Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J. Maas

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

Paperback, 416 pages

 Published May 5th 2015

by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

****

This year I am challenging myself in many areas, with my reading I am stepping out of my comfort zone with genres I usually steer away from. YA fantasy is one such genre. When a reader friend raved about this series I knew it was where to start.

Feyre is a teen who supports her family or make that takes care of them, they fell from the high life and must fend for themselves. It’s a mistake that changes everything for Feyre. It’s a world divided between human and almost fairy talish (I think I made that word up). Some aspects reminded me of Beauty and the Beast.

I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this book. The characters were likeable, though I didn’t always like them. The plot complex and intriguing. I was right in the setting with all the mystical and fantasy elements.

Yea I will continue with this series, maybe not right away, the next book A Court of Mist and Fury comes in at 626 pages (over 200 pages more then Thorns and Roses).

Book from my personal library and part of my Read TBR challenge.

Excerpt: The Last Rodeo by Delores Fossen

The most important two words for this Wrangler’s Creek rodeo cowboy? I do...

 Lucian Granger isn’t winning any Mr. Cowboy Congeniality awards. Known in his small Texas town as “Lucifer” thanks to his surly nature and knack for scaring people away from getting too close, the handsome rancher has no trouble ignoring the gossip. But when he’s in danger of losing the land he’s put his blood, sweat and tears into maintaining, Lucian sets out to prove he’s a changed man—by claiming he’s about to settle down with his invaluable assistant, Karlee O’Malley.

 Their pending nuptials may be just for show, but from the moment they kiss, the proverbial fireworks start going off in his head—and in his heart. Before long, the man who’s usually as emotional as a brick wall is tired of pretending and wants to share a real future with Karlee. With his world suddenly turned upside down, Lucian will risk losing the business and the ranch if it means holding on to the one woman worth becoming a better man for.

Kindle Edition, 400 pages

 Published June 26th 2018 

by HQN Books

EXCERPT

All of his relationships soured.

Especially the one that had mattered most.

She examined his shoulder, and then looked up at him with those Irish-green eyes that could be either warm or cool depending on the situation. Right now, they were on the chillier end of the spectrum because she likely didn’t approve of the shoulder injury or how he was about to ask her to handle it.

“No hospital?” She didn’t wait for an answer because she knew it would be no. She huffed at his unspoken no. “This is risky, you know? Just because I did this for you once before and for my brothers too many times to count, it doesn’t mean it’s a smart thing. You need to see a doctor.”

“Just pop it back in,” Lucian growled.

Her eyes went from plain ordinary chill to an Arctic frost. Karlee frosted and frowned at him a few more seconds while she debated what to do.

“Hold him,” she said to Dylan, and Dylan hooked his arms around Lucian’s chest and waist. “What’s your safe word?” she asked, turning back to Lucian. “The one you use when you’re playing rough with your sweet things?”

What the hell did that have to do with this? But Lucian only managed to get out the “what” part of that before Karlee gave his arm a hard push, moving the shoulder back in place.

And causing him to curse every single word of pro­fanity in his entire vocabulary. He added some new ones, too, though they came out so garbled that it was like cuss stew.

Once he got past the eye-watering, excruciating pain, Lucian realized the reason Karlee had asked about the safe word was to distract him. It had worked, and his shoulder was already starting to feel a little better. The sharp stabbing was now more like a sharp toothache.

“All fixed up now?” Dylan asked him. “I think you just wanted to feel a woman’s touch.” He didn’t wait around for Lucian to glare at him for that bad joke. Dylan gave them a wave and headed for the barn where he’d likely been going when he saw Lucian take the throw from the gelding.

Lucian tried to put his shirt back on, but after a cou­ple of grunts from pain, Karlee helped with that, too, and then they started back toward the house. She also took hold of his wrist.

“No, I’m not giving you more of a woman’s touch. I’m checking your pulse in case what I just did ruptured a blood vessel,” she let him know. “If that happened, your pulse rate will change.”

Lucian figured she knew how to do that because she’d practically raised her three younger brothers. Being a big sister seemed to give her a special set of expertise like doctoring duties, ESP and a built-in lie de­tector. Those things were far superior to his big-brother talents.

As a big brother, he knew how to come up with bail money when needed. That was about it. Of course, being the oldest had also gotten him the title of head honcho/boss for Granger Enterprises after his parents had divorced and moved away from Wrangler’s Creek. That boss label included not only the ranch but the busi­nesses, as well.

So yeah, there was that.

Purchase Links 

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

USA Today bestselling author, Delores Fossen, has sold over 70 novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received the Booksellers’ Best Award, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award and was a finalist for the prestigious Rita ®. 

In addition, she’s had nearly a hundred short stories and articles published in national magazines.

 Connect with Delores 

Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Audio Review: The Outsider by Stephen King

An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories. 

An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

 As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.

 Audiobook, unabridged/eAudiobook,

18 hours plus

 Published May 22nd 2018 by Simon Schuster Audio

****

I jumped at the chance to listen to this one in audio format when I realized Will Patton was the reader. He was also the reader for the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and he did a great job. I’ve heard other readers mention this so I will also remind anyone interested in this book that you should read the Mr Mercedes series first or if you have no intention of reading that series then jump right in (and that's all I'll say about it).

This book comes in at over 18 hours long, equivalent to about 561 pages. The blurb above does a great job outlining what this book is about. I found this to be a easy read even for the amount of pages, the chapters are short and to the point, the characters are authentic, the plot intriguing and the conclusion fitting - even if a little rushed.

Though I found the characters authentic there were a number of them and at times I found myself a little overwhelmed, but that could just be the audio version and my mind not paying close enough attention.

I am not a fan of horror and books that are heavy into supernatural stuff, so I’ve always shied away from Stephen King but I’ve found some of his books appeal to me these days, they have the mystery and suspense I enjoy.

Though I recommend The Outsider be warned that there are some graphic crime scene parts and hard to read.

Audiobook through Scribd

Review: Three Days Missing by Kimberly Belle

When a child goes missing, two mothers’ lives collide in a shocking way in this suspenseful novel from the bestselling author of The Marriage Lie .

 It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: the call that comes in the middle of the night.

 When Kat Jenkins awakens to the police on her doorstep, her greatest fear is realized. Her nine-year-old son, Ethan, is missing—vanished from the cabin where he’d been on an overnight field trip with his class. Shocked and distraught, Kat rushes to the campground where he was last seen. But she’s too late; the authorities have returned from their search empty-handed after losing Ethan’s trail in the mountain forest.

 Another mother from the school, Stef Huntington, seems like she has it all: money, prominence in the community, a popular son and a loving husband. She hardly knows Kat, except for the vicious gossip that swirls around Kat’s traumatic past. But as the police investigation unfolds, Ethan’s disappearance will have earth-shattering consequences in Stef’s own life—and the paths of these two mothers are about to cross in ways no one could have anticipated.

 Racing against the clock, their desperate search for answers begins—one where the greatest danger could lie behind the everyday smiles of those they trust the most.

Kindle Edition, 352 pages

Expected publication: July 1st 2018 by Park Row

(first published June 26th 2018)

*****

I have been a fan of Kimberly Belle since her debut (see covers at end of post). Three Days Missing is her 4th novel and I loved it, read it in less then 3 days.

It’s every parents worst nightmare, especially when your child is in the care of those you trust. But when your fears are realized and it happens, you are pitted with total helplessness of not being able to fix it. This fast paced book is told from the POV of 2 women, women from different walks of life and how the story’s mesh is very interesting. It is one of those ‘just one more chapter’ books. Never a dull moment with twists and turns I didn’t see coming.

One of the things I love about Kimberly Belle’s books is that the story truly doesn’t end till the very last page, this one was perfect (yet again).

Three Days Missing has many layers, it’s more than a missing child, but I really can’t say what exactly and spoil the ride for someone else. Suffice to say, read this one, I highly recommend.

My thanks to Park Row for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for honest review.

 click on cover to take you to my review

Review: Chasing the Wind by C.C. Humphreys

Smuggler. Smoker. Aviatrix. Thief. The dynamic Roxy Loewen is all these things and more, in this riveting and gorgeous historical fiction novel for readers of Paula McLain, Roberta Rich, Kate Morton and Jacqueline Winspear.

 You should never fall in love with a flyer. You should only fall in love with flight.

That's what Roxy Loewen always thought, until she falls for fellow pilot Jocco Zomack as they run guns into Ethiopia. Jocco may be a godless commie, but his father is a leading art dealer and he's found the original of Bruegel's famous painting, the Fall of Icarus. The trouble is, it's in Spain, a country slipping fast into civil war. The money's better than good--if Roxy can just get the painting to Berlin and back out again before Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring and his Nazi pals get their hands on it . . .

But this is 1936, and Hitler's Olympics are in full swing. Not only that, but Göring has teamed up with Roxy's greatest enemy: Sydney Munroe, an American billionaire responsible for the death of her beloved dad seven years before. When the Nazis steal the painting, Roxy and Jocco decide that they are just going to have to steal it back.

What happens when Icarus flies too close to the sun? Roxy is going to find out. From African skies to a cellar in Madrid, from the shadow cast by the swastika to the world above the clouds on the Hindenburg's last voyage, in the end Roxy will have just two choices left--but only one bullet.

Publication Date: June 5, 2018

Paperback & eBook; 320 Pages

Genre: Historical/Women's Fiction/Mystery

****

I have never read any of C.C. Humphreys books previous to Chasing the Wind though it's not from lack of desire, I have a number sitting in my TBR pile patiently waiting. Those books take place in the 16th to 18th century and with Chasing the Wind the author has jumped to the 1930s in his latest.

Chasing the Wind is about a young woman named Roxy, I liked Roxy right away and found her to be an adventurous, spontaneous and rather unique pilot. She takes risks is compassionate and has a knack for getting into tight situations. This is the 1930’s between the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler, Germany is a beehive of activity, as is Spain and flying over the Atlantic.

The author kept me engaged with an interesting plot against the backdrop of real historical events with the appearances of well known figures. Humphrey’s knowledge of the time period is evident.

Chasing the Wind is a story full of adventure, suspicion, love and loss that actually had me feeling sorry for the bad guys (takes a special kinda author that can do that).  Definitely happy to have read this one and will confess that Vlad and Plague are sitting next in line to read.

My thanks to Amy at HFVBT for the invite to be part of this tour.

Readers Outside Canada: Amazon US

For Canadian readers: Amazon Canada | Chapters-Indigo | iBooks

Chris (C.C.) Humphreys was born in Toronto, lived till he was seven in Los Angeles, then grew up in the UK. All four grandparents were actors, and since his father was an actor as well, it was inevitable he would follow the bloodline. Chris has performed on stages from London’s West End to Hollywood in roles including Hamlet, Caleb the gladiator in NBC's AD-Anno Domini', Clive Parnell in ‘Coronation Street’, PC Richard Turnham in 'The Bill', the Immortal Graham Ashe in ‘Highlander’, Jack Absolute in 'The Rivals' (This performance led to him writing the Jack Absolute novels – and they say acting doesn’t pay!). Bizarrely, he was also the voice of Salem the cat in ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’.

 A playwright, fight choreographer and novelist, he has written eleven adult novels including ‘The French Executioner’, runner up for the CWA Steel Dagger for Thrillers; ‘The Jack Absolute Trilogy’; ‘A Place Called Armageddon’; ‘Shakespeare’s Rebel’ and the international bestseller, ‘Vlad – The Last Confession’. He also writes for young adults, with a trilogy called The Runestone Saga and ‘The Hunt of the Unicorn’. The sequel, ‘The Hunt of the Dragon’, was published Fall 2016. His recent novel ‘Plague’ won Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel in 2015. The sequel, ‘Fire’ is a thriller set during the Great Fire, published Summer 2016. Both novels spent five weeks in the top ten on 2016’s Globe and Mail and Toronto Star Bestseller lists.

 His new novel is ‘Chasing the Wind’ about 1930’s aviatrix – and thief! – Roxy Loewen, will be published in Canada and the USA in June 2018. Several of his novels are available as Audiobooks - read by himself! Find him here at Audible.

 He is translated into thirteen languages. In 2015 he earned his Masters in Fine Arts (Creative Writing) from the University of British Columbia. Chris now lives on Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada, with his wife, son and cat, Dickon (who keeps making it into his books!).

 For more information, please visit C.C. Humphrey's website.

You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

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Spotlight: Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante

Hardcover, 272 pages

 Expected publication: July 10th 2018

 by Scribner

A smart, haunting tale of psychological suspense from the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of Turn of Mind.

 Jane loses everything when her teenage daughter is killed in a senseless accident. Jane is devastated, but sometime later, she makes one tiny stab at a new life: she moves from San Francisco to the tiny seaside town of Half Moon Bay. She is inconsolable, and yet, as the months go by, she is able to cobble together some version of a job, of friends, of the possibility of peace.

 And then, children begin to disappear. And soon, Jane sees her own pain reflected in all the parents in the town. She wonders if she will be able to live through the aching loss, the fear all around her. But as the disappearances continue, she begins to see that what her neighbors are wondering is if it is Jane herself who has unleashed the horror of loss.

 Half Moon Bay is a chilling story about a mother haunted by her past. As Stewart O’Nan said about Turn of Mind—this novel “blindfolds the reader and spins her around.”

Review: The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1) by Melissa Albert

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

 Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

 Hardcover, 368 pages

Published January 30th 2018

by Flatiron Books

***

When I saw this book’s heavy presence on Instagram I caved to peer pressure, especially when I read the blurb. A book about fairy tales, the recluse and mysterious author and a place called Hinterland. The cover kinda clinched the deal.

This book grabbed me right away, with its lyrical telling I settled in for this adventure. The pacing was great, the characters likable (well sort of) and the story intriguing. But then I hit the half way point and bam! The writing changed, it was almost like another writer took over and everything changed. My interest weaned and disappointment took over when I lost interest in this story.
All of a sudden there were many new characters and a different vibe.

I realize that I am going against the flow and most loved it, I really wanted to and sadly I am not sure I will continue with this series.

Originally I was leaning at 2 stars but bumped up to 3 for the awesome beginning.

Review/Giveaway: The Underground River by Martha Conway

Set aboard a nineteenth century riverboat theater, this is the moving, page-turning story of a charmingly frank and naive seamstress who is blackmailed into saving runaways on the Underground Railroad, jeopardizing her freedom, her livelihood, and a new love. 

It’s 1838, and May Bedloe works as a seamstress for her cousin, the famous actress Comfort Vertue—until their steamboat sinks on the Ohio River. Though they both survive, both must find new employment. Comfort is hired to give lectures by noted abolitionist, Flora Howard, and May finds work on a small flatboat, Hugo and Helena’s Floating Theatre, as it cruises the border between the northern states and the southern slave-holding states.

May becomes indispensable to Hugo and his troupe, and all goes well until she sees her cousin again. Comfort and Mrs. Howard are also traveling down the Ohio River, speaking out against slavery at the many riverside towns. May owes Mrs. Howard a debt she cannot repay, and Mrs. Howard uses the opportunity to enlist May in her network of shadowy characters who ferry babies given up by their slave mothers across the river to freedom. Lying has never come easy to May, but now she is compelled to break the law, deceive all her new-found friends, and deflect the rising suspicions of Dr. Early who captures runaways and sells them back to their southern masters. 

As May’s secrets become more tangled and harder to keep, the Floating Theatre readies for its biggest performance yet. May’s predicament could mean doom for all her friends on board, including her beloved Hugo, unless she can figure out a way to trap those who know her best.

Publication Date: June 20, 2017

Touchstone

Hardcover, eBook, AudioBook

Genre: Historical Fiction

***

It’s 1838 when The Underground River begins and Mary tells her story. It’s also 10 years before the Civil War begins where the Ohio River is the boundary separating free blacks from those not.

Martha Conway has definitely done her homework and was able to place me right there, I could visual and feel the tension that existed between the north and south. The feel of the landscape was clear as well as the way of life. I knew nothing about River Theatres and I found that aspect quite interesting.

It isn’t until the last half of the book where most of the action takes place that is described in the synopsis above.  I kinda wish that started a little sooner and went on longer to really show this part of history.  I'm sure there are more people like me that have heard of the underground railway but never the river being used as paths to freedom.

Again the author definitely knows her history and I'll be checking out her other books.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Books-a-Million | Powell’s

Martha Conway grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, the sixth of seven daughters. Her first novel was nominated for an Edgar Award, and she has won several awards for her historical fiction, including an Independent Book Publishers Award and the North American Book Award for Historical Fiction. Her short fiction has been published in the Iowa Review, Massachusetts Review, Carolina Quarterly, Folio, Epoch, The Quarterly, and other journals. She has received a California Arts Council Fellowship for Creative Writing, and has reviewed books for the Iowa Review and the San Francisco Chronicle. She now lives in San Francisco, and is an instructor of creative writing for Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program and UC Berkeley Extension. She is the author of The Underground River.

For more information, please visit Martha Conway's website.

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

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Giveaway!

During the Blog Tour we will be giving away 5 custom-made coffee mugs!

To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below.
– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on July 26th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to US residents only.
– Only one entry per household.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen

The Underground River

Review: The Mayflower Bride (Daughters of the Mayflower #1) by Kimberley Woodhouse

A New Series Begins for Lovers of History, Adventure, Romance, and Ancestry

 Mary Chapman boards the Speedwell in 1620 as a Separatist seeking a better life in the New World. William Lytton embarks on the Mayflower as a carpenter looking for opportunities to succeed—and he may have found one when a man from the Virginia Company offers William a hefty sum to keep a stealth eye on company interests in the new colony. The season is far too late for good sailing and storms rage, but reaching land is no better as food is scarce and the people are weak. Will Mary survive to face the spring planting and unknown natives? Will William be branded a traitor and expelled?

 Join the adventure as the Daughters of the Mayflower series begins with The Mayflower Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse.

 More to come in the Daughters of the Mayflower series: The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y’Barbo - set 1725 New Orleans (coming April 2018) The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep - set 1760 during the French and Indian War (coming June 2018)

 Kindle, 256 pages

Published February 1st 2018

by Barbour Books

***

Daughters of the Mayflower series begins with The Mayflower Bride. Coming in at 256 pages it’s a relatively quick read chronicling the voyage in 1620 of the Mayflower to the New World.

I enjoyed the historical setting and was interested as these Separatists wanted to start over in a place where they have the freedom to worship as they saw fit. Most of this book takes place on the ship and it's where the real test of endurance takes place.  There are lots of themes to this book - survival, love and loss, faith and the day to day struggles on a voyage that brought heartache and tested so many.

While I didn’t always connect to the characters and would have loved a little more depth to the story The Mayflower Bride was an enjoyable read and a series I will continue to read.

Thanks to the publisher (via Netgalley) for an arc in exchange for honest review.

Spotlight/Giveaway: The King's Justice by E.M Powell

Publication Date: June 1, 2018

Thomas & Mercer

Paperback & eBook; 288 Pages

ISBN-978-1542046015

Series: Stanton and Barling #1

Genre: Historical Mystery

A murder that defies logic—and a killer on the loose.

England, 1176. Aelred Barling, esteemed clerk to the justices of King Henry II, is dispatched from the royal court with his young assistant, Hugo Stanton, to investigate a brutal murder in a village outside York. The case appears straightforward. A suspect is under lock and key in the local prison, and the angry villagers are demanding swift justice. But when more bodies are discovered, certainty turns to doubt—and amid the chaos it becomes clear that nobody is above suspicion. Facing growing unrest in the village and the fury of the lord of the manor, Stanton and Barling find themselves drawn into a mystery that defies logic, pursuing a killer who evades capture at every turn.

Can they solve the riddle of who is preying upon the villagers?

And can they do it without becoming prey themselves?

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound

E.M. Powell’s historical thriller Fifth Knight novels have been #1 Amazon and Bild bestsellers. The King’s Justice is the first novel in her new Stanton and Barling medieval murder mystery series. She is a contributing editor to International Thriller Writers’ The Big Thrill magazine, blogs for English Historical Fiction Authors and is the social media manager for the Historical Novel Society. Born and raised in the Republic of Ireland into the family of Michael Collins (the legendary revolutionary and founder of the Irish Free State), she now lives in North-West England with her husband, daughter and a Facebook-friendly dog.

Find out more by visiting www.empowell.com.

You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

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Giveaway

During the Blog Tour we will be giving away 6 paperback copies of The King's Justice!

To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules
– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on July 13th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.
– Only one entry per household.
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 – Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

  The King's Justice