Blurb: In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable… but not too amiable.
Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.
Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.
The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule…
My thoughts: I read the Duke and I after I had watched the Bridgerton TV series and I still can’t decide which I should have done first. The TV series was great, so the book was very disappointing. If I had read the book first then I probably wouldn’t have bothered with the TV series.
It was a difficult book to get into, I think it took me over a month and a half to get past the first 150 pages or so. It felt like a task each time I opened the book and I would push myself to get to the end of a chapter – sometimes failing miserably. I just couldn’t seem to get my head around the way in which the story was written. I don’t know the word for it but the ‘old way’ in which people used to speak is completely exaggerated not only in the speech of the Duke, Lady Bridgerton and the other characters but the book as a whole. I also found it difficult with how many tangents the characters seemed to go off on when having a conversation so much so I would forget what they were talking about originally.
It eventually picked up about two thirds of the way through and then I couldn’t put it down but for me, a good book should grip you within the first few chapters.
Blurb: A blood debt owed. Two enemies love the same woman. One of them must die. At the summer solstice festival passion and destiny collide. Runa, a solstice child, is denied the love and protection of her family, pushing her to desperate lengths to escape their cruelty. Guided by the goddess Freya, she decides to weave her own destiny. When two men enter her life, she must choose between them and risk everything for love. Brand vowed to collect a blood debt from the Viking raiders who slew his family. His hunt has led him to a village harboring his enemy. Bound by the sacred peace of the solstice festival he must wait to take his revenge. He never anticipated the captivating allure of Runa who threatens to disrupt his path to vengeance. Eiland, on the verge of death after being hunted for years, must pay for the crimes of his youth. Then he finds hope and a reason to fight back in the arms of a mysterious girl. As fate closes in on him, he is faced with a crucial reclaim his hold on life or embrace the halls of Valhalla. Passion, vengeance, and destiny intertwine as two bitter enemies contend for the love of one woman. Who will emerge triumphant in the battle between the two men Runa loves? Solstice Child is a mesmerizing stand-alone adventure that will captivate readers from beginning to end. With its intoxicating blend of sensual historical fantasy romance and elements of Norse mythology, this tale weaves a spellbinding tapestry of love, passion, and sacrifice. Brace yourself for a riveting love-triangle romance that will leave an indelible mark on your heart.
My thoughts: Solstice Child is the latest book by Wendy L. Anderson and what a phenomenal book it is. This is a Viking Romance with a love triangle and is a standalone book.
Overall, I thought it was a great story! It came with some unexpected moments which I refuse to spoil for you all! I love the character development of Runa and Brand, especially Brand, as he grows so much throughout the story. I enjoyed the side character’s too and I am always in awe at how the author is able to create such nasty villains!
As always, I love the author’s writing style and of course her use of metaphors are just extraordinary *chef’s kiss*. I can’t wait for her next book. Wendy, if you are reading this… HURRY!
Blurb: You know your life is complicated when you miss your days as a poison taster…
With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be united with the family she’d been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But although she has gained her freedom, she once again finds herself alone – separated from her lover Valek and suspected as a spy for her reluctance to conform to Sitian ways.
Despite the turmoil, she’s eager to start her magic training – especially as she’s been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes embroiled in a plot to reclaim Ixia’s throne for a lost prince – and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.
If that wasn’t bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with her new enemies.
My thoughts: This is the second book of the Chronicles of Ixia. Yelena returns home to the jungles she was kidnapped from and meets her brother, Leif and the rest of her family. She doesn’t spend too much time there as she has to continue on tothe city s she can learn more about her powers. However, not all goes to plan especially when there’s a murderer on the loose.
I did enjoy this book but it just wasn’t as good as the first. I really missed the sexual tension / slow burn between Yelena and Valek from the 1st book, and there just wasn’t enough of the power twins either. I feel like Yelena is only a fun main character when Valek, Ari and Jenco are around. Again, a difficult read in parts due to triggers but overall a great book.
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.
And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear…
My thoughts: I’ve been in a bit of a book rut lately so when my sister recommended I read this book, a book I read back in 2013 (approx.), I thought I’d give it another go.
I remember it being good but I don’t remember it being THAT good. The main characters Yelena and Valek are fantastically strong characters that you can’t help but love and feel for. The author also manages to create villains you can’t help but hate and side characters you end up loving just as much as the main characters. I want to marry the power twins… just saying. Though Valek would do nicely too!
Some of this book is difficult to read due to certain triggers but would highly recommend it nonetheless!
Blurb: A demon searching for redemption. A lonely girl searching for love. Will love and forgiveness be enough to escape the clutches of hell and open the gates of heaven?
After years of serving the Underworld, Tristram the demon recants his choice for hell and leaves his demonic life behind. As a consequence, he is relentlessly hunted and mortally wounded by his former brothers who are intent on taking him back to the land of the dead.
Vinaya, shunned by humankind as a witch, finds Tristram dying in the forest. She heals his wounds and helps him discover there are dual sides to his nature.
While Vinaya struggles to understand Tristram’s true spirit, he grapples with the guilt and shame of his past life. As love binds them together, they journey to a mystical land called Everclearing that serves as the gateway to heaven. In a desperate appeal to the Ny-Failen of Everclearing, Tristram must prove that he has truly repented of his past sins. But is he worthy of redemption?
Unknown magic and new love are their only hope as Tristram and Vinaya struggle to stay together and save his soul. Will hell let him go and will heaven take him back?
As one of the Legends of Everclearing,Tristram the Demon is a standalone fantasy in this series. If you like a sweet love story, heart-stopping action, adventure, and a happily-ever-after ending, you’ll love Tristram the Demon. This is a swoon-worthy tale of sacrifice where love conquers all when redemption is a hope worth fighting for.
My thoughts: Tristram the Demon is the third book in the Legends of Everclearing series by Wendy L Anderson. I continue to enjoy the works of Wendy L. Anderson and continue to wait impatiently for her next release. The problem with that though, is that I devour it so quickly because I swear, every single one of her stories is just AMAZING.
From the get go, the main characters are introduced. It is interesting how Vinaya and Tristram meet and how this paves the way for what is to come. As always, the characters are described with such imagery that they may as well be sitting in the same room as me. I also love how the author makes every single one of her character unique, with their own personalities and intricate backstories.
It’s funny, if you read my past reviews, how I explain the villains of Wendy’s books. They are horrid, vile characters but it’s amazing that with every book she releases, the villains just keep getting worse (in a good way of course). She has this amazing talent of making villains that you can’t help but hate.
I don’t want to go into the storyline as once I start I wont’ be able to stop, and I just don’t want to ruin it for you all. You really just need to read it!
Don’t let it put you off that this is Book Three (though IMO you really need to read ALLLLLL of them to appreciate the amazingness that is this series) but you can read this book without reading Books one or two.
Blurb: Arianne will stop at nothing to escape life as a prostitute, even committing murder.
She’s not just the Mistress of the Maiden’s Bower brothel, but a temptress and an alchemist. Arianne creates a euphoric and addictive elixir that she uses to give pleasure or bring death. Her seductive powers are legendary, and everyone wants a piece of the beautiful, Arianne.
Lord Elkan Torrent, her regular client at the brothel, has secrets of his own. Forced to reveal what is best left unknown, he has to leave her and travel his fated path. Arianne quickly learns not everything is revealed and the truth is not always as it seems.
Running from the life she hates; Arianne avoids prosecution for her crimes and travels far across the sea to seek forgiveness for breaking Lord Torrent’s trust and spurning his love. There were rules she broke, battles she lost, and triumph in surrender.
A woman scorned…or was she?
Blind hope drives Arianne to find out the truth as she faces the uncertainty of love while Lord Torrent battles for his life in a never-ending war. How far will she go to assuage a broken heart? As far as the legendary Land of Everclearing.
My thoughts: This book was gifted to me for an honest review. I’ve read every single book so far by Wendy L. Anderson and I just can’t get enough. Her talent continues to astound me. Arianne the Mistress is the second book in the Legends of Everclearing series and can be read as a standalone book or as part of the series.
If you would like a book with a strong heroine, romance, adventure and more then this is for you!
This book, along with the other books I have read by Wendy L. Anderson, are genuinely some of the best work I have ever read and I look forward to reading more of her work hopefully for years to come. I am happy that the author continues to bring out stories that focus on the Ny-Failen – I really believe that the world that Anderson has built and the characters she has created are phenomenal.
Chapter Five, ‘Diagon Alley’ covers the scene when Hagrid and Harry go to the Leaky Cauldron and then Diagon Alley to buy school supplies.
The chapter starts off with Hagrid and Harry still in the hut. They’ve slept there over night and are awoken by an owl. Harry and Hagrid have a conversation about money and Hagrid talks about Gringotts. This differs from the movie as Hagrid waits till they are in Diagon Alley before telling him they are going to Gringotts. In the book, they take the train to London, while Hagrid knits, and they discuss the list of items Harry is going to need for Hogwarts.
When they get to Hogwarts they head to the Leaky Cauldron and the chapter and scene play out very similarly, as is the case for heading into Diagonal Alley and to Gringotts though in the movie Hagrid states he needs to ‘You know what in vault you know which’ but in the book he states vault 713.
Once they leave Gringotts, Hagrid goes for a ‘pick me up’ in the Leaky Cauldron and leaves Harry to it. He goes for his uniform first, which we don’t see in the movie and here is where he actually meets Draco for the first time though his name is never said at this point. Draco covers a lot of stuff in such a small time. He insults Hagrid, says he wants to be in Slytherin, and thinks that muggles shouldn’t be allowed to study at Hogwarts.
Hagrid and Harry also have conversations about Quidditch and the Hogwarts houses while shopping for school supplies in places not mentioned in the movie. In the movie, Hagrid buys Harry Hedwig while Harry is shopping for his wand, however, Harry and Hagrid shop for Hedwig together. At Ollivander’s, there is a deeper process for getting a wand than is shown in the movies, such as measurements, and Harry tried ALOT more wands in the books.
In the movie, Hagrid goes to the shack in the sea on Harry’s birthday and they go shopping the next day for Harry’s school supplies, THEN he gets taken to platform 9 and 3/4 to get on the train. However, there is a month between Harry’s birthday and the start of school. In the book, this is explained and Harry is actually put on a train back to the Dursley’s which is a big surprise.
Chapter Four, ‘The Keeper of the Keys’ covers the scene in which Hagrid comes to the hut the Dursley’s and Harry are staying in, and tells Harry that he is a wizard.
In the book, Hagrid sits down on the sofa unlike in the movie were he keeps standing. In the book, he knows who Harry is straight away whereas in the movie, he thinks Dudley is Harry for a moment. The book has a funny moment when Hagrid pulls out a kettle, sausages, cups, amongst other things and starts to cook the sausages and drink tea in the hut.
The conversation about Hogwarts and Harry being a wizard goes down in a similar way but Hagrid is much angrier that Harry doesn’t know anything about his parents, Hogwarts, the wizarding world. There’s also extra conversations in there before and after Harry reads his letter. Aunt Petunia’s rant about Lily going to Hogwarts is pretty much word for word in the movie but I wish they had put in the part when Hagrid pulls a live owl out his pocket and writes a letter to Dumbledore for the owl to take. Uncle Vernon also has more to say too, mainly saying that James and Lily got what was coming to them.
The conversation about Voldemort that happens in the movie once Hagrid has taken Harry away to Diagon Alley happens in the hut with the Dursley’s there.
Chapter three, ‘The Letters From No One’ covers the scenes in which the letters start arriving at the Dursley’s house, and when they go and stay in the cabin in the sea.
Ignoring the beginning when Dudley and Aunt Petunia go shopping for uniform, and Petunia dyes some old uniform for Harry, the chapter and scene are very similar to each other even with some lines being word for word. When Harry goes for the post and and notices the letter for him, he goes back to the table and starts opening it. The letter is taken from him and then in the movie, the Dursley’s stare in fright and the scene ends. In the book, Dudley and Harry are kicked out of the room but they continue to listen at the door. Vernon and Petunia panic about the letter and discuss that they don’t want ‘one of them’ in their house but leave it for the reader to continue to wonder exactly what is going on.
Harry ends up getting his own bedroom in the book, much to Dudley’s dismay has he had two bedrooms and now had to give one up! Book Dudley is much worse than movie Dudley. We don’t see him on the big screen throwing his pet tortoise through the greenhouse roof, or being sick on purpose because he didn’t get his own way.
The letters continue to come to the house and in the scene when all the letters start flying down the chimney, Harry doesn’t actually get his mits on a letter in the book, which is hard to believe because there are hundreds of them… how he became seeker on the quidditch team is beyond me, but this means that in the the fight between Harry and Vernon doesn’t happen.
From this, they go to a hotel on the edge of the ctiy but hundreds of letters get delivered there so they get in the car and move along. Dudley doesn’t actually say ‘Daddy’s gone mad, hasn’t he?’ until Vernon is driving around forests and fields looking for somewhere to stay, whereas this line is said when Harry and Vernon are fighting over the letter in the movie. They do end up at the shack in the middle of the sea like is seen in the movie.
Chapter Two, ‘The Vanishing Glass’ covers the scenes in the movie in which it is Dudley’s birthday and they go to the zoo. In the movie, Aunt Petunia knocks on his door and tell’s Harry to get up then Dudley jumps on the stairs and tells him to wake up because they are going to the zoo. Actually, in the books, Harry is not going to the zoo because Mrs Figg’s, who isn’t introduced until the 5th film I believe, is going to look after him, which she has done every year for Dudley’s birthday. However, she has broken her leg and so is unable to look after him this year so they end up having to take him.
It’s not only Harry and Dudley that go to the zoo with Mr and Mrs Dursley in the books, they also take Dudley’s friend, Piers Polkiss. It is also Piers Polkiss that notices the Boa Constrictor that Harry is talking to, acting oddly. He shouts this out to the Dursley’s and then thats when Dudley pushes Harry out of the way. The glass vanishes but unlike in the movie, the glass does not reappear and Dudley doesn’t get stuck behind it.
Other things I noticed were that some of the lines in the book and the movie were either the same or similar. One difference was when Vernon was warning Harry ‘any funny business, any at all…’, the book states ‘you’ll be in that cupboard until Christmas’ whereas in the movie it’s ‘you won’t have any meals for a week.’ In the books, this is brought up because a lot of odd things have happened to Harry before that couldn’t be explained such as Aunt Petunia cutting his hair short and then the next day, it has all grown back. Again, none of this is covered in the movie.
Finally, seeing as spiders are such a huge part of the 2nd book/movie, Harry’s relationship with spiders because of living in the cupboard is emphasised in the books e.g. they are there all the time so he isn’t the least bit scared of them, however in the first movie, the spiders are not mentioned once. Even in the second movie, Ron mentions his phobia of spiders but Harry still doesn’t bring up that he doesn’t mind them due to living in the cupboard with them.
Chapter one: ‘The Boy Who Lived’ starts with details of Uncle Vernon going to Grunnings, the drill company he works for. On the way, he notices an odd behaving cat, and lots of people wearing cloaks. If he’d been looking out of the window at work then he would also have noticed the owls flying by in broad daylight. On his break he hears people dressed in cloaks talking about ‘the Potters’ and the mention of ‘Harry’ which gets him thinking, was this something to do with his Sister in Law – Lily Potter? After getting home and asking Petunia, who is blonde, if she’s heard from Lily recently, to which she replies rather biligerently that she has not, they carry on with their day and go to bed. None of the above happens in the movie.
The odd behaving cat from the book is actually Professor McGonagall and this is where the movie starts. Albus appears and pulls out his ‘Put-Outer’. Using the device he takes away all of the light so nobody on Privet Drive can see what is going on. In the book, it is explained that she’s been keeping an eye on the Dursley’s while she waits for Albus Dumbledore after Hagrid told her he’d be there, whereas in the movie it seems like McGonagall has been sent to watch the Dursley’s and wait for Dumbledore.
In the book, Professor McGonagall, who has black hair, and Albus Dumbledore have a conversation about Voldemort and if he is really gone as well as the wizards that have been out celebrating, not even worrying that the Muggles will notice something odd going on. While Albus is busy seperating Sherbert Lemons, they come to the conversation of Lily and James Potter; Albus confirms to Professor McGonagall that they are dead. The movie comes across that McGonagall is already aware of all of this but in both the book and the movie McGonagall asks about Harry and pleads with Albus that he not be left with the Dursley’s as they are horrid people. Albus advises that they are the only family left and thinks it would be best for Harry to grow up in the Muggle world where he won’t be famous.
In both the movie and the book Hagrid comes down from the night sky on a motorbike. He gives Harry to Albus who then takes Harry to the front door and puts him down with the letter. It is stated in the book that the motorbike is Sirius Blacks but this is not told in the movie.
The movie ends with Harry on the doorstep whereas the book ends with Petunia screaming her head off when she finds Harry on the doorstep outside and that he doesn’t know that at that time, wizards all over the world where holding up their glasses and toasting to ‘The Boy Who Lived’.
I’m not going to lie, audiobooks are not my favourite thing. I often space out and then realise I’ve missed the majority of the chapter. I’ve only ever listened to one Audiobook and that was the first Outlander book. Here’s what I have left to listen to on my expired Audible subscription…
Afterlife, The Quarter Moon, The Cult of the Hexad, and Blood of the Infinity War (#1, #4, #6 and #10 of the Afterlife Series) by Stephanie Hudson Narrated by Rebecca Rainsford Genre: Paranormal Romance Note – I have no idea why I haven’t got the authors on Audiobook hahaha!
Assassin’s Quest and Royal Assassin (#1 and #2 of the Farseer Trilogy) by Robin Hobb Narrated by Paul Boehmer Genre: High Fantasy
Covet and Crave (#1 and #2 of the Fallen Angels Series) by J R Ward Narrated by Stephen Douglas Genre: Paranormal Romance
Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager and Drums of Autumn (#2, #3 and #4 of the Outlander Series) by Diana Gabaldon Narrated by Davina Porter Genre: Historical Fiction / Romance
I think every teenager and her mother read these books and paved the way for complete vampire domination. Then came the movies that were soooooo bad, they were good.
Reading these books as a teen, you can’t help but feel jealous of Bella. She’s got these two hotties after her, she gets to snog Jacob’s face off, shag Edward AND gets to turn into a vampire.
Read this as an adult you see all the red flags from Edward, Jacob and Bella… and don’t even get me started on Jacob imprinting on Rasputin or whatever she’s called.
The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare
I definitely need to give these books a re-read. I vaguely remember at the end of I think book one, Clary finds out Jace is her brother…oh spoiler alert… and another one here… he’s not really her brother… I think.
This was a great urban fantasy / YA and would definitely recommend. It’s also been turned into a TV series which I would recommend too.
The Graceling Trilogy by Kristen Cashore
I think I read this series over two days. They were incredible. I really wanted to be Katsa and was completely in love with Po (I think that’s his name… it’s been over 15 years since I read it). I remember crying my eyes out after reading the 1st one so I’m guessing something bad happens. Another re-read is in order!
The Chronicles of Ixia by Maria V Snyder
I just couldn’t get this authors name right… how many times I called her Synder instead of Snyder is beyond me.
Again, an incredible series that had be hooked. A very strong series with other series’s by the author that interlinks with this. The glass series is probably on par with this one.
Loved the name Valek too and wanted to call my kid it because of this series… then I watched the conjuring 2 which quashed that idea for ever!
Have you read any of these? What was your favourite books from your teenage years?
I wish I could read a book a day, but with my busy life-style it just isn’t going to happen. I am however, trying very hard to blog everyday. Today, seeing as I’ve not read a book this weekend – thanks to my uni assigment being due – I thought I would share with you my favourite books from my childhood.
In no particular order:
George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dalh
I don’t know what it was about this particular Roald Dalh book that I loved more than his other work but I must have read it dozens of times. This book was just absolute madness and I loved every word of it.
Redwall by Brian Jacques
My grandad bought me this book and I could not put it down. He ended up making it his mission to find the rest of the series for me. He would scour charity shops everywhere he travelled. Animals that talked with accents, and fought tooth and claw against their mortal enemies… other animals. Absolute crackers and actually quite violent for childrens books!
Martin’s Mice by Dick King-Smith
Maybe it’s because of this book that I love mice so much. Martin is a cat that decides against killing mice and instead keeps a pregnant mouse as a pet. She gives birth and Martin helps to look after them. How cute is that though?
Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones
I never really understood this book when I read it, but I still found it incredible. I didn’t understand that Leo was a star accused of murder which resulted in him being banished to earth. What I did understand was the part when he opens his eyes and he is a puppy. He then lives the life of a puppy, growing into a dog but if I remember correctly, the person who adopts him is an unwanted member of the family. I think there is a little bit of animal abuse in this which again, for a children’s book… tut tut tut!
Have you read any of these? What did you think? Let me know what your childhood favourites were!
I have better things to do than babysit a human. And her cat.
Someone has attacked the Human Federation Ambassador in Gehar territory, and out of an abundance of caution, the Empress has assigned me to protect the human until the culprit has been caught. The new Ambassador, and her kitten, Luna. (Short for Lunatic.) Yes, seriously. I, Jehan D’arana, Shield of Gehar, have been reduced to guarding a cat. Then I meet the Ambassador, and everything changes. Because she isn’t a stranger. She’s my ex. Keomi Hearne. The woman that got away. The woman I want more than ever. But every time I try to be alone with Keomi, her kitten is there. Watching me with a sinister sneer as I make my move. Tripping me up. Dive-bombing me from the top of a cupboard and scratching my face. (Not that a Gehar warrior would ever think to complain about a little blood.) And then, the situation goes from bad to worse. Someone’s seriously trying to kill Keomi. Her work is sabotaged. Her staff is poisoned, and her speeder is blown up. This assignment just got very real. I am Jehan D’arana, Shield of Gehar. No matter what the wickedly adorable kitten may think, I’m in charge. Nothing is going to keep me from protecting the woman I love.
My thoughts: Alien in Charge is yet another book that I got free during a promotion. It is of the Sci-fi romance genre featuring a hot alien and a human woman.
The story starts off well. I get a sort of Alien vibe (obviously, it’s about Aliens – I mean the movie with Sigourney Weaver). Unfortunately, this doesn’t last much longer as it becomes quite a typical semi-erotic book, not including the aliens of course.
Don’t get me wrong, the book does have potential but it needed a really good edit amongst other things. I tried to ignore it as I try to look past little things but it was more repetitiveness than anything else – there were so many times that the main character (who’s name I can’t even pronounce) reminds us that she’s a space fleet captain and both main characters let the reader know nearly every single paragraph that they’ve been waiting 15 years for this. I was unsure about certain things too, like they weren’t explained very well. For example, she says that when she was 7 she had her fleet exam, in the next sentence she talks about getting with Jehan! At 7?! Later on it says Jehan was 18 and they are meant to be about the same age so I am guessing it was just an editing mistake but still, 7!
Also, I didn’t understand how Kae was so stubborn in her inner monologue saying how she just couldn’t get involved with Jehan because of her job and then in the next breath she just jumps into bed with him, or should I say onto the kitchen worktop.
It was very political too which I can imagine could bore many readers, myself included.
Like I said. It definitely has potential but needs a lot of work.
Drunkenly eloping with my best man was never part of my wedding plans. Falling in love with him definitely wasn’t supposed to happen. But even though we’re both straight, the longer we’re married, the more I start to love Lucien as my husband and not just as my best friend.
We’re supposed to get an annulment to undo our bad idea. That’s not what I really want, though. I’m ready to bet everything on love by committing to our marriage for real. Can I convince him to stay married to me and give us a chance at finding our happily ever after together?
Lucien St. Amour
I would do anything for my best friend. That apparently includes making a rash decision to save Rhys from the mistake of marrying a woman who doesn’t love him by eloping with him before his wedding. Instead of it being a funny story we tell our friends, the feelings I’ve suppressed for Rhys since sharing our first kiss as teenagers explode into a roaring blaze of desire for my new husband.
Our marriage may have started as a joke in front of an Elvis impersonator at a quickie Vegas wedding chapel, but I meant every word of my vows. Will Rhys allow me to love, honor, and cherish him as my husband like I promised?
My thoughts: Bet on love, which is a MM romance, was another book that I got for free during a promotion. I read another Ariella Zoelle book a few days ago so I wasn’t very excited to be reading this one; I had given the last book only half a star.
However, I was very surprised with this one. From the beginning it was a laugh a minute. I found it hilarious and loved the two male characters. The humour did slow down after a while due to the situation between them chainging but this brought more of a romantic and serious atmosphere which I also enjoyed.
I was so ready to give this book 4 – 5 stars but then at around the 80% mark, I was left disappointed. There’s always something that happens in romance books often creating an argument and this case it was a ‘miscommunication’. One of the characters misheard the other saying something that came across as their love being a mistake etc. It just didn’t fit as they were best friends for years and had just been telling and showing each other just how much they loved each other. If the other guy had just gone over and been like, ‘oh, what are you talking about?’ It would have been completely cleared up. I know something like this has to happen to move the book along but I thought it was poorly executed.
Blurb: From the first moment I met her, I’ve wanted Pippa March. She’s sexy, smart, and funny. But she works for my band, managing us through our biggest tour yet, so she’s off limits.
Until one night, and one kiss. Once she gives herself to me, I know will never let her go. Unfortunately Pippa comes with baggage, namely her absent rockstar father. I have one night to convince her that I want her forever, and I don’t intend to fail.
My thoughts: I got this book for free during a promotion in which hundreds of ebooks were being given away for free.
Undeniable is a very short story, and though it was quite enjoybale for a short, erotic read, it was very predictable, a very ‘read it before’ kind of situation. Pippa is hot, in her mid twenties if I remember correctly, and of course she is a virgin. Gareth is older, been with a ton of girls but the virgin is the one he wants, obviously. Basically, there’s tension, they have sex, they fall in love, they get engaged, they get married. The end.
The book needs a serious edit too. Some of the sentences didn’t make sense / words were missing in sentences.
If you want a quick, easy read while you wait for the bus then this might be one for you.
When Leonie Baxter finds herself out of a job and out of a relationship, she’s at her wits end. Her life has just been turned upside down and she needs a plan, fast.
By chance, on a walk with her rescue puppy, Leonie stumbles across a striking house in the woods; fully furnished but unoccupied. As a journalist, she is determined to find out more, after all, reporting is in her nature.
But her attempts are thwarted by Lily Cruickshank who lives in the cottage next door. Why won’t Lily help Leonie? And who is the mysterious Flynn Talbot, whose letter Leonie finds inside the house?
And in uncovering the secrets of the abandoned house, will Leonie open her own heart and let love back into her life?
My thoughts: I got this book on an amazon deal, I think it was a ‘first reads’ pick through my prime benefit. It jumped out at me because I moved to the highlands last year but I was surprised when I found out that the cottage is close to Glasgow. I thought the cottage would at least be somewhere closer to Inverness.
Besides that, I found that the story started off very well. The author managed to create an array of characters who were very distinct. I liked Leonie, she made me laugh at times. The love interest, who came in at around half way through the book seemed more real, but was a complete jerk to begin with. He did grow on me but I felt like the romance between them went from enemies to lovers way to quick, so not much of a transition.
There was a lot of mystery to the story which made me keep turning the page, hence reading the book in a day. I would think that I had solved the mystery a number of times but each time I was wrong.
The part that let the book down for me was the ending. It all seemed slightly rushed and a unrealistic. I also noticed that a huge chunk of dialogue towards the end was just redigested stuff from the rest of the book which the reader already knew about.
Overall, it ewas enjoyable and I would recommend it as an easy read.
Blurb: Charlie, a highly-strung, openly gay over-thinker, and Nick, a cheerful, soft-hearted rugby player, meet at a British all-boys grammar school. Friendship blooms quickly, but could there be something more…?
Charlie Spring is in Year 10 at Truham Grammar School for Boys. The past year hasn’t been too great, but at least he’s not being bullied anymore. Nick Nelson is in Year 11 and on the school rugby team. He’s heard a little about Charlie – the kid who was outed last year and bullied for a few months – but he’s never had the opportunity to talk to him.
They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and sometimes good things are waiting just around the corner…
My thoughts: Heartstopper Volume 1 is the first graphic novel I have ever read. I’ve nothing against them but graphic novels are something I’ve just never been interested in, probably because I’ve never bothered to look at them before. I bought Heartstopper Vol. 1 about a month ago as it was on a Kindle Deal for 99p. I’d seen the series advertised on Netflix, but haven’t yet watched it.
I read this graphic novel in about an hour, not even that to be honest. I felt myself smiling throughout at the interaction between the two main characters, Charlie and Nick. Realistically, the novel consists of dialogue only and the author has done a great job in telling the story through this all while the dialogue flows naturally. The pictures are very cartoony, but I’m guessing graphic novels don’t have life like pictures in them as standard, but I enjoyed the imagery very well. I felt like the emotions stood out on the characters faces and the pictures showed the setting well.
Overall, I’m very impressed. I will definitely be giving the other volumes a read, and once I’ve finished Emily in Paris, I’ll most certainly give the Netflix series a watch too.
Blurb: Jude longs to have a Hallmark meet-cute with the love of his life. But he learns how fun a happily ever after can be when he falls in love with a man whose imagination is as lively as his own.
Jude Moore – What’s better than running into the love of your life in an airport while enacting a scene worthy of being in a Hallmark movie? That would be having the meet-cute gods snow us in together at a hotel with only one bed. Luckily, that’s only the start of my incredible relationship with Rigby. There’s so much more to our story because the real fun begins once we get home.
Falling for Rigby is easy because he’s tall, adorable, and an academic nerd that makes my heart do the fandango. He’s also a total sweetheart who knows how to make me swoon by indulging my wildest fantasies to make all of my wishes come true.
How could I not adore a man who gladly takes me on the trip of a lifetime to the Camelot of my dreams, where he’s the romantic King Arthur to my Sir Lancelot?
Rigby Pasquali – I never thought I’d be the “fall in love at first sight” type, but Jude makes me believe in romance and a happily ever after. He’s the first partner I’ve ever had who makes me feel safe enough to explore new sides of myself and discover what I want. When his creative imagination is as vivid as my own, it means there are no limits to the magical wonderlands we can create while we role-play scenarios that tick off all of the boxes on my wish list.
How did I get so lucky to end up with a boyfriend who can be everything I’ve ever desired and complete me in a way I never knew I needed?
My thoughts: I got this book free with about 300 other romance books when they all participated in a deal. Let’s get right to it. This book was… interesting, but unfortunately not the you’ve piqued my interest so I must read on kind of interesting, it was a What in the actual fuck am I reading, interesting.
This was not a story. It was 95% porn, 5% story. The story goes – man meets man at airport. Men go back to hotel room. Men go back home. Men go on date. Men go back to university. Men go on date. Friend of man one has a problem with girlfriend, man one helps. Insert sex scene after every fullstop. Now, before anyone says anything I am NOT being prude, and if you think I am, then you don’t know me at all but seriously there was no conflict or climax (apart from sexual climax’s for the two characters many times), there just wasn’t really a story.
Jude, one of the main characters was very full on, it was very cringy at times. Also, if a man came to me and said the things that Jude had said within the first five minutes of meeting him (meeting his family, getting married etc) I would have ran a mile. He was just way too intense. His inner monologue also drove me insane, if you had a shot for everytime he used the term ‘meet-cute’ or ‘meet-cute gods’, you’d be passed out by chapter two.
The sex scenes were frequent and very similar, then all of a sudden they are role playing as King Arthur and Sir Lancelot and then the Cheshire Cat and Alice. It was so cringy to read and the worst part of it was that how the dialogue was written – not just for these scenes but throughout the book – it just made it even more unbelievable. The dialogue just didn’t flow at any point during the story which stopped me from being able to dive in and connect with them. Not only that, they are having sex and just chatting away about their ex partners. All they seemed to talk about was their ex partners.
I know I’ve slated this one and I’m sorry. I always try to find the good in a book but I’m struggling with this one.
I don’t know how 2022 was for you all, but for me it wasn’t great. Bookwise however, it’s been a whirlwind. I’ve read some absolute crackers but I’ve also read some not so great crackers. I’ve had more DNF this year than I’ve probably has in my life. Here’s a look back on what I read in 2022.
Clients call me Lexi. Naked is my super power, and I work it like a boss. In New Orleans, pleasure is a public service and I’m happy to do my part. I know what women crave, and I help their men learn to give it to them– with plenty of kinky window-dressing and an air of delicious command. It’s just a game men and women play, one that leaves everybody satisfied.
Until the day I’m dragged into court on a ridiculous charge.
Now I’m playing the game with Erik Jensen, Esq., the man who looks more like a sexy pirate than an attorney. Suddenly, the stakes are higher than I could ever have imagined. Because Erik isn’t the man I thought he was, and neither is the game.
If I win, I keep it all: my business, my reputation, and my formerly invulnerable heart. If I lose…well, I won’t let that happen.
But it’s getting harder to tell which one of us is being mastered and before long, a safe word is the only thing standing between happily ever after and a pair of broken hearts.
My thoughts: I believe I got this book for free from a promotion in which there were over 300 free books, all from the romance category. Unfortunately, this book for me was a DNF (did not finish). It’s a shame really, as I try my best to get through a book but after reading chapter 3, I just had to give up.
I’m going to keep this short as I really don’t like slating anybody. I know how difficult it is to write a book, I’m trying myself and I’m still no where near publishing, so hats off to the author for getting her work out there. This book just didn’t work for me. Here’s the reasons why:
Constant switching of tense – past, present etc. This could be sorted with a decent editor
Waaaay too many characters introduced in the first couple of chapters – Lexi, Erik, lots of Lexi’s friends, lots of Erik’s friends – I just couldn’t keep up
Repetitive – Erik’s thoughts were just the same, no personality just sex.
A full chapter pretty much about taking an antacid.
He’s an abomination. She’s the only one who can save him.
1913. Austria-Hungary. Wendel may be devilishly handsome, a charming bastard with the manners of disinherited royalty, but he’s an abomination. His skin shivers with the icy fire of necromancy. With one touch, he can raise the dead. Worse still, he’s being hunted by assassins from Constantinople, and he would rather die than confess why.
Ardis escaped her own dark past, fleeing from America as a fugitive to become a mercenary for the Archmages of Vienna. When she discovers Wendel bleeding out on the battlefield, she saves his life with a ransom in mind. She never asked for him to fall to one knee and declare his undying loyalty, or for tension to smolder hot between them. Especially once she discovers his scars run much deeper than his skin.
My thoughts: Shadows of Asphodel is the first book in a trilogy with the genres of Steampunk, Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Romance. Though I agree with these genres, I believe a new term is needed – or perhaps this term already exists – Dieselpunk. You are probably wondering why, but without giving too much away the inventor of Diesel, Rudolf Diesel, is a character in this book.
The book is set in 1913 and the main character is a sword-weilding female mercanary. Though that sounds cool as f**k, I just can’t believe that would EVER happen. Back then, women were nurses or looked after the kids at home, we did not go out beheading people and getting into bed so quickly with a man you’ve just met. I know, I know… it’s a fantasy book, it’s make believe, so yes I suppose this could happen in Kincy’s version of the world, seeing as there is magic, airships, and necromancy but something about this just doesn’t sit quite right with me. I feel because a big part of this is historically accurate (I think), that it just doesn’t work. I also felt that Ardis, the female lead, talks and acts more like women from this time. She’s very up front with men, quite dominant, and her language is very casual, perhaps too casual compared to the women of 1913.
Sorry for the rant. Apart from the above, the story was unique and the writing was really good. The author did a really great job in describing scenes in great detail, enabling my imagination to form the world around me. I got lost many times and there were instances in which I couldn’t put the book down. The start of the book in particular had me up most of the night but I felt that once the main characters became romantically involved, it didn’t draw me in.
The romance between the two character’s had moments that I enjoyed but for the most part, it didnt work well for me as in, it was far too cheesy and soppy. I do love a good cheese-fest and I usually know what I’m getting myself into if I’m reading a pure romance book, but I didn’t expect it in a fantasy book like this. I also felt that the last sex scene between the character’s didn’t fit into the story well and perhaps was just there to plump up the book slightly or to cross the boundary from YA to Adult Fantasy.
Blurb: Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.
Now working the night shift as a private investigator, Samantha is hired by Kingsley Fulcrum to investigate the murder attempt on his life, a horrific scene captured on TV and seen around the country. But as the case unfolds, Samantha discovers Kingsley isn’t exactly what he appears to be; after all, there’s a reason why he survived five shots to the head…
My thoughts: I have had this book on my kindle for so many years and never got round to reading it until now. Moon Dance is an enjoyable book which molds the Vampire sub-genre with the Mystery/Crime genre in a very clever way. The characters are written well with Samantha Moon, the female protagonist of this book, being well liked and relatable. This can not be said about her husband, who is a complete and utter Tuesday Wednesday And Thursday – which is what the author intended. The use of first person works well with this book as it helps draw you into Sam’s thoughts and reasons for what she does.
The story is enjoyable but I worked out who the killer was as soon as the character was introduced. I also feel like this book needs a very good edit as there were lots of mistakes aswell as flipping from past tense to present tense. Overall though, I would recommend for an easy read and may continue to read the series in the future.
1946, and Claire Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank. It’s a second honeymoon, a chance to re-establish their loving marriage. But one afternoon, Claire walks through a circle of standing stones and vanishes into 1743, where the first person she meets is a British army officer – her husband’s six-times great-grandfather.
Unfortunately, Black Jack Randall is not the man his descendant is, and while trying to escape him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Scottish outlaws, and finds herself a Sassenach – an outlander – in danger from both Jacobites and Redcoats.
Marooned amid danger, passion and violence, her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
My thoughts: This is the first audiobook I’ve ever reviewed. However, it hasn’t been the first audiobook I’ve ever listened too, though it’s the only one I’ve ever been able to finish. I’ll tell you why…
I’ll start with the good bits. The narrator, Davina Porter, has a voice made for storytelling. It keeps you awake, engaged and wanting more. I really can’t fault her in anyway. She puts so much personality and emotion into every sentence and she does a fantastic job with accent’s as well as both male and female voices.
The story of Outlander in general is one I am familiar with thanks to the sensational TV series of the same name. I absolutely love the tv series but I have got to say that I loved the story just as much. I don’t want to compare the tv series with the book but as you would expect, there is a lot more detail in the books that they just can’t get into the series (though they still did a bloody good job!). The relationship between Frank and Claire seems much stronger in the book and the relationship between Jamie and Claire seems deeper.
Now to the bad bits. Well, there aren’t many. First off, I felt like the book should have ended when *SPOILER ALERT* they arrived in France. That’s it, stop the story right there! But it didn’t and it just carried on… and on… and on… and I’ve got to tell you, those last chapters when they are in France bored the living outlander out of me! I completely switched off. Now I can’t remember if they were in the tv series (I definitely need a rewatch), but I don’t recall anything as boring as that. Finally, and I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t really think of this until I read a few reviews of the book myself, but I completely agree with the reviewer (I can’t find the review now but will name them if I do)… Claire just seems to happy and content being in the past. It doesn’t even come up that she’s even remotely thinking about going back to the future half the time, and she just seems accepting of the life she now has. She doesn’t really complain about their lifestyle, the lack of electricity, she just gets on with it. Now if that was me, I would be freaking out… apart from when I’m in the arms of Jamie but that’s not the point. She just seems to accepting that she fell through some rocks into the past. It doesn’t sit right with me.
What do you all think? I would love to hear your thoughts on this one.
First of all, I would like to say HAPPY BOOK RELEASE! I can only imagine what it must feel like. As promised to all you amazing readers, here are the links to purchase Arianne the Mistress :
This is the UK site. The book is available to buy on Kindle for 0.86p, as paperback for £13.82, and is also available on kindle unlimited: click here for the link.
This is the US site. The book is available on kindle for $0.99, as paperback for $15.95, and is also available on kindle unlimited: click here for the link.
Arianne will stop at nothing to escape life as a prostitute, even committing murder.
She’s not just the Mistress of the Maiden’s Bower brothel, but a temptress and an alchemist. Arianne creates a euphoric and addictive elixir that she uses to give pleasure or bring death. Her seductive powers are legendary, and everyone wants a piece of the beautiful, Arianne.
Lord Elkan Torrent, her regular client at the brothel, has secrets of his own. Forced to reveal what is best left unknown, he has to leave her and travel his fated path. Arianne quickly learns not everything is revealed and the truth is not always as it seems.
Running from the life she hates; Arianne avoids prosecution for her crimes and travels far across the sea to seek forgiveness for breaking Lord Torrent’s trust and spurning his love. There were rules she broke, battles she lost, and triumph in surrender.
Blind hope drives Arianne to find out the truth as she faces the uncertainty of love while he battles for his life in a never-ending war. How far will she go to assuage a broken heart? As far as the legendary land of Everclearing.
Arianne the Mistress finds out if trust can be regained, love revived, and redemption won.
My thoughts: Arianne the Mistress is the second book in the Legends of Everclearing series by Wendy L Anderson. I have been lucky enough to read all of Anderson’s work and have yet to be dissapointed. Or so I thought until I read this book in that I was dissapointed that it ended! THE STORY WAS INCREDIBLE! Honestly, I do not know how she does it.
Straight away you are introduced to the main character(s) and some absolutely fantastic secondary characters. They are described well, have their own personality and develop throughout the story. They are so real that you can’t help but love them. You feel what they feel, you worry for them and care for them, hoping and praying that their journey is safe and free of trouble. I love that the character’s arent completely pure and right. They have made mistakes, just like all of us have in the past. The author really makes you think, ‘well what would I do in that situation?’, ‘Did she do the right thing?’ and it really makes you think and somewhat justify some actions that perhaps you wouldn’t normally. There are some characters that are absolute *insert insult here*. But again, Anderson has the talent to produce these characters that you just can’t help but hate and then again, there are some characters that you think are *insert insult here* but completely surprise you.
What I really enjoyed about this story is that it takes some unexpected twists and turns. It keeps you second guessing and at times youn end up having butterflies in your stomach, knots in your stomach, and even has you holding your breathin anticipation. There’s not much romance in this story compared to others by this author, but at the same time the whole story is fueled by love and romance. You’ll see what I mean when you read it 😉
Anderson has managed to explain the story of her first book in the series, Killian the Assassin, well within Arianne the Mistress which enables both new and old readers to enjoy the story equally without missing new readers missing out on too much (though it is definitely still recommended that you read Killian the Assassin first – and you should. He’s a dream!).
It’s out tomorrow and all I can do is recommend you read it! Seriously! I’ll post the links tomorrow!
Ohhhhhhhhhh my gosh! I have been waiting for this book FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE! Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch but it has felt that way since I finished Killian the Assassin, Book 1 of The Legengs of Everclearing Series.
I have to say, Wendy L Anderson continues to surprise me. The first book I ever read of Wendy’s was A Cut Twice as Deep and WOW… seriously one of the best books I have ever read. Anderson’s work just keeps getting better and better and I really don’t know how it is possible.
I’m lucky enough to have an advanced copy of Arianne the Mistress so, I’m going to go and read this RIGHT NOW and will be back in the next day or two with an honest review!
Promotional Poster for Arianne the Mistress by Wendy L Anderson
Blurb:
Arianne will stop at nothing to escape life as a prostitute, even committing murder.
She’s not just the Mistress of the Maiden’s Bower brothel, but a temptress and an alchemist. Arianne creates a euphoric and addictive elixir that she uses to give pleasure or bring death. Her seductive powers are legendary, and everyone wants a piece of the beautiful, Arianne.
Lord Elkan Torrent, her regular client at the brothel, has secrets of his own. Forced to reveal what is best left unknown, he has to leave her and travel his fated path. Arianne quickly learns not everything is revealed and the truth is not always as it seems.
Running from the life she hates; Arianne avoids prosecution for her crimes and travels far across the sea to seek forgiveness for breaking Lord Torrent’s trust and spurning his love. There were rules she broke, battles she lost, and triumph in surrender.
Blind hope drives Arianne to find out the truth as she faces the uncertainty of love while he battles for his life in a never-ending war. How far will she go to assuage a broken heart? As far as the legendary land of Everclearing.
Arianne the Mistress finds out if trust can be regained, love revived, and redemption won.
A family saga set in the American West, about sibling rivalry, dark secrets, and a young girl’s struggle with freedom and artistic desire.
This moving debut novel is a profoundly American story. Set in a circa-1960s rural South Dakota–a hardscrabble place of cattle buyers, homegrown ballet studios, casual drug abuse, and unmitigated pressure to conform, all amid the great natural beauty of the region–the book portrays a loving but struggling young family in turmoil, and two siblings, Rene and Leon, who opt for different but equally extreme means of escaping the burdens of home. By turns funny and tragic, lyrical and terse, Paula Saunders’ debut examines the classic American questions: What is to become of the vulnerable in a culture of striving and power? And what is the effect of this striving and power on both those who dominate and those who are overrun? It is an affecting novel, in which the author’s compassionate narration allows us to sympathize, in turn, with everyone involved.
My thoughts: I began reading this book back in March 2022. It had been sat on my book shelf for a while after receiving it in a ‘A Box of Stories’ subscription. It isn’t the usual type of book I would read but I read it nonetheless.
The story was gripping enough for me to continue turning the pages but once I had put the book down, it was very much forgotten about until I noticed it again. I also read a lot of books between March and September that caught my attention a lot more than this story.
In parts, The Distance Home was difficult to read as there was a lot of physical and emotional abuse mainly from the father towards one of his children, Leon. This abuse paves the way for Leons future which isn’t a good one. It’s a shame and I felt so sorry for him throughout and could completely understand why he turned out the way he was. As for the other characters, I did not click with any of them and so this made it difficult for me to feel any emotions towards them.
It also follows the other siblings Jayne and Rene, with Rene being more the centre of attention. The main storyline here besides their borderline traumatic upbringing is Leon and Rene learning ballet, with Rene eventually making dancing her career.
If you want to know how NOT to treat your wife and your children then this book is for you. It was captivating yet dull.
Blurb: Wild-spirited Effie Gillies has lived all her life on the small island of St Kilda but when Lord Sholto, heir to the Earl of Dumfries, visits, the attraction between them is instant. For one glorious week she guides the handsome young visitor around the isle, falling in love for the first time – until a storm hits and her world falls apart.
My thoughts: First of all I need to give a spoiler warning here as I am just NOT going to be able to discuss this book without spoilers – sorry, not sorry.
The Last Summer is the first book of a three book series but is currently the only book released in the series. Set in the 1930’s, it follows a woman (age 17-18) by name of Effie Gillies, who has lived her entire life on the island of St Kilda, Scotland. Certain circumstances means that she does more of the ‘male’ jobs than the ‘female jobs’ which she is very much suited too and is very much part of her ‘wild’ personality.
Lord Sholto and his father arrive on the island and as you may guess, Sholto and Effie have an instant attraction and for a good chunk of the book you read about Effie guiding the Lord’s around her island home and the bond between Sholto and Effie growing. It really is a wonderful read and you can’t help but smile at their conversations and the spark between them – it’s most definitely a page turner.
In that day and age though, flirtatious specticles are not something that should be publicised, and so circumstances come to play in which Effie and Sholto are unable to see each other again. Sholto returns to the mainland while Effie has some shocking issues to deal with on her island.
As is historically correct, the St Kildan’s are evacuated from the island and sent to the mainland in which they are given new homes and new jobs. This part of the book really upset me due to the animal cruelty but 1) this is actually what happened and I think it is important for the reader to know this, and 2) the book I am writing involves animal cruelty so I can’t exactly say much can I. Anyway, once they reach the mainland, Effie struggles to fit in. Lord Sholto’s father hands her a life line to a better life which she accepts and she moves to Dumfries to start a new job on the Lord’s grounds.
Her life there is completely different from St Kilda and from her very short time in the village they moved to on the mainland. She is not one of ‘them’ – the high class – but neither is she a servant and she finds it difficult being in the middle and never categorised into something clear.
Effie’s life becomes complicated as Lord Sholto plays hot and cold with her. I really liked Sholto on the island and I was so excited for Effie to meet him again, hoping for their romance to continue. I then hated Sholto and was hoping Effie would settle down with another possible love interest in the book but as the story continues, Sholto grows a pair and becomes the man he was on the island once again.
Once Effie left St Kilda, you find that she has left a secret behind. Throughout the book you only get little bits of this secret come into her mind so it takes the remainder of the book for the rest of the information to come out which definitely makes you want to read on. The only thing I absolutely hated, and this is why I deducted half a star from a book that had me hooked, lined and sinkered, was the cliffhanger at the end. It was such a cliffhanger that if you want to find out the rest of the story you have no choice but to get the next book. I prefer either a nice rounding off at the end of the book or a cliffhanger of not much importance to the story of book one, but something that may become important in book two.
I realise that usually my reviews aren’t telling the reader about the books story but more of what I thought about it. The thing is, I just feel that this book was so well written that I could actually go to anybody about this and explain exactly what the story was about instead of just my opinions. Though I suppose I should share my opinions too…
The overall story – Phenomenal. It had me completely hooked and I could NOT put it down.
The characters – you love the characters you are meant to love and you hate the characters you are meant to hate. The side characters are also developed well.
Anything else – The descriptions were magnificient. I feel like I have been to St Kilda and to be honest, the book has made me want to visit. The fact that the author did so much research on not only St Kilda but the people of St Kilda (even giving the characters the surnames of the last people to live in St Kilda) was just fantastic. The historical accuracy too was just commendable.
I will most definitely be reading the next book when it comes out next year, not because of the cliffhanger but because the author wrote an absolutely cracking story that I want to continue to be a part of.
Blurb: One ancient mask with earth-bending powers searching for a bearer.
One magical retrieval expert who is determined to seal it back in its tomb.
At the moment, both are failing at their goals, but Arwen is not about to be bested. So what if she doesn’t know what culture it’s from or where to put it back. She’s smarter than a semi-sentient mask. Hopefully.
But if the thrice-cursed mask breaks out of her seal one more time, she’s melting it with prejudice, magical backlash be damned.
My thoughts: I was asked to give an honest review of this book so here goes…
I started reading this book on 22nd June 2022 and I finally managed to finish it on the 28th August 2022. Granted, I am a busy bee but it took a 4 hour train journey with nothing else to do to force me to finish it.
I honestly can’t remember what time period the story is set in as it says at the beginning of the book and it has been a couple of months since then. I think it was Victorian times – the industrial revolution had begun and there were cars, carriages and steam trains. The women dressed in corsets and dresses and were seen as 2nd to men. Also, how the characters spoke to each other just seemed far to modern and didn’t fit in with the set period. The characters discuss Imposter Syndrome in passing and this wasn’t actually described by psycholigists until 1978.
Nothing much happened in the story. I was waiting for some action but very little came. It was basically woman gets magical artefact that won’t behave for her. Woman and her friends take it back to where it belongs. Inbetween all that all you seem to get is chatting, building a box to keep the artefact in, chatting to somebody interested in the mask, building another box for the artefact, all while travelling to put the mask back where it lives. I just needed and wanted more.
I also got a steampunk vibe from the cover which I’m down for… I love steampunk but there was no steampunk in the book.
I feel like I’ve slated this book after re-reading my review and I hate doing that. It did have good concepts such as the main character being blind so a lot of the description was how something sounded, or felt or smelled rather than what she saw. Apart from that I just struggled.
Veterinarian Tom Copeland takes a job at a factory farm called Sunnyvale after a scandal at his suburban practice. His job is to keep the animals alive for long enough to get them to slaughter.
But there are rumours of a strange creature living beneath the complex, accidents waiting to happen on brutal production lines and the threat of zoonotic disease from the pigs, sheep, cows, chickens and fish that the complex houses.
Suddenly, disaster rocks Sunnyvale and cleaners, butchers, security guards and clerical staff alike must come together under the ruthless leadership of CEO John MacDonald. Together, they’ll learn what happens when there’s a sudden change to the food chain.
My thoughts: First of all, can we just appreciate the name of the Author for just a moment. Dane Cobain. Dane. Cobain. What an incredible name, eh?! Anyway, now we’ve agreed that Dane Cobain has got the coolest name ever, let’s get down to business.
Let me tell you about this book I read. A book that I could not put down. A book that has frightened me to my very core, made me never want to eat meat again (not like I was a big meat eater anyway), and made me very wary of farm animals and large groups of birds (yes, I was already scared of chickens… even more so now).
I’m going to start with the cover. Something I don’t often talk about in my reviews unless they really captivate me or dissuade me from reading the book. It’s good news – I love the cover. I think it is really captivating. The title is perfect for this book too. One thing I did dislike about this cover, and which could potentially put people off buying it, is the sheep on the back of the cover. It looks like it is in a lot of pain and has lots of wounds all over it. I understand why it is there but it is slightly distressing.
Jumping into the book now and you are introduced to Tom Copeland, the new Veterinarian at a farm factory called Sunnyvale, which, as I’m a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, I kept on reading as Sunnydale. Sunnyvale is horrid and the author does a good job of letting you know this. It houses far too many animals in unsanitary, cruel conditions which, eventually leads to a disease outbreak. Cobain explained this in so much detail with it all being part of the story so it didn’t come across as a lecture or anything like that. I love that Cobain has done his research into disease outbreaks and factory farms making this story very believable and something that could actually happen.
Throughout the story you are introduced to quite a lot of characters but Cobain has managed to describe each person so well and give them all their own personality that there is no difficulty in remembering who is who. My favourite secondary character was Jill Macdonald. I felt so sorry for her at times but I loved her character development throughout.
As the story progresses, the disease spreads and causes the animals to escape at the same time as the army place the factory under quarantine. This means that the workers, specifically those that survived the initial stampede of diseased, man-eating animals to survive together in the admin building of the factory farm. Lots of things happen during this time, things I don’t want to ruin for you as you NEED to read this book but let me tell you, all you will want to do is read, read, read.
Now, those of you that know me know that my number one phobia is zombies and my nightmares were answered towards the end of this book when human zombies were introduced. Did I stay up all night absolutely petrified? Did I forget to breath while I read this book due to being overwhelmed by fear? Did I drop the book more than once because I was absolutely terrified? Yes, yes and you guessed it, yes again! But that’s what a talented author does. A talented author brings out your emotions and they make you think about the book after you’ve finished it. There work should stay with you, and I’m telling you now, ‘Meat’ will stay with me for a long time. I’m surrounded by cows and sheep where I live, I’m already looking at moving!
I really enjoyed Dane’s writing style though it’s not something I know how to explain. He just has a talent of making the story flow and seem realistic, and his metaphors are unique and *chefs kiss*. I did notice an error in the book but it didn’t stop me from enjoying it overall as it didn’t effect the story.
I would definitely recommend you all read this book. I mean seriously, it’s just incredible. I however will NOT be reading it ever again as it is most definitely etched into my sub-cranium as one of the scariest books I have and will EVER read.
Woah, that was a long ass review but I just wanted to get everything in!
‘Meat’ is available on Kindle Unlimited or to buy on Kindle for £2.49 here. It is also available on Paperback for £12.50 here.
Blurb: Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher, came to Tarry Town in the glen of Sleepy Hollow to ply his trade in educating young minds. He was a gullible and excitable fellow, often so terrified by locals’ stories of ghosts that he would hurry through the woods on his way home, singing to keep from hysterics. Until late one night, he finds that maybe they’re not just stories. What is that dark, menacing figure riding behind him on a horse? And what does it have in its hands? And why wasn’t schoolteacher Crane ever seen in Sleepy Hollow again?
My thoughts : What the bloody hell was that all about?
Well, disappointed is an understatement. I think my 1st wrong move was watching the incredible movie starring Johnny Depp before reading this tripe.
This book is obviously the original but it’s terrible. If you take out the description about absolutely every single thing our lad Ichabod Crane sees, then you’d be left with about five pages. Those five pages would tell you the story, the most boring story ever.
Also, Ichabod got exactly what was coming to him. All he cares about is riches and wealth. He’s such a slime ball pushing his way into people’s lives but only those that are of any use to him. Yuk!
You know when you’re just in one of those moods… you want to watch a movie you’ve seen a million times… Well, it’s the same for books. I decided to reread ‘A Cut Twice as Deep’ by Wendy L Anderson. I must say, my previous 5 star review still stands. It was just as great reading it the second time. Here’s my original review:
Blurb: The bond between sisters is one forged in blood and fire. Twin sisters, Liana and Deirdre were inseparable like the two halves of a double-bladed axe, making the pain of having to leave each other a cut twice as deep. Their father, Gorsedd Gunnarson, King of the great country of Svartur Rokk, did not care about twin bonds or his daughter’s preferences and severed the pair with a single blow. Both Liana and Deirdre have been sold to the highest bidders for ships, weapons, and alliances. For Gorsedd Gunnarson these are very profitable and advantageous marriage arrangements, but the twin sisters would be torn from each other lives and sent to lands far apart forever! Liana is forced to leave her childhood sweetheart and marry a stranger. Sweet, timid Deirdre would be wed to a Viking warlord. One would leave her home on a ship and the other on a horse. Both would travel great distances to new lands. Given no choice but to embrace the lives planned for them, they find that the future holds more than they could ever have suspected. In a land where blood and ice reign, danger and betrayal war with love and hope, as they fight to find happiness in a ruthless world ruled by the sword and axe.
My thoughts: I believe this is the first ‘Viking Romance’ I have ever read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you are not in to romance stories, I wouldn’t let the word ‘romance’ put you off, as it isn’t your usual type of ‘soppy’ and ‘cheesy’ romance, it’s more of a romance story you’d find in Game of Thrones or Vikings whilst still being all ‘Grrrr’ and ‘manly!’
A Cut Twice as Deep follows two beautiful twins, Diedre and Liana who are sold by their father to two men who rule their own kingdoms for Weapons and Ships. Liana, who is strong headed and speaks her mind is to be wed to Tiernan Lachlan of Lochlannach, and Diedre, who is quiet and sweet is to be wed to Kearn Mac An-Bharain of Noreg . This means that the twins, who love each other dearly and share a strong sisterly bond, are separated from each other.
Both of the twins are heartbroken and fear their futures. All they have to think about is what lies ahead for them whilst they travel to their to-be husbands. Liana travels by horse, Diedre by boat far away from the comfort of their twin. They are unsure if they will love their new husbands, or if they will end up being apart from each other in misery.
The story follows the twins separately for a while and is cleverly written so you follow Liana’s story with Tiernan all whilst wondering what is happening to Diedre. Then, just at the right time you then get to Diedre’s story. Further in to the book, when Liana and Diedre are captured (which was again, cleverly written and I don’t want to spoil to much of this for you future readers of this brilliance), the chapters take in turns following one set of characters at a time – this gives for good reading as it captivates the reader into continuing on. You want to find out what happens to said characters next and can’t help but continuing to use that untrue phrase: ‘just one more chapter’.
An enjoyable story with just the right amount of love-making scenes without it being a ‘not ANOTHER sex scene’ kind of book. These scenes are also part of the story in the sense that it helps tie in with the plot well and you see the love grow between the characters.
At certain times, I felt my heart racing as I knew something bad was going to happen and I wanted to scream at the characters to help them. I think this shows that Anderson has easily managed to develop a fantastic story line that engulfs the reader in to the story… so much so that when I gave myself 15 minutes to read, I ended up looking at the clock nearly 2 hours later!
When Olivia attended her parent’s anniversary party she had no idea how much her life would change.
After an unexpected meeting with a gorgeous, yet dangerous stranger, her usually quiet, dull life is flipped upside down as she suddenly finds herself pulled into a world she never thought possible.
It’s a race against time to save herself and those she loves.
The question is, will she be strong enough for the fight ahead?
And can an ordinary girl handle the extraordinary life she has now become a part of, or will it spell the end for her?
My thoughts: Built to Sin is the debut paranormal romance by Natalie Haigh. If you like possessive alpha-males who are SUPER hot and amazing in bed then this book is definitely for you.
Personally, I’m not a fan of overly possessive alpha-males, possibly because I’ve been in a controlling relationship before, so I did find it difficult to get into this book at first. However, I persevered and it got easier for me to read and enjoy.
The overline storyline was great and had a lot going on to keep the reader entertained. It’s obvious that the author has done a lot of research into certain aspects such as Greek gods etc which shows the authors passion and care for her work.
There are a lot of sex scenes in the book and though I do enjoy them there was one or two were I thought ‘this isn’t the time for sex’, and that’s coming from me who’s pretty much like a cat on heat! They go into great detail though and I could feel myself blushing while I read this in the canteen at work. I had to make sure my manager wasn’t reading it over my shoulder!
Luke, the sexy, possessive demon is a character I wanted to love but really struggled to. I think in my opinion, he’s just to possessive, bordering on stalker. He’s also super arrogant and bossy but again, a lot of chicks dig that so hats off to the author for being able to create a guy like this and continue it through the book.
The villains in this book are created well as I hated them rather quickly. I also think they were described fantastically by the author, allowing my mind to create them fully.
The book needs a good edit but I never think a book should be judged by this as it’s the story that the author has produced that is the most important thing when reading.
Overall, it’s a good debut novel and I will continue to read the series.
Feyre is a huntress. And when she sees a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she kills the predator and takes its prey to feed herself and her family.
But the wolf was not what it seemed, and Feyre cannot predict the high price she will have to pay for its death…
Dragged away from her family for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding even more than his piercing green eyes suggest.
As Feyre’s feelings for Tamlin turn from hostility to passion, she learns that the faerie lands are a far more dangerous place than she realized. And Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
My thoughts: I read this book because a friend of mine said I just needed to read it and so I vowed that as soon as I got my new Kindle, I would give it a read. I’ve had this book on Kindle for a good few years now and I’ve been meaning to get round to reading it. I even have the complete collection of the same authors Throne of Glass series on my bookshelf and again, I’ve just not got round to reading it. I’ve also seen this book blow up on TikTok. Well, I’ve not seen it myself as I don’t have TikTok but I heard in the grapevine that this book was going viral and to be honest, this makes me NOT want to read books that go viral because they NEVER exceed expectations.
Unfortunately, this book was no different. A Court of Thorns and Roses aka ACOTAR is an enjoyable book but I’m struggling to see WHY it blew up on TikTok. In my opinion, and actually the opinion of my friend who recommended the book to me, ACOTAR is just a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Though it’s certainly not child friendly!
When reading ACOTAR, I got a YA vibe throughout most of the book until suddenly, and without warning it got SPICY… though the spice was written gracefully. I enjoyed the book more from this point, not because I’m thirsty but because something actually happened in the story as I felt this was a real slow burn.
I enjoyed the characters and their development throughout. Feyre is very real which I really liked. She’s not perfect, she makes mistakes and I loved her internal monologue about how she comes to these decisions, even if they aren’t the decision you would personally chose. Tamlin is the male protagonist and I really liked his charm and his awkwardness around Feyre. Their interactions reminded me a lot of Beauty and the Beast once again. I could see him very well in my mind form his description and yes, the author did well in portraying somebody so strikingly beautiful and ethereal. Lucien, Tamlin’s best friend and emissary (I just looked up how to spell that word and have now seen a HUGE SPOILER *cries into pillow*) is my kind of guy. He’s got a huge scar on his face and a metal eye which wouldn’t appeal to many people but my goodness, Maas makes this guy sound like somebody who you want to jump on. I like his sarcastic sense of humour with a slight bit of arrogance but not overwhelmingly so. One thing I’ve got to say though is if I read another book where one of the main dudes is called Luke, Lucien, Lucius or any other similar forms I think I’m going to SCREAM!
Maas has also managed to create villains that not only make you hate them but also make your skin crawl. There were moments when I forgot to breathe and my heart was POUNDING as I read it, but again… this was so long into the book as nothing seemed to happen for a while.
So after all this praise, why am I only giving this book 3.5 / 5 stars? To be honest, I think it’s because I expected more. It was great, don’t get me wrong but it went insanely VIRAL but I can’t see why this book went viral while others I have read before this which have literally BLOWN MY MIND have not gone viral. I also really had to push myself to get through it. It was JUST good enough to keep me turning the page and at around 40 – 50% of the way through, that’s when I couldn’t put it down!
Kate Landry is tired of running. Thinking she’s safe, she settles in the small logging town of Chester, California to manage a cafe. She may be keeping a low profile, but she’s hoping to return to a normal life. When FBI agent Kyle Donovan visits to Chester to stay with a friend, and to recover from his latest case, he never expects to meet sexy barista Kate.
But someone is following Kate…
Kyle worries he brought trouble to her door, while Kate worries her dark past is coming after her. With danger lurking around every corner, her safe haven isn’t as safe as she’d thought. Kate will finally have to trust someone enough to tell him her secrets. Secrets that may just get them killed…
My thoughts: This story follows Kate, a red-head with freckles who works in a cafe, and Kyle a green-eyed, muscular Navy SEAL. Kate has been running from an abusive ex but he has finally caught up with her, leaving problems for the police along the way. Kyle also has an issue with his past but apart from being mentioned a couple of times, this isn’t covered at all. The epilogue makes it clear that the reader needs to read book two for that story.
Kate asks Kyle out to a party and their relationship develops from there. When it is made clear that her abusive ex is stalking her once more, Kyle takes on the protective role along with a couple of his Navy SEAL friends. Another thing which isn’t answered in this book is why his friends, Luke and Jay are no longer friends with each other. I think this is something that should be covered in book one as these characters were rather bland and I think this information would have helped.
I noticed a lot of inconsistency issues in this book. Examples include Kyle, Lake and Jay being Navy SEALS one minute, then FBI the next. Also, Kate’s real name is Kathleen at one point but at another point it is Katherine. There were also issues with paragraphs rarely being used which made it difficult to read sometimes, especially when going from what Kyle was thinking to what Kate was thinking. Some sentences didn’t make sense or were missing words / had too many words in.
I think this story could be fantastic but it needs a good edit and character development would help significantly.
We all have our secrets. Mine is that I hired a male escort to end my boss’s taunts regarding my love life. Problem is, I actually like him.
Clover is determined to become the next big travel columnist. The only problem is her merciless boss, Debra Coorman, who refuses to let her step up the corporate ladder. When an opportunity presents itself, Clover will do anything to make the most of it- including dialing the number on a simple black business card, she swore she’d never need.
Hiring male escort, Damon, to play the role of “doting boyfriend” was meant to be easy. A simple transaction that would begin and end in one evening—until an unsigned check has him on her doorstep the very same night.
What started as a business deal is flipped on its head as Clover finds there’s more to Damon than meets the eye. Hearts are involved, and emotions are running deep. Clover needs to determine if feelings are real or if Damon is playing a part beyond the date she paid for.
My thoughts: My Escort is a Contemporary Romance set in Manhattan. Like many books in this genre, the female lead, Clover, works in an office environment and is unhappy with her job. Her boss is a bit of a bully – Actually, scratch that… her boss is a full on bitch and I really don’t know how Clover kept her cool with her as I would have thrown her through a glass window from the top floor of a skyscraper if she had talked to me the way she talked to Clover – so after a dig from her boss about never bringing a date to the work functions, Clover has no choice but to contact Damon, an Escort.
Damon is… perfection. Just mmmmm. I absoluely loved his character and really understand Clover’s attraction to him. I also liked how his character developed and learning more about his life and history.
Getting back to Clover, though I like her, I feel like she needed to grow a pair at times. I also didn’t enjoy her inner monologue at times but I think some of this comes directly from the authors views e.g. ‘I had a more womanly, hourglass shape while she had an athletic one’. So… what are you saying? Curves are feminine but being athletic isn’t? I think all female body shapes are feminine. That really grated on me to be honest. Another example – ‘I wished she’d eat more. Her idea of what was attractive to the male mind was a lot different to what consititued a healthy body.’ Ok well, she might eat for America and just be naturally slim, she might not be staying slim for men but because SHE wants to.
Anyway, moving on from this. I devoured this book and really enjoyed it. I must admit, I absolutely adore slow-burns and this is definitely one of them. I would recommend this book and I first rated this book 3.5 stars but I’ve decided to move this up to 4 stars because I did really enjoy it.
Welcome to Wormwood: a place where curiosity is discouraged and no one has ever left.
Until one girl, Vega Jane, discovers a map that suggests a mysterious world beyond the walls. A world with possibilities and creatures beyond her imagining.
But she will be forced to fight for her freedom. And unravelling the truth may cost Vega her life.
My thoughts: As a Sunday times number one bestseller and a very popular YA fiction on Goodreads, I was very excited to begin reading The Finisher. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to finish this book, and it’s not through lack of trying. I started The Finisher at the beginning of the year and it’s now the 15th March but yet I’m only 41% of the way through.
I can’t really put my finger on the problem. It’s not like it’s a bad storyline and when I was reading it I enjoyed it but as soon as I put it down I forgot about it and didn’t feel that need to pick it back up. It also seemed more like a children’s book than a young adult book.
I know this is a short review but nothing much to say to be honest. It’s a shame I didn’t finish it but I just don’t want to waste anymore time on it.
Pagan drumming in Killian’s veins would never let his sword fail or his heart stop thirsting for blood. It felt as if the old gods gathered around him, waiting for blood to spill.
Killian the Assassin has been hired to guard the daughter of a wealthy Lord. Blackmailed into going on a perilous journey over treacherous seas, and among violent mountains, he faces danger and demons. Fighting the bloodlust that always follows him, Killian discovers a lonely, innocent girl who did not betray, but has been betrayed. She deserves love and protection, but is he the one to give her what she needs?
Tainted by the need for salvation, driven by sword lust, darkness follows them both as together they become the first in the Legends of Everclearing.
Killian the Assassin! He’ll double-cross you, bed your wife, and steal your gold, all with a smile.
Follow Killian the Assassin on his journey in this new fantasy series, the Legends of Everclearing!
This new series does not just a revisit the best of the Kingdom of Jior fantasy series but is addicting, with new characters, and heart stopping adventures!
My thoughts: FIrst of all, I just want to apologise for the late review. I know in my last post I said you would have it that same week but as you all know, life gets in the way. Now, let’s get back to the review…
HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIT! What an amazing book! I just can’t even begin to tell you how incredible it was to read this MASTERPIECE! All of Wendy Anderson’s books are works of art, I’m telling you now but let’s just focus on the gem that is ‘Killian the Assassin’.
Killian is, as the blurb dictates, an assassin, a thief, and a rogue. He’s arrogant too! I can see all you readers shaking your head and thinking, well if he’s so arrogant then he’s not for me. I know what you mean, arrogance can be a write turn off but the way Killian carries this arrogance is just something to behold. It’s sexy, it’s a turn on… it makes you bite your lip and want to devour the next man you see (thankfully, that was my fiance and not my creepy next door neighbour).
Lady Pearl is Killian’s love interest in this outstanding novel and she was a character I loved straight away. Such a beautiful, gentle soul who’s situation is rather tragic. She is quite a naive character in the beginning but her personal growth as the story progresses is *chef’s kiss*.
For me personally, side character’s are just as important as the main characters. Side character’s are so important to the story but if they’ve not been developed enough by the author, then their appearance in the stoty can fall flat and can harm the novel as a whole. Of course, Wendy Anderson smashed it once again by creating a villainous love interest that makes you feel fearful in his written presence, a Lord who is such a complete and utter t**t that I am still gritting my teeth at how much of a bellend he is, and, a character so handsome, so… *grabs hold of laptop screen and shakes it*… perfect in everyway that he makes me want to jump into the book and pull him back through to my bedroom. Never fear, this character WILL be getting his own book which I thank the gods for because I need more!!
The world that has been created here is just astounding. I could see it infront of me like I was travelling with Killian and company. Not only the scenery but the characters too, I honestly could see it all like I was watching a Netflix series.
One thing I absolutely loved about this story is that it wasn’t just, ‘oh, here’s the one plot which we are going to follow and that’s it’. No, there were several different plot lines all weaved intricately into each other. I just absolutely loved it.
I’d always recommend that you read the Kingdoms of Jior series before this book, ONLY because it is so INCREDIBLE and will introduce you to the world of Jior. However, the beauty about Killian the Assassin, and something I find to be an amazing talent, is that although it is set in the same ‘world’ as the Kingdom of Jior books, the author has managed to give you all the information you need throughout the story so you could read this book with no previous knowledge of the world or the Ny-Failen and completely understand it.
Killian the Assassin should be released on the 31st March 2022. I will post a link as soon as it becomes available. You all really need to read this incredible book.
I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was (and still am) to find out that Wendy L. Anderson is bringing out a new book!
Wendy originally contacted me through this website to ask if I would read and review her standalone Viking Romance, A Cut Twice as Deep. I was happy to oblidge of course, seeing as this is a reviewing website. As you may remember if you follow my blog, is that I rated A Cut Twice as Deep a solid 5 / 5. Then I was asked if I wouldn’t mind reviewing another book of hers, Ulrik. Again a solid 5 / 5 and, this quote from my review still rings VERY TRUE:
“Hands down, one of the best books I have EVER read.
GeeLiz Reads (2021)
Next up, Wendy asked me to read Of Demon Kind, the first book of the Kingdoms of Jior Series. I just could NOT say no as I had already been blown away by her previous work. Again, I was not disappointed and I knew I needed to complete the series. My world became Jior as I sat with my eye’s fixed to the screen, envisioning the incredible story that played out infront of me, forgetting that I was reading words. Redemption of the Fallen – Phenomenal, Heirs of Jior – Breathtaking, Iron and the Arrow – Astonishing, The Last Ny-Failen – Beyond Epic!
I shit you not guys, these books just continued to get better and better and when I finished the last book I felt empty! Actually, empty is the wrong word. I felt… like an addict. Like all I could think about was these books and I knew that the struggle to find any book as amazing as any one of Wendy Anderson’s books was going to be near on impossible.
Luckily, Wendy brought out the beyond Epic Rapunzel’s Tower which I stupidly read in a day but I just could not put it down!!! Then I was back to feeling empty once again!
But what is it that Wendy decides to do out of the goodness of her heart? Bring out another book and ease the crave! HALLELUJAH! And to add to my happiness… I’ve been asked if I would like to read the book to review AHEAD of its release. What was my answer you ask? Do bears shit in the woods? YES! a thousand times Yes!
But then the worrying starts… What if it isn’t as good as her previous books? What if she’s lost the plot completely and it’s just a giant mess? Well we will soon find out because I’m just about to devour the book and the review will follow in the next coming days!
INTRODUCING…..
Killian the Assassin!
Blurb: Assassin, thief, arrogant rogue…
Pagan drumming in Killian’s veins would never let his sword fail or his heart stop thirsting for blood. It felt as if the old gods gathered around him, waiting for blood to spill.
Killian the Assassin has been hired to guard the daughter of a wealthy Lord. Blackmailed into going on a perilous journey over treacherous seas, and among violent mountains, he faces danger and demons. Fighting the bloodlust that always follows him, Killian discovers a lonely, innocent girl who did not betray, but has been betrayed. She deserves love and protection, but is he the one to give her what she needs?
Tainted by the need for salvation, driven by sword lust, darkness follows them both as together they become the first in the Legends of Everclearing.
Killian the Assassin! He’ll double-cross you, bed your wife, and steal your gold, all with a smile.
Follow Killian the Assassin on his journey in this new fantasy series, the Legends of Everclearing!
This new series does not just a revisit the best of the Kingdom of Jior fantasy series but is addicting, with new characters, and heart stopping adventures!
Can’t get enough? Read the Kingdom of Jior epic fantasy series:
Blurb: It started the moment I woke up in hospital, I naively believed I would find myself alone. I was wrong. Because the HellBeast King wasn’t done with me. Far from it in fact, as he told me he had made a vow. A vow to keep me safe. But as my fate started to unravel, revealing more and more pieces of him at the core, I couldn’t help but question… Was his vow to keep me safe or was it simply… A HellBeast’s fight… To Keep Me?
My thoughts: The Hellbeast’s Fight is the 2nd book of The Hellbeast King series by Stephanie Hudson. For me and most of you I bet, the 2nd book or the 2nd film are rarely as good. Think Ghostbusters 2 for example. Am I right? Well, in this case, just like Toy Story 2 (do NOT argue with me here), The Hellbeast’s Fight was better than the Hellbeast King. Now I’ve had this problem before… I gave The Hellbeast King 5 out of 5 stars (obviously, it was incredible) but if the Hellbeast Fight was better then how do I go about rating it?
Anyway, that’s not important. Just to let you know this review does contain spoilers. I’ve been told off so need to make sure I let you all know that before I continue. Got it? Great. Here goes…
Hellbeast’s Fight takes place straight after the end of Hellbeast’s King. As the blurb states, Ella is in hospital and she is not alone. Jared, the sexy Hellbeast is with her. The next few chapters are just a laugh a minute with their constant bickering and flirting. I just loved it. I love how the descriptions bring the story to life so you can see it unfolding in front of you. Like you are a fly on the wall watching the scenes play out in front of you. I believe it definitely takes a talented author to be able to do that.
What else I enjoyed about this book and it’s something that alot of authors are not able to do, is the secondary characters. There are a lot of secondary characters in this book but they are described so well and each have their own personality so it doesn’t become difficult to keep tabs on who is who. My favourite’s are Marcus and Orthurus (deduct 5 points from Ravenclaw if I got the spellings wrong – my bad). These are definitely character’s I want to know more about and would love for them to be a big part of Ella an Jared’s story.
Talking about Jared… Mother may I? Good lord in heaven! Or should I say Bad Devil in Hell please let me have one night with this man. To be honest, I don’t think I could handle it hahahahaa! The man on the covers is exactly how Jared is described and he has a very domineering personality. As a fellow reviewer said on Goodreads (user Rebecca Dixon) he is possessive, angry, obsessive, cheeky, snarky and has a dirty mouth, and I have to agree with her there – he certainly does. Whereas some of those traits my turn you off, when they are part of somebody as godly as Jared, you’ll definitely be turned on.
So with Jared being the Hellbeast, Ella is the human. She may come across as weak sometimes and she may make the wrong decisions but her inner monologue explains her decisions and that’s something I love about these books and the character. Yes, you may not have personally chose the path she chooses in a difficult moment but sometimes when you are put in that position you can’t think straight or your mind is focussed on something else and therefore you don’t make the best decision at the time. Nobody is perfect and I bet there is not one person on this planet that has made every single correct decision in their life. I’m not ranting, promise! I’m just saying that that is what I love about Ella. She’s so damned real! So perfectly imperfect!
The book ended with a cliffhanger but luckily book three is out and I’m going to get right up on that! I really can not wait!
The Hellbeast’s Fight is available on Kindle Unlimited for free or is available to purchase on Kindle for £3.99 here.
It all started with that night. The night I made my biggest mistake. The night I entered their world. The day I snuck into the infamous Devil’s Ring Fight Club. I had followed my cousin Amelia, who turned out not to be quite as innocent as I first believed. In fact, it turned out she didn’t live in the same world as I did… Not at all. I knew this the moment I entered his kingdom. My world changed the moment he found me. He gave me a warning that night. He told me if he ever found me again then next time, he wouldn’t be so quick in letting me escape him. His little Red Riding Hood. It was a threat I took seriously as it was only my dreams that took me back to that place. That took me back to him. That was until they came for me. The Hell Hounds that infiltrated my peaceful world and started the hunt. And there was only one man I knew that had the power to stop them. And my price to pay, was the promise he made me. That if he ever found me in his demonic fight club again… He was keeping me. Meaning I only had two choices left, to become the hunted or to make a deal with Hell’s greatest Hunter… The HellBeast King… Jared Cerberus.
My Thoughts:
The Hellbeast King is the highly anticipated first book of the Hellbeast King Series. The series can be enjoyed as a standalone series by those who are new to the amazing world created by Stephanie Hudson or by those who have already read her work. If you haven’t read her previous works such as the Afterlife Saga or Transfusion Saga then I would recommend starting with the Afterlife Saga, then the Transfusion Saga before moving on to the Hellbeast Series. Though, if you do want to reas the Hellbeast King Series first then you will still understand exactly what is going on!
After that explanation let me tell you what I think about this book. I was hooked straight away! The first chapter was fantastic, opening the story well and introducing us to the main characters. I really connected with Ella as she is a Park Ranger and a HUGE animal lover and, though unfortunately I am not a Park Ranger, I would do anything in my power to help an animal in need so I instantly liked her character. She’s also as stubborn as hell, something else I have in common much to my fiancé’s dismay.
Jared Cerberus who is Ella’s love interest is also a very stubborn, very strong and super sexy alpha male. Somebody I am craving to learn more about. Luckily, the 2nd and 3rd book of the series are out so I can do this as soon as I’ve finished this review.
What I have discovered during my reading journey is a lot of the time, when authors write a lot of books, it seems that their characters personalities end up being so similar and the storyline ends up being pretty much the same too. So, upon reading The Hellbeast King I was very happy to discover that Ella and Jared are written differently to the characters in The Afterlife Saga and The Transfusion Saga as well as the plot being different too!
I can’t wait to devour the next couple of books in this series and I’m starting right now!
This book is available for free on Kindle Unlimited or for the bargain price of £3.99 here.
Blurb: Eden might have been named after the paradise her mother believed she grew up in… but she was far from that paradise now. No, thanks to her brother, she was more like up shit creek and without a paddle. The kind where hungry crocodiles were chasing after her, only these were armed with guns and sent by the leader of a drug cartel.
Yep, she was so screwed!
Well, that was until a handsome knight stopped to save her on the side of the road, and instead of finding her in a boat, it’s her broken heap of a car that’s one drive away from a junkyard’s resting place. However, the moment she speaks, the gorgeous mystery man, the one full of muscles and a dangerous edge to his voice, seems utterly transfixed by her and is soon intent on offering a lot more than just his help.
Eden has to admit, she is more than a little tempted to see what a night with Mr expensive car and sex on a stick would offer her. But then a quick reminder of her situation is enough to send her dream man on his way.
His way to the notorious club Afterlife.
A place Eden was also on her way to, in hopes of gaining the help she knows she could find there. Because a powerful family owned the club… The Dravens.
However little does she know that Afterlife isn’t all it seems to be… as there is a lot more than alternative people all looking for a good time in a grand Gothic setting. Because the VIP holds more than the wealthy and the beautiful. It holds the world’s elite in power and unfortunately for naive little Eden, there is nothing human about it.
Oh, and as for her mystery man…
He just so happens to be one of those elite powers, which means he too is far from human and he has his hungry gaze firmly set on only one curvy little mortal.
A delicious sight the darkness inside him demands he claim before she can escape him again.
My Thoughts: Ward’s Siren is a book that has been split in to two with only the first half of the book yet released. The amazing thing is, it’s completely free and can be downloaded here.
Ward’s Siren is a prequel to Stephanie Hudson’s 1st Series of books, The Afterlife Saga. What I love about this is that the story has been written with new readers in mind so the book can be enjoyed by all regardless of whether you are already a reader of Steph’s books or whether you are a complete newbie to her work.
Stephanie has managed to write a fantastic story that has the ability to draw the reader in with strong characters including the irresistible, dominant, makes-me-go-weak-at-the-knees, not quite human, Warden.
The plot makes for rushed reading as you just get pulled in to the book and you want to know everything right there and then. Make sure you take a breath and slow down from time to time so you can enjoy the story completely! I’m just very impatient haha. I kept on feeling my heart racing and my eye’s trying to search ahead for what was going to happen.
Throughout the book I was and am completely invested in Eden and Ward and I just can not wait for part two and the rest of the Siren series.
As always thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think of Ward’s Siren!
Who hear hasn’t read Afterlife by Stephanie Hudson? What about Transfusion? Well if you haven’t, with all due respect, where the hell have you been, loca?! Afterlife is the 1st book of the 12 book Afterlife Saga and Transfusion is also the 1st book of the 12 book Transfusion Saga and yes, for all of those who neeeeeeeeed the series to be complete before starting, they are both complete!
Afterlife is written by International Bestselling Author Stephanie Hudson. It was the 1st book in a long and continuing line of books released by the inspiring Author. Not only has this brilliant author brought us the complete works of the Afterlife Saga but she has continued with the magic of the Afterlife world by bringing us the complete works of Transfusion Saga which follows fan favourite Lucius, the Hellbeast Series which follows soon to be fan favourite Jared, and the Shadow Imp Series which follows the amazing and hilarious couple of Pip and Adam. Furthermore, Stephanie has delved into the Childrens/Young Adults genre by bringing out The Afterlife Academy series which is well loved by all ages.
Afterlife and Transfusion are now on offer for just 99p each and I’m telling you now, I don’t think you will regret it. It doesn’t matter where you start either. You can start with Transfusion or you can start with Afterlife but I would personally recommend you read the Afterlife Saga first before the Transfusion Saga.
Here is the blurb for Afterlife:
Addictively Dark and Seductively Sexy. Dramatic and full of Suspense that will have you guessing at every turn… Just who is the King of Afterlife? Keira is new in town and running from her past. A past that haunts her dreams, that is until a new nightmare takes over them…a tall, dark and sexy one. Her New Boss, Dominic Draven. Question is, what is the infamous Gothic Nightclub doing in the small town of Evergreen Falls and more importantly, what has its powerful owner got planned for her? Because not everything is as it seems and working the VIP section under his watchful eye is only the beginning. That’s because Keira isn’t the only one keeping secrets and Afterlife isn’t just a nightclub at all… It’s a place for a Supernatural King to rule. And this King has sights set firmly on Keira. The one he has been searching for throughout the ages of time. His Chosen One… His Fated Queen.
Afterlife Saga has Shifters, Angels, Demons, Vampires, and much much more. *If you like sexy, dark paranormal romances, with humor, steam, action, a real heroine and a brooding hero, this is for you. Afterlife is full length (252k) words, and is book one in the 12 book Complete Afterlife Saga series, and ends on a cliffhanger.
It is recommended for 18+ due to language and sexual situations.
Here is the Blurb for Transfusion:
He Broke My Heart… That cold, cruel Vampire King.
But then, I am just your typical, ordinary, everyday human girl who works and lives in London. Or at least, that’s what everyone thinks. I fled the supernatural world and the safety of my family who rule it, because being the only human born from them definitely had its drawbacks.
Something the Vampire King knew all about.
He humiliated me and destroyed my naive little heart, meaning I had no choice but to leave and make a new life for myself. I turned my back on it all but most importantly, I turned my back on him. That was my second mistake The first had been to fall in love with him.
That was seven years ago.
I liked to think that I was done with Lucius, the Vampire King and his dark world. But little did I know that he was far from done with me… That he had been watching me all this time.
Now he was back for me.
Him and his dominant, ruling hands that were intent on bending me to his will, all under the guise of keeping me safe. But then if that were true, then why did it seem as if his dark desires for me were not only reigniting my obsession but creating one of his own.
Things were shifting in the Vampire world with Lucius and I at its core. Which meant the biggest question I had to ask myself became…
Would my heart survive him a second time?
If you like dark, fantasy, action with Vampires, Shifters, Demons and much much more. With a side serving of romance filled with adventure, conflict, and steam, you’ll love The 12 book Transfusion Saga.
Afterlife is available on Kindle Unlimited for free or for 99p here.
Transfusion is available on Kindle Unlimited for free or for 99p here.
Everybody loves a free book, right? I know I do! My kindle is absolutely full of them.
My Escort is Book one of a three book series and for a limited time only is free to keep on Kindle. It’s also available to read on Kindle Unlimited.
Blurb
We all have our secrets. Mine is that I hired a male escort to end my boss’s taunts regarding my love life. Problem is, I actually like him.
Clover is determined to become the next big travel columnist. The only problem is her merciless boss, Debra Coorman, who refuses to let her step up the corporate ladder. When an opportunity presents itself, Clover will do anything to make the most of it – including dialing the number on a simple black business card, she swore she’d never need.
Hiring male escort, Damon, to play the role of “doting boyfriend” was meant to be easy. A simple transaction that would begin and end in one evening – until an unsigned check has him on her doorstep the very same night.
Sound like your jam? Pick it up here. If it doesn’t, then it’s free so you might as well give it a try!
We all love a book bargain. Yes, I may have over 3000 books on my kindle waiting patiently to be read, and yes, I mayyy have 700 books on my bookshelves waitingly patiently to be read, but no, I can never have too many books. Especially when there are bargains like these.
The Ravenhold Supernatural Reform Academy – Complete Boxset (3 books) by L J Swallow.
Available on Kindle Unlimited or for 99p here for UK readers, and for 99c here for US readers.
Last week I accidentally and publicly raised the dead. Now I’m the only necromancer at Ravenhold reform academy.
Ravenhold detains dangerous juvenile offenders on a remote Scottish island, where their magic is useless and escape impossible. I’m told I’ll leave after rehabilitation, but nobody will tell me how or when.
Dorian Blackwood rules over the vampires, shifters and witches in the academy’s halls. As the only vampire-witch hybrid in existence, he has unparalleled supernatural abilities and few people dare confront the cruel and charming savage.
But the academy’s two other powerful hybrids want him deposed—Zeke the dominant shifter whose laidback manner hides a vicious streak, and the silent and secretive Ethan who nobody dares touch. As the new hybrid at the academy, I’m dragged straight into the middle of their power struggle.
Even though I’m drawn to the three guys, I want to keep away from academy violence and politics. I make a plan to keep my head down, attend the classes, and hope for an early release. I don’t want anybody to discover my secret: I’m the trinity witch.
But something sinister runs through the academy underbelly as students go insane or disappear without a trace. When I’m made a sickening offer, I discover exactly how sinister.
To survive Ravenhold’s corruption, I’ll need to make a deal with three hybrids who can choose to either help me or kill me.
This box set contains the entire Ravenhold series from LJ Swallow. The books are set in a supernatural reform academy with deliciously dangerous guys and a badass heroine who won’t bow to anyone. This is a slow burn, enemies to lovers, dark academy series where the heroine doesn’t need to choose.
Spells and Shifter Mates by Leigh Kelsey
Available on Kindle Unlimited or for 77p for UK Readers here and for 99c for US Readers here.
Seductive demons, protective wolf mates, tempting vampires, and irresistible shifters.
Dive into four paranormal reverse harem series in this limited-time box set, and fall head over heels for the dark, brooding males and sweet, adoring men who fill their pages.
Whether you love a heroine who can kick serious magical butt, or a woman in desperate need of a gallant hero, you’ll love the leading ladies of these paranormal romance series starters.
Spells and Shifter Mates contains:
Cast From Heaven (Lili Kazana Book 1) – Betrayed by heaven, protected by hell. The devil and his hellhounds will do anything to keep their angel safe.
When archangel Gabriel manipulates Lili Kazana, severing her wings so she can be his spy in Hell, rescue comes in the most unlikely form: protective Cerny, sweet Russ, gruff Bernard—Lucifer’s demon hounds—and the devil himself.
Midnight Magic (Nine Lives Book 1) – EXCLUSIVE to this box set! Three paw print brands on her body. Three fated mates claiming her soul. One hell of a way to find out you’re a cat shifter.
Thrust into a new life as a cat shifter, Rani is comforted by three mates: gentle Eri, playful Tom, and brooding Nigh. But her newfound magic makes her valuable—and unlike her new mates, the man hunting her doesn’t care about cherishing her, only about stealing her magic for himself.
Mated (Moonlight Inn Book 1) – To protect her freedom, Lyra must claim three wolf mates.
To fend off wolves determined to own her, Lyra must claim her own mates – quiet, mysterious Jack, feral smart*ss Gray, and the man Lyra’s been in love with for years: serious, protective Casimir.
Vampire Game (Vampire Game Book 1) – Vampire romance and celtic mythology collide in Whitby, where vampires, wolves, and fae walk among humans, and even darker things come out at night.
When Elara Wood wakes up in a house with strangers—gentle Allen, sultry Scarlett, and Finn, the once-fae protector—she’s forced to accept a new diet, a new set of instincts, and a new life. Vampires are real, and after a violent attack, Elara has been turned.
Smoke and Ash (Black Harbour Dragons) by Jadyn Chase
Available on Kindle Unlimited and for £2.31 in the UK here.For $2.99 in the US here.For $3.95 for Canadian Readers here.For $4.10 for Australian Readers here.
All five tales of the Black Harbour Dragons stories are now in one big collection for your reading enjoyment.
In a dark world where the dragons rule and the humans are forced to live underground, five love stories emerge that will change everything.
Book 1: Reign of Ash
Book 2: From the Ashes
Book 3: Smoldering Ashes
Book 4: Blazing Ashes
Book 5: Burning Ashes
Smoke and Ash contains five 30,000+ word action-packed shifter stories with guaranteed HEA’s, no cheating and steamy scenes that are intended for a mature audience.
Hello Lizards! How are you all doing today? I’m writing today to let you know that L.J. Swallows is now accepting pre-orders for book one of the new Ruthless Dark series. You may know L.J. Swallows from some of her previous work; The Nightfall Academy Series, The Four Horsemen Series and the Ravenhold Trilogy, to name but a few.
How great does this sound:
I thought fairies were pixie girls with delicate wings who live amongst the flowers. I was wrong. The fae folk do have wings, but they’re monsters who live in the dark. And never, ever call them fairies.
Monsters killed my family, but nobody believed me. I’m told the trauma repressed my memories and that I imagined the creatures who tore apart my family with their claws. Six-year-old Trinity couldn’t cope with the reality she witnessed and created her own.
They’re wrong. I’m no longer a child, but I still see monsters.
Six years ago, three crept into the edges of my dreams, their violet eyes shining through the shadows. But these creatures with horns and claws didn’t want to hurt me. One whispered his wicked thoughts, another watched me but never spoke, and their leader tempered their wild desires. I wanted to surrender to their dark embrace, but my monsters left me untouched and alone with my fantasies.
I’m now at Briargrove House for treatment, where Dr. Radcliffe specializes in teasing out the truth hidden inside damaged people’s heads. He promises to unlock my memories and bring those who murdered my family to justice.
But how damaged and dangerous are the others who live with me at Briargrove?
Dr. Radcliffe hopes to banish the imaginary monsters, but my three return. They call themselves the Dark, are wilder than my dreams, and fulfil every pleasure they denied me. They belong to me, and I am theirs.
My dark lovers insist that the true monsters live inside Briargrove House, so I must return to their realm. If I don’t, other creatures will take me to a different place, where the dreams promise to become nightmares.
Pretty awesome right? If you want to get your hands on this bad boy then follow the links here:
Holly Roberds, originally from Colorado but now living life in New Hampshire, is an author delving into the genres of Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and Apocalyptic Fantasy, to name but a few.
Holly started her writing career by creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Terminator romantic fanfic. Now, it is unclear at this time whether Holly wrote these separately from each other, or if Buffy and the Terminator were romantically involved. Either way, sounds like something I would enjoy reading!
You may know Holly from her previous works including the Vegas Immortals: Death and the Last Vampire Series and The Five Orders Series. If you don’t, then shame on you. You can rectify this by signing up for her newsletter, you even get a free book!
Now the point of this actual post is to let all of you Lizards (that’s what I’m calling my readers 😂 – we can work on it) know that Holly is releasing a new book in February and it is actually the first of a new series. Exciting? I think so.
I give to you the Blurb of One Savage Knight (Demon Knights Book One):
Blurb:
Held captive, I’m becoming more monster than man. My only hope for salvation is a woman who doesn’t believe I am what I say.
My name is Leonidas, and I was about to lay the killing blow to a creature from hell when we were both captured.
Now I’m chained up in a so-called research hospital, and no matter what I say, they won’t release me. They don’t believe I’m a Knight of the Light from an ancient order, trained to fight the creatures of darkness.
They are doing something to me in this place…changing me.
Dark impulses overtake me as my body boils and shifts into something even more terrifying than the monster I’m hunting.
Awesome right? Not only that, she’s even given us a video trailer! Check it out here.
Built to Sin is the debut novel and first book in the Sins and Secrets Series by brand new author Natalie Haigh. Built to Sin dabbles in a number of genres including urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Natalie’s inspiration for this book came from reading ‘The Afterlife Saga’ by author Stephanie Hudson and from that inspiration, along with lots of hard-work (and probably the infuriating writer’s block) Built to Sin was born.
Here’s the Blurb:
When Olivia attended her parent’s anniversary party she had no idea how much her life would change. After an unexpected meeting with a gorgeous, yet dangerous stranger, her usually quiet, dull life is flipped upside down as she suddenly finds herself pulled into a world she never thought possible. It’s a race against time to save herself and those she loves. The question is, will she be strong enough for the fight ahead? And can an ordinary girl handle the extraordinary life she has now become a part of, or will it spell the end for her?
The novel is available for pre-order via this link >Built to Sin by Natalie Haigh and will be released on March 11th of this year (2022 for those of you that don’t know). I’d love to know what you think once you’ve read it, so don’t forget to pop back and share your thoughts in the comments.
Scar: I’m a mountain man looking to hunt animals, not women. So imagine my surprise when Marilyn falls right into my lap. She’s from California and this is her first time… in more ways than one. She’s got curves that’ll drive a man wild, but she’s too young for me. I’ll save her life though, because I’m a gentleman, but that’s it. Until she asks me to show her a little discipline… When my firm hand meets her untouched bottom, sparks are going to fly.
My thoughts:
Scar is a short novella which could be read in one sitting. It follows Marilyn, a curvy-girl who is also a virgin that has travelled to Alaska to get away from the villains in her life – her father and her fiance. Scar lives on the mountain, he is twice Marilyn’s age and is a widow. He has a large penis which Marilyn rides like a pro quite quickly after meeting him. I just didn’t find this story believable and the quick meet, straight on to spanking and then straight on to amazing first time sex for a virgin just couldn’t work in my head. I think if the story was longer and more developed then it has the potential to be a good book.
Join me as I talk you through my favourite books of 2021! My Good Reads pledge was to read 52 books this year, however, I only managed 43. I’m still happy with that though. This year, I’m going to focus on writing my own books as it’s a big passion of mine and I have a lot of stories running through my head that I feel I need to share.
I’ll count down from 10 to 1 with one being my favourite.
Blurb: Brennan How can I want a woman so bad when she represents everything I despise? I can’t get her out from under my skin and I’m not entirely sure I want to. But there’s more at stake here than meets the eye. I’ve got responsibilities and she’s got secrets. Together, we’re destined for disaster, but I’m willing to risk it all for her, the problem is, I don’t know if she’s willing to risk anything for me. Samantha Running from my problems is my specialty. That and managing to sabotage every relationship I’ve ever had. So it makes sense that I jumped at a chance to go film in Ireland and leave my philandering boyfriend at home in LA. Yup, I’d rather run across the ocean than deal with that. Then Brennan Murphy threw me out of his pub and I jumped into the very thing I was trying to avoid. I had worked too hard to bury my secrets and it would take a lot more than heated words and scorching looks to get me to give into the temptation of throwing it all away for one guy. Albeit, one hot, bearded mountain of a man.
My thoughts: I recieved this book for free with around 300 other books of similar genre. This is the 3rd book in the The Sisters collection by Holly Mortimer, however, they are stand-alone books and therefore the 1st and 2nd book do not need to be read before this one.
I wasn’t going to give this book a star rating at all but when the star rating at the top of this page has no stars filled out it looks like I am giving a 5 star rating. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Worlds Apart, for me, was a DNF or Did Not Finish. This is VERY, very rare for me and I wish it wasn’t the case but I just hated it. I hate to sound harsh but I really did not want to finish this book.
Worlds Apart has 167 pages, so it is not a long book. I read up to page 40 before I decided to give up. There is so much anger in this book – this comes from both Sam (the female lead) and Brennan (the male lead). Sam is a stuck up actress who we meet in a pub completely drunk out of her mind and Brennan is the owner of said pub. Sam has had way to much to drink and is ‘bossing’ the bartender (Ryan) around but in my opinion, not to the point in which Brennan needs to come over, roughly grab Sam and tell her to get the hell out of his pub, and bar her. Sam then has to walk all the way home (over an hour) in a bad storm but Brennan decides to go and find her and give her a lift.
In the car, they pretty much have a screaming match all the way home. Then, when Sam is dropped off at her home she doesn’t have her keys so Brennan helps her get in the house (she is very unthankful) and they continue to have an argument. I couldn’t even tell you what the arguments were about to be honest. Something to do with Brennan wanting to wind Sam up and Sam being an arrogant princess. Eurgh it was infuriating. Anyway, Sam has to call the police because someone has broke in to her house so whilst they are waiting for the police the argument continues, Sam throws up on Brennan, Brennan gets in to bed with Sam whilst his pants are in the dryer, the police come and Brennan leaves.
The next day, Brennan has an argument with his ex who pays a visit, and then Sam goes to the pub because she left her bank card there and they have another argument. Then Ryan comes in and she flirts with Ryan, so Brennan then feels jelous and grabs her arm, storming her outside, pushing her against her car and then roughly kissing her. She goes home and then he follows her home and they start to argue again and she slaps him and then I just couldn’t take it anymore. I closed the book. 40 pages of arguing is giving me a headache. Even their internal monologue was angry as hell too. These people obviously need to go see a counsellor or something.
I really do hate leaving a book unfinished but I just couldn’t continue with this trainwreck.
I agreed to exhibit my giant metal sculptures for one show only, a charity fundraiser to help an old friend. I don’t want to go, but duty compels me.
I’ve lived alone in my mountain hideaway, welding over pain with my art for years.
I expect a short trip and a speedy return to my reclusive life. Alone.
I do not expect to meet the Muse I gave up searching for years ago.
Lily Steele
Ex NFL superstar and talented, reclusive artist, mountain man Wolf Winters is an enigma. When my rock star brother scores tickets for Wolf’s coveted one and only charity art exhibition? I’m there! As an art curator, and fan, I can’t wait to see the show!
How was I supposed to know the roadie I kissed backstage, was Wolf Winters? Now he’s obsessed, doing everything he can to woo me, even offering me a job I can’t refuse.
Does he really want me, or does he lust for a fantasy?
If you love an over-the-top obsessive man hell bent on claiming his woman, you will love this steamy standalone short romance. Instalove passion with no cheating and a guaranteed HEA.
My thoughts: I downloaded this book for free whilst it was on offer. It’s a very short read – about an hour and a half but has a good, easy to read storyline.
I would say that both characters lack depth but I find this often in short novella’s. Wolf Winter’s (who doesn’t look like the man on the front cover – no tattoo, or atleast it wasn’t described in the book), is an over-the-top obsessive man who knows what he wants – Lily. He is romantic but not in a way I personally find attractive. He writes poems which are in the novella itself, and after reading them and Lily was close to tears or pent up on love because of the poems, I didn’t feel that. I’m not in to poems and I’m not really in to overly obsessive types either.
Lily is a bit of a wet lettuce at the beginning of the novella. She gets upset easily but then suddenly as she is rushing away from Wolf, she changes and becomes hardened and accepting. She’s a bit indecisive, especially towards the end when she realises the career that she thought she wanted and Wolf helped her get isn’t really what she wanted at all. To be honest, this side of Lily reminds me of myself.
The storyline was good and was an actual storyline with steamy scenes; it was not porn with a plot. It was well written and I applaud the author for that though the male lead wasn’t my type of man and I think that is why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I was hoping to and as much as other reviewers have. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters either which is a shame.
I like that you can find out in other novella’s what happened to Lily’s boss and what happened to Wolf’s friend’s son. This makes me want to read the other books as like I said, I like the author’s writing, I just didn’t like the characters. I may enjoy the characters in the other novella’s from this author.
Blurb: When Georgia Monroe scores a once in a lifetime interview on the brink of being fired, she takes the first available flight out of New York straight to Lonesome, Montana. A one on one with country music’s rising star Boone Beckett, could put her career back on track.
Her plans unravel when she takes a detour on a country road, and the wrong Beckett brother finds her and holds her up at gunpoint.
Bad boy Harlan Beckett despises reporters. Famous for singing dirty lyrics and the break out hit, “Heartbreak Kid,” he’s been out of the limelight thanks to a story the press got all wrong.
Georgia’s story changes when she’s coerced into staying at Harlan’s Ranch and discovers a secret.
Besides Harlan, everyone else in the small town seems to be wearing a perpetual grin.
Why is everyone so happy in a place named Lonesome?
Georgia’s about to find out.
My thoughts: I got this book free with over 300 other books of a similar genre via a deal. This is the 2nd Kate Kisset book I have read and I enjoyed this one slightly more than the first. When I first started reading ‘Heartbreaker’, I nearly added it to my DNF pile. I just couldn’t get into it but then 15% of the way in, something switched and I could NOT but the book down. I wish I said I read it in one sitting, I nearly did but unfortunately I had work so it was two sittings.
Georgia is a reporter for Rolling Stones Magazine. She is writing an article on Boone, a country singer-songwriter. She has a funny personality which I enjoyed though I’ve never known anybody go red from the neck up as much as this girl. Putting that aside, I did really enjoy this female lead.
Harlan, Boon’s badboy brother, really irritated me at first. Arrogant and a bit of a C U Next Tuesday, I really didn’t see how Harlan was going to be the guy I wanted to read about, the guy I wanted Georgia to be with. This side of Harlan is explained and starts to fade away the more he is with Georgia and I couldn’t help but start to encourage their romance, even if he was a bit forward and hands on for my liking.
The storyline is enjoyable and flows well. I wouldn’t say there is a big climax or anything extreme that happens in the story but it is an easy, quite short read that would be perfect to devour with whilst wrapped up in a blanket in front of a blazing fire with a fresh cup of hot cocoa.
Blurb: Sarah Dupont’s mom just died. Her fiancé’s cheated on her with her accountant. (It didn’t help when Sarah caught them in the act on top of her cherished pastry table.) Oh, and they’ve been robbing her blind, so she’s broke now, too.
When Sarah’s offered a fresh start, and a place to stay, she high tails it out of San Francisco and moves to rural wine country. Finally settled into her new, small town-sleepy life, with a cafe of her own, the last thing Sarah needs is drama.
So, when notoriously sexy actor Jamie Santino, swaggers into her new business looking for baking lessons, and help with his new movie role, Sarah’s blindsided.
Jamie, one of six wealthy Santino Brothers, of Napa Valley Winery fame, has a feeling Sarah might be the off-screen leading lady he’s been looking for forever.
Wine flows and their passion has all the ingredients for everlasting love until a femme fatale from Jamie’s past enters the scene.
How can Sarah believe Jamie isn’t acting, when everything he says sounds too good to be true?
My thoughts: Love at Last was one of over 300+ romance books I downloaded for free thanks to an email I recieved detailing the offer. The novel is on the smaller side at 182 pages. It is an easy, predictable story but enjoyable non-the-less.
Sarah Dupont, the female lead, is nothing special in my eyes. She’s not very memorable and doesn’t have much of a personality. I also find that she is quite annoying at times and she jumps to conclusions constantly. I do however love her friends. I feel like each one of her friends as a different personality and you can remember who they are as individuals.
Jamie Santino, the male lead is probably somebody I would swoon over in real life. At the same time however, he is a bit of an arrogant pest and if I had been Sarah, this would have been a huge turn off for me, however hot he may be.
The storyline was really cute and enjoyable though predictable. I’m glad I read this book but I feel like their is just something missing and the characters need to be more likeable. Annoyingly, the book ends on a cliffhanger which makes me want to read the next one, however, I won’t be rushing into this.
Blurb: One kiss is all it takes to bring him to his knees and have him asking for forever.
Roane Connors doesn’t do relationships. He’s been burned before and isn’t looking to repeat past mistakes. All he needs is a warm body in his bed for the night. Someone to ring in the new year with. Julie Wilson ticks all his boxes. She’s back in town, hot, and single. When the clock strikes midnight one kiss ignites a spark this royal bastard’s not ready for.
The Biker’s Kiss is a Royal Bastards MC holiday novella.
My thoughts: This book was a free download with around 300 other books of similar genre. It is the first book I have read by Glenna Maynard.
I should start by saying that this book may need to come with a trigger warning – physical abuse and rape. The physical abuse starts from the get go but is introducing Julie, our female lead, and letting us know what she has to put up with before she finds someone who treats her how she should be treated. There are no rape scenes but it mentions non consensual sex and there is a scene which isn’t quite clear whether it happens or not.
I was excited to read this book as it seems a lot more up my street than previous books I have read of this genre. However, overall, I did feel quite disappointed by this story. It is a short story, only taking a couple of hours to get through but I didn’t feel drawn to this book to the point I wanted to read it in one sitting so I actually read it in several sittings. There are a lot of mistakes in this book such as missing words in sentences and grammar issues which I usually forgive authors for but this book seemed to be filled with them which was a shame.
In a nutshell, we have Julie who leaves Sam, her abusive ex. He’s a lawyer and has a cop daddy so you know the type, a grade A douchebag. She moves in with her sister, Pam, and her husband, Link who are both part of a Bikers club/gang, call it what you will. Pam invites Julie out to the club for a few drinks and in hopes that her sister can forget about her ex and get laid. Well, she suceeds. She meets her ex boyfriend from when she was 15 at the bar, Roane. He’s a sexy ass biker with tribal tattoos covering his muscly arms. They flirt a while and then go upstairs and have amazing sex.
The next day, Roane and Julie declare their love for each other, Julie moves in to his apartment and then Roane, who is also a Tattoo artist, tattoos his name on Julie. What. The. Fudge? I mean, come on. One day after and you are getting a mans name on your wrist and moving him with him? The book doesn’t mention that Julie, nor Roane from that matter are batsh*t crazy, but surely you gotta be if you are doing that within 24 hours of meeting.
After the move in and the tattoo, Sam comes back on the scene and kidnaps Julie before Roane and his motorbike crew rescue her and though unclear but definitely hinted, murder Sam, and again… Julie doesn’t bat an eyelid. She doesn’t seem phased with the fact that her husband to be is potentially a murderer.
So in my opinion, I just found this story a little too farfetched and crazy (and that’s from me who reads mainly fantasy novels). There are more books in the series and I may get to reading them but I am not too sure whether I will.
I’ve left Texas with nothing more than my grandmother’s apron collection and her Christmas candy recipes to move to North Pole, NY. How I end up stranded on the side of the road in a ridiculous elf costume in the middle of a blizzard is just par for my course. Especially when the man who plays knight to my damsel is none other than Mr. Grumpy-pants AKA the hottest man I’ve ever met.
Eli
I’ve made a fortune off of murder. That is to say I’m a bestselling horror novelist and the only reason I still live in this crazy Christmas town is because my sister and my niece are here. Finding that curvy candy maker on the side of the road is the last thing I need. But I can’t leave her to freeze in her candy-cane striped tights. So I bring her home with me.
Then the snow to end all snows hits and we’re stuck together. I’ve always had a sweet tooth so keeping my hands (and my mouth) of the delectable and sassy southern girl is going to be harder than I think. And when the snow clears we might just have found where we both belong…together.
The holidays are coming and we’re heading to the North Pole — the real-life town of North Pole, New York, that is! Join your favorite romance authors for a series of standalone love stories set in a small town shared world filled with all things sexy and bright. 😉 Snuggle up with some hot cocoa and your favorite cozy blanket because you’re not going to want to miss any of what these Holiday Honeys have in store!
Thoughts: This is the second book of Kat Baxter’s I have read. It’s a very short novella about Joy, a girl from Texts who has just moved to New York to work as an elf in a fudge store, and Eli Payne, a number one best selling author who lives in a cabin on the outskirts.
Bad weather leads to the two being together in Eli’s cabin for a few days and within that time things move VERY fast and they get together.
The writing is fun and easy to read. The characters are both likeable if not slightly under developed.
There was something missing. I’m not sure what though. It’s such a short story that I think it is all just so abrupt. Perhaps if the novella was a bit bigger and there was more of a story and character development?
Overall though, I am glad I read it and would recommend it to those who want a cute, christmassy, quick and easy read.
The first time I see Ginger Starr after four years of being abroad, she is wearing a hideous Christmas dress. But the obnoxious monstrosity does nothing to hide her generous curves. One thing becomes perfectly clear: I’ve never wanted a woman more.
…and the curvy bookworm
Brock Daniels might be ridiculously hot, but he’s also my high school nemesis. I’m prepared to hate him and find him annoying with his washboard abs and toothpaste commercial smile. What I’m not prepared for is how he’s looking at me…like he wants me.
…just might find their forevers underneath the mistletoe
Our parents are jointly hosting a 12 Days of Christmas party and we’re stuck together. Pretending to be civil isn’t that hard and one spontaneous kiss might change everything.
My thoughts: This is the first book of Kat Baxter I have read. It is a very short novella, approximately 85 pages. Overall I enjoyed it but I felt disappointed with the ending. It all just came together to quickly and I feel that if would have benefited from a bit more depth.
I enjoyed the characters. Their personalities were well defined and I liked the fact that Ginger had a bit of spunk and wit. I found myself smiling and giggling a lot when reading her inner dialogue.
I didn’t like the whole ‘he is my nemesis but I’m going to forgive him straight away and fall in love with him’ kind of thing. I got majorly bullied in school and if one of the bullies decided to suddenly date me then 1) I wouldn’t go straight to bed with him just incase it was a cruel joke and 2) I would have a barrier up for a very long time but that’s just my opinion.
Overall, if you want a quick read which is fun and easy and not too steamy then I recommend Gingerbread Kisses.
Blurb: When the attraction is hot and the competition is stiff, can love find its way?
Billionaire Derrick Grayson knows all about the struggles of achieving a work-life balance, and will do anything to get to know the gorgeous blonde—his brother-in-law’s new boss—even go undercover as a maintenance man at her company. But he’s not looking for a onetime hookup, and while he works to convince her to explore a relationship, he doesn’t know the investor he’s courting is playing multiple strategies, and pitting him against the woman he wants in his future.
As the newest, youngest, and only female executive with a program to grow, Jessica doesn’t have time for a relationship, but the stress release the hot, insistent, and totally off-limits Derrick provides is too good to say no to. So, she loses a few hours of sleep at night with each orgasm he gives her… it’s worth it as long as she can also win the $50M contract that doubles the size of her program.
But when Jessica finds out who Derrick really is—her competition—she questions her feelings and her intuition, and shuts him out as she attempts to repair the damage their relationship causes her career. Can Derrick convince Jessica that business and love can co-exist?
A steamy, contemporary, office romance with a twist. Who is the boss? She’s the boss.
My thoughts: I downloaded Bedding the Boss for free after recieving an email stating that over 300 books were available for FREE for a limited time only. Bedding the boss is 185 pages long, so quite a small book really. I managed to read it in one day, mainly because I couldn’t put it down, to the point where I kept sneaking off for bathroom breaks at work just so I could fit in an extra chapter here and there.
What I enjoyed about this book is that the storyline was really interesting and believable. I often find that steamy romance books can become a little far-fetched but Bedding the Boss stuck to reality throughout. I also noticed that the dialogue wasn’t forced. They talked to each other how you and I would speak to each other, so the conversations all flowed really well. Notice how I called this book a steamy romance? It’s because it is just that and could be developed in to a great romance movie whereas a lot of books in this genre are PWP (porn with plot). Not like I’ve got anything against that, I just like the plot to be the main focus.
As you may know from my previous reviews, character development is extremely important to me. The good news is Kameron Claire has managed to tick all the boxes here with both Derrick and Jessica. I liked the fact that Jessica was a strong lead which is often not the case in this genre. I liked that she can look after herself and is a strong, independent woman with or without Derrick. I like how the author explained Derrick’s feelings and ensured that though not perfect, he wasn’t a d*** and wasn’t the dominating, jealous, toxic male lead that is commonly used.
I also appreciate that the author has used ‘normal’ names in the book for her characters.
I’m going to follow the author on goodreads and hopefully when I’ve got through my huge to read list, I’ll continue with the Greyson Enterprises series.
Blurb: I’ve known Whitney Paige since the day she was born, but now she is all grown up. Gone was the little girl I always knew, replaced by a woman who now, after one fateful night, consumes my soul. For three long years, I’ve pushed her away, but now, it’s time to make her mine.
I’ve been in love with Harrison Kane since before I was old enough to understand what love was. I tried to forget him after our near kiss. But nothing worked, because no one else could ever measure up to him. There’s just one small problem… He’s my dad’s best friend.
My thoughts: I downloaded this book for free with around 300 other books when there was a mega promo deal on. This is a very short story which I read in just under an hour. It follows the story of Whitney, a new grad and Harrison, a firefighter. The only problem is Harrison is Whitney’s father’s best friend.
I struggled within the first couple of pages with this novella, mainly with the dialogue. I just felt that some of the things they said to each other wouldn’t be said in real life e.g.
” “I’ve seen you watching me all day, Harrison. I can feel your gaze roaming over my body,” she purrs as she saunters toward me.”
With this story being a novella, there is no build up to the ‘steamy parts’, so if you aren’t in the mood for a slow-burner then this novella is for you. I read it in one sitting and it is good enough that it keeps you turning the page the whole time.
Personally, I thought it was odd that Whitney’s mother was ok with the relationship and pushed for it to happen. Furthermore, her father wasn’t too pleased when he found out but I was surprised at how quickly he accepted it. If I ended up in a relationship with one of my father’s friends (not that I want to because none of them meet the description of Harrison), then I think my father would provably try to commit murder and my mother would not be a happy bunny either. However, according to this story, it seems like Whitney’s mum and dad are similar to Whitney and Harrison in the sense that there is a big age gap between them too and they are also in to the ‘Daddy – baby girl’ kink too.
Yes, I didn’t mention that before did I. Harrison is a dom and Whitney a sub, which she seems happy with straight away. She calls him Daddy and he calls her baby girl. I personally am not in to this kink so it dampened (perhaps the wrong word for this genre) the mood for me significantly.
Things seemed to escalate quickly within this story too. Of course this is likely down to it being such a short story but everything just seemed a bit to fast paced in parts – sex, love bordering obsesssion and talks of marriage after their first night together!
With reading erotica there always seems to be new ways of describing actions or parts of the body. These are being added to the ‘Didn’t love’ list: – Puckered hole – Hardened nub
Overall, the story was enticing enough to continue to turn the cover. It’s an easy, quick PWP (porn with plot) to read with a fun storyline. The female lead Whitney is poorly developed but Harrison has been developed well in comparison. This novella won’t be for everyone as it is based around a particular kink that may not be to everybody’s taste.
Blurb: ‘All that has gone before is woven into the Song; joy, sorrow; kind acts and cruel acts; creation and destruction. Past, present, and what has yet to come, make themselves known — if you know how to listen.’
For three hundred years, the people of the Five Realms have lived in relative peace, protected by their great leader, the Archon. Yet, far to the north, in the frozen lands beyond the Draegalen Trench, the Ruuk stir, driven by a rising evil, long believed banished from the world. But rumors questioning the Archon’s ability to defend the realms once more, persist.
Elodi, the Lady Harlyn, uneasy in her new role following the death of her father, and Toryn, a farmworker and outsider in his village, must discover a way to fight an enemy that all but defeated their ancestors.
Song of Echoes is the first book in this epic fantasy series.
My thoughts: Songs of Echoes is the first epic fantasy novel written by R.E.Palmer. It follows a teenage boy called Toryn who became an orphan when he was a baby. He does not know who his real parents are and has only heard stories of them, mainly his father. This concept is not original to me. I feel like this is a common back story for the main protagonist and the fact that Toryn is a young, naive, weak farmer boy from a small, run down village, who is longing for adventure cements this.
For the most part, the chapters switch between Toryn and the main female protagonist, Elodi. After her fathers demise, Elodi takes his place as ruler of one of the five realms, She has been trained from a young age in order to be able to carry out this duty. From reading this, I felt that this was not the case. She constantly seems unsure, needs advice or telling what to do in simple ceremonies and meetings. For around 60% of this book, she does not seem to be a strong leader or female lead in this story which made it difficult to connect with the character. However, Elodi then grows and becomes a very interesting and more confident leader and fighter which in turn makes her more likeable – something that is important to me.
At around a quarter of the way through the book, I felt like nothing of real importance had happened. The chapters with Toryn were filled with unimportant dialogue that didn’t really add to the story. Not only that, the dialogue just seemed to be a different way of world building but with so much thrown in that the world was actually more difficult to imagine. This continued throughout the book but some of the world building became more relevant. I suspect that the author has gone so in-depth with the world building to set the stage for the next novel.
Yes, I said next novel. It seems that after a very impressive last quarter of the book, that there is a cliff hanger with the words ‘TO BE CONTINUED’ written on the page. There are a LOT of unanswered questions here and I want to know the answers to all of them. Therefore, I do want to read the next book. I really hope that the writing in the next novel continues to be as good as the latter part of this book as I feel like I may have added this story to the Did Not Finish pile had I not been reviewing it. Saying that, I am glad I continued as this does really have the potential to be a fantastic series, I just think that perhaps world building in a less dragged out way may be helpful so that the reader can focus more on the story at hand.
As a side note, I feel this review comes across as a little harsh and this is never my intention. I always want to give my own, honest opinion which not everybody will agree with and I am okay with that and I respect the opinion of others.
Blurb: Does the heart beat faster from love or terror?
As a born-and-raised citizen of Horror, Pansy Finster has survived Hauntings such as mad killers and poltergeists by living her brother’s rules, including, “Avoid dolls, clowns, and masks.” But after the death of her fiancé, Pansy finds herself alone—which is a dangerous status in Horror. When she flees to Heartford, Romance, she’s startled that a masquerade has Regency ladies screaming… in excitement.
Culture-shocked, Pansy struggles to avoid any ill omens, such as repeated glances from the curiously handsome Lord Theo, from Fantasy. With a seemingly useless magical ability, he could be the Romance Pansy never knew she needed… or her most deceitful Haunting yet. Pansy must learn to love like a Romantic and teach her new friends to survive like a Horror before the masquerade becomes a massacre.
Follow Pansy Finster’s hauntings and romance in “Don’t Date the Haunted,” first book of the Haunted Romance trilogy, by C Rae D’Arc. If you like Seth Grahame-Smith, Isaac Marion or Christopher Moore, then this dark romantic comedy will keep you up! Don’t forget; it’s never just a power-outage.
My thoughts: Don’t Date the Haunted exceeded my expectations in every way. I was excited to read it based on the blurb so I happily accepted the invitation to review it; I just didn’t think it was going to be THIS good.
The concept is original and just mind blowing really. Even just 10% in to this book I was telling everybody about it. Just think of Earth and it’s continents but call Earth Novel, and call, let’s say the continent of North America Romance, with Canada possibly being Contemporary Romance. Then lets call the continent of Europe Horror, the continent of Africa Mystery…. you get the picture. Each continent is a genre!
Obviously just from learning this, I was invested. Like, who comes up with something like that? A bloody good author that’s who. The character’s didn’t disappoint either! The main character is Pansy Finster. She is from Horror but after a certain tragic event she decides to get out of Horror and heads for Romance. Pansy is somebody who I would describe as anxious, nervous, paranoid and quirky but I can totally understand why seeing as she lived in a place where zombie plagues are the norm *shudders*. I hate zombies. You then meet the Romantic’s. I would describe most of these people as your typical Hallmark cheese-induced ‘cheer-leader’ types but then you’ve also got some from other types of Romance such as Regency Romance as well. Then you’ve got those from Fantasy, mainly lords who, back in their country, would be fighting Dragon’s or on some sort of quest. Other characters from different genres are also introduced throughout the book and I just love that each of them as such a solid personality that you know and remember where they are from.
Throughout the book we follow Pansy and her new life in Romance. She attends University there and makes lots of friends with a variety of people from all genre’s. A love interest develops the story further mixed in with a mysterious detective and a haunting from her past. The story is gripping and ensures you continue to turn the page.
I would highly recommend this book and the bonus is, it’s actually a completed trilogy. I haven’t read the 2nd or 3rd book yet but they have been added to my TBR pile and moved high up the list. I need to know what happens next and if these books are anything like this one, the trilogy could be sitting on my ‘Best Books I’ve Ever Read’ shelf.
Ross, a young paramedic, whose world takes a sudden tragic turn on what should be one of the best days of his life. Just as he is about to propose to his girlfriend, he suffers a massive heart attack and dies.
Ross awakens in the afterlife and learns that the Grim Reaper actually does exist, but not as the skeletal creature of mythology. Instead it’s a group of non-living individuals who look and act just like ordinary people. Essentially undead civil servants, they walk among the living, unnoticed, as they perform their grim work of reaping the souls of people when they are destined to die.
Ross discovers that his life has ended decades before he was supposed to die, due to a reaper’s tragic mishap.
As Ross and the Grim Reapers seek a way to return him to the life he was destined to live, fatal accidents suddenly begin to plague the reapers. When these suspicious mishaps prevent him from getting his life back, he realizes they’re not merely accidents and he must stop whatever is killing the reapers.
My thoughts: Killing the Reapers is a very short novella which I managed to read in a few hours over two sittings.
The story is divided in to chapters but each section which focuses on a different person/situation in each chapter has a number so it’s like chapters within chapters. Confused? Yeah, I don’t know how to explain it haha.
There are a lot of characters in this novella and they aren’t given much or any description or personality so it is difficult to keep up with who is who, especially when several characters are introduced at once just by name alone. The majority of the characters are introduced quickly in a short space of time too so again, it is difficult to keep up. The lack of character building and development was a big thing for me. I think it would have added a lot to this novella and made my score higher. I just didn’t feel like I could bond with any of the characters.
At a couple of points, the incorrect name was used in a sentence which shows that the book has not been edited well. I often let author’s off with a few grammatical and spelling errors but I think it is important to make sure that something such as who said a specific sentence is correct as this could potentially impact the story.
Now enough about the negatives, there are positives to this book hence the rating of 2.5 (which is still not bad, it’s average isn’t it). The story really has potential and I think if the author decided to world build and develop characters it could be a very popular book. It did have me interested enough to read it quite quickly and continue to flip the page. I wanted to know what was happening and I didn’t anticipate the villain at all. It was a really good twist. It does take a while to get used to how the book is written, it’s like a 3rd person, present tense way of writing but I kind of liked it as you don’t see that a lot.
Overall, I really do think that Debing definitely has potential. I would be happy reading any other work that he brings out in the future. First of all because I think he has a good story here, but also to see if his writing improves. We’ve all got to start somewhere haven’t we?
Spirited Away meets Coraline in the Suburbs of Hanoi, Vietnam with a twist to the genre. A heart-pounding journey of betrayal and bond, strength and perseverance, with the looming threat of ghosts, demons, and black magic… told from the perspective of a comedic protagonist!
An eerie children’s nursery rhyme lures Thanh – an intelligent college girl with an unnatural level of trust issues – into an adventure of her lifetime.
On this journey, she meets Điền Mục, a young ghost catcher who can’t see ghosts but was raised by a 500-year-old spirit and has about zero experience in human interactions.
The fates of two unlikely companions intertwine on the spider web of a criminal mastermind who has been evading arrest for the past 40 years.
Their lives are on the line; the trap has been set! Meanwhile, Thanh still hasn’t trusted Mục yet… But can you honestly blame her for not choosing a total stranger, and a weirdo no less, over people she’d known her whole life?
My thoughts: First off I would just like to say how impressed I was by the translation of this novel from Vietnamese to English. Though not perfect, it was pretty darn close and I’ve read plenty of English novels with more mistakes. One thing I do not agree with in the blurb is that the story is told from the perspective of a comedic protagonist. This novel is NOT 1st person, it is 3rd person.
I am not familiar with Vietnamese culture at all and I felt like I learned so much from this novel. I found the culture interesting and it’s made me want to continue learning more. What I loved about Eyes is that anything that the reader may be confused by (such as something associated with Vietnamese culture), a number was placed next to it and an explanation was provided in the back of the book.
Overall the storyline was good, the world building was solid and it and was filled with strong and likable characters with defining personalities. I definitely agree with the blurb – Spirited Away meets Caroline – 100%. I could actually see this novel being turned into a Studio Ghibli classic. It would be fantastic!
I enjoyed the book thoroughly until about 60% of the way in and then it became a bit tedious. I think it was because there was so much explaining to do about how things linked and I felt myself getting wound up at times as the characters would talk to each other for a long period of time even when they where in grave danger. Being in that situation, you would definitely keep your talking to a minimum and the enemy wouldn’t just stand around and let you have a chat.
It did pick back up at the end and become more enjoyable again. It felt slightly rushed towards the end but I think most of my questions were answered. The story ended with a cliff-hanger which has naturally left me wanting to read the next book. Even if it hadn’t finished on a cliff-hanger I definitely think I would read the next book.
This novel is available to purchase from Amazon Uk:
A few days ago, I wrote a review for Weatherman by Price Doom. I’m a busy little be at the moment as I am moving over 500 miles away on Tuesday and I’m currently still working a full time job! So, I know these are not valid excuses but I wrote my review for Weatherman fairly quickly before continuing to pack for my new life.
Since then, I have re-read my review and feel that compared to other 3 star reviews e.g. Ecclesia’s Table by Mason S Haynes, Weatherman was actually given quite a high rating. With Weatherman for example, I felt like I deserved more from the story and I was left disappointed overall whereas with Ecclesia’s Table, the story in general was absolutely fantastic, but some areas needed improvement.
I know this seems like a harsh thing to do, but I feel like I do need to change it so my reviews do genuinely reflect my thoughts.
If anybody has any questions or comments then please feel free to comment but please be kind.
Blurb: Heart and her father are on the run from God. At least, that’s what her father, Sonny, tells her.
Young Heart believes Sonny’s stories of dying suns and scientists with tranquilizer guns, parachuting out of planes in pursuit of them.
Sonny believes only the elements in his body can save the sun, and Heart grows up in fear of the boogeymen from Sonny’s stories—and Sonny himself.
After years without proof and questions about Sonny’s mental stability, Heart makes her escape.
My thoughts: I was sent a free copy of ‘Weatherman’ by the author in return for an honest review. This was a short novella which I managed to read in one sitting. The story was engaging throughout and I didn’t once feel like stopping reading and didn’t get bored throughout the entirety of the novella.
The story follows Sonny and his daughter Heart who are running from GOD. Apparently, Sonny has special powers and GOD is sending people after him because of this. He is not a likeable character at all but I think this is exactly what the author wants us to think. Something that did grate on me was the fact that he ended most of his sentences with ‘buddy’. Heart on the other hand is quite a likeable character and loves her dad very much until we get to part 4 of the book (the book is separated in to 4 parts) where she suddenly doesn’t trust her dad, is asking lots of questions and doesn’t believe much that comes out of his mouth anymore. I think personally, I needed a little more explanation of this. Why has her attitude changed towards her dad?
With regards to the climax, I really enjoyed it but at the same time couldn’t help but be annoyed at Heart’s change of heart (is this a pun?). I don’t want to say too much as I don’t like spoiling the book for those that want to read it but you’ll know what I mean if you do read it.
I’m conflicted with this book as like I said, it was entertaining enough to read in one sitting, but at the same time I feel like I deserved more as a reader and there just wasn’t enough there to make me want to read it again or shout about it from the rooftops. I think if the novella was expanded on and turned in to a novel with more detail, explanations and information then this definitely could be a cleverly written piece of work.
Blurb: This is a story about a beautiful princess. You may say this tale has been told countless times, the moral of the story learned, and the children entertained but you may not have heard the entire truth.
A cruel twist of fate caused the princess to be locked in a magical tower. Two princes, one from the east and one from the west, are set against each other and tasked with rescuing her.
How hard can it be to climb a tower?
At the end of their perilous adventure, the Princess will only be able to choose one Prince as her true love. Which one will prevail in winning her hand? A tale such as this made from legends incites our minds and imaginations, and tugs at our heartstrings while chilling our bones. This is not just a story of cruel fate, but the tale of true love and Rapunzel and her tower.
My thoughts: I devoured this book! I just could not put it down. I was late for work every single day since starting reading this book, I was late back to work when on my breaks, I stayed up later, woke up earlier, and I did not do any housework at all. All I could think was ‘I need to get back to Zander and Andres’ and it was often a ‘just one more chapter’ scenario.
It isn’t what I expected. I was only read the story of Rapunzel when I was younger and I can not remember it at all, and of course, I’ve watched Tangled too so in my mind, I thought this book was going to be a typical Disney light-hearted princess story. However, this story doesn’t follow the princess, it follows the two princes who are trying to rescue her. The princes are rivals but must work together to complete quests in order to reach Rapunzel at the top of her tower even though they know that only one of them will be Rapunzel’s true love.
The worldbuilding was fantastic and I was/am very impressed with the ability of the author to build so many worlds within one world (you’ll understand what I mean once you’ve read it). I would love to discuss this further with somebody so please message me when you’ve read the book so we can chat about it.
It can be quite dark at times and I felt myself holding my breath a lot and my adrenaline pumping along with Zander and Andres. I loved the characters and I couldn’t help but fall in love with them. If I was Rapunzel, I wouldn’t know who to choose myself. That would be a tough decision. I was also impressed with how the secondary characters stood out enough to be memorable especially the Dragons!
I feel like a lot of thought has gone in to this story and it has been developed so well. I am honestly so impressed by it. The thing about Wendy L Anderson is, she keeps writing these super impressive books that just keep blowing my mind, and I just do not know how I can continue scoring 5/5 when her story’s just keep getting better and better.
Now how long till the next one because I need it yesterday!
Blurb: The world is a wasteland. It always has been. Moshe, Amaru, and Reenu have never known anything other than the desert wasteland that raised them. When the rumor arises that something other than barren landscape could be out there, the three of them make haste for an abundant future. Upon arrival at this established society, the group quickly learns how and how not to get along amidst group dynamics and seemingly sinister mystery. The trials and social politics that Moshe, Amaru, and Reenu face teach them that some rules are useful and some are meant to be broken. Have a seat at Ecclesia’s Table.
My thoughts: Ecclesia’s table is a dystopian novel that actually took me over a month to read which is a very long time for me to spend on a book. I’m really conflicted with this one because I thought it was an absolutely brilliant storyline but it took me so long to get through it that I didn’t feel 100% invested in the novel and lots of little bits that annoyed me about the book just decided to hover constantly in my mind. I think the easiest way to explain my thoughts on Ecclesia’s table is to divide this review in to positive parts and negative parts.
Positive
Cover – the cover of this book is really beautiful. I believe it was his friend, Rosalie N Aranda, who created this cover and I absolutely love that Haynie has acknowledged his friend both in the book and on Goodreads.
Acknowledgements – Talking about acknowledging his artistic friend, Haynie has dedicated a number of pages in Ecclesia’s Table to thank friends, family and fans that helped him along the way. It looks like he hasn’t forgot anybody. I love it.
LGBTQ+ inclusivity – I love Haynie’s has included an array of characters in this world. The use of pronouns ‘them/they’ is something I’ve not seen in a book before and I admire Haynie for this.
The story / world-building – Overall this was a very good story especially the build up. I was disappointed towards the end but I will bring this up later. The world building was phenomenal; I felt like I was there sometimes and could see it with my own eyes. I feel like I could draw Ecclesia and it’s surrounding areas on a map from the description. Even now, after reading it, I feel I could do it from memory. Very impressive.
The characters – The three main characters each have their very own personalities and what I loved is that I could see myself in most of them but especially Moshe. Moshe is more so your leader out of the group but has the tendency to be stubborn and a bit selfish. I love that he’s not perfect, none of the characters are and this is what makes it a more believable story. Amaru is hot headed and likes to ‘do’ first then think later where as Reenu is a bit, how do I describe him…that’s difficult really. At first, I think he is a bit of a wimp, a bit of a wet lettuce if you will and you think that he’s probably the weakest of the three characters both physically and mentally, and probably the most forgettable from a readers view. However, when you actually get in to the story, Reenu is the best character. He’s the most loyal, the most analytical, and the bravest really. You’ll see why if you read the book.
Negative
The chapters are UNBELIEVABLY long. This was a really big one for me as it wasn’t something I could just read quickly e.g. a quick chapter before work; a quick chapter before bed. I had to set a lot of time aside. I know this doesn’t work for a lot of people unfortunately and I think one of the most important things is shortening your chapters in a book. I probably could have read this in less than a week with shorter chapters.
When a character had a thought the sentence would literally just stop mid-sentence, the characters thought would be written and then the sentence would carry on. It happened throughout the entire book and I just didn’t get used to it E.g. Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces *What the hell was that noise? Was it behindme or to the side of me? pass and I’m homebound.
5 of the main characters had names beginning with A: Abigail, Amaru, Arah, Ambree, Adinah. I personally struggled with this.
I became confused towards the end with how technologically advanced the Ecclesianworld is. In my eyes it was before electricity and other technology like that but yet they had a microphone which when you pressed the button it started to work. If there is a microphone that works like that and doesn’t require relatively new technology then please let me know so I can update this review.
Finally, throughout the book and particularly at the end, a big villain of the characters were wolves. Now, I’ve studied wolves, a lot. I did my masters dissertation on how the media portrays wolves and how this affects peoples perceptions on wolves. This book does not give wolves a good name. I’m not saying wolves are lovely creatures but wolves do not pack together and hunt people down like they do in the books. They are actually very much ‘flight’ animals and not ‘fight’ animals. They would also not kill somebody and then leave the body to then continue to chase somebody else down and kill them. Once they have ate their meal, they are done.
I’ve decided to give this book a 3 out of 5. This is a good rating as it is higher than ‘average’ or 2.5/5. It was really difficult to rate this book. As I said, I really did enjoy it and that’s why I have given it 3 stars but the negative’s were quite big negatives for me and that’s why I’ve taken the two stars.
This book is actually free on Kindle Unlimited! I can’t seem to find it on the US Amazon so please comment below if you can!
Blurb: A lifelong production operator who’s been dragged from boiling-hot reactor cells to outdoor polar pipeline arrays, Cap Jenkins figures he’s seen just about every ugly thing that life on an extraterrestrial corporate mining colony has to offer. But when a fresh, unnervingly innocent young operator clocks in for his first night shift with no warning and no introduction, Cap and his small crew of surly workmen are quickly reminded that things can always get worse. As Cap’s woes progress from minor equipment failures to inexplicable and horrific happenings in the shadows, one thing becomes increasingly clear: there’s something very strange about this rookie.
My thoughts: I received a free copy of Early Retirement from the author in exchange for an honest review. Early Retirement is a short story which are still relatively new to me (I’ve only ever read a collection of short story’s and that was about a month ago). It is also of the horror genre which is again, relatively new to me. It is only 28 pages long but it feels longer as it tells such a good story. I read it in one sitting and my mind was solely focused on the story (which is rare for me seeing as I’ve got a list of ‘To Do’s’ as long as my arm).
From very early on, I knew where this story was going so it was a predictable, easy read. Easy in the sense of it was short, well written and flowed nicely. I had ‘Alien’ and ‘The Thing’ vibes from the start – Alien bored the life out of me as it was such a long film but The Thing is probably the most terrifying film I’ve ever seen, and I believe those that like to read horror and sci-fi-horror would really enjoy this short story.
I noticed during reading the story that I had that horrible feeling in my stomach – a mix of dread and butterflies. I could also feel that I was forgetting to breath at times so I think that the author has done really well in writing this horror story as all horror authors want their readers to feel this way.
What I found impressive, is that in 28 pages, Knight managed to create a decent setting, varied and well presented characters, and a compelling story. I’m hoping that Knight continues to write but I am looking forward to full length novels.
Blurb: An eclectic selection of seven short stories involving, as the title of the book suggests, God, Aliens, Death or Teapots. Oh, and there’s one about dogs as well…then again, come to think of it, two of them don’t really have God, aliens, Death or teapots in them at all. They’re more about space…. So a more apt title for this book could well be God, Aliens, Death, Dogs, General Space Stuff & Teapots. Yeah, that just about sums it up (though it isn’t quite as catchy).
My Thoughts: I received a free copy of God, Aliens, Death and Teapots for an honest review. As I said in my previous reviews of Andy Ritchie’s books, Andrew Ritchie is my Uncle but that doesn’t change how I review his work – if it’s crap then I will say so!
This was a fantastic book containing 7 short stories which I have decided to name below and give my views on each.
Why Pandas Look So Sad – Very random. It is about Panda’s but not about Panda’s at the same time. It’s very clever actually and this story made me want to continue reading the other short stories.
The Man That God Forgot – A brilliant story that sent shivers down my spine at the thought of this happening to me, though I would act differently than the man in this story. I will note that there are a few potential triggers in this story specifically animal cruelty and suicidal thoughts.
Wrong Time, Wrong Place – Yet another fantastic read. It was quite sad though and makes you think.
The Teapots Are Coming – A very short story but it made me want a full novel / movie. I wanted a lot more backstory and to see what the outcome is too!
Notice of Sale – Another clever story and I actually learnt a lot about Earth in an interesting way.
Dies Caniculares – Now this one was phenomenal and at times I found I was forgetting to breath. After this one I had to have a few minutes to think of having to live through something like this and it just made me go and cuddle my dogs for a while (whether they liked it or not). Don’t take your dogs for granted people! Trigger warning with this one – Animal Cruelty (but a phenomenal and realistic read).
SoRaMA – Probably my least favourite of all the stories but still a cracker.
These are the first short stories I have read as I’ve never really been interested in them. How can you tell a story in just a few pages? Well in fact, you can, and now I want to read more.
I would highly recommend this book of short stories for everybody to read. The ONLY reason I’m giving 4.5 stars instead of 5 is down to my own personal opinion of animal cruelty being in the books I read. I personally get really affected by this sort of stuff but unlike some books I have read and marked harshly for this, there are REASONS why the animal cruelty takes place and therefore does add to the story. Unlike other books where the animal cruelty is there and if you had taken it out of the story, then the story would have been the exact same. I also actually really enjoyed the stories even though they contained the cruelty – I hope this makes sense and I hope you all understand my justification.
Blurb: The fate of mankind hangs in the balance…and Jethro Postlethwaite is still keeping his diary. He’s still on the run from THEM, but now he’s left Peterhead behind and is heading south for a meeting with The One. He’s still experiencing someone else’s memories (some good, some not so good)… …but he’s started to get a disturbing liking for classical music… …and he’s learnt all about Emotional Energy and W.I.M.D.s… …oh, and he’s been bitten by midges. He doesn’t like those. At least he’s still got the camper van.
My Thoughts: I received a free copy of TBTTDNWYTR Part 3 for an honest review. As I said in my review for Parts 1 and 2, Andrew Ritchie in my Uncle but that doesn’t change how I review his work – if it’s crap then I will say so!
I’m writing this review whilst on holiday in not so sunny – but ever so beautiful – Scotland. I’ve literally just finished the book and just like the part 1 and 2, I could NOT put it down.
Part 3 is the final part of The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read. It continues with the same diary(ish) format written by JP and collated by the author. It continues being a believable sci-fi x thriller x british comedy book (which I’ve decided to call a thri-fi bromedy… that definitely needs work).
I loved how the story comes to an end in part 3. It was so clever and unexpected, so brilliantly written. However, I couldn’t help being agitated that some questions were left unanswered. Usually, this would really annoy me and likely make me give a review that is less than 5 stars, but on reflection, it actually just makes the story more believable. Throughout your life there are always questions that are left unanswered and when something happens you might not know all of the how’s and why’s so I actually think this is really clever. Additionally, there could potentially be another story that comes from this which I am definitely hoping for.
Jethro, the main protagonist and diarist continues to develop and I enjoyed seeing him grow from a boring, mundane character to somebody who takes no $hit. His language and personality reminds me of a typical middle-aged man – he doesn’t know what politically correct is! Though it’s funny that an Alien not from this planet chastises him about these things sometimes.
I’m really sad that this is over and I hope that it actually isn’t. I would really recommend this trilogy to you all. It’s just like nothing I’ve ever read. It’s bloody fantastic!
I’m going to Scotland tomorrow! So excited! We are travelling the west coast this time so it’s going to take about a 10 hour drive to our first destination, Loch Shiel, and then after a night there, it’s gonna take another 10-12 hours to get to our final destination (not the movie), Thurso. Extremely excited! However, the most important thing is…. what books am I going to take on this journey. I need enough for the car ride (though to read in the car I will definitely need some travel sickness meds), and I need enough to read whilst I’m there and then obviously for the 12 hour drive back. I’d rather take too many than too little. So I’m going to take all of these:
The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read (Part 3) by Andy Ritchie
This is the last book of the series I need to read. I wish that I had managed to read this before going on holiday as it has been on my mind constantly since reading part 2 but I’ve just not had time.
God, Aliens, Death and Teapots by Andy Ritchie
Another book, and the final book of Andy Ritchie’s that I need (and want) to read. Just the blurb for this book makes me laugh – An eclectic selection of seven short stories involving, as the title of the book suggests, God, Aliens, Death or Teapots. Oh, and there’s one about dogs as well…then again, come to think of it, two of them don’t really have God, aliens, Death or teapots in them at all. They’re more about space…. So a more apt title for this book could well be God, Aliens, Death, Dogs, General Space Stuff & Teapots. Yeah, that just about sums it up (though it isn’t quite as catchy). (less)
Ecclesia’s Table by Mason S Haynie
Another book I’ve been asked to review. I love the cover of this book and from reading the blurb it does sound like a very exciting book that is right up my street. It comes under the dystopian science fiction genre.
Early Retirement by Luke Ethan Knight
This is a short story I have been asked to review. It’s a horror which I don’t do well with when it comes to movies but I’ve read a couple of horror books and found that I quite enjoy them. I think this was only take me a few hours / half a day to read.
Weatherman by Price Doom
Another book I’ve been asked to review. Slightly confused on the genre of this book but I’ll soon find out when I start reading. According to some Goodread reviews there are quite a few Trigger warnings which I am fine with but I’ll need to be in the right frame of mind for this one.
Eyes by Nghịch Tử
Another book I’ve been asked to review. This has actually been translated from it’s original language of Vietnamese (I think). I hope the translation is done well else I will struggle with this one. It has been described as Spirited Away meets Coraline.
Killing the Reapers by Jeff Debing
A book that I’ve been asked to review, I automatically want to be critical just because of the book cover. However, don’t they (and I’m not talking about THEY from The Book THEY Do Not Want You To Read’) always say ‘DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER’. So I won’t.
Don’t Date the Haunted by C. Rae D’Arc
This is the 1st book of a series so I might save this until last just in case I love it and want to carry the series on uninterrupted. It has been described as a quirky romance / dark comedy.
Song of Echoes by R.E. Palmer
This is book one of a series but the others are not out yet. I have been asked to review this and it is classed as an Epic Fantasy novel. It definitely sounds right up my street. Looking forward to reading and reviewing it.
The Never Dawn Trilogy by R.E. Palmer
This is a Dystopian Fantasy trilogy I’ve been asked to review. It is classed as Young Adult which I haven’t read in such a long time so it might be fun to get back in to my once upon a time favourite genre.
Comagique (Azmodia’s Liege) by Justin Ketter
Yet another book I’ve been asked to review. I love the cover! Looking forward to this one just from the cover alone.
Bloody Spade by Brittany M. Willows
The first of a Duology, though the second his not out yet. This is classed as a Fantasy LGBT novel. I don’t think I’ve ever read an LGBT novel, so I’m very much looking forward to it.
The Cradle by Ron Sami
Yet another book I’ve been asked to review. The Cradle is the first book of a Duology (so far) but who knows if it will be expanded. I’ve not been asked to read book 2 but naturally if I enjoy the first then I will continue with the next book. I’m getting a Game of Thrones feeling with this one.
Always Beside You by Damir Salkovic
Well this cover looks creepy as F. This has been described as a haunting supernatural thriller. I’m not going to be reading this at night I’ll tell you that for free!
Ok, so that’s 16 books. That’s a lot I’ve got to admit but I’m going to try my very best to get as many of them read as possible, all whilst enjoying my much needed and much deserved holiday.
Blurb: The life of Jethro Postlethwaite, as his recently-started diary will testify, has suddenly become very, very complicated…and very, very painful. Having been kidnapped, locked in a dark cell and subjected to the unwelcome (and agonising) attentions of a Bodaslod Duelling Gauntlet, he is now a fugitive, on the run from THEM, sharing his head with someone else’s memories, and not looking forward at all to the prospect of having nanites injected into his eyes. It seems like giving a lift to an alien was not such a good idea after all. On the plus side though, he’s about to uncover the truth about the lives of every man, woman and child on the planet… …at Peterhead… …and he will get to do this whilst travelling in a very nice camper van.
My Thoughts: I received a free copy of TBTTDNWYTR Part 2 for an honest review. As I said in my review for Part 1, Andrew Ritchie in my Uncle but that doesn’t change how I review his work. Really, I feel like I am more critical when it comes to my family and their work!
I’m writing this review rather early in the morning, well its just before 7am and I wake up around this time every morning. I’m usually fine but this morning I am so very tired. Why, you ask? Because I stayed up till midnight finishing this book, that’s why. I seriously could NOT put it down. It looks like my Uncle has done the near impossible and made a sequel which is just as good as the first.
Part 2 starts of pretty much where Part 1 left off. It continues with the same diary(ish) format written by JP and collated by the author. It continues being a believable sci-fi x thriller x british comedy book. We need to come up with a portmanteau for this mix of genres but I’m not that clever so I’ll leave this up to you readers. It continued to make me laugh out loud which not many books or comedy shows do for that matter; I’m very much a laugh within kind of girl.
What you read in the blurb is correct. JP does have injections in his eyes and oh my goodness, I will tell you now, the paragraph is relatively short, but I had to have 2 breaks from reading it so I wouldn’t vomit all over my phone. I don’t do well with eyes, and reading in such detail about needles going in to eyes makes me feel all funny inside. Even writing about it is making me feel all funny inside. How an author can do that to you with words alone and no visuals is somewhat of a talent! It’s not just the eye injection scene, there’s some brilliantly descriptive but TMI bits in this book. Lets just say, I wasn’t a fan of sausage and egg sandwiches before but thanks to this book, I’ll now probably not even be able to look at one.
The development of our pal Jethro who I previously described as a very real, very mundane character who a lot of people can probably relate to (no offence) continues to develop in this book and reading his thoughts he pens down on paper really does help the reader see that. I feel really sorry for him but I love his attitude towards Tukaal (the alien) when sometimes he decides he does want answers and he does want Tukaal to know how he is feeling whether it hurts the aliens feelings or not. As for Tukaal, in this book he is particularly hilarious, especially when it comes down to trying out some of the wonderful foods/drinks we have on this earth – chocolate, McDonalds, Whiskey. Though there is development in Tukaal’s character and you learn more about him as an alien and not as a human, I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that he might not actually be as good as a guy as I think he is. I really do hope I’m wrong because I think I am getting to emotionally involved. Again, I blame the author for this.
The story is once again realistic, hilarious, thrilling and interesting but most importantly, it isn’t over – the final part is waiting for me. The bombshell ending of part two means for my sanity I HAVE to read part three and find out what happens to JP, to Tukaal, to earth. I’ve got an hour before I need to start getting ready for work (I’ll probably be late if I start reading Part 3).
Blurb: Jethro Postlethwaite had never kept a diary before. Then again, he’d never been kidnapped, locked in a dark cell and tortured before. And he’d never experienced someone else’s memories… …or had nanites injected into his eyes… …and then there was the fact that he’d uncovered the truth about the lives of every man, woman and child on the planet… …oh, of course, there was the little matter of being on the run from THEM… …in a camper van. And he’d never been to Peterhead. So keeping a diary seemed like a pretty good idea…just like giving a lift to an alien did…
My Thoughts: I received a free copy of TBTTDNWYTR Part 1 for an honest review. I also want to give you a heads up that Andrew Ritchie is actually my Uncle. My real uncle that is, not one of my parents friends who are not related AT ALL yet they, and your parents for that matter, insist that you call them Aunty or Uncle. I’ve told said Uncle that I’m going to be brutally honest when it comes to reading his books (which I always am whether anybody likes it or not) and, if I do insult him then future family gatherings may certainly be awkward for him but not at all for me.
The good news is… THIS BOOK IS ACTUALLY AMAZING, so family gatherings will continue to be free of any awkwardness (between myself and my Uncle at the very least anyway). Now, this isn’t the genre of book I would usually read but that’s why I do what I do, so then I can read and fall in love with new genre’s of books. First of all, it’s written in sort of a diary style format (you’ll understand ‘sort of’ when you read the book). It’s difficult to describe the genre of this book though. It is Sci-fi because, helloooo Aliens! but that’s really where the sci-fi stops as it is very much set on Planet Earth and is actually a really believable story; unlike most Sci-fi novels. Then I would say it’s got a bit of a kick to it like a thriller because helloooo adrenaline rush, holding my breath, anxiety butterflies, getaways, guns and torture AND, I would also categorise TBTTDNWYTR under classic British Comedy because boy oh boy, this book did have me in stitches at times.
I love that this book is set in England too as I read so many books that are set in America. Nothing wrong with America of course but seeing as I’m English and I live in England I relate a lot. For example, the book is set in my home town and parts are set in Manchester too so I know exactly where the characters are and can see it playing like a movie in front of my eyes. I also love how typically British the main character, Jethro Postlethwaite is – tea, biscuits, saying he’s fine when he really isn’t.
The clever thing is, Jethro is technically the author of this diary, it is just his friend Andy Ritchie who collates his work into something that makes sense. Jethro is a very real, very mundane character who a lot of people can probably relate to (no offence) but his mundane life changes dramatically when he decides to temporarily house the alien that just landed from outer space. Tukaal is the Alien in the story and I’m glad that his description resembles more of a The Rock / Vin Diesel kind of look compared to that of E.T or the extremely scary Aliens from the film Signs. He is such a likable character from the get go and I really enjoyed learning about is alien abilities as well as enjoying his character development as well as Jethro’s.
The story is realistic, funny, exciting and interesting but most importantly, it isn’t over. The abrupt ending of part one means I just HAVE to read part two and find out what happens to JP and Tukaal. The only worry I have is that Uncle Andy has acquired a 5 star review from part one and I just don’t know how it is possible for part two to be better. I mean is the sequel ever better? I can’t wait to find out!
I’m here today with the incredible and talented Wendy L. Anderson. Wendy is the author of an epic five book series; Kingdom of Jior, and two standalone novels; Ulrik and A Cut Twice As Deep.
Thank you so much for joining me today Wendy. After reading your novels, I absolutely can not wait to read more of your work. I’m just going to jump right in as I’m very excited to hear your answers. So first off and I think I ask everybody I meet this question…
Who is your favourite author?
My favorite author is Robert E. Howard. I love the Conan the Barbarian series. It is what got me interested in fantasy!
How about your favourite book?
My favorite book has to be Beowulf!
How long have you been writing?
I have been writing since I was 10 years old. I started writing poetry and short stories. It wasn’t until my later years after my boys were grown that I started writing more and had the idea that I could write a book.
That’s interesting. It appears that most authors start writing poetry first, and start from a young age.
How did you come up with the covers for your books? I love them!
I have all my covers professionally created by Vila Designs. I try to pick my favorite elements or my favorite character out of the book to create the design. I want them to scream fantasy and entice people to want to read them.
Well, I think you have certainly succeeded there. I have got to say though that my favourite cover out of all of yours boos has got to be Ulrik. It’s just absolutely stunning.
How did you come up with the names of the Ny-Failen? I keep asking my partner if we can call our future children awesome names like these but he’s at a hard No at the moment. I’ll find a way.
*Laughs* I love that! Lily is my favorite name. I came up with the name “Lost Morning” one morning after I’d laid in bed trying to think up a name for his character and I thought “well, that was a lost morning” and it was easy from there.
Oh wow, I absolutely love that!
I put two names that went together to name my Ny-Failen because they are of a different race and needed something really cool and profound. Lorn was always “forlorn” in my mind and I just plucked “Forlorn Icefall” out of the air. It worked and then I had fun creating the rest. I actually created characters because I came up with some cool ones like Rain Song and Ashen Arrow.
I made up the name “Ny-Failen” by going to Google translator and trying different languages that meant “the fallen.” I typically do not get much past Icelandic and Gaelic, so I put words together and come up with something that sounds good. That is how I came up with all the Ny-Failen langue.
That’s amazing how you just came up with character names like that. I absolutely love the name Lyra Song and Storm Rider too. Let’s hope I can talk my partner into it.
Speaking about the characters...which of the characters from any of your books do you relate to the most and why?
I am Dierdre from A Cut Twice as Deep. Though I did not marry a Viking warlord, I dreamt the opening paragraph of the book and made up the story from there. I think I am also a lot like Queen Lily, nurturing and motherly.
Aw, so you are definitely a gentle soul then. I think out of all the characters, I connected with Silver Thorn the most. I know that I can look after myself and be by myself, but when finding my true love, I then realise I don’t want to be myself. I am also a huge animal lover and I’m always taking rescue animals home.
So, you said that you had a dream and that’s how you came up with the story of A Cut Twice As Deep. Tell us more?
I had a reoccurring dream when I was a child of the opening paragraph of the book. I was both Dierdre and Liana. I also dreamt of the scene where their father announces that they are being given away in marriage and would be split up. The story just flowed out of those dreams and I love what it became.
Wow! That’s pretty incredible.A Cut Twice As Deep was the first book of yours that I read and it was absolutely phenomenal. To think that it came to you in a dream, wow!
How did you come up with the story for Ulrik?
This one is tougher to answer. I had the concept of being stranded on another planet where there were no other people. I quickly realized that the story would have no where to go if I didn’t make up the other people and the iron age problem came up by just sitting down and writing.
Ulrik was again, such an incredible book and I thought the whole concept was really clever.
Howdid you come up with the incredible story for the Kingdom of Jior Series?
I created Prince Lorn years ago when I was 18. I had written a fragment of the story andcame up withthe concept then. When I decided to sit down and write a book, I had the basis for the story and then went from there. The idea for the Ny-Failen and the whole race came later as I was writing book two. It took off and became the whole series and I realized I wanted to write the stories of all the characters.
Did you know the ending for the Kingdom of Jior Series before you finished it? Have you thought about writing an alternative ending for readers to devour on your website?
No, I did not know the ending which is why the book turned out so great. I didn’t really want to write the ending, but thought that five books was pushing it for a fantasy series. I have begun a prequel and am working on a spin off series, so you have not seen the last of the Ny-Failen (pun intended).
As to an alternative ending…I haven’t, but that gives me food for thought!
Ha! Good pun! I personally don’t think five books is pushing it for a fantasy series. I think you should just continue forever to be honest! If you ever do write an alternative ending, I’d like to be the first to know please haha. I do absolutely love the ending though and I agree it should have ended that way. On to the next question before I get all teary again.
If Netflix decided (which they should) to transform the Jiorseries in to a tv series (because movie’s will not do these books justice), who would you cast and for which role?
Oh that is easy CHARLIE HUNNAM is Prince Lorn and I love, love, love, Amanda Seyfried for Lily and maybe Clara Delevigne for Lyra Song. That would be my ultimate fantasy to have my books made into movies or a TV series!
Charlie Hunnam as Forlorn Icefall
Amanda Seyfried as Lilliaria Gem
Clara Delavinge as Lyra Song
These are really good choices. Let’s hope it happens!
In your latest newsletter, you did a cover reveal for your latest novel – Rapunzel’s Tower. I’ll be doing a separate post on this but I just want to tell you now that I cannot wait to read it. Are you working on any other novel(s)? Can you tell us more about them or are your lips sealed?
I have started a prequel to Of Demon Kind. I think people would like to know about Lorn’s Ny-Failen mother and about his father which is mentioned throughout the books.
I have other projects in the works such as a dragon tale and I even wrote a Regency Era romance which will more than likely never be published. I have a couple other fragments I work on off and on, but I don’t have as much time for them right now.
The book I am working on and am most excited about, is book one in the spin off series to the Kingdom of Jior series. I have outlines for three books so far and hope to write them all. It is favorite project so far.
Well Wendy, they all sound like amazing projects. I love books with dragons, the Eragon books spring to mind. As for your Regency Era romance, I really hope you do decide to publish these as again, I love this genre. As for the spin off series to the Kingdom of Jior series, YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!! I can not wait!!!
And for the final question, do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 years I hope to be retired and writing full time. I imagine my new series would be either finished or finishing. I’d be writing something new and exciting.
I really hope that this happens for you. Best of luck with everything you do. I just want to thank you for asking me to review your books, they are some of the best stories I have ever read. It’s also been lovely to meet you and I hope to continue to review your books in the future.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for reading everybody. If you are wanting to get your hands on any of these amazing books by Wendy L. Anderson then here are the links…
Blurb: The Last Ny-Failen is the final book in the Kingdom of Jior epic fantasy series. For 100 years King Lorn has ruled the Kingdom of Jior and the Ny-Failen have lived peacefully beside humankind. Now that peace is threatened by a looming civil war as some of the citizens of Jior try to take the throne for themselves. Lorn is faced with impossible choices and hard decisions with his family in great danger.
In the midst of these troubling times, an unknown Ny-Failen woman has come to Jior bringing magical animals and strange powers, but will she be an ally or a deadly distraction?
After a final bloody battle between the Ny-Failen and humankind, who will prevail in the fight to rule Jior?
My thoughts: This book was gifted to me for an honest review. It is now the 7th book by Wendy L. Anderson I have had the pleasure of reading and unfortunately this leaves me with no more books to read from this author. Though, hopefully the big void in my heart won’t last for long.
The Last Ny-Failen is the final book of The Kingdom of Jior series and to be honest, I’m kind of speechless. It was just epic beyond belief. Honestly. Plus, I finished it in less than 20 hours after I finished the previous one. It would have been quicker but unfortunately, I can’t live without sleep. You know in my last review when I said that I had tears already building at the thought of finishing book five? Well, the floodgates certainly opened during the read of what’s got to be one of the best books I’ve ever read in my entire life for a number of reasons; the story was actually really sad and it broke my heart, and I feel like now I’ve finished the series, I have had to say goodbye to my Ny-Failen friends until hopefully we meet again someday.
The Last Ny-Failen comes 100 years after the Iron and the Arrow, the fourth book of the series. The Ny-Failen are in my opinion, amazing rulers of Jior, however, some A-hole humans decided that they were no longer happy with a different race ruling them and so decided to overthrow the kingdom. Reading this book, I actually felt angry, annoyed and embarrassed to be human and felt actual disgust at the racism and discrimination here even though it’s fictional. Throughout the entire book, my heart wouldn’t stop pounding and all I felt was anxiety for my Ny-Failen friends. The ending was bittersweet and I’m still trying process the book as a whole – it’s a lot darker than the others (but F*cking AMAZING!).
This is actually a really short review compared to past reviews but I think I’m just in awe at Anderson’s talent, and I feel like I’ve just been through a break up now the series is over. So, I think I’m going to order some fast food, lie on the sofa under my duvet and watch a super sad film to help me get over this. I feel lost…
The Last Ny-Failen is available in the UK for just:
Blurb: The Kingdom of Jior is a wild and tumultuous place carved from hard granite and black crystal and found deep in the heart of the Violent Mountains. Storm Rider, the untamed grandson of the King of Jior, can call the winds, tame the lightning, and soar with the thunder. Meurie, a half-human, half-Ny-Failen, has travelled from her home in the Violent Mountains to the streets of Jior to witness for herself the mythical Ny-Failen. When her path intersects with Storm Rider, he goes after her with a single-minded purpose and will stop at nothing to make her his, and take this wingless girl with him to ride the storms.
A mysterious man barges his way into the nineteenth-birthday celebration for Mercy Rose, daughter of Jagged Edge and Princess Lyra Song. He is on a desperate mission and asks Queen Lililaira to travel through the most dangerous passes of the Violent Mountains to far away Hoarfrost Range. The Ny-Failen of Jior must set aside their fears and prejudices against him as he begs for the healing of a young innocent who lays dying. The truth has yet to be revealed if this man is Ny-Failen or one of demon-kind! Unexpectedly, Mercy Rose is asked to accompany the Queen on this mission fraught with danger. When secrets are revealed, lies uncovered and wonderful magic revealed Mercy Rose is faced with the biggest decision of her life, to give her heart to this stranger or possibly lose her soul?
When the Gray King comes to the grand halls of Jior and asks for an arranged marriage between his son and one of King Lorn’s granddaughters, it is met with less than cheerful acceptance. Forced into taking a king’s blood oath to go through with the marriage contract, King Lorn has ten years in which to find a way to thwart the Gray King. After the ten years pass, the Gray King’s son appears at the gates of Jior and King Lorn must face unexpected consequences. Rain Song is the only granddaughter of King Lorn who can marry the Gray King’s son and while the Ny-Failen of Jior fight the curse of the marriage contract, she decides to take her own path. Defying her father Jagged Edge, and her grandfather King Lorn, she faces black sorcery and risks everything to follow her heart.
My thoughts: This book was gifted to me for an honest review. It is now the 6th book by Wendy L. Anderson I have had the pleasure of reading, and the talent that appears on these pages just continues to astound me. Iron and the Arrow is the fourth of a five book series and tears are already building at the thought of finishing book five and I haven’t even started it yet. This was the longest book out of the series at 469 pages.
So again, the same problem as last time… I can only give it 5 out of 5 stars. It definitely deserves more.
Iron and the Arrowcovers the three grown children of Lyra Song and Jagged Edge (their story is in Book 3; Heirs of Jior); Storm Rider, Mercy Rose and Rain Song. It is broken down in to three novella’s in which each of these characters finds their mate. Each story is absolutely phenomenal and although they all meet their true love, the stories are always completely different.
Storm Riders story comes first and after finishing that I thought there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY any of the other stories could be better. Storm Riders story made me draw fan art (something I’ve unfortunately not been able to finish due to carpel tunnel syndrome), and I’ll tell you now, I have never ever in my 30 years drawn fan art with just words as a reference. Then, along comes Mercy Roses’ story. HOLY SH*T! Some how it is better than the previous. No way Rain Songs story can be better than Mercy Roses’ I say to myself, it’s just impossible. To quote the Swallow from Thumbelina:
“Nothing is Impossible”
Jacquimo, Thumbelina (1994)
Everything in this book is absolutely brilliant and well thought out – the new characters, the scenes, the story-line, the character development. Also, the metaphors in this book just blew me away. Read it, you’ll know what I mean! As I’ve said already for the other books of this series I’ve reviewed, each time I had a question, it was always answered which I think is just fantastic attention to detail when it comes to an author writing their work.
This book, along with the other books I have read by Wendy L. Anderson, are genuinely some of the best work I have ever read and I look forward to reading more of her work hopefully for years to come. I am genuinely so sad that I’ve only got one more book to read of this series and then I have to say goodbye to all the Ny-Failen friends I have made. I’m definitely going to a shed a tear or a million. I can already feel it welling inside.
Iron and the Arrow is available in the UK for just:
I’m 30 years old and I only just got in to the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer during Lockdown. Shocking I know! I absolutely loved it and thought it was genuinely one of the best tv shows I’ve ever watched. Then to my great surprise, I found out that there are Buffy/Angel books. Here is my collection, I’ve tried to put them in to some sort of order – I need a lot more!
Angel
Redemption (Angel: Season 1, #2)
Close to the Grounds (Angel: Season 1, #3)
Hollywood Noir (Angel: Season 1, #5)
Bruja (Angel: Season 1, #8)
The Longest Night (Angel: Season 3, #2)
Endangered Species (Angel: Season 3, #6)
Dark Mirror (Angel: Season 4-5, #5)
Monolith (Angel: Season 4-5, #6)
Book of the Dead (Angel Season 4-5, #7)
Love and Death (Angel Season 4-5, #8)
Angel: The Casefiles, Volume 1
Angel: The Casefiles, Volume 2
Angel/Buffy Crossover
Cursed (Buffy: Season 6, #1. Angel: Season 3, #1)
Monster Island (Buffy: Season 6, #2. Angel: Season 3, #4)
Seven Crows (Buffy: Season 7-8, #1. Angel: Season 4-5, #1)
The Angel Chronicles: Volume 1
The Angel Chronicles: Volume 3
Buffy
Halloween Rain (Buffy: Season 1, #1)
Coyote Moon (Buffy: Season 1, #2)
Night of the Living Rerun (Buffy: Season 1, #3)
How I Survived My Summer Vacation (Buffy: Season 1, #4)
Carnival of Souls (Buffy: Season 2, #8)
One Thing or Your Mother (Buffy: Season 2, #10)
Blooded (Buffy: Season 3, #2)
The Evil That Men Do (Buffy: Season 3, #6)
The Deathless (Buffy: Season 3, #7)
Power of Persuasion (Buffy: Season 3, #12)
Visitors (Buffy: Season 3, #13)
Return to Chaos (Buffy: Season 3, #17)
Unnatural Selection (Buffy: Season 3, #19)
Obsidian Fate (Buffy: Season 3, #20)
Deep Water (Buffy: Season 3, #21)
Here be Monsters (Buffy: Season 3, #22)
The Book of Fours (Buffy: Season 3, #23)
Oz: Into the Wild (Buffy: Season 4, #5)
These Our Actors (Buffy: Season 5, #1)
The Wisdom of War (Buffy: Season 5, #2)
Little Things (Buffy: Season 5, #4)
Crossings (Buffy: Season 5, #5)
Sweet Sixteen (Buffy: Season 5, #6)
Chaos Bleeds (Buffy: Season 5, #7)
Blood and Fog (Buffy: Season 6, #3)
Child of the Hunt (Buffy: Season 3, #3)
Apocalypse Memories (Buffy: Season 7-8, #2)
Queen of the Slayers (Buffy: Season 7-8, #7)
Dark Congress (Buffy: Season 7-8, #8)
The Burning (Unseen Trilogy #1)
Door to Alternity (Unseen Trilogy, #2)
Long Way Home (Unseen Trilogy #3)
Slayer: The Last Days of Sunnydale
Slayer: The Totally Cool Unofficial Guide to Buffy
The Faith Trials (Buffy: #21)
The Xander Years: Volume 1
The Xander Years: Volume 2
Prophecies (Buffy: The Lost Slayer, #1)
Dark Times (Buffy: The Lost Slayer, #2)
King of the Dead (Buffy: The Lost Slayer, #3)
Original Sins (Buffy: The Lost Slayer, #4)
The Darkening (Buffy: Wicked Willow #1)
Shattered Twilight (Buffy: Wicked Willow #2)
Broken Sunrise (Buffy: Wicked Willow #3)
Out of the Madhouse (Buffy: The Gatekeeper Trilogy #1)
Ghost Reads (The Gatekeeper Trilogy #2)
Sons of Entropy (Buffy: The Gatekeeper Trilogy #3)
The Willow Files: Volume 1
The Willow Files: Volume 2
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Novelisations #1)
The Harvest (Novelisations #2)
The Cordelia Collection (Novelisations #12)
Chosen (Buffy: Novelisations, #13)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script (Buffy: Season 1, Volume 1)
I drove an hour and a half to get my tattoo and I got there early. I’d noticed a book shop last time I had gone for my tattoo and I was NOT missing out on it this time. I ended up getting 16 books! Haha, ooooops. All of them were classed as children’s books / young adult. Look at these bargains!
Percy Jackson Books 1 – 4 by Rick Riordan
Condition – Book 1 – 5/10, Book 2 – 10/10, Book 3 – 9/10, Book 4 – 6/10
Blurb (Book 1): I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That’s when things really started going wrong. Now I spend my time fighting with swords, battling monsters with my friends and generally trying to stay alive.
My thoughts: I’ve read the 1st book once, a long time ago. I really enjoyed the movie too. I’m looking forward to reading the rest.
The Trials of Apollo Books 1 and 2 by Rick Riordan
Condition – Book 1 – 8/10, Book 2 – 9/10
Blurb (Book 1): My name is Apollo. I used to be a god. But that was before I was cast down from Olympus (a terrible misunderstanding) and woke up in a New York dumpster.
I persuaded Percy Jackson to give me a lift to Camp Half-Blood. But the place is in chaos. Demigods are going missing and the all-seeing Oracles have fallen to a mysterious enemy known only as ‘the Beast’.
I figured that regaining Zeus’s favour would involve a series of harrowing trials, and I was right (I usually am). My first task? Protect the final Oracle, hidden away for millennia. If I fail, the Beast will control the future, but worse – I’ll be stuck as a teenage boy, forever…
My thoughts: from the world of Percy Jackson. That’ll do me.
Ranger’s Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
Condition 7/10
Blurb: Will, you have been chosen.
You and you alone.
You will become the eyes and ears of the Kingdom, learning to move silent as a shadow.
Your arrow will fly true and your sword will be swift.
You are the Ranger’s Apprentice.
Are you ready?
My thoughts: It looks like an easy read but an interesting read too.
Charming by Elliott James
Condition: 6.5/10
Blurb: He comes from a long line of Charmings – an illustrious family of dragon slayers, witch finders, and killers dating back to before the fall of Rome. Trained by a modern-day version of the Knights Templar, monster hunters who have updated their methods from chain mail and crossbows to Kevlar and shotguns, John Charming was one of the best – until a curse made him one of the abominations the Knights were sworn to hunt.
That was a lifetime ago. Now John tends bar under an assumed name in rural Virginia and leads a peaceful, quiet life. That is until a vampire and a blonde walk into his bar…
My thoughts: Hmm, I don’t think this should have been in the children’s section but I’m not complaining haha. Sounds interesting!
I also got Vampire Diaries Books 8 and 10 for my collection and some other books which ended up not being the 1st books of the series.
I managed to buy all of these books for the amazing price of £13.50
What do you think of my latest haul? Have you ever read these books? Which book would you want to read first?
Blurb: Princess Lyra Song, young and beautiful, stepping into maturity, pursues her hopes and dreams endeavoring to explore a betrothal with the Heir of Krickgold. However, when she is mistaken for a witch by a Lord from a neighboring country, her dreams are dangerously interrupted. Waylaid, taken prisoner and thrown into an iron cage, the delicate Princess of Jior is charged with a crime she didn’t commit and she must do whatever it takes to escape or be wrongfully executed.
Prince Vannier of Jior, known as Little Wing, has been devastated by what happened to his sister Lyra Song, but life must go on and he goes forward with his plan to marry his childhood love. The day of the wedding ceremony he finds his betrothed with another man and now he must face devastating reality and some difficult choices. When his younger brother Dark Star goes missing, Vannier must set aside his own problems to go into the Violent Mountains and find who has taken his little brother. Amidst the turmoil of the hunt, Vannier must face danger, loss, and possible heartbreak.
Dark Star, the youngest Prince of Jior, has been changed forever by the events of his capture and he remains troubled and unable to find peace. A mysterious compelling draws him away from the safety of his home and family. He sets off on his own to investigate and finds a black castle and a beautiful sorceress in dire need of his help. Dark Star must face a demon from the Hells to free them both.
My thoughts: This book was gifted to me for an honest review. It is now the 5th book by Wendy L. Anderson I have had the pleasure of reading, and like I said before, I am not left disappointed. Heirs of Jior is the third of a five book series, a series I will definitely be continuing with.
I have a slight problem. If I’ve given Book 2 a 5 stars out of 5 stars review, and Book 3 is somehow better than Book 2, then what rating do I give Book 3? 6 out of 5 stars? To be honest it deserves more than 6 out of 5 stars – it was absolutely incredible.
Heirs of Jiorcovers the three Heirs of Jior; Lyra Song, Little Wing and Dark Star. It is broken down in to three novella’s in which each Heir finds their mate. I wish I could talk about each and everyone in detail as I am so enveloped in the characters and their stories that I could possibly write a 30,000 word dissertation on it. Going in to that much detail would be spoiler alert x a billion, so I guess I’m going to have to keep this review relatively brief. Though, I think my friends and partner are fed up of me as I just keep talking about these books constantly.
If I was asked to choose which Novella I liked most out of the three, I don’t think I could choose. They were all completely different but all equally amazing. You learn so much more about these characters, their traits and personalities, and you just can not help but love them and be there with them on their journey.
Everything in this book is absolutely brilliant and well thought out – the new characters, the scenes, the story-line, the character development – I could go on but you get the picture. Also, each time I had a question, it was always answered which I think is just fantastic attention to detail when it comes to an author writing their work.
I was reading Heirs of Jior on my phone and unfortunately my phone stopped working. It was horrid. Not just because I had no phone but I just had to get back to the characters and see what was going on and how they were getting along. I ended up borrowing a phone of my friend and using my partner’s ipad when I could so that I could continue reading. I’ve not been that engrossed in a book in absolute years. I felt like I had withdrawal symptoms. It took me 8 days to complete this book but actually, if I had had my phone it would have taken me less than 3. I was and am obsessed!
This book, along with the other books I have read by Wendy L. Anderson, are genuinely some of the best work I have ever read and I look forward to reading more of her work hopefully for years to come.
I’m writing this on my dinner break on a Friday before going back to work and finishing at 7pm. I’ve got an extremely busy weekend but I’m already planning my time to get as much reading in as possible. I can not wait to devour the next book!
One thing I really wanted to do on my week off work was go to Hay-on-Wye. I’d actually never heard of the place until I was in a charity shop looking at books and I started talking to a lovely gentlemen about my book collection. He also had a huge book collection, he had two whole rooms in his house dedicated to books. I secretly wanted to go to his house and have a look but 1) that would be weird and 2) I didn’t have a clue who he was. Anyway, he started talking about this place he goes at least once a year and spends a fortune on books, a place called Hay-On-Wye, so since this conversation I had really wanted to visit.
Fast forward to Friday (18th June) and that is exactly where my friend and I travelled to. I set off to pick my friend up at 6:20am and we set off from her house at 6:45am. We got to Hay-On-Wye at 9:20am. It was a long drive full of country roads and roads that weren’t even big enough for one car let alone two! Unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures on this trip as my phone battery seems to be draining very quickly and I needed it for the Sat Nav for the journey back.
But fortunately, my friend took a few!
Parking – Oxford Road
We parked at a long-stay car park called Oxford Road. It holds around 400 cars and it has different prices depending on the type of vehicle you have e.g. a car with a trailer would be more expensive than a car. We had a bog-standard car so we paid £4 which allowed us to park there until 6pm. I thought this was really reasonable and the location was great too. There are some toilets just round the corner but seeing as peeing is apparently a luxury, you’ve got to pay 30p to use them.
Hay Cinema Bookshop
This was our first stop. There were a couple of shelving units outside the building filled with books that were only £1 each. Nothing caught our eyes so we headed on in to the shop. We asked the lady at the counter if they bought books (we had brought a few with us just in case) and she advised us to go upstairs to the office. We talked to another lady who took us to two gentlemen in another room. He asked us to put the books on a table, had a quick look through them and said that he wouldn’t want to buy any of the books. This was absolutely fine, we knew that this may be the case, but the way he said it and the way he looked at us was rather impolite.
We left the office, still with our books in hand and started looking around the shop. This was quite a large bookshop with two floors and lots of shelving around the walls and in rows too. There were thousands of non-fiction books all of which were categorised and there were ALOT of different categories. They also had a huge collection of antiquarian books too. My friend is the same as myself, we love fiction books, so we just decided to focus on the fiction sections. These were all over the place really. Newly acquired fiction was both upstairs and downstairs, general fiction was downstairs on the back wall and along some other shelves, and sci-fi and fantasy were upstairs towards the back too. They also had a small children’s section with only a very limited choice of young adult. Limited choice being a Twilight book and a couple of other books.
One thing I will point out though is they had a lot of mint condition recently published books and some of them were the second or third book of a series so if you have the 1st book of a series it might be worth looking here for the others.
I bought one book from here – A buffy the vampire slayer book for my buffy collection.
The Addyman Annexe
This was a lovely bookshop, a lot smaller than the one previous but still well stocked. They had some absolutely gorgeous books – I think they were children’s classics with special covers. I wish I had taken a picture now! As well as a good selection of children’s books, they had mainly non-fiction books covering several topics, antique books, and a section with new books which were all half the RRP.
The gentlemen who worked there came over and asked if we were looking for anything in particular so I decided to ask him if he bought books. He said he would have a look at them but possibly not but he was really nice about it. I followed him to the checkout area and he had a look at our books. He apologised and said he would only want to buy 4 books but would give us £1 each for them which we accepted. He was an absolutely lovely gentlemen and didn’t make us feel awkward like the last place. My friend bought some books from this shop.
C J Gibbons Butchers & Fine Foods
So this isn’t a bookshop but I just had to say that we stopped here and grabbed an Iced Bun and a Cream and Jam Doughnut and my goodness; absolutely sensational. You couldn’t eat in, so take out only but there was a bench to sit on just around the corner.
Honesty Bookshop
This wasn’t exactly a bookshop, it was just some shelves in the castle gardens (the castle is having some work done to it so there is a lot of scaffolding etc). There is a lockbox and if you decide you want to buy a book you just put £1 in the lockbox. Obviously, you could just take the book and nobody would know, apart from you of course but it’s not called Thief Bookshop is it.
Hay-On-Wye Booksellers
This bookshop was one of the more forgettable ones. I had nothing against it but it was just one of those were nothing really happened and we didn’t buy anything. Again, similar to the other bookshops – mainly non fiction, antiquarian, good sized children’s selection and a small section for fiction. After nipping to the charity shop and giving them our old books so we didn’t need to carry them anymore we continued on.
Clock Tower Books
Again, this bookshop was one of the more forgettable ones – similar to the other bookshops – mainly non fiction, antiquarian, a small children’s section and a small section for fiction.
Angie’s Cafe
I would say we walked around looking for a toilet and something to eat for a good 45 minutes to an hour. We checked out a few places to eat but they were all so over priced or had unnecessarily lavish food. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to pay £12 for some chicken goujons and chips and why can’t we just have a regular cheese panini instead of jazzing it up to mozzarella, green pesto and red tomato and again, charging near on £7 for it. So, after finding some random toilets and again paying for the luxury of peeing, we decided to nip to Angie’s café. It was cheap and simple. Cheese and pickle bap – £2.60. That’ll do, donkey.
Addyman Books
This was a fantastic bookshop, one that I bought a few books from. It houses a whole host of books form art and photography to occult and rock music. There are also a few themed rooms here including a Sci-fi room, a Steam-Punk room and a bat-cave. The books I purchased came from the Sci-fi room and the bat-cave. What I absolutely loved (the small things) is that the man who worked there didn’t use a till or a calculator to add up our purchases – got to keep that brain busy, haven’t you?
Richard Booth’s Bookshop, Café and Cinema
This was by far the best book shop we had visited. It was absolutely gorgeous inside. The books were well presented and very neat. The staff were very friendly and they had three floors of books to look through. They had both new and old books and covered pretty much every genre of book you can think of. The café was closed due to covid which was a shame as we would have loved to have dined there and we didn’t take note of the cinema.
The staff members we interacted with were lovely – they let us keep our growing pile of books we wanted to purchase behind the till so we could continue browsing. Once we had finally finished we went to purchase our books and an attractive young man served us. He was very friendly and polite, and out of all the shops we had been to so far, this was the only one to ask if we would like a bag. We very much did like a bag (it was paper too, yay!).
Broad Street Book Centre / Hancock and Monks Music
This is a shop combined of books and music. Each section of the shop is owned by a bookseller so it is worth looking at each section so you don’t miss anything – if you are looking for a particular subject then this won’t be in one place, a number of sellers may have books on that subject. I hope this makes sense. I’ve never been one for explaining well.
Before we actually entered the shop, I noticed a number 2 on the window. It read something like ‘number 2 in the booksellers guide’. We hadn’t noticed this on any other shop window and we asked each other “What guide?!”. The lovely lady in the shop obviously heard us and she popped outside with a guide in her hand. It would have been really helpful to have had this at the beginning of our day but never mind, we were still thankful for it.
We bought a few books from this store and the lady was so nice and friendly towards us.
The Old Electric Shop
I think we were in and out of this shop within 5 minutes. It was a very odd shop. Sort of a thrift type store with new and vintage items such as furniture, homeware, clothes and gifts but it was missing the price tag of a thrift store and instead presenting the price tag of a designer brand. It had a small book selection which was very disappointing but housed a vegetarian café. There was a very pretentious feeling throughout the store and from the staff so we didn’t feel comfortable staying here for long.
Tangled Parrot
This shop was also a disappointment. It had an extremely small selection of books and I mean 20 to 30 books, tops. They were all also non-fiction which didn’t interest us unfortunately.
In the words of Forrest Gump – ‘That’s all I have to say about that.’
Green Ink Booksellers
I believe this store is the most recent addition to the bookshop community. It is a very pretty looking shop both in and out but again was left disappointed with the choice. We didn’t purchase anything from this shop.
Cosy Cafe
So this was not a bookstore but a café that sold crepes. Who doesn’t like crepes, eh? We ordered Nutella crepes – I ordered without ice cream and my friend ordered with ice cream. I asked for a glass of Coke too but they didn’t sell it and only sold really random flavours of expensive drinks such as Dragon fruit and Mango and Elderflower and Cucumber (I made these flavours up, but you get my drift) so I just decided to have the crepes with no drink.
The crepes were enjoyable but we’ve had better. My friend was absolutely fuming (in a funny way) because as soon as she tasted it she knew that it was not real Nutella in the crepes. It was still good but would have been miles better with the real thing. The ice cream they served with the crepes was very thick and apparently tasted great.
Haystacks Music & More
This shop was down a back alley of sorts. It primarily sells CD’s, vinyl records and music books but does have a small section of general fiction and children’s books at the back. I will tell you though, the ‘aisles’ are so thin that even I, who is quite slender, was struggling to squeeze through the shop and it was very difficult to actually browse especially when you couldn’t even bend down. I thought I was going to get stuck in there forever.
That, my friends, was our adventure in Hay-on-Wye in a nutshell. Now, I titled this ‘Book Lover’s Paradise?’. That’s the question isn’t it, is it really a book lover’s paradise? In my opinion, and my friends opinion, no, not really but I suppose it depends on what you like. If you are in to your antique books and your non fiction, if you are looking for a certain genre of non-fiction then yes, perhaps it is your paradise. For me though, and for my friend, we both felt a bit disappointed by the whole experience. We expected to see bookshops full of fiction books well stocked for all genres but this didn’t happen. We also thought it would be more welcoming but overall felt like the whole town was actually quite pompous and pretentious and we just couldn’t get behind the overpriced food and the pay-to-pee situation there.
Thank you for taking your time to read this. Have you ever been to Hay-on-Wye. What did you think?
Blurb: Five years have passed since Lorn liberated himself from Lan-Loe, his evil father’s Sorcerer. Legends were born from tales of the great battle between Lorn and a black-winged demon, of Lan-Loe’s death, and the defeat of demon-kind. Ever since that time, people have been flocking to Jior to make their homes there, and the Kingdom of Jior is revived. Lorn is crowned King of Jior, Lililaira is Queen and they rule peacefully side by side. Now a new war threatens everything they have built and everyone they love. One hundred miles away from the City of Jior, the combined armies of Vedt march toward Jior intent on slaying everyone in the kingdom and taking revenge for Lorn’s past evil deeds. With the forces of the whole country coming against them, Lorn and Lililaira have little hope of defeating their enemies. In the midst of impending war, strange dreams plague Lorn’s sleep at night. He feels that something is waiting, something he needs very badly, something is calling him! When he answers the call, he learns that he is a descendant of a race of winged people that profess to be from the Heavens. He also learns more about his past and is given hope for the future, but that hope comes with a high price. Lorn is given a choice: he can save his family or watch them die. Lililaira and their daughter are taken prisoner by her father, the King of Skoria, Lorn must call on all his resources to rescue them. Forced out of the protective walls of Jior, he must face his many enemies who use his wife and daughter as bait. King Lorn must deal with old enemies and new friends, but will he be able to tell the difference?
My thoughts: This book was gifted to me for an honest review. It is now the 4th book by Wendy L. Anderson I have had the pleasure of reading, and like I said before, I am not left disappointed. Redemption of the Fallen is the second of a five book series, a series I will definitely be continuing with.
Redemption of the Fallen continues to follow King Lorn of Jior, his wife Lillaria, and his two children. I suspect the whole six book series will continue to follow them and I am looking forward to watching (reading) the children grow throughout. That’s the great thing about this book, the characters continue to develop and you can’t help but become attached to them – even the secondary characters. This book was able to actually pull some emotion out of me too. At one point, when Lorn is been affectionate towards his son, I actually had real tears escaping my eyes. I also ended up with that feeling in the pit of my stomach, you know the one… the one where you know something bad is going to happen and you really don’t want it to. I mean, how amazing is it that somebody can write some words on a page and those words can make you feel like that. Just pure talent!
What I loved about this story is that it delved in to the main characters histories and we finally found out some answers to questions I was asking myself in the first book. I also like how their is a heaven/hell element to the book. I’ve read books before in which they feature a hell of some sort but yet don’t ever mention the possibility of a heaven. I loved the characters that were introduced from this and I hope (and think) that we will continue to read more about the Ny-Failen in the upcoming books.
There are so many things I want to touch on, I haven’t even talked about the storyline yet. Well, I thought it was absolutely fantastic and had me on the edge of my seat from the off. It was cleverly put together and came with some unexpected twists and turns. The introduction of ‘enemy’ characters was on point, and I could feel myself disliking some of them very much. I loved how at some intervals the same scene would play out but it was from another person’s viewpoint.
The novel concludes well and doesn’t really have a cliffhanger but it still makes me want to continue reading.
Again, from this book I definitely got The Lord of The Rings vibes and of course it was the Battle of Helms Deep again that sprang to mind. The words I read seemed to form a movie in my mind. My boyfriend even said my eyes glazed over whilst I was reading – weird eh?!
This book, along with the other books I have read by Wendy L. Anderson, are genuinely some of the best work I have ever read and I look forward to reading more of her work hopefully for years to come. The problem is, I’m going to be hounding her now to write some extra novels following other characters. I have a list. I’m not joking, I actually do.
Redemption of the Fallen is available in the UK for just:
It was my 30th Birthday yesterday so I booked this week off work. I was meant to be going to Spain but you know… Covid. Anyway, my friend and I decided to visit some Phone Box Libraries so we stayed close to home and visited the ones around Cheshire. Here’s our adventure…
1st Stop – Cotebrook, Tarporley
Flaking paint, weeds and spider webs at Cotebrook, Tarporley
With this being our first stop, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed as we pulled up to this very run down phone box. I was expected bright red, fresh paint, clean windows and neat bookshelves. Instead we were welcomed by flaking paint, weeds and spiders webs. I didn’t go in to the box properly as I didn’t fancy any spiders jumping on me. Neither of us fancied any of the books so we decided to move on to the next one.
2nd Stop – Crowton, Northwich
The best one of the day – Crowton, Northwich
After a slight detour to empty my friends extremely small bladder, we ended up in an absolutely stunning village that goes by the name of Crowton. Spotted by my friend who shouted ‘Ooo, ooo, ooo!’ in delight, The phone box lives on a corner. In my excitement, I hastily swerved on to the pavement and parked pretty darn close to the phone box library. I was delighted to see bright red paint, neat shelves and clean windows here – this is what all book boxes should look like.
I was tempted by a few books here but they were damaged and I only like books that look new. My friend swapped some books here and she donated some extra ones too to fill the gaps. We hopped back into the car and set off for our next destination.
3rd Stop – Comberbach Post Office
The Rude Post Office
Silly me didn’t take a photo of inside and I can’t upload a video my friend took of inside because I can’t afford premium for this website lol. So yeah, this isn’t exactly a book box but I thought it was cute that a Post office had a book swap in it. There were a good selection of books here – I would say at least 100 books and I ended up swapping three books here and my friend got a few too. The disappointing thing about this place however was the woman working there. She was rather rude and didn’t make us feel welcome at all. She didn’t seem happy that we were there just for the books though we were not making a mess and were very quiet. We decided it might help if we bought something from the shop but then she was rude again when she decided to comment on me paying her £1.90 (a crunchie ice cream) in change (£1 coin and the rest in 20p’s, 10p’s and 5p’s). Just rude.
Anyway, we headed back to the car feeling slightly deflated but we decided not to let one rude person ruin our day. So with that in mind we headed to our next destination.
4th Stop – Great Budworth
It all looked so pretty…. – Great Budworth
Our next stop was a place called Great Budworth. As we approached, I thought it all looked so pretty. Then, we reached the phone box and again, I thought it was promising. The paint was still quite a vibrant red, the windows were clean, but then we opened the door. I looked up and there was a humongous spider which would have been directly above our heads if we had stepped inside the box, so of course we stayed outside. The books in the boxes on the floor were mouldy but the books on the shelves themselves were fine. I ended up swapping a couple of books here but overall was again disappointed at the lack of care there seems to be for the box as well as the books.
Our next destination was Lach Dennis, but we ended up detouring quite significantly here.
Detour
What a great idea!
Driving around looking for toilets again and my friend starts freaking out. Something about a milkshake farm. We turn around in a not so safe area and we get a lot of angry car drivers waiting for me to finish my manoeuvre before heading back to see what all the fuss was about. It seems that a farm had come out with a pretty amazing idea to have a ‘Milkbot’ where members of the public could make their own milkshake.
There were plenty of flavours to choose from and it only costs £1.50 (and that includes the bottle). You can pay via card for the bottle and flavour, and card or cash for the milk – but let me warn you it doesn’t take 1p’s, 2p’s or 5p’s.
Still in need of a toilet, we continued towards our next destination of Lach Dennis but with a slight detour into Northwich centre to find a toilet. The Sat-Nav was doing my bloody head in to the point where we ended up going round London Road at least three times and for some reason we ended up making up our own lyrics at this point to the Song Here I go again on my own by Whitesnake.
Here we go again London Road
Goin' round the only road we'll ever know.
Like a tourist I was forced to drive this road.
And I've made up my mind,
I ain't wasting no more time.
DAMN YOU LONDON ROAD!
Anyway…
We finally got to the car park we needed to park in so we could then find the toilets, park the car…badly, go to the pay and display, get my card out to pay… wait a minute? Where’s my card? Ah yes, on top of the Milk Bot machine back at the farm – 15 minutes drive away. Back in the car, my friends bladder will have to wait. Call up the farm and the lovely farmer goes and gets my card for me and keeps it safe till I arrive. Little gem!
Back in the car and we decided, lets just head to our next book box because their might be a toilet near there.
5th Stop – Lach Dennis, Northwich
Run down – Lach Dennis, Northwich
We reached Lach Dennis Book Box and unfortunately it was really run down. There weren’t any books we wanted to swap here either. The box is actually next to a Pub called something like Cheshire Grill so, seeing as my friend was about to pee herself we decided to go and eat there hoping it wasn’t too expensive. The food was absolutely amazing, the service was great and it was just a really nice place in general. The mac and cheese was just perfection and the chocolate torte was out of this world though I recommend you ask for the mango sorbet instead of the champagne sorbet – trust me!
So after this we decided to go to our final destination as I had to get back home to the doggo’s. We travelled 32 minutes to Timbersbrook, Congleton just to find that the phone box was NOT a book box but a defibrillator box instead. Google lied to us. We headed home and that was the end of our adventure.
All in all, it was a fantastic day but I would say it’s more so because of great company and lush food than the book boxes. If I had decided to do this adventure by myself, I probably would have stopped 2 or 3 book boxes in.
I hope you all enjoyed my blog. I know it’s different to what I usually post.
So this list here is all the books I’ve been asked to review and haven’t reviewed yet, in no particular order. I’m making my way through them as quickly as possible
The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read – Andy Ritchie
The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read: Part 2 – Andy Ritchie
The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read: Part 3 – Andy Ritchie
God, Aliens, Death and Teapots – Andy Ritchie
Redemption of the Fallen: Book 2 in the Kingdom of Jior Series – Wendy L. Anderson
Heirs of Jior: Book 3 in the Kingdom of Jior Series – Wendy L. Anderson
Iron and the Arrow: Book 4 in the Kingdom of Jior Series – Wendy L. Anderson
The Last Ny-Failen: Book 5 in the Kingdom of Jior Series – Wendy L. Anderson
Early Retirement – Luke Ethan Knight
Ecclesia’s Table – Mason S Haynie
Don’t Date the Haunted – C. Rae D’Arc
Killing the Reapers – Jeff Debing
Eyes – Nghich Tu
Life Eternal: Book One of the Saga of Unlife – Aaron J. Booth
Blurb: Prince Lorn of Jior is the only one left in the evil empire called the Kingdom of Jior. King Kullorn, his father, was the epitome of evil. Together they led demon hordes reaping death and destruction. When Kullorn is killed, Lorn must face the aftermath of their defeat alone. Years later, Lorn is accused of following in his father’s footsteps and also of kidnapping the Princess Lililaira of Skoria. Forced out of hiding, Lorn must risk capture, imprisonment and death to find out who is using his father’s name to start another war. During an unplanned rescue of the Princess, Lorn is badly wounded and they must fight to remain together as he is healed by her, body, heart and soul. Creating a passionate bond, together they embark upon a journey to clear Lorn’s name and fend off the war that threatens them both.
My thoughts: This book was gifted to me for an honest review. It is the 3rd book by Wendy L. Anderson I have had the pleasure of reading, and yet again I am not left disappointed. Of Demon Kind is actually the first book written by Wendy L. Anderson and is the first book of a six book series, of which I am looking forward to devouring.
Of Demon Kind follows Prince Lorn of Jior, a Demon who is at first presented to us in his empty castle a few years after his evil father King Kullorn was defeated at war. His one remaining servant, Lan-loe, brings terrible news to his Prince; news of lies and rumours in which the Prince is being held accountable for destruction across the lands of Vedt and the kidnapping of Princess Lililaria, the beautiful daughter of King Koran of Skoria.
Prince Lorn ventures out to search for the perpetrator and to clear his name but ends up on a great adventure where he finds out who is causing the destruction, rescues Princess Lililaria, but becomes extremely wounded. From here the romance between Princess Lililaria and Prince Lorn evolves and this romance creates and builds other plots within the story which end in war between good and evil.
Prince Lorn is a really strong character who grew on me as I continued to read and then I absolutely fell in love with him. Princess Lililaria was a character who I adored straight from the off and I feel I would be friends with her in real life. I love how their relationship builds throughout the story. Throughout the novel, there are more characters introduced and some of these are very strong side characters. Sorrell, for example, is a character I would like to read more about. Possibly a novel of his own about his history or a series on his own adventures.
The novel concludes well with all questions answered and everything wrapped up nicely, and then, showing her own evil side (haha) she decides to throw a cliffhanger in to the mix. The cliffhanger opens the way nicely to the next book which I can not wait to get started on.
From this book I definitely got The Lord of The Rings vibes with the Battle of Helms Deep being at the forefront of my mind during the battle that concludes this novel. The world of Vedt that Anderson has created reminds me also of The Lord of The Rings type of landscapes with open valleys and dense woods, deep caves and large castles. I would love to know if somewhere in the real world gave the author inspiration for this beautiful world she has created as I would love to visit these places.
The romance in this book is enjoyable but I felt that there were slightly too many love scenes though not enough to put me off continuing to read and I think it was important to show the bond between the two characters grow. I do think that the fantasy and romance genres go well together and the author really does have exceptional talent in writing ‘Romtasy’ (I’m not sure how I feel about that portmanteau…).
This book, along with the other two books I have read by Wendy L. Anderson, are genuinely some of the best work I have ever read and I look forward to reading more of her work hopefully for years to come.
Holy moly! I had such a fun time at the car boot sale this morning. I got so many cool things, from a Compound Bow to some Fuggler Teddy Bears with human teeth. It was so busy with so many stalls. Actually, as I was walking around I realised I had forgot to take my FitBit off charge and put it on my wrist so my team mates are not going to be happy about that (workplace competition) and I also realised, I don’t like seeing hamster cages at car boots – it usually means a death occurred!
Anyhoo, here are the books I bagged today!
The Chosen (#15), The Sinner (#18) by J. R. Ward
RRP: £9.99 and £8.99 Paid 50p each Condition 7/10
These are novels of The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. I have I think 14 of these books so I was very excited to be finding two of the newer books of this series at a boot sale. I can’t wait to re-read the entire series!
Heart of the Dragon (#1), Jewel of Atlantis (#2), The Nymph King(#3), The Vampire’s Bride (#4) by Gena Showalter
RRP: £6.99 each Paid 50p each Condition 8/10
These are all books in the ‘A Tale of Atlantis’ series. O I already have some Gena Showalter books on my bookshelf which I haven’t read yet… I’m getting round to it. I’m also heavily in to my Paranormal Romance novels especially vampires, so these were a no brainer really.
Here’s the blurb to book one:
Searching for her missing brother, Grace Carlyle never dreamed she would discover a secret world populated by mythological monsters – or find herself facing a sword-wielding being whose looks put mortal men to shame.
But there he was Darius en Kragin, one of a race of shape-shifting warriors bound to guard the gates of Atlantis and kill all travellers who strayed within its borders.
Now Grace’s life was in his hands and Darius had to choose between his centuries-old vow and the woman who had slipped beneath his defences and stolen the heart of Atlantis’s fiercest dragon.
Dead Witch Walking (#1), The Good, The Bad and The Undead (#2), Every Which Way But Dead (#3) by Kim Harrison
RRP: £6.99 each Paid 50p Condition 7/10
I picked these up for a few reasons; 1, the books were in good condition; 2, the books were cheap as chips; 3, they remind me of the Urban Fantasy novels I enjoyed by Ilona Andrews. These are all from The Hollows Series.
Here’s the blurb to book one:
Forty years ago a genetically engineered virus killed half of the world’s human population and exposed creatures of dreams and nightmares that had, until then, lived in secret alongside humanity.
Rachel Morgan is a runner with the Inderland Runner Services, apprehending criminals throughout modern-day Cincinnati. She is also a witch.
Used to confronting criminal vampires, dark witches and homicidal werewolves, Rachel’s latest assignments – apprehending cable-stealing magic students and tax-evading leprechauns – have prompted her to break her thirty-year contract with the I.S. and start her own runner agencty.
But no one quits the I.S.
Marked for death, Rachel is a dead witch walking unless she can appease her former employers and pay off her contract by exposing the city’s most prominent citizen as a drug lord. But making an enemy of the ambiguous Trent Kalamack proves even more deadly than leaving the I.S.
Not ideal having book 1 and then missing book 2 and 3 but I had to leave them behind as they were just too badly damaged for my liking. I like the look and the sound of these hence purchasing them.
Here’s the blurb to book one:
Rule 3: Never stare at invisible faeries. Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world.
Rule 2: Never speak to invisible faeries. One of them, a beautiful faery boy named Keenan, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.
Rule 1: Don’t ever attract their attention. Now it’s too late. Keenan is the Summer King and is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost. Without her, summer itself will perish.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Liani Taylor
RRP: £6.99 Paid 50p Condition 6.5/10
This is book one of the Smoke and Bone Series. I decided to buy this purely because it was in the box with the J. R. Ward books and I liked that it had a perfect spine (haha).
Here’s the blurb:
In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she’s a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in Elsewhere, she has never understood Brimstone’s dark work – buying teeth from hunters and murderers – nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn’t whole.
Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.
The Memory of Midnight by Pamela Hartshorne
RRP: £7.99 Paid 50p Condition 8/10
Again, the only reason I bought this book was because it was in the box with some of the others.
Here is the blurb:
One hot day in Elizabethan York, young Nell Appleby is trapped in a wooden chest. The horror of the stifling dark – and of the man who trapped her – haunts her for the rest of her life. Years later, wed to the sadistic Ralph Maskewe, Nell must find joy where she can. But when her childhood sweetheart returns and offers a chance of flight to the New World, Nell is faced with a dangerous decision. Will she risk all to escape the dark at last?
Four and a half centuries later, Tess and her small son Oscar move to York. Eager to start a new life away from her overbearing and manipulative husband Martin, Tess tries to put her marriage behind her. But time in York has a way of shifting strangely, and memories of a past that is not her own being to surface with disturbing effect. Living two lives, torn between two worlds, Tess must unlock the secrets of the past before she can free herself – and Nell – once and for all.
What do you all think of my haul? Pretty neat, right?
This weekend I managed to organise all my books and compile all of my TBR lists. I’ve got 4 actually, and the others will come but for now… here is my kindle TBR list (in no particular order):
Be Brilliant Every Day by Andy Cope and Andy Whittaker
The Teacher’s Billionaire by Christina Tetreault
The Concealed by Sarah Kleck
Moon Dance by J. R. Rain
Her Vampire Husband by Michele Hauf
The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt
Thirst by Claire Farrell
Foundations of the World by Jason Tesar
Hidden From Men by Jason Tesar
Seeds of Corruption by Jason Tesar
Hands to Make War by Jason Tesar
Paths of Destruction by Jason Tesar
A Demon’s Promise by Kristie Cook
Amber Moon by C.L. Bevill
Silver Moon by C.L. Bevill
Black Moon by C.L. Bevill
The Vampire’s Warden by S.J. Wright
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Bats Sing, Mice Giggle: The Surprising Science of Animals’ Inner Lives by Karen Shanor and Jagmeet Kanwal
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
Demon Girl by Penelope Girl
The Woodcutter by Kate Danley
The Blight of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler
The Wretched of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler
The Scourge of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler
Knight Awakened by Coreene Callahan
Student Cookbook for Dummies by Oliver Harrison
A Dark Kiss of Rapture by Sylvia Day
Seasons of the Moon Boxed Set by S.M. Reine
Smolder by Penelope Fletcher
Wolf’s Head by Steven A. McKay
The Immortal Circus: Final Act by A. R. Kahler
The Immortal Circus: Act Two by A.R. Kahler
The Immortal Circus: Act One by A.R. Kahler
Cecilie by Penelope Fletcher
Born by Tara Brown and A.E. Watson
How To Be A Productivity Ninja by Graham Allcott
The Little Book of Thinking Big by Richard Newton
The Art of Conversation: Change Your Life with Confident Communication by Judy Apps
Emotional Intelligence: Managing Emotions to Make a Positive Impact on Your Life and Career by Gill Hasson
Mindful Eating for Dummies by Laura Dawn
Willpower for Dummies by Frank Ryan
The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching
Marked by Sarah Fine
Fireblood by Jeff Wheeler
Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
A Dark Lure by Loreth Anne White
Kindred by Nicola Claire
Creative Writing for Dummies by Maggie Hamand
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Intimate Deception by Laura Landon
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Awaken His Eyes by Jason Tesar
Through the Door by Jodi McIsaac
Loki’s Daughter by Delle Jacobs
Ghost Gifts by Laura Spinella
Spirit Legacy by E.E. Holmes
Spirit Prophecy by E.E. Holmes
Spirit Ascendancy by E.E. Holmes
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Lucas Knox: Blood Retribution by Blake Hudson
Wolf Nation: The Life, Death and Return of Wild American Wolves by Brenda Peterson
Witch’s Reign by Shannon Mayer
Devil in Me by Stephanie Hudson and Blake Hudson
Vincent’s Immortal Curse: Kings of Afterlife by Stephanie Hudson
Revelations by Harper Maze
So only 67 to read on my Kindle. I’m not really one for downloading books, I prefer paper copies. I have got books that I’ve been asked to review by authors but I can never seem to get them on to my kindle so I just use an app called ReadEra for those books.
Juliette N Banks, author of Paranormal Romance Novels, The Vampire King and The Vampire Prince dropped the news today that the latest in the series, The Vampire Protector is now with the editor and ready for release on the 6th July. Not only that, The Vampire Protector is now available for Pre-order here:
Not only that, Banks also states that the fourth book in this series will be out later this year too!
I’ve not actually read this series yet, I’ve got a huge list of books I’ve been asked to review which obviously take precedence, but The Vampire King and the rest of the series are up there on my IRRWTRY list which stands for ‘I really, really want to read you’.
If you’ve not read The Vampire King yet it’s actually Free on Kindle at the moment! The links are just after the blurb.
Blurb: Will the vampire king fulfill his deadly promise to his queen?
Powerful vampire king, Francis Moretti, travels with his sons to the Yorkshire coast in 1891 where he’s confronted by one of the rebels of the race.
When Robert Russo throws down an official challenge for the throne, he is unconcerned. He knows his royal blood holds great potency and he will walk away unscathed. He’s more concerned about the promise he made to his queen nearly one thousand years ago. The deadline is drawing near and his sons, the Moretti princes, are unaware of the destiny about to catch up with them.
Brayden and Vincent Moretti are eager to return home to Castle Moretti, where the season is kicking off, and females are lining up to attend one of their infamous orgies. When the king shares his darkest secret, the two big alpha vampires are in shock. They now face one of the biggest decisions of their lives, that will change their future forever.
Can Francis follow through on the thousand-year promise, and will his son’s help him prove his love to his queen one last time?
The Vampire King is book one in the Moretti Blood Brothers series – a steamy new paranormal romance series filled with powerful alpha males and independent females who aren’t afraid to give them a run for their money.
I know this blog is full of exciting news but there’s more. Banks is also launching an Archangel series. At the moment none of the books have names but what we do know is that there are seven Archangels and therefore there will be seven books. Banks states that the first will be about Archangel Michael.
“He’s the alpha of all alphas, and when he meets human, Sara, she turns his entire universe upside down. Along with the rest of the Archangels. It’s beyond hot and steamy so prepare yourselves”
– Juliette N. Banks
This book will be out before the end of the year and you can stay up to date with how it’s going, as well as for sneaky chapters and the cover as Bank’s progresses by following her Facebook group here:
I came across A Box of Stories through Facebook back in April 2020, when I was absolutely bored out of my mind due to being furloughed. The company wasn’t as big as it is now and they only had a few boxes to choose from; a Surprise Box of 4 Fiction Books (£14.99), a Surprise Box of 4 Mixed Fiction Books (£14.99), and I want to say a Crime, Thriller and Mystery Box of 4 Surprise Books (£21.99) though I’m not 100% on that one. Now however, they have all of those I’ve said above plus a Young Adult Box of 4 Surprise Books (£21.99), a Light Reads Box of 4 Surprise Books (£21.99) and a Historical Fiction Box of 4 Surprise Books (£21.99).
This is the what I got in my May Fiction Box. This will actually be my last box as I just have way to many books to read and need to focus on the books I have been asked to review.
Sugar Money by Jane Harris (RRP £8.99).
Blurb: Martinique, 1765, and brothers Emile and Lucien are charged by their French master with a mission. They must return to Grenada, the island they once called home, and smuggle back forty-two slaves claimed by English invades. While Lucien, burly in his teens, sees the trip as a great adventure, the older and worldlier Emile has no illusions about the true dangers they will face…
My thoughts: Doesn’t sound like my kind of book to be honest. I’m not really into history to be honest, I find it a bit depressing.
Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates (RRP £16.99).
Blurb: I am a good person. I am a person who loves his family. I am a citizen who care about his community. You will not vilify me!
From one of the most highly regarded writers of her generation, Jack of Spades is a psychologically complex thriller that examines the fine line between genius and madness.
Andrew J. Rush has achieved the kind of commercial success most authors only dream about: a top agent, publisher in New York, and twenty-eight mystery novels to his name. He has a loving wife, three grown children, and is well-known in his small New Jersey town for his charitable work.
But Andrew J. Rush is hiding a dark secret. Under the pseudonym Jack of Spades, he has penned another string of novels – dark, violent, masochistic tales of murder, lust and madness.
When a court order arrives accusing him of plagiarism. Rush fears his secret may be exposed. Rush fears his secret may be exposed. And unbidden, in the back of his mind, the Jack of Spades starts plotting his survival.
My thoughts: This one sounds a bit more exciting than the book above but again, I’m not jumping in excitement for this one either. What’s wrong with me? Am I in some sort of readers slum?
The Pill that Steals Lives by Katinka Blackford Newman (RRP £8.99).
Blurb: While going through a divorce, documentary filmmaker Katinka Blackford Newman took an antidepressant. Not unusual – except that things didn’t turn out quite as she expected. She went into a four-day toxic psychosis with violent hallucinations, imaging she had killed her children, and in fact attacking herself with a knife.
Caught up in a real-life nightmare when doctors didn’t realise she was suffering side effects of more pills, she went into a year-long decline. Soon she was wandering around in an old dressing gown, unable to care for herself, and dribbling. She nearly lost everything, but luck stepped in; treated at another hospital, she was taken off all the medication and made a miraculous recovery within weeks.
By publicising her story, Katinka went on to make some startling discoveries. Could there really be thousands around the world who kill themselves and others from these drugs? What of the billions of dollars in settlements paid out by drug companies? Could they really be the cause of world mass killings, such as the Germanwings pilot who took an airliner down, killing 150, while on exactly the same medication as the author when she became psychotic? And how come so many people are taking these drugs when experts say they are no more effective than a sugar-coated pill for people like her; who are distressed rather than depressed?
Moving, frightening and at times funny, this is the story of how a single mum in Harlesden, North-West London, juggles life and her quest for love in order to investigate Big Pharma.
My thoughts: This wouldn’t usually be a book I read. I’m not really in to documentary type books. However, this book really does hit home. I went on anti-depressants and took myself off them only a couple of weeks later. I was being aggressive towards my partner, I was having suicidal thoughts, and all I wanted to do was hurt myself. I really want to know what Katinka found out.
Family Trust by Kathy Wang (RRP £18.99).
Blurb: Meet Stanley Huang. Father, husband, ex-husband, man of unpredictable temper, aficionado of bargain luxury goods. He’s just been diagnosed with cancer, and his family are dealing with the fall-out.
Meet Stanley’s Family. Son Fred, a banker who never has enough money; daughter Kate, juggling a difficult boss and her two small children; ex-wife Linda, suspicious of Stanley’s grand gestures; and second wife Mary, giver of foot rubs and ego massages.
Meet Stanley’s fortune. As the Huangs come to terms with Stanley’s approaching death, they are starting to fear that there’s a lot less in the pot than they thought. And that’s a problem when you live in one of the wealthiest parts of California…
My thoughts: Maybe a Schitt’s Creek kinda vibe here? Not sure… We will have to see. Can’t tell if I’m looking forward to this book or not.
This box cost me £14.24 (you get 5% discount if you set up a subscription) and the cost of the books totalled £53.96 meaning a saving of £39.72. If you would like A Box of Stories for yourself, use this link for £4 off your first box – http://aboxofstories.refr.cc/geelizreads
What did you think of this selection? What book would you want to read the most out of these and which book would you want to read the least? Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Look forward to hearing from you all soon.
Blurb: Some call it the Machine. Some call it the SINC. It’s the most dangerous thing ever created. And it’s fallen into the wrong hands.
Tyler “Book” Malcolm has lived a life on the run. Off the grid, out of sight of the authorities. Hoping to escape a terrifying secret; to outrun what he has seen and what he has done.
Kane is an assassin who, with the help of the Machine, possesses the ability to assume the identity of anyone he wishes. He can strike without warning, and kill without mercy. Stronger than a dozen men, faster than sight itself, he can be anywhere, anytime.
When Book catches Kane’s eye, he discovers the world is even more dangerous than he knew. Now, Book must ally himself with people who, like him, know that Kane is on the verge of remaking the world in his image.
But how do you know who to trust, when the man who wants you dead can be anyone he pleases?
How can you fight for the one you love…
…when you can’t even believe who you see?
My thoughts: I received a free electronic copy of this book for an honest review.
I had never read a Michaelbrent Collings book until this one. In fact, I had never actually heard of Michaelbrent Collings until an email popped in to my inbox asking for me to review Synchronicity. A quick google search showed me that I should have heard of Mr Collings, seeing as he is an internationally bestselling novelist, a screenwriter, and a multi-award winner, amongst other things. He has a list of novels as long as my arm, which after a quick read of the blurbs, the majority were added to my already out of control TBR list with a note to myself to quickly remove them if this book didn’t tickle my fancy.
The good news is, they get to stay on my TBR pile because WOAH, this book was fantastic, and not like anything I had read before. I’ll admit, the first few chapters of the book, especially the chapters from the point of view of the villain, were really confusing. I had to go back and re-read them and finally got my head around it. I think it was the fact they were written in the present tense in 1st person but the character was talking about himself in the 3rd person… does that make sense? Literally though, after the first few chapters there was no more confusion and I just couldn’t get enough.
From early on in the book, I felt a familiarity with the style in which the book was written. I can’t really describe it; it’s quite a casual style with a natural, unforced sense of humour but the style reminded me very much of the Black Dagger Brotherhood Books by J. R. Ward, another series of books I thoroughly enjoyed, though a different genre to that of Synchronicity.
As for the plot, I had The Terminator vibes very early on in this book which then developed to The Matrix vibes so if you want to read a Terminator meets Matrix novel then this one’s definitely for you. I don’t want to divulge too much information about the plot as I really think you all needed to start reading this novel yesterday, but I’ll just let you know that it is an action-packed thriller with lots of twist and turns, amazing descriptive scenes, some gruesome violence that will make your toes curl, and not in a good way (unless you’re in to that sort of thing – no judgement here), and a lot of unpredictability throughout.
Something I always comment on when reviewing books is characters because in my opinion this is JUST as important as the storyline. I don’t think you can ever, EVER have a good novel if you have poor characters. For me, I need likable or at the very least well-developed characters and this is something Collings has managed to do exceptionally well with all of the characters, even the ones who’s time in the story came to a quick(?) end. There are a few ‘main’ characters of this novel but the ‘good guy’ is by far my favourite. I think it helps that his name is Book, so seeing as I’ve got just under a million of those on my shelves, I already hold him close to my heart. Book is a cheeky chappy who never knows when to keep his mouth shut. You can’t help but love him and root for him throughout. I don’t want to delve too much in to the characters as I really want you to meet you themselves, but what I loved about Synchronicity is that you are in the head of the villain a lot. He is truly evil but I loved being in his psychotic head just as much as I enjoyed being in Books hilarious ‘what the **** is going on’ head too. I also loved that the villain, Kane, had the power to jump from body to body, so you never knew when he was going to turn up!
If I was to sum this novel up in three words – Read. It. Now!
Just FYI, all of the authors books are currently $2.99 on Amazon including bestsellers and boxsets plus, forty of his titles are available on Kindle Unlimited meaning you can read these books FOR FREE! Furthermore, lending has been enabled so you can share them with your friends and family!
This was a very small haul but I promised myself that I would only buy a few books as I no longer have room on my bookshelves. I really need to go through my books and yep, you guessed it, get rid of some! Noooooooo! Anyway, look at these beauties…
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
RRP: £8.99 Price: 99p Condition: 7/10
Blurb: Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows that everything feels very small and rather joyless now, and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.
My thoughts: I’ve only recently got into Chick Lit/Romance but I’m really enjoying it. I haven’t yet seen the film but I keep hearing that the book is amazing too, so I decided, seeing as the book was only 99p, that I would risk it for a chocolate biscuit and go ahead and purchase it.
Black Powder by Ally Sherrick
RRP: £6.99. Price: 99p Condition: 8/10
Blurb: England, 1605.
Twelve-year-old Tom is in a terrifying race against time to save his father from the hangman’s noose. In desperation, he makes a deal with a fearsome scarred stranger, known only as the Falcon. But what’s really at stake in this murky world of plotting and gunpowder? Tom must rely on his wits and courage, as his loyalty is put to the ultimate test…
My thoughts: I think the cover was what really pulled me to this book. I then read the blurb and thought it sounded quite a good story line. What do you think?
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy
RRP: £6.99 Price: £2 Condition 8/10
Blurb: Janie Scott has just moved to London from sunny LA, and she’s finding it forbidding, dreary and cold. That is until she meets Benjamin Burrows who dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin’s father – a mysterious apothecary – is kidnapped, he entrusts Janie and Benjamin with a powerful book, full of ancient spells and magical potions.
But there are others who seek the book’s secrets – spies in possession of nuclear weapons that could destroy the world…
My thoughts: What drew me to this book was that absolutely gorgeous cover. Look at it! The blurb also sounds good and I’m looking forward to reading it.
The Finisher by David Baldacci
RRP: £7.99 Price: £1 Condition: 6.5/10
Blurb: Enter a village imprisoned by its fear of the unknown. Where curiosity is discouraged, and no one has ever left – or wanted to. Until now.
Then a mysterious bequest turns one teenage girl’s life upside down. A curious map and a ring which connects Vega to another time lead her to discover an unknown world beyond the perimeter walls. A world filled with possibilities, and creatures beyond her imagining. But before Vega can experience it, she will be forced to fight for her freedom. And unravelling the truth of what exists beyond the confines of her village may cost Vega her life…
My thoughts: Again, it was the cover that drew me to this book. I felt that it looked similar to some books I have previously enjoyed such as Hunger Games but with a Lord of the Rings element to it. It seems slightly Young Adult which is fine but I am starting to enjoy Young Adult books less as they all seem to be rather predictable.
What do you think of my latest haul? Have you ever read these books? Which book would you want to read first?
A single mother’s life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.
It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time.
But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over.
Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it seems.
My Thoughts: I received this book in my A Box of Stories subscription. I had already seen the film so wasn’t particularly looking forward to the book as I was highly disappointed with the film.
Most of the chapters were short which, for me, is a big bonus. I’m one of those ‘just one more chapter’ kinda girls and when it’s more than 10 pages until the next chapter, that can sometimes stop me from reading.
I wouldn’t say I was ‘hooked’ to the storyline, it was just good enough for me to continue to turn the page. What I did notice, is that the writing of the sentences was very confusing, with some sentences being the size of a paragraph.
As for the characters, I personally need to like at least one character, or perhaps not like but relate to them on a certain level. I did not like one single character in this book. In fact, they were awful! If I had to choose then it would be Miles, at a push.
Compared to the film though, the ending was SO much better.
I wrote the review back in December and posted it on Good Reads. I honestly wonder why I gave this book three stars, but I trust my past self so there must have been something I did like about this book.
It’s a book I am glad I have read but will not be one I keep on my bookshelf to read again.
After waking up super early yesterday morning, I decided I would Google search if there were any car boot sales around. I was not disappointed. I managed to pick up two pairs of shoes, a Gryffindor scarf, and some Goosebump Books (to sell). I also managed to get these books at a BARGAIN:
Tess of the D’urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
RRP: £6.99 Paid 50p Condition 7/10
Blurb: Tess is a good woman. But in her time and her place, being good – and being a woman – is not enough to find justice in a world dominated by powerful men and even more powerful traditions. When Tess falls in love with Angel, she cannot imagine the heartbreak that will follow… or the lengths she will have to go to in order prove the strength.
My thoughts: To be honest, I liked the black cover, I liked the condition and I liked the price. I saw one word; ‘Angel’, and decided that this book was good enough to spend 50 whole pence on!
The Shining by Stephen King
RRP: £9.99 Paid: 0.67p (3 books for £2) Condition: 7/10
Blurb: There isn’t one on this book. How strange. I’m guessing with it being so famous, it doesn’t NEED a blurb.
My thoughts: I bought this book because my friend collect Stephen King books. I think she probably has this one but I’ll will find out soon enough. If not, then I will probably swap this as I don’t fancy reading it. I know…. I’m shocking, but I’ve never once fancied reading a Stephen King novel.
What Remains of Me by A. L. Gaylin
RRP: £7.99 Paid: 67p (3 books for £2) Condition: 6/10
Blurb: Thirty years ago, Kelly Lund was jailed for the murder of a famous Hollywood film director.
Now she’s out. Robbed of her youth, but finally free.
However, some secrets are too big to be buried, and when Kelly’s father-in-law is found dead in a pool of his own blood, she finds herself the prime suspect once more.
As the lies and the truth converge, Kelly discovers unlikely allies who think she might be innocent of both crimes.
But if she is guilty, is it possible that she has killed again?
My thoughts: It sounds interesting. I only picked it up as I needed one more of my three (the deal was £1 each or three for £2, so no brainer!)
Me and Mr Darcy by Alexandra Potter
RRP: £6.99 Paid: 67p (3 books for £2) Condition: 8/10
Blurb: After a string of disastrous relationships, Emily Albright has had it with modern men.
She’d rather curl up with Pride and Prejudice and step into a time where men were honourable and strode across fields in breeches, in their damp shirts clinging to their chests. The men she meets are more into pleated trousers, two-timing and internet porn.
So when her best friend invites her to Mexico for a week of margaritas and manhunting, Emily books a guided tour of Jane Austen country instead.
There are no dream men here. The coach is full of pensioners apart from one Spike Hargreaves, a foul-tempered journalist writing a piece on why most women would love to date Mr Darcy.
But then she walks into a room and finds herself face-to-face with Darcy himself. And every woman’s fantasy suddenly becomes one woman’s reality.
My thoughts: Again, I’m going to shock you. I have never read a Jane Austen novel. Never once fancied reading them. I don’t know much about Mr Darcy; the only Mr Darcy I know is Colin Firth from Bridget Jones’s Diary. It does however, sound like a very fun book that I would like to read but may need to do a bit of research first.
More Infamous Crimes… That Shocked the World by ???
RRP: ?? Paid: £1 Condition: 5/10
Blurb: This further compelling volume provides an unequalled compendium of tales from all aspects of the criminal world.
It contains sections on topics as diverse as witchcraft and spying or protection racketeering and police corruption. The more obvious types of crime are, naturally, also featured: from lady-killers such as John Christie, of 10 Rillington Place and parent-killers, such ash the infamous Lizzy Borden, to the evil cult murders of the Manson ‘family’.
Within each section there is at least one complete case study and an account of a classic courtroom drama. The book is written by a team of experienced crime writers and journalists well-versed in the ways of the underworld and with a talent of recounting the facts to provide the maximum insight.
This extensive anthology of some of history’s most celebrated real-life crime dramas is both an absorbing and fascinating read and an unparalleled study of the criminal mind.
My thoughts: I’m really not in to factual books but I’m a bit of a weirdo and I am really in to crime and serial killers. I’m not a criminal and I’m not a serial killer but I love reading (and watching) about their crimes and delving in to their sick minds.
It’s very, very rare that I do not finish a book or leave a one star review but I couldn’t help but feel this way about this book.
Blurb:
Sunday Times-bestselling author Christopher Berry-Dee is back with a companion volume that delves even deeper into the savage world of psychopaths and their hideous crimes. This time, however, he combines sections on killers whom he has known, interviewed or corresponded with, with studies of psychopathic serial killers from the past, including Peter Kürten, the ‘Düsseldorf Monster’, John Christie, responsible for the killings at 10 Rillington Place; and Neville Heath, a ladykiller in every sense of the word.
The result is a chilling narrative that sets the forensic examination of killers and their crimes within the context of murder in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, an examination of the evil mind set against the insoluble problem of identifying psychopaths who kill.
This is not a book for the squeamish, but it is undeniably fascinating in its portrayal of just what one human being will do to others – while all too often moving among us unnoticed and unhindered. If their crimes seem as incomprehensible as they are horrific, it is undeniably true that the world’s most savage killers may be much closer than we think . . .
My thoughts: This book is not what I thought it would be at all I thought it would be interviews with psychopaths and savages but I was wrong. 55 pages in, all I had had was the authors opinion about killers, his political views, and not much else. For such a thin book, I would think that at 55 pages in, we would be on to the ‘main show’; talking with psychopaths and savages. On to chapters titled with a killers name I finally thought I was getting there – the whole reason the book was produced; I finally thought we were going to have an interview with said psychopath mentioned in the title! Yet the writing includes many other killers quotes and isn’t solely about the killer who the chapter was named after. Furthermore, the chapter still isn’t an interview, it is more a history of the psychopath. Like a fellow reviewer of this book proclaimed, ‘All of this information can be found on Wikipedia’ and Yes, the reviewer was correct!
Still confused, and still waiting for these talks with the psychopath the title of the book promised me, I decided to continue to read but the interviews never came, just more history of the killer and what he did as well as more of the authors opinions.
106 pages in… I have to give up 😦
So, on this occasion, this is a book I would NOT recommend. Have you read any great books about Serial killers? Let me know!
Blurb: Harpy infested plains. Dark and foreboding forests. Beasts of myth and legend. All must be conquered by Cass and her small band before they can ask the favor of a God. From the Plains of the Dead Gods all the way to the Temple of Oshia, a mercurial God who promises to grant any wish to those who complete a harrowing pilgrimage, a tale unwinds that begins to unravel a great mystery—a story told only in the hazy atmospheres of forgotten pubs in the farthest reaches of the land… until now. The group quickly finds itself caught in a struggle between the gods that has spanned millennia. And everyone knows that nothing is easy when the gods have a hand in.
This is the first book in the Of Gods & Mortals trilogy.
My Thoughts:
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review.
I have to admit, this is my favourite genre so was excited to begin reading this book. What an absolutely fantastic book! This book had a brilliant original storyline, with well written and interesting characters. I felt that all characters were described well and all of them stuck to their personality throughout. We had characters who grew during the story too which I always love to see. My favourite character is Nat, I wish he had a bigger role but this will likely come in to play in the sequels.
All descriptions, whether it be scenes or people etc were written so well that I could envision everything and it was like I was with the group on their adventure.
This is a book, and likely a series, that I need in paperback or hardback form rather than on kindle so it can take pride of place on my bookshelf.
What i would suggest is that the book is proof read again as I noticed some mistakes such as punctuation and extra words in sentences. Also, at the beginning of the book, every character seems to blush! And it got on my nerves slightly as I don’t think every person would blush in them situations.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the series, eventually!
I’ve been a fan of Stephanie Hudson’s work for a while now. I can’t say from the beginning, though I wish it was, but it’s been at least 7 years. It all started, like it does for so many other people, with them pesky (any by pesky, I mean insanely awesome) 99p daily deals on Amazon. I read the blurb of a book called Afterlife and I thought to myself, Wow, that sounds like my kinda book! So of course I pressed purchase and well, all you avid book readers, know the rest. I became obsessed.
I believe when I first started reading TheAfterlife Saga, Hudson had released four books; Afterlife, The Two Kings, The Triple Goddess and The Quarter Moon. Astoundingly, within these last 7 years, not only has The Afterlife Saga continued and finished with a total of 12 books (and a forbidden chapters book), we’ve also managed to continue within the Afterlife world with 2 (soon to be 3) Young Adult Afterlife Academy books, 1 Kings of Afterlife book (with more on the way I believe), 2 Kings of Kings books , 12 books in the Transfusion Saga, 2 books to be released in June, another book to be released in August, AND NOW out of the blue a HUGE 22 book series with book one being released on MONDAY!!
I present….
Ward’s Siren
Blurb: Eden might have been named after the paradise her mother believed she grew up in… but she was far from that paradise now. No, thanks to her brother, she was more like up shit creek and without a paddle. The kind where hungry crocodiles were chasing after her, only these were armed with guns and sent by the leader of a drug cartel.
Yep, she was so screwed!
Well, that was until a handsome knight stopped to save her on the side of the road, and instead of finding her in a boat, it’s her broken heap of a car that’s one drive away from a junkyard’s resting place. However, the moment she speaks, the gorgeous mystery man, the one full of muscles and a dangerous edge to his voice, seems utterly transfixed by her and is soon intent on offering a lot more than just his help.
Eden has to admit, she is more than a little tempted to see what a night with Mr expensive car and sex on a stick would offer her. But then a quick reminder of her situation is enough to force herself to send her dream man on his way.
On his way to the notorious club Afterlife.
A place Eden was also on her way to, in hopes of gaining the help she knows she could find there. Because a powerful family owned the club… The Dravens.
However little does she know that Afterlife isn’t all it seems to be… as there is a lot more than alternative people all looking for a good time in a grand Gothic setting. Because the VIP holds more than the wealthy and the beautiful. It holds the world’s elite in power and unfortunately for naive little Eden, there is nothing human about it.
Oh, and as for her mystery man…He just so happens to be one of those elite powers, which means he too is far from human and he has his hungry gaze firmly set on one curvy little mortal. A delicious sight the darkness inside him demands he claim before she can escape him again…
His paradise.
His fated Siren.
I am super excited about this book, I just CAN NOT WAIT, and the fact that it is so unexpected makes me shiver with anticipation.
THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS BOOK as it will not be available any other way, not will it be uploaded to ANY reading platform (such as kindle) until NEXT YEAR!
If you are a fellow book lover (which I suspect you are if you are reading a book blog) then The Hudson Indie Ink Book Club is a great place for you to receive offers on books from new authors, along with the chance to win prizes, involve yourself in book quizzes and interact with some fabulous Authors and a community of readers!
Now I’m going to keep myself busy so Monday comes along quicker!
Thank you once again for reading. I would just like to add that the promotion of The Hudson Indie Ink Book Club by myself is solely my decision and I have not been asked by the Book Club to promote them.
On the 12th of February, I decided I was going to start blogging book reviews. I’d wanted to do it years earlier but somebody pulled me down and put me off it. Thanks to an amazing friend and fellow book blogger/reviewer’s (Swords & Spectres) encouragement and help setting my page up, here I am!
I actually can not believe that in just over two months I have managed to reach 50 followers. This is what I wanted to achieve by the end of the year! I am overjoyed and I just want to thank each and everyone of you. I also just want to say that I love the posts you all write too and I have learnt so much from you all.
I think my biggest achievements within this last two months are:
Finding myself on a ginormous list of fellow book bloggers (I nearly typed blok boogers then, haha!) created by the amazing Sofii (A Book. A Thought). The list of which you can find here – The Definitive Book Blogger List 📢
Being contacted by authors for me to review their work.
Interviewing the talented Charis Bell who just so happened to be my very first Author Interview. Not only that but the interview is my highest viewed post to date.
Messaging authors with their reviews and making their day. This is an absolutely amazing feeling because as those who personally know me knows that I love making people happy. This doesn’t mean that I give good reviews regardless of whether the book deserves it, I just feel I’m quite lucky in the sense I’ve not read a bad book recently. I was blocked recently by an author for giving them a 3.5 out of 5; I actually rounded this up on Goodreads as you can’t give half stars on there.
My review of Ulrik by Wendy L. Andersonbeing shared on Instagram by RomanceNovelAddictsAnonymous which has a following of over 1000 people. I couldn’t quite believe it! This makes me really proud of myself as I feel if my reviews are being shared then surely I’m quite good at what I am doing… right?
Finally, the reason for this post in the first place… I’ve reached 50 Followers. I am so happy about it. I would say that I was excited when I got my 1st follower but I wasn’t because that was my friend. I expected him to follow me, if he didn’t then I would have been having words, ha! When the 2nd follower came, and the 3rd, and it just kept on growing I just couldn’t stop smiling! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
My next milestone – 100 Followers. I would love to reach that by my 1st year anniversary.
Here in England, the shops are back open and people are starting to love life again. After getting my hair done at the hairdressers (FINALLY), I decided, being only a 5 minute drive away from the charity shop, that I would go and have a ganders. I was slightly disappointed when I walked through the door as once upon a time the back wall of this very large charity shop used to be covered in books and now, just a small corner.
I’m one of those that love their books looking like new so even though there were some fantastic books, I decided to only buy the ones that were ‘new looking’ enough for my bookshelves back home. So at 50p a pop here’s what I got:
Arena 13 by Joseph Delaney
Blurb: Leif has one ambition: to become the best fighter in the notorious Arena 13.
Here, punters place wagers on which fighter will draw first blood. And in grudge matches, they bet on which fighter is to die.
But the country is terrorized by the creature Hob, an evil being who delights in torturing its people, displaying his devastating power by challenging an Arena 13 combatant in a fight to the death whenever he chooses.
And this is exactly what Leif wants…
For he knows well Hob’s crimes. And at the heart of his ambition burns the desire for vengeance. Leif is going to take on the monster who destroyed his family.
Even if it kills him.
My thoughts: It was the cover that drew me to this book (and the fact it’s a hardback <3). The blurb sounds good and after showing it to my gran on a quick visit before heading home, she agrees with me. The only thing I don't like, and I don't know why this is but it's just the way I am, I really do not like it when sentences start with 'And' or 'But' so when the blurb has this twice, well, it kind of makes me feel uncomfortable. I know – I'm crazy!
A Cornish Stranger by Liz Fenwick
Blurb: When her reclusive grandmother becomes too frail to live alone, Gabriella Blythe moves into the remote waterside cabin on Frenchman’s Creek which has been her grandmother’s home for decades. Once a celebrated artist, Jaunty’s days are coming to a close but she is still haunted by events in her past, particularly the sinking of a ship during the war.
Everything is fine until a handsome stranger arrives in a storm, seeking help. Fin has been left a family legacy: a delicate watercolour of a cabin above the creek which leads him to this beautiful stretch of Cornish water. As Fin begins to pick at the clues of the painting, he is drawn into the lives of Gabe and Jaunty, unravelling a remarkable story of identity and betrayal.
My thoughts: It’s different to what I would normally read but there was just something about it that made me add it to my ever growing ‘To Read Pile’.
The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton
Blurb: The first warning is unexpected, calculated. Malcolm, head of the vampire Church of Eternal Life, is no friend to Anita Blake. So when he asks for her help, Anita is surprised. But he is dealing with the Harlequin, and they require different rules.
The second warning is presented like a gift, with ‘Anita’ printed on the box. Inside, carefully wrapped in folds of pristine tissue paper, is a plain white mask. The fact that it’s white is good news. White means they are only being watched.
The power connecting Anita Blake with Jean-Claude, vampire Master of the City and Richard, Ulfric of the werewolves, has been increasing exponentially – and this has attracted very unwelcome attention. Survival could depend on unity, so Jean-Claude and Richard must set aside their rivalry and Nathaniel and Micah must give Anita all of their love and support. She will also need Edward, whose utterly human ruthlessness and loyalty make him the perfect backup.
Anita Blake has the authority to pass judgement on vampires. The Harlequin have the authority to pass judgement on her. It is forbidden to speak of the Harlequin unless you’ve been contacted.
And to be contacted by the Harlequin is to be under sentence of death.
My thoughts: Holy Sh**!! This book sounds AMAZING (apart from the sentence that starts with BUT in the blurb, grrr), right up my street, oh wait a second… what’s that? Ah…. It’s the 14th book in a series. FACE. PALM. HEAD. WALL. Proceeds to tell the better half that it’s the 14th book in a series aaannd that I have no others. His suggestion, sell it. Hahahahahaha, no no no no no, what a comedian! I need to make room for 13 other books on my book shelf, Sweetie!
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Blurb: 1913
On the eve of the First World War a little girl is found abandoned after a gruelling ocean voyage from England to Australia. All she can remember of the journey is that a mysterious woman she calls the Authoress had promised to look after her. But the Authoress has vanished without a trace.
1975
Now an old lady, Nell travels to England to discover the truth about her parentage. Her quest leads her to Cornwall, and to a beautiful estate called Blackhurst Manor, which has been owned by the Mountrachet family. What has prompted Nell’s journey after all these years?
2005
On Nell’s death her granddaughter, Cassandra, comes into a surprise inheritance. Cliff Cottage, in the grounds of Blackhurst Manor, is notorious amongst the locals for the secrets it holds – secrets about the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is at Cliff Cottage, abandoned for years, and in its forgotten garden, that Cassandra will uncover the trust about the family and why the young Nell was abandoned all those decades before.
My thoughts: Again, not one of my usual reads but something drew me to it. I definitely want to know what’s gone on with the Mountrachet family and why Nell was abandoned and sent to Australia.
Thanks for reading my blog guys 🙂 hope you enjoyed it! Have you read any of these books? Which book would you want to read the most out of these choices?
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