Review: Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine

Tile: Smoke and Iron
Author: Rachel Caine
Series: Book Four in the Great Library Series
Genre: Fantasy
Published By: Berkley Books (July 3, 2018)
Source: ARC Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
My Rating: 4.5 Stars!



Book Description:
To save the Great Library, the unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone, Paper and Fire, and Ash and Quill put themselves in danger in the next thrilling adventure in the New York Times bestselling series.


The opening moves of a deadly game have begun. Jess Brightwell has put himself in direct peril, with only his wits and skill to aid him in a game of cat and mouse with the Archivist Magister of the Great Library. With the world catching fire, and words printed on paper the spark that lights rebellion, it falls to smugglers, thieves, and scholars to save a library thousands of years in the making...if they can stay alive long enough to outwit their enemies. 

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The Great Library series has been a favorite from the very first, action packed story and with each new installment Caine has upped the greatness more and more until it feels like the very pages will explode with it.

This thrill ride of a read never fails to leave me with my heart pounding and on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen to this rag tag group of friends next and most of all, wishing like heck that by the end, the bad guys will have seen better days. 

Filled with non-stop action, decent, lies, and murder, this series is one that is sure to keep you on your toes and wanting more with each turn of the page. 

This time told in alternating point of views, this was another fun filled ride that I didn't want to end. It might be over 400 pages but it will go by way too quickly and leave you craving the next book. I can't wait to see how it all comes together and can't help but be nervous for all their fates.

A group of smart, fast thinking characters that leave me breathless with their cunning ability to be brave and selfless in the face of danger. These characters not only stand out because of their diverse personalities and background but because of the wonderful almost family like dynamic that has breed and grown between them all. It truly makes them stand out and shine and not only make this series original but unique and addicting as well with it's steampunkish feel set in a world very much something of the past and yet inventive of the future. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Review: Crossroads of Bones by Luanne Bennett

Title: Crossroads of Bones
Author: Luanne Bennett
Series: Book One in the Katie Bishop Series
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published By: Victory (July 19, 2017)
Source: Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
My Rating: 4 Stars!


Book Description:
Katie Bishop would have taken her secret to the grave, but . . .
a bunch of fat cat society folks smelled her out and made her an offer she couldn't refuse.

Katie just wants to run her tattoo business quietly under the radar. But when a man walks into her shop and hands her a drawing of the same tattoo she's been dreaming about for weeks, things start to spin out of control. The last two people who tried to apply that tattoo are dead.

Only half human, it's her other half that an elite group wants to hire-a group of Savannah's more privileged citizens, including the city's reigning coven of witches.


There's a rogue god on the loose, and Katie is the only one who can send him back to hell before he breaks open the crossroads and lets the underworld waltz right in-if he manages to get that deadly tattoo inked onto his back.

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Crossroads of Bones was such a, pick up on a whim, not expect anything, but got a whole lot of fun, surprise kind of a read. I truly had no expectations going into this one other than I liked the cover and the synopsis sounded intriguing. 

I picked it up because I wanted something fresh and different and lets face it, I'm always on the lookout for a new UF series.

I got all of those things in Crossroads of Bones. It was fun, exciting, original, adventurous, and full of the voodoo hoodoo madness that I've come to expect in stories set in the south that are riddled with the unknown and the mysterious.

I devoured this in one day and I was sad that book two wasn't out yet. I loved Katie and her rag tag bunch of friends and I wasn't ready to say good bye to them yet. I can only hope that book two isn't that far away because I think this is a series I could truly get into and enjoy and love. 

So glad I took a chance on it and can't wait for more. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Review: A Reckoning So Sweet by Candace Wondrak

Title: A Reckoning So Sweet
Author: Candace Wondrak
Series: Book Three in the Reckoning Trilogy
Genre: Fantasy
Published: July 1, 2018
Source: ARC Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
My Rating: 4 Stars



Book Description:
This is it. The end of the world. Armageddon. The apocalypse...and it isn’t going to be pretty.

I lost count how many months have passed since that fateful day, since I was betrayed by someone with a heavenly face. The world is dying. There’s hardly any water, hardly any food. What’s left of humanity is dying out, and I can’t do anything to stop it.

There’s more to this, though. Hades doesn’t just want revenge on Satan and Dagon—no, there’s something else he’s after. Something ancient with seven pairs of giant red eyes. I have to stop him. I won’t let him get away with what he’s done to us. To me.

This is a game to the gods, a prophecy to the Seraphs. The Reckoning is here. To fight Hades, I’ll go to the one place Dagon isn’t welcome, the one place no Angel can go. Olympus. Maybe with the gods’ help, I’ll figure out just what it all means.

One mistake is all it takes. One mistake to unravel everything. When failing’s not an option, what happens after I make the worst mistake of all?

I always said the Devil couldn’t have me, but that was the biggest lie of all.


He can.

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A Reckoning So Sweet starts off, well, I really don't know. Weeks? Months? After the last book ended and while the time line might be unclear it is clear that the world we left behind in A Betrayal So Cruel, is nothing like the new world. One full of darkness and danger. So much darkness and danger that from the very first chapter, you know this book is different. Darker, more bleak, and somewhat depressing and you love it for it because finally, we are getting to the knitty gritty of what we knew was coming from the very first book. The reckoning is here and with it more danger, more enemies and creatures lurking around every corner out to harm those left behind and those left behind, are in serious trouble. 

I absolutely loved the crazy blend of biblical things and mythology. It really gave the whole story a unique take on an apocalyptic world and constantly kept me guessing on what would happen next. 

I love how much each character changed and grew throughout the series and the ending was very much as true to the rest of the books as it was satisfying. Overall a really fun series that I think anyone can and will appreciate. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Review: Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

Title: Jar of Hearts
Author: Jennifer Hillier
Series: Stand Alone
Published By: Minotaur Books (June 12, 2018)
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Source: ARC Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
My Rating: 4 Stars!


Book Description:
"Jar of Hearts grabs you by the throat! The perfect blend of riveting characters, chilling details, and gasping twists in this standout thriller will keep you frantically reading until the explosive end.” – Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Right Behind You

This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who's been searching for the truth all these years . . .

When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.

But fourteen years later, Angela Wong's remains are discovered in the woods near Geo's childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women.

To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he's something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo's first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed.

For fourteen years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela's death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison.

While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.


How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief? How long can you get away with a lie? How long can you live with it?

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A Jar of Hearts is intense in almost every sense of the meaning. It had me gasping, holding my breath and sometimes gripping my kindle in anticipation of what would happen next. It was, in short, an extreme read. 

It was thrilling and horrifying and I never knew what was going to be said or revealed next. It was brutal and raw and even tough to read at times and yet, tough or not, brutal or not, it drew you in and refused to let go. It was like a leech, sucking all the air out of the room until you finished it. Your breath stolen from the horror of what was happening, what was done and what you knew was coming.

Told in parts and alternating between the past and present, it was a train wreck that I couldn't look away from. It was oh so addicting in all the wrong ways and I couldn't help but love it in-spite of  all the feels and wrongness of the story unfolding before my very eyes. 

It was everything I like in a good mystery and everything I love to hate in a thriller. It truly was a stand out read that is sure to garner a lot of fans and a lot of talk. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*