Book Review: Her First Christmas Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Her First Christmas Cowboy by Maisey Yates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A outlaw on the run, and a teacher trying to grade her students grades meet in this age-gap Christmas cowboy romance. I thought that I would immediately hate this book because of the age-gap trope–it’s an ick of mine, but this novella makes me want to reconsider it a tiny bit, because this was written so well that I didn’t hate it. In fact, I enjoyed it. It also helped that the outlaw, Clayton Everett, sounded like Arthur Morgan in my head.

Tala Nelson was having a lovely night drinking chamomile tea and grading her students homework when her door opened and…a man dressed in black bust through her door, bleeding like hell from a gunshot wound, and he falls down on her floor. So what does she do as calmly as she can? She helped him clean up his wound (the bullet grazed him), and fixed him some food. Clayton Everett, the outlaw, agrees, and the two settle into the cutest domesticated relationship that bloomed into love, something I never thought I liked, but I did.

The domestic relationship between Tala and Clayton was so very cute. She got worried about him while they settled into a really good and comfortable relationship before they made love one night. I also liked that Tala was curvy, which was a plus. And the fact that Clayton can cook too? BOY I WAS SOLD. I wish there was more to the story, because I would’ve loved it more, but now it makes me want to read more outlaw novels because now I want one that can cook and kiss me. Darn it.

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Book Review: Keep Me Warm at Christmas by Brenda Novak

Keep Me Warm at Christmas by Brenda Novak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Keep Me Warm at Christmas was very different. It was Christmassy, yes. But it was also about grief, pain, and two people living in a house together falling in love, all while living in the small town of Silver Springs. It also shows the author’s research when the female MC, Tia, talks about her past life as a Mennoite woman, and even though I wouldn’t live there, I understand and respect them. Because I, too, like Seth, though it was like the Amish, but it’s not.

The story starts off with Tia coming to live in Maxi’s house. Maxi is a friend of hers and let her stay in the guesthouse, since Tia had an accident and the side of her face is messed up. She has to take care of the bird Kiki, and Tia thought it was a good idea-no one will bother her, she will be in the guest house, and everything is going to be fine…right???

Enter Seth Turner. The artist who is a widow since his wife died a long time ago. He moved into the guest house, and he was supposed to be alone and leave Tia alone…right?? That was the plan, not finding ways of getting her out of the house and falling in love with her. Also, he has to deal with his wife’s parents trying to get money outta him-which sucks, btw. Turns out, the father in law has a gambling problem, so that’s an oof. Also on top of that, Seth and Tia has to deal with a man who works for the paparazzi who wants a picture of Tia’s face-something Tia doesn’t even want to happen because she wasn’t ready yet.

Tia didn’t want no one to see her face-in fact, she’ll always find ways to hide her face from everyone. But as the story went on, you see her slowly start to relax and be okay with showing her face from the world. She was even brave enough to call People magazine to do a story on her, and they did it with so much grace that even she was shocked.

The whole thing with Ray Kouretas getting a shot of Tia and hounding her like that was a weird plot line, but as I kept reading, I understood completely, seeing that it connected to Tia. Though seeing Ray go through all those hoops to get her to give him what he wants was a bit of an oof to read.

And I really loved Seth’s mother, Aiyana, who helped Tia get to where she was today, and it was so sweet and cute to see her worry over her son while he’s dealing with everything that’s happening with Ray and his dead wife’s parents. All in all this was a cozy book to read, really liked reading it, and Brenda Novak’s work is pretty darn fun to read.

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Book Review: Curio and Shadow of Night by Evangeline Denmark and Deborah Harkness

Curio by Evangeline Denmark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was very interesting to me. I haven’t read a steampunk book that can pull me into the world that fast. Even though it took me a while to read it, I truly enjoyed the story, the world and the writing was very good. Curio was a place I don’t think I’ll like if Lord Blueboy is still running the place-I think he’s some kind of porcie vampire-but all in all, I really liked this book.

I also like the tiny magic system when it comes to the Chemia, but the whole potion ration thing was confusing. I didn’t get it, even though it was brought up throughout the book. The world of Curio and the hierarchy was different but can also be scary. All the words they use to describe movement-”are you still ticking?” is one of them, I believe-would confuse me if I did go and visit there for a bit. The broken porcies, even though it feels like a dark place and you want to help them, are trying to live their lives the best way they know how, until they started a revolution over clean water.

And in the middle of all of this is Grey Haward, a young woman who was out late on curfew and gave her portion to her friend Whit, who was “striped” because of touching her (which is so misogynistic, tbh), and Grey insisted, over and over again, that she takes the punishment. But the Chemists wouldn’t let her, and something deep inside her-the blood of the Defenders, an extinct race that fought a bloody war with the Chemists and lost-helped her fight back, if only a little bit. Sadly, her father and grandfather were either turned into stone or taken in, and her grandfather’s helper took her into the shop, cut her wrist or palm, and told her to “bring him back here.”

The “him” in the story is Blaise, whom the porcies called the “Mad Tock '' because of the way he either looked or something like that, and he basically fixes broken porcelain citizens and also get into a fight with Lord Blueboy. Blaise stayed in Curio for a long time, fixing broken porcies and fighting at the same time, and when Grey fell into the world, he helped her try to get away from Lord Blueboy, but when something goes wrong, he nearly gets hurt, and then his left wing was broken during the attack on the water thing that I can’t recall right now.

Now back to Lord Blueboy, aka Benedict. I don’t like this man. One, he’s all sweet and nice, then he turns around and drinks from one of the maids like he’s a bloody vampire. Then he claims that Grey is his and no one else, and nearly got his ass whippped by Blaise when he wanted to turn him into dust. But Adante…he has to be my favorite villain in the book. He was cool and calculated, always sulking around the shop, and he got his when Grey beat him.

Now Whit’s whole arc in the book was an eh to me. He wanted to repay the Hawards for what they have done, and he found Marina and Maverick, twins who wants freedom I believe from the Chemists. They lived in the mountains and also they helped Grey’s father, and Whit wanted to help. The he got high on a potion that one of the potion makers made, and that was…kinda funny, in a way? But this was an good book, had some action in it, and it was quite fun to read.

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Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book along with the official ALL SOULS FB group, and I have to say, this book might be my favorite book out of the trilogy. I really enjoyed how the world expanded from London to Prague to Sept-Tours to France. I felt like I was on a tour of the past of Elizabethan England and learning so many things about the history and the people and the world that have brought this book to life.

I did call Matthew switching from modern day to Elizabethean Matthew a ‘switch’ because that what it felt like when he and Diana came to 1590. I thought when that happen, that we will lose the Matthew we know and love, but he calmed down, even when they had that talk about vampire literature and how vampire courted their mates in the book. When it came to Philippe de Clermont, I was kinda scared of him, to be honest. I didn’t know what to think about Philippe when Diana met him, but when you get to know him, it felt like it went all away when he became lively. BUT THAT FIGHT IN THE BARN WITH MATTHEW….my heart was in my throat. I was worried about Matthew, but to use that as an example to show Matthew’s blood rage? I was mad. But then, at the end, I was glad that it was over, and that Philippe accepted Diana.

As for Diana, learning about Elizabethan England and how they lived and worked and how she fit into this felt like I was learning along with her. Then when she finally learned magic and learned what she was-a weaver-I was excited. I was worried that she won’t learn magic while they were there looking for the book, but the more she learned about Ashmole 782 and magic and everything around her, the more the darkness was creeping over her and Matthew.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the talk Diana and Matthew had about children, because I felt like that was a very healthy conversation between a couple who didn’t know if they wanted to have children or not. Even though Diana got pregnant once and lost it, to me to felt like Matthew was grieving so much (Diana did too) that he acted like an freaking idiot and didn’t touch her. But at least they go back together and went to Prague…

…aka the Simping Court, because Emperor Rudolf II was simping HARD for Diana, not even giving her time to bloody BREATHE. I was so angry for Diana for having to deal with the Emperor, simping RIGHT IN FRONT OF MATTHEW like he’s not there. That’s like fawning and trying to get with someone else’s woman, which I don’t think he knew it was wrong. But I was SO GLAD that she got away from the court, even though it was by Louisa’s hand.

Meeting Lousia like this was scary, but at the same time, I was shocked and worried for Diana (basically my emotions was all over the place while reading this book) but the sweetest thing happened when Matthew saw Louisa and Kit jousting for Diana-Jack Blackfairs came and asked him if he was having a nightmare. Matthew said yes and held his hand, which was so cute. I really enjoyed this book and I was happy to meet new characters, like Gallowglass and Philippe and Jack and Annie. I have an side eye for Father Hubbard because I just don’t trust him, but at least Diana knows her firedrake (the coolest part of the book, honestly, I loved that firedrake) and that she can weave any spell now.

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Book Review: The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Crown’s Game was okay. I felt like it could be more, since I had some very high expectations for this book. I did like the Russian scenery and how magic was woven into it. But the whole thing with the game and how petty it was…it was a bit of a letdown. I was hoping for something else, I guess, even though the chapters were short. I was hoping for some action, romance, something. But it felt flat throughout the book. I mean, it does have some political intrigue, but then, that also felt flat as well.

The Tsar was eh, he wasn’t someone that wasn’t worth mentioning at all. Pasha and Nikolai being friends was the only thing I cared about, until the whole thing blew up between them at the tavern they were in, and then he had to become Tsar all thanks to Nikolai’s mother, Aizhana.

Speaking of Aizhana, she came out of nowhere. I wasn’t even expecting her, but when I did, it was like “oh…okay….moving on.” I really didn’t care about these characters at all, and they fell so flat for me, that the more I was reading, the more bored I actually got. At the end, somehow Nikolai revived Vika, which was cool and all, but then he just…died. No explanation of how he did it, he just…did. Which was sad in itself.

All in all, I didn’t care for the characters, the plot was okay, and I was hyped for this book, but it fell flat for me. I wanted to read the second one, but eh, decided not to. Glad I read this one, though.

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Book Review: BBC Doctor Who: The Blood Test by James Goss

The Blood Cell by James Goss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a quick and an okay read. It was action-y like the show, but it was told by the point of view of the Governor who ran the Prison. He tells us how he runs the place with Bentley and how everyone was his friend. But when he meets the Twelfth Doctor, he gets so annoyed with him escaping and has tried to make a deal with him, keeping him in his cell. But when the killings begin, that’s when he has no choice but to deal with the Doctor as he and Clara help him stop the murder.

I thought it was fine to me, to be honest. I haven’t been watching Doctor Who in a while, and reading this brought me back to the world. But seeing it through the Governor’s eyes kinda annoyed me, because he reduced the Doctor to nothing but a number, which I really didn’t like, and think that ‘oh, he did so many crimes, he’s a bad person’ when in reality, the doctor wants to help people and save them.

The only funny parts that came up in the book was Clara coming by and showing up with signs and stuff, and when she finally got in the jail, she was actually pretty helpful. She was her usual, cheery self, which I liked. But the Blood Cell…eh it wasn’t that scary, to be honest. It was just a cell with a weird Custodian in it, looking for “the perfect specimen” which was just…okay. Cool beans. But I’m glad everyone on level 7 was saved, and wasn’t that surprised that the Governor was a hated man in HomeWorld.

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Book Review: Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dragonlance has been around for a long time, and now reading the first book made me so happy to read it, but I realize that some of the characters kinda tick me the hell off. I’ll get into more later, but for now, let’s talk about my thoughts.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a fantasy novel split into two books-one is meeting the characters and them going on an adventure to help a barbarian chieftain named Goldmoon and her lover Riverwind, to return a staff that’s blue and also find the disks of the goddess Mishakal. The second half of the group has them pick up a couple people to go to Pax Thakas so they can stop the Dragon Lord Verminaard and his dragon, Ember, from attacking the eleven city and also in the process save the miners and their families that Verminaard has kept far away from the workers, hiring draconians and gully dwarves. Book one was kinda slow for me and it irritated me, mostly because of Raistlin rushing everyone to get to Xak Tsarsoth, but then when I read book two, that’s when things started to pick up, and I started to like it even more.

The whole relationship thing was good, though the one I just felt like it was forced was Tanis and Laurana, even though they have been friends/lovers since they were children. Laurana annoyed me, mostly because she acts like Tanis still wants her, when I don’t think he does. When he tells her that he fell for Kitiara, Caramon and Raistlin’s half-sister, she got angry enough to get the ring back, then turned around and followed him to Pax Thakas. Like girl, really?? You love him that much?? Calm down.

And Raistlin??? Even though he annoyed me about his rushing people to get someplace, I actually like the mage-to a fault. I’m suspecting him for some reason, like I don’t really trust him that much. But I’m gonna keep a close eye on him. Caramon, he’s cool, honestly. He and Raistlin reminds me SO MUCH of Dante and Vergil from Devil May Cry-Vergil wanting to be alone, Dante chasing after him.

Strum is the least likeable one I liked. He just annoyed me for some reason, and I kind of wanted him to stop, tbh. Yes, he’s a Knight of Solamina, but he takes it too far in some parts of the book that I silently wanted him to shut up and either let Tanis lead or quit suspecting Raistlin because you don’t like him, my guy.

Sheesh.

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Book Review: Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith

Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First time reading anything by Ms. Ali Smith, and I have to say…it was alright. Nothing to run home too, tbh. The stories were short, sweet, and had different themes throughout it-death, love, sometimes books and poetry. These shorts, though don’t really talk about libraries, have one character centered into the stories and they are going through things that don’t talk about libraries. But in between the stories, they do have people talking about what the library means to them and what they did for them or how they used to go as a child and how libraries made them.

This was a very interesting book and my first time, like I said, reading a short story collection. Some of the words felt like they were like run-on sentences, but the rest felt like stories I can slip into a little bit so I can read more short stories every once in a while-maybe from an anthology or something like that. Do I want to read more of Ali Smith’s work? Maybe, even though these short stories were cute and short. I think the only ones I liked were Grass and The Poet. The rest were alright, nothing to run home and tell mama about, tbh.

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