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Hark! It's a book post! ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ
Aug. 13th, 2024 12:25 pmI've picked up some more books (and have finished a good amount of them too!)
DNF'd
* Under Her Roof by Allison Temple - This book is part of a mystery romance series of standalone novels by different authors. The general premise is that one half of the couple is a regular civilian while the other half is a spy. Some books have M/M ships, others have F/F ones.
This one is abt a woman who goes to her late father's home to confront her sister over the potential sale of said place. There are some ppl who have been invited as buyers. One of them happens to be her ex-girlfriend (who is a spy.) At some point, someone is murdered and two exes pair up to solve it. I bounced near the end of the second chapter. Even though it's only a little over 150 pages, I was bored.
* How to Score at a Crime Scene: Nat Cabrera's Guide to Malicious Compliance in the Workplace by Emmet Brice - The debut novel and first book in a series. Another mystery romance. This time between a male human mage and a male werewolf investigating someone's murder.
The writing is poor and the "humor" is weak AF. I dropped it between the 5 and 6% mark.
Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)
* The Gemdark Dynasty by Ella Pyne - Well, the first trilogy in an (upper YA) historical fantasy (with some romance) series.
The gods have decreed that, every time one of the king's 6 wives is preggo, then one of the king's 6 official mistresses must be with child as well. Because, in order to keep the kingdom prosperous, each royal heir must kill his or her counterpart by a certain point in their lives.
Leda, the book's MC, is a counterpart. At 20, she knows her time is coming up. However, she's determined to escape before that happens. Unfortch for her, a lot of plans tend to go sideways...
The first book (Counterpart) is ridic good. Leda is someone easy to root for, the novel is PLOTTY AS HELL, and the romance has a ton of pining and yearning WHILE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY. There's a good balance between angsty moments and comforting ones. Though I do have to warn for on-page child harm (including death) and Leda self-medicating with an illegal drug (this is something that goes thru the entire series) as a way to deal with chronic pain. The end has a soft cliffhanger. I gave it a 4.4 out of 5
Most of the second book (Conspirator) is abt the aftermath of the events in Book 1. I liked it fine BUT, ultimately it was a bridge between Books 1 and 3. I gave it 3 out of 5.
As for the third book (Conqueror)... #SadTromboneForTheMostPart?
OTOH, I'm satisfied with the ending. It wasn't perfect yet it still worked w/r/t characters readers cared abt.
OTOH, the first half of the novel is a quest-type of thing in which characters travel all over the kingdom in search of someone WHO HAD BEEN AT THE PLACE THE GROUP STARTED FROM! So, it all felt like a waste of time to me.
The second half is a bit weird cuz the author's trying to wrap up the first trilogy while also setting up stuff for the next trilogy. This meant, there were 3 characters who were kinda shoved to the front. UNFORTCH (FOR ME), I don't care one way or another abt those three characters, so I was annoyed to the max. I gave this book 2 out of 5.
IMO, I do recommend Book 1 w/the caveat to avoid reading the next novels. It's true that doing this means the ending will be an open-yet-hopeful one. Still, you'll be able to avoid the slog that followed and I'd call that a win, IJS. XD
If I were to average the rating, it'd be 3.3 with a full 3.0 being carried by the first book ALONE. DDDD:
Had a good time!
* Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews - First book in the Roman Chronicles series. This 152-page novella is abt Roman, who serves Chernobog (god of death, destruction, and darkness). He's chilling out during the December holidays only for his life to get complicated when a 15-year old boy shows up asking for sanctuary. Now Roman has to deal with the bounty hunters and mages set on taking the kid away...
Roman, who was a secondary character in the Kate Daniels series, gets the spotlight in a v. brutal, weirdly funny at times, and magic-filled adventure. This was a really enjoyable read for the most part.
My quibbles have to do with how the info dumping abt Slavic myth and folklore as well as the authors' interpretation of Slavic religions was surprisingly clunky. IA tend to have slight more finesse and yet. That said, I gave this a solid 3.5 out of 5. And I think this novella works as a standalone. Though reading the 10-book main Kate Daniels' books might add a layer of enjoyment. YMMV.
I'm currently reading
* Under the Dragon Moon by Mawce Hanlin - 1st book in a queer mystery romance series featuring a bisexual human dude and a transgender male mage. So far, so good.
* Pack of Lies by Charlie Adhara - Yes, I keep picking up and returning this book to my library. I recently got a notif that the 2nd novel in the duology will drop in 2 years' time instead of 2025. SIGH. But I'm determined to finish it for realsies this month.
* At least two more books from my Holds in my Libby app. Whatever is available first, LOL.
DNF'd
* Under Her Roof by Allison Temple - This book is part of a mystery romance series of standalone novels by different authors. The general premise is that one half of the couple is a regular civilian while the other half is a spy. Some books have M/M ships, others have F/F ones.
This one is abt a woman who goes to her late father's home to confront her sister over the potential sale of said place. There are some ppl who have been invited as buyers. One of them happens to be her ex-girlfriend (who is a spy.) At some point, someone is murdered and two exes pair up to solve it. I bounced near the end of the second chapter. Even though it's only a little over 150 pages, I was bored.
* How to Score at a Crime Scene: Nat Cabrera's Guide to Malicious Compliance in the Workplace by Emmet Brice - The debut novel and first book in a series. Another mystery romance. This time between a male human mage and a male werewolf investigating someone's murder.
The writing is poor and the "humor" is weak AF. I dropped it between the 5 and 6% mark.
Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)
* The Gemdark Dynasty by Ella Pyne - Well, the first trilogy in an (upper YA) historical fantasy (with some romance) series.
The gods have decreed that, every time one of the king's 6 wives is preggo, then one of the king's 6 official mistresses must be with child as well. Because, in order to keep the kingdom prosperous, each royal heir must kill his or her counterpart by a certain point in their lives.
Leda, the book's MC, is a counterpart. At 20, she knows her time is coming up. However, she's determined to escape before that happens. Unfortch for her, a lot of plans tend to go sideways...
The first book (Counterpart) is ridic good. Leda is someone easy to root for, the novel is PLOTTY AS HELL, and the romance has a ton of pining and yearning WHILE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY. There's a good balance between angsty moments and comforting ones. Though I do have to warn for on-page child harm (including death) and Leda self-medicating with an illegal drug (this is something that goes thru the entire series) as a way to deal with chronic pain. The end has a soft cliffhanger. I gave it a 4.4 out of 5
Most of the second book (Conspirator) is abt the aftermath of the events in Book 1. I liked it fine BUT, ultimately it was a bridge between Books 1 and 3. I gave it 3 out of 5.
As for the third book (Conqueror)... #SadTromboneForTheMostPart?
OTOH, I'm satisfied with the ending. It wasn't perfect yet it still worked w/r/t characters readers cared abt.
OTOH, the first half of the novel is a quest-type of thing in which characters travel all over the kingdom in search of someone WHO HAD BEEN AT THE PLACE THE GROUP STARTED FROM! So, it all felt like a waste of time to me.
The second half is a bit weird cuz the author's trying to wrap up the first trilogy while also setting up stuff for the next trilogy. This meant, there were 3 characters who were kinda shoved to the front. UNFORTCH (FOR ME), I don't care one way or another abt those three characters, so I was annoyed to the max. I gave this book 2 out of 5.
IMO, I do recommend Book 1 w/the caveat to avoid reading the next novels. It's true that doing this means the ending will be an open-yet-hopeful one. Still, you'll be able to avoid the slog that followed and I'd call that a win, IJS. XD
If I were to average the rating, it'd be 3.3 with a full 3.0 being carried by the first book ALONE. DDDD:
Had a good time!
* Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews - First book in the Roman Chronicles series. This 152-page novella is abt Roman, who serves Chernobog (god of death, destruction, and darkness). He's chilling out during the December holidays only for his life to get complicated when a 15-year old boy shows up asking for sanctuary. Now Roman has to deal with the bounty hunters and mages set on taking the kid away...
Roman, who was a secondary character in the Kate Daniels series, gets the spotlight in a v. brutal, weirdly funny at times, and magic-filled adventure. This was a really enjoyable read for the most part.
My quibbles have to do with how the info dumping abt Slavic myth and folklore as well as the authors' interpretation of Slavic religions was surprisingly clunky. IA tend to have slight more finesse and yet. That said, I gave this a solid 3.5 out of 5. And I think this novella works as a standalone. Though reading the 10-book main Kate Daniels' books might add a layer of enjoyment. YMMV.
I'm currently reading
* Under the Dragon Moon by Mawce Hanlin - 1st book in a queer mystery romance series featuring a bisexual human dude and a transgender male mage. So far, so good.
* Pack of Lies by Charlie Adhara - Yes, I keep picking up and returning this book to my library. I recently got a notif that the 2nd novel in the duology will drop in 2 years' time instead of 2025. SIGH. But I'm determined to finish it for realsies this month.
* At least two more books from my Holds in my Libby app. Whatever is available first, LOL.
