Trina Stafford

paranormal romance

Revisado: 12-27-20

Layla
By Colleen Hoover
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Colleen Hoover is one of my favorite authors. And her writing style has taken a deliciously wicked turn lately and I am here for it. Verity was both infuriating and jarring and full of twists and sometimes hard to read turns.

When she posted: Me two months ago: “I’m gonna write a romantic comedy!”
Me two months in: “Oh. Oh, no. I guess when I said comedy, I meant tragedy...” I knew I had to read Layla. And I did. In one sitting.

I will admit that after Verity. I was expecting something different. I was looking for the tragic twist that would fly me into a rage and make me scream... but that didn't happen. There was a twist but in the best sort of way. It had an ending that left me satisfied and not one that left me needing more answers. I'm a sucker for love stories and I'm a sucker for anything paranormal. And I'm a sucker for Colleen Hoover so giving this 5 stars was a no brainer.

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in one word... amazing.

Revisado: 01-30-19

I admit that I didn't actually read this one. I bought the audio version instead. My 5 year old and 3 year old were home with the flu last week and I needed something to listen to that wasn't innapropriate while I cleaned and bleached my whole house and rocked my babies to sleep. This is a YA novel so while it has a bit of a love story, it's not graphic and very age appropriate. It ticked off all my boxes of what I was looking for... love, adventure, coming of age and fantasy. Simply put... It's a grown up version of The Little Mermaid.

Let me give you a basic description without spoilers. In this world there are different kingdoms on land but only one underneath. The waters are ruled by Sirens and an evil sea queen who is beautiful and powerful and cruel. Her daughter, Princess Lira is no different. It is tradition that once a year, on their birthday, the sirens must hunt and carve out a human heart. The brutal siren princess has a reputation as a prince killer. She has 17 hearts in her collection and can't wait to add to it. She brings home her 18th heart before her birthday and in a rage, her queen mother transforms her into the one thing they loathe the most.... a human. Robbed of her song and given a new mission: bring back the heart of Prince Elian... The siren killer pirate prince. Lira joins his crew and for the first time in her life, feels what it's like to be a part of a family. Prince Elian and his crew of misfits set out on a mission to retrieve a relic that will kill the siren queen and Lira must make a decision... Her kingdom or his?

Lira is such a strong character. The battle she is fighting with herself is amazing to read. She is strong and brave and just so relatable. I love how this book doesn't have a prince saving the day or even a woman saving the day. This is a story about teamwork and sacrifice. It has pirates and mermaids and sirens! Kings and queens, princes and princesses. Sabotage and treason and a grand adventure. I can't say enough about this book, I really cant. I loved it, my girls loved it and my 11 year old son is reading it as well. I believe it is aimed for 8th grade and up but honestly, I think it's a book for the ages. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5 stars for sure.

And while I know audio books are not everyone's thing... The narrator's for this one (their are 2) are the best I've listened to. Honestly, I would read anything they decided to record because they were amazing. Like your favorite teacher reading you a book and doing all the voices and you can just imagine them jumping up and acting parts out. They were just so good.

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this book was... a lot

Revisado: 01-30-19

I finished A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell last night. I have not seen the movie.

It was a well written book. It kept my interest and had lots of twists and turns that I didn't see coming but I absolutely hated this book. I had Gone Girl flashbacks. I screamed at my book and threw it against the wall at 4am when I finished. It had a lot of topics that I wasn't a fan of... incest, false reports of domestic abuse, fake friendships, manipulative women, car crashes and dying siblings. So many triggers. The book was.... a lot.

It is a best seller and I'm sure it was loved by many but this one just was not for me.

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book hangover cure

Revisado: 01-30-19

My review of Two Princess of Summer by Nissa Leder

If you are a fan of Fae, go ahead and pick this one up. It will not wow you like the world that Sarah J. Maas has painted for us but it will help you get through your Rhysand hangover. This is book 1 in a 6 book series so there is still time for Nissa to do a bit more in depth character building. Plus the series is free for Kindle Unlimited and the first one even has audible whispersync so yay! Free audiobook.

It's a tale as old as Kane and Abel. Sibling rivalry at its finest. In the Fae realm there are multiple courts. Winter, Autumn, Spring and Summer. On the human lands there are 2 courts that do not abide by the same laws as the Faere realms... the Seelie and Unseelie courts. This is pretty standard in all Fae Folklore. As is that most high fae possess unique powers.

In this novel, 2 half brothers must battle each other for their ailing fathers throne. 1 gains power by feeding off the emotions of humans. Sadness and grief seem to be the biggest power rush for him. That's where Scarlett (Our main character) comes in. She is grieving after losing her mother to suicide. Her grief and sadness gives the Prince an advantage over his brother. It also gives Scarlett the opportunity to forget her sorrows for when he drains her pain away, she forgets to be sad.

Prince #2 draws his power from nature but can't help being drawn to Scarlett. He tells himself that he does it to get back at his brother but I'm sure we all know where this is going.

Fear not though! There is a twist that will have you running for book 2. The high King of the Unseelie Court makes an appearance and shows Scarlett things about herself that she was already starting to question and will be a total game changer.

I loved this book. It was predictable but not in an obvious way. I love losing myself into the world of the Fae and this book also gave me total Red Queen (Mare Barrow) vibes as well.

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It was dark and tragic and beautiful

Revisado: 10-26-18

I finished The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw at about 1am this morning. I devoured this book in 24 hours. I had originally planned on listening to the audio book version but unfortunately the narrator basically whispered the book so low that I couldn't hear her so I switched formats and ended up reading it instead.

A little bit of backstory... 200 years ago, 3 sisters with the last name of Swann moved to the town of Sparrow and opened up a perfumery. They were beautiful and caught they eyes of many of the men in town and their arrogance didn't help any. It didnt take long before they were accused of witchcraft and drowned by tying sacks of rocks to their feet.

Fast forward to present day and the town of Sparrow celebrates Swann season. 1 month of every summer where they believe the Swann sisters return by inhabiting the body of 3 teenage girls and luring boys to the sea and drowning them for revenge of being falsely accused of witchcraft 200 years ago. 17 year old Penny and a drifter named Beau set out to find the sisters and break the curse.

It was dark and mysterious and tragic and beautiful. I give it 4 out of 5 stars because there was a storyline that didn't explain itself very well and left me with many questions and also because I felt the last 2 chapters when everything is together, seemed to be rushed. I absolutely recommend it and it was a perfect October read.

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best book I've read this year

Revisado: 10-21-18

I finished The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert last night and really, really, really loved it. I will not give any spoilers in my review because I hope someone else on here reads it so I have someone to fan girl with. Plus I just found out it is going to be a movie!

I bought the book based purely on its cover. It was beautiful and very Grimm Fairytale reminiscent. I didn't know much about it. It's about a vagabond mother/daughter duo who never settle in one place too long because bad luck seems to find them wherever they go. The main character Alice is 17 which would make you think it's a YA novel but the language in the book assures you that it's not. She is the granddaughter of an elusive author that wrote a book on fairytales but they have never met. She arrives home from school one day and realized her mother had been kidnapped by what appeared to be fans of the novel. They left a title page from the extremely hard to find book on her pillow as a clue. She enlisted the help of a school mate and a fellow fan of the book to track down her mother.

This takes up about 2/3 of the book. The last 1/3 is amazing. It takes you on twists and turns you never even thought possible. I won't spoil it but it is a must read.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5 out of 5 stars

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