Review: An Unexpected Christmas by Shannon Richard SPOILER FREE

An Unexpected Christmas by Shannon Richard

3.92 of 5 stars

An Unexpected Christmas was an unexpected delight.... just kidding. :) The description and the synopsis nailed this one: it is a fun romantic Christmas story will all of the perfect ingredients to make a situation unforgettable and a couple irresistible. The best thing about this story is that while it seemed a bit like a Hallmark movie at times, it wasn't too cheesy and was just the right amount of cozy. Adele and Jace were great to fall in love with as characters and it warmed my heart to see them fall for each other in this book. My one slight non-spoilery thing is that in my mind I did not picture Adele at all like the front cover of the book. Jace is fine, but I'm 99% positive that the first time Adele is fully described she's wearing all black.

This book is perfect for the holiday season or maybe even just any cold season. It certainly will make you want to just snuggle up with someone and appreciate the things around you. What is even more exciting to me though is that it looks like this will become a series? I'm not sure if there is enough there to really follow Adele and Jace some more, but maybe it will follow other hockey players or maybe a sibling or something like that? I'm definitely curious though and I am really hoping that whatever it is will be another holiday/Christmas book.

Thanks for reading!

View all my reviews

Ranking the Throne of Glass Series

The Throne of Glass Books by Sarah J. Maas

The Highest to the Lowest

***Takes deep breath.*** So I finished Kingdom of Ash. I'm still processing. I do know however that by the time I'm done writing that review it will be a monster so I'll break it up into normal reviews and overall ships/ a more detailed review like I did for Lord of Shadows. Until then, I can now rank the Throne of Glass books. Please note that for this, I am going to rank Assassin's Blade as its own entity- not the individual novellas. Some of these may be controversial, but they are what they are for me. 1 is the best, 8 is the "worst" (lol if that is even a thing for this series).

1. Queen of Shadows
Nothing can come near how amazing this book was. Hands down, no competition, this is my favourite book of the whole series and I think it was the best written. There are scenes in this book that still get my feelings going even knowing that they are coming or if they will all resolve. (<-- very vague I know, but I don't want to spoil anything.)

2. Kingdom of Ash
Some people may really not agree with this one, and I do have my opinions on it which I will post later. But, as a whole, I thought it was a stellar ending to a series. Is there such a thing as a perfect ending to a series? Maybe Deathly Hallows-- maybe. Given that, KoA killed it and it got my feels in all the best ways.

3. Tower of Dawn
Even though Aelin wasn't in this book, I really loved it. I'm not even a Chaol fan, but this book was so well written and the characters were so well developed that I have to give it this spot. Before reading this one, I was whole-heartedly expecting it to be annoying to read because it really doesn't follow any main characters (maybe like two of them), but I ended up enjoying the entire thing! Plus, there are a lot of great new characters from this book and the novellas are tied in wonderfully.


4. Heir of Fire
This is easily the most emotionally draining book, which might make some people want to rank it lower than this, but it's actually for that very reason that I think it deserves this spot. It isn't as thrilling or plot developmental as some of the books ranked higher than it, but the emotional development.... damn. It's hard to read, but it gets pulled off because it's beautifully written.

5. Empire of Storms
While I love a lot of moments in this book, it felt very choppy to me. I have a full review if you want read more about what I thought about this book.

6. Throne of Glass
Ah.... where it all began. This is a great book, but just in comparison it doesn't hold a candle to the depth that the rest of the books take. Looking back, it is a great origin story in a way, although that would technically be Assassin's Blade. Great start for the series though, leaving just enough hints and vague clues that all come back into play by the end of the series.

7. Assassin's Blade
This book was really cool to read, but it was too slow for me in some areas. Also, at the point that it came out, I knew it was important to read, but I just wasn't really as curious about Celeana's past.


8. Crown of Midnight 
I'm sorry, but I'm really not a Chaol fan (ducks head for cover). Outside of that, I really just feel like this book was a stepping stone for the rest of the series. It was still really good! All of the books are great, but this one just fell flatter than the others. And honestly, for me I think part of that is because I don't like Chaol as much as the other characters. Before Rowan was in the picture, I was team Dorian. 

Also, if anyone is curious, I absolutely love Rowaelin and have a whole post about them as a ship in my fleet. 

Thanks for reading!

Inspiring Quotes for the End of the Year

Inspiring Quotes for the End of the Year

December is such a busy time... coordinating end-of-year events, trying to catch up with old friends, worrying about getting gifts, hoping the weather does(n't) cancel travel plans.... and let's not even mention what this all looks like if someone is still in school.


To help get us all through the end of the year though, here are some of my favourite quotes that I find really inspirational. We can do this! Whatever your it is, you can do it!!!

*****

"You could rattle the stars. You could do anything, if only you dared." ~Sarah J. Maas

"You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful." ~Amy Bloom

"Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough." ~Richard P. Feynman

"Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire." ~Jennifer Lee

"Madness is somewhere in between chaos and having a dream." ~R.M. Drake

"Don't feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy." ~Sarah J. Maas, 

"Do what you have do to until you can do what you want to do." ~Oprah Winfrey

"Normality is a paved road: it's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it." ~Vincent Van Goph

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray." ~Rumi

*****

Thanks for reading and I hope these were inspirational for you too!

Kingsman: The Secret Service Movie Review

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Movie Review

4.35 out of 5 Stars

This movie originally came out in 2014 with its sequel releasing last year. Kingsman had been floating around my attention for a while now, but it was looking forward to seeing the new Robin Hood movie that really got me to watch this. Taron Egerton is in that film, and since watching the trailer, I was like, "I need to see some of his other films." This of course let to some basic googling and realizing that he was in this film, which had been on my list of things to watch for a couple years now.

I really enjoyed Kingsman. The cast was killer, the music was classic adventure, secret agent stuff, and I loved watching the action sequences. It just fell a little flat for me in terms of suspense and high stakes. There were definitely moments when I was really closely drawn to the screen to see what would happen next, but for the most part I just wanted to see what cool stuff the spies had to play with or what dangerous task they had to complete.


One of my favorite things about this movie was how everybody moved. That sounds really weird, so let me explain: they all seemed so fluid and agile. In the scene where Eggsy escapes the group of guys outside his house, I was just watching with amazement. Even Colin Firth seemed to move with so much more grace than usual, or at the very least, a vivacity that isn't in his other films.

The plot of the movie was pretty great too. It was slightly stereotypical, but also not. It was a classic this-one-guy-knows-what's-best, but that one guy, Valentine, was able to convince so many other people that what he was doing was the right thing. Having the focus be on the environment and "saving" the planet was also a great twist on the classic villain type that only wants to have control. As far as I remember, that was no where near Valentine's agenda.


Everyone did an amazing job in terms of acting. It was weird at first to see Samuel Jackson play a villain, but he did such a great job with it that now I will probably always think of him in this role and keep this performance in mind. And then there's Colin Firth and Michael Caine... Firth was another one where it was really odd to seem him in a role where he was kicking a**, but he pulled it off so well. Caine I feel like can be plopped into any role like this one and kill it. Looking at the younger cast members, Taron Egerton and Sophie Cookson did amazing as well. I haven't seen any of their other works yet, but based on these performances, I would be incredibly interested in seeing more from them.

I'm so glad I watched this movie. It was great fun and hilarious and overall just amazing to watch. I'm looking forward to watching the sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle at some point, probably in the near future. This was a fairly short review it feels like, but I'm too anxious to get to the next movie that my mind can't focus. :)

In general, I feel like I need to start watching more action and/or spy movies. I really enjoyed this one, so I think I would really enjoy some other ones. 


Thanks for reading!

Kaemon (The Lux Series): A Ship in My Fleet

A Ship in My Fleet

Kaemon (Katy and Daemon)

From: Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

***Assume spoilers for the entire Lux series***

For years, Kaemon has been one of my go-to favorite ships in the YA lit world. Theirs is like one of those ships that is just so inherently right; as in, I can in no way see either of them with any other character. Even if the series were attempted to be crossed-over with another JLA series or otherwise, it just wouldn't happen. The two of them are just meant to be together, not only because of circumstance (although I think that does add another dimension of depth to their relationship).


I will cop to the fact though that for the longest time I did not know what their ship name was. I read the series a bit late in the game-- I only had to wait for two publications in the series-- so I missed some of the height of figuring out the ship name and hype seeing the name online. And then in terms of fanfiction, I think it's hurting a little. Huge gratitude for those who have written Kaemon fanfics, but my heart wants more of this ship. <3<3<3 Also, it has been a long while since I've read these books, so as I make references and try to tie them down to certain books, I may be slightly off.

When I Started Shipping:
Right away. From the synopsis. I don't even care that it was slightly insta-love-y but also classic teenage angsty. They were this series's OTP and will always be this series's OTP. For me though, their relationship was set in stone (as in, through concrete scenes) when Daemon, in Obsidian, is talking to Katy about beauty and how people who are truly beautiful are beautiful on the inside. And of course he's talking about Katy in this moment so it's super adorable. But more than that, it shows his reflections and introspection on life and it matches what we as readers have seen valued by Katy by that point. It brings out that other side of Daemon in the best way and in a way that makes the partnering of him and Katy so easy to get behind.

Favorite Canon Moment:
There are so many moments where my heart and soul swoon because of these two. A lot of them hilarious, a lot of them making me want to scream, and a whole lot of them wishing I had my own Daemon carbon-copy. I'm going to cheat this section a little and pick two moments, one that brought me to tears and one that made me so incredibly happy.

German edition-- beautiful!

The first is when Katy gets captured by the DOD in Opal. My chest hurts just thinking about that moment when she is separated from everyone, especially Daemon, by only the briefest of moments and the smallest of split seconds. It's worse because we all sort of knew what was about to happen with the testing and stuff to Katy in a way, but had to use our imaginations at the same time (this was when I had to start waiting for the books to come out). Anyway, the real killer in that scene is that it is the first time Daemon every tells Katy he loves her. As she's being taken away from him for God knew what testing. After just getting his brother's girlfriend out of the system. And after three books of them getting to the point of knowing they love each other. And watching Daemon not say it for the entirety of the book. Ugh.... ***lies on floor***

The second is a much happier one, when they decide to get married. It was brilliant. And not just because there is a cameo of another ship from a different series (Kaidan and Anna from The Sweet Evil trilogy by Wendy Higgins). But because it made sense. It all clicked into place so that this spontaneous moment was earned and deserved. And then afterward it was so amazing to see the two of them be so happy together. After everything that they had gone through and despite not knowing what they were going to be facing in their future, they knew that they would always have each other, even if someone catastrophic were to happen. Reading that scene was like releasing a breath that had been building and being held since the beginning of the series.

Sztella Tziotziosz- cover model for Katy

Katy:
As someone who reviews books and has a book blog, I relate to Katy so much it isn't even funny. But that is slightly beside the point. Looking at Katy in the relationship, I think she has such a normal reaction to everything. A little too on the skeptical and hard-to-accept side, but her reasoning is sound. Daemon was an ass to her for a good portion of the beginning. I don't blame her for throwing logic into the conversation of deciding what their relationship or lack thereof would look like. Especially because she knew herself so well that it probably would have hurt like nothing else if she had opened up to Daemon (someone she knew she was interested in at first) if only to be rejected later, or worse mocked later. And nearly all of Daemon's past behaviour to her would have suggested that he would do just that. So when later in the series she tells him she loves him, it makes the moment all the better because Daemon and the readers know it is completely authentic. From that moment on, I love that Katy had the best dedication and faith in the relationship. She was 110% on board.

Daemon:

Pepe Toth- cover model for Daemon

Lovely guy. Great being. Stupid as can be when pursuing Katy. It was so frustrating watching him try to clean the slate with Katy to the point where I would actually get a little upset with him for assuming she should be on board with the relationship sooner than when she did. I will give him credit though for showing great dedication and determination toward Katy for the rest of the series. I love that he was so caring for her and wanted her to be happy and be herself, even in the midst of all the alien craziness. And I think he does a really great job of balancing how he feels for Katy with his ideals and values that he has had for his family and race since before he met her. Yes, he would do anything for Katy and his family, but in his ideal world both and all things coexisted perfectly. And if they couldn't, then he would rearrange something as necessary to find a balance of both.

Kaemon:
As a couple, one of the best things that I loved reading them do were the witty conversations and teasing and/or flirting that they had. Some of the most funny lines from the series were from these moments. And they show how well the two of them balance each other. Where one is overly sarcastic to the point of being rude (typically Daemon), the other would pacify things. Where one is over thinking the details of things (typically Katy), the other would help them step back to take a look. The compliment each other and highlight the best features of the other.


It's been awhile since I've seen Kaemon in the limelight for anything, but let's never forget the love we have for them. As I've been writing this and the more I think about it, the more I really want to reread the series from start to finish. There are some truly painful moments where I felt my heart spiderweb and nearly be ground into powder, but I know it will be worth the ride by the end of it all.

Thanks for reading!

Interview with Author Heather Dixon Wallwork

Magical Music and The Enchanted Sonata:

An Interview with Heather Dixon Wallwork

Along with reading her newest work, The Enchanted Sonata, I was so lucky to be able to interview author Heather Dixon Wallwork! This novel is a retelling of The Nutcracker-- that Christmas classic that never seems to grow old. For a full synopsis of the novel, you can find the Goodreads description here, or you can look at my review of the book (I have both a spoiler-y version and a spoiler-free version, so you can take your pick!). It was so great to find out more about the story behind this story and what Heather's thoughts were about the characters and writing. I am so excited to share this with you all!

*****

1. What inspired you to write this adaptation/interpretation of The Nutcracker? How long did it take for your idea to become the published version that it is today?

I've always wanted to write a retelling of The Nutcracker, it's been on my brain for about 10 years now.  My friend, Jake Wyatt, had the idea to write it with a mix of The Pied Piper, and the two stories had such a great mesh of rats and music that it felt perfect for The Enchanted Sonata.  I started writing the book about 4 years ago and have loved every second of it.

2. What was the hardest part of writing this novel?

The villain was tough.  He went through a lot of iterations--at first he was an actual rat, then a human turned into a rat, then a child, then after all these wildly different takes, fleshed out into the Phantom-of-the-Opera-esque character of Erik Zolokov.  It was a challenge to create someone who was evil enough to turn children into toys, yet sympathetic and a music genius.  In the end I really like how his character turned out.

3. Which scene from the book is your favorite?

Oooo...I love this question.  Any scene with Nutcracker and Clara, those were so much fun to write.  The end scene <3  I also adore the nuns.  The scene where Nutcracker discovers they've been illegally wiretapping the telegraph lines...that has me laughing every time.

4. If you could switch places from any character in your book, who would you switch with and why?

I'd like to be Alexei Polichinelle, I think.  I'd love his life--living inside a chocolate shop, all the delicious smells, the entrepreneurship of running the business, and creating new candies.  Oh man, creating new candies.  That was legit one of my favorite things, coming up with all kinds of Polichinelle chocolates and goodies.  It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  Alexei has a sweet gig.

5. Which movement from The Nutcracker is your favorite?

Oh my word, ask me to pick a star from the sky  I adore all the movements, the dancing, the costumes, the sheer delicacy and grandeur of the songs...I think my favorite, though, would have to be the Overture.  It always sends a shiver of excitement up my spine.  The sparkling strains mean the next two hours will be filled with beautiful music, stunning dancing, and Christmas.

6. Is it hard to write about music? 

It did offer a challenge, both because you can't hear music in a book, and because it needed to connect with people who weren't musicians.  So I couldn't go deeply into music theory or circle-of-fifths stuff, but stayed close to more familiar terms like "pitch" and "crescendo."  One of the motifs in the book is that good music--really good music--could make you feel more than hear.  Because of that, a lot of the music is described through emotional and physical descriptions.  Certain melodies pound with the heart, or ring in the ears, or fill someone with wistful hope.

7. Both this book, The Enchanted Sonata, and your book Entwined beautifully describe the arts of music and dance. Is there one in particular (music or dance) that you like more?

Oooh, that's a hard one.  I took dance in college and love it, but am also terrible at it.  (I lack the fluidity so many dancers have.)  Music has been a part of my life since I was a kid, with piano and flute lessons for years, and it's still a huge passion.  So I lean towards music on this one.

8. Which fairy tale or classic story is your favorite?

Definitely The Nutcracker and The Twelve Dancing Princesses are at the top.  I also love love double love Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and The Wild Swans.

I also have an obsession with nursery rhymes.  I've often written (bad) poetry and nursery rhymes on my blog.

9. Do you have any other stories or ideas you're working on right now that you're either excited about or are able to share?

Oh my yes!  Right now I'm working on revising an animatic of an original story, Gele Tulpen  (Dutch for Yellow Tulips).  It's a Jewish/WWII bittersweet fairy tale.  You can watch the current version here. I'm hoping to get the revision done in time for the new year, and if the stars align, get funding to produce it as a stop-motion animated short.  (If wishes were fishes, of course ^_^)

*****

Heather's other written works include Entwined, Illusionarium, and contribution to the anthology Perchance to Dream: Classic Tales from the Bard's World in New Skins. To find out more about Heather and her work, you can check out her website http://story-monster.com/.

Thank you so much to Heather for agreeing to do this and to Katie and Smith Publicity for helping set this up!

Thanks for reading!

Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. Ward-- Review of Books 1-3

Reviews of Books 1-3 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. Ward

I only started these books late last week, but I have been flying through them. Currently, I am on the fourth book Lover Revealed and I am honestly using these books as motivation to get my work done. The holidays were nice because I could binge-read, but now I'm letting myself read a little bit once an hour or a bit after each section of work. Because of that though, I have not been writing full reviews for these books and I don't want to go back and do it either. I also don't want to just not write about them though because they are GREAT!

Dark Lover (Wrath and Beth)
Jumping into this book, I was really worried that it would be a cheesy vampire romance, but while it is a vampire romance, it is not cheesy at all. This first book was a great gateway into the series. It establishes the main cast (from what I've read so far at least) and it sets up a strong foundation for the world that Ward has created. Wrath definitely creeped me out at first, but then as things were explained more and more about the world it all started to make sense and I love that Wrath and Beth are together.


Lover Eternal (Rhage and Mary)
This book was better than the first. I was slightly hesitant about it at first because I had just fallen in love with Wrath and Beth and I knew they weren't going to be the stars of this book, but I really really enjoyed this one. The characters, because they were already established, got to be so much more rounded in this book and I loved the way that Mary was able to stay with Rhage. It was also just great to watch Rhage change and develop as a person. The best part of this book though was how it all resolved itself and seeing the Scribe Virgin allow the two of them to be together.


Lover Awakened (Zsadist and Bella)
Of the three that I have read so far, this one was the best. Zsadist terrified me in the first two books. It was good that there was some preparation for this ship in the previous book because otherwise not only would it not have made sense, but it would have been a rough introduction to the ship. As the book went along though, I rapidly began to hope that they would be together and my heart broke for Z more and more. The way that these two work around each other is both amazing to read because they are great together, but also frustrating because I feel like their communication with each other needs to be forced out at the last possible minute. *Sighs heavily* Anyway, I am really looking forward to how they interact with each other and others in the upcoming books. ALSO, THEY HAVE A YOUNG!!! I can't wait to see Z and the Brotherhood interact with that baby and be super protective of her.

Of these ships so far, I think my favorite is... Rhage and Mary. I love all of them, and I am really looking forward to seeing them more in the future books. Rhage and Mary though I think are my top ship as of right now- but only marginally. Zsadist and Bella are right there with them.

I'm curious to see where the rest of the books go because there are only so many brothers in the Brotherhood. Right now, I'm reading Butch's story, which I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. But then after that? After all the brothers have mates? Ward has been doing a good job of introducing new characters, so I guess some of the books will cover them... it will be interesting though I think. (Please don't spoil me! I'm looking forward to just reading them as they come.) I think I may have given all of these books 5 stars on Goodreads, but from best to worst I would rank them as: Lover Awakened, Lover Eternal, then Dark Lover. But seriously, they're all amazing.

Thanks for reading!