Victoria Limbert's Blog, page 5

Play (Stage Dive #2) by Kylie Scott Book Review

Author- Kylie Scott

My Rating- 5 STARS 

Synopsis- Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn't plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn't count on finding the one right girl. 

Anne Rollins never thought she'd ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn't end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?
My Review- I can't stop reading this book!

I first finished Play back in February 2016 and also have read the entire series...but Play is by far the one that stays in my head. I think I read this one every couple of months just to get my Mal fix! can't we have more books purely centered on this guy please!

Mal is broken on the inside. His mother is dying and we have always seen him as the playful, can't-take-life-seriously-EVER type of guy that tugs on the heartstrings and makes you love him. We first meet him in book 1 and I immediately needed his book. We see a whole new side to him here. His moods are darker, he drinks a bit too much to ease the pain of the inevitable loss of his mum and the whole band is pressuring him to talk. So when he meets Anne, he believes he can make his mum proud and clean up his act publicly with a fake girlfriend. Only he falls deep. Anne is easy going, fun and can flow with his mood swings and spontaneous personality. She gets under his skin like no other. She is strong minded, feisty but also willing to go along with Mal's crazy plans....at least most of them. Some of his requests and stories are simply hilarious!

This book has the right amount of angst, a beautiful, slow burning romance and amazingly written sex scenes that make everyone wish they had a Mal! The feels in this book are real and watching him struggle with impending loss, fall in love and become lost in his moods, keeps me coming back to this book time and time again.

I can only thank Kylie Scott for writing this. 

Play (Stage Dive #2) by Kylie Scott

Author- Kylie Scott

My Rating- 5 STARS 

Synopsis- Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn't plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn't count on finding the one right girl. 

Anne Rollins never thought she'd ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn't end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?
My Review- I can't stop reading this book!

I first finished Play back in February 2016 and also have read the entire series...but Play is by far the one that stays in my head. I think I read this one every couple of months just to get my Mal fix! can't we have more books purely centered on this guy please!

Mal is broken on the inside. His mother is dying and we have always seen him as the playful, can't-take-life-seriously-EVER type of guy that tugs on the heartstrings and makes you love him. We first meet him in book 1 and I immediately needed his book. We see a whole new side to him here. His moods are darker, he drinks a bit too much to ease the pain of the inevitable loss of his mum and the whole band is pressuring him to talk. So when he meets Anne, he believes he can make his mum proud and clean up his act publicly with a fake girlfriend. Only he falls deep. Anne is easy going, fun and can flow with his mood swings and spontaneous personality. She gets under his skin like no other. She is strong minded, feisty but also willing to go along with Mal's crazy plans....at least most of them. Some of his requests and stories are simply hilarious!

This book has the right amount of angst, a beautiful, slow burning romance and amazingly written sex scenes that make everyone wish they had a Mal! The feels in this book are real and watching him struggle with impending loss, fall in love and become lost in his moods, keeps me coming back to this book time and time again.

I can only thank Kylie Scott for writing this. 

Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1) by Kim Harrison

Author- Kim Harrison

My Rating- 3 STARS

Synopsis- All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party... and to feed.
    Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining - and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized.
    A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead... or undead.


My Review- This took me so long to read. I think I started Dead Witch Walking about a year ago. Unfortunately I kept losing interest, despite the fact that I thought Rachel was an interesting and well developed character. 

After reading the good reviews and advice to push through the first couple of chapters, I kept picking it up and trying again. The story and plot is good, though I lost track sometimes with what was going on and new words used that weren't too clearly explained. Rachel, Ivy and Jenks make for a fun time and they are very well written. But, I didn't quite connect with anything until about 60% then enjoyed it until around 85% where I started slipping again. 

However this is not a bad book, the plot is paced well and the humour shown through Rache's POV is refreshing and made me smile. It is a good start to the series. It didn't blow me away but the characters keep you coming back. Jenks is a hilarious little pixie, Ivy is a scary vamp with a heart of gold when she shows it and Rachel is brilliant. She is a good witch, not perfect, not strong and spends much of her time afraid. But Rachel is someone you can relate to. Yes she is a witch, but she is a small time white witch living in a big scary world of monsters and she has to use all her wits to get through the hard times. It is nice not to read about a protagonist that is already too good. She messes up and when she does, it is pretty funny. 

When I finally got in to this book I really liked it and would like to see where the second book goes eventually. I wanted to love it. And I'm honestly not too sure why I didn't but with the ratings and reviews this series has, I want to stick with it.

Overall, it was enjoyable once you got in to the story

2016 Book Challenge and Recommended Reads

Since completing my 2016 reading challenge of 50 books (I wish I had time for more!) I want to share with you some of my list and the books I recommend to anyone stopping by. I also very much enjoy discussion of books and perhaps you could suggest some awesome reads for me? As always there is a comment section below if you would like to share your thoughts on my list and perhaps send me a list of your own fantastic reads this year. I encourage Facebook/ Page links too!

​So here we go...... Let me introduce to you the Stage Dive series. Do you see those delicious covers? Wow. These covers, admittedly, lured me in and I bought the first book, Lick by Kylie Scott. It was so good I immediately bought Play (which remains my favourite). I personally recommend the first 2 books in this series because I fell in love with the Heroes and feel the plot and characters are far stronger. I would suggest reading them in order as they are the members of the same band and many times the plots and people overlap, but not so much if you accidently stumble on the 3rd or 4th. 

This leads me smoothly to... Dirty by Kylie Scott, with another beautiful cover. Dirty is part of the same world and people but focuses on a different band we come in contact with in the series above. Yet again, a lovely hero, a sassy heroine and a great story.  Honestly, everything I read by Cassandra Clare has me screaming like a fangirl-groupie, crying, excited, lost for words and in love with so many characters I don't know who to cheer for. Lady Midnight was no disappointment for me. The first book in the third series set in the Shadowhunter World will be in my head for many years...or at least long enough for the next book to be released and I can screech over that for a while.....


The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas is probably one of the highlights of my year and I can barely stop talking about them. They are by no means perfect; the first book is very young and uncertain but a good introduction of character and plot. Then from the second book through to the fifth I could not stop reading. There was something about the characters that made you want to take care of them and the action doesnt stop, leaving you biting your nails for the next chapter. Every single cliffhanger is unbearable! BUT I won't babble about them. There is a more in depth review of them on my blog that you are welcome to read.  As with the Throne of Glass series I have more detailed reviews of these below and I hope you will have a quick read. These are as good as, if not a little better than, the Throne of Glass series.. This is a story purely about the Fae and a human girl that finds herself amongst them, forced in to an adventure I could only dream to have! Lastly I will share a few books I enjoyed. Ones that you may like to read and try out for yourself (the Pucked series is pretty good, though Pucked Over is the one I loved the most). I hope you enjoyed the selection and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and which gems you found this year. Adding to my To-read list has become an addiction I am not ashamed of. 

Thank you for stopping by.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas Book Review

Author- Sarah J. Maas

My Rating- 5 Stars (and many more)

Synopsis- Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

​Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

My Review- This has to be by far the best book I have read this year. Sarah J. Maas is fast becoming my favourite author and I can barely wait for the next book in the series.

She throws you in to adventure and magic and action and romance the moment you open the book to the first page and you never want to come out! The characters are amazing, and their development keeps you on the edge of your seat. The plot is perfectly paced and fantastically written. It keeps you guessing, takes you one way then the next, more and more unfolding with every chapter. The way she brings important pieces of story from earlier in the book that you had not thought to dwell on, and weaves them in to the story leaves you breathless. 

Feyre is extremely powerful, having been remade by all the High Lords of the Fae lands and is near unique. Rysand is the complete opposite of Tamlin and I found myself adoring him from the beginning of the book. The way he treats Feyre and his Court and family and how you get a glimpse of the real person beneath the darkness of his duties is lovely to read. Every character in this book has their part to play, each has a history and their own story to tell. There is no 'fluff', every moment has a meaning, even the scenes where Feyre is training and learning magic, there is always more going on in the background. We are fed parts of the plot for us to put together as we read on. Then she unleashes emotion on you and leaves you gripping the book and praying everything works out right.

The last few chapters of this book captured me. I was close to crying at the conclusion and the cliffhanger. My heart broke for the characters and I can only hope it all works out in the next book. Even though I feel my heart may get broken a few more times.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Book Review

Author- Sarah J. Maas

My Rating- 5 Stars

Overview- When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
​My Review-  Another amazing book and start to a new series.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is filled with adventure and magic and great characters. The heroes are always very well developed and the villains are always deliciously wicked. I hate to love them, but Sarah J. Maas writes them so well. 

Feyre (Fey-ruh, such a pretty name for a character) is a brave heroine yet she has her weaknesses and overcomes fear throughout the book. She is far from perfect and yet strong and loyal to her family and those she loves. After killing a wolf in the forest she suspected was a wicked Faerie from across the wall, a High Fae comes to claim her life as payment. Tamlin, the masked Fae, brings her to his manor where he intends to keep her captive forever, a life debt for the faerie she killed. But nothing is never as it seems. There are lies and a curse that must be broken in order to restore the falling Kingdoms of the Faeries and Feyre is key to this. 

We also meet Rhysand, a character who I both hated and enjoyed at the same time. I did not like some of the things he used Feyre for throughout this book yet he got stuck in my head and I loved every scene he was in. Especially towards the end where this tale really heats up. The last half of this book is full of action and adventure and twists and turns. 
A Court of Thorns and Roses is a great book and I instantly bought the second in the series. There was no way I could wait to find out what happens ....when a certain bargain must be fulfilled by Feyre which I think is going to be humorous and dangerous and possibly full of romance.

We will see..... 

Throne of Glass Series Books 1-5 Book Reviews

Author- Sarah J.Maas

My Rating- 4 Stars (Books 1-4) 5 Stars (Book 5)

Overview- Following a young Assassin's life through torment and torture and lonliess to new and powerful friends, self dicovery and how she moves through the story as a pawn used by immortal beings to shift the worlds future to their benefit.

My Review- As a comeback to my blog I am reviewing this series a little differently to my reviews in the past. I did not want to review these seperately as I feel the entire story would have been just as fantastic as one large, epic fantasy that would have kept me gripped for days. Each book follows smoothly from the last and doesnt disappoint.   I have had Throne of Glass on my to-read list for a very long time and, despite the beauty of the covers, I have skipped over them beliving they were a bit too young for my personal tastes. I was both right and then also very wrong.
    Let me explain...
    The first book seemed very young, but I believe this perfectly matched the characters in this time. Celaena Sardothien (who takes on many names during this series, but don't worry they are easy to understand. Sarah moves us smoothly through the books) is a little naive to the world despite already having faced many horrors and torment from various people and begins this story in an enslavement camp destined to be forgotten and left to die. She is incredibly strong but every character is a young teen, not quite ready for the roles they must play in the future. And so I believe that the language and style this is written in puts this across nicely. As the books move on and the heros and heroines grow older, the language and style subtly changes to accomodate this.
    The characters are developed slowly but surely following their adolescence in to young adulthood and the new experiences and passions around them. Especially as the Fae men are introduced and their natural alpha ways are challenged daily by the strong female characters.
    Every new character introduced to us has a purpose in the series, has developement and depth and while I think some plot lines are rounded off too perfectly there are many situations in these books that leave you too emotional to turn the page. I quickly grew attached to so many players in this series that I became invested in whether they lived or died, suffered emotionally or just wanted to tell them they would be alright. Even those who begin their journeys as enemies.
    In my opinion, if characters can do that to me, then these are winners. I want these emotions while reading. I want to believe I'm living in these worlds and I haven't felt this way about a series since Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices. 
    I love the world building. I was never overloaded with detail or pages upon pages of description. As a reader I like to fill that with imagination. The dialogue is perfect. No rambling conversations unless there is an important piece of back story or past event we must learn about. It's snappy, witty and purely entertaining. Celaena is funny and sarcastic, she is intelligent and slick. The way she maneuvers around the villains and friends is so fun to read. And her romantic interest in this book (whom I adore far too much) suffers much during her more playful moments, yet cares for her with every part of his being. He loves her for exactly who and what she is. Celaena is a friend everyone wants, her loyalty is unshakable.
    This series, in my honest opinion, is perfect for easy reading and has a fantastic plotline and characters and romance and everything you could ask for from a young adult (with a few naughty bits) epic fantasy. So I reccomend it to all those who stumble upon this blog and I hope you will share your thoughts and feelings about it in the comments section below. I love talking about books and look forward to it!

UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #1) Book Review

Author- Chandra Hahn

My Rating- 3 STARS



Synopsis- Mina Grime is unlucky, unpopular and uncoordinated; that is until she saves her crush's life on a field trip, changing her High School status from loser to hero overnight.

But with her new found fame brings misfortune in the form of an old family curse come to light. For Mina is a descendant from the Brothers Grimm and has inherited all of their unfinished fairy tale business which includes trying to outwit a powerful Story from making her its' next fairy-tale victim.

To break the fairy tale curse on her family and make these deadly occurrences stop, Mina must finish the tales until the very Grimm end.



My Review-  UnEnchanted was a really cute story and I thought Mina was sweet, though very frustrating at times. She was also funny and had me chuckling at the beginning with her clumsiness and serious case of bad luck.

I liked Nan, her best friend, the social media obsessed girl who is glued to her phone and up to date on the rumour mill in school. Brody was quite an annoying character for me, overly well spoken, cheesy, over protective and quick to temper. I suppose he was a great Prince Charming in this tale. Though we didn't see much of him, I really liked Jared. He suited Mina and made her feel more emotions than just mushy love. Jared brought out Mina's temper and her feisty side, which I enjoyed reading. The moments Mina stood up for herself were my favourite.

I felt that the story was very short and the ending seemed a little rushed, but the plot weaving around a couple of the Grimm tales and how they were linked together and modernized was very clever and would make me read the second book to see more Grimm tales invade this girls life. I also felt very bad for Mina at the end and would like to see how the characters progress together without the power of the Story forcing them to fill roles.

Overall this was an enjoyable read and one I would definitely recommend for something light and fun. I read it within a day and although I didn't feel overly connected to anyone in the book I wanted to reach the end to see what happened.

Angelsong (Dark Angel #3) Book Review

Author- Hanna Peach




My Rating- 5 STARS




Synopsis- Israel lies dying from demon poison. To save him, Alyx needs the recipe for the cure, supposedly contained within the Threads of Dark, and she needs Mayrekk’s knowledge of herbs to make it.

But Mayrekk remains imprisoned in Michaelea, being punished for his hand in Alyx’s escape, and Michael himself guards the key to Mayrekk’s freedom. The Threads of Dark is sealed within a secret chamber deep under the Archives of Urielos, a Seraphim city clinging to cliffs somewhere along the coast of Italy. Even if Alyx does manage to find a way into the city, the chamber is guarded by ancient riddles and deadly traps…

Can Alyx rescue Mayrekk and retrieve the Threads of Dark before Israel slips away?




My Review- I love this series and I love Alyx and somewhere along the way I found myself loving Jordan too. Hanna Peach created a believable love triangle in this book that was a little different to ones I have read in any other book.

What would happen if your memories of loving someone were taken away?

The weight of the world rests on Alyx's shoulders. The man she loves, Israel, is dying from demon poison and the Seraphim communities are being attacked and those she loves are being killed. Its all becoming too much and while she is distracted by her fear and helplessness, her memories of loving Israel are stolen. At first, it helps her to make tough decisions, to get up off the floor and take dangerous risks in her search for a cure....but it also opens the door to other feelings for another person.

Jordan has always cared for Alyx, always wanted her and now Alyx is noticing him. Without her memories she is seeing him clearly. Their feelings for each other are believable and Alyx gets from him the opposite of what Israel offered. Where Israel longed to be the one that protected Alyx, longed to be the strong one, the hero, Jordan understands her strength and trusts it. He doesn't hold her back but encourages her. He never judges her or berates her. They work well together as a team in combat and intelligence during the Games they had to work through to find a mysterious book called the 'Thread of Dark' (Which BTW were some of my favourite scenes in the whole book and loved watching the two of them work together and learn each others strengths and weaknesses).

At first I was like, noooooooo Alyx, you love Israel but I could understand what Jordan gave her and why she could fall for him if Israel had never been in the picture. They make sense, probably more than her and Israel....but I LOVE ISRAEL!!! I love the complication Hanna Peach has thrown in to their lives. Its so juicy.

And that Cliffhanger......really??? really?? I need book 4! I have a feeling its going to be fast paced...Alyx is on a serious time limit....and how is she going to deal with her little love issues??? can't wait!!

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) Book Review

Author- Stephen King




My Rating- 3 STARS




Synopsis- King introduces his most enigmatic hero, Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting, solitary figure at first, on a mysterious quest through a desolate world that eerily mirrors our own. Pursuing the man in black, an evil being who can bring the dead back to life, Roland is a good man who seems to leave nothing but death in his wake.




My Review- Possibly one of the strangest books I have read, though King has a very unique writing style that I love, but this time I struggled to connect with characters. The Gunslinger was mysterious in a way I enjoyed but it was hard to like him, hard to dislike him...so I ended up in a 'meh, he is alright' situation. The dialogue was pretty erratic and sometimes I struggled to understand what they were talking about...though in good old fashioned King way, it started to make more sense towards the end. There were times I was a quarter way through a chapter, having no clue what was happening, before I realized the gunslinger was thinking back on a past memory, so I would need to re-read the chapter.

The boy the gunslinger meets is a good character, though his moods are often confusing. one minute he is shouting at the gunslinger, the next minute he loves him and its the same with the gunslinger himself. he constantly struggles with the fact he loves the boy, but still seems very willing to offer him as a sacrifice to pursue his enemy and need for answers/knowledge.

This could be purely because its been a long time since I have read a King novel, Desperation remains my favorite book by him. I would still like to read book two as there is a lot left undone in this book, and I am curious about the dark tower and the world/era this book is set in