Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Review: Perfekt Order by ST Bende

Perfekt Order (The Ære Saga Book 1)
Perfekt Order by S.T. Bende
(The AERE Saga #1)
December 8, 2015
Genre: New Adult Fantasy
Contains: sexual references
Source: eARC for Honest review

All's fair when you're in love with War.

For seventeen-year-old Mia Ahlström, a world ruled by order is the only world she allows. A lifetime of chore charts, to-do lists and study schedules have helped earn her a spot at Redwood State University’s engineering program. And while her five year plan includes finding her very own happily-evah-aftah, years at an all-girls boarding school left her feeling woefully unprepared for keg parties and co-ed extracurricular activities.

So nothing surprises her more than catching the eye of Tyr Fredriksen at her first college party. The imposing Swede is arrogantly charming, stubbornly overprotective, and runs hot-and-cold in ways that defy reason . . . until Mia learns that she’s fallen for the Norse God of War; an immortal battle deity hiding on Midgard (Earth) to protect a valuable Asgardian treasure from a feral enemy. With a price on his head, Tyr brings more than a little excitement to Mia’s rigidly controlled life. Choosing Tyr may be the biggest distraction—or the greatest adventure—she’s ever had.


I loved the Elsker Saga, so I was really looking forward to this new series by ST Bende, still set in Norse mythology, but with a new set of people and gods. And I'm happy to say I was not disappointed. I loved Tyr and Mia's story!

Mia's arrival at her new college was no gentle transition. Right off the bat, she is thrust into some crazy action, proof positive that this was going to be a fun and exciting read. And it was. Journeying with Mia as she tries to figure out what's going on around her was great, particularly because Mia was such an orderly, schedule-obsessed, black-and-white person. Mythology coming to life wasn't even on her radar. So watching how different things were revealed to her really kept the story interesting and exciting. There were great twists and turns - I mean, really great twists and turns. This storyline kept me intrigued and guessing. I felt just as invested in the outcome of this story as Mia and Tyr; just as attached to this fantastic group of Norse gods and their futures. Even through the last few chapters I was kept on my toes, and I loved it.

With all this excitement, of course there was romance. How could there not be romance when a fantastic girl like Mia meets a hunk like Tyr? Even though Tyr was not the most forthcoming guy in the beginning, I could totally feel the chemistry between these two. But I actually liked that Tyr was hard to read in the beginning because I liked the more gradual approach to their relationship. I loved how they got to know each other and how much they ended up having in common. They were a great match. The only thing I didn't love (and actually made me hold back half a star in my rating), was Mia's age. I know it's not a big deal, but I would have personally felt better if she was 18. It may not make much of a difference with the "deity-age-gap" but that's just me. Otherwise, I loved them, loved the friendship they had, loved the strength they brought out of each other, loved the trust they built into each other, and loved the love they felt.

Plus, there are some other truly fabulous characters. With Henrik and Brynn, you can't go wrong. These two are the cutest, and I cannot wait to read more about them. Heather and Charlotte are great roommates, bring normalcy to the gods and Mia's life. And then there are some other gods we meet, that I won't reveal, but I really loved, and cannot wait for more from them as well. The casting was fantastic, and made this story that much better. I loved 'Perfekt Order' and cannot wait for the rest of this series.


Don't forget The ELSKER Saga:
TUR #0.5
ELSKER #1
ENDRE #2



About ST Bende: Before finding domestic bliss in suburbia, ST Bende lived in Manhattan Beach (became overly fond of Peet’s Coffee) and Europe… where she became overly fond of the musical Cats. Her love of Scandinavian culture and a very patient Norwegian teacher inspired the ELSKER series. She hopes her characters make you smile and that one day pastries will be considered a health food.



Website -  Blog  Facebook - GoodReads
ST Bende on Twitter - Ull Myhr on Twitter - Tyr Fredriksen on Twitter 

Top Ten Tuesday: New-To-Me Authors I Read For The First Time In 2015


Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

For more information and a list of past and future topics, go here.
 
Top Ten New-To-Me Authors
I Read for the First Time in 2015
(Alphabetical order by Author)



Belle Aurora 
Willing Captive
Blooming romance, sweet friendships, and life-threatening suspense and danger that exceeded my expectations. Loved it!

Laura Kaye
Hard as It Gets (Hard Ink, #1) Hard as You Can (Hard Ink, #2) Hard to Hold on To (Hard Ink, #2.5) 
Hard to Come By (Hard Ink, #3) Hard to Let Go (Hard Ink, #4)
I got hooked on this series big time in 2015.

Jay Kristoff
Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)
I'd read Amie Kaufman's work before and loved it. But this was my first Jay Kristoff book, and I absolutely loved their collaboration. One of my favorite reads this year.

Erin Morgenstern
The Night Circus
I found 'The Night Circus' completely magical and enchanting.

Roxie Rivera
Ivan (Her Russian Protector, #1) Dimitri (Her Russian Protector, #2) 
Yuri (Her Russian Protector, #3) Nikolai (Her Russian Protector, #4)
I got really into the 'Her Russian Protector' series and look forward to reading the rest of these books, as well as the spin-off series.

Marcus Sakey
Brilliance (Brilliance Saga, #1) A Better World (Brilliance Saga, #2)
My husband and I loved the 'Brilliance Saga' on audiobook, and can't wait for the conclusion next year.

Lauren Smith 
The Gilded Cuff (Surrender, #1) The Gilded Cage (Surrender, #2)
The 'Surrender' series was a surprise find for me. I'm hoping to read book three soon, because the first two were fantastic.

K.A. Tucker
Burying Water (Burying Water, #1) Chasing River (Burying Water, #3)
The Burying Water series was my first experience with KA Tucker. I particularly loved 'Chasing River.'

Ryan Winfield
Falling for June
'Falling for June' was one of my absolute favorite reads this year. Blew me away.

Nicola Yoon
Everything, Everything
I fell in love with 'Everything, Everything' and look forward to more from this author.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Novella Review: Leveled by Jay Crownover

Leveled by Jay Crownover
(Saints of Denver #0.5)
November 2, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance 18+
Contains: M/M sexual content, language
Source: Personal purchase

We all need a hero...let the Saints of Denver begin

Orlando Frederick knows what it is to be leveled by pain. Instead of focusing on his own, he’s made it his mission to help others: sports stars, wounded war vets, survivors of all kinds. But when Dom, a rugged, damaged, sinfully attractive cop, makes his way into Lando’s physical therapy practice, he might be the biggest challenge yet. Lando loved one stubborn man before and barely survived the fallout. He’s not sure he can do it again.

Dominic Voss is a protector. The police badge he wears is not only his job, it’s his identity, so when he’s sidelined because of an injury, the only thing he cares about is getting back on the force. He expects Lando to mend his body, he just doesn’t realize the trainer will also have him working toward a hell of a lot more. As attraction simmers and flares, Dom sees that Lando needs repair of his own...if only the man will let him close enough to mend what's broken.

'Leveled' is a crossover novella between the end of the 'Marked Men' series and the beginning of the 'Saints of Denver' series. The main feature is the relationship between Orlando Frederick and Dominic Voss, both of whom were introduced and played small but memorable roles in a few of the Marked Men books. But this is the first time these boys are meeting. What makes this a crossover book is that we get cameos from many of the couples from the Marked Men series, but also a final glimpse at Sayer and Zeb who will be featured in the first Saints of Denver book. But 'Leveled' can be read as a standalone.

I really enjoyed 'Leveled'. Now I will admit, the M/M romance genre is not my thing. I would not have read this if I hadn't already been a huge fan of the 'Marked Men' series and Jay Crownover. With that said, I will be honest and say that I skimmed or skipped the sexier portions of the book. But this did not diminish the story for me. I genuinely liked Lando and Dom. I liked how the difficulties in their personal lives were explored and dealt with (which in Lando's case was quite welcome, as it was a long time in coming). I liked getting to know them. I felt their connection and chemistry to be genuine. And despite being a novella, I still felt that I got the complete picture of this love story between Dom and Lando. And the bonus was seeing many of the past characters and a glimpse of the future. I was initially hesitant on reading 'Leveled,' but I'm glad I took a chance on it. Now I'm definitely looking forward to the 'Saints of Denver' series.


The Marked Men Series:
Rule (#1) AmazonMy Review
Jet (#2) AmazonMy Review
Rome (#3) AmazonMy Review
Nash (#4) AmazonMy Review
Rowdy (#5) AmazonMy Review
Asa (#6) Amazon ~ My Review

The Saints of Denver Series:
Leveled (#0.5) Amazon * My Review
Built (#1) Pre-Order Amazon
coming January 5, 2016
Charged (#2) Pre-Order Amazon
coming May 24, 2016

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Sunday Post: Weekly Wrap-Up (12.06)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, showcase books, share upcoming news, etc. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

My Life This Week:
My brother and his family returned home this week after a great visit with us. And then we traveled to my in-laws house for a long weekend visit with them. Lots of family time this week, which meant little reading time for yours truly. But I'm looking forward to things winding down a bit next week, and hopefully some nice evenings catching up with some of the great books I've been getting. 

What I Read Last Week:
 
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
Perfekt Order by ST Bende

And these fascinating short stories:
 
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain

My Reviews Last Week:
No reviews this week. Just too busy with family. But next week I have lots of posts to catch up on.

What I'm Currently Reading:

Lightning Kissed by Lila Felix

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Stacking the Shelves (138)

STSmall_thumb[2][2]Stacking The Shelves, hosted by Tynga's Reviews, is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

*Signed* Paperback Beauty:
From the Lovely Katy Regnery!

Frosted by Katy Regnery

eARC Excitement:

Perfekt Order by ST Bende

For My Kindle:
  
Nikolai 2 by Roxy Rivera
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The Twelve Days of New Adult Giveaway Hop

I am giving away a 
SIGNED copy of 
BETTER WHEN HE'S BAD 
by JAY CROWNOVER!!

It's no secret that I am a big Jay Crownover fan. (Here I am finally meeting her.) So giving away one of her books to a lucky reader was a no-brainer. Good luck!!


BETTER WHEN HE'S BAD is the first in her 'Welcome to the Point' series. You can find my review for it here.


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