Book Reviews: Resting Scrooge Face by Meghan Quinn, A McKettrick Christmas by Linda Lael Miller and A Princess by Christmas by Julia London

Resting Scrooge Face by Meghan Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even though it was short and sweet, this is my first time reading anything by this author, and I have to say, I enjoyed it. I really liked the letters between the two exes, and I almost laughed when they figured it out. I also enjoyed how it was revealed that senior citizens were behind putting the two exes back together! That was the sweetest part of the short story. I also like how they talked through everything in the letters and while they were painting, even though seeing each other around town almost killed them, to the point that one was hiding behind a trash can. All in all, really enjoyed this short story, might pick up more from this author.

View all my reviews

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A McKettrick Christmas by Linda Lael Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I do read westerns, mostly from William W. Johnstone, and his westerns are oddly cozy but also have action in them. Now a Western romance is different, and I have to say, I...weirdly enjoyed this. I don't read a romance that much, and all it took was a nice cowboy on the cover to make me say, "Yeah, why not, let's read it." and boy howdy did I enjoy this one. It is very different from the bandits, shoot 'em up type books I like to read, but this one was pretty sweet.

Lizzie McKettrick is on a train heading to Indian Rock with Whitley Carson she was going to introduce to her family and maybe marry when an avalanche hits the train. There on the train, Lizzie meets and falls in love with Dr. Morgan Shane. While on the train, waiting on the promised saviors, she started to realize that Whitley is a manchild who didn't give a flying frick about helping people, and tried to go out in the deep snow, to try and escape. Instead, he broke his leg, got drunk, and told a baby to shut up. Yikes on bikes.

Once they were saved and everyone made it to Indian Rock, that's when Lizzie realized that she wasn't in love with Whitley and was in love, somehow, with Dr. Morgan. Even though she's about to be the new schoolteacher to Indian Rock's bright young students, she doesn't know her feelings for the new doctor, who will have to deal with weird ailments coming from beautiful young ladies who want the doctor's bedside manner. But after thinking about it and spending Christmas with her huge family, that's when she decided, even with the help of an "angel" by the name of Mr. Christian (or "Mr. Christmas" as the children on the train called him), that she did love him, and that she waited to marry him, which she did.

The funniest thing about this short book was the fact that one of the students, whose father was on the train and got sick, made her promise to be the teacher even if she was pregnant, which cracked me up, but I'm glad Lizzie made that promise to him. But the one good thing about this book was that she and Whitley became friends, and he went back to San Francisco and found himself a nice young lady to spend the rest of his life with.

Might read more Western romances if they're written like this, I pleasantly enjoyed this one.

View all my reviews

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A Princess by Christmas by Julia London
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was in the mood for a romance with a bit of political intrigue because of the webtoons I've been reading lately. So I picked this one up, and this had the political intrigue in it, but the romance kinda felt lacking, that's why it's a four-star. I did like the fact that the lost prince had a disability, but other than that, and also how the FMC Hollis was strong and a determined woman, but at the same time she feels like everyone is leaving her to go on to live their own lives, and she's stick in London with her servants that has turned into her friends, and all she has is her paper that her dead husband started, and she has been writing for a long time.

Marek Brendan is the lost prince of Wesloria, and he's in London to make sure the Weslorian/Alucian peace treaty is going through, but while that is happening, he falls in love with Hollis and even helps when her butler Donovan gets hurt one night while helping Hollis was information about four soldiers that came on a boat called the Anne Marie and there was a plot to kill the King of Wesloria so the peace treaty won't be valid and then that's when the people behind all of this ruin Alucia.

Even though he couldn't hear in one ear, he was happy on his farm with his dogs and his animals, but meeting Hollis, from what I can tell, changed his entire life, to the point that at the end, in front of her whole family, he asks her to come back home with him, and I got worried a tiny bit that she didn't. She did bring up that her whole life was in London, but then Caroline or one of her sisters said that she was the best wife to her Percy, and she'd been running his gazette for a while now, isn't time for you to follow your heart? And after Donovan told her that they'll be fine, Hollis at the end left to live in Wesloria with her husband and now had a baby with him, and still runs her Gazette from her home.

The one thing that bothered me was when Marek finally met the King and he saved him from the poisoning, but didn't reveal himself to be the lost prince of Wesloria. But it was his decision and I'm glad he stuck with it-because then he wouldn't have Hollis on his small farm with a baby being adorable at the end. Even though this did scratch that romance itch and also the side political intrigue story, it failed a tiny bit becasue of Marek not telling the King who he really was.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Her Christmas Future by Tara Taylor Quinn

Her Christmas Future by Tara Taylor Quinn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book...didn't make a bitter damn sense to me. This book made me have a headache because of how much of a mess this is. This is a second chance, age gap, accidental pregnancy, and for the love of god it was such a hot mess that I needed something to help me get through it. It was so weird and so frustrating that I wanted to DNF it SO BAD. That's how much this book confused me-mostly because it didn't make any sense to me at all.

This book is about Dr. Olivia Wrainwright driving home one night after spending the night over at her ex-husband's house, panicking because oh no, she might be pregnant, oh noes, she shouldn't have done that, and the next day, oh no I might be pregnant with his baby, I can't carry it, oh no what do I do? So she told her closest friend and she suggested taking the plan B pill. But as she thought about what to do with the pill-she called her mama and her ex-husband, Martin, about it, and she still didn't take the darn thing. So then she decided to keep the baby, but since she couldn't carry it because of her uterus I believe, she decided to get a surrogate to carry it for her.

The most annoying thing about this book that just frustrates the hell out of me is the back-and-forth between Olivia and Martin. Do they want to stay away from each other or do they want to be together? It was so frustrating that I just wanted them to decide for one another, or they could just not deal with this and I'll make the decision for them, and then after that, they can just co-parent when the baby comes? That was my plan, but then after they thought about it and spent Christmas together, they decided to get married again, and then they were there when the baby was born.

This book frustrated me so much that I originally gave it a three-star, but then after thinking about it, I'm gonna give it a two-star. It made me so upset and made me get a headache that I had to bring the stars down. I have never read a frustrating book before in my life until now, and I hate it so much.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: A Colorado Christmas by William W. Johnstone

A Colorado Christmas by William W. Johnstone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every time I read a Johnstone Western, it keeps getting better and better. From the action to the cozy days spent in Big Rock, each time I read these books, I oddly feel cozy and warm inside.

A Colorado Christmas tells the story of a Christmas in Big Rock, with Smoke and his wife, Sally, and Chance and Ace Jensen, who may or may not be related to Smoke, and also his brother, Luke. Preacher, the old mountain man, does appear to come to the Sugarloaf, but he came to hide from another mountain man named Eagle-Eye Callahan...for a misunderstanding that doesn't even sound right. Eagle-Eye thought that something was going on between Preacher and his wife after he found some letters that Eagle-Eye's wife wrote to Preacher. Preacher swore up and down that he had nothing to do with it, and that it was all up in poor Eagle-Eye's head.

While the town of Big Rock is preparing for Christmas, someone from the sheriff's past gets out of jail and wants revenge, while a group of people from New York, that is hired by William Litchfield to kill a boy who witnessed his family murder (ow...but why, though?), along with a group of orphans who got stuck on a train, and a private detective following the orphans and the people around, to make sure that they boy called Caleb is the one he's looking for.

This book was pretty funny at times, and also very sweet. The action was there, and it was nice looking up what a bear sign was-which I do believe is cowboy slang for doughnuts. I also really liked how the Jensens opened up their homes to the orphan children, Chance and Ace, and Preacher and Eagle-Eye, through them meeting up again and almost scrapping was funny. At the Christmas Eve pagent, I did get worried that this might be the day something really bad happens to Smoke, but thank god for Luke Jensen (which this is the first time I've meet him, to be honest).

This might be my favorite book to read and come back to every year that Christmas comes around, and I'm glad that I read it.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Lady Osbalderstone and the Missing Christmas Carols by Stephanie Laurens

Lady Osbaldestone and the Missing Christmas Carols by Stephanie Laurens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the cutest book ever. I'm starting to like reading Lady Osbaldestone during the holidays, because of the Christmas spirit and how gentle and kind it is, instead of Stephanie's other books I like. This time, Lady Osbaldestone and her grandchildren, Jamie, Lottie, and George, along with newcomer Melissa are on the case of the missing Christmas Carols. The organist, Richard Mortimer, needs music sheets to play them. While they are trying to find the missing Christmas Carols in time for the Christmas service, romance is in the air with Richard and a harpist named Faith, which is sweet and budding, even though Richard is hiding a secret about himself.

I liked how Jaime, Lottie, George, and Melissa tried to figure out where the missing Carols would be, while at the same time becoming part of the quire that would sing in the Carol service. I did chuckle at a couple of parts of the book, like how Lottie and Melissa knew that the match between Richard and Faith would happen, so they hung back sometimes, and I also really liked how they worked hard on their parts for the Christmas Pagent and the Carol service.

I think my favorite part of the book was the mystery. It was the focal point of the book, and you can see the frustration that everyone has trying to find that book. When they do find it, thanks to the help of a viscount and others, they find it in the most unlikely of places, which is the pantry-turns out, Reverend Coldburn put it there when he did something, I forgot, to be honest. But still, I got worried for a moment that they wouldn't find the book, but when they presented the book to Richard, I felt so much relief from it. But also, the special little quire got some new tenors and bass and others, and the Carol service went off without a hitch.

There was also a little skinny of Richard Mortimer and who he truly was, and when he told Faith who he really was after he fell hard for her, I could tell that he wanted to tell her, but because of his fear of his family he didn't do it, but at the end he did, which I'm glad for. But then, it looked like another budding romance with Melissa and the young viscount, but it didn't happen.

I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this one, it was so good at the end :)

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Last Christmas: A Private Prequel by Kate Brian

Last Christmas: The Private Prequel by Kate Brian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ariana Osgood has become one of my favorite characters of all time. Not because she was smart and everything got dark each time something bad happened, it's because she was smart and quick on her feet to do what she needed to do to survive and get through the holidays, even though she was trapped at Easton Academy during a snowstorm with Thomas Pearson. I liked how she tried to be calm even though she was slowly starting to snap at any moment when the time came, which she did.

This book starts at a Winter's Ball with Ariana, Noelle, and their boyfriends. I had a suspicion that Daniel, the guy Ariana was dating, wasn't a good lad, because he snapped at the Lativan Exchange Student, Sergei, because of him taking a photo of Ariana. Then it started to slowly become worse when Ariana realized that she was stuck on campus after turning in her Madame Brovary paper and had to stay there for two whole days with the boy she hates most of all, Thomas Pearson, whom she started to fall for.

In two whole days, while they fall in love, they realize that someone is watching them. Ariana thought that it was her boyfriend, Daniel, who was supposed to be up in Vermont with his family, waiting for her. Even when she explained that she and Daniel were supposed to lose their virginity together, Thomas started laughing and telling her that Daniel was lying to her-straight to her face. Ariana, not believing him, swore up and down that he was lying. So they went up to Daniel's room and started looking around-only for them to find a spreadsheet of all the girls Daniel had slept with-which is very disgusting, frankly, and Ariana was heartbroken.

So what does one do when she comes across this information?

Why, she turns around and sleeps with Thomas right in Daniel's bed as revenge. Then they went to hide when they heard some footsteps, and Daniel, the bastard whom I don't like at this point, texted her. So because they jumped out of the window and Thomas sprained his ankle, they went to hide in a warm building (Ketlar Hall, I believe?) and then Ariana heard-accidentally, by mistake-Mr, Holmes and Isobel Bautista having relations in their hiding spot, and Ariana took Mr. Holmes's cellphone and recorded it for evidence (and to also use since her phone is currently dead at this point).

She and Thomas, once they left and figured out it was Sergei that took the photo, left their hiding spot and went to the Lativan's room, where they found a whole bunch of photos. When they confronted Sergei, Ariana ran after him over a lake of thin ice, only for Ariana to kill him by pushing his head down and letting him drown. Once that was over, they went back and decided to split apart, only to plan how they could sneak around Daniel and wait till September to finally be with each other.

Well, January rolled around and she and Daniel came back from their trip to Vermont. Ariana got her revenge on Mr. Holmes after receiving a C plus on her paper by playing the video and scarring him, then had a little rivalry with one of Thomas's hookups, allegedly killing her in her own home. Once that was over-the girl showed up at the diner and confronted Ariana about her secrets and threatened to expose her to Daniel and the police, Ariana freaked out and wanted her to disappear, allegedly-everything was perfect again in Ariana's world. Nothing bad will happen.

Until the beginning of senior year, when Ariana saw Thomas-her Thomas-talking to Reed Brennan, the new girl. All of a sudden, Ariana started to get worried, until a thought came to her.

She wondered what would happen if Reed Brennan went missing...

I truly enjoyed this book. Would've given it a five star, but I gave it a four because of Daniel and Melissa and the whole Mr. Holmes/Isobel hookup. All in all it was a really good book and I'm so glad that I brought it and read it.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was such a really cute book, and I really loved the mystery aspect of the book. I liked how Evan, Al, and Mortimer all had chapters talking about books, solving the mystery of the burned-down library, and how someone really wanted to see someone named Petunia. I also really liked how Evan's father explained how the fire started, and also how he was H.G. Higgins, and why he freaked out the moment he saw Evan's books he picked up from the little library.

I think my favorite part of the book was Mortiner's point of view. I've never seen a point of view from a cat, and I have to say, I really like that in a book. I liked that he became the guardian of the little library, and everyone called him every single name instead of the name he was named. When it came to fire, he got all the mice together and they told the story while he was meowing, and it got the adults in the book to act to build a new one.

The only character I kinda felt sad for was Al, who was actually alive and was taking care of both Mortimer and the ghosts. I thought she was a ghost as well, but it turns out she was still alive after Edward, Evan's dad, saved her from the library's fire. But I quite liked the description of the ghosts and how they left her while it turns out she was human this whole time. However, I did also find it cute that she had given the ghosts cheese and tea while they were living in the history house.

Back to the mystery aspect of it, I really enjoyed that. It was fun trying to solve a mystery through the lens of a fifth grader, who was writing everything down in his notebook and had his friend helping him through it all, including his dad at the end. I really liked that in this book and I want to read more books like this and trying to solve mysteries through a kid's lens-it was really fun and I liked how he and his friend tried to solve the mystery before and after they graduate.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Murder, She Wrote: Aloha Betrayed by Jessica Fletcher

Aloha Betrayed by Jessica Fletcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aloha Betrayed was a really good book. We follow Jessica Fletcher as she goes to Maui to teach a class with retired detective Mike Kane. She meets a botanist professor named Mala Kapule, and she invites Jessica to a luau, where Jessica overhears two men talking about something-maybe Mala? But then the next morning, Mala is found dead, and just like the show, that's how this book kicks off.

I liked how Jessica and Mike teamed up to find out who killed Mala, and I also liked the Hawaiian sayings at the beginning of the chapters as we go around the island to find out who killed Mala. It felt like an old-school episode of Murder, She Wrote, and I loved how both Jessica and Mike figured out who did it. I felt like I was there with them, trying to figure out who did it with them. The one thing that confused me while I was reading this book was the whole Bob and Elaine side story. Elaine kept saying 'Oh Bob' while Bob just says and does the most random thing ever, and then they move on as if this couple was working out their problems while on their trip to Maui.

Abbott and his wife kinda didn't make any sense until the end. I was shocked that it was Mrs. Luzon that killed Mala-I thought it was something totally different that killed her like Jessica thought-but thanks to a little boy who saw something and was kept quiet about it, that's when Jessica knew that something was off. When the boy, Kono, runs away from home, Jessica and the other townspeople try and find him, and the part I liked about this was the fact that Aunt Edie, Mala's Auntie, started to pray to Uli, and Jessica was confused at first about it, but when the boy was found, unharmed because of the cane stalk fires, all of us was relieved.

The ending with Professor Luzon and his wife shocked me the most, mostly because she snapped after all these years of getting mentally abused while Professor Luzon went after every pretty girl he saw. When she finally snapped, though, I felt like Professor Luzon deserved it. It was just odd and weird, and was very unexpected.

I would love to read more in the written books of Murder, She Wrote while watching the show at the same time, this one was a really good one.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Death on the Nile was quite interesting. The first chapter when you open the book was broken up into many mini chapters and I got so confused as to why Agatha Christie chose to write the book like this. But then as I read on, from England to a hotel in Egypt to the Nile to the boat and as to why someone would shoot Linnet in the head like that, this book was a ride I was glad to be on, because I was trying to figure out who did kill Linnet Ridgeway. I thought it was her friend Jacqueline-I was spot on-but the whole twist as to why she was killed and why Jacqueline was stalking both Linnet and Simon. Was it because of jealousy? Was it all a plan to get all of Linnet's money so they could do whatever they wanted with it? Was Jacqueline that money-hungry as my mama would say, and wanted all of Linnet's money? Or was it revenge for stealing Simon away from her?

Simon's part of the whole thing confused me. I thought he was faithful to his wife, only to turn around and plan this whole thing, which doesn't make any sense at all. I thought he was happy with Linnet and was glad to marry her. But to surprise me and lie about it, all because of Jacqueline??? Sir. Really?? To me, Simon was one shady bitch throughout this book and I thought to keep an eye on him the whole entire time while I was trying to keep an eye on Jacqueline.

The whole scene in the drawing room, with Jacqueline making a huge fuss and acting weird--to the point that she wanted to shoot Simon to make him pay for leaving her....it didn't make sense. At all. It was one huge weird scene that just threw me off while trying to figure it all out. But then it broke off into some weird 'I saw her do this' and 'he did that' and it didn't make any sense at all. But for some reason....it compelled me though.

The ending was...not that satisfying. I didn't like how both Jacqueline and Simon just died like that, which was sad in my opinion. I thought, 'oh they'll get arrested and go to jail, good for us' but nope, didn't end that way. I'm sad about that part, though, because I felt like Linnet didn't get any justice for what happened to her after we find out it was both Simon and Jacqueline that killed her.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker

The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The King Slayer, once again, was another hit for me. It took me and Elizabeth to many places that I never thought it would take me. From finding out Blackwell was a wizard to him becoming king, to the battle that felt like it was a distraction to something else Blackwell was up to. I had to hold me breath a bit while I was reading this book, and once I was done, it was both refreshing and sad at the same time that the events that led up to the final battle made me happy that Blackwell was gone, but someone had to die in order to do it.

Now the romance in the book between her and John...to be honest, I really didn't care about it. All I cared about was Elizabeth's journey from being an ex-witch hunter to a woman who saved the world and also saved an exiled king. But I have to say, the relationship in the books was cute and adorable between the two, and I was kinda sad that they weren't going to get back together, but then they surprised me and they got back together, even though Elizabeth gave John her stigma when he died. And when King Malcolm came towards the camp, Elizabeth was triggered by memories of what he did to her (which was such an ooof), but I was glad to see that he, slowly but surely, helped out with the war and got hurt.

The thing that shocked me throughout this book was the fact that Caleb and some of the witch hunters who died were revenants, which was both terrible and completely messed up. They didn't even listen to Blackwell most of the time and looked like they were about to split from him. Once he died, I think that's what Caleb did, and it makes me wonder what happened to him once he left.

The ending was perfect. Even though I wished for a book three, I think ending it as a duology is perfect to me, and it makes me think that Virginia Boecker tied it up pretty nicely, leaving the reader with open-ended questions that would be answered in a novella or something. But I think this is the perfect ending for this series, and I hope she writes more books so I can read them all.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Witch Hunter by Virgina Boecker

The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Once again, I've read a book that deals with a character's journey and not caring about the romance or the plot or the action. Reading Elizabeth Grey's journey, from being a witch hunter to being on ex-witch hunter on the run with her enemies, the witches, and warlocks that she would be hunting down and putting to jail...if she didn't find out that the person she thought wasn't a warlock, Blackwell, was actually a wizard and betrayed her by sentencing her to death and throwing her in jail.

She's rescued by an infamous wizard named Nicholas. At first, she couldn't trust him. But the more she's around his home and his people, even though she tries to hide what she really is, she decides to help him find the tablet that can save him and maybe the kingdom. But at the end, she faces her fear, falls in love with a healer named John, and also works with a revenant named Schyuler to find the tablet and destroy it. But what she didn't count on was Blackwell stabbing John and revealing that he was going to usurp the crown...like why, bro. But why???

I am excited to read the second book in the series, but this one was kinda fun, and I hope that the journey continues for Elizabeth, because I felt like there were questions that were left unanswered and I wanted this book to answer them. I did get worried about Elizabeth a tiny bit when she goes into dark places that scare her, but I liked how she overcomes them and makes sure that she finds a way out of these scary situations and comes up with ideas to stop them or get into more trouble with everyone. I cannot wait to jump into book two and see how this series end.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my second Snow White retelling that I've read, and I have to say, I've really enjoyed it, I really liked the journey Lorelei goes through to get rid of the evil queen and also care about the people that are along with her for this journey. There was some romance in the book, but to be very honest, I didn't care about it. But there were dragons in this book, so that was the good thing about it.

Irina was honestly the best villain that I've ever read. I loved how you get to see her plot and try to get her away, and each time Lorelai stops her or foils her plans, she gets really upset and tries something else, in which Lorelai stops her, again and again. The things Irina does in the book are twisted and sick, but at the same time, it was cool. I also liked how she tried to use the love interest, Kol, to kill the princess, but even though it kinda works at the end and Lorelai kinda pulls a Gojo when he's killing her, I still loved how Irina tried to be one step in front of everyone and try to get her target. That is something in Villian that I really like.

Even though the dragons weren't in the books that much, I feel like they need a good little shout-out. I loved that there was a continent/Kingdom for the dragons, and I also loved how they could shift and use their magic to stop Irina and save their King. But I think what I really liked while I was reading this book was Kol's backstory and how he became King. I found that I liked that in a character and that I want to read more of them, possibly in the near future when it's written just like this.

I really enjoyed it, would read it again because it was that dang good of a Fairy Tale retelling.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall by Carolyn Keene

The Ghost of Blackwood Hall by Carolyn Keene
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was really confusing to me. Because we were in New Orleans, then we were this place and that place, and this whole entire book was about a scam. A true blue, out-in-the-woods scam. With ghosts and people using a ranch as a way to get people to pay, this book was just...too confusing for me to put down. I thought it was going to be a great mystery, but I felt let down with all this jumping up and down Nancy and her friends do all the time and not even thinking about the consequences.

The only thing I liked about this book is the father-daughter relationship Nancy has with her daddy. Other than that...that's all I liked about it. The rest of the book felt like one huge rollercoaster without anyone stopping the ride until we're done with it. When I figured it all out, it was a letdown for me. I might give Nancy Drew another shot later on down the road, but until then, I think I'll leave this one alone until I feel ready to pick up another Nancy Drew book and see if I like it or not.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Jackaby by William Ritter

Jackaby by William Ritter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jackaby surprised me. I didn't think I would like a book about a detective who is Sherlock-coded (even though I hate that word throughout my body) solve a mystery in America-and yet I did. I couldn't stop reading it and seeing the world through Abigail Rook's eyes was quite fun. I did chuckle at the cheeky humor whenever Jackaby talked and how Abigail took in almost everything about the murder scene, which was written really well, and I also liked how the supernatural creatures were put into the story.

I was hoping for some Doctor Who vibes, which is what I was honestly looking for, but the only vibes I've gotten is the Sherlock Holmes vibes, and I'm just silently waiting for Moriarty to pop up and be the Napoleon of Crime in the city of New Fiddleham-which, I find, I really like. I was hoping to read about London, but I liked reading about a town in New England and a man and a girl run around town solving murders.

The supernatural creatures in this book were pretty fun to read about. I loved reading about the werewolf and the redcap-two very different creatures but the fight was actually pretty darn good. I wasn't even expecting the Commissioner to be the redcap, but after Abigail said that he had a metal leg, I believe it was, I couldn't stop thinking about the Commissioner and how he was trying to hide what he was.

The only reason why this is a four star and not a five is because of the Doctor Who vibes, but I think it went over my head when I was reading this book and just settled for the American Sherlock Holmes who can see supernatural characters and try to solve murders that only he can solve. And I think that's why I enjoyed the book. Yes, it was funny when Abigail threw books at the Commissioner, but at least it kinda stopped him.

I think one day I will pick the next book up and read it all, to see if it still has this momentum because I really enjoyed this book.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco

Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kerri Maniscalco has done it again. Magic, mystery, romance, Wrath not becoming the only Prince of Hell that was gonna be a Georgia Boy since he and Emilia are married now (*cries in Georgia Bulldog*) but it's okay! I truly enjoyed the way the book was written and I really loved Emilia's journey the most. I loved how she was a witch, then falling in love with Wrath and marrying him, finding out that her sister isn't dead, oh and that she's a goddess of fury and Nonna kept all of this from both her and her sister.

Books like this, for me, are very rare, but at the same time, I enjoy seeing characters I really like grow into the person they are now. The mystery was so intriguing to me that I wanted to know more. I had so many questions in my head, and Kerri and Emilia just took my head and just lead me to the answers while we figure out how Vittoria survived, how the ever-lasting fuckery does Domenico have magic, and also what happened to Greed's general.

All of my questions were answered, and I wasn't disappointed. The action was so good that I was cheering and gasping when things came to light.

Wrath became more and more like and loveable that I had sworn while reading the first two books that he will be mine, and that I could do whatever I wanted to him. But the third book made me really happy because he and Emilia finally got married and as they figure out what happened in the past and how to unlock the curse that was placed on the both of them, they were in sync all at once and I loved every bit it.

This might be one of my favorite series that I've ever read and I'm so glad that I read it.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The International House of Dereliction by Jacqueline Davies

The International House of Dereliction by Jacqueline Davies
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This middle-grade read was SO CUTE. I really enjoyed reading about Alice fixing a house and helping the ghosts haunting the house move on. I almost cried reading this book, I laughed and giggled throughout the entire thing, and on top of that, I really cared about the characters as they tried to help one another with the thing they lost, and it wasn't that scary at all. It was just right, and I'm really surprised at how much I really loved this book. I wish there were more because of how much I really enjoyed this book. I didn't want it to end at all.

My favorite ghost in the book had to be Mugwort. At first, he was a bit grumpy and was repeating himself, but then he opened himself up to Alice more and more and even told her that she would make a fine soldier for everything she was doing for them. Danny had to be the sweetest ghost of them all, even though he hid in the walls and wailed all the time. I really liked how he put his poetry into code and Alice found someone who could encode it for her so Jenny, the girl Danny was crushing on, could read it. And I almost held my breath when Alice and Ivy went upstairs to retrieve Ivy's old book that she didn't turn in, but at least it was turned in when they fought off the Fury...which turned out to be a really old family member.

The mother and father in the book cracked me up a little bit while I was reading it, including the Mother's lectures, the titles were quite enjoyable and it made me wish I was there to actually listen to the lectures. As for the dad, he reminded me of my own daddy and how he would fix stuff or start a new project when he could. And I really loved Alice and how she had the mind and knack to put things back together again, that is something I've never seen in a character before.

I highly reconmend this book, it was really good and I enjoyed myself very much reading it.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Death Overdue: A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook

Death Overdue by Allison Brook
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book when I read it as an audiobook. I gave it three stars because I felt like the narrator took me out of the story for just a bit, and the story was so cozy and sometimes a bit boring. I think if I read it physically or on my Kindle it would've been better and I would've enjoyed myself. But anyway, this one is about Carrie Singleton, who moves back to Clover Ridge and is living with her aunt and uncle, and is also working at the local library. When she's called into the head librarian's office and is offered a new position at the job. When she was about to open her mouth to turn it down, that's when someone in her ear told her to think about it. When she did, that's when things started to change in her life.

After a day of thinking about it, she accepted the position of Head of Programs and Events, and thanks to the ghostly help, along with gaining a rival, Carrie is starting to enjoy living at Clover Ridge. Her first event is an ex-cop named Al Buckley, who claims that he has new evidence about the murder of Laura Foster. During the event, Al got poisoned and died, thus leaving Carrie feeling sorry for herself for even having the event.

While she was feeling sorry for herself, she teams up with Jared Foster to find out who killed Al and his mother, all the while she's settling down, getting a cottage that's not that far from town, almost working with Evelyn, the ghost who haunts the library, to find out who did it and why. When she found out who did it at a house party, I was kinda surprised, but at the same time, I wasn't. I thought it was Ryan, Jared's brother, because of how uncomfortable he made me and Carrie. Dylan was just...Dylan, to be honest.

But if I read this again physically, I think I would've enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The voice just took me out of the book, and the ending shocked me a little bit.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everyone who read this book said they either get hungry because of the food descriptions, or the action in it. BUT NO ONE WARNED ME ABOUT PRINCE WRATH. Nope. Not a one. In my head, Wrath is Wrath from the Black Dagger Brotherhood. But this Wrath? Mr. I Have A Golden On My Arm, I Am Basically War, has the sass of Hellsing Ultimate Abridged!Alucard with the elegance of the Castlevania Alucard? All y'all fired. I'M SO MAD THAT EMILIA DIDN'T WIFE THIS MAN UP IN A HEARTBEAT. I loved this book so much-the magic, the summoning, the demons, all of it. It was so much fun, and the shocking part about everything was Prince Envy being the villain. I didn't even pick him up as the villain, but he was just *chef's kiss* beautiful in the book.

The food in the book made my mouth WATER. I wanted to sit at the restaurant and eat all that good food-that's how much I loved it. I even cracked up when Wrath discovered the magical dessert of cannolis before they were attacked by the demon.

The Prince's powers and how each of them uses them were very interesting. I wanted to know more about the rest of them, but I don't think I wanna know more about Lust's powers, because I felt like he violated Emilia to forget and to have fun without her consent-that's the only thing I didn't like about it. Other than that, I loved how Greed's power worked and how Envy worked. I also liked how the magic worked in the Kingdom of Italy. I wasn't even expecting the Church (did I? Did I though?) or the priest that both Emilia and Vittoria knew would betray them. I was honestly expecting something else.

I think my favorite part about the whole entire book was the summoning part. I really, really enjoyed them summoning part. And the mystery of what happened to Vittoria was very spot-on. I was following along with Wrath and Emilia to find out who did it and why they did it. I cannot wait to dig into book two to read more and cross my fingers that Wrath and Emilia gets together. If not, then I'M WIFING UP WRATH.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I first read Murderbot in May, I felt like I wasn't going to like the series because of the narrator-he was too clunky in my opinion. But when I finally read it-OH MY GOD. I loved it. Every bit of it. Murderbot was the funniest character I've ever encountered in my whole life, and on top of that, I loved the action, I loved how Murderbot interacted with the people they were looking after, and I also loved how sweet it was each time Dr. Mensah cared for Murderbot.

I would die for Murderbot because of how they were blunt, straightforward, and actually caring at the same time, even though they don't care about anything, and all they wanna do is live their best life watching their serials and not give a damn about pretty much all humans.

I also liked how serious Dr. Mensah was throughout the whole entire thing. She was smart and straight to the point, and she made sure everyone was alright during the entire mission. I really liked the fact that she was also trying to understand Murderbot when they didn't want to know anyone at all. But their friendship bloomed into a friendship of understanding and the ending...it did gut me though because I wasn't even expecting it.

I thought that they were going to stay with them once they were brought from their contract, and they just up and left and left Dr. Mensah the entire recording of their mission, which made me sad a bit, but it's okay, because it left me wanting more and I need to know more. I can't wait to read the next book to see where this takes me, because its SO GOOD.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Snow and Poison by Melissa de la Cruz

Snow & Poison by Melissa de la Cruz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a Snow White retelling that was okay. I liked how the story was-it was entertaining and enjoyable. But when it came to the execution, it was a couple of chapters too long. I did care about the characters, which was good, but when it came to the retelling, it was alright, nothing to run home and tell Mama about.

I did like the relationship Snow White, or Sophie had with her stepmother. I was honestly waiting for the stepmother to hate Snow White and go evil, but instead, she was always helping Sophie, and even helped her when the things she thought she did were evil was actually helping her. Which was both shocking and really good in a good way. I really like that dynamic, and her father is kind of helping her, but at the same time, he really doesn't help her at all. How he died was sad, but it helped the both of them get stronger, in my opinion.

Prince Philip...eh, he was okay. He wasn't the kind of dude I would hang out with, but I can see why Sophie fell in love with him. Placing the story in Bavaria was pretty interesting, and it set the tone of how the story would be told. I think I would like to see more of Bavaria, but then I realized as I kept reading...I didn't give one flying flip about Spain. I don't know why, maybe it was King Ferdinand doing all this horrible stuff to break Philip and Sophie up. Maybe it's because of how Sophie had to escape from his men-I don't know, but I felt like close to the ending it felt flat.

I did like the children in the book and how they all grew to love Sophie when she taught them how to read. All of them were so cute and adorable, and I'm glad that Sophie and Philip adopted them.

All in all, this was an okay retelling of Snow White. Nothing to come home and tell mama about, tbh.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Coven by Harper L. Woods

The Coven by Harper L. Woods
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Yes, I gave this book a five star. But the more I marinated on it, the more it's just a simple two-star star book-for so many reasons.

1.) Williow Medizza was a flat, boring character. I have never read a one-dimensional character like Williow before. Ever. She was off being a badass without caring about anything else. Her magic was cool, but everything else about her made me want to just skip her whole entire chapters completely. She honestly made me want to go to sleep because she just...didn't want to do anything that would help pertain to the book or the plot.

2.) Literally, no magic was in this book.. The only magic that was in the book was Willow's and no one else's. No other witchy things happen in the book and I got upset because there was no magic in it whatsoever. It was like the author forgot about the magic part about a school, there was no group of girls going outside and doing magic-none of that. I wanted to learn more about the other witches and the magic system, and...and it just wasn't there. No magic system, no explaining the different types of witches and their magic, no nothing. It felt like it was bare and nothing happened in the magic that screamed magic.

3.) The mystery was okay. It was alright, nothing to run home and tell Mama about it. I wish there were more figures out than Willow trying to fix everything and such. The investigation was bland and I didn't have time to find out who did it and why. Why didn't she go deeper? Who was doing all of that to these students?

4.) I only cared about Thorne and no one else.. Thorne was the most interesting character I've ever read about, and I honestly cared about him. He can say terrible things to me and I'll thank him for it and ask him what's next. Thorne was such an interesting character that I loved so much that he's one of my book boyfriends. But everyone else can go away and I'll never see them ever again-just give me a Thorne-focused book and I'll be happy as a lark reading all about him.

5.) There was only one class in this book-no other classes. If you're going to write a dark academia-type novel, write a novel where the characters go to classes and see how they feel during those classes. Having one class in the book makes me feel like no one else goes to this school, and they only go to this one specific class every day. I found that not realistic, and on top of that, there was no information about the school or how the school functions with the Covenant being skeletons and things like that.

I don't think I'll pick up book two, even though the ending shocked me. I wish this book gave more than it did, without falling flat for me.


View all my reviews

 

Book Review: A Dynasty of Monsters (Warhammer: Ange of Sigmar) by David Annandale

A Dynasty of Monsters by David Annandale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book...blew my mind.

Lauka Vai can step on me and I'll thank her for it.

I was expecting this to be the thing I need for this autumn season and this blew all my expectations out of the water. It was dark, it had the vampires in them who were monsters but were the most human out of all of them, and it also shows how someone who believes so hard in their city becomes a zealot to do whatever they can to keep the so-called "monsters" out of their city, to protect the people who can't fight at all but want to protect them.

I was mad, nodded at some parts, gasped at some parts, and also went "daaaamnnnn" in my mind as I read this. I learned about the Avengorii and how Lauka Vai makes sure they don't succumb to their bloodlust as they help the people of the Colonnade fight the beastmen and their people. The only that that irritated me throughout this book was the fact that the bard was the villain this whole time, and no one knew about it, only his brother did. I did like that in the end, he got his just desserts, and I also like how the councilor tried to save her city, just tried. But after learning the whole truth about her city, and how pure they wanted to be and betraying the Avengorii and Lauka Vai, that's when she just snapped and killed almost everyone that she thought she called friend and family, and also that Vash fellow was just so annoying. I'm glad he got his as well.

My favorite character has to be Kavak. He reminded me a bit of Alucard from Castlevania, but at the same time, he saw the evil going on in his old city and wanted to save them, but then he saw that his brother, his own flesh and blood, was doing all of this...well he wanted nothing else to do with him. I also loved Lauka Vai and how majestic and elegant she was. She didn't even bat an eye at the people looking at her because she was different. She was the perfect commander to lead her Avengorii and her Vengorian Lords to war. That was so good and fun to see and I want to know more about Lauka Vai and the Avengorii in more books.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book pleasantly surprised me. I wasn't expecting to love it, but when I did get down to the nitty-gritty and get past the plant parts of the book because, to be honest, I was getting bored of them and was about to go to sleep with all the plants. But when you bring up Greek Mythology, that's when you got my attention. I really liked how Briseis took care of the plants and explained what they were. I also really liked Karter up to the end of the book. And Marie might just be one of my favorite characters because of the fact that yes, she's way older than Briseis, but at the same time, she's smart and she kinda of reminds me of Undead Murder Farce's Aya Rindo-without the not having a body part.

The way the magic system works in this book made me think of the D&D druid. She's growing flowers, including poisonous ones, and she does her research on who Medea was and why her family is a descendant of her and always prays to Hecate. I also like Briseis's mothers and how they were always protective of her, though I really didn't like how her mother passed. I really didn't. I was also kind of suspicious of Mrs. Redmond and how she was so nice, but in reality she wanted the heart for herself for a really stupid reason, to be honest. Just because you're a descendant of Jason doesn't mean you can just get it and you can walk among the gods. Nah. Don't work that way.

Kaylnn Bayron's writing pulled me in, and I'm so glad that I read this book. I was scared a little bit that I wasn't going to enjoy it, but the more I read it, the more I did, and I liked how the plants and the Secret Garden and the mythology all seamlessly combined to make a really good book. I would like to read more from this author as I expand my reading and find out what I like and don't like.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Grimoire of Grave Fates by Hanna Alkaf

The Grimoire of Grave Fates by Hanna Alkaf
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Grimoire of Grave Fates is the first anthology that I didn't have to read for class, and also it was really good. I enjoyed the interconnected stories about the many students that go to the school, and figuring out the mystery of one terrible professor who died. I really enjoyed reading this anthology and trying to find out who killed the terrible professor-which I really didn't like the moment he appeared and was talked about the whole entire time.

The ending fell short for me, mostly because I wasn't even expecting the Vice principal to actually commit the murder. I thought it was one of the students who really hated him for all the terrible things he said and done. But for an administrator to do it? And somehow put poison that turns your blood into sand? That oddly interested me throughout the book, and I wish we'd gotten a part where the professor or one of the students actually explained what the hell was in Hourglass Poison.

The only character I really didn't like was the professor. The more the students brought up who he was and what he said to them, I felt happy that he was gone. No one should suffer under than man, though the real question I posed throughout this book was, Why didn't they fire him and throw him out on his keester if he's saying and doing these horrible things to the other students?, that was something I wanted to know. And how come no one even suspected the Vice Principle? I find that kinda of messed up, but then, no one even knew about her, tbh.

Those are the only parts I didn't like and what I had on my mind while I was reading this, but other than that I enjoyed this book so much.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald

Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This...this was the most UNHINGED slow-burn book I've ever read. Ever. I did look up the CWs for this book, and, um...that didn't prepare me for this unhingeable book about a girl who keeps causing problems, always, and the girl who can summon water, but it turns out she was actually stealing water from other kingdoms. What's the idea the girl gets (her name's Emanuela) to stop her? Oh, she's going to try to steal the water back.

But before she can do that, she has to deal with a little problem on her wedding day: a woman called the watercrea comes and takes her up the tower in the Ruby Veil, where she starts to drain her blood. Well, Emanuela didn't like that, not one bit. She escapes the Watercrea's castle and then she goes to her supposed fiancee's house, where it turns out that he married another girl two days after she was taken up to the tower, just when she was taken because of her omens that she had hidden on her side and had never blossomed ever since she discovered it when she was seven. Emanuela was shocked that her best friend, Ale, got married again-and that's when the watercrea shows up again, trying to get her back into the tower.

Emanuela said "Bet" and...well, she pushed her and killed her.

Then she and Ale went underground in the tunnels into a new city, where they sneaked in and met a girl called The Heart and her brother, and that's when things started to get so unhinged that I couldn't even believe it. From one thing to the next, the action just jumps off the page and you don't know how this story is going to end until the end, when Emanuela and the Heart, Verene, was in an iron cell and Verene swears that she won't work with Emanuela escape or even work with her because she hates her so much. Emanuela, once again, said "Bet" and at the end, a girl escaped the iron cell. Who was it?? Was it Emanuela? Was it Verene? Whoever it was, I can't wait to find out who it was that escaped when I finally get to book two.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am shocked and pleased that I have enjoyed the Atlas Six. I had a fear that I wasn't going to like it, but to be honest, I truly enjoyed it. I didn't care for the plot, since it is a slow build. I cared about the characters more than I ever did the plot, and on top of that, I may have liked some of them, like Reina, Libby, Parisa, Nico and Tristan. The one I really didn't care for as much as I would've loved to, was Callum. I thought that he was going to die, and I was prepared for it, but then, sadly, it didn't happen, all because Libby was kidnapped by her ex and not killed by anyone else.

The whole thing about Parisa's past and Callum just casually bringing it up was something I really didn't like at all. I was mentally going "Bruh, for real? Now? For real?" And then him just...manipulating Tristan while Libby is trying to figure out what he can do and all that was fun, especially when they did what I THINK they did (LibbyTristanParisa with absinthe) and then the mystery of Nico and Gideon and how Nico was protecting Gideon from his mama (which is fair, seeing as that she gives me the bloody creeps).

I was kind of side-eyeing Atlas the whole time, because there was something about him I just didn't like at all. He made me sniff and look at him with a very deep side eye because he's supposed to be the "Caretaker" but in my opinion, he didn't do much caretaking to me. But then when it came to Ezra's point of view (and I straight up hate Ezra) and seeing what Mr. Atlas was planning...I immediately hated him and wished him to go to doody town as much as I wanted Nico to go until he grew on me, and where I want Callum to go because I really don't like Callum at all, to be honest.

I am going to read the second book because I really enjoyed this one so much.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I bought this book a long-ish time ago, and reading it now for a reading challenge made me grateful to get it (because if I didn't, I'd be running around with my head chopped off trying to find this book) and when I say that I enjoyed this book friends, I ENJOYED IT. I enjoyed it so much that I wrote down so many quotes that screamed at me to write because it was so good. I wanted to go to Dalloway and spend time with the girls from Godwin House and go to their little Night Migration sessions and just have fun, and also before Felicity because that's how much I truly enjoyed and adored this book.

I wasn't keen on Felicity at first, with the story sounding all kinds of weird and not right when she talked about her dead girlfriend Alex Haywood, thinking that either she or Margery had come back to haunt her. She came back to school to finish up her high school diploma, and during her time in school, she met the rest of the Godwin House Girls and the one and only Ellis Haley.

Ellis Haley was a prolific writer who wanted to write about the Dalloway Five, five young witches who had died quite horribly. Felicity, who once upon a time was obsessed with the story and with witches and witchcraft, didn't want anything to do with Ellis's project. But she got roped into it, and soon enough she was helping Ellis with how some of these young women die, along with trying to straighten out her own mind and to also find out what really happened with Alex.

One night, she and Ellis went to Alex's grave, and Felicity knew that there was nothing in her grave-in fact, she knew that the grave was empty. Ellis offered to dig it up, and Felicity told her no. Instead, that's when Ellis gave her The Secret Garden to read to Alex, and the next morning the book showed up, along with a piece of hellebore in the middle-the hellebore that grew on Alex's grave.

At this point, I thought that it was suspicious that The Secret Garden showed up, along with the hellebore, but then things just started getting weirder and weirder and weirder, to the point that Felicity went back to Alex's grave, dug it up, and found Clara there, dead.

I was shocked too when I read it.

Scared out of her mind, she went to talk to Ellis about it...who, it turned out, killed Clara the same way one of the Dalloway girls was killed. Then the final showdown between Felicity and Eliis, which didn't end well, and at the funeral, Ellis's mothers tried to give Felicity her book, but she turned it down. Years later, Felicity came in contact with the book again in London, and when she read the thing in the beginning of the book I cannot remember, she quickly shuts the book and goes to her flat with her girlfriend.

I truly enjoyed this book so much. I want to read it all over again because of how good it was. It had the dark academia vibes along with the queer ones that I really loved.


View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even though this book is supposed to be Gossip Girl meets Get Out (never seen it before) I thought it was Gossip Girl meets Pretty Little Liars, and it was SO PERFECT. Black Dark Academia trying to stop someone from trying to ruin their lives, while also uncovering who they are and stopping them? My god this was perfect. I honestly bought this book because of the title (yes, Motorhead did come to my mind when I saw the title) but now, after reading this book and really loving it (please check the CWs because GOOD LORD) I didn't want this story to end.

Chiamaka became my favorite character in the book. I was worried about Devon while I was reading it, because of the fact that his relationships seem to go wrong, and he was getting betrayed left, right, and sideways. Chiamaka's relationship with Jamie then Belle looked like it was going swimmingly, then it got ruined because of Aces spilling her secrets. When both Chiamaka and Devon team up to find out who Aces is and why they are doing this to them-the only black students in a predominately-white school. But when the both of them found out about the history about the school and how the black students that went there disappeared...

Wow.

Oh my god.

I wasn't expecting it, it came out of nowhere, and my mouth DROPPED.

I wanted both Devon and Chiamaka to expose this horrible school for what they did and are doing to the black students that went there. And they tried at the Snowflake Ball, but sadly, it looked like everything was going to backfire on them, when the protest happened and the school blew up. I did get worried that Chiamaka wasn't going to be a doctor, and thank god that she did. I'm also glad that the both of them are in really good relationships and that they are fighting the system.

This was a really good black and queer dark academia novel, might be one of my favorite books of this year, and I highly reconmend all of y'all to read it.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ever wanted a book that gives you a hug and some coffee the moment you open it? That’s how I felt when I read Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree, and I loved every single moment of it. I loved how we’re on Viv’s journey from stopping on being an adventurer to being a coffee shop owner, bringing the love of coffee and treats to the river town of Thune. I loved seeing her grow and change her ways, and also find some non-violent ways of handling things, from coming to an agreement of thimblets to the Madigal and actually helping people in one little way to another.

I fell for the little rattkin Thimble is the bestest of all the boys and I would do ANYTHING for him. I can almost smell him making the cinnamon rolls or the thimblets (which is actually a real recipe). I also like Tandri and how she soothes Viv out and is always coming up with really good ideas (and she’s really talented when it comes to doing art and designing the menu). Another thing I really liked about this book is that it was so cozy and that I wanted to visit Thune and go to Legends and Lattes and get a nice cup of coffee and a treat and enjoy myself.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book, which didn’t annoy me like most fantasy novels, was the fact that Fennus appeared out of nowhere. Viv and the others was just minding their own business and Fennus would show up, waiting the Scalvert’s Stone and taunting Viv a bit. But I did like that her old crew showed up and visited her, even helped her rebuild when the original coffee shop was burned down.

The one thing I was curious about was the gnome playing cards, but then I just chalked it up to the fact that he just wanted a place to rest, have some coffee and play chess. Also have the direcat Anthy or Amity curl up next to him. I just wanted this gnome to live his best life and mind his own business. That’s it.

But I truely enjoyed this book, I would read it again so I can be enveloped with this with a warm hug and some coffee next to me.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I normally don’t read books that comes out in a year. I normally wait for the next year to read them. But this time, on my trip coming back home, I picked up this book and I fell in love with it as soon as I opened the book and started to read it. I have never read a book this cozy before in my life, and I’m wishing that I heard more about this author, because this book was so good. Grumpy x sunshine, grumpy bodyguard teaching the sunshine flower stone owner how to date, and slowly but surely falling in love with her, and also bodyguarding her best friend while she’s planning her own wedding to the brother of the sunshine flower store owner.

I really enjoyed this book so much-I was really not expecting to enjoy this small town book and crackle at the residents in the novel. Like Mrs. Mabel and Mrs. Harriet fighting, the grocery-store scene of them putting things in their baskets, and them falling in love. I was relating so hard to Annie and how awkward she was on dates and when it came to Will, calling him every single interation of his name, she felt much better, even comfortable with him. And Will really wanted to leave Rome, until he realized that he didn’t want to.

But before he came to the revelation, Will didn’t do romance. The reason why he didn’t do romance or relationships was because of his parents. He had a pretty bad relationship with it, so that’s why he always have one night stands and little flings. But when it came to Anne Walker, he started to become her practice date, he started to fall for her. He’d get jealous whenever she even talks to a man in his vicinity, he even drinks the consent juice and asks her if it’s alright if he touches her.

And Annie was the one character I really liked in this book. She told Will not to call her ‘Angel Annie’ because she didn’t like it, she reads romance novels and tries to hide it, but at the end, she showed her best friend and sisters after finally explaining herself and what happened between her and Will, and also went on her first date after her date disaster, when the guy said that ‘she was boring’. But I really liked how brave she was when she told Will the things she wanna do, but she couldn’t because everyone put her in a box and she wants to live her life…

…and Will, whom I love to bits, tells her that “You were waiting on someone to let you be yourself.”

And that quote nearly sent me.

And the ENDING. I loved it. It almost made me cry. Now I wished someone did that for me, because it was so good. Sarah Adams became one of my new favorite romance author and I need to read the other two books because this one was really cute and really cozy as well.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay…this book right here…brought it a month ago, had it on my kindle for the longest time and just never read it, and now that I read it, I still can’t stop thinking about it. Enemies to lovers, she fell first, the Shadow King is basically Gojo Satoru but with Shadow Magic? Bruh, I CAN’T with this book. I still love it though, but this book just took me places I didn’t even think was even possible.

My favorite characters in the book are Alessandra, Kallias, Rhoda and Hestia (I think that’s her name). I really enjoyed how Alessandra made a plan to kill Kallias once she became queen, but then, slowly but surely, she was falling in love with him without thinking about it. I think that was my favorite parts in the book-how she started to slowly fall in love with him without even thinking about it, asking him questions about his life, asking him about his shadows, just getting to know him. And when he was having problems, Alessandra came up with ways that actually helped the kingdom that I knew she was the perfect queen.

But Kallias…lemme talk about him for a minute. I thought he was just some old king who has this shadow magic that isn’t that scary. Until Alessandra went through him on that carriage ride, and the first thing I thought of once he explained how his shadow magic works was, and I wrote this down in the book: ‘He’s bloody Gojo.” Because yes, Gojo has infinity and can turn it off when he wants to, but Kallias has Shadow Magic. Homeboy can also turn it off and on if he wanted to, thus he’s fantasy Gojo…darn it.

But that little mystery of Alessandra killing her first love and making it a disappearance was kinda…stupid, in my opinion. She killed him, left him for dead, and then after a couple years later, people are hunting her down so she can confess that she did kill Hektor. When she told Kallias…all he did was laugh at her. That’s all he did-laugh. Apparently it was funny to him that she killed him so he won’t do it, and I was like…okay…cool beans, my guy…but was it that funny? Was it?? (Apparently to him, it was).

Another thing that I really liked about this book was the advice Alessandra gave to her friends. Some of them hit me while I was reading this book, and I was agreeing with her one hundred percent, even told Rhoda to go after her manservant. I really liked that about Alessandra, while she was trying to go through with her plan to kill Kallias so she can be Queen. But after the miscommunication trope rearing its ugly head again when Kallias found the poison to kill him along with finding out that his brother was still alive and parading around as Leonidas I think the name is and was trying to kill him was fun to read. But other than that, I really enjoyed this book. Might not be my favorite, but it was good nonetheless.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh. My. God.

This is the coziest book I’ve ever read in my life, and on top of that, I really didn’t care about the romance. All I cared about was the Nowhere House, and the people that lived in the house. I wanted to hang out with Ian, Ken, Lucie, Mika, Jamie, Altamira, Terracotta and Rosetta and stay in that house so much that I wished it was real. I really liked the everyday life that happened in the house, and I wished that they were real-that’s how much I really loved this book. The romance in the book was down on my list of things about this book that made it really good, I just loved how cozy and how I wanted to live in the Nowhere House.

But the romance in it was pretty nice and cozy as well. I really liked Mika and how she’s tutoring the girls on their magic, and how slow and sweet their romance got, even though Ian was asking so many questions and had tried multiple times to lock them up in a closet so they can kiss (me too, Ian, me too). But this is the first time I’ve ever read a grumpy x sunshine trope, and I have to say, it has been done well. But as I said, I really didn’t care about the romance at all. All I cared about was the people in the house and how they are living, thriving, and honestly minding their own business when it comes to the children and going out and having fun and learning how to control their magic.

My favorite child out of all three of them has to be Rosetta. Yes, she actually caused a little tornado in the bookstore, but she’s actually very sweet and kind and also very sure of herself when she wants to get revenge on Terracotta, who didn’t steal her puzzle from her room. I also love the fact that Rosetta can get serious when it comes to learning magic, and also comes up with really good ideas. I also like Terracotta-she kept cracking me up when she kept coming up with ways to kill Mika because she didn’t want her there, and I also liked how she defy pretty much everyone when she wanted to float in the air and ride a stick as if it was a broomstick.

The ending was the most funniest one ever-when they locked Edward in the shed because they reanimated the corpse of Lillian, and how it turns out Primrose is the sister of Lilian and that her name was Peony. But I really enjoyed this book, it’s one of my favorite ones this year, right next to From Lukov from Love.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Gods and Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The end of an era for me. I’ve read the first book three times, the second and this book one time, and I have to say, I’ve never had so much fun reading these books and enjoying myself getting to know these characters and making them a part of my bookish family, because I really love this series so much.

Gods and Monsters has a bunch of action, romance, drama, magic and more. It brings in the mermaids and gods of old, and it has a character I was shocked and surprised to love so much after not liking her in the last two books. But she has grown on me, and she has became one of my favorite characters, right next to Lou and Reid. Even though it opened with a possession (Cool spell, still possession), from there it lead to a journey with twists and turns that I wasn’t even expecting.

Lou and Reid, my babies, were apart, then Reid did a thing that made me have a Come to Jesus meeting with him, but he got them back. I really liked how Lou fought back against Nicholina and saw through her past and the voices inside her. I thought she was Gollum for a long time because of the way she talks. I was waiting on her to do that “gollum, gollum” thing Gollum does, but Nicholina did not-instead she talked really weird and she made me want to pull my hair out each time she does that. Then when Reid told Lou that “I will make my way back to you” and pull the string that made him lose his memories, I was confused that I wanted to read on, because I didn’t need sleep, I needed answers for what he’d done.

The introduction of the melusines was pretty darn cool. I actually wanted to live there because of how cool their world was. I liked how they had other ocean animals as pets, and how they can switch from having two legs or having fins. Their leader was alright to me, nothing to run and tell mama about, TBH. But the one thing-or person-that surprised me was Celie Tremblay..who knew how to break into stuff and actually helped Lou break into the safe at Chateau le Blanc-SHOCKINGLY.

I really didn’t like Celie in book one and two. But in this book she grew on me as she was both a lady and also a knowable thief and how she helped Lou with the door. Yes, Lou is now La Dames des Sorcieres and can do some very powerful magic, but Celie is powerful herself, even helped Belterra’s people get to safety from the blood witches.

This is my favorite book of the series, and I’m so glad that I read and loved it.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Blood and Honey (Serpent and Dove #2) by Shelby Mahurin

Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book…caused me so much emotional damage that I was on the edge of my seat as I read it. This has so many twists and turns and surprises that I thought that I would fall out of my seat reading this book. And Loureid once again shocked me TO THE POINT that they had to split the party, which I said “Does…does anyone know NOT TO SPLIT THE PARTY?!”

But before I can get into all of that, let’s start with the elephant in the room, which is Morgane le Blanc, Louise’s mother. In the first book, Morgane actually killed Louise but Louise came back to life. Now she’s out here killing the king’s children, starting with the blood witches. Etienne was horribly killed, and Gabrielle was kidnapped. Morgane was going after people that either looked like Reid (which, it turned out, Etienne had red hair just like Reid). Lou wanted to stop her mother from doing all of this, and she tried, but it took Woodwose, who turned out to be a very charismatic man from a traveling troupe, to stop her. But after she was stopped, she turned around and killed Ansel (which pissed me off).

Reid, on the other hand, is trying his hardest not to use magic. He doesn’t want to see it, smell it, or even think about it. After finding out he’s a male witch, he’s been trying to suppress his magic and only use his hands and fists and logic to get out of things. But he did get the Beast of Gévaudan on his side to help find Morgane and stop her. He actually made a friend in Thierry, and he did use his magic on three people and a Chasseur he knew. When he, his mother, and Bastien got caught by King Auguste, it didn’t go well. Because King Auguste wanted Louise (turns out he’s an evil son of a bitch) and didn’t care how many women he slept with, he was going to have more kids (like bruh…Robert Baratheon did that. Look how he turned out). But thanks to his sisters Violette and Violetta, he escaped and had to leave his mother behind.

Now the thing that threw me a bit was the knife-throwing scene. Did it awaken something in me? Maybe. No one told me that was going to be in there-I went in there blind and I really liked that scene. I got scared that Reid was gonna hurt Lou, but he didn’t. But the ENDING. When La Voisin did that spell so Nicholina (whom I’m convinced that was based on Drusilia from BtVS) could possess Lou, in which I was like “Is she really gonna do-no…no, she did” and I don’t know if I’m ready to read Gods and Monsters, but I am and I can’t wait to read it.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Electric Idol by Katee Robert

Electric Idol by Katee Robert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Electric Idol has to be my favorite Katee Robert book for many reasons. One is that Psyche is plus-sized and I related to her so hard when it came to clothes and that she confuses feelings and sex, two, I fell in love with Eros. He’s my sweet cheese, my new good time boyyy (and the things he can do to protect her…ooooh I loved A LOT), and Aphrodite…even though she’s his mama, I really liked her, though I understood that she had to go away so a new one can take her place. But the shocking twist of Callisto as the new Hera??? Um….Ms. Katee, ma’am, I have so many questions.

This is my first time reading a book with the forced proximity trope. I knew it was in there, but I really loved the way she wrote it. It was slow, and they talked about it, going along with the marriage and actually slowing it down so Psyche could get used to Eros. The new Zeus ain’t all that scary at all, he’s just…I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it (I really can’t), but I think he’ll be just fine.

And the spice?? Oh my gosh, it was perfection. And the way Eros just asks Psyche to marry him and then she has to think about it, going through every argument? It was PRICELESS. Marriage of convenience has just become one of my new favorite tropes, and seeing how Eros and Psyche lived day through day, even though their relationship was fake but the marriage was real? The first time they call each other husband and wife? I don’t normally squeal and kick and all that while reading a romance novel, but I did for this one.

But the thing that made me squeal and kick and all that was the action. Yes, Aphrodite wanted Psyche dead. Yes, Eros was supposed to kill her. When she found out they got married, what does Aphrodite do? Tries so hard to finish off her son’s job, blaming it on him so that he can come back to her (*que Mother Gothel’s song “Don’t be a dummy, come with mummy. Mother…”*) and it doesn’t work? And Psyche, thank god for being the smartest woman IN THE WHOLE WORLD, just tricked her and now Aphrodite went bye bye and now Olympus is safe…for now…we think…no, no, we hope.

Also yes I also did squeal seeing Persephone and Hades there in the book as well, and the epilogue of them at Demeter’s house for dinner was so cozy and CUTE. Loved every bit of it.

View all my reviews