The Soldier's Scoundrel

The Soldier's Scoundrel (The Turners #1)
By  Cat Sebastian

ISBN: 9780062642486
308 Pages
Available in Paperback, Audiobook, and on Kindle

Synopsis:

A scoundrel who lives in the shadows

Jack Turner grew up in the darkness of London’s slums, born into a life of crime and willing to do anything to keep his belly full and his siblings safe. Now he uses the tricks and schemes of the underworld to help those who need the kind of assistance only a scoundrel can provide. His distrust of the nobility runs deep and his services do not extend to the gorgeous high-born soldier who personifies everything Jack will never be. 

A soldier untarnished by vice

After the chaos of war, Oliver Rivington craves the safe predictability of a gentleman’s life—one that doesn’t include sparring with a ne’er-do-well who flouts the law at every turn. But Jack tempts Oliver like no other man has before. Soon his yearning for the unapologetic criminal is only matched by Jack’s pleasure in watching his genteel polish crumble every time they’re together. 

Two men meant only for each other

My Thoughts:

The Soldier's Scoundrel is the first book of the set now referred to as The Turners, but it was the second book in the series that I read. I expected something a little more timid than it was and was surprised, but not disappointed. The genre of M/M romance novels is still a new thing to me, and it has been quite a while since I have read any romance novels at all, so I somewhat forgot that they can sometimes be... detailed. This didn't put me off of reading it, but it meant I had to be more careful about WHERE I was reading it.

The story is a touching tale of redemption, but not in the way you expect. Jack Turner, the more roguish character, holds the moral high ground throughout most of the book, quite adequately schooling Oliver, the proper gentleman / former soldier who needs a good reality check. This is a fun change from the typical "let me, the wealthy hero, rescue you from depravity" notion that male written romance novels tend to circle around. 

The romance element isn't forced, but develops quite naturally. But once they hit that point, they don't waste any time enjoying what each other has to offer. There are several scenes of varying degrees of intimacy. At the same time, they deal with very human relationship issues - like how Oliver is struggling to feel like a complete person after his injury - and how, due to his past, Jack has some mental hang-ups of his own to work through. In a very real way, they help each other to heal.

The best thing about this book is that the story doesn't just revolve around the relationship. There is a solid secondary plotline where they are working to solve a mystery, and it is just as captivating as the romance plot, if not more so. As someone who loves mystery stories, I was completely invested in finding out the solution to the case. I have read a lot of romance novels in the past, and while most have secondary plotlines to drive the story, The Soldier's Scoundrel has to be one of the most detailed and interesting ones I have read to date.

Overall, I thought The Soldier's Scoundrel was an excellent read. I was originally only planning to read the first book in the set that I had happened across at the library, but after going back and reading this one as well, I was motivated to finish the four book series.

Parent's Guide:

100% not for the kids! This book is adult in nature, with graphic sexual situations. Absolutely 18+

Maria Llovet's Eros/Psyche

Maria Llovet's Eros/Psyche
By  Maria Llovet

ISBN: 9781950912407
144 Pages
Available in Hardcover and Kindle/Comixology

TW: Blood, Suicide

Synopsis:

From the artist of the bestselling Faithless series...comes Eros/Psyche.

La Rosa's female boarding school is paradise for young girls...but only if you follow the rules. Because, if you disobey them, you can end up expelled, or even worse, dead.

Sara and Silje are two students learning the rules of the school, which includes classes by day...and the casting of curses and spells by night. A love develops between the two, which is tender, but threatens to break under the weight of the dark secret society within La Rosa.

My Thoughts:

The artwork in Maria Llovet's Eros/Psyche is stunning. The artist is an established graphic novelist with a very distinct style that is lovely. The color palate works really well to give the story an appropriately dark feel. The story, on the other hand, is a little lacking.

The premise is very promising. Magic, mystery, secret societies. What's not to love? Except, when you get down to it, there is little of what was promised. The story has inadequate exposition to actually see many of these things beyond minor allusions. In fact, it has a shortage of dialogue at all, making it jerky and hard to follow at times.

There is mystery around the school. That is made clear from page one. But all the mystery that you see seems to revolve around new students arriving and then getting the "white uniform" and being removed, in a very Survivor "voted off the island" format.

As far as the magic? I didn't see it. The synopsis mentions casting curses and spells by night. But the only seemingly witchy reference you actually notice is that the students are always collecting different herbs. Everything else they do is mundane things like making necklaces or collecting bird eggs. 

The relationship between Sara and Silje, the two main characters, is extremely subtle. It is sweet and isn't graphic or over the top. The use of plants growing to represent different stages of their friendship and developments in the story was really interesting. 

The ending felt very "M. Night Shyamalan plot twist"-ish. That's not always a bad thing, and in this case it worked well to tie it all together and wrap it back around to page one, but it still left as many questions as it answered. Overall, despite it's flaws, it was an enjoyable read.

I received a complimentary digital ARC of Maria Llovet's Eros/Psyche from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. This graphic novel book is a collection of all 5 volumes of the comic (despite the fact that the Goodreads page has it marked as #1-#4). It is currently available for preorder and will be released on October 12, 2021.

Parent's Guide:

Maria Llovet's Eros/Psyche, while not overly complicated, is confusing and not for the faint of heart. There are scenes with blood - as well as a suicide - that make it not really child friendly. There are also several images of nudity. I would recommend this book for upper level teens who like gothic art and sapphic love stories.

There and Back Again

OMG, I finally finished The Hobbit! After I started reading it in 2012, I set it aside to not spoil the next movie, then I lost the book. A while later I found the audiobook for sale at the Friends of the Library shop so I decided to listen to the audiobook instead. It made for good road trip fodder on the long drives between Houston and Waco that I did every month. I got through six tapes that way, only to discover that the seventh tape was damaged and unplayable. I pretty much gave up trying to finish the book at this point. But then a couple of weeks ago I found a matching copy of the audiobook and decided to try again. It had been so long since I listened last (in 2018) so I started from the beginning, and 12.5 hours later I finally know how the story ends! 

 

For a great spot o f irony, my son just got his school supplies from K12 and this year they are reading The Hobbit in English class! So yay? Not only am I in a better position to answer questions for him, but he has access to the audiobook to listen along if he needs to. The universe is funny sometimes.

August Reading Selections

I forgot how good it feels to spend all day lost in a book! I have already had to up my reading challenge goal twice in the last month. This month's reading list includes mostly books picked up from a trip to the local library, but also some past review requests and LibraryThing wins. 

This is what my August reading list looks like:

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan (Omnibus, Vol. 1 & 2) by Gaku Kuze

It Takes Two to Tumble, A Gentleman Never Keeps Score, & Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian 

Damsel Under Stress, Don't Hex with Texas, & Much Ado About Magic by Shanna Swendson

Captain Bartholomew Quasar: Starfaring Adventures by Milo James Fowler

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

There are also reviews incoming for my July reads, including:

The Turners series by Cat Sebastian (I had only intended to read the first book that I picked up, but once you read one book in a series you have to read them all asap. Same thing happened with the Seducing the Sedgewicks series on the August list. Her books are addictive!)

Enchanted, Inc. & Once Upon Stilettos by Shanna Swendson

Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer

Reviews will be posted over the remainder of the month and well into the next one. So remember to check back. A lot of this month's and last month's reads are books in the same series, so I will try to stagger the reviews with other ones in between them. 

And, as always, I am open to and love discussion, so I invite you to grab a book and read along!