Review

Long Live Evil

Long Live Evil
By: Sarah Rees Brennan

Blurb:
A TALE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S EVER FALLEN FOR THE VILLAIN…

When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series.

She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she’s not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor’s tale.

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they’re doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor’s fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain’s shoes, for an adventure that is both ‘brilliant’ (Holly Black) and ‘supremely satisfying’ (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue’s gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.

Thoughts:
I received this as an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The book comes out on August 27th.
I applied to receive this book, even though I’m not really a person that falls for the villain, because of the blurb. I’ve read a series where someone gets sucked into their favorite video game, why not read one where someone gets sucked into their favorite book? I thought it would be interesting. I think it could have been, but the main character was so focused on it being a book and the people not being real that she really annoyed me. I understand she was trying to save herself, but her insistence that none of it was “real” went against her goal of saving herself with a flower from the world. It is either real or it isn’t. If the flower works, why can’t the people be real too? It was part of making her the “villain” but it just made her seem in denial, which I guess she was, it just wasn’t something I enjoyed.

The world was definitely not one I would want to be in and I wasn’t sure why anyone would have this world be their favorite series, let alone enough people that it’s been made into a musical, but, again, I’m probably the odd man out there.

About 60% of the way through the book finally picked up for me and I started to enjoy what was happening. I could see the “twist” coming, but I still wanted to know what was going to happen. It ends on a cliffhanger. Ughhhh.

I’m honestly not sure if I’m going to continue the series. I rated it three stars and that stands. It wasn’t poorly written and the idea was interesting, and like I said I do want to know what happens next, it was just the constant confused communication between the characters that drove me crazy. The MC never tried to change her vocabulary or fit into the world around her so people were constantly confused by her actions. I have a lot of questions, but I’m not sure if I wanted them answered. I’ll wait to see what the blurb is for the second book and make my decision then.

3/5

A Castle for Christmas (2021)

A Castle for Christmas (2021)

Netflix

Director:

Mary Lambert

Writers:

Ally Carter

Kim Beyer-Johnson

Starring:

Brooke Shields

Cary Elwes

Blurb:

To escape a scandal, a bestselling author journeys to Scotland, where she falls in love with a castle – and faces off with the grumpy duke who owns it.

Review:

I was surprised how much I enjoyed A Castle for Christmas. I love these types of movies but so often you can tell the budget was nonexistent. Scenes get cut, makeup is horrible, the dialog is awkward, and set decorations are minimal. A Castle for Christmas probably had a higher budget than other Christmas romance movies, but I’m sure it wasn’t huge, and most went to the stars. Still, they used their budget wisely and it showed.

It’s hard to do a romance with an “older” couple. It can come often as overly sentimental and all about companionship. People of all ages fuck. Chemistry adds a LOT to a romance movie and Shields and Elwes had it.

A Castle for Christmas also had the addition of wish fulfillment. Shields was a successful author with a loving daughter, she befriended an entire village, and she bought a castle. Then she winds up with freaking Westley. You could not get much better than that. Christmas romance needs that in the story. While the world is burning around you and the holidays are stressing you out seeing someone on-screen live the life you’d like while also having to overcome “small” hurdles is its own kind of therapy.

Netflix has been delivering these holiday romance movies for a few years now and I hope they continue. I need them. I look forward to them. My only complaint is I want MORE.

4/5

Written in the Stars

Written in the Stars

By: Alexandria Bellefleur

Blurb:

After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love—and the inevitable heartbreak—is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.

Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account, Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy… a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother—and Elle’s new business partner—expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because… awkward.

When Darcy begs Elle to play along, she agrees to pretend they’re dating to save face. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family over the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a fake relationship.

But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?

Review:

I was not expecting to love Written in the Stars as much as I did. I figured if I were lucky, it would be cute, but I expected to be put off by the astrologist. As much as I enjoy looking at the occasional horoscope, it’s not something that I believe in. I expected Elle to be super flighty and borderline stupid. I had low expectations that Bellefleur would be able to sell the relationship. I was wrong.

Elle is an astrologist, but you never get the impression that she’s anything less than passionate, driven, and smart. She knows who she is as a person, and she likes herself. She does what makes her happy, and she’s found a way to make a living at it. She’s living the dream, except for being unable to find her soul mate.

Meanwhile, Darcy is two years out of a bad relationship. She’s closed herself off, and the last thing she wants is to fall in love. She keeps going on dates only because she loves her brother so much and wants to make him happy. Even that has its limits, though, and she convinces Elle that faking a relationship will help them both. If it weren’t for the obvious sparks flying between the characters, the fake relationship wouldn’t have worked because there was almost nothing in it for Elle.

They were beautiful together. In the In Death series, there’s an older couple, Dr. Mira and her husband, Dr. Mira (I don’t remember their first names, lol). They’re both brilliant but pretty different in personality. However, you never doubt how much they feel for each other. I could see Elle and Darcy becoming like them. It was adorable.

There is nothing on Goodreads about this being a series, but there were a couple of characters that could conceivably be written about, Darcy’s brother, Elle’s roommate, and Darcy’s best friend. I would definitely read them if they’re written. Especially since I’m hoping there’ll be peeks at Elle and Darcy. The book ended a bit abruptly, and I want to know more about what happens to them.

5/5

Murder on Cold Street (Lady Sherlock #5)

Murder on Cold Street (Lady Sherlock #5)

By: Sherry Thomas

Blurb:

Inspector Treadles, Charlotte Holmes’s friend and collaborator, has been found locked in a room with two dead men, both of whom worked with his wife at the great manufacturing enterprise she has recently inherited.

Rumors fly. Had Inspector Treadles killed the men because they had opposed his wife’s initiatives at every turn? Had he killed in a fit of jealous rage, because he suspected Mrs. Treadles of harboring deeper feelings for one of the men? To make matters worse, he refuses to speak on his own behalf, despite the overwhelming evidence against him.

Charlotte finds herself in a case strewn with lies and secrets. But which lies are to cover up small sins, and which secrets would flay open a past better left forgotten? Not to mention, how can she concentrate on these murders, when Lord Ingram, her oldest friend and sometime lover, at last dangles before her the one thing she has always wanted?

Review:

Out of all the Sherlock spinoffs I’ve read, admittedly, there haven’t been many, the Lady Sherlock series is my favorite. So far, I’ve enjoyed each book, and after five books, the series has not dipped at all in quality.

Murder on Cold Street picks up right after the previous book. Charlotte and her crew have had next to no time to recover from everything that happened in France when they learn that their old inspector friend has been arrested and will be charged with two murders. It’s all very dramatic and mysterious, precisely what you want in this type of story.

Charlotte doesn’t waste any time starting her investigation. You know that he didn’t do it, but the question is will she be able to solve the mystery in time. This is always a fun story, though, it was also used in a previous book.

Inspector Treadles is sort of on the outs with Charlotte and co. He found out that she was, in fact, the great detective and not her make-believe brother. Treadles has very firm ideas about what women can and cannot do, which has also hurt his marriage. It’s actually his marriage that pushes him to reevaluate how he thinks, and I love that about him. One of my favorite parts of previous books was seeing the brief glimpses into his relationship with his wife. They were the one couple that seemed like they were in a happy relationship.

Treadles’ relationship with his wife was a central focus of the story, but Charlotte’s relationship with Lord Ingram was also progressed. This has been developing throughout the series, but it looks like things are starting to happen now. No more dancing around. Reading the couple’s reactions to each other made me smile.

I appreciated Thomas’ inclusion of Lord Ingram, realizing the amount of privilege he has as a man of power. He could see how much harder Charlotte and Mrs. Treadles had it. However, I appreciated even more Charlotte’s realization of the privilege she had as a white woman when compared to a character that was a biracial woman. Those conversations and insights pushed Murder on Cold Street to be one of my favorites of the series.

5/5

In a Holidaze

In a Holidaze

By: Christina Lauren

Blurb:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark “downright hilarious” (Helen Hoang, author of The Bride Test) hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.

Review:

In a Holidaze is a Christmas Groundhogs day story, two things that I love, so I was particularly excited to read it. I was hoping for a bit more Groundhogs day than I got, unfortunately.

Maelyn does her best not to make waves. She wants to make sure everyone else is comfortable, sometimes at her own expense. She’s also a stickler for tradition. When everything seems to go wrong at her usual family Christmas vacation, she finds herself reliving the entire trip. It wasn’t until she decided to say f-it, I’m going to do what I want when things started to go right. I was actually a bit disappointed by that. I wanted more times through, but at the same time, I was annoyed at how obvious what she needed to do was.

Andrew, Maelyn’s love interest, seemed like a good guy. She’d had a crush on him for half of her life, but he had her firmly in the little sister category. Things, of course, changed in that department. Their intimate scenes were closer to fade to black than explicit, which was fine.

In a Holidaze was a fine book. It just needed to be punched up in a couple of plot areas. There was a large cast of characters, and they didn’t all get the time they deserved. They seemed interesting and were fleshed out, but several didn’t contribute much to the story. I was also disappointed in the handling of Andrew’s brother, Theo.

It was a cute holiday book and, with the right expectations, enjoyable.

3/5