Tag: indie author

Book Review: The Dragons of Nova (Loom Saga #2) by Elise Kova

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Sci-fi fantasy
Length: 487 pages
Author: Elise Kova
Publisher: Keymaster Press
Release Date: July 11th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Cvareh returns home to his sky world of Nova with the genius crafter Arianna as his temperamental guest. The mercurial inventor possesses all the Xin family needs to turn the tides of a centuries-old power struggle, but the secrets she harbors must be earned with trust — hard to come by for Ari, especially when it comes to Dragons. On Nova, Ari finds herself closer to exacting vengeance against the traitor who killed everything — and everyone – she once loved. But before Ari can complete her campaign of revenge, the Crimson Court exposes her shadowed past and reveals something even more dangerous sparking between her and Cvareh.

While Nova is embroiled in blood sport and political games, the rebels on Loom prepare for an all-out assault on their Dragon oppressors. Florence unexpectedly finds herself at the forefront of change, as her unique blend of skills — and quick-shooting accuracy — makes her a force to be reckoned with. For the future of her world, she vows vengeance against the Dragons.

Before the rebellion can rise, though, the Guilds must fall.

TOO LONG.

That’s what I felt after I finished this book (and skimmed the last 100 pages). This 500 page book could have been a lot smaller and I think I would have stayed intrigued longer.

Things started out well. I was completely invested in what was happening. The romance brewing. The political back stabbing. All good things. Just dragged out.

I am sooooo here for the romance between Cvareh and Arianna (when am I not?). I was splendidly happy that things actually progressed in the book! We’ve got a relationship going now and that means one heck of a finale awaits me.

The multiple POVs help bring everything to life. They switch often and the chapters are fairly short. I liked being kept in the loop with what was happening on Loom and Nova through Cvareh, Arianna, Florence, Yveun, and Petra. This gave me a lot of angles from the protagonists and antagonists.

ACTION. So much action happens. I felt like every other page someone was getting shot, dragon claws were being dragged across someone’s throat, or locations were getting blown up. All of the politics between the two rival families on Loom are definitely interesting, and keep you on your toes. I was surprised with who died and who survived by the end, because I did NOT see that coming. The traitor that still walks the halls is sure in for the biggest implosion.

I’m not sure when I’ll pick up book three (I do still intend to read it). This slog-fest really took it out of me and I plan to wait a bit to get to it. While I did enjoy the story and the tangled web being woven, there’s almost too much happening to keep my focus in any particular place.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses/make-outs, one detailed love scene (that spans for about a chapter)
  • Violence: dragons fighting (and it’s bloody), poison, physical, swords, guns, explosions; very descriptive and violent

Instagram || Goodreads

ARC Book Review: A Temporary Engagement (The Fake Love Series #3) by Summer Dowell

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: Unknown (it’s short though)
Author: Summer Dowell
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: May 14th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Strong, independent women don’t fall for their fake fiancé.

Elena is a thriving pharmacist who is totally confident in her single status. Well, relatively confident. But when her best friend asks a favor for a needy brother-in-law, Elena can’t say no. How hard can it be to pretend for one night?

Mason is not one to beg when it comes to women. In fact, he prides himself on having his fair pick of just about anyone. But when his big mouth gets him into serious trouble, he’s looking for anyone to get him out of his bind. He just didn’t expect his rescuer to be quiet so attractive.

What happens when this one night sham turns into more than these two planned for?

Thank you to the author for an eARC. All opinions are my own!

SHORT AND SWEET.

That’s what I have liked most about this series. How simple and kind the books are. I know I’m going to get something that’ll make me smile and always a happy ever after. Just what I need sometimes, ya know?

I loved the chemistry between Elena and Mason. They really did hit it off from the beginning. Good banter, witty comebacks and moments where they got some alone time to get to know each other. I didn’t love the ex-girlfriend plot of it. I was hoping she wasn’t going to play as big of a role as she did. Kinda took away from it because she was the worst and annoyed me immensely.

Otherwise, I really liked the plot. I always wish these were longer, but I feel like this one was close to its true nature in length. There weren’t any issues with plot holes that I noticed and found myself enjoying a good, wholesome, rom-com.

I don’t have a long review for this because the book itself is on the short side (200ish pages). But if you’re looking for something light-hearted, I definitely recommend this series by Summer Dowell.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger warning: character going into anaphylactic shock because of an allergen

Instagram || Goodreads

Book Review: My Very Own Hitman by Izi Miller

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 124 pages
Author: Izi Miller
Publisher: Village Lane Publishing
Release Date: August 6th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When Jessica gets blackmailed into working for a gang boss, the last thing she expects to find is romance. She is certain her bucket list full of wishes- like learning to ice skate and kissing under the mistletoe- will never come true. When she tries to run for it, the boss sends a hitman after her. But when the hitman shows up looking more uncertain than murderous, she proposes a deal. If he’ll give her two weeks to complete her bucket list, she’ll let him take her out without a fight. It turns out a lot can happen in two weeks. Especially when kissing is on your bucket list and your hitman happens to be a handsome billionaire…

This new romantic comedy by Izi Miller will sweep you off your feet with action, adventure, suspense and romance. Hands-down the best clean romance you’ll find this year. Miller has crafted a novella perfect for summer beach reading, and equally well-suited for cozying up by the fire at Christmas. Fans of movies like Holiday in Handcuffs, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Knight and Day will love the hilarious situations the characters find themselves in!

I WOULD READ A FULL NOVEL LIKE THIS.

I saw this as a recommendation on Bookstagram as a light-hearted, entertaining, and a novella that’ll make you smile. And they were right!

This was a short and simple novella with a kinda dark background. Our MC has been wrapped up into gang work and when she tries to escape she runs into a cute stranger. Then said stranger is blackmailed into being her hitman. Y’all, what a plot line. I can’t say I’ve heard this before!

It was definitely a romantic comedy. As Jessica tries to accomplish things off of her bucket list, she drags her hit man off on her adventure. I smiled the whole time through these scenes. They were clever and provided good banter between the two. There’s no intense steam of anything. It’s all very clean and sweet.

I liked the chemistry between the two and how it all wrapped up. For a novella I thought the amount of background information was great and that the story actually had an end point. It’s also around Christmastime so this would be a great wintery novella as well.

Overall audience notes:

  • Rom-com contemporary novella
  • Language: none
  • Romance: a kiss
  • Violence: guns, murder, kidnapping

Instagram || Goodreads

Book Review: Talon the Black (The Dragonwall Saga #1) by Melissa Mitchell

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy romance
Length: 715 pages
Author: Melissa Mitchell
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: February 28th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What would you do if a dragon fell from the sky? Claire Evans is a small-towner from Indiana faced with this exact situation. When a dragon crash-lands in her corn field, she goes gallivanting off to find it.

This incident triggers a chain of events that sweep our heroine into a complicated plot to destroy a kingdom. At the heart of it is a powerful sorcerer whose only desire is to bring about a past long forgotten, a past that favors those of magical blood and condemns those who are not worthy, a past that would result in the annihilation of peace and the deaths of many.

Claire finds herself thrust into an old fashioned world liken to those she’s grown up reading about, one of fantasy and intrigue. There, she soon realizes that a lifetime of books hardly prepared her. She must face difficulties never before confronted, and in so doing, discover secrets about herself. All the while, there is one obstacle that ultimately stands in her way: The King of Dragonwall. And she needs him on her side if she is to succeed. Will such a thing be possible?

The King of Dragonwall is not like those before him. Troubled and temperamental, he is scarred by more than the events that shaped him. Worst of all, he is mateless. With no queen and no heir, his subjects are demanding he abandon tradition and marry into nobility. But with the rising threats upon his borders, goblin unrest to the east, and talk of an even darker terror to the north, he will soon have far greater problems than that of finding a wife.

Modern meets medieval in this first installment of The Dragonwall Saga, which is full of magical creatures and adventure. In addition, there are a variety of interesting characters, and even a dose of romance.

THE BONES WERE GOOD.

I read this because my sister had recommend it to me, and I love her dearly, but this wasn’t my favorite. Let me give you a quote that accurately describes my experience.

“Where was her plot? What was her purpose? Which path was she supposed to follow?”

I MEAN SAME GIRL. The MAIN CHARACTER, Claire said this. And that is the epitome of this story. Take out about 300 pages (no really, this massive thing is 700ish) and THEN we would’ve had a pretty decent book. The plot jumped allllll over the place. Random character POV chapters, with their own lines that I couldn’t bother to pay attention too. Claire herself was on some kind of adventure. Did I know exactly what that was? Not really. Save the land, be the “chosen one,” the typical stuff was all I gathered.

I was hoping for more romance as well. Nothing crazy, but our two love interests meeting after 350 pages? Not quite what I had in mind. There were some relationships between other characters on the side, but since I knew next to nothing about them I was confused as to why they even liked each other.

Y’all are clearly seeing my issues here. What I gathered from the book is that the bones of the story were good. I could see vaguely how this could honestly be a good book. I mean, there’s DRAGONS everywhere. That was a big reason I picked it up in the first place. I’m holding off on the second book right now, but you never know. I might pick it back up.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy + some romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: some kisses
  • Violence: some small battles, physical, poison

Instagram || Goodreads