This Chick Read: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Lady Midnight is the first novel in the Dark Artifices series, which follows Emma Carstairs and her parabatai Julian Blackthorn of the LA Institute.  We were introduced to the Blackthorns, and Emma in the City of Heavenly Fire.  As children, they watched their parents fall to Sebastian’s evil machinations, leaving Julian, at twelve years old, to raise his four younger siblings.  Even though Julian and Emma are only 17 in this book, it feels much more adult because they were forced to be parents to his brothers and sisters. Continue reading “This Chick Read: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare”

This Chick Read: Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit book 1) by J.T. Geissinger 

I read the premise to this novel and knew I had to read it and see if it was as good as it sounded.  Kat ( I love this name!) is a Hollywood makeup artist who has been hired to do the make-up for a music video for the band Bad Habit.  She meets the lead singer, Nico Nyx (yep, another cool name!) and their attraction to each other is immediate.  Unfortunately, according to all of the gossip rags, he has a girlfriend.  That girlfriend shows up at the video, where she is supposed to play the bride to Nico’s groom, and she is wasted on drugs.  Nico takes advantage of the opportunity and asks Kat to fill in… For $30k. Continue reading “This Chick Read: Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit book 1) by J.T. Geissinger “

This Chick Read: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

My Lady Jane tells a fictional tale of Lady Jane Grey, in history crowned Queen of England for little more than a week, before being beheaded.  These three authors tell a rather different story, using some historical facts such as being crowned Queen, but then veering into fantasy to rewrite Janes’s future, or rather her past, into a happy ending.  This young adult novel was a refreshing change from other fantasy-adventure tales in the genre.  The dialog is filled with satire and humor, some of which is very modern, and told with a sly wink. Continue reading “This Chick Read: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows”

This Chick Read: The Little French Guesthouse by Helen Pollard

Emmy books a vacation for she and her boyfriend to a B&B called La Cour des Roses in the French countryside, hoping to regain a little passion and excitement in what has become a rather stale relationship.  Unfortunately for her, he gets caught en flagrante with the B&B owners wife, Gloria, while her husband, Rupert,  is having a heart attack downstairs. Nathan ends up leaving Emmy for Gloria, and Emmy, having the majority of her vacation left and also feeling guilty about Gloria leaving her older, ailing husband behind, stays to help him run La Cour des Roses. Continue reading “This Chick Read: The Little French Guesthouse by Helen Pollard”

This Chick Read: Til Death Do Us Part by Amanda Quick

Calista Langley, a single young Victorian woman, supports she and her brother by holding small parties where other single people can mix and mingle to find companionship, love and marriage.  Yes, basically she is a gentile matchmaker, of sorts.  Trent Hastings a writer of serial mysteries, meets with Calista under the guise of checking out her salon for his own prospects, but really he is making sure his younger sister is in good hands.  While interviewing with Calista, he stumbles on threats that are being made to her by way of some rather morbid gifts. She enlists his investigative skills and they pair up to solve the mystery. Continue reading “This Chick Read: Til Death Do Us Part by Amanda Quick”

This Chick Read: Invaded (Alienated #2) by Melissa Landers

The story of Cara and Aelyx continues, but they are living on different planets.  Cara is living on L’heir, as a foreign exchange student, and Aelyx is on Earth on a PR campaign, helping the L’Heir and human relations improve after the exchange student debacle that he helped implode in the first book.  Each of them are challenged by living with a race that continues to hate them.  This novel is not as much of a romance, as they are each living a world apart, so the reader follows both of their stories individually, rooting for them to overcome the hate, and loving it when they are able to convert others to enjoy diversity, at the risk of their own lives. Continue reading “This Chick Read: Invaded (Alienated #2) by Melissa Landers”

This Chick Read: Bay of Sighs (Guardians Trilogy #2) by Nora Roberts

As I read the first novel Stars of Fortune, I was eager to read book #2.  Not that the first novel was bad, it wasn’t!  However, I felt like Nora Roberts had done some other variations of those two characters before, but Annika and Sawyer were unique.  Bay of Sighs is their story, and we get to know the back story of how a mermaid and time traveler become a part of this group, and what each of them brings to the table to keep the evil witch from gaining the star that they are trying to find and hide from her. Continue reading “This Chick Read: Bay of Sighs (Guardians Trilogy #2) by Nora Roberts”

This Chick Read: All In by Simona Ahrnstedt

All In is the first foreign language romance novel to be translated and published in America.  As the first, it is a huge event in the publishing world, and every eye will be on how the American reader world reacts to this novel.  I can’t speak for the entire American population, only for myself, but if I needed to describe how I felt while reading this novel I would say I was fascinated, riveted, stunned, emotional, horrified, enraptured and involved. Continue reading “This Chick Read: All In by Simona Ahrnstedt”

This Chick Read: Sweet Little Lies: A Heartbreaker Bay novel by Jill Shalvis


Pru is shouldering guilt for the consequences of her parents actions.  She has spent years making sure the families touched by those actions do well, move on, get settled, etc.   The O’Reilly brothers are the last and she’s determined to see how she can make their lives better.  Finn O’Reilly, co owner of the pub O’Reilly’s with his brother, is immediately drawn to Pru, and an innocent flirtation soon turns into something a lot deeper. Continue reading “This Chick Read: Sweet Little Lies: A Heartbreaker Bay novel by Jill Shalvis”

This Chick Read: Shadow Rider by Christine Feehan

Shadow Riders can use shadows to travel from one place to another by catching a ride through a shadow’s tubes.  The Ferrero family has made a business of shadow riding. They provide a service, caring for the people in their neighborhood, and being paid to “take care of” those who are harming others, the dregs of society.  Female riders are rare, and when Francesca walks into Stefano’s neighborhood he immediately knows what she is, and claims her for his own.   Continue reading “This Chick Read: Shadow Rider by Christine Feehan”