I'd Rather Be Reading @sephie-books - Tumblr Blog

The Ward Witch (Unholy Island Book 1)

This book caught my eye because I liked the author's previous magical realism books and the premise

Esme Gray runs the guest house and tends to the ethereal wards that protect the island. She’s sheltering from a terrible past and will do anything to stay safely hidden. Luke Taylor has been searching for his missing twin for months, but has begun to believe that his brother might be dead. With his hope in tatters, a tip off leads him to a remote tidal island in the North Sea. It’s further out than the famous Holy Island, and far stranger. Visitors shouldn’t be able to stay for more than two nights, so when Luke breaks this rule, the close-knit community is sent into turmoil. The residents of Unholy Island have secrets and they intend to keep them. When Luke stumbles across one of the islanders dead on the shore, he finds himself under suspicion, made worse by his own troubles washing up on the tide. Esme is drawn to Luke, but she doesn’t trust her own instincts. That’s not ideal for a witch — especially when there is a killer on the loose and a storm is rolling in…

This book was a good read, I finished it in a day. The story wasn't groundbreaking or the best ever written, but it had me hooked as it slowly unraveled the mystery of the island and its strange inhabitants. I was really invested in who these people were and Esme's backstory. Luke slowly unfolded to become an interesting love interest, however he has his ignorant moments where he puts his foot in his mouth like a LOT (he has shit opinions about how people survive abuse), but he adjusted and corrected himself just as much because he really cares about Esme and through her the island.

The book's flavor to me, is like a library book you just discovered and checked out, and now you're home all curled up and comfy on the couch as you read the interesting book that caught your eye.

It has me interested enough to get the next book as it expands on Luke's character and how he adapts to living on this strange island and his relationships with the islanders

I've previously read "The Language of Spells" and "The Secret of Ghosts" by Sarah Painter, which are basically her own version of "Practical Magic". I liked the first book better, but they were both nice reads.

#sephie reads fic #the ward witch #sarah painter

persephinae

ok SO, stayed up til 2:30am to finish this book

the world building in this book is REALLY good, it drove me on and kept pulling and pulling me through what is essentially a YA/New Adult book. i don't caaaaaaaaarreee that it's stated they're in their mid 20s, they all act like they're 19 and have the emotional maturity of teenagers. i cannot stress enough how much they act like teenagers, especially Haeki her supposed best friend from her old life/village.

ANYWAY, this book takes place in a world where the local small gods were all killed by what are basically demons and now demons control small fascist armies that go around making sure that obey this new religion, but also there's an underlying current of hatred for demon practitioners.

Karys had run away from home to escape her shitty life there, however when she got to the city she had no job prospects and was reduced to begging, until one winter, when she was starving, sick, and dying under a bridge, she decided she would become a deathspeaker and enter a compact with a demon so that she could earn coin and not die. However, anyone entering a compact with a demon is basically a dead man walking as they then only have a few years before their compact is called due by their master and they are devoured or worse by the demon.

Karys gets pulled into horror and political intrigue on a mission gone wrong and now must work to get a man she accidentally bound to her shadow home, and there are forces at work to kill both her and the man she protects. She made a promise and by the gods she's going to do what she promised. Also there's a shit ton of money on the table to get him home, which is her ticket out of ever being poor again as well as her literal ticket to get the fuck out of her contract.

Along the way she picks up a magic specialist/scientist who has no goddamn reason to ever stick with Karys as long as she did but she's too autistic and gay to think about leaving. Karys also goes home and picks up her childhood friend who has the emotional maturity of an 8 year old and is only there to show Karys had friends and family once and is not a 1 note walking trope of "lone wolf main character and see I have complicated friendships". I cannot stress enough how Haeki makes no damn sense except to be the literal conduit for fucking up the plot and showing that human connections can be messy.

The story is written well enough to keep me engaged and trying to see where the fuck this plot was going, would they succeed in saving the man she bound to her shadow, and would she save herself from being devoured or worse by a demon? Also the world building, the different cultures and magic and views on magic were good. Also the author is really good on writing tension and horror. A+++

However, again, the actual characters themselves do in fact suck and again of the emotional range of a cactus and are written like they're teenagers and not grown ass adults. Even Ferain, the man bound to her shadow and has the patience of Job, is written like he's 19 and I cannot stress enough how supernaturally calm he is about everything and normal men would not act this way. Like as much as I loved him in the story, it really is weird that he puts up with SO MUCH SHIT and is just super chill.

In conclusion, I do recommend this book for the story and world building, at $3 it is a steal, but if you can't swing that definitely go check to see if your library has it. HOWEVER, if you're not into YA/New Adult, you're still enjoy it but you'll be like me muttering over how stupid everyone was. It makes no goddamn sense,

#asunder by kerstin hall #book review #meant to put this here lol

ok so, "The Knight and the Moth" by Rachel Gillig - cool worldbuilding in a YA novel.

do not let the "dark fantasy" tag on kindle fool you. This is barely, barely, barely dark fantasy and is, in fact, YA fantasy with some smatterings of romance.

the gods of the world are called Omens, as their aspects are used in foretellings and divinations by Aisling Abbey, where the mystical diviners will drown themselves to tell your future for a price. Each god holds dominion over an aspect - thievery/gold, knowledge, the power over water or the woods, and the power of love/tapestries. People call upon their gods for good fortunes and guidance, and the diviners are the conduits for the gods. Each diviner gives up their name and becomes a number. Each interchangeable and given to drowning and dreams.

One day the new king visits the Abbey, asking for a divination for his new reign, however, the fortune he receives is all bad. In fact, it's SO bad that the diviner who drowned for his fortune questions the meanings of what she was shown.

The king leaves, however after he leaves, the diviner's sisters mysteriously disappear one by one, prompting Six to leave the only home she's ever known to go find them.

The worldbuilding of this book is good actually, and it draws you in as you try to piece together the mystery of the Omens/gods, magic, and the nature of the Abbey and its magic.

The main character is mostly good, except when the author somehow wants this all to be YA so towards the end writes her with a YA mindset and dialogue.

This starts out as enemies to lovers, but it's more like annoyance to lovers and I wish it had been written better. Rory (the love interest and Knight) is interesting and he has an interesting background story, unfortunately he's written like a jerk for half of the book. And then when pieces of the greater overarching story give him more interesting background, the book kind of reels that back in. I want to talk more about this actually but it's spoilers so i'm sitting here like :/

The book really starts to take off to interesting points but then towards the end it remembers that it's YA, so it has to comport itself like a YA novel and not an interesting fantasy novel. and you'll be like :/

i can't believe this book has been rated 13k times and it's at 4.5 stars, when it COULD have been that, but because of it's awkwardness it's at a 3 out of 5 for me. idk what these people are smoking. please expect better for yourselves people.

i would suggest this for the worldbuilding and premise honestly if any of my blogging sounded like it piqued your interest, but I would try to get it from the library imo

i wanted this to be so good :/

#the knight and the moth #rachel gellig

ok, so "The Inheritor" by Ilona Andrews

First thing first - about 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars, really good book, kept me locked the fuck in all day as I read it in one day. It's a short book, about 258 pages or so. Lots of action and aliens.

This book takes place on an Earth where giant portals the size of small office buildings opened up across the Earth, causing mass panic and for NASA and the various military organizations to mobilize.

At first, they didn't do anything and were cordoned off as they were studied by governments, but then like a few weeks later monsters began pouring out through the portals, causing massive death on a global scale, as monsters tore through buildings, freeways, and cities, tearing apart and eating people or discarding the carcasses as they chased new prey. To say lots of people died would be an understatement.

Shortly afterwards, some people discovered they had magical talents and were called Talents, and most could be divided into various combatant and non-combatant magical powers - ie: super strength, faster, stronger, tougher, heightened senses, shoot lasers/lightning, etc.. OR the non-combatant like healing, sensing ores, reading people, understand languages, etc.

Guilds quickly formed who worked in alliance with government agencies to loot the portals for rare minerals/finds before they closed, while also fighting off the huge fuck off alien monsters that want to tear your face off and or eat you.

this book is VERY heavily influenced by Solo Leveling, imo. HOWEVER, it is more in the fact that they used it as an influence, sawed off any serial numbers, and made it tie into their own previous works.

Ada is a Talent employed by the government to use her skills to assess the portals using her magic sight to scan for useful minerals or ores or alien/magical plant life that can be used for medicines.

Unfortunately, this job goes very, very wrong and she's left to die with only a german shepard dog as company as she tries to find a way back inside the caves of an alien world and get back to the portal home.

LOTS of action, well written characters, lots of worldbuilding and set up, as the book makes you think about "Well, what would happen if we did get invaded and had giant portals open up on Earth? Oh and some people got magical talents because of this."

and the answer is: Oh, of course we'd all have to work through the apocalypse, what the fuck were you thinking. Of course, money and greed would be a major impetus of civilization. What the fuck were you thinking?

and it presents the follow up question: You were irrevocably changed by your time trying to stay alive in this alien world? How do you go back? What is waiting for you? Also how well do you trust your employer or your government? (lol. lmao.)

Anyhoo, very interesting book and set up for the series. Can't wait to devour the next book.

#ilona andrews #the inheritance #Breach Wars book 1

Finished "The Barbarian King's Assassin" by Eve Langlais.

It started out good but felt fanfic-y later and through the end?? Like where was the story from the beginning?? What happened to that?? The ending was super rushed and very mcu-y with an overload of quips

The book couldn't make up its mind whether it wanted to be adventure fantasy or romance. I know the book blurb said both, but it wasn't written like both, more like the author just wanted to smoosh it in with a shit ton of tropes

Like she was writing with tropes in mind, instead of a better written story

I really liked Konstantin, the Barbarian King. Ilyana the assassin was funny and had glimmerings of being a good character, in between the times she was made to be some quippy idiot who's the world's biggest moron at realizing what feelings are and what love is

It makes me lowkey annoyed that this could have been a better story, but no, we had to suffer through quips and tropes shoved into the story when they didn't need to be

Also the premise was dumb tbh

"I'll pay the assassin to guard me, even though I'm ridiculously strong and fast and honestly don't need guards. Also, apparently, this very smart assassin is buying this bullshit because she's a moron."

ALSO, as much as I loved how much he was in love with her, they never talked TO each other. Well maybe he did more than her. But goddamn, fucking talk to each other. What are your hopes and dreams? Who are you as a person? What's your favorite memory? What scares you? What are your hobbies? Who are these people beyond being a king and assassin? What do you like about each other? Like beyond looks??? What drives you up the wall???

2.5/3 stars out of 5 for the story premise, 4 for Konstantin because I liked him. RIP Ilyana's potential

#the barbarian king's assassin

ok SO, the DFZ Changling trilogy by Rachel Aaron

the story:

Once upon a time, magic returned to the world, along with dragons, magic users, fairies, spirits, and gods

This story takes place in the DFZ, the Detroit Free Zone. The city of Detroit became a sentient free spirit and living city. She builds and holds dominion on her domain, and she has ruled that everyone is free to live their life on her terms within her limits, and she is no longer bound to the United States.

Once upon a time, a changling was left in place of a human girl, however the parents were terrible anyway and once the little girl started showing problems, they dumped her into a psych ward and abandoned her. The little changling girl cried and cried, as at first, she didn't even know she was a changling, only that she was a monster that was being punished. She had fur and claws, sharp teeth, and could barely see, and each day she was abandoned by the nurses, talked about in fear, and forced to hide under the bed from the cruelty of the place. Her only solace was her treasure, a silver thread tied 'round her wrist that only she could see and feel, which connected her to her sister.

One day, a wizard walked into her room and once he placed his hand upon her, he forced back the fur and claws and teeth, and she became a little girl again. She wept in gratitude and was compelled to pledge her service to the wizard, as he had stated she was dying, and the only way to save herself was to pledge herself to him.

Turned out he was an evil blood mage, and for a long time afterward, she was abused and forced to do evil things for him. She was trapped with another kidnapped child, a little boy who the wizard also made do even worse things as he was being groomed to be his apprentice.

One day, many years later, both now adults that were still trapped by the evil wizard - the evil wizard disappeared without a trace.

This was bad as the wizard controlled the pills that kept the changling human and stable. Without them, she turned right back into a monster, and she would rather die than be a monster.

SO - the clock is ticking as they try to find out what the hell is going on, why the fuck some shitty kaiju movie is being advertised on every possible outlet, and what the fuck the evil wizard was scheming.

continued:

#DFZ Changling trilogy #rachel aaron #book review

persephinae

Fuck this asshole and fuck his stupid pack!!!

Della has only known heartache after heartache having to fend for her brother and herself since she was a kid. NO ONE was ever there for her. EVER. She had to be strong for her brother.

It wasn't even her fault and these assholes want to kill her. She has done nothing but cry in the past few weeks because life keeps kicking her in the teeth.

She would totally be justified in just leaving the wolf pack nothing but smoking ashes, just a big smoking crater of where their cabins used to be

All she wanted was to live by the sea with her brother and take care of him.

Fuck all these fuckers

persephinae

Oh OK, now we're getting into cartoon villainy

The witches want to kill her brother for starting the feud/war, even though he's mentally ill. Ok

If you're going to have your characters act like modern laws, morals, and sensibilities don't matter, maybe perhaps don't write it in modern times

I've read other authors who write urban fantasy, with drama and blood feuds between witches, demons, werewolves etc, and they have no problem finding a balance between supernatural people living in the modern world and still dealing with hidden wars and shit

This author does not have that balance and should not write urban fantasy

Like come on now. How she wrote this just sounds really fucking dumb

Edit: anyway don't read "The Wolf's Witch" it's dumb

2/10

#the wolf's witch #rachel medhurst #it was free at least when i got it so no money lost

Xora by Olivia Riley

This book is currently free for 2 days as of Dec 26th 2023 and if you like alien romance books you should check it out. Can't go wrong with free.

A vrisha arrives in Grace's underwater city. He takes over one of the substations, forcing the workers out. At the whim of her job, Grace is unwillingly chosen to go below, maintain the station, and stay with the horned, devilish alien. That is how she comes to encounter Xora. An alien born from a race of dominant fighters and fierce hunters. He is as terrifying as he is mysterious. While also commanding, stubborn, unrelenting...and oddly mesmerizing. As her fear slips away, other emotions begin to take hold. And Grace finds she wants to know more. Xora just wants to get off the cold, watery world as quickly as possible. Yet, despite his indifference to humans, he finds his attention captured by Grace. Against his own nature, he allows her near him. Closer than anyone. He's just too...curious. For Grace, working with Xora could be dangerous. But when he desires her help on a secret mission, Grace can't refuse. Even if it could mean putting her job and life (and heart) at risk. For Xora, Grace's help could be his best chance at getting home. Assuming he can keep his growing feelings for the bold woman from making him lose sight of why he's on Oceanus in the first place.

#free books #alien romance #romance books #paranormal romance #olivia riley #xora #vrisha warriors

So because I liked the "Grey Gates" series by Vanessa Nelson so much I bought her other series "Taellaneth", which was 5 ebooks for 99 cents. Literally a steal, even if they possibly sucked.

they did not suck

These books had me hooked despite myself all week.

"The Taellaneth series" seems to be about elves (they're called Erith but they're basically elves. My only complaint about this book. Just call them fucking elves sheesh).

The MC is named Arrow, a word that is close in pronunciation to what the elves call her in elvish, which is "Abomination".

Arrow is half human, and was made a "tenured servant" (slave) to the rest of the elves because of her heritage. She is regularly treated like shit, beaten, barely fed, given the most threadbare shitty clothes, and is treated like the lowest of the low

However because she IS still elvish, she has magic (very strong magic) and has been extensively trained in its use, and if she had been a full blooded elf with rights, she would be a highly esteemed war mage with her own cadre of warriors

The story starts with her being sent to the shifkin (werewolves) as part of a murder investigation

The elves have been implicated and they must honor their treaty with the shifkin. However the shifkin hate them so they sent Arrow as she was viewed expendable and wouldn't be mourned if she was murdered by the shifkin in their rage

Book 1 is basically unraveling the murder and in the process they learn that humans have been summoning demons. Long Ago, humans tried the same thing against the elves and it was a horrific battle as they fought powerful demons loosed upon the land, barely winning. Now the ancestors of those same humans are trying again, and this time trying to frame the elves so as to start a war with the shifters.

Book 2 - Book 5 is Arrow continuing to get pulled into politics between the humans and elves because of her unique power - she's a shadow walker war mage, able to walk into the shadows and into the shadow realm. She's very powerful, so powerful in fact, that she created seals on her own power while she was in bondage so that NO ONE would know that she held such power because while in bondage she was oathbound to obey any command and she did not trust those motherfuckers one inch.

Shadow Walker mages are incredibly rare and none had been born in seen in hundreds of years. Her heritage denied her for so long, she honed her craft despite her own internal seals, and when at last she was free from her oath of servitude, she became a force to be reckoned with. For she could also sense and banish demons, which have been trying to breach their world again in an unseen war against all.

Arrow must survive against demons, politics and her own people while trying to save them and save the heart of the elvish lands, the source of all their power.

I really liked Arrow and enjoyed the story as she rose like a phoenix despite being beaten, battered, and almost broken. Her fierce loyalty, kindness, and indomitable will won her many allies and friends, which she never would have even thought to wish for in all her life.

My other complaint (besides wishing the author would just fucking call them fucking elves), is that I wish the story would have addressed her abuse more. Sure, some of the motherfuckers who hurt her died, but there was no justice. And the hurt she had endured was never addressed with Kester, the warrior elf who came to love her. Yes, there was initial miscommunications, and secrets hidden that later bit them both in the ass, but in order to understand her heart and the person that he pledges himself to, there has to be communication and trust. He has to know who her enemies are, who hurt her, and what her triggers are, what would currently hurt her.

Also I just really really really really really wanted Kester to just go full Riftan and vow to personally kill anyone who hurt Arrow. Like at least break some bones, maybe go full Bane and break someone over his knee like a glowstick. Maybe, perhaps, break someone's jaw or fingers. Like is that so much to ask???

Anyway, like I said, you can buy all 5 ebooks for 99 cents and the story kept me hooked wanting to know more.

5/5 stars

#book review #The Taellaneth series #vanessa nelson

ok i finished book 1 of the Grey Gate series "Outcast: The Grey Gates - Book 1" by Vanessa Nelson and I'm invested to read book 2

book blurb:

If no one knows that you saved the world, does it really count? Eight years ago the world almost ended and Max lost everything, accused of betrayal and failure. Now working as a Marshal, keeping the city and its people safe from supernatural dangers, Max thinks she's broken all ties to her past. She's just trying to do her job and live her life. Asked to help local law enforcement with a series of vicious murders, Max is willing to assist but soon realises that she might be next. Can she keep her secret while finding the killer?

the story is a supernatural/paranormal mystery in a world that I'm not sure is our world or not. There's cars, technology, phones, guns, etc.. but there's magic and geography and history don't line up. So I'm not sure if this is a magical au of our world or a different world completely.

but in any event, the book has interesting characters, an air of mystery beyond the serial killings, in that you want to know what's really happening, and what happened to Max 8-10 years ago (this is what is really driving my interest in this book series now. like what the hell is going on?)

no romance elements yet, just straight paranormal mystery, but I wonder what will happen with a character from her past that she keeps running into

anyhoo, really good! It's only 99 cents. So if any of this sounded good, it's practically a steal at 99 cents and I highly suggest you buy it.

5/5 for me

#book review #vanessa nelson #the grey gates series #paranormal mystery

So I stayed up late to finish reading book 6 of "Aileen Travers series", "Nightfall's Prophet" and wow, this was such a good book

I honestly thought this would be the last book in the series because the author has 4 series she writes on, so I was like "ok, we're on book 6 now, I bet she's going to wrap things up and call it a day because I bet it's exhausting juggling 4 different book series right?"

wrong. this book is just getting started.

(book 1 blurb)

Life as Aileen knew it ended when she woke up in a morgue sporting a new set of fangs after a wild night out. Now as a courier for the supernatural world, she balances figuring out this whole vampire thing with making enough to support her ice cream habit. When a job goes disastrously awry and ends with a body on the ground, Aileen finds herself in over her head as she draws the attention of a powerful creature intent on her death. Aileen will need to separate her allies from her enemies before it’s too late. To survive, she’ll work with a being she swore to avoid at all costs—a powerful vampire who may hold the key to her survival. Or the flame from which her world burns.

This series has the fae, vampires, werewolves, witches, demons etc.. the supernatural world is hidden from mortals but living side by side next to them. Aileen must figure out this new world as she slowly adapts to life as a newly made vampire after her death, and she doesn't know who to trust.

Each book builds upon the previous in world building and character growth, and it leaves you wanting to find out more in each book as the stakes are raised. The books do feature romance and sex scenes, but they're not the focus of the series as much as the actual story (I personally kinda wish the author would make them smutty and add even more romance in between the story but that's just me)

In this latest book, Aileen is being targeted by a powerful vampire, but who? The obvious answer is the vampire with a vendetta against her Sire, but she begins to have ominous dreams of an ancient vampire as rumors grow that he has returned.

The plot is really good and has you devouring the pages to find out what the hell is happening (in a good way), while also you savor the interactions between Aileen and her new found family. And speaking of family, Aileen learns world shattering secrets about her own human family that she's been hiding her vampire nature from. She desperately wants them to continue thinking she's still human, however that may pale in comparison to what unfolds for them.

These books keep getting better and I can't wait for the next book in this growing series.

Nightfall's Prophet - 5/5

#aileen travers series #TA White #book review

persephinae

Current book i'm reading is urban fantasy? i guess?

there's the real world, called the Broken (because there's no magic here), there's the Edge - an in between world, and the Weird - where magic is the norm

a healer sorceress finds out her marriage was a sham, he used her for a title and connections, and then dumped her ass when it turns out she was having fertility troubles and couldn't guarantee him an heir. He was an asshole and she was furious at the betrayal and callousness, so she used her magic in reverse to hurt him. This is forbidden because the magic, once released that way, starts the long dark path to becoming an abomination and feeds on human life and suffering. If she stayed, she would have been an object of pity and possibly "retired" to a nunnery, so she runs away from everything to go to the Edge, where magic is weakened and it's a mix of the Broken and the Weird.

She rescues some guy, who has sword magic, and now they're on a mission to take on this underground crime ring

so far it's pretty good.

persephinae

I'm going to scream I think this is heavily "The Princess Bride" inspired

persephinae

I'M GOING TO FUCKING CRY OK

THE LI WAS MARRIED BEFORE AND HE HAD LOVED HIS WIFE TO DISTRACTION, HE DID EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER TO MAKE HER HAPPY

THIS MAN WROTE POETRY FOR HER, PICKED FLOWERS FOR HER EVERY MORNING

LOVED HER LOVED HER LOVED HER

AND STILL IT WASN'T ENOUGH BECAUSE THEY WERE POOR AND LIVED IN SWAMP COUNTRY

SO ONE DAY WHILE HE WAS AWAY GETTING SUPPLIES SHE FUCKING LEFT HIS ASS FOR THE BROKEN (REAL WORLD) WHERE HE COULDN'T FOLLOW BECAUSE HE HAD MAGIC

SHE RETURNED ALL HIS GIFTS AND LEFT HIS ASS A NOTE ASKING HIM TO FORGET HER

HE FOUND OUT LATER SHE REMARRIED SOME LAWN AND GARDEN DUDE SELLING SMALL PONDS AND FOUNTAINS TO RICH PEOPLE

THE MAN LOVED YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK AND GAVE YOU POETRY, WAS A TOTAL BADASS SWORDMASTER, AND YOU FUCKING LEFT HIM FOR LAWN AND GARDEN STEVE??????

persephinae

He had to undergo a painful and risky operation to go undercover

persephinae

Richard is head over heels, "You have but to ask and I would die or kill for you" in love with Charlotte and now his brother's really worried because he only ever loved his ex-wife previously and he didn't handle losing her very well because he goes 100% when he falls in love with someone

I still can't believe his ex-wife left him for real world, no magic, lawn and garden Steve

persephinae

Awwwww this book was good. "Steel's Edge" by Ilona Andrews if anyone wants to read it too

#going throug my tags #ilona andrews #steel's edge #edge series

finished book 3, "Unending Magic", of "Bargains with Beasts" series by Stacia Stark, the 2nd series in her post magical apocalypse paranormal romance series

book 3 was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy better than book 2, focusing entirely on the werewolf, Kyla, and her vow to Finvarra, the Unseelie King

it's the culmination of a slowburn enemies to lovers, and Kyla is fuckin awesome and deserves the world

Kyla vowed to steal an important sword from the Seelie King to deliver to the Unseelie King as part of a prophecy, however the 2nd part of the prophecy required her to steal it again from the Unseelie King to deliver it to its proper master, a demigod who got trapped in the real world and kickstarted the magical apocalypse 20-30 years ago as he brought magic back

the Unseelie King really does not want to give up that sword as he views it his key to defeating and killing the Seelie King for a feud and a vow of vengeance that goes back centuries. However in all his immortal life, he never would have anticipated someone as fearless and kickass as Kyla, who never backs down, always is willing to lay down her life for those she's loyal to, but due to trauma never really viewed herself as worthy of other's love.

I cannot stress enough how much I liked Kyla as a character and was eager to read her story.

I would give this book 4.5 / 5 stars

#bargains with beasts #unending magic #kyla hill #stacia stark

persephinae

so i started reading the 2nd series of supernatural romance books by Stacia Stark, this series is about Danica’s sister Evie.

under a cut because this wound up being a bit long

Keep reading

persephinae

Lord 🤮

The author is writing the apology scene like a therapy session with the most cringe shit you really don’t say irl nor to a person you’ve only known a few months

This type of shit is what you say in the dark at 3am when you’re either both falling asleep or when your SO is already asleep (or faking asleep)

Or maybe you write it in a journal or something.

Like as much as I LOVE the sunshine x grumpy trope, that’s effectly conveyed through actions and personality, or the grumpy one thinking wistfully about how their love is like sunshine, and NOT the grumpy one outright STATING that you both fit the trope

This feels like even the author was like “wow this whole situation is awkward and stupid, let’s handwave it away in a forced therapy situation”

😒🙄

persephinae

This book is. ..not good…

Idk what happened, the first series was so good and now there’s this..

I would not recommend the 2nd series tbh

persephinae

Me reading a scene where she ignites in flames while kissing her mate: ah someone liked that scene from hellboy eh?

sephie-books

in conclusion this book sucked and I now dislike Evie

however, the 3rd book with Kyla is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy better

#unbroken magic #stacia stark

persephinae

ok so here's the post about the books i just finished:

ok so there's 3 books of the "Dark World's Mates" by Olivia Riley, it's sci-fi romance with sex scenes, but the world building is really good.

the first one "Heart's Prisoner" sets up the world building

humans have just started exploring space and settling on new worlds. they've only JUST recently met 1 sentient alien species, who were pretty peaceful and wished to learn about humans and trade, really just super chill. they're like scaly fish people.

however now that humans KNOW there are aliens out there they begin to actively look.

however the military has a secret planet where it's like basically Area 51, top secret hush hush, where the military brings all alien fauna to test and run experiments on, and plan war if they need to go to war against an aggressive species

and one day, they run across another sentient alien vastly different than the chill blue goldfish people. This one's humongous and looks like a demon - horns, slightly reptilian features, claws, and tail, he towers above humans.

the book goes into the world building of the story and presents him as truly alien and uncooperative to his captors. like there's a lot of suspense built up around this and all the other alien creatures being held there.

the military brings in the trained specialist that helped the fish people learn about humans and learn each others cultures, because she's super empathetic.

She's really smart but also kind of dumb, i was sometimes sitting here in 2nd hand embarrassment and muttering over some of the dumb things she does.

the book then goes into the aspect of both her and the alien learning to see each other as people and becoming friends, but it turns out that the alien let himself be captured because he had his own mission

This book got really good and had me invested to the end, however it kinda didn't stick the landing with the ending. It was a happy ending but I was sitting there like "really....? ok"

the second book "Dark's Savior" expands on the world building and the galaxy the humans find themselves in

This has a different set of characters and settings. A team of humans had been captured by space pirates only to be "rescued" by an alien empire.

Not knowing what to do, the aliens sentenced them to work the mines until they figure out what to do with them

I liked the MC in this one, she didn't let her circumstances get her down too much and she liked to draw whenever she could steal some time for herself

The LI accidentally stumbles upon her one night when she had sneaked out to go to the top of the mesa to look at the moon and try to draw it. The humans are usually in the mines all day so don't see direct sunlight, but sometimes she can sneak up and at least see the moon at night.

The LI is a cat alien variant and he feels his beast stir when he sees her. He freaks out because this is usually bad thing, so he avoids her like the plague while hiding out in the depths of the mine.

Circumstances and dumb luck forces the MC to his part of the mine, where she tries to help him in exchange for helping her and the other few humans escaping the planet.

The mines and the enemies in this book were really cool and kept me reading. The ending was again : / but they had a happy ending.

the last book, "Shadow's Chosen" was really really good.

It's enemies to lovers and I usually don't go for that trope a lot, but this was written really well.

a human team of scientists/ambassadors to a dog alien planet has disappeared and a band of human mercs/security force were paid to go rescue them

however an alien Hunter/Assassin for a powerful alien crime lord was tasked with also finding the humans on that planet so they could be sold on auction

the Hunter and his team pose as bounty hunters to take down the local dog gangs that kidnapped the humans, however the Hunter was surprised to see more humans at the dog alien embassy

both groups were betrayed on their descent to the lower cities, and the MC and the Hunter had to team up to survive.

She was initially very distrustful of him because he's an asshole, but over the course of the few weeks down there she comes to trust him, not know that he would eventually betray her as well if he follows his orders.

really really good! less world building and more just action as they try to rescue their respective teams and survive.

so if these sound interesting to you they're like $3.99 ea on Kindle

#dark worlds mates #olivia riley #i forgot to import this to my book blog

Finished reading "Spells and Ashes" by Kim Richardson

Samantha Baeumont is a witch of considerable power. In this world, witches, vampires, werewolves, etc are all descendants of humans lying with demons

Demons are real, as are angels

And Sam hunts demons who cross the line to harm humans, as she's a paranormal investigator who specializes in banishing demons

However this case is bigger than she can imagine as this demon can withstand her magic

She has to team up with an angel born hunter (humans who have angel ancestry and hate all demons, including those with demonic ancestry like witches), as well as an angel who refuses to return to the heavenly plane, in order ro solve this mystery and save humans from being sacrificed.

Nice worldbuilding and descent characters, kept me interested enough to buy the book and now I'm on to the next book

I'd rate it.. 6.5/10 I guess

It's not like OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO READ THIS, but it has potential and was fun to read

#sephie reads spells and ashes

persephinae

I'm reading another humans as aliens paranormal romance book by Olivia Riley called "Shade's Embrace"

And this woman's escape pod accidentally crash landed on some alien mafia controlled moon, which normally Not Good, but it's double Not Good when you're a human, because humans are still rare to most aliens and humans try to stay within the Protected Zones of the galaxy

So she's running for her life, gets caught by supposedly kind aliens who give her a translator, and she naively asks for help, knowing she's being stupid but she has no other options on getting off this moon

Like, understandable, you have tough choices

But THEN she starts giving them her life story because they're being nice and admits to be a dancer on a cruise ship before it exploded and her escape pod malfunctioned

Like girl, you know humans are viewed as exotic, what are doing

persephinae

Oop, would you look at that, I was right

sephie-books

This was actually pretty ok! It was short though and I would have liked more interactions between them, but some parts were really good (others meh)

If you like alien romances and don't mind spending like 3 bucks then yeah I recommend it

#shades embrace #olivia riley

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

I'd Rather Be Reading