Love on the Brain - Book Review by Voodoo Bride

 

Love on the Brain

by Ali Hazelwood

What is it about:

Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project - a literal dream come true - Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.

Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school - archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

But when her equipment starts to go missing and the staff ignore her, Bee could swear she sees Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas... devouring her with those eyes. The possibilities have all her neurons firing.

But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:

I loved The Love Hypothesis, so even though I didn't really get into Hazelwood's first novella, DNFed the second for a petty reason, and didn't feel in the mood for the third, I decided to give Love on the Brain a try.

This turned out to be a predictable, but very enjoyable read.

I liked the set up of the story much more than the set up of the novella, so I was interested in seeing how this romance would unroll from the start. Bee is a bit too much at times, but she never annoyed me to the point where I lost my interest in the story.

The romance is super predictable as I mentioned, but fun enough that I didn't mind. There's also a second storyline woven in to up the stakes, but that one didn't really interest me I'll confess.

There's one very unnecessary negative remark about Flemish Belgium that seriously annoyed me, but other than that I enjoyed this book. I think I'll keep an eye out for Hazelwood's next book, and might even give the DNFed and the third novella a try when I'm in the mood for a nice romance.

Why should you read it:

It's a very enjoyable Contemporary Romance

Teaser Tuesdays - The Annual Migration of Clouds

Henryk feels it too, the rage I mean, the upward pull of it, when you know there's no starting over. When you know that everything we needed to start over was thrown away or burnt up decades before we were born.

(page 62, The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed)

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, previously hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their  TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Release Alert: Shadow Wizard

 

Shadow Wizard: A Dark Fantasy Romance (Renegades of Magic Book 1)

by Jeffe Kennedy 

Spy, manipulator, traitor… He might be her only salvation.

Lady Seliah Phel can’t escape feeling like she’s one of those fairytale princesses awakened from a long slumber—except that her life is no romantic story and there’s no happy ending in sight. Though she has her magic and she’s been rescued from the depths of madness that consumed her since adolescence, Selly finds that the years she lost aren’t so easily recovered. Everyone treats her like the child they remember. To prove something—perhaps only to herself—she’s recklessly volunteered to stave off a host of monsters with only the enigmatically alluring, cuttingly sarcastic, and probably deceitful wizard Jadren El-Adrel for company.

Jadren isn’t the heroic type. In fact, he’s not much of anything. Relentlessly groomed into a shadow of a man by his sadistic mother, he’s the perfect spy and tool, with no real will of his own. When he’s stranded in the wilderness with Seliah Phel, he figures the outcome is immaterial. Live or die, it’s all the same to him. But Seliah is a different story and she isn’t like anyone else. Though he reminds himself she’s basically a child in a woman’s body, he finds it increasingly difficult to resist her artless charms and relentless curiosity.

As their predicament goes from dire to disastrous, Jadren realizes his many failures have jeopardized Selly’s future, perhaps her very life. Far from home and trapped without resources, Selly has only Jadren to rely upon—the one person she can’t possibly trust. There seems no possibility of rescue from their friends and family back home at House Phel, so Jadren and Selly must work together to survive… if they can.

Just Like Home - Book Review

 

Just Like Home

by Sarah Gailey

What is it about:

“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories -- she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there.

Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back, and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?

There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them, and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.

What did I think of it:

I'm a huge fan of Sarah Gailey, so you bet I got my trotters on this book asap.

And this is yet another amazing read.

It is soon clear disturbing things happened in Vera's childhood home, and that these things had an effect on the relationship between Vera and her mother. But how much of the dark mood that hangs over the house is caused by their broken relationship and their past and how much of it is something more sinister?

I was invested from the start, trying to figure out what was going on and what happened during Vera's childhood. The story switched back and forth in time, slowly revealing more about the past and about Vera, her father, and her mother.

The mood is deliciously creepy, and fits the story perfectly. Near the end things get more dark and weird, and I loved it! This book is very different from the other novels by Gailey, although at times it does have similar creepy vibes as the comic Eat the Rich.

You bet this is going on my keeper shelves, and that I'll continue to buy Gailey's books.

Why should you read it:

It's creepy and atmospheric 

Teaser Tuesdays: Harrow the Ninth

 

The vacuum of space outside yielded no thanergy and generated no thalergy, but it didn't matter. You no longer needed either.

(page 27, Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir)

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, previously hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their  TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

High Times in the Low Parliament - Book Review

 

High Times in the Low Parliament

by Kelly Robson

What is it about:

Kelly Robson is back with fairies, scribes, and many many kisses in High Times in the Low Parliament.

Lana Baker is Aldgate’s finest scribe, with a sharp pen and an even sharper wit. Gregarious, charming, and ever so eager to please, she agrees to deliver a message for another lovely scribe in exchange for kisses and ends up getting sent to Low Parliament by a temperamental fairy as a result.

As Lana transcribes the endless circular arguments of Parliament, the debates grow tenser and more desperate. Due to long-standing tradition, a hung vote will cause Parliament to flood and a return to endless war. Lana must rely on an unlikely pair of comrades—Bugbite, the curmudgeonly fairy, and Eloquentia, the bewitching human deputy—to save humanity (and maybe even woo one or two lucky ladies), come hell or high water.

What did I think of it:

I've loved everything I've read by Robson so far, so you bet I pre-ordered this as soon as I could.

And it's good I did, because this is a really awesome novella!

I immediately fell in love with Lana. She's a happy-go-lucky woman who flirts with every pretty girl she meets. It's this that gets her sent to the Low Parliament, a place that might get flooded soon if the parliament doesn't manage to avoid yet another hung vote.

I loved the quirky worldbuilding, the fairy controlled Low Parliament and the antics Lana gets up to with her new sidekick Bugbite (who I also totally loved!) .

But it's not all quirkiness and antics. There's a reason the parliament keeps ending up disagreeing and Lana will have to be smart to get to the bottom of it and save the Low Parliament. I was intrigued by how Robson managed to weave current politics into this story that is set in an alternate world historical Europe without it smacking you in the face or detracting from the story, and I eagerly read on to discover if Lana would succeed in saving everyone.

I read this in one sitting and you bet I'll reread it in the future.

Why should you read it:

  It's a fun, quirky, and though-provoking read.

Teaser Tuesdays - Dead Sexy

 

Well, I didn't expect Barney to understand. She was allergic to magic - or at least pretended to be.

(page 49, Dead Sexy by Tate Hallaway)

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, previously hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their  TBR Lists if they like your teasers!