Tag: reading

Book Review:  Cast in Atonement, by Michelle Sagara

Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

 Title:  Cast in Atonement
Author:   Michelle Sagara  
Genre: Fantasy     
Rating:   

In the City of Elantra, only one holds the key to peace—or eternal darkness.

At the end of three long wars, Bellusdeo is the last of her kind, the sole surviving female Dragon in the City of Elantra. When she appears one evening on the doorstep of her former roommate, Corporal Kaylin Neya, her demeanor is dreadful—more so than what’s expected of the Dragons’ notoriously tempestuous temperament. Kaylin’s new roommate, Mrs. Erickson, is quick to see the reason for Bellusdeo’s despair—the eight ghosts of the Dragon’s dead sisters, chained to her and unseen. Pleading for release, revenge and, above all, peace.

Now Kaylin and Mrs. Erickson must embark on a perilous journey, from the hallowed halls of the Academia to the depths of forbidden magic, to confront the very essence of mortality itself. Can Kaylin help release the untapped power within Mrs. Erickson to save Bellusdeo’s sisters…or will unlocking the past plunge the realm into an unfathomable darkness forever?

I do love the Chronicles of Elantra series! The layers and depths in this series are engrossing to me, and this novel was no exception. I loved seeing Bellusdeo’s story unfold and twine more with Kaylin’s—and I love how Kaylin’s mind works. I enjoy all these characters and love seeing their further adventures.

Michelle Sagara lives in Toronto. Cast in Atonement is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  The Story Collector, by Evie Woods 

Image belongs to Harper 360.

Title:  The Story Collector
Author: Evie Woods        
Genre: Historical Fiction       
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.

In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.

I really enjoyed this story! Both timelines were engrossing and a bit magical and just made me feel good. Sarah’s story was wonderful, and I loved seeing how she came to accept herself and her place in the world. Anna was just lovely, but so naïve it kind of hurt to watch. Her story didn’t end like I hoped, but I enjoyed it just the same.

Evie Woods is a bestselling author. The Story Collector is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harper 360 in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Strange Folk, by Alli Dyer

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title:  Strange Folk
Author: Alli Dyer      
Genre:  Fantasy  
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

A woman returns to her estranged, magical family in Appalachia but when a man is found dead in the woods nearby, it seems the family has conjured something sinister in this lush, shimmering, and wildly imaginative debut novel that is perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Deborah Harkness, and Sarah Addison Allen.

Lee left Craw Valley at eighteen without a backward glance. She wanted no part of the generations of her family who tapped into the power of the land to heal and help their community. But when she abandons her new life in California and has nowhere else to go, Lee returns to Craw Valley with her children in tow to live with her grandmother, Belva.

Lee vows to stay far away from Belva’s world of magic, but when the target of one of her grandmother’s spells is discovered dead, Lee fears that Belva’s magic may have summoned something dark.

As she and her family search for answers, Lee travels down a rabbit hole of strange phenomena and family secrets that force her to reckon with herself and rediscover her power in order to protect her family and the town she couldn’t leave behind.

This was a very atmospheric novel. I enjoyed the setting a lot, the small-town feel, but I didn’t enjoy the darker aspects of the story at all. The characters were not very nice people, and that was off-putting for me—I don’t enjoy reading about cruel and nasty people, no matter how atmospheric the setting.

Alli Dyer is from Virginia but now lives in L.A. Strange Folk is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Medici Heist, by Caitlin Schneiderhan

Image belongs to Macmillan’s Children.

Title:  Medici Heist
Author: Caitlin Schneiderhan        
Genre:  Historical fiction, YA      
Rating: 4.0 out of 5   

Welcome to Florence, 1517, a world of intrigue, opulence, secrets, and murder. The Medici family rules the city from their seat of wealth, but the people of Florence remember the few decades they spent as a Republic, free from the Medicis and their puppet Pope, Leo X.

Sharp-witted seventeen-year-old con-woman Rosa Cellini has plans for the Pope and the Medicis – and, more specifically, the mountain of indulgence money they’ve been extorting from the people of Tuscany. To pull off the Renaissance’s greatest robbery, she’ll recruit a team of capable Sarra the tinkerer, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo, the irrepressible master of disguise. To top it all off, and to smooth their entrance into the fortress-like Palazzo Medici, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of famed artist and local misanthrope, Michelangelo.

Old secrets resurface and tensions in the gang flare as the authorities draw closer and the Medicis’ noose pulls tighter around Tuscany itself. What began as a robbery becomes a bid to save Florence from certain destruction – if Rosa and company don’t destroy each other first.

This was an interesting read! I enjoyed the historical aspect of this a lot, and the complex relationships between the group of them. I thought the action was entertaining and I was invested in if they managed to pull off the heist off or not. I loved that the whole ending was a surprise and I didn’t see it coming at all.

Caitlin Schneiderhan lives in L.A. Medici Heist is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #290

This was a solid writing week: five fiction/planning sessions and three book reviews; It’s All Relative, by Rachel Magee, The Thirteenth Husband, by Greer Macallister, and Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch, by Codie Crowley.

Happy writing!

Book Review:  Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch, by Codie Crowley

Image belongs to Disney Hyperion.

Title:   Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch
Author: Codie Crowley    
Genre: YA       
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

Between her careless mom, her cheating ex-boyfriend, and her rotten reputation around town, Annie Lane is used to being left behind. But she’s never been left for dead before—until she wakes up to find her body’s been dumped on a mountain rumored to raise the dead.

Annie can’t remember who killed her, but she’ll stop at nothing to figure it out and make them pay. Because girls like her don’t get justice unless they take it for themselves.

This was an entertaining read, although it was a little too campy for me. Annie’s life must have sucked—I’ve never seen such a bunch of hateful, nasty people—but she wasn’t exactly a nice person herself, so hopefully her afterlife will improve. I didn’t see any character growth, just a deep-seated need for vengeance and revenge, even when it was unwarranted.

Codie Crowley lives in Salem, Massachusetts. Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Disney Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  The Thirteenth Husband, by Greer Macallister

Image belongs to Sourcebook/Landmark.

Title:  The Thirteenth Husband
Author:  Greer Macallister       
Genre:  Historical fiction      
Rating:  4 out of 5

Based on a real woman from history, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets The Haunting of Hill House in this fictional tell-all narrated by the glamorous Aimee Crocker, revealing everything from her mischievous days in German finishing school to dinners with Hawaiian royalty to lavish Astor parties in Manhattan. But behind Aimee’s public notoriety, there’s private pain.

When Aimee is ten years old, as the night dips into the witching hour, the Woman in White appears to her. Minutes later, Aimee’s father is dead—and Aimee inherits a fortune. But the Woman in White never really leaves Aimee, appearing as a sinister specter before every tragedy in her life. Despite Aimee’s wealth, her cross-continental travels, and her increasingly shocking progression through husbands, Aimee is haunted by the unidentifiable Woman’s mysterious motivations. 

Tearing through millions of dollars, four continents, and a hearty collection of husbands, real-life heiress Aimee Crocker blazed an unbelievable trail of public scandal, private tragedy, and the kind of strong independent woman the 1880s had never seen. Her life was stranger than fiction and brighter than the stars, and she whirled through her days as if she was being chased by something larger than herself. Greer Macallister brilliantly takes us into her world and spins a tale that you won’t soon forget.

This was a surprisingly (to me) engrossing read, although it felt a bit slow in spots. Aimee was an interesting character for sure, well ahead of her time culturally and socially. I enjoyed her point-of-view and found her adventures interesting. While the first part of her life was explored in depth, the later part of it was glossed over and rushed through, and that made the second part of the book feel a bit lacking.

Greer Macallister lives in Boston. The Thirteenth Husband is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Sourcebooks/Landmark in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: It’s All Relative, by Rachel Magee

Image belongs to Thomas Nelson.

Title:  It’s All Relative
Author: Rachel Magee
Genre: Fiction       
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

Helena Crosby is on her way to be a bridesmaid… in her mom’s wedding.

Of course she’s thrilled for her mom–the man she’s marrying is great–but this family wedding is complicated. For starters, after twenty-eight years of it just being her and her mom, navigating family dynamics isn’t exactly her strong suit, especially when she has nothing in common with said family. Take her soon-to-be stepsister, for example. They might be the same age, but Amelia is an always-put-together, successful architect whose hobby is organizing her pantry while Helena favors the messy bun and has decided meal prepping means scarfing down whatever she gets out of the vending machine while writing up lesson plans before class. And as if things weren’t challenging enough, Helena managed to develop a monster crush on Amelia’s fiancé. Now, on top of figuring out how to claim a spot in this family, she has to will herself to not be attracted to the most attractive man she’s ever met. So, yeah. This week of wedding festivities at her new family’s beach house should be super fun.

Amelia Maddox has everything under control.

Or at least she did until this whole wedding thing came up. She’s happy her dad is dating again, but getting married? So soon? It’s only been three years since her mom died, and Amelia has worked too hard to hold her family together to let it fall apart now. And then Helena shows up with him. What are the odds that the stepsister she barely knows happens to be best friends with her ex? But Landon is part of her past–which is absolutely behind her–and now she has to stay focused on the future. The bright, shiny, expertly planned future.

Of course, life has a habit of not going according to plan.

I enjoyed this read, although Helen kind of made me a bit twitchy with her judgmental attitude towards the Maddox family, and her rather careless approach to life. I liked her voice, just not her personality so much. And Amelia was the complete opposite, and also a bit annoying to me. That being said, I did like the read.

Rachel Magee lives in Texas. It’s All Relative is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.) Book Review: It’s All Relative, by Rachel Magee

Book Review:  Ne’er Duke Well, by Alexandra Vasti

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  Ne’er Duke Well
Author:  Alexandra Vasti       
Genre: Romance       
Rating: 4 out of 5

Peter Kent―newly inherited Duke of Stanhope and recently of New Orleans, Louisiana―must become respectable. Between his radical politics and the time he interrupted a minor royal wedding with a flock of sheep―not his fault!―he’s developed a scandalous reputation at odds with his goal of becoming guardian to his half siblings. For help, he turns to the cleverest and most managing woman of his acquaintance, Lady Selina Ravenscroft.

Selina is society’s most proper debutante, save one tiny secret: she runs an erotic circulating library for women. When Peter asks for her help, she suggests courtship and marriage to a lady of unimpeachable reputation. (Which is to say, definitely not herself.)

But matchmaking doesn’t go according to plan. Peter’s siblings run rampant on Bond Street. Selina ends up in the Serpentine. And worst of all, the scorching chemistry between Peter and Selina proves impossible to resist. For the disreputable duke and his unpredictable matchmaker, falling in love just might be the ultimate scandal.

I do like this author’s style and characters, and I enjoyed this read quite a bit. The voices of both Peter and Selina were funny and well-developed, and their antics made me laugh—unlike the society they live in. Boring. This is a spicy read with a lot of sweetness, perfect for a summer weekend.

Alexandra Vasti lives in New Orleans. Ne’er Duke Well is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Serenity by the Sea, by Jennifer Vido

Image belongs to The Wild Rose Press.

Title:   Serenity by the Sea
Author: Jennifer Vido       
Genre: Romance     
Rating: 3 out of 5  

Will a celebrity designer and her stubborn project manager sabotage their renovation or fall madly in love?

Celebrity designer Hailey Maybank escapes to Gull Island to reinvent herself after a high-profile divorce, lending her expertise on a renovation project. Working with the boss’s son comes with complications, but will she risk her reputation for a chance at love?

Will Purdey is vying to become a partner in the family business by showcasing his design skills on the firm’s latest project. Partnering with a famous designer with a tarnished reputation can ruin his plans, but will his growing attraction for the colorful artist allow him to get the job done?

This felt very rushed and choppy. Hailey and Will meet and don’t like each other, and then five page later, she’s jealous over him talking to another girl? I felt like some scenes were cut and transitions were ignored, leaving the pacing feeling jagged and off. I loved the setting and thought it was very well done, but the choppiness was a problem for me.

Jennifer Vido is an award-winning author. Serenity by the Sea is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of The Wild Rose Press in exchange for an honest review.)