Reading Challenge Update

 

October is nearly over. I'll be traveling over the weekend and next week I'll be a busy bee....soooo I'll do the update now! We are nearly done with the year. A couple of months left to finish these challenges. 

Here is what I have read between Jan 1st - Oct 23rd 

Reading Challenges

Goodreads -  102 out of 143  130 (yesss I lowered it. This year has been a mess). Here are some recent ones I've finished! :D

Romance Reading Challenge -  25 out of 25. All done! Weeeee!

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge- 22 out of 16 done! Blasted past the goal!

LIBRARY LOVE CHALLENGE - 28 out of 24 borrowed and finished. Weeee another challenge completed! 

AUDIOBOOK CHALLENGE - 49 out of 50 done. One more! Here are some of my recent ones. 

DNF Second Chance -  I still need to do our 2nd one of the year. It keeps getting pushed to the back burner. Maybe it will be a November read or I could save it for December....Xmas is full of good will and forgiveness and love....right? 

But one is done. Here is the link to the review. I actually did like it more than the first time around! :)  

Audiobook Review: Ink and Sigil by Kevin Hearne

Author: Kevin Hearne

Narrator: Luke Daniels

Title: Ink and Sigil

Series: Ink and Sigil #1

Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery

Format: Audiobook

Published: August 25, 2020

Where I got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed with an extraordinary white moustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails – and a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with magically enchanted ink and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various pantheons, especially the Fae.

But he is also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will begin to feel an inexplicable hatred for Al, so he can only communicate through the written word or speech apps. And his apprentices keep dying in peculiar freak accidents. As his personal life crumbles around him, he devotes his life to his work, all the while trying to crack the secret of his curse.

But when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead in his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Gordie was living a secret life of crime. Now Al is forced to play detective – while avoiding actual detectives who are wondering why death seems to always follow Al. Investigating his apprentice’s death will take him through Scotland’s magical underworld, and he’ll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he’s to survive.

Review:

This was another book club book. I read book one of the corresponding series....I really need to go back before reading more of this series. 

Here we follow Al who is both blessed and cursed. He has a lot to be thankful for including having a unique magical talent....he can cast spells with magically enchanted ink and use his gifts to protect our world. However, he was also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will eventually feel an inexplicable hatred for Al. Also, his apprentices keep dying in weird freak accidents that are unexplainable. His luck gets worse when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead and Al discovers that Gordie was not a good man. He has been living a secret life of crime. Al is forced to play detective and avoid the actual detectives who are suspicious of him. 

Awwwww I adore Al. Can he be my grandpa? He is so sweet and funny and COOL! His powers are pretty awesome. I just hope he can lift the curse soon because he doesn't deserve it. I want him to be reunited with his family. I nearly cried when we seen that relationship crumble before he realized what was going on. Literally broke my heart. 

His comrades are fun. I especially loved Buck. He was hilarious. 

Speaking of humor....the humor was here just like in the other book. I do think the author tries a wee bit too hard sometimes to be funny. But I applaud the effort. Ironically when the author isn't TRYING to be hilarious...he is actually funnier. His subtle humor is best. 

Parts of me enjoyed this much more than the Druid series. I liked Al way better. Al has to be more clever since he is older and doesn't have the fighting abilities. He also has that pesky curse on him. Eeee. 

The mystery aspect was okay. I enjoyed watching Al need a lot of people to help him really uncover what is going on.

The ending has me needing and wanting more. However, I was told by a couple of people I should finish the Druid series first before getting deeper into this one. WAAAAAH!!!!!! But I love Al. And Nadia. And Buck!

The narrator was great. He had a LOT of accents he needed to do. Bless him. I hope they paid him really, really well. Especially because I felt he nailed EVERY accent. Kuddos there. 

In the end, I did enjoy this. It was different and fresh. Al was a gem and a hero that isn't your a-typical hero. Fun characters and interesting hurdles our heroes had to jump over. I want more that is for sure. I'll give this 4 stars.  

ONE WORD SUMMARY: Refreshing

Challenge(s):

- Audiobook #49

- Cloak & Dagger #22

- Library Love #28

Blodeuedd's Monday: Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron

By: Rachel Aaron

Narrated by: Nicholas Cain

Series: Tear Down Heaven, Book 1

Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins

Release date: 05-22-24

Urban fantasy/bookbeat.fi

It took me a while. I did not get into it, and then like 2 weeks after I tried again. It took a while but then I got into it.

I also felt the world maybe needed some more explaining.

Anyway, Bex is a demon who gets hired to protect Adrian who is a witch. He likes being a witch, but the powers that be wants him to be a nasty warlock and he is all f that! And he will hurt anyone trying.

So the book is building up for that final showdown when they are coming for him, and then slowly it turns out Bex is in trouble too.

In the end I did like it, but for a Rachel Aaron book is sure took time for me to enjoy it.

The narrator was good, but who knows, maybe I needed someone else

The Crew

A hulked-out wrath demon who eats gamer rage and loves cats, a shapeshifting lust demon who enjoys their food a bit too much, and a void demon who doesn’t see the point of any of this. They’re not the sort of mercenaries you'd hire on purpose, but Bex wouldn’t trust her life to anyone else.

Ever since the ancient Mesopotamian king Gilgamesh decided death wasn’t for him, killed the gods, and conquered the afterlife, times have been rough for a free demon. But the denizens of the Nine Hells aren’t the quitting sort, and Bex and her team have been choking a living out of the Eternal King’s lackeys for years. It’s not honest work, but when Heaven itself declares you a non-person, you smash-and-grab what you can get.

This next gig looks like more of the same…until Bex meets the client.

The Job

Adrian Blackwood is a witch with a problem. His family has skirted the edges of King Gilgamesh’s ire for centuries, but thanks to a decision he made as a child, Adrian is personally responsible for putting his entire coven in Heaven’s crosshairs.

Determined to set things right, Adrian drags his broom, caldron, and talking cat thousands of miles across the country to Seattle where he can fight the Eternal King’s warlocks without bringing the rest of his family into the fray. But witchcraft--like all crafts--takes time, and if the warlocks catch him before his spells are ready, he’s dead. So Adrian does what any professional witch would do and hires a team of mercenaries to keep the warlocks off his back. He didn’t expect to get demons, but when you’re already on the killing-edge of Heaven’s bad side, what’s a bit more fuel on the fire?

Sometimes you get more than you paid for.

Neither Adrian nor Bex knew what to expect when they signed their contract, but witch-plus-demon turns out to be a match made in the Hells. With this much chaos at their fingertips, even impossible dreams can come back into reach, because Bex wasn’t always a mercenary. She used to be the Eternal King's biggest nightmare, and now that she’s got a witch in her corner, it’s time to put the old magics back on the field and show Adrian Blackwood just how much Hell he’s hired.

Book Review: Halloween Werewolf by Kestra Pingree

Author: Kestra Pingree

Title: Halloween Werewolf

Series: The Holiday Shifter Mates #1

Genre: Paranormal Romance, LGBT, Novella

Format: ebook

Pages: 135

Published: September 22, 2018

Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon)

Summary: 

A wolf howls on the mountain.

Austin’s heart skips a beat.

It’s been a long time since he heard that sound.

And it brings back memories.

Review:

This was a freebie and I had to have it. One, Halloween season bebe! Two, can't resist a PR. Three this is a M/M PR which is a rare thing. Weeeeeee!

Here we follow Mateo and Austin. They were friends when they were younger and they both had a crush on each other. Things happen and Mateo has to leave. Years past and Austin has been trying to get over his silly crush, but he can't shake the memories of Mateo. Mateo comes back to town to get revenge for his parents and he comes across Austin. The love is rekindled and they can't and won't be separated anymore. However, Mateo still needs to stop the murdering of shapeshifters. 

This was cute. I liked Mateo and Austin. It was insta-love, but they have a past so it didn't bug me. They both crushed on each other hard for years even after Mateo had to leave. 

The baddies are bad. Grrrrr. I'm with Mateo murder them. 

Honestly my only complaint was that I wanted more of their past. I would've loved to seen some flashbacks here and there. I would've loved to see them young and crushing madly over each other. Eeee. Also, I would've loved to see them together longer. Maybe more interaction and dates?

All-in-all, this was cute and short. A nice romance with some baddies that need to be stomped out to save other shifters. I would've liked to see more flashbacks of them being young and maybe more dates. I'll give this 4 stars. 

 

ONE WORD SUMMARY: Delightful