Edgewood by Kristen Ciccarelli

 Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read a copy in exchange for a honest review (and having it in the Read Now section last year). This review contains spoilers read at your own discretion.

Edgewood by Kristen Ciccarelli is an urban fantasy, but somehow the cover fooled me into forgetting that it is not straight fantasy.

Oh, and do not worry if you forget what kind of boots Emeline is wearing (Blundstone boots) because it will be the most repeated detail in the book. Also, at some point in the book her boots were off and I never realized until she put her Blundstone boots back on (I am preparing you peeps for the book. if you survive the review you can mostly survive the book). Honestly it feels like the only thing I can mention is the boots and I wonder if the author got a paid endorsement from the shoe people because no books should have Blundstone boots mentioned as much as this book. I almost want the author to do me a favour and go to her manuscript and search for the term "Blundstone boots" then delete half of what comes up (even then it will still be too much). I thought the boots were supposed to be magical from the fact that it is the only article of clothing that is capitalized (my older sister had to explain to me that they were a brand).

Also, be aware that the pacing is slow like you had better hunker down with no distractions because you will be easily distracted from the book. Granted I finished this in one day because I did not want to spend another day reading it.

I loved Hawthorne even though there were some definite creepy vibe moments like Emeline finding the sketches of her being nude and yes it was explained away, but yeah gave me a moment to pause.

I do not like Emeline but unfortunately, the entire book is in her POV. I kind of wished that we had Hawthorne's POV as well because there is only so many times I can listen to her lament about her job and how she cannot lose her dream. Do not get me wrong there is nothing wrong with pursuing dreams, but she casts everyone else aside.

I also found it hard to suspend my disbelief in this book because in the first chapter I had no clue what genre this book was supposed to be what with the Blundstone boots and the real fire (I could have done without the real because then I found myself asking as opposed to what? A holographic fire? A painted fire? I wished the author trusted her readers more to understand that logs next to a crackling fire is a good indication it is real).

Honestly, I liked the book, but I could spend a good hour ranting about it because the author could have done so much with the fae and the Wood King and the King's City, but no lets focus on Emeline and how she needs to get the grandfather she abandoned out of the king's tithe and get back to her career. I love fat books which is why I wanted to read it well that and also the cover. It will be a cover buy and the promise of fae that will lure people in that is for sure.                                                                                  

If you do not mind whiny main characters and blatant product placement then this is the book for you.

3.5 ⭐

5 💧

Reclaim the Stars: an anthology by Zoraida Córdova

 Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read a copy in exchange for a honest review.

Do not get me wrong all of the authors in this anthology were amazing. I picked this up in the Read Now category because a) it's an anthology its rare that they are on a site like NetGalley, and b) I was really hoping I had gotten over my weird lets call it an issue with sci-fi.

It turns out that nope I still have my issue and I don't know why even those sci-fi books that I adored I cannot stand reading them.

This is entirely a me thing I am sure you will enjoy it because like I said the writing is incredible. Just personally like all books that involve space I could not get into it.

3 🌟

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

 Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read a copy in exchange for a honest review. This review might contain spoilers so please read at your own risk.

Thank you to Allison Saft for writing A Far Wilder Magic it is one of the better books I have read from this publishing company. 

Full confession: I skipped the first chapter after the second page because it read like a checklist to me. Margaret does this? Check. Margaret complains about weather? Check. Did she start cutting wood? Check. Honestly, if I had not skipped it I would have despised the book and Margaret, but thankfully it gets better after the first chapter. Also, the name Wes is ruined for me (if anyone else has watched Nailed It from Netflix then they will probably understand why).

I love Wes and Margaret together especially when they start to realize that they have *shudder* feelings for each other. I also adore that he did not find Margaret attractive at first sight even though by every other books definition she would be seen as beautiful. I also laughed when he was wondering what was wrong with him when the most beautiful girl in the world was right beside him but all he wanted was Margaret (all together now... aww). His name might be ruined for me but he will have a piece of my heart.

The things I did not quite love about the book and the reasons for why its not five stars is because of the religions. I would have loved the religions to be something newer because its pretty much everyday religion and so it got me confused if this was supposed to be one earth or some other world. I thought the actual Hunt would be longer, but we spent more time on the preparation of the Hunt and the Hala than anything else and when it finally got to the Hunt all the excitement was gone.

Perfect for those who love alchemy or female MCs who finally find a way out of the shadows or male MCs who don't care what people think about them but will do anything for the ones they love even if it makes them appear selfish.

4 💫

6 💧

Cursed Beauty by Stacey O'Neale

 Thank you NetGalley and Phoenix Reign Publishing for allowing me to read a copy in exchange for an honest review.

And a huge thank you to Stacey O'Neale for writing this book. I was hooked from the first page because curses, witches, a sleeping prince, forbidden forest, wolf leader like hello.

I loved this book so much and will definitely be buying a copy of this book. It does not disappoint if you like fairytale retellings, gender reversed Sleeping Beauty, or witches.

I finished this book in a hour because I needed to know what happened.

This satisfied my fairytale loving heart.

Go get a copy for yourself.

5 stars

9 feels

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

 Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review a copy in exchange for a honest review.

This is not a love story. There is no romance it is all a lie. If you are reading this book for romance then don't, but if you are one of those people who don't mind little to no romance then this is the book for you.

I'm one of those people who was mislead by the title and the summary that it would be a romance. Oh my word, I was bored out of my skull reading this book and speed read it just to get it over with (hence why it took little time to read it).

1.5 stars.

1 feels

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long

 Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

And another Wednesday Books that makes me think I might give them another shot and it will be a five star book.

Sadly, this is not the case with this book. Sena gives me as much emotion as a dead fish because it is not until the last two chapters where I start to feel something for the book because I thought the wolf was going to die and Sena was actually caring about somebody else for once.

Oh, and in case you miss it it will be told to you about five hundred times that her moms died in the race and everyone abandoned Sena. She is all alone (poor baby) she had an aunt who was not an aunt who tried to help her and gave her a roof over her head even though the poor aunt had many problems.

Also, there is a lot of time spent on the fights and wolves fighting each other, but all Sena cares about is money and getting off the planet. Like I lost respect for Sena with this because you have to be a heartless bitch to watch animals in a cage and you have the chance to heal them and help but all you have to do is complain that it reminds you of the race that made you lose your moms (did I forget to mention that this gets mentioned a lot because I think half the book is her lamenting about the race killing her moms. Also, what is this magical planet where two women can get pregnant without any sperm? There is literally no mention of a sperm donor or Sena wondering who else helped bring her to the world like what kind of world is this?).

I read this book because wolves (who doesn't love them?) but I feel like the book did an injustice to them because for a book title Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves (or if you are like me and could never remember which order it went Night Wolves) it does not spend a lot of time on wolves. I would much rather learn more about the wolves and vonenwolves than about Sena losing her moms. I'm sorry but it gets old really quick and I was ready to DNF this book so many times, but I persevered because some people claimed it was the best book they ever read and others told me it gets better.

People died and Sena had little emotion over someone who fought tooth and nail to make sure she was okay but nope lets turn it all back to Sena and how everyone dies around her because her moms died in the race and she's been struck with bad luck and decisions ever since (if you are annoyed I am only preparing you for the book because this happens a lot).

I wanted to love this book but excluding the last two chapters it felt like kissing a dead fish.

2.5 stars

3 feels

A Christmas Promise by Abby Everheart

  I received a copy of A Christmas Promise by Abby Everheart from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to Abby for writing this darling book. It is an absolute delight, heartfelt, and feels like the making of a Hallmark movie.

You will root for the characters as they navigate through their past hoping to find a better future, and you will definitely be rooting for Juniper that lovable ornament stealing dog to cause as much drama as possible. And if that is not enough drama then do not fear Riley will have you covered because he is the assistant who will put a smile on your face with his antics.

Chris and May's first meeting is so freaking adorable and it is a great precedent for what their characters are going to be like and how they grow as people. My heart is melting into a pile of goo just thinking about those two.

The thing I love the most is that all the characters have issues and it is not just the main characters and the main characters actually try to help the side characters. It is refreshing.

My only complaint is that the person behind the whole sabotage was obvious from the moment we are introduced. I would have liked it to be a little more whodunnit, but for what it is the book is (insert adjective).

all the stars 

all the feels

1000% recommend.

All the Tommys in the World by Javier Gombinsky

 Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review a copy of All the Tommys in the World by Javier Gombinsky.

This book gave me chills and is an excellent zombie thriller book. I'm not a huge horror fan and this is stepping out of my comfort zone and I am glad that I did.

4 out of 5 stars.

The Fallen Guardian by Anthony Chaveleh

 Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review a copy of The Fallen Guardian by Anthony Chaveleh.

To be honest, I picked this book because dragons. I love books with dragons in them, unfortunately, I never made it past the prologue because between the map, pronunciations, and the massive info dump in the beginning it felt like my brain was going to be fried.

If you love info dumps more than dragons read this book, if you love dragons more than info dumps than maybe skip something at the beginning.

3 ⭐

the Death Reaper by Freya Daree

 Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of The Death Reaper in exchange for an honest review.

It's an interesting story, but seeing as how I read it over a week ago and cannot recall a single detail except it was interesting. It was not memorable to me (I even read the blurb again as a refresher).

Maybe you will have better luck than I did because this is totally a me thing and has nothing to do with the author.

3 out of five stars.

Feels: 2