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Ranking Last Chance Scoundrels
Leigh’s latest trilogy Last Chance Scoundrels series offers sweet romance mixed with spirited heroines, rakish rouges and lots of smut. You’re classic regency romance but who can’t love it.
It starts with such an intresting situation when the Ransome brothers, Finn and Kieran aid their friend, Dominic Kilburn in jilting their sister. They had noble intentions to prevent a miserable marriage but they caused a scandal du jour instead. Willa won’t speak to them and their families are furious that they prevented an advantageous marriage. So they’ll be cut off unless the three men find suitable marriages themselves to make up for their plans and to elevate their fortunes.
- A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction: The last book in the trilogies is my favorite. One can say their love story started it all as Dominic jilting Willa led to this whole marriage deal. Unfortunately for Dom, he can’t get Willa out of his head and after a year on the continent, Willa is abashed to realize the same. But how can they go back to the other after such a disasterous breakup. Well, it helps to have meddling siblings who forced them into close quarters during a week on an distant island. Amidst the foot races. Shakespeare re-enactments and other games, Willa and Dominic fall in love with each other over again, for real this time. Leigh’s second chance romance delves into the pedestals that the two have put each other on. Willa feels like she had to be the happy, pampered nobless for Dom, fearing any unhappiness or implied depression on her part would scare Dom away because who wants a broken person? Meanwhile, Dom felt there was a part of Willa who enjoyed dating him just to scandalize the ton like a wolf on a leash. Their relationship before had been built on intense bickering attraction but this time it’s different, more mature. Now they can see beyond the labels and reputations that had set up for each other and see the person for who they truly are. And still love them for it. There was also a classic “I have a terrible sercret, I’m dangerous and you shouldn’t love me because I’m broken” subplot for Dom that was a bit annoying since its so cliche and ends up not even being a big deal but considering the mature second chance romance that comes out of it, I tolerate it. Plus the scenes here are the smuttiest yet!
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Jenny Elder Moke Interview
Jenny Elder Moke is the author of Hood, and the Samantha Knox series combining intense historical research with thrilling adventure. Here, she kindly took the time to discuss her inspiration, research and what’s coming next.
1. Where did your writing journey begin?
Shortly after I graduated from college, I found myself working at an independent publisher in Austin, TX. It was such an incredible learning experience, and really gave me a great insight into the business side of publishing. But the creative desire was still there, and I needed a way to fulfill it. I’d always been too scared to write a full-length book, so I set myself a challenge that first year: just write a full manuscript.
To this day, it was the most fun I ever had writing a story. I didn’t have any expectations, any voices I needed to silence, I just got completely lost in the story. I wrote it in a fever state, and when I got to the end I realized I probably needed to learn how to actually write. So I signed up for a local creative writing class, and that was the beginning of my journey to becoming a published author.
2. There are so many Robin Hood retellings, including Robin Hood’s daughter (Yours is one of the rare ones not using Rowen), what inspired your own take?
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There was a BBC show in the early 2000s called Robin Hood, and I thought it did such a great job of walking the line between being fun and funny, and tackling serious storylines. It inspired me to do research on Prince John, which is when I learned that the bad guy from all the Robin Hood stories actually became king of England for twelve years. I was outraged for Robin and everything he fought for, but it got me thinking – what would Robin Hood look like decades on from the stories most of us know? How would he keep fighting the good fight against a tyrant who now held the highest seat in the land? And since I knew I wanted it to be a YA I knew his daughter was the best way for me to have a fresh take on an old story. -
The Mirror: Fractured Path Review
It’s 1965 and readers get a glimpse into the aftermath of Zora’s frantic flight to San Francisco. She’s gone now, and her secrets have been hidden from her granddaughter, Blake. Not entirely, she’s aware of her family’s magic and she has “just enough.” Nothing cool like Zora, when she touches objects she gets glimpses of their memories. And while she does wish she could do more, she has a different sort of magic-her art which she is hustling to get recognized with a prestigious internship if only her gender and her race didn’t count against her.
But the magic which she thought was just enough is suddenly growing, expanding to full-on visions of the past with a mysterious girl trapped in a mirror that unleashes Blake on a dangerous mission to uncover and stop her family’s curse.
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Snow and Poison Review
De La Cruz’ sophmore fairytale retelling may have similarities to her first with a dying father, whirlwind romance and possibly wicked stepmother but she manages to deliver a new twist to this classic tale.
It’s just unfortunate that with its shorter page length, the story feels rushed and less magical than its predecessor.
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Midnight Sun Review
Alright, here we are at the end of the Twilight saga or I suppose the beginning since this Twilight from Edward’s POV. . . and I still have to get to the Bree Tanner novella.
Eh, let’s skip the accuracies of my statements and get into Midnight Sun. There’s no need to go over plot so I’ll get straight to my thoughts. What was it like to see Twilight from Edward’s perspective?
I’m sorry Edward fans but I wanted to throw the book across the room.
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Breaking Dawn Review
The grand finale to the whole Twilight saga is here! And I’ll admit, I was a lot more aware of the major plot points that the other books because I had saw Breaking Dawn Part 2 (yes, just Part 2, I was only interested in the big Voluturi fight. Apparently I have as much bloodlust as Emmet).
Anyway, this finale brings about Edward and Bella’s happily ever after, and their enlarges their unique family. . . however there’s one more battle to be fought. And it kinda drags the whole thing down.
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Eclipse Review
Just with New Moon, I raced through this novel almost as eager as Bella to see the final outcome. Will Victoria finally be vanquished? Will Edward give in? Will Jacob ever accept being friend-zoned?
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The Retake Review
In this sci-fi/magical realism novel, Calonita tackles the struggles of chaging friendships in the hellscape that is middle school adolescence. Zoe and Laura have been BFFs forever but Zoe has been noticing they’ve been drifting apart. She’s determined to ignore her doubts and try harder to reconnect with Laura after a summer apart, and give her the best surprise party ever. . . only to find out that Laura was planning to ditch her.
It only gets worse when seventh grade starts and it is pretty clear that Laura wants to hang out with the drama queens than talk to Zoe. She’s heartbroken and wishes she could go back to those moments before. When they were happy and maybe if she tried just a little harder she could have proven that she was the only friend Laura need.
And it turns out there’s an app that lets Zoe do just that.
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Fall of the School for Good and Evil Review
In exchange for immortality
In exchange for eternal youth
I choose you.
A soul that is as Good as it is Evil.
But every School Master faces a test.
Yours is balance.
Between the Goodness of your soul
And the Evil of its shadow.
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Reached Review
The last book in the Matched trilogy brings forth loss and new beginnings. The Rising finally breaches the Society, but their methods may lead to their downfall as the cure for the Plague that they had spread throughout the cities have triggered anuncurable mutation. Now the Society is trying to wrest control from the Rising and the Rising scrambles for a new cure before more can become stilled. It’s up to Cassia, Ky and Xander to choose their fate which may affect their entire world.
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Rachel Reads & Reviews 