Hey, everybody! I’m waving hello as I pass by this month, as always grateful to Love Bytes for giving me a spot.

First, the winner of the Gift Certificate from last month’s giveaway is ELF. Thanks to each one of you who commented!

I have just enough time, I think, to make some quick book recommendations—things I’ve read and loved recently or am currently reading and loving.

Not surprisingly, I’m reading and loving Rhys Ford’s Once Upon a Wolf. Leave it to this beloved author to make a sweet romance read out of a werewolf mishap. And yes, it’s going to be a series!
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/once-upon-a-wolf-by-rhys-ford-9348-b

J. Scott Coatsworth’s recently released Lander is the second book in his Oberon series, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. I read book one, Skythane, though, and loved it, so you’d best bet I’ll be getting to book two sooner or later. Reasons to love this book: Xander, Jameson, Alix, Quince, and a crazy world that’s been split into two hemispheres.
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/skythane-by-j-scott-coatsworth-8154-b

I admittedly finished this third book some time ago, but I haven’t said one word about it yet… Okay, bad pun on the title. Since I’ve co-written a book with Anne (Sunset at Pencarrow), you may not be surprised to find I enjoy her writing. This one I’ve actually reviewed, and I’m sharing my thoughts for the first time here and now.

One Word by Anne Barwell returns to the Hidden Places series universe, doubling part of the timeframe of book two and adding depth, depicting the romance between two secondary characters.The series’ core books, Cat’s Quill and Magic’s Muse, fall well within the fantasy genre, dividing the characters’ adventures between an inn and village in contemporary England and a hidden world of swords and sorcery. The events in One Word relate to the fantasy story, but never move from the mundane to the parallel world. The prologue takes place after the mystery at the heart of the fantasy has been resolved, when one of the romantic protagonists is about to propose marriage. Chapter 1 begins with events occurring two years earlier when Ethan, one half of the romantic duo, comes to the locale from London, to look for his friend, Tomas, who has gone missing from the inn. Donovan, co-owner of the inn and Ethan’s future love interest, meets him at the train. Tomas has been drawn into the hidden world, and though the characters don’t know that yet, they are aware something extraordinary is happening. The romance between Donovan and Ethan proceeds as they overcome mistrust while seeking clues to Tomas’s fate, and a mystery surrounding a bank robbery and criminal fugitives adds to the tension.

I turned pages throughout the story with a sense of understated urgency. I liked the characters and the development of their romance. Barwell interweaves the romance and the robbery skillfully. In sum, I think One Word is exactly what Anne Barwell must have intended it to be when she wrote it: a quick-moving, light read; a good book that nicely ties up the loose end of a sweet romance. Because the sleuthing in One Word and the resolution of the overarching fantasy of the Hidden Places series are never fully connected within this novel, to get the most enjoyment from One Word I recommend first reading Cat’s Quill and Magic’s Muse to set the stage and connect all the dots.
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/one-word-by-anne-barwell-9001-b

(Note all of the above are from Dreamspinner Press or their imprint.)

As a footnote, I’ll mention a couple of books for writers and other lovers of language. These are both great resources if you write historical novels of any sort—a pinch of reality about the derogatory origin of so many words, but also a fun look at the crazy ways language twists and turns as our human experience changes.

Gay’s the Word: Being a Brief History of the Secret Language of Homosexuality by Anthony Slide. (2015, BearManor Bare, Albany, GA)
A New Look at Old Words: Street Slang from the 1600s-1800s by Catherine Thrush based on John Camden Hotten. (ISBN:978-0-9914788-6-6)

Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next month.