Category Archives: books/book review

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Book Review: Her Wolf in the Wild, by Rien Gray

I received a copy of Rien Gray‘s Her Wolf In the Wild from Netgalley, quite a while ago. I’m embarrassed to say it got lost in the digital library for a time. So, my review is super late. Which is why I’m becoming more and more reluctant to accept digital books for review. There is something to be said for a physical book that can sit on my side table and remind me of it’s existence.
her wolf in the wild cover

The Hounds of God MC live outside the law and protect their own. They only have three rules:

(1) look out for each other

(2) obey the club president

(3) never show a human your werewolf form.

Christiana Arjean needs to get out. She tried to fix her relationship, but making a break for it is her only shot. She almost doesn’t make it, until a butch biker with a shock of white hair tosses Christiana on the back of her bike. Micah is as mysterious as she is attractive, and Christiana wants to know what’s under that tough exterior.

Micah Nubilo knows a little bit about keeping secrets. Rescuing Christiana is a bad idea, and letting her hang around is even worse. But there’s something calling to Micah: an impossible bond no werewolf should ever feel for a human, even one as beautiful as Christiana.

Their growing intimacy is threatened when they realize their pasts are connected in ways they never could have imagined. Christiana and Micah must fight against threats both outside the pack and inside themselves for a chance at putting it all behind them and finding a way forward—together.

my review

I thought this was a super sweet romance. Though if I’m honest, the platonic love between Micah and her pack-mates was my favorite part of the book. The book is chocked full of representation. The writing is easy to follow. The editing is fairly clean. And the whole thing actually concludes, no cliffie.

However, I did feel a little bit like the villain was villainous just because. There wasn’t much steam in the book; no sex until the last chapter, in fact. There was also very little down time for the reader to get to know the main characters outside of the drama, which I found a little exhausting.

[SPOILER] Lastly, I was confused by the fact that Christina was supposed to be hiding from her crazy ex, but just went to work like normal—the most predictable place to find her. It made no sense that she would decide to do this, and having done it, it made no sense that he didn’t find her there. I was also irritated that she made no effort to inform anyone that she hadn’t, in fact, been kidnapped. I understand she was nervous about in-person police working with the ex. But she made no effort to—or even seemed to consider—informing anyone of anything and it felt like a convenient oversight for no reason but plot progression.

All in all, however, I enjoyed more of this than I didn’t and would happily read another Gray book.

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Other Reviews

Review: Her Wolf in the Wild by Rien Gray

Review: Her Wolf in the Wild – Rien Gray

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Book Review: Flirting With Fate, by J.C. Cervantes

I accepted a copy of J.C. CervantesFlirting With Fate for review, as part of it’s blog tour with Literary Bound Tours.

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Ava Granados will never forgive herself for being late to her beloved nana’s deathbed. But due to a flash flood that left Ava in a fender bender with a mysterious boy, she missed her grandmother’s mystical blessing— one that has been passed between the women of her family upon death for generations. Then Nana’s ghost appears with a challenge from beyond the grave. As it turns out, Nana did give Ava a blessing, but it missed its target, landing with the boy from the night of the storm instead. Was it fate? Ava refuses to believe so.

With the help of her sisters and Nana’s rather bumbling spiritual guide, she’s determined to reclaim her share of the family magic and set Nana free. For guarded Ava, befriending some random boy is the last thing she wants to do. She’s gotten along just fine protecting her heart— keeping people at a distance is a great way to ensure no one ever hurts you. But as Ava embarks on her mission to retrieve the lost blessing, she starts to wonder if getting close to thunderstorm boy is worth the risk.

my review

This was a super sweet, low drama, young adult fantasy romance (probably closer to magical realism, honestly). True, the whole grandma can’t remember the details, but we have to do X, Y, and Z to succeed felt contrived. But not so much it ruined the story. I loved how solid the sisters’ faith in one another was. I appreciate that the different families had different, though equally valid responses to the trauma of lost family. (Though I 100% didn’t believe Achilles sudden 180° personality shift, even if it was explained.) I liked the way the older generation described fate, and that the book started out from fate’s perspective. The writing was clean and easy to read and the whole thing wrapped up satisfactorily. YA isn’t my go-to genre, but I still very much enjoyed this.

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Other Reviews:

REVIEW: Flirting with Fate by J.C. Cervantes

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Book Review: Tin Cat, by Misa Buckley

I accepted a review copy of Tin Cat (by Misa Buckley) through Lucy Turns Pages.

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A year after the accident that put her in a wheelchair, Amber Gerald has more or less gotten used to living with her impairment. It doesn’t make a difference to running a comic book store anyway, and the customers have been the best support group she could have wished for.

When she rescues an abandoned cat, Amber has no idea that she’s interfering in the mad scheme of a time travelling bank robber. Or that the man that walks into her store dressed like Blade is about to become her bodyguard.

Between being an unwitting owner of an android cat and falling for a cybernetic bounty hunter, Amber finds her life a whole new level of weird as science fiction becomes a very real factual threat.

my review
Do I want to start with the good or the bad? It’s a legitimate question because this book has both. I’ll start with the fact that I really liked the characters. The writing is easy and pleasant to read and the editing seems fairly clean. There are quite a few fun little geeky references. As far as I can tell (as a non-wheelchair user) the disability representation seems pretty good. At the very least, Buckley didn’t commit any of the big faux pas I keep on a lookout for. Plus, there is actual on-page sex between the two main characters. I feel like people who live with disabilities don’t often get to see themselves having the sexy times in books. So, I was thrilled by this.

On the other side of the coin is the fact that everything moves far too quickly. And I don’t even just mean the insta-lust/love. I mean that the plot moves too quickly for the reader to become attached to and/or care about the well-being of the character.The result was that I made to the end of the book without too many complaints, but also with a shrug.

And then there is the cover. It’s just not very good, IMO. Oddly, I’ve seen an older cover and think it’s better (though still a little too DIY to be called good). And—yes, this is a small thing but I am unreasonably annoyed by it—Cat is described as a tabby cat ON PAGE ONE. So, why is there a solid black cat on the cover ?

All in all, I’d call this a middle of the road read for me. It wasn’t bad, but I probably won’t remember it by next week. But I’d read another Buckley book.

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Other Reviews:

Wi Love Books –  Review: Tin Cat

Review: Tin Cat by Misa Buckley