Between the Pages

Ok, so why has noone been SCREAMING at me to read this book??? Seriously??

I stumbled across this on PulseIt when I had nothing to do at work and was scouring the internet for something interesting. I hadn't really given this another glance when I'd heard of it around its release, so I went in with basically no expectations.
And HOLY WOWZA!! I really want to kick myself for not reading this sooner! It was SO, SO GOOD!

Jessi Kirby immediately drew me in with her extraordinary writing style and the characters that I could relate to so, so much! I love stories like this, finding out hidden stories within stories by reading a diary and doing some detective work!

Parker is awesome. And very uptight and in need of a good shove in the right direction every now and then. She's a smart cookie and I loved her drive and seriously, I WAS that girl who was afraid to break the rules back in high school. She was under a lot of pressure from her mother and though of course her mother loves her, at times it was hard to remember this.
I also really loved Parker's best friend Kat and the boy who wants to be more than a friend. Kat is a true best friend who wants what's best for Parker and supports her in everything. I loved her spirit and the bond between the girls!

Sometimes you just know when you make a decision that when you do, you can never turn back or take it back and Golden is about some of those decisions. It's in the decision Parker makes to open Juliana's diary, to go looking for the truth within those pages, to decide what she wants to do with her life and to take a chance on a boy she's known for a long time.

Juliana and Shane's story is both tragic and heartbreaking, but at the end it also filled me with hope. I loved how completely Jessi Kirby had me invested in this story with her engaging writing and amazingly loveable characters! They FELT real to me, as if I could just pass a cafe and find Parker and Kat there drinking a cup of coffee or tea and laughing together.
This book broke my heart and put it back together and is generally just a beautiful story that you should all put on your reading this this summer!

My rating: 5+ stars

Ok, confession time: I never much cared for Wuthering Heights. *hides* I can't help it, in Wuthering Heights, Catherine REALLY annoyed me and I could never truly understand what was so great about her or Heathcliff and that kinda ruined the story for me. BUT I am always up for a retelling and I have to say that I enjoyed Catherine a lot more than the original story!

I liked that the POV alternates between Catherine through her diary entries and Chelsea, Catherine's daughter. It's really interesting, cause obviously I knew the general storyline, but I like that April Lindner gave her own spin to it. It definitely had a contemporary feel instead of just feeling like it was forced into a modern jacket and that's something I really appreciate, because it can get that way sometimes.

I really liked Chelsea. Though I thought it wasn't very responsible of her to just go off without telling her dad and start looking for her mother without telling ANYONE where she's going and just putting her complete trust in total strangers, BUT she's a nice girl and I loved that she sometimes just blurted stuff out without first thinking about it. I recognized a little of myself in that quirk, and I know how you can just want to take it back, so I could relate to this part of her. I liked that she doesn't just give up and doesn't really take no for an answer when something is important to her.

I REALLY disliked Wuthering Height's Catherine, but Catherine's Catherine (lol) not so much. She did make me roll my eyes a couple of times with her thinking that 'nobody had ever loved each other as much as she and Hence', I mean SERIOUSLY?? Talk about self-absorbed. But other than that I was rooting for her even though I knew things couldn't end well.

So, SPOILER ALERT: of course Chelsea discovers what happened to her mother. And I was kinda wondering: what kind of incompetent policemen were on this case? Because really, if a 17-year-old can solve it in basically no time at all, WHAT HAVE YOU ALL BEEN DOING??? It was a bit too easy. How did they not suspect this person of killing her? And ugh, Catherine, how could you go to this person and NOT think, gee, maybe I should tell someone I'm going there? HELLO, this is how you get killed. UGH. It's like yelling at the TV and expecting the candidates of a show to hear you and get the answer right...

So rant over.

I very much liked Catherine by April Lindner and am happy to report that I liked it better than the original version. Catherine was more likable, the writing was more engaging and while I did have some minor problems with it, I was very entertained throughout reading it! I'm even more excited to read Jane soon, because that is a retelling of one of my favourite classics :)

My rating: 4 stars

Guys, I must confess that I was obsessed with magic shows as a kid. Now with all the exposing of how tricks are done, it's kinda worn off and mostly this obsession returns when it's Hugh Jackman performing the illusions. I'm not really all that familiar with Houdini's life, but the pictures I've seen of him all look REALLY fierce, determined and he's done some really amazing things. So of course I was excited to read a book about a girl who may or may not be his daughter and seriously, the 20s is a fascinating decade no matter what kind of plot you have!

I really, really liked Anna. I love how loyal she is to her mother, though she may not exactly like her at times. But she's not afraid to stand up for herself and maybe go against her mother's wishes if it's what it takes to achieve her dream and I can respect that. She's so used to living in the shadow of her mother's beauty that she doesn't really know what to do when two attractive young men start showing interest in her. And though it easily could have been, it's not a love triangle. It's Anna getting to know both guys and trying to figure out if she likes one of them. And I really liked that she wasn't kissing both guys in the process, cause I kinda hate it when that happens.

Teri Brown really captured that sense of excitement that I used to get when watching a magic show and it was nice to see it from the other side for a change! And I loved the supernatural element and seeing Anna getting the hang of her powers and coming to terms with them. I really felt her loneliness because she thinks she's the only one and it's hard for her to make friends because of her and her mother's profession.

Anna and her mother have a VERY complicated relationship and at times I was just really confused as to whether or not Anna's mother was really trying to sabotage her daughter's success. I mean, it was just a little off and it may just have been their personalities clashing, but I had a hard time understanding it. But in the end we get an explanation, and while it made me want to scream at them to GAH! COMMUNICATE! I know not everyone can always talk about everything.

Aside from all the drama surrounding the show and Anna trying to figure out if Harry Houdini really is her father and the seances and Anna's powers, there's also a sweet little romance. There was also a major twist towards the end that I hadn't seen coming until right before it happened, which really had me turning the pages!

With Born of Illusion, Teri Brown has created a really strong historical read and I just love the time period it's set in! I'm really looking forward to reading Born of Deception, which will feature Rasputin (who I think is really creepy)!

My rating: 4,5 stars

**WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THE SERIES**

This series is absolutely one with lots of ups and downs for me. I really liked Tempest Rising, then I liked, but had some major issues with Tempest Unleashed, but all in all the storytelling did have me convinced to pick up Tempest Revealed, the last book in this series. And I'm sorta disappointed.

All the development Tempest had gone through in the first two books just seemed to vanish at times and she just (for lack of a better word) regressed a bit in my opinion. She's seemingly learned NOTHING of the past and because the decision between her family and the underwater world is impossible, she just continues to do both half-assed, which REALLY annoyed me. I mean, sure, I get that it's not easy, but make up your mind of DO something about it instead of wallowing in selfpity. Geesh. That is not an attractive quality.

I do like that in Tempest Revealed I could better understand her relationship with Mark and why she chose him. He's a good guy, though he does have some major hero-issues and should learn when to butt out and keep himself safe, because holy hell, it is not okay to keep putting yourself in danger trying to 'help' Tempest just to proove you're the 'alphamale'. UGH! At times he pretty much only complicated things and seriously, I kept thinking too-stupid-to-live. I think he's the first male character who's ever gotten this title...

There's also the return of the love triangle. Seriously, couldn't we just not have done this again? I mean, Tempest has chosen TWICE (I know it was also a different boy twice, but that's a whole other argument) and now we're back at this?? Seriously? I mean, JUST STICK WITH ONE. And just tell Kona to stop being and ass and that he'll only ever be your FRIEND and be done with it. GAH.

So I sound really negative. I know. And the truth is, while I was REALLY annoyed by the things I mentioned above, and a couple of other things as well, I did enjoy reading this book. Tracy Deebs has a really engaging writing style and this is what made me keep reading Tempest Revealed. I also wanted to know what would happen in the final showdown, because UGH, TIAMAT MUST DIE! HATEFUL CREATURE!

I do definitely think this could have been a better book if Tempest's behaviour had been consistent with the growth we've seen of her in the first two books. There was a little too much wah-wah-woe-is-me for me to really like her this time, but I do appreciate the scope of the tale Tracy Deebs has told is throughout the series. And I do very much love the underwater world she has created. It is beautiful and complicated and I hope that something like it exists somewhere.

My rating: 2,5 stars

***WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1***

I really enjoyed Of Poseidon when I read it and really liked the lovestory between Emma and Galen, they really made me root for them and feel EVERYTHING. And yeah, there was pretty much a cliffhanger at the end that left me going GAH! I NEED THE NEXT BOOK! So yeah, I was pretty excited about starting Of Triton. I still haven't gotten over my Ariel-induced mermaid obsession :)

Of Triton picks up where Of Poseidon ended, or a little after that, with Emma drugged and kidnapped by her own mother. Which in all honesty, seemed a bit extreme to me. Emma's mother and I do not really hit it off and I rolled my eyes because of things she did a lot. I seriously get wanting to protect your kid, but well, it just seemed a bit off and while I thought it was nice Emma's mother and Grom were united, they seemed a bit too all over eachother at first for two people over 50. I don't know, I guess I just don't really respect her as a mom-figure, though she did redeem herself a bit in the end.

Aside from this, I really enjoyed Of Triton. I loved getting to know more about the mermaid-politics and there's enough intrigue to keep me entertained! I'm actually kinda sad that most of the novel took place on land, because, well, I KNOW land, I want to explore more of this gorgeous underwater world! I did love that we got to meet Goliath again, he is one awesome whale-pet!

I actually liked that in Of Triton, Emma adresses her grief over losing her best friend, Chloe, in the previous book. I felt that it was sort of glossed over in Of Poseidon and it seems only normal that Emma needs to deal with this and not just ogle the manfish-candy.
Emma and Galen are cute together, but I didn't feel any of the urgency I did while reading Of Poseidon, they were just comfortable together and it lacked that spark, though I'm still a Galen fan. Even if he is a bit too protective.

Anna Banks does write a compelling story and I very much enjoyed reading this out on my balcony in the sunshine. I felt the urge to read on and find out what would happen next and even though it's been a year since I read Of Poseidon, getting back to this world felt natural and I'm eager to see what will happen in Of Neptune! I'm also pretty glad this didn't end on a cliffhanger, because seriously, my heart cannot take it.

My rating: 4 stars

You may have heard of my anglophilic tendencies before, I LOVE historical fiction revolving around the English royals! There are some who fascinate me more than others, namely Anne Boleyn, but part of this story also deals with one of the greatest mysteries in my opinion: what happened to the two little princes in the Tower? Elizabeth Woodville and Edward's sons.

I'd already 'met' most of the players in The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory, but I'd never heard of Jane Shore before and I must admit that she's a fascinating historical figure! It's not every day that you come across a woman who not only held the interest of England's king for 8 years as his mistress, but also went on to be the mistress to two other influential men and finally marry another!

Jane is very much a victim of her time period, because she is completely dependent on the men in her life to provide for her. I really felt for her when her first husband turned out to be impotent, because Jane was so ready to be a mother! I liked that she's bold enough to seek an annulment because of it. I liked that she never forgot where she came from and tried to help the people who used to be her neighbours when she could.
I'm kinda glad Edward is depicted as a loving scoundrel, because from everything I've learned of him, I can truly believe that's exactly what he was. He may not always have made the best decisions, particularly regarding his dealings with Eleanor Butler, but I believed he was a good man at heart and for some reason royalty always seems prone to infidelity, not that that makes it any better.

I'd seen most of the events through Anne Neville's eyes in The Kingmaker's Daughter, and seeing it through Jane's added that extra dimension to it. I love all the intrigue and was truly scared a couple of times for Jane's life. Losing your head was all too easy back then. There were a couple of surprises, but mostly I was just anxiously waiting on some stuff to happen and wondering what would happen to Jane because of said things.

Anne Easter Smith truly made me care for this remarkable woman and I loved the bits of poetry that Jane seems to sprout of the top of her head, they were very clever. I did think that some of the 'bad guys' were a bit one-dimensional, but most of the historical figures really came to life through her writing and I love that! These were real people and it's easy to forget that and just focus on the battles and murders instead of the men and women behind it.

My rating: 3,5 stars

Seriously you guys, Tessa Dare is fast worming her way into my top-historical-romance authors list!! Also, she has pretty hair in her author picture on Goodreads. I'm slightly jealous, my hair doesn't take well to attempts to tame it, hers does it seems.

But enough about hair and more about the splendidness that is Any Duchess Will Do.

I so, so loved Pauline! She's bookish and an amazing sister and just all in all good people. I loved that she changed her dream from owning a library to owning a library filled with naughty books, because seriously, that is just plain awesome. I loved that she stands by her sister and is just fully herself with Griffin and doesn't back down in the face of all of his dukishness.

And Griff. Wow. That is one manly man if I ever saw one. I love that he is such a well-rounded character and not just a handsome vehicle for the heroine to lay her love at. He's so much more and I loved him for it. He has hidden depths and hurts and all I wanted to do was just hug him and make all the sorrow go away.

As much as I loved these two, I ADORED Griffin's mother! She brought the funny moments and she clearly loves her son and just well, I'm a fan. We meet her just after she's drugged her son and 'kidnapped' him, on the road to Spindle Cove, though he doesn't know this yet. From the first chapter:
"Do not be alarmed," he told her.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. Bad for the complexion."

LOVE.

And guys, THE ROMANCE! SAH-WOON! THIS is what I want from my romance novels! Tension and steamyness and a real connection and HEARTBREAK and OMG ALL OF THE GOOD STUFF! And when you combine this with laugh out loud funny moments, you've completely won my heart! There were TEARS in my eyes and sweet moments and just *sigh* It was THAT good.
So yes, if you like the genre, do yourself a favor and read this book, you won't regret it! It kept me up into the early hours of the night when I really should have been catching some beauty sleep and it was TOTALLY WORTH IT.

My rating: 5+ stars

Guys, I love Philippa Gregory. I have never read a book by her that I didn't enjoy very much. Until now.

I cannot help but feel that this novel was just sort of... boring. Philippa Gregory always makes history come to life for me and manages to make me be on the edge of my seat, rooting for things I know can't be, because hey, it's history and it can't be changed. And I expected this to be so for her YA series as well. But I feel pretty lukewarm about Changeling.

We meet both Isolde and Luca, and well, they are probably the least interesting characters in this novel for all of them being the main characters. Pretty boy meets pretty girl and sort of falls for her, even though he said vows of celibacy, OOPS! Beside that Luca was pretty smart, I didn't really care much for him.

Both of their 'sidekicks', Freize and Ishraq are SO MUCH MORE interesting! Freize has a way with animals that's just beautiful and he's all mysterious and funny and I totally liked him! And Ishraq is a strong, loyal woman who I'd love to have as a friend. She knows about medicine and fighting and is just a take-action kinda person. I liked it. I expect much more entertainment from them than from the main characters.

Mostly, my complaint is that nothing much happened. Or, well, their were 2 mysteries that are solved by this motly crew, but I never felt any urgency at solving the mystery and the solution to the second one was kinda lame. I mean, I know people didn't know everything we know now, but seriously, that was kinda... stupid.

I sincerely hope that this book just suffered from being the first in a series and serving as build-up and that Philippa Gregory will step up her game in the next book, like she normally does, and that there'll be intrigue and romance and just all of those good things I come to expect from her books, because frankly, this was a bit disappointing.

My rating: 2,5 stars

Guys, I have to get one thing off my chest before starting this review: the summary is completely deceiving. I was expecting a cute summery book and this book is just so much more.

There's this little sentence in the summary about Jude's ailing father. Which is what this book is actually about, it's about a girl and her family dealing with this horrible thing that's happening to her father and about the summer she spends with him and the boy who supports her through it. Of course there's romance, but that's not the centre of this story. At least, to me it's not.

The Book of Broken Hearts tells us about the impact of early onset Alzheimer's on a man and his family. This is something that actually scares me. I know there are a lot of diseases I wouldn't ever want anyone I love to have, but to me there aren't a lot of things that are scarier than dementia I mean, my grandmother struggled with her health, but I'm so incredibly thankful she never had to deal with this. I've seen the destructiveness of this disease in patients and it's beyond awful.

We meet Jude, the youngest daughter of four, she's the only one living at home and looking after her father while her mom is at work. I couldn't help but immediately connect to this wonderful girl, willing to put her own life on hold to take care of others. She's working so hard and sometimes I just wanted to slap one of her sisters for not appreciating all she'd been doing.

I loved this family. Even though there's bickering and bossing around, you can feel the love. There are so many dysfunctional families in YA that this was just such a good change. They band together when things get rough and are really there for each other. I loved Jude's father for being strong, even in the face of this scary disease. You don't get to see how strong till the end of the novel, but it's amazing.

Of course there's Emilio. The Boy. Emilio is smooth and sweet and just someone Jude can count on. I totally respected him for how he was with Jude's father. There aren't many guys his age who would know how to deal with stuff like this and well, there's just all of these hidden depths with this boy and yeah, I guess I'm a fan. Though I thought they moved kinda fast from the 'oh we're kissing' to 'come with me on this epic trip' in about 5 minutes. That kinda threw me off.

It was sorta hard for me to read this book because it deals with something that terrifies me, but Sarah Ockler completely drew me in with her writing and I just couldn't put it down long (I needed small breaks sometimes). She captured all of the things I've seen families dealing with and touched my heart. Like I said at the beginning: this is so much more than a summer romance!

My rating: 4,5 stars

Guys, I love this series! The Pennyroyal Green books are awesome and I completely adore Julie Anne Long's writing.

Oops, did I just give away the punchline of this review? Oh well.

This time we meet Evie, who doesn't have the noblest of parentages and has had to work hard to get where she is right now. Though of course this doesn't mean she'll be accepted by the ton, because OMG, THE SCANDAL! So she does the smart thing (in my opinion) and goes to Pennyroyal Green. Where she meets Adam Sylvaine, who also belongs to the Eversea family (how many gorgeous men do they have in this family???) and SPARKS GALORE!

I really liked Evie's spirit. Obviously she knows what people think of her, but she's determined to try and fit in and I kinda loved her for that! She really succeeds at the challenges they throw at her, which were pretty funny at times if I might say so. All except for resisting Adam. And really, I wouldn't have resisted Adam either. Though you may not have expected it in a vicar, he is pretty sexy. And the good-guy-ness in him just made me swoon! He didn't really appreciate Evie flirting with him, which was sort of odd, but I did like that he really sees her and likes her for herself.

Like I've come to expect from Julie Anne Long, she delivers the romance and the heartbreak and ALL OF THE TENSION! Seriously, there's SO much tension and they're not even touching for most of the novel! I loved it! And I liked that this is a different scene from the balls and elaborate dresses, though I do love those as well!

My rating: 4,5 stars

Guys, there's pretty much nothing I love better than magical boarding schools! Seriously, I will pretty much pick up anything if it mentions even a hint of this in the summary. And The School for Good and Evil was such a fun book!

We meet Sophie and Agatha in their village, everything Sophie does is geared towards getting picked to go to the School for Good and Evil and become a fairytale princess. This is probably even the reason why she's befriended Agatha, who appears to be a shoe-in for the Evil side of the school. I adored the interaction between these girls and how two opposites can be true friends!

And OMG, the SCHOOL!! Seriously! It was just wonderful! Nothing will ever beat Hogwarts, but this school does put up a good fight! I loved all the classes, such as Uglification and Animal Communication and how both Agatha and Sophie excell in them, especially how Sophie doesn't really WANT to be good at Evil, but manages to be anyway. There were some laugh out loud funny moments and I loved it!

Sophie is the pretty girl who is determined to get what she wants, and she's not above using dirty tricks and even people to get her way. Sometimes she even forgets that she's actually a nice person and a friend to Agatha in her drive to be on the Good side of the school. And at these moments, I really didn't like her. But she does redeem herself and I love that she changes her ugly clothes into dresses any fashionista would be proud to wear.

Agatha is the smart one. She works hard at both Sophie's and her own classes and while she's not exactly accepted by the other Good students, she remains true to herself. She's a loyal friend and I really liked seeing her grow as a person.

Of course there's a boy and things get a bit ugly and there's an evil that needs defeating. But what most shines about this book is the wonderful storytelling and the friendship between Sophie and Agatha. I really loved all the magical creatures and learning that there's more to the school than meets the eye. I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel, because I'm sure Sophie and Agatha aren't done having adventures!

My rating: 4,5 stars

Guys, I had some issues with this book. And I have to admit that it almost made me DNF it. I probably would have if it hadn't been for the shelving over of the money I did for the hardcover. I'm kinda glad I sticked with it though.

I kinda get this sour tast in my mouth whenever there's talk of a special kind of 'soul mate' for different species. Mainly because it's a convenient vehicle for insta-love, because well, why would you need an actual relationship when you can go BOOM! LOVE!
And this time it really annoyed me, because Ash and Natalie REALLY don't get along and then all of a sudden Ash discovers she's his special snowflake and BAM they're in love. Seriously? I mean, SERIOUSLY? This happened pretty early on and I kinda almost just put it down for good.

But I continued on for reasons I explained above and while the lovestory REALLY didn't work for me, the rest of it was pretty interesting. The Darklings are really interesting, and the half-bloods very much more so. And this nasty thing infecting Darklings which causes them to go mad is horrifying! And seriously, the whole political intrigue was just so dark and scary! It's a harsh world that Elizabeth Richards has created and her writing really made this dark atmosphere come to life.

There's something about cults that is just so scary to me! And Puritan Rose's movement very much felt like a cult. Without seeing much of him, he is one scary villain! It was pretty awful to see how it could turn someone who claims to care about Natalie into a monster.

I think that if the romance had been better, I would have really loved this book. But it just felt off and too convenient and for all that Ash said he loved Natalie, he blew her off to hang out with another girl, which did have an explanation in the end, but seriously? You cannot do that.

The chapters leading up to the end were REALLY good though and I'm kinda leaning towards picking up Phoenix, but I'm gonna wait for the paperback this time.

My rating: 2,5 stars

Ok, so you may now how I'm a huge anglophile? And I'm slightly obsessed with anything to do with English royalty of the past. So this combined in a YA historical fiction made me all excited! And I'm happy to report I was thoroughly entertained by Maid of Secrets.

Though I did have to get over the fact that I was constantly thinking 'but WHY would the queen hire a group of young girls to do all these things for her???' It seemed slightly implausible to me and I kinda struggled with this a bit throughout the novel.

But I did very much like the girls in question, especially Meg and Jane. I must say that reading books like these made me thankful for my sheltered childhood and teens, because to already have learned everything these girls know by the time they're 17? Yeah, that's kinda harsh. They've really had to made a living for themselves and are frequently involved in live-and-death type plots. And then there's the threath of imprisonment when they don't obey the queen or her councillors, who may not always have the same agenda.

I loved seeing Meg navigate her way through all of this and I was genuinely rooting for her. I liked that she's smart and street-savvy and at least TRIES to do the right thing, even if it isn't always easy. And you guys, I loved the scenes with her and Rafe! Rafe is mysterious enough to intrigue me and seems to care enough to forgive him for the not-so-decent things he sometimes pulls on Meg. And I'd really like to see more of him in the next novel!

The murder mystery and the search through the castle with all the hidden passageways and danger lurking around every corner had me turning the pages, wanting to know out exactly WHO was behind all of it. I did figure out who it was before Meg did, which was mostly due to some seemingly random scene that had me thinking there had to be MORE to this person.

This was a strong debut for Jennifer McGowan and a good start to a series, which I expect to only become better with the next books! I still have lots of questions, most of them revolving around Meg's parents, but Maid of Secrets did wrap up the storyline nicely and I'm relieved it didn't end with a cliffhanger. Highly recommended to anglophiles like me!

My rating: 4,5 stars

***WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR FIRST 2 BOOKS IN THE SERIES***

It is no secret that I love Greek mythology and this series is one of my favourites that involves this. Goddess Interrupted ended on such a cliffhanger that I was both REALLY anxious and REALLY scared to finally get to The Goddess Inheritance. Not to mention my fear of reading the last book in a series.

But I shouldn't have worried, because I can totally trust Aimee Carter to bring the awesome and give me some closure! The thing I love about series and that makes me love this one so much is that I could just slip right back into this world and catch up with the characters effortlessly, it's like reconnecting with old friends and I love that!

Kate has grown so much over the course of the series and I love that she's a strong woman who knows what she wants. I thought the whole thing with her getting pregnant at the end of Goddess Interrupted was pretty sudden and SO unexpected, but though Kate hadn't planned have a baby at her age, she definitely wants this baby. The protectiveness and love adds another layer to her relationship with Henry and I just loved it!

And Henry... I'm such a big fan of Henry. He may be infuriatingly stubborn at times, but he's just so swoonworthy and sexy in all his power that I can totally forgive him for this. Though I kinda didn't get how he could be so naive sometimes! Seriously! Kate is missing and people keep this from him with lame excuses? I mean, seriously?? If only he'd been more about taking action and people wouldn't have kept him in the dark, it would have solved SO MANY problems!!

Anyway.

This was one of those books that I just could not put down! It was so actionpacked and the stakes were so high, I was just on the edge of my seat the whole time! It was filled with sweet moments and heartbreaking moments and WHAT? NO!! moments and just all of those good feelings! Though I am fully satisfied with this ending to an amazing series, I cannot help but wish Aimee Carter will write more stories set in this world and maybe centering around Kate and Henry's kid? Because he seems pretty special. Though I'm also fine with just more Kate-books, because she rocks and I don't think she's done having adventures!

My rating: 5 stars

I really enjoyed Lord of Temptation and Deck the Halls With Love, earlier books in this series and I was really excited to start Lord of Wicked Intentions! And I wasn't disappointed!

Evelyn is the illegitimate child of an earl and though her father loved her very much, he didn't really think she was fit for polite society, or so she discovers after his death. Her brother, who is a hateful man, decides to try and buy off his debt through selling his half-sister as a mistress to vile men. Of course Rafe steps in and makes some death threaths and whisks Evelyn away to his own mansion.

Evelyn was pretty naive. I get that she's been sheltered and everything, but well, she's got that starry-eyed child sens around her and it kinda annoyed me at times. I did like that she doesn't hang her head, but accepts what life has thrown at her and makes the most of it.

Rafe is a pretty hard man. Circumstances have made him that way and I liked that although he thinks he's all mister tough guy, he secretly has this really big heart and does things for people without them realizing it and without expecting gratitude. I just wanted so bad for him to give his brothers another chance and to have him be a part of the family again! And for all his taking Evelyn away to become his mistress, I liked that he waited for her to be ok with intimacies and get to know him a bit.

So I know that in romance novels in general if one half of the couple is a little 'broken', love (and sex, let's be honest) cures this all of a sudden. But really, I was just sort of not convinced here. I mean, he has had a problem with people touching him for YEARS. And suddenly he's completely ok with it. Yeah... I'm not buying this.

They did have really good chemistry and some things that happened towards the end made me cry and I love when books make me cry! There were a couple of things that made me roll my eyes, but overall this was a very enjoyable read!

My rating: 4 stars

Seriously, reading this book was one of my better decisions this month! It was SO MUCH FUN!

First off, you guys should know that I love fairytales. LOVE. And I love any book that deals with them or reads like one and this novel getting deeper into the different prince charmings out there is just SO MY THING!

I don't read many funny books, and I'm not sure why not, cause this was hilarious! I laughed out loud a couple of times, which earned me weird glances from the boyfriend at times. I loved getting to know the characters flaws and all and they've all earned a special place in my heart. But to be honest, I think my favourites are Liam and Duncan. Liam is what I'd want my prince charming to be like and Duncan is just so sweet! All four of them are great characters, but these two stole my heart.

I loved that we get to see them in their full glory and get a little more of a backstory on the princes, because, let's face it, it's mostly all about the princesses in fairytales. Most of them don't even have a name in the story and that's what's adressed in The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom.

I read this in no time at all and was highly entertained the whole time. The writing if witty, funny and engaging, I really fell for these characters and was rooting for them! It's a bit of a silly romp, but sometimes you need that in your life and it made for a great read-a-thon read! I already have The Hero's Guide To Storming The Castle staring at me, so I'll be reading that soon :)

My rating: 4,5 stars