Category: Reviews

Books, funny, great reads, Out of the Box Blogs, Reviews, Romance

“Mr. President” By: Katy Evans

Les

mr-president

Hey everyone! I was reading this book, and thought how fitting that I finished this book the day before we officially get a new President. *This is not a political post!*

Here we go!

Charlotte is a young girl when she meets the President of the United States and his son. Her father is a Senator. Her mother says she should write a note to thank the President for being at dinner. She instead writes a letter to his son Matt, telling him if he ever runs for President she would help him. (His dad told her one day Matt would be president) Fast forward eleven years, and Charlotte is working full-time, her father and mother are still in politics, the President she met was assassinated, and his son Matt is now running for President.

Matthew Hamilton is America’s sweetheart, they have watched him grow, lose his dad, and he has decided the country needs change and is going to run for President. He hasn’t forgotten Charlotte, and still has her letter. He plans on keeping her to her word to help him win.

And this, ladies and gentlemen is where the fun begins. Charlotte realizes that her childhood crush on Matt hasn’t gone away and is as strong as ever. Matt realizes that Charlotte has grown up into a beautiful, and smart woman.

Problem: Matthew doesn’t want a First Lady. He doesn’t think it is fair, because he watched his mother take a back seat to the country. He refuses to do that to anyone he loves.

And….. the shit gets real hot! They are sneaking around, trying not to get caught by anyone. They are campaigning and traveling together and sneaking off to remote locations, so the staff, and the press don’t find out and ruin the campaign.

You will have to read the book to find out if they get caught or not!

So, my opinion. I really liked this story. I like the characters, the story line and the idea behind it. Charlotte is an honest, smart girl, who realizes the truth in her situation. Matt is a strong man who has always been in the public eye, and who is very close to his mother. Charlotte’s parents are strange to me, however their concerns and views make sense, since they are also in the public eye.

Let me be clear, if we ever have a super hot, young smart man running for President, I will be signing up to work on that campaign. Matt is super hot! I love him. He is a guy next door type (well I wish he lived next door to me!).

What I really like about this story is that the sex, and the sneaking around is coming as a secondary thing to them working and campaigning. This book is about the entire journey, not just their relationship.

This is a series and I am going to buy the second one as soon as I am finished writing this. It ends in a cliff hanger, so I NEED to know what happens next.

Give it a chance, go read it!

Peace,

Les

 

Books, fantasy, paranormal romance, Reviews, scifi, Urban Fantasy

Freeks by Amanda Hocking

Karen

freeks

I thought this cover was so intriguing so when I had a chance to grab the ARC of this book through netgalley I jumped on it. I’m a bit undecided on this one…honestly I’m meh about it. Here is the blurb:

In a world of magical visions and pyrokinesis, Mara just wants to have a normal life. But is that possible?

Mara has become used to the extraordinary. Roaming from place to place with Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Carnival, she longs for an ordinary life where no one has the ability to levitate or predict the future.

She gets her chance when the struggling sideshow sets up camp in the small town of Caudry and she meets a gorgeous local guy named Gabe. But before long, Mara realizes there’s a dark presence lurking in the town that’s threatening the lives of her friends. She has seven days to take control of a power she didn’t know she had in order to save everyone she cares about—and change the future forever.

It’s going to be another pro and con review guys sorry.

Pros. The concept. I love that Amanda explored the idea of a traveling circus and I loved the whole idea of this book. I found the world easy to understand and the characters enjoyable enough.

Cons. It has instalove, which I hate. Why do we need this? I really think the romance in this book actually took away from the story.

Setting. This book is set in the 80’s, now that alone doesn’t bother me (I remember the 80’s) but the author constantly reminds you of this fact. It’s not so much hints as being beaten over the head with it, so it gets old really fast.

Overall I enjoyed it enough but I think I would get it from the library. If you do want to purchase it here is the link from Amazon:

Books, fantasy, great reads, Reviews, scifi, Urban Fantasy

*Audiobook* Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Karen

magic-bites

I LOVE THIS SERIES!! I didn’t want there to be any doubts. But I’m not a huge audio book person, and I will admit when it comes to the first two books of this series I tend to skim some when I reread, so when give the opportunity to review this, I thought this was a great chance to be objective. First and foremost, the blurb..

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic…

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way…

This book is a well written, has fantastic world building and some of my all time favorite characters in it, but when forced to actually listen to the whole thing I must admit it isn’t the strongest in the series. That’s not to say it isn’t amazing, how about we just break it down..

Pros: The book leaves no doubt where you are and what the world is about. You are in this post magic Atlanta and you never doubt the world building in it.

There are some fantastic character introductions in this book, and a lot of them remain key for many books to come. I understand who Kate is and I get her purpose. Also it is so nice to have a strong female lead that doesn’t have to be mean or crazy. She just kicks ass, I love her.

Story. I love that, though this becomes a 10 book series, this is a self contained story. It has a beginning (will talk about that) a middle and an end. No cliffhangers or underdeveloped plots.

Now remember I said this wasn’t the best of this series, so let’s talk about what I didn’t like about it.

Cons: It can be very slooooowww, especially the beginning. I’ve developed a very deep liking for Kate and her band of misfits so I have patience for anything she is doing but if you don’t know her (and for all intent and purpose you don’t since this is book one) the beginning does tend to drag. Hang in there!

World building. Wait wasn’t that on my pros list? I know this is one of those quirky things that was both a pro and a con. You see when I originally read this book there was already three books out and I knew I was going to read them. This world building is A LOT for just one book. Is it necessary for the series? Hell yes! Is it too much if this is the only book you read? Maybe. So just don’t let it be the only one, you are only hurting yourself.

This was an audio book so I would also like to comment on the narrator Renee Raudman. I thought she was fantastic! I thought a first she was a little dramatic, but then the more she read the more I fell in love with her. What an amazing job, I hope to hear her again soon.

If you like to listen to your books grab this audio here http://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=magic+bites+kate+daniels&sprefixRefmarker=nb_sb_ss_i_1_11&sprefix=magic+bites

Books, fantasy, Mystery, Out of the Box Blogs, paranormal romance, Reviews, Romance

Eleventh Grave in Moonlight by: Darynda Jones

Les

Hey everyone! Look I got lost, but I found my way back. I will save you the details of my absence, but I will say Step mom is battling Breast Cancer, Dad has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Cirrhosis of the Liver. So, 2016 has been a hell of a year for Karen, Debra, and I. I got so caught up in the illnesses that I missed out on a lot this past year. I am working on getting back to normal. Truth is, I have only read 2 books in the past 6 months. I know right, What the hell? Well Lets change that.

I was so excited to receive this book. As you all probably know I love the Charley Davidson Series. Karen introduced me to it and that was it for me. Bad ass girl grim reaper, really hot son of Satan and all kinds of fun stuff happening. What is not to love.

We have made it to the 11th book in the series. I was super excited, because it seemed like this one is coming out not long after the 10th. I think that is more my warped perception of time, than actual truth.

Lets get to the exciting part: THE ENTIRE FREAKING BOOK. She jam-packed this book with action, and a lot of Reyes Farrow. Oh, how I love Mr. Farrow.

Charley is still Charley, she does dumb stuff, and is still learning about who she is. Reyes now knows he is a God as well, and he is determined to teach Charley about her abilities. He is also his dominating self, and is handing out orders and of course Charley is laughing at that. We are also finally finding out other people’s roles in Beep’s life. Of course Swopes is still there, and as usual Cookie is horribly dressed and still amazing at helping Charley.

There are some new bad guys, humans, Gods, Angels , and ghosts. Michael is making his appearances, as well as other Angels that seem to be everywhere Charley is. Of course, she did threaten to take over the world.

Those dang Fosters  (wow they are creepy) and the fake adoption agency are still causing issues. Something is wrong with Uncle Bob, and Charley wants to unmark him since he is slated for Hell, since he killed some people to save Charley.

Charley is as usual having trouble coming to terms with the fact that she is a God and has some amazing abilities. She realizes that when she is angry, she can do cruel and amazing things if she doesn’t learn to control it. She needs to learn control.

Charley and team solve the case. She also is told she is a God eater, and 13 Gods in one, so she is the most powerful God in this dimension. She puts this theory to the test.

And at the end, she does something Reyes asks, which is a surprise. However, it may be the worst thing they have ever done.

As you know you have to read the book to find out. I need the 12th book right now, because of course its a cliffhanger. Go read it! If you haven’t started this series, then you should do so now! you don’t know what you’re missing.

Peace!

Les