It’s Time for the Scorpio Races… I am so, so alive.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Every November on a tiny island the water horses come out of the sea and the island has a race.  These horses aren’t normal racing animals, they are monsters that eat meat and the men of the island race and some riders die while one will be crowned victor.  This story is about a boy named Sean Kendrick who has won the last four years and is coming back with his water horse Corr and a girl named Puck Connolly a desperate girl that is trying to keep her family together after her parents were dragged down into the sea by these monsters she’s about to race. 

I loved this book.  I am so glad I finally got it from the library because every book I have read of Maggie Stiefvater, I have loved.  Maggie has a way with words that blows my mind.  She makes the normal seem inspirational.  She makes things smell that don’t have a smell and the characters taste things that don’t have taste and it’s amazing.  She has a way with words that make a small observation seem huge and life changing. 

Sean, what a great character, I loved how quiet he was and how unassuming he was.  I loved his relationship with Corr and I adored how his emotions grew stronger for Puck, with each training day.  He is a fantastic character filled with grief and love and drive. 

As the race finally starts on page 397 (of 472) my heart was beating so fast.  I’m sitting on the edge of my seat.  What’s going to happen?  Who’s going to win and who’s going to die?  There was so much tension and suspense these moments that I thought I would have to take a break, but couldn’t step away from the action on the beach.  The race was only 2 miles long on a beach, it was the most nail biting 10 pages I’ve read in a long time.  I was so worried that Sean or Puck was going to die.  I couldn’t believe that other characters had died in the book and on this same beach and I was just waiting for someone that I loved to die. 

I enjoyed Puck’s little brother Finn, what a great character with his little nervous quirks and how much he loved his family.  He would do anything for Puck and I loved that.  On the other hand, I did not like her older brother Gabe.  I can’t believe he was willing to leave his younger siblings because he couldn’t take the island anymore.  He didn’t want them to come, he was just abandoning them on this death island because he’s a selfish prick.  I couldn’t believe what a punk he was. 

Overall it was a great reading experience and I can’t wait to read more of Maggie’s books, I had forgotten how much I loved her work!  Just a few quotes that I loved!

“They’re saying that you and Sean Kendrick were burning up the cliffs.” Tommy spins me again and grins at me.  “And when I say you and Sean Kendrick, I mean you and Sean Kendrick.  And by burning, I mean burning.”

As Sean slips out of his jacket, he looks over his shoulder at me and she smiles at me, just a glancing faint thing before he turns back to Tommy.  I’m quite happy for the smile, because Dad told me once you should be grateful for the gifts that are the rarest. 

Keep Reading My Friends!

What Was Your First Tattoo?

Rowdy (Marked Men Novel #5) by Jay Crownover

If you would have asked me last year when I read Rule (the first book in the Marked Men series) if I would have liked another Marked Man as much as I liked Rule I would have thought you were crazy.  Rule was the quintessential bad boy tamed by the love of a good woman.   But my friends, as I learned more about Rowdy throughout the series I knew that I was going to love his book.  He was a carefree soul that loves his friends like family and I was excited to see the story from his point of view. 

Salem moves to Denver from Las Vegas in search of a place to call home.  When she received the call from Nash that he needed someone to run his new store in LoDo she googled the shop, saw one handsome long lost friend and knew this was her new home.  Rowdy takes some time to convince that she is in Denver to stay, but as the story moves along and good times are had and bad times are experienced maybe Salem will be in this relationship for the long haul or maybe this is just one more stopping place before she moves on with or without Rowdy.

I love this series.  I love the characters and I love how Jay brings our old favorites back into each story.  I can’t wait to wrap this series up with Asa.  I will be excited to see how he and Royal will be able to overcome the criminal and the cop stigma. 

Well friends, if you like tattoos and romance with a little bit of excitement and a whole lot of angst then this is the series for you!  Keep reading my Friends! 

Gossip and Football

All Lined Up (Rusk University #1) by Cora Carmack

I loved this book!  I have read most of Carmack’s works and the report on her books thus far, Losing It, I liked it, Faking It, I really liked it, Finding it, was pretty good.  But as I finish All Lined Up, all I can say is I loved this book!  I see concepts that I liked in the Losing It series but written with so much passion, love and feeling that it passes my “likes” with time warp speed.  All of that to say, I’ve liked all of her books, that’s just how good All Lined Up was in my opinion.

So, what makes this books so great?  First of all it’s the plot.  I love the brief background and the concept of history repeating itself right from the beginning.  Here is Dallas Cole, coach’s daughter moving to college and her dad just happens to get the coaching job at her new home, Rusk University.  Then this is also where her high school sweetheart Levi went when he graduated.  At the very beginning of the story we see where her fate is going in two different directions.  Will she go down the path to new beginnings where she meets new people, such as Carson McClain and isn’t always going to be known as the coach’s daughter?  Or will she take the  old road, where she’s destined to be talked about in the locker room and approached by strangers at the grocery story who want to talk about last week’s game or her dad?  The same road from high school where she is destined to date the old QB and be the same girl standing quietly next to Coach going to church every Sunday and doing what the good girl does?  Or do both paths lead to the same destination?  I think you’ll have to read it to find out!

I was a little confused by the geography of where her high school was and where her college is.  Did her dad have to move to a new town when he got hired at Rusk University?  Or is her high school and college in the same town she has been in for several years since her last move?  When Dallas moves back into her dad’s house I felt like it was the same house that she must have been in for high school, but she never talked about it with any emotion or longing for home.  And maybe… that is the genius of it.  Maybe none of her homes ever felt like home because of her feelings of always being second place behind football to her dad.

I absolutely loved the characters of this book.  I really enjoyed Stella.  She was an excellent role of a best friend.  She was fun loving and an enjoyable character, but didn’t overpower the scenes she was in.  I also liked Ryan and his role in the story.   Of course what kind of book would it be without a book boyfriend like Carson McClain?  He was an excellent character to read and know his side of the story.  It was an overall excellent story and a great book.  I can’t wait to keep reading in the series, up next is All Broke Down.  It’s not next on my TBR pile, but I hope to get to it soon!  Keep Reading my Friend!