The Main Character is NOT the Problem. Mostly.

 Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs 

Mercy is still recovering from the aftermath of the rape. I like that they are showing how recovering from something like that takes time and has setbacks. Adam is being amazing about it. They start with a surprise date that Mercy was led to believe was bowling but was really going to be a fancy dinner. They end up going bowling and thoughts are put into Mercy's head that make her act out of character and she doesn't realize what's happening until it's over. Adam doesn't realize what's happening either and once she tells him he calls a pack meeting to find out who it was. Meanwhile, Sam is in a bad state; he tried to kill himself and how his wolf has taken over to keep them alive. Mercy is trying to keep him alive and takes him to work with her where Sylvia and her kids are there cleaning, and the littlest one decided that Sam is her pony. Then a bounty hunter shows up to try to kill Adam but it's really Sam. Turns out the fae are behind it. Sam is calm, cool, and collected during the exchange and then Adam shows up and finds out what's going on with Sam. The pack meeting happens after this and Mercy goes to a rare bookstore to break in because the owner is missing and an unknown fae woman was there when she went earlier. Sam goes with her and Mercy is able to see around the glamor; Sam bites her so he can see too. The store has been destroyed and there are the scents of at least 3 unknown fae around. There is blood in the basement and Mercy gets attacked by one of the fae who destroyed the place, Sam kills and eats him. On the drive home Mercy hears Adam in her head scream her name and then their connection is severed. She gets home and finds her house burned down with Adam on the way to the hospital because of the burns. Mary Jo het a fae burn it down because she doesn't like Mercy, and has a thing for Adam. Mercy and Sam go to the hospital to see Adam. Sam returns to human form to help deal with his injuries because he's a great doctor. They get Adam taken care of and return him home. He rests and Mercy deals with Mary Jo; finds out that she was the one planting the thoughts, that Paul and Henry were also involved, mostly Henry. Paul challenges Adam. Mary Jo challenges Paul. He beats her, and then realizes afterwards that she was already injured because Henry threw her into the kitchen counter and broke a few ribs. Paul then challenges Adam and loses. Henry tries to challenge Adam but before he can Mercy shoots him. Mercy makes a deal with the fairy queen who has been causing the trouble and once she has Adam safely tucked in to rest she takes Jesse to meet Zee. Sam tags along. They meet the fae woman from the bookstore. Turns out she's Phin's grandmother and Sam is in love with her. She says no werewolves, but she's fine with Sam, mostly. She explains to Mercy via Jesse (that was part of the deal) what the fairy queen is looking for, the silver borne, which is currently disguised as a book that Mercy is hiding for Phin. Zee tells them he can get them into her castle, but Jesse has to go and they only have one hour. Arianna battles the fairy queen and gets freedom for Jesse, Phin, Gabriel, Sam, and herself but not Mercy. Mercy is stuck there. The queen tries to make her a thrall, but Mercy is able to shrug it off. Then, she tries again with blood magic and it almost works. But, Mercy gets glimpses of Mary Jo and Darryl looking for her, then Bran shows up and shows her how to find the pack bonds. Her mate bond with Adam was destroyed by the fairy queen and her pet witch but when Mercy picks it up, it comes back to like. Adam can sense her and he is able to find her. What was seconds for Mercy was more than a month for Adam. Mercy is able to shake off the thrall again and she shoots the fairy queen. A powerful fae that Mercy has seen before finishes the kill, then kills the pet witch and frees another fae. Adam shows up and takes her home. She tells him what happened then he takes her away from the pack for a quite night together. Mostly fade to black. This was a nice continuation in this series. This time a bad thing happened to Mercy mostly by accident and eventually she, her mate, and her friends were able to save the day. I enjoy this series.

Learning. Growing. Improving.

 So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

 I really like the aduiobook narrator, but this would have served me better in physical form so that I could annotate it as I read. Because of that, I will be buying this book and re-reading it at a later date. Now, on to the book itself. Ijeoma Oluo takes a very emotional topic and makes it incredibly consumable. The way she mixes her personal stories and humor make this accessible for anyone who interested in breaking down their own internal biases. Some parts were hard to hear as I was faced with new information that I was not previously aware of, but being uncomfortable and learning from that discomfort is the whole point. It will be a while before I do my re-read, my non-fiction TBR is decent sized. But, I am looking forward to reading the physical copy in a year or two and seeing what else I can learn from the re-read.

Book 6 is the Best in the Series (so far)

 Wolf on a Mission by N.J. Walters 

This is book 6 in this series and probably the strongest book of the series; even better than my man Gator's. I was wondering how they were going to expand the pack and avoid inbreeding issues and this book addresses that. We return to Sue, Annie's best friend. She is now living in Annie's old house after the death of both of her parents. Her ex-husband is being horrible, so horrible in fact that 5 year old Billy asks why his daddy doesn't love him. I know, heartbreaking. Elias is new to town, trying to find a home for himself and his twin nephews with the pack. They are both 3/4 werewolf and Reese can shift, but Sage can't. Elias got custody after their parents (his brother and sister-in-law) were killed in a car crash that burned them up. They go camping in the woods near Sue's house, wanting to do some scouting of the pack before showing up. Billy wanders off to the steam where he runs into Sage and Reese in wolf form, who he mistakes for a doggy. Sue finds them and then Elias shows up looking for his boys. They go back to Sue's for a bit, but she is cautious. Elias immediately knows that Sue is his. He and the boys go back to their campground but he returns later that night and starts things with Sue. Then he returns. Meanwhile, her ex is trying to get full custody of Billy because he thinks there is money from his grandparents; there's not. Elias makes contact with the pack, tells him what he wants and they tell him that they will consider it and make plans for another meeting. The boys follow him to the next meeting, and Gwen also shows up so now it's a thing and everyone meets everyone. Elias is still showing up to Sue's at night. Reese and Sage to running and Reese gets shot by local hunters. Sue hears them talking about it at work and after her shift drives out to warn them, not knowing it was Reese, just wanting to do the right thing. Then she sees Annie and gets mad because her friend has been so close this whole time and hasn't see her in 2 years. Then one of the men shows up at her house to threaten her, and decides to rape her. But Elias shows up and saves the day. But, he gets shot for his trouble. When the bullet pushes its way out of his skin he transforms and shows her his truth. Then they get it on. Elias tells Jacques that Sue might be human but she's his mate. He says if she agrees to their life then she, her son, he, and his boys can stay. He asks her and she agrees. He also gets her ex to give up all parental rights to Billy. They mate and have a regular wedding. Sue finally meets Reese in human form. The new leader of the Louisiana pack shows up to make good on his threat from the previous book, but the person that has been hunting the wolves isn't Fergus, it's his cousin, so he issues the same warning to him and it finally sinks in and he agrees to stop hunting for wolves. At the end of the book Sage decides that he is going to leave for a while to figure out who he is since he's 3/4 werewolf but can't shift. Reese doesn't like that. And that's where it ends. This book added new characters seamlessly. It gives lots of potential for more books, and a new generation for a potential spin off series. We also get our first human-wolf pairing. This was the strongest book of the series; it had the most actual story.

I Have Been Personally Victimized by a Paperback

 The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

I have been personally victimized by a paperback. This was supposed to be a cute little romcom. I was NOT supposed to be crying about fictional characters. And yet, there I was with less than 100 pages to go (probably closer to 50) sobbing. How very dare she. Josh was everything that is good in this world. He communicates, is clear about what he wants, doesn't play any games, has a steady and well paying job, and knows how to lay it down. Not to mention he is loyal. All of which is unheard of for someone with a J name. (IYKYK). Kristen was great; she was real and flawed, driven, knew exactly what she wanted, but she also had her insecurities. Despite those, she was fiercely protective and determined. They were great together. And their meet cute was adorable; he rear ends her then follows her to the nearest parking lot to assess the damages where he promptly starts checking out her ass. Then, turns out he's her best friends fiances best friend; the man set to be the best man in Sloan and Brandon's wedding, where she will be the maid of honor. She also ends up hiring him to do some carpentry for her business and they become friends. They are both super into each other, but she has a boyfriend so nothing happens. Then he re-enlists, which ends their relationship and she finally gives in to the attraction. It's amazing because of course he is blessed and knows how to work it. But she decides it's only a friends with benefits situation. He is trying to be understanding since her relationship just ended and he thinks she cared about him more than she actually did. But really, she knows that he wants kids and she can't have any so she doesn't want either of them to get attached because she is convinced it will never work and that she's not worthy of him because she's broken. During a drunken phone call on Brandon's bachelor party Josh tells her that he loves her, and she says it too. He really doesn't understand her hot and cold and she finally tells him. He, of course is stunned, and she runs away. She finally decides to talk to him and shows up at the fire station. He gets sent out on a call and it's Brandon. He was on his motorcycle and hit by a drunk driver. Josh is losing his shit but has to keep it together to do his job. Once they get Brandon to the hospital he calls Kristin and tells her to go get Sloan. She does. There are a lot of longs nights at the hospital, but Brandon seems to be making improvements; they plan to take him off the vent. When Josh and the night nurse are chatting during one of her checks, Brandon's pupils are blown; he had a stroke and is dead. Josh wakes up Kristin and makes her get Sloan. She doesn't handle it well, but does better than his parents who, since the wedding didn't happen, are the decision makers. They are praying for a miracle and won't donate his organs even though that's what he wanted. Josh has to convince them, before the organs are no longer viable, which he does. Kristin, meanwhile is dedicating her life to taking care of Sloan who is practically catatonic with grief. Then, Sloan kicks her out and she returns home to a binder from Josh with plans about all of the potential fertility options before them. She calls him and he's waiting outside her house. He asks her to marry him and she says yes. They rush to the courthouse and are the last appointment of the day. Sloan comes running in at the last second so she doesn't miss it, looking an absolute mess, but she's there. Fast forward a few days and they have an appointment with a doctor about scheduling her hysterectomy, but surprise she's pregnant. Oliver is the only child she gives birth to. They start house hunting to be closer to Sloan, who refused to move in with them and refused to let them move in with her. The book ends 2 years later with them trying to make peace with Kristin's horrible mother, who dotes on baby Oliver. I really like this, until it crushed my heart. And then once I stopped crying I liked it again. I went to bed before writing this review, and woke up thinking about this book. I no longer trust Abby Jimenez, but I like her work and will be reading the next book in the series. 

Little Brother Gets His Turn to Shine

 The Stolen Heir by Holly Black 

This book is a good decade after the end of the Cruel Prince series because Oak is now 17 or 18 and he was just a little boy in the original trilogy. He is out adventuring, intentionally setting himself up for assassination attempts. And he meets up with Wren, his potential betrothed, but not. She was living in the human world and was adopted by a human family, until her glamor was removed and her family spelled to hate her. She was taken by her real parents back to fairy, where they treated her horribly until she escaped. She then lived in the woods near her human family, watched them, and broke curses. Then she gets attacked by someone who says she is loyal to her, but who Wren thinks is loyal to her real parents, so she runs. She and Oak team up to try to free his "father" Madoc, from her parents. He has to being the hear of Mellith to Lady Nore, but he can't get it. At this point I started to think that the heart was inside Wren, but we were told she was made from snow, so I wasn't sure how she got the heart. Anyway, they adventure and she is so starved for affection she thinks Oak might care for her. Oak, we never really learn his true affections toward Wren, but we know he doesn't want to hurt her. They have an incident, and she frees some prisoners, two of which swear loyalty to her even though she tries to tell them not to. Then they end up with the trolls and Oak ends up poisoned, but he lives. She and his guard get him out. They finally make it to her former castle and she ends up tied up. Then Lady Nore tries to spell her to release her from her vow, which was to do whatever Wren commanded, but Wren won't say it, so she cuts out her tongue so she can't talk. One of her sworn followers gets her the key to get out of the dungeon and she finds a piece of Mab's bone so she is able to regrow her tongue and can speak again. She is able to get to Lady Nore, by getting herself caught, and she starts commanding her. There is a meeting, and her commands didn't exactly backfire, but the didn't work out super well either. During this meeting Wren realizes that she has Mellith's heart and that Oak knew all along. But, now she is super powerful and with just a word kills Lady Nore. She promises the trolls she can break the curse if they swear allegiance to her, which they do. She sends Oak's guard and his father back to Jude, but keeps Oak as a prisoner, and puts the bridle on him so she has control over him. The book ends with Oak in prison, trying to talk to Wren. As far as cliffhangers go, it was mild. But, it does have me curious about how this series will wrap up. I enjoyed this, not as much as the original series, but I did enjoy it.

More Unrealisitic than a Fantasy Book

 The Valentine Proposal by Beth Pugh

The description of this book was so very Hallmark that it should have been right up my alley. However, it was also incredibly religious which is not my favorite. I do not mind religious undertones, but I am not a fan of religion in a story if I am not expecting it (if you are reading something about the Greek/Roman/Egyptian gods you know from the start that those elements will be present). When I listen to a cutesy romance book I do not go in expecting it to be religious, and this was. I also find it hard to believe that the MMC was 28, smoking hot, and still a virgin. Like, be so for real. And the FMC, who does nothing but plan agrees to a marriage with a guy that she has never even considered. Make it make sense. For a not fantasy book, there were a lot of unbelievable elements in this book.  

Multi POV

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan 

 I am not the biggest fan of perspective changes for chapters, especially in an audiobook; I have a hard time keeping track of all of the characters, especially since this focused on four mothers and their respective daughters. I can handle a duel POV with the MMC and FMC, but that's about it. Despite the fact that I had to wait for clues to determine which character was the focus of the chapter, I did enjoy this book. We saw the immigrant experience and the first generation American experience and how that can exacerbate the typical mother-daughter challenges. While I think I would have liked this more in the physical book format, it was still enjoyable. I was confused as to what happened to the mother whose own mother killed herself (the 3rd concubine); who raised her? Did she go back to her aunt and uncles? I think it was answered earlier in the book, but I'm not sure because I couldn't go back and check easily. I liked that the book ended with the same character that it started with, the one who just lost her mother, and that it ended with her meeting her half sisters in a joyful meeting. Being able to flip back to previous chapters, or to annotate and leave myself notes would have helped with this eight person point of view book. However, I am glad that I read it and I would recommend, just not in audiobook format.

Thank You for the Gift

 Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt 

This was gifted to me by the principal I had in 2021. He saw that I was taking on too many things, that my plate was too full, and knew it was going to get to be too much. But, he also knew that I had to be willing to give things up of my own accord; I'm stubborn like that. This book was his subtle way of guiding me to the decision. There were many helpful things in this book, but there were also things that are hard to apply to the classroom in this book. For example: I very much know that multitasking is not productive and that doing only one thing at a time is the best way to get the best results. However, in the classroom I do not have the privilege of only doing one thing at a time. I have to teach, monitor behavior, answer phone calls, redirect, and so much more. I have to be able to multitask. Additionally, when it said that answering a phone call can disrupt your focus so much that it takes 15-20 minutes to truly get back on task; I don't have 20 minutes to get back on task, I have to be back on my game immediately. So, while some of it was helpful, some of it doesn't apply. I know the point of me being gifted this book was because of the delegation aspect, as well as taking time for myself, and I have gotten better at those things on my own. However, it did provide some insight into other ways I could be more intentional about delegation. I am grateful that I had Dr. Henry as a principal for as long as I did. And I am grateful that he knew his teachers enough to know exactly who I was (and am) and that I have to come to things on my own. That he realized this book would be beneficial for me in the long run, even if not all of it applies to the classroom setting.

Finally, a Resolution

 Wolf on the Hunt by N.J. Walters

I thought Louis was going to be book 2, but he was really the last of their small pack to find a mate. And while he is not my favorite pack member (that's Gator) his book was really good. Grey is a painter, and half-werewolf. She moves into Annie's old house and the pack finds out so when he's off duty he decides to go for a runs to see who moved in. But, he gets shot in the woods by her house and she, and her giant dog, take him into the house to care for what they think is an injured wolf. He heals super fast and she starts to think the wolf isn't actually a wolf, so she starts talking to him and he changes back to human. He tells her about the danger from the hunters, as well as the danger from his former pack so she agrees to go home with him, just for a bit. This is after Armand, Annie, and Gator show up to try to talk her into coming, but really they just scare her. Louis shows up to save the day and she follows him to his house. The pack is really nice; she and Cherise bond. She and Louis can't keep their hands off of each other, and Louis knows instantly that she's his mate. He realizes that what he thought he felt for Gwen wasn't a real mate bond, just attraction. Meanwhile, back in Louisiana, Jacques and Louis's mom finds out that her husband, their father, is heading to North Carolina to end it. She goes to Cole's parent's and they decide it's finally time to leave and help their sons. They get there in time. Louis faces off against his father, then gets attacked by another wolf, but Cole's daddy takes care of him. Louis's mama shows up to protect Grey, who has shot, but not killed one wolf and been scratched by Pierre. Louis finally kills his father and basically all fighting stops. One of the remaining members from his old pack challenges Louis for control of the Louisiana pack and Louis tells him he can have it; he doesn't want it. That confuses the Louisiana pack, but once Louis explains himself they understand. They also tell his mama, and Cole's parents that they have the freedom to come and get their things if they really want to leave. A few days later basically everyone but Louis and Grey go to Louisiana to help the parents pack. Grey tells Louis she wants to mate, and they do. If this were the last book in the series it would be a great ending because there is so much resolution. If there are more books in the series, there are definitely ways they can continue. I really enjoyed it.

Monster RomCom

 Yes, you read that right. Monster. Romcom. 

Dating & Dismemberment by A.L. Brody 

I bought this book because I have seen tiktoks by the author and he's hysterical, particularly the videos where he makes fun of how male authors write female characters. So, I was super excited to read a book by him, especially a monster romcom. This book started slow. I was a good 50 pages into it before I was fully invested. When Darla and Jarko were killing the bar full of neo-nazis and having a great time doing so, I laughed out loud. That was the moment that really got me and kept me in this book. I liked Darla; how she loved her job but needed a break from it, needed a new person/monster to show up to help her realize it wasn't her job that was the issue, it was that she was missing out on things in her life. That Jarko was also dealing with his own demons, mainly the death of his fiancee, added depth to his character. They helped each other realize that there was more to life than being alone. He handled things poorly, but finding the person that decapitated Dolores, and returning her body to her was a good step in making up for his mistakes; actions speak louder than words after all. I liked the novella at the end that showed exactly how Jarko found her body. It was cute and I would definitely read another book about Darla, Jarko, and Dolores.  

February Starts with an Audiobook

 Ruin of Stars by Linsey Miller

I LOVED book 1 in this series and while this one was good, it wasn't AS good as the first. I enjoyed it. I listened to the last 20 minutes while I was setting my classroom up for the day because I couldn't not finish the last 20 minutes after I got to work. But, it wasn't as strong as the first. Yes, I'm glad that Sal and Elise both survived, but I was kind of hoping that Elise wouldn't be redeemed; that she would hold on to her belief in Lena and refuse to see the truth. I knew Lena was too good to be true; and she was super bad. She was one of the ones on the list. Sla made new friends. She lost her best friend when Lena killed him. Number 2 from the auditions showed back up and played a huge part. The shadows were real and they were back, but not in the same form as before. The last star was creating and controlling them so they were sort of on the good team. All of the people from Sal's list were killed, either by Sal or by Moira (I think that's how you're supposed to spell it since I listened to the audiobook and didn't ever see the name spelt). Sal kills the final bad guy in a fire and it seems like they both die. I wish we would have seen how Sal got out and survived, but instead we get an epilogue with the results of the new trials for the new Ruby. They will hold new Opal trials later. Emerald and Amethyst show up wondering where all of the bodies are and the surviving Ruby candidate, number 4, says probably home by now. Sal won the trial without killing any of them. And they were so shocked when 4 was unmasked and shown to be Sal. Sal is taken to Ruby's quarters and requests Maude, their former servant who has been out of sorts since the deaths of Lena (who she worked for for a bit) and Sal. Then Sal takes off the mask and Maude is mad, then happy. And Sal and Elise are reunited at the naming ceremony. Sal asks the queen to make them Moira's guard because they will not be protecting her anymore and the queen agrees. Everything worked out. There was a lot of action, vengeance, and resolution in this book, but it wasn't as good as assassin school/tryouts like the first one. But, still glad I read it. 

Last Book for January

 Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston 

Short stories are not my jam, especially when in audio format. I have too hard of a time transitioning from one story to the next when listening as opposed to reading with my eyes. Many of these were unreleased/unpublished stories and some of them had characters that repeated, almost like she was undecided about how she wanted the story to play out. While Zora Neale Hurston has a distinct voice and writing style, the short stories are not my favorite, but I can see why she has been praised for her work.