This is the first book in a new series by Jessie Donovan. Set here in our time briefly, it moves back in time to 1890s London. Vampires, shifters, and fae are common in both times, and our heroine, Yesenia Vale, is a Time Bender, but she is unaware that she holds magic at all. Thrust back in time, she meets a Dark Lord of London (there are several) Leopold Yates. Leo is a vampire. This is their story. It is well written with good characters. Jessie Donovan gives us quite a bit of backstory, and the history of this different timeline from what we know. This book also sets up the second book. I enjoyed reading this ARC and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I was given an ARC of this book by the author through BookFunnel, and this is my honest opinion.
This is the first book in the series It’s Raining Royals, but I read it third, after The Bastard Prince and The Beast Prince which are books 2 and 3. I enjoyed this book so much. This one especially can be read as a stand-alone, but it sets up the story for books 2 and 3. The Boss Prince is Max Delaroche, who at the start of the story is given a quest, to look for a missing key that will be necessary to save his family’s kingdom. To assist him in finding this key, he is partnered with a woman whom he’s never met- Lucie Laborde. The circumstances of their meeting are funny, setting the tone for the rest of the book. The author, Alix Nichols, has written a smart, interesting mystery-romance. Her characters are human, flawed, and very likeable. Of the three books in this series that she’s written so far, this one is my favorite, but I did enjoy all of them. Well written, with no obvious grammatical errors, the story is worth reading. Hopefully book 4 will be out soon, as the overall story, the mystery, gets into your brain, and the reader wants to know what happens next. I was given an ARC of the book through BookSirens and this is my honest opinion.
I really enjoyed this final book of the series, which features the last Beckett cousin, Nash, and his “date” Michelle (Chelle) Finch. This is a fun book, with Nash really starting out as a “mansplainer” to everyone he meets. And Chelle is the unexpected woman whom he finds before his turn at winning a bet between him and his two cousins. For me the book was a bit slow in the middle, but I laughed out loud at some of the situations the main characters found themselves in. Avery Flynn is one of my favorite authors, and this is a worthy effort for her in finishing this series-but she left enough of the story open that there could be additional books about the other cousins. Mansplainer can be read as a stand-alone, but for the best experience, read the prior two books. I was given this book by the author through Prolific Works, and this is my honest opinion.
This is the first book that I’ve read in this larger world series by Anna Durand. Notorious in a Kilt is Book 5, so this short book gives the back story for Dr. Iain MacTaggart and Rae Evehart. The story was well-written, with no grammatical errors that I could see, but took a long time to get to the point of the story. But it did not explain why Iain has the label of Notorious. If you haven’t started the series, this would be a good place to start, which is why I wanted to read this before the others. I am looking forward to reading the rest of Iain and Rae’s story. I was given an ARC of this book from the author through Booksprout and this is my honest opinion.
I have to say that I miss the Dragon Kings having stories located on Earth. The challenges that were presented here were mostly believable; at least if you believed in dragons. On Zora, and Earth clone, I know that they could be real, but more than likely not. So, my review is for the story between Shaw, a Dragon King, and Nia who is a courtesan for the ruler “the Divine”. They meet in the city that belongs to “the Divine” because Shaw and Merrill, another King, have been sent to gather information on this person, and the inhabitants of the city. Shaw becomes enamored of the beautiful Nia, and because of Shaw, she starts to question her own actions in acting on behalf of “the Divine”. The story takes a while to move to the exciting ending, with bits of what is happening with Merrill, and with the Dragon part of Zora. Donna Grant gives us just a glimpse of what is going on with Con and his fellow Dragon Kings, Rhi, and the dragons who have made Zora their home. Wish that more had been written on this part- for as important a character as Constantine is, it seems that his intelligence and abilities as King of Dragon Kings isn’t useful on Zora. The interplay between the Dragon Kings is what kept me involved and interested in prior books.
This book is well written, and the two main characters are fairly well developed. The story that takes place in the city is interesting, if a bit long. The ending is definitely a 5-star ending. But the overall book only deserves 4 stars- scenes of personal interaction are great but don’t make the slower parts deserving of more stars. Donna Grant is a wonderful writer, who writes interesting books. She continues to give readers reasons to enjoy her books. This book is interesting, but the first half or so seemed to take forever to read. A new reader should read the prior books in this part of the series- Dragon Kings- so that they understand the world it’s written in.
I did receive an ARC of the book from the author through NetGalley, and this is my honest opinion.
This is book three in the It’s Raining Royals series, and the tag for the title says romance with humor and suspense. This book may have the romance and suspense, but very little humor. The main male character, Theo-a crown prince, has had a very rough early childhood, and even now isn’t a happy person. The underlying premise for the series is that each person in the family must find a part of a puzzle to solve a secret. So, it’s Theo the third brother’s time to search. He seeks out Elise, a beautiful woman to assist him. Theo’s character is very controlled, and he stays out of the public eye. Elise’s brother has ties to the Russian mob. The two of them will have to learn how to work together for Theo to find his secret. This book was well written with good character development. I was invested in finding out how these two characters would become the couple I would expect after reading the first two books. Alix Nichols did a good job of telling their stories and gives the readers another part of a much larger puzzle. I am looking forward to book 4 in the series. I was given a copy of the book by BookSirens to read, and this is my honest opinion.
I had a bit of a hard time with the start of this book. Mary Kelley to me came across as a bit spoiled and whiney. As I got further into the story, she became more tolerable. The story has her as and IT director, and she and her co-worker and friend are sent to Ireland to work on a project for their company. The two get a flat to share and start going out in the evenings. While at a pub, Mary meets Sean Calhoun. The two seem to form a connection, but of course nothing is as it seems. For me the story got better at about the halfway point. The two main characters didn’t change much, but the story became more interesting, and the ending was very good. No grammatical errors, and well written, if you like a ghost or two in your reading, this book might be good for you. I probably will read the second book, and hope that the 2 main characters have grown up by then. I was given and ARC of the book by BookSirens, and this is my honest opinion.
I originally read this in May 2019, and only rated it 4 stars. This is an updated re-release by Donna Grant, and I’ve enjoyed it more this time around. I cannot pick out where changes were made, which is a good thing. The story centers on Leoma and Braith, who meet while trying to find a witch. Most witches are evil, but not all, and Leoma can pick out a witch easily. The story flows, and for our 2 hunters they have a book about them. But the larger story continues with Everwylde, book 2 in the series. Characters are well-developed and the plot is interesting. I have a copy of book 1 but received a new copy from the author. This is my honest opinion.
Obviously, set in contemporary Edinburgh, I enjoyed the descriptions of Edinburg on Hogmanay (New Year’s for us in the US) which proved very interesting. The author describes what you’d be seeing if you were there through the thoughts of the main character Steph. She’s going through a very difficult time and is single for the first time since high school. With her friend, they travel through the sights and sounds of Edinburgh, and Steph meets another single who’s alone. Steph and Jamie spend the entire night together, but Jamie has to leave quickly in the morning before they exchange their last names or contact information. A large part of the book is dealing with Steph trying to find him. I received this book through NetGalley, and this is my honest opinion.
Please note that this is book 2 in the series! If you read this like I did, without reading Book 1, you will be confused. So many characters that are important to the story with so many challenges for them. I struggled through about the first third of the book before I figured out(sorta) what was going on. Once I passed that point, the book became easier and more enjoyable to read. I gave it 4 stars for having so many characters that keeping them separate and understanding what was going on was a challenge. The actual writing and punctuation were good. As part of an even larger series, I would say read the prior books for the best reading experience. I was given this book from the author through Booksprout, and this is my honest opinion.
This, that, and the other-my thoughts 