Finished ‘Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy by Leslie Langtry.

This book focuses on Virginia (Gin) Bombay, a soccer mom who moonlights as an assassin. Gin comes from a long line of assassins, all of whom are named after places (Dakota, Savannah, etc). Things are looking up for Gin, when she meets a sexy bodyguard named Diego. There’s only one problem — she’s been assigned to kill his clients. And Gin always gets her man …

I picked this book up because I’m currently writing an assassin story (although mine’s urban fantasy). This one was a little lighter than I expected. For example, Gin is perfectly fine with teaching her five-year-old daughter how to become an assassin. Plus, the soccer mom as assassin character came off as a little too ditzy at times to carry out her assignments. But some of the situations Gin found herself in were pretty funny.

The thing I liked best about the book were the quotes that Langtry used at the beginning of each chapter. All the pop-culture references relate to death or assassination in some way.

But there was one thing about the book I just didn’t get — the romance between Gin and Diego. I thought they fell in love too quickly and that there just wasn’t enough time spent on the romance to start with.

So, I’m going split decision on this one. Thumbs down to the romance. Thumbs up to the assassination bits and the quotes.

Up next: Two novella from the mystery anthology Transgressions.

Finished Goblin Hero by Jim C. Hines. This is the second book in his Goblin series, which focuses on the misadventures of Jig, a goblin who’s a rather reluctant hero.

In this book, Jig is making the new leader of the goblins uneasy (given his heroic antics in the last book), so she basically sends him off on a suicide mission to find out what’s been enslaving the ogres who live lower down in the mountain. As added insurance, she sends along two more goblins with orders to kill Jig at some point. Of course, Jig eventually figures out what’s going on — and almost dies half a dozen times in the process.

While not as inventive as Goblin Quest, the first book in the series, Goblin Hero is still a fun read, especially if you like fantasy — and seeing how the “monsters” think and act for a change. Jig is still a put-upon goblin, but he’s grown up a bit, too, and uses what he’s learned to make the most of bad situations. Character growth and advancement is always good. I hate series where the characters basically stay the same and learn nothing from past experiences (Stephanie Plum, anyone?).

My only real complaint is a secondary character that Hines introduces — Veka, a female goblin who wants to be a wizard. He breaks up the action several times to devote long passages to her. I wanted more Jig and less Veka.

So, thumbs up.

Up next: ‘Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy by Leslie Langtry.