Book Reviews

Alien in the Family (Katherine “Kitty” Katt #3) By: Gini Koch

alien in the family

Alien in the Family (Katherine “Kitty” Katt #3) By: Gini Koch

Plot:

New conspiracies.
New enemies.
Same Kitty.

Review:

I started reading this book months ago, set it down for some reason, and then picked it back up, then set it back down, etc… Not sure why I kept putting it down, it wasn’t bad, it was like the previous books, I wasn’t even bored while reading it, I just did for some reason. Took me forever to finish because of that, though, and I kept forgetting who was who.

Oh well.

I love the covers in this series, honestly it’s part of why I keep reading. They’re so awesome.

Kitty once again seemed to randomly figure things out while no one else could, it’s actually what they expect her to do now. It’s nice that Koch acknowledges things that don’t make sense or are farfetched. I think that’s part of what makes this series good.

I’m getting tired of every man that meets Kitty wanting to do her, it’s annoying and one of my pet peeves in books lately. In this book even the gay dudes want to do her, they need to either say she has some kind of sex ooze that attracts men to her or just lay off of it. I really hope this stops in the next book, but I’m afraid it won’t.

I like the series, Kitty is at least fairly unique, but the things that annoy me are starting to add up. I have the next book in the series, but I think I’m going to take a break before I read it.

3/5

When an Omega Snaps (A Lion’s Pride #3) By: Eve Langlais

When an Omega Snaps

When an Omega Snaps (A Lion’s Pride #3) By: Eve Langlais

Plot:

Leo is the calm guy. The nice guy. The one nobody screws with. So could someone explain that to Meena so she stops driving him insane—with desire.

When Meena literally throws herself at Leo and declares he’s her mate, his first reaction is to deny—and run far, far away. This lion/tiger mix doesn’t do drama and chaos. Problem is, once he sets eyes on her, he can’t help but want the vivacious blonde with plus-sized curves, perfect for a big man like himself.

He wants her even if it breaks all his rules when it comes to women.
Wants her even if she destroys his serenity.
Wants her more than a perfectly grilled piece of steak with a dash of garlic, pepper, and salt.

Thing is, someone else wants her too.

This poor omega is about to have his world turned upside down, which means everyone better watch out because when Leo experiences love, jealousy, and frustration for the first time, he doesn’t just snap—he roars!

Review:

Loved Meena and how brash and accident prone she was, Leo was a perfect match for her. Didn’t like how she called him Pookie, probably the worst pet name ever.

I actually cried while reading this book because I could really empathize with Meena and how people treated her. I loved how romantic Leo was, he was really everything that Meena deserved.

I thought that Eve’s editor missed quite a bit and was kind of surprised by it. It wasn’t so bad as every page, but it was things that should have been caught.

Excited to read the next in the series!

4/5

 

Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries #11) By: Meg Cabot

Royal-Wedding-Meg-Cabot-Out-June-2

Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries #11) By: Meg Cabot

Plot:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Diaries series, comes the very first adult installment, which follows Princess Mia and her Prince Charming as they plan their fairy tale wedding—but a few poisoned apples could turn this happily-ever-after into a royal nightmare. For Princess Mia, the past five years since college graduation have been a whirlwind of activity, what with living in New York City, running her new teen community center, being madly in love, and attending royal engagements. And speaking of engagements. Mia’s gorgeous longtime boyfriend Michael managed to clear both their schedules just long enough for an exotic (and very private) Caribbean island interlude where he popped the question! Of course Mia didn’t need to consult her diary to know that her answer was a royal oui. But now Mia has a scandal of majestic proportions to contend with: Her grandmother’s leaked “fake” wedding plans to the press that could cause even normally calm Michael to become a runaway groom. Worse, a scheming politico is trying to force Mia’s father from the throne, all because of a royal secret that could leave Genovia without a monarch. Can Mia prove to everyone—especially herself—that she’s not only ready to wed, but ready to rule as well?

Review:

There was a lot of nostalgia attached to this book, for me. When I was a teenager I read almost all of the Princess Diaries books and I talked about them to my girlfriends, so reading this brought back all those memories.

Mia is an adult now, but still has a lot of the same personality quirks so there are plenty of shenanigans. She’s also more polished and able to articulate herself very well.

I loved seeing all the old people and appreciated that Cabot addressed the fact that Mia’s friends are all from high school.

The ending was great and I don’t know how many times I laughed out loud while reading. I’m surprised at how excited I am at the prospect of seeing these characters that I loved growing up, now my age. I really hope that there is more to come.

4.5/5

Side Note: It would be so awesome if Lilly and Lars became a thing

Newt’s Emerald By: Garth Nix
Love this cover

Love this cover

Newt’s Emerald By: Garth Nix

Plot:

Lady Truthful will inherit her family’s most valued heirloom on her eighteenth birthday. Until the Newington Emerald is stolen.

Lady Truthful, nicknamed “Newt” by her boy cousins, discovers that to her horror, the people closest to her have been framed for the theft. But Newt won’t let their reputations be damaged by rumors from a false accusation. Her plan is simple: go to London to recover the missing jewel. Despite her best intentions, a young lady travelling alone is frankly unacceptable behavior. So Newt and her aunt devise another plan…one that entails men’s clothing and a mustache.

While in disguise, Truthful encounters the handsome but shrewd major Harnett, who to her amazement volunteers to help find the missing emerald under the assumption that she is a man, Henri de Vienne. But once she and her unsuspecting ally are caught up in a dangerous adventure, Truthful realizes something else is afoot: the beating of her heart.

Truthful has far more than romantic complications to worry about. The stolen emerald is no ordinary heirloom-it is the source of the family’s luck and has the power to yield vast magic. It would be completely disastrous if it fell into the wrong hands. The fate of England depends on Truthful securing the emerald.

Review:

This was very much a Regency romance with a few fantasy elements thrown in. Honestly, it wasn’t what I was expecting at all from Nix. The only similarity between this and his Abhorsen series was how well written it was.

The fantasy took a back seat to the romance and the period. There were little bits of magic thrown about but they weren’t used in much detail, though, magic did come into play throughout, it just wasn’t as prevalent as I had expected.

Truthful was a great character and similar to a Julia Quinn heroine. She was a lady, but she easily disguised herself as a man to get stuff done. She and the hero were a good match and fun to read.

It was a good book and I enjoyed it, but really the only remarkable thing that it brought to the table was that Garth Nix wrote it. I would very much enjoy more and if he’s trying to mirror the Regency series he had plenty more characters to work with, but I haven’t been able to find anything online about a sequel so we’ll see.

4/5

Side Note: This was marked as YA, but the heroine is eighteen and even though it’s a romance the most that happens is a kiss. I would have no problems recommending this to any age group

My 2015 Favorites

Movies:

2015 was not a good year for movies, for me at least. Of course, I’ve yet to see Star Wars so that could certainly change. I gave only two movies 5 stars, Tomorrowland and Mockingjay. I had several 4 stars that I remember very fondly though. Anyway, the following is a list of the movies I enjoyed the most, star ranking be damned.

    1. Tomorrowland– I was not expecting to love this movie as much as I did and I’m so thankful that I rented it. Literally the day after I watched it I went out, bought it, and watched it again. I have it downloaded on all of my devices and will just randomly watch parts of it. I love it and I could easily see this movie becoming one of my all-time favorites
    2. Jurassic World– This movie is another one that I bought, but I haven’t actually watched it yet. Thinking back to the theater I really loved it and I’m excited for more in the franchise like this. Also, Chris Pratt is awesome.
    3. Kingsman: The Secret Service– I think this movie was so great because I wasn’t expecting it. I went in with very little expectations and was pleasantly surprised.
    4. Parallels– I hesitate listing this because, while I liked it, it doesn’t feel complete. I really hope there’s more to come because the world created was very interesting.This was the year of books. I read over 100 books and so many of them were good. I did of course read a couple I absolutely loathed (I’m looking at you Fable: Edge of the World and Murder is Binding) but the majority of what I read I really enjoyed.

Books:

 

    1. Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond– I gave this as a Christmas present, that should really tell you how much I enjoyed it. I can easily see this being the first book in a series I absolutely adore.
    2. Justice Calling by Annie Bellet– This is the first book in the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series and one of my favorite discoveries of the year. Great series and I’m looking forward to reading the most recent installment.
    3. Anything by Jenn McKinlay- I read several McKinlay books this year and I loved almost all of them and the one I didn’t love I still liked. If you’re looking for a cozy mystery I highly recommend anything she’s done. She writes great characters and her stories are light and fairly believable.
    4. Clariel by Garth Nix- Even after all this time Nix stayed true to the world and showed us a great character.
    5. Magic Breaks & Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews- It’s Ilona Andrews, of course these books were amazing.
    6. Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs- Just like Ilona Andrews, Briggs never fails to give me a book I love.
    7. Cinder by Marissa Meyer- Really liked the unique take on fairy tales this series has brought. I haven’t yet read the final installment, but I’m looking forward to it.

TV:

 

I don’t write as many TV blog posts as I should, probably because I watch too much damn TV, but here’s a list of my favorites for the year.

    1. Sense 8 on Netflix– This show suffered some pacing issues, but it didn’t affect how much I loved it. Season 2 can’t come out fast enough.
    2. Marvel’s Agent Carter on ABC– Loved this show. Really loved this show. I want to be Agent Carter when/if I grow up. She’s such a great character and I’m really looking forward to season 2 which starts in January.
    3. Jane the Virgin on CW– When I’m watching this show I’m in freakin love. When I’m not watching this show I can’t really understand why I liked it so much because it sounds so crazy. Every episode delivers and it has continued into the second season, there has been no dip in quality. Highly recommend, more people should be watching this.
    4. Daredevil on Netflix– Episode two has one of the best fight scenes of the year from movies or TV, it was that good.
    5. Jessica Jones on Netflix– I didn’t think it was possible, but this was darker than Daredevil. Not really a huge fan of dark, but they did this very well. I thought Jessica Jones was a realistic portrayal of an abuse victim that happens to have some superpowers. She was rarely likable, but I never hated her, you could always understand why she acted the way she did. Actors were spot on as well, it was freaky seeing Tennant be so evil.
    6. Dark Matter on SyFy– I found this show on Netflix and was pleasantly surprised. It takes a couple episodes to gather steam but when it does it becomes an interesting Sci-Fi tv show. Nice female lead and an interesting story.

 

This has been my 2015 year in review. What did you enjoy most this year?