It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 4 May 2020

 

#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.

What I Read Last Week:

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

I finally finished this one. I read it both in audiobook and physical edition like I did the first time. I really am not sure I needed to reread this one because I got really bored. It felt like I'd read it just yesterday and didn't need to read it again so soon. I'm still excited to read Aurora Burning and see what happens next of course. 
Favorite characters: Scarlet, Fin, Kal
Least Favorite Character: Cat (still can't stand her)
Original Rating: 4.5 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Don't Go Stealing My Heart by Kelly Siskind

This book is a quick, humorous read of redemption and true love. I love the name of the town Jack lives in and the Elvis festival was a cute touch. Clementine is a character you feel for immediately even as you distrust her “mentor” and question his real motives right from the start. Rating - 4 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Currently Reading
A Werewolf in Riverdale

I started this one over the weekend and it's slower going than I expected. I hope I can get more into it today and tomorrow

Up Next
Dare to Resist by Carly Phillips

It's been a while since I read a Carly Phillips book but I love her books and I'm excited to get into this one for my blog tour stop on the 12th.

What have you been reading lately?

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!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Supernatural Characters

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

Top Ten Tuesday - Halloween Freebie!

This week's TTT was a freebie prompt for whatever we wanted to do for Halloween and I picked Supernatural Characters. That's right, I'm counting down my top ten favorite non-human characters!

Rhysand

Elena Michaels

Myrnin

(My favorite mad scientist vampire who wears vampire bunny slippers)

The Darkling

The Goblin King

 Lorcan Salvaterre

Daemon Black

Gallowglass de Clermont

Amy Goodnight

(while not technically supernatural, Amy does come from a family of witches and knows how to handle ghosts)

Manon Blackbeak

To be honest, there are so many different supernatural character I could have picked - from vampires and werewolves to high fae and aliens and more, this just scratches the surface of some of my favorite characters - what are some of yours? 

Drop me a link to yours!

As always, happy reading bookdragons and have a bewitching Halloween!

- 💀Taylor

Book Review: Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Blurb:

Elena Michaels seems like the typically strong and sexy modern woman, She lives with her architect boyfriend, writes for a popular newspaper, and works out at the gym. She's also a werewolf.

Elena has done all she can to assimilate to the human world, but the man whose bite changed her existence forever, and his legacy, continue to haunt her. Thrown into a desperate war for survival that tests her allegiance to a secret clan of werewolves, Elena must recon with who, and what, she is in this passionate, page-turning novel that begins the Women of the Otherworld series.

My Review:

A year ago Elena Michaels left Stonehaven, Bear Valley, New York, and her werewolf pack behind to live a normal life. But it's not easy being a werewolf in Toronto. She has to sneak away in the middle of the night to Change and go for runs and hide her secret from her live-in boyfriend, Philip.

 The Elena gets a call from her pack Alpha, Jeremy Danvers telling her to come home. Elena resists at first, knowing that returning home to Stonehaven will just dredge up the past again and simultaneous remind her and make her forget why she left in the first place. It will also mean seeing Clayton Danvers again - her former lover who bit her and turned her into a werewolf. 

But Elena is needed back at Stonehaven. A mutt (non-pack werewolf) has killed a woman - and she won't be the last. As Elena reluctantly returns home she falls back into her old patterns and routines. Unbeknownst the to the pack, the troubles they're about to face is bigger than one errant mutt - and not all of them will make it out of the uprising alive. Will Elena realize she needs the pack - and Clayton - as much as they need her? Or will the mutt uprising drive her away from her old life forever?

Let me start by saying, I watched the television show before reading this book. Yes, there are differences between the two, but I believe they're both great despite (or maybe due to) those differences.  

Elena is a strong female lead, her difficult upbringing saw to the strength she would embrace as an adult. I really liked this spin on werewolves, where Elena was the only female werewolf in existence. It made her sound more unique, one woman among the men. 

I love Clayton, and watching Elena try to deny her feelings for him as she tried to tell herself being with him was just returning to the familiar and nothing else was realistic. I also love the rest of the pack members, although I'm sad that Logan has a much smaller role in the book than he did in the show and also Jeremy seemed warmer on the show - albeit at times I wasn't sure he was trustworthy on the show. 

Overall, this book was as easy to get hooked on as the show and I didn't want to put it down.  Despite it being a rather long book I didn't feel like the story dragged or got boring at all. Bitten is filled with action and sexy shirtless werewolves and I found myself loving it even more than Charlaine Harris's True Blood series! This book is definitely a must-read for Urban Fantasy lovers! 

My Rating:

★★★★★

5 of 5 Stars!

"What I'm Reading" This Week #95

I missed "WIR"-Wednesday this past week because of another post, so I'm filling you in now. I have an eARC sitting on my Kindle to be read by Thanksgiving but I'd already started and gotten hooked on...

Bitten (Women of the Otherworld #1) by Kelley Armstrong

Blurb:

Elena Michaels seems like the typically strong and sexy modern woman, She lives with her architect boyfriend, writes for a popular newspaper, and works out at the gym. She's also a werewolf.

Elena has done all she can to assimilate to the human world, but the man whose bite changed her existence forever, and his legacy, continue to haunt her. Thrown into a desperate war for survival that tests her allegiance to a secret clan of werewolves, Elena must recon with who, and what, she is in this passionate, page-turning novel that begins the Women of the Otherworld series.

Why I Chose This Book | What I Think So Far:

It started out with the tv show. Bitten has been on my Netflix Watchlist for a while now but I never had the chance to watch it. Since I've had more free time over the past weeks I decided to start watching since I'd recently finished Ripper Street. I was hooked from the first episode and binge-watched the entire series in just over a week and a half. Don't get me started on the hotness of Greyston Holt or my disappointment that the series ended after just three seasons. I hadn't even finished the first season when I bought a copy of Bitten online and I just started reading it on Friday. I love the story so far and can already tell I'm going to love not only this book but the rest of the series as well!

#BookMail Thursday #35

This week's #BookMail includes an impulse purchase, a successful ARC trade, a signed preorder I've been waiting on, and a prize I won from the #BerserkerStreetTeam. Let's open my mailbox and see what's inside...

Ally by Anna Banks

I know, I know - I could have just bought the finished copy but I really wanted an ARC (because I collect them) and when a friend of mine showed interest in an ARC I was done with we set up a trade and I was really happy to take this ARC of Ally off her hands! 

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

As you probably know, I had an ARC of Hunting Prince Dracula, but I'm a sucker for signed copies so I had to order one from Books of Wonder! The Finished Copy is even prettier than the ARC!

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bitten was my most recent Netflix binge-watching obsession and when I realized it was a book I ordered a copy immediately! I can't wait to read it as soon as I finish my current read!

Berserker Street Team Swag

I was lucky enough to be one of the winners from the first #BerserkerStreetTeam challenge so I received my signed bookplate signed and personalized by the author of Berserker, Emmy Laybourne, and this really cool mini journal.

Book Review: Verity by Claire Farrell

Verity by Claire Farrell

Blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Perdita Rivers has spent her entire sheltered life being told what to do. Lately, she’s felt ready for a change, and the universe seems to agree. Her new best friend’s brother is the boy of Perdita’s dreams. Literally. 

Even though he plays hot and cold, she’s sure there’s more to it, but she’s kind of distracted by the sense she’s being followed - not to mention the rumours of wild animal sightings that seem to mean more to her new crush’s family than they should. Perdy’s on a mission to find the truth, but maybe the truth is the danger she should hide from, after all. 

My Review:

Sixteen-year-old Perdita is not like other teens. She lives on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland with her father and grandmother. Her father is extremely overprotective; he won't even let her spend the night at her friend Tammie's house. Not to mention, her father and grandmother are always arguing. Her grandmother wants her to enjoy a normal teenage life but her father wants to keep her protected at all times - even at the expense of her social life. 

Then Amelia and Nathan move to town and shake up Perdita's ordinary little life. Perdita has been dreaming about Nathan, a boy she's never met before for almost a year - and Nathan at times hints that he feels their connection too. Perdita's friendship with Tammie becomes strained as Perdita gets closer to Amelia and Tammie ruthlessly pursues Perdita's cousin Joey. When Perdita sees a cruel side of Tammie she never believed could be shined on her she becomes even closer with Amelia and with Nathan who acts hot and cold around her all the time. Sometimes it seems like he's interested in her and other times he shoves her away. 

When Perdita starts spotting strangers watching her, Amelia, and Nathan around town, rumors of dog attacks and dead animals start appearing on people's doorsteps, and Perdita feels like Nathan is keeping something from her Perdita wants answers. But will Perdita be able to accept the truth about Amelia, Nathan, and their family or her role in everything? Or will it all be too much for her? Will Perdita be able to save herself and Amelia when danger comes to call?

Verity is a quick, uncomplicated read that I enjoyed a lot. Think of it like Twilight but just with werewolves instead of vampires. Amelia, Nathan, Perdita, and even Joey are characters that are easy to like while Tammie and Dawn are easy to hate. I loved the setting for Verity even though you really don't get the feeling of it being in Dublin, Ireland at all. It's a refreshing change that Amelia was the special character that everyone had to look after in this book, instead of the female lead, Perdita in this case, being the fragile-frail one; although she has a role in things with Nathan as well. You quickly find yourself rooting for Perdita to gain more freedom and for her and Nathan to finally get together throughout the entire novel.  Verity has just the right amount of danger, action, friendship, and romance. I'm really eager to read the rest of the series to see what else is in store for Perdita and the whole gang. 

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

"What I'm Reading" Wednesday #31

This "WIR"-Wednesday I've read a couple different genres of books. Right now I'm reading...

Verity (Cursed #1) by Claire Farrell

Blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Perdita Rivers has spent her entire sheltered life being told what to do. Lately, she’s felt ready for a change, and the universe seems to agree. Her new best friend’s brother is the boy of Perdita’s dreams. Literally. 

Even though he plays hot and cold, she’s sure there’s more to it, but she’s kind of distracted by the sense she’s being followed - not to mention the rumors of wild animal sightings that seem to mean more to her new crush’s family than they should. Perdy’s on a mission to find the truth, but maybe the truth is the danger she should hide from, after all. 

Why I Chose This Book/ What I Think So Far:

I picked this book from my Kindle Library (I had downloaded it free from a Ripley's Booklist Newsletter) after rereading the blurb. After several contemporary books in the past week, I was craving something with a paranormal theme. And I love werewolf stories; I don't believe there are nearly enough books about werewolves. 

In addition to Verity, I also just finished reading...

Now & Then (Now #1) by Brenda Rothert

Blurb:

Now Emmaline Carson has settled into her career as a graphic designer, though she’d rather be painting or shopping with her sister Layla. But then – in the years before she went to art school in Paris – she was a shy, awkward teenager with frizzy hair, a flat chest and a massive crush on the boy across the street, Cole Marlowe. Too bad her incredibly hot neighbor only had eyes for Layla. 

Cole is now a confident, laid-back attorney who’s even hotter than he used to be. He’s planning to stay single while working his way up the corporate ladder – until he’s knocked off course by a chance run-in with Emma. 

Everything is different between Cole and Emma now. He finally sees her in a way she only dreamed of, and their hot chemistry is fueled by a growing friendship. But Emma’s deception of her sister – who wants Cole for herself – and the secret Cole’s been keeping for more than a decade threaten to tear apart what’s only just begun. Because sometimes the only thing standing in the way of now is then. 

My Review:

When Emma runs into her childhood crush and former neighbor Cole at a coffee shop all her old feelings come rushing back. Cole is now an attorney and more attractive than ever. And Cole is now finally noticing Emma in a different light. His attraction to the 24-year-old graphic artist is undeniable and he can’t stop thinking about her. 

As they begin spending time together one obstacle stands in Emma’s way, keeping her from really allowing herself to like Cole: her older sister Layla. Emma always felt like she was hidden in Layla’s perfect cheerleader shadow. Emma was the artsy type and Layla made sure to reinforce to her younger sister that nothing she had could be hers; especially Cole. Now an adult, Layla still wants Cole for herself and she relentlessly pursues Cole with the blessing of both their mothers. 

When Cole makes it perfectly clear to Emma that she’s the one he wants, not her sister Layla, will Emma be able to forget the past and allow herself happiness with Cole? Or will a secret from the past tear them apart? 

I loved this book! I could really relate to Emma because of her creativity and her mom and sister remind me a lot of my own family. Cole was so awesome and I loved him and Emma together. What I really liked about this story was the author allowed you to see what was happening in the present time and went back to the past to tell experiences from both characters about what their lives were like as teens. After all, what can sometimes look picture perfect on the outside can be anything but. This is an easy, intoxicating read that will keep you turning pages to see what’s going to happen between Emma and Cole next, because you know at some point Layla is going to find out about them and things will be explosive…

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

I also was lucky enough to read an ARC of Yesenia Vargas's upcoming novel, When You Came Back. Look for When You Came Back, and my review, later this week!