Once upon a time, there was a little girl who walked through the dark woods to grandmother's house. Oh, you've heard this story before? I guarantee yoOnce upon a time, there was a little girl who walked through the dark woods to grandmother's house. Oh, you've heard this story before? I guarantee you haven't heard this version of the story, for you see—in this story, the little girl is the wolf.
This was such a lush and spellbinding version of Little Red Riding Hood. A dark, deep wood encompasses the village, barely kept at bay by those who live there. Only the careful eye of the watch who stand guard with torches keep the threatening woods from encroaching further, or so they believe. There's another watcher in the woods, however. Adele thought she has her life all planned out until she discovers her true fate and everything she thought she knew changes overnight. Thrilling, pulse-pounding danger awaits Adele in the woods and she is uniquely equipped to meet it. Risks and uncertainly await Adele every day and she's forced to make decisions that change her destiny and those of the villagers.
Blood and savagery are about and it's not only the wood's monsters who are fearfully made. Rachel Vincent has crafted an environment where deviating from the norm is dangerous, and where secrets must be kept to survive. This is witch-burning territory and it only takes a word to incite the villagers viciously into action. Like the dark woods, Vincent's world is perilous and full of wonder. This is a tale of fur and teeth, haunting and harrowing....more
What if you could pinpoint the one moment in your life where everything went wrong? Would you go back and fix it even knowing that it could change eveWhat if you could pinpoint the one moment in your life where everything went wrong? Would you go back and fix it even knowing that it could change everything? That’s the bargain laid out to Joey. Over forty, overweight, she’s been fired from yet another dead-end job and nothing to show for her life except a busted wrist from a car accident in her teens that ruined her life. She was on her way to the Olympics as a gymnast, but that accident took everything from her. When she encounters Robin Goodfellow (yes, that Robin Goodfellow), she has the chance to change everything with only an open-ended favor given to the fae prince.
Joey is one of those characters that just can’t see her own worth. In her mind, the thing that she was meant to do—the Olympics—defined everything for her. That’s where her life was supposed to go and all of her passion is. Without that, she’s adrift with no purpose. When sexy trickster Robin comes along and tells her she can be her own fairy godmother, well why not use that to set the timeline right? Only, as she’ll find out, the grass isn’t always greener. Her path of self-discovery takes her to some interesting places with some interesting characters.
And boy, I loved those characters! Her feminist mother that she feels disapproves of her, but really, like any mother, wants to see her find her spark again. Her Grammy B with her witticisms like “If it has tires or testicles, it’s going to give you problems.” Her supportive best friend Darcy showing up for Wine Wednesdays and Margarita Mondays was an extra treat. Then there is Robin, who is just too handsome for his own good.
Over the Faery Hill was a joy to read. Filled with great characters, funny moments, and cheeky dialogue, this is a great addition to the paranormal women’s fiction genre. I can’t wait to read The Fae Side of Forty and see how Robin’s last words play out!
Janet Dailey is almost a nostalgia read for me. I remember in my teen years my mom kept buying her Americana series—one book for every state. While heJanet Dailey is almost a nostalgia read for me. I remember in my teen years my mom kept buying her Americana series—one book for every state. While her books are pretty simplistic in nature, I love them and it’s probably due to the fact that I read them during my formative teens. My mom also loved watching the PBR so this really was a double doozie for me. It brought back a lot of memories, especially while she was talking about Bodacious the bull. Even people who didn’t follow the PBR seem to know who Bodacious was! Obviously, these books are being released after Dailey’s death. I wonder if they were drafts somewhere that the estate is releasing or whether they are being ghostwritten. Either way, Whirlwind definitely still has the Dailey flare.
Whirlwind is a different kind of cowboy romance read. It’s not quite a ranch-style romance but somewhere between the two. Lexie and her sisters are running the ranch raising bulls after the death of their father. Their brother also died quite horribly after the bull he was riding trampled him. There’s a lot to unpack here though. Shane is not only a bull rider, he also works for the “enemy”, a big shot rancher who has a habit of buying what he wants in life and he has his eyes set on Whirlwind. Someone is also sabotaging the ranch. Is it the duplicitous ranch owner Brock or maybe someone closer to home?
Dailey has never shied away from the difficult and emotional topics and Whirlwind is no different. There’s some rough stuff here. Not only did her brother die from being trampled, but a friend’s bull riding husband also gets stepped on by a bull and ends up paralyzed from the waist down. The wife can’t handle it and she decamps and divorces him. The friend’s husband commits suicide. It’s tragic but it sets up for Lexie having to watch Shane go down in the ring.
I enjoyed the mystery of the sabotage. While it wasn’t super difficult to figure out who-dun-it, it still made for an interesting read. There’s a lot of action in and out of the bull riding ring. A downside to the book was that a lot of the info about bull riding was in complete info dumps. I don’t always mind that and in this case, if you don’t know much about PBR or bull riding, I think it would be necessary to get a feel for what is going on. Still, info dumps aren’t always the most fun to read through. The romance was pretty much instalove but eh, you can’t have it all. It’s not entirely believable either. Shane set Lexie up in the first few pages in a faux-dangerous situation at the instruction of do-anything-to-get-his-way Brock. I’m not sure that I could forgive someone who did that, much less as easily as Lexie seems to. Still, there is eventually a HEA for Shane and Lexie and I’m sure future Champions books will be touching on the sisters.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who walked through the dark woods to grandmother's house. Oh, you've heard this story before? I guarantee yoOnce upon a time, there was a little girl who walked through the dark woods to grandmother's house. Oh, you've heard this story before? I guarantee you haven't heard this version of the story, for you see—in this story, the little girl is the wolf.
This was such a lush and spellbinding version of Little Red Riding Hood. A dark, deep wood encompasses the village, barely kept at bay by those who live there. Only the careful eye of the watch who stand guard with torches keep the threatening woods from encroaching further, or so they believe. There's another watcher in the woods, however. Adele thought she has her life all planned out until she discovers her true fate and everything she thought she knew changes overnight. Thrilling, pulse-pounding danger awaits Adele in the woods and she is uniquely equipped to meet it. Risks and uncertainly await Adele every day and she's forced to make decisions that change her destiny and those of the villagers.
Blood and savagery are about and it's not only the wood's monsters who are fearfully made. Rachel Vincent has crafted an environment where deviating from the norm is dangerous, and where secrets must be kept to survive. This is witch-burning territory and it only takes a word to incite the villagers viciously into action. Like the dark woods, Vincent's world is perilous and full of wonder. This is a tale of fur and teeth, haunting and harrowing....more
I know jumping into a series without reading the previous books is a bit of a no-no in the minds of a lot of bloggers and authors alike but I enjoy thI know jumping into a series without reading the previous books is a bit of a no-no in the minds of a lot of bloggers and authors alike but I enjoy the challenge of diving in midstory. I think it says more about an author’s ability to carry the story and get the reader involved if you are still able to follow the plot without having the backstory. Angie Fox was able to do just that in book #2 of Monster M*A*S*H. While the reading of the first book would obviously have given me more detail, it’s always fun going in blind and I didn’t feel that I missed much by not reading #1.
While I thought the premise of including mythology would be interesting, the world-building was much more than I imagined it would be and I don’t just mean because it happens to have two suns and hell vents. This is a vibrant world in between the warring lines of the Old Gods and the New with a number of fun, quirky characters. Petra isn’t the most unique persona of the bunch by any means. Her tent mates are a vampire and a vegetarian werewolf. Her ex is a shapeshifting dragon. Of course, you already know there’s Medusa who, yes, can still turn people to stone with a look. There’s more. A lot more.
The romance here was a bit interesting. Her ex has been gone for 10 years and she’s finally gotten close to someone else, only to have that someone else walk away after he’s called back into the action. He’s decided that she should be free to be happy, whatever that looks like. She’s heartbroken naturally, but even more, shaken when the ex, Marc shows back up especially since he let everyone think he’s been dead for a decade. Not only that but he needs a specific set of skills that she has, and he has to take her beyond enemy lines to use them. I wasn’t so sure that I liked him but he definitely grew on me as the book went on.
Romance isn’t all that Translyvania Twist has to offer. It truly has a bit of everything. A bit of mystery, humor, and some good snark kept me turning pages. It’s clever, witty, and entertaining while still managing a good bit of darkness and occasional broodiness.
Boy, that's a tagline for high expectations, isn't it? This just sounded too unusual to pass by.
From the start, Eleanor seems to be the most normal oBoy, that's a tagline for high expectations, isn't it? This just sounded too unusual to pass by.
From the start, Eleanor seems to be the most normal of the bunch. After being sent away to boarding school for years and running away from said school, she's looking for love and acceptance. Now that she's home, she's trying to scrape out a place to belong, but like as it was at school, she's on the outskirts again. It's no surprise after not attaining a huge warm welcome from her immediate family and the unexpected death of her grandmother, she reaches out to the only other family she has. Eleanor is ignorant of the world and somewhat bossy in the name of responsibility. While I didn't actively dislike her, I found myself extremely apathetic towards her. Again, this is YA so she fits the naive typecasting that I expected going in.
Her family, on the other hand, would fit well in with the Adams' family. Her mother is covered in barnacles and spends her time sitting in a washtub full of water. Her grandfather is a shifter who has trouble keeping it reeled in as are her sister and cousin. Her grandmother is a witch. Everyone is very odd, yet seems normal to each other. The characters are definitely one of the best parts of the story. The family dynamics are strange and unusual yet interesting. The gothic atmosphere is incredibly well done here. The run-down house in the woods with the kooky uninviting family; Everything is dark and dreary.
What Big Teeth is a veritable overload of bizarre, weird, and eccentric people and happenings. Things just happen without explanation and are never touched on again. It's all very vague and initially, the mystery of it all kept me turning the pages, but the novelty of it soon wore off. Just when you think you are finally going to get some answers, there's a very weird romantic arc with Arthur, who we know nothing about other than multiple family members seem to be in love with him. It's a new level of creepy, but an uncomfortable one this time. In the end, it did come together, but I had to push through to get there.
Valerie (Cats Luv Coffee)
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