Tag: goodreads

This Chick Read: For You (The Burg #1) by Kristen Ashley

Colt and February were a legendary couple. High school sweethearts and destined to always be together until one night it ended and only February knew why. Years later, after they both were married and then divorced, Feb is back in town to help run the family bar. When one of their customers is murdered behind the bar, it’s Colt that sent in to investigate and what he finds pushes them back together. He becomes her protector and their passion reignites.

This is the third time I’ve read For You. This story about the fated couple who somehow drift apart to be brought back together by a serial killer is seriously good. This woman in jeopardy romantic thriller is one of my favorites, and when the story and tension backs up the promise of great characters you know you will keep coming back. Every few years I find myself picking it back up again.

February is the woman that every man wants and every woman wants as their best friend. She’s gorgeous, loyal, and funny. She is a hard woman to resist and Alexander Colton doesn’t have a reason to resist any longer. The novel starts with them being distant with each other and as the danger amps up and people close to Feb are being killed the tension threatens to explode. It does, in very hot detail. This is one of those mysteries where you are on the edge of your seat but the romance has you relaxing back and dreaming of your own alpha hero. One of the best early Kristen Ashley novels, if you haven’t read it you need to give it a look.

This author writes great romance novels, but what I really love about her books are the friendships. She gives you background into the surrounding characters to the extent you either love or hate them and some of them turn up as the heroine/hero’s in a future novel. Also, you know that you aren’t seeing the last of them, that they will take part, even in a small way in a future story. So never fear, if you love Feb and Colt, you’ll see them again! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase!* For You (The ‘Burg Series Book 1)

Copyright 2021 the Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

It’s Monday, what are you reading? (12/13/21)

I feel like this weekend I checked several things off the to-do list. Cookie’s have been exchanged, presents wrapped, and I had to work for a few hours to prepare for our Nashville’s Nutcracker opening this Wednesday. The next twelve days are packed, so it’s good to get some of the Christmas preparations out of the way. I didn’t spend a lot of time reading, unfortunately, but here are the two that I touched.

JUST FINISHED

I know, I read this one a few weeks ago, but I went ahead and got the audiobook too because it was on sale for $2.99 and I couldn’t resist. It’s a novella, so I was able to listen to it quickly. I’ll admit that I caught quite a few more details the second time around. This is a good story!

JUST STARTED

The next installment of the secret Library series. Our heroine has just found out she’s the daughter of the bad guy they’ve been chasing or at least avoiding in the last few books. I’m looking forward to the action getting started! This series is all fantasy, but there are historical mystery elements that I really enjoy digging into. Can’t wait to see how it concludes!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Please share the wonderful books you’ve been reading. I love to add new ones to my TBR!

Happy Monday and happy reading!

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Sunkissed by Kasie West

SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD.

Every summer Avery’s parents take she and her sister on a long vacation in order to bond and have “family time”. This year is no different and she finds herself at a family camp for two months without wifi. This year’s trip comes right after she finds out her best friend betrays her with her ex and the lack of wifi gives her a little time to decide how she really feels. On the day she arrives she meets Brooks, a moody, cute, staff employee who plays in the resort band but there’s a firm policy against staff-guest relationships. Her love of music and writing poetry draws them together and their friendship helps her come to terms with the difficulties she left behind at home.

My first impression of Sunkissed was that this was a fan fiction rewrite of Dirty Dancing. Two sisters, one outgoing and loud and the other quiet and kind of introspective. The quiet girl meets a good looking guy at a family camp who seems at first like he might be from the wrong side of the tracks. Girl has a talent for writing poetry and singing, boy has a contest coming up where he needs a song written for his band. Lead singer gets hurt and can’t compete, quiet girl overcomes nerves to sing. Boy and girl fall in love and have to overcome daddy’s objections. They only thing missing was a pregnancy and some raunchy hot time in the sack. As this is a Kasie West novel, everything is PG-13 and seen through rose tinted lenses, but the similarities were hard to not see. Despite the parallels I did like this story and Avery’s character.

We learn some interesting things about Avery as the book goes along but the most pressing is the fact that she has terrible stage fright and a bit of an anxiety problem. She’s known for going with the flow and that’s mostly because she’s trying to avoid anything that makes her anxious. It’s only when her dad seems to admire her younger sister for her cleverness in starting up a podcast that Avery see’s that maybe she’s been playing life a little too safe and she wants to make some changes and spread her wings a bit.

I always like the novels where the shy girl has a hidden talent that makes her shine and Sunkissed has exactly that kind of story. If you like these same traits then I suggest you give it a try. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase! Sunkissed

Copyright 2021 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

When Vivienne Jones had her heartbroken at 19, she acted as any young witch her age would, she drank vodka, ate ice cream, took a bubble bath, and with the help of her BFF cursed the man who had just broken her heart. Nine years later and Rhys Penhallow is back in town to re-charge her town’s ley lines and from the moment he gets close the curse kicks in and everything starts to turn wrong. Having to fess up to her actions, Vivi works with Rhys to try to break the curse. Surprisingly their chemistry and feelings haven’t really changed and they quickly fall back into old habits.

I was surprised at the hidden depth in this light and fluffy Halloween inspired love story. Don’t get me wrong, it did not stray far from the light and fluffy but the story was really well written and I was able to fall into huge like with the characters and was interested enough to see how their love story would end.

These quirky and fun characters were easy to like but I also loved the side characters. Rhys’s surly brother, and Vivi’s cousin and best friend helped add depth but also were part of why the book came to life. It might be interesting if these two characters somehow got connected? Possibly at a wedding in Wale? Hmm, my from lips to this authors ears!

If you’re looking for a fun, light, romance than give this one a chance. Despite the witchy plot I think it can be read and enjoyed on any holiday, or just a plain old weekend. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Ex Hex

Copyright 2021 the Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

Kidnapped out of her bed while sleeping, Georgie wakes up to find herself in her pj’s on an alien spaceship. In a hold with the other human female cattle on the way to god knows where. Their captors do not treat them like guests but like hostages and they don’t handle them with care. When their ship needs to get rid of excess weight they drop their cargo bay on a habitable planet. The least hurt by their crash landing, Georgie suits up and climbs out into the snowy landscape to try to find help. What she finds is a race of blue horned alien men whose species is dying from a lack of women and this particular alien claims Georgie. Luckily for her he will do everything he can to ensure his tribes survival. Starting with saving the women in the hold of their space ship.

I’ve been on a little bit of a sci-fi romance kick lately and I’ll admit that when I saw this advanced reader copy I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. What I didn’t know is that it’s a re-release of the first book in a series of like 22 books and I’d get sucked in by the humor and read through 7 in one weekend. Ice Planet Barbarians was by far my favorite because Georgie was such a funny narrator. She was everything I like in a heroine, sassy, bold, and adventurous. Her alien mate, Vektal, while an alpha male, he was super gentle and sweet and wanted to do everything for Georgie which made their interactions really sweet and as they didn’t speak the same language for a good portion of the book, extremely funny.

Here’s my R rated warning. This book (and the series!) is filled with sex. Vektal, while humanoid, does not have a human body and his equipment while similar, does have some differences. If you can’t appreciate those differences you may not enjoy all of those scenes and truthfully, they were some of the most humorous so it was hard to skim. So, I gave in and embraced the weird alien sex so I could appreciate Georgie and Vektal’s story.

If you’re interested in a different type of sci-fi novel and don’t mind a LOT of sex, then this is the series for you! I will say, sex aside, the story was unique, the characters were fun and lovely to get to know, and I loved all of the ladies that crash landed in that cargo hold. I knew by the middle of the book that I was going to keep reading this series. These books are quick reading and a bit addictive.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* Ice Planet Barbarians

Copyright 2021 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: A Counterfeit Suitor (Rosalind Thorne Mystery #5)

Rosalind is brought in undercover to determine if a determined suitor of a young heiress is honorable or if he is a fortune hunter. While making this determination her estranged father shows up in London in the hands of a man who has threatened Rosalind in the past. She and Russell Thorne have crossed paths many times, and her sleuthing efforts have cost him money. What is her doing with her father? Does this have anything to do with her client’s unsuitable suitor?

A Counterfeit Suitor had a much quicker pace than the previous novel and I have to wonder if it doesn’t have something to do with the change in scenery. Back in London, Rosalind seems to be racing from one place to the next as she follows the twists and turns of her investigation. The underlying threat that Russell Thorne represents to her life and livelihood also adds tension to an already dramatic storyline. With the addition of her love interest Investigator Adam Harkness, I found myself engaged and enthralled with this plot and eagerly turning each page.

There was really a LOT going on in this novel, which helped to capture my attention and hold it. Rosalind’s living depends upon her respectable reputation and it ran the risk of being irredeemably damaged throughout this novel. This time in history is not a favorable one to unmarried women, the details of which are fascinating and really disturbing. It also makes for some great reading.

A Counterfeit Suitor could be read without having any of the background you would know from having read the previous books but I really wouldn’t recommend it. You need to know the history behind each character’s actions, which only add to the reasons Rosalind makes certain decisions, as well as why these people stand by her side. If you are already a fan, don’t wait to pick this book up, it is one of the best in the series to date. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* A Counterfeit Suitor (Rosalind Thorne Mystery Book 5)

Copyright 2021 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chicks Sunday Commentary: My Top 5 Book Releases – Dec’21

It’s always a shock when you hit that last month of the year isn’t? With everything else I’m working ahead. I have my tree up, the majority of my presents purchased, and plans made for the holidays. I just forgot to take a look at the book releases for next month, but hey! It’s only Nov. 28th so I’m not too far behind.

#5 MOST ANTICIPATED

It only takes two words for me to want to pick up this book. Penny Reid. She has escapism reading down to an art form. Her writing is sweet, funny, and romantic. Enough said.

Synopsis:

Rex “TW” McMurtry’s perpetual single-hood wouldn’t bother him so much if all his ex-girlfriends didn’t keep marrying the very next person they dated, especially when so many of those grooms are his closest friends. He may be a pro-football defensive end for the Chicago Squalls, but the press only wants to talk about how he’s always a groomsman and never a groom. Rex is sick of being the guy before the husband, and he’s most definitely sick of being the best man at all their weddings.

Bartender Abigail McNerny is the gal-pal, the wing-woman, the she-BFF. She’s dated. Once. And once was more than enough. Privy to all the sad stories of her customers, ‘contentment over commitment’ is her motto, and Abby is convinced no one on earth could ever entice her into a romantic relationship . . . except that one guy she’s loved since preschool.

The guy who just walked into her bar.

The guy who doesn’t recognize her.

The guy who is drunk and needs a ride home.

The guy who has a proposition she should definitely refuse.

Click this link to purchase this book. Homecoming King (Three Kings Book 1)

#4 MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK RELEASE

I might have put this one on November’s most anticipated list because the drop date is 11/30, but I’m just going to add it to the December list as well. It looks so good!

Synopsis:

Their union is his revenge.

Isolde de Lara considers her wedding day to be her death day. To end a years-long war, she is to marry vampire king Adrian Aleksandr Vasiliev, and kill him.

But her assassination attempt is thwarted, and Adrian threatens that if Isolde tries to kill him again, he will raise her as the undead. Faced with the possibility of becoming the thing she hates most, Isolde seeks other ways to defy him and survive the brutal vampire court.

Except it isn’t the court she fears most—it’s Adrian. Despite their undeniable chemistry, she wonders why the king—fierce, savage, merciless—chose her as consort.

The answer will shatter her world.

Click this link to purchase!* King of Battle and Blood (Adrian X Isolde Book 1)

#3 MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK RELEASE

I am totally invested in this series. It’s fantasy, mystery, and action adventure all rolled into one. Plus the main character is a strong willed female who is in charge and takes no prisoners. These novels are totally fun.

Synopsis:

In this thrilling historical fantasy, time-traveling Librarian spy Irene will need to delve deep into a tangled web of loyalty and power to keep her friends safe.

Irene is trying to learn the truth about Alberich-and the possibility that he’s her father. But when the Library orders her to kill him, and then Alberich himself offers to sign a truce, she has to discover why he originally betrayed the Library.

With her allies endangered and her strongest loyalties under threat, she’ll have to trace his past across multiple worlds and into the depths of mythology and folklore, to find the truth at the heart of the Library, and why the Library was first created. 

Click this link to purchase!* The Untold Story (The Invisible Library Novel Book 8)

#2 MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK RELEASE

So many of us fell in love with Amanda Gorman’s gorgeous poem at the inauguration and even if it might be the first book of poetry I read, I am curious enough to give it a try and see if she can inspire me with her words and imagery as she did on that day.

Synopsis: Formerly titled The Hill We Climb and Other Poems, the luminous poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman captures a shipwrecked moment in time and transforms it into a lyric of hope and healing. In Call Us What We Carry, Gorman explores history, language, identity, and erasure through an imaginative and intimate collage. Harnessing the collective grief of a global pandemic, these poems shine a light on a moment of reckoning and reveal that Gorman has become our messenger from the past, our voice for the future.

Click this link to purchase!* Call Us What We Carry: Poems

MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK RELEASE

I work for a ballet company and despite how I hear that no one ever gets details right in a novel, I have to read this one! It sounds so good and it might be an edge of your seat thriller. I can’t wait.

Synopsis:

Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

Thirteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she’s been away…and some secrets can’t stay buried forever.

Moving between the trio’s adolescent years and the present day, Rachel Kapelke-Dale’s The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside––all culminating in a twist you won’t see coming, with magnetic characters you won’t soon forget.

Click this link to purchase!*The Ballerinas: A Novel

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase any of these books through the above links I’ll receive a small stipend.

These are the book releases I am most looking forward to reading next month. I’m sure they are not the same as your own. Please feel free to give your favorites a shout out in the comments.

Happy reading!

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads2 Comments

This Chick Read: Dream Keeper (Dream Team #4) by Kristen Ashley

Single mom Pepper has always been attracted to Auggie Hero, but her plan is to provide a solid home for her daughter Juno and that means no men. Her daughter has other plans. She’s seen all of her moms friends meet the loves of their lives and she wants that for her own mom and she knows it’s not going to happen with her dad. Pepper and Auggie both have a LOT of baggage but what they could have with each other makes working through their problems worth it.

I really liked the characters in this book! Auggie and Pepper had a lot in common including a messed up family life. What Pepper has built with her daughter Juno is something that Auggie never had for himself and reading their story really touched my heart. As with a lot of Kristen Ashley’s men, Auggie was very alpha. He was a tough hombre, with very few words, but when he spoke he had important things to say. KA did a really good job with his internal thoughts because without those I wouldn’t have an inkling on what type of guy he really was, but those emotional rivers ran deep and he felt a LOT for Pepper and Juno. It was truly sweet.

As with my favorite Rock Chick novels, this novel is a woman in jeopardy novel. Pepper’s jeopardy was a little more emotional than physical but there was one moment that we got to see Auggie’s commando skills come into play and that made the book. I love KA’s retro Rock Chick-ish novels and this series as an offshoot of that series definitely plays on that vibe.

Do you like the older Kristen Ashley novels like I do? If so, you will really enjoy Dream Keeper. It’s the fourth in the series and while it can stand alone, I think you’ll like it more if you’ve read the others first. Pepper was supposed to be the last of Lottie’s friends to be set up but the reader is led to believe that there will be three more and we were introduced to three additional commando’s that need ladies to help make the man. I’m looking forward to seeing where this author takes this series and can’t wait for the next book. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase!* Dream Keeper (Dream Team Book 4)

Copyright 2021 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick’s Audio Review: Shifting Shadows (Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson) by Patricia Briggs

Shifting Shadows came out in 2014 and despite loving the Mercy Thompson series I didn’t have that sense of urgency about reading it. I had an Audible credit to use so I finally pulled the trigger and purchased Shifting Shadows. These short stories are narrated by Lorelei King who narrates the Mercy Thompson books and Alexander Cendese. I was expecting Holter Graham for the male voice and wasn’t familiar with Alexander Cendese but thought his narration excellent. As the narrator started reading the first short story, “Silver”, I was immersed in the origin story for Bram and Samuel, wondering why I had let this book lie in those shadows for so long.

For me, there were a couple of stand out novellas in this compilation. As a big fan of Patricia Briggs and both the Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series I was really interested in the above mentioned “Silver”. Bram is the Moroch, or leader of all of the packs in the United States and he raised Mercy, and is Charles’s father (Alpha and Omega). I’m already invested in their story and so learning their origin and how they became werewolves was particularly interesting. Also, this was the origin story for Samuel and his mate Ariana, who were separated for centuries. Their story was interesting and heartbreaking and explained quite a bit about their motivations in later novels.

Possibly because I’ve been listening to the Alpha and Omega series recently I immediately knew who the characters were in “Seeing Eye”. Moira and Tom are side characters in one story featuring Anna and Charles. This novella is the origin of how the two of them met and how they were drawn to each other right from the start. Tom, a werewolf, comes to Moira, a witch, to ask for help in locating his brother who has disappeared. It’s a really quick, fast paced story and truly enjoyable.

“Alpha and Omega” is the first story in the Alpha and Omega series. Charles, is Brams son, but he’s also the enforcer for his father and is sent to clean up problem situations. He is sent to Chicago because some things have come to light that all is not as it should be with the Chicago pack. Anna, abused in her own pack, has seen something that her alpha has done that she knows is not right. So she calls the Moroch, Bram, and is put in charge of driving Charles around as he investigates. What they both don’t expect is that Charles’s wolf declares Anna his mate and he has to fight his instincts to protect while also deciding the outcome for her pack. This novella is so good!

The last story I’ll speak about in this review is also the last novella in the book, “In Red, With Pearls”. Warren, the openly gay werewolf gets his own story and it is a fun one! A woman in red, wearing pearls comes into the law firm where Warren’s boyfriend Kyle works. Something about her is suspicious and Warren suspects there is ill intent. Boy is there! This novel has the humor you expect from his character but we get a little more insight into he and Kyle’s relationship. Warren is a fan-favorite and this is a truly fun glimpse into their relationship.

If you like Patricia Briggs novels, short stories, have a commute, or like to listen while you work (gasp!), please check out this compilation. The Mercy Thompson universe has a lot of action and fantasy-filled drama and I promise there won’t be any regrets! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this audiobook!* Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson

Copyright 2021 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: The V’Dan (First Salik War #2) by Jean Johnson

Grand Ambassador of the Terran Motherworld, Jacaranda Makenzie, has arrived with her Gestalt partner, Prince, and Captain of the V’Dan space force, Li’eth, to his home world to introduce his people to their human cousins the Terrans. Jackie brings with her technology that will help the V’Dan fight and possibly win a war against the Salik, a non-human species who is terrorizing the universe. She and Li’eth as Gestalt partners need to be close to each other as their powers grow. Prophesied to bring peace to the universe there is a lot riding on their success in uniting their two races.

It’s been a couple of years since I read the first novel in this series, Terrans, where we were introduced to Jackie and Li’eth but in a Terran setting. Li’eth was welcomed onto their planet and treated honorably. When Jackie and her crew escort Li’eth to V’Dan, the similarities between their own people are only separated by a discoloration on the skin of the V’Dan’s called jungen, which all V’Dan receive when they reach puberty. Terrans don’t have these marks, and because of that the V’Dan’s treat them as children disrespecting their people. As their leader, Jackie is faced with a cultural and racial insensitivity that her people have not seen in over 100 years.

This book, written prior to the Black Lives Matter movement uses the V’Dan’s skin discoloration to make some interesting parallels to the struggles we’ve faced to eliminate degradation due to skin color. It was interesting to read a science-fiction novel that chose that subject (among others) to take a stand and I relished every time Jackie as Grand Ambassador struck down this insensitivity and prejudice. I wish it were that easy today.

The V’Dan as a lot of sci-fi is, can be very technology heavy and there were pages that I skimmed to the plot to move forward a bit quicker but when the story called for action the plot moved along quite quickly. In addition to the technology-laden paragraphs there were a lot of politic-speak between the different alien races who were in an Alliance together. That too, made for slow points but ultimately picked up when Jackie got to kick-butt and smack down some furry or many-eyed creature for viewing her as a child. I admit, I did get a kick out of those moments.

I really enjoyed the more psychic moments in the book. Li’eth and Jackie were a solid pairing and I liked their hidden conversations, spoken mind to mind as they could talk freely where no one could hear them and those conversations gave insights into the actions going on around them. Theirs was not the only emotional connections but certainly as the main character theirs was the most prevalent.

If you like sci-fi and don’t mind techo-jargon then you may enjoy this series. I immediately picked up the third and last book in the series because I liked this book so much and would recommend it to anyone who thinks they may like a story that while a little older, runs parallel to the story lines of today. Granted, I do hope there aren’t some tentacled species out there hoping to inhabit our planet, breed humans so that they can eat us, so there is that. 🙂 ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase!* The V’Dan (First Salik War)

Copyright 2021 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads