Book Review · Books

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan [BOOK REVIEW]

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan [BOOK REVIEW]

I devoured “A Fire in the Sky” in a day. I loved everything about it, and I would give anything to be able to read it for the first time again.

About The Book:

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan [BOOK REVIEW]

Pages: 336

Genre: Romance, Fiction, Fantasy

Publisher: HQ

Format I read it in: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★★

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Dragons are extinct. Witches are outcast. Magic is dying.

But human lust for power is immortal.


Dragon fire no longer blisters the skies over Penterra, but inside the lavish palace, life is still perilous…especially for Tamsyn. Raised in the glittering court alongside the princesses, it’s her duty to be punished for their misdeeds. Treated as part of the royal family but also as the lowliest servant, Tamsyn fits nowhere. Her only friend is Stig, Captain of the Guard…though sometimes she thinks he wants more than friendship.

When Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, descends on her home, Tamsyn’s world becomes even more dangerous. To save the pampered princesses from a fate worse than death, she is commanded to don a veil and marry the brutal warrior. She agrees to the deception even though it means leaving Stig, and the only life she’s ever known, behind.

The wedding night begins with unexpected passion—and ends in near violence when her trickery is exposed. Rather than start a war, Fell accepts Tamsyn as his bride…but can he accept the dark secrets she harbors—secrets buried so deep even she doesn’t know they exist? For Tamsyn is more than a royal whipping girl, more than the false wife of a man who now sees her as his enemy. And when those secrets emerge, they will ignite a flame bright enough to burn the entire kingdom to the bone.

Magic is not dead…it is only sleeping. And it will take one ordinary girl with an extraordinary destiny to awaken it.

My Thoughts:

Tamsyn and Fell have their own points of view, which I really liked. It gave me a chance to understand how they are both feeling and get to know their story.

Tamsyn is such a strong female character. As a whipping girl, she is used to taking punishment, but she will never be ashamed of who she is.

“I would take the long march to the chapel on my own, through the deepening day. I understood this. There were some walks you must go alone in life. This would be one of them.”

And Fell is quite a strong character as well. A leader and a fighter, spreading fear wherever he goes. And yet Tamsyn is slowly getting under his skin and he starts to get a soft spot for her. But he’ll never admit it.

“She was a peculiar thing. A puzzle I could not quite piece together. A non-princess. I didn’t care what they called her. No royal took a beating with a smile and called it duty.”

Their attraction for each other is instantly evident, even though they are both trying to hide it and fight it. The whole tension made this book such an enjoyable read. They go through an incredibly hard journey together, a journey that will change their lives forever.

I won’t reveal anything else, as I don’t want to spoil anything, but I gasped at the big twist. Thinking about it now, I have no idea how I didn’t see that coming. I did, however, anticipate the twist at the end. It turns out, the story doesn’t end here and I can’t wait to come back for more! I loved this book with all my heart. Every single thing about it.

“She had not looked for it. Had not wanted it. And yet it had found her… And when love found a dragon, it could not be denied. Before she knew it, they were bonded. There was no severing them. For as long as she lived, there would be no other for her. Like a seed to the pod, they were a set, a duo, a pair.”

About The Author:

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan [BOOK REVIEW]

Sophie Jordan took her adolescent daydreaming one step further and penned her first historical romance in the back of her high school Spanish class. This passion led her to pursue a degree in English and History.

A brief stint in law school taught her that case law was not nearly as interesting as literature – teaching English seemed the natural recourse. After several years teaching high school students to love Antigone, Sophie resigned with the birth of her first child and decided it was time to pursue the long-held dream of writing.

In less than three years, her first book, Once Upon A Wedding Night, a 2006 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Nominee for Best First Historical, hit book shelves. Her second novel, Too Wicked To Tame, released in March 2007 with a bang, landing on the USA Today Bestseller’s List.

Author Website

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Book Review · Books

My Rules by T L Swan (Kingston Lane #2) [BOOK REVIEW]

My Rules by T L Swan (Kingston Lane #2) [BOOK REVIEW]

I knew “My Rules” would be filled with spiciness and red flags and boy, oh, boy, it still surprised me!

About The Book:

My Rules by T L Swan (Kingston Lane #2) [BOOK REVIEW]

Pages: 465

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fiction

Publisher: Montlake (Amazon Publishing)

Format I read it in: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★

It started with a list.

Tired of meeting nightmares, I decided to study the dos and don’ts of dating.

And who better to help me with my master list than the king of red flags himself?

Blake Grayson—neighbor, friend, mischief maker, and player extraordinaire.

He knows how to spot a playboy from a mile away. He is the prime example, after all.

So when he offers to help me avoid Mr. Wrong by sharing what to look for, I have no choice but to take him up on it.

We start a game.

He will become my wingman, and I’ll become his.

He coaches me through my singledom, while I go on his journey of play.

We double-date, eat ice cream at midnight, and laugh.

Boy, do we laugh…

But while I watch every woman he meets fall madly in love with him, I stumble across a major problem: I know exactly why they fall.

Because I can feel it too.

His charm is intoxicating, and damn it, the man is addictive as drugs.

But it’s not happening. I won’t let it.

I’m not that gullible young girl anymore.

Blake will never settle down, and I know in my heart he’s not the man for me.

I have one go at this second chance of happiness, and I am not going to mess it up.

This time, I play by my rules.

Even if he won’t.

My Thoughts:

I was reading “My Rules” as part of a book loop with the team at Tandem and a number of other bookstagrammers. The aim was to read the book over 14 days and annotate whilst reading. I failed both. In truth, I binged the book and finished it in two sittings. I am also too afraid to write inside a book, so I didn’t permanently ink it. I did, however, leave a lot of sticky tabs and pencil annotations so I feel like I did artistically contribute to the cause.

The story is spicy and toxic and at times very unbelievable, but I didn’t really care. I was invested in Rebecca and Blake’s story. I was consuming the words, chapter after chapter, desperate to know how their story ends.

One park I really loved was the neighbourhood. On the street they live on (Kingston Lane), everyone is friends and gets on well with each other. This also meant a good support network when things went south. We meet a lot of the characters that live on Kingston Lane, and it turns out that this book is part of a series, but can be also read as a standalone. Each book in the series focuses on one character from the street, so everyone you meet, you are likely to meet again if you continue with the books. 

“My Rules” ended with a hint that the next book will feature Antony’s story, and I am very much looking forward to that.

If you love smutty romance books, you’ll very much enjoy this one. It does exactly what it says on the tin! A tin full of spice, may I cheekily add.

About The Author:

My Rules by T L Swan (Kingston Lane #2) [BOOK REVIEW]

T L Swan is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and #1 Amazon Best Selling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty languages and have hit #1 on Amazon in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany. Tee resides in Sydney, Australia with her husband and their three children where she is living her own happy ever after with her first true love.

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Book Review · Books

The Missing Family by Tim Weaver (David Raker #13) [BOOK REVIEW]

The Missing Family by Tim Weaver (David Raker #13) [BOOK REVIEW]

I absolutely devoured “The Missing Family” by Tim Weaver

About The Book:

The Missing Family by Tim Weaver (David Raker #13) [BOOK REVIEW]

Pages: 545

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Fiction

Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph

Format I read it in: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★★

One family…
On a beautiful summer’s day, at a remote lake in the middle of Dartmoor, three members of the Fowler family take a dinghy out onto the water, leaving mother Sarah at the shore.

Less than sixty seconds later, she checks to see where they are.
The boat is drifting in the middle of the lake. It’s empty.

Sarah’s family have completely vanished.

One killer…
At the Skyline Casino in London, the security team have just made a headline-grabbing they’ve spotted and detained a man suspected of murdering a high roller.

After locking him in one of their holding cells, the team station themselves outside and wait for the police. But when the cops arrive, they find something impossible.

The killer is no longer inside the cell.

Two detectives…

David Raker is an expert at solving missing persons puzzles – but these mysteries are unlike anything he’s ever seen.

As he digs into the Fowler’s, his long-time ally – ex-detective, Colm Healy – tries to get to the bottom of what happened at the casino.

But the men are in danger. Because, buried in the shadows of both cases, is a deadly secret that was never meant to come out…

My Thoughts:

“But if those tethers did exist, if they bound us to people in our lives that would eventually matter, and through those relationships we could find endings and perhaps a measure of peace for those who were hurting, I wanted to believe in them.”

David Raker is an expert at solving missing people cases. He is summoned to have a look into the disappearance of three members of the Fowler family, in the middle of a lake in Dartmoor.

At the same time, at the Skyline Casino in London, the security team detained a man suspected of murdering a high roller. When the police come to the cell, the strangest thing happens, the killer is no longer inside the cell. 

I absolutely devoured this book. It was written at a very fast pace and I couldn’t stop reading, whilst thinking about all possible theories. There are a lot of stories happening at the same time, and in the end, they will all tie together and wrap the story up. 

Although I enjoyed all the stories and it really did come together well, it felt a bit unrealistic. There is no way so many of those events were a pure coincidence and happened like that. And even if the events somehow happened, there is no chance that David Raker is the one involved with all of them at once.

Apart from that, I really have no complaints. The book is part of the David Raker series, in fact, the 13th book in the series. I had no clue it was part of a series, so I can say with absolute certainty that it can be read as standalone and in any order. This is quite often with detective book series. They all feature the same main character, it’s only the story and case that differ. I would warmly recommend this book. It was mysterious, entertaining and had me guessing until the very end.

About The Author:

The Missing Family by Tim Weaver (David Raker #13) [BOOK REVIEW]

Tim Weaver is the Sunday Times Top 3 bestselling author of the David Raker missing persons series, the standalone thriller, Missing Pieces, and the novella collection, The Shadow at the Door. His novels have been selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club three times, and his work has been nominated for a National Book Award and the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. He is currently developing an original TV drama with the team behind Line of Duty. A former journalist and magazine editor, he lives near Bath with his wife and daughter.

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Book Review · Books

The Tasting Menu by Stuart MacBride [BOOK REVIEW]

The Tasting Menu by Stuart MacBride [BOOK REVIEW]

I don’t recommend reading “The Tasting Menu” on an empty stomach! 

About The Book:

The Tasting Menu by Stuart MacBride [BOOK REVIEW]

Pages: 127

Genre: Short Story, Horror, Crime, Fiction, Thriller

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories

Format I read it in: E-book

Rating: ★★★

In this short tale from Stuart MacBride, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Dead of Winter and the Logan McRae series, sometimes a meal ends with unjust deserts…

Three friends go on a foodie road trip to the Scottish Highlands and Islands to celebrate their pending retirement, expecting stunning scenery, great food, fine wines, and a chance to reminisce about the good old days. When they somehow secure a reservation at a remote and extremely exclusive restaurant set on a private island in Loch Broom, they know they’re in for a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience.

The question is: what is on the menu? Because all is not as it seems. One of the three friends is a killer, one is a liar, and one will do whatever it takes to survive…

My Thoughts:

Firstly, a huge thank you to the team at Riot Communications, for sending me an e-copy of “The Tasting Menu”. I don’t usually read e-books (I prefer flipping pages and annotating), but I made an exception on this occasion. 

The book is short and packed with action and I read it in one sitting. We follow a group of older friends that are celebrating retirement, and they stay at this ultra posh and expensive restaurant set on a private island. 

Very shortly after their arrival and their first meal, things turn sour (pun was likely intended). There is non-stop action after that in a short span. The book itself had many twists and unexpected moments. 

The issue is that the book is and stays an appetiser.

There is no full course meal to follow or a desert. It was too short to my liking. And because of this, I felt like there was little to no time to get to know the characters. And when a character was betrayed, or murdered, I felt nothing. I couldn’t get a moment of shock or surprise because I didn’t get invested. This is the only reason the book gets a lower rating.

I did, however, very much enjoy the food references. Every chapter was structured as a menu, and we got various different meals and wine recommendations.

“Smoked Frog’s Legs served in a gilded White-Chocolate-&-powdered-Lobster ball, with a Lobster-&-Tarragon velouté” 

Hirsch Vineyards Hirsch Estate Chardonnay, 2020

I am not sure if I would recommend the book, unfortunately. Perhaps, if you are interested in a short mystery and if you are a foodie. It’s a good book to pick up if you are bored late in the night and want something quick and easy to read. If the synopsis seems intriguing to you, please do pick this book up. You never know, you might end up loving it and I hope that you do!

About The Author:

The Tasting Menu by Stuart MacBride [BOOK REVIEW]

Stuart MacBride is the Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae and Ash Henderson novels. He’s also published standalones, novellas, and short stories, as well as a slightly twisted children’s picture book for slightly twisted children. Stuart lives in the northeast of Scotland with his wife Fiona, cats Gherkin, Onion and Beetroot, some hens, some horses, and an impressive collection of assorted weeds.

Author Website

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Book Review · Books

Redemption by Jack Jordan [BOOK REVIEW]

Redemption by Jack Jordan [BOOK REVIEW]

“Redemption” by Jack Jordan blew me away! It was the gift of action and emotion that just kept giving. I loved “Do No Harm” and “Conviction”, and I expected to equally enjoy “Redemption”. What I didn’t expect was for it to become my ultimate favourite book by this author so early into the book.

About The Book:

Redemption by Jack Jordan [BOOK REVIEW]

Pages: 384

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Legal, Psychological, Suspense

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Format I read it in: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★★


Aaron Alexander has just been released from jail after serving eleven years for causing the death of Joshua Moore in a hit-and-run. Now a free man, all he wants to do is stay on the straight and narrow and leave his troubled past behind him.

But for Joshua’s mother, Evelyn, eleven years in jail isn’t nearly enough. Consumed by grief and rage, she has been waiting for Aaron’s release, counting down the days until she can exact the revenge he deserves. And now that time has come.

But as Evelyn and her husband Tobias embark on a road trip to track Aaron down, they find themselves caught on two different sides of a gripping game of cat-and-mouse. Because Tobias knows what Evelyn is planning, and he will do anything to save her from herself.

Even if it means protecting the man who killed their son.

My Thoughts:

The book starts with a fast pace very early on. We meet Evelyn and Tobias through their own POV’s and find out that they moved from the UK to the USA for a better life, but their son has died in a hit-and-run accident. In the first chapters, we see how they deal with their own grief and handle the loss as a couple. Or rather, how they’re failing at it. It’s a very sad scene, really. We get to see a very hurt, devastated couple, a shadow of the people they used to be, struggling to cope! We see them barely talking to each other. The writing, although sad, really highlights the details and makes you feel the grief with them as a reader.

We then find out that the killer has been out of prison for a month, and Evelyn has planned her next move. To find Aaron – and kill him. Tobias is vaguely aware of this plan, but doesn’t quite think Evelyn will actually do this. Rather, he really hopes she doesn’t. Very soon, he realises she’s very determined to go through with her plan, and he decides it’s time to stop her, even if it means losing her.

This is where the game of cat and mouse begins. They both grieve in different ways, and cannot see eye to eye. And now, they are both racing to find Aaron, one to save him, and the other to kill him. 

We also get the chance to meet Aaron through his own POV, and find out what he’s going through, and the guilt he carries for an accident he will never forget. 

As a whole, this book was gripping and I couldn’t put it down. It intrigued me from the very first chapter, and this feeling lasted until the very end. With so many twists and turns, and situations I didn’t expect to happen, it continued to surprise me. It also touched my soul deeply with the characters. I could feel for every single one of them, their intense pain. A gut-wrenching story about how one accident can change the course of so many people’s lives forever!

Favourite Quotes:

“Betrayal”, I say finally, sucking the joy out of the room. “It’s not the method that frightens me, but the intention.”

“I try to imagine how my life might have been without her, had we not crossed paths that day. Would we have met another way? Or would my life look completely different?”

“Life never fails to surprise me in moments like these. How one’s world can flip in an instant by simply crossing paths with another. The joy it can bring, the heartache.”

“Some people understand life better than others, don’t they? I don’t mean capitalism or politics or corruption, that sort of thing. They understand life in that they know how to live it: they know how to love, how to trust, how to get by relatively unscathed.”

“Last words – they’re infamous, aren’t they? I think about them a lot. People often say you should tell people you love them as much as you can, because you never know when the last time will be. When I part ways with people, their last words always linger as I wonder if they were the words they would have used if they knew they’d be their last.”

“Broken people can’t fix other broken people.”

“Every experience I’ve had as an adult has been with her, and the thought of stepping away, becoming my own person and not having her to turn to, doesn’t seem possible. And deep down, when I really think about it, I’m terrified that when I’m alone, I won’t like who I am without her.”

About The Author:

Redemption by Jack Jordan [BOOK REVIEW]

Jack Jordan is the global bestselling author of Anything for Her, My Girl, A Woman Scorned, Before Her Eyes, Night by Night, Do No Harm and Conviction, and an Amazon No. 1 bestseller in the UK, Canada and Australia.
Do No Harm was described as ‘chilling’ by Sarah Pearse, ‘brilliant’ by Lesley Kara and ‘pulse-racing’ by Louise Candlish. It was an instant Times bestseller on first publication and a Waterstones Thriller of the Month pick. 

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