A Court of Mist and Fury
Sarah J Maas
4/5 Stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐


This is the 2nd of 3 books in the Court of Thorns and Roses series and I just can't put them down!
Feyre has been saved from under the Mountain by Rhysand in the most unexpected way.
Now they have to move forward and see if they can save the rest of their world.

Feyre has to heal and learn about how she has changed, as well as come to grips with her past.
This book was great for me.
The writing is excellent, and all the characters are so well written.
There are many different facets to all of them, and you really feel like you understand the interplay between them.
I think this would make an excellent film series as well.
You can just see the characters in your mind's eye and think about who would be the best to play each of them, each one sexier and more alluring than the next.
I'm already about 1/4 of the way through the 3rd book.
What will I ever do when I'm done???
Love it love it!

Tunnel of Bones  (Cassidy Blake #2) 
by Victoria Schwab
4/5 Stars 

⭐⭐⭐⭐


In Tunnel of Bones, Cassidy Blake and her Ghost sidekick Jacob travel to Paris with her Ghost "Inspecter" parents to film another episode of their TV show. This one inside the spooky catacombs. This is a great tale, just scary enough and long enough to be perfect for a YA audience.

The author spins the yarn elegantly, weaving in threads of other times and other stories, with just enough Savior faire, to make the reader feel like they are on a visit to France.

Cassidy and Jacob have a new adventure and come across a new challenge, but of course, they rise to the occasion. It is also nice that we get the opportunity to learn more about Jacob's backstory.
I can't wait for Vol#3!

The Vine Witch 
Luanne G Smith
3.5 / 5 stars

⭐⭐⭐



In the Vine Witch, we meet Elena who has spent the past 7 years under a curse, living as a toad.
She returns to the vineyard where she grew up to find it has been sold to a city lawyer, Jean-Paul, who, because he shuns magic, has been unable to produce a decent bottle of wine. Chemistry blooms between the two of them and he is willing to have her help him, but of course, doesn't want her to use magic.

I loved the idea of there being different kinds of witches that had different connections to different trades. There was a pastry witch also, and there are potion witches and a fire-Jinni.

There is however some black magic going on, with animal exsanguination, and Elena must solve the mystery before she is implicated.  I thought a lot of the plot was very predictable, and I could see many of the action points coming a mile off. (so why couldn't they?)

I did like the idea of magic going into making a delicious wine, because maybe it really does, and the bits of French were delightful,  but it just didn't quite rise to 4 stars for me. I could maybe go 3.5

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, my opinions are my own.

TheTestaments
Margaret Atwood
4/5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐


The Testaments takes place about 15 years after The Handmaids Tale. It centers around the stories of 3 characters, Aunt Lydia, a teenage girl growing up in Gilead, and a younger teenage girl growing up in Canada. The stories intertwine at some point.

The book was a great and fast read for me, but less earth-shattering than The Handmaids Tale.
Of course, it is not fair in many ways to compare the 2, as how could a sequel have the earth-shattering power and disturbing tropes of the first? We have already been exposed to the evil of Gilead, the Sons of Jacob, particicutions, etc, so we know what we are in for when reading the Testaments.

I found that It made me want to re-read the Handmaids Tale, even tho I have seen the Hulu series, I also felt that I could relate to the emotions and feelings of the characters, who were well-written. I just wish the chapters were headed with their names as well as their "subject#'s" because I had a hard time tracking that.

Overall I thought it was a good book although there are a few twists and surprises that are not really all that surprising.

A Court of Thorns and Roses 

Sarah J Maas

4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐



I just loved this book!
When nineteen-year-old Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin--one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. As time passes on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into something quite different. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever.

This book was right up my alley, I would go for 4.5 stars if I could!
This is the second book I have read by Sarah Maas, and I love her writing.
She has a way of taking the fanciful and making it real.
Her descriptive prose is so elegant, but not overly flowery.
I also loved the ending, which had several twists, and didn't at all finish the way I expected!
Brava, it's wonderful when the endings are not predictable, but do wrap up the entire story.
I really hate it when the end of a book is just an obvious cliff hanger for the next book.

I would recommend this highly for any reader in the fantasy genre!

Mercy Road 
by
Ann Howard Creel
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4/5 Stars ****

It's 1917, and young Arlene Favier’s home burns to the ground, taking her father with it. She must find a way to support her mother and younger brother. Job opportunities for women are especially few, but a daring possibility arises: the American Women’s Hospital needs ambulance drivers to join a trailblazing, all-female team of doctors and nurses bound for war-torn France. On the front lines, Arlene and her fellow drivers work long hours to aid injured soldiers and civilians. In between dangerous ambulance runs, Arlene reunites with a childhood friend, Jimmy Tucker, now a soldier, who opens her heart like no one before. But she has also caught the attention of Felix Brohammer, a charismatic army captain who may not be what he seems.

This was a very well-written book. It captured me from the very first chapter and help my attention through the very end. I did feel like the ending was a little unsatisfying, in that you wanted more justice. I also felt that parts were a bit unrealistic, in that none of the drivers were ever injured or killed, and in this situation, I believe many would have been.
The writer does a good job of describing how the characters are feeling, and what they are seeing, and how it makes them feel.
It would have been nice to include a map of France and all the locations the crew and AWH travel to as this would the reader to understand where they are.
Where is Meaux, the Marne, Chateau-Thierry, etc?
Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in return for an honest review, my opinions are my own.

Four Bodies in Space
by Luna Harlow

3/5 Stars


This Story is a super short, super fast read!
It is more of a novella than a book IMHO.
The story centers on a psychically gifted alien character named Solaris.
Solaris is a science officer on an older, but elegant ship.
They are transporting members of another species than ar unable to communicate verbally, and mayhem ensues (no spoilers).

Solaris herself was well-written, as was maybe one or 2 other characters, however there were a lot of characters, and many of them were not well developed given the brevity of the book. Many also had very generic names like Richards and Johnson, and it was hard for me to distinguish them, and remember who was who.

I also felt that for a book about space and being in space there was very little descriptive language about the beauty of space, the starts, the darkness, the velvet deep, etc.  Not enough attention was given to the backstory of the main character for me, sometimes we hear about the beauty of the home world, etc.,  but not here.

So I think there is room to round this out more, and make it a better book, but maybe that is planned for future volumes, as this is marked Volume 1.
I did like how quickly the action moved, and how decisive some of the characters were. 
Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own

A Transcontinental Affair
by Jodi Daynard

4/5 Stars


I loved this book!
It was a great spin on an upscale “Hell on Wheels “ kind of tale.
Hattie and Louisa meet on a deluxe Pullman train headed from Boston to San Francisco and forge a friendship that will change the course of their lives.

The book is beautifully written with gorgeous descriptive language about the great American countryside of years past.

I recommend this book highly- a great story!

Sassafras
by Trish Heald
💥💥💥💥
(4 stars)


What a great book!
This is the story of Champs, a patriarch who has a cabin on the Sassafras River off the Chesapeake Bay.
We meet Champs shortly after his beloved wife of many years, Pat, has passed away.
We follow along as he learns to cope and interacts with his kids, grandkids, friends, and most of all, life without Pat. (I don't want to spoil a great story).

Having just lost my own Dad, this book really resonated for me, especially the wonderful and touching wisdom of Champs' neighbor Josanne, whose calling is making memorial cross-stitch samplers. There are so many funny, touching moments in the book, and it is really well written.

At one point Josanne says,
" We want so bad to figure out death, to get away from the hurt, to make it something else. I think death is a great fissure thrown in our path, like a crack in the earth. Now, some of us are gonna spend the rest of our time looking into that crack paralyzed and full of fear. Others are gonna be drawn into it and disappear in the blackness. There’s some fools gonna try to jump over it to the other side, where the grass is always greener, but they never really make it. the only way I’ve seen it work, is to build a bridge. And to build a bridge takes time, it takes materials, and most of all it takes other people. You can’t do it alone.”

This really resonated and hit home for me. So. Much. Wisdom.
A book about healing wrapped up in comedy and love.
One of the best things I've read in a really long time.
Brava!

Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.