October Wrap-Up (2016)

October was a very rough month. It was busy and exhausting. Most if it was fun, too but I was still too tired to read a lot. So, I finished four books. I am still happy with that.

It looks like I may not accomplish my Goodreads challenge this year of reading 100 books. That makes me a little sad, but in the end it isn't a big deal. I would rather read 1 good book I actually enjoy then 1,000 I have to force myself to read.

Here are the four books I read and their ratings.

Silk is for Seduction-4 Stars

Rescue My Heart-4 Stars

The Unleashing-3 Stars

Any Duchess Will Do-4 Stars

Thanks for reading!
Holly

Review: One Good Dragon Deserves Another by Rachel Aaron

Series: Heartstrikers Book #2

Format: Ebook

Rating: 5 Stars

How I Got It: Purchased

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Futuristic, Dragons

Publisher: Self-Published

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

After barely escaping the machinations of his terrifying mother, two all knowing seers, and countless bloodthirsty siblings, the last thing Julius wants to see is another dragon. Unfortunately for him, the only thing more dangerous than being a useless Heartstriker is being a useful one, and now that he’s got an in with the Three Sisters, Julius has become a key pawn in Bethesda the Heartstriker’s gamble to put her clan on top.

Refusal to play along with his mother’s plans means death, but there’s more going on than even Bethesda knows, and with Estella back in the game with a vengeance, Heartstriker futures disappearing, and Algonquin’s dragon hunter closing in, the stakes are higher than even a seer can calculate. But when his most powerful family members start dropping like flies, it falls to Julius to defend the clan that never respected him and prove that, sometimes, the world’s worst dragon is the best one to have on your side.

 

Review

This book had a lot to live up to since I enjoyed the first one so much. And it definitely met my expectations. And it had more content than I expected. Ms. Aaron could’ve easily ended it in like three different places and I’m glad she didn’t.

Julius is still amazing. I really like that he’s learning and growing, but is still staying true to himself. It’s a very difficult balance to maintain. And I’m very eager to see what he does in the next story.

It was great getting to meet new characters and see their perspectives. Julius will always be my favorite, but it definitely flushed out the world and gave me a better understanding of the dragons.

The romance (or what I hope will be ones) is developing nicely. I think it’s going to be a slow burn, but Ms. Aaron threw us a couple bones which I appreciated. And I look forward to more of this plot line.

I enjoyed the main conflict of this book and definitely want to read what happens next. It was nice to get more information on how magic works and Marci more generally. Same with the Seers, although I am a little confused there. Ms. Aaron definitely explained things in great detail, but I usually struggle to get my head around things connected with time travel, free will, and fate.

I still don’t know how many books will be in this series, but I’m super excited to buy and read the next one when it comes out in 2016.

Thanks for reading!

Review: Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Series: Fever Book #1

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Pages:  342

Rating: 3 Stars

How I Got It: Borrowed from the library

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Fairy, Romance (?)

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

 MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks... until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death—a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed—a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae...

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane—an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women—closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all—powerful Dark Book—because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands...

 

Review

As my rating would suggest this was a pretty average book for me. Honestly, I don’t see why people love it so much and I’m not invested in the romance at all. If I hadn’t heard about it I wouldn’t even think there was a romance. Since so many people love this series so much I do plan on reading the second book.

My main complaint or issue is Mac. I don’t hate her, but I definitely don’t like or care about her. She seems a little Mary Sue-ish to me. And she was fairly immature. If I do decide to read the whole series I hope she grows…a lot.

And the plot fell a little flat. I was looking at some reviews on Goodreads and someone said this read like a prologue and I have to agree. I get that this is the beginning of a series, but there could have been more plot and not so much exposition.

Now, I will admit that I feel like this book was at a slight disadvantage. I picked this up right after reading the second Heartstrikers book by Rachel Aaron which is just amazing urban fantasy. And I’ve been making my way through the Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger which is a well-designed series.

In the next couple of months I’ll try to pick up the second book and go from there.

Thanks for reading!