has a bit of a temper and can be vengeful  but overall I quite liked her character
938983
This is both a very unique and fairly faithful retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairytale. Hunted takes place in Russia and our main character Yeva (Beauty) is a huntress. She is headstrong, kind, caring, has a bit of a temper and can be vengeful  but overall I quite liked her character.

Like the classic tale, Beauty is the youngest of three sisters and daughter of a merchant. In some versions, she also has three brothers and her sisters are unkind  but that is not the case in this retelling. They live in a nice house until a shipping gamble costs them everything. They are forced to move to their fathers old hunting cabin, which is a three-day walk from their current home. Her father used to be a hunter, but his wife believed that it was too dangerous and asked him to stop. Despite that, as a child Beauty was allowed to go hunting with her father and learned to love it. Unfortunately, as she grew her father decided that it was not the way a lady should purport herself and no longer allowed her to hunt.

After the loss of their fortune, Yeva and her family must learn to make due with less. Her father takes up hunting again and goes off to catch game for them to store for the winter. Unfortunately, when he returns he is distraught and swears that the Beast he saw when he was younger is stalking him. When he doesnt return from his second trip, Yeva sets out to find him and this is where the story adopts some significantly different elements from the original tale.

In the original, the father enters a castle and accepts his hosts hospitality, but upon leaving takes a single rose for his daughter Beauty and is told he has a choice. He shall either be condemned to death for it or he must stay in the castle. While these are not the events that lead to Yevas time in the castle, nevertheless she ends up imprisoned there. Over time, she and the Beast grow to know one another  but her treatment isn't as kind overall as the original.

I really enjoyed the tales that Yeva told while she was in captivity because they built the lore of the world and gave us a look into what the characters had grown up listening to. Although Yeva spent most of her time as the castle, I do wish that we were able to get to know the other characters like her sisters a little better. They seem very kind, but relatively one-dimensional. As a result of the Beasts curse, I don't feel like we got to know him as well as we could have. I would have loved to watch him grow and connect with him as Yeva does so that I could feel that yes, they could fall in love. I liked Yeva, but her dog Doe-Eyes was probably my favourite character. The dog was so cheerful and loyal that you couldn't help but love her.

The world that Yeva knows is not one we get to see very often in young adult literature. It is a melding of Russia, with its unique environment and folklore, with a more fantastical world. Yeva tells tales of the Firebird, sees a creature that is half dragon and half woman, and learns to listen to the music of that other world. The world itself reminds me a lot of the Grisha trilogy, although the plots and characters are nothing alike. I would love to experience more of the lore that built this enchanted world in the form of novellas.

I would highly recommend this to young adult/teen readers who enjoy fairytales and retellings, especially ones with a unique take on the tale that includes a lot of culture and lore.
1291361
The main character has enough bad attitude in her to make the world spin, and did not fail in firing up all sorts of vengeful grins when I was reading. The book has an intriguing premise, is full of action and kickass attitude, and a main character out to burn a hell of a lot of bridges behind her. A few parts were a bit confusing, but it became clear in the end. And the action scenes were pretty hardcore, using a special mix of physical and magical that I love.

Looking forward to reading the sequel.
903502
It was a little bit frustrting that she let the in laws walk over her but it was but it was necessary for the character to grow I will buy the second one
1602461
Book 1 charmed me with Chris's character despite my reservations about the dubious consent that happens in the beginning of the book. Book 2 was fun in some places, but it dragged horribly in others. Some of the writing felt a bit old or stiff, making the characters more wooden than book 1. Mark was still an interesting character, and I appreciated that he wanted to give Lexie a chance to actually choose him. Lexie was a bit of a weak character to me, but Mark's humor helped carry the story along.
2443013
By the end I really liked the book and would read more but initially Artemis Black's anger seemed a bit over the top.
1225403
Molly Lovelace was a difficult character to care for.  Her poor choices made her tough to like.  She came across as quite selfish although she claimed that some of her actions were to help her family.

I enjoyed the story which had some great lessons about true love and forgiveness.  Sometimes it's hard to see the good in people when we should trust them, while other times it's hard to find out that some folks are not as good as they initially come across.

I really didn't have a favorite character.  I gained respect for Bailey's family, especially when they stood up for who they loved.

If you enjoy historical romance, you will likely enjoy this book.
2178658
Young man feels his high school age girlfriend was killed by a careless hero and seeks revenge.  Well, its a new twist on the old "I want revenge" plot and it actually has some interesting twists to it.

I think I could almost give this four stars.  I liked the main character when he didn't get lost in the angst of having lost his girl too young.  The main hero bugged me more than a bit, but considering that from the start he was being written as rather careless there was a reason he seemed so jaded and callous.  I just found him not villainous enough to enjoy him as a villain, but too calculating to enjoy him as anything else.

There were a few other stumbles, but the characters were dynamic with worries and ideals that made sense and brought a bit more life than you might see.  It was actually a fairly fun read.
1386291
I'm just getting into the story line, but I like it that she is feisty and speaks her mind in a time when women weren't really allowed to be all that they could be.
1001459
If the author's goal was for me to dislike her heroine, she certainly succeeded.  Although I can't imagine her goal was for me to thoroughly dislike her book, I'm afraid she succeeded there too.
4187971
Mia Quinn is an intriguing new character in this series and it's interesting to watch her juggle being a DA, a widow, and a mother. She tries her best and is definitely a sympathetic character. Her good friend Colleen is murdered while on the phone with Mia and Mia is assigned the case. She searches for Colleen's killer and along with an investigator named Charlie looks into whether Colleen's death is connected to the death of Stan, another assistant district attorney who was killed several years earlier. At the same time, Mia is committed to pursuing justice for a teenage suicide victim who was bullied. The story starts off with Colleen's murder so things get going pretty quickly and we are thrown into the action. This is a popular technique but sometimes it feels odd that we don't get to know the characters better before bad things happen to them. Perhaps we don't get to know the characters that well at the beginning of the story, it wasn't a "one more chapter before bed" kind of book for me. Nonetheless, the story moves along at a nice pace and I was curious to see what would happen next, especially since Mia is likable and has a lot going on in her life. Her bickering with Charlie was slightly annoying at first, but overall they seemed realistic. Mia's father also has an interesting role as he's recently become more active in his church.
1013477
I liked the gamer aspect and the strong female character. I look forward to reading more about her and to see how she grows as a sorceress and a person. Laughed out loud a couple of times as well.
1357358
I like the heroine's strengths and her ability to push through all the perils that the mountain threw at her.
4596830
It tried a little too hard for some of its humor, and the heroine acted more like a teenager than her twenty-six years. I also never really had a good idea of what the hero looked like and got conflicting impressions of him. But it has some intriguing secondary characters.
The story needs one more round of proofing to fix the last of the nuisance issues.
I look forward to seeing more from this author in the future as she polishes her craft.
I received a copy of this book from the Kindle Scout program.
3864658
I am reading and listening to this book and it's adequate for passing the time on my long commute to and from work.  What I like about the book is that the main character is relatable from her situation with her marriage to her relationship with the dog in the story.  The thoughts she has in her head about people and situations are often, spot on.  What I don't like though is the main character while relatable, is not very likeable.  Basically, she's kinda a bitch; she's both surly and snarky.  The story puts her forth as an "introvert" but what she really is, is antisocial. Her disagreeableness keeps her emotionally distant both in the story and to the reader.  Honestly, if I hadn't bought he Audible narration, I probably wouldn't bother finishing this and would return it.  While it is a unique perspective give the main character's loss, it's hard to care much about what she does.
2038215
I liked the book, but didn't really like the main character.  I frequently found myself frustrated by her naivete wanting to yell, "you've got to be kidding me."  Despite this I got caught up in the story and enjoyed it overall.
635200
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

SHAMELESS is the second book in the King's Brats series.  In this book you learned more about the feud between the Grayhawks and the Flynns, and the author gives more insight into some of the character's backgrounds and what lead them to become the people they are now.  However, it is mainly about Pippa, the pregnant daughter of Matt Grayhawk, and Devon, the youngest of the Flynn brothers.

I liked the story overall.  I like Pippa and Devon and enjoyed their evolving relationship, although they did become a little irritating near the end.  Unfortunately, I found most of the secondary characters to be annoying, especially Matt and his interactions with Pippa.  He constantly treated her like a child, gave no thought to her wishes, and reacted inappropriately to certain situations.
594543
The heroine is a thoroughly  likeable character: strong, intellingent. Our hero needs to get over his bitterness a little earlier in the book/it gets to be a bit much by the end.....his bitterness over the childhood failings gets to be a bit too much after a while....but overall well written, funny in places.  I liked it well enough to go look for the next book in the series.