Month: March 2016


Mar
2016

A Stolen Kiss

categories: Books

Review copy provided by NetGalley.

A stolen kiss. An unstable curse. One big mess in the making.

Derric Harver never expected to amount to anything more than the palace stableboy, but when Princess Maria’s curse keeps her from accepting a prince’s proposal, she turns to him for help, and he doesn’t dare refuse.

With the help of a lady’s maid and a prince, Derric and Maria embark on a dangerous adventure to find the sorceress who cast the curse. Along the way they battle deadly creatures and make new friends–all the while struggling with the undeniable chemistry between them. Reaching their destination won’t be easy, but the true peril lies in the truths they’ve fought for years to keep hidden.

A Stolen Kiss by Kelsey Keating
A Stolen Kiss by Kelsey Keating

A Stolen Kiss is the first in the Stolen Royals Series–an adventure with magical creatures, dangerous secrets, and being true to the power within.

The title and cover art is what drew me to this book while surfing through NetGalley.  I am so glad I decided to pick it up.    It’s a fun, cute read that breathes a new life into fairytales.  There is magic, good, evil, and a host of fantastical creatures.  Just what a fantasy needs.  Plus a bit of romance thrown in too.  I enjoyed it immensely.

Each character is portrayed in a way that shows the world is not black and white.  The good guys do bad things, and the bad guys aren’t always what they seem.  I did feel that it took a bit to really get pulled into the story, but once the group had set out on their journey I was hooked.

I went looking to see if there was another book available, since  A Stolen Kiss is listed as #1 in The Stolen Royals series.  Unfortunately there aren’t any other books out yet.  However, the author indicated on Goodreads that the plan is for a four book series.  The next two will deal with characters that were mentioned in A Stolen Kiss, and the final book sounds as if might be an adventure for all of them.

I’m going to be keeping an eye out for any updates pertaining to the second book in the series.  I can’t wait to read more!

four-star

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Mar
2016

The Death of Dulgath

categories: Books

Three times they tried to kill her. Then a professional was hired. So was Riyria.

When the last member of the oldest noble family in Avryn is targeted for assassination, Riyria’s Royce and Hadrian are hired to foil the plot. Three years have passed since Hadrian, the war-weary mercenary, and Royce, the cynical ex-assassin, joined forces to become rogues-for-hire. All has gone well until they’re asked to help prevent a murder. Now they must venture into an ancient corner of the world to save a mysterious woman who knows more about Royce than is safe and cares less about herself than is sane.

The Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan
The Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan

The latest Riyria adventure featuring our two favorite thieves, Royce and Hadrian.  (Note the wording, I said latest because I truly hope there will more of Royce and Hadrian’s adventures).  I’ve read all of the Riyria books, and am happy to say that this series holds up while providing a closer look at Royce and Hadrian and how they came to be Riyria.

The Death of Dulgath follows the pair south, to an idyllic village where everything is not as it seems.  Throughout the adventure they face mishaps and hardships, showing that both are still learning and growing in their partnership and on their own.

Sullivan is a great world builder, and I’m hoping that if he continues Royce and Hadrian’s adventures that we might see them travel further abroad to some of the other places mentioned in the Riyria series.

Each story is built so that is can be a standalone adventure, yet there are multiple nuggets in there for fans of the series.  With The Death of Dulgath I was pleased that the Fhrey were mentioned, as they are the focus of his newest series, The First Empire (of which I’m happily looking forward to).

four-star

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Mar
2016

Cloud Nine (#04)

categories: Features

It’s been a rough couple of past weeks, but I still want to remember the good things.  So here are a few items that made me happy!

  • Surprising my cousin for his birthday
  • Shopping with Meiran
  • Book club
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Mar
2016

The Rejected Writers’ Book Club

categories: Books

Review copy provided by NetGalley 

27256097The Rejected Writers’ Book Club is an enjoyable read.  It’s a fun and quirky story about a group of  women who end up on a somewhat impromptu road trip to retrieve a manuscript. Along the way they meet an array of interesting characters and go to great lengths in order to complete their mission. The descriptions are very well done, and it’s easy to picture the characters and settings. The characters all work well together too, and each has a distinctly different personality.

However, I wasn’t completely invested. For me, there was something missing. I didn’t connect with the story the way I wanted to. Janet, who is the main character, doesn’t seem to be driving the story as much as I would have liked.  Rather, she’s along for the ride. I believe most of that can be explained by her temperament. To me, she seemed very much a peacekeeper. Even so, I think I was expecting a little more development of her character.

That being said, I think Kelman has a strong foundation here to continue the adventures of this group of ladies in Southlea Bay. I didn’t find any announcements on a second book yet, so I’ll have to keep an eye out.

three-star

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Mar
2016

March 2016 Financial Challenge

categories: Features

March’s financial challenge is to curb impulse spending.  I’ve actually done okay on this so far, I think. I did grab a bag of snack cheese at the grocery store on a whim, but it was new and looked so yummy!  How could I resist?

I’m really working to try and only buy things I need this month, and things that I’ve planned to spend money on. As with the past challenges I’m not going to tally up and move money into my savings account. I know this kind of defeats the purpose, but I don’t have a good way to calculate how much that would be.

I’m also planning on going back over the spending spreadsheet and making sure it’s up to date.  I’m hoping to see a trend that shows less spending as the months go by, but I’m not sure I’ve done very well with that so far.

I’ll check back in at the end of the month.

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