The Book:
Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia's family, her land, and her name. Theo was crowned Ash Princess--a title of shame to bear in her new life as a prisoner.
The Blurb:
For ten years Theo has been a captive in her own palace. She's endured the relentless abuse and ridicule of the Kaiser and his court. She is powerless, surviving in her new world only by burying the girl she was deep inside.
Then, one night, the Kaiser forces her to do the unthinkable. With blood on her hands and all hope of reclaiming her throne lost, she realizes that surviving is no longer enough. But she does have a weapon: her mind is sharper than any sword. And power isn't always won on the battlefield.
For ten years, the Ash Princess has seen her land pillaged and her people enslaved. That all ends here.
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 2/06/18
352 page ebook
I requested this from NG based on the blurb above, which you can see is absent of any kind of "romance" or "love" type words. Yay! A kickass female who doesn't fall into the first guy that comes along.
Sigh. Should have know. Are there any female writers out there who DON'T write romance? I'd love to hear about them. I'm so sick and tired of "I just met you but I love you". Blech!
But, despite the romance, and it wasn't the WHOLE plot, I did enjoy this book. I liked Theo as a character, most of the time. What she endured and kept strong through was pretty amazing. She played the meek, innocent, cowed princess very well but once she got the spark in her to do something, she really came alive.
I was surprised by one thing, which was good because it's hard to surprise me in books these days. I was intrigued by the story and it kept my interest, despite the romance parts, which were my least favorite of everything. I do intend to read more.
Recommended for those who like a kickass female, though it takes her a while to get that way, with liberal doses of "falling in love" mixed it.
Setting = A
Plot = B
Conflict = B
Characters = B
Theme = A
The Rating:
The Book:
FBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick has been waiting her whole life for disaster to strike. A prepper since childhood, Mercy grew up living off the land—and off the grid—in rural Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. Until a shocking tragedy tore her family apart and forced her to leave home. Now a predator known as the cave man is targeting the survivalists in her hometown, murdering them in their homes, stealing huge numbers of weapons, and creating federal suspicion of a possible domestic terrorism event. But the crime scene details are eerily familiar to an unsolved mystery from Mercy’s past.
The Blurb:
Sent by the FBI to assist local law enforcement, Mercy returns to Eagle’s Nest to face the family who shunned her while maintaining the facade of a law-abiding citizen. There, she meets police chief Truman Daly, whose uncle was the cave man’s latest victim. He sees the survivalist side of her that she desperately tries to hide, but if she lets him get close enough to learn her secret, she might not survive the fallout…
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 12/30/16
352 page ebook
This is the introduction to Kendra Elliot's newest character, Mercy Kilpatrick. I'm a fan of Kendra's books, especially her Callhoune & McClain series and her part of the Solitude, Oregon series so I liked, but didn't love, this intro to the new character.
Mercy is a pretty unique character, I like her and I like her background, but I hate her family, except Rose of course. I hate controlling families so that really diminished my enjoyment of this book. Minus the family it may have been a 5 star book for me, but minus the family, Mercy wouldn't be who she was.
The story was interesting and kept my attention. I was eager to read the 2nd book and though I didn't like it as much, I'm going to read the 3rd and will stick with it if that one is good again. I recommend all Kendra's books for romantic suspense fans. I really like her character development.
Setting = A
Plot = B
Conflict = B
Characters = B
Theme = A
The Rating:
The Book:
Raised off the grid by survivalists, Mercy Kilpatrick believed in no greater safeguard than the backwoods of Oregon. Unforgiven by her father for abandoning the fold for the FBI, Mercy still holds to her past convictions. They’re in her blood. They’re her secrets—as guarded as her private survival retreat hidden away in the foothills.
The Blurb:
In a cabin near her hideaway, Mercy encounters a young girl whose grandmother is dying from multiple knife wounds. Hundreds of miles away, a body is discovered slashed to death in a similar way. The victims—a city judge and an old woman living in the woods—couldn’t be more different. With the help of police chief Truman Daly, Mercy must find the killer before the body count rises. Mercy knows that the past has an edge on her. So does her family. How can she keep her secrets now…when they’re the only things that can save her?
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 1/08/18
332 page ebook
Though I ended up giving this book a 4 star rating on Goodreads, it was more like 3.5 and if I didn't already love this author, I probably would have rated down rather than up. But I like most all of Kendra's books, so I can forgive her for a dud or two.
This one was a dud for me. It wasn't AWFUL, it just wasn't her best outing. While Mercy is an ok character, I've liked her other characters better, but this seems to be the series she's focusing on right now, along with the continued collaboration with Melinda Leigh on the Solitude Oregon series. As a side note, I LOVE Kendra's books in those series, and I hate Melinda Leigh's. So reading that series is very weird for me.
But back to Mercy, I felt like this story had been done many times before and it just didn't keep my interest. I really ended up not caring about it by the end and just wanted to get through it. It's a typical romantic suspense, with not much romance which is good for me but this one just left me hanging. I'm hopeful the next one will be good again.
Setting = A-
Plot = B-
Conflict = C
Characters = B
Theme = B-
The Rating:
The Book:
There has been a murder, but not only is the identity of the victim unknown, most of the body itself is missing. All that’s been found is a pair of feet, stored in a portable cooler, and left in the house of a Federal judge in El Paso, Texas. The killer apparently broke into the judge’s house, left his grizzly message, and disappeared without a trace. With no clues as to the killer, the person killed, or the intent behind the cooler, all the authorities really know is that this likely isn’t the killer’s first—or his last—victim.
The Blurb:
Magnus “Steps” Craig is an FBI agent and an elite tracker, easily the best in the world. Steps is renowned for his incredible ability to find and follow trails over any surface. As part of the three-man special team, FBI’s Special Tracking Unit (STU), he is called in on cases where his skills are indispensable. But there’s a secret to his skill. Steps has a kind of synesthesia, an ability that allows him to see whatever each particular person has touched in a unique color—what Steps calls ‘shine.’ His ability is known to only a few people—his father, the director of the FBI, and his partner, Special Agent Jimmy Donovan.
While the Special Tracking Unit tries to grapple with the gruesome scene in El Paso, they soon discover another, earlier victim. Once again, only the feet—in a disposable icebox—were left behind. With almost no clues besides the body parts, Steps and his team find themselves enmeshed in the most difficult case of their careers. And The Icebox Killer has only just begun.
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 3/20/18
336 page ebook
I don't know why it took me so long to read this one after I got it from NetGalley, and thanks to A who pushed me to finally read it. I LOVE this series and I just wish there was more out already so I can read more.
The only negative thing I have to say about this book is that the murders revolved around feet. And OMG I HATE feet!! Like with a passion. So that part of the book annoyed me, I wish they would have stopped talking about the damn feet, like I will now.
Other than that, this book was so good. I LOVE Steps. He's a unique imperfect character, and he writes handwritten letters. Love him double for that, I love my pen pals!! He's got this kickass ability but has to keep it to himself and just three others, so it's a constant struggle to figure out ways to find evidence of what he already knows. It's a very unique take on crime solving and done with unique characters that you can't help but root for. Steps is definitely among my favorites of crime solving detectives, right up there with Eve Dallas and Robert Hunter.
I can't wait for more from Steps!
Setting = A
Plot = A+
Conflict = A+
Characters = A+
Theme = A+
The Rating:
The Book:
Sam Miller followed her heart to the West Coast. Now she’s back, she’s single, and she’s got one mission: spend as much time as possible in Bay West, her favorite all-lesbian condo development. When she meets the sexy owner of Lucy’s Coffee Bar, Sam reshuffles her priorities right on the spot. But Lucy Weston has zero time for distractions, and she’s not about to make an exception—even if Sam’s easy confidence and subtle charm get her every time.
The Blurb:
Meanwhile, Meg McTiernan’s finally in a steady relationship with Reina Ramirez. So why can’t she stop wondering what Sasha Michaels is up to? When a chance run-in with her ex offers a glimpse into what her life could be, Meg wonders if she will be brave enough to risk it all for the girl she’s never stopped loving.
Bay West Social: where friendship, fun, romance, and drama are always brewing.
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 1/27/18
254 page ebook
Was so glad to get back to Bay West, my favorite lesbian community. This series is just good. There's little pettiness, there's real like situations, there's lovable characters. It's everything you want in a series about a tight knit community.
The things I want to praise about are all spoilery, so I don't wanna go there. :/ I like what finally happened with Meg, because ugh the start of the book. I didn't like, at all, what was going on with Lexi/Jesse. Unfortunately if that continues on in the next book, with more than just a blurb about it, I will probably have to end my love affair with these books. We'll see. The books tend to be about Meg and whoever new is in town, as long as it stays that way, we'll be all good. If it focuses on the other stuff, I'll be super disappointed, but that's just me.
Recommended for GLBT fans, and those who like reading about the ongoing sagas of a small community.
Setting = A
Plot = B
Conflict = B
Characters = B+
Theme = A
The Rating:
The Book:
azz Bashara is a criminal.
The Blurb:
Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.
Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 7/10/17 & 2/15/08
322 page ebook
This is NOT The Martian, not even on the same level as The Martian, but it's still a GOOOOD book and it annoys me because people go into this book expecting magic in a bottle again and are disappointed when they don't get it. I don't think The Martain CAN be topped on all the levels it appeals, so expecting that magic again was a too lofty expectation.
Artemis on its own is a good book. Rating system of 1-5 fails in this regard. Is it a 5 star book? If you can only rate 1-5 it sure is. Is it the same kind of 5 star book that The Martian is? Hell no. So, Goodreads falls flat in this regard and that's while you'll see my rose system is more of a 1-11 type rating, rather than 1-5. On this one, if I could rate it 1-10, I'd give it a solid 8.
Jazz is an interesting character. She's flawed but not evil. She just wants to survive in a world where its not easy to survive and everything she's doing is for reasons she finds honorable, even if what she is doing isn't.
I'd definitely recommend this book to fans of heists and moon/space stories. Just don't go in expecting magic and take Jazz for who she is, which is still a really good character. She's not Mark Watney, but I think they'd be friends. :)
Setting = A+
Plot = A
Conflict = A
Characters = A
Theme = A+
The Rating:
The Book:
Tyler Bennett trusts no one. Just another foster kid bounced from home to home, he’s learned that lesson the hard way. Cue world’s tiniest violin. But when strange things start happening—waking up with bloody knuckles and no memory of the night before or the burner phone he can’t let out of his sight— Tyler starts to wonder if he can even trust himself.
The Blurb:
Even stranger, the girl he’s falling for has a burner phone just like his. Finding out what’s really happening only leads to more questions…questions that could get them both killed. It’s not like someone’s kidnapping teens lost in the system and brainwashing them to be assassins or anything, right? And what happens to rogue assets who defy control?
In a race against the clock, they’ll have to uncover the truth behind Project Pandora and take it down—before they’re reactivated. Good thing the program spent millions training them to kick ass...
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 7/25/17
372 page ebook
This book has pretty favorable reviews. Not great great ones, but favorable. I seem to be in the majority as I didn't like this book at all. I ended up giving it a 2 star rating, because I didn't HATE it, which is what I usually reserve 1 star ratings for, but I didn't like it either.
For me, the characters were really flat. I couldn't get behind them or their cause. I just didn't care about them, they were uninteresting to me. Too much of the book was about high school drama, than the actual figuring out who & what they were. I definitely wanted more action, more depth to the characters and less whiney drama. Just didn't sit well with me at all.
If you are into that kind of book with that kind of drama, feel free to try it, you might like it, it just wasn't for me, which was sad because I liked the premise. If you are looking for teenage assassins, try Boy Nobody instead.
Setting = C
Plot = D
Conflict = D
Characters = F
Theme = C
The Rating:
The Book:
After the death of his dad, Martin and his mum move into an enormous stately home where they encounter a mysterious being called the Keeper of Portals, who claims to control every portal on the planet, except for the door at the end of Martin’s bedroom, which has been sealed for 400 years.
The Blurb:
One morning, Martin wakes to discover the Keeper of Portals is missing and the door at the end of his bedroom has been opened. Martin steps through the door to find himself in the 17th century where he meets Isabel, the house’s maid. Martin and Isabel quickly learn that everything on earth, from time and causality, to pleasantries and buttons, is controlled by its own keeper. After discovering two imprisoned keepers, Martin and Isabel receive the ability to jump between doorways and change their time, but they soon become entangled in a battle against the master of the house, the Keeper of Questions.
The Keeper of Portals follows Martin and Isabel as they alternate between the present day and the 17th century, often returning to a time they have already been to and nearly running into past versions of themselves. They fight hordes of murderous villagers, escape from the Keeper of Questions by hiding in a sea cave for 400 years and confront the powerful Keeper of Causality. But there is something wrong with time itself as items from the present day begin to bleed into Isabel’s time. After driving an off-road 4x4 through the peaceful countryside of the 17th century, Martin and Isabel confront the Keeper of Questions in the city of London. But when they arrive they find it deserted – the Keeper of Questions has control of everyone in London and it won’t be long until Martin and Isabel are next.
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 10/3/17
240 page ebook
This book was ok for me. I like time travel and I like funky mysterious houses so I thought this would be right up my alley. It had its good parts and boring parts and was just ok to good, not great.
I had a hard time connecting with the characters. They were pretty flat and dull though they did have a good adventurous spirit to them. They seemed to accept the abnormal pretty easily, which seemed weird at such young ages, but it made for the story to continue moving.
The Keepers themselves were an interesting lot and probably my favorite part of the books. Seeing who each new one was and what their ability was, was pretty interesting. It just wasn't enough for me to truly love this book.
Recommended for middle grade ages who like time travel. Some adults may like it, but if you like your characters with depth, you'd be better off skipping it.
Setting = A
Plot = B
Conflict = B
Characters = C-
Theme = A
The Rating:
The Book:
In 2061, a young scientist invents a time machine to fix a tragedy in his past. But his good intentions turn catastrophic when an early test reveals something unexpected: the end of the world.
The Blurb:
A desperate plan is formed. Recruit three heroes, ordinary humans capable of extraordinary things, and change the future.
Safa Patel is an elite police officer, on duty when Downing Street comes under terrorist attack. As armed men storm through the breach, she dispatches them all.
'Mad' Harry Madden is a legend of the Second World War. Not only did he complete an impossible mission—to plant charges on a heavily defended submarine base—but he also escaped with his life.
Ben Ryder is just an insurance investigator. But as a young man he witnessed a gang assaulting a woman and her child. He went to their rescue, and killed all five.
Can these three heroes, extracted from their timelines at the point of death, save the world?
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 11/13/17
400 page ebook
I did NOT like this book. I didn't give it a 1 star rating, though I was very tempted to, and probably should have given how I feel about it now. The concept was interesting the actual execution of it was not.
The characters were super flat and super boring. And OMG one of them was SUCH a pussy. Ugh! The whole thing might have been better off without that character. What bugged me the most though, was the repetition. Here are two very annoying samples, and there was MULTIPLE times of this ~
"... and I had nothing to do with what happened in Holborn...."
"Five years ago," Safa says.
"Yesterday."
"Five years ago..."
"Yesterday."
"Five years ago."
"Yesterday... my name is Ben Ryder."
That's literally word for repetitive word. And this ~
"Are they?"
"Er... they look like it" Ben says.
"I see," she replies calmly.
"Aye," Harry mutters.
"Yes," Safa says.
"Indeed," Ben says.
"Aye," Harry says.
"Fuck," Safa says.
"Indeed," Ben says.
"Aye," Harry says.
"Outside," she says, "they're..."
"Indeed," Ben says...
OMG, that is word for word at 33% of the book. I recommend this book for no one and I'm so mad remembering this, I am going to make this a 1 star review.
Setting = D
Plot = C
Conflict = D
Characters = F-
Theme = D
The Rating:
The Book:
ON THE RUN
The Blurb:
Margaret Douglas has worked hard to put her painful past behind her. Raised off the grid in an abusive home, her only escape was the nearby forest where she sought refuge whenever she could. There, in the peaceful woods, she discovered a strange gift: the ability to understand animals and to communicate with them. Now, Margaret wants nothing more than to live a quiet life, close to the animals and under the radar. But her abilities have not gone unnoticed...and there are those who would use them for their own purposes. Determined not to be a pawn in anyone's game, every time someone gets too close, Margaret uproots her life and outruns them.
INTO THE LINE OF FIRE
When CIA operative John Lassiter breaks into Margaret's apartment, she vanishes again. Still, Lassiter has good reason to be persistent: one of his men is being held captive by an unrelenting enemy--someone who has set his sights on Margaret. Which means that Lassiter must control her to use her as bait...With danger in hot pursuit, Margaret finds herself matching wits with a man who refuses to stop or be stopped. Turning from the hunted to the hunter, Margaret must use everything she has ever learned to not only survive, but to defeat a great evil. And to prove once and for all that she's no easy target. . .
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 12/31/17
349 page ebook
Sometimes I think I should only stick with the Kendra Michaels books from this author because they are really the only ones that I enjoy anymore. I got tired of the Eve Duncan books 12 or so in and any other ones seem to just bore me.
Like this one. It was good, not great. It wasn't awful it was just lacking. Maggie's abilities to communicate with animals was super cool and how she could coax the animals was neat but she herself was so dull and boring as a character. I didn't get into her at all and I definitely couldn't get behind the very weird relationship between her and John. Their conversations were very off putting, and of course they have to fall in love because UGH that's what all books are about. Can't have a book without a love interest. It didn't sit right with me at all. Might have been better if he just used her and they walked away.
If you are a fan of Iris, then give this one a shot if you really like her. If you haven't read her, try Kendra Michaels instead. Even though she spins off from the Eve books, beyond a call here and there from a previous character, you really don't have to have read through the Eve books to appreciate Kendra.
Setting = B
Plot = C
Conflict = C
Characters = D
Theme = B
The Rating:
The Book:
Carter spends a strange afternoon trapped in a never-ending maze at a fair. He escapes only to find himself living in the past! Carter follows the clues to find his way home, but will the maze let him go?
The Blurb:
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 8/6/16
136 page ebook
I requested this book because I'm a fan of mazes, time travel and Middle Grade books. This one fell flat for me though. I'm an adult who likes MG books when they are well done with good characters and this one was just more like a short story then anything else, with no depth to it.
I feel like this could be for younger kids, it's very simple. There's just no buildup, no character development, no nothing. I guess it's just these kinds of books. It's the 3rd in a series (which wasn't made clear on NG) but they seem to be all stand alone books, just similar in the subject, but for me it just didn't grab me.
It wasn't awful, but definitely not for adult fans of MG. Keep it for the kids.
Setting = B
Plot = B
Conflict = B
Characters = C
Theme = B
The Rating:
The Book:
FBI agent Matthew Roarke has been on leave, and in seclusion, since the capture of mass killer Cara Lindstrom—the victim turned avenger who preys on predators. Torn between devotion to the law and a powerful attraction to Cara and her lethal brand of justice, Roarke has retreated from both to search his soul. But Cara’s escape from custody and a police detective’s cryptic challenge soon draw him out of exile—into the California desert and deep into Cara’s past—to probe an unsolved murder that could be the key to her long and deadly career.
The Blurb:
Following young Cara’s trail, Roarke uncovers a horrifying attack on a schoolgirl, the shocking suicide of another, and a human monster stalking Cara’s old high school. Separated by sixteen years, crossing paths in the present and past, Roarke and fourteen-year-old Cara must race to find and stop the sadistic sexual predator before more young women are brutalized.
The Review:
Received from NetGalley for my honest reviewCompleted 12/14/16
466 page ebook
This is the 4th book in the Huntress series, so don't try to read it without reading the others. That said, I won't give anything away with this book because they are really tied closely to the others. It was a good continuation of the stories before and definitely enjoyable. I already have the 5th book from NG, I just need to take the time to read it.
Fans of suspense should give this book a try, it's one of the rare Female serial killer books, and even with that, there's some different stuff of what you see with it. It's not the best books out there, but they are definitely enjoyable and worth the read.
Setting = A
Plot = B
Conflict = B
Characters = A
Theme =A
The Rating:
