Tag: Fantasy

Posted in Romance

Bend Her

Posted on by Little Bee

by Cassie Alexander

3.5 out of 5 stars

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Bend Her is a dark, fantasy, romance retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Princess Lisandra was brought to the All Beast (a beastly mage) by her father in exchange for his help. While she was there, she wanted to learn magic, and he taught her through pain and obedience. Throughout the story, she believed she was kidnapped, and Rhaim (the All Beast) never told her otherwise. Most of the story really followed around Rhaim working with the King to kill the Deathless and Lisandra struggling to learn magic. The last couple pages of the book had some spice, but really it was very mild, just a hint.

I had been waiting eagerly for my review copy. The author had been posting prints on Instagram of the characters and I really thought it was going to be deliciously steamy, so I was a little disappointed. There is a lot of world building and working on what becomes their relationship/friendship/situationship through the story. I am hoping that book 2 will lead more into them together or if it will be much of the same. I really want her to gain magic she can control…women cannot learn magic, but there is no real evidence as to why, just that they will burn up and die. But again, no evidence of this written anywhere. Finx, the little cat spider was my favorite character honestly LOL.

The book does end on a cliffhanger and book 2 does not come out until May 2023, so there is a bit of a wait. I do want to continue on with the story. My hopes is sometimes I get caught up on what I want it to be that I miss something to enjoy. A friend of mine who also reviewed this book reviewed the audiobook and she indicates the narrators were fantastic and that helped her love the book even more. So this could very much be a me thing. I wanted something more from the story, but it is hard to point me finger to what. I did like the world building. I did like to know about the battles with the Deathless they sent Rhaim out to battle. There was a short plot twist towards the end that I didn’t really expect so it gave it some nice excitement. I am very happy the author did not kill of Finx or it would be zero stars for me LOL.

Posted in Spicy Romance

The Grim Reaper’s Lawyer

Posted on by Little Bee

by Mea Monique

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

The Grim Reaper’s Lawyer was the book of the month read for The Spicy Book Club. This review may contain spoilers, but also not really. It focuses on Joyce, who is a defense attorney, which she hates. She is falling out of love with her career, and decides to say fuck it all the way off, and quits. She finishes up her last case, which she lost, and her client promptly killed her. She was collected by a Grim Reaper named Aiden and taken to Eden. Aiden is being charged with violating 3 rules from the Reapers’ Code of Conduct, which she rejects doing and spends several days in “hell”, which is really only a few minutes.

This story follows their love/hate, grumpy/sunshine, story. Aiden is kind of a jerk, but also a total daddy…I mean baddie. I mean baddie. When he finally says “to hell with it” (quite literally) and allows them to purse the steam that has been building, it is hot. The story is a slow burn up until they decide to pursue a sexual relationship with each other. The agreement provided to Joyce is, she wins Aiden’s case, she goes to Heaven, instead of Hell (which she was slated for).

Joyce meets a variety of characters that become great friends. Each character brings out a fun side of Joyce that really makes you fall in love with her. The book is hilarious from start to finish. It does end on a cliffhanger and I have no idea when book 2 comes out as this book did not release until December 2022. The book is easy to figure out and ends how you want it to, but the journey was still fun!!

I tell you what, the book had an opening quote that I am STILL thinking about and had to share— “For those who feel that you must water yourself down for others- Let them choke.” Man, what words to live by!! I needed this when I was younger.

Overall, I would say the spice level is around a 3.5-4. I felt it took a bit too long to get to anything sexy, but when it did, it was quite a bit. Those two were like rabbits…but I guess it is the year of the rabbit isn’t it LOL. They could not keep their paws off of each other and Aiden is a total Dom. So we ship and approve.

Having said all of this, it was enjoyable. I laughed so much during the story. It was a very light read and I am looking forward to more in this series and from this author!

Posted in Romance

Death’s Captive

Posted on by Little Bee

By G.K. DeRosa

3 out of 5 stars

I read this book because I realized I committed to an ARC of book 2 when I hadn’t read the first one yet. This story is about Atropos and Thanatos, and a curse put on them by Hecate and Luna to be star crossed lovers for all eternity. They are currently living as Astra and Thane. Astra is a human female while this time around Thanatos has appeared as Thane, the son of the alpha demon wolf. Just so happens, Thane sees Astra, and she is his fated mate. This is book 1 in an unfinished series. Book 2, Death’s Fate, is about to be released.

I was very confused through most of this book. Most of it was because I was not familiar with these two particular Greek myths. I know of the Three Fates, but I did not make the connection for quite a while. I felt the story was too muddled and very repetitive. The bulk of the story was the same scene over and over again until the end, which ends on a cliff hanger. I was not a fan of this story at all. I had to force myself through it so I could read my ARC.

I will mention this in my review for book 2 as well, but, maybe it is my ADHD, but I notice repetitions in words and I hone in on it like a hawk. So, I am quite honestly over the following descriptive words: azure orbs/eyes, lupine, and coalescence. Literally do not want to see them anymore. Surely there are other words…. we get it, he is a wolf and has wolfish features when he is a wolf. Again, it could be my ADHD that I noticed it way too many times.

So why did I give it 3 stars instead of lower? No, not because I was given a free ARC. I fully recognize that maybe I did not like this particular writing style, or something just didn’t connect with me. I really like Azar and the stories she has produced. I kind of got a late start with this realm, but the writing style of this book was very different from the introduction to G.K. DeRosa that I got. Reading other people’s reviews, it looks like, while it is not fully necessary, I should have read another series first to learn more about these two. There are snippets of memories throughout the story from their past times together.

There is a lot of sexual tension in the book with no explosion, and it was kind of a let down. I have read some spicier bits from her, so it was kind of a let down. It feels like DeRosa is just kind of dipping her toes in but not really ready to jump in. The one scene we had was very short and Astra tucked tail and RAN. So, that is where we are left.

Posted in Romance

Shattered Vow

Posted on by Little Bee

By Eva Chase

5 out of 5 stars

Shattered Vow is the first book in the Shadowblood Souls series by Eva Chase. This book follows a group of captives who are forced to train together, caged, and not allowed to live a “normal” life. The story follows a female character (Riva) and five males. After a tragic incident, they get separated. Four years later, Riva makes her way back her men, but do they accept her back?

This is the first in a series, with book 3 coming out in February 2023. While it is a romance read, it is not spicy. It is very slow burn and the only sexy scene occurs much later towards the end of the book. I am not usually a bully romance reader. I tend to stay away from them as much as possible, because I am just not a fan. I will say, I did still enjoy this book. I had hoped for something a little more grander than the incident that kind of set everyone straight again. I thought Jacob’s treatment of Riva for majority of the book was too much and felt forced. Even with this, I still enjoyed the book. I really liked Riva’s character. She was very strong and put up with a lot of shit from these guys without ever faltering. The one sex scene that occurs was okay, I wouldn’t say it was the spiciest I have ever read, but was written well. I wish there was a little more information on the “marking” that happened, but maybe it comes in a later book, since at that point in the story, the characters still did not know what they truly were.

The characters are all part human and part monster. They are trained very hard to highlight and strengthen their gifts. They eventually break out of captivity and set across country to try and find the former head of the program to get answers. All they all want is answers and to be free. Along the way, each person has their own growth development. The story is told from multiple POVs, however, the main POV is usually Riva.

This book does end on a cliffhanger, and boy is it a doozie. The book starts out when they are about 16 years old when they are separated and picks up around 20 years old. During that time, each character had new “powers” show through that were further developed. Riva keeps hers pretty close to her chest as she does not know much about it or how to control it, so when she finally does show it off…..it is very intense. I could not help but smile and laugh all the way through the scene. I really wish I could have seen those guys’ faces afterwards. I am looking forward to reading book 2 to see how they felt about it!

Posted in Book Reviews

The Memory Stones

Posted on by Little Bee

The Memory Stones by Lewis Pennington

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first review in a year and a half! It has been a struggle to really read or get into anything with all that has happened in the world these last two years, but if there was a book to bring me back from it all, it just had to be this one!

The Memory Stones is a fantastic blend of historical fiction and fantasy. It follows Mase Winslow through an adventure of scandal, finding himself, love, and being the change he wanted to see in the world. Mase was the son of a local plantation owner in South Carolina. His best friend was named Spoons, a slave on the plantation. Now, I know what you are thinking. Today’s times are not the time to write a book involving slaves, and that was my fear reading the book, I wont lie….how would this be handled. I will give you this little spoiler, during Mase’s time in the “current” “present-day” time he spent in New York and South Carolina, he learns that the plantation he grew up on, was actually one of the stops on the underground railroad and that his father had very progressive beliefs compared to everyone else during the Civil War era time he lived in. Mase uses this knowledge, and the things he learns about the future, to take back with him when he makes it back in time to his own era.

I will let you be the judge of the content of the story, but it is a highly recommended read. I am anxiously awaiting the second book, because boy did that ending get me! The book is wonderfully written, with care being put into each character, each scene, and each chapter. Each character was well developed and had their own personal growth through the story that you got to enjoy along with them. I will tell you this though, normally, if an animal dies, I automatically knock a book back an entire star, because my poor animal loving heart just cannot take it. And while I was upset, when I really looked at the scene where a horse does die, there really isn’t any other way for that scene to have played out but for the horse to have died. So this is why, I left that star intact. I would never want such a heroic creature to suffer, and there was no way to write it back to health and life and keep the integrity of the story.

I really hope you decide to pick this book up and read it. It captures your attention from the very beginning, I am just sad that life got in the way and it took me so long to finish. I would think about it constantly because wherever I left off each time, was always in the most exciting of places. I can’t wait for the opportunity to continue reading Mase’s story.

Posted in Middle Grade

Aleks Mickelsen and the Call of the White Raven

Posted on by Little Bee

Aleks Mickelsen and the Call of the White Raven by Keira Gillett, Narrated by Michele Carpenter

Rating: 5 stars

 

I was given a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

First, let me apologize for how long it has taken me to write this review. I recently gave birth in an emergency Csection after having a really horrible pregnancy, which resulted in a few hospitalizations. But! I am giving it now, and hopefully will continue on with my book reviews now that things are somewhat normal, for me anyways.

This is book 5 in the Zaria Fierce series, though it follows my favorite, Aleks Mickelsen. It is a continuation of book 4, in which Aleks and friends join Nori to stop Fritjof from escaping the Under World and reaching land to wreak havoc on both the Fae and humans.

In this story, Aleks obtains a white raven, which are rare, who takes a shine to Aleks. It is not always a fun relationship, though it is entertaining for readers and listeners. Aleks learns how to work with the Raven throughout the story and eventually starts liking the Raven. Ultimately, Aleks ends up in the Fae Realm where he is sent on multiple tests where he has to save his friends in various trials. These trials are set up for Aleks to fail, but does he? Not to spoil anything, but the ending of this story is by far my favorite ending. I still get goosebumps just thinking about it.

I really enjoyed this story. I loved the Zaria Fierce aspect of the series, but I love Aleks so much. He is my favorite character and I love that his life is being explored more. I cannot wait until the next book. Again, Carpenter brings this story to life in her wonderfully brilliant narration. I really strongly encourage anyone and everyone to read these books. I can’t wait to obtain the paperback versions so I can read them to my son when he is a little older and marvel at the illustrations with him. That is the only downside to the audiobooks, I miss out on all the beautiful artwork!

This series is definitely worth it, whether you read or listen. The narrator brings the story to life in a vibrant way. I love the Norwegian fairy-tale aspect of the series. It is full of adventure and action packed. I feel sorry for this group of friends because they can’t seem to ever catch a break. I also love all the other smaller story lines that are happening between the characters, especially since they are all getting older since their first adventure. You will not be disappointed for investing time into this series, I can promise you that!

 

Posted in Middle Grade

Beyond the Gloaming

Posted on by Little Bee

Beyond the Gloaming by Brendan Murphy

Rating: 4 stars

 

I have received this book by the author in exchange for my honest review.

 

I first want to start off saying, I deeply apologize for it taking so long to get this review. Between traveling for Christmas, my internship, homework, work, and the flu, I have lacked any reviews. But! I am done with my internship and now have some free time to do those things I enjoy!

Beyond the Gloaming is about a boy named Sebastian who is a very lucid dreamer, only his dreams are real and he doesn’t often remember them or are able to interact with them, until the day two school bullies nearly kill him. His body puts him into a comatose state in order to protect him, that state is where the story takes place.

Sebastian is Irish currently living in England. Sometimes the words are hard to understand because the author is writing with a strong Irish dialect, which comes across the way it supposed to, but hard to understand (for me anyways). Sebastian’s older brother died, and his mom appears to be bipolar and goes from ignoring him, to beating him. When his mother is in one of her moods, dad usually punishes Sebastian as they blame him for the swings.

During his comatose state, Sebastian is transported to the Gloaming, a shadow world, an in-between, a dreamworld. Here he meets Porrig, a creepy little creature that Sebastian is forced into trusting blindly. Sebastian is special, and he is to be delivered to the King of Hibercadia in hopes to save Hibercadia from Phobitor, one of the gods from another dreamworld. Phobitor sends many to try and destroy young Sebastian before he can reach the item he is searching for.

This is a coming of age tale, in a way. Sebastian, who is weak, and feeble, who has no self confidence, and written to save an entire world he didn’t even know existed. Sebastian learns much about himself throughout his journey, finding smarts he didn’t know he had. This story is filled with excitement, adventure, and betrayal. Murphy is a great world builder, but sometimes I would get lost and have to reread.

One of my issues I had with this book is the terminology. It has a lot of Gaelic, which I am unfamiliar with. I have had to google words such as,  sgian dubhs, which I had no clue what they were. I did discover there is a glossary in the back, however, I found out at the end of the book, and I had a PDF copy, so it would not have helped me. For me, if I do not always understand what is being said, and have to reread portions, I get really lost and start to lose interest. I do recommend this book, however, I would read a physical copy so you can access the glossary in the back. For other words not included, I would have your phone at the ready to google, which is what I had to do often.

Overall, I did enjoy the book and would read more of Murphy’s work. I am however, not certain I will continue with this specific series because of my difficulty with the language used. I still gave the book 4 stars however for it’s originality, and because I still did like the book.

 

Posted in Middle Grade

Zaria Fierce and the Dragon Keeper’s Golden Shoes

Posted on by Little Bee

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Zaria Fierce and the Dragon Keeper’s Golden Shoes by Keira Gillett, narrated by Michele Carpenter.

Rating: 5 stars

Narrator Rating: 5 stars

 

I was given a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. These thoughts are my own.

I have given a synopsis in both of the previous books in this series, therefore, I will skip out on a synopsis here and go in to talking about what I enjoyed about the book and finishing up any lasting thoughts I have of the series.

Out of the three books, Zaria Fierce and the Dragon Keeper’s Golden Shoes,  is my favorite. This story was action packed, enlightening, heart breaking, and heartwarming all rolled up into 300 pages of warm, fuzzy, goodness.

The Zaria Fierce trilogy is a great show of a team comprised of unique, different, individuals that come together to work towards a common goal. All of the characters had significant growth, and frankly Hart becomes one of my favorite characters, right next to Aleks (the pretty awesome Changeling) and Hector (Stag Lord). I am looking forward to Aleks’ follow up trilogy. I can’t wait to dive back into this world and will be sad if it finishes.

The whole story set leaves you wanting more. Each character is brought to life by Michele Carpenter, which makes listening that much more enjoyable. This series is a great fantasy read geared towards middle ages but is so good parents and older readers will enjoy it as well. There is so much constantly going on in this book that it is massive stimulation constantly. I like books that really hit the ground running and I finished this story pretty quickly. By the end, I was left breathless, heartbroken, yet satisfied, and happy. This book was truly enchanting.

If you haven’t read it yet, please do so. You will not be disappointed.

Posted in Book Reviews

One Good Knight

Posted on by Little Bee

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One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey, Narrated by Gabra Zackman

Goodreads Rating: 5 stars

Actual Rating: 4.5 

Narrator Rating: 5

 

One Good Knight is a retelling loosely following the Greek myth of Andromeda. Where Greek Lore indicates Andromeda to be beautiful, One Good Knight indicates she is “lesser” than most females and more homely than beautiful. One Good Knight is also loosely based from St. George and the Dragon, however, it is really in name only as this does not end in an entire town going through religious conversion.

In One Good Knight, Andromeda (Andi) is very book smart and she starts to notice some magical irregularities in her research for the Queen. During this time, the Queen had her consort conjure a dragon to wreck havoc on the villages. Andi is tasked to find out how to “rid” the kingdom of the dragon and discovers meaningful sacrifice would do so. A lottery is set up for virginal women, and each week a new name is drawn. After a while, the reader discovers prior to the cast, that this lottery is not by chance, but whenever a family displeases the Queen or speaks out against the Queen, their daughter is “selected” in the lottery and sent to die. During one such lottery, Princess Andi’s name is drawn and she is sent to be sacrificed, and so the adventure begins.

I really enjoyed the twists and turns this particular story had. As a reader, it is often times easy to get bored when books do as you expect. One Good Knight keeps readers entranced. Without giving away spoilers, the ending has been one of the best I have enjoyed. Much like in The Fairy Godmother, the Tradition had a mind of it’s own, only in One Good Knight I really enjoyed the way the Tradition worked for the characters.  I feel Andi was well written. She is portrayed as a confused, homely, child not to be taken seriously for most of time leading up to her being sacrificed. Queen Cassiopia is one to be despised. She is heartless and offers up her daughter happily to be killed.

The reason the actual rating is 4.5 stars is mainly because it was soooo slow to start out. Once the excitement of Princess Andi being sacrificed to the dragon occurs, things really start to speed up.

I really can’t say there is a particular character I didn’t like, aside from the villains of course, but I even enjoyed them. I thought each character in the book gave the book it’s personality it took on. Oh but the twists!!! It would be too many spoilers to explain the twists, and I want any potential reader to be as shocked as I was when I first came to the twists.

I am really glad I started this series, and I look forward to more Virgin chasing unicorns, fairy godmothers, and all of the other Traditional tales yet to be discovered.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Fairy, Texas

Posted on by Little Bee

fairy, texas

Fairy, Texas by Margo Bond Collins and Narrated by Melissa Moran

 

Rating: 4

Narrator Rating: 4.5

I was given a copy of this audiobook free through Audiobook Boom in exchange for my honest review.

It has taken me a little while to get to this book. It was provided free to me for an honest review. I am a little sad I put it off for as long as I did. To tell you the truth, I am not sure what feelings I had going into this book. I was prepared for maybe it not to be so good. Here is why, lately, I have been getting some not so great free audiobooks. Either the story is falling short, the narrator was all wrong, or even the audio quality was not so great. These are the 3 areas that make audiobooks so iffy for some stories. So let me sum it up, the story was good, the narrator was good, and the quality was good.

As far as the story line, this book is original. I thought the characters were pretty good, though some aspects of the story line may need some tweaking (I feel, without giving any spoilers, the Main Event could have been a bit more clear or explained; also there are times I really didn’t seem to follow because explanations were provided adequately to Laney). I thought there were some areas that could have used a little more “umph,” for example, the kisses or the friendships Laney  was establishing (I thought she had anyways, but it didn’t always portray or come off that way, which I think was the point but not always clear). I did like that the main character Laney took everything that was thrown with her in stride. I felt the relationship between Laney and her new step sister was a little over dramatic and over the top. I may not be the best person to respond on that due to not having experienced a step sibling, but it felt really forced. I feel there were some vital bits of info that was left out of the story, but I am hoping it is in the next book. So why did I give it 4 stars? I REALLY found myself enjoying the story brought to life through the narrator. She was really great. I loved the Texas accents. Sometimes the male voices kind of blurred together, but other than that I really enjoyed it. I found myself looking if book 2 was already released (it is not ,on audible anyways).

I do recommend this book. So if you are looking for a quick listen, and want something original, and a new spin on things Fairy, then I do suggest this book. I am looking forward to, hopefully, getting more into this Ether, and learning more about this whole other species living right in the midst of a tiny Texas town!