Ragdoll, by Daniel Cole

Format: e-ARC, 378 pages

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Published: 28 February, 2017

ISBN: 9781409168751

Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers

Back cover blurb: A body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together like a puppet, nicknamed by the press as the ‘ragdoll’.
Assigned to the shocking case are Detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes, recently reinstated to the London Met, and his former partner Detective Emily Baxter.
The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by releasing a list of names to the media, and the dates on which he intends to murder them.
With six people to save, can Fawkes and Baxter catch a killer when the world is watching their every move?

My review: I was reminded a lot of the Luther TV series while reading this. Will Fawkes, aka Wolf, is the kind of detective who takes crimes personally, isn’t above bending the rules to get his man, and who often finds himself embroiled with his witnesses and colleagues. The case was gory and intriguing, full of sudden twists, and based on the blurb, I should have enjoyed this more than I did. But the fact was I didn’t get much sense of Wolf until very late in the story. I wasn’t invested in him, or even any of his colleagues. Only Edmunds seemed to stand out, and it doesn’t look like he will be staying on for the second book. I can see how Cole wrote this initially as a screenplay, but feel like the characterization would have been all down to the actors cast. I doubt I’ll be reading the sequel.

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

My rating: 3.5/5

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Passion and Propriety (Hearts of Honour, book 1), by Elise de Sallier

Format: e-book, 270 pages

Publisher: The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House

Published: August 7, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-61213-261-7

Genre: Historical romance

Back cover blurb: A hidden beauty. A wounded beast. Can the curse threatening their happiness be broken?

There is absolutely nothing improper about Hannah Foster, the vicar of Hartley’s eldest daughter, nursing the badly wounded Viscount Blackthorn back to health—that’s if the returned officer can be saved. At twenty seven she is two years the man’s senior, a confirmed spinster, and far too sensible to develop feelings for her patient. The fact he was once her childhood friend and has grown into a fine specimen of a man—his terrible scars notwithstanding—has no bearing on the matter.

Even if the unthinkable were to happen and William was to see past her plain exterior and recognise the caring, intelligent, passionate woman beneath, he is determined to break the curse that has plagued his family for generations by letting his bloodline die out. Her best friend, Grace’s, warnings are moot. A man of Lord Blackthorn’s wealth and position would never be interested in a woman like Hannah . . . would he?

My review: I really enjoyed this, and Elise de Sallier is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I love a good bodice-ripper, and this reminded me very much of the series I enjoy by Courtney Milan, Tessa Dare and others. It’s well-written with interesting, fleshed-out characters the reader can feel for. There is UST in spades, and it’s nicely done with lots of good showing rather than telling.

William is just lovely. The absence of love in his childhood made him prickly at the start, but Hannah’s caring brought him around. His willingness to help his fellow soldiers showed he wasn’t such an uncaring brute even in the army. I love his arc, coming to accept the curse is broken. And he’s yummy.

I cannot wait to read more in the series. Now that there are a few ex-military men at the big house there’s bound to be one to catch a girl’s eye 😉 Rawr!

My rating: 5/5

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