Review: Fire & Heist by Sarah Beth Durst

Dragons, fire, and heists! Oh my! Fire & Heist is a fun, quick adventure starring Sky, a wyvern (or were-dragon). Her family has been recently ostracized after her mother disappeared, and something just doesn't seem right about it. So Sky takes it upon to herself to finish what her mom started, hopefully finding her, and restoring her family's status at the same time. However, it's hard to pull off the ultimate dragon heist when you can't turn into a dragon or breathe fire.

The plot of Fire & Heist is super straight forward. There's no surprise twists or out of left field challenges. Sky discovers what heist her mom was trying to pull off, attempts herself, also fails, but ultimately overcomes and sets things right. I had a lot of fun reading it, because it's just light and adventurous. Nothing too serious or heavy. The idea of gold loving dragons trapped in human bodies was pretty silly and cute (gold toilet handles!).

However, the world-building was a bit confusing and felt incomplete. Sky's family is suppose to be super rich and in the public eye. They're in tabloids, and are I guess kind of celebrities. Does this mean that humans know about wyverns? I didn't get that impression, since Sky's friend Gabriela wasn't suppose to know about her. But it's also mentioned that wyverns donate money to many causes, so perhaps they're like an open secret? I don't know. It wasn't clear how "out" they are.

The other thing that confused me was the heists, which is the main point of the story. Wyverns are suppose to steal gold to grow their hoards, but they don't steal from humans. Just from each other. How does that work? Do they all just take turns breaking into their neighbors' vault? What's the reason for them stealing from each other? Other than just loving gold. It was really weird how normal this was with no explanation.

Other than the questionable dragon lore, I enjoyed Fire & Heist. I would have liked to have known more about the wyvern's social structure, but Sky's heist was exciting and kept my interest.

Series Report: Gemma Doyle by Libba Bray

This series has been on my TBR since 2011, and I just now got to it. And I'm glad that I did! I actually adored the first book! It's like if Mean Girls and the Craft had a baby and then that baby was raised by Sylvia Brown. Basically, it's full of weird magic, a creepy school, and teenage girls who go from enemies to best friends.

The friendship between Gemma and the other girls was actually my favorite part. It was so surprising. I was fully expecting Gemma to stay an outcast, or have the other girls take advantage of her magical abilities. But these girls genuinely become friends and nothing can come between them. Not even death. It's by no means perfect, sunshine, and rainbows. But these girls stick together and save the magical realm together.

The series does go downhill as it goes on. The second book was still fully enjoyable, but the third book was unnecessarily long and unsatisfying. I do think this series could have been one 800+ epic book and have been fantastic. There's just a lot of filler and back-and-forth in the sequels.

However, the one real down point of the series is the period-typical racism against Romani people and Indian people. It might be historically accurate, but...still. Ew.

If you like magical girls, creepy boarding schools, and unlikely friendship, I'd recommend this one.

Series Report: Oak Fast Fated Mates by Rebel Carter

Oak Fast Fated Mates is a super quick and cute Paranormal Romance series. Each of the books is novella length, so I finished the first three books in one day, at just under 400 pages. Now I must wait patiently for the rest of them. This series is set in Oak Fast, Alaska, a small town where humans and magical folk live in harmony. The local college even offers a seminar for the humans so that they can learn about their magical neighbors. Based on the title, I'm sure you can guess that all of the books use the "fated mates" trope. This one is quite hit or miss for me, but it worked for these novellas. While magic pushes these couples together, the final binding must be consensual. These could probably be classified as Rom-Coms, but the humor is wasted on me. I've made no secret of the fact that humor in books simply doesn't work for me. But those of you who can process humor properly will likely get a chuckle out of these books. 
Barista and the Bear focuses on a witch and her bear. She's a Luna has a human and her wolf. Fairy Suited is a fairy and his ex-wolf.

Review: The Cinderella Seduction (Suddenly Cinderella, #3) by Hope C. Tarr

 The Cinderella Seduction is the best of the three, but it still wasn't totally my thing. I'm not big on the devoted single dad and loving wannabe stepmom type Romance. Stefanie is the "ugly duckling" of her family, so she gives herself a makeover in hopes of seducing Nikolaos. He's coming from Greece to possible take over their family business if Stefani's father can't pay his debts. When he arrives, Stefani turns on the charm, but she winds up being the one seduced.

I liked The Cinderella Seduction. I'm always up for an underdog coming out on top, especially when that's a plump woman stepping into her confidence and getting her man. Which is exactly what Stefani does. Nick is a reformed playboy who's just trying to do right by his young daughter, which means no more dating around. He needs a stable relationship. Of course, there has to be a fight because Nick finds out that Stefani was plotting to seduce him. But being the gentleman that he is, he does check in on her rather than disappearing for a length a time before returning.

The Cinderella Seduction was short and sweet. A bit too sweet and family-oriented for my liking, but still an enjoyable read. I just wish there had been more food since Stefani is a chef.

Review: The Cinderella Makeover (Suddenly Cinderella, #2) by Hope C. Tarr

The Cinderella Makeover was giving me The Swan flashbacks. Anyone remember that horrible show? Well, the show in this book wasn't as extreme, but the main them was still there: you're ugly and unlovable without the proper makeover! Greg is known as the "camera-shy CEO" but then he signs up for this reality show where he'll receive a makeover and win a chance at love. One of the coaches is Francesca, who failed to get his photo for a magazine spread, so she's a bit miffed at having to work with him again. But then a bet with a rival coach drives them closer together.

The Cinderella Makeover was definitely better than its predecessor, but still not great. Greg and Francesca are certainly more likeable, and the only part that really got on my nerves was the inevitable fight near the end. It was cute to see Francesca help Greg come out of his shell to help him win the competition (and her wager). He's a classic geek to chic fairy tale! But when he finds out about the bet, he understandable doesn't take it well. However, the bet was that he would WIN. Francesca was helping him WIN. He wanted to WIN. She wanted to WIN. What's the problem. He claims it's because she lied to him, but she didn't. It was just drama for the sake of drama.

In the end, The Cinderella Makeover was quick and cute. Nothing special or particularly memorable.

Review: Reforming the Playboy (Passion Creek, #1) by Inara Scott

Reforming the Playboy is a second-chance romance between Kira and Max, who fell in love during college, but then she left him one night with just a note. Five years later, Max is an internationally known artist, and Kira is back in her hometown where she had been taking care of her sick aunt. Now, Aunt Polly is dead, and her will has some questionable yet specific terms which require Max and Kira to come face to face for the first time in years. Neither are happy about it, and the reunion certainly doesn't go as either of them planned.

I enjoyed Reforming the Playboy. It has a bit of my favorite trope--stranded together! Of course, it's been snowing, so Max is forced to stay in town longer than he anticipates. He also "has" to stay with Kira for a bit, because of course he does. It's all part of his plan for revenge though! But we all know how that goes. This man is far too emotional to seduce and dump his true love. As soon as he's inside her, it's over. He's gone. Not to say that they don't have some drama, because they do. It's more like all of the words they left unsaid in college come exploding out, and they have to figure out how to put the past behind them.

Reforming the Playboy is less about reforming a playboy and more of comforting the tortured artist. Max was heartbroken, has an estranged family, and was in a car accident that left him completely uninspired. Being back with his teenage love sparks something inside him, which gets his career back on track. He also helps Kira with her own artistic fears. In the end, it's a pretty standard small town, second-chance romance with a side of angst.

Review: Ill Wind (Weather Warden, #1) by Rachel Caine.

Ill Wind is another book that's been sitting on my TBR for nearly a decade, and I probably would have enjoyed it more back then. I still enjoyed it, especially at the end, but it feels dated and I've certainly read better Urban Fantasy. This one is unique though in that it does lean heavily on meteorology. And I am a sucker for combining Science with the Paranormal.

Joanne is a weather warden. She controls air and water, which essentially means that she controls the weather. Other wardens can control earth or fire. When we meet Joanne she's being chased by a storm and we have no idea why. She's looking for some guy named Lewis and again, we don't know why. In fact, we don't find out anything in regards to the plot until about 2/3 in. Which is only three chapters, since they're all 70+ pages each.

The majority of this book is flashbacks and most of them aren't even relevant to what's happening now. We get Joanne's dating history from her first kiss to losing her virginity. We're told all about her parents' divorce, her mom's new man, and a trip to Disney World. Yet, we still don't know why Joanne is running, why she killed a man, and why she thinks this other man can save her.

The plot does deal with an interesting twist on demon possession. I liked that a lot, once it was actually discussed. There's also Djinn which are pretty interesting, and they're actually the only reason I'm interested in reading the next book. I think now that all of the world set up is out of the way, and we know Jo, the sequel should actually focus on plot. At least, I hope so.

Series Report: Unfinished Fairy Tales by Aya Ling

This series is a re-imagining of Cinderella. Kat gets sucked into the fairy tale's book and is placed into the life of one of the evil stepsisters. She can only return home if she finishes the story, so she has to help Cinderella get to the ball and marry the prince. Or so she thinks. At least in the first book. The other books are what come after "happily ever after." I didn't enjoy those books as much, but they were still cute. If you like fairy tales, you'll likely enjoy this series.