The Other Miss Bridgerton

The Other Miss Bridgerton

The Other Miss Bridgerton (Rokesbys #3) By: Julia Quinn

Plot:

She was in the wrong place…

Fiercely independent and adventurous, Poppy Bridgerton will only wed a suitor whose keen intellect and interests match her own. Sadly, none of the fools from her London season qualify. While visiting a friend on the Dorset coast, Poppy is pleasantly surprised to discover a smugglers’ hideaway tucked inside a cave. But her delight turns to dismay when two pirates kidnap her and take her aboard a ship, leaving her bound and gagged on the captain’s bed…

He found her at the wrong time…

Known to society as a rascal and reckless privateer, Captain Andrew James Rokesby actually transports essential goods and documents for the British government. Setting sail on a time-sensitive voyage to Portugal, he’s stunned to find a woman waiting for him in his cabin. Surely, his imagination is getting the better of him. But no, she is very real—and his duty to the Crown means he’s stuck with her.

Can two wrongs make the most perfect right?

When Andrew learns that she is a Bridgerton, he knows he will likely have to wed her to avert a scandal—though Poppy has no idea that he is the son of an earl and neighbor to her aristocratic cousins in Kent. On the high seas, their war of words soon gives way to an intoxicating passion. But when Andrew’s secret is revealed, will his declaration of love be enough to capture her heart…?

Review:

Poppy was very curious and smart, for a woman of her time, but she was definitely a damsel in distress. She had no power, ever. Twice she was abducted and she just waited until men told her what to do. I realize that probably makes the book more realistic, but I don’t read Julia Quinn for realism. At the beginning we were also told frequently that she was smart, but it wasn’t until much later in the book that you really saw her intelligence, and one of my pet peeves is being told a character is smart and never actually seeing it.

Andrew was fine, mostly boring, male lead. He was a capable ship’s captain, but not a swashbuckling hero.

Another pet peeve of mine is when the hero and heroine are captured and have sex while they’re being held. I seriously do not get that trope. While, Poppy and Andrew didn’t have sex they were definitely intimate and it just caused me to roll my eyes.

Honestly, I was not a fan of this book. I love the series and Quinn, but this book did nothing for me.

3/5

No Man’s Sky (2016)

 

No Man’s Sky (2016)

Publisher:

Hello Games

Developer:

Hello Games

Platform:

PS4 & PC & XBONE

About:

No Man’s Sky is an action-adventure survival game developed and published by the indie studio Hello Games. It was released worldwide for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows in August 2016, and for Xbox One in July 2018. The game is built around four pillars: exploration, survival, combat, and trading. Players are free to perform within the entirety of a procedurally generated deterministic open world universe, which includes over 18 quintillion planets. Through the game’s procedural generation system, planets have their own ecosystems with unique forms of flora and fauna, and various sentient alien species may engage the player in combat or trade within planetary systems. Players advance in the game by mining for resources to power and improve their spacecraft, tools, and spacesuit for survival, buying and selling resources using credits earned by documenting flora and fauna, and otherwise seeking out the mystery around the Atlas, an entity at the center of the universe.[i]

Review:

I was lucky enough not to find out about No Man’s Sky until the day it came out on PS4. Through another great break I watched Twitch videos instead of reading reviews. I loved what I saw and my husband ended up getting it for me for our anniversary. I spent almost 70 hours playing before I got distracted and moved on. I then bought it again on PC right after Next came out. Over 100 hours later and I still love it.

There is always something new to see or do. Lately, they’ve been adding amazing new content with Abyss and Visions. There are weekly quests in case you’ve finished the main story, or if you feel like taking a break from exploring.

After a while it can feel monotonous or like a job, but I’ve found that happens with a lot with open world games. Changing your play style can help, I’ve also found it to be a great game to just chill out too. I generally catch up on podcasts while I play.

No Man’s Sky is like nothing I’ve ever played before. Every time I play I see something new. The worlds are similar but never the same and with all the new additions things are even more unique. Thankfully they’ve made it easy to take screenshots which has given me all kinds of awesome wallpapers.

I’ve found it relatively easy to jump back in after a long absence, which is nice to know considering how often they keep adding stuff. When I take a break I know it will be there and basically be a new game when I go back, but still have what I love the most, exploration.

5/5

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man’s_Sky

A Duke by Default

A Duke By Default

A Duke by Default (Reluctant Royals #2) By: Alyssa Cole

Plot:

New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, and—most importantly—herself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what she’s capable of. Turns out she excels at aggravating her gruff silver fox boss…when she’s not having inappropriate fantasies about his sexy Scottish burr.

Tavish McKenzie doesn’t need a rich, spoiled American telling him how to run his armory…even if she is infuriatingly good at it. Tav tries to rebuff his apprentice—and his attraction to her—but when Portia accidentally discovers that he’s the secret son of a duke, rough-around-the-edges Tav becomes her newest makeover project.  

Forging metal into weapons and armor is one thing, but when desire burns out of control and the media spotlight gets too hot to bear, can a commoner turned duke and his posh apprentice find lasting love?

Review:

I really enjoyed this book. I don’t believe it’s as good as the first, but it was still a solid follow up and has me looking forward to the next.

Portia was flawed, anxious, and filled with self-doubt then super confident. I could understand how and why she felt that way, but it was sometimes confusing, especially since the chapters alternated point of view.

Tavish was holy hell hot. I have a thing for the Scottish accent so boy howdy I appreciated all that was going on with him. He often put his foot in his mouth but didn’t realize until later that he’d bungled things.

There isn’t much sword making in the story, but there’s a fair amount of swordplay. The romance builds for a while, and then feels a little rushed at the end because of it. Still, I really enjoyed the story and the characters that have been created.

4/5

Dark in Death

Dark in Death

Dark in Death (In Death #46) By: J.D. Robb

Plot:

It was a stab in the dark.

On a chilly February night, during a screening of Psycho in midtown, someone sunk an ice pick into the back of Chanel Rylan’s neck, then disappeared quietly into the crowds of drunks and tourists in Times Square. To Chanel’s best friend, who had just slipped out of the theater for a moment to take a call, it felt as unreal as the ancient black-and-white movie up on the screen. But Chanel’s blood ran red, and her death was anything but fictional.

Then, as Eve Dallas puzzles over a homicide that seems carefully planned and yet oddly personal, she receives a tip from an unexpected source: an author of police thrillers who recognizes the crime—from the pages of her own book. Dallas doesn’t think it’s coincidence, since a recent strangulation of a sex worker resembles a scene from her writing as well. Cops look for patterns of behavior: similar weapons, similar MOs. But this killer seems to find inspiration in someone else’s imagination, and if the theory holds, this may be only the second of a long-running series.

The good news is that Eve and her billionaire husband Roarke have an excuse to curl up in front of the fireplace with their cat, Galahad, reading mystery stories for research. The bad news is that time is running out before the next victim plays an unwitting role in a murderer’s deranged private drama—and only Eve can put a stop to a creative impulse gone horribly, destructively wrong.

Review:

I did not like the first half of this book, at all. Because one of the side characters, that until then I’d only had positive thoughts of, said a word that Trans people find offensive, I was immediately on my guard. There were hints that the deranged serial killer was going to be Trans or non-binary and it kept me on edge in a bad way. Based on what there was I did not trust Robb to write about the subject in a well-researched and thoughtful way.

Making matters worse a female novelist was a main character in the story. I have not had good experiences with that, especially when it feels like there is some tongue in cheek things said to the reader through that character. Which was the case here.

Like I said the first half of this book was not for me in any way. The second half had us back in familiar territory, though, and I preferred that. We had a fair amount of Peabody, which I loved. Roarke was great. Sadly, the first half ruined the book for me.

2/5

Disney Toybox SALE

Just noticed while doing my daily check that Disney is currently running a sale on all the Toybox figures, even the sets. All of the figures, even the big ones, are $10. The sets are various prices.

Definitely worth a look if anyone was waiting to purchase.

Disney Store Toybox Figures