Monty's Book Reviews

  Broken Tales of the Known World Book 2 by D.N.Frost 4 Stars Pages: 345 Genre: Fantasy Published: 07 Dec 2021 Publisher: Independently Published Publisher's Blurb Centuries ago, the prophetic Golden Age ended in war, and history spiraled into darkness. Now, the saga continues as our heroes prepare for a dark invasion in the hollow aftermath of A'lara's unbinding. Deep within the mountain fortress of Sierlyn, the legendary elf Kingard frees the captive empress of Allana. Under the elf's watchful eye, the new Light Master Jorn strives to redeem the stains of his past betrayal. When the unwitting darkmage Haisrir embarks for distant Kholl, he unleashes the gravest threat of all. Divided in purpose and forsaken by prophesy, their fractured band splinters under the burdens of impending war. But looming beyond the eastern horizon, their enemies ready a ghastly armada. Without new portents to guide them, Kingard and his allies face a blind scramble to defend their imperiled e

  The Halden Army Keyla Damaer 4 Stars Publisher's Blurb Draken Kosset is a cadet of the Halden Army. He wants to become an officer to protect his homeworld but must pass a final test. A test that will force him to confront his worst fear. Will he succeed? Join him in this short story! Review Draken needs to pass his final exam if he is ever to realise his ultimate goal of fighting in the Halden Army as an officer.  The ultimate test of skills will be difficult enough but can he confront his weaknesses to overcome the trial. This is a nice intro to the world of Keyla Damaer's Sehnsucht Series and is tightly written with memorable characters. The Author Keyla Damaer is the pen name of an Italian author. She enjoyed writing since she was a child. She travelled a lot, especially throughout the United States, where part of her family lives. That gave her the opportunity to deepen her love and knowledge of the English language, which she always cherished since she was a child. She w

  The Guidal: Discovering Puracordis Roxy Eloise 5 Stars Pages: 289 Published:  02 April 2022 Publisher:  Entrada Publishing Publisher's Blurb In a future where the mention of magic is banned, one paranoid man rules the entire country.  Adopting children to become his private bodyguards, they are raised together in a strict institute where sixteen-year-old Aurora struggles to follow the rules. Finding herself disciplined often, she doesn’t particularly like her endless life of servitude. Soon, she will have to take part in the institute’s annual Unity ceremony where she could end up engaged to a complete stranger! Aurora’s fears of being different are realised when she discovers something about herself, something which will make most fear her, and her adoptive father will want her killed for. Friends, bullies, and a touch of something magical, Aurora’s first year in the grown-ups’ quarter is far from ordinary. Review Aurora has spent almost her entire life, so far, traini

  Death of a Blogger Dawn Brookes 4 Stars Pages: 169 Published: 30 April 2021 Publisher: Oakwood Publishing   Publisher’s Blurb When a gossip blogger joins a tour party along with victims of her malicious words, there can only be one outcome! A river cruise from Amsterdam turns deadly. When Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe embarks on her first river cruise with companions Rachel Prince and Sarah Bradshaw, she's not expecting murder for company! It's bad enough knowing there might be a murderer among their travelling party, but then Lady Marjorie finds herself saddled with a most unwelcome guest. Edna Parkinton, Marjorie's estranged cousin-in-law is loud, brash and tells it as it is. Marjorie can't wait to be shot of her. With Rachel and Sarah intent on enjoying a holiday for once, Marjorie decides to investigate a guest's suspicious death herself.  Will she find the killer before the killer finds her? Laugh out loud fun and mayhem, this prequel provides

Ivan’s Dilemma The Mila K Mysteries Book #2 K C Brennan 4 Stars Pages: 71 Published: 11 November 2020 Publisher: KCB Mysteries Keywords: Cozy Mystery, Women Sleuths   Publisher’s Blurb It’s been a month since Mila returned to Chernivtsi.  And it had been an eventful homecoming.  She was still contemplating how Pietro, whom she thought was the lost love of her life, could have been such a fraud and then killed so horribly? She was glad the school year had started, and she was able to focus on her courses and students instead.   However, with the arrival of the new dean circumstances become both good and bad for Mila.  Though Sergei Vasilovici seems to be a challenging fellow with no real connections or much of a personal history, Mila finds him an acceptable replacement for Pietro Melnik as dean, especially when he offers her a promotion.  At the same time, he is not as amiable with the students, particularly Ivan Popov.  The two are seen arguing at Sergei’s welcome assembly and when Se

The Very Worst Riding School in the World Books 1 & 2 Lucinda E Clarke 4 Stars Pages: Kindle Approx 28 (Book 1) & 50 (Book 2) Publisher: Umhlanga Press;  Published: 17 Jun. 2017   Publisher’s Blurb Who would be stupid enough to open and run a riding school when they are terrified of horses, can't ride, without insurance or capital, and with not the faintest idea of how to care for horses. Add to that, two of the four horses are not fit for the knacker's yard. Yes, that's exactly what I did - like so many of my adventures I 'fell' into this one as well with hilarious results. Review When Lucinda’s husband buys her a couple of horses it sets in motion a course of events that leads to her running, in her words, the worst riding school in the world. What follows is a laugh-out-loud tale of the ups and mostly downs of owning your own equine based teaching business in the wild African countryside. This is a really fun read as you root for Lucinda in her misguided

Unlucky Charm Hopps Town Series Book #2 Aidan Lucid 4 Stars Pages: 122 Published: 04 January 2022 Publisher’s Blurb Darkness Comes From The Most Unexpected Of Places! A New Threat Comes to Hopps Town Following the events of,  The Scavenger , we now find Jared a year later, on a two week break from college. He thought this would be a relaxing visit home then it happened, something so dark he felt a strange sense of deja-vu. Across town we find Reggie Danes and Zane Miller who’ve been friends for over ten years. After Zane purchases an antique pocket-watch, they suddenly find themselves being taunted by past secrets. Now they must band together to vanquish the demons which plague their lives. Can life ever return to normal? Will the darkness ever disappear? Review Set a year after the events in Aidan Lucid’s first book in the Hopps Town series ‘The Scavenger’ this continues Jared’s initiation into the supernatural world of psychic powers, ghosts and demons. Th