What can I say it's Ruby Dixon and her books are like a drug to me. I love them all so much. They are my happy place, my comfort. This was a very cuteWhat can I say it's Ruby Dixon and her books are like a drug to me. I love them all so much. They are my happy place, my comfort. This was a very cute read. Brux is such a sweet broody hero and Melody is fun and outgoing. I loved them both so much and thought they made a really cute couple. ...more
Only when it's us, was my first book by Chloe Liese. It may be my last. The premise of the book sounded so good, but execution left much to be desired. I was excited thinking I was getting a story about a hearing impaired bear of a man that has a special bond with the girl who accepts him just as he is thing, but that isn't what I got. While I loved Ryder, enjoyed his strong damaged silent type I couldn't stand Willa. She didn't come off as a strong independent woman, like she says she is over and over, but more like a overly dramatic bitch.
I'm sorry but she drove me nuts. She made everything a huge deal. She flipped out on the hero every five minutes. Willa got mad at Ryder for stupid shit, but refused to tell him, and had over the top daddy issues. She didn't deal with any of the problems in her life. She came off as a coward most of the time. For a strong independent woman, she was super dependent on her mom. She came off like a high schooler instead of a woman in her 20s. I found Willa very unlikable and didn't want Ryder with her. While Ryder was there for her when she needed him, and accepted her for the bitchy hot mess she was, Willa didn't give Ryder any support, pushed him away, and got mad at him for doing the same shit she was doing. She ruined the book for me. I may try another book by this author but if all her female leads are written like Willa I'll be bouncing.
When I read Fourth Wing a few months ago I didn't really like it, but I didn't hate it. Because it was so popular I decided to give it one more shot to see if book two could win me over. Spoiler alert it didn't!!!!! Can anyone explain to me how I can read two books, one of which the audiobook was 28 hours long and I still don't know what the fuck is going on in this series. Truly it's one of the most confusing books I've ever read. A ton of names, cities, kingdoms, rules, gods, powers, bad guys, deaths, dragons etc. crammed into a book with no depth to connect you to the info. What I did understand was stupid and made no sense what so ever. The rules of the world contradicted each other. The plot was poorly hashed out and the characters were very one dimensional. Being on book 2 I should be able to feel like I know the main characters well, but everything I know about them I learned in the first few chapters of the first book. They got no deeper as the series went on. If I wrote everything I didn't like about this book in this review, I'd be here forever so I'll just name a few and be done.
Let me start with Basgiath the most stupid war college ever! They don't train their students, they don't protect them, they don't make them stronger, they aren't honest with them, and they don't give a single shit about anyone in the school. In both books we readers are told over and over that Basgiath is in desperate need of riders, yet more riders die from going to Basgiath than in battle ever. Basgiath literally lies, tortures, abuses, and kills their own students. There is nothing good, cool, or worthwhile about Basgiath war college. I'm pretty sure they are the bad guys. I know I wouldn't want to go there. I mean how stupid is it that you need fighters but you keep killing them off left and right for the fuck of it. I get that RY was trying to up the stakes but instead it makes Basgiath and everyone that wants to go there look stupid. I could go on for hours about all that is stupid about Basgiath but let me move on to Violet and Xaden. Violet has to be the weakest "kickass heroine" I've ever read. Honestly she can't fight, she can't ride and she can't use her magic well. She is always hurt and injured and she is weak of mind. She is suppose to be so smart yet she does some of the dumbest shit. I'll give you one example. There is a fight scene when Liam's sister(who is not trained well and will get her ass kicked) is getting ready to spar/fight in front of the whole class. This is dangerous for Liam's sister as fighter kill each other for fun all the time. Since Violet promise Liam as he was dying in book one that she would watch over his sister Violet needs to help her. Now super smart Violet (who btw, poisoned everyone she fought in book 1 and was never caught even as all her opponents were dropping like flies) decides to help Liam's sis by poisoning her opponents too. Of course the way she drugs the fighter is by crushing a powder in her hand and then cough blowing said powder in the other fighter's face. No one seeing powder flying from someone's hand into another persons face even with a ton of people standing super close. Nope nothing to see here. Also powder wouldn't fly everywhere and get in or on other people around the crowded mats nope not at all. It was just so damn stupid.
Xaden was a sad imitation of Rhys from ACOTAR. He kept going on about loving Violet and yet he kept hiding things from her, knowing it was why she didn't want to be with him. His bullshit of if you want to know just ask line was getting old. Violet was no better lying to everyone else and being pissed at Xaden for lying. The Cat is the bitchy ex that wants Xaden back was just stupid added drama that I'm sick of reading in books for real. Xaden and Violet were apart a ton in this way too long book. When they were together they kept having the same stupid ass fight. They are all suppose to be in their 20s but they read like 15 years old. I felt no connection to either Xaden or Violet. Most likely because they were so one-dimensional. I've seen puddles with more depth. In the first book I kind of liked the dragons in this book they came off flat and lame. The bad ass dragon Tairn never seem to be there for Violet when she needs him and Andarna God RY ruined Andarna by making her bitchy and saying it's because she is a teen. Whatever. Andarna like Xaden was gone most of the book. Oh and I loved that Andarna was a super special kind of dragon that no one else knew about, because Violet is so special she gets all the special dragons......NOT. RY threw everything she could think of in this book to make it exciting. Then for good measure she threw in the kitchen sink, and it still fell flat. I mean really Jack is still alive and a bad guy ohhhhhhhhhh please spare me. Then that ending with Xaden happened and I was just like whatever. Truly I felt nothing. Well that's not true I felt annoyed that I wasted 28 hours listening to a book that was this bad. Sorry to the fans. Don't come for me if you loved it great! I'm glad it worked for you. I just didn't like it.
Ok so let me start this review out by saying that I only read this book because of Tik Tok. I read ACOTAR a few months back and fell madly in love with that series. Everyone that read Fourth Wing told me it was just as good as ACOTAR if not better. Then after seeing everyone raving about it on Tik Tok and the high rating it has on goodreads, I thought I really need to read this book. Boy was I disappointed. Don't get me wrong it was ok, but nothing to write home about.
I liked the dragons and their sass. I liked the idea of them having close bonds to their riders. In the same breath I didn't understand how the author one minute said the dragon and their rider are so bonded if one dies the other does too. Although some dragons can still live but the rider dies period. Call me crazy but that seems like it would be a special close bond lives tied together and all. Then RY turned around and had dragons letting their riders fall to their deaths, or dragon-less rides kill another rider to get a chance at their dragon. Hello I thought the super smart powerful dragons knew who to choose as their riders and bonded to them to the death? It felt like forced drama and danger. The book also says how riders are fewer and fewer every year, and yet they are letting students kill each other for funsies.
I had mixed feelings on Violet. I liked her but at times I didn't. She was super smart but weak, and I don't mean how she was sickly. I mean she at times came off weak minded to me. Like just kill Jack already damn. I also thought her inner thoughts came off like a high school girl not a grown ass women. It felt like the world and plot were not fully hashed out. Readers are told Violet is weak and fragile every few pages yet we never find out what is wrong with her? What is her illness that made her so weak? There were tons of other plot holes like that all through the book.
I think what really kept me from loving this book is the copy cat vibes it gave off. The world set up is totally like Divergent. I mean come on Violet is totally suppose to be Tris. The fight matches divergent. The cadets completely over the top hunting and killings of each other was all hunger game-ish. Then there is Xaden aka Rhsysand from wish.com. Xaden was a sad imitation of Rhys never coming close to being as yummy, sexy or badass as Rhys. In keeping with the coping of ACOTAR we have the shadow powers and Xaden being the baddest of the land, and the knock off Tamlin aka Dain. I seen bits How to train your dragon sprinkled in there too.
It's really hard to get into a book that feels like a cheap knock off of some of your favorites, but not as good. So while this book was a ok way to kill some time I never felt any connection to it. It's like when you turn on the Hallmark channel and watch a Christmas romance. You know they are decent, but they all are pretty much the same generic story with different actors in it. So yeah I may pick up the second book but I'm not in a hurry.
So Whispers of You was my first book by Catherine Cowles, and I really enjoyed it. I liked her writing style and the flow of the book. I liked all the characters and the bond they shared. I felt the book did a great job of grabbing you from the start and hooking you. I was invested in Wren and Holt's life. I was rooting for their love. I was hurting with them over the all the loss. I will say that I felt there was some depth and background missing. I needed more backstory. Like where the hell was Wren's parents? It was said they left her all the time and traveled, but where were they when she was shot? Did they come home? Did they just disappear like a fart in the wind? That should have been hashed out better to give more depth to the hurt of parental abandonment. Also I would have liked a bit more backstory of the couple. Moments in their life to deepen the connection in the readers eyes. I wanted to feel their love and the pain of them being parted not just read about it. I loved them as a couple, but depth would have made me connect more to them. I did feel their love but I wanted more.
The other thing that kept this from being a 5 star read for me was Holt's 10 year disappearance. It was way too long for a man to stupidly blame himself for something that was obviously not his fault. I could see him running at first. He was young and that would be traumatic for anyone. I could understand maybe being gone while in the army, but 10 full years was super overkill. It cheapen his love for her and their connection overall. At least it did in my eyes. I did love that his family was there for her, loving her and helping her through the pain and healing. One of the things I hate in contemporary romance is the miscommunication. When they don't say what they mean, or share their feelings. It's not realistic when they don't talk things out like every normal adult human in the real world does. It drives me crazy. So I was pleasantly surprised that Wren was open and honest. That they talked and shared as a couple. That what they said was relatable. I loved being able to read a book and not scream "No One talks like that" it was refreshing lol.
The suspense in this book was great. The mass shooting was a relevant topic, but it was hard to read. Again there was a huge missed opportunity for the author to show the slow and painful road to recovery for Wren. Still I never seen the killer coming. OMG (view spoiler)[ Jude was the master mind. Amber was a shock too. (hide spoiler)] I was so shocked. Overall a really good read. I can't wait to read all the other sibling's stories. ...more
Surrender to the Cyborgs was such a meh read. It could have been better if it had some real plot to it. Instead the book was just MFM DP sex 2.5 Stars
Surrender to the Cyborgs was such a meh read. It could have been better if it had some real plot to it. Instead the book was just MFM DP sex with a light sprinkle of plot. I got bored quick and kept putting the book down. It took 2 days to finish this small book because it was repeat sex with no character or relationship build up. I didn't connect to anyone in this book and didn't care what happened so I won't be reading the next one. Sorry not for me ...more
I am newer to Corinne Michaels. I think I have read 2 other books of hers a while back and really liked them. I'm starting to notice that she has a writing style that I really enjoy. Beautiful HEA's without a ton of over the top forced angst. There seems to be a popular tend in romance right now were there is so much crazy over the top drama shoved into one books to see if they can shock the readers. What happens is it feels forced, fake and ridiculous. I mean come how many times can someone get raped, stabbed, shot, fall off a cliff, and still live? That was a made up and not from any book. The point is I don't care for the manufactured drama, so it's nice to read a contemporary romance that wasn't an eye roller or boring. I loved Return To Us. I loved Parkerson siblings. I loved Grayson, Jessica and I really loved Amelia.
Second chance romances are one of my favorite book tropes and this one is everything I love about this genre. Grayson and Jessica both really never stopped loving each other. They both hurt over the end of their relationship the first time. Neither acted like assholes. I liked that they both really cared about each other and that they didn't do petty baby things but handled everything like adults. They had a great connection in this book. Grayson was a good father and I love that Jessica really loved Amelia too. I hated Gray's parents. I was glad when Jess stuck up to their rich stuck up asses. I think Jack was great and I liked the town. Now let me just say that the part I liked the most besides the romance of course was that Jessica really struggled with TBI and the author really showed her struggles. It made it more relatable and realistic. The Jack and Stella drama at the end omg so good. I also love brother/ best friend romances so I can't wait to see what happens next. This was a great read that I was able to just relax and enjoy. ...more
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