jmcclelland17's reviews
251 reviews

Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Heir of Illusion by Madeline Taylor

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adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

📚Heir of Illusion by Madeline Taylor📚

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Spice Rating:🌶️

✨Tropes✨
⚔️Strong FMC
⚔️Banter
⚔️Found Family
⚔️Shadow Daddy
⚔️”She’s Mine”
⚔️”Who did this to you?”
⚔️Evil King

✨Initial Thoughts✨
I will be completely honest. When I started this book, I was not in the right headspace. I struggled to read it. I actually almost DNF-ed it, but then I read the Goodreads reviews on it and it convinced me to keep going. Everyone raved about the ending and I got FOMO. I’ve never been so happy that I listened to the reviews. This book was amazing! Our FMC, Iverson, or Ivy for short, is strong and most importantly, not whiny. She is held captive by an evil King, Baylor, and wears a collar which forces her to do the king’s bidding. Ivy has illusion powers which allow her to become invisible and to also make a direct replica of herself. She uses these to her advantage not only to complete the king’s demands, but also against the king when he summons her to his bed. 
After a chance meeting with a mysterious man, Thorne, Iverson’s life is thrown off course and she discovers so much about herself and the people around her.

✨Pros✨
  • Strong, non whiny FMC.
  • Sexy and mysterious MMC.
  • Hidden identities revealed over time.
  • Great character building and development.
  • Gods, heirs, and Fae.
  • Interesting twists and turns.
  • Jaw dropping ending.
  • The sweetest of slow burns.
  • The ending- I need book 2 stat!

✨Cons✨
  • The beginning was on the slower side, though I’m sure this was just me. I fully acknowledge that I was not in the right mindset when I started this book. 


Thank you to The Nerd Fam and the author for the gifted copy and the opportunity to review this book.
Lord of Gold and Glory by Lisette Marshall

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adventurous tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

📚Lord of Gold and Glory by Lisette Marshall📚

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating:🌶️🌶️

I really wanted to love this book. I enjoyed book one, though I found Emelin to be a bit whiny at times. In this book, it was like an Uno reverse. Creon was the whiny one as well as annoyingly brooding. That’s a big accomplishment for a man who can’t talk. Please don’t get me wrong, there were some enjoyable parts within this story, and it is very well written. But it took me too long to finish this book. I just didn’t want to deal with Creon’s aversion to any sort of honest and direct conversation with Emelin. I finally finished it, but it took awhile. 
Speaking of Emelin, while I no longer found her whiny, I was still annoyed with her. She barreled into everything with little to no forethought. Some situations, sure, I can forgive it. But every single one? It’s exhausting. 
Don’t let my review put you off, however, as I have a very low threshold for characters who annoy me. They may not annoy you, and as I said before, this is a really well written and thought out book. While this wasn’t necessarily for me, it very well may be for you.
Court of Blood and Bindings by Lisette Marshall

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

📚A Court of Blood and Bindings📚

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Spice Rating:🌶️🌶️

✨Tropes✨
⚔️Unique Color Magic System
⚔️Morally Gray MMC
⚔️Fae x Humans
⚔️Identities Revealed
⚔️One Bed
⚔️Forbidden Romance
⚔️Silent MMC
⚔️Touch Her & 💀
⚔️Fae Bargains

✨Initial Thoughts✨
I really enjoyed this book so much! If you’re a fan of Romantasy novels, you’ll most certainly enjoy this book.
I did find the FMC, Emelin, to be annoying at times, but she had redeeming moments. I really loved the MMC, Creon. 
Emelin is abducted by a fae male most famously known as The Silent Death. She learns that she is half fae and half human. She also learns that the people she thought were her parents, actually found her as an infant. 
Emelin, though furious and slightly frightened by The Silent Death, Creon, makes a deal with him. His protection in the fae world for her willingness to help him kill the evil Queen. 
Together they strengthen Emelin’s magic while growing closer together.

✨Pros✨
  • I loved the unique color magic system. It was very cool and something I haven’t really seen before (and I read A LOT of fantasy/romantasy).
  • Great love story!
  • Our MMC had his voice stolen from him by the Queen, therefore he is silent (hence the nickname “The Silent Death”). There was something so interesting about learning Creon’s secrets and personality through his limited communication methods. I love how the author conveyed the depth and details of Creon’s character through writing notes and learning sign language to communicate with Emelin.
  • Great spice.
  • Emelin, though she frustrated me on several occasions, did have multiple redeeming qualities and moments which kept me from disliking her. She’s flawed, a little messy, and caught on to things just a little too late, but that’s what pushed the story forward and I can appreciate that.
  • No annoying nicknames! This is huge for me. Creon doesn’t make up some stupid nickname for Emelin. He does shorten her name to Em, which is perfectly acceptable and sweet in my opinion. 

✨Cons✨
  • Emelin, despite having redeeming moments, still did infuriate me at times. With that being said, I do have hope for her character development and I wouldn’t say that I disliked her. She was extremely slow on the uptake multiple times, but ultimately she figured things out and that’s all I can ask for in a young FMC.


Thank you to the Nerd Fam and the author for the gifted copy and the opportunity to review this book.
Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was so good!! It pulled me in from the start and I was enthralled by the slow burn relationship and determination of the FMC. Highly recommend!
Shaedes of Power by Jenny Grimes

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

📚 Shaedes of Power by Jenny Grimes📚

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️1/2
Spice Rating:🌶️🌶️

✨Tropes✨
🧚Why Choose?
🧚Romantasy
🧚Unique Magic System 
🧚Faeries x Humans

✨Initial Thoughts✨
It wasn’t bad for an author’s debut book. I liked the fact that it was a short Romantasy book. It seems like lately you can’t find a book classified as Romantasy that’s less than 400 pages. Since this is the author’s first book, I’m going to be a little more lenient with my review and break it down with a pro con list.

✨Pros✨
  • The book is short - in a good way. It seems so few and far between to be able to find a Romantasy or fantasy book that’s less than 400 pages. 
  • The spice was great.
  • I love why choose so I enjoyed the romantic dynamics between our FMC and 2 MMCs
  • The concept of the magic system being color coded is unique. I’ve read many Romantasy and fantasy books and it’s rare to find color coded magic. That was really fun.

✨Cons✨
  • I found the overall character development to be lacking. 
  • I thought the world development was also lacking. If the character development was just a little bit stronger, I wouldn’t mind the lack of world building. 
  • The dialogue felt stiff at times. 


Thank you to the NerdFam and the author for the gifted copy and the opportunity to review this book.
Even Vampires Bleed by E.V. Sauvage

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adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

📚Even Vampires Bleed by E.V. Sauvage📚

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating:🌶️🌶️

✨Tropes✨
🦇Amnesia
🦇”Who did this to you?”
🦇Grumpy x Sunshine
🦇One Bed
🦇Forced Proximity 
🦇Feminine Rage
🦇Shifters

✨Initial Thoughts✨
I loved book one of this series so much and I was really anticipating this book. I didn’t realize that it wouldn’t be from Angelique and Elhyor’s POVs, but I understand why. They had their love story and anything else would be dragging that out unnecessarily.
All that being said, I was sad I didn’t enjoy this more. The beginning, for me, felt too chaotic and it took me out of the story so much that I never really found my way back in. That’s not to say there weren’t some aspects that I enjoyed. I enjoy the author’s writing style, I enjoy the overall world she has created, and I enjoyed the character of Cassiopé. But I couldn’t overcome the impression that Léandre was just Angelique’s dorky, grumpy friend. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good nerdy guy (I’m married to one) and I don’t need the growling, morally gray type. But there was just something about Léandre that I couldn’t fully love as the MMC. Friend? Yes, absolutely. Fits the role perfectly.
Anyway, I will continue reading the series because I’m fully invested in the world of the series. This just wasn’t my favorite.

✨Pros✨
  • Character development was good.
  • I enjoy E.V. Sauvage’s writing style.
  • I like the overall world that the author has created because it’s pretty unique.

✨Cons✨
  • I didn’t connect with CassiopĂŠ and LĂŠandre like I connected with Angelique and Elhyor in book one. I had a tough time getting into their story regardless of already knowing them a little bit in book one.
  • It was hard to go from thinking about  LĂŠandre being solely Angelique’s nerdy, grumpy friend to thinking about him as an MMC. 
  • I felt a little bit too thrown in and especially since POVs  changed at the beginning of the book. Even though the author started a tiny bit before where the last book ended, it still felt chaotic and it took my mind a while to settle into the story.


Thank you to E.V. Sauvage for the gifted copy and the opportunity to review this book.
Blood So Brutal by Emily Blackwood

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was so disappointed in this book. I loved the first one and was excited to see what would happen in this. But Huntyr was such a crybaby the entire time and Wolf couldn’t be honest to save his life. Most of what he withheld from Huntyr was so stupid and could have been solved easily. It was unnecessary for them to cycle through the same argument over and over again and really grated on my nervous. It really is a shame because, again, I genuinely loved the first book so much. It all fell apart for me with this book.
House of Night by Celia Aaron

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

📚House of Night by Celia Aaron📚

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating:🫑 

✨Tropes✨
🦇Amnesia
🦇Vampires x Humans
🦇Villain Romance
🦇Horror Romance
🦇Manacled vibes
🦇Slow Burn
🦇Secrets
🦇He Takes Care of Her
🦇”She’s Mine”
🦇Dark Fantasy

✨Initial Thoughts✨
I wish I could give this book infinity stars. I loved it. Celia has a way of writing the most unhinged scenes, but much like a car crash, you can’t look away - I truly mean this in the best possible way. I was about 50% of the way in when I realized this could be my favorite book of the year. The ending has confirmed it. This book was nothing short of spectacular. I scared my dogs with the way I shrieked at the ending. I had to apologize profusely while simultaneously trying to process what the f—— I just read. This book is going to be my entire personality for a while and I actually feel bad for people because they’re going to have to me talk about this book for a long time. 

This book gave ‘Manacled’ vibes and that is quite possibly the biggest compliment I could give. So if you enjoyed ‘Manacled’ you’ll most likely love this as well. It also helps that this book has so many of my favorite tropes. I just finished this book and I already wish I could read it for the first time.

Dr. Georgia Clark was once a renowned scientist working on a cure for a virus that is killing humans at a high rate. That is until the vampires take over and she is captured. Georgia is tortured for information. Unfortunately she had limited to no memories of the past months, especially her work on finding the cure to the raging pandemic. She is given to the vampire king’s son, Valen, as a spoils of war. She is kept in his upside down castle and is interrogated more. Georgia is human in a vampire world and undergoes a tremendous amount of trauma. While Valen treats her with obvious disdain and hatred at times, he also keeps her alive (in more than a few situations). Georgia is unable to recover her memories and it’s only a matter of time before the vampires tire of her uselessness.

✨Pros✨
  • The writing- it’s captivates you and doesn’t let go in a masterful way.
  • The characters- I’m not sure if it’s because Georgia is mature, but she was extremely likable. Valen has his moments too. Melody and David were also endearing. 
  • The tropes were some of my all time favorites. 
  • The pacing in this book, for me, was perfect.

✨Cons✨
  • This book is classed as horror romance. As such, this will NOT be for everyone. Read the trigger warnings before consuming. When they say dark, this book is dark. Just keep that in mind.


Thank you to Celia Aaron for the gifted copy and the opportunity to review this book.
Monsters in the Museum by S.C. Grayson

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

📚Monsters in the Museum by S.C. Grayson📚

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Spice Rating:🌶️

✨Tropes✨
⚔️Star-Crossed Lovers
⚔️Yearning 
⚔️Hidden Identities 
⚔️Shadow Monsters
⚔️He Takes Care of Her
⚔️Magic
⚔️Great Banter

✨Initial Thoughts✨
The first half of this book was on the slower side for me, though some might disagree. There is quite a bit of action, but things don’t begin to really piece themselves together until the second half of the book. That’s where things really get interesting and made me really enjoy this story. I love the star-crossed lovers trope and the author did a nice job with it in this novel. S.C. Grayson is becoming an auto-buy author for me and this book was no exception. There’s something about the way she writes male main characters that makes me fall in love every time. I fell in love with Adam. 
Nora is a historian working towards a promotion at the museum she works at. When she receives a notification that the museum has been broken into, she goes to investigate. She was not prepared for the shadow monsters she sees, nor is she prepared for Adam, an English professor and professional acquaintance, to save her. She is thrown into a whole new world of magic and shadow agents with Adam as a protector. 

✨Pros✨
  • Star-crossed lovers trope. One of my all time favorites.
  • Our MMC, Adam. I’ve fallen in love with him and will hear no slander.
  • There is plenty of adventure and revelations.
  • The museum setting is super fun.
  • The banter and dialogue is so good!

✨Cons✨
  • The first half of the book was a little slow going for me, but everything picks up in the second half.


Thank you to Haus of Fables and S.C. Grayson for the gifted copy and the opportunity to review this book.