I listened to the audiobook. The narrators were fantastic and were the best part of this.
The book wasn't horrible but I felt NOTHING for the two mainI listened to the audiobook. The narrators were fantastic and were the best part of this.
The book wasn't horrible but I felt NOTHING for the two main characters. There was no romance really, they banged...he was possessive, she was into it, but I didn't feel any kind of love between them. This story was just there.
When the audio was done I felt like I had wasted 3.5 hours. I'm mildly interested in Gemma's book but I don't know if I want to chance another ho-hum read. ...more
The audiobook is great, the narrator was what kept me reading longer. If she hadn't been so good, I would Not going to rate this, only read about 30%.
The audiobook is great, the narrator was what kept me reading longer. If she hadn't been so good, I would have set this down sooner.
This book wasn't bad, there was just nothing going on that would make me want to continue. At 20% I was looking for something to start happening but it just kept being the same day to day stuff. So I decided to continue for a little bit longer, see if it just took a bit more time to get going but it just wasn't moving along fast enough for me.
Also, this didn't really feel like the time period, I can't really put my finger on why, but it read far more modern times than it should have. ...more
Listened to the audiobook, the audio was wonderful, the narrators did a great job.
I wasn't a fan of this story thoughAudio: 5 stars. Story: 2 stars.
Listened to the audiobook, the audio was wonderful, the narrators did a great job.
I wasn't a fan of this story though. And it was mainly because of Oliver.
This books mostly takes place in present day but has a few flashbacks of what brought Oliver and Chloe to the point they are at the start, which is estranged, and on Chloe's end, she wants nothing to do with Oliver.
Oliver was pretty much always looking after himself first and ended up letting Chloe down a lot and when they were kids it didn't bother me that much, because they were kids. The incident (from the past) that made me really not like Oliver was after their final meeting before the start of the story and what drove them apart. Oliver's explanation of why he did it, didn't make any sense and then his blatant disregard of her feelings, her sacrifices that she made, her plans that she made after that last meeting with him, and the hurt after he called her was disgusting to me.
Then the whole plot of this story is Oliver again, using Chloe because he needs something from her. And while yes, he has real feelings for her, his end goal and how he gets it is all that matters to him. It took him too long to put Chloe above his own interests.
Chloe annoyed me too, not to the extent of Oliver, but she was too forgiving, too soon of Oliver, especially after the Chicago incident and I understand she wanted to believe he wouldn't screw her over again but after everything that had happened previously, she was too trusting/forgiving too soon for my taste.
I'm still excited for the other books in this series but this was a huge miss for me. ...more
I loved how much Wes and Raegan communicated. Things that had the potential to be a problem were dealt with quickly and talked about and it wa5 stars.
I loved how much Wes and Raegan communicated. Things that had the potential to be a problem were dealt with quickly and talked about and it was so refreshing to see.
And how in Wes was from the beginning...just made my heart swoon. I adored this couple and I'm so excited that Chris and Marissa's book is coming soon!...more
I really enjoyed Ben and Lizzy's romance. And I loved that we got to see Ben's POV, it really made me feel the full connection betweThis was so good!
I really enjoyed Ben and Lizzy's romance. And I loved that we got to see Ben's POV, it really made me feel the full connection between the two of them. It was what was missing, for me, in the first book of this series.
And I loved how protective Ben was of her and that he constantly wanted to be around her, touch and hold her.
Sebastian was adorable!
I'll be adding this one to my collection and I'm looking forward to reading the next one. ...more
Listened to the audiobook. Same narrator, she still did a great job.
I don't know what it is with this series (and a little bit with the ACo4.5 stars.
Listened to the audiobook. Same narrator, she still did a great job.
I don't know what it is with this series (and a little bit with the ACoTAR series as well) but I start reading and the first 30-50% I'm not that invested in the story. I'll usually think about DNF'ing at least once during that first section. The first half isn't bad at all but I'm just not connecting with the characters at that time. But then I'll continue on and the last half is amazing and I love it and I'm excited for the next book.
I loved Rowan from the beginning. He's a grump and I love reading about a grumpy character. At first I didn't care about Manon's sections...that changed, she was one of my favorite characters in the book by the end. I loved her and Abraxos.
Aelin has gotten stronger and I loved seeing her train and grow.
My heart is breaking for Chaol, Dorian, and Aedion. That ending yikes, I cannot wait to see what happens with all that. ...more
I wanted to love this one. I adored Ruthless Knight, but Cruel Prince and Wicked Princess were just ok but I had hope that Broken Kingdom 3-3.5 stars.
I wanted to love this one. I adored Ruthless Knight, but Cruel Prince and Wicked Princess were just ok but I had hope that Broken Kingdom would be a solid ending, hopefully a wonderful ending. Unfortunately it didn't land for me.
The narrators were fantastic, as usual for this series, absolutely amazing. Best part of this book.
I loved Oakley, he was a highlight of this story. I loved...sort of...original Bianca. I was really wanting original Bianca to make, not a full comeback, but at least a half comeback. I didn't need her to be full blown crazy Bianca but I did want her to be Bianca with a backbone again and Bianca with some of that old vengeance in her heart. That didn't really happen.
I absolutely hated that Bianca was still with Stone. I understood why and was with the story and eager to see Bianca kick him to the curb but I still hated it.
What really took me out of this story and what made this story fine instead of amazing was how long Bianca remained with Stone. There was a point when she left Stone...and then a very short time later went right back to him. And this was past the halfway point. She was just with him too long and I was kind of over wanting to see Oakley and Bianca together.
Plus with how horribly Stone was treating Bianca throughout, I just got tired of Bianca staying with him. It was annoying to read.
And it bummed me out how...not Bianca, Bianca was. Yes, she was a horrible person in a lot of ways pre-car accident but some of that is what made her fun and it's sad she really didn't get much of that back post accident.
The last 100-ish pages I really enjoyed.
I know a lot of people really loved this one and I love that they do but I, sadly, wasn't one of them.
Overall this series was just ok. Ruthless Knight was fantastic, I loved it. All the others were fine.
I really enjoyed the first one in this duet. However this one while there were parts I enjoyed, it didn't hold my interest.
The copycat killer plot wasI really enjoyed the first one in this duet. However this one while there were parts I enjoyed, it didn't hold my interest.
The copycat killer plot was interesting. I loved when Grayson and London were together. The last 10% of this novel kept me completely engaged and I couldn't wait to see how it ended.
The main reason why this was disappointing though, was that Grayson and London were hardly together. We had usually one chapter with them together and then 3-5 chapters in between where they were separated. And that's how the whole story went. I found I wasn't as interested in the story, even though there were engaging elements, when they were apart.
Merged review:
I really enjoyed the first one in this duet. However this one while there were parts I enjoyed, it didn't hold my interest.
The copycat killer plot was interesting. I loved when Grayson and London were together. The last 10% of this novel kept me completely engaged and I couldn't wait to see how it ended.
The main reason why this was disappointing though, was that Grayson and London were hardly together. We had usually one chapter with them together and then 3-5 chapters in between where they were separated. And that's how the whole story went. I found I wasn't as interested in the story, even though there were engaging elements, when they were apart.
Merged review:
I really enjoyed the first one in this duet. However this one while there were parts I enjoyed, it didn't hold my interest.
The copycat killer plot was interesting. I loved when Grayson and London were together. The last 10% of this novel kept me completely engaged and I couldn't wait to see how it ended.
The main reason why this was disappointing though, was that Grayson and London were hardly together. We had usually one chapter with them together and then 3-5 chapters in between where they were separated. And that's how the whole story went. I found I wasn't as interested in the story, even though there were engaging elements, when they were apart....more
**spoiler alert** I enjoyed this, it was a good time but there were a couple things that knocked this down on my ratings.
This was another alpha/omega**spoiler alert** I enjoyed this, it was a good time but there were a couple things that knocked this down on my ratings.
This was another alpha/omega type book that I've read recently. I am still so confused with these kind of books. Are these PNR? Are these contemporary but with a pack structure? I have no idea. But they mention knots which is not a normal human thing, so is it really contemporary? I always go into these so confused.
Anyway, going into this, I expected a betrayal that would hit me in the feels, it didn't. Yes, she was betrayed by the pack but it was a pack I had zero connection to because I haven't read the previous books (don't know if that would even make a difference, or if this pack was even mentioned in the previous books). I felt eh about the whole betrayal part of it. So because I wanted a grovel type book at the time, this didn't satisfy that want.
As the book went on, I was really liking it. I didn't love the guys in the first pack she finds/finds her but I liked them. I really loved the second pack the best and got to really like the first pack that joined the second.
I was going to settle on a 4 star, if it wasn't for the heroine making so many stupid decisions. I could have dealt with one big mistake/one big stupid decision, I'm not going to knock a rating down for 1 of those. But she kept making them and this is a short book.
When the first pack comes across her, she is desperate to get away, valid response....but then even though she's so desperate to get away, she doesn't leave her house. She loses them briefly, says she needs to take her son and move again but then stays in the house and doesn't leave. Of course they find her.
Then she left the protection of that first pack, with her son, and her son is kidnapped to be brought back to his alpha father. During the course of the book she is separated from her son but her focus is constantly on getting him back. Her son is not in danger because is the son of another alpha but obviously she wants him back. Once both packs are aware of her son and the situation, they swear to help her but she goes into heat and that needs to be taken of first. Once it is, they move to a bigger home but the heroine can't wait anymore and can't even ask the group when they are getting her son or what the plan is, she just leaves and gets caught. Ugh!
It's these stupid decisions that just make me lower my rating every time. There was no reason, none, why she couldn't ask them to help or can they get on with the planning to save her son, absolutely none. They had just gone through her heat cycle and were moving to the bigger home but there hadn't been any indication that they weren't going to help her. It just really bugged me.
I don't think I'll read the others in this series. This was fine at the end of the day but I don't feel the need to read any of the others. ...more
Listened to the audio book, I enjoyed narration, it was really good. The length of the audio though was a bit much. Almost 15 hours.
The story was finListened to the audio book, I enjoyed narration, it was really good. The length of the audio though was a bit much. Almost 15 hours.
The story was fine. There were moments that I liked and others that I didn't and others that were meh.
Story mostly takes place in 1072, a time period that admittedly I don't read a lot of historical romances set around then.
Caryn and her sister meet Raolfe while walking around. He sends them off but doesn't escort them to safety. And, iirc, it was Raolfe's men that ended up brutally raping Caryn's sister, and Caryn is beaten as well. Raolfe stops it and takes them to a convent/church where they now live. A few years pass and Caryn (along with a few other women at the convent) are taken to basically be raped and used by a group of men. They bring her and the women to Caryn's former home? I think. But it's now Raolfe's castle and he stops Caryn from being raped.
In order to protect her, he says they are betrothed. She reluctantly goes along with it. And hi-jinks ensue. In the beginning of the marriage Raolfe is still with his mistress, while I don't love it, it also didn't bother me that much. Caryn was very adamant that there wasn't going to be any bed things with her and if he wanted any of those things he needed to get it elsewhere, which he did.
However, once Caryn was fine with the bed stuff and was giving it to him on the regular then when he went to his mistress, that I hated. But I did love how Caryn responded to his infidelity, she shut him down for a little bit and was cold to him. It didn't last as long as I wished it did, but it was nice to see her not emotionally reach out to Raolfe and keep herself at a distance even when she did sleep with him.
I probably would have given this 4 stars, if this wasn't so long. The story had too many filler characters getting their own separate mini-plot. I really didn't need all that extra stuff and while I liked other the characters, it just got too bloated. And the story felt like it went on way too long. ...more
Listened to the audiobook, I really liked the narrator.
This took me a bit to get into. I started reading this at the beginning of September3.5 stars.
Listened to the audiobook, I really liked the narrator.
This took me a bit to get into. I started reading this at the beginning of September and didn't end up finishing it until near the end of September.
Once I past about the 30% mark then I listened to it straight through and couldn't put it down.
I did feel that Ember and Eli are only interested in each other, at this point, because the other is hot. Or one weird eyes. Especially with Ember toward Eli, he is crappy to her and she's still super into him, and it's because he's hot. I hope there is more depth to them in the next book.
While I didn't fall in love with the characters or the world, I did really enjoy this and I look forward to reading the next book. ...more
3.5 stars. I had a hard time deciding between 3 & 4 stars but since I love a lot of this author's work, I decided to be generous and picked the 4 star3.5 stars. I had a hard time deciding between 3 & 4 stars but since I love a lot of this author's work, I decided to be generous and picked the 4 star.
Four years ago John did the unthinkable, he cheated on his wife. His wife, Mona, had been very depressed because of multiple miscarriages and was not taking care of herself, she would go days without showering, she wouldn't want to leave the couch/bed and just not want to be a part of life any more. My heart just hurt for her. I also hurt for John too, these were his children as well, so he had to also deal with that pain and also because he had to watch his wife fall into this despair and anything he did or tried just wouldn't bring her out of it and for someone who had looked out for her and protected her for their dating and married life. One evening, Mona was not feeling like going out, told John to go ahead. John got super drunk and ended up having sex with someone at the club.
While I hated that he cheated, I also respected that he told her immediately. He didn't try to hide it and he took what Mona said at face value and did what she asked, he left. Now 4 years later, she doesn't see him but he still takes care of her in various ways. I didn't completely buy that she wouldn't know some of what he did for her over the years, she was a little too oblivious to be believable.
After their separation he wasn't a choir boy, he stated that he, for 6 months, binged on alcohol and women. However after that 6 months, he hasn't been with anyone since then.
My major complaint was that I wish it was John reaching out to Mona and getting back into her good graces and groveling. Not Mona reaching out to John first. As the person who initially cheated I really wish he had gone to her first.
Overall I liked this. It's not a favorite by this author but it was a enjoyable read to pass the time. ...more
So when I originally bought this, I thought it was a one and done. Didn't look at it closely, it just said Targaryen History and I instantly bought itSo when I originally bought this, I thought it was a one and done. Didn't look at it closely, it just said Targaryen History and I instantly bought it. Love the Targaryen's, they have dragons, so they are who I root for, so it was an no brainer.
Even picking up the book to read a couple weeks ago, I thought it was a one and done. I didn't realize it was Book 1 in the Targaryen History...so once again I am now waiting for yet another book in a GoT series that GRRM has not finished. Am I frustrated at this, yes, will I still buy books related to his GoT series like a brainwashed idiot, yes. However, besides ASoIaF and this Targaryen History, will I ever buy or read anything else of his again unless I know it's completely out and completed and I won't be waiting years and years for it to be written/released, no.
Anyway, enough with my irritation at that whole thing, lets get into the actual review of the book.
I really enjoyed this. It was written in a text book style narration where we don't have a lot of dialogue or getting into the nitty gritty of these characters lives but it was an entertaining read to see the history of one of the main families of GoT.
And with this text book style format, there are "multiple sources" that are being "sited", so we don't know 100% what is fact. We get what is a likely scenario but not necessarily what is correct.
The audio of this was wonderful. I love Simon Vance's narration.
There were moments where I lost track of who was who because so many characters have the same name or a similar sounding name, especially in the narration. However that is something that trips me up in non-fiction/history, so I wasn't too out of my element.
I hope the next book comes out quicker than Book 6 of ASoIaF has. ...more
The heroine kind of annoyed me. The hero kind of annoyed me. Sorry in advance, I don't remember either of their names and I'm too lazThis one was ok.
The heroine kind of annoyed me. The hero kind of annoyed me. Sorry in advance, I don't remember either of their names and I'm too lazy to go find out right now.
The heroine, she never really took into account the hero's feelings about what was going on. She was so mopey and was constantly getting mad/frustrated/annoyed at him for not being her mate from before the cave in and memory loss.
Meanwhile the hero, even though he didn't remember that the heroine was his mate and had his child, he knew that they were his mate and child because he was told, he knew the "standard" for his culture when one has a mate and child...yet he didn't provide for her in the way of the culture when they have a mate and/or child. It was odd. If I remember correctly one of his friends had to remind him to provide for her.
Also there was zero communication, this story would have been an extremely shorter book if the characters had just communicated once or at all. The heroine was hurt because the hero wasn't joining her in their home/bed/etc and she wondered why, but she never straight up asked him. The hero didn't know why the heroine wasn't inviting him into her home/bed, but he never asked her. And so many other instances like that. If one of them talked once about what was on their minds this whole book could have been over in 75 pages.
I didn't hate this at all but it was just not as good as previous installments. ...more
I don't know what it is about how this author writes but even though I can't stand many of the characters we geTW: Rape, manipulation, and child abuse
I don't know what it is about how this author writes but even though I can't stand many of the characters we get, I'm still so invested and so compelled to find out what happens that I stay up so late and wake up so early to finish her books. I slept horribly last week because I could not put this down but I didn't really like the characters. I don't get it.
I've read 1 other book by Sam Mariano, Untouchable, and when I read it, I gave it a 2 stars, there were a lot of things that bugged me, but I could not stop thinking about it. It's a book that stuck with me, so despite the low rating I gave it, I bought a physical copy and I go back frequently and reread scenes.
Will I do that with The Boy on the Bridge, I'm not sure yet. I liked it better than Untouchable...in some ways, but I don't know if it'll stick with me like Untouchable. Time will tell.
Anyway, the time with they were 14, was fine, I thought it was kind of cute and then the fall out between them hurt. All Riley wanted to do was help Hunter and Hunter hated her for it. Fast forward 4 years, it's Riley and Hunter's senior year, Hunter is back and his focus is Riley.
When Hunter returned, Riley told him, she could forgive him anything...except if he slept with Valerie. That was her line. It comes out, after Riley is humiliated and betrayed by Hunter, that Hunter crossed that line. Now full disclosure, going in to reading this book, I knew what would be revealed near the end. So I was waiting to see how Hunter explained everything. I didn't fully buy it but the explanation was fine.
Hunter does rape Riley, it was very difficult to read. I don't remember, I was trying to get passed that scene quickly, but I don't think Riley specifically said 'no' BUT when she's thinking she doesn't want it like that and she's not going to say no because she doesn't think Hunter will listen if she does, it's still rape. Be aware that, this scene is in there and it goes on for a little bit.
Most of the main characters annoyed me at some point, except for Riley's Mom and Riley's Mom's boyfriend, Ray, everyone else got on my nerves at various times.
Riley: She kept having this argument of, she's not Hunter's girlfriend, and he's not her boyfriend...BUT she's constantly sleeping with him, telling him that she loves him, he says he loves her, they talk about the future together constantly, and they spend a bunch of time together...but he's still not her boyfriend. K...
Hunter: Just his whole manipulation of Riley. He would manipulate Riley into doing what he wanted and he sometimes would try to change her, to fit in with his friends, so they could be "seen" together without weirdness. Obviously the rape didn't endear him to me either.
Sara: Couldn't stand her, wanted her to be run over. She was a crap friend. As soon as Valerie gave her a little positive attention she totally ditched Riley, the person who was her actual friend when Valerie was bullying her since elementary school. And I could have forgiven that, everyone makes mistakes, especially kids, but Sara never realized or apologized for her behavior or seemed to care that she abandoned and hurt Riley. Then when her heart was broken by Wally she seemed to expect Riley to cater to her and I actually loved Hunter in that moment, he cut that right off.
I don't know how I feel about this book at the end of the day. I could not put it down, I read until 8:30 (my midnight-1 a.m.) and wake up at 12:30 or 1 to read more, but at the same time I didn't really like any of the characters. ...more
CW: Mentions of an attempted rape. And threatening to rape.
Even though this one wasn't a home run, all time favorite, I still really liked it4 stars.
CW: Mentions of an attempted rape. And threatening to rape.
Even though this one wasn't a home run, all time favorite, I still really liked it.
Both Sutton and Calder were still all about each other, even when they couldn't be together. There is a three year separation, a lot of times when the couple is separated for a period of time, I don't completely buy it, but with Sutton and Calder I did.
Sutton and Calder remain celibate/faithful during that time, in case anyone is worried about that.
A couple of things that kept this from being a full 5 stars was the fact that they were separated for so long, while I bought the reason and understood it, I wished there was more of them together. Yes, they were on each other mind all the time but there was hardly any interaction in those 3 years. It went on so long that it dragged the story down.
Also, I really wished (view spoiler)[we got the scene where Sutton's mother was "taken care of", she was so horrible and I really wanted to see her get maimed and taken out. Unfortunately it was off screen and, if I remember correctly, Sutton was told what Calder did/had done but we don't actually get the scene. (hide spoiler)]
Overall this was a great duet. I enjoyed Sutton and Calder's journey and love. ...more
Desiree M ~*~*~
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