Friday 56 and Book Beginnings: Dragon Raider (Sea Dragons Trilogy #1) by Ava Richardson || Friday 50/50: Favorite/Least Favorite HP Novel

This is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice

These are the rules:

1. Grab a book, any book.

2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader.

3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.

4. Post it.

5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post.

Please join us over at RoseCityReader every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

Synopsis:

Will adapting to a changing world make one young woman lose touch with where she came from?
Far from the kingdom of Torvald, on the Western Isles near the coast, Sea Dragons rule the skies. Lila is the daughter of the Raider leader, destined to take his place one day aboard their plundering ships. Her people value only what shiny trinkets they can get their hands on, but she aspires to much more than that: Lila wants the Raiders to become Dragon Mercenaries, dragon riders who help protect merchant fleets and navies from attack. Her father Kasian is skeptical, but a young monk named Danu—with a quest of his own—comes bearing a prophecy claiming that Lila is the lost heir of Roskilde, a born Dragon Rider.
With Danu’s guidance, Lila finds the unruly dragon she’s destined to bond with—but the mismatched pair soon learn that much more than just their futures is at stake.

Book Beginning:
Prologue
The Roskilde Prophecy
Churning seas, bright with blood. Fire billowing over the water, and dark skies heavy with thunder...
"Aii!" The old woman awakes with a start to find herself in her simple room in her simple round hut.

My 56:
It's the only link I have to where I began, I thought as I stuffed it [a piece of cloth with her name on it] into my pack along with the spare cloak, and climbed Crux's leg.
"Where are we going, air-raider?" Crux looked up at me with his bright eyes.

*    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     *    *     

50/50 Friday is a new weekly link-up hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader and Laura @ Blue Eye Books.  Every week they have a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - you share a book that suits each category and link up on the hosts' blogs.

I don't have reviews for all these yet, I started to re-read them last year but only got through two. I was kind in a reading slump all of last year. As it is, I only have a review for CoS, still haven't started my re-read of PoA.

Favorite

Not as Much

Release Blitz: Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas

Title: Birthday Girl Genre: Contemporary Romance Author: Penelope Douglas Release Date: April 17, 2018

Synopsis:
JORDAN He took me in when I had nowhere else to go.
He doesn’t use me, hurt me, or forget about me. He doesn’t treat me like I’m nothing, take me for granted, or make me feel unsafe.
He remembers me, laughs with me, and looks at me. He listens to me, protects me, and sees me. I can feel his eyes on me over the breakfast table, and my heart pumps so hard when I hear him pull in the driveway after work.
I have to stop this. It can’t happen.
My sister once told me there are no good men, and if you find one, he’s probably unavailable.
Only Pike Lawson isn’t the unavailable one.
I am.


PIKE I took her in, because I thought I was helping.
She’d cook a few meals and clean up a little. It was an easy arrangement.
As the days go by, though, it’s becoming anything but easy. I have to stop my mind from drifting to her and stop holding my breath every time I bump into her in the house. I can’t touch her, and I shouldn’t want to.
The more I find my path crossing hers, though, the more she’s becoming a part of me.
But we’re not free to give into this. She’s nineteen, and I’m thirty-eight.
And her boyfriend’s father.
Unfortunately, they both just moved into my house.


*BIRTHDAY GIRL is a stand-alone, contemporary romance suitable for ages 18+.

Buy a Copy Here

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AUS

About The Author: Penelope Douglas is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Her books have been translated into thirteen languages and include The Fall Away Series, The Devil’s Night Series, and the standalones; Misconduct, Punk 57, and now Birthday Girl. Please look for Kill Switch (Devil’s Night #3), coming later this year, and the standalone, Motel, coming in 2019.
She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and their daughter.
Subscribe to her blog: Click Here
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Top Ten Tuesday: Freebie - Favorite Stand Alone Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish,
And has recently moved to That Artsy Reader Girl's site. 

To take part, just pick your top ten, and add the link here.

I had to think about what to choose for this week's topic. I don't always like freebie topics because depending on how my week is already going I don't always have the brain power to choose for myself. This week is somewhere in the middle, and as of writing this, it's not even Tuesday yet. This list is in no particular order. Cover Linked to my review.

Review: The Memory of Fire by Callie Bates

Title: The Memory of Fire
Author: Callie Bates
Series: The Waking Land #2
Genre: Fantasy/Ya
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Edition: Kindle Edition, 448 pages
Source: NetGalley
Purchase/Pre-Order: Amazon US | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | BAM

Synopsis:

   Thanks to the magic of Elanna Valtai and the Paladisan noble Jahan Korakides, the lands once controlled by the empire of Paladis have won their independence. But as Elanna exhausts her powers restoring the ravaged land, news that the emperor is readying an invasion spurs Jahan on a desperate mission to establish peace.

   Going back to Paladis proves to be anything but peaceful. As magic is a crime in the empire, punishable by death, Jahan must hide his abilities. Nonetheless, the grand inquisitor’s hunters suspect him of sorcery, and mysterious, urgent messages from the witch who secretly trained Jahan only increase his danger of being exposed. Worst of all, the crown prince has turned his back on Jahan, robbing him of the royal protection he once enjoyed.

   As word of Jahan’s return spreads, long-sheathed knives, sharp and deadly, are drawn again. And when Elanna, stripped of her magic, is brought to the capital in chains, Jahan must face down the traumas of his past to defeat the shadowy enemies threatening his true love’s life, and the future of the revolution itself.

Review:

I had a much harder time being invested in this book than I did the first. I also don't really remember Jahan very well from the first book. I remember that he was there, that eventually a romance formed between him and Elanna, that he was kind of surly when we first meet his character, but beyond that, I don't really remember much. I would have much rather the story continue to follow Elanna.

This book had a really slow pace, that also added to why I struggled getting, and staying, invested in what was happening. I also don't remember Jahan being a weak minded person, and he came across as being very weak and doubtful of himself through most of the book. 

I wish I loved this book as much as I did the first, but there are a bunch of small things that kept me from that. I also felt that Jahan did a lot of whining in this book, he wasn't exactly what I would call proactive. 

I might come back to this book at a later time and give it another go; if I re-read the first book to refresh some of the events that spurred things in this book.

Book Beginnings and Friday 56: The Memory of Fire (The Waking Land #2) by Callie Bates || Favorite/Least Favorite Short Story

This is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice

These are the rules:

1. Grab a book, any book.

2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader.

3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.

4. Post it.

5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post.

Please join us over at RoseCityReader every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

Synopsis:

     Thanks to the magic of Elanna Valtai and the Paladisan noble Jahan Korakides, the lands once controlled by the empire of Paladis have won their independence. But as Elanna exhausts her powers restoring the ravaged land, news that the emperor is readying an invasion spurs Jahan on a desperate mission to establish peace.
     Going back to Paladis proves to be anything but peaceful. As magic is a crime in the empire, punishable by death, Jahan must hide his abilities. Nonetheless, the grand inquisitor’s hunters suspect him of sorcery, and mysterious, urgent messages from the witch who secretly trained Jahan only increase his danger of being exposed. Worst of all, the crown prince has turned his back on Jahan, robbing him of the royal protection he once enjoyed.
     As word of Jahan’s return spreads, long-sheathed knives, sharp and deadly, are drawn again. And when Elanna, stripped of her magic, is brought to the capital in chains, Jahan must face down the traumas of his past to defeat the shadowy enemies threatening his true love’s life, and the future of the revolution itself.

Book Beginning:
Most of my childhood is torn into pieces, memories scraped together, guessing at the whole. But I remember waking up that afternoon, ten years old, on the stone table in Madiya's cave. I don't know why she never took the memory from me. Maybe, in the chaos, it was an accident. An omission.

My 56:
"Is this what you always did?" he says, and with a gasp. "It is. You made the commander look the other way. Everyone. You did it everyone -to my father..."

*     *     *     *     *

50/50 Friday is a new weekly link-up hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader and Laura @ Blue Eye Books.  Every week they have a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - you share a book that suits each category and link up on the hosts' blogs.

The cover for Witch of Duva is linked to the actual short story on Tor(dot)com. I believe it was posted there by Bardugo herself.
And the cover for Little Android is linked to the story on Wattpad. I didn't write reviews for either story. I did like The Little Andriod, just not as much as the other short stories in the Lunar Chronicles.

Favorite

Meh