Blank Space (Dirty South #1)

                Hello happy readers!  This weekend was not as productive as I would have liked for anything other than sleep and spending time with my bestie but I finish a book before I got really lazy.  That book is a newer, Blank Space (Dirty South #1) by Alla Kar.  This is a NA (New Adult) book and has adult language and sexual scenes.  This is my first book by this author though I see she has several titles listed on Goodreads and came out a couple months ago.  A copy was provided to me by Swoon Romance in exchange for an honest review. 

Rating:  3.5 Stars

                Sydney* Henry is former rich girl who left her families support but not the name as her party-girl ways bring lots of publicity—the bad kind.  She hasn’t been in a serious relationship instead enjoying casual nights which have lead others to associate her as the town slut and thus undesirable for anything more in the judgmental southern town.  Cash Jenkins was l about business with no time to spend on dating but when he is made an offer that would allow him to expand his business he was listening.  Sydney’s mother, tired of the bad press around her daughter, offers Cash a deal to date her daughter and bring her good publicity making her respectable again in exchange for money to expand.  Seems easy enough once he sees a picture and finds himself attracted to her.  What happens next isn’t what either saw coming.

                So from the start with Sydney I felt bad for her and her attitudes about herself and wanted for her to learn she was better than what others thought and for her to tell her parents where to shove it.  She wasn’t taking money from them and provided for herself so I never did understand why she subjected herself to having anything to do with them let alone weekly dinners.  I wanted her to say no and stand up for herself but I also could understand the damage that had been done to her emotionally.  It sucked.  Frankie though I adored from the start as a wonderful friend.  Though at times it did seem a bit less than equal (why you wouldn’t keep your phone charged or check it at least randomly if you know your friend is going through something is a no no) but for the most part they are sweet together.  I do kind of wish we had a bit more about Frankie and some of her story that was left unfinished which I figure will go into more as the series continues.

                Then we move on to Cash.  I was a bit slow to warm up to him.  I liked that he was interested in doing this more because he was attracted to her than because of her mother’s offer but not so much his reasoning that he was perfectly happy to use her.  Still it didn’t get better at first, his demanding and domineering personality set me off.  While I don’t mind a bit of dominance locking someone in and holding them captive is not okay, if someone tries to leave and you prevent that it’s kidnapping not all cute.  Personal pet peeve of mine when someone says NO, even if they are just denying themselves and secretly want to say yes that is not for the other party to decide no means no.  While trying to convince someone to change their mind by using your charm and power of persuasion is one thing in my personal opinion he took it a bit too far on occasion.  Again this could just bother me a bit more because it is a pet peeve.  That aside as the story progressed I did grow to like him a bit more and actually wanted things to work out.  After one particular scene in which he really turns a corner. 

                 Overall the story was a quick read. I enjoyed the authors writing style and I did like that Cash didn’t try sleeping with her from the start but instead they got to know one another some first.  This let me grow to like him and also had me rooting for her to resist him.  We got to see some depth to the characters, though I feel we got to know more about Sydney than Cash and what she got to know of him came in a less intimate way (ie someone else telling) but I look forward to seeing what will happen from here.  There is some good old fashioned country fun happening, things I have done and don't see often in books which made me laugh.  I went in not knowing if this was going to be a series or not and it stands pretty well on its own but there are some things that are left open.   I’m curious to see how the next story will play out and it’s something I wouldn’t mind continuing on.  I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys some steamy build up and sexy times with a very alpha male/domineering type.

                Until next time…

*my version of the book had the female character as Sydney but I see it in the description as Shelby. 

             

The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch #1)

                Hello happy readers!  I had this review typed up for last Friday but after being up for 36 hours helping my mom and running her to her appointments I was a bit forgetful.  The delayed review is for The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco which is the first book in a planned series.  I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and was thrilled to start this new series.  I mean come on first, this cover is beautiful and the title makes you wonder.

Rating: 3.5 Stars   

                The Bone Witch is town from two different perspectives in two different times.  One where we have Tea, she is young and learns she is a bone witch in a rather explosive way.  She is both feared and praised depending on where you look, though many fear what they don’t understand.  She leaves her homeland to train under an older and wiser bone witch and learns to be an asha.  We follow her training and get to know her and her struggles in the world plagued by daeva, beasts who bring destruction.  As a bone witch much is expected of her as there are so few of them left.  The other POV is that of a bard, someone who has sought her out at a time much later on and is seeking to learn her story.  

                I had a bit of trouble finally putting a rating on this book as I was on the fence about it.  I enjoyed the story overall but I felt the book focuses less on the story and more on description.  I understand we are building a whole new world and a magical system and that takes time but it felt at many points like a set up book.  I was interested to see how Tea from the start became Tea telling her story.  I liked when things were happening and there was some type of action to move the plot along.  At the same time I think the last quarter of the book really picked up and improved for me.  This makes me even more interested to read book two and see what happens with Tea, Fox, Kalen, Kance, Zoya, Likh, Lady Mykaela and some of the other characters. 

                The story itself though if it had been condensed a bit was pretty interesting; raising the dead, the life of the asha and a bone witch none the less.  The political struggles.  While reading it I kept imagining a Geisha (from my limited knowledge of them anyways) with the parties and formality of the asha life in the asha-ka.  Only if they also trained in magic runes and in combat.  But things like the musical instruments and dancing for sure.  I wanted to know more about the daeva, we got good descriptions of most of them but the azi I felt was covered the most.  I did love how the author managed to bleed some small things in that when reading you see one part of the “future story teller” Tea more sense.  I liked the tale it told and I even liked the way it was told from the past and present sides. 

                I liked the battle between what is expected and what she desires.  She is expected to train and earn money and then when ready do what is expected of her.  Even as the way things are, sitting on tradition, how they cause harm to those she has come to care for.  I loved the questioning of gender policies and why only one gender can do certain things not those that they excel at.  I also loved the buildup of expected romance to happen, though we didn’t get much of any real romance, just the promise of it to come and wow in a very interesting way I imagine.  A slow build is nice and it lets you get to know the characters and really develop connections without any insta-love. 

                Now while I liked the story itself I had some struggles here and there where it would lose me in the pacing with over exaggerated detail of certain things.  On one side I loved the description of the world and getting into the magic system and the culture, on the other side it did sometimes drag after the first several in detail descriptions of the different hua.  At one point the character even makes a comment about going into so much detail each time and explaining the reasoning which I liked but it didn’t make reading about it each time after any better. 

                Overall I enjoyed the story but this one was a bit of a struggle at times.  I think I’ll be checking out book two for sure and hoping with all the world building being done in this one the next may have less of that and much more on the story and plot. 

                Until next time…