I enjoyed “Much Ado About Hating You”, but I found it very frustrating at the same time. It’s a lovely fast-paced office romance and what you see is wI enjoyed “Much Ado About Hating You”, but I found it very frustrating at the same time. It’s a lovely fast-paced office romance and what you see is what you get, but as soon as I dive a bit deeper into the details, I cannot help but find many flaws.
Aidan Scott is an English Professor, who also secretly writes steamy romances on a writing app. Micah Mila is a financial auditor that is tasked to review the local university’s English department and find ways to cut costs. She also enjoys reading steamy Shakespearean fanfic.
When Aidan and Micah meet, there is hostility. She’s there to cut costs, which in Aidan’s world means – she’s there to try and take away his job, which he very much loves. Both characters have huge egos, and what starts as bickering and general hostility, quickly turns into competition and them becoming sworn enemies for life.
But the twist is – their hate turns into tension. And their connection on the writing app is about to get deeper. As time goes on, they are starting to push the boundaries of what they should and shouldn’t be doing, and lust gets the better of them. As for the story, unfortunately, it didn’t connect with me.
I found the characters slightly childish and immature. Their office encounters are completely unprofessional, and their writing app conversations cringey and over the top. The only bit I did like was the suspense in the real world and the tension between them. And also maybe Aidan’s relationship with his father and how that progressed throughout the book.
I have to be honest and say that the book had a lot of typos and grammatical errors, and what I believe to be one plot hole, that also diminished my reading experience. I think I noticed around 6 typos in the book, which I will flag to the publisher, so they can hopefully rectify in the next edition.
All in all, “Much Ado About Hating You” is a fast-paced romance that will appeal to some of the romance lovers. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but hopefully the synopsis will pique your curiosity. I really do hope you enjoy it more than I did.
Before I start talking about “Onyx Storm” at all, as this is the third book in The Empyrean series, it goes without saying that this review will most Before I start talking about “Onyx Storm” at all, as this is the third book in The Empyrean series, it goes without saying that this review will most probably contain spoilers from the previous books. I will refrain from spoiling this book, though. It feels like yesterday that I read “Fourth Wing” and “Iron Flame” and at the same time, it feels like forever ago!
I really enjoyed returning to Violet and Xaden’s story. To be honest, the first 100 pages were a struggle. A lot of information dump and not a lot of action – big difference in Rebecca’s writing style that felt unfamiliar. But I forgave her, because she likes using the Oxford comma. Around half-way through the book though, things started to pick up. I loved that a lot of the side characters had their moments of fame and their time to shine. My favourite part in this book was Violet and Xaden’s relationship. And not only the romantic scenes, but also the silent acts of love. Choices they make throughout the chapters that show how much they care for each other. Their selflessness and willingness to make sacrifices to protect the other person.
“But the thought of you being out there, beyond the wards, facing down a known attack of venin, triggered something in me I’ve never felt before. It was hotter than rage, and sharper than fear, and cut deeper than helplessness, all because I couldn’t get to you.”
“I would have killed anything and anyone in that moment to reach you. No exceptions. I would have channeled every ounce of power beneath my feet without hesitation if it would have landed me at your side.”
I really enjoyed the ending as well. That huge cliffhanger, oh my goodness! The scene that had me ask so many questions and the realisation that I have no answers. It was an incredible ending, that leaves a lot of room for discussion and theories about what happened. And the conclusion is always the same – we’re going to have to wait for the next book to find out. I cannot wait for book four now – I am desperately curious for answers. Onyx Storm – you were good to me after all!
“I could reach the rank of Maven, lead armies of dark wielders against everyone we care for, and watch every vein in my body turn red as I channel all the power in the Continent, and I would still love you. What I did doesn’t change that. I’m not sure anything can.”
“Yes, love, I’m jealous. I’m jealous of the armor that holds you when I can’t, the sheets on your bed that caress your skin every night, and the blades that feel your hands. So, when the prince of our realm walks into my classroom and starts talking to the woman I love with what can only be considered intense familiarity, and then has the audacity to ask her out right in front of me, naturally, I’m going to get jealous.”
I was very intrigued by the story of Silver. She is an alien and is sent to Earth for a mission – to collect data on humans and test if Earth is viablI was very intrigued by the story of Silver. She is an alien and is sent to Earth for a mission – to collect data on humans and test if Earth is viable for her mother ship, Charybdis, to colonise. All her life, she has been taught that she must follow the Mantra, a set of rules that her ship stands by. To stay away from humans. To not touch them, for touch is agony, and to feel is pain.
When Silver joins a family as a pet-sitter, she has to inherit the body of the young Polish girl to do so. The more time she spends with the family, the more human she becomes. The book is also set around Christmas time, so she feels extra included and excited about all the festivities. She starts to develop a crush for Finch, and when they touch by accident, she expects to feel pain. But instead, all she can feel is warmth and funny feelings about this boy, which is extremely confusing to her.
Every so often, Silver has to go back to the mothership to “shield”. When she shields, the founders gather all the data she has collected. They are not impressed with her, as she has gotten too close to the humans and she is also starting to defy them by visiting much less frequently. The story of Silver is very fast paced and addictive.
I read it in two days. But I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. There were a lot of discrepancies with the characters. Stella, for example, kept coming in and out of the picture. It felt convinient, when it was needed to fit the story and plot. Silver’s character had many flaws too. She showed empathy, but then was brutal the next second. For example the scene where she tells Finch the truth about his dad.
Also, there are some things that didn’t add up with her powers. On page 94, she scanned “Brave New World” in a second, and in the next chapters she does that with other books too. But on page 122, it takes her “seventy-seven minutes” to watch some cooking videos. Surely, if she had an ability to inhabit humans, scan books in seconds, morph into anything, she can also process cooking videos at a crazy speed?
For some reason, I couldn’t relax enough to enjoy the book. As a whole, I really loved the idea behind it and the story about the world/the ship/Vortex/Founders. But personally feel that it may have been slightly poorly executed. I would still recommend it if you are after a unique alien story with a romance twist to it.
“One of us is Dead” is a tremendous book, and was well worth my time. It intrigued me from the very first chapter.
“Mediocrity recognizes nothing higher than itself. It takes talent to appreciate genius.”
It really starts with such a bang. I could imagine myself being in Taylor’s shoes. Going to a friend’s funeral and seeing a person in the crowd that died two years ago. How freaky is that, right? And surely impossible. Same as Taylor, undoubtedly, you would start asking questions. And little do you know, the police are trying to figure out the same thing.
“They’d vowed they would always stay in touch, but of course life had other plans.”
I cannot reveal too much as I don’t want to spoil it for others. “One of us is Dead” is very fast paced and never runs out of action. The slight downside is that it can be a bit predictable at times, although not with the ending. Speaking of the ending, I was slightly disappointed. Firstly, because I am a sucker for justice, and I don’t feel that we got true justice. And secondly, we only get the crumbs about what happens next with certain characters. There were a few people “still awaiting justice” and this was not good enough for me.
Overall, I think Peter James did a good job with this book, and I now definitely have him on my radar and will probably pick up some of his older books. This book is actually book number 21 in the Roy Grace series. But, as you might already know with these kinds of books, they can all be read as standalones. They are all unique stories in themselves, with only the detective Roy Grace featuring in them as a common denominator. What was the last crime / thriller you read?
“When I was a young kid, my mum taught me how to make clouds disappear. She told me I had magic powers and that I could dissolve clouds. If I just stared at a small cloud hard, really hard, and kept staring at it, it would break up and disappear… I do still look at clouds today and make them dissolve.”
I knew “My Rules” would be filled with spiciness and red flags and boy, oh, boy, it still surprised me!#1 My Temptation - TBR #2 My Rules - ★★★★
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I knew “My Rules” would be filled with spiciness and red flags and boy, oh, boy, it still surprised me!
I was reading “My Rules” as part of a book loop with the team at Tandem and a number of other bookstagrammers. The aim was to read the book over 14 days and annotate whilst reading. I failed both. In truth, I binged the book and finished it in two sittings. I am also too afraid to write inside a book, so I didn’t permanently ink it. I did, however, leave a lot of sticky tabs and pencil annotations so I feel like I did artistically contribute to the cause.
The story is spicy and toxic and at times very unbelievable, but I didn’t really care. I was invested in Rebecca and Blake’s story. I was consuming the words, chapter after chapter, desperate to know how their story ends.
One park I really loved was the neighbourhood. On the street they live on (Kingston Lane), everyone is friends and gets on well with each other. This also meant a good support network when things went south. We meet a lot of the characters that live on Kingston Lane, and it turns out that this book is part of a series, but can be also read as a standalone. Each book in the series focuses on one character from the street, so everyone you meet, you are likely to meet again if you continue with the books.
“My Rules” ended with a hint that the next book will feature Antony’s story, and I am very much looking forward to that.
If you love smutty romance books, you’ll very much enjoy this one. It does exactly what it says on the tin! A tin full of spice, may I cheekily add.
I devoured “A Fire in the Sky” in a day. I loved everything about it, and I would give anything to be able to read#1 A Fire in the Sky - ★★★★★
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I devoured “A Fire in the Sky” in a day. I loved everything about it, and I would give anything to be able to read it for the first time again.
Tamsyn and Fell have their own points of view, which I really liked. It gave me a chance to understand how they are both feeling and get to know their story.
Tamsyn is such a strong female character. As a whipping girl, she is used to taking punishment, but she will never be ashamed of who she is.
“I would take the long march to the chapel on my own, through the deepening day. I understood this. There were some walks you must go alone in life. This would be one of them.”
And Fell is quite a strong character as well. A leader and a fighter, spreading fear wherever he goes. And yet Tamsyn is slowly getting under his skin and he starts to get a soft spot for her. But he’ll never admit it.
“She was a peculiar thing. A puzzle I could not quite piece together. A non-princess. I didn’t care what they called her. No royal took a beating with a smile and called it duty.”
Their attraction for each other is instantly evident, even though they are both trying to hide it and fight it. The whole tension made this book such an enjoyable read. They go through an incredibly hard journey together, a journey that will change their lives forever.
I won’t reveal anything else, as I don’t want to spoil anything, but I gasped at the big twist. Thinking about it now, I have no idea how I didn’t see that coming. I did, however, anticipate the twist at the end. It turns out, the story doesn’t end here and I can’t wait to come back for more! I loved this book with all my heart. Every single thing about it.
“She had not looked for it. Had not wanted it. And yet it had found her… And when love found a dragon, it could not be denied. Before she knew it, they were bonded. There was no severing them. For as long as she lived, there would be no other for her. Like a seed to the pod, they were a set, a duo, a pair.”
“Decades ago, when I first moved to London – rich in youth and a sense of adventure but poor in cash and a sense of direction.”
We’re getti[image]
“Decades ago, when I first moved to London – rich in youth and a sense of adventure but poor in cash and a sense of direction.”
We’re getting into October. The days are getting colder and shorter. And soon, we’ll enter the spooky season and get the Halloween candy out. And just a note – for all the supermarkets selling Christmas decorations and advent calendars before Halloween is over – shame on you!
I have always been intrigued and curious about things we can’t explain. And of course, all things paranormal naturally intrigue me. I love reading about it and having discussions.
“Haunted World” is separated into a few different parts, each part deep diving into many stories and examples. I enjoyed the introduction. It gives an explanation on all things paranormal. After life, do ghosts exist, paranormal possibilities, signs of haunting. I love how open the book is. If you are a sceptic or a non-believer, it’s not designed to change your mind. It’s just a summary of events noted through history, and you can make your own opinions about them. I think it’s the perfect book for people that are not too into the paranormal, but just curious about all things spooky.
The residual ghostly places section was my least favourite. Even though I liked reading about these stories, they were too vague and didn’t satisfy my curiosity. Many of them were quite short and generic, and could be repetitive. Then the poltergeist stories started, and things became quite interesting. My favourite parts were the inhuman and intelligent stories. When I read the story about the Fox sisters, I knew I had read about this before. And I remembered I read a fiction book about it a few years ago called “We Played With Fire”. That was a wonderful moment for me.
As a whole, I enjoyed this book and I think it adds a good spooky sparkle during October. Some of the stories are hit and miss, but one thing I know for certain is that this is one of those books that you can keep coming to every year during the spooky season, and it will always deliver.
“Things We Do For Love” was a good romance book and people that love Shakespeare’s work will greatly enjoy it. We have an aspiring actor and ac[image]
“Things We Do For Love” was a good romance book and people that love Shakespeare’s work will greatly enjoy it. We have an aspiring actor and actress, both about to meet because of Shakespeare’s works. Although they don’t initially like each other, they will need to get along, and act together on the stage.
“I was a walking cliché – doubly so, considering I’m striding through a rainstorm carrying the woman of my dreams. But who needs originality when clichés feel this good?”
As time goes on, they will be Miranda and Prospero from “The Tempest”, Petruchio and Katherine from “The Taming of the Shrew” and of course, Romeo and Juliet. During the summer, they will get close to each other and their feelings will continue to grow. As with every romance, there is a big upset and potentially a happy ending. In that respect, the book was very predictable and because of that, slightly disappointing.
Theo’s character in the end disappointed me specifically, and his behaviour with Amy was the only unexpected bit, but enough to taint my opinion. I couldn’t recover from that. I still warmly recommend it to all romance fans, but expect a bit of predictability, with a Shakespeare flavour added to it. (note – no one will die, don’t worry about that).
“I could find a quote from Shakespeare to explain everything my heart feels right now. I could compare Lucie to a summer’s day, or repeat Hamlet’s declaration that my love for her should never be doubted. But I reckon even the Bard knew that sometimes the best way to describe something is just to experience it:
“Wean them off this drivel about sorcery. Such things belong to the centuries of the past, not ours. They work among the marvels of science e[image]
“Wean them off this drivel about sorcery. Such things belong to the centuries of the past, not ours. They work among the marvels of science every day at the will, and yet they talk of goblins.”
I have enjoyed Andrew Michael Murray’s “Starve Acre” and I was very excited to read this one. When I started reading Barrowbeck, I didn’t know it would be an anthology of short stories. Even so, I enjoyed the eerieness.
The stories come in chronological order, and the first story is about how it all started. When the marsh-folk escaped and found a new home by the river in Barrowbeck. From marsh-folk they became valley-folk and settled. But as their old shaman warned them – they owed this new start to the gods and would be forever their servants. As the years go on, we follow different characters and different stories.
Each of them have one thing in common – the unsettling vibe and the price that comes with living in Barrowbeck. A daughter and a mother are sharing the same vivid dreams. The Sicilian man that visited and brought bad luck. Fear of witchcraft. One girl was murdered in the woods in a very peculiar way. A choir where the fallen soldiers decided to join in the singing. A travelling fair with animals so small, you can keep them in the palm of your hands. One child being born by spawning from a flower.
All the stories have something unique in them, and although the stories themselves are very different to one another, the same theme continues throughout the book. The stories move on with the times. We go from shamans and witchcraft, to trials for murders, to doctors and mental health institutions. The last story is set in 2041, and features technology and the village flooded. Whilst we think it’s the effects of global warming, it brings the question of whether it could just be the wrath of the gods.
I really enjoyed every single story. It’s true, some stories left a bigger impression than others, and some I will remember more than others. What I found intriguing is that we never get an answer. We don’t really know what is going on. And I think that is the case with everything eerie and all things we cannot explain. There will always be room left for personal interpretation and it’s certainly a great book that can prompt a lot of discussions. It’s certainly worth giving it a go!
The Eyes Are The Best Part was quite an intriguing read. It only took me a few days to | | | | |
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The Eyes Are The Best Part was quite an intriguing read. It only took me a few days to finish it, and I strangely enjoyed it.
We meet the two sisters, Ji-Won and Ji-Hyun, as well as their mother, Umma. Their father just left them for another woman, and Umma is struggling emotionally. Ji-Won and Ji-Hyun, although they have different personalities, get along very well. Their Umma is having a hard time after her husband left, and the sisters, especially Ji-Won, are trying to be supportive and look after her, despite them both also losing their dad. Their Umma wants things to change for the better, which explains her eating fish eyes every day, as they are supposed to bring good luck.
Then Umma meets a man and everything changes. She’s happier, and when the girls finally meet him, it turns out he’s a walking and talking red flag. The way he treats Umma and talks to the girls, his fixation with Asian culture, him refusing to pronounce their names and calling the girls JW and JH, because it’s easier, and a few other things I will leave out here.
My Thoughts:
Ji-Won starts to have a fixation with his blue eyes and this is where the book starts to get interesting. Every chapter from now on was intriguing and fast-paced, and I was eager to see what unusual thing Ji-Won will do next to soothe her hunger and fixation.
I also liked the moments during her life at school, her meeting the new friends and also us learning about her previous friend group. Ji-Won’s behaviour with her old friends is sinister. She doesn’t like being left out, and will do bad things to break the group apart. She also doesn’t feel emotion or remorse and accountability. It all adds depth to her character. I have to say, interestingly enough, I feel Geoffrey shares some similar personality traits. The problematic ones. It was interesting to see their dynamic and to see Ji-Won not like these things about him, when she is sometimes doing the same thing, but maybe without realising.
I didn’t quite enjoy the ending, and it is probably the reason why the review ends with only 3 stars. I won’t reveal anything, because anything I say will spoil it for people that haven’t read the book, but I think the book should not have gone in that direction in the end, even if temporary. ling like this book could have been so much more, but just was not it for me. A shame, but on to the next…...more
“But if those tethers did exist, if they bound us to people in our lives that would eventually matter, and through those relationships we could[image]
“But if those tethers did exist, if they bound us to people in our lives that would eventually matter, and through those relationships we could find endings and perhaps a measure of peace for those who were hurting, I wanted to believe in them.”
David Raker is an expert at solving missing people cases. He is summoned to have a look into the disappearance of three members of the Fowler family, in the middle of a lake in Dartmoor.
At the same time, at the Skyline Casino in London, the security team detained a man suspected of murdering a high roller. When the police come to the cell, the strangest thing happens, the killer is no longer inside the cell.
I absolutely devoured this book. It was written at a very fast pace and I couldn’t stop reading, whilst thinking about all possible theories. There are a lot of stories happening at the same time, and in the end, they will all tie together and wrap the story up.
Although I enjoyed all the stories and it really did come together well, it felt a bit unrealistic. There is no way so many of those events were a pure coincidence and happened like that. And even if the events somehow happened, there is no chance that David Raker is the one involved with all of them at once.
Apart from that, I really have no complaints. The book is part of the David Raker series, in fact, the 13th book in the series. I had no clue it was part of a series, so I can say with absolute certainty that it can be read as standalone and in any order. This is quite often with detective book series. They all feature the same main character, it’s only the story and case that differ. I would warmly recommend this book. It was mysterious, entertaining and had me guessing until the very end.
“Redemption” by Jack Jordan blew me away! It was the gift of action and emotion that just kept giving. I loved "Do No Harm" and "Conviction", a[image]
“Redemption” by Jack Jordan blew me away! It was the gift of action and emotion that just kept giving. I loved "Do No Harm" and "Conviction", and I expected to equally enjoy “Redemption”. What I didn’t expect was for it to become my ultimate favourite book by this author so early into the book.
My Thoughts:
The book starts with a fast pace very early on. We meet Evelyn and Tobias through their own POV’s and find out that they moved from the UK to the USA for a better life, but their son has died in a hit-and-run accident. In the first chapters, we see how they deal with their own grief and handle the loss as a couple. Or rather, how they’re failing at it. It’s a very sad scene, really. We get to see a very hurt, devastated couple, a shadow of the people they used to be, struggling to cope! We see them barely talking to each other. The writing, although sad, really highlights the details and makes you feel the grief with them as a reader.
We then find out that the killer has been out of prison for a month, and Evelyn has planned her next move. To find Aaron – and kill him. Tobias is vaguely aware of this plan, but doesn’t quite think Evelyn will actually do this. Rather, he really hopes she doesn’t. Very soon, he realises she’s very determined to go through with her plan, and he decides it’s time to stop her, even if it means losing her.
This is where the game of cat and mouse begins. They both grieve in different ways, and cannot see eye to eye. And now, they are both racing to find Aaron, one to save him, and the other to kill him.
We also get the chance to meet Aaron through his own POV, and find out what he’s going through, and the guilt he carries for an accident he will never forget.
As a whole, this book was gripping and I couldn’t put it down. It intrigued me from the very first chapter, and this feeling lasted until the very end. With so many twists and turns, and situations I didn’t expect to happen, it continued to surprise me. It also touched my soul deeply with the characters. I could feel for every single one of them, their intense pain. A gut-wrenching story about how one accident can change the course of so many people’s lives forever!
Favourite Quotes:
“Betrayal”, I say finally, sucking the joy out of the room. “It’s not the method that frightens me, but the intention.”
“I try to imagine how my life might have been without her, had we not crossed paths that day. Would we have met another way? Or would my life look completely different?”
“Life never fails to surprise me in moments like these. How one’s world can flip in an instant by simply crossing paths with another. The joy it can bring, the heartache.”
“Some people understand life better than others, don’t they? I don’t mean capitalism or politics or corruption, that sort of thing. They understand life in that they know how to live it: they know how to love, how to trust, how to get by relatively unscathed.”
“Last words – they’re infamous, aren’t they? I think about them a lot. People often say you should tell people you love them as much as you can, because you never know when the last time will be. When I part ways with people, their last words always linger as I wonder if they were the words they would have used if they knew they’d be their last.”
“Broken people can’t fix other broken people.”
“Every experience I’ve had as an adult has been with her, and the thought of stepping away, becoming my own person and not having her to turn to, doesn’t seem possible. And deep down, when I really think about it, I’m terrified that when I’m alone, I won’t like who I am without her.”
When you put tradition, tragedy, pain, healing and hope, you get “The Book of Fire”. This book will touch you, humble you and make you grateful for thWhen you put tradition, tragedy, pain, healing and hope, you get “The Book of Fire”. This book will touch you, humble you and make you grateful for the things you have.
“Was it Aristotle who said that man is a political animal? Not that we are all born to take an active interest in party politics, but it is in our nature to live in a polis, a community.”
“The Book of Fire” is one of those books where you will always remember what you did and where you were when you read it. I was on a plane to Macedonia, about to spend time with family. And I am certain that this book changed my experience for the better, and I will never forget that.
“The sensitive ones always have secrets in their hearts, and if they are talented, they will find the means to reveal those secrets. Because they are secrets that must be told.”
Irini and Tasso live in a town in Greece, with their daughter Chara. And their lives unfortunately are separated with the “before” and “after” the wildfires. Fires that destroy villages, houses and families. The book is divided into the past and present. The past is told through a book that Irini is writing, explaining what happened. The present is the family going through the aftermath of the tragedy and trying to move on and heal.
“To live our lives with a sense of justice in our hearts would inevitably mean seeking fairness in the way people are treated by others – or indeed by us.”
Without revealing too much, the story is quite emotional and deals with loss and personal injuries. But also on the positive side, it shows solidarity of the people in that town. And the hope that they all so desperately cling onto. It sends a positive message to be grateful for the moments you have with the people you love, because tomorrow is never promised. It also shows the character’s resilience to keep moving forward.
“He understood that trees exist in a different timeframe to us, that we are mere visitors in their world.”
I am certain that many years later I will return and pick this book up again, and all the memories associated with it will come back flooding. And that feeling that I had whilst reading the book, as emotional as it was, it was also full of hope and promise of a better tomorrow. That feeling is the sole reason I am recommending this book to you.
“In mythology, Zeus gave Hermes two gifts for humankind: shame and justice. When Hermes asked if he should distribute these gifts to some and not others, Zeus said no. Every single person should possess these gifts, so that they could all learn to live together.”
“I Wish You Would” was the perfect teenage love angst romance with a friends to lovers | | | | |
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“I Wish You Would” was the perfect teenage love angst romance with a friends to lovers trope, that I didn’t know I needed.
“Fame is proof that the people are gullible.”
My Thoughts:
Firstly, I have to admit, the cover was what made me start the book. I had other books I started reading and I immediately dropped them to make room for this one. And I am glad I did, because I devoured it in days! There is so much tension from the very start from both sides. I loved the double POV, so we knew how both Ethan and Natalia felt. But there were so many times where I shouted at the book: “Will you two just bloody talk to each other!” ...more
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