The Very Little Princess: Rose's Story -...

Rose finds a china doll hidden in the attic. Her mother is afraid she will break it but Rose says she won't. When Rose has been teased at school she runs from school crying and the doll comes to life. She is a princess and lets Rose know it. They go on adventures and Rose grows up but will she leave her princess doll behind?

What a delightful story! I loved how there is a narrator who throws asides out to the reader. That is fun. I liked Rose and how she and her brother reconnected over the doll. He has a story to tell and she learns it. She knows that the princess is there for her but sometimes she forgets that she needs to be there for the princess. A wonderful read for those 6 and up.

I picked this novella-length Audible Original up because it was free and because I'd heard of but not read "The Wife Between Us" from these two writers and I thought this might be a quick way of seeing if I'd like them.

I'm a third of the way in. So far, the storytelling is competent and the tone is creepy, laced with latent threat but I'm struggling to believe in or care about the main character.

She's too conveniently tragic. She's also incredibly trusting. She's supposed to bright (straight-A-student, political activist) but she's remarkably open to psychobabble be-the-best-teapot-you-can-be stuff and sees charisma where I see predatory charm.

I may simply be too old and cranky for this stuff. 

Still, I can manage another hour and a half. Maybe I'll discover a hidden affinity for our heroine if she snaps out of naive victim mode and gives this guy the beating he deserves.

The Getaway; or, How Many Red Flags Do You Need Before You Realize You Have to Get Out of There ASAP. A little ridiculous, but luckily it's short.

@XpressoTours, @Archaeolibrary, @CB_Bauer, #ScienceFiction, #Dystopian, #Romance, 4 out of 5 (very good)

ECHO Academy is the last part of the Dimension Drift series and concludes the story between Thorne and Meimi.

After stopping one world takeover, Meimi, Zoe, and Chloe are left trying to re-open an exile void so they can return to Umbra to be with their transcendents. Thorne is also trying to find a way to be with Meimi WITHOUT her becoming his stepmother!

This NEEDS to be read as a series otherwise you won't know what the hell is going on! It is very fast-paced with lots of "dimension" science mentioned. I enjoyed the characters and how they interacted with each other. One surprise wasn't really a surprise (Conway) but I liked how it was incorporated into the story and made it all make sense.

Although we have a HEA ending, I am hoping from hints given in the book, that this is not the last we have seen of our characters from Umbra. A thoroughly enjoyable series that I have no hesitation in recommending and a brilliant conclusion.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!