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The Life of Glass
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Melissa’s father died almost two years ago. She has been struggling, but is surviving with the help of her best friend Ryan. But through a series of events, her world gets turned upside down. A new girl comes to school and befriends her immediately, for some unknown reason. Ryan gets a girlfriend. Melissa’s mom is dating some guy. Ashley, her older sister, is… well just being an annoying older sister with problems. And in the middle of it all, Melissa still has unsolved mysteries about her father, her desires, and herself.

The Life of Glass is a fast read—I tore through it in a matter of hours. I wasn’t particularly sure why I couldn’t stop reading it. Maybe it was the easy language, maybe it was the characters, maybe I was just in the mood for a good romance novel and that was what was on my shelf. Either way, I didn’t stop reading until my sister turned the light out on me.

I liked the characters a lot (though some of them I despised) and others remained mysteries until later in the book; they were those “oh I had no idea they were that kind of person” characters, and I liked the mystery of their personalities. They were relatable and likeable.

That being said, there was nothing hugely spectacular about The Life of Glass: nothing that will make it a long lasting fantastic memory or escape for me. I enjoyed it and I won’t forget it, but it won’t be one of those “second reads.”

This was part of the 1 ARC Tours for Bloody Bad.
  
Ida Sinclair is headed to Cripple Creek. She must first graduate from Business school. There someone that tries and mess that up with her. Her professor see her skills and is intruding and asks Ida to meet him at his office to chat after she done with her duties.

Ida just want a job in the business world? Will she get it in New York or will she go to Cripple Creek? That her plan to go to Cripple Creek to be with her sisters Nell and Kat along. Her father want he to. Her little sister Vivian is to join them the next summer.

Tucker Raines is asked to come to Cripple Creek by his mother. He arrives a day or so before Ida Sinclair. He left his sister to come help out. He finds out his father is ill and he got to take over the family business “The Raines Ice Company”. Tucker finds that having his mother and father stay in Colorado Springs so that his father can stay at the hospital is the best option and care.

Tucker finds out what the real reason and his father is in debt. How will Tucker pull his family business out of debt but also pay for his sister Willow care as well. Tucker runs into Ida Sinclair for the first time at the depot with his mother and father.

There are surprises as you turn the pages. What will happen to Tucker and Ida? Mona get you hooked and you can't be let go. You also learn about the Cripple Creek around that time period in history.
  
Sophia (The Brides of San Fransico book 4)
Sophia (The Brides of San Fransico book 4)
Cynthia Woolf | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
few pages in but not as good as books 1-3, but could get better. (0 more)
romantic western
taken from amazon-Working long hours in a New York City bakery is not at all what Sophia Hayes had planned for her life. When her fiancé breaks their engagement her to marry her thinner, blonder, more beautiful sister, Sophia knows it is time to do something drastic, something completely unexpected. All she's ever wanted is to have a husband and family of her own. Agreeing to be a mail-order bride seems the perfect answer.

Robert Langley has been a sailor his entire life. As Captain of the Sapphire of India, his last cargo made him a very wealthy man, but his time at sea cost him much. His wife was killed in an accident while running away with another man leaving him a widower with four young children who barely recognize their own father. A mail-order bride seems to be the ideal solution. He simply needs a willing woman to warm his bed and a compassionate woman to raise his children. Love is not an option.

Sophia's sister is not content to leave well enough alone. When her husband dies unexpectedly, she makes her way to San Francisco to do what she has always done...take what she wants. And the moment she sets eyes on her sister's new family, what she wants is Robert Langley.

Sophia has always believed her stunning, talented sister deserved the best in life. But this time Sophia is in love, and she's not going to surrender without a fight.
  
40x40

Alice (12 KP) rated Red Sister in Books

Jul 3, 2018  
Red Sister
Red Sister
Mark Lawrence | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>Many thanks to Mark for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review </i>

Original review can be found on my blog Raptureinbooks <a href="http://wp.me/p5y0lX-1I9">here</a href>

<blockquote>It is important, when killing a nun, to bring an army of sufficient size.</blockquote>
I know they say to never judge a book by its cover but first impressions are everything. The above quote is the first line written in <i>Red Sister</i> - Mark Lawrence's newest masterpiece. I don't use the term lightly.

For those of you who haven't read his work before - know this: it will change how you read fantasy for the better. There's a really apt line in this book for this sentiment:
<blockquote>...a book is as dangerous as any journey you might take. The person who closes the back cover may not be the same one that opened the front one. </blockquote>
For those of you who have, you know his main characters are the ultimate in anti-heroes. All male, all rough, all the epitome of badassery. <i>Red Sister</i> is the first with a strong - and I mean strong -all female cast.

From the first instance you know this book is going to be top of the scale of epicness, <i>Red Sister</i> will draw you in within moments of opening the pages.

It follows the story of Nona Grey- an eight year old girl saved from the noose by an unlikely saviour - a nun - Abbess Glass, leader of the Sweet Mercy Convent. Nona becomes a novice nun and begins her journey to becoming a Red Sister- a nun skilled in combat. At first the book can feel a little like you've stepped backwards in time to where children are bought and sold on the road, where the Church has almost absolute power and where little girls do not become killer nuns; however as the story progresses and Nona's back story is revealed to us piece by piece I found my original thoughts to be utter bullshit because frankly the plot is outstanding.

I'll hold my hand up and say I've never read a book about nuns before but Red Sister has ruined me for any other.

As signature with Mark's work, Red Sister has the perfect balance between seriousness and humour with some brilliant descriptions of the most simplest of things:
<blockquote>...and a quill. This latter gave the impression that the bird from which it was taken had died of some wasting disease, falling from its perch into a dirty puddle before being run over by several carts and finally thoroughly chewed by a hungry cat.</blockquote>
The dialogue was witty and the right tone for what is ultimately a group of girls in boarding school who both love and hate each other and what they do on a daily basis. The friendships made at Sweet Mercy are friendships built to last through the toughest of scenarios, literally through thick and thin. Nona's past catches up with her frequently and she is tested to her highest limits and on occasion shoved over that limit.

<blockquote>"Trust is the most insidious of poisons." </blockquote>
There are some harsh lessons to be learned in <i>Red Sister</i> and not just the physical ones - of which there are many. The plot is thick with action, betrayal, uncanny abilities and supernatural old world bloodlines that show through in current generations that haven't been seen since the first tribes settled in Abeth; with prophecies galore and the odd psycho, bare knuckle fighting in the pits and justice is wrought.

The revelations are spectacular and revealed in unexpected ways that have totally done them justice. The writing style of Mark Lawrence is once more on point with the right amount of length for each chapter; the supernatural demon element was written in a great way. Overall, it was a masterpiece of the genre and deserves all the stars.

<i>Red Sister</i> has been one of the highlights of my year so far and it is outstanding. I've tried not to give anything away which is hard cause I want to give all the spoilers! I'll leave you with a parting quote that sums up the book nicely.
<blockquote>"Words are steps along a path: The important thing is to get where you're going."</blockquote>