May Book Review

Well - I didn't read quite as much in the month of May - but I did get three books in and so I'd love to share those with you for my May Book Review! I'm hoping to pick up my reading volume again in June and plow through some books; I have about five things in my TBR (to be read) list, so there's definitely hope for more books read! 

House of Flame & Shadow by Sarah J Maas - Bryce Quinlan never expected to see a world other than Midgard, but now that she has, all she wants is to get back. Everything she loves is in Midgard: her family, her friends, her mate. Stranded in a strange new world, she's going to need all her wits about her to get home again. And that's no easy feat when she has no idea who to trust. 

Hunt Athalar has found himself in some deep holes in his life, but this one might be the deepest of all. After a few brief months with everything he ever wanted, he's in the Asteri's dungeons again, stripped of his freedom and without a clue as to Bryce's fate. He's desperate to help her, but until he can escape the Asteri's leash, his hands are quite literally tied. 

In the sequel to House of Earth & Blood and House of Sky & Breath, the Crescent City series reaches new heights as Bryce & Hunt's world is brought to the brink of collapse - with its future resting on their shoulders. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐of five - I really enjoyed this conclusion to the Crescent City series and for the most part was pleased with the "happy" endings that most of the cast of characters got. I really liked the crossover element with some of the characters from the the  world, but I also felt like a couple aspects of the storyline were awfully coincidental/just worked out too perfectly! All in all though - it was a great book!

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren - Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam "West" Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she'd signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways. 

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There's just one catch. 

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather's will, Liam won't see a penny until he's been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he's in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has not choice but to turn to the one person he's afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents - his unpolished, not-so-ex wife. 

But in the presence of his family, Liam's fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouther , paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐of five - I loved this book! It was my Book of the Month pick and I am so glad I chose it! The story is the perfect rom-com; it would make an amazing movie, anyone up for making it? I loved the characters, the story line and especially loved the island they stayed on... sign me up!

Elizabeth & Margaret: the Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters by Andrew Morton - They were the closest of sisters & the best of friends. But when, in a quixotic twist of fate, their uncle Edward VIII decided to abdicate the throne, the dynamic between Elizabeth & Margaret was dramatically altered. Forever more, Margaret would have to curtsey to the sister she called "Lilibet". And bow to her wishes.

Elizabeth would always look upon her younger sister's antics with a kind of stoical amusement but Margaret's struggle to find a place & position inside the royal system - & her fraught relationship with its expectations - was often a source of tension. Famously, the Queen had to inform Margaret that the Church & the government would not countenance her marrying a divorcee, Group Captain Peter Townsend, forcing Margaret to choose between keeping her title & royal allowances or her divorcee lover. 

From the idyll of their cloistered early life, through their hidden world time lives, into the divergent paths they took following their father's death & Elizabeth's ascension to the throne, this book explores their relationship over the years. The book offers insight into these two drastically different sisters - one resigned to duty & responsibility, the other resistant to it - & the lasting impact they have had on the Crown, the royal family & the way it has adapted to the changing mores of the twentieth century. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5 of five - I should first of all say that for my rating purposes, a 3.5 isn't a bad rating! I really enjoyed this book and found that it was filled with detail and new information, all told in a really appealing way! I really enjoyed the read and would recommend it to anyone who is a lover of all things royal family! 

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And that's all I've got for the month of May - now on to June and more reading to be done!