Tag: calia read

Book Review: Echoes of Time (Surviving Time #3) by Calia Read

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Time Travel Romance
Length: 321 pages
Author: Calia Read
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: May 25th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

For Etienne and me, our love has always left a trace. 
It reigns over kingdoms, and rules over time. 
With Etienne now in the present day, the echoes of time grow louder. 
We must face the answers we seek to set things right.
However, we must be incredibly careful. One false move and everything we love will be destroyed.
And this time, could be the end of our surviving trace.
 
Echoes of Time is the epic finale in The Surviving Time Series.

ONE BOOK TOO LONG.

I think this would have been a great duology, but as a trilogy the plot was stretched too thin and this book didn’t have enough substance.

Most of the focus was just on the couple sleeping together? And I already skip over that, and when it really doesn’t feel apart of the plot it gets boring. I LOVE Etienne and Serene. They are fantastic together. I wanted more of them actually working with the overall story. There was another [spoiler redacted] sub-plot I was fine with, yet, once again, it took over too much of the story.

I liked that there were chapters from Nathalie’s perspective. She’s an underrated character and I would love to check out her story too (separate novel!). It also gave another side to the story so that things at least kept moving in some direction.

It was a fast listen, and it did have a good (and wild) ending. It was all satisfying by the last page.

Overall audience notes:

  • Time Travel Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open door; high explicit
  • Violence: medium
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: a loved one with a traumatic brain injury, physical altercations, murder, weapons violence

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Book Review: The Reigning and the Rule (Surviving Time #2) by Calia Read

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Time Travel Romance
Length: 479 pages
Author: Calia Read
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 17th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Étienne Lacroix and I had a fire I thought would never die.
Our love was timeless.
An irreversible decision sent me back to the present day with a family I barely recognize, but I am determined to find a way back to Étienne.
I can survive time. But I can’t survive life without him.
Time bends to no one’s demands, so I must fight with everything I have to return to the past. However, I am terrified that the past I once knew might not look the same, and the man who once called me his surviving trace will no longer be waiting for me.

Time bends to no one’s demands but sometimes love does.

OH THE DRAMA.

I still stand by this series could have probably been one book, maaaaybe two. But I just finished book two and I’m invested enough to see this through to the end.

This did once again, go outside my spice comfort level (didn’t affect my rating but wanted to note). Things once again get steeeeammyyyy. So if that’s your thing, here ya go!

I liked that there was a bit more explanation behind the magic working with Serene as she goes back and forth between time. I like having a general explanation of the rules of the world and this gave me more answers I was seeking. I love the historical aspects and seeing how things continue to change as Serene makes life changing decisions around and around.

That ENDING was wild. I have a million plus questions and NEEEEEED to know where it goes so I’m hoping to get back to finish this series ASAP. This book is a bit long, yet it does have a decent pace that will keep you moving. And if you love high angst moments, this delivers on them.

Ovearll audience notes:

  • Time Travel Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open door; high explicit
  • Violence: medium
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: gun violence, near death experiences, loss of life, mentions of domestic abuse

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Book Review: The Surviving Trace (Surviving Time #1) by Calia Read

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Time Travel Romance
Length: 463 pages
Author: Calia Read
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: May 19th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Will is my fiancé. The shy man I met years ago in college. The person I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with.

This is the life I’ve always wanted until finding a picture of four men changes everything…

Etienne says he’s my husband and the year is 1912. He can’t stand the sight of me, but I don’t know why.

Oh, and he’s one of the men from the picture.

I’ve done the impossible and have become trapped in time and I know Etienne is my key to going home.

The more time I spend with Etienne, the further I fall for him, until I’m questioning which time I belong in and if the life I left behind is the one I truly desire.

All I know for certain is I need to survive time.

I need to survive love.

And I need to make it out on the other side alive.

I’M HOOKED.

I am hit or miss on the time-travel romance concept (hello Outlander, the best of them all). BUT. This one had me feeling all the things and I am hooked on finding out where it goes next.

The setting is one of my favorite aspects for its uniqueness. 1912 in Charleston, South Carolina? With swoony men with a southern drawl? LOVE IT. I like the bit of mystery that was added to it that helped paved the way for the fact that this is a trilogy.

I have some questions about the magic that causes the time-travel. I would love a bit more information of that and when Serene switched time periods I did find that it dragged a little.

BUT, the ending?? That was WILD and I have no idea where things go next. I look forward to unravelling the story and seeing what happens next.

Overall audience notes:

  • Time travel romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open door
  • Violence: med/high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: gun violence, loss of parents (recounted), physical altercations, infidelity

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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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