Month: September 2022

Mania by L.J. Ross

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery, Part of a SeriesLeave a comment

Mania (Alexander Gregory #4)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Alexander Gregory Thrillers #4
Publication Date: 3/3/22
Period: Contemporary
Number of Pages: 270

I read the first book in this series because I am a big fan of this author’s DCI Ryan series. I enjoyed the book, but I thought Alex needed a bit more humanizing to be a truly relatable character. I skipped from the first book to this fourth one because I wanted to see what sort of character growth Alex may have had between the two books. I definitely liked him better this time and will check out the next book to see how it goes.

In this story, there were plots within plots and they had to be disentangled before the case could be solved. Frankly, I’m not a fan of ‘coincidences’, but the coincidences in this book make for a very nice set-up for probably the next book. So, in this book we got a case to solve and we got some intriguing hints about things to come. Cool!

Over a decade ago acclaimed actor of stage and screen, Sir Nigel Villiers, saved the Old Palace Theater from ruin. He is the consummate performer – always prepared – and his personality just dominates the stage. Then he dominates the stage in an entirely different way – with his dead body. He collapsed onstage in front of a full audience. Dr. Alexander Gregory was in the audience along with his friend and mentor Professor William (Bill) Douglas and he rushed to the stage to help. Despite his best efforts, Villiers died – from poisoning.

When cryptic clues turn up – with references to both Socrates and events that happened in Villiers’ past, the investigators are perplexed. Witnesses lead them to suspect after suspect, but none of them lead anywhere. Then, there is another death with the same type of cryptic clues. Obviously, the deaths are related but is it because of what happened in the past or the present?

With yet another death that has similarities, but is still different, the case becomes yet more complicated. Has the murderer changed his pattern? Are all three murders related? They all knew each other – but still? Whose past holds the correct clues?

We meet a couple of potential love interests for Alex and that could get interesting. At least it can if we don’t play around with a love triangle for a while because then I’d just have to put the series down. William and Alex’s pasts are coming back to haunt them and it should be interesting to see how that goes.

This was an interesting, suspenseful read and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Convergence of Desire by Felicity Niven

On By TracyIn Book Publicity, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Convergence of DesireConvergence of Desire by Felicity Niven

Tracy’s rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: The Lovelocks of London, #1

Release Date: September 1, 2022

All Harriet “Harry” Lovelock wants is to be left alone to work on proving Fermat’s conjecture, a mathematical theorem that has baffled mathematicians for two centuries. But her stepmother insists that she participate in a London season in hopes of finding a husband. Harry has no desire to marry, she is brilliant but socially inept and has health issues that will most likely prevent her from having children, not to mention she has no desire to have a physical relationship – so what man would even want her, not to mention, the social whirl is taking time away from her work. She thinks that Mama Katie will realize that Harry is not meant for marriage, but it soon becomes clear that her stepmother is not going to give up and when the opportunity arises, Harry takes matters into her own hands and brokers a marriage of convenience with the fortune-hunting rake that was just rejected by her stepmother when he proposed to her.

Thomas Drake, Earl Drake is in desperate need of a fortune and hopes that the beautiful and very rich widow Mrs. Lovelock, a former actress, will be swayed into marriage by the thought of gaining a title. But she makes it clear that she knows he is only after her money and that she is not interested. He then turns his attention to finding another heiress without much success, he is starting to wonder if he will ever find a bride when he is surprised by an unexpected visitor in his room. Harry offers him a marriage of convenience, she will give him her fortune and in return, he will leave her alone to work on her mathematical theorem – there will be no physical relationship between them and he is free to continue the hedonist life he has always lead, including taking lovers. And though he finds Harry odd with her blunt speech and the way she takes everything very literally, he agrees and they wed.

They go to his estate and he insists on Harry taking care of her health, and slowly her health improves and an unlikely friendship develops between them. Eventually, Thomas realizes he wants more from Harry than she agreed to give, but can they renegotiate their terms, or is he doomed to endure a loveless marriage?

OK, this book had a lot going on and I have mixed feelings. The story itself was good, and Harry instantly reminded me of the character Dr. Temperance Brennan from the TV show Bones which delighted me to no end. And I thought that Thomas was a very complex character and while he projected a jaded, pleasure-seeking playboy, he was actually a very sensitive man who hid his pain and insecurities behind his rakish mask. However, I was really turned off by a scene not long after they married in which Thomas is frustrated with Harry and runs off to London and sleeps with a prostitute – on page and in graphic detail. I can’t abide adultery in romance stories and while the author did mention certain triggers, she did not mention cheating (and I know that they agreed to him having lovers – but I didn’t expect to have to read about his escapades and I certainly didn’t want to read that “after he had penetrated her for the third time”) If cheating had been in the triggers and I really think it should have been – I would not have requested the book. Honestly, I almost decided to quit reading the book at that point, but I felt obligated to finish as I had committed to a review. Thankfully, that was the only incidence of cheating and in regards to the other triggers mentioned, while difficult to read, they were well done and thoughtfully executed. Overall, this book was an interesting read and I would consider reading more by this author.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*