Book Review: Royal by Winter Renshaw (Rixton Falls Book 1)

     Royal was a foster child bouncing around from home to home until he made friends with Derrek Rosewood and became an honorary Rosewood. Over the years Royal found he could get any girl he wanted at school, except the one that most interested him, Derrek's sister. Eventually Demi agreed and the next 18 months were the best of her life. Before Royal disappeared without a trace. All she knows is that her dad won't let him come back around and whatever he did must have been truly awful. It has been 7 years now and although she has moved on everything still reminds her of him. When her fiancé ends the relationship and ends up in a coma the truth of her present and past will be revealed. The only thing is, will she be able to put the past behind her or is the future much more enticing? 

    I have a soft spot for tatted mechanics so of course I was very interested in Royal. Lies in the past can be very damaging, especially when it is something that is as big of a deal as Royals. I will let you find out his big secret for yourself. I can definitely relate to Demi. Loving someone then having to move on from them and not immediately trusting them again when they come back into your life. Completely understandable. 

    I will state that I absolutely hated her home with Brooks. Who in their right mind wants white everywhere in a home? Course that could just be the housewife in me talking more than anything else. Give me grey carpets and dark furniture any day! This book is so easy to get lost in. I didn't want to put it down once I had started it and if you love contemporary romances you won't want to either. 

    This book is available on Amazon for $5 by clicking here. This book is available on Kindle Unlimited. 

Book Review: Last Rites by Andrew Murphy (Tales of Bay City: Cycle of Violence Book 1)

     Murph was in the business of "taking care" of problems for most of his life, but he had retired after loosing the only woman he ever loved. Since then he has done little but go from home to the bar and back again. That is until he gets a message from Her asking him to meet her. When he goes she asks for his help, just like old times. Only this time instead of falling at her heels he tells her to find her own help elsewhere. Last thing he ever told her too, as she died that night. She deserved better than that and Murph is coming out of retirement to make sure his beauty is avenged. Just how far will this vengeance take him? 

    I enjoyed the hitman aspect of this book. Big, gruff guy who is a teddy for his woman and an asshole to everyone else. He takes care of his own and takes no shit off anyone. Reminds me of a lot of the bikers I grew up around. The book is an interesting one littered with love, loss, and a lot of regret. I was surprised to find out just how far the trail went with who actually killed her. I can honestly say that I hated the rookie cop in this book. Always spouting some old tv nonsense. Had me rolling my eyes every time he made an appearance. 

    If you like action books and want to find out how far an old lover would go to avenge someone pick up this book on Amazon for $3.00 by clicking here.

Book Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

     Hazel and her brother Ben grew up in the small town of Fairfold. This quaint town borders a forest filled with the fae and brings in tourists. While their magic may seem harmless it is anything but, as the folk of Fairfold know only too well. At the heart of it all is the horned boy, a fae who is in a glass coffin in the woods where he has resided for as long as anyone can remember. No one ever thought he would wake up, until one day he did. Now Hazel and Ben must once more become the Fae hunting knights of their childhood in order to track down "their" prince since a new horror is hurting more than just the tourists who make a silly bargain. With new love, loss, regret and well kept secrets is it possible two teenagers will be able to save Fairfold? 

    I downloaded this audiobook on a whim from the Libby app because I liked the cover. I did not bother to read the synopsis of the book, and while this has often gotten me into trouble in the past I lucked out this time. 

    Every child who has it rough wants to escape it all and be able to protect themselves. Some pretend to be knights, imagining wonderous worlds where they are the heroes. Those same children may make bargains to help someone they care about no matter the consequences just so they can still be knights. But Fairy bargains come at a price. 

    When I started this book I immediately loved the main character's name, Hazel, as that is my daughter's name as well. But, I didn't initially like Hazel. She seemed a shallow, boy crazy child with no great intent. However, as the story progressed I found myself relating to her frequently. Childhoods with a certain type of parent can be tough and siblings become the center of your universe. Then you do your best to keep things from them so that they don't get hurt worse than your parents already do. You lose yourself in meaningless instances or, in my case, you cling to every trace of affection shown. I hate that Hazel grew up like this, because it makes you grow up much too fast. 

    This is a great book with relatable characters, if you ignore the first chapter or so. I love how the book ended and feel that everything was wrapped up nicely with a pretty little bow on top. Now, if that bow belongs to Hazel or Ben is another matter entirely. I think they both got exactly what they needed in the end. 

    This book is available on Amazon for $10.99 by clicking here.

Book Review: Deadly Mates by Ashley Stoyanoff (Deadly Trilogy Book 2)

     Now that Jade has become Alpha Female of the Dog Mountain's pack she no longer hates wolves as she once did. In fact, she cares for them deeply. Since she has become alpha female she has been training with the enforcers, but her happy little bubble is soon to burst as her father is coming home. He brings with him unanswered questions about his awful were-cougar pack that use women as communal property. Not only is this issue hanging over her head, but the pack is divided as she has not forgiven Aiden for his betrayal. With the already fragile pack splitting between the two alphas loosing the possibility of a relationship isn't her biggest issue. 

    I started this book immediately after finishing book 1 because I wanted to know if Jade and Aiden became mates and what was going on with her father and the were-cougars. I am trying very hard not to give away anything that happened in book 2 other than her becoming alpha female. I will state that, unfortunately, book 2 still has not answered my question about the were-cougars. I get that a book isn't normally 900 pages long (what the book would have been if all 3 of these were shoved together), but taking 3 books to solve one issue seems like a little much to me. Is the story interesting? Yes. It is and I am going to read book 3, but I wanted to rant on that for a second. 

    Now then, one of the things I mentioned in my review of book 1 was that this is a YA paranormal romance. It still is, don't get me wrong. And just as before I will state that there are no sex scenes in this book. It is a clean paranormal romance book featuring an 18 year old and a 19 year old. Sex is insinuated, but there are no scenes. Personally, I am all for sex scenes, but if you are reading this in the hopes that this could be something for those who aren't supposed to read those things then there you go. 

    This book is available on Amazon for $3.99 by clicking here.

Books by this author:

Deadly Crush (Deadly Trilogy Book 1)

Book Review: Deadly Crush by Ashley Stoyanoff (Deadly Trilogy Book 1)

     Jade has lived her whole life on Dog Mountain, where there is a werewolf pack that everyone knows about and seems okay with. In fact, her parents have always actively tried to get her to join the wolves. Except Jade seems to be the only person in town who hates the wolves. They take whatever they want and the worst of them all is their Alpha, Ray. That is until Ray is overthrown and there is a new, sexy, man in town. With all of the female wolves fighting for this new alpha Jade's biggest concern is trying to determine if she can forgive her previous best friend while ignoring the ever sexy Aiden. Just how far will this newfound attraction take her and will she still care for him when she learns his secret? 

    I have had this book hiding in my Kindle library for years and am sad that it took me so long to get to it. I am a huge fan of paranormal romances and this one is that plus a YA book. There isn't even any sex in it and I am okay with that. I can't say that there won't be in later books, but I do intend to find out. I started this book and became so intrigued with it that I stayed up until 3am last night just to finish it. The book ended on a cliff-hanger and I needed to know more. So I went ahead and bought the other 2 books in the series. As I said this is a YA book. So there is teenage drama and the characters act like you would expect. If you are looking for more grown up and developed characters this isn't the book, because the characters are true to their age. High-schoolers are petty and the ones in this book pull that off quite well. 

    Normally I don't buy the next in the series, at least not so soon after reading the first because I have so many unread books. With this one, however, I felt like I needed to know more. I have already started book 2 and hope that it is just as amazing and spell-binding as book 1. 

    This book is available on Amazon for $0.99 by clicking here.

Books by this author:

Deadly Mates (Deadly Trilogy Book 2)