Thursday, April 30

Audiobook Review: Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters


Keeping You a SecretAuthor: Julie Anne Peters
Narrator: Rebekah Levin
Title: Keeping You a Secret
Genre: YA, Romance, LGBT
Format: Audiobook 
Pages: 250 
Published: May 4th 2005
Where I Got It: My shelf (Audible)



With a steady boyfriend, the position of Student Council President, and a chance to go to an Ivy League college, high school life is just fine for Holland Jaeger.

At least, it seems to be.

But when Cece Goddard comes to school, everything changes. Cece and Holland have undeniable feelings for each other, but how will others react to their developing relationship?




A random find on Audible's Escape collection and it fit my reading challenge so why not?

The story follows Holland. She has a great boyfriend, Student Council President, good grades, a chance to get into some amazing colleges, a fun family, and good friends. However, when Cece comes to town everything changes. Holland can't keep her eyes away from her and it seems Cece can't stay away. 

Okay. At first, I did not like Holland. She seemed...just bored with her life. I was worried she was just filling a void with her obvious crush for Cece. She seemed she was just looking for a way to not be bored with her bored life. I was actually mad at Holland because Cece deserves someone who LOVES her. BUUT as things progressed and before any feelings were even mentioned...you could tell that Holland had been suppressing these urges for way longer than she cared to admit. She really became an unreliable narrator in my opinion. It was refreshing and real. I felt bad judging her at first when I realized...she had always been gay...she just ignored her own feelings and true self. Poor girl. No one should have to lie to themselves like that. 

Once I realized there was more to Holland I grew to LOVE this story. I wanted them to be together so bad and bless Cece's heart. She was a real trooper.

I did have to remind myself multiple times this is set in the early 2000s and being "gay" was still frowned upon and not as supported as it is now...especially in schools. Sure we still have our issues now in 2020. BUT near 20 years ago it was a different world and I even remember how many of our gay students in my school were treated SO badly. We still have a lot of haters in 2020, but I feel like it has gotten better and more accepted overall. Still have a way to go, but I feel like it has gotten better from what I can personally see. 

There was one scene that made me cry! I was SO mad! I wanted to throw the book...but then I realized I was listening to audio from my cell phone... Sorry - *SPOILER ALERT* Eventually the secret is out and someone tells Holland's mom who FREAKS out and beats Holland and throws her out. Unbelievable! I can't imagine doing that to my future child or to anyone! Terrible woman. She should've been tossed in jail! And then what she said to Cece's mom!!! GRRRRR! *SPOILER ENDED* It upset me so much I cried. Poor Holland. Poor Cece. It's not crazy that it happened...it happens ALL the time. Sighs.

This was an amazing read. I do want more though. It sort of...just ended. It is left open-ended. I would love to have a sequel. I want...no....need to know what happens to Cece and Holland in the future! Maybe we can have a 20 years later story? I don't know. But I feel like their story is not completed yet. MORE MORE MORE PLEASE! 

The narrator was fantastic. She sounded familiar, but I was looking her up and I do not see any books I have listened to by her. Mmm. She seems to have so few. READ MORE! YOU ARE AWESOME!

Overall, I really liked this. The story. The characters. The narrator. All around very good. The beginning was a little rough because I was very judgemental on Holland but once you realize she is not just "bored" of her a-typical life and looking for a distraction, then you realize this is a very touching story about two girls finding each other. I stamp this with 4 stars. 






Challenge(s):

- #18 for Audiobook Challenge
- #14 for LGBT
bingo!





Tuesday, April 28

TMST: Book Series Started...but not finished

TMSToption2Blue

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings where Rainy discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. 




  
What are some series you started or fell behind on that you would like to pick back up?

Tough one, because there are a lot of series that I have started that was okay and that I liked to a point, but normally when I really adore a series I read it as fast as I can. I have no self-control TBH when it comes to a series I fall for. I fall hard and fast. 

Here are some I thought of right away that I SHOULD continue the voyage on someday and plan to one day....maybe....we shall see 


- Inferno Club Series by Gaelen Foley
I legit have ONE book left to finish the series. I've adored the series...but for some reason, I haven't had the motivation to track the last book down and read it. I know the last one I only gave 3 stars....but I still enjoyed it overall. 

Scandals with Bite Series by Brooklyn Ann
Read book one a while back and I gave it 4 stars. It was pretty good! Not sure why I stopped? I do want to read more. I have the next three listed as "want to read". 

The Wulfkin Legacy Series by T.F. Walsh
Why have I not finished this series??? I read the prequel and two of the novels. They were awesssssssssssome??? I must finish this one. I am getting behind!

The Dragon Archives Series by Linda K. Hopkins
Here is another one that I read book 1 and liked it a lot and I have a few of the series listed as "want to read". Mmmm not sure why I stopped for this one either. 

Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews
Book 1 was meh for me, but with the encouragement of the book and blog world I read book 2 and LOVED it....sooooo....why did I not read book 3? Maybe I am scared I won't like it? Sighs. I really need to just continue forward. 


Whelp - those are just a few series I thought of right away when creating this post. 



Image may contain: 2 people, including Carole Rae, closeup
Work is having a Spirit Week this week! Tuesday is dress like a professional day/No PJs since we are all working remotely due to the covid situation. Here is me sans makeup because I am not THAT motivated. And yes. Ralph is photobombing me ;) 



















Monday, April 27

Blodeuedd's Monday Review: First Comes Scandal by Jullia Quinn

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
Series: The Rokesbys, Book 4
Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 04-21-20
Language: English
Publisher: HarperAudio
Historical romance
For review

Poor Georgiana, she got abducted, and that makes her ruined. Ugh the times right! Her choices are marry the guy, no way, he can rot! Or be the talk of the town, or...

Nicholas is studying medicin., and I am sure he will become a great doctor cos he sure has the touch.

I mean, honestly, nothing happened. They are neighbor, they talk, they marry since scandal and all, then they take a looong drive up to Scotland. There they get a house and the book ends. Yeah, no drama at all, not that I want silly drama, but it was rather emotionless at times. Nothing happened. Except for some silly cat business.

They do fit together, and they have been friends forever. And obvi they then fall in love. But yes no real hardship or anything scarier than a howling cat.

So I am a bit torn, I do love Quinn, but the two latest books by her have been a bit so and so.

Narration.
Ok so I must have neg feelings about the book cos now I do not remember one thing

Georgiana Bridgerton isn't against the idea of marriage. She'd just thought she'd have some say in the matter. But with her reputation hanging by a thread after she's abducted for her dowry, Georgie is given two options: live out her life as a spinster or marry the rogue who has ruined her life.

As the fourth son of an earl, Nicholas Rokesby is prepared to chart his own course. He has a life in Edinburgh, where he's close to completing his medical studies, and he has no time—or interest—to find a wife. But when he discovers that Georgie Bridgerton—his literal girl-next-door—is facing ruin, he knows what he must do.


It might not have been the most romantic of proposals, but Nicholas never thought she'd say no. Georgie doesn't want to be anyone's sacrifice, and besides, they could never think of each other as anything more than childhood friends... or could they?

But as they embark upon their unorthodox courtship, they discover a new twist to the age-old rhyme. First comes scandal, then comes marriage. But after that comes love..

Sunday, April 26

Book Review: Ruined by a Rake by Erin Knightley


Ruined by a Rake (All's Fair in Love, #1)
Author: Erin Knightley 
Title: Ruined by a Rake
(All's Fair in Love #1)
Genre: Historical Romance, Novella
Format: ebook
Pages: 129 
Published:  March 31st 2013
Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon Freebie)



It started with a kiss.

When nine-year-old Eleanor Abbington first met her uncle’s new stepson, Nicolas Norton, the boy rudely stole a kiss from her that set the tone for their contentious and competitive relationship. It wasn’t until years later when Nick introduced her to fencing that they finally had a proper outlet for their frequent arguments.

Having just emerged from mourning following her mother’s death, Eleanor is exactly where she wishes to be at the age of four-and-twenty: an on-the-shelf spinster and unofficial companion to her aunt. Unfortunately, her ambitious uncle has other plans for her future. On the eve of his house party, he lays down his ultimatum: either Eleanor marries the man of his choosing, or he'll force her seventeen-year-old sister to do so instead.

When Nick unexpectedly arrives on their doorstep after a two year absence, Eleanor is in no mood for their normal banter. Seeming to know exactly what she needs, Nick challenges her to pick up the foil once more. During their pre-dawn matches, he shows her just how strong she can be . . . and exactly how much he’s changed since leaving. But when her old adversary becomes her only ally, she may very well find herself . . . Ruined by a Rake. 


Cleaning out some of these Amazon freebies from my shelf. :) 

Everything started when 9-year-old Eleanor first met her uncle's stepson, Nicolas and that rude little boy stole a kiss from her. This would lead to a life of a contentious and competitive relationship. Years later Eleanor finds herself at 24 and pretty much on-the-shelf spinster. This is just fine for her, but her ambitious uncle wants her to marry well and rich. After two years away, Nicolas shows back up and well...ruins everything. 

This was quick and it was entertaining. I enjoyed the banter between these two, but I felt there was something missing. Can't put my finger on it. There needed more drama or something. Not sure, but the plot felt a little yawn-worthy at points for me. I just wanted more. 

I liked Eleanor and I liked Nick. They were meant for each other and I thought it was silly that the uncle didn't simply arrange them to marry eons ago. He's an idiot and too ambitious. Sighs. 

The ending was pretty good. It wrapped everything up nicely. 

Overall, not bad. A little boring at bits, but I enjoyed the banter. A fun couple and an okay plot (even though I felt like there should've been more). I'll stamp this with 3 stars. 




Saturday, April 25

Joint Review: Wild Country by Anne Bishop






Hello all! Blodeuedd and I will be discussing "Wild Country" by Anne Bishop. Blodeuedd is in red and I am in blue.




Wild Country (The World of the Others, #2; The Others, #7)Author: Anne Bishop
Narrator: Alexandra Harris
Title: Wild Country (The World of the Others #2) (The Others #7)
Genre: UF, Fantasy, Paranormal
Published:  March 5th 2019
Format: audiobook
Pages: 492

There are ghost towns in the world—places where the humans were annihilated in retaliation for the slaughter of the shape-shifting Others.

One of those places is Bennett, a town at the northern end of the Elder Hills—a town surrounded by the wild country. Now efforts are being made to resettle Bennett as a community where humans and Others live and work together. A young female police officer has been hired as the deputy to a Wolfgard sheriff. A deadly type of Other wants to run a human-style saloon. And a couple with four foster children—one of whom is a blood prophet—hope to find acceptance.

But as they reopen the stores and the professional offices and start to make lives for themselves, the town of Bennett attracts the attention of other humans looking for profit. And the arrival of the Blackstone Clan, outlaws and gamblers all, will uncover secrets…or bury them.



The end of an era, we have listened to them all. I am sad.

Awwwwww so sad. I hope we get more one day, but who knows….the author probably wants to write other stuff. Such a good series!

I get that she wanted to get back to her other world, but, I LOVE this world. I love The Others. I HATE humans. I want more of that. I mean the peace right now is so fragile.

(oop - sorry I vanished for a min - I had to pull my strawberry cinnamon rolls out of the oven and frost them really quick) Yesss i get that she wants to do other stuff, but I feel there is still more story here. Lots of characters. I want to see more of a conclusion with everyone especially with these guys. It took me forever to fall in love with them and I am not ready to say goodbye yet! 

Second time around for me, so I did already love them. They are all so great! Virgil, who is so omg I want to hug him but he would eat me. Tolya who is so sanguinati. Jesse (I think she took a while for me to warm up to the first time around.) Barb who is so bubbly! Miss Plaguebringer, aye. Ok so everyone! Except for Abby, I hate Abby, oh and the bad guys ;)

I do feel bad for Abby. I do not like her, but I felt for her. BUT she needed to be honest and not so sneaky. It’s HER fault the baddies came. It took me a while to warm up to Virgil and his deputy...I think that is why the first couple of hours took me an eon to finish, but after a certain scene I was hooked. 

My heart just broke for me cos I knew what he had been through and I wished he could have eaten all the bad guys at once! And like I told, first time I read I wondered why people are so freaking stupid. Now during a pandemic, well people are stupid. They would totally still mess with the Others even after the others have wiped out towns. People are stupid as fuck.

Yess they should’ve just eaten them after Abby told them about them. Terrible people. And yesss, this series showed us how stupid people are and we are living through this pandemic and we see how idiotic people are. That is why there HAS to be more story!! There are still humans who think they are better and hate the Others. 

Thin the herds! Humans in this world do not deserve to live here, some do, but then there are the stupid one who think they can rule over everything and take what they want. SO yes I was very angry at the deputy at times. Who cares about the law, these are bad people, they need to be eaten.

I can get her point of view sometimes. She is thinking with human laws, not Other laws. Which was bound to be a transition for her for sure to realize she isn’t in the big city anymore. 

 I do get it, but these people. No second chances. She lives in a town where everyone got killed. Even the nice ones :/

Yepppp. No second chances. It is the Wild, Wild West here. 

So what did you think of the fact that this book takes place during book 5?

That was fun! I mean we know the conclusion, but I was still worried! LOL. It was fun to see how everything intertwined and impacted each other. 

I was not a fan to be honest, book 6 takes place after this so I mean I wanted to know about the future, and not things we have already gone through.

Really? Maybe I am just hopeful we’ll get another book that will tie these two together? LOL but I thought it was fun to see what was going on in another city. I do wish we could’ve got an epilogue or something if this is destined to the last one forever. 

Tie these two together? Which 2? Lake Silence?

All of them!! LOLL One big battle. All the cities and all the characters in one big book. LOL Am I thinking too big here? Do I want too much? Probably. xD

Lol, well the big battle was book 4 so I doubt it. The Elders are out there and will crush anything before it starts. I just want to see what happened after, like in 10 years or something

I want that too. But I want all the characters to meet. Have another big battle but they all have to team up or something. Then we get a nice big epilogue where everyone gets their HEA. 

Awww that would be nice :) But I do want new stories too, and maybe new continents!?

Awww that would be fun too. I just want more. I’ll take what I can! This world is soooo fun.

Same! Yes, everyone should try this series, in audio! Alexandra Harris is the best, she is amaaaaazing.

Yesss she is an awesome narrator. The audio is way better. Granted I only read book 1….so I can’t compare contrast. But I feel like the narrator really brings these characters to life. 

I would never imagine them this well in my head. Listen! :D
And what will we now do with our lives? More crappy books lol. This is really the best we have managed. 

Hahaha Same. I think with a huge cast of characters a narrator is really helpful, especially if they have a good range of voices to use. 
Sighs, yes, this was the best run we have had! We usually only get good books sprinkled in among the meh books. We’ll have to dig deep...or maybe we overthink? Maybe we just need to random pick. LOL Put a bunch of titles in a big hat and let the Fates decide? 

I think we overthink it. I often look at ratings, and that is not how I roll when I pick my own books! SO why do I do it here?

Same! I normally read reviews and ratings only when I’m trying to find something for us. So I say we let Fate decide. We pick some random ones and not look at ratings! Just the title and the summary!

Good call! Ratings are evil :)

They are! They are soooo evil and tricky. So next month we will let the Hat decide! LONG LIVE THE HAT!


The end.





About the Authors
Carole and Blodeuedd have been blogging for a long while now. The last few years the epic duo has been discussing books, watching movies, and even wetting the pen and sharing their stories with the worldwide web. They both love cats, chocolate, and a good story.


Friday, April 24

Movie Review: Isn't It Romantic (2019)




Isn't It Romantic PosterFilm Title: Isn't It Romantic (2019)
Length:     2h 6min
Released:    13 February 2019 (USA)
Genre:  Comedy, Fantasy, Romance 
Rating: PG-13
Where I Got It: Hulu

SUMMARY:

A young woman disenchanted with love mysteriously finds herself trapped inside a romantic comedy.










TRAILER:




REVIEW:

OooOOOoooo I've been itching to watch this movie since I saw the first trailer. I'm cheap and I don't like going to movie theaters anymore....I know...I know....but since I have the majority of streaming services...why spend more money when I can just wait a while and watch it there? Plus Blodeuedd liked it to from her review earlier which you can check out if you click THIS

Okay - so the film follows architect Natalie who used to be a romantic in her youth, but thanks to her mom and life...she hates romantic films. Well, after a bonk on the head she is transported to her very own romantic comedy. How on Earth is she going to get herself out of this jam?

WHAT A MISERY THAT WORLD WOULD BE!!! Living in a PG-13 movie??? Boring. I would snap. Yes, super snap. Just the idea is hilarious but poor Natalie! 

This was hilarious, especially because we all know the cliche scenes that are in every other romantic film, and seeing it in this light is truly comedic. We love them in films, but THAT is not real life. 

LOVED the cast. I wish we had more time with the enemy in the workplace trying to sabotage the main character. They could've done more with that. 

This is so cheesy, but I love cheesy. Just be warned of the cheese level ;)

Loved the ending....not the final dance/song scene though. I think that was a hair too much for me if I am to be honest here. 

Overall, this was fun and I want to re-watch it. Worth the watch. I'll give this 4 stars. 






Thursday, April 23

Book Review: The Bruce's Angel by Caroline Lee


The Bruce's Angel (The Highland Angels, #0.5)Author: Caroline Lee 
Title: The Bruce's Angel
(The Highland Angels #0.5)
Genre: Historical Romance, Novella, Short stories
Format: ebook
Pages: 112 
Published:  December 26th 2019
Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon Freebie)



Lady Charlotte MacLeod is desperate to escape marriage to a traitor, so she turns pirate. As the notorious Black Banner, she's able to capture the Queen's ship, and finally get someone to hear her evidence. But she doesn't expect the Queen to be guarded by the man who once stole her innocence and her heart.

Liam Bruce has spent years serving his royal cousin. While he doesn't begrudge this latest guard duty, he does regret that it's keeping him from returning to MacLeod land and the fiery angel he can't forget. But when he unmasks a dangerous pirate in the middle of a desperate battle, 'tis his Charlotte spitting curses at him!

Now it's up to Liam to protect his love from charges of royal treason. Can he convince Charlotte to trust him again?


I randomly found this on Amazon. They have so many freebies going on right now. I for sure recommend heading that way! 

The story follows Lady Charlotte is being forced to marry a traitor to Scotland and King Robert. No one at court will allow her to speak to the King about this man. In order to escape and save the King, she turns pirate and captures the Queen's ship in order to force them to listen to hear. Liam is the cousin of King Robert and is also the bodyguard of the Queen. He regrets having to leave Charlotte behind for an entire year, but duty calls. Can he save Charlotte from her treasonous acts and convince her to even forgive and trust him again?

This is a prequel to what seems like an interesting series. We get a little introduction to how this girl spy group is formed. Spoiler, no spoiler, but Charlotte's actions will unknowingly set in motion the Queen to create her own little spy group. How fun! I am intrigued to read about the other girls. 

This was a fun read. For sure something different and I was worried about Charlotte. GURL kidnapping the Queen is such a bad idea. BUT it worked....ish. LOL. However, desperate times call for desperate measures I guess. 

I liked Liam even though he was a bone-head. DUH she thinks you abandoned her. I would've thought the same thing! Sighs. Big, hot, dumb-dumb. 

This was short and fun. I am intrigued to read the next full book. I'll stamp this with 4 stars.