BOOK REVIEWS: The Wild Road/The Full Cupboard of Life

[bibliodragon]

The Wild Road by Marjorie M. Liu

Paranromal Romance is a new genre for me, so I wasn't too sure if I would like this. Angsting human-disguised gargoyle Lannes meets an armed woman with amnesia while she is trying to steal his car. Plot and romance happens.

This wasn't too bad. The romance wasn't irritating or creepy or obnoxious, though as both are rather stoic characters I felt there was a bit of spark missing. But the plot was interesting, the prose enjoyable enough. This book is one in a series set around the Dirk and Steele detective agency, but despite having read none of the previous books I found it easy enough to follow. While something that happened in a previous book informs the characterisation of the main hero it was explained enough.

Lannes is a bit of an dumbass which is required to kick of the plot, but he is likeable enough, and the woman, (who eventually gets named Lethe) also a bit angsty but won me over.

All and all a good, solid read.




The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

One of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, I picked this one up in a charity shop having enjoyed the pilot of the tv series last year.

This is a lovely book, with likable and sympathetic characters and good humour. Despite this being set a few books into the series I was able to get a good handle on who these personalities are with just this one book to go on. The plot is gentle, Mma Ramotswe has been employed to investigate the suitors of a wealthy woman to see if they are just after her money, but the detective story is just one of the plotlines throughout.

This was an extremely easy read, but once I got to the end I found I could just go back to the beginning and start again. There's something reassuringly comforting about this book, and I definitely want to read the others in the series.