A Warm Welcome (Disney Frozen: Anna and Elsa #3) by Erica David

My Rating: 3 stars

Alysse's Rating: 5 stars

Date Finished: September 19, 2016

This is a book that I read together with my 6 year-old daughter, Alysse. To mix things up again I decided that it would be fun if we reviewed this book together. Obviously, her viewpoint is going to be different than mine and these books are more geared towards her anyways. So, here is what Alysse thought:

Favorite part:

My favorite part is when they met the Summer Queen. I liked when Elsa was talking with the Summer Queen. I like it because they are both Queens and they both had very pretty dresses. I also really liked the Summer Queens hair and she was really nice. 

Things that I liked about the book:

I liked when they were crossing the desert and had to hide under the boat. I also liked seeing how all the people reacted to Olaf  since they had never seen snow before!

Things that I didn't like about the book:

I didn't like it when they had a sand storm because that was scary.

As for me, I obviously didn't have the same views about the book. Overall the book was well written and it was very fun to read together. I also enjoyed seeing Olaf and his interactions with the people. The one thing that was disappointing for me is that in the end the Summer Queen didn't have any powers. I understand that that was part of Elsa's disappointment too, but we spent the whole book being excited about Elsa meeting someone else with powers and when it didn't happen it was a bit disappointin. But still a very fun read for younger kids, with fairly simple sentences and plenty of pictures included along the way. 

The Beauty of Darkness (Remnant Chronicles #3) by

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Date Finished: December 15, 2016

The last book in a series is always a completely different beast from all the other books because it has to somehow wrap up everything that has happened throughout the series in a satisfying way and that is surprisingly hard to do. I try to reasonable when it comes to last books, but at the same time there are so many amazing series that rock the last book, is that really so much to ask?

And while this book was a pretty good conclusion for the series, there were still some things that I felt were lacking. 

One of those things was the relationship between Lia and Rafe. They kind of ignore the real world while they are crossing the plains and somehow imagine that their love will overcome all politics no matter what. Only to return to civilization and crack within the first few days. She won't change, he tries to cage her, and then when he finally decides to let her go and save her country, even though he provides his support, its at the cost of the relationship. There was no, hey come find me when you're done. It was, if you do this then we're over. Then when he comes to her rescue he's engaged to someone else. And then it isn't until everything is over that they finally decide to make it work. But here's the problem. She's the queen of one country, He's the king of another, and yet no one has any intention of uniting the kingdoms and yet in the last scene they say that they are going to make it work no matter what.

So, let's imagine that for a second. Let's say they chose to get married, or just be lovers if they so choose, without uniting the kingdoms. Both kingdoms are still going to need an heir. Maybe she chooses an heir from among the people, but Rafe will still need an heir. So, does he have an heir with someone from his kingdom or does their child become his heir. Does that then mean that any of their children will be raised with him. Will they spend six months in each country or only live exclusively in the kingdom they will rule? And on and on it goes. There are so many complications that them saying they were going to make it work sounded more like an empty promise to me than anything else. Saying they will work things out just covers up the fact that logistically there is no good way to work it out without one of their kingdoms suffering. 

I will say that I was very happy with how things ended with Kaden. For a while I was worried they would try to complicate the love triangle again but I feel like that worked out the way the author played that all out.

The other thing that left me wanting more was the ending with the Komizar. There was all this build up and then when the big confrontation finally happens there is absolutely no confrontation. He is pushed over the edge of a cliff and that's the end of it. There is no struggle, no fight beforehand, no desperation, nothing. Just, oh no there's the Komizar, oh, and now it's over. 

And yet, despite these things that frustrated me, there were also plenty of things that I liked. Lia really comes into her own and learns to have confidence. She saves her kingdom, and in doing so saves all the other too. So, even though I wasn't fully satisfied, it was still a good book, and a good ending.

White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black

Overall Rating:3 Stars

Date Finished: November 23, 2016

The concepts of this book were very unique and fascinating. People have "gifts" that allow them to change people with just a touch of a hand. Change their emotions, change their memories, change their luck, change their physical appearance, even kill them with just a touch of a finger.

The main character comes from a family of con artists and mafia hit men. He's used to running schemes but then he realizes that he is being conned, and by his own family.

Now, the plot itself is fine, there's some scheming and twists and risk taking but it still didn't feel fully satisfying at the end. Part of it is the fact that he still winds up stuck working for a mob boss for the rest of his life. Part of it is how things end with his family. They lied to him and used him for years and yet he just lets them gets away with it, even trades himself for them. And then he ends living with his psychotic mother and running schemes with her. 

He did some great stuff and improved throughout the book, only to revert back to same old pushover he was at the beginning. Frustrating.

Flamecaster (Shattered Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Date Finished: November 18, 2016

I really liked the original Gray Wolf series and so I was so excited when I heard that there was going to be a follow-up series. Of course, part of that was the excitement to see characters from the previous book, but also to see their children and the state of the world...etc.

I liked the characters for the most part and there was plenty of action and intrigue...and yet, it just wasn't the same.

There wasn't the same suspense. Most of the book was just them kind of biding their time waiting for an opening and unfortunately a lot slower than I was hoping for.

And yet, other things happened too fast. The beginning with the introduction of Ash and the death of his father felt rushed. We're talking about the strongest mage in the kingdom yet the fight is over in minutes?? And with all of that happening so fast we never get to see his mother or his sisters and so we really get no follow-up on them or the kingdom itself. During other parts of the book Ash would reflect on the past but we really don't get much of a detailed update on his family at all. 

And the romance with Jenna was too rushed. They have some psychic moment and all of the sudden they're in love. They spend all their time together kissing rather than getting to know each other and so it didn't really feel like a romance at all. I wanted to the build up and the excitement and maybe even some butterflies, something! And the reality is that seeing inside of someone's mind doesn't make you love them, so I wanted some kind of building or trust or some time getting to know each other to really build that connection. 

And then we finally get to the ending where things are finally starting to happen but it all felt a bit rushed. The death of the king, and all of the interesting reveals that should have been given more time were ignored or brushed over. And even though we have the epilogue, that left more questions than answer.

Overall, there was enough of this book that I enjoyed that I will still keep reading and I do look forward to the next book. But I am still hoping for a little bit more from the next book. 

Staying Dead (Retrievers #1) by Laura Anne Gilman

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Date Finished: November 14, 2016

I have had this book sitting on my to-read shelf for a couple years now. I remember reading Hard Magic and really liking the first book. So, I added the second book to my to-read list and also added this book to see if I liked the other series as well. The problem is, I got distracted with reading other series and never really got around to reading this one.

Now that it's been so long I am practically starting from scratch because I really don't remember much of anything from the first series.  I don't remember any of the world building or characters and it leaves wondering whether I might have enjoyed this book more if I could remember the other series better.

One of the biggest problems that I had with this book is that I feel like we come in somewhere in the middle. The relationship between Wren and Sergei was complicated but I feel like we already missed all of the important parts of it. We don't see the beginning, how and when they meet, we only get a general recap. Now, that does happen in books and that's okay, but we really don't get to see anything else either. By the time we come in Wren has already developed more-than-friends feelings for Sergei. So we didn't really get to see that change in their relationship, at least not really. There is some development between them but it's all very subtle and there was nothing exciting about their romance at all. 

Beyond that, the job itself was okay. The ending is a bit anticlimactic and even though they are able to finish the job, they don't get the big payout and they end up having to work for the secret organization they didn't want to work for, just to have their protection. So overall, it wasn't exactly a great ending for anyone. 

To be fair, it's not that I didn't enjoy this book, I just didn't love it. Everything about it was okay but not much more than that. The action and magic was okay. The romance was okay but not very memorable. And overall I just wanted a bit more from this book.

Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3) by C. C. Hunter

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Date Finished: November 5 2016

As the Della part of this series closes up there is a lot of things to resolves and lots of questions to answer and Della is receiving pressure from her aunt the ghost to find those answers fast.

Chase is back. He is determined to do things right this time and he will willing to give up everything to do it. He is working hard to earn Della's trust again and has promised not to lie to her ever again (I'll believe that when I see it). And while the new Chase is very sincere and open about his feelings, he is also super frustrating because he just keeps saying, were meant to be together, and trying to force things. 

Steve is back too, and while things with Steve are awkward there is satisfying resolution of their relationship in the end. 

There is the usual mystery and searches while they try to find the murderer of their aunt in time to get Della's father removed as a suspect. And it doesn't help that Della's father is an idiot and turns Della into the police as a suspect for murder herself!

Della finally meets her uncle, lots of things are answered and everything is wrapped up in a nice little bow. And that was actually what I really hated about this book. I can live with Chase. I can live with some of the other changes and info reveals. What I can't live with is the magical, Disneyesc resolution with Della's father. 

I get it, he finally realizes that his daughter is not a monster. He cries and he feels so bad, blah, blah blah. And then she forgives him and somehow they automatically go back to having that amazing relationship that they had before. 

I don't care how great your relationship with your dad is, after years of being treated like crap by him, after being kicked out of your house and accused murder, there is no way that relationship is fixed in 5 minutes. Even if you still love him, even if you forgive him and do it sincerely, that relationship is never going to be the same. There is will always be drama, and hurt, and it is going to take them years to really resolve everything that happened. And I hate that she tried to just erase all of that in order to give Della her perfect, happy ending. You can still have a happy ending without it being perfect, that's called real life

So, overall it was good but I had some major issues with the ending. 

Eternal (Shadow Falls After Dark #2) by C.C. Hunter

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Date Finished: October 31, 2016

So, let's all start by being honest and just admit that whether we love or hate these books, we are still going to keep on reading them because we loved Shadow Falls and we just have to see how it all ends!

Now, coming back to this series, as I mentioned in my review of the previous book, I am reminded how much drama there is in these books. There is of course the continuation of the love triangle from the previous book. I wasn't a fan of Chase in the previous book. And while I liked him more in this book than I did the previous one, like Della, I find myself wondering how much of that has to do with the bond and the shared visions. 

There is are still some unanswered questions and Chase still is not very forthcoming with information, which again continues to cause issues on the relationship front. And yet, there are also issues going on with Steve. Add into that Miranda's issues with Perry and there is lots of romance drama going around everywhere. 

The part that I do enjoy about these series is the murder mystery. You have these murder mysteries that also seem to tie into the history of Della's family and that leads to Della running out trying to solve it all before it's too late. 

At the end there are still lots of questions left unanswered and there is a big cliff hanger at the end that leaves Chase in the hot seat. 

I will say that it is getting harder to like a love interest who is constantly being an idiot, or lying. And yet, despite it all, I still enjoyed the book and I still look forward to the next book in the series, 

The Inquisition (Summoner #2) by Taran Matharu

Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars

Date Finished: October 26, 2016

Sequels are always hard because it's so difficult to live up to the first book and yet, I really enjoyed this sequel. 

Now, I will say that the beginning was fairly slow. There's the trials and while there is new information revealed it is all talking and planning and not too exciting. And especially with the title being the Inquisition, I was worried that most of the book was going to cover trials and trips to prison and all of that. Luckily that moves along fairly quickly. There is still lots of talking and planning after that but it is planning for a dangerous mission so I was a little more forgiving on that part. And most importantly, we learn who Fletcher's real parents are!

From there they start the preparations for their secret mission into the jungle. The one thing that kept bothering me during this section was the egging notion that there was some kind of other conspiracy going on. And Fletcher struggles with the same question, because there is no way the Triumvirate would volunteer to help with this unless they were getting something out of it. 

And despite the slow beginning, from the moment they drop down in the jungle things get better from there on. There is lots of twists and betrayals and plenty of action. And amongst all of that someone is trying to kill Fletcher and blame either the elves or the dwarves in the process. The attempts cause the members of Fletcher's team to start doubting each other. 

And despite all the odds Fletcher's team comes out on top. They are the only team to witness the Troll ceremony, providing their country with the coordinates for the Trolls entrance to the ether. They become invaluable to the mission, only to be betrayed at the last minute. 

I must admit that the villain was cleverly planned. I had lots of suspects but in the end I never suspected the one who was the real traitor. And so, Fletcher and his team are left abandoned in the middle of Troll territory, near dead, with no one to help. And then they come up with an insane plan to get out. Can I just say, what a great ending! I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book!

Bound (Arelia LaRue #1) by Kira Saito

Overall Rating: 1 star

Date Finished: October 21, 2016

After seeing a number of positive reviews by other people I decided to give this book a try. The idea of the book itself intrigued me. I mean New Orleans, Voodoo and Curses, sure makes for an interesting premise. And while there have been quite a few books on Voodoo and New Orleans must of the ones I've read recently have been dystopian or set in a very different New Orleans. This series takes place in the good ol' New Orleans we know now and promises to dredge up its past with a curse that originates from the time of slavery. And so all of that seemed fairly promising going in. 

And yet...

Despite everything it promised, this book was just a complete flop for me. 

The main characters were annoying, stereotypical and one dimensional. The main character herself is supposed to come from a poor family and she spends her whole life taking care of her grandmother and trying to make ends meet. And yet despite that, she was not a likable character, and in part that was because of her horrible taste in friends. Her best friends is basically Barbie 2.0. She is rich and shallow and sleeps with just about anyone who walks and all she cares about is marrying a rich guy so she can make everyone jealous and stay at home while her rich husband maintains her expensive tastes. She spends the whole book complaining because you have no idea how hard it is being me and all I want is a rich boyfriend so stay out of my way. She is completely pathetic, and yet Arelia forgives her over and over. 

And while Arelia herself wasn't much of a likeable character, you throw in the romance and it just made things worse. Arelia falls in love almost immediately and spends her time daydreaming about him because he gave her chocolates. The conversations were stiff and awkward with all these random modern references that never lead into anything. 

The voodoo was mostly non-existent expect for random references to her studying with her aunt. There is one scene where she heals a kid at the beginning, and yet what she did goes against everything her aunt teaches her later so it was all a bit contradictory. Even the spirits were a bit ridiculous. One of the spirits agrees to help her in exchange for her trying to set him up with another spirit because he's so self-conscious and doesn't feel attractive enough. Boo hoo. Really?

The ending was also really lame.  Unfortunately, I just didn't really enjoy any of this and it took all my willpower to actually finish it and not just DNF at 30%.

Magic Binds (Kate Daniels #9) by Ilona Andrews

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: October 18, 2016

I originally came into the Kate Daniels series very reluctantly and was skeptical that I would enjoy it. And yet, despite the romance section which I tend to avoid, I found myself really drawn in by the characters. There are very few series that I will keep reading this long (or at least keep enjoying). If I don't give up by book 2 or 3, I will sometimes continue but not enjoy the books as much. This series, on the other hand, has always done a good job of maintaining.

Now, after everything that has happened in this book comes the inevitable show down with her father. And while this is just one battle it what will most likely prove to be a long war, if they lose this battle it's game over. 

It all starts when Kate it showed a vision of the two possibilities for the war. In one version Curran dies, and in another, their son dies. And so Kate is desperate to make sure that neither one of those happen. 

For the most part Kate continues to be her same old self but the people she care about begin to doubt her. Mostly her ability to control her powers rather than letting them control her. And so, in order to learn to control her powers she does a crazy thing and resurrects her aunt. Granted, her aunt is only resurrected in spirit form but let's be honest, no one is overly happy to see her again. But she is able to convince her aunt to help and begins training to control her powers.

Now, I will say that there is a lot more planning and talking in this book than actual fighting so it can get a bit slow at times. And my only other complaint is that the ending of the battle seemed to be a little too easy. Now, I will admit that there was lots of planning that went into it and they had allies that her father couldn't have planned for, but her father is so much stronger than her and in the end he could have used his power to just flatten all of them instead of fleeing. Again, I understand the factors that affected that decision and I understand that this was just one battle of a long war but I just expected a little bit more from her father.

Either way in the end they are able to save the city and Kate and Curran finally get married. There are definitely some interesting things coming up for the next book and I must say I am interested to see a pregnant Kate because for some reason I don't see her being the glowing, cheerful type of pregnant woman. And I'm sure Curran's protective side with definitely cause some interesting relationship issues. 

And on a bit of a side note, can I just say that I am really excited about Christopher! He was always kind of a fun, quirky side character but now that he is whole again, I just can't wait to see that all play out!!!

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: October 15, 2016

While there are a lot of Children's series that I really enjoy reading, I must admit that this book didn't really draw my attention when I read the summary. But, my children showed interest in wanting to read it together so I decided to go ahead and read it beforehand to see if it was any good.

To start with, I will say that I enjoyed Seraphina as a character. She was a bit odd and interesting which goes right along with who she is. She was very desperate for friendship which made her quite naive, but again, based on how she was raised, it was also understandable (although I would have expected her to be skeptic and stand offish instead, but I can see where lack of affection made her desperation for a connection with someone).

All of the other characters aren't really developed in too much details except for their interaction with Seraphina. 

And while I will say that I enjoyed the book and he characters, I must admit that the book is very slow going. Although all the drama happens within just a couple of days, there are parts of the book that take a long time to build up and it can be a bit boring at times. 

I was also disappointed with the mystery side of it. Mostly because there was not much of a mystery. The first person she suspects ends up being the culprit. And while I understand that this is a children's novel, you can't underestimate their intelligence. Almost everything points to the same person almost from the beginning and that takes out a lot of the mystery. The best part about a good mystery is the misdirection and second guessing.

And while the ending had plenty of fighting with the way it wasn't written I just didn't feel suspense or resolution like I wanted to. Yet, despite all of that I still found it to be an enjoyable read.

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas

Overall Rating: 4 stars

Date Finished: October 2, 2016

Yes, Yes, Yes! I will say that I have been very reluctant to start this book. With so much having been resolved in the last book and the description I was just so worried that this book was going to become bogged down in negotiating and talking and overall just be fairly boring. And at the beginning when they are setting up the meeting with the leaders that's what it really seemed like I was getting. There's power struggles, blah blah blah, and I was preparing myself for boring court intrigue. And then being true to herself Aelin doesn't just sit still, she takes off and starts wreaking havoc. And boy was that fun to read.

So, the gist of the story is that when Aelin returns to claim her throne, her country refuses her. And boy was that frustrating. After everything she’s done to get to this point, to have her own countrymen turn her away was a huge blow. And they hint that the only way she could ever be useful to her country is through political marriage. (GRR!!!!) I will admit that I really wanted to Aelin to just tear them a new one then and there, but I also knew that there was no way she could do that and still make it work.

So now, Aelin has to go and get some allies, which is starting to look pretty impossible.

There are a lot of different POV’s throughout the book and for the most part it was enjoyable to see the different perspectives and how it all starts to come together. I will admit that at the beginning some one of the perspectives seemed quite boring and irrelevant but in the end it all came together to give the book more depth.

And more than anything I have to say that I enjoyed the fact the Aelin was her same old arrogant, chaotic queen-self. She wrought havoc and spilt blood and fought tooth and nail for her allies. And as we near the end of the book it just appears impossible that things will work out.

And while I don’t want to give too much away, let me just say, THAT ENDING!!!

At the end you just keep waiting for someone to say, just kidding, and yet, despite all of the crazy twists and turns, Aelin planned for all of it and everyone is left reeling by her pure awesomeness with everything she managed to bring together in the end. It is definitely not the end, there is still a lot to be done, but I will say that I was pleasantly surprised that this series keeps living up to my expectations.

On a side note, I will say that there were some graphic sex scenes that were pretty unnecessary. People are hooking up and that's fine, it's part of the plot and I liked most of the pairing, but we went from some spattered heavy kissing or just sex references to all of the sudden everyone having graphic sex. Plot romances all you want but there's no need for it to become graphic now, after everything. It just kind of felt like the author experimented with this in her other series and now feels like she has to throw it in everywhere. I'm more interested in the plot than details. So can we please skip some of that next time?

Greta and the Goblin King (Mylena Chronicles #1) by Chloe Jacobs

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Date Finished: September, 21, 2016

This is a loose retelling of Hansel and Gretel. Greta (aka Gretel) and her younger brother (not named hansel by the way) are lured into a witches trap by the smell of gingerbread. But instead of teaming together to throw the witch into the fire, Greta saves her brother from the fire only to fall in herself. The fire turns out to be a portal into another world called Mylena.

There were a couple frustrations that I had. The first being that it feels like you start out the book having missed a couple chapters. Greta's angsty relationship with the dark Goblin king, Isaac, is already in full swing. While the author summarizes what happened in the past two weeks it wasn't enough. I wanted to read that first meeting in the bar, that first dream and everything after, not just get random hints here and there. Greta's hot and cold act with Isaac got real old. I get that this is all part of a typical YA relationship but it kept going throughout almost the entire book.

And despite that I still kind of like Greta as a character and then the author goes and throws in a completely unnecessary love triangle.

Wyatt is the human love interest and was a great character until they threw in the love interest. He was great with the younger boys and a great leader and then the supposed romance changes it. To me, that ruined all of it. He somehow fell in love with her in two days, so much in love that he would give anything for her and can't stop thinking about her. And that of course has nothing to do with the fact that Greta is the first girl he's seen in years. And now that is going to complicate the next book because Greta's rejection will cause a wedge and blah, blah, and I'm already seeing the next book going downhill.

And then when things start to get tough, Greta keeps almost dying. Now, to be fair, she almost died at the beginning of the book as well, which puts in to question how good she really is. And I also understand that she is just a human against supernatural creatures and she is trying to protect this group of kids, but she keeps failing. Over and over. I mean, she is saved by little kids who don’t even know who to fight. I could get having a couple hard fights where she gets badly injured but I felt like she was getting badly injured every time she tried to fight, and that just made it harder to see her as the tough as nails hunter she is supposed to be.

It wasn't a bad read but not very original and I'm a bit doubtful about the rest of the series.

Hope and Red (Empire of Storms #1) by Jon Skovron

Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars

Date Finished: September 20, 2016

When I read that this was a combination of pirates and samurai I was both intrigued and doubtful that it could be pulled off well. It’s hard to find a good Samurai book at all, yet alone one with pirates mixed in.

This story follows our two main characters, Red and Hope.

Hope is the only survivor of deadly experimentation performed on her village. She is taken in by Monk warriors and the leader secretly trains her in the art of fighting. He is killed for teaching a female and she escapes with the goal of exacting her revenge. In the mean time she works as security on a ship.

Red is a rare survivor of a drug addicted mother and is marked by the drug with red eyes. He spends some time living life as a pirate (really just a couple of months) and mostly gets by as a thief in the ghetto.

Now, while the Samurai part of this book is showed through Hope, Red really isn’t a pirate for very long and is not until the end of the book that the whole pirate thing becomes a big part of the book, and that is really more hinting at what we will see in the next book, not so much what you see in this book.

That being said, I really enjoyed the characters in the book. Red is such a great character and I loved his comments and humor. Hope was definitely more closed off but I also enjoyed seeing how she started to open up around Red.

The thing that I will say, is that I felt like there was too much going on. At first all of the action is great and amazing and you’re just soo excited to get things underway, but then it never really ends. The fight in the ghetto was a big deal in and of itself. I figured that there would a big fight for the ghetto, they would win and then things would wrap up and the rest would be left for the next book. But it just continues almost nonstop. You have the tracking, the fight in the rich neighborhood, the flight to the docks, the chase over the sea, and then the big fight at the end of the book. And you also have a few different POV’s thrown in there as well. Now, all of that was well written and enjoyable but at one point I just kind of wanted the author to get to the point.

Now, having reached the end if became obvious that most of that was necessary in order to gather together all of the crew that they would need to take on the Empire in the next book, and it all makes sense in hindsight, but while reading I found myself just wanting the author to finally wrap things up.

I wasn’t too happy with how the ending separated Red and Hope and it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the next book because Red was my favorite character and I don’t know if it will be the same if he is unrecognizable after all the alterations. 

House of the Rising Sun (Crescent City #1) by Kristen Painter

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Date Finished: September 16, 2016

This book left me a bit torn. There were things that I liked and things that I didn’t like, which made it very hard to rate.

Based on the blurb you expect a book all about Augustine, but there are actually two main characters and alternating POV’s between the two of them. The second character is Olivia’s daughter, Harlow. And this is where things get complicated.

See, Harlow is pretty hard to like in the beginning. She’s closed off, selfish, and afraid of just about everything except for computers and online gaming. She is even afraid of her own Fae heritage and closes herself and pretends to be human. The good thing is that it gets better. Harlow grows throughout the book and is more enjoyable towards the end of the book, but the first part of this book it’s still hard to deal with her. And while the character POV gives you some understanding as to why she acts the way she does she just keeps going back to that “void” in her life all because she doesn’t know her Dad is. I understand the frustration, but you don’t just cut yourself off from the world because you don’t know who your dad is.

On the other hand, Augustine was a very likable character. Just enough rogue and darkness to be interesting and his interactions with Harlow are quite enjoyable.

There is some action and intrigue and mystery and it all seems to be building up to something big, and that is where I got really disappointed. See, there is this big fight going on with the vampires and yet every fight feels summarized. There’s no suspense, no tense moments, and it was all usually over in one page or less. And so I kept thinking, well, she’s building up to the big fight at the end.

And then the vampire boss kidnaps Harlow, and when Augustine comes home the fight is literally over in 1 minute or less. So I think, now it’s all going to come to a head, or some new information will be revealed or there will be some sort of cliffhanger, and yet, it just ends. In fact, I found myself paging back and forth and the end of the book wondering if my copy was somehow missing the last chapter!

The beginning was slow, the middle got better, and there was lots of buildup and yet that was the worst ending ever. All the exciting parts of the book felt brushed over and not well developed and I found that very unsatisfying, and anticlimactic.

And yet, despite all of my frustrations, by the end I really liked the characters. That alone will probably be enough for me to read the next book but I really hope things pick up because this was frustrating.

And I should note that I did not read the House of Comarre series (I guess this is a spinoff of that series).

Strange and Ever After (Something Strange and Deadly #3) by Susan Dennard

 

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: August 16, 2016

I just didn’t have time to sit down and really read this as I would have liked so I ended up reading it little by little over a couple of days. There was a lot going on in this book but most of it was actually good. That being said, there a couple of things that frustrated me.

The first thing that frustrated me was Eleanor’s personality/relationships. In this book she spent a lot of time pushing everyone away. Usually they’re stupid and do that in the second book but come back better in the third book. In the last book Eleanor and Daniel were struggling to come to terms with her power and whether they would be together. And in this book they express their love and desire to be together, and yet they still spend most of the book pushing each other away.

Towards the end of the book things finally started to come together and Eleanor finally started to really pull herself together. Eleanor’s relationship with everyone started to improve, but that also created another small issue. As her relationships improved, that included her relationship with Oliver. There was so much hinting and vague comments that is started to seem like Oliver had fallen in love with Eleanor, which was a frustrating turn of events considering she was finally mending things with Daniel.

As we reach the climax there was a lot going on. There’s plenty of fighting and action but there is also a lot of important things that all happen very quickly and there were a lot that happened in that final battle that left me feeling unsatisfied.

Oddly enough it wasn't for the reason that most people were. Rather than how things ended with Daniel, I was frustrated with how things ended with Oliver. I understand why most people fixated on Daniel, but there was a lot of relationship building with Oliver, and not necessarily in a romantic sense. At the end when she released him they had a communion of sorts and came to understand one another and Eleanor felt so empty and lost without him. And yet, when he came back and gave up everything to help, I never felt like that relationship really reunited in a satisfying way. I don't mean that it has to be romantic, obviously she still loves Daniel, but not all love has to be romantic and there was clearly love between them and a tender relationship that I feel like kind of disappeared after he left which was very disappointing. He could never take Daniel's place, but he was dear to her as well and there should be some joy at having him back, rather than just sorrow for everything else.

Having said all that, overall is a was a good book, there were just a few things that left me wanting more.

The Top 25 books that take place in Washington State

 

This week we took a day trip out to the Hoh rainforest which is located on the Washington coast.  We decided to do a loop around the whole peninsula and imagine my surprise as we’re driving north to find myself in the town of Forks, WA. I knew it was on the peninsula and I knew it was somewhere in that general area, I just didn’t realize how close it was. And while I am not a Twilight fan, you can’t help but at least stop and get a picture (right?). It was interesting to see how such a small, nondescript town could become so widely known on a national level, all because of a book (and I guess you have to count the movies too…). I am a born and raised Washingtonian and I love reading books that take place here so it got me thinking about all the other books that I had read that take place in Washington. And that got me curious as to whether there were other popular books that take place in Washington that I was missing out on. Now, whether you’re from Washington, have visited Washington, or still have it on your list of places to visit, I can say that there a plenty of beautiful places to visit and I’m am obviously not the only one who thinks so because that list of books that take place right here in Washington just kept getting longer and longer the more I looked into it. 

As I continued investigating the list got up there in the hundreds so I had to start cutting down. So I’ve stuck with the top 25 most popular books that take place in Washington. Now, I haven’t read all of these books and for those books that I haven’t read personally, I’ve included average ratings from other sites. I have organized books by popularity (based on total number of reviews for the first book on Goodreads). And for those of you who have read some of these books, leave me a quick note and let me know what you thought. Did I miss any of your favorites that also took place in Washington? Let me know and I’ll add it to the growing list!

1) Twilight Series by Stephenie Myers

   

Location: Forks, WA

My Overall Rating: 2 stars

Goodreads Average Rating for Book #1: 3.56 stars (3,496,184 ratings)

Genres: YA, Fanstasy, Romance, Teen angst (no offense)

As mentioned above, no list is truly complete without including this series. Now, by the time I got around to reading this series it was already hugely popular nationwide and the movies were already being filmed. One of my younger sisters had read the series and highly recommended it so I bit the bullet and read the first book. And, unfortunately, I didn’t like it (I know, I’m so sorry, please don’t hate me). I had a hard time getting through it but my sister insisted that the second book was much better. And so on and so forth until I’d finished the whole series (and really didn’t like any of them)! I know that a lot of people love this series, and there were some very passionate Edward vs Jacob teams. And if you are one of those people, Forks does a huge Twilight festival every September, so check it out sometime!

2)  Fifty Shades of Gray by E.L. James

   

Location: Vancouver and Seattle

Average Goodreads rating for Book #1: 3.68 stars (1.345,983 ratings)

Genre: Romance,

Now, I am not a fan of romance. I can take some very occasional romance mixed in with the plot as long as it doesn’t get too detailed, but just straight up romance is not something that I am the least bit interested in. And beyond that, the premise of this book, the whole domination aspect, is something that really grates on me. But, as you can see by the number of ratings this was a very popular book, and to each their own I guess.

3) The Art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.18 stars (316,927 ratings)

Genres: Fiction, Animals

Having never heard of this book before, this one was a big surprise based on how many other books it beat out. This is a story on family, love, loyalty, and hope, all told from the perspective of Enzo the dog. He watches his master Denny very closely as loving Enzo tries to understand the complexity of human life and troubles.  While I have yet to read the book I have heard many good things about it.

4) Where’d you go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.91 stars (220,352 ratings)

Genre: Fiction, Humor, Chick Lit

This is another book that I only heard about after some searching but is one that I fully intend to look into. From what I can tell this is a humorous story about Bernadette Fox, a quirky mother who is just done with life and her loving daughter who has planned a family trip to Antarctica of all places.  And now Bernadette (described as an eccentric genius) has disappeared and Bee is on a mission to find her. Have you read this one? Let me know what you think!

5) Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.97 stars (191, 376 ratings)

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, World War II

The story starts at the Panama Hotel in Seattle where belongings of Japanese families interned during World War II have been located, and Henry Lee reminisces on growing up during that time, and his first love, Keiko, a Japanese student who was interned with her family. It addresses both issues of the war and prejudice that Henry’s Chinese family had against Japanese. And in reminiscing Henry hopes to find what he needs to resolves not just the past but his present as well. I have yet to read this book as well, so any insights are much appreciated!

6) Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs

        

Location: Tri-cities, WA

My Overall Rating: 3.5 stars (some books were a 3, some were a 4, hence the 3.5)

Goodreads Average for book #1:  4.18 stars (121,135 ratings)

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Werewolves, Vampires, Native American

The Mercy Thompson series revolves around Mercy (yep, you guessed it) who is a mechanic, a coyote shapeshifter, and is overall awesome. She was raised by werewolves, is friends with local vampires, and works for the grumpiest fey you’ve ever met. I was reluctant coming into this series but I really enjoyed the first book and I have enjoyed each one after it. While not all the books in the series keep you on the edge of your seat, I love all the characters and this is one of those series that I will keep reading until they stop making books.  This series takes place in Eastern Washington, which is very different from our green, wet side of the state. Now there is a bit of rivalry between the Eastern and Western sides of our state. We are separated by mountains, have completely different weather, and us Westerners tend to think there’s nothing worth seeing in Eastern Washington (sorry guys!). But, this book proves there is plenty of exciting things happening in Eastern Washington (at least fictionally). 

7) Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

Location: San Piedro Island

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.77 stars (119,776 ratings)

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery

This is a historical novel that takes place on the fictional island of San Piedro (supposedly just off the coast of Washington) that revolves around a murder case set in 1954. A Japanese American man is accused of killing a respected fisherman from the community and the trial deals with the community, coming to terms with issues of race and justice. This book was adapted into a movie starring Ethan Hawke in 1999.

8) Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.03 (116, 199 ratings)

Genres: Contemporary fiction,

This story follows the unlikely friendship of Kate and Tully. This stories follows their friendship from its beginning in the 8^th grade in 1974 and through the following three decades as they learn and grow and try and discover who they are and what they want in life. Their lives differ but their friendship endures.

9) With me in Seattle Series by Kristen Proby

       

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.95 (48,975 ratings)

Genres: Contemporary Romance

This is another romance series that takes place in Seattle that has become fairly popular. I will admit that I had never heard of it until I started researching. As previously mentioned, I don’t read romance but if you are someone who does, then here’s another one based out of good old Seattle.

10) Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead

     

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.95 stars (44,567 ratings)

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Demons

So, I have not actually read this series. But here’s the gist. Georgina is a succubus who works for hell. She lives in Seattle and spends her time working at a local bookstore where she gets free books and white mochas and drools over local writer Seth. Now a local vampire has died and it is up to Georgina to figure out who (or what) did it. I can’t give you any helpful advice on this one so you’ll just have to check it out for yourself.

11) Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega #2) by Patricia Briggs

Location: Seattle, WA

My rating: 3 stars

Goodreads Average rating:  4.26 stars (43,983 ratings)

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Werewolves,

This is a spin off novel from the Mercy Thompson series. While most of the series takes place in their hometown in Colorado, this book takes place here in Washington. Anna is a rare Omega werewolf and the new mate of Charles (adopted brother to Mercy). Charles and Anna are sent to Washington to meet with werewolf leaders and, of course, chaos ensues. I liked this spin off series just as much as I liked the original Mercy Thompson series. I really like Anna as a character and I really like her relationship with Charles

12) The Body Finder Series by Kimberly Derting

   

                Location: Buckley, WA

My Rating: 3 Stars

                Average Goodreads Rating: 3.97 stars (42,341 ratings)

                Genres: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy

               

This book takes place in Buckley, WA, a small town that is just a hop, a skip and a jump away from where I currently live. What I liked most about this series it that it was very original. Violet can sense dead bodies. She feels an echo. Sometimes she’s sees colors, hears sounds but each death leaves behind a unique echo.  Finding the bodies is easy, the real question is can she find the killer? There is definitely some teen angst mixed in there but overall this is an interesting series.

13) True Colors by Kristin Hannah

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.88 stars (30,959 ratings)

Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit

This story follows the lives of three sisters as they band together after their mother’s death.  The story follows them into adulthood where loyalties are tested, secrets are revealed and their relationship begins to fray at the edges. A shocking crime rocks both the family and their community and the sisters have to learn to come to terms with each other, their family, and find their own path to happiness.

14) Boneshaker (The clockwork Century #1) by Cherie Priest

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.50 stars (25,893 ratings)

Genres: Steampunk, Zombies, Alternate history

This steampunk novel provides an alternate version of 1860’s Seattle. While testing a Bone-shaking drill, Seattle is exposed to a blight gas that turns anyone who breaths it into the living dead. The city has been walled off but Ezekiel, the teenage son of the inventor who created the Bone-Shaker, is determined to rewrite his father’s part in history and will have to face zombies, pirates, and criminal overlords along the way.

15) Blossom Street series by Debbie Macomber

        v

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.04 stars (22,849 ratings)

Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit, Crafts

When Lydia Hoffman, a cancer survivor and owner of A Good Yarn, starts a knitting class for her patrons, she forms a special friendship and bond with three extraordinary women--Jacqueline, Carol, and Alix--and together they share laughter, heartbreak, and dreams.

16) Microserfs by Douglas Coupland

Location: Redmond, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.87 stars (20,233 ratings)

Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Humor, Technology

This humorous story follows the lives of six code-crunching computer whizzes who work for Microsoft. They call themselves Microserfs, and spend 16 hours a day writing code for their “Lord” Bill Gates. The story is a series of electronic diary entries and follows their lives and they grow, eventually branch out into their own company, and try to find balance in their highly computerized lives! 

17) The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

Location: Spokane, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.08 stars (18,277 ratings)

Genres:  Short stories, Fiction, Humor

This series of short stories revolves around the life of two characters as they grow up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, where author Sherman Alexie grew up himself. The stories are full of stark realism, irony, and quite a bit of humor.

18) The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

Location: Bainbridge Island, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.79 stars (17,513 ratings)

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Mystery

Emily’s life has taken a turn for the worst and so she accepts her aunt’s invitation to spend a month with her on Bainbridge Island in WA. While there she find a red velvet diary, dated in 1943, which has surprising connections to her own life.

19) Chinooks Hockey Team Series by Rachel Gibson

     

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.86 stars (17,280 ratings)

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Sports, Chick Lit

This Romance series follows the ups and downs in the love lives of the fictional Chinook Hockey Team. Each book focuses on a different member of the team and their misadventures in finding love and playing hockey.

20) Cedar Cove Series by Debbie Macomber

         

Location: Port Orchard, WA

Average Goodreads Rating for book #1: 4.08 stars (15,662 ratings)

Genres: Romance

This is a romance series that takes places in a fictional town in Washington State that is modeled after Port Orchard. The series became so popular that it was later developed into a hallmark channel TV show starring Andie MacDowell.

21) Blood and Roses series by Callie Hart

     

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.09 stars (12,441 ratings)

Genres: Romance, Adult Fiction, Dark,

This is another popular romance series that takes place here in Washington. All the book summaries are fairly vague so unfortunately I can’t give you too much to go on. From what I could find in the first book the main character is desperately looking for her missing sister and is willing to do anything to find her, including turning to bad boy Zeth for help.

22) Urban Shaman (Walker Papers #1) by C.E. Murphy

Location: Seattle, WA

My Rating: 3 Stars

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.72 Stars (11,978 ratings)

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic,

Joanne Walker is a police officer in the City of Seattle and she is also a Shaman. She’s been avoiding her paranormal side, but now she needs to learn to control her powers, and she’s running out of time if she wants to save her city from the Wild Hunt.  This is an odd mix of Celtic and Native American mythology. It is very similar to many other Urban Fantasies out there (including the Mercy Thompson series listed above), but… it was published a couple years before most of the other ones came out, so technically, it was still pretty original when it first came out. J

23) Otherworld/Sisters of the Moon series by Yasmine Galenorn

         

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.65 stars (11,141 ratings)

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Witches, Vampires

This series follows the D’Artigo sisters, three half-human, half-faerie sisters who work for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. At the Wayfarer Inn, a portal to the Otherworld, their job is to keep the things that go bump in the night from getting through the portal and into Earth. But their mixed heritage can make things interesting as their powers can often fix out at the worst possible times.

24) Hold me closer, necromancer by Lish McBride

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.97 stars (11,076 ratings)

Genres: YA, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Zombies, Humor,

Sam has just found out that he is necromance and he has only a week to figure out how to use his powers as he is roped in by Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak. Luckily, Seattle has as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. The one thing that most raters can agree on it is that this book will have you laughing out loud!

25) Greywalker Series by Kat Richardson

        

Location: Seattle, WA

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.43 stars (10,985 ratings)

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal

This is another series that I have not read but that has just recently found its way onto my to-read list. Harper is a Private Investigator and after a near death experience she finds that she is now a Greywalker, someone who can cross over from our world into the Grey world were vampires, ghost, and all the other monsters live.