WWW Wednesday: 30th January 2019

January 30, 2019January 29, 2019 Ali@abookishlife33 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece Yet again I’m not really reading anything right this very moment. I just finished a book on Monday night and have been feeling too tired to start anything new.

I am still listening to Mythos by Stephen Fry on audio and making some not bad progress despite not doing much driving which is when I do most of my listening. So far I’m really enjoying it. There have been a few parts which seemed almost like lists, who was descended from who, what they are known for, which words are derived from their name, but there are some great stories in there too.

Recently Finished

My focus over the last week or so has been on finishing writing up some reviews to try and clear off my NetGalley shelf so I’ve been mostly re reading over the last week rather than starting anything new. I have this terrible habit of finishing a book and instead of writing up a review (or at least the notes for one) I pick up my next book. It’s great at the time but not so good four months later when you finally get around to writing said review and have to resort to reading the blurb to remember what it was about.

Rather than reading blurbs I decided this time to skim through the books and ended up just reading them. It was The Kiss Quotient and The Other Miss Bridgerton both of which are fantastic (and very addictive) so I was more than happy to read them again (and the reviews are now drafted).

The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient #1) The Other Miss Bridgerton (Rokesbys, #3) The Enchanted Sonata

I did pick up one new book this week, The Enchanted Sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork, but unfortunately it was a little bit of a disappointment. I loved the concept of it (a retelling of the Nutcracker with some Pied Piper thrown in) and there are some magical moments but the writing was a little clunky. It’s not terrible, it just didn’t live up to expectations.

Reading Next

As is the norm for me in January and February I’m working crazy hours so not sure I want to start any of the books I’ve been overly excited about until I can properly enjoy them. I do have some library books that should be easy and enjoyable reads so I think I’m going to focus on them for a bit.

Next up I suspect will be book 9 in the Charley Davidson series which I picked up last week, hopefully that’ll get me closer to reading that ARC of book 13. My hold on the fourth Wayward Children book In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire also came in so I don’t think I’m going to be able to resist for long. And speaking of things I can’t resist I don’t think I’ll be able to wait much longer to read 99 Percent Mine.

The Dirt on Ninth Grave (Charley Davidson, #9) In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children, #4) 99 Percent Mine

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

Teaser Tuesday: King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

January 29, 2019 Ali@abookishlife5 Comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purple Booker. If you want to join in grab your current read, flick to a random page, select two sentences (without spoilers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments of The Purple Booker.

I know I’m really late with my teaser this week but I wanted to post something from King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo and I only managed to get my hands on a copy a few hourss ago. I am ridiculously excited about this book, I feel like I’ve been waiting since Siege and Storm for Nikolai to get his own book and it’s here at last (I’m kind of scared to read it).

Anyway, as I haven’t even started it yet you can have a few sentences from the first chapter, I’m not risking skimming any further forward 🙂

My Teaser

“Listen,” said Pyotr, and as the wind shook the roof of the house and the fire sputtered in the grate, Dima thought he heard something more than the storm – a high, distant cry like the yowl of a hungry animal or the wailing of a child. “When the wind blows through the graveyard, it wakes the spirits of all the babies who died before they could be given their Saints’ names. Malenchki. They go looking for souls to steal so they can barter their way into heaven.”

Pg 5 King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Blurb

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

WWW Wednesday: 23rd January 2019

January 23, 2019January 22, 2019 Ali@abookishlife20 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece Ummm… I’m kind of between books at the moment. I finished one at the weekend and between work and not feeling particularly great I haven’t started anything new yet.

On audio, I lost my hold on the Diviners by Libba Bray yet again (I still have 10 hours to go) but I’m kind of ok with that as the hold I’d placed ages ago on Mythos by Stephen Fry came in. Stephen Fry also narrates which is a bonus as he really is a wonderful narrator. I’m only a couple of hours in (creation of the earth) but finding it absolutely fascinating. I knew bits and pieces of the myths but nothing like the detail and depth in this. Myths have always been something I’ve loved so have high hopes for this.

Recently Finished

It’s been a bit of an odd reading week for me, work has gone crazy as it always tends to in January, so I’ve been finding it difficult to focus on any one book and have had days where I’m just too tired to read anything. I did however manage to finish a couple of books, the first of which was Slayer by Kiersten White, which I’d received from NetGalley.

I am the biggest Buffy fan so I was very excited to get my hands on a new book by White set in the Buffyverse and it’s really great. It took a little while to get going, there’s a lot of backstory to get through in the beginning, but once it got past that I very much enjoyed it. It’s a little light on feels and the story is a little predictable but it’s got a similar feel to the show and a lot of the same humour. It is the first in a series so I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for the next one. A Curse So Dark and Lonely

Second book finished was actually a re read of A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. I got this from NetGalley way back in August last year and couldn’t resist reading immediately. I did not however review it so when I realised it was due out and I needed to get my review written I thought I should have a quick skim through to refresh my memory… and a quick skim through turned into a full re read. It just sucked me in yet again. Harper is such a wonderful main character you can’t help but get behind her and I loved how unique the author made a story that’s been told hundreds of times before. If you like retellings I highly recommend.

Reading Next

January is proving to be a bumper month for new books so I think the remainder of the month is going to be taken up with them rather than ARCs. I bought a copy of The Wicked King by Holly Black and have pre ordered King of Scars and 99 Percent Mine (all of which are on my most anticipated list) so I think they’ll be up soon.

The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2) King of Scars (Nikolai Duology, #1) 99 Percent Mine

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

Teaser Tuesday: A Curse So Dark & Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

January 22, 2019January 20, 2019 Ali@abookishlifeLeave a comment

This week my teaser comes from Beauty and the Beast retelling A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. I received this from NetGalley during the summer last year and being the biggest fan of retellings I couldn’t resist reading immediately. Needless to say while I loved it I did not write a review or any kind of notes after I finished so ended up re reading it over the weekend to refresh my memory. And, it was just as good as the first time. I’ve read quite a few Beauty and the Beast retellings and I think this is one of the best.

My Teaser

“What would you have done,” I ask quietly, “if we had not arrived?”

“Did you see their swords?” she says against my back. “I’m pretty sure I would have died.”

loc 718 A Curse So Dark & Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Blurb

In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer.

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

WWW Wednesday: 16th January 2019

January 16, 2019January 14, 2019 Ali@abookishlife13 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Pretty safe to say my reading plans went out the window when my NetGalley request for Slayer by Kiersten White was approved. I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer so I’ve been really looking forward to this book and while it’s still relatively early days it is not disappointing. There’s a lot of the same humor the show has and I’m loving all of the references to the characters I love, although so far none have actually appeared yet 😦

On audio, I’m still working my way through The Diviners by Libba Bray. I did manage to make some decent progress at the weekend while I was out digging up the garden (I’m starting a veg garden in preparation for the Brexit food shortages … no not really). Not convinced though I’m going to get it finished before it returns itself to the library this weekend.

Recently Finished

I’ve had a great reading week with three books finished and all of them pretty great albeit very different. The first book finished was Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre which I’d received from NetGalley. I’ve been a big fan of Brookmyre for a long time so I was very excited about a new standalone contemporary thriller from him (he’s been venturing into some unusual territory with his last few books) and it proved to be a great read. Conspiracy theories, narcissistic personalities and family secrets (pretty much all of my fave things) play a big part of this story and there are some wonderfully well developed, and horrid, characters to enjoy. A little too early for a full review but yep, I’d recommend.

Next up was Eighth Grave After Dark by Darynda Jones, the eighth book in the Charley Davidson series. I am completely addicted to this series about a private investigator who’s also the grim reaper. I have to admit however that while I did enjoy it I do think this is the weakest book in the series so far. There were some big events and reveals but I felt like not very much happened. There were also a couple of little inconsistencies and actions that didn’t really make sense and some foreshadowing of what’s to come that’s rather concerning. It did still make me laugh and I love the characters so will read on but keeping everything crossed what I think is coming won’t actually happen.

Third and final book finished was I Owe You One by another long time fave author Sophie Kinsella. It feels like forever since I managed to read a book by Kinsella so it was really nice to sink into one again, and yeah I really disappeared into this one. I started it early afternoon on Saturday and read the whole thing in pretty much one go (I did break for food occasionally). I should hopefully have review up this week but if you’ve read Kinsella’s other books, think Got Your Number. It’s not quite as funny but has the same kind of characters and chemistry.

Reading Next

I probably need to slow down a little on my reading to catch up with some reviews but if I get the chance I would like to pick up Twisted by Steve Cavanagh, I did read the first few pages on Friday but then Slayer came in so it got kind of bumped down the list a bit. I may also attempt to pick up one of my older galleys. I’m thinking possibly The Trouble with Emma by Katie Oliver which has been on my shelf for almost three years.

Twisted The Trouble With Emma

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

Teaser Tuesday: Slayer by Kiersten White

January 15, 2019January 14, 2019 Ali@abookishlife5 Comments

This week my teaser comes from Buffy the Vampire inspired/spin off Slayer by Kiersten White. I am the most humongous fan of Buffy and have watched every episode of the show multiple times so I was ridiculously excited to get this book from NetGalley at the end of last week. I’m only around 20% in and am just so happy to be back in this world I’m pretty much just fangirling rather than paying any attention to the story.

My Teaser

“Didn’t you notice that day the sky burst open and there were earthquakes and tsunamis and stuff?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Global warming.”

loc 330 Slayer by Kiersten White

Blurb

Into every generation a Slayer is born…

Nina and her twin sister, Artemis, are far from normal. It’s hard to be when you grow up at the Watcher’s Academy, which is a bit different from your average boarding school. Here teens are trained as guides for Slayers—girls gifted with supernatural strength to fight the forces of darkness. But while Nina’s mother is a prominent member of the Watcher’s Council, Nina has never embraced the violent Watcher lifestyle. Instead she follows her instincts to heal, carving out a place for herself as the school medic.

Until the day Nina’s life changes forever.

Thanks to Buffy, the famous (and infamous) Slayer that Nina’s father died protecting, Nina is not only the newest Chosen One—she’s the last Slayer, ever. Period.

As Nina hones her skills with her Watcher-in-training, Leo, there’s plenty to keep her occupied: a monster fighting ring, a demon who eats happiness, a shadowy figure that keeps popping up in Nina’s dreams…

But it’s not until bodies start turning up that Nina’s new powers will truly be tested—because someone she loves might be next.

One thing is clear: Being Chosen is easy. Making choices is hard.

Review: The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

January 14, 2019 Ali@abookishlife2 Comments

This got off to a bit of a slow start for me but there is some wonderful world building and an intriguing story that’s so full of twists and turns that you can’t help but end up completely hooked. I just wish I could have connected a little more to main character Camellia but I have high hopes for the sequel.

THE BLURB

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.

But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.

With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.

MY REVIEW

How important do you consider appearances? Is there some little thing you’d change about your appearance if you could? Would you be willing to put up with a little pain to do it? What if the way you looked determined your place in society? I know it already does to an extent, but if you lived in a society where position and power were determined solely by how you looked how far would you be willing to go and where would you stop?

These are the questions at the center of the Belles where how you look is much more important than who you are or what you do. This is a world where everyone is born grey, grey skin, grey hair and red eyes however if you have enough money you can change this with a little help from one of the Belles. The Belles have the power to make you look exactly how you want in a matter of moments but as the saying goes “beauty is only skin deep” and in this world where everyone can look how they want appearances are most definitely deceptive.

This is a book with a lot of hype around it so I will confess I was a little nervous going in particularly when it didn’t immediately grab me in the way it seemed to do so many others. There have been a number of reviews saying how they loved it from the very first page and how it hooked them straight away but I’m afraid that didn’t really happen for me. It may just have been the mood I was in but while the world Clayton creates is vivid and beautiful there was something very cold and a little superficial about it.

I’m not sure this was helped by my inability to connect with main character Camellia or if I’m honest with any of the Belles in the beginning. This obsession with beauty and their need to be the best at creating it so they can land the coveted spot as favorite really rubbed me the wrong way. And Camellia, who claims to love her “sisters” so much and want the best for them comes across as the most ruthlessly ambitious of them all.

First impressions are however not always correct and appearances aren’t always what they seem, and in this book nothing is truly what it seems. With every character presenting the face they want the world to see (literally) it’s difficult to tell who anyone really is and it soon becomes clear that life in the palace is not exactly what Camellia thought it would be. She’s promised a new and exciting life but instead finds herself worked to exhaustion, under constant scrutiny from the press who’re on the hunt for a scandal and caught up in a political power play that could put her life in danger. Add to this the fact that her most important customer is an evil tyrant and a bully (with a pretty face) and there’s something she’s not being told about how the Belles came to be and what happens to them when they’re no longer able to work and you have a very intriguing and engaging story.

There are more than a few twists and turns in this story, some I predicted some I did not, and once it got going I found it an incredibly addictive read. I may not have liked Camellia initially and having finished it I’m still not sure I do (she frustrated me too much) but I did like the way her character developed over the story and I loved the way certain relationships developed and changed. There were a couple of characters who surprised me in the best possible way and a couple I wish the author had developed a little bit further. I do however love a real villain and this story definitely has some truly evil ones (if you’re going to be bad be really bad, I think).

The writing is pretty wonderful and while I did think there was maybe a little too much going on at times the world building and the descriptions are incredible. It is the first in a series and I feel like I should warn you it does leave you hanging at the end (I’m gonna have to read the next book aren’t I) but it’s a great story and I think the next one just might be even better.

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy. This in no way affected my review (which is now ridiculously late).

My 2019 Bookish (and personal) Goals

January 13, 2019 Ali@abookishlife12 Comments

So we’re well into 2019 and these are long overdue but I decided that rather than post some overly optimistic goals at the very start of the year I’d wait a week or two and see which ones stuck 🙂

2018 was a fantastic bookish year for me but I have to confess I failed miserably with pretty much every goal I set for myself last year. Given this, there’s arguably not much point in setting new goals (I don’t exactly beat myself up if I don’t achieve them) but I do find it useful to reflect on what I have achieved and think about what I want to do. I might fail again but it does at least give me a little bit of motivation for the next ~~few weeks~~ 12 months.

Review: The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

January 10, 2019January 9, 2019 Ali@abookishlife5 Comments

THE BLURB

Everyone’s invited…everyone’s a suspect…

For fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a shivery, atmospheric, page-turning novel of psychological suspense in the tradition of Agatha Christie, in which a group of old college friends are snowed in at a hunting lodge . . . and murder and mayhem ensue.

All of them are friends. One of them is a killer.

During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.

They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.

Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead.

The trip began innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps.

Now one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.

Keep your friends close, the old adage goes. But just how close is too close?

MY REVIEW

One of my favourite tropes in the thriller/mystery genre has always been (and probably will always be) the group of people stranded in a remote location with a killer in their midst. There’s just something so primal about it, both in terms of the way the characters when under threat revert to their base urges (fight or flight) and the genuine chills it gives me as a reader. I have always found this idea of being trapped with no way of getting help a bit terrifying and who doesn’t love a few chills in this kind of story.

Needless to say as soon as I discovered The Hunting Party was about a group of old friends snowed in at a hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands with a killer among them I knew I had to read it (and not just because of the Highland setting).

So did it deliver? Well yes and no. It’s very well written and as a character study, absolutely wonderful but I felt it was a little lacking in the creepiness and tension I so badly wanted. I did really love the way in which the author portrayed the friendship dynamics within the group and the ways in which they’ve changed since they first met (well most of them) at University. They are not the same people now and despite the best efforts of some, have grown apart (and grown up) and lost the closeness they once had. They may think they know each other well but how well can you really know someone, even if they were once your closest friend.

What makes this an even better read is that these characters are for the most part, deliciously horrid. Interested primarily in appearance and position, they are self centered, vain, bullying and nasty. They may have been friends at some point (although I have my doubts) but now they’re more like competitors, trying to outdo each other with their successes. There are also more than a few secrets and grudges being held.

It’s safe to say there wasn’t a single one of them I liked. There was the odd aspect of certain characters that I could relate to or recognize in myself and I did have some sympathy for the poor lodge manager and gamekeeper who had to look after them (and had some secrets of their own) but most of my enjoyment came from watching these nasty people tear each other apart.

Where I felt a little let down however was in the murder mystery. It lacks the tension and the chills it needs to make it a truly thrilling and unputdownable read and I think this is due in part to the format. There are dual timelines running throughout, the first starting right after the discovery of one of the guests bodies (we don’t know which one), and the other a few days before as the party make their way up to the lodge. I personally was not a fan of this approach as I never felt truly in the moment and consequently there was no sense of danger.

There is definitely some mystery to it and it does keep you guessing, firstly which of these horrible people has met a sticky end and then who was behind it and why, but there was none of the killer in our midst tension from the party I was hoping for. This is probably in a large part due to the post murder events being told from the pov of Heather, the lodge manager, with the other guests (the party) barely featuring. I also found it a little silly the way in which the identity of the victim was concealed from the reader, with the author avoiding even gender pronouns so as not to reveal whether it was a man or woman.

All of these criticisms are probably starting to make you think I didn’t enjoy it but I really did. It may not have been exactly the story I was expecting to read but I genuinely enjoy character studies of unpleasant people. There’s just something fascinating about not knowing what someone will do next and Foley has created some well rounded and believably nasty characters.

Overall I would recommend this to anyone who likes a more character focused mystery and doesn’t mind it not being action packed or chilling.

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy. All views are my own.

WWW Wednesday: 9th January 2019

January 9, 2019January 8, 2019 Ali@abookishlife19 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Not sure why but I seem to be in the mood for crime and thriller books at the moment so when my request for Chris Brookmyre’s latest novel Fallen Angel was approved on NetGalley I couldn’t resist jumping straight in. I’m currently around a third of the way through and very much enjoying it.

On audio, my hold on The Diviners finally came in so I’ve started listening to it again. It’s been a couple of months since I last listened to it so I ended up jumping back a little to remind myself what was happening but starting to make some progress again. I really must make an effort to spend more time listening to it before it returns itself again.

Recently Finished

I haven’t done a WWW post since before Christmas so I’ve included pretty much everything I’ve read since mid December. Have to admit I wasn’t in the mood for anything too serious over the holiday period (I was ill, my central heating packed in and it was the holidays) so there’s an abnormally large number of books with shirtless men on the cover on my list but I needed something to heat me up 😉 And they fit some challenges I was doing.

The Christmas Sisters: The perfect feel-good and romantic read to curl up with this winter! An English Bride In Scotland (Highland Brides, #1) Sixth Grave on the Edge (Charley Davidson, #6) Seventh Grave and No Body (Charley Davidson, #7)

The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan (4 stars) – This was more family drama than romance but it was a really enjoyable and emotional read. You can read my full review here.
An English Bride in Scotland by Lyndsay Sands (3 stars) – The first book by Sands I’ve managed to finish and it was a pretty good read, although given I’m struggling to remember what happened in the story, it must not be an especially memorable one.
Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones (4 stars) – There seemed to be a lot of different stories mixed together this time around rather than one big mystery to be solved but the romance, which has been my main niggle in this series, is much improved.
Seventh Grave & No Body by Darynda Jones (4.5 stars) – Think this may be my fave in the series so far. Loving how the characters are developing and while the focus is more on the grim reaper side than the PI again it feels a bit more cohesive.

Captive (Lace Underground, #1) Roomies A Place in the Sun

Captive by Tess Oliver (3 stars) – A very problematic storyline but an incredibly addictive read. This is one of those stories I feel like I shouldn’t have enjoyed (but I kinda did). Not sure I’ll be continuing on with the trilogy though.
Roomies by Christina Lauren (4 stars) – I love the whole fake relationship that might be real trope so I was always going to love this story and it’s especially good as it’s set in a theatre
A Place in the Sun by R.S. Grey (3.5 stars) – I didn’t realise when I started this it was kind of a sequel to the first Summer Games book but it can easily be read as a standalone. Like all of Grey’s books it’s an enjoyable and quick read. Didn’t feel much of a spark in the romance but the Italian setting was wonderful.

The Glass Woman Verity Cold-Hearted Rake (The Ravenels, #1)

The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea (???) – My review will probably be going up next week (if I manage to write it up) so I’m not rating just yet. It is however a wonderfully atmospheric read and one I definitely recommend if you like historical mysteries with a little bit of witchcraft and superstition in the mix.
Verity by Colleen Hoover (3.5 stars) – Something a bit different from CoHo and while I do love her writing and found this an engaging story it didn’t really wow me. I kind of wish she’d pushed things a little further or put a real twist into this mystery.
Cold Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas (3 stars) – I think I’ve been reading too many historical romances as they’re all starting to get a bit samey. This is still an enjoyable read (and I read it in one sitting) but nothing really stood out about it and I found myself more interested in the secondary characters than the leads.

Reading Next

I foolishly decided it was a good idea to grab the thirteenth and final book in the Charley Davidson series from NetGalley (it was Read Now) despite only having read the first seven so I think I’m going to try and read book eight next (they’re addictive and easy reads so it’s not exactly a hardship). After that I’m kind of tempted to return to my reading life of crime with Steve Cavanagh’s new book Twisted before jumping into a new romance from Sophie Kinsella 🙂

Eighth Grave After Dark (Charley Davidson, #8) Twisted I Owe You One

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below. I am still having issues with my phone at the moment (the battery dies if I use wifi/data for more than 10 mins) so I will apologise in advance for my delay in responding.

Happy Reading ❤