Book Review: The Wall Of Storms by Ken Liu

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The Wall Of Storms
The Dandelion Dynasty #2
Author: Ken Liu
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Released: October 4 2016
Review Source: Saga Press

In the much-anticipated sequel to the “magnificent fantasy epic” (NPR) Grace of Kings, Emperor Kuni Garu is faced with the invasion of an invincible army in his kingdom and must quickly find a way to defeat the intruders.

Kuni Garu, now known as Emperor Ragin, runs the archipelago kingdom of Dara, but struggles to maintain progress while serving the demands of the people and his vision. Then an unexpected invading force from the Lyucu empire in the far distant west comes to the shores of Dara—and chaos results.

But Emperor Kuni cannot go and lead his kingdom against the threat himself with his recently healed empire fraying at the seams, so he sends the only people he trusts to be Dara’s savvy and cunning hopes against the invincible invaders: his children, now grown and ready to make their mark on history.

This book was not really up my alley. I usually love fantasy stories and I'm usually enthralled in them. This book was not to my liking unfortunately. I got lost in the characters and couldn't keep straight who was who and what was happening with each person. I can enjoy a good book with multiple characters with different character arcs, but for some reason when you throw me into a story about Dynasties I get confused. I also got confused while reading Game of Thrones so if you really enjoyed and were able to follow along with that book, you'll be able to follow along with this book!

Mini-Book Review: Stone Field by Christy Lenzi

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Stone Field
Author: Christy Lenzi
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction
Released: March 29 2016
Review Source: Roaring Brook Press

In a small town on the brink of the Civil War, Catrina finds a man making strange patterns in her family’s sorghum crop. He’s mad with fever, naked, and strikingly beautiful. He has no memory of who he is or what he’s done before Catrina found him in Stone Field. But that doesn’t bother Catrina because she doesn’t like thinking about the things she’s done before either.

Catrina and Stonefield fall passionately, dangerously, in love. All they want is to live with each other, in harmony with the land and away from Cat’s protective brother, the new fanatical preacher, and the neighbors who are scandalized by their relationship. But Stonefield can’t escape the truth about who he is, and the conflict tearing apart the country demands that everyone take a side before the bloodbath reaches their doorstep.

Inspired by Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.

Catrina finds a strange man in her family's sorghum crops. Having a strong pull to him but knowing how her brother will feel about this connection she has to decide whether to follow her heart, or if family is more important.

With this book being inspired by one of my all time favorite books ever, Wuthering Heights, I had assumed that I would enjoy this book...I was wrong.

This book had its adorable moments, who doesn't like a forbidden love story? But for me there were more moments that dragged.  I'm not sure why it dragged - it just did. I wanted more of a supernatural story - in my head because the man made crop circles. I wanted an alien. But that just wasn't the case - at least in the sense I was thinking at least.

Book Review: The One for Me by Sydney Landon

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The One for Me
Danvers #8
Author: Sydney Landon
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Released: February 2nd 2016
Review Source: Signet

The New York Times bestselling author of Watch Over Me delivers a steamy new novel of irresistible attraction in her popular Danvers series.

Mark DeSanto has never denied himself anything—especially in the bedroom. Rich, attractive, and successful, men envy him and women desire him. But when a sweet, guileless beauty faints at his feet, he suddenly finds himself wondering if it’s time to look for something more lasting...

Until her divorce, Crystal Webber never knew what it was like to follow her heart. Now she wants to experience all life has to offer. So when she catches a glimpse of Mark DeSanto in the halls of Danvers International, she’s instantly infatuated—and eager to join him for a walk on the wild side. Fainting at his feet wasn’t her plan, but at least it got his attention...

But for the first time, Mark wants to take things slow, which—considering the electricity between them—may take far more willpower than he’s ever had.

This is an Adult romance novel recommended for ages 18+ due to sexual content and mature subject matter.

When it comes to the Danvers series, I am usually all over. I love this series! Really, everyone should be reading this series. The characters are easily lovable and the stories are fun and sweet. So it breaks my heart to say this, The One for Me was less that what I am used to with this series.

I don't mind when the characters fall in love the instant they meet. As long as they give time to know each other and just make the pacing good. With The One for Me, the story felt forced. The characters were all wrong, for each other... Okay, maybe not for each other, but the way they were introduced to each other was so... fake. However, what bother me the most was the fact that Mark kept calling Crystal "Angel". Like honey, we get it, she is your angel. Stop calling her angel in every sentences. "I love you, Angel", "I think I need you, Angel"... Seriously, is it necessary to call a person you just met angel in every sentences? I think not.

Mark is supposed to be this successful and sexy man, but this "angel" phrased killed his image for me. To top it off, he's supposed to be into kinky things but he was way too sweet... Sometimes this is good but with this story, it didn't work. At one point of the story, you want a strong-tough man. I'm sorry but I couldn't see him as this image he is supposed to be.

I'm usually a fan of Sydney's work, but this story didn't do it for me. It got to a point that I started to skim through her story. I will read her next story, but honestly, I hope it's nothing like this one.

Book Review: Where Futures End By Parker Peevyhouse

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Where Futures End
Author: Parker Peevyhouse
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Released: February 9 2016
Review Source: Kathy Dawson Books

Five teens. Five futures. Two worlds. One ending.

One year from now, Dylan develops a sixth sense that allows him to glimpse another world.

Ten years from now, Brixney must get more hits on her social media feed or risk being stuck in a debtors' colony.

Thirty years from now, Epony scrubs her entire online profile from the web and goes “High Concept.”

Sixty years from now, Reef struggles to survive in a city turned virtual gameboard.

And more than a hundred years from now, Quinn uncovers the alarming secret that links them all.

Five people, divided by time, will determine the fate of us all. These are stories of a world bent on destroying itself, and of the alternate world that might be its savior--unless it's too late.

I was so intrigued by this book. The summary sounds amazing. Most of the time I don't read a books summary so I don't get my hopes up: but every once in a while I will. And because I read this one I thought that I was about to get taken on an epic adventure.

First off - one thing I don't like in books is long chapters. When I'm reading I hate stopping in the middle of a chapter, therefore I will read until the end of the chapter. That is near impossible to do with Where Futures End. Each character gets a chapter for themselves. So that's 5 chapters in a 289 page book. While some might love this, a reader who is staying up way past her bed time to read and needs a good stopping point wouldn't enjoy this as much.

While the story is an adventure I feel that it took too long to hook readers. The first chapter was super slow going for me. I also found myself imagining Dylan as a child and then I would realize that he was a teenager who was actually suppose to be closer to my age than I was picturing. I like this idea of having 5 main characters, with their own stories to tell that lead up to the same ending, but I feel like it wasn't executed as well as it could have been.

Mini-Book Review: Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

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Shallow Graves
Author: Kali Wallace
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Released: January 26th 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

 

For fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma, a gripping, hauntingly atmospheric novel about murder, revenge, and a world where monsters—human and otherwise—lurk at the fringes.

When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

Tense, complex, and wholly engaging, Shallow Graves is a stunning first novel from Kali Wallace.

Shallow Graves is a story I was really looking forward to read. When I read the synopsis, the story reminded me of the Lovely Bones. A murder in a sense of paranormal? Yes, please! And you all know I love sad stories.

I'm not saying I am disappointed with the outcome, okay, maybe I am. What I am trying to say is this is not the story I was hoping for. The fact that I could not connect with any of the characters was another issue. However, I do have to say this story is full of adventures. Although most leave you confused, as the plot is all over, there is action and you wish you were part of the gang. There are mysteries, more obvious than others. Yet the ones that you cannot make sense of, are the ones you want to slap yourself for not making the connections.

I would say if you love mythical creatures, monsters and explorations, then this book is for you. As for me, I guess I was in the mood for a sad story and less of mythical creatures at the time that made me not enjoy the story much.

Book Review: Loud is How I Love You by Mercy Brown

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Loud is How I Love You
Hub City #1
Author: Mercy Brown
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: January 19th 2016
Review Source: InterMix

One girl’s heart gets rocked to the core in the first novel in this sexy New Adult series.

Twenty-one-year-old front girl Emmylou knows that getting her band noticed in the ‘90s indie rock scene will be no easy task. She definitely knows better than to break the number one rule of the band: Don't sleep with your bandmates! But after she ends up having the best sex of her life with her guitarist, Travis, she finds following that rule is a lot harder than it sounds.

When the band gets the gig of their dreams, making it big seems just within reach. But Emmy’s inability to keep her hands off Travis threatens everything they’ve worked for. Can Emmy find a way to break the rules and not blow the chance of a lifetime?

This is heartbreaking! With the amazing cover and the great synopsis, I thought I would be head over heels with this love story. However, I tried my best to make the best, but the more I tried, the more Emmy was testing me. Her excuses became really old, really quick and it got to the point, I wanted to smack her. Really really hard. I know, I sound so violent. But the way she annoyed me, a good smack would help her out. Especially when you really want to love the story, as everyone else is amazing. But there is ONE character that has to ruin it. And this was Emmy, our main character!

Don't get me wrong, I loved Travis, Cole and Joey. They were amazing. They really are. But my issue, my biggest issue was Emmy. This girl kept changing her mind over and over and over again. She kept making annoying and inconsiderate saying and very hurtful  moves. Like girl, take a chill pill. The boy loves you, why must you not go with the flow? Sure, you can make mistakes, but when you start giving someone hope just to let them down only to give hope again and to put them break them again, yeah... it becomes OLD AND ANNOYING! She just kept hurting her loves ones.

If Emmy wasn't as annoying, then I know for a fact, I would've enjoyed this story. I loved Travis with all my heart. Emmy should've appreciated him more. He is worthy! If I were Travis, I would've moved on and left her bipolar self alone. Come to me, Travis. I will be better! HAHA.

Book Review: Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer

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Thicker Than Water
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genres: Paranormal
Release Date: December 29th 2015
Publisher: Kensington Books
 

On his own

Thomas Bellweather hasn’t been in town long. Just long enough for his newlywed mother to be murdered, and for his new stepdad’s cop colleagues to decide Thomas is the primary suspect.

Not that there’s any evidence. But before Thomas got to Garretts Mill there had just been one other murder in twenty years.

The only person who believes him is Charlotte Rooker, little sister to three cops and, with her soft hands and sweet curves, straight-up dangerous to Thomas. Her best friend was the other murder vic. And she’d like a couple answers.

Answers that could get them both killed, and reveal a truth Thomas would die to keep hidden…

When I received this book I was excited to read something that was both mystery/suspense and romance, since I find them to be the best of both worlds, usually.

It starts off with the character, Thomas Bellweather, trying to prepare himself emotionally for his mother’s funeral. We come to find out that she was brutally murdered in her own bed, not too long after her wedding to a local Garrets Mill policeman, Stan. Not only is this disturbing reality haunting him every day and night, but also he now feels completely alone and isolated.

When Thomas gets to his mom’s funeral, he realizes everyone stays away from him, as if he’s guilty of committing this horrific murder. Plus, he doesn’t know anyone in the town of Garret Mills so it doesn’t help his case. Enter Charlotte Rooker, town sweetheart and comes from a family of cops – father and three brothers included. At the funeral, Charlotte is the only one to show him any kindness and that’s when all the troubles start unfolding.

For over two-hundred pages, we are in suspense and holding onto our seats gripping it tightly until our knuckles turn white, only to realize, at the last moment of the plot twist, that you were thrown off completely but should have known all along. I finished the book feeling disappointed and let down. Especially since over three quarters of the book was building up until the final moments and it was not what I expected.

I was hoping the ending would have clarity and finality to it, but it did not - it felt a little rushed in the end, and as a bookworm who loves to read, it will take a couple days to shake off the disappointed, frustrated and a little depressed feeling I now carry with me. I had high hopes and was sad it ended so abruptly the way it did. I’m hoping Brigid Kemmerer decides to make a sequel to this book that way we can either get real closure in the second installment or delve a little deeper into what happens after Thomas and Charlotte breathe a sigh of relief.

FYI:

Kensington has re-released the digital versions of all five novels in Brigid's Elementals series with all new covers and specialty pricing (99 cents-$4.99) through January 3.

Book Review: Wild Cat by Christine Feehan

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Wild Cat
Leopard People #8
Author: Christine Feehan
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Romance
Released: November 24th 2015
Review Source: Jove

In the new Leopard novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Cat’s Lair and Leopard’s Prey, passions explode like wildfire when a young woman’s feral instincts are ignited by a man who’s too dangerous not to desire…

A simple request for Siena Arnotto: deliver a gift to her grandfather’s friend. One look at Elijah Lospostos, hard-bodied and stripped to the waist, and Siena succumbs to a feline stirring she never felt before, and to Elijah’s reckless and pleasurable demands. But when that pulse-throbbing moment ends in the murder of an unexpected intruder, Elijah accuses the shaken and confused Siena of setting him up.

Then Siena discovers the truth of her Leopard heritage, of the secrets in her grandfather’s inner circle, and the sinister plot of revenge that has put her in jeopardy. When Siena’s grandfather is assassinated, she realizes the only man she can trust is Elijah. Now as her Leopard rises from within, Siena and Elijah share not only an animal instinct for survival—but a desire so raw and wild it may be the only thing that can save them.

My name is Izzie (my Dapper Animals pseudonym) and I run Dapper Animals, a site dedicated to living the cute life and reading awesome books.

I had the pleasure of meeting Leydy (Once Upon a Twilight) at a South Florida Bloggers event at Books & Books. It was book love at first site :) We were discussing one of our favorite genres, Young Adult Fiction, and I mentioned that one of my issues with this genre was the lack of sex. Lo and behold, Leydy whips out a blue paperback book out of her tote bag and gives it to me. The book was an ARC of Wild Cat by Christine Feehan. She said if I wanted to, I could guest post a review about Wild Cat on Once Upon a Twilight. I was honored and excited to read this new ARC. Specially since it seemed to be a shifter book and I love me some shifter romance action.

After a couple of pages into Wild Cat the saying, "Be careful what you wish for", quickly came to mind.

The book started off with a BANG! As in banging. The main characters were already getting it on in the first 20 pages. I happened to start reading this book during my lunch break and trust me, I did not want to go back to work. I just wanted to keep on reading! The storyline started strong and reeled me in.

Leopard shifter, Siena, does not know she is a shifter or part of a leopard crime boss family. Siene is used, unbeknownst to her, as a decoy to kill the family's enemies. Her latest target is Elijah, who happens to be her childhood crush. She has also been promised to her grandfather's sadistic second in command.

These premises could have made for a great book. Unfortunately, the book sizzled out after the main character's got together which is pretty much at the beginning of the book. There's no tension or chemistry between the characters. The characters are flat and one dimensional making them boring and not likable. Also, the heroine has no backbone and lets herself be bossed around all the time by her alpha mate.

Believe it or not, I also had an issue with the sex scenes. I know, I know! I'm of the camp that believes the more sexy time there is in a book, the better. This book went way overboard with the sex scenes. I think they were trying to hide the fact that the book has no good storyline/plot. It got to a point that I was bored with the sex scenes, mainly because I didn't care about the characters and was not emotionally invested. Also, there was A LOT of oral action going on. A LOT.

If you're looking for an erotica book where the main female character is submissive in every way and not just in bed, then this might be the book for you. If you are looking for a good shifter romance novel, then I would not recommend you pick this book. Specially if it's your first time reading this genre. I would recommend Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series for a strong and kick ass heroine and Nalini Singh's Psy-changeling series for loads of steamy sex scenes.

Thank you Leydy for letting me guest post and for giving me this ARC! I really wanted to like this book and get hooked on another shifter romance series. This wasn't the book for me, but if you're still interested in reading Wild Cat it is available!

Book Review: Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt

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Dream Things True
Author: Marie Marquardt
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: September 1st 2015
Review Source: St. Martin's Griffin | ReadingTeen

A modern-day Romeo and Juliet story in which a wealthy Southern boy falls in love with an undocumented Mexican girl and together they face perils in their hostile Georgia town.

Evan, a soccer star and the nephew of a conservative Southern Senator, has never wanted for much -- except a functional family. Alma has lived in Georgia since she was two-years-old, excels in school, and has a large, warm Mexican family. Never mind their differences, the two fall in love, and they fall hard. But when ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) begins raids on their town, Alma knows that she needs to tell Evan her secret. There's too much at stake. But how to tell her country-club boyfriend that she’s an undocumented immigrant? That her whole family and most of her friends live in the country without permission. What follows is a beautiful, nuanced, well-paced exploration of the complications of immigration, young love, defying one’s family, and facing a tangled bureaucracy that threatens to completely upend two young lives.

I’m well aware of undocumented immigrants as I was one of them when I first entered this country. Although the story touches this topic, it really doesn’t go too in-depth into the matter. Which was a bit disappointing and the lack of chemistry between the main characters didn’t really help.

With a gorgeous cover and interesting synopsis, I believed I would love this story. Hello, a modern Romeo and Juliet story?! YES, please. Yet, the story felt short to its mark. The romance was less than okay. What bother me the most is that I just couldn’t click with Alma and Evan. At all. I didn’t buy their romance. Their interactions were dull and. it. just. didn’t. work.

However, the only thing I enjoyed about this story is the way I was rooting for the Garcia family. Their struggle are real and you just wanted to lend a hand. The constant fear of being caught and being deported. I wish the story would tell us more about them overall.

Dream Things True is an okay read. Some questions were unanswered due to much drama on Evan’s part. And the no translation on most parts, this will be a difficult read for those who cannot understand Spanish. Not really an ideal read.

Thanks, Andye for the copy!