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Burn Baby Burn (Fairytales of the Myth #1)
Burn Baby Burn (Fairytales of the Myth #1)
Miranda Grant | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
7.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
not really one for me
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

I'm really not sure I liked this book, and mostly cos I did not get the ending, it made little sense to me!

It's a dark book, certainly. There is (but not detailed) reference to child abuse, both physical and sexual. It's there, you know? Ella talks about what happens to her, but we don't get it all. There is bloodshed, and a lot of it at the beginning and the end.

Only Ella has a say, so it made the perplexing ending a little more so. Daman is given a voice in the epilogue though.

Ella voice is strong though, and even what she went through, she manages to get her revenge.

What Ella does say is well written, and well delivered. I finished it, so for that reason. . .

3 stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
A Cold Christmas and the Darkest of Winters
A Cold Christmas and the Darkest of Winters
Rasta Musick | 2021 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
not bedtime reading but very good!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

A collection of 23 different authors come together to bring you short stories set around the winter season or Christmas.

Not a single one of these authors have I read before, and there is a varied bunch of tales here. Some are just sad but some are downright scary!

Loosely, they are "holiday" stories, but more are winter ones, rather than Christmas.

An eclectic bunch of tales that can be read at any time, but I'd recommend NOT at bedtime! You might stop on one of the scary ones, and get some weird dreams as a consequence, like I did!

I didn't read them all, I will be honest, but the ones I read were very good, or excellent. Just on the short side. but 23 stories across 360 odd pages is never going to produce novel length books.

4 stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Love Tools (Bluestone Series, #1)
Love Tools (Bluestone Series, #1)
Isobel Reed | 2022 | Contemporary, Romance
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!


Lily has moved from her miserable life in London to a little town in America called Bluestone, to see what she can do with the hardware store her estranged father left her. What she didn't plan on doing was meeting somebody like Jake.


This is a well-written book. I rather enjoyed it from the start. It's the first in the Bluestone series by Isobel. Lily has a lot of sass and I like that in the characters. It has a good flow and I found it easy to get back into the story after having to put it down. Isobel has handled sensitive subjects well, not brushing over them quickly, but getting the feelings out that I imagine they would be in the situations they've been placed.


I'm looking forward to the next book. A recommended read


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The Sylvan Horn (The Sylvan Chord, #1)
The Sylvan Horn (The Sylvan Chord, #1)
Robert Redinger | 2011 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!


I don't know if it was intentional, but I did find that as I was reading I felt some similarities between this and the Lord of the Rings, the quest to save things as it is. As I read further through there were a lot more differences and I felt it was finally on its own path and able to tell its tale.


One of the things I did find annoying was the repetitiveness of some of the sentences, I know it was possibly done for effect but it seemed to have no relevance or impact on the story.


When the story was in its own flow I was captured and enjoyed the adventure that I was taken on and the mystical things that were involved. Apart from my grievance above, I did find that it was very well written.


Give it a chance.


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His Untameable Wickedness (Untameable #1)
His Untameable Wickedness (Untameable #1)
A P von K'Ory | 2022 | Contemporary, Erotica, Romance
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!


Leo is a highly regarded businesswoman that has fought tooth and nail for what she has. She has done things she's not proud of to protect the ones she loves, her mother - who is in a maximum security prison - ends up in a coma through an overdose of an illegal substance. It's up to Leo and the few people she trusts to get to the bottom of what happened.


This book is not for the faint-hearted there is quite a bit of dark stuff in here that could be a trigger for some people as there is abuse mentioned. I did enjoy the story once I got into it. I just found it a bit backward and forward to start with but then you travel farther into the story and it gets easier to comprehend.


A recommendation by me.


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The Vampire's Curse (Beyond The Mist #1)
The Vampire's Curse (Beyond The Mist #1)
Valerie Twombly | 2021 | Paranormal, Romance
6
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
good enough for me to want to continue with the series.
Independent reviewer for Book Sirens, I was gofted my copy of this book.

This is the first book in the Beyond The Mist series, and as such lays down the ground work, the background into these vampires and how they came to be.

I enjoyed it, I did. It didn't blow me away, but it's left me intrigued enough to want to continue on with the series.

Not least because there are a whole host of characters we meet here who now need their stories. Korinna, especially and Roman, I think, needs a happy ever after. Andrei's brothers too.

Some smexy times, some violence, some darker themes. Vampires who shift! I liked that, it's different.

All in all, a good read, for me, but not a great one.

so, 3 stars, but I will continue with the series.

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
A Pinky Promise
A Pinky Promise
Eule Grey | 2022 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
doesnt work for me
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. It's not a bad book, by any means, it just didn't float my boat, at all.

I mean, it's reasonably well written, from Creena's point of view. I found I wasn't really liking Creena though. Can't pinpoint why, however!

There are some gaps in the plot, one-minute Creena is shipwrecked, and the next, it's 2 years later. I would have liked some deeper insight to that time period: how she discovers the things she does, and what she does then. Not saying what she discovers, cos spoilers.

And the end is kinda cut off suddenly. So, there's that. An epilogue might have tied up the loose ends.

I liked the premise, it just doesn't deliver, for ME.

3 stars

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Vampires and Villains (Magical Mystery Book Club #2)
Vampires and Villains (Magical Mystery Book Club #2)
Elizabeth Pantley | 2022 | Mystery, Paranormal
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!


The book club has decided it's time for their second adventure. They have the addition of a new member to get to know as well. When and where will the snapdragon inns magical mystery book club take them this time?

This is the second book of the magical mystery book club series and yet again it's another series by Elizabeth that I absolutely am obsessed with. She has a way of involving you in the story so that you feel you are there and solve the mystery with them. She is so talented I think its great that she makes a reference to the destiny falls series (the book that Paige is reading) it's a real personal touch and I found myself grinning as I read that bit.


Elizabeth has produced another gripping series and yet again I cannot wait for the next instalment. Thank you, Elizabeth.


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