Alyce Caswell - Author
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Book Reviews

Reading Outside the Comfort Zone

3/5/2022

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Magpie Murders (Susan Ryeland #1)
by Anthony Horowitz

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Atticus Pünd could ignore what seems to be the accidental death of a housekeeper, but when the body count continues to rise he is drawn to a small English village - the typical setting for the typical English crime novel. But he is fictional and so is his world. Even he could not conceive what a few missing pages might lead to when an editor goes on the hunt for them...

Look, this is an incredibly clever book and it was almost masterful in its execution. But it is definitely not my thing. I read it because A) my aunt sent it to me and B) the cover was exquisite (except, as it turns out, I had got my hands on an uncorrected proof and sadly the real cover isn't as good). I'm also a little tried of this type of female character that male authors seem to enjoy writing - usually they make abysmal decisions that make me dislike them enormously.

Anyway, Horowitz achieved what he set out to do. Which is create a book that plays with the crime genre and inserts the reader as a detective themselves. So this is actually very good and I can appreciate that...but it's not good enough to make me swear off my undying hatred of the crime genre. ;)

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Boy, do I miss the cookie cutter!

12/10/2021

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Retribution (The Pack #2)
by Geena Tillman

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Markus is hunting a pack traitor when he happens upon a small town and stays in the B&B belonging to Missy, a local derby champion. Markus thinks he knows where the danger is. But it might come from an unexpected source. Meanwhile, stuff happens with the pack at home.

I would have really loved this book to actually focus on the characters mentioned in the blurb. I don't expect, in a PNR series, to have to read about book 1's couple having sex in book 2 when the story is supposed to be following another couple instead. To make matters worse, other couples were also getting page time and constantly interrupting the plot. This could have been so much better if it was spread out over more books. A disappointing read.

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Hell No

31/7/2021

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​The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy (Smythe-Smith Quartet #4)
by Julia Quinn

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Sir Richard Kenworthy needs a wife ASAP and wants to target someone who's desperate, overlooked, and not a terrible companion in the long run. He sets his eyes on Iris Smythe–Smith during one of those awful musicales and proceeds with his plan to ruin her reputation. He doesn't expect to actually start feeling anything for his victim. Iris must survive her husband's plans for her.

You'll notice that what I've just summarised doesn't sound like a romance novel. Honestly, this book should be called The Red Flags of Sir Richard Kenworthy, because he sure dropped a lot of them. Holy abusive husband, Batman! Iris and her sisters-in-law were actually great characters and I'd have liked to read this book about them, with no Richard in sight. But unfortunately Richard was in this an awful lot -and he was so disturbing that I nearly DNFed multiple times. Give this one a miss.

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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
    • The Shadow of the Gods
    • Dealing with the Demon
    • Love and Lockdown
    • The Eyes of Charon
    • Sweet Delights
  • Other Works
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact