Review: Bride by Ali Hazelwood

About the Book

A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again...

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

Review

Bride completely blew me away. Admittedly, when I saw so much praise for this book, I was slightly worried. I didn’t want to go in with high expectations and be disappointed. On the other hand, I also saw almost the same amount of people not being able to finish this book because they felt it was “silly.” I was conflicted. This book isn’t some groundbreaking masterpiece, but it’s my first five-star read of the year. 

I have zero complaints about this one. When I think about my experience while reading this book, all I can think about is how much fun I had and how I was utterly sucked in. 

The plot of Bride is very simple. It’s a modern-day vampire and werewolf story. Like most in this genre, the vampire (or vampyres) and werewolf don’t get along. Each of group has their own designated area in North America and doesn’t mix. They also don’t mix with humans unless necessary. Our female lead, Misery, has lived amongst humans for years. She’s never felt like she belonged with the vampyres and certainly doesn’t belong with the human. However, she’s willing to mold herself to fit. Misery was a heartbreaking character. From a young age, she’s been a pawn of her father’s, and the poor girl is just trying to find her own. The only person she truly has is her best friend ---Serene. Her best friend is the reason that she agrees to marry Lowe. 

I want to personally thank Ali Hazelwood for giving readers tiny peeps into Lowe’s mind. For all of the chapters before Misery’s POV begins, there’s a paragraph or a sentence of what he’s thinking. I am forever in debt to Ali. Lowe is a character who is powerful, dangerous, and dedicated to his pack. He also loves his little sister—Ana. What I loved about his character is that he wasn’t a typically grumpy male lead. He’s also very empathetic. 

Final Thoughts 

Bride is currently my favorite book of the year. I will proudly shout that from the skies. I enjoyed this book. Misery had such a wonderful, dry sense of humor, and I found her charming. And Lowe is also incredible in his own right. I could read a thousand books about them. Bride has a fantastic cast of supporting characters, too. Ana, Lowe’s little sister, deserves her shoutout. I mentioned earlier that I had no complaints about this book, and I’m going to change that and say that my only complaint is that there was not enough Ana.

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Review: Rise of the Cinder by Whitney Dean

About the Book

Born and raised in the forgotten and broken kingdom of Ashbury, Elora has spent years resenting the royals of Pumpkin Hollow, the kingdom that forced the fall of Ashbury and procured the town as its own.

Separated by a mysterious glass bridge, Ashbury is treated as the orphan kingdom, left to squander and starve with only the promise of protection from King Jasper, preventing anyone outside their realm from searching for the magic that lay within the ashy valleys and red skies.

Because twenty-five years ago, the Cinder Fae arrived. As mysterious as the magic encompassing Ashbury, the Cinder Fae bargained for their lives by promising to keep the entire realm warm with their ability to mine mountainsides into coal.

But Elora and the Cinder Fae hold a secret that could bring the end to Ashbury and the mysterious winged creatures, who, despite Elora's best efforts to pry, refuse to share where they came from or why they can't return.

In her desperation to prevent the downfall of her kingdom and the death of her beloved Fae, Elora drinks from an enchanted spring, convinced she can make the prince of Pumpkin Hollow fall in love with her and guarantee their safety.

But magic takes to give.

And Elora didn't realize her heart would be the sacrifice.

Review

I'm not entirely sure how to rate Rise of the Cinder Fae. On one hand, I finished the book without being overly disappointed. On the other, I had issues with how the story was composed. As the book progressed, it felt like the author was still figuring out the fantasy aspect. The author would introduce ideas, and those ideas didn't feel as migrated into the story or feel organic. There were several instances where something was being introduced, and I wondered what that had to do with the overarching plot. Other ideas –like the Fae—would be dropped for several chapters and turned out to be less prominent than the title promises. 

At its core, this book is a dark Cinderella retelling. Not all the plot points within Cinderella were hit; however, you best believe there were pumpkins. Lots and lots of pumpkins. Oh, and the kingdom was called Pumpkin Hollow. That part felt a bit silly to me. 

Final Thoughts 

Rise of the Cinder felt like a bunch of pieces trying to fit together, and it mostly did not work. The book felt overly long at times. The romance was fine. At the beginning of Elora and Finnian's relationship, there were several moments that I really enjoyed from them. I think I enjoyed the earlier parts more. The later parts of them felt repetitious. In summary, I would have loved this book if it felt more focused and edited. 

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Review: Head Over Heels by Karla Sorensen

About the Book

There’s only one course of action when your dad wants you to marry a clammy-handed wimp to make one of his board members happy—you get yourself stuck in an elevator with a hot stranger and have the steamiest make-out session of your life. Years of etiquette lessons went out the window thanks to Cameron Wilder, who managed to unleash my hidden bad girl with naught but his talented mouth and deliciously rough hands.

Afterward, he went back to his small-town life, and I marched home to inform my dad there would be no business-centric nuptials. As punishment, he shipped me off to Sisters, Oregon and demanded I turn a healthy profit on a not-so-healthy property.

You see where I’m going with this—the buttoned-up city girl stuck in a small town hires a local builder to help her … and he’s the hot stranger from the elevator. Turns out, I have a weakness for the broad-shouldered nice guy who’s not so nice behind closed doors. Keeping things professional gets harder the longer I’m in town, until the only lesson I have left to learn is how to keep both our hearts from getting broken.

Review

Head Over Heels might be one of my favorite books of the year. I absolutely adored this one, and even days later, I’m still just as obsessed with it as I was while reading. I hadn’t known this book was a part of a series, nor did I know that all of Karla Sorensen’s books were a part of a shared universe. I found that fact interesting, and I’m almost determined to dive into the entire universe. 

One of my favorite things about this book was the family-- the Wilder family. I loved their dynamics, and each other their relationship with Cameron, the main male lead. There’s a lot of history there, and even though I hadn’t read the other books about Cameron’s siblings, the history was still easy to follow. In fact, it made me want to go back and read the previous books. 

Speaking of Cameron. I loved him. He has golden retriever energy, but he’s also a little stubborn. At one point in the story, someone mentioned that he had the desire to save everyone. I think that really summed him up. Despite him and Ivy having a rocky/awkward post-meeting relationship, he wanted to ensure that she was okay, and he saw through her façade. Cameron had the patience that Ivy needed in her life. He wasn’t perfect by any means. He still had his ghosts and issues. 

As for Ivy, she’s my favorite type of female main lead. I’ve always loved main characters with thick skin; however, they are dealing with a lot, but they put on a brave face. There’s so much to Ivy’s character. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when she’s invited to dinner with Cameron’s family. She takes the time to learn something new. She’s determined, and even though labels have been placed on her for her entire life, she’s constantly proving them all to be incorrect. She is someone who cares about people. 

I appreciated her character development. Though, I would have preferred there to be more focus on her learning about her mother. I’m still pleased with what I got with Ivy. 

I have no complaints about the romance. It was amazing. I live and breathe them. They created the standard for me this year. 

I was fully prepared to give this book five stars. The only reason that I did not is because of the ending. I want to begin by saying that there were no lows for this book. Everything was the highest of highs until the end. To me, the ending didn’t feel like an ending. There’s more story to tell. Part of this could be me wanting to never let go of the characters; however, I feel like Ivy and Cameron deserve a better epilogue. And maybe, Karla has written it as a bonus, and I just haven’t looked hard enough. 

Final Thoughts 

Before writing this review, I knew I loved Head Over Heels. And as I wrote it, I realized that I loved it more, something that I hadn’t thought was possible. There was something so beautiful about the characters and romance. The story is emotional, heartbreaking, and engaging. I might have had issues with the ending, but I still absolutely loved this one.

Review: Thirty Day Boyfriend by Whitney G

About the Book

I should've never agreed to this arrangement...

Thirty days ago, my boss--Mr. Wolf of Wall Street--came to me with an offer I couldn't refuse: Sign my name on the dotted line and pretend to be his fiancée for one month. If I agreed, he would let me out of my employment contract with a "very generous" severance package.

The rules were pretty simple: No intimate kissing, no actual sex. Just pretend to love each other for the press, even though I've secretly wanted to knock that sexy smirk off his face since the first day we met.

I definitely didn't need to think twice about this. I signed my name and started counting down the seconds to when I would never have to deal with his special brand of a**-holery again.

Review

I feel as if I have read this book a thousand times. The rude boss needs his assistant to pose as his fiancé or girlfriend to close a big deal. The assistant is the only one who can handle the boss and gives everything she has into her job but she’s very unhappy and wants to quit. They enter this fake relationship, and then surprise! The boss secretly has been in love with his assistant for years and never told her. I’m quite fond of this trope; however, the trope has unfortunately been watered down to the same plot beats. 

Thirty Day Boyfriend adds nothing new to this plot. The romance feels stale at times. There was no true connection to the characters, and the only thing believable between them was their attraction to each other. I would have preferred for the characters to be more fleshed out. Especially, Emily. She wanted so badly to be removed from her contract, but the writing didn’t provide insight into what she wanted next. 

Final Thoughts

Thirty Day Boyfriend adds nothing new to the boss/secretary trope. It feels like it was written using a template. There are no substances to this story, and neither characters nor the romance are memorable.   

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Review: You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time: Rules for Couples by Patricia Marx and Roz Chast (Illustrator)

About the Book

The perfect Valentine’s Day or anniversary gift: An illustrated collection of love and relationship advice from New Yorker writer Patricia Marx, with illustrations from New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast.

Everyone’s heard the old advice for a healthy relationship: Never go to bed angry. Play hard to get. Sexual favors in exchange for cleaning up the cat vomit is a good and fair trade.

Okay, not that last one. It’s one of the tips in You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time: Rules for Couples by the authors of Why Don’t You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It: A Mother’s Suggestions. This guide will make you laugh, remind you why your relationship is better than everyone else’s, and solve all your problems.

Nuggets of advice include:

If you must breathe, don’t breathe so loudly.

It is easier to stay inside and wait for the snow to melt than to fight about who should shovel.

Queen-sized beds, king-sized blankets.

Why not give this book to your significant or insignificant other, your anti-Valentine’s Day crusader pal, or anyone who can’t live with or without love?

Review

This was an immediate first sight grab. The title caught my attention immediately without a second glance to what the book was about. This might not be for everyone but the humor and wit will bring out a smile. The illustrations complement the advice and tips given throughout the book. This is one that couples can share among each other with some laughs and hopefully realize being with each other isn’t so bad. 

Overall, this was a quick read that was witty with great illustrations. Couples might enjoy it together but the romantic advice is relatable to everyone even if you’re not with anyone. You can still enjoy the intent of the book. 

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Audiobook Review: The Ark of Taste: Delicious and Distinctive Foods That Define the United States by David S Shields and Giselle Kennedy Lord

About the Book

Explore and enjoy the heritage foods that give the United States its culinary identity, from heirloom tomatoes to Tupelo honey, in this visual volume for curious eaters, gardeners and home cooks.

The Ark of Taste is a living catalog of our nation's food heritage preserving treasures passed down for generations—some rare, some endangered, all delicious.

Created by Slow Food USA, the Ark shines light on history, identity, and taste through these unique food products, featuring recipes and the stories of how they reach our tables In these pages you'll learn about: 

• Carolina Gold rice

• Wellfleet oysters

• Cherokee Purple tomatoes

• The Moon and Stars watermelon

• Black Republican cherries

• Candy Roaster squash, and more

These foods reflect our country's diversity. By championing them, we keep them in production and on our plates, while promoting a more equitable alternative to industrial agriculture.

The Ark of Taste is a vital resource for all of us who spend the summer searching for that perfectly ripe peach or heirloom tomato—or who are simply looking for the next good thing to eat. 

Review

If you love food or just want to be more active in promoting and preserving farm to table, then this is an amazing book to look into. As an audiobook, I found this so interesting. The narrator had my interest from beginning to end. She was so wonderful to listen to. Her narration gave a voice to the past and present that brought these foods alive. Learning their origin, cultures, recipes and history of foods that were new to me truly inspired me to want to get the book.

In a time where food cost is on the rise, there’s no better time to invest in local farmers. With big corporations monopolizing the market and bioengineered foods replacing traditional ones, eating foods that grow in their intended natural habitat is something we should look more into exploring. There clearly is a wide world of food out there that many of us don’t know about that not only sounds delicious but has amazing stories and histories that need to be preserved. This book sounds like the perfect place to start.

Overall, I thought this was a wonderful audiobook that was not only interesting but informative and encouraging. This would be perfect for listeners who are visually impaired. I thought it was such a great touch to separate by regions. It allows those in those areas a great starting point to explore. This book hopefully will promote more interest in local farmers. For the food enthusiasts or if you love food from the farms to your tables, this will definitely inspire conversation and explorative interest the next time you go to the farmers market. 

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