Book Review: Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym Martineau

Kingdom of Exiles

by Maxym M. Martineau
My rating: 3 of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

Leena, a young beast master, is exiled from her native homelands because of a grand "misunderstanding" planned and spearheaded by her ex-fiancé (Wynn). She is forced to do many abhorrent things to survive. After years of skirting the line and accruing quite a bit of negative karma; we encounter Leena being targeted by a group of nefarious assassins (the Cruor). She quickly proves herself to be pretty daring by attempting to barter for her life with sed group of assassins. The book then follows Leena as she and the leader of the Cruor (Noc) spiral into a world filled with cruel truths and longing for each other.

Review:

I received this book as an ARC from the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I liked this book, although I think that I wanted to like it a bit more than I did. Being a cover art geek, I found the cover to be very enticing. If you've ever read a review by me, you'll soon realize that I'm a sucker for a blue and purple scheme. That coupled with the badass looking central female figure AND the beast silhouette in the background had me clamoring for the book. It seemed that the story would be full of mystery, magic, and some epic magically infused battle scenes. I learned, yet again, that my imagination sometimes sets me up for disappointment.

Book Review: The Mirror

The Mirror

by Marlys Millhiser
My rating: 4 of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

In this twisting time-travel thriller, a woman faints on the eve of her wedding and awakens at the turn of the century in her grandmother’s body…

Review:

Hi all, Thanks for visiting. I've finally finished re-reading and writing this review. Once again, I apologize for any confusion caused by my earlier version of this review.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I recommend this book to anyone who is “into” the paranormal/time travel genre. Sadly, the internet goblins ate my first review of this work. I decided that a second read was warranted to be sure that the nuances of the story were fresh in my mind. That being said, I couldn’t put the book down, even on the second read. I was, once again, completely immersed in the story as it unfolded. Due to my love of all stories paranormal, I was immediately drawn by the book’s cover, and in fact, it was a major factor in my deciding to read it. So simple, yet so effective. The spooky image of a girl trapped in an ornate mirror. It’s safe to say that even before I read the synopsis, I knew that we would soon meet up over a steaming cup of coffee.

The characters, settings, and plot were excellently developed through a wide use of exceptional descriptors and “old time” language. I felt like I knew each character intimately and lived through their experiences as they did. Even the ancillary characters were memorable, from the stern Cornish mother-in-law all the way to the kooky antique’s dealer. Marlys artfully brings each character to life, as we read; we see the personal growth experienced in each. In addition to the awesomely quirky and loveable characters; the time-period references and descriptors were so vivid that I could almost see the scenes developing before my eyes. I loved traveling back to rural times; remembering that although so many hardships existed in the past, their way of living was so much more relaxed…. I suppose when it's man versus world many things are insignificant. Watching the town grow to present day technology was a treat as well. Marlys also transitions from past-time to present-time skillfully.

The heart of the story though is the development of the dual main characters. As I became more immersed in the story; I couldn’t help but worry about what the other character was experiencing at the time.

Book Review: To Catch A Wolf

To Catch a Wolf

by Lynn Red
My rating: 2 of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

Isabel Taylor was more than a little frustrated when she answered a very vague job ad to be the personal assistant of a mayor in a town she didn't know existed. That was two years ago. Curvy, tough and with more than a little bit of a naughty streak, Izzy has long since gotten used to the weirdness of everyday life in Jamesburg... but she's fallen hard for Erik's rough charm....

Review:

Phew, I can't believe I actually made it through this book. At about 12% I had already given up on there actually being a coherent story line. Since I haven't read a book of this genre since high school (by way of Harlequin) I wasn't really sure what to expect and gave it a chance. Luckily, I'm not one to shy away from a challenge so I stuck it out to the end.

This book turned out to be another of the, what I call, glutton for punishment books. I haven't read a book this bad since Glamour. The primary difference between the two being that the latter was mainly plagued by editing issues. Nothing detracts more from an already failing story than a string of missing and misspelled words. To Catch a Wolf, suffered from much more than just a need for heavy editing. The plot in this book was predictable and not well developed. Although this was a fantasy novel many of the situations were highly unbelievable. I'm new to the world of shape-shifter books, however, I was always under the impression that once a wolf mate, his selected is his mate for life. In this book, Erik, the leading male character speaks of past "mates". This detracted from the main goal in the story. Why is it important that he hasn't made Isabel (Izzy) his mate if she's just one in a string? Granted, great effort is made trying to convince us that past mates were just booty calls and Izzy is the real thing... I didn't get that. It felt like the underlying storyline was just there to fill in the gaps between the steamy sex scenes. The lack of development on the storyline was seconded by a distressing lack of character development.

Book Review: The Cracked Slipper

The Cracked Slipper

by Stephanie Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

When Eleanor Brice unexpectedly wins the heart of Gregory Desmarais, Crown Prince of Cartheigh, she's sure she's found her happily-ever-after. Unfortunately, Prince Charming has a loose grip on his temper, a looser grip on his marriage vows, and a tight grip on the bottle...

Review:

What happens when "Happily Ever After is just "Ever After"? All fairy tales promise that idyllic, all-elusive "Happy Ending." As girls growing up we all listened, completely enraptured, to these narratives. We grow up seeking that happily ever after and don't stop until we believe we have it in our grasp. But what happens when the silver tarnishes, when our Prince Chaming falls short of his gallant steed? Or, even worse, what happens then when we find our true prince in someone else? We've all imagined how the saved princesses live wonderful lives later on the happily ever after. This book completely shatters that notion.