The Crow Rider by Kalyn Josephson

I did receive a copy of The Crow Rider by Kalyn Josephson via NetGalley and the publisher, but the only reason I got a copy was because of a bookclub that no longer exists because it did bad things. The copy I am reviewing is the newer paperback edition with the two bonus stories. I'm sorry, but I felt bad and could not in good conscience read the e-arc given to me.

Rating with the bonus stories: 5 out of 5 stars.

Rating without the bonus stories: 4 out of 5.

I loved the bonus stories and how they added to the world through characters you don't get to read about (Ericen and Kiva).

This is the one problem with sequels is that the author is assuming the readers remember things in the first book (I thought Cayus was ten with the way she was describing him, and the only character I remembered was Ericen although I thought the ending was them standing on the dock while she was on the boat, but that apparently was not the case. The crows did all get murdered though and later rediscovered in the castle, that was the only thing I remembered correctly). I guess one of the positives is that the author did not bombard us with all the info from the first book like most books are inclined to do, but it was gradually throughout the book. Good news: it wasn't information overload. Bad news: as clearly stated earlier I could not remember things from the first book, so I was lost for a vast majority of the story. There was a lot of who is this character to her again? Oh, that's who that person was. I couldn't even recall the villain, guys. 

I'm not trying to make it out like the book sucked or anything, it's just a sequel and comes with the usual bouts of not being as great as the first (does anyone know of a second book being better than the first? I cannot name one, although if you do feel free to recommend in the comments below.)

The world building was okay, but I wished the author had expanded on things a little more like the holidays and celebrations because I had no clue what any of them were for and why they needed to get there before the celebrations commenced. I did love the training of Res though and found that adorable as he got put through his paces. I do love the explanation as to why he can access all eight abilities (Sella? Seela? blood anyone).

I did love those creatures as they reminded me so much of proper fae where they are just as likely to cause mischief as they are to help you and even their help might not be so helpful. I loved how each one controlled an aspect that correlates to a crow. (oops I might have spoiled something sorry, its crossed out now y'all).

My favorite characters were Ericen and Res because both are absolute sweethearts and will do anything to protect those they care about.

I could have sworn the Sella doors were in the first book and maybe the character did not remember it because I remember reading those exact words before even though this is my first time reading this book. 

This could be a good thing or a bad thing you interpret how you wish: the battle scenes felt like something out of the LOTR movies like I was expecting Gandalf to come riding down a hill with a herd of horses and men. Thankfully, that did not happen, but I could not shake that image out of my head especially since there are a lot of parallels which I will not tell you. You will only have to read the book to see if you draw the same conclusions or if it is just me because we do a LOTR movie marathon every year (hence why I cannot spell anything).

Besides the general confusion and LoTR like battles, I liked the book overall. I will read it again preferably right after the first one to see if maybe my memory will be a little bit sharper.

4 out of 5 stars. Recommend if you don't mind sequels (honestly I feel like we cannot expect much from sequels because of how frequently there is a disconnection between the first and second).

Oh, and the second one kind of starts off where the first one ends, which was helpful (very helpful indeed in making sure I knew that I did not remember as much of the first book as I thought I did).

Cover Reveal of The Brigand Children by Lainey Delaroque

 Cover Reveal 📕

I'm excited to be a part of the cover reveal of the second book to the Lavender Phantom by Lainey Delaroque.

I'm also excited because this is the rare times my blog has let me upload a photo onto a blog post.

✨Cover Reveal and info from the author✨

The Brigand Children: Club Lavender Duet #2 

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Book 1 Free on KU https://bit.ly/TLD1TLPzon

Preorder Book 2 https://bit.ly/TLD1TBCzon

Blog Tour for Book 1 https://bit.ly/TLD1TLPtour

His ex stole his dream and his people. Now this fallen gang leader will rally new allies 

against an old enemy.

The Brigand Children is a romantic thriller with:

A tortured hero

A fierce heroine

A gang war

Lavish kink parties

Romance and steamy scenes

***Blurb***

After being a prisoner in his own home, Damien Grey tastes freedom for the first time in six years. Yet his

criminal past, gangster ex-wife and an unfair police charge mean that he is far from free. When he learns

some of his underlings have gone missing, he grabs the chance to investigate, prove his innocence and

come out into the light.

But the case requires Damien to enlist the help of the father he put in prison and face his deepest

insecurities. Unable and unwilling, he finds solace in the company of Sophie Taylor, a former thief and a

newcomer in Damien Grey’s life.

They choose to explore their connection while the clock dangerously ticks away. Will high-octane action

and kinky play bring them together or pull them apart? When one of the missing women turns up dead,

Damien realizes the time of reckoning is nearing faster than expected.

How long can Damien ignore his past before it catches up with those he's sworn to protect?

I do not know about anybody else, but I'm excited to read more about Damien. He's broken, but that is okay. Go grab a copy while you can.

Warnings: there will most likely be rope play, violence, abuse.

I will let you all know more about the warnings after I've read it, so people know what they are getting themselves into. However, if you are one of those people where not much fazes you then definitely grab a copy of the first one or preordered the second if you have already read the first book.

An Unmarked Grave: Is this even English

 I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let's start out with the positives, shall we? The cover to die for like it is gorgeous. The description of the book "oh good lord, it sounded like my kind of book". The title: had me hook, line and sinker.

I never made it past 2% of the book because I realized after the fifteenth mention of table that I would only  be wasting my time. The book did not do any of the positives justice and I am not convinced the book was proper English. For an author who has written several books, let's just say I was hoping for a better writing than whatever that was like most of the sentences were incomplete or had random ellipses (...) in them. Like what the heck? If I had to tell anybody about what the beginning was about I would not be able to do it. I wished the beginning did not exist because I could not even get past it to get to the knight protecting the High Priestess which sounded incredible. Alas, a book that I thought was my cup of tea got poured down the toilet and flushed.

1 out of 5 stars.

Fable by Adrienne Young

 I received a copy from NetGalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

Seeing as this is the first book I have read from Adrienne Young Fable is a great book, but nobody quiz me on anything about the book please 🙏 

It is a very detailed book and normally I am all for it, but I still have no answers to the world building. 

Why is it the way that it is? Why is it a world built for men? Who are the guilds and who decides who gets to be in charged of what? Why is it called the Narrows? Was the misnomer for the Unnamed Sea intentional? Why does Ceros have bridges leading up to the roofs, but no other port does? Why are storms so frequent in this world? What are gem sages and how does one become one? Is it a type of magic? (It's a cool magic if it is, but I was not clear). Why are there only coppers for monetary? How much would a copper be worth? Why is everyone so ruthless? Why can you not trust anyone with your relations or love or literally anything? Why is everyone trying to kill everyone? What is the main goal of this world? Was it always like this or did something happen to make it change? What came first the Narrows or the Unnamed Sea? Were there any people who were on the islands first? Why is Jeval considered the island of thieves when there are thieves on all of the islands? Is the Tempest Snare coral reefs or is it a carving of rocks/ice? Is the Tempest Snare supposed to be a deterrent to the people in the Narrows to stop them? Why is it so hard to navigate? How have people made it through it in the past if that is the way to the Unnamed Sea and many people have made it through there before? Is Ceros supposed to be a poor port or a middle class port because it talks about people being on the streets, but a vast majority of them were on the bridges? Is it something they do because they know the more wealthier people take the bridge? What would people do if they had no copper and had things to trade, but nobody else had any copper? Why is everybody stealing everything from everyone? Is this supposed to be like a Hunger Games but in the sea? What is the deal between Saint and Zelo (I probably totally butchered his name. This is how memorable he was to me apparently) and why are people starting wars with each other? What is so special about the city in the Unnamed Sea that has made people so cutthroat? Do they think that it will grant them favour with the guilds? And what is the deal with Holland? She gets mentioned a few times, but there is no clear explanation and you do not meet her in the book at all. I kind of wished we did just to get a better understanding of why people seem to fear her. (I don't know why they do.)

Also Auster's skin is mentioned as ivory and then a couple of pages later it is the color of wheat. What color is his skin? Because ivory is white and fair and you burn easily so technically if he was in the sun a lot it would not be ivory more of a reddish brown and wheat is more of a golden brown. It made it hard to picture him. Actually it was hard to picture any of them because sometimes it feels like the author got bogged down in the details only to throw most of it to the raging sea. This is why I am hoping nobody quizzes me on the book because it was too much detail but not enough to be like "ask me anything I can tell you anything even things that are not in the book". Honestly, I got confused quite a few times muddling through all of the details like it could give Victoria Aveyard a run for her money on the amount of detail in this book.

As someone who is directionally challenged I really wished there was more description on what was starboard and all the other sides of the boat. It was getting tiresome having to look things up because it's a great book and I finished it in a day and a half, but again those pesky details that never gave the right details. I had to look up poisons in corals and of course those pesky details, it was all forgotten about after a page. Fable mentions she will be sick and have fever and all this stuff, but she never actually gets sick or has any problems after she eats the stew. Also, after reading that the poison in the coral is enough to kill 80 people it is kind of hard believing that she was okay. She got more sick from drinking three glasses of rye than anything else in the book.

The only twist I did not see coming was at the very end and it ended on that twist (now I'm debating if I should read Namesake or not. What do you guys think for those who have read it; is it worth it?). All the other twists are so predictable and I could see them coming a mile away.

I know it sounds like I am hating on this book, but I am not trust me I became invested at around the 85% mark of the book because at that point I could not put the book down. I needed to know what Saint would do. I wanted to know if she could avoid the bad guy, Zelo/Zalo/Zaro (clearly he is so memorable to me guys that I can't remember his name after I just finished reading the book and it was the second to last name in the book:P)

West and Fable are so cute together and I will not spoil anything because the moments between them are *chef's kiss*. Willa I want to hug her and tell her she is brave. I want to smirk over Paj's and Auster's antics. I want to shake my head while hiding a smile from Hamish because secretly he is a teddy bear.

I loved all of the characters I just wished there was more because if the bad guy is any indication they didn't quite stand out from my mind. If to save my life I had to point out something unique about each character my chances of survival will be nil.

With all of that being said it is definitely a book I would consider rereading (preferably the corrected copy of it because some of the grammar made no sense "I words made me still" being an example. On it's own it could make sense but reading it in the book it was like West was talking and now you're saying I words... what do I know 🤷). Lord knows it made the inner English student in me very happy if the questions are anything to go by. English classes make me rip things apart I have no control over it anymore. It has been engrained into my brain and makes reading interesting.

4 out of 5 stars.

Sing Me Forgotten: All Hail the Opera Ghost

 Thank you NetGalley and Inkyard Press for allowing me to read a copy in exchange for an honest review. And a huge thank you to Jessica S. Olson for writing Sing Me Forgotten. This review might contain some spoilers read at your own risk.

If anyone loves The Phantom of the Opera you will love this book. I adored it because there are so many odes to The Phantom of the Opera while still making it its own. From the chandelier falling down to Isda living in the catacombs under the opera house. This book gave me so many feels especially any interaction between Isda and Emeric.

While I adored this book there are a few things that did not make it a five star book for me. One of the reasons is that it repeats a lot and it started to get annoying after a while and I wanted to shake or throttle Isda (the only thing that stopped me was that Emeric needs her). Another is that I wanted to know more about the Les Trois instead of being told the same thing like they were terrifying and their names. Also, I wanted to know more about Rose and her lover like were they like Emeric and Isda? What made Rose's lover decide to kill all three of them? I have so many questions and feel like maybe there should have been a prologue that was in Rose's or her lover's pov that could have built into the world more because as it stood I was confused on why people feared them so much. So they were disfigured and could pull memories out of people; why did that get the reaction it did from the people? Why do they drown the babies because they think they have magic? What happens if the baby was not magical but deformed? How did they become magical? Could nonmagical people gain this magic somehow? How big is this world? Is it everywhere in this world? What made the Les Trois decide to overrun the world? Is there another solution that did not involve killing people or draining people of their memories?

Most of the questions will never be answered because it is from Isda's POV and she is kind of trapped in the opera house, so getting the answers are hard to come by. Even when she gets things that should give her answers like Cyril's book or his journal. We do not really get any answers and it makes me sad because I want to know everything about this world. Yes, they have French words, but then the King's name is Charles which has me thinking of U.K. and beheadings. It also does not help that they say no and not non. Like it was strange for me that they would be like "No merci" I kind of wish there was more French in the book even though I am atrocious at French it would be more immersive of the world.

The ending broke me because of what happened between Emeric and Isda like I had to gulp down glasses of water to prevent myself from ugly crying. As much as I loved it the ending felt rushed and unfinished as it kind of ends with her leaving, but I wanted to know where she went and did Emeric find his sister? Do the monsters get a chance to be free and independent or did her stunt ensure that they will forever be cemented as monsters? Like it felt unsatisfactory in everything, but emotional suicide. It is a stabbed in the heart, dragged through hell, and swallowing broken glass and rusty nails with a healthy dose of arsenic hurt. I won't say what exactly happens, but there is no hea in this book. Although it kind of reminded me of the ending of The Phantom of the Opera (now that had me sobbing no matter how much water I gulped down because once again the people I wanted to get together did not). Although the title and cover made so much sense with the ending.

This book reminded me of Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd, Fairest by Gail Carson Levine, and of course, The Phantom of the Opera. If you love/like any of these books then you will love Sing Me Forgotten.

Highly recommend.

4.5* out of 5 stars.

 *It is mostly due to the formatting of the book that it is at 4.5 and not 4. Because I am aware that this was an e-arc so the weird f ormatting and the random spaces between the f's which made it hard to interpret what was happening in the story. Plus, it would have two people talking in the same paragraph with no dialogue tags so I could not follow half of the conversations. I am hoping that the final copy has fixed all of that, so I gave the book an extra half star.

Ace of Blades

 I received an e-arc of this book via the author in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Michael Knightly for writing Ace of Blades because it is such an enjoyable read. 

Nox is such an enjoyable character to read because he is rough around the edges and a male Bella who can actually hold his own (sort of) it is kind of hard when your enemy is fae/elf/vampire and Nox used to be in the army before becoming a trauma surgeon. He used to be a girl and the ways it is portrayed in the book is hilarious. The best thing is that the author does not feel the need to remind you that Nox is part of the LGTBQ+ community every two pages. It is gradual and little things like when he is afraid and his voice reaches an octave he has not reached in a long time or the whole lack of a cock situation (you'll have to read it to understand because I do not think it is appropriate to write on my blog). Nox is a delight because unlike Bella he actually does things throughout the book (apologies to any Twihards out there, but it is true as much as I love the book it would be better if Bella took a page out of Nox's book).

For those confused about why I keep referring to Bella is because this book reminds me so much of Twilight and the unfortunate part is that once I started to see it I could not unsee it. Except it is adult and LGTBQ+ with Curtis being a vampire/fae/ elf (I'm not too sure what he is because these terms were interchangeable throughout the book). and the boyfriend Drew is a Grim a shapeshifter that can change into the shape of patron in Drew's case he was a mountain lion. 

At first, I was against Drew because I wanted Nox and Curtis together, but toward the end of the novel he started to grow on me. I will say that he at least tried, and I love the friends reaction to Nox talking about Drew being back in his life.

Curtis is lovable and made me laugh so many times throughout the book. At least he is a thoughtful stalker and can acknowledge that he is way older than Nox and unlike Edward, he is okay with Nox being in another relationship, so long as Nox understands the consequences. I love the agreement Nox and Curtis have with each other and the contract that Nox violates within a day of having it.

I will not say much because I do not want to spoil the preciousness that is Curtis because it is too good to spoil for anyone. Ah wellness checks (read the book and you will get this).

Warning: there is kinky things that happen in this book. It is not sex more like biting/kissing (I don't know how to explain this without giving away too much). There is also violence in this book and it contains mature themes.

If you are okay with these kinds of things then you can either preorder the book on pretty much any book retailer or you can still get an e-arc from the author by going to his instagram page (I believe the book comes out in October of this year).

50 out of 5 stars.

Ten First Dates: Anthology

 Ten First Dates is a cute anthology of love, romance and it has a little bit of everything for everyone whether you like enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, young geniuses trying to discover what feelings are, second chance romances, fake love etc.

Warning: This anthology is for a limited time in ebook format. I do not know if the books are available separately, but feel free to look them up. All opinions are my own.

I am going to be honest out of the ten books, I only DNFed one and that was the one with the young genius who is experimenting on how emotions and feelings are part of relationships. Imperfect Chemistry by Mary Frame is not a bad story, it is just not a trope I can get behind regardless of who writes it or what it is about. Young geniuses who are robots are just not my thing, but if it is yours I would recommend looking it up.

Books I loved:

On the Rox by Kat Addams is adorable. It is not what I consider a rom-com because the only thing I found hilarious was this Aussie being terrified of a squirrel (yes, Jay, I am looking at you). And Rox is dealing with past domestic abuse from the men in her life that she had dated for things to be taken as funny. Do not worry the author does have a trigger warning at the beginning of her book. Honestly, it was more romantic than comedy, which is okay. I loved how the girls stuck together and the moment when jay gave himself permission it was *chef's kiss* 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Love, Lacey Donovan by Jill Brashear is too adorable. Bookish Lacey Donovan is convinced that nothing beats book boyfriends (I mean she isn't wrong) until she sees Beckett and that is when the fun begins because she is trying to not get her heart broken. Can she succeed?

It is adorable the banter between her and Beckett. I did not see some of the twists coming although one of them was an "oh hey wouldn't it be funny if..." moment. Beckett can be my book boyfriend any day. As per Lacey's review he would be a five book boyfriend bowtie. I am not sure what the fire hydrants imply so I won't attempt that. I cannot express enough how freaking adorable this book is and I would highly recommend reading this book if you are into bookish love. 5 out of 5 stars.

Loved You Once by Claudia Burgoa is an adorable second chance romance sort of. To be honest, I kind of wished the book was longer or had started sooner because we are left with so many questions at the end. I love second chance romances, but this one it started out with Hayes being all let me make amends to you and then suddenly they were a couple again. I wanted a little more grovelling or something especially with how he had ended things which he knows as he chastised himself over it repeatedly. The entire premise of the story is follow the will, save the town, but it ends before you even know if the town is saved. I'm hoping this is more than one book, so I am reserving judgment. 4 out of 5 stars.

Love Under Construction by M.C. Cerny is too fricking adorable. Hunter Hart works construction and he is trying to help renovate an old house for his friend Taylor Jane Bryant so she can do interior design and win a contest. He is dead set against it, but somehow found himself saying yes. Oh the friend to lovers romance was *chef's kiss* and I love how Hunter tries so hard to help Taylor especially with the whole owl episode and him needing to prove that he is a man. I won't say much because honestly this book is pure gold when it comes to comedy. I still giggle thinking about certain scenes. 5 out of 5 stars.

What I'm Looking For by Karen Grey is an adorable rom-com from the late eighties. Kate Bishop is trying to get a promotion from the investment firm that she works in while Will Talbot is a starving actor who reluctantly takes Kate's advice to go into commercials and tv shows. Of course, with that it means a tighter schedule for his beloved theatre and he might flip out because change is happening. Also, he might have had family issues with money as a child. 

I love how they are so different and yet the love they have for each other had me hugging my kindle. I love how the author used her own experiences in the movie industry during that time period in the book because it gave authenticity to the plot line. I laughed and I cried. I celebrated Kate's little victories and felt embarrassed with her during those awkward moments of stage fright and anxiety. I commiserated with Will when he thought he was going to be doing the entire project by himself and I also wanted to throttle both of them when they broke up because of things from their past getting in the way of their future happiness. 4.5 out of 5 stars

Mixed Signals by Mia Heintzman is cute. Julie and Nico are adorable together, but Julie already made assumptions about him based on one conversation she overheard about a net of broken hearts and is convinced she despises him which is too bad especially after she saw him in his truck during a traffic jam. And she might have had a shower fantasy about him when he stood in the rain trying to give her shirt back to her through the window. This book is so aptly named and I will not say much because it is one of those books that you need to read without any filters to appreciate what goes on in this book. 5 out of 5 stars.

Too Tempting by Bethany Lopez is a genius of a book and I did not see that twist or conflict coming. It was quite refreshing and disturbing the longer you tried to think about it so it is best not to think too much about it. Gabriel "Gabe" Lewis is a retired NFL player who has his own camp for kids to play football away from all the hustle and bustle. Zoey Zahn is an introverted writer who got the dates mixed up so she came to the camp a week early and she does not know that Gabe is that Gabe and keeps her own identity a secret. Will it tear them apart or draw them together? Honestly, I loved every word of this book and wanted to reread it as soon as I finished reading it because Gabe is such a sweetheart. Highly recommend, and the twist is not what you think it is. 5 out of 5 stars.

Some Call It Love by Sarah Peis is adorable and makes me feel like a horrible person. I am just saying if I was in Willa's shoes I would have stopped helping my drunk gambling father out of jail a long time ago. Oh Willa, the story was so much fun with your constant trying to bail your father out while trying to not get on Jameson's bad side. The back and forth between the two of them was 😍. 1000% recommend this book. It is too funny and adorable and honestly Willa and Jameson make the story. 5 out of 5 stars.

Moonshine and Magnolias by Abigail Sharpe is an adorable book that makes me wished I knew more about Gone with the Wind to get all the little Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the book (all I know is the line "frankly my dear I don't give a darn"). Wendy, I want to hug her because she has control issues and thinks everything needs to be done a certain way and trying to get her to bend is like trying to move a solid oak trunk with your bare hands. Rob is looking for a way to end the family curse that ends with nobody ever being able to have a fulfilling relationship (yikes). It is adorable how the treasure hunt brings depth to the world and I love how the peaches play an integral role in the story. It is so 😍. (5 out of 5 stars.)

Total accumulation of stars: 43 out of 45 stars. I am not including the one I DNFed as it does not have a star rating which is intentional because I want people to give it the benefit of the doubt if it is a trope they enjoy or are not sure they will enjoy.