Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos by Lisa Kaltenegger

 

Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos by Lisa Kaltenegger

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve always been interested in space, so any time I see an interesting book on space travel or space in general, I know I have to read it. This time around, I spotted this book on space and looking at possible life on other planets. If we’re here, there has to be intelligent life somewhere out there, right? That’s what I’ve always believed, anyway! Technology has taken us a long way, but there’s only so far in space that we can see. The further away a planet is, the further back in time we’re viewing where that planet is on that adventure. It’s quite interesting, but it’s hard to tell whether or not there’s intelligent life out there because we’re looking at them in the past just as they would see Earth long in our past.

This was an excellent read. Lisa takes a lot of fascinating information and tells us about it in a way that’s easy for a non-scientist to understand. There’s a lot of interesting facts on other planets, how Earth is believed to have formed, and what is known based on scientific knowledge as it’s known today. I also really liked reading about her own journey, questions she gives her classes, and her own struggles as a woman in the science field. All in all, this was a wonderful read and I look forward to checking out anything she publishes in the future.

Barbarian's Taming (Ice Planet Barbarians #8) by Ruby Dixon

Barbarian's Taming by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★★

Ever since Maddie and her sister were woken up from their respective spaceship tubes, she’s been struggling to settle into her new life. It doesn’t help that everyone saw her at her worst while she was angry and riddled with worry when her sister was abducted. Now that her sister is back and settled in better than Maddie could ever hope for herself, she’s left to deal with the aftermath of her actions. The other human women are wary of her, and Maddie doesn’t blame them one bit. There’s only one other person who is out of place, and that’s Hassen. Unfortunately, he’s also the one who abducted her sister, so their secret fling has to stay secret

Eight books in, there’s obviously a formula to these books because the khui chooses who it chooses and we know that the protagonists of each book are getting together. I like the formula, so this is not a complaint. If anything, it’s impossible to get bored with the formula because Ruby keeps busting out new and surprising ways to make things interesting. If this series goes on for something like 50 books, I have faith that Ruby would still keep things interesting and new the whole way! She knows what works and knows how to keep us on the edge of our seats along the way.

This time around, we follow Maddie and Hassen through their rotating perspectives. I really liked finally getting to know Maddie. All everyone sees is what’s on the surface: she’s fat, out of shape, and not the friendliest. She actually is pretty friendly and thoughtful, but everyone’s first impression of her is pretty bad because they met her when she was freshly woken up from a tube. Scared about her new life on an ice planet and both terrified and angry that her sister was abducted right away, she’s got one hell of a first impression to get around. If anything, Maddie is pretty relatable. I also really like that we’ve got a fat protagonist here! Ruby really captured what it’s like to have people nonverbally indicate that you’re not invited due to your weight and took it to a whole other planet.

We also have Hassen, who is surprisingly sweet and devoted. Unfortunately, we’ve also seen him at his worst pretty recently, and he’s now in exile. Hassen truly regrets his actions. His tribe is his entire life, and now he’s on the outs with nearly everyone until Vektal declares he’s no longer in exile. We got to know Maddie a lot better than we got to know Hassen, but that’s okay. I feel like this was truly Maddie’s story, and she’s got a lot to deal with because now she’s bumping uglies with the man who abducted her sister. It doesn’t help that he’s really bad at staying unattached, and she’s really bad at sticking to her own rules because she’s catching feels.

Remember how I said Ruby knows how to keep things interesting? Well, she really outdid herself here! We’ve got a Not-Hothquake, a freaking volcano, and a major discovery that’s a huge game changer. You have no idea how absolutely jazzed I am by this major discovery. When I say that it’s a game changer, I mean that it’s a total game changer! I’m really excited about where this may take the series next!

A Night Like This (Smythe-Smith Quartet #2) by Julia Quinn

 

A Night Like This by Julia Quinn

My Rating: ★★★★

Anne Wynter once thought she was in love and on the cusp of engagement when her reputation was ruined by the very man she hoped to marry. Disowned by her family and forced to change her name, she’s lived a very lonely life knowing the very man who ruined her could be lurking around the corner. Anne has spent years trying to be the most unmemorable person one could meet, but Daniel Smythe-Smite knew it was love at first sight. Just as she’s finally letting herself enjoy life again, the person who turned her life upside down many years ago is determined to ruin her once again.

I finally got my hands on this book and read it ASAP. This time around, we follow Anne and Daniel through their rotating perspectives as they fall in love. Daniel falls in love at first sight, but he develops feelings to back up his initial instant love every second that he spends with Anne. On the other hand, Anne is trying her best to not develop any kind of feelings for Daniel. She’s jaded from her one experience with love that turned out to be one sided and with someone who just wanted to get under her skirts! It was really great to watch Anne find real love and find a family who cares for her as much as she cares for them.

I really enjoyed getting to see characters from the previous book, but the real star was the Smythe-Smith girls that Anne teaches! They made me wish I had sisters but also made me remember all the fun times I had growing up with my brothers. I love how close the Smythe-Smith family is and how much I could feel the caring warmth they have for each other coming through the pages. I also love how much they accept Anne into their family even before she officially becomes a family member.

I found Daniel and Anne to be interesting characters with their own back stories that bonds them together in ways neither of them expect. However, strangely enough, Hugh turns out to be far more interesting than either of them! That said, it doesn’t make this any less of a good read. I truly enjoyed following their story as well as seeing how the cookie crumbled in the end. Sure, it was a little fantastical at times, but not enough to make me unable to suspend belief. I really enjoyed reading their story and I’m looking forward to checking out the next book.

Barbarian's Touch (Ice Planet Barbarians #7) by Ruby Dixon

 

Barbarian's Touch by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★

When Lilah wakes up cold and surrounded by blue strangers with horns, she doesn’t know what’s going on. The last thing she remembers is falling asleep while watching TV. Her entire life is turned upside down because there’s no going home, and Not-Hoth is certainly nothing like Earth. It doesn’t help that the aliens who abducted her removed her cochlear implants, making it even harder to communicate with the aliens who are helping get her to safety. At least she has her sister… until one of those aliens helping them decides to abduct her in hopes of resonating.

I absolutely love this series! This time around, we follow Lilah and Rokan through their rotating perspectives as Lilah goes through one hell of an ice planet welcome party. The only person she knows is her sister, Maddie, who is also her only means of communication on this planet. Scared, cold, alone, and abducted by a horny blue dude hoping to resonate with her, we watch Lilah struggle to come to terms with the fact that she’s never going home again. We also watch her slowly embrace living on this new planet, make friends and fall in love with Rokan, and realize that she’s a total badass.

There’s a lack of disability representation in media and literature, so I was excited to see Lilah was our lead protagonist. I was worried about how this was going to pan out when one of the characters said that the khui would “fix” her hearing. Actually, I was quite concerned that the end of the book would have the khui turn her into a hearing character through divine khui shenanigans of some sort. Instead, I was excited to find that nothing of the sort happens, and Lilah finds herself in a community trying to learn ASL rather than treating her like an inconvenience while making her jump through hoops to talk to anyone.

I also really liked Rokan. We didn’t see too much of him in the previous books, but he’s a very sweet and kind hearted character who wears his heart on his sleeve. I love how family oriented he is and how excited he gets when he talks about his family. I also really like Maddie, who is often referred to as the angry one by everyone but Lilah, but I honestly don’t blame her. Imagine waking up on a distant planet, told you can never go home, and now you need to get the khui and eventually resonate and have babies whether or not you want kids if you ever resonate. You’re going to be terrified, sad, pissed, or all of the above. Maddie is clearly all of the above, but everyone is seeing the anger, especially when Lilah gets abducted.

All in all, this was an excellent read. I really enjoyed the characters as well as the new things we continue to learn about Not-Hoth. Did I mention that it turns out that the metlaks are basically Yeti’s? Yeah! Now that’s exciting. The weird non-friendship of sorts that Lilah ends up in with a random metlak has me hoping we learn more about the metlaks. I’m currently convinced that they also crash landed on this ice planet at some point. I need to know more!

How to Fake-Date a Vampire (Charming Cove #2) by Linsey Hall

 

How to Fake-Date a Vampire by Linsey Hall

My Rating: ★★★

I received a copy from Bonnie Doon Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Emma is a witch living in a small town full of all types of paranormal folks. In hopes of becoming an official member of the coven, she’s putting her coven membership on the line by nominating herself to plan the annual Beltane Ball. Now she just needs to get Alaric, a local vampire and duke, to let her host the ball at his estate…

One of my favorite tropes is fake dating, so of course I was all over this book. We follow Emma and Alaric through their rotating perspectives as they allow their fake relationship to lead the way. Emma is planning the Beltane Ball, and the location alone should help her pull off one hell of an event. Meanwhile, Alaric is willing to fake date Emma if it means his possibly dying grandma will think he’s on his way to getting married. It’s a really cute premise.

Unfortunately, Emma and Alaric don’t have any chemistry, and much of the book is spent on planning the Beltane Ball. Alaric’s grandma had more chemistry with a male suitor she briefly interacted with than they did. It’s sad because I really liked both Emma and Alaric!  They’re such kind, thoughtful, and sweet characters that I really wanted to root for them. They just didn’t have an ounce of chemistry, and some of their interactions were very procedural when they were supposed to be falling for each other. They both came to life around other characters, though, so that was enough for me!

Actually, I loved almost all of the characters in the book. I particularly loved Penelope, Emma’s familiar, who was an absolute delight. However, most of the characters are wonderful in different ways. I even looked forward to seeing Emma’s competition, who wasn’t exactly nice most of the time. That said, I’m a little sad about how vampires appeared in the book. The vampire characters were delightful, and I loved Alaric’s grandma to pieces, but there was hardly anything vampiric about them. The only thing that really made them different was their longer lifespans and the need to drink a few drops of blood here and there. Other than that, I honestly forgot they were supposed to be vampires.

All in all, it’s a cute book. The characters are cute and fun, and the overall premise is great. However, Alaric and Emma lack chemistry, and I’m still confused about this version of vampires. I had a great time reading it, but I wish there was more romance in the story and less ball planning. I will check out the first book in the series, though. It sounds fun and I didn’t realize this was the second in a series when I started it. I can confirm that this works well as a stand alone.

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich (The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich #1) by Deya Muniz

 

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz

My Rating: ★★★★

Lady Camembert was furious when her father tried to marry her off before he passed away. Once she announced that she had no desire to ever be with a man, he cooked up a plan so that she could inherit his assets: move far away and live in disguise as his son, Count Camembert. Things were going well until she got bored and made a splash at Princess Brie’s party. Now that the princess is interested in the Count, Camembert can’t help but accept every one of her invites. The only problem is that she can never reveal who she really is, and the two of them are falling for each other. Fast.

I absolutely loved reading this. We follow Lady Camembert in a fantasy world where cheese is a huge theme. I was living for all the cheese puns, and anyone who knows me well knows I love puns almost as much as I love cheese. The artwork was absolutely stunning as well and really packs a punch in how it brings the story to life.  The entire thing filled the void that The Prince and the Dressmaker left, which I was very excited about.

I had so much fun reading every page. There were so many heartwarming and laugh out loud moments. The sad moments were so easy to feel the emotions coming through the pages.  The characters were so much fun. I loved almost every one of them. It was easy to identify with some of the characters and get dazzled by how vibrant the storytelling and art was. There was a lot of attention paid to the details in the story as well as the artwork. It was truly an excellent read with so many panels that would make really cool art prints.

I also love that the wedding dresses were based on the wedding dresses that Deya Muniz and their wife wore. The author’s notes were absolutely lovely to read and I loved getting to know Deya throughout their notes, pictures, and drawings. I’m looking forward to reading their future work because they are extremely talented.

Barbarian's Mate (Ice Planet Barbarians #6) by Ruby Dixon

Barbarian's Mate by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★

Josie couldn’t wait to find a way to remove her IUD and finally resonate with someone. Sure, she has her preferences, but she’s down to resonate with most of the eligible bachelors. When her khui finally pushes out her IUD, Josie is ecstatic. Now she can finally resonate with someone and start a happy family of her own. Unfortunately for Josie, her khui has selected Haeden as her life mate. The same Haeden who has been nothing but a negative presence in her life from the moment he set his eyes on her.

Josie and Haeden have pretty sad backstories, so prepare yourself for parental abandonment, parental death, and rape. Thankfully, there weren’t any flashbacks, but Josie does talk about what happened to her and how she’s dealt with old and new traumas. Someone needs to get a therapist on this ice planet because damn. I think that a lot of the characters need a therapist for different reasons in this series, so maybe a few therapists need to appear out of the woods!

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. Josie is now one of my favorite characters in the series. She was truly a delight to follow and was relatable on so many levels. I knew that Josie would eventually end up with Haeden because all the signs were there, and their story did not disappoint!  Their chemistry is also off the charts. I was sad to reach the end of the book because they were truly on fire, even when they were at odds with each other and learning to communicate with one another properly.

The humor was back in this book, which is extremely exciting. I really missed having so many laugh out loud moments through the chapters! I also liked how much world building we get again. We got to learn new things about this world as well as get a little more insight to the things that had been happening before Josie and company were dumped there. I also really liked getting to know some of the other characters in different ways through Josie and Haeden’s interactions with them. There were some interesting things revealed in this book, so I’m excited to see where that will lead us next.

Barbarian's Prize (Ice Planet Barbarians #5) by Ruby Dixon

 

Barbarian's Prize by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★

Adjusting to life on Not-Hoth has been an adventure, but Tiffany has been putting everything she has into it. If there’s a task that she can take on, she’s already on it. Now that Tiffany is one of the last two women who haven’t resonated with anyone, she is also the most eligible bachelorette on the planet. It’s a problem because it’s the exact opposite of what she wants. Tiffany doesn’t want any male attention, and now she’s being showered with attention from several men hoping to court her.

There aren’t any trigger warnings listed in this book, so you should know that Tiffany is a rape survivor. None of it happens in the present, but there are several flashbacks through her nightmares. Surviving rape and sexual assault are major themes in this book, so you may want to skip this book entirely if these are triggering themes for you.

This time around, we follow Tiffany and Salukh through their rotating perspectives. We spend much of our focus on Tiffany, who is trying to heal as she tries to outrun her scars. She’s a truly thoughtful and all around great character who has constantly been handed the short straw in life. Then there’s Salukh, who is a very caring and observant person. He’s very sweet and still remembers to check on the other characters even when his primary worries are about Tiffany.

We also spend a lot of time with Josie, who is Tiffany’s roommate as well as a fellow human. Josie is also a rape survivor, and we see how they are both dealing with the horrors of what happened to them differently. While I suspect that Josie doesn’t feel anywhere as sunny as her personality is, we do see that people deal with things differently as well as heal in different ways. I loved Josie and looked forward to seeing her. I’m excited to read her book, but I do hope we don’t have any flashbacks to what happened to her.

I did enjoy reading this and getting to know more characters in the book. It was also really interesting to see the characters interact differently to their khui. The things Salukh would say to his khui had me cracking up. It would be interesting to see how the khui interacts with them to give some insight to how the khui and the first people to crash land on the planet originally came to the conclusion that they needed each other. Was it an accident? Was it purely by accident? It’d be really interesting to know! I’m looking forward to reading Josie’s book and hope that we learn more about the khui as the series continues.

Barbarian Mine (Ice Planet Barbarians #4) by Ruby Dixon

 

Barbarian Mine by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★

While being stuck on an ice planet isn’t what Harlow pictured for her future, it sure beats everything that was happening back on Earth. It’s why she doesn’t mind this very weird second chance at life thanks to the khui. However, being whacked in the head, knocked out, and carried off into the wilderness with the mystery man she’s resonating with is not what she signed up for.

I’ve been enjoying this series, but I think this is the first one that does not fall under humor at all. I was hoping we’d see the series swerve back in that direction, but here we are! That said, that doesn’t mean that this wasn’t a good book. It was also a really easy read. I meant to read a few chapters and next thing I knew, I had almost read half the book without realizing it! That’s how much of an easy read this one is.

This time around, we follow Harlow and a brand new character, Rukh. There were definitely some Tarzan elements to this one, as Rukh lost his parents and has been living in the harsh elements since he was a kid. It also makes communicating hard, since he’s been on his own for a very long time and hasn’t needed to speak to anyone. I had a pretty good idea of who he was after reading his first POV chapter. Needless to say, this installment was a very interesting read!

I absolutely loved following Harlow. She’s one of the few who looks at life with the khui as a second chance at life, and she has a very good reason for that. However, she’s not ready to get pregnant, and now that she’s resonated with her new mystery man… well. Obviously that throws everything out of whack! However, she’s rolling with the punches and putting every bit of the skills she learned to good use. I don’t know about you, but I would just be miserable and stop tanning hides once I had enough to be warm.

One of the things I loved most about this book is that we get to see a lot more of the ice planet. Rukh goes from cave to cave and doesn’t stay long, so he hasn’t really set down a home. Now that Harlow is with him, they need to prepare for the harsh winter, and that includes hiding from Vektal and company… so it’s time to travel. Who knew there’s an ocean on this ice planet?! I’m excited to see what else we’ll see as the series continues!

Barbarian Lover (Ice Planet Barbarians #3) by Ruby Dixon

 

Barbarian Lover by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★

Now that everyone’s settling in on the ice planet that’s their new home, Kira finds herself among the women who didn’t resonate with anyone. Resonating means baby making, and Kira will never be able to have children, and she feels like the ultimate reject knowing that she’ll never resonate with anyone. It doesn’t help that Aehako is interested in her, especially because the feeling is mutual. Aehako is determined to live every day like it’s his last, and Kira thinks he might be onto something… until the aliens who abducted her return to steal her away again.

I have been really enjoying this series, but it does appear that the books are getting less and less funny as the series goes on. I’m hoping the humor comes back in because the funny moments are truly hilarious. Even in this book, Aehako actually giving his very large courting gift is truly a hilarious and iconic moment! That said, this wasn’t a bad book, just don’t go in expecting to have a good laugh left and right. It’s more soft and heartwarming this time around, and it was really nice to see Kira get her own book. 

We follow Kira and Aehako through their rotating perspectives and they really are a good match for each other. I really like how they balance each other out. Kira is extremely relatable and then we have Aehako, who is full of optimism. I really liked Kira in the previous books, but she was less snarky than she initially appears. I don’t blame her, though. I’d be cranky after everything she went through and then starving while also almost freezing just to top things off! 

I do think that it’s kind of weird that there’s so much focus put on how was Kira worried that she might get the boot (or something to that effect) if it came out that she couldn’t have kids. Vektal tried to pair Liz off with a widower after booting Raahosh. Wouldn’t Kira face potentially being paired off with a widower instead? It wasn’t like Liz could get pregnant by anyone she didn’t resonate with if she wasn’t already pregnant. Plus, the women share a lot of the duties with the men. I just think it’s really weird that there was so much focus on this when we’ve seen that there are other roles for women that don’t involve their ability to resonate and have kids.

That said, I was excited to learn more about the women who were in the tubes since we haven’t seen much of them yet. It was also great to see that not everyone is happy about there being a bunch of human women dropped on the planet, especially since we initially saw how absolutely delighted many of the characters were. I also really liked getting to know more of the characters, especially our extraterrestrial friends, and more about Elder Cave and the people who first crash landed there. I’m looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how the events of this one develops.

The Horrors of Dating: A Coloring Book by Harper Celebrate

 

The Horrors of Dating: A Coloring Book by Harper Celebrate

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Harper Celebrate through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This coloring book is such a cool idea. Every page is well thought out, illustrated, and just all around funny. It's such a fun and stereotypical take on all the types of dates we try to avoid and sometimes end up on anyway in the end. I'm excited to pick up the physical copy and color the pages as well as buy some copies to gift!

The Golden Frog Games (Witchlings #2) by Claribel A. Ortega

 
The Golden Frog Games by Claribel A. Ortega

My Rating: ★★★★★

Seven thought life for her and her coven would be looking a little bit brighter after they completed the impossible task. Instead, things have been as difficult as she expected as a Spare. At least she’s been named the new town Uncle, but Uncle training has been hard, and there’s something weird going on with her magic. However, it’s time for the Golden Frog Games and Thorn is competing. The only problem? Someone is trying to turn Thorn into stone and accidentally getting the competition instead.

The first book in this series was spectacular, so I was very excited to read this book. We pick up a little after the first book ends, and we see that Seven has a lot going on. Uncle training is keeping her on her toes and leaving her more worried than ever. The problem? She can still talk to the monstruos, and it’s an ability that should’ve gone away after her Uncle abilities first revealed themselves. Seven has nowhere to turn because she’s already a Spare, and being able to converse with the monstruos would be taken even worse than if she was in any of the other covens.

This time around, Thorn is competing in the Golden Frog Games and is a serious contender. While she’s got Seven and Valley at her back along with all of the Spares from each town, she’s also just a kid facing the many prejudiced people who think Spares should be banned from the games. It was really nice to see Thorn really coming into her own throughout the book. She’s extremely talented and while she’s got a lot of things going against her, she’s also very determined and knows who she is and what she’s capable of. It was really nice to see Thorn get the positive attention she does get!

One of my favorite things to read about is friendships and how they come together, strengthen, or almost break apart. Seven, Thorn, and Valley are a special situation because they have so much on their plate as it is. They’re just kids and the only people they can only trust is each other, so if they’re fighting, there’s really no one to turn to with 100% honesty. I loved seeing how much they care for each other despite being at odds with each other. It’s such a good friendship to read about for middle schoolers. Everyone is a butt-toad at some point at that age, so it’s good to be able to read about friendships that overcome even the most fictional of shenanigans.

The Golden Frog Games means there’s quite a few new characters. It can cause your head to spin for a hot minute, but I promise it sorts itself out! I really liked getting to meet Spares from other towns as well as seeing that some of the towns treat Spares better. However, it turns out that people are still against Spares no matter their location. At least we get to see that there’s a movement starting to get Spares equal rights and that there’s a lot more people who have the trio’s back than they ever could’ve imagined.

All in all, this was an excellent read. The ending really throws everyone straight through all the emotions, so now I’m sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the third book!

Love and Gravity (Always Human #2) by Ari North

 

Love and Gravity by Ari North

My Rating: ★★★★

Sunati and Austen have come over many hurdles in their relationship thanks to open communication. Now that Sunati’s best friend is moving, she’s becoming closer than ever to Austen. Right as they’re about to take the next step in their relationship, Sunati finds herself on the receiving end of a huge opportunity. Now she just has to decide if she wants to spend the next year living on Enceladus and away from Austen, who is going through a life changing shake up of her own.

I enjoyed reading the first book, so I was very excited to see that the second book was available since I’m not big on the webcomic format. I did have a few complaints about the first book, so I was even more excited to see that they were resolved this time around! There’s a lot of character development in addition to all of the additional world building. I also like that we spend more time with Sunati and Rae. I loved seeing how they first met and how close their friendship really is.

Much of the story follows Sunati and Austen’s relationship as they both go through major changes. We see Sunati begin to embrace her abilities and grow in confidence at the same time Rae begins to feel like she might be lost without Sunati close by. I loved seeing how intricate their friendship is and how they both relied on each other in different ways. It was so great to see how supportive they are of each other and how they point out the other’s strengths. I love seeing excellent relationships appear in books and I’m excited to say that this is one of them.

Meanwhile, we watch Austen struggle with changing direction in college. We see how unsure she is of herself and how sometimes we can’t always achieve our original dreams, but we can create new ones and work our way to making them happen. I loved seeing her and Sunati’s relationship deepen as well as how she gets to interact with Rae.

Plus, the artwork is absolutely stunning. Every single panel looks like a masterpiece. Every page is so colorful and full of detail. I’m excited to see more of Ari’s work in the future both for the writing and the artwork.