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  • REVIEWS+RECS
    • MANGA
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  • book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: Unraveling the Threads of Fate by Alice Winters

    August 5, 2022 / 2 Comments

    Unraveling the Threads of Fate – Alice Winters

    Alex

    Some people are born lucky.

    Then there’s me, destined to be loved by the man who knows my darkest secret.

    My gift has followed me my entire life—the ability to see the threads of fate. I can see the red thread tying together two people destined to love one another.

    But my gift has another side to it. A darker side.
    I can also see a simple black thread tied to the fingers of those who aren’t aware of it, connecting them to the person destined to kill them. And when I look down at my own finger, I can see the red thread stretched over to Bishop King. The man who is my soul mate.

    But then why is the black thread also wrapped around our fingers?

    Bishop is sweet and caring, and I can’t stop my heart from loving him. I just need to thwart fate before it separates us forever.

    Bishop

    I swore to never let myself be drawn back into Alex’s world, but the man is funny and charming and the moment we’re together I fall back into the familiarity we shared as teenagers.

    I know this time is different; he’s hoping that I can help him walk through his dreams to figure out how an innocent girl is going to die.

    While his dreams tell of the future, mine allow us to find the truth. But what happens when we save a life and change fate–will it affect our own future? I can’t keep myself from falling for Alex, but what if helping him leaves one of us dead?

    Unraveling the Threads of Fate is a standalone romance with action, mystery, humor, and a happy ending.


    I was introduced to the red string of fate via anime. This is a belief that two people meant to be together are linked by a red string tied around their pinkies. So I was ridiculously excited for this Alice Winters standalone novel that features the magical threads.

    Unraveling the Threads of Fate is a story of a high school teacher, Alex, whose gift is the ability to see the red strings. It has a neat little twist wherein he can also see the black strings linking people to those who will kill them. To make Alex’s life even more exciting, a.k.a. hellish, his red string AND black string are attached to the same person, Bishop King, his billionaire high school friend. The man is both a hopeless crush and the last person he wants to see.

    The world-building reminded me of another urban fantasy series by the author, In The Mind, where people have gifts. The writing doesn’t dwell too much on the hows and whys. It’s just a given that some people have gifts. Bishop’s gift is the ability to walk dreams.

    The chapters switch between past and present with brief glimpses of the future. One thing that soon became apparent is that everyone’s got MAJOR daddy issues. Young Alex was manipulated by his drug-dealing father to run drugs. The teen also had to take care of his baby half-sister because his dad couldn’t be bothered. Bishop has his own rich people problems to sort out with his dad.

    The book is humor, mystery and suspense with the romance seamlessly falling into place without too much fanfare. It’s driven by the MCs’ desire to stop the deaths of people close to them with the past events heavily impacting the present.

    As much as I loved the concept, I wasn’t completely blown away. The beginning to about 60% was really riveting! The plot was tight and fast-paced. I loved how Alex and Bishop learned to make their gifts work together, turning from grudging partners to secret superheroes who saved people from untimely demise.

    I’d also like to commend the author for hitting the sweet spot for her trademark humor vs. moving things forward. We got the hilarious snark for snark gags but toned down and short enough that they don’t distract from the plot.

    However, the last 40% sorta meandered and lagged. These are the parts where they had to save more people and settle their daddy issues. It would have been exciting, except I got impatient for the story to wrap up because it’s becoming long drawn out.

    As for the strings, I loved how they were used in the story, especially Alex and Bishop’s connection. They were changing the course of fate by saving people, but were they really?

    Unraveling the Threads of Fate took a deeply romantic concept of soulmates, turned it upside down, and gave something of a Schrödinger dilemma. All in all, a funny, suspenseful, surprisingly gritty tale tying past, present, and future together.

    Rating:
    3.5 Stars – that place between like and love

    Soundtrack: Red String
    Artist: Aldious
    Album: Dazed and Delight


    If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Unraveling the Threads of Fate. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.

    Unraveling the Threads of Fate: US | UK

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    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(June 8, 2022)

    June 8, 2022 / 1 Comment

    Here are the rules:

    Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to?

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    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(March 30, 2022)

    March 30, 2022 / 1 Comment

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    Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to?

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    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(February 16, 2022)

    February 16, 2022 / No Comments

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    Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to?

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    REVIEW: The Former Assassin’s Guide to Snagging a Reluctant Boyfriend by Alice Winters

    December 10, 2021 / 2 Comments
    58752364. sy475

    The Former Assassin’s Guide to Snagging a Reluctant Boyfriend – Alice Winters

    Cassel
    When I gave up life as a hitman, I thought everything was going to be better. I was going to become a PI, help people, and live normally… and then I met Jeremy, the most perfect man to have ever saved my life (I mean, he might be the only one who has saved my life, but he’s still the best at it). From that point on, it was all over for me—I knew we were meant to be. The issue is that he doesn’t… quite seem to realize that. But when he’s targeted by criminals (literally, someone just shot at his head), he needs to rely on someone, so why not me? He might not know about my past as a hitman or that I don’t need to be protected, but I’m prepared to do everything I can to save the day.

    Jeremy
    When my past comes back with a vengeance, I’ve never felt so alone and out of my element. That is, until Cassel offers me information that I desperately need, forcing me to drag him straight into danger. The issue is that he’s too sweet and innocent for this world and I’m not sure that I’m strong enough to protect him, but I can’t bring myself to push him away. As truths come to light, I realize that maybe Cassel isn’t quite who I thought he was, and maybe we’re not so different after all.

    While you can read The Former Assassin’s Guide on its own, you’ll get maximum enjoyment by reading The Hitman’s Guide series first. This book contains speedy car chases and not-so-speedy ATV rides, a wager Cassel is determined to win even if it kills him, and way-too-tight sparkly spandex suits.


    The wacka-doodle gang of reformed hitmen is back!

    The Former Assassin’s Guide to Snagging a Reluctant Boyfriend is the spin-off of The Hitman’s Guide series. We have Cassel, short, highly skilled, and hopelessly in love with a policeman. We first met him as Leland’s housekeeper, also, as a former protégé of Leland’s dead mentor. 

    Cassel has been flirting like mad with Jeremy, the officer who saved his life in the previous books, but the man seemed oblivious to his signals. Then one day, Jeremy was almost shot. Cassel takes it upon himself to help Jeremy find out who’s after him. And, hopefully, win his guy’s heart along the way.

    I was immediately drawn to Cassel. He’s similar to Leland but more insecure and definitely less exhausting. It makes him an easier character to get along with, both for the readers and the other cast. He has an inferiority complex when it comes to Leland, having been told again and again by their mentor how good the hitman was. In truth, Cassel is just as deadly. He certainly lived up to his assassin name, Reaper.

    Jeremy is perfectly likable. He keeps a low profile because of a secret past that now comes biting him in the ass. The thing with him is that, while it is his past that drives the story forward, Jeremy tends to take a backseat in many scenes. More often than not, he ends up getting saved or just standing by. He even pointed it out. He might be under-utilized but what I appreciated most about him was that he recognized how amazing Cassel was, even under Leland’s more dominating presence.

    I loved the first parts of the story the most. It felt more focused. From the halfway point, it sort of meandered. The plot became a convoluted mess. The gang was going around in circles.

    To make matters worse, there was too much Leland bulldozing his way through the scenes. I love this guy, but, he should be deployed in small doses. Also, there’s the inclusion of tiresome gags for gag’s sake that did nothing for me. This is par for course for this author. Although, she toned it down a bit compared to the original series.

    The romance was also sadly under-developed. I loved the pining and the way the story brought Jeremy and Cassel together. However, there was too much focus on solving the mystery, which was a long-drawn-out affair that could have been executed better. I spent most of it skimming, not caring too much about the big reveal. But I did enjoy the OTT action scenes. Expect a lot of things going BANG!

    In the end, what kept me reading was my love for these dysfunctional characters. Husbands Jackson and Leland are always a welcome sight, no matter how Leland-y Leland gets. But again, small doses, yeah? Police chief and group daddy Henry is a delight as always.

    And I might loved Cassel juust a bit more than Leland probably because he felt more relatable. Even Jeremy completely won me over at that last part where he had all these dates lined up to make up for the years of normalcy he and Cassel missed.

    The Former Assassin’s Guide to Snagging a Reluctant Boyfriend may have held out on the romance but, it readily delivered more of our beloved characters, some mystery, ridiculous antics, and gun-slinging action. All in all, it did not blow my mind but, it scored some hits 

    Rating:
    3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked it

    Soundtrack: I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
    Artist: The Rubinoos
    Album: The Rubinoos

    P.S.

    Truth be told, I only read The Hitman’s Guide to Making Friends and Finding Love because I found its sequel repetitive. I highly recommend the moony meeting between Jackson and Leland here.


    If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of The Former Assassin’s Guide to Snagging a Reluctant Boyfriend. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.

    US | UK

    If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!

    Read More
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neverhollowed Never Hollowed By The Stare @neverhollowed ·
30 Nov

FLICKer: Pure Vanilla: Recipe for Romance #shortfilm

Gabriel struggles to make sense of Charlie’s feelings for him as the two navigate their budding romance.

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neverhollowed Never Hollowed By The Stare @neverhollowed ·
30 Nov

Aaron Frale's new queer fantasy My Three-Year-Old is a Barbarian
and Other Parenting Problems: https://neverhollowed.com/2023/11/30/blog-tour-my-three-year-old-is-a-barbarian-and-other-parenting-problems-by-aaron-frale-excerpt-giveaway/

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neverhollowed Never Hollowed By The Stare @neverhollowed ·
30 Nov

Omegas are to be protected; to be kept safe. They’re not meant to work!

NEW RELEASE: Get Pucking Knotty by Crea Reitan


https://neverhollowed.com/2023/11/30/new-release-get-pucking-knotty-by-crea-reitan/

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neverhollowed Never Hollowed By The Stare @neverhollowed ·
29 Nov

“I know you’ve been living in survival mode, but maybe it’s time to accept that you deserve to be loved.”

COVER & EXCERPT REVEAL: The Wild Within by Gwen Martin (Excerpt & #Giveaway)


https://neverhollowed.com/2023/11/29/cover-excerpt-reveal-the-wild-within-by-gwen-martin-excerpt-giveaway/

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