Bathtime Books

Thanks to the current stay-at-home orders for the COVID-19 pandemic, I've been able to read a lot more. As a result, I've also found new websites where you can get advanced-reader copies of books and read them for free. The only catch? They ask you to write a review. If you have a blog, or post your review on some well-known sites ( Goodreads , Bookbub , Amazon), then you may be more likely to be approved to get your hands on these newly-released or yet-to-be-released novels.  Why am I writing about this? Partially to explain why this blog is being returned to after almost a decade of disuse, and also to share with anyone who might also be interested in obtaining more novels to read. You can always sign up for books from your local library. With advances in digital media, there are great options available from apps like Hoopla , and Libby/Overdrive .  If you are interested in the advanced-reader leaving reviews angle that I've mentioned, check out Netgalley.com . It's...

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley. ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ I picked out this book after reading the jacket cover. I found the description of the plot charming and hoped that the story would be witty and a lighthearted read. The novel, based upon the author's experiences as a personal assistant to Carrie Fisher, actually left me feeling a bit despondent. The first-person narrative is overly detailed and anxious. I had a hard time reading beyond the first three chapters as I felt that the author struggled to convey to the reader the awe that was clearly inspired by meeting and working for the famous actress. The author continually stated that he felt the force of the actress's charisma and that her "shine" and "wit" made him want to continue to be in her orbit. As a reader, these statements didn't really jive with the descriptions of the interactions described on the page. The narrator's internal dialogues, which did read like train-of-thought monologue...

I received this book as an advanced readers copy from Netgalley. ★★★★★ Ilona Andrews is an author whose novels I voraciously read. This one was no different. I couldn't put this book down and finished it in one sitting. It was action-packed and the chemistry between the protagonist and her love interest was stellar. Reader be aware, this does have a love scene. Many of the author's previous novels, while they feature romantic stories, don't have explicit scenes. This novel is set in a parallel universe where due to an epidemic flu and the subsequent solution, magic has been introduced into the world. I would recommend that any reader who hasn't read the first novels in this series starts with the other series first to give them a good grounding and so they won't be confused. The universe that the authors' have created is detailed and there are a lot of moving parts. Even though I had read the previous novels, it had been a while so I couldn't remember som...