ARC Review | The Particular Charms of Miss Jane Austen

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen

Author: Ada Bright & Cass Grafton

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 313

Publication Date: September 12, 2019

Categories: Time Travel, Romance, Jane Austen, Friendship, Mystery

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

When a time travelling Jane Austen gets stuck in modern-day Bath it’s up to avid Janeite Rose Wallace to save her… because she’s the only one who knows that Jane exists!

Rose Wallace’s world revolves around all things Austen, and with the annual festival in Bath – and the arrival of dishy archaeologist, Dr Aiden Trevellyan – just around the corner, all is well with the world…

But then a mysterious woman who bears more than a passing resemblance to the great author moves in upstairs, and things take a disastrous turn. Rose’s new neighbour is Jane Austen, whose time travel adventure has been sabotaged by a mischievous dog, trapping her in the twenty-first century.

Rose’s life is instantly changed – new home, new job, new friends – but she’s the only one who seems to have noticed! To right the world around her, she will have to do whatever it takes to help Jane get back home to write Rose’s beloved novels. Because a world without Mr Darcy? It’s not worth living in!

Thank you to Canelo and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eArc.

The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen was a light-hearted and cute read about a time traveling Jane Austen but it focuses a lot on a character named Rose Wallace.

I love that it was set in Bath – I visited on my honeymoon and I absolutely loved it. I wish I had more time to spend there, but it was only a quick afternoon stop. 😕 The book is set during the Jane Austen festival which sounds like something I’d love to partake in one day! 😍

Rose Wallace lives in Bath and is a Janeite (Jane Austen fan) who has an American friend named Morgan. The history of their friendship is very cute and it resonated with me more than the romantic storyline of Rose and Dr. Aiden Trevellyan. I think I wanted more romance in the story but I didn’t get much of it until the time travel occurs. Even then the mystery of Jane Austen was the focus of the story.

I’m sure everyone has speculated how Jane Austen would be in real life and we all have our own ideas. In this book I thought she was what a time traveling Jane Austen would be like, she stays in character, adapting a bit here and there but pretty much knows her person and does what she wants. The mystery about the time travel was interesting and it does make you think, what if Jane Austen never existed. Oh the horror! I can’t imagine a world without Pride and Prejudice in it, can you? 🥺

It took awhile for me to get into this book, not sure why, maybe I was waiting for Jane Austen to show up right away but the story focused more on Rose. If you are a fan of Jane Austen, I think you will enjoy this charming story about Jane Austen and the cast of characters that help her get back to her time so that we can always have Jane Austen in our lives.

ARC Review | Mooncakes

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Mooncakes

Authors: Suzanne Walker

Artist: Wendy Xu

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 256

Publication Date: October 15, 2019

Categories: Romance, LGBTQIA+, Fantasy, Witchcraft, Graphic Novel, Young Adult

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

Thank you to Lion Forge and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this eArc.

I read my first graphic novel…as an adult, that is, because I was obsessed with Elf Quest and Archie back in my middle school days! Haha…and my son just got a graphic novel set from his aunt for his birthday so I’ll be helping him read that one.

Mooncakes is about Nova, a young witch that wears a hearing aid, being raised by her grandmothers who are also witches and have a bookshop. That’s my dream right there, to be a witch who owns a book store! 😍 Nova reunites with a friend from long ago, Tam Lang who is a shape-shifter and becomes a love interest. There is a mysterious dark force in town and Nova and Tam have to figure out how to defeat it.

Graphic novels just read fast because the art just moves it along. I love the color palette used by artist Wendy Xu, it gives it a retro feel.

There is a nice representation of so much diversity. There were different cultural celebrations, Sukkot (Jewish holiday) and eating mooncakes at during the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival. I thought it was nice to see a blend of the cultures because my own children have a blended culture as well and we celebrate a lot of things!

The romance between Nova and Tam was so cute! Tam uses “they” pronouns and they have a past together but it was so sweet to watch their relationship grow. And the witchcraft in the book was wonderful since we are in the month of September and I am in the mood for all things witchy!

Overall Mooncakes is a wonderful read full of diversity, action, love, villains and heroes! If you are into graphic novels or starting to get into them again, like I am, Mooncakes is the perfect graphic novel to start with!

Book Review | Happy Messy Scary Love

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Happy Messy Scary Love

Author: Leah Konen

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 267

Categories: Romance, Coming of Age, Young Adult, Contemporary

As everyone at her Brooklyn high school announces their summer adventures, Olivia harbors a dirty secret: Her plan is to binge-watch horror movies and chat with her online friend, Elm. Olivia and Elm have never shared personal details, apart from their ages and the fact that Elm’s aunt is a low-budget horror filmmaker. Then Elm pushes Olivia to share her identity and sends her a selfie of his own. Olivia is shocked by how cute he is! In a moment of panic, assuming she and Elm will never meet in real life, she sends a photo of her gorgeous friend Katie. But things are about to get even more complicated when Olivia’s parents send her to the Catskills, and she runs into the one person she never thought she would see. This sweet and funny summertime romance is perfect for fans of Love and Gelato and The Unexpected Everything.

Happy Messy Scary Love is a cute, light-hearted, young adult romance about a horror movie fan named Olivia who unexpectedly meets her online friend and fellow horror lover, Elm. Instead in real life his name is Jake. There’s a bit of unintentional catfishing going on and yeah, all Olivia needed to do was come clean, but….well, we all have fears right?

Olivia pretty much has a good life, attends an amazing school in Brooklyn, and has cool friends. The only problem she has really is deciding what to do after she didn’t get into NYU. I did relate to her when she didn’t believe in herself enough to start writing the horror movie screenplay she’s been dying to write. When everyone around her seem so focused and ambitious, she flounders and feels like a loser, which is harsh – but haven’t we all been there? Especially in our teen years? Eventually, Olivia learns a few things about being brave at her new summer job and along with Jakes help, starts to believe in herself again.

The romance between Jake and Olivia is cute, and clearly built on lies – but I was rooting for the situation to have a happy ending. It’s rare you see a couple in a book bonding over horror movies, but I enjoyed that and thought it was refreshing! I’m too afraid to watch horror movies, but I grew up in the 80’s and was forced to watch horror movies because of my older male cousins. And even though I hated it, my favorite was Poltergeist. 👻 I know horror movies have come a long way since then!

This book clocks in at under 300 pages, so I got through it in one night. Overall, I thought it was a quick, cute and fun story, suited for horror movie fans and non-fans as well.

ARC Review | The Spitfire

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Spitfire (Wicked Wallflowers, #5)

Author: Christi Caldwell

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 332

Publication Date: September 17, 2019

Categories: Historical Romance, Adult Fiction

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Her dream is to open a music hall. Only one thing stands in her way—the man she loves. The final Wicked Wallflowers novel from USA Today bestselling author Christi Caldwell.

Leaving behind her life as a courtesan and madam, Clara Winters is moving far from the sinful life to which she was accustomed in the gaming hell the Devil’s Den. Her more reputable and fulfilling endeavor is a music hall for the masses. One night, when she sees a man injured on the streets of East London, she rushes to his aid and brings him home. It’s then that she discovers he’s Henry March, Earl of Waterson, and a member of Parliament. No good can come from playing nursemaid to a nobleman.

When Henry rouses to meet his savior in blonde curls, he is dazzled. This smart and loving spitfire challenges his every notion of the lower classes—and every moment together is a thrill. But after Henry returns to his well-ordered existence, he strikes a political compromise that has unintended consequences. Will his vision for London mean dashing the dreams of his lovely guardian angel?

Thank you to Montlake Romance and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this eArc.

I love Christi Caldwell. She has a large body of work but her most recent series is one of my favorites. The Spitfire, is book number five in the Wicked Wallflowers series and I really enjoyed it!

Clara Winters used to be a courtesan but she left that life and now is in the middle of building her dream: a music hall. But one night she crosses paths with a nobleman, Henry March, who is a powerhouse in Parliament. She saves his life, in turn, his business in parliament has caused some complications for Clara achieving her dreams.

This seemed at first like the nobleman gets rescued by a woman, opposites attract trope but there is an interesting element to this story: Henry March. He’s as stuffy and starchy as they come, just so strait-laced! His life is so centered on his job at Parliament, he recites laws in his head to focus! Henry doesn’t tease, doesn’t have much enjoyment outside of work, doesn’t really have any friends but when he and Clara are together – the sparks. Oh the sparks! I liked watching Clara light him up, so to speak. 😅 They were just so different in personality I love how their attraction grows.

I love Clara as a character. We learn about how her life took a turn for the worse when she had no one to protect her. She’s strong, she’s outspoken and passionate. Henry is passionate as well, about his family and his work.

Now I loved Clara and Henry’s interactions in this story and they have a very steamy scene together…but the ending seemed rush. But I’ve read enough of this author’s work to know that yes, sometimes her book endings are rushed, which is frustrating because it can feel abrupt. But honestly, I loved watching Clara tease Henry so much, it was an enjoyable read for me. If you are reading this series, I think you will enjoy this latest installment very much.

Book Review | The Bridge Kingdom

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Bridge Kingdom

Author: Danielle L. Jensen

Format: eBook (owned)

Pages: 354

Categories: Fantasy, Adult Fiction, Romance, Enemies to Lovers

What if you fell in love with the one person you’d sworn to destroy?

Lara has only one thought for her husband on their wedding day: I will bring your kingdom to its knees. A princess trained from childhood to be a lethal spy, Lara knows that the Bridge Kingdom represents both legendary evil – and legendary promise. The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom controls all trade and travel between lands, allowing its ruler to enrich himself and deprive his enemies, including Lara’s homeland. So when she is sent as a bride under the guise of fulfilling a treaty of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture the defenses of the impenetrable Bridge Kingdom.

But as she infiltrates her new home – a lush paradise surrounded by tempest seas – and comes to know her new husband, Aren, Lara begins to question where the true evil resides. Around her, she sees a kingdom fighting for survival, and in Aren, a man fiercely protective of his people. As her mission drives her to deeper understanding of the fight to possess the bridge, Lara finds the simmering attraction between her and Aren impossible to ignore.

Her goal nearly within reach, Lara will have to decide her own fate: Will she be the destroyer of a king or the savior of her people?

When I saw this book as an Audible on Amazon, it made me look twice. I thought, didn’t Danielle L. Jensen just release a young adult book this year? I love her books, so I was pretty sure I would have known she was releasing another novel. I didn’t even know about The Bridge Kingdom! It was just by coincidence that I saw it released the ebooks and physical copies on Tuesday. I bought the ebook without a second thought because I didn’t have the patience to wait for the hard copy.

It was everything I’ve been craving lately in a book! It’s like this author just knew I was needing this book. And just to reiterate because she writes young adult novels – this one is an adult novel, so yes there is a sex scene and thank goodness because the tension between Lara and Aren was building up so much. I was going to be irritated if they didn’t hook up. 🤷🏻‍♀️😅

At the end of chapter one, I was like this…😳 and I think I gasped and said, “what is this?!” Maybe because it described Lara with eleven half-sisters, I was like oooo, is this a Twelve Dancing Princesses re-telling? 😂 This goes to show I knew NOTHING about what this book would be about, I didn’t even really read the blurb, I saw the author on this and bought it without thought. So NO this is not about dancing princesses at all, unless you count spy and assassin skills as “dancing”.

Lara and her half-sisters are daughters of the Rat King, Silas Veliant, the King of Maridrina. Maridrina is a desert country where the people are starving and the king blames the kingdom of Ithicana for all its woes. Ithicana is the hub of trade but it is called The Bridge Kingdom because they have a bridge that is central to this successful trade business and no one has been able to capture it. A peace treaty between the two kingdoms promises a Maridrina bride to the King of Ithicana. This is how Silas wants to bring down Ithicana, by marrying King Aren to one of his trained daughters.

The world building is fascinating and I wish the eBook had a map of the kingdoms. Maridrina like I said is a dry, desert country. Ithicana is in the middle of the sea with high cliffs, a bridge, and islands all around. Because it is a bunch of islands, the foliage is lush, the air is humid and they deal with venomous snakes that populate the island and also sharks that thrive in the waters. There is mention of other kingdoms and maybe we will learn more about them in the sequels.

This book has political intrigue, a steamy slow burn romance, action, bloody battles, and betrayal! By the time I got to the end, and yes I read this in one day, I was kicking myself for not reading this nearer to it’s sequel release date.

I was begging silently for Lara to open her eyes to her father’s scheming ways – ugh because I knew it would only end in heartbreak! I mean, all of it was kind of predictable after the first chapter but it was still so good. I don’t mind if something is predictable as long as it’s still entertaining.

Lara, has been raised in the most awful way. She has been conditioned and tortured to believe Ithicana is their enemy and nothing else matters but taking them down. She’s not sweet, she’s an assassin, a spy, a liar and she’s so good at what she does. We see her plans unravel slowly as she learns about King Aren and Ithicana. Though she has all these skills to deceive, Lara also finds she has weaknesses, like the fear of the ocean that surrounds Ithicana and caring for her sisters. King Aren, on the other hand was raised with the love of the Ithicana people. He is smart, a fierce fighter and strong leader who loves his people. In the end he has a weakness too, Lara. 😭

And then that ending. 😩 It’s a cliffhanger and the way it ends makes me want the second book in my hands right now. I need Lara to use her badass skills for good. I need to see how she can fix things and I need her and Aren to be together – though I don’t know how that will happen right now. 😢 Lara has a tough road ahead but I believe in her. I will count down the days until the sequel is released!

ARC Review | The Orchid Throne

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: The Orchid Throne

Author: Jeffe Kennedy

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: September 24, 2019

Categories: Romance, Fantasy, Adult Fiction

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Welcome to the world of Forgotten Empires from award winning author Jeffe Kennedy that begins with The Orchid Throne.

A PRISONER OF FATE

As Queen of the island kingdom of Calanthe, Euthalia will do anything to keep her people free—and her secrets safe—from the mad tyrant who rules the mainland. Guided by a magic ring of her father’s, Lia plays the political game with the cronies the emperor sends to her island. In her heart, she knows that it’s up to her to save herself from her fate as the emperor’s bride. But in her dreams, she sees a man, one with the power to build a better world—a man whose spirit is as strong, and whose passion is as fierce as her own…

A PRINCE AMONG MEN

Conrí, former Crown Prince of Oriel, has built an army to overthrow the emperor. But he needs the fabled Abiding Ring to succeed. The ring that Euthalia holds so dear to her heart. When the two banished rulers meet face to face, neither can deny the flames of rebellion that flicker in their eyes—nor the fires of desire that draw them together. But in this broken world of shattered kingdoms, can they ever really trust each other? Can their fiery alliance defeat the shadows of evil that threaten to engulf their hearts and souls?

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this eArc.

I almost couldn’t get into this book because of the prologue – it was straight info dump. 😩 It wasn’t what I was expecting and I wondered if that was how the whole book would be written. It was a curious way to start the book. Thank goodness I picked it up again after putting it down!

The kingdom of Calanthe is a mysterious paradise ruled by Queen Euthalia. Euthalia’s world is quite a spectacle. From the moment she wakes up and is attended by her maids and Morning Glories, down to the art of keeping peace with her fiancé, the ruthless ruler, Emperor Anure, it is all done to keep up a façade. Her only desire is to keep Calanthe thriving and she will do so no matter the cost.

What she doesn’t expect is news of a rebel, Conri, and his crew who want to take down Emperor Anure. But to get to the Emperor, they must go through Calanthe first and Euthalia can’t have that.

I loved learning about Queen Euthalia and Calanthe because it is a paradise island with a secret. The secret is revealed in the end and for me it was so unsuspecting, it leaves me even more intrigued. Everyone assumes Euthalia is a frivolous queen obsessed with beauty but there is much more to her than that. Her night court has a reputation for indulging in all kinds of pleasures. She is a virgin queen saving herself for her fiancé but she definitely knows what happens in a bedroom. This is an adult fantasy with a slow burn romance, but eventually, near the end, there are some steamy scenes.

I loved Conri’s story. He was a prince to a slave, to a king of nothing and wanting his revenge on the man who ruined his world. He went through some things in the mines, saw some things in the mines that would give anyone nightmares and still he is a survivor and fighter. I love his relationship with his best friend, Sondra. He’s not much of a ladies man, but that’s what makes him and Euthalia getting together exciting though sometimes it was kind of awkward. 😅🤷🏻‍♀️

There are magic elements to this story, that I hope will be developed more in the sequel. I want to know how the true Calantheans work their magic! Also there is political intrigue, and enough mystery about Calanthe to keep me engaged with the story.

Now the thing I struggled with sometimes is that it is told in dual perspective, which works great, except it doesn’t tell you at the beginning of the chapter whose perspective it is from. Each chapter is numbered naturally and alternated with Euthalia and Conri’s perspectives, but it was frustrating when I started a chapter and forgot if it was one or the other. So names for each chapter would totally help.

After the prologue which almost killed any desire for me to read this book, I actually got into this story! I’m very curious to see what happens next and how Queen Euthalia and Conri will try and take down Emperor Anure. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Book Review | If I’m Being Honest

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: If I’m Being Honest

Author: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 359

Categories: Shakespeare, Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

High school senior Cameron Bright’s reputation can be summed up in one word: bitch. It’s no surprise she’s queen bee at her private L.A. high school—she’s beautiful, talented, and notorious for her cutting and brutal honesty. So when she puts her foot in her mouth in front of her crush, Andrew, she fears she may have lost him for good.

In an attempt to win him over, Cameron resolves to “tame” herself, much like Katherine in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. First, she’ll have to make amends with those she’s wronged, which leads her to Brendan, the guy she labelled with an unfortunate nickname back in the sixth grade. At first, Brendan isn’t all that receptive to Cameron’s ploy. But slowly, he warms up to her when they connect over the computer game he’s developing. Now if only Andrew would notice…

But the closer Cameron gets to Brendan, the more she sees he appreciates her personality—honesty and all—and wonders if she’s compromising who she is for the guy she doesn’t even want.

If I’m Being Honest grew on me and I ended up loving it! At first I was like this Cameron Bright girl is truly a Queen B. 🙄 And honestly I don’t remember Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, it’s been so long haha. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But I read on to see how Cameron Bright’s character arc plays out.

Cameron Bright is a popular hot girl and her best friends are an aspiring actress and a youtube star. Her father is a successful Philadelphia businessman who barely cares he has a daughter living in California. Oh he pays her expensive high school tuition and rent for the apartment she and her mom lives in but other than that, he isn’t a part of her life. But she wants to desperately be noticed by him. 😔

When a boy she likes named Andrew, calls her the B word, she takes on the idea of “taming” her bitchy ways in order for him to like her again. She gets this idea from The Taming of the Shrew, which they are studying in class. So she makes a list of the people she has wronged, in hopes to apologize to them in front of Andrew to show him she IS a good person.

One of the first people she’s wronged a few years ago is Brendan, a computer geek who is anti-social due to the unflattering nickname she gave him. Making amends to the people she’s wronged makes Cameron realize she’s been mean, just like her father is to her and her mom…and that broke my heart. I loved her interaction with Brendan, and the two of them getting together was good! ❤️ But I also really enjoyed seeing Cameron make friends with people outside of her clique and how some friendships fall apart. I mean haven’t we all gone through that with friends in our past and present.

I like that she made an effort to say sorry and realize what she did wrong. Sometimes saying sorry doesn’t mend things and forgiveness is on the other side of that bridge. You can’t force anyone to forgive you. Love that lesson! Cameron learns a lot about herself and about love.

Overall it’s a great read and I look forward to reading more novels from these authors!

Book Review | Don’t Date Rosa Santos

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Don’t Date Rosa Santos

Author: Nina Moreno

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 336

Categories: Romance, Family, Coming of Age, Contemporary, Young Adult

Rosa Santos is cursed by the sea-at least, that’s what they say. Dating her is bad news, especially if you’re a boy with a boat.

But Rosa feels more caught than cursed. Caught between cultures and choices. Between her abuela, a beloved healer and pillar of their community, and her mother, an artist who crashes in and out of her life like a hurricane. Between Port Coral, the quirky South Florida town they call home, and Cuba, the island her abuela refuses to talk about.

As her college decision looms, Rosa collides – literally – with Alex Aquino, the mysterious boy with tattoos of the ocean whose family owns the marina. With her heart, her family, and her future on the line, can Rosa break a curse and find her place beyond the horizon?

Rosa Santos is supposedly cursed because the women in her family, her abuela (grandmother) and mother, have had devastating events with their loved ones and the sea.

The real curse is the fears that has lived with these women all their lives. The curse is on the verge of breaking them apart.

Rosa is trying to find her way to Cuba, and has chosen a college out of state, far from her abuela. Her grandmother has been her guardian for as long as she can remember, since her mom is always gone, and Rosa is afraid her school choice will anger her abuela. Rosa is that type A person who piles everything on her plate and can get things done! Like the festival they are throwing to help raise money for their town, she is hands-on, a leader and knows her way around planning. Working on the festival also throws her into the path of Alex Aquino, the cute guy that works down at the docks. A boy with a boat – oh no!

Between the curse, wanting to go to Cuba, her issues with her abuela and her mom – Rosa has a lot to juggle. This start off as a light-hearted contemporary young adult novel with some romance, though the romance is actually a slow burn. Alex and Rosa are so cute together. But the real love story resolves around Rosa and her family.

This story is rich in Port Coral life in Florida, Cuban culture (whatever Mimi was cooking I wanted to eat!), and even a little witchcraft. I loved getting to know a little more about Cuba through Mimi. Mimi, her abuela, had to live with her fears and nightmares about her experience fleeing Cuba – trying to protect Rosa from what she went through. I felt for all these Santos women.

And can I just say I love this Port Coral community and how they have these meetings and everyone knows each other. I love the support Rosa has through the community. Of course it sucks to have the small town gossip, because it’s what’s kept her mother away from that town, but overall, they watch over Rosa and it’s sweet.

This book was fun, heart-breaking, emotional and a journey in healing also. Also, I just have to mention I loved the flower details on the pages, it gave it such a summer, tropical vibe.

ARC Review | Our Wayward Fate

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Our Wayward Fate

Author: Gloria Chao

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: October 15, 2019

Categories: Family, Folklore, Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Seventeen-year-old Ali Chu knows that as the only Asian person at her school in middle-of-nowhere Indiana, she must be bland as white toast to survive. This means swapping her congee lunch for PB&Js, ignoring the clueless racism from her classmates and teachers, and keeping her mouth shut when people wrongly call her Allie instead of her actual name, pronounced Āh-lěe, after the mountain in Taiwan.

Her autopilot existence is disrupted when she finds out that Chase Yu, the new kid in school, is also Taiwanese. Despite some initial resistance due to the “they belong together” whispers, Ali and Chase soon spark a chemistry rooted in competitive martial arts, joking in two languages, and, most importantly, pushing back against the discrimination they face.

But when Ali’s mom finds out about the relationship, she forces Ali to end it. As Ali covertly digs into the why behind her mother’s disapproval, she uncovers secrets about her family and Chase that force her to question everything she thought she knew about life, love, and her unknowable future.

Thank you to Simon Pulse and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this eArc.

This book was so full of many things: Ali’s experience living as a Taiwanese girl in Indiana, the secrets her parents are keeping, Chinese folklore, and a budding romance.

I love Ali! She’s outspoken, strong and spirited, she made me laugh out loud, a lot. I mean the girl isn’t even afraid to talk about pooping! 😂👏🏼 But Ali is tired of the racism she experiences in the all-American town she lives in. She’s tired of walking on eggshells at home where her parents never interact with each other and her mom never seems happy. Then one day a new boy comes to her school and he’s Taiwanese too. She was ready to dislike him for disrupting her school life, but having him around opens her eyes to a lot of things.

I felt for Ali and just could imagine how stifling it would be to live in a home where her dad is there but not present. Where her mom’s resentment just infects their way of life. I understood in the end where her mom was coming from but wow, the lengths she went through to ensure Ali’s future happiness, without knowing what would really make her daughter happy…it was a big miss on her part as a parent. Yet, like I said, I understood her mom’s fears, but it just made me sad.

Ali and Chase, are so cute together. It was so nice seeing Ali have someone to relate to because her high school friends were so not it. 🙄 I love Ali and Chase’s banter. Those kung-fu scenes just heightened the tension between them, I loved it. They are so silly together and fun. 😍

As for the larger issue in this book with the Chinese folklore and the history of Ali’s family. That was fascinating and it also made me realize, I don’t recall much about the history between China and Taiwan. You get a little idea of it in the book, but I really need to do some research on it.

This is a wonderful story about confronting family secrets, shame and regret. I really enjoyed reading about Ali’s journey as she faces the truth about her family and herself. Watching her come full circle with her family’s history is inspiring.

Get it here: Amazon

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Book Review | Wicked Saints

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Wicked Saints

Author: Emily A. Duncan

Pages: 385

Categories: Dark Fantasy, Romance, Blood Magic

A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.

A prince in danger must decide who to trust.

A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.

Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.

In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy..

This book is such a mood. A dark and bloody mood. There is a lot of self-harm in blood magic, so beware if that’s not something you can read. Now I keep going back and forth with my rating of this…sometimes I think okay it’s 3.5 because by the ending I was like hmmm, it was pretty good but for some reason I felt like something was missing…just don’t know what. But 4 stars because I really like the whole gods vs blood magic thing going on? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nadya is a cleric living in a monastery in the kingdom of Kalyazi and the gods talk to her, giving her powers when she asks. The Kalyazi worship the gods. Neighboring Travania has been at war with them for fifty years. Travania is home to blood magic and blood mages, they do not believe in gods.

Right away this book throws you into action which I liked. The world-building is detailed as we learn the differences about Kalyazi and Travania which is inspired by Russia and Eastern Europe. This book was more focused on Travania and what a scary place it sounds like with blood mages called Vultures ruling adjacent to the king of Travania. Vultures are the monsters. They are the mages that have delved so far down into their blood magic that they are altered and now are becoming a threat.

High Prince Seferin has been on the front lines for a few years but back in Travania, his father is hatching a plan that could be devastating to both kingdoms. He needs to find out what’s going on and stop his father before his plans come to fruition but he can’t do it alone.

And then there is Malachiasz, who was once a Vulture, and will always be a monster. Is it weird to say that Malachiasz is who I wish the Darkling (from the Grisha trilogy) could be? I know it’s not a popular view, many people loved the Darkling and the Grisha trilogy but I didn’t even finish book three of that series. 🤭 For me Malachiasz was mysterious enough, that I didn’t know how far deep in his rabbit hole he had dug into. We find out later it is pretty far down and not even Nadya can save him from his plans for power. It’s tragic.

Nadya is light, and Malachiasz is dark and though they come from different kingdoms, they agree to work together to take down the king of Travania. Nadya knows that Malachiasz’s use of blood magic feels all kinds of wrong to her. Everything about him feels wrong but he still manages to get beneath her skin. Talk about falling for the bad boy – Nadya, falls for the bad boy, the one she thought she could trust.

Now as for my reading experience – I enjoyed this bloody, stark world these characters live in. But the names were challenging to say in my own head (yes, I shorted Malachiasz’s name to Malachi…because I didn’t know how to say it!) that it took awhile for me to warm up to a few of them. Also this is told in dual perspective between Nadya and Serefin and it didn’t flow easily for me because I was more interested in Nadya’s journey at first so the middle of the story felt like there was a slight lull. Despite the lull I was still intrigued with the whole gods versus blood magic theme of the story, it’s what kept me reading.

I’m intrigued enough to want to keep reading the series. I want to see how much lower Malachiasz can go and what this means for Nadya and Serefin. So if you like dark and bloody, with a pinch of a tragic love story and monsters, you may like this one.

Get it here: Amazon

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