This is a short novella or a longish short story, depends on how you look at it. I read it this morning for fun an really enjoyed it. If you were looking for something similar to the Edge, this hits the target.
Synopsis:
Niko Hrabanic was once a famous swordsman. But after a scandal-laden departure from his last job at a royal court, he’s now hiding out in a rural inn, making himself useful to his attractive landlady in all sorts of ways that don’t actually involve paying rent…
…until a summons from the mysterious and dangerous White Library shakes up his life all over again. His landlady, it turns out, has secrets of her own. Now Hrabanic and Julia will have to confront both of their pasts – and if they’re going to have any hope of survival, they’ll need both Hrabanic’s sword arm and Julia’s magical training.
It’s time for them to become experts at the art of deception.
*Shortlisted for the 2016 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction*
Stephanie Burgis is primarily known for her YA work, so this was a surprise. This had that almost Princess Bride-ish feel to me. There was magic and sword fights, deadly intrigue and some light romance. It all seemed to have this lighthearted, slightly amused tone, even in the moments of grave danger, so if you’re looking for a magical read that won’t make you cry, this might fit the bill. I don’t regret my $2, even though it was short. In the end I went, “Ha!” It’s always nice when the author sticks the landing. I wish Stephanie would do something with a bit more heat and definitely longer. As always, your mileage may vary, so read an excerpt first.
Available on Amazon | BN | iTunes | Kobo
In other news, my addiction to JAK continues. I want a book on Amazon, but it’s $15.99 for a kindle version. I decided that if we finish Hidden Legacy, I will buy it for myself as a celebratory present. I haven’t yet let Gordon in on this awesome plan, but I have a feeling he won’t be upset. Some women like jewelry, some men buy expensive ATVs. We buy books and action figures.
Happy Saturday!
Thank you for the new book to try and belated Happy Birthday! There is no such thing as too many books. Unfortunately, I am too old to appreciate action figures.
Me too, although my downstairs bathroom shelf does have Cringer, since his battle cat armour is lost. And I have Yoda on my pot rack, not that he an action figure.
Thanks for the suggestion for new reading. I love your idea of celebration with action figures and books. Oh yeah, I grok that.
Oooh must read sometime now. Books and action figures are a perfectly reasonable self rewarding items. Can be enjoyed repeatedly and shared with others. Completely justifiable. Jewelry and that kind of sports equipment usually need a special occasion to even use and then it’s like once a year and the rest of the time just collects dust. While your fun time things can be whiped out and enjoyed anytime with anyone! You go have your Personal Fun Times! You have earned !! And you can make the action figures act out the stories!
YAK?
Also, books are the best of gifts.
JAK. Jayne Ann Krentz.
What Krentz/Quick/Castle books are you looking for? I’m clearing my bookshelves and may have copies to pass on. (Although they’re paper and may not work if you only want digital.)
Have you checked put JAK’s early paranormals? I loved Crystal Flame and Sweet Starfire and Shield’s Lady. They have a strong SFF tone and she was ahead of the game in paranormal romance when they first came out and was a strong precursor to the Harmony books!
Ooh, thanks. I didn’t know those titles. I thought I had read everything of hers.
I also recommend her books written as Amanda Quick. Lots of fun! Love your books!
Agreed, those early books are my favorites!
I obviously need to read this short story! Stephanie Burgis is such a lovely lady and I keep meaning to pick up her books but just haven’t found the time.
I love JAK’s books! I revisit them all the time! If I don’t have the book, it is usually available at my library, digital or real, unless it just came out. It depends on how motivated I am. We also have a great used book store connected to the library and the proceeds benefit the library. Have a great weekend!
I will have to check out Ms. Burgis. I’m currently at a loss as to what I should read next so this may fill the gap. Thank you!
As far as books go, you can really never have too many. I make bargains with myself, typically along the lines of “do this and buy a book (or more, depending on the size of the task) when accomplished. My husband tends to buy massive power tools/farm machinery. We all have our quirks.
If you like comedy action drama with some paranormal spice try Jana DeLeon’s Ghost-In-Law Mystery Series and her loosely related Miss Fortune Mystery Series. Both take place in close Louisiana small towns on the swamp where times are not as peaceful as they should be. In the first one the lead character’s former mother in law’s spirit rises from her corpse in all her obnoxious glory at her funeral with the lead the only one who can see her, proceeds to pester to solve her death she claims is murder. Follows are high jix and mayhem with unrelated danger. They are more romance novels with different characters getting their own books. The ghost has a penitent for bad clothing choices and stealing desserts and some how eating them. The Miss Fortune series is about a CIA female operative that has her cover blown and her identity revealed. So she has to assume her director’s niece’s identity as a former beauty queen turned librarian ( not her skill set) and hid out in a small Swamp town while she puts the niece’s late aunt’s affairs in order. The late aunt and her friends turn out to be retired military spys and the body count rises. Throw in a sexy deputy that is retired special forces that isn’t easy to fool. If they made this a movie they would need Betty White and Cathy Bates to play the friends. If you need to laugh these should do it.
I second the Jana DeLeon recommendation- Miss Fortune is great. I’m currently reading the most recent 2.
Also, thanks for the rec Ilona, the book sounds like my cup of tea. Hmm, tea… *goes off to make some*
I have Later Gator as a hold request since it is on order for some of my area libraries and put it in Recommended in the EBranch of libraries I belong to. Money is tight so I basically haunt libraries.
Ooh more book recs, I’m always looking for new authors. It’s the downside of being in the book devouring horde.
Thanks, Ilona for your rec too. I hadn’t noticed this novella by SB
Another good book that is stand alone but I hope they make a sequel is Agnes And The Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. The alligator in one sene is in a previous book though. In it you will learn frying pans are very versatile and pancakes are always appropriate.
Also Gini Koch’s Katherine “Kitty” Katy series is good so far I am on book 7. If you like aliens saving the planet while juggling family, hybrid kids and diplomacy between humans and your husband’s people while preferring to just kickin people in the face this is for you. The animals in it alien or Earth born are adorable. There are the alien Poofs that are like criminally fluffy kittens that can shift from tiny to lion sized.
Agnes was GREAT! But the others by them were not as good. In the others that each seemed to write their own stories and the characters only tangentally connected. Agnes & the Hitman got it RIGHT! Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous.
Yes! The way they ended it was a perfect way to go to a second book with Lisa Livia looking for the stolen money in the Caymans and Carpenter could have followed.
Jennie Crusie is taking YEARS to finish her next book. I loved all of them by those two, but agree that “Agnes…” is the best. Given that she said (years ago…) that she’s got several other books to complete before they could do another collaboration, we’ll probably all be dead of old age first. *sniffle*
I heard something about a sequel to Maybe This Time, a long while back.
Gini Koch’s Kitty series ebooks are geoblocked to Australia ( other than the first book which is weirder than all of them being blocked). Her publisher and her haved missed out on my money.
That’s weird. How dose that even work? Are the Intertubes clogged?
If you like comedy action drama with some paranormal spice try Jana DeLeon’s Ghost-In-Law Mystery Series and her loosely related Miss Fortune Mystery Series.
The first book of the latter series is free on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Louisiana-Longshot-Miss-Fortune-Mystery-ebook/dp/B008E9VENQ/
I started on it yesterday, got hooked, and am up to book six now. Really enjoying it so far.
“…before she could squeeze the trigger, I stabbed the knitting needle right through her jugular.”
Something tells me this is a series Ilona would probably also like. 🙂
Never a dull moment! High heels are for killing! Gertie is a master of disguise! Banana Pudding Wars! And try not to look like an nut in front of Carter!
I am going to reread them all. I can’t remember Which book Fortune gets her foot stuck in the Sherif Departments toilet
It’s got a ton of a hilarious scenes, for sure. I have to say, I love the idea of Kathy Bates and Betty White playing the old lady friends; it makes their scenes even funnier to envision. They have some of the best lines.
The only aspect I’m not crazy about is the heroine’s disdain for “girly” and “typical girl” behavior. For example:
“My face flushed hot and I cursed myself for such a typical girl reaction. I may be a girl, but I was anything but typical.”
Which possibly is an intentional flaw, I’m just…really weary of that trait in heroines, equating ‘girly’ with weak and inferior, and that their lack of ‘girliness’/traditionally feminine interests is depicted as a rare quality that sets them apart from other women. I think it’s fine if heroines don’t like makeup/dresses/high heels/baking/anything traditionally ‘girly’, but it’s equally fine if they do happen to like any of those things. Neither is better to me than the other. I don’t like the commonly expressed disdain for ‘girliness’ in fiction, or that those traits are usually reserved for unlikeable female characters, typically the heroine’s evil rival. So it was oddly refreshing to read another series recently where the heroine also happened to love fancy handbags. I’m not into handbags, but I appreciated that it wasn’t depicted as a negative trait, just an interest. I’ve also liked that about IA’s heroines…several also have some traditionally feminine hobbies/interests; Dina has the infamous Hello Kitty T-shirt and a weakness for cute beings, and I think Kate knits?
Anyway, aside from that issue, I’m really enjoying the series and would recommend it to anyone interested in a funny read.
Her issues with girly stuff and her own appearance stems from her deceased parents. Her mother was ‘pretty’ and ‘girly’ and her “super” agent father who was, from description, most likely a sociopath. Through the series she starts questioning what she knows of them and the relationship between them. It also appears to be a subconscious attempt to not look like her mom and therefore think of her, the parent that cared. In the first book when she ‘dressed up’ to go to church for the first time she sees herself in the bathroom mirror and really inspects how she looks : “Good Lord. I was actually pretty. Like Mom.” Then has a panic attack. She dose start to relax in her aversion to anything girly over time. Slowly.
What is the handbag book series? That sounds familiar.
Thanks for the link!
The first Ghost-In-Law book: Trouble in Mudbug, is also free for kindle
THANK YOU for the link!
Thanks for the tip! I just got it and will start reading it on the plane to New Mexico tomorrow.
Thanks for the recommendation! Y’all, I have been in heaven the last three days; I had to go to New Mexico (from Florida) to do two presentations at a conference, and – lo and behold! – I had time to read. Really read, not listen to audiobooks (which I love but do when I have to do something else at the same time, like drive or clean the kitchen). What a luxury! Thanks to your recommendations and those of the Horde, I have been through The Art of Deception (Stephanie Burgess), To Catch a Bad Guy (Marie Astor); and both Louisiana Longshot and Lethal Bayou Beauty (Jana Deleon). Talk about binge-reading! My phone ran out of juice in the middle of the night, so I snuggled up with my laptop (gotta get a tablet!) and just kept reading. I still have a whole night and half a day to go, plus a full day of traveling to get back home. Gotta go buy more books. 🙂
My mom use to say “some people smoke, some people drink, me? I buy books.” You can never, ever have too many books. The person who buys books and goes into withdraw symptoms when they can’t buy books? A bookaholic (or a book devouring horde—-take your pick).
Book devouring horder?
(You and your mom are wonderful!)
I enjoyed JAK’s latest one, but I got it at the libarary.
Speaking of sticking the landing, I just finished your latest Innkeeper! Such a great read. Very satisfying ending, too. 🙂
I used to get her stuff, and others, at the library when I was broke, broke, broke. Thank God for the library. It was the only entertainment I could afford. But now that I’m in a better place, I try to buy books from all the authors that saw me through some very tough times.
Which JAK book? Newest? I need a good read between knitting projects. Adding Art of Deception to be read next.
There are two or three older ones that are crazy prices on kindle, I keep side-eying them, but can’t bring myself to buy a book I read years ago at hardcover prices just so I can have a digital copy. Deep Waters, Eye of the Beholder, Flash, and Sharp Edges are all between $15.99 and $19 for the kindle editions.
I liked the newest, as I am pretty much Arcaned out. This one has a less perky main character, but I thought it was well done
I seriously wonder about those $15-20 backlist titles… Is the publisher *trying* to sabotage sales?? I’d like to replace my DTB versions, but not until the prices are within a sane range.
I ran into that $15 price for Deep Waters and decided no, but checked back when I thought of it and picked it up for $5.99. It was February 2015. Strange that it went back up.
Then there are some, like Golden Chance & Silver Linings that I have in Nook format, but that have never been available in Kindle.
I wonder it part of it has to do with some sort of publishing rights thing and I just lucked into a sale on Deep Waters.
Thanks for the recommendation. As for the JAK book did you try your Library for it? Also sometimes very rarely a book may cost less on iBooks.
I have been reading JAK for years under all three names … Krentz, Quick, and Castle. I also enjoyed Jana deLeon’s Miss Fortune series.
She also wrote as Amanda Glass and Stephanie James.
I give myself books as presents and goals. It’s all good. Enjoy!
I fail to see anything wrong with buying books or action figures… *quickly tries to hide hers and his pile*
Thanks for the recommendation, just purchased it and looking forward to some me time. I don’t think my husband has any idea how many books I have on my kindle. It makes it so much easier to hide my addiction, when I was doing paperbacks we were getting overrun!!!
Money is never wasted if it is used to buy a book.
You might already know about this and might just want to own the book (which I totally understand), but just in case – overdrive (https://www.overdrive.com) is an app and website that links with your local library (most public libraries now have eCards for digital collections) for ebooks, audiobooks, and (for some libraries) streaming video. The best part is a lot of ebooks can be read on the overdrive app or sent to your Kindle, and you can ‘recommend’ books to your library if it’s not in their digital circulation (although it’s not a guaranteed buy). It has been such a game-changer for me.
I use overdrive for my kids and I. They have a decent collection of Audio books as well.
I enjoy using overdrive. Great way to check out books, plus it will send email alerts on your holds.
the ability to borrow books online – FROM MY COUCH – was a revelation. best invention ever.
You might like “Family Man” Also “all Night Long” I have read them all and there really isn’t a bad one. I have also enjoyed the books she has written under Jayne Castle. They are a bit paranormal. Amanda Quick ‘s are historical. At least you have a lot to choose from!
Same here. My bday is Dec 20th, between then and Christams I received about $200 worth of gift cards for B&N from the husband and my mom. Hubby usually wants a New Gundam set to build or PS4 money. My sister always makes fun of us but its what makes us happy.
My library has a ton of books available on Overdrive/Kindle. You should check yours if you haven’t, esp. For older JAK and Jayne Castle.
I’ve been looking for a new author to enjoy! Thank you, I’m almost finished The Art of Deception and will definitely look at her other works.
I haven’t read any JAK books yet but after reading everyone’s comments I’ll have to look her up too!
I have read all of Jayne’s books and had all of them. I’m glad she is shifting decades for the next book. It’s time to move on. I do enjoy the dust bunnies though; they have interesting personalities.
I’m reading Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta series. I’ve read them multiple times but donated them when I moved. She has a new book in this series coming out this spring so I splurged and got them for my kindle.
You might like Jodi Taylor’s St. Mary’s series, time traveling historians. I binged all of them, love books with humor! I also like Jana De Leon.
I adore Jodi Taylor and the St. Mary’s series! So, so well-done. From sheer hilarity to tragedy, often in the span of a single day. Terrific stuff.
I really enjoyed the last books you recommended so I’m looking forward to this one. And if you like Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune, which I love, you should try Toni McGee Causey’s Bobbie Faye series.
Bobbi Faye’s Very, (Very, very) Bad Day is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. I believe she had the 1st two out, then they were reissued with new titles/covers and then the 3rd one was released. Other than short stories, has Ms Causey written anything else since then?
Oh, goodness, I had forgotten Bobby Faye! I hurt myself reading that one. (Literally – I laughed so hard, my abs were sore the next day.) I think I even remember which shelf it’s on.
Not as funny, but still a snicker or two are the J D Robb (Nora Roberts) Eve Dallas books. Near future after a disaster reshapes the world police procedurals. Many, many books…
I just read her Christmas story on her blog. Laughed so hard. It’s a couple of years old, so you may have already seen it.
Has Ilona or Gordon ever read Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer?
Ahhh. You all got me going. Thank you for Stephanie Burgis, Jodi Taylor, and the other favorites. Once you started me book looking, I segued into cookbooks. Which begs the question, are there any good cookbooks for Finnish, Russian, Estonian, Caucasus area, Siberia area recipes? Are there any good geography books for those areas?
Just finished Art of Deception. I enjoyed it very much. JAK wrote Gift of Gold and Gift of Fire which are 2 of my favorites of hers.
I just LOVE you all. No, I have not started drinking…yet. The book sugestions here are Fabulous! Obviously Ilona Andrews fans have great taste. Since the darlings can’t release a book a day I am so happy you guys are filling up my to-read list.
Bought it, read it, really enjoyed it. Thank You Ilona for another lovely read.
So many books, so little time.
And as I started to type that I suddenly realized that I needed to go to my library account to renew a book. Whew!
A new author to follow?
Just got the story for my Kindle.
Thanks!
I love JAK in all her identities. I have all she has written. Love her Harmony series.
Since Ilona’s book recs tend to result in a lot of people buying said book, I thought it would be fun to track the difference in sales rank, because…why not?
So, when Ilona first posted the link, the book was #984,755 Paid in Kindle Store.
Now it’s #550 Paid in Kindle Store. Which I read somewhere corresponds to maybe 200-250 sales in a day. So while it’s not 900,000 new sales, it’s definitely a great boost for any author. 🙂
Wow, that’s a nice jump.
I love theese nuggets of info. And now I am going to go buy it myself.
thanks for this – I was just wondering about how sales were affected.
What gets me, is when I buy a book and suddenly the price drops.
Have you tried any of Heather Killough-Walden works? Her Kings series sprinkles little pop culture references. Such as one king is a brony, another restores classic cars, and yet another plays Pokemon Go. She also has a Neverland series that has a teenage Wendy realizing that Captain Hook isn’t that old.
Brony!? Now I have to read this!
That particular book is The Goblin King. Pinkie Pie is one of his favorites.
This is great, I’ve now read Art of Deception and busy binge reading the hilarious Miss Fortune series. Love the recommendations! Here’s mine – Jennie Crusie, very very funny with great plots. I reread them all but Agnes and the Hitman is probably my go to comfort book. Also the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood (also a TV series now), set in 1920s Melbourne (and one in Sydney) less humour but very good writing. She’s an investigator who lives as she chooses rather than as others think she should.
Thanks for the recommendation! Bought it right away. And, oh, JAK! I’ve read only a few of her books under that name, but her Amanda Quick novels were some of the romance novels I’ve read and continue to be favorites.
Thanks a lot Ilona for your recommendation. I enjoyed a lot of your idea´s so far.
I did find out that “Art of Deception” was published as part of “Insert Title Here” . So I bought the complete anthology. You can some information here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25118721-insert-title-here
Roberta Gellis is one of my favorite authors. Most of her books are classified as historical romances and she is beyond compare in bringing past times to life and weaving fact with fiction in a very entertaining way. The first book of hers I read was The Love Token written under the name of Priscilla Hamilton. The next was Bond of Blood. I was totally hooked by her writing.
Sadly she died in May 2016 but before that she created 4 or 5 series for readers to enjoy. These books have strong female protagonists and while they are not sword carrying they manage to remake their circumstances in most convincing ways.
She was one of my favorites, I’m sorry to hear of her death.
Did you read her Magdalene La Batarde series?
Patrica Briggs has posted a 2nd snippet from her new Mercy book.
where?
On her web page. Run your mouse over the Silence Fallen Book Cover and it displays a secondary menu. The snippets are here.
thank you for the recommendation. I don’t always love what you recommend, but our tastes are similar more often than not. I really enjoyed this one.
I just finished “bill the vampire” (the tome of bill, #1) by rick gualtieri. I haven’t made up my mind entirely about the book, but I don’t think I’m going to read any of the rest of the series. some parts of the book were laugh out loud funny, but the overall tone, especially towards women, was pretty disturbing. like, female vampires HAVE to have sex with head guy, and bill is all “I need to fill out the application for THAT job, they can’t say no, i’ll finally get laid!” he ends up a vampire because the pretty female vampires were ordered to bring in nerd/geeks to eat, and he didn’t die as scheduled. the month before, the handsome male vampires were ordered to bring fat chicks. pretty icky, really.
Why did you put in “if” we finish Hidden Legacy? Shouldn’t it be “when”?
I almost got a panic attack seeing that if word.
Thanks for the recommendation! Y’all, I have been in heaven the last three days; I had to go to New Mexico (from Florida) to do two presentations at a conference, and – lo and behold! – I had time to read. Really read, not listen to audiobooks (which I love but do when I have to do something else at the same time, like drive or clean the kitchen). What a luxury! Thanks to your recommendations and those of the Horde, I have been through The Art of Deception (Stephanie Burgess), To Catch a Bad Guy (Marie Astor); and both Louisiana Longshot and Lethal Bayou Beauty (Jana Deleon). Talk about binge-reading! My phone ran out of juice in the middle of the night, so I snuggled up with my laptop (gotta get a tablet!) and just kept reading. I still have a whole night and half a day to go, plus a full day of traveling to get back home. Gotta go buy more books. 🙂
Downloaded and read the book. An enjoyable, quick read. I enjoyed it, but was a little put off by the ending (spoiler alert). Pulling out some completely new magic–something not referenced anywhere earlier–to wrap things up is a little unfair. I’m going to read more of her work because I like her writing, but I’m hoping for a little less random plot twist at the end!
This was fun. Reminded me of Martha Wells’ ‘The Element of Fire,’ a long-time favorite 🙂