In the second book in the Girl Meets Duke series, Alexandra Mountbatten ends up agreeing to become a governess to two wayward wards living with Chase Reynaud - who Alexandra previously knew as 'The Bookshop Rake' following their first meeting in The Duchess Deal. As Alexandra tries to befriend Rosamund and Daisy, and convinces Chase to not send them to boarding school, she can't help but fall for her employer who insists he does not deserve the love she can give him.

I mean this was just a pure delight. Tessa Dare's books are the perfect mix of sweet and salty - you have the romance and sizzling chemistry between characters, as well as amazing, well-structured female and male characters who have pasts, ambitions for their futures and loves and hates as well as witty dialogue and a fab female friendship group to boot (and the protection of the Duke of Ashbury which is a cherry on top).

I really enjoyed this and I thought Alexandra a wonderful character to follow - and I loved her relationship with Chase but also appreciated her time with Rosamund and Daisy as well. I loved that there was a bit of science in this book too as Alexandra is a bit of a science nerd and really into physics and astronomy. And pirates as well which suited my reading themes of the week as well.

I didn't find myself as invested in this book or the relationship as fast as I did in The Duchess Deal - and I was slightly put off at times by Chase's 'Cave of Carnality' as I felt it a bit slimy and gross (even though Alexandra ended up being the only woman delighted in there in the end). But I still loved this book, and I just love Tessa Dare's writing so much.

3.5 stars

*This book has literal content warnings for everything. If you are a sensitive reader, I would not recommend.

CW: Child abuse, paedophilia, child pornography, FGM, child mutilation

In the second book in the Grant County series, a date night for Sara and Jeffrey turns deadly when a shooting leaves a 13-year-old dead. Further investigation uncovers a recurring crime beyond Jeffrey's worst imaginings..

This books is dark af and I cannot stress that enough. I think of myself as a very tough reader and I'm generally okay with reading dark and gruesome things (unless it's animal torture - that's my line) but this had me really shocked and repulsed in parts.

I liked the investigation in this though I don't think I was left feeling overall satisfied with what happened in the same way as I was with Blindsighted. We see some character development between Jeffrey and Sara in this book - particularly with their relationship (though I have to say I found it a little weird the jumps from the investigation into child pornography and then the two of them rekindling their sexual intimacy, WEIRD).

I hate to say it but I really do not like Lena as a character. She's someone who is obviously deadly with a HUGE amount of trauma following the first book, as well as grief for her sister who died but she was just plain nasty at times in Kisscut and she is quite blatantly homphobic at times which I wonder if it will be challenged at some point in a later book.

When Adrana and Fura Ness sign up to become bone readers on Captain Rackamore's crew in a bid to help out with family debt, they have no idea the adventures that lay before them and the journey of self-discovery. As Arafura begins to experiment with old alien bones that can whisper secrets of buried treasure, something darker lays in wait for the crew in the skies and one they may not be able to escape from.

This was a lot of fun and perfect for fans of The Expanse or These Cruel Stars. There was a really nice pace throughout the book, and all the chapters were an even 10-12 pages which is a weird thing I love in action-packed sci-fi stories as I feel like I am making great headway in the story.

The world building in this story is quite immense and can be a bit intimidating. I did feel disconnection with the story for the first 100 pages or so as I was struggling to really get a grasp on the world considering it feels like a millennia away from our own with not even a passing mention of Earth. But when that 100-150 page mark hit and events took an absolute turn, I was hooked onto the story and I was not putting it down.

This book really took me by surprise with twists and turns I didn't see coming, and I honestly felt at times like I was on a ship at storm, holding onto the sides as we rocked back and forth and had no idea what lay ahead. It was a lot of fun.

There's lots of great things hinted in this book about exciting moments that may come later on - such as where the alien skulls really came from and what they can do, the money system and what the form of currency really is (does it lead to something bigger?) and the history of the robots and how powerful they once were. Will they come back with a vengeance??

Arafura/Fura was an interesting character to follow as she really revolves in this book, and she goes from a soft little girl to scarred space pirate within a few hundred pages. It was almost like if Primrose Everdeen turned into Katniss but with a lot more ferocity and a penchant for vengeance that would make a Tribute shiver. There were times were I actually actively disliked Fura because she became a bit over the top in her own knowledge when she had only been part of a sky crew for a hot minute. There were times she needed a bit of time in the bold corner to be honest.

I do think some things at the end wrapped up a bit quickly and almost too easily considering the damage done at the start of the book, but I'm very excited to see where things go in the next book and the plans Fura has for the world..

The Last Namsara follows Asha who is the fiercesome, feared Iskari of her city. Following a tramatic event in her youth, Asha has vowed to rid the land of dragons and the magic of the old stories connected to them. When her father, the Kimg gives her a quest to hunt down the First Dragon which could mean the end of magic for good, Asha eagerly takes it as it also means an escape from an arranged marriage that is looming over her. But the quest delivers truth to Asha that end ups in her rediscovering who she really is, and the magic & destiny within her.

Meh...

This book could have been really great but I'm not sure if it really got there. I feel like we were at about 60% through the whole book and the author just wasn't able to deliver enough story and magic and dragons for the full 100%. I actually found myself a little bit bored in places and this took longer to read then it should have and when you have a main focus of dragons, that shouldn't happen.

If I was to describe this book in movies it would Gladiator meets How to Train Your Dragon with a bit of Dragonheart thrown into the mix.

I needed more dragons and more dragon-rider bonding in this one, and I didn't get even half of what I wanted. It was strange that Asha had Shadow delivered to her but then he seemed to bond with Torwin instead but there didn't seem to be anything special about the dragon-rider experience other than who rode the dragons the most? There was very little communication between dragons and riders, and no training or anything. I would have loved a training montage.

Because Eragon is such a strong dragon book, it doesn't have to be said that other dragon books that have any kind of bond need to be on the scale of Eragon & Saphira! And this wasn't even close (though Kozu gave me Smaug vibes from The Hobbit).

I did find it very difficult to read about all the dragon killing, particularly at the start of this book as it's something I just feel sensitive to and make me really sad.

There's major insta-love in this book between Asha and Torwin who is a slave (and you know he is a slave because Asha calls him nothing but slave for 75% of the book). There was no real reason (beside some imprint thing explained near the end) for this love because Asha did very little to deserve any affection from Torwin as she treated him horrible and didn't really seem to have strong opinions on the fact her father kept slaves in the first place.

I liked Asha's journey of self-discovery, as well as the old stories interspersed throughout the book but the story definitely missed out on some additional dragon magic, and some world building as well. I would recommend the book for anyone looking for some nice YA but it's not the best one out there either.

CW: Attempted rape of a child, and actual rape of woman. Some scenes of gory violence.

In 1081, King Gruffydd unites with King Tewdwr in Wales - both men who have had their kingdom snatched from them by traitors to fight against others who plan to associate under the English crown.

This is a fast-paced historical action book that told the story of a part of history I know very little about and I am keen to read and learn more about. The only other book I've read that focused on Welsh history was Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman which takes place a couple of centuries after the events in this book.

I did find it a little hard at times to remember who was who, and who was allied with who as Welsh names are a little bit unfamiliar to me and I was also trying to make sure I was reading them the way they should be pronounced. So I was confused at times but after a few paragraphs I could figure out again what was happening.

There is obviously a lot of fighting and action in this book, and while most of it is fine there were some odd bits of over the top violence that was a bit jarring (the death of Annie Apples for instance). I also was really disgusted at the attempted rape of Nesta by a soldier and I don't really think it was necessary for the plot at all.

I actually found myself more interested in Nesta more so than other characters in the books, as I do think she has a very interesting history. And personally I do love reading history through the lives of women who lived during the time periods rather than the men.

I enjoyed this book for what it was which was a bit of fast-paced history, and it will remain to be seen if I continue with the series.

Narrated by Cassandra Campbell - really good narration with loads of different voices and accents for each character.

Oh wow..

This book starts in the 1984 in Bosnia during the Winter Olympics. There, Gemma who is visiting from Italy meets people she will cherish for the rest of her life - Gojko the poet, and Diego the photographer who ends up becoming the love of her life. During their relationship, Diego and Gemma cherish Bosnia as a place where it all started and end up in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.
16 years later, Gemma returns with her 16-year-old son Pietro, to introduce him to the city he was born in - and escaped from at only a few hours old. While revisiting the city of her heart, Gemma is torn between the present and the past, memories of love and of war, and her conflicting emotions and devastating journey of motherhood.

CW: Infertility struggles, miscarriage, sexual assault.

This book was something else, and I don't think I will forget it for a long, long time. I felt so tense when I was reading this, and I really felt the emotions spilled out onto the pages between Gemma and Diego and all the things said and unsaid between them. The journey in this book - both Gemma's life with Diego and her life with Pietro - is fascinating, and at times it's so hard to watch knowing the disaster that awaits with war on the horizon.

The brutality of war is never shied away from in this book, and while it can certainly be hard to figure out why Diego and Gemma stayed in the middle of a war zone when they could travel home to Italy at any time, I still appreciated learning so much about a war that was happening when I was born, and one I know very little about.

There is death and destruction in this book that can be hard to read - the death of children playing football or sledding in the snow - picked off like rabbits in a field by snipers on the hill. The death of an old man who was tired of war and walked across a bridge, knowing he would be seen and shot dead.

There are also some traumatic and graphic descriptions of rape and sexual assault in this book as a lot of Muslim women were kept in concentration camps and repeatedly raped by soldiers. (Reminder that this only happened less than 30 years ago at the time of writing).

Gemma's personal journey of motherhood in this book was so hard to read at times as she suffers from all the highs and lows that come with trying for a baby, and dealing with fertility struggles. Gemma as a character is a hard one to crack to be honest, as a lot of us getting to know her as a reader is through her inner monologue and thoughts rather than actions she takes. There's a lot of times I felt frustrated with her as I felt she was just moving along with the tide, almost blinded by everything except Diego and at times she let herself be a doorstop.

I honestly thought I had everyone figured out in this book, and I was honestly raging over characters' decisions and stomping around when the story completely flipped itself and my rage turned to utter despair over the truth of the characters' journeys.

There are some wonderful passages in this book, and descriptions of Bosnia and parts of Croatia (Dubrovnik).

I do really wish in a way that I could be fluent in Italian and have read this as it was written. I felt the writing style a bit jarring at the start - I believe because of the translation and it took a while for my mind to adapt to the way the story was written in English. I don't think everything came across as beautifully as it probably did in Italian, and there were some passages that read a bit awkwardly.

The first 100 pages of this book as well are definitely the hardest to get through as it's mainly just a big build up to Gemma and Diego's life together. Once they are together, the story really begins to flow and then it just becomes utterly addictive.

Prepare to sigh at young love, cry in shared grief, rage in despair and finally forgive with compassion alongside these characters.

3.5 stars

In a world where magic and gods exist, Auraya has become one of the legendary, immortal 'Whites' - people chosen by the Gods to be their voices, and granted magical gifts and immortality. But Auraya doesn't have long to get used to her new position as Black Sorcerers from a neighboring land are intent on invading her world and killing those who impose them.

I enjoyed the quality of the writing in this, the care taken to unveil each character we follow and their personality and thought processes and the magic and wonder in this world that Trudi Canavan created. I can see a lot of the same style of writing and imagination as I adored in The Black Magicians trilogy though unfortunately the slower pace of story didn't capture me quite as much.

I felt this story quite slow, and there were times when I could describe myself as slightly bored. I was never rearing to get back to the book and pick it up which isn't a great sign. But this book is a real 'introduction' book to the world, the magic and the complex relationships between the different types of magic users as well as references to the history between them and occasionally resurfaces. I truly appreciate Trudi Canavan's slower, more expansive fantasy writing style and there were times in this book were I did feel anxious - such as during the big battle.

I also really appreciate all the different creatures and types of races in this book from the Siyee to the Elai as well as adorable dog-like creatures like Mischief the veez (I need one so bad as a pet!).

While this book didn't rock my socks off, I still enjoyed it and will be eager to pick up the rest of the series.

When Claire is sent by her parents from Shanghai to American to attend a private elite prep school, she is reluctant to leave her friends and boyfriend and has no idea what to expect. Dani is reluctant to host Claire into her home as a host family, and resents Claire's wealth while she herself has to struggle to prove her worth as a scholarship student and for her future as a hopeful Ivy League student. Both girls travel the ups and downs of school life, and despite their differences come up against the same type of barriers and trauma that may unite them.

CW: Sexual assault/rape, grooming, racism

I really liked the topics explored in this book through the eyes of two young girls with very different lives but who are both trying to find themselves and their voice. It's never surprising what happens in this book, as I feel like the behaviour of the men in this book who sexually assault the characters is very apparent and immediately sent alarm bells ringing in my head. Yet at the same time, I could understand Dani, with a lack of a father figure in her life, looking upon her teacher's attention as parent like and not seeing the warning signs the way an older person and reader would have. I think it's important younger readers may also learn about some of this worrying behaviour and if it ever came to it, was able to recognise it in time in their own lives if someone was being inappropriate.

As an older reader, the simple narration of the book didn't do much for me - at times it was like the characters of Claire and Dani were blabbering on in an OMG kind of way which was off-putting for me. But I also 100% recognise that the dramatics that turned me off as an older reader not in the target audience for this YA book, may be exciting and fun for a 14/15/16 year old reading it.

I never knew about 'Parachutes' before this book and I feel like I learned a lot from the pressures these kids are under to the dangers they face coming to America alone and possibly being placed into homes where anything could happen to them. It's terrifying.

This book also had some great examples of female friendships as well as side characters who were lesbians. The main characters also face discrimination and racism at different points in the book - Dani is Filipino-American and Claire is Asian. There is also talk from Claire about Asian beauty standards - particularly around fair skin and the attraction of "double eyelids" and we see some of the pressure she is under from her own mother to be perfect at all times (for example her mother stops her from continuing swimming lessons when young so her arms don't get too muscly).

Again, I didn't gel with the narration of this story but the topics covered are so important and i think this would be an important, informative read for a younger reader without it being traumatic or too detailed. I think fans of Anna K would love this book.