I'm back!!! ... I hope

Ok, Ok .... So I am the worse blogger ever as I just up and left you guys high and dry!

Sorry ... and I hope you can forgive me.

I was going through alot and my focus was all over the place. I was also busy experiencing the joys of becoming a mother.

Yes guys, I am now a new mommy to a fabulous baby boy who I love more than anything in this world!

Will this change my reading genre? I honestly don't know how much but I am sure a change this way comes. Teen angst probably won't appeal to me as much anymore. But I'll try ... especially for you guys. Just ask.

With that being said, I am excited to hop back on this horse and start a new but old journey. The possibilities are endless and I am excited to find a new flavour, so to speak.

Look out for new and old books as I try to reintroduce myself to the reading community :)

The Life By Bethany-Kris

I am conflicted after reading this novel because not only did I assume the story was done but that last scene has me sweating and unsure if I wanna read book 3. Seems Bethany and myself has confrontation issues.

I love the Avdonin's and I don't like the possibility of meeting a grown Demyan under those circumstances. Plus, I always like to give this series a break before I dive in to the next, as It allows me time to process and decide on what I just read.

Those who follow my reviews will notice that I was down for a while but I'm back and writing this review required me to read my review on the first book in the series. Turns out it's much of the same but with a few developments, more loss and a more familiar vibe. Some of the characters loss their personalities too. I don't know why!

I lost the Anton that I loved from book 1 and I am not surprise as to his upcoming problems. He got sloppy. As a matter of fact, this novel was more baby centric with Bratva business in the back seat. Romance and family took the forefront and the major conflict and scenes weren't given the delivery they needed to make an impact. They passed liked another chapter or point in the story.

I figured out the culprit; chapters away from the reveal but I have no clue as to the point behind their "master" plan and I hope the next novel might fill in those blanks.

Vine's character also died within all the chaos. As a matter of fact, all the characters got lost in the preparation for the baby and I am not sure why because not only did it not affect them all directly, but where story line is concerned, this book barely had one. It was still addressing things of the past, whilst preparing for the birth of a Russian mafia prince; but that was it.

The sex scenes did nothing for me either and I wished those parts were used to make lasting impacts like the final scene.

It sporadically held my interest, mostly in the end and left me interested in the future of the Avdonin clan. Still, this novel served more as a buffer to the initial arrangement and Anton paying for his sins. It was monotone and weak with noticeable grammatical errors. Still, I will be reading book 3 as soon as I can get over my fear of controversy.

- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22092769-the-life

For the Record by K.A. Linde

I completed 'For the record' a few weeks ago. I wouldn't blame the length of time I took to read this, on anything else, but myself and the book slump I have been in as of late. Too many disappointments had me taking a break.

Still, 'For the record' was another good novel in the Record series, even if it was more tame than the others.

It's life after going public, as Brady and Liz try to acclimate and build a future around scandals, lies, doubts and one tenacious red head and her misplaced hate.

I find that this novel was more about family and politics. Even though they were suppose to be tackling their own demons, this novel was smooth sailing for Liz and Brady, with a few minor glitches.

The mystery was gone, so we focused more on the politics and everyone else surrounding the characters; namely, Savannah and Clay. They were like an old married couple giving out advice. It wasn't the intricate story line I expected and I saw the main wrench miles away!

Though I must give a nod to Callie's master plan, because it had me guessing to the end. It was a good, well placed and underhanded one. Still, the reveal could have used some work and her misplaced hate for Liz bored me.

Liz and Brady peaked as characters, so 3/4 of this novel was about politics. I wasn't disappointed though, because I enjoyed getting to understand and see the behind the scenes of a political campaign. I prefer a new course to a forced romance.

For those sex fiends, I'm sorry to notify you that though there is sex, it's nothing to get excited about. It mostly happens in a bed and Brady is the definition of white collar sex. Hot or not, without the hiding, he's a plain mama and papa kinda guy!

Liz got lost for me. She felt cookie cutter, especially towards the end and while I get that this novel was about transitioning, I wish she was a little more dominant than the one time she put Heather in her place.

'For the record' was an excellently written novel with a stable story line and steady progression. It brought closure with continuity and introduced us to a host of possibilities in continuing the series without Liz and Brady at the helm.

K.A. Linde has yet to fail me on delivering a solid novel and though not what I expected, I adapted and enjoyed it. I would recommend it to those who aren't sure about finishing the series or those new to the series and are looking for a well-written political novel.

- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22361799-for-the-record

In my absence ....

Sighz. For all my loyal readers, you might have noticed that I was missing since October 15. I am sad to say I was struggling to read my first DNF and after exactly two weeks, I have decided that it will in fact become and stay a DNF.

At this point in time, I don't even know what I am gonna read next because I NEED a pick me up!

Anyways, I apologize for my absence and hope I didn't lose too much readers with my two weeks "sabbatical". I am hoping to jump into a new novel right away and continue to bring you the best spoiler free reviews I can churn out!

Missed you guys and can't wait to get back on the saddle.

XOXO

Reaper's Legacy by Joanna Wylde

I am seeing myself in the minority once again. I took a while, after finish reading, to think on this novel and what got my attention. Unfortunately, that was harder than I expected.

I think the story began really strong with a lot of drama, angst and questions but the delivery left much to be desired. I never questioned the relevance of scenes or characters but they all seem to be standing and waiting on something spectacular or maybe that was just me o.O

I know I was interested in the story but it's hard to pinpoint what exactly I enjoyed. Interest is completely different from engaging and memorable. So while I was interested, I believe we could have used some more of the two latter, as I'm still not sure where the story climaxed.

Sophie doesn't embrace the life and that's fine. Not every one is cool with the coming and going of criminals and I don't judge or hate her for that. However, I think that her eventual acceptance was too lackluster in it's delivery. I had to also check if she was sure because if acts of kindness made a difference then she should have embraced the life a lot earlier. Maybe around the time her son almost got raped o.O

Ruger is interesting. He is loyal and honest to a fault but he's forgettable. I did not remember this man from 'Reaper's Property' and had to do a search of that novel. Can you imagine my shock at how important and frequent of a role he played?! Then again, maybe it's how long I took between novels.

Ruger is hot and quite the caveman aka sexist. Still, the man knows how to spoil a woman and I love the wild, possessive sex scenes. Those were definitely hot!

As I write this review, a few things hit me and one of them was how the women in this novel fought 3/4 of their battles, maybe even more. The MC always came in as cleaners and that just added to the already soft tone this novel carries.

Though Sophie and Ruger don't make a bad couple, they aren't that interesting as one either. Their romance story line was rather basic and I felt like Horse and Marie's relationship took center stage. In the end, I wasn't even interested in any of the couples and just wanted to get a peek at Noah's novel. Now that's a story I wanna read!

I was more interested in life after the story, especially as it relates to Noah, Ruger and now Faith's relationship.

This was a solid story line with some really good moments but the delivery wasn't as great. Exciting things happened but not all of them were exciting. It was good enough though to glide to the end and have me anticipating the next novel in the series. Not perfect but still a good read.

- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18076876-reaper-s-legacy

Pretty Instinct by S.E. Hall

Without meaning to, this novel clarified for me why Hollywood marriages rarely last long. Tight quarters; uninterrupted time spent exclusively and in secluded spaces for work will make strangers think they know each other for years. Enough to get the three letter phrase and walk down the aisle.

If you follow my reviews you know I am not a fan of insta love stories, especially ones of this caliber. Still, I enjoyed the story for the most part. Liz's humour and Connor's lack of a filter and love of fish, yes, I am weird like that, my favourite pet are fish, made it easier to relax and get to know the other characters.

Contrary to what you might expect, the music brings them together but that's where it ends. This story focuses more on the insta love story line and Liz's past than it does C.U.N.T (name of the band) and their musical journey. I think they should get the award for "Most pointless tour in history". So if your looking for a full on rockstar romance, then this can only fill half of that need, but it does have a good playlist :)

Liz is spunky and does a great job of narrating the majority of this story. She is fierce, fiery and did I mention funny? "You don't eat my pussy or pay my bills so you don't get a say" will remain my favourite line in a novel until it gets a worthy successor. Meeting Cannon made her a cheesy romantic but occasionally, the Liz I love broke through.

Cannon, with the exception of his name, is too good to be true. He is the epitome of price charming so I never really got into his character. I like my guys with a little edge! He had his moments in the bedroom but outside he was too much of a pacifist. I'm sorry, but no new girlfriend should have to face off with an ex-fiance while the guy sits in the car. It's not cute, it's cowardly!

As story line goes, this one had too much, but only one interested me and when I finally got the answers, I was sorely disappointed. Vaughn sums it up best with his appearance. This story was longer than it needed to be, especially with the fact that the interesting things didn't happen until the end and by then, we were staring at the chapter long acknowledgement. Hope she got everybody o.O

Vaughn I believe, is the one character that got the summary of this story right, to the point where I would read a novel about the little sociopath. Yeah, I apparently like 'em dark ;)

If not for a select few characters, prolly three, I would probably not like this story at all. I actually thought about discontinuing at 10% but I stuck through it! This was too much teenage angst, for the age group, mixed with a fairy tale romance. I kept waiting for Taylor Swift to burst out in song!

It wasn't perfect, realistic or relateable but it was good enough for me to get to the end and when it was good, it was great! I am actually curious as to who is next in the series cause it surely can't be Cannon and Elizabeth and no one else is as interesting so that's saying something o.O

- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22094096-pretty-instinct

The Final Hour by London Miller

That was the perfect conclusion to the Mishca and Lauren story line. It's been a while since I read the previous novels in this series and though we are left with a lot of unanswered questions, I think the solutions to their past unraveled and progressed wonderfully, even if it occasionally became a tad too easy.

For every good plot execution, there was some underlying, questionable executions and though their past have been put to rest, their future is anything but stable.

We focused on the Bratva and Mishca's involvement and duties, as oppose to his relationship with Lauren and his "family". With the exception of their wedding, the romantic elements were few as was the sex scenes. This, I didn't mind, because there was so much going on that took precedence over who was poking who.

We got the opportunity to explore Klaus and Luka's character and though I have some clarity, I am also confused. I understand their personalities and thirst for blood but I really want to know more about the Albanian-Russian enforcer and the Russian mercenary. Especially the question of who is Klaus's next target.

This novel was more about closure via mind games with a relative amount of violence. Minus the club scene. That was just brutal! I loved the moments Mishca spent in police custody, battling with Agent Green and the time spent on the court proceedings. I could feel the emotions on both side from desperation to anxiety.

We learnt more about Mishca than any other character which led me to understand his stance on the Bratva and living a life of organized crime. I will never fully understand Lauren, especially with her earlier inclinations, but she stood by her man in the roughest of times and it was interesting to see her in the role of a Bratva queen as she adjusted to the problems as they arise.

Everyone had a role to play and I am sad that we had to lose a major character. When I figured it out, I was fairly surprised but it had a stronger impact when everyone was made aware and decisions had to be made. So you can imagine how badly I now wanna know Luca's secret.

There was a ton of grammatical and spelling errors that led me to believe that I might have an unedited copy but I edit it myself as I read and it did not detract from the engaging story line and delivery that had me up till early morning fighting sleep to see what would happen in the final hour.

London Miller has always gave us good and intriguing stories on the Russians and their associates and this time was no different. There was drama, love, lies, culture and history as far back as necessary. It was detailed in it's delivery and never left me wanting for more when an issue was closed. Unfortunately, I have to patiently wait for the next installment and I can't wait to dive deeper into Klaus and Luka's crazy world!

- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22710714-the-final-hour