ARC Review: The Glass Butterfly by A.G. Howard

Title: The Glass Butterfly (Haunted Hearts Legacy #3)
Author: A.G. Howard
Publication Date: August 15, 2018
Publisher: Golden Orb Press
Pages: 382
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Reviews for book 1 & book 2

//I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review//

For close to a decade, twenty-five-year-old Felicity Lonsdale has masqueraded as a dowager almost twice her age—selling caterpillars to butterfly consortiums—enabling her to hide an ill-fated past while raising her late brother’s daughters. Together, the three live on an isolated Irish estate bequeathed by a dying earl. When the earl’s estranged son arrives to claim his inheritance by threatening to expose Felicity’s true identity, she longs to pack up her nieces and run. But a ghostly secret within the castle’s turret holds her captive.

Nick Thornton—a Roma viscount’s heir—is also captive. After a tryst with an investor’s wife nearly destroyed his family’s holiday resort, Nick forsook everything to elope with her. However, a tragic mistake at his hand led to her and his baby’s deaths. Refusing to turn to the family he shamed, Nick travels to seek the countess who once co-wrote a romance with his sister. There’s rumor of a special butterfly in her keep—a transparent-winged species with ties to the afterlife. Nick hopes to contact his dead wife and child, for only their forgiveness can free him.

Upon his arrival to Felicity’s estate, Nick offers to help her defeat the earl’s son, on the condition she allow Nick to investigate her glass butterflies. Felicity agrees, though fears the closer he gets to the ghosts of his past, the closer he’ll come to uncovering her own. As Nick spends time with Felicity and her nieces, he realizes the mystery enshrouding this fragile countess and her castle is more intriguing than the ghosts he originally came to find. And perhaps putting his dead to rest and helping her do the same will be his true path to redemption.

I've had the privilege of reading both previous books in this series early and the wait never gets easier! The Architect of Song was a masterpiece of fiction. I loved that book so much and will forever sing its praises. I also loved book two in the series, so The Glass Butterfly had a lot to live up to! When I read the synopsis of this book I was eager to see how Nick Thornton's story would play out. I loved him in The Hummingbird Heart and I desperately wanted to see his happy ending.

This story follows Felicity, a maybe-45-year-old woman who lives in an Irish castle and raises butterflies, along with her two nieces following her brother's death. Although she keeps herself isolated in the castle, she meets with trouble when her dead husband's son shows up and begins threatening her. She also receives a surprise visitor in the form of Nick Thornton, whom she knows from her tragic past, and tries very, very hard to keep him at arm's length, but things don't work out quite as she'd planned.

I adore both these characters so much! Nick, who I already knew from the previous book in the series, gets even better in this one. I loved getting to know more about him, learning his secrets and fears and desires. And Felicity, although she is infuriating and I wanted to strangle her over some of her decisions, is also a wonderful, strong heroine. I enjoyed watching Felicity stand up to the villain even more than I loved seeing Nick protect her against him! Both of these people have difficult backgrounds and, while it was difficult watching them together at times as they skirted around the truth, I appreciated seeing the process as they got to know and trust each other more.

So let's talk romance. This third book is perhaps the most adult of this new adult series, and I thought it was wonderful! As I said, these characters have much more tragic backstories than the characters in books one and two. Both have had previous marriages that ended in tragedy and both have found it difficult to stop dwelling on the past. I thought it was perfect that A.G. Howard allowed these characters' romance to be a bit more mature. Their chemistry was also incredible, as is the norm with all romance that she writes!

The setting, as usual, was amazing. Although The Glass Butterfly is set in the real world rather than a fantasy one, it was written in such a way that I could picture myself at the castle and on the grounds. In fact, I had a nightmare about the peat bogs showing up in my backyard after we'd had a particularly bad rainstorm!

Which brings me to the plot itself. Something that I love about these romances as opposed to some others I've read is that they're so much more than JUST romance. There are so many other elements at play than just angst and kissing. I also loved the bits of the paranormal that are woven into this story. I can't say much without spoilers, but I found it to be unique and loved what it added.

The Glass Butterfly had a lot to live up to and I'm happy to say that A.G. Howard absolutely delivered! Nick and Felicity's story was a fantastic third installment in this series and really sets up for book four without ending on a cliffhanger. I can't wait to get my hands on it! In closing, I'd like to leave you with my favorite quote from this book, spoken by the youngest of Felicity's girls to Nick, "What happened to your dog, Mister? He’s quite ugly."

Weekly Recap: 7/29 - 8/4

TRACY'S HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG

Hi everyone! This week was a lot of fun, but really exhausting! My brother was here visiting and we did a lot of things, including a few that were new to me. We went to a trampoline gym, a local flea/farmer's market, ate at a chocolate restaurant, and visited Clearwater Beach. I'm not much of a beach person, so it was my first time at a Florida beach (which might be surprising since I've lived here for three years). We also spent time watching movies, playing board games, and he forced me to learn chess, which I'm not good at. Now it's back to normal! This week Cornerfolds Candles also introduced our new candles for August including Lara Jean, Damon Salvatore, and Prince Cardan! You can find them in our shop through the link in the nav bar or by clicking the logo in the sidebar!

NEW BOOKS THIS WEEK

 

THIS WEEK I READ

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CHELCIE'S HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG

Hello everyone!  This week was very uneventful which was nice after working so much last week. At work we went down to one person a day so I work a little longer but not as many days anymore. It’s great to have this little bit of a break, but it does mean less money which means less books. With all my extra time though I was able to make myself a few book sleeves and possibly some to sell later on. My boyfriend and I also got to go to the rodeo near us, and man was it fun!  I’ve always wanted to be a part of the action and that night confirmed it. Now just to find a trainer to help me learn roping and barrel racing!

NEW BOOKS THIS WEEK

 

THIS WEEK I READ

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The topic was books that lived up to hype for Top Ten Tuesday
Wednesday audiobook review of Hunting Prince Dracula
On Thursday Chelcie shared her three bookish wishes
Friday book review of American Street
On Saturday I shared my eight worst blogging fails


UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

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We're linking up to Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post!

Eight worst blogging fails

I'm four and a half years into this blogging adventure, and I have certainly had my ups and downs. We all have good times around our blogs, when comments flow in and every self-imposed deadline is met! But if you've been at it long enough, I'm sure you've also seen a few failures. Here are eight I'm intimately familiar with and why they're not necessarily terrible.

NOT FINISHING A BOOK

Let me just put this out there: I am a serial DNFer. Back when I first fell in love with reading, I would force myself to finish anything I started. As I began reading more and more, though, I realized that there really just wasn't a point. I noticed that, when I forced myself to read a book that I wasn't enjoying, it took twice as long and (of course) cut down on time I could have been reading other books I would love. Now if I'm not loving a book and I don't foresee it getting better, I have no issues with putting it down and moving on to something else!

NOT STICKING TO YOUR BLOGGING SCHEDULE

This is the one that used to stress me out the most! I've noticed that tons of bloggers have schedules that they stick to. Others seem to post completely at random. But what I've really noticed is that it doesn't make any difference to me either way. I used to try SO HARD to stick to a schedule, but then I realized that no one was as worried about it as I was. I still have a rough outline for my blog and certain posts always post on specific days, but I don't run my blog with that much rigidity anymore. Let yourself enjoy the process!

NOT COMMENTING BACK

I've always made it a priority around the blog to comment back to every person who takes the time to comment on my posts and I usually try to blog hop as well. But sometimes life gets in the way or I just don't feel it (I'm a huge introvert). While I used to do it no matter how I felt, I now usually just give myself the okay to take a day off. I always try to come back to it the next day when I'm feeling a little more excited about interacting!

NOT COMPLETING A REVIEW BOOK IN TIME

This is probably the biggest no-no in the blogging world, but I'll admit it happens. Last year my grandpa died and I went to the funeral a few states away. This also happened to fall right in the middle of my reading a book that I had received for review. I completely missed the deadline, but contacted the publisher and explained the situation. They were very understanding and told me to review whenever worked for me. Now I try to give myself much more time to read a book before the review is due. It's still good to remember that life can happen though! If you miss a deadline for good reasons, don't beat yourself up over it!

MISERABLY FAILING A READ-A-THON

There are just some things I'm not good at and I've accepted this about myself. For my first few years of blogging I signed up for ALL the read-a-thons! They're so exciting and interactive and fun! Except I never actually finish them. I always set my goals, make my goal post, and then read maybe one book, maybe none. I'm bad at reading quickly and I'm bad at making myself read things (mood reader here). The moral of the story is it's okay to accept that everything isn't for you! Now I just cheer from the sidelines. 

FALLING SHORT OF YOUR YEARLY CHALLENGE GOALS

Reading challenges make blogging so much more fun! I used to sign up and host tons of them, but this year I'm down to three, not including the Goodreads challenge. I did this after miserably failing a few of my 2017 challenges and realizing that I needed to make sure to keep it fun. Challenges should be challenging, but they shouldn't make things stressful! It's okay if you don't meet a challenge goal - they're self-imposted after all!

PUBLISHING AN UNFINISHED POST

Literally the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened on this blog was when I published a review with only a couple sentences written AND SOMEONE COMMENTED ON IT. I meant to save it as a draft, but it had already been scheduled as a post. Oh well. I changed the post back to a draft, finished writing it, and published it again. Chances are, no one remembered anyway. 

COMPLETELY FORGETTING TO WRITE A REVIEW

Whoops... Maybe we haven't all been there, but I definitely have. There have been times where I read a book, fully intend to review it, but somehow... forget. I'm not sure exactly how it happens, but every now and then I realize I read a book weeks or even months ago and never reviewed it! In this case I do one of two things: write a mini-review with whatever information I can remember, or let it go. 

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Yep, in four and a half years I've met with some glitches and failures. But what I've learned in that time after a few blogging slumps is that it's best to just enjoy it! While our blogs are our babies, they're also meant to be fun hobbies. Don't beat yourself up if you make a mistake! Instead, learn from it, adjust what you need to, and move on.

What blogging failures have you experienced?

Let me know in the comments!

Book Review: American Street by Ibi Zoboi

Title: American Street
Author: Ibi Zoboi
Publication Date: February 14, 2017
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 336
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The rock in the water does not know the pain of the rock in the sun.

On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life.

But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own.

Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?

A couple of weeks ago my boyfriend and I got to hear Ibi Zoboi talk at Epic Reads Day.  I had heard of her book, but I had not yet picked it up.  When I got a copy in my goodie bag I knew I just had to read it!

There was a lot going on in this book.  I did like American Street, but a lot of stuff that happened made me question what was going on.  It was a really good debut, but it was just that - a debut.  One of the things I really liked-and she talked about it in her panel-was the little tidbit of supernatural that she added to this story.  While it wasn't a huge part it was just enough to add a little salt and pepper to the story line.

There are some things in this book I didn't like. For starters, I didn't really care for the love interest.  At first he seems to come off as a player.  I have had a few guys even use similar dialog to what he says and it kind of rubbed me the wrong way.  As the storyline goes on he does seem to get better though, and I can see that he truly does care for the main character.

Another aspect of this book that I don't like is how the relationships are handled.  One one end you have what seems like the normalization of an abusive relationship, and then you have girls being downright nasty to each other.  Everything is fighting.  They even so much as look at another character and they get into a fight.  I'm not really sure how I feel about this, but I know for sure that I hated the abusive relationship because I've been in similar shoes and It was not fun.

And also while on the topic of girls, these girls have some outrageous expectations of each other.  The main character, Fabiola, is expected to have her hair done and thick makeup just to even be able to roll with her cousin and her boyfriend.  I do like that Fabiola's boyfriend doesn't expect her to be like that and prefers her as natural as possible.  I just didn't care for the fact that the girls were expected to look a certain way to even hang out with other people.

That being said, I still did really like American Street, but it wasn't really one of my favorites.  I definitely will give Ibi another chance as I get that this was just her debut novel.  I definitely don’t want to deter anyone from reading this book.  Just because it wasn't for me does not mean that it isn't for you.

Three Bookish Wishes

I rewatched Aladdin one day last week when I was waiting for my boyfriend to come over and it really got me thinking.  If there was a bookish genie, what are the three things that I would wish for?  There are honestly so many things that I would wish for that it's so hard to choose just three.  So what would my three wishes be?

1) To have time to work on bookish things.

I currently work two jobs that don't take up too much of my time, but it is just enough that I have to cut out a lot of things or be very picky on what I spend my time doing.  I also own five horses and five cows and it takes up a bunch of my time to take care of them.  This makes it very hard to read, write, and blog unless I make those things a priority for that day.  I would love to not have to work so much and just be able to devote all my time to my books and bookish things.


2) To be able to request any ARC I want.

First off, and ARC is an advance readers copy normally given to bloggers, booktubers, bookstagrammers, and other people in the book field by the publisher in hopes that they would get a review in return.  This would go hand-in-hand with my first wish as I would love to get any ARC I want, but I would definitely need time to read it.  I cannot tell you how many times I have lusted over ARCs that other bloggers got, but I had to wait until the finished copy came out.  I know a lot of people have to do this, but it still would be amazing to be able to get any book that I would like early.  I would donate a ton of the books that I had finished or even try to give early copies of books to the people who want them if I didn't want to read them.


3) Be able to attend any book event I want.

There are so many book events that I really want to go to, but a lot of times money and time get in the way of me going.  I really wish that I was able to go to any event regardless of where and when it is held.  Book events are some of my most favorite places to go to.  Not only do I make a ton of new friends and see old ones, but I also get to see authors, get books signed, and maybe snag some freebies.  Who wouldn't want that?

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I really need to take a trek out to the desert to see if I can find a magic lamp and get this genie to grant my wishes!

What three bookish wishes would you want the genie to grant?

Let me know in the comments!

Audiobook Review: Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Hunting Prince Dracula (Stalking Jack the Ripper #2)
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Narrator: Nicola Barber
Publication Date: September 19, 2017
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Length: 11 hours, 58 minutes
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Reviews for book 1 & book 3

In this New York Times bestselling sequel to Kerri Maniscalco's haunting #1 debut Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer...or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper's true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe's best schools of forensic medicine...and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life's dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school's forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again. 

I will admit, I was in no hurry to read Hunting Prince Dracula (obviously, since it took me almost a year to get around to it). I enjoyed Stalking Jack the Ripper, but I didn't particularly love it. I had a hard time connecting to the main character and just found the book to be okay. But when I found out I'd get a chance to read book three in the series early, I decided to give the audiobook a try just to see and I'm so glad I did!

Audrey Rose and Thomas Cresswell are back, this time on their way to attend a school in Romania. On their way, they encounter a murder on the Orient Express (I chuckled) and that sets the tone for the book. Once at the school in Romania, things really pick up and I quickly realized I was going to enjoy this installment a lot more than the first.

While I found the romance between Audrey Rose and Thomas to be a bit silly and underdone in Stalking Jack the Ripper, in this book I really felt that they came into their own as a couple. There were moments that I still found myself getting annoyed at Audrey Rose's constant lamenting about the impropriety of it all, but I can partially forgive it because of the time period Hunting Prince Dracula is set in. They still had the same fun banter from the first book, but there was less ridiculous tiptoeing around one another and more actual relationship building.

I also really loved the setting of the school much more than the streets of London! I have a morbid fascination with Vlad the Impaler retellings and this one, while not quite a normal retelling, had me on the edge of my seat. The atmosphere of the Romanian castle was amazing! I loved creeping around the halls and secret passages with the characters as they tried to discover who the killer was. The larger mythos and world building was also very well done and I enjoyed the insight into the story of Vlad and his heirs, although I knew a bit of it already from reading the And I Darken trilogy.

And of course, I have to talk about the murders and the mystery! When combined with this setting, the murder mystery worked so well for me. Kerri Maniscalco writes a great mystery, something that isn't always the case in YA. I truly was kept guessing until the very last minute, which was also the experience I had with book one. I'd almost like to read it again, knowing who the killer is, to see if I can pick up on any clues.

While I did enjoy Hunting Prince Dracula much more than book one, it wasn't perfect. Like I already mentioned, I still had a bit of trouble connecting with Audrey Rose, partially because of her constant talk about how her family name would be ruined/she'd be scandalized/she'd no longer be welcome in society if she was caught doing basically anything near Thomas. Again, I understand why, but it got old pretty quickly. Still, this book was so much fun and I'd definitely recommend it to murder mystery fans, even if you didn't love the first one!