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text 2019-03-02 21:05
February Books

I read 14 books last month with an average score of 3.75. 9 were YA books and 2 were graphic novels. I managed to hit 4 of the books I most wanted to get to in 2019, 3 of which were great.

 

My favorite read was The Wicked King - Holly Black. I now desperately want the next book, but have to wait until next year. My least favorite book was Slayer - Kiersten White. It was one of my most anticipated reads, but I hated most of the characters.

 

 

5 Stars

The Wicked King - Holly Black  My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 1: The Sequel to My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness - Kabi Nagata  

 

4 Stars

The Death of Mrs. Westaway - Ruth Ware  Ghostly Echoes: A Jackaby Novel - William Ritter  Fence Volume 2 - C.S. Pacat  My Favorite Half-Night Stand - Christina Lauren  Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss - Kasie West  The Vanishing Stair - Maureen Johnson  Cold-Hearted Rake - Lisa Kleypas  

 

3.5 Stars

Girl in the Blue Coat - Monica Hesse  

 

3 Stars

Nightblood - Elly Blake  Your Own Worst Enemy - Gordon Jack  

 

2.5 Stars

Slayer - Kiersten White 99 Percent Mine - Sally Thorne 

 

 

 

 

Books by author gender:

  • Male: 2
  • Female: 12
  • Male/Female Mix: 0

 

Books by format:

  • Physical: 6
  • Audio: 8
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text 2019-03-01 13:37
February 2019 Wrap-Up

Hello and welcome back to my February 2019 wrap -up. February has been busy, and cold, at least on my site if the world. We had way too much snow and more is on the way .... YAY us.... not really lol.

Reading wise it was a good month I got a lot of my review copies done, and still working on more. Sadly I didn't get to start the Grisha books yet but soon.... I hope. I could have started them but I didn't want to rush through them so I thought it be better I just wait..

I took on some more review copies,so far so good and the ones I read or reading I am enjoying so far.

Here are some books that come out in March, some I'm reading or read already other I'm looking forward to.

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

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The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

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Wild Country by Anne Bishop 

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Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt de la Pena

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Right now I'm still working on Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff on audio, but I only listen to audio mainly when doing crafts so I haven't been doing much of them lately lol. But I'm still in love with that book so far. 

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A ruthless young assassin continues her journey for revenge in this new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff.

Assassin Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo, or avenging her familia. And after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.

When it’s announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end them. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world.

 

I'm also working on Little Darlings by Melanie Golding, so far Im enjoying it. It's creepy and scary fun. 

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“Mother knows best” takes on a sinister new meaning in this unsettling thriller perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Grimms’ Fairy Tales.

Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own…creatures. Yet when the police arrived, they saw no one. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things.

A month passes. And one bright summer morning, the babies disappear from Lauren’s side in a park. But when they’re found, something is different about them. The infants look like Morgan and Riley―to everyone else. But to Lauren, something is off. As everyone around her celebrates their return, Lauren begins to scream, These are not my babies.

Determined to bring her true infant sons home, Lauren will risk the unthinkable. But if she’s wrong about what she saw…she’ll be making the biggest mistake of her life.

Compulsive, creepy, and inspired by some our darkest fairy tales, Little Darlings will have you checking―and rechecking―your own little ones. Just to be sure. Just to be safe.

 

Next I think I will get to Hall of Souls & the Book of the Fairies by M.D. Fryson , Gimme Some Sugar by Molly Harper and maybe Flynn Nightsider and the Edge of Evil by Mary Fan. 

Maybe after those I will take a break finally at least start the Shadow and Bone Trilogy .

This should cover February, I wish you all a great March and hope to see you again soon. Make sure to check my site often for new blog tours, reviews and giveaways. 

As always you can find some of the buy links in the review that are linked below, 

Have a  great month and Happy Reading :) 

 


The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

The Bird King is an epic journey set during the reign of the last sultan in the Iberian peninsula at the height of the Spanish Inquisition.

Hassan has a secret–he can draw maps of places he’s never seen and bend the shape of reality. When representatives of the newly formed Spanish monarchy arrive to negotiate the sultan’s surrender, Fatima befriends one of the women, not realizing that she will see Hassan’s gift as sorcery and a threat to Christian Spanish rule. With their freedoms at stake, what will Fatima risk to save Hassan and escape the palace walls?

As Fatima and Hassan traverse Spain with the help of a clever jinn to find safety, The Bird King asks us to consider what love is and the price of freedom at a time when the West and the Muslim world were not yet separate.

3 ★


Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

4 ★


Windwitch by Susan Dennard

Sometimes our enemies are also our only allies…

After an explosion destroys his ship, the world believes Prince Merik, Windwitch, is dead. Scarred yet alive, Merik is determined to prove his sister’s treachery. Upon reaching the royal capital, crowded with refugees, he haunts the streets, fighting for the weak—which leads to whispers of a disfigured demigod, the Fury, who brings justice to the oppressed.

When the Bloodwitch Aeduan discovers a bounty on Iseult, he makes sure to be the first to find her—yet in a surprise twist, Iseult offers him a deal. She will return money stolen from him, if he locates Safi. Now they must work together to cross the Witchlands, while constantly wondering, who will betray whom first?

After a surprise attack and shipwreck, Safi and the Empress of Marstok barely escape with their lives. Alone in a land of pirates, every moment balances on a knife’s edge—especially when the pirates’ next move could unleash war upon the Witchlands.

4.5 ★


Touch of Smoke by Karissa Laurel

Three years ago, Rikki Albemarle watched her best friend die at the hands of a supernatural evil. Certain she was slated to be the next victim, Rikki fled her small Smoky Mountain hometown, vowing to never come back. Plagued by nightmares and knowing she’s the only one who believes Mina’s death was no accident, Rikki returns with hopes of finding answers and holding the killer accountable.

Rikki is convinced the key to unlocking the secret of Mina’s death lies with Owen Amir, the alluring young army vet who once claimed her heart. But the deeper Rikki digs into Owen’s past, the more she’s torn between the urgings of her heart and her memories of him on the night Mina died.

After falling further into the rabbit hole, Rikki lands at the feet of an ancient and powerful evil determined to finish what it started years before. To survive, she’ll have to make a decision: believe Owen is the monster she always feared he might be or trust him enough to stay and fight for a second chance at love.

5 ★


 Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard

Fans of Susan Dennard’s New York Times bestselling Witchlands series have fallen in love with the Bloodwitch Aeduan. And now, finally, comes his story.

High in a snowy mountain range, a monastery that holds more than just faith clings to the side of a cliff. Below, thwarted by a lake, a bloodthirsty horde of raiders await the coming of winter and the frozen path to destroy the sanctuary and its secrets.

The Bloodwitch Aeduan has teamed up with the Threadwitch Iseult and the magical girl Owl to stop the destruction. But to do so, he must confront his own father, and his past.

 

 

 

5 ★


 

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review 2019-03-01 05:47
Brief Thoughts: SEAL for Her Protection
SEAL for Her Protection (SEALs of Coronado Book 1) - Paige Tyler

SEAL for Her Protection

by Paige Tyler
Book 1 of SEALs of Coronado

 

 

He saved her from the danger once before.  Can he save her again, this time from danger he doesn't even see coming?

When investigative journalist Hayley Garner is kidnapped by terrorists, she's sure they're going to kill her.  But in sweeps handsome Navy SEAL Chasen Ward to rescue her.  After getting her to safety, he disappears into the night before she can even thank him.

Weeks later, while covering a story on the local navy base, Hayley runs into Chasen again.  Even though she didn't see his face that night he rescued her, she can't forget his beautiful blue eyes.

The attraction is immediate and intense, and Hayley finds herself falling into a fiery romance with the hunky hero out of her dreams.  Guys like this aren’t supposed to really exist, but Chasen does, and damn is he hot.

But ever since she got back home, Hayley has had the feeling someone's been watching her.  Is it post-traumatic stress or does she have a reason to be afraid?  Good thing she has a Navy SEAL to protect her.



So... this wasn't the Romantic Suspense slash Contemporary Romance I'd been anticipating, especially after having already read some books by Paige Tyler and enjoying them a lot.  And the truth is, obviously I wasn't really sure what exactly I'd been expecting.

Honestly, this book was kind of boring.  The romance was kind of juvenile (I know there is sexy times, but that doesn't mean it can't come off juvenile), and also kind of banal.  There were details of Hayley and Chasen's first date that felt unnecessary, down to all the smoldering looks and the whole "I know and understand your thoughts just by looking into your gorgeous eyes" development.  Oh yes, and the exact descriptions of what the two were eating, drinking, and wearing.  Maybe I'm just not as romantic as I should be, seeing as I'm a hopeless romantic for fictional romance novels...

The the plot circled back to the Romantic Suspense part of the story and started getting kind of convoluted by the end hour scenes...  I totally didn't see that surprise twist coming, and I'm not sure I really liked it or felt it was necessary.  Although it DID add some intrigue to the book, if only the build up had been a bit more on par with the sudden turn of events.  To be honest, it felt kind of out of place, and, in contrast, the main conflict seemed a bit rushed in its resolution.

So be it.  This was a short enough read that I got through it rather quickly and painlessly.  Paige Tyler's writing isn't terrible and I've enjoyed other books by her, as I've mentioned above.  There's always bound to be one I may not like, right?

 

 

Source: anicheungbookabyss.blogspot.com/2019/02/brief-thoughts-seal-for-her-protection.html
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review 2019-03-01 05:37
Some Thoughts: Carnal Gift
Carnal Gift - Pamela Clare

Carnal Gift

by Pamela Clare
Book 2 of Blakewell/Kenleigh Family trilogy

 

 

"I expect you to show my friend just how grateful you are.  Your willingness is everything.”

With those harsh words, the hated Sasanach earl decided Bríghid's fate.  Her body and her virginity were to be offered up to a stranger in exchange for her brother's life.  Possessing nothing but her innocence and her fierce Irish pride, she had no choice but to comply.

But the handsome man she faced in the darkened bedchamber was not at all the monster she expected.  His green eyes seemed to see inside her.  His tender touch calmed her fears while he swore he would protect her by only pretending to claim her.  And as the long hours of the night passed by, as her senses ignited at the heat of their naked flesh, she made a startling discovery: Sometimes the line between hate and love can be dangerously thin.



Carnal Gift wasn't much different from Sweet Release in terms of angst and content matter, to be honest.  While the story was quite different, we didn't stray far from the whole formula of the villain wanting to force the heroine into bed with him, and the hero being the hero and saving the heroine's life over and over again.  Meanwhile, we also revisit the whole "hero and heroine are forbidden to be together" device, although this time around, I think that the romance faced more tangible barriers based on law and religion, and other societal and cultural conflicts.  In contrast, Sweet Release needed only to prove that Alec Kenleigh was Alec Kenleigh and all was well, and Happily Ever After.

That doesn't mean that I didn't see the similarities in the two story lines, which made it a little hard to enjoy this book as much as I was maybe meant to.  It didn't escape my notice that this book (and now that I think about it, even Sweet Release), seemed to be written in an "epic saga romance" type of light.  The truth is, I'm not sure if it managed to do that.

On the other hand, it's not like I didn't enjoy this book.  Pamela Clare's writing has this way of pulling you right in.  Whether it's her writing style or just that sense of righteousness that emanates from her main characters, I always find that I can't put her books down.  I DID love the detail given to the Gaelic culture and history.  While some of it felt too deliberately placed, I still found some of it interesting.

Unfortunately, the characters didn't really do anything for me.  While I found young Jamie in the first book quite charming for a four year old boy, adult Jamie in this book is kind of a jackass.  Brighid was a typical standard damsel in distress, and I honestly don't have much to say about her.  Brighid's brothers weren't really all that likable, both because they never seemed to understand how much danger and trouble they were in, and put their own pride before everyone else's lives.  It was quite frustrating.

I liked Matthew and Elizabeth enough as the parental figures in the story, but they didn't really appear a whole lot.

Then there was the standard Pamela Clare repetitive exposition fairy conversations that I've gotten used to seeing in many of her books.  Her characters just can't seem to help but to keep talking about the events that occurred to everyone they come across.  These don't really bug me as much, but I found it interesting that this wasn't really a thing in Sweet Release.

Still, I was entertained and found myself finishing the book pretty quickly.

 

 

Source: anicheungbookabyss.blogspot.com/2019/02/some-thoughts-carnal-gift.html
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photo 2019-02-28 17:22

Monthly Run Down - January 2019



Books I Read:

 

Jar of Hearts  - 3 Stars - Took forever but I’m glad I read it.

 

Summoned to Thirteenth Grave - 5 Stars - A re-read. I still loved every moment. I’m so sad to say goodbye to this series.

 

The Glass Magician - 4 Stars - This series is so good. Ceony has a knack for getting into trouble and getting out of it.

 

My Mother Was Nuts - 4 Stars - Penny is very open and honest and knows everyone in Hollywood.   

 

The Master Magician - 4 Stars - Crazy ride but so enjoyable and a perfect ending to the trilogy.

 

The Plastic Magician- 4 Stars -  A welcome addition to this world. I hope we get to see more of Alvie in the future.




DNF:

 

Nothing Personal   - Karina Halle - I did not click with the characters.



Currently Reading:



Black Girls Must Die Exhausted - Jayne Allen - It’s okay so far. A bit repetitive.

Just the Funny Parts:... and a Few Hard Truths about Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boys Club  - Nell Scovell - Really interesting. Hollywood seems like another world.





Year to Date Totals:



January: 16 books     1,324 Pages Read         57 Hours Listened

February: 9 books         677 Pages Read        65 Hours Listened

 

2019: 25  books         2,001 Pages Read        122 Hours Listened

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