Something Blue, from Kristy Nicolle

Hello, lovelies! Welcome to my review for Something Blue, from Kristy Nicolle =D I found this author thanks to my lovely penguin friend Beth, from Betwixt the Pages, so go follow her awesomeness, please 😉 I received my review copy from Quill & Ink Book Tours in exchange for an honest review and the time has arrived! Thanks, guys!

In the city of Monopolis, where happily ever after is just a scientific formula away, Valentine Morland has been waiting nine years for her day to come. Now it’s here, and she will marry the man of her dreams, a stranger to her, before being swept off to life of carefree luxury and bliss, courtesy of the Jigsaw Project.

However, all is not as Valentine imagined as her new husband is quickly discovered as not the man of her dreams, but one who claims he isn’t capable of love at all. Harbouring an intense paranoia for the system, which upholds the very idealist fantasy that Valentine holds so dear, Clark threatens to throw her into a world, not of bliss, but of scary consequence where her every emotion is under scrutiny.

Can it be that the scientific formula with a 99% success rate got it all wrong, or is everything in the world of Bliss Inc. more sinister than it seems?

Me after finishing this book:

The Farther He Runs, from Lynda Aicher (Kick #3)

Good night, people! Are you ready to rock?!! I hope so, as the book I’ll be reviewing Tonight r o c k e d my world ❤ I’m talking about the third book of the Kick series, from Lynda Aicher: The Farther He Runs! Please, on’t get sad that we are “already” on the review for book 3! All books in the Kick series can be read as standalones, so you can pick your favorite and devour it without worrying about losing content =D

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, so buckle your seatbelts and let’s do this! Thanks so much to Loveswept for my copy, I loved it!

Read here my reviews for the previous books in the series!

The Harder He Falls (Kick #1) | The Deeper He Hurts (Kick #2)

Finn’s survival and recovery from a tragic accident with his cousin and best friend ten months ago can only be described as miraculous. After many months spent into a comma and struggling to recover his movements and basic motor coordination, anyone would be happy to know they are alive.

Not Finn. His Marine pride insists on reminding him all that he had lost in the accident. His shape. His dignity. His best friend. Finn was now just a broken and shallow vessel of the man he used to be – the man he loved to be. And now his remaining best friend and long-term platonic crush, Tanner Dorsey, came home after deployment.

How is Finn supposed to look Tanner in the eye and feel worthy of his attention now?

If anyone ever cares to find out how a true bitch-slap from life can hurt, just ask Tanner Dorsey. After months with barely any communication outside the military world, Tanner comes home to find out one of his best friends is dead and the other, broken.

Tanner has mixed feelings about the tragic accident that took Chris’ life away. While his heart won’t stop bleeding for his best friend any time soon, it’s also his one in a million chance to show Finn, his platonic soul mate, that he is no lesser of a man for relying on others. For relaying on Tanner. However, how could he prove to Finn he would always be there for him?

How is Tanner supposed to convince Finn they could work together?

Me after finishing this book

27 Days to Midnight, from Kristine Kruppa

Hi, there! I’m back with a review for a book that destroyed me. Seriously, this book just grabbed my heart, squeezed, stomped on it and left me. Just like that. I’m talking about the painful standalone 27 Days to Midnight, from Kristinne Kruppa!

I’ve received my copy from YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone in Dahlia’s world knows when they’re going to die. Except her.

Her father has never shown her the pocket watch counting down the days she has left to live. When he sacrifices himself to save her from her scheduled death, Dahlia abandons her comfortable home and sets off after his murderer to uncover the secrets her father died to protect…and the time research that could bring him back to life.

Then she meets Farren Reed. She should hate him. He’s an enemy soldier, a cowardly deserter, and the most insufferable man Dahlia’s ever met. Still, she needs all the help she can get, and Farren is the only chance she has to find the man who murdered her father. But Farren has only twenty-seven days left on his watch.

In that time, Dahlia must recover her father’s time research, foil a psychotic general’s plot, and learn to survive in a world that will never be the same. But the research holds secrets more dangerous than she had ever imagined. She will have to choose what is most important: revenge, Farren’s life, or her own. And time is running out.

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

Did I mentioned that this book destroyed me? Seriously, it did. The notion of having your exact lifetime engraved in a watch was so romantic and so creative! I loved the world building, the characters, the narrative style, the humor, the drama, the steampunk element, EVERYTHING! I fell in love with both Dahlia and Farren and I couldn’t get enough of them. The end was so perfect that led me to tears in my second confirmed case of tears due over-perfection. Five stars is not even close to watch this book really deserves: A MILLION INFINITE STARS!

The narrative style was third person with switching points of view. We follow Dahlia and Farren most of the time, but we can also see the story from the POV of other characters whose identifies will be kept a secret due spoilers. Despite being a mystery book, the switching is very well done and helps the reader to have all the pieces to put together. However, Kruppa waits until the very last moment to give us the glue, haha! You saw what I did there.

Kruppa’s writing also was wonderful, as the book had a good pace, was packed with feelings, a lot of humorous moments to break the dramatic and desperate scenario of both Dahlia and Farren, and a fluid language that made the reader fly through the pages without noticing it.

The plot was BRILLIANT AND A WORK OF ART! Ahem, ok, I’m controlled. I think. Maybe not. Let’s move on? Hahaha!

I loved how Kruppa slowly eases the reader into her world, without rushes or endless pages of explanations. Each time that she switches POVs, the author manages to bring her own world in a new way, on the way in which that particular character sees it, giving more importance to some elements over others. For example, when we follow Farren’s mind, the nature and the freedom are the main themes, because those are the things that matter for him. Isn’t this magical?

As I already ran myself over, let’s get deep on characters, haha! Talking about Farren: he is one of the sweetest boys ALL TIME and made it to my bookish boyfriends list with ease since his first scene. I love smooth talkers, oops! Also, come on: the guy is gorgeous. You have to give me a break, haha!

I loved how Kruppa portrayed his struggle to accept his eminent death and how not okay he was about it despite the brave face he put on. Farren gives value to every breath that he has and he honestly loves to be alive, so it makes us think. Would he be like that if he didn’t know how much time he had?

Oh the other hand, we have Dahlia. She didn’t know how much time she had until the incident with her father and she lives as if life isn’t a present, but a granted deal. A scene that really dug on my heart was right on the beginning, when a street lady freaks out because her watch is about to stop and asks Dahlia for help. Dahlia has a very immature and selfish behavior towards the woman and never gave her a second thought. I was so shocked then that I swore I’d hate Dahlia. Well, I didn’t know how much she would grow as a person during her adventure or how much Farren would change her for good. I just wished Dahlia had remembered that woman at some point after her change, to seal it, but I guess she doesn’t need closure as I do, haha!

Also, I thought it amazing of Kruppa to come up with a heroine that wasn’t white. YA books are notoriously in need of more diversity of gender and race without the big drama behind being anything other than straight and white. Double round of applause for Kruppa, that managed to have a non-white heroine and not make a big deal about minorities at the same time!! ❤

I fell hard for the villain, as he was crazy, sexy and murderous at the same time, haha! Oh, and beautiful. I love beautiful, crazy and very fictional men on those circumstances ;D And he took the final steps into the madness hole for love. I find this so romantic, in a dramatic and gothic way! I may need therapy.

Everything has been wonderful, everybody is happy, the book is perfect and made me cry and I need more. Cool, nice. HOWEVER, I did have some problems with it. As I mentioned above, I’m one of those people that need closure in life, of any sort. It just needs to close, seriously. And there were many loose ends on this book AND THE END SHOT ME IN THE HEART AND KICKED ME IN THE BACK WHEN I FELL ON THE FLOOR. As it is a standalone book, I got really angry and cried more, as I’ll never see this characters again in new situations. I may re-read and find new bits, it’s true, but nothing major. Not straight forward answers. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO LIVE WITH THIS.

Also, I didn’t like the fact that the chapters had titles. THEY WERE HUGE SPOILERS D: Sometimes, this works in books. This isn’t one of those cases.

Okay, I’m good now. Let’s go back to the place where this book is all perfect and move to the cover, because I decided to always make a meaningful comment on the covers now. (#what) The cover was what drawn me to this book in the first place. Then I read the summary and was done for, haha! I usually am not a fan of illustrations, but this one was so delicate and romantic and mysterios AND BEAUTIFUL that I couldn’t bring myself to be a bore about it. I just want to hug it, haha! Also, the golden details really matched the blue shades. This one made it to my personal list of beautiful covers ❤ (Yes, I have lists for EVERYTHING. Judge me)

However, despite the dramatic and brilliant title, this book may be misjudged for a children’s book easily, especially the ebook version in which you can’t see how long it is. Just saying.

Now, I took the liberty of selecting some of the most awesome quotes in the book for you to understand how cool it is 🙂

“Dahlia tried to ignore him (as much as anyone could ignore an eight-foot-tall cyborg). She was too busy putting together a few choice phrases to use in her argument once he [the cyborg] quieted down.”

~*~

“The physical wounds were infinitely more manageable than the emotional ones.”

~*~

“He was back at the beginning, more alone than he’d been before he knew what it was like to not be lonely.”

~*~

And this killer dialogue:

Farrren: You okay, sweetheart?

Dahlia: Yes. I was just thinking.

Farren: Ah. Dangerous stuff.

Dahlia: Dangerous, yes, but necessary. It’s a pastime you might want to consider.

Farren: Ouch.

~*~

If you ask me, the strongest points on this book are the steampunk element, the characters construction and the humor behind it 🙂

Overall, this book had some flaws, but nothing that shadowed its perfection. Kruppa made a hell of a job here and I find it hard to believe that this is her debut novel. If you like steampunk, adventure and heart shattering books, you need 27 Days to Midnight in your life. NOW.

Thanks for reading my review and thanks so much to YA Bound Book Tours for my review copy and spot on this tour!

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! 😀

Beneath the Surface, from M. A. Church

Good morning! Look who is up and shinning so early today, haha! This posts concerns a very special book review, part of the Beneath the Surface blog tour hosted by Bewitching Book Tours ❤ If you’ve been here for a while, you know I’m crazy about gay romances – if you haven’t, well… SURPRISE! Haha ;D Anyway, Beneath The Surface, from M. A. Church, is our star of the moment and you will soon find out why!

Also, I’ve received my review copy from Bewitching Book Tours in exchange for an honest review 🙂

from my Instagram 😀

(Goodreads’ blurb)

A whole different world exists beneath the surface.

The last thing Nisha expects while patrolling his territory is to find his mate, but his instincts tell him the handsome human diving into the surf is the one meant for him. Two bites and Kannon will be joined to him forever. But when Kannon’s father disrupts the mating process, Nisha releases his claim, hoping beyond hope his mate will one day return.

While free diving with his father, Kannon is bitten by a seductive merman. Although he swore to never go near the ocean again, the pull to return to the water and his mystery man remains strong. Finally, after fifteen years away, an impromptu wedding brings Kannon back to the Seychelles, and his destiny.

Kannon only plans to stay on the island for a week, but this time Nisha won’t let his mate go without a fight. Merfolk and human culture collide as the embers of Nisha and Kannon’s mate bond ignite, and Nisha must complete the mating before it’s too late.

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

Beneath the Surface was my first gay romance involving mermaids and my third overall book involving mermaids in life. I’m fascinated about mermaids – or merfolk, as in this case I’m talking about both girls and boys with tails – so it felt like Church just got some glue and united the best of both worlds for me. I even joked with an offline friend that if the book was set in the 19^th century and Kannon was a vampire, this book would have reached the ultimatum perfection for me, haha! As it is, Beneath the Surface is already a pleasant enough read 😉

Despite my high satisfaction upon ending the book, I must warn you that there are some flaws on it. Some loose ends in the plot, the writing style could become a little rough sometimes, this kind of stuff. And, as I said once before, my reviews are fair and analytical – my rating is totally personal. The book suited me, suited my tastes and was exactly what I was pinning for, so I happily gave it five stars 🙂

The narrative style was my favorite: third person with switching points of view between the main couple, Kannon and Nisha. I laughed had with Kannon, as he was new to the merfolk world just as the reader is – at least, how I am, haha! Three mermaid books in life is hardly a number that can turn me into an expert, right? 🙂 Nisha’s parts were cool because we could understand his reasoning and motives better, but he’s the mainstream tall, dark, handsome and sexy type of guy. He engaged on Kannon’s humor, but rarely started it himself.

The plot was simple and straightforward, with Kannon and Nisha having to work their relationship to a level that is agreeable for both of them. What I really liked about Beneath the Surface is that there is no instalove, not even with the mating deal. Nisha for sure cares about Kannon to the point of stalking and Kannon worries about Nisha, but in not a single moment they say they are in love. In fact, Kannon express that he doesn’t love Nisha yet, but the bound that he feels with the merman for sure can’t be ignored and would easily grow into more over the time. I loved it ❤

Now, let’s talk for a moment about things that weren’t that good in Beneath the Surface. I wasn’t impressed with the characters overall, I think they were pretty superficial. I know the book is short – practically a novella – but it is possible to construct deep and awesome characters with even less pages than this. Just ask Ava March. I was a little sad to see that there wasn’t anything else beneath the character’s surface (you see what I did there? Haha). Also, there were small loose ends that bothered me a little and some events that sound kind of an excuse for Kannon and Nisha to have sex. Don’t get me wrong, Church can pull off a sex scene like a pro, but the knitting of them with the plot sometimes had me wondering. And, the last problematic point was the writing style. Sometimes, it was fluid, interesting and seat grabbing. Other times, it dragged and turned rough, like I was reading a play rather than a book 😦 Oh, and I won’t even mention all the problems with the cover art.

Okay, going back to the good vibes: the characters! Unfortunately no one in Beneath the Surface made it to My Bookish Boyfriends list, but I still had a great time with Kannon. He was so funny and optimistic all the time! You know, all the time that he hasn’t scared to death, haha! I wasn’t impressed with Nisha – cool and quiet guys that act as dominant aren’t really my thing. I usually go with funny, relaxed and dorky. But one thing I can say: Nisha is beautiful and no one can deny him that, haha!

One thing that really stands out on the book is how Church pictures the merfolk. I know I haven’t a lot of experience in the area, but Nisha’s lectures one of the best parts of the book! I loved to learn more about how merfolk function and the details on Nisha’s transformation were breathtaking!

Overall, Beneath the Surface is no deep and complex book by any means, but if you enjoy gay romances, mermaids and quick reads, you totally should give this one a go!

Thanks so much for reading my review! Bellow you can find information about where to find Beneath the Surface, the author and a lovely giveaway 😀

You can find Beneath the Surface in ebook format only 🙂

ARe  |  Amazon |   iTunes  |  Kobo

 

M.A. Church is a true Southern belle who spent many years in the elementary education sector. Now she spends her days lost in fantasy worlds, arguing with hardheaded aliens on far-off planets, herding her numerous shifters, or trying to tempt her country boys away from their fishing poles. It’s a full time job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it!

When not writing, she’s exploring the latest M/M novel to hit the market, watching her beloved Steelers, or sitting glued to HGTV. That’s if she’s not on the back porch tending to the demanding wildlife around the pond in the backyard. The ducks are very outspoken. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, and they have two children. She was a finalist in the Rainbow awards for 2013.

For more information on other books by M.A., visit her official website.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

 

• Two lucky winners will take home a digital copy of Rush, by Penelope Rivers, each!

To join me on this chance, just click here and good luck: GIVEAWAY!

That’s it, thanks so much for reading the whole post! And thanks to Bewitching Book Tours for sending me my review copy and selecting me for the tour 😀

Princess of Tyrone, from Katie Hamstead (The Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles #1)

Hi, there! You are indeed seeing another review up on the blog, this is not a training, haha! This is my stop for YA Bound Book Tours blog tour for Princess of Tyrone, the first book in The Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles, from Katie Hamstead! 😀

I’ve received my copy from YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for an honest review – thank you again! The moment is here 😀

from my Instagram!

The Story

Apolline is the kind of girl that you wouldn’t call feminine. Raised by her three fairy aunts on a very small and far away planet, Apolline knows her way around hunting, self-defense and cursing just like the galactic pirates that often stop by the planet for trading. She knows that she’ll have to marry some guy when she reaches her 21th birthday, but she tries to not give it too much thought. It’s not like her aunts would tell her anything anyway.

Allard is the kind of prince that is perfect for his place in the world. Well-mannered, dutiful, highly educated and handsome, Allard has been prepared all his life to rule when the time comes. He knows he’ll have to marry princess Elpida when she reaches her 21th birthday, but tries to not give it too much thought. It’s not like he can break the arrangement.

Allard and Apolline had never questioned their fates until meeting each other. Apolline had never met a man like Allard, so clean, schooled and handsome, and Allard had never known a girl that didn’t faint on his presence – or didn’t know at all that he was that Prince Allard.

They know that their days are counted, as both are betrothed to other people, but how can they simply walk back into their old lives after what they experienced with each other?

Can they walk away and fulfill their fates or will their passion end their worlds forever?

The Analysis

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

I make no secret that Sleeping Beauty is my current favorite princess (come on, her life is too #goals, haha!), so I knew I’d like reading Princess of Tyrone. I just didn’t expect to fall madly in love with it and it was great! I loved the world building, the writing, the switching narrators and styles, how Katie rebuilt Sleeping Beauty’s world and tangled it up with a ton of other fairy tales! It’s just too good to be true ❤ I honestly loved everything on this book, I can’t say a thing! FIVE BEAUTIFUL STARS!

The narrative style switched between first person from Apolline’s point of view and third person from the POVS of Allard and Bryanna. It worked so wonderfully, omg! I already had loved this technique in Slumber [review here and also a Sleeping Beauty retelling that you should totally check out!], so it was nice to see it in good use again!

The plot was simple and, as anyone that knows Sleeping Beauty’s story, I already knew how things would end. The catch here is how Hamstead managed to entwine other fairy tales on the story, like Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel and Rapunzel. I loved this tying up to the core and thought that this added the mystery that the reader needs to keep going through the book. Once again, it wasn’t about finding out what happens, but how it happens. If you don’t like predictable stories in general, this book may disappoint you, just as any other fairy tale retelling.

The characters were easily the strongest point in this book, along with the technical stuff. Apolline is another strong female main character, THANK GOD, and Allard is perfect on his imperfection. He is a prince for good and bad and Apolline compensates that, haha! I loved everyone in the book, included evil sorceress Bryanna. It was so good to hate her, haha!

Allard and his best friend whom I imagine several hot gay scenes with during the reading as I’m a sick person Beau White were the perfect double and both made it to My Bookish Boyfriends list! I know, two at once. I really need to start that new religion now, haha! Bookish girls all over the world will support me, I’m sure lol (If you’re new here and don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, please check this post. Laughter is a given, haha!)

Ahem, back to business. This is my third Sleeping Beauty retelling that I can recall and, by far, my favorite. I can’t wait to read the next volumes on The Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles and see just who Beau and Nathaniel, his younger brother, shall marry! Even though I’d love for Beau to fall in love with another man. *sigh*

Sorry, I can’t seem to hold myself these days. More yaoi reading may be in order…

Overall, if you love Sleeping Beauty, kick ass females, swoon worthy boys, beautiful writing, futuristic and high-tech worlds and fairy tales, Princess of Tyrone is your book 😀

Thanks so much for reading! Bellow you can find Princess of Tyrone purchase links, more info about the author and a giveaway!

PURCHASE LINKS

Princess of Tyrone is available in both paperback and ebook formats at Amazon!

AMAZON

ABOUT THE BRILLIANT MIND ALSO KNOW AS KATIE HAMSTEAD

Born and raised in Australia, Katie’s early years of day dreaming in the “bush”, and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing.

After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog.

She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing.

When her debut novel, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh, climbed into bestselling status, she believed she was onto something, and now has a slew of novels now available, and is published through Curiosity Quills Press, Soul Mate Publishing, and REUTS Publishing.

Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports, and be a good wife and mother. She now works as an Acquisitions Editor to help support her family. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

GIVEAWAY!

Yes, we have another giveaway! Everybody dance now! One lucky winner will receive:

• $5 Amazon Gift Card
• ebook package containing Princess of Tyrone, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh, and Deceptive Cadence

AND IT IS INTERNATIONAL! To join me on this lovely chance, just click here: GIVEAWAY!

Well, that’s it! Thanks for reading trough it all and thanks again to YA Bound Book Tours for the opportunity, the review copy and the lovely tour!

A Love for the Pages, from Joy Penny

Hi, there! Welcome to my first of many reviews for the day! ❤ It’s a pleasure to say that all my book reviews today were very pleasant reads that warmed my heart ❤

Our first star is a book I received from the author herself in exchange for an honest review: A Love for the Pages, from adorable Joy Penny! Thanks so much for trusting me with your work, darling! I loved your book so much ❤

from my Instagram ❤

The Story

June Eyermann is back to her small town life after her fist year at college and she couldn’t be more disappointed. Her best friend, Deana, doesn’t speak with her for months, her classes and subjects suck hard, she had to deal with the fact that her ex-sort-of-boyfriend is her younger brother best friend. Oh, and on top of all that? June better get a job real soon or she’ll be stuck with her stepdad in his company all summer as an internee.

But June is okay with all that because there is one place where no crap can reach her: the romantic classic world. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are her favorite books ever and always manage to make her feel better about anything.

That is, until she meets Everett Rockford, the oh-so-rich and desirable heir of the Rockford family, that runs everything in June’s small town. The guys seems like a walking Darcy Rochester Heathcliff version of her favorite novels… For good and bad: All the good looks, all the bad traits. Too prideful, too blunt, too full of himself. The perfect jerk.

Only that June refuses to really fall for a guy like that. It’s one thing to read about it; it’s another entirely different to live it and feel his detachment on her own skin.

June just wants to walk away from this dream-turned-nightmare. She would hate to find out if the guy also keeps a wife locked up on his attic.

The problem is Rockford is not going anywhere but after her.

The Analysis

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

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! I knew it would be a blast since Joy’s first e-mailed me, but it was way better than I anticipated! I’m not a great fan of first person narrated books or contemporary romances, but this book touched me. It was too close to home, in a good way. I’ve never lived any kind of romance, but I could relate and understand June. Also, I liked her and the rest is history lol If I met a guy like Everett, I’d run like crazy too. And that’s the catch of this book: is mister perfect really perfect? I had such deep reflections upon this story that I often stopped reading and stared to my bedroom’s wall in pure epiphany, haha! I couldn’t give it any less than 5 stars ❤

The whole story is told by June’s perspective and this surprisingly worked very well for A Love for the Pages. As Rockford is supposed to be a walking mystery (and he is), the fact that the reader is kept in the dark along June makes us want to devour the book and understand what the hell is Rockford’s deal. Once again, I have to take my hat off for this narrative style, haha!

me for Joy, haha!

The plot was simple, but full of little mysteries. Small town girl meets very rich boy, doesn’t really like him, spends time with him, starts to like him without realizing and they fall in love. No biggie, nothing complex, but oh-so delightful! I was in a small reading slump before grabbing A Love for the Pages. Now I need more! Lucky me I just found out that Joy wrote a prequel for this book on Wattpad, called A Love for the Mistletoe ❤ Reading this tonight for sure, haha!

Anyway, I lost my track of thought. Point is, anything that Joy writes from now on, I’ll be certain to read. To the characters!

I loved every single character on this book – especially June and Rockford. June is a cute enough girl that seems younger than she really is, with a practical side fighting her romantic dreams. I related so hard to her that it hurt, haha! She was also small, just like me, oops! She loved the classics and was so clever, but so dutiful. And completely clueless on the right things. I think I’m too besotted with her as a protagonist and my newest bookish bff to judge her, haha!

The same can be said of Rockford. He was perfect on his flaws and he had to back down on the classic heroes catch to have June.

Also, there were just so many funny quotes involving him. June really will be a wonderful professional on her career, haha! Instead of going on and on about how good the most-generous-Rockford is, I’ll allow June the honors:

“It’s you, isn’t it?” he [Rockford] asks, like I could possibly not be me and confirm my non-existence.

~*~

I haven’t seen a Rockford at the library so far as I know since I nearly killed one.

~*~

Maybe at least his dog will be happy to see me.

~*~

Oh, maybe I should clarify that Rockford wasn’t being sexist or anything. Just anti-human.

~*~

Making sure Rockford has moved out of the way so I don’t have to add “manslaughter of most generous Rockfrod” to my CV, I put the car in reverse.

~*~

He [Rockford] slides his phone into his pocket. “This is a coincidence.” I was thinking more like a cosmic joke, but okay.

~*~

Countless hours spent reading and watching my favorite romance stories, and I just can’t deal with it in real life.

~*~

And now, the mercy punch:

Rockford raises his eyebrows and rolls over, picking up his tablet. “Note to self,” he says, typing something on the screen. “Buy June more books.” I slap the book hard on the ground and tackle him, pinning him beneath me.

and this is how you get the girl!

Needless to say that Rockford made it to My Bookish Boyfriend list, right?

What I liked about Penny’s characters is that they were all so real. Not even the most generous Rockford was forced. They were natural, funny, boring… Always exactly what they were supposed to be. I just wish I had spent more time with Blake. What a man…

I think another book deserves to have him as a star. #sutilwish #please

Oh, I admit that there are some loose ends on this book, but nothing that bothered me. And you know what this means.

I really fell hard for this one.

Anyway, if you are a Jane Austen or Brontë fan, you just need to read this book. YOU HAVE TO.

That’s it! Thanks so much for reading and, once again, thanks so much to Joy, for warming my heart with a lovely and perfect book ❤

Book author: L. J. Smith

Hi, there! Welcome to my now monthly Authors of my Heart ❤ section! As last week we had a manga author, today we will have a book author 🙂 Who? L. J. Smith!

I haven’t read as many books from her as I’d like, but this is the brilliant mind behind the creation of Damon Salvatore. It was necessary to bring her to this section asap!

I’ve met L. J. Smith on 2009, when The Vampire Diaries was brought to Brazil and the tv show was beginning. I’ve devoured all volumes like crazy, already madly in love with Damon, and then I started to watch the show and I was struck for life.

I’ve bought the first volume of the Night World series compilation on the same year, but as I have a problem with physically big books, I postponed reading it until last December. Oh boy, I didn’t know what I was missing. Then, I decided that Smith was an auto-buy author, as I’m in love with her writing style ❤

Here you can see both series:

• The Vampire Diaries

from my Instagram 🙂

The Vampire Diaries series has captured the hearts and imaginations of hundreds of thousands of fans-and the new CW show that it inspired promises to introduce millions more to the chills, thrills and star-crossed love that has captivated so many readers. In The Awakening, the first volume of this bestselling series, Elena Gilbert is a golden girl used to getting anything that she wants, particularly when it comes to attracting guys. That is until she meets handsome, haunted Stefan, who struggles to resist her because of his dark secret: Stefan is a vampire. Stefan is torn by guilt from his past and living with the threat of his dark, dangerous vampire brother, Damon s return. Soon Elena finds herself in a love triangle between two vampire brothers and it could turn deadly.

• Night World series, vol. 1

Includes:

Book 1 – Secret Vampire

Book 2 – Daughters of Darkness

Book 3 – Spellbinder

Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters — they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World.

In Secret Vampire, Poppy thought the summer would last forever. Then she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Now Poppy’s only hope for survival is James, her friend and secret love. A vampire in the Night World, James can make Poppy immortal. But first they both must risk everything to go against the laws of Night World.

Fugitives from Night World, three vampire sisters leave their isolated home to live among humans in Daughters of Darkness. Their brother, Ash, is sent to bring the girls back, but he falls in love with their beautiful friend.

Two witch cousins fight over their high school crush. It’s a battle between black magic and white magic in Spellbinder.

All three books on this volume are already reviewed. Just click on the links bellow to go there 😀

Secret Vampire

Daughters of Darkness

Spellbinder

I know this post is uncommonly short for this section, but I had to include Smith asap, haha! Thanks for reading 🙂 Are you a fan of L. J. Smith’s books??

 

Must-Have Edition of the Month: Great Expectations, from Charles Dickens

Hi, there! Good Friday to you! I have to stop saying that, Friday is always good, ugh.

Anyway, another month arrived and I don’t know about you guys, but my February flew out of the window, haha! It’s the first Friday of March, which means… Must-Have Edition of the Month!

This time, I got fancy and chose a classic in a classic wrap: Great Expectations, from Charles Dickens. Nothing much? Wait for it: Penguin edition. Clothbound.

those images were found on Google and are used here with illustrative purposes only

Seriously, how did I lived so long without this beauty? It has chandeliers, for crying out loud! (Yes, I’m a chandelier freak since I was a toddler, haha!)

I just need to hug this book and make it mine.

That’s it, haha! Thank you for reading and stay tuned: we have nothing more and nothing less than three cover reveals today! 😀