A Book Review: Fourth Wing

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1)
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Format: Digital
Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Synopsis:

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

Probably my most favorite read of this year to date. I have enjoyed reading over the years but it's few and far between books when I find one that I just can't put down and it makes me yearning for more.

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

My Rating:

A Book Review: Beyond the Veil

Zodiac Academy 8.5 - Beyond the Veil
Author: Susanne Valenti & Caroline Peckham
Format: Digital

Pages: 411
Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Publication Date: June 30, 2023

Synopsis:

The stars called us.
The Veil closed at our backs.
And now death holds us in its clutches.

We were torn from life before our time, a Savage King, his queen, a betrayed son, a wronged brother, a scorned wife and so many more. We watch those we left behind as they struggle against the grip of the stars, the answers to so many of their questions within our grasp and yet out of their reach. But what if we could find a way to answer their pleas? What if we could find a way to help them from this side of the divide? And what price would such a thing come at?

So, I usually don't buy or read the in-between books in the series. I would say novella but those are supposed to be pretty short, and this sucker is 415 pages.

One of the main reasons I actually got this one is because I was missing the ZA characters something bad and since it'll still be quite a few months before we get book 9 out of the sisters, I thought this one would tide me over. To be perfectly honest, this book kind of fell flat compared to the other books in the series. 

Yes, it's an in-between story but when they said they were writing about the characters that were behind the veil, I thought we would really get something out of it. This was basically just a small recap of book 8 with other point-of-views. I really wished we would have gotten something jaw-dropping about these other characters, but it just wasn't there. Even though it really didn't scratch the itch of missing the series, I still gave it 4 marks. Mainly because the sisters' writing always entertains me, we got to meet Hail and Merissa Vega, and I LOVED seeing a certain character's reaction in chapter 21. (IYKYK)

My Rating:

A Book Review: Smash (MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY)

Smash: A Stepbrother MMA Romance
Author: B.B. Hamel
Format: E-book
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: December 22, 2015

Synopsis:

He's my stepbrother, my husband, and my dirty little secret.

It all started with a mistake.

He was a stranger back then. Arrogant, cocky, and sexy as hell, I couldn't resist falling into his orbit. And then one night, we made the dumbest decision of our lives.

We got married. We thought it was just a game but we were oh-so-wrong.

Cole Redson is an MMA fighter. His whole life is fast and hard, violent and dirty. He's the complete opposite of me, and everything I shouldn't want.

I never thought I'd see him after that. But when our high powered CEO parents get hitched, suddenly we're stuck living in the same house.

He's my stepbrother and my husband. He's my dirty little secret sleeping in the room next door.

Then again, secrets never stay hidden for long.

When I find pictures of Cole kissing me tucked under my pillow, I'm thrown into a world of blackmail and excitement like I've never known before. Meanwhile, I'm trying to balance Cole's filthy comments and his toe-curling hot body with my need to finally get divorced.

The stakes are huge. Our parents' careers are on the line, not to mention Cole's whole life as a fighter. I'm stuck between a marriage I don't want and my stepbrother's rock hard abs, trying to stop the truth from coming out.

I was in the mood for something.. else..  I've been reading mainly YA, and some sweet little flirty books and need a bit more excitement if you know what I mean. When I saw an MMA book I figured this would be a good one (because seriously, MMA fighters are just plain hot) but I was sorely mistaken. My first hint was I got it when it was free on Amazon. I've only found a couple of free books that I actually enjoyed. The rest were so/so writing and I completely understand why they were free.. so I certainly should have taken that into consideration.

It was definitely more of the physical, in your face, dirty writing. I mean, I wanted sex and I, without a doubt, got it but at the same time it didn't really have substance. The storyline really could have been good if the author had developed the characters more or given more thought about the story. But instead, every other chapter was an awful sex scene about how much he liked eating her out and how much she loved his big cock... (etc, etc)

I love a good raunchy book from time to time, (my favorite past-time is reading M rated fan fiction) but I still need my story and when there barely is one, or the sex scenes are really forced, it really made me not want to read it anymore.

I didn't put it down though. This was a pretty short book and only took me a couple of hours to read so I thought I would fight it through and finish.  I see the average rating for this book is actually at 4 stars so obviously there are some people who really enjoyed it. It just wasn't but cup of tea so I gave this book 2 Marks. If you still feel like you want to read it, click the add to goodreads link down below!

My Rating:

Screwed by Laurie Plissner

Publisher: Merit Press Publication Date: May 18, 2013 Genre: Young Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

Grace was the girl who always did everything right, until the night she fell for a boy's sleazy line and became pregnant. Nick couldn't care less about pretty math-geek Grace or the baby he fathered. He's had a dozen girls like her, and he'll have a dozen more. When Grace confesses to her super-religious, strait-laced parents, they deliver a shocker: They've scheduled an abortion. All they want is to pretend this never happened.

When Grace balks, they literally throw her out in the street. A rich, elderly neighbor takes her in, and, with the help of the friendship she needs in Charlie, the old woman's great-nephew, she must make the toughest choice of her young life. The people she believed in were only playing a role, while others, in an unlikely way, are true heroes.

Grace can never have the life she planned, but she has one chance to be the person she will have to live with for the rest of her life. Her choice will cost her, big time, either way--and no one can make it except her.

Review: 
I have mixed feelings about this book. When I first saw it online, I thought it had a really good story line to it. How many girls do you hear about nowadays that are getting pregnant at 16...15.... even 14.. I like that Laurie Plissner had the courage to write about such a touchy subject.

Many times you hear about a one-time hook up that ends up in teen pregnancy. When uptight, goody-goody, Grace, finds out she is pregnant in high school, it isn't even her worst nightmare. She never even imagined this happening so how could it have even been a nightmare? It's more like a disaster. Quickly after finding out, her parent's demand an abortion and she refuses. She is then shunned from the family. Her neighbor who Grace really doesn't know anything about comes to her rescue. She gives her a place to live and support that her parents should have shown her.

While staying with Mrs. T, she meets her hostess's great-nephew, Charlie. Throughout the story Charlie and Grace's friend, Jennifer, are there for her through thick and thin. I think some girls would die for that type of support from their peers. 

I give the book 3 bookmarks because it seemed a little unrealistic to me. I mean, I know some girls do have a 'knight in shining armor' or a 'fairy grandmother' type person who can come in to rescue you at trying times in your life but 9 times out of 10, this doesn't happen. When I first read the synopsis, I figured her neighbor took her in just to get her back on her feet for a little while, not that the neighbor was loaded and that she pretty much had one of the easiest pregnancies out there while living in style. This is where my mixed feelings come in. I do see where she had troubles throughout the pregnancy. Her parent's having nothing to do with her, the poor excuse of a human being that knocked her up, and the bullying at school but something about the way it was written didn't really hit me as being 'that bad'. Usually when my emotions get tied into a book, I enjoy them more. Maybe that was what happened, I didn't feel all that bad for Grace. I can't explain why, I just didn't.

On the other side, I did really like the relationship between Grace and Charlie. He was her rock and was never judgmental  What happened happened and there was nothing he could do about it but love Grace like she needed to be. I wish we could have seen more of a relationship with the two of them but I completely understand why we didn't. She was a pregnant teenager. Who would really start  a relationship when they felt like they were as big as a boat and the guy was a hottie. That just doesn't happen unless you were already in the relationship before hand. They were pretty much strangers and were just starting to know each other and I accept that. 

I'm not going to say I don't recommend this book. Because I do. I urge you to. I want you to read it and tell me what you thought. Could you relate with the character or were you just as disconnected as I was? Do you disagree with my rating?

My rating: