am disappointed and annoyed.

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Masters of Boredom

12/11/2025

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Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

A vampire tries to sell a house with a ghost in it. The godson of Death has to play a game. If you want a proper plot, go read something else. I will try to keep this brief, because I am rather annoyed by how much time I wasted reading this book. The writing is pretentious to the point of tedium. All the characters sound exactly the same so it reads like the author is talking to herself for 100k+ words.

This would have made a much better novella or short story.

The only thing I liked about Masters of Death was the acknowledgement that my favourite song of all time is a classic. It really is.

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The Unpopular Candidate

12/11/2025

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The Boyfriend Candidate (Fool Me Once #2)
by Ashley Winstead

Alexis Stone, precariously employed school librarian, heads to a bar to have a one-night stand. There she meets Logan, but their tryst is interrupted. And then he bails. Turns out he's running for governor and now there are scandalous photos of him with Alexis going viral. Alexis can save his campaign if she agrees to fake date Logan and she's getting something out of it. But lines soon start to blur...

This book has a brilliant, fiery start...but then it fizzles out and only manages to get some of the spark back towards the very end. I also feel like it just didn't flow well, although I wonder if that's just because I didn't really connect to the story of the characters. Alexis' sister was particularly grating. I cringed every time she appeared. She made Alexis risk everything and put her in a terrible position, but the awfulness of this is never properly addressed. With siblings like these, who needs enemies? I can't say I enjoyed The Boyfriend Candidate, alas.

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Cosy Christmas Cheer

4/11/2025

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On Christmas Avenue by Ginny Baird

Clark Creek is in dire financial straits. What it needs is a miracle - and it definitely doesn't need an expensive "Christmas Consultant". Evan, the town's sheriff, is doubtful that Mary can do anything but push Clark Creek further into debt. Mary is determined to prove him wrong. She has a promotion to earn in Seattle, which means nothing can keep her in Clark Creek. Not even a certain sheriff...

If you love Hallmark Christmas movies, you're going to love this book. It hits all the right notes. Perhaps it's not always believable and perhaps there's not much substance to it, but it delivers the cosy hug you'd expect to feel while reading it. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that everything was properly resolved by the end, since we weren't given reassurance that Mary made the right choice!

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Book Reviews

A Lady Knight's Tale

Lady's Knight (Lady's Knight #1)
by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Master of None

Master of Evil (Star Wars Disney)
by Adam Christopher

Masters of Boredom

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

The Unpopular Candidate

The Boyfriend Candidate (Fool Me Once #2)
by Ashley Winstead

Cosy Christmas Cheer

On Christmas Avenue by Ginny Baird

About

Archives

Categories

Book Reviews

A Lady Knight's Tale

Lady's Knight (Lady's Knight #1)by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Master of None

Master of Evil (Star Wars Disney)by Adam Christopher

Masters of Boredom

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

The Unpopular Candidate

The Boyfriend Candidate (Fool Me Once #2)by Ashley Winstead

Cosy Christmas Cheer

On Christmas Avenue by Ginny Baird

About

Archives

Categories

Lady's Knight (Lady's Knight #1)
by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Master of Evil (Star Wars Disney)
by Adam Christopher

The Boyfriend Candidate (Fool Me Once #2)
by Ashley Winstead