Review of Mission: Improper

Review of - 

Mission: Improper (London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy Book 1) by Bec McMaster

three stars

⭐⭐⭐

https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Improper-London-Steampunk-Conspiracy-ebook/dp/B01K9LS2GI/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25791377-mission

Gruesome is the word that comes to mind when thinking about this book. Yes, it is steampunk; but as far as the romance part goes, no, not so much. There's this gruesome, ominous air that goes through the whole book. Yes, it does have HEA ending, surprisingly enough. Still it's not really my cup of tea. Good storyline and interesting characters, but there's just too much gruesome and ominous to suit me.

Review - Gol, a legends of Ansu fantasy

Review of - Gol: A Legends of Ansu fantasy (The Legends of Ansu Book 1) by J.W. Webb

two stars

⭐⭐

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UW2FGZ0/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25317078-gol

I got this as a free book, and did give it a try. I was wholly prepared to like the book, but I didn't. The book started out with cruelty and a disregard of life from the characters, as they were killing prisoners for sport. I reread the blurb and it sounded like there would be more of that in the book, so I bailed. This is just not something that I care to read about. There's enough of that stuff in the world as it is, without reading it in a book. I want to enjoy my reading time, and nothing turns me off quicker than stuff like this. 

Review - The Promise

The Promise by Amanda McIntyre

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32861935-the-promise

2 stars
⭐⭐

My first problem with this book comes in the beginning, where the author states that they are in an open carriage, yet later on she states that the girl is looking out the window. As I understand carriages, open carriages don't have windows. Maybe the author didn't understand that.

While this book is a cute, short romance book, and a sweet clean romance; it's not a well put together story. It has problems.

The storyline would work better in in modern-day times than in the time period that it is set in. It seems that people of this generation don't get the class distinctions and differences of older time periods. A guy like him, an immigrant just off the boat from Ireland, without  a penny to his name, would not end up with a girl like her.

She would not go to his place of work to talk to him with only a male servant standing outside. That would've been considered highly improper in that day and age.

If she were also poor, or maybe her father had a smaller business and they didn't have a carriage, then maybe they might've got together.

Also, they've come back from a trip overseas, a pleasure trip. They wouldn't be coming through Ellis Island. She and her father would've got off somewhere else besides Ellis Island, because they were obviously residents and not immigrants.

Plus, Ellis Island is an island, so someone wouldn't take a carriage from there. They would have had to take a boat to the mainland and then picked up their carriage.

I read the story because the characters are likable and it was a short story, but the whole premise of it just was not believable. I'm sorry, it was just not believable, and it was not well executed . Even though it is a sweet, clean, happily ever after story, I only give it two stars because I feel like the author failed in executing the storyline itself.

If you're going to write historical romance then immerse yourself in that time and what it was like to live in that time. Too many people today fail to understand how different things were. They just don't get it . They try to put modern-day ways and situations on historical romance stories, and that just does not work. I like historical romance, but I like it to be well done by someone with the understanding of the time period. This author just did not have a good grasp on that time period.

Review - The Fearless Highlander

The Fearless Highlander (Highland Defender, #1)
by Amy Jarecki

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29351322-the-fearless-highlander

two stars
⭐⭐

This is a very violent book, and it is pretty much awash in blood during the whole middle part of the book. It is horrible, horrible violence too. This book has pretty much turned me against the highlander type historical romance books. I am tired of the inherent violence found in this genre of books. This was had exceptionally disturbing violent scenes in it. The book is well written and seems to be well edited. The characters are interesting. But the level of violence is truly appalling.

Yes, there are some sex scenes in the book.
The violence level in this book is extremely high due to the graphic nature of some of the scenes in the middle part of the book.
No, I wouldn't recommend this book.

Review - Small Town Beginnings

Small Town Beginnings: A 3-Book Sweet Romance Collection
by Melissa Storm 

3 stars
⭐⭐⭐

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40618450-small-town-beginnings

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DSMK68D/



Well, there are 3 books in this introductory set from this author. I didn't like the first book at all, and only skimmed through it. It was a very depressing story with characters I didn't really like. Suffice it to say, I didn't like it at all. But, happily, books 2 and 3 were much better. I loved both of those and enjoyed reading them very much. They were both romance stories set in Alaska, amid sled dogs. They were both fun to read. The second book got off on a slightly downer note in the first chapter, but the author quickly moves on from that, and it is a key element in the story. But in the first book, the down elements were in the characters, the total tone of the story, and it made for a depressing read. I read books to have fun and lift my spirits, and that first book did neither of those.

There aren't any sex scenes in the books.
No violence either.
I would recommend the set for the second and third books, but not for the first book.

Review: Flash Gold

Flash Gold by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I didn't get much past the beginning of the book. It just didn't click with me. I checked out the other books in the series, and it sounded kind of boring and was obviously continued. I don't like continued books, especially when I don't really intend to read the other books. This whole series seemed to constantly revolve around her getting away from where she was at. According to the blurbs, she spending the whole series trying to do that. Maybe it rings other people's bells, but it just didn't work for me.

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Review: A Diamond for a Duke

A Diamond for a Duke by Collette Cameron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's a nice little historical romance - short, sweet, no violence, no sex scenes. It's a pleasant, enjoyable book, with good characters. It starts off slow, but picks up toward the middle of the book, and at the end, and has a very good ending. It seems to be a Cinderella book.


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