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A friend (we met online at a Twitter Party, officially in Sussex, England) recommended Lindsey Davis's Falco books. Falco is a private eye/investigator...in first century Rome. I've only read the first book, which is Silver Pigs, but I gather it's the first of about 20.

Silver Pigs follows Falco from Rome to the mines of Britain (with a brief look at Bath-To-Be) and back to Rome under Vespasian. Told in first person, our private eye has a wry sense of humor, an extended family, and a sixth-floor walkup over a laundry. Wonderfully vivid detail and delightful characters and a mystery to solve that you care about.

Must obtain the next book soonest.

Highly recommended historical mystery.
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This book looks from the cover like a common romance, but it's not. It's a modern paranormal romance, half fairy tale, half speculative fiction.

In some ways it resembles A.M. Dellamonica's "Indigo Springs" but less serious, less devastating to the reader. Our heroine is in love with a man who obviously likes her but won't go out with her, and it drives her crazy because it doesn't make sense. Then first one then another new person comes to the small town, and make our heroine's life much more interesting than she ever wanted. There's adventure and explosions and a purple origami crane that flies. There's a 70-odd year old who runs the diner, and four friends who have known each other since elementary school, and there's the cook and dreamboat, Tobias, who has secrets of his own. By the end, all is explained and there's a happy ending for our couple as expected in a romance, even if it doesn't come easily.

If you like Jennifer Crusie, or would like a more real Nora Roberts, or would like a lighter version of Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson series, try this book. I'm keeping my copy to reread, I think, because I want to reread the character development now that I know their secrets.

Definitely recommended if you like a paranormal twist to your romances.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/A-Little-Night-Magic-Lucy-March/9781250002679-item.html?ikwid=a+little+night+magic+lucy+march&ikwsec=Books

and

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Night-Magic-Lucy-March/dp/1250002672/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329732106&sr=1-1
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Wow. This is a traditional Fat Fantasy novel, the first of a series/trilogy/more, and it's wonderful. Somehow Weeks focuses on the people rather than the events, so that although you're swung around the countryside following various characters, you're never lost and you're never bored. In fact, he manages to surprise the reader, which isn't easy when you've read as many books as I have over the years. Basics: magic and change and politics and warriors and a school of magic (which runs on colour rather than any of the usual tropes) and fights over who is in charge at the moment. There are no heroes or villains here, exactly, which is why I enjoyed it so much.

Doesn't hurt that there's a gorgeous warrior on the cover, resembling Ares from the old Hercules/Xena series (the late Kevin Tod Smith).

Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to getting his first trilogy soon and trying it as well.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/The-Black-Prism-Brent-Weeks/9780316068130-item.html?ikwid=black+prism&ikwsec=Home

and

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Prism-Lightbringer-Brent-Weeks/dp/0316068136/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329731150&sr=8-1
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The Diviner is a prequel to "The Golden Key" from a few years back. This book follows a family across generations, to the founding of the Tza'ab Rih empire. I adored the first third of the book. Our hero is a scapegrace with humor and caring and wit. He survives his family's massacre because he was late due to being in the bed of one of his many lovers. He escapes and ends up in the desert, meeting a mysterious tribe of healers and charm makers. (Reminiscent of Dune, but with horses rather than spice worms.) Eventually the story goes to his son, who has no sense of humor (understandable, but not as much fun for me to read) but massive ambition.

I loved the world-building. The women lead, choosing their husband for his abilities, and the men leave the tribe but the women stay. There's magic and trading empires and (horses) and (horses!) and a long feud with the emperor who killed the original boy's family.

The first part was great, the rest was okay, but then I read for character more than plot and I just couldn't like the other heroes in the book. It did, however, make me want to dig out my copy of Golden Key (http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/The-Golden-Key-Rawn-Roberson-Elliot/9780756406714-item.html?ikwid=golden+key&ikwsec=Books) and reread it.



http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Diviner-Melanie-Rawn/9780886777654-item.html?ikwid=the+diviner&ikwsec=Home
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"Do or Di" is a snappy modern romance by Eileen Cook. Our heroine has a career in radio, a lover (who really is going to leave his wife any time now), a mother (who reads Jennifer Crusie!), married friends, and expectations that cause her to do things she doesn't really -want- to do such as become a Big Sister-equivalent to a teenager who claims to have Princess Diana (the "Di" in the title) as her spirit guide.

It's a decent light read, on sale as an ebook at Amazon for $2.99 at the moment. Personally, I wish it had been more tightly edited, because the heroine's thoughts didn't match up with her being a petite pick-up-able woman, and her hero was a bit sketched-in, but it was still a good way to pass an evening while waiting for phone calls to pick up kids.

Definitely a happy ending with humor and some wit, which is what I was looking for. But still, a read-once.

http://www.amazon.com/Do-or-Di-ebook/dp/B0070X9XDU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328663355&sr=8-1
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Kelly McCullough wrote the fascinating Web Mythos series that wrapped up last year. This is a new series, called "A Fallen Blade Novel" that once again touches on gods and their interference in human lives. In Broken Blade, Aral is a former priest/assassin whose goddess was slain and he is now homeless and lost and working as a small time courier and thief. He's marvelous and sympathetic and you like him immediately.

Highly recommended. In fact, it's better even than the Web Mythos series and I can hardly wait until the next books emerge from McCullough's pen. Definitely get this one while you can, because you'll want it later when the next books come out and you'll wish you'd read this one.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Broken-Blade-Kelly-McCullough/9781937007089-item.html?ikwid=broken+blade&ikwsec=Books
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P.D. James has written a Jane Austen sequel in which Wickham is up on murder charges for a death on the grounds of Pemberley. I am not a great fan of Austen (yes, sacrilege, I know), although I like Mansfield Park, and liked the films: both Pride and Prejudices (Colin Firth and Kiera Knightly versions, however different) and Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson) and the various Persuasions. However there is a life in Austen's characters (dislike them as I often do) that P.D. James doesn't quite seem to catch. Elizabeth and Darcy walk through this book at a remove, with caring but little spirit. I confess I ended up skipping ahead to the end to see Who Done It, because this is a Mystery first and foremost, and I prefer my mysteries to be character-driven, not plot driven. This is very plot driven.

It is, however, original and true to Austen's characters, unlike many of the other modern versions using Austen's books as a starting point.

If you like plot-driven mysteries, and adore Elizabeth and Darcy (and want to learn a lot more about Darcy's childhood and why he is who is), you'll probably like this.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Death-Comes-To-Pemberley-P-d-James/9780307362032-item.html?ikwid=death+pemberely&ikwsec=Books
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Truth-Teller's Tale and Dream-Maker's Magic are Sharon Shinn's second and third books in the trilogy that began with Safe-Keeper's Secret. Truth is about twins (very well written mirror twins), one ends up being a Safe-Keeper and the storyteller becomes a Truth-Teller. Wonderful but slightly predictable to this veteran reader of fairy tales (I'm not saying this is a bad thing). As one reviewer quoted on the book said, readers who liked Robin McKinley's Beauty would like these. And I'd add readers who liked Patricia Wrede's Dragon fantasies, too. Cozy fantasies and comforting fairy tales with happy endings.

Dream-Maker's Magic wraps up the trilogy, with the tale of a broken boy and the girl-raised-as-a-boy narrator who cares about him. It's good but almost too heavy with Significance To Modern Society.

The world is quiet and cozy and all the world-building is behind the scenes as it generally is in fantasies. I liked these books, but it's the first one that I'll reread most often.

Recommended.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/The-Truth-Tellers-Tale-Sharon-Shinn/9780142407844-item.html?ikwid=sharon+shinn&ikwsec=Home

and

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Dream-Makers-Magic-Sharon-Shinn/9780670060702-item.html?ikwid=sharon+shinn+dream&ikwsec=Home
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Yes, this is the same Sharon Shinn who writes science fiction for adults. I admit, I liked this young adult book the best of what I've tried of hers, though.

Her world-building is impeccable in this story, which focuses on the residents of a small village in an interesting kingdom nowhere in particular. This land has Safe-Keepers who are the people you tell secrets to so you can share things without anyone else finding out. This ranges from who stole the cream off the milk to who fathered which child or murdered which lord. Safe-keepers, Truth-Tellers and Dream-Makers make the society work. This is a quiet fairy tale, of a hidden child and a dead messenger, and of growing up and of expectations. I liked it enormously. I'm going to look for more of Shinn's young adult books now.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Safe-Keepers-Secret-Sharon-Shinn/9780670059102-item.html?ikwid=safe+keepers+secret&ikwsec=Home
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The first three books in the Iron series are from the girl's point of view. This one is from Prince Ash's point of view as he strives to keep to his promise to find a way to be with her despite his being a Winter Fey and her living in Iron. (Iron kills fey.) It starts a little slow, but his Journey of the Hero keeps getting richer and more difficult as the book continues, giving a solid and satisfying conclusion.

Definitely a good series, and a definitely great capper to it -- I liked it the best of the four, although I liked the first three as well.



http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/The-Iron-Knight-Julie-Kagawa/9780373210367-item.html?ikwid=iron+knight&ikwsec=Home
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