This was tough. I enjoyed the books, but at the same time I can see why some people don't. The interludes, while amusing, got old. Some wete just way too long and boring. And the "Buttercup's Baby" extra...I could have lived without it.

I did enjoyed the story and the whimsy. It was full of adventure, romance, and humor. I enjoyed the character developement and learning more of the backstories of everyone. I think I could read this again minus the interludes.

The Prince Who Loved Me by Abigail Sharpe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sharpe brings the childhood fantasy to life in the most adult of ways. Brandi and Sebastien are a fairytale in progress hoping to find a happy ending. Their quest is as emotional as it is funny, but what a ride it is. The Prince who Loved Me has heart. What more can any romantic ask for?



View all my reviews

This final book in the series was just as good as the rest. An amazing story that I was sorry to see come to an end. I love the way everything tied together in a period of time that lasted over a thousand years!

After reading the whole thing, I watched The Passage tv show (it aired on FOX last year and was cancelled). It was ok. They changed a lot but I can see why. At the end of the series, they moved forward in time just like the book and were going to start where book 2 begins (I think). It could have been amazing... but it would never have compared to the books. :)

Title: The A.I. Who Loved Me

Author: Alyssa Cole

Published Date: June 3, 2020

Publisher: Self-Published

Format: E-Book

Page Count: 143 pages

Source: Own copy

Date Read: June 27-28, 2020

Review

This story was in originally published as an Audible Original.

Trinity Jordan is a data analyst on temporary hiatus from her job and is working at another job within the company (The Hive) as a driver for self-driving cars (Uber but through the computer simulation). She is also living in the company's apartment complex, complete with home A.I. named Penny (think of an apartment complex version of an Echo or Alexis). There are her two best friends, Ru and Yana who also work at The Hive and her neighbor, Dr. Zheng and her nephew Li Wei (who is our hero). It is six months since the terrorist attack that injured Trinity and left her too shaken up to work her job. When Li Wei meets Trinity, it starts the re-downloading of memories of the attack and the few weeks prior to the attack - yep, Li Wei is the A.I. Trinity and Li Wei spend time together in the hopes of getting Li Wei well versed in humans. Meanwhile Trinity's memory is starting to falter and some memories are coming back while others are fading. Li Wei remembers enough to realize that The Hive is trying to 1) keep them apart and 2) doing experiments on them. So they remember enough to escape with the help of Ru, Penny, and Yana (oh, and TIM). 

Once again Alyssa Cole put together a fun and inventive romance that just is different from the rest of the genre. There is talk of racism, capitalism, sexism, etc that make this sci-fi romance feel very contemporary and now. The science fiction part is very relatable and not so far out for those of us not so versed in high concept sci-fi. Perfect poolside reading.

It's Juneteenth, the day the last enslaved person was told the war was over and they were free. Yesterday, I attended (via Zoom) a panel discussion organized by Next Gen Climate Action Committee, a political action group my friend works for, on Celebrating Juneteenth and Ensuring Black Voices in Progressive Spaces. It was a great discussion and I am glad my friend invited me, considering I live in Kansas and the group works in VA on VA matters/policies. Rep Don Scott really spoke to my head and heart and he was on for just a few minutes. 

It's rainy and much cooler here, so no poolside reading today. I've got a beef soup simmering in the slow cooker for dinner; just have to whip up some cornbread to go with it and I am good to go. Spending the day reading and tonight I am going to watch Soledad O'Brien's documentary on the early days of COVID-19 in the US (it is airing on Hearst stations, so I am hoping to catch it streaming online).

Tomorrow is Litha/Summer Solstice and I have plans: including a hamburger picnic (using a plant-based "ground beef") and making Lemon-Ginger-Raspberry Zinger sun tea, while reading in the sunshine. Sunday is Father's Day, so I making a special easy breakfast for the hubby to enjoy, followed by pool time and a nice dinner. 

I'm finishing up Birth of the Butterfly for BL-opoly, then taking the weekend off from the game; right after that I want to knock out finally Proper English by KJ Charles. For COYER #BLM RAT, I am reading The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole and New Year, Same Trash by Samantha Irby. That's my weekend. 

Next week I will be working my way through Beneath a Ruthless Sun and One Person, No Vote for the library's adult SRP prompts. I swapped out Once Upon a Wedding anthology (that first story is a slog and I am still not done with it) with Love by the Letters anthology which I should get done by the end of the week (it is only 3 stories). I might just skip to the Sonali Dev's and Pricilla Oliveras' stories in the Wedding anthology and call it good - those were the reasons for picking up the anthology in the first place. And then whatever the BL game goddesses decide for me to read. 

Happy Juneteenth! Happy Father's Day! Happy Reading!