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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Winter in Paradise in Books

Apr 4, 2019 (Updated Apr 5, 2019)  
Winter in Paradise
Winter in Paradise
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great, engaging read
This was such a good book. I found it to be totally engrossing. It was a compelling read: dramatic in some places and fun and engaging in others. As always, Hilderbrand has a way of reeling you in. Her characters are so real and fully formed. I could feel Irene's pain and shock; Baker and Cash's disbelief; and the horror of those on the island, who lost someone they loved, as well.

Maybe it's just the part of me who loves a good soap opera, but I was totally swept up in the drama of this novel. I felt completely transported into the world of the Steeles and St. John island. While I'll have to wait a while for the next book in this series (more on that in a bit), I enjoyed this book so much that it had me tracking down Hilderbrand's Winter series, so I could continue reading her work. I have the first three books (of four), so I will be digging into those soon. Not since I read a book by Liane Moriarty and then read her entire catalog, have I felt so into an author at the moment.

And speaking of this series, there's definitely a cliffhanger at the end. Be prepared. I'm quite excited to read the next book and see where the Steele family and all their drama and intrigue takes us. Such unlikely partnerships form in this one; there's an exciting love triangle; there are interesting island characters--it's such a fun book.

Overall, this is a great read. It's engaging, and heartbreaking at times and sweet and funny at others. I loved the characters and felt totally caught up in the story. I am very much looking forward to book #2 (if not the wait for it!).
  
Over Raging Tides (Lady Pirates, #1)
Over Raging Tides (Lady Pirates, #1)
Jennifer Ellision | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Over Raging Tides (Lady Pirates, #1) by Jennifer Ellision
Over Raging Tides is the first book in the Lady Pirates series, and going by this one, I can't wait to continue with this series. Grace has been a pirate since the age of seven, and is now Quartermaster and First Mate of Lady Luck, a pirate ship with an all-female crew. There is rivalry between her and Celia, the other woman who wanted the Quartermaster role. Grace's mother was taken from her when she was younger, by creatures of the sea that aren't friendly! Everyone presumes she is dead, including her love, the Captain of the ship. Things get interesting when Grace rescues two brothers from the Mordgris and brings them on-board. Her life changes and she sees things she never saw before.

This story was amazing and gripped me from the very start. The world building is amazing, and rich in history. The characters are well developed, although obviously some are more than others. One of my favourite characters is Sam, and I can't wait to see what she will do next. There were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow, and the pacing was very smooth.

One word for you though - cliffhanger! This is the first book in the series so it does end with one almighty cliffhanger that will leave you wanting book two immediately. Unfortunately for me, it's not actually released yet, so I will have to wait oh-so-patiently!

For a clean, nautical adventure, with magic, mayhem, and a good dosing of rum, then I can highly recommend this book! Another corker by Jennifer Ellision.

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

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
PA
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
95 of 220
Kindle
Portents and Oddities ( Sophie Feegle 2)
By Gwen DeMarco
⭐️⭐️⭐️

After defeating a Fae fanatic set on closing the portal between earth and the magic realm, things are looking up for Sophie Feegle. She can finally relax, drink whiskey at her favorite ogre pub, and get back to the autopsy assistant job she loves. Maybe she’ll even go on a romantic date with a certain sexy fox shifter.

Yeah, right. Things never seem to work out quite the way Sophie wants.

When Sophie recognizes the body on her autopsy table from a dream, her world is shaken again. As more bodies end up in the morgue, Sophie realizes a serial killer is hunting San Francisco’s Mythicals. But why? And why does Sophie see the victims in her dreams?

Hot on the trail of the killer, Sophie and her crew encounter Mythicals with strange powers. But as they wade through these dangerous waters, the question becomes: are Sophie and her friends the hunters, or are they the ones being hunted?

Welcome back to Sophie’s San Francisco, where being in a serial killer’s sights may be new but being odd is still the norm.

There are a few things I really like about this series. First the main character Sophie is brilliant she is sassy and funny, second the different shifters and creatures is so varied I just love finding more with each book and the last thing is the writing it’s so easy so when you want a break from the hard stuff this is some relief. Although I enjoyed this book I didn’t like it as much as book one and it seemed a little rushed towards the end. But if you love a good fantasy book this is a good one.
  
Peaky Blinders  - Season 1
Peaky Blinders - Season 1
2013 | Drama
Acting, casting, writing, cinematography, music (0 more)
Seasons too short and far between (0 more)
Forget everything you think you know about period drama
It would be easy to dismiss Peaky Blinders as just a British drama. It would be easy to dismiss it as just a period piece. It would be easy to claim that it was just a British Boardwalk Empire. You'd be so wrong to do so.

Every part of Peaky Blinders is perfection. From the superb acting of its regular cast (Cillian Murphy on a tv show? Sign me up!) to a roster of featured guests (Sam Neill? Tom Hardy? Adrien Brody? Who did the casting director sell their soul to, anyway?) to the use of colour and an outlaw music soundtrack that shouldn't work, but does (Nick Cave? PJ Harvey? Tom Waits? David Bowie? On a period drama? What is this? Freaking genius, that's what.)


Shortly after the end of the first World War, a family of Irish gypsy (their word, not mine) - blooded Birmingham bookmakers tries to recover from the horrors of that war and build up their business. Second oldest, Tommy Shelby (played expertly by Cillian Murphy who manages to play a gangster who is both ruthless and fragile with the ability to break your heart with a single look), came back from the war broken by his experiences, but determined to rise far beyond the limitations of his Small Heath upbringing. Not only does he have the expected clashes with those who want to keep him from growing his business (both criminal rivals and the police) but he has a family to run (with all the interpersonal conflicts that entails). All of this is set against a backdrop of political turmoil from the IRA and the rise of communist sympathy in the UK.


You shouldn't like Tommy Shelby, but he is written and acted so well that you won't be able to not like him. The same can be said for older brother, Arthur, younger siblings John, Ada, and Finn. If you don't love Aunt Polly, then you must have a problem with strong female characters.


Steven Knight has taken a world told to him through family legend and turned it into a world that you will be eager to inhabit an hour (or, if you're like everyone I know, a season) at a time. He writes a period drama that doesn't feel dated. The characters and their struggles are as relevant today as they were nearly a hundred years ago.


Take a chance on the show with the weird name and discover why there are very few casual Peaky Blinders fans. There's a reason why the late, great David Bowie was a huge fan and made sure that they would have a song from his last album before he died. There's a reason the show's dated fashion and hairstyles are making a comeback, why Peaky Blinders pubs and pub nights are popping up all over. It's that good. Check it out for yourself.
  
Last One at the Party
Last One at the Party
Bethany Clift | 2021 | Contemporary, Dystopia, Horror, Humor & Comedy
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I started reading this after dinner one evening, so reasonably late in the day, and then carried on reading until I went to bed. I really should have left an hour of non-reading time before attempting to sleep, because every time I closed my eyes I could see corpses and people dying horrible deaths. Which is strange, because books with this kind of content don’t usually bother me. I think it was the humour that made it seem more normal, more believable. And I can’t deny that reading it whilst we’re actually living through a pandemic might have added that extra bit of “Oh my god - could this actually happen??!!”
I liked that there weren’t zombies or something reminiscent of Mad Max - I think I’ve seen loads of those kinds of books before, and whilst I’ve been known to enjoy them as well, it was nice to have something a bit different. This is a breath of fresh air. Or at least as fresh as it can be with the imagined stink of millions of decaying Britons on the streets and in their homes (I’m not even exaggerating) 🤢
I liked that the main character didn’t have the answer to everything - or in fact, to anything - but she muddles along, making mistakes and learning from them.
This book isn’t wildly exciting, in that the zombie hordes are absent, and no one is being strapped to the front of a 4X4, and I loved that about it. The main character is a ‘normal’ woman, trying her best to stay alive at the end of the world. She’s a great character, she seems so approachable, and even though she probably wouldn’t agree, someone I’d be happy to spend time with. Even though I’d probably be a rotting corpse. Nice.
I’d really recommend this book, it’s definitely not your run-of-the-mill apocalypse story!!
  
    Survivors: the Quest®

    Survivors: the Quest®

    Games and Entertainment

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    Three strangers find themselves stranded on a secluded island. Abandoned buildings, an old laptop...

Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
2018 | Biography, Documentary
It's always a beautiful day in the neighborhood,
For in the worst of times you always made me see the good.
You would walk in with a smile on your face,
I knew that I was welcome at your place.
And no matter the weather,
You would put on your sweater.
Then you would sit down to put on more comfortable shoes,
Making me comfortable knowing I had a neighbor like you.
Together we would feed the fish,
Sometimes go to the kitchen and make a dish.
It was always my brain and heart that you were feeding,
As a kid you knew exactly what I was needing.
Messages would come from Mr. McFeely,
Who would show up with a speedy delivery.
When I'd hear the bell of the trolley,
I'd get excited and feel jolly.
For I knew we were off to visit our puppetry friends,
On the other side of the tunnel in make believe land.
You taught me what to do with my mad,
And that it was okay to be sad.
You helped in dealing with the bad and serious issues of the world,
But at the end of everyday in me the good you had restored.
In our daily meetings on television with me there is so much that you left,
I am special, amazing the way I am, and in the scary to be the one that helps.
It was in your words that I did find,
The key to success is being kind.
In many ways you were a savior whose love will always be savored,
Mister Rogers I will be forever grateful that you were my neighbor.
  
Dishonored (Mortisalian Saga #3)
Dishonored (Mortisalian Saga #3)
L.J. Stock | 2019 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dishonored (Mortisalian Saga #3) by L.J. Stock
Dishonored is the third fantastic story in this series, and we continue where we left off. Now, it's been a while since I read the other books, but I was immediately drawn back into their world, and knew exactly what was going on with the characters. That, to me, is the sign of a great book/series.

Everyone's character still remains true, in other words, they are not suddenly acting strange after all this time. The world-building is once again perfect. For me though, what makes this book outstanding are the relationships between the characters - all the characters, not just the main ones. Seeing Cas with Damon, Rasmus, Grigori, Shannon, Alexa, and the rest, makes it all the more... everything.

The pacing is on point, with it moving fast enough to keep my attention, but not too fast that I get lost with what is going on. The story continues to have it's twists and turns, with intrigue layered upon that. There is a shock in here, toward the end, that I never saw coming. I couldn't see much after that either, as my eyes were leaking!

What an ending! Seriously.

I really can't emphasise how much I am enjoying this series, and have absolutely no hesitation in recommending it, but you MUST read it as a series, not a set of standalones. Bring on the next, I really need to find out where Ras has disappeared to!

* 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!