Baby Come Back Lite by Andrea Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tristan had been the one to teach me about love and intimacy; he’d been the one to show me how to trust again.

A wonderful conclusion to a fantastic series. Baby Come Back Lite is a novella told from Gina’s POV.

I have loved Gina’s character from book one. She is quirky, funny, tough, and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and her friends. She was an amazing friend to Tylar, and their friendship is what endeared me to her from the get go.

Tristan has also been a huge favorite of mine throughout the series. He has a very quiet intensity to him. I think maybe that’s why I enjoyed his character as much as I did. He was a bit like the yang to Trey’s ying, maybe? Well whatever the reason may be, Tristan was great.

I have been looking forward to reading Tristan and Gina’s book from the very beginning. Perhaps this was why this didn’t become a 5 star book for me? I think I set my expectations too high. There were a few things that I was looking forward to reading, that didn’t happen in the novella. I was really hoping to get Gina’s perspective on how her and Tristan got together. I know this was more or less covered in book 2, but I guess I just wanted a little more. But that’s really just my own biased opinion and not a reflection on the book or the writing at all. The book itself was great.

I will say this, Andrea Smith definitely knows how to hit the reader where it hurts, and she certainly doesn’t pull any punches. When she gives us Gina’s deepest and darkest secrets and past, she doesn’t hold back. Some of it was very hard to read for me, my heart just broke for what she has been through. The way that she had persevered and was such a strong heroine in the end just made me like her more.

The story takes up right around the time where Tristan finds out about Gina’s pregnancy “secret.” We get to find out more about Gina’s past, as well as Tristan’s and what experience had really scarred him in relationships. Tristan and Gina were both very real characters, they weren’t perfect, and I liked that. They both made their share of mistakes, but it was wonderful to see them work through it and the way that they did it.

I am not sure why exactly, but for some reason Tylar seemed to get on my nerves in this book. I found her irritating in the first half of book 1, until she grew on me. But in this book, perhaps because we didn’t get her POV, she just came across almost selfish and whiny at times. Meh. *shrugs*

This was a quick and entertaining read. I finished it in one sitting.

Many of the characters from the last book made an appearance…including Amber

And Libby

But all that was made better by Tristan and Gina together.

This novella might have been short in comparison to the other books, but it packed a punch. Almost sad to see this series come to an end now. But what a ride!

ARC courtesy of author in exchange for an honest review

Blaze of Secrets by Jessie Donovan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

What did I think? I’m still not quite sure…

I didn’t love this one, nor did I hate it either. It had all the makings to a great book for me, the writing was good, the characters intriguing, steamy, with fantastic world building. Yet somewhere along the way, it just fell flat. Not enough for me to put it down, but enough that it did take me longer than usual to finish it. I tend to rate books based on how unputdownable it is for me. While I was curious enough to finish it, I had no problems putting it down for a while to go back to it later.

My first love is PNR, considering the series that first sucked me into the wonderful world of books was Black Dagger Brotherhood. So I have a bit of a soft spot when it comes to PNR and discovering new authors.

Jessie Donovan is off to a good start with Blaze of Secrets. The unique take on elemental magic and the intricate world building is what initially drew me to this book.

Considering that most of the PNR books I’ve read lately have been about vampires, demons, or shifters, this was a very refreshing chance of scenery.

The Feiru are struggling to keep their elemental magic a secret from the humans. In order to achieve this, they go to great lengths; locking up their first-born children in compounds known as Asylums for Magical Threats (AMT) when they reach magical maturity.

Unbeknownst to the general public, these Asylums are nothing short of prisons where many Feiru are experimented on, punished, and dying. This is also the place that Keirra has been in for the past 15 years.

Jaxton is ordered by the higher ups to also rescue Keirra for reasons unknown to him, during his rescue mission of his older brother. This is where the story begins.

So why only 3.5 stars?

Well, to be honest, I had a hard time getting into the book. There was a lot of world building that takes place in the first half, and a part of me had a tough time following it at parts. I found myself going back and re-reading certain paragraphs to better understand things. This is at times an issue with the first books in the series, so I overlooked this.

Around the 60% mark the book really took off, and I found myself enjoying it a whole lot more.

Overall, for a debut novel in a series, this was quite good. I feel like as the author grows into her craft the books will just keep getting better and better. The book, although not being a favorite of mine, definitely intrigued me enough to pick up the second book in the series once it comes out.

Keirra’s brother, Gio, was the most intriguing part of this book for me. I love characters like him, conflicted, on the wrong side of the war but yet ignorant of it. I really hope that he gets a book soon because I would definitely want to read that.

If you enjoy PNR reminiscent of Nalini Singhs Psy/changeling series but with elemental magic, you’d definitely want to give this one a try. I think what I enjoyed the most about this book was the unique new take on PNR. I see great things coming from this author in the future.

**Many thanks to the author for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review**



Blaze of Secrets is set to be released for September 3rd

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Sinister Kisses by Adriana Noir
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

“Death is the only thing that could ever tear us apart, and even that would fail. Somehow, some way, I would find you.

ALL ABOARD!The crazy Train!

Calling all passengers! Calling all passengers!
This is your final call to board the crazy train, destination…fuck if I know!

Please be advised that you may find parts of your journey disturbing, fucked up, and probably unlike any other ride you’ve ever taken.

I would like to take this time to introduce you to your fellow passengers.
First, let’s meet Taylor

No need to apologize just yet Taylor…or do…whatever. Passengers are advised to attempt and disregard her sporadic crying, apologizing for shit she didn’t really do, and for just generally being a naive girl that will act like a wounded puppy for the duration of our trip.

Let’s now move on to Sebastian, shall we?

Now now Sebby…no need to put it all out there. You’re not that bad…err…actually…forget I said anything…please don’t hurt me??

Passengers who value their faces as they are, are advised to not speak to, touch, or even probably speak to the general direction of Taylor.

Please also disregard any disputes between Taylor and Sebby here that may look like, or very well be abusive in nature or not consensual…this is just par of the course.

Ah, looks like they’re starting early…

Whoa there Sebby! No need to over react here, I was just letting the good people know! I’m sorry! I love you?

Moving along then…
As you may have noticed, we have now reached the half way point of our journey. There will be someone walking around to collect your sanity. Kindly leave behind everything you think you know, and deal with it.

For those that don’t think they can handle this shit, I’d advise you to make your exit now

The rest of you? Good fucking luck and enjoy the ride 😉

My thoughts?
Fuck, fuckity, fucking fuck! What the fuck did I just read?!
I am all for the dark and twisted reads. I love them! But this one disturbed even me. Parts were disturbing because I sorta kinda liked them? Other parts were just plain fucking disturbing!

The writing is fantastic. The main characters? Hoo boy! I’m not gonna lie, characters like Taylor drive me almost as crazy as this book was. I’m not big on the naive, constantly crying, and weak heroines. I could deal with it, however.

Sebastian? The man is on a whole different playing field of crazy. Wow!

I truthfully don’t even know how to rate this book. I wanted to hate it…and yet…I couldn’t. I hated the fact that I couldn’t hate it? GAWD! I don’t even know! I feel like I need therapy after this.

This is definitely not a book for the faint of heart.

Will I read the next book? I have to know what happens with these crazies, so yes, I will.

I do have a sudden urge to read a whole bunch of rainbow and unicorns type books after this one. And people, I do NOT enjoy the rainbows and unicorn type books. So that should tell you something.

I still need to think on my rating…I just…I don’t…I can’t!
3.5 stars??

Now this girl is going to go and attempt to find my happy place again…and maybe try to get some of my sanity back?

And I thank you!

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