Vampires of Atlantis is a fast paced paranormal romance. The story dives right into the action with Norgis escaping. I felt a little lost or like I had missed something for the first half of the book with no knowledge of how Atlantis worked, why anyone was down there and why it was so important to find the monster and Ian's brother. Regardless, the story is action packed and fun as Ian and his team track Norgis, come into contact with other dangerous groups and try to protect Katherine while she finds out the truth about herself. Ian and Katherine have an insta love romance aided by vampire blood and a few steamy scenes. I had a hard time with Katherine's character as she seems to blindly follow Ian and doesn't seem to have anything attaching her to her life. Katherine does redeem herself a bit when she realizes several times that she might be being held prisoner and fights back. Once the team returned to Atlantis, missing pieces started to fill in and I enjoyed learning about how and why the vampires lived at the bottom of the ocean. The ending was exciting and amped up the danger. Overall, an exciting and enjoyable vampire read.
Long ago, a group of vampires went down with Atlantis in order to guard the monsters that Atlantis keeps imprisoned. To help the vampires sustain themselves, previous leaders have enslaved the human Descendants of Atlantis to feed them. Current leader, Ian believes differently. When Ian gets word that one of his prisoners, Norgis, has escaped to Miami, he takes action and returns to the surface to hunt Norgis down. Ian picks up Norgis' scent immediately along with the scent of his brother. Ian also detects an irresistible scent of a woman, Katherine, that Norgis has targeted for an artifact that she has. Now, Ian is trying to protect Katherine, track down Norgis and stop his brother's plot to rule Atlantis.
Vampires of Atlantis is a fast paced paranormal romance. The story dives right into the action with Norgis escaping. I felt a little lost or like I had missed something for the first half of the book with no knowledge of how Atlantis worked, why anyone was down there and why it was so important to find the monster and Ian's brother. Regardless, the story is action packed and fun as Ian and his team track Norgis, come into contact with other dangerous groups and try to protect Katherine while she finds out the truth about herself. Ian and Katherine have an insta love romance aided by vampire blood and a few steamy scenes. I had a hard time with Katherine's character as she seems to blindly follow Ian and doesn't seem to have anything attaching her to her life. Katherine does redeem herself a bit when she realizes several times that she might be being held prisoner and fights back. Once the team returned to Atlantis, missing pieces started to fill in and I enjoyed learning about how and why the vampires lived at the bottom of the ocean. The ending was exciting and amped up the danger. Overall, an exciting and enjoyable vampire read.
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King Solomon has died suddenly at his family home, dubbed the Kingdom. The Kingdom is an heir property, family land jointly owned by descendants of a deceased person from the time the Solomon family worked the land as slaves. Now, King's children, Junior, Mance, Tokey and Cece return to the Kingdom to deal with King's death, each carrying a heavy secret of their own. The siblings learn that the Kingdom comes with a complicated path forward as large corporations swoop in on vague legalities to take the Kingdom's land. While trying to save their home, each sibling is also trying to save themselves. Junior is finally figuring out his sexuality while trying not to alienate the family he has built. Mance is dealing with his aggression while learning of his son's disability. Tokey is fighting an eating disorder while wondering why she doesn't quite fit in with her family. Cece is worrying about the consequences she will have to face from embezzling thousands of dollars from her law firm's clients. Each sibling will have to face their individual problems in order to move ahead with saving the Kingdom. Long After We Are Gone is an emotional family drama. Told from alternating points of view of each sibling, the characters, their secrets and how they work through them take center stage. I do wish there was a better delineation between each sibling's viewpoint through each chapter. I was very interested in heir properties and how families used this to keep their property within the family only for it to become a tenuous legal situation down the road, one more issue keeping land from African American families. I was very interested in how each of the siblings dealt with their problems in secret while having strong family bonds. I didn't particularly care for more than one sibling more than another and they weren't particularly sympathetic characters, however, they were very realistic and each had interesting journeys. Long After We Are Gone examines how secrets can create larger problems and feed into generational trauma. This book was received for free in return for an honest review. Sixteen year old twins Sabine and Blythe have just lost their father to a brief but intense illness. After their father's death, their mother uproots Sabine and Blythe's life to move to a ramshackle mansion in the small, historic community of Thornewood with a man named Charlie. The girls don't know exactly who Charlie is, but he seems close to their mom and remains a mystery to be solved. Blythe happily settles into their new life and the academic rigors of their new school. Sabine, however, is rolling with anxiety and the mystery of Charlie is not helping. Sabine is determined to get some of her life back, starting with solving the mystery of Charlie. Wider Than the Sky is an emotional, contemporary, young adult story. From the beginning, I was engaged with the mystery of the death of Sabine and Blythe's father as well as who Charlie was to him. As soon as that becomes apparent, the story turns to an emotional rollercoaster of dealing with grief, family secrets and finding yourself in turbulent times. The story is told mostly through Sabine's point of view and her character stands out with her quirky poeting and finding her footing with new friends and relationships. Sabine reacts to the situation as I would expect any 16 year old girl to react, with shock and push back. Blythe's character seems to react oppositely with blind acceptance of their strange situation. I was more surprised at their mother's approach of just keeping everything a secret and thinking that two sixteen year old girls wouldn't figure things out. I liked Sabine's transition to acceptance of the large change in her life and the meaning of her parent's relationship. Blythe's character highlights the fragility and resilience of the teenage spirit as she comes to find herself. Eddie Logan is one of the nation's leading standardbred horse trainers and racers. He has a passion for the horses he works with and the race. However, Eddie has been noticing that the sport is losing integrity. There is rampant cheating in multiple ways, Eddie notices that horses are being drugged, some to the point of death. He also begins to notice racing being fixed so owners can bet on certain horses finishing at certain places. Eddie can't compete with the horses on drugs and other drivers boxing him in and is losing money, Tom, his business partner, is not happy. Eddie's wife, Jean realizes that she'll have to bring in some extra money to keep the household and stable going. Jean takes a risk, and places multiple bets using her insider knowledge. At the same time, Tom encourages Eddie to do what he can to win. Refusing to drug his horses, Eddie suggests taking a good horse to several different tracks and holding him back a little bit before letting him race at full capacity to create a bigger payout when a bet is placed. When all else fails, Eddie puts all his hope into his colt, Skipper Creek and is determined to win on his own. The Last Horseman is a realistic fiction story of standardbred horse racing and the people who truly love the sport. I have always loved horses and grew up with them and spent some time at our local racetrack. The author did a wonderful job of describing the racetrack, the horses and their care, the crowds and the anticipation and excitement before the race. I did have a difficult time placing the time period the story was supposed to be in, at first I thought the setting was potentially in the 1970's as the women spoke about how to dress at the racetrack and some racetrack rituals, but it soon became clear that we were in the present with mention of cell phones and other technology. The pacing of the story was up and down for me with growing excitement during a race and when Jean was placing a bet and lulls in between the races. The story was very interesting with all of the behind the scenes cheating and gambling, but did not develop the characters that well. I did feel like I knew Eddie's colt, Skipper Creek and his personality pretty well. Overall, an intriguing story of horse racing and gambling. This book was received for free in return for an honest review. This book was received for free in return for an honest review. Three of Trina Leigh Dean's beloved snakes have gone missing from her serpentarium. Trina knows the culprit, her troubled sister, Chelsea and contacts her friend, Fletch who is an officer in St. Augustine. On the same night Trina's snakes go missing, a missing person report is filed for Gethin Jacobs. Gethin always introduces himself as someone who likes music, hiking and snakes. He is also a recovering drug addict. Gethin's sister, Serena and his girlfriend Rocky search for Gethin with the help of Jazz. Jazz knows Gethin from school, but has an ulterior motive since he has had a crush on Serena, not to mention his current unhoused status or the fact that he is not taking his meds. Jazz helps Serena unravel some of the mysteries behind Gethin's disappearance and his connection to Trina's snakes, but during this time, he forgets to take care of himself. Snakes of St. Augustine is a heartfelt, emotional novel of companionship, friendship, family and mental health. With depth and focus, each of the characters is fully formed with insight into their thoughts and actions. Chapters alternating between their points of view of Gethin, Rocky, Serena, Jazz, Fletch and Trina make the story move quickly and deepen the mystery. I enjoyed the insight into everyone's innermost thoughts and could easily empathize with the different views. None of the characters were perfect, but were all trying their best. Serena feels obligated to be a caretaker to Gethin, Gethin's love for snakes overcomes his common sense, Rocky is doing her best to overcome a series of unfortunate events, Jazz doesn't want to be like his mother, but is resisting the treatment he needs and Fletch is just trying to get to retirement. As their stories collide, their conditions and past experiences create an explosive situation as well as new paths forward. This book was received for free in return for an honest review. Girl Country is a short story collection focusing on the power of females. The stories dive into women's power to overcome obstacles and continue on in adversity as well as their strength and emotional stamina. The stories range in time periods from historical to futuristic and include many genres from dystopian fiction, fantasy and science fiction. Like many short story collections, there were stories that captured my imagination better than others. My favorites included: Girl Country: A dystopian story set in the near future where women are farmed for their life saving colostrum. A young girl who escapes finds new life and meaning by helping a family who has lost a daughter and sacrifices to help them further. When the Tree Grows This High: A historic romance documenting one woman's journey of first love to loss. A strong story that documents her joy and grief and will to carry on in the face of adversity. Wilder Family: A sweet fantasy about a child who is different with strong themes of loving and letting go. This book was received for free in return for an honest review. Indiscernible Elements: Calcium is an ode to one of nature's versatile elements. Calcium is an essential element in living and nonliving things and can create structures and objects that we use every day. Written in verse from the point of view of Calcium itself, Calcium explores the ever present cycles of life and death, change, growth and rebirth. Accompanied by original artwork by the author, Indiscernible Elements: Calcium gives a unique view into an element that we often take for granted. While not exactly what I expected from a book about calcium, it was an insightful and interesting look into Calcium. This book was received for free in return for an honest review. Ani Abrams lives in the egalitarian town of Garden City. Garden City's founder, Anne Hutchinson, created it as a safe haven for women as well as a town that is supposed to be run by women and have women business owners. Ani doesn't necessarily care about that, she would rather swoon over cutie barista Nick Lake with her best friend Johnny. However, when Ani and Johnny attend the Founder's Day party at the Hutchinson's house, Ani discovers a strange set of red handprints and the following day, the defamation of Anne Hutchinson's statue is discovered, leading police right to Ani's door. Ani keeps showing up at the scene of the crime where the person being deemed the "Vag Vandal" has struck. When Ani is accused, she decides to investigate for herself. Ani finds out several dark secrets about her town and gets a few dates with Nick out of it as well. Garden of Earthly Delights is an intriguing mystery set in a unique community. I was really intrigued by Garden City as a whole, how it was founded and what this meant for women in Garden City today. I wish there was a little more history included, although it wasn't necessary for the story. Ani's character was very much the typical teen and far from perfect in her decisions and thought process which made for an interesting investigation into the Vag Vandal. The mystery of the Vandal was definitely compelling, from what they vandalized, to how and why they seemed to be framing Ani. The writing creates a fast-paced story and increases the suspense with a series of strange events. I had an idea of who the vandal might be by the end, but was still surprised as everything came to light. Overall, Garden of Earthly Delights is a fun, young adult, mystery thriller that anyone can enjoy. Miles is a sixteen year old high school student and if that isn't hard enough, they also just transitioned from Melissa to Miles. This led to a celebration from Miles' two lesbian friends, Rachel and Paige, confusion from their parents and a breakup with boyfriend, Shane. On top of school, Miles is getting ready to compete in a regional classical piano competition. For New Years, Miles resolves to win back his ex and beat his arch nemesis at the piano competition. A new classmate, Eric and a new piano instructor, Stefania, throw Miles for a loop. Eric and Miles seem to have an instant connection, Eric even asks Miles' pronouns when they first meet. Stefania pushes Miles in a good way for his piano competition. Miles has to figure out who he is and what he stands for so he can figure out how to win the piano competition, his relationship with Eric and his relationship with himself. Always the Almost is a young adult coming of age story focusing on newly transitioned Miles. I love that the focus was not on Miles' transition or the inevitable strife it caused with others, but on Miles figuring out who he was and what makes him happy, just like any other teenager. I also enjoyed that Miles' passion was music and that did not change as he transitioned, but his transition did impact the emotions he could access while playing. Miles' character, while representing trans and queer youth, was very much a typical teen, focused on friends, wanting an ex back and beating an opponent at the piano competition. I admired Eric, a queer character with a very calming presence, great personality and also dealing with issues of his own. Rachel and Paige were awesome and shine a light on lesbian relationships, I wish their relationship would have been equally focused on, especially with the drama near the end. Overall, Always the Almost is a story of finding joy. It is clear the author put his own emotions and experience into the story and gives representation to more youth. This book was received for free in return for an honest review. Wiggins is a retired lecturer focused on the creation of dioramas. In a future world where the natural world has changed dramatically, the past has been delicately preserved in dioramas of every size. Wiggins idolizes Michaux, a famed dioramist known for a certain style and technique. Michaux himself is part of a diorama now, but an even more intriguing prospect appears when Wiggins is invited to visit The Town. The Town is an entire world in a diorama, where people are the main attraction. Exploring The Town is a process and Wiggins begins to see the truth behind the façade of the dioramas. Dioramas is a unique work of speculative fiction. This was a different reading experience for me, the reading is in shorter snippets from the point of view of Wiggins as he studies each diorama. The dioramas are mostly of the distant past, but some seem to be from a more current past or present time. There is not a lot of context or world building and it was a little unsettling to read each snippet where the dioramas described are just slightly off kilter, yet completely intriguing and kept me wanting to read more and explore the next, small world in the dioramas. The Town was completely intriguing and I loved exploring all of the curious knicks and crannies through Wiggins' point of view. Dioramas is a detail-oriented immersive and thought provoking work This book was received for free in return for an honest review. |
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