What Lies Around The Bend...

  "This is a story about hunger. 1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets. This is a story about love. 1827. London. A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined. This is a story about rage. 2019. Boston. College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and he...

"Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition. The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself. They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the ex...

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE OAK AND HOLLY CYCLE SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 2. CHECK OUT THE WREN IN THE HOLLY LIBRARY   FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1! "Can you trust the dark when you know that it lies? Kierse McKenna just shattered the Monster Treaty. Again. It wasn’t entirely her fault. The job was supposed to be simple: steal a goblin-made bracelet off of the Queen of the Nymphs in her own palace. Trade the bracelet for a way to uncover the truth about her past. Except everything goes sideways. And then he shows up to save her. Graves—the warlock who ensnared her, betrayed her, and left her to fend for herself. He’s a villain. A monster draped in charm and shadows. And gods help her, he always knows exactly what she wants. But Graves never does anything for free. He has a job for his favorite little thief. One that will pit her against the most powerful monsters in existence, including his mortal enemy, the Oak King. An ancient art...

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE RUTHLESS BOYS OF THE ZODIAC SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 2. CHECK OUT DARK FAE   FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1! "There's more to my brother's murder than I realized... Shadows in the halls, mysteries lurking around every corner. Whoever killed him is covering their tracks well. And now I'm walking a dangerous line between getting close to the four kings for information and wanting to crawl deeper under their skin for my own desires. I can't trust anyone. I can't let my guard down. And I must keep the urges of my body separate from my heart. But I'm starting to break all of my own rules. I just hope I'm not falling for my brother's killer." Review: Another one bites the dust!  Honestly, I was hoping I think for a bit more character development in this along with the smut, but if we look at how much progress our girl has made on the murder of her own brother? Well, diddly fu...

“Can you love the dark when you know what it hides? Some things aren’t supposed to exist outside of our imagination. Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight. In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce...of sorts. But tonight, Kierse―a gifted and fearless thief―will break that treaty. She’ll enter the Holly Library...not knowing it’s the home of a monster. He’s charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it’s just a matter of finding her price. Now she’s locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She’ll sacrifice her freedom. She’ll offer her skills. Together, they’ll put their own futures at risk. But he’s been playing a game across centuries―and once she joins in, there will be no escape..." Review: Now this is what I'm talking about!! Brin...

  "A mysterious book that promises unlimited power and unrivaled sexual pleasure. A down-on-her-luck book dealer hoping for the sale of a lifetime. And a twist so shocking, no one will come out unscathed. After a tragedy too painful to bear, former novelist Lily Albrecht has resigned herself to a dull, sexless life as a rare book dealer. Until she gets a lead on a book that just might turn everything around. The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a 17th century manual on sex magic, rumored to be the most powerful occult book ever written - if it really exists at all. And some of the wealthiest people in the world are willing to pay Lily a fortune to find it - if she can.  Her search for the book takes her from New York to New Orleans to Munich to Paris, searching the dark corners of power where the world’s wealthiest people use black magic to fulfill their desires. Will Lily fulfill her own desires, and join them? Or will she lose it all searching for a ghost?' Review: Wha...