Love on a Battlefield by Posy Roberts

Here's the blurb!

Not every compass points north.

Andrew Summers is forced to spend his vacations reliving Civil War battles with his father. He hates every minute, until a blue-eyed, red-haired boy behind enemy lines catches his eye.

Shep Wells would much rather travel the world than play at boring war reenactments. He never dreamed a Texan boy would capture his heart.

Real life and years separate them; Andrew is forced onto real battlefields, but for Shep the world is a playground. They’re opposites, but writing letters closes the distance, uncovering their hopes and dreams. When Shep visits Andrew, they get to see if the tug they’ve felt for years is the compass pointing the way home.

This is the first book by Posy Roberts I've read, and it left me wanting a bit more by her, to be honest.
This book is so sweet it most likely gave me cavities. Shep and Andrew go through a lot before being able to be together, and the hardships are so realistic that they hurt, but that makes their joy more sweeter. The story flows smoothly, no bumps or slow patches. It had such lovely flow I was a bit surprised when I noticed it was over. I finished it so fast!

A very addictive read, and a wonderful introduction to Posy as an author.
Disclaimer: I recieved this book as an ARC, but all opinions are my own. 

The Lion and the Crow by Eli Easton

Here's the summary from Goodreads

In medieval England, duty is everything, personal honor is more valued than life itself, and homosexuality is not tolerated by the church or society. 

Sir Christian Brandon was raised in a household where he was hated for his unusual beauty and for his parentage. Being smaller than his six brutish half-brothers, he learned to survive by using his wits and his gift for strategy, earning him the nickname the Crow. 

Sir William Corbett, a large and fierce warrior known as the Lion, has pushed his unnatural desires down all his life. He’s determined to live up to his own ideal of a gallant knight. When he takes up a quest to rescue his sister from her abusive lord of a husband, he’s forced to enlist the help of Sir Christian. It’s a partnership that will test every strand of his moral fiber, and, eventually, his understanding of the meaning of duty, honor, and love.

This book makes me so happy, because not only does it have a cute romance story, but said story is historically accurate, really exciting, and very emotional. I have read it twice now, and I can't discount the possibility of another reread!

Definitely worth the time. Then again, it's by Eli Easton, so of course I love it. The lowest I've ever given her books are four stars, after all ;)

The Clockwork War by Katy Haye (Clockwork War #1)

Here's the summary from Goodreads

Imagine that Queen Elizabeth I never ruled. 
England and Scotland never unified. 
It’s 1845 and the two countries are once more at war. 

Mechanical genius Clara Lissing cares little for the war. She just wants to keep her five brothers safe. But when her youngest brother Tom enlists with the army everything she’s worked for starts to fall apart. 
Clara goes to London to work with Duke Murgatroyd building a device that will bring an end to the fighting. Clara is determined to do her duty, help win the war and send everyone’s brothers home to safety. 
But life in London brings with it the distracting presence of Gordy, Murgatroyd’s 18-year-old nephew. Gordy is a loose cog, twisting her clockwork life out of shape and making her think of things that aren’t work and duty. 
Then Clara discovers Murgatroyd’s true plans for the army, the city, and England itself. With war reaching to the heart of London, Clara and Gordy must match duty with determination if they’re to save a nation


I really liked this book. It was engaging and exciting, and I could hardly put it down. Clara is (to me) quite relatable, and I officially declare Gordy a cinnamon roll. Clara can be a bit dense sometimes, but given he fact that she's human and not that used to human company, generally prefering machines, it's understandable. I am really curious to know what really happened to princess Myrtle (and McAllister), as I'm sure it's a story worth hearing, and I hope it's touched in the next books.

You can get this copy in the Shattered Worlds anthology (which has 20 other novels!) or in paperback. I really hope I get to read the next one soon!

(I bought the anthology, but received a copy of this novel for review as well)

The Replacement Princess by Katy Haye (Clockwork war 0.5)

Here's the summary from Goodreads

Imagine that Queen Elizabeth I never ruled. 
England and Scotland never unified. 
It's 1841 the two countries are once more at war. 

16-year-old English Princess Myrtle holds the fate of two nations in her hands. She can bring about a truce by marrying Scottish Prince James. Since he is just a boy of 14, she has two years to unlearn everything she thought she knew about Scotland and fall in love with the country that will be her home, and the boy destined to become her husband. 

The son of a Scottish Duke, Callum McAllister joins the court to teach Myrtle about Scotland and change her reluctant mind about her future. But when war has been simmering for centuries, two years is a long time. The smallest misstep could bring chaos and return the countries to war. Myrtle must tread carefully to ensure nothing goes wrong. 

I really liked this story. It really makes me want to read the Clockwork War. Myrtle, for being a princess, is a very relatable character, and I really wish she was allowed to marry McAllister. If you have an hour or so to spare, don't hesitate to get this book. 

 A worthy read, no doubt. 

The Captive Prince (volumes 1&2) by C.S.Pacat

I found these books by chance, and thought “Why not?” Well, let me tell you that this series  (which is still missing it’s third and final book) is amazing.

 It starts with Prince Damianos (Damen for most of the book) who is betrayed by his half-brother and sold as a personal salve to prince Laurent of Vere. The thing is, in a recent war with Vere, Damen killed Laurent’s beloved brother Auguste, and Laurent wouln’t want anything better than seeing Prince Damianos dead (other than killing him himself).

Damen is a noble, honorable person that used to believe everyone was like that, until he was betrayed by his brother and sent to Vere, where he finds the cruelty that goes on both in Vere and in his own country. Being in the verge of war, Damen finds Laurent, the crown prince, is his only chance to maintain peace and save many lives. But if Damen is found as the prince of Akielos he is likely to face not only death in the court of Vere but also the hate from Laurent, for whom Damen slowly develops feelings for.

Laurent was a hard character for me to like. He is an absolute sadist (with a couple of apparent glimpses of humanity) in the first book, yet the second shows a bit more of the person he actually is underneath the heaven-knows-how-many walls that he uses to protect himself. Both the death of his brother as his uncle’s attitude towards him make a TON of reasons for Laurent to be an a**hole, but his heart is noticeable every now and then, reason for which I could never actually hate him.

Romance isn’t a hurried affair in this two books as it can be in many others, but that makes every development between both Laurent and Damen all the more sweeter when they happen (and all the more painful when they are interrupted somehow).

This series isn’t all romance, because both characters are set in a imminent war between kingdoms and their separate fight for each of their thrones. Laurent needs to gain the support of his people and win against his uncle’s strategic battle for the throne (which his uncle currently holds as a regent). Damen, on the other hand, needs to get out of Vere alive, return to Akielos and fight his brother for the stolen throne. Filled with court intrigues, battles, fights, and plenty of other stuff, this books are a certain recommendation for all people who don’t mind a sex scene every now and then.

total rating: 4.5 stars

The expected publication of Kings Rising, the final book of this trilogy, is February 2^nd, 2016 (as told by Goodreads). I’ll be more than happy waiting for it to come out.