Search

Search only in certain items:

Forged In Flood
Forged In Flood
Dahlia Donovan | 2018 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
new favourite from this author!
I had the honour of beta reading this book, so I was gifted my copy of this book.

Ten years ago, a stupid mistake nearly cost 3 young men their lives. It left them all scarred in a multitude of ways. Ivan has shut himself off from everyone, working in his beloved forge, while Rolland and Wes have taken it upon themselves to educate the youth of today on the errors of drink driving. But Wes and Rolly have had enough of waiting for Ivan, their Viking to get over his self inflicted guilt. And they choose the night of the worst flooding in living memory to make Ivan see sense.

This is NOT part of the Sin Bin series, but there are some cross-over characters, mainly Sarah and her husband Remi. You don't NEED to read them, but you SHOULD!

I loved this! I've loved almost all of Ms Donovan's work, and each and every time, the new book becomes my new favourite, and this is no exception!

Ivan makes this book, he really does. His struggle dealing with his guilt. His struggle dealing with becoming like his namesake of a father, and him not really wanting to. Dealing with the destruction of his forge and his home. Dealing with the after effects of the original accident, and a second one too.

But mainly, because watching him deal with his ever growing attraction to Wes and Rolly, and his NEED to be with them, is a joy to behold! He doesn't want it, not at first but they are persistent buggers now they have decided to pursue Ivan, rather than waiting for him to come to them.

There are some lighter moments, written only in a way Ms Donovan can. Her boys do like to play with their food and these three are no exception to that rule. I don't think I can ever look at a pot of honey in the same way, every again!

Because I read it in one sitting, because it made me cry in places, because it made me laugh out loud in others (and not many books can do that with me when I'm reading!) and just bloody well because . . . . .

5 stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Year One: Chronicles of The One
Year One: Chronicles of The One
Nora Roberts | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
8.2 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Interesting characters (1 more)
Use of fantasy mixed into the apocalypse
Post apocalyptic with a sprinkle of fairy dust!
Originally purchasing this based on my previous purchases, I have to honestly confess that I had never heard of Nora Roberts! How I have missed this author, I do not know. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will definitely be reading the remainder of the series.


Year One is the first in the three novel series - The Chronicles of The One. The novel itself definitely has undertones of Stephen Kings ‘The Stand’, and follows a similar format with the bulk of the worlds population being wiped out by a mysterious infection, leaving behind the survivors, who quickly divide into a good/ light side or bad/dark side. Unlike The Stand, which to me had slight biblical undertones, the unique selling point of Year One, is the addition of the uncanny’s, magical beings who have been living amongst us, some knowingly different, others benign until the doom releases their powers. I felt this added a new twist to the common post apocalyptic format.


I felt that the characters were varied and relatable within the story. Nora Toberts clearly spent a lot of time creating a varied population for cast, which helped their reactions within the story become more believable.


There is a lot going on within the story,which jumps between places and people as well as over the course of months, but as a reader I found this was necessary for the plot to develop. Surprisingly, despite all of the jumps, the story is still a relatively easy read. Throughout the narrative, I also find that Roberts gives very clear clues as to the direction that the next books will take, through the dreams/ visions of the characters.


The weakest part of the novel for me was the start, which is why I have only scored this a 9, rather than 10. It is probably me being picky, but I would have preferred another 50-100 pages giving me a little bit more background to some of the characters prior to the doom. I felt the background for some of the characters was there, but for others was a little sketchy, although ultimately this did not stop me engaging with them in the long term.


Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys fantasy and, or post apocalyptic novels. It is an interesting, enjoyable and easy read.
  
40x40

Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Ex in Books

Aug 5, 2019  
The Ex
The Ex
Alafair Burke | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
8
6.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jack Harrison is an author who has suffered great loss in his life. In high school, he lost his mother. A few years later, his father. A few years after that, his brother. The same day his brother died in a car accident, was the same day he found out that his long-term girlfriend, Olivia Randall had been cheating on him. Jack goes on and lives his life and after being married for about 10 years, he loses his wife to gun violence. The person who killed his wife was a young boy whose father thought guns were the right way to reach his mentally troubled son. So the families were suing the boys father for wrongful death. But that suit was dropped and everyone is devastated. A few days later, Malcolm Neeley, father of the boy who killed Jack's wife is shot to death along with two other people. All signs point to Jack as the person who committed this crime. But, Olivia knows Jack and he would never do something like this, right? Is Jack guilty or innocent. As time goes on, it's hard to tell.

Thank you to my Bookaholic friends for suggesting this book to me. This is the first book I have read by Alafair Burke and I can't wait to read more.

Imagine what you would do if you were accused of a crime you know you didn't commit. But all signs point to you. How can you handle it? What if your ex-girlfriend is the one who is representing you, do you think that would be a good idea? Jack Harrison seems like your typical guy, living his life and minding his business.

This book really touched me from start to finish. I had to know if Jack was really guilty or if someone was framing him and why would they do that? Jack is a man without too much in his life. It's just him and his daughter and his best friend. Why would his risk losing what little he had to get back at a man, whose son killed his wife.

Even though Olivia knew Jack 20 years ago, does she know the man today? Is she able to put aside their differences and see the evidence for what it is? You will have to read the book to find out.
  
A Collection of Short Stories
A Collection of Short Stories
Maggie Ffrench | 2020 | Children
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The stories are only a couple pages long each. (0 more)
Sadly the book has a bunch of errors. (0 more)
Created with the intention of parents or other caregivers reading it to children
A Collection of Short Stories by Maggie Ffrench was created with the intention of parents or other caregivers reading it to children and sharing the experience.

 Written my Maggie Ffrench for her grandson “Jamie’s” first birthday (if the story in the book is true) this book contains twelve imaginative stories to read to young children. All the stories focus on a fictional Jamie and his adventures both by himself and with his family.

 Some of the stories like “Bubbles” where Jamie climbs into a bubble and flies over the town, or “The Present” where Jamie’s clay creations come alive are firmly in the realm of imagination. On the other hand “The Box” where Jamie plays with a box and “Looking” where Jamie looks out the window are placed in reality. This (almost) even mix offers a good balance for families.

 What I liked best was that this book contains twelve short stories, each only a few pages long. Those pages even only have a couple of sentences on most of them at that, making them great for young ear who are easily distracted. Unfortunately there was quite a bit wrong with this book for how short it is. At least one of the stories cuts off without an ending and twice the book itself is referenced in stories. Some of the sentences are missing words completely while others have words like “controversial” which is an awfully big word (and strange one) to have in a children’s book. Then there is the page and a half that looks like it was photocopied.

 This book appears to have been designed for parents to read to small children. The introduction even talks about how important the author believes it is for parents and children to read together. I rate this book 1 out of 4 or 2 out of 5. The concept is good but sadly the overall book is not. This book did not appear to have been edited very well and comes off as extremely amateurish. Honestly I really wanted to like this book, but for me it missed the mark big time.