Project Duchess

Project Duchess (Duke Dynasty #1)- Sabrina Jeffries
Zebra/Kensington 
Release Date: June 25, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead!

Synopsis: A series of stepfathers and a difficult childhood have left Fletcher “Grey” Pryde, 5th Duke of Greycourt, with a guarded heart, enviable wealth, and the undeserved reputation of a rogue. Grey’s focus on expanding his dukedom allows him little time to find a wife. But when his mother is widowed yet again and he meets the charmingly unconventional woman managing his stepfather’s funeral, he’s shocked to discover how much they have in common. Still, Grey isn’t interested in love, no matter how pretty, or delightfully outspoken, the lady . . .

Beatrice Wolfe gave up on romance long ago, and the arrogant Duke of Greycourt with his rakish reputation isn’t exactly changing her mind. Then Grey agrees to assist his grief-stricken mother with her latest “project”: schooling spirited, unfashionable Beatrice for her debut. Now that Beatrice is seeing through Grey’s charms to his wounded heart, she’s having trouble keeping him at arm’s length. But once Grey starts digging into her family’s secrets, she must decide whether her loyalties lie with her family . . . or with the man whose lessons capture her heart . . .   

____________________________________________________________________

Like all Sabrina Jeffries (Secret of Flirting) series, the new Duke Dynasty series focuses on family: in this case half-siblings trying to discover the truth behind the deaths of their fathers- and trying to mend the bonds between them.  This family promises disfunction, chaos, and five equally headstrong brothers and sister planning to discover the truth behind old family secrets.

 Grey is the oldest, and the most distant. He has become cynical and hardened, and works to keep his distance from everyone- family included.  Grey's belief is that by burying his emotions he can protect himself from pain and betrayal, lessons he learned as a child living with his abusive aunt and uncle. The shocking news that his stepfather has died brings Grey back into his family's orbit- and finds him agreeing to help his half-brother discover the truth behind the death. Grey is the epitome of a man who was abused as a helpless child and is determined to never be at anyone's mercy again.  He projects a ruthless air, arrogant and focused.  It's a front everyone believes, but it cracks almost immediately when Grey meets Beatrice Wolfe, his half-brother's cousin and a woman who says what she thinks and doesn't play the games he's used to from women.  Beatrice stands up to Grey, calls him on his rudeness, and in general treats him like a man instead of a duke.  In short, she's exactly the kind of woman Grey never expects to meet (maybe didn't even believe was real) and is perfect for him.  Except she only wants to marry for love and he refuses to believe in love.

As light and sweet as Project Duchess is, Jeffries also deals with some heavy and emotional issues. Grey was abused and bullied by his aunt and uncle, blames his mother and stepfather, and has never told anyone what happened to him- meaning his mother has no idea why he stays away from the family as much as possible.  Beatrice has been abused by her lecherous old uncle and never told anyone for fear they would blame her.  Her brother Joshua has returned from war a changed man with dark secrets he won't share.  While we don't know the stories of the rest of Grey's siblings yet, you can tell that they are also trying dealing with issues of their own. Jeffries handles these dark issues sensitively but also doesn't brush them aside.  She balances the complex emotions of her characters, their past and present, and allows their individual healing processes to begin through love.  The connection between Grey and Beatrice is powerful and delightful, and watching them slowly find their way to each other was a wonderful journey for me as a reader as much as for them as characters.

Project Duchess is a must-read winner: mystery, murder, and mayhem promise the give readers a wonderful series in Duke Dynasty.  All of Sabrina Jeffries' talents are on display here and I already can't wait to read the next book!    

I received an ARC of this book through a GoodReads contest in exchange for an honest review

Onyx Crown

The Onyx Crown (Book 1)- Alan Hurst
Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: January 27, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: From the searing heat of the desert to the vastness of the savannah,
The Onyx Crown tells the story of Jorann, Gesi, and Sania, three
children who grow up in a pre-medieval era of wars and successions,
not fifteen years after the greatest king in the history of the
continent has been deposed and assassinated.

When the legendary warrior of Numerian history, K’Nan of Loffri is
hired to guide a hunting expedition he is astonished to discover that
one of the hunter’s slaves, Jorann, a boy of thirteen, bears the
legendary mark of the Onyx Crown, a mark he’s been searching for since
the death of his sworn king many years before.

Many miles to the east, Gesi is despairing of his life in East Rhydor
as a commoner companion to Zoe and Zadeemo, the twin siblings of the
tribal prince. Good enough to run their errands, but not learn the
ways of nobility, he astonishes them when one day he shows the uncanny
ability to match the famous knight, Jorell Boro, in single combat.

Deep within the savannah, Sania is working as an errand runner in the
pleasure house where she has been raised since young. As usual, she
is wreaking havoc on the customers with her practical jokes and
tantrums—except this time her antics will lead her on an adventure she
may not be prepared for.

______________________________________________________________________

The Onyx Crown is book one in a trilogy set in a fantasy version of ancient Africa.  Three children discover that their destinies may be much more than they imagined, and that it may be their fate to restore to the throne a deposed noble house.

Jorann, Gesi, and Sania are three children growing up in different parts of their world, different castes, and with vastly different personalities.  But each discovers that they are part of a prophecy to bring the young heir of a deposed royal house back to the throne, before it can be claimed by usurpers.  Like any coming of age fantasy tale, each child must leave home and embark on an adventure to discover their rightful place in the world.  Each begins to discover talents innate with their natures as Chaos, Conflict, and Calm.  Onyx Crown focuses mostly on Jorann, a slave discovered by the renowned warrior K'Nan.  Freed from the tribe who owned and abused him, Jorann learns the skills of fighting and peace from K'Nan, and once separated from his mentor Jorann learns to trust his instincts as new groups appear to challenge and assist him in his quest.  Gesi and Sania get smaller roles in this book (though probably will get larger ones in the rest of the trilogy), but their stories mesh well as the book progresses instead of jerking the reader from one story to another.  Potential allies and enemies have shadowy motives and by the end of the book you aren't sure who the three should trust.

Overall a pretty well-written book, although there were a few times (especially in conversation) where things got awkward or jerky.  The main style of writing is a lovely rhythm with a slightly formal feel to it, so when someone suddenly starts talking in a very 'modern' way, or a description gets too 'modern', that threw me off.  But I very much enjoyed the overall style. I hope the future books will let us get to know the main characters in a more three-dimensional way, at the moment they are still a little more stereotypical general characters for me to really connect to.  Hurst definitely shows that he has the potential for good pacing, devious villains, and tricky plot twists so I am definite looking forward to reading the next book in the series when it comes out.

A fantasy book for young adults and adults alike. As a coming of age type of book it may appeal more to older teens, and I don't think they'd be bothered much by the level of violence here.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Girl In Red

The Girl in Red- Christina Henry
Berkley Publishing
Release Date: June 18, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead!

Synopsis: It's not safe for anyone alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night: critters and coyotes, snakes and wolves. But the woman in the red jacket has no choice. Not since the Crisis came, decimated the population, and sent those who survived fleeing into quarantine camps that serve as breeding grounds for death, destruction, and disease. She is just a woman trying not to get killed in a world that doesn't look anything like the one she grew up in, the one that was perfectly sane and normal and boring until three months ago.

There are worse threats in the woods than the things that stalk their prey at night. Sometimes, there are men. Men with dark desires, weak wills, and evil intents. Men in uniform with classified information, deadly secrets, and unforgiving orders. And sometimes, just sometimes, there's something worse than all of the horrible people and vicious beasts combined. 

Red doesn't like to think of herself as a killer, but she isn't about to let herself get eaten up just because she is a woman alone in the woods....

_________________________________________________________________

If you're a fan of horror movies or post-apocalyptic novels, you know the rules. Stay together. Keep your gear on you at all times. Never deviate from the plan. Follow the rules and you live. Don't and Something Bad Will Happen. But what happens when you aren't the hero of the horror movie, but just trying to get to grandma's? 

Red is a twenty year old college student who is addicted to horror movies when the Cough starts. A virus that infects at random, within months the world has changed. Millions are dead, the electricity is out, communications are down.  The military is sending people to quarantine camps for their own good. But Red doesn't believe that.  A naturally suspicious and paranoid individual, she convinces her family they need to hike hundreds of miles through the woods to her grandmother's house, where they would be safe. But even though millions are dead, others are still alive.  And what Red has forgotten about the movies is: it isn't the apocalypse that's the problem.  It's what happens after.

The Girl in Red is one of Christina Henry's (Lost Boy) dark twists on a classic fairy tale, in this case Little Red Riding Hood.  Red is a stubborn, often obnoxiously know-it-all type who isn't less annoying for being right most of the time. She's a loner, paranoid and suspicious, but when the world changes those are some of the best survival skills to have.  She often seems younger than twenty (if I just get to Grandma's house everything will be ok), but also has the world weary wisdom of someone much older.  She doesn't need to learn the hard way that just because someone is human they aren't also a predator, or that there are things even in the post-apocalyptic world that are worse than death.  She knows, as we all do deep inside, that the darkness of humanity doesn't go out just because a Crisis Has Occurred. As emotional as the book is, Red can only function by mostly being in a state of shock or emotional numbness the wholes time.  It is the reader who mourns for the ones who die, because Red can't (which made me feel a little guilty for not especially liking her. Who would be at their best in this situation?).  

The reader also wonders more than Red about the Big Picture.  What is the virus killing people and can a cure be found? How many people are dead and how are others surviving? What really happens at the quarantine camps? What are the monsters and what can be done to stop them? Will civilization be able to rebuild in any way? Red isn't (as she admits to herself) the Chosen One who can discover the answers and solve the world's problems.  She (and the reader) learn more than others might about the monsters in the dark, but she accepts (as the reader must) that it isn't her place to find the answers.  She is the Every Person just trying to stay alive based on knowledge gleaned from genre fiction and the childish belief that getting to grandma's will make everything ok again.  And maybe, in this strange new world, that is the hope that counts the more than anything else.

I recieved an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Take Me Down

Take Me Down (Knight Brothers #3)- Carly Phillips
Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: June 11, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Parker Knight is merely existing.

Emily Stevens is trying to start over.

He didn’t plan to meet her.

She wasn’t looking for someone like him.

With Parker stranded in the small mountain town, his path collides with Emily's reigniting desires they'd both long forgotten. 

Opposites don’t merely attract … they combust.

Can two damaged people living in different worlds find a reason to stay together before their time runs out?

____________________________________________________

Parker Knight has merely been existing since the accidents that took his skiing career and his fiancée- working behind a desk at the family firm because he feels like he owes his brother and has no other plan.  When he gets stranded in a tiny mountain town in Colorado he finds more than just a bed and breakfast: he finds Emily Stevens.  Emily is going through the motions, putting her own plans on hold to try and help her father with a rundown B&B.  She's learned the hard way not to trust city slickers and instantly dislikes Parker on sight.  But spending time together might be just what each of them need.

Take Me Down is possibly one of the best Carly Phillips books I've read in awhile.  Both Parker and Emily really spoke to me as people who have either put their own lives on hold to help loved ones or who have stopped looking for what makes them happy because they worry they don't deserve happiness.  It doesn't take long for them to recognize in each other emotionally damaged kindred souls.  What was great (for me as a reader) was that they recognized that in themselves, not just each other.  Parker in particular was refreshingly emotionally honest with himself once on an enforced vacation. 

The chemistry between Parker and Emily was instant and exciting and fortunately they didn't fight it for too long.  Both go in thinking this is a brief vacation fling, but are surprised to discover deeper feelings and emotional connections. It was ironic that as open and honest as they were, communicating fears and pain that they never shared with anyone else, neither was willing to talk about the elephant in the room: if a city slicker and small town baker love each other, how do they make it work long-term?

A light, fun, emotional deep and satisfying, fast-paced read, Take Me Down will thrill long time Carly Phillips fans and be a great introduction for newcomers to a consistently delightful author!

I received and ARC of this book from BookSprout in exchange for an honest review

Ayesha At Last

Ayesha At Last- Uzma Jalaluddin
Berkley/Penguin Random House
Release Date: June 4, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead! 

Synopsis: Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and who dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.

When a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Hafsa, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself.

_______________________________________________________________

In this latest retelling of Jane Austen's classic Pride & Prejudice, Ayesha is trying to get her life on track  and balance a modern Muslim life with her extended family's pressure to marry traditionally.  Khalid is trying to balance his conservative beliefs and his overbearing mother's need to run everything with pressure from workplace friends and enemies to change who and what he is.  When they meet, Ayesha and Khalid are attracted, but also dislike each other.  Assumptions are made, identities are mistaken, and Ayesha and Khalid both have to face some uncomfortable truths before they can choose their paths forward.

 Ayesha is easily relatable and lovable. She is a woman who sees herself balancing between two worlds and cultures, modern and traditional, Eastern and Western.  She has dreams of traveling and writing poetry but is practical enough to get a job she doesn't like as a substitute teacher for the sake of her family.  Always compared to her spoiled and flighty younger cousin Hafsa, Ayesha is expected to do the right thing, be sensible, and no one in the family seems to wonder if she is ever lonely or regrets giving up her dreams.  Khalid is harder to get to know- both for us as the reader and for other characters.  He is quiet, lacks all social skills, and when he does speak he inevitable puts his foot in his mouth.  Instead of being the proud Darcy who knows himself and rules his world, Khalid has been shaped by his conservative, overbearing mother and his only act of rebellion seems to have been to stay in touch with his older sister after she is banished by their mother.  When he stops thinking and just acts he can be sweet and charming, and that is the man Ayesha slowly begins to fall for.  I really liked watching both characters slowly grow and try to find themselves, and there are some great moments of realization that happiness comes from figuring out who you are, and can't rely on anyone else.

Ayesha At Last introduces the reader to the colorful (and often chaotic) world of large Indian Muslim families. Nonstop descriptions of food, clothes, music and more engage all the senses and immerse the reader into this delightful book by debut author Uzma Jalaluddin.  It is full of humor, wit, and fun as well as facing serious issues of prejudice, family expectations, and balancing different cultures and traditions. Jalaluddin is a natural storyteller, and Ayesha rarely reads like a debut novel.  Surprisingly, the times it becomes most forced or clunky tend to be in scenes most reminiscent of Pride & Prejudice. Quotes (or near quotes) from Austen are stilted and tended to take me out of the rhythm of the book.  Sometimes it felt like Ayesha was trying to force too many things into it. But as a whole, Ayesha At Last is a wonderful story of self discovery, a sweet romance, and an emotional triumph.  Fans of Sonali Dev's Austen retelling Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors, the crazy meddling families in Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians and Nalini Singh's Rebel Hard and charming romances in general will rejoice in Uzma Jalaluddin's Ayesha At Last.  

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Wolf Rain

Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity Book 3)- Nalini Singh
Berkley/Penguin Group
Release Date: June 4, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Kidnapped as a young girl, her psychic powers harnessed by a madman, Memory lives a caged and isolated existence...until she comes face-to-face with a wolf. Labelled an empath by her bad-tempered rescuer, Memory knows that her 'gift' is nothing so bright. It is a terrible darkness that means she will always be hunted.

But Memory is free now and she intends to live. A certain growly wolf can just deal with it.

Alexei prefers to keep his packmates at bay, the bleak history of his family a constant reminder that mating, love, hope is not for him. But Memory, this defiant and fearless woman who stands toe-to-toe with him awakens the most primal part of his nature--and soon, he must make a choice: risk everything or lose Memory to a murderous darkness that wants to annihilate her from existence...

__________________________________________________________

The third book in Nalini Singh's Trinity series, Wolf Rain continues to explore life after the fall of Silence.  Humans, Changelings, and Psy are learning how to co-exist in this new world but are also learning more about the dark secrets kept under Silence, and some of what drove the ruling Psy to instigate Silence in the first place.  Many Psy have finally admitted that what it comes down to is: for every power there is a price.  As a whole, the psychic race wanted to see themselves as superior to humans and changelings, but weren't willing to admit there was a price that they needed to pay, or a balance that must be struck.  Ignoring the high rate of psychopaths and killers in their midst seemed like a small price to pay for control.  With the fall of Silence, those psychopaths have a harder time hiding from the rest of the world. 

Memory has been held prisoner by a psychopath since she was a child.  Discovered by SnowDancer Alexie, she must learn to control her Empathic abilities and become strong enough to save herself from the killer who wants to reclaim her.  Memory is a delightful character who, when given the chance, fully embraces her new life.  She may consider herself dark and damaged, but to the reader (and Alexie) she is soft, strong, and caring, light and sparkles.  She learns what makes her happy and she goes for it.  Alexie is a wolf who tries to hold himself apart from others, afraid his family's darkness has infected him as well.  He decided a long time ago to never mate, and when we meet him in the beginning of Wolf Rain he is grieving and in pain from losing his beloved big brother.  But his intentions can't stand up to Memory and he finds himself in love with her before he quite realizes what's happened. One thing he knows for sure- the killer hunting Memory is going to have to get through him to have her.

As usual, Singh does a wonderful job of blending a personal story with the story of the evolving world she has built.  Memory is an unusual E, and it takes a long time for anyone to figure out exactly what it is she can do.  She has to try and find her place in the post-Silence world, as an individual and also as an E trying to help her people.  Without humans, changelings, and strong empaths in the PsyNet, the Psy as a whole are in danger of extinction.  With the end of Ocean Light readers might be surprised that the next Trinity book doesn't follow the idea of bringing humans and Psy closer together- but don't worry, as always Singh has tricks up her sleeve to surprise and delight the reader and bring her characters (and world) together in unexpected but perfect ways.

Wolf Rain is a wonderful addition to the Psy/Changeling world, and will fill readers with all of the emotions they could want.  We get to see old friends from previous books and watch new bonds form.  Readers new to the series shouldn't have trouble figuring out what's going on, although having read at least Ocean Light and Silver Silence will help you appreciate some of the nuances.  I defy any first time reader who picks up Wolf Rain to not immediately fall in love and need to read all of SIngh's Pay/Changeling books- and then wait on the edge of their seat with the rest of us to discover where Singh will take us next! 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review