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Doing Wright (Teach Me #1)
Doing Wright (Teach Me #1)
Raven Dark | 2015 | Erotica, Fiction & Poetry
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
166 of 250
Kindle
Doing Wright ( Teach Me book 1)
By Raven Dark

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

Nineteen year old Jacy is a college girl with a wild and wicked streak. She's always had a penchant for older men, so it's no surprise she'd fantasize about being taken by her professor in every possible way. Then again, her imagination has always gotten her into trouble.

When the sinfully gorgeous Mr. Wright shows up at her door one night, she's sure she can tempt the brooding alpha male into taking control and claiming what he needs, but at what price?

Whether it's on her knees or bent over a bed, he'll give her a night she'll never forget, but she's been to this party before with disastrous results. Will their tryst be the best night of her life, or the worst mistake she's ever made?


It’s exactly as described! A short novel with well written hot sex! Not much else to say!
  
Circa 1 hour.

2 bus journeys.

That's roughly how long it took me to read this, from virtual cover to virtual cover (and on my second attempt - I don't think I was in the right mood the first time around), after it was recommended to me by a friend.

As I'm pretty sure was the authors intent, I got a definite feeling of a 'Suicide Squad' setup out of this, with the story told from the point of view of a member within that team. I also got the distinct feeling that this was more of a taster, if you will, more of a trial run to see if the idea worked than a full formed and fledged novel in its own right.

Think a short story in an omnibus collection, or something along those lines - something to introduce readers to the characters and the world they inhabit and to (hopefully) whet the readers appetite for further entries.

In that regard, as least, and for me: job done.
  
The Witches Prophecy (The Blue Flamed Witch #1)
The Witches Prophecy (The Blue Flamed Witch #1)
Janae | 2023 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
maybe not one for me!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

My review for this book will be short, because, to be honest, I'm really not sure what I just read!

I'll summarise as best as I can though.

I liked that multiple people have a say. So we get to hear from all the important people.

I LOVED the sarcasm from everyone! Trouble, especially.

I did not like, and I think this was my biggest issue, that multiple names were used for the same person. I got a bit confused right at the prologue and I think that set the screen for the rest of the book.

Lots of paranormal themes: prophecies, soul mates, demons, witches and gods, and a rare one: reincarnations. I liked that.

But, like I said, the multiple names thing kinda threw for the whole book, and I'm still a little confused by it all!

Maybe not one for me, but I did finish it, so

3 stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
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Merissa (13132 KP) rated Dear John in Books

Sep 12, 2023  
Dear John
Dear John
Holly Day | 2023 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
DEAR JOHN is part of the #WorldLetterWritingDay collection and we have Logan, an undercover cop, and Zion, an artist, stuck together on a remote island with no Wi-Fi, internet, or anything digital. Logan wasn't there to keep an eye on Zion, but rather his rather dodgy boyfriend.

I enjoyed my escape to the island. I found the revelations from Zion to be sad and loved how Logan was there for him. Yes, it was insta-love, but sometimes it's just got to be!

This is a short story but there is still a steamy time, plus the tension of not knowing if said dodgy boyfriend would show up. And don't forget the letters that Zion sent, which definitely made me chuckle. A thoroughly enjoyable story that I definitely recommend.

** 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!
Sep 12, 2023
  
Only the Good Die Young
Only the Good Die Young
Julie Mulhern | 2023 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It Was a Fall, Wasn’t It?
This is a short novella that is set back between the first two books. While Ellison and her daughter are off in Europe, Ellison’s mother, Frances, gets involved in a mystery. When she goes with one of her friends to check on the friend’s mother-in-law, they find the woman dead in her bedroom. But it couldn’t be murder. Frances doesn’t get involved in murder. The woman hit her head in a fall, right? Right?

I found Frances’s horror at getting caught up in the case to be funny. I also liked the fact that we got to know her better, something I definitely needed. The rest of the characters aren’t super well developed. Likewise, the mystery is a bit simple, but it kept my interest and reached a great climax. The thing to keep in mind is that this is a novella, and I read it in about an hour. As long as they remember the length, fans of the series will be happy with this story.
  
Alpha's Divergent Omega (Divergent Omegaverse #1)
Alpha's Divergent Omega (Divergent Omegaverse #1)
JP Sayle | 2024 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
ALPHA'S DIVERGENT OMEGA is a short introduction into the world of the Divergent Omegaverse.

Derick and Lane went against everyone, including their families, to marry each other and build up Starling Enterprises into 'big business'. They have eight sons, five of whom were adopted when their families didn't want them. You don't know much about the sons, which makes perfect sense as their stories are still to come.

What comes across loud and clear is the love and passion still between Derick and Lane, and the love they have for their boys. Certain changes make it clear it's time for them to retire, but they'll do it on their terms!

I look forward to the full-length stories in this series, getting to know the brothers better, and hopefully seeing more of Derick and Lane too.


** 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!
Aug 5, 2025
  
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ClareR (5933 KP) rated The Future in Books

Mar 26, 2024  
The Future
The Future
Naomi Alderman | 2023 | Contemporary, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I couldn’t get enough of The Future by Naomi Alderman. This book pressed all of my Sci-Fi/ Speculative fiction/ dystopian buttons ALL AT ONCE!!

I’m not actually sure how I should explain this… There’s so much going on in this book - doomsday preppers with an awful lot of money, climate breakdown and pollution, social media influencers.

Actually, that doesn’t explain half of it.

This is the story of a heist. A pretty daring one, and one that could so easily fail, but in order to save the future, a group of friends decide that they will have to do something to protect the world from three of the most powerful and influential billionaires.

The story is told in punchy, short chapters, interspersed with excerpts from a chatroom ( I loved these parts - I didn’t think I would to begin with, but I really enjoyed them). This style really propels the story forward. Actually, the STORY propels the story forward.

Look, I just really, really loved this book, and I think you should go and read it. Ok?
  
American Gods
American Gods
Neil Gaiman | 2005 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
I'm trying to remember whether or not I've read any of Gaiman's other novels before, and I'm fairly certain that I haven't. I read [b:Good Omens|12067|Good Omens|Terry Pratchett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266659394s/12067.jpg|4110990], but that was co-written with [a:Terry Pratchett|1654|Terry Pratchett|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1235562205p2/1654.jpg], and the collaboration was genius. I know that the entire world seems to love Sandman, of course, but I'm just not a fan of graphic novels. In fact, it took me a while to realize that the Good Omens co-author and the Sandman author were one and the same.

I've certainly read some short stories, too. The most memorable, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow,_Glass,_Apples">"Snow, Glass, Apples"</a> was reprinted in an anthology I read recently. I find it disturbing, so I won't re-read it. Well-written, of course—it wouldn't be so very memorably distressing if it weren't so masterfully done! (I found the <a href="http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/stories/snow-glass-apples">text online</a> if you care to read it, but please understand that the story deals with pedophilia, necrophilia, and incest here. It is the polar opposite of all things Disney.) Snow White was never one of of my favorite fairy tales, and Gaiman definitely pushed it much farther down the list.

In any case, I don't know what I was expecting from Gaiman, but <i>American Gods</i> wasn't it. I like stories with happy endings, and within the first few chapters I was fairly sure that there wouldn't be one. Is Gaiman fundamentally opposed to joy, or is it just happiness that he doesn't allow?

The novel is epic. It is masterful. All that stuff from the big critics is dead on. The book could be used as the backbone of a mythological scavenger hunt if a teacher were willing to run a very unstructured but engaging course that way. I certainly enjoyed that aspect of it, and it made me glad that I was reading it on my iTouch so that I could look up anything I liked online at any time, no matter where I happened to be (which was almost always at home or somewhere else that had wifi access, happily).

I seldom want to see illustrations in any book, but yes, I think I would like to see good pictures of some of the characters Gaiman described in this one. On the other hand, without artwork I spent time imagining what the characters looked like based on the descriptions. I don't normally stop to do that, as such matters as seldom relevant to a plot, but these beings caught my fancy. Not enough that I would sit through an entire graphic novel, I'm afraid, but if I saw one now I might flip through it to see how the artist's renderings compare with my versions.

I'm seldom able to identify an overall Theme to the books I read. Most of them, honestly, are fluff. I'm fine with that. I read them because they entertain me. <i>American Gods</i> is different. It is entertaining, but it isn't light or fluffy in the least. It definitely has an easily identifiably Theme and Tropes and all those elements that I recall from long-ago classes, the sorts of things that put me off from my original English major because I hated tearing other author's works apart instead of writing anything original. (Now, I begin to understand that we were being taught to recognize what makes for good writing so we might have some hope of possibly creating some of it one day.)

I somewhat timidly conclude that <i>American Gods</i> is the first piece of Literature I've read in a very long time, and well worth the time spent reading it. (I find it rather amusing that it would be British Literature, despite its title, due to the author's nationality.) I'm not going to state the theme, because that would be a spoiler, and I hate putting those in reviews&mdash;but it's something that I see as a Truth, and one that needs to be stated far more often, especiallly today. It's even more interesting that it took a Brit to say it.

The book is dark, although it does have some very bright spots in it. I will acknowledge that I was going through a particularly bad time with regards to my health when I was reading it, but I still think it might be best for some people to read this one when in a fairly positive state of mind.