Angel Hands by Cait Reynolds - Of Reviews and Romantic O.G.

If I had to rename Angel Hands, I would call it, "No Beauty and The Half Beast" because this is how the main characters felt like to me. Cait Reynolds' writing is very subtle and very hot! The scenes are climatic and yet not explicit. If you enjoy non-explicit sultry reads, this is for you. You probably wonder how can a novel be non-explicit yet arousing. Well, read to find out!

So what is it about? Angel Hands is a fan fiction romance story based on Le Fantôme de l'Opéra. The author, Cait Reynolds, started the story where French writer Gaston Leroux's story ended. Life is dull and not challenging for him until Mireille Dubienne, daughter of the new owner of the opera, enters the picture. She's a spinster and a very demanding manager. She also faces gender discrimination and sexual harrasment from men around her who despise the fact that her father gave her accounting and managing responsibilities of the Opéra of Paris. Something Mr. Dubienne (her father)'s reputation could take a hit for. Mireille pretty much overlooks everything about the opera when Erik, le fantôme starts meddling with her production but quickly realizes that he's met his match. The two have mixed anticlimactic encounters before ... well that's where you buy the book to read and find out the rest *laughs* .

I loved the sprinkles of French Expressions throughout the book I haven't heard in a long time. I would have loved to see "Vas te fair foutre" for instance instead of "Go f***k yourself" but hey these are details. The story was still great.

I enjoy reading fan fiction because when we read some stories stay with us and we would like an alternative ending. Especially if the villain doesn't get his happy ending. For me, everyone deserves a chance and thank God for fantasy writing.

Cait Reynolds is a brilliant fantasy romance writer. The only thing that bugged me in my Kindle version was the asterisks that weren't centered. Not sure it was done intentionally. Otherwise, the story was flawless in my opinion and was very realistic. I'm looking forward to see what she does with her character Pierre Buprès. He was a very interesting personage!

My rating: 4/5

Thank you for reading!

Juniper Smoke by Sadia Ash - A Time Stopping Tale Review

Juniper Smoke is the debut novel of Author Sadia Ash. From her website, Sadia loves volunteering, fundraising, and has worked for the film/ TV industry. As an art lover, her protagonist Juniper Mills also shares the same passion. For me, Juniper was a big dork I really liked. A strong headed and independent 26 year old virgin, her life is thrown upside down when Kyle Paxton, CEO of a successful company, crosses her path. Having said that, Kyle's life also pauses because time never stops with him. I mean it literally and you will understand better what I mean when you read the book.

Now, to be honest, both leading characters were a bit reminiscent of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. However, the plot is different, not graphic at all, yet very arousing to the standards of pure romance reads. And Juniper Smoke has a steady pace. Thus, I slowly savored this 600 page + book contrarily to my past reads where I all but devoured my reading list.

For the setting of the story which revolves around history, medieval elements, pop culture, museums, and Celtic arts in particular, I believe the writing style-the name dropping- is befitting. I've always believed that this type of writing will be valuable in the future as it consolidates and reflects the age in which the writer lived. These things still date the story to some extent in my opinion. Now, it's true that technology is evolving but if no one is including the age of texting, emojis, the pop culture, etc. in their writing, there is a big chance that future generations won't have any ideas of what our lives entailed if the virtual world collapses or crushes for instance. There is a need for a paper trail as back up and I think this is the accountant part in me kicking in. To end this part, I was familiar with many references and name dropping and that made me smile because I felt like I was still culturally aware of this age I live in. That said, I had to look up a few references and I feel no shame. Just pure enlightenment.

Above all, Juniper Smoke is a very hot romance read I really enjoyed. I felt the feelings and emotions in my CORE because the narration and romance were on point. What else can I say? I'm a sucker for good romance stories. I'm looking forward to read book 3 since this version includes book 1 and book 2.

My Rating: 4.5/5 .

**I received a free ARC file in exchange for my honest review**

So Complicated by Rumki Chowdhury - A Review

So Complicated is a mainstream novel I really enjoyed. The writing was very clever and deals with feminism, humor, and romance. It's also Rumki Chowdhury's second novel.

From her Amazon page, Rumki Chowdhury has an MA in English Literature from the Queen Mary University of London and a BA in English Writing from the William Paterson University of New Jersey. She was an Editorial Assistant at Pearson Education and interned at Simon and Schuster Inc. Now, she is an English teacher and writes for Hayati Magazine, while living with the best husband in the world and their two gorgeous daughters.

So Complicated centers around a die hard feminist Julie Radcliffe, the author of a very popular feminist blog called 'The Independent Woman' and James Chopin, a famous masculinist blogger whose blog's is titled 'Alpha James'. The battle of the sexes between the two lead to their overnight notoriety, and they are forced together to regain their audience back. I loved the characters of their assistants and sidekicks in this book.

The book is very funny and Chowdhury pulled off the privacy of the characters by being very subtle with her writing. Many intimate things that could easily make certain readers uncomfortable were left off to the reader to imagine. It's a great read and I give it a 4/5 stars.

Thank you for reading,

Papatya*