Alyce Caswell - Author
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Book Reviews

13 Years Later

1/10/2021

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Kissed by Cat by Shirley Jump

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Catherine Wyndham tangled with a witch two centuries ago and is now cursed to be a woman by day, a cat by night. The curse cannot be broken unless a man loves both woman and cat - impossible right? Garrett McAllister finds a stray cat who escapes, then he finds a woman wearing his lab coat and only his lab coat. He should send her packing, but for some reason he can't.

Once upon a time, my mother (still a devoted Mills & Boon fan) handed me this book and said, "This wasn't really my thing, but I think it's yours."

It most certainly was! I loved it - a Mills & Boon title that was also a shifter romance? Heck yeah! Then the book got donated and I couldn't stop thinking about it for 13 years, so I pounced on a secondhand copy the other week. So it's not as amazing as I remember...it's actually quite average. And quite silly. But it has a permanent home in my book case now, because I don't want to spend another 13 years wishing I'd kept it!

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Nobody Puts Elf on a Shelf

30/9/2021

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His Christmas Escape (Rainbow Cove Christmas #5)
by Shona Husk

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There's no happy Christmas homecoming for Jade. Avoiding her biphobic parents is easy enough, but she immediately finds it hard to avoid whatever is going on between her and Nico, who works in a kitchen. Jade and Nico both want to keep it casual - Nico has his own problems, namely a restrictive living situation - but a week-long fling could turn into something else. If they let it.

This might be my favourite book of the series, actually. It just felt so real to me. Husk captured the dynamics of dysfunction so well and threaded a romance through it all. The longer timeframe, aside from suiting Nico and Jade's relationship, made me feel like I got a lot more out of this story than I did the others. Okay, and this might also be the hottest book of the series! ;)

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Summer Ba - er, Summer Cove

30/9/2021

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His Christmas Pearl (Rainbow Cove Christmas #4)
by Renée Dahlia

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Kiet is shucking oysters when Zoe comes across him and they both get bad first impressions. But after Zoe drives him home, she finds herself caught up in the mystery of the money disappearing from Kiet's business. That's why she's choosing to stay at his place during her holidays - and there's definitely no other reason...

Much like Zoe, I also found myself caught up in the mystery. It helped that Kiet and Zoe were very likeable leads (although I was often distracted by thoughts of "yay, Sam!", having read Sam's book first). The ending seemed a bit OTT and I wondered if Zoe completely lacked any sense of self-preservation (come on, woman!), but all in all this was a pleasant read.

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Return to Sender

28/9/2021

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Her Christmas Homecoming (Rainbow Cove Christmas #3)
by Shirley Wine

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Marta Field has come home to sort out her mother's house and find some way to pay for her mother's bills. Music was a passion she once shared with Joe Marshall - and they also shared a different type of passion. But Joe has seen her walk away from him once. What's to stop her doing it again? There isn't much for a singer in a small place like Marandowie. Maybe Joe can convince her to stay.

This was a fairly enjoyable homecoming romance and I liked the small mysteries that the characters got to explore. It seemed that I was reading a very sweet story. But then I got to the Christmas party - the one constant in this series - and Marta turned into Raging McBitch all of a sudden. Wow, I did not want Joe to stay with her after that. Until then, however, it was shaping up pretty well.

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Second Time's the Charm

26/9/2021

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Her Christmas Kisses (Rainbow Cove Christmas #2)
by Susanne Bellamy

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Flick is adrift after her parents divorce, ruining her plans to buy the family restaurant. She stops in Rainbow Cove to get groceries, but then her car becomes a write-off. The owner of the other car? Xander, who's in charge of the town's resort. Flick accepts his help and starts working in the resort restaurant. She's a whizz at desserts, but something else is simmering between her and Xander.

Every now and then you find a shorter book like this where the author completely nails the pacing. This is such a strong romance I think it might have been served better as book one in the series. I was on Team Flick right from the start and I couldn't wait for her and Xander to get together, then stay together. Jenny was also a wonderful side character.

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Ooh la la? No la la!

26/9/2021

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His Christmas Feast (Rainbow Cove Christmas #1)
by Nora James

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​Christophe can cook a magnificent feast and wow most residents in Rainbow Cove, but Emily - his next door neighbour - remains immune to his charms. Emily hates Christmas and certainly doesn't appreciate a Frenchman trying to get her to see the good side of the holiday. But the two of them have a fence to fix - and they may be mending other fences too.

Oh wow, I really detested Emily. She was abrasive for most of the book and the abrupt change at the end felt weird to me. Christophe was also too pushy for my liking, but I suppose some readers will like that. Still, I thought the fence metaphor was pretty good. Even if I couldn't stand the thought of these two characters ending up together lol

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Cute Christmas-less-ness

19/9/2021

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His Christmas Pride (Rainbow Cove Christmas #6)
by Renée Dahlia

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Sam is an oyster farmer who dodges a Christmas lunch to play his favourite online game with "Velebit", another user he has a connection with. He's in a small town so he doesn't expect Velebit to be the local newcomer. Mick is a paramedic with a troubled past and he isn't sure he should let anything with Sam develop. But they have one heck of a connection already...

This was a very cute and enjoyable read. Sam was so adorably awkward. He and Mick were both fleshed out very well in such a short space of time. I needed something light after my last read and this certainly delivered. I did feel extremely put out, however, by the complete and utter lack of Christmas in its pages - well, Christmas was mentioned a couple of times but had no bearing on the plot.

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    About

    Alyce Caswell, when she isn't buried in a book or drinking her way through a giant pot of tea, is a keen writer of science fiction and romance. She has published two novels and four novellas in her space opera family saga, The Galactic Pantheon Series.

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  • Home
  • Books
    • The Galactic Pantheon >
      • The Tortured Wind
      • The Twisted Vine
      • The Flickering Flame
      • The Shifting Ice
      • The Whispering Grass
      • The Creeping Moss
      • The Galactic Pantheon Novellas
      • The Adventures of Grace Pendergast, Galactic Reporter
    • Dealing with the Demon >
      • Giveaway
    • Love and Lockdown
    • The Eyes of Charon
    • Sweet Delights
  • Other Works
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact