romance
The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins
Book Description:
“Aerity…” Her father paused as if the words he was forming pained him. “I must ask you to sacrifice the promise of love for the sake of our kingdom.”
She could only stare back, frozen.
When a strange beast terrorizes the kingdom of Lochlanach, fear stirs revolt. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.
Princess Aerity knows her duty to the kingdom but cannot bear the idea of marrying a stranger…until a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention. There’s no denying the unspoken lure between them…or his mysterious resentment.
Paxton is not the marrying type. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast—but the princess continues to surprise him, and the perilous secrets he’s buried begin to surface.
Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale “The Singing Bone,” New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins delivers a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, and a princess willing to risk all to save her kingdom.
My Rating: 4.5/5
**I would like to start off by saying that I received The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins for free via Epic Reads in exchange for a review. Although I am super grateful and excited for any opportunity at receiving a book for free, I am also very strict with being honest. That being said, giveaways do not impact my reviews.**
THIS BOOK! I LOVE the old century fantasy kingdom theme going on here! These are my type of books!
Now, I am reviewing this as a person who has NOT read The Singing Bone by The Grimm Brothers for which this story is based off of, so I have nothing to compare (although I think I’d like to read it now eventually…)
I only have one bad thing to say about this book. I really disliked the “flirting” scenes between Princess Aerity and Paxton. It was not only painfully awkward, but besides his good looks, I have no idea what Aerity sees in him. Every other part of this book was written well but it seems when it comes to romance, this is not this author’s calling. I had high hopes that Paxton was going to be a new fictional boyfriend for me but between his horrible flirting and his cold demeanor, I was left with nothing to desire.
Other than that, there’s action, there’s adventure and there’s lots to be questioned!
Beside the actual story, I love that this author lives on the eastern shore of VA – cause that’s exactly where I live! Maybe she even stops by my book store… if not she should, I’ll buy her a coffee for writing such a good book ^_^
If you’re into basic fairy tale/old century type stories, you need to grab this one! I am SO stoked that I unexpectedly won this book and very happy with my decision to drop everything and read it. I can NOT wait for book 2!
Happy Reading! xo
The Painted Lady by Amanda Moncrefe
Book Description:
Sometimes the risks may not be worth the sacrifice…
Asha St. Claire is a young single mother who was willing to sacrifice whatever it took to secure financial freedom for her and her little boy. She believed those sacrifices finally paid off when she won a full academic scholarship to Natchez State University, a remote Mississippi college hundreds of miles away from her Chicago home-town. What she wasn’t aware of, however, was that in order to accept the scholarship, she would be forced to leave her son behind. Determined on becoming economically secure, Asha sacrifices her immediate wants, accepts the scholarship, and permits temporary custodial rights of her son to her mother in order to pursue her degree.
Delphi Allen is a man who knows what he wants-and what he wants is Asha. In his single-minded pursuit, he chooses to ignore past events in his life that could negatively impact both their futures. Can he convince Asha that her current choices won’t make her happy without revealing secrets he’s tried to forget?
Or will his decision and her sacrifice ultimately cost them both?
My Rating: 0/5
**I would like to start off by saying that I received The Painted Lady by Amanda Moncrefe for free via Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a review. Although I am super grateful and excited for any opportunity at receiving a book for free, I am also very strict with being honest. That being said, giveaways do not impact my reviews.**
The cover is so pretty and intriguing – but this is NOT the book I thought it was going to be. I read up to page 35 and I can’t do it anymore. I just didn’t like the content (and wouldn’t have entered the giveaway for this book if I had known). IT’S VERY DIRTAYYYY! I’m no prude, but I prefer my porn on screen and less “I’m gonna poke your ass all day in class..” type of thing….
Okay, since this is my blog, I’m going full force. I was a little nicer on GR and the like, because I know I wasn’t the right audience for this and I’m not a complete dick. It’s not fair for someone to judge something that they don’t like in the first place. It’s like me saying a song is terrible because I can’t stand the genre of music. Doesn’t make it a terrible song because I don’t like the style, get mah drift? Again, I did not know this going in to the book. BUT – this is my blog. If the author or whoever cares to read a good review on this book and made it this far – wellll – that’s their fault.
One thing that threw me off – this is an urbanish book. Red flag numero uno. The other thing was how disgusting the males treat the females. This dude is really gonna poke some girl in the ass while she’s in class because he likes “making her squirm” and then I get a wonderful description of how wet her pants were getting – again I only read 35 pages and this isn’t the first descriptive content you get to read OH and these people barely know each other. If someone even accidentally touches my ass like that, you guarantee if I’m in class, my pencil’s going straight through their hand. Glad this author writes about self respecting women.
Don’t get me wrong, I can read sex scenes, I’m down with the putang! But there’s a right way of writing it and then there’s a pathetic way. Needless to say, this writer did the latter.
So yeah, unless you want to read a rude, hard nippling, ass poking, disrepectful piggish book – YOU’VE FOUND IT!
Summary: Men are disrespectful pigs and women are eager tramps.
Also, I’m sad this book has a small setting in Chicago. Being I’m from the Chicagoland area, I know we’re better than this…
This book is so stupid, I can’t even turn it into a craft. What a waste of a pretty cover.
Happy Reading! xo
2015 November Bookhaul
I literally bought 0 books this month and somehow I still acquired a decent amount. Unfortunately, most of them were ebooks which sucks because I really dislike reading ebooks (although I’m still grateful) so it’s gonna be hard getting through some of them and I might end up pushing them to the side for a bit for that reason alone 😦
On to the books! I’ll have a list below of each book pictured, where I got them, paperback or hardcover, special editions and how much my total purchase at each place was! If you have any more questions – or comments – about this months haul, please feel free to leave/ask them below 😀 Happy reading!
Total Books: 10
Total Spent: $0
Thanks to LibraryThing & The People Hosting The Giveaways – FREE
1.) The Witch’s Kiss Ep. 1 & 2 by Antara Mann; ebook
2.) The Brazen Blade by Billy Wong; ebook
3.) Flames of Auriel (Not Shown) by Erin Bedford; ebook
4.) World of Shawn by Jordan M Ehrlich; ebook
5.) The Wish Thief by CD Verhoff; ebook
Thanks to the author – FREE
1.) Mystical by Michael Weekly; ebook
Physical Books – FREE
1.) Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz; paperback; thanks to Random House
2.) After Alice by Gregory Maguire; signed hardcover; thanks to Shelf Awareness
3.) Happy Cooking by Giada De Laurentiis; hardcover; thanks to Crown Publishing
4.) The Truth by Jeffery W. Johnston; paperback; thanks to Sourcebooks
+5 Romance Novels – these won’t be included in the total. I get these from work but I do not keep them, instead, I pass them on to my momma to read because she loves romance novels – and I do not… *shudder*
2015 November Wrap Up
Total Books = 4
Average Rating = 4
Uuuuuberrrrr slow month for reading. Between the holidays and work and other lifey things there just wasn’t as much time as I normally have to devote to this wonderful world *le sigh*
With that being said, here’s my sad, little finished reads for the month of November:
1.) Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – 5/5
2.) Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – 4/5
3.) The Witch’s Kiss Ep. 1 by Antara Mann – 5/5
4.) The Witch’s Kiss Ep. 2 by Antara Mann – 3/5
Hope you guys who celebrate had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl **WARNING: One or Two Slight Spoilers Ahead**
Book Description:
Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home from the Great Barrier, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena’s Claiming. Even Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals is affected — and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What — or who — will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?
For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He’s being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it’s not Lena — and the mysterious figure is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself — forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn’t know why, and he’s afraid to ask.
Sometimes there’s no going back. And this time there won’t be a happy ending.
My Rating: 5/5
I love these books so much *sobs* THAT ENDING HURT MY HEART SO BAD! Especially because I wasn’t prepared for the book to end – MEANING – there was so much additional content in the back that I forgot about, I assumed all of that was still bewk. It wasn’t. So when it ended in the fashion that it did, I was completely and totally in utter shock. I threw my book down and yelled toward my unsuspecting husby, “THAT’S HOW IT ENDS?! THAT’S IT?!” ..I probably looked like a maniac because I was also crying. I immediately grabbed the final book, I have to know what happens next, how it all ends. At the same time, I don’t want this to end. This is hands down a top favorite of mine, I’m adoring this series with everything I have! My ARCs and Giveaways are just gonna have to wait.
Now the reason I’m not giving this book a 5/5 is because once again, it started slow (if you’re confused – see the bottom of the post). And WHERE WAS MY LENA?! She was practically non existent for awhile and I need Lena.. I love Ethan but I kind of love Lena more. And Lena WITH Ethan is just, agh, perfection ❤ So I really wouldn’t give this a 4.5, more so a 4.8 but that’s just getting a little too technical..
But one thing in the beginning that made me LAWL – “Linkubus” oh my goodness bahaha so seely!
AND DIS QUOTE:
I love Ridley, I can’t wait to grab Dangerous Creatures!!
I will forewarn: This book in particular brings a lot of heartbreak with it.
For example, Pg.140 – the library has burnt down. Nuuuuu! I felt as attached to this place as Ethan had. Ugh, WHY?!
But I loved getting to get a glimpsed into Seraphine’s life prior to becoming Seraphine. How hard this has to be on Lena to see that there once was good in Seraphine’s heart that seemed to have never existed. I couldn’t imagine what that would be like after your mother has already tried to kill you…
But things do lighten up. It’s not all sorrow. On pg. 198 where everyone’s gathered at the table in Ravenwood and Liv comes in to play and Lena and Ethan are Kelting and Ethan gets confused between Kelting and real talking and blurts out loud, hahaha totally something I would do, how awkward XD
AND I LIVE FOR THESE:
They finally discuss “The Caster Chronicles” – we get the reference and learn what this is all about! Yahoo!
We also find out what’s going on with Ethan because he definitely hasn’t been all ‘there.’ YUS! I love how it’s tied in to the first book (his soul split in half when he died on the Sixteenth Moon – the other half was left behind in the Otherworld). Brilliant! I couldn’t figure this part out..
Pg: 383 – There’s always SO many good pieces to quote in these books, but especially in this one:
I’m really happy what they ended up doing with Ridley! I was nervous at first, but it all worked out for me in the end. I won’t give this away, but for what I had to endure, I’m glad this happened :]
So the more I reflect on this, the easier it is to talk about and the more I realize I’m a complete idiot for not giving it a 5/5, so by the time I have finished writing this, my rating has changed.
Thank you once again ladies for writing an amazing book that stole my heart ❤
Identity Crisis!
Formally: Kay_Reads
So as you can clearly tell, I’m having a sort of “identity crisis..” When I originally started this blog, I was so eager to write my book reviews that I just picked the most uncreative name I could think of. I was never a fan of “Kay_Reads,” it didn’t speak to me, it didn’t stand out… it was just something to use for the time being. I read everywhere that changing your identity was a bad idea, blah blah blah. But the only thing I had to change with every platform I was using were the user names! I didn’t lose any of my wonderful followers, I didn’t have to ask anyone to ‘like’ this one, follow this new page, and the best part of all, I didn’t have to spend several hours customizing and reposting everything 😀
So I apologize for any confusion, but the new name is here and it is here to stay!
So with that, I re-welcome you to the not-so-new:
TheNerdyBookmark
Thank you for your understanding & Happy Reading!
Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson
Book Description:
It’s been a helluva week for Betsy Taylor. First, she loses her job. Then, to top things off, she’s killed in a car accident. But what really bites (besides waking up in the morgue dressed in a pink suit and cheap shoes courtesy of her stepmother) is that she can’t seem to stay dead. Every night she rises with a horrible craving for blood. She’s not taking too well to a liquid diet.
Worst of all, her new friends have the ridiculous idea that Betsy is the prophesied vampire queen, and they want her help in overthrowing the most obnoxious, power-hungry vampire in five centuries – a badly dressed Bela Lugosi wannabe, natch. Frankly, Betsy couldn’t care less about vamp politics, but they have a powerful weapon of persuasion: designer shoes. How can any self-respecting girl say no? But a collection of Ferragamos isn’t the only temptation for Betsy. It’s just a lot safer than the scrumptious Sinclair – a seductive bloodsucker whose sexy gaze seems as dangerous as a stake through the heart…
My Rating: 2/5
This book wasn’t that bad but it just wasn’t my cup of tea either. While some parts of it were mildly entertaining, most of it almost made me feel embarrassed to read it. Actually I should just flat out say I was. This was a book I wouldn’t bring out in public with me. After I finished the Twilight series, one of my sister-in-laws gave this to me as a hand-me-down recommendation. From her mom, to her, to me. And that’s where I stop this train. It’s kind of like a Sex in the City meets vampires minus the clever writing.
**Fun Fact: When I was taking the pictures for the blog/Instagram, I noticed that the praise on the cover was quoted from Christine Feehan. If you follow my reviews, you’ll know I’m not a fan of hers. Wish I would’ve connected the dots sooner XD But at least I’m subconsciously consistent 😛
2015 October Wrap Up
Total Books = 7
Average Rating = 4
Overall, a great month for reading! 😀
1.) City of Words by Steven J. Carroll – 3.5/5
2.) Allegiant by Veronica Roth – 5/5
3.) Four by Veronica Roth – 4/5
4.) The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin – 4/5
5.) Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – 5/5
6.) Breed by Chase Novak – 3/5
7.) Far Far Away by Tom McNeal – 3.5/5
How many books did you get through this colorful month?
2015 October Bookhaul
Welcome to my October 2015 Bookhaul! Wooo! I think I have to put on the brakes after this one though cause in the last 2 months I’ve acquired 52 books that I gotta get through… eash. Plus with Thanksgiving around the corner (which my husband and I host for our military family) and then Christmasssss, oye!
On to the books! I’ll have a list below of each book pictured, where I got them, paperback or hardcover, special editions and how much my total purchase at each place was! If you have any more questions – or comments – about this months haul, please feel free to leave/ask them below 😀 Happy reading!
Total Books: 24
Total Amount Spent: $72
Barnes & Noble – $14
1.) The Host by Stephenie Meyer; paperback
2.) Fiend by Peter Stenson; hardcover
3.) Beautiful Chaos, Bk. 3 (Caster Chronicles/Beautiful Creatures Series) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl; paperback
The Book Exchange – $22
1.) The Sea of Monsters, Bk. 2 (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) by Rick Riordan; paperback
2.) Reckless, Bk. 1 (Mirrorworld) by Cornelia Funke; hardcover
3.) Redwall, Bk. 1 (Redwall) by Brian Jacques; paperback
4.) The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling; hardcover
5.) Deep Blue Bk. 1 (Waterfire Saga) by Jennifer Donnelly; hardcover
6.) Asylum, Bk. 1 (Asylum) by Madeleine Roux; paperback
Half Price Book Store – $7
1.) The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates; paperback
2.) Stoneheart, Bk. 1 (Stoneheart Trilogy) by Charlie Fletcher; paperback
3.) The Awakening, Bk. 2 (Darkest Powers) by Kelley Armstrong; hardcover
4.) The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, Bk. 3.5 (Twilight) by Stephenie Meyer; hardcover
BookOutlet – $30
1.) Dreamspinner, Bk. 7 (Nine Kingdoms) by Lynn Kurland; paperback
2.) House of Secrets, Bk. 1 (House of Secrets) by Chris Columbus & Ned Vizzini; hardcover
3.) Battle of the Beasts, Bk. 2 (House of Secrets) by Chris Columbus & Ned Vizzini; hardcover
4.) Eve & Adam, Bk. 1 (Eve & Adam) by Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate; paperback
5.) The Calling, Bk. 1 (Endgame) by James Frey & Nils Johnson-Shelton; hardcover
6.) Storybound, Bk. 1 (Storybound) by Marissa Burt; paperback
7.) Dream A Little Dream, Bk. 1 (The Silver Trilogy) by Kerstin Gier; hardcover
8.) Crank, Bk. 1 (Crank) by Ellen Hopkins, paperback
9.) Glass, Bk. 2 (Crank) by Ellen Hopkins, paperback
10.) Quintessence by David Walton; paperback
Giveaway Books – FREE
1.) Haze, Bk. 2 (The Rephaim) by Paula Weston; paperback
ARCs – FREE (I get these from work)
6 Romance Novels – these won’t be included in the total. I get these from work but I do not keep them, instead, I pass them on to my momma to read because she loves romance novels – and I do not… *shudder*
Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles #2) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Book Description:
Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.
Sometimes life-ending.
Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan’s eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there’s no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town’s tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.
My Rating: 5/5. . . 10/5
HOLY GUACAMOLE!! Whoever read the first book, Beautiful Creatures, and decided against reading this second book missed out! Beautiful Darkness is one of those books that has you going chapter to chapter NEEDING to know what happens next! There were SO many brilliantly shocking moments, after the first few you had to wonder if this was all the book had to offer BUT IT KEEPS SHOCKING! I, personally, adored the first book. I can admit though, it was a little slow to read at times, but none the less, it will always be a favorite of mine. This book isn’t like that. It’s a very fast, exciting read from beginning to end. The first book was all about getting to know Ethan and Lena and their details of their families and Gatlin, etc. This book, the second, is all about where they go from there and what a ride these ladies take us on!
Can I just keyboard scream for a second: WHY AREN’T THEY CONTINUING THIS AS A MOVIE?!?! I wanna see this on film sooooo bad with the same actors, the same director, UGHHH! Pull on my heart strings why don’t you?! :”'[
Let me just point out how much I love Ethan Wate:
Gramma stepped in front of Lena, closed her eyes, and touched a single finger to her granddaughter’s cheek. The moment she touched Lena, everything stopped, and I knew Gramma had used her abilities as an Empath to absorb Lena’s powers temporarily. But she couldn’t absorb Lena’s anger. None of us were strong enough to do that. -pg. 15
Bahahaha, can anyone else relate to this? I know I have my moments XD
Quick background to my personal life: My neighbors just put up a HUGE privacy fence! Our house is tucked back, so our neighbor’s backyard is in our front yard and the fence they put up is way over 6ft. tall. My husband and I call it “The Great Wall of Buhrke” (our last name). Ironically, the day they put this beast of a divider up, I also read this:
“Good fences make good neighbors.” -pg. 125
You could say we’re FANTASTIC neighbors!
Most of the book, I was kind of heartbroken for Ethan. Every time Lena pulled away, she pulled my heart with her, I was all, “LENA, NUUUU!! Stahp being bad!!” I was rooting for her all the way up until the scene where Lena was snuggle-dancing with John Breed, like, dafuq was dat LE-NUH?! But one thing I LOVED that they did: They didn’t turn Ethan into a whiny pansy who’s bitch whipped by a girl. Yes, he was hurt like anyone would be, but instead of moping and running to Lena and begging for an explanation every 2 seconds, he did what a lot of normal people do. He acted out of spite. He chose his anger and acted on it by doing to her what she was doing to him. Now am I agreeing with these actions? Absolutely not, but let’s be honest, a majority of people in the real world would’ve handled this situation the same way Ethan was, so kudos to the writer’s for going down the realistic road instead of the road that would make me roll my eyes and forever loathe Ethan Wate.
And we finally found out who Ethan Wate really is!! Why he’s here, why he’s drawn to Lena, why EVERYTHING!! I was SO excited to read about this! And wait till you find out about Jane, whoa buddy, this part made me “EEEEEE!!” out loud. AND AUNT PRUE! I’m not going to give away WHAT you’ll find out but jeez louise, when you finally think the surprises are over with, another one smacks you in the face on the next page and it finally all comes together in a big “ah-ha!” moment.
Then there’s Ridley. This I was not sure I liked at first. I can’t say why, I don’t want to ruin ANYTHING with this sequel, but notice I said like(d)? Well that’s because of what happens near the end of the book, another “ah-ha!” moment where it’s all explained and for that, I ended up loving the outcome. If there was no wrap up for her, I would’ve hated what they did with Rid. It’s funny how you end up feeling sorry for someone who is so dark and did bad things.
And as if there weren’t already crazy reveals, WAIT TILL YOU GET TO THE END! I squealed, I jumped for joy, I sang, I danced…. well… not really… but I felt so bubbly I might as well have done all of that. It was the best ‘ERMERGERD‘ moment in the entire book.
I just… I have so many words for this book! Beautiful, shocking, thrilling, adventurous, exciting, sorrowful, sad, curious. . .
This book is a fun adventure from the first page to the last. I feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t picked it up. So if you haven’t, DO IT, DO IT MEOW! I can’t wait to see what the third book, Beautiful Chaos has in store for me 😀 I want to read it ASAP but I’m waiting until I get back from traveling for a few days because I want to give this book my FULL attention and I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to read or how many times I’ll be interrupted. That’s how much I want to read the next book. It’s NEEDS my full attention ❤
TheNerdyBookmark 