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Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale
Book
From wicked queens, beautiful princesses, elves, monsters, and goblins to giants, glass slippers,...
JM
Japanese Mythology in Film: A Semiotic Approach to Reading Japanese Film and Anime
Book
A cyborg detective hunts for a malfunctioning sex doll that turns itself into a killing machine. A...
Palaces and other Prisons (Part of: Tinsel and Tentacles 3.0)
7.5
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Book
Sometimes the world is actually ending… Dawson Hill is used to the routine and isolation of...
MM Paranormal Romance
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea in Books
Jul 8, 2021
A beautiful story about love and loss
Hazel Bly lived a great life with her Mum and Mama until a kayaking accident. Then her Mum died, leaving Hazel with a scar on her face and terrible anxiety. She wants nothing more than to keep her little sister Peach safe. The Blys move around a lot now. Two years after the accident, they are in Maine. It turns out that one of their new neighbors is her Mama's old childhood friend, Claire. The introduction of Claire into Hazel's world--along with her chatty daughter Lemon--makes Hazel feel unsettled. Plus Lemon is fixated on a local legend, the Rose Maid, a mermaid often seen in the waters. Hazel notes a resemblance between herself and Rose and soon she finds herself as fascinated by the mermaid as Lemon. Because sometimes everyone needs to believe in a little magic, especially when their world is crumbling around them.
"Now it's two and one, with me as the odd one out."
Oh this book is excellent-- an absolutely stunning read, which captures grief and loss so viscerally. I truly felt traumatized at times on Hazel's behalf. With the death of her Mum, she is so afraid something will happen to Peach, or even her Mama, and this fear comes through the pages so strongly. It's heartbreaking. Her fear of being happy again. You just want to wrap this sweet kid in your arms and hug her until everything is okay. Blake writes Hazel so well, and her grief, passion, and emotions come across so well.
Everything in this book is amazing--the magical and whimsical myth of the Rose Maid; the diversity of the characters; and the total acceptance of Hazel's parents being gay and bi. It's not a big deal in this book for parents to be queer or friends to be nonbinary. How wonderful for a YA story.
This is an exceptional tale about family, love, loss, healing, and magic. It made me cry, but it left me hopeful too. It's touching and heartfelt. Highly recommend. 4.5 stars.
"Now it's two and one, with me as the odd one out."
Oh this book is excellent-- an absolutely stunning read, which captures grief and loss so viscerally. I truly felt traumatized at times on Hazel's behalf. With the death of her Mum, she is so afraid something will happen to Peach, or even her Mama, and this fear comes through the pages so strongly. It's heartbreaking. Her fear of being happy again. You just want to wrap this sweet kid in your arms and hug her until everything is okay. Blake writes Hazel so well, and her grief, passion, and emotions come across so well.
Everything in this book is amazing--the magical and whimsical myth of the Rose Maid; the diversity of the characters; and the total acceptance of Hazel's parents being gay and bi. It's not a big deal in this book for parents to be queer or friends to be nonbinary. How wonderful for a YA story.
This is an exceptional tale about family, love, loss, healing, and magic. It made me cry, but it left me hopeful too. It's touching and heartfelt. Highly recommend. 4.5 stars.
Merissa (13524 KP) rated Bishop to Knight One (Diviner's Game #1) in Books
Feb 12, 2021 (Updated Aug 3, 2023)
BISHOP TO KNIGHT ONE is the first book in the Diviner's Game trilogy. We enter the world of myth and magic, with Naiads, Nymphs, Obsidites, Telepaths, you name it.
Deejay takes in the unwanted sons of his sisters but ends up taking in step-sons too. One of these is Matt, supposedly human. Both Deejay and Matt fight their attraction as inappropriate in both the human and non-human worlds. Things come to light that show a ten-year difference will mean absolutely nothing as the years go by.
I loved their slow-burn, hot as hell, romance. This book is simply outstanding and had me gripped from the very beginning. I have my own list of characters that I like and dislike but will admit to being shocked with a twist at the end of this book. I really hope it is explained further in subsequent books as I really don't want to dislike this character, but his actions make me question!!!
I found the pacing to be perfect for the story, with plenty of action and romance to take me from page to page. There is intrigue, betrayal (maybe), curses, and fights. It's all here and I loved every single word.
I highly recommend this book and can't wait to continue the series. Bring it on!
* 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!
Feb 12, 2021
Deejay takes in the unwanted sons of his sisters but ends up taking in step-sons too. One of these is Matt, supposedly human. Both Deejay and Matt fight their attraction as inappropriate in both the human and non-human worlds. Things come to light that show a ten-year difference will mean absolutely nothing as the years go by.
I loved their slow-burn, hot as hell, romance. This book is simply outstanding and had me gripped from the very beginning. I have my own list of characters that I like and dislike but will admit to being shocked with a twist at the end of this book. I really hope it is explained further in subsequent books as I really don't want to dislike this character, but his actions make me question!!!
I found the pacing to be perfect for the story, with plenty of action and romance to take me from page to page. There is intrigue, betrayal (maybe), curses, and fights. It's all here and I loved every single word.
I highly recommend this book and can't wait to continue the series. Bring it on!
* 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!
Feb 12, 2021
Anne (15130 KP) rated The Killing Fog (The Grave Kingdom, #1) in Books
Nov 4, 2019
Thanks to NetGalley and 47North for letting me read and review this incredible story. I'm already anxiously awaiting the next book in this series! I love and have read most of Jeff Wheeler's works and he never disappoints with his stories full of adventure, intrigue, romance, life lessons and so much more. It's always one wild rollercoaster ride with my emotions when I read one of his books, but I always learn or take away something and enjoy the stories immensely.
I always find myself easily lost and immersed in the worlds he creates and invested in the characters and the stories they have to tell. This story is very unique and different from others that Jeff Wheeler has written and just as amazing and engrossing as the others I have read.
In this story, we find ourselves following along with this story of an orphaned girl named Bingmei, who is with a group of mercenaries that serve a local ruler. They are sent on a mission to find and retrieve what treasures they can that are in a lost palace buried and preserved in ice. But when they get there, they find more than they bargained for and when they upset the tomb, they unknowingly cause havoc.
Bingmei unknowingly brings Echion, Dragon of the Night back to life, waking him from his tomb and now is meant to fulfill her part in the legendary prophecy. She has to destroy Echion before he takes over all the kingdoms and he has to stop her from destroying him. Bingmei knows what she has to do, but she doesn't know if she can do it.
This is in a world of ancient myth, legend, magic and is a story about love, loss, grief, balance, duty, honor and what people do when faced with difficult choices in heart-rending situations and so much more. You definitely want to have this one on your list, preorder it and read it as soon as you can.
I always find myself easily lost and immersed in the worlds he creates and invested in the characters and the stories they have to tell. This story is very unique and different from others that Jeff Wheeler has written and just as amazing and engrossing as the others I have read.
In this story, we find ourselves following along with this story of an orphaned girl named Bingmei, who is with a group of mercenaries that serve a local ruler. They are sent on a mission to find and retrieve what treasures they can that are in a lost palace buried and preserved in ice. But when they get there, they find more than they bargained for and when they upset the tomb, they unknowingly cause havoc.
Bingmei unknowingly brings Echion, Dragon of the Night back to life, waking him from his tomb and now is meant to fulfill her part in the legendary prophecy. She has to destroy Echion before he takes over all the kingdoms and he has to stop her from destroying him. Bingmei knows what she has to do, but she doesn't know if she can do it.
This is in a world of ancient myth, legend, magic and is a story about love, loss, grief, balance, duty, honor and what people do when faced with difficult choices in heart-rending situations and so much more. You definitely want to have this one on your list, preorder it and read it as soon as you can.
Midnight Tides
Book
The fifth awesome tale in Erikson's epic Malazan Book of the Fallen fantasy sequence After...
When the Glow Lights the Woods
8.5
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Book
A snowy story of healing, birds, and the magic of connection. The Wall? Who gives a snowman’s...
Post-Apocaplytic MM Romance Seasonal
Deconstructing Gurdjieff: Biography of a Spiritual Magician
Book
In November 1949, architect Frank Lloyd Wright announced the death of "the greatest man in the...
ClareR (6037 KP) rated Jewels of the Crown in Books
Nov 23, 2025 (Updated Nov 23, 2025)
Jewels of the Crown is the fourth and final novelette in the After the Storm quartet, and it sets things up very nicely for what is to come!
Each novelette has centred around one of the four main characters, and Jewels is all about Lawrence, the King of the werewolves, and a rather large secret that he has been keeping form his mates.
I loved finding out about how the mates are settling in to parenthood and their new lives - and the children seemed to be as mischievous as many children are! One or two also seem to have a trick or two tucked up their sleeves - which I’m sure will come out further in subsequent novels (I hope!).
I’ve been trying to work out why I like these books by Dianna Hardy so much, and I think I’ve come up with one or two reasons. I really enjoy the writing style and how we get to see what the characters are thinking “in their own words”; of course, there’s the fantastical element of werewolves and magic that relates back to my love of fairy tales, myth and legend; and then there’s the found family. This theme has snuck up on me over the years, but I seem to read a lot of books where the main characters find the people that they want to call their family, and these aren’t the people that they necessarily grew up with. And Dianna’s books do this so well.
If this sounds like something you’d like to read, I should say that there’s a touch of spice in these books, too, but if that’s likely to be a deal breaker, I wouldn’t let it put you off. There’s so much going on in such a short space of a novelette besides the sex (and it’s all in context - not gratuitous).
I look forward to every book that Dianna publishes, and I feel very lucky to have received the ARC of this book.
All opinions are, of course, my own.
Each novelette has centred around one of the four main characters, and Jewels is all about Lawrence, the King of the werewolves, and a rather large secret that he has been keeping form his mates.
I loved finding out about how the mates are settling in to parenthood and their new lives - and the children seemed to be as mischievous as many children are! One or two also seem to have a trick or two tucked up their sleeves - which I’m sure will come out further in subsequent novels (I hope!).
I’ve been trying to work out why I like these books by Dianna Hardy so much, and I think I’ve come up with one or two reasons. I really enjoy the writing style and how we get to see what the characters are thinking “in their own words”; of course, there’s the fantastical element of werewolves and magic that relates back to my love of fairy tales, myth and legend; and then there’s the found family. This theme has snuck up on me over the years, but I seem to read a lot of books where the main characters find the people that they want to call their family, and these aren’t the people that they necessarily grew up with. And Dianna’s books do this so well.
If this sounds like something you’d like to read, I should say that there’s a touch of spice in these books, too, but if that’s likely to be a deal breaker, I wouldn’t let it put you off. There’s so much going on in such a short space of a novelette besides the sex (and it’s all in context - not gratuitous).
I look forward to every book that Dianna publishes, and I feel very lucky to have received the ARC of this book.
All opinions are, of course, my own.