Review: Cage of Deceit (Reign of Secrets, #1) by Jennifer Anne Davis @AuthorJennifer

Tags

fantasy, reign of secrets, review, true reign, ya, young adult

Jennifer Anne Davis’s best-selling True Reign series captivated readers from the very first page. Now, get ready to become entangled in the follow-up series, Reign of Secrets. In this new series, follow Allyssa, the daughter of the beloved Emperor Darmik and Empress Rema— and find out what happens after happily ever after.

Seventeen-year-old Allyssa appears to be the ideal princess of Emperion—she’s beautiful, elegant, and refined. She spends her days locked in a suffocating cage, otherwise known as royal court. But at night, Allyssa uses her secret persona—that of a vigilante—to hunt down criminals and help her people firsthand.

Unfortunately, her nightly escapades will have to wait because the citizens of Emperion may need saving from something much bigger than common criminals. War is encroaching on their country and in order to protect her people, Allyssa may have to sacrifice her heart. Forced to entertain an alliance through marriage with a handsome prince from a neighboring kingdom, she finds herself feeling even more stifled than before. To make matters worse, the prince has stuck his nosy squire, Jarvik, to watch her every move.

Jarvik is infuriating, bossy and unfortunately, the only person she can turn to when she unveils a heinous plot. Together, the unlikely pair will have to work together to stop an enemy that everyone thought was long gone, one with the power to destroy her family and the people of Emperion. Now the cage Allyssa so longed to break free from might just be the one thing she has to fight to keep intact. In order to save her kingdom, she will have to sacrifice her freedom, her heart, and maybe even her life.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of  5 stars

I was a huge fan of the previous companion series to this, True Reign, and that made me twice as nervous to pick this up. I was more than a little scared this wouldn’t live up to the huge precedent set by the first series and so I put it off for months. The last book in the previous trilogy didn’t quite live up to the sheer awesome of the first two, which made it even worse.

Then finally, I picked this up one evening, thinking I’d just read “a few chapters” and call it a night. That endeavor ended at 12:38 a.m. with a cliffhanger, a finished book, and a revitalized fangirl. THE AWESOME IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE.

The plot:

One of my favorite things about Davis’ plots is how they slip away. You get so caught up in what’s happening that suddenly it’s been two hundred pages and you didn’t even notice. They move quickly and don’t waste time, which is an underrated quality, particularly in fantasy books.

There was also a bit of the “aw” romance I adored so much in the first trilogy and I certainly did not mind that. ❤

The characters:

I wasn’t sure about Allyssa at first. I knew it was either going to be hit or miss with her—no middle ground was possible. The author managed to make her have certain similarities to her mother, but at the same time, she’s clearly her own person. I came to admire and adore her and it’s impossible not to root for her. She was definitely a hit.

Rema and Darmik made me go “come on, guys” more than once, but the whole arranged marriage thing didn’t make me hate them as much as I thought it would. After reading the first trilogy, it felt a little hypocritical of them, but the book makes you understand. I still love them just as I love Allyssa with her prince and I NEED THE NEXT BOOK.

I also want to see more of my old buddy Nathanek. The author has promised to bring him back with an apprentice who will play and important role and that’s just another reason I need book 2.

The world of Emperion is back with a vengeance and I love it!

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Review: The White (The Dragon Pearl, #1) by T.L. Shreffler @catseyeauthor

Tags

dragons, fantasy, indie author, review, the white, tl shreffler, ya

Ever since The White appeared in our valley of Windridge, my people have lived in fear. But today that fear ends. Finally, the King has sent his most elite dragon hunters to kill The White, the last of the imperial dragons.

Since the death of her father, Sienna Foxburn hasn’t felt safe. The White, a fire-breathing imperial dragon, terrorizes the Valley of Windridge with no end in sight. But Sienna isn’t satisfied hiding behind the walls of her keep. She is tired of fearing the dragon, but she can’t fight it alone.

Then a mysterious sorceress and two elite dragon hunters arrive, claiming to be sent by the King. Thus begins the great hunt for The White. Sienna embarks on a dragon-hunting adventure through the exotic Valley of Windridge, all while uncovering secrets and conspiracies that could endanger the entire Kingdom….

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars
In case the five or so glowy reviews before this had escaped your notice, I am a huge fan of Shreffler’s work. Her other series, The Cat’s Eye Chronicles, has a coveted seat upon my Shelf of Awesome and when I heard she was working on a book with DRAGONS I went a little spastic. This story manages a huge amount of world building, character building, and emotion in a very short space, something that impressed me greatly even with having read her other pieces. It is a fantastic story, even if it did end in a cliffhanger, and I am very much looking forward to watching the series unfold.

The plot:
Everything happens pretty quickly here, which was a nice change for me after a steady diet of epics lately. The plot progresses with only enough world building and description that is necessary (huge plus). My only question issue with this story was Sienna’s empathy toward the dragons. It’s explained, but I wanted to see just a little more expansion of the thought and feeling processes she went through before getting to that point. However, that was my one and only—I wouldn’t even call it a complaint. More like a side note.

It is mentioned somewhere that this has romantic elements, but I would say the focus here was definitely more on the dragons. (And if you have a problem with that, go away.) The general feelings of the populace toward dragons were displayed and justified well in the beginning, but I still found myself sympathizing with the dragons more than the people (which was probably Shreffler’s scheme).

The characters:
This doesn’t happen especially often, but the heroine was my favorite character. In the beginning, Sienna is going through that whole awkward “on the threshold of adulthood but has no focus” stage that I think most of us go through. That won her huge doses of empathy and she was relatable and human to me, unlike a lot of fantasy heroines that have been cropping up.

Darius, the dragon hunter, has that whole aura of mystery and awesome about him and I have lots of questions about his character. What did he do that got him made a dragon hunter? Who was he before? Like I said, lots of questions for sequels!

Mistress Ash is probably the other main character and also the villain. Everything about her creeped me out from the moment she turned up and it became clear pretty quickly that I was right about here. She was an excellent villain to this story, written to make you hate her and as far as I was concerned, she could join the chopping block queue with Cerastes and Volcrian (references to The Cat’s Eye Chronicles).

The other characters, mainly those from Sienna’s home castle, reacted in understandable ways, but…no, I’m not going to be rooting for them any time soon. On the other hand, I thought they were remarkably developed for such a short span of page time and even Sienna’s mother was portrayed as having sympathetic qualities.

All in all, this was a well-written YA fantasy I would shove in the faces of anyone who likes dragon literature. I enjoyed it greatly, it has been a delight to read, and I am anxiously anticipating the next installment in the series!

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Review: City of Blaze (The Fireblade Array, #1) by H.O. Charles @HOCharles

Tags

adult, city of blaze, epic fantasy, ho charles, review, the fireblade array

Fantasy Romance Epic.

The city is crumbling beneath a mountain of indulgences. Its soldiers find entertainment in the beds of the castle’s servants rather than fight, believing they are safe from the deadly embrace of wielders. Wars are fought to encourage otherwise absent mortality, and countless citizens suffer the terrible pangs of nalka – the hunger for intimacy. All the while, Cadra’s king concerns himself with choosing which of his disappointing concubines to execute next. The duty falls upon his son, Morghiad, to restore the city’s strength and the army’s purpose. As Morghiad attempts to do just that, he uncovers darker horrors and encounters a young servant who could either be his greatest ally or his greatest hindrance.

City of Blaze is a story of changing allegiances, self-control and love.

Includes glossary of terms

 Blurb and cover from Goodreads

4 out of 5 stars

It’s no secret I’ve fallen behind on my reviews, but I read this baby last autumn and it’s taken me this long to tell you lot about it. (Yes, I’m a horrible blogger. Bad me.)

I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I started the book. I grabbed it under the old cover (without the seminude man) because it was Epic Fantasy and it was free for Kindle and that combination is like a siren song to me. It sat around on my Kindle for Lord knows how long before I read it, but once I did, I got involved, I got emotional, I became invested. Next thing you know, I’m buying the second book, the third book. I’ve never read anything quite like this and it got its hooks in my brain.

The thing to be aware of when reading this is that it truly is an epic. The tale spans several years and takes us through a great deal of character development. The book takes commitment to finish, but I found it exceptionally worth it. Not to mention the world building and the rules of the world are about as original as I have seen. It was so different, so thought out, it’s pretty much impossible not to be impressed.

The plot:

I’ll admit I was kind of stumped about this for a while. My inner editor was trying to identify the exact plot and I couldn’t, so I just stuffed my inner editor into a cupboard and decided to enjoy the story.

It might seem like the plot meanders a bit, but I actually didn’t mind. There was plenty of action and I got hooked on the romance, though I’m going to take that opening and tell everyone that this is not Young Adult. There were some pretty intense lead-ups to sex scenes and I’m going to assume those parts of the scenes were also intense because I still maintain my practice of sex-scene-skipping. (Yes, I’m nearly 20 and still do that, shut up.)

The characters:

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Artemi at first. I was certain that I wasn’t going to like her because in general if a girl is playing two different men at once (which she kind of did, but kind of didn’t), I tend to get upset. However, we ended up getting along quite nicely and I really want to ask the author on where her name came from.

As for Morghiad, I think we can safely say that he has joined the ranks of my babies (a hypothetical collective of fictional characters over which I am viciously protective). He seems to have this masochistic belief that he’s horrible, which doesn’t go away—at least not in the first two books. But he’s a sweet chap overall, so we’ll cut him a break.

This review is running a bit long, but I just want to mention Silar—whom I didn’t like at first, but who grew on me. There are also several different antagonists who provide varied amounts of antagonization at different parts of the story and the book has an open ending—which is code for “cliffhanger,” so be ye warned.

Looking back, I’m not really sure what I loved most about this book. I finished reading and the characters kept bouncing around in my head until I broke down on downloaded the sequel. I truly did enjoy this and am very excited to see what lies in store for the series.

P.S. It’s free on all eBook venues I’ve checked!

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Review: Redemption (The Captive, #5) by Erica Stevens @EricaStevensCGP

Tags

Erica Stevens, indie author, indie book review, indies, paranormal romance, redemption, review, romance, self-published, series, the captive, vampires, ya, young adult

This is the fifth book in The Captive Series. It is a stand alone novel however it is recommended that the other books in the series be read. Available now!

A year has passed since the war against Jack’s father that freed the humans from their roles as blood slaves and servants to the vampire race. Having left the palace behind in order to ensure that the outer towns are obeying the new laws, Jack struggles to come to terms with the grief and haunting memories that drove him from the palace in the first place. He’s content to lose himself in the outer lands and the obscurity that they offer him. That is, until he encounters Hannah.

Growing up in the small town of Chippman, Hannah had long ago accepted the fact that she would never leave it. When Jack walks into her life, and turns it upside down, she quickly realizes that not everything is what she’d believed it to be. Knowing that Jack will reject her if he learns the truth about her, Hannah struggles to fight her growing attraction to him. For though the town of Chippman seems normal on the outside, its residents harbor secrets that they’ve taken great pains to keep hidden. Secrets that have forced the town to live under the rule of the one man that could tear Jack and Hannah apart forever.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars
By far the best book yet! Don’t get me wrong, I adored Braith and Aria (still do), but the plot, development, dialogue—the everything—the writing style has gone through such an evolution that it’s mind blowing.

The plot:
I had to force myself to put down my Kindle at 1:00 a.m. I nearly murdered my family because they wouldn’t let me read. I couldn’t stop thinking about this book no matter what I was doing. The plot grabbed me by the throat and dragged me through without a second’s rest. The “squee” moments and the “hell no” moments were mixed together with perfect balance to keep my eyeballs affixed to my screen. Highest marks here.

The characters:
In books 3-4, we get brief glimpses into Jack’s psyche, usually when he’s thinking about the war or trying to navigate Braith’s volcanic temper regarding Aria. In this book, we delve much, much deeper, exploring how Jack ended up with the rebels to begin with, and what goes on in that head of his. A lot of it I would never have guessed and it was all the more fun for it.

I adored Hannah! She’s tough, determined, but also has a plethora of insecurities due to her “defect” and the lifestyle she was raised into. She and Jack are beautiful together and they’re one of those couples to make the fangirls squee and scream with delight.

Some of the characters from the earlier books also make an appearance and I was a little surprised to see them again. There was one point where I was thinking “Braith and Aria—leave! This is Hannah and Jack’s story now!” But they fit in nicely and it was kind of funny to see Jack come to understand just what it is Braith went through when he lost Aria. (The “how did you not kill me” conversation was so funny!)

I have received word that there will be a sixth book—one dedicated to Aria’s brother, William. I’m a little hesitant, but then I was hesitant with this one. I have high hopes and it looks like I will be a fan of this series for some time yet!

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Review: The Good Knight (Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mysteries, #1) by Sarah Woodbury @SarahWoodbury

Tags

adult, historical fiction, medieval, mystery, review, sarah woodbury, the good knight, wales

Intrigue, suspicion, and rivalry among the royal princes casts a shadow on the court of Owain, king of north Wales… The year is 1143 and King Owain seeks to unite his daughter in marriage with an allied king. But when the groom is murdered on the way to his wedding, the bride’s brother tasks his two best detectives—Gareth, a knight, and Gwen, the daughter of the court bard—with bringing the killer to justice. And once blame for the murder falls on Gareth himself, Gwen must continue her search for the truth alone, finding unlikely allies in foreign lands, and ultimately uncovering a conspiracy that will shake the political foundations of Wales.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

4 out of 5 stars
This was a deviation from my usual reading material in that it is neither Young Adult nor Fantasy. Nonetheless, it was free for Kindle and had “knight” in the title. I decided to give it a shot and what I got was certainly worth the read!

The plot:
This is a mystery set in medieval Wales with enough twists to keep me guessing. There’s a dash of romance, a good dose of action, and enough historical fact to make it authentic, but not overwhelming. Despite this being a little different from my normal literary fare, it was a good read and a reminder of why I used to love mystery.

The characters:
Gwen is a bard’s daughter who is also a spy for the king’s youngest son, Hwyll. She was a strong heroine who has her head on straight and her feet firmly on the ground and is clever to boot. I did like her and the side romance between her and Gareth was sweet, but not prominent enough to distract from the main story—the murder mystery.

There is this one part where Gareth is called a “good knight,” thus giving the story its name. He is one of those loyal, steadfast characters with a past he’d rather be without. He is also in the confidences of Hwyll, who gave him a sort of second chance after a conflict drove him to be a mercenary seven years before. I thought Gareth was a likeable individual overall and I did my fair share of worrying about him as the story progressed.

I’m not going to tell you about the other characters because this is a mystery after all and we wouldn’t want to spoil anything. I’ll just say that Ms. Woodbury did a good job of showing the mindset of the era and didn’t sugar coat anyone. I thought this was an excellent story and I recommend it to fans of historical fiction or even just mystery.

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Review: The Golden Cage (A Dance of Dragons, #0.5) by Kaitlyn Davis @DavisKaitlyn

Tags

a dance of dragons, epic fantasy, indie, indie author, kaitlyn davis, novella, review, ya, young adult

5 out of 5 stars

The next person who says books can’t hurt you emotionally will be slapped with this novella. There was one point where I had to put down my Kindle because I was getting so tense and anxious that I couldn’t take it anymore. Then when I started reading again, my heart was literally racing with terror.

This novella must be good and I have decided to bestow it with five stars because it got me all tangled up and worried and nervous and angry and generally neurotic. Within the first few pages I was invested in the story.

The story itself was rather short, but still managed to break me and I find myself maliciously wishing for some diabolical and distinctly unpleasant fate to befall all but three of the characters. I am looking forward to the novel, but hope those characters’ tales take a happier twist than what happened here.

My only complaint would probably be that there was a supporting character who plays a significant role and I wish he had been introduced or at least hinted at sooner. His emergence just felt kind of sudden and I think that could have been handled more smoothly.

All in all, another book to add to my list of novellas that broke my heart in under 100 pages. I recommend it to fans of YA fantasy who don’t mind a sad, open ended read.

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Review: Second Stone (Souls of the Stones, #2) by Kelly Walker @KWalkerWrites

Tags

fantasy romance, kelly walker, review, souls of the stones, young adult

You are only a pawn if you don’t know the game you are playing.

In the second installment in Souls of the Stones, the stakes are higher, the romance is hotter, and Emariya’s power as a Cornerstone is growing.

DETERMINED TO MAKE SENSE OF THE BETRAYALS, lies, and her undeniable attraction to Torian, Emariya and her prince begin the journey to Sheas to confront her uncle and bring her father home.

Only days after leaving the castle, devastating news threatens to tear Torian and Emariya apart. Overcome by guilt, Emariya wants to repair the rift between them but first she must answer one important question: why can’t she wake up?

A DEADLY FORCE HAS COME FROM THE SEA to claim its daughter, and if Torian wants to save Emariya, he’ll first have to find a way to forgive her…and himself. That’s easier said than done when both his sister and Emariya are counting on him at two separate ends of their world and the only people who might know how to help him are hiding in exile.

TO WIN THE BATTLE FOR THEIR LIVES, they will first have to win the battle for Emariya’s mind. Only then can she rise up strong enough to face what she has to do.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

4 out of 5 stars

So, Cornerstone was a bit of a long and winding road in the beginning, but I really wanted to know what would happen, hence I downloaded the next two books. And I had a blast! The world needs more Epic Fantasy Romances. It just does.

The plot:

These books are marked as Romance and this one does more living up to that label. Still, there are plenty of dangers, battles, political considerations, and magical entanglements that keep it true fantasy. There is more exploration here of the Stones and what they can do and Emariya’s gifts, as well as an unexpected twist as to who Reeve’s accomplice is. This plot moved along faster than the previous book’s and I dove straight into the final installment after I finished.

The characters:

I liked Emariya. I honestly did. But at the same time she drove me nuts. I don’t expect her to be a warrior princess, but she kept getting into fixes because she was headstrong and then had to be rescued. I really wished she had been quicker to realize that, just maybe, she should listen to Torian and Garith. But oh well.

Torian is reeling from the loss of his sister and understandably angry at Emariya. All the same, he still protects and watches out for her and is willing to do whatever it takes to save her when she falls into a magical illness.

Garith—oh, the poor lovable guy. I can’t get over his selfless devotion to Emariya. It’s just so damn sweet and a tad masochistic. I was passionately hoping he’d get his HEA in the end, even if it didn’t involve Emariya.

The full scope of Reeve’s treachery comes to light here as well as the fickleness of the Warren’s Rest nobles. We also get to see an interestingly different side of Reeve when he meets Terin.

This is a series I am very fond of and, despite knowing that the novellas will end in tragedy, I do mean to read them. This series is perfect for people with a passion for high fantasy and romance!

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Review: On Shadowed Wings (An Ash Grove Short Story) by Amanda Dewees @AmandaDeWees

Tags

amanda dewees, celtic mythology, indie, nerd boys, review, self-published, short story, ya, young adult

In this short story set in North Carolina, high-school senior Gail and college student Jim are drawn together on Beltane night when they team up to seek a mysterious butterfly hatching–and save a little girl from danger.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars

To start off, nerd boys forever! They are far, far underrated and if only nerdy love interests were more prevalent in literature. *sigh*

This is a short story, so this will be a short review. I adored Gail and Joy’s relationship and the sororal love between them. This was a splendid piece that made me grin, giggle, and beam with happiness in just the space of a few dozen pages. You may have already guessed that I loved Jim to bits and now I am dying to get my hands on the rest of this series to read about Joy’s adventures.

In summation, this is an excellent sample of the author’s work that left me wanting to try more!

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Review: Mark of the Mage (Scribes of Medeisia, #1) by R.K. Ryals @RKRyals

Tags

dragons, fantasy, indie author, mark of the mage, review, rk ryals, ya, young adult

Books never die, but they can be forbidden.

Medeisia is a country in turmoil ruled by a blood thirsty king who has outlawed the use of magic and anything pertaining to knowledge. Magery and scribery are forbidden. All who practice are marked with a tattoo branded onto their wrists, their futures precarious.

Sixteen year-old Drastona Consta-Mayria lives secluded, spending her spare time in the Archives of her father’s manor surrounded by scribes. She wants nothing more than to become one of them, but when the scribes are royally disbanded, she is thrust into a harsh world where the marked must survive or die.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars

I have so many feelings right now. This book put me through an emotional meat grinder and must be what Ron Weasley meant when he said “you’re going to suffer, but you’re going to be happy about it.” I wasn’t really sure if I would like the story when I started, but I became very attached to the characters very quickly and there were dragons. How am I supposed to resist dragons?

The plot:

This book was a quick, easy read and I appreciate that. Not all of us have eight hour blocks to devote to the literary pursuits (though I have been known to take eight hour blocks) and this story packs a lot of twists, suspense, danger, magic, and hints of romance into a relatively small space. The world building wasn’t dumped on all at once, but built up gradually, and there was enough emotional angst to give me a tight feeling in my chest through most of it.

The characters:

Drastona, or Stone, is the narrator of the story, a prophesied savior alleged destined to liberate her country from the tyranny of a cruel despot. She was a good balance of a character. While she wasn’t the damsel in distress who needs constant rescuing, she also wasn’t the kick@$$ heroine who can get easily overrated. She could be frustrating at times, but I adored her and it’s just a matter of time before I go and download the next book in this series.

Kye was an interesting character in that he was haunted by things he’d done, but the circumstances under which he’d done them were a bit unusual. (It makes sense in context.) He’s one of those characters I just want to take away from the author until she’s nice to him…poor baby.

The two dragons we meet are a father and son pair—the dragon rex, Feras, and his son, Lochlen. While they were fierce and powerful as befitting dragons, they were also endowed with a sense of humor to offset it. I thought Ms. Ryals’ portrayal of their species was excellent and it only served to once again make me wish I lived somewhere that they existed.

There is a while cast I haven’t mentioned and you’ll have to read it yourself to meet them, but overall, the characters in this book were concise and succinct. There wasn’t an overburdening of detail, but there was still enough for us to get to know them.

This was a wonderful YA true fantasy and the world (at least mine) needs more of these.

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Review: Desert Rose: A Tale of Nälu by J.L. Mbewe @JLMbewe

Tags

fantasy, indie authors, review, short story, young adult

Can a desert princess find love with a foreign king?

Johari lives in the shadow of her beautiful sister until a foreign king notices her, but in her haste to prove herself worthy of affection she finds herself compromised and on a difficult journey to make things right.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars

Why don’t the other high fantasy authors just come out and admit they’re in cahoots to break my heart into a billion tiny pieces? This is a short story that I think comes to less than twenty pages in print, but it still managed to leave me very saddened. Despite the length, we still get a good glimpse into the world of Nälu and Johari’s inner turmoil. I think Ms. Mbewe has certainly proven that she can write quite exceptionally and leave you wanting more of her world.

This was a beautiful piece and I mean to look into the rest of the series!

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