Sophie Reads YA: April 2020

April Summary

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What I've read this month:

Chain of Gold
Series: The Last Hours #1
Author: Cassandra Clare
Published March 3rd 2020 by Walker Books
Read: April 1-5 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

What I Like About Me
Series: None
Author: Jenna Guillaume
Published April 1st 2020 by Peachtree Publishing (eARC)
Read: April 10 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge, 2020 Contemporary Romance Challenge

Heiress for Hire
Series: Duke's Heiress #1
Author: Madeline Hunter
Published April 28th 2020 by Zebra Books (eARC)
Read: April 11 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Promised
Series: None
Author: Leah Garriott
Published February 18th 2020 by Shadow Mountain (eARC)
Read: April 12 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

About a Rogue
Series: Desperately Seeking Duke #1
Author: Caroline Linden
Published June 30th 2020 by Avon (eARC)
Read: April 12-13 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Honor Among Thieves
Series: The Honors #1
Author: Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
Published January 15th 2019 by Katherine Tegen Books (ARC)
Read: April 8-16 2020
My Rating: 3 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

Say Yes to the Duke
Series: The Wildes of Lindow Castle #5
Author: Eloisa James
Published May 19th 2020 by Avon (eARC)
Read: April 17 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

When You Wish Upon a Rogue
Series: Debutante Diaries #3
Author: Anna Bennett
Published May 26th 2020 by St. Martin's Press (eARC)
Read: April 18 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Finding Mr. Better-Than-You
Series: None
Author: Shani Petroff
Published January 14th 2020 by Swoon Reads
Read: April 18 2020
My Rating: 3 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge, 2020 Contemporary Romance Challenge

Never Conspire with a Sinful Baron
Series: Infamous Lords #4
Author: Renee Ann Miller
Published May 26th 2020 by Zebra (eARC)
Read: April 19 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Marry in Scarlet
Series: Marriage of Convenience #4
Author: Anne Gracie
Published May 26th 2020 by Berkley (eARC)
Read: April 20 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Nothing Compares to the Duke
Series: The Duke's Den #3
Author: Christy Carlyle
Published May 26th 2020 by Avon (eARC)
Read: April 21 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Lucky Caller
Series: None
Author: Emma Mills
Published January 14th 2020 by Henry Holt & Company
Read: April 19-23 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge, 2020 Contemporary Romance Challenge

A Duke is Never Enough
Series: The Spitfire Society #2
Author: Darcy Burke
Published February 25th 2020 by Darcy Burke Publishing (eARC)
Read: April 23 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

The Beholder
Series: The Beholder #1
Author: Anna Bright
Published June 4th 2019 by HarperTeen
Read: April 25-28 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge

The Virgin and the Rogue
Series: The Rogue Files #6
Author: Sophie Jordan
Published April 28th 2020 by Avon (eARC)
Read: April 29 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
Challenge: 2020 New Release Challenge

Challenges Update:
2020 Contemporary Romance Challenge: 3 (19 total)
2020 New Release Challenge: 14 (28 total)
2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge: 2 (18 total)

Summary:

April has been spent indoors really - thanks lock down - and I'm getting my head around working from home, not being able to go out, and how to stay occupied. Regency Era fictions seems to be my fallback, and I've relied on those books to keep me going. Stay safe everyone - stay home, protect the NHS, save lives!

How have you done this month? Let me know below.

2020 New Release challenge

Review: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by Cassandra Clare

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Chain of Gold
Series: The Last Hours #1
Author: Cassandra Clare
Published March 3rd 2020 by Walker Books

Goodreads Synopsis
From #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Cassandra Clare comes the first novel in a brand-new trilogy that stars the Shadowhunters of Edwardian London. Chain of Gold is a Shadowhunters novel.

Welcome to Edwardian London, a time of electric lights and long shadows, the celebration of artistic beauty and the wild pursuit of pleasure, with demons waiting in the dark. For years there has been peace in the Shadowhunter world. James and Lucie Herondale, children of the famous Will and Tessa, have grown up in an idyll with their loving friends and family, listening to stories of good defeating evil and love conquering all. But everything changes when the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come to London…and so does a remorseless and inescapable plague.

James Herondale longs for a great love, and thinks he has found it in the beautiful, mysterious Grace Blackthorn. Cordelia Carstairs is desperate to become a hero, save her family from ruin, and keep her secret love for James hidden. When disaster strikes the Shadowhunters, James, Cordelia and their friends are plunged into a wild adventure which will reveal dark and incredible powers, and the true cruel price of being a hero…and falling in love.
Goodreads

Review
I have always had a sort of love hate relationship with Shadowhunter books, and was ready to just give up on them, but at Christmas I decided to retry with The Dark Artifices series, and it reignited my love of the world, so when Chain of Gold was released just before my birthday, I decided to treat myself to a copy, and I am so glad that I did.

In Chain of Gold, it's now 1903, and we are following the children of our heroes in The Infernal Devices. James and Lucie Herondale, the children of Will and Tessa, are coming of age, and are now noticing more and more demonic activity after such a long period of quiet. James and his gang of Merry Thieves - Matthew, Thomas, and Christopher - find themselves in more and more dangerous situations, but the adults, and especially the Clave, don't believe them that something more sinister than a few demons is at work here, and they must work together, and with Lucie and her future parabatai, Cordelia Carstairs. Cordelia, on the other hand, has been out of London for most of her life, with her family who travel around, a lot. When her father is arrested, the family decide to settle in London, close to the Herondales who are their friends, and also powerful, and Cordelia needs to use whatever she can to develop allies, and try to save her father. She's also hopelessly in love with James, but knows he has feelings for Grace Blackthorn, the adopted daughter of Tatiana, who despises all Herondales and Lightwoods for what they did to her father and husband in The Infernal Devices.

I do think that because of the historical aspect of The Infernal Devices, that it was always a favourite of mine, so returning to that time, albeit a few years later, was a really nice surprise in this book, and definitely was what we needed for the story at hand. One thing I will say, going in, is that I definitely think you need to read The Infernal Devices before this series, to understand the background of the characters. The plot in this story was definitely well developed, and though a lot of it was tied up by the end of the book, it is clearly setting up the story line for the whole series. I adored the banter between the main characters, and I think this might've been the closest knit friendship group out of the entire Shadowhunter world.

James was a brooding and conflicted main character. Being the son of Tessa, he has inherited some of her warlock-ness, and it manifests in the form of him entering a shadow world, which only he can access, and it seems that the demon who is at the forefront of all of the issues happening - the poisonings and the attacks - has a connection to both this shadow world, and James himself. He also is conflicted about his feelings for both Grace and Cordelia. He has always had feelings for Grace since they first met in Idris, and are secretly engaged to marry, but it seems as if that is all on the surface, and not real, especially when Grace neigh on ignores him, and treats him like dirt - because he's a Herondale. Cordelia has always been in his life - he even gave her the nickname, Daisy, when they were young - and when he was ill, she was at his side, caring for him. The more they are with each other now, especially in all of the high tense situations, he starts to consider that his feelings are more than friendly, but isn't sure exactly what to do about it. Lucie, being a Herondale, has always been able to see ghosts, but her ancestry seems to have allowed her to be the only person who can see Jesse Blackthorn, Tatiana's son who died 5 years ago, and who Tatiana is trying to resurrect. Her and Jesse grow close, and there's a few different times when I thought that it was more than just friendship developing between them, but I reckon that'll be developed more in future instalments.

Of course, so much more than this happened in the book - it wouldn't be a Cassie book if it didn't - but I really couldn't list it all without spoilers. All in all, this was fantastic, and I can't wait to get my hands on book two, Chain of Iron, when it is released next March.

Dates Read:
April 1-5, 2020

Rating
4 Stars

Marie Rutkoski

Waiting On Wednesday: The Midnight Lie (The Midnight Lie #1) by Marie Rutkoski

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2020 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton

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The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly
Series: None
Author: Jamie Pacton
Published May 5th 2020 by Page Street Kids

Goodreads Synopsis
Moxie meets A Knight’s Tale as Kit Sweetly slays sexism, bad bosses, and bad luck to become a knight at a medieval-themed restaurant.

Working as a wench―i.e. waitress―at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college.

Company policy allows only guys to be knights. So when Kit takes her brother’s place and reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets into internet fame and a whole lot of trouble with the management. But the Girl Knight won’t go down without a fight. As other wenches join her quest, a protest forms. In a joust before Castle executives, they’ll prove that gender restrictions should stay medieval―if they don’t get fired first.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

As soon as I heard about this book, and saw the comparison to A Knight's Tale, I knew it was a book I would like, and as soon as I got the confirmation email through that I was able to review it, I immediately started it, could not put it down! The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly tells the story of Kit, who is working at a medieval-themed restaurant called the Castle as a serving wench. She wants nothing more than to become a knight, like her older brother, Chris, but because of a sexist rule from corporate - enforced by her uncle who is also the manager - she can't. When her brother is one day unavailable to perform in that night's show, she steps in for him, and reveals herself as the 'Girl Knight'. One of her best friends, and secret crush, Jett, had recorded the entire thing, and it's now going viral. Along with her other best friend, Layla, the other wenches at the Castle hatch up a plan to perform in front of corporate, and hopefully get them to change their minds about the sexist policy, and not lose their jobs while they're at it. This is particularly a concern for Kit, whose family is really struggling after her family abandoned them and took all of their money to pay for his habit. She needs her job, as does her brother, and is worried about college next year, and whether they can afford it. Is Kit biting off more than she can chew, or will all her wishes come true?

This book was definitely enjoyable. Yes, there were some moments where I was shaking my head in disbelief, like when she kept going on about how important school was, but kept skipping, or how everything fell into place. But, even with all of that, I still couldn't put the book down. Kit's character, for the most part, was enjoyable, and I appreciated how caring she was, and how it wasn't just all about her that she fighting for, but rather for all of the people she worked with, and who worked in the larger Castle company. She's all about her own family too, trying to protect her brother and her mam, and when her deadbeat dad came back onto the scene, she wouldn't accept his fake apologies or anything.

Money and the lack of it was an important part of the story, with Kit's family being juxtaposed with that of Layla or Jett, but they never made her feel any different from themselves, but it was still a thing she couldn't ignore. When Layla used some of her technological magic to help monetise the videos and everything that included the Girl Knight, and that was really helpful to Kit and her family.

There's also a bit of romance in the book, and though I liked it, I wasn't blown other by it. Kit and Jett had agreed that they would never try anything relationship wise, and also buy their own food when they were out so it didn't feel like a date, but Kit has a big crush on him, that he magically reciprocates the further we get into the book. I liked them together, but never got any major feels from it, and the book probably could've left this out, and it wouldn't have missed anything. All in all, a really good debut, and it's making me want to watch A Knight's Tale now!

Dates Read:

February 22, 2020

Rating
4 Stars

2020 New Release challenge

ARC Review: Heiress for Hire (Duke's Heiress #1) by Madeline Hunter

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Heiress for Hire
Series: Duke's Heiress #1
Author: Madeline Hunter
Published April 28th 2020 by Zebra Books

Goodreads Synopsis
In this stunning series debut from New York Times bestselling author Madeline Hunter, a duke's mysterious bequest brings fortune—and passion—to three young women...

Minerva Hepplewhite has learned the hard way how to take care of herself. When an intruder breaks into her home, she doesn't swoon or simper. Instead, she wallops the rogue over the head and ties him up—only to realize he is Chase Radnor, the man who nearly got her convicted of her late husband's murder. Now, he's insisting that Minerva has inherited a fortune from his uncle, a wealthy Duke. Only one thing could surprise her more: her sudden attraction to this exasperating man...

Chase can't decide whether Minerva is a wronged woman or a femme fatale. Either way, he's intrigued. Since the scandal surrounding her husband's death, she has set up a discreet detective business to rival Chase's own. She may be the perfect person to help him uncover the truth about his uncle's demise. But as proximity gives way to mutual seduction, Chase realizes he craves a much deeper alliance...
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

In Heiress for Hire, Minerva Hepplewhite has finally got her life back on track when she comes upon an intruder, who turns around and tells her that she is a beneficiary of the late Duke of Hollingburgh. The intruder is his nephew, Chase Radnor, who has been involved in working with the Home Office in the past, and on good terms with the Home Secretary, Robert Peel. His uncle's death was slightly suspicious - he fell from the roof of his country estate, a roof he had walked on year after year. Chase thinks there's something not quite right, and the fact that Minerva was once known by a different name, Margaret Finley, and suspected his her late husband's death, is raising his hackles. He tries to investigate her, and at the same time, she also is doing the same. She understands why she's being suspected, especially when she has no obvious ties to Hollingburgh, and the fact that he left basically nothing to his family, and a lot to his three beneficiaries, makes it a tricky situation. Creating her own agency, Hepplewhite's Office of Discreet Inquiries, to help her in her endeavours, she finds herself crossing paths again and again with Chase, and can't seem to control her feelings, but, luckily for her, he's feeling exactly the same.

I loved the mystery in this book. First we had the whole situation regarding Hollingburgh death, and why he had cut out the majority of the family from the will, and then we had Minerva's history, too. The more we delved into Minerva's background, the more my heart went out for her. She was abused, horrifically, in her marriage, and when she managed to leave him, and he later died, she was free, and wanted to forget everything about him, so changed her name. The only connections she had to her previous life were her two companions, Beth and her son Jeremy, who had worked for the family, and stayed with Minerva when she got away, and were her true family. Throughout the course of the book, we saw Minerva grow, and recover from the horrors of her past, both by herself, and with the help of Chase, Beth, and Jeremy, which was the best part of the story.

The romance between Chase and Minerva was definitely swoony. Both tried to fit their attraction, especially when there was suspicious between them about the death, but their chemistry was just too much to overcome. Their banter was witty and snarky, and it was obvious that their attraction was not just skin deep from the get go. They really cared about each other, and if they hadn't got together properly, I may have rioted! I can't wait to see how their story progresses, especially with the joint venture of their investigations, and hope that in the next books in the series, we see more from them. Madeline is definitely an author I'll read again!

Dates Read:

April 11, 2020

Rating
4 Stars

April

Stacking the Shelves: April 25th 2020

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2020 Beat the Backlist challenge

Review: Too Wilde to Wed (The Wildes of Lindow Castle #2) by Eloisa James

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Too Wilde to Wed
Series: The Wildes of Lindow Castle #2
Author: Eloisa James
Published May 29th 2018 by Piatkus Books

Goodreads Synopsis
No one is more surprised than Lord North when he returns from war to find his ex-fiancee in his ancestral home...working as a governess...

The handsome, rakish heir to a dukedom, Lord Roland Northbridge Wilde—known to his friends as North—left England two years ago, after being jilted by Miss Diana Belgrave. He returns from war to find that he’s notorious: polite society has ruled him “too wild to wed.”

Diana never meant to tarnish North’s reputation, or his heart, but in her rush to save a helpless child, there was no time to consider the consequences of working as a governess in Lindow Castle. Now everyone has drawn the worst conclusions about the child’s father, and Diana is left with bittersweet regret.

When North makes it clear that he still wants her for his own, scandal or no, Diana has to fight to keep from losing her heart to the man whom she still has no intention of marrying.

Yet North is returning a hardened warrior—and this is one battle he’s determined to win.

He wants Diana, and he’ll risk everything to call her his own.
Goodreads

Review
Too Wilde to Wed follows the trials and tribulations faced by Diana Belgrave after she ran away from her own engagement celebrations, and jilted the heir to the Lindow dukedom. When it's discovered she's back at Lindow Castle, working as a governess of the Duchess, with a young boy in tow, it's immediately assumed that North, the wild heir, left her pregnant before heading off to war, and that he's 'Too Wilde to Wed'. When he returns home from war, North is struggling to come to terms with what he saw in America, and seeing Diana, but not as the glamorous and fashionable lady she was, but as a dowdy governess, was a shock to say the least. He is still in love with her, and the more time he spends with her, and discovers the truth about Godfrey, and the real Diana, he falls just that little bit harder. But, there is the rest of society to contend with, and Diana's own conflicting feelings. Can the Wilde brood recovered Diana's lost reputation, and will North be able to convince her he loves her, and not the creature her mother created?

I loved meeting both North and Diana in Wilde in Love, and knew that they did reconnect following Diana's flit in the night, but actually reading their story was more than I could've asked for. Diana was a little frivolous and aloof in book one, but being in her head, and seeing her struggle through her grief over her sister's death, her mother's mistreatment of herself, and Godfrey's appearance was heartbreaking. She was not a perfect governess, but she fit in so well with the Wilde household, and was beloved by all, not least by little Artie who loved her like a second mother. North's reappearance puts into jeopardy everything she has worked towards, and she's like a deer caught in the headlights. But, North has changed, just like she, and their growth - both individually, and together - cemented their romance and relationship even more so. Neither wanted to give the other up, but felt they had had to, but no more. As always, the extending Wilde brood were what truly made this story, and the interactions, and fights, between Parth and Lavinia are making me more excited for Born to be Wilde!

Dates Read:
October 12-14, 2020

Rating
4 Stars

2019 Contemporary Romance Challenge

Review: Love & Luck (Love & Gelato #2) by Jenna Evans Welch

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Ember Queen

Waiting On Wednesday: Ember Queen (Ash Princess Trilogy #3) by Laura Sebastian

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2017 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: Love & Gelato (Love & Gelato #1) by Jenna Evans Welch

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Love & Gelato
Series: Love & Gelato #1
Author: Jenna Evans Welch
Published June 1st 2017 by Walker Books

Goodreads Synopsis
The dying wish of 16-year-old Lina's mother was for her daughter to live in Tuscany and get to know her father, whom Lina has never met.

"Howard is the best man I've ever known," her mother says, "he'll keep you safe." Why did her mother wait so long to tell her about him? Lina has a happy life in Seattle and doesn't want to leave. Shortly after she arrives at Howard's home, Lina meets Sonya, who gives Lina a diary that belonged to Lina's mother, the one she had kept while she was a photography student in Florence. While Lina is living her life and exploring Tuscany with her handsome neighbour, Ren, she follows in the footsteps of her mother and gets to know her as never before. She also finds out the truth about her father. Mostly she finds out about herself.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

This book was the perfect summer read when it arrived. Lina has never met her father, always living with her mother in Seattle. However, when her mam is diagnosed with terminal cancer, her last wish is for Lina to meet her father, a man called Howard, living in Tuscany. She doesn't want to leave Seattle, or her best friend Addie, who she now lives with, but she has to honour her mam's last wishes, and flies across the world one a whim. Howard is unlike what Lina expected. Quite quiet, living in a cemetery, and not someone she can see her mother falling for. However, she soon finds herself falling in love with the city, and with their handsome neighbour, Ren, who helps her discover more about her parents history, through the diary that was left to her. Over coming her grief, and coming to terms with her new life, Lina feels like she's being passed from pillar to post, but throughout the course of the book, she truly comes into her own.

Lina is such a real character, struggling with her grief and the reality of living in a world without her mam. She has been sent to the other end of the world, where she doesn't understand anything, and it's not just the language barrier. She struggles with living in an international cemetery, and is quite rude about it to start off with - which got my back up. However, she did grow on me as the book progressed, but the hands down best character in the story was Howard. He was awkward, and shy, and really tried to be a good dad to Lina, and they dynamic was perfect for the situation. I really liked the sub plot of reading the diary and finding out about Howard and her mam as teenagers and uni students.

The romance between Lina and Ren was very quick. Within just a few days, she was saying she was in love with him, but did acknowledge how weird that was, but still, I found it a bit too convenient. I did like him, but I wouldn't say he's my favourite love interest I've read recently, though as the book progressed, I did grow invested in their story.

I've heard that there's a companion book out about Addie, Lina's best friend, set in Ireland, and I'm definitely looking forward to giving that a try.

Dates Read:

August 8-10, 2017

Rating
4 Stars