Review: The Inherited (The Inherited Series #1)

''  This game was beginning to reflect badly on me. I mean, how can reading and writing compete with a multilingual horse whispering, blade-wielding, sword fighting, motorcycle riding and jet flying badass? I at least needed to take upon crocheting or something. '' 

★★★☆☆

From the back cover:

One second Catherine believes that she is a normal girl, the next she finds herself betrothed to a Prince. Together they are thrust into a world of political intrigue, ancient oaths, & deadly mystery.
All Cat wants is to make it through her final exams and to get into a good university but that is put on hold when two men show up on her doorstep and tell her she is the last descendant of an ancient and forgotten royal bloodline. Not only that, but they offer her the chance of a lifetime trip to spend the summer living it up in castles and yachts off the coast of France. The only hitch is that she has to be a brooding prince's arm candy.
A summer of parties and beaches changes faster than the tides when old secrets begin to be unearthed and blood binding decrees are called upon.
Can truth and love survive when the path to the throne and crown is riddled with deception and daggers? 

I waited so long to get to this book. It's been sitting on my reviewing list so long, and it felt it never got closer. But now that I'm done with (not really, it's a trilogy), I can honestly say it was worth the wait.

Review: Angels' Whispers

★☆☆☆☆

'' ''There's a fine line between genius and madness'' '' 

And not so fine line between fiction and textbooks. More of that later...

From the back cover:

Alex Meyers, a dynamic, global entrepreneur, has an advantage that no other human has ever had: he is protected by Aranes, the Superior of the Angels. While he is skiing, he dies in an avalanche, but his all-powerful protector breaks one of the ethereal world’s most important Rules and brings him back to life. Alex falls head over heels in love with the beautiful Angel, who appears to him in human form. But she disappears just as suddenly as she had appeared.
While he searches for Aranes, Alex discovers her true identity and that he actually might be the high-ranking Celestial Abaddon, who is mentioned in the Revelations prophecy as the one who will defeat Lucifer.
The man who fate has thrust among the world’s superpowers is now living a nightmare. He wants to evade Lucifer’s pursuit, find out who he truly is and once again see the only being he has ever loved. And the only way to do it is to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Review: Dead Kings: The Dawnmaiden

'' ''The dead will cower in my light!'' -- ''Every dark corner will be bathed in it, steeped in it... and it will burn!'' ''

★★☆☆☆

From the back cover:

Queen Evelina is the victorious hero of the war that freed her countrymen from tyrannical invaders and her own wicked father. She is revered by the people—mighty of arms, inspired with strategy and relentless in tenacity... thirsty of blood, towering with pride, and cemented in obstinance—she is feared by the people. Old enemies seek her ruin, the fall of her kingdom and a return to power. Known as the Dawnmaiden to those who love her, and as the Bloody Virgin to those that hate her; will Evelina overcome her own flaws and spite, or will she become indistinguishable from the villains she fights?

The description above is one of the most spot-on ones that I've ever read. But, unfortunately, it still didn't save it from one major down point. Imagine a TV-series, season one, you haven't seen episodes one to three and start watching from episode four until the season finale. You have missed the introduction of the main characters and the setting, and you are just thrust into the middle of things. Yes, you've got the glossary in the last pages of the book and it helps a lot because there are many things that you just can't puzzle out the meaning of yourself. But to be honest, the glossary doesn't save you from the confusion of starting from the middle

Character-wise the book is very diverse. There are dreamers, realistics, those driven forward by hate or love towards their homeland. Actually, all of the characters are very emotionally involved in their agenda. Although they all are aiming for the same outcome, they all do it very differently. Some run towards the danger and some shy away from it. The contrast between the characters' personalities really work and the chemistry sompliments the plot well.

Since there was no beginning one could  easily assume there would not be an ending. According to the author there will be at least a second installment to the series which will clear up a lot and fill the blanks from the first book.

Review: Acting On Impulse

★★☆☆☆

From Goodreads:

She's camera shy. He's a big star. Is love worth the limelight?
Thirteen years ago, Chris McPherson drunkenly declared his love for Joy Albright … right in front of her husband. Though her angry rejection still stings, Chris, now a successful Hollywood actor, has never forgotten his feelings for her. When he returns to Silverweed Falls to direct a summer Shakespeare play, he is thrilled—and a little apprehensive—to learn that Joy will be managing the play.
One year ago, Joy Albright’s marriage imploded in a public scandal when her husband was caught by the press with another woman. All she wants now is to avoid the limelight, but she can’t refuse the request of a dying friend to help save the local theatre group.
Reunited, sparks fly. Joy is desperate to avoid more gossip. Chris comes trailed by the tabloids. But neither of them can deny the temptation to act on their impulses. 

I don't know what to say, on one hand, it was an okay read, and on the other hand there was nothing to it. The story begins thirteen years prior, where the reader gets to know what happened between Chris and Joy. After that, the story continues forward focusing more on the upcoming play and less in the relationship between the two main characters. The reader gets a few glimpses of the relationship here and there but the main focus is totally elsewhere. To me, it felt like that the story couldn't focus on both the play and the relationship at the same time, it was an either-or-situation.

What comes to the characters, their stories add up and they are well written when thought as individuals. When placed in the same scene the interaction sometimes comes off a bit stiff. And some of the stiffness is probably intended but most of it just stood out too much to be there for reason. Putting the stiffness aside, the characters were funny and complimented the story to a great extent.

This was quite fast to read even though the book is almost three hundred pages long and the plot moves with an even pace. Unfortunately, to me, some chapters acted more as fillers to lengthen the book and not as ways to deliver more information about the situation or to give the plot a shove forward.

# The Secret Life Of A Book Blogger

I found this wonderful tag on ''Read Diverse Books'' where Naz had done it last year. The idea is to give the readers a glimpse of your thoughts about blogging and I hope this will be something that is fun for you to read!

How long have you been a blogger?

I've tried blogging on many occasions in the past but never made it past the first month. With Books Told Me So I've had the site up and running since July 2015 (has it really been that long?!). And before going live,

NaNoWriMo 2017 Is Here!

It's already the sixth of November and that means already six days of this year's National Novel Writing Month has gone by. Who is participating this year?

I know there are tons and tons of websites and groups to help aspiring new authors to get their first draft out before November ends, and having participated last year, I know these are life savers! I've done a lot of reviewing for Inkitt and they contacted me to spread the word: Inkit has their own Writers Write - program to support all of you new and seasoned writers out there! Oh, and it's absolutely free.
 

Have you ever thought about writing a novel? There are millions of people in the world who have ideas floating around in their heads that they want to write down but never find the time.

Inkitt, the world’s first reader-powered book publisher, will be launching their first ‘Writers Write Program’  on November 1st to help you turn your idea into an original novel. The 30-day program is completely free and filled with special benefits such as:
 

• Free, 30 min private sessions with professional writing coaches (including the editor of The Martian)

• Events and tips with bestselling authors like Andy Weir, Lauren Kate, and Gayle Forman
• A variety of community features such as the choice to get a writing buddy who you can exchange manuscript feedback with.
  
  “Our intention is to enlarge the writing community by encouraging more people to become writers,” said CEO of Inkitt, Ali Albazaz. “The program is completely free so for us, this isn’t about making money; it’s about encouraging talented and committed writers to keep going and finish what they started.”

What are you waiting for? If you have a dream of writing the next sensation or just write out the idea that has been mulling around in your head, go, take a pledge! And if it turns out great, in the end, be sure to send a review request my way. 😊

Review: The Fiasco In News

'' At this point, I'd carried around the persona of a defeated man for so long that women could smell it. '' 

★★★☆☆

Adam Millard, the walking disaster, isn't the one to run away from trouble. Actually, it wouldn't matter if he ran, the trouble would always run faster in order to catch him. 

There are heroes and villains. Both want something, more money and fame, to save or to destroy the world. And then there's Adam, whose goal is to get a good night's sleep before the next load of shit hits the fan. Up until now, Adam has just gone with the flow but when a part-time villain, part-time newscaster offers him a job, things start to look a bit brighter. But not for long. Adam is being whisked away on another wave of disasters leading him to alternate versions of Wonderland, and this time Alice isn't the nice little girl, but The Alice from your nightmares.