Chain Reaction - Anytime, anywhere, inevitable

Lee Child and Andrew Child bring back Reacher, in his best avatar - analyzing, strategizing and using the good old noggin where technology may be abundantly overused. Susan Turner calls on Reacher to providing a clinically detached external review of her G-99 department, where she suspects a mole may have caused the death of one of her investigators, leaving behind a widow and a young child.

Reacher, as per norm, grabs the bull by the horns, operating with the dispassionate ruthless efficiency, cataloguing all his environments and making incisive deductions on the way. The AI forte is a new one, and this plotline and culmination was quintessentially Reacher - calm, collected and utterly devastating read. May i just say, I couldn't help but picture Alan Ritchson, in many of the scenes - he has come to embody my fantasy Reacher to the T. 

The death of a subordinate, culminates into a slew of hit and miss, cat and mouse like chase between the baddies and Reacher, the scenes with the tree hugging are also fantastic as is the moving part with Amanda - but if you're reading this for the ACTION, do not panic - there is BUCKETLOADS of cheeky conversations, implied threats and danger assessments to keep your inner A team aligned!

All in all, a magnificent thriller to chase the spooks out this halloween! My EEF thankyous to Ballantine and Netgalley for the ARC and my salutes to the five starred authors for this slick, throwback to good old fashioned police work!

#ChainReaction #Ballantine #Reacher #Everythingeverywhereforever

This Shattered Tempest - Combustive ending to a beloved series

 If you have followed the Hurricane Wars and lived, cried and pulled your hair out in frustration at the tumultuous love story that eclipses Alaric and Talasyn, well then this is THE BOOK! After vanquishing the threat of the World Eater, a fragile hope exists for their political marriage to begin anew, with new policies, new allies and newfound trust in each other. That tender alliance is shattered in the worst possible way, replete with the violence and unnerving political power plays that Thea Guanzon imbues her stories with....

From scathing reunions, tottering alliances, mistrusting allies, this finale juggles a multitude of sides leaving the reader and the protagonists in a vortex of seething emotions. Reeling from past hurts and untold truths and secrets left lounging for far too long, Talasyn and Alaric emerge as the respective sovereigns in their Kingdoms, poised to wage an endless war, because some secrets feel worse than betrayal.... but can love just ever be enough?

I have three words for the readers who re-read the A Court of Wings and Ruin on repeat like me - Chapter Thirty Eight, that is the point where this story shifted for me, the plot line and arcs gave me the chills! Such a marvelous influx of self realization and dominance sheathed in silk and aether, written masterfully and justice delivered with panache! I LOVED this closure, this coming together of ends and it felt like coming home to a vision you had in another book, in another world.... impeccably and impossibly beautiful! Read at your peril, lose yourself and then go back and read it again.... it is THAT good!

My voidfell thankyous to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for furnishing the ARC and my lightwoven gratitude to the magnificent Thea for bringing it to such a moving closure!

#OctoberReads #ThisShatteredTempest #COWARXshadowmancy #HurricaneWars

Daughter of the Tempest - Assassin's Creed meets Mythical Magic

 For exquisite and reverberating Throne of Glass vibes, enmeshed within towering Greek myths, this series will break you out like no other!

If you thrive of sisterhood and found family, where friendship reigns supreme across all life's travails, should you prefer a surge of secret magical beings and their genealogy explored and explained through each infuriating chapter, if your surrogacy for a tale spins in direct proportion to the dastardliness of the villain, and if your romance compass leans towards slow, sizzling and all consuming ardent adoration, then this multi POV gem of a sequel from the masterful Braidee Otto will stoke all those flames anew!

Braidee effortlessly spins a sequel stemming from the close kinship between Nyssa and Aella, as they both rail against the decisions they've been handed and struggle against an unfair divergence of their paths. Aella finds herself entering a bargain with the mysterious Xan, to train her Theikos, whilst Nyssa leads Maxim and Kallias, into a mystery involving missing Nymphs, all while hiding from the eagle in plain sight. Add in the political bickering and reuniting with old allies and missing friends, this sweeping romantasy packs a punch and then some! 

I loved the equation that developed between Nyssa, Kallias and Maxim, not to mention the thawing of Cynna, the adventure was swift, fast paced, with the fly and fall of the different character in alternating POVs - expertly executed and reads like a dream!

I absolutely CANNOT wait for more!! Brava!!!

My wind bent obeisance to Random House and Netgalley for offering the ARC, and my wingless harpaurai salute to Braidee Otto for reframing her earlier work with more of the adventure, uncertainty and cross continent mayhem that defines this series!

#OctoberReads #DaughteroftheTempest #BraideeOtto #TOGXGreekRetelling

Claimed By The Orc King - Southern Sass meets OtherWorld Orcs in an insane adventure!

 Delicious, devilish and deranged! This wonderful ALC took me down the rabbit hole with an Alice, bred solely on Southern Sass, and some macho orcs thrown into the fusion. The plotline was unhinged! Modern girl brings her own sense of self and panic attack infused stress to a whole new world, where she finds herself fighting against the tall, macho. sensitive male orc hunk who breathes life into her every wish...

Roxy Taylor has crafted a very nebular society, with a female centric powerplay, and Athen, our wonderfully foul mouthed protagonist, runs circles around their logic and protection, setting the foundations of their kingdom into cardiac arrest with being the only unbonded female in the land. Add in some mythical powers, and kaboom, you've got yourself a hot, heavy and explosively arresting storyline!

I loved the rendition by Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick as the frustrated, exasperated yet gobsmacked Viggo, who cannot believe his luck to have been mated with the effervescent Thena, and Vivienne LaRue, goes through the high and lows of Thena's insecurities whilst reveling in the combative foreplay with Viggo. With a bevy of lovable characters - Aesther, Grist, Jordan, Valder - this inane brand of magic fueled, world ending, sizzling love making and of course, the belligerent Southern Belle is an all round entertaining listen. I couldn't stop grinning like a mad woman when I had my earbuds on, earning more than my fair share of weird looks from people.

My effusive thanks to Macmillian Audio and Netgalley for sharing the ALC. My bows and allegiance to Roxy Taylor for this incredible and mind blowing experience and to the narrators for giving voice to these fascinating characters.

#OctoberReads #ClaimedbyTheOrcKing #RoxyTaylor #MacmillianAudio #SouthernSassXOtherworldfantasy

Trust Fall - Gossip Girl X MidWestern Flair

 This IS IT!!! The worthy successor of the chaos in my senses left by Better Than the Movies, with Wes and Liz, whose potent chemistry i was searching in all her other books... Dame and Jules absolutely BROUGHT it!!! I had to stop myself from devouring it, and was constantly delaying finishing the book, because with some books, you NEVER want the magic to come to an end...

Lynn, in her quintessentially fabulous way, merges Gossip Girl with a small town mid western honest to goodness community vibe, and ends up smelling like pumpkin spiced latte!

The premise of a rich, eccentric uncle, handing over his inheritance and home to an unknown family from Nebraska was wildly hilarious and I completely got Dame's reaction! I mean he's worked hard and poured his heart out to his uncle, to be left out cold, I do not blame him in the least - he's as human as we get! and when he's asked to tutor Julia, his nemesis and the proprietor of his house, let the games begin! and they do - with fanfare, wildly exulting text exchanges and the skewering of thrill a minute teenage hormones that have become the hallmark of Lynn's work!

The magic is in the air as Dame is caught squarely between avoidance of all social norms to escape the crushing judgement of the societe, whilst also struggling to be himself around Julia's honest and open admiration. This was sheer brilliance which made the storyline! And the magnificent Uncle Remi quotes punctuating the start of each chapter!

I ADORE sibling entropies being brought in with Liam, Lauren and Teanna an absolute gold stars, and I'd love to see them in a sequel soon, maybe even Beckett and Don...

My falling in love and trust renewed thank yous to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and Netgalley for proving me an opportunity to savor and relish this tempting arc.

#TrustFallLynnPainter #Netgalley #UncleRemi #SeptemberReads

Queen of Lombard Street - Effervescent rise of Reina Martin and her motley household

 Dearest Reader, in our troubling times, where women must contend with being treated as lesser, be it power, be it position or simply the ownership, of, we, daughters, wives and mother, all, are treated as chattel, carelessly used and disabused of any notion of having a semblance of control in our very lives. Should we not, rise up, and provide a rousing cheer for our darling, Reina Martin, the Queen of Lombard street?

Be you, in search of romance, deep, sensitive and hard and lusty, or perhaps, in search of a more academic bent of mind, speared with intellectual insights and delighted by facts, perchance your interests lie with second chances, especially those reformed prisoners who suddenly find their peace in knitting needles or some sort, or you savor a chance to play detective, or simply bring order to chaos, then this magnificent offering from Lisa Kleypas will bowl you over!

Lisa brings this glorious, insane and absolutely riveting tale to life, with nods to the sweeping reformation of criminals, the slow insurgence of women in positions of power and wealth, a doff to the erudite scholars whose perseverance paved the way for more of the gentle folk to prevail and excel in male dominated professions! The tale moves across from a lonely but rich woman who wishes to establish her household, in the very street, her father was conscious to never be seen in her company, Reina Martin, empowered by her mother's insistence on a balanced education, finds herself armed with the law, finance and an indomitable spirit, which she extends to her cause of having a bustling household, replete with ex convicts and her best friend, June. John Pembroke finds himself at the helm of this motley crew, tasked with an investigation into the enigmatic Reina and her mentor Farlow's nefarious practices.

The story was fast paced, armed with deep midnight conversations, handsy abuelas, and poetry from a couple of Welshmen, what more could one ask for? A delight to revel and relish! this was a beautifully crafted found family tale for any social leopard!

My thank yous to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for providing this ARC and my formal curtsy to Lisa for this gem!

#OctoberReads #QueenofLombardStreet #RebellionxSecondChances #Netgalley #AvonHarperVoyager

Knight of the God King - Victorian Women Knights vs the Dark

 This is my second Lauren Blackwood arc of the year, and it never gets old! A beautiful premise of knight protecting the King using a musical harmony for magic and a nefarious nebulous entity called the Dark. The royal palace, its intrigues and the long list of women in administration, Lauren definitely places them on weighty roles for the unwinding tale - a squire who was treated shamefully by his knight, a new royal knight who is blackmailed by her kin over her dark past and a powerless princess are thrown into the vortex of political mayhem and magical dissonance in this YA tale.

I adored the character arc for Cali, although, in some places, her tolerance and naivety made me want to scream, given she was smart enough to engage in flirting, it just seemed incongruent with her normally smart character. Other than that minor gripe, all's well! Beric was a beautifully stitched character, his past and his present, in confluence with the gimmickry being maintained at the palace, was akin to a tightrope walk - balanced and measured for absolute accuracy. 

This was a fast paced , quick read, and I managed to polish the ARC in a day.

My ebullient thank yous to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC! And I cannot wait to see what more Lauren has to unfurl in her upcoming ventures!

#Netgalley #KnightofTheGodKing #StMartinsPress #FemaleKnight