Review: Omitted

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:

Secrets. Scars. Solitude.
Those three words now define her life.
And the big one, Silence.
But this is not a vocabulary lesson. This is a story about a girl; a girl who chose to keep silent.
Did she make the right choice?

SHE IS DROWNING IN SILENCE.
When Hannah wakes up in the hospital, she makes a decision to feign memory loss about the events that landed her there. Now a college freshman, she’s determined to put the past behind her, but she’s coming to realize that silence may be her biggest enemy.

WILL SHE LET HIM LOVE HER?
Within minutes of meeting Hannah, Parker quickly discovers that trying to befriend this prickly girl will be like hugging a cactus; it can only end in pain.
But Parker loves a challenge, and he makes it his mission to put a smile on that girl’s face. The more he knows about Hannah, the more he wants to find out. If only she would let him get close to her…

Hannah is done letting anybody in, but being surrounded by so many cheerful people—especially Parker—is tempting her to open up again. Maybe even fall in love.
Will she put an end to the lies?
Or will she keep pretending?

Sometimes lying about it feels easier. Maybe a colouring a little here and there so it doesn't look so bad. But omitting the truth entirely, that's when you know something is truly wrong with the situation.

Review: Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians #3)

'' ''We're too rich to have problems.'' ''

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

From Goodreads:

When Nicholas Young hears that his grandmother, Su Yi, is on her deathbed, he rushes to be by her bedside--but he's not alone. The entire Shang-Young clan has convened from all corners of the globe to stake claim on their matriarch's massive fortune. With each family member vying to inherit Tyersall Park--a trophy estate on 64 prime acres in the heart of Singapore--Nicholas's childhood home turns into a hotbed of speculation and sabotage. As her relatives fight over heirlooms, Astrid Leong is at the center of her own storm, desperately in love with her old sweetheart Charlie Wu, but tormented by her ex-husband--a man hell bent on destroying Astrid's reputation and relationship. Meanwhile Kitty Pong, married to China's second richest man, billionaire Jack Bing, still feels second best next to her new step-daughter, famous fashionista Colette Bing. A sweeping novel that takes us from the elegantly appointed mansions of Manila to the secluded private islands in the Sulu Sea, from a kidnapping at Hong Kong's most elite private school to a surprise marriage proposal at an Indian palace, caught on camera by the telephoto lenses of paparazzi, Kevin Kwan's hilarious, gloriously wicked new novel reveals the long-buried secrets of Asia's most privileged families and their rich people problems.

It's two years since Nick and Rachel got married. They have been living their life separate from Nick's relatives, and far away from Asia's richest drama. Nick's grandmother has a heart-attack and Nick flies to her bedside, to find out his been banned from Tyersall Park. What ensues is a play fulfilled with drama, backstabbing, and gossip, where the only one you can trust is yourself and everyone else is your enemy.

Review: Jake's Redemption (The Angel Eyes Series Prequel)

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
An imprisoned cowboy. An empowered woman. When true love is forbidden, opening their hearts could destroy them both…

Chained and enslaved, Jake Nichols is convinced he’ll die alone. In this new order where men are stripped of all power, he endures brutal torture at the hands of his female captor. But when he’s hired out to build a ranch home for an outspoken beauty, his dreams of escape transform into visions of passion.

Monica Avery struggles to fill her heart in a loveless society. With marriage outlawed and romantic partners reduced to pawns, she’s given up hope of finding her soul mate. But the rugged rancher building her shelter awakens her deeply buried desires.

As the project comes together, Monica discovers a kindred spirit in the tenderhearted Jake. But despite their growing attraction, he still belongs to a cruel woman who’d rather see him dead than free.

Can Monica save Jake, or will their love lead to a tragic tomorrow?

Jake’s Redemption is a full-length book in the Angel Eyes cowboy dystopian romance series. If you like scorching-hot chemistry, clever post-apocalyptic worlds, and star-crossed love stories, then you’ll adore Jamie Schulz’s captivating tale.

Most of us take freedom as granted. We are used to living in a world where we don't have to think about losing our right to make decisions for ourselves. When the war strikes in this book, the normal lives that you and I live, turn to the slavery of the previously dominate sex, the world is thrown into chaos.

Review: Daughter of Fire

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:

Laura led a sheltered, middle-class existence. Oh, she knew she was adopted, but what did it matter? A lot when her birth mother is murdered and the killers come after her next...for reasons that are deep in her very blood.

Based on the synopsis, there isn't much to go on so deciding to read this book was a true leap of faith. This time it just went in the wrong direction. Laura knows she is adopted but hasn't confronted her adoptive parents yet. Then the police officers arrive to inform her that her birth mother has been murdered and that they think that the killer is after Laura as well. Thrust into witness protection that fails to protect her leads Laura on a hunt to find the truth behind her mother's death and ultimately, her own true heritage.

Review: The Sidewalk's Regrets

'' I love this boy. I love him. And he loves me. But is that enough? This time I'm not sure it is. ''

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

From Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Sacha McLeod isn’t looking for someone to rock her world. But when she hears the boy in the music store play the guitar, the music thrills her and she falls hard for Dylan and his sound.

Sacha finds herself spending less time with her violin and more time with this guy. Her plans for her violin-virtuoso future—and her self-confidence—are shattered when she screws up the audition for a summer music program. Failure isn’t something she’s had to face before, so when Dylan asks her to spend her vacation with him in the city, she lies to her parents, pretends she won a place in the summer school, and secretly moves in with Dylan.

She’s expecting romance, music, and passion, but when she finds herself playing second fiddle to Dylan’s newly acquired drug habit, she realizes despite what the songs say, sometimes love isn’t all you need.

Falling in love might change the priorities in our lives. What used to come first is now the last thing on your mind. At least for a while. Then, people around you begin to notice the changes you are experiencing, they start to get worried, and the vicious cycle of deceit and lying begins.

Review: Eternal Soul

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
Reign Elise La' Roche is savvy in business, evasive in love, and private and protective when it comes to her personal life. Born in the flavorful city of New Orleans, she is also the descendant of powerful hoodoo magick, age-old African mysticism and dark family secrets. This Creole beauty is content living a charmed existence; that is, until a strategic retaliation against her father changes her life forever. Reign is suddenly tossed into a whirlwind of betrayal, magick and the awakening of a whole new world where nothing appears to be in her control.To protect and preserve her lineage, Reign soon learns that she must embrace the one thing she'd fought years denying...a bloodline of ancient power. And with time, Reign evolves from a successful artist and gallery owner, to a woman of unlimited means and potential with one climactic goal: vengeance.

I am quite disappointed with this book. Too high expectations when going in played the most part in this, but still. The book took entirely another direction than I thought it would.

Review: Kingdom Cold

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
Attempted murder, that's how sixteen-year-old Princess Charlotte's engagement starts. It seems like the only thing she has in common with Prince Young of Vires is their mutual discontent.

When her kingdom's attacked, Charlotte's parents renegotiate her hand in marriage to a handsome stranger with a sinister plan. With the people Charlotte loves dying around her, and her kingdom's future at stake, the only person she can turn to is the prince she betrayed. But, should she save her kingdom or her heart?

One must fall.

Princess Charlotte of Besmium made it clear to her parents, she doesn't want to get married. Not now, and not in the near future. Even the idea of someone robbing her from her one chance at freedom terrifies her to the brink desperation. She acts out a reckless plan that almost costs herself the entire kingdom.

Review: Realm of Beasts (Legend of the Nameless One #1)

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
An enchantress and a wizard get tangled in the grisly plans of an undead creature.
Tor Lir, the Nameless One, is unsure what he is. However, he knows he was born to bring balance to the powers of good and evil.
Forsaking his birthplace and fleeing from suggestions of a dark knowledge he’d rather not discover, he decides to take his fate into his own hands.
A chance encounter with a dead body, a dangerous beast, and a desirous creature lead him on the path to Paradise, where he senses imbalance.
Banished from her village and lost in a wicked forest, Citrine makes a deal with a dark creature, but that was before she found Paradise—the legendary land of a friendly giant.
Falling in love with the land, Citrine takes advantage of her time to study the lore of herbs and craft a spell of protection for her mythical beasts.
When darkness creeps into Paradise, bringing the mysterious Nameless One and an omen of death, Citrine realizes the consequences of her actions spell danger for herself, her beasts, and Paradise.
As time runs out the undead come to life. Citrine faces the ultimate showdown as everything she holds dear is ripped away.
Will the Nameless One save Paradise or destroy it to welcome an era of peace?

Reading the synopsis of the book again after finishing the book, I wonder, if the synopsis is meant to serve as the primary introduction to the world of the book, so that there doesn't have to an introduction in the story itself.

Review: Shadow Eyes (Shadow Eyes #1)

'' ''Are you sure you're ready to have your eyes opened to the truth?'' ''

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
Iris thought she could ignore the shadows…until they came after everyone she loved.

Seventeen-year-old Iris Kohl has been able to see both dark and light figures ever since a tragic incident three years ago. The problem is, no one else seems to see them, and even worse…the dark figures terrorize humans, but Iris is powerless to stop them.

Although she’s learned to deal with watching shadows harass everyone around her, Iris is soon forced to question everything she thinks she knows about her world and herself. Her sanity, strength, and will power are tested to the limits by not only the shadows, but also a handsome new teacher whose presence scares away shadows, a new friend with an awe-inspiriting aura, and a mysterious, alluring new student whom Iris has a hard time resisting despite already having a boyfriend. As the shadows invade and terrorize her own life and family, Iris must ultimately accept the guidance of an angel to revisit the most horrific event of her life and become the hero she was meant to be.

Iris didn't want to see the shadows. She wanted to be normal, but little did she know that her life would be far from normal. Meeting new people and navigating the treacherous path of being a teenager in the middle of real-life drama might just be the beginning.

Review: Hauling Checks

'' At Checkflight we always had the customer's best interest in mind. ''

'' Oh well, what you don't know can't hurt you. The engine seemed to be running okay. ''

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
I'm a cargo pilot. In the industry, I'm known as a "Freight Dog." I fly canceled checks and other types of high-value cargo around the country, mostly at night, in airplanes that are older than I am. Flying freight-or "work" as we call it-in small, twin-engine aircraft is a lesser known side of the aviation world. Our day starts when banker's hours end. Thousands of flights move millions of pounds of work from city to city every night while the rest of the country is asleep. We're out there in the freezing rain getting de-iced when you're laying down for bed. We're sweeping the snow off our wings with a broom at three in the morning. That horrible thunderstorm you heard last night while you were sleeping, we were flying through it. The fog you woke up to in the early morning hours, we were landing in it.

Hauling Checks is a comedy about the darker side of aviation. A cast of degenerate pilots, who work for a shady night time air cargo operation, take you on a flight through the unfriendly skies. The pilots abuse every Reg in the book in their quest to make deadlines for their high value cargo. As the company falls on hard times, management resorts to questionable measures to save the failing airline.

Hating your job is quite normal, especially if your working conditions are far from comfortable. But when you are flying a plane that was supposed to be scrapped a decade ago and most the flight-computer is so old that it isn't compatible with anything anymore, the job as a pilot doesn't seem so glamorous anymore.

Review: Destroyer's Blood (Blood Series #1)

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
Dev shook his head, spitting out dust and rock chips. The last rays of the setting sun stained the ground crimson. “Betrayer,” he murmured, ears still ringing from the terrific explosion, “we have a problem.”
The cryptic message from Olympus changes everything... One moment Devcalion and Betrayer are free, climbing up Half Dome without a care in the world, the next they are dragged into battle with the Destroyer, Zeus’s ancient foe.
The Dark Power is merciless, and time is running out. It’s up to Dev and Tray to try to stop him, or the world of men and gods is doomed.

I really should start to learn how to DNF books before it's too late. Before the only feelings, I have the author's baby is discontent and frustration. Destroyer's Blood intrigued me from the beginning. The concept of ancient Greek mythology and the disputes between the ruling gods has always been close to my heart, and, in a way, are what got me into reading in the first place. So, almost every time someone presents me with an opportunity to dive back into that world, I take it. I take it because I enjoy the lores, I enjoy the mystery and the great adventures.

Review: Hearts Abroad (Atlas #1)

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
When a fun-loving American nanny turns a millionaire British single dad’s world upside down, it’s inevitable life is going to get complicated.

Taking a break from screenwriting in New York City, Londyn Bellerose takes a nannying job in Colorado to get away from the hubbub. A summer to live without regrets is all she wants. While her boss is British, gorgeous, and a millionaire, he has no clue how to have fun. Determined to mend the relationship between father and daughters, Londyn doesn’t expect to fall for the museum curator.

Londyn is American and everything Callum Archer swore to never fall for again. With her carefree spirit and energetic smile, she’s perfect to nanny Callum’s two daughters. The problem is she’s also perfect for him. She’s sassy, musical, and tends to speak her mind more than she means to.

When old history and new dreams threaten her happily ever after, will Londyn and Callum’s love survive?

This solid three-star novel will warm you up with its promise of a HEA and lovable cast of characters. Take a chance and hop on board with this light retelling of the classic Cinderella.

Review: Before Midnight: Reilly's Story (After Midnight #1)

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:

Reilly is on top of the world. He's a major name in entertainment, especially in the eyes of most teenage girls. Still, when tour comes to an end, it's even more apparent that something's missing in his life. His holiday is filled with old friends and close family, yet he's still consumed with restless thoughts. He just needs a little change: A new friend, a new location, and new inspiration. At least, that's what he's hoping.

Pigeons and Carrots rocketed into fame and have just completed their longest tour so far. The band has now a few weeks of downtown before returning to the studios.

Review: The Colonel and the Bee

'' ''Ignorance weighs far more than knowledge.'' ''

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:

The Amazing Beatrix works as an acrobat in a 19th Century circus, no home or family to speak of. When a daring escape from her abusive ringleader crosses Beatrix's path with that of the daring adventurer Colonel James Bacchus, the unlikely pair team up, fly to safety aboard the Colonel’s miraculous four-story hot air balloon, and begin a grand quest to find the most precious gem in the world, The Blue Star Sphinx.

If the heroes can outmaneuver the deadly treasure hunters, escaped convicts, and double-crosses that await them, they may win the treasure they seek, or better yet, a sense of true belonging.

Witty banter, colorful characters, and exotic locations pack the fantastical, globe-trotting adventure that reads like Sherlock Holmes meets Around the World in Eighty Days.

Let's be honest, I could not get in this book. I tried and tried to get in, to truly love the book and its colourful writing. Maybe it was the way it was written, maybe I couldn't understand the characters. Whatever the reason may be, the further into the book I got the less I enjoyed it.

Review: Titus Fogg (The Wyrd #1)

'' ''This stuff, magic, isn't what you think it is. The word makes it sound whimsical, fantastical, like it's a fairytale, but there are things out there that would feed on your sanity, kill you in ways you couldn't possibly imagine, not because they're evil, but because of how insignificant we are as a species.'' ''

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

From Goodreads:
Titus Fogg hates magic, and with good reason. Born into a murderous family of cruel and powerful casters in modern Massachusetts, magic has contributed to every bad thing that has happened to him since birth. After finally managing to banish the most likely evil (but definitely dirty-minded) entity called Shade from his body to the sidelines as his shadow, Titus has the chance to have a normal, magic free, high school life. But, when Tess Roe, his classmate, neighbor and model of justice at their school realizes she can see the creatures Titus calls the Wyrd too, Titus must return to the world of the strange to help her. Soon Titus's dark past comes to light as he must prove that he isn't responsible for the death of one of Tess's friends, and the theft of a magical book that could lead to the destruction of Arkham.

Titus is tired of everything. He hasn't slept well for ages and every time his head hits the pillow he can't escape the Dreamlands.