Pieces of Hate (Asassin #1-2), by Tim Lebbon (author), Scott Sowers (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, March 2016

A man whose family and entire village was killed by a demon was given the task by, possibly, another demon, to hunt down and destroy that demon. Centuries later, he's still at it, and keeps arriving just too late to stop the demon from committing his latest assassination.

This is a horror story. There is no one likeable in it, except for possibly one individual that we are seemingly expected to regard as a fool. I may be being unfair, because I don't like horror, and should never, ever let myself be suckered into reading or listening to it.

Sometimes, though, I am.

Not recommended. Take that with a grain of salt because, as noted, I don't like horror anyway.

The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle (author), Kevin R. Free (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, February 2016

Tom is a young black man, living in New York City with his father, in the pre-Civil Rights era. Life is not easy, or safe, but Tom has gotten very skilled at presenting a non-threatening front and making money in ways that may not meet his father's high ethical standards, but do meet his looser ones. Mostly, this involves running errands white people with money, but maybe not the highest ethical standards themselves.

And one day, his legal sideline of playing the guitar gets him a really unlikely job. A white man sees him, listens for a bit, and hires him on the spot to play at a party he'll be throwing at his home in one of the fancier neighborhoods.

Tom isn't that good. It makes no sense, but the pay offered is excellent.

It's the beginning a trip down a rabbit hole of epic proportions.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful (Montana Fire), by Susan May Warren (author), Jackson Nickolay (narrator)

SDG Publishing, December 2016

CJ St. John and Hannah Butcher meet while spending a summer as smoke jumpers in Montana. For CJ, it ends with some serious injuries, and Hannah saving his life. For Hannah, it ends with the conviction that she'll never overcome her temptation to freeze in moments of crisis--that she shouldn't even complete her training as a nurse because she'll be useless.

They've both got a lot to work through. Each can see the other's strengths, but only their own weaknesses. Despite bonding as teammates in an online adventure game, they both avoid meeting for months, until finally brought together again.

They're both kind, decent, likable people, and despite their own self-defeating impulses, they fortunately have other kind, decent, likable people around to push them in the right directions.

It's a novella, so not very long, and a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

Cupcakes and Cowboys (Sunset Plains Romance #1), by Lindzee Armstrong (author), Stacey Glembowski (narrator)

Snowflake Press, July 2016

Cassidy is running a cupcake bakery and not really getting over her jilting by her fiancé, an actor who left her behind for Hollywood and his career. Jase is a far bigger, more established actor, staying at Cassidy's parents' ranch to learn about ranch life for an upcoming movie.

Cassidy is not happy to have him around. The last thing she needs is another dishonest, ambitious actor in her life.

Too bad he's so attractive, polite, friendly, and kind. It's a good thing she's too smart to fall for that.

What she doesn't know is that Jase is really, really tired of Hollywood, and a career he was born into more than chose, due to his mother being a big-name movie director.

In this fairly short work, Jase and Cassidy manage an impressive number of misunderstandings and make-ups, and face some impressive but plausible challenges. Both Cassidy and Jase are likable characters. Overall, this is an enjoyable couple of hours of light listening.

I received this book as a gift.

A Song for No Man's Land, by Andy Remic (author(, Tim Gerard Reynolds (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, February 2016

Robert Jones has been haunted by visions and creatures since childhood, some friendly, some not. He's been on balance something of a failure in life, but now The Great War has broken out, and he enlists in the hope of finally making his family proud of him.

When he's lying badly wounded on the battlefield, and thinks things can't get worse, his creatures appear again.

The story alternates between Jones as a young boy, Jones as a soldier in the war, and Jones writing his diary and his memoirs.

This is a beautifully told story, unfolding its mysteries layer by layer. Is Jones strong enough for the war? Is he strong enough for what haunts him? What choices can he face harder than killing his fellow man in combat?

It's lyrical and moving, and well worth your time. Recommended.

The Drowning Eyes, by Emily Foster (author), Robin Miles (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, January 2016

Tazir has been plying the sealanes in her trade ship for many years, and is facing the same challenges all her competitors are, in these hard days when the Dragonships have started ravaging those some sealanes and the communities near them. She has no interest in anything other than keeping her ship and crew afloat and profitable--even if only barely--and no interest in challenging the Dragonships.

Shina is a young woman fleeing something, probably an unwanted marriage, but she has the money to hire the ship to make an unlikely journey, and that's what Tazir and her crew care about. That's the business they're in. It's no fault of theirs that they don't know what her real purpose is, or that they start to like her quite a bit.

The Harp of Imach Thyssel (Lyra #3), by Patricia C. Wrede (author), Nicole Greevy (narrator)

Audible Studios, July 2013 (original publication 1985)

Emereck the minstrel is traveling with Flindaran, a nobleman masquerading as a mistrel, when he discovers, in an abandoned castle, an ancient, and magical, harp. He would much rather have not found it, because all magic has its price. He has an obligation to bring it to the guild, though, and that means he has to deal with other people's desires surrounding it.

Because the Harp of Imach Thyssel can make a badly wounded man whole, or kill an entire city.

The Absconded Ambassador (Genrenauts #2), by Michael R. Underwood (author), Mary Robinette Kowal (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, March 2016

Leah Tang is off on her second mission as a rookie Genrenaut, this time to repair a breach in the Science Fiction world. A peace treaty is due to be signed, a boon to life, limb, and trade in a good part of this genre world, but an ambassador who has played a critical role has been kidnapped. If he isn't present for the signing, many of the other intended signatories will back out, because he's the one they all trust. Leah learns a lot about a world that shouldn't exist, a genre she though she knew, and her new colleagues.

She also teaches her colleagues something about the value of lacking preconceptions, otherwise known as significant prior knowledge. Along the way, we get hints that one of those colleagues is something other than what he outwardly seems, too, though everyone agrees Leah isn't ready for that knowledge.

Once again, a lot of fun. Well worth your time.

Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon, by Bronwen Dickey (author), Randye Kaye

Tantor Audio, ISBN 9781494568641, May 2016

The American pit bull is a dog with a confused and troubled history. It's become the definition of the vicious dog, the dangerous dog, the dog that will go from lying quietly beside you on the couch to tearing your kids to shreds, for no apparent reason and with no warning.

And anyone will tell you it has "always" been that way.

Except that when I was a kid, that dog was the Doberman Pinscher. Well, except when it was the German Shepherd.

Since then, it was the rottweiler for a decade or so.

In the 19th century, for some of the time it was the bloodhound, and some of the time it was the white spitz dog--a dog also known to be a major spreader of rabies. This terrifying breed is now better known as the American Eskimo dog, a fluffy, adorable American house pet, one of the most successful rebranding efforts in history.

Somebody Like You, by Donna Alward

St. Martin's Press, ISBN 9781250092649, February 2017

Laurel Stone has come home to small town Darling, VT, after a failed marriage that still haunts her due to her ex's determination to "remain friends." No one gets a chance to forget that Laurel's husband left her for another man.

Leaving accounting behind her, she has bought the town's defunct garden center and reopened it as the Ladybug Garden Center. She's enjoying it more than she ever did accounting, at least until the morning she comes in and finds it vandalized and the cash register "float" stolen.

And then the cop who comes in response to her call is Aiden Gallegher. She and Aiden have a history, on Laurel would prefer not to revisit. Too bad Aiden is still so attractive!