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INCEPTIO (Roma Nova Thriller #1)
INCEPTIO (Roma Nova Thriller #1)
Alison Morton | 2023 | Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
INCEPTIO is the first book in the Carina Mitela Adventure series and we start off in the EUS (Eastern United States). The world isn't the same as we know it, with different countries, rules, and regulations. In the middle of this is Karen Brown, an unassuming name for an unassuming young woman whose life is about to change.

Some of it is fairly formulaic - bad government people, new life, new wealth, new status. It's something that has been done before. However, I enjoyed this one, I really did. Everything comes easy to Karen/Carina - whether it is the Latin language (which is NOT easy, trust me), or specialised self-defence. She can be quite mouthy but no one seems to have a problem with that. I'm glad this isn't listed as a romance because it isn't. In fact, the romance side almost seems to be just a page-filler as I didn't really feel much of a connection between any of them.

This book has plenty of action, told from Karen and Jeremy's perspectives only. From drugs being brought into Roma Nova, to escaped prisoners, to finding a mole, it's all going on and Carina is right in the thick of it.

I enjoyed this story and would definitely read more in this series. Recommended by me.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 26, 2023
  
Frozen Flowers Fallen (Gen-Heirs World: Bella and the Beast Master)
Frozen Flowers Fallen (Gen-Heirs World: Bella and the Beast Master)
Sarah Westill | 2022 | Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
An intense, slow-burn romance with a dash of suspense that is absolutely brilliant!
FROZEN FLOWERS FALLEN is the first book in the Gen-Heirs World: Bella and the Beast Master series. It's a quick read that takes you back to Sziveria where Gen-talents are held so highly.

Now, I'm warning you now, I have loved The Guardians of Sziveria series so this review is probably biased! What can I say? You've already seen it's got 5-stars!

Bella is a clerk with no apparent Gen-talent, thus making her invisible and beneath notice to some of the Guardians around. However, Bella has a brain and isn't afraid to use it - so long as it doesn't put her in the spotlight. When Markus shows up, he is intrigued by this clerk who has put together more of a case than the Guardians he is supposed to be working with.

What follows is an intense, slow-burn romance with a dash of suspense, with the main two characters jumping off the page but fully supported by the other characters. The ending is superb but will definitely leave you wanting more.

I honestly can't wait to continue this series. What an absolutely cracking start! I need more of Bella, Markus, and Lunah in my life. HIGHLY recommended by me.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* 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!
  
Falling Short
Falling Short
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
When I first found out about Falling Short, written by Lex Coulton, the blurb promised to be ''fresh, funny and life-affirming''. I am sorry, but no. That is not correct. This book was none of those things. It wasn’t bad at all, but I would prefer describing it as a slow-paced, and confusingly complex in an unsatisfying way.

About the book:
Frances Pilgrim’s father went missing when she was five, and ever since all sorts of things have been going astray: car keys, promotions, a series of underwhelming and unsuitable boyfriends . . . Now here she is, thirty-bloody-nine, teaching Shakespeare to rowdy sixth formers and still losing things.

But she has a much more pressing problem. Her mother, whose odd behaviour Frances has long put down to eccentricity, is slowly yielding to Alzheimer’s, leaving Frances with some disturbing questions about her father’s disappearance, and the family history she’s always believed in. Frances could really do with someone to talk to. Ideally Jackson: fellow teacher, dedicated hedonist, erstwhile best friend. Only they haven’t spoken since that night last summer when things got complicated . . .

As the new school year begins, and her mother’s behavior becomes more and more erratic, Frances realizes that she might just have a chance to find something for once. But will it be what she’s looking for?

My thoughts:
I am usually good at explaining why I don’t like a certain book, or why I feel the way I feel, and believe me, with this one, I have spent two days and 6 sittings in front of this draft (now published post) to try and write about it. So I am doing my best now…

First of all, there has to be something about a certain book to make me want to read it. With this one – there were two things:

I love romance and intrigue, and the blurb promised two people not really talking to each other, but sparks flying around… so yes, that got me.

The Alzheimer’s disease – as a person that has worked with people suffering from Dementia and Alzheimer’s, this subject is very close to my heart. I couldn’t miss this book for this reason.
Now – the romance part disappointed me, as there was no romance. No romance at all. Unless, of course, you count as a romance a person in their mid-forties sleeping around with drunk teens, and is then too complicated of a character to even realise who he loves, and why, and the moment he does, he still has no idea what to do with that information.

The other disappointment I had was that I expected to read about the Alzheimer’s, and not only that they weren’t there, but also some of the symptoms mentioned were not correct at all. There were only sex relationships and sex scenes, and that was supposed to define their relationship in the end. Not realistic at all.

Even though it seems that we follow Frances’s story throughout, we actually follow Jackson’s story as well. Their characters were too complicated and confusing for me, and it let me to now feel nor care about them at all. I honestly cared about Frances’s dog the most in this book.

The plot wasn’t perfect – there were times when the information given didn’t match.

[SPOILER ALERT]

The scene how Frances searches on Google to find the address of her dad. We are then told that she found out his address through Jean. Which one is it, then?

I am actually quite sad that I didn’t enjoy this book, but I will still be curious about new works from Lex Coulton, because, somehow, I really liked her writing style, despite all the flaws.