Final Update: Halloween Bingo 2020

I didn't manage to get a bingo this year but as always, I had so much fun playing. This helped me with my slumpy reading lately, and I also enjoy the different genre visiting. 

The completed picture is at the bottom, I'm bummed I didn't get to show the little spider and black cat but happy the witch got to be shown.

Happy Halloween and see you all next year for bingo!

Bingo squares with books read for them and review links

13 - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Black Cat - Familiar Showdown by Caroline Burnes

Genre:  Mystery - The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Romantic Suspense - The Broken by Shelley Coriell

International Woman of Mystery - My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Aliens - Parasite by Darcy Coates

In the Dark, Dark Woods - On the Night of the Seventh Moon by Victoria Holt

Shifters - Big Bad Wolf by Suleikha Snyder

Trick or Treat - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Review: The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Mini-Review

For a story that spans over a decade, I can't believe how much doesn't happen. There are two leads, Celia and Marco, and they are competing in some kind of magical war. Why and what it means when either wins, NO CLUE. I spent the majority of this thinking it was just introducing characters, kind of following Celia and Marco, and time jumping. The venue for their competition is the circus and they each build tents trying to showcase their magical abilities. Real people work there and they get caught up and bound into the competition. 

 

The concept was incredibly interesting, a magical circus with two magician opponents, and just a general cool atmosphere. The concept was there but the worldbuilding and character development was not for me. Celia was the most flushed out but Marco and their romance never expanded beyond the storyboard for me. Plus, the whole train that the circus travels on can go across oceans? Magic, I guess but the author left out so many details for me to see and feel this world. 

I honestly felt like I had no idea what was really happening or understood a modicum of this world until around the 60-70% mark when we get some explanations. A long time to go in a book and by that time I didn't really care and my eyes kept wanting to glaze over. The ending used a character that was thrown in just to give a, somewhat, happy ending. I don't know, this seemed like a really great second draft that needed more editing and building. 

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Reading Update: Page 1

 Reading 

for the 

 

Halloween Bingo square.

Your Halloween themed treats are 

spooky brownies!

Review: Blacklisted

Blacklisted by Jay Crownover
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

“I'm the one who is going to purposely cross your path. I'm never going to walk the other way when I see you coming. I'm going to head right toward you.” 

The third and final installment in the Loveless, Texas series about the Lawton siblings focuses on Dr. Presley Baskins, the half-sibling new to the family. Blacklisted starts right where the second in the series, Unforgiven left off. Presley's half-sister Kody called her to come help a man who was shot. The man turns out to be Palmer “Shot” Caldwell, the president of the motorcycle club Sons of Sorrow. Presley saves his life and is told the club owes her a favor and she can collect anytime. Shot gets antsy after three months of Presley not calling in the favor and ends up staking out her apartment to try and get a read on who his club owes a favor. When Presley comes out to confront him about stalking her, they have an instant pull between them, they also get shot at and with both thinking they were the target, the story takes off from there. 

 I'd spent so long being calm and serene for the comfort of others, I'd forgotten how cathartic anger could be when it was called for. 

This would be technically possible to start without reading the first two (there's also a novella) but you'd miss out on family dynamics and the latter half of this was a lovely wrap-up and send-off of the series that newbies wouldn't get the full emotional impact as much as readers of the series would. I was kind of surprised at how calm and measured the characters, story, and pace was in this. While Shot is the president of Sons of Sorrow, we get almost zero of any motorcycle club story or atmosphere. There are a couple scenes with his vice president Top and their friendship, a mention of dealings out of the country, some prospects guarding Presley, and Presley dealing with not knowing where Shot is because of club business. Shot talks about how the club is a family for him but without scenes with and about, I got no emotional connection from that aspect. I did like how the story focused on Presley and Shot's emerging relationship. They're both closer to forty and I think that came through with how quiet and thoughtful their relationship was at times. The suspense and action lingered on the edges and came from Presley's issue with a former friend that was introduced in the second in the series. 

 “When I'm with her, things get quiet. I can hear myself think.” 

When Presley was brought into the series, the Lawton siblings had no idea about her and then circumstances lined up to make them think that Presley killed their dad to collect her inheritance. The circumstances turned out to be a friend of Presley's named Ashby who has now gone full single white female. Presley got a promotion that would make her Chief Medical Examiner and while Ashby had been content subtly undercutting Presley through their whole friendship, she freaks out and really starts ramping things up. Presley grew-up with just her mother who suffered from kidney disease and this, coupled with how intelligent she was, isolated her and made her a bit of a workaholic. It's only when she suspects that Ashby might have murdered her mother that Presley lets her anger free and decides to leave protective custody and become proactive in getting Ashby finally caught. There's some help from Shot, acting on a favor Presley asks of him, setting guards on her, and helping her be stronger. Presley's half-brother's, a sheriff and Texas Ranger, come up with an idea to have Shot act all lovey dovey with Presley to make Ashby jealous and try to flush her out that way. They want him to get Ashby alone and try to get her to admit on wire all the things she did but they also don't want him to tell Presley about it. As you can guess, this set-up makes for a sure late act disturbance full of danger, mistrust, and hurt. 

“I see all the things you don't see. I see how strong you are. I see how resilient you are. I see how brave you are. I see how sexy you are. All the things you've always overlooked. I see them clear as day.” 

While I missed more of Shot's background and interaction with his club brothers, I was pleasantly surprised at how sweet he was; he delivers some truly sigh worthy lines to Presley. The suspense lingering on the edges did its job to create some tension and get our leads together but the single white female aspect got a bit wild at times. The ending provided for a pleasantly gratifying close to the Lawton siblings' stories that will leave series readers satisfying and smiling.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

I’ve been anticipating Shot’s book ever since he first popped up in the Loveless, Texas series.

                                                Dr. Presley Baskin, get your man!

 

I have so much fun making themed food and these Halloween brownie cupcakes are beyond delicious 😋

 

Do you theme read or theme bake?

Blacklisted by Jay Crownover preorder (Oct 27) link

Brownie Cupcakes recipe

 

Review: Big Bad Wolf

Big Bad Wolf by Suleikha Snyder
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

Joe Peluso was the monster in the closet, the creature you were warned about in fairy tales… and still, somehow, not the scariest white man Neha had encountered while doing her job. 

Big Bad Wolf kicks off the Third Shift series set in an urban fantasy world full of paranormal and supernatural beings while incorporating a sense of current political times. This is much more of an ensemble piece, and I would say read this as a clear first-in-series world set-up, than a straight focus on one couple. The impetus that starts the story rolling is Neha Ahluwalia, a junior associate with a doctorate in behavioral psych, is brought in on a case her firm took involving Joe Peluso. She's there to analyze him and get him to talk, so that they can come up with a defense for why Joe killed six Russian Bratva members. Through Joe, the reader learns about the Apex Initiative, a secret military project where in Phase 3 Joe was brought in and injected with some kind of serum that gave him the ability to be a wolf shifter. Neha and Joe have instant heat between them and when an attempt to kill Joe happens, Neha goes on the run with him. 

They were a ragtag crew who moonlighted fixing other people’s problems. Except the ragtag crew included some werewolves and vampires and sorcerers. 

The first half has the reader mostly in the characters' heads, as through them we get a picture of the world they live in. We're told about The Darkest Day where a NSA internal memo was “accidentally” leaked and U.S. citizens learn about the existence of supernatural and paranormal beings. This leads to an increased military state where the creation of the Supernatural Regulation Bureau, Emergency Service Unit Watch, and use of drones overhead to monitor citizens to help them feel “safe”. This is countered a bit by the Sanctuary Alliance, a group of Sanctuary cities that claim to be safer for supernaturals; New York City is one of them and where this story is set. Third Shift Security is also a counter and a group of supernaturals, paranormals, and humans who go on missions and work to protect their brethren. Neha and Joe end up with them as they try to stay safe from officials trying to get Joe back under custody and what becomes a big part of the second half of the story, the Russian Bratva, who are also a clan of bear shifters, that wants to kill Joe in retaliation for the six he murdered. 

So he had to watch himself. Wanting her was fine. But liking her? Caring about her? Actually being obsessed with her like he’d pretended to be the last time she was here…? Fuck, no. He had to draw a line. There was way too much to lose if he didn’t. 

The second half picks up the pace with less internal monologues and more action. A second romance is highlighted between Danny Yeo, a NYPD detective working for Third Shift and Yulia Vasiliev, sister to the head of the bratva branch hunting Joe. While I thought the romance between Neha and Joe was more erotic in pacing and tone, instant and lusting, Yulia and Danny's relationship definitely captured my interest. We miss their initial meeting and come in months later where Yulia is trying to push Danny away for his own safety but still trying to give information to him about her brother and his activities. I thought these two had more of an emotional connection that I could believe in and therefore, more substance for me to engage with. Due to the worldbuilding taking over, Neha and Joe simply don't get much time together and when they are together, it was mostly about the sex. Neha was the better flushed out character with ties we get to see with her family, friends, and even job, helping to color in her personality. Joe's military career is discussed and how he suffers guilt from it, along with how close he was with a younger neighborhood boy named Kenny, who was murdered by the Russians and why Joe goes after them. Joe just never materialized into a fully solid character for me, I know he's not conventionally attractive and loves to give head (this was brought up over and over), which awesome, but I still needed him to feel fleshed out more. 

This was not Neha’s world. She’d stepped through the Looking Glass when she crossed the threshold of Kamchatka. But she couldn’t go back. She’d signed on for this. She’d demanded participation . She was all in now. Because she’d made that call. Used the number Joe had given her… not to save herself, but to find her way back to him. 

Ultimately, Neha and Joe's relationship failed for me; there wasn't enough emotional substance between them for me to buy Neha risking so much in the short amount of time she knew Joe. On the other hand, you will want to pick this up for the worldbuilding, I saw another reviewer compare this to Suzanne Brockmann, in terms of storylines, amount of characters and povs, I wholly agree. I think a comparison to Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling series would also help readers grasp and anticipate the sheer amount of storylines and characters they're about to step into. While Neha and Joe's relationship, and maybe even Yulia and Danny's, looks to be wrapped up, there was a third romance between Neha's friend Nate, and two employees of Third Shift, Grace and Finn, that was left in the air. I would also mention that the author doesn't sprinkle in or is subtle with her views and political thoughts, if you're not ready for that kind of smoke to solidly be in your story, then this probably isn't the book for you. However, if you like some dry wit, a plethora of characters, weaving storylines, and worldbuilding that looks to be able to support a long running series, then you will want to pick up this first installment. 

This was their adventure. Because the Third Shift was a shift that never really ended.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

Happy Monday! 

Decided to start this week celebrating Halloween vibes 👻🎃 

I’m obsessed with this cover, it gorgeously represents it’s a shifter romance. 

My pumpkins (orange bell peppers) stuffed with chicken & rice) maybe not so gorgeously representing 🤣😭 

How’s everyone else getting into the Halloween spirit?

Big Bad Wolf by Suleikha Snyder preorder (Jan 26) link

Shredded Chicken and Rice Stuffed Peppers recipe

Review: On the Night of the Seventh Moon

On the Night of the Seventh Moon by Victoria Holt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.3 stars 

And I had learned the truth of what happened on the Night of the Seventh Moon; I had taken back those six days of my life; they belonged to me and I had been wantonly deceived. 

This story was full of gaslighting, obliviousness, and trickery. Helena starts off as a young girl going to school in Germany, she gets lost wandering in the woods and gets "rescued" by a man. This begins her journey of never forgetting him, going back home to England, time jumps, going back to Germany, reunions, lies, gaslighting, more time jumps, more back and forth between England and Germany, a wild card old nursemaid, danger, and truths revealed. 

I don't want to ruin the surprises and mystery, so I'm not going to go into detail of the story but there are some spoilers in my previous updates as I tried to figure things out as I read:

30% update 

70% update 

This was good but the ending kind of jumbled together in a hurry and, dare I say, had too happy of a one?? Some Gothic vibes at times and people wilding out with their scheming. 

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70%

 

*Spoilers in updates 

How dare you experiment with me! How dare you give me dreams that are without reality! If I have been abused I want to know it. There is nothing worse than uncertainty. Oh yes, there is. There is this terrible loss. The baby who was to have been my consolation has been taken from me. 

So Helena ended up pregnant and now they are telling her that the baby died during delivery. I Don't believe it! I don't trust these people. Helena's young, I think almost 20yrs old at this point, and I can see how she gets swept along with everyone at times. But I also really wish she'd wake up and get away from these people. 

There's a moment where she's talking to someone and they mention a "wild prince Carl" and the way the story unfolds about him, Helena's count is him, isn't it????? 

She's back in England and then we get some big time jumps and Ilse disappears and stops corresponding with her and the whole time I can't help thinking, YOUR BABY IS ALIVE. 

Oh wow, so the Anthony guy is now a vicar and still interested in Helena and she decides to tell him the whole story, how she was drugged by a doctor who told her she was raped and she imagined her wedding and lost her baby. I was screaming, "NO, girl, do not tell him this" but Anthony took it all like a champ and was like "So?" On one hand, good for nonjudgy Anthony, and the other, how you not seeing this as a red flag, lol. 

It's been nine years now and while Helena is in a bookstore, a German woman named Frau Graben just happens to come in and then offer her a job teaching English to a count's three bastard children. I DO NOT trust this Frau Graben, obviously another set-up. 

Oh my god, Fritz has Got to be her son, right??? 

"It was a mock marriage. It was often done-still is. The girl would not give in to him so the marriage was arranged. The so-called priest who performed the ceremony was no priest at all, but one of the courtiers, so of course the marriage was no true marriage and the girl was tricked. Her scruples were calmed and the honeymoon followed. In these cases when the bridegroom grows tired of the liaison he passes on and the lady realizes the truth. 

She says this right to Helena's face and Helena doesn't even blink!!!! What is happening, wake up, girl!

He seems to have been better since you came. Learning English agrees with him. Or perhaps it's you. He seems to have taken a real fancy to you-and you to him." She gave me that rather sly look of hers. 

I think I was right about Fritz! Frau Graben makes my skin crawl and I can't believe Helena isn't catching on. 

I stared; for there, seated between the Duke and the Princess, was Maximilian. 

It was Prince Carl!!! Ahhhh, I hope this is Helena's wakeup call and she starts taking some action and kicking the gaslighting to the curb and admitting to herself what happened. The whole haunted tower at the castle she is staying at is keeping the Gothic vibe lingering on the edges and hope the ghost doesn't turn out to be her. Eeek.

30%

 

*Spoilers in updates

Was it really true as they tried to convince me that I, a romantic and rather feckless girl, had been betrayed as many had been before and because I could not face this fact, had fabricated a wild story which none but myself could believe 

Uh oh, is this setting up an unreliable narrator? 

I believe that it was then that I convinced myself that one day there would be someone in my life who would be to me as my father was to her. I thought that this deep, unquestioning, unshakable devotion was for everyone to enjoy. Perhaps that was why I was such an easy victim. 

Her mom was of noble blood and he dad was a university student but they meet in the woods and feel in love, defying both families by marrying. Her mom had weak health though and ended up dying when she was young. Her father's two sisters come to help take care of her but they seem a bit old bitties. Even though her parents had such a loving marriage, it sounds a little lonely for her as they focused more on each other. 

He loomed up out of the mist like a hero of the forest on his big white horse. I went towards him. 

She describes herself as headstrong and a touch of wild, she's sixteen going to a school in Germany (well, this is late 1800's but German area) that her mother did and this meeting is similar to how her parent's meet. You can see why she's drawn to the man and moment. Very ominious and Gothic vibes while she's at the hunting lodge with the "wicked baron" but she ends up going back to the school and England after her father dies no worse for wear. Time moves kind of quick in this and she's now nineteen and her dad has died. She also is growing close to neighbor boy named Anthony. 

when the Gleibergs left England I was with them. 

I'm not sure I trust these Gleibergs, supposedly her mother's cousins. I smell a set-up! 

I was the wife of Maximilian, Count Lokenberg 

Of course, On the ninght of the seventh moon, she serediptiously meets her wicked baron. I'm a little thrown though that they're married, I don't believe it, lol. 

I didn't want to go. I wanted to stand there in that ruin and think of it all. How could I remember a dream so vividly? It wasn't possible. I could not bear my misery, because every minute they were convincing me that what had happened had indeed been unreal 

I knew it! So she thinks she ran off with Maximillian, got married, and spent a couple days loving it up at the the hunting lodge. When Maximillian has to go fix some family problems, she goes to stay with her cousins but when she wakes up, they tell her it was all drug induced dream she came up with because she was raped. I'm believing Helena right now and that events happened the way she remembered. 

I don't know, I'm feel enraged on Helena's behalf, this seems like an epic gaslighting situation and I want to knock some heads in her honor.

Puppies!

 

This adorable book releases today💕

I wish there had been more connection to the dog breeds paired with the astrology signs but the cute pooch pictures make this a fun coffee table book. 

🐶 

Start the chasing of winter blues away with puppies!

Reading Update: Page 1

 Happy Saturday!

Reading 

for my 

Halloween Bingo square.

I also made these snake breadsticks, which, I'll let you be the judge if they turned out 😂

Review: Love Is a Rogue

Love Is a Rogue by Lenora Bell
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

He was the most maddening of men. 

Lady Beatrice Bentley only wants to spend her time isolated and writing her etymology dictionary but the carpenter renovating her brother's mansion keeps interrupting her with noise and his manly physique. Stamford Wright is normally a ships carpenter for the Royal Navy but is stepping in to help his father. He can't help but tease and tweak the Duke's sister's nose as she acts like a princess locked in a tower. When Beatrice promises to give her mother one more season to try and marry her off, she's off to London and ready to leave the carpenter who gives her such confusing feelings. However, Ford has discovered the Duke's land agent is embezzling and has to get in contact with the Bentley family again. There he gets press ganged by a group of lady non-knitters and hopelessly entangled with Beatrice. 

The attention she was lavishing on the books made him feel restless and...jealous? 

Beatrice was a character that definitely was supposed to connect with booklovers, our introduction has her constantly spouting lines about how much she loves words and books. Beatrice has Palsy, which caused the right side of her face to droop, a doctor recommended when she was younger that she read the dictionary out loud to exercise those facial muscles. Hence, her love of words, because she thought if she couldn't be pretty (she overheard her mother and father bemoaning her looks) she at least could be smart. In this regard, her character felt a bit overdone, after awhile it felt like an A.I. had written the passages after sourcing tons of “booklover” lines and references. 

Ford would do everything in his power to help her win this battle. Although he was probably going to regret it. 

Ford had cute moments with his teasing but for the first half of the book he definitely came off as a young twenty-five year old; there was something too light and silly about his posturing as a scoundrel. He's sensitive to the fact that Beatrice is a Duke's sister and he is way below her class level because his mother was disowned by her father for marrying below her station. When Beatrice inherits a bookstore and it turns out that the grandfather that disowned his mother and him wants the property, he declares he's Beatrice's carpenter to renovate and joins in the battle to keep the property from his grandfather's clutches. It's a bit coincidental but easy enough to go along with to keep Beatrice and Ford together.  

What was it about this prim, bookish lady that ripped his resolve to shreds like a gale tearing at a canvas sail? 

The beginning held promise with Ford teasing and Beatrice shyly responding but I never felt their emotions and relationship gain any depth in the middle. It started to feel like these two were just spouting lines at each other instead of interacting or playing off one another. Beatrice eventually proposes that they become limited time lovers, she still wants to be a spinster and he's still going to be off sailing. I'm not sure I would call this move forced but it felt like a mechanism to simply add some sex scenes, instead of a development to or in their relationship. Their attraction just never developed any depth for me and I missed that emotion that pulls me into a couple's story. 

She wanted to be close to him and she felt no shame about it. 

Beatrice belonged to a group called Mayfair Ladies Knitting League, where no knitting is actually done but the members work and support each other towards their goals and achievements, it's why she wants to keep the bookstore, to turn it into a clubhouse. Two of her close friends, Isobel and Viola, are members and highlighted in the story, obviously to entice for future books in the series. There are a couple quick scenes with the ladies together but I would have liked more interactions that delved into their relationships. There's a very small side plot about a hidden meaning in the letter Beatrice's aunt left her but I honestly felt it was pointless and only added to the starting to feel overly long feeling the second half of the book started to get. The ending felt hackneyed and a bit hokey with everyone getting gathered together and suddenly decades of villainy is stopped because of “love” and Beatrice and Ford get to be together a bit too easily. This was light on the depth but booklovers will certainly see themselves in Beatrice and enjoy those sweet moments. 

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Reading Update: 50%

 

With a series name like Wallflowers vs Rogues, obviously I couldn't stay away 😍

Love is a Rogue by Lenora Bell preorder (Oct 27) link

Pineapple Coconut Quinoa recipe

Sweet fruity flavor, if more for dinner, Cajun shrimp would be great in it

Review: Parasite

Parasite by Darcy Coates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

On the wall, written crudely in dark-brown blood, was the phrase, “They take our skin.”  

Parasite was a scifi horror that was light on worldbuilding but incredibly readable in its cotton candy creepy and chilling psychological and physical danger. Each section is about different station, Stations 331-333 were short stories. 331 introduces the Parasite, 332 shows that it is attacking, and 333 shows how big the problem is and that it is growing. At first I didn't mind the lack of worldbuilding as I thought it worked to place the reader in the station occupants' shoes and help the isolated and danger feeling at each station. By 333 though, I wanted to know more about Central and the structure of the world these characters were living in that I was reading about. 

Stations 334 and 335 were novellas and the longer page count allowed the author to expand characters and the world. 334 ended up being my favorite and it's because the characters were more flushed out. It centers more on Maren, a woman working at the station but the crew surrounding her get more details added to them too. This felt more like a story and less like a quick pop of scary. 335 switched it up a bit and starts off placed on a planet before moving out to a station again. Starting off on the planet gave a little bit of the worldbuilding I was missing, we get to see more of civilization and descriptions of the hows and whys of the space stations. The characters, though, were stereotypes/caricatures and mere sketches of them at that. 

There were times that I struggled with if some of these scenes were actually creepy or if I was supplying more than my fair share of atmosphere and setting, taking from all the scifi horror movies I've watched. I breezed through this book but a reason for that was because of the cotton candy lack of worldbuilding and depth to characters. Still, this was a diverting afternoon read. 

With this ending line: The war had only just begun, but at least now humanity had a chance. and with characters that we left surviving, there is definitely room to continue the series and I would pick up the next book. 

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70%

 

This section was all about Station 334 and I appreciated how the bigger page count allowed for us to get to know the characters more. It focuses on Maren, a mechanic who always wanted to be more of a fighter and has managed to get assigned to the same station as her hero/crush from her teens. 

Now messages are very sporadically getting through to Central (the main hub for the space stations, I'm guessing) and from what the reader has read about the other stations, it's obvious the Parasites have spread far and wide. 

From listening to messages that have come through from other stations, they know there is a big problem. Station 334 has another problem though, their commander is going crazy, so there's immediate danger and creeping on the edges danger. 

A rogue Central worker put out a message, saying she named the aliens Cymic Parasites and gives as much info as she can. It seems Central didn't want to cause a panic and thought less info would be better. :/

This ended with some survivors (I think, I mean Saul didn't eat the fruit, so maybe???)

I really wish there was more worldbuilding, I don't really grasp Central that well. I feel like I'm personally supplying the atmosphere and setting with images I've gotten from watching scifi horror movies. So is this standing on its own or am I giving a generous helping? I think I'm giving it some help but its still cotton candy fun scifi horror for me.

30%

 

That was one of their jobs on Station 331: keep the moon clean of hostile beings that came off comets or space debris 

This starts off with the action right away and while it works to pull me in and the sense of forbiding is super high, I miss some worldbuilding. I don't know if that is being purposely left out to give the reader even more of a stark lost feeling to match the mood of these three people alone on a station on some planets moon. 

 Jen couldn’t take her eyes off Carly as the woman leaned against one of the walls, panting and shivering. It seemed incredible that she could have made it back. More than incredible, actually. Impossible. 

DO NOT LET HER IN! 

Ok, so this book looks to be comprised of three short stories followed by two novellas. Each story focuses on a different Station and it's occupants. The first station, 331, was a quick intro to the Parasite first attacking. 

On the wall, written crudely in dark-brown blood, was the phrase, “They take our skin.” 

We're now at Station 332 and holy crap was this line creepy. This station is reading like a great Scifi movie scene, with darkness, bodies, and that on edge feeling as this crew is answering a distress call and searching a station. 

Charles stared at Robin, her mouth open but incapable of making a noise. Robin’s face was splitting in half. A crack had started over her nose and spread up to her hairline and down to her neck. The crazed smile slid farther and farther around her cheeks as the centre of her face opened like a book.

So what a great eek way to give the reader more info on how the Parasite is taking over humans. 

“You shot my sisters,” Ellan hissed. Charles felt her breath freeze in her chest as she watched the bullet holes in the other woman knit together. Skin fused to skin, leaving Ellan’s face smooth and blemish-free. 

Clearly bullets don't work on these things but also, guns with bullets is the technology??? I feel like in scifi, especially this one where wormholes are used and seems incredibly far in the future, the technology would be better? 

"Want to know what its biggest flaw is?” Stanos asked. He had his arms folded over his chest, and a spark of something fierce and exultant shone in his eyes. Kala nodded. “It can’t learn on its own. It can absorb knowledge and memories perfectly and replicate its host, as you said, but it has no way of using that knowledge to increase its own intelligence. It can’t learn; it can only assimilate.” 

Now onto Station 333 and while the first station was about introducing, the second station was about showing how the Parasites are attacking and spreading. Station 333 slows for a moment to show a bit of how the Parasite thinks and has in interacting with a human. The danger starts up again but this short story ends a bit differently with, what I think, are two survivors. Maybe setting up humans fighting back? 

So far this has been a fun creepy story, worldbuilding has been discarded in favor of danger and scary thrills but I'm wondering if the next station up, with it being a novella, will color in some details.

Reading Update: Page 1

 

Reading this for

 Halloween Bingo square,

 

while dipping chips in 

Review: All About Us

All About Us by Tom Ellen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

After fifteen years together, and four years of marriage, she doesn't really know me at all. If she did, then surely she wouldn't still be here. 

All About Us is a Dickens' A Christmas Carol inspired story told in first person point-of-view from a drowning in life Ben. He's thirty-four and contemplating having an affair with a woman from his past that he can't help thinking what could have been if they'd gotten together. He's been with his wife Daphne for fifteen years, married for four, and while she has a successful career, Ben's writing has never taken off. When reader's come into the story, Daphne's getting ready to go to her work Christmas party and they're clearly tired of one another as they bicker and snip. Ben decides to call his friend Harv to get a pint at the pub and while he's sitting there wishing he had a deeper friendship with Harv where he could discuss his marital problems an older man comes up and tries to sell him a watch. Ben tries to refuse but the man just gives the watch to him and walks away, Ben then notices the watch doesn't even work as it is stuck one minute to midnight. When Ben gets home and passes out, he gets the surprise of his life when instead of waking up in his flat in 2020, he wakes up in his old dorm room in 2005. 

As this story plot is pretty well known, the reader is aware of the journey Ben is about to go on, it's more about the discovery of why Ben feels the way he does in 2020. Ben is obsessed with the idea that if he'd only ended up with Alice, a girl from college that he was good friends and the one he is contemplating the affair with, instead of Daphne, his life would be different in a better way and that even Daphne's life would be better. When he gets to revisit and relive certain moments in his past, he discovers he didn't always remember them correctly and that his self-absorbed and self-pity ways kept him from missing important details and connecting with people, especially Daphne. 

Ben's father left when he was young, leaving his mother to take care of him and this made the biggest impact in his life; Ben wanting to be a writer like his dad and his self-pitying tied into thinking he'll never be good enough. It's a bit wallowing at times, especially in contrast to his wife Daphne and how she gave all the emotional support in their relationship but part of the reason Ben is going on this Christmas Carol journey is for him to see and realize this. 

The writing and the pace flows steady but there were times I missed more depth to characters, this is very much Ben's story and his alone. He's not necessarily a character you root for, his midlife crisis and how much Daphne gives in the relationship compared to him, make that difficult. I also thought the future Ben gets to see made everything a bit too easy for him for when he goes back to his present. However, it's a good story to remind others to not fall into the traps Ben does and try to live life in less self-absorbed and more honest ways.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

A holiday book in October while I’m still playing Halloween Bingo? You’re dang right, can never turn down holiday books 😍 

 Do the changing seasons influence your reading?

All About Us by Tom Ellen preorder (Oct 13) link

Cajun Honey Chicken Bowls recipe 

A lot of flavor combos that went together wonderfully

Review: Any Rogue Will Do

Any Rogue Will Do by Bethany Bennett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Even seven years later, Lord Amesbury, the one who had saved her, then callously ruined her, evoked a visceral response.

Lady Charlotte (Lottie) Wentworth left London after having her reputation smeared by the very man she thought was courting her. In the seven years since, she never got the opportunity to go back and repair the damage as her mother and brother both passed and she had to take over running the estate as her father fell into mourning. Now, her father is finally demanding she marry, even picked out a groom, a James Montague and son of an Earl. Lottie doesn't want to give up her freedom though and makes a deal with her father that she can go to London and pick her own husband but with a deadline. On the way there, she meets the one man she never wanted to see again.

The fact that within moments of her reentering his orbit she'd rekindled his interest made Ethan wonder if there might be something between them worth pursuing---assuming she ever stopped hating him.

Ethan Ridley was a Scotsman who never thought he would inherit a title and when he suddenly became Lord Amesbury, he tried to fit in by drinking and carousing with London's elite. He makes the mistake of calling Lady Charlotte “Paper Doll Princess”, alluding that she's witless and only worth her dowry on a night drunk but when he tries to offer for her hand in marriage to fix his mistake, her father refuses him and claims he's not worthy of her. That and causing a friend to lose his leg due to a drunken race, Ethan decides to give up drinking and focus on his estate. When he unexpectedly clashes with Lady Charlotte again, he finds that she's come into herself and he is even more drawn to her.

Exhibitionism wasn't something he'd ever indulged in, but knowing she watched, remembering the heat of their encounter earlier this evening---he'd wanted just a few more minutes of her attention.

Any Rogue Will Do is a second chance romance with a fake engagement that was enjoyable. I liked how the author showed how Lottie and Ethan grew into themselves as they got older. We don't see a lot of them together when they're younger but I liked how the story focused more on Ethan redeeming himself. His friendship with Calvin, Earl of Carlyle highlighted and brought out his personality so that the reader could get a good look at his thoughts and feelings toward Lottie. I also really enjoyed Lottie's relationship with her godmother Agatha, they were so fun to read about together. Sure, it was a tad too coincidental that Agatha and Calvin were neighbors, giving our leads a chance to meet-up, but the interactions that developed from this made the story better.

“Lady Charlotte Wentworth, will you do me the honor of being my faux fiancee?”

There were times I felt Lottie's loneliness, how any friends she had made while younger had moved away and had families of their own, leaving her out and her father ignoring her in favor of wallowing in his mourning. Wanting to maintain her freedom and be in charge of her dowry made sense for why she didn't want to marry but I thought adding in that she never wanted to love because her parents ignored her because they were so in love and her father mourned so hard made the latter half of the story stagnate a bit as she wanted to keep pushing Ethan away.

The fake engagement comes about because the fiancee Lottie's father picked out, is trying to blackmail her into an engagement, so Ethan steps in they decide to get the villain to back off, they'll get engaged but eventually call it off. At this point, around 40%, Ethan has more than one foot in with thinking he more than likes Lottie. Around 60% they both are thinking their fake engagement could be more and things start to get physical. There's some danger, Ethan all in, and Lottie dragging her feet, the dragging of the feet really caused the story to slow for me as I thought some of Lottie's reluctance could have been edited out.

“I don't understand how you could love me through all that or why you're even here helping me out of this mess again, but I'm begging you to keep showing up. Just show up. Love me, and I'll love you, and we will make this thing between us real. Please. You won't regret it. I promise.”

Overall I found this to be an agreeable debut, Ethan was a pleasing hero with some layers and their relationship had downs and ups that added some emotional moments. The second half could have been stronger with some of Lottie's denying Ethan whittled down and the pace picked up more but I still enjoyed their journey. Ethan's friend Calvin definitely intrigued and I'm looking forward to seeing how this author grows in giving him his happily ever after.

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Reading Update: 30%

 

I spent the first hour of my day thinking it was Wednesday 🙃 

Happy Tuesday! Lol 

Hoping this debut author can improve my day 🙂

Any Rogue Will Do by Bethany Bennett pre-order (Oct 13) link

Jerk Chicken Bowls with Pineapple Black Bean Salsa recipe

Rice does have a strong coconut taste but flavors combined to make a really flavorful tasty dish

Review: Spoiler Alert

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

Spoiler Alert was a sweet, full of heart steamy read with a couple that you won't be able to stop yourself from feeling and cheering for. April Whittier is a geologist who can't wait to start her new job in San Francisco because the new job won't require her to hide parts of herself. One of April's favorite activities is writing fan fiction about a popular tv show, Gods of the Gates. She's carved out a great online community and is friends with other writers on there, especially with someone who beta reads her fics. Unbeknownst to her, her beta reader is none other than Marcus Caster-Rupp, an actor who stars in Gods of the Gates. 

How could he hold the interest of a woman like her? He couldn’t. 

Marcus writes fan fiction of his tv show because he is displeased and disappointed with the direction and effort he feels the showrunners have put into the scripts, especially the last season. If anyone found out though, he could be sued by the studio and the career he's built up as a hardworking, trustful actor would be in jeopardy. The part of his career he wishes he could out is how he acts dimwitted in interviews. This started from not being able to read a passage from a book in an interview because he has dyslexia. However, when he sees a woman post a picture on Twitter of herself cosplaying a character from his show getting hateful comments, he breaks character a little bit and asks her out for everyone to see. When April and Marcus first meet, neither knows they're already friends online, Marcus then figures it out on the date but he doesn't say anything fearing for his career, the reader then knows this is hanging over their relationship.

“But I want to know you. Marcus Caster-Rupp, not Aeneas. I want to know your story. I’m attracted to you. Because what’s hidden, what’s real, is always more interesting and important to me than appearances or performances.” 

The richness and the realness of the characters is what drew me into the story, everything is so heartfelt. Marcus is 40 and April is in her late 30s and while I thought they overall could still be read younger, April's attitude about having insecurities, especially about her weight and Marcus' insecurities about his intelligence and worthiness, affect people no matter what age they are. The foundation for April's character, how her father is hateful towards her and her mother's own insecurities and issues with weight, obviously played a big role in her character make-up. What I enjoyed was how the author didn't make it the focus and while I might sound like I'm contradicting myself because I call it her foundation, the story is not defined by weight, April's got it figured out, it's getting others up to her level. There's joy, mundane, and sexiness, which I think often gets left out in regards to characters that are, what April calls herself, fat. Marcus' issues fell a little more flat for me, his parents didn't feel as flushed out as April's mom, I'm not sure his shyness was completely felt, and he just overall didn't connect as much as April. 

She didn’t understand yet, but she would. He loved her, loved her, and she was his reward. Touching her was a gift to him. 

These two were such a lovable couple, their common interests and personalities made it easy to see and feel why they would be together. The middle had a good amount of bedroom scenes, maybe one or two too many for me, but if you like sexytimes, you get your moneys worth here. I would have liked a couple more scenes with April and her new work friends, Marcus with his bestfriend Alex, also an actor on the show, and descriptions of the city, just to help define them and the world outside of the April and Marcus bubble more. If you were a Game of Thrones tv watcher or reader of the Song of Ice and Fire books, you'll clearly recognize the duality between what fans had to say about G.O.T. and Marcus' show. Being a fan of the G.O.T. show and books, I think that added to my enjoyment of this story; very therapeutic to think Lena Heady is out there writing fanfics in which Cersei does not die by a fallen ceiling. 

Intending no harm, people often blundered. Sometimes they blundered because their personal histories hadn’t taught them to be sensitive to certain issues. And sometimes they blundered because— Sometimes they blundered because they had trust issues. 

This story had some pain but it also had wonderful sweet joy. I loved how the author wrote characters that weren't perfect but were forgiving and recognized the importance of talking, honesty, and understanding. April and Marcus thought about the hurt they caused and owned their own insecurities, add in some stripteasing, and what a couple. Marcus also delivered a line towards the end: “Ms. Whittier seemed uncertain on the matter, so let me clarify for you.” that had my cheeks heated (“let me clarify for you” !!!) and hurting from grinning so hard, so no weak endings here. Marcus' friend Alex is clearly next up (at least he better be) and looks to have an enemies-to-lovers possible relationship with his studio appointed minder, I can't wait. 

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

It’s Friday 🎉 My weekend plans consist of reading and drum roll, Reading!

Baseball playoffs have taken my partner away temporarily, so I’m diving into books. 

Have a great weekend ❤️

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade pre-order (Oct 6) link

Cajun Chicken with Coriander and Lime Rice recipe

Simple to make for easy tasty lunch

Review: My Sister, the Serial Killer

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

Ayoola summons me with these words—Korede, I killed him. I had hoped I would never hear those words again. 

At just over 200 pages, with very short chapters and a first person dialogue that engages you, My Sister, The Serial Killer was a slice (no pun intended) of life story that will linger in my thoughts for a while. 

The story starts with Korede getting a call from her sister saying that she killed her latest boyfriend. Korede's reaction clues the reader into that fact that this isn't the first time, we learn that it is the third. As Korede takes charge in cleaning up the scene and disposing the body, Ayoola says that the man attacked her but as this is the third time, we start to see doubt creeping into Korede's thoughts. 

Korede's a nurse and as we follow her around, we learn she is in love with a doctor she works with and that she uses a coma patient as a pseudo-therapist, telling him about her serial killer sister. What pulled me into the story was Korede thinking back and "telling" us readers about her childhood and how their father was abusive and had a knife that he revered, the knife Ayoola uses to kill with. The descriptions of their childhood clearly lay-out why the sisters act the way they do. Korede was the older sister and always worked and was expected to protect Ayoola. Ayoola was the child beloved for her gorgeous looks and constantly leered at by men. There's also the way their father cheats on their mother and treats women as disposable. 

You will constantly be angry on Korede's behalf for the way Ayoola treats her, especially when she starts to date the doctor Korede wants a relationship with. For as selfish as Ayoola was, she says a line about showing Korede that the doctor is just like all other men and it puts the thought that in her warped way, she may be trying to protect Korede. I bumped my rating up because of a couple of these little lines that made the personalities of these sisters more complex and interesting to read about. At first glance and on the surface you could easily write them both off but those little lines made them more interesting. 

The story was pretty even paced, towards the end there is some excitement with the coma patient and the doctor but for the most part you're just riding along with Korede as she and me as the reader argue if she is trapped in a cage of her own making or life made it this way for her and she's just doing the best she can. 

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30%

 *Spoilers in updates

Ayoola summons me with these words—Korede, I killed him. I had hoped I would never hear those words again.

This is told in first person and starts right away with Korede helping, well, let's be honest, doing all the work to dispose of her sister Ayoola's boyfriend's body. This is apparently the third time Korede has done this.

“Femi makes three, you know. Three, and they label you a serial killer.”

Ayoola claims that she felt physically threatened by the boyfriend and there is some alluding that this has been her excuse each time. As Ayoola's personality gets revealed more though, she's obviously extremely selfish, self-centered, and narcissistic, so, there is some moments when Korede starts to question why these three men have been killed. 

Korede's a nurse, so it makes sense why and how she knows the best way to clean blood up and dispose of the bodies. 

There's a coma patient at Korede's hospital that she talks to and she tells him about her killer sister and her crush on a doctor she works with, Doctor Tade. I just know this coma patient is going to wake up and say he heard everything Korede told him. This makes me wonder if she's going to have to kill him?

#FemiDurandIsMissing has gone viral. One post in particular is drawing a lot of attention—Ayoola’s. She has posted a picture of them together, announcing herself as the last person to have seen him alive, with a message begging anyone, anyone, to come forward if they know anything that can be of help.

Her sister posted this on Instagram and if I was Korede I would have freaked out and be seriously thinking about turning this girl in for reward money or a way to lessen my own prison sentence. 

This takes place in Lagos, Nigeria and there was a scene with a cop and how Korede had to bribe him to get her leave him alone and I think this helps set-up why Korede hasn't went to the police or fears going to the police. There's also a passage of Korede remembering her childhood and first finding out that Ayoola was beautiful and she wasn't. It makes you hurt and angry for Korede that this has set-up Ayoola always getting away with things and maybe why Korede is stuck in this take care of Ayoola mind-set. 

I'm wondering about their deceased dad, too. The knife Ayoola likes to kill the men with was their father's and the alluding from Korede was that he wasn't the nicest to them. She mentions that if she had taken her father's beloved knife she would have destroyed it, while Ayoola almost has a reverent relationship like her father did and kills with it. 

“I’m Korede’s sister,” she announces. 

He looks from her to me, then back to her again. “I didn’t know you had a sister?” He is talking to me, but his eyes have not left hers. 

Ayoola pouts. “I think she is ashamed of me.” 

He smiles at her; it is a kind smile. “Of course not. Who could be? Sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

“Ayoola.” She puts out her hand, the way a queen would for her subjects. 

He takes it and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I’m Tade.”

After all Korede has done for this man, I say let her sister and her knife have him! Really though, you can feel Korede's desperation at being out shown by her sister again and with a man she really liked and wanted more with, not to mention her fear that Ayoola could end up killing him. 

The story format is really short chapters and it is making me breeze through the story, I get caught up sometimes on looking up words or food but this has a quick to grab you and hang on reading style.