Tag: overdrive

This Chick Read: Shadow Rites (Jane Yellowrock #10) by Faith Hunter

Jane Yellowrock is the enforcer to the Master Vampire of New Orleans, Leo Pellissier. Handling vampire politics is never easy but when she is magically attacked she finds a link to the upcoming Vampire-Witch enclave. A meeting that is planned to align the American witches with Leo’s territory, and include their safety, before the European vampire meeting in a few months. Jane’s attack means someone is trying to undermine that meeting and Jane needs to find out who and destroy their chances of success.

Jane has a lot riding on finding who and what may be trying to ruin her chances of protecting the vampires and witches. Her job as enforcer is one, but more importantly the safety of what she considers her family; her partners ElI and Alex, her boyfriend George, and her best friend Molly and her children. Connections are new to Jane, and she is determined to protect them all, even if it’s from herself.

This novel again brought out something new in our hero. Frailty. Physically she’s still strong, but her feelings make her insecure. In Shadow Rites Jane pushes herself past the barriers she has put up to protect herself and allows herself to imagine that she may not be able to keep everyone safe and she may just have to let them save themselves. I think this was a big step for this character and makes her so much more interesting! In both Broken Soul and Dark Heir she allowed her emotions to overcome her inner objections, but in Shadow Rites she has to allow herself to trust. In both herself and those around her she cares about.

All of these changes should lead to a stronger heroine to protect her friends and family when the European vampires finally come to New Orleans. We may have another book or two before that happens as the author gets Jane fully prepared to handle the danger that is still to come. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase!* Shadow Rites (Jane Yellowrock Book 10)

Copyright 2020 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: Crazy Stupid Bromance (Bromance Book Club #3) by Lyssa Kay Adams

Alexis Carlisle has PTSD from being sexually harassed by a former boss, and instead of acting on her attraction to her friend Noah she has put him firmly in the friend zone. When a young woman approaches her in her coffee shop and claims she’s her half sister her life spins off it’s base and she turns to Noah to help her through, especially when she find out her father needs her kidney to live.

The premise for this series is that a group of men use romance novels to help them learn about themselves and the women they love. A fun premise that so far hadn’t lived up to its expectations, however Crazy Stupid Bromance comes the closest. Noah and Alexis are quite the pair. He is an ex hactivist who as a teen had angrily hacked into a government property after his father dies in Afghanistan with faulty equipment. Alexis came to fame because she charged a celebrity chef with sexual harassment and hasn’t trusted a man since. These two shouldn’t have been a likely couple but they somehow worked and I think it was because they had the basis of a solid friendship before moving on to anything heavier. Their story wasn’t rushed like a lot of romances are and the pace was pretty perfect.

Alexis was the catalyst to Liv and Mack’s romance in Undercover Bromance so I felt like I knew her a little bit, but Noah’s character hadn’t really been explored yet. He was the computer nerd of the group and that’s about it. I loved that he had this kind of rebel background and an anger that he still hadn’t overcome. It gave he and Alexis a little conflict that seemed more natural that sneaking around and spying on a Chef as the previous novel had done. So the story felt real and not fabricated.

Alexis’s newly found father (and his family) also created some conflict, so this story wasn’t all puppies and butterflies. In fact, I shed a couple of tears at her heart-wrenching decisions about her family and really enjoyed how this author wrapped up that story. All in all this has been my favorite of the three Bromance Book Club novels. I think the Russian may be up next and I’m not sure I’m ready to read his hairy, gross story, so this series may be put on pause on my TBR. We’ll see what that synopsis looks like. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase! Crazy Stupid Bromance (Bromance Book Club)

Copyright 2020 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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

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It’s Monday, what are you reading? (11/2/2020)

As we approach the election here in the US I’m diving into TV shows, movies, and books to try to escape from all of the negativity. Gosh, I can’t wait until this is all over and I hope America votes for decency, empathy, and kindness. On to books! I did get one read and have one I have really been looking forward to up next! Can’t wait!

This post originated over on Book Date, so thanks for the idea and letting me continue on the discussion about what books I am reading.

JUST FINISHED

The best in the series to date! I liked how these two had real life conflicts that they worked through. It was interesting and fun. I enjoyed this one!

JUST STARTED

Despite this author’s predilections for stupidity, I do love this series! I can’t wait to start this one tonight! How are Cormoran and Robin going to solve the next murder, and will they or won’t they finally act on their feelings for each other?

Yes, I am daring to branch out into a mystery with some much beloved characters! I am hoping it will be a distraction from the big day on Tuesday. What are you reading to get you through this week?

Have a good one!

Deb

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This Chicks Sunday Commentary: My Top 5 Most Anticipated Book Releases- Nov’20

Is it just me or are you also having trouble coming up with 5 books I want to read that are being released in November? I really couldn’t find 5 on this list, so I am going to go with the four I found that I knew I wanted to read instead of pushing to that 5th book. I hope that’s ok!

#4 MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE

I like the setting in Australia and have also enjoyed a number of romance novels with an Indian main character. I thought this one looked cute! Not thought provoking but I’m looking for entertainment away from the stress of life lately and I think this one fits the bill.

Synopsis:

A woman ready to give up on love meets her match in a man she never expected to fall for in this heartwarming and steamy new romantic comedy by USA Today bestselling author Nicola Marsh.

For almost a decade, successful 37-year-old Samira Broderick has used her bustling LA practice as an excuse to avoid a trip home to Australia. She still resents her meddling Indian mother for arranging her marriage to a man who didn’t stick around when the going got tough, but now with a new job Down Under, she’s finally ready to reconnect with her. And while she’s there, a hot international fling might be just what she needs to get out of her recent funk. 

Aussie stuntman, Rory Radcliffe, has been hiding his stutter for years by avoiding speaking roles. When a job he can’t refuse comes up as a reality show host, he knows he’ll need some help for the audition: a dialect coach. But he finds himself at a loss for words when he discovers it’s the same sexy woman with whom he just had a mind-blowing one-night stand… 

Samira can think of many reasons why Rory is completely wrong for her: he’s ten years her junior, for one, and he’s not Indian–something Samira’s mother would never approve of. Even if things were to get serious, there’s no reason to tell her mother…is there?

Click this link to purchase! The Boy Toy

#3 MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK RELEASE

If I can’t travel on vacation this year then I certainly want to visit an exotic locale in my head. This story sounds fun and I’m all about the Italian villas and finding love even if you’re eighty.

Synopsis: A trio of second-born daughters sets out on a whirlwind journey through the lush Italian countryside to break the family curse that says they’ll never find love, by New York Times bestseller Lori Nelson Spielman, author of The Life List.

Since the day Filomena Fontana cast a curse upon her sister more than two hundred years ago, not one second-born Fontana daughter has found lasting love. Some, like second-born Emilia, the happily-single baker at her grandfather’s Brooklyn deli, claim it’s an odd coincidence. Others, like her sexy, desperate-for-love cousin Lucy, insist it’s a true hex. But both are bewildered when their great-aunt calls with an astounding proposition: If they accompany her to her homeland of Italy, Aunt Poppy vows she’ll meet the love of her life on the steps of the Ravello Cathedral on her eightieth birthday, and break the Fontana Second-Daughter Curse once and for all.
 
Against the backdrop of wandering Venetian canals, rolling Tuscan fields, and enchanting Amalfi Coast villages, romance blooms, destinies are found, and family secrets are unearthed—secrets that could threaten the family far more than a centuries-old curse.

Click this link to purchase! The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany

#2 MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK RELEASE

I’ve read the first two novels in this series and really enjoyed the locales as well as the underlying lessons learned by these young main characters. This one has a different location, and a new lesson!

Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato comes a Mamma Mia!–inspired tale about a teen girl finding romance while trying to connect with her absent father in beautiful Santorini, Greece.

Liv Varanakis doesn’t have a lot of fond memories of her father, which makes sense—he fled to Greece when she was only eight. What Liv does remember, though, is their shared love for Greek myths and the lost city of Atlantis. So when Liv suddenly receives a postcard from her father explaining that National Geographic is funding a documentary about his theories on Atlantis—and will she fly out to Greece and help?—Liv jumps at the opportunity.

But when she arrives to gorgeous Santorini, things are a little…awkward. There are so many questions, so many emotions that flood to the surface after seeing her father for the first time in years. And yet Liv doesn’t want their past to get in the way of a possible reconciliation. She also definitely doesn’t want Theo—her father’s charismatic so-called “protégé”—to witness her struggle.

And that means diving into all that Santorini has to offer—the beautiful sunsets, the turquoise water, the hidden caves, and the delicious cuisine. But not everything on the Greek island is as perfect as it seems. Because as Liv slowly begins to discover, her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important.

Click this link to purchase! Love & Olives

MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK RELEASE!

Book #1 in a new fantasy romance by Nora Roberts? I’m all in! This story looks charming and I can’t wait to read it!

Synopsis:

1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts begins a new trilogy of adventure, romance, and magick in The Awakening.

In the realm of Talamh, a teenage warrior named Keegan emerges from a lake holding a sword—representing both power and the terrifying responsibility to protect the Fey. In another realm known as Philadelphia, a young woman has just discovered she possesses a treasure of her own…

When Breen Kelly was a girl, her father would tell her stories of magical places. Now she’s an anxious twentysomething mired in student debt and working a job she hates. But one day she stumbles upon a shocking discovery: her mother has been hiding an investment account in her name. It has been funded by her long-lost father—and it’s worth nearly four million dollars.

This newfound fortune would be life-changing for anyone. But little does Breen know that when she uses some of the money to journey to Ireland, it will unlock mysteries she couldn’t have imagined. Here, she will begin to understand why she kept seeing that silver-haired, elusive man, why she imagined his voice in her head saying Come home, Breen Siobhan. It’s time you came home. Why she dreamed of dragons. And where her true destiny lies—through a portal in Galway that takes her to a land of faeries and mermaids, to a man named Keegan, and to the courage in her own heart that will guide her through a powerful, dangerous destiny…

Click this link to purchase! The Awakening: The Dragon Heart Legacy, Book 1

I am still looking for light romances and escapism and I think these four books will get me through my November! What books are you looking forward to reading next month? Share in the comments below.

Happy Reading!

Deborah

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This Chick Read: Snapped (The Playbook #4) by Alexa Martin

Elliott Reed has found her dream job as the Strategic Communications Manager for the Denver Mustangs when their brand new star quarterback Quinton Howard Jr. slaps a piece of black tape on the football logo on his jersey and kneels during the national anthem of their opening football game. When Elliott is given the task of “handling” him she finds herself battling her feelings of respect for the cause he’s fighting and her need to keep her new job. The job that she feels her dead father would have loved for his daughter.

Alexa Martin’s forward states that this is very loosely based upon her own experiences as the wife of a player in the NFL but is also influenced by Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling for the national anthem that started that protesting movement, but that the relationship story is all fiction. I thought she did a GREAT job relaying the story and describing the feelings that her characters, and people of color feel at being treated in the way they were treated in this book. I could never put myself in their shoes, but I felt the hurt, confusion, and anger these characters felt at their treatment and that goes a long way towards helping me understand. I appreciated and welcomed that lesson even if it was just in a fictional romance novel.

Elliott’s mother was black and died when she was a baby. She was raised by her white father and so had conflicted feelings about race, how she should feel and react in certain situations. She has always hidden her feelings and just tried to fit in so when Quinton’s stance made her face her own tendencies to brush things under the rug, it was eye opening and upsetting for her. The fact that she so admired him for what he was doing and was even helping him set up his foundation while at the same time feeling uncomfortable at bringing her feelings out into the open was, I thought, very realistic for how a lot of people may be feeling towards the Black Matter movement and protesting that is ongoing today. It made the point this author was making more relevant and real for me to have her main character so conflicted in the beginning.

With such a serious subject at the center of the love story as a reader you can’t help but feel that the romance took a back seat to the stance on racial inequality and how football players from before 1993 are being mistreated with a lack of benefits and healthcare. You know what? I didn’t miss the romance at all. I still felt the sizzling attraction and the pain of difficult conversations that helped move the relationship forward. The story had a more serious tone than the previous novels but with the help of her friends also brought touches of light and funny. At the end I felt totally satisfied and when I looked back on the book realized how much I enjoyed the story and their romance.

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! Snapped (Playbook, The)

Copyright 2020 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: Simmer Down by Sarah Smith

Nikki DiMarco and her mom Tiva run a food truck in Maui called Tiva’s Filipina Kusina. It was her father’s dream to run this food truck and after his death Nikki moved to Maui to make that dream come true with her mom. Struggling to make ends meet they finally get a great spot along the beach when another food truck run by Finn and Callum James, tries to hone in on their spot. Nikki and Callum take an instant dislike to each other and become social media famous for their escalating arguments. Does this dislike cover up a hot attraction? You bet!

After reading Sarah Smith’s last novel, Faker, I hadn’t planned on reading another but I’m so glad I did! Unlike Faker, Simmer Down didn’t have any of the awkward descriptors and instead relied on a great plot and plenty of attraction to reel the reader right in. I’ll admit, I’m also a sucker for romance novels where food is the third character. I’m not that familiar with lumpia’s but after reading all about them in Simmer Down I want to run out and try some Filipino food!

Nikki’s heart was broken by her father’s death and she hesitates to let anyone get close. Callum’s disagreeable facial expressions hide his true feelings and when they sit next to each other for 9 hours on a plane Nikki realizes that he’s actually as charming as he is hot and has a hard time keeping her heart out of the relationship. I don’t think it’s a secret that my favorite trope is enemies to lovers and this was a really good one. The only reason why it didn’t get a 5 rating is because the ending seemed a touch too predictable. I did like their characters and the food. OMG! I need to find me some lumpia’s quick! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase!* Simmer Down

Copyright 2020 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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

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This Chick Read: The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

In a world similar to Regency England, women with magical power are sold into marriage as a business arrangement between families. Some of whom are looking for that magical boost to their gene pool, and others may receive financial gain. On the day of their marriage these young women are forced to wear a collar that inhibits their powers for fear that the children they bear may be possessed. Beatrice Clayburn is a young sorceress who does not want to get married. She dreams of the day when she can become a Mage and through being a Mage help her family’s finances, instead her father wants to marry her off. Beatrice practices her sorcery in private but at night she attends balls and is under the attention of all of the young men who are on the marriage mart. Determined not to ever marry, one day she meets Ianthe Lavan and is torn between what she needs and what she wants.

I thought it was interesting that this fantasy tale paralleled the paths of young women in Victorian England who may have fought for equal rights during the Suffrage movement. Also forced to marry for business or monetary reasons these women also dreamed of their voices being heard and not smothered by or becoming possessions of their husbands. The collar that Beatrice would have to wear also brings to mind the collared slaves who were at the whim of their masters in the United States. Reading this novel during the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote and while the Black Matters Movement is still being fought certainly made what Beatrice was and would go through very relevant. I can’t imagine the author didn’t intend for the reader’s mind to follow those parallel paths.

Surprisingly I didn’t get tired of Beatrice’s mixed feelings over falling in love with a young man while at the same time as wanting the freedom to pursue her own future. Most authors would have chosen the easier path, but C.L. Polk chose what spoke to her character and that decision read true to me. I will admit to shedding a tear or two for Beatrice and Ianthe in this novel while hoping their rocky path would smooth out.

I could imagine the hardships of not only Beatrice but all of the young women of her time. In a discussion with her mother about never wanting to wear the collar her mother told a story of how she chose to marry for love and how that love deadened over time. Beatrice’s decision for her future couldn’t just be about how much she loved Ianthe or how much she wanted to be a Mage. Her decision was about not letting anyone have control over her body and while I am not making a political statement I can certainly say that I identified with that feeling while reading this novel. So, did I like it? Yes. A lot actually. But was it easy reading? It really wasn’t. It made me think about what was going on in the world right now. Not a bad thing but maybe not exactly what I was looking for when I sat down to read either.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase!* The Midnight Bargain

Copyright 2020 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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Mistletoe and Mr. Right (Moose Springs, Alaska #2) by Sarah Morgenthaler

Moose Springs, Alaska has small town charm but with the new resort being built it’s residents aren’t too happy with socialite Lana Montgomery. Lana has been coming to Moose Springs since she was a child and those memories are some of her warmest. Bringing tourism into the town will help it survive and Lana is determined that it would. As the owner of a new condo being developed up the mountain, she’s not looked on too fondly by anyones except bar owner, Rick Harding. His ho-hum life has been turned upside down by this stiletto wearing, Santa Moose stalking, dynamo. He’s see’s right through her business persona to the soft hearted woman beneath and he’s lost at first site.

I love Moose Springs, Alaska! I am a huge fan of the first novel and Zoey and Graham’s story and loved to see these characters evolve. Lana was a fun side character but how was she as the main character in her own story? I actually liked her a lot! I could totally see why Rick fell for her. Her tough exterior surrounded a warm gooey inside. I do wish the author hadn’t given her this one annoying to saying throughout the book. I found it out of character and annoying. Despite that one word, these were two characters that were completely likable and it was a cute romance novel. I will admit it’s always weird to be reading a Christmas themed book in October, but that’s marketing for you!

The best part of this book was the return of all of the town’s characters and having their stories evolve. Graham and Zooey get a small story arc and Ash and Easton’s sarcasm continues to reign. This is a quirky small town that deserves its own show or movie. Hey, if Robyn Carr can do it with Virgin River, my vote goes to Moose Springs getting their own show too! You can only hope! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Please click this link to purchase!* Mistletoe and Mr. Right (Moose Springs, Alaska Book 2)

Copyright 2020 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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

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This Chicks Audio Review: Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1) by Kim Harrison and Narrated by Marguerite Gavin

One of my new favorite things to do is to revisit previous favorites by listening to them as audiobooks. Kim Harrison’s Hollows series has been one of my favorite urban fantasy series and recently when she came out with a surprise novel in what was a completed series I decided to take a look back and listen to the first novel, Dead Witch Walking. Narrated by Marguerite Gavin, I was pleasantly surprised at how much the main character Rachel Morgan, still resonated with a much older me.

The Hollows series is set in a world just like ours, but where magic and paranormal beings are commonplace ever since “The Turn” when a genetically altered tomato killed a good portion of the human race. Rachel Morgan is a witch, but she’s also an investigator, and Dead Witch Walking is the start of her story and her investigative team of Ivy, a living vampire, and Jenks, a pixy. The three of them live and work out of an old church in the Hollows, the more magical part of Cincinnati. Rachel has a price on her head and in order to pay it off she tries to bring in evidence against mysterious millionaire Trent Kalamack, that shows he’s dealing in Brimstone a street drug. In Dead Witch Walking you get a lot of set up, not only to the world, but also to the characters and Marguerite Gavin does a great job at voicing all of them. My favorite voice being Jenks, who’s a small pixy (picture tinkerbell sized) and his voice somewhat matches that size. It’s too cute.

Rachel Morgan, despite her witchiness, attracts trouble. She’s somewhat of a blunderer but she has great instincts and in this case she’s taken on a bit more than she can chew in Trent Kalamack who exhibits supreme bad guy vibes in this first novel. In the end, Rachel gets what she wants by paying off her debt and getting rid of the price on her head, but it’s not exactly done in the way that she hoped. Dead Witch Walking is a mad-cap adventure story with great characters that develop into true friends and a great investigative team, and also sets the story for many of the things that happen to and for Rachel in the next 15 novels. If you love well done urban fantasy novels and have the patience to see your character grow into the kick a&$ she becomes, please pick this up, listen to it, or plug it directly into your brain in whatever means possible. This book is good, but the series is even better and I’m excited that Marguerite Gavin does such a great job with the narration because I’ll be listening to them for a while to come. (15 books! Sixteen if you count the flashback, The Turn.)

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase the audiobook!* Dead Witch Walking: Hollows, Book 1

Copyright 2020 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: A Murderous Relation (Veronica Speedwell #5) by Deanna Raybourn

In 1888, London is being stalked by the notorious Jack the Ripper. At the same time as those gruesome murders Veronica and her friend Stoker are asked by Lady Wellington to step in to recover a diamond gifted to a “friend” of the royal Prince, Veronica’s half brother. Not wanting to be manipulated by a family who has never recognized her, Veronica refuses, until Lady Welly comes down sick and they discover in her notes that she’s afraid the Prince may have something to do with these Jack the Ripper killings.

Veronica and Stoker’s adventurous have something to do with my own recent trend towards reading historical mysteries. It’s intriguing to think that before technology, murders were solved by only acting questions and in Veronica’s case, good instinct. I like the way my brain works to solve these mysteries along with the main characters!

Veronica and Stoker, not hampered by their societal connections have become rather known for solving crimes and despite her misgivings Veronica can’t help but look into the goings on behind giving an enormous diamond gift to a known benefactress or madame. This mystery, like the last novel did for Stoker, allows the reader to connect with Veronica by allowing us to see her interactions with the prince. A brother she’d never met, and one who never knew he had a secret sister. I enjoyed those tender scenes, or as tender as one can be in Victorian England.

The first four novels in this series set the stage and amped up the tension in a will they or won’t they between Veronica and Stoker until this novel, where we’d assume there would be a conclusive union. I’ll admit to a little impatience on that front because the investigation got in the way of my romance, but finally, as the book was ending Veronica and Stoker found the time (my feelings and words) to embrace their future. Finally! I’ll admit I was disappointed that it happened at the end of the book, and again left you with a feeling of ‘now what?’ because I’m not sure where I want to see them go from here. Together, yes, but how? I’m curious to see how the author will settle them into their future. It will be untraditional, of that I’m pretty certain.

Do you like historical mysteries? If so, Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell series may be the right books for you. I’ve really enjoyed them and look forward to re-reading them as I’ve purchased every one!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase!* A Murderous Relation (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery)

Copyright 2020 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads