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    Survivors: the Quest®

    Survivors: the Quest®

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    Three strangers find themselves stranded on a secluded island. Abandoned buildings, an old laptop...

    Real Boxing Manny Pacquiao

    Real Boxing Manny Pacquiao

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    The greatest mobile boxing game Real Boxing® is proud to introduce the 8-time boxing world champion...

Ghost of a Chance (Bucket List Buddies #2)
Ghost of a Chance (Bucket List Buddies #2)
JP Sayle, Lisa Oliver | 2025 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
these books are a lot of fun!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 2 in the Bucket List Buddies series, and I do think you should read book one, Perilous Cuite before this one. Morty and Hector play a part here, and Lionel is Hector's friend.

Lionel doesn't want to go ghost hunting, but his friend gave him tickets, and the other friend let him down. He'll just sneak in and out when no one is looking. But something happens, Lionel is shaken and Brad spots the gorgeous lion sneaking out and where the heck did he disappear to?? Friends come good, and Lionel and Brad officially meet and mate. But not everyone is happy, and a past comes back with a bang.

I thoroughly enjoyed book 1, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one too! I read it after a particularly . . . . difficult . . . read, and it really lifted my spirits as much as the ghosts they were hunting!

It's steamy, as fated mates books are. I found the drama a little heavier than book 1, but only because Brad made a stand for his mate, and that past did not like it!

In book 1, Hector's mother was best described as a witch. She was horrid to Hector and Morty. But Lionel's mum?? Oh she flew clear across the world to come meet Brad and congratulate them on their mating. She arrived just in time to give that past a right dressing down!

Loved that we caught up with Morty and Hector and their news. I loved the snippet at the end, hinting about Sven and Remy. No idea when or if they will get a book, but the epilogues are great and I'm rooting for them!

These books are a lot of fun, something silly in a messed up time. Thank you for writing them, please keep em coming!

4 wonderful stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Creature: A Novel of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein
Creature: A Novel of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein
Amy Weldon | 2025 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book tells the story of Mary Shelley, how she ran away with the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, in order to live the life that she wanted to live, free of the constraints of society and hopefully live up to her perception of her mother’s standards. Instead, it felt as though she was dragged around Europe by her (eventual) husband, everything at his whim, paying for freedom from society with the deaths of 4 of her 5 children.

Ok, I may be a little harsh here. Mortality rates in infants were abysmal at this point in history, but I’m. Still not a Shelley/ Byron fan 🤷🏼‍♀️

If it sounds as though I’m being negative, I actually loved this book. The writing is wonderfully descriptive, the perspectives swapping between Mary and (and this is what really makes this novel stand out)the Creature from the novel, Frankenstein. His life plays out at the same time as Mary’s, he grows up with her from childhood, always nearby, I’m sure she could have seen him from the corner of her eye. His life is as tragic as hers.

Reading this novel, I was standing beside Mary and her Creature, experiencing their lives with them, which was pretty hard-going at times. To experience such loss and keep going really shows Mary’s strength of character.

Mary’s life was adventurous, uncertain, unconventional, rich in experience, and pretty frustrating at times - thanks to Shelley and Byron!

This took me longer than it possibly could have to read. I kept going through the footnotes, googling, reading some of Shelley’s and Byron’s poetry - this book took over my reading entirely!

Now, where did I put my copy of Frankenstein? I might just have to reread…

I received an ARC of this book for free, and I’m reading this review voluntarily (and why wouldn’t I?!). Many thanks to the publishers, BookSirens and Amy Weldon.
  
40x40

Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated The Appeal in Books

Aug 31, 2022  
The Appeal
The Appeal
Janice Hallett | 2021 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
After having read The Twyford Code first, I was desperate to read The Appeal having heard rave reviews about it for the last year. I was apprehensive that it might not live up to the hype, but it didn’t disappoint me. I didn’t want to put it down and it kept me guessing until the very last page.
The Appeal is written as a series of correspondences: first as a letter from a lawyer to two of his students, then as messages between the two students and then the bulk of the book is emails, texts, handwritten notes and even police transcripts. It is interesting to try and work out what is happening when you only have some of the story (we don’t have all of the correspondence as some is quite obviously missing and we only have the replies) and there are so many layers and deceptions that you need to work through.
The bulk of the messages centre around a few main characters Issy, The Haywards: Martin and James, and Sarah-Jane and her husband Kevin. Trying to pick your way through their many messages between each other to try and work out what parts of their correspondence were real and which were fabrications was part of what kept me so enthralled in the whole book. Just as I thought I had it all worked out, we would go back to the lawyer and his two law students and it would make me rethink my theory and start all over again.
Janice Hallett has a great way of writing, and both of her books that I have read have been so different to anything I’ve ever read. I’ve read books were messages were included, but never one that was solely written in messages. I hope Janice Hallett has plans for more books, as I would like to see what else she can come up with that makes her books stand out.
  
Hanging with Daddy (Pride Pet Play 2023)
Hanging with Daddy (Pride Pet Play 2023)
JP Sayle | 2023 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
6
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
cute and sweet but maybe not for me.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, i was gifted my copy of this book.

I love JP Sayle, you know I do. I've watched the skill this author has grow from the very beginning, and I'm incredibly proud of the work this author continues to produce.

But!

This one I found a little too sweet for me, and I hate that I did.

It's well told, from both Gaines and Austin's point of view. It's the first I've of a koala as a chosen pet for play, and at times, I did find the koala stuff too much. There were koalas in everything, EVERYTHING Gaines did, and it was a bit overpowering.

I loved that both men had an immediate and powerful reaction to the other, and both men, once they started to get to know each other, were fully able to adapt and bend to the others' needs, without sacrificing their own. I liked that Austin gave Gaines time to work things out in his head, before he came to Austin, even if it killed Austin to wait.

I loved that we got to catch up with Terrence and Warner from A Little Christmas, Terrence. It's always great catching up with characters fromprevious reads, even in those that can stand alone from others.

I really liked that, while some things *little* were mentioned in passing, and others were talked about, Gaines doesn't slip far into little-space. He's more a pet-space kinda guy and I did like that. LOVED the descriptions of Gaines climbing Austin like a pole! LOVED them!!

It's steamy and smexy, not overly emotional and there is no real drama, save for Gaines getting his head straight to talk to Austin.

It just didn't really work for me, and I hate that it didn't! I'm sorry, Jayne!

3 good, but not really for me, stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Dusty Ropes and Rusty Spurs (Bucket List Buddies #4)
Dusty Ropes and Rusty Spurs (Bucket List Buddies #4)
JP Sayle, Lisa Oliver | 2026 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
8
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
loing these fun reads
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarain, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 4 in the Bucket List Buddies, and it can be read as a stand alone, but the other books are really good.

Rick is an alpha bear shifter, but he doesn't want an omega mate, nor a beta. He wants another alpha as a mate, which makes him a bit of an odd one in this world. Ian is a honey bear shifter, also doesn't want an omega mate, he needs another alpha. Attending the latest Bucket List Buddies event gives them both what they want. But can they get over Rick's past?

What I love about this book, all of them, is how easy they are to read, and you can just fall into two bears falling in love and dealing with what's thrown at them. Fun reads, that hit that spot that needs hitting after a darker read.

There is a little angst between Ian and Rick, especially when Ian's insecurities show their face, after Rick takes a trip down memory lane, but nothing that actually talking about things won't fix. Ian's family is a bit pushy, trying to foist an omega on him, a female at that, even after he had stated many many times, he didn't want a female at all!

Steamy and smexy.

The previous guys all pop up, as they are a close knit group of friends. So, catching up with everyone is great fun.

BUT!

For the love of all that is holy, please let me know that Remi and Sven will get a full book?? I hated that we didn't get their meeting in this book! I'm waiting, so very impatiently, for their time and if they don't get it, I will not be happy. Not at all!

4 very good stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere