H.R. Moore's Blog

House of Earth and BloodWARNING: this post contains spoilers for ACOTAR and The House of Earth and Blood.

Like every other Sarah J Mass fan, I recently embarked on Mass's new adult fantasy, House of Earth and Blood. And now, I have theories for the rest of the series, and NEED to share them, so here I go:

Prediction 1: Bryce and Hunt will not end up together (does anyone think they will? It is the Mass MO after all...). Hunt is lackluster, flawed (the drug deal), and still in love with his ex-archangel.

Prediction 2: The archangel (who was never referred to as dead) will return at some stage, and Hunt will end up with her.

Prediction 3: Hunt's completely sold on the series macro-arch of overthrowing the status quo. I guess Bryce will be too, although could see some kind of twist here - a 'who's really good' kinda vibe. The big bad 7 in the chairs are for the chop at the end of the series though, right?

Prediction 4: The woman from the empty superpower chair is going to have a role for sure. Maybe Jessiba is she...

Prediction 5: Bryce will end up with the guy from Hel - he seems like a misunderstood, all powerful type and he's certainly interested in her...

Prediction 6: Hel feels a lot like the Night Court in ACOTAR - to the outside it's deplorable, but it's oh so much more than that. And the leaders of Hel had to tell off the naughty escaping demons, so they can't be all bad. We're totally going on a trip to Hel sometime soon...

Prediction 7: Hel seems like a handy hideout for lost people. Maybe the lost archangel resides there too...

Prediction 8: Bryce's brother is going to end up with the witch queen (am all about this), although she might go via the hot underwater guy first...would this be a step too far, even for Mass?

Prediction 9: Fury knows a load of stuff that's going to be really important in subsequent books. Who does she work for again?

Prediction 10: Hunt, his archangel, Bryce, and the guy from Hel will team up and work together. This will make for some awkward moments

Prediction 11: Bryce will have to learn how to deal with her new found superpower. She'll need someone to help with that...the guy from Hel?

What do you guys think? Agree / disagree / have other theories? Let me know!House of Earth and Blood

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Kiss Quotient was recommended to me by a friend.  Her recommendations are always brilliant, so I was excited to read this and it didn't disappoint.  The story follows Stella, a brilliant econometrician who is also on the autism spectrum.  She's high functioning, so is perfectly able to get through life, however doesn't always know how to interpret social situations.  Her mother wants grandchildren, and Stella doesn't want to let her down, however, she is yet to have any success in dating, especially when it comes to sex.  So, in a hyper-logical kinda way, Stella decides to take matters into her own hands and get some practice, hiring a male escort (Michael) to teach her everything she needs to know.  We then follow their unfolding relationship, with scenes from each of their points of view.

I really enjoyed this one and thought the character development was great.  I found Stella's character interesting and refreshing.  She's a strong, independent, intelligent women in most ways, and doesn't fall into the 'helpless woman waiting to be rescued by a man' trope.  I empathized with Stella and Michael equally, and the beauty of the plot is that they each have ways to help the other, neither judging in the way the world around them does.  They form a strong, reciprocal partnership with room for both of them to shine.

I also really appreciated the author's note at the end around how high functioning women with Asperger's often go un-diagnosed because they learn to hide their differences - very thought provoking.

All in all a lovely happily ever after, with compelling main characters, great supporting characters, especially the ones surrounding Michael, and some comedic moments as well.  A solid four stars.



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The Kiss Quotient

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I was so intrigued by the concept of this book. It follows two magicians who are pitted against each other in a mysterious competition when they’re children. The competition doesn’t begin until they’re older and takes place in a circus, each of them creating new parts of the circus as part of the contest. They’re not really sure of the exact rules and Celia doesn’t even know who her competitor (Marco) is for a long time. However, during the course of their battle, they create increasingly wonderous circus tents for each other, and they fall in love. But of course, only one of them can win, and the stakes are high.

I really enjoyed the wonder of the circus, the marriage of the usual types of things you’d find in a circus with magic, and the peripheral characters who follow the circus around. I liked the concept and wide variety of magic types, with tarot cards, exceptional abilities, and the eccentricity that is somehow inevitable with close proximity to these things.

I liked a lot about the book, but for me it didn’t progress as I’d hoped it would, and the romance was a bit of a non-starter. They fell in love in an extremely abstract way, and we’re never really given all that much insight in to the motivations of the characters. I think the author may have done this on purpose to maintain an air of mystery, but for me it just meant I couldn’t connect that deeply with the characters or the story. Also, the ending wasn’t as momentous as I’d hoped it would be, and the timeline in the book jumps all over the place, which I found quite confusing.

It was an interesting concept but it frustrated me in places, so for me a 3 star read.



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The Night Circus

Becoming by Michelle Obama

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I don’t read that much non-fiction, but I was so intrigued by Michele Obama as a person, and there was so much hype about her book, that I decided to give it a go. Also, I’m trying to find more non-fiction stuff to listen to when I’m exercising. This fit the bill perfectly and I listened to Becoming on Audible while cycling – wins all round!

The book is a long one and tracks Michele Obama’s life all the way from her childhood days when she lived in a small flat in Chicago with her parents and brother, through university, her professional career as a lawyer, her relationship with Barack Obama, his political ascendancy, and of course, culminates with their time in the White House.

I absolutely loved hearing the story from Michele’s perspective, especially now their political lives are over. It felt brutally honest, open, and candid. I thought it was refreshing to hear how she didn’t want Barack to climb the political ladder, nor did she particularly want Barack to become President. It was super interesting to find out what was going on behind the scenes of some of the big, newsworthy moments, one of my favorites being when she met the Queen, and she brings a great perspective in terms of being a working mother with a high-powered career of her own.

The story of how Barack proposed made me laugh, the part about gun crime had me on the verge of tears, and I was left with the sense that Michele Obama is a down to earth, practical, straightforward, intelligent woman who I’d love to sit down and chat with. I loved how honest she was about herself; she positions herself as a risk-adverse, rule-following, box ticking overachiever by nature, and I can relate! She doesn’t tell us this to pass judgement on herself, but rather uses it as a way to explain her thought process and reactions to events; if only HR departments were equally progressive…

It’s a really interesting read and for me it’s a solid four stars.



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Becoming

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was a little apprehensive before starting this book as I was worried it would be just a bit too ridiculous. You know how sometimes in rom coms, in order to make the story work and to inject ‘humour’, the writer puts in the most ludicrous series of events, set in motion through total incompetence from a person who is generally fairly together? However, I shouldn’t have worried, as Kinsella doesn’t resort to these tactics (not for the most part anyway).

The story follows the story of Samantha, a twenty nine year old lawyer at a top London law firm. She’s about to make partner when something happens to turn her life upside down. She has a breakdown and escapes to the country, finding herself in a gloriously beautiful Cotswold village and ending up (through a series of borderline too ludicrous) events, as a housekeeper. Obviously she hasn’t told her new employers about her old life, nor that she has no idea how to cook and clean, reasoning she won’t be staying long so it won’t matter anyway. However, it turns out she has to stay for longer than expected and she develops not only her domestic skills, but also a relationship with the delicious yet intelligent gardener, Nathaniel. Of course, she can’t outrun her old life for ever, and the drama ensues from there…

I read this book quickly, reading the last half in a day (I’m feeling pretty tired as I write this, because I stayed up way past my bedtime to do so…). There were moments when I laughed out loud (Samantha’s new employers are funny) and I really enjoyed the depiction of village life, Nathaniel’s mum, Iris, and the level of detail Kinsella goes into about the more complicated legal stuff. She doesn’t gloss over all the details, which makes the story so much more interesting and engaging.

The reason it didn’t make it to five stars for me, was because there were a couple of moments when I thought the ‘I don’t know how to do anything domestic’ depiction went just a little too far. Would a lawyer, who’s used to working out complex contracts, really have so much difficultly reading the manual telling her how the washing machine works? Would a lawyer, who’s used to negotiating, offer to foot the bill for a mistake made by a caterer? But there were only a couple such occasions where I felt it went too far. For the most part, the story was believable and Samantha approached things in the sensible, lawyer-like manner that you’d expect from someone about to make partner at the best law firm in the country.

I liked the pace, and unusually for me, even found a couple of bits, especially at the end, where I would have liked the story to take a bit more time…this VERY RARELY happens! Altogether, it was a great, fun, lighthearted and easy read and I’d definitely recommend for anyone looking for a rom com.



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The Undomestic GoddessThe Undomestic Goddess

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Let me start by saying that I love the film version of The Notebook, so when I was looking for a new read and a friend recommended Nicholas Sparks, I was pretty excited. However, if I’m honest, I found The Longest Ride disappointing.

I was expecting sweeping romance, brilliant character development and intriguing plot. Instead, what I got was pedestrian, obvious romance, static characters, and next to no plot. The same issues were regurgitated again and again, and the couple of times when I thought we were going to get some action or intrigue, it was over before it started.

I was waiting for the two story lines to overlap in a clever twist, but didn’t even get this. And the ending, which I won’t spoil, was blatant, fast and convenient. The pay off wasn’t deserved, it was just a nice way to wrap up the little story there was.

I wanted insight into the characters. I wanted more interesting interactions between them. I wanted something that would make me care about them. I didn’t get any of this. The interactions were brief, the conversation was limited, and the ending evoked no emotional response at all. I gave it three stars because two stars seemed overly harsh – I mean it was easy to read and nothing in it made me angry…!

All in all, I wouldn’t particularly recommend and don’t think Nicholas Sparks is for me – I need a bit more action, rather than just sweet romance. What did everyone else think?



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The Longest Ride

Hi everyone,

I'm super excited to announce my new book "In the Gleaming Light" is now available to pre-order on Amazon as an eBook. Paperback coming soon!

Here's the blurb:

When the robots steal our jobs...

It's 2048. Automation has stolen vast swathes of jobs, and the government pays everyone a no-strings-attached income, enough to live on, in order to keep the economy afloat. Society is split into those who can get jobs; engineers, managers, creatives, and those who cannot.

Iva Brooksbank, Senior Investigator of the Enforcement Office, has made a career of taking down corporate moguls who flout the rules, and now she has Guy Strathclyde, CEO of Cybax Technologies, firmly in her sights. She's sure he's up to something, and races to find evidence that will stick, before her time runs out.

Lulu Banks, a world famous artist, uses her work to highlight the deep inequalities and injustices the world now faces, perpetuated, she thinks, by the relentless march of technology. But when she finds herself the object of Guy's affections, she has to decide if she can trust his intentions, or if he's just the same as all the other corporate big dogs.

Goodreads page here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Click here to buy: https://amzn.to/2Dt5oVY

Hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think!

Harriet xx

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


There is a LOT of hype around this book, especially given it was fairly recently turned into a TV series, and so many people have said how much they love it, but for me, it was so-so.  I didn't hate it by any stretch of the imagination, but several times I found my attention wandering, I found some of the word play a little too much, and I didn't really like the ending.  Having said that, the setting was extremely intriguing, and that kept me turning the pages.

The Handmaid's Tale is set at some point a little in the future.  America has been taken over by new leadership, and women are subjugated, treated as property, and not even allowed to read.  The Handmaids occupy a specific role in society, which is of great importance, but their station has no clout whatsoever, and as such, they have no freedom at all.  They're supervised the majority of the time and there are very specific parameters in which their conduct must remain.  The price for overstepping is severe, and could very easily end up in death.

I liked elements of the story; the way things were revealed drip by drip, I wanted to know more about the world, and the sordid undertones and hypocritical nature of the elite were entertaining.  But there was also a lot that I found disappointing.  I wanted to see the end of her story, but it ended abruptly, jarringly, and so much about the world was left out (that the narrator would have known).  The ending was great in concept, and it was an unexpected twist, but I wish the content had been juicer.  Instead, when I realised I wasn't going to get any of the resolution I was after, I found myself looking repeatedly at how much time I had left to the end...

Some of the writing I really enjoyed, other bits were too literary for me.  I know a lot of people adore 'beautiful' writing, but I'm more of a 'let's get to the point' kind of girl.  I ended up scanning through the descriptions to get to the action.  Equally, I'm not convinced that if someone was giving an account of their personal history, especially given the circumstances in the book, that they would be quite so poetic...but maybe that's just me.

All in all, it was an interesting read, and I'm glad I know what everyone's talking about, but ultimately, it's not really my kind of thing, and the lack of resolution was really annoying, hence it only gets 3 stars from me. What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!



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The Handmaid's Tale

The Hating Game The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Hating Game…what can I say aside from I LOVED it and couldn’t put it down. I read it in just over 24 hours – that kind of dedication has not happened in a long time.

The Hating Game is a love story, set in a publishing house. Lucy and Josh are Executive Assistants to the co-CEOs, and not only do the CEOs hate each other, but so do Lucy and Josh. They’ve hated each other since the first moment they met. However, as the story unfolds through a series of delightful events, we discover that maybe they don’t hate each other after all…

And let’s talk about that series of delightful events for a moment, shall we? There’s a paint-balling scene reminiscent of Ten Things I Hate About You (still one of my favs), there’s a wedding scene reminiscent of The Wedding Date (need to watch that again now I think about it), and there’s bucketfuls of suspenseful tension to keep you turning the pages.

I thought at first that this might be a little too sappy for me, or that, given the limited cast, it might not hold my attention. Au contraire. I was hooked. I loved the dynamic between Josh and Lucy and that Josh was the more complex character of the two. A lot of romances fall into the trap of the man being strong, dependable, built like a god, and with no real issues of their own to deal with, but here, Thorne slowly reveals that Josh is the more emotionally scared of the two. He’s also wildly perceptive, far more so than Lucy, which gives him a sense of calm control, even as Thorne perpetuates a sense of possible impending doom. You’re pretty sure it’s all going to be okay, but she keeps you questioning right to the end.

The only very minor comment I would make is that there are a few more typos than I’d expect from a traditionally published book (which I only mention because people make such a big deal about typos in self-published books – nice to see publishing houses are populated by humans too…).

All in all I LOVED LOVED LOVED it – totally brilliant and deliciously wonderful escapist funny romance. If you’re into fast paced, fun romantic reads with relatively equally matched characters, then DEFINITELY give this one a go. You won’t regret it.



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Wildfire by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I’d like to start by saying that I like Ilona Andrews, and gave the other two books in this series four stars (despite my feelings about the covers), but, honestly, this installment was a disappointment. It picks up shortly after book two ends, and the good-versus-evil plot continues, complete with rip-roaring action scenes and intriguing uses of magic (the control of animals bit is particularly good). Nevada finally comes to a decision to do the inevitable and registers as a House, and then proceeds, obviously with the help of her rich, powerful boyfriend, Rogan, to once again save Houston. She has to do this while also evading capture at the hands of her evil grandmother, just to add some spice to the mix.

As with the other two books, I liked the premise and the simplicity of the approach – private detective trying to solve a case, to which there is more than it first seemed, with a good helping of romance. However, this book is a poor relation to the other two. It was predictable, felt rushed, and the romantic scenes left much to be desired.

The relationships became two dimensional, with a large cast of characters, which got totally out of control. There was little intrigue and the interactions between characters were stale. I liked the way Nevada’s family came more center stage, but, for a book this length, there just wasn’t enough time to deal with them all properly. This meant everything felt out of control and choppy (and for me, this is saying something, as I’m usually one wholly in favour of moving at breakneck speed!).

All in all, a disappointment, and I was so annoyed, given the contrast with the preceding two books, that I only gave it two stars. Let me know if you agree (or think I’m out of my mind) in the comments!



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