Iron and Magic - Ilona Andrews

Hugh d’Ambray, Preceptor of the Iron Dogs, Warlord of the Builder of Towers, served only one man. Now his immortal, nearly omnipotent master has cast him aside. Hugh is a shadow of the warrior he was, but when he learns that the Iron Dogs, soldiers who would follow him anywhere, are being hunted down and murdered, he must make a choice: to fade away or to be the leader he was born to be. Hugh knows he must carve a new place for himself and his people, but they have no money, no shelter, and no food, and the necromancers are coming. Fast. 

Elara Harper is a creature who should not exist. Her enemies call her Abomination; her people call her White Lady. Tasked with their protection, she's trapped between the magical heavyweights about to collide and plunge the state of Kentucky into a war that humans have no power to stop. Desperate to shield her people and their simple way of life, she would accept help from the devil himself—and Hugh d’Ambray might qualify. 

Hugh needs a base, Elara needs soldiers. Both are infamous for betraying their allies, so how can they create a believable alliance to meet the challenge of their enemies? 

As the prophet says: “It is better to marry than to burn.” 

Hugh and Elara may do both. 

ebook, 322 pages

Expected publication: June 26th 2018

The Iron Covenant #1, Kate Daniels #9.5

UF PNR

For review

My thoughts:

Aaaaaaargh, Baby S deleted my review. SIGH. I so do not want to write this again. I am already two days behind on writing it.

What else to do then to write it again. Now 3 days late.

I did not like Hugh at first, but then something changed. I liked him even though he was evil. Aint that always the story. 

Here he is messed up cos Roland dumped him. Until his people tell him to shape up and save them. So he tries. 

I liked that we got a bit of his backstory and understood why he is all Roland is my god! And get to see that there is still light in there.

Elara was pretty cold as Hugh said. I get that she has a lot of responsibilities, protecting her people, living in their castle, hiding from baddies. So it took a while to warm up to her, if I ever did, but I get why she and Hugh fit together. I can not tell you, cos spoiler. But she has another side to her.

She hires him. He goes fighting. There are baddies. They argue. The end.

I do like Hugh ;) 

Nice story, Even if not as good as Kate, but then neither of the sidestories has been to me

Audio: What happens in Summer - Caridad Pineiro

She knows the kind of man he is;

The kind who breaks hearts.

But a hot summer at the Jersey Shore

Might be just what they need to light up their lives . . .

As the only daughter of a single mom, Connie Reyes swore she would never put herself or her child in a similar position. But when she runs into oh so tempting Jonathan Pierce at a wedding, she knows she must stay away. She'll fall for him—hard. And he's not the type to stick around.

Ever since he left town after their teenage fling, Jonathan hasn't been able to forget about Connie. He can't wait for the wedding—to show her the man he's become. And when the night finally comes, their mutual desire will lead to unexpected consequences neither of them were prepared for . . . 

Audio CD, 8 pages

Published June 5th 2018 by Tantor Audio

At the Shore #2

Contemporary romance

For review

MY thoughts:

Oh Connie! I get that your dad left, but that does not mean that Jonathan is just like him. Walking out on your family is not the same as travelling the world and finding your passion. But hey a book needs drama so let us begin.

Connie and Jonathan shared a summer long ago. But he dropped out of College and she went on to become a lawyer cos she wanted stability.

But they always meet again since her BFF is neighbor to his family, and cos her BFF Maggie and Owen, J's brother hooked up in book 1. 

They banter, they want each other. I want her to let loose and forget about her big plan. I like how he does not give up because he know they are meant to be. I do like a man who gives chase and is not the one running away.

The book actually takes place at the same time as book 1 did. So the big thing I already guessed there. It makes me wonder if book 3 takes place at the same time too since they seem to be doing a dance around too.

But cute and nice

Narrator Veronica Worthington

I was not totally on board with book 1, I felt like her voices blended together and everyone sounded the same. But here they do not. Maybe she got better. Cos here everything fits and i like her narration and voices

Sample

TMST: Cliffhangers

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings where Rainy discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.

June 19th: Cliffhangers: Do they compel you to read more or steer you away?

I do not know how to answer this one. I would rather not have cliffies. Sometimes they are so unnecessary!  I get it, you want us to read more, and then it takes like 3 years before the next book is out, or the book never comes cos the series was put on ice. When I only have to wait a year it is better, but the cliffie does not make me buy it. Of course, if it is a great series I would buy it, cliffie or not. When that year has gone by the cliffie is forgotten and I only get the book cos I want to see how the series progress.

I have read semi interesting books with cliffies, if the book is not good, then screw the cliffie. Nope. Not getting the book. In the end the cliffhanger does nothing for me, except making me really worked up for a week and then it is forgotten.

Audio: Love and First Sight - Josh Sundquist

On his first day at a new school, blind sixteen-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria, and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right? 

As Will starts to find his footing, he develops a crush on a charming, quiet girl named Cecily. Then an unprecedented opportunity arises: an experimental surgery that could give Will eyesight for the first time in his life. But learning to see is more difficult than Will ever imagined, and he soon discovers that the sighted world has been keeping secrets. It turns out Cecily doesn't meet traditional definitions of beauty--in fact, everything he'd heard about her appearance was a lie engineered by their so-called friends to get the two of them together. Does it matter what Cecily looks like? No, not really. But then why does Will feel so betrayed?

Audiobook, 6 h 25 min

Published January 3rd 2017 by Hatchette Audio

YA fiction

Own

My thoughts

This is written by a youtube personality...never heard of him. Moving on.

Will is blind but he wants to go to a mainstream school and try to make it on his own. I did like Will, and I do get that he gets tired of his mum. But at the same time I really understood the mum, she just wants what is best for him. She wants to be in the office when he talks medical issues, I mean I would want to be there, even if my kid wasn't blind. So this time I did connect wit the mum. I got it. 

I can not know for sure since I am not blind, but it did feel like the author did his homework. Many think they know what is best, or how to help someone who is blind. But Will in his inner voice shoots down all those things people think they know. And how people often just make it worse. There were many aha moments. Cos how could someone who is blind understand depth? And so many other things.

Will gets friends, meets a girl and thinks about having an operation that might give him sight.

But, there was this one thing that bothered me and since it is in the blurb you have guessed it. How can he be upset cos someone did not tell him about their "defect". I mean whatever man, maybe you are ugly too! But at the same time, it is written well so I forgive him.

A good story that gave me lots to think about

Narrator Pat Young

I have the most boring things to say, I always say the same thing. He did a good job...well he did do a good job!