Aaaaand here we are in August already, which means the latest edition of My Favourite Reads, and finally some much yearned for sunshine. Spring can’t come quick enough!

I had one DNF (did not finish) and another zombie horror I stopped reading but may yet come back to. Zombies can be tricky. They’re okay when they’re funny like in James Scott Bell’s Mallory Caine series but the serious ones ick me out. Still not quite sure why I bought this one. Must’ve been the bazillion rave reviews.

Choosing a favourite of the month was a challenge. I seem to have fallen into reading a bunch of fab series and they’re all as enjoyable as each other. I will, however, gird my loins and choose. So my favourite for the month is…

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The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni

Woah, does Noni know how to throw her readers!

The Gilded Cage, book two in the Prison Healer series, was just as amazing as book one (I chat about that here). Whichever way she steps, our intrepid heroine Kiva faces impossible choices and there were many times when I was actively anxious for her.

Don’t you love it when books involve you emotionally like that?

As for how it ended, I did not expect that at all. Most excellent. For me, not the characters. For them it’s catastrophic, the poor loves. But what a blast!

Really looking forward to what The Blood Traitor will bring.

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Verity by Colleen Hoover

I’m still torn with this book. I gobbled Verity down in a couple of days, most of which I spent in a state of dread. I’ve found that with Hoover’s stories – she really grabs my innards and twists them and doesn’t let up.

But I’m not that sure if I enjoy having nervous turns like that. It’s stressful! On the other hand, the reason I read is to feel, to be moved. I love having the pants scared off me with horrors, so why not enjoy being twisted into knots by a gut-wrenching thriller?

Verity was brilliant. It was also seriously confronting. With 1,002,203 reviews on Goodreads at the time of writing, for an average of 4.43 stars, clearly most people are on the brilliant side.

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Moriarty Brings Down the House by Anna Castle

Moriarty Brings Down the House is the third instalment in Castle’s The Professor and Mrs Moriarty Mystery Series and I think it’s the best so far. Besides getting to enjoy the company of James and Angelina again, Moriarty Brings Down the House had a whole swathe of wonderful new (and a few old) characters to enjoy, mostly eccentric theatre types.

Set around a West End theatre in deep preparation for its Christmas pantomime, this has great atmosphere, twists and turns a-plenty, funny and tear-jerky moments, and loads of entertainment.

Fabulous.

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Gilded by Marissa Meyer

First up, I’m a little annoyed with this book. I had no idea it was going to finish without resolution. I thought Gilded – a retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale – was a stand-alone when clearly it’s leading to at least a second book. That makes me grumpy. But whatever. Probably my fault for not checking more closely.

Gilded was fabulously imagined, lushly written and very atmospheric. I’ll be reading the next. Once I get over my grump, that is.

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Dishonour and Obey by Graham Brack

This series makes for excellent comfort reading. Master Mercurious is a wonderful character, quick-witted and wry, and content with his scholarly life in 17^th century Leiden. Unfortunately his reputation as a problem solver has endeared him to William of Orange and when the Stadhouder calls, danger often ensues.

This time Mercurious finds himself in England as part of William’s marriage negotiation team. Not everyone is keen for William to wed Princess Mary and when one of the team is murdered, it’s not only Mercurious’s pastoral skills on the line, but also his neck.

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Saltwater Tears by Monique McDonell

I read Saltwater Song, the first in this Marlin Shores series, last year (my comments about that here) and really enjoyed it so this second book was a lovely pick up. Both Banner, an ex-marine, and Lexi, a highly talented baker, are intriguing characters. At first glance, they’re opposites – Banner’s as open and friendly as Lexi is reserved – yet they both have past traumas to deal with. Those traumas and how they deal with them take this sweet small-town romance to another level.

I look forward to how Montgomery brother number three fares (and the marina and town) in Saltwater Wishes.

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They Mostly Come Out at Night by Benedict Patrick

I bought this mostly for the cover. It had such a curious look when I saw it in one of the book deals newsletters that a quick glance at the blurb had me clickety-clicking pronto.

Talk about a winning punt. Sort of fantasy, sort of horror, They Mostly Come Out at Night turned out to be far more than a curious cover. It was a great read. Everything about it was good – the characters, the pacing, the world-building… I even liked the short folk tales peppered through the chapters.

Very clever, atmospheric and page turnery. Loved it.

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What have you read lately that you want to shout about?

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