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Sweetwater (The Kihn #1)
Sweetwater (The Kihn #1)
Rivi Jacks | 2013 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
kinda creeps up on ya!
Verified purchase December 2013

Now, I will be honest here, right up front, I only bought this book, because the author was giving away two additional books (from other authors) and it was a good deal.

Sofie returns to her childhood home, after the death of her parents. Parents who made it clear she was never wanted. Things are afoot in Sweetwater, and no one is quite sure what.

Lucas and his Hunters arrive to explain what is going on and how they are going to deal with it.

IT are the Kihn. while it isn't explained fully WHAT they are, they do get up to no good, what with a Gateway opening soon, near to Sweetwater. Sofie has knowledge of the Kihn, she has been seeing them in her dreams for years.

Enter a HUGE cast of supporting actors, witches, Wiccan, werewolves, guardian angels that only the Wiccan can see, various aunts, uncles, cousins and friends!!

The tale took a while to get going, Lucas and Sofie don't meet till almost half way through, and the blur comes with and explicit warning, which again, doesn't arrive til past half way, BUT its a good tale. Lots of interaction between all the characters, with more and MORE added along the way (this huge cast was one of the reasons it got 4 stars instead of 5, the other, the long warm up) Its a different tale and I enjoyed it. There is another planned and it will be purchased when its released, as this one ends on a bit of a cliff hanger!

I particularly liked the way Jacks throws things at you, just like that, "its the only way I know to keep them away, you know" made me go OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH what are "they"??? and how little hints get dropped along they way as to WHAT the supernatural people are. While its fairly obvious (after a time) what Lucas is, Sofie clicks in the last 3 lines of the book!

A different read, a good read, and I would recommend it!

And! It's present tense!

4 solid stars
  
This book is the most recent in a mystery series, but the first book I have read by Josi S. Kilpack. I do not read much in the mystery genre, but the cooking aspect of the book interested me enough to try this one. All of the page numbers to the recipes are listed nicely on the back of the first page, so I was able to check those out without having to search for them, and they do look like quite delicious recipes, perfect for this time of year.
The main character is an older woman, Sadie Hoffmiller, who has recently opened a P.I. business in her hometown in Colorado, but has taken a vacation to Boston with her love interest, Pete, to house-sit and watch over his three grandsons. Right away she strikes me as both ultra-conservative - Sadie and Pete sleep in separate bedrooms - and a perfectionist. Not only is her cooking described in detail, but also her cleaning and personal grooming habits. She also comes off as a "busy-body" as she very quickly gets involved in the life of the woman who lives across the street and bears the reputation of a witch, the eccentric Mrs. Wapple. It is as if she is so addicted to her job back home that she must continue its nosy approach wherever she travels.
The city of Boston is obviously chosen for its proximity to Salem, Massachusetts and the many references and allusions to ghosts and witches throughout the plot. When pranks begin to strike in the house that Sadie and Pete are staying at, the obvious choice is ghosts, but their sensibilities and penchant for detective work prevent them from embracing this as the solution.
When something dire happens to Mrs. Wapple halfway through the book, Sadie is right in the thick of it, her curiosity taking prominence over even her duties as babysitter with Pete. Not even a vacation will deter her from solving yet another case.
On the whole, the book is entertaining, though Sadie can be annoying at times. Like any mystery, I want to know who is the responsible party, but my favorite part of this book is definitely the recipes.
  
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Paul Kellett (118 KP) created a post in Solo Gamers

May 9, 2019  
What solo games do I have in my collection? Have a look...

1066: Tears to Many Mothers
7th Continent
A4 Quest
Apex Theropod Deckbuilding Game
BIOS: Genesis
BIOS: Megafauna
Blackstone Fortress
The Cave
Cavern Tavern
The City of Kings
Clacks: A Discworld Game
The Colonists
D100 Dungeon
Dark Darker Darkest
Darkest Night Second Edition
Deep Space D6
Dice Brewing
Dice Settlers
Dungeon Crawler
Dungeon Roll
Emergence Event
Escape Tales: The Awakening
Fallen Land: A Post-apocalyptic Board Game
Far Space Foundry
Four Against Darkness
Ghostel
Gloom of Kilforth
Greenland
Guilds of London
Haze Islands
High Frontier 3rd Edition
Imperial Settlers
Legends Untold: The Weeping Caves
Legends Untold: The Great Sewers
Lagoon: City of Druids
La Granja
Leaving Earth
Le Havre
Martians: A Story of Civilization
Mythos Tales
Neanderthal
Oh My Goods
One Deck Dungeon
Page Quest
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game - Rise of the Runelords
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game - Skulls & Shackles
Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift
Race For The Galaxy
Rallyman
Ravage: Dungeons of Plunder
Rise to Nobility
Secrets of the Lost Tomb
Shadows of Malice
Side Quest
Small Star Empires
Snowdonia
Space Cadets Away Missions
Space Empires 4x
Star Wars Escape From the Death Star
Sub Terra
Terraforming Mars
This War of Mine
Tiny Epic Defenders
Tiny Epic Kingdoms
Tiny Epic Galaxies
Tiny Epic Quest
Tiny Epic Western
Tiny Epic Zombies
Witches: A Discworld Game
Xia: Legends of a Drift System
Zombie Dawn of the Dead


Games I'm waiting to arrive / games on my wishlist -
Shadows of Kilforth
Tainted Grail
Hero Realms Journeys
Rallyman GT
BIOS: Origins
Cthulhu : The Horror in Dunwich
The Artemis Project
Machina Arcana
Infinities: Defiance of Fate
Dawn of the Zeds 3rd Edition reprint
Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set
Trickerion Collectors Edition
Lifeform
Unbroken
Isle of Terror
Secrets of the Lost Station
The Gallerist
On Mars
Clinic
Vinhos




I also have a few games that don't have official solo rules but I enjoy playing "two-handed" or with fan-made solo rules (usually available on BGG) -

Alien Frontiers
Castles of Burgundy
Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition
Impulse
Last Night On Earth 10 Year Anniversary Edition
Mombasa
  
The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)
The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)
2018 | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
The actors, the filmography, the effects, is influenced by the book but does not follow the book (0 more)
is influenced by the book but does not follow the book, The time period, made weak women out of a strong women (0 more)
Cool Movie
Contains spoilers, click to show
I enjoyed this movie. The actors were all good choices, and the effects were great- for the most part. The movie was definitely influenced by the book, but did not stick close to the book. The choice to not stick close to the book could be seen as a wise one, as the director/ producer probably wanted it to be relatable for the viewers. The problems I had with the movie, was the time period, that they took strong women characters and made them weak, and that the Uncle was hiding his powers. The time period was a few decades earlier in the book, which helped explain the main characters quirks a bit better than the movie did. The women in the movie got the "Women in the Refrigerator" treatment. Meaning the two big women roles, who in the book were highly powerful, were lowered in their abilities in the movie. The neighbor witch to the main character, was elderly and was more powerful than the Uncle was and never had a curse put on her in the book and didn't have a romantic relationship with the Uncle. Also, Selena was the one who was summoned in the book and was the main baddie, while in the movie they teamed her up with her husband effectively making her character useless. Another point, the magicians and witches in the books didn't hide their powers, magic was meant for anyone to learn or study. In the movie, magic is hidden and only for a select few. I did love the part were the demon showed up, it was very freaky and made what was meant to be a kids movie into a "uh...well that was disturbing," kind of dark tone to the show. I love Eli Roth's films, but he could have done a little bit more with this than he did.
  
EO
Elora of Stone (Legend of Rhyme, #1)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Elora of Stone</i> is the first in an exciting fantasy series, <i>Legend of Rhyme</i>, for young readers. Set in a magical kingdom, an evil magician steals one child of every pair of twins born. In order to protect their children, Asher and Ariana’s parents move to live near Elora – a good witch turned to stone by the sorcerer. Despite the protection, four-year-old Asher goes missing. The night of her thirteenth birthday Ariana learns of Asher’s whereabouts but only has until midnight to save him.

Full of magical creatures such as witches, fairies, pixies and goblins, <i>Elora of Stone</i> is the start of a sensational story for eight to twelve year olds. Heart stopping moments will urge the young readers to see the book through to the end to discover whether the twins succeed in being reunited and learn the truth about who is good and who is evil.

Although Asher and Ariana are the main characters of the series, they are not born until exactly half way through the book. As <i>Elora of Stone</i> is only one hundred pages, there are a bit too many chapters focused on setting the scene, resulting in the main story line and climax becoming rather rushed and crammed together.

Now that the preliminary introductions to characters and settings have been made, the following books in the series will hopefully flow better. <i>Legend of Rhyme</i> promises to be a unique fairytale to enthrall pre-teens of all reading levels. The narrative is clear and easy to follow with a limit on tricky words. To break up the text there is the occasional beautiful illustration depicting the author’s visual impressions of a handful of characters.

Ending on a slight cliffhanger, <i>Elora of Stone</i> will leave readers wanting more, thus making the <i>Legend of Rhyme</i> series a great set of books to collect; a wonderful start to your own personal library.
  
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Sarah (7798 KP) rated Hellboy (2019) in Movies

Dec 31, 2019  
Hellboy (2019)
Hellboy (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Why?!
I know the original Hellboy films didn’t do well critically, but they got a fairly decent fan following and I personally loved them, so I really didn’t see why they wanted to remake it. And after watching this disaster, I definitely cannot understand why they bothered to remake it!

I’ll start with the good bits, which won’t take long as David Harbour and Ian McShane are pretty much the only decent things about this film. Ian McShane seems to be playing his usual charismatic, crazy old man character (very reminiscent of Mr Wednesday) and I’m not complaining, as this is exactly what I love about him and he’s a rather good less nice version of Professor Broom. And David Harbour is a good Hellboy and gets the very few laughs there is in this, although I think he’s very let down and not able to shine properly because of the dodgy script and just general terribleness of this film. There’s also a decent rock soundtrack accompanying the fight scenes and a fairly fun amount of gore.

And now the bad. There’s far too much cgi in this and it isn’t always good, and they should’ve toned this down a lot. The plot and progression of the entire story is just bizarre, it was just downright ridiculous. They seem to have decided to try and fit in a strange assortment of folk tales and historic legends, like the Pendle Hill witches and King Arthur, and this is alongside the already crazy (but just about believable) origin of Hellboy himself and the Nazis. Even the bad guys in this are cheesy and not particularly threatening - Milla Jovovich with a horrendous English accent and a pig creature with a Scouse accent?! I know Stephen Graham is from Liverpool but that accent on that particular character was possible the most bizarre and frustrating thing I’ve ever seen. And also despite the main lead up being slightly different, the end result to Hellboy personally is exactly the same as the original. Why not try and come up with something completely different to avoid yet more negative comparisons to the original?

This is one film that should never have seen the light of day.
  
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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) Jan 1, 2020

I was so so disappointed with this. I was hoping it would one of those films that everyone hates, but I still find something to love, but sadly not. Apart from DH of course

TC
The Casquette Girls
Alys Arden | 2013
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What an interesting read! The Casquette Girls is centered shortly after Hurricane Katrina, and of course, New Orleans, where the unexplainable happens.

Part One is a bit slow, with Adele coming back from Paris, reconstruction in the city after the hurricane, and the occasional unexplainable situation happening (aka dead people on the rise, and I don't mean zombies) but Part Two is when things really pick up.

Part Two and a bit of Part Three actually goes back to the past as Adele is reading her ancestor's diary, trying to figure out what happened in the early 1700s after being lead to a completely shut – and by completely shut, I mean nailed in – attic of the local convent. Of course, she's not lead to the diary until she accidentally "breaks" open a shutter of said convent and unleashes a threat to her entire town.

(I was sort of disappointed when the end of the diary was reached. *sigh*)

What's really neat is said threat is confined within a specific part of the city based on a curse from centuries ago – it's usually either vampires or witches. If they are together, chances are there's a pack of werewolves running around or they're with others. Plus, everyone hates vampires by then, not that it isn't the case here.

The Casquette Girls was a neat read based on a hurricane, centering around vampires and witchcraft, although Alys really could have added in a translation of the many French words used (Italian was no problem for me). I wouldn't have felt as though I'm reading fragments by then, and I'm sure the translation guide would help other non-French speaking readers too!
<img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mvEgVOM_JGs/U3FfeZceS7I/AAAAAAAADQc/Omh5mPoZ6Gc/s1600/Translation_Please_.jpg"; height="320" width="301">
----------------------
Review copy provided by the author via Xpresso Book Tours
Original Rating: 4.5
This review and more can be found over at <a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2014/06/review-the-casquette-girls-by-alys-arden.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
<a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gi5Rk5yLloA/UtliaUbdL3I/AAAAAAAACbE/J27z92_qrYU/s1600/Official+Banner.png"; /></a>
  
The Iron Warrior (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, #3)
The Iron Warrior (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, #3)
Julie Kagawa | 2015 | Young Adult (YA)
10
9.4 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
<a href="http://www.inwonderlandbookblog.com/2016/02/the-iron-warrior-review.html"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on In Wonderland</a>

At this point in time, I'm starting to think "My name is..." is starting to become really basic.

But hey, I won't complain. It's been nearly two years since <i><a title="The Iron Traitor review" href="http://www.bookwyrmingthoughts.com/2013/11/review-the-iron-traitor-by-julie-kagawa.html"; target="_blank" rel="tag">The Iron Traitor</a></i> came out and I've been waiting to get my hands on this one since... forever.

Anyways...

The very last book in the <i>Iron Fey</i> series starts off about a month after the lovely cliffhanger Kagawa left us in the second book – Ethan finds himself back in the NeverNever and discovers that not only is the world in chaos after the split second break in the Veil, but Keirran has declared war on all of the faery courts. Family drama at its best, right?

<i>The Iron Warrior</i> is perhaps one of the darkest, if not the darkest novel in the entire series (including the main arc with Meghan). Kagawa takes us on an adventure into the NeverNever as she did with the past books, but it is one really disturbing journey. We go into parts of the faery world that have not been covered and more obstacles in the Between where creepy carnivals and malevolent witches are involved in the process as Ethan and Kenzie try to stop Kierran from raging war on the courts.

All of the characters – at least, the ones that remain alive from the spin off and the main series all make some sort of appearance in this last book, and Kagawa introduces a few new ones that will never make a future appearance. There are so many feels and internal threats to kidnap Razor – he is absolutely ADORABLE and his tiny size makes him so much more adorable – that happen throughout the book.

It's a sad thought to close the final chapter to the NeverNever, but <i>The Iron Warrior</i> is totally worth reading if only to see all of the major characters from both series once more.
  
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ClareR (5603 KP) rated Cunning Women in Books

May 15, 2021  
Cunning Women
Cunning Women
Elizabeth Lee | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Cunning Women is everything I love about historical fiction.
I’m on a bit of a 17th century bender at the moment, and witches seem to crop up frequently. Basically, if you were female, didn’t have a man about the place (preferably one you were married to) and knew things other than washing, cleaning and popping out babies, you risked being accused of witchcraft. Add to that a birthmark, and/ or an opinion or two, AND not going to church regularly, then you might as well start picking your own stake out.

Sarah and her mother, brother and little sister, all live in a hamlet abandoned after all the inhabitants died of plague, known as the Plague Village. They have no money and little income after the death of Sarah’s father, and what money they do have comes from selling potions, small spells and begging. They’re outcasts, and there’s an atmosphere of dank, dark poverty in where they live and what they wear. They are avoided by pretty much everyone in the village - it seems to be a really lonely existence.

Then comes a spark of hope when Sarah meets the local farmer’s son, Daniel. He lives a very different life: one of open spaces, plenty of food, light and comfort. He’s treated poorly by his father and a farm hand, but he’s never hungry, and his living conditions are so much better than those of the Haworth family.

This is a story that feels so raw and real. You just know that it’s not going to be a happy ending. How can it? DOn’t get me wrong - I rather like endings that are unresolved or just plain unpleasant (weird, I know), but the youth of these protagonists had me hoping throughout for a better life for them.

Ahh, the 17th century - great to read about, but I’ve never been so glad to have been born in the 1970’s!

This is a really enjoyable, heartfelt historical fiction novel, and I’m so pleased that I got the chance to read it. Many thanks to Windmill Books for providing me with an e-arc through NetGalley.
  
Stir Until Petrified (Violetta Massoni #1)
Stir Until Petrified (Violetta Massoni #1)
Theda Valle | 2020 | Paranormal
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
165 of 200
Kindle
Stir until petrified ( A Violetta Massoni book 1)
By Theda Vallee

Welcome to beautiful Palermo Bay, where the witches are fierce

...and the biscotti is to die for.

Violetta "Etta" Massoni is an Italian witch living and working with her overbearing family in the sleepy seaside town of Palermo Bay. Healing from tragedy, she wants nothing to do with the magic she was born with.

Etta soon finds herself forced into the world of magic that she had resisted for so long. The peaceful calm of her community is shattered by a string of attacks that leaves fifteen people trapped in their dreams. An ominous magic task force is sent to investigate, with Etta as their number one suspect.

Her family has never been able to mind their own business, and they aren’t about to start now! Dragging her grandmother from crime scenes will be the least of her worries. Join Etta and the whole Massoni girl gang on a perilous, hilarious adventure filled with magic, myth, and minestrone!


After waiting for so long I finally got round to reading this! Oh my god! I don’t remember the last time I gave a 5* and enjoyed a book so much! I laughed I adore Etta and her family! It was packed with wit and so well written! The last character I loved this much was Charley Davidson from Darynda Jones’s books! I also learnt what a Benandanti was and that in this book I’d be expecting a knock at the door on his 10th birthday. Also my favourite quote which had me laughing out loud!


“Where am I supposed to sit?” I eyed the motorcycle’s seat, trying to calculate how much butt room there was. He handed me a helmet, pointing to the back of the bike. “You sit behind me. It’s called the bitch seat.” “Does that make where you’re sitting the prick perch?” I asked, climbing on behind him. As I’d feared, sitting made my shorts move so far up my nether region, I was positive we’d need a search and rescue team to get them out later.

I really can’t wait to read the next book!