#mark of truth

[jolieeason]

It's Monday: What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet and share what you have been and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit, comment, and add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book…

View On WordPress

[bifrostbookreviews]

Review: Mark of Truth by Graceley Knox

We all yearn for something more--for the ability to touch the land our ancestors came from. We all need to be with others who not only understand us but accept us fully for who and what we are. * Surrounded by humans outside the walls of MECA, we’re never allowed to forget that we’re different. But maybe being different isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe it’s something to be revered. Something to teach our children and our children’s children. For a people so diverse, we’re exceedingly close-minded. The realization saddens me. I probably can’t change the thinking of so many being whose way of doing things is the way they’ve lived for centuries. But even if I can change the way one person is affected. . . I’ll consider it a positive impact. Or even a step in the right direction.

Rating: 5/5

Review below the cut for post brevity:

Tl;dr in advance: this book is so good it made me not want to go into work today just so I could stay home and finish it. For quick context, I'm an indy bookseller, I'm literally paid to go talk about books with people, it is my dream job and it takes a lot for me to not want to go to work.

I'm not sure I know where to start with this--it's that good. Actually, backtrack, before I start the review official, I'm just going to talk a minute about how I found out about this author and series. Fun story, it turns out Graceley Knox is a local in my neck of the woods. She was actually browsing at my store over the weekend and I met her and wound up getting her card. It was a really cool, kinda out-of-the-blue experience and I really enjoyed talking with her. Anyway, I figured I'd give one of her books a go just out of curiosity more than anything else. And let me tell y'all--I was not prepared for this. After Mark of Truth, I am completely hooked and prepared to unabashedly binge read this entire series within the next week or so. It's arguably one of the best para-romance books I've ever read.

So now, official review.

Mark of Truth follows Ever, a half-Light Elf living in Indiana and working as a guard for MECA, an organization made up of half-fae that are akin to supernatural bounty hunters / police officers on Earth, basically. Ever is a total badass: she's rough, she has a potty mouth, she's hardened on the outside but she's loyal to a fault. She consistently protects others around her more than herself and she's self-aware of her own short comings. Basically, she's the female protag my dreams are made of and I love her for it. She can be slightly yo-yo-ish at times, but I think that's to be expected considering the insane situations she gets herself into. She behaves in very a realistic way that sometimes is glossed over in comparable books, and I can appreciate Knox keeping her MC real.

I also really loved the dynamic Ever has with her crew. She behaves very much like a warrior, and she trusts her crew like a warrior would trust their fellow fighters. I loved seeing them all constantly having each other's backs, knowing what to say, and just the general familiarity between them. The dynamic going on, and the idea that they're all family even if they're not blood, was really awesome to read about. I feel like in a lot of romance books, the heroine's friends are usually forgotten about or there's this stereotypical plot thing that the strong female rides alone. That's absolutely not the case here--and yet this also isn't one of those series where each book has a new romance in store for someone else. We're not dropping Ever off at the end and picking up with the story of someone else in book two (as far as I can tell, anyway; I haven't actually gotten there yet).

The plot is also amazing. I don't want to go into detail over it because spoilers, obviously, but I'm really excited to see what happens next. I love everything that's going on.

Lastly, once again I really just want to touch on Ever as a person and how fantastic she is. Ever has all of these core values at heart that she won't part from, even if it's inconvenient or life-threatening. She's constantly looking out for the little guy and treating everyone with fairness, respect, and kindness. I cannot stress enough how refreshing it was to see a character who consistently makes an effort to treat others by the golden rule--and yet she's not a goody two shoes, either. She curses, she walks around half-naked, she;s prickly, but she’s fair. She also makes mistakes, and then admits her mistakes. She doesn't always know what decision to make, and she can admit that. She can be a warrior who takes down supernatural badasses, but she can also be the sensitive MC who adopts baby gargoyles. She's so, so good. I love her.

At the end of the day, I think that's why this book - and series - appeal to me so much. There's so many other good things - the setting, the plot, the love interest, the amazing smut (tangent, there's a lot of really well-written sex scenes lurking underneath this somewhat YA-looking cover, and they're all great but at the same time, if you're not there for smutty, making love on the kitchen counter at 1 AM sex scenes, here's your warning) - but most of all, there's Ever. I cannot get behind this book more fully. If you’re a paranormal romance reader, you have to read this.

[tastywordgasms]

Blog Tour for Crown of Betrayal by Graceley Knox. @GraceleyKnox @bnwauthorservices #CrownofBetrayalTour

Crown of Betrayal (A Wicked Kingdoms Novel Book 2)  by Graceley Knox  Release Date: 8th August Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance

#CrownofBetrayalTour

Buy the Book Amazon US Amazon UK

Synopsis

Now that the threat to Ever is imprisoned and gone for good, she can focus on what really matters: getting rid of the goblins living in her house as “protection” and getting back to work capturing rogue…

View On WordPress

[tastywordgasms]

Blog Tour: Mark of Truth (A Wicked Kingdoms Novel) By Graceley Knox #markoftruthreleaseblitz @GraceleyKnox @bnwauthorservices

Mark of Truth (A Wicked Kingdoms Novel) by Graceley Knox

Release Date: 23rd May Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance #markoftruthreleaseblitz

Goodreads

Synopsis

Ever Leath, leader of the deadliest crew within the Magical Enforcement and Containment Agency’s ranks, has always known she’s a half-breed—until a visit from her estranged mother changes everything. She’s determined to marry Ever…

View On WordPress

[tastywordgasms]

Cover Reveal & Pre-Order Now! Mark of Truth by Graceley Knox @GraceleyKnox @bnwauthorservices #markoftruthcoverreveal

Mark of Truth (A Wicked Kingdoms Novel) by Graceley Knox Release Date: 23rd May Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance #markoftruthcoverreveal  Synopsis Ever Leath, leader of the deadliest crew within the Magical Enforcement and Containment Agency’s ranks, has always known she’s a half-breed—until a visit from her estranged mother changes everything. She’s determined to marry Ever off for political…

View On WordPress

[ckwlofton]

Mark of Truth by Graceley Knox Cover Reveal

Mark of Truth by Graceley Knox Cover Reveal

  Mark of Truth (A Wicked Kingdoms Novel)

by Graceley Knox

Release Date: 23rd May

Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance

#markoftruthcoverreveal

  Synopsis

   Ever Leath, leader of the deadliest crew within the Magical Enforcement and Containment Agency’s ranks, has always known she’s a half-breed—until a visit from her estranged mother changes everything. She’s determined to marry Ever off for…

View On WordPress