It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 22 February 2021

#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.

Happy Monday Bookdragons! I hope your week is off to a good start! I had two job interviews this morning and I hope one of them works out. 

What I Read Last Week: 

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

Warning: I've been on a Riley Sager binge... and I'm loving every minute of it. I'm so glad I took the time to read this one... it might be my favorite of all of his so far.  

The Bachelor by Carly Phillips

This was a reread for a blog tour. I read it originally probably 13 years ago and loved it. It was nice to revisit it with a new cover and updated technology. 

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

I actually was pretty apprehensive going into this book because I've heard mixed reviews but I ended up really loving it (and relating to Jules because, well, life right now). It's really kind of eerie thinking about the building and what it was being used for. *Shivers*

Tempting Heat by Sara Whitney

Seriously... this book was a perfect read for the recent weather (although we haven't had as much snow here in Wisconsin as further south thankfully). It's a cute, fast-read perfect for an afternoon where you're snowed in. 

The Booty by Willa Nash

Okay, so I got this for being part of the author's newsletter (it's the pen name of Devney Perry) and it's been sitting on my kindle for a little bit. Following my need of a palate cleanser yesterday I devoured this one in a little over an hour. The festival in this book sounds kind of awesome... haha 

Currently Reading:

Final Girls by Riley Sager

I tried reading this one last year but couldn't get into it, but it's the only Riley Sager currently published that I haven't read yet so I'm giving it another try... this time in audiobook. It's moving along better now so maybe I was in a slump last time.  

Next Read

Moon Child by Gaby Triana

I just added this to my kindle (since it released last week) but I've been looking forward to it since I first heard about it a couple months ago. The author sold me when the blurb describes it as "The Craft meets The Shining."

*** 

What books have you gotten recently? What are you reading this week?

"What I'm Reading" Wednesday #127

Over the weekend I started my third reread of the Sweep Series by Cate Tiernan. I finished Book of Shadows on Sunday, The Coven yesterday, and last night I started book 3...

Blood Witch (Sweep Series, Book 3) by Cate Tiernan

Blurb:

Morgan has found her mother's Wiccan tools, and her relationship with Cal is strong. Everything seems perfect. Except that Cal's half brother, Hunter, is stalking them. Hunter claims to be a Seeker who is investigating Cal for the misuse of magick. Who can she trust?

Thoughts Rereading This For the Third Time:

I still hate Cal as much as I did the previous two times I've read this series and I love that Hunter and Skye are introduced in this book. I just wish Morgan wasn't so brainwashed by everything Cal tells her. I know he was the one who introduced her to Wicca, but surely she should see he's not who she thinks he is...

Book Review: Book of Shadows by Cate Tiernan

Book of Shadows (Sweep Series, #1) by Cate Tiernan

Blurb:

Something is happening to me that I don't understand.

I see things, feel things in a new way. I can do things normal people can't do. Powerful things. Magical things. It scares me.

I never chose to learn witchcraft. But I'm starting to wonder if witchcraft is choosing me.

My Review:

This is my 3rd reread of the Sweep Series and I still love Book of Shadows as much as I did the first time I read it. 

It's an easy book to get through, and in a way it's like stepping back into a teenage time of the past since this book was published when I was 8. It's such a contrast between the way Morgan's parents acted about her interest in Wicca then and how uninterested parents would be in 2018. Also in the way people act with Morgan's aunt being a lesbian and how open things are now. 

You have to remember this book is fiction. Yes, while this book/series has a lot of info about Wicca and always serves to renew my Wiccan beliefs, it's still a fiction book and details have been invented by the author. I think some readers forget that. 

Honestly, I think this series is so underrated and I wish more people knew about it. 

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟

4 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone (Grisha Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Blurb:

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

My Review:

I first started reading Shadow and Bone back in July. I'd heard a lot of things about the book at the time - both good and bad - and was curious to read it myself. The mistake I made at the time was to get the audiobook instead of the physical book. Now I have nothing against the audiobook, I liked the narrator and the story moved but my issue stems from a dislike for audiobooks in general. I don't like being read to and can't seem to focus on the story. 

And Shadow and Bone was definitely not a story I wanted to miss anything of! From the beginning, I was enthralled by the world-building. Yes, Ravka and the Grishaverse reminded me of Russia - from the names to the setting to the accent the narrator put on for the audiobook, which I know some people find issue with but I saw it merely as a stylized version. 

Alina was a little difficult to like in the beginning as I couldn't figure out why she had to make everything so difficult. I remember the part where the Darkling suggests she have a black kefta like his but she balks and prefers the blue and I couldn't help thinking "just take the damn robe-thing! You're supposed to stand out! You're unique!" But I supposed Ms. Bardugo did that as a way to show the character was humble and modest. However, I enjoyed watching Alina grow throughout the book and her loyalty to Mal was commendable although I still don't quite see the appeal. 

Sure, by the end of Shadow and Bone I liked Alina with Mal (sort of) but I don't give much credit to a character that doesn't realize he cares for a girl until he sees her with someone else. I don't think guys are quite that dumb. I also would have appreciated more of why Mal was such a good tracker - is there something special about him that makes him so?

But my favorite character in this book (until the end) was the Darkling. He makes a superb villain although I wish things would have worked out between him and Alina. There was so much potential there, so much passion. But the Darkling was corrupt and he wanted power and that ruined everything. Let's all mourn for what could have been. 

The Darkling slumped back in his chair. “Fine,” he said with a weary shrug. “Make me your villain.

Overall, I really enjoyed Shadow and Bone once I read the actual book (I'm officially done with audiobooks). The book itself is gorgeous, I love the map and the chapter headings but the story is wonderful as well. It moved fast and there wasn't anything forced about the storyline. I could definitely see myself reading this book again and devouring the other two books in the trilogy just as quickly.

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

4.5 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

Blurb:

Andie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything. 

When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren't your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What's worse, Andie's fiancé thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie's dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that's not the only haunting. 

What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-in-law, and, of course, her jealous fiancé. And just when she thinks things couldn't get more complicated, North shows up on the doorstep making her wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them. 

If Andie can just get rid of all the guests and ghosts, she's pretty sure she can save the kids, and herself, from the past. But fate might just have another thing in mind.... 

My Review:

All Andie (Andromeda) Miller wants is closure from her ex-husband of ten years, North Archer so she can marry her new love Will. But on the day Andie goes to return her un-cashed alimony checks to North he has an unusual proposition for her. 

North has become the guardian of a distant cousin's two children, Carter and Alice. So far the kids have gotten rid of three nannies who all claim the children are incorrigible and that the house is haunted. So North is willing to pay Andie $10,000 a month to go to the house in Southern Ohio, fix things, and bring the children back up to Columbus.

When Andie arrives at the house she finds a crumbling mansion similar to the House of Usher and Hill House combined and the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. 

As she tries to bond with Alice and Carter she finds herself haunted by steamy dreams of her ex-husband and nearly-nightly midnight visits from a mysterious girl who makes her think that maybe there really are ghosts. Especially when she sees another woman dressed in 19th-century garb across the pond in the backyard and a similarly dressed man peering at her from the turret's balcony. 

Things spiral out of control when Andie's ex-brother-in-law Southie shows up with a child-bullying tv reporter and a parapsychologist who doesn't believe in ghosts; followed by her crazy tarot card reading mother, her ex-mother-in-law Lydia, Isolde Hammersmith the supposed best psychic in Ohio, her fiance Will, and finally North Archer himself, the one that everyone has been waiting for. Andie knows she must figure out how to put the ghosts to rest once and for all before somebody else gets killed. And then maybe she will realize that all everyone's been wanting is a second chance; and that MAYBE THIS TIME she and North can work things out.

This book rings true to Miss Crusie's usual witty banter and charm. There is never a dull page to be found and it makes you feel good reading it!

 Yes, I've read this book again. And I still love it. But this time I find myself wishing the author would write a sequel, maybe when Alice and Carter are adults where they return to Archer House and realize that one of the ghosts (won't say which because of spoilers!) is still around. That would be awesome!

The only complaint I have after reading this book so many times is that I've begun to pick up on a few grammatical errors that never got fixed during the publishing process. But maybe I'm just picky.

My Rating:

Forever ★★★★★

5 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: Play by Kylie Scott

Play (Stage Dive Series #2) by Kylie Scott

Blurb:

Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn't plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn't count on finding the one right girl. 

Anne Rollins never thought she'd ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn't end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?

My Review:

I previously read and loved Played by Kylie Scott in July 2015, so this is just an adding on to my previous review. 

Anne is the type of person who always wants to fix other people's problems. She gave up her teen years to take care of her mother and raise her sister after her father died, she always takes on extra shifts at the bookstore she works at if her boss (and secret crush) Reece has a date, and she fronted her roommate money when she couldn't pay her half of the rent. How does that roommate repay her? By moving out while Anne is at work and taking half of their furniture. 

When Mal Ericson - drummer for the famous band Stage Dive - overhears Anne's phone conversation at a party that his band-mate David and his wife Ev are throwing (that Anne can't believe she's attending to begin with) Mal devises a plan to help them both out. Mal needs a fake girlfriend, Anne need to save herself from getting evicted for nonpayment of rent. 

It was just supposed to be a business arrangement. They weren't supposed to become a real couple. But Mal is wild and unpredictable and the closer Anne gets to Mal the more she wants to be with him, and the sexual chemistry between the two is scorching hot. Can this rock and roll fairy tale last? Or will her fear of commitment and his unpredictable ideas be the end of them?

Let me start by saying, I love Mal. He is my favorite book boyfriend of all time. He's funny, he's crazy, he's the life of the party. The first time I read this book I hadn't read Lick first so this time around I got to enjoy seeing Dave and Ev's relationship continuing in the background and their history makes sense. 

Anne is a character I can relate to in many ways, so she's my favorite of all the women that get paired up with the men of Stage Dive. I loved watching Anne and Mal fall in love all over again. The reader also gets to see the groundwork for Lead - Jimmy and Lena's story, my only confusion is the timeline... the end of Play shows Jimmy and Lena's story toward the end of Lead, but perhaps it was meant to be that way. 

Overall Play is the type of book, as well as the other books by this author, that you could read over and over multiple times and still love the story. A true favorite.

My Rating:

★★★★★

5 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

Blurb:

Three students: dead. 

Carly Johnson: vanished without a trace. 

Two decades have passed since an inferno swept through Elmbridge High, claiming the lives of three teenagers and causing one student, Carly Johnson, to disappear. The main suspect: Kaitlyn, "the girl of nowhere." 

Kaitlyn's diary, discovered in the ruins of Elmbridge High, reveals the thoughts of a disturbed mind. Its charred pages tell a sinister version of events that took place that tragic night, and the girl of nowhere is caught in the center of it all. But many claim Kaitlyn doesn't exist, and in a way, she doesn't - because she is the alter ego of Carly Johnson. 

Carly gets the day. Kaitlyn has the night. It's during the night that a mystery surrounding the Dead House unravels and a dark, twisted magic ruins the lives of each student that dares touch it. 

Debut author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves together a thrilling and terrifying story using psychiatric reports, witness testimonials, video footage, and the discovered diary - and as the mystery grows, the horrifying truth about what happened that night unfolds.

My Review:

I first read this book about two years ago when it first came out. At the time, reading it late at night gave me such unsettling vibes that I couldn't finish it but I loved the cover so much that I couldn't get rid of the book. 

About a year ago I read Dawn Kurtagich's sophomore novel, And The Trees Crept In and loved it. Deciding that since I got through that book I'd give this book another try. One thing is abundantly clear after rereading The Dead House again: I clearly did not read the entire book the last time and the sections that terrified me I had read out of context. 

Rereading The Dead House was a breeze. This book is easy to read because of the format it's written in - comprised of journal entries, video and interview transcriptions with plenty of creepy photos, illustrations, and notes. 

This book is really more psychological than gory horror and it makes you think about what you believe as you read it. Is Kaitlyn the alter or is Carly really the alternate personality - or are they really what Naida believes: "two souls in one body." Are Carly and Kaitlyn really insane or is there something more sinister at work? Did Naida and the others help the situation or just make it worse; would any of it have even happened without the introduction of Mala?

I have my own opinions, I like to think Kaitlyn was the main personality (since we mostly see things in her perspective, not Carly's) and that the paranormal stuff was plausible, but I'm a fool who wishes to believe in the narrators of the books I read. 

Overall, this book was much better the second time and I can truly say that I loved it! Once I got started reading it I kept telling myself, "okay you'll go to sleep after this chapter ends," but with such short chapters I knew I was lying to myself. I devoured all 400 pages in no time at all! Allow this book into your life, let The Dead House infect your mind I dare you - you won't regret it! 

My Rating:

★★★★★

5 of 5 Stars!

"What I'm Reading" Wednesday #92

This "WIR"-Wednesday I'm trying to break out of my book slump by rereading a book I'm not sure I gave enough credit to the first time I read it. I'm reading the horror debut of an author I've since come to love...

The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

Blurb:

Three students: dead. 

Carly Johnson: vanished without a trace. 

Two decades have passed since an inferno swept through Elmbridge High, claiming the lives of three teenagers and causing one student, Carly Johnson, to disappear. The main suspect: Kaitlyn, "the girl of nowhere." 

Kaitlyn's diary, discovered in the ruins of Elmbridge High, reveals the thoughts of a disturbed mind. Its charred pages tell a sinister version of events that took place that tragic night, and the girl of nowhere is caught in the center of it all. But many claim Kaitlyn doesn't exist, and in a way, she doesn't - because she is the alter ego of Carly Johnson. 

Carly gets the day. Kaitlyn has the night. It's during the night that a mystery surrounding the Dead House unravels and a dark, twisted magic ruins the lives of each student that dares touch it. 

Debut author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves together a thrilling and terrifying story using psychiatric reports, witness testimonials, video footage, and the discovered diary - and as the mystery grows, the horrifying truth about what happened that night unfolds.

Why I Chose to Reread This Book | What I Think So Far (This Time):

The first time I read this book I didn't like it. It gave off a creepy vibe. I decided to reread this book because it's been two years since I last read it and since then I read and love Dawn Kurtagich's other book, And The Trees Crept In so I decided to give The Dead House another try. 

This time I have a completely different view of this book. I haven't encountered the parts that made my skin crawl the last time, so maybe I will still get the chills, but I'm better prepared to handle it now. This time I find myself feeling sorry for Kaitlyn. What if she isn't just an alter? Or what if she is the main personality and Carly is the alter? I don't care for Carly this time around, she's as they described her in the section I just read: clingy.

The way this book is set out also makes it an easy read.