Where Darkness Falls: 3 stars

Author: Bella Jewel
Length: 257 pgs.
What to say, what to say….

Well, to start off I did like this book. I just didn’t like it as much-nearly as much- as its predecessor, Enslaved by the Ocean. I’m a sucker for pirates and sea adventures so I snatched up the kindle book and accompanying audio for $3. This book picks up right where Enslaved leaves off, when the heroine Jess is kidnapped by a pirate Dimitri right off the ship where she lives. I prepared for another adventure on the open waters to begin. So imagine my disappointment when Dimitri immediately takes Jess to California where they dock his ship. That’s right…they spend about 5 minutes in the beginning on the actual pirate ship before heading to L.A. So basically this was a story about a docked pirate who, due to a years-long misunderstanding, is using Jess to get back at his longtime enemy Hendrix.

I did like the back and forth between Jess and Dimitri; you know they’re going to fall for each other you’re just not sure how or when. They did bond over some similar traumatic events they’d both experienced, but not until later in the book when Jess was forced due to some outside circumstances to share her past with him.

I was disappointed that there was no real sense of danger at all until the end of the book when some very unlikely events bring Jess back into the hands of a man who terrorized her as a child. But even when she’s first kidnapped by Dimitri, there’s really no fear that she’s not safe. Nothing bad really happens around her, the “pirates” seem more like a rowdy group of friends hanging out. It’s basically a lot of talking, getting to know each other, eventual removal of the clothes and what not, until Jess is re-kidnapped by someone else and thrown into an underground women’s wrestling league.

You read that correctly, lol. I enjoyed the nice little twist there and how Dimitri was suddenly replaced by an actual bad guy who does bad things. Once Jess’s life was in actual danger things got exciting. But that was at maybe 75-80% through the book and was pretty much just a means to propel us towards the inevitable HEA.

So while I liked this book, I’d have to stick with Enslaved by the Ocean as my favorite of the series, since it takes place on the actual ocean with actual pirates whom we don’t know and can’t trust. Dimitri is a character who’s mentioned in the first book and just never holds that level of threatening unfamiliarity as the book’s mysterious male MC. I liked Jess as the heroine and they were a good pair at the end but it just wasn’t as fun as the first book.

Silver Swan (Elite Kings Club #1): 3.5 Stars

Author: Amo Jones
Length: 261 pgs.
I picked this book up as a freebie during a price drop and after seeing a friend give it 4 stars I couldn’t wait to read it! I was not disappointed. I could not put this book down and flew threw it in about 2 days.

I wasn’t sure initially what I wanted to rate it. Some of the writing had grammatical errors and a few passages read as amateurish. And I’m not the grammar police but I can’t help but take note of those things in a published book. But the content and the storyline made me overlook those small mistakes.

Let’s focus on the storyline for a minute. It revolves around Madison Montgomery, who is well known among her peers due to the fact that her mother shot and killed her father’s mistress before turning the gun on herself. So it’s just Madison and her dad, who’s pretty much absentee due to his line of work.. However her dad’s just gotten remarried, so they move to a new city and Madison joins an elite prep school where she instantly befriends a girl named Tatum. Tatum is likable and funny, and they quickly add another girl to their group that they meet by the name of Tillie. I loved the dynamic between these three girls. Their dialogue was youthful and true to their age most of the time with the lingo they would use (can you tell I’m older than them based on the fact that I just used the word lingo?) My only issue with their triad was that the similarity between Tatum & Tillie’s names confused me at times. That’s probably just me though…

Madison quickly learns she has a new stepbrother, Nate, and he and his 9 friends make up what is known as the Elite Kings Club. There’s a lot of hearsay about what actually goes on with these guys and they’re not the nicest guys. The way they size up Madison and eye her evilly-especially the ringleader Bishop-gave me the chills. Tatum immediately warns Madison to be careful, and once she finds out Nate is Madison’s stepbrother she reiterates this warning. In fact Madison’s warned many times throughout the book to watch her back.

Shit hits the fan instantly between Maddy and the Kings. This is probably why people refer to this book as being insane. Right away she’s lured to a remote location, taken hostage and asked seemingly random questions. Maddy has no idea why she’s being asked these questions, but the whole ordeal definitely made me feel unsettled and anxious as to what was going to happen next. You know there is definitely more to the Kings that meets the eye.

Nate goes back and forth between being a sleezeball creepo trying to scare Maddy, and being an overly affectionate step brother. His protective attitude towards Maddy I didn’t really buy considering that they’d only just met but I let that slide. The thing about Silver Swan is that you have to suspend the rules of a typical teenage reality in order to accept what’s being laid out in front of you. Because the way the Kings behave, and the things they do to Maddy to terrorize, assault and stalk her, would not go unanswered or excused in the real world. (At least I hope they wouldn’t.)

Maddy finds herself drawn into a erotic cat and mouse game with Bishop. He is admittedly delicious to read but he is a bad, bad guy. He is not nice to Maddy at all, and he tells her straight up that he hates her. By his actions and the way he treats her for the first 2/3 of the book, we have no reason to disbelieve him. This is where I started to feel conflicted about this book. I LOVED the events that unfolded. I loved all the action and confrontations and scheming and the naughty nature of the Kings. I did. But the relationship between Maddy and Bishop- while Amo Jones gives us some delicious encounters that seem beyond the reach of actual teenage behavior-to me seemed definitely mentally and emotionally abusive.

I’m not on any ethical or moral committee and I’m definitely not a saint, but the fact that Maddy made no attempt to preserve her dignity and self-respect by defending herself or standing up to Bishop at any point, really bothered me (and as I’m totally into super dark erotica no one is more surprised by this than me)! But the whole Maddy/Bishop thing went beyond dark erotica. It was hate sex. Literally, Bishop tells her he hates her as he’s f#*^ing her. And Maddy chalks this all up to him being a bad boy, or mysterious, or blah blah blah. Not once does she say you know what, I don’t deserve to be spoken to like this. In fact she actually blows off a really sweet guy in order to continue degrading herself with Bishop.

She’s also the first to defend Nate, even after a scene in the woods where the Kings attack her AGAIN. She says that despite all he’s done, she knows Nate wouldn’t hurt her. Oh, really? Because I thought that’s EXACTLY what they were doing to you in the woods. WTF Maddy.

Despite all the above, I DID like Maddy. She was funny, strong (just not when it comes to men apparently), self-assured, a loyal friend, and gun savvy. On the downside, she is INSANELY naïve- when her friends make offhanded yet obvious comments that are meant to warn her about one thing or another, she shrugs them off or moves on to a different subject. It seems like clues are being thrown at her left and right that she is either in danger or that things are not what they seem, and she ignores them or makes excuses.

And it does seem like everyone else knows what’s going on aside from Maddy. I’m not saying this is really the case, but throughout the entire book you can’t really be sure who is actually trustworthy and that adds to the whole sense of foreboding and unease.

Speaking of unease, I have to give Amo Jones credit for creating this completely disconcerting atmosphere. You constantly feel as though the main character is in danger, you’re just never really sure why or from who exactly. And because of that you HAVE to keep reading. I’ve already purchased book #2, Broken Puppet for $2.99 and I’ve started reading other books since finishing this one a few days ago, but I think I may actually have to set those aside for the moment so that I can continue on this journey with Maddy and get my questions answered!!

So overall it was an addicting and exciting read, the only downsides for me being the struggle with the Bishop/Maddie dynamic that I’m still trying to understand-and the fact that he became a softer version of himself towards the end of the book which was hard to swallow as being a realistic transformation, after being built up as a robotic asshole for most of the book-and the bits of writing that bothered me here and there. But those are small issues that won’t keep me from continuing the series.

The Wife Between Us: 4 Stars

Author: Greer Hendricks/Sarah Pekkanen
Length: 346 pgs.

OMG That ending! So many twists and turns that I honestly did not see coming! This book totally messes with your head and I loved every minute of it.

It starts off uneventful enough, taking us through the daily routine of both an ex-wife and a newly engaged young woman. There's only small indications that trouble might be brewing, but nothing to really set off any alarm bells. However, this book is like an onion, slowly peeling back layer by layer to reveal the truth at its center. There is a giant twist 2/3 of the way through the book, which concludes Part 1. Another twist concludes part 2. And at the end, there is yet another little nugget of a shocker thrown at us to wrap it all up.

The synopsis itself promises that we will be surprised:

"When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.

You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.

Assume nothing.

And though I tried to keep an open mind and figure out what exactly I was assuming that might be incorrect, the first twist still caught me completely off-guard. And when I went back and checked certain parts after I had this new information, it all added up to the picture that was slowly being shown to me.

It's hard to really review this book without spoiling anything, so if you're interested in reading it stop here.

I loved that the authors fucked with my head; not once, not twice, but 3 or 4 BIG times-and also sprinkled a handful of small occurrences throughout the book that we view in a new light once we learn the truth.

They created a truly frightening, scheming, twisted, manipulative individual in Richard (not to mention his sister Maureen) and perfectly painted him as a somewhat controlling but non-threatening trophy husband, whose insane true self is only shown to us at first in bits and pieces.

It's no small feat to trick an audience, especially in written form when we can re-read passages and re-check things at our leisure. But The Wife Between Us really threw me for a loop. Even as I tried to stay ahead of the curve, I never really knew what I was in for.

Owned (Decadence After Dark #1): 3 Stars

Author: M. Never
Length: 237 pages
Hmmmm so I just finished this book about 2 minutes ago and I'm trying to figure out what rating I want to give it. I think I'll go with 3 stars and here's why.

Based on the synopsis anyone going starting this book should be aware it's pretty dark: the main female character, Ellie, is kept isolated, chained up, collared and forced into submission by the alpha, Kayne. And thanks to the spelling of his name, I kept reading it as "Kanye" for the entire book, even after I realized on the third or so page that it was pronounced CAIN. But the damage had been done so he remained Kanye for the duration.

I haven't read a ton of BDSM so I liked seeing all the little chains and gadgets that Cain (sorry, Kayne) liked to use. It was always something new and kept my interest. Kanye/Kayne at least knew what he was doing in that department and I loved seeing him open Ellie up to things she hadn't even known existed.

We're told that Kayne has his reasons for holding Ellie against her will, but the explanation that comes at the end of the book lacks practicality and doesn't make him at all sympathetic. So maybe that could've been thought out a little more.

The external storyline involving Javier and the drug trade was not as interesting (although Javier made a formidable rival). It was almost like an afterthought in order to take us outside of the room where Ellie and Kayne would do their thing. There was a shocker at the end involving Javier that really caught me off-guard, and I thought, oh wow I am definitely going to have to read the second book if this is where it's headed! But that excitement was squashed a few paragraphs later when the complication was wrapped up tidily. That was a slight bummer; if things had gone in a different direction there I would've continued the series.

I did enjoy the book, but I guess I'm not personally invested in Ellie & Kayne's storyline enough to find out what ultimately happens between them. This was a fun, quick read though for anyone looking for dark erotica or BDSM.

Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3): 4 Stars

Author: Sarah Maas
Length: 576 pgs.
Audiobook length: 20 hours 39 minutes

WOW. Wowee wow wow. This was SUCH an improvement on the second book - Crown of Midnight (review here.)

Whereas Crown of Midnight was almost like a history lesson on Celaena’s world (with a little action and a devastating loss thrown in), Heir of Fire is so chockfull of action, betrayal and mischief that there's hardly any room to breathe between chapters. It's also where we witness Celaena completely come into her own and transform from the emotionally disabled assassin into the woman she is meant to be. It was time for her to grow up and it seems like such a natural progression.


We’re introduced to many new characters, one of whom is Manon, heir to the powerful Blackbeak witch clan. It’s amazing to me the thought that goes into the creation of all these characters with their rich, realistic personal backstories and extended history, unique behaviors, traditions and beliefs. The addition of the witches to the story is an example of this, and it’s not just Manon’s clan we meet but the Yellowlegs and Bluebloods as well. And why they are all together is something I won’t spoil here but gives me chills thinking about how it will eventually all play out. This is a story well over 500 pages and yet there’s so much more to come on this front.

Another character who was introduced is Rowan. He’s unlikeable at first, and wants to be that way. Yet, the bond that slowly forms and changes and grows between him and Celaena throughout the book feels completely real. By the end of the book I was emotionally affected by their friendship and the way that they rescue each other from various situations. It’s also Rowan who helps to unlock Celaena’s heart.

Shit definitely hits the fan in this book. No one really feels safe (as in, not to be killed off) except for Celaena, and that’s only because I already know her story continues, otherwise I might question even that. At the end of the book, the ever-present danger shows itself in an oh-shit-now-it’s-going-down way, and we know from that point that things are going to be WAY different moving forward.

It’s a combination of the emotional character transformations, the new relationships that are formed (some of which are painfully extinguished), the solid new characters that are introduced, new information that shines a light on so many things we’ve already seen and learned in this series, and the events that unfold in Heir of Fire’s conclusion that make this book pack such a powerful punch. I think I need to take a break and listen to some lighter fare before moving on to the fourth book, but I definitely will be reading that soon because I can’t wait to find out how everyone comes out on the other side of this.

Enslaved By the Ocean: 4 Stars

Author: Bella Jewel
Length: 223 pgs.
Audiobook Length: 6 hours 55 minutes


This was another freebie I picked up and I added audible narration for $1.99. Pirates just fascinate me – adventures on the open seas, battles with other pirates, making captives walk the plank, forever wandering with no home other than their ship. I usually snatch up anything having to do with pirates when it’s free.

This was a delicious, naughty adventure I enjoyed despite the horrible audiobook narrator. She was such an off choice for this book. Despite that I still liked the story. It revolves around Indigo, a woman who decides to travel by boat with her best friend Eric from America to England to escape an abusive ex who’s being let out of prison. She’s the one who actually put him in prison, so she has reason to be fearful. On their way, their ship wrecks and their guide is killed. She and Eric float for days before being found by a ship of pirates.

Eric is imprisoned by their “rescuers” and Indigo is meant to be given to a different pirate to settle a debt between him and this ship’s captain, Hendrix. Hendrix and Indigo have sparks immediately, though he’s closed off because he’s, well, a pirate and doesn’t want any attachments. He can’t deny he’s attracted to her however, and things soon start to happen between them.

The erotic bits were so much fun. Hendrix and Indigo have such chemistry that I couldn’t wait for them to get together. And there’s just something about a bad boy that makes it that much more enjoyable, especially when they start opening up little by little. You can’t get much ‘badder’ than a pirate.

The plot goes a little wonky at times: Indigo has a run-in with her abusive ex, her best friend Eric is a limp noodle cockblocker (going so far as to SLAP her at one time which has NO repercussions for him!?), and a storyline about her father who abandoned her as a child comes back at the end in an unlikely way. But I can overlook all that. This is a book simply meant to give you those enjoyable tingles while weaving a tale of pirates and sea adventure, and it was a fun read for me. With this genre my requirements are usually simple – does it make me tingle? Is it fun? Is the dude schmexy? Is the girl likable enough not to make me want to tear my hair out (or hers)? If I can answer all those with a yes then it’s 4 stars from me.

Onto the next book in the series!

On Wings of Time: Lochlainn Guardians #1: 3 Stars

Author: Linda Boulanger
Length: 202 pgs.

I picked this book up as an Amazon freebie. The cover made me chuckle but the storyline about dragons and time travel piqued my interest.

The book is about Amileigh, a young woman from 600 years ago who finds out she is a Prihom, a woman meant to unlock her true mate's inner dragon via, well, doin' it. She meets Eric, who was pulled into her time from 600+ years in the future to find out he is this mate. There's a rival dragon clan who wants to kill all the dragons in Eric's line so that they can make the remaining humans their slaves and become the most powerful force on earth. Therefore it's vital that Eric's line continue their dragon shifting and protection of those powerless to stop this from happening.

This is my first dragon shifter book, so I'm not sure what detail typically goes into the shifting part of it. In this book we get literally no details about the shifting itself other than what color Eric turns out to be in dragon form. I didn't mind it too much though, I just wanted to get to the good stuff- dragon fighting and the such. Buuuut, there's not much detail there either, other than the good dragons end up fighting the bad dragons and we figure out who wins when it's over about half a page later.

So detail isn't really a focus here, but I didn't really mind that in the end. The chemistry and pull between Eric and Amileigh is fun, even though Eric acts like an entitled teenager at times (he's in his twenties). When they finally get together to unlock Eric's dragon it's steamy enough to satisfy anyone's romance/erotica craving.

I enjoyed this book slightly more than I thought I would although it's pretty much on par with what you'd expect to get from a free book about time-travel and dragon shifting. I think I'll try out more dragon-shifting books though, because I enjoyed reading about their ancient, magical family history of dragons and Prihoms.

I'm always glad when I finish a freebie because it means I'm not just clouding up my Kindle with free Amazon bull@%, and I think with some more attention to detail and a little more solid storyline this could've been a four star read, but it's a quick enough read that if it's not your thing you get through it quickly enough. And anytime a book opens you up to something that's normally outside your genre it's a win, so I'm glad I picked this one up.

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2): 3 Stars

Author: Sarah Maas
Length: 12 hrs 24 min
I gave the first book in this series five stars. It was an amazing read for me. I loved the heroine freed prisoner/assassin Celaena Sardothian. I felt torn by the charming love triangle between her, Prince Dorian and Chaol, the captain of the guard. I loved the storyline and the mystery, and I rooted for her the whole time.

I guess it's normal, expected even, for a series to have a sophomore slump. For me, this book was definitely slump worthy. It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I dropped my rating for this one by 2 stars. One of the differences was that I listened to the audiobook version, and the narrator has a haughty tone that makes everyone sound conniving and/or conceited. And okay, so that might be the case actually, but hearing it versus reading it usually isn't a problem for me. Here it was hard for me to have the same connection with Celaena that I had in the first book when I pictured her sounding tough yet vulnerable. The narrator made her sound almost petulant. And she may be written as somewhat of a brat at times, but I preferred my own projection versus the audiobook version. It was just a little off-putting.

The second problem was that there was SO MUCH SETUP AND INFORMATION packed into this book that it doesn't leave much for action. We learn more about the Wyrd written language introduced in Throne of Glass and Wryd keys and where they came from and what they mean and information about the king and things he might be working on, and more background history on the war that "ended" magic, and history on Celaena herself. If you're not paying very close attention, it's easy for things to get convoluted. So that was another audiobook issue for me. I can pay attention while listening, but when there are names I need to learn and complicated family and world history I need to remember, it's better to see it in writing and take the time to process it. Maybe I could have appreciated it better or felt more of an impact from the new information if I had read it instead of listened to it.

As for my comment about not leaving room for the action - okay, so there is action in this book. But I felt like it was limited to a few big events rather than being exciting throughout. One of the big events throws Celaena completely off her rocker, and she spends a lot of time deep in thought and grief. It's supposed to affect the reader in the same way I guess, but said event was something that I expected to happen eventually (I felt a character was only put there to be taken away) and wasn't that devastating for me. The next big event that I remember happening is about 80% into the book, and after finishing the audiobook in the same sitting, I actually went back and re-read this part via the kindle version. I just felt, again, like it gave me a deeper impact to read it without the narrator's influence.

Buuuut, despite the narrator, this book just didn't do it for me. I'm guessing it was the information overhaul combined with the lack of Celaena-doing-her-badass-assassin-thing that made it fall kind of flat. And that's another thing - Maas is very good at telling us how great of an assassin Celaena is. It's mentioned as a recap i.e. telling us she just killed countless people on the king's orders, but we didn't tag along on those kills. The ones we're privy to always involve Celaena getting injured and/or caught, and I just wish we saw more of her being the best assassin in the world and all that. I know that wouldn't be as exciting if we saw her get away with it every time, but a little more could be done to help us believe all this praise.

Points for the bomb dropping, though, at the very end of the book. So many complications stem from this cliffhanger!

Despite the fact that this won't be my favorite book in the series, it won't deter me from continuing what is still an exciting story. I jumped right into #3. I have both the audiobook and kindle version to Heir of Fire, and I'm still going to listen to the audiobook version on my commutes to help me get through it faster, but other than that I think I'll stick to reading the book since that was part of why I enjoyed Throne of Glass so much. I am 75 pages in at this point and already liking it more than Crown of Midnight!

Recap: January 2018

January has been a good reading month for me. I've completed nine books - I don't know if I could repeat that if I tried. And the majority of them were 4 stars! Here's the rundown for the month with links to my reviews if written:

The Force by Don Winslow
Version: Audio
Length: 13 hours 26 minutes
Rating: 4 stars

Warcross by Marie Lu
Version: Kindle Book
Length: 366 pages
Rating: 4 Stars

Completely Wrecked by Shayne McClendon
Version: Kindle Book
Length: 233 pages
Rating: 4 Stars

Ready to Rumble by Shayne McClendon
Version: Kindle Book
Length: 134 pages
Rating: 2 stars

Those Girls by Chevy Stevens
Version: Kindle Book
Length: 385 pages
Rating: 4 Stars

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
Version: Audio
Length: 17 hours 52 minutes
Rating: 3 Stars

Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
Version: Kindle book
Length: 390 pages
Rating: 4 stars

That Night by Chevy Stevens
Version: Paperback
Length: 400 pages
Rating: 4 Stars

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
Version: Paperback
Length: 327 pages
Rating: 4 Stars

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1): 4 Stars

Author: Stephen King
Length: 327 pgs.

((I picked this book up for less than $2 on Goodwill books.))

I'll be honest, I never really understood the big deal about Stephen King. I've only read one of his books (Joyland) which was more coming of age with a bit of a ghost story than horror. Of course I saw The Shining like everyone else but I never read the actual book so that doesn't count. And I never was interested in reading this book or starting this series - every review I saw said that this book is boring, moves slow, etc. And it didn't seem like the typical King "horror" I keep hearing about-and it isn't. But it is a worthwhile book.

Then one day I started watching the movie The Dark Tower with my husband. We didn't finish it because I have four kids and can't last past 11 p.m. (it takes me like 2-3 days to finish a movie usually) but what I saw made me really interested in the story. So when I was browsing Goodwill online for some books and saw this listed for a super low price I figured what the hell. I'll try it.

So, the first part of the book - about 1/3 of it - moves pretty slow. I can see how people might call it "boring" if you don't hang in there for the rest of the story. What kept me going was the prose. This being only my second Stephen King book, it's a lot more intricately written than Joyland, which is told from the POV of a male teenager. Our main character here, Roland the gunslinger, has a deeper way of viewing and recounting things, and I found myself re-reading certain lines because there would be different layers to a single sentence. I guess that's King's talent which I can certainly appreciate more now having read this book.

We're introduced to Roland, who is moving through a seemingly endless desert trying to find The Man In Black, but we're not sure WHY or WHO the Man in Black is. And as I said, at first it's kind of slow. But I can pinpoint the exact chilling moment when it picked up the pace for me, and from then on it was pretty quick moving. We see glimpses of Roland's past: his parents, his childhood, his road to becoming a gunslinger. We don't quite understand his pursuit yet, but at least we become more invested in learning about it.

Last night when I sat down to read a bit more, I was on page 175. A few hours later I had finished the 327 page book. I never read 100+ pages in one sitting - I just don't have time for it. But from where I began reading last night, things only got more exciting and fast paced, and when I realized I only had 20 pages left I knew I would finish it.

The conversation with The Man In Black - the last chapter of the book - was the most exciting part for me. Inter-dimensional travel, multiple worlds, countless universes on top of one another but completely out of reach-all those things pique my interest like nothing else, because the possibilities are endless. So naturally when we finally learn who The Man In Black is and what The Dark Tower actually stands for, it is truly fascinating.

Four stars for the last 2/3 of the book and the climax, and for making me a Stephen King fan!