BookReviews

 Hey guys, I managed to read a book. Shocking, I know. I was scrolling through some book pages and came across Filthy Rich Vampires. I was in the mood for something light, plot-driven, maybe some sex scenes, just something entertaining to be honest. I actually love stories about vampires. So, when I saw this one I was like JACKPOT. ! I was a little taken aback by the title. I really don't like when people obviously hop on the bandwagon of a popular title/series, etc. GoodReads Summary: Julian Rousseaux has a problem. He’s single, and for the world’s wealthiest vampires, the social season is about to begin. Julian would rather stake himself than participate in the marriage market. But as the eldest, eligible Rousseaux he’s expected to find a wife before the season ends—whether he likes it or not. When cellist Thea literally stumbles into his life at a gala, he knows she's the last person he could ever fall in love with. She's too innocent, too kind, and way too human. But no...

Hey lovelies, I'm back with another book review. I went back to my hometown to visit my parents for 2 days and I didn't bring my laptop with me, because I didn't want to travel with any baggage - all I had was my everyday bag. Which led to the inevitable question what should I do? I went out with friends, did some errands but you can't spend every moment with other people, at least I can't. So, I searched through my personal library at home for quick short entertaining read that wouldn't be too serious. It's safe to say that I didn't have any expectations about this book, since it came with one issue of Cosmopolitan magazine and I didn't even have any idea how it came to my possession. GoodReads Summary: Get ready to meet Angela Clark as she flees the world’s worst wedding for a new life… It's official. Angela Clarke is in love – with the most fabulous city in the world. Fleeing her cheating boyfriend and clutching little more than a cru...

Hey guys, this is the third book out of four in Richelle Mead's series called the Dark Swan. After the events in the second one I was pretty excited to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. GoodReads Summary: An embattled mystically entwined with our own, the Otherworld is at the mercy of one woman...   Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear… Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown’s ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril…...

Hey guys, I read the second book the Dark Swan series, which apparently I've also read before but have no memory of it. At all. GoodReads Summary: Eugenie Markham is a shaman for hire. She's paid to bind and banish creatures from the Otherworld. But something happened after her last battle. She became queen of the Thorn Land. With her kingdom in tatters, her love life in chaos, and eager to avoid the prophecy about her firstborn destroying mankind, the job's really not all it's cracked up to be. Now young girls are disappearing from the Otherworld, and no one seems willing to find out why. Or to put an end to it. Not that Eugenie's fazed by spilling fey blood, but this enemy is shrewd, subtle, and dangerous -- and nursing a very personal grudge. Eugenie must venture deep into the Otherworld and trust in a power she can barely control. She may be a reluctant queen, but she's vowed to do her duty, even if it means facing the darkest and deadliest side of her ...

Hey guys, I felt a strong pull to reread some of Richelle Mead's books and I thought it would be a good idea to start with her Dark Swan series as apparently I've managed to read just two out of the four. Thanks to GoodReads I can tell you exactly when I read Storm Born. It was in 2010, which is absolutely crazy because it felt like not that long ago but taking into account how much I don't remember about this book I could make the deduction that I'm getting old. Pretty much everything I remembered was that the main character (I didn't remember her name) was killing Otherworldly creatures and was in a love triangle between a guy who could turn into a fox and Dorian (funny that I remembered this guy name). GoodReads Summary: Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every horny creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants... Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the ...

Hey guys, as the first post of this blog was about 2018 Resolutions I decided to take a look back and see how much of it I managed to achieve. All in all I had 6 goals for the year. The first one was staying alive. I'm glad to say I did manage to achieve this despite my numerous health problems. The second was to find a flat.This is also checked from my to do list. However, whether I would actually live in it or we would rent it is debatable since the moving (see the post about the Life Update ). The third one was saving as much as possible. For the first 10 months of the year this was quite easy to do as I don't like shopping and I can keep myself under check not to spend money on things I don't really need. But then we had to spend a lot of the savings because of the move and my health problems. So, I'm not sure if this resolutions was achieved or not. The fourth point was finishing one of the books I'm writing - I failed miserably, and it's going to re...

 Hey guys, despite the obvious failure of my reading challenge, I finished another book. I usually don't read self-help books or non-fiction for that matter but The Happiness Project seemed an appropriate title for me, as I've been told I'm someone who is constantly sulking. Of course, I don't agree with this. GoodReads Summary Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. “The days are long, but the years are short,” she realized. “Time is passing, and I’m not focusing enough on the things that really matter.” In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project. In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can he...

Hey guys, I've been missing for quite a while for one simple reason - I hadn't read a book since the summer I didn't have anything to write about. So, the prospects of completed the reading challenge are getting slimmer and slimmer, well they are non-existent, really. Only this year I'm not going to adjust my goal on the GoodReads tracker to make it seem like I didn't actually failed. The number of read books until this moment  is 22 out of 50 (I'm currently reading one which I think I'll finish by the end of the week). Now, regarding the reasons for my lack of time and what's been going on. I.  I got my driving licence  Yep, at the ripe age of 25 I finally decided it was time to join the throngs of drivers. Let me start with saying that I've never wanted to drive, never had an interest, and quite frankly I was afraid. I mean I can't ride a bike: why would I rush out to operate a car? I started my driving lessons in the summer, whi...

Hi guys, if you've read my last review then you already know that this one is about the second book in the series of the Maclean curse. I don't know why I decided to read this one since I didn't really like How to Abduct a Highland Lord. Well, in all honesty it was because it was short and really easy to read, and although I'm very much behind with my reading challenge I still haven't given up. GoodReads Summary: In this saucy battle of the sexes, bestseller Karen Hawkins pits a hard-headed Scottish lord with an unusual family curse against a headstrong heiress who has a solution for every problem...except her own wayward heart. When Lord Gregor MacLean learns his childhood friend, Venetia Oglivie, has been abducted by a fortune hunter, he rides off to Scotland in hot -- and very annoyed -- pursuit. Venetia's soft heart has gotten her in major trouble this time: if he doesn't rescue her swiftly, the scandal will ostracize the provocative wench! T...

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've read and consequently reviewed a book. And I honestly I thought I would never read this one. Mainly because I thought it didn't exist. Marriage Vacation was featured in the TV series Younger as the novel of the estranged wife of Charles - one of the characters on the show (let me just add that I can't wait for Liza and Charles to finally be together). And until two days ago I had no idea that the show went through these lengths to actually publish their fictional book. GoodReads Summary: By all appearances, Kate Carmichael had the perfect life: two adorable daughters, a pre-war town house on the Upper East Side, and a husband who ran one of the most successful publishing companies in New York. But when Kate attends the wedding of two of her oldest friends and reconnects with successful classmates from graduate school, she suddenly sees her life in a different light: the career she didn’t pursue, the dreams she’s locked aw...

Hey guys, as lately I seem to be always behind the current craze in the book world I finally managed to get my hands on Red Queen. I know probably no one is really interested in yet another review on this particular book but 1. I don't think anyone's going to complain and 2. my reading list is both outdated and perhaps a bit boring for most. So, sorry guys... Goodreads Summary: This is a world divided by blood - red or silver. The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power. Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a l...

Hey guys, it's been awhile since I've posted anything on the blog, let alone a book review. The truth is I didn't really feel like writing it particularly for this book. It's the sixth one in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and it was supposed to be about Phury and Cormia. The reason I was postponing the writing of this post was mainly because I feel like I'm repeating myself. That's why the review is going to be a brief one. GoodReads summary: In this "frighteningly addictive" paranormal romance saga there's a war raging between vampires and their slayers. Here are the stories of a secret band of brothers like no other—six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. And now a dutiful twin must choose between two lives...   Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood's bloodlines alive. As Primale of the Chosen, he is obli...

Hey guys, It's time for another book review. It's again on the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. The third book - Lover Awakened follows Zsadist and Bella's story, which we saw the beginning of in Lover Eternal.        . GoodReads Summary: A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society. Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her… My opinion: I remember the first time I r...

Hey guys, the next book I'm reviewing is Lover Eternal. I took up this book as a fun, easy read to take a break from Duma's Marrie Antoinette series, because even though it's an enjoyable read the sheer volume of the works is a bit exhausting. By the way I'm halfway through the first book. So, I saw that a friend of mine was reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and I remembered how entertaining they were. This is the second book in the series, but I recently (2 years ago) read the first one, and I decided to skip it. GoodReads Summary: I n the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast, Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quicke...

Hey guys, I know I haven't posted in a while, but that's only because I had difficulties choosing what my next book should be. I even asked for recommendations but no one felt like sharing, so I chose to do what was the obvious thing and that was look through my own library. So, I came across Alexandre Dumas'  Ange Pitou. I was a fan of Dumas since perhaps I was 12 or 13 when I first read The Three Musketeers and the following sequels (I still remember how much I cried at the end of the last book when everyone died). After that I read the Count of Monte Cristo, which was equally great. And that's how I started buying whatever of Dumas' books I could find from second-hand shops, however somehow I never got around to read them. Disclaimer: This review will be short and it won't contain any of the plot because otherwise it will be more than 5 pages long. Ange Pitou, or Taking the Bastille, as it's known in English is actually part of a series telling th...

Hey guys! I've always liked Italian as a language, and I've always wanted to learn it. However, at school I had different things to focus on, after that it was the university, and so on. And quite frankly, I feel I'm too lazy to go to Italian classes. So, in the last few (probably 7) years I've been studying Italian on my own at home on and off. I haven't been consisted so I'm still at a beginners level. This year I hope I will be more organized and I'll finally manage to see some progress. And as I don't really feel up to learning with tons of exercises and so on, and honestly I think I learn best by reading I picked up this little book. This won't be a book review as usual, since I don't think there is anything to talk about this book. The plot is straightforward: Minnie goes to Italy and visits her friend Libero. Minnie's knowledge of the language is limited, so there are a few misunderstandings in the communication. But I think we a...

Hey guys, so in January I read a total of 6 books, which I think is pretty good, especially for someone with two jobs. The sixth book I read again wasn't Very Good, Jeeves! because it seems I can't get around to finish it. The book I finished was Max Factor: The Man Who Changed the Faces of the World. The title is quite self-explanatory. It's a biographical book about the life of Max Factor the man who created the makeup brand.  From GoodReads: Nice women never wore makeup. Even the word was taboo in polite society - until Max Factor entered the scene. Born in Poland in 1877, Factor worked as a beautician for the Russian royal family, the Romanovs, then for the stars of early Hollywood,  revolutionizing  the world of beauty as he went. My opinion: I found the book compelling and there was so much information that I didn't know. Which, of course was nothing of the brand. I never knew that first there was even such a man named Max, let alone that he worke...

“Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.”  Hey guys, it's time for another book review, as the 2018 Reading Challenge is going great. This is the fifth book that I've read in January. As you know I read Alias Grace by Atwood at the beginning of the month and I was amazed by the story and the writing. Unfortunately, this didn't happen with The Handmaid's Tale. GoodReads Summary: Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her...

Hey guys, I think by now, with total two of my book reviews, it's been established that I start my book reviews with a standout quote from the book. Not it this case. Why? Because it f****** sucked. Now you may ask yourselves why did I bother to read it? I read the book in two days, which isn't because it was sooo amazing and I couldn't put it down. It was because it was an extremely easy and quick read. And as I mentioned I've set a reading goal - 50 books in a year. And the best summarization of this book is this: It starts promising and fails miserably. Spoilers The first few chapters were funny and entertaining. The style was also good, and the direction which it was going seemed quite full with potential, but it missed the mark a big time. So, the plot is this as posted on GoodReads:  There are few things sadder than Jack Grammar's love life. So when his friends take it upon themselves to get him a date to the prom by placing an intensel...

“The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.”  This is probably one of the most famous books of Agatha Christie. I have a friend who is a huge fan of hers and she would talk for hours about her and her works. Sadly, I don't share that with her. As I said this the first book that I read from Agatha Christie, probably it won't be the last if I am honest. Book Summary from GoodReads: What more can a mystery addict desire than a much-loathed murder victim found aboard the luxurious Orient Express with multiple stab wounds, thirteen likely suspects, an incomparably brilliant detective in Hercule Poirot, and the most ingenious crime ever conceived? The plot is quite straightforward: there was a murder and Poirot was going to solve it. The murder was orchestrated in an impossible way: all the clues were contradictory to one another. And Poirot with a methodical patience finally managed to unmistakably...