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Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Book Review: A Holiday in Gaslight by Mimi Matthews

A Holiday By GaslightA Holiday By Gaslight by Mimi Matthews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Holiday by Gaslight is a very cute and sweet Victorian novella that was pretty good. Ned and Sophie breaking up and then coming back together at the Christmas Ball was really sweet. They had some really flustered moments between them, and when they kissed in little secret places was really cute as well.

I have this problem when it comes to books with parents: I either don’t like them or they get on my nerves. Well Sophie’s father was acting sus throughout the novel, talking about the gaslights in his house and showing them around to anyone that’ll listen. Then you learned that he spent ALL of his daughter’s dowry, and is looking for someone to help finish up Appersett House.

What…and I cannot stress this enough…THE FUCK, MY GUY?!

Sophie, Ned and I think Emily was shocked that their father would do that, but honestly, Emily’s getting married, and Walter thine idiot (He is, this isn’t me judging his character, but the decision he made) is going to help support the refurbish of the Appersett House. Emily told Sophie that ‘she found a way to free her’ since Sophie is always taking care of the family.

But the conversations between Sophie and Ned were very sweet and adorable, along with the kisses. But I really liked how Sophie had just straight up asked Ned to marry her, catching him completely off guard with it, but he said yes anyway and gave her a ring. I wish we knew more about Sophie and Ned and the others, but it was such a good Christmas novella that I really enjoyed it so much.

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Book Review: Crowned for His Christmas Baby by Maisey Yates

Crowned for His Christmas BabyCrowned for His Christmas Baby by Maisey Yates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First time reading a Maisey Yates novel, and I have to say, I really liked it. Even though I gave it a four of a five stars, it was actually really good. Friends to lovers, accidental pregnancy? I’ve never read an accidental pregnancy trope type story, and when I read it, I was honestly shocked-I…really…like it??? A lot?? Especially when they got their HEA and live happily ever after.

This book is about a prince named Vincenzo who really hates his father with a vengeance for all the horrible shit he pulled in Arista, and he wants to put all of it to a stop. He decided to go and ask Eloise, a woman who also was in the castle with Vincenzo and going to pretend to be his mistress so they can take down his father and her mother, who was really terrible to Eloise.

I really liked how powerful Eloise was, for standing up to her mother and the King. It shows that she was tired of them doing what they were doing, and they needed to be stopped. It also shocked Vincenzo from learning the truth about what really happened that night, when Eloise was eighteen and went into his room and kissed him. He thought really bad about her, and learning the truth shocked him. That night, they made love for the first time, and after that…Eloise left Arista.

For months-seven months, to be exact-Vincenzo has been working to take down every toxic thing his father has ever done to Arista, only to learn from his friends that Eloise was pregnant with the heir, thus breaking his own promise to himself and his father that he will never continue the Moretti line. Rafael, Jag, and Zeus told him to bring her back to Arista and marry her, even got on him like boys do about having safe sex and using a condom. After talking to his boys, he got off and went to Virginia to get Eloise back.

Eloise, shocked to see Vincenzo at her doorstep again after the first time he came over, tells Vincenzo that she’ll come back, if he can give her a Christmas at the palace. Vincenzo agreed, and they go back to Arista, and they have a pretty good Christmas. They rode on the troika and they made love in front of the fire. But then things changed when Vincenzo saw his son, his heir, on the monitor.

This idiot told Eloise to leave, and she was shocked, because she told him that she loved him, and he couldn’t even say it. So with her cat Skerret, she left to go back to Virginia. Vincenzo got drunk and his friends found him. They talked to him (well, he went to the spot where he showed Eloise after they talked to him), and all of them went to Virginia, where Vincenzo and Eloise got married. I’m so glad that they got married and became figureheads to the people of Arista. I just didn’t like parents, so they moved the stars down from five to four.

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Sunday, December 12, 2021

Book Review: Just for the Holidays...by Adriana Herrera

Just for the Holidays... (Sambrano Studios #2)Just for the Holidays... by Adriana Herrera
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was a surprise to me. I’ve never read a second chance romance before ever, and I enjoyed reading it. Gael and Perla were SO GOOD, even as Perla tried to resist Gael, she found herself falling in love with him while pretending to be in a relationship with him at the same time, to please his mother and grandmother. I’m glad she did that, because I was waiting for the whole relationship to drop and Perla and Gael had to tell the truth to his mother. But at least the relationship lasted long enough, until Manolo ruined it.

BUT THE YEARING IN THE BEGINNING. Holy crap, the yearning in the beginning. It was SO GOOD. They were in the study doing a reading for a movie, and the sparks, the bloody YEARNING between the two, I was hella obsessed, and as I kept reading I wanted them more. Like, good lord, they were inspiring me more and more to actually try my hand in writing a second chance romance.

But then…I read the sex scene…

When Adriana Herrera writes a sex scene, she can write a sex scene. Because good lord it was so steamy that I fanned myself (ha ha). But in all honesty, it was really good and I enjoyed it…till the end. When Manolo showed up and tried to ruin GaelxPerla, but Gael snapped at his uncle, even finding out the name of the producer that was doing another movie, that, turns out, was known as a sexual predator. When Gael found out, he was furious, and ran out the door to go get Perla back.

In Punta Cana, Esmerelda and Gael pretty much tricked Perla when she was sad, thinking that Gael had left her again. When he surprised her at the yacht, Perla couldn’t believe it, and a year later they were engaged and walking down the red carpet for the movie that had a lot of awards for awards season, and I couldn’t be happier for my favorite couple. 10/10 stars from me, I loved every bit of it.

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Book Review: Gingerbread Kisses by Lucy Eden

Gingerbread KissesGingerbread Kisses by Lucy Eden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Holy shit.

This novella though.

Holy shit.

This was a really good novella. I was honestly blown away at how really good this short was. I fell in love with Elizabeth, Mark, and Maya, and how both Elizabeth and Mark fell in love in a few short weeks. I also loved how motherly Elizabeth was and how protective she was with Maya, even though Maya helped them get together. Even though at the end she shut her heart after what Mark’s ex did, I'm glad, at the end, that they got together-even how they got back together was so good.

This novella can be described as Hallmark Channel movie goodness, but with a side of dirty, and I agree with this one hundred percent. I fell in love with this book the moment I read the first sentence. It was funny, short, and sweet. I want to read more of this author, this was SO GOOD.

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Book Review: Belle Morte by Bella Higgin

Belle MorteBelle Morte by Bella Higgin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you so much NetGalley for the chance for me to review the ARC.

I tried to like this book. Truly, I did. But honestly...I cannot, for the love of god, get through this book without nearly screaming at Renie. I felt like all Renie cared about was finding out what happened to her sister, ignoring the vampires, breaking the rules, and says up and down that she’s not here for the vampires, she hates vampires, she can’t get into a relationship with the vampire, all she cares about is her sister and getting her out of here.

It annoyed me as I kept reading this book how much Renie says a million times that she hates vampires, but yet when it comes to Edmond, its totally different. I felt like Renie was in the background for me and I cared about the rest of the characters in the book, like Edmond, Ysanne, Roux, and the others. I wanted to know more about them than I wanted to know about Renie, and that’s sad. I even wanted to know more about Edmond and Ysanne’s relationship, and I also wanted to know about Ysanne and Isabelle’s relationship. Renie...I just don’t care about her. At all.

And when she found out that her sister was turned into a vampire, oh no, she hated them then, and even tried to get through to her sister, June, but nothing. Until someone let her out and let her feed and kill whoever she want. But honestly, seeing June all locked up and snarling and reaching for Renie or whoever reminded me so much of Nezuko in the beginning of Demon Slayer, where she attacked Tanjiro. But then, at the end...she was betrayed by her sister and Etienne...who turned her.

That betrayal hurts my very soul, and I wanted to jump in the book and beat the shit out of Etienne, but then, June attacked Renie and nearly killed her, thus making Edmond turn Renie into a vampire.

I’m glad I finished it, and the writing is really good, but Renie just annoyed me throughout the book and I wish it was about the other characters instead of just Renie and Edmond. Because then we can figure out what was going on in the other’s heads while everything was going on. A three out of five stars for me, really good book, just didn’t like Renie.

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Book Review: Starless Night (Legend of Drizzt, #8) by R.A. Salvatore

Starless Night (Forgotten Realms: Legacy of the Drow, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #8)Starless Night by R.A. Salvatore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hello folks, and welcome to another book review with our favorite dark elf ranger, Drizzt. This time, Drizzt is leaving Mithral Hall to go back to Menzoberranzan to stop the dark elves from attacking Mithral Hall again. He does give Guenhwyvar to Regis, and told him to tell Cattie-Brie and Bueneor in tendays-if he didn’t come back. I felt a bit hurt when Drizzt did this, because he’s not letting his friends help him with his journey. He even went to Cattie-Brie’s DOOR and stood there, wanting to say goodbye, but he didn’t. Just stood at the door, hand poised to knock and say that he’s leaving, and didn’t say a damn thing, but left.

When Cattie-Brie went to Regis and asked him where Drizzt went, he lied, but then, after a near-death attempt (jacking him up, slapping him) Regis finally told her were poor Drizzt went. Shocked and destroyed her room, Cattie-Brie, taking Guenhwyar with her, went down to Menzoberranzan. She first went to Silverymoon and met the beautiful Alustriel, who didn’t know where Drizzt was, but she did help Cattie-Brie by giving her horses with magical horseshoes and made a dwarven houseservant named Fret go with her. Even though it was funny to read when Cattie-Brie sniffed Alustrel’s perfumes and nearly choked herself to death, I find it really cute that she did that.

Drizzt, meanwhile, goes to a forest where he meets several surface elves, including one that he saved during a surface raid party, where he hid said girl underneath her mother’s dead body, pretending to kill her. She attacked him before she cried in his arms, then he and another elf named Tarathiel left and went to the grove of Montolio, where they saw a unicorn. Drizzt went over and pet it, slowly, and he took it as a sign from the goddess Mielikki that she approves of what he was doing, his sacrifice. Then he goes into the underdark, not even knowing that Cattie-Brie and Guenhwyvar went down two days after him.

First, Drizzt went to Blingenstone, where he stayed for several day after he got hit really bad by some machine, I can’t remember what it was, before he left and went back down to Menzoberranzan, where he disguised himself as a slave driver for a bit in the Island of Rothé before he was caught and was taken to Matron Baenere. Cattie-Brie, on the other hand, was right next to him before she got caught by Jarlaxle and the Bregan D’arthe.

The most surprising thing out of this whole book was Enteri, who was SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, but he survived, thanks to Jarlaxle. He was down there, healing and learning the ways of the drow, thanks to Jarlaxle, even going far as to making a deal with Cattie-Brie to help her get out of Menzoberranzan and save Drizzt from the clutches of Matron Banere while she’s doing a ceremony. While all of that was happening, Drizzt was getting tortured by one of Matron Banere’s daughter, Vendres, and once Cattie-brie and Enteri found him, they helped free him and Drizzt killed his torturer before getting out of his cell.

While they were escaping, Drizzt fought Dantrag Banere and won, killing him and getting his braces. Cattie-Brie grabbed Dantrag’s evil sword, Khazid’hea, which turned into a weapon from Mielikki, tricking the two of them as they left to go back to Mithral Hall. They did stop where Wulfgar died before they were nearly attacked by dwarves, only to find out that Regis became Commander, which shocks the both of them, but they were back home nonetheless.
I truly enjoyed this book. It made me mad, gasp, almost cry, and was on the edge of my seat. I loved every bit of it and I can’t to read the next book, to see how this arc, I guess I can call it, goes. I hope they can protect Mithral Hall from Matron Banere, because I really like Mithral Hall, and hope they do Wulfgar justice I guess?

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Monday, November 22, 2021

Book Review: Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter, #1)Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Born to extreme wealth, Kyrian of Thrace wielded charm and charisma as powerfully as he wielded his sword.

Oh how I miss the world of the Dark Hunters. I miss these badasses so much!!! This book is about my boy, Kyrian of Thrace, and the love of his life, Amanda Deveraux. Amanda wants a simple life-no supernatural involved. One day, she gets kidnapped, getting mistaken for being her sister Tabitha, and woke up chained next to a very sexy man with blonde hair and dark eyes, and...fangs?! Nope. Nope. Nope. She wanted out. But then…

The both of them started to fall in love while Kyrian played the game of “I’m not gonna be attracted to her because good god it’s part of a code to not fall in love” but he fell in love with her anyway. The one thing that did it for me was Theone’s betrayal and Kyrian’s torture in the hands of the Roman Valerious, which was horrible and reading how he broke Kyrian’s legs, then Desiderious doing the same damn thing...that hurt my soul.

But when Acheron Parthenopaeus showed up, that’s when I stood at attention (ha ha, not really). Ash and I have been around each other for so long, that seeing him again made me smile. I really liked how Ash helped Amanda and told her how to handle Kyrian’s soul, though the price he paid for it hurts so damn much. And the painful betrayal that Amanda faked in order to give him back his soul hurted too-but I’m glad she acted along with the betrayal in order to give him his soul back, because I really didn’t want Kyrian to be alone again.

I also loved the appearance of Talon because I missed him too. I wanted to hug the little goober the moment I saw him, because he and Kyrian worked so well, and the way the both of them worked with Amanda while Desiderius was trying to torment the both of them until he died. But the ending was perfect, and I wondered what name did Artemis whispered in Ash’s ear before she disappeared, making my boy go cold? Whoever it was, it scared him half to death, but at least Kyrian and Amanda are happy and are having a baby!! Yay!!!

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