ARC #Book Review: Song Of Blood & Stone by L Penelope

Book Title: Song of Blood & Stone ( Earthsinger Chronicles Book 1)
Author:  L. Penelope |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Romance, Sci-Fi
Series/Standalone: Series Book 1
Format: Ebook, hardcover

Cost: $26.99

Pages: 384

How I got it: NetGalley

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Publisher
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
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Synopsis:

"Wonderful characters, unique setting, and an engaging romance set against the backdrop of ancient magic. I can't wait to see what L. Penelope will do next."--Ilona Andrews, #1 New York Times bestselling author
L. Penelope's Song of Blood & Stone is a treacherous, thrilling, epic fantasy about an outcast drawn into a war between two powerful rulers.

Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive--an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart.

Jack's mission behind enemy lines to prove that the Mantle between Elsira and Lagrimar is about to fall nearly cost him his life, but he is saved by the healing Song of a mysterious young woman. Now he must do whatever it takes to save Elsira and its people from the True Father and he needs Jasminda's Earthsong to do it. They escape their vicious captors and together embark on a perilous journey to save the land and to uncover the secrets of the Queen Who Sleeps.

Thrust into a hostile society, Jasminda and Jack must rely on one another even as secrets jeopardize their bond. As an ancient evil gains power, Jasminda races to unlock a mystery that promises salvation.
The fates of two nations hang in the balance as Jasminda and Jack must choose between love and duty to fulfill their destinies and end the war.

"Prepare to be hooked. Song of Blood & Stone is brimming with captivating lore, unique magic, and plot-turns you never saw coming. L. Penelope has written your next fantasy obsession." --Elise Kova, USA Today bestselling author of The Loom Saga

Wonderfully written I was completely hooked from the get-go.  I wanted to know what would happen next, who would betray whom, & how everything would pan out. I ignored everything else in my life so I could complete this book. I needed to read it and find out what happened.  It's an adventure story, a journey to save a home, to reunite a people who are broken that becomes more about saving a country on the brink. 

This book features two amazing characters, the first one is Jasminda born a half-breed & made to know exactly why their people are at war. She's been outcasted by her town and pushed into a corner by those who should be taking care of her.  Jack was a spy who was undercover in enemy lines. He's running from a team that is bent on killing him before he makes it to his general to pass on the information that would help prevent a war.  I loved that they had hidden depths and secrets as well. Jasminda knew very little about her parent's history as they wanted to forget what brought them here to this space and move on.  As such she was unaware of just where she belonged.  I started to guess Jack's secret as the story unfolded and we drew closer to certain destinations, but it was still a surprise for Jasminda and seeing her reaction made me like her even more.

I absolutely loved this book.  The characters were well written Jasminda was my favorite character because despite having so much lost in her life she still gives her all.   Reading Jasminda and how she kept trying to talk herself out of falling for Jack.  I absolutely identified with her because she dealt with so much in her short life.  Including so much that happens right now in our modern world was seen in this and I totally understood how she felt when the townspeople acted up.   loved that the author didn't shy away from confronting racism, the ugliness of war and how our ideals of our country aren't always what is true in practice.

My favorite scenes are from the cityscape when she first got there and saw the whole thing. The description of the royal palace and I really enjoyed her favorite places within the castle.  I loved that the city was a mix of steampunk, futurism, today's tech and of course old tech as well. It was amazing. I  I also loved the scenes from the library, when Jasminda & Jack confront what's going on between them. It's also where they slowly learn that they need to do more than what the original mission was. 

The secondary characters were well written & dimensional.  Some were well rounded & some were written as if we should have known more about them but we really didn't  I enjoyed the POV as it switched between the two main characters and that made it more in-depth with their reasonings and ideas.

I felt so many different emotions while reading this book.  I was angered when certain scenes where Jasminda had to deal with the townspeople and the city people.  I absolutely loved Jack and her conversations, I loved their personal moments. I was intrigued, worried, nervous, and had a slightly unhealthy level of anxiety as things were unfolding.  For me, the ending wasn't predictable at all. It's such a fantastic story, that seemed to grow, the mystery of where it was going unfolded at a great pace. There were so many different layers and betrayals  And I was extremely excited to see that there are other books in the story. I also loved the little antidotes at the beginning of each chapter as I felt it added to the overall story as well.

 ★★★★★

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Warlord Series by Elizabeth Vaughan  
• Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa

I absolutely loved it and have ordered myself a copy and highly recommend it to you as well.  Happy Reading my loves, 

ARC Book #Review: Bella and the Beast (Cinderella Sisterhood #4) by Olivia Drake

Book Title: Bella & The Beast (A Cinderella Sisterhood Novel #4)
Author:  Olivia Drake |Website| Twitter| |

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Historical Romance
Series/Standalone: Book 4
Format: ebook, Mass Market

Cost: $7.99

Pages: 352

How I got it: NetGalley

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |IndieBound
Publication Date: Nov 03, 2015
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Synopsis:

Even a confirmed bachelor can meet his match. Because sometimes fairy tales do come true...

OF ALL THE FABLED TREASURES
Bella Jones feels like a fish out of water in civilized England. Raised abroad by her explorer father, she's amused by the very proper manners of the nobility. Nevertheless, to save her younger siblings from ruin, she must infiltrate a ducal household in order to find the map to an ancient treasure trove. Alas, the haughty, handsome duke stands in her way...unless she can tame his beastly temper, that is.

THE MOST PRECIOUS ONE IS LOVE
Miles Grayson, the Duke of Aylwin, prefers antiquities to, well, everything else. Especially prying females with their irksome questions. But Bella's blue eyes and beguiling smile are improbably charming, and the temptation of her kiss is impossible to resist. As the pair is swept into a mystery that reaches back to their childhoods, Miles realizes that Bella has made the rarest discovery of all-the key to his heart... 2016 Finalist for Best Historical Romance: Long!

This was a fantastic beauty and the beast mixed with Cinderella retelling, even if the hero is a grave robber.  I thought the characters were put together well, I was intrigued the whole time and couldn't wait to see how it all came together.The main plot pivoted around the treasure map that these two characters are vying for and there was a greater mystery about what happened all those years ago in the desert.  The mystery complicated the loved story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

For me, the ending wasn't predictable (except the love story otherwise why would we be here??) because of the mystery of what happened all those years ago. Bella was too young to remember everything and Miles was left out of the full loop and is dealing with his guilt of what happened.  It was a pretty good ending even if the villain was kind of cliche which made it "ok" for the justice that he got. 

Some of my favorite parts of the book included the description of the ballroom and the library. I loved how the ballroom was covered in Egyptian artifacts and how all the relics were described.  His library sounded like my dream library.   I also loved that these two were trying to get to the same ending but had two different paths to get there. Based on the secrets they kept they were floundering around in the dark way more than they needed to.  My least favorite part also pivots off of the ballroom. I personally don't like the 'exploration" aspect of the grave robbing that took place. I also disliked that he and his family removed these things from their rightful place and he had no plans to share them with the rest of the world. 

Bella was a pretty unique character. I loved that she was so used to taking care of things and she wasn't one to be cowed des[pite how she was being treated by those who judged her based on her dress.  I also loved her siblings especially her brother who clearly thought he was supposed to be more of an adult than he truly was. I loved how they interacted as a family.  It would be nice if we got their stories int he future to see how it all turned out for them, trying to fit into 'polite society'. 

The POVs were good because it switched between them and gave us a chance to see their motivations and how they saw things so differently from each other.  The Cinderella similarities are all there especially in the beginning and the beauty and beast parts come later. I really enjoyed this rendition of these two classic stories. A quick fun read.  It doesn't read like a fourth book, which was great because I haven't read the first three yet. 

 ★★★1/2☆

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Atone by Jessica Grey

Happy Reading my loves, 

ARC Book #Review: Save Me by Cecy Robson #SaveMe #NetGalley

Book Title: Save Me ( O'Brien Book 5)
Author:   Cecy Robson |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: Cece Robson LLC
Genre: Romance
Series/Standalone: Series Finale
Format: ebook

Cost: $3.99

Pages: 349

How I got it: NetGalley

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Publisher
Publication Date: April 24, 2018
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Synopsis:

RT Book Reviews proclaims that the O’Brien Family series from award-winning author Cecy Robson “has the hottest brothers ever!” And in SAVE ME, it's time for Seamus, the family’s most notorious bachelor, to find true love.

Three weddings. No date. What’s a hot stud to do when all the women on his speed dial are either serving dinner to their families or serving time?

Out of all the O’Briens, Seamus is the best-looking, most creative, and, did I mention, best-looking? Single at almost forty wasn’t a big deal until every sibling in his large and loud Irish family found “the one.” Now, he’s desperate for a wedding date, one he doesn’t have to worry will make out with the limo driver or rob the bride and groom blind.

Allie Mendes is the good daughter, who’s spent her life living in her perfect sister’s shadow. But when her sister steals the man Allie was supposed to marry, that shadow she’s lived in threatens to swallow her whole. Allie wants to believe a bright future awaits. But when she begs God to save her from this disastrous twist of fate, the last person she expects Him to send her is Seamus O’Brien.

Allie needs a stand-in boyfriend to avoid appearing as lonely as she feels. Seamus needs a decent woman without an ankle bracelet or a rap sheet as long as his muscular arms. The two make a deal to pose as each other’s perfect date. But weddings mean romance and a chance at forever neither had planned.

*sob* This feels like a final book in the series and I'm not ready to let them go.   This has been a fantastic series showing off the O'Brien siblings and their friends It has highlighted that family isn't always blood, love comes in many guises and that healing takes time.  I absolutely loved this story, it was a wonderful ending to a series, that has made me laugh, cry, rage at the injustice and still love the characters in all their complexities.

This is Seamus's story, he's the big brother who gave so much of himself to make sure his siblings didn't need to sacrifice as much. Stepping up after his father failed to be a better man Seamus left school to pursue a construction career that it turns out he's pretty darn good at. Creating customized homes for clients who ask for the unique Seamus and his brothers have gone from the poor kids to being pretty well set.  As all his siblings fall in love and get married Seamus finds himself in desperate need of a date for all the family events and he can't bring any of his "normal" women.
Allie's family is also celebrating a wedding and she can't wait to get out of it. However, her mother keeps insisting she makes an appearance and Allie is desperate to get away. When a chance encounter with a childhood crush leads to a misunderstanding that she now has to embrace to keep from being the only single woman at the wedding.

I totally fell in love with these characters. I absolutely loved that despite her family's input Allie has become a successful woman.  Seamus is a fantastic character even though to everyone else he appears to be the one left behind in the family he's a man comfortable with where he is and who he is.

I laughed so much when it came to this story, from the meet-cute to the final scenes. I loved the wit between Seamus and Allie. I loved how they were doing their best not to be single people at their families weddings and yet they found themselves slowly sliding towards coupledom. Seamus's antics when dealing with Allie made me love him so much. His internal monologue gave us such an insight into him and just made this story funny sweet and sexy.

Even though they appeared to be the most well adjusted of their family members Allie and Seamus had their own scars that they dealt with as well. Seamus had a good reason why he was still single and how he dealt with it.  Confronting it with Allie made him realize that he was holding himself back in a way that wasn't healthy. Allie's family??? My gawd they were definitely terrible. First of all, I can't even deal with her sister, her mother was trash and deserved everything she got at the end.  I never understood parents that treated their kids like that then expected loyalty, like no. When I was reading Allie's interactions with them I wanted to jump in a defend her so badly.  I loved that she shared this vulnerability with Seamus & that when it mattered she took his advice.

I laughed quite a bit with this novel because Seamus is hilarious. However, this novel still had its heart-stopping moments and even a few moments that brought tears to my eyes as we caught up with family members and got to see them as they headed towards their happy endings.  His sister's wedding was a tearjerker moment for sure.  I loved the talk about Catholic weddings and all the traditions that went into them as it definitely brought me back to my school days and reminded me of those moments with my family as well.

Although this novel didn't have as many of the sexy times moments as the others did, it was still sweetly passionate and I loved how they interacted with each other.  Some of my favorite moments were when Allie brought Seamus food because they took such good care of each other in those moments. They shared their vulnerabilities in a way that was sweet and funny and Seamus never allowed the moment to become too bogged down so they felt comfortable.  His lessons?? Absolutely hilarious.  I loved the ending scenes because you just know that they are all going to be alright.  Although I would have loved to have seen more from his other brother who was engaged the entire series, I loved the ending we did get. Maybe Cecy will revisit the family through their kids?? Who knows, even if she doesn't  the ending we got was still wonderful.

 ★★★★☆

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Marked Men Series by Jay Crownover
• The Reed Brothers by Tammy Faulkner

Happy Reading my loves, 

Book #Review: Tempest (Old West #3) by Beverly Jenkins .@authorMsBev

Book Title: Tempest (Old West 3)
Author:  Beverly Jenkins|Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: Avon Publishing
Genre: Historical Romance
Series/Standalone: Series Finale
Format: ebook, Mass Market

Cost: $7.99

Pages: 384

How I got it: Purchased

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Publisher
Publication Date: Jan 30, 2018
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Synopsis:

From USA Today Bestselling Author Beverly Jenkins comes a new novel in a mesmerizing series set in the Old West, where an arranged marriage becomes a grand passion . . .

What kind of mail-order bride greets her intended with a bullet instead of a kiss? One like Regan Carmichael—an independent spirit equally at home in denims and dresses. Shooting Dr. Colton Lee in the shoulder is an honest error, but soon Regan wonders if her entire plan to marry a man she’s never met is a mistake. Colton, who buried his heart along with his first wife, insists he only wants someone to care for his daughter. Yet Regan is drawn to the unmistakable desire in his gaze.

Regan’s far from the docile bride Colton was expecting. Still, few women would brave the wilds of Wyoming Territory for an uncertain future with a widower and his child. The thought of having a bold, forthright woman like Regan in his life—and in his arms—begins to inspire a new dream. And despite his family’s disapproval and an unseen enemy, he’ll risk all to make this match a real union of body and soul.

This is the third & final installment from the Fontaine family and I'm sad to see them go.  This story was addictive, fantastic, realistic fun and funny. I loved how much history we get in all of Ms Bev's books.  This is Reagan's story, she's the youngest sister from the first book and despite how she was raised she's perhaps the most resilient. She doesn't cling to the past as hard as her sister does, she's happy with the life she's had with her Aunt and Uncle, she's, however, looking for a new adventure especially after she sees her sister fall in love, she wants some of her own.  She decides to be a mail-order bride and from there one heck of an adventure unfolds.

After Reagan gets the idea in her head of being a mail order bride, she ends up going to a whole new state leaving her family behind to meet Dr. Colt. He's a widower with a young child and certain ideas of what the ideal bride and mother should be. He's in for a treat because while Reagan is all of that especially on paper, she's a whole lot more, she's a woman who had helped to create the new west and she's not afraid of hard work.

As with all of Beverly's characters I absolutely loved Reagan. She was so vibrant and so matter of fact. I hollered when I read their meet-cute because no one was ever going to let the Doc forget that.  Reagan was such a lady, yet she needed to be more to survive in the West and she rose to the challenge. By being herself she helped a little girl who was afraid of her own shadow learn to live again.  I laughed a lot reading this story. Reagan's stepdaughter was just too adorable and made me fall in love with her.  I also felt Reagan's fear that this wasn't going to workout and I also felt her hope that it would.

I loved even the description of the town and the areas they were traveling through.  Within the story, we saw Reagan embracing change and finding herself a husband, Colt learning to let go of what he believed he needed to get what he truly wanted and need from a happy marriage.  Some of my favorite parts of the book was seeing how Reagan began to thrive away from the bosom of her family.  It was also interesting to read the story and realize that society still hasn't changed in how we treat women & the options many of them have when they are poor.

Like so many of Beverly's books, we don't just get an amazing love story we also get a bit of a history lesson, especially little-known history. First, this is a story about many of the small towns created by Blacks after the Civil War, we then learn the history of just how long the Chinese have been here int eh US and their parts int he history of the West.  I also learned where potato chips come from. And about several other members of the resistance to the Natives being moved to the reservations, I hadn't heard of the female warriors who fought and now I want to go learn all about them.

I would love a story from Reagan's sister in law Spring as I'm sure she has one heck of a story to share, what we saw was eventful enough that was just a few pages.  I loved the POV we got and how that helped to not just advance the story but help us understand how the events affected each character differently.

 ★★★★★

Books In Series

• Forbidden 
• Breathless

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Amanda Quick's Mistress or Ravished
• Springwater by Linda Lael Miller

I highly recommend for those are lovers of historical romance and want an adventure.  Happy Reading my loves, 

Book #Review: Breathless (Old West 2) by Beverly Jenkins .@authorMsBev

Book Title: Breathless (Old West 2)
Author:  Beverly Jenkins|Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: Avon Publishing
Genre: Historical Romance

Series/Standalone: Book 2
Format: ebook, Mass Market 

Cost: $5.99

Pages: 384

How I got it: Purchased 

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Publication Date: Jan 31, 2017
Add To Goodreads
Synopsis:

A strong-willed beauty finds herself in the arms of the handsome drifter from her past, in this second book in the sizzling series set in the Old West, from USA Today Bestselling Author Beverly Jenkins
As manager of one of the finest hotels in Arizona Territory, Portia Carmichael has respect and stability—qualities sorely missing from her harsh childhood. She refuses to jeopardize that by hitching herself to the wrong man. Suitors are plentiful, but none of them has ever looked quite as tempting as the family friend who just rode into town…and none has looked at her with such intensity and heat.

Duchess. That’s the nickname Kent Randolph gave Portia when she was a young girl. Now she’s a stunning, intelligent woman—and Kent has learned his share of hard lessons. After drifting through the West, he’s learned the value of a place to settle down, and in Portia’s arms he’s found that and more. But convincing her to trust him with her heart, not just her passion, will be the greatest challenge he’s known—and one he intends to win…

Even though this is the second book I actually read it last, I so wanted to read the third book and see her story that I skipped ahead, and I have no regrets. This is the story of the oldest child of Eddy's sister, Portia, this is years after the events in Forbidden. We do still see Rhine & Eddy as Portia and her sister still live with them.  I was glad to see that Beverly gave them a realistic ending in this one since we all know whites in this era wouldn't have taken to being treated that way by Rhine.

I went into this one already knowing how Reagan's story ends and also was given a bit of spoiler for this one (but nobody told me to read the series backwards so there is no blame right??) in this Portia and her family have built a successful business and while still being supported by Rhine's brother they have an outlet that other blacks at this time might not have had.  I loved the glimpses we have of the Black upper-class and of course the Suffrage movement that was taking place.

This is both a wonderful second chance romance and a coming to terms with who you are tale. Portia has repressed herself so that others would never link her to her mother's choices, she wants to be seen more like Eddy and her choices of living an upstanding life, even though no one in town knows her family history. Unlike Reagan who is able to embrace the present and the future with a spirit of adventure, Portia has everything planned out to the smallest detail, including the fact that according to her she's never going to get married. She also wants to ask her mother why she gave them up and wants to know what has happened to her.

Kent Rudolph comes from a more established family, his father was the Doctor in town and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.  Kent has other ideas and after the night that he aided Rhine with his family, he drifted around learning how to be a man, when he realizes the drifter life was no longer for him he looked Rhine and his family up. He was surprised to see Duchess there and decided to be her friend while deciding if this town was where he could settle down.

From there we get the sweetest and funniest romance. With Portia learning what she really wants and not to hold back to Kent learning what forgiveness looks like.  In between, we get great family reunions, see history unfolding, get to read fun characters and be involved in a mystery.  As the story unfolds we get a bit of adventure for the girls, see Rhine and Eddy sharing their love and of course a bit of history lesson as always.

I loved everything about this romance.  I loved Portia's blooming into a woman she could be proud of, with Kent she didn't feel she would be repressed, and for that, she happily embraced the secret dreams she had including becoming her own business owner.  I loved her discussions and the love she had for both Eddy and Rhine. I loved her relationship with Reagan and how they motivated and held each other up.

Her romance with Kent was beautiful to read and he was such a wonderful and complicated man. He had his experiences and knew that they had shaped him into the man he was, he never apologized nor did he flaunt his background or his education. I really loved how he was with Portia.  I loved that he also had a journey with his past that he needed to take and boy did those scenes make me cry.

I highly recommend the story and the series.

★★★★★

Books In Series 

• Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins

Happy Reading my loves, 

Stacking The Shelves (9): April 2018

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page! Stacking The Shelves now has a new host and check out that new image!!

Pre-Order & Amazon

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. This is another of the most highly anticipated reads on my list this year. Ugh I'm so excited.

Ivan by Kit Rocha  Book three in the Gideon Riders series and I can't wait to read it!!

Jambalaya by Luisah Teish This has been on my list for so many years, I finally ordered it when getting something else recently.  Plus it's on the Lemonade Syllabus.

Second-Hand Shops

Born in Fire by Nora Roberts, read this years ago, this was one of the first series I read in romance years ago.  I just needed it on the shelf.

Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith

Black Mutiny by William A Owens

Paperbackswap 

Wild Card by Lora Leigh I have all the other books in the series and I can't wait to get to them but I needed this one.  

What'd you get for your haul this week?? Share in the comments down below and I'll see you next week.

Happy Reading & Haulin' my loves

Book #Review: Claiming His Beauty by Ellis Leigh

Book Title: Claiming His Beauty ( Feral Breeds 4)
Author: Ellis Leigh |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher:  Kinship Press
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series/Standalone: Series Book 4
Format: Ebook

Cost: $3.99

Pages: 200

How I got it: Purchased

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Publisher
Publication Date: Feb 23, 2015
Add To Goodreads
Synopsis:

A shifter living a life hindered by regret… A woman praying for a chance at a future…
A moment of fate that refuses to be denied.

Beast of the Feral Breed has spent years avoiding interacting with people. Other than the two shifters he considers family, his life has revolved around the engines he loves to work on, the ink he decorates his body with, and the scars of a past he wishes he could forget. When a witch shows him a vision of his future—one with a family he knows he can never have—his solitary life implodes, and he embarks on a trip that drops him exactly where he doesn’t think he should be.

Calla wants to escape the hell she’s living, but between her low-paying job and the danger lurking in the woods, running alone isn’t an option. Desperate, she spends her time praying for someone to help free her from a life she fears will be cut short. The human woman never realized the dangers of dating a wolf shifter…until he showed his claws.

When Beast falls into Calla’s life, he’s more than a little surprised to meet his mate—a woman he knows he should walk away from. But danger hovers around every corner, and Beast refuses to leave her vulnerable. Protecting one human woman wouldn’t be a challenge, but Beast has to battle his past mistakes, stay under the radar of the local pack, and rescue two people he never expected to love. One of whom has yet to take her first breath.

Full-length novel with adult content featuring a scarred wolf shifter with a brutal past, a woman in more trouble than she can handle, and some time spent in the shower.

This is a re-read for me and somehow until I was fully immersed into the book I didn't remember reading it. Oops.  I looked up my notes and realized I read it in 2016 right around the time I read a really terrible piece of work that put me into a slump so yeah no wonder I don't remember it.  I went into this one looking for a bit of a beauty and the beast retelling and that's not what I got, I got a really good paranormal romance that I really enjoyed.

This story is about Beast who one night is given the gift of sight that shows him his life mate and what he sees makes him believe he won't be able to be with her so he decides to run, and in the process runs right to the woman he was trying to get away from.  Calla made the mistake of falling in love with a man who began to show his horrible colors once she was stuck there.  Now she's got no way to leave and there is another who needs her to be brave, and then Beast comes along and gives her hope, but is he who she can trust??

I really enjoyed the characters especially Calla because despite the reasons she should be afraid she embraces the changes in her life. She has doubts but she still pushes forward.  I enjoyed reading their story of how they danced around what they wanted but at the same time tried to face it because of the new danger to them and their relationship.  Bastian was an amazing character because when he thought he was doomed he still made sure that his mate was taken care of, I would feel my heartstring pull each time he made an observation that was breaking his own heart. I got mad when he did & laughed when he found some joy at the moment.  I really enjoyed them together because they desperately needed a little glimpse of happy and they were it for each other.

As this is the fourth book in a series a few of the characters were quickly glossed over, we were introduced to them and only snippet descriptions were given. I believe the author did this because she believed only someone who has read the other books would be this deep into the series, and normally she would be right.   This story is interesting enough that I want to go back and read the others as well. 

I truly loved the author's ability to pull you into the story.  I identified with the scene that took place in the diner, as they saw each other for the first time and yet it was as if they had known each other forever.  It felt so genuine and unique to how we act when you meet someone who makes you feel so good.

Although the ending was kind of predictable, I mean they are soul mates fated for each other; there are a few twists that make this a story you want to continue with. There are other wolves that need to be taken care of, I need to know about Shadow and the other sisters who used to be Beasts roommates. 

I really enjoyed so many parts of this book but the ending scene with Beast and Calla was especially sweet. That moment he has with his brother made me laugh so much. 

A quick fun read featuring daring women and fun bad-ass werewolves. Definitely a read for my paranormal lovers.

 ★★★★☆

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Carpathian Series by Christine Feehan
• Elizabeth's Wolf by Lora Leigh

Happy Reading my loves, 

ARC Book #Review: Eight Simple Rules For Dating A Dragon by Kerrelyn Sparks #EightSimpleRulesForDatingADragon #NetGalley

Book Title: Eight Simple Rules For Dating A Dragon (Enslaved 3)
Author: Kerrelyn Sparks |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Romance, Paranormal
Series/Standalone: Series Book 3
Format: Ebook, Mass Market

Cost: $7.99

Pages: 448

How I got it: NetGalley

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Publisher
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
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Synopsis:

EIGHT SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING A DRAGON “Deeply satisfying, delightfully swoon-inducing.”—Publishers Weekly on Kerrelyn Sparks’s Love at Stake series

TRUTH—OR DARE?

Gwennore is an Elf able to track down the cause of a certain illness and heal it—a valuable asset to her people. But when she is thrust into the realm of the dragons, she discovers a haunted place of power, passion, and magic—one that is plagued by an ancient curse. When she meets the smoldering General Silas Dravenko, Gwen knows she’s entered a whole new world of trouble. She’s been raised never to trust a dragon. So why does making a deal with the devil feel so good?

Silas has no way of saving the royal family he’s served for years. But when a beautiful, innocent elf comes bursting into his world, Silas is awakened to desire in a way he’s never felt before. But how can he trust a sworn enemy. . .and how can he live without her, in Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon by New York Times bestselling author Kerrelyn Sparks.

I went into this one much like all my other books, blind. I wanted the story to formed as I read instead of anticipating something happening, plus its Kerrelyn I absolutely loved her vampire series and knew she was good at comedy. I was looking for a good romance featuring dragons so I dove right into this one.

I haven't read the other books in this series and perhaps that would have laid the groundwork of the world a bit more, however, this is the third book and it does read in a way that lets you jump right into the story.  We meet Gwen who is trying to get away from the naysayers at court while she is hanging out with her niece and their decision to have fun leads to an adventure.  Striving to not leave her niece behind, Gwen goes after the dragons and from there the story unfolds.  I really loved how sassy she was even while being scared. She was determined to not let her family down.

I absolutely loved her interaction with the dragon and cracked up at the name she gave him.  I had to laugh imagining a fearsome dragon looking back at the little woman who dared to call him that nickname and to take him to task. General Silas is trying his best to save his country which is fighting on the brink of extinction while fighting a bloody war and dealing with betrayals from within.  For centuries his family has been cursed and now that curse has spread to his people and he's desperate to save them.  When an Elf with the gift of healing lands in his court he can't help but convince her that she needs to stay and help him.

As the story unfolds I was hooked to the mystery of the curse and illness. And when that is unraveled I was so saddened, all for greed. How selfish, so many people suffered.  I loved reading the story and realizing it was happening so quickly as Gwen was wont to note it has only been a few days, a week, man she was well aware of time in this book. Gwen's personality moved quickly between two and it felt like she wasn't sure who she was supposed to be, and because she was confused at times I felt confused as well. Her insistence on not thinking about things when she needed to made me look at her with a mean side eye. Silas at times also made me angry because he knew things he should be telling her and insisted on using it to his advantage for a while.  It wasn't until someone else took him to task that he made moves to rectify it. So no bueno Siles, not cool.

I did enjoy the slow build of the relationship as Gwen had to come to terms with her place in this new kingdom and what she wanted for herself.  Silas was more certain of himself but was lost when it came to ways to save his people and when it appeared Gwen could help him he bribed her into staying.  I absolutely loved the friendships and familial relationships in this book. I loved how close Gwen was to her sisters, how much Silas loved his brother and his cousins.  I really enjoyed the lore of the dragons, the family history and getting to know more about he world of this series.

While I really enjoyed the romance, the world and the story being told I kept wondering how comes in a world where the supernatural beings are at the top of the food chain they are not as preferred as humans are?? You're telling me even in a world where dragons and the Fae exist, humans are the standards of beauty?? Are you for real?? And even in this world black and brown people don't exist??

I'm not sure why Gwen was so down on herself, if you are raised in a loving family and you have self-esteem, how come a few people not liking you which is a recent event suddenly makes you doubt everything you learned before?? it's almost like she had nothing to fall back on.  I really enjoyed reading several scenes where Gwen didn't see the irony in pushing someone she has recently become friends with into seeking their desired relationship while doing exactly what that persons intended was doing.

I will give a bit of warning, this is written like it's a historical romance with castles, caste systems, horse and the like but uses modern terminology and lingo.  I'm not sure if it matters to anyone else but at times the description of scenes would through me when the characters would talk and I had to remind myself it's not a historical story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story despite a few hiccups within and found myself laughing at certain scenes, quickly reading to find out who the ultimate villain was and if the curse would be broken.  If you're looking for a good adventure romance with dragons this is one of the good ones.  I hope you enjoy!!

 ★★★★☆

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Aisling Grey Series by Katie MacAlister 

Happy Reading my loves, 

YA Book #Review: So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti

Book Title: So Much Closer

Author:  Susane Colasanti |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Genre: Young Adult/ Social Situations
Series/Standalone: Stand alone
Format: Hardcover

Cost: $17.99

Pages: 241

How I got it: Purchased

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
Publication Date: Jan 2011
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Synopsis:

Another contemporary thought-provoking romance from Susane Colasanti! When Brooke discovers that the love of her life, Scott Abrams, is moving from their New Jersey suburb to New York City for senior year, she decides to follow hime there. Living with her estranged father and adjusting to a whole new school are challenging--and things get even worse when she finds out that Scott already has a girlfriend. But as she learns to navigate the big city, she starts to discover a whole new side of herself, and realizes that sometimes love can find you even when you're not looking for it.

This is another Susanne book I went into blind, and I actually enjoyed it.  The cover sees it as a fun, flirty teen romance, and yet you get so much more.  I certainly rolled my eyes a whole lot in this book, but I found myself engaging with the character as she did or thoughts things like "ok girl" There are moments within the book where the character's caucacity shines through when she shares her plans and ideas of how those plans were going to work out. Like girl whatever.  Let me explain that as an immigrant chile I wouldn't have been this dumb or rebellious because my parents just wouldn't have stood for it. Free education and you're wasting it because you don't believe int he system??

I loved that the character knew when she was being utterly ridiculous because she would say it, then talk around why she's ignoring that thought.  I really enjoyed reading her POV, I cackled at the plans, and the execution of said plans.  I sympathized with and understood her in several moments, and in others I needed the laugh.  Brooke at first was truly dumb, because who in their right mind does what she does for someone she's not even truly involved with??

I am going to preface this judgment of Brooke by stating I'm a professor's daughter, I grew up on a college campus, so for me education is extremely important.  I loved school, not the humans in the school sometimes but school and the experiences and the fun in my AP classes yes, I loved that.  For me things always came easy as well, I as a grade ahead of everyone because I was so good and I could have gone further ahead but my mother didn't want me to be socially stunted and I totally agree with her; so I totally get that from the character, but she gotta realize the only person she's punishing is herself.  Her actions don't change anything about the system, they don't hurt the teachers or the administrators in anyway,in fact if she had put her mind to it she would have done more if she found a way to demand change for herself and her classmates.

My favorite moments come when her friends and teachers, parents and the even new acquaintances call her out of her mediocre white girl aspirations, like who are you really hurting with your plans, nobody but yourself.  Not only that you insult all those women who wish they could be in your position but can't be hen you waste the opportunities you have been given.  I had to remember however that Brooke sis till very much a child and like all children she does childish things.

Brooke's POV and love for the city certainly shines through and I loved how as she matured her view of the city changed, once she stopped obsessing over one thing, she began seeing all that was around her, and began living in the reality of the city instead of just the love of the idea of the city.  NYC will do that to a  person, as a New Yorker I know. I enjoyed the characters e got to see, because this is told through Brooke's POV and she's a bit self absorbed we dont' really learn more about the others unless it helps her plans in some ways.

I loved the book because despite hat the cover is selling this is actually a love story to NY, no really it;s more than the book originally was selling.  It's an amazing story.  No there are a few threads I wish Brooke had followed up on and shared more about, especially when it comes to her parents, to her friends from NJ and even more about her school.  From what we glimpsed of Sadie, Scott and John she seemed to have created a pretty good group of friends, and I especially loved her and Sadie because they really inspired each other.

For me the  was not predicable because it seemed like the book was going another way at first, but I loved the journey and I'm glad we got the ending we did.  This story had self discovery, self love, learning what real love looks like, finding your path in life lessons, as well as forgiveness and being honest with yourself and those you are in relationships with.  There were so many great themas and I enjoyed each of them immensely.

 ★★★★☆

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti
• Lock & Key by Sarah Dessen

Happy Reading my loves, 

2018 Sexual Assault Awareness Month TBR

Hi my loves,

Welcome back to my scond year of reading & discussing that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.  I wanted to pick these books up and share with you my journey through them.  I got most of my list from The Teen Librarian Toolbox's list of books about Consent, Sex and our teens.

These are the books from my shelves dealing with this month's awareness topic: Sexual Assault and Consent.I have read a few from the list over the years and you can find the links here:

Easy Tamara Webber

Live Through This Mindi Scott

One Weekend Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend by Monica Murphy

Wait For You by J Lynn

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

And these are the ones on my shelves that I want to get read for the month:

• The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
• What happens next by Colleen Clayton
• What we saw by Aaron Hatlzer
• Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
• A Deep Dark Secret by Kimberla Lawson Roby
• A Natural History of Rape by Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer  ** This wasn't recommended but I recently picked it up at the local library book sale right before the month started last year in 2017 and thought this is perfect.**

That's it, those are the books on my radar for this topic and these are the ones I own, there are plenty more out there and if you have read any please feel free to share in the comments down below and we can talk about them.  Thanks so much for stopping by and

Have a great reading week

April 2018 To Be Read:

My goal this year is 150  books, if I break that down it comes out to 13 books per month, with 3 to 4  books a week. Totally doable in my books, so as the proverb says, you can eat an elephant one bite at a time, so here are my first few bites:

Read So Far this Year: 

40

TBR Pile 

150

TBR Balance:

110

For April I'm mostly going to be cleaning up my TBR pile. I'm going by the currently reading shelf on goodreads and I'm pulling all the books listed that I started but haven't finished. If by some miracle I clean these books up I'll pick a few more.  Also for this month, I will be reading books talking about sexual assault and consent, fiction and non-fiction books.  I have a separate list for that.  

Lemonade Syllabus:

• 
  

Perpetual Author Challenge:

• 2-3 Brenda Jackson titles

1. .
2. .
3. .

• Christine Feehan Ghostwalker book
• Lora Leigh
• Nora Roberts/ JD Robb

Finish The Series:

1. Fifth Grave past the light Darynda Jones
2. Sixth Grave by Darynda Jones
3. Bad Blood by L.A. Banks
4. The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter
5. The Girl in 6E by A. R.Torre
6. Syndelle's Possession Jory Strong
7. Rogue by Gina D'amico
8. Spanked An Anthology
9. All the Joy You Can Stand by Debrena Jackson Gandu
10. Don't Tempt Me by Sylvia Day
11. Nightbird Alice Hoffman
12. Out of Breath Rebecca Donovan
13. Sweet Surrender by Maya Banks
14. Clipped Wings by Helena Hunting
15. Confess by Colleen Hoover
16. Something Like Fate by Suzanne Colasanti
17. Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

For now, this is it, plus the books on the Sexual Assault Awareness list.  I have a tendency to start series and not complete them and I need to clean that up.  Here goes everything. What are you planning to read this month?? Have you read any of these?? Share in the comments down below.

Thanks for stopping by, as always

Happy Reading