Feminista

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.Kirsty d'Arc has been reaped accidentally.Now stuck in afterlife hell, she is awaiting for the hell's version of court of appeal, to hear her case.In this widely quirk and unusual novel, we are introduced to several after-life creatures, funny puns and a wholly different world.ARC Courtesy of Edelweiss and Pocket Star.

Rating: 3 out of 5.I don’t like it when the synopsis or the title of the book does not deliver. It feels as though seemingly unique story lines are used to entrap readers, but they fail to deliver on the uniqueness. It’s like reading stories about “courtesans” and “fallen women” in historical romances, and then you find out that the heroine is actually a virgin or has been wrongly accused of being fallen. It is disappointing and misleading.So in this story, while it may be a search for a trophy husband, the hero in question is older than the heroine, because of course all the younger men are either immature, overly-religious, anti-feminist or just can’t spell properly.

Rating: 2 out of 5.Jeanne is upset over the fact that she does not have a man and babies on the way. So her friend and ex Brad decides for new year’s resolution, to set her up with a man a month.Jeanne and Brad both have feelings for one another.But Brad can’t be with her because… his father was the town drunk, a mean drunk, and he is afraid that he will have the same meanness in him. I mean this was THE complication in the story. I don’t understand how being a mean drunk is akin to a genetic disease… Especially when the man in question is so vehemently opposed to being a mean person.That aside, I didn’t really like Jeanne. She was so obsessed with having BRAD and having BRAD’s CHILDREN, that she never really gave anyone a chance. There were times when I thought she really deserved being lonely and childless, because she has no right deciding Brad’s life for him. I mean leave the poor guy alone. He doesn’t want to have children, no matter how misguided his reasons are.There is this one scene where they sleep together and just as Brad puts on protection, Jeanne is thinking, right, he doesn’t want babies, what a way to ruin the mood. I was just sitting there thinking, are you serious? You KNOW that he doesn’t want babies, you keep on bringing this up over and over again. Please act like an adult. But alas, it gets worse from there. Brad runs out of protection, so she lies there and “pouts”, trying to convince him to go ahead.So naturally, I love that Brad asks her point blank whether she thought he was kidding about all this stuff and whether she thought one night would change everything. It might sound mean, but nothing else was getting through to this girl.It gets even worse. She decides to set him up with someone else. Then after setting Brad up, she bursts out crying. Not mature at all. Then the weeks that follow, she is bitter and hateful because he dates the girl that she set him up with. It’s amazing how a woman so immature thinks she can handle being a mother. Alas, my suspicions are confirmed when she considers adoption after giving birth to, yup, Brad’s child. She says things like “the baby ruined everything between us” and that’s why she wants to give it up for adoption. Excuse me? YOU ruined everything by LYING to Brad, the baby did NOTHING. ARC Courtesy of Netgalley and BelleBooks.

Rating: 2 out of 5.The story was different and interesting. It was a good effort for a fiction debut. But it wasn’t my cup of tea. The writing style might appeal to others. It was upbeat and very quirky.One of the downsides to the novel was the constant references to brand names and celebrity names. It was meant to be dazzling, but it made the story seem superficial to me. There are moments where Lucy dresses up in a $4000 Dior dress, where people are allowed to sip champagne in the waiting room while they wait for their partners to come out, anyway, the point is, after she dresses up for dinner, gets her make up done, people look at them and say that they make a very beautiful couple. A very nice compliment, but a little superficial if it took $4000+ to get them there.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and BelleBooks.

Rating: 3 out of 5.The daughter of an English lord who promised her mother, his French mistress, marriage, Lisette has grown up wary of men. Correctly so, as her social standing in life affords no marriage propositions, but promises of a different kind. The Duke of Lyons is borne of a family of mad men. Fear of putting a wife through the nightmare his mother had to go through, Maximilian does not want to marry, but his duty to bring about an heir means that sooner or later, he has to marry.The search for Max’s presumed dead older brother brings to two together, to uncover the truth. But their journey also brings emotions of another kind that threatens to tie them together for life.This novel was of an average read. The plot and writing was good. However, there were some inconsistencies that detracted from my enjoyment. For example, when Lisette and Max finally sleep together, and Max offers marriage, Lisette gets offended when Max correctly says that without his offer of marriage she might be bringing in illegitimate (a word I am not fond of, but that was commonplace in those days) child in the world. Lisette angrily says that if she finds herself in that position, of course she would marry him. But how was she to know that Max would offer her marriage, when even before their sleeping together, Max was refusing to marry her. So what would she have done, if she was left with a child with no marriage prospects. I guess people could say that she knew in her heart that Max with do the right thing, but such certainties, especially with her history of a father who kept giving her mother hope of marriage but never followed through, would make such a notion unfathomable. So I didn’t understand her need to get all righteous when she has no real means of making things right. I mean she can barely force a duke to marry her, if he doesn’t want to. I also disliked how Max, subconsciously kept on testing her. For example in the scene above, Max thinks that he half expected her to accept the offer of marriage, something which other women in her place would do. I also hated what a hypocrite Max was. There is a part at the end where he calls her mother a whore. Yes he was angry, but that doesn’t excuse him. He can’t even properly apologise for it until way later. But meanwhile, when some other man calls her mother a whore, he gets all righteous and uses his power as a duke over him. Was I supposed to be impressed by this contradiction? Because I most certainly was not. And finally, Lisette melted even before Max apologised. He calls her dearling and she melts faster than ice-cream on a hot day. I am not a big fan of malleable women, no matter how authors painted them otherwise. If they are strong in one aspect of their life, it should reasonably translate to their personality and character as well. ARC Courtesy of Edelweiss and Pocket Books

Jerkish/annoying hero :(

Buddy read with Kris A very unique book that made me cry when the pieces started falling into place. Recommended for everyone.

Rating: 4 out of 5.I am a hero-centric reader. But in this novel, all four whole stars were given because of the heroine, the plot and the setting only. I’ll come to the hero later.In this modern world, there is a different race of people called the Dragon Kings. Humans don’t really know about them, except a group of humans that do know about them, use their knowledge to force the Dragon Kings into cage matches.Audrey was exiled from her clan for marrying a human. But when her union with the human produced the first natural born Dragon King, Audrey and her family is targeted. Her husband killed, Audrey and her son are taken to the labs, and from there she is taken to the cages. Audrey is definitely one of a kind. A mother turned warrior. She fights for the only thing worth living for, her son. I can’t express in words how much I love the setting of this novel and this heroine. I loved how we got to see more of Silence and Hark, and their familiar one-sided banter.Lastly, there is the hero. I must warn you though, if you like Gamma Heroes, you will love this guy. But it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Without giving much away, I shall describe Leto.Leto was misguided at first. But as I progressed through the novel, words like selfish, immoral wouldn’t even begin to describe him. What he does is unconscionable. There is no other word for it. He is so driven, so blind by his need to win for his family, no matter what the price, that he makes excuses for his actions and behaviours. That everything worked out at the end is immaterial. That he wasn’t the one who ultimately did those things to her is immaterial, when he has done little to stop it, and when he can fix it, he refuses to do anything, justifying himself with whatever means necessary.That he holds her bruised, battered body sickens me. Because he does nothing, when he can, to stop it, but only when it goes too far, does he attempt to do something.So no, I wasn’t really impressed with the hero, but the hero’s part in it was overshadowed by the strong heroine and the beautiful setting. So do I recommend this book?Most definitely.ARC Courtesy of Edelweiss and PocketStar

DNF.Lucas Brooks knew that Fallon Parker was the one for him, the first night he met her. Then he comes back home to her dorm and finds her roommate and best friend there. He knows he should leave, but when the roommate wraps her arms around him:"He couldn’t help but hold her closer than he needed to.When her lips touched his, he didn’t think, he just reacted, and it was the last thing he remembered."This is just unbelievable!I just couldn’t help it! I couldn’t control myself. It was just a reaction.What sort of a justification is that?And as usual, when anything goes wrong, blame it on the intoxication. I am so impressed with the ingenuity. And of course, even though he knew Fallon was the one, he goes back to the drugs, alcohol and the multitude of women. He is such a prize! They were such empty words: “the one”. I mean who believes that. In which society is it okay to go sleeping around with every female you see, when you have already found your one and only. And that's the thing, you just don’t go around sleeping with everyone else when you have found your “one”. It's not okay.There was also blatant double standard. The first night Fallon and Lucas sleep together, she is worried that she is being sluttish. Then she tells Lucas that she isn’t like this, she doesn’t sleep with a guy the first time they meet. And to this Lucas replies, that it’s okay, he believes her and that’s all it matters. I am sorry? Did women’s rights rewind 200 years? Why the hell is she trying to justify herself to him? What is there to justify? And what about the fact that HE SLEPT WITH HER ON THE FIRST NIGHT TOO! Why isn’t he justifying himself to her? This is the first ARC I have DNF-ed. I hope it's the last.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group.

DNF.Lucas Brooks knew that Fallon Parker was the one for him, the first night he met her. Then he comes back home to her dorm and finds her roommate and best friend there. He knows he should leave, but when the roommate wraps her arms around him:"He couldn’t help but hold her closer than he needed to.When her lips touched his, he didn’t think, he just reacted, and it was the last thing he remembered."This is just unbelievable!I just couldn’t help it! I couldn’t control myself. It was just a reaction.What sort of a justification is that?And as usual, when anything goes wrong, blame it on the intoxication. I am so impressed with the ingenuity. And of course, even though he knew Fallon was the one, he goes back to the drugs, alcohol and the multitude of women. He is such a prize! They were such empty words: “the one”. I mean who believes that. In which society is it okay to go sleeping around with every female you see, when you have already found your one and only. And that's the thing, you just don’t go around sleeping with everyone else when you have found your “one”. It's not okay.There was also blatant double standard. The first night Fallon and Lucas sleep together, she is worried that she is being sluttish. Then she tells Lucas that she isn’t like this, she doesn’t sleep with a guy the first time they meet. And to this Lucas replies, that it’s okay, he believes her and that’s all it matters. I am sorry? Did women’s rights rewind 200 years? Why the hell is she trying to justify herself to him? What is there to justify? And what about the fact that HE SLEPT WITH HER ON THE FIRST NIGHT TOO! Why isn’t he justifying himself to her? This is the first ARC I have DNF-ed. I hope it's the last.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group.

DNF.Lucas Brooks knew that Fallon Parker was the one for him, the first night he met her. Then he comes back home to her dorm and finds her roommate and best friend there. He knows he should leave, but when the roommate wraps her arms around him:"He couldn’t help but hold her closer than he needed to.When her lips touched his, he didn’t think, he just reacted, and it was the last thing he remembered."This is just unbelievable!I just couldn’t help it! I couldn’t control myself. It was just a reaction.What sort of a justification is that?And as usual, when anything goes wrong, blame it on the intoxication. I am so impressed with the ingenuity. And of course, even though he knew Fallon was the one, he goes back to the drugs, alcohol and the multitude of women. He is such a prize! They were such empty words: “the one”. I mean who believes that. In which society is it okay to go sleeping around with every female you see, when you have already found your one and only. And that's the thing, you just don’t go around sleeping with everyone else when you have found your “one”. It's not okay.There was also blatant double standard. The first night Fallon and Lucas sleep together, she is worried that she is being sluttish. Then she tells Lucas that she isn’t like this, she doesn’t sleep with a guy the first time they meet. And to this Lucas replies, that it’s okay, he believes her and that’s all it matters. I am sorry? Did women’s rights rewind 200 years? Why the hell is she trying to justify herself to him? What is there to justify? And what about the fact that HE SLEPT WITH HER ON THE FIRST NIGHT TOO! Why isn’t he justifying himself to her? This is the first ARC I have DNF-ed. I hope it's the last.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.Evy comes from a line of lightning riders who time-travel. Usually, this ability is passed from father to son, but Evy is the first female to get this power.The story was different and had an interesting premise.There were several things in this story that didn’t appeal to me. Firstly, I didn’t like how more questions were asked then answered. Especially since I, as a reader, was introduced to a foreign world/idea. This made reading the book, a bit confusing.Secondly, I found Evy’s relationship with her father unusual to say the least. I found it a bit disturbing how she appreciates her father’s body once it becomes younger, especially when she knew it was her father. Of course, that’s just me and my opinion; it might be acceptable by other people’s standards. The flirting at first was not intentional, she didn’t recognise him then. But it didn’t make sense, how a minute later when her Papi was looking at himself at the mirror; she tells him that he looks like himself in his boxing days. Shouldn’t there have been at least some recognition when she first sees her father. Also, she was so obedient when it came to listening to her father. Apparently she had only fought with her dad, once prior, and that was when she was twelve years old. She got laughed at in school because she was always seeking approval from her father. I personally didn’t value such a trait in a grown adult woman. There is this part where she gets introduced to the guide, she keeps on interrupting and her father keeps on scolding her, which in itself was really annoying, but what was worse was that she listened to him every time he told her to keep quiet. ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House

3 guys and 1 girl :O

Rating: 3 out of 5.This story is one of Keri Arthur's earlier novels, re-edited. Nikki is a Private Investigator who has psychic abilities, Michael Kelly is a centuries old vampire who works with the Damask Circle.They are both working on the same villain. Michael looking to kill the crazy Vampire: Jasper, Nikki, who is asked to find a rich man's daughter (who incidentally got herself involved with Jasper).As the two meet, they find themselves drawn to one another.This novel was a good start to a urban-fantasy/suspense series.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Bantam Dell

Rating: 3 out of 5.Gameboard of the Gods is sort of what the name suggests. In this dystopian world, religion has caused the Decline, led to all sorts of bad things. So the new North America, RUNA, has decided to make the State as free from religious cults as possible by regulating them. The rules are really stringent and little things can get religious groups disbanded for sedition or treason. Well, apparently the Gods which RUNA does not believe in are coming back with a vengeance. You can’t keep humans and Gods away from one another. It just doesn’t happen. And so humans, but more especially, some special humans become little pieces in the game played by the greater powers. It should have been a good unique idea for a dystopian world. But the ideas just didn't appeal to me much. The main reason for that, I think, is because the world, even without the suspenseful supernatural elements, wasn’t explained thoroughly enough. There was little context given. Things that came up were mainly explained. The rest of the world wasn't. Mae is a Praetorie, that is, she is a highly trained soldier for the RUNA. It is a highly respectable position that comes with a lot of pride and honour. The whole of RUNA fears the Praetorians. When they walk around in their black uniform, people move out of their way. Their fast speeds comes from technology put in them that controls their adrenaline (thereby speed and strength) and other hormones. So instantaneously, I loved Mae. She is exactly the type of strong, cool and composed heroine that I like.But I didn’t like Justin. The hero makes or breaks the story for me. Justin broke it for me.Justin gets told, in his dream/by-his-god, that he will meet his one true love when he sees a vision of her wearing a crown made of stars and flowers. So he sees it with Mae, and then promptly goes around sleeping with other women. I mean I get it, he doesn’t want to sleep with her again because he doesn’t want to be tied down to a God, but he doesn’t even have a legitimate excuse not to explain it to her, especially when he feels bad about how he keeps on hurting her. This made me feel as though the drama was poorly crafted and it detracted from my enjoyment.Not only that, but I hated how fickle he was with other things too: like his drinking and doing drugs. All his vices including women just depicted him as a weak man, to me. I honestly don’t like him as a romantic interest because Mae can and deserves much better than that. I wished a thousand times that there would be another proper love interest for Mae. But alas, my wishes went unanswered in this book.What was worse was that several times, even after being rejected, Mae showed interest in him, cringe-worthily enough. I just found it embarrassing. I firstly did not feel sympathetic to Justin’s plight, especially because I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t just explain his reasons to her and save her the hurt. But even if I had, just from Mae’s perspective, it seems really sad giving a guy who keeps on sleeping around with others and rejecting you, undeserved romantic chances.

Rating: 5 out of 5.Whoa... I am really happily surprised. The last time I gave a five was more than a month ago. And that is saying something as I usually read a book a day.I picked this book up because it looked like something I might enjoy. Yeah, I judged the book by its cover. :) And now I am really happy.Scientists say that humans use only 10% of their brain. What if there was a small fraction (Greater-Than) who could use more than that, and as such, would have their own unique special powers. Mac is a strong Greater than: fifties, for using around about fifty percent of her brain. Her powers include empathy and attracting other people... She is part of a group that safeguards the society from the drug called Destiny, that gives ordinary humans the powers of a greater than, but at a very dear price: addiction and eventual jokering (extreme violent behaviour). Mac while tough, has a tormented past. Her ability to attract wasn't something she could control at a younger age and led to unwanted attention from others, especially from people who should have been looking after her. Resigned to the downsides of her powers, she is utterly wary of men, especially since she knows that they would have been attracted to her regardless of who and what she looked like, because her powers are irresistible. Enter Shane. A ex-Navy Seal who has been dishonourably discharged, and is now blacklisted. He is the balm to her wound. A night of passion leaves him wanting more. Of course a little of that has to do with her ability, but the bigger reason is that, he well and truly wants her for the woman she is. In the end, he takes the ultimate test to show her that he doesn't want because of her powers.Shane is sweet and loving, with the honour and sombreness of a Navy seal. Mac, is probably not very endearing as a heroine, but I loved her. Her stubbornness came from a deep-rooted hurt that will never probably heal. Seeing people falling prey to her powers, if not controlled, she is understandably very cynical when it comes to words of love from another.This book may not be to other people's liking, but if you like a strong, stubborn heroine and a sweet loving hero. Give this book a try.