FairyLoot Unboxing - July 2017 "Tricksters"

FairyLoot July Box "Tricksters"

This was my third FairyLoot box and I hate to say it but compared to May and June I was actually disappointed with this one. I still think that FairyLoot is by far the best UK subscription box out there and I'm looking forward to receiving the August box but this one just didn't live up to my admittedly high expectations.

As always I'm going to assume that if you're reading this you either already have your box or you're happy to get spoilers so reading beyond this point will show you everything that was included.

I think the book is the most important part of any subscription box and I'm glad that Fairyloot include enough clues for people to figure out what book is included if they want to. Personally I'd rather know what book I'm getting to make sure I don't end up buying it twice and luckily my guess for the July box was correct and I love that you also receive a signed book plate and a letter from the author. The book received this month was this gorgeous hardback of Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody, I've already read it (watch out for my review coming soon) and it was a really fun read set in a travelling carnival full of mystery, murder and mayhem! Definitely one to look out for if you've not already bought it.

The first item in the box was an exclusive Sherlock Enamel Tin Mug by Fictiontea Designs, you can never have too many mugs and I love Sherlock so even though I don't love the design I'm happy with this item.

Next up was Loki Body Lotion from Geeky Clean it smells lovely but I'm not sure exactly what the scent is. I doubt I'll actually use this product because I have really sensitive skin and tend to come up in a rash if I use scented products but I wish I didn't have that problem!

My favourite item in the box by far was these Hogwarts playing cards, each suit is one of the Hogwarts houses and I totally love them. Unfortunately my tin arrived dented and scratched though which was a little bit heartbreaking but these are definitely going to be my go to playing cards from now onwards!

The next item was definitely the most disappointing thing in the box - a Fortune Telling Kitchen Glove. I can't even begin to tell you how upset I was when I pulled this out of the box, I know FairlyLoot said they were including items that they'd never seen in a subscription box before but I'm pretty sure there's a very good reason for that!! I mean seriously, who the hell buys a bookish subscription box hoping for an oven glove? It don't know about anyone else but I use 2 hands to get anything out of my oven so having a glove for one hand makes it useless as well as the most boring subscription item EVER and it doesn't even make a good photo prop so it's definitely not something I'd have chosen to spend my money on.  I don't even care that it has a cute pattern on it, that material could have been used for pretty much anything else and I'd have loved it but an oven glove.... I'll get over my disappointment eventually  I guess LOL.

The next item was this Exclusive Harley Quinn Print from Miss Phi, the quote they chose and Miss Phi's design are both lovely but I've never seen Suicide Squad so I wasn't particularly interested in this one. I'm also not a huge fan of prints, purely because I have so many of them now that I couldn't possibly display them all so they all end up shoved into a draw and forgotten about. I guess if it was a quote from a series I loved I might like it more but this one doesn't have much appeal for me.

The last item in the box was a Six of Crows inspired bookmark from Lexy Olivia, this is actually for sale in her etsy shop so if you missed the box you can still buy one. I'm a huge Six of Crows fan and I collect bookmarks so this is a great addition to my collection. (Note: I only received one bookmark but I stitched two photos together to show both sides of it here).

So that's all the items individually, lets have a look at the whole box together.

Like I said, not my favourite FairyLoot box so far but I'm hoping the August box will be back up to the usual high standards. Do you like buying subscription boxes? What do you think of this one? What box is your favourite?

Review: Last Dance - Jeffe Kennedy

It was five minutes. His hand on the small of her back. His eyes watching like there was no one else in the crowded club. His body a breath away from hers. A kiss full of heat and need and promise.

But then the stranger disappears. And Charlotte Emory can’t forget him. Worse, according to the dating Rules she and her four best friends swear by, all she can do is post an ad online. No names, no numbers. Just a missed connection – and the hope he’ll meet her, and see where another dance leads.

Except Mr. Mystery has his game, too, and he isn’t playing for only one night. He tempts Charley into a daring exploration of power, lust, and suspense, where even the most innocent requests sound indecent…and the indecent ones make her burn all night.

If she plays by the Rules, they’ll never get past teasing each other. But rules were made to be broken…

Missed Connections Series:
Last Dance
With a Prince

Visit Jeffe Kennedy's website for more information.

Review:
The Missed Connections series is about a group of 5 single friends and the rules they've created to stop themselves making drunken dating mistakes. There are strict rules about how much intimacy is allowed on each encounter with a guy and the friends all keep an eye on each other to make sure the rules aren't broken. I really enjoyed the friendship between these women and the way they always looked out for each other, in too many romance novels other women are only included as potential love rivals so anything stories with strong female bonds automatically make me happy. The way they banter and have fun together reminded me a lot of the TV series Sex in the City and that's definitely not a negative.

Charley is an aspiring actress who loves to be the centre of attention, she loves the thrill of the chase and enjoys sex but once she's caught a guy's attention she looses interest quickly. I actually found her a little selfish but I liked that she owned her sexuality and wasn't ashamed of her desires. Mr Mystery catches her attention when they share a dance at a club but then he vanishes in the crowd leaving her wanting more. Charley isn't used to being the one who does the pursuing, it's normally the other way around, so that immediately captures her attention. Her mystery guy never does what she expects him to but that's the best way to keep her interested so it works in his favour.

If I'm honest I didn't manage to fall for Mr Mystery, it took far too long for us to get to know much about him so it was hard to connect to him as a person. Then his secret was revealed and I was irritated by the way he had been playing with Charley. I'd probably have forgiven him eventually (and to be fair, if he hadn't played the games he had then Charley would have lost interest the moment they'd had sex so I understood why he did it) but things happened a bit too fast and it stopped me becoming fully invested in them as a couple.

I'm still curious about the other girls though so I'm looking forward to reading their stories and hopefully I'll enjoy them even more than this one.

Source: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Kindle:

Cover Reveal: Theirs To Take - Laura Kaye

Decadent… Sensual… Forbidden…

12 Masters. 12 Desires. 12 Fantasies Come to Life.

Meet the Masters of Blasphemy…

Cover design by Kim Killion from The Killion Group

About THEIRS TO TAKE (Blasphemy #4, 9/26/17):

12 Masters. Infinite fantasies. Welcome to Blasphemy…

She’s the fantasy they’ve always wanted to share…

Best friends Jonathan Allen and Cruz Ramos share almost everything—a history in the Navy, their sailboat building and restoration business, and the desire to dominate a woman together, which they do at Baltimore’s exclusive club, Blasphemy. Now if they could find someone who wants to play for keeps…

All Hartley Farren has in the world is the charter sailing business she inherited from her beloved father. So when a storm damages her boat, she throws herself on the mercy of business acquaintances to do the repairs—stat. She never expected to find herself desiring the sexy, hard-bodied builders, but being around Jonathan and Cruz reminds Hartley of how much she longs for connection. If only she could decide which man she wants to pursue more…

As their attraction flashes hot, Jonathan and Cruz determine to have Hartley for their own. But the men’s erotic world is new and overwhelming, and Hartley’s unsure if she could really submit to being both of theirs to take…forever.

A Special Cross-Over Release with Jennifer Probst’s Reveal Me from her Steele Brothers Series!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Add to your Goodreads

And don’t miss the first standalone titles in the Blasphemy Series!

Hard to Serve #.5

Bound to Submit #1

Mastering Her Senses #2

Eyes on You #3

Theirs to Take #4 (9/26/17)

On His Knees #5 – Coming Winter 2018

About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty-five books in contemporary and paranormal romance and romantic suspense, including the Hard Ink and Raven Riders series. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

Review: The Alchemists of Loom - Elise Kova

Her vengeance. His vision.

Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds’ resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn’t a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer turned thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors.

Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family’s house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons’ society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King’s assassins.

When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go.

He offers her the one thing Ari can’t refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom.

Loom Saga:
The Alchemists of Loom
The Dragons of Nova
The Rebels of Gold

Visit Elise Kova's website for more information

Review:
The worlds of Loom and Nova may be within touching distance but they couldn't be more different. The fenthri, who make their home on Loom, are a society of workers who are always striving to learn and create new technology. Their people are split into five different guilds, each with a different speciality, but the guilds always used to work together and people were free to choose their own paths, that is until the dragons from Nova came down from the skies and took control. Now the guild structure has become more rigid, you are born into you guild and if you fail to pass the tests to qualify then you will die, no second chances and no other options. The dragons are much stronger and more powerful than the fenthri but they rely on their magic to get things done so they've never really focused their energy on creating or building. If it wasn't for the fenthri the dragons wouldn't even have the ability to reach Loom but once they arrived they were quick to use their superior strength to take over, the guilds are strictly regulated and they must follow orders sent by the king of the dragons or they will be destroyed.

Ari is old enough to remember a time before the dragon king's rule, she lost everything when the Guild's resistance failed and now she's made it her life's mission to do whatever she can to disrupt the dragons. Ari is a totally kickass character, she's more powerful than most fenthri (for reasons I won't go into here) and she's a skilled fighter as well as a master at creating weapons and explosives. Known only as the White Wraith Ari will take any job as long as it disrupts dragon plans and she thrives on causing them as many problems as possible. It is when she's on one of these jobs that her path crosses with Cvareh and her immediate instincts when confronted with a dragon is to kill him and harvest his organs. Cvareh is on an important mission of his own though and he offers her a boon (a powerful magical promise) if she will help him reach the alchemists guild. The last thing Ari wants is to work with a dragon, she knows from experience they can't be trusted, but the boon could be her one big chance to cause major damage to the dragon king so she reluctantly agrees.

The Alchemists of Loom does kind of throw readers into the deep end, Elise Kova has created a complex world that it takes time to get to grips with but it's well worth the effort and I loved the way the story dives straight into the action. It's clear from the very beginning that Ari is a fierce warrior bent on revenge against the dragons who subjugate her people, she's quite a prickly character who is wary of strangers and has very little interest in making friends because she is so focused on destroying the dragons. At the same time she is also intensely protective of her young assistant and protege Florence and that makes it easier to like her. Flor is the only one who brings out Ari's softer side and I loved the sisterly relationship between the two of them. It's obvious that Flor hero worships Ari and wants to be just like her but because she's not suffered the same things as Ari she is more open and far less jaded. She's fiercely intelligent and almost as skilled as Ari at creating weapons but she's also the one who brings a bit of lightness to the series and I just loved her character.

Cvareh is the youngest son of House Xin, the least powerful of the dragon families on Nova. His older sister has a lot of ambition though and she has sent Cvareh on a mission to Loom to secure an alliance with the alchemists guild against the dragon king. He is fiercely loyal to his sister and his family but he looks down on the fenthri and definitely doesn't consider Ari and Flor his equals. It took a while for me to warm up to Cvareh as he could be a little cold and distant but both he and Ari learn and grow a lot on their journey so it becomes much easier to root for them both as individuals and as a potential couple. There is a lot going on with this story, not only the gradual introduction of the incredible world that the author has created but also learning more about Ari's background and the secret mission Cvareh is on. There are some quite dark parts to the world (as you might have guessed when Ari considered harvesting Cvareh's organs the first time they met!) but there are more lighthearted moments too and there are some brilliant friendships and strong bonds too.

This was my first book by Elise Kova but it definitely won't be the last, I can't wait to pick up the sequel The Dragons of Nova and explore the dragon's home and I'm definitely going to be checking out her Air Awakens series too!

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Paperback / Kindle:

Book Trailer: Magonia - Maria Dahvana Headley

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley is a book that's been on my radar for a long time now but it's not really one I've seen many UK Bloggers talking about and only a few of my international friends have reviewed it on Goodreads. I was drawn to it because of that beautiful cover but the synopsis makes it sound just like my kind of read so I really am going to have to buy a copy soon so I can see if it lives up to expectations! Plus it's been blurbed by Neil Gaiman so that means it has to be amazing right?

Since she was a baby, Aza Ray Boyle has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found by another. Magonia.

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—but as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war between Magonia and Earth is coming. In Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?



More about the series from Epic Reads:



If you've read this one please do leave me a link to your review in the comments!

Review: Protecting Their Mate Part Two - Moira Rogers

Part Two (of Three)

As Ashley settles in to her life at the lodge, she meets more of her new pack mates--including wicked, intense Jud. His touch arouses her hunger--and Blake's possessiveness. Lucas, the unyielding alpha, grows concerned with the attachment between Blake and Ashley and sends Blake out on a mission.

While Blake is away, Ashley meets the most elusive member of her new pack--the enigmatic Connor, a hacker who, like her, was raised among humans. For Connor, sex is volatile--dangerous--and being near Ashley draws out the feral edge of the wolf inside him. As Ashley's connection with Blake--and with Lucas--grows deeper, an outside force threatens the peace of the Last River pack.

Protecting Their Mate was originally published as an eight part serial under the penname Mia Thorne. It has been repackaged, but the story remains the same.

The Last Pack Series:
Protecting Their Mate Part One
Protecting Their Mate Part Two
Protecting Their Mate Part Three
Defending Their Mate Part One

Visit Moira Rogers' website for more information

Review:
This is part two of Moira Roger's Protecting Their Mate serial and I wouldn't recommend reading it as a stand alone so make sure you've read part one first. If you're looking for a hot new series to try then I'd definitely recommend this though. You may have read these author's books under their other pen name, Kit Rocha, in which case you'll already have a good idea how spicy this is going to be. Imagine the O'Kanes were werewolves and you should have a pretty good idea where it's going!

This continues Ashley's story now that she has been rescued by Blake and taken back to the home of his pack. Blake is already head over heels for Ashley but he knows it's her wolf who will decide who her mate is and he's convinced that her wolf will pick the pack alpha Lucas because he's the strongest but that doesn't mean he won't fight to claim her for himself. Lucas worries that Blake has become too attached since Ashley hasn't made a decision yet so he sends him away from their base on a mission which leaves her with Connor and Mac when the mating fever takes hold.

I'm having a hard time now choosing which of these wolves I like the most, they all have different charms and as much as I'm rooting for Ashley and Blake to end up together I'm already really looking forward to Connor and Mac's story. I'm pretty confident that they'll end up in a triad relationship with some lucky female wolf and I can't wait to see who it is that wins their heart! I hope we get a book for each of the wolves though because I definitely want to see more of Jud and Lucas too.

This serial has a heavy focus on the steamy times and it definitely falls on the more erotic side of paranormal romance but I'm enjoying every minute of it. There is still a plot going on in the background though and now that Lucas and the others are arranging to meet with another pack I think things are going to get even more interesting. I'm looking forward to reading the end of Ashley and Blake's story (I refuse to consider she'll end up with anyone else!) and I'm definitely hoping that Donna and Bree (the writing team behind Moira Rogers and Kit Rocha) are planning more books set in this world.

Source: Received from the authors in exchange for an honest review.

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here

Part Two Kindle / Complete Serial Kindle:

Cover Reveal: Holly Danger Series - Amanda Carlson

Announcing the Holly Danger series

by Amanda Carlson

I'm a huge fan of Amanda Carlson's Phoebe Meadow's urban fantasy series (you can read my reviews here) so I'm excited to be able to announce her new Holly Danger series. This will be a futuristic sci-fi series and you can see from the blurbs below that it sounds fantastic! I definitely can't wait to start reading this one.

Book One:

DANGER’S HALO

Coming September 18

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Futuristic

ABOUT DANGER’S HALO

153 years in the future, Earth doesn’t look much like it used to.

Holly Danger’s current assignment, gleaned from a set of foggy instructions and a handful of coin stuffed into a slot, is pick up a street kid who’s about to terminate himself by jumping off a cliff. And, as a rule, she doesn’t turn down currency. Her job as a salvager keeps her fed and clothed above the norm, which isn’t saying much.

The norm in this city is a scrape-by existence in a post-apocalyptic world, where the rain never stops, food is always scarce, and the elite have deserted the ranks in search of something better. Picking up this urchin won’t take much time, even if he’s located outside city limits. Her craft is fast, her weapons deadly, and her tech has been optimized as well as it can be for a climate clogged with iron dust.

But things take a big turn when she decides to become the boy’s guardian instead of hand him over. Outskirts have descended on the city, and their plans don’t include playing nice. When her crew is backed against a graphene wall, it’s a good thing her Gem is primed and ready to go. It’s almost as deadly as she is…

Add to Goodreads

Amazon

Kobo

The rest to come…

Book Two:

DANGER’S VICE

Coming October 23

Blurb and Buy links to come

Book Three:

DANGER’S RACE

Coming December 4

Blurb and Buy links to come

About Amanda Carlson:

Amanda is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, with a BA in both Speech and Hearing Science & Child Development. She went on to get an A.A.S in Sign Language Interpreting and worked as an interpreter until her first child was born. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three kids.

Website: http://www.amandacarlson.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authoramandacarlson
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amandaccarlson
Instagram: http://instagram.com/author_amanda