April showers bring May flowers and also seasonal allergies. I cannot stop sneezing from all the pollen but I sure do love the blooming flowers. It's a rainy Saturday morning here but I have a nice cup of tea brewed and I am ready to dive into the books that I read in the month of April.
Book 1: The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner.
Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable.
One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England's finest novelists. Now it's home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen's legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen's home and her legacy. These people—a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others—could not be more different, and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society.
The book is a delightful read and enjoyed it very much but I still have some unanswered questions about the ending. To my delight, some of the characters ended up finding their happy ending after the suffering that they endured. Except for one that seems to have found a comfortable life but it hints at maybe finding someone but does not really come out and say it. The character Adam was one of my favorites in the story even though we don't see him as much as I would like because he really does seem a gentle soul and loved reading Jane Austen just as much as the other founding members. I would give this five of five stars.
Second book: Crave Book 1 in the series by Tracy Wolff
My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.
Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.
Which could spell death for us all.
Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.
This is the YA romance genre with all the typical and some non-so typical teenage hardships. The protagonist Grace had lost her parents to a car accident and was sent to live with her uncle who is the headmaster of the Academy and his daughter. This story was a quick read and was actually predictable in many parts of the story. There were some nice twists in the book such as some of the students can change into dragons which I thought was interesting. Honestly, the author could have left out the vampires and focused on the dragons. This would have made it more authentic and not stuck on the Twilight and Vampire diaries.
It has always bothered me how a character could fall in love with someone within a week. I understand that it is a work of fiction but the question is why does she feel a bond with Jaxon? Why does she seem to worship him? I typically love a good vampire-witch book but in this case, sadly I just couldn't get into this character or her world at the Academy. I would give this a 3 out of 5 stars.
Book three: Southern Sorcery(Sweet Tea Witch Mysteries #4) by Amy Boyles. I failed to start the first book in this series because I stumbled across it on my library's website and thought I would give it a try. I am a sucker for a good witch story however this was not it. In all fairness, it could be because I started with book 4 and not at the beginning.
Pepper Dunn can’t catch a break. As soon as life settles down in the magical town of Magnolia Cove, Alabama, the sorcerer Rufus Mayes appears, hell-bent on stealing Pepper’s powers for himself.
When Rufus casts a spell that links his magic to hers, Pepper is determined to break the connection at all costs. Luckily, she doesn’t have to look too far for help. When an aging wizard agrees to assist her, victory is at hand.
But when the wizard winds up dead, all hope is lost. Will Pepper find a way to break the spell cast against her, or will she stay linked to Rufus forever?
The story was a quick light read and I was trying to figure out who had cast the spell and why are they helping Rufus. I really wished I had started with book one because I think I would have understood Pepper more than I did while reading. The artwork on the cover is one of my favorites and what caught my eye. I will give this a 4 out of 5 stars.
So what will be on May's reading list? Not sure yet but I need something juicy to bite into. I think I should go on a book hunt this weekend. Who knows what I will find?
Later my fellow readers,
Armarius
