Eve Koguce's Blog, page 12

Book Review / "Light My Pyre" by Kat Kinney

Light My Pyre by Kat Kinney

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


How to love a dragon? It is absolutely obvious that you cannot train one.

Asher is a firefighter, a loving brother and grandson, a faithful friend, and – a fae. He is many things, but definitely not a coward. So, when he meets Gwyn for the first time – in her twenty-foot fire-breathing dragon form – he is ready to do everything to keep his dog Daisy safe (now, if it isn’t the most adorable name for a huge Irish wolfhound who likes nothing better than eating one sock out of every pair, then I don’t know what is).

Gwyn – apart from being able to transform into a huge, menacing-looking dragon – is a girl from a loving family who is forced to run from her perfect life.

Everwood Falls is a small town in the Rocky Mountains – a sanctuary for some supernatural creatures and a place of exile for others.

“Light My Pyre” by Kat Kinney has everything to make your heart beat faster. A mysterious arsonist who seems to follow Asher even when he moves to another town after a tragic event at work. A kaleidoscope of events that put almost everyone under suspicion. A slow-burn romance between a fae prince (who is an impossibly and seductively handsome firefighter) and a red-haired beauty who turns into a powerful dragon.

In addition to the mystery, romance, rules and intrigues of the supernatural world, “Light My Pyre” teases readers’ appetite with eloquent descriptions of delicious food and tugs at your heartstrings by making you fall in love with adorable pets and then putting them in grave danger. Did I mention a herd of enchanted elk with their antlers glowing in the dark? The werewolves of Everwood Falls have a peculiar sense of humour…

I’m certainly looking forward to the next book in this series.







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Light My Pyre

"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien




So many thoughts and not enough time to put them together. My review will definitely follow sometime next week.

My impressions after reading the legendary fantasy trilogy, if I needed to put them in one sentence are as follows: the story is about one journey, but the road and the travellers are so amazing that I'd read three more books about their wanderings.

With literature, logic fails, and I absolutely loved experiencing this magic reading "The Lord of the Rings".



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Book Review / "Follow the Hummingbird" by Elena Carter

Follow the Hummingbird by Elena Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Have you ever wondered if there is more to our dreams? More than our brain processing the information it received during the day? Have you ever had dreams that felt absolutely different from your regular dreams that are a jumbled mix of events with a dash of the illogical added by your subconscious?

Tina has always had vivid dreams. But now she feels that something about them has changed. Not only does she remember every detail of what happened to her in a dream when she wakes up. She finds “gifts” she has brought with her from the travels in her sleep.

“Follow the Hummingbird” by Elena Carter is a story of a young woman who, while trying to cope with her grief, discovers that the recipe that works best is equally liberating and dangerous.
Tina’s husband Greg dies in a tragic accident. She knows that she has to go on living and does everything she can to pull herself out of depression. Some days it works, some days it doesn’t. Tina’s friends keep a close eye on her. And for their sake, she tries really hard to stay afloat. But when her dreams become too real – and frightening – to go on ignoring them, she finds help not from the people who know and love her. An unexpected but extremely well-timed meeting gives Tina what she needs the most: hope.

“Follow the Hummingbird” opens a door to a fascinating world of dreams. This world has no boundaries and its possibilities are endless. Common sense doesn’t work here. While you are dreaming – living in your dreams – you have to listen to your intuition since logic doesn’t work here too. In your dreams, you can meet the unimaginable creatures that live by the rules completely different from the ones we are used to. Moreover, you can meet the people you can’t meet in the real world.

Tina meets her husband in one of her dreams. Her heart breaks again, but it also finally begins to heal. Besides, she finds a purpose. But her husband doesn’t approve of her newly-acquired goal. He warns her that everything about the dream world is unstable and dangerous and that nothing here goes according to plan.

“Follow the Hummingbird” is a real treat for every reader with a bright imagination and an inquisitive mind. Tina’s reality-bending journey is something you don’t want to miss.






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Book Review / "Jimmy Choos to Cleaning Loos" by Kerry Kennedy

Jimmy Choos to Cleaning Loos by Kerry Kennedy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Vivid colours, and heady flavours. Hypnotising rhythms of love songs that promise luscious delights for the body but also delightful pain for the heart. Glorious sunsets you can watch every evening, sitting on your porch and drinking wine.

Isadora wants none of it.

Her life was perfect before her husband dragged her to the middle of nowhere. She doesn’t care about the beauty of the surrounding Spanish countryside. She doesn’t see any appeal in living in a quaint little cottage perched on the hill overlooking the sea.

She wants her glamorous life back. The life of a successful man’s wife, with her hair and nails being done in the most fashionable beauty parlour in London. With afternoons spent in expensive restaurants, chatting with her best friend and drinking champagne.

Isadora wants to live in a place where she can wear her favourite Jimmy Choos without fear of spraining her ankle.

Gerard, Isodora’s husband, thinks he made a perfect plan. He worked hard to accumulate enough in his bank account for an early retirement. The time has come to reap the fruit of his labour. What he couldn’t foresee is his beautiful wife's fierce opposition to making his dream come true.

Like an indoor flower pulled up by the roots from its elegant pot and planted into the depth of a jungle, Isadora stumbles through her new life – at times, literally stumbling and falling.

It seems that nothing can make her love this new life, and even less, her husband’s grand project – a house reform. The thing is, it’s not a usual house that Gerard bought to restore. It’s huge and intimidating, filled with nothing but bird poop, dust, and dirt.

“Jimmy Choos to Cleaning Loos” is a story of a transformation. Not only of an old house. At first, it seems that Isadora isn’t capable to enjoy any other lifestyle than the one of a spoilt rich man’s wife. But thanks to her husband’s courage to take a brave – or was it audacious? – step to change their lives, she is forced to re-evaluate what she really wants.

Isadora’s path to finding what makes her happy isn’t easy. She is a magnet for trouble. While reading, I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or both at the absurd situations the posh lady from London managed to get herself into.

I want to thank Kerry Kennedy for writing a novel that is a perfect example of what kind of book I’d like to take with me for my vacation in Spain.






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Jimmy Choos to Cleaning Loos

0.99 deal! The Neglected Merge Trilogy

The Neglected Merge fantasy romance & drama trilogy is available on Amazon – each book $0.99 only. FREE for Kindle Unlimited subscribers

What if two realities of Earth merged into one? Chaos at first, but then…

The humans are now called the Wingless, and the people from elsewhere are the Winged Ones. They live apart, by mutual agreement, on what is left of a shattered planet. But a chance encounter between a Wingless and a Winged One changes everything.

And so begins a great saga of two worlds perilously struggling to become one, and two people desperately seeking to be together.

The Chinese proverb says: “When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.”

What will the people of two worlds, so utterly different and at the same time so similar, choose?

What readers say about the Neglected Merge trilogy:

“No one writes like Eve Koguce that I have ever read”

“I thought I had a good idea where the series was headed. Boy was I wrong”

"pure escapism"

"…captivating trilogy with a strong female character"

"...a story that will capture your heart.."

"The characters are magnetic..."

“…this book had me hooked”

"...a twisting road of emotions"

"...a complex, detailed portrait of a seemingly Utopian world"

"…very deep and thought-provoking"

"…writing was so rich and detailed"

"beautifully written"

"well-crafted fantasy world"

"unique theme"

"rich storytelling, reminiscent of a more classical style of writing”

“…thoughtful exploration of cultural perfection”

"…outstanding poetic language"

“I loved the first book but this one pulled at my heart strings”

“My least favourite aspect of this book, and this series is that, with "Shifting Directions", it's over”

“I loved the way Koguce gave a well-deserved ending to all the characters”

“I have enjoyed the Neglected Merge series from start to finish”Eve Koguce

Book Review / "The Life and Love (Attempts) of Kitty Cook" by Helen Aitchison

The Life and Love (Attempts) of Kitty Cook by Helen Aitchison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Kitty has a perfect life. She has a job she loves and is good at. She has fantastic friends and caring, supportive parents. But then, one brick falls out of the wall of her structured and mainly satisfying life. Determined to fix it, Kitty embarks on a journey that promises adventure and excitement. Although she knows that even on a pleasure cruise you can encounter a storm, Kitty can’t imagine what awaits her.

When we meet Kitty Cook in “The Life and Love (Attempts) of Kitty Cook” by Helen Aitchison, she has just broken up with her boyfriend of many years. They lived together for not so long, but they dated for much longer. So, even though it was clear their relationship doesn’t work, for Kitty, it wasn’t an easy decision to ask Liam to leave. While trying to adjust to life alone, with an empty chair at the dinner table and a similarly empty bed, Kitty decides to give online dating a try. Life without love feels as empty as her house.

Reading about Kitty’s dates made me remember my own online dating experience. Two decades ago, many aspects of it were different. People weren’t as savvy as they are now, and I certainly didn’t even think about taking pepper spray in my bag on a date. Besides, “matching algorithms” I believe weren’t sophisticated back then. Still, some things never change. Human nature remains more or less the same across centuries and continents. Some of Kitty’s dates make me giggle, so similar men’s behaviour was to what I myself had seen. It is rather astonishing, to be honest, that even people with let’s call it peculiar fantasies about relationships aren’t unique.

I thoroughly enjoyed living through the challenging time of exploring the online dating maze together with Kitty. She is someone you’d love to be friends with in real life. Besides, I could relate to many of her daily routines. Gym and weekly food shopping are the things I stick religiously to as well. With one tiny difference that food shopping has moved into an online area. I still like to browse virtual shelves, check what’s on offer, wonder at some really strange items, and end up buying mainly the same things every week.

Kitty meets different men on her search-for-love spree. Some don’t look like the pictures they posted on their profiles. Others aren’t who they pretended to be. Kitty has a few rather disturbing dates when things seem to be getting a little out of control. She does manage to get out of such situations, and sometimes the solutions she finds become long-term anecdotes among her friends.

“The Life and Love (Attempts) of Kitty Cook” is a lovely story that left a warm feeling after I turned the last page.



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The Life and Love (Attempts) of Kitty Cook

Book Review / "Dust and Lightning" by Rebecca Crunden

Dust & Lightning by Rebecca Crunden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I am in love with Rebecca Crunden’s writing. Her stories sweep me off my feet. After I turn the last page, I feel like I’ve travelled to the destination introduced by the author rather than read about it.

In “Dust and Lightning”, it is the year 4054. A lot has changed for the inhabitants of Earth. Earth itself has changed. Our beautiful planet is not so beautiful, and its natural resources aren’t in abundance anymore. Still, people have found a way to satisfy their needs in what’s essential to human existence. Other solar systems have been discovered and inhabited; their resources are now used to bring wealth and power to people on Earth.

But not everyone is lucky to benefit from space travel and the natural riches of other planets. The poor remain on Earth, never venturing outside without wearing a mask. For a person’s crimes, all their family members get punished. And those who refuse to accept the existing order, get arrested and a fate worse than imprisonment awaits them.

Ames Emerys doesn’t believe his brother Callum has died on board the spaceship that was taking prisoners to the labour camp on a remote planet. He has reasons to believe the government is lying about Callum’s fate. But does he have a chance to prove it?

I liked the description of space travel and the distant planet Kilnin. Would I like to know what happens next after this story ends? Of course. Will I think about what possible future lies ahead of Ames and others? Sure. But all the loose ends and unanswered questions left me feeling that I joined the characters for a while during their journey, for which I’m grateful, rather than that I was thrown out of the spaceship en route to its destination.







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Dust & Lightning

Book Review / "Intermezzo" by Kimberly Greer

Intermezzo: The Morality Plays Interludes by Kimberly Greer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What a deliciously exciting return to the lives of Alexa and Mateo! Reading the prequel made me remember how much I enjoyed their intricate dance toward love in “Masked Intent”.

“Intermezzo” by Kimberly Greer gives the reader a glimpse at how the spark between Alexa and Mateo was ignited. The attraction is instant, and their physical reaction to each other is incredibly strong. Still, they both are grown-up, sensible people. Moreover, they were deeply hurt in their previous relationships. They aren’t going to dive head first into something that promises more hurt and disaster.

I like the way the author made me feel Alexa’s doubts and insecurities. Yes, indeed, getting involved with someone like Mateo – a man with a reputation of a Don Juan – isn’t what a woman in her thirties, with a successful but challenging career, three sons, and a divorce in her portfolio should do without considering the consequences. On the other hand, how will we ever find real love if we never give it a chance?

“Behind the scenes” interactions between Truth and her sisters make me look at the relationship issues from a slightly different angle. Under what influence does people’s perception of what is right or wrong change? Do we accept those changes simply because we don’t notice that they are pushed on us or do we make a conscious decision?

I heartily recommend both “Intermezzo” and “Masked Intent” to lovers of clever and deep reads that offer more that an interesting story. Kimberly Greer's books will make you turn the pages as well as evoke thoughts about things that matter.





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Intermezzo: The Morality Plays Interludes

Book Review / "Mayhem and Magic" by Helena M. Craggs

Mayhem & Magic by Helena M. Craggs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Reading this book has been one blast of a ride! In the third instalment of The Younglings series, stakes get higher and dangerous situations multiply. The team of supernaturals does their best to make the world a safer place for everyone, humans and magical creatures alike. But life throws new blows and challenges their way as if testing their endurance.

The Younglings are at college now. Along with usual troubles – submitting papers on time, not failing important tests, unresolved issues with their exes – they have to deal with things that threaten the whole world.

Call me weird but I have warm feelings toward one big, terrible, and ugly demon. Torrock should inspire solely fear, but I feel there is more to him. Pure evil he may be, and still, his loyalty to Quinn doesn’t feel like it’s only obligation-driven.

In book three of the series, the Younglings travel between continents, realms, and even attempt to challenge time itself. Losses and disappointments are inevitable. You can never tell beforehand if they make you stronger or break you. Powerful enemies scheme against the Younglings, and they have resources, patience, and deviousness enough to cause serious damage. Quinn’s crew needs everything and everyone to fight on their side if they want to win these battles. But as it often happens, there are cracks in relationships within the team. Will the Younglings manage to repair what was broken before it is too late?

“Mayhem and Magic” introduces Quinn’s uncle to the readers. Enigmatic, eccentric, and unbelievably egocentric Lucas is... Well, it shouldn’t come as a great surprise to you that he is Lucifer himself. After all, Quinn is a half-demon and his father is a formidable demon king. Lucifer is everything we expect him to be, but he has a weakness... And this weakness will provide young Quinn with much-needed leverage in his interactions with his uncle. I found this plotline especially intriguing, and I hope the author will explore it further in book four.

The third instalment of The Younglings series “Mayhem and Magic” is an action-packed, fast-paced read that won’t let you breathe out until you turn the last page. And even then, you’ll be left craving for more.









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Mayhem & Magic

Book Review / "Timepiece" by Barbara Avon

Timepiece by Barbara Avon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Can you trick Time? What if magic existed and people could manipulate time as they pleased to suit their needs? Would it solve their problems?

Barbara Avon gives answers to these questions. And the essence of these answers is that no matter where – or to when – one goes, one can’t escape their own self. Even when you cross the ocean trying to leave something behind, you often realise that the only thing you’ve left is the land. Your true self always travels with you. There are things that don’t succumb even to magic.

Matthew Winters escapes the Great Depression by taking a mysterious timepiece from Henry, the thrift store owner. He even persuades his beautiful wife Anna to run away with him, leaving everything and everyone she loves behind. Still, Matthew can’t escape something intangible but powerful – something that makes him who he is. By running away from one trouble, Matthew dooms himself to endless others.

With her lyrical prose, the author draws a dark and haunting picture of two people losing themselves in the net of lies and restrained emotions. Matthew and Anna have only each other. But for Anna, her husband is the one who reminds her of her biggest loss. She can’t forget what she has lost, and it doesn’t let both of them start looking for something new that might heal them.

“Timepiece” is a fascinating read. With every page, it pulled me deeper and deeper into the darkness of its characters’ struggling souls. I tried to imagine how it would feel to travel in time, knowing that you can’t ever go back to your previous life. Would the fleeting moment of excitement be worth the long stretch of life filled with regrets?



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Timepiece