@JC_McKenzie, #Action/#Adventure, #AlternateUniverse, #Fantasy #Romance, #Urban, 4 out of 5 (very good)

THE NIGHT HOUSE is a standalone post-apocalyptic fantasy romance that seamlessly blends medieval knights and sword-play from a different planet with current day earth.

This was a fantastic read, ticking most of my boxes. Thane and Taya have sparks flying aplenty when they are meet and these continue throughout the book. I loved not only Thane though, but his whole team. They were all strong characters with a strong sense of duty and loyalty. Once Taya was part of their team, that was it. No stupidity or senseless behaviour, just helping the newbie out where possible.

If I could give out half stars, this would be a four and a half! The reason for that half star being knocked off would be the ending. It felt very quick to me, almost as if the author was running out of available words in her word count. Big build-up followed by events happening very quickly and not taking up much page space. Still, I loved this book anyway, so perhaps that's why it seemed to end too quickly!

If you like fantasy and contemporary genres merged together, then I would definitely recommend this book!

Talk about addictive!! I picked this up and couldn't put it down until the very last tantalizing word. I inhaled this book in one sitting. I'm here, eyes burning from lack of sleep, throat sore from hours of disuse and poor hydration, wishing for more. There was Magic, court intrigue and Action. There was a swoon worthy slow burn. There were minor sexy time moments but mostly there was a need to read on, to live inside this world a moment longer. The world building was great and the character development even better. The pacing was intense and the action fierce. There was a butt kicking, wise ass heroine that you can really get behind and then there's Thane..... oh man is there Thane!! He was Yummmmy with a capital Y! He might have come off as too perfect though because no man can know the most elegantly perfect thing to say at the exact right moment... or at least no man I've met on this side of the pages. I was given a copy of this book but I honestly would have happily bought it. The only things that could have improved the experience were to have it be longer and to have more Thane... MUCH more Thane!!

Over all: I loved it!! I loved every second of this book and wished/craved/needed more! I'm sorry it ended and enjoyed every glorious moment in seclusion, immersed in this world.

*** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

Hey all! Today I decided to do something a bit different and do a booktag! I will be doing the Makeup Book Tag! I'm going to be mixing up the questions a bit in the order in which I use my products. 

First off my bare face without any makeup >.< 

QUESTION 1: PRIMER

For Primer I use Wet n Wild's Face Primer. I don't know a lot about primer so I just buy what's cheap. But this product has given me nothing to complain about so I'm sticking to it. I dab it onto my skin and rub it in with my fingers. 

Pick a book that's left a lasting impression 

For me this would have to be the entire Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare. These books mean so much to me and I don't think I'd be the reader/writer I am today without these books (psst! check out my Shadowhunters fanfiction here!)

QUESTION 2: CONCEALER 

For Concealer I use CoverGirl's Smoothing Concealer in the color Fair. I love this concealer because I feel like it blends well with my foundation. I swipe it under my eyes and in areas of my skin that are especially broken out. I then dab it in with my fingers. 

Pick a character you wish you could get rid of 

For this question I'm going to have to go with the first character I think I've ever hated in any book: Jason Grace. Yeah, he's one of the main heroes of the Heores of Olympus but I really cannot stand the guy. To me he's annoying and tries to act better than Percy...which he's not. Not by a long shot. 

QUESTION 3: FOUNDATION

For Foundation I either use CoverGirl's Clean Matte Liquid Foundation or CoverGirl's Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation both in the color Classic Ivory. I'm out of the 3-in-1 so today I used the Clean Matte. I love CoverGirl's foundation because its relatively cheap and stays on for most of the day. I use a blending sponge to dab it onto my skin. 

Pick your favorite first book in a series 

As much as I have problems with the later books in this series, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas is still my favorite first book in a series. This book is such a great introduction to the series and I love Celeana, Chaol and Dorian so much. I even tabbed the hell out of my copy so I can quickly jump to the points I loved so much. 

QUESTION 4: EYESHADOW 

For Eyeshadow I have a lot of pallets but today I used CoverGirl's (are you really surprised anymore?) Eye Enhancers shadow in Tapestry Taupe. I really enjoy this eyeshadow because its a pretty brown/gray color. It goes on smooth and stays on all day. I wish my eyeshadow brush and brush it onto my eyes, especially into my crease. 

Pick a book that has your favorite colors on the cover 

I have to pick this gorgeous cover of Pride and Prejudice. Blue is my favorite cover and this is just so pretty. I own this copy and it has its own place of honor on my shelf. 

QUESTION 5: POWDER

For Power (when I use it) I use CoverGirl's Clean Matte Powder in the color Classic Ivory. I feel like this powder gives me that extra clean coverage over my foundation. 

Pick your favorite last book in a series 

I don't think I will never not pick City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare for this question. Other final books have came close but COHF has reigned supreme in this category for me. It was honestly just the perfect ending to the Mortal Instruments. 

QUESTION 6: EYELINER

For Eyeliner I have a few different sticks of varying colors but today I used Smashbox's Always On Gel Liner in the color Fishnet. I haven't used this liner much but I like how smoothly applies and how it doesn't smudge. 

Pick and dark and mysterious book

For this one I'd have to pick With Malice by Eileen Cook. This book is sure a mysterious read, I didn't know what was happening until the end of it (and do I even know now that I've finished?) 

QUESTION 7: HIGHLIGHTER 

For Highlighter I use essence's contour power. I don't actually contour, I only use the highlighter. I don't know much about highlighter but I feel like this one isn't too light or dark and gives me that shine that I like. I apply this with a brush to my cheekbones. 

Pick a book that brightened your day

For this one I have to choose the Prophecy of Shadows (Elementals #1) by Michelle Madow. This was the first book I read after a really long reading hiatus and really put me into a much better mood afterwards. It also got me back into reading. 

QUESTION 8: BLUSH 

For Blush I use a this coral-colored blush in a big combo pallet I got from Ulta Beauty. I like this blush because I feel like its not too pigmented and gives me that right level of blush. I apply this with a brush below my cheekbones. 

Pick a book with come cringe-worthy romance

I have to choose the romance in Betrayed (House of Night #2) because I cannot stand the love crap in that. I'm only continuing on in the series because I like the idea of the books but I cannot deal with the romance. 

QUESTION 9: MASCARA 

I have four different mascara I rotate between depending on the day but today I used essence's I <3 Extreme Crazy Volume Mascara. I really like this mascara because it makes my lashes look so long and thick. For the most part, its also not super clumpy and stays on all day. 

Choose a loooooong book 

I've been waiting to mention this book...A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think this book is my favorite of all time. It just gave me all the feels and I literally loved how far the story went from the beginning of the novel to the end. Please, fangirl with me about it, please. 

QUESTION 10: EYEBROWS

For Eyebrows I use the lighter brown shade in the same pallet my blush in in. I don't normally do my eyebrows but when I do I use this shade. Since I've only used this a handful of times I'm not sure how much it compares to other shades. I use a brush to apply this and the brush out my eyebrows with an eyebrow brush. 

Pick a book you think everyone should read 

No Ordinary Star by M.C. Frank. This book is honestly so epic and amazing, I love it so much and I think anybody who picks it up will too. It's a futuristic science fiction novel that honestly such a fast-paced read. Everyone should pick up this book...now. 

QUESTION 11: LIPSTICK 

For Lipstick I have a lot of different ones but I've really been enjoying lately Maybelline's Color Sensational Lipstick in the color Pink Sand.  It isn't too pigmented and doesn't smudge which is really important. Also, I feel like it stays on for a while and reapply it is hassle-free. 

Pick your favorite book kiss

I've mentioned Shadowhunters so many times in this tag already but to this day my favorite kiss is the Midnight Flower kiss in City of Bones. That kiss...I just love it so much. I won't say who it is because of spoilers but that ship is just my otp and the kiss is perfect. 

Aaaaaaand finished! 

Thanks for checking out this tag today and feel free to do this tag if you want to! Have a wonderful day and happy reading! 

Mehhh...I'm not sure exactly how much I like this book? I defiantly don't like Zoey practically falling in love with every boy she meets in 5 seconds flat. Especially considering one of them is an Ezra/Aria situation and I am not down for that. And otherwise the amount of insta-love in the book? Not a fan. 

Finally I found a book set in Poland by a Polish author that isn’t 500+ pages long. This is apparently an award-winner, but to me it often seemed bizarre; perhaps something is lost in translation. The book is divided into many short segments, moving between a nameless narrator and embedded short stories, a few of which the book revisits in multiple sections. The thread binding it all together is the setting of Nowa Ruda, a town on the Czech border that was transferred from Germany to Poland after WWII. The German residents were forced to leave, to be replaced by Poles transferred from land that went to Russia, an upheaval that still echoes in the 1990s when the narrator and her husband buy a farm there.

The short stories are fairly good, though melancholy. They are set in the area of Nowa Ruda throughout its history, from the life of a medieval saint to a late-medieval genderqueer monk who wrote about her, from a man who turns into a werewolf after eating human flesh during the war to the narrator’s neighbor who goes searching for a man who professed love to her in a dream. Magic realism characterizes many but not all of these stories, which are generally interesting in their own right.

Unfortunately, the stories comprise only around half of the book. The rest of it occurs in the narrator’s head, which is taken up by lengthy descriptions of dreams (her own and other people’s, culled from the Internet), flights of fancy, housekeeping minutiae, and mushroom recipes. It is hard for me to fathom the narrator’s purpose, as the author tells no particular story about her: she faces no challenges and experiences no change. Only at the end does she make a startling, though unexplored, discovery about her elderly German neighbor, whose daily habits are also tediously described throughout the book. In the meanwhile she occupies herself with detailed fantasies about being a mushroom or containing a house.

This book has a definite ambiance, and I do like the way it unfolds the history of a place. If it had been a collection of short stories alone, I’d probably have given 3.5 stars. The stories suffer no lack of plot and are often evocative. But as is I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you are the sort of reader who actually enjoys dream sequences.