Our Book Thoughts 💭 Reviews and Recommendations May 10th

💖 THIS WEEKS SPOTLIGHT READS 💖
📚 05/10/20 📚

🔥  Resurrection by Siobhan Davis
🧭  Steel Rose by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
⚖️ Capo by Nicolina Martin
🐺 Shadowlands Sector by Mila Young
💀 Opaque Melodies by Natalie Bennett
❣️  The Promise by Felice Stevens

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Resurrection by Siobhan Davis
Description:
Everything changed the night my dad died.
The night I met Saint, Galen, Caz, and Theo.
Those manipulative a-holes set out to ruin me after our hot night together, but they didn’t realize you can’t destroy something that’s already broken. And it only works if the victim cares.
Which I don’t.
Because I’ve been in hell for years, and nothing penetrates the steel walls I’ve erected.
Until The Sainthood decides I belong to them and cracks appear in my veneer.
Their cruel games, harsh words, and rough touch awakens something inside me, and now, I’m in trouble.
My Thoughts 💭:
No flipping way!!!
I am so worked up right now I can feel my heart pounding in my chest!
I don't want to give spoilers
When the story first started I had my doubts. I felt a bit lost and some of the events just did not make sense (yes I am an over thinker). As I progressed things slowly clicked into place. I still had trouble at times connecting and occasionally was thrown by a scene but that problem diminished the further I got into the story. Soon I found myself eager to get to the next page.
As secrets were slowly revealed and plots were unveiled I could feel my blood pressure rising - I'm serious - the tension is so thick at times I could taste it. This for me was the five-star draw, I honestly was on edge and had so many "WTF" outbursts my kid was looking at me like I had lost my ever-loving mind.
Harlow is one tough young lady but all the preparation in the world can't prepare you for betrayal. She is all for equal play opportunities and I liked that she owned up to who she was. She is hurting but she doesn't show it. Maybe someday the king(s) to her queen will stand with her and share the burden.... IDK
Saint - I don't like him. Sorry, I'm sure I'm going to be one of the few. Some of his choices? Not forgivable.
Caz - absolutely adore him. He has this cuddly hell hound puppy feel to him.
Theo - the quiet one with a past that connects I'm just not sure how yet. He observes more than he participates that too me is a scary quality
Galen - you are just jealous!
Sinner - you make my skin crawl
Mom - I was leaning toward tossing you out with the trash now I am not so sure
Darrow - Dude Pull your head out!!!!
I can't believe how this ended!
I'm going to have nightmares as my mind's plays out all the possibilities that can play out
Amazon

Steel Rose by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
Description:
The commander of the East Wind Dominion is a terrifying man. He leads an army of automatons. He can control lightning itself. And now, Rose Calder is his prisoner of war.All Rose has ever known is fighting. When the invading forces of the East Wind Dominion take away her friends, her family, and her home, she takes to the skies to battle for her freedom. For hope.When the war comes to a sudden end at the hands of commander Viktor Lang, she is certain that she is about to die. When he discovers her impossible secret, she becomes a mystery that he is desperate to solve and that may be worse.The war may be over, but now she stands to lose much, much more.
My Thoughts 💭:
"Hope. What a funny concept. A torch in the darkness fighting off the cold until the dawn."
Do not pass this series up
I first read an ARC copy - Then when it came out I read it via kindle unlimited and I then purchased the paperback
Kingsley first dazzled me with her dark fantasy series "The Masks of Under". Then she did a complete 360 with the "Halfway Between" series - which leaned more towards suspense and the angelic vs. demonic.
And now she has completely blown me away with Steel Rose the first in "The Cardinal Winds" series.
There have only been a few authors that have had the ability to ,quite literally, drag me into their work
What do I mean?
Have you ever been so involved in a book that you forgot it was fiction?
Where you actually shrugged your shoulders in response to a scene or the character?
Or you lifted your eyebrows to question them "like really, you are going to go there?"
Or you laughed so hard that your family and/or friends began to consider you may need a new jacket?
This was one of those stories
I can't pin point any exact moment or even why I felt so invested
I can tell you that this was an epic journey that left me emotionally depleted yet filled at the same time
"Show respect to those you defeat. In their descent, you have the power to choose whether it is an ally or an enemy who looks up at you."
Rose is fighting for freedom - It is all she has ever known
Jamie is the leader of their rebel band - Rose's side kick in a way
Viktor is fighting for ... well you will have to decide that for yourself
Then there is Otto - Gotta love a man willing to go above and beyond
Bub bless your sweet little empty tin shell
Nero you naughty little devil
You may be a bit weary of the genre listing - clock work gears - history - war -
Not your thing
I get that
But this is so much more than that
"I'm overwhelmed. I'm scared, I'm confused and I'm in a free fall" - Rose
Go on, try something new - take that leap - you will never know until you do
Amazon

Capo by Nicolina Martin
Description:
You’ll die if you talk.
The warning haunts her every waking hour.
After a rough start, Chloe finally has financial stability, a place to call home, and friends she’d die for. It never occurred to her that the sentiment would be put to the test, but when her best friend gets on the wrong side of infamous mob boss, Luciano Salvatore, Chloe intervenes, sealing her own fate.
Salvatore never expects Chloe Becker to live. Beaten to within an inch of her life by his most ruthless enforcer, she still stands tall, refusing to bend to his will. Curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to see what it takes to make her lose that last streak of defiance.
He definitely doesn’t intend for her to get under his skin.
When his existence crumbles and one heart stops beating, it kicks his own back to life, but it might be too late for forgiveness.
This is the sixth and final book in the Russo Saga series, but can be enjoyed independently.

My Thoughts 💭:

I had an idea from Kerry's story about how dark Luci could get. But the reality of his brutality far far exceeded my wildest expectations.
I enjoy swimming in the darker end of the romance genre and this definitely tested me on multiple occasions.
Chloe... I'm sorry. I don't know know what else to say. The strength and determination you showed. You knew you couldn't win but still, you fought, you kept your head right to the bitter end.
"Every time you do, you'll hate yourself a little more. In the end, your self-loathing will spill over on me and you'll see me as the source in your f@$%ed up mind, and you'll kill me."
Truer words were never spoken.
You let the darkness consume you, the fear feed you.
You lost your soul long ago Luciano.
You want a toy? You wanted a pet?
How did that work out for you?
You should be more careful with how you treat your possessions!
I doubt I would have forgiven either of them. Christian or Luci.
But I will admit Chloe did the impossible.
We are drawn to the darkness believing we can be its light.
Most of the time it is just wishful thinking.
What a dark journey for these two.
Luciano emits a dark foreboding - It precedes him when he walks into a room. His inability to empathize with anyone is...
Well, he is a psychopath so there is that.
Chloe, in my opinion, was in a really bad place when she decided to approach the monster but looking at it from her perspective and taking in to account she was near broken She took the most viable road the one that might have led to her survival all other paths led directly to her demise.
The push and pull between these two - my stomach was in knots.
The destruction that Luci leaves in his wake - stopped my heart
Be prepared going in -
Ivan props to you and my condolences.
Angela, before I started this story I would have told you to run. I am not so sure that is true anymore.
Amazon

Shadowlands Sector by Mila Young
Description:
Strong Protectors. Fated Mates. And A Deadly Secret.
They call me an outcast, weak.
I’ve fought my whole life for survival, running from an attack on my family I ended up hiding with the Ash Wolves. This one move might be my biggest mistake of all. And I’m the queen of mistakes…
I let them believe I’m broken, let them believe the lies. I let them believe anything they want…as long as it isn’t the truth.
There's a monster inside me, one made of teeth and claws and terrifying need. I swallow it down, hiding under the pretense of being normal. But I'm not normal. I'm anything but.
Bonding is the only thing that will save us—me and the Ash pack. Only I need someone strong enough to fight the darkness inside me…and savage enough to stay.
Will the three ruthless alphas help me...when they find out the truth of what I am?
My Thoughts 💭:
This ends on a helacios cliff hanger
My heart is breaking for Miera
From the moment her character is introduced she sets the tone that will carry through this first in series
She is surviving the only way she knows how
She's smart, spirited and lonely
Dusan is a true alpha in every sense.
He is fair , caring, tough but just.
The interactions between him and his little he 'll cat are so potent
I could feel how much he truly cared for her
Lucian has his own burden he carries, a life before the virus
She calls to his wolf in a way that gives him hope
This is all the things I look for in a series
Spectacular world building
A cast I can connect with
A believable plot line that is solid enough to keep me invested
Amazon

Opaque Melodies by Natalie Bennett
Description:
Alaric Schuyler had cerulean blue eyes and a smile so beautifully devious it could entice the devil to do his bidding.
We were neversupposed to happen.
One night changed everything, tying him and me together in a sordid twist of fate, trapping me in his dark, chaotic world.
The lucid dreams and sick fantasies followed.
He became the star of my nightmares, always lurking in the shadows.
I became his muse, a part of everything he did.
He awakened my demons one esoteric melody at a time
Sooner than later he would be the death of me.
And I wanted nothing more.
My Thoughts 💭:
Worth the wait!

"Beautiful, yet sinister. Like the man who asked me to play it. Tragic, like the woman I pretended I wasn’t."
This cast - This family - * sigh*. I know. I know.
Just something about the freedom in their unencumbered quest to appease their demons.
How they transpose that small touch of insanity into art.
This might be my favorite episode of the series to date.
I think you can read this as a standalone.
Alaric is charisma and danger wrapped up in the most tempting of packages
Right from the moment the door opened I knew our Cat was in over her head.
The way he played Catalina...
Even I was a bit in awe at his deviously clever tactics to twist her mind and trigger her darkness
Cat is so much stronger than she believes. She knows her darkness hides evil needs but as much as she fears it she also craves what it desires. She has always been made to feel less - less important - less of a sister, a daughter - just less.
Until him. The man who was enamored with her sister.
Except it seems as though enamored he was not.
Curious is our little Cat.
Curious can kill the Cat.
I don't want to wait to see how the pieces fall into place but this does end on a cliffy and is a two-part story so guess I will just sit here in the corner with the lights on and wait...
PLEASE PLEASE heed the warnings!!
Pass this one up if you do not like cliffhangers, or if serial killers who enjoy their work bothers you. If you don't like graphic situations or manipulation or rivers of crimson.
It is your choice to enter so make sure it is the right choice for you.
Amazon

The Promise by Felice Stevens
Description:
A promise made:
When Ezra Green sits next to Monroe Friedman in their high school English class, friendship blooms into first love, and even Ezra moving to California won’t keep them apart. Ezra promises Roe that once he finishes college, he’ll come home and the two will be together. In the meantime they’ll write and keep in touch. Nothing has to change.
A promise broken:
After months of unanswered letters, Roe makes one final attempt to contact Ezra with disastrous results. Ezra will never be his and he needs to move on.Now, more than twenty years later, Ezra has come home. He doesn’t know why Roe stopped writing, but he’s determined to find out. But Roe won’t talk to him and Ezra doesn’t understand why. After all, Roe is the one who cut off contact. Isn’t he?
The promise of what is meant to be:
When Roe’s beloved grandmother suffers a stroke, the past becomes the present, and Ezra comes up with a plan. Pretending to be together to make an old lady happy should be no big deal, but after an unexpected explosive night together, decades-old secrets and lies are exposed, shattering Roe’s control and Ezra’s heart. Is first love only a dream and a promise merely words, or are Ezra and Roe meant to last a lifetime?
My Thoughts 💭:
This is the second book in this series - it is a standalone but the characters' stories interconnect
I want to say right from the get... Love Love G'ma Nettie
Ezra and Monroe both needed a good tanning to their backsides
Talk about stubborn!
Thank goodness G'ma could see when they both could not
Ezra and Roe were both filled with feelings of betrayal and abandonment
Neither could drop their barriers long enough to listen - to hear what was not being said
The back and forth between them in the beginning made me want to lock them in a room together until they kissed it out or ...
I cried - I laughed - I got a bit angry
I do not want to give away spoilers -
I will say I was mad and hurt for them both when they "why" of how this tragedy occurred was revealed.
This was such a warm and emotional read
Amazon

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#SiobhanDavis #KathrynAnnKingsley #NicolinaMartin #MilaYoung #NatalieBennett #FeliceStevens