Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens
The end is nigh: The Antichrist has been born, the Four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse are assembling, and the final battle between good and evil is about to commence. But demon Crowley and angel Aziraphale, who have been meddling in human affairs since the beginning of creation, aren’t too pleased about the world’s imminent annihilation. They’d much rather maintain the status quo and keep humanity from destroying itself. Unfortunately, their best efforts to stave off Armageddon aren’t working—or are they? I remember being utterly delighted by this book the first time I read it. Such a fun concept, with so many silly yet accurate Biblical jokes! This time around, it was still a fun read, but at times I felt the humor wearing a bit thin. While the novel does occasionally try to say something serious about morality and the nature of humanity, it’s mostly a joke machine, and in my opinion it’s too long a book for that. Still a good read, but it’s a “like” rather than a “love” for me.
Mia Vincy, A Wicked Kind of Husband
Cassandra DeWitt and her husband, Joshua, haven’t seen each other since their wedding day two years ago. And they both prefer it that way: Cassandra has her hands full with her ill mother and troublesome younger sisters, and Joshua is a brilliant industrialist with no time for anything but work. So when they meet each other unexpectedly in London and are forced to live together as husband and wife, they’re both dismayed—even more so when an inconvenient attraction threatens to upend their well-ordered lives. I’ve seen good buzz about this author online, and I can see why; Vincy has a lively (though not exactly period-authentic) writing style, and her main characters are vivid, complex, and interesting. I do enjoy a hero whose central conflict is, “I’m having a feeling and I don’t like it!” The plot is a bit scattered, the book is too racy for me, and I prefer my historical romances to feel, well, more historical. But despite these drawbacks, I did enjoy this one overall and will probably read Vincy’s other novels at some point.
Patricia Wynn, The Motive from the Deed
It’s 1715 in England, and rumors of a Jacobite rebellion abound, but Gideon St. Mars—reluctantly employed by the exiled James Stuart—believes the Stuart cause is doomed to fail. Meanwhile, Hester Kean faces trouble involving her brother, Jeremy, who is arrested with his employer for allegedly printing seditious pamphlets. When the employer is subsequently murdered, Jeremy becomes the chief suspect, and Hester and Gideon team up to exonerate him and find the real killer. I remember really liking the previous books in this series (this is book 3), but it’s been a while since I read them. Perhaps my tastes have changed, because I wasn’t terribly excited about this installment. It’s competently written, and I love the time period (more books about Jacobites, please!), but overall it felt like too much setting and not enough mystery. The murder plot is very slight, and I also wanted more of Hester and Gideon together—they don’t meet up till almost halfway through the book! I’ll read the next two books because they’re on my shelves, but I’m lowering my expectations, unfortunately.
