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Lapidius: Book 1 (A Nation Found Series) by Matthew Runals – Review by Lucinda Morton-Phillips

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LapidiusLapidius by Matthew Runals
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lapidius is the debut novel by Matthew Runals, and the first in A Nation Found series. It tells the story of young cadets sent to Lapidius, a military school that teaches the youth military discipline & tactics to face the war facing them.
It is a young adult dystopian novel with elements of fantasy. We follow a group of friends as they navigate their way through the classes, learning about friendship, cooperation, bravery, magic, intrigue, and hope.
There is great character and world-building, which starts the novel off slow but builds into a faster pace. There is a satisfactory conclusion with room for later novels.

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Mr. Lucky (Trentbridge Crime Series Book 1) by Lee Wood – Review by Lucinda Morton-Phillips

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Mr Lucky (Trentbridge Tales #1)Mr Lucky by Lee Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mr Lucky is told from various characters viewpoints and can be confusing at the beginning until you work out who fits where. The threads all come together with a bang and everything makes sense in the end.
It is a fast paced story featuring James Sheldon, a hard working police officer who has a great life with young family and wife he adores. When tragedy strikes he loses everything and finds himself lost in the bottle and homeless. A chance encounter brings salvation and the opportunity to help others, but also brings him into the firing line of Dave Rex.
Dave Rex starts as a small time criminal but transitions into a big player in the London drug supply chain. He has big plans that are thwarted by an accidental encounter with James, leading to retribution plans.
This was a very satisfying thriller and I look forward to reading more in the series.

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An Ember of Hope (War of Destiny Series) by Theresa Van Spankeren – Review by Lucinda Morton-Phillips

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An Ember of Hope: War of DestinyAn Ember of Hope: War of Destiny by Theresa Van Spankeren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is set within the War of Destiny series, between books 2 & 3. It tells the story from Matthew de la Roche’s point of view as he struggles to come to terms with his sense of loss and betrayal from those he considered family, whilst recovering from imprisonment and torture.
A chance encounter with members of the Medici family gives him some purpose in life and he starts to mend, always being conscious of the need to hide his vampiric nature whilst amongst the mortals.
A plea from Cardinal Medici takes him to Rome, a dangerous place for a lone vampire on the wrong side of King Valentino, but Matthew finds that he may have more allies than he knows.

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Her Sapphire Blade (Guardians of Camelot Series) by Sarah Biglow – Review by Lucinda Morton-Phillips

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Her Sapphire Blade: An Arthurian-Inspired Portal Fantasy Novel (Guardians of Camelot Book 1)Her Sapphire Blade: An Arthurian-Inspired Portal Fantasy Novel by Sarah Biglow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic spin on the Arthurian myths!
Morgan le Fay is a witch, albeit not a very good one in modern London. She was raised by her Aunt Nim and has grown up hearing all about Camelot and how she is the lost heir to the throne. Morgan believed that they were just fairytales until one day when she & her aunt are attacked and a mysterious stranger named Emerys whisks her through a portal to Camelot.
Camelot is very different to how Morgan imagined it, having moved with the times. Morgan’s magic snaps into being as soon as she arrives in Camelot but she is untrained and it is unpredictable. Emerys and her apprentice only have a short time to teach Morgan to control it before the tournament where she will face Prince Arthur in the final bout if she can manage to get that far. With a bit of luck and inspiration from the dead Aunt Nim, she defies the odds when faced with witches, fae and dragons throughout the rounds.
This is a fast-paced book that grabs you from the start – full of action and intrigue, and a dash of romance.

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Alchemy of Glass (The Apothecary Series) by Barbara Barnett – Review by Lucinda Morton-Phillips

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Alchemy of GlassAlchemy of Glass by Barbara Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

‘Alchemy of Glass’ is the 2nd book about Gaelan Erceldoune, an immortal apothecary. Whilst you could read it without reading the first book, you would get a much better understanding of the events in this book if you read ‘The Apothecary’s Curse’ first.
Once again, the story moves between several time periods, including actual time travel into a possible future. We share Gaelan’s confusion as to whether things are real, if he has gone insane, or if he is alive or dead.
It becomes a race against time to put things right and prevent an apocalyptic future from manifesting.
This book is a wonderful mix of Celtic mythology, fantasy, sci-fi, science and magic.

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