An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian
Genre: Historical Romance
Content: Clean


An Inconvenient Beauty is part of the Hawthorn House series of clean romance books. This is the second book in the series that I've read, but I didn't read them in order. It worked out ok though as each book stands on its own. I didn't like this one as much as A Noble Masquerade. It wasn't bad, but there were a few things that I found mildly irritating.

I felt there was too much emphasis on Isabella's beauty. I know it played a big part in the whole plot, but it got old and I wasn't really sure if I liked that it played a big part in the plot. On one hand I feel like the book made superficial beauty too important, but then at times it seemed to be trying to say that beauty wasn't so important. I'm not altogether sure what it was saying to be honest.

Griffith's height and size was also mentioned way too many times. Alright already, we get that he is really tall, has long legs, and is a big guy. We don't need to be reminded constantly. The book also employed the often used romance novel trope of keeping things from the person you love. Just tell him what's going on already! Then there is the whole special license thing. One couple in the book decides against it because he doesn't want to compromise her reputation by getting one, but then at the end of the book the other couple gets one. So does it compromise a lady's reputation or not? It just seemed very contradictory.

Those complaints aside, this was a sweet romance and I liked Griffith a lot. Any woman would be lucky to have a guy like him. I also really liked Isabella's cousin Frederica. I kind of wish the book had been about her instead. I also enjoyed getting a peek at what was going on in the lives of Miranda and Ryland from the other book. I'll probably continue on with the series at some point. I like reading these when I'm in the mood for something light.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book.



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The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language and implied sex.


Things are finally looking good for Captain Frey and his crew. The Ketty Jay has been fixed up good as new. They've got their first taste of fortune and fame. And, just for once, nobody is trying to kill them.

I enjoyed reading The Iron Jackal, the third installment of the Tales of the Ketty Jay series. This book was probably my favorite of the series so far. I enjoyed the humor. It kept me laughing which is always a plus. The air chase in the beginning, the train robbery, the part with the bomb, and the race were probably my favorite parts of the book. Oh and the cat and the toast.

As for the characters: Pinn grew on me a lot in this book with his antics. Frey was still Frey. He's definitely a love/hate type of character. His obsession with Trinica could get very old, but I kind of ship them. I'm probably as foolish as he is. We finally find out all about Silo's past, and Jez continues to battle the daemon inside her. Jez is still probably my favorite character in the series and I've enjoyed her exploration of her abilities. Malvery gets to shine a bit here, and Harkins does as well, even if it's in Pinn's name. Crake and Samandra Bree meet up again, something I was looking forward to as I ship them as well. There is also a new crew member, Ashua. It remains to be seen how she will impact things overall, but I think she is a good addition.

There was more digging into the characters and the world in this book and I liked that. The world building was interesting with the strange hybrid type creatures they encounter later in the book, and I like the combination of fantasy with the guns, vehicles and electricity, etc. There's one more book to go in the series and I'm looking forward to reading it.





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Fairchild by Jaima Fixsen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Historical Romance
Content: Clean


Good English families all have a house in the country with a deer park, a trout stream, and an army of gardeners. They should have a son and if it can be managed, he should be handsome. Cleverness isn’t important. Daughters in limited quantities are fine so long as they are pretty. Bastards are inconvenient and best ignored. It's not a big problem, unless you are one. Unfortunately, Sophy is.

Fairchild was yet another really good, clean historical romance that I got for free from Amazon. The characters where very well drawn and I couldn't help but love Sophy. I did feel like Sophy and Tom's feelings for each other happened kind of sudden, but the secret meetings and glances at each other were quite fun. I just wish we had gotten a little more of those in detail. The book was mostly focused on Sophy, but I felt the author did a great job of introducing us to Tom and fleshing his character out despite the limited amount of time we spend with him in the book.

This was such a sweet romance novel. There is a companion novel, Incognita, about Alistair, one of the other character's from this book that I immediately wanted to read and I ended up enjoying it almost just as much. I'll post my review for that one in the near future.



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Elissa Blue by T.K. Perry

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: New Adult, Young Adult, Christian
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Dystopia
Content: Clean


Reading Elissa Blue is like watching The Bachelor, only everyone has wings. Initially I thought this was going to be a book about fairies, but it ended up being about human-butterfly hybrids. It's hard to classify this book. It has a bit of a fantasy feel with some dystopian elements that are not all that fleshed out, but it also is a romance with a definite Christian aspect to it as well. The age of the characters make it fit into the new adult age group, but it's completely clean and reads like a young adult novel. The overall theme of the book is, be wise about who you choose to marry and spend your life with.

What I liked about this book the most was that it somehow kept me glued to it despite the fact that I thought the whole human-butterfly hybrid thing was pretty silly, and the main character drove me crazy at times with her wishy-washy indecisiveness. She went back and forth between three guys so many times.

Now about the guys. I think I met and dated a guy exactly like each of them in college. There is the one that you like and is really nice, but are not attracted enough to. The one who is very attentive and takes care of you and is fun to be around. The one who is attractive but rough around the edges, has a good heart, but maybe isn't all that smart. The one that you know is bad for you, but the attraction is strong. I'm not going to spoil who is who here, or which one Elissa ends up with, but I was happy with who she chose.

Things that I thought could have been improved upon were:
-The story was a little long.
-Too much going around and around in circles with the guys and her feelings about them.
-The days felt super long. Two days felt like two weeks to me.
-Too insta-love like for me. A couple of days isn't enough time to get to know a person.
-The dystopian aspect of the book was underdeveloped.

Things I liked were:
-The funny last names based on types of butterflies. Mr. Sootywing and Mr. Hairstreak, :) :).
I actually looked up these butterflies to see what they looked like.
-The fact that the book kept me glued to it.
-Mit and Holis :)
-The choice she makes about who she will marry.
- The overall theme of the book.

Thanks to the author for giving me a copy of this book for review.





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The Waking Land by Callie Bates

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: One love scene that is moderately descriptive.


It's been fourteen years, since King Antoine took Elanna hostage. Fourteen years since her father's rebellion failed. Fourteen years spent being raised by the man who condemned her people to misery. A man she's come to love as a father.

The Waking Land was a mixed bag for me. I wanted to like the main character Elanna, but there were too many times that I just wanted to slap her silly. I get that she was probably going through Stockholm Syndrome and confusion because she genuinely thought the king cared about her as a daughter, but she also came across as willfully stupid at times. She also had the annoying habit of contradicting herself over and over. She's not going to do this, but she does it. She doesn't ever do that, but then she does. She changed her mind about things way too easily at times, and then at other times was stubborn to the point of stupidity.

I liked the love interest quite a lot, but would have liked if the romance and the relationship between the two of them had been explored more. It came off a little too much like insta-love for me. Also, the whole "wedding the land" thing was just weird and there wasn't enough explanation as to what exactly happened and how it worked. And the love scene makes this book too mature for younger readers in my opinion.

There were some things about this book that I did really like. I liked the way the magic worked with Elanna drawing on the land and nature for assistance. I also thought the way the land would fold and then they would be in another location was really cool. I liked that it showed how conflicted Elanna was about who she was, her origins, and where her loyalties were; even though I don't feel like it was executed all that well. This looks to be a stand-alone, which is ok with me. I'm not sure I would want to continue on with it if it was a series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Random House for giving me a copy of this book for review.



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Gone Missing by Linda Castillo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong Language and implied sex.


A missing child is a nightmare to all parents, and never more so than in the Amish community, where family ties run deep. When the search for the presumed runaway turns up a dead body, the case quickly becomes a murder investigation. And chief of Police Kate Burkholder knows that in order to solve this case she will have to call upon everything she has to give not only as a cop, but as a woman whose own Amish roots run deep.

After reading the last book in this series I almost gave up on it. Kate was just too hard for me to like in that book, but I'm glad I gave it another chance. This time around Kate seems to have made some changes. She has stopped the drinking and she seemed a lot more focused on keeping her life straight. I also liked Tomasetti a lot more in this book as well. Things get more serious between the two of them in this book and I like the direction their relationship is heading.

The negatives for me this time around are not plot related, but rather the amount of repetition in the writing. We are told the same things too many times. We only need to be told about what rumpringa is once, and Kate reflects on the fact that she used to be Amish over an over as well. We don't need to be beaten over the head with these details, especially not at this point in the series where we have already read this over and over in previous books.

The mystery this time around was one of the best of the series. It kept me guessing about a few things almost up until the end. And that ending! I like it a lot if it means this will be a plot thread that is revisited in other books. But I'm not sure I would like it to just be left that way. Unlike the last book, this book has definitely left me wanting to continue on to the next book. I was tempted to start right away, but I have other books that have to be read before the end of the month so it will have to wait a little while.

I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a review.


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The Poisoned House: A Ghost Story by Michael  Ford

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Paranormal, Ghost Story
Content: Clean

The Poisoned House is set in Victorian London where 15 year old scullery maid Abigail Tamper has lost her mother to cholera. She works in the home of the aging widower Lord Greave who is becoming more and more distant and seems to be losing his sanity. His sister-in-law, Mrs. Cotton is the head house keeper and has pretty much taken over the household, acting as if it belongs to her, while being incredibly mean and nasty to Abigail. Lord Greave's son Samuel is off fighting in the Crimean War at the beginning of the story, but returns home injured. Strange things begin happening in the house that eventually convince Abi that there is a ghost. I won't go into any more detail than that, because I don't want to spoil anything.

If you are looking for something to really scare you then this book is not for you. While there were a couple of rather creepy scenes, mostly this book is very mild. I will admit I was a bit disappointed that this book wasn't creepier, but at the same time I really liked the writing and the characters. The mystery of who the ghost is, why the ghost is haunting the house, and who did what isn't very hard to figure out either, but the book just kept me reading anyway.



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