Tag: indie author

Book Review: In the Wake of the Wicked by V.B. Lacey

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 644 pages
Author: V.B. Lacey
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 14th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Wherever she goes, darkness follows.

An orphan with a tragic past and a penchant for wicked deeds, Rose Wolff has never been accepted by her people. She’s learned to live in the darkness, content with her Alchemy magic and her quiet apothecary.

When a terrible curse sweeping the land forces her to enter the Decemvirate, a magical tournament among the strongest of the empire, Rose is pulled from the shadows and thrown into a world of power games, deadly trials, and entanglements with a handsome, mysterious rebel.

With divisions in the empire worsening, there may be more at stake than becoming the champion. Secrets about her magic and encounters with the all-powerful emperor make Rose question everything, leading her down a path she may never come back from.

All magic has a price, and Rose must choose: truth, love, or power?

In the Wake of the Wicked is the first book in a series of interconnected fantasy standalones. This story follows a young woman who finds herself caught up in the glory of magic and unexpected love during a time of hardship and divisions among her empire. Perfect for lovers of Wicked, The Serpent and the Wings of Night, and The Hunger Games, this book is full of deadly trials, morally grey characters, mythical creatures and shifters, unique magic, witty banter, and no spice romance that will have you swooning.

NEW AUTHOR FAV.

I have been anxiously waiting to get some time to dedicate to this behemoth and I loved it. It is a nice long slow burn that pays off on all the fronts. I also super duper love that it’s a no spice romance. While I do read a low level of spice, I feel like the fantasy romance market is way too heavy on how much spice can be thrown in and this is a nice breath of a swoony read (with fantastic kissing scenes, don’t you worry) without an open door.

ANYWAYS. I loved these characters. And I loved that it was dual POV. Seeing both Leo and Rose’s POV was perfect. i loved Rose’s character arc the most. Seeing her slowly let people in, realize she’s worth staying for and finding some people that could be and want to be in her circle was incredible. There were many resonating moments throughout where my heart squeezed tight.

I enjoyed the action and competition plot line. It was a great balance of not being ALL competition while still giving those big action scenes their due. It’s dark and gritty and keeps you on edge.

And y’all know how standalone fantasies are so hard for me to love because they always need to be longer???? WELL HERE YA GO. 650 pages of goodness. I actually felt like I got to know all of the characters, understand the world building and magic system and really let the relationships develop.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate – high
  • Content Warnings: loss of life, blood/gore depiction

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Book Review: Long Live (The Elementals of Iona #1) by V.B. Lacey

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 475 pages
Author: V.B. Lacey
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 1st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Isla Belthare lives an ordinary life in her small village of Lockhurt. Since losing both her mother and the man she loved two years ago, all she wants is stability and peace. But her world is forever changed when her family is attacked on a journey away from home and she must travel to the Aataran mountain range to find them.

Across the realm, four ancient beings who control the elements of nature are awakening.

After a civil war that tore the humans apart, the elementals entered a thousand year slumber. Now, they are being summoned to prevent a dark force that is greedy for power and threatening to overturn the balance of nature.

When Isla’s path crosses with one of these elementals, she finds her fate is more entangled with theirs than she had ever imagined. As she risks it all to follow the elementals on their journey to defeat the unknown foe, she discovers that not everything may be as it seems. Isla is torn between protecting her loved ones or following her heart down a dangerous path of power and magic, of truth and lies.

What will they sacrifice to stop the coming storm?

THOUGHTS.

I fear this may have been over hyped to me and I lost a little steam when I was reading it. The second half was really great though and I feel very much inclined to read the conclusion (it’s a duology) to see where everyone ends up.

The insta-love is what frustrated me most. Things went from 0-100 real fast and I don’t think there was enough tension, especially with it being what was supposedly enemies to lovers.

I did like Isla a lot. She was fiercely loyal, willing to learn and train and wanted to help those around her. I found her to be an easy FMC to root for. Even better was the fact it was multiple POV. One of my favorite things. I liked how this gave insight to the world building and the past. The combination of everyone’s motives helped the book along immensely.

The writing was easy to read and I thought flowed well too. I did like the general concept of the story and the plot. There was action and some good twists and enough to keep me invested throughout.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, small battle scenes

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Book Review: Goodbye Again by Caitlin Moss

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 404 pages
Author: Caitlin Moss
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: September 3rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Fated to meet.
Destined to fall in love.
Bound to fall apart.

In Julia Waters’s world, everything is easily explained. Simple, uncomplicated, logical. Until she meets JP Chapman on a cross-country flight, the handsome kindergarten teacher charms her with his wit, humor, and irresistible smile. While spending a magical night wandering the streets of Seattle, the two stumble upon a fortune teller who predicts their futures will forever be entwined.

But sometimes the road to love isn’t a straight line. Over the span of five years, careers, different cities, and missed chances stand in the way of them being together. It isn’t until she starts listening to the advice of her late grandmother, who visits her dreams since that first night in Seattle, does Julia realize not everything about love is straightforward.

If she hopes to discover why an invisible string continues to pull her back to him, she must trust her grandmother’s advice and, ultimately, herself.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

Let me tell y’all, when I passed that halfway point I became an unhinged reader of this book. UNHINGED. The dramatic chaos that presented itself had me literally dropping my jaw and saying “noooooooo” and then getting a little teary-eyed too. This is an atypical romance for me. It does not follow a smooth pattern and brings the angst and WILL THEY EVER GET THEIR MOMENT vibes that left me breathless.

I really loved JP. And I loved Julia. EVEN IF I WANTED TO SHAKE THEM MULTIPLE TIMES. I don’t know how I feel about a few particular plot points but I jumped on the speeding train of this journey and rolled with it. There were so many good moments throughout and a lot of Julia’s family/mother dilemmas hit a little close to home.

My one tidbit about the romance was that every time JP and Julia were together there was a bit too much focus on the physicality of the relationship vs. other pieces I would have loved to see more of.

I thought it beautifully came together in the end and I am truly a fan of Caitlin Moss’s writing.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 4+ open door
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: cancer, loss of loved ones, an emotionally abusive mother

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Book Review: Peaches & Honey: These Immortal Truths by R. Raeta

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: R. Raeta
Publisher: Atera Books
Release Date: September 8th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A shapeshifting god,
an immortality granting peach,
and a woman gifted with forever.

England, 1184: Anna is used to hunger and hardship. Ever since she was seventeen, when the pale shadows of her vitiligo were spotted, she has spent more than a decade struggling to survive alone and in exile. Then a single act of kindness towards a beautiful stranger and the taste of a divine peach changes Anna’s life forever.

Suddenly, her body is as untouched by Time as it by harm. As she watches the world change around her, knowing every human connection is only temporary, there is only one person she trusts to always return no matter the years or distance…

The shapeshifting god who gifted her with immortality.

A HISTORY BOOK.

I am a bit disappointed by this book. It felt closer to a history book rather than an indie version of Addie LaRue (of which I loved). The years chosen for all of these jumps didn’t feel random necessarily, but there wasn’t a good flow of the plot of the jumps Anna hangs around different critical moments of history, talks about how horrible they are, and then goes to the next one.

Khiran is kind of a love interest? They seem to talk only ever few hundred years (until later in the story) and I honestly never felt a true connection. Yes, there’s some good moments but nothing I’d rave about.

I’m confused by the magic system, we had one story at the very end that kind of described what was happening, and that was it. We meet some other immortals with no background info and I wish this was more fully put together.

I don’t have plans to read the next book.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: one low explicit open door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: witnessing a lot of humanities crimes, attempted sexual assault, loss of life

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