Review: Rune Scale

Rune Scale by Devin Hanson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


So when i first got this book I was super pumped exspected great things. But being in the middle of smutty books I put it in my TBR. I then happened to get a discounted or free audio of it (i can't remember cause again I let it sit). purpose behind saying all this... I wish I hadn't let it sit.

I had started the audio while cleaning my pool begining of summer... and again let it sit. Now looking back through the story I do understand why. I would get the audio with caution, I don't feel it gives enough to this book, The Narrator is a deep voiced man, and he does well, but because there are females within it he can't quite get his voice high enough to really give you a difference. And the very calm smooth narration just wasn't super grabbing. Had I gone off narration alone, I probably would have only given it 3 stars.

This is an excellent world building book. That is exactly what it is. I know some other reviews mention there being a slowness to it. They aren't wrong, but the reason is the very indepth world building you are getting. There is even a glossary at the back of the book explaining some of the terms if you find yourself needing more info.

It starts off fast with action.. with dragons. ... The book the dragons are forever present even if they aren't in your face, and the book's ending was great getting some stuff tied up, and presenting the way for the next book to go with YES MORE DRAGONS! I gave this 4 stars because it is a great world building book, and the author did leave plenty for us to question and learn about in the books to come, but due to all the information given in this book it can be slow, and you do kind of have a cliche relationship happening with the main characters. However, I didn't look to harshly on that relationship because to me that relationship is really just a pawn in this world built of magic and dragons. Making that relationship easy and predictable in ways allowed more focus in to the magic system which I was very impressed with. This book took me back to sitting around the table friday nights using the G.U.R.P.S system for our table top adventures.

I am looking forward to getting in to the next book.

** I would like to note for anyone reading this if you notice you can't get paperbacks, this author, I actually found him through his publisher that he parted ways with in march 2023 to become self published. I plan to for now get the digital copies, since the paperbacks are currently still hard to find... because self publishing is a process, and I wish this author a smooth road on getting that done. With that said these are worth owning both digitally and in paperback. **

You can get a copy of this book HERE




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Review: Flicker and Flame

Flicker and Flame by Willow Hayes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I got this book in an audio version for free off amazon prime. I grabbed it because it was a PNR and its blurb caught me as well as it having Troy Duran as a narrator.

For the Narration: I give it 3 stars, but really it should be 2. Mainly because Troy Duran as usual did a magnificent job. Unfortunatly this book is mainly in the POV of the MFC putting it up to the other narrator to slay the book. Which had the other narrator Stephanie Rose been the only one narrating I probably wouldn't have finished it. I don't know if it was just me, but she sounded very choppy / flat and robotic like for any character that isn't the MFC. Which made it hard to tell out of the 4 guys which one was interacting with Kenna unless I gave it my undivided attention. Which giving that attention was hard to do with the flat choppiness happening.

For the Story: This had some good world building happening within it. I enjoyed how the magic was done within this book, and how it was introducing various things.

The guys: As the story went on, I was getting more and more disappointed with how these characters were written. Since for the ages they were acting like they were 18 yr olds running a security company. In short there were flaws, and the author allowed some things to happen so unquestionably easily it just didn't add up.

Kenna: The main female character. She actually had a very stereotypical personality and backstory. And was even given the stereotypical hobby outlets to go along with it. In short I wasn't impressed with her. The story surrounding her was more interesting than her.

Other than that there was 1 thing that really stood out to me that made me question if I really wanted to finish the book. There is talk in the begining of the book with Kenna and her friend. Talking about the current queen and just randomly tips off hey you could be the so n so. (not stating it for spoiler purposes ). Like because up to that point there wasn't anything thing talking about that or anything, that was the most in your face forshadowing whats about to go down I have seen in a while. Which it did 100% give away what was happening next.

In the end this book had some unique things with in it that, I wouldn't be opposed to picking up the next book, however, I doubt I will grab the audio, because while I love listening to Troy Duran, if the book is mainly in the MFC pov it could be rough.

You can get a copy of this book HERE




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Review: Good for You

Good for You by Camille Pagán
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Grabbed this book for a hopefully light read that I could have as good background while I was working. So I did do audio for a large hunk of this book.

I picked it for my summer reads book for the kindle book mark. Admitedly I grabbed it cause it's blurb seemed like it would be a decent book that wouldn't be too deep, and it was free to read and listen on KU.

sooo yeah it definately fit for being an easy to listen to while I was working. It was also an easy to read digitally. However, the connections I had with the characters, wasn't anticipated. The characters were well written. So much so that my annoyance with the one track mind the Main character had for so much, in an attempt to control life around here drove me nuts. But not a drove me nuts, I gotta put the book down. More like when is someone going to get through to her so she can see sense.

This is more a fade to black when it comes to smexy in the bedroom. Since frankly that being done isn't really the point of the book. The relationship that develops is just a part of the bigger thing that is being dealt with.
This does hit some hard topics with the grieving process, and the author did it so elequantly that well you may need some tissues in the last quarter of the book. You do get a HEA at the end of it all.

I can say I bit off more than I exspected with this book, however, I am 100% happy it was the one I grabbed to complete that book mark. If you are in between books, or just coming off a series this may help get you through that to your next book binge.

You can get your own copy of this book HERE


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Review: Hollow Beasts

Hollow Beasts by Alisa Lynn Valdes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So I did really want to give this 4 stars, but there were a few things keeping me from that. Despite that I can say that I will likely pick up the next book.

When I grabbed this book it was because it fit the requirements for the kindle book mark for hispanic heritage month. At the time I was looking for a book with free kindle and audio option, so if it fell out of my normal reading preferences I could get through the book quicker.

I actually do like mystery thrillers though I don't read them as often as I used to. But thats not why we are here... my thoughts on this book.
For Naration: I did end up doing most of this book on audio. The narrator did well giving some hispanic feel with the voices and personalities. And this narrator was very easy to listen to. I think had I only been reading it, it would have taken longer because I would have likely sat the book down figuring I knew what was going to happen. If you find predictability to be an issue when checking out this book, I highly recommend grabbing the audio then to help you through it.

I loved the picture that was painted of the main characters and the town. It gave off enough authenticness to make you feel like you were there. I did enjoy the strong female characters. Specifically because while yes they are strong female leads the author did not make them perfect.

The plot with the bad guys I unfortunately feel like is something that was very predictable. Least wise it was predictable enough that I knew generally how the story would play out with at least the bad guys early on in the story. As far as minor details that involved them I didn't know till as I was reading, but generally how things were going to happen, it was predictable.
Some of the things mentioned in the story like the reason behind 2 females going to the bathroom wasn't really nessaray as it didn't do anything for the story. Just stateing that one wanted the other go to there would have given enough to tell what was about to happen.

once you get in those last 10 or so chapters you will get some surprises and some thrills with how things play out... again its the details you be looking for. And I did get a surprise with the two main female characters at the end.
This is a solid first book to a series, and how the world was developed in this book tells me that it is quite possible the next one will be even better.

For Naration: I did end up doing most of this book on audio. The narrator did well giving some hispanic feel with the voices and personalities. And this narrator was very easy to listen to. I think had I only been reading it, it would have taken longer because I would have likely sat the book down figuring I knew what was going to happen.

You can pick up a copy of this book HERE






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HOTH- Hot off the hook

 Monty

this hat was shown to you as a work in progress at the end of Aug. I came in to the month of september with lots of thoughts and Monty was one of those thoughts. Because of that I was able to brainstorm that mohawk and get it finished. Which them brought me to the end of workin on him.

He is available in my Etsy shop. You can purchse your own hat of Monty here  The Pattern for this hat is also available in my etsy shop. You can get the pattern here

Because this is a character from something I will be posting a free version of the pattern as well. The base hat would make a great aligator hat too, just swapping out the glasses for eyes. When the free version is made, I will likely make a video tutorial to go along with it. The difference between the free and paid version is ads. You will not have any ads in the paid version. It is already put together nicely in a pdf so you just have to download it and go. Also with the paid version I will update it with newer versions if I correct/ alter something to it. That will not happen with the free version. I do not know when t his will be posted as I want it to have the link for the tutorial which means I need time to make the hat with a video. 

*since we are on the topic of free patterns those are going to start being a thing with videos.* 

Review: How to Date Your Dragon

How to Date Your Dragon by Molly Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


you can see all my goodreads reviews here: 
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Today's Book is How to Date My Dragon
*don't put too much weight in that name before reading below.*

So I did an audio book of this. The run time is just over 6 hours. Making this good for a quicker story that you want to listen to but maybe cause / don’t want to devote days to. Because of this though I can not speak to how it was written in the digital or paperback.

This book I found by accident and it really caught my attention in multiple ways. First, the title itself is interesting. 2nd it was free audio with prime membership (HECK YEAH!) **still is, I just checked.** And the 3rd reason was more to do with the subject matter. This book is about an anthropologist being sent on field research, in Louisiana. Yes, in the audio you do get some southern twang. You do specifically get a little bit of a feel of a more specific Louisiana cajun accent, however it’s not strong and you can fully understand it. It is more just slightly enough to give you a vibe. The author did her research for giving it the middle of nowhere swamp feels. I didn’t realize it while reading/listening to the book. It is actually a part of a series and is the first of 8 books.

So for my thoughts on the story.

Overall star review: 3.5 which rounds up to a 4 on the places you rate books. This is due to, I feel like this book may have taken me a while to get through had I read vice audio. There was definitely some stereotype plot that happened throughout. Though the book was set up to surprise you on some stuff, which depending how close attention you were paying would depend on if it was glaringly obvious or if it actually surprises you. I had a few moments where I became easily distracted while I was listening to this book. So I am not sure if that would have happened had I read it. I would call this book that is plot driven with some smut.

The smut: 2 stars on a 5 star scale. (it wasn’t supposed to be the focus of the book and you can tell that as you go.)

This book set the foundation of good world building, to draw you into the series. The book was given closure, sooo you get a HEA for this book, but you can tell the story can keep going (which it does being in a series.)

You get in this book, murder mystery, PNR, CR, based in the outskirts of Louisiana.

Would I read/ listen to the other books in this series? So considering at least from a glance they are free with my prime membership as audio. I will likely grab them in that audio form. I did like the general plot of the story. I would definitely at least get the second book of this series. However if it suddenly switched to a smut with plot from the plot with smut the series started with that may be where I end.

The narration I would give 5 stars. There were multiple people narrating this book, and it really helped to bring out the personality of the characters more. While the narrators were for specific chapters that meant the female narrator had to deepen her voice for the male characters in her chapters and vice versa. They did great with this. I also enjoyed the use of accents with this book.

Blurbage from the description of the book:
Anthropologist Jillian Ramsay's career has taken a turn south.

Concerned that technology is about to chase mythological creatures out into the open (how long can Sasquatch stay hidden from Google maps?), the League for Interspecies Cooperation is sending Jillian to Louisiana on a fact-finding mission. While the League hopes to hold on to secrecy for a little bit longer, they're preparing for the worst in terms of human reactions. They need a plan, so they look to Mystic Bayou, a tiny town hidden in the swamp where humans and supernatural residents have been living in harmony for generations. Mermaids and gator shifters swim in the bayou. Spirit bottles light the front porches after twilight. Dragons light the fires under crayfish pots.

Jillian's first assignment for the League could be her last. Mystic Bayou is wary of outsiders, and she has difficulty getting locals to talk to her. And she can't get the gruff town sheriff, Bael Boone, off of her back or out of her mind. Bael is the finest male specimen she's seen in a long time, even though he might not be human. Soon their flirtation is hotter than a dragon's breath, which Bael just might turn out to be....

You can get this book here: https://amzn.to/3LjVuda

Review: The Reckoning

The Reckoning by Caroline Peckham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you want to check out all my other reviews on Goodreads you can do so here:

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Now to Review This book! 

This is the 3rd book in the series, and it is focused on a very pivotal moment. Which you would already know that from the title and if you read the first 2 books. 

My thoughts

This is it! The Reckoning. You hear about this through the first 2 (3 if you include The awakening as told by the boys) books. It is the pivotal moment on if the freshman get to stay at Zodiac Academy or if their time is coming to an end.  The book flows beautifully making it hard to put down, especially because you know going in to this book, it is pivotal to what will happen next. 

That is the primary focus in this book, the slight lead up to it the week prior. Then the week of and a short time there after. It is during the tests of the reckoning there are things that come to light about the sisters, and their order. 

 If you have a knack for figuring out things in books you will know what the cliff hanger is going to consist of in this book. I will stay that it isn't as cliff hangy as some books the sisters write. It is more of an OH MAN THAT JUST HAPPENED!! ( you may have predicted some of what happens in that last scene but perhaps surprised by other parts) 

I think depending on how much you have looked at through out the internet, book groups, and if you read ruthless boys of the Zodiac before picking up this series will determine how much you figured out about the ending of this book. It will keep you in that suspense of omg I need to know what next. 

The spice of smexiness did get turned up in this book. You are getting more scenes/ moments than you did before.Hold on for the spicy ride, both the twins are getting action. 

 You also get a new character that could possibly hold some significance, but reguardless his presense makes you start to look at another character differently.

If you want to snag this book for yourself you can here: https://amzn.to/3Lnzy0P