One of the Stronger Books in the Series

 Down Home Cowboy by Maisey Yates 

Some of the topics covered in this book were harder to handle than in the previous books, but overall this book was one of the more enjoyable of the series. Cain, the oldest of the Donnolly brothers and Allison, the baker, (that his daughter works for) decide to have a physical only affair. Except it stops being only physical very quickly. He turns to her for help understanding his daughter since he's struggling and Violet seems to like and trust Allison. Along the way of learning how to communicate with his daughter, he learns how to get in touch with his emotions and how to communicate period. He falls for Allison and wants this to be real. And he lets her know. She breaks it off. Violet catches him coming home after being out all night and gives him a stern talking to, and she has already figured out that it was Allison and offers to quit her job in solidarity with him. Instead he makes her to to work, because that's life. She gets there and ends up being the voice of reason for Allison. Then, Allison has girls night and tells her friends she ended things and they say if you love him you're being dumb. She realizes everyone was right and goes to Cain and makes up. The epilogue is less than a year later because Violet still hasn't turned 17 and Cain and Allison are at their wedding. The three of them are happy together as a family. Oh, during the course of the book Allison works a wedding for characters that didn't get their own book, which was weird since we have met Madison West.  The break up to engagement was too fast, again. But otherwise, this was one of the stronger books in the series.  

Will Have to Re-Read AFTER Reading Book 1

 The Virgin's Secret by Victoria Alexander 

I did not know this was book 2 in this series, so part of book 1 has already been spoiled! This follows Nathaniel, the youngest of the Harrington sons, and Gabriella. He is an adventurer. She is an academic and trying to restore her dead brothers' name and reputation. After getting caught breaking into his house she is invited to stay with his family because his mother knew her mother. He, his mother, and his brother (The Earl) all make separate inquires into her background. Meanwhile, she and Nate grow closer while looking for the artifact that was stolen from her brother before his death. She realizes it is at her house and they go there. But while there, there is a fire. The both get out, but she runs back in for the letters to and from her mother. A mother she never met because she died while in childbirth. She is hit by a falling beam and Nate saves her. She is in bed for days. He and his mother travel to to meet her family who are returning from Paris to tell them the news; she is not dead like they have thought. She finally wakes, but is too late to present the findings to the Archeological society. However, Nate uses his brothers title to get a special vote and is able to present her findings. He is also able to introduce her to her long lost family.  I will have to re-read this book after reading book 1 because I am guessing there will be some new context that I missed after reading the first book in the series. 

Hockey Romance

 Fear of Falling by Kenadee Bryant

It seems like this book was either indie or self-published because it was poorly edited, which is unfortunate because the story was good. But, a good editor would have helped with not only the typos but the repetitive nature that kept creeping up. Josie and Wyatt get stuck in an elevator overnight. This is an adorable meet-cute. She works for a magazine. He is a professional hockey player. He gives her his jersey to keep her warm. She returns it. He asks her out. They are both smitten. His older brother is very protective, especially once he learns what kind of job she has, but he very quickly comes around and sees that she's the real deal and not just here for his fame. They have a paparazzi issue and he thinks breaking up is the only option but his friends quickly set his straight. Two of her friends and two of his friends are very obviously going to end up together; the book sets the follow up stories up well. This was cute but I'm probably not going to finish the series as it's not available through the library and I don't have Kindle Unlimited and I didn't like it enough to buy it.  

Paranormal YA

 Covet by Tracy Wolff

Like the previous book there were a lot of unnecessary scenes in this book. So many, that I'm having a hard time remembering exactly what happened in this book. Grace is having a hard time now that her bond to Jaxon is broken and her new bond with Hudson exists. She still loves Jaxon, but she wants to be near Hudson. She decides to go to the Bloodletter. Jaxon has been summoned to London so it's just her and Hudson. The Bloodletter is delighted to see her. Turns out, her bond with Jaxon wasn't real; she (Bloodletter) made it. That's how she was able to create a spell to break it. The only thing that could possibly break her bond with Hudson, and remake her bond with Jaxon, is the Crown. And the only person who might know where that is is the Unkillable Beast. And the only person who can get him out of the chains is the Blacksmith. So, they go to the giants. Turns out, there's more than one giant blacksmith. But this specific one is in the prison so they are going to have to break him out. Hudson already has a warrant, but Grace can go with him since she's his mate. While with the giants, Hudson gives her a promise ring, but we have no idea what he promises her because Grace wasn't listening. They go to New York for a dragon holiday and Flint's mom arrest's Hudson. Grade and Nuri have a confrontation. Grace and Flint have a confrontation. Grace goes to rescue Hudson but he was already well on the way to rescuing himself. Graduation happens and Hudson immediately gets arrested. Grace goes to prison with him. Flint also gets arrested. The three of them end up with Remy, a witch who was born in the prison. Shenanigans ensue. They escape with the blacksmith and a new friend. But not Remy. They go to free the Unkillable Beast but it's a trap and Cyrus is already there to ambush them. Flint is mortally wounded. Grace works to save him. Jaxon is bitten by Cyrus and is dying so he says drain him of his power to save Flint, so she does. She saves Flint. Jaxon dies. Nuri gives up her dragon heart to save Jaxon. Flints boyfriend dies during the battle. They free the Unkillable Beast and he returns to human form. He gives Grace the Crown and it's now on the palm of her hand. That's where the book ends. This book was 680 pages and it could have been at least 100 if not 150 pages shorter. I'm still interested in the characters, but I take so long between books that I forget how much unnecessary stuff is in them until I start reading.  

Cop Book

 Asking for Trouble by Tessa Bailey 

This was very fast paced. Hayden and Brent don't really like each other, but they like to argue with each other. He takes her home to make sure she gets there safe and they start to hookup until her mother shows up to remind her she has to go to a dinner tomorrow. She then invites Brent because she really doesn't want to have to spend the evening with Stuart. He agrees, if she can find him a suit. She assumes, because he's a cop, that he will embarrass her and that will upset her parents. Instead, he charms them and their friends. Then, when Stuart corners her in the kitchen, he rescues her. Afterwards, they go back to her place and sparks fly. Then, her friend and her friends boyfriend decide that the four of them need to go to Atlantic City for the weekend. She needs to get away because her mother told her that her father is going to lose the company if she doesn't marry Stuart and get them an influx of cash. The three of them pick Brent up at his house and she sees him with his nieces and she practically swoons. But she ends it with him after her friends get engaged and takes a bus back home. She sees her dad meeting with a real estate agent and decides to marry Stuart to save him. She ends up telling her best friend everything because she needs a witness to the marriage. Best friend calls new fiance who gets Brent and they book it to the court house to stop the wedding. He is causing a scene in the best way, but she couldn't go through with it and runs to him. Dad ended up coming through at the last minute with an investor. Hayden and Brent end up together. Hayden goes to work for the charity side of dad's company. Everyone is happy. This was very fast paced, but fun and a good palate cleanser.  

YA Coming of Age Story

 Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith

This book was very consumable. It was a coming of age story about finding yourself while dealing with prejudice and deciding what you will deal with and what you won't. Louise is Native American and while she is proud of her heritage, she is also trying to figure out how she wants to share it with people. She is partnered with Joey on the school paper; he is Lebanese-American. He is also proud of his heritage and does not take kindly to the all Arab's are terrorists stereotype. They start falling for each other and she is trying figure out how to bring up her heritage and she makes a horrible blunder that causes him to stop talking to her. Meanwhile, her brother, Hughie, gets cast in The Wizard of Oz as the Tin Man. All of the ethnic members of the cast start receiving anonymous hate mail. Then, their house gets vandalized. Hughie decides to drop out of the play because of how Baum felt of Native Americans. On opening night the show is a huge success and his gives an interview to the school paper, talking about his decision and the hate mail. Lou figures out how to make up to Joey, but they get caught in a tornado and he saves them. The book ends with them celebrating Thanksgiving with her family. It was cute, but coming of age stories aren't my favorite. They seem to lack a plot, even though the self-discovery is the plot.  

Ruined Me in the Best Way

 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I was so cocky going into this book; like why are people crying in the corner and needing a lobotomy after reading it? Do they not know their ancient Greek? I was CONVINCED I was going to be fine because I already know the story of Achilles. I know how this story ends. And I do. But, I was both right and wrong. Madeline Miller can write a book. And like everyone else, I was sobbing by the end. The book was told from Patroclus point of view which was a bit of a surprise when I initially pushed play. But once I figured out who the narrator was, the rest fell into place. One of my favorite parts in the entire book was from relatively early in the story, when Achilles makes Patroclus his companion and his father asks him why him out of all of the boys. Achilles basically responds, he's weird and I like that. And his father just shrugs his shoulders and says okay. It was so innocent and wholesome and was also the catalyst for the rest of Achilles' life. Odysseus was messy; he loved drama. Agamemnon was the worst and did NOT deserve to lead the army, let alone have the loyalty of Patroclus and Achilles. Patroclus was by far the best of them; he had Achilles save as many women as possible and Agamemnon taking a woman they saved, got Patroclus killed. Achilles lost his mind and when on a rampage. Here is where the only difference comes into the story. Paris killed him with an arrow through the heart, guided by the god Apollo instead of through his Achilles heal. And he was happy for it. Achilles' son shows up and he is the worst. He does agree to his fathers' wish to have his ashes buried with Patroclus, since they were already mixed it was too late, but he does not put Patroclus' name on the grave. That is how Patroclus is able to continue narrating the story; his ghost has not been sent to judgement and is instead haunting the battlefield. He is able to make contact with Odysseus and he tries to get Achilles' son to reconsider but he will not sully his fathers' legacy with some nobody on his grave. Everyone leaves and Patroclus is alone. Then Achilles' mom shows up. She has always hated Patroclus, and tried multiple times to break them up. But this time, she talks to him. She tells him that Achilles' son is dead and they reminisce about Achilles. Patroclus tells her about his other accomplishments, not just in the war, and she adds them to his memorial. Then, she adds Patroclus' name and tells him that Achilles' is waiting for him in the underworld. That is what got me sobbing. She finally realized that Patroclus was the best person and that Achilles was better because of him. And that she was the one to send him to her beloved son.  I will definitely let Madeline Miller ruin my life again.  

Spin-Off

 A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout 

I decided to do the intermixed read and I can see how this is going to give added context to the Blood and Ash series. Sera has been raised to fulfill a bargain with the Primal of Death. Ash is the Primal of Death, but not the one who made the bargain. When it is time to complete the bargain the Primal shows up, quietly tells Sera that he has no need of a consort, and then leaves without taking her. Everyone assumes that she did something wrong and that she is the cause of the Rot. She is now being used by her mother as an assassin. One day, she sees three gods killing a person and a child. She is about to intervene when she is stopped by a god from the Shadowlands. In order to not get caught they start making out and Sera is *very* interested. She's also concerned because what if the Primal finds out. He has rejected her multiple times. Still, they keep running into each other. Then they have an encounter by the lake. It doesn't go very far, but they both can't stop thinking about it. Sera's stepsister Ezra shows up and begs for her help, Marisol has been gravely injured and didn't she help that ugly barn cat when they were kids? So, Sera agrees to help. Except, it's more than just help. Marisol is dead. So, she brings her back to life. Because that's a thing she can do. Later, her stepbrother attacks her and tells her that his father died and he's now king and when she refuses to call him king he grabs her, takes her to the throne room, ties her to a statue, and starts whipping her. She goes to a place inside herself where she can't feel anything and when she speaks it's not her voice. She tells him she's going to cut off his hands before she kills him. Then, there is a presence in the room. It's Ash. "You dare to touch what is mine." That's when she realizes that he's the Primal of Death. Sera does cut off her stepbrother's hands and then shoves the whip down his throat before he dies. Then Ash takes her to the Shadowlands because he has publicly claimed her as his Consort. Things are going good, and she's trying to do what she was trained to do: seduce him and make him fall in love with her. But it's not working. Then, she finally tells him everything and he appreciates the honesty but reveals that she and the bargain area not the cause of the Rot. It's because his father was not the real Primal of Death; he was actually the Primal of Life and somehow the current Primal of Life, his uncle, usurped that position and that's what caused this. So, now he knows that the truth and he doesn't trust her. She's been abandoned. Then, they find a missing woman who is one the verge on death and Sera heals her. Well, she remembered and told someone and that person tried to kill Sera. One of Ash's right hand men killed him before they could question him, but we got the answers eventually. Her power led to an attack. Sera fought to protect Ash and his people, then healed Bele. Ash was super weak and needed to feed but wouldn't. Then one of the dragons told her he would feed from her so she went to him. He fed and they *finally* went pretty far. She got attacked and he went insane. Vaporized one attacker. Made another bleed from the eyeballs for looking at her.  He let her sit in on a meeting because even though he doesn't trust her, she's still going to be the Consort and they need to keep up appearances. He kissed her desperately after checking her wounds then told her it didn't mean anything. (sure, we believe that). Then, we meet the fates. Turns out, it's Holland, the man that has been teaching her to fight and taking care of her her entire life. He didn't interfere, per say, just skirted the edges. And he shows them her life line. She dies. Soon. But, there is one thing that can change her fate. Love. And she says that's not fair to put on Ash, because he can't love. And then they look at each other with desperate yearning eyes and the book ends. A lot happened in this book but it was a good introduction to these characters and their story. It will also be helpful for Poppy and Cas's story.    

Fantasy Cozy Mystery

 Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun by Victoria Laurie 

The thing I appreciate most about cozy mysteries is that they all, fantasy or not, recap the characters at the beginning. It doesn't matter how long it's been since you've read the series, they are so easy to jump back into. Gilly cons M.J. into being on a paranormal tv show which is going to film for a few days in San Fransisco. When they get to the hotel 1) it's the most haunted hotel in the area and 2) there's a dead body outside. She gets the detective to agree to let her help, and she's able to send the spirit on. There are 3 other mediums signed up to be on the show, only 1, Heath, is legit. After a fiasco during the first filming M.J. gets the director to fire the two frauds and she and Heath continue with the show. They also do some ghost busting for the hotel. But, there is an evil spirit in the hotel and they both get attacked. Gilly is able to get a huge deal for them to film the bust if they can get rid of the evil spirit. They are able to do that, and solve a murder and jewelry heist at the same time. This was fun and fast paced.  

Forced Religion in a Dystopian Novel

 A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes 

This was such an interesting concept and the author is a good writer, so this should have been good. Unfortunately, she stops the story to religion at you. And, that's the thing; I don't mind a religious allegory, I don't mind a character's quest to reconnect with or find their religion if I know that's what the story is about going in. But, nowhere in the description of this dystopian novel did it mention that Parvin was going to grapple with her religious beliefs. And the bigger issue than the surprise religion was that it wasn't organically included; it wasn't subtle. The concept was that at birth everyone is given a clock that counts down until their death. And if you don't have a clock you are considered a radical and either relocated or sent over the wall as punishment. But Parvin and her brother Reid share a clock, and neither know who it belongs to because they were triplets and one triplet died shortly after birth, and his clock zeroed out. Super interesting concept. Parvin and Reid share the one remaining clock and neither knows who will die halfway through their 18th year. Parvin decides to write her autobiography and she asks her mentor to introduce her to the best biographer in the country, Skelly Chase, so she can get some tips. They meet and he reads the first few pages and tells her it's terrible. But he agrees to read the rest and meet her the next day with some pointers. Then his train is delayed; the same train Reid was on coming home and injured on. He gets to the part about their clocks and agrees to write it. Then he takes her to the enforcers and she is sent over the wall with a journal and a good luck. She chronicles her life for 6 months; meeting the albinos, losing her hand, meeting Jude and Willow, helping Ash give birth, traveling to Ivanhoe, working, and getting poisoned on the return. She gets back after watching Jude sacrifice himself to save her only to watch Skelly Chase murder her brother. She has been convinced that the clock was hers, and now her brother is dead. Jude's brother, Hawk, takes her to a hospital, and that's where the book ends. I'm pissed because the concept was so interesting and she really is a good writer (I enjoyed her two alternate history novels) but I can't stand the forced religion. I'm not sure if I want to finish the series or not.  

First in a Soldier Series

 Wicked as Sin by Shayla Black 

I laughed so hard at the beginning of this book I gave myself a headache because what do you mean the MMC, the guy we are supposed to be swooning over, is named One-Mile? Absolutely not. I couldn't take him or this book seriously after that and was actively hoping this book was going to be a dumpster fire because, seriously?, One-Mile. This is a big of an age gap, but not terrible; she's 22 and he's 28. She's a very young 22. She is the innocent only child of a preacher. He is retired marine sniper. Her best friend (Cutter) works with him and they do not get along. Mostly because One-Mile does the killing and everyone in the office understands that it's a necessary part of their work, but they don't have to like it. So, bestie makes her pretend to be his girlfriend so One-Mile will stay away. Except he basically starts stalking her, and she's kind of into it. It works out in her favor when she's out running errands and gets a call that her dad is in he hospital and she is in no shape to drive, so he takes her. Also, she refuses to call him One-Mile and instead calls him Pierce, his actual name. He is convinced that bestie is cheating on her and is determined to break them up. A few days later bestie is at the grocery and a man shows up with a gun and holds the place hostage because his wife left him. Bestie calls Brea to tell her goodbye then bestie's older brother shows up to take her home. She says, I can fix this but you have to trust me and she leaves and goes to One-Mile. She tells him what's going on and he agrees to help if she agrees to sleep with him. She says yes. He goes to work, tells them the situation at the grocery, and they get him control of the scene. The gunman leaves with bestie and the wife and One-Mile kills the gunman. Then he goes home to Brea. Once they are done, he realizes the she was a virgin. And he realizes that bestie might not *necessarily* be cheating, he might be trying to honor her wishes of no sex until marriage. After the first time she and Pierce basically go at it like rabbits for the night. Then, she says she needs time. He gets sent to Mexico on a mission and gets captured for 22 days. Bestie is sent to rescue him. She shows up at the hospital and then takes care of him throughout his entire recovery. Once he's been cleared by his doctor, they start going at it like rabbits again. He finally tells her why he prefers to be known by his longest kill shot; his father was also named Pierce and he was a horrible father, oh and he killed him when he was 15. Then he gets a call and has to leave for a mission and that's where the book ends. Also, we as the reader can infer that Brea is pregnant but she is too stupid to realize it. This book was absolute insanity; I cackled through most of it and I will be finishing the series.  

Crime Series #6

 From Potter's Field by Patricia Cornwell 

All of the characters were pissing me off in this book. Even Lucy. This focused entirely on the serial killer from the previous two books. He killed a homeless woman in Central Park who ended up being his twin sister. We only found that out because Kay showed up at his parents' house and talked to them about her; she was pretty sure who the body was at that point because of her unique teeth. Also, the government was trying to stop her from investigating because his uncle was a Medal of Honor recipient and they didn't want to tarnish his reputation; too late for that. Kay ends up stabbing him on the subway tracks after the kidnaps then releases Lucy. He was surprised that she not only stabbed him, but with how much he was bleeding. And then he dies. Kay is still having her affair. Lucy has started smoking. Marino is still a jerk. Despite the fact that all of the characters were irritating me, the mystery is interesting and the storytelling is well done. I will be continuing the series.  

Fourth and Final Book in a Historical Romance Series

 The Duchess Takes a Husband by Harper St. George

I'm so irritated with this book. I have loved every book in this series and this started out so strong. The themes in this book were important and deep and necessary. Then the author decided to tell us that Jacob lost his virginity when he was 15 and that he has slept with 8-10 women a year every year since and that he is almost 30. We don't get a specific age, but if he's 28 that means 104-130 up to 120-150 women. That is the range. He is for the streets. And Camille, the recently widowed Duchess and decided that she wants to sleep with him because she thinks he will know what he's doing and that will let her know if she actually likes it or not. But, with that many bodies he had better know what he's doing. That man is for the streets! Except, every time Camille tries to sleep with him, she can't. Because her husband was abusive. So Jacob devises ways for her to be in charge, and it works. But it works too well because she falls in love with him and he doesn't reciprocate her feelings. He thinks that is working out in his favor because he has to leave for Paris, and they have been pretending to be engaged and when he leaves that will allow her to end the engagement easily. Meanwhile, she has been getting involved in the suffrage campaign and she goes to a rally and gets attacked. But don't worry, Jacob is there to save her. He realizes that he does love her and asks her to go to Paris with him, as a truly engaged couple and they can get married when they return. Boy, bye. This was such a let down after how great the first three books were.  

Second in a College Hockey Series, but NOT a Hockey Book

 Wildfire by Hannah Grace 

This was a fast read; I finished it in a day. I liked that many of the characters that we met in book 1 returned for this book, but they weren't the main focus. This book is about Russ, the quiet one on the hockey team. They are having a party at the house and he pretends to have confidence so he can hit on Aurora. It works. They spend the rest of the part together and then she spends part of the night with him, but she doesn't stay. He thinks he completely messed up and he's never going to see her again, but they both end up being counselors at the same summer camp. The only problem is, the camp has a strict no fraternization rule. Russ needs the job, plus he likes to follow rules, so he is doing his best to stick to it. That doesn't last. They are obsessed with each other when nobody else is around and are trying to hide their relationship from everyone, especially the kids. He is having family problems and has to leave for a day to go see his dad in the hospital. While there he finally tells his mom everything his dad has been doing and then tells his dad to stay out of his life unless and until he can stop gambling because he's an addict. Aurora also has family issues and she has been summoned to her fathers wedding because of she's not there the press will start to ask questions that he doesn't want to answer. The last day of camp rolls around and Russ starts a fight with Aurora because she answered his phone and found out how bad things were with his dad. She was planning on going to the wedding, but decided to drive back to school with him so they could either fix their relationship or end it. On the drive he finally opens up and tells her everything and they fix it. The epilogue is them almost a decade in the future, back in the same town as the camp, at the opening of her new bookstore. This was a good addition to the series.  

First in a YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi Series

 Scythe by Neal Shusterman 

This was a very interesting concept, but such a slow start. Like, I kept taking breaks it was so slow. I know with fantasy (and this is a bit sci-fi as well, but the sentiment still applies) you have to let the world build; but it was a very slow build. Basically, in this world nobody dies permanently unless a Scythe (aka a Grim Reaper) gleans you. And accident, you are taken to a hospital and revived. Enter Honorable Scythe Faraday. He takes on two apprentices, Citra and Rowan, for different reasons. He ends up having dinner with Citra and her family and Citra is unhappy at best; she does not grovel, she does not dote, she is almost hostile thinking that he is prolonging the agony of who in her family he is there to kill. Turns out, he was there for her neighbor who was not home yet. Her revulsion and straightforward manner are necessary to being a good Scythe. Then there is Rowan. Faraday shows up at his school at the same time as Rowan and asks him for directions to the office. While Rowan is getting his tardy pass Faraday is having the office call down the student he is about to glean, the star quarterback. Rowan barges in and tries to intervene on his behalf, then he offers to stay with him, to give him some comfort. His compassion is necessary to being a good Scythe. Both Citra and Rowan accept the apprentice positions. They both fail the first test, trying to help the other. Then, we have Scythe Goddard; he prefers mass gleanings. He does not like Faraday and wants only one of the apprentices to succeed and proposes that the only one pass and then has to glean the other. Faraday ends up self-gleaning to release them from their apprenticeship, but Goddard offers to take on both so the challenge can continue. Enter Honorable Scythe Curie, the Grande Dame of Death. She takes Citra and Goddard gets Rowan. They are trained in two different styles and the contest continues. Then, Citra starts looking into Faraday's death. She gets accused of orchestrating it and is on trial, so she throws herself off a building to get away. Then she is on the run. She ends up, with Curie's help, at the house of a man named Gerald. It's Faraday. He faked his own death. He trains her for months while Curie clears her name. Meanwhile, Rowan is still with Goddard. It's right before the final trial. Goddard takes his junior Scythes and Rowan to a cult to do a mass gleaning. Rowan finds the nice one crying after having killed a bunch of kids, she then kills herself. Goddard told Rowan that he would be doing his first gleaning today. And Rowan does, just not in the way Goddard expects. Rowan kills Goddard and the other two junior scythes then sets the building on fire. Dresses up as Goddard to keep the fire department out. And makes sure everything burns so much that all of the bodies are unrecognizable. He just eliminated the leaders of the kill for the fun of it part of the scythedom. The final trial arrives. We only get to see Citra's trial. She has to glean her brother, Ben. There are multiple weapons on the table in front of her, she has to pull a slip of paper from a bowl and use the weapon she randomly selected. She picks knife. She talks her brother through it and gives him a quick, clean death before he is removed to be revived. The next day only one ring is present. Citra is selected. She punches Rowan in the face, getting his blood on her ring, granting him immunity, so she can't glean him. In the uproar she tells him to take some knives and that there's a car waiting for him. He flees, fighting his way out and Faraday is waiting for him. That's where the book ends. It was a slow start, but once the world was established it was very interesting. I will definitely be continuing with book two!  

Good Until the Ending

 Slow Burn Cowboy by Maisey Yates

This was great until the end, then it pissed me off. I can take a leave a friends to lovers; I don't love it but I don't hate it. We have Lane and Finn. Best friends. They both have issues and deep hurt. Then, Lane calls Finn for help with something stupid and Finn yells at her and kisses her. There's a lot of that. Yelling and kissing. Then kissing and yelling. And to change things up there is also kissing and running away. Then, they decide to try a friends with benefits arrangement. Lane opens up about her issues first. Then she expects Finn to do the same, except he doesn't. All of his half brothers are now living with him after their grandfather died and gave them all equal shares in the ranch and his oldest brother gives him a heart to heart talking to. Finn opens up to him a bit and has a revelation which leads him to apologizing to Lane and proposing in the middle of this apology. And that's what pissed me off. Like, you ended things with her and now you are immediately proposing. And she said yes. Does nobody have any self-respect in this town? This is the second book in this series where the apology tour has included a proposal, which was immediately accepted. Things were going so well until the apology proposal! I was really enjoying this book, like yes we are back on track after a crappy previous book, and then that ending happened.  

Final Book in an Egyptian Fantasy Duology

The Jasad Crown by Sara Hashem 

I was worried about how this book was going to compare to book 1; would it be as strong? Would it wrap everything up satisfactorily? How many characters that I care about would die? It definitely lived up to expectations. I was on the edge of my seat, constantly. And the audiobook narrators did a spectacular job. There were four separate narrators so I do not know who was who, but whoever read for Sylvia; I am ready to pledge to fight for Jasad. And whoever read for Arin; whoever you hate I will destroy. The book starts with Arin and Sylvia as enemies, but that doesn't last long. Whenever she is having a panic attack her magic is teleporting part of her to him. He is the only thing that can calm her down. And at first he thinks he's losing his mind; that she's a hallucination. But then he realizes she's real and he's angry. It doesn't last. Their banter. Their yearning. Merrick and Sayfa are separated. He's now with the army, something he never wanted. She's become the personal attendance to what's-her-name with the ring. Jarou ends up with Merrick and gives him a side quest and basically protects him because if anything happens to him Sylvia will be upset which will make Arin upset. What's-her-name reveals that she has known how Sayfa is all along and Sayfa ends up cutting the ring off of her finger and making a run for it. She and Merrick are reunited, then Sayfa is taken to the wells. Arin gives the order that Jarou is to help Merrick get her out. Vaughn is back with Arin, but that doesn't last. There is a battle and Sylvia takes the Jasad army to protect the village she has been living in for years and in order to protect everyone she kidnaps Arin, which forces his army to search for him. She planned on letting him go once they got far enough way, except the magic forest that moves captured them and trapped them. It also stripped her of her magic, so they finally got to be together. Arin finally puts a bunch of metaphorical puzzle pieces together and realizes that this father has been using the magic that Arin strips from the Jasad people and he stores it in his scepter. So Arin cuts off his fathers hand to remove the scepter, which is attached to him by a cuff. Then he allows himself to be captured by the Jasads and allies himself with Sylvia and her people. They want him to take an oath to them and the crown, but instead he swears to Sylvia herself; who you hate, I will destroy. I swoon. One of her advisors tells them they need to get it together because everyone can see how desperately in love with each other they are. Then he and Jarou leave and Arin forces a vote of no confidence in his father and he takes over as Supreme. Then, he joins the battle in support of Sylvia. During the fighting Merrick dies. Now every child in his family has died in the army. Sayfa is not ok. Sylvia realizes that magic madness is and isn't real; it's the god Rovial being reincarnated every 100 years and the child not being able to handle the magic and the memories. But Sylvia had the cuffs on for years, hiding her magic, so she is able to deal with it. She raises the wall and then destroys it and herself which sends her to the afterlife. Arin tries to run to her and it takes like a lot of his own men to stop him, which he throws off and only stops fighting when Sayfa gets in the way. In the afterlife she is both Sylvia and Rovial. They tell her that magic is dying and they can bring it back to the lands by stripping themselves of their magic. She says lets do that, fast, because she doesn't want to return and have all of the people that she loves be gone. Arin is a shell of himself. He rules and rules well, but that is all he does. Then, on the 10 year anniversary of Sylvia's sacrifice, he is at the bridge, in the mist, and she returns. That is where the book ends. This was so good. I am probably going to buy the physical copies of this book so I can return to them whenever I want, I enjoyed this series that much.   

First Book of 2026

 Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon 

Was this well written? No. Did it have a good plot? Also no. Did I enjoy it? Immensely. This book was ridiculous and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of. I picked it up because of the hype it had been getting on BookTok and was a bit concerned, but that concern was unfounded. This is not good literature, but it is a good time. Georgia and a dozen other women get kidnapped by aliens. Ugly ones. But, the aliens were only supposed to kidnap 6 since they only had enough pods for 6, but since it went so smoothly they decided to take more. Then the spaceship malfunctions and they get abandoned on an ice planet. Before that, Georgia and some of the other women come up with a plan about how they are going to overpower their captors and try to get free. But, then they get abandoned with only one guard, that Georgia kills. She puts on his suit and goes out exploring the ice planet and encounters Vektal. He is a big blue alien with a tail, but unlike their captors he's neither mean nor ugly. He is also convinced that she is his mate. He protects and cares for her, in more ways than one. They aren't able to communicate very well, but she is able to convince him to return to her ship to save the other girls; this becomes easier once they see the frozen body of one of the girls. He realizes there may be more, which means more mates for his people. They return and luckily the bad aliens put a translator on one of the women so she and Vektal are able to communicate and it's agreed that Georgia will leave the furs and most of the provisions they brought and that she and Vektal will return to his tribe and he will bring help to rescue them and he will be able to do this because he is the chief of the tribe. The rescue goes well. On the way back to their home they hunt a beast that has a special worm that will allow the women to survive the harsh climate and potentially mate with the men. Oh, and Georgie is already pregnant with Vektal's baby so she definitely needs the worm. She goes first as the leader of the women and then they all follow suit. Georgie wants to contribute to the tribe and makes Vektal take her hunting, but that doesn't go well and they have a conversation about the other ways she could contribute. It was sweet. Knowing that this series is light and fluffy and so consumable is delightful. I will be reading the next book.