Ink of Blood

(I received a free copy of this book from Patchwork Press, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I like books with romance in them, especially otherworldly romances, like paranormal and the like. But, really, so long as they have an interesting plot, I’ll read and probably enjoy just about any kind of romance.

I originally entered to win a copy of this book on Goodreads, but then I was approved to read a copy through NetGalley.

I did really enjoy reading this book. I really liked the fact that the characters were more in the grey areas, rather than just black and white.

The romance between Lana and Bruce came across really well, despite the fact that a lot of their relationship had romance in it. However, I have to say, the word ‘boobs’ makes me cringe – it comes across, to me, as a really juvenile descriptive word. Possibly because I always imagine it being yelled out by a teenaged boy.

The other characters in this book were well-written as well, though I really disliked John. He was the only character who I couldn’t see any good in.

I felt that the book was very light on the science fiction aspects, but the technology was clearly further advanced than the present day, even though I could recognise some of it – the use of the pads, for instance.

When Lana and Tori were texting/messaging each other at the beginning of the story, they did sound a bit juvenile. It put me off a little, but that didn’t last long.

This isn’t a sweet, light romantic read. Bruce is completely honest when he says he isn’t a nice man. But it was a romance I could believe in. I would recommend this book if you like, or don’t mind, darker romances.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I felt this book was particularly engaging and easy to read, with a main character who was easy to relate to and who, I felt, worked well as a hero.

There were a lot of things going on in this book. It was a bit confusing at times, but it still kept me reading, so it was clearly doing something right.

Some of the scenes were really enough to make me cringe – especially the one with the container in the storage. That was particularly gruesome – and, of course, my very vivid imagination provided a lot of mental images that were really disturbing.

The information about the history of this country was quite interesting. I did feel able to relate to Alex as a character, even though I felt that he made a few mistakes in his decisions about his actions. A few of those seemed very amateurish, which didn’t necessarily fit with his experience. (Or maybe it’s just all of the books I’ve read that make it quite clear that hiding things from authority figures means that bad things happen).

The asides during the book were a bit confusing, especially because there were too many characters referred to as ‘he’. I was also somewhat confused about the time frame of them.

On the whole, I found the book to be really well-written and I did enjoy reading it. I noticed a few errors, but nothing really major. I think I’d definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future.

(I received a free copy of this book from HarperCollins UK, HarperImpules, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I originally requested this book through NetGalley, I had very little idea of what to expect. I guessed it was a romance, but I had no idea about any of the details just from the front cover and the blurb.

I have a few mixed feelings about this book. Ideally, it should be 3.5 stars, but, well…

The characters and storyline in this book were quite interesting and well-written, but for a historical romance, I found there was too much that was modern in this book. For instance, in that time period, I don’t think the age sixteen would have been that big a deal – sweet sixteen is, as far as I know, a modern affectation. And that would have been fairly old in those times. People wouldn’t have lived as long as they do now. (To the best of my knowledge, anyway). And, of course, there was the swearing…

I did like the interactions between the two main characters, but some of the reactions changed so abruptly, they made my head spin. The erotic moments themselves were really well-written and I was holding my breath, waiting for things to finally come to a head between the hero and heroine.

I liked the fact that Justina was a sculptor. It was an interesting character quirk that really worked well and enabled the plot to move forward in a realistic way.

I liked the use of the historical events in this book, including the fact that some of the characters were Christians.

I particularly liked the ending of the book, but I can’t say for certain if I’d read more books by this author. As with many other books, I’ll have to judge it based on a book-by-book basis. Despite the errors I’ve mentioned above, though, I did find this book to be a fairly entertaining, romantic read.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’ve always liked mythology-based books and this one wasn’t an exception.

I felt that the characters in this book were fairly interesting and well-developed, despite being quite young (though I kept forgetting that Sarah was meant to be older than the other two). Timothy’s preoccupation with Scrabble and words was a nice touch – as was his like-dislike relationship with Jessica.

I felt that the world and creatures in it came across really well. I liked how Timothy stepped up for someone who had treated him quite poorly in the past. That’s something I’d like to think I could do for someone who had been horrible to me… but I doubt I’d find it easy to do so.

The basic plot of this book isn’t unique (not that there are many totally unique plots nowadays, if any), but I still found it an entertaining read. I liked how different events were interconnected in the different worlds.

I did think that there wasn’t very much foreshadowing going on. At one point, Sarah’s asked if she can fire a bow – and I think that the readers could have been shown an example of that skill, rather than it being said right when the question is asked.

I did notice a few mistakes in the book, though mostly punctuation errors. I liked the use of animals in the book, too – especially the crow. I would have liked to learn more about how all the different beings fit together.

The thing with the hunt did seem a bit… well, strange. I won’t go into details, but there were certain things that I couldn’t quite see the point of.

The book does end on something of a cliffhanger and I think it’s made me want to read the next book in the series in the future. I’ll probably pass this book on to my niece to read at some point.

(I received a free copy of this book from AmazonCrossing, through NetGalley, in return for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I first started reading this book, I did find it to be quite entertaining and interesting. Unfortunately, by the end, I felt that were parts I was almost slogging through.

The characters, for the most part, were interesting and well-written. I liked the relationships that had formed between them and the differences there were. Unfortunately, I didn’t find many of the characters to be that well-written.

I did think that there was a bit too much going on in this book. I feel it almost would have been better off as two books… or maybe even a trilogy. I appreciate that a lot of work went into it, but it was difficult to keep my focus on every storyline running throughout it.

Every character did seem to have something dark in their pasts. I couldn’t always tell what it was, though, because some of what was going on was very confusing. I think that might have been because the book kept changing between third and first person – which I found to be really confusing. Even though it was translated, there were very few errors – apart from that and the fact that, a couple of times, the book slipped into present tense.

I did think there were a couple of things that didn’t make much sense – for instance, the fact that Knud missed things that he really should have registered as a journalist. I didn’t see some of the things happening, but one in particular, I did see – and I was surprised that it never occurred to… any of the characters.

I did find this to be an interesting book, but I think I’d have to base future decisions on this author on a book-by-book basis.