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Debbiereadsbook (1829 KP) rated Phoenix and His Dragon (Colorado Dragons #1) in Books
Jan 29, 2026
awesome start to a new series!
I was gifted my copy of this book.
This is the first in a new series by this author but there is a short prequel, Drake and His Dragon. You don't need to read that before this one, though.
I loved this. It pushes so many buttons for me, not least the dragon aspect.
I loved that Cole thought he was on his own. But He's not. Even if their meeting was not the best, Cole has Phoenix. And Cole has the Colorado Dragons ice hockey team on his side, he really did not realize. I loved that tey all stepped up to help Cole out of his father's clasp.
Granted, Phoenix is keeping secrets and when Cole finds ou, he lashes out, as he has always done. He does come good though. And Phoenix is really only looking out for his friend and his family.
I don't usually vocalise my feelings when I'm reading, but this book made me cry. When you get Phoenix's full history, it's hard reading. Cole's also. His male parental unit is a nasty piecce of work! I loved how Ignatius played him at his own game, and pulled the rug out from under him while lifting Cole to new heights.
It's emotional, it's got drama, it's got love, found family, hockey! I'm fast becoming an ice hockey fan, mostly because of books like this.
An awesome start to the series, and following books will have a lot to do to pace this one!
5 full and shiny stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
This is the first in a new series by this author but there is a short prequel, Drake and His Dragon. You don't need to read that before this one, though.
I loved this. It pushes so many buttons for me, not least the dragon aspect.
I loved that Cole thought he was on his own. But He's not. Even if their meeting was not the best, Cole has Phoenix. And Cole has the Colorado Dragons ice hockey team on his side, he really did not realize. I loved that tey all stepped up to help Cole out of his father's clasp.
Granted, Phoenix is keeping secrets and when Cole finds ou, he lashes out, as he has always done. He does come good though. And Phoenix is really only looking out for his friend and his family.
I don't usually vocalise my feelings when I'm reading, but this book made me cry. When you get Phoenix's full history, it's hard reading. Cole's also. His male parental unit is a nasty piecce of work! I loved how Ignatius played him at his own game, and pulled the rug out from under him while lifting Cole to new heights.
It's emotional, it's got drama, it's got love, found family, hockey! I'm fast becoming an ice hockey fan, mostly because of books like this.
An awesome start to the series, and following books will have a lot to do to pace this one!
5 full and shiny stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Cross Her Heart in Books
Mar 11, 2019
Intruiging thriller though it didn't "wow" me
Lisa lives a quiet life with her teenage daughter, Ava. She keeps a close-hold on her, which chafes on Ava, who is ready for independence from her mother. But Lisa has a good reason. She has a secret past: one she's never shared with Ava or even her best friend and co-worker, Marilyn. All that changes when Ava rescues a young boy from drowning at a local fair. Her picture and Lisa's are splashed across the news and papers, threatening the world Lisa has so carefully constructed. As things begin to fall apart, each of the three women must begin to confront the many secrets they have been keeping.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I seem to be one of the few people left on the planet who hasn't read Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes. However, all the hype about that one probably raised my expectations for this novel. I will admit, I found it to be oddly captivating. It's told from the points of view of Lisa, Ava, and Marilyn and oscillates between the present and the past. As a result the story unfurls slowly, releasing details in increments. It certainly adds to the tension and suspense of the book.
It's clear that all three women have their own secrets, but figuring out what they are is pretty fascinating. The book definitely kept me guessing until the end. Just when I thought I had something figured out, it threw me another curveball. I didn't particularly love Lisa or Ava--Ava more because I felt like I didn't get to know her that well, but I really liked Marilyn. Pinborough is very good at capturing the voices of her characters--each was unique and easy to picture.
In the end, I found the plot for this one to be interesting, and it kept me reading. Still, it's something that I can't really explain, except to say that nothing about this book "wowed" me. I liked it, but didn't love it. There's no real reason that I can put my finger on, just a feeling. Still, this is a very intriguing psychological thriller. It's twisty, with interesting characters. I still need to get to BEHIND HER EYES.
Thank you to William Morrow for my copy!
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I seem to be one of the few people left on the planet who hasn't read Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes. However, all the hype about that one probably raised my expectations for this novel. I will admit, I found it to be oddly captivating. It's told from the points of view of Lisa, Ava, and Marilyn and oscillates between the present and the past. As a result the story unfurls slowly, releasing details in increments. It certainly adds to the tension and suspense of the book.
It's clear that all three women have their own secrets, but figuring out what they are is pretty fascinating. The book definitely kept me guessing until the end. Just when I thought I had something figured out, it threw me another curveball. I didn't particularly love Lisa or Ava--Ava more because I felt like I didn't get to know her that well, but I really liked Marilyn. Pinborough is very good at capturing the voices of her characters--each was unique and easy to picture.
In the end, I found the plot for this one to be interesting, and it kept me reading. Still, it's something that I can't really explain, except to say that nothing about this book "wowed" me. I liked it, but didn't love it. There's no real reason that I can put my finger on, just a feeling. Still, this is a very intriguing psychological thriller. It's twisty, with interesting characters. I still need to get to BEHIND HER EYES.
Thank you to William Morrow for my copy!
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Demoni Vankil (Hobin Luckyfeller's Fieldguides, #1) in Books
Jun 7, 2018
Review also found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>.
I loved this book! I loved the intrigue and mystery...and it had a gnome!!!! I love gnomes!!!
Hobin Luckyfeller is a fishis (want to know what that is, then look it up in the book, lol). He comes across fourteen letters sent from a husband to his wife that talk about a major project that has to do with runes and how to trap the Dark Lord. Hobin must try to read in between the lines to figure out what everything means.
The title definitely suits the book! I won't say too much because of spoilers, but once you read the book, you'll definitely know why. It's a perfect title!!
The cover is very ominous looking! I like the way it looks like it's made of leather. I think the cover suits the book because of the three runes on it which, the whole book mentions the runes throughout. I don't really get the yellow face on the cover though. That takes away from it a bit, but I kind of like the yellow face for some odd reason.
The pacing of this book was perfect! As I said, it's only a short story, and sometimes it's difficult to get the pacing right in short stories, however Mr. Buckley gets the pacing spot on! I found myself wanting to know more before I had even finished the chapter I was on!
The dialogue was easy to understand especially since there's a glossary type thing in the back of the book which helps with the pronunciation of words and what they mean as well as who people and places are in the book. I found this to be most useful because with some of the words, I had a difficult time pronouncing them!
I loved the character of Hobin Luckyfeller. I'm not just saying that because he's a gnome! I loved his thirst for knowledge and how he wanted to figure everything out. He wouldn't stop for anything. As for Eamon, the author of the letters, I felt so bad for him. I felt his pain at not being able to see his wife and children.
My favourite part of the book was after the end. No, not because the book was over, but because there was information on the authors. Yes, I said authors! It lists Hobin Luckyfeller as one of the authors along with Jaime Buckley. I found this to be quite humouress!
Jaime Buckley definitely has a way with words. I thought this story was very well written. It's definitely piqued my interest in the Wanted: Hero series that Jaime Buckley has written.
I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 15+ especially those who love fantasy, mystery, dwarves, goblins, etc.
I loved this book! I loved the intrigue and mystery...and it had a gnome!!!! I love gnomes!!!
Hobin Luckyfeller is a fishis (want to know what that is, then look it up in the book, lol). He comes across fourteen letters sent from a husband to his wife that talk about a major project that has to do with runes and how to trap the Dark Lord. Hobin must try to read in between the lines to figure out what everything means.
The title definitely suits the book! I won't say too much because of spoilers, but once you read the book, you'll definitely know why. It's a perfect title!!
The cover is very ominous looking! I like the way it looks like it's made of leather. I think the cover suits the book because of the three runes on it which, the whole book mentions the runes throughout. I don't really get the yellow face on the cover though. That takes away from it a bit, but I kind of like the yellow face for some odd reason.
The pacing of this book was perfect! As I said, it's only a short story, and sometimes it's difficult to get the pacing right in short stories, however Mr. Buckley gets the pacing spot on! I found myself wanting to know more before I had even finished the chapter I was on!
The dialogue was easy to understand especially since there's a glossary type thing in the back of the book which helps with the pronunciation of words and what they mean as well as who people and places are in the book. I found this to be most useful because with some of the words, I had a difficult time pronouncing them!
I loved the character of Hobin Luckyfeller. I'm not just saying that because he's a gnome! I loved his thirst for knowledge and how he wanted to figure everything out. He wouldn't stop for anything. As for Eamon, the author of the letters, I felt so bad for him. I felt his pain at not being able to see his wife and children.
My favourite part of the book was after the end. No, not because the book was over, but because there was information on the authors. Yes, I said authors! It lists Hobin Luckyfeller as one of the authors along with Jaime Buckley. I found this to be quite humouress!
Jaime Buckley definitely has a way with words. I thought this story was very well written. It's definitely piqued my interest in the Wanted: Hero series that Jaime Buckley has written.
I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 15+ especially those who love fantasy, mystery, dwarves, goblins, etc.
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated Witches Gone Wicked in Books
Jun 11, 2019
All Clarissa wants to do is become a powerful witch, learn about her mother, and find her high school sweetheart, Derrick.
But it’s not that simple when she’s all but banned from using her volatile magic, her mother was apparently an evil dictator, and her high school sweetheart was swept away in a tornado. Oh, and she caused the tornado.
But, now that she’s a teacher at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches, she might have a chance to actually become part of the Witchkin community and achieve her goals.
Despite everyone despising her because of her mother, she’s making new friends like Josie, a video-gaming witch who loves all life, and Khaba, a Djinn with a kilt fetish. She’s also getting attention from the very sexy Julien Thistledown.
If only that jerk Felix Thatch would stop patronizing her and let her learn about her mother.
Witches Gone Wicked is essentially Harry Potter fanfiction,which had me skeptical at first, but it was really entertaining at the same time.
Womby’s is the Title I version of Hogwarts. It’s for witchkin too poor to afford other schools as well as ones who were kicked out of other schools. Clarissa, being an art teacher, feels the strain of this with an annual budget of $20. The previous art teacher apparently had the students make mud pie art because of lack of supplies. I really liked the idea of a Title I Hogwarts and found the entire school and the staff really interesting.
Josie and Khaba are really funny and entertaining. Khaba is a bit of a stereotype, but I didn’t mind it that much. Josie was fantastic. Gotta love someone who loves all life and has the guts to treat spiders like puppies.
My favorite character is perhaps Felix Thatch. He’s very sexy and funny and I love almost every scene including him. He’s definitely not a people person by any stretch, but he has a lot of integrity as a teacher and a person that Clarissa just refuses to see.
Clarissa is actually one of my least favorite characters. Her dislike and suspicion of Thatch is near identical to Harry Potter’s dislike of Snape. The only problem is she’s a full-grown woman!
Clarissa has a tendency to blindly trust everyone nice to her, not thinking for a second that anyone has ulterior motives. And she despises Thatch for being brutally honest with her despite proving time and time again that he has integrity as a person and a teacher.
Felix Thatch does the following:
Trains Clarissa to use her magic (granted, the principal ordered him to)
Emphasizes the importance of people wanting to take advantage of her
Makes students write apology letters to her
Lets one of his students read in his classroom during lunchtime
Expresses concern over said student’s habit of hugging male teachers because someone might try to take advantage of her friendly nature.
Meanwhile, Clarissa thinks Thatch:
is secretly trying to kill her
might be trying to enslave her using sex magic
condones student and teacher relationships
It’s completely insane! Hey, who’s the most likely to take advantage of you? Maybe not the guy who keeps warning you about people taking advantage of you.
Clarissa is sometimes funny and relatable. I like how much she cares about her students and her patience with the troublemakers in her class. That’s actually really admirable.
But half the time she’s juvenile and irrational and I just want to shake some sense into her.
She’s the daughter of a powerful witch who apparently terrorized the Witchkin community with evil and forbidden magic. Clarissa never knew her birth mother personally, but she’s treated with suspicion and fear because her mother killed and ruined the lives of basically everyone.
Because of her lineage and her volatile magic, Clarissa is under constant threat of being fired from Womby’s, drained of her magic, and turned into a Morty (Muggle).
So you think she would be really careful, right?
Lol no.
Clarissa goes around saying she wants to be the most powerful witch ever, uses magic when she’s not supposed to, and makes plans to break into the library’s restricted section. It’s a freaking miracle that she didn’t get drained and turned into a Morty.
Here’s another thing: why doesn’t she want to be drained? I really don’t get it. Because of her magic and her mother:
everyone hates her
her sister died
her high school sweetheart blew away in a tornado
Womby’s almost burned down
anyone can turn her into a sex slave
As far as I can tell, there are very few benefits to her having magic and a staggering amount of drawbacks. Call me a defeatist, but if I was Clarissa I would be begging to be drained. Her conviction that magic is her true identity isn’t good enough for me.
All in all, this book is definitely three out of five stars. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and really like Thatch. Some of the magic concepts are surprisingly sexy, which I definitely enjoyed. I just don’t like Clarissa.
But it’s not that simple when she’s all but banned from using her volatile magic, her mother was apparently an evil dictator, and her high school sweetheart was swept away in a tornado. Oh, and she caused the tornado.
But, now that she’s a teacher at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches, she might have a chance to actually become part of the Witchkin community and achieve her goals.
Despite everyone despising her because of her mother, she’s making new friends like Josie, a video-gaming witch who loves all life, and Khaba, a Djinn with a kilt fetish. She’s also getting attention from the very sexy Julien Thistledown.
If only that jerk Felix Thatch would stop patronizing her and let her learn about her mother.
Witches Gone Wicked is essentially Harry Potter fanfiction,which had me skeptical at first, but it was really entertaining at the same time.
Womby’s is the Title I version of Hogwarts. It’s for witchkin too poor to afford other schools as well as ones who were kicked out of other schools. Clarissa, being an art teacher, feels the strain of this with an annual budget of $20. The previous art teacher apparently had the students make mud pie art because of lack of supplies. I really liked the idea of a Title I Hogwarts and found the entire school and the staff really interesting.
Josie and Khaba are really funny and entertaining. Khaba is a bit of a stereotype, but I didn’t mind it that much. Josie was fantastic. Gotta love someone who loves all life and has the guts to treat spiders like puppies.
My favorite character is perhaps Felix Thatch. He’s very sexy and funny and I love almost every scene including him. He’s definitely not a people person by any stretch, but he has a lot of integrity as a teacher and a person that Clarissa just refuses to see.
Clarissa is actually one of my least favorite characters. Her dislike and suspicion of Thatch is near identical to Harry Potter’s dislike of Snape. The only problem is she’s a full-grown woman!
Clarissa has a tendency to blindly trust everyone nice to her, not thinking for a second that anyone has ulterior motives. And she despises Thatch for being brutally honest with her despite proving time and time again that he has integrity as a person and a teacher.
Felix Thatch does the following:
Trains Clarissa to use her magic (granted, the principal ordered him to)
Emphasizes the importance of people wanting to take advantage of her
Makes students write apology letters to her
Lets one of his students read in his classroom during lunchtime
Expresses concern over said student’s habit of hugging male teachers because someone might try to take advantage of her friendly nature.
Meanwhile, Clarissa thinks Thatch:
is secretly trying to kill her
might be trying to enslave her using sex magic
condones student and teacher relationships
It’s completely insane! Hey, who’s the most likely to take advantage of you? Maybe not the guy who keeps warning you about people taking advantage of you.
Clarissa is sometimes funny and relatable. I like how much she cares about her students and her patience with the troublemakers in her class. That’s actually really admirable.
But half the time she’s juvenile and irrational and I just want to shake some sense into her.
She’s the daughter of a powerful witch who apparently terrorized the Witchkin community with evil and forbidden magic. Clarissa never knew her birth mother personally, but she’s treated with suspicion and fear because her mother killed and ruined the lives of basically everyone.
Because of her lineage and her volatile magic, Clarissa is under constant threat of being fired from Womby’s, drained of her magic, and turned into a Morty (Muggle).
So you think she would be really careful, right?
Lol no.
Clarissa goes around saying she wants to be the most powerful witch ever, uses magic when she’s not supposed to, and makes plans to break into the library’s restricted section. It’s a freaking miracle that she didn’t get drained and turned into a Morty.
Here’s another thing: why doesn’t she want to be drained? I really don’t get it. Because of her magic and her mother:
everyone hates her
her sister died
her high school sweetheart blew away in a tornado
Womby’s almost burned down
anyone can turn her into a sex slave
As far as I can tell, there are very few benefits to her having magic and a staggering amount of drawbacks. Call me a defeatist, but if I was Clarissa I would be begging to be drained. Her conviction that magic is her true identity isn’t good enough for me.
All in all, this book is definitely three out of five stars. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and really like Thatch. Some of the magic concepts are surprisingly sexy, which I definitely enjoyed. I just don’t like Clarissa.
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Kyera (8 KP) rated League of American Traitors in Books
Feb 1, 2018
The premise of this book is much more intriguing than its actual execution. Jasper is the descendant of Benedict Arnold, the most notorious traitor in American history. After the death of both of his parents, Jasper learns that there is more to his world than he ever knew. He learns that for hundreds of years, the descendants of both the heroes and villains from American history have been on opposing sides. The heroes' descendants, who call themselves the Sons of Liberty, challenge the descendants of the villains to a duel when they come of age. Unbeknownst to Jasper, his father was searching for a way out of the duel for his son. His untimely death leads Jasper down a path that forces him to question everything he's ever known.
I would like to mention that I was provided with an uncorrected e-galley to review this book. The fact that I was provided with the galley didn't affect my review, but the quality of the galley certainly influenced my enjoyment of the book. There were a number of grammatical or spelling errors throughout and that's something that pulls me out of the story. That is just a personal problem with the book and one I hope will not be present in the book when it is released on August 8th.
As a huge fan of history, I was incredibly intrigued by the premise of this book. It was sold as a mash-up of Hamilton and National Treasure - and who doesn't love those two things? It wasn't quite as fast-paced and thrilling as the premise would lead you to believe, but it is enjoyable.
I wish there was more character development in the novels because at times it was difficult to understand each character's motivations. They might have a complete change in perspective or opinion and it wasn't adequately explained leaving the reader questioning what was happening. There were so many characters in the book, many of which were quite prevalent that I understand that it probably wasn't possible to develop them all. That's just not feasible when writing a book, but I do think that the story would have benefitted greatly had there been just a bit more development.
The world that the author built was intriguing as he was able to blend authentic U.S. history in with his more dramatic narrative. Of course, settling one's qualms via a duel is a bit dramatic but he managed to raise the stakes. His characters' lives are on the line if they are not successful and yet the entire organization's framework could be altered if they are.
The plot of the book follows the course of American history with traitors and spies, secrets and betrayals, love and heartbreak. There are pacing issues with the book as it has moments that drag and others that seem to jump forward without enough context. There are some scenes that seem unnecessary to the plot and could be shorted to give more opportunities for character development. Overall, I feel that it is a good debut novel that could have been improved by culling extraneous scenes and delving more deeply into the world and characters.
Although it suffers from pacing issues and underdeveloped characters - it is still an entertaining read. I would recommend it to fans of history and action/adventure books, as it melds elements of both into a novel about the heroes and traitors of American history (and their descendants). There is a lot of violence in the book, but as it is not graphic I would not hesitate to allow a YA/teen reader to pick up this book. If you're a fan of historical fiction or action/adventures then you should definitely check out this book!
I would like to mention that I was provided with an uncorrected e-galley to review this book. The fact that I was provided with the galley didn't affect my review, but the quality of the galley certainly influenced my enjoyment of the book. There were a number of grammatical or spelling errors throughout and that's something that pulls me out of the story. That is just a personal problem with the book and one I hope will not be present in the book when it is released on August 8th.
As a huge fan of history, I was incredibly intrigued by the premise of this book. It was sold as a mash-up of Hamilton and National Treasure - and who doesn't love those two things? It wasn't quite as fast-paced and thrilling as the premise would lead you to believe, but it is enjoyable.
I wish there was more character development in the novels because at times it was difficult to understand each character's motivations. They might have a complete change in perspective or opinion and it wasn't adequately explained leaving the reader questioning what was happening. There were so many characters in the book, many of which were quite prevalent that I understand that it probably wasn't possible to develop them all. That's just not feasible when writing a book, but I do think that the story would have benefitted greatly had there been just a bit more development.
The world that the author built was intriguing as he was able to blend authentic U.S. history in with his more dramatic narrative. Of course, settling one's qualms via a duel is a bit dramatic but he managed to raise the stakes. His characters' lives are on the line if they are not successful and yet the entire organization's framework could be altered if they are.
The plot of the book follows the course of American history with traitors and spies, secrets and betrayals, love and heartbreak. There are pacing issues with the book as it has moments that drag and others that seem to jump forward without enough context. There are some scenes that seem unnecessary to the plot and could be shorted to give more opportunities for character development. Overall, I feel that it is a good debut novel that could have been improved by culling extraneous scenes and delving more deeply into the world and characters.
Although it suffers from pacing issues and underdeveloped characters - it is still an entertaining read. I would recommend it to fans of history and action/adventure books, as it melds elements of both into a novel about the heroes and traitors of American history (and their descendants). There is a lot of violence in the book, but as it is not graphic I would not hesitate to allow a YA/teen reader to pick up this book. If you're a fan of historical fiction or action/adventures then you should definitely check out this book!
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