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"Extremely funny, witty, and masterfully written (romantic comedy)! If you are looking for a smart, intelligently worded love story, pick this one up. It was a "couldn't put it down" read for me."
-Tina Reber, New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid is FREE for a limited time only!

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From the USA Today Bestselling author of 'Truth or Beard', this is a full-length, 110k word novel is the first book in the Knitting in the City series.

There are three things you need to know about Janie Morris: 1) She is incapable of engaging in a conversation without volunteering TMTI (Too Much Trivial Information), especially when she is unnerved, 2) No one unnerves her more than Quinn Sullivan, and 3) She doesn't know how to knit.

After losing her boyfriend, apartment, and job in the same day, Janie Morris can't help wondering what new torment fate has in store. To her utter mortification, Quinn Sullivan- aka Sir McHotpants- witnesses it all then keeps turning up like a pair of shoes you lust after but can't afford. The last thing she expects is for Quinn- the focus of her slightly, albeit harmless, stalkerish tendencies- to make her an offer she can't refuse.

Review: The New Dark by Lorraine Thomson

The New Dark by Lorraine Thomson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This book will be released on November 1, 2017

I requested a copy of this because it sounded really interesting and I will say it has alot of good plot elements and ton of potential. I felt a bit mislead by the summary.  It unfortunately just didn't deliver for me, I felt there were many things that were under developed and I just didn't engage with the writing style. The writing was a bit disjointed for my taste and I often felt like I missed something. I found myself going back to see if I skipped a page or missed a paragraph where something happened only to find that the information was simply not there and you had to infer what happened. Fortunately there normally enough context clues to figure out what was going on, sometimes I was just left confused.

I like dystopian settings, and this has an interesting twist where people are living in city environments and in the wilderness fending for themselves but there are mutants. I would have loved if the mutant aspect was explained, the author mentions viable and unviable children but never really explains what that means and how mutants came to be. Typically in dystopian or post-apocalyptic books, there is some long forgotten event that caused society to be in whatever situation they are in, but the main character Sorrel often speaks of her grandmother who lived in the Before time and taught her about things Before. It would have been nice to get an explanation about what occurred the transition from the Before to the After only recently happened and there are people living in the present time that actually know what happened.

Onto the story, the story begins in the town of Amat, a wilderness community where the people live off the land and get on pretty well. Our main character Sorrel is a presented as a brooding teen, when her village is attacked by mutants. The town is destroyed, most everyone is killed, and Sorrel just barely escapes. Sorrel's little brother is taken by one of the mutants and she is determined to go after them and avenge those she's lost. She also hopes to find some of her townsfolk alive, especially David, the boy she likes.  David and Sorrel's relationship is a plot point that was misleading in the summary.  They are described as boyfriend and girlfriend.  I have to disagree.  While they do clearly like each other, they aren't actually in a relationship.  They say a few words to each other in the beginning of the book, but then they spend the rest of the book trying to get back to each other.  Everyone is trying to keep them apart, but they were never actually together.  But I digress...

Sorrel ends up in this creepy cult town with the people called the Free. They are led by Martin, who made my skin crawl, I think he was supposed to have that effect. The Free believe that everything Martin says is law and that he can do no wrong.  It is pretty creepy.   I give Thomson credit for the icky feeling I got when I read this part of the story since it definitely delivered on the creep factor.    David along with everyone else the mutants left alive are sold into slavery by the mutants, while Sorrel's brother Eli is being well cared for by his new mutant protector. Sorrel eventually escapes Martin and the Free with the help of, Einstein, a mutant the Free were keeping captive and torturing. Sorrel and Einstein end up in the town of Dinawl in an attempt to find David and Eli. As you can imagine, she finds nothing but trouble and she also finds a resistance movement. Still fueled to find those she loves, she puts her trust in the resistance movement and begins to fight for the future.  Sorrel has a birthmark and it resembles something from the Before so she decides to something akin to Katniss and the Mockingjay from the Hunger Games.  The face of the revolution and the change that needs to happen to overthrow the corruption in society.  That part was fine but nothing we haven't seen before.  I found Sorrel to be irritating and immature, and I just don't see her being a revolutionary that saves the world as she is.  She has alot of growing up to do yet.

Review: The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano

The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this latest installment from Lauren DeStefano. If you've read the Chemical Garden series or The Internment Chronicles, you will already be familiar with her writing style and this is no different. I actually think this is my favorite of all of her works that I've read. Much like in all of her works, she does an amazing job of blending science and technology while keeping that dystopian feel to the word she is building. This world has alchemy and airships, but they still don't use telephones or cars widely.

I felt like the characters were fairly well developed. It is a YA fantasy, so it has all of the requisite elements that you would expect. That being said I really liked the unique take on the main character Wil's "power". Wil is a spare, or an extra heir to the throne. She is another one of her father's children that will never inherit the throne like her 2 older brothers Baren and Gerdie. Their father only cares about their oldest brother Owen, the actual heir. Owen is actually a pretty good older brother, and each of Wil's siblings has their talents, good or bad. Wil gather's ingredients for Gerdie's alchemy experiments and acts as a spy for her father. One evening her adventure to gather ingredients goes wrong, and she discovers she can turn a man into a gemstone. As you can imagine, Wil doesn't want to hurt anyone else and is anxious to find out how to fix herself. Some things happen and Wil finds herself banished from the kingdom and travelling with Loom a banished prince from an enemy nation. Wil and Loom are as you can imagine instantly drawn to one another (I told you it was YA fantasy). There is a little bit of a love triangle, but not really.

I'm anxious to see if we get any more of the political stance from each of the kingdoms in the next book, especially with Wil returning home to investigate her abilities. There was never really much explanation as to why the North and the South were fighting other than they had both done some horrible stuff to each other. I'd like to learn more about Owen's travels, but I'm not sure we'll get that information. Clearly I want to see where Wil's adventures take her as she finds out more about her ability and how she came to have it.

Overall, this was a solid read for me and I can't wait to see what happens next.

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BOOK SALE: One Day Only Truth or Beard and Beard in Mind by Penny Ried

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Truth or Beard and Beard in Mind by Penny Reid are just $1.99 EACH for ONE DAY ONLY!

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(Amazon only sale)

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Truth or Beard:

USA TODAY BESTSELLER

Beards, brothers, and bikers! Oh my!

Identical twins Beau and Duane Winston might share the same devastatingly handsome face, but where Beau is outgoing and sociable, Duane is broody and reserved. This is why perpetually level-headed Jessica James has been in naïve and unhealthy infatuation with Beau Winston for most of her life. Whereas Duane and Jessica have always been adversaries. She can't stand him, and she's pretty sure he can't stand the sight of her...

But after a case of mistaken identity, Jessica finds herself in a massive confusion kerfuffle. Jessica James has spent her whole life paralyzed by the fantasy of Beau and her assumptions of Duane's disdain; therefore she's unprepared for the reality that is Duane's insatiable interest, as well as his hot hands and hot mouth and hotter looks. 

When Jessica finds herself drawn to the man who was always her adversary, how much of her level-head heart is she willing to risk?

Truth or Beard is book #1 in the Winston Brother's series. Each book is a standalone, full length (110k words), contemporary romantic comedy novel, and follows the romantic exploits and adventures of one of the six Winston Brothers.

Beard in Mind:

All is fair in love and auto maintenance.

Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually.

Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever.

She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies. She won’t shake hands with or touch another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot speaks only in curse words. Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of Tennessee, and out of his life.

The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of spikes opens a Pandora’s box of complexity—exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking complexity—and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might mean losing what matters most.

Review: The Rose Society by Marie Lu

The Rose Society by Marie Lu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This wasn't as good as the last one, by no means is it bad.  I just felt like the first one grabbed me and didn't let go. I felt like not alot happened for most of the book.  We do get to know more about all of the other characters, so we get alot of development in that area.  We learn more about where the Daggers are headed and what they are planning as well as what direction Adelina is headed.  Adelina becomes almost an anti-hero in this book, and she starts to let the darkness of her powers take over.  Much of what Raffeale feared would happen begins to come true as Adelina begins to follow a very dark path, and I feel like she won't let anyone stand in the way.  Along the way, Adelina and Violetta makes some new friends and forms her own Elite group called the The Rose Society.  I really enjoyed Magiano and Sergio, two of the Roses.  They start out in it for the gold, but I really think they are bought into what Adelina is really trying to do, well atleast at first not so much in the end.  Teren is still up to no good trying to rid the world of abominations, yet the Queen isn't totally bought into his plans.  I was surprised by some of the twists and turns this book took.  I appreciate the originality of the story, and I like where it is headed.  I just personally felt like the sequal was not as gripping as the first book.  I am anxious to finish the series and I can't wait to find out what happens especially given some of the information about the Elites that we find out at the end of the book.  There are alot of broken relationships that need mending or completely obliterated.  There was a lot of lead up to the ending, and alot happened in the last 20-30% of the book.  The end wrapped up fairly nicely, and Lu's writing is really great in this series. 

I think I wanted more action and more of the Daggers and Maeve. This was more about strategizing and political positioning amongst the groups and it was just slow for me.  I think now that we know all the players, I hope we can get on with whatever both sides have planned. 

The narrators were the same from book 1 to book 2, but I feel like they got better.  I liked the narration more in the 2nd book.  Maybe I was just used to the way the characters and chapters switched back and forth, which was something I didn't like in the 1st book.  I enjoyed the narration of The Rose Society, and I hope the same narrators are back in book 3.  I have a couple of other audio books in my queue before I get to Midnight Star, but I'll be listening to it soon for sure.

Review: The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this up at my library's book sale a few months ago for a reading challenge prompt for "A book with a family member term in the title".  The woman at the checkout said it was a great book.  This puts me at 41 of 52 books read for the challenge.  This was one of the advanced prompts, I've got 3 of those left, and 8 from the regular list.  I've got books picked out for the remaining prompts, so hopefully I can wrap this up by the end of the year.

I expected this to have alot more action being a mystery, however it is not action packed at all. I did still however enjoy this. I was confused by the title but after reading a few reviews, it is a nod to a proverb, "Truth is the daughter of time." Knowing that, the title makes perfect sense. This book is all about discovering truth over the course of time. The book follows Inspector Alan Grant during his time in the hospital due to a broken leg. Grant as he is often referred to in the book, is bored and needs something to do other than look at the cracks in the ceiling. His friend Marta brings him a stack of portraits to look at, being that looking at faces is a favorite past time of his as a Police Inspector at Scotland Yard. Grant uncovers the face of Richard III, who is known to be quite the monster. To occupy his time Grant, along with the help of British Museum researcher Brent Carradine begin to research the reign of Richard III and the accusation that he murdered his two nephews, the reason he is so hated. I do not typically read historical fiction, but I was sucked into the history and the investigation. I can see why this has been on many crime lists as being a great read. I found the whole hierarchy of the British monarchy totally confusing, mainly because they were all named Henry, Richard, and Edward. There was a page in the book that neatly laid out who was whom and I found that very helpful. I could have used a family tree to keep everyone straight but that has nothing to do with the writing of the novel.  Thinking about it now I should have done that while I was reading to keep everyone straight.  I was completely invested in finding out "who-dun-it", and if Richard III was really as bad as the rumors made him out to be. Not knowing much about the actual history of the royal British families, I don't have a bias or outstanding opinion on the subject, but I did enjoy the novel and the investigative approach.

Another thing to not is this is part of a series, but as far as I can tell, you do not need to read any of the other novels. This stood on its own quite nicely and I didn't feel like I was missing anything. I feel like this might be a series where the characters are repeated, but the story line is completely separate in each book. I kind of prefer series that way.  I think if I saw another Tey book at a used book sale I'd grab it.  I think I paid $1 for it, and it was well worth it.

Review: Whichwood by Teherah Mafi

Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.   This is out November 14, 2017.  Thank you to Dutton Books, Penguin Publishing and Edelweiss for providing me with an advanced copy for review.

I really enjoyed this. I really love Mafi's writing style. It is very poetic, and I love the way she tells the story as if she were friends with the characters and was telling the story of their lives. I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but I was so glad to see Alice and Oliver back from Furthermore. If you haven't read Furthermore, you should, but I love that Mafi has written the- story in such a way that she refers back to Alice and Oliver's previous adventures as if you haven't read them before. I LOVE that this book stands on its own two feet and there are enough references to the first book that you don't have to read it to know what's going on. Reading Furthermore certainly helps, but it isn't required.

This was pretty dark. I wouldn't want my 4th grader reading this, I think the imagery is pretty graphic and could be a little scary for younger readers, but then again each reader has their tolerances. As a parent I don't think I'd let my 10 year old read this, I'd wait a bit, maybe the 13+ crowd would be more appropriate.  I know what scares my kids, and the imagery I think would be too much for my young reader, then again I know I was reading pretty dark graphic stuff at a young age.  My parents didn't really censor what I read, only what I watched on TV. The imagery didn't bother me, but I can see how it would disturb some. Futhermore on the other hand would be fine for the 9-12 reader crowd. It was a tad dark and a bit weird, but not scary.  I would let my 4th grader read Futhermore no problem.

The main character, Laylee, is a Mordeshoor, kind of like a magical undertaker. She is responsible for washing the bodies of the dead, her magic makes this process much more reverent than it sounds. The people of Whichwood are very superstitious and don't really understand or respect Laylee or what she and her family have done for them and their loved ones who have passed. The people of the town really take advantage of 13 year old Laylee, not paying her for her work and treating her as an outcast. Laylee is overworked, lonely, tired, when our friends Alice and Oliver enter the story. Alice is tasked with helping Laylee, she doesn't know how or what to do, but she know's something is very wrong with the young Mordeshoor. Oliver is along to help Alice, even though he's not along, but as we learned in the previous book, they never really follow the rules. Laylee doesn't really warm to Alice and Oliver, and she doesn't really feel as if she needs help or as if anything is wrong in her depressing situation. We are also introduced to Laylee's neighbor and would be friend Ben. Ben has seen Laylee deteriorate over time and joins Alice and Oliver in their quest to help Laylee.  They desperately try to save Laylee from whatever is wrong, though it takes them a while to figure out how to really help her.  In the end I found their antics quite entertaining.

I really loved the way the story tackled self-worth, loneliness, decision making, among other things. I really loved the messages within the strange tale and overall really loved this story.

COVER REVEAL: Villain a Hero Novella by Samantha Young

Another beautiful cover for what I'm sure is another amazing Samantha Young book.  I can't wait to read it.

Cover Design: By Samantha Young

Release Date: December 5^th 2017

Preorder links coming soon!

Blurb

The sexy and emotional companion novella to the New York Times bestselling romance HERO.

Nadia Ray is not just a broadcast meteorologist. She’s Boston’s morning television It Girl. Successful and independent, she’s put a past she’s ashamed of behind her and is forging a future she can be proud of. However, when her new bossdiscovers her secret he blackmails her, intent on using Nadia’s popularity to make them the number one morning show in Massachusetts.He wants her to be part of uncovering the city’s biggest scandal - a secret billionaire Caine Carraway is hiding.

Soon Nadia is thrown into the path of Caine’s best friend:sexy, wealthy bachelor Henry Lexington. But she doesn’t encounter the dashing high society gentleman Henry is purported to be. Instead she’s faced with an insulting and defensive villain who misjudges her at every turn.

When Henry finally realizes the truth, and decides to make amends, Nadia wants nothing to do with him. But she underestimates his determination and charm and soon they find themselvesembroiled in an intense, passionate affair.

An affair Nadia knows must come to an end before their feelings grow any deeper and he discovers her secrets.

After all, Henry Lexington isn’t the only one who played the part of a villain once…

Connect with Samantha Young

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSamanthaYoung/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorSamYoung

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Website: http://authorsamanthayoung.com

Email: authorsamanthayoung@gmail.com

Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this.  It was action packed throughout.  It has great friendship and strong female leads.  It does have romance, but it is more focused on the friendship.

I really loved the magic system and can't wait to learn more about the witchery as the series continues. I really loved that Safiya and Iseult are equally strong, each has strengths and weaknesses but neither of them is weak. They balance each other perfectly. These two kept me on my toes, I never knew what they were going to do next. Safi is a Truthwitch, a rare power that could be used by many to shape the future of the nations. Safi has kept her power well hidden, but all she wants to do is live free and do what she wants. Safi is a noble, and her uncle suspects that her power has been revealed and makes plans to hide her away. In her travels she meets a prince, but Merik isn't your average prince, he is rough and will always out his people first. He and Safi are both stubborn and quick to anger. In short they are perfect for each other and insta-love ensues. As many other's have said the insta-love with Safi and Merik came on pretty heavy and wasn't really necessary to move the plot along. Thankfully there wasn't a ton of romance. Maybe if the whole heart thread thing was explained a little better. Isuelt on the other hand feels like a cast off, always the discarded one as she was never able to get a handle on her powers as a Threadwitch. She always felt cast aside by her mother, who was revered in her village. Her people are seen as scum, and she isn't really sure how to help Safi escape or stay safe if people find out she's a Truthwitch. I hope we find out more about her powers in the next book. As Safi and Isuelt are separated and reunited they fight various enemies and make some interesting allies. The book is action packed from the first sentence and never lets up.

I also loved the villain, not because I want him to win, but because he is so interesting. Aeduan is a Bloodwitch who can track another witch by the scent of their blood, he can also control a person's blood, and he's a monk sworn to uphold the tenets of the monastery he is sworn too. He is a mercenary who does what he's paid, but he is also torn to uphold his monk vows. I'm so interested to see where this plot line goes as he is intertwined with Isuelt and Safi's stories.

I listened to the audio, and I didn't really understand the choice of accent for the characters.  They were all the same, so clearly that was done on purpose.  It just didn't seem necessary that the narration was done without an accent but the characters had an accent.

Review: Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very lovely and whimsical tale about a very strange girl named Alice.   I tried reading this a few months ago and decided it wasn't for me.  It must have just been the wrong book at the wrong time because I ended up loving this.  I am so glad I took a 2nd chance on this book.  I actually decided to give it a shot after hearing some great reviews on the next book, Whichwood, and that sounded right up my alley.  I picked up an ARC of Whichwood and I must say it is much darker.  I'm about halfway done with it, so look for a review of it soon.  Furthermore was so great.  Mafi's writing is just so beautiful in this even though it takes a little while to get used to the silly vibe of the world.  She does such a great job with the world building and the imagery.

Alice is from a magical land called Ferenwood, where many of the inhabitants possess some sort of magical talent. Alice has a talent, but she resents it and she is sure it can't possibly be the talent she is supposed to surrender to the elders upon turning 12. The children of Ferenwood receive a task inline with their talents, and Alice decides stubbornly I might add that her's is dancing. She quickly realizes it is not. Enter Oliver, a boy who was tasked a year earlier and has yet to complete his task and asks Alice to help him. Alice doesn't like Oliver, because he insulted her for her lack of color when they were younger. You see Furthermore isn't only magical, it is very colorful as well, and Alice is very colorless. Oliver has been tasked to find Alice's father, who has been missing for several years. Alice misses her father greatly, and after her embarrassing performance and horrible treatment by her mother since her father's disappearance she decides to help Oliver on his task. Oliver's talent of persuasion doesn't work on Alice, and he isn't often honest with her, making it very hard for her to trust him as he takes her on a journey through Furthermore to find her father. They travel through multiple villages each with their own kind of puzzle to figure out before they can pass on to the next place to get to her father. The people of Furthermore are dangerous and their journey is quite perilous. I found this middle grade read to be a bit dark while also being whimsical. I really ended up loving it and can't wait to read the next book.

Review: Firebolt by Adrienne Woods

Firebolt by Adrienne Woods
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out with alot of information dumping. It was a bit disjointed for my tastes, almost as if you were expected to know what was going on, and I felt like parts of the story were left out. There was alot of information thrown at the reader but none of it was complete. I am hoping that the plot and storytelling gets flushed out in the remaining books. There is a lot of good potential with the series. This book is OK, not bad but I had some problems with it.

The heroine, Elena is a damsel in distress for most of the book to the point of being irritating. She kind of snaps out of it by the end of the book, but I have a problem with weak, self-loathing main characters who can't handle life and the challenges thrown at them but then they suddenly save the day. She doesn't slowly develop into a strong person through out the story, she just wakes up one day after crying all the time and decides shes going to be the hero. There is also some really heavy, sappy insta-love. Not my favorite. Atleast it is held to just kissing.

OK enough about what I didn't like, the story was decent. It kept me entertained for the most part, I mean dragons, magic powers, quests, who wouldn't want to read about that. Elena finds out that dragons are real when she and her father, who have been on the run her entire life are attacked by dragons. Elena wakes up a few days later in Paegeia, injured only to find out that her father is dead and that he was a dragon himself. Elena has a "dark mark" which means she should be a Dragonian, but children of dragons don't usually become Dragonians (aka dragon riders) or have marks. The darker your mark the more powerful a person usually is. Elena makes quick friends with her dragon roommate Sammy and human roommate Becky. She quickly falls in love with a prince, and when evil forces steal an ancient artifact Elena finally steps up and decides she is the one who can find it.

This book was OK, I liked it enough to want to continue the series. I kind of feel like I know where the storyline is heading, but I'd like to see if my predictions are true.

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