nikkisbooknook's reviews
4946 reviews

 Gideon is a dragon shifter hiding in plain sight.  Jewellery design is his passion but his father is lining him up to be the next CEO of their empire. One night out however shifts his entire world.  Meeting Ella, a human, who is out celebrating graduating college and his long-held plans on what his life should be get derailed!

Ella just wanted to let off steam before she gets all adulty and starts her new job in finance.  She intends to be the biggest, best boss-babe and no sexy male is going to distract her.  Yeah, we've heard that before!

But Gideon's dragon would appear to have other ideas and they "accidentally" mate her but neither "human" Gideon or Ella are aware of the fact.  Now neither seem to be able to satisfy themselves or any other potential partner!  Now they can't seem to escape each other's orbit - Ella's new job involves working closely with Gideon's firm.

Fated mates but rejected for reasons.  The chemistry between these two should have plugged some gaps in Gideon's knowledge but he was a typical male and didn't ask anyone for help! Gideon was the epitome of dirty talking hottie and I loved that Ella wasn't just along for the ride - she gave as good as she got.  Those pesky witches - they are going to be a complete PITA, I just know it!

I really enjoyed the world building and how Ella has just been oblivious to it all lol. Looking forward to delving into book 2 now! 

 

When you add a fake anything trope to any book you automatically know that it's going to turn all to real, real fast!  Add best-friends and seduction lessons and I'm hooked!

There is mucho mutual pining between Wyatt and Sally.  This big, strong, playboy of a cowboy is completely gone over his bestie but he continues to manwh*re because he doesn't want to trap her in their tiny hometown.  12 years - 12 years they keep this up for!

Sally, fellow piner but academic overachiever.  She knows something or someone is missing from her life and slowly realises who she needs to fill that gap. 

From the sadness that begins the book to seduction lessons, tattoo explanations, daddies with shotguns and everything in between - there was something for everyone to live in this sweet, smexy, chemistry fuelled cowboy romance.

I'm totally on the hook now for Sawyer's book and single parents always have me in an emotional chokehold! 

Friends to lovers, Ms Fixit, military veteran, undercover ops - this has a little bit of everything for the romantic suspense/protector romance booklover!

Louisiana has been heating up since Redemption Harbor Security group opened up its offices there.  This time round our white hat hacker, Berlin, is about to become the hero - she's going to be the one in the thick of the action rather than just giving tech support. 

Berlin may be quite young but she has lived a parental role since she was young.  Her parents were less than useless and she was left to parent her younger sisters.  Now that they are all adults, she is finding it hard to let go of the parental duties and slip back into the sisterly ones. Her only real outlet is her VR gaming, she loves playing against her gaming buddy but when he goes radio silent Berlin can't help but hack to find out what has gone wrong.

Chance loves his brother but is well aware of his flaws.  This time his brother has bitten off more than he can chew and he's in with a real bad crew.  Working undercover, using his military training, Chance has weaselled his way into a local biker gang but he almost gets caught and has to get out of Dodge - quickly.  Who knew he'd get saved by his gaming buddy - a buddy that's very feminine, and scarily good hacker!

The best thing about this story is that Berlin does as much protecting as Chance.  Chance doesn't "let" her do anything - he is in awe of her talents and just a tad frightened of her abilities, lol.  He just does his best to temper her wilder ambitions and he is certainly not averse to accepting help from RHS when it's offered.

There are a lot of shades of grey to the story, and it was great to see the FMC shine.  Berlin may not be brawny or an elite fighter but she uses the skills she has with precision and her "family" found or otherwise always has her back.  The camaraderie with her team was brilliant to see and I really enjoyed Chance getting a tad jealous trying to figure out the level of her relationships with the other team members.  Thankfully Chance came down on the right side of possessive/protective and didn't make too much of an ass of himself lol.

I'm loving the entire team so far and can't wait to see what adventures await them next time.

 Lexy was the last person I thought would morph into a Bridezilla!  But when Taylor popped the question they had their ideal wedding planned out - small, intimate and a blend of them.  Now it's coordinated everything, Lexy is having a meltdown over fairy lights and to top it off - the wedding planner has just been found dead!  

Then we go back in time and see how Lexy, Taylor and co from the Last Ditch ended up in this mess! We see the fervour take hold of Lexy and poor Taylor has to walk on eggshells around her. The mystery at the graveyard intertwines with the wedding story and we see how Sister Sunshine gets involved with Lexy's big day.  

I must admit I love all the snarking, b*tchy humour between the Last Ditch Crew.  They all have flaws and foibles and they just live loud and proud with their weirdness.  When Lexy snaps out of her "coma" you can feel the sense of relief from the gang.  There were plenty of twists and turns and Sgt Molly is at her snarky best.

It's true that no-one can write a Scot quite as well as another Scot and that shines through in this book.  All the wee Scottishisms and idioms sprinkled through gave me a smile. I know more than a few folk who fill their suitcases with foodstuffs to take on holiday - they're going to mainland Europe, not the moon and Lexy's parents are just as quirky.

I loved the wee reveal at the end - I had a bit of a sniffle I'll admit and I just can't wait to see what happens with my favourite expat next! 

 The Scorpius bacteria ravaged humanity and those that were infected are forever changed. Some are losing grip on their sanity, some are becoming more aggressive and others are becoming psychopaths.

This is actually a prequel so you could easily read this before starting on the series properly but easily fits into the narrative if you have already read some of the books.

Hugh and Ellie were friends at university and could have been more but neither were willing to lose their friendship and Hugh always felt he was just her nerdy lab partner. Fast forward a decade and Ellis is now part of a secretive department within the US government combating this new virus and she has been sent to recruit Hugh into the same department.

Hugh is the new guy so he really has to work hard to gain the trust of his new team, no matter how much Ellie backs him up.  I love the easy way Hugh and Ellie go from acquaintances, to friends to lovers. The suspense and pandemic elements are really well written (and having now gone through COVID I think we can agree people lose their minds with a pandemic!) A great read and well paced and the mix of romance and suspense felt balanced.  A great intro to the series. 

 

Another #Bookmail review.  I was ecstatic to receive a copy of The Book of Witching from the publisher, Harper Collins.  How pretty is this cover! And although it's chunky it's got a great flop so it's easier to hold if you have chronic pain like me.

The action flips back and forth between a fictionalised account of the real 16th century Orkney witch trials where over seventy women were executed. Alyson (one of the real accused women) is accused of assisting a man to kill his brother.  So why, when he is acquitted, is she still put on trial and subsequently executed?

In the present day Isle of Gunn, a park ranger finds a blood-soaked, burned but still alive teenager. Clem is struggling to look after her teenage daughter Erin on her own.  When she gets the call that Erin has been found injured, she is stumped when Erin's boyfriend Arlo, is later found dead and another girl is still missing.  With the police circling Erin as a suspect rather than a victim, this determined mother sets out to discover what really happened to her daughter.

What links these two crimes?  They are greatly divided by time but there seems to be echoes of the earlier crimes being played out.

There is a great foundation of mythology, magic and then the details of the real Alyson are interwoven into the story, albeit with a fictionalised content.  The two timelines are quite distinct and it is easy to tell which period you're in. You're not flipping back and forth through time in every chapter which really helps to keep control of the timelines too. The tension is beautifully played out and the twists and turns are many.  The feminist overtone to the story is great without being too heavy-handed.  The characters are empathetic and flawed and I'd definitely read more from this author. 

 

I am a bit of a history geek and I love finding out weird, odd and unusual facts - the bits of history they don't really teach in school and university.

I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book from the publishers, Bloomsbury Publishing and it's a heavy beastie.  It's chock full of facts and they're conveyed in fun and interesting ways - not just dry and boring information.

The chapters are little puns of things you already may know like The Arabian Heights, Roman Rumble in the Sicilian Jungle and Great British Quaker Off.  

There are brilliant little quizzes you can choose to take.  I think one of my favourite sections was about the eruption of Vesuvius and subsequent destruction of Pompeii but told as if they had "Instagram" back then and an influencer was making a kind of vlog about it!

I thought this was a really fun and irreverent way to get some history into the hands and brains of those who don't think they like history but there is enough new information or new ways of thinking to intrigue the history hounds like myself.  It would make a great stocking stuffer actually!