But, as Isolde spends more time with Adrian and the vampires in his court, Isolde starts to question what she’s been told about the history of the kingdom (including the disappearance of magic, the burning of witches, and the creation of vampires) and starts to wonder if Adrian is really the villain or monster that he’s made out to be. King of Battle and Blood is a fast-paced new adult paranormal romance novel featuring the “enemies to lovers” trope. The plot of this book reminded me of The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen and A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Additionally, the genre, vibe, “enemies to lovers” trope, and romance featured in King of Battle and Blood were reminiscent of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout. So, if you’re like me and you love spicy and action-packed new adult fantasy romance novels, then you should definitely check out King of Battle and Blood! This book deals with themes such as appearance versus reality, darkness versus light (or in this case, wolf versus sparrow), change versus tradition, growing up, quest for power, love and heartbreak, family, female roles and feminism, fate versus freewill, inner and outer strength, war and sacrifice, and knowledge versus ignorance. In my opinion, the morals of King of Battle and Blood are trust your heart, believe in yourself, and refrain from passing judgement before you have heard both sides of the story. First off, I loved how the plot/ action in King of Battle and Blood was fast-paced and I loved how Adrian and Isolde’s romance was the opposite of a slow burn; you get to dive right into the action and romance within the first couple of chapters which makes this book very intriguing and hard to put down! Similarly, I loved Adrian and Isolde’s instant chemistry and passion; King of Battle and Blood is filled with spice and romance throughout. King of Battle and Blood also has lots of unexpected twists and has an action-packed ending; it will keep you guessing and leave you wanting more. I loved how this book touched on feminism, female roles, and female empowerment; like how Rhys refreshingly treats Feyre as an equal by appointing her as the high lady of the night court (in A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas), I loved how, despite being a mortal, Adrian treats Isolde as an equal partner both in their relationship and their reign. Lastly, since I am into design, I must compliment the stunning cover art (that I think perfectly reflects the vibe of this book) and illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. On the negative side, I didn’t like how the chapters were very long in length; I don’t like stopping in the middle of chapters, so I felt like I had to set aside longer periods of time to read this book instead of picking it up for a few minutes here and there. I also found Isolde’s conflicting feelings toward Adrian (constantly going back and forth between freely falling for Adrian and feeling like she should push Adrian away to remain loyal to the kingdom of Lara) to be very frustrating and annoying. Overall, I adored this book, especially Isolde and Adrian’s spicy romance, the fantasy elements, and the action-packed plot, and I found myself unwilling to put this book down! This was the first one of Scarlett St. Clair’s books that I’ve read, and it totally exceeded my expectations. If you enjoy new adult fantasy and romance, I highly recommend picking up a copy of King of Battle and Blood when it comes out on November 30th! I gave this book a rating of 10 out of 10. This article was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://bit.ly/3zNGZHB
0 Comments
But Annie wants to keep things professional and guard her heart by focusing on growing S#!t Happens and restoring the paper mill…that is, until she figures out the real reason that Linc broke her heart all those years ago. Love Flushed is the second installment of Evie Mitchell’s All Access series, which focuses on a group of differently abled girlfriends searching for love in a smalltown. It is not necessary to have read the first book in the series (Knot My Type) before you read Love Flushed but I highly recommend it as we are introduced to Annie’s story in book 1 and Jay and Frankie’s love story (the main characters in book 1) continues in Love Flushed! Love Flushed is a spicy and unique new adult romance novel featuring the second chance romance and enemies to lovers tropes. This book would be perfect for fans Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey, the Bergman Brothers series by Chloe Liese, and the Brown Sisters trilogy by Talia Hibbert. Love Flushed deals with themes/ topics such as invisible illness and disability, love and heartbreak/ sacrifice, war, family and parental abuse, body type, physical and emotional scars, quest for power, female roles/ feminism, friendship, and appearance versus reality. I loved how, throughout this novel, the characters (and the readers) challenge their own misconceptions about invisible illnesses (like Crohn’s disease) and disabilities. Additionally, Love Flushed highlights the importance of found families and second chances. On the positive side, I appreciated how this book was on the shorter side (a little over 200 pages); we get to dive right into Annie story right from the get-go and all the writing was to the point with little to no “fluff” that didn’t aid in driving the plot forward. I loved how this book featured (in my opinion) a realistic portrayal of Crohn’s disease in addition to debunking falsehoods about invisible illnesses like Crohn’s and Colitis. Other than With You Forever by Chloe Liese, I haven’t come by a book that features a character with chronic IBD; I think that it’s awesome that books like Love Flushed and With You Forever are helping to spread awareness for Crohn’s and Colitis! I also enjoyed Annie’s sassy, supportive, and differently abled girl squad (especially their “red and read nights” whereby they get together to read and drink wine) and I cannot wait to read the rest of the girls’ love stories in the next All Access books! Similarly, I loved Linc’s heartwarming relationship with his veteran twin brother Theo and I really hope that we get to see Theo finding his happily ever after in future All Access books. Lastly, Annie and Linc’s second chance love story was full of romantic moments and loads of spice! Similarly, I loved how this book included 2 epilogues whereby we get to see what’s in store for Annie and Linc post happily ever after (we can also expect their story to continue on in All Access book 3).
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend Evie Mitchell’s All Access series to fellow new adult romance readers. I gave this book a rating of 9.5 out of 10. This article was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://bit.ly/3qpIdWD
“Love doesn’t come when it’s convenient…It crashes into your life when you least expect it”.
But, after Zara and Jay are constantly thrown together at the singles table during the wedding season, Jay becomes inexplicably drawn to Zara’s spunky and untamed personality and Zara comes to crave the comfortable stability that is Jay. When their sexual attraction becomes undeniable, Zara and Jay put their deal on hold to have a fling…but will they be able to keep love off the table? The Singles Table is the third book in Sara Desai’s Marriage Game trilogy but, although it would probably enhance your reading experience, you don’t need to have read the first two books before you read The Singles Table. This book is a sexy and fun romance novel featuring the enemies to lovers, opposites attract, and grumpy with sunshine tropes. I highly recommend this book to lovers of romance novels like Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey, Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese, and The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. The Singles Table deals with themes such as chaos and order, darkness and light, love and heartbreak, companionship, family, loneliness, quest for power, mental health, self preservation, work-life balance, and war. The moral of this story is that everyone is worthy of love and love is worth the risk of heartbreak. Also, the characters discover that, “life is short and you have to live your truth, embrace your joy, and pursue your dreams”. I loved Zara and Jay’s relationship in this book; the grumpy with sunshine trope paired with Jay’s “you touch her, and I’ll kill you” protective attitude about Zara was very intriguing and engaging to read. I also enjoyed the humorous elements sprinkled throughout this book including Zara’s quirky coworkers and clients (including a boss who carries a lightsaber and a client who impersonates a tiger) as well as Zara’s clumsy and rebellious antics (such as chasing after Lin-Manuel Miranda for an autograph and shooting Jay in the butt with a paintball gun). On the negative side, I was disappointed that a fair amount of the plot was dedicated to Zara’s Aunties’ matchmaking competition as, in my opinion, this wasn't very entertaining to read about (especially in comparison to Zara and Jay's exciting love story). I also thought that this book was slightly slow to start and was a bit challenging for me to get into; but, once Zara and Jay’s attraction to each other becomes irrefutable, the story gets a lot more engaging. Lastly, even though it is undeniably pretty, I wasn’t a huge fan of the cover art because I didn’t feel like it fit Zara’s wild personality. Overall, The Singles Table exceeded my expectations, and I would highly recommend it to fellow romance readers! I gave this book a rating of 9 out of 10. This article was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://bit.ly/3HQXhmL
|
Go to Reviews from:
February 2024
|