Category: NetGalley

Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts: Book 1) by Vic James

Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts Book 1) by [James, Vic]

Title: Gilded Cage

Author: Vic James

Publisher: Random House Publishing – Ballantine

Date of publication: February 14th, 2017

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

POV: Alternate 3rd person

Number of pages: 368

Series: Dark Gifts

Gilded Cage – Book 1

Tarnished City – Book 2 (publication date not stated on Goodreads)

Bright Ruin – Book 3 (publication date not stated on Goodreads)

Standalone: Yes

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Not all are free. Not all are equal. Not all will be saved.

Our world belongs to the Equals — aristocrats with magical gifts — and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of England’s grandest estate lies a power that could break the world.

A girl thirsts for love and knowledge.

Abi is a servant to England’s most powerful family, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of the noble-born sons, Abi faces a terrible choice. Uncovering the family’s secrets might win her liberty, but will her heart pay the price?

A boy dreams of revolution.

Abi’s brother, Luke, is enslaved in a brutal factory town. Far from his family and cruelly oppressed, he makes friends whose ideals could cost him everything. Now Luke has discovered there may be a power even greater than magic: revolution.

And an aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.

He is a shadow in the glittering world of the Equals, with mysterious powers no one else understands. But will he liberate—or destroy?

My review:

Gilded Cage starts off with a young woman, Leah, running for her life across the ground of the estate she was a slave too…Kyneston. She is hoping to make it to the wall before Gavar and Jenner do. She has her baby, Liberty (aka Libby) with her and she is hoping that Libby would be able to open the gate so they could escape. It doesn’t happen. Libby doesn’t have the Skill to open the gate. Or as Silyen, the youngest and the most Skilled of the 3 brothers said, maybe she doesn’t want to leave her family.  It doesn’t really matter anyway because before Leah could do anything else, Gavar shoots Leah. Miraculously, Libby isn’t hurt and Gavar takes her back to the house….leaving Jenner to mourn over Leah. Jenner does try to get Silyen to heal her but he won’t…saying that even he can’t bring back the dead. As they are talking, Leah dies.

A few months later, we are introduced to Abi, Luke, Daisy, and their mother and father.  Luke is the equivalent of a junior in high school and Abi, a senior. Their little sister, Daisy, is 10 years old. Luke is studying for his final exams when he notices a strange man looking at his father’s restored Austin-Healey. The man unnerves Luke, for some reason, and is quickly on his way after seeing that Daisy is celebrating her 10th birthday.

Later that night, Luke overhears something horrific. His mother and father have decided to enact their slave days. See, in this dystopian society, all commoners are supposed to serve the Equals, those who have the Skill and rule over the country, for 10 years. What is Skill….well consider it magic of a sort. The Equals can do anything with it…including healing, mind reading and building houses or maintaining a gate that only opens for the Equals. They are sent to a slave town (called Millmoor) to serve out their 10 years. After the 10 years are over, the commoners can hold certain jobs (never went into in the book), own a house and travel abroad.

So it is understandable that Luke is upset. He is losing 10 years of his life and Daisy, who is 10, will not be able to receive any education during the 10 years. Luke would be missing out on college, girls and the start of his life. I would be upset too.

But Abi had come up with a solution. She applied, for the family, at a department within the Labor Allocation Bureau called Estate Services. That is where the Equals go for their house slaves. Her application got accepted and they are being sent to serve the Jardine family on the estate of Kyneston. Seeing that Luke is under the age of 18, he goes with his family. It is the perfect solution to something that is dreaded in the lives of the common people.

Except it didn’t go that way. The day that they are being picked up by the LAB person to be driven to Kyneston, things change. The driver only has 4 names written: Mum, Dad, Daisy, and Abi. Luke, unfortunately, gets sent to Millmoor. Which is unheard of because he is a minor. The officer, who was an idiot and I didn’t like him at all, and Luke’s Dad gets into a scuffle. Dad gets a beat down and the officer, Kessler, explains that they are all nonpeople and have no rights. They all separate and then the story goes into Luke at Millmoor, Gavar at Kyneston and various areas, Silyen at Kyneston and Abi at Kyneston.

I couldn’t put my finger on how I felt about Silyen. He had an agenda and he wasn’t afraid to use people to get desired results. But I also saw glimpses of a kind person and of someone who could be more than what he was raised to be. If that makes sense.

Gavar did redeem himself in the book. I did feel bad for him because his father had an ironclad grip on him. It came out that he was in love with Leah but his father made him shoot her. Which is awful. But his father’s control over him was slipping. Gavar reminded me of an abused dog who is just waiting for its master to not be paying attention before tearing his throat out. I also feel that his fiancé will be caught up in that once Gavar snaps. But he does have a soft side. He loves his daughter and he is very taken with Daisy, who is Libby’s nurse and I believe that he would move heaven and earth to protect both of them. It is going to be very interesting to see how Silyen and Gavar’s storylines end up in the other books.

Jenner was actually my favorite brother. He is Skillless but he is an asset to the estate and runs it. He is close to Silyen (well as close as Silyen lets him be) and he is getting very close to Abi. So close that Jenner’s mother, Lady Thalia, reminds him that he is an Equal (even if he doesn’t have powers) and that she is a slave and warns him off her.

Daisy had to have been my favorite person in the book. She was so upbeat and always saw the bright side of everything. She even liked Gavar, which kinda blew my mind. To be caring for a baby at her age was amazing (now granted Gavar did most of the caring for Libby when he was home and Daisy was just there as a babysitter) but still. She matured over the course of the book and I can’t wait to see where the author takes her character in book 2

I honestly didn’t know what to think of Abi. At times I liked her, at times I wanted to tell her to shut up and at other times I was in awe over her braveness. I am very interested to see what happens to her in book 2.

I felt awful for Luke. Being ripped from his family, put into an awful slave town and being worked to the bone, no wonder he became radicalized. His friendship with Renie, a girl his sister’s age, was very cute but at the same time dangerous. The events after was reunited with his family were beyond his control. I am very interested in what happens to him. Very interested.

Lord Whittman Jaradine, Gavar, Jenner and Silyen’s father, is a bad, bad, bad man. I literally got the chills when I was reading his scenes because his evilness just came off the pages. Again, a storyline that I would be very interested in seeing where it goes. I am also interested in seeing what happens between him and Gavar.

The end of the book ends as a cliffhanger, which made me want to yell. If you have read my reviews for any length of time, then you all know how I feel about cliffhangers. But, it did get me interested in book 2 (which I didn’t know there was going to be one until I pulled Gilded Cage up on Goodreads).

How many stars will I give Gilded Cage: 4

Why: A great dystopian book. This was a quick read with complex characters. I can’t wait to read book 2!!

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Teen

Why: No sex, no language. But there is violence…including a graphic scene of a head being blown off. Also, there is a disturbing side story about a man forced to live like a dog.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Always by Sarah Jio

Always: A Novel by [Jio, Sarah]

Title: Always

Author: Sarah Jio

Publisher: Random House Publishing – Ballantine

Date of publication: February 7th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Chick Lit

POV: 1st person

Number of pages: 289

Series: No

Where this book can be found: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

From the New York Times, bestselling author of Blackberry Winter and The Violets of March comes a gripping, poignant novel about the kind of love that never let’s go, and the heart’s capacity to remember.

While enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiancé, Ryan, at one of Seattle’s chicest restaurants, Kailey Crane can’t believe her good fortune: She has a great job as a writer for the Herald and is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As they leave the restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers and is stunned when their eyes meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of her life, Cade McAllister.

When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense everything connected and felt “right.” But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what and whom she wants.

Alternating between the past and the present, Always is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she’s willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.

My review:

A bit of a warning, this book is a tear-jerker from the beginning. I was a bit surprised at how early the tears started in the book for me. I went into reading Always knowing that it was chick lit and chick lit always turns me into a mushy mess. I just wasn’t expecting it by Chapter 2.

While I sympathized with Kailey, I was kinda annoyed with her. She should have told Ryan what was going on with Cade from the beginning, instead of keeping secrets. I mean, her boss (who was super supportive and unlike any boss I have known) and her best friend were voices of reason. “Tell Ryan. He’ll understand.” She doesn’t and then gets upset when Ryan finds out and he gets upset. What was he supposed to be? Happy that she is devoting all her time to helping the one man who disappeared on her 8 years earlier. The fact that he was at least understanding showed what a great guy he was.

Even before she realized it, I could tell that Kailey was still in love with Cade. I mean, she went and hunted him down after she saw him outside the restaurant. She became his advocate when the hospital decided that people who had insurance and were rich had more priority over those who were poor and didn’t have insurance (which is an unfortunate reality for most people these days).

Speaking of that, the love story between Cade and Kailey took my breath away. They loved each other so much and it just came off the pages. Like any couple, they had their problems. So when he disappeared, I could see why Kailey was devastated.

But what sold me on the book was the realistic insight to homelessness. People who are homeless are treated like they are below other people. All because they don’t have the money or a place to live. People are under the incorrect assumption that most homeless people are drug addicts. Not true. A huge majority of people homeless are people who used to have a house and a job and through unfortunate events are living on the street. There are not enough shelters to keep up with a growing homeless population….which was correctly portrayed in the book also. As was people’s views of them. A little compassion can go a long way because you never know, you could be that person on the street. At the end of this review will be a link to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Click on it to learn more about how to help shelters in your community.

I did like the ending of the book and felt that the story had come full circle.

How many stars will I give Always: 5

Why: This was a genuine tear-jerker of a book. Like I said above, I started crying about the 2nd chapter and didn’t stop. The love between Cade and Kailey was so real, so raw that it came off the page.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and language

National Coalition for the Homeless

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

From London with Love (Rebellious Brides: Book 2) by Diana Quincy

From London with Love: Rebellious Brides

Title: From London with Love

Author: Diana Quincy

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: February 7th, 2017

Genre: Historical romance

POV: 3rd person

Number of pages: Unknown

Series:

A License to Wed – Book 1 (Review here)

From London with Love – Book 2

Standalone – Yes

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Emilia St. George is moments away from marrying the admired grandson of a duke when the man who once jilted her decides to kidnap her at the altar. It’s the second time in five years Hamilton Sparrow has ruined her wedding day, and Emilia isn’t about to forgive him. The mere sight of her ex-fiancé revives painful memories—and, most regrettably, aching desires that refuse to be ignored.

Scanning the guests at Emilia’s wedding, Sparrow spots a familiar face: an assassin he recognizes from his days as a spy in France. Whisking Emilia away, he’s pleasantly surprised by her newly formed curves. Could this be the same flame-haired slip of a girl once promised to Sparrow? And does the fop she still insists on marrying realize what a prize she is? True, Sparrow left Emilia at the altar. But he’s afraid that the only way to right that particular wrong is to risk the one thing he’s always guarded: his heart.

My review:

Emilia is about to have the wedding that was denied to her 5 years earlier when her fiance, Hamilton Sparrow, left her at the altar. She was just minutes away from walking down the aisle when she was kidnapped by none other than…..Hamilton Sparrow. His reason for kidnapping her….there was an assassin in the audience and that assassin was there to kill her.

He brings Emilia to his manor, where she notices that his housekeeper is overly friendly with him. Put it this way, she was shoving her boobs in his face, giving Emilia (who she referred to as “the ginger”) dirty looks and the kicker, she tried to give Hamilton a blow job while he was sitting at his desk, which he quickly deterred but not before Emilia sees.

The assassin catches up with Sparrow and Emilia at Sparrow’s estate….where Emilia brains him with a rock while Sparrow fights him. The injury to his head, causes the assassin to go into a coma. Which is bad in a way because he can’t tell Sparrow who hired him.

So begins the mystery of who wants to kill Emilia and why.

Come to find out that there are a couple of people who want to kill her and they all have motives. Her cousin, a recluse, whose parents were murdered in their beds years ago and who people suspected of killing them. A shady art dealer who Emilia caught swindling people and got him fired from his job. Her current fiance who, come to find out, is a spendthrift and really isn’t nice to Emilia.

All the while, Sparrow is fighting a growing attraction to Emilia and he is trying to figure out how to get out from under a mountain of debt that the previous holder of his title left him when he died.

I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely something that I needed to read after the last few books I have read. The humor in the book was great.

I really liked Emilia. She knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go after it. Which was pretty funny in some scenes (like when she wanted to paint Sparrow naked…she was tenacious….lol).

Sparrow wasn’t the perfect hero either. He was hurt, badly, in the past by a former lover and he couldn’t move past that. So, what does he do? He forms attachments that won’t require him to get emotionally involved with the women. If that starts to happen, he ends the relationship. The gradual change in him took place from the minute he kidnaps Emilia. He turned down sex (from his housekeeper) because Emilia was there.

The sex scenes between Sparrow and Emilia were very hot and I loved how she propositioned him….lol.

I was surprised at who the person was who wanted Emilia dead and the reasons why. Well, I take that back. I wasn’t surprised at that because it made perfect sense. The end of the book was perfect. I do wish that there was an epilogue to show how Sparrow and Emilia were doing. I am sure, though, that they will make an appearance in the next book!!

How many stars will I give From London with Love? 4

Why: This was a funny, sexy, mystery/romance that keeps the pages turning.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and violence

I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Take Me Harder (Texas Bounty: Book 3) by Jackie Ashenden

Take Me Harder (Texas Bounty, #3)

Title: Take Me Harder

Author: Jackie Ashenden

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: February 7th, 2017

Genre: Romance

Number of pages: Unknown

POV: 3rd person

Series: Texas Bounty

Take Me Deeper – Book 1 (review here)

Make It Hurt – Book 2

Take Me Harder – Book 3

Make It Good – Book 4 (Expected publication date: March 6th, 2018)

Make It Last – Book 5 (Expected publication date: May 1st, 2018)

Take Me Longer – Book 6 (Expected publication date: July 3rd, 2018)

Standalone – No

Where to find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Rush Redmond never expected freedom to taste so bittersweet. He spent eight years in jail doing someone else’s time, and for what? As an ex-con, Rush can’t work as a bounty hunter like his brothers—not in Texas. Better to drown his sorrows with a stiff drink and soft curves. Too bad the temptation he craves is a redhead with a badge: Ava St. George. Once upon a time, Rush would’ve done anything for the sheriff’s innocent daughter. Now he’s fighting the urge to let her sweet-talk him into some trouble he can’t afford.
 
Even though she’s a cop, Ava knows that sometimes justice means pushing the boundaries of the law. To track down her mother’s killer, she turns to the man with the county’s criminal underworld in his little black book. The boy she knew is still drop-dead gorgeous, with panty-dropping charm as smooth as his smile. But his sculpted arms and the menacing gleam in his eyes scream “Don’t mess with me.” Yet Ava needs Rush more than ever—in more ways than one.

My review:

Rush Redmond spent 8 years in jail for a crime that he did not commit….to protect his older brother, Quinn, and his alcoholic father. He has changed in those 8 years and not for the better. He came out of jail bitter. Bitter towards his brothers, who didn’t visit him. Bitter towards his father, who promised he would do everything to get him out and instead left him to rot in jail for 8 years. Bitter that his mother had told him that he wasn’t his father’s son while she was dying (even though it explained a lot).

Ava St. George is the sheriff’s daughter and is a cop herself. Her mother was murdered when she was 7 years old and her father withdrew, emotionally, from her. Stricken with grief, she forms a friendship with Rush…who is 10 years older. He is the one who helps her get over her grief, who supports her dream to be a cop like her mother and father, who teaches her how to shot a gun and who was her first crush. She was 14 when he went to jail and she never forgot him.

I felt really bad for Rush but to be honest, he did come off as a jerk. A huge jerk who kinda bullied Ava (but hated doing it if that made sense). I understand that he was lashing out because of everything that happened to him but still. I wanted to smack him for some of the things he said to her. And Quinn was definitely in the right for not wanting him around Ava, at all.

I loved Ava. I really did but she let Rush walk all over her for a little while. I don’t know if it was because she felt guilty that she never visited him in prison (hello, she was 14 and he was 24….no way her dad would have let her do that) or because she needed his contacts but she should have never let him do it for as long as he did.

I wouldn’t call what was between Ava and Rush a romance at first. It was more of lust. Where Rush wanted Ava and she wanted him just as badly. It evolved into love when she asked to be his girlfriend when he went to the arms dealer’s party to get information for Ava and to see if the arms dealer was his father (his mother had an affair with him right around the time Rush was conceived).

The sex scenes were very hot. The only thing that I didn’t like was Ava losing her virginity in the front seat of Rush’s truck. I was kinda hoping that it would happen in a bed but oh well. The rest of the sex scenes were great and….drum roll please, they used safe sex. Double fist pump yes…..lol.

The storylines, except for who fathered Rush, were all resolved in a good way. I do like that Zane was featured a couple of time and that Iris was only mentioned once. Which made me happy because I couldn’t stand her.

The end was typical of a romance, with a HEA. But, in this book, I felt that the HEA was deserved.

How many stars will I give Take Me Harder: 4

Why: For some reason, this book got to me. I don’t know if it was Rush’s pain over everything that has happened to him from the age of 17 on or if it was the great message interwoven in the book (forgiveness if good) but it got to me. It also helped that Ava was such a great balm for Rush while he worked through everything and that their sex was great.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Adult

Why: Sex, language, and violence.

I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

A Cunning Plan (Sloane Harper: Book 1) by Astrid Arditi

A Cunning Plan (Sloane Harper Book 1)

Title: A Cunning Plan

Author: Astrid Arditi

Publisher: Self Published

Date of publication: November 11th, 2016

Genre: Romance, Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 378

POV: 1st person

Series: Sloane Harper

A Cunning Plan – Book 1

Can be read out-of-order from series: Yes, 1st book

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

The First Sloane Harper Novel
Determined to put her family back together, Sloane Harper stalks her ex-husband and his annoyingly stunning mistress, Kate Stappleton. But she’s not the only one. Handsome IRS agent Ethan Cunning is surveying Kate too, but for entirely different reasons. He is attempting to nail Kate’s playboy boss. Ethan and Sloane decide to help each other, which sends Sloane’s wobbly life spinning out of control. She’ll have to face danger, humiliation, and – scariest of all – the dating scene, to lure her daughters’ father home. Losing control was the best thing to happen to Sloane…until it turned lethal.

My review:

I am going to come straight out and admit this, I didn’t think I would like A Cunning Plan by what I read in the synopsis <hangs head>. What I didn’t expect was the humor that was in the book. I wasn’t expecting to laugh as much as I did.

I actually felt very bad for Sloane in the first few chapters of the book. She was blindsided by her divorce and refused to accept it. She had the mindset that her divorce was only temporary and that her husband will eventually come back and remarry her. I actually wanted to hug her during that part of the book. It was so sad to read. But, once Ethan began his campaign to get her to do his dirty work (get into for Gabriel Varela) for him, the book took off.

Tom, Sloane’s ex, was a huge jerk and I really wanted to punch him. He knew that Sloane wanted him back and he kept stringing her along. To be honest, I couldn’t stand how he treated her. Like she was beneath him. Always laughing at her when she would trip or make a mistake. When Sloane decided to start living her life instead of waiting for him, in other words…dating, he freaked out. Hardcore freaked out. I think I said out loud during that point of the book “Can’t have your cake and eat it to sweetpea”.

Ethan Cunning, oh where do I begin with him. I had a love/hate relationship with him, like Sloane. He kinda did creep me out with all the stalking he did. I mean, he showed up everywhere Sloane was and it was freaky. But, in a way, Sloane was getting hers for stalking Tom’s mistress/new girlfriend. I also didn’t like how he could change in a minute. When he called Sloane desperate (all because he was jealous of her dating Gabriel), I wanted to reach through the book and smack him. Hard.

I loved the friendship that Sloane had with Claudia. It was one of the most honest ones in the book and oh boy, did Claudia not hold back. She was brutally honest and did not hold back of her dislike for Tom (which made me love her even more). She truly had Sloane’s best interests at heart and she was truly a best friend to Sloane.

The relationship Sloane had with her mother, Bizzy, was very complicated. To be honest, I did think was very selfish in taking advantage of her mother for 6 months but then again, I didn’t think it was selfish. Bizzy was not a great mother….always putting Sloane down, buddying up to Tom and harping on Claudia. Plus, she was always drinking her “lemonade” and was always half lit. The whole day after a binge with Claudia was hilarious.

What I liked the most about this book was that Sloane cherished her children and Tom was a great father, even if he was a jerk in every other area of his life. They made a united front to co-parent as peacefully as possible for Rose and Poppy. I will say that the highlight of this book was the horse/whore conversation and its after-effects. I couldn’t breathe, I was laughing so hard.

The storylines of A Cunning Plan were great. I couldn’t decide if I was Team Ethan or Team Gabriel for most of the book but I can tell you that I was most definitely not Team Tom. I do like that Sloane’s super secret spy mission did get results, even if it did go a little haywire (well, a lot haywire). I do have some questions that needed to be answered (what about Alina and Sloane’s friendship? Will it survive what happened?) but I am sure that it will be answered in the next book.

How many stars will I give A Cunning Plan: 4

Why: A very fast paced mystery that kept you guessing. Also a great look into how a woman blindsided by her divorce got her life and self-worth back.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language and violence

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Bunyan’s Guide to the Great American Wildlife by Quentin Canterel’

Bunyan's Guide to the Great American Wildlife

Title: Bunyan’s Guide To The Great American Wildlife

Author: Quentin Canterel

Publisher: Acorn Independent Press

Date of Publication: October 11th, 2016

Genre: General Fiction

Number of pages: 262

POV: 3rd person, 1st person, and 2nd person

Series: No

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

What happens when the Manhattan zoo empties its cages?

John, part radicalized anarchist, part ticking time bomb, is haunted by a particular story, that of Willow, a 9-year old mute who flees to New York after her brutal rape. The only way his girlfriend, Felicity, can stop the clock counting down is by disentangling the riddle of their pasts before their entwined futures are blown to pieces.

Quentin Canterel’s second novel presents a collage of voices, dead and alive, in a unique and unnerving novel that experiments with form, structure, and language.

Truly a mystery shrouded in an enigma.

My review:

This was a very hard book to read. Not because of the subject (9-year-old mute girl gets gang-raped) but because of how it was written. Normally, I am pretty good with numerous POV’s in a book but this one, well it was all over the place. One chapter would be in 2nd person, then another in 1st person, then back to 2nd person and then to 3rd person. It was very confusing and I couldn’t keep track of who was “talking” half the time. Not something that really makes a great reading experience.

Another reason this was a very hard book to read was the wordage. I am not stupid, far from it, but I still had to use my Kindle’s dictionary to figure out what some of the words meant and when they weren’t available on that, I had to google the word. Yes, google it. That lowered the book’s esteem in my eyes.

This review is going to be very short because, honestly, I can’t say anything good about the book. The plotlines were awful, the characters came across as either immensely screwed up, immensely stuck up or both and I just couldn’t get past Felicity and John’s “romance”.

How many stars will I give Bunyan’s Guide to the Great American Wildlife: 1

Why: I didn’t like the book and found it very hard to read. The POV’s were changed lightning fast and without notification, the characters were not very relatable and the language they used was very pretentious. I did not enjoy reading this book at all…which is sad because books should be enjoyed.

Will I reread: No

Will I recommend to family and friends: No

Age range: Adult

Why: Violence and language

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

To Tame a Wild Lady (Duke-Defying Daughters: Book 2) by Ashlyn Macnamara

To Tame a Wild Lady (Duke-Defying Daughters, #2)

Title: To Tame a Wild Lady

Author: Ashlyn Macnamara

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: January 31st, 2017

Genre: Romance

POV: 3rd person

Number of pages: Unknown

Series: Duke-Defying Daughters

To Lure a Proper Lady – Book 1

To Tame a Wild Lady – Book 2

Can be read separately from series: No

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Lady Caroline Wilde is expected to ride side-saddle, but she’s not about to embrace convention. She’s also expected to keep a chaste distance from men like Adrian Crosby, the new estate agent, yet she cannot cease her ogling—which is especially irksome considering their ongoing feud. Adrian insists that the fields must be planted; Caro needs those same fields to train her horses. But whenever she tries to put him in his place, Caro looks into his steely gaze and her words simply … disappear.

A bastard son who grew up on the Wyvern estate, Adrian was lucky enough to receive an education at the behest of the late marchioness. Now that he has set out on his own, Adrian knows better than to fall for Lady Caroline, the Duke of Sherrington’s daughter. Caroline is at once a thorn in his side and an exquisite temptation, especially when she’s playing the feisty daredevil. Adrian would give anything for a chance to tame her—and with Caro in the saddle, he just might get his wish.

My review:

Lady Caroline Wilde, the Duke of Sherrington’s headstrong daughter is in a pickle. She has lost her 11-year-old step-nephew, Gus while riding in the rain. Going back to look for him, she finds him, thrown from a horse, besides a stream, unconscious with blue lips. Which isn’t good. As she struggles to lift him on her horse, Boudicca, she is helped by a man who happened to be passing by.

Adrian Crosby is on his way for an interview at the Sherrington Manor when he notices two children struggling in the mud next to a horse. Going to help them, he is shocked to find out that one of the children is actually a woman dressed in breeches. He was scandalized (remember the era!!) and brings the boy, and the woman, to the manor for help. Once he’s there, he is again shocked to find out that the woman he helped is The Duke of Sherrington’s middle daughter, Caroline.

Adrian is offered the job as an estate agent and his first order of business is to cultivate some fallow fields. Unfortunately, Caroline has plans for those fields. What she was going to do is host a hunt in those fields and try to get into another, more desirable hunt. So to say that she was not very happy with his plans are an understatement.

As this is happening, there are strange happening around the household. Caroline’s horse keeps getting let out and the stable hands are at a loss as to how it is happening. Gus is slowly recovering from his head wound and keeps giving the maid who is supposed to be watching him the slip. Holes are showing up all over Sherrington lands and that causes the horse Caroline is riding to stumble and throw her…..spraining her ankle.

Caroline is also fending off a dastardly man by the name of Marcus Pendleton. He is trying to get her horse, Boudicca, and has been going through extreme measures to try to get her. That includes having his stallion nearby to breed with Boudicca when she comes into season (and it does happen).

Adrian, however, is dealing with his own issues as the estate agent. He steps in and helps a maid by the name of Sadie who is being abused by her stepfather. He offers her a position as a nursemaid in the Sherrington house. But Sadie has other plans. Plans that could not bode well for Adrian or Caroline.

While all of this drama is happening, Caroline and Adrian are growing closer and closer. Adrian has a few secrets that he would rather that Caroline not find out and Caroline, well she is determined to find out.

Will Caroline find out Adrian’s secrets? Will Pendleton get his slimy hands on Boudicca? Will Gus learn to listen to his elders? Will they find out who has dug the holes? Will Caroline and Adrian be together despite their difference in stations?

Guess you need to read the book to find out.

*****************************

Caroline really annoyed me in this book. She wouldn’t listen and argued with Adrian over everything. Heck, a prime example would be when Boudicca was in season and being difficult to handle. He advised her not to take her out and what does she do….takes her out to spite him. Seriously, I wanted to throttle her.

She also was very impulsive and couldn’t care less about her reputation. I mean, heck, she was going glass for glass with Pendleton because she wanted to show she could be just as good as a man. All because she wanted to ride in a hunt and show her horsemanship off. Again, I wanted to throttle her.

I did feel bad for Adrian. Not only is he dealing with the spoiled, impulsive middle daughter of his employer but he has to deal with tenants who have their own agendas. I seriously felt that he needed a medal for everything that he dealt with there.

He also needed one for the stuff he dealt with at his previous employer. When it came out why his ex-employer’s wife acted the way she did, I was a little shocked. Actually, a lot shocked. I didn’t see it coming in the book (kudos to the author to keeping that secret well hidden with only a few hints).

The romance between Caroline and Adrian didn’t feel right to me. It felt forced in a way. Almost like Caroline was thumbing her nose at her station. The attraction was there but I honestly can’t pinpoint where they fell in love with each other and that kinda bothers me. Usually, I can pick it out and I couldn’t.

The end of the book was pretty standard…with a HEA and everything.

How many stars will you give To Tame a Wild Lady: 3

Why: I give the author major props for trying to make a Regency-era woman a feminist outlook. I really do. Too bad I couldn’t get past Caroline’s chip on her shoulder. I also felt that the romance between her and Adrian was forced. There is a pretty good plotline, though, and the secondary characters really came alive in this book.

Will I reread: No

Will I recommend to family and friends: Maybe.

Age Range: Adult

Why: Sex and some mild violence. No language

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Unpunished (Gardiner and Renner: Book 2) by Lisa Black

Title: Unpunished

Author: Lisa Black

Publisher: Kensington Books

Date of publication: January 31st, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, General Fiction

Number of pages: 321

POV: 3rd person

Series: Gardiner and Renner

That Darkness – Book 1

Unpunished – Book 2

Can be read out-of-order from series: No

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Maggie Gardiner, a forensic expert who studies the dead, and Jack Renner, a homicide cop who stalks the living, form an uneasy partnership to solve a series of murders in this powerful new thriller by the bestselling author of That Darkness.


It begins with the kind of bizarre death that makes headlines–literally. A copy editor at the Cleveland Herald is found hanging above the grinding wheels of the newspaper assembly line, a wide strap wrapped around his throat. Forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner has her suspicions about this apparent suicide inside the tsunami of tensions that is the news industry today–and when the evidence suggests murder, Maggie has no choice but to place her trust in the one person she doesn’t trust at all . . .

 
Jack Renner is a killer with a conscience, a vigilante with his own code of honor. In the past, Jack has used his skills and connections as a homicide detective to take the law into his own hands, all in the name of justice. He has only one problem: Maggie knows his secret. She insists he enforces the law, not subvert it. But when more newspaper employees are slain, Jack may be the only person who can help Maggie unmask the killer– even if Jack is still checking names off his own private murder list.

My review:

I really wish I had read That Darkness before I read Unpunished because I had so many questions about Maggie and Jack that couldn’t be answered in this book. I got frustrated because there were references to what happened to the first book and I had no clue what the characters were talking about.

But, besides my frustrations, I really enjoyed this story. I enjoyed it because it was a true vigilante/police novel. The last vigilante story that I read quickly turned into softcore book porn and the vigilante part was lost between the main characters bumping uglies. So, I was very pleased when this book didn’t even go near there.

I did like Maggie. She was so relatable on so many levels and she had a great relationship with her coworkers. She was a bit apprehensive when she found out that she was working with Jack on a case, but who wouldn’t be. I mean, she knows about his secret. She wasn’t unaffected by what happened to her (read the book to find out what) and she is required to see the police psychologist.

Now, Jack, on the other hand…..I wasn’t sure what to think of him. I wish I knew why he started vigilante killing (I am sure it was explained in the first book) because it would have explained a lot. I do know that I did start to see him soften towards Maggie, towards the end.

The newspaper storyline was pretty solid and moved rather quickly after the first victim was killed. I did have the killer pegged towards the middle book but doubted myself, took him off my list and added another person. All because of a red herring. Blah. I do want to say that I learned more about print newspapers and their equipment then I ever wanted to know.

The other storyline of Jack being a vigilante killer was barely touched upon. I do wish that it was included more in the book but I have a feeling it will be featured more in the next book. The reason I feel that way is because of certain events that happened towards the back of the book.

The end of the book was pretty gruesome and, to be honest, drug out a bit. I was a little surprised at who the killer was (see above). I will say that Maggie got the short end of the stick, again and that Jack seemed like he was softening up towards her.

How many stars will I give Unpunished: 4

Why: While I really liked the book, I do wish I had read book 1 before reading this one. Other than that, the book was great. The characters were engaging, the mystery was pretty good (had me going for a little while) and the thriller parts of the book were very well written. I do wish that more attention was paid towards Jack and him being a vigilante but at the same time, I do think that it would have taken away from the main storyline (the killings of newspaper employees).

Will I reread: Yes but only after reading book 1.

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Violence and language

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

The Girl Before: A Novel by [Delaney, JP]

Title: The Girl Before

Author: J.P. Delaney

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine

Date of publication: January 24th, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 352

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: No

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life.

The request seems odd, even intrusive—and for the two women who answer, the consequences are devastating.

Emma
Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate-glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant—and it does.

Jane
After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space—and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home’s previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror, as the girl before.

My review:

Emma and Si were looking for a new apartment (or flat as they call it in England) after Emma was attacked in a burglary. All of the apartments that Emma and Si visited were no good for various reasons. The agent was at the end of his rope until he remembers this one house that was on the market. Emma is intrigued and they are able to go and see it. The house is a work of art, with a state of the art computer system that runs the house and a minimalist design. Emma falls in love with the house and fills out the application. After an anxiety-filled wait, Si and she get the 2nd meeting. That’s where they meet Edward Monkford, the owner and architect of the house. Needless to say, they are approved.

Jane is recovering from having a stillbirth that could have been prevented if the hospital had more staffing and more Doppler radars. She decides that she needs a change of scenery and starts looking for apartments/houses to rent. Perchance, she is told about One Folgate Street by her realtor and makes the decision to fill out the application. Like, Emma, Jane is granted a 2nd interview and like Emma, she signs a very specific and odd lease once Edward decides she can rent it.

Both Emma and Jane find out that Edward has a tragic past. His wife, Elizabeth, and his son were killed in an accident on the site of one of his projects. They also both find out that there was a cloud of suspicion hovering over Edward about that.

But this is where Jane and Emma’s stories differ.

Emma and Si don’t last very long in the house. Emma actually breaks it off with Si, who takes it very hard, and starts a relationship with Edward. But, the more the author reveals about Emma, the more you start wondering if everything that is happening is in her head.

Jane also starts a relationship with Edward, shortly after moving into the house. Around the same time, Jane finds out about Emma’s death and starts researching it. All of the information points towards Edward being her killer but Jane can’t help but something’s off about that.

This book sticks to the thriller and mystery elements, unlike some of the other books that I have read. I was genuinely surprised by the 180 one character does. It took me by surprise that the web of lies that was spun was so extensive and that the character just didn’t know when to stop.

The ending was a little sad and I had to reread it a couple of times to understand what happened. Then to have another renter show up and look at the house….shudder. What a sequel that would make!!!!

How many stars will I give The Girl Before: 4

Why: A thriller/mystery that genuinely had me guessing until the big reveal. The plot twists were done in such a way that you couldn’t help but be shocked. And the ending was the biggest one of all…

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex, violence, and language. A scene of a mother saying goodbye to her still-born child (which was heartbreaking), a scene of a badly brutalized kitten and a scene of someone’s head smashing off a marble floor.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Royal Scandal (Royals in Exile: Book 1) by Marquita Valentine

Royal Scandal (Royals in Exile, #1)

Title: Royal Scandal

Author: Marquita Valentine

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: January 24th, 2017

Genre: Romance

Number of pages: 176

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: Royals in Exile

Royal Scandal – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Forced to flee to the United States with his siblings after their parents’ assassination, Crown Prince Colin Sinclair takes it upon himself to become the caretaker of his family while hiding out near Charlotte, North Carolina. But after a decade in hiding, the secret’s out and Parliament demands that Colin wed a princess of their choosing. Unwilling to play their game, Colin decides to marry an American instead, and he has the perfect candidate in mind.

As a home-service professional, Della Hughes doesn’t believe in storybook endings. But when her best friend and secret crush reveals that he’s a flesh-and-blood prince, she doesn’t know what to think. Still, she’ll do anything for Colin, including becoming his wife—in name only, of course. But when their plans to stay purely platonic go by the wayside, their fake honeymoon turns all too real. After a week of white-hot nights, Della can no longer deny her feelings—not with a happily ever after so tantalizingly close.

My review:

Colin Sinclair’s parents, they were assassinated by a rebel faction in their home country, the Isle of Man. Almost immediately after they were killed, Colin and his siblings were exiled from their kingdom by that country’s Parliament. Where were they exiled too? America, more exactly a suburb one hour outside of Charlotte. Which is a pretty crappy thing to do to two teenagers, two tweens, a toddler and an infant.

Colin meets Della during an angry confrontation over him evicting her family from their cottage on the grounds where Colin’s house is. After realizing that he might have signed the papers without looking at them (and possibly being sleep deprived), he apologizes to Della and tells her that her family can stay indefinitely. During this time, Della meets Pierce and Aiden and falls in love with them.

Fast forward 10 years,

Della and Colin have become best friends (and each is harboring a secret crush on one another) and are co-raising Colin’s brothers, Pierce and Aiden. Della doesn’t know that Pierce and Aiden are Colin’s brothers. Even more, Colin hasn’t come clean that he is royalty. Actually, any of his family, to be honest. Imogene, his sister, is the Queen with Charlotte, Theo, Pierce, and Aiden as Princes. Della just thinks that Colin is a suave businessman who goes to London, a lot.

Colin is summoned to London by Prime Minister Davies, a nasty old man who is the head of the Parliament of Colin’s kingdom. He has news regarding their exile (which Colin has been tirelessly petitioning to lift it) and needs Colin to fly into London ASAP. When he goes to the meeting, he gave a proposal. Their exile will be lifted if he A) marries a woman of their choosing and B) Parliament crowns him as King. Bit of a side note, this is a matriarchal rulership. There has always been a Queen… never a King.

Colin decides to take matters into his own hands regarding who he is going to marry. He refuses to be pushed into a marriage like his grandmother and mother and he refuses to let the Parliament push him around anymore. He decides that he is going to tell Della who he is and then ask her to marry him.

The sex between Colin and Della seemed forced and I saw no connection between them, sexually. Not that it wasn’t hot, because they were flaming hot. Maybe it was because I thought that there was really no attraction. We had no build up. No flirting. Just, getting married and hopping into bed.

I did like Colin a lot. From the minute his parents died, he assumed responsibility for his brothers and sisters and he started working on getting their exile repealed. At only 19. Of course, he had Beaumont, Tressie, and Della helping him. But still.

I liked Della too. She was sweet, sassy and loved Colin for who he was, not who he is (if that makes sense).

There were a couple of plot twists that took me by surprise and I thought I had figured out one but there was more to it and I was genuinely surprised. The other plot twist, which was revealed around the same time as the other one, kinda blew my mind. Not what I expected.

The ending was what I expected, with everything wrapped up neatly with a bow. And I loved the epilogue, that was 5 years later. Made me all teary eyed. I honestly can’t wait to read the rest of the books.

How many stars will I give Royal Scandal: 3

Why: I loved the book but I felt that the dialogue was stilted and the romance between Colin/Della seemed very forced. The book did lag in the middle but the author did recover nicely. Overall, a nice book that would be perfect for the beach/pool.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and language

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**