The Russian Cage (Gunnie Rose, Book 3)

This is the third book in the Gunnie Rose series, and it continues to be a quality series. Russian Cage picks up where A Longer Fall left off. Lizbeth received a coded message from her sister that her estranged love, Prince Eli, has been taken captive by the Holy Russian Empire. Instead of working with a crew as she usually does, Lizbeth must go this job alone. She will depend on the help of her sister, Felicia, to rescue Eli and we learn a bit more about her along the way.

As you guys know, I’ve been a Charlaine Harris fan for quite a while. While I credit the Southern Vampire series with my introduction to her work, my favorite writing of hers has not been in that most popular series. My favorite is her Midnight, TX trilogy. I re-read it almost every year. I must say, though, this series is coming up hot on its tail! Harris is a master at building new and exciting worlds, and the characters in this series just continue to grow and gain more depth. There was one plot hole in this particular installment, but that can be forgiven, of course. I won’t point it out, in case you miss it! You could read this as a stand-alone, but you will really benefit from reading the books in order. I can’t wait to get more stories of Lizbeth Rose’s life!

This book releases on February 23, but you can pre-order it now!

Many thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy.

Small Kingdoms and Other Stories

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Author: Charlaine Harris

Genre: Thriller/Suspense

Publisher: JABerwocky

Pages: 176

Anne DeWitt is not the kind of principal that one wants to cross. Before coming to Travis High she had quite a different job at a very different type of school, and a different name. That was before the incident, of course. She now has her new name, new job, new town, and new life- unless her old one catches up with her. Anne likes her new life, a lot in fact, and she’s willing to do anything to protect it… anything. She may have to put that resolve to the test when her past makes an appearance in her present. 

As a long time fan of Charlaine Harris’ work, I was very excited to receive her latest work for review, and I was not disappointed! This is a book of four short stories centered around Anne and another character (introduced in the first story) Holt, and their exploits under new identities and new lives. Both of the main characters are well developed the first story and continue to become more fleshed out as the stories continue on. The secondary characters that are introduced in each story are also interesting and well developed. These stories were very different from my favorite series’ of Harris’ (Midnight, Texas is one of my favorite trilogies!), but it is definitely written with her voice and style. While I certainly wouldn’t say that it is laugh out loud funny, there is some great snark and sass combined with a bit of dark humor from these characters that I found quite enjoyable. I truly didn’t want these stories to end, and hope that there are more to come from this world! 

Many thanks to JABerwocky for the ARC! 

This is out May 28!