Friday Reads: My Hellion, My Heart by Amalie Howard and Angie Page: ARC Review!!!

Hello guys!

*once again dusts off blog*


I keep on trying to return to more regular blogging and I keep on failing... but I really don't want to give up on my blog!

I love books, I love sharing that love with the world and I love shouting about the books I love and helping authors get the word out there about their books, so how come I'm failing SO MUCH at blogging and reviewing??

Today I want to share my love for the latest installment on a historial romance series I've adored from two authors I love, Amalie Howard and Angie Page! Big shout out to my girl Alyssa of The Eater of Books for getting me into reading more romance and giving historical romance a try, btw! *waves at Alyssa*

I was so lucky to be approved for an early ARC on Netgalley for My Hellion, My Heart by the publisher, (THANK YOU!!!) but you guys can grab the book right now because it published this Monday, so GO GET IT!


My Hellion, My Heart by Amalie Howard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm what I'd call a recent convert of the historical romance genre, so I'm by no means an expert but I've so thoroughly adored this entire series!

I really loved the previous books in the series, and I thought that the previous book, My Darling, My Disaster, all about North and Lana would be my favourite because I adored both characters since they were first introduced, BUT I was wrong! From the moment I started this one, Irina and Henry became my absolute favourites!

We met Irina as Lana's spirited little sister and when we meet her at the beginning of the book a few years have passed, but she's lost none of her spirit! As a princess she's a darling of society but also considered a bit of a hellion. She's been avoiding London and its season but finally returns after being nudged there by her friend, to both be closer to her sister and secretly to see again her first love.

I simply loved the interactions between Irina and Henry, there was so much chemistry from the very first moment! I had been a bit concerned about the age difference and how it would play in their relationship, but I soon realized it was handled great, without adding creepiness to the initial interactions between them in the previous book.

Henry has gone through so much since the previous book... When we met him, he was in the service of the Crown and on dangerous missions, but now he's trying and somewhat failing to return to normal life and Society. He's clearly suffering from PTSD after having survived very dangerous missions and having been captured and tortured as a spy & prisioner of war. He also feels rather guilty about his intense attraction to Irina, since she had been his ward as a young girl.

I love how Irina decided to own her fears and fight them and not let Society dictate her actions, because as a princess she has so many eyes on her but she also has a freedom that not many people enjoyed. She decided that she would not fight her love and attraction to Henry, even if she felt it made vulnerable, and once she saw it was not entirely one-sided, she decided to fight and get Henry to accept it and stop fighting the attraction.

Amalie and Angie did an amazing job to show the vulnerabilities and strenghts of both characters and how they could understand and help each other, and not just their amazing chemistry (have I mention that the attraction and sexual chemistry was so well done and off the charts? because oh boy, it so was!).

There's a thread of mystery and intrigue all along the book but it explodes towards the end, with betrayal and danger in a way that I wasn't expecting and that added that "dammit, not that everything seemed to finally be going well!" sort of feeling and I'm so very happy with how it was resolved!

All in all, an amazing book that I've loved! I really hope that Amalie and Angie will co-write many more historical romance books because I will be devouring them all!! 4.5 to 5 stars for sure!


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ARC Reviews: A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi & The Broken Ones by Danielle L Jensen!!!

Hey there guys!

Yes, surprisingly enough, I'm back here to continue with a  bit of a catch up on reviewing some of the books I've read so far in 2017! I will not be trying to catch up on all them, because they're many, and I don't want to kill the little motivation I have with trying to do too much!

Today I'm reviewing two highly awaited ARCs that I got approved for this year, to my surprise and delight!


A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After adoring The Star Touched Queen I was sure I was going to equally love A Crown of Wishes, and when my "wish for it" was granted on Netgalley I was squealing and more than ready to dive into it straight away!

I knew I was going to love it, but I didn't expect it to love it even more than I did TSTQ! Right after finishing ACOW, I was ready to re-read it right away, and that's always the mark of an amazing book for me, because I don't want it to end and I don't want to leave its world!

A Crown of Wishes is a companion/sort of sequel to TSTQ and it shares the same amazing brilliant and lyrical writing, the same immersing descriptions and narrative and the same magical and threatening vibe throughout! It's a wondrous world you'd want to visit but once there you might not be entirely sure if it was such a good idea after all!

Roshani Chokshi always manages to ensorcell me with her words, makes me crave desi food like there's no tomorrow and makes me want to read more Indian/Hindu mythology books! I feel like rushing through the book to find out what comes next but slowing down at the same time to savour every word and description!

I was very happy when I heard that ACOW would be about Gauri because I adored her as Maya's spirited little sister in TSTQ and I simply loved who she had become in this book, strong and full of thorns and I loved her path to realize who she could be and how to became the person she really wanted to be. And I simply adored her interactions with Vikram, the Fox Prince, charming, cunning and entirely too irresistible if irritating at times!

They are to be allies to win the Tournament of Wishes and they don't entirely trust each other too much, although most of the resistance comes from Gauri. They do make quite a fantastic team and their banter is simply perfect! I love how they goad each other, how Vikram challenges Gauri and tries to get to know the fascinating and utterly dangerous girl better without getting himself killed in the process. Just thinking about these two I'm itching for a re-read already!

I just loved the beauty and danger of the tournament and their unexpected allies and enemies and how the different tasks of the Tournament challenge them to work together and to discover things about themselves and about each other.

Brilliantly written, full of magic, wonder and dread! Highly recommended!



The Broken Ones by Danielle L Jensen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was so happy when Danielle announced that she was writing a prequel and it would be the story of Marc and Penelope!

I knew the story was heartbreaking but it also gives us so much insight about the characters we meet in the Malediction Trilogy and really helps us understand them better too!

Reading from both Marc and Penelope's POV was the perfect way to see their friendship and love emerge, even if they both thought it was one-sided in the beginning. I had wanted to know more about Penelope and not only reading about her story but having her POV was the best way to see how strong she was and how messed up her family really was. The power plays and the political intrigues more common than any sort of affection. Marc I had always liked as a character but in this book I got to love him even more. Torn between duty and his heart and trying to juggle what's right with what he wanted and see him struggle with the choices he had to make and see others make was so heartbreaking!

We meet and get to know Anäis as a different person that the girl she has become in Stolen Songbird, and her love for her sister and how she behaves and puts the cause and others before her own ambition made me see her in a very different way. Tristan we get to see from Penelope's eyes and from Mark's eyes and it's so clear how he presents himself to the world and how she has to hide his cause and what he wants to do. Tristan does have quite a bit of growing up to do in this book, and it really broke my heart how he treated Marc sometimes.

For some reason I expected the story to be centered about Marc and Penelope and had completely forgotten how very shrouded in power struggles and political manouvering everything was in Trollus, and how their story could not have been otherwise. The Duke of Angouleme and his power games with the King and how he tries to manipulate everything, how Tristan tries to hide his real self and real purpose, how Marc and Penelope struggle to find their own happiness within that maelstrom, it was all both fascinating and so very heartbreaking!

If you've read The Malediction trilogy, you really NEED to read this one and if you haven't read the trilogy yet, what are you waiting for??


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Mark These Book(s) Monday: Splinter And Paper & Fire ARC reviews!!

Hello there guys!!

I'm somewhat tentatively back! I needed a break before and after my trip to Star Wars Celebration in London and I really needed a break because work and life make blogging a bit more complicated!

So here I am back now with two ARC mini reviews for this week's Mark These Books Monday, trying to start August right! These two totally work towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge too!

Splinter by Sarah Fine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I read Reliquary and really enjoyed it, although our main character Mattie sometimes got on my nerves and I wanted to shake her more than once, but I decided to cut her some slack, because given how her life is thrown upside down... Gods know how I'll handle something of that magnitude!

I'm really happy to report that I loved how Mattie did grow as a character, not only on her powers and her knowledge of the world she is now part of, but also in what she really wants or who she really is. She starts the book in a bad place, both physically and emotionally, even if she had got what she had fought so hard to get back.

I had chosen a ship quite clearly during book 1, even if I wasn't entirely happy about the relationship seemed to be forming at the time, but once again, decided to give it space and see what might come of it, and I'm quite glad to see that although the progress seems to be very slow all through the book, it is what I'd call the right kind of progress!

Splinter is the second book in the trilogy, but it does NOT suffer from middle book syndrome or sequel slump at all! The stakes got really higher, more slightly unexpected betrayal (I was not expecting it entirely, I knew he was not exactly reliable but goodness!) and more enemies coming together to make life difficult (thankfully also more allies) and it also left me wondering about the original relics and how much more we'll learn about them in the bigger picture on Mosaic!

A very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one! A half star probably because of Asa and Gracie and how much I love when canines are okay! Thank you for that Sarah!!


Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed the first book in the series because it touched on something that had long fascinated me, the Alexandria Library, and created an alternative future where not only it had not burnt but one where it controlled the world. And it is a rather less wonderful world than I would have expected.

On Paper & Fire stakes get higher, betrayals happen unexpectedly and the action is absolutely non-stop! From the training and the fear of discovery in the beginning, to the plotting and sniffing around to mount a rescue, to trying to be ahead of the Library from then on to make sure the rescue doesn't turn into a massacre of all of those involved... we barely get any respite!

Jess has to deal with so much in this book! Not only in terms of being hunted and fighting for his life and figuring out how not to die while facing the Library's automata, but also on the more emotional side of things. He has to figure out his feelings and loyalties towards his family and his friends, and also how to navigate the mess that his feelings and relationship with Morgan are.

Rachel Caine managed to make me even more scared for my poor dear books, sometimes I'd just stop reading the book and go pet my poor darlings in my library room and tell them "You're okay, I would never let any evil Library take you away or any crazy people burn you!!". We get quite a few more unsettling revelations, go through very traumatic events and with quite a few unexpected twists here and there that culminate in one hell of an unexpected cliffhanger!!

Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars! I just cannot wait till I can get my hands on the third and final book!! *bites nails*


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ARC August is HERE again!!

My beloved friends Octavia & Shelly from Read Sleep Repeat are once again organizing ARC August!! The month to stop and catch up with all your various ARCs before they get too out of control!

The good thing about ARC August is that both physical and digitals ARCs count, so I can finally allow myself to tackle my ARCs from BEA as well as focus on some backlogged Netgalley ARCs that will also count towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge!

My goal for ARC August is to tackle all the September ARCs I got from BEA (that'd be a total of 7, if I don't read any from that pile during July) and then 3 or 4 backlogged eARC from NetGalley.

My tentative list:

BEA ARCs

- Stalking Jack the Ripper
- Three Dark Crowns
- Metaltown
- The Female of the Species
- A Shadow Bright & Burning
- Vassa in the Night
- The Forgetting

And eARCs:

- Warrior Witch
- Wild Swans
- Tell The Wind & Fire
- Unicorn Tracks

Wish me luck guys! I hope I will do better than my major fail this past ARC April!!

Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of And I Darken by Kiersten White!!

Hello there guys!!

A new week is here and lucky me is starting it with a day off! Quite fantastic to have a day to recover and unpack after my trip before going back to work!

For this week's Mark This Book Monday I have an ARC review and being approved for this one on Netgalley really made my day! It's the first book in a new series that as soon as I heard about, I knew I HAD to read it!

As an eARC it counts towards my NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge and will help maintain my over 80% ratio on NG!

And I Darken by Kiersten White

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


From the very first time that I heard about this book I knew it was going to be a Pili book. It's historical fiction and a retelling with a gender bender protagonits, based on Vlad the Impaler (in case you don't know, he's the historical figure Dracula was inspired on) and it's written by Kiersten White.

And the book really didn't disappoint at all! The beginning felt a lil slow, since we're dealing with Lada (our female Vlad) and her brother Radu's childhoods. It might have been a bit slow but it was quite important to build up them as characters from the very beginning, and that's what Kiersten did here. The pacing might have felt a bit uneven here and there because of that, but she crafted and developed the characters superbly!

The relationships between Radu and Lada, their father and older brother, and later on with Mehmed and those they meet at the sultan's court are built so well and in such a complex weblike way. The complexity of human relationships overlap with political manouvering and plotting.

Many facets of the characters are explored, like sexuality and gender expectations and power and religion and the sense of belonging with someone or somewhere. It is a character driven novel and as such although the plot is also fantastic and it's making progress through Lada's life to show us how she arrives to be person that made the history books (alas, as a dude), the main focus is always on the characters' journey and development and their changing relationships.

I'm already in love with this series, and it's just the first book! I'm confident I will love each coming book even more because even if they will get more brutal as Lada herself does, fighting for what she wants more than anything, her Wallachia, no matter what heartache she has to leave behind, the more I'm sure to enjoy them. So very much deserved 4 stars for this fantastic first book!

Mark This Book Monday: Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets Anthology!!

Hiya guys!

I'm finally getting back to more regular blogging, or so I hope! At least I'm trying to do exactly just that! I'm gonna be doing some scheduling of posts whenever I'm motivated to do so, and then don't feel like I'm failing when I cannot manage it!

Today for Mark This Book Monday I have a review for one of my VERY backlogged ARCs that I got from Netgalley that I finally managed to finish, and that will count towards my NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge, that I've had quite forgotten as of late!

Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets by David Thomas Moore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It really took me a while to read this anthology and I'm glad that I took a lil time reading it since it's helped with the wait for the next season of Sherlock.

There are 14 short stories, quite very different each one of them, with a very different feel to all of them, and some of them definitely made me watch to check out more of the author's work

All of the short stories in here are well worth the read, each one of the imagining Sherlock in many different ways, but I must confess my favourites were the ones where Sherlock & Holmes were gender swaped or taken into a different era or setting!

We've got Sherlock as part of a carnival where a serial killer was starting his work (one of the creepiest stories), Sherlock as a female investigator and Watson as a doctor that meet through a reality show being filmed, Sherlock & Watson being teenage girls that also write fanfic about Sherlock Holmes. More traditional ones with extra magic added to the setting, Sherlock being conjured as a demon from another plane to help solve the murder case of a magician.

Sherlock with romance, gender swapped or not, LGTBA ones, set in fantasy worlds, in different periods, adding different version of other characters (like Irene Adler), imagining them as actors that played the characters they created... in this anthology there really is something for every single fan of Sherlock Holmes & John Watson!

Very much deserved 4 stars for this anthology!



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of Much of Madness by S.E. Summa!

Hello there guys!

After getting my laptop back from the world of the dead laptops (at least more or less) I have been unmotivated to do a lot of blogging, mostly due to laziness and wanting to spend more time reading, but I want to eventually get back in full swing. In the mean time I'll try and be somewhat consistent and have at the very least a pair of posts (ideally three) up each week!

For this week's Friday Reads I have a review book I got from Netgalley so it counts towards my NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge and will help me stick up to my over 80% ratio!

Much of Madness by S.E. Summa

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I discovered this book via my friend Jenny from Supernatural Snark & Seedlings Studio, because she's the talented cover designer that did the gorgeous cover for this one! Cover lust made me check the summary and I was intrigued, so when I saw it up for request on Netgalley, I jumped to the chance of reading it.

Much of Madness is a different twist of a paranormal story, with Sin Eaters, Spellcasters, Djinn and ghosts and Curse-Breakers! It was quite refreshing to see a story full of different paranormal types but without vampires or werewolves!

The story is told in dual POVs and at first the separation was done more clearly, one chapter per POV, getting Marceu's and Seraphina's story as they come to intersect and I really enjoyed their voices and individual stories. I loved seeing their different worlds and the way the interactions with their close circle of either friends or associates show their personalities.

When they met and started interacting I liked how their differences were showcased and how the worlds could collide, but I wasn't so keen on how their voices mixed up on the narrative... they were different enough to know when they switched even in the same chapter, but it seemed to muddy things a bit and confuse the narrative a bit.

Plot wise, it seemed quite clear where things would come to a point but I was pleasantly surprised that I still got some unexpected twists here and there. Some of the intersecting plots felt a bit forced to come together, even if when they did mix, it all seemed to work out pretty well.

I must confess the romance didn't really work for me. It wasn't insta love or underdeveloped, but I just never felt the chemistry or tension between the characters, so I never really connected with their romance. I did connect much more with the romance between two of the secondary characters. I cannot say why or why not... it just happened!

I really enjoyed all the NOLA and Nashville references and really felt like the atmosphere was so very realistic, even if I've never been to any of the places. It made ME want to visit there for sure! And made me crave beignets & chicory coffee like mad, dammit!

All in all, I'm pretty torn because I really enjoyed the first half of the book and then things became a lil messy in the second half and although I liked the ending and I'd probably read the sequel, I was not blown away by the book as a whole. I guess it'd be fair to give it a 3 star rating as it can stand as a quite unique paranormal.



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Thursday Thoughts: ARC Review of Save Me, Kurt Cobain!

Hey there guys!

I've been a bit mind-gone as of late! I don't know exactly how to describe it but time gets away from me and when I have the time I don't have the motivation and... gah! I don't even know how February it's almost over!!

Today I have another edition of Thursday Thoughts to get more reviews in this week, given that the pending reviews are piling up and I have a few days off now so I hope to squeeze some blog productivity in between some chores, errands and social life!

Lucky enough to be approved for this one, it counts towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge as well as my 2016 Debut Author Challenge! I'm doing pretty well so far on these two challenges, and I hope to keep it up like this for the rest of the year!

Save Me, Kurt Cobain by Jenny Manzer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I requested this book on a whim on Netgalley because I was a huge fan of Nirvana as a young teen (dating myself right here) and I wanted to check out a debut that was not in my preferred genre, since this one is a contemporary.

I'm quite torn about the book since I really enjoyed all the Nirvana references, all the music talk (confession time, my favourite music is still from the 80's & the 90's... I'm an oldie, what can I say?) and I really liked the writing, but I absolutely failed to connect with the main character. I don't know if it's an age thing, or maybe is the completely different emotional place where we both come from... or maybe it's because except for this one I've been in a fantasy books kick and the change of pacing was jarring... but I just couldn't connect with Nico.

Given that the pacing and writing of the book is great and that the voice is raw and feels very real, if you have better luck connecting with the main character that I did, I'm sure that you'd love this one, because it's bound to be a very emotional journey of discovery and finally getting some answers as well as growth for Nico. I wanted her to get some answers and at some point I was wondering if she'd be right and this one would veer a bit onto the magical realism side, but I couldn't put myself in her shoes, so sometimes I felt my age shaking my head at some of her fancies, even if I could understand her obsession with Mr Cobain and Nirvana's music.

This one is a very intriguing debut, one that didn't exactly work for me but that might be exactly the book that many teens need to read. Worth giving it a try for sure. Very positive 3 stars.

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Mark These Books Monday: ARC Reviews of NEED & An Inheritance of Ashes!!

Hello there guys!

Mondays off are one of those lovely treats, aren't they? Today I really must catch up on some house chores and also run a few errands, but I'm hoping to also have some time to relax and read a lil bit, or maybe just go back and continue binge watching BSG on Netflix... who knows??

For this week's Mark These Books Monday I have two reviews of eARCs that I got approved for quite a while back on Netgalley but I never got around to reading in time, so now they're part of my Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge and my ongoing battle for finally reaching the 80% ratio (and keeping it!).

NEED by Joelle Charbonneau

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


NEED was one of those books that I requested because they sounded extremely interesting: social media and teens using it to get what they really wanted with no concern for what they have to do in exchange... Sounds really cool! It also was a Read it Now when I got it on Netgalley.

Then release date rolled over, I couldn't fit it into my schedule and fast forward till I had a conversation with a friend about it and I remembered I had the eARC somewhere in my Kindle!

NEED was a very fast read and one that had me turning pages rather fast wondering if what I was figuring about it would be right or not. With multiple POVs it could have felt slow or cumbersome, but given that they were also short chapters for the most part, they didn't seem to slow the pacing as much. I know other people have said that some POVs seemed pointless to them, but for me it showed the outreach of the website and different people's reaction to the website, their actions and the consequences of those actions.

But the moment the big reveals started to happen... I was disappointed. I can't really go on in depth about why because I would spoil the ending and climax for everyone of course, but it just made me think, and I'm sorry all my dear US friends, "oh come, yet another typical American movie move". It felt like very typical combination of a blockbuster + conspiracy theory... just... gah.

Given how disappointing the ending was for me, I cannot give this one more than 3 stars and only because it was an interesting take on social media and the freedom to forget about being responsible from our acts & choices that seems to be inherent to anonimity sometimes, and the mob factor. Multiple POV was also done well for me, but nothing can take away how disappointing the ending was.

An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Some books have slow beginnings peppered with enough small bits here and there that make you want to keep on reading to see if it delivers what it promised, and this one is one of those. From 40% onwards it became better and better and ended up earning 4 stars.

An Inheritance of Ashes is one of those books that needs to be given a chance because they develop slowly and hides its secrets quite well. For a good part of the book I wasn't sure if it should even be considered fantasy because despite the mentions of the Wicked God and the presence of the Twisted Things, what we get is two sisters at odds, trying to survive in the aftermath of a war and the trials and tribulations that come with that.

The biggest strengh of this book lies in the characters and the story & relationship between the two sisters and their struggle to survive. Hallie and Martha have to deal with their family history, the losses from the war and being alone in running the whole homestead on their own. The book is told from Hallie's POV but we get to see that things might not always be as she perceives them.

And the secondary characters aren't any less strong, meeting the neighbours that love the girls as family, even if sometimes the sisters feel like they have to prove they don't need help. Tyler, Nat & their family weren't without issues on their own, but dealt with them differently and provided with a great balance for the sisters.

I said it before, sometimes I struggled with the book till I reached the 40% mark, because I wasn't sure where it all was going, or wasn't sure about the world building, but after the 40% mark I was well and truly hooked, not only because everything started to come together both plot and world building wise, but because the character development continued to grow and expand and the interactions between the characters grew even more complex as new revelations started to drop here and there.

The mix of magical world of fantasy and the feeling of historical fiction/period drama was so well done. So much about the mistrust between family members, living within a lie to protect yourself, and consequences of war and how it changes you when you're lucky enough to return from it. This book is one wonderful study on human nature and how we shape or relationships with those around us with our fears and hopes and secrets and not only how the others act.

And once thing I haven't been able to stop thinking about was a conversation about help, how we need to make sure when we're offering help to others is NOT to offer things we want to do for them, but to make sure to ASK them what is the help that they really NEED. I will have to look up the exact quote because I really need to have it up somewhere in some shape, because I feel it is SO relevant and so important!

As I already said, the last 60% of the book really earnt itself the final 4 star rating and I'm very glad I got the chance to read it!

Saturday Pages: ALL THE SAMPLERS!!

Hello there guys!!

Yesterday I absolutely enjoyed my first opera experience, getting goosebumps and nearly crying at the end, Madama Butterfly was fantastic! Now the besties and me are planning to go see Rigoletto next when the company plays it in Feb/March!

Today for this week's Saturday Pages I have mini reviews for all the samplers that I recently got from Netgalley! I know a lot of you guys don't like samplers but I seem to have zero self control when it comes to books I want, and also samplers are very useful when I'm curious about a book by a new author, or for a book that I should be more excited about since it's an author I love...

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab


This one was simply lack of self control... AGOS is one of my top 3 most awaited sequels for 2016 and the moment I saw this sampler available on NetGalley I knew I had to read it.

It's quite a big sampler, and I'm already itching to re-read it, so I won't have a problem with re-reading the beginning once the book comes out!

Although I was 100% before now I'm 1000% sure that I'll absolutely love this book!! Our beloved Lila Bard is being her badass self, and even more badass that ever before! I just had to adore her & her restlessness and her wish & fear to belong and settle down.

We see that change has come to Red London, Grey London and White London, and whatever we thought we knew about the Antari is being challenged very early on! Or maybe I'm just reading too much into certain details... Who knows!

We meet a few new characters, although we barely get to know them, although Alucard gets a bit of more page time, and he promises to be a very interesting character indeed! There seems to be a certain history that will come into play later on, and I cannot wait to find out more!

Really guys, if you haven't read ADSOM, go read it now and if you have... go preorder AGOS NOW! If you already have it preordered, as I do... rest assured, we're gonna love this one to pieces, I KNOW IT!!

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury


Jessica Khoury has a few books out already but for some reason I haven't read anything by her yet, so when I saw the sampler for this one (fantasy! Aladdin retelling!) I decided to check it out and see if it could be my kinda thing.

And as it happens, it is! I really enjoyed both the descriptions and the writing and loved how it starts and feels familiar (if you've watched the movie) but also how different it is, and not only because the genie, jinn in this case (let's be proper) is a girl, but also because of how much history is behind the current story. How much regret and guilt the jinni carries with her.

We meet quite a few characters that could be familiar but that are also complete different and with a very different history and development, from Aladdin himself, to the princess, to the Jinni... And I cannot wait to see more of these characters, and of course to get more of the world building and of the history snippets that Zahra gives us here and there.

The sampler gave us only a small peek at the plotting that might come into play in the book, from Zahra's mission to gain her freedom to Aladdin's quest to do something important, and where both might clash at some point and what choices will Zahra make this time!

This sampler convinced me that I want to check this book, so much that I ended preordering it!

Riders by Veronica Rossi


This is sampler that I requested because this is a book that by all usual standards I ought to be super excited about! It's by Veronica Rossi and I adored her Under The Never Sky series, and the book is a reimagining about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, so really... it sounds like it'd be a Pili book! But for some strange reason I'm not that excited about it.

Reading the sampler I was a bit thrown off by how it starts in the middle of the action so to speak, and how our main character spends his time tied to a chair telling someone from the US government (and us of course) all that's been going on till that moment.

I don't usually mind that style of storytelling, but I'm not sure how I'd like if the whole book is gonna be told like that till the final part or something... At least all of the sampler is Gideon recounting what has happened. And although I want to find out more and meet the rest of the Horsemen and know what the hell happened to land Gideon in military custody... it feels like there's a lack of urgency since it's a recount of the past.

After reading this sampler I'm still unsure of this one, and will be awaiting reviews from my bloggy friends that got ARCs before deciding whether I get this one or pass it up.

Friday Reads: ARC Review of The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes!!

Hey guys!

Happy Friday! I hope you guys are having some cool plans for this weekend! I am having a bunch of days off and today I'm going to the opera! My first time and I'll be watching Madama Butterfly, so very excited!

For this week's Friday Reads I have the final book (for now, hopefully, because I want to read more books about these characters!) in the Rogues of the Republic series up for review!




The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Once again another fantastic book that had me glued to the pages and that managed to surprise me more than a few times! I'm so very grateful that I got all three ARCs from Netgalley because reading them in quick succesion has been so much fun!

Plot twists are the bread and butter of fantasy heists, because you're not supposed how the plans would unfold, and you're not even supposed to know when something is part of the plan, is a planned for contingency or all hell is going to break loose, and sometimes it'll be a lil bit of all three!!

Patrick Weekes manages to take everything the previous two books had and twist it a lil further and make it a lil bigger to make this book a lil darker and still keep the irreverent tone from the previous two books. The humour was still there too, but things were getting so dire that I didn't have as many laugh out loud moments. Now that I've finished the book, I feel like I miss that humour but while I was reading the book I was too engrossed and worried about everyone's fate and what would come next to think of the comparable lack of humour in this one.

Loch continues to be one hell of a main character and the rest of the gang do get quite a bit of limelight and progression and character development as we see a bit more of what makes them who they are, and what their choices what change in themselves as well as in the fate of the Republic, because... did I mention things are a lot more dire in this book? Because they really are!

The previous book ended with shock and betrayal and this one deal with the consequences of it, with fighting an enemy that you didn't know was an enemy at first and with privilege and freedom and mind control and information vs propaganda. We still have dragons and unicorns and talking weapons and warrior monks and death priestesses and elves... And we're never too sure about who is on who's team at times!

I don't want to continue rambling on about the book because I fear I'll end up spoiling something but if you like fantasy books and heist books and want to read something captivating, fun and diverse, you need to add the entire series to your TBR pile! The book has a rather definitive ending, no cliffhangers or anything, but I would love to go on reading more adventures of the gang for more books to come, so I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Very much deserved 4 stars for this one!





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Tell Me Tuesdays #32!!

Tell Me Tuesdays is a meme/feature created by the awesome La La In The Library, where we can share how we choose the book we are currently reading from our TBR pile!

I'm always curious about that, cause as much as I tend to make myself a rough schedule for books to read and the like, I'm quite a mood reader and sometimes I just HAVE to ignore my schedule and read something else!

It's been a while since I last posted on Tell Me Tuesdays so hi there!!

The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes

A thief’s good deeds are never done.

Loch and her crew are determined to stop the ancients from returning to reclaim the world they once ruled, but a kidnapped friend throws their plans awry. When a desperate rescue turns into a shocking reunion, the ancients return and seize power. Determined to stop them, Loch and the crew look for a way to close the gate to the ancients’ world, but this time, they find themselves up against an enemy that has insinuated itself into the highest ranks of the Republic. Cruel, cunning, and connected, the ancients target the crew’s families and histories, threatening to tear friendships apart.

If that weren’t bad enough, Loch must deal with her treacherous assassin sister, her turncoat ancient friend, and a daemon who has sworn to hunt her to the ends of the earth. In order to save the Republic and pull off her largest con ever, Loch will need her friends…and maybe her enemies too.

 Riders by Veronica Rossi

For eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake, nothing but death can keep him from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.

Recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can't remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen--Conquest, Famine, and Death--are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.

They fail.

Now--bound, bloodied, and drugged--Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he's fallen for--not to mention all of humankind--he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.

But will anyone believe him?

The Paladin Caper is the last book (for now, hopefully there will be more) on The Rogues of the Republic series, a fantasy heist series, as I like to call it, and one that I'm loving to bits! So happy that I got approved for them on NetGalley!

And Riders is only a sampler I got from NetGalley, because as much as I think the summary sounds amazing and should be something I'd be all over it, I don't seem to be able to be as excited for it as I should! So I got the sampler hoping to either discard it completely from my list or finally get as excited as I should.

That sounds odd, I know, but that's me, I'm quite odd! ;)

So what are you all guys reading and how and why did you decide to pick up that book? Shiny new ARC? Comfort read? Scheduled for review? Must have new release? Tell me!!

Friday Reads: ARC Review of The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes!!

Hello there guys!

Happy Friday! It is sort of a Monday for me, because I'm back to work after a few days off, but I'm feeling rather rejuvenated and rested! Also did some retail therapy on IKEA, in the shape of new shelves, so things are looking up!

For this week's Friday Reads I have the second book in what seems to be a trilogy (at least for now) heist fantasy series (I think this should be its own genre) that is becoming a quick favourite for me! So glad to have listened to Jessica from Rabid Reads and have started this series!



The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was so excited to be approved on NetGalley to read all the books in the Rogues of the Republic series so far, and The Prophecy Con didn't disappoint at all!

It starts pretty soon after the ending of The Palace Job, and we see our characters back in the thick of the action, at least Loch and Kail, because after the events of the previous book the diplomatic relationships between Empire and Republic are quite tense. We learn about the changes (Loch as a Justicar) and we see how everyone is dealing with the aftermath of their saving the world, Dairy and Desidora the ones with more issues finding their way after the extraordinary.

The action and the humour in this one are non-stop and perfectly mixed as it was in the first book. I found myself laughing out loud as well as cackling and simply howling with laughter at some points... what can I say, I simply look the humour in this books, it can be subtle, it can be cheeky... and I love it!

And the action... we start with a diplomatic mission that ends up with a battle, Loch getting a new weapon from her foe and starting a new mission to recover/steal a precious artifact, this time in the name of peace and not personal revenge. And this time is not so much a heist but an ongoing mission about stealing/recovering/winning the damned artifact and discovering what else is threatening the precarious peace between the Empire & the Republic.

As the action moves around quite a bit we get to see much more world building and we meet dwarves and elves. These are and aren't the dwarves and elves we've met before. Their societies are similar enough to what we've seen before, but I feel that the author gave them his own unique twist.

The relationships between the characters have shifted a bit, and some of them are paired up, and their interactions can be both a moment of relief from the action as well as some added gravitas, depending on which relationship. I'm quite more partial to one of them two established ones, but the other two just won me over in the end even if their chemistry is not so obvious or maybe well developed.

As a sequel it expands and builds upon what we knew from book 1, but also manages to give a twist to what we thought we knew and add a betrayal to make things even more interesting and unexpected!

The ending was rather horrible and I was ready to scream at my Kindle in rage, but luckily the author decided to take pity on us poor readers and added a epilogue to make sure we didn't end up hating him!

I'm now thoroughly in love with this series and these characters and will say that if you like fantasy books with humour, diversity and twisty action, you NEED to check them out! Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars!



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes!!

Hello there guys!

Some days life as an adult sucks! I've been worrying about money and bills and still trying to buy things for the house and sort trips for next year and dammit it's a doozy for the brain! *flops down in bed*

I think that's partly why I've been a bit more unmotivated to blog as of late, I keep on reading and not reviewing and half the time I'm online, I'm only fluffing around...

But today I just realized it's Friday so I managed to crank up a half decent review for this week's Friday Reads for a very cool book that if you're a fantasy lover and you enjoy amazing humour, YOU JUST NEED TO READ!


The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


There are some reviews that really make you want to read a book, and when I read Jessica from Rabid Reads review for The Palace Job, it really made me want to read this one ASAP!

So when I saw this one and the next two book of the series up for request on Netgalley, I just had to give them a try, and yet, very wise choice on my part!

The Palace Job is a fantasy heist book, with a very random crew of people trying to steal a very precious something for itself and for revenge.

Fantasy heist in a world with magic, magical floating cities where only the rich live, the Republic is at peace with the Empire but no one seems to be happy about it, and a puppet theater keeps the public informed of the goings-on, political or otherwise!

Our main character is Loch, a prisoner in the bowels of the floating city of Heaven's Spire, former military and with a past that shapes her motivation to get out of there. Loch is a woman, a fighter and a Ursujan, a woman of colour. The Republic is supposed to have equal rights for all, but prejudice for the Ursujan is still rampant.

Then we have Kail, also Ursujan, former military and an uncanny ability to insult someone's mother is probably every known language. Tern is the expert on safes and picking every lock, Icy the Imperial contorsionist and martial arts pacifist expert, a magical unicorn, Hess the magician,a Death Priestess with a talking warhammer and a boy with no apparent ability that was rescued along with the magician.

There's plenty of action and even social commentary here and there, but the thing that this book does brilliantly is mixing amazing sense of humour everywhere! Sometimes a bit some subtly, others a lil more blatantly but always always SO WELL DONE!

Planning and plotting and second guessing and keeping an ace up their sleeve and even confraternizing with the enemy! There is never a dull moment in this book!

The world building was very well done, although I think the bigger strenght was on the social and political climate more than on physical desriptions, but it was done in a way that the Republic felt very real!

The book can be divided, no exactly half and half but nearly so into assembling the team and the actual heist, so keep that in mind when you start to wonder what trolls have to do with anything in the story!

Not much romance to speak of in here, even if there are some bits here and there. One of them was easier to see and root for and the other was more told than shown, so maybe that's what didn't make me give this one a full 5 stars? I'm not sure, I simply go with my gut feeling and this one felt like a 4 to 4.5 stars.

If you like fantasy, this is a book and a series to add to your reading pile ASAP!


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Saturday Pages: Mini Reviews for Maxon and Portia by Christina Bauer!

Hello there guys!

Happy Halloween! I hope you are all enjoying this day, handing out candy, dressing up or reading and/or watching some spooky movies! My plans are to watch Nightmare Before Christmas before work tonight... Yes, I work on Halloween night and I'm extremely bummed about that!

Today for Saturday Pages I have a pair of mini reviews for two ARCs that I got via NetGalley (thank you Ink Monster) and that are part of a series that I'm really enjoying, Angelbound and Angelbound Offspring!


Maxon by Christina Bauer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Since I fell in love with Myla and Lincoln in Angelbound I have continued to read all the books in the series, and although I haven't felt the same love for any of the books as for the first one, they are still good and fun to read!

This is the story of Maxon as an adult, and as such we don't really see as much of Myla and Lincoln even if they do appear here and there. I'm pretty sure this book can be read without having read the previous three books, because we get enough little tidbits here and there about past events that are relevant to understand.

The book is told in dual POV, Maxon's and Lianna's. I really liked Lianna, how she was trying her best and standing her ground, I could really relate with her hate of being addressed as "a girl" in a demeaning or patronizing way! I loved that she could stand her own, even if she had some growth to do and adapt to the new situation!

Maxon is one of those alpha-ish guys that never really veers into the arsepha side of the spectrum, and that never treated Lianna as a "must be protected and therefore underestimated" being, so that was a big plus to him. Reading his POV felt like a rather realistic male thought process, so that was also another plus. He was a bit hormone driven and hot and cold on occasion, but he had his own issues that could justify the back and forth!

As far as world building goes we get a look at Elementals and their society and culture and how they interact or not with our previously known realms, as well as a little look at the human realm. The plot is both a mix of Lianna's quest and an Elemental and how to remove a tirant from power and Maxon and Lianna's relationship development.

The pacing was fast and so I read the book quite quickly! I guess I felt like it lacked maybe a lil bit of depth or lenght to develop the relationship a bit more, because it felt a lil bit too quick, even if we have to accept some supernatural connection given the world the book is set in. I guess that my main complain and why I give this one 3 stars, but on the very good side of the three stars!


Portia by Christina Bauer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Portia is the second book in the Angelbound Offspring series and just like Maxon, it can be read as an standalone, not only from the Angelbound series but also you don't need to have read Maxon to read this one, but I'd recommend that you read them all, everything will make a lil more sense!

Portia is a lil bit different from the rest of her family, not so much of a fighter with her hands, more with her brain. She's always been a bit of a second rate sort of royalty given her marks and has got more scorn than respect. I loved that she was a bookworm and had a big connection with both her maternal grandmother & grandfather!

I really liked that Portia could stand her own and show her family (and the general population) that she doesn't need to be a big physical fighter to be able to do something to save the world! And to do so she does have some help, namely Tempest, the Furor Emperor, a full on demon and dragon!!

I really enjoyed the quest to save all the realms that Portia and Temptest embark themselves on, I really like the world building that was done during the quest, but I felt that the romance progression was a bit too fast (even faster than it was on Maxon) and although it is understandable to some extent once something is explained in the narrative... It just felt too fast and too convenient.

I'm tempted to give another star to this one or at least a half star because of the Furor dragons and the ending because I really loved it, but I still felt that the book was a bit too rushed and maybe a bit too short? I wouldn't have minded 50 more pages or so!

This one gets 3 stars but once again, 3 to 3.5 stars and the good side of the 3 stars!



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Release Day Review: Gabriel by Nikki Kelly!!

Hello guys!

Things continue to be a bit hectic here now and then with still more things to sort around the new apartment, trying to have some sort of social life, work and added to that a course I'm taking at work... But no matter how busy I am, I always find time to read, because reading is my refuge... what I don't always find time for is blogging and writing reviews, but I have decided to do the best I can and not let blogging stress me (much!).

Today is Tuesday and as such is release day for a lot of awesome books because this October has been terrible on my TBR pile and my wallet both! But I want to celebrate specially the release of Gabriel by Nikki Kelly and share my ARC Review for it!



Gabriel by Nikki Kelly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Gabriel was a perfect game changer of a sequel and it does all things that a good sequel ought to do: add a new layer to both our character, see how their relationships change and are challenged and peel away new layers in the world building and the plot, leaving us with a bit of whiplash after some reveals that do turn our world upside down!

I will try by best to keep things as spoiler free for book one as possible but to be safe just run along and read Lailah right now! Done? Well, Gabriel picks up right where Lailah left us and that was a doozy! So much has changed for Lailah and Gabriel and Jonah! All three of them have quite a bit of character development to go through because things have changed so very drastically!

I really like Lailah's growth and how she found the strenght in herself to finally acccept who she is, but the road there was NOT easy at all, and at times I was feeling a bit likely to shake her for being so stubborn and taking so many riks!

Gabriel and Jonah both pissed me equally on the first half of the book or so! So protective, to treating Lailah like a fragile being and keeping secrets for "her own good"... I really felt like slapping them both! And even if I didn't agree with Lailah taking the riks she did, I understand that she was not happy to be told that she was superpowerful but it'd be better is she stayed home like a good girl!

I did warn you about plot twist and unexpected revelations and I should also warn you about a massively evil cliffhanger (I had been warned, and it helped, but not that much!!) and also... *whispers*thelovetrianglegetsresolved*whispers* but I won't say ANY more since you really need to read it to see how it all makes sense!

Now I'm dying to get my hands on book three!! DAMNED AWFUL CLIFFHANGER!! *shakes fist at Nikki*



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of Never Never by Brianna Shrum!!

Hello there guys!!

Friday is here! And since I am on vacation I kinda needed the reminder because days kinda run into each other and I'm not sure what day of the week they are anymore!

I don't have any big plans for this weekend other than reading and packing for my London trip that starts on Monday!

As this week's Friday Reads I have a review of an ARC that is one of the few new books I read during September (which also means that I'm quite behind on my ARCs reading...) and since it's also a retelling of Peter Pan debut, it counts towards my 2015 Debut Author Challenge!

Never Never by Brianna Shrum

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I knew it... I knew the ending would destroy me. Brianna did a wonderful job of giving a new life to both Peter Pan and James Hook and gave a villain a story worth of being his own hero. *goes to stuff herself silly with cookies now*

This book had been in my wish list as one of the debuts to keep in mind, and after my very talented friend Sarah made her book trailer  SEE HERE and then I got super excited and requested it from NG as soon as I saw it there! Thank you so much to Spencer Hill Press for approving me!

Never Never is a fascinating story with a voice that change and progresses as the story does and grows as James does. The writing is very visual and it wraps you into the story with ease. Sometimes I was a bit confused because it seemed we switched from first person to third person for small periods of time and that was a bit disconcerting, but served also as a way to enhance the storytelling quality of the story.

Retellings aren't exactly my favourite thing to read, but when they are done from a different POV and even more if the POV is from the villain of the story... I'm all in! And Never Never succeeded in giving us a new perspective on not just James Hook but the entire Neverland story and of course, Peter Pan!

I've never read the original story (I know, I know...) so my only Peter Pan knowledge comes from two movies: the Disney version and Hook with a grown up Peter. Now reading Never Never made me think of how we sometimes lighten up tales that were darker in origin and I wonder if the original story also had this darker undertones.

Peter is an intriguing character, a forever child, one that has not grown to learn compassion or empathy and that is selfish and egotistical and doesn't see further that his own wants and needs. Even with a certain selective memory to forget what he doesn't like and no remorse for his choices. I feel like he is a mix of the worse qualities from a toddler and teenager mixed together!

We meet James Hook as a child and one that doesn't want to remain a child but wants to grow up, so him going to Neverland seemed like a bit of a doomed choice, one destined for unhappiness. He is fascinated by Peter Pan but he is never a Lost Boy, so he finds himself growing apart from Peter & the boy and growing up into a pirate, with an unhappy heart full of resentment.

He's not exactly the hero nor the villain of his own story, not really. He hates Peter Pan and not without reason, but he finds himself in a position with very limited choices and he doesn't always make the best ones either. He's such a nuanced character, full of hate, love, longing and remorse.

Tiger Lily is a much more present character that I ever saw in the movies and so glad of it, because she's a very strong female character that also has to make some really hard choices. Some that would even touch on the clash between destiny, purpose and free will.

The ending of the book can't be considered a surprise, given how it follows the original story, but after everything that we went through in the book it does pack quite the emotional punch!

A very much deserving 4 stars for this stunning debut! Looking forward to reading more from Brianna Shrum for sure!



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And because I've kinda liked the idea of adding a song that matches the feel of the book or makes me think of one of the characters, I will add a song that has very much the same emotional vibe for me, specially the ending of the book!

Saturday Pages: DNF Review for Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman.

Hello there guys!

Happy weekend! I hope you guys are having a great weekend, all I'm hoping is for a pair of quiet shifts at work, because at least I have awesome co-workers for the weekend!

For today's Saturday Pages I have a DNF review... I have a hard time not finishing books, but I'm learning to let go of those that really don't grab me enough, so I can focus on the next one that I might just LOVE!

 

Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series


DNF Review:

I was quite excited to read this one because Alexander the Great is quite a favourite historical character of mine, and the Alexandros series by Valerio Massimo Manfredi is one of my favourite historical fiction series! 

That one is NOT YA and this book is, and I hope that I was not drawing unconscious comparisons mentally while reading, because that wouldn't have been fair to the book... 

I read till 48% of the book, stopped... and didn't feel like getting back to it at all. I sort of wanted to know what happened, but I just didn't want to grab the book again AT ALL. And that's a sign that I needed to DNF for sure.

My first issue with the book was the multiple POVs. I don't always enjoy multiple POVs, but there are books that I've loved to bits and the different POVs have not been a hindrance for the plot or the storytelling, but here... we jumped from one POV to the next with very little information about what would tie them all together, or where the story was going. And when we did, we got the information repeated in various POVs...  And by halfway through the book I wasn't sure of the relevance of some of the POVs to the story overall... Somehow I barely cared about the different characters and I didn't find them compelling.

The plot... we get too many unsubtle hints about some things and at the same time, we have no idea why the different POVs matter or how they will combine to form a coherent plot... 

I liked that it seemed to be a mix of historical fiction and fantasy, but the writing and the character progresion (or lack thereof) really were off putting for me. I just didn't care enough!

So, if I had to sum up my review for this book in one word and the reason why I DNFed it?: MEH!


Now, for something different I leave you with Iron Maiden's Alexander The Great! An epic song that tells the whole story much better than this book would in about 8 minutes!

 

Friday Reads: ARC Review of Into The Fire by Manda Scott!!

Hey guys, happy Friday!

Today I know it's a rather somber day specially to all my US friends so I'm sending loads of love to everyone that was touched by tragedy that day.

For this week's Friday Reads I have an ARC that was on my late pile and that I read for ARC August!

Into The Fire by Manda Scott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What a fantastic book!

Manda Scott is the author of my of my favourite historical fiction series: Boudica, and so when I saw this book up for request on Netgalley I was really excited to see a book about Jeanne of Arc, decided to read it closer to release day and next time I saw it, I thought it was a dystopian YA and postponed reading it until I properly checked the book and remembered which one it was... I blame my mind gone nuts with my moving!

I usually love a good mix of historical fiction and alternative (slightly conspiracy theorist) theories with a good foundation in history! The dual narrative at the time of the Maid and then in the present time complemented each other greatly, both building on each other towards the discovery of the intended truth and both keeping me turning pages anxiously!

One of the two narratives is on present time, with Capitaine Ines Picault trying to uncover and apprehend the perpetrators of arson attacks on the city of Orleans, claimed by an Islamist terrorist group via phone calls. But things get more dire when a body is discovered is one of the fires and while investigating it seems that Ines' past and present might be more than relevant to the case.

The second narrative is the historical fiction one, and deals with the rise and fall of the Maid of Orleands, and it's from the POV of Thomas, English spy trying to discover the truth about Jeanne to bring her downfall.

Both narratives are connected by the Maid of Orleans and the mystery of who she really was, if she really was just a peasant girl from Domremy that happened to ride and joust like a knight or if there was someone else behind the Jeanne of Arc name. And this kind of mysteries, where we take a different look at an established historical fiction account that doesn't seem to be based on many facts and take a look at the story with a least miracle-inclined eye, are something I simply love to bits.

Ines is a fantastic character, a captain of the police and one that is resented by some of her colleagues, but that focuses on doing her job the best she can. Her personal circumstances with the family connections and power plays added quite an interesting twist to the already captivating mystery of the arsons and the murder and the motives and discovering what they might have to do with the identity of the Maid.

Thomas was a very interesting character too, changing names and personas from English to French side, being a spy and finding himself with unexpected sympathies for the side that he's intent on bringing down.

The Maid is also an extremly interesting character, full of love for France and a woman that acted like a knight while pretending to be a poor, illiterate maid from Domremy. I found this characterization so refreshing, seeing her fighting amongst the men and directing the fight with a knowledge of strategy, a woman in a position of power unheard of at the time! And with a much believable explanation that just the one that made her a saint, after being burnt at the stake by the same church. Is it the truth? Probably not, does it make more sense than the usual miracle-filled story? Quite so!

If you like historical fiction and strong female characters, look no further! I'm kicking myself for not reading this one earlier! Very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one!




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