Some strong moments, but a formulaic romance and untethered timeline mar the novel.
In this YA fantasy/historical romance, an aristocratic young woman is in danger from demonic figures.
Soleil Devatt, who’s about to turn 18, lives in an isolated French château with just her father, Charles; her older brother, Frederic, is away, and her mother died in a horse-riding accident two years before. In the surrounding forest live bloodthirsty, pale creatures who venture out, apparently only under the cover of darkness, to attack and kill people. Spoiled, stubborn, and beautiful, Soleil gets put off balance by the château’s new huntsman, the young and handsome Taras. He’s seductive, infuriating, and mocking yet concerned and helpful when Soleil is in trouble, as when she begins fainting and having unsettling visions. When Soleil’s brother returns for her birthday, her cloying cousin Emiliana le Bihan also comes to visit, annoying her when she flirts with Taras. Soleil feels increasingly drawn to the woods; her visionary ability is somehow connected to it, and she knows that the creatures there want her blood. After Soleil’s father has a stroke, the château’s balance of power shifts, and later, with Taras injured and Frederic missing, it’s up to Soleil to muster her abilities for a fiery confrontation with evil. Portera (Beasts and Roses, 2016, etc.) employs overly familiar tropes in the Scarlett O’Hara/Rhett Butler–style interplay between Soleil and Taras, who gets away with unlikely impertinence: “So, you have noticed I exist. I’m quite surprised.” The book’s temporal setting is murky, with revolution recent enough for escaped noble families to come under disfavor; a current “Russo” war (eight Franco-Russian wars were fought between 1733 and 1856); and bustles with ruching (fashionable in the 1870s). This blurriness particularly matters because the château’s extreme isolation makes less sense in the later 19th century. The ending does have some unexpected twists in store, however, and Portera does write some effective passages, as when describing Soleil’s “eerie feeling” about Emiliana perusing an occult book’s engravings: “She had turned each page slowly and easily, taking in each depraved image as though it was familiar. As though she was home.” A sequel is planned.
Some strong moments, but a formulaic romance and untethered timeline mar the novel.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2017
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The parts with Nero Wolfe, the only character Goldsborough brings to life, are almost worth waiting for.
In Archie Goodwin's 15th adventure since the death of his creator, Rex Stout, his gossipy Aunt Edna Wainwright lures him from 34th Street to his carefully unnamed hometown in Ohio to investigate the death of a well-hated bank president.
Tom Blankenship, the local police chief, thinks there’s no case since Logan Mulgrew shot himself. But Archie’s mother, Marjorie Goodwin, and Aunt Edna know lots of people with reason to have killed him. Mulgrew drove rival banker Charles Purcell out of business, forcing Purcell to get work as an auto mechanic, and foreclosed on dairy farmer Harold Mapes’ spread. Lester Newman is convinced that Mulgrew murdered his ailing wife, Lester’s sister, so that he could romance her nurse, Carrie Yeager. And Donna Newman, Lester’s granddaughter, might have had an eye on her great-uncle’s substantial estate. Nor is Archie limited to mulling over his relatives’ gossip, for Trumpet reporter Verna Kay Padgett, whose apartment window was shot out the night her column raised questions about the alleged suicide, is perfectly willing to publish a floridly actionable summary of the leading suspects that delights her editor, shocks Archie, and infuriates everyone else. The one person missing is Archie’s boss, Nero Wolfe (Death of an Art Collector, 2019, etc.), and fans will breathe a sigh of relief when he appears at Marjorie’s door, debriefs Archie, notices a telltale clue, prepares dinner for everyone, sleeps on his discovery, and arranges a meeting of all parties in Marjorie’s living room in which he names the killer.
The parts with Nero Wolfe, the only character Goldsborough brings to life, are almost worth waiting for.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5040-5988-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
You can’t help but chuckle over all the disasters, but in the end the heroine catches her prey.
An Arizona accountant with a penchant for solving murders lands a fishy case.
Sophie "Phee" Kimball might lead a dull life if it weren’t for her mother, Harriet Plunkett, and Harriet’s neurotic Chiweenie, Streetman. As it is, Harriet lives near her daughter in Sun City West and has a wide circle of zany friends who’ve helped Phee solve several mysteries (Molded 4 Murder, 2019, etc.) while she’s been working for Williams Investigations along with her boyfriend, Marshall, a former police officer. While Phee’s visiting Harriet one day, Streetman dashes over to the neighbors’ barbecue grill and unearths a dead body under a tarp. As usual, the overwhelmed local police ask Williams Investigations to help—er, consult. Harriet’s main concern is getting costumes made for the reluctant Streetman, whom she’s entered in a series of contests starting with Halloween and progressing through Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hannukah, and St. Patrick’s Day. One of her friends is an accomplished seamstress who goes all out making gorgeous costumes that will beat an obnoxious lady who looks down on mutts. The dead man is identified as Cameron Tully, a seafood distributor, who was poisoned by the locally ubiquitous sago pine. At the first dog contest, Elaine Meschow has to be rushed to the hospital after she gets a dose of the same thing. The owner of a gourmet dog food company, Elaine is lucky enough to recover. After Streetman takes second place, Harriet’s team redoubles its efforts for the next contest while Phee and Marshall, who are moving into a new place together, continue to hunt for clues. A restaurant holdup and a scheme to use empty houses for hookups for high school kids add to the confusion.
You can’t help but chuckle over all the disasters, but in the end the heroine catches her prey.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2455-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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