Maja (The Nocturnal Library)'s bookshelf: read

Maja (The Nocturnal Library)'s bookshelf: read en-US Fri, 30 May 2025 08:15:19 -0700 60 Maja (The Nocturnal Library)'s bookshelf: read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Vision in White (Bride Quartet, #1)]]> 5598113 Nora Roberts cordially invites you to meet childhood friends Parker, Emma, Laurel, and Mac—the founders of Vows, one of Connecticut's premier wedding planning companies.

After years of throwing make-believe weddings in the backyard, flowers, photography, desserts, and details are what these women do best: a guaranteed perfect, beautiful day full of memories to last the rest of your life.

With bridal magazine covers to her credit, Mackensie "Mac" Elliot is most at home behind the camera—ready to capture the happy moments she never experienced while growing up. Her father replaced his first family with a second, and now her mother, moving on to yet another man, begs Mac for attention and money. Mac's foundation is jostled again moments before an important wedding planning meeting when she bumps into the bride-to-be's brother...an encounter that has them both seeing stars.

Carter Maguire is definitely not her type: he's stable, and he's safe. He's even an English teacher at their high school alma mater. There's something about him that makes Mac think a casual fling is just what she needs to take her mind off dealing with bridezillas and screening her mother's phone calls. But a casual fling can turn into something more when you least expect it. And with the help of her three best friends—and business partners—Mac must learn how to make her own happy memories.]]> 325 Nora Roberts 0425227510 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.13 2009 Vision in White (Bride Quartet, #1)

author: Nora Roberts
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Rose Bargain 211742041 The Cruel Prince meets The Selection in this captivating duology opener brimming with heart-pounding romance, vicious competition, and beautiful, cruel fae, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Haven, Sasha Peyton Smith.

Every citizen of England is granted one bargain from their immortal fae queen.

High society girls are expected to bargain for qualities that will win them suitors: a rare talent for piano in exchange for one’s happiest childhood memory. A perfect smile for one’s ability to taste.

But Ivy Benton’s debut season arrives with a shocking twist: a competition to secure the heart of the Queen’s fae son, Prince Bram. A prize that could save Ivy’s family from ruin… and free her sister from the bargain that destroyed her.

Yet every glittering fae deal has a rotting heart—and at the center of this contest is a dark plot that could destroy everything Ivy knows.

Sweepingly romantic and deceptively enchanting, this alternate history romantasy will enthrall readers of Holly Black, Stephanie Garber, and Adalyn Grace.]]> 389 Sasha Peyton Smith 0063372525 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 3.94 2025 The Rose Bargain

author: Sasha Peyton Smith
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)]]> 11357769 This whole grim reaper thing should have come with a manual.
Or a diagram of some kind.
A flow chart would have been nice.

Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can't she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?

With scorching-hot tension and high-octane humor, First Grave on the Right is your signpost to paranormal suspense of the highest order.

]]> 310 Darynda Jones 0749956046 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 Garrett chose that moment to join the conversation. “I appreciate your forethought,” he said, his tone distant, as if his mind were elsewhere. “Not as much as your fore-parts, but still…”
I twisted around in my seat to face him. “My fore-parts, as you so ineloquently put it, have names.” I pointed to my right breast. “This is Danger.” Then my left. “And this is Will Robinson. I would appreciate it if you addressed them accordingly.”
After a long pause in which he took the time to blink several times, he asked, “You named your breasts?”
I turned my back to him with a shrug. “I named my ovaries, too, but they don’t get out as much.”

Now, if that little quote didn’t convince you to read First Grave on the Right, nothing I write will, either.

There's a new generation of UF authors who are slowly but surely rising to the throne. The names that instantly come to mind are Nicole Peeler, Jaye Wells and now Darynda Jones. I think it’s a lot harder to succeed these days than it was for Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs or Ilona Andrews, for example. It has become very difficult to find something new and exciting to read in the ocean of new UF novels. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve seen it all and a completely original story is now a distant dream. I guess there are two ways around that obstacle. The first is finding something never before used, which is (as I’ve already said) almost impossible. Nicole Peeler did it, sure, but she IS a college professor, and all professors are generally awesome.
The second would be developing a great sense of humor (if you don’t already have one) and using it to distinguish yourself. That’s the path Darynda Jones chose, and she was extremely successful. The best way to start a book is with a laugh. Jones obviously knows this. By making the reader laugh on the very first page, the author achieves two important goals: he/she makes the MC instantly likeable and because of that, the reader keeps turning those pages.

I’ve read a couple of reviews comparing Jones to Janet Evanovich. Having just recently finished Wicked Appetite, I think that the only thing they have in common is that they are both hilarious. Although First Grave on the Right certainly is a fun read and Jones undoubtedly has a fantastic sense of humor, she does not have Evanovich’s courage to just let go: abandon all rules and reason along the way. But unlike Wicked Appetite, First Grave on the Right has a solid story that holds all the humor together.

]]> 3.97 2011 First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)

First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)

author: Darynda Jones
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2011/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: urban-fantasy, favorites, books-for-rainy-days, i-see-dead-people, reviewed-in-2011, my-flat-army, just-another-book-crush, own-a-dtb
review:
Garrett chose that moment to join the conversation. “I appreciate your forethought,” he said, his tone distant, as if his mind were elsewhere. “Not as much as your fore-parts, but still…”
I twisted around in my seat to face him. “My fore-parts, as you so ineloquently put it, have names.” I pointed to my right breast. “This is Danger.” Then my left. “And this is Will Robinson. I would appreciate it if you addressed them accordingly.”
After a long pause in which he took the time to blink several times, he asked, “You named your breasts?”
I turned my back to him with a shrug. “I named my ovaries, too, but they don’t get out as much.”

Now, if that little quote didn’t convince you to read First Grave on the Right, nothing I write will, either.

There's a new generation of UF authors who are slowly but surely rising to the throne. The names that instantly come to mind are Nicole Peeler, Jaye Wells and now Darynda Jones. I think it’s a lot harder to succeed these days than it was for Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs or Ilona Andrews, for example. It has become very difficult to find something new and exciting to read in the ocean of new UF novels. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve seen it all and a completely original story is now a distant dream. I guess there are two ways around that obstacle. The first is finding something never before used, which is (as I’ve already said) almost impossible. Nicole Peeler did it, sure, but she IS a college professor, and all professors are generally awesome.
The second would be developing a great sense of humor (if you don’t already have one) and using it to distinguish yourself. That’s the path Darynda Jones chose, and she was extremely successful. The best way to start a book is with a laugh. Jones obviously knows this. By making the reader laugh on the very first page, the author achieves two important goals: he/she makes the MC instantly likeable and because of that, the reader keeps turning those pages.

I’ve read a couple of reviews comparing Jones to Janet Evanovich. Having just recently finished Wicked Appetite, I think that the only thing they have in common is that they are both hilarious. Although First Grave on the Right certainly is a fun read and Jones undoubtedly has a fantastic sense of humor, she does not have Evanovich’s courage to just let go: abandon all rules and reason along the way. But unlike Wicked Appetite, First Grave on the Right has a solid story that holds all the humor together.

]]> Zmaj ispod Staroga grada 48508347 Četvero djece upušta se u istraživanje podzemnih hodnika ispod Staroga grada. Svaki odlazak u podzemlje predočava im neku novu tajnu. Odgonetavaju čudne znakove, pronalaze golem kostur i jendo jaje za koje pretpostavljaju da je zmajsko. Bivaju teleportirani, dolaze u posjed čarobnih predmeta...
Dubravka Težak]]> 397 Krunoslav Mikulan 9533552840 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 4.23 Zmaj ispod Staroga grada

author: Krunoslav Mikulan
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bonded in Death (In Death, #60)]]> 211004040 The #1 New York Times bestselling author spins an epic tale of loyalty, treachery, murder, and the long shadow of war…

His passport read Giovanni Rossi. But decades ago, during the Urban Wars, he was part of a small, secret organization called The Twelve. Responding to an urgent summons from an old compatriot, he landed in New York and eased into the waiting car. And died within minutes…

Lieutenant Eve Dallas finds the Rossi case frustrating. She’s got an elderly victim who’d just arrived from Rome; a widow who knows nothing about why he’d left; an as-yet unidentifiable weapon; and zero results on facial recognition. But when she finds a connection to the Urban Wars of the 2020s, she thinks Summerset―fiercely loyal, if somewhat grouchy, major-domo and the man who’d rescued her husband from the Dublin streets―may know something from his stint as a medic in Europe back then.

When Summerset learns of the crime, his shock and grief are clear―because, as he eventually reveals, he himself was one of The Twelve. It’s not a part of his past he likes to revisit. But now he must―not only to assist Eve’s investigation, but because a cryptic message from the killer has boasted that others of The Twelve have also died. Summerset is one of those who remain―and the murderous mission is yet to be fully accomplished…]]> 359 J.D. Robb 1250370795 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.37 2025 Bonded in Death (In Death, #60)

author: J.D. Robb
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1)]]> 228665
Moiraine Damodred arrives in Emond’s Field on a quest to find the one prophesized to stand against The Dark One, a malicious entity sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction. When a vicious band of half-men, half beasts invade the village seeking their master’s enemy, Moiraine persuades Rand al’Thor and his friends to leave their home and enter a larger unimaginable world filled with dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.]]> 800 Robert Jordan 0812511816 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 currently-reading 4.19 1990 The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1)

The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1)

author: Robert Jordan
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Leverage in Death (In Death, #47)]]> 37638161
For the airline executives finalizing a merger that would make news in the business world, the nine a.m. meeting would be a major milestone. But after marketing VP Paul Rogan walked into the plush conference room, strapped with explosives, the headlines told of death and destruction instead. The NYPSD’s Eve Dallas confirms that Rogan was cruelly coerced by two masked men holding his family hostage. His motive was saving his wife and daughter―but what was the motive of the masked men?

Despite the chaos and bad publicity, blowing up one meeting isn’t going to put the brakes on the merger. All it’s accomplished is shattering a lot of innocent lives. Now, with the help of her billionaire husband Roarke, Eve must untangle the reason for an inexplicable act of terror, look at suspects inside and outside both corporations, and determine whether the root of this crime lies in simple sabotage, or something far more complex and twisted.]]> 385 J.D. Robb 1250161568 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 4.22 2018 Leverage in Death (In Death, #47)

author: J.D. Robb
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Payback in Death (In Death, #57)]]> 75260734 Lt. Eve Dallas is back and this time she's investigating the death of one of her own.

When a retired police officer is found shot dead in his home, Eve and the team are called to the scene to investigate. The victim is Martin Greenleaf, former Captain of Internal Affairs. At first glance it looks like suicide but Eve thinks there could be more to this carefully laid scene than meets the eye.

Captain Greenleaf put a lot of cops away during his forty-seven years in Internal Affairs. Did the weight of the job finally prove too much for him? Or could this be a case of payback in death...]]> 364 J.D. Robb Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 4.49 2023 Payback in Death (In Death, #57)

author: J.D. Robb
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Third to Die (Quinn & Costa #1)]]> 46039026
Detective Kara Quinn, on leave from the LAPD, is on an early morning jog in her hometown of Liberty Lake when she comes upon the body of a young nurse. The manner of death shows a pattern of highly controlled rage. Meanwhile in DC, FBI special agent Mathias Costa is staffing his newly minted Mobile Response Team. Word reaches Matt that the Liberty Lake murder fits the profile of the compulsive Triple Killer. It will be the first case for the MRT. This time they have a chance to stop this zealous if elusive killer before he strikes again. But only if they can figure out who he is and where he is hiding before he disappears for another three years. The stakes are higher than ever before, because if they fail, one of their own will be next...]]> 458 Allison Brennan 0778309444 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 currently-reading 3.99 2020 The Third to Die (Quinn & Costa #1)

author: Allison Brennan
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Dark in Death (In Death, #46) 35466342
On a chilly February night, during a screening of Psycho in midtown, someone sunk an ice pick into the back of Chanel Rylan’s neck, then disappeared quietly into the crowds of drunks and tourists in Times Square. To Chanel’s best friend, who had just slipped out of the theater for a moment to take a call, it felt as unreal as the ancient black-and-white movie up on the screen. But Chanel’s blood ran red, and her death was anything but fictional.

Then, as Eve Dallas puzzles over a homicide that seems carefully planned and yet oddly personal, she receives a tip from an unexpected source: an author of police thrillers who recognizes the crime—from the pages of her own book. Dallas doesn’t think it’s coincidence, since a recent strangulation of a sex worker resembles a scene from her writing as well. Cops look for patterns of behavior: similar weapons, similar MOs. But this killer seems to find inspiration in someone else’s imagination, and if the theory holds, this may be only the second of a long-running series.

The good news is that Eve and her billionaire husband Roarke have an excuse to curl up in front of the fireplace with their cat, Galahad, reading mystery stories for research. The bad news is that time is running out before the next victim plays an unwitting role in a murderer’s deranged private drama—and only Eve can put a stop to a creative impulse gone horribly, destructively wrong.]]> 372 J.D. Robb 1250161533 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.16 2018 Dark in Death (In Death, #46)

author: J.D. Robb
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/15
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Desperation in Death (In Death, #55)]]> 59808349 The #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a gripping new thriller that pits homicide detective Eve Dallas against a conspiracy of exploitation and evil…

New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two—but they’d been equally desperate.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get away fast enough. Now Dorian is injured, terrified, and wandering the streets of New York, and Mina lies dead near the waterfront while Lt. Eve Dallas looks over the scene.

Mina’s expensive, elegant clothes and beauty products convince Dallas that she was being groomed, literally and figuratively, for sex trafficking—and that whoever is investing in this high-overhead operation expects windfall profits. Her billionaire husband, Roarke, may be able to help, considering his ties to the city’s ultra-rich. But Roarke is also worried about the effect this case is having on Dallas, as it brings a rage to the surface she can barely control. No matter what, she must keep her head clear--because above all, she is desperate for justice and to take down those who prey on and torment the innocent.]]> 368 J.D. Robb 1250278236 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 4.34 2022 Desperation in Death (In Death, #55)

author: J.D. Robb
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: favorites, murder-mystery, futuristic
review:

]]> The Boyfriend 208503280 She's looking for the perfect man. He's looking for the perfect victim.

Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She’s seen it men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can't shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.

Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.

Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.

Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim...

A dark story about obsession and the things we’ll do for love, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden proves that crimes of passion are often the bloodiest…]]> 368 Freida McFadden 1728296226 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.95 2024 The Boyfriend

author: Freida McFadden
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic, #1)]]> 27828473
With the famous Rhubarb Festival right around the corner, small-town tensions, tempers, and godly tantrums are at an all-time high. The last thing Delaney needs is her ex-boyfriend reappearing just when she's finally caught the attention of Ryder Bailey, the one man she should never love.

No, scratch that. The actual last thing she needs is a dead body washing ashore, especially since the dead body is a god.

Catching a murderer, wrestling a god power, and re-scheduling the apocalypse? Just another day on the job in Ordinary. Falling in love with her childhood friend while trying to keep the secrets of her town secret? That’s gonna take some work.]]> 326 Devon Monk Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 3.77 2016 Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic, #1)

Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic, #1)

author: Devon Monk
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Golden in Death (In Death, #50)]]> 45046771 In the latest thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, homicide detective Eve Dallas investigates a murder with a mysterious motive―and a terrifying weapon.

Pediatrician Kent Abner received the package on a beautiful April morning. Inside was a cheap trinket, a golden egg that could be opened into two halves. When he pried it apart, highly toxic airborne fumes entered his body―and killed him.

After Eve Dallas calls the hazmat team―and undergoes testing to reassure both her and her husband that she hasn’t been exposed―it’s time to look into Dr. Abner’s past and relationships. Not every victim Eve encounters is an angel, but it seems that Abner came pretty close―though he did ruffle some feathers over the years by taking stands for the weak and defenseless. While the lab tries to identify the deadly toxin, Eve hunts for the sender. But when someone else dies in the same grisly manner, it becomes clear that she’s dealing with either a madman―or someone who has a hidden and elusive connection to both victims.]]> 387 J.D. Robb 1250207207 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.19 2020 Golden in Death (In Death, #50)

author: J.D. Robb
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[If He Had Been With Me (If He Had Been with Me, #1)]]> 15835031 If he had been with me everything would have been different...

I wasn't with Finn on that August night. But I should've been. It was raining, of course. And he and Sylvie were arguing as he drove down the slick road. No one ever says what they were arguing about. Other people think it's not important. They do not know there is another story. The story that lurks between the facts. What they do not know—the cause of the argument—is crucial.

So let me tell you...]]> 336 Laura Nowlin 1402277822 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.76 2013 If He Had Been With Me (If He Had Been with Me, #1)

If He Had Been With Me (If He Had Been with Me, #1)

author: Laura Nowlin
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gold (The Plated Prisoner, #5)]]> 61314205 "Find me in another life. Find me in them all."

Every end is also a beginning.

I thought I was going to die, and would have if it weren’t for Slade. The only way he could save me was to open a rip between worlds. The only way for me to save myself was to go through it.

Sometimes, fleeing one dangerous place just brings you to another.

Annwyn.

The realm of the fae.

There is magic and beauty here, though around every corner, threats lurk.

But I’m a threat too.

I’m not a girl in a gilded cage anymore, and no one is going to stop me from finding my way back to Slade.

But returning home means facing danger and secrets. So I have to burn bright enough to light my own way…

Or else I might be swallowed by the dark.

Please note: This adult fantasy book includes dark elements that may be triggering, including violence, cruelty, death, adult language, and explicit romance. It is intended for ages 18 years and older. Read at your own discretion.]]> 646 Raven Kennedy Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.10 2023 Gold (The Plated Prisoner, #5)

author: Raven Kennedy
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #1)]]> 123257687
ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem and terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer―naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain―and his entire nefarious empire―out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.]]> 342 Hannah Nicole Maehrer 1649375808 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.88 2023 Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #1)

Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #1)

author: Hannah Nicole Maehrer
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Song of Achilles 13623848 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062060624.

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.]]> 408 Madeline Miller Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.29 2011 The Song of Achilles

author: Madeline Miller
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> First Lie Wins 164444179 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593492918.

Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn’t like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge. . . .]]> 340 Ashley Elston Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.97 2024 First Lie Wins

author: Ashley Elston
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1)]]> 60556912
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…]]> 329 Freida McFadden 1803144378 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.30 2022 The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1)

author: Freida McFadden
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mad Honey 59912428
Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start. And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can't help but fall for him, too.

With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can she trust him completely . . . Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police.

Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn't acknowledge the flashes of his father's temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he's hidden more than he's shared with her.]]> 464 Jodi Picoult 1984818384 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.04 2022 Mad Honey

author: Jodi Picoult
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Yellowface 62047984
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? This piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller. That is what June believes, and The New York Times bestseller list agrees.

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.]]> 319 R.F. Kuang 000853277X Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.69 2023 Yellowface

author: R.F. Kuang
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Suicide Notes 23710603 Listening Length: 5 hours and 38 minutes

"I'm not crazy. I don't see what the big deal is about what happened. But apparently someone does think it's a big deal because here I am. I bet it was my mother. She always overreacts."

Fifteen-year-old Jeff wakes up on New Year's Day to find himself in the hospital. Make that the psychiatric ward. With the nut jobs. Clearly, this is all a huge mistake. Forget about the bandages on his wrists and the notes on his chart. Forget about his problems with his best friend, Allie, and her boyfriend, Burke. Jeff's perfectly fine, perfectly normal, not like the other kids in the hospital with him. Now they've got problems. But a funny thing happens as his 45-day sentence drags on: the crazies start to seem less crazy.

Compelling, witty, and refreshingly real, Suicide Notes is a darkly humorous novel from award-winning author Michael Thomas Ford that examines that fuzzy line between "normal" and the rest of us.

©2008 Michael Thomas Ford; (P)2009 Audible, Inc.]]> 5 Michael Thomas Ford Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.5 stars
After an attempted suicide, Jeff wakes up in a psychiatric ward where he is forced to spend the next 45 days. He doesn’t want to and he’s determined not to cooperate, but his stay isn’t optional and his parents refuse to take him home. Finding their son almost bloodless in a bathtub isn’t something they particularly want to relive, and if the psych ward is what it takes to keep him alive, that’s where he’ll stay for as long as it takes.

Jeff handles his situation with lots of denial wrapped in good humor. He absolutely refuses to acknowledge that he has a problem and he is determined not to talk about his reasons for cutting his wrists open. According to him, his parents and the doctor made a mistake and he shouldn’t be locked up with the crazies.

Jeff’s story is heartwarming and poignant, but it’s also simple and laugh-out-loud funny. This diary-like narrative is one of the most honest things I’ve ever read. There are no heroes, no villains, no Big Drama whatsoever. It’s just a story about a boy that could easily be your next door neighbor or your second cousin. It’s not unusual at all and that’s what makes it so special.

Jeff’s character was truly done brilliantly. He is easily relatable, even (or especially) when he’s being obnoxious to his doctors and his fellow patients. Avoidance is his way to handle everything, but every now and again, a real feeling shines trough, be it anger at his parents for daring to save his life, resentment towards his doctors and nurses and the complete and utter hopelessness he feels about his situation.

I want to make this very clear: Suicide Notes is a book that deals with serious issues, but it’s rarely a sad read and it’s never angsty. Jeff’s sarcastic voice determines the overall tone, which is more funny than anything else. Yet Ford still manages to bring his point across by making every one of Jeff’s jokes louder and more touching than any sorrowful moment could possibly be.

I’ve tried this in both formats and while I generally prefer audio, in this case I’d strongly recommend the printed word. Although he’s a good narrator, Joe Caron didn’t succeed in capturing Jeff’s unique voice and most of Jeff’s sarcastic remarks somehow fell flat in the narrator’s interpretation.

If I had my way (but really, I never do), every thirteen-year-old on the planet would have to read three books: Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff, Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz and Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford. These three books promote understanding and tolerance in such a quiet, unobtrusive way, and even though we’re seeing more and more diversity, these are the three that always stay with me.

]]> 3.43 2008

author: Michael Thomas Ford
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2011/04/16
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: books-for-rainy-days, contemporary-fiction, favorites, young-adult, lgbt, reviewed-in-2015
review:
4.5 stars
After an attempted suicide, Jeff wakes up in a psychiatric ward where he is forced to spend the next 45 days. He doesn’t want to and he’s determined not to cooperate, but his stay isn’t optional and his parents refuse to take him home. Finding their son almost bloodless in a bathtub isn’t something they particularly want to relive, and if the psych ward is what it takes to keep him alive, that’s where he’ll stay for as long as it takes.

Jeff handles his situation with lots of denial wrapped in good humor. He absolutely refuses to acknowledge that he has a problem and he is determined not to talk about his reasons for cutting his wrists open. According to him, his parents and the doctor made a mistake and he shouldn’t be locked up with the crazies.

Jeff’s story is heartwarming and poignant, but it’s also simple and laugh-out-loud funny. This diary-like narrative is one of the most honest things I’ve ever read. There are no heroes, no villains, no Big Drama whatsoever. It’s just a story about a boy that could easily be your next door neighbor or your second cousin. It’s not unusual at all and that’s what makes it so special.

Jeff’s character was truly done brilliantly. He is easily relatable, even (or especially) when he’s being obnoxious to his doctors and his fellow patients. Avoidance is his way to handle everything, but every now and again, a real feeling shines trough, be it anger at his parents for daring to save his life, resentment towards his doctors and nurses and the complete and utter hopelessness he feels about his situation.

I want to make this very clear: Suicide Notes is a book that deals with serious issues, but it’s rarely a sad read and it’s never angsty. Jeff’s sarcastic voice determines the overall tone, which is more funny than anything else. Yet Ford still manages to bring his point across by making every one of Jeff’s jokes louder and more touching than any sorrowful moment could possibly be.

I’ve tried this in both formats and while I generally prefer audio, in this case I’d strongly recommend the printed word. Although he’s a good narrator, Joe Caron didn’t succeed in capturing Jeff’s unique voice and most of Jeff’s sarcastic remarks somehow fell flat in the narrator’s interpretation.

If I had my way (but really, I never do), every thirteen-year-old on the planet would have to read three books: Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff, Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz and Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford. These three books promote understanding and tolerance in such a quiet, unobtrusive way, and even though we’re seeing more and more diversity, these are the three that always stay with me.

]]> <![CDATA[Fish on a Bicycle (Fish Out of Water, #5)]]> 53068304 Fish Out of Book Five

Jackson Rivers has always bucked the rules—and bucking the rules of recovery is no exception. Now that he and Ellery are starting their own law firm, there’s no reason he can’t rush into trouble and take the same risks as always, right?

Maybe not. Their first case is a doozy, involving porn stars, drug empires, and daddy issues, and their client, Henry Worrall, wants to be an active participant in his own defense. As Henry and Jackson fight the bad guys and each other to find out who dumped the porn star in the trash can, Jackson must reexamine his assumptions that four months of rest and a few good conversations have made him all better inside.

Jackson keeps crashing his bicycle of self-care and a successful relationship, and Ellery wonders what’s going to give out first—Jackson’s health or Ellery’s patience. Jackson’s body hasn’t forgiven him for past crimes. Can Ellery forgive him for his current sins? And can they keep Henry from going to jail for sleeping with the wrong guy at the wrong time?

Being a fish out of water is tough—but if you give a fish a bicycle, how’s he going to swim?
]]> 327 Amy Lane 1644056763 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.45 2019 Fish on a Bicycle (Fish Out of Water, #5)

Fish on a Bicycle (Fish Out of Water, #5)

author: Amy Lane
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cold Curses (Heirs of Chicagoland, #5)]]> 122779901
Elisa, the only vampire ever born, is hoping all can remain quiet in the City of Chicago in the wake of a destructive attack by an ancient demon who broke the city’s defensive magic. Still, she and her friends, including shifter Connor Keene, know they need to be ready for anything.

Everyone is working as hard as they can to repair the city’s wards, but unwelcome creatures are slipping through and Elisa soon finds herself caught in the middle of a magical turf war with roots that go back generations. She knows she will have to take a stand, but retaliating threatens to reveal her deepest secret...]]> 384 Chloe Neill 059354983X Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.27 2023 Cold Curses (Heirs of Chicagoland, #5)

author: Chloe Neill
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Shockwave (Star Kingdom, #1) 45353889 What if being a hero was encoded in your genes?

And nobody told you?

Casmir Dabrowski would laugh if someone asked him that. After all, he had to build a robot to protect himself from bullies when he was in school.

Fortunately, life is a little better these days. He's an accomplished robotics engineer, a respected professor, and he almost never gets picked on in the lunchroom. But he's positive heroics are for other people.

Until robot assassins stride onto campus and try to kill him.

Forced to flee the work he loves and the only home he's ever known, Casmir catches the first ship into space, where he hopes to buy time to figure out who wants him dead and why. If he can't, he'll never be able to return home.

But he soon finds himself entangled with bounty hunters, mercenaries, and pirates, including the most feared criminal in the Star Kingdom: Captain Tenebris Rache.

Rache could snap his spine with one cybernetically enhanced finger, but he may be the only person with the answer Casmir desperately needs:

What in his genes is worth killing for?]]> 290 Lindsay Buroker Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.18 2019 Shockwave (Star Kingdom, #1)

author: Lindsay Buroker
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Listen for the Lie 63009940 What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.

But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.]]> 352 Amy Tintera 1250351618 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 4.07 2024 Listen for the Lie

author: Amy Tintera
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet]]> 55145261 A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 304 John Green 0525555218 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.37 2021 The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

author: John Green
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up, #1)]]> 212036287 1 K.F. Breene Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 currently-reading 4.19

Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up, #1)

author: K.F. Breene
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Once and Future Witches 49504061
But when the Eastwood sisters--James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna--join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.

There's no such thing as witches. But there will be.]]> 517 Alix E. Harrow 0316422045 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.01 2020 The Once and Future Witches

author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crossing Borders (Crossing Borders, #1)]]> 25698988 Two dudes walk into a bookstore…

Tristan knows he’s got issues. His latest ex-girlfriend knows it too. He can’t blame her for dumping him—even though she gets her brother to do it for her. Since he can’t stop staring at said brother’s package, he figures it’s about time to put a label on those issues. He likes guys.

He heads to a local bookstore with what he’s sure is a foolproof plan to find someone to show him what he’s been missing. But who should crash his little adventure? Officer Michael Truax, who gave him a really expensive ticket back in high school for skateboarding without a helmet.

Michael has been trying to catch Tristan for years...to give him a second ticket. Suddenly faced with “Sparky”, all grown up and looking to get laid, Michael’s protective instinct kicks in—and presents him with an opportunity that’s hard to resist. After all, the kid must know what he’s getting into, so why not?

But when a man with a plan connects with a man with a hunger, the result is nothing short of explosive.

This book has been previously published.

Product Warnings: Contains high-octane hair, a clawfoot bathtub, and a story that will make you believe in love at first sight. Okay, second sight, but who’s counting?]]> 343 Z.A. Maxfield 1619228483 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4
Crossing Borders was first published in 2007, with a different publisher and a very different cover. As ZA Maxfield pointed out in the Author’s note, the world was a much different place 8 years ago. People could still meet and fall in love in Borders and being gay often meant living without things like marriage and children. What’s more, being gay and a police officer was far more dangerous, although it still isn’t something to be taken lightly.

Crossing Borders was one of my first M/M reads (which I suspect holds true for many readers) and as such, it holds a very special place in my heart. It tells the story of Tristan, a college student barely discovering that he’s gay, and Michael, a slightly older police officer who’s had his eye on the young man for ages, and for several different reasons. It also offers glimpses into their very different family lives, their different backgrounds and interests, and in the process, these two men slowly find common ground and build a strong, loving life together.

Their romance is filled with both painful moments and humor, and Maxfield is one of those rare authors who can balance the two perfectly. Caring for these characters is never a problem - their preoccupations, lifestyle, values and fears soon become just as important to us as they are to them. I’ve read several novels by ZA Maxfield, and they all have superb characterization in common. What’s more, I love that the struggles of this couple were always very realistic and down to earth. There is some drama and the painful moments are truly heart-wrenching, but they always rang true to me, and each problem Tristan and Michael faced was something I could easily see happening in real life. Maxfield offered no easy fixes; sacrifices had to be made on both sides, but they all lead to a sweet and reasonable ending.

If there’s such a thing as a classic in a genre as new as M/M lit, Crossing Border definitely fits the bill. The details may be a bit outdated, but the love story within its pages is timeless. This was my third time reading it, but I think I have a few more rereads left in me somewhere down the road.
]]> 3.63 2008 Crossing Borders (Crossing Borders, #1)

author: Z.A. Maxfield
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/05
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: contemporary-fiction, lgbt, male-pov, romance, samhain, reviewed-in-2015, netgalley
review:

Crossing Borders was first published in 2007, with a different publisher and a very different cover. As ZA Maxfield pointed out in the Author’s note, the world was a much different place 8 years ago. People could still meet and fall in love in Borders and being gay often meant living without things like marriage and children. What’s more, being gay and a police officer was far more dangerous, although it still isn’t something to be taken lightly.

Crossing Borders was one of my first M/M reads (which I suspect holds true for many readers) and as such, it holds a very special place in my heart. It tells the story of Tristan, a college student barely discovering that he’s gay, and Michael, a slightly older police officer who’s had his eye on the young man for ages, and for several different reasons. It also offers glimpses into their very different family lives, their different backgrounds and interests, and in the process, these two men slowly find common ground and build a strong, loving life together.

Their romance is filled with both painful moments and humor, and Maxfield is one of those rare authors who can balance the two perfectly. Caring for these characters is never a problem - their preoccupations, lifestyle, values and fears soon become just as important to us as they are to them. I’ve read several novels by ZA Maxfield, and they all have superb characterization in common. What’s more, I love that the struggles of this couple were always very realistic and down to earth. There is some drama and the painful moments are truly heart-wrenching, but they always rang true to me, and each problem Tristan and Michael faced was something I could easily see happening in real life. Maxfield offered no easy fixes; sacrifices had to be made on both sides, but they all lead to a sweet and reasonable ending.

If there’s such a thing as a classic in a genre as new as M/M lit, Crossing Border definitely fits the bill. The details may be a bit outdated, but the love story within its pages is timeless. This was my third time reading it, but I think I have a few more rereads left in me somewhere down the road.

]]> <![CDATA[The Demon Trapper's Daughter (The Demon Trappers, #1)]]> 9901775

Seventeen-year-old Riley, the only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper, Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps. The good news is, with human society seriously disrupted by economic upheaval and Lucifer increasing the number of demons in all major cities, Atlanta’s local Trappers’ Guild needs all the help they can get – even from a girl. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing crush on fellow apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving distressed citizens from foul-mouthed little devils – Grade One Hellspawn only, of course, per the strict rules of the Guild. Life’s about as normal as can be for the average demon-trapping teen.

But then a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, sudden tragedy strikes the Trappers’ Guild, spinning Riley down a more dangerous path than she ever could have imagined. As her whole world crashes down around her, who can Riley trust with her heart – and her life?]]> 366 Jana Oliver 1429992840 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 3.99 2011 The Demon Trapper's Daughter (The Demon Trappers, #1)

The Demon Trapper's Daughter (The Demon Trappers, #1)

author: Jana Oliver
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/17
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: made-me-cry, young-adult, incredibly-stupid-choices, moments-of-great-frustration, zombies-zombies-everywhere, urban-fantasy, cover-lust
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Always Been You (Second Chances, #1)]]> 24838216
Jared Stewart thought he had lost his only chance to be with Seth after a series of misunderstandings and mistakes. When Seth finally comes home and back into Jared’s life, Jared vows to do anything it takes to keep him there. However, while Jared and Seth grow closer, they discover that not everyone is so happy for them.

Will they be finally able to make a life for themselves together? Or will they be torn apart again, by people they thought they could trust?
]]> 153 Jess Buffett 1311640606 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 lgbt, romance 3.70 2013 Always Been You (Second Chances, #1)

author: Jess Buffett
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/03/14
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: lgbt, romance
review:

]]> Kairos 36556614
Joe Cohen has devoted the past two years of his life to one the care and feeding of Kade Bosa. His partner in their PI business, roommate, and best friend, Kade is everything to Joe, even if their relationship falls short of what Joe desires most. But he won’t push. Kade has suffered a rough road, and Joe’s pretty sure he’s the only thing holding Kade together.

Estranged from his own family, Joe knows the value of desperately holding on to someone dear, but he never expected his present and past to collide just as Kade’s is doing the same. Now they’ve stumbled across evidence that could change their the impact of Kade’s tragic past, their job partnership, and any future Joe might allow himself to wish for….]]> 131 Mary Calmes 1640804978 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 on-hold 3.87 2017 Kairos

author: Mary Calmes
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: on-hold
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Model Citizen (Haven Investigations, #1)]]> 25579533
Oliver “Ollie” Petroskovic’s life as an international supermodel was heading in the right direction. He worked part-time for his brother at his detective agency—Petroskovic Haven Investigations—and had just bought his dream house. But all that changed when he found his brother dead, a victim of PTSD-induced suicide.

Almost a year later, Ollie is trying to keep his brother’s business afloat, but can’t get his PI license. Then his brother’s best friend, Kade Alme, shows up, fresh from the battlefield after a close brush with death. Kade is looking for a new life, in more ways than one, and with PI license in hand, he’s exactly what Ollie needs to keep PHI running.

When one of Ollie's childhood friends gets in trouble, Ollie feels he has to help. Kade insists on investigating if only to keep Ollie safe. Neither realizes the danger they’re in as someone tries to tear them apart before they can find solid ground together.]]> 220 Lissa Kasey 1634761316 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4

Merged review:

Model Citizen by Lissa Kasey has it all. It’s an exciting mystery, a wonderful romance and a book that pushes the limits of its genre. Kasey created a unique protagonist with enough complexities and nuances to make him truly unforgettable.

For Ollie Petroskovic, the loss of his older brother Nathan, his only living family member, is devastating. He abandons his modeling career to take over Nathan’s PI business, without a license or any real experience in the field. While Ollie struggles with the feeling of abandonment caused by his brother’s suicide, good friends join forces to keep his head above water. His brother’s old army friend, Kade, comes to live with him and help with the business, but Ollie can’t trust that Kade won’t abandon him just like Nathan did.

There are so very few truly gender fluid characters like Ollie. He was based on Stav Strashko, an androgynous Israeli model who identifies as a woman because society demands it, but who’d prefer not to be categorized at all. Ollie identifies as male, but often dresses in women’s clothes of his own making and fully embraces his gender fluidity. He is a highly paid model at the height of his career and he loves and respects his body precisely how it was made.

Lissa Kasey did an excellent job of explaining the challenges a person like Ollie must face every day, even from those who love him the most. Someone who doesn’t fit into the gender binary molds of society struggles to find a place and be accepted. Even his best friend often failed to take Ollie seriously enough, and the overprotective stance of those closest to him often drove him crazy. But even more than that, the expectations for him to be something easy to define and describe were often crushing. Although he struggled with his role and the way people viewed him, Ollie’s self-image never suffered for a second. We desperately need more characters like him, beacons of hope and self-respect with wonderful defense mechanisms and so much bravery.

The plot itself is very well done and I applaud Kasey for keeping me fully engaged from start to finish. Ollie investigates a case involving his childhood friend and a porn reality show called Sex House. He doesn’t have his PI license nor is he particularly intimidating, but he is very good with people and incredibly clever. Ollie never stumbled around with his case and he never gave me the feeling that I was waiting for him to catch up. He only needed to prove his suspicions and his methods tended to be successful.

Aside from being a good mystery and a thrilling romance, Model Citizen is necessary to the genre. Everything about this book is wonderful and I’d strongly recommend it to everyone, even those who don’t usually choose their reads within the M/M genre.]]> 3.79 2015 Model Citizen (Haven Investigations, #1)

Model Citizen (Haven Investigations, #1)

author: Lissa Kasey
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/14
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: lgbt, romance, male-pov, dreamspinner, just-another-book-crush, murder-mystery
review:
4.5 stars

Merged review:

Model Citizen by Lissa Kasey has it all. It’s an exciting mystery, a wonderful romance and a book that pushes the limits of its genre. Kasey created a unique protagonist with enough complexities and nuances to make him truly unforgettable.

For Ollie Petroskovic, the loss of his older brother Nathan, his only living family member, is devastating. He abandons his modeling career to take over Nathan’s PI business, without a license or any real experience in the field. While Ollie struggles with the feeling of abandonment caused by his brother’s suicide, good friends join forces to keep his head above water. His brother’s old army friend, Kade, comes to live with him and help with the business, but Ollie can’t trust that Kade won’t abandon him just like Nathan did.

There are so very few truly gender fluid characters like Ollie. He was based on Stav Strashko, an androgynous Israeli model who identifies as a woman because society demands it, but who’d prefer not to be categorized at all. Ollie identifies as male, but often dresses in women’s clothes of his own making and fully embraces his gender fluidity. He is a highly paid model at the height of his career and he loves and respects his body precisely how it was made.

Lissa Kasey did an excellent job of explaining the challenges a person like Ollie must face every day, even from those who love him the most. Someone who doesn’t fit into the gender binary molds of society struggles to find a place and be accepted. Even his best friend often failed to take Ollie seriously enough, and the overprotective stance of those closest to him often drove him crazy. But even more than that, the expectations for him to be something easy to define and describe were often crushing. Although he struggled with his role and the way people viewed him, Ollie’s self-image never suffered for a second. We desperately need more characters like him, beacons of hope and self-respect with wonderful defense mechanisms and so much bravery.

The plot itself is very well done and I applaud Kasey for keeping me fully engaged from start to finish. Ollie investigates a case involving his childhood friend and a porn reality show called Sex House. He doesn’t have his PI license nor is he particularly intimidating, but he is very good with people and incredibly clever. Ollie never stumbled around with his case and he never gave me the feeling that I was waiting for him to catch up. He only needed to prove his suspicions and his methods tended to be successful.

Aside from being a good mystery and a thrilling romance, Model Citizen is necessary to the genre. Everything about this book is wonderful and I’d strongly recommend it to everyone, even those who don’t usually choose their reads within the M/M genre.
]]> <![CDATA[Hearts at Stake (Drake Chronicles, #1)]]> 8932146 242 Alyxandra Harvey 0802721877 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 3.91 2009

author: Alyxandra Harvey
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: young-adult, books-for-rainy-days, paranormal-romance, so-many-vampires
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2)]]> 62335396 Love is a sacrifice at the altar of power.

In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. A prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and reeling from a gutting betrayal, she no longer even knows the truth of her own blood. She’s left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn.

The House of Night, too, is surrounded by enemies. Raihn’s own nobles are none too eager to accept a Turned king, especially one who was once a slave. And the House of Blood digs their claws into the kingdom, threatening to tear it apart from the inside.

When Raihn offers Oraya a secret alliance, taking the deal is her only chance at reclaiming her kingdom–and gaining her vengeance against the lover who betrayed her. But to do so, she’ll need to harness a devastating ancient power, intertwined with her father’s greatest secrets.

But with enemies closing in on all sides, nothing is as it seems. As she unravels her past and faces her future, Oraya finds herself forced to choose between the bloody reality of seizing power – and the devastating love that could be her downfall.]]> 626 Carissa Broadbent Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 1 4.09 2023 The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2)

The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2)

author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2024/08/27
date added: 2024/08/27
shelves:
review:
Abandoned about halfway through.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mask Falling (The Bone Season, #4)]]> 52185490
The mysterious Domino Program has plans for Paige, but she has ambitions of her own in this new citadel. With Arcturus Mesarthim-her former enemy-at her side, she embarks on an adventure that will lead her from the catacombs of Paris to the glittering hallways of Versailles. Her risks promise high reward: the Parisian underworld could yield the means to escalate her rebellion to outright war.

As Scion widens its bounds and the free world trembles in its shadow, Paige must fight her own memories after her ordeal at the hands of Scion. Meanwhile, she strives to understand her bond with Arcturus, which grows stronger by the day. But there are those who know the revolution began with them-and could end with them...]]> 528 Samantha Shannon 1408865564 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.44 2021 The Mask Falling (The Bone Season, #4)

author: Samantha Shannon
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Winter Lost (Mercy Thompson, #14; Mercy Thompson World, #20)]]> 201182779 Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must stop a disaster of world-shattering proportions in this exhilarating entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

In the supernatural realms, there are creatures who belong to winter. I am not one of them. But like the coyote I can become at will, I am adaptable.

My name is Mercy Thompson Hauptman, and my mate, Adam, is the werewolf who leads the Columbia Basin Pack, the pack charged with keeping the people who live and work in the Tri-Cities of Washington State safe. It’s a hard job, and it doesn’t leave much room for side quests. Which is why when I needed to travel to Montana to help my brother, I intended to go by myself.

But I’m not alone anymore.

Together, Adam and I find ourselves trapped with strangers in a lodge in the heart of the wilderness, in the teeth of a storm of legendary power, only to discover my brother’s issues are a tiny part of a problem much bigger than we could have imagined. Arcane and ancient magics are at work that could, unless we are very careful, bring about the end of the world. . . .]]> 416 Patricia Briggs 0593439007 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 4.35 2024 Winter Lost (Mercy Thompson, #14; Mercy Thompson World, #20)

Winter Lost (Mercy Thompson, #14; Mercy Thompson World, #20)

author: Patricia Briggs
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)]]> 60714999 Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night is the first book in a new series of heart-wrenching romance, dark magic, and bloodthirsty intrigue, perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.]]> 504 Carissa Broadbent Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 4.29 2022 The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)

The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)

author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Midnight Heir (The Bane Chronicles, #4)]]> 19163694
In Edwardian London, Magnus Bane discovers old friends and new enemies…including the son of his former comrade Will Herondale. One of ten adventures in The Bane Chronicles.Magnus thought he would never return to London, but he is lured by a handsome offer from Tatiana Blackthorn, whose plans—involving her beautiful young ward—are far more sinister than Magnus even suspects. In London at the turn of the century, Magnus finds old friends, and meets a very surprising young man...the sixteen-year-old James Herondale.]]> Cassandra Clare 1442365145 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4
The Midnight Heir takes place in Edwardian London, and it gives us an opportunity to reunite with Will, Tessa, and even Jem. It is a great introduction into the upcoming trilogy centered around Will and Tessa’s children and their peers. It was clear, even from this very short story, that we can expect a lot of pain and heartbreak from the lovely 17-year-old James Herondale. He is Will’s son after all, and judging by this glimpse into his life, he is just as tortured as his father used to be, albeit in a very different way.

Each of the Bane Chronicles stories is narrated by a different person, which I don’t really understand, but luckily, they’ve all been great so far. David Oyelowo gave a wonderful voice to Magnus Bane, laced with wisdom, humor and kindness. The audio version doesn’t really cost much more than the ebook, but it will give you 90 minutes with Magnus and the others, and reading the ebook would take no more than 10. If you don’t already have your copy, I highly recommend getting the audiobook.

]]> 3.63 2013 The Midnight Heir (The Bane Chronicles, #4)

The Midnight Heir (The Bane Chronicles, #4)

author: Cassandra Clare
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/21
date added: 2024/08/11
shelves: audiobooks, surprise-surprise, simon-schuster-audio, short-story, review-copy, male-pov, magic, historical-fiction, young-adult, reviewed-in-2014
review:
It was clear right from the start, in City of Bones, that Magnus Bane will never be content to remain in the background. He is too fabulous a character to ever be called side, secondary, or anything else to that effect. The Bane Chronicles finally put this powerful, yet kind-hearted immortal front and center, right where he deserves to be.

The Midnight Heir takes place in Edwardian London, and it gives us an opportunity to reunite with Will, Tessa, and even Jem. It is a great introduction into the upcoming trilogy centered around Will and Tessa’s children and their peers. It was clear, even from this very short story, that we can expect a lot of pain and heartbreak from the lovely 17-year-old James Herondale. He is Will’s son after all, and judging by this glimpse into his life, he is just as tortured as his father used to be, albeit in a very different way.

Each of the Bane Chronicles stories is narrated by a different person, which I don’t really understand, but luckily, they’ve all been great so far. David Oyelowo gave a wonderful voice to Magnus Bane, laced with wisdom, humor and kindness. The audio version doesn’t really cost much more than the ebook, but it will give you 90 minutes with Magnus and the others, and reading the ebook would take no more than 10. If you don’t already have your copy, I highly recommend getting the audiobook.

]]> <![CDATA[An Unsettled Range (Range, #3)]]> 13280940
In Troy Gardener’s defense, the gun thing was a mistake. Between his marriage falling apart and living in his uncle's isolated hunting cabin, he's been a little edgy. He wants to make it up to Liam, and once he discovers how much they have in common, he wants even more. But with Liam's father popping in unexpectedly and a mining company threatening the ranch’s water supply, the only guarantee is that life is never going to be boring.]]> 200 Andrew Grey 161372330X Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 lgbt, romance 3.87 2012 An Unsettled Range (Range, #3)

author: Andrew Grey
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/22
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: lgbt, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)]]> 18215402 LES ANGES NE SONT PAS CE QUE L'ON CROIT. ILS DÉTRUISENT LE MONDE, ÉRADIQUENT L'ESPÈCE HUMAINE.

Désormais seule, Penryn cherche sans relâche Paige, sa petite soeur, dans les rues vides de San Francisco. Pendant ce temps, Raffe doit impérativement retrouver ses ailes, sans lesquelles il ne pourra revenir parmi les siens. Mais, une fois qu'il sera confronté à l'ultime choix – récupérer ses ailes ou sauver Penryn –, quelle sera sa priorité ?]]> Susan Ee Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 <b>4.5 stars</b> 3.79 2013 World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)

World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)

author: Susan Ee
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2013/12/20
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: all-the-right-choices, audiobooks, best-of-2013, cliffhanger-ending, cover-lust, favorites, just-another-book-crush, my-flat-army, post-apocalyptic, role-models, young-adult
review:
4.5 stars
]]> <![CDATA[The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die]]> 17406511 “Take her out back and finish her off.”

She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.

And that she must run.

In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.]]> 225 April Henry 0805099034 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.04 2013 The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die

author: April Henry
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Hell & High Water (THIRDS #1) 23303214 10 hrs 6 mins

When homicide detective Dexter J. Daley’s testimony helps send his partner away for murder, the consequences - and the media frenzy - aren’t far behind. He soon finds himself sans boyfriend, sans friends, and, after an unpleasant encounter in a parking garage after the trial, he’s lucky he doesn’t find himself sans teeth. Dex fears he’ll get transferred from the Human Police Force’s Sixth Precinct, or worse, get dismissed. Instead, his adoptive father - a sergeant at the Therian-Human Intelligence Recon Defense Squadron otherwise known as the THIRDS - pulls a few strings, and Dex gets recruited as a Defense Agent.

Dex is determined to get his life back on track and eager to get started in his new job. But his first meeting with Team Leader Sloane Brodie, who also happens to be his new jaguar Therian partner, turns disastrous. When the team is called to investigate the murders of three HumaniTherian activists, it soon becomes clear to Dex that getting his partner and the rest of the tightknit team to accept him will be a lot harder than catching the killer - and every bit as dangerous.]]> 10 Charlie Cochet Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 3.99 2014 Hell & High Water (THIRDS #1)

author: Charlie Cochet
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2015/04/09
date added: 2024/06/10
shelves: audiobooks, alternating-povs, all-the-right-choices, all-action, lgbt, romance, sci-fi, werewhatevers
review:

]]> Dream Man 72623 341 Linda Howard 0671019759 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 1 4.03 1994

author: Linda Howard
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1994
rating: 1
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> Mind Games 195791352
As they do each June, the Foxes have driven the winding roads of Appalachia to drop off their children for a two-week stay at their grandmother’s. Here, twelve-year-old Thea can run free and breathe in the smells of pine and fresh bread and Grammie’s handmade candles. But as her parents head back to suburban Virginia, they have no idea they’re about to cross paths with a ticking time bomb.

Back in Kentucky, Thea and her grandmother Lucy both awaken from the same nightmare. And though the two have never discussed the special kind of sight they share, they know as soon as their tearful eyes meet that something terrible has happened.

The kids will be staying with Grammie now in Redbud Hollow, and thanks to Thea’s vision, their parents’ killer will spend his life in supermax. Over time, Thea will make friends, build a career, find love. But that ability to see into minds and souls still lurks within her, and though Grammie calls it a gift, it feels more like a curse―because the inmate who shattered her childhood has the same ability. Thea can hear his twisted thoughts and witness his evil acts from miles away. He knows it, and hungers for vengeance. A long, silent battle will be waged between them―and eventually bring them face to face, and head to head…]]> 422 Nora Roberts 1250289696 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 4.14 2024 Mind Games

author: Nora Roberts
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves:
review:
One of Nora’s weakest, but still good. Strong family ties, lots of detail, a low angst romance, it hits the right spots.
]]> Vortex (Tempest, #2) 16036138 435 Julie Cross 0230757162 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 own-a-dtb am begging. More, please!

In Vortex, Jackson struggles to reorganize his life and find a way to live without two people who mean the most to him. He begins training with the Tempest unit of the CIA, desperate to fight the Enemies of Time and keep Holly safe. Although talented and intelligent, Jackson doesn’t have it easy and being the boss’s son doesn’t help him gain confidence of his peers.

Even with all the action and CIA training, Vortex was a much more contemplative book than its predecessor. Its focus was Jackson’s growth and his relationships, be it with his father, his colleagues or Holly. That’s not to say it wasn’t exciting – Cross kept throwing Jackson in impossible situations from which he had to dig himself out. The Enemies of Time were never more dangerous, but even more dangerous were the enemies Jackson didn’t see coming.

Readers who considered Holly plain and unworthy of Jackson’s attention will be relieved by her absence in Vortex. I was, too, but for very different reasons. Away from Holly, but with her safety at the forefront of his mind, Jackson was able to grow tremendously, to become a responsible adult, one worthy of both admiration and affection. It was amazing to watch Jackson become the man he is now. The second he decided to put someone else’s life above his own, he became more mature and collected, far more focused than he ever was. The other Tempest operatives kept misjudging him because of his father and he endured it all with patience and grace.

Adam’s absence was a bit harder to endure. He was my favorite in Tempest (I always fall for the geeky best friend) and without his humorous input, Jackson’s adventures simply weren’t the same. I’m not sure when (or even if) he’ll be back, but I’ll keep my fingers tightly crossed.

Vortex is a read rich with jaw dropping surprises, and the game is always changing. I tend to struggle with the concept of time travel and that proved true here as well. Cross doesn’t really do recaps and since I’d forgotten most of the details from Tempest, I was more than a little lost at the beginning. The truth is, this book will punish you severely if your mind strays to your lunch plans, shoe shopping or bills, but if you give it your full attention, you will be rewarded.

]]> 3.88 2013 Vortex (Tempest, #2)

author: Julie Cross
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/06/13
date added: 2024/02/23
shelves: own-a-dtb
review:
Vortex is an excellent book for people like me who occasionally suffer from book ADD. It is an attention-grabber that will pull you in with its prologue and refuse to let go. Cross has no trouble securing reader interest and I’m pretty sure she just grins wickedly when we beg for more. And make no mistake, I am begging. More, please!

In Vortex, Jackson struggles to reorganize his life and find a way to live without two people who mean the most to him. He begins training with the Tempest unit of the CIA, desperate to fight the Enemies of Time and keep Holly safe. Although talented and intelligent, Jackson doesn’t have it easy and being the boss’s son doesn’t help him gain confidence of his peers.

Even with all the action and CIA training, Vortex was a much more contemplative book than its predecessor. Its focus was Jackson’s growth and his relationships, be it with his father, his colleagues or Holly. That’s not to say it wasn’t exciting – Cross kept throwing Jackson in impossible situations from which he had to dig himself out. The Enemies of Time were never more dangerous, but even more dangerous were the enemies Jackson didn’t see coming.

Readers who considered Holly plain and unworthy of Jackson’s attention will be relieved by her absence in Vortex. I was, too, but for very different reasons. Away from Holly, but with her safety at the forefront of his mind, Jackson was able to grow tremendously, to become a responsible adult, one worthy of both admiration and affection. It was amazing to watch Jackson become the man he is now. The second he decided to put someone else’s life above his own, he became more mature and collected, far more focused than he ever was. The other Tempest operatives kept misjudging him because of his father and he endured it all with patience and grace.

Adam’s absence was a bit harder to endure. He was my favorite in Tempest (I always fall for the geeky best friend) and without his humorous input, Jackson’s adventures simply weren’t the same. I’m not sure when (or even if) he’ll be back, but I’ll keep my fingers tightly crossed.

Vortex is a read rich with jaw dropping surprises, and the game is always changing. I tend to struggle with the concept of time travel and that proved true here as well. Cross doesn’t really do recaps and since I’d forgotten most of the details from Tempest, I was more than a little lost at the beginning. The truth is, this book will punish you severely if your mind strays to your lunch plans, shoe shopping or bills, but if you give it your full attention, you will be rewarded.

]]> Tempest (Tempest, #1) 12980815 412 Julie Cross 0230756263 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 Forget everything you know about time travel…

I’ll start this one with a confession: time travel stuff makes little to no sense to me. It’s true, my mathematical-logical intelligence is lower than my shoe size, and when I try to make sense of all the time lines and paradoxes, I get this throbbing headache in my temples that refuses to go away. Because of that, the opening sentence (Jackson’s words to Holly) meant very little to me – I knew next to nothing to begin with, but I’m happy to say that Cross’ version, at least, made sense. To me. Sort of.

Ever since it came out, Tempest has been receiving a lot of mixed reviews. Most of my friends and bloggers I usually agree with gave it a low rating, which is why I waited so long to give it a chance. But somewhere deep inside, I had this strange feeling that Tempest and I would get along, and as it turns out, we did.

As it usually happens, what I expected from Tempest and what I ended up with were two things a million miles away from each other. I obviously knew it was about time travel, but I thought it would focus entirely on the romance and saving the life of a girl our time traveler can’t live without. Boy was I wrong! It’s true, Jackson’s girlfriend Holly gets shot by the so called Enemies of Time and he jumps back in the hopes of saving her, but Tempest doesn’t focus on their undying love. In fact, Jackson approaches his relationship with Holly very maturely. Instead, this book is full of secret medical research, CIA agents, agents called Enemies of Time, parallel dimensions and guns. Sounds fun? I thought so.

A lot of reviewers thought that Holly was plain and unworthy of Jackson’s attention, and I agree that she doesn’t really stand out. But people we feel attracted to are often plain in the eyes of others, and it wasn’t me who was supposed to fall in love with her. So in a way, I'm glad she was pretty, but not stunningly gorgeous, smart, but not a Nobel prize winner, generous, but certainly not Mother Teresa. It made the entirety of their relationship seem that much more real to me.

The usual tropes were all there: no mother, dead sister, best friend the science geek, but the seat-gripping action helped me accept it all more easily and in the end, those 412 pages simply weren’t enough.
I read this book at the beach, before going to sleep, during hours of insomnia, while I was eating and pretty much everywhere else, until I finished it. (I even fell asleep with it and I sort of dropped it on my own head, but that’s neither here nor there.) Of course it had its flaws, but it’s summer, it was fun, and quite frankly I just don’t care.

Also posted at
]]> 3.57 2011 Tempest (Tempest, #1)

author: Julie Cross
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2012/07/20
date added: 2024/02/23
shelves: 2012-favorites, made-me-cry, favorites, male-pov, never-mess-with-time-travel, own-a-dtb, review-copy, surprise-surprise, young-adult, pan-macmillan, reviewed-in-2012
review:
Forget everything you know about time travel…

I’ll start this one with a confession: time travel stuff makes little to no sense to me. It’s true, my mathematical-logical intelligence is lower than my shoe size, and when I try to make sense of all the time lines and paradoxes, I get this throbbing headache in my temples that refuses to go away. Because of that, the opening sentence (Jackson’s words to Holly) meant very little to me – I knew next to nothing to begin with, but I’m happy to say that Cross’ version, at least, made sense. To me. Sort of.

Ever since it came out, Tempest has been receiving a lot of mixed reviews. Most of my friends and bloggers I usually agree with gave it a low rating, which is why I waited so long to give it a chance. But somewhere deep inside, I had this strange feeling that Tempest and I would get along, and as it turns out, we did.

As it usually happens, what I expected from Tempest and what I ended up with were two things a million miles away from each other. I obviously knew it was about time travel, but I thought it would focus entirely on the romance and saving the life of a girl our time traveler can’t live without. Boy was I wrong! It’s true, Jackson’s girlfriend Holly gets shot by the so called Enemies of Time and he jumps back in the hopes of saving her, but Tempest doesn’t focus on their undying love. In fact, Jackson approaches his relationship with Holly very maturely. Instead, this book is full of secret medical research, CIA agents, agents called Enemies of Time, parallel dimensions and guns. Sounds fun? I thought so.

A lot of reviewers thought that Holly was plain and unworthy of Jackson’s attention, and I agree that she doesn’t really stand out. But people we feel attracted to are often plain in the eyes of others, and it wasn’t me who was supposed to fall in love with her. So in a way, I'm glad she was pretty, but not stunningly gorgeous, smart, but not a Nobel prize winner, generous, but certainly not Mother Teresa. It made the entirety of their relationship seem that much more real to me.

The usual tropes were all there: no mother, dead sister, best friend the science geek, but the seat-gripping action helped me accept it all more easily and in the end, those 412 pages simply weren’t enough.
I read this book at the beach, before going to sleep, during hours of insomnia, while I was eating and pretty much everywhere else, until I finished it. (I even fell asleep with it and I sort of dropped it on my own head, but that’s neither here nor there.) Of course it had its flaws, but it’s summer, it was fun, and quite frankly I just don’t care.

Also posted at

]]> Glow (Sky Chasers, #1) 10834014
Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.

Glow is the most riveting series debut since The Hunger Games, and promises to thrill and challenge readers of all ages.]]> 385 Amy Kathleen Ryan 0330535587 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 I’ve read a few reviews in advance and I was prepared to be unsettled by it, but nothing could prepare me for this story in which people, every last one of them, were monsters, usually hidden behind a very pleasant façade.

When, decades ago, two identical ships were launched into space on a mission to find New Earth and settle, everyone thought their chances of survival were pretty much the same. After all, the only difference between them was the religious conviction of their respective crews.
Weaverly and Kieran belong to the first generation of children born on the Empyrean – the ship with a non-religious crew. They are both fifteen and thinking about getting married – in their circumstances, children are always welcome, no matter how young the parents. They have their lives planned out for them and they’re happy with the way things are going. But the New Horizon crew hasn’t had as much luck. They haven’t been able to procreate at all, which means their crew is fairly old and they are pretty desperate. Their solution is to attack the Empyrean and steal all their girls, nearly destroying the ship in the process. Suddenly, Weaverly and Kieran aren’t even on the same ship and each of them is dealing with a different set of disasters.

The name Weaverly seems like an odd and unfortunate choice, especially for third person narration. Since Ryan seems to harbor a strong dislike for personal pronouns, it’s used in almost every sentence, and, being a mouthful, it clogs the natural flow of sentences and makes the already thick narrative even harder to read. That is, writing-wise, the only objection I really have. Amy Kathleen Ryan showed unusual skill and control.

Because so many awful, hateful things happen in it, Glow is a hard book to like. There is no real warmth between the characters, nothing even remotely positive or hopeful, just violence, horrible moral choices and more violence. One couldn’t exactly call Kieran a hero, not by any stretch of the imagination, and the same goes for the rest of the characters. They behaved exactly as one would expect people in such an isolated environment to behave: they have deviated drastically from moral and ethical standards of society.

Faced with a crew made up entirely of rebellious boys, Kieran decided to lead them through a religion he pretty much made up on the spot. The ease with which this decision was made and the way those boys accepted it was incredibly creepy and eye-opening. Their sudden faith in Kieran was alarming, and the speed with which this cult of personality arose staggering.

There are many more things that unsettled me and kept me awake at night, but writing about them would give away too much of the plot. It’s best to go into this book knowing very little about it. Fortunately, I have the sequel, Spark, on hand, but I’m not brave enough to read t right away. My poor little heart needs a lengthy break.

]]> 3.52 2011 Glow (Sky Chasers, #1)

author: Amy Kathleen Ryan
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2012/09/29
date added: 2024/02/22
shelves: all-action, alternating-povs, annoying-love-triangle, cliffhanger-ending, cover-lust, own-a-dtb, pan-macmillan, review-copy, young-adult, postcard-from-outer-space, reviewed-in-2012
review:
I rated Glow somewhat higher than I normally rate this type of books, due solely to the incredibly strong emotional impact it had on me. Some of the characters in it might prove forgettable in time, but I will never forget the pressing, claustrophobic feeling it left me with.
I’ve read a few reviews in advance and I was prepared to be unsettled by it, but nothing could prepare me for this story in which people, every last one of them, were monsters, usually hidden behind a very pleasant façade.

When, decades ago, two identical ships were launched into space on a mission to find New Earth and settle, everyone thought their chances of survival were pretty much the same. After all, the only difference between them was the religious conviction of their respective crews.
Weaverly and Kieran belong to the first generation of children born on the Empyrean – the ship with a non-religious crew. They are both fifteen and thinking about getting married – in their circumstances, children are always welcome, no matter how young the parents. They have their lives planned out for them and they’re happy with the way things are going. But the New Horizon crew hasn’t had as much luck. They haven’t been able to procreate at all, which means their crew is fairly old and they are pretty desperate. Their solution is to attack the Empyrean and steal all their girls, nearly destroying the ship in the process. Suddenly, Weaverly and Kieran aren’t even on the same ship and each of them is dealing with a different set of disasters.

The name Weaverly seems like an odd and unfortunate choice, especially for third person narration. Since Ryan seems to harbor a strong dislike for personal pronouns, it’s used in almost every sentence, and, being a mouthful, it clogs the natural flow of sentences and makes the already thick narrative even harder to read. That is, writing-wise, the only objection I really have. Amy Kathleen Ryan showed unusual skill and control.

Because so many awful, hateful things happen in it, Glow is a hard book to like. There is no real warmth between the characters, nothing even remotely positive or hopeful, just violence, horrible moral choices and more violence. One couldn’t exactly call Kieran a hero, not by any stretch of the imagination, and the same goes for the rest of the characters. They behaved exactly as one would expect people in such an isolated environment to behave: they have deviated drastically from moral and ethical standards of society.

Faced with a crew made up entirely of rebellious boys, Kieran decided to lead them through a religion he pretty much made up on the spot. The ease with which this decision was made and the way those boys accepted it was incredibly creepy and eye-opening. Their sudden faith in Kieran was alarming, and the speed with which this cult of personality arose staggering.

There are many more things that unsettled me and kept me awake at night, but writing about them would give away too much of the plot. It’s best to go into this book knowing very little about it. Fortunately, I have the sequel, Spark, on hand, but I’m not brave enough to read t right away. My poor little heart needs a lengthy break.

]]> <![CDATA[The Blueprint (Rules of Possession, #1)]]> 38504190
NFL standout Britton “Blue” Montgomery has pressure coming at him from all sides. From his father, who’s only interested in Blue’s football career. From his coaches, who just want him to play without getting injured again. From the fans. From his agent. And from his mother, who has popped up on the radar after leaving his family years before. And now his relationship with Kelly is on shaky ground, and that frightens Blue more than anything.

When Kelly admits he’s in love with Blue, bonds are tested, and Blue has to decide what’s really important. He doesn’t want to lose the number-one person in his life, but the cost to keep Kelly close might be more than he’s willing to pay.

It’s a good thing his nickname is the Blueprint—it’s time to draft a new set of plans.]]> 302 S.E. Harmon Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 lgbt, male-pov, to-read 3.77 2018 The Blueprint (Rules of Possession, #1)

author: S.E. Harmon
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves: lgbt, male-pov, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Beyond the Veil (The Veil, #1)]]> 26249569 Alternative cover edition of ASIN B00IA3S97K can be found here

If your ex is the Prince of Greed, you’d better be ready to raise hell.

Charlie Henderson is living a lie. Her real name is Muse, she's half demon, and her attempt at a normal life is about to go up in smoke.

When an assassin walks into her life, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Muse must return to the one man she hoped never to see again and ask for help. The Prince of Greed isn’t known for his charity. The price is high, and the cost could tear her apart.

Trapped between the malevolent intentions of a Prince of Hell and an assassin with ulterior motives, Muse must embrace the lure of chaos at her core—the demon inside her—in order to survive.]]> 268 Pippa DaCosta Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.83 2014 Beyond the Veil (The Veil, #1)

author: Pippa DaCosta
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)]]> 40153213
In the far distant future, the universe is officially ruled by the Royal Consortium, but the High Councillors, the heads of the three High Houses, wield the true power. As the fifth of six children, Ada von Hasenberg has no authority; her only value to her High House is as a pawn in a political marriage. When her father arranges for her to wed a noble from House Rockhurst, a man she neither wants nor loves, Ada seizes control of her own destiny. The spirited princess flees before the betrothal ceremony and disappears among the stars.

Ada eluded her father’s forces for two years, but now her luck has run out. To ensure she cannot escape again, the fiery princess is thrown into a prison cell with Marcus Loch. Known as the Devil of Fornax Zero, Loch is rumored to have killed his entire chain of command during the Fornax Rebellion, and the Consortium wants his head.

When the ship returning them to Earth is attacked by a battle cruiser from rival House Rockhurst, Ada realizes that if her jilted fiancé captures her, she’ll become a political prisoner and a liability to her House. Her only hope is to strike a deal with the dangerous fugitive: a fortune if he helps her escape.

But when you make a deal with an irresistibly attractive Devil, you may lose more than you bargained for . . .]]> 451 Jessie Mihalik Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.10 2019 Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)

Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)

author: Jessie Mihalik
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1)]]> 35965482 New York Times bestselling and Alex, Nebula, and Hugo-Award-winning author Seanan McGuire introduces readers to a world of amoral alchemy, shadowy organizations, and impossible cities in this standalone fantasy.

Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.

Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math.

Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet.

Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own.

Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 492 Seanan McGuire 1250195519 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.01 2019 Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1)

author: Seanan McGuire
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1)]]> 36373298
Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last—and best—hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much larger and more terrifying than anything she could imagine.

Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel to the rez to unravel clues from ancient legends, trade favors with tricksters, and battle dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology.

As Maggie discovers the truth behind the disappearances, she will have to confront her past—if she wants to survive.

Welcome to the Sixth World.]]> 287 Rebecca Roanhorse 1534413499 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.92 2018 Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1)

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1)

author: Rebecca Roanhorse
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mind Games (Kaely Quinn Profiler, #1)]]> 40212120 336 Nancy Mehl 1493416065 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.45 2018

author: Nancy Mehl
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Damage Control (North Shore Stories, #1)]]> 36229916 Everything to lose.

Tyler’s worked hard to kick the dust of the Chicago suburbs off his heels and move on with his life as Hollywood’s newest up-and-comer, burying his demons and hiding his scars from the world. Just as everything seems to be going his way, a scandal from his past threatens everything he’s worked for. Now he’s stuck back home, where his family of lawyers can maybe help sink the scandal and find out who’s behind it.

Afraid to love.

Josh doesn’t know what to think when his ex’s little brother falls into his arms, other than that Tyler is trouble with a capital T. But when Tyler’s publicist suggests that an adoring fake boyfriend might be just the ticket to saving Tyler’s acting career, Josh doesn’t mind playing along. It’s not like he has anything else going on, and faking a relationship with someone you’ve known your entire life can’t possibly be that difficult.

A second chance for two damaged hearts.

Now they’re stuck together for the foreseeable future, and neither can deny their mounting attraction. Why should they? They’re supposed to be in love, at least out in public. But in private, when no one is watching, Tyler and Josh grow closer in a way that has nothing to do with their agreed upon arrangement. What do they do when make-believe becomes real, and how can two men with such different lives have a shared future?

Damage Control is a steamy, stand-alone gay romance with no cliffhanger and a HEA.

]]> 518 Lynn Van Dorn Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.25 2017 Damage Control (North Shore Stories, #1)

Damage Control (North Shore Stories, #1)

author: Lynn Van Dorn
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Coming to You Live 37780924
Shaun and Georgia Mason got out. That's the story people tell, anyway. They told the truth and they lived happily ever after, somewhere in the wilds of Canada. But running away is complicated, and when circumstances force them to return to what they left behind, they'll have to face the consequences of their own actions . . . and the actions of others.

More from Mira Grant

Into the Drowning Deep

Newsflesh Short Fiction
Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box
Countdown
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats
How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea
The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell
Please Do Not Taunt the Octopus
All the Pretty Little Horses

Newsflesh
Feed
Deadline
Blackout
Feedback
A Newsflesh Collection

Parasitology
Parasite
Symbiont
Chimera]]> 126 Mira Grant 0356507084 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 3.93 2018 Coming to You Live

author: Mira Grant
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/29
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Breath of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #2)]]> 31373789 SHE'S DESTINED TO DESTROY THE WORLD…
"Cat" Catalia Fisa has been running from her destiny since she could crawl. But now, her newfound loved ones are caught between the shadow of Cat's tortured past and the threat of her world-shattering future. So what's a girl to do when she knows it's her fate to be the harbinger of doom? Everything in her power.

BUT NOT IF SHE CAN HELP IT
Griffin knows Cat is destined to change the world—for the better. As the realms are descending into all-out war, Cat and Griffin must embrace their fate together. Gods willing, they will emerge side-by-side in the heart of their future kingdom...or not at all.

]]> 445 Amanda Bouchet Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.07 2017 Breath of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #2)

author: Amanda Bouchet
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Winterkeep (Graceling Realm, #4)]]> 53624358 Something is rotten in the heart of Winterkeep...

Four years after Bitterblue left off, a new land has been discovered to the east: Torla; and the closest nation to Monsea is Winterkeep. Winterkeep is a land of miracles, a democratic republic run by people who like each other, where people speak to telepathic sea creatures, adopt telepathic foxes as pets, and fly across the sky in ships attached to balloons.

But when Bitterblue’s envoys to Winterkeep drown under suspicious circumstances, she and Giddon and her half sister, Hava, set off to discover the truth–putting both Bitterblue’s life and Giddon’s heart to the test when Bitterbue is kidnapped. Giddon believes she has drowned, leaving him and Hava to solve the mystery of what’s wrong in Winterkeep.

Lovisa Cavenda is the teenage daughter of a powerful Scholar and Industrialist (the opposing governing parties) with a fire inside her that is always hungry, always just nearly about to make something happen. She is the key to everything, but only if she can figure out what’s going on before anyone else, and only if she’s willing to transcend the person she’s been all her life.]]> 528 Kristin Cashore 0803741502 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 3.97 2021 Winterkeep (Graceling Realm, #4)

author: Kristin Cashore
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/29
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Random in Death (In Death, #58)]]> 127305845
Jenna’s parents had finally given in, and there she was, at a New York club with her best friends, watching the legendary band Avenue A, carrying her demo in hopes of slipping it to the guitarist, Jake Kincade. Then, from the stage, Jake catches her eye, and smiles. It’s the best night of her life.
It’s the last night of her life.

Minutes later, Jake’s in the alley getting some fresh air, and the girl from the dance floor comes stumbling out, sick and confused and deathly pale. He tries to help, but it’s no use. He doesn’t know that someone in the crowd has jabbed her with a needle―and when his girlfriend Nadine arrives, she knows the only thing left to do for the girl is call her friend, Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

After everyone on the scene is interviewed, lab results show a toxic mix of substances in the victim’s body―and for an extra touch of viciousness, the needle was teeming with infectious agents. Dallas searches for a Had any boys been harassing Jenna? Was she engaging in risky behavior or caught up in something shady? But there are no obvious clues why this levelheaded sixteen-year-old, passionate about her music, would be targeted.

And that worries Dallas. Because if Jenna wasn’t targeted, if she was just the random, unlucky victim of a madman consumed by hatred, there are likely more deaths to come.]]> 368 J.D. Robb 1250289548 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.20 2024 Random in Death (In Death, #58)

author: J.D. Robb
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/28
date added: 2024/01/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Devouring Darkness (Heirs of Chicagoland, #4)]]> 59832411
As the only vampire ever born, and the daughter of two very powerful Chicago vampires, Elisa Sullivan knew her life was going to be . . . unusual. But she wanted to make her own way in the world, preferably away from her famous family. Then supernatural politics—and perhaps a bit of destiny—intervened, and Elisa had to steady her nerves and sharpen her steel to fight for the city of Chicago. Luckily, Connor Keene, son of the North American Central Pack's Apex wolf, is right by her side.

When Elisa and her Ombudsman colleagues agree to escort a vulnerable supernatural to Chicago, they inadvertently set in motion a scheme of long-awaited magical vengeance. The city may pay an arcane price it can't afford unless Elisa and her allies rise to the challenge.

Contains mature themes.]]> 308 Chloe Neill Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 4.13 2022 Devouring Darkness (Heirs of Chicagoland, #4)

Devouring Darkness (Heirs of Chicagoland, #4)

author: Chloe Neill
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/20
date added: 2024/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]> The Dead House 24396858 Three students: dead.
Carly Johnson: vanished without a trace.

Two decades have passed since an inferno swept through Elmbridge High, claiming the lives of three teenagers and causing one student, Carly Johnson, to disappear. The main suspect: Kaitlyn, "the girl of nowhere."

Kaitlyn's diary, discovered in the ruins of Elmbridge High, reveals the thoughts of a disturbed mind. Its charred pages tell a sinister version of events that took place that tragic night, and the girl of nowhere is caught in the center of it all. But many claim Kaitlyn doesn't exist, and in a way, she doesn't - because she is the alter ego of Carly Johnson.

Carly gets the day. Kaitlyn has the night. It's during the night that a mystery surrounding the Dead House unravels and a dark, twisted magic ruins the lives of each student that dares touch it.

Debut author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves together a thrilling and terrifying story using psychiatric reports, witness testimonials, video footage, and the discovered diary - and as the mystery grows, the horrifying truth about what happened that night unfolds.]]> 400 Dawn Kurtagich 0316298689 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4

You’ve surely heard this before, but here it is again: The Dead House is a very unusual sort of book, narrative-wise. It is a skillfully woven web of diary entries, video transcripts, police interview transcripts, e-mails and instant messages, newspaper clippings and other documents pertaining one horrible event known as the Johnson Incident. The concept itself is a brilliant one, wholly new and original. While it starts with two souls in one body, something we’ve certainly seen before, what Kurtagich does with it hasn’t been done in YA, and for the most part, it’s mind-blowingly good.

The story, admittedly, requires some suspension of disbelief, especially when it comes to health care professionals and the decisions they made for one obviously ill girl. I had a hard time believing that someone like Carly/Kaitlyn would be allowed to attend school with almost no supervision. The school itself was a bit odd in that its students had far too many liberties and not enough adults looking after them, which isn’t how boarding schools usually function.

The narrative is both very clinical and very emotional, and it is that contrast that allows us to really sink into it. The format creates an illusion of objectivity, but we feel Kaitlyn’s pain so strongly the entire time and we are unable to make clear-headed judgments. Kaitlyn’s diary entries are fairly brief and scattered, coherent at first, but less and less so as she declines into madness. Whether it’s justified or not, provoked or not, is the question we ask ourselves the entire time, but the decline itself is so skillfully and convincingly done.

Kurtagich’s prose is gorgeous and clever, surprisingly vivid and even lyrical at times. Her horror scenes reminded me of Kendare Blake in that they turned my stomach and made me feel such pity at the same time. Nothing about The Dead House felt rushed or poorly composed, and evoking certain emotions at precisely the right time seems to be one of Kurtagich’s strengths. Every single detail is in its place, which isn’t easy with such a complex, non-linear narrative.

The revelations, however, could have been paced a lot better. There came a time when we needed something to hold onto, something more substantial than the ramblings of a disturbed girl. The book itself is fairly long, but everything we learn comes at the very last pages. While every detail was important and deliciously creepy, the book would have been better if a few truths were revealed just a bit earlier.

Read this with your lights on. And find something cheery and uplifting to read right after, because you'll need it. But all the effort and the comfort food you'll undoubtedly eat will be worth it. The Dead House may be flawed, but it's a must-read.
]]> 3.67 2015

author: Dawn Kurtagich
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/09/05
date added: 2024/01/09
shelves: amazing-writing, arc-2015, are-you-kidding-me, best-of-2015, debut-author, favorites, horror, netgalley, open-ending, reviewed-in-2015, young-adult
review:

You’ve surely heard this before, but here it is again: The Dead House is a very unusual sort of book, narrative-wise. It is a skillfully woven web of diary entries, video transcripts, police interview transcripts, e-mails and instant messages, newspaper clippings and other documents pertaining one horrible event known as the Johnson Incident. The concept itself is a brilliant one, wholly new and original. While it starts with two souls in one body, something we’ve certainly seen before, what Kurtagich does with it hasn’t been done in YA, and for the most part, it’s mind-blowingly good.

The story, admittedly, requires some suspension of disbelief, especially when it comes to health care professionals and the decisions they made for one obviously ill girl. I had a hard time believing that someone like Carly/Kaitlyn would be allowed to attend school with almost no supervision. The school itself was a bit odd in that its students had far too many liberties and not enough adults looking after them, which isn’t how boarding schools usually function.

The narrative is both very clinical and very emotional, and it is that contrast that allows us to really sink into it. The format creates an illusion of objectivity, but we feel Kaitlyn’s pain so strongly the entire time and we are unable to make clear-headed judgments. Kaitlyn’s diary entries are fairly brief and scattered, coherent at first, but less and less so as she declines into madness. Whether it’s justified or not, provoked or not, is the question we ask ourselves the entire time, but the decline itself is so skillfully and convincingly done.

Kurtagich’s prose is gorgeous and clever, surprisingly vivid and even lyrical at times. Her horror scenes reminded me of Kendare Blake in that they turned my stomach and made me feel such pity at the same time. Nothing about The Dead House felt rushed or poorly composed, and evoking certain emotions at precisely the right time seems to be one of Kurtagich’s strengths. Every single detail is in its place, which isn’t easy with such a complex, non-linear narrative.

The revelations, however, could have been paced a lot better. There came a time when we needed something to hold onto, something more substantial than the ramblings of a disturbed girl. The book itself is fairly long, but everything we learn comes at the very last pages. While every detail was important and deliciously creepy, the book would have been better if a few truths were revealed just a bit earlier.

Read this with your lights on. And find something cheery and uplifting to read right after, because you'll need it. But all the effort and the comfort food you'll undoubtedly eat will be worth it. The Dead House may be flawed, but it's a must-read.

]]> <![CDATA[Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment, #2)]]> 127280062 Torn apart by war. Reunited by love?

Two weeks have passed since Iris returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over.

Roman is missing, lost behind enemy lines, with no memory of his past, or Iris. Hoping his memories return, he begins to write again – but this time for the enemy.

When a strange letter arrives through his wardrobe door, he strikes up a correspondence with a penpal who seems at once mysterious… and strangely familiar.

As their connection deepens, the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.]]> 420 Rebecca Ross 1250857457 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 3.98 2023 Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment, #2)

Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment, #2)

author: Rebecca Ross
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/05
date added: 2024/01/05
shelves:
review:
I found this to be better than the first, but slow-paced and sometimes oddly unconvincing. I was completely invested in the love story, but not at all in the main plot. The villain, being an all-powerful god, was annoyingly oblivious and driven by pettiness. All in all, a decent book, but not one of my favorites.
]]> <![CDATA[The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1)]]> 53921926
A warrior princess - Lara how always known two things - that King Aren of The Bridge Kingdom is her enemy and that she must be the one to bring him to his knees. When she's sent as his bride Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to kill the king.

But when she lays her eyes on this man she begins to question whether he truly is a villain. As her feelings deepen for Aren she must choose which kingdom to save and which to destroy.]]> 356 Danielle L. Jensen Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.02 2018 The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1)

The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1)

author: Danielle L. Jensen
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)]]> 60784546 After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again…

All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands – that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper – an unlikely magical connection forms.

Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?

An epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.]]> 357 Rebecca Ross 1250857430 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 A solid read that got me out of a tiny reading slump, but with many missed opportunities. I really think that 3rd person POV wasn’t the right choice considering the tone of this book. It created an unnecessary distance between the reader and the characters. The story is decent, albeit somewhat underdeveloped and predictable.

Let’s hope that the second one fixes at least some of these issues. ]]> 4.14 2023 Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)

Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)

author: Rebecca Ross
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars
A solid read that got me out of a tiny reading slump, but with many missed opportunities. I really think that 3rd person POV wasn’t the right choice considering the tone of this book. It created an unnecessary distance between the reader and the characters. The story is decent, albeit somewhat underdeveloped and predictable.

Let’s hope that the second one fixes at least some of these issues.
]]> <![CDATA[Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)]]> 196864520

The viral TikTok friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and spice—unlike anything you’ve read before—now available in all bookstores.

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of like-minded, pitch-black souls. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.

But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

]]> 360 Brynne Weaver Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.99 2023 Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)

author: Brynne Weaver
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars, #1)]]> 75668288 The heart is a battlefield.

All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, Talasyn has found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire's shadows.

Prince Alaric, the emperor's only son and heir, has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire's rule with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, Alaric has never been bested. That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. In a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen.

Talasyn and Alaric both know this war can only end with them. But a greater threat is coming, and the strange new magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Thrust into an uneasy alliance, they will confront the secrets at the heart of the war and find, in each other, a searing passion--one that could save their world...or destroy it.

An exquisite fantasy brimming with unforgettable characters, sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance, and richly drawn worlds, The Hurricane Wars marks the breathtaking debut of an extraordinary new writer.]]> 472 Thea Guanzon 0063277271 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.65 2023 The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars, #1)

The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars, #1)

author: Thea Guanzon
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) 90202302 “The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 623 Rebecca Yarros 1649374178 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 Better than the first book, I think, with slight improvements in pacing and a strong romance with the sexual content toned down a bit (the first book had just a tad too much, which made the second half boring in parts).
I could have done without that ending with the third book not yet announced.
Overall strong, emotional, even, well written and believable. What more can you ask for?]]> 4.33 2023 Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)

author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/12
date added: 2023/11/12
shelves:
review:
4,5 stars
Better than the first book, I think, with slight improvements in pacing and a strong romance with the sexual content toned down a bit (the first book had just a tad too much, which made the second half boring in parts).
I could have done without that ending with the third book not yet announced.
Overall strong, emotional, even, well written and believable. What more can you ask for?
]]> <![CDATA[The Empire of Dreams (Fire and Thorns, #4)]]> 41951615 New York Times-bestselling author Rae Carson makes a triumphant return to the world of her award-winning Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy in this extraordinary stand-alone novel. With action, adventure, and a heroine set on destroying the patriarchal limits meant to keep her in her place, The Empire of Dreams once again proves that Rae Carson is a master of epic fantasy.

Even though Red Sparkle Stone is a foundling orphan with an odd name and a veiled past, she's about to be adopted into the royal family—by Empress Elisa herself. Sixteen-year-old Red can hardly believe her luck. Then, in a stunning political masterstroke, the empress's greatest rival blocks the adoption, and Red is left with no family and no future.

Grieving and lost, but determined to find her place, Red hatches a daring plan: she will prove herself as a recruit for the world's most elite fighting force, the legendary Royal Guard—something no woman has done before. But it's no coincidence that someone wanted her to fail as a princess, someone whose shadowy agenda puts everything she loves at risk. As danger closes in, it will be up to Red and her new friends—and maybe some new enemies—to save the empire. If they can survive recruitment year.]]> 432 Rae Carson 0062691929 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.14 2020 The Empire of Dreams (Fire and Thorns, #4)

The Empire of Dreams (Fire and Thorns, #4)

author: Rae Carson
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/01
date added: 2023/11/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)]]> 3236307
She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.

She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.]]> 471 Kristin Cashore 015206396X Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 4.5 stars 4.07 2008 Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)

author: Kristin Cashore
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/27
date added: 2023/10/27
shelves: audiobooks, 2012-favorites, amazing-writing, all-the-right-choices, cover-lust, fantasy, favorites, i-have-superpowers, just-another-book-crush, my-flat-army, young-adult, role-models, own-a-dtb
review:
4.5 stars
]]> <![CDATA[House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)]]> 44778083
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they'd only let it.

With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom-and the power of love.]]> 803 Sarah J. Maas 1635574048 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.43 2020 House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)

author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans; they incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet with every day that passes, the war outside grows deadlier; the kingdom's protective wards are failing; and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.]]> 517 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.55 2023 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)

author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/26
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> True Betrayals 59824 #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts delivers a thrilling story of family secrets and unexpected passions, set against the high-stakes world of championship thoroughbred racing…

Kelsey Byden always believed that her mother was dead. But now, after all this time, she has discovered the truth: Naomi Chadwick is still alive—after spending years in prison for the murder of her lover.

Now, at Naomi’s Virginia horse farm, Kelsey is trying to sort out a lifetime of deception—and her feelings about her mother. The bonds of love can be fragile...as Kelsey learned from her recently ended marriage. But as the two women rebuild their relationship—and Kelsey finds herself swept into an unsettling new romance—she must decide once and for all who she can trust, and who threatens to betray her...]]> 400 Nora Roberts 0425204685 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 3.96 1995 True Betrayals

author: Nora Roberts
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Encore in Death (In Death, #56)]]> 60864807
From all accounts, he wasn’t the kind of star who made enemies. Everyone loved him—even his ex-wife. And since the champagne cocktail that killed him was originally intended for Eliza, it’s possible she was the real target, with a recently fired assistant, a bitter rival, and an obsessed fan in the picture. With so many attendees, staff, and servers, Eve has her work cut out determining who committed murder in the middle of the crowd—and what was their motivation. As one who’s not fond of the spotlight herself, she dreads the media circus surrounding a case like this. All she wants is to figure out who’s truly innocent, and who’s only acting that way…]]> 375 J.D. Robb 1250284317 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.44 2023 Encore in Death (In Death, #56)

author: J.D. Robb
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/25
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crash into You (Pushing the Limits, #3)]]> 18454323
The girl with straight A's and the perfect life—that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy family…and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker—a guy she has no business even talking to. But after the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

The last thing Isaiah needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks. But when their shared love of street racing puts their lives in jeopardy, Isaiah and Rachel will have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.]]> 484 Katie McGarry 1848452543 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 2 2.5 stars
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well then, methinks I’m batshit crazy because I just never learn.

Even though I’m fully aware that she has many, many fans, Katie McGarry’s books never quite worked for me. I often found her approach to certain subjects too shallow, her characters just a tiny bit plastic and her writing awfully clichéd. They are, for me, the type of books I can finish in one sitting, and then promptly forget they exist.

The same stands true for Crash Into You, albeit somewhat amplified. Despite my lukewarm feelings towards the previous two books, I found myself looking forward to Isaiah’s story. Of all McGarry’s characters, he’s the one I felt had the most potential. But instead of building upon the promising foundations, McGarry turned him into one of those bad-on-the-outside-decent-on-the-inside archetypal romance heroes, thus effectively ruining his character and the overall story for me. Where was the expected depth? Mommy issues and a few false rumors do not a hero make.

Back when Isaiah thought himself in love with Beth, I wholeheartedly agreed that they weren’t right for each other. Two severely damaged individuals would always drag each other down, no matter their intentions. But who he got instead wasn’t much better for him, and she was a disappointment for me as a reader as well. I was promised a street racer, and instead I got a skittish, never-been-kissed girl with no backbone and more issues than I could count. So even though Isaiah ended up being as stereotypical as they come, the real letdown was Rachel.

With her personality and her will practically smothered by her family, Rachel grew up into a weak, strange girl prone to panic attacks. Her small rebellion, the street race where she met Isaiah, was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, not a common occurrence like the book description led me to believe. There were so many times I wanted to shake some sense into Rachel, make her stand up to her family instead of cowering and throwing up until her throat was raw and bleeding. Their relationship was at times exaggerated to the point of being ridiculous, which is exactly what McGarry usually does and why her books rarely work for me.

As always, secondary characters were far more interesting, probably because they haven’t been turned into clichés just yet. Abby has a great story to tell, McGarry has hinted at a horrible past that I would normally be excited to explore. My problem is that I don’t trust this author to do it properly, without turning Abby into a textbook teen martyr, a troubled girl only waiting for the right boy to solve all her problems. The next book isn’t Abby’s, however, that dubious honor belongs to Rachel’s brother West.

I’ve decided to part ways with McGarry so many times, only to pick up the newest title as soon as it becomes available. This time, I know better than to make such statements. I don’t feel particularly drawn to West’s story, but once it comes out… who knows?

]]> 4.43 2013 Crash into You (Pushing the Limits, #3)

author: Katie McGarry
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2013/11/07
date added: 2023/09/30
shelves: alternating-povs, arc-2013, contemporary-fiction, failed-to-impress, horrible-whiner, incredibly-stupid-choices, mira-ink, netgalley, young-adult, reviewed-in-2013
review:
2.5 stars
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well then, methinks I’m batshit crazy because I just never learn.

Even though I’m fully aware that she has many, many fans, Katie McGarry’s books never quite worked for me. I often found her approach to certain subjects too shallow, her characters just a tiny bit plastic and her writing awfully clichéd. They are, for me, the type of books I can finish in one sitting, and then promptly forget they exist.

The same stands true for Crash Into You, albeit somewhat amplified. Despite my lukewarm feelings towards the previous two books, I found myself looking forward to Isaiah’s story. Of all McGarry’s characters, he’s the one I felt had the most potential. But instead of building upon the promising foundations, McGarry turned him into one of those bad-on-the-outside-decent-on-the-inside archetypal romance heroes, thus effectively ruining his character and the overall story for me. Where was the expected depth? Mommy issues and a few false rumors do not a hero make.

Back when Isaiah thought himself in love with Beth, I wholeheartedly agreed that they weren’t right for each other. Two severely damaged individuals would always drag each other down, no matter their intentions. But who he got instead wasn’t much better for him, and she was a disappointment for me as a reader as well. I was promised a street racer, and instead I got a skittish, never-been-kissed girl with no backbone and more issues than I could count. So even though Isaiah ended up being as stereotypical as they come, the real letdown was Rachel.

With her personality and her will practically smothered by her family, Rachel grew up into a weak, strange girl prone to panic attacks. Her small rebellion, the street race where she met Isaiah, was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, not a common occurrence like the book description led me to believe. There were so many times I wanted to shake some sense into Rachel, make her stand up to her family instead of cowering and throwing up until her throat was raw and bleeding. Their relationship was at times exaggerated to the point of being ridiculous, which is exactly what McGarry usually does and why her books rarely work for me.

As always, secondary characters were far more interesting, probably because they haven’t been turned into clichés just yet. Abby has a great story to tell, McGarry has hinted at a horrible past that I would normally be excited to explore. My problem is that I don’t trust this author to do it properly, without turning Abby into a textbook teen martyr, a troubled girl only waiting for the right boy to solve all her problems. The next book isn’t Abby’s, however, that dubious honor belongs to Rachel’s brother West.

I’ve decided to part ways with McGarry so many times, only to pick up the newest title as soon as it becomes available. This time, I know better than to make such statements. I don’t feel particularly drawn to West’s story, but once it comes out… who knows?

]]> Come Sundown 31415529 Love. Lies. Murder. A lot can happen... COME SUNDOWN

Bodine Longbow loves to rise with the dawn. As the manager of her family's resort in Western Montana, there just aren't enough hours in the day - for life, for work, for loved ones. She certainly doesn't have time for love, not even in the gorgeous shape of her childhood crush Callen Skinner, all grown up and returned to the ranch. Then again, maybe Callen can change her mind, given time...

But when a young woman's body is discovered on resort land, everything changes. Callen falls under the suspicion of a deputy sheriff with a grudge. And for Bodine's family, the murder is a shocking reminder of an old loss. Twenty-five years ago, Bodine's Aunt Alice vanished, never to be heard of again. Could this new tragedy be connected to Alice's mysterious disappearance?

As events take a dramatic and deadly turn, Bodine and Callen must race to uncover the truth - before the sun sets on their future together.

]]> 466 Nora Roberts 1250123070 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 romantic-suspense 4.03 2017 Come Sundown

author: Nora Roberts
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/21
date added: 2023/08/21
shelves: romantic-suspense
review:

]]> Virals (Virals, #1) 7800188
As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot--if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent.

Fortunately, they are now more than friends--they're a pack. They are Virals.]]> 454 Kathy Reichs 1595143424 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 I loved this book! Tory Brennan is 14 years old, living on a very small island near Charleston with her newly discovered father, a marine biologist. With her three friends, she somehow saves a wolf-dog from an institute, but they all soon become very ill and start experiencing strange things. At the same time, they discover some old bones, so the four of them begin an adventure made all the more interesting by their new abilities.

I’m (almost) certain that the DNA cannot be altered the way it’s described in Virals, but THAT story is definitely more believable than angels, vampires, weres, sidhe-seers and whatnot. What we have here is a classic whodunnit spiced up with a touch of supernatural.

I liked that there was no love story in Virals. Tory is only 14, so I don’t think it would be appropriate to have her fall madly in love with some boy just by looking into his eyes. I was thanking various deities for that little treat. I’m not saying she hadn’t developed a small crush, but that only made about 2% of the story. Also, the solution to the puzzle was not obvious. Reichs is very experienced so I expected as much.

So why did I give four instead of five stars? Tory Brennan was a bit too smart for her age. They discovered a 40-year-old skeleton and she somehow managed to determine age and gender in less than 5 minutes. I get that she inherited her aunt Tempe’s brains, but did she also inherit her knowledge? It was a bit ridiculous. Also, the beginning was slow, but I understand that this is the first installment and the foundation had to be laid.

My overall experience was somewhat ruined by the narrator, Cristin Milioti. The fake southern accent she used for some of the characters almost drove me crazy! She has a pleasant voice, but a flat intonation, so I often tuned out while listening to the parts with very little dialogue.

The next installment is called Seizure and it’s coming out on October 18th. I will definitely read it.
]]> 3.95 2010 Virals (Virals, #1)

author: Kathy Reichs
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/03/08
date added: 2023/08/03
shelves: young-adult, audiobooks, reviewed-in-2011, role-models
review:
Kathy Reichs is the author of the Temperance Brennan series. She is a forensic anthropologist, so both the books and the TV series Bones are loosely based on her life. Knowing all this, I expected something different from her YA novel, and that’s exactly what I got.
I loved this book! Tory Brennan is 14 years old, living on a very small island near Charleston with her newly discovered father, a marine biologist. With her three friends, she somehow saves a wolf-dog from an institute, but they all soon become very ill and start experiencing strange things. At the same time, they discover some old bones, so the four of them begin an adventure made all the more interesting by their new abilities.

I’m (almost) certain that the DNA cannot be altered the way it’s described in Virals, but THAT story is definitely more believable than angels, vampires, weres, sidhe-seers and whatnot. What we have here is a classic whodunnit spiced up with a touch of supernatural.

I liked that there was no love story in Virals. Tory is only 14, so I don’t think it would be appropriate to have her fall madly in love with some boy just by looking into his eyes. I was thanking various deities for that little treat. I’m not saying she hadn’t developed a small crush, but that only made about 2% of the story. Also, the solution to the puzzle was not obvious. Reichs is very experienced so I expected as much.

So why did I give four instead of five stars? Tory Brennan was a bit too smart for her age. They discovered a 40-year-old skeleton and she somehow managed to determine age and gender in less than 5 minutes. I get that she inherited her aunt Tempe’s brains, but did she also inherit her knowledge? It was a bit ridiculous. Also, the beginning was slow, but I understand that this is the first installment and the foundation had to be laid.

My overall experience was somewhat ruined by the narrator, Cristin Milioti. The fake southern accent she used for some of the characters almost drove me crazy! She has a pleasant voice, but a flat intonation, so I often tuned out while listening to the parts with very little dialogue.

The next installment is called Seizure and it’s coming out on October 18th. I will definitely read it.

]]> Pink 6662264 300 Lili Wilkinson 1741758343 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 2
Ava’s parents are supposedly very liberal, and her girlfriend Chloe has an owerpowering personality. Together they’re pushing Ava into an alternative lifestyle she secretly hates. Oddly enough, all Ava wants is to wear pink and sing in a musical. She decides to move to a new school, where she plans to find a way of joining the in crowd, or Pastels, as she calls them. However, that doesn’t turn out so well for Ava. Instead of getting the role she wanted in the school musical, she ends up working with the stage crew, a group of misfits led by a boy named Sam. She ends up balancing three different lives and three different personalities, none of which are compatible with the others.

Characterization is where Wilkinson failed spectacularly. Having read A Pocketful of Eyes first, I knew that she was more than capable of creating more interesting and complex characters, which is why I have to conclude that she did this on purpose. But why? Every character in Pink is a walking stereotype: we have Ava’s intellectually snobbish girlfriend Chloe, playing the role of a lesbian feminist; Ava’s parents, so obsessed with being tolerant that they end up not tolerating anything mainstream; Alexis, the shallow blonde, perfect in everything she does; a gay friend, a secretly gay friend, a friend embarrassed by his rich parents, and in the end, Ava herself, completely devoid of personality.

Ava is one of the most self-centered, infuriating characters I’ve ever stumbled upon. The series of disastrous decisions she made in such a short period of time nearly drove me insane. Stories about personal growth by definition introduce a character that makes poor choices at the beginning, but finds a way to redeem himself/herself by the end. After one particularly bad decision, I’m afraid Ava reached the point of no redemption in my eyes.

Unfortunately, I doubt that I’ll be reading any more of Wilkinson’s novels. After reading two of them, I can honestly say that she’s not an author whose work I enjoy.
]]> 3.62 2009 Pink

author: Lili Wilkinson
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2011/09/09
date added: 2023/07/28
shelves: own-a-dtb, readalong, annoying-love-triangle, contemporary-fiction, cover-lust, incredibly-stupid-choices, lgbt, moments-of-great-frustration, superbitch, young-adult, wonders-from-down-under, reviewed-in-2011
review:
Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later: an Aussie YA novel I didn’t enjoy at all! In fact, if not for my two wonderful readalong partners who made the experience not only bearable, but extremely fun, I would have given up after a hundred pages or so.

Ava’s parents are supposedly very liberal, and her girlfriend Chloe has an owerpowering personality. Together they’re pushing Ava into an alternative lifestyle she secretly hates. Oddly enough, all Ava wants is to wear pink and sing in a musical. She decides to move to a new school, where she plans to find a way of joining the in crowd, or Pastels, as she calls them. However, that doesn’t turn out so well for Ava. Instead of getting the role she wanted in the school musical, she ends up working with the stage crew, a group of misfits led by a boy named Sam. She ends up balancing three different lives and three different personalities, none of which are compatible with the others.

Characterization is where Wilkinson failed spectacularly. Having read A Pocketful of Eyes first, I knew that she was more than capable of creating more interesting and complex characters, which is why I have to conclude that she did this on purpose. But why? Every character in Pink is a walking stereotype: we have Ava’s intellectually snobbish girlfriend Chloe, playing the role of a lesbian feminist; Ava’s parents, so obsessed with being tolerant that they end up not tolerating anything mainstream; Alexis, the shallow blonde, perfect in everything she does; a gay friend, a secretly gay friend, a friend embarrassed by his rich parents, and in the end, Ava herself, completely devoid of personality.

Ava is one of the most self-centered, infuriating characters I’ve ever stumbled upon. The series of disastrous decisions she made in such a short period of time nearly drove me insane. Stories about personal growth by definition introduce a character that makes poor choices at the beginning, but finds a way to redeem himself/herself by the end. After one particularly bad decision, I’m afraid Ava reached the point of no redemption in my eyes.

Unfortunately, I doubt that I’ll be reading any more of Wilkinson’s novels. After reading two of them, I can honestly say that she’s not an author whose work I enjoy.

]]> Rush (The Game, #1) 13571953
Miki Jones's carefully controlled life spins into chaos after she's run down in the street, left broken and bloody. She wakes up fully healed in a place called the lobby - pulled from her life, through time and space into some kind of game in which she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures.

There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Every moment of the game is kill or be killed, and Miki has only the questionable guidance of Jackson Tate, the team's alluring and secretive leader. He evades her questions, holds himself aloof from the others, and claims it's every player for himself. But when he puts himself at risk to watch Miki's back, he leaves her both frustrated and fascinated. Jackson says the game isn't really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival. And the survival of every other person on the planet. She laughs. He doesn't. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.]]> 364 Eve Silver 0062192132 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4
However, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Rush – it is perhaps one of the most appropriately titled books I’ve ever read. Everything but the middle part brings a rush of excitement, an adrenaline surge that forces you to turn those pages as quickly as humanly possible. These kids travel through time and space to battle aliens – the ugly, telepathic Drau that want to take over our planet and drain it dry, and all that in a setting that is purposely made to look and function like a video game. What could be more exciting than that?

Rush opens with our heroine, Miki Jones, running to save a deaf little girl from an oncoming truck and getting hit in the process. A mere second later, while her body lays broken on the ground, she gets pulled to a clearing where four other kids await… including Luka Vujic, a boy from Miki’s school. They tell her she’s been drafted to fight the Drau and that she’ll occasionally get pulled from her regular life to go into battle with the rest of them.

Miki Jones stands out in more ways than one. She lost her mother when she was fourteen and she and her father struggle with their grief in very different ways. While her father drinks himself to sleep every night, Miki desperately wants to control every aspect of her life. She is no shrinking violet, though. When she gets pulled into the game, she takes some time to adjust, but once she does, no Drau is safe from her. Eight years of kendo guarantee her physical readiness, but her bravery and adaptiveness come from a different place altogether. Even more importantly, Miki’s steel spine doesn’t mean she’s emotionless; she experiences pain and loss and grief just like everyone else, but she never wallows in self-pity. Moments of insecurity come and go, but each of them leaves Miki stronger and readier to face life, both in the game and outside of it.

When Miki gets pulled the first time, she is understandably relieved to find someone she knows already there, but Luka is not the one who steals all her attention, as much as he’d like to be at first. No, that honor belongs to Jackson, the team’s unofficial leader and a strong believer in the tough love approach. The love triangle does rear its ugly head (two of them, actually) but it is never fully developed. It is always clear whom Miki wants and even the other boy loses interest after a while.

Whatever problems I had with Rush at first were neatly taken care of in the second half. The dreaded love triangle was gone, Miki was fiercer than ever, and the action was just amazing. It took me a while to process this book, but I can honestly say it left a strong impression on me. As far as I’m concerned, the second book can’t come soon enough.

]]> 3.88 2013 Rush (The Game, #1)

author: Eve Silver
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/05/12
date added: 2023/07/26
shelves: arc-2013, are-you-kidding-me, cliffhanger-ending, edelweiss, harper-teen, i-have-superpowers, sci-fi, reviewed-in-2013
review:
On the surface, Rush has everything going for it: a great cover, an excellent idea, a promising beginning and a pretty decent pacing. These are all things that stay true until the end. But along the line, other things crawl in between them – things like love triangles (rectangles, really), best friend drama etc. and they ruin the fun just a little bit.

However, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Rush – it is perhaps one of the most appropriately titled books I’ve ever read. Everything but the middle part brings a rush of excitement, an adrenaline surge that forces you to turn those pages as quickly as humanly possible. These kids travel through time and space to battle aliens – the ugly, telepathic Drau that want to take over our planet and drain it dry, and all that in a setting that is purposely made to look and function like a video game. What could be more exciting than that?

Rush opens with our heroine, Miki Jones, running to save a deaf little girl from an oncoming truck and getting hit in the process. A mere second later, while her body lays broken on the ground, she gets pulled to a clearing where four other kids await… including Luka Vujic, a boy from Miki’s school. They tell her she’s been drafted to fight the Drau and that she’ll occasionally get pulled from her regular life to go into battle with the rest of them.

Miki Jones stands out in more ways than one. She lost her mother when she was fourteen and she and her father struggle with their grief in very different ways. While her father drinks himself to sleep every night, Miki desperately wants to control every aspect of her life. She is no shrinking violet, though. When she gets pulled into the game, she takes some time to adjust, but once she does, no Drau is safe from her. Eight years of kendo guarantee her physical readiness, but her bravery and adaptiveness come from a different place altogether. Even more importantly, Miki’s steel spine doesn’t mean she’s emotionless; she experiences pain and loss and grief just like everyone else, but she never wallows in self-pity. Moments of insecurity come and go, but each of them leaves Miki stronger and readier to face life, both in the game and outside of it.

When Miki gets pulled the first time, she is understandably relieved to find someone she knows already there, but Luka is not the one who steals all her attention, as much as he’d like to be at first. No, that honor belongs to Jackson, the team’s unofficial leader and a strong believer in the tough love approach. The love triangle does rear its ugly head (two of them, actually) but it is never fully developed. It is always clear whom Miki wants and even the other boy loses interest after a while.

Whatever problems I had with Rush at first were neatly taken care of in the second half. The dreaded love triangle was gone, Miki was fiercer than ever, and the action was just amazing. It took me a while to process this book, but I can honestly say it left a strong impression on me. As far as I’m concerned, the second book can’t come soon enough.

]]> Killbox (Sirantha Jax, #4) 7843135
Sirantha Jax is a “Jumper,” a woman who possesses the unique genetic makeup needed to navigate faster than light ships through grimspace. With no tolerance for political diplomacy, she quits her ambassador post so she can get back to saving the universe the way she does best—by mouthing off and kicking butt.

And her tactics are needed more than ever. Flesh-eating aliens are attacking stations on the outskirts of space, and for many people, the Conglomerate’s forces are arriving too late to serve and protect them.

Now, Jax must take matters into her own hands by recruiting a militia to defend the frontiers — out of the worst criminals, mercenaries, and raiders that ever traveled through grimspace…]]> 356 Ann Aguirre 0441019412 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 Killbox would have been a beautiful 5-star book, but the cliffhanger-ish ending ruined it a bit for me. Still, I can honestly say that Ann Aguirre hasn't failed me yet. I postponed reading this book for as long as I could, trying to get closer to the release date of Aftermath. Today I needed an author I could trust and and a world I felt comfortable in.

This is one of my favorite series in the world. What I love most about it is the growth of the characters: not just Jax and March, but Dina and Hit as well. The only character who hasn't changed one single bit is Vel. He is consistently reliable, nice, smart as hell and overall amazing. I would very much like to read a series entirely about him.

]]> 4.06 2010 Killbox (Sirantha Jax, #4)

author: Ann Aguirre
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/06/20
date added: 2023/07/23
shelves: sci-fi, postcard-from-outer-space, cliffhanger-ending, favorites, just-another-book-crush, role-models, reviewed-in-2011
review:

Killbox would have been a beautiful 5-star book, but the cliffhanger-ish ending ruined it a bit for me. Still, I can honestly say that Ann Aguirre hasn't failed me yet. I postponed reading this book for as long as I could, trying to get closer to the release date of Aftermath. Today I needed an author I could trust and and a world I felt comfortable in.

This is one of my favorite series in the world. What I love most about it is the growth of the characters: not just Jax and March, but Dina and Hit as well. The only character who hasn't changed one single bit is Vel. He is consistently reliable, nice, smart as hell and overall amazing. I would very much like to read a series entirely about him.

]]> City of Light (Outcast, #1) 25170761
When the bombs that stopped the species war tore holes in the veil between this world and the next, they allowed entry to the Others—demons, wraiths, and death spirits who turned the shadows into their hunting grounds. Now, a hundred years later, humans and shifters alike live in artificially lit cities designed to keep the darkness at bay....

As a déchet—a breed of humanoid super-soldiers almost eradicated by the war—Tiger has spent her life in hiding. But when she risks her life to save a little girl on the outskirts of Central City, she discovers that the child is one of many abducted in broad daylight by a wraith-like being—an impossibility with dangerous implications for everyone on earth.

Because if the light is no longer enough to protect them, nowhere is safe...]]> 343 Keri Arthur 0349406987 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.82 2016 City of Light (Outcast, #1)

author: Keri Arthur
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2)]]> 27251242
Unfortunately, for Dina, keeping the peace between Space Vampires, the Hope-Crushing Horde, and the devious Merchants of Baha-char is much easier said than done. On top of keeping her guests from murdering each other, she must find a chef, remodel the inn... and risk everything, even her life, to save the man she might fall in love with. But then it's all in the day's work for an Innkeeper...]]> 315 Ilona Andrews Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 4.48 2015 Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2)

Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2)

author: Ilona Andrews
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/22
date added: 2023/01/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Black Hat, White Witch (Black Hat Bureau, #1)]]> 58452582
Well, Rue Hollis spent ten years thinking she had escaped the Black Hat Bureau, no coffin required.

Then her former partner had to go and shatter the illusion by showing up on her doorstep with grim tidings. As much as Rue wants to kick him to the curb, she agrees to hear him out for old times’ sake, and what he says chills her to the bone.

The Silver Stag was the most notorious paranormal serial killer in modern history, and Rue brought him down. Now a copycat has picked up where the Stag left off, and the Bureau wants her on the case. She beat the Stag once. They think she can do it again. But they don’t know she’s given up black magic, and she’s not about to tell them. White witches are prey, and Rue is the hunter, not the hunted. Always.

But can she take down the protégé of the man who almost beat her at her black witch best?

If she wants to keep her new town, her new home, her new life, then she has no choice but to find out.]]> 224 Hailey Edwards Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.21 2021 Black Hat, White Witch (Black Hat Bureau, #1)

Black Hat, White Witch (Black Hat Bureau, #1)

author: Hailey Edwards
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Three Mages and a Margarita (The Guild Codex: Spellbound, #1)]]> 39676313
It went downhill the moment they asked me to do a trial shift instead of an interview - to see if I'd mesh with their "special" clientele. I think that part went great. Their customers were complete dickheads, and I was an asshole right back. That's the definition of fitting in, right?

I expected to get thrown out on my ass. Instead, they...offered me the job?

It turns out this place isn't a bar. It's a guild. And the three cocky guys I drenched with a margarita during my trial? Yeah, they were mages. Either I'm exactly the kind of takes-no-sh*t bartender this guild needs, or there's a good reason no one else wants to work here.

So what's a broke girl to do? Take the job, of course - with a pay raise.]]> 312 Annette Marie 1988153220 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.04 2018 Three Mages and a Margarita (The Guild Codex: Spellbound, #1)

Three Mages and a Margarita (The Guild Codex: Spellbound, #1)

author: Annette Marie
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magic Tides (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, #1; Kate Daniels, #10.5)]]> 65969788 Ilona Andrews invites you back to the #1 New York Times bestselling Kate Daniels series in this exciting new long novella featuring Kate, Curran and Conlan, some familiar faces, some new friends, and all the special brand of chaos they create!

Kate, Curran and their son, Conlan have left Atlanta, vowing to keep a low profile, and are settling into a new city and new house…but some things never change! Magical mayhem is about to erupt when Kate undertakes the rescue of a kidnapped youth, while Curran guards the homefront.

It should be a simple retrieval, but with monsters on land and sea, Kate’s got her work cut out for her. Still, she's never let her blade dull or her purpose falter. And that low profile? It’s about to wash away with the raging tides!]]> 158 Ilona Andrews Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 4.51 2023 Magic Tides (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, #1; Kate Daniels, #10.5)

Magic Tides (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, #1; Kate Daniels, #10.5)

author: Ilona Andrews
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/20
date added: 2023/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]> Iron Widow (Iron Widow, #1) 52459864
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.]]> 394 Xiran Jay Zhao 0735269939 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.03 2021 Iron Widow (Iron Widow, #1)

author: Xiran Jay Zhao
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram, #2)]]> 53137959
All Sunshine really wants is one easy-going day. You know, the kind that starts with coffee and a donut (or three) and ends with take-out pizza and a glass of chardonnay (or seven). Turns out, that's about as easy as switching to decaf. (What kind of people do that? And who hurt them?)

Before she can say iced mocha latte, Sunny's got a bar fight gone bad, a teenage daughter hunting a serial killer and, oh yes, the still unresolved mystery of her own abduction years prior. All evidence points to a local distiller, a dangerous bad boy named Levi Ravinder, but Sun knows he's not the villain of her story. Still, perhaps beneath it all, he possesses the keys to her disappearance. At the very least, beneath it all, he possesses a serious set of abs. She's seen it. Once. Accidentally.

Between policing a town her hunky chief deputy calls four cents short of a nickel, that pesky crush she has on Levi which seems to grow exponentially every day, and an irascible raccoon that just doesn't know when to quit, Sunny's life is about to rocket to a whole new level of crazy.

Yep, definitely a good day for chardonnay.]]> 416 Darynda Jones 1250233119 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.19 2021 A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram, #2)

A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram, #2)

author: Darynda Jones
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/04
date added: 2022/12/04
shelves:
review:
Oddly structured and even more predictable than the first one, but still a fun, relaxing Sunday read.
]]> <![CDATA[Anatomy: A Love Story (The Anatomy Duology, #1)]]> 57917042 Edinburgh, 1817. Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry.

Jack Currer is a resurrection man who’s just trying to survive in a city where it’s too easy to die.

When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham’s lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought. Because Hazel has made a deal with Dr. Beecham: if she can pass the medical examination on her own, the university will allow her to enroll. Without official lessons, though, Hazel will need more than just her books – she’ll need bodies to study, corpses to dissect.

Lucky that she’s made the acquaintance of someone who digs them up for a living, then.

But Jack has his own problems: strange men have been seen skulking around cemeteries, his friends are disappearing off the streets. Hazel and Jack work together to uncover the secrets buried not just in unmarked graves, but in the very heart of Edinburgh society.

A gothic tale full of mystery and romance about a willful female surgeon, a resurrection man who sells bodies for a living, and the buried secrets they must uncover together.]]> 338 Dana Schwartz Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 3.81 2022 Anatomy: A Love Story (The Anatomy Duology, #1)

Anatomy: A Love Story (The Anatomy Duology, #1)

author: Dana Schwartz
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> All My Rage 57899793 Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.

Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.

Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.

When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.

From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness—one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.]]> 376 Sabaa Tahir 0593202341 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.48 2022 All My Rage

author: Sabaa Tahir
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> I Must Betray You 56970272 Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force.

Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He’s left with only two choices: betray everyone and everything he loves—or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe.

Cristian risks everything to unmask the truth behind the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. He eagerly joins the revolution to fight for change when the time arrives. But what is the cost of freedom?

A gut-wrenching, startling window into communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation, from the number one New York Times best-selling, award-winning author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray.]]> 321 Ruta Sepetys 198483603X Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 0 to-read 4.38 2022 I Must Betray You

author: Ruta Sepetys
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram, #1)]]> 45046796 396 Darynda Jones 1250149444 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.01 2020

A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram, #1)

author: Darynda Jones
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/03
date added: 2022/12/03
shelves: romance, open-ending, little-to-no-angst, just-another-book-crush, favorites
review:
Fun, even if a tiny bit predictable. The narrator Lorelei King raises it up a few levels.
]]> <![CDATA[A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes, #4)]]> 31520883 Prepare for the jaw-dropping finale of Sabaa Tahir's beloved New York Times bestselling An Ember in the Ashes fantasy series, and discover: Who will survive the storm?

Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off...

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

At his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory--or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life--and love--he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save--or destroy--all that he knows.]]> 516 Sabaa Tahir 000828881X Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 young-adult, multiple-povs 4.29 2020 A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes, #4)

A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes, #4)

author: Sabaa Tahir
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/12
date added: 2022/11/12
shelves: young-adult, multiple-povs
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes, #3)]]> 30809786 Beyond the Martial Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.

Helene Aquilla, the Blood Shrike, is desperate to protect her sister's life and the lives of everyone in the Empire. Yet danger lurks on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable and violent, while Keris Veturia, the ruthless Commandant, capitalizes on the Emperor's volatility to grow her own power—regardless of the carnage she leaves in her path.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows that the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. During the hunt to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would help her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she'd have to fight.

And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. However, in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that demands his complete surrender—even if that means abandoning the woman he loves.]]> 458 Sabaa Tahir 0448494507 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.15 2018 A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes, #3)

A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes, #3)

author: Sabaa Tahir
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/06
date added: 2022/11/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Body of Evidence (Kay Scarpetta, #2)]]> 132336 403 Patricia Cornwell 0743493915 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 favorites 4.04 1991

author: Patricia Cornwell
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/27
date added: 2022/08/27
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson, #12)]]> 44571368
My only "superpowers" are that I turn into a thirty-five pound coyote and fix Volkswagens. But I have friends in odd places and a pack of werewolves at my back. It looks like I'm going to need them.

Centuries ago, the fae dwelt in Underhill--until she locked her doors against them. They left behind their great castles and troves of magical artifacts. They abandoned their prisoners and their pets. Without the fae to mind them, those creatures who remained behind roamed freely through Underhill wreaking havoc. Only the deadliest survived.

Now one of those prisoners has escaped. It can look like anyone, any creature it chooses. But if it bites you, it controls you. It lives for chaos and destruction. It can make you do anything--even kill the person you love the most. Now it is here, in the Tri-Cities. In my territory.

It won't, can't, remain.

Not if I have anything to say about it.]]> 352 Patricia Briggs 0440001552 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 4.33 2020 Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson, #12)

author: Patricia Briggs
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/27
date added: 2022/08/27
shelves: favorites, urban-fantasy, werewhatevers
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Soul Taken (Mercy Thompson, #13)]]> 53033939
But Wulfe isn’t the only one who has disappeared. And now there are bodies, too. Has the Harvester returned to the Tri-Cities, reaping souls with his cursed sickle? Or is he just a character from a B horror movie and our enemy is someone else?

The farther I follow Wulfe’s trail, the more twisted—and darker—the path becomes. I need to figure out what’s going on before the next body on the ground is mine.]]> 389 Patricia Briggs 0440001617 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 3 4.29 2022 Soul Taken (Mercy Thompson, #13)

author: Patricia Briggs
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/27
date added: 2022/08/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson, #11)]]> 25026912 In this powerful entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Mercy Thompson must face a deadly enemy to defend all she loves...

My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic.

And a coyote shapeshifter.

And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack.

Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn't stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae.

The reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death.

But we are pack, and we have given our word.

We will die to keep it.]]> 384 Patricia Briggs 0698195825 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 4.43 2019 Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson, #11)

author: Patricia Briggs
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/27
date added: 2022/08/27
shelves: favorites, too-hot-to-be-true, urban-fantasy, werewhatevers, zombies-zombies-everywhere
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In Front of God and Everyone (Pay it Forward, #1)]]> 24974932 Most people called it a cult. But for twenty years, Josh and Caleb called it home.

In Paradise, there is no television. No fast food. Just long hours of farm work and prayer on a dusty Wyoming ranch, and nights in a crowded bunkhouse. The boys of the Compound are kept far from the sinners’ world.

But Joshua doesn’t need temptation to sin. His whole life, he’s wanted his best friend, Caleb. By day they work side by side. Only when Josh closes his eyes at night can they be together the way he craves.

It can never be. And his survival depends on keeping his terrible desires secret.

Caleb has always protected Josh against the worst of the bullying at the Compound. But he has secrets of his own, and a plan to get away — until it all backfires.

Josh finds himself homeless in a world that doesn’t want him. Can Caleb find him in time? And will they find a place of safety, where he can admit to Josh how he really feels?

Warning: Contains a hot male/male romance, copious instances of taking the Lord's name in vain, and love against the kitchen counter.

]]> 237 Nealy Wagner Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 4 4.23 2015 In Front of God and Everyone (Pay it Forward, #1)

In Front of God and Everyone (Pay it Forward, #1)

author: Nealy Wagner
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/08/17
date added: 2022/07/26
shelves: contemporary-fiction, lgbt, romance
review:
The final argument ruined this for me a teeny tiny bit, but overall it was a great, refreshing read.
]]> <![CDATA[Postmortem (Kay Scarpetta, #1)]]> 6534 342 Patricia Cornwell 0743477154 Maja (The Nocturnal Library) 5 favorites, murder-mystery 4.04 1990

author: Patricia Cornwell
name: Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at: 2022/06/12
date added: 2022/06/12
shelves: favorites, murder-mystery
review:

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