Always by Sarah Jio

I faithfully read every new Sarah Jio novel and I haven't been disappointed.  Until now, darn it.  I don't like to give unfavorable reviews, but this one just didn't do it for me at all. 

Sarah returns to Seattle, which is the setting for most of her novels.  This time, the story bounces between 1996-1998 and 2008, as Kailey Crain is caught between her past and her future.  As a new resident of Seattle in 1996, Kailey meets Cade McAllister one night.  He's a successful music label owner who has a sixth sense about new artists, and Seattle in the 1990's was full of grunge rockers (Nirvana anyone?) trying to break out.  Kailey's love for Cade is shattered in 1998 when things go bad, and Cade leaves Kailey's life.  Heartbroken, she moves away, only to come back to Seattle years later, and fall in love with Ryan, a successful businessman.  They're engaged, and ready to begin life together.  But one night, leaving a restaurant, Kailey spots a homeless man standing outside the restaurant.  It's Cade.  He doesn't recognize Kailey, but she recognizes him, and, well, you know where this is going. 

What follows is Kailey's growing involvement in finding Cade, getting him help, and understanding what happened to leave him homeless, broken, and apparently without any memories of his previous life.  Kailey's job as a reporter covering a potential business deal that could detrimentally effect the homeless of Seattle keeps her in moving in Cade's world of homeless people who wander the streets and take up valuable real estate (according to Ryan's business connections).  What's she going to do?  And how long can she keep this secret from Ryan?  And why would she keep Cade a secret?  

This story just didn't live up to Sarah's previous novels.  It was maudlin, and this comes from someone who can take a lot of saccharine.  Kailey's life just seemed absolutely fantastical, and the tossing around of famous music names and songs just got old.  I have no desire to revisit the 1990's music scene in Seattle.  None of it felt very authentic to me.  At the end, I felt that there was never going to be a complete contentment from Kailey with the choices she made--and they were big choices.  

Drats.  I was disappointed in this one.  If you're a fan, by all means don't let this review stop you from reading Sarah.  I'll keep reading her; I just think this one missed the mark.  It felt like a very cheesy movie.

Rating:  1/6 for a story that just was too hard to believe, a heroine who didn't feel authentic to me, and ugh-an ode to 90's grunge music. 

Available in hardcover, audio, and e-book. 

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Always by Sarah Jio

Ghost Walkers by Mary Robinette Kowal

I definitely have seasons for different genres of books.  I love to read science fiction/fantasy and paranormal novels when the seasons change from summer to fall;  it starts getting darker out earlier and the cool air makes me think about chili and apple crisp.  It's also the season when all of my favorite ghost shows start new episodes on TV.  When I saw Ghost Talkers on Twitter, I had to check it out. 

Ghost Talkers has a very interesting plot, and I have to give high marks to Mary Robinette Kowal for coming up with this storyline.  The novel is set in World War I Le Havre, a French village occupied by English troops.  Ginger Stuyvesant is a young American heiress working for the English military in an unusual capacity:  she is a medium that communicates with soldiers who have died in battle and can bring news about German troop movements and artillery back to British army headquarters .  There's a secret group of women known as the Spirit Corps who work in a vast warehouse called Potter's Field.   Every day and night, mediums sit in circles with people who ground their spirits while the women work with dead soldiers who have undergone a ritual that will compel their spirit to come back to Potter's Field and give their last report before they go into the light.  England's spiritual secret weapon may turn the war in their favor.  And if the Germans find out about it, it could mean the end of the program and danger for the mediums.  And it seems there may be a traitor to Britain working to expose the Spirit Corps to the Germans...

Ginger is engaged to Captain Ben Harford, a dashing English officer who is working with the Spirit Corps and sending coded letters back to Ginger when he is on the front battle lines.  The relationship between them undergoes some tremendous heartache and growth over the course of this novel.  I can't tell you much more about the plot because it would give it all away!  Needless to say, I was taken aback at the swiftness of major plot points, and they completely changed what I thought the story would be about.  But, I completely enjoyed this novel, even with the very dark and dismal background of World War I.  Ginger and Ben have a great chemistry and rapport, and fellow mediums who have smaller parts in the story add to an overall feeling of a united Britain working to win the war.  

I certainly hope and expect there to be more adventures for the Spirit Corps in future books.  I so want to know what happens next!  This was my first time reading Mary Robinette Kowal, and I'm happy to say her mix of fantasy/paranormal and history is something I like very much.  

Rating:  8/10 for an original plot with two main characters who came to life for me very vividly.  A good mix of history, paranormal, and just darn good writing.  
Available in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook.  I checked it out from my local library.  

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Ghost Walkers by Mary Robinette Kowal