Books that hit us over the proverbial head will always be hard to put into words. Alice Walker’s tale of much more than just racism, certainly did that to me. The way she handled the format had me immersed immediately into this time of struggle, devastation, and perseverance. This was not an easy read, but the end was worth it. Celie saves her sister from marriage to a much older man by marrying him herself. Thankfully, her sister, Nettie, escapes their father and becomes a missionary to Africa. Celie’s home life is bleak and full of horrors until Shug Avery, a famous singer, stays at their house to recover from an illness. I was grateful Shug taught Celie how to stand up for herself, especially to her own husband. This novel earned its Pulitzer Prize status to me. If you haven’t read it, I recommend adding it to your TBR. (5/5 rating)
Tag: (5/5 rating)
Book Review – The Dead Ringer by Michaela Haze
This story centers around a nightmare demon forced to survive working for a fae after her unit in Hell was killed. I was excited for the premise of this book and the chance to try something from this author for the first time. I’m sad this is standalone since I loved this world and its characters. Haze developed better characters in this standalone than others I have seen in multiple book series. I loved everything about this, and this quickly became a favorite book. I’m anxious to read all the books that Michaela Haze has published, since they will likely become favorites too.
The writing style and plot pulled me into this standalone book. Haze kept the tone suspenseful but funny as Mara’s nature kept me laughing and rooting for her to succeed. I think it’s safe to say that Mara has become one of my favorite demon stories so far. I loved learning about her nightmare nature. Her commanding officer, Warren, was her polar opposite with his commanding and serious demeanor. Her colleagues of Team P, Remi, Jae, Hart, and Hugo don’t initially know that Mara is undercover and hiding in the body their colleague, Frankie. Warren enlists Mara’s help from her boss after Frankie’s unit is killed suspiciously. With the possibility of a betrayer in their midst, Warren brings the vision of Frankie back to their compound to flush out the killer. (5/5 rating)
Book Review – A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #1) By K.F. Breene
This is the first in Breene’s latest book series. I wanted to wait until the entire series had been released until I dug back into this one. I was excited for this since it is a retelling of The Beauty and The Beast storyline. I loved every word and detail of this world and its characters. Breene, as usual, set the first book up to be a series of epic proportioned. I loved our strong heroine, Finley, and the fact that she refuses to back down from Nyfain, especially in the face of his obvious physical strength over her. Hadriel became a favorite side character since he made me laugh a lot. He was a perfect dose of hilarity amongst the heavier tones within this. The pace remained quick while the world building was off the charts. This is exactly why I horde my other Breene books, like a dragon myself. No one does it the way she does. This is not a typical fairy tale, but it is Breene’s fresh take on it, that makes it something else entirely. (5/5 rating)
Book Review – Burn (Dark in You 1) by Suzanne Wright
This was my first novel by Suzanne Wright, and this blew away my expectations. This story covers Harper, a demon tattoo tattooist in Las Vegas, who finally meets her fated mate, or anchor. Knox Thorne has proven his power within the human world as well as the demon world as a successful businessowner and Prime. Together they will have to fight for each other since the world seems determined to keep them apart. This was quite the story, especially as we discover what demon breeds Knox and Harper are. This urban fantasy was an intense, multi layered world with demon politics, family betrayals, and all that tension that comes with them. I loved Harper’s badda$$ power and her unwillingness to let anyone walk over her, and that includes Knox. I have a new favorite couple and now I’ll have to power through the next seven books. (5/5 rating)
Book Review – Don’t Rush Me (Nora Jacobs 1) by Jackie May
Checked out with my KU first to try Jackie May as an author. This urban fantasy romance is set in Detroit. Nora is an orphan who has survived this violent city, though not without her vivid scars. Nora is a special human with abilities of the psychic sense. After Underworlders start to go missing, she’s embroiled within a dangerous magical world as the only one who can bring the missing home. I loved this story and Nora as the female main character. She was strong after overcoming some truly despicable actions of others. I know other people were upset with how slow burn the romance angle was, but after getting to understand Nora as a person I think it’s the only scenario that really made sense. This broke my latest reading slump and gave me a new series to obsess over. I just recommend an open mind if you give this a try. (5/5 rating)
