The Prison Ballerina, A Ghost Story – The Walls Around Us Review

March 24, 2015 by Caitlin

Title: The Walls Around Us Author: Nova Ren Suma Genre: Young Adult Published: March 24, 2015 Rating: ★★★★☆ Sometimes, despite age-old advice, you judge a book by its cover. Sometimes, in a time when Pinterest and Instagram fuel one’s obsession with typography and graphic design, a cover deems a book not only a “want” but a “must have,” no matter what the contents. And then, delightfully, sometimes you are truly lucky, as you judged a book by its cover and discovered that the insides were even […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: ballet, Nova Ren Suma, prison, The Walls Around Us, YA, young adult

The Werewolf Couple That Fights Evil Together Stays Together – Dead Heat Review

March 9, 2015 by Erin

Title: Dead Heat (Alpha and Omega #4) Author: Patricia Briggs Genre: Urban fantasy Published: March 3, 2015 Rating: ★★★★★ In this fourth book in the Alpha and Omega series, main characters Charles and Anna, the most lovably badass werewolf couple in print, are once again entangled in a creepy supernatural mystery. And once again they are forced to confront their respective emotional hangups in the midst of this supernatural mayhem. And once again I am reminded that Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite urban fantasy […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: book reviews, five star review, patricia briggs, romance, urban fantasy, werewolves

Quick & Dirty Romance Reviews – February 2015

February 22, 2015 by Erin

How to Kiss a Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy Series: Cowboys of Decker Ranch #2 (can be read alone) Published: February 3, 2015 Genre: Contemporary romance The couple: They’ve known each other since they were teenagers, but no-nonsense world champion barrel rider Suze Carlyle and ladies’ man bronco rider Brady Caine never thought they’d make a good match. They were wrong, of course. When they’re forced to spend time together they realize years of insecurity and miscommunication had screwed them over real good. Purple prose: Nope. Joanne […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: billionaire jerks, cowboys, joanne kennedy, kresley cole, romance novels, samantha young

More Swans, Less Woodcutters, Please – Dearest Review

February 18, 2015 by Erin

Title: Dearest (Woodcutter Sisters #3) Author: Alethea Kontis Genre: Young Adult (maybe middle grade) fantasy/fairy tale Published: February 3, 2015 Rating: ★★★☆☆ In the third book of the Woodcutter Sisters series, magically gifted young seamstress Friday Woodcutter is caught in the middle of a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Wild Swans.” This is labeled a companion book to the series, and should stand alone, but it is best if you read Enchanted and Hero first. After a series of […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: alethea kontis, book review, dearest, fairy tales, swans, three star review, YA, young adult literature

Sort of Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark – Trigger Warning Review

February 11, 2015 by Caitlin

Title: Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances Author: Neil Gaiman Published: February 2, 2015 Genre: Fiction, Short stories Rating: ★★★★☆ One can always expect the same thing from Neil Gaiman: he’s going to take you on a weird ride. Trigger Warning, his newly release book of short stories is no different. Comprised of 23 of Gaiman’s short stories and poems, this compilation was inspired by one of the most, in my humble opinion, misused terms on the internet: “Trigger warning.” […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: creepy, doctor who, fiction, Neil Gaiman, poetry, sherlock holmes, short stories, Trigger Warning

Life, Love and War With Talking Cats – Mort(e) Review

February 11, 2015 by Caitlin

Title: Mort(e) Author: Robert Repino Published: January 20, 2015 Genre: Science Fiction Rating: ★★★★☆ Anthropomorphic cats team up with mutant ants to wage war against humans – how could I not pick up this book with such a strange description? Mort(e), penned by Robert Repino, was nothing short of a totally unique experience, despite a few qualms with the book’s overall execution and denouement. It starts with a housecat. You can almost imagine your own beloved pet, wandering through the […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: anthropomorphic, ants, book reviews, cats, mort(e), mutants, robert repino, sicence fiction

More like The Okay-ders

February 10, 2015 by Jessi

Title: The Wonders Author: Paddy O’Reilly Published: February 10, 2015 Genre: Fiction Rating: ★★★☆☆ The premise sounded pretty promising. (Say that five times fast.) We meet three people with remarkable medical transformations: Leon, the story’s timid narrator, has a mechanical heart; buxom, perpetually naked Kathryn covered in black wool after a gene therapy cure for Huntington’s; and artist Christos who implanted metal wings into his back. Brash American, Rhonda, offers them work in her circus, though circus is more like a “glamorous” […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: book reviews, fiction, Paddy O'Reilly

Quick & Dirty Romance Reviews – January 2015

January 30, 2015 by Erin

Introducing Quick & Dirty Romance Reviews, in which Erin rates a few of this month’s steamiest novels to determine what was deliciously swoony or just plain silly.  Last Call by Alice Clayton Series: Cocktails #4 (can be read alone, but more enjoyable if you at least first read #1, Wallbanger) Published: January 6, 2015 Genre: Contemporary romance The couple: This is the final novella in a series, and main characters Caroline (hot interior designer) and Simon (hot photographer) already met-cute […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: alice clayton, laura lee guhrke, lovey dovey, romance novels, sabrina jeffries

Hades, God of the Garbage Dump

January 29, 2015 by Jessi

Title: Hades Author: Candice Fox Published: January 27, 2015 Genre: Crime thriller Rating: ★★★★☆ I knew I was a fan of the book right from the last line of the book’s prologue. It was one of those lines that gave you the “oh, this is gonna be good” vibe, or, more specifically, the I-hope-I-don’t-need-to-participate-or-even-be-present-in-the-outside-world-so-I-can-read-this-thing kind of good. We first meet Hades Archer, The Lord of of the Underworld/runner of a garbage dump, in a situation that needs his special brand of fixing. […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: Australian author, book reviews, Candice Fox, crime thriller, four star review