Book Review: Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth #1) by Kristen Ciccarelli

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Fantasy Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Kristen Ciccarelli
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: February 20th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history.

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can’t help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s Heartless Hunter is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch…is falling in love.

MY NEW OBESSION.

This book absolutely blew me away. It was one of those books where from the first few chapters I could feel the five stars coming. I LOVE the world building and magic system and the whole vibe of this book is dark and moody and everything I love about fantasy romance.

And yes, the ROMANCE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I have a new micro trope unlocked after one scene. The push and pull and oh no we’re catching feelings-ness is exactly how enemies to lovers is supposed to play out. This is a true enemies situation filled with steam and heat and insane levels of tension.

I love that this was dual POV with both Gideon and Rune’s perspectives. Getting both sides of the story was exactly what this book needed. I love both of them. Flaws, strengths and all. I am obsession with their chemistry and there was one scene at the end that sent me y’all.

An absolute must read. I am so upset I have to wait for book two now.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Fantasy
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 1 brief/vague open; light innunedo
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: lots of blood content, physical and sexual abuse (off-page)

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Book Review: A Crown of Swords (The Wheel of Time #7) by Robert Jordan

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 880 pages
Author: Robert Jordan
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: November 15th, 1997
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this volume, Elayne, Aviendha, and Mat come ever closer to the bowl ter’angreal that may reverse the world’s endless heat wave and restore natural weather. Egwene begins to gather all manner of women who can channel–Sea Folk, Windfinders, Wise Ones, and some surprising others. And above all, Rand faces the dread Forsaken Sammael, in the shadows of Shadar Logoth, where the blood-hungry mist, Mashadar, waits for prey.

WHAT A SNOOZE.

It took everything in me to continue this book y’all. Luckily I was warned beforehand that some of these middle books are slowww and I am VERY grateful for audiobooks that crank up to 3x speed.

I hate Mat and most of this book is about him. If you’re someone who does enjoy his character, I bet you’ll like this a lot more than me. I struggle to find one endearing quality about him and while I’m admittedly curious where he ends up in the end, right now I just want to skip to that ending. And what is it with Rand sleeping with any woman who walks into his bedroom? It’s laughable and makes me want to shake everyone too.

Once again, high meh feelings about how Jordan writes women. The amount of times I quirk my head and question what’s being said is non quantifiable because of how often it occurs.

It feels like nothing happened, though I’m sure some of it is important to future books. Glad to be moving on from this one.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy
  • Language: low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: battle themes, loss of loved ones, near death experiences, rape

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ARC Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties (Aunties #3) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Cozy Mystery
Length: 304 pages
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: March 26th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What should have been a family celebration of Chinese New Year descends into chaos when longtime foes crash the party in this hilariously entertaining novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.

After an ultra-romantic honeymoon across Europe, Meddy Chan and her husband Nathan have landed in Jakarta to spend Chinese New Year with her entire extended family. Chinese New Year, already the biggest celebration of the Lunar calendar, gets even more festive when a former beau of Second Aunt’s shows up at the Chan residence bearing extravagant gifts—he’s determined to rekindle his romance with Second Aunt and the gifts are his way of announcing his courtship.

His grand gesture goes awry however, when it’s discovered that not all the gifts were meant for Second Aunt and the Chans—one particular gift was intended for a business rival to cement their alliance and included by accident. Of course the Aunties agree that it’s only right to return the gift—after all, anyone would forgive an honest mistake, right? But what should have been a simple retrieval turns disastrous and suddenly Meddy and the Aunties are helpless pawns in a decades-long war between Jakarta’s most powerful business factions. The fighting turns personal, however, when Nathan and the Aunties are endangered and it’s up to Meddy to come up with a plan to save them all.  Determined to rescue her loved ones, Meddy embarks on an impossible mission—but with the Aunties by her side, nothing is truly impossible…

Thank you to Berkley (Berkley Partner) for the free book and PRHAudio (PRH Partner) for the free audiobook.

CUTE BUT,

This series is fun, it’s light and humorous and tends to put a smile on my face. That was still the case on this third (is it the last??) book, but a lot fell by the wayside too.

The plot line essentially felt the same as previous books which made for some frustrating repetition. And while Meddy and Nathan have some forward moments, the overall character growth for everyone is not there. The same kind of responses and thoughts that once again, feels like a repeat.

And when the entire story is solved in two chapters and then dragged out for 300 pages, it makes a short book too long.

Overall audience notes:

  • Cozy Mystery
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

Book Review: Trial of the Sun Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos #1) by Nisha J. Tuli

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Nisha J. Tuli
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: November 15th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Bachelor meets the Hunger Games. Ten women. A deadly contest. Only one can win the Sun King’s heart.

Lor has endured twelve long years of torment under the Aurora King’s rule. Her only desire is to get free and pay him back for every moment of misery.

When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight when she competes against nine other Tributes for the role of queen. If she wins his heart, she’ll earn her freedom and finally get her revenge.

But Lor doesn’t belong in the Sun Queen Trials. She doesn’t understand why she was freed, and she isn’t a citizen of the Sun King’s court. The other Tributes resent her presence and will stop at nothing to ensure Lor is wiped off the gameboard, permanently.

Now Lor must win, because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she’ll be sent back into the hands of the Aurora King.

THAT’S A NO FOR ME.

This book has a pretty solid rating and I am convinced I must have read a different book because many things didn’t work for me in this one.

The whole the first guy isn’t the true love interest trope can be great, I’ve read ACOTAR, I know the drill. This was executed poorly. Filled with insta-love and unnecessary smut scenes that did nothing for the plot other than to call it “spicy”. That was my biggest turn-off.

I also didn’t love the FMC. And I’m easy to please in that regard. There was this hot/cold nature that did not make sense and I felt like I kept looking at a different character depending on the scene. Could have used some consistency.

The big “twist” with the end could be seen from the beginning of the book. It resembles another few books I’ve read, of which, the secret was hidden much better and felt like a true surprise. While cool, at this point I don’t think I’ll pick up book two.

The idea of the trials was fine, There’s small things here and there I didn’t mind. And it still gets three stars because I think others could enjoy this.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 1-2 open; moderate explicit, some innuendo
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mentions of past rape/sexual assault, near death experiences, loss of loved ones

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