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A Bookish Story

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A Bookish Story by Heatherly Bell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



As a lifelong reader AND a librarian, how could I not love a book about two “bookish” characters? I usually don’t enjoy a slow-burn romance (and this one was slooooow), nor a story with a power dynamic issue (boss/employee), but this MMC (Ryan) was so noble that he handled that problem himself. FMC Luci, whose family read more like main characters rather than side characters, hated Ryan’s book that he wrote under a pseudonym, but ended up having to represent it for him. As these two work through their issues and begin to know themselves and each other better, falling in love is inevitable. Although sometimes it seems that a happily-ever-after for themselves is as unattainable as the characters in “that book”, they finally figure it out.
The book supports and represents the romance genre better than any I’ve read in a while. Luci and I both snuck books out of an older relative’s collections and then fell in love with love. How could I not love her?
Well done, I so want an extended epilogue to see how these two do down the road!



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Sap & Secrets

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by Daphne Elliot

Sap & Secrets by Daphne Elliot

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Having very much enjoyed the author’s books in the past (LOVE the “Ax” series!), I was excited to receive a copy to review pre-release.
Although I typically don’t vibe with the surprise pregnancy trope (lifelong fertility issues here), the FMC (Evie) having PCOS made it much more relatable to me. She was a hard character to get past, even knowing her history. WAY past black cat energy. Although MMC (Jasper) was introduced as a not to be taken seriously player, he was everything but. He has the best Golden Retriever/Caregiver energy and that’s what made this story more enjoyable for me.
Starting a new series can be hard when you have to lay the groundwork, introduce a setting, side characters and and intertwining plot. Having read and enjoyed this author before, I’m going to trust that many of the “annoying” aspects that other readers shared in their reviews will come together and make more cohesive sense in the future. Love the “found family” aspect and look forward to seeing where the story takes us.



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Dragon Forged

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Dragon Kings #10

by Donna Grant

Dragon Forged takes us back to the realm of Zora, with some familiar and much-loved characters, and introduces us to others.  This is a new location on Zora (Highvale), a world where the dragons from our beloved Dragon Kings found sanctuary after leaving Earth. In Highvale, those with magic are protected and safe, unlike in other parts of Zora.

Hector, the king of the Sea Green Dragons, finds himself restless and explores a cave in Iron Hall, a place where many have found sanctuary since coming to Zora.  It is still being explored and restored but Hector finds himself compelled to reach a hallway with turquoise light.  There he gets transported to Highvale to fulfill an ancient prophecy (against his will).  Emilia is a seer who has been haunted by a vision of Hector’s arrival bringing devastation to Highvale.  Hector finds his magic bound and is unable to return to Iron Hall or summon his fellow kings.

We are taken on a journey of treachery, political intrigue, and danger.  This story reads more as a fantasy novel with some romance towards the end, rather than a straight romance. (Definitely a slooooooow burn, not until 90% in do we get any serious🌶️) We have some beloved characters showing up to try to assist Hector and Emelia (Rhi and Con) and are introduced to another young character that we fall in love with immediately. (Teo) As always, the worldbuilding is top-notch and the descriptions are so that Dragon Forged could be read as a standalone,  but is so much better knowing all the backstory of Donna Grant’s Dark World. ⅘ Stars, only because I am a romance junkie and like when the romance storyline is in the forefront of the story, but an epic tale that sets up nicely for Marcus’ story releasing in January.

I am looking forward to listening to the audio version, as Antony Ferguson does an amazing job of bringing Donna’s characters to life.

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Dragon Marked

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A Dragon Kings Novel by

Donna Grant

Wow.  I’m sure with a graduate degree in education I could come up with something more profound and eloquent since this book took me on a journey with the intensity I  haven’t experienced since Con’s (The King of Dragon Kings) and Ulrick’s (The redeemed King of Silvers) stories. I was both overwhelmed and overjoyed by this story.  We have Merrick, who in previous books and series was always the “pep talk” guy (dragon) with an easy grin.  That persona, though, hid eons worth of pain and loss and once that band-aid was ripped off, we see how much he suffered.  Then there’s Katla, who has been committing unspeakable acts against dragons in the name of revenge for her lost family, but all was not what it seemed. Both are looking for redemption, neither are looking for love but it finds them nonetheless.

These two have so much pain, guilt and danger to face both together and apart.  This is not a light and breezy story and though I’ve read countless Donna Grant books, right up to the end I started to doubt that a HEA was coming for these two who have suffered so much. The villains were top notch and there were indeed twists and turns.

I was overjoyed that my FAVORITE King (Ulrick) made an important appearance from Earth.  I hadn’t realized how much I missed him playing an active role in these stories.  I am currently enjoying the audio book, perfectly narrated by Antony Ferguson, and I know this book will be one of my periodic rereads.

Although the HEA we’re promised did happen for these two (loved where they went for their honeymoon, missed that place, too!) there are still so many unanswered questions on Zora, and more enemies to vanquish.  I’ll just sit here and wait patiently (okay, not really) until the next installment.  Perhaps a reread of the entire series is in order in the meantime. 

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Blood Skye

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Skye Druids Book 6

by Donna Grant

This is the sixth book in Grant’s Sky Druid series and like the others is packed with action, danger, twists and eventually a HEA. Devon is the London Druid’s henchwoman and has known nothing else for most of her life. Carlyle is a part of the Knights and this is a VERY slow burn enemies to allies to friends to lovers story.
I enjoyed seeing appearances from some of my favorite characters from the previous stories and crossover series. Both Devon (Song) and Carlyle go through some serious character development and both have some heavy baggage to work through before they can come together. (Did I mention that this is a VERY slow burn book?)
Does Carlyle find his missing father? Do we find out all of the identities of the evil doers? So many plot twists and this couple has to face some major betrayals before they can have their HEA. There is a major cliffhanger at the end (something I do not enjoy) but we don’t have to wait too terribly long to get (hopefully!) the resolution we are craving.

The audiobook, narrated by Ruth Urquhart, was wonderfully done and I highly recommend it to audiobook lovers.

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This Wild Heart, Wilder Family 5

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by Karla Sorensen

A breathtaking end to a favorite series.

Excuse me as I go blubber in a corner.  I thought waiting a week before writing my review would give me time to process all the feels that this book gave me, but NOPE!  Just typing that word “end” broughThis Wild Heart, Karla Sorensent tears to my eyes because I’ve come to love the Wilder family in all the previous stories.I said in my last review that Karla writes families that I wish could be mine in real life because of the depth she portrays in those relationships, and not just for the MCs.  And the way she brought some beloved characters from previous series into the story makes me hope that we’ve not seen the end of the Wilders.

I won’t share much in the way of spoilers, but Anya is the daughter of a previous book couple and she’s all grown up. She’s just gone through a very emotional and humiliating experience and is certainly not in a good headspace for a new relationship.  Parker is still dealing with (or NOT dealing with) the death of his father (another sob!) and the way the previous football season ended for his team because of him.

I spent a good portion of this book wanting to smack him in the back of the head, but Karla did it for me. My favorite character in this story might not even be the FMC and MMC, but Sheila, Parker’s beloved stepmother, who is still grieving the loss of her soulmate, but can still Mom the heck out of her family.

I’ll forgive Karla my tears since in her endnotes she shared how ending this series felt for her, and I look forward to WHATEVER she writes next. Well done, if I could give more than 5 stars, I wholeheartedly would.

Tammie

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The Bastard King

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by Donna Grant

The Bastard King is the first of a duology and a spinoff the the Dragon King/Dark King series.  The MFC (Kora) is a hellhound who has spent the past 500 years seeking vengeance for her lost family.  The MMC (Derek) is  a previously unknown dragon and is fierce and somewhat blustery.  He keeps his dragon part secret as Kora has a deep distrust of dragons. Derek has had his memories tampered with and mistakenly believes a terribly evil woman named Villette (whom we know from the Dragon King stories) will help him free his dragon brethren.  Eventually they come to trust each other enough to work together but not fully and when they come together it’s explosive.

The story ends on a cliffhanger, and being very familiar with Donna Grant’s work, I’m sure there will be a few big “ah ha” moments.  I’m looking forward to listening to the audio version on release day as I adore how Antony Ferguson has personified Donna’s characters previously.

Well done and looking forward to the conclusion, The Uncrowned King in January.

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Forever Starts Tonight

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by Karla Sorensen

Don’t ever want this series to end!

Here I thought nothing could top the last story in the series (Promise Me This), but once again, Karla proved me wrong.  These characters just keep getting better and better and if there was a way I could be adopted into this fictional story, I’d leap at it.

Poppy has been in love with scarred, broody Jax (her brother’s best friend) since she was fifteen.  Jax kept his distance until one night changed their lives forever.  I didn’t know how I’d ever come to love Jax, with his tendency to shut Poppy down cold and disappear for weeks and months at a time, but his character growth was phenomenal.  Throw in the funny, poignant Wilder family characters, and Poppy’s own quiet strength, spice, friendship and I’d give this book ten stars if I could. SO many tropes; brother’s best friend, age gap, surprise pregnancy, emotionally scarred hero to name a few. The audio book was perfectly narrated by Connor Crais and Samantha Brentmore and I had a giant lump in my throat for a large portion of this book.  I’ve read it and listened to it twice already, and this book will definitely by on my repeat list. Superbly done.  I both look forward to and dread the next book in the series because it will be the last.  I did feel pretty bad for Poppy’s boyfriend (he was such a Golden Retriever/Cinnamon Roll) so maybe he’ll get a HEA as a side story in the next/last book.  (Hint, Hint!)

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Dragon Born

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a Dragon Kings Novel

by Donna Grant

This is the eagerly awaited story of the human, Henry,  and the Dragon Queen Melisse.  Henry has been a beloved character since the early days of Donna Grant’s Dark Kings/Dragon Kings; first as a human MI-5 agent and progressively more and more as part of the Dragon Kings’ family.  Henry is brave and dedicated, yet always feels somewhat “less” than his magical counterparts. Even with the fact that he is part of the magical duo (with his sister) of the druid team Justice Bringer/Truth Seeker, Henry has previously exhibited no magical abilities.  Melisse is a half fae, half dragon shifter who was held in captivity for eons by the Dragon Kings. She has been spending her time traveling between realms trying to figure out her purpose, deal with her justifiable anger with the the dragon kings who held her captive, and her path.  She is drawn to Zora and the dragons that were exiled there so long ago.

 The original story we were given about her parentage has clearly been altered over time and by her captors.This story answers SO many questions and the storyline encompasses several universes and races.  

It was SUCH a satisfying love story for someone who has waited SO long for Henry’s HEA.  It can be read as a stand alone, but so much more satisfying as the continuation of the Dragon Kings and the many enemies, on multiple realms, that they have and are facing.  Well done, planning on enjoying the audio version even though I thoroughly enjoyed the ARC I received for an honest review.  Looking forward to the next installment of the Dragon Kings and their fight for the greater good on Zora (and Earth).

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Rising Sun

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Book One of the Elven Kingdom series

By Donna Grant



Rising Sun is the first book in the spinoff series, Elven Kingdoms.  The book takes us back to Zora, the setting of the Dragon Kings series. 
As with most fantasy books, the beginning is a lot of details with new names, species and settings.  Donna Grant brings us to a world with SEVEN species of elves, each with special magic and appearances. Our FMC (human) has a tragic and violent past which she will need to face again (against her will).  Our MMC is a Sun Elf and DIA agent.  Neither is happy at first to be stuck with each other on a mission, but as they face incredible hardships and danger, trust and a friendship begin to bloom. 
The horrors faced by many in the evil place (Shaldorn) were a lot to handle.  (TW for many) We definitely want this horrible place dismantled and the evil ones to pay by the end of this very slow burn story.  There is a third quarter breakup and we do get annoyed at the MMC’s idiocy for a bit.  Absolutely loved the epilogue which leaves us desperate for more and gives us hope that there will be more intertwining with the previous series, as Donna is apt to do.  I’m also looking forward to hearing Shane East narrating the audio version.  Great start to an exciting,  new series, kudos Ms. Grant!