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The Rake is Taken (League of Lords #2)
The Rake is Taken (League of Lords #2)
Tracy Sumner | 2020 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
THE RAKE IS TAKEN is the second book in the League of Lords series, and I'm so grateful that Ms Sumner made a series! After reading book one, I really hoped it would happen, and it did. Woot!!

A very different story to book, so you could read it as a standalone, but with some characters from the first one. You would have more of an idea of past events and how their characters interact but it isn't necessary.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Finn and Victoria. Two very different and compelling characters who NEED to be together, and the fun is in watching them figure it out and overcoming all the obstacles. The psychic side of it is mentioned but specifically (most of the time) towards Finn and Victoria and how it affects them.

This was a brilliant read that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I can't wait to read book three. Absolutely recommended by me.

** 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!
  
Stillwater (2021)
Stillwater (2021)
2021 | Crime, Drama
6
5.5 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
On paper this has it all: Matt Damon's first great performance in *years*, an actually good sidekick child actor, a complex and consistently surprising father/daughter relationship, and though I initially dreaded the 2hr20min runtime it ended up being insanely economical with it against all odds. The only problem is it does all that without offering up a single piece of compelling imagery - framed into another one of these "white American solves problems in foreign country" things (to the point where a French woman asks Damon if he owns a gun while she's fucking him, like okay...) with a bargain-bin Lifetime Channel score. Not to mention the surreal way this rips off/takes inspiration from the Amanda Knox trial. Though you know what - they'd have their own separate sets of problems either way but - I'm glad this took the route of normie-fied mom & pop film as opposed to a tiring, self-serious prestige slog if it just had to be one or the other; that way it makes the unexpected shift in tone a little over halfway through so much more special. And that ending is a real gut punch.
  
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Morgan Sheppard (1036 KP) created a post

Jun 5, 2026  
Happy Folklore Friday! 🌸

Today's figure is one of the most complex and compelling in all of Welsh mythology. Blodeuwedd, whose name means flower face, was created from the blossoms of oak, broom, and meadowsweet by the magicians Math and Gwydion to serve as a wife for Lleu Llaw Gyffes, a man whose mother had cursed him never to take a human woman.

She was never asked. She was made, and given, and expected to be content.

What happened next depends on how you read her. She took a lover, Gronw Pebr, and together they plotted Lleu's death. The plan nearly succeeded. When it failed, Gwydion transformed her into an owl as punishment, condemned to fly only at night, shunned by all other birds. 🦉

Welsh mythology doesn't really give us villains. It gives us people, and Blodeuwedd is perhaps the clearest example of that. She was created without consent to fulfil a function, and she refused it. Whether that reads as betrayal or defiance says rather a lot about the reader.

She's stayed with me for years, and I suspect she always will.

#FolkloreFriday #TalesFromWales #WelshFolklore #FolkloreFantasy #MythAndMoonlight
     
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ClareR (6256 KP) rated The Husbands in Books

Feb 26, 2024  
The Husbands
The Husbands
Chandler Baker | 2021 | Contemporary, Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Despite how frustrating I found The Husbands, it was a compelling read - if only for the reasons that I was hoping against hope that the main character, Nora, would grow some lady-balls and tell her husband exactly what she wanted him to do. Instead, she seems to rely on his psychic powers (he doesn’t have any), and he was clearly happy with her “letting” him do bog-all. Honestly, I was RAGING.

Then it became a bit Stepford Husbands. Which, whilst appearing to be the ideal solution, isn’t really, is it. Although, if my husband was like Nora’s, I’d sign him up straight away.

The story takes a very unexpected turn in the second half, and I was as disturbed by it all as Nora. Dynasty Ranch, Nora’s dream housing destination, becomes a bit of a nightmare. Manipulative doesn’t even cover it.

I would’ve loved a bit more about Dynasty Ranch and a bit less Nora: how things got to be the way that they were could have been a fascinating read as well.

This was a real page turner. Very enjoyable indeed, just as long as you can put up with Nora!