A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

Summary: Miss Kate Daltry doesn't believe in fairy tales . . . or happily ever after.
Forced by her stepmother to attend a ball, Kate meets a prince . . . and decides he's anything but charming. A clash of wits and wills ensues, but they both know their irresistible attraction will lead nowhere. For Gabriel is promised to another woman—a princess whose hand in marriage will fulfill his ruthless ambitions.

Gabriel likes his fiancée, which is a welcome turn of events, but he doesn't love her. Obviously, he should be wooing his bride-to-be, not the witty, impoverished beauty who refuses to fawn over him.

Godmothers and glass slippers notwithstanding, this is one fairy tale in which destiny conspires to destroy any chance that Kate and Gabriel might have a happily ever after.

Unless a prince throws away everything that makes him noble . . .

Unless a dowry of an unruly heart trumps a fortune . . .

Unless one kiss at the stroke of midnight changes everything.

I don't really have too much to say about this book really, except that I enjoyed it and it served its purpose.
When I'm in a reading slump, aside from just whining and being miserable and waiting, there are two kinds of books that can sometimes snap me out of it--really amazing books (those ones that are insta-favourites and just leave you with that wow feeling)...and books like this one (predictable, mindless entertainment that don't have much substance beyond being ridiculously addictive).

I loved the book. It was exactly what I needed it to be. It hooked from the first page to the last, it had me smiling a lot, I became attached to the characters (even the dogs), I liked that it wasn't one of those stories that portray the step-sister as ugly and awful or makes the "competition" catty and mean, and I just really enjoyed reading it. I read it in one sitting (when I'm in a reading slump, that is normally a struggle).

The book wasn't perfect but the flaws didn't bother me much because I wasn't reading it expecting a literary masterpiece, I didn't care if the writing was wonderful or if the story was original, I just wanted to read a book that would keep me entertained with a romance that would be predictable and fun to read about, and this was exactly that. I really want to read the rest of the books in this fairy tale series, hopefully the others will be just as good.

I'm not going to rate the book, because I judge books like this on a different scale--if I measured it against the standards I hold my favourite books to then the rating wouldn't be great, but for what it was and what I wanted it to be, the rating would be higher. So...yeah, if you want some fun, predictable, historical romance then I recommend this one. And if you like these sorts of books, are there any you'd recommend?

On a kind of related note: why, why, why must these books have such bloody awful covers? I think I've yet to see one with a cover I actually like and wouldn't cringe to be seen reading in public. Even the redesigned ones are just...eugh.

Later.

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Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Summary: After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.
Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

With the first book in the series, people seemed to either love it or hate it. I was one of the people that loved it--it had me so caught up in the story that the flaws other people seemed so hung up on barely registered with me while I was reading. With this book, in the end, I think I loved it just as much as the first.
Celaena annoyed me quite a bit in this one...but then, that's okay because characters should be flawed so when she'd say something or do something that was annoying or selfish, it may have irritated me for a while but I like that she wasn't portrayed as being perfect. I loved her relationships with Chaol and Nehemia.

The book was kind of split in half for me. In the first half of the book, the plot tended to drag sometimes, but the romance kept me totally hooked (can I keep Chaol?) so even when there wasn't much else to hold my interest, I kept turning the pages for that. While in the second half, the plot picked up and that was what kept me reading in that part and I really like the direction the story has started to take--it ended in a way that left me desperate to read the next book in the series.

The book wasn't perfect (like, there were little things that didn't quite make sense*), but I pretty much loved it. It's addictive, kept me hooked from start to finish, and it I love the characters. Can it be 2014 now so I can read the next one?

Rating: 4 (or 4.5) out of 5.

(Sorry this review isn't very good, most of what I wanted to talk about was too spoiler-ish to make it into the review.)

Later.

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