Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi

February 14, 2025November 8, 2025Leave a comment

Once More Upon a Time
by
Roshani Chokshi

| Description

• Fantasy Romance

In a land called Love’s Keep, there was a king and queen, Ambrose and Imelda, who once loved one another. But alas, no more. Without love, they were doomed to be ousted from their kingdom at the end of a year and a day. A year and a day passed. This is where their story begins.

| My Thoughts

Well! I didn’t know this romantic fairy tale novella would be a romantic comedy. A rather chuckle-worthy one at that. So, hey—nice bonus!

An Adventure for Adults: Young and Otherwise

Not sure why I found the book dubbed as a young adult (YA) read. The main characters’ ages are unspecified, but they’ve got to be older than teenagers, I’d say, especially as Imelda reflects on not being as young as she once was. More like new adult (NA) vibes than anything, here. If that.

I’d also say this fantasy adventure is engaging and well paced, making good use of its length. There’s a pretty clever quality to it all, even with a brief, minor issue of “begging” and “commanding” sort of being confused at one point. As for the romance, it isn’t only fun; it’s nicely developed as well.

Quite an enjoyable read from a new-to-me author. Wouldn’t at all mind checking out more of her books.

| Content Note

language kept to a “PG” level
some fantasy violence
some innuendo; one “fade to black” married-couple scene

Justice for Jasper by A.T. Butler

October 14, 2024November 8, 2025Leave a comment

Justice for Jasper
by
A.T. Butler

| Description

• Historical Western

Bounty hunter Jacob Payne agrees to serve as a deputy marshal to catch an outlaw in the town of Jasper, Arizona. But it isn’t so simple when not all of the wanted man’s victims believe they’re victims.

| My Thoughts

I’ll admit I reached for this third Jacob Payne novella because I wanted to snack on a fairly quick and easy win, and I knew this Western would deliver one. In rather “PG” fashion, too. This story does include a little more mild language than the first two, I think, but it doesn’t go overboard.

And, yeah, it’s still pretty clear and corny how some hero worship for Payne shows right through the narration. But I don’t mind it too much.

Continuing the Series?

So far, each book I’ve read about Payne has given me comfortable entertainment. I reckon I’ll read at least one more from this series sometime.

| Content Note

no profanity
no gratuitous violence
no explicit sexual content

Here’s my review of Book One in the series, Trouble By Any Name.

Futureland: Battle for the Park by H.D. Hunter

February 6, 2023November 30, 2023Leave a comment

Science Fiction Book

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me.

3 Stars

Futureland: Battle for the Park by H.D. Hunter
Illustrations by Khadijah Khatib

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Description: When an extraordinary flying theme park arrives above Atlanta, one boy, Cam Walker, must stop a sinister force from stealing the park’s tech and taking over the world.

My thoughts: I’m a fan of this middle grade sci-fi novel’s cover art (front and back!), and although I forgot exactly what I read in the book blurb last year, I knew I’d found this story’s premise intriguing.

The memory of my intrigue kept me going when my interest dipped during several chapters. A story can start to lose me the longer it takes for me to get a strong sense of “what” and “why it matters.” About a third of this novel went by before any of the theme park’s main attractions and their purpose became clear enough to keep my interest steady.

Then I gradually became more engaged as the story became creepier, like a bad dream. (And I mean that in a good way.) Also, I really liked the illustrations spread throughout the book when, here and there, the action turned all graphic novelly!

However, perhaps partly due to the fact that I did indeed used to have creepy childhood dreams resembling Cam’s challenge here, I found it unbelievable that it took so long for him to realize what a certain major problem was. Especially given the fact that he’s been around artificially intelligent creations his whole life.

And regarding the AI elements, I couldn’t share Cam’s emotions for a lifelike computer/robot (a creation called a “rev”) friend of his. Nor did a late but key aspect of the story concerning “humanness” and AI creations vibe with me. So, while I was all in during the climax, I didn’t connect with the ending.

Still, I appreciate it when stories depict young people in more than passive roles—when they’re thinkers who stand up and take positive action as they’re able.

Ace Carroway and the Ghost Liner by Guy Worthey

January 3, 2022June 14, 20222 Comments

Action and Adventure Book

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me. I received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.

3 Stars

Ace Carroway and the Ghost Liner by Guy Worthey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Great War veteran. Pilot. Private eye. Cecilia “Ace” Carroway wears a number of hats, but it’s her inventor’s noggin that’s in need of titanium for an innovative aeronautics project. Her associate Bert heads to Juneau by water to make a metal deal for her, but after he catches the eerie sight of a silent ship passing by in the night, Bert mysteriously disappears in Ace Carroway and the Ghost Liner by author Guy Worthey.

I would definitely recommend reading the previous books in The Adventures of Ace Carroway series before diving into this seventh. As Ace’s motley crew showed up to search for Bert, I took note of how distinct the returning characters are and how often I could recognize which character was speaking before seeing his name. It’s been fun getting to know these guys!

While I get a kick out of the action in this series, I think that this time, my heart may’ve gotten the most noticeable tug its gotten since Ace’s suffering of a personal loss at the end of one of the earlier books. In this one, as Ace gave her grim take on “the ghosts of the Great War,” it got to me. Yes, I’ve repeatedly called her a bad, bad chick because her various abilities are off the charts, but it’s just as affecting to see different aspects of her humanity.

Now, I’ll admit I wasn’t as gripped throughout this story as I was with the others. During some chapters in the middle, the read started to feel a little long to me.

Nevertheless, the element of the overall plot that’s leading to the next, upcoming book in the series (*gasp*…Darko Dor—dun dun DUNNNN!) already has me on the edge of my seat…

Here’s my review of the first book in the series, Ace Carroway and the Great War.