"Easy death, Lizbeth."

This one was my favorite in the series. I love that Lizbeth finally gets to travel to HRE - Holy Russion Empire. And she finally got to be the one to arrive for Eli - instead of the other way around. There are grigori around all over there. She gets to see the school, meet some people we've heard about and have some great battles. This one introduces more interesting magic users - once I hadn't remembering hearing about yet.

All in all, it felt like a conclusion to the series and I really liked it. ( )

A necessary novel in this entertaining series to learn more about the characters, especially the secondary ones, and to set up the next book. The plot against the tsar makes sense, given the actual historical record against the Russian royal family. But the novel's plot is very close to OTT territory. ( )

The third book picks right up after book two, Lizabeth has a received a coded letter from her half sister letting her know that Eli is in jail in the Holy Russian Empire. One long train ride later and she is there to meet his family and get information to go about rescuing him. You meet the rest of his family and find out why he is in jail. With the help of Felix, who would like to marry one of Eli’s sisters, plans are set in motion to rescue Eli. Things work out by the end of the book and there are no major strings left hanging. Not sure if we will see more in this setting or not but I hope so even if it doesn’t feature Lizabeth since the setting is nicely fleshed out and there is plenty of room for other characters to come forward.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
( )

A letter from her sister Felicia sends Lizbeth Rose into the HRE to rescue her partner Eli Savarov. Eli has been arrested and imprisoned although no one knows what crime he is supposed to have committed.

After a long train trip and arriving like a fish out of water in San Diego, Lizbeth goes to see her sister at school to find out what she knows. Lizbeth also calls on Eli's mother and sisters to find that they also don't know why Eli has been imprisoned.

Determined to free Eli, Lizbeth connects with Felix, a grigori who is a friend of Eli's. They learn that Eli's arrest is not known to the tsar. They decide they need to let him know. To do that, they arrange to "save" the tsarina when she is attacked during a public outing. That gets Lizbeth an invitation to the palace and a chance to get the tsarina's help to get Eli out of jail.

Lizbeth soon learns that there are problems within the new government. Someone, like the tsar's uncle, is spreading rumors that the tsar's blood disease will soon kill him. The uncle feels he is much more worthy of being tsar than Alexei. There are also problems within Eli's family. His stepbrothers resent his influence with the tsar and favor the tsar's uncle as ruler.

Between coping with dangerous relatives and the lead up to a revolt, Lizbeth needs to get Eli out of jail.

This was another entertaining episode of the Gunnie Rose series. I liked that this one has a lot of political maneuvering and an interesting setting. San Diego as the seat of the Holy Russian Empire was interesting.

I liked the way Lizbeth and Eli's relationship is progressing despite their very different backgrounds and cultures. ( )

A little slow in places but good overall. Lizbeth Rose has to go to the Holy Russian Empire to save Eli after he is arrested after his arrival home. Russian politics are twisted but a gun cuts through the red tape. ( )

This is a really fun series! I adore the characters! ( )

The action relocates to within the Holy Russian Empire, and Eli is jailed and in danger. I continue to be enraptured with Gunnie Rose, and I am starting to adopt her irascibility with polite culture. This is a book full of interesting developments, and further exploration of a fascinating world. Loved it.

Advanced Readers' Copy provided by Edelweiss. ( )

Charlaine Harris did it again! I usually love her books and this one did not let me down. A MUST READ!!

Review based on ARC (Advanced Review Copy received in exchange for an honest review).

When I first saw this book, I was "all in" based on the title and the cover. When I received it, however, I realized it was the 3rd book in a new series by Charlaine Harris. So I set out to acquire the first 2 to get up to speed. I'm glad I was already committed to the 3rd because I don't know that I would have picked up the Gunnie Rose series without having this obligation. But I'm SO glad I did! While I do think it is possible to read this 3rd book alone, I think it is a much better read, having had the background & story of the other 2 books.

I have read a couple other books by Harris and have not been particularly impressed -- not that I thought they were bad, I just wasn't pulled in the way others seem to be. But with this series, I felt Harris really upped her game.

First, I was impressed with her ability to present a sort of Western-feel to this alternate history series, while also presenting a very Russian feel to the magical realism side of things. The "alternative" aspect to the history was well-thought out and remembered (i.e., the reader doesn't forget where we are), and her characters are very well-written and unique. I feel like, I read a lot of books with a "strong female protagonist who goes against the grain of societal expectations," and they all really read the same - often self-indulgent, unpersuasive, and trite. This one was actually different. Although Gunnie Rose has her attributes that make her unique, I felt like her character was persuasive in the context of the book, notwithstanding some of the over-the-top situations she found herself in and how she handled them. All of her strengths and weaknesses were well-drawn and both fit well together as part of her personality and fit well in the context of the book & the other characters.

The story line itself: the first book is the most "western"; the second book deals with race and gender issues in the South; and the third is kind of all climax. Although it is also still dealing with some of the issues raised in the earlier books, it dives quickly into the heart of the plot and drives the reader forward in a rush. While we are still learning more about the world in which the books are set (and its characters -- Felicia, Lucy, Felix, Peter, to name a few), Harris doesn't waste time losing her reader in exposition. Everything we learn is part of something else and it is, really, expertly done. I think I read the 2nd half of the book while holding my breath!

And then there's the "love story." As someone who does not tend to enjoy romance novels and finds a lot of the love stories in books these days to be unpersuasive and a bit annoying, I thought Harris handled her characters' feelings so convincingly and so well. I was completely pulled in and I definitely wanted a certain outcome. But even more than that, I felt that the romance was handled so well because it *didn't* eclipse the rest of the story - rather, it was simply a part of it. Overall, a really enjoyable read -- all 3 of the books!

I've heard rumor there may be more coming... I'm still all in! A very strong 4 of 5 stars. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/cx5zrAZA8ro

Enjoy! ( )

This was a great final book for the trilogy but I would still like to see a sequel. How Gunnie and her Russian husband Eli are going to manage in Texoma would be interesting and with adventures of course. ( )

I did enjoy spending a few hours in the company of Gunnie Lizbeth Rose, but really she needs bigger challenges than the Uncle of the Czar getting Eli thrown into jail. Also, having Felicia and Felix around at the same time was a bit confusing as was having Felix's mother be dead before they left Russia but hired to assist the Eli's mother's governess a few pages later. There's lots of shooting and explosions and the Gigori's seem, aside from Felix, Peter and Eli, oh, and Felicia, so much cannon fodder. ( )

This is the third book in the Gunnie Rose series. Lizbeth receives a letter from her sister Felicia with a secret message telling her that Eli is in jail. She embarks on a mission to Holy Russian Empire with a goal to free Eli from jail. She meets several old friends and also Eli's family and the Tsar and Tsarina.
The writing style is a mix of rather short and precise sentences and dry humor. And I like dry humor. Lizbeth sure is a character like no other. The birth of the Holy Russian Empire is explained in this book and I found it quite fascinating. The Grigoris and their magic powers are also interesting. There is a lot of plotting, fighting and deaths. The ending was good, but I am quite curious to see what the future holds for Lizbeth and Eli.
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for a copy of this book. ( )

I really enjoyed this book! I read the first two installments in the Gunnie Rose series about a year ago and I couldn't wait to get to read more of this fun series. I couldn't resist reading this book just as soon as it found its way into my greedy hands. I will admit that my expectations were pretty high for this book and I am happy to report that I was not disappointed in the least.

When Lizbeth learns that Eli is being held in jail, she knows that she needs to see what she can do to help him. Before you know it, she is in the Holy Russian Empire working to help in any way that she can. This will not be an easy rescue and she faces one obstacle after another. Things get complicated pretty quickly and there is more than enough excitement to keep things entertaining.

I had a lot of fun watching Lizbeth navigate a new environment while working towards her goal of setting Eli free. I love how unique each part of the country is in this alternate universe. There were some familiar characters back for this installment and we got to meet a lot of new ones as well. I especially enjoyed getting to know Eli's family and see them work together under pressure.

This is the third book in the Gunnie Rose series which I do think is best if read in order since events from previous books seem to come into play quite frequently. The relationship between Eli and Lizbeth undergoes some pretty big developments in this installment and I am eager to see how things will play out moving forward. This was a really exciting book that I found to be hard to put down so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Gallery / Saga Press via NetGalley. ( )

Lizbeth Rose aka Gunnie Rose receives a coded letter from her half-sister letting her know that Eli Savarov is being held in prison in San Diego, the capitol of the Holy Russian Empire. Lizbeth has no choice - she loves Eli so, although the Holy Roman Empire seems a world away in more ways than one, she immediately sets out for San Diego where she will free him or die trying.

The Russian Cage is the third installment in the Gunnie Rose alternate history series by author Charlaine Harris and, like the previous two books, it doesn't disappoint. It grabbed me from the first page and never let go. It continues to expand the world building as well as fleshing out many of the old characters even more while introducing us to some interesting new ones.

The Gunnie Rose series is one of my favourites and, for anyone who shares my love of these books, you're really gonna enjoy this latest edition. If you haven't discovered this series but love smart alternate histories with great characters, world building, and plenty of action, I can't recommend it highly enough but I would suggest that this might not work as a standalone since it follows the actions in the last book. Therefore, I would recommend reading the previous books first = trust me, you won't be sorry you did.

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )

Lizbeth Rose gets a letter from her half-sister Felicia that contains a coded message. Felicia tells her that Lizbeth's partner Eli has been arrested and imprisoned in San Diego, the capitol of the Holy Russian Empire. Lizbeth has to go to try to get him out.

The Holy Russian Empire is a whole new world for a young woman from Texoma who works as a gunnie - an armed guard. And Lizbeth feels like a fish out of water. Luckily, she has the help of her little sister Felicia, who is a student at the Rasputin school and who is learning to be a grigori. Having only recently met her sister, Lizbeth doesn't know her well. She does know that she is smart and tricky.

She also has the help of Felix who is another grigori and who is in love with Eli which makes his relationship with Lizbeth a little more complicated.

Lizbeth gets to meet Eli's mother and sisters during her investigation too. She also has to deal with Eli's brother Peter who causes a lot of the problems in this story.

I like the setting of this story. California has become the Holy Russian Empire after the United States dissolved and is now ruled by a Tsar who escaped from Russia and sought asylum there. The Tsar didn't come alone. There are large numbers of Russians of all classes who came with him. A lot of this story has to do with political complications surrounding Tsar Alexi.

The story is filled with a number of intriguing characters. I especially liked getting to know Lizbeth's sister Felicia better in this story. Eli's mother and sister were also interesting characters as were they people surrounding the Tsar who had roles in this book.

Lizbeth is a great character. She's smart but not educated. She is also determined and phlegmatic. The story is told from her point of view. This is the third book in the series. I think it would add much more depth to the reading experience if the series was read in order but I feel it could also work for those new to the series. ( )

Having never read anything by Charlaine Harris, never mind the first two books in this particular series, I was nonetheless completely caught up in this story. No doubt the earlier books would help round out the story, but Harris managed to explain the background without belaboring it, and the map at the beginning also helped. When Lizbeth Rose receives a coded message from her half-sister, the action moves quickly forward to the Holy Russian Empire (on the US west coast) where her friend/boyfriend has been imprisoned for murder. As Lizbeth navigates the politics, dangers, and magic of the palace politics with Felicia's help, we are introduced to the royal family and the dangers of power and greed. This is a fast-paced page-turner that inspires me to read more of Harris's work, past and future. ( )

I haven't read any of Charlene Harris's work since the Sookie Stack house series ended, so The Russian Cage seemed like a fun read to try. With the help of the map in the front I quickly picked up on the characters and the setting: Elizabeth Rose, her sister Felicia, and Felix, a former member of her crew, who want to get Eli released from arrest in the Holy Russian Empire. Eli's mother and sisters are introduced and we get to know about his family as well as how the Holy Russian Empire works.

This was a fun romp, with one glaring consistency issue that struck me (spoiler alert.) After all the discussion of using nulls as guards where the grigoris are imprisoned, LizaRose successfully imprisons the null guard Hubble and Felix promptly uses magic to shut her up.

Other than that, this was a fun light read.

Thanks to netgalley for providing an electronic copy for review. ( )