Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The second book in the Blood and ash series.

And the plot thickens.

Warning Spoiler alert. If you haven’t read the first book.

“Never once did those little-girl dreams include a proposal that wasn’t remotely an actual proposal. Nor did they incorporate it being announced at a table full of strangers, half of which wanted me dead. And those dreams surely hadn’t involved what had to be the kingdom’s worst—and possibly most insane—non-proposal of marriage to a man currently holding me captive.”

In the first book we meet poppy and Hawke and slowly but surely, we read about how they fell in love and the problems they faced whilst Poppy was the Maiden. We (Okay I don’t know about you, but,) I cheered when it finally happened and poppy and Hawke made sure she could never bee the maiden again. But all that was before we found out who Hawke really was (okay I already knew, I had guessed it early in the first book, I mean all the signs were there.) but also a revelation of who poppy is.

In the second book poppy is once again caught in a gilded cage. where the bars is not only physical but mental as well. She is furious, heartbroken, and devastated by the lies and deceits, Hawk spewed to get close to her and yet, she can’t help the feelings that still flows free in her heart for Hawk, or prince Casteel, The Dark One. But her powers are growing, and all signs point to the fact that Atlantia might be the only place she can get some answers. And Casteel might be the only one who can help her find her brother.

““Disbelief thundered through me. “Maybe I wasn’t clear, so I will try to be more explicit now. I don’t know why you’d think, in a million years, that I’d marry you.” I tipped toward him. “Is that clear enough?””

Poppy is evolving, it feels like she left the maiden behind quickly, she is still a force to be reckoned with, in her own right, fighting not only for what she believes is right, but now, she also fights for her own freedom. She might be less jaded, but she is still just as suspicious, if not more, she finds herself in an unfamiliar environment. Where many people hate her not because they know her, or because she has done something to them. But because she was the maiden and raised by the ascended. She becomes self-conscious around strangers, especially as her gift grows, and she feels the hatred, fear, and suspicion rolling of the people who meet her.

“The mortals and Atlantians who sat at the table before us. The wolven interspersed throughout the rest of the tables. They all stared. Not that I could blame them. I had glowed silver, and I had healed someone with my touch. I’d be staring at someone who I’d heard or seen do that, too. But it was what was behind those stares that unnerved me. The air fairly vibrated with emotion, and like before, I hadn’t needed to concentrate, to open myself to feel the near hostility of most around me.”

Casteel has become even more layered, we begin to take notice of the many masks he wears, and I understand why Poppy has difficulty figuring out what is truly going on with him. I don’t really like him in the beginning. The inability of him to be real and truly open with Poppy. But when he finally begins to show his true self, I begin to like him again. He is not sure if he is worthy of Poppys love, but he’s not willing to let her go.

“It was because he made me feel seen, and he made me feel alive even when I genuinely wanted to cause physical harm to him. I kept falling when he never once told me not to pick up a sword or bow and instead handed one to me. I fell and fell when I realized that Casteel wore many masks for many reasons. What I felt only grew when I realized that he would, in fact, kill whoever insulted me, no matter how wrong that was. And that love…it entrenched itself deeply when I realized the kind of strength, and will he had within him to survive what he had and to still find the pieces of who he used to be.”

The book is a bit slow but there is a lot of points to cover, so it’s necessary to slow time a little so we can get all of the facts straight. The storyline and plot continue, the main goal remains the same to life happy and free, but there have been small changes as to how she’s going too get there. Before she put all her faith into the fairness of the queen of the ascended, but now she knows she has to cease her own happiness. The enemies have changed to, she believed the Atlantians were the enemies that created the Craven that killed her mother and father. But now she knows it was the ascended. She is determined to find her brother, because sha has a hard time believing he could be a heartless vampry.

“Did that mean that all Ascended were evil? Every last one of them, including my brother? I believed in what I saw proof of. But Casteel… I couldn’t trust more than half of what left his mouth, and it wasn’t like all Atlantians were utterly innocent.”

I liked the second book in this series although it was a bit slow to get started and felt a bit repetitive, it felt like it was necessary to create opportunities not only to have vital information revealed, but also for us to get a chance to get to know new characters, and to get to know other characters better, to delve deeper into who they are.

4 out of 5 stars form me and I can’t wait to get started with book nr. Three. 

 

Master of Crows by Grace Draven the first book in the Master of Crows series.

 

Perfectly imperfect.

“Water sluiced over Silhara’s arms and torso as he issued instructions.  “Prepare one of the chambers on the third floor—whichever one doesn’t have a hole in the roof.”  Gurn’s eyebrows rose.  “I’m inviting a guest to Neith.”

Silhara is the master of Crows a Powerful mage, courted by an evil god to be used as an avatar, by this god. He knows he cant withstand the god forever and invites an apprentice to his home, to help him search for a way to destroy the god. Martise is that apprentice, a young slave, with Magic, but no way to use it despite being trained, is paced in the Master of Crows household as a spy, her reward if she find something to finally bring him down, her freedom, the race begins to kill a god and to teach Martise, to control her power before its to late to do either.

““You have done an unwise thing, Martise of Asher,” he said softly. “You’ve caught my interest.””

Powerful mages and gods that wants to take possession of a mans body, so he can destroy the world. Makes this a prime example of a fantasy, the budding romance that flourishes between the gruff and stern Silhara and the meek and plain looking Martise, represents the romance, and it does a marvelous job.

“A glimmer of approval darted through his eyes before he lowered his hand and stepped away from her.  Martise sighed, relieved.  The Master of Crows was an overwhelming presence, frightening, annoying and fascinating.  Being so close to him, with her senses inundated by the force of his Gift and his very maleness, made thinking difficult.”

Silhara is a gruff and meanspirited man but with a good sense of right and wrong, at least when it comes to the people in his care, or those he cares about. He is the son of a prostitute and as a former thief is not exactly and innocent and virtuous character, he’s more of an anti-hero.

“He cupped the apple in his hand. Paring it into slices, he placed it on the table.  He cleaned the knife on his trousers, turned and, quick as a striking serpent, buried the lethal tip in the back of her ex-lover’s hand where it rested on the table.”

Martise, is a layered, type in the beginning she seems to be meek but sometimes a headstrong streak would show through, that only grows, as we get to know her and she turns out to be one of those people who choses to serve with dignity and grace, not for their masters, but for themselves. I don’t really know how to explain, she is described as if she were a queen, who chose to serve a homeless man. I like that quality in a character, even if insulted she will turn the other cheek not because she is a saint, but because she honestly doesn’t care about the person who insults her.

““No thank you,” she said and walked away.  The outraged growl behind her made her smile.

“A woman like you shouldn’t be so choosey, Martise.”

She turned back to him.  “A man like you shouldn’t aim so high, Balian.””

I liked the plot, the God wish to destroy the world as we know it and needs to possess the master of Crows to do it. It sets the stage for an exciting adventure, a race against time, to kill a God.  A task that can seem impossible.  And it delivers, it not nonstop action and that lends credibility and a god tempo to the story, the travel to the marked town to trade oranges, is mundane enough that it really could have been cut out if the story, but it gives the characters an extra layer of humanity that makes us like them even more.

“He’d caught glimpses of her in Eastern Prime’s marketplace as she followed Gurn from stall to stall.  She might slip unnoticed in most crowds, but he’d spotted her easily enough numerous times.  He’d never seen her so lighthearted or at ease as when she shopped with his servant and surveyed the pandemonium around her—at least until she entered the common area and overheard her erstwhile lover vilify her in the crudest terms.”

All in all, I feel like the prose and the pace of the book matches what I expected form the type, and from Grace Drawn herself, she writes raw, and unpolished, she describes the best and worst traits of her characters, and that makes them come alive somehow. They are not perfect pictures on a canvas, they are imperfect jagged pieces of a story.

I liked the story a lot and I’m definitely going to recommend it to others. I will finish the series.

4 out of 5 stars from me.

The April Challenge 2023 is now over and I am proud to say I actually passed and with 3 days to spear. I don’t know when or if I will do another challenge like this one, but I hope to do a challenge again soon even if it not as demanding as this one.  

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerry Maniscalco, the first book in the Kingdom of the Wicked Series.

“It was the first of many secrets the twins would keep from each other. And would prove deadly for one.”

Emilia and Vittoria are young witches, warned of the evil wicked, demons since they were young girls. When Vittoria is murdered, Emilia vows that she will get revenge over the one who killed her. The prince of wrath a Demon she summons to try and get some answers, tags along but she ends up getting more than she bargained for.

“He looked ready to—sweet goddess of fury. His luccicare was black and gold. I’d only ever seen that once before. Recognition slammed into me, and I immediately dropped my cornicello and snatched my dagger from the floor. His dagger.

The hilt was as cool as the icy rage now rushing through my veins.

“I’m going to kill you,” I snarled, then lunged for him.”

The world described, is like old world Sicily, but there are subtle references to a modern-day era. It can be a bit confusing, but basically, I like it, the witches in the story are neither good nor evil whatever they practice, even the dark arts are not inherently good or evil, its what the arts are used for that makes the practitioner good or evil. I like the mystical elements, that along with a deep catholic faith, makes for an exciting universe the story are set in.

“It was mid-July in Palermo, which meant the air was stifling at night, even with our windows open, coaxing a breeze.”

Emilia is extremely sheltered, and even though her and her twin shared a room, she knew very little about her, and that impaired the investigation, and knowing where to start would have been easier if they had trusted each other. I think Emilia is well thought out and her character ark is very well planed an executed. I think all in all that Emilia is a brilliant character that grows on you, she might be a bit boring in the beginning bit when the book is over, I want to know what she’s going to do next.

“Bones scattered as I attacked. The blade arced down, slicing a long, thin line across his hard chest. It should have pierced his heart. And it would have, if he hadn’t maneuvered back so swiftly.”

The plot is well thought out and it does have surprises, at least for me, I was surprised at the end, and that surprised med more than I can say, I was lulled into a false sense of direction of the book, and I admit that I found it a bit dull in the beginning, I admit that I have to take it back, and that it deserves a reread.

“That night I found the first clue hidden beneath the floorboards in my room. As with most seemingly insignificant details, I’d overlooked the gambling chip when I’d first seen it. I’d been too preoccupied with the diary and strange grimoire sheets to pay much attention to another trinket my sister had collected. Especially something as small and unimportant as a gambling chip.”

The pace in the beginning was a bit slow, but overall, it had a good pacing and a nice mix of English and Italian, since the story is set in Italy.

I’m diffidently going to finish the series, now I need to know what happened, and I will recommend it, but it only get a 3 out of 5 star rating, it just felt to slow in the beginning and it took longer for me to get interested in the story. But when I did it was a good story. 

 

Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin the first book in the Serpent and Dove series.

A Witch and a witch hunter, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

““You’re to be my wife.” Catching up to her in two strides, I reached out to grab her arm, but stopped short of touching her. “That means you’ll obey me.”

“Does it?” She raised her brows, still grinning. “I suppose that means you’ll honor and protect me, then? If we’re adhering to the dusty old roles of your patriarchy?””

 Lou is a witch and a thief, she is running from a fate as a sacrificial lamb, going unnoticed until one day she makes a mistake and is caught by a man who would burn her at the stake if he knew the truth about her. Reed is forced to marry Lou to protect his own reputation, not for any love or desire for her, because he is still in love with Célie, the woman he thought he was going to spend his life with. Chalked as they are not only by circumstance but by faith as well they start to get to know each other and warmer feelings begin to grow between them. But will that be enough to save Lou form the pyre?

““What if I were a witch, Reid?” I asked softly. “Would the stake be what I deserve?”

The worldbuilding is incredibly good, it could be 17’th century France or in another universe entirely, and I like that a lot, it makes the story more believable, when you, consider that this could have happened to you if you lived in another time. The witch hunts both in Europe and America was brutal, both because of the means they applied to get a confession, but because of the efficiency around 40.000-50.000 is estimated to have been burnt worldwide. That is a lot of people, even over several hundreds of years. I feel its very relevant, to talk about this because, it was and is the fear of the unknown and how it affects the established powerbase, that makes people go crazy.

““You are like a son to me, Reid.” The Archbishop reached up to clasp the Chasseur’s shoulder—a mouse comforting an elephant. Some disconnected part of my mind wanted to laugh. “Do not throw away your life—your promising career, your oath to God—for the sake of this heathen. Once she is your wife, you can lock her in the closet and never think of her again. You would have the legal right to do whatever you please with her.” He shot him a meaningful look. “This arrangement would also solve . . . other matters.””

Lou is sassy, rude, arrogant, kind and a multitude of other things that make her a well-rounded and well written character. She doesn’t love easy but when she does its for good. Although she might seem like a coward, I think her decisions make her human, she ran away as a young woman, and didn’t want to join either side in the fight. And that makes her relatable. Its not easy to betray those you love even if it is for their own good, and the other side wants you dead so what’s a girl to do.  

““Connard! Salaud!” She thrashed in my arms, kicking water everywhere. “I’m going to kill you! I’m going to rip those robes off your shoulders and strangle you with them, you misshapen, foul-smelling piece of shit—”

All three of us gaped at her—eyes wide, mouths open. The Archbishop recovered first.”

Reed is the typical strong, capable and confident male hero type, but with one BIG difference, he has been indoctrinated to think he has the right to burn other people because they have magic and he doesn’t. several times during the book I wanted to jump in there and slap him upside down the head and ask if he had ever had an independent thought in his life. I mean I the beginning I only tolerated him because I knew he didn’t know any better, and I was right he does actually become a little more aware that there may be two sides to every story.

“She grinned, tilting her head up to examine me. Then—incredibly—she rose to her toes and flicked me square on the nose. I staggered back, startled. My face flushed. She grinned wider and started walking. “I will do what I please, Chass.””

The story of opposites attracts, enemies to lovers, and so on and so forth, is always a crowd pleaser, especially when the mortal enemies turns out to have more in common than they ever thought they would. The theme of the witch persecutions, is relevant because persecutions happen to this day, it just the subject that has changed. It makes me even happier that I live in a time where I am not considered someone else’s property just because I got married. I actually got a little angry whilst reading the book.

““I implore you to see God’s teaching in this woman.” The Archbishop’s voice rose. “Learn from her wickedness! Wives, obey your husbands. Repent your sinful natures. Only then can you be truly united with God!””

I love the French interspersed throughout the book, the gives it character, even if I have no idea what it means.

The book really made an impact on me, all books that make me feel anything does that. and even though it was sometime anger, it also made me hopeful for a happy ending.

I loved the book, ill happily recommend it and I definitely finish the series.

4 out of 5 stars.

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlet St. Clair the first book in the Hades x Persephone series

 

Genius in its simplicity.

““Create life in the Underworld,” he said again. “You have six months—and if you fail or refuse, then you will become a permanent resident of the Underworld.””

Persephone the Goddess of spring and rebirth, lives in new Athens and attends university under a human disguise, not that its hard for her since she has no power of her own, she managed to secure an internship, that might offer her a steady job as a journalist after she finishes collage. To celebrate, her and her roommate sneaks out to one of the numerous clubs owned by Gods, breaking the most important of her mothers rules, Persephone must NEVER interact with other gods, and to make matters worse, the desicide to visit the club owned by Hades, the God Demeter hates more than any other.

Disgusted by the idea that Hades lures humans into impossible games to win their souls, she decides to expose him, and its only partly because he managed to lure her into a contract as well, she might have exchanged one prison for another.

““Don’t request things of me you cannot deliver yourself, Hades.””

Persephone is one of those types of girls, that long for adventure, having been shoved into a mold they would never fit into, by others, she had decided to go along with it because she didn’t want to disappoint anyone, only to end up disappointing herself. The way Persephone starts out in the book, is hesitant, and on the outside, she seems meek, but when provoked she is a force to be reckoned with. Not that her mother would ever allow her to be anything other than meek in her presence, I mean Demeter still calls her little virgin or something like that, you get the feeling Demeter isn’t really all that happy that Persephone grew up. The relationship is definitely toxic and Persephone fears what her mother would doo the her when she finds out about the bargain.

“Despite her mother’s nurturing ways, she was a vengeful punisher. In fact, Demeter had a whole plot in the greenhouse dedicated to punishment—every flower that grew there had been a nymph, a king, a creature that had incurred her wrath.”

Persephone is I would argue a little woke in her behavior toward Hades in the beginning, I’m not saying that that is necessarily a bad thing, but the tension is there, and Hades is not exactly helping the matter by not explaining fully. In the beginning Persephone believes Hades is a bad guy because he sets “impossible” tasks to the people he makes contracts with, that means that he makes addicts go Cold Turkey or he takes their souls. She believes he should put them into Rehab and pay for it to. The problem is however that it is so easy to judge before you know a situation, an whilst I agree with her assessment of addickts in general if they don’t want to quit, they’ll complete rehab and be right back at it again. It’s a process and rehab is only the first step.

““Apparently he can see vices or whatever. So he’ll ask the addict to remain sober and the sex addict to be chaste. If they’re meet the terms, they get to live. If they fail, he gets their soul. It’s like he wants them to lose.””

I think Persephone is a little to self-righteous in the beginning, as if she knows everything, and nothing can change her mind about it. it irritated me to no end in the beginning but as she got to know Hades, she began to se the reality of the man and not the rumor. Persephone the thing is, that what she is saying isn’t in itself bad ideas, but the way she promotes them is a little insulting. She also spends a little too much time feeling sorry for herself about the contract, I get it but, it’s a little to much in the grand scheme of things, but stick it out a promise she gets better.

““So, you agree that Hades has wrong me?”

“No,” he said. “I’m saying you’re attracted to Hades.””

After the initial getting on your feet part of the book Persephone becomes a really awesome character, not only because she lets go of her preconceived notions and start to listen to what Hades is saying, but she can admit that she was wrong, and also say it out loud.

“She had never felt so many emotions about a single person before. She was angry with him, and curious, caught between surprise and disgust at the things he had created and the things he said. At war with both of those was the extreme attraction she felt when she was with him. How could she want him? He represented the opposite of everything she’d dreamed of in her whole life. He was her jailer when all she’d wanted was freedom.”

All in all I feel like they are the couple who has the worst communication skills I have ever read about, but the way they feel unworthy of each other is so completely adorable that you can’t help but melt a little.

““How?” she demanded. “What did you do to help me?”

“I worshipped you!” he yelled. “I gave you what your mother withheld—worshippers.””

The story is well thought out and executed. There is planning, and you know that a LOT of research went in to writing this book, making it all the more impressive that the story is so seamlessly set in a modern setting.

I really liked the entire story and Hades being the biggest contrast to what you were expecting from the God of the Dead.

 

The Winter King by C.L. Wilson the first book in the Weathermages of Mystral series.

 Good Book 

“Silver-blue eyes, clear and cold as glacier ice, cast upward, finding her in one swift, sharp instant, pinning her in place. All thought fled her mind. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. She could only stare, captured and frozen, as the Winter King’s fearsome gaze held and plundered her.”

Khamsin or Kham, is one of four princesses in Summerlea, she is the secret one, hated and never claimed by her father. When her brother kills his brother and fleas with his fiancé King Winter of Wintercraig starts a war to avenge him and reclaim an heir. And when he wins that’s exactly what he does. He comes to the summer palace and demands a wife from her father. She thought it could be a new beginning for her, but its still a prison, the jailers er different the bars are the same, mistrust. Can Kham and Whinter overcome their mutual distrust or will the forces trying to keep then apart succeed in ripping them and the world apart along with them.

“We are agreed. Though I would rather see all Summerlea laid waste than surrender one of my beloved daughters to be your wife, one of the princesses has nonetheless agreed to be your bride. The wedding will take place Freikasday evening, three nights from now, and as any concerned father would when his daughter’s life hangs in the balance, I require proof of consummation before you leave Summerlea.”

Weathermages and in other worlds, snow giants, large wolflike monsters, and skills connected to old tribes make the book fit very well into the fantasy romance genre, I can see the influence Game of Thrones might have had on the author as the victims of the snow monsters can be reanimated and brought back as mindless puppets to fight again. It is like the white walkers.

The big bad is a man with godlike-powers who is trying to take over the King of whintercraig and the only thing that can stop it from happening is to have a child to thaw the frost in his soul.

““You should stay here and impregnate your little weatherwitch. That is my advice. Your idea in wedding her was a good one. Hold your child in your arms while there’s still warmth enough in you to feel the love you need to melt the Ice Heart. The surest way to drive back the garm is to rob their masters of hope for victory.””

Khamsin is, a strong female Character. I like her independence and the variety in her feelings, as she feels anger, fear, loneliness, pain, her emotional range is very varied and It makes her feel real. She values honor above everything else and idolized her brother because she thought she was the embodiment of her childhood hero, the legendary King Roland of Summerlea and an ancestor of hers.

“Long, long ago, as a small child crying herself to sleep, she’d decided Falcon was the reincarnation of Roland Triumphant, the Hero of Summerlea, the brave king who had defeated an overwhelming invasion force with his wit, his weathergifts, and a legendary sword reputed to be a gift from the Sun God himself. If anyone could coax the cold, savage folk of the north into concessions most favorable to Summerlea, Falcon could.”

Winter on the other hand is brash, closed off and very distrustful of Kham and everyone from Summerlea. He keeps her at an arms length, and I don’t like him for it. there is so much miscommunication that only happens because they can’t be honest with each other. But mostly because he only tells her the bare necessities, and levees her to imagine the rest.  

““Wait until we cross the border, and they’re back in their own lands. We’ll have to keep a sharp eye out then. Do you know what they do to anyone who breaks their laws? They strip them down to their bare skin, stake them out naked on a glacier, and leave them to die. ‘Mercy of the mountains’ they call it. Ha! Mercy indeed!” The girl’s furiously clacking knitting needles suddenly fell silent.”

There’s to much back and fourth and just as we see progress they destry it all again, I feel like it happens to much in this book, and I don’t like it, the ploy used was to obvious had winter just listened to what was said to him.

““ ‘Care’?” She all but screeched the word. “To what ‘care’ exactly do you refer? You mean the way you ignore me for weeks on end? That care? Or the way you have made it clear to every member of your court that I am to be ostracized and treated as a source of pathetic amusement?””

I liked the story but it was by no means my favorite on the list, it more of a bodice ripper, an old-fashioned romance with a tiny bit of spice added. Kham is more assertive than an woman in an old fashioned romance would be and that marks it up in my mind.

Ill recommend the book because it’s a good book even if its not my style, I wont finish the series since they are more like spinoffs, and I hate that kind of series.

4 out of 5 stars from me.

A promise of fire by Amanda Bouchet the first book in the Kingmaker Chronicles.

Well written, but a bit repetitive.

“For the first time ever, the magicless majority is in charge, and Hoi Polloi are literally dancing in the streets—but only when they’re not throwing themselves in abject loyalty at the feet of the new royal family. Or so I’ve heard. I haven’t actually seen the new royals, but news spreads fast when there’s something to say. After the warlord and his southern army secured the Sintan throne during the spring, his family took weeks just to move north. Not because they’re slow, but because of the sheer number of adoring people in their way.”

Cat is a young Fisan woman on the run from her past and the tyrannical Alpha Fisa. She is kidnapped by the handsome yet domineering beta Sinta who in turn wish to have her aid them with her magoi powers. Cat is what is known as the Kingmaker a powerful diplomatic gifted who can discern truth from lies. Beta sinta wish for Cat to help his sister stay on the throne, and it starts to dawn on Cat that, that is not all Beta Sinta wants from her.

““You’ll have everything you need,” Beta Sinta argues. “Coin, shelter, protection.”

Does he really think that’s all a person wants? I could sell myself to any number of Magoi nobles for that. “Do you need protection?””

There are a lot of words that needs to be explained, so they have alphabetically categorized their rulers. Alpha means king or queen; beta is heir apparent and so on and so forth. A Magoi is a person gifted with magic, and until Beta Sinta concerned Sinta for his sister, the Magoi were the elite, the only ones who rulled the three kingdoms, Fisa, Tarva and Sinta. Hoi Polloi are the non-gifted masses, regular humans.

“My eyes trip over a man and get stuck. He’s looking at me, and it’s hard not to look back. He’s striking in a dark, magnetic way, his size, weapons, and bearing all telling me he’s a tribal warlord. His build is strong and masculine, his gait perfectly balanced and fluid. He walks with predatory confidence, unhurried, and yet there’s no mistaking his potential for swift, explosive violence. It’s not latent or hidden, just leashed.”

The story draws inspiration from ancient Greek mythology, The gods are the same, but so are the fabled animals and some of their legends. Cat is Poseidon’s God daughter and although I’m not sure if that is a literal statement or metaphorically. She is important to the gods and that has a great deal of influence on the story. The way the gods are described, is very good, they are described as fickle, absentee, and uncaring, but for Cat it’s a different story, she is protected by Poseidon, and the “visions” she has are very dark, and powerful passages in the book, you do not get the feeling that Poseidon is warm and fussy.

“I break the surface and gulp down air, slapping water out of my eyes. I’m adrift on a vast ocean. It’s a dusk of shadows and gloom. The water is gray and churning where a storm brews on the horizon. Waves roll in—powerful, angry, dark.”

Cat being on the run form Alpha Sita and terrified that anyone is going to realize that she is the Kingmaker, obviously has trust issues. And not only that, but her upbringing has also taught her that love is a weakness and anyone you love can be used against you. That understandably makes it extremely difficult for her to accept her feelings for Beta Sinta or Griffin (his name). And the fact that he Kidnapped her, doesn’t help at all.

““You’re neither a guest nor a friend,” Beta Sinta grates out. “Speak respectfully.””

But beyond that Cat is kind, she is remorseful, she is violent and has a bad temper, but basically a good person. She is very aware of the burdens put upon her by others, and the struggle she has to find what is most important to her (freedom), is a hard-fought battle throughout the book.

“I glare at him, my voice cold enough to sprout icicles. “Why would I? I’m neither a guest nor a friend.””

Pushing Griffin Away becomes second nature to her, in the beginning because he kidnaped her, but as her feelings towards him grow, the cause becomes protecting him, not only from her past, but from the future she believes is hers.

“Almost hesitantly, he reaches out, lightly touching a dark curl. “You’re too young to be so cynical.””

Griffin on the other hand, is if not her opposite, then he has a very different approach to get to the same goal. To me he feels extremely domineering, to the point where he doesn’t take no for an answer, and to me that is a big turnoff, in book heroes. I’m not saying, he is an evil bastard, but he does, have characteristics of lock you in the basement for your own safety, caveman mentality.

““We decide?” I snort softly. “I don’t want to get married, and I really don’t want to invade Fisa, but you appear to have decided on both without ever consulting me.” His expression flattens. “Give it time, and you’ll see I’m right. On both counts.””

I have read several books, where the female protagonist falls for a guy who decides to teel her how, when and what, and I always get an extreme reaction to them, and the books they are in. It feels like they would rather have a doll than an actual real-life person. I’m not saying that Griffin is THAT bad, but he’s getting there.

“Something primal flares in his gaze. “Either way, you’re mine now.””

I feel like Griffin is a guy that has a selective hearing disability. They are having a conversations, but he’s not always listening to what she’s actually saying. On the other hand, I don’t necessarily think that, that is a bad thing. A lot of the decisions he is forcing on her, forces her to move. Before the book began you get the impression that, she was stagnant, not moving and not healing from the traumas of her past.

“Flynn mutters something unintelligible and steps between them. “Because she screams bloody murder every night and is terrified of being alone.””

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas first book in the Crescent City series.

 

Fantasy, romance and a crime mystery as well what’s not to love.

“She peered up at him when his arms remained around her waist. 

Hunt couldn’t help the thumb he swept over her ribs. Couldn’t stop himself from doing it a second time.”

Bryce is a half fae half human woman living I Crescent city. When her best friend Danika and her entire pack are killed, Bryce throws herself into her work, and how to live without her friends and the love she lost. Until the archangel Micha comes to find her with an opportunity to find the killer and get revenge.

Hunt a fallen angel, punished for helping his lover rebel against the archangels, is tapped to help and protect the party girl he believes Bryce to be. They are thrown into a mystery of who killed Danika and others in the city, and who isa trying to destroy everything.

““It’s another of the Fae’s countless inane prophecies,” Bryce muttered. “When knife and sword are reunited, so shall our people be.””

As a fantasy romance it fits perfectly into the genre, it has a storyline set in another world, otherworldly creatures like fae, shifters, vampires, mer people angels and demons. There is a magical object and a baddy that threatens the existence of everyone on the planet.

““Find the Horn, Ruhn. If war comes to these shores, our people will need it in more ways than one.””

I love the way Sarah J Maas builds her worlds, and this one is no exception. Its build in a way that you ar unsure if it’s a futuristic version of this one, another planet or an alternat realty and it gives something extra to the story, the familiar feeling of the objects but still foreign enough surroundings.  

““My—my history teacher said the Gates were originally communication devices.””

Bryce has a chip on her shoulder a mile wide and you can understand and forgiver her in the beginning for her missteps, she parties hard and unapologetically and even though she is making all kinds of mistakes, I cant help but liking her, because we feel that there is something beneath all this.

After Danika’s death, Bryce turns over a new leaf, and has put her partying ways behind her, she isn’t even sure she would be “making the drop” that will allow her to live longer than a human lifespan, she doesn’t really want to live without Danika, she hates herself for all the mistakes she has ever made, and she is not allowed to forget them, being the perpetual punching bag from other members of the magical society. But still Bryce keeps up a façade of being unfaced and badass even when the word hit their mark.

Hunt is your typical brooding tall, dark and handsome. And then again. Hunt is still different form the rest of them, he has his own chip on his shoulder, that’s not the different part, but with that chip comes his own agenda and fears and that does makes him different from other heroes. He is an “alphahole” as Bryce likes to refer him as and he is also un apologetic about it, but he’s not an alphahole in the was she thinks, and fears. I loved hunt and I hated hunt, it came and it went, but I always knew that I liked him more than I hated him.

““His teeth flashed. “I don’t care what you call me, Quinlan, so long as you do what you’re told.”
Fucking alphahole.

“Immortality is a long time to have a giant stick up your ass.” Bryce put her hands on her hips. Never mind that she was completely undermined by Syrinx dancing at her feet, prancing in place.”

Well the plot is good, its classic save the world, type of deal, but still with a level of originality that sets it apart. There are no plot holes to keep you aggravated and irritated, and the theme is well thought.

The pacing is good, it’s a long book and it has many details, and a lot of plot twists that keeps you engaged and guessing from start to finish.

I loved the book and was happy I chose to read it over my long weekend because I couldn’t put it down. I had an extremely hard time not plunging headfirst into the next book. And I hate the fact that I don’t know when the third book will be out and how many books there’ll be in the series.

Okay I hope you can already guess that I warmly recommend the book and I intend to read the entire series again and again, and again. I feel like this is probably going to be one of my favorites.

5 out of 5 stars from me.

 

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen the first book in The Bridge Kingdom series.

 

Good but I’m not sure if its for me.

 

“The last thing she heard before she faded from consciousness was the king’s resigned voice: “What have I gotten myself into with you?””

 

Lara is a princess trained from the age of five along with 20 of her sisters to be an assassin and her main goal would be to kill the king of Ithicana, the mortal enemy of her father Silas Veliant king of Maridrina.

Unbeknownst to her sisters Laura Knows that the king intents to kill everyone in the compound, they were raised in, except the chosen princess. Her trainers and keepers taught her of the ruthlessness of king of Ithicana and his people, she has been taught that the people of Ithicana is directly responsible for the suffering and starvation of the people of Maridrina. The chosen princess must therefore fulfill a 15-year-old treaty and marry the crown prince, now king, of Ithicana, she must find and figure out the navel secrets of Ithicana and deliver them back to her father. By any means necessary. If she fails, she will be killed.

 

““Ready the caravan. We ride for Ithicana tonight.” Then he smiled at her as though she were the most precious of things. “It’s time for my daughter to meet her future husband.””

I’m not exactly sure if I think I fits into the fantasy romance section, sure the story is set in a different universe, but there’s no magic, technically I know it fits, but personally I think it’s missing something for it to be a fantasy. The world that Danielle L. Jensen build, felt very confused to me, I had so many questions, why is the bridge even necessary? Why has the bridge never been conquered? how as Ithicana even survived that long.

“It was the bridge stretching above and between those islands—the only safe way to travel between the continents ten months out of the year. And Ithicana used its asset to keep the kingdoms who depended on trade hungry. Desperate. And most of all, willing to pay any price the Bridge Kingdom demanded for its services.”

First of all, it sounds impossible that there would be storms ravaging the sea between the continent 10 months out of the year, and that it would only take an hour to get from a continent to the first island on either end of the bridge, it seems unlikely that it would take very long to sail from one coast to another when it only takes days to walk from one end of the bridge to another. It also feels very unlikely to be a place where people would want to settle, if its not the sea that kills you, it’s the snakes or the spiders.

“Lara knew as much as—probably more than—most Maridrinians did about Ithicana. It was a kingdom as shrouded in mystery as it was in mist: a series of islands stretching between two continents, the land masses guarded by violent seas made more treacherous by defenses the Ithicanians had placed in the waters to ward off infiltrators.”

No matter how defendable something is that doesn’t mean that there is no way to conquer it. I’m sorry but the fact that the bridge is the only way across would just make people try harder. Its impossible that it would stand forever and never be taken.

Like I said more questions than answers, and that’s the kind of thing that keeps me up at night, and if not that then at least it can ruin a good book for me.

Lara was likeable enough, but I feel like she was too Naïve and a little too full of daddy issues to be able to succeed in her task. Aren is maybe even worse, he is a king trying to defend a nation, and he marries the daughter of a “former” enemy, and he starts to tell her secrets almost form the first day. I feel like that is way too naïve and if the island nation are ruled by a council as well as a king I believe they would at least intervene when they noticed him telling their secrets. And if he’s not naïve then he’s at least extremely gullible.

The plot was actually very good if you could overlook some of the questions I have already raised, and I really like the way the story was going. And I didn’t at the same time. I’m not a fan of books where the main protagonist becomes the bad guy I hate it gives me a stomach ache, but at the same time the book was well written and I just couldn’t put it down.

I liked the book, and I didn’t like the book, I’m very torn about this.  The book is good I recommend it to others but I’m not sure if it’s for me.

3 out of 4 stars from me

I will finish the series because I have to know what happens.

Radiance by Grace Draven the first book in the Wraith Kings series.

 

“Arranged marriages were the fate of nearly all aristocratic Gauri women, each one made for power, for trade, for good of country.”

Ildiko is a Gauri (human) woman born into a position of close relation with the royal family of Gauri. She is married of to a Kai Prince Brishen (not human), and none of them are particularly happy about the arrangement. Although an unexpected friendship blossoms between them and the bond in their shared distaste of the others appearance.

 

“To the human Gauri she might be beautiful or banal; to him she was profoundly homely.”

It fits well into the genre of fantasy romance, the Kai is an otherworldly race, and we are in another world so yes it fist in very well, there is magic, mystery and customs that are all part of the worldbuilding, that makes the book feel effortless, we are given information as we go along, and even though we get information by following different characters it still feels like the information and plot twists are delivered at the right times.

“…the Kai are old, with long memories.  The spirits of our dead leave this world but gift the living with their memories—what we call mortem lights.  We keep those memories alive in a place called Emlek.  They are our history, what defines us beyond how we look or the sorcery we’re losing.”

The Characters are well written with depth and dimensions to them, they might not be the most relatable of characters, but I feel like I know them how they think and talked, they came alive to me, and that is not an easy feat. They felt real, the contradictions of a meek woman, being raised in an oppressive patriarchal society, where she was expected to ask the father of husband for permission before even dancing with an ally.

“Gauri society dictated that a woman either ask her father or her husband permission to dance with another man. Kai society did not. To the Kai, it was perfectly acceptable for Ildiko to take up Serovek's invitation without Brishen's approval. Still, she hesitated.”

In the beginning I didn’t like how meek Ildiko acted, but that feeling fated when I realized that she was strong in her own way, and used the meekness in her own way, she showed strength an courage where others might have failed, I cant fault her for that.

“Her own voice was calm, lacking disdain but sure and uncowed.  “What sacrifices would those be, Your Majesty?  I see only a groom returned home with a bride after an admittedly dangerous trip.  He bears no wounds, no scars, and possesses all his limbs.  I haven’t yet had the time to henpeck him to death.””

Brishen is a kind person, he expects nothing from Ildiko but friendship and mutual respect. He does his best to not only include her in his world but to make her feel at home and welcome. But he is also a warrior, and as such will do whatever he can to make avenge wrongs committed against him, his family, and his people. The contrast helps him come alive to the reader, and you feel the depth and sense of honor in him.

“Brishen had partially drawn his sword from its sheath when the king let out a bellowing laugh. “

The plot was very gripping, there was a legitimate reason for the marriage, and it all came together perfectly, I liked the theme centered around loving what’s inside rather than focusing on what’s outside.

It had a good pace, not to slow and not too fast, I read about both fighting scenes and everyday chores the couple had to go through, they grew steadily closer, and I liked that a lot.

All in all I liked the story I felt like it was well written, and that the theme of the story was applicable to the real world. I am going to read the second book in the series but only because the book ended the way it did. I’m not sure I would have chosen it otherwise.

Will I recommend the book to others, well yes, because it is a good book just not my favorite.

3 out of 5 stars from me.

 

From blood and ash, by Jennifer L. Armentrout, the first book in the blood and ash series.

Classic yet original. The first book in my April Challenge

“An arm curled around my waist, pulling me back against a very hard, very male body. “This,” a deep voice whispered, “is unexpected.””

So Penellaphe or Poppy, was chosen at birth to become the Maiden when she turns 19 she is supposed to ascend and be given to the gods. Despite her sheltered lifestyle, where she is not allowed to have any type of human interaction despite a select few people. She manages to sneak out, and accidentally meet a guard by the name Hawke, he makes her rethink whether her sense of duty to the gods is more important than her heart. A duty she never even got to chose in the first place.

“Obviously, the book would most definitely be the type of reading material Priestess Analia would expressly forbid. And if I were caught with it in my possession, it would be yet another reason for her to believe that I wasn’t respectful of my duty as the Maiden.”

It’s a very well written fantasy romance, the story contains a lot of otherworldly creatures, like Vampires, and werewolves although she calls them something else in the book, vampry and wolven.

“The handle was fashioned from the bones of a long-extinct wolven—a creature that had been neither man nor beast but both and the blade made of bloodstone honed to fatal sharpness.”

Her use of ancient roman and Greek mythology is also a very good part of the story, I puzzled over the names Masedonia, Elysium Peaks and Atalantia even poppys name Penellaphe, sound like it could be Greek in origin, so it would fit with the theme.

“‘Jalara Solis and his army were brave, but Nyktos, in his wisdom, saw that they could not defeat the Atlantians, who had risen to godlike strength through the bloodletting of innocents—’”

I like the mix oof the old and the new, even if it’s not exactly a big part of the story, but the contrast Is definitely there. The story has a medieval feel to it with swordfights, cloaks, and a ruling monarchy but electricity exists and is available to the public if you can afford it. it made me scratch my head when I read it but, now I really like those contrasts, we are looking at a world where anything can happen and Jenifer L. Armentrout mad it happen.

“Electricity was expensive and heavily controlled by the Royal Court. It made me wonder who some of their clientele was for the luxury to be available.”

I absolutely loved poppy, she was a study in contradictions, she is full of shades of grey, and that makes her feel very real to me, her struggles between her duty and longing for freedom makes her relatable, not her problems specifically but the polarizing felling you get form being tugged between wants and needs. She is not the perfect maiden, a timid and meek little flower that they want her to be, and she does try, but she is a  fighter, passionate about her friendships and the training she receives.

“I may yet again be in the process of doing something incredibly reckless, inappropriate, and wholly forbidden, but I wasn’t foolish enough to enter a place like the Red Pearl without protection, the skill to employ it, and the wherewithal to take that weapon and skill and use them without hesitation.”

Hawke is another matter entirely, he is not a contradiction at all, he is extremely straight forward, with no hint of wavering in what he wants, the question is what his motives are. He always felt like he had secrets. And not the good kind. But he could be extremely romantic as well as flirtatious and playful. All in all I thing Jennifer did a great job with her characters.

““I did. And I’ll say it again. I don’t care what you are.” Hawke’s hand slid off my back. A moment later, I felt his palm flatten against my cheek with unerring accuracy. “I care about who you are.””

The plot is very well invented and executed. We start with dash of righteousness, then a pinch of duty to king, country and religion, then a teaspoon of adversary. and then we simmer with a buttload of  awesome female power and fighting skill, and there you have it a plot that cant possibly fail.

““The last thing I expected was to find a hooded lady with a talent for archery manning one of the battlements.” The dimple made an appearance in his right cheek, and I felt the tug low in my stomach.”

All jokes aside, even though the plot felt predictable in the girl meets boy, forbidden love kind of way, I think we need to be a bit more realistic, not only is it extremely rare to come across a happy ending that doesn’t have some of the same plots as other books, but it’s almost impossible not to get influenced by outside sources when writing a book in my opinion I think its unfair to judge a book on predictability, since its not the ending that’s important its how you get there that matters.

The pace was fine and the book was well timed, it wasn’t all go all the time with nonstop action and passion. It had some well-timed rest periods, the fact that we see Penellaphe going about her daily life is a breath of fresh air because a lot of authors skip over the monotony to pack the book with to much action. In my opinion the right amount tedium enhances the action and make the plot more credible and relatable.

“Deep down, I knew why I hadn’t risen and left the room like I was supposed to, like I knew Tawny waited for me to do. I understood why I was so willing to risk censure for simply sitting and minding my own business. I was enthralled by the antics of the two Ladies in Wait.”

The book succeeded in bringing me in emotionally, I felt with Poppy because Jennifer L. Armentrout is exceptionally good at describing the feelings of her characters, and that makes it particularly easy for me as a reader to immerse myself in the story. I cried several times,  I felt horrified along with poppy, I could feel the anger whilst reading. But I also laughed and found some characters to be cute and lovable.

 “I tried to push up, knowing I couldn’t stay down. “Tawny!” I screamed, looking for her, but all I saw was red…everywhere.”

I will definitely finish the entire series, I loved the book, and for a brief moment wondered if the challenge really was that important, and If it wouldn’t be better to just go ahead with the series, but I’m glad to say that I very narrowly avoided throwing the challenge away in favor of this series, even though it was a close call.

Will I recommend this book, YES definitely yes. I think this is one of those books that I will read again and again and still find things I overlooked the first time around.

4 out of 5 stars from me. Nothing is perfect but it came pretty close. I felt like the only annoyance I felt over the book was I had no idea what I was dealing with until I had read about a third of the book. I usually stay far away from vampire books they freak me out.