The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

I’m an avid reader, who started writing little notes about the books I read and kept them organized on a spreadsheet to help me remember the stories. Several years ago, I started to share this spreadsheet with other readers. I was surprised that so many folks enjoyed my commentary and encouraged me to start my own blog.

I hope you will enjoy my reviews and follow my blog; I suspect from time to time I may post on topics I feel strongly about, but this is mostly all about the stories.

My reviews are written voluntarily and are my honest opinions. If you would like to support this blog, please follow me, click on the ads that interest you or you can donate here. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. https://amzn.to/43a393V

Five-star rating system for books.

• 5 – Loved it, would highly recommend
• 4 – I liked it, a good read
• 3 – Okay read
• 2 – Didn’t care for the story, may have significant editing problems or story issues
• 1 – Did not like at all

Five-star rating system for heat level

• 5 – Heat level is high, extremely detailed, adults only
• 4 – Sensual, steamy, some things are left to the imagination
• 3 – There’s intimacy but the details are glossed over, minimal details
• 2 – Very little details, there may be intimacy but it’s either not discussed or glossed over
• 1 – No sexual encounters, or nothing more than light affection

Genres I read: Romance, Historical, Urban Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Erotica, LGBTQ, Dark Romance, Dark Fantasy, Military/Spy, Suspense, Thriller, Action Adventures, Western Romance

From the Grave by Kresley Cole

Story 3 of 5 stars

Heat 3 of 5 stars

Series – The Arcana Chronicles

Main characters – Jackson Deveaux, Evangeline Greene, ‘Death’ Aric Domīnija, Kentarch Mgaya, Matthew, Circe, Richter, Lark, Zara, Joules, Sol, Gabriel

III. The Empress, Our Lady of Thorns, Evangeline ‘Evie’ Greene – She’s Mother Nature with a dark side… the Red Witch. Torn between Aric and Jack and pregnant with Aric’s child. Trying to end the game so no more of her friends has to die.

XIII. Death, the Endless Knight, Aric – He’s the bringer of death and winner of past games. He’s planned and plotted for centuries but his love for Evie and his unborn child has changed everything.

Jackson Deveaux – The Hunter, has loved Evie for years. He would do anything to protect her and her child.

While they prepare for Evie’s child to be born, hoping it will end the game. They also make plans to face off with Richter and Zara who are bent on destroying them all.

As this is the final book in the series, I want to be careful not to give anything away. I have enjoyed this series over the years and have grown attached to the various characters. Especially Evie, Jackson and Aric. I’m torn about this final installment. It took me months of starting and stopping to get through this book. It felt like traveling through mud with brief glimpses of sunshine and then back to the mud, until about three-fourths of the book. The last quarter was more in line with what I expected and hoped for from this installment. But getting there was a slog and for the first time ever, I wanted to just skip to the end of the book to find out how it all ended. I didn’t but it was a close thing.

For more of my reviews follow my blog at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

#wyldheartreads @wyldheartreads #romancereads #booksofinstagram #romancebooksofig #igreads #lovestory #bibliophile #bookstagram #romanceaddict

#FromtheGrave #KresleyCole #TheArcanaChronicles #ValkryiePress #DystopianReads #YAreads #UrbanFantasyReads

The Family you Make by Jill Shalvis, narrated by Erin Malton

Story 4 of 5 stars

Heat 4 of 5 stars

Series – Sunrise Cove

Main characters – Levi Cutler, Jane Parks, Dr. Charlotte Dixon, Dr. Mateo Moreno

Listened to audio narrated well by Erin Malton.

Levi Cutler is a data scientist consultant. He left home after his fiancé died, he always felts like the odd man out, even amongst his loud loving family.

Jane Parks is a traveling nurse. She was passed around as a child after her parents’ death, leaving her still feeling unwanted. Everyone always left her, leaving her unwilling to invest her feelings in someone new.

Her best friend Dr. Charlotte Dixon keeps a room open for her when she returns every year. Charlotte keeps men at arm’s length, and must control her world but fellow Dr Mateo Moreno (her neighbor) can’t stop himself from ‘helping’ her, driving her crazy.

Levi and Jane almost died on a ski lift during a storm, and a last call ends up with them pretending to be dating. Levi knows it’s real but struggles to convince Jane to trust him and believe in what they have, and that he won’t leave her. Levi’s dedication causes her to slowly ease her defenses to give them a chance.

Shalvis gives us two sweet tender romances, while the focus is primarily on Levi and Jane, the budding romance between Dr. Charlotte Dixon and Dr. Mateo Moreno gives us twice the cozy read.

For more of my reviews follow my blog at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

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#TheFamilyYouMake #SunriseCove #JillShalvis #HarperAudio #audiobooks #Erin Malton

The Mister by E.L. James narrated by Dominic Thorbun

Story 3 of 5 stars

Heat 5 of 5 stars

Series – Mister & Missus

Main characters – Maxim Trefelyan, Alessia Demachi

Listened to audio narrated well by Dominic Thorburn and Jessica O’Hara-Baker. Both delivered a great performance, that was easy to listen to along with great sound accompaniments, that worked beautifully with the story and narration. Too bad the story wasn’t as good as the narration.

Maxim Trefelyan has become the new Earl after his brother died in an accident. He’s self-absorbed, and obsessed with beauty, He has to adjust from being a hedonist vagabond, dj, model, to a responsible caretaker and manager of the vast Earldom’s estate.

Alessia Demachi is a talented pianist, from Albania. She fled her homeland to avoid an arranged marriage to an abusive man. Betrayed she fell into the hands of traffickers, whom she escaped and is now working illegally as a daily cleaning lady in London for cash. She may have escaped, but she is still hunted.

From the moment he saw his Daily he became obsessed. As he learns more about her, her situation and her musical talent his obsession only becomes stronger. Even though she doesn’t think much of this playboy she can’t seem to help being drawn to him.

There are hints that these characters may have more to them but it never gets realized. They are shallow, obsessed with superficial looks and their body’s desires. I kept expecting more but it never happened.

For more of my reviews follow my blog at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

#wyldheartreads @wyldheartreads #romancereads #booksofinstagram #romancebooksofig #igreads #lovestory #bibliophile #bookstagram #romanceaddict

#TheMister #ELJames #MisterandMissus #BooksonTape #DominicThorbun #BoomBooks #contentwarning #eroticareads

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Story 3 of 5 stars

Heat 3 of 5 stars

Series – The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, Grisaverse

Main characters – Alina Starkov, Malyen Orestsev, Darkling, Nikolai Lantsov

Listened to audio narrated by Lauren Fortgang.

Alina Starkov is the Sun Summoner, incredibly weakened after her face off with the Darkling. She and her followers are under the ‘care’ of the White Church and it’s leader. The priest wishes to use her for his own ambitions but it won’t stop her and her companions from devising a way to escape and face off with the Darkling once and for all.

Their mission is to escape, seek the prince, find the Phoenix and face off once and for all with the Darkling. But as they progress things don’t go as expected and revelations point to a direction they don’t want to travel.

This is the last installment and I am left feeling bleh. It felt like several mini story ideas were forced together, hints from the previous book fizzled, then came a very rushed feeling ending and an epilogue showing their happily ever after. At this point I’m glad it’s over and I can put this series behind me.

For more of my reviews follow my blog at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

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#RuinandRising #LeighBardugo #ShadowandBoneTrilogy #Grisaverse #FantasyReads #HenryHoltandCompany

Wait for You by J. Lynn

Story 3 of 5 stars

Heat 3 of 5 stars

Series – Wait for You

Main characters – Cameron Hamilton, Avery Samantha Morgansten

Avery Samantha Morgansten is nineteen years old. Five years ago, she was betrayed, deals were made and everyone turned on her. She choose a college far from home, needing to get away from her family and a town, determined to continue to vilify her, hoping to leave it all behind her.

Cameron Hamilton is a popular man on campus. He’s supremely confident, even though he too has a secret that affected him deeply.

Avery and Cameron met when she almost knocked him over trying to get to class. She’s not interested in any relationship but Cameron knows he wants her in his life. When they discover they live across from each other in the same apartment building, Cameron takes every opportunity to engage with her.

Avery’s past still affects her deeply. She never got help to deal with what happened and struggles with fear and panic attacks. It doesn’t help that she’s receiving messages and calls from an unknown caller harassing her. Avery’s new friends and Cam continue to try and draw her out with mixed success. Cam is sure his charm will eventually win Avery over, but until then he works his magic showing up and being there for her, whether she wants him there or not.

I liked Cameron’s willingness to find ways to be with Avery at her comfort level, even if he was often over the top. I liked that Avery kept trying to take back her life but the hints about what happened, without disclosing what actually happened until so late in the book was really frustrating. It’s mentioned early on that her family wouldn’t hear of her getting help after her ordeal but she was far away at campus… Why didn’t she seek help from the school counselors? especially after she had a big freak out?

I have mixed feelings about this story, I spent a lot of time being frustrated with Avery. I got tired of how often I was told about how beautiful and muscular Cam was and his arrogance was so over the top he could have easily been a villian rather than a hero. There’s a lot of cheesy stereotypical characters that were more of a distraction than enhancement. The characters felt very surface level. I wanted more depth and less caricatures. Not sure I want to continue this series.

For more of my reviews follow my blog at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

#wyldheartreads @wyldheartreads #romancereads #booksofinstagram #romancebooksofig #igreads #lovestory #bibliophile #bookstagram #romanceaddict

#WaitforYou #JLynn #YoungAdultReads