lattes_lipstick_literature's reviews
404 reviews

I remember the first time I saw Star Wars Episode Four and Fell in love with this powerful, beautiful women who could not only shoot a gun but was a princess to boot. So reading this was an in-depth look into not only my favorite princess but the amazing women who played her. I really loved the beginning of this book. Fisher was witty, comedic, but most of all she was completely honest. If there is one thing I appreciate when I really a nonfiction memoir, it is honesty.

However, once she got to the Star Wars portion in her life, however, I felt like the book felt a little flat for me. Maybe it was the tangents she seemed so constantly interested in going down. Maybe because I had a weird veil lifted from my eyes, or maybe I just couldn't get as into it as I wanted to. I did like her poetry and her diary entries as it seemed like I was sharing something intimate with Fisher. Something I am sure if she had known would have made fun of me for. While I did like her book her strongest parts were the opening and ending of the book for me. While a little disappointed that I did not love this book, but I did like it enough to rate it 3.5 stars.

If you loved any of Fisher's past work then you would like this book as well.

So I really like this series and I decided to read it for an actual review on the blog. As I said before, I really like Cozy Mysteries, I also really like paranormal cozy mysteries.

So, Bay and her family are witches, they live in a town that knows they are witches and despite the town being re-branded as a "witch town" they are distrustful of Bay and her family. Then a murder happens which leaves a teenage boy with his heart cut out. Bay discovers the body and since Bay can see ghosts and discovers the ghost of the boy at the murder scene she is of course entangled in the web of the murder.

I have a thing for ghost seers in books (not T.V shows though, weird). I really like the inclusion in it in this series, I feel like it really fits in with Bay's character and family. Also, is there this unspoken rule that witch families have to be like extremely close? Because Bay and her family are really close (and in a lot of cozy mysteries I read it's always like that) and while I don't mind it, the CONSTANT back and forth banter with her cousins (Thistle and Clove, why always weird names?) do, at times, get very annoying. It gets to the point that it distracts from the story and I just end up rolling my eyes and skipping ahead.

That is really the only thing I don't like about the book. While the murderers are a bit obvious the story was fun and easy to read. The romance did not get in the way and while yes, there was an instant attraction, it didn't annoy me and take precedence over the story and character development. Lee did a great job at creating her characters and the town of Hemlock Cove, and I look forward to reading the next book for review!

I've probably never mentioned that I love food and drink books. I like to think of myself as a homebody (it's not really true) so getting the chance to make some food and drinks for people excites me and I was hoping to do that with this book.

While Matt Whiley knows his stuff, not only does he provide some great recipes but insight to the different spirits and equipment, I did not really get what I wanted for this book. I would say that the title to this book is really spot on, because wow this does spin the classic cocktail and put really modern twists to it. Mixology reminds me a lot of chemistry and I am pretty sure they use the same materials and equipment.

The recipes require ingredients that are not in your fridge and pantry, in fact you probably won't use any of it unless your making one of these cocktails. I was hoping to make a drink and share it with this review but most of this goes over my head (thinking about it I probably understand Chemistry more). The book is good despite this, loaded with interesting details and facts I never knew about the bar tending world, which made me give it 3 stars despite the complex recipes.

If your a person who loves to entertain and needs new ways to do that, this book is for you. If your a bartender that needs some inspiration, this book is for you. If your a hipster, this book is for you.

The Graphics/ Artwork

The graphic was once again beautiful, I loved the gadgets and costumes as much as I did last time. Benitez, once again did a great job displaying Lady Mechanika and her allies, who were much more diverse than the last volume.

The Story

The story was a bit more slow than the last one and I didn't have much of a care about it in the beginning. I had to stop for a couple of days before I picked it back up again. The story picked up again towards the second half of the book which I really appreciated. This took the story away from Lady Mechanika's origin and introduced new characters. This story showcased the type of things our heroine usually does on a daily basis and that's help people. Considering how Lady Mechanika feels about herself, you can tell that everyone who meets her and knows her really thinks highly of her. There was a lot of speaking

Our Heroine

Lady Mechanika shows a lot more of her sensitive side in this book, and while the book showcased her fighting skills there was not as much this time instead showing that our heroine can use her brains almost as well as her brawns. This was a point on the books behalf.

I've been needing a feel good book, one that I know would end in a happy way. A Sister's Place is that book. The setting is a bit cliché, Gracie is the older more responsible and stable sister, while Juliette is the wild and free younger sister. The one thing I am glad I can say is that it doesn't start with the sister's having a falling out, they have just grown apart as people tend to do, however Mimi (a great character I wish was used more) knew this and concocted a really great plan to get them together.

I love the growth the sister have together, yes they are seemingly different but that overwhelming drama that tends to happen, doesn't happen too often, in fact instead of the sisters seemingly switch roles like most of these books tend to do, they Gracie and Juliette instead manage to accept each other flaws and all.

I couldn't, unfortunately, relate to the book. I don't have sisters, I never even wanted a sister ( I have two brothers and sometimes wish I was the only child) so reading this sometimes just made me shrug most of the touching scenes off. I didn't care too much, even though the characters were pretty great. If you had a sister you were close with, yet life got in the way I can tell you this book would be perfect for you.

The ending was a bit predictable for Juliette's part, however I didn't see Gracie's ending coming. I wish the ending gave me more though. I wanted a 'year later' scene that showed me what happened with the sister's relationship, who lives in the house and whatnot. I guess Page wanted you to use your imagination on what happens.

*This was given to me by Netgalley for a fair and honest review*

Blogger girl was a quick and easy read, and as you know I never consider this a bad thing. I read this book within two days, and I found it to be super fun. The main character is a book blogger named Kim (hmm.. Like me) Her friends call her Kimmie (like me and spelled the same way) , however this is where these comparisons sadly end. Kim's book blog Pastel is the new black is insanely popular, reviews Chick Lit books and has a pretty Cushy job in a lawyers office that lets her read and write reviews. This made me a little bit jealous of her, well that and her tiny body and huge boobs but that is besides the point.

Kim is a likable character but she's way too complacent with her life. It's not until she finds out her childhood bully has written a book, and that it's chick lit to boot, that things finally start to crack. She's asked to review the book and the moral dilemma for Kimmie begins (I feel like she wouldn't mind me calling her Kimmie). You start to realize right away though that Kim is refusing to realize the real reason why she's so upset, and despite the numerous people and signs that are telling her what she really wants to keeps denying it.

The side characters were very enjoyable to, Kim's best friends Bridget and Caroline were so great and supportive. I always like supportive friends in books, none of that jealous crap thanks. Also, Nicolas, Kim's romantic lead, was pretty great and caring. I've gotten pretty fed up with the girls falling for the dangerous bad boy type. This time it's the workaholic lawyer who just tries to push you to towards your dreams. Too bad Kim let her insecurities get the better of her.

The ending was pretty great and I am so glad that while I saw it coming a mile away Schorr didn't let me feel like it was predictable and sappy. Schorr's writing was refreshingly witty and while there were some cliché moments in the book I was really glad that she kept it to a minimum. Since this is a planned series I can't wait to read her second book and find out what happened to Kim.

I've been dying for some good fantasy lately and boy did I find some. The Bone Witch was such a great interesting read and Chupeco did such a great job with her story. The back and forth from present to past was awesome and really made you keep reading to find out what the hell happened and what was going on. The main character Tea, was such a great character. She had a depth and attitude to her that delighted me to now end. The descriptions of the magic and the world Chupeco created was great and one way she draws you into the story. I really love her descriptions of the Hua's and the heart pendants and what it means.

There was a couple of things I had a problem with, one was the names and locations in the story. I was so confused on keeping track and who was from where that I had to constantly keep backtracking to read over some things. This made the book longer to read than I liked. The ending had me so interested to see what the hell happened and what made Tea become how she is. I really can't wait to read the second story to figure things out. I can only hope it gets better and clears up some of my questions.

This book was surprisingly entertaining for a cooking book. It gives a whole new meaning to the kill them with kindness, but I guess in this case it would be kill them with kindness and sugar. My favorite recipe was the Pumpkin Spice Latte balls. They seemed really easy to make and coffee in the form of a dessert is always a good thing. I am not sure if I would want to share these with someone who wronged me, I feel as if it was too good for them!

I am ready to admit something, Harry Dresden is a pervert. I didn’t realize how overly sexualized Butcher’s females are until this book, The way Dresden describes a women, well I can tell you that my nipples are not always straining through my shirt thank you very much, if they were I think there may be something wrong with them. Did this ruin the story for me absolutely not, it was an annoyance really. Because I listened by way of audio book, I was unable to really skim over these scenes, had I read the book I would have skipped most character descriptions. I don’t really care how smooth a characters skin is.

Also I think I may be way too good at figuring out what will happen and who the bad guy is, but honestly I don’t think Butcher was trying too hard at covering it up. I will admit that until this book Butcher didn’t have an overall story really flushed out, now I think we will have an arc with allied characters on Dresden’s side that will span multiple books and I am excited. This book didn’t have Murphy in it that much, and no mention of Mac, but it had a lot more of Bob whom I love. Plus they introduced a couple of characters that I can’t wait to read more about. They all seem really badass and fleshed out.

Now if only we can get Dresden’s mind out of the freaking gutter…