Book Review: A Crown This Cold and Heavy by Stacia Stark

A Crown This Cold and Heavy by Stacia Stark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Crown This Cold and Heavy might be my favorite book out of the series because that ending was just...shocking. Very, very surprising. Why? It came out of left field for me, and I wasn't expecting it. The battle on the sea was very explosive and The Queen is once again a character I'm very confused about. Does she really want to get rid of the king? Does she really want to put her son on the throne after all this time? What is the Queen's angle in this war?

I think Prisca grew a tiny bit in the book, even though she's holding on to the guilt and pain as we've seen her in the earlier books. When her friend died she tried to get revenge on him, only to reunite with Lorian and her friends to try to get allies for this huge war coming up. We do deal with Conreth, Lorian's brother, and how Conreth just starts bossing Lorien around again, even when he talks to Prisca as if she's nothing more than dirt beneath his feet. I did like how she got the Drakoryx and how it would follow her around, and now it's with Asinia and Demos her brother, which was cool.

Lorian was just happy to be with Prisca and protect her, even when that thing happened and she did the thing she wasn't supposed to do. Even after he talked to his brother, who told him that he had three weeks to find the third faerie gem after finding the second one on Regner's son, Jamic, who was all too happy to help them take down his father so he could rule. Even though no one trusted Jamic because he was the king's son, Jamic really didn't care. All he wanted was to be free and give the power's back.

Reading Madinia's POV was very interesting. She comes off as Nesta-coded, but at the same time, she's trying her best to help Prisca get allies and win this war against Regner. Even though she was one of the Queen's ladies, she feels like her own person with her fire magic and her hiding and getting messages from the Queen so she can help Prisca. And just like me, she's wondering what's the Queen's endgame is, because it's like she's doing what she's doing in book two, but more careful for some reason.

Hopefully we find out what it is that the Queen wants, what are the consequences of Prisca's thing that happened at the end, and will this family come back together to finally kill Renger? Those are the questions in my mind as I start the next book in the series.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: A Kingdom this Cursed and Empty by Stacia Stark

A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty by Stacia Stark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty made me feel hollow inside and excited for the multi-POVs I was NOT expecting as soon as I opened this book. I thought that this would still be in Prisca and Lorian's POV, but adding the Queen's POV? In this book? Hi yes hello I was LOCKED IN for that, darling. LOCKED. IN. Therefore, I have to split this review into three points and explain my reasons why I loved each POV.

The Queen: The Queen's POV was the one I'm so glad I read. We don't normally get any POV from the villain in romantasies, but reading the Queen's POV makes you think for a minute: is she part of the rebellion, does she want to use the rebellion for her gain, does she really wanna lie to her dumbass husband and try so hard to find her son so he can take the throne before something really bad happens to him? What is the Queen's motive? What is it? Those are the questions I kept asking as I kept reading her POV because she's helping Prisca in one stance, then turning around and thinking of herself and her gains. Is she doing this for herself, is she helping Prisca, what is going on inside that brain of hers? I need to know.

Prisca: So Prisca is at the hybrid camp with her two brothers, her bestie, and a couple of other people. Is she pissed off at Lorian after finding out he's the Bloodthirsty Prince? Oh yes, she is. She wants nothing to do with him, but then after hating him and trying to find out where the Hourglass is so she can use it and protect her people from the evil king, she also tries to find allies in the fae lords, but after meeting Conreth and him telling her that Lorian will forever be loyal to him and his family, she gets mad a bit and leaves his tent, while at the same time worries about everything about trying to get allies so she can attack Renger as hard as she could. When she gets clues about where the Hourglass is, she goes after her, and after nearly getting killed by the iron guards and also by the many traps in the cave, she finally finds it, thanks to Lorian's help. But THAT ENDING. NO. WHY. WHY MUST YOU HURT ME, STACIA STARK, WHY.

Lorian: Lorian's POV was about him almost fighting his brother while also helping his wildcat find what she's looking for so she could lead her people and become queen. Even though the hybrids and the humans don't trust him one bit, he still helps anyway, even with Prisca's training. There were some flashbacks in the book titled "The Boy" when it talks about his past when he was a boy and how his brother took him in, and also how that shaped him into the person he is today. Also thanks to Renger, he was given the title The Bloodthirsty Prince and he let that title and the reputation take over him, and he is sorry for not telling Prisca about it. When they finally found the Hourglass, he helped Prisca get it before THE TERRIBLE THING happened, and it broke my heart when it happened. I wanted him to stop his friend, but he couldn't bless him. Hopefully in the next book he can because this was the most painful book I've read so far this year.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: A Court This Cruel and Lovely by Stacia Stark

A Court This Cruel and Lovely by Stacia Stark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Court This Cruel and Lovely was lovely alright....lovely and so bloody CRUEL indeed. I wasn't expecting mercenaries in this book, but when I saw them, my little fantasy heart skipped a few beats. The FMC of our story, Prisca, is a girl who can stop time, but she had to hide it from her village and her kingdom for some reason, and she lives in fear of the guards and them taking her power and then finding out that she still has it, and they kill her and her whole family for it. One night, her mother has a vision about her and she tells her to run, and Prisca does, but not after her mama pushes her off a cliff right before the guards get her.

After surviving a couple of nights alone, she meets some mercenaries and she thinks she could escape from them by using time. Turns out one of them notices it and decides to train her on her magic and in return she helps them get inside the city so they can meet a contact or something like that. Prisca agrees, and she travels with the mercs and trains with them on how to use her magic and how to defend herself.

Enemies to Lovers was huge here throughout the book, and I was eating it up. Lorcan or Thorcan or Lorien whatever his name is? Had me on my knees until THE ENDING. THAT ENDING. Why? Why though? I wasn't prepared for it AT ALL, and when it was revealed WHAT he was....my boy. But why? Why did you choose right then and there to hurt me? But Prisca's secret was the one that shocked me the most--one, because I wasn't even prepared for it, and two, because it felt like a really huge secret that needed to be in the dark but when it came out to the light I was shocked AF about it.

As for the romance part of this book...sadly, for me, it was on the ground. I'm learning that in most romantasies, the romance is a second plot and I really don't give a damn about it, and if it's good then it's off the ground. For the first twenty or so chapters, as we read mostly from Prisca's POV and then sometimes Lorien, Thorien, whatever his name is, and seeing them work together and then try to work together when they're in the King's castle was fun, even seeing them falling in love.

BUT SIR. THORIEN. LORIEN. WHATEVER.

WHEN WERE YOU GONNA TELL ME AND PRISCA THAT YOU ARE:
-Fae
-Nicknamed "The Bloodthirsty Prince"
-You be tall. Because I like tall men.

I cannot wait to read book two because I need to know more, I want the 'why' questions answered, and also because in the beginning, seeing Lorien, Thorien (I'm gonna get his name right one of these days) making a deal with stone hags made my fantasy heart happy AF.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was originally supposed to be a book I finished in 2024, but I think I should finish it now because it was so much fun to read. I have never had this much fun with a book until now, and I liked the rival-to-lovers part of the book, it made it more fun and interesting as they team up to solve the disappearance of a beloved author.

Maggie Chase hates Ethan Wyatt. Downright hates him. He calls her Marcie and he wears leather jackets he writes "leather jacket books", and one of them is being turned into a movie. At a holiday party at Killhaven Books, Maggie's agent tells her that one of her biggest fans wants to invite her to her manor in England, and even though she doesn't want to go, she decides to say yes when she overhears Ethan saying something along the lines of "She's better than him." or something like that.

When she reaches the plane, she runs into Ethan, and it turns out he was also invited to England to their fan's house. Even though she doesn't want to spend Christmas with him, she deals with it as they go to England and meet their biggest fan, who turns out to be Eleanor Ashley, a famed mystery writer also known as The Duchess of Death. Eleanor is an eighty-year-old woman who is home for the holidays and is writing her one-hundredth book. Along with Ethan and Maggie are an elective group of people to spend the holidays with, and when Eleanor goes missing, almost all of hell breaks loose.

Ethan and Maggie team up and the two start to solve the murder or disappearance of Eleanor Ashley, while they trying to solve the disappearance, they fall in love, and you get to learn more about both Ethan and Maggie while they trying to solve the mystery of Eleanor Ashley. I thought I wasn't going to like how Ethan and Maggie fall in love, but as we get these flashbacks of Maggie's life of when she met her best friend and ex-husband Emily and Colin and how they got divorced and how she found them in bed together, and then how she met Ethan and how she started to hate him. Ethan, on the other hand, fell in love with her the moment she saw her, and has told her, even tried to guess her whole name, which I found pretty darn cute. Watching them solve the murder and then falling in love, and watching Ethan go "Who did this to you" and "If you touch her I'll kill you?" BRUH MY HEART I LOVED THAT. Ate it all up.

I loved reading this book so much, even though I wish it wasn't so short, I still loved it very much.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: A Visit from Sir Nicholas by Victoria Alexander

A Visit From Sir Nicholas by Victoria Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Even though this book took me a little minute to complete and finish, I did enjoy this one.

Ten years ago, Elizabeth and Nicholas met at the family's library to talk as usual, but Elizabeth was there to give him a copy of A Christmas Carol. When they speak, Nicholas tells her that he's leaving for America, and Elizabeth is heartbroken, because she wants him to stay and to tell him how she feels about him. But going to America shocked her to her core, so the two argued, she gave him the book and they parted with the wrong words and things unsaid about each other, so one went to America to make money and the other one married the man she was supposed to get married, and they never spoke again...

Until....ten years later.

Elizabeth is a widow with two boys, and she's living her best life, managing her house and her money without any help, even harboring some hate for the woman her now deceased husband had his "grand passion" with, making her doubt herself and her whole marriage. When she comes to her brother's house to talk about it, she runs into Nicholas, now a knight, and her feelings are stirred up again...until she hears that her late husband put in his will that Sir Nicholas has to look over her finances...in which she was not happy about.

They argued about it until Sir Nicholas pulled her into his arms when she said that "his kisses made her toes curl" and they did kiss...and it did make her forget about her husband and focus all on Nicholas, but then some remembered something or he said something, he left and she threw a very expensive vase at the door.

It does look like throughout the book that Sir Nicholas still has feelings for Elizabeth, because each time they talk or are in a room together, the brother lays down the rizz as hard as he can and even turns into a stress ball like Jinshi when she tried to seduce him and he fell back in the chair, which was funny and oh so cute. To me, Nicholas reminds me or is a mashup of Jinshi from The Apothecary Diaries when he turns into a ball of stress and Nanami Kento when he gets all business. Elizabeth I can't quite put my finger on it, but she's fun too, and yes, they do get together and after it...

Sir Nicholas: I want to marry you.
Elizabeth, nicely: No.
Sir Nicholas: Okay, cool, so I'm gonna look over your finances and you can't do anything about it.
Elizabeth: Alright, bet, lemme go to Victorian Target and Walmart and spend a lot of money and you can't do anything about it.
Sir Nicholas: Hahahahahaha okay Elizabeth, lemme close all your accounts everywhere, see how you feel then
Elizabeth: YOU CAN'T DO THAT *grabs very expensive Ming Dynasty vase*
Sir Nicholas: Heh heh heh watch me

(I'm paraphrasing but that's what happened basically). I did like the fact that her sister Juliana was there to talk to her and see where her brain is before giving her advice, and then telling her to marry Nicholas. Elizabeth agrees and she goes over to Nicholas's house and tells him that she'll marry him, not even knowing that he was planning on making her change her mind by inviting her children over to play Pirates, she was so mad at him that at the family Christmas tea, nearly every woman gave her advice about what to do with Nicholas, even after she gave him some kind of ultimatum to come by around five.

Sir Nicholas does, and thanks to a friend, he goes to Fortum and Mason and gets everything the ladies need for their tea to be a smashing hit, and then at the Christmas party, they get together. After Elizabeth's brother Jonathan lied about Nicholas getting on a train to America.

This book did crack me up and it does slow down sometimes but I enjoyed this book.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: Make Believe Match by Melanie Harlow

Make-Believe Match by Melanie Harlow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Marraige of Convience? Checkeroo.

Marrying your enemy to save your family's snow lodge? Also a checkeroo.

But falling in love with him after he respects you and wants to help you save your family's snow lodge while at the same time being very good with his mouth and other things? My brother in Christ I am on my hands and knees for you.

I had some high expectations when I went into this book, and I'm glad those expectations were met. Deviln Buckley had me on my little ol' knees as he did everything he could to ensure Lexi kept her family's snow lodge and fell in love with her. He is very respectful and will cook and clean for you without even asking, and also ask for your opinion. That right there is a man and I loved it. I wish this book was longer because that's how much I loved it.

Lexi didn't want to marry anyone. She tried to take over and redo the snow lodge, but her grandmother said nope, you can't do that, you have to have a husband and he can help you restore the place. After meeting Deviln one night at a bar and having a charming night with him both in and out of the car, she found out that he was working for Black Diamond to try and get the lodge so they can force their grandmother to shut down and they can bulldoze over it. Even though Deviln tried, he realized that he couldn't do it, so he quit and left. Then, he came up with a LOVELY idea: marry Lexi.

At first, Lexi said no, But the more they talked about it, the more it made sense for them to go to Vegas and get married, which they did. Then they came back to Cherry Tree Harbor, and the two started spending time together, even planning on what they could do for the snow lodge. They even exchange stories about each other while trying to figure out why Lexi's cousin was acting weird. Deviln introduced her to his family and it was so cute and loved how Lexi just become a part of the Buckley family, and Deviln's daddy gave her his mama's pearl earrings, which she gave back when she and Deviln decided to get mini-divorce. But then at the end, they got back together and they remarried...again, which I loved at the end.

I also loved how we saw Devlin with his kids at Camp Lemonade, which brought a small smile to my face and my heart, because Sara reminded me of some of my kids from work. I loved this book so much, and Melanie Harlow is becoming one of my favorite contemporary authors.

View all my reviews

 

Book Review: The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Kingdom of Sweets is a beautiful retelling of the Nutcracker-one I never thought I needed until now. It was a very fast-paced read, and I enjoyed every bit once I finally dug into it and read till the last word. Making Clara have a twin and then do that switcheroo, that twist made me go, "Hold on, hold on, hold on..." Mrs. Johansen, you have a new lover of your writing on your hands. Because I wasn't even expecting it, wasn't even aware of it, but when it happened....I was hooked, I was in, and I wanted to know more.

Clara and Natasha are sisters who were cursed by a man named Drosselmeyer. Every year it seemed like Clara was the favorite, and Natasha was being pushed into the dark, never to find any love or anything in her life ever again. Natasha hated that, and that one Christmas Eve party, when everyone was having a good time and Natasha was trying to look for her beau, Drosselmeyer comes in and gives them gifts: Clara a nutcracker and Natasha and clown that was supposed to kill her, get rid of her. But it didn't work out like Drosselmeyer wanted, even though he announced that Clara and Natasha's beau, Conrad, were to be married, because sadly Clara in this version of the book is pregnant with another man's baby.

Natasha was upset, even when Clara tried to tell her before Drosselmeyer announced it. But then everything changed when the sisters went to the Kingdom of Sweets. Clara was with her nutcracker while Natasha was on the road following them, meeting the gingerbread men and the other nutcrackers and seeing the sweets fall apart because of Clara eating them as much as she could. They reach the Sugar Plum Fairy's castle where Natasha makes a deal with the Sugar Plum Fairy, who really isn't the Sugar Plum Fairy at all--she's actually someone called The Queen of Spades, and what she wants is Drosselmeyer, and what Natasha wants is Clara dead.

Well she got her wish, and that's when the twist happened--and this is what made me read more.

Natasha "killed" Clara...and woke up in Clara's body.

That was when I wanted to not sleep and know more, because OMG yes? I need more? Please?

And you see Natasha, as Clara, married to Conrad and how she's dealing with her life and her marriage, how she's secretly doing things that is kind of Clara like, like buying up chocolates, going to the slums, and throwing the candy to the poor so they can eat and have money to do so. But the Sugar Plum Fairy wants the price to be paid...and she does pay it, with Drosselmeyer's death. But then, that's when things start to become weird, when Clara shows up again, and now the Sugar Plum Fairy wants Natasha now.

Natasha was worried about the turn of events, so she does everything to tie up loose ends, even meeting with Ozov I believe his name is, to get a nutcracker and give it to her sister, so when they finally see each other again, Natasha does the reverse and they went back to their bodies and Natasha stayed in the Kingdom of Sweets, and Clara went back to the real world.

I have to say, not catching on about the Russian Revolution was pretty smart to me, and how Natasha prepared for it, even when she ran away from the Sugar Plum Fairy. Going to America to escape it all and read what happened to Clara in the newspaper was pretty smart too, until the end, when both Clara and Natasha met back in the Kingdom of Sweets again. It was sad and fun and I wish it didn't end like that, but the twist was so much fun and I enjoyed myself reading it.

View all my reviews