The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicles of Narnia #3) by C.S. Lewis

Blurb: Narnia . . . where horses talk . . . where treachery is brewing . . . where destiny awaits.

On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself.

 

 

 

 

3 stars

My daughter really wanted us to keep reading this series so I pushed through this book but I was never really a fan of this story. I think this might be my least favorite CS Lewis book in the Narnia series.  My daughter loved it though.  She was very excited to read it and I think we may have finished it faster than TLTWATW.

I found Aravis to be a bit spoiled and overbearing.  We see the potential for her character to grow but it happens at such a slow pace for me that I kinda just gave up on her.  Shasta seemed to be a bit of a pushover, never really coming to any conclusions on his own.  Just kinda letting events happen to him as opposed to facilitating them himself. And the horses seemed to be more of just extras to tie in the Narnia theme.  Their personalities reflect Shasta and Aravis, making them less likable to me due to lack of originality.

I did enjoy the hermit quite a bit along with the king and the young prince as well. I could have spent more time getting to know him more.  Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are the ones I wanted to learn more about really, but they were only in it sparingly.  The good news is, my favorite book in the series is next so yea, more Pevensies!

In the Presence of Knowing (Secrets of Windy Springs, #1) by Valarie Savage Kinney

Blurb: Keisha is pregnant and on the run from an abusive ex-boyfriend. Hiding out at Windy Springs Renaissance Festival, she discovers a world of magic.
Stepping into new and unfamiliar territory, she finds herself among people different from any she’s met before. Though she feels she’ll never fit in, Keisha finds hope when she meets Rogan, who plays the troll. As friendship blossoms into romance, she soon discovers that Rogan, as well as others at Windy Springs, have abilities beyond the average individual – abilities that the child growing within her shares as well. When danger comes to Windy Springs, she’ll need the combined powers of Rogan and his friends to keep her and the baby safe.
In the Presence of Knowing is the first book in the Secrets of Windy Springs series. Grab your copy today and find out what mysteries await within the magical forest at Windy Springs.

4.5 stars

First of all, I am a HUGE fan of this cover! It’s so pretty and it directly relates to the entire story.  Second of all, HOW IS THIS THE FIRST BOOK I’M READING BY VALARIE KINNEY!!!

I’ve been FB friends with her for while and I own a book or two by her already. But for some reason I never got around to reading one…until now.  TBH, I am always a bit leary of reading authors after I have friend them because I don’t want to have to tell them I don’t like their book. Fortunately, that is not the case with this one.

I loved the subtlety of the magic in this story. It wasn’t overpowering but had just enough to keep me engaged.  The setting is amazing. I love Ren Faires! I have been to several and have an outfit and everything.  The atmosphere is always so unique and fun.

One of my favorite things about this book are all the non-conventional characters. Especially Rogan and Captain Dash.  Even Keisha is pretty non-conventional herself.  I totally fell for all of them and can’t wait to dive back into the next installment of this series!

Conquered by M.A. Wilder

Blurb:
Beckit Wright has survived a string of attempted murders that spans her entire young life. And as Crimson’s attacks grow bolder and bolder, Beckit is faced with the grim reality that safety is no longer a possibility for her loved ones either. As the té-trad’s four members finally come together and Beckit masters her té-trad ability, Beckit is committed to defeating Crimson once and for all. However, the balance between work and her growing family is a precarious one, and she soon finds the cost of her success comes at too high a price. Powerful and gripping, this highly anticipated conclusion to The Té-trad Tale promises an epic ending to the tragic narrative of loss and love that has captured the hearts of readers.

WARNING: This book contains some adult language, violence, and sexual content. Reader and parental discretion is advised.

     

My Review:
4 stars — This was a solid conclusion to what turned out to be a very entertaining trilogy!!  I think the strengths of this story lie in their diversity, the rich and varied world the author describes, and the humour mixed with emotion.

This book, like the previous ones, gave me things I both loved and not so much.  It was a bit of an up and down read, but balances in the good (obviously, since I gave it 4 stars).  Since I finished this while on a vacation where I didn’t have my laptop, this review is going to be more terse, since all I could do is send myself bulletpoints to try to remember.  Here goes…

I wasn’t super happy with the way certain conflicts were resolved with very little explanation, it seemed really easy and kind of like a copout.  But then the author did bring it back in the end and gave it more purpose, so I’m not as disappointed as I initially was.  But I still kind of wish that things weren’t resolved in that way.  And yes, I know that’s super vague, but I don’t want to spoil things.

I was disappointed that Aaron suffered from a case of assumptionitis not once but twice…  Once made sense, the second time was annoying and I was disappointed that there wasn’t another reason for the wall.

I loved some of the developments with some of the secondary characters, particularly Ran and Frost.  Thinking back on the series as a whole, I do wish we’d learned more about Frost and his backstory, but since I got some great developments in the Ran and Frost area, I’m still satisfied.  I also really enjoyed all the new creatures that were introduced, both bad and good.  The Tables amused me.  And Era and Hakeem Wyvem were cool, I liked knowing more about those other members of the Té-trad.

Strangely, I didn’t feel quite as much emotion at the first battle with the losses that occurred there, but I liked how it changed the story entirely, and kind of stepped things up a notch.  I just wish that I’d been able to feel those losses more…not sure if it’s because of the way they came about, or just the mood I was in when it occurred.

On the other hand, I felt a LOT of emotion with the final battle and climax, and really felt the sacrifices and desperation.  Like really felt it.  It was so well done.

One of the things that was vexing me at the end of the 2nd book was the lack of development with the overarching plot…like who was Crimson?  What is the Té-trad?  And what is Beckit’s ability?  Thankfully I loved the twists and turns of who Crimson was and other bad guys.  And I was thoroughly satisfied with the way the Té-trad stuff played out, and Beckit’s ability was really rather cool and added some great twists of its own in how the battle would play out.

So yeah, like I said…solid conclusion to a very entertaining series.

Honored by M.A. Wilder

Blurb:
Beckit Wright thought she would be safe on Traterra. However, she soon discovers that safety is no longer a possibility thanks to a shaky relationship with her new erone and the ever-increasing unrest across the planet. As she confronts issues of love, loyalty, and responsibility, Beckit must do her part to protect Traterra before Crimson stops her once and for all.

WARNING: This book contains some adult language, violence, and sexual content. Reader and parental discretion is advised.

 

     

My Review:
4 stars — YAAYYYYY!!!  Much better!!!  I’m not sure if I just got used to it, or if it was really done better (I’m convinced it’s the latter), but the 3rd person felt more limited and less omniscient to me…or else it just wasn’t as jarring.  But really, the majority of it was in Beckit’s head, and I just loved it a lot more.  I was able to stay absorbed in the story.  And I didn’t notice the use of “the human” and “the poh iverstànt” as much.  I’m not sure if they were eliminated, or if I was just so absorbed in the story it didn’t matter, but whatever it was it was MUCH BETTER!!!  And the editing in general was much better, a lot less missed typos…

Holy schnike a lot happens in this book.  Well, a lot of different things.  We have a few strange twists and turns, some villains to play out, and new creatures to meet.  And overall I really enjoyed myself along the ride.  There was tension, and action (some gruesome), and oh the feels!!

Normally I’m not a fan of drawn out romantic drama, but I kind of felt for what Beckit was going through, and her reluctance made sense in terms of her background.  But I did enjoy how that all developed and played out over the story line.  And the steamy scenes fit better somehow, or maybe I’d just accepted them…it’s funny how things that will bug me about a first book just won’t matter as much in later books b/c it’s my choice to continue on, so I just accept that this is the way it’s going to be.

I also really enjoyed that Beckit put Aaron in his place a bit about the jealousy and high-handedness.  *high fives Beckit!*

And the secondary characters are still freaking amazing, and make up a great cast for this story.  And we just ended up with even more in this story, from ones that were constantly present (Xoe, Denzin and Dozen are da freaking bomb), to ones that only appeared for short times (Penn).

And as always, the diversity is still quite present in this book, even adding a little glimpse at transgender as well.  I kind of like that not a lot of time is spent on it, it’s just present.  You know, like real life.

So on the reasons this didn’t make 5 stars, I still feel like some of the plot devices? used felt a bit contrived (the whole tension and action at the end of a chapter that is quickly resolved)…or maybe not contrived, but just not my favourite tactic in writing?  And I was disappointed that more people didn’t clue into what was going on with Beckit and the villain in the first half of the story.  It was sort of explained away with other things occupying her friends minds, but it didn’t feel like enough for me.  And finally, I wish we had learned more about what the heck is going on in the overall plot.  Like who is Crimson?  What is the Té-Trad supposed to be doing?  When is she going to get her abilities?  How in the world is this war going to play out?

But despite those little things, I am so sucked in and already eagerly reading the final book.  And can I just say that the humour is fantastic?  It’s the little bits of levity and sass that really win me over every time.

Armored by M.A. Wilder

Blurb:

When seventeen-year-old Beckit Wright joins Aaron, a mesmerizing and mysterious knight, on a dangerous adventure to a world that she is destined to save, things get complicated when her safety and heart wind up in jeopardy. As the two struggle to keep their professional relationship from turning personal, Beckit and Aaron begin to wonder how long will they be able to fight both their enemies and their fierce attraction for one another before one of them ends up hurt or worse.

WARNING: This book contains some adult language, violence, and sexual content. Reader and parental discretion is advised.

     

My Review:
3 stars — Wellllll…*beep*  I mean seriously.  I am a big ball of torn.  I don’t even know what that means, good start Lenore.

So here’s the thing.  There were two things about the way this book was written that just bugged the crap out of me.  I mean SERIOUSLY drove me batty.  And I will get into them.  And then there were a handful of things that kind of annoyed me, but not horrendously.  And then there were things I loved.  I spent the first half pretty sure that I would just finish the book, give it an OK rating, and move on with my life.  But the problem is that the good things have me compelled!  I want to know where the story goes!  And it ended on a pretty big cliffhanger…sort of…I never know the definition of cliffhangers, but it wasn’t all neat and tidy.  So I’m going to read the next one!  Even though GAH!!  JUST GAH!!!

OK, so let’s get the really bad out of the way and work our way to good.  Bad thing #1: this book was written in what I believe is 3rd person omniscient, and I do NOT read 3rd person omniscient, so I’m not sure exactly, but I don’t think it was done very well.  MOST of the time, and for a good chunk of the beginning it was in 3rd person limited (Beckit’s head), and I was enjoying that.  And then all of a sudden we definitely weren’t in Beckit’s head.  And it confused the crap out of me.  First because I wasn’t entirely sure whose head we were in, or if we were in any head…and it happened sporadically for the rest of the book.  We’d be going along as Beckit, and then wham…something else.  Sometimes I could figure out it was probably Aaron, but other times I just couldn’t tell.  And because it was so sporadic, it was really jarring and I honestly feel like the book would have been better served to stick to Beckit only…I don’t think the switches really added much given how confusing they were.

Bad thing #2: Sort of related, because sometimes when the POV was switching, it would almost be sort of like a narrator, and so the author would continuously switch out Beckit’s name with “the human” or “the poh iverstant”…  It really didn’t fit.  I don’t understand the point of doing that.  It felt like when someone is given the advice to change things up to provide variety, but it just again made me confused about the perspective.

OK, so those were the bads that drove me batty.  Onto the meh things.  1) The pacing was a bit off for me.  I felt like things moved really rapidly at the beginning, but without much explanation, and so I wasn’t invested.  I tried to explain the book to my husband and he laughed because I sounded like a run on sentence (“and then they got to the planet, and then they were attacked, and then they ran to a village…”).  And I didn’t like that the chapters would end with a sort of cliffhanger, but then would not immediately resolve in the next chapter.  Like (and this is not an actual example, b/c I don’t have one handy), she would turn around and scream, but then the next chapter would start off with her lounging hanging with her BFF, and eventually they would explain what made her scream.  It felt like contrived tension.

2) The love triangle was unnecessary in my opinion.  I mean, yes, it’s no secret I don’t like love triangles, but this one really didn’t serve a purpose, or at the very least it should have served a short purpose and been resolved.  (it kind of felt like we were getting into the trope of everyone falls in love with the heroine who thinks she’s an ugly duckling, and that’s just not my fave…especially because I kind of liked that Beckit was not a usual size/shape).

3) Aaron.  He was inconsistent as all heck.  He would have a few swoony moments, but I really didn’t know enough about him to really understand why he was drawn to Beckit, or what he was thinking, or heck, what he was like (which given that the perspective jumped, we could have had more moments in his head to enlighten us)??  And then he would become childishly possessive.  For a thousand year old Knight, he behaved like a child with a temper tantrum too often for me to swoon.  And I just didn’t get the pull that Beckit felt for him.  It felt like a crush and lust, I don’t think I got enough interaction to get where it turned into more.  Heck I don’t understand if they’re even friends.

4) The sex scene didn’t fit the tone of the book.  I’m a proud reader of all levels of steam, from squeaky clean to erotica, but the sex scene was hella explicit for a book that felt more YA than NA.  And for characters that were goofier.  But maybe that was just me (and at least there is a warning in the blurb).

5) Beckit and Tameka (but mostly Beckit) were way too accepting of things.  And for Beckit it was based on some feelings.  If those feelings were then explained to be some magic pull between an erone and his poh iverstant, then I would accept it.  But just because you acknowledge to the reader that she should be more wary/skeptical, but just isn’t, doesn’t really satisfy me.  And what are Tameka’s parents thinking?  And does she not care about them worrying about her?

Damn this review is getting long.  Sorry guys.  THE GOOD!!!  1) THE WORLD!!  Colour me intrigued.  I kind of love that there’s this planet that contains all these supernatural creatures, and that’s just the way it is and everyone just lives together.  It amuses me, I enjoy it.  And I ADORED the way the Knights were added, and how they’re kind of shifter like with their armor being a part of who they are as creatures or something.  Like seriously cool.

2) When the writing was on, I really felt for Beckit and the things she was going through, and she got me in the feels.  It wasn’t consistent, but when it was there it was amazing.

3) The bits of sassy humour!!  Seriously, the characters had me grinning in a number of places.  And I know this is a downside for some readers, but I enjoyed the youthful slang that Tameka and Beckit used.  It just fit their personalities and brought out their teenagerness.  And the games night!  It was a great moment of levity that was sorely needed.

4) Beckit was smart!!!  I ADORED the scene in the council meeting!  I wanted to high five her all over the place!

5) While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the romance, and it was inconsistent, when the chemistry was there I really felt it.

6) The motley crew of friends!!!  Tameka was sassy and pretty funny (though she would probably get on my nerves after a while in real life).  Linnie was an interesting addition, and I hope we see more of her in the future.  I really hope Frost has a lot more secrets to tell, b/c while he’s interesting, he will be even more interesting if there is something to the little hints we see every now and again.  Royce is even intriguing, he’s a nice foil for Meka.  And RAN!!!  Ran is my total favourite.  Love that guy.  I can’t even.

7) Even the smaller secondary characters were intriguing!!! (Denzin, Dozen, Xoe, Hakeen, Gwon)

8) Particularly Atlas!!  I love me a father/son dynamic, and he really added to the story.

9) And I can’t stress this enough, DIVERSITY!!!  A black heroine!!  A hispanic BFF!!  A gay werewolf!!  A bi vampire!!  And even secondary characters were a colourful array of ethnicities.

And this can go in the bad and good: the overarching plot!  It’s intriguing, but it was really shuffled to the background a lot.  I mean, I still don’t understand what the Te-Trad even is, or what they’re going to do, or much about where the whole conflict is going to go.  But nevertheless I’m intrigued!  I want to know!

So there you have it.  Next book has been purchased, about to be started.  We’ll see if I can tolerate the bad enough to enjoy the good for the rest of the series.

A Mortal Song by Megan Crewe

Blurb:

Sora’s life was full of magic–until she discovered it was all a lie.

Heir to Mt. Fuji’s spirit kingdom, Sora yearns to finally take on the sacred kami duties. But just as she confronts her parents to make a plea, a ghostly army invades the mountain. Barely escaping with her life, Sora follows her mother’s last instructions to a heart-wrenching discovery: she is a human changeling, raised as a decoy while her parents’ true daughter remained safe but unaware in modern-day Tokyo. Her powers were only borrowed, never her own. Now, with the world’s natural cycles falling into chaos and the ghosts plotting an even more deadly assault, it falls on her to train the unprepared kami princess.

As Sora struggles with her emerging human weaknesses and the draw of an unanticipated ally with secrets of his own, she vows to keep fighting for her loved ones and the world they once protected. But for one mortal girl to make a difference in this desperate war between the spirits, she may have to give up the only home she’s ever known.

     

My Review:
4.5 stars — I’m a day late, but I started reading this book to fulfill the January theme for one of my Diversity challenges, which was “Stories based on/ inspired by diverse folktales/culture/mythology.”  This book fit that theme PERFECTLY and I’m so glad I picked it up with this challenge in mind, b/c I was thoroughly entertained by Sora’s story!  This is not a book that typically piques my interest, as I tend to go for either contemporary or more modern paranormal/sci-fi.  But after reading a review from Lillian @Mom With a Reading Problem, it sort of just stuck with me.  So when I saw it go on sale, and noticed it matched the diversity theme, I snatched it up.

So after that long-winded explanation…ahem.  I really loved that this one introduced me to some mythology from Japan.  It was all so enchanting, and I loved the blending of the world of the Kami with the modern world in Japan.  I’m not really a huge fantasy reader b/c I enjoy the linking back to the real world, so I loved that this was both…I guess kind of urban fantasy then, eh?  If you couldn’t tell, I’m really not that familiar with the genre.

I loved the uniqueness of Sora’s journey.  So often we read about a seemingly ordinary girl who actually has extraordinary powers and saves everyone.  In some ways Sora’s story was kind of opposite.  She grew up thinking she was a being of extraordinary powers, but in the end she was a normal human.  But it was her normal humanness that helped save everyone (sort of).  I really LOVED that.  I loved seeing her struggle with the lies she had been told, and how she would deal with her new reality, eventually coming to embrace what it meant.  I enjoyed Sora as a narrator, I thought her struggles were relatable and she grew in a reasonable way.

And the plot kept me hooked!!  I enjoyed the journey the whole group went on to fulfill the prophecy and defeat the bad guys.  There was exciting fight scenes and intriguing plot twists.  I was up til 3am reading this bad boy, before I had to finally put it down.

I’m not a fan of love triangles, but this one only bugged me a little since it was pretty shallow, though I will admit that I fell for the first boy and didn’t give the second boy nearly enough of a chance, so I didn’t really get totally on board with the romance.  It’s funny, b/c I tend to require romance in the books I read, but I wasn’t super invested in this one.  It had some great butterfly moments, but I wasn’t always convinced of the feelings involved.  Perhaps I didn’t get what was drawing them together outside of attraction.

As for the side characters, I really enjoyed them and loved that they all had some depth, with both admirable qualities and flaws.  I thought Chiyo would annoy me, but I actually came to enjoy her and root for her (and I loved her romance with Haru).  I felt similarly about Haru, but he really surprised me, and I kind of loved that.  I almost wished I knew more about Takeo, b/c I really enjoyed him, and I felt like there could be more there.  And then there’s Keiji.  I had a harder time forgiving his flaws, but I also enjoyed his redeeming moments (and they made me bawl).  I also really liked that he was a bit of a nerd and beta boy.  I even kind of enjoyed the bad guy and the story surrounding him.

One of the things that has me rounding down instead of up is that I found I guessed a few major plot twists, and how to defeat the bad guy, quite early on, and so it was frustrating to wait around while Sora (or the others) figured it out.  Sometimes I get giddy when I figure things out, but this was just quite obvious so it wasn’t quite as fun.

Regardless of all that, I was fully invested in this story, and I LOVED that this was a standalone novel, and I felt like the story got everything it deserved in just one book.  And Sora is definitely one of my favourite YA characters, she deals with so much and I admire how she navigated her journey.

Marked (Servants of Fate #1) by Sarah Fine

Blurb: In a broken landscape carved by environmental collapse, Boston paramedic Cacia Ferry risks life and limb on the front lines of a fragile and dangerous city. What most don’t know—including her sexy new partner, Eli Margolis—is that while Cacy works to save lives, she has another job ferrying the dead to the Afterlife. Once humans are “Marked” by Fate, the powerful Ferrys are called to escort the vulnerable souls to either eternal bliss or unending fire and pain.

Unaware of Cacy’s other life, Eli finds himself as mesmerized by his fierce and beautiful partner as he is mistrustful of the influential Ferry clan led by the Charon—who happens to be Cacy’s father. Cacy, in turn, can no longer deny her intense attraction to the mysterious ex-Ranger with a haunted past. But just as their relationship heats up, an apparent hit takes the Charon before his time. Shaken to the core, Cacy pursues the rogue element who has seized the reins of Fate, only to discover that Eli has a devastating secret of his own. Not knowing whom to trust, what will Cacy have to sacrifice to protect Eli—and to make sure humanity’s future is secure?

Favorite Quotes

She folded her arms over her chest. “I have trouble thinking when I’m not wearing pants.” Eli laughed, a deep, husky sound, and took a few steps back. “I guess we have that in common. I also have trouble thinking when you’re not wearing pants.”

 

But this morning, when she’d seen him standing in the pew, looking so out of place and yet so perfect, it was like warm honey had been poured over her soul.

The delicate burden of her head on his shoulder made him feel weak and strong at the same time, like he would do anything for her, like he could be anything she needed, even if it meant just being her friend. But it also made him feel vulnerable, because she could hurt him now—really hurt him—and she didn’t even know it.

5 stars

First off, the cover is gorgeous no? And this book was free to me because I have an app called Kindle for Samsung that allows me to get a free book every month! This was my September choice.

Second off, this book had a depth I was not expecting!  I expected the sexy times but the journey there was oh so suspenseful and the plot was a great one.  The story could have stood on its own merits with no romance and I would have loved it.  I love when all aspects of a book come together in a perfect storm.  The whole contradiction of saving lives but then ferrying the death was so intriguing to me.  I love a good contrast.

This author wrote Cacy with a great combination of grit and insecurity.  She was confident in her role as a paramedic, but struggled with her role in her family business.  She closeness with her father was endearing and as a previous daddy’s girl, I could relate to that very well.  Her relationship with Eli becomes both steamy and deep fairly quickly, the suspense of their attraction combined with a constant give and take was a wonderful bit of anticipation for me.  You could see where it was going but then it would stall a bit, making me want to throw the book when they didn’t quite get there as fast as I would have liked.

But the wait was well worth it.  I think many people would like this story.  I’d say give it a try.

98: The Witch’s Prophecy (Rise of the Battle-Bred #2) by V.L. Holt

Blurb: In this clean YA paranormal romance, William and Jane learn the steps to their new friendship while forces around them are converging on Deer Fjord to create a battleground of historic proportions. William and his father are under suspicion of murder and Jane is recovering from a Lochspawn attack.

Woven throughout this urban adventure is Agnes’ life story, written in her own words. Agnes is one of the First Mothers, a child of the Middle Ages and a devoted Christian. Details about the creation of the Warrior race finally come to light in her heartrending history.

 

 

 

4 stars

This book definitely raised questions that need to be answered in the third book. It’s been so long since I read the first one that I was a bit confused reading it. But I caught up pretty quickly.

Not a lot of action in this book, actually, almost no action.  This book gives us loads of flashbacks and backstory.  I gotta say the backstory was exceptionally interesting to me.  I loved the way it was told through Agnes journal.  She had a third eye when it came to people and could see right into their hearts.  She was guarded but not afraid, headstrong but not foolish.  By far my favorite character to date in this series.

Jane and Williams relationship seems to stagnate a bit in this book since they don’t really see much of each other, so the romance suffered in my eyes.

We do get to see more of the Z guys as I like to call them.  Whether or not they are the big bad isn’t really made clear to us, at least to me it wasn’t.  It was clear they had an alterior agenda but we didn’t really see them being straight up evil.  It’s all implied at this point.

I am anticipating the third installment in this series. I do need to say I think this book ended rather abruptly and with no real closure for me, but from what I remember, the first book was like that as well.

 

 

Blood Solstice (Tale of Lunarmorte #3) by Samantha Young

Blurb: In the final installment of The Tale of Lunarmorte, Caia is caught between the most powerful beings in her world, and they are all desperate to use her for their own means. While Caia struggles to find her purpose, tragedy strikes close to home, and time runs out.
Now she must decide if she will join the extremists she was trying to destroy… or bring them all down on her own terms…

 

3 stars

I don’t like this cover either.  I don’t really get what it has to do with the story itself.  And honestly this story took a wild turn for me.    The ending was underwhelming to say the least.  I just couldn’t wrap my head around how easy it was for her to beat the big bad.  And we never find out what her ‘special’ power is.  That was a huge loose end that needed to be tied up IMO.

So let’s see, you would think after ALL the trials and tribulations Caia and Lucien go through, they would have a strong relationship.  But nooooo, surprise surprise, he still doesn’t trust her to be able to take care of herself and respect her decisions.  Not that Lucien is the only one who suffers from stupidity, Caia is an idiot about the whole situation.  Sorry to be mean about it but this series started out so good and just went downhill for me making me really angry and maybe a bit bitter as well.

Although I will say that once again, Jaeden and Ryder’s story saved this book from being a total loss for me.  I felt her pain, I felt his anger and hopelessness.  They had such a traumatic experience that I cried. I cried a lot at that one part.  You know which I mean Lenore, right?  Anyway,  if it wasn’t for the side characters in this story I may have DNF’d this book, which is sad because it’s the last book in the series.

I don’t really have much else to say about this story, as a whole it was good,  this last one just was a bit irritating for me.

River Cast (The Tale of Lunarmorte #2) by Samantha Young

Blurb: Enter a world of fierce wolves, stunning magic and romance…

Swept into the world of the Daylight Coven, Caia is caught between her loyalty to the Daylights and her new insight into the hearts of the Midnights. As more obstacles are thrown in her and Lucien’s way, Caia is pushed further adrift from him and Pack Errante. With no one to turn to, Caia has to make the most difficult choice of all…

Who does she truly belong with? The Daylights or the Midnights?

 

 

 

4 stars

The first one was a lot of background information but once you got all that down it got a whole lot more interesting.  Except for the whole, “We refuse to be mates just because” thing.  That actually really fucking annoyed me, I don’t understand it.  I would have nipped that shit in the bud but thats just me. I personally would have never got with Lucien in the first place because I’m not a pushover like Caia is.

This book had a lot more stuff going on.  There was a lot more political intrigue and espianoge and I really enjoyed that in the book.  One of the things that kind of was like a burr under my skin was the fact that Caia was playing a political game when I felt that she should have been playing a straight forward game. She was trying too hard in my opinion.  And allowing for way more respect to Marita than I ever would have given her. I feel like that is what got her in trouble.  She doesn’t have to answer to Marita, she is the head of the Midnight Coven.  They are equals.  Marita was very overbearing about it and treating her as if she was her subject, when in fact Caia should have made it very clear from the beginning, “Bitch, lets not get this twisted”  I think thats where her downfall was with regards to the political aspect.

I don’t even understand the whole Lucien/Cair relationship thing.  The only way their relationship made any kind of sense was because he was a shifter alpha.  And they are known to be very agressive, possessive and domineering.  But she is an alpha too, so it didn’t make sense.  With her being as independent and strong magically and politically, I don’t know why he felt the need to hover.  She could very clearly take care of herself and yet he still acted like she was this fragile thing.

But I will say this, one of my favorite things about this book was Jaeden and Ryder’s story. Oh lordy, it was good.  Their story was just like the frosting on the cake.Jaedans character was really well written.  Ryders levity helped to even out her rough edges which I quite enjoyed.

And the way they kind of threw Rueben in there. At first it was hard to figure his role out, even by the end of the book I was still scratching my head.  But it came together very nicely, there was no loose ends, everything was tied up.

This book was great.