More Book pictures

As I must have mentioned in another post _it is hard to keep track of all the things I mention here... or in Booklikes or even Goodreads... so I am sorry if you have heard this a Million Times Over and over _ until a couple of months ago, most of the galleys I read had the advantage of making me save some money though the infallible logic of:

I would read them, I would hate dislike them, therefore I wouldn't spend any money on them!

It was lovely... pocket wise, although completely infuriating on a completely different level...

But, then September arrived, and all of a sudden "it is raining books"!

Books from series that we I follow, like "The Winter Long" by Seanan Mcguire _have I told you today that the October Daye series is my favourite urban fantasy series? I think not ;) _ long awaited conclusions to loved trilogies, as is Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan case . Hopefully I'll share its picture on a near future once the postal office delivers it to me! _ re-editions of loved series as is the case with Kim Harrison "Hollows" series _ I admit: I stopped reading the series because I was hoping for brand new paperback editions... since I hated most of the ones available o_O I know! I exist... _ and then there are the unexpected gems...

September has been filled with this latest type:

I loved Radiant (Book 1 Towers Trilogy), an arc that I read not so long ago through Edelweiss by Karina Sumner Smith, and of course I had to buy it, so it could share my shelves with another of my favourites in the dystopian department. I received it today :)

Then there was also Elizabeth Vail's The Duke of Snow and Apples, the winner of the last NaNoWriMo that I first read in ebook, but since I loved it so much, I had to go and also buy it... because... BOOKS!!

Others, as is the case with Lindsey Davis' "The Jupiter Myth" are part of series that I love (I dare you to try the first book of the Marco Didio Falco series, and not be hooked), but somehow it is taking me awhile to finish it... or maybe I just don't want to do that...

Then there's two translated editions of books that I honestly never thought about reading, much less buying, but they were with such big discounts that I just couldn't resist! I am talking about Diana Peterfreund' "Morning Glory" and Tessa Gratton' "Blood Magic."

So, here are some pictures of my latest book acquisitions.

What about you? What books have you been buying and loving? :)

                                    

                           

Miss Spelled by Sarah Belle

Diversity is such a wonderful thing isn't it?

For instance, had I read a single review that had given this book a one star rating, I wouldn't have to be writing one myself because... someone else would have saved me the time and money.

I was refused an arc of this book.

On the one hand I would like to thank that person who refused my request ...whoever she/he may be:

It is obvious that YOU have more sense than I'll ever have in my lifetime!

Because just after I got my hands on my shiny new Kobo Aura, guess what I bought!!

This... story :/

On the other hand... HOW COULD YOU refuse my request??

You made me spend my money on this!

o_O

There's a song that comes to mind when I start thinking about this book: Yes, it even has its own soundtrack!

How lovely is this?

Michael Jackson: Bad

This is so bad, in a Crazy for Mary _everyone's over the top and pretty much insane_ kind of bad!

I love Magical Realism.

This is not magical realism.

 PLEASE, stop saying things like that.

This is the second book in a short period of time that has claimed to have magical realism connotations.

 I think you don't know what magical realism means.

 Please go read some Alice Hoffman, and Sarah Addison Allen books so you can get an idea...

Also by claiming that a book is written according to magical realism, you will actually get readers who are used to reading magical realism!

Those readers _ myself included _ will not find this categorization amusing.

For me this is pure and utter nonsense, with a side dose of idiocy.

 Chick Lit meets spells... internet spells.

I don't like idiocy _there, I've admitted it! _, I like humour. I like wit. I like quirkiness.

This?

I did not like.

Mixing fantasy elements in a contemporary setting is always complicated. When to that one adds an extra dose of insanity?

Well, it depends on the readers: some will have a wonderful time, and others will have a fit.*hand up in the air*

All the characters in this story, are stereotyped clichés in a type of soap opera drama that meets romantic comedy:

The characters with money are pretty much all described as spoiled, egocentric asses... who eat too little and "sniff" too much.

The ones that don't have that much money, are pretty much all great people with a strange sense of humour.

The main character has that lovely characterization of: Oh  My God, my boyfriend is so hot and wonderful, and I wonder what he saw in me! 

Also I should give thanks every day of my life because he's with me... simple old me.

________

Then there's the casual slut shaming...

____________

In the end the only character who has some sort of sense is Mel, Lou's BFF.

And this is why I am giving this 1.5 stars..

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if this got adapted to the cinema:

It has that vibe.

Also the cover?

The cover transported me to a lovely beautiful romance... in my head :/

In truth the cover should have been something along the lines of "My girlfriend has amnesia/  Meet The Parents/...Fockers".

Sorry, not for me.

Author's Official Site

And if you really, really want to...

@Kobo

@Amazon.com

The Love Match by Lily Maxton (Sisters of Scandal #3)

Arc Provided by Entangled Publishing through Netgalley

Release Date: October 13

First of all, let me start by saying that I am following the infamous Goodreads classification in which a two star rating is an okay read.

And by okay read,_ in this one_ I mean that I liked reading it. So why not a three star rating?

Because this was just too short!!! (yes, I know this is a novella o_O but even so, a little more development in quite a number of fronts would just do this tale justice!)

Will I be re-reading it?

Probably not, but this had some good moments that I enjoyed, and being greedy as I am, I couldn't help lamenting the fact of not having more pages to read. ( It appears I don't quite grasp the concept of novellas, lol)

“You deflect attention from yourself. You, sir, are a deflector.”
“I’m not familiar with the term,” he said smoothly.
“I don’t think we’re very different at all. You simply hide yourself in plain view. You ooze charm and—”
“I sound like an infected wound,” he remarked.

This is the story of a bluestocking and of a wanna be rake.

Apparently they wouldn't have anything in common, but matters of the heart are what they are _I could really use a little more development in this part, because it was all too quickly done _ and pretty soon, the two of them find themselves entangled, and in the middle of a scandal.

Despite the fact of this being the third in a series, I had no problem in picking up where it started.

Bottom Line, I liked the writing and the characters, but of course I would have preferred it  if the plot had a little more... well, plot!

In which case this wouldn't be a novella, but a full length novel ;)

Author's Official Site

Buy "The Love Match"

@Kobo

@Amazon.com

The Pirate's Wish (The Assassin's Curse #2) by Cassandra Rose Clarke

a 

Less than three months ago I read the first book in this duology: The Assassin's Curse.

But then arcs got in the way, and it took me this long to have a chance to finish reading this story.

Also, since I read as I breathe _aka, my memory sucks_, I decided that I should re-read it before starting this one... because I don't like forgetting the little things that happen in a plot.

So re-read the Assassin's Curse I did, and it was still a fun adventure to read!

And then came this one, The Pirate's Wish...

I gave 4.5 stars to the first book, because I loved it. The characters were interesting, the world building was vividly drawn...

You name it, it had it.

With the sequel I am afraid I started feeling that it was more of the same: Ananna and Naji are still on the Sky Island, and it turns out that going there had barely any effect on the guy's curse. *Too much ado for nothing*

Yes, something happens there *I am going to keep it vague*, but I guess that would have happened anywhere: It was a thing of the moment, and it was not connected to the place...

A thing that bothered me in this story was the amount of angst that exists in it..- there's angst to give and sell.

There were times I just wanted to shake Ananna and tell her to stop being so unhappy on account of a brooding *not really in the mood for talking* assassin.

I kept hoping to feel their relationship evolve,_ which it eventually did _ but through most of the time, they were their same old selves: _one was miserable... the other was... forget that, both of them were miserable, and of course they couldn't talk about it.... *face-palm*

As things were, I have to say that my favourite character in this one, was probably the Manticore.

At least she was straightforward with what she wanted:

To eat men's flesh.

Especially Naji's...unfortunately for the lady Manticore (I am sorry but if I try to copy her long name here, I am bound to miss some letters!) our favourite brooding assassin has the "famous" curse on him, therefore he's not available for proper consume.

o_O

Marjani, who helped both our heroes in the previous book also appears, _ she helps make things more bearable to read by diffusing all that angst_ and soon enough Ananna and Naji are on the cusp of another adventure.

Battles on sea, flesh eating manticores, confronts with old enemies, and reunions with loved ones, it all happens here.

It was nice trying to figure out how those two could get rid of the god-damn curse.

I'll confess that regarding the last one, I was somewhat surprised with how it worked out, because I really thought I had it figured out. *Yes, I am an idiot.*

Something happens during a battle, and Ananna and Naji become even more bonded to one another, and somehow I thought that that would be it. The whole *life from death* paradox...

But no... instead what happens are talking sharks. Which is always something unexpected!

In the end, this was a good story _not a favourite as the first one _, with an adequate ending

I honestly thought that it was well done, and appropriate:

The author respected the characters nature. 

What more is there to ask?

Auhor's Offcial Site

Buy "The Pirate's Wish" (there's two editions:, so check out the available sizes. I normally indicate the one that is cheaper at the moment of writing the post..)

(Don't forget that Strange Chemistry is no more, and copies probably won't be available for much longer)

@Bookdepository.com

The Prince Who Loved Me (The Oxenburg Princes #1) by Karen Hawkins

Arc provided by Pocket Books through Netgalley

Release Date : September 23rd

Reasons why I loved this book:

Bookish main characters who agree on the vital importance of reading!

Bronwyn goes as far as to affirm that she would rather own a library "subscription", than to be a princess... which is a very sensible statement for her to make!

Because how one finds the time to read with all those people looking at you, I have no idea!

A rakish prince of a somewhat modern kingdom who is determined on living his life the way he wants to, without having anyone telling him otherwise. Thankfully for Aleksey he has three brothers, and one of them is the eldest, so... he may continue partying. ;)

I am kidding. He's not as irresponsible as he would like people to think so _ as all reformable rakes do.

He likes small fluffy dogs, so those are some serious bonus points for him...

He's not overly attached to the latest fashion style...

And of course, the most important of all: He likes to read!

He has however an asinine thinking moment _the most flagrant one _ but that ends up being thwarted by our heroine's big ears and correct *GPS* positioning. (lol)

She totally eavesdrops the conversation :)

Bronwyn has a somewhat Cinderella life: She has two stepsisters... but they all love one another.

She has a stepmother _not evil or wicked _ who is determined that her daughters should marry well.

Truth be told, she is more worried about the two younger daughters, but only because Bronwyn has made perfectly clear that she is rather happy with her life. Also, she is twenty four years old, so she is practically on the shelf!

Now imagine what will happen when this Mama bear discovers that there is a prince in the vicinity...

"A prince? Well he must marry your sister!" (not this phrasing, but you know what I mean)

 Unfortunately for the scheming Mother, her beautiful daughter is far from interested in the Prince...

The prince is much more interested in her plainer older daughter... who in turns is also quite infatuated with the prince!

As you can see, this could turn out problematic... fortunately for us, the author didn't choose the melodramatic path so things worked out in a mostly sane way...

Of course there are people climbing castle trellis, and things like that...

Secret Marriages...

Naked princes...

Naked princes with glasses...

o_O

Normally with Cinderella retellings, the Cinderella is the most beautiful girl in the setting.

Not in this one.

 I liked that Bronwyn isn't "the fairest of them all", and that Aleksey couldn't care less about it.

As he mentions repeatedly: beauty isn't enough.

More cookie points for this.

Another great thing about this story, is that it has a pretty good dynamic, and we never get tired of reading about the couple _or couples _ in the book; mainly because there is a vast number of secondary characters, that keep things vastly interesting.

Take Aleksey's grandmother for instance: their interactions are insanely amusing, even when she's vexing him repeatedly!

The woman is a dragon, and she is determined to see him married... whether he wants to, or not.

Bottom line: A pretty good romance that kept me up almost all night long, with an irresistible couple, and quite a number of meddling family members... to keep things interesting enough.

I can't wait to read more about this family!

Apparently one of the other brothers already has his own book, in a different series, so I am looking forward to attacking it...

I also can't wait to see what their grandmother has in store for the rest of her stubborn grandsons! ;)

Author Official Site

Buy "The Prince Who Loved Me"

Bookdepository.com

The Night Garden by Lisa Van Allen

Release Date: October, 7th

    Arc provided by Ballantine Books through Netgalley

It appears that I have been lucky.

Up until this book I had never considered the fine line in which magical realism authors have to stay in in order for things to work. The phrases used that should be magical, instead of cheesy: 

Part of Olivia's particular allure was how mysterious she seemed, how kind hearted yet distant, how nurturing but withholding, how resistant to summary of any kind.

Up until this story I had never read such a poor attempt at this genre...

I wasn't able to read this as magical realism: for me this is a mishmash of soap opera romance with some silly metaphors, performed by lacklustre characters. 

"Cats had begun taking dust baths like birds, and birds began lazing on  porch stairs like cats (..)"

Well, that, or cats could just open their big mouths to provide a nice cool shade for the birds...

Descriptions should be used to help the story be told. They should not be used to fill pages "per se!"

And that's what I feel happened here.

I don't want to read a book mainly filled with descriptions, in which the characters don't have anything in them... besides some extremely deranged drama!

Long, long, boring descriptions that surpassed the clichéd and went full into cheesy department. 

"The birds in the valley began to sing such intricate and virtuosic songs, that scientists with recorders and binoculars started to come from miles around, enraptured by avian talent."

Two words that probably should never, ever be used together!

Avian + Talent! 

First she knew that she still wanted him in the same old way, on a level that was elemental and animal and chemical and utterly miserable and thrilling and miserable again.

Yes, there is quite a number of adjectives that can be used in a text...

But just because you can use them... doesn't mean you should use them all at once.

For me, this overuse of adjectives doesn't make a sentence stronger, it makes it weaker, because the whole thing is just too verbose!

Why can't you people just save a few trees?!

If you can say something in a single page, why use ten freaking pages? 

(..)he could see that she was wearing a pale cotton dress that made her look as sweet and cool as an ice cream cone.(..)"

Ice cream cone? Really?

I can't even...

Then there's this sense of white book for white people, because of phrases like this: 

"If people shunned them because his family had been white and Jewish, and hers was neither of those things, they were too much in love to notice or care."

"Neither of those things.."

Maybe its just me. But this particular phrasing rubs me the wrong way...

So, what colour was she? Blue, Pink, Black?

What's the problem with using the actual word?

Then it has that slight sermon(ish) thing about God... 

"It was only by the Grace of God that they had managed not to have sex;"

*Snorts*

This was supposed to have that thwarted big romance vibe! But instead what I got was: Two kids that knew each other growing up, and who then decided to experiment (their words)  making out.

They liked it so much, so of course they had to be in love :/

First and only love. For her at least... poor woman :/

The romance between a strong, good woman, and a kind, courageous man...

Then due to the amount of information given, we get things like these:  In one moment Olivia's hair is peach coloured, and in the night it is the colour of wine.

No

I don't care which time of the day it is. Colour pigments aren't rainbows!

As a redhead myself, that doesn't happen, unless you change hair colour multiple times a day (DON'T!).

Less is More! Don't overcomplicate things. 

Then this is not appropriate reading material to scientists because this would probably give them an apoplexy!

We have a character who has to be in constant contact with poisonous plants, because if she doesn't, she will die!

How? Why?

No one knows for sure... it appears to involve some gross parental neglect, but besides that?

Nothing...

Now, this is where the magical realism would enter, if this had been properly developed!

This setting could work! (I am thinking about Alice Hoffman's beautifully done Ice Queen in which the characters have some different health conditions...) But unfortunately this one was so poorly done that I didn't buy this for a instance :/

Oh, and the last part, with the monstrous vines and all that?

That should be in a fantasy book, not a magical realism one:

It was way over the top.

 I am aware that this review borders the angry... and you know what?

 Yes, it does, because people keep comparing this to Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen, and that couldn't be further away from the truth, and that leaves me upset.

Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen books are about connections: friends, family, lovers.

This one is mainly a convoluted romance... and I didn't even feel all that love between them!

Then  there's the story of Olivia and her father, but the thing is so ridiculous that I am not even going to bother with it...

Here we don't have strong women's relationships. We have our main character, Olivia, that is all that is good and kind, and perfect, and basically the perfect woman... and then we have the other ones: Who aren't.

I don't think I will be reading any more books by this author.

Author's Official Page

Pre-order it:

Bookdepository.com

The Crystal Slipper by Selena Fulton

 Arc provided by Entangled Publishing through Netgalley

Release Date: September 22 nd

DNF at 35%

It is only very rarely that my inner book snob makes an appearance.

I read almost every literary genre, and if a book has an interesting plot, and if it is well written, I don't care who wrote it, or what the book is all about.

But when I start reading something that is so inane, so devoid of imagination, and so full of clichés, you can bet all you want, that my inner bookish snob, does make an appearance.

Loud and screaming!

First of all, to describe an office as "posh" is not what I consider to put your imagination and your descriptive abilities to use.

That, did give me a warning.

Second of all, this is a contemporary romance with traces of paranormal in it, this means that us readers need to know why is it, that conversations of enchantments, magic and so on, don't bother the rest of the secondary characters that deal with the main "special" characters, such as Preston and his family.

I don't know about you...but if someone were to tell me that he was on the prowl for some magical shoe, I would need some serious explanations...

So what is it, with Preston's family?

Why are they so special? Why did he grow up with a witch? A real magical one?

These were things I needed to know in the first pages of the book, so I wouldn't feel as if I had landed by parachute in the middle of something, I had no idea....what!

Then, the categorization of women according to the level of makeup and jewellery they use?

Really? In our time and age?

The woman clearly had expensive taste, wore gaudy jewelry and too much makeup."

So do you! (except for the makeup... at least I hope  you don't...)

The guy wears a gold pinkie ring, and he wants to talk about people's taste?

Are you kidding me?

What is this?

Some long forgotten novel of the eighties?

Hey, feminism, were are thee???

Because I read a couple of hundreds of harlequin novels in my teens, and those had these type "of plot" going on for them....

And if back then it was bearable to read, now I am afraid I'll just have to call this a lazy work.

Also reading a book that should be a retelling of what... Cinderella?

You're supposed to have a nice guy _ or at least a somewhat redeemable guy_... the so called prince that is. That doesn't have to be rich, or to have a castle, or a Mercedes to be a women's prince charming!!

(there the essence of retellings and all that...)

What you're supposed to have _somewhat _ is a nice guy.

Now, this _piece of crap! _ is not a nice guy!

Sure, he and Raven had talked about marriage. What adolescent didn’t allow a dreamy-eyed girl to talk such things in order to win a kiss? Or more? At that time, all he could think about was having a girl in his arms, and to see how far he could get.
Raven had been more than happy to oblige.

Because its always the woman's fault, right?

And even if I don't finish this, I know where this is going...because this is that basic.

So, the poor guy simply hadn't met the right woman, who will be his one and only, and they'll live happily ever after...

......

......

o_O!!!

Something else about her bothered him. Why couldn’t he get the polite librarian out of his mind? He’d only met her a few times, had dinner with her once. A shy thing, she was intelligent, he could see it in her eyes, but there was something more. She had a vulnerable, almost innocent quality about her, and it made him yearn for more.

You hear that ladies?

Be meek. Be quiet. Be innocent, and you may find your own jackass prince.

And I'm done.

_____________

In the last page I read, the guy was giving her a bracelet and telling her that she could keep all the presents he was going to give her, while he was going to try to make her fall in love with him...not because he loves her...but because due to the curse that afflicts his family, he has to make a poor schmuk fall in love with him.

__________

 The only positive side is that said schmuk is aware of this situation. So, she's not only a schmuk and a doormat. She's also an idiot.

A lonesome idiot, but an idiot nonetheless.

Sorry, but I don't read contemporary stories in which women are waiting for a idiot charming, rich man to come bearing gifts and save them.

Author Official Site

Buy " The Crystal Slipper"

@Amazon.com