Book Review: First Comes Love by Emily Giffin

First Comes Love by Emily Giffin
Publication Date: June 28th, 2016
Format: An eCopy of this book via First to Read (thanks Penguin, you're awesome!)
Rating: 5 stars

In this dazzling new novel, Emily Giffin, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Something Borrowed, Where We Belong, and The One & Only introduces a pair of sisters who find themselves at a crossroads.

Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious relationship. Josie was impulsive, spirited, and outgoing; Meredith hardworking, thoughtful, and reserved. When tragedy strikes their family, their different responses to the event splinter their delicate bond.

Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single—and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother—a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend’s daughter ends up in her class. Determined to have the future she’s always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands.

On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she’s married to a wonderful man, and together they’re raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately, Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired.

As the anniversary of their tragedy looms and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them, but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover they need each other more than they knew . . . and that in the recipe for true happiness, love always comes first.

Emotionally honest and utterly enthralling, First Comes Love is a story about family, friendship, and the courage to follow your own heart—wherever that may lead.

I wanted to read this book because it involved two sisters. It might seem a bit odd, especially since I always wanted a sister of my own, but sometimes - reading books like this - makes me wonder what could've been had I actually had my own sister. Nothing against my two little brothers, of course. They mean the world to me. But, sometimes, I wonder how things could've been had things been different.

For Josie and Meredith, they're more likely to wonder how better things would be without each other in their life.

Alright, that may seem a bit harsh. In fact, as far as I know, they were good friends. At least that's what was implied. All of it changed when, one evening, their brother - Daniel - passed away from a car crash. Just like that - it only took one moment to break what little hold these girls had on each other. That, and a secret that never came to light until years later.

They both live different lives now - Meredith got to marry one of her good friends and also birthed a little girl named Harper. She also has what would be considered a perfect job - instead of being an actress, she pursued being a lawyer and got her wish. Money's never an issue anymore and they look like a happy family. But nothing's ever what it looks like on the outside.

Josie wanted the family that her sister have. If it wasn't for the fact that Will, her ex, decided to move on and marry another woman... it might have happened the way she wanted it to be. But at least she has a job that she loves - working as a first grade teacher. Nothing really shook her to the core about it until she noticed a familiar name on her roster: Edie, her ex husband's child. It felt like the world was laughing at her and everyone was in on the joke but her. To make things worse - Edie is a wonderful young girl.

But something had to change. Josie wanted a baby. She wanted a family. She couldn't bring herself to wait any longer. She was going to have a child - even if it means getting medically inseminated to let it happen.

But the anniversary of their brother's death is coming and their mother wants to see Sophie - Daniel's ex girlfriend - as a way to make the anniversary that much special. But even with that little reminder, Meredith and Josie find each other between their own little rock and a hard place to rediscover what it means to cope with such a big loss but also learning how to love themselves and their family.

This story is more than just what the synopsis states. I've always been the kind of reader that, even though the book discusses about a topic I normally don't read, immediately gets pulled in with the emotions I feel just reading the words. This book left me glued to my seat. It wasn't difficult to get the two sisters confused with each other - which is a huge plus for me because, sometimes, I easily slip up and get confused over which one's which - and I started feeling sympathy for each one of them for different reasons.

For Meredith, I related to her mental health and sometimes falling for everything a psychologist tells her. Although I don't have OCD, like she does, it's my anxiety that makes me so on edge that I find myself screaming if something is in the wrong place because it's one of the few things I could actually control in my life. I guess I found a bit of me in Mere than I thought I would.

For Josie, I feel like we're both impatient, impulsive (I'm getting better at that, though, hah), and mildly self-centered sometimes. At one point, I was reminded about that so many times that - just like Josie - I started to question whether I was really selfish. We both know what we want, even though sometimes we don't follow through. That's not a bad thing. That's how things are.

It doesn't change the fact that things change as you grow up. You carry these expectations on you - saying you want to major in college in this and then eventually landing a job related to that - with thoughts that this is going to happen exactly as it should. But things change. Plans divert down another path, one that you probably never wanted to take. But, here you are. I think this book helps remind you that, despite plans not working out, things are okay and will be okay. You'll be okay.

Book Review: Tremontaine - The Complete Season One

Tremontaine - Season One by Ellen Kushner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Joel Derfner, Racheline Maltese, and Patty Bryant.
Release Date: June 1st, 2016
Publisher: Serial Box
Book Format: eBook from NetGalley
Rating: 5 stars

Welcome to Tremontaine, the prequel to Ellen Kushner’s beloved Riverside series that began with Swordspoint! A Duchess whose beauty is matched only by her cunning; her husband’s dangerous affair with a handsome scholar; a foreigner in a playground of swordplay and secrets; and a mathematical genius on the brink of revolution—when long-buried lies threaten to come to light, betrayal and treachery know no bounds with stakes this high. Mind your manners and enjoy the chocolate in a dance of sparkling wit and political intrigue.

Tremontaine is an episodic serial presented by Serial Box Publishing. This collected omnibus edition gathers all 16 episodes from Season 1.

 

 First Impression:

One of the biggest reasons why I even found myself interested with this is because Malinda Lo is involved with this. I'm quite selfish, I know. I got even more excited, though, when I learned that Alaya Dawn Johnson is involved as well because I've read one of her books, The Summer Prince, and fell in love with it. On top of that - this is the first time I've seen written fiction being treated as a tv show... in a sense. All the mini stories are considered to be 'episodes' and, with all of them together, they're a season. How unique.

Now I just want to know how this all works with so many multiple authors who have put their own words in this and how they weave together.

Aftermath:

As a small disclaimer - I have not yet read any books by Ellen Kushner before reading Tremontaine. This is worth mentioning since it's a prequel for an already published series and I have no idea if this book reflects the quality of the books before it.

At first, this book may seem a little bit daunting to some since it introduces many characters right away. For someone who has trouble taking in too much information at once, it was definitely trying. The book does help the transition of learning about these characters smoothly enough. That's the first episode for you - setting the tone for the rest of the season.

We have a few primary characters that we'll get to follow around a lot. It might help to write them down, unless if you have a better memory than me or you find it easier to just get to know these characters by just following their stories.

First - we have the Duchess Diane Tremontaine. She holds a lot of power in her town and does not hesitate to use it. However, she does not misuse it - she uses her knowledge to plan for things that will benefit her the most. But time is not on her side and she doesn't have long til everything she helped build could crumble away...

Second - The Duke, William Tremontaine, husband to the Duchess. He dedicates his time to his wife and partakes in many of her decisions. He starts to get distracted, however, when he notices a certain male scholar... and he realizes what he's truly missing in his life.

Third - Ixkaab Balam - a young lady who also goes by the nickname 'Kaab'. A trader of things - specifically chocolate from her homeland - and gatherer of secrets. She traveled to a new land to assist with trades with people of higher ranking, like the Tremontaines, with items they desire. Another part of her job is figuring out just who's hiding what. But, even with her history with women, she found herself off guard when she finds a beautiful forgery artist.

Fourth - Micah, a young student who decides to leave her home - the farmland - and pursue a higher education and to put her mind at work in search for greater pastures. In order to not be bothered, however, she claims herself as a male student so she can focus only on college work. But when a tutor instructs their students wrong, Micah stands for herself but only finds herself kicked out in the progress. But she knows she unlocked something. Something so big that could change everything in this town.

So many characters with different background but their paths, unknowingly, diverge within each other towards a destination no one expected to take. At first, it's so easy to just see them as just individual stories - but they merge into something intense,

It may seem strange to write a book as if it were a TV show - minus how scripts are actually written, of course. It makes the transition from one character to another easier. I'm not quite sure exactly how but I think, with that TV mindset, I'm so used to shows heading off into another scenes that it just feels natural. It works for me.

Some people may be turned off by the multiple authors working on this. I say this only because every author have their own writing style. It can be a bit jarring to be used to how this one author writes and then immediately jump to another author's writing style. It's not impossible, though. If you just focus on the story itself, it's not too bad.

If you're looking for a fantasy story full of secrets, fighting, romance (specifically between two cis males and two cis women - from what I can tell from the story, I believe they're all AMAB and AFAB) and deceits... this is the story for you.

I'm still excited to find out what will happen in the next season. : D

ARC Review: A Fine Imitation by Amber Brock

A Fine Imitation by Amber Brock
Release Date: May 3rd, 2016
Book Format: eARC from First to Read
Rating: 5 stars

Set in the glamorous 1920s, A Fine Imitation is an intoxicating debut that sweeps readers into a privileged Manhattan socialite’s restless life and the affair with a mysterious painter that upends her world, flashing back to her years at Vassar and the friendship that brought her to the brink of ruin.

Vera Bellington has beauty, pedigree, and a penthouse at The Angelus—the most coveted address on Park Avenue. But behind the sparkling social whirl, Vera is living a life of quiet desperation. Her days are an unbroken loop of empty, champagne-soaked socializing, while her nights are silent and cold, spent waiting alone in her cavernous apartment for a husband who seldom comes home.

Then Emil Hallan arrives at The Angelus to paint a mural above its glittering subterranean pool. The handsome French artist moves into the building, shrouds his work in secrecy, and piques Vera’s curiosity, especially when the painter keeps dodging questions about his past. Is he the man he claims to be? Even as she finds herself increasingly drawn to Hallan’s warmth and passion, Vera can’t supress her suspicions. After all, she has plenty of secrets, too—and some of them involve art forgers like her bold, artistically talented former friend, Bea, who years ago, at Vassar, brought Vera to the brink of catastrophe and social exile.

When the dangerous mysteries of Emil’s past are revealed, Vera faces an impossible choice—whether to cling to her familiar world of privilege and propriety or to risk her future with the enigmatic man who has taken her heart. A Fine Imitation explores what happens when we realize that the life we’ve always led is not the life we want to have.

I think it's worth mentioning that I am greatly thankful for First to Read/ Penguin Random House for giving me the chance to read this book early.

 I can't recall what pulled me to this book, exactly, when I read the description. I think, maybe, being able to pick up a debut author's book was definitely part of the equation. Another was also the book being set in the 1920s and reading from a privileged young woman's perspective. I wasn't quite sure what to expect... but, let me tell you, I was definitely blown away from this book.

We get to see the world from Vera's view - not only as a married woman but as a young woman trying to find herself in college. The story switches back and forth after each chapter which, I know, might sound a bit bothersome to some. This is one of the few instances where it just works and it actually helps support and tie the story nicely with fancy lace.

Things are not as they seem for Vera. Yes, I know, very cliche for a rich young woman, but hear me out. She finds herself home alone most of the time because her husband, Arthur, finds himself too busy with work constantly. She still also seems to be 'under control', as I would explain it, by her mother in order to keep a proper face in the public view. Anything that could potentially ruin the Longacre's name Vera's mother was sure to immediately wash out before the fire burns too uncontrollably. In result, Vera finds herself... suffocated with 'what I must do's rather than doing 'what she wants to do'.

Vera only allows herself to do what is necessary. She does what her mother desires - such as finding legit paintings with her art degree - and does so with rarely any complaints. One day, though, she discovers an artist who goes by Emil Hallan -  a newly discovered artist who has recently graduated from college. His art, so unique in their colors, structure, and flow, that she decided that this was the artist she wanted to paint in the house. Her mother approves - if only to keep the Longacre's name in high standards. Just wait until Mr. Hallan's name become big...

But Vera is more concerned about the growing interest that quickly grabs her heart.

In college, Vera is a little more open to the opportunities she could receive but still remains hesitant. It was probably a surprise that she was even allowed to live on campus with other students. Even so, she was still monitored very closely by her own mother. No. She was still restrained under her mother's control... but only from a distance. Still, it felt just as painful. But at least she managed to find a new friend - Bea, a unique artist of wonderful talent... and refuses to follow the rules, and who has no qualms taking Vera with her.

It's so easy to just read the synopsis and assume that it's a typical book about a woman who finds herself dreading what has become of her life but does nothing to remedy it. This is one of those books where there is certainly more than what could ever be explained properly.

Subtle deceit, secrets, and lies grow at every corner. Like a water to a plant: it takes, absorbs, and grows and grows and grows until it becomes too big to manage on its own.

It's so easy to believe everything - but, eventually, everyone's secrets will come to light. Even the ones that Vera refuse to believe that are happening right under her nose - and in her heart.

Everything builds up at a steady pace. Nothing feels like its out of place and the amount of information given feels like the best amount you can get from a book like this. With a potential budding romance, and all the tension gathering from all the other characters, it's so easy to let things slide by fast without giving things a chance to grow. It felt so believable to me that, at a certain point, I didn't want to stop reading. Vera felt so real to me, so tangible, that I just had to know what was going to happen.

If you're going to read any new debut author's book this year, at the very least consider this book. It's a definite must read for me.

ARC Review: When We Collided by Emery Lord

When We Collided by Emery Lord
Release Date: April 5th, 2016
Book Format: ARC (thank you Quality Fangirls for the copy!)

We are seventeen and shattered and still dancing. We have messy, throbbing hearts, and we are stronger than anyone could ever know…

Jonah never thought a girl like Vivi would come along.

Vivi didn’t know Jonah would light up her world.

Neither of them expected a summer like this…a summer that would rewrite their futures.

In an unflinching story about new love, old wounds, and forces beyond our control, two teens find that when you collide with the right person at just the right time, it will change you forever.

This book hit me. Really really hard. (In a metaphorical sense, but I suppose if someone actually threw this book at me... it would really hurt). I'm still recovering from it. I think, what I'm feeling right now, this feels like what I imagine a book hangover would feel like. But minus the stomachache which, in all honesty, I'm incredibly grateful for.

I knew mental illness would be discussed in this book but, at the beginning, it felt like... just something normal. In fact, I even recall just thinking 'oh gosh, please don't tell me it's just a typical love story' because I have been finding myself just tired of this cliche. And these two people- Vivi and Jonah- met because one little girl just had to go to an art class (not that I'm against that at all, of course). 

Despite that, I feel like this book pulls you in with a little light nudge until, all of a sudden, the calm suddenly becomes an uncontrollable storm that tears you apart but you stay because the ocean just looks beautiful in its fury.

... You can probably blame Vivi for this vivid explanation. (I also just realized - Vivid. Vivi. That's so perfect because that's how I saw Vivi - vivid and full of color and rainbows that are uncontrollable).

Verona Cove: a place where Jonah has grown in his whole life. For Vivi, Verona Cove is a place to start anew. A home away from home. Vivi just wants to recover from her past. Jonah craves for a future that seems far off now ever since his mom fell into depression.

Somehow, despite their differences, they manage to clash - in a good-bad way (??? I don't know how else to explain it).  Jonah stresses out how she's going to view his family but Vivi found herself brightening everyones' day. A beacon of light. Life is still stressful but, admittingly, it felt less so with her in the picture. The kisses weren't so bad, either, of course.

But Vivi's past is slowly crawling back as she refuses to believe what it in her mind - and drives herself to fix it herself. 

I'm not saying that this book shows a 100% representation of bipolar disorder but that doesn't make it any less worthy. I felt myself brewing in Vivi - potential for irritation even if there is only a sliver of worry for the situation. Overactive happiness to where sleep is no longer an option. Rapid, vivid, uncontrollable thoughts. Finding connection in the smallest of things. Creative imagination - with art and her words.

This barely even scrapes the surface on what I deal with a lot. It is unpredictable a lot of times. Just today, I found myself going through many emotions: optimism, guilt and an overwhelming sadness, calm, irritation over feeling like I'm selfish, not feeling much at all, stressing out and being heavily paranoid, exhaustion. Finally - silence and calm. As far as I know, though, my symptoms are pretty tame in comparison to many others who are bipolar.  

I think this, in itself, should be enough for a little taste in what you should expect from this book. It's not one that you can explain easily with words - When We Collided is one of those books that you just have to experience to understand. When you snag this book - you'll understand why.

Book Review: A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano

A Curious Tale of the In-Between (Pram #1) by Lauren DeStefano
Release Date: September 1st, 2015
Format: eARC from Netgalley

Pram Bellamy is special—she can talk to ghosts. She doesn’t have too many friends amongst the living, but that’s all right. She has her books, she has her aunts, and she has her best friend, the ghostly Felix.

Then Pram meets Clarence, a boy from school who has also lost a parent and is looking for answers. Together they arrive at the door of the mysterious Lady Savant, who promises to help. But this spiritualist knows the true nature of Pram’s power, and what she has planned is more terrifying than any ghost.

Lauren DeStefano is beloved by critics and readers alike, and her middle grade debut is lyrical, evocative and not to be missed.

 It is almost September 1st (or, when this is posted, it IS the 1st!) and what a better time to share my thought on one of my favorite book releases coming out this year!

So... here, I present to you, A Curious Tale of the In-Between! 

It's really easy to jump into this book with the assumption that this is a typical middle grade book. When I say this, though, I mean a somewhat... charming book? A light hearted book through and through. At the least that's what I think of when I think of middle grade books. This book lures you into thinking it is this sort of book but don't be fooled so easily.

Pram spends most of her time reading, learning from her aunts, and playing with her ghost best friend Felix. Her aunts may look down at this but they don't stop her from her usual routine. That is, at least, until she's forced to attend school with the local children. But, at least, she meets a new boy named Clarence which sparks the events to find his own missing parent by visiting Lady Savant's event... and setting off another chain of events that may make Pram realize just how precious her talent is and her being alive.

Prepare to be on the adventure of your life - and perhaps a few hours of your life as you will most likely find yourself not wanting to tear yourself away from this book even though it doesn't pick up too much until maybe about 15%~ 25% into the book (apologies - I can't recall, I've been horribly busy lately). Nonetheless, once it picks up... it really picks up. I won't spoil you guys but, man, it's tough emotionally wise. You'll probably find yourself wishing Pram was real and wishing you can hug her forever.

But I suppose that makes the mark of a good character in a story - wanting to comfort a character multiple times. You'll most likely feel the same for other characters in this book as well.

Oh, what am I saying? You'll most likely be a sobbing mess by the time this book is said and done.

Don't treat this like a happy book. Don't treat this like a usual middle school book. You better prepare yourself emotionally... or, at least, read this with a box of tissues nearby. You're going to need it.

Either way, Lauren DeStefano definitely did it again and I am definitely looking forward to the sequel. Hopefully, by the time you read this as well, you will too. But I'm not worried. Yeah. c:

Dual Review Post: Blood Rights and Flesh and Blood by Kristen Painter

Blood Rights (House of Comarre #1) by Kristen Painter
Publication Date: September 1st, 2011
Format: Library Book

Rebellion has a price.

The lacy gold mapped her entire body. A finely wrought filigree of stars, vines, flowers, butterflies, ancient symbols and words ran from her feet, up her legs, over her narrow waist, spanned her chest and finished down her arms to the tips of her fingers.

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle's body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world...and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

Funny how things work out sometimes. Especially when it comes to books that you end up loving but you would have never found out about them had it not been for social media. The same happened with me for Jennifer Murgia's Forest of Whispers and, now, for Kristen Painter's Crescent City trilogy and, in extension, the House of Comarre series.

Chrysabelle's patron has died. Well, yes, as a vampire they were already technically dead... but now they're no longer part of this plane. The problem is that now she's the main suspect in her patron's murder. It wouldn't be too farfetched of a thought, sadly, due to much of her training that involves taking down vampires even if it's only meant as protection for the thing she serves. But, despite that, she's determined to prove just how innocent she really is. By running away and disguising herself back as a human once more...

Which led her to run into Malkolm - another vampire who, almost ironically enough, is that much dangerous for her as his curse is incredibly dangerous. As a Comarre, Chrysabelle must get rid of some of her blood at a certain point due to the fact that she is what she is. Had Malkolm actually attempted to take even one bite from her, her life could easily be forfeited due to said curse. In fact, Malkolm would've been more than happy to make her leave... if it wasn't for the fact that she was more than willing to uplift the curse that's been upon him for years.

If anyone ask me what my favorite urban fantasy book or author is, at this point of time, I'll definitely point out Kristen Painter. I mean, yeah, books involving vampires are fairly common in the young adult community... but none like this. After all, one of the other characters we get to meet is a ghost called Fiona- who's attached to Malkolm due to his curse- who ends up falling in love with another character named Doc. I ended up falling in love with their... well, romance, because it felt oddly realistic and heartbreaking.

This story is told in multiple characters' point of views. I feel like this adds more depth to the story and gives information that the reader would otherwise be ignorant to. We know that both Chrysabelle and Malkolm have their own problems but I thought it was a good way to see how the world around them is slowly changing.

I'll always recommend this series. Always! Can't wait to read more.

Flesh and Blood (House of Comarre #2) by Kristen Painter

Publication Date: October 1st, 2011

Format: Library Book

With the Ring of Sorrows still missing, and the covenant between othernaturals and mortals broken, Chrysabelle's life outside the realm of vampire nobility is about to take another downhill slide. She's vowed to help the outcast Malkolm find a way to lift his curse, but that means returning to the home city of the vampire who's trying to kill her. The breaking of the covenant has also activated an ancient organization designed to protect mankind — the Kubai Mata.

And when Kubai Mata Thomas Creek comes to Paradise City, Chrysabelle finds herself torn between the need to save Malkolm and the desire to stay on the path of light. Finally fulfilling her vow to Malkolm proves devastating for Chrysabelle. If she survives, what's left of her life will never be the same.

Things are still changing for Chrysabelle. One of the toughest things she has to deal with is going against what she's been taught as a Comarre with revealing secrets no other vampire knows and dressing as anything but as a Comarre. That's just a little bit of her knowledge though. But she's determined to keep her promise with helping Malkolm with his curse.

This is the first time reading this series that I truly disliked a character, ignoring Tatiana of course. Tatiana is meant to be the sort of antagonist through the story and, despite being a pain in the bum, she's still very well rounded of a character to where she feels like she has purpose. But Creek? A human involved in the paranormal by being a part of the Kubai Mata. I guess it wouldn't be that much of a big deal but I feel like he's only there to become a third wheel in whatever relationship is between Chrysabelle's and Malkolm. I'm all for polyamory but I just... never really felt like it would work out between the three of them. Having a person from Kubai Mata could've been more effective had they focused more on their job rather than their attraction to Chrys.

Again, I fell in love with the relationship between Doc and Fiona. In fact, this time, it broke my heart into another million pieces. I don't know if I'll ever recover from the pain this time around. In fact, there's no shipping Chrys and Mal - I'd rather ship Doc and Fiona. Their love for each other is incredibly raw and adorably cute.

This is urban fantasy at its finest and I highly recommend reading this. Then pick up the Crescent City trilogy because that's awesome too!
 Yay!

Dual Book Review: House of the Rising Sun and City of Eternal Night by Kristen Painter

House of the Rising Sun (Crescent City #1) by Kristen Painter
Publication Date: May 13th, 2014
Format: Library book.

Augustine lives the perfect life in the Haven city of New Orleans. He rarely works a real job, spends most of his nights with a different human woman, and resides in a spectacular Garden District mansion paid for by retired movie star Olivia Goodwin, who has come to think of him as an adopted son, providing him room and board and whatever else he needs.

But when Augustine returns home to find Olivia's been attacked by vampires, he knows his idyllic life has comes to an end. It's time for revenge—and to take up the mantle of the city's Guardian.

 I'm thankful for Netgalley existing. But, then again, what book lover wouldn't like a website where it's centered around free eARCs (advanced reading copies) for review. I'm sure a lot of people would agree with me. It's even better, though, when you discovered a new series that you immensely love and suddenly you're enraptured in this new world and you're just like 'I want to read more!' so you frantically search for the authors' previous books and finally break down and request it as an inter library loan and are willing to pay $2 if the book has to be sent from another library out of state and--

Wow. This is probably the worst run-on sentence that I've ever created. Imagine if I actually had a paid editor to take a look at my book reviews. Well... for one, I imagine they would be much more well versed and they would probably have a headache. I would at least get a lot of messages with a lot of deep sighs.

Harlow spent her life thinking she was no where close to being a fae. In fact, she truly only knew about her mother who was as much human as anyone else: Olivia Goodwin. They don't talk that often and, in fact, one of the biggest reasons why she decided to approach her mother in the first place is because she owes money to get out of jail. She was caught trying to hack a computer program, which happens to be her special talent: manipulating electronics just by touching it. Without the money, though, she's stuck in jail for a long while.

She only managed to get in contact with her mother once before she was killed by an unknown person. Suddenly, she finds herself owning a piece of her mother's estate alongside a stranger that she never met. The hope to sell it off to save herself from jail suddenly disappears in one moment. But even this starts a series of events that forces her to face her own heritage and her past.

Meanwhile, Augustine spent his life relaxing and living with Olivia. He's not her true son but he certainly thinks of her as his mother. At least she treated him like a person more than his actual mother did. But when she dies, he decides not to just sit aside and let the 'police' work on the problem. He decides to take the matter in his own hands... and now a young girl, Harlow, became part of a thorn he never expected to find.

Ahhhhh!! I'm a huge fanatic for urban fantasy books like this. I would be lying if I said that I didn't fall for the book cover for the third book which also led me to do more research on the series. I'm glad that I decided to request it in the first place because it led me to checking out the first two books at the library and reading it just changed my outlook on urban fantasy.

In other words, I'm saying everyone should read more Kristen Painter books because the writing is beautiful. I didn't even remotely care about the multiple point of views in it because it added in that much more depth in this story. So much love, passion, and time has been placed in this book and you can definitely tell. In fact, I can confidently say that Kristen Painter is on my automatic to-buy author list. I love it.

What are you doing? Buy her books. BUY THEM NOW!!!

City of Eternal Night (Crescent City #2) by Kristen Painter

Publication Date: December 2nd, 2014

Format: Library book

Magic and mystery collide in this second installment of the new urban fantasy series by House of Comarre author Kristen Painter.

Still coming to terms with their unexpected partnership, Augustine and Harlow have a tentative truce. With Harlow slowly working to accept being fae, Augustine still learning how to be Guardian, and feelings growing on both sides though, they do not have an easy road ahead.

But when a young girl is stolen from the Mardi Gras Exemplar Ball -- the biggest far event of the year -- Harlow and Augustine must put all their issues aside to bring her home alive. Harlow's father, Braziano, is of course their number one suspect, but evil lurks in every corner of the city and time is running out. Their only choices: Either find a way to rescue the girl, or Augustine must die.

Fae magic is a wonderful thing. It can be dangerous as well but, hey, if it can create an outfit that looks just as lovely as the one Harlow wears, it can't be all that bad... right? Riiiiiight??

Harlow recently learned that she is of fae heritage and that her father is an asshole. Man, you can tell just how awesome family's in this series... (note the sarcasm if it doesn't translate properly through this text). She's spending her time learning how to control her powers as well as learning how her powers can be used. Other than Harlow's and Augustine's slow descent with falling in love with each other, things are... sort of coming together in the end...

That is until after the Mardi Gras Exemplar Ball. There's always a sort of play where the daughter of an important figure gets kidnapped but nothing truly happens to her. It's all part of the entertainment. But when the kidnapping suddenly becomes all too real, Augustine finds himself deep in spending all of his time as a Guardian trying to find her and take her home safely. But it's a difficult task... and the girl's father is becoming incredibly impatient and with the kidnapper randomly sending parts of this young girl... the deadline is tight. 

There are only two answers: find the girl or kill Augustine for her freedom.

Another wonderful adventure written by a wonderful author. I'm so enamored with this world that I'm not even sure how to accurately portray how I feel about this book. Wonderful world building. I mean, it connected with the former series, House of Commare, especially since it brought back older characters. I didn't know that til after I finished reading the second book. (Speaking of, look forward to the future review of Blood Rights and Flesh and Blood, hint hint...) In my opinion, if I ever managed to publish a series of book that I'm passionate about, I want it to be just like this. Clearly not exactly like this but I want it to show that there was a lot of passion put into my work. I want to be able to make it clear that I spent lots of time developing this world and my characters. That's one of my dreams.

I hope this, at least, gives even a tiny bit of an idea on how much I love this series. It gives a fresh breath of air in the urban fantasy genre and I love it. Give me more. Give meeeeeeee!!! Asdfghjkl--

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