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<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<i><b>Bring Me Their Hearts</b></i><b> has plenty of sass, snark and </b><b>humor laced throughout</b>, which is no surprise considering one of the biggest reasons why I loved Sara Wolf's debut novel is the sass and humor (I can now officially count on Wolf to make me laugh). This book literally starts with Zera comparing the king's worth to a <i>potato</i>.

<h2>Potatoes aside, let's talk about Sara Wolf's dive from contemporary into fantasy, aka <b>how did </b><b><i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i></b><b> do???</b></h2>
Because that is the most important question: is the book good? Is it as bloodeh as the title? Let me give you the 411.

<h3><b>If you're looking for a good dose of sass, snark and humor, count on it.</b></h3>
Zera has a comeback for <i>everything</i>. Of course, she says she can't help herself because it's how she deals with it since she became Heartless, which is essentially a witch's pet monster. If you can't deal with her comebacks, then suck it up an drop off a cliff is what she'll likely tell you. But the amount of sass is &#x1f44c;&#x1f44c;&#x1f44c; and #100percentapproved.

<h3><b>But let's be a little honest here: sometimes Isis Blake appears too much in Zera.</b></h3>
Isis Blake is <a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/blog-tour-love-me-never-by-sara-wolf-arc-review-and-giveaway/">the main character of Wolf's <i>Lovely Vicious</i> series</a> and sometimes she appears way too much in Zera. Think two people stuck in one body = identity crisis much?

Maybe I am complaining too much here because regardless of how Isis seems to appear occasionally in Zera, <b>I still enjoyed Zera's voice.</b> And I still approve of snarkcisms used. So I'll just sit in a corner and hush up.

<h3><b>Let's take a moment to appreciate a side character (really, we should appreciate most side characters).</b></h3>
Meet Malachite, who is officially one of my favorite characters of <i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i> simply because he was wonderful and had no filter for being a royal bodyguard. 11/10 would adopt.

But we all know, Ms. Wolf, that you're going to kill Malachite later on, right? And kill my feels along with it?

<h3><b>There is this weird issue of the beginning being kind of out of place but used as a lovely hook.</b></h3>
<i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i> starts us in a court before backtracking a few weeks and then continuing. <i>Please note I am a very forgetful person</i> but we're in Zera's world of Heartless and witches and then Training101 for 30% of the book. I completely forgot everything by that point aside from a potato being involved.

But it's used as a lovely hook, so I'm not exactly complaining too much (someone fix my memory please and thank you).

<h3><b>Common Fantasy Plot #2927: Got 'em!</b></h3>
Eventually, you get to the point where you see the most common plotlines aka royalty is secretly venturing out in the world of plebians to be a badass and accidentally meets potential love interest aka the main character.

<h3><b>I was expecting this to be more bloody? I did not get more bloody.</b></h3>
I got a lot of court intrigue, sass, humor, but I was expecting more blood for some reason. I got more near the end though, because Heartless are monsters after all.

<h3><b>Hold up, this is the first novel?</b></h3>
I was expecting this to be a standalone but hahaha no nice try, Sophia. Come back in the future to satiate your curiosities in book two.

<i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i> wasn't horrible if you enjoy a snarky little monster who really just wants everything to be all good and dandy (but hahaha, life isn't going to be that nice) and a nice little note tacked on the end that says, "come back soon for more!"

While I wanted a little more blood because I'm smol and evil thoughts run through my brain sometimes, this was fun to read, and I have hopes for the second novel.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/blog-tour-bring-me-their-hearts-by-sara-wolf-arc-review/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
1943 | Classics, Horror
5
7.0 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Lon Chaney Jr. (1 more)
Bela Lugosi
Huge Disappointment
Contains spoilers, click to show
Frankenstien Meets The Wolf Man- was a huge disappointment but ill get to that later. First lets talk about the film.

The plot: Lawrence Stewart Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) is plagued by a physical oddity that turns him into a crazed werewolf after sundown. His desire to rid himself of this ailment leads him to the castle owned by mad scientist Dr. Frankenstein. Frankenstein, it turns out, is now dead, yet Talbot believes that the scientist's daughter, Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Ilona Massey), can help him. However, his quest to right himself puts him on a collision course with Frankenstein's monster (Bela Lugosi).

This was the first of a series of "ensemble" monster films combining characters from several film series. This film, therefore, is both the fifth in the series of films based upon Mary Shelley's 1818 book Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, directly after The Ghost of Frankenstein, and a sequel to The Wolf Man.

As ultimately edited and released, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is told in two almost equal parts. The opening scenes tell the story of Talbot's resurrection, killing spree, hospitalization, and escape across Europe. Much time is spent with a secondary policeman, Inspector Owen, and on scenes with a desperate Talbot hospitalized by Dr. Mannering. The discovery of the Monster and pursuit of Dr. Frankenstein's scientific notes do not begin until thirty-five minutes into the film. The second half introduces the Monster, Elsa, and the village of Vasaria and its inhabitants.

Immediately following his success in Dracula, Bela Lugosi had been the first choice to play the Monster in Universal's original Frankenstein film, but Lugosi famously turned down the nonspeaking, heavily made-up role: as conceived by the original director Robert Florey, the Monster was nothing more than a mindless killing machine and not suitable for Lugosi's rising stardom and career as a leading actor, and the original make-up for Lugosi's screen test was closely based on the doll-like clay robot in The Golem.

Eight years later, Lugosi joined the film as the Monster's twisted companion Ygor in Son of Frankenstein. He returned to the role in the sequel, The Ghost of Frankenstein, in which Ygor's brain is implanted into the Monster (now Chaney), causing the creature to take on Lugosi/Ygor's voice. After plans for Chaney to play both the Monster and the Wolf Man in the next film fell through for logistical reasons (Chaney demurred), the natural next step was for Lugosi, who turned 60 during the film's production, to take on the part that he once was slated to originate.

The original script — and indeed the film as originally filmed — had the Monster performing dialogue throughout the film, including references to the events of Ghost and indicating that the Monster is now blind (a side effect of the brain transplant as revealed at the end of the previous film, and the reason for his iconic stiff-armed "Frankenstein walk"). According to Siodmak, a studio screening audience reacted negatively to this, finding the idea of the Monster speaking with a Hungarian accent unintentionally funny (although the Monster spoke with Lugosi's voice at the end of Ghost, the audiences had been carefully prepared for it by the plot of the film). This has been generally accepted as the reason virtually all scenes in which Lugosi speaks were deleted (though two brief scenes remain in the film that show Lugosi's mouth moving without sound). All references to his being blind were also eliminated, rendering the Monster's groping gestures unmotivated for those unfamiliar with the ending of the previous film. Close-ups of Lugosi's eyes during the revitalization scene and his evil, knowing leer to Patric Knowles were supposed to indicate that his vision had been restored, but in the ultimate context of the film this means nothing. Consequently, Lugosi is onscreen literally for only a few minutes, leaving the Wolf Man as the film's primary focus.

Lugosi suffered exhaustion at some point during the filming, and his absence from the set, combined with his physical limitations at age 60, required the liberal use of stand-ins.

This would be the final Universal horror film in which the Monster played a major role; in the subsequent films The House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula, the Monster, played by Glenn Strange, is brought back to life only in the final scenes (in the 1948 Universal comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (the second and final film in which Lugosi plays Dracula), Strange has a larger role and the creature once again speaks, albeit with very limited dialogue, twice muttering, "Yes, Master."). It was also the last Universal horror film to feature an actual member of the Frankenstein family as a character.

A tribute to this meeting of two horror film legends happens near the beginning of the film Alien vs. Predator, when this film is seen playing on a television at the satellite receiving station. In the US version of the 1962 film King Kong vs. Godzilla (another pairing of prominent monsters), the music from the fight scene at the end of the film also plays during the final fight between Godzilla and Kong.

So the reason why this movie was a huge disappointments that it was universal first ensemble. A meet between two iconic monsters and boy did it disappointment. Their didnt meet until the last 5 minutes, no scratch that the last minute. Yes you read that right, the last minute their meet. Huge disappointment. It was also slow. I dont recordmend watching this one and skip it. The only reason im giving it a 5 is because of Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi.
  
Rescued By The Alpha (Alaskan Wolf Alliance #1)
Rescued By The Alpha (Alaskan Wolf Alliance #1)
MM Wilde | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
thoroughly enjoyable read!
*purchased copy 25th Aug 2018*

MM Wilde is a pen name for Morticia Knight, and I LOVE Ms Knight's work. So when I came across this one, I had to buy it and see what the difference was.

There is a HUGE amount of difference it this book and some of Ms Knight's other work and I do not mean that negatively.

Elam manages to whack his head and pass out in a storm. Nic finds him and Nic's wolf is all for the younger man to be in Nic's space. Nic the man, at first, not so much. But Fate has a different idea for Nic and Elam, bringing some of the Old World tales back to life.

I LOVED this! I have a soft spot for m-preg books, and I loved that this one delivered on every level.

Nic, the man, wants no part of a human mate, but Nic, the wolf is all for the idea. Elam is supposed to be off men, but Nic pushes all the buttons he never knew he had. When Nic reveals his true form, and explains just what he is to Nic, Elam is all for it. When they realises just what the mating meant, I loved that they are BOTH totally surprised by it! The Healer for the pack is too. And I love being surprised as much as they were!

It's not overly explicit for a shifter male/male book, but I really enjoyed that it wasn't. Both men have a voice, so we get all of Nic's reluctance to have a human mate, with all of Elam's williness, once they decide to. All of Elam acceptance of Nic and his pack. Of what the mating really meant, and each man's reaction to the news of their impending arrival. And we get all of Nic and Elam's worry when things start to unravel with a rival pack.

I bought this yesterday, went to bed to read a few pages, 2 hours later, I'm done. Sign of a great book, that, to keep me fully engaged and engrossed til you run out of book and didn't realise you were that close to the end.

so....

5 full stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
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JT (287 KP) rated Rogue (2008) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020  
Rogue (2008)
Rogue (2008)
2008 | Horror, Mystery
6
6.3 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Along the quiet river banks of the Australian outback, buried deep within the baron red plains that surround desolate bush, lies a fear, a fear that lurks beneath the murky waters. Greg McLean does to boat trips what backpacking did for Wolf Creek, after seeing it you’re going to want to steer well clear of ever doing it.

Pete (Vartan) is a travel writer, sent around the world to exotic locations he finds himself in a place that he has no idea about. Taking a boat trip up the river with a bunch of people that we really won’t care much about, he goes in search of what the territory has to offer.

Leading the tour is Kate (Mitchell) someone who is the polar opposite to Pete and has never traveled out of her comfort zone once. As the boat glides up the river McLean makes sure he includes sweeping shots of the quiet picturesque landscape, of which is beautiful.

The focus of course is on the salt water crocodile’s that populate the river itself, a quick lesson from Kate about these prehistoric looking creatures sets up for the carnage that is only minutes away. Once the boat is capsized the unfortunate crew end up stranded on an island surrounded by a fast rising tidal river, with no direct route off it.

Like any monster movie we only ever catch glimpses of the predator (at least until the very end), a tail there, a moving ripple in the water there. The stranded patrons of course go through the motions, there’s infighting, emotion, selfishness and a coming together that in the end they are going to be able to escape the island.

It does carry a fairly decent degree of suspense even though it is predictable in places, and has an ending which quite frankly is a little preposterous.

The story line is as basic as it can get and the script is not brilliantly written, the acting has its moments with characters that don’t really have time to reveal their back stories to great effect, before a few all but disappear between the teeth of the seven foot beast.

It’s not overly gory but does have some scenes for those that are blood thirsty. On a whole it’s a decent flick, not as terrifying as Wolf Creek but holds itself well for the 100 minute run time.
  
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Mark Halpern (153 KP) rated The Hangover (2009) in Movies

Jan 19, 2018 (Updated Jan 19, 2018)  
The Hangover (2009)
The Hangover (2009)
2009 | Comedy
Wolf Pack
Four guys embark to Las Vegas for their friends bachelor party. The four friends could not be better opposites of each other. Doug the groom is the normal one, Alan the brother in-law is kind of mentally unbalanced, Phil who is a good friend is the wild one and Stu the other friend is the safe and cautious one. Well one thing leads to another and we see them wake up all deranged and Doug is missing. They have to retrace their steps in trying to find them which leads them into crazy findings such as a baby, a stolen police car, a tiger, "iron" Mike Tyson, A kidnapped Chinese man and a marriage. Do they find Doug or don't they.

For what it was it was the the hardest I have laughed in a theater ever at that time. I don't think there was a moment where my gut did not hurt. If you watch make sure you watch the credits how ever we do see one of the cast getting a hummer which i could have done with out.
  
Lone Wolf Lawman
Lone Wolf Lawman
Delores Fossen | 2015 | Romance
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Looking for an action-packed book. Well, Lone Wolf Lawman is packed to the brim with action. You get quite a few things in this book. There a romance as well. We meet Angie and Wes.

When Addie is pulled inside her barn by someone. She starts fighting him as she thinks she is attacked or dragged. But when we find out it Weston. He has come back and he when to warn Angie that the Moonlight Strangler may be after her and want her as his next victim.

Who is Moonlight Strangler? Who wants Addie dead. There is the twist and turns throughout this page-turner. Once you get started you are pulled in.

Who is after her and Weston? Delores Fossen plot is great, She tells the story like no other romance to a point that it has action throughout the story plot. There a surprise that Addie tells Weston?

This brings in the sheriff and Addie family and you will find that there are more surprises and twisted along the way. You will not be disappointed and you will be surprised at how it ends.
  
Jace&#039;s Trial
Jace's Trial
J.M. Wolf | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jace's Trial by JM Wolf is a M/M Contemporary Romance with a May / December Romance element. JM is a new to me author as this is the first of his books that I've read. What I will say is that I was not disappointed in the least. Normally, I'm a bit more leery of first person point of views because I have a harder time being drawn into the book as opposed to third person. Jace's Trial was one of those books that I absolutely loved. Not only did it draw me in completely but it pulled at all my 'feels'. It had me crying more than once. Not just sniffling but 'ugly crying'. When you read this definitely make sure you have the tissues ready.

The story was fast paced and a roller coaster ride that I didn't want to get off of. The character development was amazing. The world development was perfect as well. The Happily Ever After at the end was sweet and perfect. Jace's trial had it all. Love, hurt, angst and loss. I definitely will be reading more from this author.

Pick up this book today and give it a try.
  
Defiance (The Wolfborne Saga #1)
Defiance (The Wolfborne Saga #1)
Cheree Alsop | 2018 | Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Defiance is the first book in The Wolfborne Saga and you get a very different take on vampires and werewolves! It starts with Zev escaping in wolf form, from who or what you don't know. It's a close call though, nearly his last call, but he is saved by a young man driving a car. This opens up a whole sort-of-new life for those Zev meets and for him himself.

This was brilliantly written, with plenty of world-building and information given without it being an info-dump. There is definitely character growth from Zev but the others are just as interesting.

As the first book in a series you expect to get a lot of the ground-work, sometimes to the detriment of the story. Not so here. Ms. Alsop has provided a great start and I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Definitely recommended by me.

* 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!