Another Yes for Yarros

March 27, 2025 by ajcwrites ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Don’t you love a little alliteration? It’s my favorite. I read Great and Precious Things by speed writing romance icon, Rebecca Yarros. This woman has such an extensive backlist that I can’t even begin to dream of what her process might be. She mentioned in an interview earlier this year that we won’t even be seeing the fourth book in the Empyrean series next year because Onyx Storm “nearly killed her”.

Creative work can be intense and grueling. It can amount to hours spent at a desk with an aching back and a marathon going on inside of your brain. I’ve been working on my book of short stories that I hope to put out in the next 3 months or so, and have been bartering with the Gods of money in the hopes that they will help me win ANY of the writing contests that I’m entering.

Anyways, back to the book.

What It’s About

Ex-marine Camden Daniels returns to his small, stifling hometown in Colorado. He’s essentially the village leper, not only because of the havoc he used to wreak in his turbulent childhood, but because he committed the ultimate sin: He didn’t bring the Golden Son (his brother, Sullivan or Sully) back from overseas.

His little brother followed him into the service and returned home in a wooden box.

Camden’s neighbors and even his own father hold him responsible for Sullivan’s death.

Everyone except Willow Bradley: Sullivan’s ex-girlfriend and Camden’s lifelong love. While Camden would do anything to not have to deal with the unmasked hatred of the folks of Alba, Colorado, he’s been summoned home by an urgent phone call from his father. His father has early onset Alzheimer’s, and he begs Camden to return after years of silence so that his son can help him secure a DNR.

Camden’s mission is met with pushback from his older brother, Xander (who also happens to be the mayor). The two brothers prepare to battle it out in court, and the only person who’s willing to help Camden is Willow.

Willow has certain feelings for Camden that tangle with her grief over her first love. That doesn’t last long, however, as the two bend a knee to the bond that has held the two of them together since they were kids. Confusion, heat, and a bold love story ensue.

Dope Shit About This Book

So, here’s what I personally liked about this book, and what kept me coming back. Me staying dedicated to one book for days at a time is a big deal because I tend to read about 8 books at once, and I have an absurd number of books checked out from my library.

A female protagonist who is not afraid to want boldly. Willow doesn’t heed the hatred that palpates Camden’s presence in Alba. She is not afraid to let him know that Sully wasn’t the only man that she’s ever loved, and she takes step after faithful step back into Cam’s life, hoping that he’ll want her back.
An emphasis on the relationships between our parents and their expectations for us. Great and Precious Things is a cute love story for sure, complete with teasing nicknames similar to Xaden and Violet in Yarros’ Fourth Wing series. Both Willow and Camden have to untangle themselves from their parents’ perceptions of them. Camden wants his father to really see him and not his youngest son’s wild killer. Willow needs to stand in her truth in front of her judge father (he’s a judge in this town) and proclaim that she will not isolate Cam, that she will not don the mourning veil in Sullivan’s honor for the rest of her life.
Melty, melt, melt, romance. Camden is an undeniably likeable and well-rounded male lead. He is sensitive, protective, and a total hero. He is a tortured hero in a sense because he will never give himself credit for the good things that he has done.

Now, Go Get It

You know what I say- I always end these things telling folks to go to their local libraries. You can do that, or you can read it on Kindle Unlimited with a subscription. But I will say libraries are under attack in the US, and there’s no way of telling where things will end up in the next few years. Go to your library, get a card, and make your friends and family members get cards. Libraries need your support now more than ever.

What’s Next?

Let me know if I can take the book bullet for you and read a book you’re unsure about before you do. If the book is bad, I will have suffered so that you don’t. If the book is great, you’ll see it on this blog!

Also, comment and tell me what you guys are reading! Have you already read Great and Precious Things? Did you like it?

I’ll be posting again soon, probably about a romantasy I’m reading right now. In the meantime, stay weird and happy reading.

Alicia

Rip My Heart Out, Why Don’t You

April 28, 2024May 18, 2024 by ajcwrites ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello, and welcome back to ajcreads! I’m back a week after my last post (it’s my intention to post more) and I’ve been busy devouring Say I’m The One by Siobhan Davis. I hadn’t heard of Davis before this week, but when I was prowling Audible for a good listen, I found this in my feed.

I listened to this book and read it on Kindle Unlimited, and I was hooked. Not a single shower was taken without this book playing on top of the toilet.

I’ll get right into it.

Say I’m The One is a searing hot romance with an unexpected twist. It is not for the faint of heart, and it’s not an ooey gooey read, although I do like my ooey gooey romances. Davis does a spectacular job of dropping you right into the mind and body of Vivien Mills, the daughter of two Hollywood actors. Vivien prefers to stay out of the spotlight, but when her childhood best friend turned boyfriend, Reeve Lancaster, breaks out onto the scene as a fresh face in Hollywood, she is thrust onto the world’s stage as Reeve’s clingy highschool girlfriend that won’t let him go and be great without her.

It makes matters worse that Reeve seems to be changing. He’s not the same sweet boy that Vivien has come to worship. He’s angry and defensive and nothing like himself as Hollywood sinks its claws further into him.

Their love is tested when Reeve snags the starring role in the Rydeville Elite series, where he we’ll be working up close and personal with Saffron Roberts (a literal psychopath) who is hell-bent on claiming Reeve for herself and breaking up his relationship with Vivien.

This book will give you a whirlwind of emotions that you leave you cheering for, and screaming at Viv as she navigates the new obstacles in her relationship. Davis does an incredible job of always launching straight into the action, giving us the good stuff right away.

The second half of the book left me feeling like I was reading a telenovela instead of a romance novel. The next part of the story is when we are introduced to Vivien’s new, and dangerous love interest.

Irish singer Dillon O’ Donoguhue is nothing like the soft-hearted man she’s used to. Dillon is fiery, his love is passionate and hot. Vivien experiences a wholly different kind of love with him, and the question she’s left asking is: Is Dillon’s love enough to finally give up on Reeve?

There is an incredible twist at the end of the book, so hold on tightly because I in no way saw it coming. This searing hot novel is the first in a duet. I’m going to start reading the second book as soon as I finish typing this.

What can I say other than: (squeal) Read the book!!

You can read it for free on Kindle Unlimited if you have a subscription. When I snagged the audiobook, I got it from Audible for about $7.

Let me know if you read this book or have read it before in the comments. Love triangles bring me back to my high school years when the pressing question was Team Edward or Team Jacob? (I’ll never tell.) With Team Reeve or Team Dillon at the forefront of your mind while reading this, you will be hooked down to the very last word.

Keep it weird until next time~

I Don’t Know, a Ghost Maybe?

April 20, 2024May 18, 2024 by ajcwrites ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello! Welcome back to ajcreads. I’m back after a month or so, and going forward, I want to try and at least post biweekly for you guys. I’ve been busy writing my YA fantasy novel (more on that in a few weeks), and reading, and working my daytime job. Anywho, I can’t wait to tell you about Home Before Dark by Riley Sager.

If you read one of my previous posts, Creepy, Creaky Houses, you would know that I am a Sager Fangirl. Sager doesn’t miss, struggle, or falter. Home Before Dark is another slam dunk in Sager’s catalog. Did you know that Riley Sager is actually a pseudonym ? Well, now you do.

So, let’s get into it. Home Before Dark, is a heart pounding thriller that may or may not be a ghost story. I had plenty of fun guessing in between feeling my spine tingle from all of the spooky scary stuff going on in the book.

The story centers around Maggie Holt. She is the only daughter of infamous writer Ewan Holt, and Ewan has recently died due to an illness. Upon his deathbed, Ewan asks Maggie to never return to the subject of the book that made him so famous: Baneberry Hall. Maggie and her family fled Baneberry Hall, a massive estate, when she was five. Ewan wrote about the estate in his wildly successful book, House of Horrors.

The legacy of the book and the controversy surrounding the infamous house where several random and grisly deaths have occurred has followed Maggie her entire life. So much so that she can hardly get away from questions from a nosy receptionist at the lawyer’s office that tells her what Ewan left her in his will.

Ewan has left not only a sizeable amount of money for Maggie, but to her absolute shock, he’s left her Baneberry Hall. Maggie had assumed that her father sold it, but he’d kept it all these years. She ultimately goes back on her promise to not go back to Baneberry Hall due to a burning curiosity to visit the place that her parents fled from when she was so young, but to also fix it up and sell for a profit since she’s a designer.

When Maggie returns to Baneberry Hall, things are instantly sketchy. I mean, some of the stuff happening is an instant hell no for me (for real, like pack it up, turn around, no amount of money is worth this, send me my check) Ghostlike activity keeps happening in the house, people may or may not be breaking into the house to say they did for bragging rights, and Maggie is never too sure who she can trust while she investigates the past and tries to learn the true story of what happened 25 years ago at Baneberry Hall.

This novel was absolutely addictive. I listened to it on Audible and I read the physical book from my library (ahem, go to the library, go right now). This story is a spine chilling mystery that constantly begs the question, are ghosts real? Sager almost instantly drops you into Maggie’s body, and every emotion is so visceral and just fucking scary. So creepy, so good, so compulsively readable.

I would advise you to find out by picking up a copy of the book here or you can find a library in your city and borrow it from there. Beware, it might be difficult to get your hands on a copy of this title.

Have you read this one? Let me know in the comments! Are there any other books that you guys want me to read so that I can do the hard work of finding out if it’s good or not? If it is good, it will appear on the blog. I make a point to keep this a book recommendation blog and I only post about what I liked.

Keep it weird until next time (I know I will)