Review: Ghosts and Liars by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

Kathryn Ann Kingsley's second book in the Impossible Julian Strande series, Ghosts and Liars is, if it is possible, darker, more psychologically twisted, sexier, and somehow even better than Illusions of Grandeur. 

I feel like this second book is told ever so slightly more from the perspective of the ghost than the first book, and I really enjoyed that. 

Now, for the record, I feel like for all that I've mentioned that it's dark and psychologically twisted, I know there's a lot of C-PTSD readers out there, so I'm going to just throw out there that omg, the gaslighting, manipulation, and other flavors of unhealthy abusive relationships get covered in this novel to some degree- if not portrayed per se, then perhaps discussed. On the one hand, if you're going into a dark romance, you probably know what you're likely getting yourself into. On the other hand... if you can't read people exercising poor judgment, well, you've been warned.

But like I said before when talking about book one, I've read this pair five times, and for a reason. It's good. The characters are deep multidimensional constructs, and oh, dear me, the magic system is even more exquisitely detailed in this novel, and the geekery abounds. 

I also read Ghosts and Liars first as a Kindle Unlimited offering that I later bought in order to have in my own personal library forever, because I know it will be one of those stories to which I continue to return.

Review: Illusions of Grandeur by Kathryn Ann Kinglsey

It isn't like I read this book 5 times or anything. Because I totally at least skipped around one of those times, so only the first four count, right?

Okay, this bookk is the first in a lovely pair of exceedingly dark romance novels. Did I say dark? I mean Vanta Black dark. I loved it.

Like the setting, the architecture of the story is delightfully detailed and not quite as linear as you'd expect. It's perfectly delightful. Between ghosts, rumors of murder, a young woman starting over, a house full of old fashioned automatons, a charismatic magician, and a the true hero of the story, a little plastic octopus, it's a delightful story. Once you start following Alice down this rabbit hole, you won't want to stop.

Of course, this isn't for the prude out there. The story gets not only steamy, but explicitly steamy. But full props to Kathryn Ann Kingsley, when it gets super steamy, it's at least plot furthering. 

Beyond the delightful layers of dark paranormal mischief and even darker lusty goings on, I loved the world building that Kingsley did in this book. While the paranormal aspects are exceedingly far from normal, her careful world building gives it the uncanny magical realism feel that makes it seem like something that just possibly could happen, and I like that.

I recommend checking it out. I read Illusions of Grandeur free on Kindle Unlimited, but I liked it so much that after my third read through I bought it. 

Let's play catch up.

Since we last joined our intrepid reader, she has been writing and reading way too much for her own good, but sharing? Not so much. It's time to correct that imbalance. So sit back, and get ready for a little bit of an update dump. But don't be afraid. I promise, it won't hurt. Much.

Thanks for stopping by.

Funny Story

So, I've been writing a lot lately. Just not *here.*
Here. ------>
In my little travel journal.

Frankly, poetry has felt very therapeutic lately. No, not that self-indulgent angst-fest that I wrote when I was a teenager. This isn't all complete drivel, but let's be honest, feeding creativity is healthy.
Anyway, part of the whole writing process is making a choice: keep it private or try to find a good home for it. I've been trying to home most of my work. Not the total drivel. It gets to live and die on my OneDrive.
Submitting writing involves cover letters. I hate them. You hate them. We all hate them. They always make me feel like a mouse squeaking at the wall. So yesterday, amidst a high stress moment of trying to not sound quite like a mouse, I decided to go an entirely different direction.
I swept caution back into the closet and asked myself what I would want to read if I were on the receiving end, and ended up dancing down the path of whimsy.
It was more or less polite nonsense, but nonetheless, I slipped it into the envelope (yes, honest to goodness envelope, like it's 1989) with more calm than I'd ever felt submitting anything.
I smiled and thought "even if they don't like my work, they'll enjoy the cover letter."

I don't know if I'll be bravely whimsical on subsequent cover letters, but man, just this once? It felt good.

So, before I go about shooting myself in my writing hand with future cover letters, what do you do to make you feel good about your cover letter?

The Magician's Lie

Spellbinding. The Magician's Lie weaves an interconnected tale as fragile and as convincing as any of the great illusions of the Edwardian era. Steeped in tight historical detail, grandiose architecture, and the art of prestidigitation, Greer Macallister masterfully enchants her audience with the tale of Arden, an illusionist whose freedom and life will hinge on a private performance for a lawman in a rural Iowa sheriff's office during the tired hours of the night.

A story as abusive as it is beautiful, The Magician's Lie is filled with grit and opulence, pain, sorrow, and the countless heartaches that hinge on the word "if." Written with a pace that reminded me of The Night Circus, The Magician's Lie rivals The Prestige in terms of human drama played out on the stage and immaculate storytelling.

I received an e-ARC of this book through NetGalley.

The Beginner's Bible

The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Bible Stories by Kelly Pulley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Some stories cross over well into this brightly illustrated adaptation that has been watered down for kids. Some, on the other hand, are disturbingly reduced and lose the moral nuance that make the stories worthwhile to begin with. My five year old liked it, and we finished it in three nights. If you're looking for a fast way to familiarize kids with some of the less interesting tales of the Bible, with none of the pesky details that might set them off to having ideas and thinking, then this is a good starter.

Sneezy the Snowman

My son came home with a couple books this year following his annual school Christmas party. I feel fairly confident they aren't formally calling it a "Christmas Party" these days, it's probably the "Winter" or "Holiday" party, but it's the Christmas Party. Maybe next year I'll send Yule Logs (Swiss Rolls) to keep it inclusive.  Anyway, one of the books he came home with was Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright.
It has cute illustrations and a nice message about trying again when met with catastrophe after a fun afternoon's work. Stories about being solution oriented thinkers are generally good, but the whole "if you're uncomfortable, just eat ridiculous amounts of ice cream" message probably isn't particularly healthy, and I say this from two feet in the fat acceptance no-body-shaming camp. Really, that much ice cream is not the solution. A different jacket might have been.
Also, when reading it aloud, it feels like a book that teeters at the edge of needing a rhythm and rhyme scheme, yet doesn't achieve one. For this, I can't rate it well. My son received it as a gift. He likes it because
I want to like this story because the notion of a sentient puddle asking to be rebuilt puts me in mind of the 2013 Doctor Who Christmas Special, and I do like children's stories that edge up on the creepy, but alas, the ice cream thing just kills it for me.
the snowman sneezes and is cold. It's a funny notion. I suppose from an inclusive standpoint, it gives kids an opportunity to think about people who struggle to get by in the environment into which they were born, for instance, people with grass and pollen allergies. Let's face it, a snow man should be able to handle the weather that matches his natural body temperature.