Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 29th March, 2023 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Not of This World – Book 4 of the Gideon Sable series by Simon R. Green – release date 4th April, 2023

#fantasy heist adventure series #troubled hero #magic #humour

BLURB:
The Preserve in Bath – the British Area 51 – is the secret government dumping ground for all things supernatural and out of space. It is one of the most heavily-guarded places in the world. However, it’s not what protects it that makes it so dangerous but the things that are inside . . .

Gideon Sable – master thief, con artist and self-proclaimed vigilante – faces a challenge he can’t refuse. His client, the former Head of the British Rocketry Group, Professor Neil Sharpe, wants him to break into the Preserve. Once inside, Gideon and his crew of supernatural misfits can get any mystical artefact they desire out of the Preserve’s collection. The catch? To reach it, they must go through the treacherous Box Tunnel complex and not only face trained guards and booby traps but steal something that can’t normally be stolen – a ghost!

Sharpe’s obscure motive leaves Gideon uncertain and suspicious. The only thing he knows for sure is that he can steal anything with just the right amount of preparation – but will he be prepared enough to face whatever the Preserve holds, or will he find himself a permanent part of the government’s collection?
I am a solid fan of Green’s writing. See my review for the previous books in this series if you are interested in learning what makes it tick –The Best Thing You Can Steal , A Matter of Death and Life and What Song the Sirens Sang. So when I saw this offering pop up on Netgalley, I was delighted to get hold of a copy.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 15th March, 2023 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – We Dream of Gods – Book 4 of The Reborn Empire by Devin Madson – release date 23rd March, 2023

#epic fantasy adventure series #feisty heroine #gods #magic

BLURB:
THERE ARE NO GODS. ONLY MEN.

Betrayed by her closest allies, Empress Miko Ts’ai is thrust from ruler to pawn. But she won’t suffer the whims of men. A string of dangerous gambles could win Miko her empire for good, but to take back the throne, she must become everything her ancestors failed to be.

Rah e’Torin leads a herd again. Now he seeks to honor a promise he made a lifetime ago-to safely bring his Swords home. Yet Rah’s loyalty to the past may be his ultimate undoing.

Cassandra Marius is lost. Ensnared by memories that aren’t her own, Cass must decide who she really is, but the answer lies beyond one final confrontation with Leo Villius.

And trapped in the heart of the Chiltaen army, Dishiva e’Jaroven is handed unexpected power. The dream of a new homeland is within her grasp – if she risks everything and trusts her former enemies.
I came to this riveting series late, but was very pleased to have done so – see my review of We Cry For Blood. So when I saw this offering pop up on Netgalley, I was delighted to get hold of a copy, as this one has stayed with me. Has anyone else read it, yet?

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 22nd February, 2023 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – A Day of Fallen Night – Prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon – release date 28th February, 2023.

#epic fantasy #LGBTQ romance

BLURB: Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory’s purpose. To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be.

The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother’s past is coming to upend her fate.

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.
I listened to and loved The Priory of the Orange Tree which has stayed in my memory. It isn’t a flawless book, but some of the characters and the plot sank into my inscape to the extent that I dreamt of the story over the days I was playing it. So when I saw this doorstopper pop up on Netgalley – despite having more books on my TBR list than is good for me – I couldn’t resist it. Apart from anything else – how awesome is this cover?

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 15th February, 2023 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – One Extra Corpse – Book 2 of the Silver Screen Historical Mystery series by Barbara Hambly – release date 7th March, 2023

#murder mystery #1920s era #Hollywood setting

BLURB: Hollywood intrigue, glamor . . . and murder: Enter the roaring twenties in this thrilling Silver Screen historical mystery, starring two very different female sleuths.

May, 1924. It’s been seven months since young British widow Emma Blackstone arrived in Hollywood to serve as companion to Kitty Flint: her beautiful, silent-movie star sister-in-law. Kitty is generous, kind-hearted . . . and a truly terrible actress. Not that Emma minds; she’s too busy making her academic parents turn in their graves with her new job writing painfully historically inaccurate scenarios for Foremost Studios, in between wrangling their leading lady out of the arms of her army of amorous suitors.

So when one of Kitty’s old flames, renowned film director Ernst Zapolya, calls Emma and tells her it’s imperative he meet with Kitty that morning, she’s not surprised. Until, that is, he adds that lives depend on it. Ernest sounds frightened. But what can have scared him so badly – and what on earth does cheerful, flighty Kitty have to do with it?

Only Ernest can provide the answers, and Kitty and Emma travel to the set of his extravagant new movie to find them. But the shocking discovery they make there only raises further questions . . . including: will they stay alive long enough to solve the murderous puzzle?
I haven’t yet read the first book in this series – though I plan to before tucking into this one. But I do know the author’s work, as I’ve listened to the first four books in her marvellous Benjamin January series, which are beautifully written and very well researched. So I’m really looking forward to having more Hambly goodness in my life – especially as this is a favourite era of mine. Has anyone else got an arc for this one?

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 8th February, 2023 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Love Will Tear Us Apart – Book 3 of The Stranger Times series by C.K. McDonnell – release date 9th February, 2023.

#urban fantasy adventure #Manchester setting #humour

BLURB: Love can be a truly terrible thing.

Marriages are tricky at the best of times, especially when one of you is dead.

Vincent Banecroft, the irascible editor of The Stranger Times, has never believed his wife died despite emphatic evidence to the contrary. Now, against all odds, it seems he may actually be proved right; but what lengths will he go to in an attempt to rescue her?

With Banecroft distracted, the shock resignation of assistant editor, Hannah Willis, couldn’t have come at a worse time. It speaks volumes that her decision to reconcile with her philandering ex-husband is only marginally less surprising than Banecroft and his wife getting back together. In this time of crisis, is her decision to swan off to a fancy new-age retreat run by a celebrity cult really the best thing for anyone?

As if that wasn’t enough, one of the paper’s ex-columnists has disappeared, a particularly impressive trick seeing as he never existed in the first place.

Floating statues, hijacked ghosts, homicidal cherubs, irate starlings, Reliant Robins and quite possibly several deeply sinister conspiracies; all-in-all, a typical week for the staff of The Stranger Times.

I have read and loved the previous books in this entertaining series – see my review of This Charming Man, the second book. The humour is very British and laugh-aloud, while there are also moments of real poignancy. So I’m thrilled to have it in my TBR pile – I’m running a bit behind my reading schedule at the moment. And if you are also keen to get hold of the latest in this series, then you won’t have to wait long as tomorrow is the release date:). If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, then get hold The Stranger Times – it’s worth tucking into this series from the beginning.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 23rd November, 2022 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – The Luminaries by Susan Dennard – release date – 26th January, 2023

#YA #magic adventure #feisty heroine

BLURB: Hemlock Falls isn’t like other towns. You won’t find it on a map, your phone won’t work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you…

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie’s town―and the rest of humanity―from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night. Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal―and restore her family’s good name. Or die trying.

But in order to survive, Winnie must enlist the help of the one person who can help her train: Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnie’s ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for. Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.

I thoroughly enjoyed Truthwitch and Windwitch, so when I saw this one on Tammy’s blog, I immediately nicked across to Netgalley to see if it was available – and was delighted when I was approved for an arc. It sounds as if there’s a slight Hunger Games vibe going on, which I’m happy about if it’s being handled by an experienced author like Dennard.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 16th November, 2022 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky – release date – 8th December 2022

#fantasy #political intrigue

BLURB: There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.

What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city’s refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores. Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.

Ilmar,
City of Long Shadows.
City of Bad Decisions.
City of Last Chances.
Tchaikovsky is always worth reading. A prolific author with an impressively varied range in his writing – his best work includes Children of Time, The Expert System’s Brother, Ironclads, Dogs of War, The Doors of Eden, Firewalkers, Bear Head, Spiderlight and Ogres. Even if I don’t always completely fall in love with his work, I often still find myself thinking about it long after I’ve finished it. So I’m really looking forward to tucking into this one.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 2nd November, 2022 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Waste of a Life – Book 3 of the Decluttering Mysteries by Simon Brett – release date – 6th December 2022

#contemporary murder mystery #feisty heroine #family relationships #humour

BLURB: Declutterer Ellen Curtis has been working to bring order into the life of Cedric Waites, a recluse in his eighties who hasn’t left his house or let anyone inside it since his wife died. On one of her regular visits, Ellen finds the old man dead.

Sad but, given his age, perhaps not unexpected. Nothing to get worked up about . . . until the police raise the suspicion that Cedric might have been poisoned! The cause seems be something he ate, and as Ellen cleared away the old man’s food containers, she is under suspicion. As is Dodge, who works for Ellen and has unhelpfully done a runner . . .

Meanwhile, a rival declutterer is out to sabotage Ellen’s reputable business, her two grown-up children are back home and in crisis, and she has a potential love interest. Ellen’s life has taken on a chaotic turn of its own! Can she uncover the killer and bring order back to her own life?
This is a favourite series of mine – see my reviews of The Clutter Corpse and An Untidy Death. I love gutsy Ellen, who has had to recover from a terrible blow and is a study in resilience. She also has a delightfully dry humour, so I’m really looking forward to spending more time with her, as she tries to uncover the story behind another dodgy death.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 26th October, 2022 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – AUDIOBOOK Orbs of Wisdom – Book 6 of the Dragon Gate series by Lindsay Buroker – release date – hm… probably end of December 2022/beginning January 2023 (judging by the comparative release dates of the audiobooks to the ebooks in the series).

#fantasy adventure #dragons #magic #delightful mother and son protagonists

BLURB: The final installment in the Dragon Gate saga!

With his mother’s life at stake and the entire world threatened by powerful dragons, the sand in the hour glass is running out for Jak Freedar. He and his allies must find the ancient Orbs of Wisdom and hope they hold the solutions to the problems plaguing humanity and the dragons before it’s too late.
I’ve LOVED listening to the first four books in this gripping epic fantasy series featuring Jak and his archaeologist mother, who get snatched by greedy, ambitious mage King Uthari and have been swept up in the amazing adventure that follows. It is chockful of engaging characters who I’ve grown to love, such as Rookie Tezzy and her enchanted axe – as well as some really nasty antagonists I love to hate. I was thrilled to discover that the fifth book, Sky on Fire, is now available as an audiobook and have just finished listening again to the fourth book, Chosen for Power before tucking into it. So I am thoroughly looking forward to the sixth and final book with a familiar mixture of emotions. I’m desperate to know what happens, yet… I don’t want this series to end!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 19th October, 2022 #Brainfluffbookblog #CWC #WOW

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t-Wait offering – Children of Memory – Book 2 of the Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky – release date – 24th November, 2022

#science fiction #colonisation adventure

BLURB: Earth is failing. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carry its precious human cargo to a potential new Eden. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.

Then Liff, Holt’s granddaughter, hears whispers that the strangers in town aren’t from neighbouring farmland. That they possess unparalleled technology – and that they’ve arrived from another world. But not all questions are so easily answered, and their price may be the colony itself.
The first book in this series, Children of Time, is one of my all-time favourite colonisation adventures – I just loved those spiders… While the second book, Children of Ruin wasn’t quite as successful, nonetheless I’m delighted to have got hold of this third book in the series – especially as the premise is so intriguing.