The Ghost & Lady Alice- Marion Chesney

This was a fun little romp with a few screwball elements. Alice is a scullery maid on a ducal estate, mistreated, and desperately wanting a better life. She ventures upstairs one night after everyone has gone to bed and sees a portrait of her employer's ancestor- a man who was a known rake & libertine, but who treated his servants fairly and with kindness. The nearly broken Alice wishes out loud that he could come bck and take her away from her miserable existance.

Gervase, the 8th Duke, is quite startled to find himself summoned back into existance after his death nearly a century before. He is amused by the little scullery maid who has unwittingly brought him back and decides to help her. It takes a while to put his plan into motion, but he eventually spirits Alice the scullery maid away and manages to bring her into society as Alice the French Countess.

The plan is to find Alice a titled husband and give her the secure life she'd dreamed of. Of course things NEVER go according to plan...after a disastrous series of engagements, Alice and her Ghostly Duke realize they've fallen in love. Now how do they get their happily ever after?

Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop- Reginald Bakeley

I read an article online somewhere (and am too lazy to look it up now to tell you exactly where) about an "Odd Title of the Year" contest. This was the winner. (Other titles included such gems as God's Doodle- The life and Times of the Penis and How To Sharpen Pencils)



Here's the Amazon Blurb:

Help is on the way! In the tradition of Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl, Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop shows how to banish those pesky dark Fairy creatures who are ready to thwart every last pleasure, be it gardening, country hikes, or even getting a good night's sleep.


In this charming guide, "fairy hunter" Reginald Bakeley offers practical instructions to clear your home and garden of these unsettling inhabitants, and banish them from your chicken coop and kitchen cupboard forever!

In Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop readers will discover:

Why a bustle in one's hedgerow may be cause for alarm

Why a garden fumigator may come in handy on evenings at the pub

Why a toy merchant, a butcher, and a Freemason are among your best allies in the fight against the fey


Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop is the only complete manual on how to identify, track, defend, and destroy those bothersome brownies, goblins, dwarves, scheming flower-fairies, and other nasty members of the fairy realm.

My take: It was amusing. I would have liked it better had there been some Lady Cottington-type pressed fairy illustrations to accompany the text, but it was fun nonetheless.  I wound up buying on my Kindle because none of the bookstores in my area had it. (I DID get some very weird looks when I asked for it at B&N and Books-a-Million) Amazon was back-ordered on print copies at the time and I decided to go the instant gratification route. I don't know that I would recommend paying full price for it, but it's worth reading if you like twisted fairy tales and that sort of thing.

The Jack Nightingale series by Stephen Leather

I found these as a Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon. I don't know what made me decide to buy them, but I did. WOW. The plotline is fairly dark- Jack is a former cop turned private eye. Book 1- Nightfall- tells how Jack left his former career and how several years later he finds out that not only was he adopted, his biological father was a Satanist who sold Jack's soul to the devil at birth. Now he regrets the deal, has committed suicide, and left everything he has to Jack in the hopes that he can use it to get himself out of the deal. People close to Jack begin dying horrible deaths at an alarming rate, demons are stalking him, and Jack has to make deals with a devil to save his soul.

Midnight- Jack has survived the battle for his soul and is trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces of his life and go on. Then another bequest from his bio-dad makes his life worse. Turns out that dear old dad not only sold Jack's soul, he sold the soul of a little sister Jack never knew he had...and if Jack survived past the date he was supposed to die, Dad wants him to try to find/save her too. The problem? Jack finds his sister...and she's in a mental institution as it's believed she's a serial killer of children. And she thinks he's the crazy one when he explains what is happening.

Nightmare- Jack has survived deals with devils, retained his soul, freed his sister and saved HER soul, and is once again hoping to get on with his life. Sadly, the devils he outsmarted in their deals are out for revenge. Adding to the confusion, the ghost of Sophie, a little girl Jack was unable to save when he was a cop, keeps appearing and asking him for help. The only way to help her? Another deal with a devil, of course. The fallout from that deal makes the whole series worth it. Yes, there is a sort of happy ending...after all that darkness, Jack needs it!

My DVD addiction is in full swing

No review this week. Instead, here's a look at 5 sets I've got waiting to be watched:





Ok, these 2 aren't a shock to anyone familiar with my fairy tale obsession.

MMMM, Castle. I want Nathan Fillion for Christmas, FYI.

Ok, so this veers close to fairy tale territory...

I've heard that this is the best quiz show ever. The clips I've seen on YouTube are terrific. Plus it stars 2 of my favorite Brits, Alan Davies & Stephen Fry, with guest appearances by many other favorites. Can't wait to watch it!

So, I lied. One mini review. Alan Davies as a chef?!? Ok. Sadly, only one season was made of this one. Alan is a narcissistic chef in a country hotel restaurant. Think watered down Gordon Ramsay meets watered down Anthony Bourdain meets Jamie Oliver on the skids. The supporting cast are what make this so interesting- and the talent show episode is a hoot.

God Save The Queen- Kate Locke

God Save the Queen, and lord help everybody else. This was a thumping good mashup of alternative history with a dollop of steampunk and a lot of supernaturals. Xandy, the heroine, is a half-vampire daughter of a vampire aristocrat, and a member of the Royal Guard serving the undead Queen Victoria. She's just been told by the Goblin Prince that her younger sister has been committed to Bedlam. Her other siblings relctantly confess that they knew, and as they plan to go visit, they're told that their sister has committed suicide in her cell. Xandy refuses to believe it and digs into the circumstances. What she finds shakes her world to the core.

Did I mention that her mentor/would-be lover is Churchill? Yes, THAT Churchill, only he's a vampire. And the Scottish Alpha werewolf (who has a mutual hate on with Church) has taken to courting her? And the goblins are fascinated with her, for reasons that only become clear at the end of the story? Heh.

Fans of Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series will probably enjoy this one as well. It's a bit grittier, but still a good read. Can't wait for the remainder of the trilogy to come out!

Libriomancer- Jim C Hines

What can I say? This book tapped into almost every geeky dream I've had. Imagine a world where a reader with the right power/imagination can pull things out of the books they read and into existance. Also, where paranormal beings come into existance based on how strongly the books they're from are read/believed in. (some of the vampire subspecies names are priceless)  In this book, those are the Libriomancers, and what they can do is amazing. Luckily, it's a rare talent, and closely monitored by a council to prevent the power from being abused. But what happens when someone goes rogue and starts a war between vampires & libriomancers? In this case, a downgraded libriomancer has to step in and save the day...and possibly the world.

Soulless- Gail Carriger

From Goodreads:
Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?
SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

My Opinion:

I can't believe I hadn't posted a review of this book before now! LOVED it. My friend Jessica had bought a copy and I spotted it on her table before dinner at her house one evening. I picked it up, read the blurb on the back, and knew I wanted to read it. Jess, showing what an awesome friend she is, offered to loan it to me before she'd even had a chance to read it herself, but I couldn't do that to her. So I went straight to the bookstore after dinner and bought my own copy. I devoured this book in one sitting- Alexia is my kind of girl, opinionated and not afraid to show it, with a fondness for tea and sweet treats. Fighting off an attacking vampire, she accidentally kills him and now has to deal with werewolf Lord Maccon who Queen Victoria sends to investigate the matter. Further interaction as Alexia insists on being a larger part of the investigation than Maccon is happy with, an education in the matter of vampire society, and a series of attacks make this a thumping good read. The sequels are fun too! The next book in the series is due soon, and while I'm sorry it's the last Alexia adventure, Gail Carriger is NOT abonding her entertaining world. There are two more series to come, with new characters, and I suspect a few familiar faces will appear.

Midnight Riot- Ben Aaronovitch

From Goodreads:
The police career of techie Peter Grant was stuck in "pause" until a ghost whispered in his ear. The insights of this deceased eyewitness help solve a baffling homicide and bring paranormal Peter to the attention of his London Metropolitan Police bosses. What follows is a smoothly-paced supernatural procedural that is grounded enough to keep you guessing and strange enough to keep you amused

My opinion:

This was a fun read. The hero is a biracial police officer (not that it matters to the plot- just being biracial myself means I notice more when I come across a character that is) who meets a ghost while being stuck at a crime scene and finds himself launched into the world of the supertnatural while still trying to be a good police officer. He's transferred into the unknown-to-him paranormal police squad and begins to learn magic himself- all while solving the seemingly random crime wave in his area and settling squabbles among river deities. Add in a potential police officer girlfriend, a potential river deity grilfriend, and Molly the maid of unknown supernatural descent, Toby the dog, and an exploding cell phone, and you have quite an entertaining novel. Can't wait to start Moon over Soho- the next book in the series!