Breaking the Ice - brilliant bookloving ode to modern romance

 Amy Adam's weaves a perfect chick flick, with a curvy girl protagonist and a slow build up of spice. Add in a second hand romance bookshop, leads with varied goals but undeniable attraction simmering and a swarm of supporting characters, you got yourself the perfect accompaniment to candle lit bubble bath read!! The initial hook with the funeral of beloved Hawke, and her role in MFCs life and what it meant will ring in with the lonely city gals..

This is a definite must read for fans of Emily Henry, offering a slice if life with a coming to midlife crisis undercurrent. The dialogs are crisp, especially the sibling interactions and we learn to love the MFC, despite her misgivings and her fear of straying too far (really resonated with me!). I am off to try the vodka and oreos to see what happens...

Thank you Boldwood Book Club and NetGalley for this wonderful opportunity!! Waiting to devour more scrumptious scribes from Amy Adams!!

I am off to find something by Rita Sommers next...

I was told there would be romance

 Marie Arnold's tale of the fabulous, fiesty and absolutely fantastic Falencia, aka Fancy, is an absolute delight to breeze through.

There is a mean girls meets to all the boys i ever loved vibes with moments of voodoo sprinkled in.. Fancy is absolutely blazing as the book loving, manic romantic who will do anything to get to Imani Parker's party. The story flowed and the conversation sparkled. It was a quick read ( I was done in a couple of hours) and was grinning throughout! The author's use of parental control and never have I ever vibes is absolutely delightful! A definite must read for fans of Lynn Painter!!! You can't help love Fancy despite her pettiness and lil white lies, she has a loveable quality that endears her to the reader!

Thank you to Marie Arnold's for this happy joie de vivre story!! It certainly made my day!! And a special Thank you for this ArC Netgalley!!

The Bastard King - slow and sideways

 The bastard King begins with some intense burn between Kora and Derrick - the world building is choppy at best, but there are 2 earlier books that I haven't read. The author drops the nuances of the tale and backstories continually and the tale ends in a cliffhanger. The storyline takes frequent dips and turns and is not lyrical as most fantasy compositions go. The addition of the Scottish( i think) accent to when the characters speak seems at odds when it doesn't appear when they mindspeak.

Overall, it was a quick read but leaves the reader confused as to who is the MC and why the title? I would like to read the sequel to resolve my doubts.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read the book!

Court of Talons - Twelfth Night meets Fourth Wing

The Plot: Jennifer Chance's Court of Talons definitely lived up to its description. We follow Talia, the firstborn female of the Tenth House, who needs to pretend to be the younger sibling to survive. Male first born are bonded to Divhs (creatures from another plain) and are called warrior knights. These warrior knights are part of the protectorate compete in an annual meet to earn a seat in the Court of Talons. En route to her fiance's house, Talia and her brother Merritt are besieged by marauders and Merritt succumbs to his wounds. Driven by sadness, Talia accidentally bonds with the Divh, Gent and needs to travel to the protectorate in his guise and bring honor to her house. 

The Characters: Talia is a gem, coming to her own, learning the intrigues of a new political system that she was previously shunned from. Nazar as the mysterious priest of Light (Brom from Eragon, if you will), who guides her with his Confucius reminiscent sayings. Caleb, the one armed, street urchin who owes his life to Talia and is their eyes and ears. Fortiss, the tall, dark handsome heir to the throne who is not bonded to a Divh - his escapades with Talia and Merritt are the comedic interlude to the plot.

Overall the books is an amazing kickstart to the series with book 2 coming soon. The pace is slow in the beginning to establish the principles, codes and magic governing this world. The political machinations and social structures are beautifully rendered and Talia is a lodestone to test the boundaries of their systems.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oliver Heber Books for this opportunity and a salute to Jennifer Chance on a rocking start to a splendid series!

A Song to Drown Rivers - a lyrical poem of love, loss and revenge

I am unfamiliar with the Legend of Xishi, but this book has made ne determined to learn more. The kingdoms of Wu and Yue are locked in an eternal struggle of conquest and beautiful Xish is selected by Fanli, the minister, to become tribute to King Fuchian of Wu and topple the kingdom by gaining the King's favor.

One of my favorite lines of the book reads ,"Happiness was a side dish, like the sweet sticky rice cakes. But revenge - that was the salt of life. Necessary. Essential."

Ann Liang's writing reminds me of Shelley Parker Chan in composition and the ethereal quality of her navigating through Xishi's feelings has aspects of Judy A Lin and Amelie Wan Zhao.

The characters are beautifully etched, th eir emotions and thoughts veining through the marble halls of the kingdoms, shaping the future of the people. I absolutely loved this!! And am eager to see more.

Many thank yous to St Martin's Press and Ann Liang for the ARC!! I will be posting the review on Amazon once the book releases. 

How to Summon a Fairy Godmother - a fantastic, fast paced, furious fairy re-telling

The plot: A Cinderella story with a wicked twist - Theo, the younger stepsister of Beatrice aka Cindrella is now bound in marriage to an ancient duke, whose grandchild is older than her! to escape this tedious fate, she resorts to calling a fairy godmother -but Cecily has heard of her mean spiritedness and avers from providing her wish to be free of the marriage until she proves her 'goodness' with three tasks. 

A definite must read for lovers of Stephanie Garber's Once upon a broken heart. 

Characters: Theo is spectacular as a firecracker heroine who will dish it as much as she can take it. Having been pegged the evil stepsister, she has built walls around herself and has more barbs than a porcupine. Beatrice is colored mostly in recollections and there are two male love interests who finally look at the scorned stepsister and revel in her presence. 

Special mentions: The part where Theo compares the fairy to the disney version, Theo donning a dress made of live butterflies - these nods to the Disney versions were gems!

The book ends on a cliffhanger and will be continued in How to Survive  Fairy Bargain. I can't wait to devour it - please write fast Laura!

A thousand thanks to Orbit Books and Laura J Mayo for the ARC - this was a riveting, romantic and rapturous read!

Feather and Blade - Impressive and illuminating tale of Intrigue

 Rachel Taylor Thompson's work is a world building exercise which combines aspects of casteism, political quagmires and a coming of age with a sorcery thrown in the midst. At the center of the plot is Emrie, the second daughter of House Das. She starts getting symptoms of witchery, which is punishable by death. The second heir to the kingdom, Dereik Valiyard, is imprisoned with Emrie being charged for his well being without revealing her own identity. The story follows Emrie's growing into her powers while navigating the shifting allegiances and trying to protect her family' place in the court, her budding romance with Dereik and an attempt to come into her own. 

The story begins slowly but picks up pace once Dereik and Emrie start interacting. This is a slow burn with lots of interesting stories being spun between the two leads. The side cast of Emrie's friends and siblings also help the narrative. There are some unfinished threads in the tale, but this may be the first of a series. 

Thank you to #Netgalley and Rachel Taylor Thompson for providing me with an ARC, all opinions stated above are my own!

What If It's You - a cosmic quantum conundrum of what ifs

 I don't deal well with physics and its been ages since interstellar. My only time loop novels have been Rachel Lynn Solomon's Past Present Future. With that, this book felt like a cross between Love and Other Words by Emily Henry meets the women in STEM by Ali Hazelwood.

How many times have we what-ifed anything in life? Being female, I believe it is an instrinsic characteristic to overthink and overanalyze and run mutiple threads of possibilities to build idiot proof life plans. When one such strong female, aka Laurel Everett, gets the opportunity to explore an alternate romance with a possible work husband using AI, she doesn't get a chance to back out.

The story follows Laurel through her self-actualization process, discovering what she has been growing into and what she can't grow without - essentially growing into her own self and molding her life and loves, being honest with expectations and no taking things for granted.

Jilly Gagnon walks a fine balance between the introspection of the heroine and the nuances in science which enable the quantum leaps, the supporting cast of characters are well etched and the ending is fulfilling (Especially the epilogue!). Thanks to Netgalley and Random house Publishing Group for sharing the ARC!

A lady's lesson in Scandal - Swoony Spicy Victorian Spy series

Darcy McGuire kicks off another tale from her 'Deadly damsels' series, following the proteges of Lady Phillippa, Lady Winterbourne, under the aegis of Queen Victoria, herself - a sort of Queen's Lady, if you please. Think Bridgerton meets Charlies Angels - these sparkling, intelligent unconventional heroines, stifled by rigid patriarchal rules, train in hand to hand combat, weaponry and self defense - and why you ask... Why, all in an attempt to bring justice to the scoundrels' in the House of Lords, who are often let off with by the peerage with slaps on their wrists. 

They are often abetted by their counterparts - the dashing heroes, of course, under the Prime Minister, hunting the same villains! How these two factums clash, sizzle and burn forms the basis of the novel. Add in dimensions of equality, crimes against voiceless victims and a brace of adventure, horse riding and a lot of interspersed spicy moments make this a fascinating read.

This book in particular deals with Mellie - our ginger haired, plus size Amazonian or Valkyrie, who captures the heart and soul of wounded war veteran, Beaufort Drake. Both Mellie and Drake have a broken history in love - Mellie's reputation has been sullied due to her infatuation with her childhood friend St George, and is being forced into a marriage with her father's friends, at the insistence of her step mother. While Drake has returned home after years of torture and scarring to find his fiance married to his brother. Add in some human trafficking, beauty and the beast vibes, this makes an excellent read for any Victorian fan, albeit some of the swearing may be more modern, considering the period in question. This gripe aside, this is a fats paced, easy adventure mystery with oodles of spice!

The Lies We Conjure - a riveting magical mystery for YA lovers

The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning is a YA whodunnit bringing together a coven of witches and some regular non magical innocents in the play for their lives. The author has masterfully combined the elements of unwitting humans caught in the midst of the annual witch meeting where the matriarch is murdered and the chase commences!

The non magical sisters are true to life with Ruby being the responsible older sister and Wren the i-always-get-my-way sibling. There is a murderer rife in the locked Hegemony manor and the unwilling participants have 72 hours to find the murdered while also solving clues to find the master relics - add in some family angst, growing pains and some LGBTQ friendly characters to the mix, and voila! A multiple POV escape room-esque thriller, perfect for a rainy day.

Thank you to the Tor Teen Publicity for sharing the ARC with me! This was a delicious read indeed!