Review: Book: The Tiger at Midnight- Swati Teerdhala

 

Title: The Tiger at Midnight

Series: The Tiger at Midnight #1

Author’s Name: Swati Teerdhala

Publisher: HaperCollins Publishers

Genre: YA Fantasy

Page Count: 496 Pages

ISBN: 0062869213 (ISBN13: 9780062869210)

Author or Book Website: http://swatiteerdhala.com/

Link to Amazon purchase page: The Tiger at Midnight

Link to Goodreads: The Tiger at Midnight

Release Date: April 23, 2019

How I Got the Book: ARC

Summary of the Book:

Esha is a legend, but no one knows. It’s only in the shadows that she moonlights as the Viper, the rebels’ highly skilled assassin. She’s devoted her life to avenging what she lost in the royal coup, and now she’s been tasked with her most important mission to date: taking down the ruthless General Hotha.

Kunal has been a soldier since childhood, training morning and night to uphold the power of King Vardaan. His uncle, the general, has ensured that Kunal never strays from the path—even as a part of Kunal longs to join the outside world, which has been growing only more volatile.

Then Esha’s and Kunal’s paths cross—and an unimaginable chain of events unfolds. Both the Viper and the soldier think they’re calling the shots, but they’re not the only players moving the pieces. As the bonds that hold their land in order break down and the sins of the past meet the promise of a new future, both rebel and soldier must make unforgivable choices.

Drawing inspiration from ancient Indian history and Hindu mythology, the first book in Swati Teerdhala’s debut fantasy trilogy captivates with electric romance, stunning action, and the fierce bonds that hold people together—and that drive them apart.

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I loved this. The characters of Esha and Kunal where just so thought out and know what they stand for. I always love to read debut books by authors in my chosen genres. There lands are so unbalanced and in tragedy that each think they are calling the shots and know what is to come. The interactions and the writing style just pulled me in and would not let me go. I know this book is not going to be out for a while but I am so ready for the next book in the trilogy. The description of the world and the mythology and legends that gave inspiration to this story is amazing. It hold on to you long after the final page has been turned. 

My Rating of the Book: 5 Stars

Review: Book: Jake, Lucid Dreamer- David J. Naiman

 

Title: Jake, Lucid Dreamer

Series: Standalone

Author’s Name: David J. Naiman

Publisher: Kwill Books

Genre: YA/MG Coming of Age 

Page Count: 190 Pages

ISBN: 9788494754882

Author or Book Website: http://davidjnaiman.com/

Link to Amazon purchase page: Jake, Lucid Dreamer

Link to Goodreads: Jake, Lucid Dreamer

Release Date: N/A

How I Got the Book: Review Copy

Summary of the Book:

12-year-old Jake has been suppressing his heartbreak over the loss of his mother for the past four years. But his emotions have a way of haunting his dreams and bubbling to the surface when he least expects it. When Jake learns how to take control in his dreams, he becomes a lucid dreamer, and that’s when the battle really heats up.

Using his wits to dodge bullies by day and a nefarious kangaroo hopping ever closer by night, Jake learns about loss, bravery, the power of love, and how you cannot fully heal until you face your greatest fear. This uncompromising novel is a magical yet honest exploration of emotional healing after a devastating loss.

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. When I received this book from the author I was so excited. I am glad the author picked me to read this books. This book was very well written and it had my emotions all over the place. I felt a lot for Jake and there were times I got a little angry that he did not seem to notice his father and sister were suffering too. I know that he was going through a lot. Like the bullying during the day and the dreams that he is learning to controlling during the night. This book made me feel so much and I know the loss of a parent. It made me relate to this book more. 

My Rating of the Book: 4 Stars

Review: Book: Shadow Play- Jill Ramsower

 

Title: Shadow Play 

Series: The Fae Games #1

Author’s Name: Jill Ramsower

Publisher: Self-Published

Genre: Romance Fantasy

Page Count: 361 Pages

ISBN:  0692146415

Author or Book Website: https://www.jillramsower.com/

Link to Amazon purchase page: Shadow Play

Link to Goodreads: Shadow Play

Release Date: N/A

How I Got the Book: Review Copy

Summary of the Book:

They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger—if that’s the case, I better be badass by the time this is over.

After two years at a dead-end job, Rebecca Peterson finally walks away from everything she knows to follow her dreams in Ireland. Instead of dreams, the dreary streets of Belfast rekindle her terrifying nightmares, and this time they aren’t confined to her imagination. Twisted and vicious, Faeries are being unleashed on Earth to prey upon humans, who are unaware of the vile creatures walking among them. Becca must stay alive long enough to learn why she can see what others can’t, and even more importantly, discover how to keep the Fae from destroying life on Earth.

Delving into the underbelly of the city, Becca discovers that she is not entirely alone in her abilities; however, centuries of secrecy makes gathering information a challenge. When Becca crosses paths with two mysterious strangers, her life is only complicated further. The gorgeous but brooding Lochlan demands complete honesty but refuses to provide any answers of his own. On the other hand, Ronan is enigmatic and charming, and with his sights set on making Becca his, he offers more help than most. But Becca quickly learns that trusting others is difficult when you have secrets of your own. Sometimes, the enemy is within….

Warning: This is not a young adult book, it is also not erotica but does contain scenes with mature content so if you don’t mind some steamy bad boy goodness, then buckle up and prepare for the ride.

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I want to thank the author for actually sending me a physical copy of this book. I love Becca she is just bold and out there. I would have to say my favorite character in the book is Ronan. There is just something about him that just speaks to me. After reading this I will never look at the fae the same way. There were times this book just gave me that chills. I do love how Ronan and Becca meet. It kind of made me laugh. She seemed a little confused by what was happening. I like that it broke the tense that seemed to building after all she had been through. I am very excited the next book in this series. My heart is still racing from reading this. 

My Rating of the Book: 4 1/2 Stars

Review: Book: Fifteen and Change- Max Howard

 

Title: Fifteen and Change

Series: Standalone

Author’s Name: Max Howard

Publisher: West 44 Books

Genre: YA Verse

Page Count: 200 Pages

ISBN:  978-1538382592

Author or Book Website: N/A

Link to Amazon purchase page: Fifteen and Change

Link to Goodreads: Fifteen and Change

Release Date: October 1, 2018

How I Got the Book: ARC

Summary of the Book:

Zeke would love to be invisible. His mother is struggling to make ends meet and stuck with a no-good boyfriend. Zeke knows he and his mom will be stuck forever if he doesn’t find some money fast. When Zeke starts working at a local pizza place, he meets labor activists who want to give him a voice–and the living wage he deserves for his work. Zeke has to decide between living the quiet life he’s carved for himself and raising his voice for justice.

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. A book completely written in verse. I have never read anything like this before. It took a little getting used to but it was a very effective way to write this. There is a lot going on in this novel that is only really touched the surface of these issues like domestic abuse, activism, homelessness and more. Zeke is trying to survive and help out his mother who is in an abusive relationship so he gets a job and soon comes to the conclusion that money is not going to solve their problems or issues. I kind of wish there was more to this novel. It has left me with a lot to think about now that it is done. 

My Rating of the Book: 3 Stars

Review: Book: Ranker’s Charge- S. P. Stevens

 

Title: Ranker’s Charge

Series: Bind Crafter Tales

Author’s Name: S. P. Stevens

Publisher:  Pitt Norton Publishing

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Page Count: 104 Pages

ISBN:  B07DYDTKMT

Author or Book Website: https://www.spstevens.com/

Link to Amazon purchase page: Ranker’s Charge

Link to Goodreads: Ranker’s Charge

Release Date: N/A

How I Got the Book: Review Copy

Summary of the Book:

Sergeant Vila Kiprik has survived many brutal missions during his thirty-year army career, but this last posting to Demon’s Deep is his deadliest yet. Top Brass need the mine working again for its rare quartz deposits, but the miners have gone AWOL, replaced by crazed savages.

Kiprik and his squad have been charged with taking back control, but this is no ordinary drive. Sinister forces more deadly than madmen hunt them in the shadows and that retirement up in the Duchy mountains soon begins to look like a pipe dream.

As reality itself breaks down, and magical charms fail against wild, untameable powers, Kiprik is thrown into a fight for survival, sanity and redemption. But do thirty years killing in the name of the flag put him beyond saving?

One thing is certain, a reckoning approaches, and it’s probably around the next bend.

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. It was a little short but that is okay. It did great in keeping me excited for the adventure ahead. Thinking it was a simple assignment but it turned out to be a fight to stay alive, to remain sane, and to take back the mine at all costs. There are things that are lurking in the shadows and coming for them when they have their backs turned. Kiprik is not longing for retirement that might never come. So does he get out alive or do the sinister force get a hold of him. Read the book and make your own call. 

My Rating of the Book: 4 Stars

Review: Book: Underneath Earl’s Bed- Cy Hartshorne

 

Title: Underneath Earl’s Bed

Series: Standalone

Author’s Name: Cy Hartshorne

Publisher: CreateSpace

Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi

Page Count: 372 Pages

ISBN:  B07CWV4R1X

Author or Book Website: N/A

Link to Amazon purchase page: Underneath Earl’s Bed

Link to Goodreads: Underneath Earl’s Bed

Release Date: N/A

How I Got the Book: Review Copy

Summary of the Book:

Underneath Earl’s bed: the putrid and empty space that Dustyn, the dust bunny, and his robot, X512, call home. It has now become the one sanctuary that protects them from the dangers of a beagle named Betsy, and the robotic dragon known as Harold, who would love to murder intruding bunnies at any given opportunity. It’s a place more depressing than the attic, where Dustyn once dwelled under the psychotic wrath brought by The Black Widow with his curse of tears and broken dreams. Now a new tenant has arrived. Colate has been brought to life from his chocolate state to give his fellow bunny the unique gift of love and camaraderie, along with the will to inflict any sort of harm and violence to those who stand in his way.

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. When I got this book a couple of months ago I was not sure if I would like it or not. It was the concept I was not sure off. Dust bunny Dustyn is just trying to survive with his robot. The add a chocolate bunny, dog, black widow spider, dragon and it all just kind goes crazy from there. I was not ready for how this book made me feel. It seems all of the other items under or around the room just seem to want to get rid of poor Dustyn. It makes me wonder about the items in my room not after reading this. Very interesting tale. I think younger readers would find it fund and entertaining. 

My Rating of the Book: 3 1/2 Stars

Review: Book: The Erotic Muse- Rajeev Singh

 

Title: The Erotic Muse

Series: Standalone

Author’s Name: Rajeev Signh

Publisher: Self-Published

Genre: Erotica

Page Count: 400 Pages

ISBN:  B07BDF7GW4

Author or Book Website: N/A

Link to Amazon purchase page: The Erotic Muse

Link to Goodreads: The Erotic Muse

Release Date: N/A

How I Got the Book: Review Copy

Summary of the Book:

The Erotic Muse’ is the story of K, a young porn-addicted college-dropout who shies away from relationships and harbors dreams of becoming a writer. Full of anguish, he is given to self-abuse. One evening, while masturbating to his favorite erotic muse, Fanny Leone, sprawled on the cover of an underground porn magazine, K finds himself magically transported to a parallel world where all sexual desires and perversions are fulfilled, although with the price that he might remain trapped in this unique pleasure-hell all his life – unless he can find a way out. This ‘way out’ is his redemption, a journey studded with heart-stopping adventure, life-threatening danger, nerve-wracking horror, and a brush with true love.

*Warning: This book contains graphic descriptions of a sexual nature, some of them involving rape fantasies. Readers who are bothered by such scenes may choose to skip it.

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have not been reading much erotica since I started this blog, but I was offered this book by the other and decided to give it a chance. The book was wonderfully written but still needs a few edits. That did not stop me from enjoying the book. It is a about a college drop out that is all caught up in his world of lust and sexual fantasy. So far that he gets trapped in a world that is all about that and more. It at first is all that he could dreams for and even meets the girl who is his truest sexual fantasy, but he starts to realizes there is more to living then his lust and now he needs to escape his lustful prison. Does he escape and get back to that dream of being a writer? You will have to grab a copy and find out for yourself. 

My Rating of the Book: 4 1/2 Stars

Review: Book: Kiss Me in New York- Catherine Rider

 

Title: Kiss Me in New York

Series: Kiss Me #1

Author’s Name: Catherine Rider

Publisher: KCP Loft

Genre: YA Romance 

Page Count: 200 Pages

ISBN: 177138848X (ISBN13: 9781771388481)

Author or Book Website: N/A

Link to Amazon purchase page: Kiss Me in New York

Link to Goodreads: Kiss Me in New York

Release Date: N/A 

How I Got the Book: Review Copy

Summary of the Book:

It’s Christmas Eve at JFK in NYC.

Charlotte is a British student, waiting for a flight home after the worst semester of her life. Anthony is a native New Yorker, surprising his girlfriend at the airport after three months apart. Charlotte has just been dumped, and Anthony is about to be dumped, right in the middle of the holiday crowd.

Charlotte’s flight is canceled when a blizzard blows in, and Anthony can’t bear to go home. So, they set out into the city together, clutching a book Charlotte picks up in the airport gift shop: Ten Easy Steps for Getting Over Your Ex. For this one night, they’ll focus on healing their broken hearts … together.

Step-by-step, the two struggle to put the past behind them. But the snow is so enchanting, and the holiday lights are so beguiling, that soon their shared misery gives way to something else. Soon, they’re not only over their exes — they’re falling for each other.

Then a subway ride splits them up by mistake. Will they reunite before Charlotte’s flight leaves New York forever?

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I am not sure how I would handle being dumped at Christmas time but both Charlotte and Anthony seemed to handle it well. They go on a silly, crazy, fun, and very romantic trip through the streets of New York trying to heal their broken hearts together, but something else is happening along the way. Charlotte is a British exchange student and Anthony is a native New Yorker. There is no doubt along the way that they are falling for each other. All is going so well until the two get separated. Will the two of them find their way back to each other before Charlotte’s plane leaves? That is something you are going to have to find out for yourselves. I know that I enjoyed the adventure with them. 

My Rating of the Book: 5 Stars

Review: Book: Time Crawler- Varun Sayal

 

Title: Time Crawlers

Series: Standalone

Author’s Name: Varan Sayal

Publisher: Self-published

Genre: Sci-fi/ Fantasy

Page Count: 100 Pages

ISBN: B07DRPPGK6

Author or Book Website: N/A

Link to Amazon purchase page: Time Crawlers

Link to Goodreads: Time Crawlers

Release Date: N/A

How I Got the Book: Review Copy

Summary of the Book:

Billions of universes run slightly parallel to our own universe; worlds full of infinite possibilities. There are many humans living in those parallel worlds, leading their lives, in a very similar way to how we are leading ours. But their respective realities differ from ours in some very peculiar ways.
Inhabitants of some worlds have already been visited and are being ruled by aliens. Some traveled through time, back and forth, and some have taken their space exploration to advanced stages using their powerful spaceships. Some created ruthless artificial intelligences that are fulfilling dark, human desires. Some developed advanced weapons technologies thousands of years before we did.
I believe a writer’s brain can somehow tap into this multitude of universes and take a peek into the events happening in each of them. This book, comprised of six stories, is my attempt to narrate to you tales from six different parallel universes. These stories are events that my brain somehow tapped into and captured in detail.
Let me know if your unconscious mind visited the same universes as mine.

Eclipse

No attacks, no blood-shed, yet there was an invasion and a conquest. Who are these shape-shifting aliens being hounded by an eclipse?

Death by Crowd

The dark desires of the masses; darknet websites fueled by a crypto-currency. What lurks in the background – an advanced artificial intelligence?

Genie

He rubbed a lamp alright, but what he got was the shock of his life. An entirely sci-fi take on the djinn myth.

Time Crawlers

There are individuals who existing in multiple time periods at once, and there are those who know about them….

The Cave

The fate of an advanced imperial race hangs in balance as a dark celestial entity meets a legendary protector.

Nark-astra, The Hell Weapon

The weapons he possesses make him the destroyer of worlds, and he burns for revenge. A high-tech take on ancient Indian mythology.

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. It is a book of short stories. The author actually has a unique way of writing. I was taken a journey through several characters’ lives and how they reacted to the situations they were put into. There was not one story that really stood out for me, but I did enjoy reading at the time. 

My Rating of the Book: 3 Stars

Review: Book: Someone I Used to Know- Patty Blount

 

Title: Someone I Used to Know

Series: Standalone

Author’s Name: Patty Blount

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: YA

Page Count: 384 Pages

ISBN: 1492632813 (ISBN13: 9781492632818)

Author or Book Website: http://www.pattyblount.com/

Link to Amazon purchase page: Someone I Used to Know

Link to Goodreads: Someone I Used to Know

Release Date: N/A

How I Got the Book: Review Copy

Summary of the Book:

TRIGGER WARNING: Boys will be boys is never an excuse.

It’s been two years since the night that changed Ashley’s life. Two years since she was raped by her brother’s teammate. And a year since she sat in a court and watched as he was given a slap-on-the-wrist sentence. But the years have done nothing to stop the pain or lessen the crippling panic attacks that make her feel like she’s living a half-life.

It’s been two years of hell for Derek. His family is totally messed up and he and his sister are barely speaking. He knows she partially blames him for what happened, and totally blames him for how he handled the aftermath. Now at college, he has to come to terms with what happened, and the rape culture that he was inadvertently a part of that destroyed his sister’s life.

When it all comes to a head at Thanksgiving, Derek and Ashley have to decide if their relationship is able to be saved. And if their family can ever be whole again.

My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I was not how I would read this. I was worried it would be triggered. It was a bit hard for me to read and I would not sure how I would handling all that she went through in this book. That line that is listed at the top of the summary. I have here this phrase in my own life for a situation when I was in junior high. So I have a lot of feeling for Ashley and what happened to her. I did not like how it was handle but that is very true to reality. I was not sure about how the family and brother handled it. I am trembling a little as I write this. I do recommend this book. 

My Rating of the Book: 4 1/2 Stars