Book Review: On Thin Icing (A Bakeshop Mystery #3) by Ellie Alexander

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Cozy mystery
Length: 304 pages
Author: Ellie Alexander
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Release Date: December 29th, 2015
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Welcome to Torte-a small-town family bakeshop where the treats are killer good.

It’s the dead of winter in the sleepy town of Ashland, which means no tourists-and fewer customers-for Jules Capshaw and her bakery. But when she’s asked to cater an off-season retreat for the directors of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, business starts heating up…until Jules finds a dead body in the freezer.

Someone at the retreat has apparently iced the bartender, a well-known flirt with a legendary temper-that is, before a killer beat him to the punch. Then, from out of nowhere, Jules’s own ex-husband shows up at the shop-and soon becomes a suspect. With accusations piling up higher than the snow-and thicker than a chocolate mousse cake-Jules has to think outside the (recipe) box to find the real culprit…and make sure he gets his just desserts.

HIT AN ICE PATCH.

This was the first snag in this series for me. It wasn’t bad at all (my three star rating is a positive in this situation!), just missing some key elements for me.

I liked that there was a switch up in location. Getting out of the bakery and seeing some new sites. I did miss seeing some regular characters and how things are working for them. This is a long series so I imagine I’ll see plenty of everyone eventually.

CARLOS. *sigh* I knew he had to play a legitimate role eventually, so here it is. I honestly don’t know how things are going to shake out. I know how *I* want them to shake out, but unfortunately that remains to be seen. I’m hopeful though!! I actually really love that there’s a bit of romance interlude throughout. I always love a good romance component and this fits in well alongside the mystery aspects.

This mystery was a lot easier to solve with less characters roaming around. I actually called this one (and surprised myself) when I was right. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I hope that that trend doesn’t continue.

These are such a light and simple series. I’m excited to read the next one and see how things keep unfolding!

Overall audience notes:

  • Cozy mystery
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: murder by gunshot

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Book Review: Blade of Secrets (Bladesmith #1) by Tricia Levenseller

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Author: Tricia Levenseller
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: May 4th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Eighteen-year-old Ziva prefers metal to people. She spends her days tucked away in her forge, safe from society and the anxiety it causes her, using her magical gift to craft unique weapons imbued with power.

Then Ziva receives a commission from a powerful warlord, and the result is a sword capable of stealing its victims’ secrets. A sword that can cut far deeper than the length of its blade. A sword with the strength to topple kingdoms. When Ziva learns of the warlord’s intentions to use the weapon to enslave all the world under her rule, she takes her sister and flees.

Joined by a distractingly handsome mercenary and a young scholar with extensive knowledge of the world’s known magics, Ziva and her sister set out on a quest to keep the sword safe until they can find a worthy wielder or a way to destroy it entirely.

A teenage blacksmith with social anxiety accepts a commission from the wrong person and is forced to go on the run to protect the world from the most powerful magical sword she’s ever made.

COULD’VE BEEN ONE BOOK.

While I really enjoyed this and always love Levenseller’s writing and story telling, I thought BoS was missing something.

Mostly that I think with 100 more pages this story could’ve been entirely wrapped up and it would have been a fantastic standalone! I hate when it’s noticeable that books shouldn’t be extended out.

What I did love was the social anxiety rep. WOW did I feel so very seen. While it totally stressed me out sometimes (because ya know, I stress myself out sometimes) with Ziva’s thoughts, I could completely get on board with her feelings.

I also looooove the sister bond. Ziva and Temra! The love and support between them was amazing. The journey that they want on only strengthened things between them and I’m hopeful for book two for that to continue. I love a good strong sibling bond read.

Kellyn is absolutely adorable. I love the slow burn between him and Ziva was so sweet!! It bloomed organically and with respect for each other and their preferences on speed of the relationship and I loved that. Not to mention, his huge family was great to see. It really was that tender watching him run around with all of his siblings. How PRESH.

This was a good journey read and while I thought it was missing some action, or some larger to the world aspect, I am invested. I forever love Levenseller’s stories!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy + Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: physical altercations, animal attacks, sword/knife violence

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Book Review: The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1) by Rick Riordan

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 553 pages
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: October 12th, 2010
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

JASON HAS A PROBLEM. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and his best friend is a guy named Leo. They’re all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids,” as Leo puts it. What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Jason doesn’t know anything—except that everything seems very wrong.

PIPER HAS A SECRET. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out, whether she wants to or not.

LEO HAS A WAY WITH TOOLS. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason’s amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Best-selling author Rick Riordan has pumped up the action, humor, suspense, and mystery in an epic adventure that will leave readers panting for the next installment.

NOT A BAD START.

Though, my biggest complaint was the length. I found it to drag occasionally and even on audio (listening very fast) some parts could’ve been cut.

I did like our new characters!! I miss Percabeth something fierce so I can’t wait to see them again. In the meantime it was fun to meet Jason, Piper and Leo. They definitely went on a wild adventure. I always feel like I get this amazing mythology lesson when I read these books. I loooove running into all of the gods and goddesses.

The writing is a nice break from super heavy fantasies of older genres (since this leads towards middle-grade). For me, that’s a big bonus. It’s really nice to read something lighter that still covers a lot of great topics for a younger audience. I love that books like this can span across ages for enjoying.

I’m really excited for all of the Roman aspects and hope those continue to play out later in the series. I’m grateful that while it does have the same characters from the previous series it seems to be making a space for itself. I’m excited to continue reading!

Overall audience notes:

  • MG/YA Urban Fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: flirting
  • Violence: magical weaponry, physical altercations, teenagers often being put in harm’s way; nothing overly bloody/gory
  • Trigger/Content Warning: one of the main characters suffers from amnesia, loss of parents, kidnapping

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ARC Book Review: Starling by Isabel Strychacz

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Paranormal Romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: Isabel Strychacz
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Release Date: November 9th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Edward Scissorhands meets When the Moon Was Ours in this enchanting, lushly romantic novel about two teen sisters who fight to protect the mysterious stranger who literally fell from the stars and into their backyard.

Strange things have always happened in the small town of Darling…

​Yet Delta Wilding and her sister Bee are familiar with the peculiar. Raised by an eccentric father always on the hunt for the spectacular, they’re used to following weather patterns that twirl onto strange paths, a car that refuses to play any artist but one, and living in a sentient house with whims of its own. But when a mysterious boy falls from the stars into the woods behind the Wilding sisters’ farmhouse, nothing can prepare them for the extraordinary turn their lives are about to take.

Extraordinary, and dangerous.

Starling Rust is not from this world and his presence in the Wilding home brings attention. As the terrified locals, Delta’s ex-boyfriend, and the unscrupulous mayor descend onto the Wilding’s home, both Delta and her sister go to incredible lengths to protect their mystical visitor—especially as Delta’s growing feelings for Starling could prove the greatest risk of all.

Filled with atmospheric prose and lush and vivid descriptions, Starling has the spectacular waiting with every flip of the page.

Thank you to the author for an eARC from winning a giveaway.

THE ATMOSPHERE.

Let me tell you I was GIDDY when I found out I won this giveaway. I’ve been hyped to read this book after following this author on Instagram for years. And y’all, get ready to add another book to your TBR.

The lush atmosphere of the town of Darling will transport you. I’m not usually one for a lot of prose and detail, but the way this was written had me captivated. I truly felt like I was there and that all of the detail I was getting was inherently important. The rotating multi-POV narrators captured many angles of the plot and really showed off some intricate characters who felt incredibly real.

Who knew I would highly enjoy an alien romance? Somehow over the course of just a few days I was allllll in the feels for Delta and Starling. They had this sense of magic about them and I loved all of the tiny interactions. It was an immediate connection that play the more “instant attraction” trope well.

The ending blindsided me. I realized just how emotionally invested and connected I was to Starling. I was wrapped up in the fray of chaos occurring and how those final scenes played out. THANK HEAVENS for an epilogue that gives me the hope and light for new horizons.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Paranormal Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses to one implied closed door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: missing Father, slut-shaming, gun violence, house fire, breaking and entering

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