Book Review: King of the South (Belgrave Dynasty #1) by Calia Read

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Historical romance
Length: 404 pages
Author: Calia Read
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The year is 1919, and the Great War has ended. As everyone picks up the pieces of their lives, I have only copious amounts of alcohol and women keeping me together.

Most of the men I went to war with didn’t make it home, including my best friend, Miles. I thought I knew everything about him until I discovered he made me the executor to his little sister Rainey’s dowry.

Rainey Pleasonton is anything but pleasant. Most men in Charleston found her wild and carefree ways to be terrifying, which explained why she was twenty-eight and still unmarried.

I have sixty days to help her find a husband before she loses her inheritance, her family’s legacy, and I lose the last of my sanity.

The only problem is, I’ve watched her go from a little girl who chased us around with a bow and arrow to the only woman in the South immune to my charm. And the men who were once scared of Rainey? They now find my le savauge beguiling, and I do not care for it one bit.

WORTH IT.

I went into this book pretty blind. I saw a favorite author of mine recommend it and thought, why not? Thank you Kindle Unlimited for having so many hidden gems. I loooooved this book y’all.

One of my favorite tidbits is the setting. The time period is right after World War 1, but set in the Southern US. I don’t know if I’ve read any historical fictions from that time and I was smitten with the way this was written. I loved the twangy way everyone spoke and how the world was set-up.

There was a lot of French in this book and I wish it was more clear what the words meant. I was fortunately reading it digitally so I used the translate function on the Kindle to know what was being said. Very sweet and tender words, just wish I didn’t have to look them up!

I was very much into this from chapter 1. It was one of those books where I just *knew* it would be a favorite of mine. The childhood friends/frenemies to lovers was stunning. There was plenty of heat, banter, flirtations, and soft moments between Rainey and Livingston to leave me swooning for days. The steam was a biiiiit much for me at times, but the overall story was a song for my soul.

Both of these characters were raw and human. I adored Raina and appreciated her strong and stubborn attitude. She didn’t take things lying down and faced her issues head-on. Raina’s counterpart, Livingston was without a doubt her match. He was incredibly dark and brooding, but insanely handsome. I can’t help it, I love that combination. The soft spirit in Livingston was begging for a reprieve and Rainey was that for him. They really were a power couple, a King and Queen.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses/intense make-outs; a handful of very detailed love scenes
  • Violence: physical, arrows
  • Trigger warnings: PTSD (in relation to war), depression, abusing alcohol

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Book Review: The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy [Short-stories]
Length: 359 pages
Author: Andrzej Sapkowski [Translator: Danusia Stok]
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: January 31st, 1993 (This edition: May 1st, 2008)
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Geralt of Rivia is a witcher. A cunning sorcerer. A merciless assassin. And a cold-blooded killer. His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good… and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

THE LAST WISH
The International hit that inspired the video game THE WITCHER.

NOT A GREAT START.

Ooomph. Not at all.

I’ve been really excited to try out this series and see what all the hoopla is about it. There’s a lot of people talking about these books! After figuring out this was the book I should start with I snatched it at the library and dove in.

And was blindsided. Nothing was quite as I expected. First of all, I was completely thrown into the trenches without any explanations to where I was and who was what. I kept reading hoping things were going to make more sense, but they never did. I got about 150 pages in and turned on the TV show to see if that would help. And honestly, it did. I felt I had a better frame of mind as to who was who and the scattered timelines throughout the book. So, if things are confusing, try that!

While all of that was helpful, I still didn’t get the point of telling short stories to introduce The Witcher. Some parts of stories were interesting and held my attention, but otherwise, this was a book I mostly skimmed. I still want to read the official first book to see if a real story changes my mind about the series.

I enjoyed Geralt as a character and liked his wit and humor. The messes he and Dandelion would get caught up in were fun. Some of the monsters were interesting and gruesome. I can totally see how this would function as a video game.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy short-stories
  • Language: some
  • Violence: battles with creepy creatures, physical, swords

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Book Review: A Temporary Marriage: The Fake Love Series by Summer Dowell

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 171 pages
Author: Summer Dowell
Publisher: Self-published
Expected Release Date: January 21st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

“Kylee, will you marry me?”
If she hadn’t still been breathing, she would’ve checked for a pulse.
“M-marry you?”
“Not for real, of course!”

Struggling graphic designer Kylee Morgan would do just about anything to help Ryan Hudson, her very attractive friend she’s been harboring feelings for for way too long. But, marry him? That might be taking things a little too far even for her.

Ryan is on the cusp of success with his new product line when things come to a crashing halt. He needs cash fast and his grandparent’s trust fund is the perfect solution. However, there’s one small requirement to get the money, he has to be married.

Will Kylee and Ryan play a convincing married couple? Or will things fall apart when Ryan’s family gets involved?

Don’t miss A Temporary Marriage, the first of The Fake Love series by Summer Dowell. If you like fake relationships and swoon worthy moments, than this clean romantic comedy will have you turning pages!

QUICK AND CUTE.

This is the second book I’ve read by Summer Dowell and I gotta say, this was much better than the first one I tried. I really enjoyed this light, quick read. Made me smile and all the happy feelings. It reminded me of the movie, The Proposal (with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds).

I love the relationship between Kylee and Ryan. I thought they clearly had chemistry and were both clearly fighting feelings for one another. Each time they got to hang out or needed to show some PDA had me excited for them. I thought the story line was written well and I liked the plot as a whole. The ending was tooootally cliche and Hallmark movie status, and I had no problem with that. Sometimes those are the best endings! I wanted all the mushy-cheesiness because this book called for it.

I thought the writing was significantly better than Love is an Art. There was a lot less telling and more showing through characters actions and words what was happening. I didn’t get as much unnecessary information and was able to really relax into the story. Occasionally the inner monologues of Ryan and Kylee would seem a bit repetitive (we get it, y’all like each other, but won’t admit it), but other than that I had no major complaints.

This would be a great full fledged story. With more background and lead-up to Ryan and Kylee getting together. Things ran pretty quickly and I found myself wanting more from them. At least this was cute. Really cute. And I’m satisfied with that.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: some kisses

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Book Review: Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult contemporary
Length: 250 pages
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Speak
Release Date: September 1st, 2000
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Wake up, Caitlin

Ever since she started going out with Rogerson Biscoe, Caitlin seems to have fallen into a semiconscious dreamland where nothing is quite real. Rogerson is different from anyone Caitlin has ever known. He’s magnetic. He’s compelling. He’s dangerous. Being with him makes Caitlin forget about everything else–her missing sister, her withdrawn mother, her lackluster life. But what happens when being with Rogerson becomes a larger problem than being without him? 

BROKE ME.

First reason I picked up this book? Someone commented on one of my Instagram photos telling me about it. Second reason I picked up this book? I have the same name as the MC and have NEVERRRRR gotten to read a book with that fun fact.

And if you’re not one for reading synopsis (I’m not, I usually read it initially then by the time I get to read the book I’ve forgotten it and don’t look at it), let me say, this is not a fluffy Dessen novel. It’s the most mature and serious one I’ve ever read of hers.

Initially, I felt like this book was all about Caitlin’s sister, Cassandra, than it was about Caitlin. This changed. And it changed hard. I was practically in tears listening to this (audio book was good!) because of how much it hurt me listening to what was happening to Caitlin [trigger warning: physically abuse relationship – more details in Overall audience notes].

I felt in physical pain myself because of how Rogerson was treating Caitlin. It was unfathomable and I was upset on so many levels for her. While a very hard hitting novel, it also approached hope and recovery in the last few chapters. I anxiously listened waiting until she was broken free of her bonds to him and had a chance to grieve. The aftermath felt more realistic as well. It wasn’t this immediate, I’m happy again!, it was a process that took months and I loved that it showed that side of therapy.

It’s a very quick and short book that packs a lot in. I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone and would caution to please look into the triggers before reading. The pain explored and expressed had me clutching my heart. This was good, raw, and important.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses/make-outs; quick mention of them sleeping together, but no details
  • Violence: see trigger warnings below
  • Trigger warnings: drug abuse, underage drug use, toxic/abusive relationship [physical] with multiple scenes of the main character being harmed, domestic abuse, underage smoking

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