Reading Update: 20%

He snapped his mouth shut. He couldn’t think straight. He needed to get away, but this waltz was never ending, and the music would play in his head forevermore. “Do not mistake my shock for desire,” he warned her, yet he held her tighter, lying to them both. 

“I hardly think I’m mistaken. Look at you." She smiled; her lips parted slightly as she tilted her head upward. A glutton for punishment, he bent to meet her, letting the warmth of her breath tickle his ear. “You can scarcely breathe.” 

The hair stood on the back of his neck. The music stopped. She stepped back, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to appear collected.

Review: Spring Fling

Spring Fling by Annie England Noblin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

He's coming back. 

It's been ten years since Mylie's childhood friend Ben left and never looked back after highschool graduation. When the small town grapevine let's her know he's going to be back in town, she has mixed feelings. It could be a chance to go for what she always wanted with him, but their problem has always been Mylie loving their small town and Ben wanting to escape it. 

After all this time, all these years, here he was, finally, right in front of her. 

Spring Fling was a low angst and stakes romance that, at times, lulled me into the storytelling world. Mylie had an absent mother and father who left her with her grandmother and then age gap younger sister that made her feel like she had almost put her life on hold to take care of. She always liked the small town in Arkansas she grew-up in, though. Now, as an adult still living with her grandmother and sister, she owns her own tackle and bait shop, one that just about employs the whole town. Ben, moved with his mother to the small town to live with his grandfather when his father died. He never felt like he fit in and the only saving grace was becoming friends with Mylie. The book gives us occasional flashbacks, starting in the sixth grade and progressing each year to see how Mylie and Ben's friendship progresses and the scared to make, missed opportunities as they get older. 

He'd always wanted her, and now he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to stop wanting her. 

It's all pretty sedate with Mylie dealing with her business and a potential danger from a miscreant townie who wants revenge for Mylie firing him, her younger sister's friend and relationship drama, and then reconnecting with Ben. We do get Ben's point-of-view with Mylie's but his is pretty calm with, mostly, thinking he's only in town to sell his grandfather's house and then he's leaving. It's around the midway point that they decide to act on their feelings and we get some opendoor scenes (one later shower scene that read a little out of place hot for how the tone of the story had been going, but who's complaining). They're nice together but if you're looking for Thee Drama, that is not to be found here, it's all pretty calm waters. 

He knew what he wanted. 

Eventually, we get The Moment where it comes to head that Mylie doesn't want to leave her town, family, and business and Ben hasn't brushed the chip off his shoulder that he didn't feel like he belonged in the town and a danger moment from the miscreant, to give us a fork in the road. The characters work out their third act breakup and we, fairly quickly, get the expected happily ever after. This wasn't bad, just wasn't terribly exciting. I thought the flashbacks weren't really needed in this case and getting late povs from Mylie's younger sister and grandmother felt like it dragged the story on and in quick directions I wasn't interested in. However, if you're looking for a calm, female main character going about her daily life and getting a second chance at her childhood friend crush, this would fit the bill.

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Review: Too Hot to Handle

Too Hot to Handle by Portia MacIntosh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

The boys won’t leave. We can’t leave. We have to share the space. 

Too Hot to Handle was a first person point-of-view story that loved to misdirect and had a zany tone. Molly has just left a celebration where she helped her bestfriend's boyfriend surprise her with an engagement. High on love, she goes to dinner with her boyfriend of two years and has a moment where she thinks they're going to get engaged, instead he goes on about how he said he never wanted to get married. With a moment of clarity, Molly breaks up with him and then gets depressed with trying to date from apps. After eight months, she's ready to swear off guys and when a mix-up leads to her getting a two week vacation in Spain with her bride bestie and the other bridesmaids, relaxation and time with the girls is the only thing on her mind. Instead, she finds herself stuck in a villa with an all male groomsmen group. A standoff where no one wants to leave creates hijinks, battles, and Molly wanting to fraternize with the enemy. 

Honestly, he’s going to have to stop being so perfect, or I might be in serious trouble.

This had a chik-lit and women's fiction feel with a humorous bent that didn't quite jive with my funny bone, so your mileage may vary. Everyone was in their early/mid thirties and the way these adults acted finding themselves in a situation where the villa they were supposed to stay at was double booked, just didn't entertain me, rather, their attitudes and actions grated. If you're not bothered by the vibe, you'll get a story with four men and four women trying to convince the other group to leave the villa when there really isn't another option for them. They have one week until each wedding and then one week after the wedding for the wedding party members to enjoy the villa. With no side leaving, they agree to share it, the women get the bedrooms with attached bathrooms, the men get the downstairs with the kitchen, and the backyard with pool and fire pit is communal space. That's right, the men can't shower and the women can't cook food for a week. They come to a conclusion to play a series of competitions where each side picks an activity and whoever wins it, gets a point. After a few competitions whoever has the most points, gets the villa for the second week. The competitions are shown but ran through quickly and then the characters themselves kind of forget about them towards the end. 

It’s time to go for what I want, instead of being sad and scared all the time. 

As this is only told from Molly's pov, we only get a look at her budding connection with one of the men, Travis, from the other side, but there are hints that the other two bridesmaids might be having connections with the other two groomsmen. The romance doesn't really get focused on until halfway through and you won't be too certain where Travis stands. There's a misdirection moment meant to third act breakup bamboozle you but it doesn't last too long and I felt more annoyed than emotional that such a wrench was flashed in. After spending time with the group and some of their immature antics we do get a HEA for Molly but I can't say I believed wholeheartedly in it as I never really felt I knew Travis. This was a quick and snappy story and if you don't mind some immature madcap, this might be the beach read for you.

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Review: Where Shadows Meet

Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.7 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

She had to take control of her own destiny. She had to act now. 

Where Shadows Meet is the first part of a duology where readers are introduced to a fantasy world of humans, vampires, and gods. This would be great as a primer for upper young adult readers you'd want to bridge to adult high fantasy, this had all those elements on a more toned down scale. The beginning, especially before the story actually starts with the family tree and glossary of characters could feel a little overwhelming, my advice, glance over it and then come back after you've read half and look it over again as the names and their positions will be more recognizable and stick with you more. The story follows three point-of-views, Favre, Najja, and Leyla. They each come from different backgrounds but their stories weave together and through their povs, the world building is created. 

I see death. And it sees me. The dead whisper in my ears, tormenting me. 

The fantasy setting land is one year into a peace treaty that has vampires mining gold in exchange for humans giving their blood. Previously, vampires and humans had been fighting for a thousand years after a god, Thana and her partner Favre, left the Heavenly Realm for the human one. Thana had killed her father, from a sword forged from Favre's ripped off wings blood, after he refused to let Thana marry Favre. This action caused Thana to become the first vampire and she was banished from the Heavenly Realm, Favre and a few other gods going with her. The humans didn't like Thana just setting herself up as queen and the war started. Favre's character brings a lot of themes about selfishness, sacrifice, and emotional abuse in romantic and familial relationships. Her povs jump from the past to show her building romance with Thana and what happened as they came to earth and then the present as Favre breaks from an imprisonment imposed on her and her bid to free Thana. You'll get most of the outer whole lay of the story from her. 

“Sometimes the only way to find out the truth is to go along for the journey. Have faith. Believe. Trust in yourself.” 

Najja is the second pov character we meet and her povs are all from the present. She's a yamaja, a messenger of fate, she has visions of death and can see and hear the dead. She fears her powers and doesn't like how her people have been regulated to an island after her great-great-grandmother delivered a vision to the vampire queen that she didn't like. Najja has issues of never feeling good enough and living up to the pedestal she puts her sister on, along with grief from losing her mother. When Reapers attack her home, her sister tells Najja that she had a vision that Najja must help the vampire princess, this sends Najja reluctantly running from her home to the capitol to find the princess. 

“It’s not so simple as us being the bad guys and them being good. Maybe once it was like that, centuries ago, but war means atrocities have been committed on both sides. It’s now up to us, the present generation, to acknowledge our past while also healing the scars that remain.” 

This leads to us meeting our final main character, the vampire princess Leyla. Leyla is the heir and as her mother has a very advanced sickness, she knows she'll be getting the crown soon, even if she feels wholly unprepared for it. Leyla's that sheltered naive but earnest character that has felt beaten down by her mother and suffers from chronic pain that also works to make her feel not good enough. When she's exploring the town with her bestfriend Danai, Reapers attack and end up taking Danai, while Najja shows up to protect Leyla. This leads to Najja and Leyla starting a small road journey at the halfway point to go and rescue Danai from the land of the dead. 

“I’m glad you’re here with me. We’re here and we’re surviving and maybe, for tonight, that’s enough.” 

A lot of this first duology book was getting to know our three main characters, as we spent time in their heads, some of the soliloquies did go on long enough to slow the pace down, but I didn't really feel that way until the beginning second half as I thought some of Favre's feelings were retread one too many times. This is a story, though, that I think is worth investing in the time, it's moving parts might not seem to fit together at first but I thought as it went on it was pretty smooth how the author worked to slowly bring them together. Najja's there to try and protect Leyla and not allow one of the outcomes of fate, the one Favre wants to bring on, freeing Thana. There's the destructive romance between Favre and Thana and then the building one between Najja and Leyla. I did think Najja and Leyla's emotions and romance was rushed and I wasn't a total believer in it but the second book in the series could build on those emotions. 

I’m forced to watch as she rows away, toward the island where souls go at their end, to the place where shadows meet. 

This obviously ends on a cliffhanger, the ending of this dances into horror, which I enjoyed, but the rush of the events happening felt a little jarring after the majority of the book's pace was more slow moving. The worldbuilding was less about the physical setting and more about the social and cultural structuring of society and how that emotionally impacts individuals. There was also a lot of working in mythology, fairytales, and folklore that I enjoyed and will have you saying, I recognize that every so often. The characters fit an upper young adult classification and if you go in expecting a high fantasy primer feel, you'll enjoy this one. The combined elements of vampires, humans, and gods, how this was structured to weave the three main characters together, young adult emotional themes working through, and at times richness to the writing, made this intriguingly enjoyable.

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Quickie Rant Review: Touch of Enchantment

Touch of Enchantment by Teresa Medeiros
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Unhinged. 

If you read the first, unhinged in the same way but worse. 

Time travel again but no real romantic relationship development and for such a wacky supposed to be funny tone, why did I have to read about a nine year old girl's trauma about getting gang raped???

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Review: The Usual Family Mayhem

The Usual Family Mayhem by HelenKay Dimon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.8 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

She looked at the suffering passed in silence from generation to generation and said enough. 

The Usual Family Mayhem was a rolling offbeat story with tons of heart. Told all from Kasey's point-of-view, a late twenties woman who hasn't quite found her niche in life, when she gets put on the spot at her latest job, she suddenly finds herself pitching her grandmother's bakery as a possible business for her company to acquire for investors. Kasey's boss gives her two weeks to travel from D.C. to back home in North Carolina to get her grandmother Mags and Celia, her grandmother's partner, in life and business, to sign a deal with them. Taking the paid trip home, Kasey finds herself dipping and dodging questions from Mags and Celia about why she's really back home and trying not to show those deep feelings she has about Celia's nephew, Jackson, her childhood nemesis. There's also the little issue of Kasey thinking Mags and Celia have set up a side hustle of poisoning abusive husbands and she sets out to investigate. 

The two women who'd raised me and who I loved unconditionally were hiding something. 

Your enjoyment of this is going to hinge on how much you can tolerate of the left-of-center, slightly unhinged personality Kasey has. As this is all told from her, there's no escape, I found her more charming than exasperating, which worked in my favor. I did think it took way too long for Kasey to come clean (65%) to Mags and Celia about why she was in town and I thought that hurt the pace of the second half; you're going to yell at her to just tell the truth more than once. I was pleasantly surprised at how much the romance (fade-to-black) played a part in this, Jackson shows up early and sticks around to be that grounding, trying to be voice of reason, that Kasey needs. Even without his pov, his actions and words make it clear to readers that he has feelings for Kasey, even if Kasey is oblivious because she can't shake off the shame of when she made a move and Jackson went running (a totally warranted reaction from him at the time!). I greatly enjoyed their dynamic because even though their personalities are opposites, you see how they compliment each other and how they'd work together, he calms her and she lightens him up. 

They'd built a community based on the most desperate kind of need. 

Kasey's investigating of her grandmother's business and what she thinks they're involved in started off haphazard fun for me, but, like Kasey dodging the truth and not just coming out and explaining why she was there, she dragged it on a bit too long. In the latter second half when all four sit down to finally talk and explain, I think the emotions are going to hit some unexpectedly, I found myself tearing up when Mags and Celia finally had their say on how their lives went and what they chose to do about it from points on. For most of the book, the tone is kept light and goofy because of Kasey's personality beat, but the hints of deeper are there worked in. A lot of the women in this are survivors of domestic violence, a heavy topic, but while we get no flinching away stories of it, it's how it's told from the women's perspectives, their stories coming from their voices is what kept the mood from dragging down darkness to instead comforting strength uplifting. 

“No one tried to rescue us. We want better for other women.” Celia reached out and took Gram's hand. “Even women we don't know.”

While Kasey could be her own worst enemy at times, Jackson's father makes a good bid for being the villain of the piece by trying to impose his will, wants, and needs on everyone in his orbit. This drags Kasey and her work and her relationship with Jackson into contention with what the dad wants and leads up to a confrontation that ultimately helps to wrap up Kasey's work and romantic issues, so a needed villain. The lead up to the HEA gives normally in control Jackson vulnerability and Kasey found strength to deliver two sweet declarations. This was off-beat fun with heart, go find this one and pick it up. 

(Not me wishing Mags and Celia had a blog for me to comfort read)

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#TBRChallenge Review: The Rake

The Rake by Mary Jo Putney
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The nineteenth was TBRChallenge day, to give an idea of how busy I've been, I started this book like March 5th and just finished today. But, I got it done. Persistence, let us all move thusly. The month's theme was Rizz, and though it may seem amazing, I've never read The Rake by Mary Jo Putney, so I immediately thought of it, because rakes and rizz, am I right?! Y'all, I got the tired middle aged rake. Which, fine, lol. There was no syphilis (Yeah!) but there was alcoholism. This book was featured on a lot of All Time Bests lists back in the day and if you're going to pick it up now, I'd say take into consideration the first publishing date of 1989, to give it some of the import it deserves in how it connects alcoholism and disease, something that is widely more accepted in this day and age.

Ex. of his rizz:
With a horrid sense of discovery, Alys realized how charming Davenport could be with a sparkle in his light blue eyes and a wide smile that invited her to smile with him.

Ex. of her rizz:
"Good Lord, Lady Alys, your eyes don't match."
"Really?" she said with asperity. "I never noticed."
"Indoors the gray-green eye looks more or less like the brown one, but in this light the difference is striking," he said, ignoring her sarcasm. "A most unusual feature, but then, you are a most unusual woman."

I've read a few Putney's and recognized a lot of names in this, so consider this loosely set in a series but the “Despair of the Davenports” has just been misplaced as heir when a cousin appears. Reggie (pour one out for the heroes once named Reggie, as I don't think we'll have any for a long time) is in his late thirties and now that his uncle who had to take him in when his family died, has also passed on, he has lost his taste for trying to embarrass the family. His heir cousin isn't a bad guy and alerts him to the fact that he should have inherited his childhood home all along. So, world weary of London, Reggie decides to go visit his old home. There he finds a steward who looks exceptionally well in pantaloons, discovering a “Lady Alys” has been hiding her gender and running his estate.

Under the world-weary air were tolerance and intelligence that would be a credit to anyone. And he had the tiredest eyes she had ever seen.

With povs from Alys, readers are let in that she's been on the run from her father after she overheard her betrothal say he was only marrying her for her money and found her a “bossy long leg”. Her father wouldn't let her break the betrothal and years later she survived hiding out as a governess and now estate manager, who also is the guardian of a young woman and her two younger brothers. There's some tension at first with Alys wondering if Reggie will fire her out of hand and Reggie trying to fight his attraction to her.

In a way, they were opposite sides of the same coin: The rake and the reformer, both stubborn and proud. One a destroyer, one a builder. One a cynic, one a dreamer.

I was very busy this month but oof, I struggled with this one, it liked to ramble. I mean, we had a sheep washing scene, lol. Who was going on about wanting more historical details in their romance? Couldn't be meeeeeee! I was tempted at times to call this men's fiction for a little bit because of the struggling with wanting a drink, not wanting a drink and remembering his childhood issues Reggie, but that was at my more petty moments. Alys' issues with not feeling attractive take up a good amount of time too. Basically, Reggie doesn't want to live up to his reputation anymore (throughout the story you learn some undeserved there) and Alys needs to accept Reggie finds her attractive. There's two other side romances, numerous povs from secondary characters, and a villain arc that brings some danger. I don't know, I love you all and I know this is a favorite, but, eek, I was bored a good portion of this.

What really sheared my sheep (I mean this in a float my boat way, lol, was trying to stay on theme) in this was the 1989 issue tackling you could feel happening:

"I have only one more question at the moment. As an eager reformer, have you had everyone on the estate vaccinated against smallpox?"
Alys was startled. "No, I've encouraged vaccination, but some of the workers are very suspicious about 'newfangled ideas.' Only about half the people would agree to it, and I don't really have the authority to insist on something like that." In fact, she had railed, begged, and pleaded with the tenants, enraged by their pigheaded stubbornness.
"In that case, I will issue my first order." His gaze met hers, cold determination in the depths of his eyes. "Everyone who is not vaccinated within the next month will be dismissed and evicted. There will be no exceptions."

Reggie don't play, and neither should you.

"If her husband had assaulted another woman as he did her, he could have been convicted and jailed. But since she was his wife, beating her was perfectly legal, unless he actually murdered her. There was no possibility of divorce. Violence isn't enough to free a wife of her husband."

Say it with me, “No fault divorce”.

"Allie, sex is a very basic part of the human animal, and it's a great tragedy that men and women almost never talk freely about it. Respectable women are taught that ignorance and distaste are signs of refinement. Heaven knows how you survived that kind of upbringing with your passion intact, but don't ever be ashamed of what you are, or what you feel."

Ok, so this sexual freedom, we love! But also beware that the “slut” other woman was a hell of a drug trope in this publishing era and this book does not escape it.

And because I can't help myself:
He drew her into waltz position, one strong hand on her waist and the other clasping her gloved hand firmly. "Good girl," he said softly as they began dancing.

Romance, good girling since 1989!

He stared down at her, raw emotion in his eyes. "Could you bear it if he does disinherit you?"
"Yes," she said flatly. "Could you bear it if he doesn't?"
He let his breath out in an explosive sigh. "I don't know."

The end gives us Alys' true identity coming into the mix and Reggie not liking the idea that she is actually more wealthy than him and ok, maybe thinks he's not good enough for her. I can see how Reggie's struggle with alcoholism and linking it to a disease would feel more impactful in the original year this was published and there was a decent amount of time dedicated to showing him struggling and have setbacks before he realized how he just had to be abstinent (there was some slight give it over to God that I wasn't thrilled with but ymmv). For more modern reading sensibilities, there was even too many povs and side stories going on for me and it made it kind of boring and scattered. I was also getting frustrated with Alys “I'm tall and ugly”, like girl, he's thirsting hard and everyone sees it. I guess I can see how it felt impactful at the time but sorry to say, I can see why it's falling off newer Best of lists.

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Review: The Hidden Moon

The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars 

I buddy read this, for my thoughts and comments: The Hidden Moon buddy read 

I loved these two. 

She knew this was impossible. Because of birth and class. Who she was and who he wasn’t. 

The Loooooooonging! 

“Do you think I’m spoiled?” she asked all the sudden. 

“Yes,” he answered without pause. He glanced at her, smirking. Gao’s look entirely changed when he smiled. 

She managed a smile back, her heartbeat skipping. 

The honesty and connection of two people seeing each other in ways no other person pays attention to. 

“Lady Bai.” An iron-hard voice sliced through the silence. Wei-wei looked up to see Gao standing over them. His gaze fixed onto Li Chen. It was the first time she saw a glimpse of what her brother had talked about. What Mingyu had warned her away from. Gao didn’t have to say or do anything. Magistrate Li kept his eyes on Gao as he released her arm, moving slowly as one would do when facing an unpredictable and wild animal. 

The touch her and die vibes! 

“I never thought you could possibly be mine, Wei-wei,” he said, his voice heavy. “I just wanted to ask.” 

My god. 

The historical time period classism angst felt! 

If you've read the series, you'll know there is always a murder mystery, I was kind of meh on the one in this, felt super to the side and I'm not sure I always grasped the whos and whats and then the ending got resolved kind of off screen. I don't know, I was extremely busy these last couple weeks and yet, these two didn't leave my mind.

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Reading Update: 17%

 

What a week it was, treating myself to some Blackberry Lemon Poppy Seed cupcakes and buddy reading the third book in the Pingkang Li Mysteries series. 

Wei-wei is the sheltered sister who feels the constraints of the time but when she's with from the wrong side of the tracks Gao, she starts to feel free. 

A murder that needs solving and Wei-wei and Gao find themselves in each other's world again. 

And their attraction is stronger than ever. 

I love good girl/bad boy with heart! 

The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin purchase link

Blackberry frosting, lemon poppy seed cupcakes recipe

Reading Romance Bingo Challenge

 That's What I'm Talking About (Twimom227) 2025 Romance Reading Bingo Challenge

Need an audiobook or an MC over 35 for bingo. Truly don't know which one I'd consider more of a rarity in my reading! (It's audiobook, I'm being dramatic) 

*clicking on book title takes you to my review

Sports - The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan

Snow/Ice on cover - Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

Forced Proximity - A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon

SciFi/Fantasy - Order of Swans by Jude Deveraux

Non-US/UK setting (real country) - A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera

TBR over 1 year - The Liar's Dice by Jeannie Lin

LGBTQ+ - Les Normaux by Janine Janssen with S. Al Sabado

Non-US Author - Gate to Kagoshima by Poppy Kuroki

One Word Title - Prophecy by M.L. Fergus

Royal MC - Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell

MC name starts with a "M" - Too Hot to Handle by Portia MacIntosh

Review: Prophecy

Prophecy by M.L. Fergus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.7 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

“Never attack in anger,” he whispered, his lips so close to her ear that she could feel his breath on her skin. “And never start a fight you can't win.” 

Prophecy is an updated and revised fantasy story (The Gypsy King) that follows a girl trying to fight destiny and the way it pulls and pushes her into dire consequence situations. We first meet Persephone as a shackled enslaved late teens girl who is trying to protect chickens from a boy a little older than her that is trying to steal them. When Azriel gets a look at her face in the moonlight, he seems to know her and wants her to come with him, which Persephone refuses. Only to have Azriel show up the next night impersonating a lord and buys her. This sets her off on a journey where she constantly tries to find ways to break away for her freedom but is shackled not in chains this time, but to the seemingly workings of an old prophecy. 

Once, she'd believed the prophecy of the Methusian king to be nothing more than the wishful thinking of a hunted people. Now she knew it was a death sentence for all those it touched. 

In almost the opposite of an info dump, this first book in The Fractured Kingdoms series, takes it's time, and doesn't get there for some aspects, in introducing readers to this fantasy land. After a prologue that introduces readers to a Methusian seer who gives us a prophecy of a Methusian king that will reunite the clans of Glyndoria right before she's attacked and killed, the next chapter jumps us fifteen years later. As we follow Persephone and Azriel on their road trip, the worldbuilding gets placed in here and there with the gist of it being that there are four clans who make up this world, a boy king of the Erok clan is currently crowned but as he's not quite eighteen yet, his regent Mordesius runs things. Mordesius has a deformed body from a fire and is mad for the legend of a Methusian magical pool that could heal his body, he also hunts Methusians not only to torture them for their knowledge but to kill the children for their blood, thinking that has healing powers too. The advertisement of this saying it's like the Princess Bride and Game of Thrones kind of fits, you'll get light and goofy with Persephone and her animals that follow her but some gruesome killing and torture with a wanna be Little Finger in Mordesius. 

“I do not believe that the Fates will allow you to refuse. I believe that a path stretches out before us, Persephone, and though I cannot say exactly where it will lead, I would stake my life on the certainty that we are meant to walk it together, come what may.” 

Most of this first book in the series is more of a meet and greet to learn the players and set them in their roles. Persephone will annoy at times with her bratty determination that doesn't always make sense, she wants to escape Azriel and the Methusian prophecy they think she has a part in, but escape to what? Persephone never really has a plan just a “I want to be free” that feels forced to keep her apart from Azriel. Their budding romance had moments, they have some sweet and heated teasing between each other, but it definitely felt in the lighter young adult realm that this is categorized in. In the second half where the prophecy has them headed to the capitol to rescue a Methusian boy, along with an added girl Rachel who looks a lot like Persephone and no one is sure who the prophecy is about, the story started to feel a little dragged out. We get point-of-views from the other side, Mordesius, to further the overarching plot, but there was still not enough moved along for me. 

I enjoyed this because of the cute chemistry between Azriel and Persephone but Persephone's insistence in wanting to “escape” when it didn't quite make sense, had me frustrated with her a lot of the time. This first installment delivered on some answers but a lot still isn't clear and with a sudden cliffhanger, I find myself wanting to start the second in the series right away. This was at turns cute, goofy, gruesome, and had fun back and forth chemistry, I just wanted Persephone to accept she could be a heroine in a fantasy story more readily.

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Reading Update: 26%

Neither of them said anything until he walked up to the edge of the pool, dropped his pack, unbuckled his sword and began unbuttoning his shirt.

"How's the water?" he asked.

I am absolutely feral for scenes like this. 

Quickly, Persephone is traveling, not by complete choice with Azriel, a guy she barely knows but the inklings are there for trust and attraction, and took the chance in the morning to escape him. He's spent the whole day searching for her and dealing with her goofy animal friends, dog, horse, and hawk, and covered in mud. Thinking she escaped him, Persephone relaxes in a hot pool, with her shift on the bank. Only to have her separation anxiety horse crash through the trees and find her, leading Azriel to her. 

This tense moment of him saying "How's the water?" and undressing like he's going to join her, gah! LIVE for this type of tension. The scene continues on and gah! But also, we're only 26% in, so don't get too excited, lol.

Review: Love and Other Paradoxes

Love and Other Paradoxes by Catriona Silvey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

“You’re from the future.”

Love and Other Paradoxes was a story about how your future could change if you knew your future. Joe is a twenty year old student at Cambridge who aspires to be a poet like the greats he's studying, but as he's studying, he's also getting a heavy case of impostor syndrome. A middle class Scot in the rich environment of Cambridge and raised in a household that was encouraging but also worked to keep his feet on the ground, Joe feels lost as he tries to measure up and graduate. When he bumps into the barista he was having some chemistry with and he picks up the book that fell out of her purse, he sees his name on the cover and picture of himself as a sixty year old man. As a panicked Esi tries to grab it out of his hands, Joe runs and finds himself in his dorm room with a piece of his future.

“I want to be remembered.”

Told all from Joe's point-of-view, the first half of this had me locked in as Joe learns that Esi is from the year 2044. She's accessed Joe's current time, 2005, by paying a time tourist company that allows people to take trips to observe famous people, which he'll be in her time for writing poetry. The time travel gets as deep as “I traveled through a wormhole” for most of the book and instead focuses on how knowing your future could change a person. Joe knows that he writes an impactful and famous book of poetry for a girl he's only glimpsed on campus and they fall in love later in life. So when he has the chance to meet this girl, he enters a poetry contest with one of the poems from his future book and ends up paired with her as she'll do a dramatic reading of the poem, he's all in, ready to start to his future now. This leads to Joe living life different, taking more chances and slacking off from school, as he thinks nothing he does matters as his future is already determined.

Determinism was nice in theory, but it didn’t actually save you any effort.

After the rush of knowing his future wears off, Joe starts to wonder if he's actually changing his future with his current actions as he learns that Esi's whole point of taking the time trip wasn't to observe him but to try and change her mother's future, as she ends up dying in a car accident when Esi is eight. This leads to some themed questioning of determinism and we get a second half that meanders and jumps weeks at a time as Joe begins to realize that not only what he does now still matter, the future he thought he wanted may not be what he truly wants. The beginning also had Joe and Esi developing a friendship that had some sparks but the middle abandons them a bit as Joe tries to start his romance with his future wife early. I missed their companionship and when Esi comes back into the picture in the later second half, they had lost some momentum for me.

He wanted to be with her, even if it was temporary, even if it was doomed. He wanted to taste every moment they could possibly have before it was over.

If you've been or are familiar with Cambridge, you'd probably enjoy the setting descriptions and Joe's roommate and other secondary characters added to the flushed out feeling of the world. It just felt like the beginning was more tightly held together and then the second half got lost in where it wanted to go and how to work everything out regarding the time travel aspects. You won't get solid spelled out answers to how everything wraps up for the characters but more of “infinite universes” and a kind of weak easy solution for how Joe and Esi's romance endures. This started strong with an interesting concept, the underlining discussion on determinism was thought provoking, Joe and Esi had beginning spark, but then the second half lost its way and Esi disappeared for too long, only to anemically drift back in. If feeling nostalgic for 2005 Cambridge, with some romance, wormholes, infinite universes, and inventive weapons for the campus game Assassins, this had those eclectic elements.

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Review: The Anatomy of Magic

The Anatomy of Magic by J.C. Cervantes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

“I spelled my heart.”

Second in the Estrada Family series, The Anatomy of Magic is about Lily, the youngest sister. If you read the first (The Enchanted Hacienda) you'll know that generations ago, an Estrada woman made a desperate deal with the Aztec goddess Mayahuel. The deal was for every female descendant to be blessed with their own brand of magic that is enhanced by plants and flowers. Lily's magic is memory and when a patient's son utters a line from her past, she is shocked into a distant memory and then tragically loses for the first time a patient on the operating table. This causes her to go home to her family flower farm in Mexico and face the consequences of the intensified memory spell she put on herself to try and forget her first love Sam.

“It’s because something else is taking up space in your heart, and you have to heal that.”

Told all from Lily's point-of-view this was a more sedate moving story about how not dealing with past pains can bubble up and impact you when you least expect it. It's a magical realism setting with the flower magic and a family generational story, even though each book takes turns focusing on a different Estrada woman. There's the love interest Sam, who doesn't appear until around the 25% mark, but his character isn't so much there for his story to be told but in service of showing how Lily is the way she is today and how she has to work through that. The love thread is a second chance romance as the two were childhood sweethearts and then eleven years ago when they were nineteen, Sam out of nowhere says he doesn't love her anymore, giving no other explanation. This causes Lily to spell her heart to try and forget their years long love but also works to deaden her emotionally somewhat. The story was more about Lily discovering she should feel again and how she could go about it than showing Lily and Sam working together to resolve their past pain. A little later into the second half, Sam tells Lily why he broke up with her and Lily pretty much forgives him right away. The romance arc was more working through Lily's pain, hearing the reason she always wondered about, and then immediately moving on to we're in love.

“Azalea came to me in a dream,” I say.
“And?”
“She told me to go back to the beginning.”

The ending has some family and magical drama from a decision Lily makes but we get a resolving of that for no cliff-hangers, also an epilogue to deliver what looks like a Lily and Sam worked out happily ever after. I enjoyed the continued magical realism aspects and Estrada family relationships that were laid out in the first, you could pick this up as a standalone as there's enough relaying to clue new readers in, but the pace got a little slow for me as Lily glummed around. I also missed the romance thread being stronger and having more working through to give the second chance more impact. This wasn't the strongest installment for me but I'm still entranced by the Estrada women and their flower farm and will be looking out for the next one to fall in love.

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Review: A Place No Flowers Grow

A Place No Flowers Grow by Cheryl Cantafio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

a woman once lived here 

emerald eyes and bright smile 

born on the last frontier 

raised along the arctic mile 

A Place No Flowers Grow was a book in verse told in pantoum and quintain poem format. Divided into five parts, with an epilogue, readers are taken on a haunting journey. 

it's for science, though, right? 

the cold makes his hands throb 

his mettle tested by the never-ending white 

Roen wonders why he took the job 

The first part introduces the main characters, Octavia, Roen, and Fox. Octavia grows up in the Arctic with loving parents who teach her the importance of nature. Her mother gets sick and this leads to Octavia studying plants to try and find a cure for her. Roen grows up with his mother and grandfather and dreams of doing something extraordinary. With his grandfather being deaf, this leads to Roen studying, experimenting on animals in hopes of finding medical ways to help humans. 

she was defenseless in her love for him 

he made hand puppets in the shadows 

she made him feel weak in every limb 

we could make lovely little weirdos 

Part two has Octavia and Roen moving to Alyeska, meeting and falling in love, while part three shows that the Fox we previously meet in the wild is now caged in Roen's lab. We get povs from all three characters, showing us Octavia and Roen falling love, with Roen thinking about how the experiments are cruel to the animals but thinking the end justifies the means and how Fox is getting changed by the experiments and about to have a Rise of the Planet of the Apes “NO!” moment. It's a good contrast of how oblivious beings inhabiting the same world can be of each other, the happy in love Octavia and Roen and the angry Fox. 

she thought of the caged beasts she'd avenge 

it felt good to be out in the wide open 

readying to exact her revenge 

Fox dreamt in her ice cave den 

Parts four and five deliver the climax of the happy and angry worlds colliding and lead to an epilogue that delivers on a Gothic tale ending feel. This story was told in an interesting way and I hope readers give the format a chance because it's an atmospheric and engaging story. It's a does the ends justify the means, with morality and ethical questions, and look at all the ways humans respect, use, and abuse their place in nature, all wrapped up in a vengeful, Gothic feeling love tale. 

if you 

wed in the spot 

known as Crimson Vows Vale 

bring yarrow and buttercups for 

good luck

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Review: Scot and Bothered

Scot and Bothered by Alexandra Kiley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

He’d been the one person she’d trusted with her dreams and he’d single-handedly unraveled them. 

Scot and Bothered was a second chance story told in alternating Then and Now chapters, that pretty much last throughout the whole book. Brooke is an American who is studying at the University of Edinburgh in their English program, she has the dream of being a writer. Jack is a Scotsman who is in the MBA program, he supposed to help with his family's tour guide business when he graduates. When they meet at a party, they're both instantly drawn to each other, until Brooke shows up to class one day and Jack is one of the T.A.s in the class. They know they shouldn't start anything but they can't help themselves and when Jack feels like his hand is forced and makes a decision without telling Brooke, they both feel the consequences. It's not until seven years later that these two are forced together to collaborate on Jack's aunt's memoir, Brooke's mentor, that old wounds are finally healed. 

It was easier to slip into someone else’s story, someone else’s voice, than to admit she’d lost her own. 

I'm not a strict linear reader, so I don't mind alternating timelines that are simultaneously showing our characters in present time and pushing the story forward while also going back in time to show how they got where they are and why they are the way they are. However, I usually like the past timeline to be wrapped up around midway point, having gotten the foundational information needed to understand but then fully in the present so the characters have time to work out what they need to and fall in love again. The alternating timelines kept up until, almost the very end of the book and I was left feeling like Brooke and Jack didn't spend that great gritty time working out what they needed. When Brooke and Jack are forced together, Brooke's writing her mentor's memoir, while Jack's taking the photos for his aunt's book, Brooke is still extremely angry over how everything went down seven years ago. She does not take her foot off his neck for awhile but it seemingly takes one, I'm finally getting angry line, from Jack and she kind of lets it go. It's an apology of sorts but I still felt she let that strong anger go kind of quickly. 

“I feel bound to a life I didn’t pick. I have never felt free.” 

The anguish in his voice broke her heart in two. And spoke to something she never felt allowed to voice. 

Considering the set-up of Jack being not her specific T.A. but a T.A. in her class, I'm not sure I felt the desperate “we must be together” even though we could wait and there would be no consequences. I could see Jack caving but Brooke's character is described as very by-the-book and she's there on scholarship and talks a lot about how important this all is to her. I know she's in love for the first time and likes how Jack brings out her adventurous side but it still felt a betrayal to some of her characterization, because they wouldn't have to stay away forever, just for the semester or even two. I spent more of the Then chapters shaking my head and thinking the big blow up coming could be easily avoided. How unromantic of me, but there it is. 

“I fucked up. So badly . I wish more than anything I could take it back. I know I broke your trust and it’s unforgivable.” 

Around 30% is when Brooke loses her red mist of anger and they start to talk. They're hiking the Skye Trail in Scotland, the mentor/aunt founded the trail and the memoir is focused on that. If you read the first in this series, you'll remember the amazing way the author incorporated aspects of Scotland, geography, historical facts, and legends. We mostly get geography here and while I didn't find it as encompassing as the first, I still enjoyed how the setting, the land and trail, added atmosphere to the story. We get some secondary characters that are hiking and a little bit of Jack's family, what connects the series, but mostly this was focused on Brooke and Jack.

It wasn’t the look of someone who’d never cared. It was the look of someone who still cared. 

Around 70% Brooke is ready to try with Jack again and like I said, I never felt like there was much working out the emotional problem in the Now chapters, Brooke felt like she just kind of mellowed and their instant connection from the Then chapters was what I felt left with to explain and feel why they were giving in to this second chance. It felt odd that Brooke's over what happened in the past before readers even find out how everything blew-up, which is revealed around 80%. How could I the reader move on with her if I didn't even know what happened yet? 

“Sometimes we have to fuck it all up to know how to do it right.” 

The alternating timeline chapters went on too long for me and I didn't get the knuckle down and work it out for this second chance romance, it felt like it came too easily (lower angst readers would enjoy more). The Skye Trail descriptions gave good setting but the pace dragged in the later second half as I felt the characters were stagnating because the Then chapters were still behind where the Now Brooke and Jack seemed to emotionally be. There was a brief upset moment to add late second drama but gotten over quickly and a two years in the future epilogue to cement the HEA. This didn't quite hit like the first for me but I'll definitely be returning to the series for the third brother's romance.

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Review: Broken Country

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

The farmer is dead, he is dead and all anyone wants to know is who killed him. 

Broken Country was the story of Mess, told in literary style and awash in melodrama. It centers on Beth, a young woman that grew up in the English countryside and how the decisions she makes shapes and twists her life. Told in five parts (four named for the males in her life) and alternating three timelines, readers are started off with a murder. It's obvious that there's lies to be figured out as Beth's point-of-view clues us in but then we're taken back to the months before the murder and the arrival of Beth's past love Gabriel. When a horrible incident has Beth entering his life again, by way of watching his young son as he's a new single dad, readers can feel Beth being pulled into trouble. The story then jumps to Beth and Gabriel meeting as young teens and from there the alternating timelines are set, the beginning in 1950s with Beth and Gabriel's romance, the past in 1968 with Beth and Gabriel entering each other's lives again, and the present in 1969 with a murder trial.

But we are not who we once were. 

The alternating timelines weave the reader in and around the characters' relationships showing how they were formed and their emotional ties. The literary style works to elevate the tone but the way Beth goes about things is pure Mess. There's the alluring rich boy Gabriel, the country girl Beth who doesn't feel worthy but has big dreams, and the strong stoic farm boy Frank who yearns and loves Beth from afar until he gets his chance with her. Even though these characters do fit into these common molds, I did think the author infused them with enough depth to keep you absorbed into their characters and lives. Frank's stoicism was probably the most I wanted to break out of, feeling a little noble poor idealistic. The secondary characters of Frank's younger brother Jimmy, Jimmy's girlfriend, and other friends and family appear and provide enough to give a good rounding out of the main characters' world. 

Our love triangle – the farmer, his wife and the famous author – has been prodded and picked over and sensationalised out of all proportion in Fleet Street. 

This started off with me trying to work out the mystery of the who, what, and whys of the murder mystery, but I slowly drifted from that to becoming more invested in how Beth's grief (there are content warnings in this for death of a child, death of an animal, murder, and alcoholism) had her pulling from those close to her and trying to escape into a past idealized life that was no longer there for her. The last twenty percent delivers reveals readers were waiting for and one that felt hinted at but will still shock some, and an ending that will first hurt until an epilogue delivers the healing. If you enjoy melodrama mess in literary style that takes you on an alternating timeline journey as the murder mystery is slowly untangled, then you'll want to pick this one up.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

Salmon and secrets for a late lunch! 

Beth and her husband are happily married, but that all relies on the past staying buried. 

When Gabriel, a past love who broke her heart, suddenly comes back into her life, tensions start to rise. 

Danger, deadly secrets, and jealousies are resurfacing with consequences. 

Beth is going to have to make a choice between the woman she once was and the woman she has become. 

A love story with thriller twists! 

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall preorder (March 4th) link

Gochujang Salmon recipe

Review: Gate to Kagoshima

Gate to Kagoshima by Poppy Kuroki
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

1.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

She was here on a mission: to find her third-great-grandfather’s history. 

Gate to Kagoshima was a time travel historical fiction feeling, through internal observation and introspection of 1877 cultural Kagoshima Japan, with a romantic element story. Isla grew up in Scotland but has ancestral roots in Japan, roots that she feels a pull to search for more information about. When she has some free time from her study aboard courses in Tokyo, she takes a trip to Kagoshima. Armed with some vague knowledge that her third great grandfather was one of the famed Samurai of the Satsuma Rebellion, she travels there to try and research more about him. Only she gets more than she bargained for when she gets lost exploring a shrine and goes from 2005 to 1877. 

Isla tried to remind herself that Takamori Saigō died one hundred and twenty-eight years ago, along with the rest of the last samurai, but knowing this didn’t make the man she was staring at seem either a fluke or trick. 

The first half of this was somewhat slow going, it leaned heavily into the historical fiction aspects. I enjoyed the mixture of real life historical figures and events with fictional characters but, as this was told mostly from Isla's point-of-view, with Maeda Keiichirō having a good amount of pov passages and then one or two from other secondary characters, most of the story was told from inside her head, relaying her thoughts about what she was seeing. This was more observational introspection, with not much dialogue (we do get more in the second half). I like inclusion of historical elements but this felt like focusing on the research for spouting facts purpose; it was a story about setting instead of characters, readers who came for a more character journey would struggle with this first half.

History was unfolding before her eyes. 

The story did get going with the time travel right away, Isla was in 1877 by 20% in and she met Keiichirō right away. He gets tasked with sheltering her and watching her as they think she could be a spy. After Isla integrates herself into the community life a bit, the second half did pick up some steam with the historical march and fighting at Kumamoto Castle. There we get some jarring, for what the tone of the story felt like previously, gory scenes of death and fighting and Isla worrying over Keiichirō. The romance wasn't really romancing for me as it wasn't too focused on in the first half and then the second half just kind of tries to force the reader that they feel this incredible love for each other. In his own words Keiichirō summed it up for me: They had never touched unless by accident, or talked about deeply personal things, or even stared into each other’s eyes. And yet Keiichirō knew his life would be less if Isla wasn’t there, and her absence would be like draining all the colour from the world. He just knew. 

You're just supposed to know that they have this intense love, because there wasn't any development for it. 

The rain pelted the hillside, the torii gate waiting on top. 

The latter second half had some awkward time jumps, feeling like jumbled scenes together, an open-door scene that also did not feel like it fit at all, and some reveals. One of the reveals involved Keiichirō's sister and it honestly was so incredibly not needed and because of the time period I'm living in right now, it felt pointed jammed in a way that had my hackles raising all the way up. I'll put what it was in spoiler tags 

****SPOILER***

Years ago when Keiichirō's dad found his sister pregnant, she told him that she was raped. The dad slices the rapist's throat in his sleep, which makes the killing not honorable and so as a samurai, the dad commits seppuku, kills himself. Towards the end it's found out that the sister lied about the rape to hide her promiscuity and there's some relaying at how this lying destroys so many people. Just personally not in the mood for this kind of messaging when we know the percentages of fake rape accusations and prevalence of rape 

****SPOILER****

If this doesn't raise your hackles, you'd probably not have the bad taste in your mouth like I did towards the end. The ending stayed true to the real historical event and the romance gave a Knight in Shining Armour by Jude Deveraux-ish end. The first half was slow paced but could interest observational historical fiction readers but the second half and ending was a jumbled mess of pace, tone, and scenes.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

Lazy day Sunday eating and reading. 

Isla is in Japan researching her family history when a typhoon sends her back in time to the Satsuma Rebellion. 

She meets her ancestors and a samurai named Kei, who might just be the love of her life. 

But Isla knows the rebellion is looming, and what Kei's fate is. 

Does she try to find a way back home, or change fate? 

Gate to Kagoshima by Poppy Kuroki purchase link

Smoked Sausage and Mozzarella Pasta recipe

Review: Les Normaux

Les Normaux by Janine Janssen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

Les Normaux was a Webtoon series turned graphic novel about late twenty something characters trying to find their place in the world. Centered on human, but has the magical capabilities of a wizard, Sébastien has just moved to magical Paris and meets vampire Elia. They're both taking a moment in a hidden alcove in a club when instant chemistry hits them and they're making out, only for Sébastien to call a halt to things and run off. Which would have been less embarrassing if Sébastien didn't run into Elia the very next morning, as they both live in the same building now.

   

The story started off immediately with them meeting and readers are thrown into the world without a lot of context. Later in the the book, we get a little nugget of worldbuilding when it's relayed that a wizard created, built this magical Paris parallel to the human Paris, as a haven for supernatural beings that may feel lost. We do get some backstory on Sébastien and Elia as we get to know they're characters separately. Sébastien's parents tried to get him to suppress his magical abilities as the magical gene skipped them, this, along with being gay in an environment he thought he had to hide it, has left Sébastien having some social anxiety, being an overthinker, and just wanting to run away when things feel overwhelming. His first step to independence is him moving to magical Paris, his aunt and uncle who do have magical abilities are there to support him, and attending university, where he'll study and learn about his wizard magic. Elia seems to come from a storied, wealthy family where he helps with their fashion line business. We don't get as much about his background but he seems to feel immense pressure from his family and this causes him to dissociate when he gets overwhelmed.

   

Along with our main couple's story, we get some secondary character side-story lines from Elia's three girl friends, with a focus on Ronnie's budding romance, and an introduction to two male friends that Sébastien meets at university. There's also a few side-story inserts about Sébastien's bunny Pierre (a normal rabbit that was given infused magically by Sébastien's grandmother) and how he seems to be about world domination. It was cute but not fully making sense to me.

   

The jump from scenes sometimes didn't feel smooth, I was left questioning how much time had passed between scenes but the artwork added to the characterization and world, giving it a more inclusive and lively reading experience. This was volume one and that was felt in it's more introductory feeling, I do wish world-building had been laid out a bit more. If you're looking for a different kind of reading experience than you're usual written novel, this graphic novel had magic, budding romances, friendships, familial and personal issues working through, and a bunny bent on world domination.

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