Goldilox and the Three Weres

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Review: Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs

Storm Cursed
(Mercy Thompson #11)
Patricia Briggs
Release: May 7, 2019
Goodreads Amazon

In this new instalment in the No. 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.

Review:
Oh, Mercy! How I have missed you! The longer than normal wait just about killed me. You all know that I'm a huge fan of the Mercy Thompson series. I've loved every book wholeheartedly so far and I think that Storm Cursed is going to be a front runner for my favorite book in the series. I loved it! We got witches and goblin kings and fae politics and miniature zombie goats. Oh, my!

This book like previous Mercy books was full of action and humor and surprising twists but this book was significantly darker than most of the previous books and definitely has a higher body count. I liked that this book was darker. Mercy claiming the Tri-Cities area as hers was bound to bring trouble and a lot of change and I'm glad that the book's tone reflects that. I'm loving where this story arc is going and I love learning more and more about this world. Like always, some of the twists surprised the heck out of me but I did call one thing and I'm proud of myself for seeing it coming.

With every book in this series, we get to see Mercy come more and more into her own and accepting and owning her place in the pack. Now, she's also the center of the Tri-Cities and supernatural political scene and I am here for the Pack becoming the area's protectors. I really enjoyed the politics a lot and I loved learning more about the witches and the covens even more! It was so fascinating.

One of the things I love about this series is the romance between Mercy and Adam. I need more books with established couples because these two are one of my favorite OTPs. One of the best things about this series has been watching their relationship change and grow into what it is now. Unfortunately, their responsibilities keep them separated through most of the book but when they're together they are relationship goals.

Another thing I love about this series is the side characters and they really shine in this installment. It was also fun to be reunited with some of our old favorites as well as meeting some new faces. I love so many characters in this series and with each new installment I end up loving them all a little bit more. Tad and Zee are back in the garage helping Mercy. The pack is the pack. And the vampires are still, well, the vampires. I just love how all the characters play off of each other and I can already tell that Larry is going to be a favorite. And I was absolutely delighted to learn more about Sherwood Post and his past!

While reading this book, I got the impression that Patricia Briggs is setting the stage for something major in the future and I think it's going to revolve around the witches. Maybe that's how Tom and Moira come back into the storyline? I'm just hazarding a guess.

I've said it before. There's a reason Patricia Briggs is one of the best Urban Fantasy authors out there and one of my all-time favorites. Reading her books is like coming home. They're comfort reads and I feel immediately at home in the world no matter how long it's been since I last picked up a Mercy or an Alpha & Omega book. The ending of this book just makes me want the next one in my hands right now! I just want to know what happens next!

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

5 / 5 Stars

Book 19: Kickass Lane- Read an UF with a Kickass Heroine on the Cover

My reviews of other books in this series:Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

River Marked by Patricia Briggs
Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Try a Chapter #2

I have been in an endless loop of wanting to reread Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston over and over again. It's just SO good, guys! It's totally my bookish catnip. I've already reread it four times since the middle of April and I catch something new each time. I love it so much! But as much as I would love to reread it again, I really should read something new.

It's been a while since I've had to result to using the Try a Chapter method but this seems like a good time to give it a go again. The Try a Chapter method is pretty simple. I choose a certain number of books off my TBR pile and read the first chapter of each. After reading each one, I'll decide whether or not I want to continue with the book.

I'm having a hard time figuring out what I want to read so I'm going to read the first chapter of the following four books. I'll write my thoughts on each one and then I'll rank the books from the one I want to read the most to the most meh of the bunch. Let's get started shall we!

The Books

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

This is my book club's pick of the month. And guys! This book has space witches in it! I've only read the first chapter but I am intrigued! I can already tell that I am going to love the combination of magic and sci-fi in this book. The first chapter is a race and I'm all sorts of impatient to know more about how integrating magic and tech works.

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

So... I sat down to read the first chapter of this book and never stopped. It was the first book I picked up for this post and I'm happy to say that it is completely worth all the hype. I'm going to write a review for it so keep your eyes open for that if I haven't already posted it.

In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish

I'm apparently in a contemporary romance mood because, like the previous book, I sat down to read the first chapter and didn't stop until I was done with the whole thing. I'm still trying to decide whether I'm going to do a full review for this story but I really enjoyed it. I haven't read a Roan Parrish book I haven't liked/loved yet.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

I love this author duo and the first chapter has me hooked! I want to know more about the Aurora Academy and how the Hadfield ended up how it did. I know I'm going to love this one once I let myself sit down and read it. I feel like it's going to be a one sitting type of book when I finally sit down to continue it.

The Final Ranking

I want to continue on and read all of these books so they'll be next up on my TBR if I haven't finished them. Since I sat down and read both in the same sitting, I'm going to rank I Wish You All the Best first and In the Middle of Somewhere second. I loved both of these and I can't wait to discuss them with everyone! A Big Ship and Aurora Rising are neck and neck in terms of my interest in the story but I'm going to place Big Ship in third and Aurora Rising in fourth. I'm excited to continue both of them to find out what happens next but Big Ship will be the first one I'll read because book club is coming up fast.

What books are up next on your TBR?

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Review: I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

I Wish You All the Best
Mason Deaver
Release: May 14, 2019
Goodreads Amazon

When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.

But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.

At turns heartbreaking and joyous, I Wish You All the Best is both a celebration of life, friendship, and love, and a shining example of hope in the face of adversity.

Review:
OMG! My heart! I've followed Mason Deaver for forever on Twitter and have slowly watched as he turned his #enbylovestory into I Wish You All the Best and it is worth all the hype. Because this book, guys! This book! It was one of those books that I finished and immediately knew was a game changer for YA lit. Not only is it the first book I've read with a main character that identifies as nonbinary but it's the first YA book about an enby teen I know of written my a nonbinary author. It makes my heart so happy to read a book where my enby friends will be able to see themselves in the pages.

Mason Deaver approaches so many hard topics in this story and does it with the perfect balance of hope and kindness. It's a book about identity, family, mental illness, friendship, sexuality, love, and becoming comfortable in your own skin. It made me laugh. It made me cry several times. And it made me hug my book in places while grinning like a madwoman because of the cuteness. Parts of it were hard to read because Ben’s experiences reflected things I've seen so many of my enby friends’ experience. The fear and anxiety, of course, but especially the body dysphoria. And I personally could relate to Ben on so many levels. Especially with their anxiety.

I loved Ben as a character and watching them go through so much made my heart hurt. But conversely, watching the person they become on the other side was so satisfying. I won't say anything more about it because I don't want to spoil anybody but Mason Deaver stuck the landing on how this story wraps up. I loved watching Ben interacting and getting to know their estranged sister and brother-in-law. I also loved his friends. They were hilarious and quirky and they reminded me so much of my own friend group growing up.

Another character I loved just as much as Ben was the love interest, Nathan. He was such a happy go lucky guy that you can't help but love them. And they way he treats Ben was adorable. I loved watching their relationship grow and change throughout the book.

I Wish You All the Best is going to be such a powerful force in the YA community and I’m so glad it’s out in the world. It's going to touch so many lives and that thought makes me tear up a bit. I’m just going to be over here in my little corner of the internet wishing Ben and Nathan all the best.

1/2

4.5 / 5 Stars

Book 20- Sweet Street: Sweet Contemporary Romance

Monday, May 27, 2019

Blog Tour: Wolves & Monsters by Dyan Chick Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

Welcome to our stop on the Wolves & Monsters Blog Tour! The book is the first in a new Urban Fantasy series about a siren, a werewolf pack and a small town full of various supernatural surprises. Check out my review, along with an excerpt and a gift card giveaway!

Wolves & Monsters
(Siren Problems #1)
Dyan Chick
Release: May 27, 2019
Goodreads Amazon
ARC provided by Rock Star Book Tours

They call me a monster but I’m nothing compared to the other things that go bump in the night.

Sirens have a bad rep. I know that. They say we lure men to their deaths with our songs. But I promise you, I’ve never lured a man. They always come to me willingly. Is it my fault that once they spend the night with me they seem to have bad luck? They make the choice to be with me. At least that’s what I tell myself. If I let myself think about the bodies I seem to leave behind, I would start to feel guilty. And nobody has time for that.

The problem is, I accidentally lured the wrong man to his death. How was I supposed to know the mage who tragically died after having sex with me was the son of the most powerful mage in the supe community? How was I supposed to know that a casual hook up would result in them sending some of the really bad monsters after me?

I’ve only got one shot at staying alive and it’s going to involve finding the one that got away. The only guy I ever loved. The problem is, when I left, I broke his heart. And werewolves don’t take kindly to being dumped. I’m sure nothing about this plan is going to go wrong.

Review:

I've almost finished my Netflix rewatch of Lost Girl and when I saw the blurb for Wolves & Monsters, it felt like it might have the same vibe. Angie is a siren rather than a succubus, but her lack of knowledge about her powers and the supernatural world are similar to Bo's in the show. Other than that, it didn't exactly hit the same buttons since the book focuses on a much smaller group of characters and doesn't give much sense of the world outside the small town where it's set.

However, I feel like the Siren Problems series has a lot of potential. I liked the characters, especially the variety of paranormal creatures. I like the supernatural small town concept, though I'd like to see it developed more. I just felt like this story was too dark and heavy. Angie is so angsty it's hard for her personality to come through. I wanted more snark and light-hearted moments. But since I've enjoyed the rest of what I've read from Dyan Chick, I'll probably check out the next book in the series.

I recently read Chick's Dragon Mage and Dark Fae Mage series and really enjoyed them. There are sirens in those series, both set in the same city, but I'm not sure if Siren Problems is meant to be part of the same world. Neither of those deal with shifters much, so I'm curious about how this series set in the werewolf pack will go. I'm also excited to have discovered a new Urban Fantasy author.

Recommended for fans of: The Gemini series by Hailey Edwards, The Weird Girls series by Cecy Robson

3/5 stars

Excerpt

"I'm sorry," I said.

Jason walked around the puddle and closed the distance between us. He tucked the knife back into his belt and stood in front of me. His eyes searched mine, as if he were looking for answers from me. I wished I had some for him.

Without a word, Jason grabbed the bottom of my shirt and dragged me closer to him. I didn't resist.

His arms were around me and his lips were on mine before I had time to process what was happening. His shirt was damp with sweat but I didn't care. I pulled him closer to me, savoring the feel of his body against mine.

Every inch of my skin felt like it was on fire. This was how it was supposed to be. We were supposed to be together like this. Just the two of us.

While his lips moved in time with mine, it felt like nothing could touch me. Like there was some way all of this could turn out in our favor. I never wanted this moment to end.

"Little help here." Draven's voice broke the moment.

Hesitantly, I pulled away from the kiss and reality struck hard. We were in the middle of the woods. We'd just killed a demon. There was a captive vampire who needed saving and a dead mage still out there. We didn't have time to make out like teenagers.

Plus, there was that whole curse thing I had to deal with.

"How'd you get the gag off?" Jason asked.

I elbowed him in the side then jogged over to Draven. "Sorry. We sort of got caught up in the moment."

"I get it, but I'm losing feeling my feet," Draven said.

"You can feel your feet?" Jason asked.

Draven glared at him.

I quickly untied the vampire. "I'm glad you didn't get eaten."

"Me too. That thing was disgusting. It's not how I imagined I'd go at all." Draven brushed off his clothes. "So what are we going to do about your dead mage?"

I looked at Jason. "I don't need to cause any more trouble here. I can find somewhere else to dispose of it."

"Can't you just burn it like a normal heathen?" Draven asked.

"She burns it, they'll be able to track his death right to her," Jason said. "Only way to keep her from being linked to the death is to keep the body buried somewhere until it decomposes naturally. Well, I suppose it could be eaten, but I doubt we'll find takers for that."

"Now that we know the guy was cursed for sure, that's not happening," Draven said. "Even our new aswang friend can't help us with this one."

"Maybe she can," I said. "If we buried the body at the cemetery, would the other bodies help hide the scent?"

"Could be," Jason said. "You think they might be willing to help us?"

"It's worth checking," I said. "Maybe they can point us in the direction of some of the fresher real estate."

"This has to be the most morbid few days of my life," Jason said.

About the Author

My story is probably similar to a lot of other writers out there. As a kid, I was creative, imaginative, and loved to write. I’d write scripts for plays and make my sisters act them out. I got excited about the writing prompts for standardized tests in elementary school. I started writing my first (unfinished) novel in 5th grade. Then started another one in middle school. For a long time, I was a closet writer. I didn’t tell anybody that I had a hard drive full of abandoned stories. After years of not finishing anything, I finally took the plunge and started taking writing, and myself as a writer, seriously. My first novel, Heir of Illaria, published January 23, 2017. Book 2 is right around the corner. It’s gone from closet hobby to full on addiction. Thankfully, I have a wonderfully supportive husband who doesn’t look at me like I’m crazy when I talk about my characters as if they’re real.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

1 Winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card
(International)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the rest of the stops on the Blog Tour!

Week One:

5/27/2019- Goldilox and the Three Weres- Review

5/27/2019- K.L. Novitzke – Author- Excerpt

5/28/2019- BookHounds- Excerpt

5/28/2019- Books a Plenty Book Reviews- Review

5/29/2019- TMBA Corbett Tries to Write- Excerpt

5/29/2019- Two Chicks on Books- Excerpt

5/30/2019- Burgandy Ice- Excerpt

5/30/2019- Good Choice Reading- Spotlight

5/31/2019- Parajunkee- Excerpt

Week Two:

6/3/2019- Smada's Book Smack- Spotlight

6/3/2019- Jaime's World- Excerpt

6/4/2019- Owl Always Be Reading- Excerpt

6/5/2019- JB's Bookworms with Brandy Mulder- Excerpt

6/5/2019- Bookbriefs- Review

6/6/2019- Midwest Romantic - Excerpt

6/7/2019- Adventures Thru Wonderland- Review

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Review: The 5th Gender by G.L. Carriger

The 5th Gender
(A Tinkered Star Mystery #1)
G.L. Carriger
Release: May 18, 2019
Goodreads Amazon

A species that has no word for murder, has a murderer aboard their spaceship.

ALIEN

Tristol lives in exile. But he’s built a life for himself aboard a human space station. He’s even begun to understand the complex nuances of human courting rituals.

Detective Hastion is finally flirting back!

MURDER

Except that Tristol’s beloved space station is unexpectedly contacted by the galoi – a xenophobic species with five genders, purple skin, and serious attitude. They need the help of a human detective because there’s a murderer aboard their spaceship. Murder is so rare, the galoi don’t even have a word for it.

Tristol knows this because he is galoi.

ROMANCE

Which means that he and Detective Hastion are on the case… together.

Delicate Sensibilities?

Contains men who love other men in graphic detail, regardless of gender, biology, or skin color... and lots of emotively sexy tentacle hair.

New York Times best selling author Gail Carriger (writing as G.L. Carriger) brings you a light-hearted romantic cozy mystery featuring an adorable lavender alien and his human crush.

Review:
You all know how much I love Gail Carriger and her books. I've especially been loving the adult paranormal romances she's been writing under the moniker G.L. Carriger. So when she announced she was writing an adult sci-fi romance, you know I had to immediately preorder it. I wasn't sure what to expect going into Gail's first foray into science fiction but I absolutely adored this book! It was cute and lightheartedly delightful! It's a sci-fi romance and a cozy mystery all in one! Plus, it had everything I love about Gail's other books but in space!

I love me some good worldbuilding and Gail doesn't disappoint with this one. I loved how she painted space station life and incorporated the different inhabitants and species into the story! I especially loved the worldbuilding and culture surrounding the Galoi! The fact that the Galoi are aliens of varying shades of purple with emotive tentacle hair and five genders was amazing! The whole story read like really excellent fanfiction and that's one of the highest praises I can give a book.

I loved the main character Tristol! He was so adorable! I will admit that it took me a bit to get used to the way the he talked but once I did I was completely enchanted. I loved how obsessed with discovering new things he is and how excited he is just to be living his life on the space station. The scene with the cat was something I never knew I needed in my science fiction! Tris as a character reminded of an omega in the A/B/O fanfic I've read in so many ways! And it was one of the things I loved about his character as a whole. His whole identity and relations to his own species was fascinating! I loved learning more about them and their culture as a whole.

I also loved Detective Hastion as the love interest. Because honestly, when you first met Tris on the page it's hard to imagine a love interest for him but Detective Hastion was perfect for him! I really loved reading about how that grumpy, gruff security officer softened and fell head over heels for a little lavender alien. Yay! For more queer sci-fi romance books!

And can we talk about how diverse this book was? There were different alien species and the different genders and sexualities were intriguing! And the spectrum of identities and sexualities we got among the humans was amazing as well. As for the mystery, all I will say is that it was enthralling. I did manage to guess the whodunit correctly but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story at all.

Overall, I adored this book and I really hope that we get more books covering Tris and Detective Hastion's adventures! I want to watch their relationship evolve and Tris to experience more new things. They'll be auto-buy books for sure!

1/2

4.5 / 5 Stars

Book 18: Cozy Corner- Read a Cozy Mystery

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

We Love Lists: 10 Favorite Sleeper Series

You know how sometimes you start out doing one thing and wind up with something different? Rose Red has been working on a list of favorite books without a lot of Goodreads reviews (Watch for that one coming soon.) but when I started looking at my Goodreads shelves, I found a lot of books 3 and 4 in a series that I gave 5 stars. It seemed strange to recommend starting in the middle of the series, so I'm taking a different approach.

Here are some of my favorite underappreciated series. At least one book in each of them was a 5 star read for me. Most of these are also complete series, so feel free to binge.