Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

New York Times #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan pays homage to Jules Verne in his exciting modern take on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana's parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family's she's got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP. Ana's freshman year culminates with the class's weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it'll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives.

But wait, there's more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that cold war has been turned up to a full broil, and the freshman are in danger of becoming fish food. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57094644-daughter-of-the-deep

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My Review: 5/5 Stars 

This book was amazing! No surprise since it was Rick Riordan, but still so good! And I wish there was more. There is so many possibilities with this story I hate to see it end here. Maybe it won't be, but for now it's alone. So this story follows Ana Dakkar. A freshman at Harding-Pencrodt Academy where the school produces the graduates of anything that deals with the ocean. The academy is broken up into four groups based on your study. The story begins with Ana and her fellow freshmen heading away from school for the weekend for their trials that will determine if they will move on to sophomore year. However, as they leave the school, an earthquake occurs but it isn't exactly normal. Ana and her friends turn around and face the horror of their beloved school breaking from the cliff it stood on and into the sea. Their friends, family, teachers, gone. And it wasn't an accident. Their rival school, Land Institute, opened fired on them and they are after Ana next. Things only take off from there. Secrets are revealed about HP Academy and what their trials meant. Secrets about Ana's family. Ana and her older brother Dev were orphans after their parents died two years earlier on a mission for HP, but there was more to the accident than Ana knew or realized. Everyone in this story will have to step up in their roles and try to survive. With so much on the line it will take everything they have. The story is inspired by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in so, so many ways. Their world is built off of it but answering the question of, what if it was real? Riordan may warn you himself and even through Ana what a difficult book that classic was but after reading this story I have to say I'm kind of interested in giving it a try. The adventure, the characters, and the endless plot twists kept me from putting this book down. You will not be disappointed in Rick's attempt to bring another myth or retelling to life. Loved it! And definitely wish there was more. 

Shadow City Silver Wolf Book 1: Broken Mate by Jen L. Grey

Shadow City Silver Wolf Book 1

Some things are inevitable, even with a fated mate.

As the future alpha of the Silver Wolves, my life was carefully planned: stay hidden and learn to fight. But that didn't happen. My pack was slaughtered and now I’m running for my life.

In my search for safety, I discover something else.

My fated mate.

The handsome jerk alpha can offer me something that no one else can--protection.

The more I try to fight our mate bond, the more fate pushes us together, but I fear the price may be too much for both of us.

As a hidden enemy hunts me, difficult decisions must be made. Choices that will alter my life forever or end it completely.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59360636-broken-mate

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My Review: 4/5 Stars 

Sterlyn is part of secret race of wolves. The Silver Wolves. They withdrew from the paranormal world centuries ago when others used them to do bad things. Silver Wolves are very different from normal wolf shifters. They gain their strength from the moon and were always meant to be strong. They were also meant to be protectors. They train every day to be strong until the day comes where they can reveal themselves once more. Sterlyn is the daughter of the Alpha and with her silver hair, it is a sign that she is the next Alpha of their pack. But one day Sterlyn slips away from her pack for a few hours and soon realizes that her pack is under attack. She races back but she is too late. Everyone was slaughtered. Her dying father makes it to her to warn her to run and to head to Shadow City and find the wolf alpha, Atticus. She can trust him. She runs and is chased. Eventually she makes a desperate attempt to escape and almost dies. She is rescued later by a wold shifter Killian. She admits to him that bad shifters are after her. He reveals that he lost his own family a few years ago and he'll help her. He also asks if she could pretend to date him to avoid the pressures of being a young unattached alpha. But this isn't some fake dating turned real story. Her bond with Killian is one of sibling nature. Especially when Killian's best friend Griffin enters the picture. Immediately, Sterlyn feels a tug toward him. And that can only mean one thing. And if that wasn't complicated enough, there are still others after Sterlyn. She can only hide for so long before someone comes looking. I really enjoyed this latest shifter world from Jen. And of course like all her series, there is a cliffhanger ending which means I need the next book asap! I'm excited to see where this series takes us and the different supernaturals that come along the way. 

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well Met Series Book 3: Well Matched by Jen DeLuca

Well Met Series Book 3

Single mother April Parker has lived in Willow Creek for twelve years with a wall around her heart. On the verge of being an empty nester, she's decided to move on from her quaint little town, and asks her friend Mitch for his help with some home improvement projects to get her house ready to sell.

Mitch Malone is known for being the life of every party, but mostly for the attire he wears to the local Renaissance Faire -- a kilt (and not much else) that shows off his muscled form to perfection. While he agrees to help April, he needs a favor too: she'll pretend to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family dinner, so that he can avoid the lectures about settling down and having a more "serious" career than high school coach and gym teacher. April reluctantly agrees, but when dinner turns into a weekend trip, it becomes hard to tell what's real and what's been just for show. But when the weekend ends, so must their fake relationship.

As summer begins, Faire returns to Willow Creek, and April volunteers for the first time. When Mitch's family shows up unexpectedly, April pretends to be Mitch's girlfriend again... something that doesn't feel so fake anymore. Despite their obvious connection, April insists they've just been putting on an act. But when there's the chance for something real, she has to decide whether to change her plans -- and open her heart -- for the kilt-wearing hunk who might just be the love of her life.

An accidentally in-love rom-com filled with Renaissance Faire flower crowns, kilts, corsets, and sword fights.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56845755-well-matched

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My Review: 5/5 Stars 

Mitch and April's book! Finally! This is such a fun series and I love that we keep getting more and more from it. April and Mitch's story was just another great one in this series. Fun, hilarious, romantic, and the joy that comes from the Ren Faires. So it's been a few years since book one. April is getting ready to watch her now eighteen-year-old daughter, Caitlin, graduate high school and go to college. April has waited a long time for this moment, not being she doesn't love her kid, but because it means those long ago plans she made can finally happen. She never planned to stay in Willow Creek forever. It was just the perfect place to raise her daughter. But now she can move to the city and find a smaller place. It's what she always wanted, right? As she gets her house ready to sell, she finds herself in need of some help. Good thing someone owes her a favor or two. Mitch is in need of a little help. The survive a weekend with all of his family, he asks April to be his fake girlfriend. Surely then his parents and family will get off his back about being single. As April and Mitch fall into their roles, April can't help but realize that there is something so comfortable and natural about being with Mitch. And the lines of real and pretend start to blur. Even when they survive the weekend, Mitch helps April with her house and everything gets complicated for April. Can she let herself fall for Mitch? Is it real or pretend? Things are changing for April. And she is looking at Willow Creek in a new way. She even volunteers at the Ren Faire for the first time. But April hasn't felt loved by anyone but her daughter in almost two decades. Can she open her heart to Mitch? Loved their story! It was nice to get to know April a lot better. And even Mitch. We see sides of them we haven't seen before and really start to understand more about them. Their story was so fun and cute. I couldn't put it down! And we meet the heroine for the next book and I can't wait to see more of her and her story!

A Flesh and Fire Novel Book 1: A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout

A Flesh and Fire Novel Book 1

The Flesh and Fire series is set in the beloved Blood and Ash world.

Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort.

However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot.

Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57446424-a-shadow-in-the-ember

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My Review: 5/5 Stars

I'm blown away by this book. Absolutely amazing and I demand to have the next one immediately. WOW! After learning that we were getting a bit of prequel series to From Blood and Ash series, I was beyond excited. There is so much history to that world that was yet to be revealed. So much that we didn't know and that our characters didn't know. So to take it back to the beginning, to see how things were and what had occurred to lead to the changes and the current situations that are going on in From Blood and Ash, I couldn't wait to find out and I was not let down. So since I mentioned history, let me start there. The world building has only gotten richer and the world before the Atlantians, where the Primals and gods were awake was incredible and incredibly different. You learn A LOT of important information in this book. Information that made things in all of the From Blood and Ash books that are out so far make a lot more sense and I'm sure will continue to shape the books to come. I loved learning and meeting all these characters. 

Sera and Nyktos. OMG I love them. When you are reading you see exactly where Poppy gets everything from. It was absolutely hilarious to see the parallels. And I loved every moment of them. So let's start with Sera. Sera was born to do one thing. To end the Rot that has plagued her land and fulfill the deal her ancestor made to be the Consort to the Primal of Death. But her ancestors want her to do more than just become his Consort. They told her she must make him love her. To become his weakness. Then end him. That is the true way to end the Rot. Yet when the day comes, Nyktos arrives and tells her he has no need of her. Everything spirals from there. She has failed her duty and has to pay the price. Three years pass and Sera has been pushed to be more of an assassin when her mother, the Queen, needs her to be. And to be shoved aside and forgotten the rest of the time. Everything changes when she meets Ash, a god she meets when she comes across a few gods killing mortals. Their connection is instant. But both know that being near one another is a bad idea. Until the day comes where everything changes and Ash reveals himself to be Nyktos and claims her at last. Truths are revealed about the deal that sealed Sera's fate. And not only that but there is much more going on in their world than Sera originally knew. Nyktos. Wow. I don't even think I can put into words how much I love Nyktos. His power and fierce devotion to those who he considers his is stronger than anything that Sera believed possible. And though she knows her duty is to end him, she is in consistent conflict with herself because he is nothing like he was said to be. Their story is so much more than just Sera fighting to figure out what to do when it comes to her duty. There is so much more going on that is constantly changing the story and issues. I can't even say it because it would be quite the amount of spoilers. But basically the theme is not everything is as it seems and not even a Primal as powerful as Nyktos knows all when it comes to their future. 

If you have loved the From Blood and Ash series so far, there is no doubt you will love this one. Sera and Nyktos are kick ass characters who are similar yet so different to Poppy and Casteel. Then we have side characters like the gods and of course the draken. Wait until you read about them!!! The enemies are stirring in this story. We see and get glimpses and the beginnings of fights and possibly even a war of Primals that is yet to come. The action and world building are incredible. And the romance... WOW! You won't be disappointed. And the story isn't even over yet. That cliffhanger is a game changer. We may know bits of the future from reading the From Blood and Ash series so far but there are so many pieces we don't know yet. Things we don't even truly understand because a lot has been so vague and unknown to our characters. Absolutely amazing. Definitely a favorite of mine from this world so far. And I cannot wait for the next one. 

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

 

Guild Hunter Book 14: Archangel's Light by Nalini Singh

Guild Hunter Book 14

Nalini Singh returns to the world of the Guild Hunters for the most highly anticipated novel of the beloved series—a love story so epic it’s been half a millennia in the making…

Illium and Aodhan. Aodhan and Illium. For centuries they’ve been inseparable: the best of friends, closer than brothers, companions of the heart. But that was before—before darkness befell Aodhan and shattered him, body, mind, and soul. Now, at long last, Aodhan is healing, but his new-found strength and independence may come at a devastating cost—his relationship with Illium.

As they serve side by side in China, a territory yet marked by the evil of its former archangel, the secret it holds nightmarish beyond imagining, things come to an explosive decision point. Illium and Aodhan must either walk away from the relationship that has defined them—or step forward into a future that promises a bond infinitely precious in the life of an immortal…but that demands a terrifying vulnerability from two badly bruised hearts.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57414576-archangel-s-light

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My Review: 5/5 Stars

FINALLY! We finally get Illium and Aodhan's story and it was amazing. I was beyond lucky to get my hands on an ARC and have never been so happy to do so. Illium and Aodhan are probably my favorite characters from this series, despite there being so many others that I truly love. But there is something about these two that have drawn me the moment they entered the page. And after much waiting, their time has finally come. Illium and Aodhan have in a difficult spot the last year. Their dynamics have changed and it is time for them to finally face it. They are both stubborn and letting their stubbornness get in the way of reason and rational thought. But enough is enough. Illium flies to Aodhan to help him with the situation in China. But neither are prepared for what was left secretly behind. While they deal with present day, we get flashbacks of their friendship. Starting all the way to the day they met as babies. We see them grow together. We see them at their best and at their worst. One of my favorite things about this story is the truths that are revealed. Specifically with Aodhan. We finally get answers. We get answers to his past and we see exactly how these moments shaped Illium and Aodhan, and of course Raphel and the rest of the Seven. The other thing I loved is the progression of Aodhan and Illium's friendship shifting to the possibility of more. This book covers so much of their lives. These important bits that again shaped them but also showed how deep their love for one another went. How despite the horrors, it still existed. And now they have reached a time, where Aodhan has finally healed and Illium can acknowledge that his friend is growing, they can fully recognize exactly what they are to one another. Absolutely beautiful. And it felt like a beginning. Their love story is just starting. And I would love to see another book with them as they continue to explore this new thing between them. I loved their history and growth. It shines in this book. Also this present day story line had quite the amount of twists and turns and I wonder how else it will shape the future. This was definitely a favorite of mine from the series and no surprise because again, they are my favorite characters. Beautifully done!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

 

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships--but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding...six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

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My Review: 4/5 Stars

This book was so fun! Olive has to be one of the quirkiest characters I have ever read. She is just so fun and hilarious. Her mind moves a mile a minute and you just never know what is going to come out of her mouth. This romantic comedy was hilarious. In a desperate attempt to convince her best friend that she was dating someone so that her friend would know it is okay to date a guy that Olive once went out with, she comes up with a pretty sloppy plan. In a panic she kisses the first man she sees. Adam Carlsen. The young hotshot professor…who, if you ask the grad students, is the absolute worst. His reputation for being a mean and hard professor is well known. Now, to keep up the charade, Adam and Olive decide to have a fake relationship. Turns out, he needs something too. He needs to show the university that he isn’t planning to leave so he can acquire the funds he needs for his research. No one wants to invest in his work if he plans to take it elsewhere. This scheme leads to them having to get to know one another and Olive sees a side to Adam no one really sees. What is especially great about this story is that Olive constantly compares their scheme to a romance novel. She sees the signs of it all blowing up in her face or her falling for Adam. But there are plenty of twists to the stories that make the book not so predictable. Such a fun read and the writing was fantastic. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books from this author!

Skyhunter Book 2: Steelstriker by Marie Lu

Skyhunter Book 2

As a Striker, Talin was taught loyalty is life. 

Loyalty to the Shield who watches your back, to the Strikers who risk their lives on the battlefield, and most of all to Mara, which was once the last nation free from the Karensa Federation’s tyranny.

But Mara has fallen. And its destruction has unleashed Talin’s worst nightmare.

With her friends scattered by combat and her mother held captive by the Premier, Talin is forced to betray her fellow Strikers and her adopted homeland. She has no choice but to become the Federation’s most deadly war machine—a Skyhunter.

Red is no stranger to the cruelty of the Federation or the torture within its Skyhunter labs, but he knows this isn’t the end for Mara—or Talin. The link between them may be weak, but it could be their only hope to salvage their past and safeguard their future.

While the fate of a broken world hangs in the balance, Talin and Red must reunite the Strikers and find their way back to each other in this smoldering sequel to Marie Lu’s Skyhunter. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55780550-steelstriker

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My Review: 4/5 Stars

Marie Lu never disappoints. I will admit I wished I re-read Skyhunter before starting Steelstriker to refresh my memory, but as I began reading the details from the previous book slowly came back to me. This book takes place six months where the last one left off. Talin is now turned full Skyhunter and has no choice but to serve Constantine since he holds her mother’s life in his hands. It’s made her do awful things but until her mother is safe, her hands are tied. Meanwhile, Red has been working with Talin’s friends to save those they can and find a way to save Talin. After such time apart they finally will be close to one another and plans can finally be made to save their futures. It will take everything they all have to defeat those who are corrupt. Loved diving back into this world. And I loved getting both Talin’s and Red’s point of view. It added a lot more to the story knowing what was going on with the two of them until they could be reunited once more. They both have important roles to play in order to save everyone and everything they love. This book does not disappoint! The story sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down until it was done. Just another great series by this amazing author!