Serpent and Dove - Shelby Mahurin

Review Date:  September 4th, 2019
Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars

"Bound as one to love, honor, or burn..."

Are you guys prepared for what I have to share with you today, because it's absolutely incredible!

There aren't enough good things to say about this book.  The cover art is amazing and eye-catching, the fantastical plot is phenomenal, and the main characters are spot on...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let me start off by saying Serpent and Dove is the quintessential love to hate trope.  

The story starts off in seventeenth-century France and follows Louise Le Blanc, or Lou for short.  Lou is a mischievous, fun loving, chaos chasing witch who for all purposes intended has denounced her power and abilities in a world that shuns witches and burns them at the stake.  In this world their are three main groups.  You have witches, you have the Church, and you have humans.  Witches tend to prey on the humans because they have been wronged and are seeking revenge.  The Church is a group that polices the streets of France and deals with the chaos and havoc these witches create.  They see witches as a evil mark in the world that should be eradicated when found.

Enter Reid Diggory.  Reid is a chasseur, a group of people who are described as hunters of the Church, holy men who protect the kingdom from witches like Lou.  Reid has always been a man sworn to duty and allegiance and has a reputation for being very good at the job he has.

Until he bumps into the one woman that makes him question everything, but...in a rare turn of events...who he ends up being bound to in the holy act of matrimony.  (No spoilers here, this is revealed directly in the description of the book).

What isn't revealed is the complete chaos that ensues when Lou and Reid are forced to set aside their issues and work together as more or less a team.  Though the hate between the two is palpable, can something more grow when a larger evil foe reveals themselves?  And what will happen to our favorite characters of the book, when some hard learned secrets are revealed?

This book is described as a steamy YA series that is perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas.  While I fully believe that, I believe this book is a genre all of its own.  Rarely this year have I gotten to know and love characters so much as I have with Reid and Lou.  The setting of the story, the plot...the plot twists!...and even the writing style, had me reading this from cover to cover almost in one sitting and this is a hefty book of about 514 pages.  

Shelby Mahurin has a way with words that has been rare to find in more recent novels.  I cannot wait to find out what happens with Reid and Lou (especially after that ending!), and I feel as though this will be a series that I will hate to wait until the next novel is out.  If you are interested in picking up a copy of Serpent and Dove, you don't have to wait any longer!  The first act of this incredible series came out on September 3rd, 2019.

Happy Reading!

Hello September!!

September is FINALLY here.  While Summer is fun and enjoyable, I've always been the one so in love with Fall.  The cooler temperatures, the emergence of sweaters, Pumpkin Spice!, and yes...the tons of books that manage to pour themselves into my TBR pile EVERY time!

This year is no different, with the beginning of Fall, comes an absolutely HUGE onslaught of books, some severely hyped, and some that seem to come in under the radar but are still absolutely amazing. 

 

        
                         

    

   

Above are just a few of the amazing titles coming out in September.  I can say that it is definitely a month for the fantasy lovers out there!  I can also say I've already dove into Serpent and Dove, Kingdom of Souls, and Frankly In Love and every title so far has been a 5 Star read for me!  

As the temperatures get cooler and the leaves start to fall, take a break from every day life and enjoy the smaller things.  Take a book and a coffee and go outside to enjoy the wonders of a new and exciting world!  Happy Reading!

Book of the Month | YA

Guys, I have some incredible news!!

I am now a Book of the Month YA affiliate!  By being an affiliate, it means I get to tell you guys all about this amazing monthly subscription box!

So it’s like this.  Book of the Month YA, or BOTMYA, is a monthly subscription box that allows you to pick out your new favorite book out of a curated selection of 5 books.  Every month has something different that you can pick from and you can even add books to your box!  Currently subscription is $14.99 per month BUT BOTMYA runs some amazing deals where you can get your first subscription for $9.99.

Not only do you get a great new read every month, but BOTMYA will send along some goodies to!  With your box you’ll get some sweet new book-moji pins as well as a delicious sugar cookie that will cure that sweet craving you’ve been having lately!!

So subscribe using my link below, get your book, curl up with some coffee and your cookie and get to reading!!

 Book of the Month YA

Waiting For Tom Hanks - Kerry Winfrey

Review Date:  August 19^th, 2019
Rating:  4 out of 5 Stars

Okay, first let me start off by saying that I’m completely guilty of obsessing over romantic comedies.  I’m the girl that religiously watches the Hallmark Channel every Christmas for every new movie (and old) they air.  Same when it comes to the most recent movies and tv shows that just have that feel good, every character gets a happy ending, kind of feel. 

Recently, that attention has shifted towards books as well.  I was always a romance reader, but lately rom-coms and light hearted romances have been dominating my reading list.  This year has been a great year for the genre and all the good vibes and swoon-worthy romances, have been excellent escapes to take with you to the beach or the pool.  More specifically writers like Helena Hunting, Christina Lauren, Jenny Colgan, Staci Hart, Molly Harper, and now I can definitely add Kerry Winfrey to the list of authors that are an instant buy for me.

Waiting For Tom Hanks is Kerry Winfrey’s most recent rom-com novel and holds up to the genre very well.  In a nut shell, Annie Cassidy (our main character), is a hopeless romantic searching for her very own Tom Hanks.  Not Tom Hanks from Castaway or Forrest Gump…but the Tom Hanks from every rom-com movie practically every girl obsesses over; You’ve Got Mail, Splash and of course Sleepless in Seattle. 

Annie is an aspiring screenplay writer living in a small town, where not too much exciting tends to happen.  Until she finds out that one of her favorite directors will be filming his most recent rom-com directly in town, and that movie will be starring Drew Danforth, a man about as serious as a clown and as un-Tom Hanks-ish as anyone could possibly be.  How can he pull of a serious romantic leading role, when he is constantly pranking people and making jokes of himself?  Wouldn’t he make a joke of the whole genre itself?  And what happens when one day, in a complete twist of fate, Annie and Drew are forced to work together for the sake of the film?

With a “meet-cute” that is sure to please, and dialogue that will have you in turns giggling to yourself and cringing just a bit for our innocent main character, Waiting For Tom Hanks, will be a book you won’t want to put down until the end.  In fact, I’d be willing to bet this will be a book you all can read in one sitting and finish with a happier, more light-hearted feel, when you’re done.

A Stranger on the Beach - MIchele Campbell

Review Date:  Monday August 12^th, 2019

Star Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

“There was a stranger on the beach.  He was standing in front of my house, staring at it like he was casing it to rob.”

So recently I’ve been really digging mystery novels.  Not just like picking one up every now and again but actually actively reading almost 400 page novels in which there are unreliable narrators, some kind of “unsolvable” situations, and characters you absolutely love to hate.  A Stranger on the Beach gave me just the thrill I was looking for.  It checks off all the quintessential boxes for a great mystery thriller.

1.  The novel mostly takes place in a beautifully built, lavish beach front property, which makes it the ideal book to carry with you on vacation or chilling at the pool.  From page one the scenery is practically perfect.
2. Unreliable narrators.  The whole story is written under dual perspectives.  From the jump, there are two narrations you follow.  One is the perspective of Caroline, the “main” character.  And the other perspective follows, Aiden…your stranger on the beach.  After you get busy reading in a few chapters, you begin to realize there is something that just isn’t right with one of these perspectives, the trouble is figuring out who to believe and wrapping your mind around some of the events that take place.
3. “Unsolvable” Situations.  Again, this flows right out from the unreliable narrator spiel.  Once certain events start taking place in this book, you really kind of have to scratch your head, but then continue on.  If you believe that certain situations happen just the way they are written…you’d better think again.
4. Characters you LOVE to HATE.  Yep, I have one.  The problem is, it isn’t who you are going to think from the beginning.  For spoiler reasons, I can’t tell you much about which character I loved to hate, but I will tell you this…it isn’t someone you are going to be expecting.

So, without giving too much away…here’s the scenario.  A woman (Caroline) and her husband just purchased and built on beach front property.  I’m talking PRIME real estate.  Of course the husband has a rather high paying job and tends to have to go away for work, a lot of the time, leaving the wife alone to work on her start up home design career.  In the process of all this, a man appears in front of Caroline’s new beach front property and stares at the home as if he has evil intentions.  This person happens to be Aiden, the local bartender, who on a number of occasions, seems to be thrown into Caroline’s life as if by fate. 

Due to some circumstances regarding her husband, an affair ensues between the two and then with a twist that NO ONE saw coming…things turn ugly.  I’m not talking “Oh I cheated and my significant other found out” ugly, this is 100% grade A “fear for my life” kind of ugly. 

From there things get crazy and I will admit that at times I had to put the book down and take a breather, but that by no means meant I wanted to quit the book…I wanted answers!  And boy did I get them…

All in all, I really fell in love with A Stranger on the Beach.  Yes there were plot points that I may not have agreed with and okay maybe I wasn’t sold on certain aspects of the reveal, but ultimately I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars because it was just basically well written and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.  Michele Campbell really wrote quite the mystery and I am so glad I went ahead and picked it up!  Her writing style really has me wanting to order her previous novels, She Was the Quiet One and It’s Always the Husband.

If you are interested in picking up any of Michele’s works, please support your local bookstores and order from them OR if big box is more your speed, head over to your nearest Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy there.

As always, be careful who you trust…and HAPPY READING!