Wyrd Blood - Review

Hi everyone!

I didn't mean to be gone for so long, please accept my apologies.

Today we are discussing a book by Donna Augustine - she is another one of my favourites and I have read everything she has produced.

The book today, is the start of a new series, and book one is called 'Wyrd Blood'. You can find it on Amazon UK here and Amazon US here. Amazon Australia you can click here.

Before I start chatting, I thought I would give you a brief overview of the author, which I basically lift right off of their websites - Donna Augustines website can be found here if you want to go look around.

Author Bio:

Donna Augustine’s lifelong ambition was to become the crazy cat lady. Unfortunately, when family allergies cut short her dream of living in a house full of furries, she turned her ambitions toward writing. Combining her love of fantasy, scifi, horror and romance, she tries to string together interesting twists on urban fantasy.

A native of New Jersey, when she isn’t writing or over dosing on caffeine, she can occasionally be spotted in disguise at the local dog park.

This book was released September 2017 so it's been out a while and the reason I am blogging it today is because Book 2 is out this September. The book cover also got revamped from the original and is soooo pretty now.

The book blurb is as follows:

Sometimes I wonder what life was like before magic burst into existence, before the Magical War of 810 destroyed our world. What it was like before there were Wyrd Blood, or we were forced into hiding.

And that's what I've been doing for years, hiding me and my crew. But that's about to end. My crew is starving and things are getting dire. When I get desperate enough to try and steal from Ryker, one of the toughest men in these parts, things go bad and my Wyrd Blood origins are outed.

But it's not all bad. Ryker can help keep me alive from the mysterious illness that's been plaguing me. He can also feed my crew. The only thing I have to do in return is start another war.

My Review

Our main character is called Bugs, she is in charge of a small 'crew' and it is her responsibility to look after her friends. Things are quite desperate for them all, so Bugs acts rashly and attempts to steal from one of the regions most notorious men.  As you can imagine things don't go well.

If you have read other Donna Augustine's books then you may recognise the main character, she is sassy, independent and slightly haphazard. Bugs did remind me of other of Donna's characters but she wasn't a carbon copy and to be honest, it's a character type I enjoy and don't generally have any issue with. She is a feisty character that is fiercely independent and I find very funny.

One of the main things I enjoy about the authors storytelling is her world building.  She always gives a great description and an original creative world with great attention to detail.   

Ryker is fun, he is a very strong capable male and has the air of mystery around him we expect from Donna Augustine's male leads. I love the chemistry between the two of them and the wary trust that develops. 

This is a story about a world of magic, bonds between friendship, love, and trust. I am waiting patiently (so not patiently) to see how Bugs matures in the next book, to see how relationships develop and maybe unearth some of the hinted at darker secrets. 

I say pick it up, read it, love it (even if you only like it, it has great promise) and wait for book two in September. 

Thanks so much for joining me today, if you want you can follow me on Instagram or on my Facebook page.

Hugs

Eve x

Ryan's Bed.............Full Review

Hello

Thanks for stopping past.  Today I am sharing my thoughts and comments on the standalone novel from Tijan 'Ryan's Bed'.

You can find out more about Tijan here. I have included her bio for you below:

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing later in life and once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Carter Reed Series, the Fallen Crest Series, and the Broken and Screwed Series among others. She is currently writing a new YA series along with so many more from north Minnesota where she lives with a man she couldn’t be without and an English Cocker she adores.

The book synopsis for this is as follows:

I crawled into Ryan Jensen’s bed that first night by accident. I barely knew him. I thought it was his sister’s bed—her room. It took seconds to realize my error, and I should've left... I didn’t.

I didn’t jump out.

I didn’t get embarrassed.

I relaxed.

And that night, in that moment, it was the only thing I craved. I asked to stay. He let me, and I slept. The truth? I never wanted to leave his bed. If I could've stayed forever, I would have.

He became my sanctuary. Because—four hours earlier—my twin sister killed herself.

** A stand-alone young adult novel.

My Review:

As always I do not like spoilers, so there will be no spoiler BUT I may give more detail than the above short, however, I will not spoil the story. I promise :) 

You can get the book on Amazon for Kindle, Paperback and there is an Audiobook too. Follow here for the UK link and here for the US link. The book released on 21 January 2018 and there is every chance that you have read it already, but if you haven't - sit back and read the rest of this post :) 

The heroine of this story is Mackenzie and she is a little broken, as you see her twin sister Willow kills herself and that is how the book begins. 

The story is about how Mackenzie carries on after the event. The family have just moved so she has no friends to fall back on for support and we learn very early on that her sister, Willow was the social butterfly and Mackenzie is happier in the background. 

On the day of the suicide, Mackenzie is the one to find her sister and is quite obviously traumatised. Herself and her little brother are put up in practically a strangers house and that's where she crawls into the wrong bed and falls asleep. She doesn't know Ryan and thinks the bed is his sisters. 

Ryan's Bed is about Mackenzie's story of self discovery, who she was with her sister and who she will be without. Her interaction with Ryan and her family are very important and the author portrays the very difficult subject matter so well. 

Suicide is a very sensitive subject and Tijan treats this with the utmost respect. She doesn't tackle the question of why and how, she tells a story of the family who have been left. 

I liked Mackenzie as a character she was strong, slightly misguided but given the events we meet her in, I let her off. I liked how dimensional she was :)  

My love of this book is Ryan. He was strong, supportive and understanding, a proper 'rock'. His maturity in the book was so much more than an average 18 year old and I think that lent itself well to the whole story. Their story is a good one and I think portrayed really well. 

From the first few chapters I was invested. Tijan is a fantastic author, she has a way of taking you along in the story and then wham - punches you in the face. That last page............man oh man, I just sat there in silence, whilst my head was reeling. 

I read this book on it's release day and even now, more than 7 months later, I still think about it. That's an epic achievement, especially when you find out how much I read!!

Another highly recommended read from one of my favourite authors. Check it out through the links provided at the top and don't forget to check out other books from Tijan on her page. 

Thanks so much for joining me today, if you want you can follow me on Instagram or on my Facebook page. 

See you soon

Eve x