Archive for January 2024

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
My rating: ★★★★

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Synopsis

REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK | INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“This fast-paced read has everything you could want in a thriller: secret identities, a mysterious boss and a cat & mouse game that kept me guessing the whole way through.”—Reese Witherspoon

Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to—her real identity—just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn't be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge...

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REVIEW

What a fun read!

Although I love a good mystery/thriller every now and again, I do find that a lot of the time they're 90% plot and only 10% characterisation. Which, to a certain extent, I understand. They're all about the shocks, the twists, the turns and the big reveals, after all. But this was an exception. I felt like I really understood who Evie Porter was. She wasn't just a player on the board she was a real person with real motivations and real stakes.

Of course, it's ironic that I say I know who Evie was since, as you'll have read in the synopsis, no such person exists. But she was clever, determined, strong and extremely morally grey. So fun to read!

Obviously, I won't go into too much detail about the actual plot and I do feel like they tell you far too much already on the back cover blurb, but the way the story was told between the present day and various points in the past meant the story evolved slowly but surely, filling in all the missing pieces bit by bit, until there was only one question left: Who is "Mr Smith" and how do we make him stop?

I'd recommend this to anyone who loves a good mystery. You'll have so much fun putting it all together and I guarantee you'll enjoy the pacing and the many shocking events that happen along the way.

My rating: 4 stars ★★★★

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
My rating: ★★★★

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Bride by Ali Hazelwood
My rating: ★★★★★

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Synopsis

A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again...

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

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REVIEW

It's so incredibly kind and thoughtful of Ali Hazelwood to continue writing these novels just for me! I mean, she must. There's just no other possible way her characters could tickle my fancy the way they do if she didn't have a direct line into my psyche and know exactly what I'll love most in an FMC and MMC! Her books are just *chef's kiss*

The second I saw this book pop up (I believe I first saw it on my daily scroll through Waterstones lol) I cannot express how much I wanted to read it IMMEDIATELY. I mean, the combination of Ali’s brand of sizzling, sexual, slow-burn tension PLUS werewolves PLUS vampires PLUS enemies-to-lovers PLUS arranged marriage? SAY LESS!

Naturally, I was very happy therefore to get this copy to read a little early. (Don't worry, I'll still be getting the paperback from Waterstones). I read it while I was off for Christmas and it definitely was a cherry on top of my reading year. I mean, who would rather watch cheesy Christmas movies when you could be salivating over a ridiculously hot werewolf book instead?

What's it about?

This was a paranormal romance - a romance book with the required happily ever after ending, just in a world with paranormal elements - therefore the worldbuilding was minimal but what was there was good and really definitely helped to set up our characters' motivations and explain their personality traits.

For example, FMC Misery is a 23-year-old vampire and the daughter of a high-ranking member of the vampire council. As such, as a child of 8, she was used to secure an alliance with the humans via their Collateral Program. Basically, the humans and the vamps exchange a child to live in the other's territory for 10 years as collateral. If either side breaks the rules of the alliance, the child gets killed.

So from age 8 to 18, Misery lived with humans who were both scared and slightly icked out by her and her wee baby fangs. After her time was done, she went back to the vampires who then also treated her like some sort of human-loving lepper.

So she basically feels like she belongs nowhere. She only has one single friend in the world - Serena, a human who was raised in foster care with her and is the sister of her heart - who has gone missing! The only clue to her last known whereabouts points to the werewolves. The vampire's biggest adversary whom they do not have an alliance with... Yet.

That's right, because her father, not content with sending her away throughout all her formative years, now also wants her to MARRY THE NEW WEREWOLF ALPHA as well.

And so, within the first chapter Misery ends up married to an alpha werewolf and living in their territory surrounded by people who don't like or trust her - AGAIN!

So a pretty good set-up for some tension, right? Both the sexual kind between the newly married couple and the mistrustful and disdainful kind with other less-welcoming members of the pack.

What I loved:

I ADORED Misery. An ironic name because I found her absolutely delightful. Her dry humour was top freaking notch and I defy anyone not to get an immediate girl crush on her. One of my favourite things about this book was the dialogue and most of that what came out of Misery's mouth in particular. She was just so subtly hilarious.

That's not to say I didn't fall hard for Lowe as well. His wolfy senses meant that he was quite often in a state of intoxication when near his vampire bride and her alluring scent. I loved that he tried to keep it together while clearly feeling dazed and entranced in her presence. Play it cool, Lowe, play it cool, lol.

He's an Alpha and had to challenge and fight to the death for his position so he's definitely no softy in werewolf terms, but when it came to Misery, he was more golden retriever than werewolf and I loved him for it. So freaking sweet.

Speaking of sweet, there's a 6 (possibly 7) year-old that lives at Lowe's Lakehouse residence along with a few others that also provided some super sweet moments. Loved her and Misery getting to know/like one another. It was very cute.

I think this book is going to do very very well and if Miss Hazelwood would like to write more in this world I would 100% eat it up along with anything else she writes (for me).

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK for the Advanced Reader Copy provided in exchange for my honest review. Can't wait to re-read it one day.

5 very satisfied stars ★★★★★