Debbie
I went into this book pretty blind. I read the synopsis but that's about it. It seemed like a quick and simple read. I was only right about the quick part. This book was wild and it really had my attention for all of it.
I couldn't tell who to trust, who was lying, who wasn't in their right minds. I couldn't even tell if a crime had been committed or not. This may seem like it's all over the place but honestly the author kept me enthralled. And for it being less than 200 pages she did a great job of giving a back story to all the characters that needed them.
If you are looking for a book where someone has a redeeming quality...this isn't for you. If you are looking for a book where the end may be a little preposterous...this isn't for you. But it was definitely for me.
A mafia romance has to have several things for me...betrayal, lies, violence (Yes, violence. The mafia is involved. Hello.), enemies to lovers, and someone getting kidnapped. Okay it doesn't HAVE to have it...but yea it does. And Dark Kingdom had all of those so yay for me.
Merged review:
A mafia romance has to have several things for me...betrayal, lies, violence (Yes, violence. The mafia is involved. Hello.), enemies to lovers, and someone getting kidnapped. Okay it doesn't HAVE to have it...but yea it does. And Dark Kingdom had all of those so yay for me.
I was quite happy when I won this on Bookish First. It had been so long that I read any cyberpunk/sci fi and this seemed like a good way to dive back in. This turned out to be an okay read for me. I would love to say what it was missing...but I don't know what that is. It didn't fully grab me but I didn't hate it. It was simply okay. And okay is okay. Not everything can be a 5 star read.
That's not to say that I didn't love anything in the book. I absolutely did. The queer rep in this was great. The MC is asexual and I don't think I've ever read a book with an ace MC. So that alone was great off the bat.
I will say that I wouldn't mind this as a movie. I can definitely see this being a really good sci fi movie. That's not an insult to the book at all. But sometimes.....SOMETIMES books translate better on film then they do in written form. Blasphemous, I know. But SOMETIMES...it's true. You know it.
This is my second JT Geissinger book and the pattern I am seeing is that she likes to give you whiplash whilst ripping out your heart....and since I am a sucker for pain I am absolutely here for it.
There's not much I can say without giving anything away. I will say that if you are looking for traditional HEAs then this isn't for you.
You know what I didn't realized I needed? A small town age gap romance. And she's the older one. YES.
Beatrice is over all of it. The rat race life of her career, especially when she's passed over for a promotion that should've been hers. So in comes the EFF IT moment...which involves throwing a dart at a map and going from there. Off she goes to live life to the fullest. And while that seems all good and fun...she really was having an existential crisis. BUT in comes the hot younger cop to help sort all of that out. LOL.
This was a beautifully told story that gave me more than I bargained for. Yes it's a romance but you also see a love a bond between a mother and a daughter. That story in itself was beautiful and heartbreaking. I thought this was going to be a cute story. Instead I bawled my eyes out and you know what...I'm not mad about it.
This is my third Morgan Shamy book and I will say that as of right now it's my favorite one. First of I love that the author incorporates dance somehow into all of her books. Since she's a former ballet dancer I love that she puts that piece of herself in her books.
We have a mystery, murder and a woman who doesn't want to just sit down and do as she's told. So all of my favorite things basically lol. It's the 1920s. Dawn just wants to be a doctor. She's on her way to that dream but not without major issues. Her dreams do not involve getting married and running a household....which doesn't help how the town already views her family. Not to mention that her own family is quite horrible to her, blame her for her brother's death and her mother is simply trying to marry her off to the highest bidder so that she can live off of that. And then a murderer comes to town.
Very much Jack the Ripper vibes....which I'm always all here for. I'm also here for the love story side plot that didn't take too much precedence because that wasn't the point of the book, so I'm happy that the story wasn't lost with that being pushed to the forefront.
Leave it to Lana P to make me love two characters that I barely paid mind to before. But here I am loving both of these cinnamon roll babies. Aeron and Trix.
Not having someone understand what you need when you can't voice it or when you've been told that you're too much or not enough can leave indelible marks. And these two did it so effortlessly and I love that for them.
I have 2 theories about Aeron but I can't tell if it's so obvious that it's a red herring or a missed something along the way
3.5 stars
If you follow true crime then, odds are, you know who Paul Holes is. I do so I went in fully expecting to absolutely love this. I shouldn't have done that. What I wasn't expecting was to find how he portrays himself kind of off-putting. It IS a memoir so, of course, he is writing about himself. But it came across as very woe is me-ish. Clearly he's good at his job but that came with major sacrifices. I can appreciate his dedication to solving these crimes and trying to bring the victims justice..but it was Holes himself who took me out of the book.
Do I dislike the book? No. I'll probably just stick to his podcasts though. Is it worth a read? Yes. I think that if you're new to true crime, you'll like this book more because you'll know less about the cases. He focuses a lot on the GSK case...which is a very big well known case...unless you don't really follow true crime. All in all it was an okay read for me.
Was I wowed by this book? No. Was it a good book? Yes. Absolutely. Was it a waste of my time? Not at all. Would I read another book by this author? Yes.
I'm not the type of person to think that books are either 5 stars or 1. As if though good, decent books don't exist. This is that. Now, as per usual, with a thriller the less said the better...but the story line was good. It never ramped up for me but it didn't drag either. I also wasn't too invested in any characters, so this is a good book for me in between more intense books. Not because thrillers are easy reads but I know my heart won't be broken or I won't be sad about losing a character. Yes I know that sounds mean...but it is what it is.
It's not often that a book with only a little over 100 pages grabs me the way this one did. There are even a couple of twists thrown in. Honestly it doesn't even feel like a novella with how full the story is.
Alex made a Faustian bargain as a child. A bargain she didn't even realize she made to begin with. And someone is coming to collect their due.
I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion ( And no, that doesn't shape my opinion. I've hated plenty of free books)
Another solid read from VMP. Derek Reed is an FBI profiler who got put on medical leave after witnessing some horrific shit while chasing a serial killer. He pretty much forced to do so because the guilt is causing him to hallucinate...OR IS IT JUST A HALLUCINATION?? ( i made myself laugh. Now back to the task at hand). He legit stumbles across a case and cue shit that wouldn't have happened if he had just well enough alone. I loved it. There was something about Derek and the serial killer that I found absolutely fascinating. And with the way it ended I'm extra thirsty for the next book.
I can't lie...once a saw The Demon Detective, I was pretty much all in. A half demon/half angel private detective who has to hide half of what they are because it's considered an abomination? Yes I'm definitely all in.
Gray was fine living her life under the radar, not that she had much choice in the matter. Then in comes an archangel to hire her for a job she doesn't want and never takes. She finds things. Not people and certainly not a serial killer. She shouldn't take the job. It would be the opposite of under the radar. She should not. The archangel is annoying anyways. Hot...but annoying. You're allowed one educated guess as to whether she took the job or not LOL.
I make zero secret of being a VMP fan...and this is why. Several things happened in this book that didn't go the way I thought they would. From the killer to the reason of the killings, Derek's personal life, the way the paranormal element is shifting in the book. Is Derek's stubbornness frustrating me? Yes. I absolutely want to throttle him LOL. But his reaction to what is happening to him is quite normal.
Up to this point the paranormal part of this story has been slight. But in this one it gets kicked up a lot. We also get to see Derek grow more with his team. I've said it before , Victoria is crazy good at writing a team. Which means the side characters aren't a waste of space. They add to the story instead of just being there for the sake of being there. And in this case one may question what is going on with Derek and the investigation.
3.5 stars
As much as I love reading (or watching) true crime, I am by no means an expert on the subject. So when I saw that I had never heard of Edward Ruloff, I knew I was going to give this a go. This is the story of a man who was very good at faking it until he made it...and had no issue murdering people for whatever reason he saw fit...and even after he was caught he seemed to be find a sort of rock star status as he was researched to find out how someone so brilliant could commit such heinous acts.
For a book set in a different time, the 1800s, the research and detail is certainly there. The author certainly set the stage and you can tell this was well researched. With that being said I did find some parts a bit dry. I found myself, more than once, kind of having to push past some paragraphs. It's still worth the read and by no means did it stop me from reading the book.
This is the kind of book that I wish had been around when I was younger. And while it was a fun read it also covered some very serious topics. Shay is a young, sapphic witch. Very hard working, very intelligent, very much has her eyes on the prize. She's a junior in high school and she wants (and needs) the scholarship to the college of her dreams. In her pursuit of this she agrees to be part of a school play, even though she has plenty on her plate...and then come to find out the other lead is her school rival. In between all of this, Shay has to deal with exhaustion as she over extends herself, racism, and a teacher who may have acted inappropriate on more than one occasion. She learns along the way that she may have more people in her corner then she thought and that doing the right thing isn't as easy as it seems.
While the book is fantasy, that part of the story feels very contemporary and just part of the every day life. And I like the way that flowed because it made it feel real. For a debut novel, this was an absolute win.
This was a good read that I wanted to love more but it missed the mark for me personally. The stories in and of themselves are by no means bad. But they are way less paranormal-y then you'd think. Even with the foreword stating something about metaphorical ghosts it should still have a haunting vibe. Besides the title, in the blurb it says “modern feminist ghost stories”. So I don't think it's out of pocket to expect something haunting or haunting like. The first story gives me high hopes but as I kept reading I stopped being as into it.
This book was such a punch in the gut. Not in a bad way, I promise. I had never felt more seen or felt like I belong in the pages of a book until this one. As a New Yorker who no longer lives there, this book felt like home...all the good and bad parts of it. I have read and loved many books in my lifetime...but this one will forever hold a special place.
3.5 stars
I normally don't gravitate much towards contemporary fiction. Not that I won't read it. I simply don't go looking for it first. However, they synopsis for this grabbed my attention and I decided to give it a go.
We have a story of two sisters with family secrets and they couldn't have grown up to be more different. And when Ruby comes down to help her sister, Pearl, with her weight loss surgery, we see a journey about growth, hope and redemption.
This may not have been a story I loved, but it was a good one nonetheless. I also love how the author drew on her own sister's life experiences with being morbidly obese which added to the authenticity of the story. Truly worth a read.
One of my favorite things about this series is that it gives me what it needs to give me. Not only do I love reading about each couple and what they are overcoming but the over all story arc is great too. I'm not just reading the series for each couple...I really want to know how this war will end.
I never paid much mind to Forrest until this book. Kind of hard to ignore one half of the MCs. LOL. His backstory breaks your heart. How all he does is sacrifice and he's so used to it he does it with minimal complaint, if any. Melody wakes up in a new world and immediately shuffled off the Crystal City where her head is filled with stories about how evil the fae are. She has no clue of the power she holds within but President Nero absolutely does and he keeps her locked up like a pretty songbird.
Just like in the six previous books, events happened here that set up for the next book and couple. There's always a little twist here and there which is what makes the overall story line really freaking good.
If you are reading this book just for the sex scenes then you are the winner, winner chicken dinner. If you want to read about an allegedly bad ass demon that is a such a killer they put it with a capital K but that's never really showcased BUT he's got a forked tongue and extra ridges on his pipe of delight, then grab this book. If you want to read about a FMC who does literally the opposite of what she should do every single time, then you'll have a great time here.
I didn't hate the book. But there was a lot of wasted potential. Juni and Everly are wasted side characters when you have a main character like Rae. Giving very much Harry and Neville vibes. I really just wanted to sit back and enjoy the hot parts but clocking in at 459 pages I need more than just that.
This book was recommended to me because I loved a different equally as dark romance book. And dark this was. There is nothing soft, romantic or redeemable here so don't come looking for that. I read this book in about one sitting. I became invested in what was going to happen in Whitlock. It does end of a cliffhanger but it seems the series is complete so you don't have to wait at all.
24690 is Everleigh's slave name. She has been at Whitlock since she was a child. She will never leave. She had some semblance of peace. As much peace as one can have as an owned thing and not a human being but in the blink of an eye things are about to get much, MUCH worse.