Soulmatch by Rebecca Danzenbaker

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Uniquely fun and twisty!

Sivon loves her twin sister best friends, Vivi and Corah, who have helped her prepare to attend the institute to learn about her soul through the kirling process. Now it’s Sivon’s turn to attend the kirling and she arrives at the institute full of anxiety. When her soul identity is revealed after her kirling, Sivon has a new world of possibilities opened up to her. Vivi and Corah are there to support her every step of the way. Her mom has always told Sivon she’s hard to read and Sivon discovers why, as she learns more about herself and her shocking experiences from her past lives.

Likes/dislikes: The more I read this book, the more I wanted to read. Unique story! More complex than I thought it would be when I picked up the book.
Mature content: PG-13 for passionate kissing.
Language: R for 123 swears, 40 f-words.
Violence: PG for gunshot wound and fighting.
Ethnicity: Sivon has bronze skin two shades lighter than her mother’s terracotta skin.
Janus, the prime minister’s nephew, has bronze skin. Twins and Sivon’s best friends, Vivi and Corah, have russet-toned skin. Windrose, the counselor, has warm brown skin. Peach skin and ebony skin are also mentioned.

Of Jade and Dragons (Fall of the Dragon Book 1) by Amber Chen

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Can trust stay unbroken?

Ying witnessed her father’s murder and she’ll do anything and everything to avenge his death. She also wants to be an engineer like her father. She disguises herself as a boy and enters the engineering competition in the capital. Her sponsor ends up being a prince and she’s completely surprised by this. When Ying becomes part of the competition, she’s also thrown into politics and danger. Will she stay her course and avenge her father?

Likes/dislikes: The names of the royals were confusing at first. I like the dynamics between Ying and Ye-yang. The science fiction and engineering aspects were fun and added an extra element to the story.
Mature content: PG for kissing.
Language: PG-13 for 17 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: based on historical Oriental culture.

The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le

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Enemies to lovers clean romance!

Nikha is a heartsooth, a person with abilities to heal themselves and others. When she finishes healing a person as requested, the man turns her in and calls the Butchers. They cage her and take bids from buyers that visit her cage. She’s sold to a young woman who offers a huge amount of money for Nikha, Mimi Congmi. They travel to the Congmi manor where Nikha is asked to heal Hendon, the only witness to Mimi’s father’s death. Mimi and her brother believe he was murdered. When Nikha heals Hendon, the information he offers throws them all into a whirlwind of danger and deception.

Likes/dislikes: The mystery grabbed my full attention. The world building and character development brought the story to life. I enjoyed learning about Nikha’s background.
Mature content: PG for kissing.
Language: PG-13 for 17 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody violence- stabbing, gunshot wounds.
Ethnicity: Nikha has golden brown skin. Nikha’s grandmother has skin a shade darker than hers. The Congmi family has pale, rosy skin.

Warrior of Legend by Kendare Blake

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Heroes and Villains!

After losing her hero, Reed has thrown herself head first into serving the Aristene. She has sent three heroes to their glorious death in less than a year. When her fellow Aristene, Lyonene, is called to help a hero, she begs Reed to take her place. Lyonene wants to stay with her hero, prince, and husband Alsander. What Reed and Lyonene don’t know is how much this one decision will change their lives.

Likes/dislikes: I liked the dynamic between Reed, her mentor, her hero and her fellow Aristene. This series will have more than two books. The story doesn’t end on a cliffhanger but it left me wanting to know what’s to come.
Mature content: PG-13 for off page sex and implied sex, off page.
Language: PG-13 for 15 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for attempted sexual assault, off page murder, bloody violence and bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: white, tan, and olive skintones are mentioned.

The Shadows Rule All by Abigail Owen

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Great ending to this fantasy trilogy!

Meren has been overcome by shadows that left Reven, her bondmate, and now they’re torturing her. The shadows take over her mind and appearance if she gets too stressed or they get upset. Reven has completely forgotten Meren and he has no memory of them being in love. Meren has collected most of the amulets needed to stop the king. She needs one more plus the help of her dedicated companions to save their kingdom. She’s determined to help save the kingdom and Reven’s memory, even if she has to sacrifice herself to do it.

Likes/dislikes: I like that the characters are complex and diverse. The characters are each flawed in their own way, which makes them interesting. The mythology created by the author is imaginative. This book is the third in the trilogy and it’s much better than the second book.
Mature content: PG-13 for implied sex, on page.
Language: R for 93 swears and 10 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody fighting, deaths, and a bloody death.
Ethnicity: mixed.

The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig

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I enjoyed every page!

Hazel is the thirteenth child in her family and treated like she’s not wanted by anyone except her brother Bertie who is one year older. When Hazel is twelve, her godfather takes her so she can train to become a great healer while Bertie is sold to a temple to pay off their father’s debts. Hazel learns that her duties as a healer also include helping people pass onto their deaths as gently as possible. She feels that this is a curse and not a blessing. When she’s nineteen, Hazel has become the healer of the royal family after she saved the king’s life from a plague; she was supposed to move him onto death but didn’t want his children to be orphans. Now that the king feels well, he is becoming an unpredictable, angry tyrant and Hazel knows she made the wrong choice by healing him. Will she be able to make this right before he destroys the kingdom?

Likes/dislikes: I loved every bit of this story! Amazing character development and wonderful world building. Hazel is strong and kindhearted.
Mature content: PG-13 for fondling (only two sentences out of the 512 page book).
Language: PG-13 for 14 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Hazel and her family are white. Merrick, Hazel’s godfather is obsidian skinned. Hazel’s friend Kieron has chestnut skin.

Wisteria by Adalyn Grace

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The ending of a perfect trilogy!

Blythe is marrying Aris, Fate, because he saved her father from being falsely accused of murder. Neither are happy about the marriage but their wedding rings force them to be together whenever they venture apart. To show Blythe’s father that they’re happily married, Aris creates a beautiful palace and village to convince him of the comfort and love the two of them share. The couple starts to enjoy each other’s company when Chaos, Solanine, arrives to wreak havoc. Chaos causes plagues and tragedies. Aris and Blythe must work together to stop disaster from happening.

Likes/dislikes: The prose is gorgeous! I enjoy reading what Blythe’s imagination creates. Humorous banter and fun world building make this book even better. Beautiful descriptions of scenery.
Mature content: R for on page sex.
Language: PG-13 for 23 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG for fighting.
Ethnicity: falls to white.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

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Another great book with a twist!
Mariana reminisces about her late husband and their memories as she tries to hang onto him a little longer. She’s a group therapist and has one patient she and the group struggle with, Henry. Henry has anger issues and was overcoming the extreme childhood abuse inflicted by his father until he began college. Then college overwhelmed him. Marina has a niece, Zoe, who’s attending Cambridge and calls Mariana when her friend Tara goes missing. As Mariana is traveling on a train to meet Zoe, she encounters Fred, a young man who kindly insists that they will meet again. After Mariana arrives at the college, she’s pulled into a belief that a professor is a murderer and she wants to prove it and goes to great lengths to do so as young women are murdered. The story alternates with the background of an abused victim and eventually the reader learns who it is. Another great book with a twist from Alex Michaelides, 5 stars!

Always Isn’t Forever by J.C. Cervantes

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Heartbreaking!

Hart and Ruby, both 17 and Latinx, are a couple of teens living in El Celio, California who are deeply and truly in love and they see a wonderful future ahead of them. Ruby wants to travel the world and Hart is a natural musician. Ruby has this ominous feeling that something terrible is going to happen. When tragedy strikes, everything changes and unusual complications arise. An Angel allows Hart’s spirit to occupy another teenager’s body but with the conditions that he can’t tell people who he is and that his memories of his past will fade a bit each day until they’re completely gone. This is pure torture to Hart, especially when he sees how sad Ruby is. Will Ruby be able to move on?

Likes/dislikes: The intensity of suspense about what’s going to happen to the characters kept me riveted. I love the cute relationship between Hart and Ruby. I like how the author keeps the reader hoping throughout the story.
Language: R for 152 swears and 6 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for passionate kissing.
Violence: PG for drowning and non-bloody fighting.
Ethnicity: Ruby and Hart are Latinx, and Jameson is white.

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Pure reading enjoyment!

Signa is born into a rich family. When she’s two months old, her mother Rima throws a party. No one realizes the wine is poisoned and baby Signa sees Death approach her mother before he moves onto the others who drank the wine. Signa is left alone in the home after Death tries to take her too but he sees her brilliant future instead of her short past, what he usually sees as he takes someone’s life. Now, at nineteen years old, Signa lives with Aunt Magda. Signa has lived with several relatives throughout her lifetime. After Rima died, Sigma lived with her loving grandmother until her death. After that, relatives have wanted to be her guardian only for the money she’ll receive when she’s twenty and the payments they receive for housing her. Most of them haven’t loved her and Aunt Magda is especially mean to Signa. Every guardian she’s had has died and she thinks it’s her fault and that Death’s taking people on purpose and because of her. When Magda dies, Death appears once again and assures Signa that’s not the case. Signa is retrieved by her new guardian’s workers and taken to Thorn Grove where the lady of the manor, Aunt Lillian, is deceased and Signa’s cousin Blythe is ill. Cousin Percy and Uncle Elijah seem healthy though. Sylas, the worker who brought her to Thorn Grove, helps investigate Lillian’s death. They believe someone poisoned her and is poisoning Blythe too. Signa finds help for Blythe when Sylas shows her the manor library. She finds natural remedies to rid Blythe’s body of poison and she gets somewhat better. In the meantime, Signa can’t stop thinking of Sylas and Death and how she feels attracted to both of them. I can’t say much more without including a spoiler or two but this book was a pure enjoyment to read and I’m anxiously awaiting the sequel, Foxglove. 5 stars!

Likes/dislikes:
I love the rich prose and beautiful descriptions of the scenery. I appreciate the fact that the book has very little swearing and vague details of sex that keep it out of the sensitive materials area. I enjoyed reading about the main character’s views on and dealings with proper etiquette and the setting is beautifully descriptive. The ethnicity is white and brown.

Language: PG for two swears, no f-bombs

Mature Content: PG-13, alluded to sex and two women embracing in public mentioned once.

Violence: PG, Death touches a person and then that person immediately dies. Poisonings