"Of Pastries and Vengeance" by Amber Lambda and Lydia Mae

Another great addition to the Games of Greed and Ruin series!  Of Pastries and Vengeance focuses on one character from the first book, One Must Die, plus adds a new character, while also expanding the world in which the series is set.

If you read One Must Die, you probably remember Maple, the sweet baker whose peach scones gained her several friends, though they didn't convince quite everyone in the deadly Sky Manor game that she was a good person. As I recall, several people were sure she was not as pure and uncomplicated as she wanted to appear.

And they were right.  Maple has a big secret: she may bake delicious cinnamon rolls and peach scones and other bakery delights now, but she was once a notorious and feared member of the city's underground no-holds-barred prize fighting circles.  Not only that, but she believes her father was murdered during one of those illegal fights.

Maple meets Rory Evander, a brand-new law enforcement officer who is intent on capturing a killer.  No matter who that killer may be.  Rory and Maple team up, albeit with reluctance on both their parts, and begin hunting for clues.  And start to develop feelings for each other in the process, as you might expect.

Since I love a good murder mystery, I really enjoyed this.  There were enough surprises to keep me guessing and enough clues to keep me satisfied.  I look forward to seeing where these two characters end up in the next book.

Like the other books in this series, this is Christian fiction, though the Christian themes are maybe a bit less overt in this than in some of the books.

This book WILL make you hungry...

Particularly Good Bits:

I cringed.  This guy was going to stick out like a burnt tea biscuit (p. 31).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for scenes of hand-to-hand violence and non-gory descriptions of murder.  No smut and no cussing.

"Of Masquerades and Fame" by Candice Pedraza Yamnitz and Claire Kohler

Book three in the Games of Greed and Ruin series does not disappoint!

Of Masquerades and Fame picks up the story of two contestants from One Must Die, Camilla and Rupert.  After surviving the deathly games of the first book, Camilla has vowed to change her ways.  She no longer makes and sells poisons, but has a legitimate (if boring) job.  She and Rupert are tentatively heading toward getting engaged, but Camilla is worried that Rupert will feel ashamed for not being able to support a wife, and she thinks he might do something desperate to change his fortunes.  So she does something desperate instead:  she accepts an invitation to a masquerade ball from a man she knows is evil and wants to manipulate her into poisoning someone.

Meanwhile, Rupert has a big and important secret that he is hesitant to share with Camilla.  He worries that if she finds out he's not actually poor anymore, she'll only agree to marry him to get at his money.  He has to learn to trust her before he can propose -- and he is so far from trusting her, he's having her followed and all her activity reported on.

Both Camilla and Rupert have a lot of growing up to do over the course of this short book.  The bulk of the book takes place all in a single night, during the masquerade ball.  The story has lots of disguises and masks and secrets, a dangerous hedge maze, and a very stunning conclusion that left me eager for the next book in the series.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-10 for some violent deaths (lightly described), lots of danger, and a scary hedge maze sequence.

"Of Clockworks and Daggers" by Sarah Everest

This is the second book in the Games of Greed and Ruin series -- the first was One Must Die, which Sarah Everest co-wrote with five other authors.

Of Clockworks and Daggers follows the adventures of Zenith, a young assassin-for-hire whose beliefs about his entire existence are challenged when he meets a mysterious fellow assassin who has a dangerous offer for him.  Zenith has been trying to live an honest life ever since the events at the mysterious sky mansion in One Must Die.  He's also been trying to help support the orphanage run the Jessie, the young woman he is falling in love with.  But he gets sucked back into his old life, and more is jeopardized than just his relationship with Jessie. 

This book ponders some pretty deep issues, like being the adult child of abusive parents, how to deal with the wrong in your past when you want to change for the better, and personal sacrifices big and small. It starts a little slowly, but builds to a really thrilling climax.

I really like the steampunk world of this series, a sort of Dickens-meets-H.G. Wells vibe with some fantasy twists here and there.  I'm looking forward to more of this series, including the next book, which drops in October!  

Particularly Good Bits:

Something about the pretentiousness of lawyers who live a life bending the law to fit the needs of their benefactors makes them believe they're untouchable.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG for some violence, memories of child abuse, thieving, and a scary sequence involving fire.

"One Must Die" by Candice Pedraza Yamnitz, Amber Lambda, Sarah Everest, Claire Kohler, Lydia Mae, and C. C. Urie

I'm not sure I've ever read a novel co-written by six people before.  Not an anthology, but a single novel!  It's quite the ambitious endeavor, but I think it worked really well.

It's hard to describe One Must Die succinctly.  As the cover says, it's a steampunk murder mystery.  Set in a mansion floating above earth that's filled with robots.  And hidden keys.  And secret passageways.  And, somewhere, a treasure vault.

A whole bunch of strangers are invited to try solving a mystery and finding the treasure in the mansion... and then it turns out they're not all strangers after all.  Someone must die before anyone can claim the treasure, and there's a time limit, too.  You have to find the correct key to open the vault, and you have to find the vault.  Lots of treachery and trickery ensues.

This book is kind of like if you put The Westing Game and Clue and Murder on the Orient Express and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow in a blender.  It's a fast-paced ride, but never gets too scary or too bloody or too intense.  I'll be handing this off to my tween and teens to read now that I've finished it.

Particularly Good Bits: Dread seemed to settle over the large dining room like spider threads, wrapping us too tightly for any chance of escape (p. 50).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-10 for violence, some romantic interludes (all tasteful), and talk about illegitimate children.