Tuesday 31 December 2019

Favorite Books I Read In 2019


In no particular order, my favourite reads of 2019 were:

The Last Letter - Rebecca Yarros
This book left me freakin' traumatised. I'll never ever read it again. However, it was heart-breakingly beautiful and it definitely lest its mark on my soul.

Wild Like The Wind - Kristen Ashley
Hound broke my heart! I loved him even though he was so far from perfect.


The Guild Codex: Spellbound series - Annette Marie
Yes, I'm putting the entire series on the list. It was so much fun and I LOVED it and will spend most of 2020 anxiously awaiting the next book then the next book until it is complete!


The Guild Codex: Demonized Series - Annette Marie
Yes, these are on the list too. Annette Marie has been the author to make the biggest impact on me this year so it shouldn't be surprising.

Red Winter - Annette Marie
Yep! More Annette Marie. I'm not sorry. This book blew me away and I can't wait to finish the trilogy early in the new year.

Sapphire Flames - Ilona Andrews
I don't think there will ever be an Ilona Andrews book I don't love. I don't think it's actually possible.

The Bar Next Door - Katia Rose
Monroe and Julien were awesome characters and their relationship made me swoon! The book was a perfect blend of sexy, sweet and fun and left me wanting more therefore it definitely deserves a mention.

Unearthed by Cecy Robson
This book was a great start to a new series and considering how excited I am for the next book in the series, well, it had to be on the list, didn't it?

The Cruel Prince - Holly Black
A last minute edition as I only got around to reading it last week but I have to admit... I thoroughly enjoyed The Cruel Prince and when looking at the books I've read this year it would have been a mistake not to include it.

So, that's my list! The books that had the biggest impact this year, for me. 
What are yours?
SHARE:

Tuesday 17 December 2019

Winter TBR, Favourite Christmas Books and Hunting Gods.

I love participating in weekly bookish memes, answering questions and making lists, but sometimes the answers are not enough to make a decent post... On their own!
So, on those weeks, I'll be combining rather than skipping!


Winter TBR

I'm putting a bit of a twist on this and listing books I've added to my TBR in the past 3 months and calling it a Winter TBR. In reality, I have no idea when I'll get around to reading them as I'm a moody witch of a reader these days but I'll read them at some point. 
Honest!

My soul has been singing a fantasy song this past year so contemporary has taken a bit of a backseat. However, I've seen all of these around the blogs lately and I most definitely want to read each of them at some point before the end of 2020... Whether or not I do depends on whether I can get a good contemporary kick going in the coming year!

You Deserve Each Other will definitely get read though as I have an ARC of that one. 

The second part of my TBR additions is much easier to guarantee I'll read this winter, thus call a Winter TBR.

Sealed With a Curse and Dark King I both own and am looking forward to reading... Probably over the Christmas holidays.

Shatter The Earth and Druid Vices I'm impatiently awaiting the release of because I'm desperate to get my hands on them. 

The Song of Achilles I bought as an audiobook a little while ago (audible deal of the day) and I honestly don't know when I'll listen to it but seeing as I don't have too many audiobooks and like to listen to them in the car, I imagine I'll definitely get to it at some point in 2020... But let's pretend it'll be the winter!

What's the most anticipated book on your Winter TBR?


Hunt The Gods by Amy Braun

Okay, so this has been out a while but I haven't read it yet so it's my CWW pick.
Plus, the author is just wrapping up book three so I need to get caught up! 

Power always demands a price.

Two months have passed since Derek Areios—war-scion and heir of Ares—and the band of rogue scions he’s aligned with recovered both the Thunderbolt of Zeus and the Heart of the Devourer and returned them to the Gods. During the battle, Derek discovered he could control not only the element of fire, as all war scions can, but also the dark element “aether,” making him the only scion alive to wield two types of elemental magic.

Commanded by Zeus to retrieve the Trinity Weapons and the Shards of Cronus, Derek and the rogue scions are thwarted in their goal by a gang of water scions with a grudge against one of the rogues—Thea, heir of Poseidon. Both groups travel to an uninhabited island to recover one of the Shards––the Eye that belonged to Cronus, King of the Titans. But what they encounter will lead them down a path of brutal betrayals, hard truths, painful memories, and desperate actions.

With angry and impatient gods breathing down his neck, a curse that allows Ares to control him, a prophecy he’s desperate to avoid, a magic spear corrupting his thoughts, and two forms of elemental magic, Derek has a lot of baggage—and a lot of power. Will the price of using that power to satisfy the Gods be too much for him to pay?

What is revving your engine this week?



What is your favourite Christmas themed fiction or nonfiction book?

The Night Before Christmas.
I've loved it for a very long time and when I had my son I made it a tradition to read it to him every year on Christmas Eve. It doesn't matter that he's getting older, we still read it. 
Our copy has some beautiful illustrations and when we snuggle up to read it it feels like we unleash a little bit of Christmas magic. 

What about you? 
SHARE:

Tuesday 10 December 2019

Favourite Christmas Movies!


Last year, I shared a list of my favourite Christmas movies that aren't actually Christmas movies so I thought that this year I'd share my list of favourite Christmas movies that are actually Christmas movies!

Home Alone & Home Alone 2

I was five when Home Alone released and I think I've watched it every year pretty much since then.
I love its brand of festive madness!
And now I get to watch them both my own son and they still haven't got old for me.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

I love the book and I genuinely enjoyed Jim Carey as the Grinch. I know many people hated this adaptation but I'm not one of them. It rocks, and Faith Hill's song for the soundtrack is absolutely beautiful!

Love, Actually

This released the year I met the Professor. We went to the movies to watch it together. It'll always be special to me for that alone but it's such a heart-warming movie, I'd have loved it anyway.

Elf

I only watched this one for the first time last year (I know! Shock and horror!) and I must admit that I loved it. It was silly, it was sweet, and it made me laugh while revving me up for the season.

Arthur Christmas

This is another movie I only watched for the first time last year but loved!
A novel take on Christmas that's perfect for all the family.

A Nightmare Before Christmas

This could also have been on my Halloween movies list as it totally works as both but I put it more in the Christmas shenanigans bucket than Halloween...
Quirky and weird and perfectly Tim Burton, it's a huge hit in this house!
We even have two Nightmare Before Christmas baubles on our Christmas tree...

A Miracle on 34th Street

My grandmother loved this one and I loved watching it with her every single Christmas. She's been gone for ten years now but I'll forever associate this movie with her and continue to watch it.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

I'm torn over this one... I mean, to me it is undeniably festive and definitely a Christmas movie but I'm aware that other people may not feel so. Never-the-less, it's going on my Christmas list!

The Snowman

I usually watch this on Christmas eve. It's a tradition.

🎄

What are your favourite Christmas movies?!

SHARE:

Monday 9 December 2019

Review: The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher (Audiobook)




The Christmasaurus is a story about a boy named William Trundle, and a dinosaur, the Christmasaurus.
It's about how they meet one Christmas Eve and have a magical adventure.
It's about friendship and families, sleigh bells and Santa, singing elves and flying reindeer, music and magic. It's about discovering your heart's true desire, and learning that the impossible might just be possible.


Audiobook: Narrated by Paul Shelley
Duration: 5hrs 38 min


The Christmasaurus was a massive hit with my son a couple of years ago and with the release of the sequel - The Christmasaurus and The Winter Witch - this year, I decided it was time to take the plunge and find out what all the fuss was about.

I'm so glad I decided to listen to it for it was completely and utterly enchanting!
The narration was so plummy and animated - the story so painfully, quintessentially, British that I almost died from the pompously festive sweetness.

William Trundle is a little boy with a big heart who loves dinosaurs and is unfailingly kind even to those who make him utterly miserable.
Mr Trundle is a dotty, Christmas loving, loon of a dad who dotes on his boy and hides his sadness over losing William's mum in an accident - the same accident that put William in a wheelchair - behind over the top festive delights and fantastical stories of the North Pole.
Mr Trundle and William don't have much in the way of material possessions but they have a house full of love and laughter and it radiates out from the pages.
Throw in Santa, Elves and a real-life Dinosaur (and an evil hunter of the rarest creatures that live) and you have one timeless, glorious, fantastically adorable Christmas book that will bring joy to the entire family.

If you're looking for a heart-warming tale that is both packed full of silliness while still having true meaning then give it a try.
It's written for kids - I'd guess 8 to 12 year olds - but is enough to make anyone with a heart feel cocooned in the magic and wonder of the season.


“Belief is the most powerful magic there is. Believing is the only magic that makes the utterly impossible completely possible."
SHARE:

Thursday 5 December 2019

Mini Reviews: Christmas At Frozen Falls & Coming Home to Glendale Hall


Two full-length festive novels, with gorgeously festive covers, to enjoy this holiday season!



*Review copy received via NetGalley*


Christmas magic can thaw the coldest of hearts…

Sylvie Magnusson is going to be lonely this Christmas. Instead of jetting off for her sunshine honeymoon, she’s freezing at home in Cheshire. Guess that’s what happens when your fiancé dumps you a week before your wedding…

Sylvie’s best friend, Nari, plans a trip to see the Northern Lights and get Sylvie’s mojo back. But as their Lapland getaway approaches, Sylvie realises that Frozen Falls is the hometown of Stellan Virtanen, her dreamy Finnish ex-boyfriend, the one that got away. Even though he actually ran away, and Sylvie never understood why…

Luckily, when they meet, Stellan’s still gorgeous – and her heart is warmed when he shows her the romantic delights of Lapland (as well as some seriously adorable Husky puppies). But when she returns to England can she really leave Stellan behind? Or will she find that her heart belongs in the frozen North?

Christmas at Frozen Falls is a sweet Christmas read about healing, friendship, and the one who got away.


Initially, I wasn't a fan of this book. It starts off months after the infamous 'dumping before the wedding' and even though I can understand Sylvie being devastated by the loss of the future she thought she'd have, I couldn't understand how she was still so broken when the evil-dumper, Cole, was a complete jackass and his mother sounds like the mother-in-law from the deepest darkest depths of hell! Sylvie dodged a massive bullet and I didn't feel she was grieving over the loss of her fiance so much as the loss of a fantasy future, if that makes sense? She was more upset about the dog - totally understandable - and it made her melodrama tedious.

But then, she and her best friend decide to head to Finnish Lapland for Christmas and this gets Sylvie thinking about the Finnish guy she loved back in Uni - Stellen - and you feel that connection, that loss, fresh and aching even though their relationship had ended fifteen years ago! Thus the story got more interesting and Sylvie got less annoying.

When the resort they go to happens to be Stellen's resort, you know what's going to happen (and let's face it, it's in the blurb) but it doesn't detract from the sweet, wonderful, journey of falling in love again with the one who got away.

It was so easy while reading this book to get swept off to snow-covered forests under a glowing sky... To smell the crisp coldness of the snow mixed with pine sap. To imagine yourself snuggled in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate beside a roaring fire.
It was magical, especially with the romance bubbling along beside you.

The ending had me smiling and happy but a little unsatisfied if I'm honest. Stellen and Sylvie had a happy for now ending. A nice, teasing, promise of a beautiful future if they could make it work. For some, that would be enough but I'm the type of gal who, in those circumstances, needs a flipping epilogue reassuring me that everything does indeed end happily.
Let's face it, people don't read romance for a reality check! Give us a cast-iron happy ever after, dammit!

Regardless of my minor grumbles, I recommend it if you want a mental trip to Lapland this year to play in the snow and play with some husky dogs!



*Review copy received via NetGalley*


No matter how far you go, home is where the heart is...

Beth Williams hasn’t been home for ten years. After falling pregnant at sixteen, she ran away from the imposing Scottish estate where she grew up rather than risk her family’s disapproval, working hard to build a life for herself and daughter Isabelle - but now she’s finally returning to Glendale Hall.

As Beth tries to mend her broken family ties, and fights to bring the community of Glendale back together, she realises that the story she has told herself for a decade might well be a very different one from the truth. Even though she ran from Glendale it has never left her heart. And, she soon realises, neither has Drew – Beth’s first love.

Will Beth be able to forgive her mother and grandmother (and herself) for what happened ten years ago? What will Drew say when he discovers the secret she’s been keeping from him for so long? Can a festive trail bring the village back together?

Will Christmas work its magic on Glendale - or will Beth be forced to run away from it all over again?


Coming Home to Glendale Hall was another slow starter but once it got going I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a family driven story packed full of festive goodness, healing and forgiveness.
There is a second chance romance that wasn't as straight forward as I was anticipating (bit of a love-triangle) but it felt like it was secondary to the family and community driven elements of the book.
It was a surprisingly emotional and uplifting read packed full of the magic of Christmas.

The characters were likeable and relatable, even the ones who were doing, or had done, things that weren't so nice.
The setting was beautiful... Glendale Hall felt like a character in itself, although the regularity of snow was a little bit unrealistic even for the Scottish Highlands! But it gave the story an extra sprinkling of magic so I can't complain too much.

I guess the thing that irked me about the story was the pseudo-love triangle and the constant repetition of things we already knew.
Not to mention the fact that the entire plot would have fallen apart if the parents of the 16-year-old (who ran away to London to have a baby all alone!) had just a long and honest conversation with their daughter at some point over the course of the 10 years she was gone!
But hey ho.
Minor irks do not take away from the fact that this was a lovely read that gave me all the festive feels.
SHARE:

Tuesday 3 December 2019

Holiday Reads, A Witch in Time and TBR stacks

I love participating in weekly bookish memes, answering questions and making lists, but sometimes the answers are not enough to make a decent post... On their own!
So, on those weeks, I'll be combining rather than skipping!

Holiday Reads (Books you love reading during the holiday season.)

I don't have any particular books I read or re-read during the holiday season but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy a good festive romance!
Below are my festive review copies from this year alongside some I enjoyed in past years.


25 Days 'Til Christmas by Poppy Alexander
One Christmas Star by Mandy Baggot
Christmas Every Day by Beth Moran
Wrapped Up In Christmas by Janice Lynn
Snowflakes at the Little Christmas Tree Farm by Jaimie Admans

Christmas at Frozen Falls by Kelly Dunbar
Coming Home to Glendale Hall by Victoria Walters
One New York Christmas by Mandy Baggot
Meet Me Under The Mistletoe by Carla Burgess
It's a Wonderful Night by Jaimie Admans

Do you enjoy festive reads this time of year or is it business as usual? 


A Witch In Time by Constance Sayers

Releasing 11th Feb 2020

A young witch is cursed to relive a doomed love affair through many lifetimes, as both troubled muse and frustrated artist, in this haunting debut novel.

In 1895, sixteen-year-old Juliet LaCompte has a passionate, doomed romance with the married Parisian painter Auguste Marchant. When her mother -- a witch -- attempts to cast a curse on Marchant, she unwittingly summons a demon, binding her daughter to both the artist and this supernatural being for all time. Juliet is fated to re-live her affair and die tragically young lifetime after lifetime as the star-crossed lovers reincarnate through history. The demon -- who appears to Juliet in all her reincarnations as a mysterious, handsome, and worldly benefactor-has been helplessly in love with her since 19th century France, even though she forgets him each time she dies. He falls for her in 1930s Hollywood, in 1970s Los Angeles, and finally in present-day Washington D.C. -- where she begins to develop powers of her own. In this life, she starts to remember her tragic past lives. But this time, she might have the power to break the cycle...


Do you keep your TBR stack on a separate shelf from your already read books or are they mixed?

Mixed. Everything is mixed. 
Physical books I haven't yet read sit side by side with the books that I have read and my kindle is an unorganised mess but it doesn't matter as I'm perfectly capable of remembering what books I've read (or not) and a sure-fire way of me procrastinating over reading something nowadays is to put it on a reading list. 

What about you?
SHARE:

Monday 2 December 2019

Mini Review: Wrapped Up In Christmas by Janice Lynn



A gift of warmth to heal two hearts…

Sarah Smith in Pine Hill, Kentucky has had her heart broken in the past. She pours herself into her work at church and into special projects—like making a quilt for a wounded warrior.

Bodie Lewis is lost. All he’s ever wanted was his career as an Army Ranger, but he was injured in an explosion that killed his brothers in arms. In the hospital, he receives a handmade quilt. Later, he sets out on his final mission: to find and thank its maker.

Bodie expected Sarah to be an elderly lady, not a lovely young woman. When she mistakes him for a handyman, he doesn’t immediately set her straight. Instead, he sets about repairing the home she’s turning into a bed and breakfast. Sarah’s presence and the spirit of the small town bring Bodie something he thought he’d left far behind on the battlefield: hope.



Wrapped up in Christmas is a full-length novel published by Hallmark publishing and therefore it may not come as a surprise that the book reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie.
And. It. Was. Wonderful.
An incredibly lovely, low angst, low drama festive read packed full of sweetness and light.
Every page was filled to the brim with festive goodness and love.

It felt like every resident of Pine Hill was the living embodiment of kindness and therefore it was no wonder that Sarah seemed to be a freaking angel considering she'd grown up absorbing all that goodness.
Now, I may seem like I'm being a little snarky here but I'm not!
Sarah genuinely seemed like one of the nicest people ever and I just wanted the very best for her.
Her crazy 'Butterfly' friends - aka the quirky over 65's who were her friends and adopted family - were hilarious even if their matchmaking attempts (and not so subtle stalking of Bodie) were a little cringy.
And Bodie was a perfect match for Sarah.
He had suffered trauma but he was working through it all on his own. Sarah felt like a reward for all he'd been through, the light at the end of the dark tunnel, rather than a saviour which I liked.
He was kind, strong, supportive and everything else you could want in a man.
Plus, he came with a dog called Harry who stole my heart more than the characters or the town.
Harry rocked!

Now, I'm giving it 5 stars not because the story blew me away, because it didn't, but because of how it made me feel. It made me feel joyful. It made me smile. It gave me a case of the warm and cosy feels and brightened up my day and if that's not what a Christmas novel is supposed to do then I don't know what their purpose is.
SHARE:

Tuesday 26 November 2019

Thankful, Festive Shopping & Shattering The Earth


I love participating in weekly bookish memes, answering questions and making lists, but sometimes the answers are not enough to make a decent post... On their own!
So, on those weeks, I'll be combining rather than skipping!


I always find these thankful topics a bit weird (blame it on being British) so I struggled to work out what to do and did this... And decided to go for the random things I'm genuinely thankful for instead of the usual list of family, a roof over my head blah blah blah.

So here are some things I'm thankful for.

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America







Because he is beautiful and Steve Rogers' Captain America will always be my favourite Avenger.
And yes, he deserves three gifs. He deserves so much more than three gifs. So. Much. More.

Cat Memes/Videos/Gifs



They just make your day better.

Tea

It solves all of life's problems... Apparently.
There is also a tea for every occasion and situation and I drink a lot of it.

My dishwasher

Because there is no household chore I hate more than washing dishes.
When my dishwasher broke a couple of years ago, I cried. Actually cried. My husband came home and I was sobbing... Over the broken dishwasher and the massive pile of dishes sitting there.
He bought me a new dishwasher that weekend.
That's one of the very many reasons I love him.

The Killers



Because their music brings me joy.
This one is one of my favourites.

What random thing are you thankful for?



Now that Karen Chance is self-published her books are coming faster!
As a reader, I take that as a win!

Shatter The Earth should arrive sometime near the end of December (but there's no firm date as yet) and I couldn't be more excited!

Ironically for the time traveling, chief seer of the supernatural world, time has never been on Cassie Palmer’s side. There has always seemed to be too much to learn, too much to master, and never enough hours in a day. But the tables have now turned, and the fluctuating timelines of earth and faerie are diverging, slowing time in faerie relative to earth, and giving humans an advantage for the first time in their war with the fey. It is one they desperately need, for a literal war of the worlds is about to take place.

To win, or even to survive, Cassie and her allies, the powerful vampire senator Mircea Basarab and the formidable war mage John Pritkin, will have to pull off their greatest feat yet. And find a way to become more than the sum of their parts.

Any Cassie Palmer fans out there?


Did you go shopping on Thanksgiving Night, Black Friday, or on Cyber Monday?

Thanksgiving doesn't exist here. Thanksgiving night is just... Thursday. 
😉

Black Friday I avoid like the black plague! 
I struggle with crowds sometimes (not little crowds but big pushy aggressive crowds) and the level of crazy radiating off people on Black Friday makes things even more difficult. There's also the fact that the types of items I'd be buying aren't often the ones that have the super sales: So what's the point? 

Cyber Monday? Well... That one is a bit different. 
If there is something I need for the house or if there's something I have in mind for someone as a gift, I get googling and check out prices and if I find a good one, I snap it up. 
I don't buy things I don't need but it seems silly not to take advantage if something that'd work as a present for someone is on sale, you know? 

What about you? Do go shopping mad this weekend?
SHARE:

Monday 25 November 2019

Review: Red Winter by Annette Marie (Red Winter Trilogy #1 - Audiobook)




Emi is the kamigakari.
In a few short months, her life as a mortal will end and her new existence as the human host of a goddess will begin.
Carefully hidden from those who would destroy her, she has prepared her mind, body, and soul to unite with the goddess-and not once has she doubted her chosen fate.

Shiro is a yokai, a spirit of the earth, an enemy of the goddess Emi will soon host.
Mystery shrouds his every move and his ruby eyes shine with cunning she can't match and dares not trust. But she saved his life, and until his debt is paid, he is hers to command-whether she wants him or not.

On the day they meet, everything Emi believes comes undone, swept away like snow upon the winter wind. For the first time, she wants to change her fate-but how can she erase a destiny already wrought in stone? Against the power of the gods, Shiro is her only hope... and hope is all she has left. 


Audiobook: Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller
Duration: 11 hrs 21 minutes



I've heard a lot of hype about the Red Winter trilogy but I held off reading it as I wasn't sure it'd be for me and oh how wrong I was!

The book gets off to a slow start.
There is a lot of world-building and even though the information is woven through the story I still struggled, in the beginning, to absorb what everything was, who was who and why things were as they are. I even struggled to work out what time period we were in because life at the shrine is so removed from what is normal.
Maybe this all would have been easier for me if I was actually reading the book rather than listening to the audiobook but maybe not.
The world-building is complex (or was to me as I had no prior exposure to Japanese mythology) and I feel that no matter the format it probably would have still been a lot to absorb.

The action picked up about a third of the way in and by the time we hit the halfway mark I was hooked! This is the first time I've ever dipped a toe into the world of Japanese mythology and it was utterly fascinating!

I want to say that Emi was such an interesting character but honestly? She was so bland!
In the beginning anyway but it wasn't her fault.
She'd been marked to be the physical host of a goddess since she was a child. She was cut off from her family and raised in a very strict way so she'd be pure and prepared for her duty.
For the past 10 years, she'd been so sheltered that she has no real grasp of who she - Emi - is!
She's just been the kamigakari and has had next to no thought for herself.
However, she isn't weak. She isn't a coward. She is thoughtful, honourable, and determined.
The events of this book are like an awakening to Emi.
Her world is shaken to its very foundation and she begins to discover who she is as a person and over the course of the novel becomes ever more interesting.

Shiro, however, has an almost magnetic pull from the very first encounter!
The combination of the mysterious yoki and the sheltered kamigakari is pure gold.
I loved their dynamic and the potential that lies between them and I have no idea how things are going to play out - their attraction seems pretty doomed! - but I'm here for it.

The second half of the novel was so action packed and addictive that I'm bouncing on the edge of my seat for more!
Nothing is as it seems and I can't even begin to guess how things will unfold after the shocking revelations but I know it's going to be awesome!
SHARE:

Wednesday 20 November 2019

Mini Reviews: Collateral & Damage by Natasha Knight (Collateral Damage Duet)


Collateral and Damage together create the Collateral Damage duet and are both full-length 250 + page novels told in alternating, first-person, pov.
They're dark, mafioso, romance and my first books by Natasha Knight.
I must say they did not make me want to read more from the author...



Gabriela

Stefan Sabbioni showed up in my bedroom on my sixteenth birthday. Uninvited, he stood in the shadows smelling of whiskey and death and wrapped a broken, blood-crusted necklace around my neck.
I thought he’d strangle me with it.
That night, he left a message for my father. He said he’d be back to take something precious.
I never delivered that message, though. I wonder if things would be different if I had because now, two years later, he’s back. And he’s not hiding in any shadows.
He’s come to make good on his promise.
He’s back to take that something precious.
Me.

Stefan

Marchese is the manipulator of my family’s tragedy. I won’t just bring him to his knees. I’ll bury him for what he did.
Taking his daughter is only the beginning. I’ll do it knowing I’m starting a war. I’ll do it knowing my enemies will become his allies. They’ll stop at nothing to destroy me and he’ll stop at nothing to get her back.
I’ve never shied away from war, though. I’m not one to play nice and I don’t share my toys. I’ll demolish you if you touch what’s mine.
And she is most definitely mine.



Collateral sets the scene.
You meet Stefan, you meet Gabriella and you learn why Stefan - a 28/29 yo man - wants to marry an 18 yo whose family he is seeking to destroy.

I expected the power struggles and backstabbing between the families but I didn't expect the familial manoeuvring to be, well, so tame (for a mafia romance) and kind of boring. I wanted to be invested and rooting for Stefan and Gabriella but he was borderline unlikable and she alternated between fierce and irritating.

I expected the power struggle between Stefan and Gabriella but what I didn't expect was for the power imbalance to be so vast!
Usually, women in these kinds of stories have their own kind of power but Gabriella was just so young... And painfully naive and in completely over her head!

Then there was the fact that every time I thought too long about the age difference I got a case of the heebies. Yes, I knew going into the book that Gabriella was young but I didn't know what the age gap between her and Stefan actually was and even though 10 years isn't horrendous, at this stage of her life it really was.

The back and forth and complete lack of understanding between them was draining.
For dark romance to work for me, there has to be love. There has to be a kindness, a genuine care, between the parties even if one of them is absolutely beastly at times... But there wasn't.
I got to the end of this book and thought wtf? Because even though Stefan wasn't too bad (all things considered), I didn't for one second believe he loved (or was falling in love) with Gabriella and she didn't seem to love him either.
To him, she was property and, to her, he was what she had to learn to live with.

 It teased so much potential and I kept reading and reading waiting for it but it just never took off!
I would have cut my losses here and not continued with the duet calling it a case of "it's not you, it's me" because the writing - the execution - of the story wasn't bad or else I wouldn't have been glued to it and unable to put it down but it ended on a bloody cliffhanger so on I read, like an idiot.



We’re a match made in hell, Stefan and I.

He took me to exact his revenge. I went from being a pawn to my father to being a pawn to Stefan. The only difference is I have a ring the size of a boulder on my finger and a husband I don’t want.

And the hardest part is I thought he was different. I thought I was falling in love.

I guess my father was right. I’m not a very smart girl.

Stefan is a powerful man. He doesn’t play nice, not if you’re his enemy. But I’ve learned one thing about my husband.

He takes care of what’s his.
And I am his.

His enemies have become my enemies, but he’ll never let anyone hurt me. He’s fiercely protective. It’s the predator inside that scares me.


Book two picked up right where book one ended and started off not too bad.
It got a bit gritty and I almost believed that Stefan was starting to catch a case of the feelings for Gabriella but it didn't take long for me to be disabused of that notion.

He may be protective of Gabriella, when it comes to anyone else, but it doesn't include him apparently unless slamming your wife into walls with a hand at her throat is considered protective nowadays...
Then there was lying. So much lying. And distrust. And insanity.
It went from a little bit twisted to toppling right down the rabbit hole into crazy fucked-up land.

I'd had enough before I even got a third of the way through this book but I'm a horrible person to myself sometimes and rather than DNFing I finished it.
Just because I was curious and, weirdly, because I kept waiting for it to get better!
And it didn't.
So, needless to say, I don't recommend.
SHARE:

Tuesday 19 November 2019

Changes in My Reading Life and Books That Make Me Happy

I love participating in weekly bookish memes, answering questions and making lists, but sometimes the answers are not enough to make a decent post... On their own!
So, on those weeks, I'll be combining rather than skipping!


Changes In My Reading Life

Number One

Once upon a time, I'd buy a book, read the book and when I'd finished I'd go to the bookshop and buy another one (or to the library to borrow one). Rinse and repeat.
Now?
Hahahahahaha! Give me the books! Give me all the books and I'll read them... Eventually.



Number Two

Once upon a time, every book I read was on paper. Even when I had my first ereader I preferred paper because the old Sony ereaders where a pain in the ass to buy and load books onto.
Then came the kindle and it was bye bye paper books.
Well... Almost. I'd guesstimate that about 5% of my reading is actual physical books nowadays everything else is digital.



Number Three

Once upon a time, my reading rate was one book a day.
If it was particularly chunky, it might have taken me two.
Now?
I typically finish two or three books a week.
There are just too many competing demands on my time nowadays to read at a rate of one a day although if I'm particularly motivated, I can still do it. The time is there, it just means that lots of other things get neglected and I end up overwhelmed.



Number Four

Once upon a time, I used to make reading lists and stick to them.
Now?
Yeah, not so much.
Putting a book on a list is an almost surefire way of me NOT reading it.



Number Five

This is linked to number four... Once upon a time, I was not a mood reader.
I made a list of the books I had, I chose a book off the list, I read it and I moved onto the next one.
I rarely hit a reading slump.
Now?
There are so many books I want to read that I can spend days debating what to read next with my mood swinging like a pendulum so it ends up that I've gone days - sometimes weeks - and I've read nothing. Just, thought about reading. A lot.



So, that's my biggest changes!
What is your biggest reading change?


Name one book that makes you feel thankful and happy.

I don't have a single book that makes me feel thankful or happy. 
I'm thankful that I can read.
 I'm thankful that I grew up with, and continue to have access to, books. 
I'm thankful that access to books has never been restricted and I'm grateful that I've been able to foster a love of books in my son. 
Books, in all forms, make me feel extremely happy. 

What about you?
SHARE:

Monday 18 November 2019

Review: Biting Cold by Chloe Neill (Chicagoland Vampires Book 6)


Warning!
Minor spoilers ahead for earlier books in the series.


In book six of the Chicagoland Vampires series, twenty-eight-year old vampire Merit is on the hunt, tailing a rogue supernatural intent on stealing an ancient artefact that could leash catastrophic evil on the world. But, as she soon discovers, she is also the prey: An enemy of Chicagoland is hunting her, and he'll stop at nothing to get his hands on the artefact.



Book five in the Chicagoland Vampires was a rollercoaster of a novel that ended rather dramatically with the return of Ethan from the dead and the fall of Mallory to the dark side.
Biting Cold follows on immediately from the events in that book and sees Merit and Ethan go on a road trip away from Chicago in an attempt to prevent Mallory from getting her hands on a book of magical evil. To complicate matters, the former mayor of Chicago, Seth Tate, a magical being of unknown origin - who lost his mind around book four  - is also hunting the book.
Magical tomes of evil aside, the book is loaded with vampire politics and the growing racial tensions between the humans and supernatural creatures.

Needless to say, Merit and Ethan have their hands full and both operate on their default settings and by that I mean that Merit wants to chase down the bad guy and whack 'em with a sword and Ethan shuts off his feelings and pushes Merit away because, you know, timing.
I was on board with Merit's plan but I was really hoping that she'd whack Ethan upside the head with her bloody sword because the back and forth with him is exhausting and you'd think a case of being dead would give the guy some perspective!
I guess, in the end, it works out well and from here Ethan and Merit will go from strength to strength but their relationship (non-relationship?) was annoying in this one.

Want to know what else was a bit annoying? Mallory.
However, I liked how people didn't give up on her but at the same time have not brushed aside or easily forgiven all that she did and caused.
That girl has a lot of things to atone for in later books and top of that list for me is breaking Catchers heart with her selfish, megalomaniac, bullshit.

All in all, Biting Cold felt like a transition book. It felt like it was needed to round off this phase of the storyline and set up the next but because of that it was mixed bag of tricks that was missing something vital. 

💬

“The world isn’t perfect, and some days it wears you down. You can either accept that, and face it, and be a help to others instead of a hindrance. Or you can decide the rules are too tough and they shouldn’t apply to you, and you can ignore them and make things harder for everybody else. Sometimes life is about being sad and doing things anyway. Sometimes it’s about being hurt and doing things anyway. The point isn’t perfection. The point is doing it anyway.”

💬
SHARE:

Tuesday 12 November 2019

Bookmarks, Book Lunches & Heirs of Chicagoland!

I love participating in weekly bookish memes, answering questions and making lists, but sometimes the answers are not enough to make a decent post... On their own!
So, on those weeks, I'll be combining rather than skipping!



This week's topic is... Favourite Bookmarks.


Funny thing about bookmarks? 
You need to read physical books for them to be relevant and I rarely read print books anymore.
I'm a 10% audio, 85% ebook kind of gal. 
Yes, that remaining 5% would be print books but you can see my problem when it comes to answering this question? I don't really need bookmarks.

Anyway, when I do read a physical book, I will use anything as a bookmark:
Receipts
Bits of paper
 Ice-lolly sticks
Post its
Hair grips
The dust jacket on a hardback
The corner of the book. (Yes, I dog ear pages and I'm not sorry.)
Sometimes, I use an actual bookmark.

I actually surprise myself by owning a bookmark... It's a metal bookmark that looks like a sleeping cat and it clips onto the corner of your page to hold place but I can never find that thing when I actually need it. It's pretty though and brings joy.

So, what about you? Do you still need bookmarks? And what do you use if you do?


I'm back reading The Chicagoland Vampire's series as my "read a series in a month" challenge and it's making me all excited for the Heirs of Chicagoland books!

Wicked Hour (book 2 in the series) releases in December so I'll have two of them to read once I catch up with the predecessor series!
😊

If you've read this series, tell me what you think!



Do you think that overall work morale would be improved by having a "book lunch", sponsored by the company, at least once a month, or perhaps once a week? (Participation would be voluntary.) 

In a word, no.
Not everyone is a book lover or reader so why should a company sponsor this? Surely there are better things - that would benefit more people - for a company to sponsor?

I also fail to see how lunch were a bunch of people sit around not interacting can bolster morale. And worse! What if you're reading and people DO talk to you?!
So, no. Just... No.


SHARE:

Tuesday 5 November 2019

Autumn Vibes, Druid Vices and Reading Quirks

I love participating in weekly bookish memes, answering questions and making lists, but sometimes the answers are not enough to make a decent post... On their own!
So, on those weeks, I'll be combining rather than skipping!


This week's topic is books that give off Autumn vibes... 

I gravitate towards urban fantasy more than usual at this time of year but I wouldn't say they particularly give me autumn vibes.
However, there are a few others that spring to mind as giving me autumn feels and they are: 

Gothic Novels

Wuthering Heights, Dracula and Jane Eyre in particular.  
With their dramatic landscapes, passionate love affairs, darkness, and death, it feels wrong to read them in the spring and summer but autumn? Oh yes... Autumn works.

Harry Potter

September rides on the Hogwarts express, marvellous Halloween feasts and all the magic and general witchery... How could Harry Potter be associated with any season other than autumn?

🌻

But that's all I've got! 
What about you? What gives you autumn vibes?


It doesn't release until January but I'm already crazy psycho excited to get my hands on it!

Book 6 in my beloved Guild Codex: Spellbound series!
Isn't it pretty?! And it sounds freakin' fantastic! The Druid is back!!!!
😍

I've said it before, but sometimes I'm a bad person. I cheated on my twelfth-grade math final, I've run countless yellow lights, and I gossip about how hot my kickass best friends are. (Good thing my job as a guild bartender doesn't require moral perfection.)

But there's bad, and then there's bad. And I'm not sure which applies to a certain dark druid/wanted criminal/reluctant friend of mine. His transgressions include black-magic dealings, kidnapping, and murder, and he's about to add "revenge-fueled killing spree" to his resume—if I don't stop him.

Should I stop him?

He and his nemesis are gearing up to tear each other apart, rogues and vultures are converging with their sights on the spoils, and the guilds that would normally stomp them into the ground are under attack. We're on the brink of an all-out criminal turf war, and my time to decide is almost up.

Who's the real bad guy ... and do I dare stand in his way?

Whatcha think? What are you excited for this week?


This week on the book blogger hop, Elizabeth asks, "Can you stop reading before the end of a chapter?"

My answer is simple: Yes. Yes, I can. 
Do I like having to stop before the end of a chapter? No.
However, I'm pretty good at remembering what was going on in a book so stopping and starting reading at strange places doesn't bother me too much. 

What about you? Can you stop?
SHARE:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig