Book Review: Silver & Blood by Jessie Mihalik

My thanks to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Jessie Mihalik for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

I just finished reading this book and there is only one thought repeating itself in my head: Jessie Mihalik, you have outdone yourself!

I have been reading books by Jessie Mihalik since the 2019 release, Polaris Rising, book 1 of the Consortium Rebellion trilogy. If my memory is right, I was wandering around my local bookstore when the cover art caught my eye. I was ready to try something new and the synopsis hooked me. Now here we are, six years later, and I've bought every Mihalik book in paperback and eBook since and read each at least three times or more. Yes, I need to read the original trilogy that Mihalik released but I look at things this way: Silver & Blood is not out until January 2026, which means the 2nd book could be a year out from there, totaling 15 months in which I am waiting for the next book. More than enough time to have some Mihalik books I haven't read to keep me company. And there's some novellas too that might last me to this Thanksgiving. All to say this: it's going to be a long wait to book 2.

Silver & Blood is about Riela, who has been living on her own for a long time before her powers as a mage suddenly appeared. Now she has agreed to her village's insistence that she go into the woods to kill the monster that has been attacking her foolish neighbors at night. When Riela finds more monsters than she had anticipated, she's rescued by a handsome mage and his trusted wolf. She ends up a guest in Garrick's castle where she hopes to learn how to control her power. As time goes on, Riela finds out that Garrick is an exiled king, stuck on this side of a magical door that leads to Lohka, where the rest of the Etheri are and where he sent the rest of his court before they were trapped with him. Now Riela, with her growing magical talent, has to work with Garrick to understand where her magic came from and how to get the door open before the Blood King, who trapped Garrick in this world, manages to capture Riela and her magic for himself. As they start to fall for each other, the truth about Riela's origins threaten the tenuous ties between them and Riela's hopes for the future.

First of all, for me this had a lot of Beauty and the Beast vibes, so right there that cemented this as an absolute awesome book for me. Also, within a day of Riela becoming a guest at Garrick's castle, she finds a massive magical library. Seriously, a book can't go wrong when it gives you a magical library. With that said, the world of this book started to fill in and kept me hooked trying to understand the hows and the whys of everything going on. I found it interesting that Riela was a seemingly ordinary woman until a flood that threatened to wipe out her village caused her magic to suddenly manifest, allowing her to save them by forcing the water to go around their homes. The fact that she's an older protagonist is definitely a plus, because Riela was able to think logically when she had to stop and take stock of her surroundings and what was going on. She had fits of temper, don't get me wrong, but she was able to reflect on her situation and try to work out things for herself and I like that in the leads of a good romantasy book. Most of the book follows Riela's perspective with a handful of chapters from Garrick's point of view, showing how the king has become wary in isolation and how he perceives Riela with her magic and her connection to the Etheri. Their development worked individually and as a couple and I loved their banter and their fights because a good couple needs to be able to fight and then come back together stronger than before. By the time the final line hit, I had a massive grin on my face and just about fell over. I even wanted to cheer a little because THAT is how well that ending hit for me. It just stuck the landing and judging gives it 10 points for perfect execution, form and technique.

As for the world itself, I was very intrigued at the the way the castle and the forest worked for the setting. It turns out that anything magical that enters the forest is unable to leave it again because of a curse that was placed on it by some powerful Etheri sovereigns. The idea was to keep humans safe from the monsters that wandered through the trees and the Etheri who had no problem taking humans for pets. That definitely colors the impression of these magical people, who have apparently been thought to have gone out of existence because they hadn't been seen in at least a century. It all lends a tragic slant to the story because all Riela wants to do is go back to the home that has the memory of her father in it and now she can't step past the treeline. It also lends a sort of urgency to Riela wanting to master her magic so that she can see if there is some way for her to return to the life that she once had. The creatures that live in the woods were also interesting in the sense that they gave the right amount of a threat to keep Riela in the castle where it was safest without it being just a convenient way to keep the main couple together. I appreciate books that give the couple the distance they need to find their way back to each other. It makes the connection feel earned instead of just simple, and it's stronger as a result.

Side characters were well-developed, even the ones not directly seen on the page. The Blood King is only mentioned by the people in the book and I already hate him with a fiery passion. I know once he makes his appearance on the page in book 2, I'm going to have a hard time watching what he does to the leads of the first book. All of that already and I have not even been formally introduced to the guy yet. I loved Grim and the people of the Silver Court and the little glimpses seen of Riela's parents when she spoke of them and her loss. The cast was lovely and I hope to see more of them in the coming books.

Mihalik is talented as a writer. I have been coming back to read Mihalik's books for years because I know that I will end up loving the couple at the center of every adventure. This is the first time I've read the more fairytale/fantasy based work by Mihalik but if this is the direction she's going to continue to move in, I'm all for it. Past series had each book focus on a separate couple that was part of a found family type of situation but I don't think that will be the case here. There might be a dual storyline situation in the next book but that just might be me trying to hope for too much. If anything, as long as there is a chance for more books, other leads might take the center stage after this initial conflict of the Blood King is resolved. But I'm getting too far ahead of myself. If you are a fan of Mihalik's past works, this is a book you NEED to read. If you like the romantasy trend in the book world right now, this book is right up your alley. It is filled with everything that makes these books great like forced proximity for the leads, a magical castle that tries to do what you say and a beautiful library that is out of a dream. What more can readers ask for in their next romantasy read?

Rating on my Scale: I've had time to sit with this a few hours and I'm giving it 10 Stars. I just loved everything about it and I know that I will read this again once I have my copy in my hands. The wait is going to be long until book 2 is finally out but I will be here, sitting patiently, until that moment arrives.

Book Review: The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri

My thanks to Netgalley, Hachette Audio and Tasha Suri for the audiobook of this work in exchange for a review.

Full disclosure: I heard of this book because of V.L. Bovalino. I saw pictures of Bovalino with Tasha Suri talking about their upcoming books together and that they were touring together for their books. Since I loved The Second Death of Locke, I looked into what information was available for The Isle in the Silver Sea. It sounded interesting so I added it to my list of books I want to read. When I saw this was available to listen to, I decided to take a chance to see if I could get approved. I was so excited when I got the email and immediately started carving time out of my day to devote to listening to this book. I can say with the upmost certainty, this was a wonderful book. I'm so grateful I already pre-ordered a copy because I'm going to go through it and read over passages to relive this book again. It was engaging and unique and I enjoyed this book so much.

In the alternate Britain of The Isle in the Silver Sea, the country is literally fueled by its stories. As a result, these stories are reborn again and again, for centuries now, forcing people, known as incarnates, to relive the fates inscribed in the words of those stories. The story of the Knight and the Witch is one of those stories, about a pair that fall in love with each other and then die tragically. Simran is the new witch of this story and Vina is now the Knight. They have just met, they know the end of their story, and while Vina has more or less accepted her fate, Simran wants to fight it. As they start to trust each other, maybe even fall for each other, they meet a mysterious assassin who has been killing off off incarnates. Now Simran and Vina have to find a way to rewrite their story so that it is strong enough to change their doom and finally give them a chance to find a way to reach their future and choose each other without it being part of a story.

I loved these two women. There's no other way about it, Simran and Vina are delightful. I loved the sass from Simran and the self-deprecating humor from Vina. Both had led interesting lives up to the point that they finally meet. They understood who they were going to be and yet they were able to be their fates and that much more. Simran was devoted to the family she had created for herself and the family she left behind when she realized her fate as the Witch of the tale. It made her both devoted and tragic. Vina was raised in the castle, constantly told about the fate she was meant for, and while her childhood was not as loving as Simran's, she still managed to hold on to a sense of honor and loyalty to the friends she was raised with, Edmund and Matthias, fellow knights in the castle. After Simran and Vina meet, they're slowly forced to come together again and again, as the Eternal Queen in charge of Britain is determined to gather all the incarnates together in the palace to avoid losing any more of them to the assassin. There is also a group known as the archivists who work for the queen, trying to preserve the stories and ensure that they continue to play out again and again without any variations. It's all intricate and interesting and I wish there was more to this because I still have so many questions.

That brings me to the world building. As much as I loved the characters, I still have so MANY questions about this world. How many stories are there? How many have been lost because of the assassin? What made these stories start their never-ending cycles? How does the existence of these stories effect the land? Because when a story dies as a result of one of the incarnates being killed, the land the story fuels is apparently wiped from existence and I still have so many questions about this. Also, who created the archivists? Because at the start of every chapter, there is a piece of writing that talks about the world and the tales and each of these little inserts is given a judgement by the archivists to either be kept or destroyed and where did this group come from? Why do they have so much control? Are they loyal to the crown or just loyal to the overall story of the Isle? Where did they learn what they do and how many ways have they changed things to fit the narrative they have created for the Isle? I was hooked on all of it but I'm a stickler for details and I wanted MORE. That's why I want to read this again, so I can go chapter by chapter and make notes to be sure I understand everything that Tasha Suri put in this book.

A long time ago, let's say it was, well, never mind about the timing, moving on, I took a class in college called King Arthur Through the Ages. I studied various stories focused on the legend of King Arthur and the many knights of the round table and the stories that were linked to them. Thanks to that, I was able to parse out some of the things Suri put into this book, like the names Elaine and Morgaine, and the legends that are tied with them. There are other things I recognized but I feel that veers into spoiler territory and I try very hard not to spoil books for readers if I can help it. Still, that knowledge helped to fill in just that much more of this book and as a result, I really want to know every inspiration that Suri used to build this book. I want to be able to find all those sources and read them for myself and then I want to dig through this book and put all the pieces together. It's a puzzle, the pieces are there and it's been solved but I want to understand the process of getting to the solution and ugh, the questions, I just want to know more.

I was hooked from the synopsis. The tale of The Knight and the Witch seemed so interesting and I wanted to be able to read it. If Tasha Suri is taking suggestions, I would love to see a complete volume of all the stories that are mentioned in this book. Besides the tales, it could also give information about the various people who have been forced to relive the tale, the part of the land it fuels, maybe even the sources Suri used to build her ideas for each tale. Hand on my heart, I would ADORE having a book like that about this world. That's how many questions I still have that I want to figure out. I also kind of wish this book had footnotes, just to provide a little more for readers like me.

The complaints I have is that one, I'm still not sure about the time period for this book. It felt like it could have been set in it's own world but then the setting would change and it would feel different and I had to take a second to reset what I thought was happening and then continue. Two is that I wanted just  little more time to develop the connection between Vina and Simran. They spend a lot of their time on a quest to save Simran's adopted family, Harry, from the assassin and the actual time for them to fall in love felt like it was sped up a bit to fit with the time frame of the book. And maybe three is that I'm still questioning the magic system and the way stories fuel the Isle and I want to know more, and I'm going to keep repeating that because argh, I have a NEED to know more. I'm a reader, it means that if something catches my attention, I will go and research it and find everything I can and then have that in my mind to inform everything else I read from there. It's a cycle of my own that I willingly let myself get sucked into and that is perfectly fine because expanding my knowledge is a useful endeavor.

Still, I highly recommend this book. If you love sapphic knights, legends and found family dynamics, this is the book for you. I also plan on reading everything else I can find by Tasha Suri so I thank this book for bringing Suri to my attention.

Before I forget, Shiromi Arserio is AMAZING as the narrator for this audiobook. There is a musical quality to the way she reads, which made it easy to get lost in the book. I found myself listening to lines again because she has a way of conveying the feelings of the characters so that it was easy for me to go along for the ride. I actually cheered at the reappearance of a character in part 2 because I was so swept up in how Arserio was performing the book. I'm adding Shiromi Arserio to the list of audiobook narrators I'm collecting for books to listen to because I love the performances they give. The entire production was well-made, clear and concise and the perfect audiobook to listen to whenever I could squeeze in the time to listen (and let's be honest, I even listened to this book when I was supposed to be doing anything else because I couldn't stop, this book and it's narrator had me hooked). Hachette Audio did a wonderful job with this production and I will now be looking into other audiobooks from this publisher.

Rating on my Scale: 9 Stars. I would give 10 but there are some minor quibbles and I want to be sure that people understand there might be some things in the book that could irk them. Still, this is a beautiful, unique story that I'm so grateful I got the chance to read. I can't wait for my book to arrive in the mail so I can read it all over again.

Book Review: Red City by Marie Lu

My thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and Marie Lu for the audiobook of this work in exchange for a review.

I've been reading books by Marie Lu since the beginning, starting with Legend, and have tried to keep up with every book since. So when I heard Marie Lu was going to have an adult debut release, I was immediately interested in reading the book. Everything about the synopsis seemed to be exactly what I love to read about and I was so grateful and excited when I was approved to listen to the audiobook. As much as the world interested me however, I did not end up loving this release as much as I had anticipated.

Red City follows two characters, Sam and Ari, childhood friends who have been drawn into the world of alchemy. Alchemy controls this world and provides a drug called sand, which enhances the user in different ways specific to who takes it, allowing them to become their perfect self while on the drug. Specifically, two crime syndicates, Grand Central and Lumines, have been close to war with each other for a long time and are the ones with the most at stake. Sam joined Grand Central to protect her hardworking mother who was injured at her job and is unable to find work. Ari was recruited as a child to be trained as an alchemist for Lumines, and his progress allows for money to be sent back to take care of his family. The two met in school when they were young and kept in touch until graduation after which they both went down their separate paths in the alchemy world. Now they are brought together again as key players on the front lines at the start of a fight between Grand Central and Lumines, torn between what they were once to each other and who they are loyal to now.

First, this feels like a book meant to establish a series. What I mean is that there is a lot of background for the ways alchemy has infiltrated all parts of the world for centuries, explanations for what people can do with alchemy and how the drug sand has become so important. With that said, I know there are several different "powerful alchemy syndicates in the world", but we only see Grand Central and Lumines front and center. I know there's a table with a list of these syndicates at the start of the book but very little is given outside of the two main syndicates. The same goes for the alchemy studies mentioned and the discussion of the metals used in alchemy. There is a lot to the world but readers will have to wait for more books to see exactly how all of this world development pans out. We see a lot of the goings on for Grand Central and for Lumines and a few times where the two cross each other, but the rest of the world remain in the background.

Next, while the world is well-developed, the characters seem to be mainly surface level. Over the course of the book, readers are supposed to believe that Sam and Ari were once in love when they were classmates in school. I found that hard to believe because of the lack of interactions between the leads. They spent time together in school and exchanged letters but we are only told about the contents of the letters and how they passed messages to each other, sometimes given the contents of an exchange here and there but mainly told about what they wanted to write to each other. The majority of time, Sam and Ari are shown doing separate things, developing them as characters on their own but their connection to each other didn't come through as strong. Sam is shown as a child growing up with a mother who almost neglects her while she works long hours to provide for her child. We see Sam's mom, Connie, have a few meaningful interactions with Sam that change the way Sam sees the world, and we learn about Connie's past through a few chapters from her point of view. On the other hand, we see Ari with his family for a chapter before he's brought to Angel City and enrolled in classes with other students to study alchemy alongside his regular studies. He's bullied by classmates, befriends some others and is mentored by the man who recruited him. This is where the characters spend most of their time, so the quick interactions at school as a basis to fall in "love" felt a bit lacking and not enough to change the adults that they would eventually become.

Finally, I know that the alchemy syndicates were antagonistic with each other but not enough was given to really flesh out their fraught relationships. They seemed to be fighting with each other because that is what they are supposed to do, try to claw control from each other at every opportunity. The actual escalation seen in the book seemed to be starting for the sake of moving the plot forward. I know they were fighting but I didn't care for their reasons to fight. Also, the other syndicates seemed inconsequential, because the focus was squarely on Grand Central and Lumines. Whenever another syndicate was mentioned, I had to refer back to the table at the start of the book to remember who they were. All together, it left me feeling overall bored with the book, waiting for something big to happen, instead of the beats I expected to see as the story continued.

I will say that the cast for the audiobook did an excellent job with their narrations. They provided interesting voices for the alternating views of Sam and Ari, along with the little inserts between chapters about how alchemy has affected the world at large and what it means in the current news cycle. Each narrator was able to speak clearly and provide the right inflections for feelings such as a sense of loss for Sam and frustration for Ari. Their work kept the book flowing at a comfortable pace, revealing information in a way to keep the listener engaged with the work. I'm just sorry I didn't find the book they were performing as interesting as I had hoped.

Rating on my scale: 6.5 Stars. I really feel like this is a book best judged by the next release in the series. It's a solid start, just not enough to make me love this release. I'm hoping book 2 takes everything book 1 established and throws in all the twists and development I was waiting to see. Until then, read this book to see the development of a world that could have been once upon a time and wait with the rest of us to see if the alchemy syndicates burn it all down.

Book Review: Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell

My thanks to Netgalley, William Morrow and Rainbow Rowell for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

For me, it's simple. There's a new book by Rainbow Rowell? Instant add-to-cart decision.  Most likely it does not even require thinking, it's just see the new book and click, done. The thinking comes while waiting for the book to be released because then I have time to ponder what is the next character to come to readers from the mind of Rainbow Rowell. I've been a fan of Rowell's since Fangirl was released. I went back and read her previous works and have been moving forward with her ever since. Fangirl holds a special place on my shelves, followed by Landline, Scattered Showers, then Carry On? The order sometimes fluctuates, and I do own nearly every Rowell book, but the point is that when I saw that the next release, Cherry Baby, was available to request, I waited with fingers crossed to see if I'd get the chance to read this book.

It was a quiet kind of beautiful story, hearbreaking and yet heart-warming to meet Cherry and see her move through her past and her present to a better version of her future. Also, I really need to rearrange my Rainbow Rowell books. They deserve an entire shelf of their own, with room to grow with each new release.

Cherry Baby follows Cherry, the third sister in a family of five girls, who has been quietly dealing with the fact that her husband isn't coming back home. Her husband, Tom, is in LA, working on the film adaptation of his hit webcomic, Thursday, which is semi-autobiographical and has a character based on Cherry in it. The character's name is Baby and no matter what, Cherry can't escape her. Baby is a caricature of Cherry, a fat woman who was secure with herself until she saw herself as a character in her husband's comic. Now she has people staring at her, calling her "Baby", while she stays home with her ex's dog and lives in the house that still has all of Tom's things meshed with hers. Cherry has to figure out this new existence and who is going to live in it with her.

This book is somewhat straightforward, almost stream of conscious writing. Thanks to that, the pace is fast, allowing readers to move along with Cherry as she tries to live her life without her husband. Rowell excels at this kind of writing, giving meaningful glimpses into the workings of Cherry's mind, how she interacts with coworkers, with her family, with her oldest friends and with new ones. Rowell also provides chapters set in the past, scenes that show when Cherry met her husband, how they came to date and how they came to get married. We see how Cherry dealt with particular moments of her past where her weight seemed to dictate how a situation turned out. Each of these moments is heartbreaking, showing how much Cherry works to be comfortable with herself and confident. She is without a doubt confident, but the loss of her husband has changed the way she thinks and this book gives us these thoughts in a sequence that brings us through the journey with her to the other side.

This book is an opportunity to witness the everyday workings of a woman trying to move on. There is no big conflict, this is a more quiet, introspective journey. Cherry has been living with this idea of herself available for others to consume, and she needs to be able to cut herself away from that. Cherry has to be able to live the way she wants and know that she is being her true self, and that the Baby character is something that in no way encompasses who she is or what she means to people. This book might not be my new favorite Rowell book, but it is definitely a must read, very respectable book. I wanted Cherry to be happy, to be hopeful. Her journey to get there was eye-opening, and Rowell was able to convey this character in such a way that she felt alive in these pages. Cherry was always beautiful, and by the end of the book, she believed that again with all of herself. And that point made all the difference with this read.

Rating on my scale: I'm going with 9 Stars. I will say, this book did not go completely the way I expected it to. I loved Cherry but at the same time, I wanted just that much more to come about for her. In the end though, if you are a Rowell fan, you are in for a treat. 

Book Review: Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han

I've seen several reviews for this book during my time reading this and after I'd finished the book. I needed to see what others have said, to feel like others have witnessed what I did by reading this book. I've seen the word stunning used to describe this and while I agree with the sentiment, there are other words I would use to describe this book. Haunting comes to mind, heartbreaking as well. I have always known that history is written in a way to keep certain things from coming to light and that has never been more apparent than it is with the subject matter of this book. 

I had never heard the term "comfort women" before but I promise that now that I have, I will NEVER forget it. If anything comes of this book, I hope it opens more eyes to the things that have been hidden in history to preserve the images of the countries involved. I am in no way an authority on this subject, I have no right to speak about the atrocities that these people suffered. I'm a reader that managed to learn something by reading this book and as a result, I will continue to look into this and learn as much as I can as a sign of respect, so that these women are never forgotten.

Honey in the Wound is a story about several generations of a family in Korea and how their lives are forever changed when Japan begins to move in during the early 1900s. The book begins with Geum-Jin, a young man whose family is first affected by the Japanese when his sister flees into the mountains to avoid a horrible fate and his parents struggle to keep their family together with the changing circumstances of their nearby village. Geum-Jin's story leads into the story of his daughter, Song Young-Ja, which is where the majority of the story has its focus. The book focuses on Young-Ja's childhood and follows her into her adulthood. The final part of the story brings Young-Ja's granddaughter, Matsumoto Rinako, into the book, when she discovers the existence of her grandmother and learns about a past that has been kept hidden for too long.

A large part of this book focuses on magical realism. Geum-Jin's sister turns into a tiger to be able to escape into the mountains with other tigers and live a better life. Young-Ja's mother had an ability to make people tell her the truth just by speaking to them. Young-Ja had the ability to infuse the food she makes with the emotions she felt at the time of making her creations, which in turn forces the people that eat her food to be overwhelmed with those feelings. Rinako can see truth and secrets in her dreams about the people around her, from her family to classmates and even to people she bumps into on her commute to and from school and stores. The book follows several timelines, gradually moving forward with each character, with the largest amount of the book being focused on Young-Ja and the places she traveled and the trials she faced.

Han has a wonderful use of words. There is a lyrical quality to the sentences, where they are able to evoke emotions and draw the reader into a world that feels real from the mountains that were part of Geum-Jin's childhood to the various locations in Japan that Young-Ja travels to over the course of her life. The words are able to draw up images of small town life with vendors and people trying to remain anonymous with soldiers following their every move before moving on to a small city in the Empire of Japan and a life working in a tea house. Through it all, Han is able to insert the ways people tried to fight back and the ways they were forced to keep themselves small. All together, it's powerful and beautiful despite the horrors hidden in the spaces around the leads of the book.

The use of magical realism is a key part of helping the story, allowing for the horrors shown in the story to be expanded on in ways that make the story more than a simple account of events from the past. It gives power to the characters where power would have been a way to change their fates, where history shows that things were not only filled with pain and shame and loss but were also hidden away and lost to time until those involved slowly began to come forward and speak their truths. It built the characters into forces that were able to withstand their fates, to face their evils head on and to find the strength they needed to finally fight back when they could and make the decisions to continue to fight back and make a difference.

This is a powerful debut. It sheds a light on a subject matter that continues to be brushed aside. It also shows the beginnings of the survivors coming forward to reclaim their past and shed light on what they were forced to endure. These women should not be ignored. They should never be forgotten. It is my hope that this book reaches an audience that can appreciate the light it shines on history and use this as an opportunity to continue to research the subject matter. That way in can continue to exist in the present instead of being lost and forgotten in the past. In a way, it seems like those in charge of this thought they'd get away with it because not only did they not keep records of what they were doing but they thought their victims, either because of a lack of education or just because the way were raised, meant they'd stay quiet rather than speak of this. Now, many of them have come forward and continue to speak out about what they witnessed and suffered which just proves the authorities made a mistake underestimating these people. It proves that when given the chance, the victims became what they always were, a force to be reckoned with and respected. They will not fade into the past no matter how many times they are ignored and that is everything in the end.

Rating on my scale: 10 STARS! I don't know what else I can say to convey what I think about this book. I love the writing and I respect the subject matter. I mourn for the characters and I have hope for their future. Read this and I hope you learn something about the resilience of people. I'll continue to follow Jiyoung Han's writing for as long as she is willing to write.

Book review: High By the Beach by Wren Amari

I got the chance to read this eARC and I am so grateful. I was notified about submitting an application to read this book and I am so happy about that because this book was so lovely, heartbreaking but beautiful.

High by the Beach is about Brielle, a young woman holding in her grief about a horrible loss and dealing with it in unhealthy ways while her parents ignore their loss and pretend that everything is fine. Brielle and her family decide to stay somewhere next to the coast for the summer while they try to move on. The first night there, Brielle sees someone swimming out in the water and decides to try staying underwater in an attempt to get over her fear of swimming. She's rescued by Carson Eli, who takes one look at Brielle and decides that she is a spoiled party girl and wants nothing to do with her. But as days go by, Brielle is brought into Carson's orbit by his friends and the more time they spend together, the more they both start to realize that they don't know everything about each other. And the more they learn, the more they want to know about each other.

This was romantic. There is no other way about it. This is one of those slow-burn romances where the leads have to learn everything about each other while falling in love and the development was just wonderful. Brielle is such a sweet and tragic young woman. I wanted to force her to eat and sleep and make sure she had a safe place to cry and mourn her horrible loss. I wanted to drag her parents over by their ears and force the whole family to talk because their methods of dealing with their loss were obviously not working but the point of the book is the journey, and they get to a happy, or at least a happier point, eventually. Carson was a bit quick to jump to conclusions but I was happy to see how fast he started to learn to communicate with Brielle. His devotion to his sister was so sweet to see and the quiet ways he took care of Brielle showed how he was able to listen and learn about what she needed as situations came up. 

The side characters are all very well developed. I want to know more about Aspen and Dylan and Reese so if it is possible for Wren Amari to give readers more about them, I will gladly read their books. It feels like the setup of what could become a series so I'm going to sit here with my fingers crossed and hope that something involving those characters eventually gets written. Also, I have to admit that there was a moment where I teared up reading this book which for me meant that I was emotionally invested in these characters. If a book has the power to bring out those kinds of emotions, it is definitely a good thing.

Rating on my scale? I'm doing 9.5 Stars only because there were a couple of things in the story that I'm not a fan of in romance novels like miscommunication, for example. And I'm not a fan of a certain romance beat that happens in the third act of these books but I can repsect the why behind this one. Still, this book is worth the read. Wren Amari has the talent to be truly brilliant and I can't wait to see what comes next!

Book Review: The Swan's Daughter by Roshani Chokshi

I've been sitting on this one a few days and have come to a few conclusions.

The first? This was a wonderful, BEAUTIFUL book.

The second? I must read more books by Roshani Chokshi. I have the Gilded Wolves trilogy and Pandava series, so I'll be fixing that soon.

I'll admit, besides the author name I recognized, the stunning cover art caught my attention. There are three things that can guarantee I pick up a book: author name, cover art and the final point? An intriguing synopsis. And this book had one very intriguing synopsis.

The Swan's Daughter follows Demelza and Prince Arris on a quest to find independence and a happily ever after. Prince Arris is the latest descendant of a long line of kings that have ended up with shortened lives thanks to a wish made by one of his ancestors. Marriage for Prince Arris means he most likely will die on his wedding night because all his bride needs to rule the Isle of Malys is his literal heart and hand. Demelza is the youngest daughter of a wizard and a veritas swan, and as a veritas swan herself, Demelza can force people to tell the truth by singing to them and asking any question she wants. At the start of the story, Prince Arris's mother has put together a competition to find a bride for her son. Demelza makes a deal with Prince Arris in exchange for a safe place to stay. Demelza will question every bridal candidate, weeding out each one with murder on her mind so that Prince Arris can have a chance at a long, happy life. As the two work together, they come to find that the possibility of a happy life with love could be something they both can find in ways they would not have considered until their partnership.

Honestly, I'm still thinking about this world. Chokshi came up with the most unique setting, filled with so many interesting locations and creatures and people. I hope the official book has a glossary with explanation for every animal in this book, every plant, every location and information on all the different people. And a map! A book like this needs an elaborately detailed map. I would study it for hours with a magnifying glass so I could understand this book that much more. It was just so beautiful, I was in awe half the time reading because of everything that was in this book. 

The story itself is so sweet. Demelza and Arris are young and hoping for something more than the hand that fate has dealt them. Demelza has been trying her whole life to be as important as her sisters and when she finally gets the attention she wants, it is for the wrong reasons. She's independent enough to fight for herself which leads her to joining the competition for marriage to Prince Arris. She's awkward but willing to learn, happy with the chance to finally make some friends with people she would not have had the chance to meet while being kept alone at home with her parents. Prince Arris is a daydreamer, wishing for a true love match that would mean he could live long enough to try everything he want while he is alive. With so many candidates to choose from and unable to discern their true intentions, Arris has resigned himself to dying young. Putting Demelza and Arris together, they make an interesting partnership, working together as friends as they get to know each other while working to keep Arris alive. Their relationship develops carefully, making their ending feel earned and this reader smiling happily while hugging her phone.

Each of the side characters are so much fun in this book. There is the reigning King and Queen, who have managed to keep their relationship going strong while the Queen has fun trying to kill her husband every few months, just to keep him on his toes. Arris's twin sister, Yvlle, is a force to be reckoned with, working with every resource she has to keep her brother safe. Ursula and Talvi, Demelza's first friends are endearing, and if there is a chance for more from this world, I hope Chokshi gives readers more about those two characters, with a lot of Yvlle thrown in. I loved every character in this world, from the mean girls trying to win the competition to the wizard Prava, Demelza's father and a trickster of a character with his own evil machinations driving portions of the story from the sidelines. Everything is so detailed and developed, I'm still sitting here sighing and thinking how much I loved this book.

Rating on my scale? 10 Stars. I am still not over the way this book unfolded, from the characters to the worldbuilding, and everything in between. Read this if you want something that feel like Howl's Moving Castle, which has been on my mind lately, especially as I was reading this book. 

Audiobook Review: What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher

My thanks to Netgalley, Tor Publishing, Macmillan Audio and T. Kingfisher for the audiobook in exchange for a review.

Let it be known far and wide that I am a big fan of T. Kingfisher. So much so, that I have made it a goal to read all of T. Kingfisher's works and I have been slowly making my way through everything I can find for the last few years. One such series I've been following is the Sworn Soldier books featuring the character Alex Easton. Alex has been through several let's say "adventures" and each has been their own unique take on horror.

The first, What Moves the Dead, had readers introduced to Alex, who served in the army for Gallacia and has since left said army and moved on with their life. A letter from a childhood friend brings Alex to Usher Manor, where something sinister is growing, invading the lake, the land and the house. The second book, What Feasts at Night, has Alex, their closest friend Angus, and Miss Eugenia Potter, a mycologist and illustrator seen in book 1, traveling to a hunting lodge that belongs to Easton's family for the sake of rest and relaxation and as a favor to Miss Potter. Instead they find rumors of a monster that steals the breath of those that stay in the lodge and together have to discover the truth to the story and survive their stay.

I've loved each book, the second maybe a little more than the first, so the anticipation for the third book of the series has been keeping me on edge since September started. I'm happy to report that this adventure is just as good as the previous books. This novella, What Stalks the Deep, has Alex and Angus traveling to America to help their friend Dr. Denton, who was originally seen in the first book and helped Alex with what was happening in Usher House. This time around, Denton has asked for Alex to come help find Denton's missing cousin, who was studying an old mine that belongs to Denton's family. They put a team together and work to investigate the mine, the disappearance of Denton's cousin and what is hidden deep undergound in the mine.

First of all, this is a little more light-hearted in tone. The dread and horror has more to do with the confined spaces at first, which Alex repeatedly states do not bother them, and the threat of gas and explosions in the mine. When what is hidden in the mine comes to light, the desciptions reminded me of some classic horror films but if I get into namimg those, I'm afraid I'll reveal too much and the joy of this novella will be spoiled. Suffice to say, the monster of this book had its moments of being the thing that creeps in the dark but Kingfisher changes things up by also making it the hero in moments of need. All together, it was an unexpected surprise and it makes this another brilliant installment in what has become a favorite series of mine.

This was my first time listening to an audiobook and narrator Avi Roque is incredible with this story. There were accents to distinguish separate characters and the tone was the perfect voice to bring Alex Easton to life. As a result, I'm looking into other books narrated by Roque because the performance here impressed me that much. I can't believe I never truly took the time to listen to an audiobook. This production has cemented that I'll be listening to more in the future.

Rating on my scale: 9 Stars!! Honestly, I still love What Feasts at Night just that much more. It's a miniscule, tiny quibble, but enough to make me reflect that in my rating. Still, it seems there will be more in the future for Alex Easton's adevntures and I will be sitting here patiently, listening to Avi Roque narrate the previous audiobooks, until book 4 is ready for readers to enjoy. The wait will be worth it, I'm sure.

Book Review: The Holiday Hookup List by Alexis Daria

My thanks to Netgalley, Montlake and Alexis Daria for the eARC in exchange for a review of this book. 

I've been reading books by Alexis Daria since I tried You had me Hola five years ago. I also get Daria's newsletter, so I had this on my radar and when it was mentioned that it was up on Netgalley, I rushed to see if I'd get the chance to read it. I should also mention that I generally, mostly, hate Christmas, so my still wanting to read a novella that is based around the holiday should show that I'm reading this for the fact that it is written by Alexis Daria.

First of all, the dedication made me cackle. It helped set the mood for what I expected to find in this story. There was a sparkling charm to the introduction of our lead getting ready for a dance party (literally sparkling, as FMC, Valencia ends up wearing twinkling lights not long after we meet her) and I was immediately invested in the story of a workaholic lawyer trying her best to enjoy the holidays despite the year she's had. Add to that a run-in with a former classmate that Valencia used to butt heads with, lawyer Gideon Noble, and I was ready to settle in and watch the sparks between them fly.

The characters were sweet and well-developed, easy to cheer for as they navigated the tricky set-up of figuring out how to make their connection work while working through the issues they had with each other when they were in school. I was angry for Valencia when she mentioned her ex-fiancé and for Gideon when he talked about his father. I laughed at their antics and smiled as they made their list of things to do so they wouldn't spend the holdiays alone. It was all sweet and swoony and their romance was enough to keep me so  invested in the story that I read this in one sitting. Daria has a way with these shorter works that is able to provide enough dimension to the leads that allows for readers to grow to enjoy the characters and never feel like something is lacking. Everything is revealed at the best time, developed in a way that flows with the story and keeps readers hooked. I wanted these two people to be happy together, I wanted their second chance to work out, and I loved their quiet moments together as much as their spicy scenes made me want to blush.

As much as enjoyed this though, it feels slightly unresolved with the scene involving Valencia's ex. With the way the scene unfolded and the implications it made, I wanted more comeuppance to hit that guy in the head with the force of a crowbar. But I can be a little vindictive, so most likely it's just a me thing and no one else would be very happy with a little bloodshed in their Christmas novella. Also, it just stops and while yes, it had an ending, I wanted more with the happily ever after in the future. Some kind of epilogue would have been the cherry on top, but again, that's just me.

Rating on my scale: 8.5 Stars. I wanted a little more overall but it in no way detracts from the overall impression of the book. This is a sweet and spicy story about two people realizing that the past does not define them and that sometimes they belong somewhere they least expect and that's okay too. 

Book Review: He Knows When You're Awake by Alta Hensley

My thanks to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Alta Hensley for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. 

I'll start by saying that I did not read the first book. My hope was that I did not have to read it first and for the most part, I think I'm right in saying it's not necessary. I'll also say that I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas but the title intrigued me. The focus is not necessarily about the holiday itself though, it's more of a backdrop and occasional set piece for certain moments, think ice skating, gift shopping and looking at Christmas trees and so on. With all that said though, I'm sorry to say I didn't like this as much as I'd hoped I would.

The book follows Sloane Whitmore, a jewelry designer who is feeling stifled at her job where she is unable to design jewelry pieces that she would love. She's tried getting loans from the bank to start her own business but she keeps getting turned down. A chance encounter with Cole Asher, a billionaire and a recluse, leads Sloane to the opportunity of a lifetime: work for Cole Asher and design the jewelry line of her dreams. The catch is that she has to move into his penthouse, where he's built a workshop for her and her jewelry line needs to be done by Christmas for it to launch by New Years. Their attraction grows and soon they try their luck at being together. But Cole has other motives behind funding Sloane's jewelry line and there are people who would do anything to destroy him. Including hurting someone he has come to love.

My first issue had to do with inconsistent characters. Sloane seemed like she was tough and had a good head on her shoulders but she was quick to follow and do anything and everything for Cole. She would talk about her struggles with pleasing her mother in one breath and then in the next, mourn the fact that she wasn't going to spend the holidays with her family. Now, usually this is par for the course, the lead character has issues with a parental figure and it explains some of the character's background. But readers don't get more than just the talking about what happened in the past. It didn't have much reflection as it was being revealed and as a result, the emotional impact felt like it was nonexistent.

I can't even tell you anything about Cole's background. I think his father was a drunk and abusive? Other than that, I don't know where he used to live, why he came to the city, what he was interested in most to make himself money. He had a mentor with questionable morals and followed his way of things for a while before he made changes. He was more consistent in character but not by much.

The characters being inconsistent then lead to a lack of chemistry. I'm reading this book for the romance and it all felt very bland. Their connection felt like it was only surface level, nothing felt like true depth and as a result, I found their connection to be bland. Even their steamy scenes felt boring. It's not a good sign when the couple you're supposed to root for feels like they would be better off moving on from each other.

Which leads to issues with the pacing. The book has scenes focused on Sloane making her jewelry, Cole watching her on cameras and then the two of them together. Wash, rinse and repeat. Which would have been fine if they were interesting together but the lack of chemistry made it difficult to enjoy them as a couple. Not to mention, the biggest threat of the book is Cole's former mentor, a character that spends most of the story off page. There was no sense of urgency, no real feeling of peril. Readers know that there is something Cole is hiding about that man but we don't get enough of a chance to feel true concern for what could befall our leads. And then it wraps up in the blink of an eye and the book is over.

I wanted to love this, really I did, but I'm left thinking this might not be the best fit for me as a reader. I might try another book by Hensley somewhere down the road but it won't be anytime soon.

Rating on my Scale: 3 Stars. I hope this book finds its audience. I'm sincerely sorry this book and I didn't click. 

Book Review: Road Trip with a Vampire by Jenna Levine

My thanks to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing Group and Jenna Levine for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

I have a confession to make. I actually have the rest of the My Vampires series. I remember borrowing the first book from my city's digital library and enjoying it so much that I bought myself a copy and returned the library one. Then I proceeded to get to about the 40% mark and then left it unfinished. And I bought the 2nd book not realizing that it was actually a series and left it on my tablet for another day.

I had to go searching for it on my tablet because it's been a few years and it had fallen way down on my list of things to read in my digital library. And then I went ahead and hunted down the details of the first book because I could not for the life of me remember why I put the first book down for so long. Looks like it came out around the time I was coming out of the newborn trenches, the ones so deep the Mariana looks at us floundering in the deeps and gives a nod of respect to the trench we're in. I'm in them for a second time now but I like to think I have more experience with sleep deprivation to the point that I can read all the books I want while simultaneously handling screaming tantrums and soothing lullabies.

I was tempted to read both previous books as fast as possible before reading Road Trip with a Vampire before I realized this would be the perfect opportunity to try a book and see if it could stand on its own without depending a lot on the previous installments for me to enjoy the story. I am happy to report that YES, you can read this book without having read the others. Also, you will most definitely WANT to read the other books once you're done with this one.

This was just so sweet, it made me want to curl up with my hands under my chin and just sigh and smile because awww, that was so good.

This book follows Grizelda Watson, known as Zelda, a witch who has left her bad reputation behind for a new start in California as a yoga instructor. Zelda used to hang out with vampires but has spent the last 10 years avoiding them and her magic, in favor of a new peace and being an overall better person than she was in her long and storied past. That all changes when amnesiac vampire Peter Elliot shows up, having been sent by her old friend Reggie, so that Peter can have someone to look out for him while he tries to regain his memories. Zelda decides the least she can do is help him and together they try to figure out who Peter used to be. When Peter gets a threatening note about a job left unfinished, Peter and Zelda come up with a plan: visit places mentioned in Peter's journal to see if they can jog his memories before the sender of the message tracks them down.

I loved Zelda. I loved her name, her attitude, and I even loved her past, which is that apparently she had a reputation for pulling off elaborate pranks. She made me chuckle and smile and that is everything when you're following a romatic lead through their trials and tribulations. I thought Peter was charming and enjoyed hiw flustered he got with Zelda and how the two of them would flirt and slowly learned about each other. It was all just exactly what I wanted to read after the last week of horrible weather and horrible stories on the news about the floods that happened less than an hour away from me. Zelda and Peter made me forget about worrying enough so that I could be able to fall in love with their story. I'm starting My Roommate is a Vampire in the morning because yeah, okay, I NEED to sleep, tell me what else is new.

The book is written from Zelda's point of view, allowing us to see how hard Zelda has worked to become someone better. We can see the pain she feels for mistakes she made in the past and how it drives her to choose to change. I liked how that theme, making a choice to be better, was worked into Zelda's story and into Peter's, because the more we learn about Peter, the more readers see that Peter wants to believe that change is possible, even for him. Funny enough because as is, Peter doesn't know who he used to be. All he knows is that Zelda makes him want to be better, to be deserving of someone like her, and isn't that just exactly what romance needs? It gives me fuzzy feelings and makes me smile just thinking about it. Some of the chapters start with a bit about Peter, filling in things from his past about what his job used to be and how all of it brought him to Zelda. Others have bits about Zelda's past and how her practical jokes created a reputation with a mind of it's own, practically. I liked how reserved he was and how little details like his music choices were enough to expand on who Peter was and who he chose to be for Zelda. The story just worked for me with making me love the characters and then, in turn, love the story of how they fall in love.

If I have to make any complaint, it would be about how I wanted to know a little more about Zelda's past, where she came from, who her family was, things like that. The same for Peter. I was also a little irked by the final conflict of the story, the reasoning that Zelda came up with for why she and Peter would not work out. I thought she was being way too stubborn and refusing to see the truth about what had happened and I wanted someone to tell her that earlier but she did eventually work it out, better late than never. Still, I would have slapped her upside the head because really? You were going to give up on love because you were what? Mincing words about what had happened and what you thought had happened? Ugh, romantic leads, I tell you. There always has to be something, no matter how small, to make their happily ever afters feel earned. Still, sigh, this sweet couple earned their love story ending and this author has earned a new fan. Seriously, I will be reading the rest of the series, probably within the next week, and I'll be keeping Jenna Levine on my list of automatic preorders. If the pattern holds, my hope is for a new book by this time next year. I'm looking forward to it.

Rating on my scale: Going with 9 stars because Zelda really did need a smack to head. Just a few times, nothing too violent, I wouldn't want a vampire coming after me for knocking some sense into his love. Still, this is a great book, exactly what I want to see in romance stories, and I hope the rest of the series is just as good.

Book Review: Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey

My thanks to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager and Tessa Bailey for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. 

Let's start by saying I have read a LOT of books by Tessa Bailey. Seriously, I think I've lost count of just how many I've read. Off the top of my head, I loved the Bellinger Sisters books. I HATED 2 out of the 3 of the Hot & Hammered series. I mostly liked the A Vine Mess duology, I didn't like Wreck The Halls. I've also read the first, let me check, 3 books of this series, and I'll be honest, I haven't been consistently rating them very high. Still, I keep coming back because when I find a Tessa Bailey book that is AWESOME, it knocks me off my axis and I decide to read the next book set for release by Tessa Bailey.

I'll be reading book 5 of this series, no doubt about it.

Okay, first off, this book can be read on its own. All that is needed to understand this world is that the books mainly focus on some kind of professional sports figure and their love interest. Book 1 followed a professional golf star, book 2 followed said golfer's best friend, a professional hockey player. That set up, the hockey team, is where the next 2 books continue, with book 3 being focused on another teammate from that hockey team and book 4, THIS BOOK, now focusing on a rookie player from the same team. The reader sees some of the team interaction from said previous leads, and the introduction of this book is a scene from a previous installment, just from a different perspective. I appreciated this because let's face it, I read that book a while back so while I figured that couple would end up the focus of a future book, I didn't remember all of the specifics about their encounter. It also helped to fill in the background of our leads and cement them as a couple I genuinely wanted to read about and see them get their happily ever after.

So Pitcher Perfect follows Skyler Paige, a senior softball pitcher at Boston University who attracts the attention of rookie hockey player Robbie Corrigan at what was supposed to be some kind of challenge between a group of baseball players versus the hockey team I mentioned before. She's a no-nonsense, tough-as-nails, one of the guys type of character who thinks Robbie is only making fun of her when he keeps calling her hot and tries to get her to go out with him. A bet leads to a short coffee date where the truth is revealed. Skyler is in love with her brother's best friend and she has no idea how to get him to notice her. Robbie volunteers to fake date Skyler in the hopes that the guy will get jealous and relaize his here to now unknown affection for Skyler. All the while, Skyler wants Robbie to tutor her in how to keep her true love's attention, starting with flirting lessons and escalating from there. At the same time, Robbie is trying hard to prove that he can be the guy of her dreams by participating in a week long competition with her family where the pair are forced to make a united front to her family, where Skyler has always felt like the odd man out.

And that's all the first quarter of the book!

By this point, I was charmed I tell you. I loved Skyler's quips and her sense of humor. I loved the sudden realization that Robbie had that his past had come back to bite him when he finally met the girl of his dreams. Their interactions were sweet and yearning and their chemistry made me almost swoon except I was smiling the whole time so it was more giggling than falling back in a faint. I can't remember the last time a couple felt like something I wanted to read. The pacing of this book just flies by because of the banter and the nature of the setting, being the family competition back at Skyler's childhood home. I read every scene and just wanted them to get on the same page but at the same time I enjoyed the journey of them getting to the right place for their relationship to work. I'm even invested in what I believe will be the future leads of upcoming books in this series. Which is funny, because as I said before, I read the other installments of this series and I have not felt quite so eager to get to the next book until now.

I could go on but I'll end this by saying I'm buying a copy of this soon to go with the other Tessa Bailey books I've loved. It deserves the place it has earned on a shelf with my other favorite romances.

Rating: I'm going to play it safe and say 8 Stars on my scale. I'd rate it higher but I worry that this might be a fluke for the series for me and then I'll have to wait for yet another Tessa Bailey book that I fall head over heels with again in the future. Best to temper my expectations and wait with crossed fingers for book 5. Here's hoping I love it to bits, like this one.

Book Review: Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai

My thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books and Tesia Tsai for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. 

The title is what first snared my attention. Followed quickly by the eye-catching cover. So with my interest sufficiently piqued, I read the synopsis and all the pieces fell into place. I wanted to read about Kang Siying and her work as a priestess that can make the dead walk. I will say my initial impression was that this would be something akin to a romantasy story, focused on the developing relationship between Siying and Prince Ren. I'm happy to say this was secondary to the main plot of court intrigue and the precarious balance between two countries on the brink of war. Never judge a book by its pretty cover. Let it snare you but then stick around for the unexpected story. You won't regret it. 

Deathly Fates is about Kang Siying, a priestess taught by her father to raise the dead and help guide them home. When her beloved father falls ill, Siying takes a job that leads her across the border and into Wen, where the people are displeased with the King of Sian. Her task is to find a particular dead soldier and bring him back to Sian. Except, when Siying places her talisman on him, the soldier returns to a state of living. He also turns out to be the missing prince of Sian, younger son of the King. Prince Ren is living on borrowed time though and now Siying and Ren have to find ways to gather qi, or life force, to bring Ren fully back to life. Together they begin a journey back to Sian, working to restore Prince Ren's qi by purifying evil spirits along their path. As they travel, they start to uncover the truth about the state of the country and that there may have been more to Ren's death than what is seems.

I loved Kang Siying. This is the no-nonsense, level-headed priestess of my dreams. She's cool and collected, working hard to keep her family safe and to provide everything she can for them with enough of a sardonic edge to her that had me squarely in her corner from page one. Prince Renshu, Ren, is the perfect opposite of Siying, hopeful and teasing and loyal to a fault. Together they make quite the pair, working together to save Ren's life and learning to trust each other more and more with every new obstacle that comes their way. I was rooting for them together within pages of their meeting. They are the kind of couple that make hearts sing. I loved their banter, their conflicts and their hope as they came together to be a force that could change the fate of the kingdom.

One unexpected aspect of the book was the actual work that Siying does as a priestess. I understood that she could raise the dead in order to return them to their families but the actual act of it on the page was thrilling to see. The vengeful spirits needing to be exorcised for Ren were tragic and terrifying in equal measure, and the addition of these characters and their backstories helped to fill in pieces of this world. I enjoyed the vibe of mixing romance with murderous ghosts. All in a day's work for our heroes. 

The only complaint I have is with the pacing. In stories like these, a lot of the time spent on the actual act of journeying from location to location does not make it into the book. Understandable of course, as I'm sure it would make for dull reading and make the story drag if the journey is not the focus of the plot. Still, in this book it felt like the characters are here and then quickly end up there, making scene changes feel like more of a snap of your fingers type of move instead of a smoother transition. As a result, some things felt a little rushed with the development in the middle of the book. It doesn't detract too much from the story and I still loved where the characters ended up. If this is where the story leaves them for good, then I'm okay with that.

Rating on my scale: I'm going with 9 stars. The pacing just irks me a little, enough that I feel like the stars I give this should reflect that. Read this if you like romance and women who can make skeletons do their bidding. It's a surprising combination but the payoff is worth it.

Book Review: I'll Find You Where the Timeline Ends by Kylie Lee Baker

My thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group/Feiwel & Friends and Kylie Lee Baker for an eARC of this book in exchange for a review. 

I have quite the number of books by Kylie Lee Baker but life has gotten in the way and I have not read a single one of them until now. I liked this book and I feel bad saying that because I didn't really really like it or even love it. From what I understand, this is a little more light-hearted compared to Baker's other books so I'm going to chalk this one up as a it's me, not you, and try to explain the why's of it all.

So, I'll Find You Where the Time Ends follows Mina, a descendant of a dragon god who can time travel as a result of her ancestry. She is in training to work for the Descendants, an organization that works to keep the timeline safe. There are rogue agents who apparently take it upon themselves to change things in time and the Descendants go back and try to correct things in unobtrusive ways to best preserve the timeline. They have to make sure that no one notices them or what they do in order for their work to be what it is supposed to end up as. Mina is on track to become an agent, her goal being to find a sister that no one else remembers except her. While trying to finish her last requirements, Mina meets a rogue agent who claims if she doesn't help him, the world will end sometime in the future. Mina has to figure out if she wants to help the rogue agent or focus on finding the truth about her sister, and how both missions involve the organization Mina and her family have loyally followed for so long.

Okay, first of all, one star off for the development of the world which seemed a little lacking in some parts. The whole idea of the Descendants seemed interesting but I had no idea how they really worked to keep the timeline safe. There were instances every now and then to explain why this one thing, like a bug, changed things for the worst, but it didn't seem to have much bearing on the story. Mina was tasked with finding the bug, I remember that, but I don't remember why it was important. It was just something she was tasked with doing to get points to become an agent. I wanted to see more about this organization. I feel like little reports added between chapters, something explaining a task and how changing it worked in fixing the timeline, could have helped with developing the Descendants organization. The way it's presented in the book, I know there is the big boss, there is Mina's mentor, Hyebin, and there are Mina's parents who also work for the Descendants. And that's all I can tell you about an organization tasked with keeping the timeline safe. That's why it feels lacking. There could have been mentions about a big event they keep safe, how they have to run scenarios constantly to curb tampering with the timeline on that scale. I know that Mina was tasked with getting a boy to kiss her, and somehow doing this proved she could be an agent, which made no sense because I thought they weren't supposed to be noticed when they traveled in time? Ow, I think my head is spinning after that sentence.

Next, a second star off for the way the story wrapped up. For most of the book, readers are told by Mina that as a descendant, she seemed more human than the others and how this detracted from her overall self. She was supposed to be smarter, better adept at picking up languages, things like that because of her heritage. Instead, she was struggling with Calculus so she needed tutoring, and she was messing up on her assignments in the past which resulted in her mentor having to redo the missions without her. It all could have led to some interesting development if it had been a gradual reveal that Mina's self-assessment was wrong, but the ending just turns into a whirlspin and boo, that wasn't what I expected. I don't want to veer too much into spoiler territory but I think it goes without saying that a story about a girl who doesn't think she measures up to her peers would eventually find out they are more than what they appear to be. I just wanted it to feel more organic to the story. Also, if the ending was going to be that, why didn't something give earlier? Why wasn't there a system in place to recognize signs of corruption in the Descendants? It all seems like loose ends that were tied off too quickly and it makes me feel a little disgruntled about the resolution to the story.

After all is said and done, I thought this book was a sweet story about a girl who gains the power and confidence to stand up for herself and what she wants. She gets most of what she wants and is ready to move on with her life. So, okay, good for Mina.

Rating on my scale: 5.5 Stars. I wanted to like this so much more than I did and that makes me so sad. BUT, I have so many other books by Baker, and I can see that the talent is there, so I'm going to try reading everything else I have until I find a book I love. So see? There's hope for me yet.

Book Review: Moth Dark by Kika Hatzopoulou

My thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers and Kika Hatzopoulou for the eARC in exchange for a review. 

When I started reading this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. The book starts some time after a big world event and the lead came off a little weird to me. But I kept reading and slowly I was sucked in, caring about Sascia, Mooch and her darkmoths, her cousin Danny, her cohort from school, and Nugau. I loved this so much, I want to buy copies for all the readers in my family. For now, I'll settle for reading the rest of Kika Hatzopoulou's books.

Moth Dark follows Sascia Petrou, a young student who is in love with the Darkness that appeared in the world 6 years ago. Now 18, Sascia was supposed to be working with other students to study the dark but has taken a little more of a different route to her studies. That different route means Sascia is constantly exploring the Dark and one day Sascia sees a humanoid shape climb out of it. That turns out to be Nugau, and their mission is to kill Sascia. When Sascia finds Nugau again, Nugau doesn't know who Sascia is and things continue from there. Sascia realizes that the world inside the dark, Itkalin, is always at a different point in time from their world, and somehow Sascia is at the center of a war between humans and elves. As the two of them work to try to find a way to have their worlds be at peace together, Sascia and Nugau are drawn together again and again, caring for each other, willing to anything and everything to keep the other safe and with their worlds determined to fight, that connection might not be enough to keep them together.

So yes, when I started the book I thought Sascia was a little weird. She had a side hustle taking people "fishing" so they could capture dark insects to keep as pets. She'd had the opportunity to study at an Ivy League school but messed up with focusing enough time to study and was now taking remedial courses and retaking exams so she can get into Columbia. And she's seemingly obsessed with the Dark, apparently to the point that her expeditions leading people to fish for dark insects allow her to experience their wonder/awe/terror again and again when they first encounter Dark creatures. That's all in the opening chapter and I just thought come on kid, you know you're playing with fire. So when Nugau comes out of the manhole Sascia is working at and starts to chase her, I felt vindicated. And then thought okay, so that's how the story is going to work. Sascia is a kid who makes foolish decisions but then has to work to show why she's important, how she makes a difference, why we should root for her. To the point that not only had I started to root for her and but I wanted to shake everyone who told her that her differences were bad and that she needed to make other choices.

Nugau was a pleasant surprise and a truly wonderful character. Nugau is a genderfluid elf princet. The elves on the other side of the dark can change their gender, which is then depicted by the color of the Darkprints on their face. Nugau shows up time and time again as either gender or even intersex and it was great to see a society where this is considered the norm. It didn't matter to the character what gender they were because the essence of Nugau never changed and I loved their depiction. The strength they had as they tried to lead, as they tried to teach Sascia about the Dark, and the compassion they had in trying to save their world, it was all heartwrenching and I wanted Nugau to just be happy. I had violent feelings for their mother, and I adored their friends, Thalla and Orran.

All the characters are given their due thanks to the way the book is written. Danny, Sascia's cousin and best friend, is given the chance to shine in chapters showing their past. We get to see how they were as kids together, how they encouraged each other and partnered to explore the Dark and made discoveries that would help the world. They were exactly what they were shown to be, family, and I loved Danny's own love story with a fellow classmate. Tae, Andres, Shivani and Crow round out the rest of the cohort that are some of the best minds in the world working in a lab with Danny and Sascia to study and understand the Dark. They're each important, have unique talents and play important roles in the course of the book.

The way that the book is structured helped with highlighting the way the timeline works between Itkalin and our world. There are various chapters interspersed through the narrative, showing different past points in Sascia's life. Each highlights an important moment that has shaped Sascia into the person she is in the current timeline. I enjoyed each tidbit given and every question answered with this structure. 

The magic of this world, which I think it should be called because of the wonder it invokes, and because it's the word Sascia uses, is so interesting. I loved the idea of the Dark creatures that have entered our world and how Sascia and Danny have managed to work out how to help them flourish here and help people. I loved Mooch, a Darkmoth that has chosen Sascia as their person to help through thick and thin. I loved how Sascia's choice to protect the moths helped to prove how important she was in working to resolve the conflict between the two worlds. It's all so richly detailed and a wonder to behold, just like Sascia knew it was from the start.

In the end, I loved this book. I thought it was a beautiful story about how making a better choice is possible. I'll be reading more books from Hatzopoulou as soon as possible.

Rating on my scale: 10 Stars. Really, I have no complaints about this one. Read this book if you think Pacific Rim and The Time-Traveler's Wife put together sounds like a great idea. That's the best I could come up with to compare this book to and I loved both those things. I'm sure there are other things to compare this book to but I came up with those two when I was sleep deprived and now they're the only two I can come up with. Just read this book and have beautiful day. 

Book Review: Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate

My thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Katherine Applegate for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. 

This is my first time trying a book by Katherine Applegate but it won't be the last. I'll be buying a copy of this book and reading it to my kids. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect when I decided to try this book. Truth be told, I saw the artwork for the cover, read that the synopsis had a cat as a character and made my decision then and there to try reading this. At the time, my own cat was having health problems and I thought reading a sweet book about a cat would help. It gave me great comfort to read this and I hope my kids love it one day soon.

Pocket Bear is about a a small stuffed toy bear, named you guessed it, Pocket Bear, who has an interesting history. Pocket Bear was hand-made during World War I, designed in a way so that he could fit in a soldier's pocket and seem like he was gazing up into his soldier's face. These bears were meant to provide luck and love for their owners. Nowadays, Pocket Bear runs a home for giving other lost and thrown away stuffed animals a second chance at finding a new child to love them. He runs the place with his cat best friend, Zephyrina, who goes out at night to scavenge for food and lost toys to take home. When Zephyrina finds a teddy bear in a restaurant trash can and decides to bring it back home, it sets in motion a story about finding comfort, love and family where you least expect it.

This was a sweet story, told from Zephyrina's point of view, and I have to say Applegate nails the cat attitude perfectly. I loved the sass, the reasonings behind what Zephyrina chose to do or the moves to make. I could see the calculations that went into showing how a cat really fits into a family and how Zephyrina's choices proved that cats are intelligent and loving creatures. I believed the friendship between Zephyrina and Pocket from page 1 and I loved every moment of their sweet story together.

I thought Pocket was tragic but I understood the hope he stood for, the love that went into the making of him. I'm not a fan of stuffed bears but I recently made an amigurumi stuffed bear for a family member for their new baby. I worked hard on putting everything together into a whole toy that I hope will bring comfort to the baby when they are old enough to keep it with them when they sleep. With that in my head, each interaction with Pocket and Dasha, the child who runs the Second Chance home for toys with her mother, Elizaveta, tugged at the heartstrings just a little bit more. I also learned a lot about the history of stuffed bears that I had never heard of before. That history lends this book a feeling of maturity that I can respect as this allows for the reader to learn and grow and think with every new situation that comes up in this adventure. I love when a book treats its reader like they are smart without talking down to them. This is the kind of book I want my kids to read and enjoy but will also allow them to ask me questions about the wars mentioned and the effects they have on families. It's a great book with ideas that can make kids think and consider things in different ways than they had before and that makes it a very respectable read.

I should also add that I too have several shelves where my childhood stuffed toys are kept safe so that also endeared me to this story. And my cat that I mentioned earlier had his own tiny stuffed toy, a snowman, that he loved to bits and took with him everywhere until it was misplaced. All this to say that if you had anything like a stuffed toy when you were a kid, this story will make you remember them again and think about who they might have been once upon a time. It also makes me think about the stuffed friends I'm giving to my kids and how I hope they feel love and comfort and magic when they have their toys with them. My kid calls all of his stuffed animals his friends and after reading this book, I can believe in that just a little bit more. It's a magical tale filled with hope, which makes it the best kind of kids book, in my opinion.

Rating on my scale: I'm giving this 10 stars and pulling out my stuffed puppy I've had for almost 30 years and giving him a hug. My puppy has been sitting on my baby recliner for the last 3 years but after reading this book, it's high time he takes his place by my pillow again. You're never too old to appreciate the effects of a well-loved stuffed animal, after all.

Book Review: All of Us Murderers by K.J. Charles

My thanks to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and K.J. Charles for the eARC in exchange for a review of this book.

I'll start by saying this is the first book by K.J. Charles that I have tried to read. I will also be honest that the comparisons to Crimson Peak and Knives Out both had me hooked on trying this book out. I'm happy to report that I LOVED this book. Zebedee Wyckham is wonderful and along with his partner, Gideon Grey, they were sweetness personified and the mystery was intriguing and I'm so glad I saw this cover and thought WAIT, what is this beauty?

First of all, YES, those comparisons definitely work to describe this book. This book reminded me of several other works, movies and books, but I worry about spoiling too much of what comes about in this story, so I won't mention any other titles just yet. I think it's safe to say that if you are a fan of the mystery genre and gothic romances, this is the perfect book to try. It fits right in and yet stands apart thanks to the sweetest, most earnest lead I've had the pleasure to meet in recent memory.

All of Us Murderers follows Zeb Wyckham, a young man recently let go from his job, who has finally decided to accept his cousin's invitation to come to Lackaday House for a visit. Zeb usually avoids his family but after his cousin insisted on Zeb coming to stay for a couple of weeks, Zeb thought it would be okay to go. When he does arrive, Zeb is horrified to find his estranged brother, sister-in-law, a couple of cousins and his ex-boyfriend are all in attendance. Turns out Cousin Wynn has invited everyone to the house for a reason: Wynn has decided to change the terms of who is set to be his heir. He wants to leave his fortune to whoever marries his ward, Jessamine, who is staying in Lackaday House. They all try their best to get her to agree to marrying them, except for Zeb, who wants nothing to do with the Wyckham family money. But as time passes, strange things start happening in Lackaday House. There are phantom footsteps in the halls, strange messages left on the walls, and what appears to be the ghosts of an old monastery scaring the staff and the guests. Zeb has to find a way to avoid the scheming machinations of his family and figure out how to resolve the issues that led to his break-up with a man he still cares for, all while trying to find a way to leave the property. Because the Wyckham family has a lot of skeletons in their closets and with all of them together in one house, tensions between family members is the least of Zeb's worries.

Zeb, my dear sweet Zeb, how I loved you. Honestly, Zeb is an absolute sweetheart, a young man living with ADHD in a time where it was not understood, who has been cast aside by his family and sneered at for so long, the fact that he's being forced to be in their proximity for so long made me want threaten all of them with bodily harm. I also wanted to take Gideon by the ear and give him a good shake because really, how could he believe that Zeb wanted anything to do with the fortune after repeatedly stating that he would have nothing to do with the marriage scheme? Come on, give Zeb some credit, the man is goodness and honesty and genuine compassion all mixed together. All the details given about the way his mind worked, the methods he used to keep himself focused, were all so detailed, that Zeb felt like people I know and I wanted him to get out of that house and go back home and be happy. And fine, after Gideon finally got his head on straight, I could see why Zeb cared for him and their scenes together were so sweet they nearly made my teeth ache. I sighed wistfully and smiled so much with their scenes, it was probably a ridiculous thing to witness.

As for the rest of the family, oh good grief, they were horrible. I wanted to bash brother Bram in the head, I wanted to hit cousin Hawley with a crow bar, and I wasn't sure what cousin Dash's deal was, but the fact that he was in the house too made me wary of what could be hiding behind his reasonable, affable front. Elise was the typical scheming wife, able to control her husband and be cruel at the drop of a hat. Don't get me started on Jessamine and Wynn, who were just questionable enough to keep me guessing about what side they were really on. The writing made the house feel like a separate character, filled with horrible paintings and owned by despicable people, that I felt the tension of being in that space keeping my shoulders hunched as I tried to figure out who the villains were and waited for those deserving to get what was coming to them. If I had to make one quibble, it would be that I feel like one character out of the ensemble seemed to get away with what they wanted and I really hoped that the epilogue would have turned around and given them a grisly end. I also feel like there are still a few loose threads with the character, like were they truly who they claimed they were or just someone roped in to the plot that decided to take advantage of the situation? If it was in the book, I must have missed it because I'm still trying to figure it out. Guess I'll just have to read this all over again and take some notes so I can see everything I might have missed the first time I raced through this book.

The true mystery of the book was a surprise. I enjoyed the tidbits about the original owner of the house being a writer who wrote stories about horrible villains and the heinous things they did. I was not expecting the way it all came together in the end but I will say I loved the motivations behind it. If I was in that position, I would not have taken the path that was revealed BUT I can understand the urge to do what happened in this book. In the end, this is a book about the horrible things people can do and what they decide to do about their pasts and how it affects everyone around them. I enjoyed every reveal and now I'm working out which K.J. Charles book to start next. Thankfully, there is quite a bit to choose from so I'll be a happy reader hoarding new books and adding them to my towering TBR stacks. It's a wonderful feeling to have when you finish a book you really loved, the fact that there is already more to find without waiting years for a new release.

Rating on my scale: 10 Stars for Zeb and Gideon and that plot. I hope the rest of Charles's books are just as good as this one. This one is going to have a place of honor on my favorites shelf, which let's be honest, is starting to get a little cramped, but hey, who cares? Having too many favorite books is a good thing, if you want my honest opinion.