Harper Collins

Review: Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas

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Ya’ll. You know I love me some historical romances. And I definitely love historical romances written by Lisa Kleypas. Her Ravenel series is one of my favorites. The family of characters are so much fun to watch! Chasing Cassandra was probably the sweetest by far.

After the wedding of her sister, Cassandra starts to worry that she’ll never have a marriage based on love, which is what she wants. She’s received numerous proposals but no one gave her butteries in her belly. That is until she set her eye upon Tom Severin.

Tom is a peculiar fellow. I loved him. His scenes were some of the sweetest one from the book. Practically every scenes with Bazzle/Basil had me melting. He claims that he doesn’t feel love but the more he sees Cassandra the more he realizes he might be wrong. She makes him think of things he never would’ve before. She brings ideas about his life that he didn’t think would happen to him.

When she’s caught up in a scandal, that was not her fault, Tom steps in in the hopes that he can help her by being a friend. But he has no idea what’s headed his way. Friendship is only the beginning.

I loved watching these two together. She was a bit self conscious and he made her feel beautiful inside and out. He truly was the best man for her.

While their connection was explosive and it would catch both of them off guard, it was a bit of a slow burn as well. Lisa made us wait til we were chomping at the bit. And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

~Melpomene

Release day Feb 18, 2020
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Review: The Gambers of Craven’s series by Lisa Kleypas

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Last week I stumbled upon this new to me short series. It’s really is two main books and two novellas. Something about the gaming halls in historical romances intrigue me. Especially the men that own them.

Now I know the first book isn’t all about Derek Craven but I couldn’t help but fall for him right away. I knew he was trying to make himself into a better man while trying not to fall in love with Lily. He just had to be patient and wait his turn. And let me tell you, when love struck him, he fought it with everything he had. And I loved every minute of it.

The first book didn’t wow me as much as I’d hoped but it was still a good story. It laid the groundwork for future stories and I was okay with that.

Now the second is where my heart went crazy. Sara is an author doing research in Craven’s gambling house and he tried to stay away from the sweet girl. But it’s hard when she seems to be everywhere and talking to everyone. She was kind to each person she met, whether cook or working girl. She grew to care for the man even if he put up a fight against his own feelings.

The novellas were nice to keep the happiness going. Since they’re in separate anthologies I only read those stories, not the others. So I have no idea if the others were good. I was on a mission to read only the Craven’s stories.

If you’re looking for a short historical romance series to sink your teeth into, then I recommend you grab The Gamblers of Craven’s and enjoy!

~Melpomene

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Quick review: Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean

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I am loving this series!!

Beast was a fun character to read about. He’s very protective of those he loves, even if it means sending them away. Hearing his full backstory made my heart squeeze. Hattie was definitely made for him. She knew what he needed and how to care for him.

Hattie was the strongest girl ever. I loved her determination although I was saddened by her self esteem at times. She made me wanna reach in and hug her. She gave up on dreams and resigned to being alone so she created this outer shell of strength, but we could see straight through to the hurt. Beast was definitely the guy to crack that shell and show her that she’s perfect just the way she is.

I am so flipping excited for the next book, I almost can’t stand it. Ewan was so bad, but at the same time you could tell he was just broken. I need Grace and his story like RIGHT NOW. So now I wait….

~Melpomene
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Review: The Tiger Catcher by Paullina Simons

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My thoughts are all over the place. Bear with me.

After the epicness of The Bronze Horseman I was expecting something similar. This was not it. Was there emotion? Yeah. Heck, I could pinpoint the “Depths of Despair” moment. Will I read the next books? Most definitely. But I have so many mixed feelings right now, it’s hard to put into words.

The Tiger Catcher seemed light hearted and almost a rom com. If you want this epic story that’ll leave you breathless, then you’ll definitely be surprised.

The main heroine, Josephine, was snarky and at times I wanted to shake her. She was selfish and not very appealing at times, but I know there’s more to her than what we saw. She has two more books to turn it around and I believe she will. The hero, Julian, did all the right things and yet his heart was still broken. He is the main reason I’m here. I need him to find his HEA like I need air to breathe.

It was a good story, just not what I was expecting. A magical feel is interwoven throughout this. This is not a straightforward romance. Theirs was a romance through space and time… Once I stopped comparing it to TBH, I realized it still was still a very good story, if not a bit different. I’ve always liked when authors took a chance on something new, so I’m glad I took a chance on this as well.

I look forward to the next one.

~Melpomene

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Review: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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Ever have a book that you wanna read but the hype scares you? I mean when EVERYONE likes it, that makes me nervous. It puts a lot of pressure on me. What if I don’t? I’ll have to keep it a secret or risk defending my reasons for not liking it. I hate it when that happens. Well, The Hating Game was that book. I’m gonna be honest here. When I first started reading it, I realized it was a rom-com, and I don’t like those, so I stopped reading it. Sad, but true. HOWEVER, it was staring at me every time I turned on my kindle, so this last week, I picked it back up and tried it again, and you know what? I. LOVED. IT. Every single moment.

The Hating Game was not your traditional rom-com, thankfully. It was definitely enemies to lovers, which I love, so I am sitting her with the biggest, goofiest grin on my face. This book totally lived up to the hype. Trust me.

Can you imagine being around the one person you hate all day, every day at work? They work across from you and you have see their annoying face for 8+ hours? That’s what Josh and Lucy do. The entire office knows that they hate each other. HR has files on them. Even their bosses know to keep them apart. But you know what that say, there’s a fine line between love and hate, and this is proof of it.

Being on the outside, I could totally read the signs, but obviously, they couldn’t. I loved watching them come to realization that they were being ridiculous and their hearts were pushing them together. I swear I spent the last few chapters cheering and giggling at how things all started coming together. I love love this book made my heart so very happy. It was a slow burn that kept me wanting more. If you’re looking for a book that’ll leave you happy and swoony, this is the book for you.

“I hope it’s not too forward of me to say, but your eyes are incredible, Lucy. I die when you blink.”

Hello, swoon.

And if this is Sally Thorne’s debut novel, I can’t wait to see what else she brings to the table! I’ll be first in line.

~Melpomene
Buy The Hating Game https://amzn.to/2LAPNe0

Review: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

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100% my type of book. I loved every single minute of it and hated for it to end.

Oh. My. Word.

Sometimes I look at my library and despair at ever finding a book to read. I have thousands of books in my TBR pile. No, I jest not. My “to-read” list on Goodreads is currently at 9,886. These are books I own in one format or another (audio, DTBooks or Ebooks). I don’t have them all listed of course. so you could probably add a couple thousand more. My cloud on Amazon alone lists over 6,000.

I can spend hours trying to decide what to read next. I am always trying to find the perfect book for me. I hate to know that I can pick a book that, although a good book, isn’t a great book.

The book I am forever searching for is THIS TYPE OF BOOK! This is the type of book I live for. Some people live for chocolate. I live for this type of book.

Just oh my word. What did I NOT love about it? Ummm….I can’t think of anything…except maybe that it ended. Some say it has a fairy tale sort of feel. Yes, I can see that. It also has that fable type of feel as well. It has moral conflicts scattered throughout. It has old folklore scattered about as well. It has strong secondary characters that one finds just as intriguing as the main characters. And oh my dear lord, Chava and Ahmad. *swoons* Talk about two halves of a whole. Two creatures that mirror and reflect off each other. I’m not talking romance here. This novel isn’t a romantic type of read. Please don’t think this is some hot and steamy romance. It’s so not. This is…well it’s just what I said…It’s two halves of a whole and reflections off one another that go on to shape who these creatures are. What does it mean to be human?

This is one of those novels that you have to stop and leave all your expectations at the door. This isn’t a novel that you go into imagining it to be some sort of read…because what you imagine won’t be true…you just need to let the story unfold and let it be your guide…not some preconceived notions of what a story is meant to be.

I can’t express enough how much I loved this book. If a jinni came up to me and granted me one wish of a book I would like to read…well, I would be completely unable to tell them exactly what I wanted/needed/craved…but if I were able to tell them and express every desire…

Well here you would have it…

Until next time…
Urania xx

Buy it now The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Review: The Bridgertons by Julia Quinn

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As some of you may know, I’ve spent almost this entire year reading historical romances. I can’t get enough. My most recent binged series was The Bridgertons by Julia Quinn. Funny thing was, I had zero intentions about reading them. In fact, since I consider myself a late in life reader, I never even heard of these. But I had a friend who posted some 1-star reviews that claimed there was too much sex in them. Well now, since I love love, I figured it was my duty to see if they were correct in their rants. They weren’t. And I’m a little disappointed in that, if I’m being honest. They were a slow burn type of romance, not that I’m complaining. I don’t know what these people were talking about.

This series is about eight siblings and how they each meet their true loves. This is plenty of heartache and romance and lots and lots of banter. I was pretty much reading with a silly smile on my face the entire time. I’m not even kidding. The banter was spot on. I adore books like these. Love is important in life, but without the funny, it’s rather boring. So, if you were born under a rock, like myself, and never read these books, go and add these to your tbr right.

The one thing you need to know is that each book has a bonus epilogue that was written after the books were all done. So there may be a few minor spoilers, like who the love interests are, of the future couples. It didn’t bother me. It just made me wanna read faster. Which is probably why I had to buy a few of these, since my library was taking too long to give them to me. I was impatient. Man, I really liked these books.

I’m so glad those 1-star whiners were wrong.

~Melpomene

THE DUKE AND I http://amzn.to/2ADB21v
THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME http://amzn.to/2j2qBQH *My favorite*
AN OFFER FROM A GENTLEMAN http://amzn.to/2j3uPHV
ROMANCING MISTER BRIDGERTON http://amzn.to/2j2TtIE
TO SIR PHILLIP, WITH LOVE http://amzn.to/2zYePK5
WHEN HE WAS WICKED http://amzn.to/2ADAEzY
IT’S IN HIS KISS http://amzn.to/2ADUPxw
ON THE WAY TO THE WEDDING http://amzn.to/2j2h2Bn

Review: Honor by Jay Crownover

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I am kicking myself for waiting so long to read this book. I’ve read everything Jay’s written and yet, for some insane reason, I held off on this one. I think my brain knew the next book was coming out in October, so it made me wait. Yes, let’s go with that.

When I read the introduction, I was immediately nervous. Will I like Nassir? Will he be too damaged to change? Then I read the prologue. And let me tell you, anyone can change, if they have the right motivation. Is Nassir perfect? Nope. He’s what you’d call an anti-hero. He may make you cringe at his methods of doing things, but he does them for the right reasons. He’s just a little more extreme than most. But when he meets Keelyn “Honor”, everything changes for him.

I loved these two together. After being shot in the previous book, she fought to stay away from Nassir, thinking that’s what was best for her. She had a rough life and wanted peace. But she was so wrong. When she finally accepts him, and what he offers her, there’s no backing away. These two were connected from the very first moment they laid eyes on each other. Rather intense, if you ask me. My heart was racing quite a bit during this book. Intense may actually be a mild for how they are together. Explosive. That’s better.

Nassir and Key may be one of my favorite Crownover couples. I love the crazy love and crazy atmosphere they live in. Definitely kept me on my toes and had me reading slow, so I could savor it all. This world they live in is rough and unkind, but they make it work. I am super excited to read the next one! I bet it’s going to be even crazier. You don’t need to read the previous Point books to fully enjoy this one. But I still recommend you do, since the characters pop up in here and Nassir is in those ones as well.

~Melpomene

Grab Honor HERE

Review: Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas

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01-aThe Wallflowers was my first introduction to Lisa Kleypas, then I went on to The Ravenels. Without saying any spoilers, I will say that I highly recommend you reading those before you take a dive into this book. You’ll feel such a stronger connection once you realize who the story is about. Very exciting. She’s a fairly new to me author, so I haven’t had to wait long for this book, but I was no less excited for this story.

The main thing I like about this book was how different Pandora was. She’s not the usual swooning maiden who’s perfect in all things. She wanted to continue to be who she is and not have it all taken away if she got married. She wanted to maintain her identity and not have it stripped from her. Plus without sounding mean, she was less than “perfect” physically. She there were parts of her that just made her more human in my eyes. Again, there is no perfect person, I hope you understand what I’m trying to say.

Gabriel was major swoon worthy in my eyes. He was smitten almost immediately and was willing to step up to the plate and be the man he needed to be, even if he never wanted this. He was trying to be the honorable man. I love seeing couples in the courting stages. It’s rather sweet. And let me tell you, Gabriel has all the right moves.

“You’re the reason the earth turns and morning follows night. You’re the meaning of primroses and why kissing was invented. You’re the reason my heart beats. God help me, I’m not strong enough to survive without you.”

I LOVED seeing Sebastian St. Vincent. He was just as amazing as he was in his own book. He still loves Evie, even after 30 years together, and it’s a great example for Gabriel. While he hasn’t always made the right decisions, he’s shown him what’s it like to be a good husband and protector. Plus he knows what to say when it’s needed.

“Dangerous creatures, wallflowers. Approach them with the utmost caution. They sit quietly in corners, appearing abandoned and forlorn, when in truth they’re sirens who lure men to their downfall. You won’t even notice the moment she steals the heart right out of your body-and then it’s hers for good. A wallflower never gives your heart back.”

I read that part three times with a silly grin on my face. Truer words never spoken.

And by the way, if the next book is going where I think it’s going, I’ll be barricading myself in my room all release day, just so I can get transported into this magical world that Lisa has created. I recommend you do the same.

~Melpomene

Buy Devil in Spring HERE

Review: American Sniper by Chris Kyle

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11887020I could go all on about how America needs people like Chris Kyle. Yea, I reckon they do. Without people such as Kyle, the world wouldn’t go ’round. My little bit of experience with the military reinforces what I felt about this book. Certain individuals are born for military service and the military is quick to see who they are. They are also quick to *train* them further for their needs.

But, hey ho, I said I wasn’t going to go there….

Why did I hate this book? I, personally, didn’t believe a word Kyle said. Yes, I believe the stories. But I somehow doubt his genuine feelings for his family, his country, and most of all, his modesty. Every single time (okay, maybe only AFTER the first half-dozen times he stated it) he said it was luck and not skill that earned him the title, I felt like he was SCREAMING, “I have to say that, but we all know I’m the BEST.” I just found his entire attitude judgmental (whether or not it was about his wife, his fellow comrades, or the civilians he was sworn to help). I felt he thought his was the most important viewpoint and no one else’s was valid. Even when he spoke of past war combats, he stated that they really didn’t understand what it was like for him. This might be true…but nor does he understand what it was like for them. There could possibly be more than one way to win a war, and certainly more than one objective. Kyle was trained for one aspect of that, and trained well, and he did well at his job….However, that doesn’t mean he’s above those others that trained in different areas and did their absolute best to back him and to do their job, no matter how lacking the conditions might have proved to be for them…

I don’t think Kyle won the war all by himself, no matter how much he might think he did…

Again, sorry for those that loved the book…I might have felt different it was told by someone else…however, there just wasn’t room for any love for me in this one…his ego kept getting in the way…

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now American Sniper by Chris Kyle