REVIEW: A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Ahh the final book in the Last Binding trilogy. In this one, the main character focus now shifts to Jack Hawthorn and secondary to Alan Rossi. I really liked Jack's character, as I did the previous book; Alan not so much. He always struck me as a bit of a weasel, though towards the end of this, I began to warm up to him just a wee bit. The balance between romance and adventure is again about 50/50, like the first book, and like that one, I found my eyes glazing over the romance sections a bit. It's definitely not for lack of writing, imagery, or steaminess; the author is very good at painting a vivid picture and evoking emotion. I'm just not a huge fan of romance. Sorry, not sorry. So to that end, I liked book 2 best of the three where the balance was more 75/25 towards the adventure side.

That said, I enjoyed seeing the whole gang of characters we've gotten to know (and love in some cases) working together in this final installment towards a surprising but satisfying conclusion. Overall, I'd give the full series a strong 8 out of 10.

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REVIEW: The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

The Butcher of the Forest is a beautifully written dark fairy tale novella with a vivid and immersive world oozing with atmosphere. Part fairy tale, part horror, and a whole lot of fun, this was a quick and engaging read with a hauntingly seductive world to dive into.

Veris lives in a village on the edge of the North Forest, a place between worlds. Anyone who refuses to heed the warnings and venture in anyway, never returns. Veris Thorn is the only person to have ever ventured in and returned to the village alive, so when the Tyrant's children go missing, Veris is made to entire that horrible place once again to retrieve the his children. Will her second encounter with the faery beings of the forest's realm be as "successful" as the first, or will it end in utter ruin?

The Butcher in the Forest is due to be published February 27, 2024, but you can preorder it from Amazon now.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing me with a digital advance reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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REVIEW: A Restless Truth (The Last Binding #2) by Freya Marske

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

The second book in The Last Binding trilogy, A Restless Truth shifts the MC focus from Robin to his sister, Maud. And TBH, I liked this one better than the first. Perhaps it was the setting, or that the main characters were female instead of male... and I'm always partial to the female form. ;)

Here we find Maud aboard a ship from America back to England, having gone to warn and fetch a member of the Forsythia Club that an important piece of The Last Contract has fallen into enemy hands. Unfortunately, a menacing threat is on their tail, and Maud must do everything she can, including the recruitment of some new friends to the cause, if she's to help save the fate of all the magicians of England.

I like how this one seemed to move at a quicker pace than the previous, with more action scenes. There were still the occasional sexy scenes too, like the previous, but it didn't seem to distract from the story as much this time around. After I finished this, I knew I had to immediately read book 3 (well after one more ARC in-between from NetGalley) so I bumped up my spot in the queue at the library and now it's waiting for me once I'm done with my current read. Yay! :)

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REVIEW: Everything is Temporary by Jon Cohn

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Crossing the line between fantasy and reality, Tim and his wife Sarah face down a sadistic Santa, encounter a talking Christmas tree, and fight vicious candy canes, all in the name of Christmas.

This was a wonderfully creepy read and everything I was hoping it'd be for the holiday season. A nightmarish romp through Christmasland and an unlikely ending wrapped in a tantalizing, well-written tale that kept me intrigued to the very end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Deadbolt Books for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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