Review: Treoir Dragon Chronicles of the Belador World: Book 4

Treoir Dragon Chronicles of the Belador World: Book 4 by Dianna Love
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

This is book 4 in the novella series and Daegan and the gang are still fighting frantically against the Imortik invasion.  This installment moves several of the storylines ahead and introduces a few new ones.  The players are all still searching for the grimoires for different means, but Daegan hasn't given up on his Beladors and he has formed a new bond with Casidhe.  As the clock runs out, the Beladors must also continue to fight off demons in Atlanta while also staying hidden to the humans who are anxious to eliminate anything supernatural.

Much like the previous installments, there is alot going on in this book.  This leaves you wanting the next book right away because this sets up so many events to come.  We learn a bit more about what all the characters are up both on both sides and get a glimpse of where things are heading as the series progresses.  I'm really enjoying this monthly release, but if you are more of a novel person, I'd wait for the bigger bind ups or until the series is finished later in 2021.

I'd like to see Cashidhe's character mature a bit as the series progresses.  She acts very immaturely in this book.  I thought we were past that in the last book, but I'm hoping events in the future books will be more than enough to teach her who she should actually trust going forward.  As for the other characters, I'm intrigued by Lanna and I'm excited we are getting to know her more and what is in store for her.  I'm really looking forward to seeing where the rest of this adventure takes us.

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Teaser: Reputation by Adriana Locke

 

  REPUTATION by Adriana Locke Release Date: January 5th Preorder: https://geni.us/Qm2tRj3   Add to Goodreads: https://geni.us/Ccy4   Sign up to receive an email when it's live: https://geni.us/AmazonAlert Or text the word Adriana to 21000 (US numbers only)  

   

  Blurb: Coy Mason is a jerk. If there is one truth that Bellamy Davenport knows, it’s that. Hands-down. (Well, that and the fact that she didn’t mean to hurt him. Physically. Coy can’t be hurt emotionally because he doesn’t have a heart.) Coy is not just the small-town, literal boy-next-door. He’s a heartbreaking, womanizing, mischief-making (and delicious) man and was all of those things well before he became a hot-shot country music sensation. He’s a dream standing in her doorway with no shirt, messy hair, and a ‘Do you wanna?’ grin. But he’s also a nightmare for her heart and she knows it. Their enemies-to-lovers relationship always ends the same way—heavy on the enemies, light on the lovers. So why is she still standing there?  

 

About the Author: 

USA Today and Washington Post bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own. She resides in the Midwest with her husband, sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather's nice and there's always a piece of candy in her pocket.

 

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Review: You Again by Debra Jo Immergut

You Again by Debra Jo Immergut
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  I did however listen to the final version of the audiobook.  All opinions are my own.

This is marketed as general and literary fiction but it definitely has a thriller vibe to it.  I do think the premise of this book is really interesting, and you aren't really sure if what is happening is real  or if a sci-fi event taking place or if the main character is having some sort of mid-life crisis.  That is where the thriller feeling comes from, you aren't sure if what what is happening between Abby and the mysterious appearances of "A" are really happening or if it is all in her head.  Pairing these sightings of her younger self aka A, with her son getting in trouble and joining an anti-fascist group, her marriage falling apart, and other things in her life spiraling out of control.  Abby continues to see her younger self and tries to warn her of events of the past so A can make different decisions, in turn A prods her to look at herself and asks if she is still making the art she once loved and examine her own happiness.  Both versions are forces to reflect on what is going on in their lives and Abby reflects on things in her past.

As a reflection of life in general and the decisions we make, the sacrifices we make and the things we may give up as we get older I think this hits the mark pretty well.  We all grow distant from friends and relationships evolve as we get older and may give up hobbies we were once passionate about because life gets in the way due to work or growing families.  Like Abby not everyone ends up as the brilliant, successful painter (or whatever your dream career is/was) because they need a steady income to pay the bills but hopefully we can work the things we are passionate into our lives to find fulfillment.  

Overall, I didn't like the disjointed nature of the book.  It is told mainly from Abby's perspective, but also has some mixed media entries from a physicist, the therapist she sees, and the neurologist Abby ends up seeing toward the end of the book.  The timeline is kind of all over the place which I found confusing.  Perhaps had I read the print book versus listening to the audiobook I would have been able to reference the dates associated with the entries and would have been able to keep the timeline straight.  Personally I'm not a fan of non-linear timelines, especially with so many perspectives.  I found it confusing and hard follow at times which took away from my enjoyment of the book.  

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Review: The Relationship Pact by Adriana Lock

The Relationship Pact by Adriana Locke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via the author in exchange for an honest review.

This is the final installment of The Kings of Football series and follows Hollis, one of 3 friends on the Braxton football team.  Much like book 2 in the series this doesn't take place at the university and doesn't center on sports much at all.  Hollis is in Savannah for a few days to receive an award for all of the charity work he does when he isn't playing football or going to class.  He doesn't want anyone to make a big deal about it, but it is the holidays and everyone has left school to be with their families.  Fortunately this little trip out of town has led Hollis to Larissa, who just happens to need a fake boyfriend for a few minutes to let her jerk of an ex know that she doesn't need him around anymore and she's doing just fine.  Larissa and Hollis hit it off in the few minutes they spend together, and they exchange numbers which works out because they both end up needing dates for events later in the week.  Neither of them start out wanting anything serious because they both know Hollis is only in town for a few days, and Larissa has had a run of bad luck with men.  Neither of them expected to find the person they'd been waiting for, but when baggage from the past threatens to push them apart are will flight or fight win the day?

I really loved the character development that we see in this.  While the relationship is fairly instant between Hollis and Larissa, they both have some baggage to work through especially when it comes to trusting people.  The chemistry and banter is there from the start and the easily fall in to something more than a "fake" relationship for a few days.  Hollis has quite the heart wrenching back story, so naturally he doesn't let people into his life easily because of it.  He has wall about a mile thick because of people letting him down in his past, but Larissa is the first person he's met in quite some time that he'd like to let into the fortress that he's built around him.  Larissa is awesome, she's been burnt by so many guys, but she hasn't let it ruin what she wants from love and relationships.  She hasn't given up hope, she knows she hasn't found the right guy yet.  I really loved them together and figuring things out.  I can't write this review without mentioning Grandma Judy.  I am a sucker for an amazing Grandma character and Judy was amazing!  The way she just adopted Hollis as her own and gave him such good advice!  And she was funny!  I really enjoyed getting to know these amazing characters and their stories.  You might want to have a box of tissues handy, there are some moments that may make you tear up.

This was a great end to the series and I really enjoyed reading the three standalone books by three different authors.  

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BLOG TOUR: The Relationship Pact by Adriana Locke

 

  THE RELATIONSHIP PACT by Adriana Locke Release Date: December 17th  

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  Blurb: How hard can it be? That was the question rolling around Larissa Mason’s mind just before she asked Hollis Hudson to be her fake boyfriend. It was only supposed to be for five minutes, after all. Granted, that was also before she felt his hand on the small of her back as he charmed the heck out of her family. She hadn’t heard his laugh yet either. And it was definitely before she saw the football god shirtless. Otherwise, she would’ve had an idea of just how hard some things could be. It turns out that pretending to be in love with a crazily handsome, somewhat enigmatic, and absolutely unforgettable tight end (that has an amazing tight end) is easy. Reminding herself that just because opposites attract doesn’t mean they’re forever is much harder. What they have isn’t love—it’s a relationship pact. Right?

      

  About the Author: USA Today and Washington Post bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own. She resides in the Midwest with her husband, sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather's nice and there's always a piece of candy in her pocket.

 

  Connect w/Adriana: 

Website: https://adrianalocke.com 

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Blog Tour: The Romantic Pact by Meghan Quinn

    

  THE ROMANTIC PACT by Meghan Quinn Release Date: December 10th  

To see what I thought you can check out my review here.

    

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Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54451134-the-romantic-pact  

    

  Blurb: 

I haven't seen her in three years. I haven't talked to her since the kiss. So why am I on a plane, flying across the world to spend a week with her in Germany? One word: Pops. My life’s a mess. My possible football career is hanging on by a thread. I'm driving the roads of Germany in honor of Pops with the one girl I can never have. And I’m sharing a bed with her, the girl I've measured everyone else up to, while desperately trying to not to touch her. We made a pact growing up, never to get romantic with each other - never fall in love. And I'm about to break that pact. For good.  

      

About Meghan Quinn: 

USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.

 

  Connect w/Meghan: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor 

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Review: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  I did however listen to the published version of the audiobook instead.  

The audio narration of this was wonderful!  I give the 4 narrators 5 stars in bringing the 4 perspectives to life in this wild fantasy.  I think in a book like this where there are so many characters and several perspectives in a book, having 4 distinct voices in your audiobook really helps the reader to distinguish which character you are listening.  The story relies on being told from each perspective so I think it was really important to get to hear each voice and I thought each of the narrators did a great job with their parts of the story.  I hope they are back for future installments!

This is a book for fantasy lovers.  If you aren't into complex fantasy, skip this.  This is also not for the faint of heart as there is quite a bit of violence both self inflicted and amongst the characters.   There is a lot going on and a lot to keep track of in this book.  There are several different mythologies and religious systems at play and they are fascinating.    This is told from the perspective of 4 characters each with their own roles to play in the story.  Instead of political unrest we have religious unrest as a a prophecy, solar eclipse, and winter solstice all intersect.  The magic system in this is really interesting as it is based in the mythology and seems to be individual.  Each of the players wants what is best for their people and struggles with doing the right thing given the situations they are put in.  This has everything you could want from an epic fantasy, an uprising, cool magic, prophecies, betrayal, interesting characters, and more.  Oh and did I mention some of the warriors can ride on giant crows?  

I really loved the world building and the character development that took place here.  Normally I don't like multi perspective books because it tends to take away from the characters, but because Xiala and Serapio spend their time together we get alot from the two of them.  I feel like Okoa was the least developed but he also got the least page time.  I feel like he will be a bigger player in the future as the series moves forward.  We also get quite a bit from Narumpa and how her progression through the ranks of the priesthood have put her where she is today.  We also get to see how her progressive views within her own religion may not exactly fit with her peers.  All four of them are interconnected in and Roanhorse does such a great job interweaving the characters.

I will say I wasn't a fan of the open ending.  It does set us up for there to be more in the series, but no one really enjoys a cliffhanger ending.  Several of the plotlines are left up in the air and the reader is left with lots of questions.  It only makes me want the next book more, but I do prefer my books to end with some sort of closure.

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