Category: Book Reviews

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

Fated to the Alpha By Raven Foxmore

So I healed a magic wolf in my ER, got kidnapped by the sorcerer who owns him, and discovered I’m the only thing standing between Chicago and literal darkness. 

He materializes out of a blackout like he owns the dark — storm-grey eyes, zero warmth — and gives me thirty seconds to prove I’m not the reason his city is tearing itself apart.

Most infuriating man I’ve ever met.

Except then he stays up all night protecting me, steps between me and everything trying to kill us, and somewhere in a tunnel with shadow monsters scraping the walls, his hand steady on my arm, I stop pretending I don’t feel it.

So we complete a bonding ritual beneath the city and seal the breach bleeding Chicago dry.

And the enemy we thought we’d stopped used our bond like a beacon to find us.

The thing powerful enough to save this city just painted a target on both of us.

If they break one of us, they break both.

My Thoughts

The only way to get this is to go to Raven Foxmore, author’s Page to sign up for her Newsletter. It is however free.

This is an interesting little read. Worth picking up. The premise has appeal. It has well written Characters.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

Trying to Run Back by Samantha Calcott and Melinda Lauer

Barrister Samuel Follett of Chathom County keeps to himself. After a life filled with betrayal and scandal, it’s safer this way.

Until a powerful man from his past returns, threatening to take everything he’s worked for away … again.

John Mowbray, the future Fourth Earl of Rothesay, has known Samuel since he was a boy and Samuel played with his older sister, Rose. Boisterous and outgoing, John wishes for nothing more than to bring Samuel out of his shell.

And if he has to fight a Duke to save the man he loves, so be it.


Get lost in this sweet but steamy LGBTQIA+ Regency romance!

My Thoughts

*Preorder. Releases October 8th. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy for an Honest review.

The first book was hard to put down…this was even better. I literally finished reading it with no break. The characters are so relatable. I enjoyed the read.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

The Dragon in the Sock Drawer by Kate Klimo

For Magic Tree House readers who are ready for something longer, the Dragon Keepers series has the perfect length and reading level, along with the fast-paced writing, adventure, and sense of teamwork that kids love to read.

Ten-year-old cousins Jesse and Daisy have always wanted something magical to happen to them. So it’s a wish come true when Jesse’s newly found thunder egg hatches and a helpless, tiny, but very loud, baby dragon pops out. Soon the two kids are at the dragon’s beck and call, trying to figure out what to feed her. An Internet search leads them to the library, which leads them back to the Internet, where they find a very strange Web site called foundadragon.org. Here the cousins discover that the dragon’s hatching has designated them “Dragon Keepers.” Not only do they have to feed the dragon, whom they named Emmy, but they also have to keep her safe from the villainous Saint George, who has kept himself alive over centuries by drinking dragons’ blood!

My Thoughts

So I bought this when my youngest was in third grade. We read the entire series together. It is a cute middle grade read. The series is fun and worth a read, even for adults.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

I am a War and other poems by Kindra M. Austin

I Am A War is a collection of poems on loss; haunting; shrinking in the light; and then, despite yourself, growing. Intensely personal, these poems don’t need to apologize for being rawer than sushi, deeper than any thrown stone, almost feral. Kindra M. Austin is a story teller in her poetry, she describes how we survive, even when we think we aren’t able to.

My Thoughts

I rarely get to do poetry volumes here. This one has beautiful well written poems. The emotions are easily understood. I enjoyed the read and recommend it for everyone.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

Time Never Dies by Samantha Calcott and Melinda Lauer

Rose Mowbray, daughter of the Third Earl of Rothesay in Chathom County, knows few things for certain after enduring loss as a child.

One thing she does know, however, is that her best friend will always be by her side.

Winnifred Warwick, daughter of Lord Warwick, knows many things for certain thanks to a keen mind and easy life.

But the thing she knows above all is that she’s madly in love with her best friend.

When Rose’s feelings begin to change, allowing her to understand what she’s felt her whole life, she fears it may be too late, however, to win back the only person she has ever loved.

Dive into this lesbian historical romance today!

My Thoughts

*Preorder. Releases September 10th. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy for an Honest review.

This was a sweet slow-burn romance. I was quickly addicted and could not put it down. The characters are fun and well-written. I would highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys either sapphic or historical romance, or both.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

Foster Love By Janis Reams Hudson

U.S. Agent Morgan Foster’s six-month assignment in Central America turned into a four-year struggle for his life, running and hiding, trying to get back home to his four children. When he finally makes it, he receives the shocking news that his ex-wife had been pregnant with his fifth child when he’d left the country. He has five children, not four! Even more shocking, his ex was killed in an accident two years ago and his five children were shuffled off to a foster home. They live on a farm. In Oklahoma, of all places. He’d never been to Oklahoma, but he’d done time as a foster kid on a farm. No way is he letting his kids stay in virtual slavery one second longer.

Sarah Collins didn’t know how she would have survived the death of her husband if not for the five wonderful foster children they had taken in months earlier. Unable to have children of their own, she and Gary had loved these kids as if they were their own. Now their real father is here, vowing to take them away!

My Thoughts

My grandmother had a huge collection of Kismet romances. The black covers. I was addicted to them. This is one I read several times and am seriously considering buying the kindle edition to read again. This was my favorite among them. The physical descriptions were so real I could see them. The emotions were realistic. And Lordy…I wanted to be in the book…

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

Thirteen Days of Luck by Lacey Dancer

Although her J. B. Starr fans were eagerly awaiting her next best-selling novel, author Pippa Weldon was staring at pages of her characters stubbornly refusing to cooperate with her storyline. When all else fails, travel was guaranteed to refresh her imagination and teach her capricious characters a lesson.

A quick call her travel agent provides the perfect solution to her problem. A Caribbean cruise. Not just any cruise but one featuring a world renown psychic, Joseph Luck. For years, her imagination has flirted with the gift in her futuristic novels. Not only would meeting Joseph Luck provide an opportunity to extend her research but it was just the thing to break the spell of boredom that had taken the edge from her writing.

On her plane trip to the port of call for the cruise ship, Pippa finds more than psychic information on her mind. Always on the look-out for a new look for her imaginary characters, Pippa finds a fellow passenger intriguing. He was male-model handsome with a walk that warned anyone with the smallest intelligence to tread carefully in his presence. This was a MAN in capital letters, a forceful, decisive individual who reluctantly agreed to her exchanging places with his seatmate for the duration of the flight. Pippa enjoyed her time with a very alpha male who parried her questions with skill and power.

Discovering her very interesting prototype’s name was Joshua Luck sharpened her interest. What were the odds? It would have been so easy to simply ask whether they would be sharing the cruise. Instead, she chose silence. She did so love a mystery.

Joshua has come on the cruise to reconnect with his estranged brother, Joseph. After years spent cutting a wide swath on the path of success, Joshua realized that his high-pressure world has demanded a high personal price. He hadn’t expected Pippa, a silver-haired siren with a laser sharp mind that keeps him balanced precariously on the edge of wringing her neck or kissing her senseless. She’s all wrong for him, definitely not his type. Or is she?

My Thoughts

My grandmother had a huge collection of Kismet romances. The black covers. I was addicted to them. This is one I read several times and am seriously considering buying the kindle edition to read again. The three in the series are tied together. I will likely review the other two in the coming weeks. This was good plot, good story and strong characters.

Sunday Reviews

“I will probably be clutching Flowers in the Attic…on my deathbed.” —Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

Forbidden passions have shaped and haunted the Dollanganger family since their first novel—Flowers in the Attic—debuted forty years ago. Now discover how twisted the family roots truly are, and witness the clan’s origins as a result of one wild and complicated relationship. In this evocative and thrilling tale from New York Times bestselling author V.C. Andrews, see Corrine Dixon as a young girl and discover the fascinating family history of the Dollanganger clan.

Two generations before Corinne Foxworth locked her children in an attic, her grandmother, a gorgeous young girl named Corrine Dixon, is swept away by the charms of rich, sophisticated, and handsome Garland Foxworth. After discovering that she’s pregnant, Garland does what appears to be the honorable thing and marries her in a huge ceremony on the luxurious Foxworth Hall grounds. Both families fervently overlook the pregnancy, happy for a suitable resolution.

Now the mistress of a labyrinthine estate, Corrine discovers that nothing is what is seems. Garland is not the man once captivated by her charms, and she’s increasingly troubled by his infatuation with memories of his departed mother.

Can Corrine survive this strange new life? Or is her fate already sealed?

Explore the origins of the legendary Dollanganger family in this page-turning, gripping gothic thriller.

My Thoughts

okay. I am a part of the group of teenagers who actually read this series and I read it way too young. I am aware that most of the VC Andrews books have been written by ghostwriters. Still this one was not terrible. It didn’t even need as much of a tw. There was a scene with questionable consent, and it involves alcohol. Otherwise it was just a historical romance that was told from her pov. I am doubting the accuracy of the times. she is a bit more forward than most women in that era.

I recommend it with the caveat of this is actually better if you haven’t read the series. The knowledge of the rest of the series made me feel like it was written in a manner to shoehorn in.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

Discover the origin story of one of the realm’s most powerful mages in the first book in the Numair Chronicles.

Arram Draper is on the path to becoming one of the realm’s most powerful mages. The youngest student in his class at the Imperial University of Carthak, he has a Gift with unlimited potential for greatness–and for attracting trouble. At his side are his two best friends: Varice, a clever girl with an often-overlooked talent, and Ozorne, the “leftover prince” with secret ambitions. Together, these three friends forge a bond that will one day shape kingdoms. And as Ozorne gets closer to the throne and Varice gets closer to Arram’s heart, Arram realizes that one day–soon–he will have to decide where his loyalties truly lie.

In the Numair Chronicles, readers will be rewarded with the never-before-told story of how Numair Salmalín came to Tortall. Newcomers will discover an unforgettable fantasy adventure where a kingdom’s future rests on the shoulders of a talented young man with a knack for making vicious enemies.

My Thoughts

Okay this is an author that I almost always love the books in. II enjoyed all the other books she has written for this world but this is the newest series. It lives up to her usual.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

The Next Always By Nora Roberts

The historic hotel in Boonsboro has endured war and peace, the changing of hands, and even rumored hauntings. Now it’s getting a major face-lift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect in the family, Beckett’s social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there’s another project he’s got his eye on: the girl he’s been waiting to kiss since he was sixteen.

After losing her husband and returning to her hometown, Clare Brewster soon settles into her life as the mother of three young sons while running the town’s bookstore. Though busy and with little time for romance, Clare is drawn across the street by Beckett’s transformation of the old inn, wanting to take a closer look… at both the building and the man behind it.

With the grand opening inching closer, Beckett is happy to give Clare a private tour – one room at a time, in between blueprint meetings and kindergarten pickups. It’s no first date, but these stolen moments are the beginning of something that could arouse the secret yearning that resides in Clare’s independent heart – and open the door to the extraordinary adventure of what comes next….

My Thoughts

Okay this is an author that I almost always love the books in. I borrowed the kindle edition of this trio from the library and devoured three books in three days between major amounts of sleep.