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Book Review: Her Outback Cowboy by Annie Seaton

Jun 19, 2017

Her Outback Cowboy by Annie Seaton

Pages: 179
Publish Date: June 19th, 2017
Publisher: Entangled: Bliss
ASIN: B072M1JDW6
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

The last thing advertising art director Lucy Bellamy wants is to go home to the Outback, but duty to family calls. At least there’s one bonus—her first love, sexy cowboy neighbour, Garth Mackenzie, is there and the attraction between them is still explosive. But Lucy has no intention of getting stuck in this two-bit town and she counts down the days until she can go back to her real life.

After an engineering degree and working in the mines of Western Australia, Garth has returned to the Outback and is home to stay. His goal is to settle down, start a family, and work his beloved land with the girl he’s always loved. But if it comes to Lucy choosing between the glamour of the city or making a home with him in the Outback—he’d lose, hands down.

Her Outback Cowboy:

I received an e-arc of Her Outback Cowboy by Annie Seaton from Entangled: Bliss in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I didn’t know what to expect from this one when I read it. I just wanted a quick, fun read that I didn’t really have to worry much about world building etc. And while I didn’t love this book or even like it that much, it was a great read that did get me out of a small reading slump.

Her Outback Cowboy follows Lucy and her cousins and they return to their family farm afters years of being away. Thier grandparents are in need of help and they all just seem to float back to where it all started. But Lucy hates being in the outback and wants nothing more than to go back to the city, but her family needs her. Let’s not forget about her old flame, that she cannot help but fall for again.

I didn’t mind Lucy as the protagonist of Her Outback Cowboy. She was an easy character to get along with. Although at times I did find her a little selfish. Lucy hasn’t been back at her families farm in years, she wanted to forget everything about it. But, without even realising it, she starts falling in love with the lifestyle, with Garth.

Garth was an okay love interest. I liked that he and Lucy already had a connection because they did know each other before. And I really enjoyed him as a character. He wasn’t overbearing and I like that he loved his lifestyle. However, I felt that at times he come on too strong, not because Lucy didn’t want Garth, but because they wanted different things. I also liked Garth’s willing to care for Lucy’s family even when she wasn’t there. Warmed my heart.

The romance was okay. I thought that I would love it more, but I felt that it just moved a little too quickly for my liking. Or we as readers didn’t get shown enough. Garth and Lucy already had major connection, they already knew many things about each other. However, they had been away from one another for a while.

I loved the family aspects of Her Outback Cowboy. That is one thing that I cherish so seeing it in books just make my heart all fuzzy. There was a lot of tension between members of the family, but I did like how it slowly went away. They all had to get used to each other again.

At times I felt it relied too heavily on stereotypes. Which was upsetting cause the author is Aussie. But, I felt that she was trying to put too much in such a small novel. In saying that I did enjoy the Australian outback setting, I don’t read much of that, so it was great.

Overall, Her Outback Cowboy was an okay read. It’s the type of novel that I just liked to pick up when I don’t feel like reading much. It’s quick, I don’t have to think much regarding world building. Her Outback Cowboy explores second chance love, family and friendship. If you are into Aussie romances then this is for you.

About the Author

Annie Seaton lives on the edge of the South Pacific Ocean on the east coast of Australia. She is fulfilling her lifelong dream of writing and has been delighted to discover that readers love reading her stories as much as she loves writing them.
When she is not writing she can be found in her garden or walking on the beach… or most likely on her deck overlooking the ocean, camera in hand as the sun sets. Each winter, Annie, and her husband leave the beach to roam the remote areas of Australia for story ideas and research.
In 2014 Annie was voted Author of the Year and in 2015 was voted Best Established Author in the AusRomToday.com Readers’ Choice Awards.

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Book Review: Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Jun 17, 2017

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Pages: 720
Publish Date: May 23rd, 2017
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471116654
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her parabatai Julian and her desire to protect him from the brutal consequences of parabatai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?

And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.

Lord of Shadows:

This review will contain spoilers from other books in the shadowhunter world including Lady Midnight which was one of my favourite reads last year.

If you know me well, then you would know my love for Cassandra Clare’s shadowhunter world. You would know that yes I talk about it a lot and yes I will try and get as many people reading it. You would also know that Lord of Shadows was one of my most anticipated books of the year – if not my most anticipated. And I was not disappointed.

Wow. Wow. I don’t even know what to say. It’s been over 2 weeks since I finished it and I can only breathe now. Lord of Shadows was intense. Beautiful and captivating, but holy – it kept me on the edge of my seat for most of the book.

Lord of Shadows is set not long after Lady Midnight and continues to follow Emma, Julian and Blackthorn family. Everyone is still reeling with the events and nearly losing more of their family. Emma and Mark are trying to find their way around each other. And Julian is trying to keep everything together. But, when Kieran needs help, Mark cannot stop himself and the Unseelie King isn’t so nice. Can everyone come together to stand against those that want to tear them apart?

It’s so easy falling back into this series, Lady Midnight is one of my favourite Cassandra Clare books and these characters really hit the spot for me. After the events of book one, I knew that my heart wasn’t going to survive this one and well it didn’t. A lot of the tension was due to the fact that we as readers knew about the consequences of parabatai’s falling in love and gosh it hurt.

Emma is one of my favourite protagonists from Clare. She has this presence about her that I just want to keep on reading about. To me, she is a mix of Jace and Clary and it just leaves us with such a great character. I really felt for her in Lord of Shadows. She is living with the fact that she is lying to Julian about her feelings and if they are together what would happen. We really get to see Emma’s vulnerable side and it was both heart-warming and heartbreaking.

Julian really killed me in Lord of Shadows. We already know that he tries to hide his feelings and what he does for his family, but we really see him struggle in this one. Julian feels all this pressure and with more people at the institute, it’s getting harder to keep secrets. One of the main reasons why I love Julian is his vulnerability; it really shows that shadowhunters are still human in many ways.

I loved the connection that we see between Julian and Emma – they fit so well together and I have no idea what is going to happen in book three between them after Lord of Shadows.

Mark is a sweetheart and if anything happens to him, I will not be alright. Again my heart breaks for Mark. He has already gone through so much and can’t decide how he should feel, who he should trust and who to let in.

People have many thoughts on Kieran and although he has done some crap, I really enjoy him as a character and really want to know more of his story. I felt for him throughout Lord of Shadows.

Christian is a badass and I love her. She has been through so much crap and being with the Blackthorns hasn’t really helped. But, I loved her characterisation and arc through both Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows. We really get to see a change in her and I cannot wait to see where Clare takes her character.

Can we pause for a moment and appreciate Ty, please. He has to be one of my favourite characters. What I love about Clare is how she is able to incorporate, such a ‘mundane’ thing into the shadowhunter world. We really get to explore more into Ty in Lord of Shadows. That one conversation when Kit mentions autisms and Julian has no idea, worked so well. I hope that Clare explores that more.

Where there is Ty there is Livvy, and man I love her. She is strong and fierce and will do anything for her family, especially Ty. I love that we really get to know Livvy in this one, we get to see what makes her tick and the love that she has for family. I feel that Livvy is the glue that sticks this family together, and more importantly, I think that she really understands Ty and what he needs.

Can we also please talk about Kit? He is a Herondale through and through. The reader is able to see Kit fall into a world he doesn’t want to be in, but slowly fall in love. He starts acting more like a Herondale and it was so great to see. All these families have been intertwined for so long, that it’s great to see them together again.

I adore the relationship between Kit and Ty and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes. There are so many ways it could go.

We couldn’t have a Cassandra Clare novel without some special appearances. There is a few scenes with Clary and Jace and gosh, after the ending between them in the short story in Lady Midnight. There were so many things unanswered.

Magnus, Alec and their boys make an appearance in Lord of Shadows and it too damn cute to handle. I love getting to know their family so much and my heart will always break for them with everything that they have to go through.

We also make our way make to the London Institute which I adored. I really loved being back here, seeing some familiar faces and learning some very interesting things. What I really love about going back here is that we are going to find out more soon in The Last Hours trilogy.

They were so many twists and turns in Lord of Shadows that I didn’t know what to think. They were fantastic, but it kept me guessing all the way. We are also introduced to many new characters and gosh there were a few that I wanted to go die. Just, please. If you’ve read it, you probably know who I am talking about here.

Okay, now to talk about the ending. It took me over a week to process what happened. I still don’t want to believe it, but I also know there is no going back. That last chapter was so intense that when I finished the book just fell out of my hands. The ending has changed so much in the shadowhunter world and it’s gotten so much darker. I have no idea what to expect from Queen of Air and Darkness.

In regards to the ending, I suggest you check out Cassie’s Tumblr where she answers a lot of fan questions and does go into detail about certain events across all her books. It’s a great way to get some more insight and she may answer some burning questions.

Overall, I loved Lord of Shadows. I got to fall back into a world that I adore so much, with characters that just make everything right. Lord of Shadows explores the notion of family, friendship, and love. It’s about standing up for what you believe in, being there for the ones that you love. It’s a heartbreaking sequel to Lady Midnight and sets up an intense ending in The Dark Artifices trilogy.

Have you read Lord of Shadows? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? What do you think is going to happen next? How excited are you for Queen of Air and Darkness? Let’s Chat!

Blog Tour: Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde | Review

May 31, 2017

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Pages: 288
Publish date: 26 April 2017
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781250111395
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

When BFFs Charlie, Taylor and Jamie go to SupaCon, they know it’s going to be a blast. What they don’t expect is for it to change their lives forever.

Charlie likes to stand out. SupaCon is her chance to show fans she’s over her public breakup with co-star, Reese Ryan. When Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie’s long-time crush on her isn’t as one-sided as she thought.

While Charlie dodges questions about her personal life, Taylor starts asking questions about her own.

Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there’s one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with Jamie—no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about the Queen Firestone SupaFan Contest, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe.

Queens of Geek:

I received an arc of Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde from Pan Macmillian in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

As soon as I read the synopsis for this one, I knew needed to get my hands on it. Queens of Geek is right up my alley. It’s geeky, nerdy and pop cultural to the max. It incorporates so much that I love into one book – and it was pretty great.

Queens of Geek follows protagonists Charlie and Taylor along with Jamie as they explore SupaCon. Best friends that seem different, but just click so well.

Charlie stands out in the crowd, YouTuber turned movie star, she adores doing what she loves. And her mission for SupaCon – to show her fans that she is over her ex-Reese. Then Alyssa Huntington shows up and everything is thrown out the window.

Taylor likes to blend in, she likes to move with the crowd. But SupaCon is ready to bust the bubble that Taylor has built around her. With her feelings for Jamie coming to the surface and a contest that she desperately wants to enter – Taylor’s life is about to change.

I loved reading Queens of Geek. It hit all the right places; it was full of romance, friendship and believing in yourself. It’s diverse and puts a very normal pop cultural aspects into a book and it was great.

I really enjoyed Charlie overall as a protagonist. She was strong, but she had her flaws that made her such an easy character to get along with. I loved that she not only stood up for herself but her friends as well. Throughout Queens of Geek the reader is able to see Charlie grow as a person and believe in herself even more. We see her struggle with past relationships and the pressure of being in front of a camera, with your whole life on display.

I feel like Taylor. I could connect with her on so many different levels it was crazy, but I loved it so much. Her passion for everything that she loved, including her friends was so great to see. I adored that she wasn’t ashamed to share her love for books, TV shows, movies. She is that fandom queen and it worked so well.

Another thing that hit the right spot for me was the diversity elements in Queens of Geek. Espiecally with anxiety and panic attacks. I connected on so many levels with Taylor because of this. With my experience, the representation of anxiety and panic attacks was so well done. I also like how it was normalized and how everyone around them didn’t hate it, or put the characters down for it.

Now the romance elements. One of my favourite tropes is ‘Friends to Lovers’, so you have no idea how excited I was about Taylor and Jamie. They were adorable together. I was squealing and couldn’t keep myself contained. I loved how much Jamie understood Taylor and knew when to step back. But he also knew when to push her and try and get her out of her bubble.

Charlie and Alyssa, while I really did enjoy it, a lot. It felt to insta-lovey for me. I really wanted to love it so much, because they were very cute together. But, it was hard getting passed that it had only been a few days. In saying that, I did like how Jen Wilde did portray them and how they connected over things in such ways.

Overall, I loved Queens of Geek. It’s a fun but emotional read that is for every pop cultural fan. It explores the notion of friendship and relationships. It’s about falling in love and letting yourself love. It’s about stepping out of that bubble and letting yourself be free. With beautiful friendships and romance, this book is one for everyone.