Here at Chapter Break, we don’t always write a full review of every book we read. Well, now we decided to do these monthly wrap-up posts with roundups of our reviews this month and mini-reviews to fill in the gaps. Enjoy!
Mini Book Reviews
Blood Bound: Mercy Thompson, Book 2: I did book 1 so long ago that I had to re-introduce myself to the characters. I do enjoy the story and the main character, Mercy, is super kick ass, just like I like them. She doesn’t let the alpha claim her, she makes him work for her affections. She is a unique magical being with special abilities that make her the only one able to go after the big bad in this book. The struggle I had is the narrator is the very amazing Lorelei King, from another similar series, and for about half the book I had to keep reminding myself we were not in the same world, and this was not a Charley book.
Demon Magic (Dragon’s Gift: The Seeker Book 2): So I loved the first series based on Cass and bought but never got to the series about her 2 besties. I only did the first book in this series but it was years ago, so I picked it back up here. I will say it was harder to remember everything about the world since it’s been years, but I got enough of a refresh to get me into it. These are short and high action books so they are fun. The chemistry between the main chica and the dude of interest is there, but not as obvious as the first series. I like that the series is taking some time to reveal both characters’ secrets and motivations.
Magic Revealed: Dragon’s Gift: The Seeker, Book 3: I did say these are short, right? This one felt much shorter as far as plot. I feel like it could have been part of a longer book since the mission was smaller in action than the previous one, though did set her up in the next part of the journey. It’s just really hitting with the middle book syndrome.
Magic Wild (Dragon’s Gift: The Seeker Book 4): Similar thoughts as book 3, all the really exciting stuff was at the end leading up to the finale book. As short and fun as these are, I feel like 3 and 4 could have been combined. But looking forward to the final book in this line. How will Del save the world?
ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS: Kind of anti-climatic, tbh. It’s been ages since I’ve read the other two books in this series and I’ve forgotten A LOT of plot. This one has Simon and the group back at Wadsworth trying to figure out what to do with the rest of their lives. Jobs. College. Relationships. It’s very YA into NA with Simon and Baz’s relationship progressing to boyfriend status with some very heavy petting. I enjoyed Shepard’s addition to the group. The scene where Penny is trying to magic chalkboard paint and he’s explaining you can just go out and buy chalkboard paint was pretty hilarious. Good closure to the series with enough of a crack left open for additional stories. Liked but didn’t gushingly love. JIAM challenge book.
FINLAY DONOVAN ROLLS THE DICE: Some very funny scenes in this book! More Vero and Finlay bumbling around, solving crimes, evading mobsters, keeping secrets. Switching the setting to Atlantic City invigorates the story, with casinos and teaching Finlay to gamble! Nick’s over-protectiveness and Steven’s cave-man opinions became irritating after awhile. Super fun listening to this whole series. JIAM challenge book.
SWEET NIGHTMARE: Follows the CRAVE formula of set at a school with a group of paranormal students. But this time, Calder Academy is the home of juvenile delinquent paranormals. While it’s complimentary to the CRAVE series, one does not need to have read those books to read this one. I once again enjoyed the snark and humor. This time with lots of music within the novel. And yes, I did have Hey Jude by the Beatles stuck in my head pretty much the entire time I was listening to this book. Hurricane trigger warnings. Enjoyed the story – but it’s mainly Clementine and Jude’s romance buildup. With some nightmare monsters thrown in. I found the actual monsters and their formation to be original. Overall, if you enjoyed CRAVE or YA with paranormals, you’ll enjoy this one as well. JIAM challenge book.
MARRIAGE OF INCONVIENCE: Closing out the KNITTING IN THE CITY series with this one. Like the Winston Brothers books, an excellent where are they now epilogue. Dan and Kat’s romance is rushed, with needed to get marries right away for plot reasons. But I certainly felt the emotional connection between the two. Also enjoyed Dan’s POV and interactions with the rest of the men in the series. Especially when they are in protection mode. 😉Overall another enjoyable romance from Penny Reid. Though, as I’ve read through Reid’s catalog, I’m going to need some new published books post haste!
THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS: Very trope-y (fake dating AND teacher-student). And I saw the plot from a mile away. But still enjoyed it! What’s amusing about the fake dating trope is that Olive mentions it multiple times! And this time around, the teacher-student trope isn’t as cringy as normal. He’s not her teacher; they are both in the same department. Clearly the author is aware of what she’s doing. I was surprised by how emotionally connected I became with Olive and Adam over the course of the book and found myself hitting those high and low emotions right along with the characters. I also appreciated the secondary characters, especially Holden. He’s the kind of mentor we could all use. I welcomed the extra scene at the end from Adam’s POV. Which made me wonder what some of the other scenes would have been like from his POV as well. Overall, an enjoyable rom-com if you are into that sort of thing, JIAM challenge book.
SO DAMN LUCKY: It’s been ages since I read a Lucky O’Toole book. But didn’t take long for me to remember my major irritation with this series. Lucky’s series is very big on the name dropping of expensive products from shoes to handbags to cars. I find that a bit distracting from the story. This time around, Lucky’s love life is in limbo with Teddy out of the country. This story line takes forefront over the mystery solving. Which meh. I didn’t really care for. I’d rather have some action and chasing down the bad guys! I did appreciate the alien abduction, Area 51, and magician storylines. Plus the usual Vegas craziness of one member of a couple stuck in a sex swing, an almost completely nude Halloween party, and a drive through wedding. Generally good but not stupendous. But does make me want a trip to Vegas!
Books we reviewed this month:
- [3 Jun] Gob the Gnome: The Gnome and the Science Experiment by Marilyn Slaughter, Angel Neha ★★★★
- [27 Jun] Sugar on the Bones (Hap and Leonard, #13) by Joe R. Lansdale ★★★★
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I loved both the Penny Reid and Ali Hazelwood books. I need to check out the Mercy Thompson series at some point I think. Glad you had a good June, and hope July goes well too!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…The Looooong and the Short of It: June 2024 Wrap-Up Post and Looking Forward to July