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

Review: Ruthless Fae of the Zodiac Academy Series

Ruthless Fae by Caroline Peckham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

you can check out all my reviews on goodreads here:

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Now on with the review for this book! 

This is the second book in the zodiac Academy series 

Revenge is oh so sweet!
That came in a huge heap in this book. This book picks up at the exact moment we left off in the Awakening. This book is actually fairly action packed, on top of the continual world building and further character development. Making this for a smooth and quick read.

This book does turn up the volume on the smutty steam some. However if you are looking for more smutt and less plot ... thats not this book. This one you do get a scene with one of the twins. It is not filled with crazy details, but you see and know what they are doing and that is exciting enough for that moment. you do see many partners all together... but because they aren't the focus you get snippets of what they are doing in the background.

This book moved you out of the 2 character POV of the twins, and now all the main charcters are getting chapters. Many more new important charcters are introduced within this book.

Last pivotal point I would make is if you are reading ZA before Ruthless boys of the zodiac, to allow you to learn along side the twins you will get more indepth knowledge of the game of pitball finally.

Beyond that anymore details would be too much of a spoiler, but this one ends on a crazy cliff as that is the Twisted Sister's style.. and I just recommend have the next book The Rekoning ready for when you read this end because you will want to start it immediately.

If you would like to get this book you can grab it here: https://amzn.to/46bpC2p

Finding your Book Friday - Zodiac Academy book 1

 Finding your book Friday! 

This is my first entry for this theme. The purpose behind this theme is to share my reviews on books. I do like all sorts of genres. So I do appologize now if after several weeks it is all coming from the same type of genre. I am a mood reader so I will book hop from time to time till I find something that catches my eye. 

And since I am a mood reader, sometimes I may have a hard time picking up a book, So because of this I will be sharing past reviews I have done as well as book I have just finished. If you can't wait till the next friday post and you just really want to follow with what I have read and my reviews more closely you can friend me on GoodReads. 

All Fridays after today will also just go straight in to my book choice for that day. So don't sweat it thinking I will be treating this like a food recipe you can find on the internet that requires a whole long story and 5 minutes of scrolling before you get to the meat..... cause that won't be this! 

 Suprise!! Double Review!

I figured I would start off with 2 books that I read at the same time, so it is only proper their reviews go up at once. 

Review for Zodiac Academy The Awakening

I started this book before as my first book by the twisted sisters. I couldn’t get into it.. So I tried audio and failed (at that point I didn't typically do audio) … After some time passed I had picked up the Ruthless boys of the Zodiac by the twisted sisters… ABSOLUTELY LOVED LOVED the series and couldn’t put it down.. Was sad that it ended but realized it happened 5 years before this book. So I decided I would give it another go, but was going to make sure I went in order and the most logical way possible to get through this first book.

I highly recommend if you are looking to start this series to at least pick up the prequel novella and read it before this if you don’t want to read Ruthless fae of the zodiac first. Understand the characters in that series are in the same world as this book and will make appearances throughout this series.

** second recommendation. If you are not big on bullying.. Or sometimes it can sour a book for you, OR you are a mood reader.. Get this book along with Zodiac Academy As told by the boys and read them in Tandem. The prequel and this doesn’t justify the bullying you will face, however it will put more logic behind what you are seeing. And because this is a vicious Fae world you will take that bullying is done differently and looked at differently because everything is based on seeing where you sit in the power ranking.

I am personally glad that I was not able to get into this book at first and chose to read the other series first. It definitely helped me to enjoy this book more and understand why we see this bullying like the power game was shown in, but in the case for the throne and ruling this land it is more in your face in this book. Now this book does break down things in the world for you to see how it all works as though you just landed in the world of solaria because of the Twins, so you will come out of this book with an even better understanding of the mechanics of the world.

Regardless with how you read this book, it is worth the time. This story has been wonderfully written and the world building is top notch! These authors are great at character building and leaving you on a cliff hanger. So maybe just be prepared to want the next book immediately.

Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/3Pl3V9v

Review for Zodiac Academy The Awakening, As Told By The Boys

  

This isn’t one that you have to read to get through the series HOWEVER! This is perspective that really changes how this series goes, and how you look at these guys when your first reading the series.
Will you have some anger/ hate for them? Sure… will it be less so for a few of them? Yup!

I read this in Tandem with The Awakening… so bonus because it gave more depth and perspective in those first days… HOWEVER, downfall to doing it that way, you run into moments that you feel it is all redundant because it is 2 books about the same time frame, just different POV.. So I ended up at the moment instead of going by my in tandem chapter list, if I was really digging one of the 2 books at a moment I would just keep going for another chapter or two then flip back to the other. So it wasn't perfect in tandem but didn’t effect the reading of the story any.

Just like the other books written by the Twisted Sisters, this book did not disappoint. It was wonderfully written, and I feel that those POV were really needed for getting into this series. If this is a series you plan to read all the way through, definitely give this book time to read to get the other side of what was happening during Zodiac Academy The Awakening. You also learn a lot about the other things happening in the background during this time that you don’t see in The Awakening. There are also plenty of snippets that made my heart happy that were showing the Ruthless boys of the Zodiac, and what they were up to.

Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/3PEHgWI

Last Thoughts

Please understand this series when you go to the Twisted Sister's Facebook page will have more than 1 way to read the books in the world of Solaria. I chose the way that best fit me, and I will talk more on that in my next blog post. The point behind this is, you should not feel like you need to read these books side by side as I did, because most people don't. 

**So next book focused post will discuss the way I have read the world of solaria up to this point, and plan to continue, and an alternative way that is very popular amongst fans.**

WIP Wednesday

 Happy Humpday everyone! 

I was 90% convinced I wasn't going to get this post done today with all the craziness happening today. In short the youngest one woke up with a headache and throwing up. The oldest has 2 eye dr. appointments scheduled today for his eye. Then grabbing scripts for ADHD meds and taking the youngest to get swabbed for strep... sounds crazy but she is acting like she did when it took her out in jan, and everyone just figured it was some random bug going around. But Here I am squeezing this in between the craziness! 

What Is WIP Wednesday? 

Well if you aren't a crafter the term WIP could be confusing. If you are a crafter you probably have an idea. This is simply an easy way for me to dedicate some time to share my Works In Progress (WIP) with you guys. 

Monty Hat

The focus today will be a hat I am working on. I was specifically give a request to come up with a pattern for this hat and immediately started to give it attention. Unfortunately I kind of hit a wall with it and have yet to finish it. So here are some pictures of it so far and what I am up to with it. 

This is actually 3 parts, and teeth. I took the teeth I make for other hats to use on this. And gave the bottom of his mouth texture. 

It actually took me looking around  at different ways to make stars to find a way that would work that I would like to make these glasses. They aren't attachted yet, because I was hyper focusing on the mohawk. Which we can all see I have yet to figure out in a way I like. 

So here is to hoping I figure it out soon and I can show you the final product in a post in a few days.

Dance mom life--- Struggle bus time

 Dance season officially started for regular classes for my daughter yesterday. Not long before that she had already got competition dance stuff back in gear. This year will prove to be both a blessing, breathe of fresh air and a struggle as those that come with change. 

This year she started at a new studio, with a new team and a new group of faces. This studio is half the distance that her old studio was from our house, and has more opportunities for her. This move was something I thought on for a long time, and while I know she couldn't see all of what I could, I do hope she comes to see what I see fully and love it just as much. I say that because while she has loved it at this studio so far, last night after class it was definately a ride home with tears talking about how much she missed her old studio. 

It was during these tears I had to point out dance styles she loves she wouldn't have been able to do at the old studio due to them either not offering it, or because I couldn't go down there 5 days a week, 4 days a week was too much the year before. Also during this time I pointed out she was sore after her classes, she had never taken a class that made her sore at her old studio. Which made me use words of wisdom from a teacher she had used for learning her aerial. It was definately a tough conversation.

But it is so nice to be able to experience dance more so how others do. I can on her longer nights drop her off and go home. She can learn all her skills she needs for tricks/ or skills/ styles she has been wanting to learn at this studio, making it a one stop shop. Where before we were going to multiple studios to get everything. 

So wish us luck! and look out as I share our dance year here. 

Let's try this again

 I have had many  blogs over the years. Several were very successful, some were not so much but only due to my own lack of commitment. I can say that when those unsuccessful ones were made, I was really not in a place in my life to add one more thing to my plate. 

All that aside here I am. I have been wanting to get back in to blogging for a while now, but I have stalled to not have a repeat. 

If you look through this blog you will see some REALLY old posts. I chose this blog to reopen and just jump back in to out of all the others and instead of starting a new one because it was more all over the place... like me. 

A blog is alot of things, but to me its is an escape and a place where you can share till your hearts content. Since I do still read ALOT I figured since this one had book reviews in it already, it was a good place to start. 

For those of you reading this and wondering where the heck this is all going to be going or if you even want to bother with this cause based on those past posts you may be thinking why bother read this. Well you do you boo! And as far as what you will see here: animal adventures with my pets, the struggles of a dance mom, the struggles of a mom of an almost adult on the autism spectrum, and lots and lots of crafting things. The crafting aspect will include patterns, both patterns I offer for free and links to paid ones. I will share other people's patterns I have enjoyed using. In the end stuff I like, and things I am dealing with, so that hopefully someone that is reading it will learn from my struggle bus.