This Rebel Reviews: Of Dragons and Desire by GK Derosa

Book 2 in the Forgotten Kingdoms series

If you love portal stories, dragons, forbidden love, fated mates and the chosen one trope this is the book for you. The world building is great. I want to be Dracon and live in this world. The different dragons are unique and I love they all control different elements and even breathe different colors of fire. Ryker and Sephora are OTP and one of my favorite couples. The steamy scenes were well written and that scene at dinner holy moly Batman! This is my favorite GK Derosa book yet. Derosa has stepped everything up in this book from her writing to her characters to the plot this is her best book yet and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

P.S. The Forgotten Kingdoms is a multi author series set in the same world but can be read as standalones. They are all M/F romance.

Rating: 5 Dracons

This Rebel Reviews: His Knotty Dragon by Kota Quinn

This is my review for His Knotty Dragon by Kota Quinn which is a story in the Oh So Knotty Omegaverse anthology. I have not read any of the other stories in the anthology.

I love how the author developed the characters in this story and how their back stories shaped them. This is a Christmas story and I love that the author went a different way and didn’t make it all cute and perfect. This one had more depth than I usually read in Christmas stories and I am here for it. I found this story well written and it was tied up beautifully. I just had one problem. I couldn’t connect with the two main characters Novl and Archer emotionally. In fact I was more interested in a side character and their romance than I was in Novl and Archer which made me sad. Still it was a great story and recommend you give it a read if you love MM romance and paranormal books.

Rating: 4 stars

P.S. This is the first story that I have ever read that has omegaverse in it. I had to ask my friend some questions about the terms used because they were unfamiliar to me. So if you are new to omegaverse be prepared to google.

Book Review: A Brighter, Darker Art by Halli Starling

This book is so amazing. I fell in love with the main characters Silvan and Raf. Silvan and Raf meet in a bar and end up working together. Silvan is so sweet and is always trying to give Raf what he needs in their relationship whatever it be from reminding him to eat to knowing when he needs encouragement. Raf is a sweet cinnamon roll and he is so passionate about art that I connected with him instantly. He feels about art the way I feel about books. This is one of the most healthy relationships I have ever read. Silvan is very big about boundaries and communication. I love the steam level of this book. It was right up my ally. It is slow burn and sexual tension oh mama mia you could cut it with a sword(I am sick of saying knife) The writing is fantastic and the story flew by. If you love age gap, sweet and a bit steamy, people finding love when they least expect it and just an all around awesome MM romance then this is the book for you.

Rating: 5 stars

This Rebel Reviews: The Secret of the Lost Pearls( A Useful Women Mystery #6) by Darcie Wilde

If you are a fan of Lady Darby or Lady Emily mysteries you will love this book and the main character Miss Rosalind Thorne. While I love Lady Darby and Lady Emily I connected more with Rosalind. She is gentlewoman who ran in high circles but her family lost all their money and she has had to make her our way in the world. You can see the nods to Pride and Prejudice in this book especially with the characters Mr. and Mrs. Hodgeson. All the characters were well devolved and intersecting. This book has multiple Points of view and that helps you get to know the characters better then just having one narrator.

I love the sweet romance between Rosalind and Adam. I do think the book ran a bit long and some scenes could have been more condensed. I guessed part of the mystery but not the other part. I really enjoyed this book and will be reading more of the series.

Rating: 4 stars

This Rebel Reviews: Judgement Dave by Si Clarke

Starship Teapot #2 ( books do not need to be read in order to be understood or enjoyed)

In book 2 the Starship Teapot crew takes on a mission to save the residents of planet Dave who are all going to be killed when an astroid smashes their planet to pieces. I hate one of the alien groups in this book aka the cat alien people. When you meet them you will understand. Trust me(and if you don’t think very unkind thoughts about them and call them at least 3 curse words you are a much better person then I am). Of the 3 Starship Teapot books I felt like this one taught me the most about importance of compassion and helping others. The storyline is so relevant to some of our issues today I feel like everyone will take away something from it.

Rincy was my favorite new character. She was a lovable disaster who was overseeing the mission. I swear I was always laughing when she was in the scene. She was so funny and sweet and just wants to do a good job.The crew was really pushed to the limit in this book and really felt for them trying to do everything at once. I love Lem and Bexley’s friendship. They just get each other. No romance in this series so far and I am loving it. Friendships are just as important as Romantic Partnerships. Seriously go read this amazing series. You will not regret it.

Rating: 5 stars

This Rebel Reviews: The Left Hand of Dog by Si Clarke

Defiantly the most hilarious tale of alien abduction I have I ever read. I love the main character Lem(she is the only human in the book) and thought she handled her kidnapping much better then I would. The Universal Translator is a genius idea on the author’s part and figurative mood lead to funny translations. I love how all the aliens are so unique and diverse and love how they tried to understand Lem. I love how this book talked about communicating with and understanding others.I love Spock the talking dog. I was laughing so hard when Spock told Lem to stay. I love all the nerdy scifi references and about died of laughter at the Doctor Who joke. Clarke’s writing is entertaining and humorous. This book was just so fun. I thought it was way funnier then book 3(which I read first)and highly recommend this book to everyone who loves sci-fi and a great laugh.

Rating: 5 stars

This Rebel Reviews: Consider Pegasus by Si Clarke

Book 3 in the Starship Teapot series

This book is amazing. I adored the main character Lem. Lem is the only human character in the book and love seeing all the alien species and planets though Lem’s eyes. This book was a lot more serious then I though it was going to be. It centers around Lem’s shipmate and friend Bexley and her family and the prejudices and ignorance her species has toward anyone of their group that is born with wings or a horn. It was a serious book but it had it’s cute quirky funny moments. I love how Bexley’s species reacted to Lem. It was hilarious. I couldn’t stop laughing when they were on Bexley’s planet and Lem was taking pictures of the plants. I love how the author talked about ablism and how it can be so deeply imbedded in your psych that you believe what they say about you. I have a invisible disability that has a lot of stigma attached to it and really connected with Bexley’s character. This book is Queer Sci-fi at it’s best. I highly recommend this book especially to people who love Sci-fi, found family and quirky characters.

This is book 3 in the Starship Teapot series and the first book I have read in the series. I didn’t have trouble keeping up or figuring out what was going on so you can jump in at book 3 if you want. I regret not reading book 1 and 2 first because I feel I would have loved this book even more if I had gotten to know these characters from the beginning of their journey together.

Rating: 5 stars

I want to thank @pridebooktours for a copy of this book to review and promote. All opinions are my own.

This Rebel Reviews: The Cloisters by Katy Hays

This book took me a few pages to get into but once I got into it I couldn’t stop. I read over 200 pages in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. This book revolves around the dark cut throat world of Academia, Tarot Cards and the museum the Cloisters were the main character and narrator works. The atmosphere the author created in the Cloisters was both powerful and magical. It was like a place out of time and The Cloisters felt like another character in the story. The characters were all intersecting but unlikeable. The only one I even liked was Ana. I did find Rachel the most fascinating of all the characters but that might have been because Ana was just as fascinated as I was with Rachel and she was narrating and think her fascination and passion might of rubbed off on me. The story was riveting, the plot was great and the writing was excellent. I will defiantly be reading more books by Katy Hays in the future.

Rating: 5 stars

This Rebel Reviews: Presence by Mere Joyce

This book is 4 short stories told from the Point of Views of Mim, Dylan, Kornelia and Meander. I was so excited to get inside these characters heads and this book didn’t disappoint. I rated each story and my overall rating is at the bottom.

Mim

I loved Mim’s story way more then I thought I would. This is a very emotional story. Mim has so much character growth in this story and feel like I understand her better after reading her POV. 5 stars

Dylan

Dylan can see dog ghosts. I loved being inside his head and seeing how his abilities really work. Dylan’s character has grown so much since I meet him in book one. Dylan’s story fit his character so perfect. 5 stars

Kornelia

Kornelia has always been one of my favorite characters. In this story you really feel Kornelia’s pain and hopelessness at what is happening to her. I love how everything came together in this story and the ending was so perfect. 5 stars.

Meander

This is my most looked forward to story in the book. It was so sweet, hopeful and powerful. The Chocolate Orange scene had me swooning. 5 stars.

I loved every one of these stories and if you are an Oracle of Senders fan this is a must read.These stories were a lot more emotional then I thought they were going to be. If you want to start this series I recommend you start with book one Shade. It is a series that must be read in order to get the most enjoyment out of it. I can’t recommend this series enough.

Rating: 5 stars

This Rebel Reviews: The Bruising of Qilwa by Nadeem Jamnia

This book is amazing. I love Firuz the main character so much. I love that Firuz is a healer for the poor. As much as I love reading fantasy with huge story lines and the characters all being rebels and trying to overturn the the unjust leaders, sometimes you just need to read about a different kind of hero. Firuz’s dedication to their mother, brother and patients is inspiring. I adored all the characters so much but Firuz is my favorite.

I love books with magic and I thought the magic system in this book was well thought out and easy to understand. I love that this book talked about immigration, affordable healthcare, and prejudice. This book handled these subjects very well. The writing is so beautiful and lyrical. I love that this world is queer normative and am hoping for more books written in this world. I highly recommend this gem of a book.

Rating: 5 stars