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Reap This Too (Oh So Happy Holidays #2)
Reap This Too (Oh So Happy Holidays #2)
Rafe Jadison | 2020 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I sent a right snotty message to Mr Jadison!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 2 in the series, and you MUST, I say, MUST read book one, Reap This, before you read this one. You NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED it for the full experience!

Ian is Seamus' twin, but he doesn't class himself as a good witch. Taking himself off to see the Pyramids, he becomes involved in a chase across the world. And he falls in love!

I loved this book, more than book one. It's again only short, and only Ian has a say, Khnurn the vampire doesn't get a voice. And of COURSE I wanted to hear from him, epsecially as there is history here between Ian and Khnurn.

Well, I was loving it, until, Jadison does what he does and you have never heard such foul language come out of my mouth!

I mean, there I was, happily reading away. The spectre that chased Ian across the globe wants his reward. I couldn't see how that would happen but then??

THEN???

Well, I can't say exactly, cos spoilers, but suffice to say, I had a proper Violet Elizabeth moment (google it ;-)) and I threw my toys out the pram, and I spat my dummy out and I flung my poor kindle so hard it bounced off the bed and I was worried I had broken it! And I sent a right snotty message to Mr Jadison, telling him just what I thought of what he did and asking how he was gonna fix it! Because it needs fixing!

There was a hint as to that it would be fixed, to be fair, I just can't see HOW it's gonna be fixed.

Anyways! Even though Mr Jadison done caused me to turn the air blue, or maybe BECAUSE he did, I don't much care either way . . .

5 full and blue streaked stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Tahoe Blue
Tahoe Blue
Eden French | 2020 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's deeply emotional in places, hawt and sexy in others
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

When Carson returns home after 7 years, he hopes to reconnect with the only man he ever loved. But Brand isn't having any of it. Being ghosted for all the time Carson was away broke Brand, and now? Now, just as he is trying to move on, Carson reappears.

I'm not quite sure, never am, to be honest, what I was really expecting from this book from the blurb, but it wasn't THIS! I loved this book!

I loved that Carson wasn't who he portrayed to the world. Loved that, all the time he was away, there wasn't anyone else, despite what the press said. Loved that, quite rightly, Brand was wary of Carson and what he wanted from Brand. LOVED that once Brand knew the truth as to why Carson left and didn't even call, he was all in to see what was left between them.

I loved the way things went down with Brand's new beau. I wasn't sure I was liking the way that was going, to be honest, but Once Teo and Brand had talked, and laid everything out for Teo, I was (not happy, cos people were left heart broken) but happier with the way things were dealt with.

Teo has a story to tell, I'm sure. There were comments and hints made here, and I have no clue as to what they all meant, so I do hope that Teo gets a story and we hear what it all meant. So PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE Ms French, write Teo's tale, okay?? Please?? Pretty Please??

It's deeply emotional in places, hawt and sexy in others. Heart breaking in places, but also so much happiness once they get their act together!

First I've read of this author, I like the way she spins her tales!

5 full and shiny stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982)
1982 | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi

"Mad Max. George Miller is my ultimate mentor. I went to see Fury Road 17 times in the cinemas. I can’t really express in one word of how good Mad Max 2 is. There’s hardly any dialogue in that movie, right? But the character stands out so much, visually, how he moves. Usually, you express through dialogue, but with George, it’s totally different. Like how a character throws a boomerang: No dialogue, but all character. I’m also influenced by where Geroge places the camera. It never goes away, far from Mel Gibson. Even looking through the telescope, usually the camera jumps to that location, but here you’re always looking at Max. It’s kind of basic, but George Miller keeps it basic in a way no one else can. It was tough when I had to leave my previous company. George came to Japan, and that was the first time we met. He cheered me up in my darkest time. After I became independent, and opened my studio, I went to Australia in 2017. I had two trailers at that time, but there was no gameplay revealed yet of Death Stranding. I explained what Death Stranding would be over an hour — the system, the story, the world. George told me, “What you’re doing is mathematically, philosophically, and physically correct.” He said: “Congratulations; it’s a guaranteed success.” George is a very kind gentleman. He is really into computer graphics and technology, and he also knows game technology. It’s really rare that a director of his generation knows all of these. He’s even older than me, but he has a lot of energy. There are game producers who are much older than me. But, as for creators who actually write scenarios or game designs, I think I’m the oldest in the industry. Sometimes I feel lonely because of that. But then there’s George; he’s over 70, and he’s still wearing this leather jacket, still young. That cheers me up."

Source
  
Kill Shot (The Fighting Detective #1)
Kill Shot (The Fighting Detective #1)
Blair Denholm | 2020 | Crime, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
a great step out of my comfort zone!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

A step out of my comfort zone, but a very welcome one!

Jack is from London, but has relocated clear across the globe after *something* happened. He and his partner are now tasked with finding out where the missing MMA fighter is, and who killed the trainer.

Jack is. . .interesting! He's not a perfect detective, not by any means, but I think, in his own way, his heart is in the right place. In JACK's right place, you know? Lots of hints and clues and titbits abotu what happened in London to send him running to Australia, but I didn't get the FULL picture, not really. And I really really want it! I think, this might be the only reason that I didn't give it 5 stars, was because I wasn't putting the clues and hints together well enough.

Oh, wait, no. there was another point I want to make. Claudia, Jack's partner, gets a chapter. Just the one. And I wanted more of her, or none of her. that one chapter had my hopes up of a dual point of view, and it's not, not really. One chapter is a tease! So in future books, can we have MORE Claudia, please??

The case of the MMA fighter and missing trainer is well laid out, and I wasn't sure which way it was gonna go til the end, so I was fully engaged and kept on my toes. Thoroughly kept on my toes, if I'm honest and that's a rare thing these days!

This is a step out of my comfort zone, I tend to mostly stick to romance of some description, so the blurb most have grabbed something at me for me to request it. I have not a clue what that was, but I'm very pleased it did.

I'd like to follow Jack and Claudia, they are good together!

4 good solid stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Madam Tulip and the Bones of Chance (Madam Tulip #3)
Madam Tulip and the Bones of Chance (Madam Tulip #3)
David Ahern | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This novel is the third book in Madam Tulip Mystery series, and overall, it left me longing for the mystery and Madam Tulip herself. In this novel, Derry and Bruce have to travel to Scotland to shoot a movie, where they meet and befriend some rich people. The shooting doesn’t go as well as planned, and like always, Derry is left empty-handed and involved in some serious criminal activities.

Through the pages of this novel, we not only, once again meet Derry’s closest friends and her eccentric parents, but also some new, quite strong characters. From a wide variety to choose, in this book, my favourite was personal assistant Jessica. Ambitious, career-oriented and overall strong character. That is what I liked about this novel, that author portrayed females as independent and powerful creations, who are not afraid to fight for what they want. #GirlPower

I don’t know, was it the Scottish moors or the stone castles that left me quite gloomy with the plot of this book. Like in previous books, the narrative is told from a single perspective, sharing only Derry’s point of view. There were some action and interesting nuances, but I missed Madam Tulip’s mystery and persona in this novel.(She showed up only once) For me, half of the book really dragged, and another half, was more interesting, but it felt very rushed. There are some of the things mentioned from the previous book so, I would recommend reading other parts before digging into this one.

The writing style was pleasant to read, and the language used was easily understandable. The chapters of this book were a decent length and didn’t bore me. The ending felt pleasant, and for me, concluded the story nicely. So, to conclude, even though I missed more mystery and more spice, it was an interesting experience, where I had a great insight into behind the scenes of film shooting and sets, so if you into this kind of thing, give this book a try, and hopefully, you will enjoy it
  
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ClareR (5589 KP) rated Heatstroke in Books

Dec 27, 2020  
Heatstroke
Heatstroke
Hazel Barkworth | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Heatstroke is an aptly named thriller. It uses the atmosphere and oppression of the intensely hot weather, and reflects those feelings on to the main character, Rachel. I had an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia when I was reading this - it’s not just the heat, it’s also the state of Rachel’s mental health. SHe’s clearly more involved with what is going on with her daughters friend than she can safely admit, and she is more bothered about the repercussions in her own life than the safety of a 15 year old girl.
Rachel appears to be struggling with the fact that she’s ageing, and she wants to feel both young and attractive to men - and to some extent, boys. She is constantly thinking about what other people think about her: appearances are supremely important, and she can’t understand her daughters need to look older and alter her looks with makeup. Mia is growing up and becoming more independent, and this pushes Rachel further in to despair. Surely if her daughter is older, she is too!
I found it hard to excuse Rachel’s behaviour. She could have made her daughters friend safe quite easily, I think.
I liked the abrupt ending. I rather like it when a book finishes and you can make your own mind up as to what has happened afterwards. Don’t get me wrong - a book that ends with a resolution is just as enjoyable, but you can’t beat an unresolved ending! And i don’t think that this book would have been able to give the quick fix end. It’s clear that there is a lot that needs to be done to make Rachel’s family ‘better’.
I enjoyed this book: as a debut novel, it has certainly given me something to think about, and a name to look out for in the future!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this fabulous book.
  
Billy and Me
Billy and Me
Giovanna Fletcher | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a very, very different genre than I usually read. It was romantic and contemporary and kind of cliche and gross. But I will admit that it was written well.

Despite the gooey topics, this book was easy to sit and read through. The writing was good, though some of the speech didn't feel particularly authentic. My main problem was how cliche this was. A young woman who loves classic literature andworks in a tea shop meets a movie star without realising who he is and falls in love... Yeah, it's kind of a stereotypical romance. I hate this sort of thing. It's tacky and just ugh. But there was more to it than just the romance, which was very good. Sophie had her own issues to deal with, stemming from childhood grief and caring for her mother. It even had a really tragic moment toward the end, that didn't involve the actor - Billy - much at all.

As I mentioned above, the language wasn't always particularly fluid. It sometimes felt like Fletcher was trying too hard to make it more romantic and emotional. Billy was pretty much 'perfect' and extremely romantic, probably extremely unrealistically so. He was likeable, still, just not very realistic.

Sophie herself was a bit... not annoying, but she's not my favourite protagonist ever. She was trying too hard to be unique and strong and independent and it just irritated me. I get what Fletcher was going for (I think) but I just didn't love Sophie that much at all.

Like most other contemporary novels (not that I've actually read many of them), Sophie's life comes together perfectly at the end. Well, not quite perfectly, but the ending was sickly sweet. But I'm a bit of a cynic. You might like this more than me.

Despite the genre and gross cutesy lovey stuff, I think this deserves 3.5 stars. The writing was good and I did actually enjoy reading it.
  
The Heartless City
The Heartless City
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Read my original review: https://bookmarkedreading.wordpress.com/2015/10/18/book-review-the-heartless-city/

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return of my honest opinion.

The Heartless City is based on the infamous story of Jekyll & Hyde, with a wonderful new plot.

London is infested with Hydes thanks to Dr Henry Jekyll. Jekyll is also responsible for Iris; an American girl with a unique talent.

Buckingham palace is home to the Lord Mayor, as well as his son Cam and the doctor and his own son, Elliott Morrissey. Elliott also has a strange gift, but not one he was born with. After taking a serum intended to remove his empathy, Elliott found that it did quite the opposite. Instead, he became an empath - able to feel the emotions of those around him as if they were his own.

The characters in this old-fashioned story are all very different, including the strong, independent female figure of 15-year-old Philomena Blackwell. She refuses to fit in with the typical norms of her time, which I really liked.

Elliott's new empathy is also used to confront the negative opinions on homosexuality when he feels his friends love for each other and realises that it is no different to the love he himself would feel for a girl. I absolutely loved this little sub-plot.

The book is written to sound like it was written in the 1900s, when it was set. However, I found the story a little slow at times, and then far too fast toward the end. Everything just kind of happened all at once. That being said, the conclusion was very clever and interesting.

It was definitely an interesting read. I tend to just read more modern novels, so this was a refreshing change. But there are definitely a few things that could be changed, so I'm going to give 3.5 stars to The Heartless City.