30 April, 2018

29 April, 2018

COVER OF THE MONTH


We are always told to not judge a book by its cover but... this is exactly what we will be doing! Cover art should also be appreciated. Am I right? ;)

In this meme we will be choosing 5 covers every month from books published on said month
e.g. for january we will choose a cover from a book published in january


28 April, 2018

REVIEW: BIRD BOX by Josh Malerman


Title: Bird Box
Author:  Josh Malerman
Series: -
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Post Apocalypse
Publisher: Ecco
Release: 2014
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 262

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.

Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remains, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it's time to go, but the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat--blindfolded--with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?

Interweaving past and present, Bird Box is a snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page. 

27 April, 2018

REVIEW: A WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A.J. Finn


Title: A Woman in the Window
Author:  A.J. Finn
Series: -
Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Psychological
Publisher: William Morrow
Release: January 2nd 2018
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 427

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

26 April, 2018

REVIEW: THE FIRE by Katherine Neville

POSSIBLE SPOILERS FROM BOOK #1
Title: The Fire
Author: Katherine Neville
Series: The Eight #2
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: DeBolsillo
Release: (First published 2008)
Source: Paperback
Pages: 552

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB: 2003, Colorado: Alexandra Solarin is summoned home to her family’s ancestral Rocky Mountain hideaway for her mother’s birthday. Thirty years ago, her parents, Cat Velis and Alexander Solarin, believed that they had scattered the pieces of the Montglane Service around the world, burying with them the secrets of the power that comes with possessing it. But Alexandra arrives to find that her mother is missing and that a series of strategically placed clues, followed swiftly by the unexpected arrival of a mysterious assortment of house guests, indicates that something sinister is afoot.
When she inadvertently discovers from her aunt, the chess grandmaster Lily Rad, that the most powerful piece of Charlemagne’s service has suddenly resurfaced and the Game has begun again, Alexandra is swept into a journey that takes her from Colorado to the Russian wilderness and at last into the heart of her own hometown: Washington, D.C.

1822, Albania: Thirty years after the French Revolution, when the chess service was unearthed, all of Europe hovers on the brink of the War of Greek Independence. Ali Pasha, the most powerful ruler in the Ottoman Empire, has angered the sultan and is about to be attacked by Turkish forces. Now he sends the only person he can rely upon—his young daughter, Haidee—on a dangerous mission to smuggle a valuable relic out of Albania, through the mountains and over the sea, to the hands of the one man who might be able to save it.

Haidee’s journey from Albania to Morocco to Rome to Greece, and into the very heart of the Game, will result in revelations about the powerful chess set and its history that will lead at last to the spot where the service was first created more than one thousand years before: Baghdad.

Blending exquisite prose and captivating history with nonstop suspense, Neville again weaves in this sequel to The Eight an unforgettable story of peril, action, and intrigue.

25 April, 2018

24 April, 2018

REVIEW: THE RETURN OF THE WITCH by Paula Brackston


Title: The Return of the Witch
Author:  Paula Brackston
Series: The Witch's Daughter #4
Genres: Witches, Paranormal, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Release: 2016
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 320

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
After five years in the Summerlands, Gideon has gained his freedom. Elizabeth knows he will go straight for Tegan, and that she must protect the girl she had come to regard as her own daughter. In the time since she the dramatic night in Batchcombe woods, Tegan has travelled the world learning from all manner of witches, and she is no longer the awkward teenager and novice spellcaster she once was. However, her skills are no match for Gideon's dark, vengeful power, and he succeeds in capturing her. Will Elizabeth be able to find her? Will they be able to defeat their nemesis once and for all?

23 April, 2018

22 April, 2018

REVIEW: THE MAGPIE LORD by K.J.Charles


Title: The Magpie Lord
Author: K. J. Charles
Series: A Charm of Magpies #1
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, M/M Romance
Publisher: Samhain
Release: September 3rd, 2013
Source: eBook
Pages: 222

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB: A lord in danger. A magician in turmoil. A snowball in hell.
Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn't expect it to turn up angry.
Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude... and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.
Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn't the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.

21 April, 2018

REVIEW: MISS PEREGRIN'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs


Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Author:  Ransom Riggs
Series: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: Quirk
Release: 2011
Source: Paperback
Pages: 352

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows. 

20 April, 2018

REVIEW: THE NINE DAY QUEEN by Karleen Bradford


Title: The Nine Day Queen
Author: Karleen Bradford
Series: Beneath The Crown #1
Genres:
Historical fiction, History, YA
Publisher:
Gimtasis Žodis
Release:
2017
Source:
Paperback
Pages:
157

// Goodreads //

BLURB:
At fifteen years of age, upon the death of her cousin, Edward, Lady Jane Grey was forced to accept the crown of England. She was queen for only nine days, however. Edward's eldest sister, Mary, soon challenged Jane for the throne, with tragic results. This is the true story of a bright and intelligent young woman who was manipulated and betrayed by the ambitious people who surrounded her.
 

19 April, 2018

REVIEW: AN UNNATURAL VICE by K.J. Charles


Title: An Unnatural Vice
Author: K.J. Charles
Series: Sins of the Cities 2
Genres: LGBT, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Loveswept
Release: June 6th 2017
Source: eBook
Pages: 250

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
In the sordid streets of Victorian London, unwanted desire flares between two bitter enemies brought together by a deadly secret.

Crusading journalist Nathaniel Roy is determined to expose spiritualists who exploit the grief of bereaved and vulnerable people. First on his list is the so-called Seer of London, Justin Lazarus. Nathaniel expects him to be a cheap, heartless fraud. He doesn’t expect to meet a man with a sinful smile and the eyes of a fallen angel—or that a shameless swindler will spark his desires for the first time in years.

Justin feels no remorse for the lies he spins during his séances. His gullible clients simply bore him. Hostile, disbelieving, utterly irresistible Nathaniel is a fascinating challenge. And as their battle of wills and wits heats up, Justin finds he can’t stop thinking about the man who’s determined to ruin him.

But Justin and Nathaniel are linked by more than their fast-growing obsession with one another. They are both caught up in an aristocratic family’s secrets, and Justin holds information that could be lethal. As killers, fanatics, and fog close in, Nathaniel is the only man Justin can trust—and, perhaps, the only man he could love.

 

18 April, 2018

17 April, 2018

REVIEW: SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli


Title: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Author: Becky Albertalli
Series: -
Genres: Contemporarym LGBT, Romance, YA
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release: April 7th, 2015
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 303

// Goodreads // BookDepository //  Amazon //

BLURB:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.
 

16 April, 2018

15 April, 2018

SUNDAY PORTRAIT: Rhy Maresh


Happy Sunday, friends! Welcome to Sunday Portraits, where we give a face to our beloved book friends!

 Today we have: Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab:

RHY MARESH
Rhy can be quick-tempered and frustrated easily, but at heart, he is fun-loving and endlessly kind and generous to those around him which is why he is well-loved by most citizens of Arnes. Furthermore, Rhy is rather reckless as his antics have often gotten him and Kell in trouble in the past, resulting in Kell having had to save him.

Rhy struggles with feelings of inadequacy to reign over Arnes due to his lack of magical prowess—something some Arnesians excoriate him for. Though he has some ability with fire magic, his restless nature and lack of focus, not to mention a lack of natural-born talent, prevent him from mastering the dedicated art of magic as Kell does. His frustration with his inability to use magic and the feeling of powerlessness is the reason why Rhy carelessly accepted a necklace from Holland Vosijk which was said to give him the strength he desired but, in reality, only allowed Astrid Dane to take over his mind and body.

14 April, 2018

REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia


Title: Beautiful Creatures
Author:  Kami Garcia
Series: Beautiful Creatures #1
Genres: YA, Paranormal, Witches
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release: 2009
Source: Hardcover
Pages: 563

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

13 April, 2018

REVIEW: JUST DREAMING by Kerstin Gier


POSSIBLE BOOK 1 & 2 SPOILERS
Title: Just Dreaming (Silber: The Third Book of Dreams)
Author: Kerstin Gier
Series: Silber Trilogy #3
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Publisher: Fischer FJB
Release: October 8th, 2015
Source: Paperback
Pages: 400

Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon // 

BLURB: A dream traveler faces the greatest challenge she's yet encountered in this gripping third and final book of the Silver trilogy.

The course of dream travel never did run smooth—at least, not in Liv Silver's experience. Able to visit other people's dreams (whether they want her to or not), Liv has solved mysteries, unearthed difficult truths, fought madmen, and escaped life-threatening peril, all from the comfort of her own bed. But Liv's troubles are just beginning.

A rocky romance, a malicious blogger with a hidden identity, a wedding, and a classmate (or two) dead-set on revenge all await Liv in this action-packed conclusion to the Silver trilogy.

12 April, 2018

REVIEW: BANGKOK 8 by John Burdett

Title: Bangkok 8
Author: John Burdett
Series: Sonchai Jitpleecheep 1
Genres: Mystery, Crime, Thriller
Publisher: Vintage Crime / Black Lizard
Release: July 13th 2004
Source: eBook
Pages: 375

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
A thriller with attitude to spare, Bangkok 8 is a sexy, razor-edged, often darkly hilarious novel set in one of the world’s most exotic cities.

Witnessed by a throng of gaping spectators, a charismatic Marine sergeant is murdered under a Bangkok bridge inside a bolted-shut Mercedes Benz. Among the witnesses are the only two cops in the city not on the take, but within moments one is murdered and his partner, Sonchai Jitpleecheep—a devout Buddhist and the son of a Thai bar girl and a long-gone Vietnam War G.I.—is hell-bent on wreaking revenge. On a vigilante mission to capture his partner’s murderer, Sonchai is begrudgingly paired with a beautiful FBI agent named Jones and captures her heart in the process. In a city fueled by illicit drugs and infinite corruption, prostitution and priceless art, Sonchai’s quest for vengeance takes him into a world much more sinister than he could have ever imagined.
 

11 April, 2018

10 April, 2018

REVIEW: LEGEND by Marie Lu

Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Series: Legend #1
Genres: Science Fiction, YA
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Release: 2011
Source: Paperback
Pages: 305

// Goodreads /BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB: What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

09 April, 2018

08 April, 2018

REVIEW: AN UNSEEN ATTRACTION by K.J. Charles


Title: An Unseen Attraction
Author: K.J. Charles
Series: Sins of the Cities 1
Genres: LGBT, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Loveswept
Release: February 21st 2017
Source: eBook
Pages: 247

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
A slow-burning romance and a chilling mystery bind two singular men in the suspenseful first book of a new Victorian series from K. J. Charles.

Lodging-house keeper Clem Talleyfer prefers a quiet life. He’s happy with his hobbies, his work—and especially with his lodger Rowley Green, who becomes a friend over their long fireside evenings together. If only neat, precise, irresistible Mr. Green were interested in more than friendship...

Rowley just wants to be left alone—at least until he meets Clem, with his odd, charming ways and his glorious eyes. Two quiet men, lodging in the same house, coming to an understanding... it could be perfect. Then the brutally murdered corpse of another lodger is dumped on their doorstep and their peaceful life is shattered.

Now Clem and Rowley find themselves caught up in a mystery, threatened on all sides by violent men, with a deadly London fog closing in on them. If they’re to see their way through, the pair must learn to share their secrets—and their hearts.

 

07 April, 2018

REVIEW: BOUND BY FLAMES by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Bound by Flames
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Series: Night Prince 3
Genres: Vampire, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Avon
Release: January 27th 2015
Source: eBook
Pages: 342

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Play with fire, pay the price.

Leila’s years on the carnie circuit were certainly an education. What she didn’t learn: how to be a vampire, or how to be married to the most famous vampire of them all. Adjusting to both has Leila teetering on a knife edge between passion and peril, and now the real danger is about to begin…

Vlad must battle with a centuries-old enemy whose reach stretches across continents and whose strength equals his own. It isn’t like Vlad to feel fear, but he does…for Leila, because his enemy knows she is Vlad’s greatest weakness. As friend and foe alike align against him—and his overprotectiveness drives Leila away—Vlad’s love for his new bride could be the very thing that dooms them both…

 

06 April, 2018

REVIEW: TWICE TEMPTED by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Twice Tempted
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Series: Night Prince 2
Genres: Vampire, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Avon
Release: March 26th 2013
Source: eBook
Pages: 360

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Dating the Prince of Darkness has its challenges...

Leila's psychic abilities have been failing her, and now she isn't sure what the future holds. If that weren't enough, her lover, Vlad, has been acting distant. Though Leila is a mere mortal, she's also a modern woman who refuses to accept the cold shoulder treatment forever–especially from the darkly handsome vampire who still won't admit that he loves her.

Like choosing between eternal love and a loveless eternity...

Soon circumstances send Leila back to the carnival circuit, where tragedy strikes. And when she finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who may be closer than she realizes, Leila must decide who to trust– the fiery vampire who arouses her passions like no other or the tortured knight who longs to be more than a friend? With danger stalking her every step of the way, all it takes is one wrong move to damn her for eternity.

 

05 April, 2018

REVIEW: LADY SUSAN by Jane Austen


Title: Lady Susan
Author:  Jane Austen
Series: -
Genres: Classics, Romance
Publisher: Dover Publications
Release: 1871
Source: Paperback/Audiobook
Pages: 180

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Beautiful, flirtatious, and recently widowed, Lady Susan Vernon seeks an advantageous second marriage for herself, while attempting to push her daughter into a dismal match. A magnificently crafted novel of Regency manners and mores that will delight Austen enthusiasts with its wit and elegant expression.

04 April, 2018

03 April, 2018

REVIEW: THINK OF ENGLAND by K.J. Charles

Title: Think of England
Author: K.J. Charles
Series: Think of England 1
Genres: Historical, LGBT, Romance
Publisher: KJC Books
Release: March 28th 2017
Source: eBook
Pages: 239

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Lie back and think of England...

England, 1904. Two years ago, Captain Archie Curtis lost his friends, fingers, and future to a terrible military accident. Alone, purposeless and angry, Curtis is determined to discover if he and his comrades were the victims of fate, or of sabotage.

Curtis’s search takes him to an isolated, ultra-modern country house, where he meets and instantly clashes with fellow guest Daniel da Silva. Effete, decadent, foreign, and all-too-obviously queer, the sophisticated poet is everything the straightforward British officer fears and distrusts.

As events unfold, Curtis realizes that Daniel has his own secret intentions. And there’s something else they share—a mounting sexual tension that leaves Curtis reeling.

As the house party’s elegant facade cracks to reveal treachery, blackmail and murder, Curtis finds himself needing clever, dark-eyed Daniel as he has never needed a man before…

 

02 April, 2018

01 April, 2018