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Title: The Confessions of Young Nero
Author: Margaret George
Series: Nero #1
Publication: March 8th 2018 by Pan
Genre: Historical Fiction
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 1/5★ (DNF)
In the Roman Empire no one is safe from the sting of betrayal: man, woman - or child.
As a boy, Nero's royal heritage becomes a threat to his life, and when faced with shocking acts of treachery, young Nero is dealt a harsh lesson: it is better to be cruel than dead.
While Nero idealizes the artistic and athletic principles of Greece, his survival rests on his ability to navigate the dangerous deceit that Rome is awash with. Most lethal of all is his own mother, Agrippina, whose only goal is to control the empire. Nero's determination to escape her grasp will shape him into the man he was fated to become - a legendary emperor.
The Confessions of Young Nero is a book that I should've loved. Historical fiction set in ancient Rome is one of my favorite settings. I can't get enough of it. But when I'm reading a book and don't want to pick it up for three whole days, I know something is up. So around 30% of the book I decided to give up on it and not continue reading anymore. I just didn't like the story and I didn't want to waste more time on a book I wasn't enjoying anymore.
I felt kind of bad for not continuing with reading the book. I love reading about ancient Rome so much and I've always been intrigued by Nero because I don't think I've ever read a book about him before, whether it's fiction or nonfiction. The start of the book wasn't even that bad. I actually really enjoyed the first 50 pages and was looking forward to where the story would go next but then it started going downhill very fast.
I started having issues with how the story told in the first person. It just didn't feel right to me. The book started with Nero being a little kid but the way he would think and speak was more like an adult would. I do have to say that I never like it when a big part of a story is devoted to when the main character in question is a child. It's just not something I enjoy reading about. But it was all still pretty weird.
I only know the basics about Nero but it was pretty clear the author tried to rewrite the history about him. I don't think there's anything wrong with that exactly because authors are allowed to write their take on a historical figure but I guess I wish she had done things differently, especially with the writing, which was kind of bland. Also, the attraction Nero had toward his mother and the things he may or may not have done with her, no matter if these things happened or not (though a lot was implied in the book) was just something I didn't want to read about.
Another thing I didn't like was how the powerful women of the time were being portrayed. They were all basically murdereresses that didn't do anything more than poison the people around them for their own personal gain. And Nero was portrayed in a better light. I mean, sure that stuff did happen in those times but I think at this point in history we can maybe not judge women in history the way old male historians have done for ages, especially with a book written by a woman. But that's just my personal take on it.
Author bio:
Margaret George writes biographical novels about outsized historical characters: Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, Cleopatra, Mary Magdalene, Helen of Troy, and Elizabeth I. Her latest, The Confessions of Young Nero, will be published in March. All six of her novels have been New York Times bestsellers, and the Cleopatra novel was made into an Emmy-nominated ABC-TV miniseries.
She especially enjoys the research she has done for the novels, such as racing in an ancient Greek stadium, attending a gladiator training school in Rome, and studying the pharmacology of snake poison.
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Title: Dancing in the Athenian Rain
Author: Katie Hamstead
Publication: September 9th 2015 by Soul Mate Publishing
Genre: New Adult ~ Historical Fiction ~ Romance
Purchase on: Amazon
Rating: 1/5
When Donna is sent back in time to Classical Athens, she's furious at Dr. Stephens for sending her against her wishes. Then a Greek soldier purchases her to be his wife.
She's forced to learn a new language and culture, and faces her fears of never returning to her own time. The society hates her, especially because they think she’s an Amazon, which forces her to confront her issues—being compared to her genius brother, borderline abusive friends, and a cheating boyfriend.
But her husband, Peleus, is kind and patient. Although against her best judgment, she allows him into her heart. He counters all the negative voices from her past, but those voices drive a wedge between them. She must let go of her fears, her inhibitions, and insecurities, and admit her feelings, or she could lose him and the life they’ve built.
I'm a really big fan of ancient history, especially set in Greece but unfortunately I couldn't find a single thing in this book that I liked. There was so much wrong with the story that I'm not quite sure how to fit it all into one review.
The thing that initially put me off was the start. Donna's supposedly best friend and also her boyfriend were both pretty much mentally and even physically abusing her and I really didn't see how it related to the entire story. And that was all before Donna got send back to ancient Greece.
Once she got send back by Dr. Stephens, the story moved way too fast for me because before I knew it Donna was married to Peleus and months went by. There were barely any descriptions where I could actually imagine what everything looked like. I also didn't care for the romance.
There was no connection with the characters or the entire story. Some things really didn't make any sense at all. And the plot was very lacking. The book also felt more YA than new adult.
Dancing in the Athenian Rain was a pretty awful story and I felt so frustrated by it all while reading. So history buffs, I would definitely recommend you to stay away from it so you all won't be disappointed by reading it like I was.
About the Author:
Born and raised in Australia, Katie’s early years of day dreaming in the “bush”, and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing.
After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog.
She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing.
When her debut novel, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh, climbed into bestselling status, she believed she was onto something, and now has a slew of novels now available, and is published through Curiosity Quills Press, Soul Mate Publishing, and REUTS Publishing.
Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports, and be a good wife and mother. She now works as an Acquisitions Editor to help support her family. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.
Title: His Captive Mortal
Author: Renee Rose
Publication: July 16th 2015 by Baronet Press
Genre: Adult ~ Paranormal Romance
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Rating: 1/5
This review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion or content of the review.
When a young special education teacher unwittingly attracts the attention of a strange man on her late night walk home, she winds up with a supernatural guest she can’t evict. For some reason, Charlie, the dominant immortal believes she is of fairy descent and has magical powers. He demands her complete submission and cooperation, refusing to free her until she promises to help him.
Charlie sees the power in Sasha and believes she has the ability to undo the curse placed on him by a jealous lover one hundred years before. He also loves toying with the feisty mortal, doling out humiliating punishments while arousing a lust in her that leaves them both hungry for satisfaction.
His habit of emotional detachment crumbles as he falls for Sasha, yet when he discovers she carries a secret that relates to his past, the betrayal nearly destroys him. He must decide whether he can ever trust a woman, or give into instinct and walk away from what might be his only chance at love and redemption.
**This book was previously released as Loose Morals by Darling Adams. It has been edited for re-release**
Publishers Note: This book contains elements of BDSM including spanking, bondage and erotic sex scenes.
What did I read? Seriously, what was that? I love vampires, I really do. Especially hot British ones. But, ugh, this book was all kinds of cringeworthy. It was simply bad.
To start, the beginning was super weird. I didn't know if Sasha knew about vampires or not before meet Charlie or what. And I also was confused at first if Charlie was a bad guy or not, considering that he pretty much gave chase to Sasha. And the spanking was a bit too much also. That really was one weird ass scene.
Sasha and Charlie were just horrible characters, in my opinion. In the beginning when Charlie basically barged in and didn't leave, I just didn't get why she didn't insist more that he left. It frustrated me so freaking much. Sasha was such a pushover and Charlie simply was a bite, as if he still lived in the past.
So, no, I would definitely not recommend this book. I like my fair share of dominant vampires, but in the case of this book it was a bit too much.
About the Author:
Named Eroticon USA's Next Top Erotic Author in 2013, Renee Rose is a naughty wordsmith who writes romance novels centered around her favorite kink: spanking. She has won Spanking Romance Reviews' Best Historical Romance, is often found on the list of Amazon's Top 100 Erotic Authors and is a regular columnist for Write Sex Right. She also pens BDSM stories under the name Darling Adams.
Title: A Whole New World
Author: Liz Braswell
Series: A Twisted Tale #1
Publication: September 1st 2015 by Disney Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Fantasy ~ Retelling
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: 1/5
Review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?
When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.
What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.
I didn't like A Whole New World at all. I'll even go so far as to say that it's one of the worst books I have read this year so far. It really pains me to say so but this book was really a disappointment.
A huge part of this book was just like the movie. Maybe that isn't so bad but I was just so bored by it. Once the author started twisting the story it was less predictable but equally boring to me. The thing I disliked the most was the writing. It wasn't good at all. It was way too colorless and lacked some kind of depth.
The characters were colorless as well. Especially Aladdin and Jasmine. The conversations between them didn't feel natural and I felt myself not wanting to read about them at all. At this point I was more interested in reading about Jafar, to be honest. At least there was a little bit of excitement with him because he's so evil. Really, I didn't enjoy reading about any of the characters.
I guess it's a good concept, reimagining classic Disney stories but it could've been written better, I think, and without making the characters so flat and uninteresting. So yeah, this book wasn't the right one for me, per se. I do hope others will enjoy it more than I did but I wouldn't recommend it.
About the Author:
Full time author, under the name Tracy Lynn. And Celia Thomson. And J. B. Stephens. And E.J. Braswell. But mainly Tracy Lynn.
Her series "The Nine Lives of Chloe King" has been adapted into a TV show by ABC Family.
Title: Embers of Starlight
Author: Sonia De Leon
Series: Trafficked #1
Publication: February 9th 2015
Genre: New Adult ~ Romantic Suspsense ~ Dark Realistic Fiction
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 1/5
**This book contains non-gratuitous scenes of sex without consent, drug usage, violence, and ends on a small cliff-hanger**
Sometimes the saddest stories have the happiest beginnings. My reality is that in my short twenty-three years of life, I've experienced passionate love and crushing heartbreak.
I thought I made all the right choices, but in the end, those decisions led to my demise.
Now I'm being held against my will, forced to work in a sex trafficking ring. I've accepted that I will die in this place.
This is how my story began.
Sometimes you read a book and you wonder what the hell the main character did to deserve all the shit happened to her or him. This is what I felt with this book. Tula really goes through the worst of the worst. From her father and sister being killed to her mother getting mentally ill and trying to kill herself twice to ending up with an abusive husband and being sold. I know these things happen but it was all so farfetched.
The start of the book was actually pretty decent. I liked it up until she met Adrian. I just didn't trust the guy. He seemed like a very shady guy the way he all of the sudden started paying attention to Tula, giving her so many expensive gifts. And the fact that she cheated on Adrian with her best friend Sam was really the point where I started really disliking the story. I couldn't see how Tula and Sam couldn't be together if they really loved each other. I actually really liked Sam. He's a pretty nice guy. But they were all acting so stupid. And don't even get me started on Adrian and Tula getting married while se was only nineteen years old. Two years later she gets pregnant but of course the baby dies after a few months. Meanwhile Adrian is abusing Tula and it only gets worse. Eventually Adrian sells Tula and that's where the human trafficking comes in.
I do get that this book is supposed to be a warning to women about abuse and human trafficking but it was just poorly written. I don't know... maybe if the book was a bit longer with more character building it would've been better. I also didn't like how this story is told over six years. It all went way too fast. I really couldn't connect to Tula because her character usually was a little indifferent about the things happening to her. Sure, she cried but it felt all so unemotional. I also felt like the actually trafficking part (even though it's horrible) came so late into the book.
I mostly do like books like this, though usually they're more romantic so I think this book wasn't just for me. I really dislike writing one star reviews but I honestly couldn't like this book. The only possitive thing for me was Sam and how I finished the book pretty fast.
Title: Of Monsters and Madness
Author: Jessica Verday
Series: Of Monsters and Madness #1
Publication: September 9th 2014 by EgmontUSA
Genre: Young Adult ~ Historical Fiction ~ Horror
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo
Rating: 1/5
Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author.
Summoned to her father's home in 1820's Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which he might be implicated. She is torn romantically between her father's assistants-one kind and proper, one mysterious and brooding-who share a dark secret and may have more to do with the violent events than they're letting on.
It pains me to say this but Of Monsters and Madness was awful. There were many moments that I have considered giving up on it but I'm not one of those people who DNF a book quickly. I'm glad I did finish it, though but really... it was so boring.
I'm a huge Edgar Allan Poe fan and on top of that I usually love gothic books. So yeah, you can say I'm disappointed that I didn't like this one at all. Also, I had heard that this book was beautifully written, but I found myself thinking the writing was rather plain, not the mention the characters drove me nuts and the plot wasn't anything special.
Annabel was a colorless and uninteresting character. She was whiny, naive and just plain dull. Oh and let's not forget about the insta-love. It was the worst. Allan wasn't even that interesting and yet Annabel seemed to be infatuated with him so badly. There was no chemistry whatsoever between them. I also didn't get the Poe connections aside from using the names Annabel Lee, Edgar and Allan.
There was no characters development whatsoever. Especially the romance was horrible. Everything in between the beginning and the end was a lot of bla-bla-bla and nothing happened at all. Also the secondary characters seemed pointless. I guess I kind of liked Annabel's grandfather a.k.a. grandpere. But it seemed he was only in the story for Annabel to have someone in her family who actually loves her. And her father? Was a jerk. Through most of the story he barely acknowledges her excistence and at the end he suddenly says that he's always loved her? Right. It does not make sense at all.
The only possitive thing was the prologue. That seemed interesting enough so I had hoped that it would be a great book, but then it went all downhill fast, unfortunately. And it ended in a cliffhanger, so there will be more of this story. I'm not sure if I want to read it.
Overall, Of Monsters and Madness was a big fail for me. I didn't like the characters, story or even the way it was written. It was one big snoozefest.
About the Author:
Jessica Verday is the New York Times best-selling author of The Hollow trilogy and the forthcoming Of Monsters and Madness series. Her short stories have been featured in The First Time anthology, which she co-edited, and Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions. She believes a shoe isn't a shoe unless it has a three-inch heel, and nothing beats a great pair of boots. When not daydreaming about moving into a library of her own, she can be found working on her next story, redecorating her office, or buying vintage furniture.
Title: Beauty's Beast
Author: Amanda Ashley
Publication: September 2nd 2014 by Zebra
Genre: Adult ~ Fantasy
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Cover Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 1/5
Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
Beauty
Fair of face and figure, Kristine is young, innocent, pure. Yet she has been condemned to the gallows for killing a man. The only one who can save her is a lord so infamous that some say he is the son of the Devil himself...
And the Beast
Erik Trevayne is called the Demon Lord of Hawksbridge Castle, but few know of the curse he lives under. Or the terrifying changes slowly gnawing away at his humanity. When he weds her, all he wants of Kristine is a son. But when he beds her, a wild hope is born—that love that can tame even the most monstrous of beasts...
Honestly, I didn't like Beauty's Beast at all. The description and cover were pretty amazing sounding and looking but in the end I felt a little deceived by them. I couldn't like anything about this book. I wish I had liked it more but I just didn't unfortunately.
I love retellings, especiallye fairy tales retellings so much. I really thought this book was going to be fantastic but it disappointed me. The first thing that put me off was the writing. I really didn't like it. It was a little choppy and the conversations felt awkward.
The characters were another thing that put me off. Kristine was kinda... weak. I like female characters that are fierce and independend but she was anything but. All in all, Erik wasn't the worst to read about but I still didn't really like him all that much. He was just meh. The romance between them was just the worst. I didn't like the way they started and how the story went for them. There was no world and character building whatsoever.
And another thing... are there supposed to be winks to The Phantom of the Opera in this book? I'm not sure but there's a mask involved and two characters that are named Erik and Kristine? If this is so, then it's pretty nicely done. But that's the only possitive thing I could say about this book and I'm not even sure if the author meant for this to be so.
So overall, Beauty's Beast by Amanda Ashley is definitely not a favorite book of mine. I was extremely bored and frustrated throughout reading this story. The characters, the writing and the story in general was pretty disappointing, cheap even and just awful in my opnion.
