{Book Review} IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER by Tessa Bailey

  

It Happened One Summer

Bellinger Sisters Book 1

Tessa Bailey

Released: July 13, 2021 by Avon Books

416 Pages

Blurb:

Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who’s cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town... where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong.

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar... in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.

My Review:

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the summer and actually inspired me to finally watch the show Schitt's Creek since the blurb said it had Schitt's Creek vibes. 

At first I was afraid I'd hate Piper because she comes off as so shallow in the first few pages of the book but my opinion quickly changed and I loved how big her heart was and how eager she was to prove herself and learn to do things on her own. 

Brendan is this uptight, crusty character that basically embodies the expression "everything in its' place and a place for everything" (or did I reverse that? I can't remember).. anyway.. he's the type of guy that goes into a restaurant and always orders the same thing, not wanting to try anything new in any aspect of his life, and believes that there's only one way to do things in life and Piper shows up and throws a wrench in all of that and its so fun to watch. 

This is no sweet, heat-lacking book, this is actually a really sexy read in spots and I was definitely here for that! Piper and Brendan just compliment each other so perfectly and I loved watching them go from squabbling to passion. 

I also loved the side characters in this book and I'm really looking forward to Fox and Hannah's book next year. 

Overall, this was such a fun, quick read perfect for an afternoon at the beach. It made me want to pack up and find a small town in Washington and a sexy bearded fisherman 😆

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

5 of 5 Stars!

{Book Review} A TOUCH OF DARKNESS by Scarlett St. Clair

  

A Touch of Darkness

Hades & Persephone Book 1

Scarlett St. Clair

Released: May 23, 2019

299 Pages

Blurb:

A Modern Hades and Persephone Retelling

Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist.

Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible.

After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever.

The bet does more than expose Persephone’s failure as a goddess, however. As she struggles to sow the seeds of her freedom, love for the God of the Dead grows—and it’s forbidden.

My Review:

I finally decided to pick up this book after seeing it so much on Bookstagram. I was afraid I wouldn't like it but I love the Hades and Persephone myth so much I had to give it a try. And I'm so glad I did!

It was interesting seeing this take on Persephone's relationship with her mother, Demeter. It's definitely unlike any other retelling I've read. This Persephone was kept really sheltered by her cruel, controlling mother until she left Olympus to attend college in New Athens in this awesome urban fantasy world where the Greek gods are modern day celebrities.

Persephone was warned by her mother to stay away from the gods, especially Hades, whom her mother hates. But when her friend gets on the list to go to Hades's club and she makes conversation with a handsome stranger Persephone finds herself face to face with the feared god himself. And in an iron-clad contract with Hades to create life in the Underworld. But Persephone is unable to grow anything and fears she will be stuck in the Underworld forever. 

I loved Hades and Persephone's chemistry, it was such a sexy read and I loved watching their relationship develop from Persephone hating and not trusting Hades to where they were at the end. I also really liked Hecate and the other characters we meet in the Underworld. 

I also really enjoyed the world building in this book and the modern spin on one of my favorite greek myths. 

I couldn't get enough of this book and I can't wait to see what will happen to my new favorite couple in book 2!

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

5 of 5 Stars!

50/50 Friday: Best/Worst Read of 2019

50/50 Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader.

What is 50/50 Friday?

Everyone has a favorite and then we also have something we dislike. Like a coin, there are two sides to every question. Example: best sequel you've read/worst sequel you've read. So that's what 50/50 Friday is all about. Carrie posts a new topic every Friday so be sure to check out her post to see the topic for the following week!

Topic for the Week

Best/Worst Read of 2019

I read and listened to 130 books in 2019. Some books stick out more than others and in this case these are my favorite and one of my 1-star rated reads...

Best

I loved this book, it was creepy and dark and a perfect fall read. It stuck with me for weeks after reading it. 

Worst

When you think the male lead is a psycho/jackass it's doubtful you're going to like the book. I loved Jay's Marked Men series but everything she's written after that is pretty much unreadable in my opinion. 

Topic For Next Week

Favorite/Least Favorite Review You've Written

Book Review: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Blurb:

A skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power of the faerie courts—even as she falls in love with a faerie prince—in this gorgeous debut novel.

Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes—a weakness that could cost him his life.

Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another for survival. Their alliance blossoms into trust, then love—and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.

My Review:

Isobel is the most sought after portrait artist in all of Whimsy and the faerie courts. When she lands her most important client to date, the Autumn Prince she sees a side of him that shouldn't be there, human emotion lurking in his eyes. Rook is unlike any other fair one she's ever worked with before but when she accidentally paints sorrow in his eyes in his portrait it puts them both in danger.

Whisked away to the faerie lands to stand trial Isobel enters a world she never imagined she'd see, but there's a wrongness to the faerie lands, the world and its' inhabitants are becoming corrupt and rotting. Isobel and Rook must work together to save themselves from the Alder King, the Wild Hunt, and the punishment for breaking the Great Law. 

This book was amazing and definitely worth the wait. I was hooked immediately because even though I've read other books about faeries and humans the plot was uniquely different. I liked how Isobel could see through the glamours the faeries put around themselves and the descriptions of their true selves reminded me of goblins almost; grotesque and rotting. But after how long they've lived why wouldn't they be rotting. 

The world building in An Enchantment of Ravens is fantastic, I could see everything so well like I was part of the story. I loved the characters, especially Gadfly and Lark, and liked the spin on the Green Well and how if Isobel chose to become fae she would lose her ability to paint, or create Craft as the fae called it. While other books show the glamorous sides of becoming the mythical fae, An Enchantment of Ravens showed that not everyone wants to be fae and that things aren't always greener on the other side. 

Fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses and The Cruel Prince will enjoy this book, although if I'm being truly honest I loved this book more than either. Overall, I highly recommend this book and I'll definitely reread it again and again. 

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

5 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Blurb:

Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic meets the Salem Witch trials in this haunting story about three sisters on a quest for revenge—and how love may be the only thing powerful enough to stop them.

Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…

Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.

Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.

Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.

Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.

But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

My Review:

Every summer the locals of Sparrow, Oregon dread and the tourists delight in the return of the Swan sisters - three sisters who were drowned as witches more than two hundred years ago. Each summer on June 1st they return to get their revenge by invading the bodies of local girls and drawing unsuspecting boys to their watery grave. 

Penny Talbot knows the Swan Season is more than a silly legend or a game, but she has more important things to worry about, like her mother who lost her mind after Penny's father disappeared three years earlier. 

The last place she wants to be is the annual Swan party on the night before the beginning of the Swan Season but she can't say no to her friend Rose. When a newcomer, Bo Carter, saves her from a local bully she reluctantly lets the outsider return to the island she lives on with her mother for a job in exchange for room and board. 

Then the Swan Season begins and soon the bodies begin showing up in the water. Bo doesn't believe in the Swan sisters, but he's about to. Meanwhile, Penny can see which local girls have a Swan sister inside them, but why? What secrets is she hiding? What really happened to her father and caused her mother to lose her mind? And why has Bo really come to Sparrow? 

They both have secrets they don't want to share and they definitely shouldn't be falling in love. Does Penny hold the key to stopping the Swan sisters from coming back ever again? And can Bo ever forgive Penny when he finds out the truth about what she's hiding?

The Wicked Deep is a beautifully written gem of a book. The story grabs you from the first page, mainly told in the perspective of Penny Talbot although there are chapters that take you back two hundred years to the reason the Swan sisters return every summer. 

I loved every minute of this book, it was a quick but powerful read that I didn't want to put down. This book really tugged at my heartstrings, especially at the end. This book is slated as Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic meet the Salem Witch Trials, which I definitely saw hints of but it wasn't a take off or a copy of those but it's own breathtaking story. Yes, the Swan sisters were branded as witches and killed. Yes, Penny lives on an island away from everyone else with her mother, but this book is more than that. It's about love and loss and sacrifice. It's about small towns and being judged for being different. It shows that when times get tough, we really haven't evolved much as a society at all.

Overall, this is a book you definitely should read as soon as possible. Shea Ernshaw is an author to look out for because her debut was absolutely perfect. 

My Rating:

★★★★★

5 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: Begin Again by Mona Kasten

Begin Again (Again #1) by Mona Kasten

Blurb:

He makes the rules. She breaks them all.

A new start. It's the only thing keeping Allie Harper going, when she packs up her life and moves across the country to Woodshill, Oregon. She's about to start college, desperate to leave the ghosts of her past behind her. Even if that means never talking to her parents again.

Now the hard part - finding an apartment before classes start. Just when it seems she'll have to live out of her car, Allie visits one more place. It's beautiful. With one exception: can she stand being roommates with campus bad boy Kaden White? Sure, Kaden is sexy with his tattoos and careless attitude, but he's also an arrogant jerk. With nowhere else to go, Allie moves in.

The first thing Kaden does is make a set of rules. Either Allie obeys, or she's out:

1. Don't talk about your girl problems.

2. Keep your mouth shut if I bring someone home.

3. We will NEVER hook up.

Easy enough, thinks Allie. Who would want to get involved with a brute like Kaden? But the more she gets to know him, the more she sees beyond his gruff facade. He, too, is harboring some painful secrets. For Kaden and Allie, it gets harder and harder to ignore the sparks between them. And the lines between the rules start to blur-

Begin Again is a beautiful romance that shows us just how possible it is to start over. To find freedom in heartbreak and love in the most unlikely places.

My Review:

Allie Harper is running from her past and breaking free from her overbearing, stuck up parents. To do that she's just moved all the way from Lincoln, Nebraska to tiny Woodshill, Oregon. After extensively searching for a place to stay she winds up at the apartment of Kaden White - who definitely doesn't want Allie as a roommate (or any female for that matter). But Kaden needs the money and Allie needs a place to stay so they come to a compromise: Allie can have the room as long as she plays by Kaden's rules. 

Allie agrees, besides the last thing she needs right now is a hook-up but as she settles into her new life, makes new friends and experiences new things Allie begins to see another side to Kaden - a side she likes a lot. 

Will Allie be able to stifle her feelings for Kaden? Or will Kaden throw his rules out the window? Can their relationship survive all the darkness in their pasts? Or will Kaden's fear of letting anyone get too close tear them apart?

I loved reading Begin Again. More than just the romance, seeing Allie come into her own and become a strong, independent woman after a lifetime with her parents made for a pleasant, hopeful read. Watching Allie experience new things and make friends, seeing her try to hide her growing feelings for Kaden, I thought overall the story was well written and plotted. 

I loved Kaden, although I can see why some readers may not like him. Some may see a girl fall for a guy that acts like a jerk toward her over and over again until he finally realizes how special the girl is and be put off by the story but I love books like this. I love seeing male characters that are broken and twisted by their pasts learn to love. 

I hope the other two books in this series get translated into English because I would love to read them! Mona Kasten is definitely an author I'd like to see more of! 

My Rating:

★★★★★

5 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: Haven by Mary Lindsey

Haven by Mary Lindsey

Blurb:

"We all hold a beast inside. The only difference is what form it takes when freed."

Rain Ryland has never belonged anywhere, He’s used to people judging him for his rough background, his intimidating size, and now, his orphan status. He’s always been on the outside, looking in, and he’s fine with that. Until he moves to New Wurzburg and meets Friederike Burkhart.

Freddie isn’t like normal teen girls, though. And someone wants her dead for it. Freddie warns he’d better stay far away if he wants to stay alive, but Rain’s never been good at running from trouble. For the first time, Rain has something worth fighting for, worth living for. Worth dying for. 

My Review:

After a lifetime of living on the streets and in shelters, Rain Ryland is being sent to live with an aunt he never knew existed in the small town of New Wurzburg after his mother's fatal drug overdose.

Moving away from Houston, Rain thinks he's leaving danger and gangs behind for a boring life in the country but there is nothing boring about New Wurzburg. New Wurzburg is the home of creatures Rain could have never believed really existed. And the girl he's interested in, Friederike Burkhart? She's one of them. 

As Rain gets wrapped up in life in New Wurzburg and Freddie's unusual life and tries to help her figure out if Freddie's father's death was truly an accident (or murder), Rain begins to understand that his ending up in New Wurzburg was no accident. His destiny has been entwined with Freddie's and New Wurzburg since before he was born. 

Will Rain survive the changes that are to come? Will Freddie accept a relationship with him? Or will they both perish at the hands of a power hungry enemy?

I dove into Haven semi-blind. I had an idea what the book was about but I didn't read the book flap before diving in and I found that I really enjoyed this book. I don't read many books told solely in the male perspective and usually you see the girl falling for the supernatural guy instead of the other way around so this book was really refreshing. It reminded me in a way of Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl where we see the world through Ethan's eyes. 

As a main character I really liked Rain. He was very well developed for a teenage boy character. So often I read (and want to gag over) sappy male characters that are all gaga for love but this book showed Rain as desiring Freddie in physical ways as well as emotional ones which is more realistic to me. My only complaint about Rain at the beginning of this book is he says "Whatever" way too many times. It got a little annoying after a while.

I also really liked Freddie. She was strong, tough-as-nails, and completely bada$$. She has some trust issues, but who wouldn't with everything going on in her life and the secrets she keeps and it was fun watching her relationship with Rain blossom. The secondary characters also rounded out the story really well and I loved the world building. 

Overall, I was really craving a good werewolf book after I finished reading/binge watching Bitten (by Kelley Armstrong) and Haven was exactly what I was hoping for. It was unique, it stuck to the theme, and perfectly fit this time of year.

My Rating:

★★★★★

5 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo

Blurb:

Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns.

Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid's voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy's bidding but only for a terrible price.

Inspired by myth, fairy tale, and folklore, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Leigh Bardugo has crafted a deliciously atmospheric collection of short stories filled with betrayals, revenge, sacrifice, and love.

Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans, these tales will transport you to lands both familiar and strange—to a fully realized world of dangerous magic that millions have visited through the novels of the Grishaverse.

This collection of six stories includes three brand-new tales, all of them lavishly illustrated with art that changes with each turn of the page, culminating in six stunning full-spread illustrations as rich in detail as the stories themselves.

My Review:

Ohmigod, where do I begin?? First off this book is beautiful to look at, photos do not do it justice at all. From the gorgeous dust jacket to the gold embossing (is that what it's called?) on the hardback itself to the stunning illustrations inside, this may very well be one of the prettiest books I own! 

This book is comprised of six stories and not a single one let me down, I loved them all. Each story was a pleasure to read and you could clearly picture the children of the grishaverse being told these stories as children. I don't want to spoil any of the individual stories but if I had to pick one ultimate favorite I think I'd go with The Witch of Duva.

These stories and the book itself was like opening up a darker version of Grimm's Fairytales and it transported me back to my childhood when my grandmother read me fairytales before bed. This is the sort of collection of stories I've been craving all year and I didn't want to put The Language of Thorns down once I started reading.

Overall, this book is perfect for old fans of Leigh Bardugo as well as newcomers and great for readers of almost all ages. My only complaint (that's not really a complaint) is that I would have loved to keep reading more stories like these. 

As Jane Austen said, “but for my own part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short.” 

My Rating:

★★★★★

5 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: Garden of Thorns by Amber Mitchell

Garden of Thorns by Amber Mitchell

Blurb:

After seven grueling years of captivity in the Garden—a burlesque troupe of slave girls—sixteen-year-old Rose finds an opportunity to escape during a performance for the emperor. But the hostage she randomly chose from the crowd to aid her isn't one of the emperor's men—not anymore. He's the former heir to the throne, who is now leading a rebellion against it.

Rayce is a wanted man and dangerously charismatic, the worst person for Rose to get involved with, no matter what his smile promises. But he assumes Rose's attempt to take him hostage is part of a plot to crush the rebellion, so he takes her ashis hostage. Now Rose must prove where her loyalties lie, and she offers Rayce a deal—if he helps her rescue the other girls, she'll tell him all the Garden's secrets.

Except the one secret she's kept for seven years that she'll to take to her grave if she must.

My Review:

  For the past ten years, "Rose", now sixteen, has spent her life enslaved in a burlesque troupe called The Garden, forced to perform and known only by a name that is not hers. Only the cruel leader of The Garden, the Gardener, knows who she really is and holds it over her to keep her in line.

    When Fern, the girl that she's grown up with, the wilted to her flower, is murdered right in front of her by the Gardener's right-hand man, Shears for conversing with a member of the rebellion Rose knows she has to escape.

      But when the man she uses to escape during her performance turns out to be the young leader of the rebellion she trades one captor for another. Can Rose convince him that she's not an assassin sent to kill him? How will she be able to return to The Garden to free her still captured "sisters?"

    As Rose finds herself aligning with the rebel Zareen, making friends with their members, and falling for Rayce, the rebellion's young leader who's mood runs hot and cold Rose will grow more involved in the cause and learn more about the fall of her homeland, Varsha - and about herself. But can she really trust Rayce and the rebellion? Or would they turn on her when they found out her identity too?

   Garden of Thorns is a tense, fast-paced fantasy that incorporates unique ideas like a enslaved burlesque troupe and familiar themes like a lost, forgotten princess and a disgraced prince leading a rebellion to save a kingdom.

      The book reminded me in ways of the Throne of Glass series, Rebel of the Sands, and in a strange way - Water for Elephants. Rose had a little bit of a "Caelena Sardothian" in her, but definitely a feistiness that was all her own.

      I loved the supporting characters: Marin, Arlo, and Oren and felt they really fit with the rebellion. Rayce was a perfect rebellion leader and love interest for Rose and his hot and cold temperament showed his struggle between helping his people and giving in to what he wanted - Rose.

     As for the world-building, oftentimes in Fantasy novels, I try to compare the kingdoms to countries of our world. Delmar reminded me of a fantasy version of China and Varsha maybe could be compared to Russia; especially with Rose, who would, in a way, be like Anastasia - the lost and presumed dead princess.

     The only thing that annoyed me a bit was Rose's lack of trust toward Rayce and the Zareen toward the end of the book. I kept waiting for her to admit her secret to Rayce and yet she chose to run, again, which caused the unnecessary deaths of a lot of people - one in particular who had treated her with respect and like family. Hadn't the Zareen, by that point, proven that they looked out for her like she had been one of their own all along?

     Overall, I really enjoyed Garden of Thorns and am eager to see if this is continued as a series, it has great potential for a continuation.

My Rating:

4.75 of 5 Stars!

Garden of Thorns by Amber Mitchell is available today, March 6, 2017,  in paperback and eBook from Entangled Teen! Grab your copy now:

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