The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

“People have so closely followed the most intricate details of the fake story of my life.”  

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was sent to me by Booksparks as part of their summer reading challenge. It was one of my most anticipated books of the summer (I’m a fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid – I really enjoyed One True Loves – see my review here) and it is probably one of my favorite books this year.

Hollywood legend, Evelyn Hugo, recounts her seven marriages for her memoir. The memoir is to be published posthumously – and having the rights to publish it would be any aspiring writer’s dream. When Monique Grant, an inexperienced journalist with big dreams, is given the incredible opportunity to write Evelyn Hugo’s memoir, she can’t believe it.

Told in chronological order of her marriages - beginning with husband number one and moving through husband number seven, Evelyn recounts her journey from humble beginnings in Hells Kitchen to Oscar gold. She’s unabashedly unapologetic and opportunistic in her endeavors –exchanging her virginity for a ride to Hollywood, a string of strategic marriages prompted by Hollywood executives, hiding her Cuban roots by bleaching her hair blonde and using her body as a means to move up the Hollywood ladder – every facet of Evelyn’s life is rife with triumph and tragedy.

Review: Nyxia by Scott Reingten

Okay - I'll be completely honest with you all, this book took me forever to finish. Sometimes that's not so bad because I'm just not in the mood to read or another book catches my eye. But in this case, I just couldn't get into the first 50% of this book for whatever reason.

Scott Reintgen is a proficient writer, and all the elements are there for this to be a standout series. Let me explain, at this point Nyxia is a decent debut effort - it's sort of unique I suppose and the writing isn't bad, the author has given us a very diverse cast of characters that all seem to have one thing in common - but the pacing is all over the place and the plot is fairly predictable and what's worse is that it's very repetitive - which is what I think caused me to lose interest. The MC is likeable and I feel like teens will want to root for Emmett - but here's the thing; this novel feels like it's entirely a set up for the second and third installments in a series.

Book Review: The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

Initially I started this book with the audio version - but for some reason I just could not get into it!
So I switched to the actual printed book. I am so happy that I read this.

Wow.

Roshani Chokshi is a masterful sorceress of story-telling. The Star Touched Queen is an exquisitely wrought tale of love, loss, and rebirth. I absolutely adore this book.

Maya is a daughter of the Raja of Bharata. Born with a horoscope that spells out misery and death for all she comes in contact with, Maya is a pariah amongst the harem wives and the court of her father. When the raja arranges a wedding for Maya in order to hopefully quell a costly war between Bharata and its neighboring kingdoms, things go wrong.

Book Review: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

“In the north, the wind had teeth that bit after sunset, even in summer."

This is one of my favorite books of 2017.

A dazzling folkloric fairytale best suited for an evening curled up with hot cider and a blanket.
I love fairytales, and I'm not talking about the versions Disney served up to me as a child. What I love about most fairytales is that they tend to lean towards the darkness with interesting characters and lessons to be learned. I find that fairytales of today too often resemble their Disney depictions and veer away from their roots - but not this one.

In a small village on the outskirts of the wilderness in the depth of winter harshness, there is a house where the spirits are respected and tales are told of Frost demons to whom young maidens are sent.

Book Review: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

“Why do we desire, above all other things, that which has the greatest power to destroy us?”

Margaret Rogerson’s debut novel, An Enchantment of Ravens was one of my most anticipated fall fantasy novels. The prose is lovely and the story is wonderful - but I knew from about half way through the book that the ending was what would ultimately make it or break it for me. I’ll tell you now, I found it to be quite satisfactory.

Let me explain; with some books I know that I’ll rate them highly at the mid-way point. Others, the end defines the experience for me. And this is the type of book that I needed it to end in a way that would either surprise me or evoke an emotional shit-storm for it to be more than just an average, well written debut novel. I’m not sure if I’m the only person who is like this – but a couple of my all-time favorite books are gorgeously written, but the endings really seal the deal and make it a favorite for me (EX: The Night Circus – which has my heart forever). I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised with how this book turned out, and while I won’t gush or wax poetic about this story it did rank about 3.5 - 4 stars for me.

New Release: The Fortunate Ones by R.S. Grey

Happy Release day R.S. Grey!

As many of you are aware, I really enjoy Rachel's books. If you're looking for a steamy contemporary NA - she writes some of the best. Her books are compulsively readable - once you start you can't seem to stop reading them.

Today her latest book, The Fortunate Ones, is available for you on Amazon and what's even better is that if you're an Amazon Kindle Unlimited member you can read the book for free (no this post is not sponsored by Amazon - I just like to share a good deal when I see one).

Thank you to R.S. Grey for sending me an advanced review copy of this novel!

I feel like R.S. Grey is one of those authors who has a lane - she's really good at writing witty NA Romantic Comedies that you can read quickly. Her books are the type that you read on an airplane or as a rebound from some dark literary fiction. While I don't particularly love everything in the NA genre - I do love R.S. Grey's books, she's one of the writers in this genre that gets everything right.

Like Anything You Can Do and The Foxe and the Hound, The Fortunate Ones is a steamy rom-com full of witty one liners and off the charts chemistry.