Book Drunk Sloth

Her Mad Hatter

This was a lot better than I anticipated:) It was a great kick-start into 2015! This book was free on bn.com early last year when I found it. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

The book was shorter than I would have liked. I wanted to delve more into wonderland with Alice and Hatter. Their love for each other was cute. Her's stemmed from her obsession with all things Alice in Wonderland and a hallucination she had of him as a young girl. Hatter always knew his soul mate would be an Alice, and the fairy has been trying for many years to find the right one. They've all left poor hatter and he is heartbroken from the failures.

There is quite a bit of struggle for them to find their happily ever after. And even now I'm not 100% sure Kingdom is a real place or a manifestation of Alice's mind. You'll have to determine that for yourself ;)

I'm excited to read Gerard's story next!

Gerard's Beauty

This was a delightful sequel to Her Mad Hatter:)

This was a twist on the Beauty and the Beast story. It was about Gerard (Oh wait, that might not ring any bells because his name was changed to Gaston in the version you may know). Unfortunately, he is quite the player who scorned the wrong woman. Now everyone thinks that Belle was some sweet and lovely girl. I loved this twist to the tail.

Danika finds his match... but she's a librarian! He can't believe it. She reminds him a little too much of Belle who broke his heart. But they are stuck together, because of some weird fairy land law and as consequence of his being a player to yet another woman. The guy can't seem to catch a break, but he did bring it upon himself a little.

The story was very entertaining and endearing. I love twisted fairytales!

Red and Her Wolf

Let's see, in this installment of Kingdom, we meet Ewan(The Big Bad Wolf) from Red Riding Hood. The book begins with him following an evil fairy who wants Violet (Red Riding Hood) dead because of her powers. But when he sees Violet, he recognizes her as his mate so he switches sides to try to defend her. All in all, Violet is taken away for her safety, and thus separated from Ewan. It absolutely kills him and he has been looking for her ever since.

Violet grew up with these memories of a big wolf killing someone she loved. With these misplaced memories, she seems to constantly want revenge on the wolves. Ewan finally finds Violet, but then the two must journey through kingdom to fight the evil fairy.

This back story was a little over complicated to me. I also wasn't too big a fan about the usual wolf love scenario (he marked her at one point). I don't like when it feels there isn't a choice in the matter. But in some way I liked the love story. Don't have really any clue why though, ha.

LOVE LOVE LOVE! This was an incredible read:)

Well, for my last read of 2014, the year ended on a fantastic note! This book is my second favorite of Tessa Dare's books. Three Nights with a Scoundrel is very hard to beat though.

Miss Clio has been engaged for about eight years. Eight Years?! That's long even for today's customs. Unfortunately her fiance has been traveling, leaving Clio to all the ridicule of the ton on her own. Until her uncle gives her a castle upon his death.

Now with a way to support herself and a plan, she decides to claim her independence and break off the never ending engagement. (Whoot whoot!) This puts Rafe (the fiance's brother) in a bad situation. He has been taking care of his brother's affairs while he travels, and he does not want this to prevent his brother's return. So he tries to convince Clio to marry his brother anyway.

Clio was incredible and reminded me so much of me! She loved her castle with it's hidden passageways. She slid around the floor in her stockings. She was very polite and sweet, but she had a fun side, too. Rafe honestly reminded me a lot of my husband who has A.D.D. He struggles sitting still and just relaxing. He always needs to be doing something. School learning was a bit difficult for him. Anyways, I really connected to the characters because it seemed close to home.

I'm excited for the next Castles Ever After installment already!

I was lucky enough to be sent an ARC of this book for an honest review.

Where to begin? Hmmm... well I'll start with the fact that I've read all of Erin Knightley's books. While they are all wonderful, none have come close to the first that I read, More Than A Stranger. I was very surprised that I loved this book more than her first. This was surprising to me because the synopsis really had me thinking it wouldn't be all that good.

Boy am I glad I was wrong! I couldn't put this book down. I think that it's mainly because of Sophie. She's just so NORMAL! She gets tongue-tied when she's around the man she's been crushing on for the last two years. She trips occasionally. When she's comfortable around people she sometimes cannot stop talking. She was an absolute delight to read about.

Evan was the perfect gentleman. He's hiding a dark family secret and rarely lets anyone too close. He lets his guard down around Sophie though. He is so sweet and never seems to get mad. Until he DOES get mad and it was a sight to see. I like that Evan describes Sophie's beauty as one in motion. It's her expressions and mannerisms when she's just being herself that set her apart from the rest.

As for the romance, the two fit together so perfectly. When you read Erin Knightley's books you can always expect a Happily Ever After. This one had me smiling for hours after I finished. But the journey to get there was somewhat unexpected. As always, I cannot wait to read more! July cannot come fast enough!

This book surprised me in how good it turned out. Most of the problems I'd had with this series such as a lack of planning, obsession and distraction with boys, and overly described clothing, was not prominent in this book. I wrapped up the series very well in that you learn what happened to all the daughters. It was full of action. I didn't know how it would end until I got to the end. That's a great thing.

I'm glad this series is over and that I now don't feel incomplete.

This has to be the best of this series thus far. It made Tianna my favorite of the girls. She wasn't completely distracted by boys, which was so refreshing. She was very protective of those she loves. It was also nice to see that the five Daughters actually got together and spent time trying to figure out what was going on. In all of the previous books, they would talk about it for like five minutes and then walk irrationally into danger.

After this reread I can now see why Lynne Ewing thought this was a good finale to the series. She probably could have just finished with this book if she had done some sort of epilogue to see what the future held for the characters. Unfortunately she ended right after the action completed and left everyone hanging. I'm shocked she wasn't prepared for all her readers to beg for another book.

And now finally to finish this juvenile series...

I had all the same problems with this book as I did with the others. It is just weird that these girls get so distracted by boys. I don't remember acting that way as a teen. The transitions from urgent time pressing situations to calm moments made no sense. The only reason I'm still rereading these is because I want to know what happens in the last book. I'll be so happy when this is over. It's sad to because I remembered Catty was my favorite. I refuse to let this go into 2015.

I was reading some other reviews, and I think it's a good idea to write a more in depth review when I reread it before The Queen Of Fire comes out. However I must admit it took me way too long to finish this book. I have no idea why that is the case! It was full of action and I loved every minute of it. The only thing I can think of is that I just wasn't in the right mindset of an epic fantasy. I think that I should have read a couple of shorter romances first and then took this on. We will see when I do the reread.

While parts of this book were wonderful, I wasn't really feeling the romance between Rayn and Celeste. I'm not one for arranged marriages though so I'm sure that I'm biased.

Celeste is a shy princess who loves mathematics. She was abused at a young age when forced into a marriage way too young. She suffered from mental and physical abuse. In Assassin's Gambit she was saved by her sister-in-law. Now many years later under the more caring upbringing of her brother she is happy.

Rayn is a foreign prince who has many misgivings towards the Kjallans. Celeste's father had been a horrible monarch so Rayn struggled to trust them. Rayn and Celeste end up taking a ship to visit one of Kjall's provinces and end up in an assassination attempt. As the two go through this adventure of determining who the assassins were, Rayn is able to get to know Celeste a little better.

The biggest problem I had with this book was that parts didn't flow well for me. Rayn seemed to be fine with everything at one moment and then out of nowhere he freaked out at Celeste because of her family and country. I really was baffled as to what set him off. It just didn't seem like a natural way to act.

I loved the scenery a lot with this book. At one point they even get to experience Inya which has volcanoes that the Fire Mages have to control to protect the people. I loved learning about this new mage type. So far with every book in this series, Raby introduces us to another mage type. I really like her magic system.

Honestly, if arranged marriages turned into love matches is your thing, you would probably really enjoy this book. It just wasn't for me. I am excited though for the series to continue.

I really enjoyed this book. I connected with DJ, and Scott was a terrific male lead. Throughout the book they did a lot of flashbacks to the Spring Break event. I liked learning about that in bits and pieces. There were quite a few supporting characters that gave the small town feel. Without those supporting roles, I think the story wouldn't have been as good. I'm glad Pamela Morsi included them.

There are only two reasons why I didn't give this book 4 stars instead of 3. Unfortunately, they're both spoilers, so skip over the next portion if you don't want to see those...

*************SPOILERS**************

I absolutely hated that Scott's mother, Viv, was planning her suicide through out everything. I liked the snippets into her plotting to set up Scott and DJ, but what she was planning on otherwise, I just didn't feel like it was necessary for the story. I'm glad Dew ended up saving her life, but the whole thing I don't think should have even been apart of it. The second thing that bothered me was that Scott didn't figure out that DJ was Sparkle until the last sentence of the last actual chapter. I'm glad they did an epilogue where we saw their happily ever after, but I had been waiting for so long to see the reaction to his putting it all together! And then nothing!! Not a confrontation, not a conversation, nothing!!

*************SPOILER END**************

I think I would still recommend this book to certain people who might like it. It's definitely not one I would advertise without reason.

I was completely taken aback on how much I enjoyed this book. It was highly recommended to me from a fellow Epic Fantasy enthusiast, but I tried not to get my hopes up. It's been a long time since I've found a fantasy book that I love that isn't written by Brandon Sanderson. Blood Song went beyond any high hopes I could have had.

This was an intense read in that many parts were confusing. (That's a weird statement for me!) I wasn't sure what had happened, and I felt somewhat dumb feeling that I missed important information. Now that I've finished the book, I see that those parts were supposed to be apart of the mystery. It did it's job, I kept turning pages to figure it out. And then it left me with that "slap yourself in the forehead" feeling once the questions were answered.

I found I loved all of the characters, and of course Vaelin stood out because of his conflicting heart. He is a strong and intelligent character, who falls short at times. I like these qualities in protagonists. But what I loved above all else in this book, was the brotherhood (forgive me for lack of a more unique term) between Vaelin, Caenis, Nortah, Bartus, Dentos, and Frentis. The only other descriptive word that could work (but doesn't portray the bond enough) is friendship. I found myself coveting that relationship many times in the tale.

The magic portion of this book is very mysterious, and after having finished it, I still don't completely understand it. This leaves me anxiously awaited the sequel, The Tower Lord.

Mostly, I felt this book showed Anthony Ryan to be quite a talented author. Everything was detailed and complex but not too much to steer me away. This will definitely be a book I will reread. I also acknowledge that I will find many things I missed the first time through.

Before reading this book I had looked at many reviews, and one negative in particular stands out to me. The reviewer had claimed that most every statement had the word "brother" in it and that it annoyed that person to the extreme. I just wanted to say that personally, I didn't think it was overused at all. Not once did it seem a burden when reading. I didn't want to say the other reviewer's thoughts weren't acurate (because it was to them). I just wanted to add my two cents that it may not be an issue for everyone.

As of yesterday on Erin Knightley's Facebook...

Ruined By a Rake is FREE wherever EBooks are sold until 8/31/14!! Knightley is amazing and I encourage anyone who is interested in the Historical Romance genre to give her writing a try.

Well this book had many of the same flaws as its predecessors. Conversations and interactions would go way too fast. Characters' moods change dramatically and often. I would keep thinking to myself, "Well, that escalated quickly..."

What I did really enjoy about this book is what really sets it apart from the rest in the series. The book was about Maggie's life back in long ago Athens. So it's great to have the change in scenery and it's exciting to learn a little more about Maggie.

I love Greek Mythology and that's the reason I was first drawn to this series as a young adult. This book really got into it. It was pretty good.

I am excited to finish this series. I'm so close to the end that I'm beginning to get impatient.

This book started off very slow for me. I didn't really become interested until the 2nd part. Up until that point it felt like everything was being rushed to get to the rest of the book. I didn't feel like I got to know the characters until the 2nd part.

Otherwise I did begin to enjoy this book at that point. I liked how cunning Yarvi was, and how even though he had a difficult childhood, he remembered everything he was taught. This definitely helped him out with his struggles. I did think he over pitied himself over his hand. Those were the cards life dealt you, get over the hardship and overcome the difficulties.

Yarvi did have quite the adventure. It was enjoyable to read. I only wish there was more magic involved. I don't remember any and magic is the main reason I love fantasy.

I will read the next one in the series for sure. I want to find out what becomes of Yarvi.

I was gifted with a free version of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Alright, I'm finally getting around to actually writing this review.

I loved loved loved this book. Both Mara and Temple are such incredible characters. They both have their faults and they own up to their mistakes. 

The story was very unique in my opinion. This is the only historical romance I've read where a man was framed for murder by accident and then the supposed victim turns out to be the person he falls in love with. Very creative, Sarah MacLean!

Of course this book also takes us deeper into the Fallen Angel. I absolutely love that casino! I cannot get enough of it, and I wish it were real so I could discover all the secret passageways and such.

This is my favorite so far of this series. I am very excited about Chase's story though, so my rankings may change.

I read this over a week ago I think... I don't know why it took me so long to get to writing this review.

This book focuses on Jimena. I really liked it in that it was pretty action packed, and the playing with time was pretty fun. For the first time, the ending of the book threw me for a loop and has me highly anticipating the next book to see what happens.

And now for the venting portion...
These girls are so easily distracted, especially by boys. It's really annoying. They are in the middle of life and death situations ready to battle or trying to decide what to do, then a boy shows up and they all scatter and flirt and forget about the important stuff.

Conversations always seem extremely short and they always leave shortly after arriving anywhere. I've also noticed that they avoid responsibility and never plan things out. They show up to do battle with the evil person and they wear skimpy little outfits with high heel shoes. Then they complain later when they are running and have to run barefoot. 

It's definitely a preteen series. I can't imagine very many high school students relating or enjoying these books all that much. 

I still enjoy the Greek Mythology to their powers, and the books are definitely improving. Short little fun read.

Meh... It's hard to find a better word for this book. It's not horrible. I don't feel like it was a waste of time to read or anything. It wasn't phenomenal either. I didn't have very much emotion when reading this book, other than a couple times of frustration with the protagonist.

Bridget's father was the first thing I became really frustrated with. He would lie about so much so that they could get jobs. I really become irritated with people who are as pushy as he was and that he wouldn't listen to his seventeen year old daughter.

Bridget was at times frustrating as well. She was just too naive and gullible. She was also continuously untrustworthy of Ray when all he ever did was help her out. She just made a lot of dumb choices.

As for other things that slightly irritated me, everyone in this book was changing jobs constantly. I know this cannot possibly be accurate since back in that time everyone was struggling and would hold on to whatever job they could find. 

I did love Ray. He was amazing to Bridget. He plays a very mysterious hero. His character is the main reason I didn't just hate this book.

There isn't a whole lot in this book that sets itself apart in my mind. I see myself forgetting about a lot of it. The only thing I think gives it a little life is how the whole story works out to follow the fairy tale in a different way. I like retellings when they flow like this one did.