Category: Australian - Alyce Caswell - Author

Alyce Caswell - Author

Short but Sweet & Sexy

8/8/2022

His Lord's Soldier (Great War #4)
by Renée Dahlia

James has pined away for his best friend, Rafe, for years and knows there is a very low chance of Rafe having the same inclinations as he does. But when Rafe returns from the Great War broken in more ways than one, James wants to take care of him...even if he can't have more.

Well, it's easy to see why this is a Ruby finalist! A lovely novella full of heat and heart - and an excellent addition to the series. I admittedly have a weakness for the grumpy one/sunshine one dynamic, but even discounting that this is really well done.

Anticlimax

7/8/2022

Her Lady's Fortune (Great War #3)
by Renée Dahlia

Women of means, Priya and Rosalie, had a passionate fling before the Great War and then certain misunderstandings stopped them pursuing anything further. But now, six years later, they must work together for a charitable purpose and their past might complicate matters - or they may realise that there are significantly fewer barriers between them than there were.

Well, that started with a bang. Heh. The prologue was exquisite and gave me great expectations - which weren't quite met. I didn't really feel that there was much of a barrier between Priya and Rosalie...and an antagonist was introduced but hardly used. Not as good as the other two F/F romances in the series, but still a pleasant read.

A Sapphic Delight

6/8/2022

Her Lady's Melody (Great War #1)
by Renée Dahlia

Luciana is doctor with unsteady hands, recovering from the Great War and losing the woman she would have called wife. When the neighbour's child falls from a tree, she knows she must use her skills - but she doesn't know that she is about to become intimately connected with Therese, who is trying to protect her son from the Bolsheviks. But other threats are lurking.

I used to think I had no interest in books set around WWI, even romances - but then I discovered Renée Dahlia. Luciana and Therese were delightful together and I really felt for them as they grieved what they had lost. Mostly, though, I was impressed with the historical detail and how Dahlia managed to ratchet up the tension at certain moments. Well worth reading.

While You Were Reading

9/7/2022

While You Were in the Country by Eva Scott

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

Frankie Fox has a magical night with Ant and leaves him her number, but he never calls. Never mind - there's soon another man in her life when Jed Murphy, her longstanding AFL crush and infamous bad boy, crashes his car in front of her. Frankie is quickly roped in to pose as Jed's fake girlfriend in an attempt to repair his reputation. There's an even bigger complication, however - Ant is Jed's brother!

I was a little wary after the last romcom-inspired book Eva Scott wrote, since it stayed too close to its source material, but she nailed this one. I absolutely loved reading While You Were in the Country. It contains the best aspects of its progenitor (While You Were Sleeping), but it's still quite capable of standing on its own - some parts of it might have even been better! And there's so much delicious drama that you're going to need a spoon to eat it all up.

Far From A Frosty Reception

26/6/2022

Frost Hands (The Mutation Files #1)
by Imogen Elvis

Tensions are rising while a new law requiring mutants to register themselves is being discussed. Eric wants to protect other mutants, but maybe there's a wrong way to go about it. He'll have to choose between betraying his stepfather or doing what might be the right thing. But can he trust mutants who are being deployed against their own kind?

I would have loved the heck out of this as a teenager - okay, adult!me still loved the heck out of it. Frost Hands ticked all the boxes for me: likeable characters finding their way in the world, said characters actually acting their age, cool powers, incredibly tense scenes, a villain who isn't hokey. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Until the Soul Singer Sings

25/6/2022

The Shattering Song (Song Magic #2)
by Imogen Elvis

Briar and her friends have already sacrificed much in trying to stop Lord Sachio from taking over the kingdom, but they have not yet succeeded. A dangerous trip to Mizra, the capital, may yield the allies and resources they need - or it may result in even greater sacrifices, if they can't avoid the punishment for so-called treason. Either way, this is the end of their journey.

While this is an excellent and satisfying conclusion to the story, I do feel that it might have worked better if it had been expanded over a trilogy. That said, I very much enjoyed spending time with Briar, Kade and Lara once more. I became attached to them so quickly! Elvis masterfully creates characters that you want to root for and protect as soon as you meet them.

This is the YA Fantasy You're Looking For

20/6/2022

The Crystal Tree (Song Magic #1)
by Imogen Elvis

Briar is a soul singer, a magician who can heal. But her magic offers no protection when the Nameless Ones come to her new home and abduct her sister. Briar immediately wants to rescue her - though this will mean travelling and joining forces with strangers who have secrets that can endanger their lives, as well as the entire kingdom.

For a while now, I've felt that something is missing from trad published YA fantasy. I can't say exactly what it is, but I guess I'll be cliche and say they're missing...the magic. The Crystal Tree brought back the magic for me. It threw me right back to my childhood in the 1990s and was the comforting blanket that I very much needed. This is a brilliant indie YA fantasy - and beautifully written too.

Blossoming

13/6/2022

Paperbark Hill by Maya Linnell

One family tragedy set Ned Gardiner on his wandering path and now another has brought him home to his father's farm in Bridgefield. He doesn't usually keep his family in the same place long, but this time he might find a reason to stay. Diana McIntyre is trying to make her flower farm successful - no mean feat while grappling with loss and four boys. But help may have just arrived...

What a lovely slice of life this was. While Paperbark Hill had lower stakes than the previous books, I quite enjoyed the slow, believable build up of a relationship between two very real people - and of course it's nice to keep up with the McIntyres. Linnell has created a family (and a town) populated with characters that you always look forward to spending time with.

Second and Second to None

4/5/2022

Corpselight (Verity Fassbinder #2)
by Angela Slatter

Verity Fassbinder is back in the thick of things - and she's also heavily pregnant. Something wet and gross and deadly is lurking in Brisneyland, but it doesn't offer the same danger that a mysterious kitsune does...or the appearance of those thought lost. Verity can handle an attack from all sides...but can she also protect her family?

Easily the best book of the trilogy and definitely not bogged down by the issues that usually afflict a book 2 in a trilogy - although, it's obvious this was meant to be more than trilogy (and how I wish it was a proper series). I've always liked how David was used in the other books and this is no exception. Verity is a character who is grounded by her family and she's not the isolated hero that pervades so many other novels (side note - even I'll admit that isolating her in book #3 was a stroke of genius). Anyway, I loved Corpselight and I'll forever be salty that this "trilogy" didn't get the marketing it deserved.

Turn UP the Heat

10/4/2022

Out of Her League (Kapow! #1)
by Renée Dahlia

Joey lost his rugby league career after he became a paraplegic, but he has found success on the inspiration speech circuit. Ella was - still is! - one of Joey's biggest fans so when he invites her back to his room, there is no way she's going to refuse. One night of passion is all she's after. So it comes as a bit of a shock when she learns the next day that her company will be working with him.

This book is exceptionally steamy with some great (and I mean GREAT) scenes, so I was not at all disappointed on that front. In a romance of this length, of course I expect everything else to be secondary to the budding relationship - but Ella's job seemed to be completely forgotten about and nor did it have the impact on the plot that the initial setup suggests. Still..it's hard to be annoyed about that when the heat level is this high.