I'll Sleep When I've Read... the Echoes in Time series by Paula Quinn

 

If you love history, Arthurian legends, time travel, magic or even just love in general, you will probably love this series.

I know that other reviews have said that these don't need to be read in order .... that you can read The Warrior's Echo, the third Echoes in Time tale, without having read the first two.

I suppose they are correct in that you CAN, but should you?

Absolutely not.

I cannot imagine getting as much out of the third without the set-up from the first two. I devoured all three in a few days time -- grabbing the first two, Echo of Roses and Echoes of Abandon, from Kindle Unlimited after receiving the eARC for The Warrior's Echo from NetGalley .... and then spent the $5 for the permanent digital copies so I will still have them all together once my KU membership ends.

I cannot say that any one is better than either of the others because they truly are not separate stories -- only separate books. It is one epic and glorious story told in installments that will quite probably make you ignore your TV .... your weekend chores .... and your bedtime.

If you want to share whatever has kept you up past your bedtime because you just needed one more chapter ... or the entire book ... please comment! My TBR pile is already toppling, but I can always add more.

Death in Disguise by Emma Davies (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

Title: Death in Disguise

Author: Emma Davies

Publication: 9 February 2022

Format: Kindle eArc via NetGalley

Amazon Description

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

Sometimes murder is exactly what I need to make life feel not quite so craptastic. So it began in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning when everything in real life felt like it was falling apart ... and I began reading the upcoming Death in Disguise by Emma Davies.

This is the first in the new Adam and Eve Mystery Series -- with "Adam" being 23-year-old socially awkward tech whiz Adam Smith, and "Eve" being 40-year-old wife, mother, and caterer Francesca Eve (who may or may not be having a mid-life crisis. I feel ya, girl. I totally feel ya.). They meet in a kitchen cupboard and their bond is almost instant. You really had to be there. Well, it's a kitchen cupboard so it would probably be a bit cramped if you were ... but you know what I mean. If you don't, what I mean is : BUY THE BOOK.

So ... anyway ... three week go by and, feeling that they're kindred spirits, Adam approaches Fran for help. The cupboard of their meeting was in the kitchen at Adam's house where Fran was catering a murder mystery birthday party for his mother, Sara. When one of the guests ends up dead for real, he thinks it was murder and is afraid that it was somehow connected to the party and, therefore, his mother. Fran agrees to at least talk to Sara, gets invited to the funeral, and is starting to question if the whole thing is just a big mistake since the dead woman was well-liked, seemingly, by all ... until she finds out that the woman was, indeed, poisoned.

Fran and Adam hope that they can get to the truth of the matter before the police get too involved. What follows is some of the best amateur detective work I've seen in a cozy mystery for a long time -- with one of the most delightful and relatable pairings yet. Adam and Fran never shy away from the facts that they're both awkward and don't quite know what they're doing. It doesn't help that there are so many twists and turns one could get dizzy trying to get it all figured out.

I couldn't bring myself to put it down for more than a couple of hours and finished within 24 hours of picking it up. It's that good and then some, if that's even possible.

BUY THE BOOK. BUY THE BOOK. BUY THE BOOK.

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As always, Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice 

& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

WWW Wednesday -- 2 February 2022

The Three Ws are:

What did you recently finish reading?

What are you currently reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Recently Finished : 

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie -- I am fairly certain that it is quite possibly one of my favorite light Christie reads. It's a giant mish-mash of political and international intrigue, stolen & mistaken identities, murder(s), blackmail, kidnapping, treasure hunting ... and on and on and so on and so forth. I used it for the most recent Book Beginnings & Friday 56 tease and ramble.

A Perfect Equation by Elizabeth Everett -- This is the second book in Elizabeth Everett's The Secret Scientists of London series, following the absolutely splendid A Lady's Formula for Love. This is being released on February 15th so you have plenty of time to read the first before devouring the second. It was this week's I'll Sleep When I've Read... pick and I absolutely loved it.

The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith -- I loved every single page. It has heroes, villains, damsels, demons, angels, missing deities.... and a library full of unfinished stories. There's love and war. Monsters and muses. There's even a trip to Valhalla. By the end of the first page I was drawn in. It was yesterday's Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday book.

Currently Reading:

Death in Disguise by Emma Davies -- This is the first in the new Adam and Eve Mystery Series -- with "Adam" being 23-year-old socially awkward tech whiz Adam Smith and "Eve" being 40-year-old wife, mother, and caterer Francesca Eve who may or may not be having a mid-life crisis. They meet in a kitchen cupboard when both are hiding at a murder mystery event for Adam's mother that Fran is catering. Feeling that they're kindred spirits, Adam approaches Fran for help when one of the guests ends up dead a couple of weeks later. He thinks it was murder and is afraid it was somehow connected to the party. It's due for release next week and I have only just started the fourth chapter of the eARC, but I'm already so curious as to how this is going to play out. It will likely be this week's Book Beginnings & Friday 56 so, you know, feel free to come back Friday and find out more.

What's Next?

Paula Quinn's Echoes in Time series -- I received the third in the series, The Warrior's Echo, on NetGalley this week and then went to Amazon to grab the first two. Life is kind of severely crap at the moment so I'm hoping they will be the distraction that I need to make it through the weekend in one piece. At least one of them should end up being posted Sunday morning for an I'll Sleep When I've Read... post. Maybe.

Alphabet Soup January 2022 Progress

My favorite of all challenges and I've made a pretty decent dent so far!

The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

Title: The Library of the Unwritten

Author: A. J. Hackwith

Publication: 1 October 2019

Format: Kindle eBook

Amazon Description

In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren't finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories.

Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing-- a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.

But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell….and Earth.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

I don't even know where to begin with this one except to say that I loved every single page. It has heroes, villains, damsels, demons, angels, missing deities.... and a library full of unfinished stories. There's love and war. Monsters and muses. There's even a trip to Valhalla. By the end of the first page I was drawn in. By 4% I was completely hooked:

Claire lived by the firm moral philosophy that one could never have too many pockets, too many books, or too much tea.

 What's not to love?  

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"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. 

"Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.