Thursday, December 31, 2020

Sweep with Me by Ilona Andrews


Title:
 Sweep with Me

Author: Ilona Andrews
Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy
Series: Innkeeper Chronicles #4.5
eBook, 146 pages
Publication: January 14, 2020 by NYLA
Source: Purchase

Buy|Amazon
|B&N|
Thank you for joining us at Gertrude Hunt, the nicest Bed and Breakfast in Red Deer, Texas, during the Treaty Stay. As you know, we are honor-bound to accept all guests during this oldest of innkeeper holidays and we are expecting a dangerous guest. Or several. But have no fear. Your safety and comfort is our first priority. The inn and your hosts, Dina Demille and Sean Evans, will defend you at all costs. [But we hope we don’t have to.

Every winter, Innkeepers look forward to celebrating their own special holiday, which commemorates the ancient treaty that united the very first Inns and established the rules that protect them, their intergalactic guests, and the very unaware/oblivious people of [planet] Earth. By tradition, the Innkeepers welcomed three guests: a warrior, a sage, and a pilgrim, but during the holiday, Innkeepers must open their doors to anyone who seeks lodging. Anyone.

All Dina hopes is that the guests and conduct themselves in a polite manner. But what’s a holiday without at least one disaster?

My Thoughts

In a mood for a light read I picked up Sweep with Me, a novella in the Innkeeper Chronicles. I wasn’t planning on reading this one because novella aren’t my thing. But I am soooo glad that I did! Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the series but normally past on novellas for all series. Sweep with Me picks up a few weeks after the events in Sweep of the Blade, Innkeeper Chronicles #4. Dina is in the mist of recovering from a near-death experience and is trying to regain some normalcy but of course her Inn is chosen as a Treaty Day location and she is asked to host a warrior lord and a clan of space chickens (yes you read that right)!
 
There was so much going on in these 146 pages novella! I in awe but not surprised that Andrews was able to jam so much emotion, humor, action, character development and world building in Sweep with Me. I always love seeing our usual group of characters, Orro the chef had plenty of hilarious and heartwarming scenes as well as resident tyrant Caldenia with a pulse on the neighborhood gossip. The new characters were plentiful and just as fascinating. As the synopsis mentioned, Dina’s Inn was graced by a warrior, sage and pilgrim. How accurate and deceiving are the descriptions! Readers are in for another treat for sure, but I won’t spoil it.
 
If you’ve read any books by Ilona Andrews, you can expect all of their trademarks and the unexpected! I love that despite over 10 years of reading and following Andrews they’re still able to surprise me with their writing and stories. Their novels never disappoint. Sweep with Me was a welcoming additional to the Innkeeper Chronicles and I can’t wait to read more in the series…even though it may be awhile since the authors have multiple series out. If you haven’t read the Innkeeper Chronicles yet, I can’t recommend it enough! Its unlike anything I’ve ever read and full of humor…I don’t know about you, but I can definitely use more of that with everything going on. Read it! You won’t be disappointed!







 


 


Tuesday, December 29, 2020

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn



Title:
 The Duke and I

Author: Julia Quinn
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Bridgertons # 1
Hardcover, 385 pages
Publication: December 1, 2020 by Avon
Source: Purchase

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|B&N|
In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable…but not too amiable.

Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.

Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.

The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty:

Love ignores every rule…

My Thoughts

Ever since I heard Netflix was adapting Quinn’s Bridgerton Series, I was stoked and knew I had to read the book. I adore everything about historical period pieces but rarely read them. But I knew I wanted to incorporate more historical romances in my reading this year and going forward. Like most readers, I really wanted to read The Duke and I before I watched the series and thankfully I did. It wasn’t hard because the book had my attention from the very first page.


Initially I absolutely liked Daphne and Simon. They were the polar opposite. Daphne was a respectable innocent lady and Simon a charming rake, their chemistry was undeniable and they just fed off each others’ energy. I was all for their ruse and their faux forbidden courtship. But by the midway point the whole honeymoon stage I had with the book started to peter out. Daphne, our heroine turned out to be quite detestable. First, she basically tricked and forced Simon to marry her knowing full well his view on marriage. Simon also mentioned on various occasions that he did not want children. Daphne was well aware of this and still chose and made sure she took advantage of Simon while he was inebriated. Which is clearly not consensual. Not cool at all and an unnecessary plot device. If the roles were reversed or if the novel was written by a man, there would be raging everywhere. 


Without those two aforementioned reasons, I actually enjoyed Quinn’s writing. I loved the humor, charm and witty banter between the Bridgertons siblings. Our two leads eventually had their happily-ever-after and Simon forgave Daphne for what she did. But it still didn’t sit well with me that Simon thanked and was grateful that Daphne did what she did. Would you be grateful someone took advantage of you and took away your choice? I think not. As you may have guessed I will not be continuing with the series. To read more Quinn novels would say what happened in The Duke and I was acceptable when it was not.


Side note: I watched the first two episodes of the Netflix adaptation and it is not good. The actors were poorly cast and the show did not capture any of the humor, charm or clever dialogue found in the novel.

 

 

 

 

 


 


Monday, December 28, 2020

The Most Anticipated Books of 2021



There's so many amazing books coming out next year! Here are a few that I am looking forward to (excluding some continuous series I follow).

 

 

 
Aurelia Ryder #1
January 12, 2021
Purchase | Amazon
 
 Atlanta was always a dangerous city. Now, as waves of magic and technology compete for supremacy, it’s a place caught in a slow apocalypse, where monsters spawn among the crumbling skyscrapers and supernatural factions struggle for power and survival.

Eight years ago, Julie Lennart left Atlanta to find out who she was. Now she’s back with a new face, a new magic, and a new name—Aurelia Ryder—drawn by the urgent need to protect the family she left behind. An ancient power is stalking her adopted mother, Kate Daniels, an enemy unlike any other, and a string of horrifying murders is its opening gambit.

If Aurelia’s true identity is discovered, those closest to her will die. So her plan is simple: get in, solve the murders, prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, and get out without being recognized. She expected danger, but she never anticipated that the only man she'd ever loved could threaten everything.

One small misstep could lead to disaster. But for Aurelia, facing disaster is easy; it’s relationships that are hard.
 
 
 
January 5, 2021
Purchase | Amazon
 
 As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh’s doctor prescribed laudanum to quiet her, and now the young woman must take the opium-heavy tincture every day. Growing up sheltered and confined, removed from sunshine and fresh air, the pale and overly slender Anne grew up with few companions except her cousins, including Fitzwilliam Darcy. Throughout their childhoods, it was understood that Darcy and Anne would marry and combine their vast estates of Pemberley and Rosings. But Darcy does not love Anne or want her.

After her father dies unexpectedly, leaving her his vast fortune, Anne has a moment of clarity: what if her life of fragility and illness isn’t truly real? What if she could free herself from the medicine that clouds her sharp mind and leaves her body weak and lethargic? Might there be a better life without the medicine she has been told she cannot live without?

In a frenzy of desperation, Anne discards her laudanum and flees to the London home of her cousin, Colonel John Fitzwilliam, who helps her through her painful recovery. Yet once she returns to health, new challenges await. Shy and utterly inexperienced, the wealthy heiress must forge a new identity for herself, learning to navigate a “season” in society and the complexities of love and passion. The once wan, passive Anne gives way to a braver woman with a keen edge—leading to a powerful reckoning with the domineering mother determined to control Anne’s fortune . . . and her life.

An extraordinary tale of one woman’s liberation, The Heiress reveals both the darkness and light in Austen’s world, with wit, sensuality, and a deeply compassionate understanding of the human heart.
 
 
 
January 12, 2021
Purchase | Amazon
 
In 1897, a fiery British aristocrat and an inept US spy search for a stolen invisibility serum that could spark a global war.

Miss Constance Haltwhistle is the last in a line of blue-blooded rogue inventors. Selling exotic firearms under her alias, the ‘Brass Queen,’ has kept her baronial estate’s coffers full. But when US spy, Trusdale, saves her from assassins, she’s pulled into a search for a scientist with an invisibility serum. As royal foes create an invisible army to start a global war, Constance and Trusdale must learn to trust each other. If they don’t, the world they know will literally disappear before their eyes
 
 
 
Everleigh Sisters #2
February 9, 2021
Purchase | Amazon
 
  In this game of seduction, the rules don't apply...

As owner of the most scandalous club in London, the last thing the notorious Marquess of Roth wants is a wife. Keeping up his false reputation as a rake brings in the clients with the deepest pockets—money he needs to fund a noble cause. Even though everything inside tells him not to leave his beautiful, innocent wife behind at his country estate...he must.

But three years later, tired of her scoundrel of a husband headlining the gossip rags, Lady Isobel Vance decides enough is enough. She is no longer a fragile kitten, but as the anonymous author of a women’s sexual advice column, she’s now a roaring tigress...and she can use her claws.

Isobel decides to go to him in London, channeling her powers of seduction to make him beg to take her back. But she didn’t expect her marauding marquess to be equally hard to resist. Now the game is on to see who will give in to the other first, with both sides determined like hell to win.
 
 
 
A Dark and Hollow Star #1
February 23, 2021
Purchase | Amazon
 
Choose your player.

The “ironborn” half-fae outcast of her royal fae family.
A tempestuous Fury, exiled to earth from the Immortal Realm and hellbent on revenge.
A dutiful fae prince, determined to earn his place on the throne.
The prince’s brooding guardian, burdened with a terrible secret.

For centuries, the Eight Courts of Folk have lived among us, concealed by magic and bound by law to do no harm to humans. This arrangement has long kept peace in the Courts—until a series of gruesome and ritualistic murders rocks the city of Toronto and threatens to expose faeries to the human world.

Four queer teens, each who hold a key piece of the truth behind these murders, must form a tenuous alliance in their effort to track down the mysterious killer behind these crimes. If they fail, they risk the destruction of the faerie and human worlds alike. If that’s not bad enough, there’s a war brewing between the Mortal and Immortal Realms, and one of these teens is destined to tip the scales. The only question is: which way?

Wish them luck. They’re going to need it.
 
 
 
June 1, 2021
Purchase | Amazon

Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society―she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer, Asian, adopted, and treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.

But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.



Wilderwood #1
June 15, 2021
Purchase | Amazon

The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.


As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole.
 
 
 
July 20, 2021
Purchase | Amazon

Brie hates the Fae and refuses to have anything to do with them, even if that means starving on the street. But when her sister is sold to the sadistic king of the Unseelie court to pay a debt, she'll do whatever it takes to get her back—including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics from the Seelie court.

Gaining unfettered access to the Seelie court is easier said than done. Brie's only choice is to pose as a potential bride for Prince Ronan, and she soon finds herself falling for him. Unwilling to let her heart distract her, she accepts help from a band of Unseelie misfits with their own secret agenda. As Brie spends time with their mysterious leader, Finn, she struggles to resist his seductive charm.

Caught between two dangerous courts, Brie must decide who to trust with her loyalty. And with her heart.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan


Title:
Wicked Saints

Author: Emily A. Duncan
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Something Dark and Holy #1
Hardcover, 385 pages
Publication: April 2, 2019 by Wednesday Books
Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Buy|Amazon|B&N|
A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself. A prince in danger must decide who to trust.

A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.

Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.

In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light.

My Thoughts

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book that touches upon the subject of Gods and Godliness. Wicked Saint is a story of a clergy girl with the ability to hear the Gods and wield their powers. That alone piqued my interest. However, it took me quite some time, months to finish Wicked Saints. I’m not familiar with Slavic history or the culture so I cannot attest to its accuracy or spelling. But I thought it was an otherwise nice change to see and learn about gods I’ve never heard before.

Wicked Saints featured two opposing sides of what I believe is the same country (not sure if that was ever indicated) Kalyazin and Tranavia, who’ve been at war for centuries. The main difference between the two was one believed in the gods and the other does not. Our heroine, Nadya a Kalyazian is out on a mission to stop this long, never-ending feud by going after the Tranavian King.

Readers weren’t given clear explanations as to why some believed in Gods while other didn’t, why or how the feud began or why the Tranavian King banned the gods and their teaching from his kingdom. There were too many plot-holes for my liking. And then the characters. I kinda liked Nadya at first, the naive and sheltered girl in the mountains with hidden powers. But of course once she fled the mountain she became a wholly different person. I’d normally say that attributed to growth and experience but it wasn’t the case. Nadya was very hot-cold and as the story progressed egotistical as she believed (and others) that she was the answer, the chosen one to defeat the evil-doers. Meh, I’m over the snowflake formula. The two leading boys of the story weren’t any better. Serefin is your typical prince, sarcastic and charming but deep down he wants more to life than what is expected of him. Malachiasz is dark and mysterious…again your typical ‘’bad boy’’. The author mentioned her inspiration for him was Kylo Ren, I definitely can see the similarities and was not impressed. In the end I didn’t care for any of the characters and was never invested in the story.

I was genuinely intrigued and engaged in the first half of the book but by the midway point I lost interest and wanted it to be over. I read too far to DNF, so I forced myself to finish it. All in all, it wasn’t the best debut, Duncan had some moments but not enough to save the book itself. With that said, I will not be picking up the sequel. 

 


 

 



Wednesday, November 11, 2020

The Last Uncharted Sky by Curtis Craddock


Title:
The Last Uncharted Sky

Author: Curtis Craddock
Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Risen Kingdoms #3
Hardcover, 448 pages
Publication: August 11, 2020 by Tor Books
Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Buy|Amazon|B&N|
Isabelle and Jean-Claude undertake an airship expedition to recover a fabled treasure and claim a hitherto undiscovered craton for l'Empire Celeste. But Isabelle, as a result from a previous attack that tried to subsume her body and soul, suffers from increasingly disturbing and disruptive hallucinations. Disasters are compounded when the ship is sabotaged by an enemy agent, and Jean-Claude is seperated from the expedition.

In a race against time, Isabelle must figure out how to ward off her ailment before it destroys her and reunite with Jean-Claude to seek the fabled treasure as ancient secrets and a royal conspiracry threaten to undo the entire realm.
It felt as if it was just yesterday when I started The Risen Kingdom series. I didn’t know what I was getting into. Only to discover a world full of sky islands, magic and courtly intrigue. I definitely didn’t expect this to be one of my favorite series. The Risen Kingdom series follows Princess Isabelle and her musketeer, adoptive father Jean-Claude as they navigate the political and social sides of the royal court.

In The Last Uncharted Sky, the final installment of The Risen Kingdom readers find newly titled Capitaine Isabelle, Marie, Jean-Claude and Major Bitterlich on a quest for the legendary and mythical Vault of Ages; a place of riches and power…and supposed key to the end of the world. As the new Capitaine, Isabelle’s role and responsibilities haven’t changed or decreased. The weight of the world and people’s dependency seems to rest more heavily upon her and so is the long list that wish her incapacitated. Isabelle’s crew aren’t the only one looking for the Vault. Isabelle fly across the skies in a race against pirate and time itself.

Craddock finishes the series strong, delivering another action packed adventure while keeping true to the essence of the characters. Isabelle has came a very long way from the first book, under the supervision and restriction of her father and certainly made a name and charted a path for herself, however fraught it may be; she always came out swinging and on top. I still love seeing the relationship between Isabelle, Marie and Jean-Claude grow and their banter always brings a smile to my face. We see a lot of old and new characters enter the picture, expanding more on the world. I especially enjoyed seeing Djordi’s tribes and seeing Marie enter the challenge for the title of Fellhand. That was amazing.

The Last Uncharted Sky was a bittersweet ending to a beloved series. While this book concludes the trilogy, there is so much potential for additional books within the world or another trilogy arc. I’m crossing my fingers for more books in the world! If you haven’t read this series yet, I highly recommend that you do. Definitely an underrated gem with a strong and brilliant female protagonist.

 


 


Monday, May 25, 2020

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo


Title: Ninth House
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Alex Stern #1
Hardcover, 459 pages
Publication: October 8, 2019 by Berkley
Source: Personal Library

Buy|Amazon|B&N|
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

Ninth House is my 2nd Bardugo novel, the 1st was Shadow and Bone. I was a bit hesitant starting Ninth House and had low expectations since I didn’t really like Shadow and Bone . After learning ‘Grisha’ translated to ‘Gregory’ I couldn’t take the series seriously or continue knowing how silly that was. However, I am a fan of secret societies, ghosts, and flawed protagonists/characters and Ninth House had it all.

I liked that Ninth House was an Urban Fantasy, full of supernatural magic and grounded in our world. Alex our main heroine was not your typical leading lady. Alex’s home life was anything but normal and stable; her mom was more familiar with the bottom of a bottle than her own daughter. Which wasn’t surprising that Alex went down the wrong path of dealing drugs and participating in other unsavory jobs. Which led to her arrest and jail time. But thanks to her ability to commune with spirits, Alex received a second chance at life.

Ninth House takes place in the past and present. Winter and Spring with alternating chapter narration of Alex and Darlington (her mentor). Like most novels, the premise revolved around a murder and finding the guilty party. With a second premise of the mysterious disappearance of Darlington. Readers follows Alex as she navigated uncharted waters of college life, ghosts, ghouls, secret societies and the powerful people backing them.

I like Alex. She unapologetic in who she is, gets shit done and ask for forgiveness after. She’s far from perfect and does a lot of questionable things, but I kinda like it that way…it’s more realistic and familiar. The magic system is pretty straightforward. Alex is descended from a line of witches (?) with the power to see ghosts and travel through dimensions. And many of the secret societies dabbled in the occult and alchemy, each with their own specialties.

Overall Ninth House was a solid introduction to a new series. Although I thought Ninth House was over hyped considering this is Bardugo’s foray into Adult territory. It was also stated that this is a horror novel, but I didn’t get that vibe. The book was good but nothing new or unique. I like it and am curious enough to read the sequel when it comes out. If you’re curious, like myself, I suggest borrowing from the library or friend.