Thursday, September 29, 2016

Review: The Glass Mermaid

The Glass Mermaid The Glass Mermaid by Poppy Lawless
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received my copy of this eBook for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

WOW! I wasn't expecting this!



I wouldn't call this a retelling of a Fairy Tale - there are aspects of The Little Mermaid absolutely, but this one stands on its own. I LOVED Kate! She was so sure of her fate, that she was the last mermaid and that she was going to die alone. Her attraction to Cooper is something that has been growing over time, and though this is a novella, the progress didn't feel fast or rushed. He's been in town for a while and though they haven't spoken, they have had the chance to observe each other and get a feel for who they each are. That attraction is mutual, but not because of her magical siren ways.

Cooper, facing a death sentence of terminal cancer doesn't think going after Kate is a good idea, because he doesn't have the time left to truly love her the way he wants. When his health takes a turn for the worse, Kate has to make a choice. It seems like her life comes full circle and in a way, everything she had lost in her past brought her full circle to the happiness she deserved.

Beautifully written, from both POVs so that you get a feel for what's really going on inside their heads. I am definitely going to be picking up the others in the series now! This is a book in a series but it reads well as a standalone. Thank you Poppy Lawless for providing me this to read - it was fabulous and I can't wait to read more! They have been added to my list!

Four stars, only because I wished for a little more before that epilogue. It felt like there could have been something sweet and fluffy before that ending. Fabulous!

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Review: The Bees

The Bees The Bees by Laline Paull
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an amazing ride!!!!



This was a glorious tale, I really enjoyed it! I'd been looking since Mort e for another book that brought animals to a level of human consciousness. I would have enjoyed almost anything similar, but this one is probably the best recommendations that the Goodreads audience has given me!

This book follows the story of a lowly sanitation worker bee, Flora 717, and how her life is within the colony. She has an overwhelming love for the Queen, the Holy Mother, and there is almost a religious fury in her devotion but a moral tale that everyone sins is woven through it. No one but the Queen may breed, but Flora (who lay three eggs of her own) loved each one with a fervent abandon while she is cognizant of her sins against the hive and Holy Mother.

Flora teaches that no one is perfect and sometimes that imperfection can be a wonderful thing!

Five hearty stars and two enthusiastic thumbs up for this one! If you have any recommendations for stories similar, please let me know!

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Friday, September 23, 2016

Review: Redemption

Redemption Redemption by Jessica Therrien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received my copy of this eBook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

You have to lose to win...


Yes. Yes, you do. You have to lose your heart, tears, sleep, precious hours stolen from work. You have to lose so much to win in the end with this GLORIOUS series.



Children of the Gods has been a roller coaster of a series! So many moments where my heart felt like it was going to explode from my chest and shatter in to a million itty bitty pieces! I think this book hit the ground running almost as fast as the second, and though it slowed somewhat, this world became the world of a dystopian aftermath - I think if it had been that from the beginning I couldn't take it! The fact that it became that way, it became a world that had to be rebuilt - this is the type of dystopian society that I could get behind (then I am VERY burned out on dystopian fiction!) and that was what Elyse, William, and their rag tag family are trying to do.

I could wax poetic about metaphors in the writing, because I can see so many that I'm sure weren't even implied. I think anyone reading this series will see so many parallels with things we see in our own world and I think there's a beautiful message here that everyone could learn from.

Five very well deserved stars and two enthusiastic thumbs up! Thank you Jessica Therrien for a wonderful series! I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

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Monday, September 19, 2016

Review: Delilah: A Ronnie Lake Cold Case

Delilah: A Ronnie Lake Cold Case Delilah: A Ronnie Lake Cold Case by Niki Danforth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received my copy of this eBook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a fun read! If you've read Stunner, I think you're a little bit better prepared for the story (lots of allusions to things that happened on her "last case" that you don't get real clarification on) and maybe it explains more of the Ronnie Lake character than you get here (I didn't know any more than the blurb about her) but this was a fun read! It can stand alone, but it's better following the first book in the series.

Ronnie Lake reminds me of an older Veronica Mars. She's blonde, sassy and won't let a lead go like a dog with a bone. I like her!



Ronnie is much like a Veronica caricature to me - and I love Veronica Mars, so that's saying something. If she already had the police talk down, she'd be fabulous!

A short, fun read for anyone who likes lady sleuths.

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Sunday, September 18, 2016

Review: Uprising

Uprising Uprising by Jessica Therrien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SWEET GOOGLY MOOGLY!!!!!!


I received my copy of this eBook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Uprising hit the ground running and I don't think it ever stopped. Oh sure, there were some sweet and swoon worthy moments, but the stakes were even higher and they did. not. stop! Jessica Therrien has woven a tale that has me glued to the edge of my seat wondering just how this is going to play out! I can't wait to start Redemption but I'm dreading the end of this saga at the same time!!!

The ties to Greek mythology get deeper here, we finally get to understand the kind of sick and sadistic ideas that Christoph is willing to commit mass genocide for, and how far Elyse and her rag tag band of freedom fighters have to go to win the war. Although, I don't know if this is a war that can be won with any less than mass casualties.

The swoonworthy moment of the book - the impromptu wedding of William and Elyse! The heartbreaking moment of the book - the loss of his memories of it all! I have tripped back and forth between squealing joy to heart wrenching sobs throughout my reading!!!!

More, more I say I want more! This is excellently written - fast paced and adrenaline pumping in the right areas, down to soft and tender in others. I'm thrilled that I was accepted to read and review the series - this group is going to make it to my all time favourites, I'm sure!

Two enthusiastic thumbs up and five stars, if I could give more I would!!!! Excellent series!

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Friday, September 16, 2016

Review: Oppression

Oppression Oppression by Jessica Therrien
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received my copy of this eBook in exchange for a fair and honest review.



I am a slut for Greek mythology!!!!! I know the myths, I read them ALL! I know about the gods, their powers, and the allure of all their tales. I know the sensationalized items like Hercules and Xena, and yes I liked them too. The premise of the gods being not only real, but not gods at all but beings with powers unlike our own but appearing human and aging so much slower than us... I LOVED IT!!!!!

Elyse and William are a love story that I can get behind, a destined to be relationship they are stronger together because they will be the parents of the next generation's Oracle. I have this marked as YA - it is and it isn't, it would qualify as a 'Mature' YA because the characters are adults by the end of the first book, but that's the feel it gave me.

I don't know why, the beginning was slow - scratch that, I do know, there was a lot of description at the beginning and flashbacks that really weren't entirely important to the overall plot and they dragged a little. But once William and the other Descendants were in the picture, things started to pick up. When the action starts, this is something that Jessica Therrien has done exceptionally well! I can feel the urgency and the fear that starts pressing down on them. I can feel how high the stakes are thanks to the expressive writing and description. EXCELLENT!!!!! I cannot wait to pick up Uprising now and see where this goes.



Four stars, but only because of the slow start. This gets two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me too! Read it, you won't be disappointed!

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Thursday, September 8, 2016

Review: King of the Friend Zone

King of the Friend Zone King of the Friend Zone by Sheralyn Pratt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received my copy of this eBook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

"Kiss is final ingredient," she insisted. "No kiss. No cookie."

"Well, that settles that then," Esme said brightly.

Next to her, Hunter sighed and stuck his wallet back in his pockets. She looked up at him in relief ready to give him the signal to run for it when his lips darted down and met with hers in a lightning fast peck of a kiss that was gone before she even knew it had landed. Still, it sparked as if she's been shocked with static electricity, leaving her a bit shaken.

"There!" Hunter announced, turning back to Miss Pearl. "Now let me try this famous cookie of yours."




Miss Pearl is back and at it again with another entry in the Power of the Matchmaker series, King of the Friend Zone, only this time as a woman selling magical cookies. Sound corny? No, not to me! This was a wonderful story about two friends who turn in to lovers and discover that their true love was right there the whole time.

Esme and Hunter have been friends since they were babes in diapers because of their mothers. In fact, there isn't a memory that doesn't feature Hunter in Esme's childhood, and neither for Hunter, aside from the ones that feature their other friend Luke. A transition in to a romantic relationship should have been something that was easy to come about, only one problem though...

The book opens on Esme's engagement to her boyfriend Jon Bauer, surprising Hunter and leaving him out in the cold. Hunter's always known that he loves Esme, much more than the way a brother from another mother should love their sister. Jon sees that, he even confronts Hunter about it and eventually demands that Esme cut off all contact with him. I never thought she could do it, but she did. I recognized things I've done before, cutting off friends for the sake of a relationship, and that never works out well! The realization that Hunter is so much a part of her life that she can't be without him... Well that's beautiful payoff indeed!

"Because the last two months have shown me a life without Hunter, and that really isn't an option for me," Esme confessed. "I may love him, yes, but part of me is worried that I actually need him to be who I want to be, and that kind of freaks me out."

"That you and Hunter have a synergetic relationship that helps both of you be better people?" Grace asked.

"Not when you put it that way, no," Esme said, finally digging down and daring herself to say the fear that had been spinning in her mind for weeks. "But... what if we don't work? What if we go there with each other and we bomb and I lose him?"


I loved Sheralyn Pratt's writing here. I haven't read any of her other books, but after reading this, I think I would love reading them too! I loved the little side bits about Grace and her husband which means that I will have to read The Kiss That Launched 1,000 Gifs because I want to know how they came to be!

This was a fantastic read and another fantastic entry in the Power of the Matchmaker series. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up and 5 stars!



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