The Library of Beth

  What's this, another Ali novella? Okay, honesty time. I read Below Zero last year to capture it in my A-Z challenge so that won't be following this review. That doesn't stop us reviewing this though!  Again I consumed Stuck With You so quickly. We meet Sadie who is at odds with Erik, a very sexy Scandinavian. They get stuck in a lift following a previous meeting which left them feeling cold towards each other.  The book did get a little confusing as we are flashing back and forth between elevator scenes and pre-elevator scenes but you get the gist of what is going on. Slowly the ice between them thaws and again we get some of Ali's hot writing. I got that warm feeling at the end of this one too. 100% a 5⭐ read.

This one is going to be brief. It's only a lil novella!  Under One Roof is the first novella in the STEMinist series (encapsulated in the Loathe to Love You book). It follows Mara who inherits part of a house and ends up living there with Liam. Mara is a fierce STEM woman in Environmental Science and Liam is a lawyer working in the same industry.  The novella starts with the almost end, highlighting why Mara wants to move out and then we flashback and learn about how their relationship develops following them moving in together unexpectedly.  I loved this book, but then again I think I'd literally gag for anything Ali Hazelwood writes. The STEMinist series unleashes the STEM woman in me - myself having a Bachelors of Science and working in the Environmental Sector. Ali's writing is knowledgeable, well researched and damn right sexy. These books, and men, would probably be sexy without any spice. All hail Queen Ali! I consumed this via audiobook in a day, and would have re...

Okay, I started off with a LOT of book reviews there! Buuuuut, I now have something a bit more fun to show you all. In February I went to the works and picked myself up a little book haul so I thought I would introduce the books to you.  So without further ado!  The first book I picked up was Hexed by Emily McIntire. Hexed is the 6th book in the Never After Series which are all retellings of popular fairytales. From what I can tell, Hexed is based on the Little Mermaid but as a dark romance style of writing. I also have Hooked and Crossed. This is definitely a series I am excited to get into.  The second book is a biggie! I can't believe it's taken me this long to pick it up as I was originally interested when it first came out. However, I finally picked up Fourth Wing!! I have actually already read it as I am writing this and I will write a full review but I will let you know that I absolutely loved it and I am 100% a **** for Xaden Riorson.  The third book I picked...

  Mantel's Bringing Up the Bodies is the second book in the Wolf Hall series. It continues to follow Thomas Cromwell's story after the death of Cardinal Wolsey, seeing Cromwell's ascension to being one of Henry VIII's most cherished aides. During this book, Anne Boleyn is Queen and is named as Queen Regent compared to Catherine of Aragon's Consort role. This meant she had ruling power as well as the King.  The book is similar to Wolf Hall in being difficult in nature to read due to the language and obviously just follows on as the next bit of Cromwell's story. I think the way the books in the series are split is quite clever because they follow the three chapters of Cromwell's adult life very well, each chapter taking up a book.  This is the shortest book in the series which probably makes it the best and ends with the downfall of Anne Boleyn. Spoiler! (As if you didn't know already), she was beheaded.  I gave this book 3⭐

  I listened to the audiobook of Book Lovers and I was sceptical as I had previously tried listening to People We Meet On Vacation but I couldn't get into it.  Book Lovers follows Nora who is an uptight literary agent who looks after her little sister (who is also an adult, with a husband and kids) when necessary. There is a town in North Carolina which is named after the town in one of her clients books and to Nora is feels like the perfect town for romance. As such, Libby (Nora's Sister), suggests they visit.  While on their visit, Nora bumps into her career archnemesis repeatedly. The book has many encounters and Nora's character develops a lot. To begin with she is a little annoying but she definitely grows on you. She is a little blind to what is going on around her too which was frustrating and this carried on until she was literally told what is happening which softens her.  The romance aspect of the book isn't too crazy which is refreshing for a romance novel...

The City of Bones follows fire haired Clary as her life is thrown into turmoil by her mothers past. The book is a YA novel and the first in a series of 6 books (with some other linked series also). It doesn't take long to get into the action in Cassandra Clare's City of Bones. Very early on Clary is shocked to discover her mothers past which reveals some secrets Clary didn't know about herself.  Clary meets a trio of teens who help guide her through her trauma with their own mentor at a place called the Institute. Together they unravel the story which lead to the events at the beginning of the book and allow Clary to attempt to resolve the issues.  The book ends on what I am calling a semi-cliffhanger. Nothing definitive happens in the last few chapters of the book but there are some big revelations made. However, this works perfectly because it aligns everything brilliantly to follow onto the next book.  For a YA novel, the book was very well written and managed to keep ...

  This is the first Jennifer Saint book I picked up, although this was the third of her series in Greek mythology. I had never heard of Elektra before but the blurb of this book absolutely encapsulated me.  The way I have described this book to anyone who will ask is 'the Trojan war from the female point of view'. It is so true. We follow three of the most important women in the Trojan war - Clytemnestra (wife of Agamemnon) and their daughter, Elektra. We also follow Cassandra, who is the sister of Paris of Troy.  If you don't know the history of the Trojan war, here's a basic overview. Clytemnestra had a sister called Helen. Helen married Agamemnon's brother Menelaus. Helen was stolen from Sparta by Paris of Troy and kept in troy. Agamemnon and Menelaus rage war (in the name of Sparta) in Troy.  Elektra follows the stories of 3 important women who we don't know so well. Clytemnestra is a woman living without her husband for years as war rages on. She develops a...

  I have never really read anything sci-fi, and maybe this doesn't seem so far fetched anymore considering scientific advances since the late 1800's when this was written, but Jules Verne's writing made it FEEL like this was all brand new.  I love the Victorian view shown to begin with that a submarine would be impossible and that it must be a sea creature, a whale that needed culling. The introduction of Captain Nemo on board the Nautilus when Arronax, Conseil and Ned Land boarded was fantastic. He is such a mysterious character and remains so throughout the whole novel. While he takes the trio of non-prisoners on an underwater mission around the world, the adventure becomes very fun. Although it is written in Victorian English, the story reads well and it is easy to follow. The descriptions following the trio on underwater adventures in submarine suits and on land with many natives are fantastic. There is always something to capture you when something else comes to an end...

  Jane Austen is my classic nemesis. I love her books, I love the stories within them but I just cannot get on with the writing. True, I struggle with oldy worldy books because the writing doesn't always make sense to me but Austen's writing I find hardest of them all.  Okay, slightly hypocritical of me because I don't actually like this book. I loved Pride and Prejudice but Sense and Sensibility just felt like there wasn't really a story and what story there was could have been told in much fewer words. Maybe I am too modern but I really hate writing that is overly flowery with its words. Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' was the perfect classic for me. I understood it all and it didn't waffle in unnecessary difficult language.  In all honesty, and please don't shoot me for saying this, but I skim read most of the book because it was just boring and I wanted it out of the way (I very rarely DNF books).  2⭐️ from me. 

  The Wind in the Willows is a fantastic children's novel written by Kenneth Grahame. The book starts with Mole, who wanders from his home and ends up on a series of brilliant adventures with Toad (of Toad Hall), Ratty and Badger.  The novel isn't particularly long which is great for a kids novel. I can imagine children in the 80's being read this before bed, with parents putting on voices for each of the characters. I pretty much did this as I read it which probably added to the enjoyment factor.  Toad is obsessed with modes of transport which often dictate how the adventures of the team go and my favourite story ends with them all in a ditch. If you know, you know! If you don't, you really should give this a read!  As it is a children's book, I don't really have too much to say about it. The ending has some moral teachings which is great with any kids book but overall it was just a fun and jovial read.  I gave The Wind in the Willows 4⭐️'s and they were ea...

  Wolf Hall is a historical fiction work focussing on the life of Thomas Cromwell, how he worked his way from pauper to King's aid and back down again. Hilary Mantel is well known for producing accurate historical fiction works and this is probably her best, if not only her most famous.  In this first of a trilogy of books, we meet Cromwell as a young boy and Mantel details the turbulent relationship between Cromwell and his father very well. As the book progresses we learn much of Cromwell's involvement with Cardinal Wolsey who was the King's right hand man through much of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. Wolf Hall looks upon the King's Great Matter from Wolsey's point of view and covers in great detail his fall from grace, through the eyes of Cromwell himself.  I think Mantel's research to write this book must have been fervent to have written such an in depth and lengthy book. I appreciate the level of detail that has been put in.  In saying that, my own ...