Mira's Diary: Home Sweet Rome by Marissa Moss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mira’s Diary Home Sweet Rome
By Marissa Moss
I received an early release Arc of Home Sweet Rome and it fell into the same realm as Lost in Paris. There was this anticipation of what would happen to Mira as she slipped into ancient Rome. There was also this giddiness at seeing Rome through Mira’s and the author’s eyes, though some of her time spent there depicted a very different Rome. One of the amazing things about Italy is that so much of what was there in the 15th and 16th century can still be seen now. Some of it is ruins, but, occasionally you visit someplace like the Pantheon that has existed in its current rebuilt state since approximately 125 A.D. and before it was rebuilt it existed since somewhere between 25-27 B.C.. It is just breathtaking to consider something so old still standing. Mira gets to experience both time periods and see what was originally in Rome and how much things have changed and shares that with the reader.
She has her father and brother to help her as much as they can while Mira learns to control her travels into other times. The rules have not changed but the risks to Mira have grown exponentially because she has travelled to a time when females do not have the same rights or roles as they do in our time and still another time when Jewish citizens are treated as less than other citizens in Rome. Mira again has to determine what wrong she needs to right so that her mom can come back to their time. She has several mysteries to solve to determine what her mom’s messages are guiding her to do in ancient Rome. Mira is growing more into a young adult and unfortunately a great deal of that is now being done without her mom who is still missing.
One of the best things about Home Sweet Rome is living through the trials with Mira as she tries to determine her purpose in Rome. It is not all investigation and move on. She has some serious decisions to make and her life is at risk while she traverses through time to help her mom solve the problem she is determined to solve so that she can rejoin her family in Mira’s time. Home Sweet Rome is a traveler’s dream, a historical book lover’s companion and a great book to add to a mystery book reader’s shelves. It has it all and despite being about a young adult it is a great read for book lovers of all ages. I look forward to the next trip in Mira’s story!
Review can also be seen at LadyTechie's Book Musing http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

Immortal Eclipse by Sherry Soule
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received Immortal Eclipse as an e-Arc for review on behalf Literal Addiction. I read the blurb and was really looking forward to it but have to admit that I tend to stay away from ghost stories and haunted house stories. But, I honor my obligations so I tucked in yesterday to see what this story had to offer. Skylar is a gifted photographer who has had photos on the cover of some of the best fashion magazines published. She also spends more than her fair share of money on designer shoes and clothes. Her glamorous life takes a turn and she is suddenly without direction. She has received several calls from her recently deceased uncle to handle his estate which was left to her. She decides it is as good a time as any to go to California and see how the investigation into his death is proceeding and handle his estate.

From the moment she arrives in California she is warned away, harassed, haunted and threatened. Everyone she has met that works at her uncle’s mansion, now her mansion, seems to dislike her. Oddly enough she expected better treatment from those that depended upon her for their livelihood. She finds that it is hard to trust any of them and some openly distrust her though they just met her. That is one of the things that is great about this book, the character development. You have no trouble seeing who the bad guys are but, there is some difficulty determining if those that seem like good guys really are good guys because everyone there has secrets and some of them involve Skylar though she is not aware of the secrets. One of the other things about Immortal Eclipse is the story line. Though ghost story/hauntings are not usually to my taste this one was well told and held my interest. Honestly at times it kind of crept me out which might be why I stay away from them. Skylar has to decide if risking her life is worth determining who killed her uncle since the police have already closed the case as a suicide or going back to New York and trying to rebuild her life. She sticks it out until it is too late and she has no choice but to push on and find out the secrets of her uncle’s home. I will be looking out for more titles by Sherry Soule!

Review can also be seen at http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to say that this book really hit me more than I thought it would. I chose it hoping to get to see Italy again but through the author's eyes hoping she had been there and was sharing her experiences through her character's eyes. What I got out of it was so much more than that. I was reminded of things I saw and things I missed and plan to go back and see. I was reminded of this weird kinship I felt with Rome despite the fact that I did not speak the language and did not know anyone there. My Goddaughter still talks about the food we ate and the places we visited and how we just roamed around and fell in love with this place. It seemed really odd to miss a place and think about it every single day as if it was a second home, and only after a first visit. We both talk about how much we miss it. I read everything I can that has Roma as its setting. The author did an amazing job expressing the same feelings I had when our driver dropped us off at the airport. I knew immediately when we left that I had to go back and that I would miss it. Reading Flirting in Italian felt like I was reading my own travelogue, though I wish I had the great experience with the fellas while I was there, but, I was with a minor and my focus was on making the trip amazing for my Goddaughter. More than that this book captured the people of Roma just as I remembered them. I know I will read this book again and again and look forward to it every time I begin it.

Deadly Sting by Jennifer Estep
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an e-Arc of Deadly Sting and loved every moment of it. I took some time reading Widow's Web because I caught a hint of part of the story arc. Once I made it through, and still loved it I did not hesitate to jump right into this one. I mentioned in my review of Widows's Web that part of the overall theme of the series is that Gin doesn't just help the people she jumps in to defend. She also seems to in some way end up needing them to step up and help themselves. This one was a bit different from that. We always get to see more into how Gin is growing and changing and how her past plays a part in this change.

Deadly Sting does one thing that I really enjoyed, spend more time with Fletcher Lane. I have always been bummed that we don't get to know him better when he was such a big influence in her life. We pretty much see Gin as she is as an adult and though we get flashes of Fletcher in the books we never get to know who he is and how he got to be that way. Maybe one day Jennifer Estep will write a novella based upon Fletcher Lane or even a full novel that would backtrack when Mab is in her heyday and Fletcher is Gin's handler and who her love interest was at the time, etc. That would be great. Another thing I would love to see is something about Gin's father. We know absolutely nothing about him other than Mab's interest in him.

Deadly Sting was more of an action packed ride where there were 2 mysteries, one was more a mystery for Gin's friends and the other involves who set up the events in the museum. Getting to the answers of who is responsible for everything is more than just seeing who the players are during the robbery and it adds to the tension and gives the reader something to look forward to in future books. I have to admit that I am more a fan of stories that do not drag on one villain for too long, in books and in television shows. Catch Red John for crying out loud! I am invested in this series and it is one of few that I am still following because the characters have not driven me away, even Owen.

Review can also be seen at Lady Techies Book Musings http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

Widow’s Web by Jennifer Estep
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an e-Arc of Widow's Web before it was released. But, I made the mistake of catching a whiff of something that made me a bit wary to jump right into the story. Then the audiobook was released and I bought that on the day of the release because I love Lauren Fortgang's narration of the series. Finally, I decided to take the leap because I wanted to honor my promise to review the book and now Deadly Sting is being released on March 26, 2013. Time to suck it up and catch up.

I have to admit that I love this series. I am always looking for great, woman assassin books, and Gin Blanco is that and more. She has the kick-butt elemental powers as well as some great fighting skills. I have to admit that there was one pet peeve for this book. The use of the word "lover" drove me nuts. I guess I'm not overly fond of it anyway so there was a bias to start. For me, there was this love of Owen who was a bit of a disappointment in this book. Even Eva was disappointed and she is his sister. But, I have to admit that Gin has had so much loss and pain in her life I was kind of hoping that her personal life could be one area that she could have a break while she helps right wrongs or protect the innocent. But, I did have a bit of an epiphany or maybe I noticed this in previous books but put words to the thoughts this time. Gin starts out fighting the battles of others then for the most part the victim has to step in and help protect her and themselves before the problem is fixed. Maybe there is a lesson that was always there but I missed it because I was always so engrossed in the fight sequences and cool powers to see it before now. Maybe I saw it when Gin fought the vampire and tried to help his wife. That one was really more evident though I didn't take note.

This story was about how the past comes back to haunt you. For Owen he learned that a prolific set of circumstances that shaped a large portion of his life were misinterpreted. But, he still allowed that mistake to shape a lot of his decisions in Widow's Web. It was the one time I wanted to slap him and yell wake up, even after he woke up, he seemed to act weak. It was a disappointment because I really loved him as a love interest for Gin. But, I'm not quite sure he deserves her. I don't think that Gin's run-in with Donovan in the last book was anywhere near the same annoying circumstances as what happened with Owen and his former fiancée. She did not show any weakness for him and even took a stand to protect the feelings of Donovan's fiancée.

There were some decent fight scenes though not quite to level of previous books. I hope Deadly Sting steps them up again. Widow's Web read more like it was about personal issues than fighting the bad guy, though the bad guy existed. I'm ready for Deadly Sting and cannot wait for the audiobook to be released!

Review can also be seen on LadyTechie's Book Musing http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

Angelopolis by Danielle Trussoni
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Angelopolis
By Danielle Trussoni
I received an e-Arc of Angelopolis through Edelweiss. I have to admit that I was watching closely for this release because I loved Angelology. I was excited to have a chance to review this book a bit before its release. I did not love it as much as I did Angelology though I have a strong like for it. I think the biggest thing that struck me is that there were 3 points-of-view from which Angelopolis was told. One was Evangeline's, the other was Verlaine and Bruno, and the other began later in the story when one of the other angelologists, Vera, went a different direction. I think the one thing missing for me was spending more time with Evangeline. Her part of the story was not as big as I would have liked, especially since so much of the story was about her and her family and given the suspenseful ending of Angelology. Another thing that I’m mulling over is the “Angelopolis”. There was something odd with the prison nomenclature in Siberia and I was not sure if it was meant to be two different terms for two different concepts or if there was a change in terms. Possibly the angels called it one thing and those that new what the place eventually turned into called it something else, Panopticon. Are these the same place or have we not seen Angelopolis yet?

There were some great scenes with some of the more prominent angels and I loved learning more about the different types and hierarchies of angels. We find out more about the relationship between the angelologists, the Nephilim in particular. There is a great depiction about the history of not only the angels, but also of some of the angelologists, particularly Angela Valko and her father, Raphael Valko. Part of what was hard for me to follow is the gap in time and possibly I should have re-read Angelology before embarking on this experience and I can describe it as just that, an experience. I think I understand why there was a gap in the time between the two stories and if it is designed for the reason I believe then it works well and would have been even better if Evangeline was in the story more. We only get to see her changes and growth a small amount and maybe that will be developed more in the next book. But, it would have been great to experience more of her changes in this book.

There are some surprises in this book and some real displays of power by the angels, though I am wondering more about one of the new characters, Yana. I get the feeling like she has some gift that we are not privy to yet. Eno has one of the largest roles in the book. We don't know much about her other than the accountings of various run-ins told by Bruno and what was reported in other angelologists' reports. She appears to be ruthless and very violent and epitomizes the reason the angelologists exist in the first place. There are more angels that we see developed in this story specifically who will likely have bigger roles in the next book, like the Grigori twins. We also get to learn more about Russian history and some Biblical references with a nice tie-in to Faberge who still has a presence in the European and U.K. shopping districts. The ending was quite exciting and it did give a big buildup to the next book which I hope comes without another 2 year wait. I did stop to check Danielle Trussoni's website to see if this is a series or trilogy but did not find any information that gave me a clue. I can say that fans of Angelology will likely enjoy Angelopolis as much as I did.

Review can also be seen at Lady Techie's Book Musings http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo....