Fireborne by Rosaria Munda (The Aurelian Cycle #1)

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book almost put me in a reading slump many times (and I don't like starting book reviews off like this) but I feel like it needs to be said. And then on top of that, I loved it so much that I want to finish reading the series because I fell in love with the world and how it has the political intrigue I wanted, the dragons were there, and also I wanted to know what happened next when it comes to this book series.

Lee and Annie have to be my favorite characters while I was reading this book. Yes, they're friends who are training together and finding their place in the world so they can be firstrider, and they are also kind of apart when it comes to their own personal demons. But at the same time, you see them grow into the young people that they are today. Lee was fighting who he was when he kept getting messages from his long lost cousin, Julia Stormscourge, who ran to another island to get strong and become the first firstrider of her dragon squad, and she and Lee saw each other one more time so they can talk about it, but when they did meet, Julia did tell him that her dragon can spark dragonfire, which shocked Lee, and that's when he went down some weird depression somewhat (this was when I felt like I was going through a slump) but the more I see Lee snap out of it when he became commander of the fleet and them facing Julia one more time for Arelius...it was actually a really good character arc, I really enjoyed it.

Annie...Annie was fighting for her place as Firstrider. She trains for her matches with a kid named Power, they go to the villages where she got triggered when she remembered what happened to her when it came to what happened to her village and what happened at her home that terrible day she was forced to watch her family die by dragonsfire. But then she got stronger and in her match with Lee, she actually beat him after Aela, her dragon, finally sparked dragonfire, along with Lee's dragon.

All in all this was a really good book, even though it did put me into a tiny slump and I really don't like opening book reviews like that, but it was the truth.

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Book Review: White Horse Black Nights by Evie Marceau (The Godkissed Bride #1)

White Horse Black Nights by Evie Marceau
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Godiva x Snow White romantasy with the bodyguard trope done right? I shockingly loved this one. Originally, I wasn't supposed to read this book till I was ready for it, but I clicked on it, downloaded it, and I read it and OMG I loved it. I wasn't ready for it, I just jumped on it and let it take me to where it was gonna take me, and I loved every bit of it.

Sabine Darrow has been locked up in A convent for about twelve years, and she can talk to animals, but at the convent, she was abused there, until one day, she was released from the convent...to get married to someone she doesn't even know. She is told that she is to recreate a very famous horseback riding scene, naked, and she complies, even though she doesn't want to. Sabine has plans to run away and never marry this dude that she doesn't know, but when her bodyguard is Wolf, a friend and hunter of her husband, that's when things get complicated.

For one, Wolf is just there to protect her and to take her through the cities so everyone can see who the lord has taken to wife, but Sabine sees it as torture and embarrassment. All she needs is one chance for her to run away from Wolf and leave with Aiden to go someplace else so she can be free...but when she does get that chance, that's when things...don't....end up...right.

When Wolf finds out what happens, that's when he, along with her horse Myst, goes to find her, and it turns out that Aiden and his friends are from another kingdom that has been quiet for a long time and is found to be alive and kidnapping girls to take them back to their king--what they don't know is that there's a reason that the king is kidnapping these girls and bringing them to their kingdom.

Maybe it's to awaken the old fae gods....maybe it's to finally have the godkissed powers they truly coveted after all these years....

Whatever it is that the kingdom wants, that's what Wolf wants to know, even if he is falling love with Sabine and wants her for himself. Even puts her as his bodyguard throughout the castle to protect her from his friend even though he's going to marry her soon and will be sharing a bed with him as well.

I enjoyed this book, I am going to continue with this series because it's now got me curious about things now and how things are gonna be in the next book.

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Book Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell (Twisted Tale #1)

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An Aladdin retelling but in a Twisted Tale form?

Perfection.

But...sadly it let me down. Mostly because of the way Aladdin went when he went to the Tiger Cave, I think it's called, and he did get the genie's lamp, but he gave it to Jafar... who turned around and abused the Genie. Also in my head, I heard Robin Williams, so that's probably why I didn't like it as much as I thought. Then the way the sultan was killed and Princess Jasmine ran away so she can fight with the Street Rats was cool, and also how both Aladdin and Jasmine feel in love during this really stupid war between them and Jafar was alright in my opinion.

But the one thing that made me mad throughout the book was Jafar and all of his rules and dealings and what he did to the magic carpet. Like I knew Jafar was evil AF, but my god that's straight-up evil. When he was defeated, he told the Genie his final wish--that all magic dies with him--was pretty messed up, but either way I still enjoyed it, even though the problems that bugged me to the point that I gave it three stars.

I am gonna continue reading the Twisted Tales series, but this one just wasn't my favorite one.

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Book Review: The Royals Upstairs by Karina Halle

The Royals Upstairs by Karina Halle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my first time reading anything by Karina Halle and I'm so glad that I did. This book was SO GOOD and made me want to read more books by her and also read more books that are second-chance romances. I normally don't read contemporary romances because it's not my thing, but reading this one makes me want to read more, and also read second chance romances, especially if they're like this one.

James Hunter is a royal bodyguard who once had a relationship with the royal nanny, Laila Bruset, that they had to keep a secret. When they broke it off because of James's fear of being in a relationship, James thought that they'd never see each other again...until now, when they are working for Prince Magnus and watching over him and the children. James and Laila agree to keep it professional, but when they start catching feelings for one another, that's when things start to turn romantic.

I loved this relationship because James and Laila, along with the relationship of Prince Magnus and Princess Ella and their children, Bjorn and Tor, and Laila's grandmother made the book feel alive in ways that I'd never thought I'd like. It was funny and kept me up a couple of times reading how the two worked together to make sure that the kids were alright and make sure nothing happened to them while they went to Oslo to the museum or when they were with Magnus and Ella. I really enjoyed this book, I'm so glad that I read it, and now I need to read more Karina Halle books please and thank you.

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Book Review: The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Silvia Sivinski

The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Crescent Moon Tearoom is a book like a warm hug from a friend. That is the only way I can describe the book and how cozy it was. I wanted to stay there and never ever leave, that's how good it was. I didn't mean to fall in love with the characters and the writing, and how much I found that I needed it. It was also witchy as well, which was something I really liked, along with the Quigley sisters finding their true calling--one becoming a part of the circus, one becoming an author, and the last one becoming a Diviner of the City.

I felt like I wanted to drink all of the tea that was featured in the book, and also wished I could read tea leaves, but eh, I'll be fine without it. I also wished I could live in the tearoom with the sisters as they figured out the tasks the three witches needed so they could do it. I liked how they used different types of seeing magic to see which one it was that they had to go do, while at the same time the Council was pushing them to do their own thing in the background.

I forgot the sisters' names (my bad) but I still enjoyed reading them going their separate ways while the other sister wanted them together because of a curse. But it turns out their mother was haunting them and wanting them to be happy instead of being in that house alone together, running their tea shop. But it does turn out that one of the sisters's powers was growing and they became the Diviner of the City after the other Diviner stepped down, and the other two did their own thing. To me, it means that they're still family, but they're moving on to bigger and better things.

I also like the house in the book too, feeling almost realistic to the sisters and to me as I kept on reading. I wanted to live in the house too.

All in all, a really good cozy book that was very fun indeed.

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Book Review: A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first time I read this book, I didn't review it because life happened.

I reread it this time, and I still loved it so much.

This is a retelling of Xishi and how she brought a kingdom and a king down using her charms, wit, and bravery, even when she thought she failed to do so. I liked that she fell for both men but tried to stay loyal to her country of Yue. But falling for a king who immediately gets obsessive with her and pretty much does everything she wants without a care in the world? Not listen to his advisors about what the other side is doing and only wants peace, and gets upset when he's either reminded of his father and how his father hated the Yue Kingdom and wanted it to fall.

But as soon as Xishi came in the court, that's when he fell head over heels for her, and he does everything in the beginning to get her to be with him, and she refuses his advances until he finally comes around and finds out why. Xishi does use her wound she got when she was coming to the Wu Kingdom to get him to come to her, and once he finds out that she lived terribly, that's when everything changed for Xishi and wrapping the king around her finger? Easy like Sunday Morning.

This book was really good and very slow in the beginning, but when it picks up in the middle, it picks up. The book goes on to show how war can affect people, and the ending shows the painful reasons to never trust someone. This book felt like a good C-Drama you just wanna watch over and over again until the end, when you see the minister live on without her until the end.

I will reread this book over and over again because it was that good and I enjoyed myself reading this book.

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Book Review: Sweet Sin by Sav R. Miller

Sweet Sin by Sav R. Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finally doing a review for this novella, and I have to say...

I'm sat.

Now, normally, I don't read books like that AT ALL. But ever since I read Hooked, I've had this weird itch to actually try and find some dark romances that are just like Hooked, but I stopped because I felt like no one could grab my attention like Hook did.

Until Kal.

Kal pushed Hook to the side, grabbed my hand, and said, "Hold tight, sweetheart. I know you're scared right now, but it's okay. I got you. Let me walk you through my madness." and boy howdy, did he walk me through it. I sometimes had to go, "Yous dis crazy my boy?" while reading this book, and he looked me DEAD in my eyes and said, "Yup." and once the novella was over, I sat, I was on my little ol' knees, and I wanted MORE of Kal. I fell in LOVE with this man, and I'm glad to read this novella, because now I want to read the book and enjoy him.

Even though I liked Elena as well, I didn't like the fiancé she was with. I really wanted Kal to kill him because he put his hands on her, but for some reason, he left and never dealt with her after their spicy, forbidden encounter, and she now has to deal with it before the book even starts, and now I'm curious now about where Kal was and is he ever gonna show up in Boston again. I need to know this because he just up and left without even telling her.

This is my favorite novella of all time and I'm glad that I read it.

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