I would like to thank NetGalley and St Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me to read a copy in exchange for a honest review.
The Devil You Know kind of left me numb because I thought it was a mystery thriller book, but it took forever to set up the premise for me. Maybe I just was not in the mood for it like I thought I was, but it could not hold my attention.
I was hoping for more of a mystery than I got from it.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Zando Projects for allowing me to read a copy of Queen Among the Dead by Lesley Livington in exchange for a honest review.
I feel like this should not be a book to read when your brain is not all there because it bombards you with so much information at the beginning.
It was too much and I wound up skimming the book. If you love books where they cram as much information at he beginning then this is the book for you.
I received an e-arc of Mayatte's Catharsis by Jack E Mohr in exchange for a honest review.
If anyone is looking for a quick YA Fantasy read then I would recommend this book. Like with most novellas it must be taken with a grain of salt and things to consider like if the author took a few more sentences to explain something would you be able to call it a novella anymore.
I think my main issue with the novella is that the blurb I was given was that foreigners come and Naña the fmc in the story makes contact with them and they wind up finding resources on the island and try to take over the island. She feels bad because it was all her fault. It reminded me of Pocahontas which is what intrigues me about the book except it did not happen until the very end of the novella. Speaking of the ending it was very vague about what actually happened.
I think there was also an attempt at romance except Naña refused to get off her high horse to even think of the idea that love could be a part of Mayatte. And if it isn't then how do the people come into existence? I feel like there were more questions than answers in the novella. I am keeping in mind that this is a novella and is probably trying to set up for a bigger series, but on it's own I feel like it could have been longer and more fleshed out like expand on why her skin changes color, expand on their religion and the other islands, expand on the magic or whatever you want to call it that prevents people from seeing the native inhabitants and how Zeke lost his clothes because I must have missed that part.
It is told in third person with mostly being Naña's POV, but it will randomly switch to Zeke which took me out of the story because I always had to pause to figure out at what point we started getting his perspective.
The novella has a lot of potential and the characters are intriguing it's just the pacing is too fast like you blink and suddenly someone is dead or they are in a new location with no indication of how we got to that point. I think if the author slowed it down or made it a proper novel it could be an easy five stars.
As it is now though:
⭐️3.5
💧7.5
I received an e-arc of Time's Orphan from the author in exchange for an honest review.
First off, thank you Hayley for writing this book. And for allowing me the opportunity to read it.
Y'all this might be my favourite book from the series. Watching Emara grow into her power was so special and heartwarming because I love watching characters grow into themselves and reaching their potential. It felt like greeting a long lost family reading some of the characters from the other books (and congrats to Makeo and Aza for being so dang cute together). And if anybody has read this series (which you should if you have not) y'all we get Shad's story *excited squeals and happy dance*. And OMG, the banter between him and Emara 🥵 it did not disappoint.
I could probably go on about this book, but I will be bound to slip and spoil something and I do not want to do that, but I will end this review with a warning. Whatever you do to not get attached to characters because no one is safe. I swear I only had two modes with this book: grinning like a loon or pretending I was Alice from Alice in Wonderland and trying to drown myself in tears or an odd combination of the two (so I guess its actually three modes?).
Seriously, go read this book if you love clean romance, fantasy, found family, sort of one bed trope, watching characters grow into themselves, complexities of good and evil, grumpy magi, HEAs (sort of 😉)
⭐️all of them
💧all of them
I received a free e copy of Meara by Anya Wylde via the author in exchange for a honest review.
First off, thank you to Anya Wylde for allowing me to read a copy and for writing the crazy ride that is Meara.
Secondly, despite its insane pacing where it went from zero to sixty to sixty to zero, too many things happening at once, and the characters having similar sounding names (Meara, Keera, Dara etc.) I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and world so much that I bought a paperback copy (oh, and the ebook is free on Amazon at the moment. I do not know how long it will be on sale for so if you want a copy now is the time to do so). I also hope there is a second book because I seriously want to know if the characters are okay because some characters had pretty much everybody betray him.
I adore Kamraan and he can be my villain any day. I practically was like marry me when he told Meara he would rather be the villain and watch the world burn than be the hero and lose her. Like hello. I mean he already had me but that cemented it for me. The romance is slow burn and not a lot of spice. I mean it is not clean and wholesome by any means because Kamraan is controlling and protective and technically her enemy. Oh yes, there are a lot of tropes crammed in this book like when I say a lot happens I mean a lot happens that sometimes you feel like yelling at the book to calm down and let me catch up. Give the poor characters a break.
Fortunately, the mythology is lovely and makes up a huge chunk of the book and is a mixture of different cultures that you learn along with Meara. I kind of wished there was a glossary to keep track of all the creatures and terms because I did not know half of it and after one of the great betrayals we stopped getting translations of what it is. And did I mention that beginning gave me Beauty and the Beast vibes? Because it did except instead of a father its a little sister and instead of her being attacked by wolves its shadow men that I still have no clue what they were.
I had no expectations going into this book and for what it is it is enjoyable. If you love slow burn romance, villain gets the girl, fantasy, mythologies, different dimensions then this is the book for you.
⭐️4.5
💧9
Not going to lie I was super excited when I saw that Never Saw Me Coming was on sale because I have been wanting to read this book since it first came out last year. It had me at a group of "psychopaths" being murdered and Chloe wanting to kill Will.
At first it started out strong like I was on the fence about Chloe (let's face it I still am even after finished reading it), I adored Charles and Andre (and kept my fingers and toes crossed that Andre did not get killed due to his being Black. I won't say if he does or not because that would be a massive spoiler). I also loved how the author played with different types of psychopaths and one of them was faking being one which made me laugh because they did not realize what they had signed up for.
My main issue is that Chloe's whole character is based off of killing Will and she did not have much substance past that. I also do not love that there was all this build up and when it finally gets to the big things it was so anticlimactic that I forgot this was the huge things that it was building up to. I felt like the author knew where she wanted to go, but not how to end the big things. It felt rushed the finales of the massive things. It was kind of a let down.
I will give the author props though because like the title you will never see the killer coming because they get little page time compared to most characters (there now you have three people to try to figure out who it is).
The book was good, but it took me a lot longer to get through because I struggled with Chloe especially the reason why Will has to die and it is her revenge. Why couldn't she have normal revenge and completely destroy his life without killing him? Like wouldn't that be more satisfying? Also, it is really easy to get on Chloe's kill list.
⭐️4
💧6
Fair warning you that when you see this 🤭 its to cover up cussing because I feel so strongly about this book that I might have to censor myself.
Oh my 🤭 Word, this book stabbed me in the chest with the feels. I think being kicked by horse would hurt less. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster, I went from blushing fiercely because 🤭 Cooper. I laughed at Quinn and her Virgin Quest and the lengths that girl will go to. I raged and hurt for Quinn when everyone kept putting her down because she has a bad streak of luck (she'd fit in well with my family). Also, I could relate to some things like I have gotten better but I still have days where I trip over my own feet or everything falls on me despite having it propped up so it wouldn't. I could relate to Coop with not liking the taste of seafood because it is 🤭 (apologies to anyone who does like seafood, but I cannot deal with the texture and sometimes taste of seafood).
I was awing when Cooper took Quinn to sushi on their first date because he was willing to try it again and 🤭 I wanted to shout "marry me" at the screen of my kindle because I am so 🤭 sold. Like yes please (men take note).
I know the break up is inevitable in romance books, but it 🤭 ruined me especially the reason why he broke up with Quinn and the sibling moment between Quinn and Noah like 🤭 slayed.
Okay I will stop before this post is overrun with this 🤭, but this book is so good and the characters are 😘. The chemistry between Cooper and Quinn is 🤤💋🔥. And as a bonus, you do not have to be a football fan or expert to enjoy the book. Need more incentive to read this book? Do you like Garrett from The Deal by Elle Kennedy or Clay from Blind Side by Kandi Steiner? If you answered yes, this is Cooper.
Please read this book.
⭐️all of them
💧all of them.
