Thursday, June 25, 2020

The Lanterns Ember by Colleen Houck

Hello again! Its my second day in a row getting some much needed down time from full time mommy life to bring you another book review. Thank you to my guy who is hanging out with our littles so I can take a break!
Synopsis:
Ember O'Dare has a secret. She's a natural born witch. From an early age, she's had a knack for crafting potions and felt and indescribable pull to the ancient bridge in her town of Hallowell. Little does Ember know, the bridge is a gateway to the otherworld, a realm crawling with fiendish beasts. And Jack, the ever-vigilant watchman, is committed to keeping meddlesome mortals away. His task is simple- or it would be, if he weren't falling for the very witch he's trying to keep out.
Undeterred by Jack's warnings, Ember crosses into the forbidden plane and sets off a chase through a world beyond her wildest imaginings. Now Jack must do everything in his power to rescue his true love before both the earthly and unearthly worlds descend into chaos.

Okay so, I waited for months for this book to be released because by the description alone I knew this was right up my alley. Witches, Halloween and a modern twist on the classic The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , I mean come on, what's not to love. I purchased it right before its release date so that it would arrive at my house upon its release. I read the first ten chapters and my life went bananas... literally crazy. Long story short, my dog got cancer, he fought for a couple months until he coul not fight any more and we put him to rest, then I took a part time job doing what I love to do, embroidery, I was in school and then we FINALLY got our transfer out of the crap town we were living in so I had to finish school, work and move with a one year old. Needless to say, reading was and has been on the back burner. In the last few weeks I have been listening to audiobooks like crazy and I saw that this book was available so I purchased it! But I digress...

Now Back to the book... Anyway because we had so much happening, I could not find the want to pick this book up again and every time I did I would get sidetracked or honestly a bit bored. There is a lull halfway through that is full of action and if you are like me you want the storyline to keep moving rather than have fluffer chapters that, in my opinion for this story, did not need to be as drawn out as they were and for me they detracted from the main premise. However I know that they do have their place and I think that most everyone will really enjoy these chapters. I have to say that the best elements of this book were the world building and the character development. It starts in this Sleepy Hollow-esque town called Hallowell that when you read the descriptions you feel like its Halloween in every scene. Then we visit the otherworld that reminded me of a steampunk underworld and by underworld I mean like one from Disney's Hercules. Then we are aboard the The Phanntom Airbus with a crew of monsters and a heated love triangle. By the end we are back in Hallowell which again is absolutely magical.

Then there are the characters. I will only talk about Ember and Jack as I want to limit spoilers as much as possible. Ember is a force! She is what you imagine a young, bright and beautiful witch to be. Imagined her as a Christina Ricci meets Mila Kunis kind of girl. Dark and beautiful but a bit rough around the edges (even if that's not how she is described) :) Then there is Jack. Be still my heart, how I loved Jack. He was dashing, and kind but he was not afraid to fight. He was masculine but not so much so that he was a muscle head (for lack of a better word) I Pictured him as Robert Sheehan with bright eyes, hark hair and Olive skin, of course even if he wasn't described that way.

I just have to say that while I was reading this, I was enjoying it but only at a 3.5/5 stars until the very end. The Epilogue alone made it a 5 star read for me. I wont give anything away, but if you are a history buff like I am then when you read it you will understand why I loved it so much. In fact I listened to it a couple more times after i finished because it was such a great way of tying in history to such a great story.

Like I said I gave this book 5 stars, and I think that it is a story that is appealing to many, especially Halloween/ Sleepy Hollow buffs like myself!

I hope you all enjoyed this review and I will plan on doing another soon!

Bye Friends

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

The Mister by E.L James

Hi friends and readers! I havent  had much time to blog this year. I think my last post was in February when i finished Open Book By Jessica Simpson! Well I am here today to talk about a book club read that i am happy i tried. Today we will be talking about The Mister By E.L James. If the authors name sounds familiar, thats because she is the same author that wrote the very popular Fifty Shades of Grey series. I ADORED fifty shades and Christian Grey is one of my favorite "Project" characters because he went from a broken shell of a sadist to a warm, trusting and loving man and husband to Ana. But enough about that, lets talk about her newest work The Mister .

SYNOPSIS:
London 2019. Life has been easy forMaxim Trevelyan. With his good looks, aristocratic connections, and money, hes never had to work and hes rarely slept alone. But all that changes when tragedy strikes and Maxim inherits his familys noble title, wealth and estates, and all the responsibility that entails. Its a role hes not prepared for and one that he struggles to face.
But his biggest challenge is fighting his desire for an unexpected, enigmatic young woman whos recently arrived in England, owning little more than a dangerous and troublesome past. Reticent, beautiful and musically gifted, shes an alluring mystery, and Maxims longing for her deepens into a passion that hes never experienced and dare not name. Just who us Alessia Demachi? and can Maxim protect her from the malevolence that threatens her? and what will she do when she learns that hes been hiding secrets of his own?
From the heart of London through wild Cornwall to the bleak, forbidding beauty of the Balkans, The Mister is a rollercoaster ride of danger and desire that leaves the reader breathless to the very last page.

Okay so First off let me just say I was VERY nervous to read this. I loves the Fifty Shades series so much that I just couldn't see how she would write something else as good. I was right in that sense. It was a good book, don't get me wrong but it still didn't hold a candle to Fifty Shades. I tell everyone this when I suggest this book or the others written by James, Her writing is not great, plain and simple HOWEVER she is good at writing Men. Her male characters could be considered physically perfect and perfect overall minus their GIANT flaws I.E Christian Grey is a rich Sadist and Maxim is a rich Man Whore! But the way she writes them makes you somewhat nervous and slightly uncomfortable to then being absolutely smitten with them, so I guess she is a great character writer.

Now for the flaw of this story. I have recommended it to friends who like these kinds of books but I always say "Its a European version of Fifty Shades" because it kind of is. The damaged boy falls for the shy virginal girl bringing her sexuality out and then falling in love and there is always some kind of danger. In this case Alessia is running from some human traffickers. So i would say if you are looking for a totally different love story from her previous works this is not for you, but if you love these kinds of romance novels then this is a page turner for sure.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars based on the fact that it is so similar but I was not as fond of the characters Maxim and Alessia as I was of Christian and Ana.

Well friends that wraps up tonights post. Stay tuned for what I hope will be another post next week!