Melodica
Re-Reading Sorcerer's Stone: A Love Letter with Some Side-Eye
Rating: 10/10 – Would 100% spend Christmas at the Burrow.
Let's get one thing straight: I love the movies, but the fact that they butchered and glossed over so much from the books? Unforgivable. (Yes, I said it, Snape-style. But we'll get to him.)
Starting this book again is like throwing on your comfiest hoodie, hearing the Hogwarts Express whistle in the distance, and realizing the cupboard under the stairs era is over — we're back, baby.
Let's talk Dursleys. The absolute worst. I don't care if it's “children's literature” — locking a kid in a cupboard and starving him is abuse, not quirky character design.
Snape? A whole adult man beefing with an 11-year-old. Over what? A schoolboy grudge? Grow up, Severus. Drink some calming draught and log off.
Malfoy is the OG rich kid you avoid at brunch. He's every “my dad will hear about this” kid rolled into one bleach-blond bundle of insecurity.
But now — the golden trio
An Overflow With Hope is the fifth and last book in the Hope series. You don't have to read them in a particular order. What I liked most is that I could relate to each book in some way, whether it be from experience or knowing someone who went through something similar.
This is Tempia and Corey's story. I'll tell you one thing: E.C. Jackson knows how to pull a reaction out of you with her stories. The drama unfolds within the first few pages; hook, line, and sinker. It draws you in, and you can't help but read it all in one sit-down.
One decision can change your life and leave a heavy impression long after that decision has been made. Tempia chose between two men, Corey and Quince. She chose Quince and ended up in an abusive marriage because of it. I tried not to get mad, but more information came to light (tried and failed). I remembered that the baby girl was mad young. I mean, we all did shit we regret around that age.
Tempia is now divorced and trying to rebuild her life and regain her independence. She also wants to repair the damage she caused in her relationship with Corey. Now, this is where my trying hard not to get mad fails, especially when I learned why they fell out. I kid you not; I beat my head with this book, screaming in frustration. Dramatic, I know I'm a Leo. I was upset until I remembered her age, and she may not have been as confident in where she stood with Corey at the time for the events of that night to pan out as they did. All I saw when reading was an insecure little girl, and Quince (hate him) played right into that.
Corey, bless his heart. He handled it all maturely. He didn't let her off the hook, and he let her know what she did was wrong. He truly tried to understand what was going through her head at the time to make her take the word of a stranger over someone she had known for a long time. She never once came to him and tried to hear his side of things. She just took what someone else said and ran with it. As he stated, one date can be chopped to a mistake, but anything after is intentional.
Their journey was a long one, especially Tempia's. That girl screamed insecurity. Even when it seemed she and Corey were on the right track and getting their relationship back, that mind of hers would work overtime. If he doesn't call or visit as often as she thinks he should, she feels it is because he does not want to and never considers he may be busy or needs just a little space.
I'm not gone, lie I do not like Tempia. I promise I tried, I did. She refused to accept accountability for her actions. Like baby girl, own up to it. She wants people to walk on eggshells around her, and whenever someone spits a truth she can't handle, she breaks down and cries or gets mad. Her friend Gabby (I loved her) said it best, she said Tempia have these huge expectations that will never be filled.
If Tempia had it her way, Corey would be under her all day and night. Everyone would let the past go and excuse her behavior that night. This girl frustrated me throughout the whole book. He almost has to speak to her as if she were a child to get her to understand and see the error in the situation caused by her alone. It's like Gabby said, Tempia has to learn to forgive herself first before she can heal.
This was another great book. One of the best in the series. The main lesson in this book is communication. Everything that panned out could've been avoided if she had just opened her mouth. Highly recommend this series. Christian romance ain't without its fair share of drama. Pick this series up ASAP.
I am back with book two of the Hope series. We have new characters: Sadie, Kyle, and Lincoln. We don't get a character guide in the book, but that's okay. I still kept up.
Sadie and Kyle were childhood sweethearts who had planned their entire future together, right down to getting married. Sadie begins tutoring Lincoln, the hot new football player, and that's where things take a turn. Lincoln wants Saide, but at first, Sadie does not give him the time of day to stay true to Kyle. I mean, we all know the type Lincoln is, never said no, used to getting what he wants, and feels like because he's this hot young athlete, he can do what he wants without consequences. Eventually, his advances do get him Sadie.
Sadie has moved away from everyone and everything she knew for Lincoln. I hate, hate men like that. I have a friend who knew a guy for a couple of months, and they got married and moved her away from everyone she knew. Now, I understand that Sadie made her own decisions when she was up and agreed to leave with him. Just like she made her own decisions when she stayed and put up with that mess. She also pissed me off.
Now Kyle is doing well for himself. He continued with the plans he had laid out with Sadie, minus the marriage. He is the pastor of his family's church. It's clear he never really got over her, and a part of me did not want them back together. Let's be honest. She only came back once she and Lincoln did not work out. Then she moved back home and saw Kyle was doing everything he said he would do.
This book is about forgiveness, about owning your mistakes and working towards correcting them, and about a second chance at love. That is where faith comes in, right, along with maturity. After reading this book, I realized I am not there yet. I would not allow anyone to treat me like that as if the past never happened, as if I was not tossed away for the shiny new toy.
I liked this book, even if I disagreed with it. I was engaged while reading, cursing at the characters a lot. Again, this is a Christian romance. I get the lessons this book is teaching us. I just am not there yet. I am a grudge holder, and maybe that's why my only emotion seems to be anger, but that's okay, too.
I would like to start by saying this is a Christian romance novel. Christian romance is not everyone's cup of tea, including mine. I am just now getting into romance. I am more of a dark romance girlie. The things I love to read about or my idea of romance would make you clutch your pearls and have me committed. With that being said, I liked it.
Another thing I liked is that this book has a character guide. You'll know I love a good reference guide.
Ya'll, for a Christian book, this pissed me off a lot. Now I know it may seem like I get mad a lot while reading (great thing when a book can make you feel something), but that's my strongest emotion. I've looked at the emotion wheel (or whatever it is called), and it all comes back to anger. I'm sure there is an underlying reason for that, but that's for another day.
This book consists of the Copelys and the Laceys. Of all the family members, I only liked two. James Copely and Nikhol “Neka” Lacey are our main characters. Even though I liked them, I was cursing them out most of the damn book. Their families got on my nerves so bad. You know the type, always trying to pressure marriage and relationships on the single folk. I hate that so much.
James Copely has been given an ultimatum, get married or lose his seat in the family business. Apparently, you aren't a real man until you're married, yet marrying someone you don't want seems to make you one. Make it make sense. Unfortunately, all his siblings are married, which only adds to the pressure. Teri, the fiancee, decides to leave James. A smart decision. I just don't believe in marrying someone you don't love or being forced to marry just to gain something. It's wrong on so many levels.
Neka Lacey is young. She is shy and awkward, and her faith is strong. Her faith is one of my favorite things about her. I love how she always wants to help others, but I don't like how she sometimes seems to crawl within herself. Almost like she is dimming her own light to make someone else's brighter. I don't like that. Turns out James' fiancee (ex-fiancee) is friends with her older sister. So, she knew Teri planned to end the engagement with James. Being that James is her friend, she warns him and decides to fly out with him in place of Teri.
Prayer and scriptures are all throughout the book. There's a lot of sound advice in this book, and it's romantic about James and Neka's journey. I was against it at first, and I thought Neka was dumb and naive without a backbone. James was no better because he craved his family's approval so badly he would comply with their demands. They grew up differently and saw the world in different ways. I didn't think it would work. I also couldn't get over the whole pressuring your kid to be this way or that way. I don't agree with manipulating kids or giving ultimatums.
My mom is the youngest, and she has five siblings. All her siblings are married, and my mom has never been married. She grew up in a two-parent household, and she and my aunt and uncles all have the same parents. My mom was never pressured or forced to feel bad for not being married. I am 32, and I don't want to get married. I have married friends, and I've seen what marriage looks like from multiple sources. I don't want it. Those with a strong, healthy marriage, kudos, I've yet to see one.
This book shows what a relationship looks like or can be when you have a strong foundation through Christ. Is Christian romance a genre I will pursue reading on my own? No. However, I did enjoy this series a lot.
This book took me on an emotional roller coaster.
On one hand Toren and little Kenzi was the sweetest thing I ever read. The little flashbacks at the beginning of each chapter stole my heart every single time. He was also so good to her and she was good for him.
But older Kenzi and Toren also stole my heart. Toren my heart broke for him. All those women that played with his heart had me so upset. He was such a good guy literally the epitome of a book boyfriend. And Kenzi was so good towards him and understood who he was and appreciated him.
This book was so good.
Behind Her Smile: The Adventures of a Tall Girl from WVA and Her Life as a Stewardess.
It's always interesting to read about life through someone else's eyes. From her start in Parkersburg, WV to her long career as a flight attendant. This is my second book about flight attendants, and I just got a new appreciation for what they do.
Janie faces many challenges over the course of her life, but she also conquered them all. She left her city and traveled all over the world. We meet many politicians, athletes, and musicians. She even becomes friends with the King himself (three guess who). Her journey takes me through a range of emotions, and we all know that if a book can do that, it's an automatic 5-star for me.
What I loved most was the photos and trip to the past. The pictures helped humanize the books for me and helped me build a connection. I mean, we met her first love, her friends from high school, and her family. We see her graduate from American Airlines Stewardess School. A piece of her history between the pages, and we got to see every win and every loss. I love autobiographies, and this was a great book.
I'll be honest... I came for Adeline and Zade, but I stayed for GiGi. I heard about this book through BookTok, and all you hear is how spicy this book is. To which I can agree, the spice level is decent, but that didn't keep me interested, GiGi did. I love a good murder mystery, and Gigi's seemed right up my alley.
We have Adeline, who recently developed a stalker, one who makes his presence known often. He leaves rose petals all over her house to let her know he's been there. He watches her at night and doesn't even hide the fact that he is. If she has male company, he interrupts and then goes off and deals with the guy, but if you like that kind of thing, it's hot.
My main interest in the book came from the journals from the 40s that Adeline found. I love things like that. What I would give to have a journal from my grandparents or one of my ancestors, to take a peek into their lives for a moment. Let me tell you Gigi had a story to tell. She had a stalker with whom she eventually fell in love.
The journals span over the last two years of Gigi's life. The beginning stages she was full of trepidation, and yet intrigued by the mystery man who watched her outside her home. Eventually, the Renaldo grew bold. He would enter the house just to touch her whenever she was home alone. Unlike Adeline, Gigi never called the police or filed any reports. She eventually fell in love and started this two year affair. It all went down hill from there.
Adeline became obsessed with journals after discovering that she herself had a stalker. Once she found out that Gigi was murdered, she wanted to solve the mystery of who did and blame the stalker. Adeline was mixed feelings about her stalker, and she didn't want to believe her great-grandmother had actually fallen in love with someone who used to stalk her every move.
Personally, I never thought Renaldo, Gigi's stalker, did it. My money was on the husband, John, or his best friend, Frank.
I have seen so many mixed reviews. Yes, he forces himself on her. Yes, stalking is illegal, as well as breaking and entering. Yes, nothing about this book would be acceptable in the real world - but guess what, this is fiction. It's not real and meant to be for entertainment purposes. No one will judge you or assume you want this to happen in real life. It's a book. Let's get that deep into it.
On that note, the book ends in a cliff-hanger. I hate those.
You ever read a book and realize how fucked up you might be because you enjoyed it a little too much? That's how dark romance has me feeling every time I read it. This book had it all, and I still wanted more.
Juliet is a girl fresh out of high school, working in a diner to help support her and her grandmother. She runs a true crime podcast, and her best friend is Vicky. Vicky is from a mafia family, and she can only see Juliet once a week. Juliet is not allowed to ask questions or know anything about Vicky or her life. Vicky is usually accompanied by her brother William, who just sits in silence and listens.
Nick, aka Malice, is the older brother of Vicky and William. He is the crime boss for their family. He is cruel, uncaring, and a little psychotic (but so are the other brothers). He tends to fall for Juliet and makes his claim on her. It started out as a way to get under William's skin and make him finally fight for something, but he ends up having real feelings for her. Anthony is the younger brother who has gone through a traumatic event and blames his older brother. Anthony also falls for Juliet and would do anything to keep her. I genuinely liked Anthony, but I like Nick more.
William just rubs me the wrong way. He had three years with Juliet when he sneaked off with Vicky to see her, but he made no move. The minute she starts to fall for Nick, he becomes this jealous monster. And jealousy is a powerful feeling and causes a person to do all sorts of cruel things. He brings Vicky back home, and she is pissed because Juliet is messing around with all her brothers. Pissed because the one thing she wanted for herself was separate from her brothers they stole, and she does the unthinkable; she betrays her brothers by siding with the enemy to kill them and Juliet.
This book was a lot, but not enough. It touched on a subject or character's past, but didn't dive into the issue. I just want to know what happened to Juliet's mom.
The Void, feared by many. A power only known for taking the power of others, and even sometimes killing the other person.
Devicka Cainson, the void. She is the daughter of an elemental mother and a demon father. She took her mother's powers by accident while coming into her own, and was exiled from the supernatural community sent to live with humans. She was only ten and has been hated ever since, feared.
Her services are needed when a vampire has been cursed with bloodlust. They need her to remove the vampire's powers before the vampire can kill thousands. She isn't fond of her powers. She hates how it steals from others, and she hates the fear it brings. Other supernaturals don't know her, but hate just because of her power.
Instead of stripping the vampire of her powers, she switches the power with another supernatural. This intrigues the council, the ones who summoned her, and decides to end her banishment. They allow her to train at the school to learn more about what her powers can do and how they can use them for their benefit. As you can guess, she is not welcome there.
The four paragons of her community, ambassadors if you will, are tasked with watching over her. Render the vampire, Quade the elemental, Gritt the shift, and Hyde the necromancer. What none of them expect is to feel a pull towards each other. The more they get to know her, they see that she is some power sucking demon bent on destroying everyone around, but see as a normal girl.
It kills me that we may never get a sequel. I would have loved to dive deeper into Dev's powers or how she can be bonded to all four paragons. It was mildly explained why she needed all four, but I would like more. Great book though.
I may have been biased reading this book, knowing I was going to love it because Meagan Brandy's name is attached to it. Glad to see I was right. My only complaint is that damn cliff-hanger at the end. Of all places to end a book, why does it have to be when it starts getting juicy?
Another reason why I hate starting an incomplete series.
Fated royals: Creed, Knight, Sinner, and Legend. Brothers born of royal blood, dark magic. They attended university, Rathe U, in the human world, along with other gifted individuals. Gift meaning supernational magic possessing beings, and the giftless are humans.
Knight has mated with London, a giftless. Or is she? They both feel the pull and attraction towards each other. The mating process begins the moment they have sex. Something that begins to scare Knight and causes him to feel hatred towards London, as well as this sick craving to be around her and constantly claim her.
His older brother, Creed, doesn't trust her. He thinks it's something off about her, and he's determined to prove what it is. Safe to say he does not approve of her and his brother being mates. He is constantly asks what she is hiding and attempts to read her mind to seek the answers he is looking for.
In the midst of typical college shit and the whole fated issues, something is going down. Random attacks are happening more and more, and their parents are worried. They only seem to share enough to keep the boys alert. When they are summoned home, Knight kidnaps London and takes her back to his world. Part of her is scared and confused, and the other part feels like she is home, right where she needs to be.
It seems a gifted cannot be mated to a giftless, it's just impossible. Tired of waiting, Knight basically kills her, trying to force her hand to see if she is truly mated to him. He begins to panic when she does not awaken, but eventually she does. There is this shift, and she finally accepts her feeling and her need for him. Just as the two have come to terms with their fate, all hell breaks loose.
Turns out London isn't really London. She is a gifted and not just any gifted, the creature responsible for killing the brothers sister. Knight and Sinner's triplet. Seems someone blocked off her gift and memories and hid her in the human world, but the connection of her mated bond seemed to break through that barrier.
When I tell you, I am anxiously waiting for book 2. A part of me hopes she didn't just kill the sister in cold blood, who was her best friend. I refuse to believe it, it has to be more to the story. UGH!
THIS WAS A GOOD READ. REID AND LOU WAS DONE PERFECTLY IMO. I'M SO HAPPY IT WAS NOT AN INSTA-LOVE TYPE OF SITUATION. THIS BOOK IS SET IN A TIME WHERE MAGIC IS FROWNED UP AND WITCHES ARE BEING HUNTED BY CHASSEURS. A VERY RELIGIOUS GROUP DEDICATED TO ENDING ALL WITCHES. REID IS A CHASSEUR AND LOU IS A WITCH, ONLY NO ONE KNOWS IT YET. A SITUATION OCCURS IN FRONT OF THE TOWN THAT PUTS REID IN A STICKY SITUATION AND HE IS FORCED TO MARRY LOU OR HE'D HAVE TO LEAVE THE CHURCH. WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS ARRAGEMENT IS THAT EVEN THOUGH THE CHOICE WAS MADE FOR THEM THEY TOOK THEIR MARRIAGE SERIOUS. REID WAS IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE ELSE FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE AND LET THE GIRL KNOW THAT HE WILL NOT HURT HIS WIFE, ULTIMATELY CHOOSING LOU OVER HER. WHEN REID FINALLY DISCOVERS THE TRUTH HIS WORLD COMES CRASHING DOWN AND EVERYTHING HE ONCE BELIEVED HE WAS STARTING TO QUESTION. HE REFUSES TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH AT FIRST BUT FINALLY COMING TO TERMS WITH HIS WIFE BEING A WITCH HE ACCEPTS HER. A GREAT START TO THE SERIES.