Tag Archives: romance

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Book Review: Fire’s Daughter, by India Arden

I received a free Audible code for a copy of India Arden‘s Fire’s Daughter.

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Confronting a gang of dangerous rebels is one thing. Falling for them is another.

You can’t turn on the news nowadays without getting bombarded by stories about the Rebels. They look so scary on TV – blowing things up, knocking things down, terrorizing the declining city of Corona, and making sure even the rubble doesn’t go unscathed.

My father is the reigning Arcane Master of Fire. Since he’s a prominent figure in both politics and magic, it only makes sense that my family is a target.

Still, I never expected to encounter a Rebel leader in person. I never imagined I’d be drawn to him, either. And I most definitely never dreamed I could lose my heart to them all.

The Rebels:

Ember: The leader

Sterling: The healer

Zephyr: The thinker

Rain: The dreamer

And Aurora is the heart of the group, pitted against her own family in this enthralling series.

my review

I actually DNFed this and then later came back and finished it because I was short on my yearly reading goal. (That is the only reason, not because I was enjoying it.) Look, I might have liked this when I was too young to read critically. But now, I am pretty disgusted by it. I’d call this Fundamentalist fiction. You have a smart, capable woman who has all the power in her own hands, but she happily (because it’s inferred to be the right thing) hands it all off to men who will take care of her but have no power to do so without the sacrifice of her power to them. And she turned pretty useless once they came into the picture. Plus, the whole thing is just so ridiculously ham-fisted. I have the rest of the series, but I will not be finishing it.

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Book Review: Wings Once Cursed & Bound, by Piper J. Drake

I bought a copy of Piper J. DrakesWings Once Cursed & Bound way back in August of 2023 as part of a #ReadForMaui: A Read for Maui Read-A-thon. Maui was burning, and I bought several books by local authors in support.

wings once cursed and bound

My wings unbound, I am the Thai bird princess
The kinnaree
And no matter the cost,
I will be free.

Bennet Andrews represents a secret organization of supernatural beings dedicated to locating and acquiring mythical objects, tucking them safely away where they cannot harm the human race. When he meets Peeraphan Rahttana, it’s too late—she has already stepped into The Red Shoes, trapped by their curse to dance to her death.

But Bennet isn’t the only supernatural looking for deadly artifacts. And when the shoes don’t seem to harm Peeraphan, he realizes that he’ll have to save her from the likes of creatures she never knew existed. Bennett sweeps Peeraphan into a world of myth and power far beyond anything she ever imagined. There, she finds that magic exists in places she never dreamed—including deep within herself.

my review

Meh. I thought this was OK, but nothing more. I liked that Peeraphan had a backbone and no problem expressing herself. I liked that Bennet was assiduous about consent at every stage, and the reader can see his internal struggles. I even think the world was interesting.

The problem was that the world felt only sketched out, and, frankly, I was bored for most of the book. There really isn’t much to the plot and no real twists or turns to keep things lively. I have book two. But I’m not even sure I will read it.

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Book Review: Wings Once Cursed and Bound

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Book review: Bound to the Dark, by Sadie Moss

I picked up an Amazon copy of the compilation of Claimed by Monsters by Sadie Moss. Here I read book one, Bound to the Dark.

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Monstrous. Dangerous. Broken. And completely devoted to me.

In a world where fae are hunted by vampires, disguising my true nature is a matter of survival. That’s why I’ve spent the past several years pretending to be human, even dating a human guy.

But after finding out that Mr. Jerkwad is cheating on me, I do the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I go to a bar and leave with three stunning, mysterious men.

We spend one wild night together, and the chemistry between us is like an electric storm.

Maybe that’s because to them, this isn’t just a one-night stand.

All of these men are part fae, and they claim I’m their fated mate.

That should terrify me, especially since I can tell they’re each harboring dark secrets behind their gorgeous features. They’re part fae, but they’re part something else, too. Something wild, feral, and untamed.

But when a vampire mobster sets his sights on me, it may be that the only ones who can protect me…

Are my three monstrous mates.

my review

Honestly, just not very good. I technically read this as part of the compilation, so I have all the books. But, despite it ending on a cliffhanger, I am not going to bother with the rest of the series. The characters are cardboard. The plot is uninteresting. There is almost no worldbuilding. The fated mates’ romance is instant and unappealing. It’s all show and little tell. It’s incredibly linear. This happens, and then that happens, and then this thing. Problems arise and are instantly quashed, and the next one pops up.

Plus, it’s repetitive. Chapter 13 begins with a paragraph that recaps everything that has happened in the book up until that point. It can comfortably be covered in a single paragraph! I don’t think covering what happens in 14-25 would take a whole paragraph. All in all, this was a failure for me.
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