Review: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cinder, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation. Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future.

This story was an imaginative take on the classic Cinderella story. I like how the author was also able to weave in some other aspects of different fairy tales. I felt so bad for Cinder. There were definitely some heart wrenching parts.

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Review: The Cold King by Amber Jaeger

The Cold King by Amber Jaeger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Calia Thorn has lived her entire life in a small town sheltered by the Cold King’s mountain. Working day and night to care for her younger siblings, complete her unending chores and please her selfish, lazy mother has left her with few dreams for her own future. But then even those meager hopes are taken from her when the Cold King comes down from his mountain to demand a new servant. Ungraceful, unladylike, undesired and unwanted by even her own family, Calia is chosen to be sent to the palace. The Cold King has lived for three hundred years under a curse imposed by his own father. With no hope of ever breaking it, he settles for keeping his heart frozen against any pain— or hope.
When his new servant arrives, she challenges him in ways no one ever has and sparks fly. But not every Beast is a prince charming at heart and not every beauty is a maiden just waiting for love.

The storyline was okay for a quick read. The characters were not overly developed and the reader did not really get much out of them or their backstories. I would recommend it for a quick beach read but I have read a lot better adaptations of the Beauty and the Beast trope.

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Book Review: A Beastly Scandal by Shereen Vedam

3 stars

Genres: Romance, Fairy Tale, Fantasy

Format: ebook

216 pages

Published by ImaJinn Books

Published on March 22nd 2013

ISBN13: 9781610261241

Where to Buy: Amazon

View on Goodreads

Synopsis:
A BELLE OF THE BALL…
Lady Annabelle Marchant was a belle of the ball in London until she used her psychical senses to save a man’s life. She failed miserably, leaving him dead and her disgraced. All she wants now is a chance to comfort his widow by cleansing the woman’s home of her husband’s restless spirit. But the widow’s son, the beastly Lord of the Manor, accuses her of coming to the wilds of Cheshire to snag him as a husband. Thoroughly disgusted, she is bent on proving him wrong.

…BECOMES PERSONA NON-GRATA…
Lord Rufus Marlesbury, the Earl of Terrance, is suspected of murdering his father. He has come home to clear his name by finding the real killer before the new year or the king has promised that Rufus will be called in front of the House of Lords to answer for the crime. He does not have time to waste fending off a marriage-minded miss who has inveigled an invitation to his home by playing on his grief-stricken mother’s worst fears.

…WHEN A MURDERER IS ON THE RAMPAGE
With an unruly manor ghost terrorizing the occupants and corpses piling up in the village, Belle must find a way to see the man beneath the beast and Rufus must learn to believe in the love of a woman who has no reason to trust him. Only by working together can they stop a vengeful ghost before it torments the guests or before the killer strikes again.

My Review:

This book is a nice short read.  Annabelle brings out the passion and ability to get ahead and make it on her own.  Despite the original plan Rufus, the magnetic hero, denies what he thinks and teams up with Annabelle to solve a murder.  I would have liked to see a little bit more out of the characters, some more personality and complexity. 

Note: I received this book via Netgalley.

Book Review: How Beauty Met the Beast (Tales of the Underlight #1) by Jax Garren

3 stars

Format: ebook

152 pages

Published by Carina Press

Published on November 19th 2012

ISBN: 1356194360

ISBN13: 9781426894664

Where to Buy: Amazon (audio book)

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Synopsis:

The Beast

Scarred. Damaged. Living with a terrible secret. Agent of the Underlight Wesley "Hauk" Haukon has nothing left but the fight for liberty against the oppressive Order of Ananke. He's starting to lose hope…and then he sees her.

The Beauty

Despite her night job as a burlesque dancer, grad student Jolie Benoit has always played the mostly good girl. That all changes following a scorching sexual encounter with a stranger whose face she doesn't see. After she's kidnapped by thugs and rescued by a man with a very familiar voice, Jolie becomes a pawn in a struggle she never knew existed.

Hauk knows he cannot have her, and resolves to protect his heart and his secrets. But as they work together and grow closer, he finds new reason to keep fighting. Dare he risk hope in a new life, one where Jolie can see past his ravaged face and where their friendship can grow into something more?

My Review:

One of my favorite things to read is a good retelling about a fairytale, this book did not entirely disappoint. The premise of the story was intriguing. I have to say I found the single sex scene seriously lacking, it just did not seem plausible. The book lacks a creative world building that would strive to develop the plot and characters more; it seemed to be presented in the middle instead of acting like the first book in a series.

Note: I received this book from Carina Press via Netgalley.

Red and Her Wolf (Kingdom #3) by Marie Hall

3 stars
Genres: fairy tale, fantasy
Format: Kindle Edition
200 pages
Published by Marie Hall
Published in September 27th 2012
ISBN13: B009HKY0FA
Where to Buy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble
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Note: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

As memories return Violet’s life is not what she thought.  Born a child of the dark she is thrown back into a fairy tale world right into the arms of her supposed enemy.  Ewan found her at last and she is everything he had ever wanted, the only problem now is to make her not hate him. 

My Review:

Continuing on with this fairy tale series Maria Hall once again did not disappoint in the construction of the characters.  I loved the interactions with Hatter and Alice in them; Hall did a wonderful job bringing them back into the story.   Violet and Ewan had a great deal of chemistry.

I did however not like the parts between Danika and Miriam.  Even though those parts did end up explaining a lot I wanted to skip over those parts and get back to Violet and Ewan.  The only think about Ewan that bugged me was his accent, I found it to be kind of annoying, but then again I don't think accents translate very well onto paper.

About the Author:

Marie Hall has always held a dangerous fascination for creatures that go bump in the night. And mermaids. And of course fairies. Trolls. Unicorns. Shapeshifters. Vampires. Scottish brogues. Kilts. Beefy arms. Ummm... Bad boys! Especially the sexy ones.

Then the day came she realized apart from the sexy bad boy she married, there'd be no vampires/shapeshifters/mermaids/fairies/or even stinky trolls in her future unless she wrote about them. More often than not she can be found roaming the wild, lush tropical forest she calls her backyard (a.k.a. Hawaii) and day dreaming constantly about her latest project.

Daughter of the Red Dawn

2 stars

Note: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Selena, a seventeen year old girl, actually turned out to be the princess of the lost, mythical land of Fallada in Fae.  She doesn't know it but she is one of seven princesses stole from her land and taken into the human world.  Now as she falls in love with the werewolf sent to kill her, Selena needs to try and fight the forces working against her, mainly the evil queen, Eranna.

First of all the cover really did not do anything for me and honestly I thought it was pretty creepy. 

I was annoyed at the whole thing when I first started.  The interruptions in the prologue and the way that it was developed just got to me.  I didn't like it at all and my dislike probably just kept going from there. Selena annoyed me when I first started the chapter. 

The relationship and connections between the character just didn't seem real.  The Grimm brothers did not seem very helpful and everything they said was just boring.  The story did not capture my interest nor made me want to read any further.

Less narration and description would have made the whole story read more smoothly.

The Last Grimm: Red's Hood by H.L. Wampler

2 stars

Note: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

The concept of the story was very interesting and was the thing that intrigued me most to want to read the book. The structure with the extremely short styled chapters was weird for reading and the writing style itself was choppy. With some fixes to editing issues and maybe a better look at central dialogue themes this book would translate better to a reader.

The character of Abigail was not very strong and she seemed kind of annoying throughout the whole thing. she wasn't whiny but there was just something about her that was off putting. Connor seemed like the typical romance guy hero but without a lot more depth than that. The romance aspect didn't seem very convincing. Connor and Abigail just didn't really seem to connect and it was just to easy. The relationship seemed childish and not very well developed. Also for being a best friend who knew Abigail so well, Anna seemed very selfish and easy to infuriate. 

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15782796-the-last-grimm 

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

3 stars

The book was a very interesting take on a classic fairy tale that I grew up with (at least the Disney version). Like so many other book I have read lately this one seemed hard to get into at first. The characters didn’t seem relatable or even likable in the beginning. Tiger Lily especially, she just seemed like a character that needed to be pitied, her qualities of nature weren’t that redeeming though. As I got more into the book it was more enjoyable. The characters became less stiff, but not by much, and the story was able to explain and progress more. I did like how the different ‘well known’ events were incorporated and how they were integrated. It was nice for a one time read.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7514925-tiger-lily

Her Mad Hatter by Marie Hall

4 stars

Note: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

A modern retelling of the classic Alice and Wonderland story. Danika, a fairy godmother who helps the more seedy fairy tale world characters, attempts to find Hatter's one true love. Lo and behold it has to be an Alice.

I was hoping that it would last longer and I was sad when it was over. I loved the characters and especially Hatter's witty ways. I am excited to see what the next book holds. While reading it did have a Sherk quality

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15758271-her-mad-hatter