I absolutely loved the first book in the Lady Sherlock series and it ended up being one of my favorite books of 2016. I was thrilled to have a chance to delve into A Conspiracy in Belgravia and overall found it to be another enjoyable read. My main quibble with this one was there were too many different things going on at once with the missing brother, the coded telegram, the marriage proposal, the possible poisoning, Livia’s mysterious man, the introduction of Moriarty, etc. I was a little confused for a good half of the book about what the main mystery was because none of these happenings were getting any more attention than the others. Of course, Thomas manages to show how a lot of these are related by the end, but it was rather overwhelming for a while. That being said, the rich details, the fantastic characters, and the fun spin on the classic Sherlock Holmes universe still made for a delightful read. There were a lot of loose threads at the end of this second book and I can’t wait to see what Thomas does with them in book #3!

Wow I love this series.  The dynamic between Charlotte and Lord Ingram is really intriguing, but even so I loved the conceit that she might marry his brother.  I like that she knows exactly who she is, and isn't bothered by it at all.

This sequel is perhaps a bit more convoluted than the previous book, and is clearly setting the series up for more story arcs, but I still enjoyed it.  I only wish there had been a little more explanation with Lady Ingram.

I am enjoying this series tremendously. Charlotte, Livia, Lord Ingram and Mrs Watson are all great characters. I look forward to what Charlotte gets into next.

This is a difficult book to review because I love Sherry Thomas, and I love the first book in this series. But my favorite elements from the first book were sadly lacking in this one. While this book was very well researched, Charlotte came to conclusions that were not clear to the reader, and it was very easy to get confused as to what was going on. Characters and situations from the first story were not well explained when they were reintroduced, and the plot really fizzled. I understand that this book is meant to set up Moriarty, but there was no real plot going on. The mystery of the housekeeper, Lady Ingram's mystery, and Charlotte being followed were all little mini-mysteries without much excitement. The mystery with Myron Finch was so convoluted that it began to get tiresome. I'm still going to read this series, and I'm sure my library will buy a copy of this book, but I do hope the next book is more exciting than this one.

Full review to be published online in early September.

As with the first book of “The Energy Vampires” (Thirst) the cover and the blurb drew me to HUNGER. It is difficult with so many vampire books out there to find something different; but with energy vampire soaking nourishment from the sun as well as humans, this certainly seemed to fit the bill. I struggled with the beginning of the book which just couldn't seem to get going.  Normally with a book that would be it, but since I'd requested this I felt I should make an effort to actually finish it.


HUNGER is written in the third person, which is part of the reason I believe I struggled with the read. However, this has been sitting on my kindle for weeks, so I pushed ahead. While I appreciated the different angle and it's one of the things which drew me towards the book in the first place, I'm not sure how well it worked. One of the things I like about these vampires is the darkness in them. I like that while they're so powerful at night while sunlight is not a great weakness; and that these vampires have very little to be afraid of.

The storyline has all the right ingredients. There is Halo, the hot, sexy powerful vampire who's drawn inexplicably to Felice who is so different from him, the vampire wars, and the New York City setting. Felice is a strong independent woman and for the most part I liked her although at times I felt she was a little too independent for example after a run in with sycophants (evil vampires) she continues to insist she can look after herself. While she's incredibly capable, she needs to realize that she couldn't stand alone against an evil group of immortals attacking her.

Overall, HUNGER is an enjoyable read, if a tad slow; and “The Energy Vampires” an ambitious effort for Jacquelyn Frank. The series, however, is still finding its legs, and hopefully the pace of the next book will pick up a bit. Frank has had better series, in my opinion, but fans of the authors writing style will enjoy this story.