Thornhill (Hemlock #2)

                Hello happy readers!  As I post this there are only a few hours left in my giveaway and I will announce the winner tomorrow at the top of my top ten post.  Good luck!  Now last week I reviewed the first book in the Hemlock trilogy here and today I want to continue on and get my thoughts and feels down for book two, Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock.  Now as this is the second book in the series this review will contain spoilers for the first book so read on at your own risk. 

Rating: 4 Stars

                So when we left off in Hemlock I was a bit peeved at Kyle.  After everything that happened and with how freaked out his girl is and knowing she has some abandonment issues due to her dad he decides to just high tale it in the middle of the night without a word.  Not pleased.  Mac has chosen to not be angry about this but determined to find him and get him back with the help of her dead best friends former boyfriend who she found out has feelings for her and was almost initiated as a full Tracker before he realized just how far they would go, oh and his best friend turned out to be a werewolf so that makes it hard to hate them all.  With only some vague ideas they set off to find him and end up in a werewolf den.  As luck would have it as soon as they find Kyle things take a turn for the worse as huge raiding parties hit all over targeting wolves.  Not about to abandon her friends, despite being human, Mac goes into the newest rehabilitation camps hoping to figure out a way to get those she cares about out and maybe discover some secrets that will help shut down the camps as a whole. 

                I really enjoyed the first book and the sequel didn't let me down.  It was just as fast paced and action packed as the first one.  We follow our core three of Mac, Kyle, and Jason but in this one we get so much more Serena which I adore.  Oh and lets not forget Amy still hanging around in dreams.  I went in thinking there was going to be a long search for Kyle but that was wrong we found him rather quickly which I think helped the book and the pacing, more for me as I was not a fan of his having left like he did.  Thornhill was more centered on the larger agenda.  Where we focused on what was happening in one small town last time and figuring out who murdered her friend, Thornhill focuses on the larger issue of the werewolves and how they are treated and what the world has turned into as a whole by taking us into the new rehab camp aptly titled Thornhill. 

                Mac is still a loveable character to follow.  She is upset at Kyle but she is trying to see things from his perspective and as she thinks she can be mad after she finds him.  She isn't trying to save all the wolves she just wants to keep her little group safe.  She has accepted her boyfriend and friend are werewolves and doesn't agree with how wolves in general are treated but she still struggles with seeing wolves and being afraid of them.  She has had a mixed variety of wolves around her from friendly, dangerous, to downright crazy making her feelings all the more real.  She has a real range of emotions and things to work through but she keeps moving.  Kyle as well has to come to terms with his own issues, he wanted to save those he loved by leaving because he has not yet come to terms with himself.  He has a monster complex. Jason is still a work in progress and at times seems more like a car crash.  Still his charm squeezes through and I still see him a bit as Logan.  While I never saw his connection with Mac as anything but friendship I could feel the tension between them, him caring more for her and her not wanting to hurt him. 

                We also get tons of new characters in this one from the staff at the camp to the huge population of wolves we grow to know.  My favorite is Eve, and not just because we share a name.  She is a no nonsense kind of gal!  She has her own opinions and views on things but she can also smell some BS and she is able to take in new information and admit when she is wrong and readjust.  Also Sinclair….she is so beyond twisted.  There are so many people in this series so far who are just straight up manic.  They are so sure they are right and nothing can stop them and anything is worth their end.  This also relates to the real world in many ways, the prejudices of people to others based on 'X' instead of being a werewolf.  Maybe the majority are not this extreme but it does make you think. 

                Anywho the action was really rolling from secret missions to keep cover inside while trying to stay alive to chases and gun fights, to the obvious wolf fights there was never a dull moment.  Between action and thinking and plotting it's an easy book to fly through.  This series also happily surprised me with the sequel book being a solid story and not just a book that got you to book three but a solid story that not only stands on its own but also contributes to the series as a whole moving into book three.  That's all for now, I'd love to hear your thoughts below in the comments.  Plan to post my review of the last book next week. 

                Until next time…

Blackhearts

                It’s Friday!  I have to admit I am so ready for my weekend.  I’m about ready to call it a day/night here soon but first some errands to run and most important and what you’re really interested in…my full thoughts and feels on Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman, her debut novel.  I received an early ARC in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss.  Thank you!

Rating:  5 Stars!

                I’m typing this review having only finished last night.  I am completely in shock still and just reeling for more of this beautiful and amazing story.  Seriously, I spent the hour after finishing on the internet asking every search engine, book site, and everything I could think of for more.  I wasn’t ready for it to be over.  I’m still not.  If it’s not clear I LOVE this book!

                For those of you who are not familiar with the title it comes out this month, February 9^th, and follows the legend of Blackbeard the pirate before he was Blackbeard.  When he was just a man named Edward “Teach” Drummond and wanted to leave his life as a merchants son to chase adventure on a ship and escape the duty of his life.  We also follow Anne, left penniless and in a bad way after her parents deaths she is put to work in the kitchen of Master Drummond.  In the life of a maid, one she never expected, she longs for escape, to sail away from England to the islands where her mother grew up.  When Teach and Anne meet things are anything but friendly but they both have much in common despite society and circumstances trying to keep them at odds.  Dreams and hearts are dangerous things.

                Warning to anyone who is expecting a pirate story.  This is not it in the classic sense.  This is before the swashbuckling days, what made Blackbeard.  Blackhearts takes place on land.  I went in thinking I would see some pirate-like things myself, and while it didn’t have what I expected, it had so much of everything else I didn’t think to expect that I didn’t even miss them.  Just so you know what you’re going into.  Oh and the feels.  I have some serious feels. 

                Let’s start with Anne.  She is such a great character to introduce us to the story.  She is a new maid in the house of a cranky older man and her fellow servants don’t even like her.  Hard life.  But as she is learning this new world, being thrust into it for only a short time and learning the hard way, she is inspiring.  Anne is different, her mother was a former slave and her father a well-respected businessmen and merchant who loved her, still given the time it was not known to many.    While he lived she was his daughter and while not out in society was still educated, opinionated, and strong willed.  To go from that life of a quite happiness to a maid working day in and out would be a hard adjustment.  Everything she has gone through to the point of our story begins has made her such a diverse character I really enjoyed reading. She is very self-aware of her flaws and disadvantages and tries to compensate for them when possible.  She thinks!  She is for the most part rational.

                Then we have Teach.  Okay the name does get some getting used to but I after a while it grows on you.  He is abrupt and not very likeable in the start but as the reader gets to know him and see what’s in his head and the reasons behind his actions then his actions are seen in another light.  He is trapped just as much as Anne though in the opposite way of Anne.  While she has no money, his father is very well off, both ends of the spectrum are a leash.  Society demands a lot from the affluent, particularly his father who wishes to rise higher and cares little for his sons’ wish of freedom and adventure.  What better way than an advantageous marriage, to Miss Patience, guaranteeing he will never go back on a ship.

                The plot of the story and how these two stories intertwined was amazing and the connection between the two was a slow and natural build as they grew to know one another and not hate each other.  They are of different statuses and that impacts their views and interactions.  Blackhearts also deals with the issues of race, class, and standing instead of pushing them aside.  My only real concern for the book is that I went in thinking it was a stand-alone story but the ending…well there are open endings and then there are way too open for me and might take away half a star but as I have no confirmation either way and I'm still basking in the glow and hoping for the best.

                I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book in the comments below.  Have you already had the chance to read it?  Can't wait for Tuesday?  What part drew you in?  Please share I'm bursting with feels and opinions!  Stay tuned tomorrow for my Stacking Shelves to see what books I've collected this past month!

                Until next time…

Deliverance~ The Conclusion to a Series

                Happy Monday!  I had a very interesting weekend, I finished a couple of books, watched some movies, and tried sleeping off a possible on-coming cold.  So far so good there.  So real quick there is still time in my open giveaway for a signed copy of The Rose Society by Marie Lu, here.  Don't forget you can get one entry each day for just tweeting about it!  Now you may remember I mentioned that I was near finishing a series I started back in 2015, Defiance or The Courier's Daughter trilogy by C.J. Redwine.  I previously reviewed Defiance and Deception if you want to catch up there.  I have also finished the last book, Deliverance and can't wait to share my thoughts with you.  If you haven't finished the first two books there will be spoilers for those two.  

Rating:  5 Stars

                When we left off in Deception things were bad.  Really horribly bad.  Logan was incarcerated with Willow with two parties wanting him and the device both willing to destroy the city to get their way and both stopping him from going after Rachel.  Rachel who was injured and taken by Ian who has a serious rage hate going for Logan wanting him to suffer and hurting Rachel is a good place to do that.  Rachel is fighting for her life trying to escape at any opportunity but as she learns a secret that could put everyone she has left at risk she must hatch a new plan.  Logan our master of plans and last stitch schemes must join forces with the one man he has sought to kill since childhood.  At least until he can take down the larger threat. The enemy of thy enemy is thy friend they say.

                So I was a bit of a wreck through a majority of this book.  I did not in the least like Rachel in Ian's custody but even less as she was injured and not able to fully defend herself against his cruelty.  Thankfully we have Samuel there who is not the most likeable guy but at least he has a strict set of we'll call them morals and is determined to make sure Rachel makes it to the destination without Ian killing her.  I did almost grow to like him and I enjoyed getting to know a somewhat sane person from Rowansmark.  This book was rather dark, with lots of violence and pain happening.  Now the other two books aren't rainbows and sunshine by any stretch but this one seemed more vicious to me, maybe it was that it was the end and our MC's were in the thick of it and really struggling with everything but yeah it was serious.

                One aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was getting to see more of the world.  In Deception we moved in not only more of the Wasteland but also into Lankenshire which was progression.  In the conclusion not only do we get those but we also get to travel to Hodenswald, Chelmingford, and the evil power of Rowansmark.  I loved the travel and getting to meet different heads and seeing how everyone interacted not only with the Commander but with Logan and their band of unlikely allies.  I also just adored that Connor came along and kept on the journey with them.  He was one of my favorite new characters because well, he was kind of a book nerd and he spoke so well and with such purpose and poise that I just kind of swooned for him a bit.  He was a bit of a weakling in the more physical aspects but he could lay a verbal beat down like no ones business.  Such random awkward spills that come out of his mouth just loved him and he was the perfect Lankenshire ambassador. 

                Rachel in the last book was in a very dark place.  She was making decisions and going down a path of revenge and letting nothing or no one stand in her way.  Others were hurt in her blind and sometimes suicidal quest and she didn't care, any cost would balance out if the Commander died.  Quinn, oh wonderful Quinn, took it upon himself to try and make her see things clearly.  That the pain inside bottled up was not helping her and she had to choose to feel to let it in to be able to move on.  That struck true and as much as her stubborn self didn't like it, given what Quinn scarified for her she knew he was right and she turned a corner.  Seeing her whole journey through the books was amazing.  She grew so much and there is a specific moment in the book that basically sums it all up and when you get to it you will know it.  Seeing her in even more dyer circumstances than before but more determined to make it and move through it was beautifully written. 

                Logan is also forced to come to terms with his own issues.  He feels he is a failure and that most things can be traced back to him in some form or fashion and how can everyone not look at him and see that.  He also has to work with the man he's wanted to kill since he was but a child, brutally orphaned.  I really enjoyed watching him continue to work his wonderful mind and try to see every possible outcome and grow more confident in his choices for his family.  When he makes a stupid and crazy decision that goes against the odds and rational thought, soft for women, it was so very Logan.  Also his scenes with Willow, just loved them.  She warmed up several degrees since we first met her.  She is still everything we loved about her but she also has some softness.  As Rachel is with enemies Logan is with, well technically enemies and friends, but he has that group that support system.  We got to see more of Jodi, Adam, Nola, Smithson, Frankie, Drake and so on. 

                Everything was so beautifully written from the characters and the world to the pain both emotional and physical it just came off the page.  I cringed so many times throughout because while I knew it was just a book I still was so invested in the outcome it felt real.    I just loved it!

                I highly enjoyed Deliverance as a book and as a conclusion to the series.  I feel it wrapped up the storylines in a strong finish and also left the world there rip for another story maybe sometime in the future.  Also I should point out after finishing this book I found out there was a Quinn/Willow novella from when they were still with the tree people called Outcast available on kindle which I can't wait to read.  In case you didn't know about it I figured I'd help you out!  Anywho that is all for me today, I would love to hear your thoughts on this series in the comments below. 

                Until next time…

Defiance by C.J. Redwine

                Welcome back everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break!  I am surprised to say I got no books this year for Christmas, thus far anyways.  I did need some car parts which I needed so I am okay with that plus I got some gift cards though which are basically books in waiting.  I also placed another Bookoutlet order.  2016 is fast approaching, I can’t believe 2015 is almost over.  But today as the only review for this week I wanted to share my thoughts on the start of a series I will be finishing up start of the New Year if things go right and the first book is Defiance by C.J. Redwine.

               

Rating: 5 Stars

                Defiance takes place in a world full of city-states where women are trained to sew and dance and are unable to go anywhere without a male protector.  Outside the walls there is the Wasteland and a monster that can’t be killed.  Rachel isn’t like other girls, her father raised her to track and hunt and she doesn’t want a protector, she’d rather have a sparring partner.  However, when her father doesn’t come home from his courier mission and is declared dead she is assigned a new protector, until she is of age to be claimed by a husband of course, none other than her father’s apprentice and boy she confessed to love some time ago, Logan.  Rachel knows in her bones her father is alive and she will do anything to find him even if she has to do it herself.  Together this pair with a history journey through the Wasteland and are faced with the monster, trained assassins, and pretty much everyone wanting them dead.  Oh and there is the whole pesky hurt feelings still lingering between them, what could go wrong?

                 I really enjoyed this book.  It caught me by surprise as I didn’t know much about it when I started just that it had been out for a while and I liked the simple yet striking covers. Baalboden was not my kind of place.  The role of a female was not something I enjoyed and found myself scoffing at every person who talked about it being the proper way marking them on my list of ‘okay if they die’ through the series.  Come on I know I can’t be the only one who thinks about characters as I read them and sort through in my mind, especially if it’s a book where death is a likely event for some, and wonder if I would be okay with them dying or will it be hard to cope.  Some people swap back and forth all the time based on their actions but still.  At any rate the Commander of their city-state is so far past okay with and please die category.  Not just for being the ruler and enforcer of such a system that treat women as little more than pets to cook, clean, and breed, but other more substantia reasons.  Can you tell I wouldn’t do well in this type of society and probably why I don’t read many historical novels?

                Maybe this is why I love Rachel and her father.  He didn’t agree with that notion of the world and he taught his daughter better than that.  She is strong and fierce rather than meek and shy.  I love how head strong she is, in a world where women don’t have the option she was sheltered in a way and allowed to have her own opinions and given voice to share them and develop a quick wit, which may or may not be a good thing in some instances.  Then we have Logan who was taken in by this same caring man and given a job and purpose and a new kind of family.  He sees Rachel for who she really is, not who she must pretend to be in society.  Where Rachel is headstrong and ready to rush into danger with determination and passion he is just as stubborn but more meticulous in wanting to have a plan.  They are balances to one another, yin and yang. 

                The story is a journey to overcome and fight the oppression and who doesn’t love that kind of story.  Plus there is plenty of action as monsters, assassins and such keep everyone on their toes.  The batter is both internal and external.  Both characters we see through are faced with battles on both fronts.  The world they live in in flushed out in a way I felt like I understood their life and their motivations.  I really enjoyed the book as a whole and was excited to continue on.  I didn’t marathon through one after the other, but not for lack of desire, just that I was reading with a friend and that was worth waiting a bit to continue on.  We plan to finish the last book in the trilogy at the start of the year.  Defiance has everything a good fantasy should have in my opinion, a well thought out world, interesting characters, and an intriguing story arch that builds.  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. 

                Until next time…