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SHE'S THE ONE WHO DOESN'T SAY MUCH is the fourth book in the War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters series and we get Olivine's story.

Olivine is the one who has long eyes and is an artist. She isn't bothered about marriage, let alone to a prince. She doesn't face her problems head-on. Instead, she buries her head in the sand and hopes they fade away. When one problem, in particular, doesn't disappear, she makes a false vow of celibacy which you immediately know will come back to bite her in the ass! And it does.

I am loving this series. Each story tells the same story but from a different perspective and, trust me, it really works! The only downside is it makes me want to read all the books at the same time so I can see the different viewpoints as they happen. Instead, I have to contain myself and stick with one story.

Bless her, I did love Olivine. She doesn't want to be involved but, in the end, has no choice. Her life choices are not easy ones, but with her loved ones (including friends) surrounding her, she stands by what she wants.

With each book, I am left wanting to know more... more about after the end of the war, more about the sisters, and, in this case, more about the supporting characters. Of course, I want to know how Olivine and Bohdran are getting on, but I also NEED to know about Magomet!

A brilliant addition to a fantastic series. I really can't recommend these highly enough and can't wait to see who comes next.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Sep 13, 2021
  
The Skull Throne
The Skull Throne
Peter V. Brett | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The fourth installment of Brett's impressive Demonwar books takes up exactly where the last book, The Daylight War, finished. With Jardir and Arlen last seen falling from a high cliff during a fight to the death, each side must manage without their Deliverer to battle the threat from the demons - and each other.

With Jardir gone, Inevera and Abban face a struggle for survival as his sons try to position themselves so they can take the Skull Throne and continue the daylight war against the Thesans seeking to unite all of mankind against the demon threat by force and subjugation.

Meanwhile the leaders of Hollow County are embroiled in political intrigue over the failure of the Duke of Angiers to produce an heir and questions about the rise of the Hollow as a power that could rival the Duke. Any actions by either side now could put the whole fate of the world at risk.

This is undoubtedly the best in the series to so far. All the characters and plot strands from the previous books are woven into a taut tale that drives forward with each page. Where previous installments have been mostly dialogue, this book moves neatly from one set piece to another, from battles against demons to assassination attempts stirred by old rivalries this books has it all.

Once again it is the characters that drive the book; without Brett's fine eye for detail the reader wouldn't care so much about the characters and it's a rare trick that the reader is able to support characters on both sides of the conflicts and arguments.

The momentum builds throughout to a final few chapters that are simply jaw dropping in terms of storyline, pace and scope. The next installment simply cannot come fast enough.

I'm also glad I read the UK hardback edition with the fantastic picture of Rojer looking very mean on the cover. From being my least favourite character he is definitely the stand out in this book.

Entirely recommended. It's a big book (the story ended on page 737) but well worth the read. However if you have not read the previous books in the series you will need to start at The Painted Man as previous knowledge of the characters and situations is assumed. But you will not regret it, Brett's world of demons is one of the best fantasy concepts out there.

Rated: Violent scenes and some sexual references
  
Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1)
Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1)
Kami Garcia | 2009 | Fiction & Poetry, Paranormal, Romance
8
7.4 (34 Ratings)
Book Rating
Like most books I read, Beautiful Creatures was just randomly picked up and looked interesting, so I read it. Plus, I needed some books to occupy me and it was somehow on my to-read list already. I just didn't get the chance to read it over the summer. Call that lucky to be in the library at the time.

I will probably admit, that although I read the entire series, I didn't really like the first 2 books in the series. Except for the ending and the summaries. Which was why I continued reading the series. :) Or maybe there was just something special about Ethan, Lena, Riley, Link, etc that I just can't place a tab on? Or was there a little cliffhanger (which I totally love) that just urged me to read on and give the series another try?

I will also admit that I liked Beautiful Chaos overall. The character haven't changed... although they have. In a way. Ethan is still plain Wayward, just like from Day One. Besides getting "chased around" by his other self, of course. Lena is back to herself again, although she is now a light and dark caster due to the Seventeenth Moon. I didn't really enjoy Lena's distance and major meltdown from Beautiful Darkness, so it's nice to know that we get her back again.

Link has changed majorly in a way, at least in physical and how do you say this? erm, he's developed "Vampire-like" senses after being bit by John Breed from Beautiful Darkness, so he's now one-quarters Incubus. He's still on and off with Once Upon A Siren, Riley, but she's still same old, same old Riley. In Mortal form, yet continues about life Siren Style with no powers.

Overall, Beautiful Chaos is my favorite book out of the series so far. It's more action-packed than the books before it, even if it has quite the sad ending. I will most likely read the fourth and final book in the series, Beautiful Redemption (released already) because I just have to know what happens next to Ethan, Lena and the other characters.

Speaking of which, and I know I'm a bit off-topic, but who's excited for the Beautiful Creatures movie? I know am! The trailer looked awesome...

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-beautiful-chaos-by-kami-garcia-and-margaret-stohl/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
Intelligence Check (Dungeons and Dating #3)
Intelligence Check (Dungeons and Dating #3)
Katherine McIntyre | 2022 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
my fav of the three!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 3 in the Dungeons and Dating series. While it can totally be read as a stand-alone, I really think you should read books one and 2 first. It will give you a better, bigger picture of this group of co-workers and friends but also because I said to! Bloody good books, both of them!

Mason and Hunter work at the game cafe, and have crushed on each other for a long time. There are so many miscommunicated moments between these two, it made for painful reading!

Hunter likes how Mason makes him feel, but knows someone like Mase won't ever want him. Mase, in turn, can't understand why Hunter pushed them away a year ago. When Hunter tells them WHY? Oh, I fell in love with Hunter, just a little bit more. Mase too, when they finally let Hunter in.

These two are perfect for each other, but neither thinks they are good enough for the other. Once they actually talk, things become clearer as to why they both think that.

It's not as steamy as the other two books, I thought, but it is HEAVY on the emotions. I loved that Hunter makes a point to ask Mase about their preferences, what they like to do in the smexy department, given that Mase is non-binary. I will admit it took a little getting used to the they/their/them pronouns, but it soon faded to the background. I hated what happened to Mason's sister and how that all came out. And then what happened to Hunter when he was young, you could see why Mason pushed Hunter away for a time.

The others pop up, and I again implore Ms McIntyre to write a story for Jasper! He's starting to hurt, a little, that his friends are pairing up and he can't find his person. You feel for Kelly here. But I think there is a whole LOT we don't know about her relationship with Nat. There are clues, if you know what to look for, that things weren't as clear cut as they seemed. That all comes out in the next book, though.

I loved this book, more so than books 1 and 2 and I loved them too!

5 full and shiny stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
My Way West: Real Kids Traveling the Oregon and California Trails
My Way West: Real Kids Traveling the Oregon and California Trails
Elizabeth Goss | 2021 | Children, History & Politics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My Way West tells the story of real kids that traveled the trails across the west. The children told the stories and through their quotes and paragraphs about how folks decided to move west—the journey across the Oregon trails, California Trails, and Momon trails.

The kids told these journeys on the trails through the images and how life was on the trails. Children will be able to learn about the life and history of the US and the Oregon trails. This book shows tragedy and how everyone came together and helped each other along the way. Children can learn about this and American history by reading this book, not of it but a good glimpse of it.

I enjoy learning about the western expansion and the Oregon trails. I am one of those kinds of readers. I was learning about history through books and how life may have been back then—the dangers of it. When reading this book, I read the quotes first and then the information on the page. Tough, you can read it by doing the significant info about the journey or the topic that was talked about and then the quotes after. It doe not really make a difference in what way you read it. I enjoy that. There is no right way to read this book.

I like the focus was on the actual kids that traveled the Organ and California Trails. The author does a beautiful job of that. This book is suitable for middle-grade readers who want to learn about American history. This book would be an excellent book to have in classrooms as well.
  
B(
Blackout (All Clear, #1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh, Ms. Willis! I cannot believe you did this to me! A cliffhanger? After 512 many pages? And I hung in there SO long in the beginning, when the book was so slow to get going!

Seriously--during all that nattering about over changed schedules and finding drop sites I nearly screamed to just <b>get on with it already</b>! So it is absolutely ridiculous to find that after more than 500 pages, I am not a nice resolution to any of the various plot lines, but rather am referred to the next boook, [b:All Clear|7519231|All Clear (All Clear, #2)|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267552735s/7519231.jpg|9735628]!

It's a bloody good thing that I 1) really, really like Ms. Willis' work; and 2) already have <i>All Clear</i> on hand and ready to go, or I would have been sorely tempted, <b>sorely</b>, I say, to throw the book across the room. That isn't nearly so satisfying with ebooks, and tends to do absolutely nothing but damage one's hardware, so I imagine I would have refrained.

But I absolutely would not suggest this work to a first-time Willis reader. [b:To Say Nothing of the Dog|77773|To Say Nothing of the Dog|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298434745s/77773.jpg|696], certainly. [b:Bellwether|24985|Bellwether|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544946s/24985.jpg|1194887], even more so. But not this one, and not [b:Doomsday Book|24983|Doomsday Book|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1287032661s/24983.jpg|2439628] or [b:Lincoln's Dreams|24980|Lincoln's Dreams|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544943s/24980.jpg|25743] or, honestly, even [b:Fire Watch|10301442|Fire Watch|Connie Willis|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JNKi8g3aL._SL75_.jpg|2324159] (the story on which the <i>All Clear</i> duology is based).

Willis doesn't write simplistic stories, or I probably wouldn't enjoy her work so much, but she has a way of making the complex clear that's beautiful. It's just that these require a bit more desire to get there on the part of the reader, to my way of thinking, than the other two. And once one is seduced by those, it is clear that the effort is wholly worthwhile.

In any case, there's no doubt but that I'm going right on ahead to read [b:All Clear|7519231|All Clear (All Clear, #2)|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267552735s/7519231.jpg|9735628]. I'm just a bit put out with the author at the moment--and very, very glad, considering the heft of these tomes, that I've switched to ebooks!

I still think that readers deserve some small reward for the sheer aggravation meted out thus far. Surely resolving some small plot issues would not have caused trouble? For instance, authors who are accustomed to working with multi-book series regularly wrap up some issues in each book, while leaving other, larger plot threads to carry over into future volumes to provide continuity.
  
Hush (Nights #8)
Hush (Nights #8)
A.M. Salinger | 2018 | Contemporary, Erotica, Romance
8
4.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
i love this series!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

So! This is book 8 in the Nights Series, but this one really can be read as a stand alone. I'm not sure I recall Lana or Tom from any of the previous books, but that might be me. Also, books one through 6 are male/male pairings and book7 and this one are male/female pairings. Again, I'm not picky, especially when the author pulls off the difference incredibly well, but I know some readers are. Books one through 3, and 6 and 7 are all 5 stars reads from me too.

Lana has been the bane of Tom's existence since he fell in love with her at 16. Having worked for her for 4 years, Tom really has reached the end of his tether, and feels he needs to move on. But when Lana turns up at his door, drunk, demanding sex, what's a guy to do, huh?? He does the right thing, and puts her to bed, while sleeping on the sofa. But, things change between Lana and Tom, and Lana begins to feel things more keenly. These feelings she never realised she had. And the feelings that she wants more than the verbal battling they have every day. But Tom runs, and Lana has to face some facts.

A thoroughly enjoyable addition to this series, even if i found it not quite up to par as the rest.

Oh, don't get me wrong! It's a great book, told from both Lana and Tom's point of view. It's sexy and hot, and I did read it in one sitting.

It just doesn't have the heat level the other books have, and I think I missed that! Ya'll know I made a new shelf for these books, "fan yourself, it's a hot one" and this book doesn't get to join the others there, simply because of that fact.

There is, though, more emotions in this one, I think. Having loved Lana for the better part of his life, Tom's feeling are front and centre, right from the beginning, but Lana's take some digging out. I LOVED the scene when she's talking to Eveline and Lincoln from book 7, about just WHY Lana is annoyed with Tom!

I really have enjoyed this series, and there is just one book to go, and I will be so bloody sad to see the end of these books!

I also find myself curious as to what name this author usually writes under, as AM Salinger is a pen name. I'd LOVE to read something written under that name, just to see the differences. But then again, it might be young adult, or zombies and they really don't float my boat. So, on reflection, no, I don't want to know!

4 solid sexy (but not quite as sexy as the rest) stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Feathers and Foxes (Brodyr Alarch #2)
Feathers and Foxes (Brodyr Alarch #2)
Morgan Sheppard | 2024 | Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I love hearing from everyone! It fills the bigger picture with more colour and detai!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 2 in the Brodyr Alarch series, but it's not necessary to have read Slippers and Songs, which is book one, nor is it necessary to read Sealed with a Curse, which is the sort of introduction to this world and to the princes who are Brodyr Alarch. Not necessary, but I think you should. It will give you a better view of what the princes did to warrant getting the curse that turned them into swans, and how they got out of their predicament. They are very good books, I gave them Sealed 4 stars and 5 stars to Slippers and Songs.

And 5 stars for this one too!

Two things I'm loving the most about these books.

I don't know the Brothers Grimm tales that Sheppard is using to form the basis of these books. They are the lesser known ones, and I'm almost intrigued enough to go and read The Brothers Grimm tales, just to see if I can match them up! Almost, but I won't. Cos it might spoil my enjoyment of these books.

They are CLEAN. Totally and utterly and so beautifully clean. I will, more often than not, say I like my books on the steamier side and I make no apologies for that, but I am LOVING that these books are not at all like that! Oh don't get me wrong, there is love and passion here, but there is no explicit steam. Not for Terrwyn and Sulien, nor for Selene and Conway (from Sealed) as we catch up with them a couple times in the book.

In my review for Slippers, I said I wanted to hear from Tesni, but we didn't. But here, we get Sulien! And a few others too. I love hearing from everyone! It fills the bigger picture with more colour and detail, and I loved that.

Again, the Welsh Gods play a part, and again, I'm not going to try to name them cos I can't say them, let alone spell them, but they get up to their tricks in helping the Brodyr Alarch find their love, even if things do go a little off plan here!

Macsen is up next, given the little epilogue that those aforementioned Goods have, and I can't wait to get my hands on it! But Gerallt's book is the one I'm waiting for, and I strongly suspect his will be the last one! Gerallt is the prince who kept a swan wing, to remind himself of what he did. I want in his head so bad!

Anyway, enough rambling, but in case I forgot to say:

I loved this book!

5 full and shiny stars!

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Killing Floor: (Jack Reacher 1)
Killing Floor: (Jack Reacher 1)
Lee Child | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.2 (17 Ratings)
Book Rating
OK characterisation (1 more)
Good mystery build up
A slow burn, didn't exactly leave me with a desire to run out to get the next book, but enough to give it a go. (0 more)
Intriguiging lead character.
I wasn't sure about this book when I first started it. I had heard great things about it, but I like to make my own mind up. Although it had some action from the start, it was still quite slow but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. A really good read, I passed onto my mum to read too! We quite like reading the same books sometimes so we can discuss it after reading. Its quite a nice mum/daughter activity.

I know the Jack Reacher series is quite old, and now has to movies but I guess I was quite late to the party. I have managed to avoid hearing much about the series, other than lots of positive comments about the books. So I was quite excited to get started.

The debut Jack Reacher novel kicks off with a good mystery and an intriguing character. I did find it was quite slow, and even though Jack is meant to be a bit of a mystery, I finished the book still not really feeling connected to the character, and for me, when reading its about feeling connected to the characters and the books which makes me carry on reading a series.
Although, I didn't fully connected with Jack Reacher, I did like the story and some of the background characters.

I like fiction, and I am a fan of Harry Potter and sci-fi and lots of things that dispel belief, but I like it in that context when you are expecting magic and some things to not make sense. The idea of why Jack was in Margate, Georgia and his connection the dead body felt a little strange. It added a level of something to the story but I am not sure why. This was my only issue with it, and I have only read the first book, so maybe more will be explained as the series goes on. I am giving it the benefit of the doubt, as overall I did really enjoy the book.

It's an 'ok' start to a series, and Jack Reachers mysterious life kept me intrigued enough to want to carry on with the series and pass it onto my mum. I am excited to move onto book 2.
  
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K.L. Shandwick (3 KP) created a post

Nov 20, 2017  
Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 starsDefinitely a 5 star book!
ByStephani Bon September 11, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
I love to read to escape life, and K.L. Shandwick pulled me from my everyday boring life with the book Ready for Flynn. Valerie meets Flynn when her brother brings him home from college for Thanksgiving, the problem is she is 15 and Flynn is 20 and they both have instant chemistry. At first it creeper me out with the age difference, but I decided to keep with it, and man I was so glad I did. It was a story line I have never read before and I mean never! What a breath of fresh air! Sometimes I read books and think I will never get that time back I spent reading books, but I couldn't put it down. I hope this helps you guys make a decision about spending whatever time you have to read this and know your time won't be wasted on the same old same old and just set back and enjoy! https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RADSIGJGWS3B4/