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Lindsay (1727 KP) rated Shadow of Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery #14) in Books
Jun 7, 2022
Are you looking for some fun cold cases to solve? Maybe even a bit of mystery to solve with a twist. Lauren Carr's latest book "Shadow of Murder" does just that. We get a prologue full of mystery and murder. You will be wondering how a gunman kills an entire family. Is it real, or is it not. You will have to read or listen to find out for yourself.
This book had me going and wondering who would kill a whole family, including a law officer. There are a few main characters. We meet two of them right at the beginning of the story. Erica and Dusty.
I love the fact that mysteries are going on throughout the book. I enjoy that Erica and her friends seem to need to help the new local deputy chief. David gets some time with his wife and newborn. I recall David meeting a woman and a little boy I thought was introduced to him as his son?
Mac is pulled into a Chao once he returns from Europe with Archie. His son Tristain brings to life the disappearance of a missing person, a woman named Konnor Langston. Why did she disappear? It goes on from there. There are many mysteries and curses and stories of witches as the book goes on. I wonder who killed Erica's parents and why? Who taking advance of Larry? Why were Erica Hart's parents killed, and will Erica get justice for her childhood friend Konnor?
If you are looking for a good versus evil? This book has it. Once a dark shadow tries to harm Erica. Dusty seems to fall for a bird guiding him to help Erica. Will Erica and Dusty get together? There may be some romance for more than just two folks in the book. How will Dusty's father-law decide to find some love as well? There seems to be the talk of angels and demons? They're a bit supernatural in this book; that is a nice change to the story.
This book had me going and wondering who would kill a whole family, including a law officer. There are a few main characters. We meet two of them right at the beginning of the story. Erica and Dusty.
I love the fact that mysteries are going on throughout the book. I enjoy that Erica and her friends seem to need to help the new local deputy chief. David gets some time with his wife and newborn. I recall David meeting a woman and a little boy I thought was introduced to him as his son?
Mac is pulled into a Chao once he returns from Europe with Archie. His son Tristain brings to life the disappearance of a missing person, a woman named Konnor Langston. Why did she disappear? It goes on from there. There are many mysteries and curses and stories of witches as the book goes on. I wonder who killed Erica's parents and why? Who taking advance of Larry? Why were Erica Hart's parents killed, and will Erica get justice for her childhood friend Konnor?
If you are looking for a good versus evil? This book has it. Once a dark shadow tries to harm Erica. Dusty seems to fall for a bird guiding him to help Erica. Will Erica and Dusty get together? There may be some romance for more than just two folks in the book. How will Dusty's father-law decide to find some love as well? There seems to be the talk of angels and demons? They're a bit supernatural in this book; that is a nice change to the story.
Silent Partner (Fox Hollow Zodiac #3)
8.0
Rate It
Book
A psychic moose shifter. A handsome guy who is psychically silent. The chance for a fresh start, and...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Moonville ( Gold Prophecy 1-4) in Books
Mar 1, 2024
40 of 220
Kindle
Booksirens arc
Moonville (Gold Blood Prophecy 1-4)
By K.J Devoir
⭐️⭐️
Please check Trigger warnings
Psycho gets the girl.
Leena Sperling has fallen into darkness. Darkness has a name...
ZAND BYRON
He’s larger than life. He’s also a deeply dangerous, twisted soul, a textbook psychopath. But, somehow...she makes him feel.
"You can run, Leena. But I will find you."
Leena: When I arrived to the City of Souls, the tiny cemetery town wrapping the Bay Area foothills where Moonvine Manor is located, I had no idea what to expect or how insane my life would become after moving into the former, Queen Anne, funeral home that belonged to my missing sister. I should have known that being greeted by a tombstone-shaped granite welcome sign was either a sick joke or a bad omen. But I could never have predicted that I would fall in love with the darkness.
Zand: I don’t want to ever stop making her cry. Her tears are full of human feelings, and I love the taste. She makes me feel, but part of me wants to end the human in her that brings out the human in me. In a heartbeat, I could make her nightmares infinitely darker. I'm a bad man, trying to be good.
Ok so this premise was good it gave me very much Morganville vibes but a little darker and steamy. The characters were ok and certainly lived up to the dark paranormal romance vibe.
But I had a few issues and I can only be honest. There were bits of the book that didn’t quite add up and there was something really off about it all. A few times I wanted to stop reading. It just wasn’t for me.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Please check Trigger warnings
Kindle
Booksirens arc
Moonville (Gold Blood Prophecy 1-4)
By K.J Devoir
⭐️⭐️
Please check Trigger warnings
Psycho gets the girl.
Leena Sperling has fallen into darkness. Darkness has a name...
ZAND BYRON
He’s larger than life. He’s also a deeply dangerous, twisted soul, a textbook psychopath. But, somehow...she makes him feel.
"You can run, Leena. But I will find you."
Leena: When I arrived to the City of Souls, the tiny cemetery town wrapping the Bay Area foothills where Moonvine Manor is located, I had no idea what to expect or how insane my life would become after moving into the former, Queen Anne, funeral home that belonged to my missing sister. I should have known that being greeted by a tombstone-shaped granite welcome sign was either a sick joke or a bad omen. But I could never have predicted that I would fall in love with the darkness.
Zand: I don’t want to ever stop making her cry. Her tears are full of human feelings, and I love the taste. She makes me feel, but part of me wants to end the human in her that brings out the human in me. In a heartbeat, I could make her nightmares infinitely darker. I'm a bad man, trying to be good.
Ok so this premise was good it gave me very much Morganville vibes but a little darker and steamy. The characters were ok and certainly lived up to the dark paranormal romance vibe.
But I had a few issues and I can only be honest. There were bits of the book that didn’t quite add up and there was something really off about it all. A few times I wanted to stop reading. It just wasn’t for me.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Please check Trigger warnings
Merissa (12330 KP) rated Gabriel (Legacy Ranch #2) in Books
Aug 17, 2017
Gabriel (Legacy Ranch #2) by R.J. Scott
Gabriel is the second book in the Legacy Ranch series, and we find out a bit more about the young man who cried at the trial that happened in book one. His life hasn't been a good one so far, but he is broken enough that he thinks it is just fine. He lives with his pimp, Stefan, who controls every aspect of his life, and makes Gabriel pay for any misdemeanours that Stefan thinks has happened, or that he has just made up because he's not having a good day. Stefan has managed to get into Gabriel's mind and twist things around so that Gabriel is actually thankful for all that Stefan does for him.
Cam, on the other hand, appears to have it all. He runs a successful hotel, has plenty of money, and even has a bodyguard. Things must be good, right? Wrong! Cam's family, with the odd exception, are a bunch of BEEP, condescending, BEEP, know-it-alls, who think that just because Cam is losing his sight, he must be losing all of his faculties too. His father, well, enough said about him!
Cam and Gabriel end up together on a purely business level. Cam needs someone to pretend to be with him, Gabriel wants the money. However, feelings quickly become involved, and then it's anyone's guess. Six tries to tell Cam not to get involved, but Cam pays no attention. Their road is anything but smooth, but luckily the folks at Legacy Ranch are there to help... once Gabriel lets them in.
This is a dark book, with dark topics and it's not a HEA situation full of rainbows and glitter. This is hard, and horrible, and may be a trigger book for some readers. There is light at the end of the tunnel for Gabriel though, and I really hope that he will feature in the next book, just so I can see what progress he's made.
Gabriel is extremely well written, with no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. Like I've already said, it's not an easy book to read, but it is definitely worth it. I would also say that it isn't fully necessary to have read book one in this series, or indeed the Texas series which is where we first meet Jack and Riley. This book does stand on it's own merit, but personally I would recommend reading Kyle at the minimum, just to give you a feeling of what the Legacy Ranch series is about.
If you like your M/M Romance with angst, then I can definitely recommend this book/series. Just remember the trigger warnings!
* 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!
Cam, on the other hand, appears to have it all. He runs a successful hotel, has plenty of money, and even has a bodyguard. Things must be good, right? Wrong! Cam's family, with the odd exception, are a bunch of BEEP, condescending, BEEP, know-it-alls, who think that just because Cam is losing his sight, he must be losing all of his faculties too. His father, well, enough said about him!
Cam and Gabriel end up together on a purely business level. Cam needs someone to pretend to be with him, Gabriel wants the money. However, feelings quickly become involved, and then it's anyone's guess. Six tries to tell Cam not to get involved, but Cam pays no attention. Their road is anything but smooth, but luckily the folks at Legacy Ranch are there to help... once Gabriel lets them in.
This is a dark book, with dark topics and it's not a HEA situation full of rainbows and glitter. This is hard, and horrible, and may be a trigger book for some readers. There is light at the end of the tunnel for Gabriel though, and I really hope that he will feature in the next book, just so I can see what progress he's made.
Gabriel is extremely well written, with no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. Like I've already said, it's not an easy book to read, but it is definitely worth it. I would also say that it isn't fully necessary to have read book one in this series, or indeed the Texas series which is where we first meet Jack and Riley. This book does stand on it's own merit, but personally I would recommend reading Kyle at the minimum, just to give you a feeling of what the Legacy Ranch series is about.
If you like your M/M Romance with angst, then I can definitely recommend this book/series. Just remember the trigger warnings!
* 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!
Hazel (1853 KP) rated To Kill a Kingdom in Books
Apr 9, 2018
A princess must have her prince but perhaps not in the usual happy-ever-after fairytale way. With sirens, princes, pirates, mermaids and magic, To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo is a dark fantasy novel perfect for those who grew up with Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid. But, as with most traditional fairy tales, this book is riddled with trickery and lies, making it a heart-stopping adventure.
Lira is a siren princess who is nearing her eighteenth birthday. In order to celebrate the life of their goddess Keto and get revenge for her death at the hands of the humans, each siren must kill and remove the heart of a human victim. Lira has always targeted princes and aims to steal the heart of Prince Elian of Midasan, however, her mother, the sea queen, has different ideas.
As punishment for disobeying her orders, the evil queen temporarily turns Lira into a human, stripping her of her siren power. In order to return, she must kill Prince Elian and return to the sea with his heart. However, things get complicated when Prince Elian saves Lira from drowning and takes her aboard his ship.
Elian is a prince-cum-pirate who has no wish to be the heir of the golden kingdom of Midasan. He spends his days as the captain of his ship, hunting and killing sirens. Not realising Lira is the siren he most wishes to destroy, he gradually gets used to her presence and believes she will be useful to him on his quest to find a crystal that will destroy the sea queen forever. Lira agrees to help, however, she has an ulterior motive – perhaps she can help Elian find the crystal then kill him and destroy her mother …
It takes a while for this dark, romantic young adult novel to get going; there is a lot of introduction to characters and the way their fantasy world operates. With different customs to get familiar with, particularly in the case of the sirens, it is a little monotonous for the first few chapters. However, once Lira and Elian meet, events become far more interesting.
The banter and insults hurled between Elian, Lira and the rest of the crew is a humorous addition to the storyline and makes the prince and princesses growing relationship all the more exciting. With the sea queen lurking in the shadows, the story builds up to a fateful conclusion, however, maybe Lira can steal the prince’s heart a different way.
Once the story is well underway it becomes an engrossing piece of literature that is difficult to put down. With romance, danger and a cataclysmic ending, it has everything that a young adult fantasy fan wishes for. To Kill a Kingdom is Christo’s debut and it is exciting to find out what she will write next.
Lira is a siren princess who is nearing her eighteenth birthday. In order to celebrate the life of their goddess Keto and get revenge for her death at the hands of the humans, each siren must kill and remove the heart of a human victim. Lira has always targeted princes and aims to steal the heart of Prince Elian of Midasan, however, her mother, the sea queen, has different ideas.
As punishment for disobeying her orders, the evil queen temporarily turns Lira into a human, stripping her of her siren power. In order to return, she must kill Prince Elian and return to the sea with his heart. However, things get complicated when Prince Elian saves Lira from drowning and takes her aboard his ship.
Elian is a prince-cum-pirate who has no wish to be the heir of the golden kingdom of Midasan. He spends his days as the captain of his ship, hunting and killing sirens. Not realising Lira is the siren he most wishes to destroy, he gradually gets used to her presence and believes she will be useful to him on his quest to find a crystal that will destroy the sea queen forever. Lira agrees to help, however, she has an ulterior motive – perhaps she can help Elian find the crystal then kill him and destroy her mother …
It takes a while for this dark, romantic young adult novel to get going; there is a lot of introduction to characters and the way their fantasy world operates. With different customs to get familiar with, particularly in the case of the sirens, it is a little monotonous for the first few chapters. However, once Lira and Elian meet, events become far more interesting.
The banter and insults hurled between Elian, Lira and the rest of the crew is a humorous addition to the storyline and makes the prince and princesses growing relationship all the more exciting. With the sea queen lurking in the shadows, the story builds up to a fateful conclusion, however, maybe Lira can steal the prince’s heart a different way.
Once the story is well underway it becomes an engrossing piece of literature that is difficult to put down. With romance, danger and a cataclysmic ending, it has everything that a young adult fantasy fan wishes for. To Kill a Kingdom is Christo’s debut and it is exciting to find out what she will write next.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated To Kill a Kingdom in Books
Dec 7, 2018
<i>This ebook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review </i>
A princess must have her prince but perhaps not in the usual happy-ever-after fairytale way. With sirens, princes, pirates, mermaids and magic, <i>To Kill a Kingdom</i> by Alexandra Christo is a dark fantasy novel perfect for those who grew up with <i>Peter Pan</i> and The Little Mermaid. But, as with most traditional fairy tales, this book is riddled with trickery and lies, making it a heart-stopping adventure.
Lira is a siren princess who is nearing her eighteenth birthday. In order to celebrate the life of their goddess Keto and get revenge for her death at the hands of the humans, each siren must kill and remove the heart of a human victim. Lira has always targeted princes and aims to steal the heart of Prince Elian of Midasan, however, her mother, the sea queen, has different ideas.
As punishment for disobeying her orders, the evil queen temporarily turns Lira into a human, stripping her of her siren power. In order to return, she must kill Prince Elian and return to the sea with his heart. However, things get complicated when Prince Elian saves Lira from drowning and takes her aboard his ship.
Elian is a prince-cum-pirate who has no wish to be the heir of the golden kingdom of Midasan. He spends his days as the captain of his ship, hunting and killing sirens. Not realising Lira is the siren he most wishes to destroy, he gradually gets used to her presence and believes she will be useful to him on his quest to find a crystal that will destroy the sea queen forever. Lira agrees to help, however, she has an ulterior motive – perhaps she can help Elian find the crystal then kill him and destroy her mother …
It takes a while for this dark, romantic young adult novel to get going; there is a lot of introduction to characters and the way their fantasy world operates. With different customs to get familiar with, particularly in the case of the sirens, it is a little monotonous for the first few chapters. However, once Lira and Elian meet, events become far more interesting.
The banter and insults hurled between Elian, Lira and the rest of the crew is a humorous addition to the storyline and makes the prince and princesses growing relationship all the more exciting. With the sea queen lurking in the shadows, the story builds up to a fateful conclusion, however, maybe Lira can steal the prince’s heart a different way.
Once the story is well underway it becomes an engrossing piece of literature that is difficult to put down. With romance, danger and a cataclysmic ending, it has everything that a young adult fantasy fan wishes for. To Kill a Kingdom is Christo’s debut and it is exciting to find out what she will write next.
A princess must have her prince but perhaps not in the usual happy-ever-after fairytale way. With sirens, princes, pirates, mermaids and magic, <i>To Kill a Kingdom</i> by Alexandra Christo is a dark fantasy novel perfect for those who grew up with <i>Peter Pan</i> and The Little Mermaid. But, as with most traditional fairy tales, this book is riddled with trickery and lies, making it a heart-stopping adventure.
Lira is a siren princess who is nearing her eighteenth birthday. In order to celebrate the life of their goddess Keto and get revenge for her death at the hands of the humans, each siren must kill and remove the heart of a human victim. Lira has always targeted princes and aims to steal the heart of Prince Elian of Midasan, however, her mother, the sea queen, has different ideas.
As punishment for disobeying her orders, the evil queen temporarily turns Lira into a human, stripping her of her siren power. In order to return, she must kill Prince Elian and return to the sea with his heart. However, things get complicated when Prince Elian saves Lira from drowning and takes her aboard his ship.
Elian is a prince-cum-pirate who has no wish to be the heir of the golden kingdom of Midasan. He spends his days as the captain of his ship, hunting and killing sirens. Not realising Lira is the siren he most wishes to destroy, he gradually gets used to her presence and believes she will be useful to him on his quest to find a crystal that will destroy the sea queen forever. Lira agrees to help, however, she has an ulterior motive – perhaps she can help Elian find the crystal then kill him and destroy her mother …
It takes a while for this dark, romantic young adult novel to get going; there is a lot of introduction to characters and the way their fantasy world operates. With different customs to get familiar with, particularly in the case of the sirens, it is a little monotonous for the first few chapters. However, once Lira and Elian meet, events become far more interesting.
The banter and insults hurled between Elian, Lira and the rest of the crew is a humorous addition to the storyline and makes the prince and princesses growing relationship all the more exciting. With the sea queen lurking in the shadows, the story builds up to a fateful conclusion, however, maybe Lira can steal the prince’s heart a different way.
Once the story is well underway it becomes an engrossing piece of literature that is difficult to put down. With romance, danger and a cataclysmic ending, it has everything that a young adult fantasy fan wishes for. To Kill a Kingdom is Christo’s debut and it is exciting to find out what she will write next.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Wrong Stars in Books
Aug 26, 2018 (Updated Aug 26, 2018)
Diversity (2 more)
World-building
Amazing alien species
I've watched my fair share of Space Opera (Firefly, Dark Matter, Farscape, Star Trek, Star Wars - don't try to tell me those last two aren't Space Opera, THEY TOTALLY ARE) - but I haven't read much of it. I picked up The Wrong Stars mostly because reviews said it had a demisexual main character, rather than because it's a Space Opera. Regardless, I am SO GLAD I DID. The book is excellent.
First off, the diversity! Over the course of the story, we meet people who are, in no particular order, gay, bisexual, demisexual, asexual, transgender, and non-binary. The story is set 500 years after Earth sends out its first colony ships, and in that time, culture has evolved. Marriage is not common, but contractually-bound relationships exist. Promiscuity and non-monogamy aren't viewed any different than monogamy, and in the same way, the distinctions between gay, straight, and bi don't carry any negative connotations. It's not a complete utopia - it's still a capitalist society, and there is still scarcity - but socially, at least, it has definitely evolved a lot from the present!
Elena, one of our main characters, was a biologist sent out on one of the first colony ships. Stocked with seeds, crude replicators, and cryo-sleep pods, a small crew was sent out, in stasis, on a five-hundred year journey to a system with probable life-supporting planets. They were called Goldilocks ships, in the hope they'd find a planet that was "just right." What humanity didn't expect was that in the intervening five hundred years, they would make contact with an alien species and be given the means for true space travel via wormholes. Some of the ships arrived at their destinations to find human colonies already thriving on their target planets! Elena, however, found something quite different, and it's a very disconcerting difference. She is rescued by the motley crew of the White Raven, and they quickly get drawn into the mystery.
I really enjoyed the world-building and characterization in The Wrong Stars. The science of it made sense to me, but I'm not very versed in science, so I can't really say how realistic it is. It was at least pretty internally consistent. I'd like to learn more about how the AIs are created, though. Luckily, there is a sequel coming! The Dreaming Stars should be coming out this September, and I'm DEFINITELY going to read it.
If you like Dark Matter, Firefly, or Farscape, you should definitely read The Wrong Stars. There's a little bit of light romance threaded into the larger plot, and one fade-to-black sex scene. It's definitely not the focus of the book. There is some violence, but nothing incredibly graphic. I would put it at about the same maturity level as Star Trek.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
First off, the diversity! Over the course of the story, we meet people who are, in no particular order, gay, bisexual, demisexual, asexual, transgender, and non-binary. The story is set 500 years after Earth sends out its first colony ships, and in that time, culture has evolved. Marriage is not common, but contractually-bound relationships exist. Promiscuity and non-monogamy aren't viewed any different than monogamy, and in the same way, the distinctions between gay, straight, and bi don't carry any negative connotations. It's not a complete utopia - it's still a capitalist society, and there is still scarcity - but socially, at least, it has definitely evolved a lot from the present!
Elena, one of our main characters, was a biologist sent out on one of the first colony ships. Stocked with seeds, crude replicators, and cryo-sleep pods, a small crew was sent out, in stasis, on a five-hundred year journey to a system with probable life-supporting planets. They were called Goldilocks ships, in the hope they'd find a planet that was "just right." What humanity didn't expect was that in the intervening five hundred years, they would make contact with an alien species and be given the means for true space travel via wormholes. Some of the ships arrived at their destinations to find human colonies already thriving on their target planets! Elena, however, found something quite different, and it's a very disconcerting difference. She is rescued by the motley crew of the White Raven, and they quickly get drawn into the mystery.
I really enjoyed the world-building and characterization in The Wrong Stars. The science of it made sense to me, but I'm not very versed in science, so I can't really say how realistic it is. It was at least pretty internally consistent. I'd like to learn more about how the AIs are created, though. Luckily, there is a sequel coming! The Dreaming Stars should be coming out this September, and I'm DEFINITELY going to read it.
If you like Dark Matter, Firefly, or Farscape, you should definitely read The Wrong Stars. There's a little bit of light romance threaded into the larger plot, and one fade-to-black sex scene. It's definitely not the focus of the book. There is some violence, but nothing incredibly graphic. I would put it at about the same maturity level as Star Trek.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Lottie disney bookworm (1056 KP) rated The Stars That Guide You Home in Books
Oct 25, 2021
Wow.
Just…wow.
Now I make no secret of the fact that I am a crier. Christmas TV ads, airport arrivals halls, old men crying, anything has the ability to set me off blubbing! So I am never entirely surprised when I start crying at a book, even my husband doesn’t mock me anymore. But this book? THIS BOOK had me crying the entire way through and just when you thought life for the characters couldn’t get any worse…Jemma Robinson says hold my coat!
Sophia and Tom live in a quaint little farmhouse in the town of Lowshore. Their life is a simple one but their happy marriage practically radiates from the page. However, Sophia never told her husband about her past and that past is about to catch up with her!
Whilst Tom is at work, Sophia is kidnapped from her happy home and forced to live the life that she tried so desperately to escape. Beaten, abused and powerless, Sophia manages to find two people worthy of her trust but will she ever escape? Can she ever regain the life that she used to have with Tom?
The beauty of this book is that it revolves around its characters. There is very little world building here but, honestly, it isn’t needed. Nothing matters to Tom and Sophia except one-another and that is reflected in Jemma Robinson’s writing style.
The characters themselves stay with you long after the final page: Sophia wears her heart on her sleeve, Tom is steadfast and passionately protective, James and Annalise are, in contrast, calm and collected individuals but Edmund is nothing short of a psychopath!
Edmund is no fairytale villain, despite the Lord Farquaad vibes I was getting from him. Robinson’s antagonist wouldn’t be out of place in Game of Thrones: he is truly revolting, controlling and revels in his absolute power over everything and everyone in his kingdom.
The Stars That Guide You Home is marketed as historical romance, not a fairytale, and with its medicine, photographs and labour camps then it does seem too modern to be considered a fairytale. However, I would argue that castles, arranged marriages, medieval torture and absence of any morally grey characters could push this into the category of dark fairytale.
There are a number of trigger warnings within this novel that I want to highlight. This is by no means a YA book – it is definitely Adult Fiction or New Adult at a push. These trigger warnings include rape, physical and mental abuse, animal cruelty, torture (in detail), kidnap, burns, suicide, miscarriage and general violence.
Dark fairytale still doesn’t seem enough… Sinister fairytale might just do it!
The Stars That Guide You Home is simultaneously beautiful, horrifying and inspiring. This book will break your heart over and over again and keep you coming back for more. Thank you to The Book Network for the opportunity to review this amazing novel, and thank you to Jemma, even though you did make me cry for 486 pages!
Just…wow.
Now I make no secret of the fact that I am a crier. Christmas TV ads, airport arrivals halls, old men crying, anything has the ability to set me off blubbing! So I am never entirely surprised when I start crying at a book, even my husband doesn’t mock me anymore. But this book? THIS BOOK had me crying the entire way through and just when you thought life for the characters couldn’t get any worse…Jemma Robinson says hold my coat!
Sophia and Tom live in a quaint little farmhouse in the town of Lowshore. Their life is a simple one but their happy marriage practically radiates from the page. However, Sophia never told her husband about her past and that past is about to catch up with her!
Whilst Tom is at work, Sophia is kidnapped from her happy home and forced to live the life that she tried so desperately to escape. Beaten, abused and powerless, Sophia manages to find two people worthy of her trust but will she ever escape? Can she ever regain the life that she used to have with Tom?
The beauty of this book is that it revolves around its characters. There is very little world building here but, honestly, it isn’t needed. Nothing matters to Tom and Sophia except one-another and that is reflected in Jemma Robinson’s writing style.
The characters themselves stay with you long after the final page: Sophia wears her heart on her sleeve, Tom is steadfast and passionately protective, James and Annalise are, in contrast, calm and collected individuals but Edmund is nothing short of a psychopath!
Edmund is no fairytale villain, despite the Lord Farquaad vibes I was getting from him. Robinson’s antagonist wouldn’t be out of place in Game of Thrones: he is truly revolting, controlling and revels in his absolute power over everything and everyone in his kingdom.
The Stars That Guide You Home is marketed as historical romance, not a fairytale, and with its medicine, photographs and labour camps then it does seem too modern to be considered a fairytale. However, I would argue that castles, arranged marriages, medieval torture and absence of any morally grey characters could push this into the category of dark fairytale.
There are a number of trigger warnings within this novel that I want to highlight. This is by no means a YA book – it is definitely Adult Fiction or New Adult at a push. These trigger warnings include rape, physical and mental abuse, animal cruelty, torture (in detail), kidnap, burns, suicide, miscarriage and general violence.
Dark fairytale still doesn’t seem enough… Sinister fairytale might just do it!
The Stars That Guide You Home is simultaneously beautiful, horrifying and inspiring. This book will break your heart over and over again and keep you coming back for more. Thank you to The Book Network for the opportunity to review this amazing novel, and thank you to Jemma, even though you did make me cry for 486 pages!
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated You'd Be Mine in Books
Apr 4, 2019
I was so excited to read this book, because I love country music with all my heart, especially some of the older music that Hahn weaves into this book. I read this on the heels of WHEN IT'S REAL and couldn't help but compare the two. I fell hard for REAL. My reaction for MINE varied, though I still enjoyed it a lot; for sure, the two--while romances--are very dissimilar in many ways.
This book has some really dark tones to it, and both Clay and Annie are struggling with some major demons. Each have dealt with some major sadness in their lives, and Annie's past with her parents is honestly just awful. As a result, this isn't a light, fluffy romance, and it has some surprising emotional depth to it and its characters. Annie, especially, is really easy to like and to root for.
"Everything in me speaks music with a fluent tongue. Surely it's genetic, but my parents certainly haven't done me any favors. If anything, their deaths nearly killed the music in my soul."
As I said, I quite enjoyed the music aspect of the book. Not just the country music part, but the overall fact that the book is centered around a tour. It's really fun to get glimpses into tour life--especially since everyone is so young. Pretty crazy how much responsibility and freedom they all have. There's also a lot of songwriting and emotions displayed through songwriting, which I loved. (Side note: As a child, I always dreamed of being a country singer-songwriter. This was probably due to my intense love of Mary Chapin Carpenter, which lives on to this day. Alas, I cannot carry a tune or read music, so this dream has yet to come to fruition.)
"That's the glorious thing about music. It speaks to the very heart of things in the most absolute and obtrusive way."
The one hard thing for me was that the book got rather repetitive in the middle with both Clay and Annie going on about how they were wrong for each other. It seemed to stall the plot for a while, as I felt like we were waiting for a bit for something to happen. Yes, we realize each was damaged, but it seemed like the book hit on that just a little too much/too often for a while.
Still, this was a really good read. It's very emotional and honestly heartbreaking at times. If you're a music buff, I think you'll enjoy it even more, because of all the musical scenes and songs woven into the book. The characters are very real and go through a lot. There's no insta-romance, and you will root for Annie and Clay, even though you'll want things to move along a bit in the middle. I totally cried at the end, which is a major sign that Hahn did a good job. 3.75 stars, rounded to 4.
This book has some really dark tones to it, and both Clay and Annie are struggling with some major demons. Each have dealt with some major sadness in their lives, and Annie's past with her parents is honestly just awful. As a result, this isn't a light, fluffy romance, and it has some surprising emotional depth to it and its characters. Annie, especially, is really easy to like and to root for.
"Everything in me speaks music with a fluent tongue. Surely it's genetic, but my parents certainly haven't done me any favors. If anything, their deaths nearly killed the music in my soul."
As I said, I quite enjoyed the music aspect of the book. Not just the country music part, but the overall fact that the book is centered around a tour. It's really fun to get glimpses into tour life--especially since everyone is so young. Pretty crazy how much responsibility and freedom they all have. There's also a lot of songwriting and emotions displayed through songwriting, which I loved. (Side note: As a child, I always dreamed of being a country singer-songwriter. This was probably due to my intense love of Mary Chapin Carpenter, which lives on to this day. Alas, I cannot carry a tune or read music, so this dream has yet to come to fruition.)
"That's the glorious thing about music. It speaks to the very heart of things in the most absolute and obtrusive way."
The one hard thing for me was that the book got rather repetitive in the middle with both Clay and Annie going on about how they were wrong for each other. It seemed to stall the plot for a while, as I felt like we were waiting for a bit for something to happen. Yes, we realize each was damaged, but it seemed like the book hit on that just a little too much/too often for a while.
Still, this was a really good read. It's very emotional and honestly heartbreaking at times. If you're a music buff, I think you'll enjoy it even more, because of all the musical scenes and songs woven into the book. The characters are very real and go through a lot. There's no insta-romance, and you will root for Annie and Clay, even though you'll want things to move along a bit in the middle. I totally cried at the end, which is a major sign that Hahn did a good job. 3.75 stars, rounded to 4.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The Professional (The Game Maker, #1) in Books
Sep 5, 2019
3.5 stars.
*I received this copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
As a huge fan of Kresley Cole and her Immortals After Dark series, I was interested to see what this new book would be about since it was a contemporary romance.
From the first chapter I was fascinated by Natalie and her “manalyzer”, managing to figure out every guy in the bar just by watching them for a few seconds. That is, apart from Sevastyan who she can’t read and instantly catches her attention. Things quickly move along after this and she get’s spirited away to Russia to meet her family, but not without a few hot–and I do mean HOT–scenes between her and Sevastyan.
One thing I did like about the book was that the author didn’t do the typical Mafiya man as Natalie’s dad. In fact, I quite liked the man that was described; he seemed like a nice guy who had a love of clocks and family.
For the first half of the book it was kind of serene, everything was going well. Okay, that’s not quite true. There’s a sexual tension between Natalie and Sevastyan that despite the distance they’ve put between them is only growing and I have to tell you I couldn’t wait for it to blow.
I feel about now that I should mention that I’m not the hugest fan of erotica; I tend to get bored of the continuous sex. Depending on what’s going on and how much I like the characters is how I judge the scenes between them. I happened to like both Sevastyan and Natalie and the sex between them but the dirty talk while in bed always had my eyes rolling. That, I’m not a fan of.
After the half way point it seemed to concentrate more on the sex and the BDSM lifestyle, which I found a little boring after a while. BDSM is not one of my favourite things to read about and in small doses I don’t mind but it took up a fair bit of the book.
With about 15% to go, I got a little excited as some information came out that had me wondering what Natalie would do with it. Relationship difficulties coming to a head I wanted to know how it would all play out. And after another round of sex, we found out some things about Sevastyan’s past.
I’m glad I read this, simply because Kresley Cole is a great author and I was interested in reading something of hers that wasn’t paranormal. I read books for the romance and like to see it happening on paper/screen. The first half was great, it just wasn’t quite for me with all the sex and BDSM themes running through. If you’re a fan of it, then I’d check this out.
*I received this copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
As a huge fan of Kresley Cole and her Immortals After Dark series, I was interested to see what this new book would be about since it was a contemporary romance.
From the first chapter I was fascinated by Natalie and her “manalyzer”, managing to figure out every guy in the bar just by watching them for a few seconds. That is, apart from Sevastyan who she can’t read and instantly catches her attention. Things quickly move along after this and she get’s spirited away to Russia to meet her family, but not without a few hot–and I do mean HOT–scenes between her and Sevastyan.
One thing I did like about the book was that the author didn’t do the typical Mafiya man as Natalie’s dad. In fact, I quite liked the man that was described; he seemed like a nice guy who had a love of clocks and family.
For the first half of the book it was kind of serene, everything was going well. Okay, that’s not quite true. There’s a sexual tension between Natalie and Sevastyan that despite the distance they’ve put between them is only growing and I have to tell you I couldn’t wait for it to blow.
I feel about now that I should mention that I’m not the hugest fan of erotica; I tend to get bored of the continuous sex. Depending on what’s going on and how much I like the characters is how I judge the scenes between them. I happened to like both Sevastyan and Natalie and the sex between them but the dirty talk while in bed always had my eyes rolling. That, I’m not a fan of.
After the half way point it seemed to concentrate more on the sex and the BDSM lifestyle, which I found a little boring after a while. BDSM is not one of my favourite things to read about and in small doses I don’t mind but it took up a fair bit of the book.
With about 15% to go, I got a little excited as some information came out that had me wondering what Natalie would do with it. Relationship difficulties coming to a head I wanted to know how it would all play out. And after another round of sex, we found out some things about Sevastyan’s past.
I’m glad I read this, simply because Kresley Cole is a great author and I was interested in reading something of hers that wasn’t paranormal. I read books for the romance and like to see it happening on paper/screen. The first half was great, it just wasn’t quite for me with all the sex and BDSM themes running through. If you’re a fan of it, then I’d check this out.