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| 0380873877
| 9780380873876
| 0380873877
| 4.04
| 772
| Jan 1983
| Jan 01, 1989
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it was ok
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2.5 stars *This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub dis 2.5 stars *This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub discussion. TL;DR - More sedate Bodice Ripper, more like historical fiction saga, very little romance "Now, that is what I call a fateful sighting," Valentine murmured, his gaze narrowed as he stared at the shore. "Do you see what I do, Mustafa, or have I been misled by the mists? Is she mortal, or a Nereid sent to bewitch a weary sailor?" The Turk followed his captain's gaze to the riverbank. Sitting astride a white horse galloping along the shore was the most beautiful woman either man had ever seen. Dressed in green velvet, like the tall grasses growing along the river, her red hair flowing out behind her like a wild flame, she raced the wind with innocent abandon. She would disappear, then reappear almost magically out of the mists rising from the river. Only once did she seem to pause, and then she sat staring at the river, as if searching the clutter of masts for a certain ship. "I wonder who she is," Valentine murmured, vowing he would find out. 'Sdeath! It's Bodice Ripper time! When the TBRChallenge theme for September was Drama!, I knew immediately I had to pick one of the Bodice Rippers on my tbr. Published in 1983 (what a great year ;) and with a parrot AND a jaguar on the cover, I knew this just had to be the one. Surprisingly, while the cover fits in to what is commonly thought of for this period in romance, this is what I would call a more sedate one. In fact, I don't think I would call this a Bodice Ripper but a historical fiction saga with romantic element. I think if you've always wanted to try a Bodice Ripper but, understandably, stayed away because of the many content and trigger warnings that abound in these, this could be the one you'd feel safer trying, if you wanted to experience some of that sweeping epic feeling readers talk about in this romance era. There were a few lines discussing slave routes/trading, a quick, don't really see though, attempted rape, “gypsy” hate (not so much from author's pov as she breathes life into them like any other secondary character, but from English characters), and that old go to of the male main character saved the life of a “Turk”, so he follows him in devotion (Mustafa got an at least shaded in backstory), that I would point out if you're a no go on anything. Broken up into three parts, the first part starts in 1558 Tudor England. It's the time of Elizabeth and you'll get a history lesson (not footnotes though, lol) on the Catholics and Protestants and why there's bad blood and Reformation. I'm aware and decently versed in this time period, so I could take in all the names as I already knew the whos, whats, and whys. If this is brand new information, you're probably going to get lost in all the names and want to bounce when you showed up for romance. Along with taking extra time to set the reader in the story, we get the background romance, on who our female main character is eventually going to be, parents. That's right, this starts before our FMC is even a glint in an eye. Her father was an English privateer and her mother the daughter of a Spanish Don. The Drama! Spanish and English aren't exactly besties at this time and in 1571 when Geoffrey Christian captures the ship of Don Pedro, a Don's daughter's, Magdelena, intended they are brought onto Geoffrey Christian's ship. Clashing and Passion ignites! This is all told in flashback form and, yes, I was hoping at this time that the book was about the parent's romance. Daddy Don is not happy to say the least and disowns Magdalena in typical male hysteria, the intended Don Pedro vows revenge, even though he ends up marrying Magdalena's sister. Geoff and Mag live happily in England and have a daughter named Lily Francisca. When Magdalena gets word that her mother is dying, Daddy Don works on his emotional outbursts and agrees to let her come see her mother one last time. Family trip! But our ol' gal Queen Elizabeth is up to her wily ways and sees an opportunity to send a spy with the Christians to see what the Spanish are up to. A friend of the Christian's, Sir Basil joins the trip, along with a seven year old Lily Francisca. At Santo Domingo, Magdalena gets to say goodbye to her mother, Daddy Don is now a Grandpa Don and delights in precocious Lily Francisca, so, most, is forgiven. It's not all sunshine and roses though, Lily Francisca sees a man with two different colored eyes and overhears something that she can't quite make sense of but knows is wrong, Sir Basil also overhears and sees things that make the spying trip worth it. Englishman Valchamps, the man with two different colored eyes and another man, never named to the readers but known by Basil and written in his journal, are found to be traitors. Knowing they've been outed, they team up with revenge seeking Don Pedro and devise a plan to sink Geoffrey Christian's ship. Geoffrey is mortally wounded but before he goes down with his ship, he manages to get Magdalena, Basil, Lily Francisca, and a seaman to row them to one of the many islands around to try and save their lives. When the seaman sees the ship going down, he panics and takes the boat out alone to try to save lives, only to never return. This is all in the first 15%, then to Part Two and seven years later. With more flashback form, Lily Francisca, who is now fourteen, relays to readers what seven years stranded on an island was like. Her mother was pregnant, just told Geoffrey the night before, and had a son, Tristram. And after five years of loneliness, Magdalena and Basil find love and have a daughter named Dulcie. This is where we also meet the book cover's parrot Cisco and the jaguar Choco, who Lily took care of when he was baby. There's also a monkey called Capabells and I'm very affronted on his behalf that he didn't get cover billing like the other two. A storm brings a Spanish shipwreck to their shores, where no crew survived but they're able to salvage some trunks full of gold and squirrel them away in a hidden cove, along with Basil's and Geoffrey's journals. Then tragedy strikes when a small boat of a few passengers finds their island. Magdalena and Basil send the kids away as they try to nurse the fever ridden passengers. Magdalena dies first and as he's sickening, Basil makes Lily promise to always take care of her siblings and not to forget the fable he taught her about wild white horses, a different colored eyes witch, and trying to save a Queen. Basil dies soon after and the flashback being told by Lily ends as we're brought two years forward for the Part Two seven years jump. As this was all happening on the island, Valentine, Basil's late twenties sea adventuring (he name drops sailing with Drake) brother learns of his death. Basil's wife and son mourns until she remarries a family friend named William and Valentine vows revenge on Don Pedro and contemplates marrying his lover Cordelia. Cordelia was the beautiful social climber well known in this type of story. I feel like I could be losing some people, I get it, the book almost lost me too. Re-hydrate, bookmark, nap, or DNF, these types of stories are A LOT It's when the seaman who initially rowed Mags, Bas, and Lil to the island finally escapes the ship he was imprisoned on and makes his way to England that Valentine learns his brother might still be alive, that the story gets moving again. With a crudely drawn map from the dying seaman, Valentine sets sail for the island, only to find that, yes, his brother may have initially lived but is now truly dead. There's mistrust from Lily as Basil enforced to her the need to be cautious but eventually Valentine, with some trickery, get her and the other two kid's on his ship back to England. Lily cautiously? forgets to tell Valentine about the treasure cove and Basil's journal. So at this time, the readers know of one traitor, Valchamps, and are trying to figure out from some redherrings who the other could be, infusing some mystery/thriller into the story. Lily's fourteen, so we get major hero-worship love from her towards Valentine but overhears him talking to a jealous Cordelia and says he could never look at Lily in a romantic love way because she's just a child. Lily vows to never reveal her love to him. There's some Drama! over Dulcie being the love child of Mags and Bas, and questions if Tristram really was Geoffrey Christian's or Basil. The cousin who inherited Geoff's estate is of course horrible and by default becomes the kids' guardian, until either it's believed Tristram really is the true heir or Lily comes of age and gets the estate. There's some Valentine leaving for his adventures but promising Lily he'll always be there for them, always can ask him for help and Lily and the kid's suffering having to live with their guardian. Part Three! Jumps three years and we have a seventeen year old Lily. She's too brass and beautiful for the small village and when her guardian decides one night to rape her to make her have to marry him so he can inherit the estate, he actually almost rapes their maid and she screams thinking she killed him. Ten year old Tristram is no help at all and amps everyone up claiming the townspeople will call Lily a witch and burn her at the stake. So, Lily, Tristram, Dulcie, the maid, and two of the stablehands they're friends with, take off to find their nursemaid in the north to help them. Totally best plan. Why no one else? Valentine's off adventuring, Dulcie's halfbrother, from Basil's side is only a couple years older than Lily, and Dulcie's aunts are something something busy. As the group is trying to get away, they run into Romney. A twenties something half-Romani, who has the hots for Lily. He hides them away, goes to the estate to learn what's happening and with some selfishness and good intentions, takes them to his wandering band of Romani and our island kids are now traveling puppeteers. With some bad luck, Valchamps sees the puppet show, based on the fable Basil told Lily, and figures out that Lily may remember more than he wants her too. Valentine also runs into the Romani camp and sees a woman who takes his breath away. Y'all. I know it's been three years and I had quite the glow-up myself from 14 to 17 but, come on. He doesn't recognize Lily. He kisses her and can't wait to get her to his ship but is drawn away for an important meeting. Lily is crushed and more mad at him. Valchamp burns the Romani camp trying to kill Lily, Romney dies, our little group is on the run again. Valentine learns of the children on the run from Simon (Basil's son and who also loves Lily) and they're off to find the nursemaid thinking the kids are going to her. William Shakespeare gives shortcut directions (the randomness of this had me laughing for a good five minutes, it was so wildly out of nowhere) to Valentine and they surreptitiously run into the kids and Valentine saves Lily from drowning, she saw Valchamps club her on the head before she fell into the water. It may feel like I'm long-winded in this review, but this was 600pgs and when I tell you the numerous side-stories and characters I'm leaving out. This is around 66% where Valentine and Lily meet back-up. What's your alls problem, have some patience, my gosh, wanting the romance to start earlier than 50%?? Valentine is mad Lily didn't tell him who she was, Lily's mad he didn't recognize her. There's a Drama! slap Lily gives Valentine. This is around 80% and when I would say (Finally!) the romance feels like it starts up. Lily tells Valentine about Basil's journal, gets him to promise her she can go along to get it and they set sail but the other traitor isn't known and being in their trusted circle, alerts Don Pedro about their sailing plans. They get to the island, Spanish attack, Choco saves the day!, Lily and Valentine get captured only to escape and hide out in the hidden cove. We get our first sex scene between the two at 92%(!!!) and Valentine reads Basil journal to learn who the other traitor is. Val's also a wily one and brought along some other English ships, defeating the Spanish, so they get rescued and head back to England. The cove sex had Val and Lil admitting their love for each other but it's all save the reputation distance until the traitor is dealt with back in England. The traitor is revealed and I kind of guessed it because of how secret the author was keeping it, kind of impactful and kind of, 'kay, moving on. Ends with Val and Lil getting married. If you made it through all that epic journey, you'll realize, not much romance at all and I was kind of disappointed in it all. But, like I said, if you've been afraid of Bodice Rippers, you could safely get a taste of them with this one but just know it's more historical fiction saga than anything else. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Sep 12, 2024
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Sep 23, 2024
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Sep 12, 2024
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Paperback
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| 9798988445708
| B0CV5X7QVM
| 3.62
| 34
| unknown
| Apr 30, 2024
|
really liked it
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3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What if her days of failure with her 3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What if her days of failure with her family, the monotony at work, and the regret in her peaceful moments were only half her life? What if, at night, she could go to Ireland and do all that she wished, without having to face who she had been, or who she had become. With the, what might of have been regrets of Jane Austen's Persuasion, a touch of scifi for some speculative fiction flair, and a few elements that reminded me of how I felt about unanswered/left unexplained things in the tv show The Leftovers, The States pulls you into troubled Tildy's life. She's technically an heiress because her family owns a cosmetic empire but that's slowly crumbling as her father makes one bad business decision after another. Knowing her family the way she does, she's the middle child of three girls, she's set up a separate life for herself as a data scientist. When she gets called in by her father for a family meeting, she learns he wants her to give him her shares of the company, sell her grandmother's land in Ireland, and move with the family from New York to Florida. The mention of the land in Ireland drudges up her memories of the childhood love she left behind and we learn why she's so melancholy. Someone like him wouldn't want someone like her, she told herself. The someone he knew her to be. On the heels of learning that her family is going to have to finally deal with their dwindling funds, she comes across an advertisement for a sleep study, run by an old college friend. With a combination of a drug and a sort of brain wave monitoring skull cap, she'll be able to lucid dream for hours. They're looking to help people with things like PTSD be able to visualize ways to help themselves but Tildy wants to live the life she gave up eight years ago. It's a little tv show Severance but Tildy remembers her dreaming, even if she starts to use it too much and her sense of real and fake starts to erode. This was her fifth session, and a sense of menace was now unmistakable. At around 350pgs long, this had moments of feeling like it lit fic meandered, Tildy's feelings about not being able to fully turn her back on her family and punishing herself for it when she chose them over her Irish love, start to feel overly mewling and repetitive in her self-flagellation indulgence. A new character gets introduced about halfway through that brings in some more family backstory, with some mystery/thriller vibes and forces Tildy's hand to finally make decisions. The scfi comes in with an AI named “Russell” that was created by her mother, who died, and is supposed to help the family with life, decisions, and, I guess, a way to feel still connected with their mother. It was one of those The Leftover elements that I felt didn't quite get flushed out enough, along with how Tildy starts to use the lucid dreaming machine too much and the dreams start to have a feeling of menace to her. The Persuasion connection is pretty loose and just about Tildy and the boy she left behind in Ireland, Aidan, and how she regrets it and how he made good. What if she couldn't tell the truth from the lie any longer? This had some slice of life to it, so you're going to have to be ready to sit for more of a long haul. A little into the second half, Tildy starts to grow some backbone and she moves to Ireland and we get her having a little struggle of distinguishing real from the dreams as some fate has her running into Aidan and the friends she'd included in her dreams because of her cyberstalking of him. There was some hinting at possibly some more scifi or fate, as Tildy learns that there was some truth to her dreams. I thought the ending felt a little quick as Tildy suddenly gets decisive after three hundred pages of ineffectual bemoaning; not sure there was enough shown of Tildy building up the strength for this sudden action. Overall, I was captured into Tildy's life but her woe is me attitude was laid on for a long enough time that it did get tiring, the scifi lucid dreaming addition kept me going but some of these elements didn't feel flushed out enough, but the little bit of romance did deliver a pretty sweet ending. This was a little something different story that you're going to have to slow down for, be willing to not get all the answers, but at least give you a little smile at the end. ...more |
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1
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Aug 24, 2024
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Aug 28, 2024
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Aug 24, 2024
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Paperback
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| B000FC1PD4
| 4.08
| 25,545
| Feb 17, 2004
| Oct 13, 2009
|
really liked it
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3.7 stars Quick wrap-up: Woman limps back to her hometown where she was a capital B, trying to find a painting left to her by her aunt. The teacher who 3.7 stars Quick wrap-up: Woman limps back to her hometown where she was a capital B, trying to find a painting left to her by her aunt. The teacher who she lied about and got fired owns her childhood home now and is out for revenge, along with everyone else in town. It was all “young tough girl in a push-up bra” because her dad ignored her but showered love on his illegitimate family, but she still refuses as an adult to let down her wall but everyone eventually figures out she's got some caring in her. Fighting, flirting, grit, tears, dated-ness, and laughter. And Gordon, he should have gotten a pov! It was cold outside. She rested her cheek against his shirtfront. He wasn’t even breathing hard as he carried her across the yard with Gordon leading the way. “Furthermore,” he went on, “you will be rested. And”—he gripped her tighter—“sweet-tempered.” “You had more to drink than I thought.” She yawned and closed her eyes. “Go ahead and admit it. You’re afraid of me.” “Terrified is more like it.” She burrowed deeper into his chest. “I’m a handful, all right.” “My worst nightmare.” Oof, this story. It is, obviously, aged in some areas. He was her high school teacher and some of the lines he has when he thinks about how she looked back then, Cringe. But, also, there was a raw fearlessness to the writing, the characters make mistakes, they're so far from perfect, but gah, that delivered hit you in the gut emotion. This was also that blend of funny wild, almost off the rails that the late '90s-early-to-mid 00s had. He wore the raunchiest pair of Levi’s she’d ever seen—threadbare in the right knee, a hole in the butt—an equally ratty gray T-shirt, worn work gloves, and scuffed, dirt-encrusted brown work boots, one of which had a knot holding the shoelace together. An honest-to-God smudge ran up alongside that gorgeous honker of a nose. And he’d never looked more irresistible. She scowled. “Even your hair’s a mess.” I don't even know how to articulate how this descriptive scene makes me feel, but it does, and it's such a blip on the radar scene but I see his hotness and I feel how it makes her feel. It's one of those, we're losing the recipes examples for me. He didn’t say it sarcastically, but she stiffened, and he cursed the part of him that was so terrified of the sentimental that he tainted everything with cynicism, even when he didn’t intend it. I hate when books personally call me out. Anyway, this felt Adult, whether it was the emotions, actions, or words, relentlessly adult. Since you are a lunatic, however, this is the only way.” “You planned this from the beginning, didn’t you?” “Let’s simply say that you’re not the sort of woman who can be permitted to run amok.” One of the best love you warts and all story *I didn't know you used to have to get a blood test before you got your marriage license??? I was enjoying the HEA ending and this little line “Leeann dragged Sugar Beth to the lab for her blood test.” had me losing my mind and Googling for an hour. I hate I'm this way but now I can say, “I learned it from a Romance book!” ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 24, 2024
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Sep 2024
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Aug 24, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 0330245872
| 9780330245876
| 0330245872
| 3.40
| 92
| unknown
| 1975
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it was ok
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1.5 stars
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Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 14, 2024
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Aug 24, 2024
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Aug 14, 2024
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Paperback
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| 0063337606
| 9780063337602
| 0063337606
| 3.67
| 1,834
| Jul 02, 2024
| Jul 02, 2024
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it was ok
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I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What could be better publicity for my writin I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What could be better publicity for my writing career than a romance author looking for her own happily ever after? Jac is thirty-two and just moved back home after getting a taste of what she thought was her dream of being a successful author living in New York. However, the dream was short lived, that big three book publishing contract disappears when her first book tanks and the second barely sells and she spends all her money trying to be the fun, single, successful author living in the big city. This leads to a drunken night of answering an online casting call for a reality tv show where the contestants battle it out for love, a la The Bachelor. I lean forward toward him eagerly. “And who am I?” I ask. He flashes me a sly grin. “A lit match on a very dark night.” If you're a fan of The Bachelor, then you might end up liking this more than me, but you're going to have to want to see the underbelly of what makes the show. Told all in Jac's pov, it's clear that all these events have already happened and the reader is getting the backstory, the story catches up to the present in the latter second half. We see Jac have a one-night stand before she's set to start filming and, oh no, the one night stand turns out to be Henry, a producer on the show. This sets-up the whole, are the feelings between them real or is Henry “producing” Jac to make great tv? Along the way, Jac feels an instant connection and chemistry with the man everyone is vying for, Marcus, and there's a little bit of a love triangle. I say little bit, because this is more about Jac trying to find herself. I keep questioning what's real and what's not and who I even am or thought I was. Jac is set-up to be the “unlikable heroine” in the story and the tv show. And here's the thing, while I didn't actively not like her, I grew disinterested in her and the story. It's toned in pretty bitter vibes, bemoaning botox, having to be skinny, looking a certain way, etc., which yes, all tiring issues women have to deal with but I'm not sure I ever felt Jac actually being tired and done with it. She uses all these advantages she has to “win”, which she likes in her “I want to stand out but am uncomfortable being the center of attention” personality. There's some annoyance that this is her “role” but, to me, her jaded personality doesn't really hate it, it's bothersome to her but she's written fairly dead inside, excuse me, “walled off” (works if character is walled off to other characters but me as the reader probably needs to see/feel at least some of the behind the wall emotion) and I can't say I ever really felt her hate it, because she fits the mold, even if it takes some energy for her too. Secondary characters never truly get filled out, this being all from Jac's pov and her sucking all the air out of the room. And that's not what I meant, it's never what I meant, because the happiness I need is so much bigger than romance or fairy tales or beautiful dinners where I starve because starving is how everyone might like me best. That's not real. That's not what I want. I don't know, maybe I've just read too many, “publishing is horrific”, “people on social media are horrific”, and toned writing that brings not a single ounce of joy to the characters or world. This is coming from someone who's nickname was “Daria”! I like jaded, cynical, and unlikable women because usually the character is saying a whole lot through these characteristics. I'm not sure the author accomplished what she set out to here, Jac felt like empty “not like other women”. And, at the risk of being like a social media reviewer character quoted in the story, because that seems like the du jour thing to do right now, I wouldn't recommend this for the romance, not strong enough for me. I would recommend this is you want more of a bitter toned story about how reality shows like The Bachelor aren't really about the love. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 20, 2024
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Aug 04, 2024
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Jul 02, 2024
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Hardcover
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| Brom
*
| 1250622026
| 9781250622020
| B0CQHL43VF
| 4.05
| 342
| Sep 17, 2024
| Sep 17, 2024
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liked it
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2.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Devil wants me in his belly like a 2.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Devil wants me in his belly like a wiggle worm. Evil in Me started off on a fast chaotic note, Adam is trying to fight the voice in his head telling him to kill. He's powerless as he watches himself burn down a synagogue and stab the Rabbi and his wife to death. Readers are let in that it's a ring that has clamped itself onto Adam's finger and is feeding him these urges. As Adam hacks off his fingers trying to get the ring off, it just keeps spider crawling back onto another one until Adam takes his own life. The story then jumps from 1951 Brooklyn to 1985 Enterprise, Alabama and twenty-three year old Ruby. “I am Lord Sheelbeth...your savior, your master.” The flames flared as she spoke. One of my favorite parts of this story was how the author took the time to develop the supernatural background. Taking from religious mythology and giving it some spin, Brom gives us the ring's story. It's from a time when gods ruled and Lord Sheelbeth was in her heyday, until the Baalei Shem cut the ring off Sheelbeth's finger, cut out her eye, tied her to the ring, and imprisoned her in a hell. While Sheelbeth can weave urging magic into songs sang by the souls she has taken throughout her life, that are manifested as worms in her belly, she can't force anyone to act on these urges. This is done by Beel, a shedim (one of god's unfinished souls), who Sheelbeth had previously imprisoned and can possess the body of the ring wearer, controlling their body. I wasn't well versed in these religious stories, so don't fear if you aren't either, I had no problem understanding everything. We get povs from Sheelbeth, Beel, and later another demon, Vutto, controlled by Sheelbeth, to expand their characters and even though they come from a hell, don't be surprised if you start to feel for them. With the beginning giving us the introduction to the ring, it sets-up a great foreboding feeling as we get to know Ruby. She's on her last week of community service, stopped taking her medication for bi-polar, and just trying to white-knuckle it and not lose it over how everyone aggravates her. Listen, she had some legitimate reasons to. When she heads over to Mr. Rosenfeld's home, the same last name of the previously murdered Rabbi, you know things aren't going to go well for her. Sure enough, the ring ends up on her finger and then we're on a ride to save her life. Josh was the Rabbi's brother and manages to give Ruby a heads-up on what's happening, even manages to douse the ring in red powder (angel's blood) to cloak Sheelbeth's power, while they try to find a way to get it off Ruby's finger. While the ring is cloaked, Ruby is still possessed by Beel, but he's been looking for a way to get from under Sheelbeth's control and helps as much as he can with finding a way to break the ring's grasp. I got . . . bored. Help is to be found in Atlanta where Josh knows a Dr. who specializes in ancient Hebrew mythology and theology. There, they learn that if Ruby sings a song from the heart, with the help of many souls, they can compel the ring off. Which is perfect, because Ruby used to be in a punk band and her ex-bandmate just happens to be in Atlanta. The second half gives us ghosts, demons, murder, redemption, and a serial killer. I wasn't really a fan of the Richard serial killer addition, his pov and addition felt clunky added on and honestly the story would have been better without it, wanted kick him out of the band. Along with Richard, Ruby's almost step-father had a story arch that made me think there can be too many musicians in a band, Ruby was the lead singer and could carry this story without those two. The ending was a wild ride and had some of that chaotic punk music feel but like Ruby's band The Night Mares, this story needed a drummer to anchor it, Ruby had enough characterization for lead singer and Sheelbeth and Beel easily could have anchored but they got pushed and rushed aside too much by those characters I wanted cut-out; the story threads were riffing all over the place without a solid connecting feel. This was a supernatural story that had horror, punk music and satanic panic '80s highlighting, and heart from some unlikely places, fun but off the tracks at times. (The author also did a really cool collaboration with a punk band, The Maxines, to produce some of the original songs created in this, make sure to check those out!) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 12, 2024
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Sep 25, 2024
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Jun 17, 2024
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ebook
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| 0063371367
| 9780063371361
| 0063371367
| 3.62
| 398
| Oct 29, 2024
| Oct 29, 2024
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liked it
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2.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What was a hero's purpose after the 2.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What was a hero's purpose after the villains were vanquished? This Will Be Fun was a fantasy story about the emotional cost to saving a realm. The story starts from Galwell the Great's point-of-view as he's in his own head watching his three friends the night before they take on the dark powers Fraternal Order in a final battle. There's his sister Elowen who has Heart magic (ability to read people's emotions), and his friends Beatrice, who has Head magic (can “visit” memories), and Clare, a mercenary who keeps silent on what his magic is. They've been battling to save the realm of Mythria and it's the night before they reach the capital Queendom, where they'll hopefully rescue the land and the princess Galwell is betrothed to. After we get this quick introduction to the world and characters, the story then jumps ten years. Fame, and guilt. With alternating chapters from Beatrice, Clare, and Elowen's pov, readers learn what happened that final battle and the emotional fallout. They're heroes for saving the realm, celebrated each year with The Festival of the Four, but they haven't spoken to each other since that night ten years ago. Elowen keeps herself isolated in a tree house, Beatrice married a noble but is currently getting divorced, and Clare travels around the realm taking all the lauding the citizens want to heap on them. It's when the princess they saved is finally getting married that they must come together again. By thirty percent they're all together again, with added reformed assassin Vandra who now works for the princess. Beatrice's guilt, the horrible fight that broke up the friendship between Beatrice and Elowen, and the love that has been buried under hurt and anger between Clare and Beatrice bubble around them and keep the relations tense. When they get to Queendom and realize the princess', now queen, fiancé has been kidnapped, they realize they'll have to do one more quest. It was amazing how she'd helped save the entire realm and she'd come out of it as nothing but a loser. The searching for the fiancé sends them all out to travel around the mid-way point of the story, which I was kind of glad because while I was interested reading about the deep turmoil of what these characters had been through, it honestly got a bit slow and repetitive as the characters sat in their emotions. I think the lack of more solid character development, we get such a brief first introduction to them, and the immediate plunge into “I want to shun everything and everyone”, kept me from really getting into the characters; I didn't know them enough yet to feel for them. Being together was only a reminder of who they'd lost. As they travel, it's Clare and Beatrice, Elowen and Vandra reaching and pulling away from each other for two second chance romances. I felt like the issues between the two did some repetitive saying their issue until suddenly, abrupt 180 into physical scenes. I missed more of seeing and feeling a working through to get to that awesome fireworks moment, there wasn't enough of building up for payoff, for me. The romances didn't quite deliver what I wanted and while the worldbuilding started off intriguing, it never developed enough for me either. The magic people are endowed with is relayed but not really woven into the world, plus Clare's magic reveal just felt quickly thrown out. I didn't mind the modern meshing, coffee shops, soap operas, face-timing, Uber, added in with a bare Medieval cloaking but I can see this as a your mileage may vary additive; kind of gave me movie A Knight's Tale vibes. “Each of us needs to face the Order.” He stared right into Beatrice's eyes, reminding her of their conversation. “For peace.” He looked next to Elowen. “For revenge.” He rounded, facing the queen. “For Galwell and for Hugh.” The first half felt dragged out to me and then the later second half ending felt rushed from jumping to resolution to resolution with half-explained, developed, magical moments (Sword of Souls, Beatrice's “new” magic) and romances that felt abruptly come together, I wanted more developmental work to feel those emotional payoffs. The characters were thirties and while I didn't get YA fantasy vibe, I'm not sure I felt their maturity either, the lack of character development. Even though there wasn't enough delving into the characters and world building for me, if you're looking for a first half that addresses hero emotional fallout and a second half that has them quest traveling, with magic and some cloaked modern additives, this would be a lighter fantasy to think about. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 24, 2024
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Sep 12, 2024
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Jun 08, 2024
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Paperback
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| 1638930902
| 9781638930907
| B0CFGFN45X
| 3.87
| 268
| unknown
| Jul 30, 2024
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it was amazing
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I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review She knew nothing of the place in the world s I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review She knew nothing of the place in the world she and her mother came from, and as a child she believed that they had come from sound. They Dream of Gold was a story of how the changing tides of life pull and push us while we're trying to set our feet firmly in the ground. As a debut, this is one of the best I've ever read, the flow from one point-of-view, timeline, and setting to another was tightly held together by the connections between the characters. This type of story could have so easily got away and fell apart but the author's writing style and tone keeps the traveling sands feel discussed in the author's note. I would consider Bonnie our main character and touchstone as she blows into other characters' lives and as she's with them, readers then get tangents into those character lives. When we enter into Bonnie's life, it's 1969 Switzerland and she's heavily pregnant. Staying at her mother-in-law's home, the household is tense and stressed that they haven't heard from Mansour, Bonnie's husband. He's a musician who's been out on tour and when a radio report comes on that the women fear could hold the answer, Bonnie knows it's time to figure out what happened to Mansour. The story then branches out, giving us Bonnie's childhood, her mother couldn't take care of her when she was younger, so she left Paris to stay with her grandmother in Brooklyn, and then as each character, Bonnie's mother Claudine, Mama Eva, and the other two women staying in Mama Eva's home, Marie and Sokhna, along with Mansour and friends and colleagues Mansour makes along his way and how Bonnie and Mansour met, we flow into each characters' pov and visit their lives at certain times in their history. From 1969 Switzerland, 1949 Senegal, 1927 Alabama, and other times and places, the story manages to give intimate insights into what happened to these characters and how that has shaped and molded them in the 1969 present. This structure sounds zig zaggy, but I promise it works, we never info dump stay with one character, it's more of a constant flowing around as the present search for Mansour is the central plot line for bringing in and connecting all these characters. As Mansour is a musician and that is a main part of what brought him and Bonnie together, it's all around in the story and what I'd keep in mind if you're more of a linear reader to help you get into the flow of this. There were moments of quiet devastation, fierce love, hope, and strength that will keep you thinking about these characters for a long time. Historical events were in the background and forefront at times to ground the reader in the time and place of the character pov you're reading at the time, adding more layers to the characters. This was an amazing story on how other's not only affect our lives as they come into and leave it, but how we carry and pass on, whether familial, friendship, or romantic, those little grains of emotional experiences from one generation to another. There was so much to experience and feel in this, that I can't recommend it enough. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 28, 2024
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Jul 20, 2024
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May 30, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 9798989986804
| B0D2V9PD4C
| 3.59
| 135
| unknown
| Jul 09, 2024
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really liked it
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3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review “On the dotted line I’m Calvin Gold 3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review “On the dotted line I’m Calvin Goldberg. People called me Cal until the ’76 Olympics. After I got the bronze, well, someone thought Bronze Goldberg sounded funny.” Blood and Mascara was a story with all the noir hallmarks, a seemingly broken down PI, women at every turn, murder, and mystery. The first half felt a little lighter blue noir as we get to know our PI Bronze, he's traveled a heck of a road, from a Judo bronze medalist, to an investigative reporter who solved a serial killer case, to only be almost killed by that killer, to alcoholism to cope with what he saw, fired from his job, to four years of sobriety and working as a PI. There's a sense of hope through Bronze as he has been sober for a while and building up romance between him and his upstairs landlady, Iris. This all gets derailed though, when an adultery case he was working on has Bronze the last man to see a congressman alive before he was murdered. Suddenly, he's working with his old detective friend Roth, and the FBI as they try to untangled a mystery that could involve an international hitman called “The Machine”, which leads into a second half that skips right over gritty and into dark noir. Of course it wouldn’t balance the scales. Not even a little bit. (There was no one watching the scales.) (There were no scales.) As with any good noir, the atmosphere is key, set in 1997 Washington D.C., most of the atmosphere is felt through the characterization and writing style. Bronze smokes his cigarettes, with alcohol always haunting, and he has his share of women playing roles in his life. This had multiple character povs, with Iris getting the second most to Bronze, and she supplied her own brand of world weary, with wanting to keep changes in her writing career, being middle aged, and deciding if she actually wanted Bronze, or the idea of him. The story is laced through with more and more information to what lead to Bronze becoming an alcoholic and losing his job, the final massacre committed by the serial killer, but we don't get the full picture until the end. This story utilized the style of focusing on a character to only fade out to a flashback to give another puzzle piece to why they are the way they are, if you're a timeline linear reader, you'd probably struggle. You’re young and in pain. Then you’re old and hopeless. With the flashbacks that were giving us character pieces, the main murder mystery is playing out and comes fully into play in the second half. It was a bit convoluted with some moving parts but things come into focus as Roth, Bronze, and Iris hone in with their investigation. I thought the ending moment where Roth info dumps the hows and whys of the tale felt unneeded, by that time it was pretty clear what had happened and this felt a little dumbing down. What I also felt wasn't needed, was the serial killer's pov as he commits the massacre. We're all aware of how these men feel about women, I didn't need to sit so long in his thought manifesto, which felt less like character development and more gratuitous. Between this and Bronze's “awe of women” that he mentally hashes through, I was somewhat worn out on how women were being discussed; it's not enough to make you put the book down, but, being a woman myself, it's an exhaustion that I don't search out to feel in fiction. The main character in a story must believe in a lie. The big lie that will come undone in the end. The ending gave us a ramping up that flew back and forth between life and death situations, answered all the questions, and after all the dark and grisly, returned to it's more beginning little light with some hope. I enjoyed feeling the noir atmosphere, the mystery came close to having one too many knots, but Bronze was a character that was memorable and I'd go with him anytime on an investigation. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 14, 2024
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Jun 18, 2024
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May 30, 2024
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Paperback
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| 0008706662
| 9780008706661
| B0CT7QGW5S
| 4.13
| 8,598
| Jun 14, 2018
| Jul 18, 2024
|
really liked it
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3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review ‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘this is what 3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review ‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘this is what following your heart feels like.’ The Story Collector was a story of finding your way after you've lost it, with tales of fairies and loads of charm. The story opens with some tension as Sarah and her husband have obviously decided to split and it's time to have that first Christmas now apart. Sarah's at the airport when a ceramic sheep and newspaper article about locals saving a fairy tree about to be cut down, all lead to Sarah changing her ticket from home to Boston, to Ireland. There, what could be considered little puckish intervenes, lead to Sarah staying in Thornwood village, where she'll heal, find herself again, and maybe find love again. Her mother and her sister Meghan were the practical ones, but Sarah and her father were the dreamers. Or at least she used to be. All of the magic seemed to seep out of her after The Big Bad Thing. Maybe Ireland was the place to find it again? It's obvious that something traumatic happened to snap Sarah out of the routine of slowing losing herself in her marriage over the five years they were together (it gets revealed later in the story what this was, but it's fairly obvious it was (view spoiler)[a miscarriage (hide spoiler)]). Sarah's dealing with grief and a bit fogged from it when she arrives in Ireland but gets led to Thornwood. There, she ends up staying in a cottage and finding a diary of a young girl named Anna that lived there in 1910. The diary tells the story of an American coming to Thornwood and Anna becoming his assistant as she leads him around the village to listen and record people's stories of “The Good People”. The story then alternates between Sarah's timeline and Anna's and we get fairy stories with Anna and the American and Sarah learning to heal and meeting the owner of the cottage she's staying at. Even a broken heart still feels. Grief and loss, along with good and evil stories of fairies are throughout the book but they're never explicitly dived down into, more touched on to keep a lighter tone to the story. The first meeting between Sarah and the cottage owner where she's picking flowers in a field and he's the tall conservation officer who reprimands her for picking the flowers, he has his own grief tied into he doesn't want her picking the flowers, will have a little zing hit you, as you feel the promised magic between them (especially when his little yappy dog clues Sarah into what a softie he is). There was also a little building romance in Anna's timeline as her and the American slowly grow to know one another, but like the grief and frightening tales of fairies, the romance is more touched on, than delved into. I greatly enjoyed the charm of this one but thought for the taking it's measured time pace for most of the story, the ending felt very rushed. Anna's story has some ending drama and a wrap-up that may leave some left wanting and while Sarah's story has her healing and becoming herself again, her happily ever after came abruptly in a way that I didn't feel I got to sit and enjoy the ending ride, it went too fast. Regardless of the rushed ending though, this story will have you feeling the magic and I recommend if you're wanting something that acknowledges the struggles of grief but doesn't completely darken the tone, tells tales of the fairy folk, and will overall charm you. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 20, 2024
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Aug 10, 2024
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May 17, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 0063329581
| 9780063329584
| 0063329581
| 3.62
| 1,408
| May 21, 2024
| May 21, 2024
|
really liked it
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3.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review For many years, I'd had a single goal 3.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review For many years, I'd had a single goal in life: never ever move back to Evergreen, New Jersey. It feels like Delfina is finally getting her big break when she gets a coveted slot at a make you or break you comedy festival. Wanting to really hone her set, she quits her job at a pub and comedy club, only to walk in on her boyfriend of three months with her roommate. Suddenly, Del is jobless and homeless and on her way back to the hometown she never wanted to see again ten years later. We disagreed, we argued, we sometimes found ourselves alone and then things happened that were never mean to happen. That was it. Told all from Del's point-of-view, Summertime Punchline had all the highs and lows of being late twenties, your friends all in different places in life, coming into who you really want to be in your career and personal life, finally dealing with those pesky childhood traumas, and an added bonus of a second chance romance. Del was raised by her grandmother, her parents were substance abuse addicts, her mother fatally overdosed when she was young and her father was a deadbeat flitting in and out of her life. While this didn't really deal with Del missing her mother (she was very young when her mother died and her grandmother sufficiently filled the role for her), she did have unresolved issues with her dad. Her issues with him not being there for her when she was a child ebbs and flows throughout the book, finally looking at how it effected her and then how she feels and is willing to move forward now that he has been clean and sober for years. It was a little bit of a different take, with Del wanting to forgive him, and while I'm one to lean more sinking into the hurt, pain, and staying behind walls characters, I did enjoy this kind of restoring route of Del's moving on. So, if you're looking for a forgiveness and willing to build daughter-father relationship, this would hit those points for you. Flirting on a Ferris wheel was one thing, but sharing bunk beds? Pretty early in the beginning, Del runs into Eddie, her high-school nemesis, friend, and crush. There are flashbacks in this that stretch throughout the whole book to show moments in their friendship that lead to them being close and also ending up not talking for ten years. It's basically that high-school relationship of two kids that have strong feelings but don't have the maturity to deal with them yet, along with not the best home-life mucking things up even more for them. We do get more of an insight into who Eddie's character is in the later second half of the book, as Del and him talk, exposing to readers his story. I did feel some chemistry between them and was rooting for them to get together, they at turns had some good by-play and steamy scenes but I still have to lean this is more Del's journey than Del and Eddie together; a good romance but not the main point. His next words came out slow, dark eyes burning into mine. “No games.” If you remember me being excited about the mention of the tv show “Hacks” in the blurb, well, it was a little less in there than I expected. Del's move back to Evergreen and staying with her grandmother is for her to be able to rewrite her whole set, because it was all about her relationship with her boyfriend and after the breakup she can't do those jokes anymore. The story seemed to constantly want to stay away from Del actually doing or focusing on this, the moment that really only corresponds is the moment she realizes that she's made her set jokes all about her, making the joke on her, and she doesn't want to do that anymore. However, it doesn't seem like she really wants to be a stand-up comedian too much either because then we get how she is a great singer and maybe wants to be a musician too? It felt a little bait and switch, but she ends up morphing into a kind of Bloodhound Gang comedian with writing songs that are funny. (She performs a song about her crappy dad memories and everyone was hooting and hollering in the audience, didn't really tickle my funny bone but, ymmv) I felt the ending rushed the resolving of the issues that Del had been wading through, ending up dampening some of those satisfied feelings you get after journeying with the character. This had more of a happily-for-now (an epilogue does expand on this more) but you'll still enjoy how Del and Eddie end up. This was a great beach read that had those summertime vibes (boardwalk ferris wheel!), secondary characters you'll love (Alfonso! I want a Nan and Alfonso romance stat), a romance that was slow in the making but all the better for it, and main character Del coming into her own in the best way. A debut that makes me exited for what comes next from the author, pick it up this summer! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 28, 2024
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Jun 2024
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May 17, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 178689839X
| 9781786898395
| B0CP8DWQ4R
| 3.60
| 345
| unknown
| Jun 06, 2024
|
it was amazing
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I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Now, I am my own creation, and it’s far too I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Now, I am my own creation, and it’s far too late to change me. Told in a lyrical and bard style, Bright I Burn breathes historical fiction life into the first recorded person condemned for witchcraft in Ireland, Alice Kyteler. The story brings readers in when Alice is nine years old in 1279 Kilkenny, Ireland. At this age, Alice learns an important truth of how woman are valued, their ability to give their husbands heirs and to always remember to stay at least one step ahead of the men in her life. Her desirability is a hindrance, first avoiding her father, and a help as it leads to her being able to marry who she wants. I liked how the story did touch on Alice's privilege, class and race, and how that protected her at times. From this important formative year, the story jumps year to year as Alice grows, plotting, planning, and maneuvering to gain riches for herself and her son, knowing this leads to protection and choices. Successful women don't always fair well in history, though, and knowing an important part of the historical outcome, each year that goes by, with Alice marrying and playing a part in her widowhood, jealousy, envy, and anger grow among the townspeople and certain men in power, there is a feeling of dread. There are moments, where you want to start to agree with her son, have her be less for safety, but then you rally and know she shouldn't have to. However, Alice isn't portrayed a perfect character, she has pride, desire, and selfishness, making her all the more accessible. She feels stifled by her first husband, has her sexual liberation with her second, grows more centered with her third, and lets some of her rage out on her fourth. The story was throughout good with dripping with disdain pointing out the hypocrisy of the church and it's clergymen. When Bishop of Ossory, Richard Ledrede arrives in Kilkenny, you could feel the rising tension and building fervor of him using economic strife and men's fear and want to control women, from the pulpit to slowly poison. Alice in her late fifties/early sixties alluring and intimidating men, them not knowing how to deal with these feelings causing anger, felt like a tale as old as time. While the true historical texts don't know what ultimately happened to Alice, I liked the ending the author imagined. An historical fiction story that took a real life and imagined filled in places, it will make you want to rage and, maybe, wish for a time that poisoning wasn't so detectable. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 28, 2024
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Jun 04, 2024
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May 13, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 1538769255
| 9781538769256
| 1538769255
| 4.26
| 9,566
| Sep 03, 2024
| Sep 03, 2024
|
liked it
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2.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Ophelia was now the eldest Grimm. A 2.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Ophelia was now the eldest Grimm. A dead mother made her much more than an orphan. Phantasma opens with Ophelia's mother dying in the night, causing Ophelia to hurry and perform a ceremony where she is transferred her mother's magic. Her younger sister Genevieve, has always wanted to leave their family necromancy business behind, resenting how it tied Ophelia to Grimm Manor, their home. However, Ophelia won't turn her back on centuries of family history and intends to take over the business of helping people communicate with the dead. Until bankers show up and suddenly they only have a few weeks to pay off a severely due loan their mother inexplicable took out, before they lose Grimm Manor to the bank. Ophelia senses that Genevieve knows more than she's telling and when she leaves a note saying not to worry and she'll be back in a couple weeks, Ophelia just knows Genevieve has entered Phantasma, a haunted mansion just arrived in New Orleans, and plans on entering herself to find Genevieve. For as long as she could remember, the voice had been there, in the darkest corners of her mind, telling her to walk through certain doorways or her entire family would perish. This started off with a really cool concept, a traveling haunted mansion run by devils where contestants can enter and try to make it through levels based on the nine Circles of Hell, where if they are the last person standing, they'll receive a Devil's Grant (basically a wish granted). There's explanation of paranormal hierarchy, with Ghosts, Apparitions, Phantoms, Devils, Specters, and the like, which I thought was going to lead to a pretty detailed structured rich world. Ophelia even enters the mansion pretty early, around 15% to get the story rolling right away. However, I kind of found a lot of the elements added to create atmosphere ended up feeling a lot like window-dressing, leaving me ultimately disappointed in the lack of depth. The golden bauble had been in her family for generations, enchanted with a powerful magic that bound it to its wearer. This takes place in New Orleans but as the vast majority of the story is inside the Phantasma mansion, you won't get the feel for the city. I don't remember the time period being explicitly mentioned but with Ophelia riding in carriages and a motor vehicle being a sensation, along with her dresses and male attire of vests mentioned, it seems like it's supposed to be Victorian era. But the vernacular feels pretty modern, ex. - “I fucked his best friend on the back of a float”, “Who in the unholy fuck is knocking on peoples’ doors this early in the morning?”, and “For fuck’s sake,”. I'm guessing the clothes are Victorian era to help set the Gothic tone this was mentioned as having but Gothic stories are all about atmosphere, usually a big chunk created from the restrictions of the time, and well, language plays a decent part of helping to mesh the time period with the reader and I can't say I felt the Gothic atmosphere at all, the clothes were window-dressing. Phantasma. The Devil’s Manor. A place often spoken about in whispered rumors and haunting cautionary tales in the dark. The romance comes in when a Phantom named Blackwell, who Ophelia actually met before entering Phantasma, makes a bargain with her, he'll help Ophelia get past the levels if she helps him find a heart and key, what he told her needed to be set free from Phantasma when they first met but can't remember saying. Blackwell has no memory of existing outside of Phantasma but picks someone every time the mansion starts it's games to try and help him get free. A locket Ophelia wears around her neck that has been passed down through generations of women in her family warms when it's around Blackwell and she takes this as sign to trust him. She's also pretty physically attracted to him. You probably can tell where this is leading and a little before the half-way point, we start to get “Good Girl” scenes. The dirty talk was there but the emotion was not for me, there just wasn't enough emotional or relationship depth developed and as such, all those physical scenes may have used the trendy hot words but they were window-dressing and I found my eyes glazing over whenever the clothes came off. “Ophelia,” he repeated, tasting every syllable. Her name on his tongue sounded like a wicked prayer. “You are exactly the person I’ve been waiting for.” Along with being a lifelong romance fan, I've been a lifelong horror fan, why I was so excited for this but while the levels would occasionally have some gory descriptions of deaths, window-dressing in place of any actually feelings of horror, tension, or fear. This felt more New Adult to me, in regards to maturity of characters and tone and I'd put Christopher Pike books ahead on the feeling horror scale. The levels Ophelia has to complete don't last very long and while we get to know some other contestants and devils, they're more blip on the radar secondary characters. As we raced through the trials when it's time to complete them, lingered on Ophelia wandering through the mansion trying to find what Blackwell's looking for, and hopped from physical scene to physical scene between the two, I felt the middle second half started to feel stretched out. A deep sense of dread began to sink into her gut that being within Phantasma wasn’t going to be the thing that broke her. The ending really rushed Ophelia's and Genevieve's plot, but delivered on answers. Ophelia learns some family secrets and what Blackwell's story really is, and while it is pretty obvious (I would say blindingly obvious and Ophelia should have realized much sooner) what the answer was to what connects and could solve Blackwell's issue, it was an enjoyable plot thread. Once Ophelia and Blackwell figure out some things, the ending again feels a bit rushed as it jumps to give readers a quick look at where things are and are headed. One element that I thought worked really well and want to mention is Ophelia's Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, since this was a paranormal book, I was wondering where this element was headed. Ophelia hears a “Shadow Voice” in her head that causes her to have to do things in threes, otherwise the voice says her family will die. The story showed how this tormented Ophelia and the struggle of how living with such a form of OCD can effect people and I thought how Ophelia battled it showed a care and respect for this aspect of her character. While I found a lot of elements to be window-dressing and the romance didn't have the depth to deliver the emotional connection I like to feel from my romance leads, others who like a little descriptive gore without the deep emotional horror feel, trendy dirty talk scenes, and a New Adult vibe, might want to give this lighter horror and romance mash-up a try. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 14, 2024
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Aug 23, 2024
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May 10, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1250244056
| 9781250244055
| B0CFJSP5N1
| 4.20
| 10,082
| Aug 06, 2024
| Aug 06, 2024
|
liked it
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3.4 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review No one noticed that Cordelia moved 3.4 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review No one noticed that Cordelia moved in unison with her mother. No one ever did. When a Sorceress Comes to Call was a historical magical realism story about a coming of age girl gaining the strength to fight back against her mother. Cordelia is fourteen years old and having stopped attending school years ago, only gains a sense of normalcy when a local girl Ellen can randomly meet up with her on one of her rides. Cordelia begins to realize that having a mother that is so controlling, not only of her thoughts but through what Cordelia calls “obedience”, where her mother actually controls her body, is not normal. It's when Cordelia gets a painful realization of betrayal that the only other friend she thought she had, her mother's horse Falada, tells her mother everything as her familiar and her mother does something that shines the light on what a true monster she is, that Cordelia begins to fight back, with some help. Fear took her suddenly by the throat, a formless dread with no name, no shape, only a sense that something was wrong, something terrible was coming this way. I thought this was a little less eerie than What Moves the Dead but you'll still find gruesome animal body horror, magic, supernatural elements, and thriller aspects. This was mainly told through Cordelia's eyes and the creepy tension and fear she feels from her mother was woven in strongly throughout the book. Once of the most powerful scenes for me was when Cordelia learned of Falada's betrayal. At this point, he's been her rock and the only one that seems to give Cordelia strength and when she lost that I hurt so bad for her and felt the numbness this gave her. (I must have some residual horse girl leftover from childhood because I refused to stop thinking that Falada wasn't on the side I wanted them to be for an embarrassing long time) We get a different pov when Cordelia's mom decides it's time to get a new benefactor, after she deals with her old one in a gruesome manner, and sets her sights on a squire a few towns over to marry. The squire's spinster sister Hester comes into the picture and with a little bit of magic herself, she senses right away that this new woman is “Doom”. My mother is a sorcerer. Around the midway point, Cordelia confides into Hester her fears of what her mother is and that she needs to be stopped; after what Hester has felt and seen, she doesn't need much convincing. The second half brings in more characters with friends of Hester that she writes to, under the guise of a house party, but really she's calling for reinforcements. Along with friends, she invites Richard, her old lover and the man that once asked her to marry him. Through them we get a little tiny romance thread that I enjoyed with their second chance romance and Hester finally mature enough to decide love is more important than letting the glare of societal expectations rule the day. Hester's more mature pov paired with Cordelia's youth, delivered a well rounded hitting all those emotions story. And part of her— a tiny part that she had never quite lost— wanted to be there and wanted it all to be true so that her mother would love her and maybe things would change. The ending delivered a, kind of quick, magical explanation (hitting the right “notes”??), along with the story's continued message of “water, wine, salt, and holy ground” dramatic end. There were winners, losers, and probably a lifetime of trauma from what was witnessed. The story was an enjoyable ride with it's really likable characters, a great seasonal read to pick up. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 12, 2024
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Sep 15, 2024
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May 05, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 0380771829
| 9780380771820
| 0380771829
| 3.92
| 1,008
| May 1993
| Jan 01, 1993
|
it was ok
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1.5 stars I wish the bear had won the battle. This guy was trash-y |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 24, 2024
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Apr 30, 2024
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Apr 24, 2024
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Paperback
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| 0063272806
| 9780063272804
| 0063272806
| 4.37
| 7,217
| May 07, 2024
| May 07, 2024
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really liked it
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I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review “No. Absolutely not. I’m not ghostwriting a I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review “No. Absolutely not. I’m not ghostwriting a ballplayer diary.” It's been a year since Mark's partner William died, a year of everything feeling dull and Mark not being able to find the energy and passion to keep writing beyond a few book reviews every now and again to keep on the books at the Chronicle. With the paper struggling, his boss comes to him and springs the idea of, normally arts and culture writer, Mark ghost writing a series of “diary” entries from New York City's new expansion team's shortstop, Eddie. The shortstop who is going through a horrible slump and went on a public tirade about being traded to the Robins. Mark agrees, with the thought that after a few articles, everyone will see what a bad idea it was, even though his access to the team will lead to an eventual magazine feature. Sportswriters are the reason everybody hates Eddie. Okay, Eddie’s big mouth is the reason everybody hates Eddie, but he might have been able to keep it a secret if it hadn’t been for the reporters. Eddie, for his part, agrees because he's trying to get back on the good side of his new team and thinks this is set-up to get a few canned lines out there and get the city back to liking him. When Mark and Eddie meet, there's an instant attraction but, as this is, 1960 and Eddie is a professional athlete, things are more than complicated, they could be dangerous. Mark's lived in a secret relationship before and doesn't want to do it again, while Eddie's aware of why he needs to keep things covert, he's optimistic enough to believe they can forge a path that works for them both. You Should Be So Lucky was a story of a jaded reporter still grieving and a baseball player that comes along at the worst time trying to chase his clouds away. He’s making gay jokes with a professional baseball player in his living room. He could not feel more surreal about this if he tried. If you're picking this up for the baseball setting, there is some feel of that, enough baseball culture to have fans of the sport get that smile over the ridiculousness of all the stats kept and speak to the feeling of why fans root and develop lifelong connections with teams and players. But, there also wasn't so much that non-sports fans will have their eyes glaze over, Eddie's slump plays a big part of the story but only snippets of games are shown and it's more about the emotional journey he's going on in his personal life. If you're picking this up for the historical feel, that's here woven throughout the whole context as the main conflict is Mark worrying about being a danger to Eddie, what would happen if their relationship was ever found out by the wrong person. Secondary characters play a big part of their world, the old-timer usual baseball beat reporter, Eddie's manager and a teammate, and friends of Mark, through each of these characters, the time period is felt in how protective they try to be for the couple. There was also, what turned out to be an emotional scene, that I felt hits hard in it's depth without beating it down, between Eddie and his mother. Eddie spends the morning telling her about Lula, about Mark helping the rookie buy suits, about the dumbest shit that could not possibly interest anyone but a mother, and she doesn’t falter, not once. It's Eddie coming out to his mother without explicit stating and it was the she doesn’t falter, not once. that will have your eyes watering. Maybe he doesn’t know how to untangle caring for someone with worrying that it will be their undoing. The story is told from both Mark and Eddie's point-of-view, but I'm going to say this is a little more Mark's story. The first half is Mark coming out from the bottom of grief and making that healing journey. The second half had more of Eddie and Mark together, with Eddie also on his personal journey of internally thinking about what it truly means to be gay, where before he knew he was gay but compartmentalized it in a way that had him not putting it in the context of his life. So, while, there is a big romance plot (there are open-door scenes but some go the fade away route before showing actual consummation), it's Mark and Eddie both taking separate personal journeys that then lead them into flowing into their romance. This seems to be how a lot of newer romances are going, and I don't know if I'm explaining right, but I personally like when there's more of a singular journey, the characters are working together in the same journey towards romance. These two are in their heads a lot and when Mark is coming to terms that he does love Eddie, he's by himself instead of having that moment with Eddie, again, making it feel like a personal journey instead of the togetherness I want in romance. I’m telling you, Eddie, when you look at me, it’s obvious.” “You only think so because you know how I feel.” There was a third-act break-up, where Eddie goes on his personal journey and then shows Mark how things can work, with Mark deciding that he'll do his best to show faith in Eddie's belief. This had the author's usual naturalness to writing and emotions that never fails to emotionally draw me in and there was an epilogue that summed up the story perfectly, with some grief and proven and future optimism leading these two down the HEA road. If you're looking for personal journeys that help flow two people into a working romance, with added bonus of historical feel and some baseball, then you definitely want to pick this one up. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 24, 2024
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May 07, 2024
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Apr 17, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0586210415
| 9780586210413
| 0586210415
| 4.27
| 15,595
| 1989
| 1991
|
liked it
|
3.5 stars *This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub dis 3.5 stars *This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub discussion. WANTED—A HUSBAND. Need Healthy man of any age willing to work spread and share the place. See E. Dinsmore, top of Rock Creek Road April's TBRChallenge theme was No Place Like Home, so I chose Morning Glory, a book on my tbr for decades. A drifter who's never had a home but works hard to make one with a widow, sounded like a perfect fit to the theme. The first half of this, I raced through. There's a prologue of a young mother bringing her baby home and her parents locking her up in the house because they're ashamed of her “sin”, it's 1917 and unwed mother's are not looked upon kindly. The story then quickly jumps to 1941 and to a drifter named Will about to be fired from a sawmill because it's found out that he served five years in prison for murdering a woman. I had to pause to imagine one of those graphics with arrows pointing at the book listing tropes, “Murderer!” “Shut-in recluse!”. Will Parker's eyes were drawn to her stomach as she rested a hand on it. He thought about how maybe there was more than one kind of prison. Will starving and having no money, decides that he will check out the widower at the edge town “Crazy Elly” and her newspaper ad asking for a husband. When I tell you, the pain of these two, gah. Will's constantly thinking, please let me stay, knowing he looks like a half-starved vagabond, who Elly knows, because he told her, that he served jail time for killing a woman but drawn to something warm in Elly's aura. The house and property are run down but Elly and her two small boys seem happy and for someone who was abandoned as a baby and on his own his whole life, Will can't help but want to be welcomed into that magic, even if Elly is pregnant with a third child. Elly for her part knows she needs help and is constantly thinking, please stay, even though she knows she's not pretty, has children and pregnant, run down farm, and is called “Crazy Elly” because of her past. They're both yearning for what the other can give and I honestly felt like a voyeur reading their relationship this first half as they slowly grew to trust one another. She was a good mother, a fine woman who'd been locked in a house and called crazy, and if he didn't tell her she wasn't, who would? The first half also gives a pov from a woman in town called Lula, who is said to run “hot” and wants Will but he rebuffs her because he knows those kind of women can lead to trouble because of his past. Readers do learn about the murder he went to jail for and it's, probably of course, nothing that makes him nonredeemable. Lula is that classic “other woman” villain that makes you uncomfortable reading because she's backed by a whole lot of slut-shaming, but it's, pretty obvious, why she's included and while she disappears for the majority of the middle of the story, her set-up comes into play for the last half. There's also a Miss Beasley, librarian, that was a great character (Mentally, I've given her a novella HEA with the lawyer) but, geez, yeah for women with facial hair being talked about but did the hair on her upper lip have to be mentioned, SO MANY times? Like, damn, give the gal a break. Anyway, by midpoint, Will and Elly have decided to marry and they have grown to the I love yous. I can say, even if it didn't feel over-the-top passionate (which can be considered better by some romance readers) I did believe they loved each other. Elly growing up locked up in her home, constantly being told she's a sin, until the law forced her grandparents (side question: I thought it was going to be directly said but am I the only one who thought her grandfather raped her mother and that was what was with the “drawn shades” business?) to let her go to school, but she was considered “crazy” because of her lack of socialization, and only getting befriended by her first husband (he died a'la Bridgerton, bee stings) had never really had a man care for her the way Will did, or turn her on. Will was never cared for either and had no one to care for, so when they meet, it's a pretty simple scenario of two people deserving love and finding the person that connects with them to give it. It felt real their feelings and why I said it gave a voyeuristic feeling for me. She smiled into the bluebird's painted eye, her own shining with delight. "A bluebird...imagine that." She pressed it to her heart and beamed at Will. "How did you know I like birds?" He knew. He knew. The second half is where things really slowed down for me. Pearl Harbor gets bombed and Will gets drafted. There's a couple chapters of letter writing between Will, Elly, and Miss Beasley and then a really great scene where Elly has to rush to see Will before he gets shipped to the Pacific. She's had the baby by now (the birth scene was something else with Will playing doctor) and while they managed to have sex once before he left for boot camp, these two are ramped up. I love how the author described their attraction, from how Will was sitting in the chair and Elly eyeing him up and Elly breastfeeding with Will seeing her exposed boob, could definitely feel the tension in the air. Will gets injured and he's eventually sent home after being medically discharged because of shrapnel in his leg. The townspeople view him differently and he gets the respect he's craved but he's also suffering from PTSD and that delivers some strain between him and Elly until he eventually opens up to her. We're at around 80% when Lula comes back into the picture and Will's suddenly arrested for her murder. The ending was the court case and Elly trying to help prove him innocent until the last 5% gives us the HEA. He wanted to take her close, cradle her head and rub her shoulder and say. "Tell me...tell me what it is that hurts so bad, then we'll work at getting you over it." The first half, a slower moving but pulling you in with these two and their hurts and pains, learning to come together but the second half was a slower moving left me kind of disinterested ending. I read this in almost one shot and kind of glad I did, because even though slower moving usually calls for savoring, pacing out, I feel like this would be one that would be hard to pick up again, so my two cents of advice. These two will linger with me because of how real they felt but I'm not sure I could recommended, maybe just the first half and that meet-up in Augusta. Hope springs eternal for a Donald Wade, Thomas, and Lizzy P. spin-off series! (Elly's kids) Guess what I'm watching tonight? (Hint: check out what's on Tubi) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 15, 2024
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Apr 17, 2024
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Apr 15, 2024
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Paperback
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| B0CH3M969M
| 3.60
| 363
| Jul 23, 2024
| Jul 23, 2024
|
liked it
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I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review After five years of not seeing her, Magnus ha I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review After five years of not seeing her, Magnus had to know what trouble she was up to. It's been five years since Magnus walked away not only from their crew but from Celeste. Now, an antiques store owner by day, but not able to give up the thrill of thieving, Celeste works with Bea, a young woman she's befriended and trained. When a job has Celeste running into Magnus, and the death of their mentor, Dr. Doris Grant, has them working together again, the heat reignites between them. As they go on a stealing treasure hunt that Doris set-up for after her death, they'll have a second chance to decide what's really important and what they want out of life. And rather than see the woman he cared for jeopardize her life again, he left them all behind. Jewel Me Twice started off with a little bit of movie True Lies and Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes that instantly captured my attention. The danger and heat simmering when Celeste and Magnus run into each other for the first time in five years while on a job, was definitely felt. The tension continued when they get delivered a red envelope alerting them that their mentor and the one who recruited them into her crew of thieves, has passed on but wants the old crew to get together at her home, where she'll send them on one last treasure hunt. It was, oddly, when the treasure hunt began that I thought the flow lost some of it's way. Celeste gets left Doris' diary and we get sections of what she had wrote. It becomes obvious that Doris feels some responsibility for how everything went down after a job failed that caused Magnus and Celeste to split. Doris sending them on the treasure hunt is her way of getting them back together and giving them their second chance to get things right. Did they truly know each other? Beyond the intimacy they shared? Celeste and Magnus were older characters, forties, that were more set in their ways. There was some towards the end realizing how each was at fault for how things ended but Celeste's chip on her shoulder was a bit too real for most of the book for me. Her attitude towards Magnus fooled me even as the reader and I started to feel that she did only want Magnus for bedroom scenes and didn't have or want that deeper emotional connection with him. Some of her antagonism is from Magnus growing up rich, even though his parents died in a car crash when he was young, and knows he didn't start his thieving career from necessity, like her. There's also friction from Magnus not liking how Celeste takes chances and Celeste thinking he's too controlling on jobs. They have some working out about these feelings but I still felt the bulk of their relationship was bedroom scenes that, albeit, read on page hot but not emotionally grabbing and giving the depth I like and have me believing and connecting with their relationship. Along with Bea, there were two other secondary characters from their old crew, Lawrence and Santiago that brought some outer world rounding out; Bea and Santiago very much feel like they could be set-up for their own book. While they travel to Estonia and Sweden, we don't really spend a significant time there to really feel the settings and they were pretty efficient at their jobs, so, except for the last one, the heists felt more like a blip (since I'm personally obsessed with them, I have to mention, Fabergé egg bonus moment!). The last job brought in a princess and Interpol agent with some tangents that I felt didn't quite fit. I thought this started off strong but there was some not fitting quite right pieces, the riddles, treasure hunt, emotional connections, diary entries, that ultimately hurt the flow for me. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 20, 2024
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Jul 30, 2024
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Mar 22, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 1368092837
| 9781368092838
| 1368092837
| 3.94
| 16,919
| Jun 25, 2024
| Jun 25, 2024
|
really liked it
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I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Still, she was so ready for the change, she I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Still, she was so ready for the change, she could practically taste it. Ren's twenty-two but finally about to have her first real world experience, going to college. Raised by parents who lived on a farmstead and off the grid, Ren's found some way to get them to allow her to attend community college classes. When a science course reveals a secret that her parents have been keeping from her, Ren ends up on a road trip with, Fitz, the campus local rich playboy. The trip opens Ren's eyes to all the possibilities life has to offer and the possibility of love. But when her parents find out she's left the state and where she's headed, lies, danger, and love from unexpected places, swirl all around her. What a surprising thing you are, he thought. Tangled Up in You was an re-imagining from the Disney movie Tangled. Printed by a Disney publishing company, you get a ton of cute pulled characters and moments from the movie, along with some kisses only moments. Ren started off seeming like a Disney princess, talking to animals, but even though she had that sweet naivety, there was still a common sense core that made a better fitting for a real world setting. There were moments that felt a little overly cheesy for the “real world” but I thought most of the story managed to put these characters in a believable New Adult contemporary plot. Fitz was, of course, captured by Ren's long blonde beautiful hair and big green eyes, but his own character issues had him fighting to keep things on the friend level but when the road trip starts, around 25%, they learn more about one another and develop deeper feelings. Ren had barely seen anything in the world, and Fitz had already seen too much. The road trip had them going on adventures like Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug, and a Nashville festival, getting alternating chapters of Ren and Fitz's point-of-view helped immensely in letting the reader into their thoughts and feelings, making it easier to feel and believe in their growing emotions. They open up to each other and it's easy to see why both would be drawn to the other. When the third act black moment happens, some of it I had called and some was a surprise but it will definitely ramp up the tension. He liked her. Too much, in fact. And she liked him, too. He knew she did. But God, this would be so much easier if she didn't. The ending delivered danger and high emotion, something that I'm not quite sure fit the more cutesy feeling beginning but it will definitely keep you locked in. If you like golden retriever girlfriends who get their more guarded boyfriends to lighten up and expose their softie side, then you'd definitely enjoy this. The ending danger was a bit jarring but their happily ever after was sweet. I hope Disney commissions more re-imagined stories like this! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 14, 2024
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Aug 18, 2024
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Mar 16, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0593640977
| 9780593640975
| 0593640977
| 3.70
| 47,120
| Jun 25, 2024
| Jun 25, 2024
|
really liked it
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3.7 stars I had a great time reading this with Wanda, for thoughts and comments: Novel Love Story Buddy Read A woman trying to get over heartache ends u 3.7 stars I had a great time reading this with Wanda, for thoughts and comments: Novel Love Story Buddy Read A woman trying to get over heartache ends up in her favorite romance series Loved the magical realism aspect of winding up in your favorite romance series town and seeing the characters in their element. Loved the highlighting of romance tropes and the commentary on why romance books are special to readers but also how it's important to keep perspective on real and fictionalized. This definitely has romance but at times it's in that lit fiction vein and probably not first or second for what I loved about this the most. Ending has a little bit of rushed feeling but really enjoyed reading this one. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 02, 2024
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Jul 13, 2024
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Mar 07, 2024
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Paperback
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WhiskeyintheJar
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| 4.04
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it was ok
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Sep 23, 2024
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really liked it
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Aug 28, 2024
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really liked it
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Sep 2024
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it was ok
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Aug 24, 2024
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it was ok
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Aug 04, 2024
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liked it
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Sep 25, 2024
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Sep 12, 2024
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| 3.87
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it was amazing
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Jul 20, 2024
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really liked it
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Jun 18, 2024
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really liked it
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Aug 10, 2024
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May 17, 2024
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| 3.62
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really liked it
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Jun 2024
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May 17, 2024
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it was amazing
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Jun 04, 2024
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Aug 23, 2024
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May 10, 2024
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Sep 15, 2024
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May 05, 2024
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it was ok
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Apr 30, 2024
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really liked it
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May 07, 2024
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Apr 17, 2024
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liked it
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Apr 17, 2024
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Apr 15, 2024
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Jul 30, 2024
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really liked it
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Aug 18, 2024
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| 3.70
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really liked it
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Jul 13, 2024
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Mar 07, 2024
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