ARC Review: In Place of Never

Can the truth set her free?…

A part of Mercy died the summer her sister tragically drowned. Now Mercy has a chance to discover if Faith’s death was an accident—or murder.  Her first step is to confront the lead suspects: a band of traveling gypsies—the last people who saw her sister alive. But Mercy finds an unexpected ally in Cross, the soulful musician in their ranks. He’s a kindred spirit, someone who sees into her heart for the first time in, well, forever. Yet stirring up the past puts Mercy in danger…

Suddenly someone is shadowing Mercy’s every move, making her even more determined to uncover the facts. With Cross by her side, she is ready to face it all, even if that means opening up to him, knowing he may one day leave her. What she discovers is a truth that rocks the foundation of her small river town—and a love worth risking everything for….

I received a free copy via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was set three years after Faith’s death, it showed how much her death had affected her family in different ways. How they were still trying to find themselves without her. How to be a family again when members are gone forever.

Mercy was a good main character, she thought about her sister a lot and it was good to learn about what happened this way. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a sister who was also your best friend. It is a shame she shut Pru out but I was glad they finally started talking again.

I loved the path this story took, her path to find the truth and who she really is. She stuck up for what and who she believes in. There was more to the story than Mercy’s quest, there was depth to it, different layers, made it feel more real.

Cross was a good love interest and a great character. I was rooting for him all the way, not just to get the girl but to succeed in his dreams.

I was a big fan of how there was hints at different ways for Faith’s death, but it all made sense and became cleat in the end.

I will read more by this author the writing style was excellent.

4 out of 5 stars.

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ARC Review: Red Queen

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart …

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have literally finished this book less than 10minutes ago and I am still reeling from it. I wanted to get this review done before I forget how I feeling now.

It started out fine but nothing amazing, just felt like any other YA fantasy book, which is fine since I do love those. But it just got better and better.

The characters were good, although at times I did find myself getting confused between the two princes, they were interchangeable at times in my head, which was a little off putting. I like characters that have completely different personalities.

The distinguishing features between the reds and the silvers were very interesting to me. I was always wanting more information.

Mare was a strong and loyal character, she put herself through hell for her friends and family. I was rooting for her to do the best she could even though everything was stacked against her.

Cal had a bit of a hot and cold personality, which did annoy me slightly, there was not quite enough evidence of his badness for me.

Maven, I loved, he is the Prince you want as next king, a friend to all and just the perfect guy. Some of his choices did shock me though.

I am now struggling to find things to say without giving everything away. This book blew me away at the end, everything I thought was correct was tipped and I didn’t even see it coming. I cannot wait for the next book. I will be buying at soon as I can.

4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for fans of

 

ARC Review: Thief of Lies

Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound.

Jumping into some of the world’s most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik’s world and her own, before both are destroyed.

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

First of all I LOVE this cover, it just radiates magic and it’s set in a library. The idea of a library jumper enticed me from the very start. It’s one of these things that I wish I could do. This lived up to expectations, plenty of time was spent in libraries, which I loved.

The fantasy elements were well executed, very cleverly written and fun to read about. I love a mystery and trying to work them out, but there were just a few too many twists in this book for me. One was at least a little resolved then a brand new revelation that changed everything would come to light. Yes, it’s good it’s complex and I didn’t see most of it coming but it was a little much. More clues to some of the revelations would have been good.

Gia is a strong character and adepts well. maybe a little too well. She is loyal and adepts well since some of her new powers must have been hard to handle.

Arik sounded lovely, not just gorgeous, but a decent person, if not a bit moody.

I was getting a little sick of them saying “Just Friends” to each other, it happened at least six times, if it happened much more I was going to be screaming at the book.

There were a lot of characters in this book but I found it easy to keep them all straight, which is a credit to the author. I think I only got mixed up once and I owe that to tiredness. They all have separate personalities and quirks that made them identifiable.

Overall this is a fantastic book and I am realy looking forward to reading the next one.

4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for people who like:

My new blog

I have started a new blog on animals, just a fun little blog with posts showing the great creatures of the earth. Here’s the link if you fancy checking it out. https://animalshowoffblog.wordpress.com/

Did You Know It Was Based On A Book? : Legally Blonde

I’m currently holed up in my flat with a very bad cough and cold. So when I turned on Netflix this morning to find a feel good film. I saw Legally Blonde and I loved it as a teenager so decided to pop it on. When the titles were running I noticed that it was based on a book. I never noticed it before, so I thought I would share it with you.  Just in case there are any legally blonde fans out there that like me were blissfully unaware of this fact.

Not really my kind of book. But I like knowing which books are based on films, not sure why, but hey that’s me.

ARC Review: Lions in the Garden

Prague, 1610

Ludmila Novakova–Mila–has barely set foot outside Prague Castle in her seventeen years. But with the choice between braving the bandits and wolves of Bohemia’s uneasy roads or being married off to a disgusting old baron, she’s taken what she can carry and fled.

Escape won’t be easy. Even Mila has heard the rumors of a rebellion coming against the court. The peasants are hungry. The king hasn’t been seen in months. Mila’s father, the High Chancellor, is well known and well hated.

But Mila can’t sit behind a stone wall and let fear force her into a life of silk gowns and certain misery. Her mother’s death has taught her that much. She has one ally: Marc, the son of the blacksmith. A commoner, a Protestant–and perhaps a traitor, too. But the farther she gets from the castle, the more lies she uncovers, unraveling everything she thought she knew. And the harder it is to tell friend from enemy–and wrong from right . . .

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A historical fiction novel with a great premise. I did not know much about the history of this time before reading it, but after reading this great book, but it really intrigued me. I am not a big fan when the main theme is romance so I was glad that there were plenty of other themes running through the book. But there was a enough romance for romance fans.

I loved the action and all the plotting and scheming. The characters were great, really in depth, even found myself feeling for some of the smaller characters. Because of this book I would be interested in reading more books set in this time.

Often when books deal with religion, I find that it can be preachy, samey or just feels like a sermon. But everything about religion in this book was fact/ history, no long sermons, it was all integral to the plot.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series and I think it will be even more up my allet with it being more focused on rebellion, (I hope).

4 out of 5 stars.

It’s out on the 1st of March. Want to pre-buy you’re copy, click here.

Underestimating Harry

Beware spoilers of all the Harry Potter books ahead.

So in most of the books, all the adults good and bad underestimate Harry, time and time again. They think he is just a child and that they know much more than him. The only ones that don’t underestimate him are Dumbledore and Sirius.

Sirius wants his friend James back, and possibly remembers all the stuff they got up to when at Hogwarts themselves. He sees Harry as more a friend than someone still new to magic.

Dumbledore see the good in everyone and only really stops Harry from doing things because he wants Harry to have a proper childhood.

Everyone else just acts like he doesn’t know enough to be of use, most do it out of love and I suppose that kids generally could not help out most of the situations. BUt he kept proving himself from a young age and they still weren’t taking him seriously. Voldemort severely underestimates him time and time again, not just for his magic skills but his guile, loyalty and sheer luck.

But in the 7th book, Bellatrix gets her wand stolen by Harry. Then informs Gringotts that imposters might be arriving (although that is only speculated at). So people are finally starting to Harry seriously , or is it just because Hermione was there, people stopped underestimating her very quickly. Or was Bellatrix just covering all bases, making sure nothing went wrong. Or did Snape (or someone else) tell the death eaters that Hermione, Harry and Ron have made polyjuice potion. Since it takes a month to brew, it must have taken some time to sort out all the details.  Snape suspected them, and Dumble doesn’t miss much so he probably told them.

My point is that maybe just maybe near the end people were finally taking him seriously. By everyone except Voldemort of course, people kept offering to help him but he would not listen to them, underestimating Harry cost Voldemort his life.

Treasure Hunt 2016: January Update

So I know this is a little late but hey better late than never. So here’s the books I read in January for the treasure hunt challenge and which topics they were used for. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/17900507-treasure-hunt-2016

This was used for the Vampire theme. Pretty good, will probably read the second one in the series.

Pretty obviously this one was used for the angel theme. This book was pretty good, not sure I will read the next one though.

This one is under the historical theme. I still need to review this one, it’s out in March. I really enjoyed this book.

This book was under the purple cover topic. It was a really interesting fantasy read and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

This book was used for the sword category. I enjoyed this middle grade time travel book. It was a charming read.

This book was used for the book category. I really enjoyed this unique book, it was a refreshing read.

I used this one the no prophecy category. This was a reread for me, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around.

I used this one for the words in the title: Frost, it was a good interesting read, although it did have a few little flaws that bugged me a little.

I used this one for the novella category. Wasn’t sure about this book.

So that’s all the update for this month. Hows everyone else’s challenges going?

Reading Around The World: England

This is a new series of posts I have been working on for quite a while. Every book I have read for the last year or so, has carefully been noted in a notebooks and where it was set. I have split the UK into it’s four countries and the US into it’s states since there are lots of books in the genres I read in these settings. England is the first one that has enough for me to do a post on, I am hoping eventually to get as many done as possible, but there are only so many books I can possibly read, and I want to only include books I have partially or fully read.

I came up with this idea whilst looking for books in set in certain places, this way if you really like a setting I post about or need it for a challenge then there’s numerous books to choose from.

Clicking on a books picture will open a new tab of it’s goodreads page, if there is a review by me, I will put a link at the end of the description.  Now in no particular order (well in reality it’s the order I read them in but hey).

This book is mainly set in Oxford and switches timelines, I found it interesting but a little long winded. Good book if you enjoy a thriller. Review

Honestly I cannot remember exactly where this was set, except for it not being very clear, it took me ages to work it was England and not the USA. I remember this being good, but could have been better, there were a few flaws in my opinion but still worth the read. Review

This is by one of my favourite authors, I think three of her books are sneaking their way on to this list. This is set in the time of the plague, (If I remember correctly), although it doesn’t feature heavily. This is set in a number of locations in England. If you like historical books is one to check out. Review

This was another historical fiction book, but is aimed at young adults. It was fun and exciting. Mainly set in London. Review

Another book set in the times of the plague, really interesting book. The first book of Karen Maitlands I read, and the covers are gorgeous. Seems I read this book before I started my blog.

As with all her books this has an air of the paranormal twisted in with the history. This one was really good. Once again I read this before I started my blog and no review.

I love this sort of book, although this one did fall a little short for, still worth the read though. I loved the setting, Castaway House sounded gorgeous. I love books that are set in old houses. Review

Only 5% of this book is set in England, but still an amazing book and worth the mention. Review

I still haven’t finished this book although I started it a while ago, it’s got a peculiar writing style and I just haven’t managed to finish it.

This book was not what I expected and I loved it. It really showed how bad life can get when a loved one is lost. It really was an eye opener and there were many twists I never saw coming. Review.

I haven’t finished this book either but not because I am not enjoying it, just because I had lost it, but since I have just moved house, I hope to finish it sometime soon, it’s a historical novel.

This is an interesting murder mystery, that is set just before Jack the ripper. I found it very interesting and although you know who the murderer is fairly early on, there is still plenty of mystery. Review

Another I still need to finish, it reminded me of the Gallagher Girls series, although this is about murder rather than spies.

I did not enjoy this book at all, but I have a friend who did enjoy this, but I haven’t reviewed it, so no review to link too.

A lot of this book was set in the past, but I pretty sure most of it was still in England. A nice middle grade read. Review.

I just finished this book and loved it!!!! Haven’t written my review yet, should be up in a few days but if you like magic you should like this fantastic book. It does jump all over the world but the main part takes place in England, although like the Harry Potter world, it’s a hidden place.

This book is mainly set in Cornwall, although a few parts are in London, it jumps from the late 1960’s to present times. I am currently reading, almost finished and loving it. Great for fans of Kate Morton.

That’s all for this one, but hopefully these will become more regular and with different countries. Let me know if you have read, or found new books you fancy from this post.

Happy Reading

Emma

Hiatus.

I am moving house tomorrow and might no have internet for a few weeks, so I won’t be posting anything. But I wills till be reading, so hopefully will have some reviews to write up when I get back to the modern world. I hate leaving my blog blank, even when I go on holiday I usually schedule posts so there’s still something, but this was unexpected, we are start to move in about 18 hours and we are not fully packed yet so this is the best I can do. Happy reading everyone 🙂