This Chick’s Sunday Commentary: The one where she saves Julie’s life

I would LOVE to have three days to just read and read and read. Unfortunately some thing just keeps getting in the way. This week I read one book. It took me forever to read it and that just, well, never happens. I can always find the time! I write on other bloggers posts, giving them tips and hints about how to carve out more reading time. Listen to audio books while you excercise, read during your commute to work, take a book and read on your lunch break. All of these things I normally do, but this week I just did not.

What’s wrong with me? Nothing really. I am still getting up in the mornings and taking a nice long walk for excercise. I am listening to a series I absolutely loved, Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series. Well, I guess that is actually the problem. I have become obsessed with these books again! They have gotten in the way of me picking up a new book. I have ARC commitments! Who cares? Says my inner demon. Listen to Kate kick ass and fall in love with Curran. I have projects to focus on at work! Who cares? My inner demon speaks yet again. I am enthralled with the narrator who gives voice to all of these fantastic characters in these books! I laugh out loud at Kate’s inner monologue. She’s got such a sarcastic inner voice and it reminds me of my own! I forgot how much I love these characters that made a lonely Kate no longer alone. I have fallen in love again with Derrick, Julie, Andrea, Aunt Bea, and yes most especially that gravelly voiced Curren. Yum.

So, I have been in a bit of a reading slump. At least of new books. It’s a good thing I pre-schedule my blog and have written a bunch of reviews… ok, I have to get back. I am at the end of book 5 , Magic Slays, you know, the one where she saves Julie’s life? Yeah, intense!

If you haven’t read this series, here’s the first one. If you have a long commute? I suggest listening to it. You will NOT be disappointed.


Click this link to purchase!   Magic Bites

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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This Chick Read: The Sight (Devil’s Isle #2) by Chloe Neill

After the Paranormal War, Claire Connolly became infected with magic and has become a “Sensitive”. Illegal in New Orleans, she has to hide what she has become.  In The Veil, Liam, a bounty hunter, had discovered Claire and instead of turning her in he has helped her find training so that she can contain her magic, lessening her chances of becoming a wraithe. Now colleagues, Claire and Liam have stumbled upon a cult that is trying to start up another war that will finish off all sensitives and the humans that support them.

The Sight, the second novel in the Devil’s Isle series, shows a natural evolution between those with magic and those without. Fighting a common enemy has opened their eyes so that hopefully the rules in place will change. However, in the fight against this common enemy, casualties happen that may affect their relationships longterm.

The first novel in this series spent a lot of time setting up the world building and main characters. Because of that it took a little while for the characters to grow on me. In The Sight, I know where everyone stands, their feelings about magic and Sensitives, and so the story seemed to move a lot quicker. Also the fight against a common enemy was a nice way to force characters into holding their bias at bay and growing a bit. If I found fault with anything in this novel it was that the characters feelings seemed a little juvenile for the seriousness of their situations. At times I wanted to give them a kick in the shins to hurry them along the path I wanted them to take. Unfortunately the shins I wanted to kick the hardest were Claire and Liam’s and because of that my feelings weren’t enmeshed as much as they should’ve been in the storyline. However, this book does have a great twist at the end, so I may have to pick up the next book and see how their story continues. ❤️❤️❤️


Click link to purchase! The Sight (A Devil’s Isle Novel)

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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This Chick Read: The Veil (Devil’s Isle #1) by Chloe Neill

Claire Connolly is the last survivng member of her human family, but recently she has started exhibiting signs of having magic, which is illegal after the supernatural war. She has gotten good at hiding  her magic, but when she see’s a woman being attacked by wraiths she comes to her defense and the only way to come out of it alive is to use her gifts. Unfortunately she is spotted by Liam, a bounty hunter whose job is to catch the wraiths and take them to confinement in Devil’s Isle. Liam does not turn Claire in, instead he works with her and finds her a tutor to teach her how to control her magic to keep her from turning into a wraith. He also agrees to teach her how to become a bounty hunter, like him, and as they hunt they discover that there are forces at work that are trying to open the veil between worlds, and they can’t allow that to happen.

Claire is torn between the human world and the magical. Her friends are completely human but she can’t ignore the help Liam is giving her, and she can’t ignore the connection she feels to him. Liam, who is human is also drawn to Clair, and is torn between wanting to get closer and wanting to hold her at a distance because if she loses control, he will have to turn her in.

The setting for this novel is New Orleans and added to the characters torn feelings about magic. After all, New Orleans pre-war capitalized upon its magical elements to draw tourists and make money. Now post war, all of those elements are illegal, making the city feel dead and decayed giving it a post apocalyptic mood.

I enjoyed this book as it was different and interesting. It’s the first in the series and made me curious to see how Claire’s character was going to evolve and also see if she and Liam could resolve their differences. ❤️❤️❤️❣️


Click link to purchase! The Veil: A Devil’s Isle Novel

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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This Chick Read: Blood Cross (Jane Yellowrock #2) by Faith Hunter

Jane is still in New Orleans hired to hunt down rogue vampires, kill them and collect their bounty. As she is doing this rather grisly job, she discovers that someone is trying to raise vamps using ritual sacrifice so that these vampires are immediately cognizant and not ravenous beasts. Unfortunately during this investigation, two of her young houseguests are kidnapped and the clock is ticking for her to rescue them before they are the next sacrifice.

Jane and her inner Beast have quite a few internal dialogs that reveal some personality traits of Jane’s that we may not have seen from her surface persona as a straight up bad ass bitch. Or whatever the cat version of a bad ass bitch may be. I loved seeing this more emotional version of Jane, she is a little easier to like. As the story unfolds she is torn between two men, Bruiser and Rick, and to me it was a little surprising which one she ended up with, as the sexual tension with the loser was A-Maz-Ing. Oh well, I’m sure that story is not over as this is only book two in like a twelve book series or something.

If you are a fan of Urban Fantasy, as I am, you will really dig this series. There is a ton of paranormal dark fantasy, and a lot of the characters are really likeable. I’m still warming up to Jane, but she reveals more with each book, and I know there is a ton of Jane still to discover.

❤️❤️❤️❤️


Click link to purchase! Blood Cross (Jane Yellowrock, Book 2)

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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This Chicks Sunday Commentary: Has Anyone Read…?

Don’t you just hate when you have read a great book and the ending was so controversial or confusingand you just want to talk about it with someone and NO ONE HAS READ IT? I know, it’s happened to all of us. In fact, this is one of the reasons I became a blogger! However, in my reviews I rarely give away the ending or talk about a twist. So, how do we talk about anything and everything in a book?

 In the comments section of a book discussion post. 

I will occassionally write a post that is intended to be a discussion about a book that I hope someone else has read and had the same questions, or has had different questions and has been dying to discuss with someone! These will fall on Sundays and I’ll title them Has Anyone Read… because I just need to discuss this book! 

Has anyone read A Gentleman from Moscow? I loved this book and will also be posting a review but wanted to talk about it with people. There were so many things that made me think! FYI- I will be talking about the ending of this book so if you haven’t read this wonderful novel please don’t spoil it for yourself. STOP HERE!

  1. Alexander Rostov- a Count by birth and up to the start of this book had a privileged upbringing, wrote a poem that was political in nature, and was put under house arrest in a hotel in Moscow for the rest of his life. Harsh!  Here’s my first question. Alexander seemed to accept this punishment as his due. He never fought it or tried to just wander out the door for an adventure. If you were imprisoned in a hotel would you react as he did? 
  2. He befriends a female child while she and her father were living in the hotel. Nina appears briefly as a teenager then a young adult. Suddenly, she appears and drops off her daughter Sophia at the hotel to live with Alexander. Then she drops off the face of the earth. We never hear what happened to her? Did I miss something? Did she die? Did she just abandon her daughter? 
  3. I loved how Anna came into Alexander’s life again and again. Why did he never reveal his relationship with her? He was a gentleman so did he think he was protecting her? After all, in that age (1920-late1940’s) society probably wouldn’t look very favorably on her for involving herself with an unmarried man confined to a hotel. 
  4. I loved the ending of this book. I loved the comparisons to Casablanca and how the Count outmaneuvered everyone so that Sophia could ask for asylum from the US embassy while in Paris. But then what happened to her? Are we to assume that she never saw the Count again? That she would give up her papa? I didn’t see that one coming! What do you think happened to her?
  5. Who was the woman at the end of the book? I’m assuming it was Anna who stood up from the chair, but it also could’ve been Sophia? It could have been the very absent Nina too. But I think it was Anna. Oh, what a great ending, I just wish it had been more definitive!

Has anyone else read this book? Do you have any thoughts about what I wrote above? Do you have any topics that you’d like to discuss about A Gentleman From Moscow? Speak up! Let’s discuss this fabulous book! 

Until next Sunday,

Deb


 Click this link to purchase!  A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel

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This Chick Read: City of the Lost (Casey Duncan #1) by Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong’s novels center around a mystery but usually take place in an Urban Fantasy setting. City of the Lost also has a mystery as the center of its story, but seems to be pretty straightforward without any hints of a fantasy world. However, the city Casey Duncan and her friend move to to escape their pasts sounds too good to be true. A city filled with other people who are trying to leave their pasts behind. A city thats off the grid and where no one can find you. A city with hints of the old west, where men outnumber the women and is policed by a sheriff, the favorite hangout is a saloon/brothel, and hints of danger in the forest that surrounds them. City of the Lost is a mystery with hints of horror, typically not my thing, but I loved it.

Casey Duncan, our heroine, was allowed to live in Rockton because of her skills as a detective. Someone has started murdering the citizens of Rockton. When Casey arrives, she butts heads with the sheriff who has absolute rule, but soon learns how to work with him. Is there eventually an attraction between them? Yes, and it’s filled with emotional upheaval, passion, and grit, however, this is not a love story, though that bit was really enjoyable. This is a mystery and it’s intricately planned and the characters involved were fascinating. Imagine living in a city where every person there is escaping something. They could be victims, but they also may be the perpetrators of horrible crimes, yet no one knows each others past. Its a fresh slate, but sometimes a persons nature just can’t be changed.

If you love mysteries, I highly recommend this excellent book. It’s the first in the series and I am not going to take too much time before starting the second! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️


Click link to purchase! City of the Lost: A Rockton Novel (Casey Duncan Novels)

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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This Chick Read: By Your Side by Kasie West

By Your Side surprised me by the depth hidden behind what I thought would be cotton candy fluff. A last minute potty break as the library is closing and Autumn Collins finds herself on the wrong side of the locked doors. Having put her bag in a friends car she is without a phone and has no way of letting anyone know where she is. She thought she was alone but is surprised to discover that Dax Miller, mysterious boy from the wrong side of the tracks is locked in the library with her. Autumn, not used to indifference tries really hard to break down Dax’s walls and succeeds. Up to a point.

Autumn, who seemed to be your average teenage girl, was hiding a secret from her friends. She has a severe anxiety disorder and takes medication to control her panic attacks. I thought these panic attacks were an interesting way to spotlight what would be pretty normal high school drama. Semi popular girl has a crush on a popular guy that is just starting to like her back. The panic attacks put more emphasis on if he was the right guy for her. Her working through those thoughts while holding panic at bay added tension to what would have been a banal plotline.

Dax was your typical misunderstood teen. His being locked in the library wasn’t an accident, he was actually “taking a break” from his foster family. His character didn’t seem to be so unusual. What was unusual was his self sacrifice for Autumn. That sacrifice and his willingly becoming her safe harbor placed me firmly on his side.

This type of novel is not my usual choice but I really enjoyed the surprise of liking these characters and enjoying their love story. For those of you much younger than myself, I think you’ll identify with these characters even more than I. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click link to purchase! By Your Side

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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This Chick Read: Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata

I have read only a couple of Mariana Zapata novels and I loved them both. When Dear Aaron was released not too long ago I scooped it up hoping for that awesome slow burn romance I’d come to expect. The premise of the story guaranteed that this couple, like most of her others, were going to follow the friends to lovers plotline. Ruby Santos is paired with Aaron Hall through a military organization that organizes pen pals for overseas military. After getting off to a rough start with Aaron not responding to Ruby’s initial emails, they start penning notes to each other and as time goes on, discovering tidbits about each others lives. I actually enjoyed the flow of the book, learning about both Ruby and Aarons lives, however, the depth of emotion was missing, as it would when you are learning about someone through a letter. You learn only what they choose to tell you. This point of view separated the reader and kept me from developing any strong emotional attachment to either Ruby or Aaron for the first half of the book.

When the story advances, Aaron is on leave in the US, and their communication advances to texting and then finally a phone call. Its at this point that the author starts writing in conventional narrative and we get to read from an actual point of view. The Ruby that we saw in email form was only a little different than the Ruby we now know from hearing her thoughts. My problem was that I liked Ruby better in email form. Aaron was solid both in email and in person. I was given a good grasp of his character and it stayed consistent for the entire book. Actually, through Ruby’s eyes he got even more attractive! I think I just found it harder to connect with Ruby because of the email format at the start. I did still enjoy the book, but in comparison with The Wall of Winnipeg and Me and Kulti it paled. ❤️❤️❤️❣️


Click link to purchase! Dear Aaron

Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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This Chicks Sunday Commentary: To LOVE or Not to Love..Audio Books

If you have a book blog then your love of all things books is a given. Or is it? Some bloggers hash out their feelings on ebooks versus physical copies of books and usually the physical copy wins. (Although my guess is that many of you have hundreds of ebooks lined up on a kindle or nook!) So, the natural next question would be, how do you, as a blogger, like audiobooks?

 Here are my thoughts!

PROS

  • Re-reading series: If you are anything like me, you are trying to balance your ARC commitments with just picking up a book and reading it for pleasure. But what about re-reading? There is nothing better than getting back to that series that you fell in love with while reading it for the first time! Now, years later, you have memories of having loved the series, but there are 20 books and it’s probably not realistic that you’ll ever read them again. But, wait! Do you have a long commute to work? Do you go to the gym or walk in the mornings? If so, then you have found the time to re-read! Kind of. You can now enjoy that morning walk while listening to an old favorite. Believe me, you will get that chance to listen to all 20 in the series.
  • Narrators– When you have found a great narrator, you will follow that narrator to their other books. A great narrator makes you forget that you are listening to a woman speak in your male heroes voice, or a man in a womans voice. But what about if your book has many voices? A great narrator will capture that personality of EACH character. Here are my recommendations on a few. Sample one by clicking the link. 

                Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School) narrated  by Emily Gray! 

              A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith 
                Outlander narrated by Davina Gray 

      • Inspiration! – Ok, that may be taking this a little far, but if I am in the middle of a really good book I would do anything to keep listening to it! ( and save my marriage by not ignoring my husband on purpose.☺️) Take another walk! Listening to an audiobook while excercising has inspired me to, well, excercise! Lol. 
      • Car Rides– Listening to an audiobook makes my drive go so much quicker! To be honest, I don’t have a very long drive to work and will sometimes sit in the parking lot for five or ten minutes until the scene concludes. However, I am in outside sales and spend a good bit of time driving, so my drive has now become fun!
      • Subscription services– I can support my local bookstore! Yes, you can also get Audiobooks on Amazon’s Audible or even at your local library, but I found Librofm.com, which is a monthly subscription service, just like audible, but it is connected to my local bookstore.  I love supporting my local bookstore and the dollars for the subscription at least in part, goes to them. Yeah!


      CONS

      • Narrators– I don’t want to say anything bad, but when the narration doesn’t click for me I have to dump the book and choose another. What makes a narrator bad? It could be an annoying voice on the main character, or it could be the actual writing of the book didn’t make for a good audiobook. If an audiobook doesn’t grab me, its just like reading a book myself. I struggle, and really, you have to devote A LOT of time to one! I will not spend 12 hours with a narrator I don’t click with.
      • Reviews– This is a great way to spend time reading another book to review. A Gentleman in Moscow (pictured above) is a book that I am currently listening to on my walks. Nicholas Guy Smith’s aristocratic voice is perfectly matched to the main character. I am listening to it in real time, and do NOT speed the audiobook up. I have heard that some bloggers do this, and I think that you can’t get emotionally involved with a narrator that sounds like a chipmunk! That would hurt my enjoyment of the story as well and therefore my review of that book. Bad Bloggers!
      • Time Spent– I am a very quick reader, so its a little frustrating when a narration drags. That is not the narrators fault it’s the writer who wrote all that prose! However, when someone reads it aloud it makes that paragraph seem even longer. Pick your book to your mood. If you are in a descriptive prose kind of mood, great! If you want a lot of dialog or action, be smart and pick that kind of book!
      • Romance– I love to read romance novels. That’s my go to genre when I am feeling down because an HEA picks my mood right back up. However, listening to a 30 page sex scene? NOT MY THING. Especially in a car when the audio all of a sudden seems so loud. I’ll find myself looking at the person on the bus bench next to me to see if they can hear what I’m hearing. Embarassing!  I guess I like my sex scenes to be a little more private.  Lol.  Years ago I was on a road trip with my mom and we had picked an audiobook to listen to. Oh my gosh, when a sex scene came up, we both looked at each other and laughed hysterically! I fast forwarded through the scene! There’s just something about hearing it outloud.  That is still a funny memory that she and I share with people. It makes for a great story, but I NEVER want to do that again. Lol.

      What is your opinion of Audiobooks? Do you have any funny stories to share? Any favorite narrators or books?  Please comment!

      Until next Sunday,

      Deb

      On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads14 Comments

      This Chick Read: All The Light There Is (The Healing Edge #3) by Anise Eden

      The Healing Edge Series is about Cate Duncan’s journey of self discovery, both with her empathic talent, her familial psychic talents, and her feelings for her new boyfriend Ben. All The Light There Is starts up where the previous novel leaves off, with Ben and Cate enjoying their new relationship while on a trip to Washington DC to show off her groups talents in an ancient power circle.  This double kheir enhances each of their talents enabling them to extend their psychic reach. With this power they will be able to increase their healing efforts in those who come to them for help. Unfortunately, evil finds Cate and her friends, wanting to use their talents for commercial gain, and she must “bite the head off the snake”to put an end to this other organization.

      This was, by far, my favorite book in the series. Cate and Ben’s love for each other was not physical, because of rules of celibacy during her training, which really put the focus on their emotions. As an Empath therapist, Cate has helped heal clients by creating portals which allows her to sift through their emotions. With Ben, the portal is shared and when open, their feelings are deeply felt. I have never run across these types of descriptions in a romance novel and really enjoyed how that gave the characters added depth and allowed the reader to share in that connection rather than be a voyeur in the bedroom.

      The other cast of characters in these novels are unusual and likeable. I’ve mentioned before that my mother is a hypnotherapist and some of the techniques described in these books were familiar to me, which made it fun to read. I think that even if you’ve never gone to a psychic for a reading , had Raiki, or your aura cleansed, you will enjoy all of these characters for their lively interaction with each other and their diversity. Cate and Ben’s love story is at the center of these books but the main attraction is the exploration of the psychic arts. Anise Edens talent lies in the intermingling of the two.

      ❤️❤️❤️❤️

      I was given an ARC of this book through NetGalley for an honest review, and it was honest.


      Click on this link to purchase! All the Light There Is: The Healing Edge – Book Three

      Copyright 2017 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

      I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

      On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads1 Comment