Search

Search only in certain items:

40x40

Morgan Sheppard (926 KP) created a post

Feb 19, 2024  
Slippers and Songs (Brodyr Alarch #1)

“Don’t worry, they can’t see us. Who are you? And why are you wearing my friend’s blanket like a cloak? The old man had silver-grey hair swept back off his face, his moustache and beard matching. His robes were of dark blue, brown, and gold, showing off the golden tones of his skin that looked youthful, belying the colour of his hair, with startling blue eyes that shone with intelligence as he watched Brenin carefully.

“Me? Friend?” Brenin gulped as he tried to still his racing heart and make sense of what was happening.

The old man chuckled softly. “Ah, I forget what it’s like to speak to us, especially when you’re not expecting it, eh? Let me introduce myself. I am Taliesin, also called Taliesin Ben Beirdd, known as a god of inspiration, magical transformation, poetic wisdom, and dancing.” He gestured with his arm to the Great Hall, where everyone had moved onto the next dance.

#Fantasy
#Romance
#WelshGods
#BrodyrAlarch
#BrothersGrimm
#FairytaleRetelling

https://books2read.com/SlippersandSongs
Art from https://oldworldgods.com/brythonics/taliesin-celtic-god
     
Beast: The Beginning (Hate Story, #1)
Beast: The Beginning (Hate Story, #1)
Mary Catherine Gebhard | 2017 | Erotica, Romance
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved Beast: The Beginning (Hate Story, #1). From the minute I started reading This I was lost in another world, one of blood, hate and organised crime.
Where being bad was good and innocence is soon corrupted and lost forever.
So beast is about Frankie Notte and Anteros Drago a boss in the Pavoni family.
Frankie trades herself for her Papas life accompanying the beast to a fate unknown.
The Beast himself has every intention of selling Frankie to the Institute to be sold to the highest bidder.
But sometimes the best-laid plans can go awry, as is what happens here, leaving the beast with a slave that he's not quite sure what to do with.
Now, this was described as a dark read, and there is plenty of evidence of that darkness scattered throughout Beast, but behind closed doors, the Beast becomes increasingly fascinated with his new toy and there is at times a surprising gentleness to some of his interactions with Frankie.
He continues to try and keep up a front in front of his wolves as they start to lose confidence in their leader, questioning his actions towards an inconsequential Slave.
There is also a lot of secrets and intrigue running beneath the surface and rumours running amok concerning the Pavoni Princess, even Beast himself starts to listen and doubt what is real.
So dissecting our two main honchos here.
Anteros Drago/ Beast first, he's Ruthless, cruel, seemingly without mercy, he wants to break Frankie reducing her to nothing, he even initially tells her she is nothing.
His Black-heart is dark to the core, he lives for the job having spent years planning, with his wolves there rise to the top of the family from mere foot soldiers.
He appears to have no weaknesses. that is until Frankie slowly starts to thaw his ice-cold heart, not that you would major notice this as he's still a complete bastard to Frankie subjecting her to awful situations to teach her her place and generally playing mind games, belittling her at every turn while fighting his growing affections and deceiving himself regarding his feelings towards her.
Now Frankie herself, she is multi-faceted in regards to what she portrays outwardly.
Shes, not a worldly girl having been ill much of her teenage years, but From day one despite her apprehension, Frankie refuses to back down, sometimes even stupidly goading Beast, She grows so much in character throughout this story, seeming to get stronger with each new trial experienced, she also tries daily to fight her strange attraction towards the Beast that she swears she hates.
When we get the final satisfying reveal, setting us up for book two all players have been moved around into their new places almost like a chess match.
Or maybe even a new blood war.
You can see straight off that the next instalment is going to be very different in regards to changing tides.
So Really well done to the author I can't wait to get stuck into Beauty: The End (Hate Story, #2).
This may have been my first Mary Catherine Gebhard book, but definitely won't be my last.
It's been quite a while since I indulged myself in a good Dark romance and though this was not as dark as some I have read I found this a great addition to its genre.
So Give this a go if you like a good anti-hero romance, happy reading.


Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9460945-bex-beckie-bookworm
  
40x40

Midge (525 KP) rated The Couple in Books

Feb 12, 2019 (Updated Feb 14, 2019)  
The Couple
The Couple
Sarah Mitchell | 2019 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Brilliant And Dark
THE COUPLE is a debut psychological thriller by Sarah Mitchell and I absolutely loved it! I adore novels that are written in two time periods, namely the past and present, like this one.

The characters were very difficult to warm to, especially the main character Claire, who became rather irritating, annoying and dis-likeable during the story.

Claire, who works for the Immigration Service is newly engaged after a whirlwind romance. Her fiance, Angus, is a hotel entrepreneur and they are looking to buy their perfect home together. When Claire views a house and meets Mark, the fellow who is selling the house, she finds that he resembles a former lover, a man for whom she still has feelings. Claire is drawn to him and Angus starts to behave very suspiciously, but can Claire trust either of them or herself?

For me, Sarah Mitchell’s writing is captivating and extremely well structured. This book is full of twists and turns and I really enjoyed it. The novel moved along at an intense speed and I loved how dark and twisted it was. The character development was brilliant and apart from most of the characters themselves, I liked everything about this book. THE COUPLE held my interest from start to finish and the way in which Sarah Mitchell brought everything to a conclusion was just fabulous. I loved it and it has left me eager to read more from this author.

I would recommend THE COUPLE to anyone who likes this genre.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Sarah Mitchell for a free ARC of this book in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.