Stitches and Witches

Stitches and Witches by Nancy Warren

Amazon 🔗
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Stitches and Witches surround the Watts sisters who own the Elderflower tea shop next to Cardinal Woolseys. Mary Watts has strong suspicions of her sister's boyfriend, Gerald Pettigrew, and Florence suspects Mary of killing him.
There are more connections to a person if you want to catch a killer than is initially thought. With a little bit of magic and help from her vampire club, Lucy can solve the case and figure out who done it.

Reading Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper

JLBryanbooks

I'm so excited to read this I don't want to go to bed, but I just need my beauty sleep. It's free on Kindle and I've had it for forever and I'm elated to be able to listen to the audiobook! I wish I could get all the books in the series. It's narrated by Carla Mercer-Meyer because I've been in a slump I don't really feel good about anything lately. I've heard good things about Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper so we shall see. I mean if you are into ghosts then it should be good. I thought it would be a good spooky Halloween read.
I've read, and loved, J.LBryans The Paranormals and Songs of Magic, so I am familiar with the author and I like what I've read so far. Yay!
So far we have the ghost of Mercy Cutledge and they are trying to excise it or get rid of it from a home the Treadwells live at present. It used to be the house of Augustus March. There is history and many people died in that house. The Ghost of Mercy Cutledge isn't leaving though. She used to live in an Asylum when she was alive and the authority regarded her as crazy. Scary detective work investigating the old abandoned mental hospital.
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Review: All the Little Lights

All the Little Lights by Jamie McGuire

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jamie McGuire's All The Little Lights is an emotional representation of a romance between two young and wounded souls. Catherine Calhoun and Elliott Youngblood.
The epilogue starts off with Elliott stuck in a tree in the girl's backyard. Catherine was with her dad, burying their dog Booger and Elliott did not want to come down for fear of disturbing her or risk seen as a 'creeper.'
She lives on Juniper Street in a big old Victorian mansion. He was visiting his Aunt Leigh for the summer. The story moves as slow as molasses. Catherine was keeping one hell of a secret.

All the Little Lights is a contemporary romance, but it felt like reading a suspense novel at times, mainly when the Juniper's "guests" were so weird.
When a girl that Catherine hates disappears everyone blames it on her and Elliott is unaware of the danger she is in.
Catherine's mama is "weird" and has outbursts of rage which is the reason why Catherine lives in fear.

Publisher's Summary

The first time Elliott Youngblood spots Catherine Calhoun, he’s just a boy with a camera, and he’s never seen a sadder and more beautiful sight. Both Elliott and Catherine feel like outcasts, yet they find an easy friendship with each other. But when Catherine needs him most, Elliott is forced to leave town.
Elliott finally returns, but he and Catherine are now different people. He’s a star high school athlete, and she spends all her free time working at her mother’s mysterious bed-and-breakfast. Catherine hasn’t forgiven Elliott for abandoning her, but he’s determined to win back her friendship…and her heart.
Just when Catherine is ready to fully trust Elliott, he becomes the prime suspect in a local tragedy. Despite the town’s growing suspicions, Catherine clings to her love for Elliott. But a devastating secret that Catherine has buried could destroy whatever chance of happiness they have left.

Where To Buy

Free with KindleUnlimited | Paperback | Audiobook

About the Author

Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with the international bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel, Walking Disaster, debuted at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Jamie lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado with her husband, Jeff, and their three children. Visit her Website

Review: Aurora Sky

Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #1 by Nikki Jefford

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Amazon

Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter is a lab rat or freak whichever way you look at it. She dies in a car accident but then gets taken and kidnapped by some special air force agent Melcher, in which they create vampire hunters out of people. Their explanation is she has unique blood. Type AB negative. The book doesn't go into detail about their Frankenstein experiments only that she awakens in their lab and is alive. Anyhow, Aurora is in service to Melcher's demands from here on out which involve dangerous missions to kill evil vampires, and she is the bait. Her training is flexible as they work around her school schedule and Melcher doesn't appear to be a bad guy...
In the meantime, she meets a boy whom neither of them knows much about the other. His name is Fane, short for Francesco. It turns out he is a hundred and fifty-year-old vampire. Uh, yea.

I was appalled that Aurora didn't know Fane was a vampire because it was so obvious. Another thing is all of Aurora's girlfriends are informants and they work for Melcher! That proves interesting. Regardless when Aurora almost gets herself killed, again, Fane saves her life.
There is also another male in her life, but we won't talk about him. Suffice it to say he is a Vampire Hunter too, but it appears Aurora's mom fancies him more than Aurora does.

QUOTE

"We have saved your life and you, in turn, will save the lives of hundreds.” Jefford, Nikki. Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter (p. 23). Nikki Jefford. Kindle Edition.

About the Author 

Nikki Jefford is a third-generation Alaskan now living in the Pacific Northwest with her French husband and their Westie, Cosmo. When she's not reading or writing she enjoys taking long walks and motorcycling. Lifelong nature and animal lover with a fondness for hot chocolate, tea, wine, and baked goods.

Visit her website

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  #2018AtoZChallenge

Review: Magnolia Nights

Magnolia Nights by Ashley Farley

Expected publication: September 12th, 2017
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received Magnolia Nights free in exchange for an honest review from the promotion team of caffeinated book services

Goodreads Summary

Ellie Pringle has spent endless hours and countless dollars working with a therapist to remember the lost years of her childhood. She’s baffled and more than a little intrigued when the grandmother she hasn’t seen in thirty-four years dies and leaves her a fortune. The time has come to face her past in person. Still reeling from a recent breakup of a long-term relationship, and with nothing to keep her in San Francisco, Ellie packs her meager belongings and boards a plane for the South Carolina Lowcountry. Standing in the entryway of her grandmother’s antebellum home on South Battery Street in Charleston, Ellie faces the first of many ghosts who will soon haunt her. On her first night in the creepy, creaking mansion, as she’s perusing the titles in a dusty bookcase, she comes across her deceased mother’s leather-bound journal. Her mother’s words create more unanswered questions and send her on a quest to find more journals. As Hurricane Irma bears down on the South Carolina coast, Ellie encounters Julian Hagood, a handsome architect who has the talent to restore her dilapidated mansion and the charm to mend her broken heart. But as Ellie reads her mother’s diaries, they dislodge a stone in the wall that safeguards her memories, causing her world to come crumbling down. Revelations about her childhood lead Ellie on a harrowing journey of discovery that will hold readers spellbound until the dramatic conclusion.

Ellie Pringle is the primary benefactor of her grandmother Eleanor's estate and inherits a great fortune. Besides the inheritance, she is also left with a lot of emotional damage and hidden traumatic memories of her childhood, which she intends to uncover with the help of her family, friends, and therapist. Along with her journey to discover her past, we encounter some characters that stick out in my mind. Maddie, the caretaker, Abbott, Ellie's biological father, Julian the love interest, Lia her twin sister and her two cute little nieces. Magnolia Nights is an incredible story about a daughter who is tormented by her emotionally abusive and overbearing mother. Growing up in a wealthy household under strict rules, Ashton plans to escape her mother's terrifying grip and decides to move to New York to make a fresh start which leads her to a successful modeling career. She eventually finds herself pregnant, and rumors about her baby father(Abbotts) infidelity leaves her no choice but to go live back home until the baby(ies) are born. Ashton gives birth to twins: Ellie and Lia. Ellie's grandmother, Eleanor, does not take kindly to the news of her daughter's "mistakes" and proves to be the source of Ellies mother's, Ashton's, demise and death. The book chapters fluctuate character points of views over the span of 35 years or more between Ashton, Abbott, and Ellie, while the story is mainly focused on Ellie the main character. I love an HEA, and the book was fantastic.

About the Author

Ashley Farley writes books about women for women. Her characters are mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives facing real-life issues. Her goal is to keep you turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning. If her story stays with you long after you've read the last word, then she's done her job. After her brother died in 1999 of an accidental overdose, she turned to writing as a way of releasing her pent-up emotions. She wrote SAVING BEN in honor of Neal, the boy she worshipped, the man she could not save. Ashley is a wife and mother of two young adult children. While she’s lived in Richmond, Virginia for the past 21 years, part of her heart remains in the salty marshes of the South Carolina Lowcountry where she grew up. Through the eyes of her characters, she’s able to experience the moss-draped trees, delectable cuisine, and kind-hearted folks with lazy drawls that make the area so unique. Visit her website for more information

Borrowed from the Library: Endless Knight

Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

Series: Arcana Chronicles #2
Hardback 320 pages
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Narrated by: Emma Galvin👌👍
Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository | Audible
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Shocking secrets.
Evie has fully come into her powers as the Tarot Empress, and Jack was there to see it all. She now knows that the teens who've been reincarnated as the Tarot are in the throes of an epic battle. It's kill or be killed, and the future of mankind hangs in the balance.
Unexpected allies.
With threats lurking around every corner, Evie is forced to trust her newfound alliance. Together they must fight not only other Arcana, but also Bagmen zombies, post-apocalyptic storms, and cannibals.
Gut-wrenching treachery.
When Evie meets Death, things get even more complicated. Though falling for Jack, she's drawn to the dangerous Endless Knight as well. Somehow the Empress and Death share a history—one that Evie can't remember, but Death can't forget... In this seductive follow-up to Poison Princess, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole takes us deeper into the dark world of the Arcana Chronicles.

My Review

"My relationship with Jackson had felt fated. Whatever I had with Aric felt . . . endless."

I would rather have liked to see Evie kill Aric and move on from that Immortal turmoil when she had the chance. How are Aric and Evie made for each other? Death and Life don't mix, I mean those cards are just wrong aren't they? I don't know what we're supposed to gather from that relationship. Neither the Empress nor Death had learned anything from their past mistakes it seems. Death made it easy for her by giving her the opportunity to kill him. But she didn't. O well. Infuriating as I am over that whole ordeal, her powers were weak, and she should've been the one to kill the Evil card, Ogen.
Other than that, I enjoyed the different scenery, giving us a respite in Death's Castle from the apocalyptic landscape.
I thought the idea that she didn't want to play the game was just an excuse for cowardliness. But maybe she just wants everything to be butterflies and rainbows where people learned to love each other instead of killing each other. She doesn't appear to be as brave as she would like to be, yet talks a lot, and probably wants to see Jack just to ream him out about lying to her . blah blah blah. If Jack is the silent card, then it would make sense for the Empress and Emperor to be together. Non? That would be an HEA, but I don't expect that to happen.

“I never stopped liking you. Even when you were warding me away with the power of Catholicism.”
"Can’t help the way I was raised—anything supernatural is supposed to be either a miracle or satanic."
I rolled my eyes. “And you’re still trying to figure out which I am?”
"Non. I’m trying to find out if I’m still Catholic.” He grinned that heart-stopping grin." 

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About Kresley Cole

Kresley Cole is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the electrifying Immortals After Dark paranormal series, the young adult Arcana Chronicles series, the erotic Gamemakers series, and five award-winning historical romances. A master’s grad and former athlete, she has traveled over much of the world and draws from those experiences to create her memorable characters and settings. Her IAD books have been translated into twenty-three foreign languages, garnered three RITA awards, a Hall of Fame induction, and consistently appear on the bestseller lists, in the U.S. and abroad. Cole lives in Florida with her family. 

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Review: Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun (Blood On Snow #2) by Jo Nesbø

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Ulf and Lea were both losers. It took a heck of a lot of running and hiding for Ulf to get free from his life of crime. He pretty much fails at everything. Only he gets away with a ton of money. He fails at taking his life. By the time I'd read the entire book, I hated Ulf and Lea. Lea spent TEN fucking years with a man who beat her! Knut was the only sane person in this story. He was Lea's son. But still, witnessing your mother get pummeled inches away from death can't be that healthy. I also don't think her father was any better for forcing her to marry a monster. This was a crime novel, and an epic fails for me.

I did not like the narrator Kim Gordon either. I listened to the free unabridged production on youtube
I picked Midnight Sun up from the library

Knut squinted at me. 'Does losing make you better, Ulf?'
I nodded slowly. I saw that Lea was paying attention too. 'You get better ' I squashed a midge that had landed on my arm - 'at losing.'
'Better at losing? Is there any point in being good at that?'
'Life is mostly about trying things you can't do,' I said. 'You end up losing more often than you win. Even Futabayama kept on losing before he started to win. And it's important to be good at something you're going to do more often, isn't it?'
'I suppose so.' He thought about it. 'But what does being good at losing mean?'
I met Leas gaze over the boy's shoulder. 'Daring to lose again,' I said.

- Page 125

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Review: The Invasion of the Tearling

The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What happened to Kelsea's red crown? Or maybe it belongs to the Red Queen? That is one question left unanswered in The Invasion of The Tearling. Last we heard, Tyler the priest had it in his bag. I hope he doesn't die before he gets it to Queen Kelsea. I like his character. The Queen of the Tearling is accosted to clean up her Kingdom from the underground trades and slavery. Mace is charged with the task.
_______________________________________________________

The Invasion of the Tearling begins with some background on a character named Hall who later becomes the General in Kelsea's army. Hall's brother gets captured and taken to Mortmesne in the Lottery aka Slave trade, but Hall fails to rescue him.

Ewan, the jailor, is a simple-minded "idiot" but very sweet and guards the prison cells in the Tearling. He does a great job and gets promoted to a Queen's Guard.

Queen Kelsea is a very fair and just Queen but is underestimated because of her age and because nobody knows the power she holds with her sapphire necklaces except for two mysterious beings: Felch and Rowland Finn and perhaps William Tear, but we don't get an in-depth character view of them.

In the Invasion of the Tearling Kelsea begins seeing visions and is taken back in time three centuries ago to America before William Tear and Lily, cross over to New London, where Kelsea now lives. I didn't mind the background story of Lily and her husband Gregg Mayhew, although I hate men like Gregg. What a prick! Lily is a victim of spouse abuse, and it gets pretty violent guys. I wanted Lily to leave or at least have a plan of escaping that monster. UGH! I don't know why women make excuses for people who do that. Fortunately, she was saved by Jonathan, her bodyguard, from a violent domestic situation but ends up badly hurt regardless. Lily's story is an excellent portrayal of domestic abuse, and that is all that I got from that other than I don't give a fuck about the details of this modern day world. William Tear sounds like an interesting character, though, which we will probably find out more about in conclusion to the series.

My thoughts about why Kelsea and Lily's life are crossed probably is because Kelsea had a temper and rape was a weapon of war in the Mort, and perhaps Kelsea needed to learn from the past to change her present and future if she wanted to reign as Queen, let alone control her powers. Lily was born in 2058 and the government was operating under martial law. In fact, I think it was the norm then. I hope that isn't something we have to look forward too. Gosh.

"The Emergency Powers Act! A lesson in creative naming! Honest legislation would have simply called itself martial law and been done with it. Remember this, too, Kelsea: the day you declare martial law is the day you've lost the game of government. You may as well simply take off your crown and sneak away into the night"

-pg.57 Carlin

"If we could be better people," she would say, "if we could care about each other as much as we do about ourselves, think about it, Lily! Think what the world would be!"

- pg.175 Maddy to her sister Lily

Looking back, I wish it wasn't such a clusterfuck of secrets and a relative who's who game, because, in the end, I don't even know who Evelyn Raleigh was to Kelsea :/
I'm sorry. (view spoiler)[Evelyn Raleigh is the Queen of Mortmesne (hide spoiler)]

The Queen of Mort is dangerous for Kelsea because she wants Kelsea's sapphire necklaces besides wanting to kill her but so does the Holy Father, her uncle, and Arlen Thorne.

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Review: Tarnished Knight

➲I got Tarnished Knight as a free gift for signing up to Becca McMasters Newsletter. I have read Kiss of Steel also.

Tarnished Knight by Bec McMaster

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Buy on Amazon

After a vicious vampire attack left him struggling to leash the dark urges of the craving virus, Rip thinks he’s finally starting to master the darkness within. The only thing that threatens to shatter his hard-won control is Esme, his closest friend and the only woman he’s ever wanted. In the steam-fuelled world of Victorian London, vampires, werewolves and slasher gangs stalk the night and a man made partly of metal is about to discover just how far he’ll go to protect the woman he loves… After a vicious vampire attack left him struggling to leash the dark urges of the craving virus, John ‘Rip’ Doolan, thinks he’s finally starting to master the darkness within. The only thing that threatens to shatter his hard-won control is Esme, his closest friend and the only woman he’s ever wanted. If the stubborn beauty ever realized precisely what was going through his mind, their friendship would be ruined… For six months Esme has waited for Rip to recover and take her as his thrall, not daring to hope for more. Too afraid to put her heart on the line, she’s devastated when Rip reveals that he never had any intentions of making her his. But when a savage gang of Slashers starts causing havoc in Whitechapel, Rip and Esme have no choice. They must face up to the depth of the passion that burns between them and forges a new relationship… or risk losing each other forever.

The London Steampunk series is not bad, I don't mind historical London in Bec McMasters world, but it is dark, and I have to pause once in awhile to catch my breath.
The vampire John, aka Rip, loves Esme as does she, but they can't seem to get it together fast enough for me. I like the fighting and the romance, but they let trivial matters and negative opinions and feelings for each other squelch their real emotions. I mean just because Rip thinks he's frightening to look at or that he is a freak with a robotic arm, doesn't matter to her. And he is too afraid of hurting her. It 's hard for him to control his blue blood Hunger and doesn't trust himself around her. Fine but she wants him to want her. She wants to be his thrall. Her feelings are hurt when she sees him feed on another 'whore,' and he doesn't understand what he did to make her so upset. Really? I mean really? Typical male. Oh, the rejection! Like a slap in the face, she is pushed into believing he doesn't want her. He thinks it will ruin their friendship. Whatever. Only, he does want her.
This character trope is so familiar. 
We see it in The Black Dagger Brotherhood between Hellrens and their Shellans. They don't want to hurt their females. Pshaw! The very idea!

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Finished Queen of the Tearling #1

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Dystopia,
Paperback, 464 pages
Published April 14th, 2015 by Harper Paperbacks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Buy on Amazon | Book Depository | Audible

A #1 Indie Next Pick and LibraryReads Selection 

Magic, adventure, mystery, and romance combine in this epic debut in which a young princess must reclaim her dead mother’s throne, learn to be a ruler—and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her.
On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown.
Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust.
But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend . . . if she can survive.
This book will be a beautifully designed package with illustrated endpapers, a map of the Tearling, and a ribbon marker.

My Thoughts
The Queen of the Tearling is such a good book. I really enjoyed this fantastic adventure about a girl who was preserved from assassination and brought back to the Kingdom of Tear at the age of nineteen to ascend the throne and become Queen. Such a great character! I absolutely adore Kelsea.

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