Dark Heir is the second book in the Dark Rise trilogy. I didn't know that going into this series, I believed it was only two books. So imagine my surprise (and anguish) as I neared the end of Dark Heir and realized nothing was going to be wrapped up.
I never expected to love Will Kempen as much as I did. He is fully aware of his past life in the second book, and reading about him fighting against his better nature and the will of his past life is heartbreaking and thrilling. I've never encountered a character like him before. We can't truly know, or trust, his actions. Cunning, deceptive and alone in his struggles. He wants to do what is right, despite everything working against him. But hiding his true identity from his friends, and more importantly, James St. Clair, became impossible.
The end of this book had me screeching in frustration and throwing the book across the room. I've been waiting on pins and needles or any news about the third book in this series. I can't even begin to imagine the next steps in Will and James' journey. After everything they've been through, I can only hope for a happy ending to this trilogy.
It was only natural that The Golden Raven would make this list. It's the second book in Jean's trilogy and overall, the fifth book in the All For the Game series.
Jean continues to break my heart all throughout this book. The things he suffered at Edgar Allen and at the hands of Riko make me sick to my stomach. But his capacity to love still shocks me. It would only be natural for Jean to close himself off, to hide away from the world. He doesn't do that, though. He opens up to his friends, the rest of the team at USC. The people around him support him and love him, and with that support he has been able to open up about his trauma and begin to move past it.
One scene that I've been thinking about for months is when Jean simply admits that he likes to cook. That it takes his mind off all the bad things. And Kevin looks at him like he doesn't recognize him anymore. Because Jean is becoming someone new. A man that isn't afraid to voice his opinion. A man that likes rainbows, open roads, and fireworks. I am so proud of his growth and I can't wait to see how the rest of the school year goes for him, and which team USC will be playing in the championship. (Here's to hoping it's the Foxes.)
I'm sure the third book in Jean's trilogy will hurt me just as much as the first two, but it is another highly anticipated read.
I do not care what they think of me. I can't. It only matters that I play.
Jeremy Knox is no stranger to damage control, but his last season on an Exy court is off to a disastrous start. The relentless crusade against his newest teammate threatens the haven he and his friends have worked so hard to build. He promised Jean a fun senior year, but tragedy and ugly truths make every step forward an uphill fight.
Jean Moreau promised the USC Trojans a championship trophy, and he intends to deliver. Granted, it would be significantly easier if they'd…
This book took me by surprise. I didn't have any expectations going into it, but a friend of mine read it and loved it. I knew it involved ghosts and mystery, but not much beyond that.
I was immediately wrapped up in William's world, desperate to know all his secrets. I've always been a sucker for scary old houses and manors, and the one William suddenly found himself owning is full of mystery. Not to mention Edward Jones, a man claiming to be the gardener for the estate. Together William and Edward set out to pick apart the manors past, stumbling into something dark that had been hidden for centuries.
This book deals with mourning, guilt and pain on so many different levels. William and Edward are left with the tattered remains of survivors guilt and the manor seems to feed off the secrets they keep and the lies they tell themselves and one another. The two young men also play into the drama of Robert and Teddy, two other men kept apart by circumstance and plotting beyond their scope of knowledge.
I read this book in one sitting and cried hysterically for probably about twenty minutes after I finished it. This is a story that is going to stick with me for a long time, and I couldn't recommend it enough.
William Thorn had his life all planned out... until his long-term boyfriend Archie cheats, breaking his heart. Distraught, William kicks him out of their home, where tragedy strikes when Archie is killed instantly in a car accident.
Riddled with guilt, William is shocked to learn that he's inherited a manor in the quaint village of Stonewall, left to him in Archie's will. He leaves the city with plans to make a new start for himself, but is surprised by the rundown state of the manor, and the unwelcoming villagers who want him gone. His only ally is Edward, a seemingly…
In the tale of Hamlet, Horatio is recorded as a loyal friend, but what if he were more? What if he filled Hamlet’s heart and dreams? And Hamlet filled his? This modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, told through Horatio’s eyes is much more than a tragedy. Antique Roman is also a love story about how the handsome and dashing Prince of Denmark finds himself drawn to the quiet, introverted Horatio while at university in Wittenberg. Slowly but surely, Hamlet helps the guarded Horatio see his own true value and shows him how love can bring light to life.
But all too soon for the lovers, Hamlet receives word that his father, the King, has died, and he is to return to Elsinore in Denmark to comfort the grieving Queen. Horatio soon follows to support Hamlet, but finds the royal court mired in intrigue. It appears the late King’s death may not have been of natural causes, the Queen has already remarried her late husband’s brother who has taken the throne, and there have been reports of sightings of the dead King’s ghost.
Told mostly in modern English, this novel also weaves in lines from Shakespeare’s original play, thus offering readers an easy-to-understand version of the Bard’s Hamlet that still captures its flavour and mastery. It also opens up intriguing possibilities about what was the real story behind the play.
