Friday, March 31, 2017

The Fire Child ~ S.K. Tremayne (earc) review [@GrandCentral @HarperCollinsUK]

The Fire Child
Grand Central Publishing
March 28, 2017
400 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon


THE PERFECT HUSBAND. THE PERFECT STEPSON. THE PERFECT LIE?

When Rachel marries dark, handsome David, everything seems to fall into place. Swept from single life in London to the beautiful Carnhallow House in Cornwall, she gains wealth, love, and an affectionate stepson, Jamie.

But then Jamie's behavior changes, and Rachel's perfect life begins to unravel. He makes disturbing predictions, claiming to be haunted by the specter of his late mother - David's previous wife. Is this Jamie's way of punishing Rachel, or is he far more traumatized than she thought?

As Rachel starts digging into the past, she begins to grow suspicious of her husband. Why is he so reluctant to discuss Jamie's outbursts? And what exactly happened to cause his ex-wife's untimely death, less than two years ago? As summer slips away and December looms, Rachel begins to fear there might be truth in Jamie's words:

"You will be dead by Christmas."((I changed the font color, but you can still highlight it and read it!)

I loved that The Fire Child starts at '178 Days Before Christmas' and each chapter tells readers how many days before Christmas it is. (That last bit of the book description doesn't actually show up in the book until more than one hundred and thirty pages in and I had forgotten it by the time I began reading, That's also why I semi-hid it above.) It builds the tension really well without actually telling you, right away, why or what. You know something is approaching at Christmas, but not what.

Contrasting that countdown with Rachel's joy over her new marriage, her arrival at Carnhallow, and trying to fit in with her husband, her stepson and her mother-in-law keeps you on edge, just a bit. You want to revel in the happy times, in her new life and how much of an improvement it seems to be for her . . . but you know something's coming. (And not only because I read The Ice Twins and know this isn't going to be a fairy tale.)

The way things unfolded, with both what took place and what we learned of the characters' pasts really kept me guessing at not only who they really were and what had really happened, but completely unsure how I felt about them. None of the characters in this book (not even eight-year-old Jamie) feel like someone you can trust or rely on. I wanted them to find their happily-ever-after, yet I also wanted them far, far away from each other. Sometimes at the same time. It was confusing, unsettling, tense and incredibly readable.

I have read a lot of books that mention being reminiscent of or having the same feel as Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca but this title, that has no mention of it, is the one that most brought the feeling of the classic to mind. The young woman marrying the rich, older man after a whirlwind courtship, then being taken to his grand but isolated home where his first wife died, of course sounds similar but it was more Rachel's feelings, how Nina seemed to be always there, but never a full truth of the whole story and that feeling of something that should - or could - be paradise but was somehow tainted.

I am still not quite sure we got all of the answers or that everything was explained quite as much as I hoped but the ending was very satisfying. It was both what I had hoped for earlier in the book, but vastly different in how it was achieved and why it worked. The characters were full of surprises, the story was tension filled and had so many twists and turns and conflicting emotions; it made for a great read. I loved The Ice Twins (review) and now The Fire Child, too.









digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Book Trailer Friday [@FaberChildrens @ChloeDaykin]

The trailer I want to feature this week is for Fish Boy by Chloe Daykin and illustrated by Richard Jones:



Fish Boy
Faber & Faber
March 02, 2017
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon UK

People call me Fish Boy. My skin goes up and down like the waves. My mind goes in and out like the sea. They say I've always got my mouth open, that I ask too many questions. But what's wrong with that?

Billy's got a lot on his mind - that he'd rather not think or talk about. So he watches David Attenborough, because Sir David's asked all the questions and got all the answers, and swims in the sea, just letting his mind drift . . .

So when new boy and nature fan Patrick Green starts at school with 'fingers like steel, strength of a bear' and a mackerel swims up to Billy's face, blows bubbles into his Vista Clear mask goggles and says: 'Fish Boy', Billy knows he can't keep it secret, because . . . a crazy talking mackerel changes EVERYTHING.

Shimmering with almost-magic and adventure, this is an exceptional read.

Accompanied by gorgeous illustrations by Richard Jones.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Waiting On Wednesday [@LanaPopovicLit @epicreads @KatherineTegen @KTegenBooks]

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

My pick for this week:



WICKED LIKE A WILDFLOWER (Hibiscus Daughter #1)  by Lana Popović

“Lush. Delicious. Bewildering. And darkly magical. Popovic has created a world that you tumble into from the very first words and wish you could stay in forever.” —Evelyn Skye, author of The Crown's Game

“Wicked Like a Wildfire was like devouring a succulent fairy fruit—it will rob your time, settle into your dreams, and leave you starving for more.” —Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen

Fans of Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo will be bewitched by Lana Popovic's debut YA fantasy novel about a bargain that binds the fates—and hearts—of twin sisters to a force larger than life.

All the women in Iris and Malina’s family have the unique magical ability or “gleam” to manipulate beauty. Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns her kaleidoscope visions into glasswork, while Malina interprets moods as music. But their mother has strict rules to keep their gifts a secret, even in their secluded sea-side town. Iris and Malina are not allowed to share their magic with anyone, and above all, they are forbidden from falling in love.

But when their mother is mysteriously attacked, the sisters will have to unearth the truth behind the quiet lives their mother has built for them. They will discover a wicked curse that haunts their family line—but will they find that the very magic that bonds them together is destined to tear them apart forever?

Wicked Like a Wildfire is the first in a two-book series. Readers will be rapt with anticipation for the sequel.



published August 15th by Katherine Tegen Books

add to your Goodreads shelf // pre-order from Book Depo // or Amazon


Why?

I love books about sisters, maybe especially twin sisters; I love books about secret magic, maybe especially secret family magic*. That this book combines all of that with a sense of danger and a possible threat to the sisters (after a real threat to their mother) has me all the more excited to read it.

(*The magic in Mim and her mother in The Secret of a Heart Note was a great start to that book but this sounds darker and less sweet so I'm equally curious to read about it!)

Plus, I adore the title and series name, both.

All of the elements of what this book sounds like it's about, the cover, the title, it all makes me really eager to read Wicked Like a Wildflower!



That's my pick for this week, what's yours? Tell me in the comments and/or link me to your own post!

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Almost Adulting ~ Arden Rose review [@harperteen @ardenrose]

Almost Adulting: All You Need to Know to Get It Together (Sort Of)
Harper Collins
March 28, 2017
208 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon


For fans of Grace Helbig and Alexa Chung comes a fresh, hilarious guide to growing up your way from social media influencer and lifestyle vlogger Arden Rose.

In Almost Adulting—perfect for budding adults, failing adults, and eaters of microwave mug brownies—Arden tells you how to survive your future adulthood. Topics include:

-Making internet friends who are cool and not murderers

-Flirting with someone in a way to make them think you are cool and not a murderer

-Being in an actual relationship where you talk about your feelings in a healthy manner??? To the other person???????

-Eating enough protein

-Assembling a somewhat acceptable adult wardrobe when you have zero dollars

-Going on adventures without starting to smell

-How sex is supposed to feel, but, like, actually though

By the end of the book—a mash-up of essays, lists, and artwork—you'll have learned not only how to dress yourself, how to travel alone, how to talk to strangers online, and how to date strangers (in PERSON!), but also how to pass as a real, functioning, appropriately socialized adult


It feels like a lot of Arden Rose's Almost Adulting is about doing what's best for you, really being you but in a responsible way where you still pay your traffic tickets and eat more than Oreos. The book covers things from decorating your apartment to online dating to sex and more.

The strongest parts of this book the beginning and the end where the author is not only helping readers to understand what is a smart way of doing something (keeping your apartment clean, for example) but also providing some ways of actually accomplishing that (change your sheets x often, etc). These more specific ideas keep Almost Adulting from just being another person/book/thing/whatever telling you what you should be doing. (Most who aren't cleaning enough or buying the right things at the store aren't not doing it simply because no one's ever suggested they should. It's about knowing how to go about it.)

The middle of the book seems to lose some of these more specific, helpful bits and feels more specific to the author's life. It focuses more on Arden Rose's life: meeting her boyfriend, the beginnings of their relationship and doesn't seem to cover as much or advise as broadly.

I do think that Almost Adulting has a certain kind of adult (or almost adult) in mind and is geared more towards that person. It seems to best fit someone who had/has supportive parents, who was - at least - relatively financially secure, who is employed, and generally healthy (both physically and mentally). It is still relevant to others but seems to apply most to someone like that. (The author does discuss her mental health and the issues she's faced but sentences like, "Ir's time to understand that you determine yow your body and mind operate at any given time based on what you're fueling it with." [pg 17] are why I say this.)

Almost Adulting covers things you might, technically, already know (eat well, keep things clean, etc) but does a nice job giving some specific ideas for everything from decorating your apartment to finding the right birth control. Whether you're familiar with Arden Rose from YouTube or not (I was not), if you're looking to adult (or just know how), you might want to check out Almost Adulting: All You Need to Know to Get it Together (Sort Of).

(Also? Roasted Brussels Sprouts really are very good, I definitely agree.)








finished copy received, for review, from publisher

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors to Meet


This week's Ten:
Top 10 Authors I Want to Meet 



 Alyxandra Harvey

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Jeff Zentner

Anna-Marie McLemore

Cat Patrick

Suzanne Young

Annabel Pitcher

Lily Anderson

Mindy McGinnis

& 10 
is reserved for all of those authors I think of just as soon as I finish making this list and realize how much I wanted them included (I'm already at about five)!!


This list is, probably, primarily based on the books these authors have written . . .




Please leave a comment and let me know what authors you're dying to meet - or the ones you can't believe you have met!

Monday, March 27, 2017

A Crown of Wishes ~ Roshani Chokshi (earc) review [@NotRashKnee @StMartinsPress]

A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen #2)
St Martin's Griffin
March 28, 2017
352 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

Gauri, the princess of Bharata, has been taken as a prisoner of war by her kingdom’s enemies. Faced with a future of exile and scorn, Gauri has nothing left to lose. Hope unexpectedly comes in the form of Vikram, the cunning prince of a neighboring land and her sworn enemy kingdom. Unsatisfied with becoming a mere puppet king, Vikram offers Gauri a chance to win back her kingdom in exchange for her battle prowess. Together, they’ll have to set aside their differences and team up to win the Tournament of Wishes—a competition held in a mythical city where the Lord of Wealth promises a wish to the victor.

Reaching the tournament is just the beginning. Once they arrive, danger takes on new shapes: poisonous courtesans and mischievous story birds, a feast of fears and twisted fairy revels.

Every which way they turn new trials will test their wit and strength. But what Gauri and Vikram will soon discover is that there’s nothing more dangerous than what they most desire.
A Crown of Wishes is The Star-Touched Queen #2 but it is not exactly a sequel to The Star-Touched Queen. The world is the same and Gauri, like Maya, is from Bharata and like Maya was the Raja's daughter, Gauri is a princess, too. This novel focuses on an eighteen-year-old Gauri, though. there are a few glimpses into and mentions of what happened in The Star-Touched Queen but mostly this is a tale about Gauri - and Vikram.

I loved the world created - or, perhaps, expanded on - in A Crown of Wishes. There is that same magic and fantasy that was introduced in The Star-Touched Queen but now we see different parts and possibilities of it, and through different eyes.

Author Roshani Chokshi has brilliant writing again and descriptions that are unexpected but still help readers to perfectly envision or understand a feeling, character, item, location.

Both Gauri and Vikram were characters who grew on me as the story progresses. I liked both of them in the beginning but really came to relate to them more and care for them more as we learned of their pasts, their desires for the future and how they got into their present situation. They seem quite unmatched at the start but then we see how they can work together. Even while annoying one another.

I loved the fantasy around The Tournament of Wishes and the characters' journey to get there. The characters and creatures introduced there, the rules, what they had to do, what they could do, and what all of it could (and would) mean made for a thrilling, magical read. I didn't really connect who Gauri had been in The Star-Touched Queen until close to the end but once I did, I loved her that much more.

Author Roshani Chokshi has created a wonderful world of fantasy and magic with characters both human and not with whom you will relate and want to succeed (or maybe not, depending). I loved a further glimpse into this imaginative world and those who inhabit it.






digital review copy received, via NetGalley, thanks to publisher

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

The Really Quite Good British Cookbook ~ William Sitwell (Ed.) [@nourishbooks @WilliamSitwell] #TRQGBC

The Really Quite Good British Cookbook: The Food We Love from 100 of Our Best Chefs, Cooks, Bakers and Local Heroes
Nourish
March 21, 2017
426 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon


What do you cook for the people you love? Asked this question, 100 of Britain's food heroes have shared their most beloved recipes to make this extraordinary cookbook. Nigella Lawson divulges how to bake her Chocolate Guinness Cake and Rick Stein fries up Shrimp & Dill Fritters with Ouzo. Yotam Ottolenghi would serve Pea & Mint Croquettes and for Jamie Oliver, an unrivalled Fantastic Fish Pie. These are just a few of the incredible recipes provided by the best and brightest on the British food scene, including chefs such as Raymond Blanc, Gordon Ramsay, Delia Smith, James Martin, Nigel Slater, Thomasina Miers, Mark Hix, Jason Atherton, Marco Pierre White, Claudia Roden and more.

Compiled by award-winning food editor and author William Sitwell, The Really Quite Good British Cookbook is keenly anticipated and a stunning object in its own right. Ultimately it is a celebration of the breadth, creativity and richness of Britain's unique food culture.

The Really Quite Good British Cookbook is a collection of recipes from one hundred contributors (but more than one hundred recipes). Many of the contributors are chefs, food writers, but the cookbook also features recipes from a food historian, a home baker, a beekeeper and more.

The recipes are organized into six sections: Breakfast; Entrees & Snacks' Fish & Seafood; Poultry, Meat & Game; Pasta, Risotto & Sides; Baking & Desserts. Each recipe is laid out well, providing number of servings, prep time, cook time, skill level (either 1 [easy] or 2 [moderate]), a few sentences about the dish from its' creator and then 'Ingredients' on the left and 'Method' in the center/right. It's a very clean, easy to read and follow format.

I have not yet been able to actually try making any of these recipes but I have read through many of them and their directions seem well written. With such variety in the contributors, you really get a bit of everything in this cookbook. Some (like Shrimp & Dill Fritters with Ouzo or Grilled Skirt Steak with Anchovy Cauliflower Cheese) are appealing and I'm curious to try. A few, I probably won't (Okay, really just the Roast Woodcock on Toast one . . . it's a whole bird roasted, it's head split open, its intestines, heart, and liver cut into a paste and then put on toast and I have a thing about eating things with heads currently on them.) But even the recipes I don't want to try, are unique.

In his introduction, the editor mentions how much is available in British supermarkets, if all of the ingredients used in these recipes are readily available, then I'm quite jealous. (From quail's eggs to fresh curry or kaffir lime leaves to woodcock, guinea fowl or pheasant, there are some things I don't have easy access to.)

The book has a comprehensive index that not only sorts things, as might be expected, by title but by main ingredients as well. That 'Roast Woodcock on Toast with Wild Mushrooms' for example is listed under 'bread,' 'mushrooms,' 'woodcock,' and the title's under the R's. There are website or Twitter addresses for most of the contributors and information on where their recipes were previously published.

A portion of the book's proceeds will benefit The Trussell Trust which runs food banks in Britain (there's a page at the end of the book explaining what they do and why's it's so vitally important).

My advance copy did not feature any images but those I have seen through Amazon's book preview are very nice. They're simple but colorful and really seem to showcase the food.






digital review copy received thanks to publisher, via NetGalley

Top Ten Tuesday: Read In One Sitting


This week's Ten:
10 Read In One Sitting Books
(A bit of combination of the shortest books I've read and/or those read in one sitting - they're all ones I recommend, though.)


This Is What I Want to Tell You by Heather Duffy Stone
review // Goodreads


Monument 14 (#1) by Emmy Laybourne
Goodreads


Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeline Kuderick
review // Goodreads


Zom-B (#1) by Darren Shan
review // Goodreads

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher
review // Goodreads


Dead is the New Black (#1) by Marlene Perez
review // Goodreads


Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
Goodreads


Holding on to Zoe by George Ella Lynn
review // Goodreads


Demon Envy (Kenzie Sutcliffe #1) by Erin Lynn
Goodreads


Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby
review // Goodreads





Please leave a comment and let me know what books you've read in one sitting - either because they were that short or because they were that good (or both)!

Monday, March 20, 2017

Alone ~ Scott Sigler (earc) review [@DelReyBooks @scottsigler]

Alone (The Generations Trilogy, #3)
Del Rey
March 07, 2017
560 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

Reviews of Alive (The Generations Trilogy #1) and Alight (The Generations Trilogy #2)

In the final installment of an exhilarating sci-fi adventure trilogy in the vein of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Red Rising, Scott Sigler’s unforgettable heroine, Em Savage, must come to grips once and for all with the perilous mysteries of her own existence.

“We thought this place was our destiny—not our doom.”

Pawns in a millennia-old struggle, the young people known only as the Birthday Children were genetically engineered to survive on the planet Omeyocan—but they were never meant to live there. They were made to be “overwritten,” their minds wiped and replaced by the consciousness of the monsters who created them.

Em changed all of that.

She unified her people and led a revolt against their creators. Em and her friends escaped an ancient ghost ship and fled to Omeyocan. They thought they would find an uninhabited paradise. Instead, they found the ruins of a massive city long since swallowed by the jungle. And they weren’t alone. The Birthday Children fought for survival against the elements, jungle wildlife, the “Grownups” who created them . . . and, as evil corrupted their numbers, even against themselves.

With these opponents finally defeated, Em and her people realized that more threats were coming, traveling from across the universe to lay claim to their planet. The Birthday Children have prepared as best they can against this alien armada. Now, as the first ships reach orbit around Omeyocan, the final battle for the planet begins.
I have never been one to start a book by reading the last page but never before have I been so happy that I do not do that. The ending of Alone, if read at any point except for after everything that came before it (in Alive then Alight and the rest of Alone) would be confusing and disappointing. After all of that, though? It's kind of perfect. Not something I would have ever expected, but so much better.

But you're going to want to read those other pages, too. In the first two books, we met the Birthday Children, found out who and what they are, learned why they woke up in those 'coffins' and found Omeyocan and the Springers. Just when it seemed like Em, Bishop, Spingate and the others might finally be able to survive on this planet they were created specifically for, other threats loomed on the horizon.

In Alone it's time to find out what those approaching ships might want and how Em and the others pan to deal with it. Some of the answers we seem to get early on in the book lead to some even bigger questions that had me questioning things from the first two books; things I didn't realize needed to be questioned.

With the stakes somehow even higher, readers get to see more of who the characters really are what they're capable of, both good and bad. For characters who have only been alive since the beginning of this trilogy, I thought they had been through a lot, but that was nothing compared to all that happens in Alone. The journey the author takes these characters on, from the beginning of Alive through the very end of Alone is really something.

This book, the last of the Generations Trilogy, had me questioning known facts, rethinking relationships, wondering what the characters were capable of, if actions, behaviors, or thoughts were really them, hoping they didn't did, then, maybe, accepting that they would, then hoping maybe, maybe they wouldn't and, finally, very satisfied with how it all ended. Alone feels bigger and grander than what I remember of the first two books, but more personal and human, as well; it's a great conclusion to the series.






digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Friday, March 17, 2017

Book Trailer Friday [@epicreads]

This week's book trailer pick is from EpicReads on YouTube and explains all you need to know about Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief Series



Link to the Queen's Thief Series' page on Goodreads


Book #5 Thick as Thieves was released this past May, here's that books description:


Kamet, a secretary and slave to his Mede master, has the ambition and the means to become one of the most powerful people in the Empire. But with a whispered warning the future he envisioned is wrenched away, and he is forced onto a very different path. Set in the world of the Queen’s Thief, an ordinary hero takes on an extraordinary mission. Includes two maps, a map of the world of the Queen’s Thief, and a map of Kamet’s journey

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Waiting On Wednesday [@harperteen @carliesorosiak]

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

My pick for this week:



IF BIRDS FLY BACK by Carlie Sorosiak

A sparkling debut about love, family, and the mysteries of the universe.

Linny has been fascinated by disappearances, ever since her sister Grace ran away in the middle of the night without saying goodbye.

Sebastian can tell you how many galaxies there are, and knows how much plutonium weighs. But the one thing he can’t figure out is the identity of his birth father.

They’ve never met, but Linny and Sebastian have one thing in common: an obsession with famous novelist and filmmaker Alvaro Herrera, who went missing three years ago and has just reappeared. As they learn more about the mystery of Alvaro, Linny and Sebastian uncover the answers they’ve been searching for.

With humor and heart, debut author Carlie Sorosiak weaves a story of finding people who leave and loving those who stay, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Emery Lord.


published June 27th by HarperTeen

add to your Goodreads shelf // pre-order from Book Depo // or Amazon


Why?

It was the title that first caught my attention but then the book's description really made me want to read it. I love books that deal with familial relationships that are somehow out of the supposed ordinary so I'm intrigued by Linny and her missing sister and Sebastian who doesn't know his father's identity.

I am looking forward to seeing how Alvaro Herrera, his disappearance and now reemergence will play into Linny and Sebastian's searches for answers.


That's my pick for this week, what's yours? Tell me in the comments and/or link me to your own post!

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

These Ruthless Deeds ~ Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas (earc) review [@SwoonReads @tkshanker @kellyzekas @StMartinsPress]

These Ruthless Deeds (These Vicious Masks #2)
Swoon Reads
March 14, 2017
320 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

England, 1883. Still recovering from a devastating loss, Evelyn is determined to use her powers to save other gifted people from those who would harm them. But when her rescue of a young telekinetic girl goes terribly wrong, Evelyn finds herself indebted to a secret society devoted to recruiting and protecting people like Evelyn and her friends.

As she follows the Society’s orders, healing the sick and embarking on perilous recruitment missions, Evelyn sees her problems disappear. Her reputation is repaired, her friends are provided for, and her parents are newly wealthy. She reunites with the dashing Mr. Kent and recovers the reclusive Mr. Braddock (who has much less to brood over now that the Society can help him to control his dangerous power). But Evelyn can’t help fearing the Society is more sinister than it appears...

"Believe me, if we were trying to be subtle, you would know it."
"Actually that  would negate the very meaning of subtle--"
-pg 164
These Ruthless Deeds is the sequel to last year's These Vicious Masks and you really should read that book before reading this one, if only because it's so good.

There were definitely things about These Vicious Masks, about Evelyn, Mr. Kent, Br Braddock and their powers that I had forgotten between reading it and starting this book. The authors do a great job both throwing you right back into the action, with Evelyn, Miss Grey and Oliver breaking into a Belgian asylum.  As both that attempt and the story continue, you're reminded of past events and revelations either by characters informing other characters or their own recollections. It is a good way to bring readers back into the story without dumping a bunch of information on them.

I was thrilled to see that Evelyn Wyndham, Mr Kent and the other characters have just as much snark and intelligence as they did in the first book. There may be a bit less brooding by Mr Braddock, but you also know it's not going anywhere just yet (and he is oh so good at it).

There were things I wanted them to ask the Society when they were employing Mr Kent's ability, but covering all possibilities or issues would have made for a boring story.

The authors do a great job of incorporating some more of the 'background' of the characters' powers and an expanded look at just what they're capable of with the storyline and the novel's action.

I really love how the characters still manage to fit within their era but several of the girls and women are more outspoken and honest than expected and Mr Kent is charming and but also upfront about the less than upstanding things he does. It makes them that much more human while also being incredibly entertaining. Mr Kent and his sister are two of my favorite characters, I love them and what they seem to bring out of Evelyn.

"Before I met you, I went to brothels, gambling halls, scandalous music halls, all sorts of indecent places."
"And let me guess, ever since you met me, you've changed?"
He shook his head. "No, I just want to do these indecent things with you."
-pg 115

The big 'event' that precipitates the ending maybe still has me a little bit mad? I don't like it but also can't fault it's inclusion because it really fits where the story was going, what had already happened and who the characters were. It also sets things up pretty dramatically for the next book!






digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring '17 TBR


This week's Ten:
10 Books on My Spring TBR List
(titles link to Goodreads)

All of the books I picked are ones releasing between today (March 14th) and the middle of June:

 The Adjustment (The Program #3) by Suzanne Young


Perfect (Flawed #2) by Cecelia Ahern


Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts

What Girls Are Made Of by Elena K Arnold


Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis


Duels and Deception by Cindy Anstey


Blacksouls (Blackhearts #2) by Nicole Castroman


Beyond the Wild River by Sarah Maine


Seeker (Rider #2) by Veronica Rossi


When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon


Please leave a comment and let me know what's topping your Spring 2017 reading list! 

Book Trailer Friday [@RandomHouse @TransworldBooks]

Beth Dorey-Stein's From the Corner of the Oval  - a tale of being the White House stenographer during the Obama administration will be ...