Daindreth’s Outlaw

Daindreth’s Outlaw. Written by Elisabeth Wheatley. (Daindreth’s Assassin book #2)

Book 13 of 2024

Hmmm I am a little bit on the fence about this book, and in fact this series. I really enjoyed probably the last 20% of the book. However the rest of the book moved quite slowly. Perhaps even a little bit worse than that was for the most part you could see where it was heading really early on in the book, it just kind of didn’t go there!

I really like the premise of the book, and the characters that are quite clear cut and for the most part likeable. But the pace just feels so painful!

I guess – in fairness it was mainly a transitional novel – getting the characters where they need to be. I think I will keep going, but might need a break to read some different things first!

For now – I will withdraw a recommendation until I have completed the series!

Mrs K

Book Review: Daindreth’s Assassin

Book 12 of 2024

Daindreth’s Assassin. Written by Elisabeth Wheatley. (#1 in series)

So I have followed Elisabeth Wheatley on insta for a long time – I really like her book goblin skits! I also secretly love the fact that her name is spelt with a ‘S’. Back from my teenage Sweet Valley University days I always wanted to call my kids Elisabeth and Jessamyn. Interestingly I didn’t use either name for my daughter, but have never forgotten.

On insta Wheatley talks openly about how she is inspired by the classics, the pride and prejudice and the likes. Which I think you can really see come through in her writing. I ultimately bought the book because I have seen her talk about it so much I was curious. I bought the second one because I really enjoyed the first one.

This is a romance that definitely leaves the writer wanting more, there are a lot of tantilising scenes that I certainly would have liked played out. Sometimes I struggled a bit with the character of the Assassin, in terms of she seemed a little inconsistent, but not so much that I could not hop on board. I really liked the premise of the story, and the ending and I look forward to seeing how it all plays out over the upcoming books.

Mrs K

Book Review: Archangel’s Lineage

Book 11 of 2024

Archangel’s Lineage. (Guild Hunter #16) Written by Nalini Singh

Ah. Sigh. My favourite guilty pleasure series. I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS. Which understandable makes it very hard to be objective at all! In fact I do not think I will even try.

I loved that this series took us back to Elena & Raphael and gave us some more of their story.

I like that we showed a skip in time post the battles of the previous books, although as I often find in books, I was frustrated that people just don’t get to live happily every after, that there is always a new battle, or a new issue, or something else that is getting in the way. This one was a nice way to wrap up the legion storyline, which I thought was cool.

I would genuinely just like a book of all the seven in new york going about their normal life, and us getting a glimpse into that!

Overall I enjoyed it – but fully acknowledge my bias!

Mrs K

Book Review: Daughter of the Siren Queen

Book 10 of 2024

Daughter of the Siren Queen. (Daughter of the Pirate King #2) Written by Tricia Levenseller.

The first book felt like it was much more about Alosa and her father, where as this second book we got to learn a lot more about the crew and who each of them were.

I liked the premise, the corrolation between pirates and sirens. I thought that the duology worked well together to be a fast paced romance, that ticked all the boxes!

It has been awhile since I read something that I could happily have used with a class, and while I maybe would not recommend my entire class reads this book, if you were doing a connections report on loyalty and friendship this should definitely be top of your list!

I think there might be a third book out or coming, but I don’t think I will seek it out, I thought that these two books worked really well together, but was not sure there needed to be more. Something I have come to like about Tricia Levenseller is that she does not have super long complex series, but short and sharp and too the point.

If you have not already I highly recommend this one!

Mrs K

Book Review: A Touch of Chaos.

Book 9 of 2024

A Touch of Chaos. (Hades X Persephone Saga #4). Written by Scarlett St. Clair

This was an interesting one, when I read the rest of the series I LOVED it, but I suspect that it was definitely one that you got quite caught up in the moment, and the consistency of it. Rather than the actual enjoyment of the story. Coming back to book four after some ‘time off’ from the series was not as satisfying as I had thought it might be.

While I still got backinto the series and enjoyed it well enough, there was also a lot that I did not. Definitely feeling more removed from the series. Despite this I did get into it and enjoyed finishing the series. I thought there was some quite poignant discussion you could take from it about the relevance of Gods, what makes them irrelevant and how it is that people can follow those without a clear understanding of what they are standing for and why.

Overall a good book – but definitely a series worth reading all together.

Mrs K

Book Reviews: Starlight

Book 8 of 2024

Starlight. Written by Olivia Wildenstein

Book three of the Angels of Elysium series.

OK, so book three, lets bear in mind that I read all three of these books in one week, so there was no time elapsed in terms of not being in the world, I lived and breathed the world created for a week. I think that is one thing that Olivia Wildenstein does really well – creates these amazing worlds which are complex and amazing.

This third book in the series was probably my least favourite. However as with the second book I did really enjoy that this book was focussed on a different part of the book, that again we had moved forward in time 18 years. So it was the world, and the story but there were gaps.

This story had a lot more action – a lot closer to a thriller, and at times it felt like the angel story was more to the background, but it was still there.

However I did love the ending, I loved all aspects of getting the cathartic happy ending that we all long for particularly at the end of a trilogy!

Mrs K

Book Review: Celestial

Book 7 of 2024

Celestial. Written by Olivia Wildenstein. Angels of Elysium Series #2

Ok, so the first thing I have to say that I am really enjoying about this series is that each book is within the world but seperated by time, and so is quite different. I really like this that it does not try to pick up where left off or follow the exat same story.

So this one picks up just 4.5 years after the previous book but focuses on characters who were more fringe characters in the first book.

In ninety-two days, the feathered appendages that link me to the people I loathe finally come off. Dear, winglets, you will not be missed.

Celeste has spent the last four years building a life outside of angelic guilds—parties, check—pursuing human ambitions instead of celestial ones—college, check—and shedding feathers across Parisian cobblestones and more recently New York sidewalks—speaking her mind, always check.

She swore off angels, but the death of the woman who took her in the night Leigh died brings them soaring back into her life . . . and not just any angel but the most detestable one, the one complicit in Leigh’s death—Seraph Asher.

It is another spicy book – although perhaps not as spicy as the first book!

I think I did not enjoy this book as much as the first book, that could be because there was a clear shift in the romeo and juliet retelling, but it was also much more of a slow burn than the first book.

Overall – you would obviously need to start the series with Feather. But this was a good book!

Mrs K

Book review: Feather

Book 6 of 2024

Feather. Written by Olivia Wildenstein.

I had this on my kindle which I suspect I downloaded because the author is the one who wrote the House of Beating Wings series, which I absolutely loved!! I started this one at the end of my camping trip, thankfully, because I read the whole thing in less than 24 hours and had started the second one as well.

This book was touted as a A modern ROMEO & JULIET retelling featuring an epic sinner and the angel who’ll stop at nothing to save him. aTo be honest – for an English teacher I am sad at how much I missed the Romeo and Juliet aspects of the book! However I loved the story, I loved the way everyone can try to be good at some point, and I loved the world created. More than anything though I really appreciated the social justice and the determination to change the world.

This book was definitely spicy. But it looked at what it was to sin, what really matters in terms of being a sinner or a saint, and the grey area that we all so deliciously live in between. It looked at what friendship and family really mean, and how to be a voice amongst the others.

I really enjoyed this book – like really enjoyed it. Unfortunately work got in the way of me reading the second one in a similar 24 hours but I am loving it just as much!

Mrs K

Book Review: Daughter of the Pirate King

Book 5 of 2024

Daughter of the Pirate King. Written by Tricia Levenseller

So this book hit my radar in a list ofcompleted duologies – although I think there actually are three books. It had been downloaded on my kindle for a little while, and camping over Easter finally gave me the time to sit down and enjoy.

And Enjoy I did!! It was an amazing book. I have read a Tricia Levenseller book before, so I expected to enjoy. To be honest I don’t read a lot of pirate books, so that was definitely different, but the story is so well written, there are big clues to some of the surprises earlier in the book for those of us who read a lot of fantasy, but it was good! Very good.

I loved the twists and turns, and I loved the main female character. I loved being privvy to her thought pattern and the kind of resigned nature in which she put up with various types of men. I thought her whole character was absolutely fantastic.

I also liked the lead male character – although I feel that there is a lot that we don’t know yet, and I want to get to know all the secrets, and see how the relationship develops.

Overall I cannot wait to read the second book!

Mrs K

Book Review: Destroy the Day

Book 4 of 2024

Destroy the Day. Written by Brigid Kemmerer. Part of the Defy the Night series.

Like so many of Brigid Kemmerer’s Books this one started with a really slow start, but then once it heats up it heats up. I will also say quite happily that this is the best ending for a book that I have read in a very long time. I went back and read the ending several times. And even now I smile thinking about it.

We all know that I am an absolute sucker for a cathartic ending and that is definitely what we got with this book.

Overall I think it was a good end to the series, a really good end to the series, it drew all the strings together and answered many of the questions. Like I say some of the pacing at the beginning of the books was off, which I think is a regular issue with some of Kemmerer’s writing.

Overall I think this was a great series, but I do wonder if it would hold up when you can read it all immediately.

On a side note I am a little worried that I have only read the four books this year! I seriously will need to up my game!

Mrs K