Book Series Archives - Proud Book Reviews

March 13, 2023March 13, 2023

Freezing the Puck – Lasairiona E. McMaster

This book contains:

Cheating, both with a partner and academically
Discovery of adoption and it’s emotional impacts on all involved.

Justin is the captain of the Cedar Rapids Racoons, studying, working AND trying to build up his career as a published author. He left Minnesota almost as quickly as he could in an attempt to get away from his past and the false rumours that isolated him throughout high school.

Savannah has recently found out that she’s adopted and because of this is trying to distance herself from her “parents”. Which means she’s desperate for a job. She’s also stuck on the things she likes, to the point that trying a new flavour for her coffee is impossible, and so incredibly phobic of planes it’s a wonder she manages to step foot on them at all.

While Justin and Savannah went to the same high school in Minnesota, they’ve somehow never crossed paths even though they’re both attending the University of Cedar Rapids and have been there for a couple of years. Once they’ve crossed paths, it’s hard to put the cat back in the bag, especially when the attraction between the two of them is so strong.

I had such a fun time reading this, especially because Savannah so clearly hated Justin, and yet he couldn’t help but be his kind, caring self regardless of how much hate she threw his way. This was especially evident when he helped her escape her family after his mum warned him that she’d just found out she was adopted and wasn’t taking it well.

And then there’s that one scene at about 75-80% of the way through the book where Justin does his big speech, and it leaves Savannah shocked. I can’t spoil it for you, but it honestly had me cracking up because of how accurate it is. It also reminded me of the Wheel of Time podcast I listen to and how they talk about communication. It just came together to create a hilarious moment for me to laugh at while on the plane to visit my mum.

When I did finish this, I was actually disappointed I couldn’t jump straight into the next book, because let’s face it, it’s been a while since I read Two for Taco’s and I somehow need more of Las’s hockey romances!

March 6, 2023March 6, 2023

Her Orc Mate – Zoe Ashwood

This book contains:

Sexual assault
Attempted murder.

Rose lives and works in a small village tavern. While life isn’t perfect, she’s got a roof and a bed for the winter season to get her by, and unless she’s willing to risk losing that she puts up with the wandering hands and leering eyes of some of the local patrons.

Uram is a warrior Orc from the Black Bear Clan who’s recently been travelling. While he’d love to find his fated mate, he knows it’s a long shot, especially since he hasn’t met her after his travels and he’s now on his way home.

As it’s a short story there’s not a lot I can say here without giving it away, but basically Uram meets Rose while she’s working and discovers that she’s his mate. From there he’s committed to ensuring her safety and happiness, even if it doesn’t include him, but he hopes it does.

Knowing Zoe is working on the next full book in this series, I had to make an effort to read this now that it’s available as a standalone short story. I don’t know how, but Zoe has managed to pack Uram and Rose’s story FULL of drama and action.

How she did this in just 40 pages I have no idea. But it works. There’s a great balance of the drama and action alongside the softer romance that she’s known for (with some extra spiciness), which has you just flying through the pages wishing it won’t stop.

If you’ve been waiting for Her Orc Protector for a while and need your Zoe-flavoured Orc romance, you should definitely grab this for a quick fun read.

February 27, 2023February 27, 2023

City of Strife – Claudie Arseneault

This book contains:

Strong racism and class system themes, depictions and impacts.

Characters

We follow quite a few characters, almost in a Game of Thrones or Wheel of Time level of complexity and interweaving of characters. There seem to be three main groups of characters broken up into the Lower City, the Dathirii and the Myrian’s.

Arathiel, Larryn, Hasryan and Cal are all from the Lower City, all coming from different backgrounds but united in the fact that they’re otherwise excluded from society.

Diel, Jaeger, Branwen and Camilla are part of the Dathirii family who hold a position of power in the Upper City. While in a position of power, they’re different to the other families in that Diel (as the head of the family) can’t stand for injustice and abuse and makes a stand against it, and his family support him.

Nevian, Varden and Master Avenazar form the main Myrian characters, and they almost couldn’t be more different. From the scared and scarred apprentice, the racially hated-should-be-a-slave Head Priest and the sadist crazy man with a ridiculous amount of power.

Arathiel arrives back in Isandor after more than a century away from home, and while he’s changed significantly, much of the city hasn’t. As he finds his place, we meet more and more characters and discover the intricacies of the Isandor society and the individuals who live within it.

As they form bonds and new alliances, the webs weave and strands break as the story develops.

I loved the Wheel of Time and Game of Thrones vibes I was getting almost right from the beginning. While I’m sure following so many characters could be hard for some readers, I love it, especially when you have a world as complex as this.

All the way throughout, as the story unfolds, I found myself being drawn more and more into it and becoming more and more invested in the characters. By the end, I couldn’t wait to get started on the next book. While it’s out, I haven’t had a chance to pick it up yet, but I will DEFINITELY want to come back to this series to keep reading!

There’re 4 books in the series out now, and this is only the first book.

I have my own theories about where this is going to go, but I’ll have to get to the rest of the series to find out!

February 20, 2023February 20, 2023

Zealot – C. Vonzale Lewis

This book contains:

Depictions and descriptions of a cult and it’s impacts to the members and their families
Description of paedophilia
Description and depiction of both protective and ritualistic murder
Emotional and psychological control.

We continue to follow Nicole, picking up almost immediately after Lineage finishes. While she’s gained more confidence, has a stronger sense of herself and her beliefs; there are still huge gaps missing for her that she’s trying to puzzle out.

Nicole formally joins the group hired to find the killers of a young woman and joins the hunt to find all Blood Magick users. As they search, Nicole discovers more and more about her past and her place in the world today while more and more Gods seem to congregate on Tulare Island.

In their search for answers, they discover more than they ever thought possible.

While I really enjoyed this, I didn’t think it was as captivating as Lineage. The main reason for this stems more from the pacing than anything else I think.

It felt like the main story was written, then they realised that some context was missing and found places to shove it in at random points. The end result being that some parts felt like a normally paced book, and others felt like we were trying to shove 3 chapters worth of content into the space of like 3 pages.

It felt weird and made it hard to keep up with each of the details. And for reference, I barely had an issue keeping up with everything that happened in Game of Thrones throughout all the currently published books. I think if the book was a little longer, maybe not spaced over a couple of days, this could have been much better.

I still enjoyed it though!

The action, following along as each piece of info is delivered and figuring out how it all pieces together. That was definitely interesting. I just think I would’ve preferred a little bit more time taken in certain parts to help it flow easier, be easier to remember and also feel more realistic.

January 30, 2023December 26, 2022

Dreams Come True at Glendale Hall – Victoria Walters

This book contains:

References to a relationship broken up by parents
Financial stress.

Lorna Ferguson is the middle child of her family and shares a dream with her older brother, Adam, to turn a local art-deco home into a B&B. Like a lot of people, Lorna is also plagued by doubts when things don’t quite go just right although she tries to stay optimistic like Adam.

Unlike the other Glendale books I’ve read, this one felt more like a self-worth and confidence kind of story rather than a romance. Yes, there were elements of romance in it, but the story felt like it more heavily rotated around Lorna and Adam doing up Dove House into a successful B&B.

We go from the house coming on the market again, purchasing the house and then all the drama’s that come with renovating such an old house back into its prime and ready to open as a business.

The biggest thing that I noticed with this one compared to previous books in the series is the style in which it’s written. All the others felt like it had a natural flow, super relatable characters (even if they were more relatable to people I knew rather than me personally) and realistic problems cropping up.

But this time, a lot of the conversations felt a bit stilted and forced, and the biggest financial setback shouldn’t have even been a setback unless the insurance industry in the UK has completely deviated to how Lloyd’s first established it back in the 1800’s (sorry yes, I work in Insurance and Finance designing the training for teams so I know very well what is and isn’t covered by insurance).

While I understand writing it that way to increase the drama, my work brain wouldn’t shut up and let me enjoy the twist. Instead it was shouting at me how wrong it was. And I completely acknowledge that insurance in the UK may be different enough to here in Australia, but this was a fairly basic part of insurance that I’m pretty sure wouldn’t be different… At least, not based on people I’ve spoken to in the industry.

But, if you don’t have that level of insurance knowledge you’ll have a great ride following the highs and lows of setting and setting up Dove House to be a great B&B with a side of just there romance that is super sweet and turns into the happy ending we all know we want.

January 23, 2023January 2, 2023

Two for Tacos – Lasariona E. McMaster

This book contains:

Mentions of a cheating ex.

Kenzie and Austin are the main character this short novella, however some of the other Snow Pirates do make an appearance, along with some character’s who’ve been mentioned and will star in the upcoming Cedar Rapids series (coming soon).

The Snow Pirates are in Cedar Rapids for a “friendly” pre-season game which means Kenzie is going along as the team Physio, and Austin has some business in town so tagged along as well. At a date night dinner for Kenzie and Austin, some of the Snow Pirates crash their dinner. Then of course some of the Cedar Rapid team members come into the restaurant and a bet ensues that leads to the drama of the novella.

I pre-ordered this coz I knew it’d be good and boy was a right.

For just 71 pages, there was enough intensity, drama and of course sexy time to be a classic Las story. Of course I was a little upset that Kenzie’s fantasy didn’t get played out, or at least the answer given coz I’m super curious and now I gotta hope the Cedar Rapids series give me the answers I want.

January 9, 2023January 2, 2023

A Laird in London – Catherine Tinley

This book contains:

Racism towards non-English people
Forced marriage.

Isabella is the youngest child and only girl in the Burtenshaw family and because of that, she’s wild, confident and knows what she would like from her life. The problem is, as a woman in regency times, her rights and options are limited and generally controlled by her eldest brother, the head of the Burtenshaw family.

Angus is the head of his family, and desperate to get adjoining lands back to improve the quality of his people’s lives. While he’s a confident and take-charge leader in Scotland, he’s a different man when he gets to London. While still confident and proud of his heritage, he’s also restrained and cautious to ensure the success of his trip to London.

Angus must travel to London to try and meet with the Lord who owns the neighbouring lands in order to try and purchase them. His sole aim is to procure the lands and return to Scotland as quickly as possible. At the same time, Isabella is forced to attend the London season in order to find a husband.

From an accidental meeting, Isabella and Angus are drawn to each other in ways they can’t explain, and they need to navigate it and their own individual goals for the season.

This was such a fun read and gave me a few Outlander vibes with the descriptions of the handsome Scottish Laird. His brave actions, consistent persistence to achieve his goal but also the way he navigated his feelings for Isabella was so enjoyable to read.

Isabella on the other hand had very modern thoughts for a woman, which given Catherine Tinley’s style isn’t surprising, and it made me wonder what else she might include in the book. One of those thoughts actually had me wondering and REALLY hoping she’d do it, but she didn’t.

For a book I practically binged in my last few days of work before Christmas, this definitely rated up there for me!

Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Catherine Tinley is a multi-award winning author of witty, heartwarming historical romance. Her first novel, Waltzing with the Earl, won the Rita® Award for Best Historical Romance in 2018, while Rags-to-Riches Wife won the RoNA Award for Best Historical Romance 2021 as well as the HOLT Medallion, and A Waltz with the Outspoken Governess won the RoNA Award for Best Historical Romance 2022.

She has loved reading and writing since childhood, and has a particular fondness for love, romance, and happy endings. After a career encompassing speech & language therapy, Sure Start, maternity campaigning and being President of a charity, she now manages a maternity hospital. She lives in Ireland with her husband, children, cats, and dog and can be reached at her website and on her socials.

Giveaway – Win a signed copy of A Laird in London (open internationally)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

December 19, 2022December 10, 2022

Lineage – C. Vonzale Lewis

This book contains:

References to, discussions of and descriptions of substance abuse
Casual sex with numerous people
Attempted murder and the aftermath of murder described
Suggestions of cannibalism.

Nicole is the centre of our story and boy is she wild!

Nicole is unapologetically herself in the bluntest, in your face, truthful and persistent way. She has her own thoughts, feelings and opinions and she makes absolutely no excuses for them let alone tries to hide it.

Nicole is not the kind of girl who has a clear career pathway, instead, she jumps from job to job struggling to get by without having to borrow money from her parents. But she can’t let this last opportunity slip through her fingers because it’s the absolute last job she can go to without having to move back into her parents’ place.

But Tribec Insurance has weird vibes right from the get-go and weird things keep happening to her both in and outside of work.

I reached out to Carla to get a copy of this after reading the excerpt in the BBNYA competition because I was just absolutely shocked that it didn’t make it through to the final round. While I can understand how it lost some marks in the scoring (there are some grammatical and spelling errors, but not enough to truly bother me, especially when the story grabs me so utterly) I still can’t believe it didn’t make it through.

By the time I reached the end I was so enthralled I had to skip straight to buying the next book in the series because I needed more. The rollercoaster, the questions left unanswered and the hints of there being SO MUCH MORE to what was going on than what we knew was too much for me. I needed the next one straight away.

December 12, 2022December 10, 2022

Dark Apprentice – Val Neil

This book contains:

Attempted and completed murder
Assault and sexual assault
Poisoning (not trying to kill).

Nikolai and Medea are the main characters, with almost all of the story told from Nikolai’s point of view.

Nikolai is a powerful wizard who’s determined to be the biggest, strongest dark wizard in history. Unfortunately for him, he’s apprenticed to a wizard who won’t teach him and who’s determined to have him learn only things that can help people or pretend to hurt people.

Medea is an autistic (don’t worry, this is explained in the author’s notes at the end so it wasn’t over the top and stupid in the book) mage who’s practically immortal and determined to not train anymore dark wizards. Given her history with apprentices, she doesn’t want to have to kill any more of them.

Nikolai finds out about Medea by accident, but as soon as he does, he’s intent on figuring out how to convince her to take him on as an apprentice. From there, we follow along as Nikolai does his best effort at a “normal” apprentice wanting to learn to try and convince Medea to take him on.

When he finally does convince her, we follow along to Medea’s home and the beginnings of his training to become the strongest wizard he can be.

As I read this, I knew there was something about Medea that wasn’t “normal”, it wasn’t until I got to the authors note at the end that I understood why. What I appreciated and I think many people will, is that Medea is autistic, and rather than describe her as the over the top, media exaggerated type of autistic, Val has gone to the effort to describe her as authentically as possible.

Autism has a spectrum with many ways of presenting in each individual. Where most depictions of autism is very far at one end and exaggerated, Medea clearly sits somewhere in the middle where you can tell that there’s something different to “normal”, but you can’t necessarily quite put your finger on what it is.

In terms of the rest of the story, it was your typical kind of fantasy with twists and turns, magic and some drama. The twist at the end is probably something I should have guessed (I certainly feel like I should have guessed it), but I didn’t so I was shocked when it was revealed. And then the big outburst that happened flipped a switch and it was amazing to see it all come together so well and made me instantly wonder “what happens next?”

Since the second book (Dark Mind) wasn’t out yet when I finished this, I couldn’t jump straight in but I really should ask for a copy because I’m stoked to keep reading!