So this was a reread for me but I definitely don’t remember the story as well as the first book so there were still a few surprises for me which was nice. 
Also knowing how the series ends up, I notice the little clues in this book that lead to a later plot twist and it is actually quite clever.
I enjoyed this book more then the 1st because you’re straight into the story, and honestly there’s action right from the start and then all the way throughout. The pace itself is also quite fast because of this.
You get to see more of the side characters which was good and you see my FAVE romance of the series start to bloom so naturally I loved that.

The main con, however, is that I really don’t like Clary, the main female character. In this book especially, she comes across quite selfish, immature and honestly whiney. I don’t like the way she interacts with certain characters and she also does one particular thing that in real life I cannot stand so it’s even worse reading about it in fiction.

Still happy to keep reading and more excited for the next books.

TW⚠️
-blood
-fighting
-injury 

This is definitely a dark one but also in some ways it felt like it wasn’t (but don’t let me fool you it is). What I more mean is that there’s also a beautiful story underneath this darkness and it’s a story told in a harshly beautiful way. Not one that makes you feel all happy and cosy reading, but one that’s hard to look at but you can’t look away either. 
Daniela Manzana is a prisoner, stuck in a relationship with a man who is the worst kind - he uses pain to keep her as his possession whilst claiming it’s love. Then one day, she is taken from Vinny and she lands herself into the world of Dante - Lucifer, the devil - and let me say right now he is not the knight in shining armour of this story. However he might just be the brutal, soul destroying man that Daniela needs to rid herself mentally physically and emotionally from Vinny, once and for all.

This book kept me HOOKED. I started off reading about 80 pages every day and it really only took me the first 100 pages to be fully invested in the story. 
The love in the book is cruel, savage and brutal. This is not a romantic book. However, I think it would have been a disservice to the story if it had been. The animalistic love works in this story.
I really enjoyed the writing style, I felt it fit the story, and I felt the story moved at a good pace. Maybe slightly on the slower side but I never felt it dragging and the pace overall worked well for the story.
One thing I especially loved was that this book didn’t need words to show the characters arc - I am especially looking at Dante here. He is very much a man of few words but it was his actions and the way he went about things that told you how he felt and how his feelings were changing and I loved seeing that and working out which actions meant what.
I think the character of Daniela, whilst without a doubt girl needs some SERIOUS therapy, is a really strong character and I loved seeing her come out of her shell more as she grew confidence and escaped Vinny’s clutches more and more.

Some things that made this a lower rating for me:
I was desperate to see how it ended, and I kept telling myself through the bad it’d be worth it for the end. Not gonna lie, the end kind of disappointed me, like a lot. I don’t feel as if the story is completely finished so maybe I will have to check out book 2 but I went into this thinking the story would feel completed after 1, and 2 was a companion novel. I haven’t felt like this was the case. Also after absolutely everything that Daniela goes through I was hoping that right at the end, she would have some reassurances from Dante, maybe not romance but at least some clear words to indicate his feelings - that doesn’t really happen and I was left feeling wanting. 
Last reason for my lower rating was that by the end I REALLY wanted Dante and Daniela to COMMUNICATE (with words) more then they did. Whilst sex may have been their language there’s only so much you can get through that.

TW ⚠️ (it’s a lengthy list)
Abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, and mental)
Captivity 
Domestic abuse
Sexual assault 
Rape
Violence
Sexual content (Rated: 18)
Drugs (addiction, overdose, usage)
Torture 
Human Trafficking (mentioned but not explicit)
Knife play 
Child sexual assault 
Murder 

This is a beautiful story that I really recommend everyone reads.
I don’t really know how to write a review for this book. It takes you on a beautiful journey and pulls on your heartstrings the whole time.
It follows the story of Liesel, a young German girl, when she moves in with a foster family prior to World War 2. Oh, and it’s narrated by death.
It is a story full of hope, heartache, family, love and loss. 
It gives such a unique outlook on what life would have been like during an unimaginable time and it teaches some wonderful lessons along the way. So many pages I have tabbed with quotes to look back on in the future. 
The characters are so real and so fleshed out, you experience their happiness and their pain as if it were your own and you find yourself routing for them and hoping against all odds that they make it.
It’s decent sized book, over 500 pages, but the pace is fast and there’s loads of short chapters to keep the momentum going. However despite this I feel it’s a book to be savoured and I did read it quite slowly which I am glad for. 

Really all I have left to say is read this book.

TW: death of loved ones, suicide, antisemitism, bombings, world war

I really wanted this to finally be the 5⭐️ for the series but alas it still did really good!
It’s hard to review the good and bad bits of this book without giving spoilers so this is going to be a pretty vague review.
Good things:
-the feelings 😫 Let me tell you multiple of my reading notes contain CAPITAL LETTERS cause they hit me in the feels. You really get to see the two relationships that have been blossoming for the whole series fully bloom in this book and it is SWEETNESS.
-by the end I think all of the characters had redeemed themselves in my eyes. I wasn’t left with any characters I disliked (apart from the ones you’re suppose to dislike)
-I still really like the level of fantasy in this book/series. Whilst there are some pretty out there magical elements it’s easy to follow and doesn’t really require any world building. So for a non-fantasy reader like myself I think it’s a great starter
-the epilogue was a nice closer to the whole series

Cons:
-I can’t believe I’m saying this but it needed to be longer. I felt the ending came around too quickly, too conveniently with so many things happening in 6 or 7 chapters that I didn’t actually feel emotional connection to any of the events happening and didn’t really process any of it
-whilst I didn’t dislike any of the characters by the end there were definitely a few I still really didn’t see the point of. They just didn’t feel to me like they added to the story at all.

Overall the series gets an average 4⭐️ so I think that’s pretty good!

Helena Newbury is an automatic buy author for me as I have enjoyed every single one of her books so I knew I would enjoy this one too!

Bethany works a dead-end job in a call centre in the middle of a big city. One day she’s offered a transfer to a new city with a transfer fee she can’t turn down. However the car doesn’t take her to a new city but into the arms of a secret club who exploit and “buy” women. Bethany escapes quickly but the only place to run is deep into the forest where she bumps into Cal. 6ft 8” strong, sexy recluse who lives in a cabin deep in the woods with his dog Rufus. The dog that Bethany saved 6 months before when he got tramped in barbed wire. Now Bethany needs Cal’s protection, but what causes a man to seclude himself in the woods for 6 years? When sparks fly and Bethany needs Cal more then ever, will he turn out to be someone she can trust?

Whilst all of Helena Newbury’s books have a dark element to them, this one felt slightly darker then the rest and I really liked that. 
As always with her work, the characters were flawed but loveable, her female main characters, whilst often being the ones in danger, always have a great inner strength and resilience which I love to see. Her male characters are often the most vulnerable and open with their feelings which again I think makes for great reading. 
The chemistry was sizzling and the sex scenes were steamy whilst still being sweet. Movie Rating 15 
The danger element added adventure to the story and I liked that in this book you got to see a bad guy who has featured in many of her other books be taken down.
The sneak crossover at the end for a new series: LOVE IT 😍😍😍

As always a great enjoyable Helena Newbury read

TW: human trafficking, discussion of rape but no scenes involving the act, hunting game, mention of torture but not explicit

2nd in the Pucked series even though each book can be read as a standalone.
I definitely enjoyed this one - read it all in a day which I think is becoming a regular with Helena Hunting’s work. It’s also a short book at just over 300 pages so a good quick read
It was nice seeing into Miller and Sunny’s lives as they were only introduced in book one.
However I didn’t find the couple as entertaining as Alex and Violet. The problems the relationship had got quite repetitive quite quickly as it was the same problem over and over again. I felt like the characters weren’t as fleshed out as in the first book so I found connecting to them a bit harder.
However great rep for people with learning disabilities in the book, and I liked seeing that covered in a romance. 
There’s some really good examples set in this book. Helena Hunting is becoming a favourite of mine for open communication in her books not only about sex and consent before the act but also during, and keeping up a constant line of consent is really great to see.
The sex scenes definitely had steam - I’d put it between a 15 and 18 movie rating - but again I felt more chemistry and pazzaz from the first books couple. There’s definitely less sex in this book which is probably a positive or a negative depending on your personal preference 😂

Overall definitely an enjoyable read with some really sweet moments as well as some steam

This book definitely served the EMOTIONS so lemme break it down.

For the first 8 or so chapters I really didn’t like either character tbh and thought it wasn’t gonna be a great read for me. Then between chapters 8 and 17 my feelings changed to quite liking the main male character but being really annoyed by the female character for giving off extremely mixed signals and then complaining the male character was doing that (he wasn’t really). Although the book is only 270 pages (on kindle) I’d count this as a slow burn because the main couple don’t get together until the last third of the book and there was a lot of will they won’t they moments - so much so to the point I’ll admit I was getting kind of frustrated and bored with them.
BUT THEN.
Chapter 17 and it all kicks off! We got many moments of romance, lots of will they moments where they do and just a rollercoaster of emotions which really had my stomach doing wee flip flops. The romantic scenes are super sweet - this is definitely a 12 movie rating on steam - but the sweetness kind of makes up for it. There’s a few plot twists as well, including some heartbreaking scenes in that last third of the book that really did just pack a punch.
And the FOOD 😍😍 DO NOT READ THIS BOOK WITHOUT SNACKS. Cause the descriptions of both the meals and the desserts and sweet treats were AMAZING and mouth watering. I want to try every single thing featured in the book (and at the end there’s even some recipes for some featured dishes).

Overall the end did make up for the slow start and slightly annoying characters but they were still a bit of a hurdle to get over hence my final rating. I did enjoy this book, and I read it quickly mostly in one sitting, just it took a bit too long to get anywhere for my personal tastes

A re-read 
For me this was a super easy read because I’ve read it at least twice and have seen the tv show and movie so I know this story (book 1) really well.
I find the writing style super easy to get into, and I love the urban fantasy that this follows - not too heavy on the world building because it’s set in our world. Magic realism is definitely my preferred sub genre of fantasy as I don’t have to imagine too much. 
However funnily, in this re-reading, I found the main romance a bit too instant love for me. In the show and the movie, I saw the two characters chemistry on screen but in the book I don’t feel it so much. 
Obviously the plot twists aren’t twists for me as I know the story but it is a refreshing take on the romance and I can still appreciate them!
This is still a series I would recommend!

What I actually thought would be a fantasy book was in fact just a historical fiction.
The book essentially follows Cora, a brand new widow, in the journey she goes on for the year after her husband died. It involves the people she meets and how all their lives intersect.
This is a story which people & characters are at the core. You follow the main group of characters through their year and really get an insight into their lives and what makes each tick.
There’s romance, adventure, tragedy & death - all the things that make up a real life.
It was a bit slow to begin with but after the first 100 pages I got used the the writing style and found myself really consuming the book.
It’s lots of different romances at play I found myself I tricked to who may end up with who.
I did think though that I really couldn’t actually tell you what this book is about 😂 I think it’s maybe one of those ones which means something different to everyone who reads it.
Sometimes very descriptive which I found hard to follow as I really am not someone who pictures things easily in their heads.

TW: spousal death, infidelity, suicidal intent and attempt via hanging

I devoured this book in one sitting because I loved it so much. Let me just share the first line with you, because it’s certainly what got me hooked:
“It’s 6:51 on Thursday morning, and I’m thirty seconds away from an amazing orgasm”
Now I understand this may not be everyone’s cup of tea but if you like:
-An INSANELY hot pro icehockey player who is actually quite the romantic and has such a soft side
-A feisty, confident, independent female who also doesn’t mind showing her emotions and knowing what she wants in bed (yes to female empowerment!)
-Incredibly HOT 🥵 sex scenes - honestly if I could rate this above an 18 movie I would
-And a romance that pulls on your wee heart strings,
Then this is for you!
Alex and Violet are both a bit whacky but so cute and their romance was such a joy to read. My stomach did that whole tuggy butterfly thing multiple times reading over their sweet scenes together and I was laughing allowed at multiple parts!
I enjoyed this so much that I instantly downloaded the sequel for this couple (though I plan to read the whole Pucked series)
Plus there was an epilogue! (We all know I’m a hoe for an epilogue)
Highly HIGHLY recommend!