Review: The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3) by Jasmine Guillory

~ megs14malloy

The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date, #3)The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Maddie Forest first meets Theo Stephens, she thinks he is an uptight, over-organized, spreadsheet-creating jerk.

When Theo Stephens first meets Maddie Forest, he thinks she is a shallow, image-obsessed prima donna with her head in the clouds and no real ambitions.

After their mutual best friend, Alexa, becomes engaged, she asks them both to be in her wedding party. Initially chagrined that they will have to spend so much time together during the course of the wedding planning and event, they both agree with good grace and vow to get through it.

But as often happens, through their mutual distaste of one another comes a spark that soon grows into a full-blown FLAME!

They know they have to keep their relationship a secret. They cannot give Alexa the satisfaction of knowing they actually like each other and so begins their secret affair.

As you are probably aware, this is the third installment in Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Date companion novels. I have read all of the books in this series and this one is actually my favorite.

Although it has a similar structure to the previous novels, I enjoyed Maddie and Theo and their hidden romance the most out of all the plots. I felt I could personally relate more to this story than the others and that kept me invested.

One thing I did notice was this one seemed less steamy than the others so if that is what you are looking for, you may be disappointed. We really focused here a lot on both Maddie and Theo’s careers and self-growth. I enjoyed following along with them as they navigated difficult situations in their lives and grew to depend on one another for support and insight.

I do enjoy this series a lot. I’ll admit that it isn’t perfect but it’s addicting and it keeps me coming back. I will definitely continue to pick them up for as long as Ms. Guillory chooses to write them!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. Now…who do I speak to about an early copy of Royal Holiday???

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Review: The Finder by Suzanne Palmer

~ megs14malloy

Finder (Finder Chronicles, #1)Finder by Suzanne Palmer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fergus Ferguson is a repo man.
In space.

How cool is that!?

In this incredibly action-packed tale, we follow him as he tries to recover the stolen spacecraft, Venetia’s Sword. He ultimately tracks the ship down in the farthest reaches of human-inhabited space but due to complications, is unable to commandeer it right away.

Arum Gilger, the bad guy who stole the ship, transported it to a harvesting colony called Cernee. There he functions as a sort of criminal overlord and the locals aren’t happy with him or his bullying ways.

As Fergus arrives, the colony finds itself newly engaged in a civil war. Before long, Fergus ends up banding together with Gilger’s enemies and participating more than he would like in their local battles.

I had so much fun reading this book. Palmer’s world creation is incredible. I felt like I was part of the action which is literally, NON-STOP!!! At times, I was a little lost, I have to admit but once I refocused myself I was able to catch up pretty quickly.

Fergus Ferguson is a smart, creative, humorous, engaging and humble main character. I absolutely loved him!! I cannot wait to read more adventures with him at the helm.

There were great side characters in here as well who had well fleshed out personalities and motivations. I think this is a great start to a new series and y’all know, I will definitely be coming back for more!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group/DAW, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I know this series is going to keep getting better and better and I am totally looking forward to being along for the ride!

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Review: The Chain by Adrian McKinty

~ megs14malloy

The ChainThe Chain by Adrian McKinty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As Rachel drives to Boston for an early morning appointment with her oncologist, she thinks her daughter, 13-year old Kiley, is safe, getting on the bus and heading off to school. Then she gets a chilling phone call that rocks her world to its core.

The caller says Kiley has been kidnapped and in order to get her back Rachel needs to pay a hefty ransom and kidnap another child to take her place.

An entity known as ‘The Chain’ is on the other end of the line and they make their money by fusing traditional kidnappings together with the horrifying chain letter concept of the 1980s. They are very detailed in their directions to Rachel. She is not the first and she won’t be last.

Whatever you do, do not break the chain.

Rachel already knows she will do anything they say. Kiley is her whole world and she will stop at nothing to get her back! We follow along with Rachel and her brother-in-law, Pete, as they work around the clock to ensure Kiley’s release.

This dark, crime thriller is highly entertaining! It starts off with a bang and you instantly feel a part of the action. The premise is super creative and I love how intense the majority of the story was. Rachel has to almost immediately transform herself in order to play ‘The Chain’s’ game. She goes from meek, defeated suburban housewife to a criminal mastermind.

I can get behind that.

For me, the pacing was a little off. I did enjoy the first half of the book a lot more than the second half but overall, it’s a solid story. You have to be able to just roll with a few implausible details and have fun with it. That’s what it is meant to be, a fun, wild ride.

McKinty’s writing is engaging and I liked the different perspectives he offered us throughout. It provided a nice wide scope for taking in The Chain’s reach. I particularly liked learning about the villain’s background and early life. Seeing where they were coming from added to the darkness of the story and that’s basically what I am here for.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Mulholland Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity and I know a lot of Thriller Readers will enjoy this one!

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Review: The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

~ megs14malloy

The Escape RoomThe Escape Room by Megan Goldin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Being summoned last minute to participate in a ‘team building exercise’ is not how Vincent, Jules, Sylvie or Sam saw their Friday night going. Unfortunately, participation is mandatory so they all dutifully arrive on time at a remote office building in a shady part of town. Greeting in the lobby, they enter the elevator together for the ride up to one of the top floors.

The express elevator ascends quickly and then abruptly stops. The lights go out and the heat cranks up. Suddenly, the team comes to the realization that this is their exercise. An Escape Room challenge where the competitive coworkers will have to put petty rivalries aside and work together in order to solve the clues needed for them to be released.

As dark secrets of the team are revealed, viciously pitting them against one another, they find themselves removed from their normal boardroom backstabbing and thrust into a definitive game of survival.

Megan Goldin’s thrilling debut, set in the world of high stakes Wall Street finance is incredibly ruthless, and that’s sort of my brand. I absolutely flew through this story. I could not put it down!

Following dual perspectives between our cast of characters in the elevator and flashbacks to a mysterious former team member, Sara Hall, the plotting of this is absolutely brilliant. It kept me engaged and guessing the entire way.

At its heart, a complex revenge thriller, this stoked my Slytherin heart, as I stan a character with the dedication to strategize a long game. If you don’t know what I mean by this, pick up this book. This is the epitome of a painstakingly planned ‘long game’.

I had so much fun reading this and it is now definitely one of my favorite books of the year. I recommend it to anyone who likes a solid, unique thriller. If this is what Goldin puts out for her debut, I cannot wait to what she comes up with next. You know I will be buying it and devouring it as soon as its released!

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity and of course, love discovering ambitious new authors to obsess over.

This one is out now, my friends, be sure to pick up your copy and see if you can solve The Escape Room!!!

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Medieval-A-Thon Wrap-Up & August Reading Plans

~ megs14malloy

Hi, book friends! I would like to officially announce that I slayed the Medieval-A-Thon and am now officially a Queen.

Medieval-A-Thon was a super fun, month-long Fantasy readathon hosted by Holly over at Holly Hearts Books on BookTube. She did a phenomenal job creating this readathon and consistently following up with us all on Twitter. I really had a great time participating and completed six Fantasy books over the course of the month to meet certain challenges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above are the visuals created by Holly to help you keep track of the challenges and what you were earning by meeting them. Seriously, how creative is this? I am obsessed. Anyway, without further ado, here are the six books that I completed and what they earned me in weapons and my armour set:

  • To earn my fighting daggers, I needed to complete a book with assassins in it. For this I read Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) by Julie Kagawa. I had an ARC of this book and loved it so much. I was disappointed at all and gave this Japanese-Inspired YA Fantasy 5-full stars!
  • To earn my bow and arrow, I needed to complete a book with elves in it. For this prompt, I chose The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black. Again, I absolutely loved this YA Fantasy, 5-full stars!
  • For my crown, I needed to complete a book where a character fights for the throne. For this I read, Roar by Cora Carmack. This YA Fantasy that had a very unique magic system based on people who could control the weather really surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. The long awaited sequel to this 2017-release is actually coming out this month and I have already preordered a copy and plan to pick it up right away. I gave this 4.5-stars.
  • For my helmet, I needed to complete a book with a dragon on the cover. For this, I selected Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This beautifully written Adult Fantasy is a retelling of a Mayan legend modernized and set in the Jazz era. As I have found before with Moreno-Garcia’s writing, it was lyrical and truly beautiful to read. Her writing is simple but in a gorgeous way. I had an ARC copy of this and ended up giving it 4-stars.
  • For my breastplate, I needed to read a shiny book. For this I chose The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell. I listened to the audiobook for this and followed along in my hard copy and will admit, I was lost through at least the first half of the book. There were so many perspectives to follow, and time jumps, and I seriously had no clue what was happening. Overall, I did find the characters were interesting and it did have an interesting premise. I gave this one 3-stars and am not sure if I will continue on with this series. I own the second one so may or I may just unhaul them both.
  • Finally, for my cape, I needed to read something with red on the cover. On the very last day of the month I completed Lost Boy by Christina Henry. This book. Oh my goodness did I love this one. This is an origin story for Captain Hook, one of the most underrated villains of all time. This was so unique, bold, graphic and bloody brilliant. Best origin story I have ever read. EVER. No surprise, I gave this a full 5-stars! Loved it.

That wraps up my Medieval-A-Thon. So glad that I had the chance to participate. I love a month long readathon and this one provided me with a great opportunity to get some things off my TBR, as well as complete some ARCs that I really needed to get to.

On to August. What are my reading plans for August? I am actually not participating in any readathons but am participating in The Page Turners Book Club again, hosted by Chelsea Palmer from the BookTube channel of the same name. She hosts this Book Club on Facebook and it is a fairly interactive group. We are reading Nevernight by Jay Kristoff the third week of the month. I have heard great things about this book and as it is dark and bloody, I anticipate really enjoying it. Plus, the synopsis for the main character gives me heavy Arya Stark vibes, which I’m down for.

Mainly in the month of August I will be participating in ARC August. This is sort of a movement going through the book community right now. Although not an official readathon or challenge it is something a lot of people are talking about an focusing on. Basically, it is just an entire month dedicated to reading all our ARCs. If you do not know what an ARC is, it is an Advanced Reader Copy provided to a reader by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Basically it is a way that publishing companies create buzz for and promote books before their release.

I personally have a ton of ARCs I need to get to. Some have already released so I will be playing catch up. Others come out this month and then a lot come out this Fall so I am trying to get a bit ahead.

I have a review post going up tomorrow morning for one of these ARCs, The Escape Room by Megan Goldin. I am part of the Blog Tour for the release of this book and am so excited to be taking part as, spoiler alert, I freaking loved this book!!! So stay tuned for that. Be sure to check back tomorrow if you want to see my spoiler free thoughts.

How was your July? Did you participate in any readathons? Are you taking part in ARC August? What are you reading plans for the month? I want to know. Leave a comment here or contact me through any of my social media links! I love to hear from you all.

Cheers & Happy Reading!

 

Review: Lost Boy by Christina Henry

~ megs14malloy

Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain HookLost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Who is the most intriguing character in Peter Pan?

If you answered anyone other than Captain Hook, you are wrong.

Captain Hook is by far the most compelling character and this is the Captain as you have never seen him before!

This is the origin story of one of the world’s most underrated villains, straight from the mind of Christina Henry.

Y’all, Ms. Henry has a dark and wildly creative imagination and we stan that!

This story follows our infamous Captain before he is known as such. This tells of his earlier life, known as Jamie and chosen by Peter Pan to be his first and best boy.

As many of you are already aware, Peter is a spoiled, petulant little prig who also happens to function with the most murderous of intentions.

I have always considered Peter Pan to be a jerk and this certainly did not dispel that notion. Jamie tries his best to keep Peter on the straight and narrow and to protect the boys that he collects.

Overtime, he begins to see Peter for what he truly is. He also comes to identify this life he has been living on the island to be not at all what he was sold.

Coming in at under 300-pages, this is a quick read but in my opinion, you have everything you need to make this a moving and impactful tale. The final pages of this blew my mind. I was speechless upon finishing.

I have so much love for this story and truly believe this to be one of the best retellings I have ever read and certainly the best origin story that I have ever read.

This is dark with a constant feeling of menace that I cannot recommend highly enough to horror fans or just fans of darker works of fiction in general; not necessarily horror.

My dream would be for Christina Henry, in about 8-years, to come out with a sequel to this that completely flips the power balance between Peter and Captain Hook on its head! For those of us that would love to see the downfall of one, Peter Pan, this would be the most delightful tale to ever be penned, I am sure.

So, Christina, have your people call my people.
Kidding!!! I don’t have people.
DM me if you want to brainstorm and let’s make this happen!

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July 2019 Wrap-Up!!!

~ megs14malloy ~ 2 Comments

Hi bookworms! Even though there is technically still over 12-hours left in July, I wanted to get something memorialized for my July wrap-up since I will have a separate Medieval-A-Thon wrap-up tomorrow.

I am 42-pages away from finishing Lost Boy by Christina Henry which I will complete tonight. So, with that included, I read 14-books in the month of July which also happens to the be the exact same number that I read in June. I am quite happy with that number!

Side Note: Anyone else love Larry David and miss Curb Your Enthusiasm with every fiber of your being? Just me?

Back to the wrap-up ((sorry for the side-bar)):

Since I have reviewed the majority of these books on this blog, which you can find by clicking on ‘July’ over to the right, I am just going to give a numbered list here with my star rating. Overall, I had a great month. I read five 5-star books, four 4.5-star books, two 4-star books and two 3.5-star books. Any month where you have only 3.5-stars and above, as far as ratings go, is pretty solid.

At this point, I am fairly positive that Lost Boy will end up with a 4-star but depending how it finishes, it could actually be a 4.5. I will let you know that in my Medieval-A-Thon wrap-up.

So, without further ado, here are the books I have completed so far in July 2019:

  1. The Girl in Red by Christina Henry (ARC),   3.5-stars
  2. Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas (ARC),   4.5-stars (cerebral palsy & LGBTQIA+ rep)
  3. Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman,   5-stars
  4. Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audiobook),   5-stars
  5. Those People by Louise Candlish (ARC),   4-stars
  6. The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell (Books with Friends Book Club) (audiobook),   3.5-stars
  7. Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox 2) by Julie Kagawa (ARC),   5-stars
  8. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (ARC),   5-stars
  9. Roar by Cora Carmack (Page Turners Book Club) (audiobook),   4.5-stars
  10. A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell (ARC),   4.5-stars
  11. The Wicked King by Holly Black (audiobook),   5-stars
  12. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (ARC),   4-stars
  13. Lethal White (Cormoran Strike 4) by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling) (audiobook),   4.5-stars

Some other random stats would be that six of these are YA and seven are Adult; seven of these are ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) provided to me by the publishers in exchange for honest reviews, and four of these I listened to part or the entire story via audiobook.

As far as my monthly TBR challenge prompts go, I completed three of the four (I did not make TBR Jar selections this month in lieu of participating in two book club selections, hence why there is only four instead of the five originally set forth in January).

The one I did not complete was my ‘Read a New Release for Next Month’. I did not read any August 2019 releases this month. I am so behind on my ARCs but we’ll get to that in a later post.

I did complete the following:

  • Read a New Release from 2019: Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (650-pages BTW)
  • Read a New Release from Current Month: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
  • Read a Sequel: Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) by Julie Kagawa

Although I do have multiple books that would fit some of these challenges, I only count the one that completed the challenge first. I think for August I will be able to complete all four of my challenges (also not selecting TBR Jar picks again) as I really want to read a couple of September releases I already have my hands on.

How did your July reading go? Did you participate in any readathons or book clubs? What was your favorite book of the month? What did you like the least? Are there any July 2019 releases I need to get my hands on?

I want to know. Leave a comment here and contact me through any of my social media links!

Cheers & Happy Reading~

 

 

Review: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

~ megs14malloy

Gods of Jade and ShadowGods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A sweeping fable told through the lense of 1920s Mayan culture!!!

Channeling her inner-Cinderella, Casiopea Tun, is tidying up around her Grandfather’s quarters, as she does every day, when she unintentionally frees Hun-Kame, the Mayan God of Death, from his imprisonment.

Brought back to life after his brother slayed him and captured him in locked box, Hun-Kame is ready to get his life and his kingdom back. Unfortunately, or fortunately, for Casiopea, he needs her help in order to do so.

Tied together by an unnatural bond of flesh and soul, they set out on a quest to recover the parts of him stolen and hidden away by his brother. So begins the adventure of a lifetime for young Casiopea, who is finally able to escape the degrading clutches of her family.

This is such a beautifully told story. From beginning to end, Moreno-Garcia weaves the most intricate tale of love, power, forgiveness and sacrifice. I love her writing so much. It is simple and lyrical, flowing smoothly from chapter to chapter.

I first fell for Moreno-Garcia’s writing when I read, The Beautiful Ones in 2017. Even though that book was also beautifully written, this one is on a whole other level. Her writing has matured so much and this story truly transports you not only to the culture she is introducing but to the time period as well. Simply stunning.

I loved learning more about Mayan mythology and culture. I think anyone interested in more modern retellings of myths and legends will enjoy this one. Even if you do not think that is something you would be crazy about, at its heart, this story is a quest and it delivers in that capacity in spades.

Casiopea is such a wonderful character. Although raised in terrible circumstances, mistreated and abused by those around her, she has an incredible sense of will and resolve that she channels throughout her adventure. In her heart she has the strength of a lioness and that serves her well. I adored her, I adored Hun-Kame and the two of them together is pure magic!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Del Rey, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity and had such a great reading experience with this one. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has a fan in me and I will definitely be picking up anything else she writes!

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Status Update: The Reading Rush 2019

~ megs14malloy

I don’t think I actually mentioned it here but this week, I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to take part in the 2019 Reading Rush. Formally know as BookTube-A-Thon, this annual readathon is a great way for the whole book community to just come together and really cram in a ton of reading in one week.

This year, for the first time, the creators, Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lemay, created an incredible website as the home platform for the readathon. You can follow friends, make updates, track your pages read per day, books you have read and earn badges that correspond to the challenges.

I dutifully set up my profile, selecting a book to correspond with each challenge and then, the reading started. Better I should say lack of reading. I actually think I have read less this week than any other week this year because life gets hard sometimes, guys.

I still have today but frankly, I’m not feeling very motivated. I have completed two books, one I started well in advance of the actual readathon, so I didn’t count it as meeting any of the challenges, and the other, did earn me a ‘read a book with a non-human main character badge’. So, there’s that. Plus, Ariel and Raeleen were thoughtful enough to create a ‘participation badge’ — SCORE!

Also, I did read over a 1,000-pages and there is a badge for that as well even though it wasn’t one of the official challenges. I guess my biggest mistake was selecting a 650-page book for the ‘read a book you meant to read last year’ challenge. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith has me beat. I got so close. I have about 130-pages left of it but alas, I will not be finishing it by midnight. Lesson learned.

Are you taking part in The Reading Rush? If so, how did your week go? I want to know! Leave a comment here or reach me through any of my social media platforms! I hope that your RR experience was better than mine!

May the badges always be in your favor.

Cheers & Happy Reading!

Review: The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black

~ megs14malloy

The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2)The Wicked King by Holly Black
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Caution: This review contains spoilers for The Cruel Prince. Go further at your own risk. I mean it. Seriously.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

With her brother Oak safely out of Elfhame, Jude is five months into her puppeteering of Cardan’s reign as High King. The dislike between the two of them is just as high as ever but y’all know there is an unhealthy dose of sexual tension as well. Jude has terrible taste in men.

Speaking of terrible, her sister, Taryn, is poised to marry Locke in just three weeks time and ends up trying to make-up with Jude prior to that event. She claims she wants her there and that she has missed her. Blah, blah, blah. A mild reconciliation ensues.

Side Not: Almost instantaneous gag reflex reading any sections with Taryn in them. Just me?

Anyway, moving on. Cardan continues to be a lot to handle. Considering his daily hedonistic lifestyle, it comes as no surprise when someone tries to assassinate him. Jude then hears on good word that Orlagh, Queen of the Undersea wants Cardan to marry her daughter, Nicasia. If he won’t, she plans to take down all of Faerie.

In a wild turn of events, Jude gets held hostage by Orlagh. That’s a whole thing. Can I just say, the Undersea is pretty much my favorite setting ever. How dark and ominous was that!?! Balekin is involved; the Court of Shadows, they are all here and up to their evilest of no-good deeds.

I am obsessed with these books because there is so much plotting, so much scheming. You never know who is going to try to stab you in the back next. I enjoy how ruthless those circumstances have made Jude.

Ultimately, she is just a regular girl put in an extraordinary world and through pure power of will has transformed herself into an absolute force to be reckoned with.

Per usual, Holly Black’s writing is so engaging. I was flipping these pages so fast trying to get to the end. What an ending it was! Talk about a cliffhanger. I am SO GLAD that the release for The Queen of Nothing has gotten pushed up to Fall 2019, otherwise…torture!?

I love this series with my whole heart. Jude is my Queen. I cannot wait to see how this is wrapped up, although truthfully, I would be happy if it never ended. Slytherin book recommendation all day long. Read it, love it, fangirl about it. That is all.

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