Mini Reviews: Non Fiction #1

Hello, panda lovers! This is not a training session. Please, don’t’ panic. This is not a scam, this blog hasn’t been hacked. I’m actually writing some reviews after a year and seven days, the legend came back to life! =D

In this post, you’ll find mini reviews for:

• Georg Simmel – The Art of the City: Rome, Florence, Venice
• Jane Merrill, Keren Ben-Horin & Gail Demeyere – The Sweater: A History
• Maggie O’Farrell – I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death

Mini Reviews: MM Romance #4

Hello, world! Despite lack of recent evidence, I’m still alive and breathing! I’m just having a really hard time to go back to my blogging schedule – I don’t have a good excuse. But today I’m back and with reviews! THE MIRACLE.

On another bunch of mini reviews, I’ll talk about more gay romances that I have read over the year and haven’t reviewed yet =)

Just remembering that the mini reviews deal is a combination of inspirations from Cait, of The Paper Fury, and from Lindsey, of @thepagemistress, and that I do those with books that: a) I really liked, but the book didn’t change my life; b) regardless of my feelings, were too short for a complete review; c) regardless of my feelings, weren’t unforgettable.

In this post, you’ll find mini reviews for:

• Amanda Young – Crushing

• Harper Logan – Groomed to Perfection (The Neeson Boys #2)

• Harper Logan – Baby Daddies (The Neeson Boys #3)

• Hawke Oakley – Love Me, Hate Me (SERIES #)

• Mia Kerick – Scarred

BOOK TOUR: Scarred, from Mia Kerick

Gooooooood morning, darling peeps! Welcome to the book tour for Scarred, by Mia Kerick! In this post, you’ll find overall info about the book and the author, an excerpt, my cover analysis, a link for my review of In a Gilded Cage, from the same author, and a fabulous giveaway! =D

Scarred

by Mia Kerick

Publication date: March 1st, 2017

Genres: Gay Romance, New Adult, Romance, Suspense

Matthew North waited ten years to heal from the devastating wounds inflicted by the man who abducted and abused him as a child. Living reclusively on a tropical island—with no company but his four cats—he merely avoids the lingering pain.

Wearing twisted ropes of mutilated skin on his back, Matt struggles with a profound hindrance—the scars that deaden his soul. However, on the night he meets lively Vedie Wilson, a local restaurant busboy who expresses his gender by wearing lipgloss and eyeliner along with his three-day beard, things change.

Gradually, Vedie and Mateo unite in friendship. Through a series of awkward encounters, the pair learns each other’s secrets. Vedie learns that an angelic face can front for a scarred soul. Matthew learns that the line between one’s masculine and feminine sides is blurred. Can they embrace the painful stories behind each other’s scars if they’re to find everlasting love? Or will surrendered love come to be yet another blemish on their souls?

Mini Reviews: M/M books #3

Hello, guys!!! Good Sunday to you and cheers to free time, at last! ❤ Today’s edition of mini reviews are more gay romances, as I do read those quite a lot, but this lot have all something in common (you know, besides all books being gay romances an all): I have received ARC copies of all books in exchange for honest reviews at Amazon! That was done ages ago, so now I’m properly reviewing the books over here too =) Thank you for all the authors and ARC programs once again for my ebook copies ❤

Just remembering that the mini reviews deal is a combination of inspirations from Cait, of The Paper Fury, and from Lindsey, of @thepagemistress, and that I do those with books that: a) I really liked, but the book didn’t change my life; b) were too short for a complete review; c) were good, but weren’t unforgettable.

In this post, you’ll find mini reviews for:

• Casey Cameron – More than Luck (Legendary Pairs #2)

• Harper Logan – Something New

• Harper Logan – My Leading Man (The Neeson Boys #1)

• Stella Starling – Be True (At Last, The Beloved Series #1)

• Stella Starling – Be Loved (At Last, The Beloved Series #3)

Mini Reviews: M/M books #1

Hello, panda shippers! Hope everyone is on the beautiful path for the new year and having a good time =) Today I’d like to talk about those 83479303203902 late reviews I own you all.

I know, it’s bad, but thanks to Cait, from The Paper Fury, I FINALLY found a perfect solution to speed things up with my reviews, especially regarding books that were good, but not remarkable: MINI REVIEWS!

I know what you’re thinking. But Annelise, the whole internet and the galaxies know about your George R. R. Martin syndrome, so how are you planning to write mini reviews?!

Thankfully, I have another awesome friend that helped me solving this problem: Lindsey, from @thepagemistress ❤ A looong time ago, she asked how I organized my ideas for a review and we chatted about this for hours until she finally came up with her own method for Goodreads reviews and I’m graciously using them as well for the Mini Reviews posts =)

As this is the first one, I apologize for it being so long, but explanation is necessary! I’ll try to stick to a theme when doing mini reviews, so you know what you’ll find here =) Feedback is always welcome and needed, but in this section especially, PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TO DO IN THE COMMENTS LATER, PLEASE?!

Now, let’s do this, haha!

In this post, you’ll find mini reviews for:

• Andrew Grey – Eyes Only For Me
• Aria Grace – More Than Friends (More Than Friends #1)
• Aria Grace – Drunk In Love (More Than Friends #2)
• Chad Lane – Only For You (Only For You #1)
• Holley Trent – Winterball (Den of Sin #10)
• Jack Woolf – Police Force

Forget Me Always, from Sara Wolf (Lovely Vicious #2)

Good Saturday morning to you! Nope, you’re not hallucinating from the booze you had last night, this is not an April Fool’s prank because we are kind of in November and no cameras are going to jump on you to reveal a trap! Or at least, if this happens, which I really wish you never have to experience, I can assure you it wasn’t on me and will lend you a friendly shoulder for some hate shouts towards the pranksters?

I’m back with a review and one for a series that shook my ground hard earlier this year: Lovely Vicious, from the brilliant goddess Sara Wolf. This review is for the second book in the series, Forget Me Always, which I received from the Chapter by Chapter’s team in exchange for an honest review. As always, thanks so much!

As this is the second book in the series, you may want to read what I have to say about the first book before diving into this particular review =)

Love Me Never (Lovely Vicious #1)

Ok, now we’re good to go!

There are really few things in the world able to ruin Isis Blake’s good moods. Being thrown to a wall and cracking her head open doesn’t even make her top 10 list – she’s doing very well, thank you very  much. She’s just afraid her fabulous brain will root in boredom at the hospital her doctor insists she needs.

One of the top 5 things that do bother Isis Blake is Jack Hunter. Apparently, they were epic enemies at the most awesome war the world has ever seen, but Isis is sure she would remember such a beautiful and insufferable guy. She would never ever forget the most awesome war the world has ever seen as well, as she for sure would be responsible for it. To make things worse, Sophia, her friend met at the hospital, insists Isis and Jack not only knew each other, but also had something together.

Isis would remember such life changing facts, wouldn’t she? Besides, how is it possible for the dragon to fall for the prince?

~*~

Jack Hunter cares about really few things in life. One of them is Isis Blake – in fact, she is the whole center of his existence since the Halloween Party they attended together, before Isis’ attack.

For the first time in a long while, all Jack wanted was to make things right. To have peace along the most fabulous and amazing girl he’d ever met. However, it seems it isn’t his fate to find happiness: he wasn’t fast enough. He couldn’t save Isis. And now he had lost her in the worst way possible: she’s right in front of him… and remembers nothing of his existence.

Isis Blake may be the one with the head cracked open, but Jack Hunter is the truly messed up one. And then there is Sophia, closer and closer to the truth about Jack’s feelings despite all his efforts to keep loving her and only her.

Another war begins and memories can prove to be the worst enemies of all times.

Just remembering those are my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂

To be honest, when I opened my ebook for Forget Me Always, I was afraid. You see, Love Me Never is one of my best 2016 reads and I was truly scared to my bones not to have all the feels back in Forget Me Always. As soon as I started it, I smiled and all my worries were gone: Isis Blake, one of my best bookish friends forever, was back and even in better shape than before.

The relief was huge and I’m afraid I may have highlighted the whole book with fabulous quotes, dialogues and general life wisdom from both Isis and Jack. You can feel their growth between the books and how much life burdens them, we finally can feel how heavy Wolf’s themes truly are behind all the brilliant jokes and ingenious come backs. We finally start to have some concret answers and still, Wolf shatters our world with another cliff hanger at the end. SERIOUSLY WOMAN, WHY KEEP PLAYING MY HEART LIKE THIS IF YOU KNOW I’LL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MAY NOW TO FINISH THIS SERIES?!

Overall, Forget Me Always has that feeling of déjà vu all over it – you kind of know what’s coming and it’s heavy, but you don’t quite believe it and it’s a shock to find out anyway. Plus, quotes even better than Love Me Never’s and omg answers, and trust me when I say we really needed those. So, all in all, five huge stars!!! ❤

The narrative pace keeps fast and light despite all the dark themes and we are once again follow Isis and Jack’s points of view. The major change is that we see much more of Jack’s POV, as he isn’t a mystery anymore – he is just still part of a bigger one. I really liked to see more of him and understand his motives better, but nothing beats Isis Blake as a narrator – not even Integrity Aidar, I’m afraid. But I’ll get to this later, haha!

The plot was twisted, but not highly complex. I was able to guess at many revelations and uncover some secrets way before they came, but the way Wolf tells you the story, she makes you feel genuinely surprised to see you were right or to watch as your own face collides with the floor. Seriously, this book is. All. The. Feels. I’m in love.

As it happened with the first volume, the characters are the main attraction. Honestly, everyone is so complex! Not a single person here is only good or only bad – not even Avery, I guarantee you. Not even Isis. Everyone has a dark side, the difference is in how much and for how long they can hide it from society. Jack is the epitome of this case, as he looks like a cool and bored teen on the outside and almost has a case of double personality about him. Isis is his perfect match in more than one way, as she seems to be bubbly and obnoxious all the time when actually she has deeper scars on her heart that won’t never ever truly heal. Both of them show us there is never only one way out to cope with grief, with fear and despair. What you do and who you chose to be after your world shatters is what truly tells how strong you are and how strong you can become.

Now that I think about it, the whole purpose of the Lovely Vicious series is how your life choices impact on who you’ll be since your childhood; how there are things you will never be able to truly erase, no matter how much you try to set things right, how much you fight your demons and how much you run from life. Some things will always be a stain to your heart, to your head and your feelings, but it’s you who will decide how much you’ll stop living to keep suffering. Only you can truly free yourself.

Of course, having people to support you and to be there for you counts a lot. Seriously, sometimes it can be the difference between you keep breathing on a moment of weakness. But in the end of the day, no one else can decide how to live your own life: it’s up to you. And this is one of the scariest shits ever.

Sorry, things got a little heavy here, haha! I think this book just hits too close from home and it makes me think so much about my own life choices, oops! I’ll stop with the motivational speech now and keep talking about Forget Me Always – I’ll leave the motivational stuff for Sarah, because if you want to talk about deep, real and serious human problems, that’s how you do it.

Also, just out of curiosity, I heard a song yesterday while working that clicked in so nicely with this book I almost dropped all I was doing and started my reading session earlier, haha! I’m not sure how many of you are acquitted with the song Part II, from Paramore, but I promise it is the perfect soundtack to Forget Me Always ❤ To be honest, I’m really proud of myself for managing to stumble on find a perfect song for this book, as I rarely have this opportunity, haha! For the ones that don’t know this particular song or even this band, I question: where have you been on the late 2000’s? leave here the link to a lyric video for it I found at Youtube:

And, just to wrap up this review, as this is oh-so-long, I wanted to leave you with some wisdom from Sarah Wolf in Forget Me Always! (Meaning: QUOTES TIME!)

“(…) people keep asking [if you’re better] anyway because it’s how you show concern for someone you care about, I guess, but frankly a giant box of chocolate truffles and a reign over a small kingdom would be acceptable stand-ins.” – Isis

~*~

“Sniffing out tragedy is sort of my entire deal.” – Isis

~*~

“I mean, most things that pop into my head are really weird, like that one time when I thought about Shrek in Victoria’s Secret underwear, but I think this actually beats Shrek’s Secret.” – Isis

~*~

“He [Jack] must’ve done something really shitty if I pulled out the medieval terminology.” – Isis

~*~

“Some normalcy has to be put between the darkness and us. That’s how you get enough strength to face it.” – Isis

~*~

“He’s my dream man, right? So, if my dream man is someone who can never really exist, then he can’t hurt me. He can’t come up and make me fall in love with him and smash my heart.” – Isis

~*~

“[Jack] Probably got in a fight with the mirror when he saw it was prettier than him.” – Isis

~*~

“Ketchup is the great illusion. Only when you put barbecue sauce on your fries will you know truth and freedom” – Isis

~*~

And these winning dialogues:

Sophia: What are you thinking?

Isis: Deep, intense thoughts. So deep. At least two indie songs’ worth of deep.

~*~

Isis: Ah, look, never mind. It’s cool. You got some secrets, I got some secrets. Our secrets should get married and have babies. Platonically. Entirely platonic baby-making.

Wren: Is that…a thing?

~*~

Isis: How you’re doing, old pal?

Knife Guy: We’ve known each other five months.

Isis: Five months in dog years is like, ten years. We’re practically family.

Knife Guy: Are you crying?

Isis: What, this? Nah, just a piece of teen angst stuck in my eye. Nirvana would be proud.

~*~

Isis: Oh, I hate you so much.

Jack: Good. I prefer it to the silence.

~*~

Kayla: You can’t even say ‘dick’ without vomiting in your mouth a little. And sometimes on desks. And small children.

Isis: That was one time, and that kid totally walked into the flight path of my vomit. It’s not my fault if he had no grasp of liquid physics.

~*~

Soo, wrapping things up really quick because EVERYTHING happened at this review: deep reflections, quotes, fangirlings, songs that fit books, omg! I’m so sorry to make you come all this way down, but I swear I’m done, haha! All is left to say is: if you like contemporary YA, strong characters, a touch of mystery and pop culture references all over, you need Lovely Vicious in your life and bookshelves!

Again, nice to see everyone again and let’s hope we meet more times per week from now on =) Love you, guys!

 

 

 

 

Murder Madness Such Sweet Sadness, from Jamie Blair & Dawn Rae Miller (Kiss Kill Love Him Still #2)

Hi, there! Today I bring you a review for the second book in the Kiss Kill Love Him Still series, from goddesses Jamie Blair & Dawn Rae Miller, Murder Madness Such Sweet Sadness 😀 After a lot of begging on my part (I’m just kidding), YA Bound Book Tours was awesome enough to give me a copy in exchange for an honest review, haha! After my undying love for the first, I knew the second would be just as a blast and I wasn’t disappointed, haha!

from my Instagram 🙂

Reggie, Haddie, Livie and Val. Four girls with only one thing in common: the desire to uncover Jackson Landis’ murderer.

Jackson Landis had dirt on all of them, but apparently, he wasn’t the only one. Someone that calls themselves The Fifth leaked Val’s secret to her parents with awful consequences.

Now the four girls have to find a way to trust each other and work together for the sake of the case, as the police is getting nowhere with official investigations. Val has nothing else to loose, but her best friend is still dead. Reggie is determinate to forget that she once loved Jackson and to be a new person. Haddie needs to know what happened to the only boy she truly loved to this day. Livie is hell bent on going until the bottle of Jackson’s lies and find out who really was her childhood boyfriend.

The game keeps going, the clock keeps ticking. Will they find out the culprit before The Fifth leaks any more secrets?

Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂

I WAS SO GRATEFUL THAT I HAD BOOK TWO WITH ME WHEN I FINISHED KISS KILL LOVE HIM STILL! But I never thought I’d be left hanging and dying once again at its end… And I did. Now I have to wait until OCTOBER for book 3, omg!! I could seriously cry… I may have seriously cried at that information, haha!

Just as the first, Murder Madness Such Sweet Sadness had an explosive plot (almost literally), awesome characters, a mind-blowing end, a beautiful cover and a killer (haha) title! It would be impossible for me to rate it anything less than 5 stars!

The narrative followed the previous book pattern: it was first person with switching points of view between the four girls. And, once again, despite the whole extra insight and info to work with, I STILL AM NOT SURE OF THE IDENTITY OF THE KILLER! =O I NEED TO KNOW, OMG!

I really like Blair and Miller’s writing style, they make each character sound unique and necessary each time they are in scene ❤ We got to see more of old characters, we met new ones… It was a rollercoaster from page 1 to 246, haha!

The plot was once again perfectly planned and executed, with the right amount of solved and new mysteries + twists for good and bad. I’m not a big fan of cliff hanger ends, but I made an exception to Murder Madness Such Sweet Sadness, haha! Once again, it was the strongest asset of the book. Plus, this title is amazing ❤

The characters had a wonderful development, especially Reggie and Val. Reggie changed her life completely and Val was forced to face several of her fears, which left a huge impact on her. Haddie also grew up, but not as much as I’d have liked. But maybe on the next book, right? Haha! Now, Livie… Livie was a disappointment. She still only cares about herself and her life, so no growing up was felt here 😦 It is still hard for me to like her as I do the other three girls, but she’s not completely awful yet, haha!

This equation is still true in my head:

Also, can I just say how afraid I am of Haddie’s father and Livie’s mom? Because THEY FREAK THE HELL OUT OF ME, OMG! And they are included on my suspects’ list, as they don’t help themselves, hunf.

Blair and Miller once again nailed the art of showing the daily life and transition of people leaving teenage and entering adulthood. They portray all the feelings, insecurities and problems we have on such age and add a murder to the mix. I still think it sounds a lot like Pretty Little Liars, but not in a bad way or completely copy cat way. Just in an essence way?

Overall, if you like mystery, YA, awesome characters and writing and macabre stories, you have to start reading Kiss Kill Love Him Still series and start the countdown to October with me, haha!

Thanks so much for reading my review and thanks once again to YA Bound Book Tours for sending me a review copy!

Hexbreaker, by Jordan L. Hawk (Hexworld #1)

Good night and hello again! As I promised earlier, I’m back with another gay book review, haha! This time, is another marvelous work from one of my favorite authors ever: Jordan L. Hawk! She was awesome and kind enough to send me a copy of Hexbreaker, first book in the Hexworld series and her newest release that hit stores as we speak, in exchange for an honest review ❤ As soon as I discovered the existence of Hexbreaker, I was already fangirling like crazy, so it is no wonder it took me only a day to finish it. It could have been less, but the house insisted on throwing a tantrum and not cleaning itself alone, forcing me to stop my reading in the middle to tend to it, ugh!

But the moment has arrived, so let’s talk about my new sweet darling Hexbreaker 😀

19^th century, New York City. But not quite as you know it…

In a world full of magic, shifters – mostly called familiars – and witches, Cicero is a cat working under the Metropolitan Witch Police. As most of familiars, Cicero had yet to find his witch and forge a magic bond, so he stayed under the Magic Police’s protection along several other shifters.

As his animal form may suggest, Cicero is all grace, ego, beauty and sassiness. A true intellectual with passion for any kind of art, a bohemian at heart. A liberal lover, an independent creature that dreaded and fantasized about the moment in which he would encounter his witch (haha). He knew his time was running and he would have to pick someone in case his witch didn’t show up, but what if his witch turned to be a beast in permanent human form? What if his witch would be some random bully with only muscles and no brains at all? Cicero wouldn’t put up with the abuse – but also didn’t want to deal with the rejection, that hit so close to home.

A literal opening of door proved all his fears true in the wardrobe-sized person of Tom Halloran, a bulky ogre. A copper. A man with no brains and zero magic ability… According to tests.

His witch.

Tom Halloran is one of the last honorable coppers left in the regular Metropolitan Police Department. After an awful episode under his watch, he gathered his courage and got his superior’s permission to report to the Metropolitan Witch Police. Tom is a man of many secrets with a terrible stained past, but he never gave up standing for those who needed him. He wouldn’t allow something that awful to happen on his watch and neighborhood again.

And if solving the case meant he would have to put up with some weird and moody fellow and his tantrums, so be it. Tom was sick of seeing blood being spilled by his family’s mistakes. He was sure that he and the cat Cicero could make their forced partnership work if Cicero looked past Tom’s simple ways and appearance.

The only thing both men agreed on was that they would never think of losing their hearts along the way.

Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂

First things first: I am sorry for the giant blurb, but this is the kind of story that you feel like asking your friends to gather around a fire while you tell it, haha! Second, I’m so not impartial regarding Jordan’s work BECAUSE SHE RULEZ! Hexbreaker was my fitfth book by her and I loved every single one of them ❤ If Ava March is my queen for gay sugared historical romances, Jordan is my queen for gay paranormal historical romances *–*

I had great expectations for Hexbreaker and Hawk managed to surpass them all and still leave me gapping at the final twist. I kind of guessed the culprit pretty fast, but the motives and who really pulled the strings remained a mystery for me until the last second. AND IT WAS GREAT! I loved every minute of this book and now I just need to grab the prequel too or I will have an attack or something! (Yes, there is a prequel, more info here, haha!) Once again, Jordan got my heart, squeezed tight, threw it to the wall and said goodbye with a blown kiss. Results? FIVE BEAUTIFUL STARS!

The narrative style was third person ( ❤ ), with switching points of view between Cicero and Tom. I loved how much sentiment, feelings and depth Hawk manage to put through Hexbreaker’s pages, sucking the reader in and refusing to let go while you were away from the book. Not for the first time when it comes to her work, I found myself vacuuming my apartment and thinking so hard that you could see steam coming from my ears. Who? Why? What am I missing on this picture? Who is safe to trust, who can I blame?

This was my level of concentration on what my body was actually doing lol

I find amazing the amount of power that Hawk has over my mind each time I pick one of her books to read. I can’t disconnect, I can’t let it go, I need to get to the very bottom of the mystery or the problem in order to start breathing again. You may want to grab a chair, it’s reflection time.

Being a book blogger, it’s normal for me to read quite a lot. I already read quite a lot before becoming a blogger, but since then, I’ve been breaking personal record after personal record in reading matters. And despite being lucky enough to enjoy a big part of what I read, there are a handful of books that seem to work some kind of black magic on me. As I read them, I feel like I’m not into my body anymore. There are no pages, paper, screens, hands, eyes. Nothing. Just a wild swirl of emotions that once was me and the story unfolding in my head. And if I’m interrupted, I feel physically difficult to move my body. To get my legs working, my eyes adjusting to the world. And it feels so… Wrong. My own body feels out of place. I feel like I could just detach myself from it and walk away. Fly, I don’t know. I feel like I have to fight to remain in my reality and not fall back into the book’s one. Like my reality was the fictional one, the hard place to get into, and not the other way around.

Hexbreaker was one of the books that stripped me from my own body. To the point that I didn’t hear my phone ringing right next to me, that my dad had to poke me hard in the forehead to let me know about dinner and that my mom had to throw a blanket over me because I was under dressed to the weather and wouldn’t hear her commands to put on a hoodie and socks.

And when I get back and realize what has happened, how hard I fell for the book, I feel in my bones why reading can be the best experience of one’s life. The best moment of one’s  day. That breath of fresh air into a dull existence without any real excitement. When I open a book, I become Bilbo Baggins going out on an adventure. And nothing else matters outside of the pages in my hands, no matter if they are literal or digital.

Sorry for the major reflection, haha! My whole point is that I suffered from lured mind into book pages in all my Hawk’s reads so far, just with variation of stages in its seriousness. Hexbreaker for sure is the champion so far on the list, haha!

Back to the story. As you may have guessed, the plot is brilliant, with a nice degree of complexity to it and a perfect mix of elements. Romance, mystery, humor, thriller, drama, action, paranormal… It all entwined in such harmony in Hawk’s writing that I felt like that New York was real and in front of me. Hawk’s combines very well obvious events with jaw-dropping twists and doesn’t waste a single scene over her chapters. Every small thing has a purpose, a catch to it. We still have some questions, but this is a series and I know that Hawk won’t leave us in the dark 🙂 No pressure, haha!

The characters were bewitching and surprised me a lot. I knew I’d like Tom since the moment he appeared, but liking Cicero too was unexpected. I usually prefer my gay protagonists all males that happen to like other all males and Cicero was clearly a diva. But he grew on me so quickly that I didn’t even noticed when I started pinning for him too =O Only Tom made it to My Bookish Boyfriends list, but I’d love to have Cicero as a Bookish Bff. I’m sure we would laugh a lot together, haha!

I loved how perfect Tom was in his imperfections. He isn’t your typical dashing knight in a shining armor or the prince charming. He’s a regular poor guy, built for hard labor, too big, with the minimal scholarship and no fashion sense whatsoever. And, just like Cicero, I found him to be quite refreshing. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the classical handsome and perfect princes and knights, but sometimes is nice to see new scenarios, haha!

I’m also now very interested in Dominique and Rook’s story. They are the main couple in the prequel novella mentioned on the beginning of this review and I am ashamed to confess that I still hadn’t the opportunity to buy it, oops! So poor of me.

I really need to fix that, ugh!

Oh, and can we just stop for a moment just to appreciate this cover? It is so delicate, classy, sexy and colorful! *—*

Also, I’d like to highlight how well Hawk handed the sex scenes on the book. They are few and all have a very distinct purpose: to show how Cicero and Tom’s relationship was growing stronger with time and how they slowly fell in love with each other behind the lust. Dear Jordan…

Overall, Hexbreaker is a swoon-worthy romance packed with surprised and magic. If you like historical romances, paranormal books, shifters and seat-grabbing books, just drop my blog and go get your copy, haha!

Thanks so much for reading my review! Sorry for the size and the thoughts in the middle of it, haha! Also, an enormous thank you to the Queen Jordan, that sent me her book in the first place ❤ CAN YOU TELL I’M IN LOVE WITH THE HEX WORLD?!

Bellow, you’ll find the purchase links for Hexbreaker, my post talking about its release (there are insights of Jordan herself on it) and the other books by Jordan that I already reviewed 😀

You can find Hexbreaker in both paperback and ebook formats!!

Amazon | Amazon UK | ARe | Smashwords | Kobo | iBooks | Nook

You can see my previous post about Hexbreaker and The 13^th Hex here 🙂

And here we have my full list of reviews for Jordan’s books so far:

HAWK, Jordan L. – Dangerous Spirits, Spirits #2 (review here!)

HAWK, Jordan L. – Widdershins, Whyborne & Griffin #1 (review here!)

Another one is already in the oven, so stay tuned! 😀

The Quartermaster & The Marquis’ Son, by A. E. Kendall (Clash at Sea #1)

Hello, there! It’s me, again, back with a pirate romance review! Er, gay pirate romance, of course. You can’t expect less of me, right? Haha! It took me a shameful month to read The Quartermaster & The Marquis’ Son, first book in the Clash at Sea series, and I know why: BECAUSE I INSIST ON CHEATING MY MONTHLY TBR’s! Instead of taking 3 to 4 days as this book would require of me, I’d sneak it in every day that I had free time that wouldn’t be used reading another book. Last Saturday I decided to end this madness and properly finish the book. Poor Kendall had her mailbox full of fangirlings and hysterical attacks from me all month long and for that, I apologize, haha! And all of this after she being kind enough to send me this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks so much, Kendall, and I’m sorry for being a pest!! HERE IS SAID REVIEW!

Michel is a nobleman in a quest. After a series of unfortunate events on his life (you saw what I did there), Michel decides to run off his comfortable and wealthy home in search of his older brother Alain, the only person on his family that acted the part. His brother was sent off to Porto Prince for allegedly bad behavior in society, but Michel is sure that their father was wrong about it and sent Alain off to make both Alain and Michel miserable.

Nothing would stop the French youth in his pursuit, not even a never-ending fever, seasickness during his trip from France to Porto Prince. Not even a tall, dark and handsome pirate that assaulted his ship. If he had to die fighting and desiring the man, so be it.

Galen is a pirate in a quest. After being wronged and humiliated (among other worse things) by another awful pirate captain, Galen is hell bent in pursuing the bastard all over the seas until he gets his revenge and peace of mind back. He knows he is doing the right thing for himself and nothing will stop him from getting back at the bastard.

Not even a very skillful and dashing Frenchman found at one of their targeted ships. If he had to die fighting and desiring the youth to save him and have him, so be it.

Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂

So, I took my sweet time reading this book. It was so intense and packed with adventure, action, romance and longing that I could have been found sighing and giggling every time I had my hands on The Quartermaster & The Marquis’ Son. I loved the characters’ construction, the writing style, the historical accurate setting, the plot, the twists, EVERYTHING! While I think it could have been shorter in some parts and wished we could have seen more about Galen’s past (like we did with Michel), it still was a 5 full stars read for me! ❤

The narrative style was my favorite kind: third person with switching points of view between Michel and Gale. This was crucial for us to understand and not hate Gale, as he is those silent, deadly and shy types, haha! You know, shy regarding feelings and demonstrations. Michel, in the other hand, is passionate, naïve and very forthcoming about any desire that he may have, so both completed each other and the story with the help of the switching povs.

The plot almost killed me, to the point that I e-mailed Kendall asking if I would have a heart attack on the end or if I could just grab a paper bag and wait for it to get better, haha!

Poor Kendall having to put up with me, but the plot was complex, detailed and full of twits and turns. Some expected, others completely mind blowing. I found it the perfect combination, as those twists made me second-guess myself during the reading. I thought I could predict the outcomes, but could I? I had already been right and wrong before – not to mention all the times that I was simply swept out of my feet by not seeing things coming, haha! It was very nice to live on the edge with this book and made me feel like I had a breath of fresh air among my historical romances. Don’t get me wrong, I love the downward sugared ones, but this one was so different *–*

As this is the first book in a series, it doesn’t make sense to talk about loosing ends, so moving on 🙂

The characters were one of my favorite parts on this book! They were so real and alive that I wanted to hug many and punch many, haha! I loved Galen’s crew and friends, that consisted of Phillip ( ❤ ), John, Alex, Erich (I’m almost sure that is his name, I’m awful with names, haha!) and Davey. I also loved Captain Jack, I hope to see him again on the next book and loved Alain. I even sympathized with the guy that was Galen’s captain’s mate and plaything, Marcus. It’s so new to me to love and remember so many characters as I finish a book that I’m a bit emotional right now.

Also, I felt these guys weren’t mere sidekicks. They were relevant and necessary to the story’s unfolding and I loved Kendall even more for that! ❤ Also, I got some new book boyfriends to add to my ever growing list *–*

Now, the main characters. OMG, WHAT WAS ALL THAT CHEMISTRY, ANGST AND LUST?! OMG, IT WAS SOO HOT!

I loved to see how Michel and Galen’s feeling developed on their adventure and how there was no kind of instalove, only curiosity and lust in the beginning. Michel was a strong and stubborn bottom that would never allow Galen to stomp on him and Gale was always worrying about Michel’s well being and what was best for him. Seriously, I fangirled and squeaked  a lot over them *–*

I feel on the duty to inform that every sex scene present in this book was meaningful, beautiful, needed and carefully executed to always express how much the parties involved cared for each other and wanted the act. No vulgarities, no endless fucking for no reason. Just love. In all kinds and forms ❤

Also, I need to point out how amazingly well the historical settings were described and presented by Kendall. She always worried about all the small details, increasing a lot my knowledge on a typical day in a buccaneer’s life. It was a most pleasant way of learning!

Overall, if you like pirate books, hot sex scenes well positioned, a swoon worthy romance and awesome twists, PLEASE READ THE QUARTERMASTER & THE MARQUIS’ SON! *–*

Thanks so much for reading my review 😀 Also, I’d like to thank Kendall for being a sweetie and having gifted me with a copy of Alain & The Duke, a novella that works out as a prequel to The Quartermaster & The Marquis’ Son! *–* Can’t wait to read more about Alain!! And, of course, also thank you for this book in the first place, haha! ❤ I loved it and I’m sure many other gay book fans will love it too!!

BLOG TOUR: Hope, by Grier Cooper (Indigo Dreams #2)

Hi, there! Welcome to the first blog tour of May ❤ I’m talking about Hope, the second book in the Indigo Dreams series, by Grier Cooper!

I know I had promised a review for both books in the Indigo Dreams series (Xpresso Book Tours, the host for this tour, was kind enough to send me review copies for both in exchange for honest reviews), but life got in the way 😦 I’m still reading and reviewing them someday, I just need to know when, haha! For now, I have a good stop and excerpt to show you guys how awesome I think this series may be!!

Hope

by Grier Cooper

Indigo Dreams, #2

Publication date: April 26th 2016

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

Indigo is living the life she’s always imagined at the famed New York School of Ballet. Or is she? Although she hopes she’ll be chosen for the company, her ballet teachers aren’t talking and their silence is confusing.

When Indigo is singled out for a coveted solo she feels her dreams are finally within reach, until she finds out she’s dancing with Felipe Gonzalez, the school’s smolderingly hot rising star. In the days that follow, Indigo questions everything she thought was true and finds herself making surprising choices.

After a fateful piece of paper reveals the truth, Indigo must ask herself the hardest question of all: can she take control of her own future to create the life she wants?

You can find Hope in both paperback and ebook formats ❤

Amazon

Madame Z cranes her head, looking for someone. “Brianna, dahlink, come to me.” Brianna is always first to be placed. She’s the star of our class and the best dancer I’ve ever seen. It’s not enough that she’s gorgeous, with long auburn hair, perfect skin and legs that go up to her chin. She’s also incredibly nice, which makes it impossible to hate her.

Five more dancers are placed, including Nikki, who slinks past me with a knowing smirk. My heart sinks further each time I’m not chosen. I stare at my feet for comfort. Madame Z’s selection process always makes me feel bad. It’s like waiting to be chosen for grade school team sports all over again, misfits and losers last. Only it’s much worse here because my future depends on it.

“Eendigo.” I snap to attention when I hear my name. “Come to me here.” Madame Z gestures for me to stand in the middle. Of the fourth row.

I take my spot while she finishes assigning groups and questions erupt in my mind like a flock of irate, clucking hens. Why am I only in the fourth row? And more importantly: What do I have to do to get in the front row?

 I’m still trying to figure out the answers when I realize Madame Z has begun demonstrating the next combination. I shake my head and my brain goes quiet. Luckily I’m a quick learner so I know what I’m doing when it’s time for my row to go. All the other bodies in the room fade into the background as mine becomes precise machinery, dialed into the tempo. I will my leg higher, push my body to go further. Give more. Give all.

 Madame Z starts jumps at exactly 11:18. Maggie and I lock eyes. She points at the clock and cocks a knowing look at me. We have an ongoing bet about what time Madame Z will start jumps–it’s always somewhere around 45 minutes before class ends, which is about double the time any other teacher makes us jump. I roll my eyes. I’ve lost the bet again today.

Twenty minutes later we’re on to the best part of class for me. I love big jumps most of all–those huge leaps where we defy gravity and fly across the room. But it’s the moments in between these exercises–when the other group is dancing and my group has to stand and watch–that my resolve waivers. I watch Brianna and wonder if I’ll ever be anywhere near the dancer she is. I wonder why we’re even in the same class. Her cabrioles are insanely perfect, delicate yet powerful. She flies across the room when she grand jetés.

How can I compare myself to her? I can’t.

This is why I’m pretty sure that even though I’m putting every fiber of my being into this class, it’s not enough.

Awesome, right? ❤ I took an interest in this series because I was a ballerina when I was a child. I did ballet for two years before moving cities and stopping classes. One of my childhood dreams was to become a Bolshoi ballerina – I lived in a city in Brazil that has one of their ballet schools, so it was something “possible”, haha! You know, if I really wanted to pursue that further and hadn’t moved out. But I digress, sorry! I hope I like Indigo and that I can somehow life my childhood dream through her 🙂

Wish, Indigo Dreams #1

AMAZON

Grier began ballet lessons at age five and left home at fourteen to study at the School of American Ballet in New York. She has performed on three out of seven continents with companies such as San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, totaling more than thirty years of experience as a dancer, teacher and performer.

Her work has been praised as “poignant and honest” with “emotional hooks that penetrate deeply.” She writes and blogs about dance in the San Francisco Bay Area and has interviewed and photographed a diverse collection dancers and performers including Clive Owen, Nicole Kidman, Glen Allen Sims and Jessica Sutta. She is the author of Build a Ballerina Body and The Daily Book of Photography.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

One lucky winner will take home an e-book copy of Wish, book #1 of the Indigo Dreams Series + a $10 Amazon giftcard!!

To enter this lovely giveaway, just click here and good luck: GIVEAWAY!

That’s it, thanks so much for reading! Also, thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for all the support and for my spot on this tour!!