River Readers

The Nameless City—held by the rogue Dao prince Erzi—is under siege by a coalition of Dao and Yisun forces who are determined to end the war for the Nameless City once and for all. And the people of the city—the "Named"—are caught in between.

Meanwhile, Rat and Kai must infiltrate Erzi's palace and steal back the ancient and deadly formula for napatha, the ancient weapon of mass destruction Erzi has unearthed—before he can use it to destroy everything Rat and Kai hold dear!

(--Goodreads.com)

Marjorie Glatt feels like a ghost. A practical thirteen year old in charge of the family laundry business, her daily routine features unforgiving customers, unbearable P.E. classes, and the fastidious Mr. Saubertuck who is committed to destroying everything she’s worked for.

Wendell is a ghost. A boy who lost his life much too young, his daily routine features ineffective death therapy, a sheet-dependent identity, and a dangerous need to seek purpose in the forbidden human world.

Jetta and her family are the most talented shadow puppeteers in Chakrana, mainly due to Jetta's unique supernatural abilities. She is able to bind the souls of the dead to her puppets, creating spectacles never before seen. As impressive as her talents are, she must never let anyone outside of her family know what she can do since necromancy is illegal. Nevertheless, she and her family hope to parlay their increasing fame in shadow puppetry into a trip to Aquitan, the overseas seat of power.

If you are a fan of cooking competitions, you will enjoy this book even more. I found myself laughing at the rivalry between Carter and Reid while devouring the food challenges they were having. The romance is almost secondary to the competition and it's is easy to choose favorites. Relax and have fun with this one.

Maika Halfwolf is from the "race" called arcanics. Arcanics are used by humans for the magic that can be extracted from them. Maika has a stump for an arm, a multi-eyed monster resides in her body and sometimes surfaces to devour others. I have a bit of a problem following the storyline, it would probably help if I reread the book. Or perhaps its intentional. Analagously, another author C.J. Cherryh has battle scenes where you're never quite sure what happened - I suspect people in battles are often unclear about everything that happened.

This is just a fun romantic series that lets you leave your cares behind. I enjoy learning more about this cast of characters. Sometimes it's nice to think a wishing fountain could make a difference in someone's life.

There’s no such thing as a little in love…

Brienna is finishing her training as a "Passion" someone who has intently studied one of the 5 arts in the kingdom of Valenia. She desperately hopes to gain a patron on graduation, but no one makes her an offer. Then, a disgraced nobleman from the kingdom of Maevana makes her an offer to become her patron.

This unique graphic novel takes us on an epic journey to reclaim lost love. When Mia joins the reconstruction crew, she doesn't expect the crew to become her family. She's still trying to get her life together after a challenging childhood and adolescence. As such, she's prone to making mistakes and taking risks that could jeopardize the entire crew. The rest of the crew, however, has more or less "adopted" her into their ragtag space family and are willing to do what it takes to keep everyone safe and together.

When Elli was a young child, she was identified as the next Valtia, or queen of Kupari. The Valtia is the only person in the kingdom to have perfect mastery over both fire and ice magic. To this end, the Valtia is the primary protector of the entire country. The Kupari don't even have a military, such is their trust in the powers of the Valtia. When the current Valtia dies, Elli will be her successor and has trained for it her entire life. Unfortunately, when the current Valtia does actually die, the magic fails to move into Elli as its supposed to.

*This review was originally published in the Jefferson City News Tribune on 11/11/18*

This is one of my top books of the year. I really enjoyed how Jackson connected the past and the present. The fact that so many people, dealing with so many different things, end up connected basically through one wannabe star was so intriguing. I had no problem following the different plots and was not blind-sided by the ending. Character development was enough to keep you interested and involved without bogging you down. I listened to this and it was hard to stop,so I had to make sure I quit early sometimes or I would keep listening to the next chapter!

This award winning series was worth reading even though it was outside my comfort zone. In any world, friends are a good thing to have, no matter what or where.

Maika has spent most of her life learning how to fight, but how will she fare when the only way to save her life...is to make friends? Collects issues 13-18 of the Hugo Award and British Fantasy Award series.
Goodreads.

This was a good story that explores more about how Maika ended up on the run. It's never easy to evaluate the choices in life,whether it's ones you made or will make or ones others made for you. Trust is had to understand.

After months of boring work in a bakery and being turned down by every medical school she's applied to, Felicity strikes upon an opportunity that she can't resist. Her estranged former friend Johanna is set to marry Felicity's idol, Dr. Platt, who might be willing to take a woman on as an apprentice. Felicity concocts a scheme to get to Germany, which requires the assistance of a lady pirate with an entirely different set of motives. One should never meet one's idols though; Dr. Platt turns out to be far from the enlightened physician that Felicity has made him out to be.

Girl in the Tower continues the tale of Vasilisa. Having saved her village from the Bear (aka Hunger), you'd think the village would appreciate her. Nope. They worry that she is a witch, and blame her for the death of her father. No gratitude.
She has set out to visit her sister who because she is married to a lord is kept in a tower. She dresses as a boy to be able to have more freedom, but does Not cut her hair.