Becoming a Queen

 

Becoming a Queen

by Dan Clay

 

Mark has always been sure of two things: he is gay and his older brother loves him no matter what.

What Mark isn't sure of is how he will feel wearing a dress. He feels like he will love it with all of his heart but he's not sure that anyone else will. 

Luckily, Mark's brother supports him 1000% with the encouragement to, "Be yourself! Your full sequin-y self.”

Just as Mark is starting to find his footing and figure out who he may be, tragedy strikes and he must start to find himself all over again.

Final thoughts: Poignant, sad, sometimes depressing, and sometimes frenetic, this book has a real 'voice' and is a solid story. Some of the moments were a little odd and others just didn't always read well, but the overall story is well done. This book can be very raw and real and there should be some trigger warnings somewhere, but it's worth the read.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Not Here to Stay Friends

 

Not Here to Stay Friends

by Kaitlyn Hill

Sloane and Liam have been BFFs since their early childhood but they were physically separated after Liam's parents got divorced and he was forced to move from Tennessee to Los Angeles. Even with the miles between them, they have still been super close. They talk/text/Facetime daily and live for the teen soap, The Cove.

Five years after their physical separation, Sloane is invited to spend the summer with Liam and his dad in Los Angeles and she has plans to do the whole touristy thing while there.

When Liam picks her up from the airport, they both realize the difference that five years can make on their besties. While trying to adjust to their new realities in that sense, they must also adjust to the fact that Liam has been roped into working as a production assistant (PA) for a reality show based on The Cove.

What's worse is that one of the girls scheduled to be one of the dates on this reality show has dropped out and Liam's dad bribes Sloane to be the replacement.

Now Liam and Sloane must not only deal with their own changing views of each other, but also with the fact that Sloane seems to be the one person that star Aspen Woods wants to see win at the end. 

Final thoughts: There are some cute moments here and it's full of tropes but it doesn't always come together well. The thoughts of the characters end up being repeated on a loop as if the author has almost copy/pasted them and then changed the order of the sentences. Some of the ideas are good but they never come off as great.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A Hard Day for a Hangover

A Hard Day for a Hangover

by Darynda Jones

Just a week after her daughter survived a murderer, Sun is back on the job and trying to solve a series of crimes in her small town. These crimes run from a single break-in to an attempted murder. 

As Sunshine works to get the town back to the calm it was before she ever took the job as sheriff, her daughter is once again trying to help out by doing research and asking questions that put her in the sights of someone dangerous. 

In the middle of all of this is the changing relationship between Sun and her eternal crush, Levi, who she finally remembered saved her from her own kidnapping and attempted murder fifteen years before. 

With everything both coming together and falling apart, Sun and her somewhat crazy colleagues and family members must solve the mysteries and protect the teens who both help and hinder their investigations.

Final thoughts: Another solid entry from Jones, which is supposed to be the last for this trilogy but ends with a comment/question that left me hanging. I am truly hoping there is a short story from Levi's PoV that finishes this whole thing out. Speaking of Levi, I have a difficult time with some of the character shifts for him in this book. For the other two books (and much of this one) he has been pretty broody and uncommunicative. We've known that Sun has crushed on him for years, but it's been fairly one-sided. Jones has shown that Levi cares, but he just doesn't speak much. In this book, there are a couple of scenes where Levi is downright chatty in comparison but then goes back to practically silent again. It just feels like we need his PoV on something just to see how he feels since he's not expressive as a character.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Soul Taken

Soul Taken

by Patricia Briggs

When people start disappearing, the wolf pack of the Tri-Cities area takes it seriously. When vampires start disappearing, that wolf pack gets very serious about protecting those around them.

During a meeting to discuss one issue, the magic around them is broken and a damaged ally appears with an ultimatum for the pack, and especially for Mercy. Find the vampire, Wulfe, or be blamed for his demise.

On the hunt for the missing vampire and trying to make sense of the other disappearances, Mercy and her pack are introduced to the legend of the Soul Taker, a sickle that is possessed and possesses those who hold it. It needs souls to reach its goal of releasing an ancient god and Mercy's soul may just be the last one it needs.

With time running out and the people around them starting to blame the pack for the dangers, Mercy needs to solve yet another magical mystery before it's too late.

Final thoughts: I LOVE Mercy, but this one was a mess. It's choppy. It lacks direction. The characters are all just a little off from their normal state. Was this meant to be messy? Is this just a setup for the final book or two? There are issues with timing and timelines, as well as her just ignoring some issues that keep coming up like the phone calls that can't be tracked. It's possible that my re-read of the series before I read this one tainted my overall view of this story. There are so many better ones before this and this just felt like Patty was distracted as she wrote this.

Rating: 3/5