Review for Steam by Stacey Rourke

Steam by Stacey Rourke

Blurb:

Time passes, sins forgotten.
The bodies of the victims long since rotten. 

Trapped within the essence of the Headless Horseman by the guilt of slaughtering her best friend, Ireland Crane follows the father of science fiction, HG Wells, in search of freedom from the curse that binds her. Instead, she discovers even he has a hidden agenda. A dark, relentless passion to be reunited with the woman he loves has driven him to manipulate time and a murderous Horseman. 

Yet heed my warning, as the Raven flies,
The Hessian will come … and you will die.

All that prevents Ireland from abandoning Wells’ twisted pursuit, or introducing him to her sword, are the undead witches haunting her. Begging for freedom from a vile succubus, the ghoulish coven leads Ireland and her crew on a journey through Salem’s sordid past. There, they learn there is more to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s history than a scarlet letter, and the secret they’ve uncovered seeks to destroy them all.

Review:

Steam was by far the most exciting book in the series. Steam had elements from Sleepy Hollow, Edgar Allen Poe, The Lost Colony of Roanoke, and The Salem Witch Trials. It combined the different stories so seamlessly, it felt like it was intended to be this way. 

As always I loved the writing style, it just draws you in and keeps you hooked till the very end. Speaking of, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the ending. I think I was expecting the book to end with a bang.

Overall, I adored the series and the characters. It was funny and sassy and full of exciting moments. And The Legends Saga has made its way to my favourites shelf.

Review for Raven by Stacey Rourke

Raven by Stacey Rourke

Blurb:

An infamous love, destined nevermore,
For death could not claim, the enchanting Lenore.

Cursed by the malevolent spirit of the Headless Horseman, Ireland Crane ventures to Manhattan in search of a way to break her soul crushing bond. Instead, she discovers the lines between fact and fiction are blurring once more. Croaking ravens. Telltale hearts. Could the works of Poe be coming to pass with handsome Wall Street Midas Ridley Peolte as their unwilling target?

She walks the Earth, a plague on mankind,
searching for he, her rotted heart doth pine.

Together, the two unknowingly release a dark force death itself could not tame. Surrounded by the unrelenting violence and mayhem they’ve unleashed, Ireland feels her control over the Horseman slipping. Before the beast within consumes her, she and her crew must follow the clues of the dead to right a centuries’ old wrong. Will it be enough to sate the Horseman’s appetite?

Hell hath no fury like a ghoul scorned. 

Review:

I swear the last line in Crane had me completely flipping out! I immediately jumped and started reading Raven, till I was so tired that I fell asleep with my reader in my hand...

With Raven, The Legends Saga takes a slightly darker turn, and steps into the world of Edgar Allen Poe. Its mesmerizing how the author just weaves the stories together and brings these classics together.

Again, Raven took a completely different turn from what I expected and was so much better than I could have imagined. Stacey Rourke's writing style flows just so beautifully, especially in this book, I could not put it down.

Beautiful madness is what comes to my mind when I think of this book. Loved every second of it!

Update

Hello my lovelies!

So its that time again... Final exams. I shall be off till Mid-May, so there probably will be little to no updates on FB or Twitter as well. I'll try to schedule some reviews before I leave though!

But exciting and amazing things to come post May! Whohoo! Let's hold on to that one for a bit.

I'm still considering making printables because that's something I really want to try out. So leave your suggestions in the comments and I will try to make it happen after the exams are done!

Wish me luck!

Till later!
oxox

Review for Crane by Stacey Rourke

Crane by Stacey Rourke

Blurb:

The Horseman is unending,
his presence shan’t lessen.
If you break the curse,
you become the legend.

Washington Irving and Rip Van Winkle had no choice but to cover up the deadly truth behind Ichabod Crane’s disappearance. Centuries later, a Crane returns to Sleepy Hollow awakening macabre secrets once believed to be buried deep. 

What if the monster that spawned the legend lived within you?

Now, Ireland Crane, reeling from a break-up and seeking a fresh start, must rely on the newly awakened Rip Van Winkle to discover the key to channeling the darkness swirling within her. Bodies are piling high and Ireland is the only one that can save Sleepy Hollow by embracing her own damning curse. 

But is anyone truly safe when the Horseman rides?

Review:

“-"Death walks, and talks, and occasionally whisks you in a gruesome waltz." -” 

Crane is the retelling of the tale of the Headless Horseman from Sleepy Hollow. Think, imagine how that would go; and now throw that out of the window because this was such a different and fresh take on the story.

I will admit it was a little difficult getting into the book initially, because in my head I kept mixing voices with the movie, the TV Show and the book, and they all are on completely different levels but yet share a sense of similarity. But once you do get into the story line, the writing just pulls you in.

I have adored Stacey Rourke's work since I read The Conduit. And Crane did not dissapoint.

Crane has all the things that I love and look forward to in Stacey Rourke's books - a sassy, kickass female lead, sarcasm, action, mystery, and suspense. 

Crane will keep you guessing with incredible twists in the story. Grab a copy and ride with the Horseman! ;)


PS: SUPER LATE on this review!! I had to study.... Sorry my loves! The torture hopefully shall be over in May! ♥

Till Later
oxox

Louise Book Blog Tour

Louise by Diana Nixon

Book Blurb:

 It doesn’t hurt to dream, unless you know your dreams will never come true.

Since childhood, Louise Woods has wanted to become a dancer. The day she arrives at Le Papillon – a private cabaret club where men come to enjoy the beauty of women dancing, her life completely changes. Louise lives in the club and the rules of living and working there cannot be ignored or broken. Either you do your best to please the clients, or you are out. No flirting, no secret affairs, just dancing.

During her first public show, Louise meets a stranger who pays for the privilege to have her privately dance for him. He won't let her see his face, he won't even introduce himself, but he will make an offer that she won’t be able to refuse. He won’t make any hollow promises, but he will make her believe she is special…

“I hate following the rules,” he’ll say, “but I do love breaking them.”

Will she dare to risk losing everything she has, just to make the darkest of the stranger’s fantasies come true? Once the decision is made, there will be no way back…

ADD ON GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24838327-louise

STORES: http://www.diana-nixon.com/#!stores/mlttq

LOUISE: A New Beginning

Book Blurb:

Life is not always easy. Especially when you are in love with the man whose life is so much different from yours. Power, money, respect – these are the things that a girl raised in an orphanage can only dream about. But sometimes, love is the only power that you need to get whatever you wish for…

Louise Woods had always been a fighter. She had known since childhood that everything has a price. But freedom was the only thing that she could never have.

Living in a world of lies and betrayal, will she sacrifice her love to become finally free?

Or will she let her heart win?

A new journey full of passion and forbidden dreams; it’s a new dance, it’s a new life.

“We will start it all from the very beginning, from the very first kiss…”

ADD ON GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28053668-louise

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Diana Nixon, an International Bestselling Author of contemporary and paranormal romances, is a woman of contradictions. She was born in Minsk., Belarus. She has a Master of Law degree and speaks several foreign languages, including English, Polish and Spanish.

Diana’s writing career is like a roller coaster ride. It started with a fantasy novel named Love Lines, that was originally written in Russian and only later, it was translated into English. Since then, Diana has published 15 more books, both of contemporary and fantasy genres.

Diana Nixon is the founder of Inks and Scratches, a literary magazine  intended to help authors of all genres find readers and spread the news about their writing all over the world.

OFFICIAL PAGE: www.diana-nixon.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diana-Nixon/203165316483322?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianaNixon9

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/diananixon96/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordiananixon/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5814368.Diana_Nixon

Review for F*ck Love by Tarryn Fisher

F*ck Love by Tarryn Fisher

Blurb:

Helena Conway has fallen in love.
Unwillingly. Unwittingly.
But not unprovoked.
Kit Isley is everything she’s not—unstructured, untethered, and not even a little bit careful.
It could all be so beautiful … if he wasn’t dating her best friend.
Helena must defy her heart, do the right thing, and think of others.
Until she doesn’t.

Review:

[18+ READ]

“Let people feel the weight of who you really are, and let them fucking deal with it.” 

Do you think a dream can change the course of your life?
It sure did for Helena.
The book opens with a dream where she sees what her life could be, should her life take that turn. Helena cannot shake off that dream and begins to see things in a different light. And that sets off a whole string of events that made me laugh, cry, go "aww..." and then some. I really do not know how to properly review this book. Its almost been a month and I'm still not sure. 

So my book buddy hounded me to read this book, relentlessly. When I finally did get to reading it - I. Could. Not. Stop! I stayed up all night reading and finishing this book in one sitting. It has been a while since that happened. And after I finished reading I spent a better part of the next day discussing the book with my book babe! *Bliss*

I cannot tell you enough about how much I loved the writing style. It just pulls you in and before you know it you are almost done with the book and it's almost morning, and you kinda forgot to sleep. No regrets here! 

I loved the wit and sarcasm liberally spread through the book. I loved some characters, hated some characters and just wanted to hit some of them at one point. You know, the usual for any book you love. Probably my favourite part was the fandom references, I've come to realize that if you throw in fandom references in a book, I'll love the book even more. Gotta stand by my fandoms.

I will say this, this is not the kind of book I would typically like, but the writing style makes all the difference to the story. I honestly enjoyed the book and it's now one of my favorites. I'll probably go and get some more books by Tarryn Fisher too!

Till Later!
oxox

Update....

Hello lovelies!

I just got my PC back today. It had to be formatted because of some nasty virus that ate away at the files that are necessary to boot the computer.

I have been reading a lot though.

So I'll probably sit and write up a bunch of reviews and have them scheduled to be posted here or something of that sort.

I recently went to a book fair and treated myself to a couple books. This year I want to read more paperbacks! There is nothing like the feel of a book in your hand and the "new-book smell" or just the smell of books in general.

There are some exciting projects in the horizon, if they do come to pass, it will be wonderful.

Also I haven't updated here about my Mandarin learning. Its going well. I've cleared my HSK Level 1 satisfactorily. I suck at the listening part of the test. I think I'd do better if there was someone actually speaking in front of me rather than an audio. Only time will tell. Level 2 classes are almost done. Lots of homework this time around though. And I mean LOTS!

Found an article by Book Riot featuring podcasts that book readers would love. (Check it out HERE)

Do you all listen to podcasts? I've kinda been avoiding it, maybe I should give these a go? Let me know in the comments below which are your favourite podcasts!


On a side note would you guys like to have some sort of free printables? I see so many cute ones up on Pinterest and I would honestly love to try my hand at making some of my own. Lemme know about that in the comments section as well.


Till later!
oxox