mel_c_bell's reviews
661 reviews

I have discovered my ultimate bookish vibe: Historical Murder Mystery Romantic Cozy Horror.

Got a copy of this on Audible during a BOGO sale. When I saw it I thought “Why da fuq not? Simone St. James seems to get a lot of love on the bookstagram and I’m tired of the FOMO.” Now, I fully understand why so many readers praise this author.

Sarah is a young woman working for a temp agency in post Great War England who accepts an ‘odd’ job with a handsome, young, and clearly rich veteran to make contact with the ghost of a young woman who hung herself in a barn.

I didn’t find the plot wholly original or surprising BUT the story is just so *squeals with aggressive cuteness overload* — I’m going to cry in *wants to read for the first time again*.

There’s great care taken in this book to approach uncomfortable topics like PTSD, CSA, and grief—which ultimately builds the unnerving atmosphere and draws you to each character.

This will be a book recommendation you’ll see me hyping at obnoxious levels 😬

If The Cabin in the Woods was a Twilight Zone episode it would be this book. The best thing I can say about this story is that it is so well thought out. 

Misha is a Hollywood screenwriter who is forced by his producers to either kill off his gay characters or make them straight. As a gay man who grew up in small town America he's fought hard to crush these hurtful queer tropes in media, so he say F that—thats when 💩 gets weird 👀

I can honestly say that there were a few parts that had me thoroughly creeped out, and as the story went on it got even creepier with all the real world commentary. And a couple scenes broke my heart. It's a great story about fighting the personal demons of your creation, powerful and highly hilarious!

This is the coziest, fluffiest, and most down-to-earth small-town romance I've ever read!

I don't read many non-dark contemporary romances, but I've seen a bunch of posts swooning over this one, so here we are.

It's the perfect length and pace; we get dropped right into the 'situation' and then have a front-row seat to all of the pivotal moments without dragging. The writing is superfluid, and the dialogue had me chuckling—Bailey Hannah will be a no-questions-asked author from now on.

We have a cast of characters who all feel real. You could head into any small town and find each one of these people. Additionally, we have an FMC and MMC who are in their early thirties, and something about that just makes me feel really good.

Cas, our FMC, is stubborn but has several very valid reasons. She, however, isn't insufferable. The entire read, I was just like, girl, yes. The MMC is delicious and flawed; still, I found him to be a truly respectable depiction of your homegrown good man who isn't over-exaggerated (above average, yes).

I have a soft spot in my heart for Westerns, and I really enjoyed this story. However, I'll warn readers that if they are in search of an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat thriller, this is not that. There is definitely action and shootouts (I learned a lot about 19th-century pistols and revolvers), but the story's pace is somewhat leisurely.

Some parts dragged on, in my opinion, but nothing distracted me or made me consider DNF'ing. If you're a fan of old-school Western films and the occasional Civil War'ish shows, I'm sure you'll enjoy this book.

There was a nice twist at the end—though I'll admit I kind of called it early on—and I love that it ended with the start of a new Western mystery murder series. I'll gladly read more St0kes & White investigations.

*SIGHS DEEP* 👀 

Damn, up until about 70'ish%, I was fully on board with this story. I listened to the audiobook during my work commutes and found myself spacing out until I just stopped for a bit, then threw it back on but upped the speed. 

I know that this edition consists of four shorter stories, so maybe... do. Once the separate group stories started converging, it felt distracted and convoluted. Characters were getting killed off, and I could not find it in me to care. The 'bigger' story fizzled out before it really got started, and then I was just kinda confused. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was ready to give this 5⭐️ but I'll get to that in a moment.

First, I'd like to do something that I don't usually do: Address the angry reviews of this book. Frey is a brute, and Finnie is...kinda 'dumb.' Still, the entire premise of this book is about a very young woman from the here and now getting swapped into a fantasy pseudo-parallel universe (that has flippin' dragons) and getting hitched to a Viking essentially (this legit happens way too fast for her to get out of it). Therefore, I say YES; this book has a bunch of dubcon/noncon (not explicit), but OMG, just DNF and move on. Also, I would put money on the fact that if a contemporary 22-year-old woman were teleported to a realm with magic, elves, and dragons, the words 'cool' and 'awesome' would be used in abundance.

Okay, back to the actual story. I found it sweet, adventurous, spicy and has all the makings of a low fantasy. My issue comes more at the end. I would've liked a bit more out of the ending; it kind of just got wrapped up quickly and conveniently.  

I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator, in my opinion, did a fantastic and humorous job :)

Ruby went DARK! And I'm okay with that.

The throw-away princess gets stuck in a tower to appease an angry goddess for seven years, and SURPRISE, she has to rough it with the enemy prince. Oh no! What could possibly go wrong? Everything, apparently.

Why I love Ruby Dixon's writing: Her FMCs are relatable, her MMCs blow all of the conventional book boyfriends out of the water, her plots are straightforward and adventurous, and without fail, I'm going to cry at least once. I got everything I expected in Bound to the Shadow Prince and then some.

I believe this may be the first time I'm actually encouraging readers to check TWs before diving into this one because there are several moments when the subject matter is borderline shocking but within an appropriate context.

Let me compose myself and attempt to write a coherent review because WHERE DA FUQ do I begin???

First: Damn, this book is a lot of fun! And, y'all better check those trigger warnings 👀

Tim Waggoner is giving hard Clive Barker vibes in Lord of the Feast, but, like, if Clive Barker had watched all the Hostel movies whilst on a meth bender and then said "F it, we're gonna John Wick it".

Ethan and Kate are both on a mission to right a family mistake, they just might have to kill each other to succeed. The story is fast paced, quirky, and downright 'wrong' in all the right ways. Each chapter introduces a new element that pushes the reader further and further out of reality but without pulling us out of the story completely. Waggoner creates characters that have not one redeeming quality yet somehow are kinda lovable - looking at you Haksaw.

Great read for those who aren't squeamish or uptight :)

At 10%, nothing has really happened 🤷🏻‍♀️ the found footage scene recharged my interest, but then we fell back into this pseudo-biographical 'the real history of the slasher film.' 

I think I'll come back to this title later because I'm holding out hope it ramps up; I just don't have the care to muscle through all the exposition.

I tried. As a huge Beauty and the Beast lover, as well as an ACOTAR fan—this should've worked. At 12% I’m just uninterested, and honestly, feeling some second-hand embarrassment at how elements from B&tB and ACOTAR are forced into each scene.

Wren as an FMC is an overused and poorly executed tough-girl trope that just comes across as immature and entitled 🤷🏻‍♀️