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The Deception (The Secret Tales #2)
The Deception (The Secret Tales #2)
Sanna Brand | 2024 | Romance
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Patrick and Charlotte are perfect for each other!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 2 in The Secret Tales series, but can totally be read as a stand alone. I would say, as a personal point, that you will get a better understanding of the ladies of this time, and what they have to do to stay safe. It's also a stunning 5 star read, so you know, get to it!

I loved The Bond, and I loved this one too, for very different reasons!

The Bond is a slow burn, low steam book. Very much a fade to black book. And this one? Not so much! It's a tad steamier, but not explicit, at all. Patrick and Charlotte are perfect for each other, even if they were never meant to be. And I loved that difference about the two books, I really did.

I loved how Patrick deals with his injury: by not letting it get the better of him. Being confined to a wheelchair after a life at sea would be hard for anyone to deal with, but Patrick and his family set out to make his life easier, but not limiting. I gather from reading this, that injuries of this sort at that time were far more devastating than they are in this time. But once Patrick got his head round what HE needed, he got to it, and devised his new wheelchair, adapted his house to accomodate his chair. I love that his sister devised a new saddle for him to continue to ride his horse.

Lottie's forging her father's work is their only real stumbling block, but once Patrick knows WHY she does it, he understands, but makes sure Lottie knows it cannot continue once they are married. But that takes a nasty turn, and I really did not see that coming at me!

I had to giggle though, out loud! It was so funny, reading about what Lottie thought was going to happen on her wedding night. She really had no clue and it was Rose who educated her. Proper made me laugh! I loved that Rose and Rhys (since Rhys is Patrick's brother) play a huge part here, it was so lovely to catch up with them.

I wrote at the end of my review for The Bond that I thought one of Rose's sisters was the second book, but I cannot remember which one! However, Lottie is not one of Rose's sisters and one of LOTTIE'S sisters has the next book.

I love this group of ladies, and the men who fall for them and I really look forward to catching up with the supporting cast in future books, cos there are some interesting side characters!

Loved it, so it can only get:

5 full and shiny stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
The Testament of Gideon Mack
The Testament of Gideon Mack
James Robertson | 2007 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Funny, weird, well written, brilliant (0 more)
Nothing (0 more)
Gideon meets the Devil and he's not quite what he expected
This was a really good read. The novel is written in the style of a memoir and is pretty convincing. There are layers and layers of myths and legends throughout the novel and truth and lies become so merged that the reader is left wondering about the clarity of the protagonist and the statements and evidence of the editor and journalist who represent the story. The novel explores the life of Gideon Mack, who, like his father become a minister of the Christian church. Gideon however, has no real faith in god until his accident leads him on a journey of discovery in which he claims he meets the devil.
I thought the description of the devil was excellent and the significance of the shoes has baffled me a little, however, it may be the old, 'What is it like to walk in my shoes', I am undecided. I thought the book was well written and kept me hooked until the end. Good plot, good narrative voice and convincing read.
  
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Trevor Noah | 2017 | Biography
10
9.2 (16 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was really good. I have been a Trevor Noah fan since my sister told me about him a few years ago and I watched one of his specials on Netflix. Then for my 1 year anniversary with my now husband, we saw him live and he was even better than on TV. When I found out he had written a book, I couldn't wait to read it and I am so glad that I did. It was enlightening, insightful, funny and very honest. I loved hearing about his relationship with his mother, how he came to know his father, learning more about apartheid and how that affected him as a mixed child growing up in South Africa and how he came to be where he is today. I actually listened to it as an audiobook, which I really enjoyed because he has such a soothing voice and he is great at doing variations and inflections on his voice to make it sound younger, older or pretty much anything. Bottom line, it was a great read and it makes me respect and love Trevor Noah even more.
  
Redemption Point (Crimson Lake #2)
Redemption Point (Crimson Lake #2)
Candice Fox | 2018 | Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a sequel to Crimson Lake; a book I gave 4 stars; this one also gets 4 stars. I really recommend you read Crimson Lake before reading this otherwise you will not get the really important background to the 2 main characters, Ted and Amanda and, I feel, that is essential to get everything out of this story and an understanding of these 2 very different and intriguing characters.

The story has 2 main facets. The first being the murder of two young people and the second of Ted's attempts to clear his name of the violent attack on a young girl. Both parts fit together really well as does the unlikely partnership of Ted and Amanda and the relationship between Ted and his geese!

Well written; funny and sad with a story that will make you shout at it at times and laugh out loud at others, Redemption Point and its predecessor are books I'm glad I didn't miss out on and I would highly recommend.

Thanks go to Ellie Gibbons, Marketing Manager at Cornerstone - Penguin Random House UK and the author, Candice Fox for my copy in return for an honest review.
  
Deadpool 2 (2018)
Deadpool 2 (2018)
2018 | Action, Comedy
The Cast (4 more)
The storyline
The humor
The action
The CGI characters
Missed having Vanessa in it more than she was (0 more)
Better than the original... No really, I mean it.
Liked it better than the original. Still kept the funny coming from every angle, still stayed true to the characters, and it was just a fun comic book movie overall.

Deadpool 2 progresses from the Deadpool in a number of ways. We explore Wade and the rest of the cast in a lot more detail. We also get to see Wade working out his demons with a team of super heroes instead of just by himself for the most of the movie.

Personally, for me, this was the best X-Movie of them all. Better than the originals and maybe only surpassed by Logan on some levels. I really don't think it missed for me at all. Not having Vanessa in it made sense but I did get the reasoning behind it.

Stay until the end. You get a few more scenes and then at the very end you get a reprise of one of the best musical moments in the flick.
  
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (Død snø 2) (2014)
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (Død snø 2) (2014)
2014 | Action, Comedy, International
9
7.3 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Dark sense of humour (1 more)
Uses bigger budget to good effect
EXTREMELY violent (1 more)
Some of the kills may be a little too much for some
Bigger, Funnier and Bloodier
if you had asked me after my first viewing, I may have given a 7/10 but a recent rewatch has reaffirmed just how great this film is.

It takes all of the self-awareness, over-the-top violence and ludicrous setpieces from the original, and just pumps more of all of it straight into its zombified heart.

It becomes more fantastic, more violent, more ruthless...no one is safe, not people in wheelchairs, not women with babies, not children...

Fortunately the brutality is ridiculous enough that it quickly becomes comic-book in terms of its realism, but the gore is plentiful indeed!

The plot is funny in itself, and some of the side characters were great fun, including the world's most unfortunate zombie...

If you haven't seen 'Dead Snow', watch that first (great in its own right) and then watch this.

For fans of Shaun Of the Dead, Tucker & Dale Versus Evil or Troll Hunter
  
Bewitched on Bourbon Street (Jade Calhoun #7)
Bewitched on Bourbon Street (Jade Calhoun #7)
Deanna Chase | 2019 | Romance
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Loved it!
Jade loves her new apartment--until a ghost joins her in the shower.

When empath Jade Calhoun moves into an apartment above a strip bar on Bourbon Street, she expects life to get interesting. What she doesn't count on is making friends with an exotic dancer, attracting a powerful spirit, and developing feelings for Kane, her sexy landlord.

Being an empath has never been easy on Jade's relationships. It's no wonder she keeps her gift a secret. But when the ghost moves from spooking Jade to terrorizing Pyper, the dancer, it's up to Jade to use her unique ability to save her. Except she'll need Kane's help--and he's betrayed her with a secret of his own--to do it. Can she find a way to trust him and herself before Pyper is lost?

<strong>Loved it</strong>

I for one loved this book. It was funny , spooky full of eye candy both male and female. It was just fun to read. I enjoy reading books when the main female role has a backbone and Made has just that! Supported by some very strong characters.



⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Recommended

  
Baby Rescue (Creatures of Dawnia #1)
Baby Rescue (Creatures of Dawnia #1)
Sam Savelli | 2016 | Children
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fuzz the mouse is lonely and needs some friends. What he doesn't need is to be eaten by a pterodactyl. When he finds out that Dack, the pterodactyl, is also lonely they strike up a friendship. When they then witness the kidnap of a baby pig by goblins, they set off on an adventure and make many more friends.

For a short children's story this certainly contains a lot of characters - and every single one of them is interesting in their own way. This would be a great story to read aloud as there are so many opportunities for funny voices, from sleepy camels to sly goblins. The story moves quickly too, never getting bogged down and always presenting something new and interesting to keep younger minds happy. The message of the importance of friendship and being nice runs through the whole story, making it a very positive book.

This is a great introduction to the City of Dawnia and the varied creatures who live there, definitely one that younger children will enjoy having read to them, and then reading themselves when they are older.
  
Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
2020 | Action, Adventure, Crime
Garish and frantic comic book movie basically does your head in for nearly two hours. Never mind doing a Batman movie without Batman, now they've done a Joker movie without the Joker: annoying homicidal pole-dancer Harley Quinn breaks up with he of the green hair and gets mixed up in a hunt for a diamond-shaped McGuffin involving various other obscure and mostly female Batman characters. Full of movement and some not bad action choreography, but the plot is a disjointed mess and it's hard to escape the impression that the producers are treating you like an idiot.

Robbie's performance is basically just irritating; not sure whether this is entirely intentional or not. Ewan McGregor is definitely just bad, but the script is to blame anyway: when the writers appear to believe it's cool and funny to break someone's legs on a whim, it's hard to take them seriously when they try to take the high ground on any moral issue, as they also do. Amoral, superficial, and sadistically violent in places; generally quite dim-witted and depressing. Undoes all the good work of recent movies in detoxifying the DC brand: come back Zach Snyder, all is forgiven.