Carole's Sunday Review: Trade Me

Author: Courtney Milan

Narrator: Xe Sands & Sean Crisden

Title: Trade Me

(Cyclone #1)

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

Pages: Audiobook

Published: January 19th 2015 

Where I Got It: My shelf (Audible)

Tina Chen just wants a degree and a job, so her parents never have to worry about making rent again. She has no time for Blake Reynolds, the sexy billionaire who stands to inherit Cyclone Technology. But when he makes an off-hand comment about what it means to be poor, she loses her cool and tells him he couldn’t last a month living her life.

To her shock, Blake offers her a trade: She’ll get his income, his house, his car. In exchange, he’ll work her hours and send money home to her family. No expectations; no future obligations.

But before long, they’re trading not just lives, but secrets, kisses, and heated nights together. No expectations might break Tina’s heart...but Blake’s secrets could ruin her life.

I've enjoyed other books by this author so this was a no-brainer. Plus I would love the concept of this story. 

Tina is striving to get her degree and find a good job so she can take care of her parents and sister. Blake is trying to get a degree too so he has something of his own. He is a billionaire who is going to be inheriting his father's company some day. Things happen and Tina opens his eyes and inspire him to offer her a trade. Tina gets his income, house, car, and part of his duties. Blake will get a job like Tina's, her hours, budget, and her obligations. Things happen and they fall for each other, but they are both broken and terrified. 

The author really knows how to write a people story. They talk, they share, they grow, they feel, and they love. It is really sweet, but it wasn't all rainbows and kittens. I think what I really loved was that these two characters are sooo flawed even pretty boy billionaire. Even their families are flawed which added to the story as well. 

I really liked Blake. I didn't think I was going to, but he was much more complex than I was expecting. His big "problem" really made me like him more. It was sad, but it really made him more human. 

Now, I did feel for Tina. She has the poor girl and poor family thing going on. She is pretty much the adult for her family. She also had a crappy ex who made her doubt herself. However, I did get really annoyed with her. Her constant "not safe" mentality killed me. Love is always risky and he OBVIOUSLY loves you and he has money. And you love him! Sighs. C'mon woman!

The ending was too easy. SMH. Hopefully, it really isn't AS easy as the author is making us think. There are other books in the series...soooo who knows? But some of the issues seemed to be too quickly resolved. Mmm

Now, I really liked the narrators. They had one for Tina and one for Blake. They both did a good job with their characters. The accent they gave Tina's parents seemed a little off though. 

Overall, I did like this story. The next book isn't about Tina and Blake, but I am curious about it. I think Tina and Blake come back in book 3? I do want to check out book 2 though. Some issues I had, but I liked this overall. I'll stamp this with 3 stars. 

One line done for Billionaire!

The Infernal Battalion - Django Wexler

Paperback, 600 pages

Published August 1st 2018 by Head of Zeus (first published January 9th 2018)

Series: The Shadow Campaigns #5

Fantasy

Own

My Thoughts:

Even if I have enjoyed this series, I do feel like it could have been a trilogy, or 4 book series. Some things could have been taken out in earlier books to wrap it up faster. 

Cos in this one something goes wrong yet again! I mean rotten luck right!?

The former commander of the forces had turned sides and calls himself Emperor and that means civil war. Of course he has been eaten by a demon so not really his fault.

Marcus has to keep the army in order to fight his old friend. I do like Marcus, he has always been my fav.

Queen Raes has her hands filled with trying to keep her broke country in order. Raes is, well I never truly warmed up to her cos the whole demon thing was strange.

And then the last POV, Winter who has pretended to be a man all this time and has now risen to general. You go girl! And she leads a female battalion so she has changed the army landscape too.

This is military fantasy, there are battles, there are more battles, there is talking about battles. There are a few other things too but yes this is war. I like that. No idea why, I just do.

Conclusion;

I need to read more by Wexler, he has a new series coming out and I hope I will enjoy that one too. 

Cover

nice

Plot

The Beast, the ancient demon imprisoned beneath the fortress-city of Elysium for a thousand years, has been loosed on the world. It absorbs mind after mind, spreading like a plague through the north. The fell army it has raised threatens the heart of Vordan, and it is under the command of the Beast’s greatest prize: legendary general Janus bet Vhalnich.

As Queen Raesinia Orboan and soldiers Marcus D’Ivoire and Winter Ihernglass grapple with the aftermath of a hard-fought military campaign, they soon discover a betrayal they never could have foreseen. The news arrives like a thunderbolt: Janus has declared himself the rightful Emperor of Vordan. Chaos grips the city as officers and regiments are forced to declare for queen or emperor.

Raesinia must struggle to keep her country under control and risks becoming everything she fought against. Marcus must take the field against his old commander, a man who has seemed an unbeatable strategist. And as Winter recovers from her injuries and mourns her losses, she knows the demon she carries inside her might be the only thing standing between the Beast and the destruction of everything in its path....

The Brightest Fell - Seanan McGuire

Mass Market Paperback, 354 pages

Published August 28th 2018 by Daw Books (first published September 5th 2017)

Series: October Daye #11

UF

Own

My Thoughts:
I loved this book. She was back on her A game! I kind of feel I should give it a 5. Right! I mean I could not put it down. I made time for me to read it when I should have done other things cos I HAD TO FINISH! SO I am gonna be freaking nice, 5!

Gosh I love this series. Toby rocks!
F her mum!

She is sent on a quest with an enemy (whom I grew to understand.) And well I just could not put the book down. It was so exciting.

And I do want an end now, no more books. I love this series but I am always afraid it will start to stagnate. And I really want to see if they can bring Faery back and what happens if the big guys come back.

Great installment in this series!

Synopsis:

Things are slow, and October "Toby" Daye couldn't be happier about that. The elf-shot cure has been approved, Arden Windermere is settling into her position as Queen in the Mists, and Toby doesn't have anything demanding her attention except for wedding planning and spending time with her family.

Maybe she should have realized that it was too good to last.

When Toby's mother, Amandine, appears on her doorstep with a demand for help, refusing her seems like the right thing to do...until Amandine starts taking hostages, and everything changes. Now Toby doesn't have a choice about whether or not she does as her mother asks. Not with Jazz and Tybalt's lives hanging in the balance. But who could possibly help her find a pureblood she's never met, one who's been missing for over a hundred years?

Enter Simon Torquill, elf-shot enemy turned awakened, uneasy ally. Together, the two of them must try to solve one of the greatest mysteries in the Mists: what happened to Amandine's oldest daughter, August, who disappeared in 1906.

This is one missing person case Toby can't afford to get wrong. (less)

Audio: Governess gone rogue - Laura Lee Guhrke

Audio CD, 10 h

Published January 29th 2019 by HarperCollins

Series: Dear Lady Truelove #3

Historical romance

Thank you Harper for this audio!

My Thoughts:

Another Justine Eyre narration. Ok so I do adore her narrations, and I know I have listen to her a lot lately, but it is really by accident! But ok if I do see her name it does sway me towards the book, so maybe I choose books without knowing it.

Also look at that cover, short hair! They really got it right, I am impressed. Yes, our plucky heroine cuts her hair, pretends to be a man and becomes a tutor to two wild boys. I would have run screaming, but she sticks it out.

Our handsome hero has his hands full and he works WAY too much. I mean man please take it easy. You are going to an early grave. His life is all about his work as an MP.

For some reason she looks 10 years younger as a man, weird.

He does not really see her a lot so that works with him not noticing what she really is, and when he does get a clue he starts to notice more. 

There is a secret in her past that will come back to haunt her and I wanted to slap someone over it.

Fun, a bit of teaching and some passion.

Narration

Yes Justine Eyre is really good. I so enjoy when she does historical romance. She gets everything just as I want it

Cover

Like I said, look short hair! Just as in the book

BLurb

Dear Lady Truelove . . .

My twin brother and I need a new mother, though Papa insists he'll never marry again. Must be nice, brainy, and fond of cats . . .

Lady Truelove may be London's most famous advice columnist, but James St. Clair, the Earl of Kenyon, knows his wild young sons need a tutor, not a new mother. They need a man tough enough to make his hellions tow the line, and James is determined to find one.

Miss Amanda Leighton, former schoolteacher and governess, knows she has all the qualifications to be a tutor. And while female tutors are unheard of, Amanda isn't about to lose the chance at her dream job because of pesky details like that. If Lord Kenyon insists on hiring a man, then she has only one option . . .

Jamie isn't sure what to make of his new employee, until he realizes the shocking truth-beneath the ill-fitting suits, his boys' tutor is a woman. An unconventional, outspoken, thoroughly intriguing woman. Despite Amanda's deception, he can't dismiss her when his boys are learning so much. Yet Jamie, too, is learning surprising lessons-about desire, seduction, and passionate second chances . . .