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Lost in Indigo (Colors of Love #1)
Lost in Indigo (Colors of Love #1)
V.L. Locey | 2018 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
loved this!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

 Faced with the end of his hockey career, Mathieu goes home to heal. His long time friend brings his 20 year old son to help Matt around. But Matt is not prepared fro how he feels about Indigo, especially as he has managed to keep his sexuality a secret. But Indigo is a unique young man, genderflux, out and proud. Can Matt recover enough to play again, can he and Indigo be happy in secret?

Ordinarily, I would say here that I wanted to hear from both main characters. Indigo does not have a voice here, and ORDINARILY that would be a major gripe of mine.

BUT!!

I actually rather enjoyed this, with only Matt having a say! I made a new shelf for it and everything!

Matt is deep in the closet, he knows it, and up to now, has just made do. Breaking his leg, and going back to Canada and meeting the now grown up Indigo again makes Matt question a lot of things. And as time goes on, he realises that maybe being in the closet is not a good thing, especially when he wants Indigo in his life, and Indigo wants to be in that life, but Indigo will NOT be a dirty secret.

I loved that Matt has a dawning revelation about Indigo. His feelings grow, over time, but Indigo was all in, right from the start! Loved that his NEIGHBOUR, of all people, had Matt sussed, right from way back when they first met, but his AGENT, who knew him so much longer, had not a clue! I loved that Indigo's dad, Matt long time friend, was, while not totally against Matt and Indigo being together, he was "don't hurt my boy, or I'll break the other leg" on Matt. Papa Bear at his very best!

I loved that, when called on it, Indigo gives Matt a deadline, and Matt delivers! Loved the way he does that!

I read another series by this author, The Point Shot trilogy, and I said in that review, that I loved it because it was single person point of view, so Ms Vocey has a way of negating my dislike of single person points of view, with strong minded, loud voiced characters! I need MORE of this author, I really do!

There are a few pages of hockey commentary, I skipped those, I'm not any kinds of sports fan, at all, but I didn't feel I missed anything by doing so. Just don't hate me!

5 full and shiny stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
All We Ever Wanted
All We Ever Wanted
Emily Giffin | 2018 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
9
8.2 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Family Drama at it's best
Family Drama at it's best!!!
A powerful story relatable to today's society about family, morals, values, the treatment of others, standing up for what is right and all else a mother's love and a father's love. All We Ever Wanted will tug at your heart strings, make you think, and maybe open your eyes a little on how to treat people better. It also holds a message of how materialism can lead people astray and change people not for the better but you can always find your self again especially when you have people who love you have your back. Loyalty, compassion, standing up for what is right and love is what you will take away from this book!!!
All We Ever Wanted is about the complications modern life can bring in a society with cell phones mixed will the old school story of privileged high society and the pay check to paycheck society and how even the wealthy struggle with morals, values, and what love for a child means. It is told is told from the perspectives of Nina (Finch's mother, who is the boy accused of taking a picture of Lyla at a party where she is passed out, in a provocative pose, and a racially charged blurb written on it that got sent to kids at the prestigious Windsor high school), Tom (the single carpenter dad of Lyla, who is the girl in the photo) and Lyla. It was so well written and fascinating to read from each of their perspectives.
So what happens to these characters and others in the book when this photo gets leaked? Will there be justice for Lyla? How do the parents handle their kids? Is there a love story in the mix?
Read the book to find out!!!! You will not be disappointed!!! The books summary does a perfect job of explaining without giving away the many twists and turns and events that occur in this book!
  
To Look the Devil in the Eye (Broken Halos #5)
To Look the Devil in the Eye (Broken Halos #5)
Maya Daniels | 2019 | Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
To Look the Devil in the Eye is the penultimate book in the Broken Halos series, and MUST be read as part of the series, or it just won't make sense. This one starts where The Devil in Disguise left off.

Hel knows she needs to, but doesn't want to, help free her dad, Satanael. Eric always has her back and will do whatever he can to support her. Satanael needs to get to know his daughter, and quickly finds out she isn't prepared to just do as she is told, or accept what she knows is untrue.

As with the whole series so far, there is an awful load of sass and attitude, which I adore! I loved reading Maya Daniels' books as each of them has a strong female lead who doesn't take any c**p. Beezlebub is still my favourite demon (sorry Eric, but you're already taken!) but Colt has grown up in this one, and sticks up for Helena when no one else does. The Trowe, Narsi, also grows beyond belief in this book, but you really have to read it to understand.

Now, bearing in mind we only have one book left, you KNOW it's going to go out with a bang, on a humungous cliffhanger (because what else would Maya Daniels do?!). And I wasn't disappointed! Fair warning though, you will probably have to re-read the ending a couple of times, just to make sure you don't miss anything. That's it. I'm done for. Ms Daniels has me reading blurry words as my eyes are leaking. She has officially killed me with the ending to this book.

Do I recommend this book? Only by about 1000%. Just make sure you start at the beginning so you don't miss a single moment of attitude!

* 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!
  
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, Yuki Morisaki | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The characters, which are well-developed, for the most part. (1 more)
The dishes, which I was surprised to learn have actually been tested before being put into the books.
There is quite a bit of fan-service, which I don't mind, but it's hard to imagine food so good that it causes people's clothing to shred and disappear (only mentally, not actually in front of others). (0 more)
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma (the series)
I have been reading Food Wars since volume 1 came out and now that book 20 has recently been released in the United States, I still enjoy this rather unique food-based manga.

The hero, Yukihira Soma, has been raised as the only child of a single father who runs a diner called Yukihira. One day, his father tells Soma that he has enrolled him in a culinary school and that he will be off helping friends for a while. Soma doesn't think much of this idea, but goes to take the test for Totsuki Teahouse Culinary Academy and settles into Polaris Dormitory, and so the story begins.

Soma has quirks, and lots of them. You know he's getting serious when he whips his headband off his wrist and dons it and his apron (which I've not figured out yet where he keeps that). He has no end of confidence, and often says the first thing that comes to his mind, which gets him in trouble a lot of the time. He's determined to be the top student at the academy so that he can beat his dad eventually in a food competition, of which he's lost several during his childhood. Despite this, he is eager to learn new things and never gives up. He is loyal to his friends and has a strong sense of justice.

Totsuki Teahouse Culinary Academy isn't exactly the most normal school anyway. It is a fact that over 90% or more of the students either get expelled, fail out, or drop out, and the idea behind the academy is that most of the students are there merely to "polish" the students who make it through the final year of high school. It is run not only by Dean Nakiri, but by the Council of Ten, who are the top ten students at the school. Disputes between the students are settled by Shokugeki, which have very strict rules.

I think my favorite story arc is the one with the Fall Classic (books 6-13), where 100 selected first year high school students compete to see who is the best. The winners usually go on to become part of the Council of Ten. Many things happen in this arc, from Soma and Megumi (a girl from Polaris, who learns a lot about cooking and confidence from Soma) learning about curry and spices, to Soma's dad coming for a visit, to a copycat chef who wins other students' favorite cutlery from them in Shokugeki, to the surprise finish of the Classic under the light of the full moon.

I would definitely recommend this manga series if you enjoyed other food series such as Yakitate!! Japan. It's a lot of fun and drama all wrapped up in a tasty bow. The manga series is still on-going, with an anime which has just entered its third season.
  
Mr March (Calendar Men #3)
Mr March (Calendar Men #3)
Bailey Bradford | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
fabulous sexy read.
Independent reviewer for Divine Magazine, I was gifted my copy of this book .

It's only a matter a time, you know, before a book in a series tips you one way or the other. It tips you up to that five star read, or down to three and you really don't want to read any more.

This one?? 5 star read people!

I said in my review for February, that I liked that the shifter element was just sort of there, it wasn't a major part of the story. But here, the shifter part is a MASSIVE part of the story! Go figure, huh!

Jason is Mr March, and they have just finished up shooting on Arturo's land. There is a bit of an overlap between February and March's books. Waking up in someone else's bed, Jason can't remember how he got there, but he CAN remember the vet who looked after his lion form. Casey is a vet at the refuge that Jason's cat is bought to, but there is something bigger going on, and it will take some digging to get to just what.

I loved Jason's sisters, and their teasing of Jason. Loved Jessica too. Jason and Casey have a huge network of support and they need it, especially when they find out what is really going on!

It's not an overly complicated book, nor is it graphic or explicit, but I really LOVED that it wasn't! It's a really great read, and I read this in one sitting, at 1130 at night. Good job I did not have work this morning!

The shoot is now slowly shifting from single nekkid guys for each month, to a couple for each month. Still not sure it will get published, but it's great fun watching it, either way.

I would like to know more about how Perry's dad is, since he was the original photographer. He;s dealing with some heavy stuff and it would be nice to catch up with him, even if it's just a bit more than we get here.

Fabulous, sexy, read

5 stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Almost Just Friends (Wildstone #4)
Almost Just Friends (Wildstone #4)
Jill Shalvis | 2020 | Contemporary, Romance
10
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Usually I don't read romance novels since they really aren't my thing. However, there was something about the synopsis of Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis that caught my attention. Perhaps it was the fact that there were family secrets involved! Luckily, I really really enjoyed Almost Just Friends.

Piper is a young woman who has always been in control, so much so that she even has a bullet journal to help her through life. She's raised her siblings since she was 13, and when they return home, Piper eventually learns what secrets her brother and sister are keeping from her. During this, she is falling head over heels for her next door neighbor's son, Cam, who is home from the military. These feelings for Cam might just be her undoing!

I will say that I loved the plot for Almost Just Friends. Everything about it felt very realistic and like something that happens almost every day in small town America. I enjoyed the love story between Cam and Piper and how it took its time developing instead of just being instalove. I also enjoyed the narrative between Piper and her siblings. I could picture every single scene in my mind quite clearly thanks to Jill Shalvis' fantastic story telling! Almost Just Friends answered all my questions by the end of the book, and there were no cliffhangers which I was thankful for.

I enjoyed every single character in Almost Just Friends. They all brought their own personality to the table, and they were each very interesting to read about. All of the characters in this novel felt like they could be someone I could relate to as well as making fantastic friends. Piper starts off being too self reliant. It was nice to see her start letting others help her. She was forced to grow up at a young age after the death of her parents, so I could understand why she was scared of losing control and putting faith in other people. I loved how patient Cam was with Piper. He was so loving and helpful. It was also nice to see him blending in so well with Piper's siblings and wanting to help out. Cam was such a charming man with such a larger than life personality. Gavin, Piper's brother, had been fighting his own demons. I kept wondering if he'd go back to his own ways or not. I loved his relationship with CJ and how he wasn't going to let CJ walk away from him so easily. Gavin always was great at relieving tense and awkward situations which one thing I really loved about him! Winnie, Piper's sister, was the youngest out of Piper, Gavin, and herself. Winnie decided it was time for her to start being more adult like instead of child like. Her news was the biggest, in my opinion, and while I could understand why she wanted to keep it from Piper, I wish she would have told Piper from the get go. However, Winnie had me smiling whenever I read about her. I admired her tenacity to want to be Miss Fix It. Emmit, Cam's dad, was ever the comedian! I loved how happy go lucky he was and his sunny disposition on life was. It was as if nothing ever bothered him, and I admired that about him. Every single character in Almost Just Friends made it such a fantastic read!

Trigger warnings for Almost Just Friends include profanity, some sexual situations (although nothing too graphic), death, and mentions of prescription drug abuse.

All in all, Almost Just Friends is such a heartwarming read with a fantastic set of characters and a solid plot. This was my first book I read by Jill Shalvis, but it certainly won't be my last! I would definitely recommend Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis to those aged 17+ who are after an uplifting novel that deals with family with a sweet romance thrown in.
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(A special thank you to William Morrow with a paperback of Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)