Book Review: First Light

Goodreads Summary

Seventeen-year-old Adrielle doesn’t believe in magic; she merely possesses it, though no one has ever mentioned that her unusual gifts—exceptional speed, a flair for fire, and an intimate knowledge of flora—aren’t things she was born with. When Adrielle starts a fire that burns down the family home, she must deal with both her grief and her siblings’ hurtful rejection.

While journeying to far away Tallinyne, in search of her older, estranged sister—the only relative who might take her in—Adrielle is separated from her escort when the carriage is beset by thieves. Alone, she is thrust into a dangerous and unfamiliar world where she encounters fairies and gypsies, a wild boar, a drunk cook, and an evil queen whose curse is sweeping death across the land. Adrielle also finds love, falling hard for a kind, funny, handsome—and completely unavailable prince.

From the glowing pearls tucked beneath her mattress and keeping her awake at night, to Queen Nadamaris’s curse that seems to thwart Adrielle’s every effort, Adrielle struggles to navigate a world of magic she never imagined, where people she knows and loves are not always what they appear to be. With the glowing pearls—and her fondest desire—within her grasp, she is forced to make a choice no girl should ever have to—satisfying her own heart or saving the kingdom. 

   This story was a charming fairy tale, with elements from Sleeping Beauty. Adrielle was a great heroine. Her life isn't easy and she goes through some pretty difficult things in this book. I don't want to give anything away, but when she discovers her purpose and what she can do, it is wonderful to watch it unfold. She is brave, kind, and everything else a leading lady of a fairy tale should be! 

   The hero of First Light is Christian, who is, you guessed it, a prince! His relationship with Adrielle was not insta-love, and I loved seeing them be friends before they got romantic. He had every princely quality I would want ;). 

   The villain of the book is truly horrible. Queen Nadamaris is probably to most cruel and just plain despicable villain I've encountered while reading in a while. The queen's hatred of Adrielle is almost palpable. I think Nadamaris could give all the other Disney villains a run for their money. 

   Overall, a great read. I can't wait for the next book in the series to be released!

I was provided a free copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Review: Perfekt Balance

Goodreads Summary:

Elsa Fredriksen knows there’s a thin line between love and fear. As High Healer, she rights the wrongs committed by Asgard’s enemies. But even the gods’ secret weapon can’t undo every injury—especially when her fate is completely entwined with the god she’s trying to save.

Elsa’s in love with the Norse God of Justice. But Forse’s heart is ruled by fear—fear that the past will repeat itself; fear that opening his heart will compromise his ability to do his job; fear that he’ll hurt the one girl he desperately wants to protect. Again.

When Elsa faces off against the very monster she once swore to protect, her survival depends on a power she isn’t sure she can control. And when Forse’s worst nightmare unfolds in front of him, Elsa has to decide whether it’s more important to hold the realms in perfekt balance . . . or hold onto the guy she can’t imagine existing without. 

Before I start the review, I thought I'd share pictures of who I picture as Elsa and Forse. For future book reviews, if I see pictures of who I picture certain characters as, I will be adding them to reviews, just for fun. 

Gabriella Wilde for Elsa:

And an unknown, but nevertheless very cute guy for Forse:

Now for the review!

This is the third book in the Aere Saga by S.T. Bende. This book focused on Elsa, Tyr's younger sister, and Forse, who is the God of Justice, Tyr's friend, and Elsa's longtime friend and crush. It was shorter than the other two in the series so far, but it was still packed with action and romance! Forse and Elsa's relationship was so cute! I hope we see more of their developing relationship. I liked getting more of a backstory on the characters and also on what happened leading up to Tyr and Mia's parent's deaths. I thought that Runa, the villain (or is she?) of the story was developed well. I'm very interested to see where her story goes, and without spoiling it, the revelation regarding her and another character was one that I definitely didn't see coming, but I liked it nonetheless. The action scenes are always so well written in S.T. Bende's books, I felt like I was right there. I also loved seeing all the techy gadgets that have been developed. I think my favorite part of the book was when (highlight to see spoilers) Forse proposed to Elsa. So cute! Now if only Mia and Tyr can get on the engagement train and I'll be happy! ;) End spoilers. Overall, a good continuation in the series. Too bad we have to wait till 2017 for the next one. :(

I was provided a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: A Midwinter Ball

Goodreads Summary
From the publisher of the #1 Amazon bestselling A Timeless Romance Anthology series in Clean Romance. 

Join three bestselling regency romance authors, Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, and Michele Paige Holmes, for three new regency romance novellas in A MIDWINTER BALL. 

MUCH ADO ABOUT DANCING by Heidi Ashworth. Two years have passed since Lord Northrup declared his intentions for Miss Analisa Lloyd-Jones and forbade any other man to court her. Angry at the neglect, Analisa stopped reading his letters, never even breaking the seals. Tired of waiting, Analisa joins the house party at Mrs. Smith’s famous country home, determined to find a beau. When Lord Northrup unexpectedly joins the party, Analisa discovers she is no longer repulsed by the man who first laid claim to her hand.

SWEETER THAN ANY DREAM by Annette Lyon. Olivia Wallington is firmly established as a spinster, but that doesn’t stop her from dreaming about the perfect man. Ever since her father’s death, Olivia has been forced into seclusion by her mother. When her brother and his wife come for a visit, they discover the extent to which she lives under their mother’s thumb. With their help, Olivia sneaks out to attend a local ball, where she meets Edward Blakemoore. For a few divine moments, all of her dreams seem possible. But even someone like Mr. Blakemoore would be hard pressed to get past Mrs. Wallington’s fortress of protection—or past Olivia’s pride.

AN INVITATION TO DANCE by Michele Paige Holmes. Lady Ella has been isolated on her father’s estate since her mother’s death as her father travels the world. When Alex Darling arrives with a letter from her long-dead fiancé, and a demand that she travel to London for a series of engagements, Ella thinks her father instigated the strange demands and agrees. In London, she discovers the truth behind her fiancé’s death, and that new love might be possible in the arms of the most unexpected man. 

A free copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.
These anthologies of Regency romance are becoming one of my favorite things to read! They are always clean reads, so it's nice to know that you won't run across anything inappropriate.

The first novella in this collection was Much Ado About Dancing. This was my least favorite of the three, but I still liked it. The whole story takes place during a house party, and the whole idea of it was interesting. Analisa was a likable heroine, and I liked seeing her grow as a character. I could see where she was coming from, not giving Lord Northrup a chance to really explain himself, but her decision to try to understand him was admirable. While I don't like that Lord Northrup tried to scare away all of Analisa's suitors when they were younger, I did like the man he became. Also, when we found out the reasoning behind his actions, we see him in a new light. Overall, a good read.

The second novella is Sweeter Than Any Dream. I really liked Olivia. Ever since her father died, her mother and aunt have been kind of horrible to her. When her brother and his wife come and visit, she is able to go to a ball where she meets Edward, whom she had had a run in with before. I also like Edward. He was so kind and understanding, and he was a schoolfriend of Olivia's brother. A really cute story.

The final novella is An Invitation to Dance. I liked this story, and Ella, the heroine. By the time the story starts, Ella's fiance has been dead for 10 years. Finding out the story behind this was interesting. I liked how Ella wasn't the usual type of society girl. She liked to be outdoors and riding horses. Alex was great and I loved getting to know him and how he knows Ella. I felt the story ended a bit abruptly, so I would've liked to see a bit more to the story. This was probably my favorite story of the bunch.

Book Review: Perfekt Control

So when I originally wanted to start a blog, I wanted it to be primarily a book blog, but I changed my mind to include other aspects of my life. This is my first book review, and I'm still trying to figure out my niche in reviewing, like how I want to format it and such. So please bear with me if the first few reviews aren't all formatted the same. :) 

Goodreads Summary
Brynn Aksel is a valkyrie—a battle goddess tasked with protecting both the God of War and the future of Asgard. She fends off giants and dark elves with an iron fist, a glossy smile, and no less than perfekt control. She’s focused one-hundred-percent on rising through the valkyrie ranks, and not at all on her lifelong crush on Henrik Andersson—the one guy in all the realms who could be her undoing.

Henrik serves as War’s other bodyguard, and he’s too focused on protecting their shared charge to realize that Brynn’s a girl. When an unprecedented surge of darkness abducts the Goddess of Love, Brynn’s already-steely focus is singularly directed on her new assignment—accompany Henrik to recover the realms’ source of light before the cosmos descends into chaos.

While battling demons, dragons, and the not-quite-dead, it becomes clear that immortality does not equal invincibility. And when Hel herself puts a hit on Brynn, the valkyrie has to decide if staying in control is worth losing everything . . . or if it’s time to rule the realms.

A free copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book! The second novel in the Aere Saga, Perfekt Control was the perfect continuation to the series. I liked getting to know Brynn better. Her inner turmoil regarding Henrik and with Freya being taken and how she developed as a character was well done. I bet we'd be best friends in real life. It was also fun getting to know Henrik better. I love how he wears glasses to look smart. As if he isn't already smart enough, making all those tech gadgets. This book had more action and adventure to it than the previous one, which was a fun change. I enjoyed seeing some more of the realms in the Norse world. I liked seeing the other characters from the first book, especially because Tyr and Mia are my favorite S.T. Bende characters. I hope we find out more about Freya and her abilities. I want to know her story. I can't wait for the third book in this series, Perfekt Balance, and to learn about Forse and Elsa! Four out of five stars.

An Introduction

Hello friends! Welcome to my blog. This is my first post, so I thought I'd introduce myself. For the longest time, I have wanted to start a blog. At first I thought it would just be for my book reviews. But then I thought I'd like to feature other things, like my daily experiences, so on this blog you will find a journal of sorts, as well as book reviews and things I want to share with you. Here are some facts to help you get to know me. 

1. I live in Utah with 3 sisters and my parents.
2. I am currently attending Utah Valley University (UVU) where I am getting my degree in History Education.
3. As the name of my blog suggests, I am a redhead and proud of it! I love my curly hair and freckles, but not so much my ability to quickly get sunburned.
4. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka Mormons, and this is an integral part of who I am. Some of my posts will be centered around this. 
5. My favorite color is pink and I'm in love with pandas. If I saw one in person I would probably cry.
6. My favorite pastimes are reading, playing and watching soccer, shopping, and photography. Eventually I'll be posting some of my photos. 
7. I have a dog, a Weimaraner named Gandalf (my family is huge LOTR fans). I'm sure you'll hear a lot about him. 
8. My favorite TV shows are Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Studio C, and Fixer Upper. I have too many favorite movies to list. Might be in a future blog post...
9. Choosing my favorite books is a bit easier. The Harry Potter books, Tiger's Curse, The Burning Sky, Doon, and anything by Cassandra Clare, Sarah M. Eden, Amy Bartol, and A&E Kirk.
10. I am a foodie and my drink of choice is water and Pepsi.
11. I am a huge fan of music and some of my favorite bands are U2, Coldplay, the Black Keys, Florence + the Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Jack Johnson, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, anything with Jack White, and Two Door Cinema Club.
12. I have many goals in life, but the two most important to me are to get married in the temple and start a family.