Month: August 2019

Review: How to Love a Duke in Ten Days by Kerrigan Byrne

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It’s a new series by Kerrigan Byrne!!! And what a beginning this was. When I first found out she was writing a new series I was thrilled. I love her Victorian Rebels series, so I was dying to dive into this new one.

This author is another auto buy for me, and one that I don’t read the blurbs beforehand. I like to go in blind. So when I read the inscription, I wondered if this book was going to give me all the feels. And the I read the prologue. Not for the faint of heart. Gripping and heart racing beginning.

Alexandra Lane has held onto this secret for 10 years. Guilt, shame and fear have been her constant companions. My heart broke for her. Having to live like that, I wanted to reach in the pages and give her a hug. She was so strong but yet she needed someone stronger to set her free.

I adored Piers. SO MUCH. He needs to find a bride, and have an heir, in order seek revenge on his cousin. When he agrees to marry Alexandra, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Secrets threaten to keep them from his ultimate goal but he’s determined to win her and succeed.

The chemistry was sizzling between these two. I was loving their interactions. She’s used to being surrounded by men so she has a strong wit that keeps him engaged. Their passion was off the charts. Piers was made for her. He was strong and determined to help discover her secrets and help her move past them.

The side characters are a riot! I am so looking forward to their stories. The friendship bond these girls have is strong and I know they will be there for each other till their dying breaths.

I need the next book!!

~Melpomene

Grab book one in this series here: https://amzn.to/2F49d5I

Review: All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio

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So much love for this one. It has everything I enjoy in a historical tale…World War II era, secrets, romance, danger, and a meshing of old and new.

It starts with Caroline waking up in the hospital. She has no memory of her past life, so she’s left to piece together what she can. What she discovers is, she wasn’t a very happy person. Along the way, she begins to uncover the story of another.

Celine is a young window in Nazi occupied Germany. Her only concern is keeping her father and young daughter safe. The letters she leaves behind tell her sad story.

This is an outstanding addition to the genre of historical fiction. Five stars for me!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: All the Flowers in Paris

Review: The Wolf Wants In by Laura McHugh

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What a richly woven, compelling story this one was. It starts off with a death, an unexpected one for sure, but still a suspicious death to Shane’s family. From there it spirals into a complex tale of family loyalty, secrets, suspicions, and bonds too strong to be broken. Bouncing back and forth between two time periods, the author gives us a glimpse into the events right before Shane’s death. Because Sadie just can’t let it go, she’s drawn deeper and deeper into a part of her brother’s life that she wasn’t a part of. It’s a mystery, yes, and a bit of a detective story as well. But the story is so well-written, the characters so fully developed, that it reads nothing like the procedural pieces we’ve come to expect from the genre. Definitely five stars!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: The Wolf Wants In

Review: Quiet Man by Kristen Ashley

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Novellas are always hard to rate. They’re usually too short to be too emotionally awesome. Now a KA novella, those are in a league of their own. Definitely worth the five stars.

Mo and Lottie’s sorry was short and sexy and just the right length. I am so happy she got her dream man. She deserved happiness just like the rest of the Rock Chicks. It was so fun to see Lottie take center stage and not get swallowed up by the craziness of those girls. She gets lost in the shuffle sometimes. She was due to have her own HEA.

Mo was the perfect man for her. It’s like he was made for her. I love everything about him. He was strong and yet insecure at times. I like that in a hero, his realness. I liked being in his head. He was definitely a riot at times.

And can we talk about his buds? They are gonna be so fun to watch! The way they all responded to her and accepted her made my heart squeeze. They all have their quirks and she knows exactly how to work with them. She now has more “brothers” than she knows what to do with. I am happy for her.

And of course the epilogue was amazing as ever. Kristen Ashley is the queen of the epilogue so there was never any doubt.

So I didn’t get a Hot Bunch Guy.
I got my Dream Man.
And the best of all that…
My Dream Man got his Dream Girl.

This is the start of a new spin off of sorts and I can’t WAIT to get more!! I love these new guys!

~Melpomene

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Review: Blood Truth by J.R.Ward

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When J.R. Ward writes a book, you stop everything to read it. I devoured this in less than 24 hours and I regret nothing. My family can survive on cereal, am I right?

Let me start off by saying I love Boone and Butch! After the death of his father, Boone was taken of rotation and partnered up with Butch to solve the gruesome murders of women patrons of a local club. They worked so well together. We usually see the vampire side of Butch, so it was nice to see his human side for a bit. His years in law enforcement came in handy and I liked the way Boone learned from it.

I feel like Boone was struggling, even if he didn’t realize it. He has nothing but the trainee program. Until he meets Helania. Her sister was one of the victims so she’s trying to catch the murderer as well. When these two cross paths it’s an instant connection. Because, as you know, with these vampires, it only takes an instant to find the one for you. While he should be maintaining a professional distance, his heart is screaming for him not to. While a murder investigation isn’t fun, watching them tow the line between professional and personal was.

Helania tugged at my heart. She was all alone after her sister’s death. She didn’t have an easy time growing up and making friends so her shyness/awkwardness was sweet in a sad way. Watching her grow stronger throughout this book was magnificent. I love to see women grow. And I really love watching the men help them do that.

Blood Truth seemed to have more Brothers and Bastards than trainees, which I am happy about. I just love those brothers! I know we’re getting at least one more Legacy book but I swear Ms. Ward has said that she wants to merge them into the Brothers’ books so we don’t have to keep up with too many different series. I don’t even mind. I want this world to never stop.

We also get a glimpse into one of the Bastards, which was fun. I know his book is coming next so this was a nice set up. It makes me super excited to read his story. I have a feeling it’s gonna be WILD.

~Melpomene

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Review: The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel

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I had a friend recently mention that she was a bit burned out on books with wife/husband/daughter/etc. in the title. Believe me, I understand the overload and fatigue from so much of the same. But trust me, you’ll want to give this one a chance if you’re a fan of WWII era stories.

This one’s a tale of a love triangle. Well actually, a quadrangle. When Inès met and married Michel, she had visions of happily ever after dancing around in her head. But living and working in a winery is not as glamorous as she’d expected. It’s even more difficult when someone else is vying for your husband’s affection.

And then there’s the war. As France is pulled deeper and deeper into German occupation, everyone involved has something to lose. And everyone has secrets. Some are working for the Resistance, and some are aligning themselves with the enemy.

This is one of those stories that alternates between past and present. And really, that’s the best way to tell a tale such as this. An outstanding addition to the genre.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: The Winemaker’s Wife

Review: Dark Alpha’s Redemption by Donna Grant

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These Reapers books are quick fast reads that hold us over till we can get to the next Dark King story. They add a little side story to an already full world. I consider them stepping stones as such. You could skip them, but you’d miss out one this entire batch of fun characters.

In order to become a reaper, they all were killed unjustly. Death has compassion and gives them the option of coming to work for her or staying dead. The story behind Bradach is why he dislikes the Dark and no longer trusts them. So when he meets Maeve, he immediately has his qualms about working with her. But he does what Death tells him to do.

This story was super fast, and almost a filler. So much happened, but yet they still don’t have the answers they need. Usaeil is still evil, but now they know how evil. They also know the way to kill her, but they’re still searching for Rhi to do the job. I will say it’s nice that after so many years alone, it’s nice to see the reapers finding love. I can see the light coming! We’re almost to the end of this world! Bittersweet, I know, but I can’t for everything to come together in an explosive end.

~Melpomene

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Review: King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

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Bare with me here, I’m not sure where to begin. I enjoyed this book. A lot more than I thought I would. But yet, at the same time, not as much as I’d hoped. A lot happened and yet nothing really changed. I mean something did, but I felt that the whole point of the story never changed. Clear as mud, right?

I love Nikolai and his snark. After finishing this, I kinda wanna reread the Grisha again just to get more from him. He really was fun and he deserves all the best. And I’m still holding out hope that the one thing I want him to get he gets.

I didn’t care for Nina or her story. Sorry but it’s true. I’ll just say, I liked her more in the beginning, when she was still working through some things. She felt real then. Towards the end of this she changed and I just didn’t care. It felt off somehow. I found myself skimming her parts a bit. Since I’m being honest, her story line feels like it’s going in a direction that makes no sense to me. I could be way off base here, but hopefully I’m reading too much into things.

I loved the Grisha books way more than the Six of Crows so I was hoping for more of them. This book seemed like a bridge to bring them both together, which is FINE, but that’s not exactly what I wanted. But I’m not the author so I don’t make the calls. I will definitely read the next one because I am super intrigued with how this ended. It was not a surprise to me, but it was wild. And I mean W.I.L.D.

So now we wait…

~Melpomene

Grab King of Scars https://amzn.to/2K0w7Ok

Review: Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

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T. Greenwood has done it again. She’s written a story so complex, so emotional that it sticks with you long after the last page has been turned.

The year is 1969. A different time, different beliefs. Ginny is heartbroken when her newborn is ripped from her arms and given over to a “special school” before she even knows what’s happening. Her husband, Ab, and his father convince her it’s for the best. After all, what do they know about raising a child with Down Syndrome?

So Ginny tries to move on. She continues to be a good wife and mother to their other child. But Lucy is always in her heart and on her mind. Then she sees an article on Willowridge, the school where Lucy has been sent. And the stories coming from Willowridge are not good.

Acting on instinct, she takes a trip to see it for herself. What she sees isn’t good. It certainly isn’t a place anyone should willingly want their child to live. Determined to save Lucy this time, she sets out on a cross country journey while trying to convince Ab that their baby belongs at home with them. Along the way she finds that, while Lucy may have been out of her hands for the last two years, she’s never been out of her heart.

This is another outstanding story from one of my favorite authors. It’s heartbreaking but also historical in that it captures the attitudes from the time period perfectly. It’s a story of despair and hope, a story of family and love. This is one I won’t soon forget!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Keeping Lucy

Review: The Lady in the Coppergate Tower by Nancy Allen Campbell

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A sweet friends to lovers romance with suspense thrown all around. When a man shows up claiming he’s Hazel’s uncle and she has a twin that needs her help, Sam volunteers to go with her on her journey. They’re both leery but Hazel has been having these crazy dreams all her life and now things are starting to click into place after finding out she’s a twin. But things aren’t always as smooth as you’d hope.

My stomach was in knots as I tried to figure out what was happening. Definitely a wild ride. As Hazel and Sam try to discover the real reason they’re on this journey, it was fun to watch as they realize that their feelings for each other are way stronger than just friends. It was sweet actually. They knew they cared for each other, but being forced to rely on each other more brought out their true feelings.

I’m happy to say that the steampunk aspect didn’t distract me like it usually does. I was able to focus on the story and not all the movable parts. Yay, me!

I enjoy that these Steampunk Proper Romance stories are interconnected standalones. When past characters pop in, I don’t feel like I’m missing anything, since I don’t remember their stories. I am curious about a few characters and hope they get stories as well.

~Melpomene

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