The Best of 2017 – Melanie’s List

By |2018-01-03T09:05:52-05:00January 3rd, 2018|Categories: Best of List, Melanie AAR, Romance reading|Tags: |

I’ve been a bad reader this year, so it was a bit of a struggle to go through and pick out the best from this past year. There were some books, though, that really stood out.

 

An Unsuitable Heir by KJ Charles

While I agree with Caz that the romance itself is a bit underdeveloped, I loved this story! Pen was such an interesting character, I loved how Charles wrote him, and how that part of the story developed. And the mystery was finally solved! The entire series was really well done, the twists and turns of the overarching story were captivating, and I was more than satisfied by the ending to the story.

Buy Now: A/BN/iB/K

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Reading Resolutions for 2018

By |2018-01-02T08:35:24-05:00January 2nd, 2018|Categories: Anne Marble, Caroline AAR, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, Keira Soleore, Kristen D, Maggie AAR, Melanie AAR, Re-reading, Reading, Romance reading|Tags: |

AAR staff have been making plans to be their best reading selves in 2018. Here are some of our reading resolutions:

Caroline: My resolution is to reread books that have been on my keeper shelf without a reread for four years (that’s the easiest time for me to calculate since it’s when I moved). I find a lot of books I’ve had for that long aren’t holding up, and I need to get rid of them to free up space. I also resolve to get rid of my pile of Regency Christmas anthologies that I’m keeping just for the one Carla Kelly story and replace it with the Kelly collection that has all of those stories in it.

Keira: I resolve to continue my detailed Spreadsheet of Joy, wherein I maintain all kinds of data about every book I read. I have been spreadsheeting my reading since […]

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The Book Blind Taste Test #2

By |2017-08-17T18:50:00-04:00August 19th, 2017|Categories: AAR Jenna, Kristen D, Melanie AAR, Reading, Romance reading|

Welcome again to our new semi-regular feature wherein a group of AAR staffers challenge themselves to pick up a book by an author they’ve never read before, either one they’ve never heard of or one they’ve been meaning to get to, and give it at least fifty pages. For AAR, our additional rule is that the book involves women; written by one or has one as a protagonist.This time round Kristen, Melanie, and Jenna give their choices a go, with mixed results.

Melanie:

Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone
Sci Fi/Urban Fantasy

Summary: The world is particularly fascinating – running on souls, our heroine, Kai, builds gods to order for worshipers to follow, but when one of those creations is dying, Kai risks her own life to try and save it. The book jumps between Kai’s story and that of Izza, a 15-year-old responsible for what appears to be a gang of street kids, who acts […]

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Midweek Minis

By |2017-05-24T17:34:00-04:00March 22nd, 2017|Categories: Kristen D, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Melanie AAR, Mini reviews, Reading, Romance reading|Tags: |

Here’s another in our occasional series of mini reviews in which AAR staffers talk about what they’ve read lately.  Not all these books are romances (although most of them are), and some were obviously more well-received than others. Here’s what Kristen, Lisa, Maggie, Maria Rose, Melanie have to say about their recent reads.

Kristen:

We Were On A Break by Lindsey Kelk

This one is perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella – the humor and cultural settings are very similar. Liv and Adam’s Mexican holiday is sure to end in an engagement, or so Liv thinks. They’ve been dating for an age and surely, SURELY, he wouldn’t take her from England to Mexico without a real purpose, right? Well, imagine her shock when instead of giving her a ring, he asks for a pause. Dejected, confused, and heartbroken, they head back […]

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Long May She Reign: A Roundtable Discussion

By |2017-06-23T08:30:00-04:00March 11th, 2017|Categories: AAR Shannon, Kristen D, Melanie AAR, Reading|

Freya might be in the line of succession to the throne, but being in the double-digits in that line doesn’t inspire dreams of ruling. She’s dedicated herself to a life of science and logic, not of leadership and diplomacy. When a state dinner becomes the location of a massacre, leaving the king and everyone else between #2 and #22 dead, Freya has no choice but to step up.

As you can imagine, almost no one is happy about this turn of events – least of all Freya – but she is determined to do her best. This means looking at old allies with new eyes and learning other lessons along the way Rhiannon Thomas’ Long May She Reign is a rarity in the world of YA Fantasy – a stand-alone novel – and AAR Staffers Melanie, Shannon, and Kristen are here to […]

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Amanda Bouchet’s A Promise of Fire: A Roundtable Discussion

By |2017-06-23T08:30:07-04:00August 5th, 2016|Categories: Books with Buzz, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR, Romance reading, Shannon AAR|Tags: , , , |

a promise of fire

Catalia “Cat” Fisa lives disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus. She is perfectly content avoiding the danger and destiny the Gods-and her homicidal mother-have saddled her with. That is, until Griffin, an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived south, fixes her with his steely gaze and upsets her illusion of safety forever.

Griffin knows Cat is the Kingmaker, the woman who divines the truth through lies. He wants her as a powerful weapon for his newly conquered realm-until he realizes he wants her for much more than her magic. Cat fights him at every turn, but Griffin’s fairness, loyalty, and smoldering advances make him increasingly hard to resist and leave her wondering if life really does have to be short, and lived alone.

available at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Barnes and Noble

 

AAR staffers Melanie, Mary and Shannon read – and […]

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Deadly Peril: An Audio DIK

By |2017-06-23T08:30:10-04:00May 3rd, 2016|Categories: audio books, DIK, Melanie AAR|Tags: , |

Narrated by Alex Wyndham

We first meet Alec Halsey in Lucinda Brant’s Deadly Engagement, where he investigates the death of a friend, and then again in Deadly Affair, with another murder and a mystery. Now, Alec is dealing with something completely different – his diplomatic past and the imprisonment and torture of his good friend Sir Cosmo Mahon and the young Emily St. Neots. Picking up basically right where the previous book left off, the reader follows Alec into Midanich, a small Germanic principality at civil war and ruled by madness, both in its populace and its Margrave.

Alec packs up immediately and, along with his love, Selina, uncle, aunt and assorted servants, heads out to the one place he wanted to never to see again. His past has definitely come back to haunt him, and now […]

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Amanda Bouchet’s A PROMISE OF FIRE – a Roundtable Discussion

By |2017-06-23T08:30:11-04:00April 4th, 2016|Categories: AAR Shannon, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR, Romance|

a promise of fireAAR staffers Melanie, Shannon and Mary recently read Amanda Bouchet’s A Promise of Fire. They share their thoughts on what they’ve agree is a very strong début novel.

Catalia “Cat” Fisa lives disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus. She is perfectly content avoiding the danger and destiny the Gods-and her homicidal mother-have saddled her with. That is, until Griffin, an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived south, fixes her with his steely gaze and upsets her illusion of safety forever.

Griffin knows Cat is the Kingmaker, the woman who divines the truth through lies. He wants her as a powerful weapon for his newly conquered realm-until he realizes he wants her for much more than her magic. Cat fights him at every turn, but Griffin’s fairness, loyalty, and smoldering advances make him increasingly hard to resist and leave her wondering if life really does have to be short, […]

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A Roundtable Discussion on Lost Among the Living

By |2017-06-23T08:30:11-04:00April 1st, 2016|Categories: Best of 2015, Best of List, Best of Romance, Caz AAR, LinnieGayl AAR, Maggie AAR, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR|Tags: , , , , |

Today, AAR Reviewers Maggie, Caz, Mary, Linniegayl and Melanie have AAR’s first ever Round Table Discussion. The book chosen is Simone St. James Lost Among the Living. Ms. St. James is a popular author with AAR staff having made several Top Ten lists in 2015 as well as having two DIK reviews on our site. Lost Among the Living is her most recent release and one that has been eagerly anticipated by many. […]

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