Sunday, January 29, 2017

Sunday Cover Scramble [202]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.







Thursday, January 26, 2017

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [120]


This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

I hope everyone is fantastic! I've been busy this week with work and some school events for Zane. I'm hoping to get some relaxing in this weekend.

Which character do you think should have been played by a different actor?



We've discussed and appear to agree that the change of Dumbledore from Richard Harris to Michael Gambin had quite an impact on the character and how far he appeared to stray during The Goblet of Fire.

Other than that, can we all agree that the casting for the movies was spectacular? Especially for Bellatrix and McGonagall, I could not imagine better actresses to portray them.

So, let's talk about another one that bothers me more on aesthetics. Ginny Weasley. Now, let me be clear, I am a Bonnie Wright fan. I feel like she was an excellent actress and a beautiful girl. I DO think they did not do her character any justice in the films, but I digress. What bothered me was minor and it's the fact that she's taller than Harry. Of course girls can date guys shorter than them and vice versa, but Ginny was specifically described as short and that Harry was taller than her. So nothing show stopping or that they could've predicted while going in, but it would've fit the character better for her to have been portrayed by a shorter actress.

Which would you choose? 

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Review: Fireborn (Souls of Fire #1) by Keri Arthur


Published: July 1, 2014 by Signet Select
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: ebook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads Summary

Emberly has spent a good number of her many lives trying to save humans. So when her prophetic dreams reveal the death of Sam, a man she once loved, she does everything in her power to prevent that from happening. But in saving his life, she gets more than she bargained for.

Sam is working undercover for the Paranormal Investigations Team, and those who are trying to murder him are actually humans infected by a virus, the red plague —a by-product of a failed government experiment that attempted to identify the enzymes that make vampires immortal. Now, all those infected must be eliminated.

But when Emberly’s boss is murdered and his irreplaceable research stolen, she needs to find the guilty party before she goes down in flames…



I won the third one, Flameout, from Jessica at A Great Read and I'm so excited to get into the series!

The Good


You know what I haven't read about yet, but is a creature I absolutely adore?? Phoenixes! And Arthur has provided me with an investigative type series with a phoenix as the main character. I really enjoyed the Riley Jenson series when I read it a while ago, so all signs point to 'Go' with this series. Learning the ins and outs of phoenix life was quite fun. Emberly has quite a few neat tricks up her sleeve. I'm not going to go into detail with her power or the mythology around the phoenixes too much, but it was incredibly interesting to dive into. There is also a good element of needing recharged and power draining which I liked or she would never be in any real danger and it helps to make her much more relatable.

This one also has the mystery element. Emberly finds herself in the midst of an investigation which provides the majority of the plot. There was a great mixture of phoenix, red cloaks, fae, vampires, werewolves, and I'm sure there will be more to come in the future. I'm not quite sure what's going on with the 'darkness' mentioned numerous times that resides in Sam. However, it's great to follow the investigation filled with some inventive bad guys and good guys.

I enjoyed the characters. Some we only had brief glimpses of like Rory, but since he's Emberly's partner through life then I'm sure I'll learn all about him in more detail. Jackson was a fun one and HOT. He's a fire fae that Emberly finds herself working with since he's a private investigator.


The Bad


The overused mention of Sam's 'darkness' and how bad Emberly wanted him every time he came on scene was a little annoying. There was also no resolution to the mystery in this one which means it must continue on. There was a clear ending to the book, just no solving of what they were investigating.


The Romance


I actually really like the curse element on Emberly and all the phoenixes. Apparently, they have to mate with a phoenix forever and that person is with them through all their rebirths, but they will never emotionally be in love with them. It also means they can't really find love elsewhere either since they will always be cheating on them with their mate. It's very saddening to imagine multiple lives without true love, but I'm hoping Arthur has something good in store for us in the future. Also, it's amazing that Emberly hasn't given up hope about finding her love. There was a lot of lust to go around though, and this is very adult.


Conclusion


A good start to the series with a new-for-me creature that's very interesting to learn about. The pace was full of action, never boring, and the characters were entertaining. While there were a few blips that I could have done without, I really enjoyed it and will continue with the series. There are some similarities here with the Riley Jenson series (detective work, lots of hooking up, and the supernatural creatures), but it kept everything I loved and was enough different to not be a replica. Recommended.



Sunday, January 22, 2017

Sunday Cover Scramble [201]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.







Thursday, January 19, 2017

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [119]


This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

How's everyone's week going? Mine is going a lot better. I'm slowly feeling like myself again and getting back into my more normal routines. I am very much a routine girl so the hectic pace of the past couple of months has been a strain. Thank you all for the condolences! My Mimi loved reading and that's how I pictured her most often sitting at her kitchen table with either a Danielle Steel or John Grisham book in her hand.

Would you rather take a class taught by Lockhart or get detention with Filch?



On the one hand, we have a year of narcissistic teaching in which we learn nothing of value or a couple of hours with a squib who thinks torturing kids is fun.

Honestly though, I'm going to have to go with Filch. He obeys whether he wants to or not, and unless Umbridge is Headmistress again, whoever is in charge of him wouldn't let him go too far. It looks like it will be cleaning trophies for hours or some other tediously gross task. If I chose class with Lockhart, especially DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS, then I wouldn't learn anything except what his favorite color is (Lilac). That is definitely a class that I want to soak up every scrap of information provided so I'll just have to do my time with Filch.

Which would you choose? 

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Sunday Cover Scramble [200]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.






Thursday, January 12, 2017

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [118]


This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

Would you have put your name in the Goblet of Fire?

Absolutely not. I've never really been into competitive sports. I was on the swim team at school, but I only had to compete in one meet. I much prefer to quietly get good grades and watch the action from the stands. I definitely would've enjoyed the hub-bub of all the other schools coming and I probably would've enjoyed the Yule Ball more than trying to get picked to participate as the school champ. That is a TON of pressure!

Which would you choose? 

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Sunday Cover Scramble [199]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.

EEK I'm so sorry I missed last week! Real life has really gotten me lately. I had a death in the family and been dealing with sickness and the holidays so I have not been as active as I would like. I will absolutely be visiting everyone this week and hope to be getting back to normal around here!


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.