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Austin (Learning to Love #4) by Con Riley
Austin (Learning to Love #4) by Con Riley
Con Riley | 2022 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
emotional, but beautifully written!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 4 in the Learning To Love series but can be read as a stand-alone. I do, however, recommend all three books before this: Charles, Sol and Luke, but especially Luke. Austin pops up a lot in that book and I think you need to see that side of him, before you get to this side, you know?

And two very different sides to Austin they are, too! But once you get into his mind, and you see why he is like that, you can understand. Because Austin is in a lot of pain about something, and that something takes time to come out, the whole story isn't made clear til right near, so you are left putting a picture together of the clues, and the one I made was so very wrong.

But Dom, too, is in some pain, just a very different sort. And Austin helps him in ways he never knew he needed. Not just with Maisie, his daughter, but with his heart too.

I loved Dom, and Austin, both together and apart. Austin does some serious soul searching here and he makes amends with some people (not saying who though!) He has his "light bulb" moment right near the end, though, and really does his best to return home, or rather, home comes to him.

It's heavy on the emotions, this one, but light on the smexy times, and I loved that.

Again, only Austin has a say. I would have, ordinarily, said I needed to hear from Dom, but Dom has a lot to say, without words, and I heard him just fine. That's not to say I didn't WANT to hear from Dom, because I'm greedy, just that I felt I didn't NEED to hear from him, you know?

We caught up with Charles and Luke and Sol, and also with Sol's nephew Cameron. I think Cameron's part here was very much needed for both him and Austin, given their history. And the gift giving thing was awesome!

But, as much as I loved Austin and Dom, I have to say I think little Maisie stole the show here! She loved Austin Russell right from the start, it took her daddy time to catch her up!

Emotional, but wonderfully written and told.

5 stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
The Mummy (2017)
The Mummy (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure
Before my week off I managed to squeeze in a screening of The Mummy before whizzing home. I was a little bit on the come down from stress, but I don't think it massively changed my mind that I was confused by this movie. I really wish everyone had left off with the "it's a reboot" thing. Say it's a reimagining of the mummy monster movie, but saying it's a reboot really makes you want to compare to the original, and quite frankly, every mummy movie is a bad knock off of the original. I liked some of it... That's as enthusiastic as I can get about it. The ending for me was too bizarre. And afterwards when I looked into it leading in to the Dark Universe... well, I wept a little for classic monster movies.
  
Two Can Keep a Secret
Two Can Keep a Secret
Karen M. McManus | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult (YA)
9
8.6 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great plot twists (1 more)
Great Characters
Slow pacing for the first 14 chapters (0 more)
A Good Mystery!
When I read about Karen M. McManus' new book Two Can Keep a Secret, I added it to the top of my to read list. I loved her previous book One of Us is Lying, so I figured her new book would be just as good. Luckily, Ms. McManus did not let me down.

The synopsis of Two Can Keep a Secret really drew me in. I enjoyed they mystery behind who had killed the first homecoming queen, Lacey, and who was responsible for the current missing homecoming queen nominee as well as the mystery surrounding Ellery's and Ezra's aunt Sarah. Every time I thought I had figured out who the culprit was, another spanner was thrown into the works, and I would suspect someone else. This book definitely kept me guessing throughout, and I was wrong about who was responsible. The plot twist are great, and I can't say that I ever saw any of the plot twists coming.

The pacing starts out slow up until Chapter 14, and I found myself wondering if I had made a mistake with reading Two Can Keep a Secret. Once I got to Chapter 14, the pacing picked up, and I found myself fully immersed in what was happening. Not once did the pacing become too slow again. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next.

The characters in Two Can Keep a Secret were all believable and fully fleshed out although I would have liked to know more about Sarah. There was some closure to Sarah's disappearance, but I felt like more information would have been nice. My favorite characters were Malcolm, Ellery, and Katrin. I loved watching Malcolm's and Ellery's relationship bloom. There was just something about Kartin that I really liked. I also liked the character of Brooke.

Trigger warnings for Two Can Keep a Secret include some underage drinking, profanities, some sexual innuendos, violence, attempted murder, and murder.

Overall, Two Can Keep a Secret isn't as good as One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus. However, it's still a great read. It has some great plot twists and well written characters. I would definitely recommend Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus to those aged 16+ who love a good mystery.
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(A special thank you to Delacorte Press for providing me with a hardback of Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
  
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Artemis86 (1 KP) rated Big Little Lies in Books

Aug 21, 2018  
Big Little Lies
Big Little Lies
Liane Moriarty | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.6 (97 Ratings)
Book Rating
Lianne Moriaty is one of these rare but incredible authors that can suck you right into her books, to the point where you just don’t want to put it down, and this book is no exception.

It has friendship, hardship, love, sadness, and is beautifully written. It had me guessing about certain things, other parts I had an idea but wasn’t sure.

If you want to read this book (which I highly recommend) set aside a good chunk of time as once you start it you won’t want to put it down. I would say though I watched the TV series, and I didn’t think it was anything close to how amazing the book was.
  
Fourth Debt (Indebted, #5)
Fourth Debt (Indebted, #5)
Pepper Winters | 2015 | Erotica, Romance
10
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Have no clue how Ill make it waiting for the rest of this series..
My god, she did it again (although Im sure Ive said that before about Pepper's books!?)! AMAZING book! Dark, sick and twisted... just how I like 'em! ;-) I am a HUGE fan of Pepper's, love everything she writes and the Debt Inheritance series does NOT disappoint! I have been dying for months waiting for this book and devoured it in one day. All I can say is, "Thank god!?" Due to not wanting to share a spoiler- Ill just leave it at that.... Have no clue how Ill make it waiting for the rest of this series - I need it NOW!
  
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Darren Hayman recommended Penguin Eggs by Nic Jones in Music (curated)

 
Penguin Eggs by Nic Jones
Penguin Eggs by Nic Jones
1980 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I’m sometimes a little ashamed at how little attention I pay to lyrics, especially as I am a lyricist myself. Consequently, albums seem to mean entirely different things to me to their intention. Music transports me; it allows me to travel through time. When I listen to Penguin Eggs, I am back to when I was going through my divorce, huddled in a blanket, taking too many of the wrong pills and listening to this over and over. Which isn't to say this record makes me sad either. It reminds of the comfort that music can bring in the worst possible moments. This album of sea shanties was a lifeboat for me; it still is."

Source
  
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Liliannar (58 KP) rated Gone Girl in Books

May 25, 2018  
Gone Girl
Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
2
7.7 (142 Ratings)
Book Rating
Poorly developed characters (2 more)
Poor writing style
Significant plot holes
This book was touted as one of the best new releases not long ago and I finally took the plunge to read it. It was awful. Very likely one of the worst books I've read in my lifetime and one I can say without doubt I will never read again.

The characters are very poorly developed and 2-Dimensional. Never once in my life have a read a book where I actively hoped every character would simply die. Alas, this isn't the case and you suffer through with almost all of them until the bitter and disappointing end.
  
Animal Cove - 3 Match Game
Animal Cove - 3 Match Game
Games
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
App Rating
I would say it was very good, the story line and characters are different and it is nice to have a unique storyline, you have to collect keys in order to complete tasks to progress through the story (there are a lot of similar games with this idea) but at the moment it is getting very boring because the storyline run out a couple of hundred levels ago so I am just collecting stars for what I don't know yet. The good thing is that I don't have to spend money as the levels are not too hard and can be passed after a few tries.