Claire Stevens's Blog, page 36

Understanding Nora by Ruby Malloy

Blimey! This was a good book.

I get a lot of review requests for self-published books and sadly I only have time to review a fraction of the requests I receive, but I’m really glad I picked this one up!

Understanding Nora is an erotic romance about a young student, Nora, who catches the eye of super famous rock star, Carred McGuire. Nora’s not interested in Carred, but gradually he manages to get behind her defences and they fall in love. But Nora and Carred are both carrying secrets – will their love be enough to hold them together? 

Does it make me really shallow if I say that I liked Carred to begin with, but I liked him even more when I read his physical description? He sounds a lot like Chris Hemsworth, or that guy from Sons of Anarchy. And I’m sorry, but there’s no. Freakin’. Way that I’d’ve been able to hold out as long as Nora did. I really liked Carred’s character development – he starts out as this walking hormone, completely spoilt because he’s rich and a rock star and is used to having girls throw themselves at him, and he’s completely unable to see why Nora might not want to just jump into bed with him. Then as the story progresses you get to see how devoted he is to Nora. It reminded me a bit of Abbi Glines’ Rosemary Beach series.

Nora was a worthy MC. Despite the hotness of Carred she kept him in his place and refused to be some fawning little girly, which was good to see. I liked the fact that she had her own life and her own mind and didn’t let Carred’s rock star lifestyle faze her.

***Spoiler Alert***
This book is so saucy! I’ve seriously been reading too much YA recently because I ‘m used to sex scenes being kind of awkward and elbowy and everyone asking if the other one is definitely sure they want to do it and stuff. This book is nothing like that. The raw sexual chemistry between Carred and Nora sparks off the page and my goodness, they have some good sex! The sex scenes are really well written and very erotic. Awesome, I thought to myself as I bookmarked some passages for later reference.

All in all this was a really great read, especially for a debut author. It looks like this is the first in a series and I’d be really interested in reading subsequent books.

5 stars

The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

*Sigh*  I loved this book so much.
 
I’ve been a bit of a fan of Huntley Fitzpatrick since I read My Life Next Door last year.  I absolutely fell in love with the setting and characters she created, so when I found out that her next two books were being published in the UK this year I was pretty excited.
 
When My Life Next Door finished, Tim Mason, teen alcoholic and all-round irresponsible fuckwit, was trying to get his life back on track.  He’d started attending AA meetings and was kicking the booze and drugs.  He was also majorly crushing on Alice Garrett, sister of Swoony Jase (that's his real name, by the way).  At the opening of The Boy Most Likely To, Tim’s uptight dad gives him an ultimatum: Tim has until Christmas to shape up and be a man, or he’ll be cut off completely. 
 
Alice has her own problems.  Earlier in the summer, her dad was injured by a hit and run driver.  Her mum is pregnant with her ninth (!) child, so Alice has her hands full trying to keep the family and the family business afloat. 
 
She so doesn’t need Tim Mason moving into the room above the Garrett’s garage.
 
But, of course, that’s exactly what he does.
 
Man, I loved this book.  I had such a book hangover after My Life Next Door, so I felt exactly like a junkie getting a fix when I started The Boy Most Likely To.  Seriously, I got my review copy through weeks ago, but I had to hold off reading it so I could publish my review nearer to publication date.  It kept taunting me on my Kindle.  Damn – THAT was temptation!
 
I devoured The Boy Most Likely To in one binge-y weekend and it was everything I’d hoped it would be.  Despite their differences, Tim and Alice are so perfect together.  And they have so much stacked against them.  I won’t say what exactly, but when it was revealed I almost dropped my Kindle in surprise.  And yet, it’s so obvious that something like this would happen to Tim.
 
Like Ms Fitzpatrick’s other books, it’s the characters that really make it.  Considering she has a massive cast going on, they all develop really well and have their own story arcs.  And in case you’re wondering, yes, Jase and Sam are in this book.
 
You could read The Boy Most Likely To as a standalone, but it works so much better read alongside her other books.
 
5 stars

Waiting On Wednesday - Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine and it's a chance for us all to highlight the upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.  This week, my Waiting On Wednesday pick is Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake.  Here's the blurb:

Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.

If only it was that simple. Katharine is unable to tolerate the weakest poison, and Arsinoe, no matter how hard she tries, can’t make even a weed grow. The two queens have been shamefully faking their powers, taking care to keep each other, the island, and their powerful sister Mirabella none the wiser. But with alliances being formed, betrayals taking shape, and ruthless revenge haunting the queens’ every move, one thing is certain: the last queen standing might not be the strongest…but she may be the darkest.  

Ooh, sounds good, and I really enjoyed Kendare Blake's other book, Ann Dressed in Blood, so that one's going on my TBR list!

What about you?  What's your Waiting On Wednesday pick this week?

Mrs Zant and the Ghost by Wilkie Collins

So: not my usual reading material.  I downloaded this for free on Audible and listened to it the other day.  It’s a short story by Wilkie Collins and it tells the story of Mr Rayburn, a widower with a young child who encounters a strange young woman (a widow) while he’s out walking in Kensington Gardens with his daughter.  Mrs Zant, the widow, is acting really strangely, and Mr Rayburn decides to investigate.  It turns out that Mrs Zant has been visited by the ghost of her late husband who is trying to warn her of some coming danger.
 
I thought this was an okay read (listen?) and the story was entertaining enough, but for a ghost story it wasn’t very thrilling or scary.  It was more of an investigation and had the feel of a crime mystery.
 
One thing that was really interesting was the changes in the portrayal of female characters between Victorian times and now.  Poor old Mrs Zant is basically helpless.  As a widow, she’s not allowed to control her own finances.  She’s totally dependent on her brother-in-law to do stuff like rent a house for her and ultimately it’s up to the widower guy to work out that her brother-in-law is trying to take advantage of her and to rescue her.  Like, I don’t think I’ve ever read about a more helpless, constantly-needing-to-be-saved female (other than Bella in Twilight).
 
Another weird thing was that considering the story is supposed to be about Mrs Zant, we really don’t find out much about her.  She’s obviously meant to be a sympathetic character, but her positive qualities are basically limited to an ability to bond with Mr Rayburn’s daughter (i.e. motherly instincts = good person).
 
Despite the fact that this story isn’t great from a feminist standpoint, it was quite a sweet tale.  Not scary, considering it’s touted as a ghost story, but fairly intriguing.
 
The narration was very good.  Gillian Anderson really brought it to life and although I don’t often gel with audio books, I had no problem following this one.
 
3.5 stars

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

So I started this book with a certain amount of trepidation.  It has had some amazing write-ups, but when it comes to sci-fi, I like character-driven stories, not science-driven stories.  I don’t like wars, I don’t like weapons, I don’t like loads of physics and that kind of rules out a lot of sci-fi for me.
 
So I started The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and within just a few pages I realised that this would be the rare instance of some sci-fi holding my attention for more than a few chapters.  There were some really well-formed characters just leaping off the page and some really strong writing skills.  Twenty pages in and I was starting to really get into it.
 
And that’s when things started to get a bit weird.
 
Because I was convinced I was reading Firefly fanfiction.
 
Like, convinced.
 
Every character in TLWTASAP seemed to have a Firefly equivalent.  Rosemary was Shepherd Book, Sissix was Zoe, Ohan was River, Ashby was Mal, Kizzy was Kaylee, Pei was Inara, Corbin was ...  Well, actually, Corbin was Sheldon Cooper, which didn’t really fit with the Firefly parallel, but the rest of it seemed almost uncanny.
 
And actually, it was almost enough to make me DNF.  After all, it’s not like there’s a gap in the market for Firefly fanfic.  The internet has buckets of it.
 
But I carried on.  I mean, it’s not like Firefly was exactly original in the first place.  Joss Whedon based it on the Traveller RPG that he played in college, and if you’ve a mind to (and are seriously bored) you can call up the specifications for the Traveller Type R Merchant vessel.  Go on, Google it now.  Recognise it?  Yup, it’s Serenity.
 
I digress into Sad Nerd Knowledge.
 
The point I’m trying to make is that yes, this book might have a lot of similarities with Firefly, but aren’t there supposed to only be like seven stories in the whole world and everything is just a variation on a theme?  So I carried on reading and I’m so glad I did.  What unfolded was a really fun plot involving spaceships burrowing wormholes throughout space.  What’s not to like?  It’s fairly light on tension, apart from a pretty tense scene at the end, and really a lot of it is character development, exposition, backgrounds.  How these various people interact with each other when they’re all cooped up together on a really small spaceship for over a year.
 
And yes, the characters made me give my Kindle the side-eye but the worldbuilding more than made up for the lack of originality in that regard.  The author has obviously spent a lot of time thinking about how she wants her galaxy to look and it was great!  I liked the alien races and how diverse they were, their cultural backgrounds and so on.  There was practically no physics (good!) but instead there was plenty of description.  In fact, at times there was so much description that it felt more like a fantasy novel than sci-fi.
 
All in all, this was a really enjoyable read.  I know a lot of sci-fi fans who are totally into their plot and physics and I wouldn’t really recommend this book for them, but for literally everyone else out there I’d say yay!  Read it!
 
  4.5 stars

Waiting On Wednesday - The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine and it's a chance for us all to highlight the upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.  This week, my Waiting On Wednesday pick is The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay.  Here's the blurb:

Who will be left after lights out?

At Cate's isolated boarding school, Killer is more than a game- it's an elite secret society. Members must avoid being "Killed" during a series of thrilling pranks, and only the Game Master knows who the "Killer" is. When Cate's finally invited to join the Assassins' Guild, she know it's her ticket to finally feeling like she belongs.

But when the game becomes all too real, the school threatens to shut it down. Cate will do anything to keep playing and save the Guild. But can she find the real assassin before she's the next target? 

What about you?  What's your Waiting On Wednesday pick?
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Cover Reveal - Seneca Rebel by Rayya Deeb

Rayya Deeb has today revealed the cover of her upcoming release, Seneca Rebel, and here it is! Looks pretty cool, eh?  Here's the blurb:

What if your one chance to change the world means you have to leave everything you love behind?
 
In the not-too-distant future, math genius Doro Campbell is introduced to the Seneca Society: a secretive, technologically-advanced subterranean utopia dedicated to inventing and perfecting the most effective ways to benefit our planet.
 
But there’s a hitch. Like all that have come before her, Doro is given the ultimatum: Stay in Seneca forever, or leave now with no memory of the place, its goals, and its inhabitants.
 
She stays.
 
Her ideals are shattered when, together with biotechnology whiz, Dominic Ambrosia, Doro uncovers profound deceptions beneath the surface of this all too-perfect community.
 
Will one teenage girl have what it takes to go up against swarms of drones, psychological manipulation and biological attacks, to uncover the truth and change the trajectory of the world?
 
Add to Goodreads
 
Buy Links:
Amazon
 
About the Author
Rayya Deeb is a Virginia Tech Hokie, born in London, England and raised in Northern Virginia. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters. She has worked in television production and film development, but her true passion is writing. She has spent over a decade screenwriting, collaborating with some seriously incredible, world-renowned directors, actors and top-notch producers. Most recently she wrote her first novel, Seneca Rebel.
 
Rayya grew up on fresh Mediterranean food and an eclectic palette of music. 90’s hip-hop will always hold a special place in her heart, and her parents’ LP collection that includes the Stones, Beatles and Dylan is one of her most valued possessions. She loves exploring the world, breaking bread with family and friends, and binge-watching shows like “House of Cards” and “The Leftovers.” Rayya spends an absurd amount of time thinking about all things culinary, but considers it well worth it.
 
Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter
 
Cover Reveal Organized by:
YA Bound Book Tours

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

This was one of those rare books where I didn’t realise what a huge impact it was having on me until after I’d finished it.
 
I think my enjoyment of it stemmed in a big way from the fact that I knew very little about it before going in.  I knew that it was about two boys who are friends and I also knew that literally everyone I’ve spoken to loved it, but other than that I was completely in the dark.  I hadn’t even read the blurb.  I think this helped because I discovered events at the same time as Ari did, and I had no idea what might be coming up next.
 
So in a way I don’t want to give anything at all away in my review.  I’m not going to summarise the plot, because Aristotle and Dante is a story of self-discovery and it’s made all the more powerful if you’re discovering everything along with them.  All you need to know is this: it’s completely adorable and I was in floods of tears at the end.
 
The characters are beautiful.  Not just Aristotle and Dante, but their parents, too.  Their respective parents play a big part in this book and while oftentimes parents in YA books are there just to provide tension (which is fine; tension between teens and their parents isn’t exactly a stretch of the imagination) I like it when happy relationships are shown too.  That’s not to say these characters don’t have their problems - god knows, they do - but the strength of their family bonds is very evident.
 
I also thought it was really interesting was the author’s portrayal of being gay in the eighties.    Because I’m basically as old as dirt, I remember the eighties fairly well and I remember the eighties being a time that pretty much sucked if you were gay.  Because the British media never let facts get in the way of a good story, AIDS and HIV links to the gay community were massively hyped.  Rupert Murdoch’s delightful newspapers were running headlines like ‘Pits and Perverts’ (in response to the LGBT community’s support of the miners’ strikes), while the Daily Mail (quelle surprise) ran with such moderate, sensitive headlines as “Britain threatened by gay virus plague” (6th January 1985).
 
Awesome.  Just awesome.
 
Obviously research quickly proved that AIDS wasn’t god’s way of smiting the gay population for being Bad and Wrong, but the stigma stuck around for a long time.  The eighties were great in a lot of ways, but in an equal number of ways they were totally, totally shit and I think this book does a really good job of showing just how shit it could be.
 
I found this book to be a quietly beautiful story of two boys finding their way in the world.  There’s tension and angst, but nothing is over-dramatised.  The language is very simple and straightforward and it makes the story all the more touching.
 
And the ending had me in bits.  Bits, I tell you!
 
5 stars

A Breach of Security by Susan Hill

​This was a short story I got as a freebie audio download.  It involves characters I'd not read about before but that apparently are part of a crime series that Susan Hill has written.

The series involves Simon Serrallier, a detective in Laffterton police force.  Laffterton sounds a bit like Midsomer or St Mary Mead - one of those small, genteel communities where a surprising number of murders happen.

Anyway, despite this being about characters I was unfamiliar with, I managed to get into the story very quickly.  The action opens on the Gay Pride march, which is all going swimmingly well, until a hate group called The Bulldogs attack.  Serrallier has to try and find the perpetrators while getting involved in the security detail for a memorial service to honour soldiers returning from Afghanistan.  

This was a pretty good intro to the characters and setting and I think I'd be interested in reading the rest of the series.  I've read some of Susan Hill's work before (The Woman In Black, The Man In The Picture) and I'd not really got on with them, so I think maybe I'm more suited to her crime books.

4 stars

Waiting On Wednesday - The Way to Game the Walk of Shame by Jenn P Nguyen

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine and it's a chance for us all to highlight the upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.  This week, my Waiting On Wednesday pick is The Way to Game the Walk of Shame by Jenn P Nguyen.  Here's the blurb:

Taylor Simmons is screwed.

Things were hard enough when her single-minded dedication to her studies earned her the reputation of being an Ice Queen, but after getting drunk at a party and waking up next to bad boy surfer Evan McKinley, the entire school seems intent on tearing Taylor down with mockery and gossip.

Desperate to salvage her reputation, Taylor persuades Evan to pretend they're in a serious romantic relationship. After all, it's better to be the girl who tames the wild surfer than just another notch on his surfboard.

Readers will be ready to sign their own love contract after reading The Way to Game the Walk of Shame, a fun and addicting contemporary YA romance by Jenn P. Nguyen.
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​What about you?  What's your Waiting On Wednesday pick?