Dust on The Altar Review

Dust on the Altar is a dark urban adult fantasy with magical witches and a touch of sci-fi. It's set in an alternate Earth timeline, where cities are ruled by technology and their citizens have marginalized witches to the townships, where they can practice magic with little fear of reprisal.

Jade loves her life in Sun City: their technology is cutting edge, she's right-hand woman to the country's most powerful business owner, and no one suspects she's a Witch. But when her old coven's High Priestess and last remaining family member is murdered, she’s expected to leave her beloved city life behind, regain the powers she abandoned years ago, and take her place as coven leader.

Going back to Sugar Hill won't be easy. She'll have to find a way to reconcile with her former best friend who's the man she must now call partner, find the keys to her ascension ritual, and stop a Witch who will do anything to bring his daughter back from the dead.

With the coven's magic fading and a whole township counting on her to bring it back, will she find the strength to face the ghosts of her tragic past, or will she run from her responsibilities, again?

Michelle and I met online several years ago and I read an EARLY EARLY EARLY version of this book (and she’s ready early versions of mine too!) so when it turned out we were going to release our books in the same month, I was so excited! I was even more excited when she asked me to be part of her blog tour.

This is such beautiful urban fantasy. It has mystery, love, friendship, and of course - magic! Michelle Winkler offers an intricate and unique world where magic and technology are at odds, and our heroine Jade is caught in the middle.

Jade is both admirable and relatable, and all of her side characters are charming and heartwarming. You quickly grow to love each and every one of them and wish you could bury yourself in this book and join the coven of Sugar Hill! I read this book in one day, and it was a delight from start to finish. If you are looking for a fresh new urban fantasy, you need to pick this book up!

Michelle’s Website

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Praise for Issued by Paris Wynters

Title: Issued

Series: Navy Seals of Little Creek (Book 1)

Author: Paris Wynters

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Description as found on Goodreads:

She needs a total life reboot… even if it means marrying a stranger

Taya Maverick has just volunteered to marry a random Navy SEAL as part of the military’s new spouse-matching program. What other choice does she have? Her former best friend killed her father and torched her house. Taya’s determined to start over, but to be safe she has to disappear. The program is the perfect opportunity, complete with refuge and a built-in bodyguard. Her Navy SEAL husband can keep her safe, right?

After one spectacularly disastrous marriage, Jim Stephens nixes round two. But his commanding officer never accepts no for an order. While an injury may have sidelined him temporarily, Jim still needs to salvage his career after a mistake in combat puts him in leadership’s cross-hairs. Being the first in the pilot program guarantees him his rank and eventual active duty clearance…as long as he can last the trial year.

The I dos are barely uttered before Jim and Taya realize they’ve each miscalculated. Their sizzling chemistry might lead to bed, but neither is prepared to open their heart. And then Taya’s past comes knocking...

Purchase Links:

Amazon: https://buff.ly/3b95Zvy

Apple Books: https://buff.ly/2WwHdkC

Nook: https://buff.ly/2vAHxE8

Kobo: https://buff.ly/2Wo0Xag

Google Play: https://buff.ly/3a2Cv23

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I was so excited when Paris asked me to read her latest book! I’ve read a lot of contemporary romance but I haven’t ventured into the military end of it much, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Issued. I know almost next to nothing about Navy SEALs. I even had to double check to be sure I put SEAL in all caps just now. I know… you all are probably shaking your heads at me. What I did know is that I love Paris’ writing, brooding heroes, girls with an attitude (and she’s Mongolian!), and any sort of trope that’s a fake or arranged relationship that turns into love is good in my book!

I was not disappointed. This was such a great read!

One of the first things I noticed was while Jim and Taya may not have gotten along right away, it wasn’t exactly hate to love. Instead, it was about them gradually getting to know one another, overcoming their differences, and learning to build each other into their lives. The attraction was immediate, but I loved watching them fall in love as they got to know one another naturally.

Another element I love about Paris’ writing is that even in romance, she’s not afraid to dig deep and give her characters deep and dark wounds. There is some heavy stuff to deal with in this book, and it was done in such a great way where it honored and didn’t shy away from those wounds. But at the same time, you still had the classic contemporary romance feel where you could escape for a little while and be reminded that no matter how dark our world and pasts can get, you can still have a happily ever after.

Then on top of all of that - you have elements of an action packed action book where you want to know more about what’s going on and wonder how the characters are going to get out of the situations they’ve found themselves in. There are a few nail biting moments in there!

Of course… if you couldn’t tell from the cover… it is SEXY SEXY SEXY! ::fans self:: If you like some intense sex scenes that’ll have you blasting your AC to cool down - this is for you!

Some content warnings: there is some intense backstory about war, fires, murder, and if you aren’t feeling pro-military/pro-police books right now, this might not be up your alley.

Overall, Issued is a fast, sexy, and intense contemporary romance that will have you on the edge of your seat while swooning at the same time, reminding you how even after darkness you can still have a happily ever after.

March Wrap-Up: Reading, Watching, Listening, Favorites

Happy Spring, everyone!

I had so many grand plans for my blog this month. There were ideas for posts, I even made drafts of them and knew when they’d go up. Did any of that happen? Obviously not. I’m not entirely sure what’s wrong with me other than that things at work have been super bizzare and hectic lately, that when I get home, my brain is fried and I don’t want to do anything but sit in front of the TV and zone out.

It happens.

But, I did get reading done and I have a few other things that have been going on in March I can share with you all!

* = affiliated link

Reading

(Click on the image on the far right to scroll through to see all the covers!)

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy* (Reluctant Royals #2.5) by Alyssa Cole: Contemporary F/F Romance

This past year I’ve totally jumped on the Alyssa Cole bandwagon. She's so fantastic! She has two series going right now, her historical romance during the Civil War called The Loyal Leauge which is amazing! Then this one, Reluctant Royals which is a contemporary romance series. This novella follows one of the side characters we met in book one and it was cute and fun!

Mortal Heart *(His Fair Assassin #3) by Robin LaFevers: Historical Fantasy

I finally finished my re-read of the His Fair Asassin trilogy before I jump into the new book! I decided to listen to it via audio this time around and it was super long so it took me longer than usual. Which was fine though because I liked being able to sink into it and let it last as long as it wanted because Annith is my favorite.

My Favorite Half Night Stand* by Christina Lauren: Contemporary Romance

I read my second Christina Lauren book this month! After falling IN LOVE with Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating in January I had high expectations for this one and it did not disappoint! In fact, this one hit me so hard in the feels, which I did not expect! There were so many elements with this amazing friend group, friends to lovers romance, and online dating that I could relate to SO HARD and brought up some memories for me. (Some which were hard to bring back, but it’s okay!) I’m officially a Christina Lauren fangirl now and already have two more of their books lined up to read.

Certain Dark Things* by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Vampire/Horror/Urban Fantasy

I’ve been meaning to read this book literally for years! It was fantastic. This Aztec inspired vampire story was right up my alley. I loved the different take on vampires and while at first it took me a bit to get into the characters, by the end I was far more attached than I realized!

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel * by Jessica Brody: Non-Fiction

Full disclosure: I’ve never taken a writing class or really read any books or anything about writing. The only “training” I’ve had is maybe a panel or two at a con and listening to podcasts. I decided it’s high time that changed! I’d read a blog post about the Save the Cat outlining method and it helped me so much when outlining my revisions. So, I decided to pick up the book. OH MY GOODNESS this was so great! It helped me SO MUCH in figuring out what was going wrong in my book and how to fix it and now I’ve been telling every writer I know to read this book and I’m craving even more resources on story structure.

Water Runs Red * by Jenna Clare: Poetry

I had the privilege to read an early draft of my friend Jenna’s poetry book several months back and I’m so proud of her and how she’s been able to self-publish this book about friend break ups! (Which we really don’t talk about enough.) To be completely honest, I know nothing about poetry and rarely read it. That being said, I fully enjoyed this book and I think it’s going to resonate with a lot of people.

One Day in December * by Josie Silver: Contemporary Romance

I’d seen a bunch of people read this book over Christmas and a friend said I’d probably really enjoy it. At first I thought it was a Christmas book, and while the first chapter takes place at Christmastime and there are a few Christmas scenes, it truly is a year-round book so I decided to place a hold on it at the library. (GOODNESS that line was long though!) I was blown away by how much I loved this love story. It takes place over 10 years and following these characters through the years and I could completely relate to our heroine! It’s super heartwarming and even people who aren’t big romance fans I can picture enjoying this book.

Kill the Queen (Crown of Shards #1)* by Jennifer Estep: Dark Fantasy

This is the book I’m currently reading. It’s been sitting on my shelf for months and I’m so glad I’m finally getting to it. It’s taking longer than I’d like, but it’s only because I’m also really needing to get writing done and I’ve been busy with a writing workshop. So, sadly my free time has been taken by that and not by reading this book. I was able to get a good chunk read the other day and I’m about half through and it is SO SO GOOD. This is exactly my type of epic fantasy where the world building is rich but easily weaved into the narrative, the characters who jump off the page, but the story still moves. It’s one of those where while it’s over 400 pages, it doesn’t feel like it is.

Watching

Queer Eye on Netflix

YES! The Fab 5 is back and I couldn’t be more excited! I’ve already binged all of season 3 and like everyone else, I basically cried in each episode. But seriously, how can you not love these guys? There are seriously days when I start to feel down about myself, or I get frustrated with something in life, or even just can’t figure out what to wear and I think “what would the Fab 5 tell me right now?” and it honestly helps! If we all could live our lives the way they do and learn to embrace other people and genuinely love them, imagine how much better this world would be.

Can we have season 4 now?

American Idol on ABC

I usually don’t get into American Idol. The only season I ever got really into was season 2 with Clay Aiken. (My BFF and I were obsessed with him in high school.) I watched it last year but the people who were my favorites didn’t make it very far. Then, I caught the first few episodes of the auditions and now I’m hooked.

Especially because of this guy. I need his album immediately.

Vampire Diaries on Netflix

Yes, I’m kind of rolling my eyes at myself with this one. I’d watched this series a few years ago and while it was ridiculous, I also loved it. Then, I fell off the wagon and last year I binged the last couple of seasons. Which then made me miss the early seasons which were the best ones. Of course, I then went right back to episode one. I’d watch it on and off until finally this past month I was finished with all of the other shows I was watching and figured I might as well just complete the rewatch. By the time we get to the last couple seasons though, I’m basically just living for the last two episodes where Katherine comes back.

Boy Meets World on Hulu

Boy Meets World - AKA the greatest sit com out of all the 90s sit coms. I WILL FIGHT YOU.

Seriously though, I adore this show. It’s one of my all time favorites. It has the same cheesy plot lines as some of the other 90s sit coms, but there’s something a bit more genuine and heartfelt about it. Also, it’s hilarious. Also, Cory and Topanga is the greatest love story of my generation. I have all the seasons on DVD, but the lazy side of me is very happy it’s all on Hulu. I just finished season one, and can’t wait for season two. (Which is one of the best seasons in my personal opinion.) It’s one of those shows where I’ve seen every episode so many times I can have it on in the background and not fully pay attention but will know exactly what’s happening when I do, and laugh at all of the jokes no matter how many times I’ve heard them.

Listening

David Tennant Does a Podcast With…

I’d heard while back that David Tennant (aka the best Doctor) started a podcast and I meant to subscribe, then for some reason never did. I finally started it a couple weeks ago and it’s so great! It’s basically him sitting down and interviewing people and I don’t even care who he’s talking to because I love him and his voice so much. It’s a relaxing and fun show.

Showmance with Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz

In case you don’t know who Kevin and Jenna are - they’re Artie and Tina from Glee.

Yup! They started a podcast together and while they’ve only had one episode so far, my little Gleek heart could not be more delighted.

Kevin and Jenna are IRL BFFs and (kinda/sorta/it’s complicated) had a small romance during their time on Glee. They said there’s a lot of other performers out there who also are either good friends or in romantic relationships while also working together, and it creates an interesting dynamic and on their show they interview them about it. The first episode they interview one another and it’s wonderful. I love listening to them relive their Glee days.

“Flamingo - Virginia Hill” parts 1 & 2 on Female Criminals

I’ve mentioned the Female Criminals podcast in the past and I’m still morbidly obsessed with it. The most recent story I can’t get enough of is about Virginia Hill who to this day the most influential female in the mob. She’s gone now, but no other woman has matched her status. By the time she was in her early 20s, she had connections to the mobs in Chicago, New York, LA, and Mexico.

Not that we should aspire to be high profile criminals but… when I listening to her story I couldn’t help but be at least a little impressed.

My Favorite Things

NYX Matte Finish Makeup Setting Spray*

Oddly enough, I’ve never tried a setting spray for my makeup before. I thought I’d give this one a go since I’ve been using some of other NYX’s products and have had good results. This is fantastic! I should have been using it before. I tend to use long lasting makeup anyway because I don’t have time for many touch ups at work, and this helps to give it that extra boost to keep it all in place.

Colour Pop No Filter Matte Concealer

I was running low on concealer and I love ColourPop’s lip products and decided to give their concealer a go. It’s great so far! Surprisingly enough, the shade I bought is slightly too pale for me so next time I need to get it a tad darker. But, it still works just fine!

Smashbox Primers*

Yes, another product I’ve never used before is a primer. I got a bunch of samples with an Ulta order recently and it came with some primers from Smashbox. They were so great! How have I not used these before? I have no idea what they’re supposed to do, but my skin was surprisingly soft all day and that was enough to sell me on them. However… the full Smashbox product is a bit out of my price range. If anyone has recs for a more budget friendly primer, let me know!

Things I Did This Month

Dear Evan Hanson

For Broadway fans, I’m way behind on this bandwagon. I’d listened to the cast album for this show a couple of times and watched the performance on the Tony Awards, but didn’t really “get it.” It came to Chicago and some friends and I decided to go. The tickets were out of my usual budget for these things, but since it’s so popular I kind of expected it. Well… I get it now. This show is so wonderful! I will say this though - with your ticket they should also include a box of tissues, a therapy session, and a comfort dog.

C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo)

This event is basically Chicago’s ComiCon. (We have one of those too I’m pretty sure, but this one is more popular.) I’ve gone a couple of times before and some friends from out of state were coming in for it. Besides…. they were having a Clueless reunion.

Yes. Yes, that is four members of the Clueless cast hanging out. I was in the same room as them. I was way closer to the stage than it appears in the photo, but due to my lack of height I still had to just look at the screen. But, I was still there!

Even beyond the Clueless reunion, this was such a fun event. I love seeing all of the cosplayers, I met one of my favorite authors, hung out in artist alley, and got to catch up with one of the artists I met last year. This has quickly become one of my high priority events of the year and I’m going to need to start considering getting a 2 or 3 day pass instead of just one. It’s more expensive of course, but I’d love to have more time to see everything I want to. I mean… the day after I went David Tennant had a pannel!

Anastasia

Yes! I saw not only one, but two musicals this month! Which basically means this was a big win for me. My sister and I went together a few days after her birthday. I was slightly nervous about it because I knew they’d made some pretty major changes from the movie to the musical. The story itself was still the same, and they had the songs, but still some big changes. However, I had nothing to worry about. It was done in a way where I could keep the animated movie as something separate from the stage show and see how while they were the same story, they were still their own thing. For what they wanted to do on stage, the changes made complete sense and worked so well! My sister and I cried a couple of times and it was wonderful.

On The Writing Front

Plotting Your Novel Bootcamp

An author who’s been helping me out the last several months was taking part in the workshop and said she thought I’d enjoy it as well. It was the first time I’d forked over money beyond buying a book to learn about writing, so it was a bit different for me. But it was helpful! I got started in it late and didn’t totally catch up to where everyone else in the workshop was, but I got all of these great resources and am still going through the workbook.

Revisions

Yes, I’m still working on my revisions for White Rose. I don’t know how long revisions usually take people, but I feel like mine have been taking forever. Far longer than I’d like. Then, I had a break through. On March 31st. And now I’m changing almost everything. Yet again.

Revising is weird my friends.

New Ideas

Yes! I have a new book idea! I won’t share much about it yet, but it’s in a new genre I haven’t really played around with before. Which… I’m slightly nervous about but also excited. I don’t have a whole lot done on it yet because I’m still working on White Rose, but I have characters and some plot ideas jotted down. When I (finally) get White Rose revisions done I’m hoping I’ll have enough brainstorming done for this new book idea where I can jump into it while beta readers are working through White Rose.

Speaking of beta readers - if you like fantasy, fairy tales, and romance, let me know! Cause I’m looking for a reader or two to give me feedback. No set date yet since revisions are taking so long, but I will be needing them!

There’s my March! While writing and revising hasn’t been going as I’d hoped, with all of the events I went to March ended up being a pretty great month. What did you do in March? Read anything you fell in love with? Do you have podcasts, movies, or TV shows to rec?

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January Reading Round Up

From what I’ve been seeing around the Internet these days, everyone has been talking about how long January felt. Usually it feels like that for me too - but for some reason it flew by! Which is particularly weird considering Chicago just got out of some of the coldest days we’ve ever had in the history of ever.

Or at least how long they’ve been recording the temperatures.

My friends… it was COLD. But, we survived.

Oh… you’re not here to listen to me talk about the weather and how cold it was here? You want to know about the books I read this month? Well… that’s fair considering that’s the title of this blog post.

I read a total of 6 books in January and 4 of them counted towards the Beat the Backlist Challenge which was a great start! I enjoyed all of them for the most part which is even better.

Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare

• Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

• Format: Library Hardcover

• Rating: 3.75 Stars

Quick Summary: Five years after the final Mortal Instruments book, Emma and her squad illegally investigate murders in LA which may lead to information about her own parents deaths.

First off, this trilogy is a spin off of the Mortal Instruments series. Previously with Cassandra Clare books, you could read The Mortal Instruments alone, or you could read The Infernal Devices alone, but you would get a better experience reading all of them. This is not the case with The Dark Artifices. You really need to have read both of the previous series to get everything that’s happening. That being said - I’m not going to attempt hiding any spoilers for the other two series. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

I’d been intending to read The Dark Artifices for awhile now, and while I do enjoy the Shadowhunter books, I’m not the fangirl of them that I used to be. I re-read most of the other two series a couple of years ago. The Infernal Devices are better, and I like The Mortal Instruments enough as long as I can just skip over the Jace chapters. I’d heard this trilogy got even better than the others. Her writing and inclusivity were better than they had been before and now that all three books are out, I figured it was high time I binged them.

This book took me forever to get into. I could see how I would like the new characters, but the first quarter of the book is basically just a bunch of name dropping for the previous books and GUSHING about how AMAZING JACE AND CLARY ARE. (Newsflash- they’re not that great. Literally all of the other characters are better than Jace and Clary.) The moment I’d start getting into the new characters and story, memories and mentions of the other books would get in the way. So much so, that I almost DNF’d this book.

Then, when I finally sat down to really read, and not just a few pages at a time, I was able to get into it. Yes, this book is still pretty typical Cassandra Clare. Forbidden romances, family drama, love triangles, SO MUCH ANGST, using the word parabatti WAY too much. (For people who make fun of Sarah J Maas for using “mate” too often, I make fun of Cassandra Clare for using parabatti too much.) But, I also expect this when I read her books. When I was able to push aside all of the throwbacks to previous books and characters, I was able to see why everyone liked this one so much. Mark is definitely one of the most interesting characters so far, and I do like Emma and Jullian a lot. The ending was a bit eye-rolly for me, and a bit heart breaking, but also not surprising. Basically… it was a Shadowhunter ending.

Compared to The Mortal Instruments, I would say this one is better quality, but I’m not sure if I like it more than The Infernal Devices yet. I have the next book waiting for me at the library so we’ll see how I feel once the trilogy is over!

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by JK Rowling - Re-read

• Genre: YA Fantasy

• Format: Hardcover

• Rating: 5 Stars

Quick Summary: Harry has to defeat Voldemort!

In December I did a re-read of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell which is basically about a girl who loves a made up version of Harry Potter which made me super in the mood for Harry Potter. I’d started re-reading the series maybe a year or two ago but for some reason stopped when I got to book seven. No time like the present, right?

I started re-reading it at the end of December and finished at the start of January and IT WAS WONDERFUL. Gosh, I forgot how good of a finale this was. I know some fans weren’t satisfied with the ending, but I totally was and that hasn’t changed. I love seeing Harry’s growth in this book and the journey he takes from “I’m doing this because Dumbledore told me to” to stepping up and taking it on as his own and growing as a leader. Then we also get Neville being a TOTAL BAD ASS (which the movie did a fine job with… but he’s so much more so in the book) and all of the heartbreaking moments still got to me and just… bravo. I love it.

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Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

• Genre: Contemporary Romance

• Format: Library Paperback

• Rating: 4.5 Stars

Quick Summary: It’s been years since Hazel threw up on Josh’s shoes in college, but a friendship is ignited in a whirlwind and they decide to set each other up with friends and go on double dates together as an excuse to hang out.

This book was SO ADORABLE. I can’t even handle it. Hazel is a complete hot mess - and completely fabulous. While I don’t think I’m quite as eccentric as she is, I still totally related to her and the feeling of being “too much” for people. She’s the type of hot mess a person aspires to be. She’s hilarious, loves animals and kids, and always says inappropriate things at the total wrong time but you love her for it. Josh really was that “perfect” guy Hazel kept on describing him to be, while also feeling like a real character vs. just that “dream man” you get in romance novels sometimes. (Also Korean-American rep!)

When reading other reviews on Goodreads I saw some people weren’t fans of one of the plot lines later in the book. There were a couple which came to mind which could have been what they were referring to. Neither of them bothered me though. The book was slightly light on plot, but when it comes to romance I don’t mind that and just want to fall in love with the characters which totally happened!

Literally the only complaint I had is that there’s a plot point where people have sex while drunk and just… ugh. It seemed like they were sober enough to consent but… UGH. It bothered me enough though to bump it half a star. I can’t give a book that hinges on that plot point a full 5 stars and apparently this is a common thing with this writing duo. I’ll read more of their books, but I’ll also never be happy about this aspect of them.

It’s 2019 people! (And this book was published in 2018 so it’s not like it’s dated or anything.) Can we remove drunken sex from being an okay thing to move a relationship along????

But seriously. Beyond that I loved everything else about this book.

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Even If I Fall by Abigail Johnson

• Genre: YA Contemporary

• Format: Library Hardcover

• Rating: 4.5 Stars

Quick Summary: Brooke falls for the brother of the guy her brother confessed to murdering.

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2019! (Although in my blog post I described one of this author’s other books… whoops! Sorry!) I’d never read a book about the family of a convicted murderer and the concept sounded super fascinating to me! This book for sure filled my high expectations for it. I got super attached to the characters, it hit me in ALL THE FEELS, it was raw and real, and I got caught up in the whole figuring out what happened the night of the murder aspect.

That being said , this was also an incredibly difficult book to read. I mean… our main character’s brother is in prison for murder. Then she falls for the brother of the guy her brother killed. Basically, no one is happy in this book and you’re dealing with some really intense issues. When I first started I was only able to get through a couple of chapters at a time before having to put it down because any more than that would have left me emotionally drained. About the halfway mark (maybe 2/3rds) I was able to get into a better groove and then binge read the remainder of the book.

It’s so well done and a beautiful book. But be warned: it’s tough.

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Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare

• Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

• Format: Library Paperback

• Rating: 3.5 Stars

Quick Summary: Emma, Jullian, and the squad all deal with the aftermath of the first book. Angst, forbidden romance, and other Shadowhunting things ensue.

Then I came to this book. ::heavy sigh:: I won’t lie - once again I was tempted to DNF it after only a couple of chapters. There was just SO MUCH ANGST then Jace and Clary appeared RIGHT AWAY which made me roll my eyes so hard and just… ugh. Maybe it was because I’d just finished an intense book so I wasn’t ready for more angst? But this is such a different type of emotional and angst than If I Fall was and… it was rough.

All of the elements that I enjoy in books is in the Dark Artifices trilogy. I love forbidden romance, ALL OF THE FEELS, magic, adventure, squad goals, themes about family, etc. The ideas and characters for the Shadowhunter books are SO GOOD. But then I read it and the way they’re written I’m like “WHY AREN’T YOU BETTER?” I don’t know. Yet, I still love the characters and I keep coming back for more. My relationship with Cassandra Clare’s books is so complicated.

Anyway. I got through it. Lord of Shadows was weaker than Lady Midnight and while I didn’t mind the direction it was going and I liked all of the fae elements, it still wasn’t great. I think it could have been a lot shorter and there were elements which were dragged out that didn’t need to be dragged out.

The final book in this trilogy should be waiting for me to pick up at the library soon and I’ll push through and get this trilogy done! Woo!

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Alanna The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness #1) by Tamora Pierce

• Genre: Middle Grade (maybe younger YA) Fantasy

• Format: Paperback

• Rating: 4 Stars

Quick Summary: 10 year old Alanna doesn’t want to go to the convent. Her twin brother doesn’t want to be a knight. What’s a kid to do? Swap places of course.

I feel like I’m one of the last people to read Tamora Pierce’s books. So many people grew up with them and she’s a staple for YA Fantasy. I even remember seeing her books at the store when I was in high school and always intended to read them, but never did. So - I finally read one!

This is one of those books that now I’m like “man… I should have read this when I was 14 (or younger).” You know… the age it’s intended to be read at. Alanna is a great heroine: disguising herself Mulan style to become a knight, challenging her bullies, growing stronger, taking care of herself, etc. When this book was published in the ‘80s, I can imagine it was pretty ground breaking. Back then (and to a lot of an extent, today) the science-fiction and fantasy genres was a boys club. A book featuring a young girl training to be a knight, talking about getting her first period, discussing birth control, and her not shying away from violence, I’m imagining was not something which happened often. Especially for such a young age group. This book paved the way for the girl power YA fantasy novels we have today. If I read this in jr. high or high school before all of the YA fantasy we have now, I would have been ALL ABOUT IT.

But I didn’t read it back then and I have read the other YA fantasy novels we have now. In comparison, it wasn’t as good. Also, this was much more middle grade than YA. (But I’m pretty sure the books age up as the character gets older.) For my personal enjoyment, this book was more like 3.5 stars because it wasn’t as good as others I’ve read in this genre. But, I still really liked the premise and the short fast and fun read was welcome after If I Fall and Lord of Shadows. Also considering how ground breaking it was back when it was published, I bumped it up to 4 stars.

I’ll check out the rest of the series from the library and I can definitely see myself passing this book onto my niece and/or my cousins kids to read so they can read it at the appropriate age.

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Currently Reading

Lethal White (Cormoran Strike #4) by Robert Galbraith (AKA JK Rowling)

• Genre: Adult Mystery/Thriller

• Format: Library Audiobook

Quick Summary: Let’s be real… those of us reading Lethal White aren’t here for the plot. We’re here to see what happens between Strike and Robin. But if you are interested- basically it’s political intrigue, murder, blackmail, the Olympics when it was in London, and parliament.

I started to read this book last year when it came out, but after the prologue and I found out what happened in the aftermath of the previous book, it felt so slow so I put it down temporarily. I’d read two of the others via audiobook and really enjoyed them, so I decided to give that a try.

So far, it is SO MUCH BETTER. However, I wasn’t able to finish the book before it was due back at the library and it wouldn’t let me renew it so… I’m back on the wait list.

::heavy sigh::

Tune in several months from now when I can check out the audiobook again and can finally finish this bad boy. We’ll see if I attempt to read the physical book again.

What did you all read in January? Anything I should check out? Have you read any of these books? What were your thoughts?

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Like what you read? Consider buying me a coffee.

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If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy…

My 18 Favorite Books of 2018

2018 Year in Review & 2019 Goals

My Most Anticipated Books of 2019

Beat the Backlist 2019

December Reading Round Up

It’s a bit late, but I’m talking about all of the books I read in December. I hope you still have some holiday spirit in you because there’s A LOT of holiday books in here!

Ben’s Bakery and the Hanukkah Miracle by Penelope Peters

• Genre: Contemporary Romance (M/M relationship)

• Format: ebook

• Rating: 4 stars

Quick Summary: Former hockey star and perfect Jewish son, Adam, takes his pee-wee hockey team to Boston for a tourney and meets Ben who owns a “Kosher-Style” bakery.

Well, this was completely adorable and a fast read! (Less than 300 pages, read it in one day.) It was a last minute download and I chose it as my “warm and fuzzy” book for the ‘Tis-the-Season-a-Thon. Which was completely perfect because between the adorable romance, the match-making middle school hockey players, and ALL OF THE BAKED GOODS (Seriously, you’ll get super hungry reading this book. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.) this was absolutely a great warm and fuzzy read.

It’s also an own voices book about Hanukkah which was awesome!

You’ll like this book if you also enjoy: m/m romance, contemporary romance, hockey, bakeries, own voices, Hanukkah, flings turned into relationship, father-son relationships, duty vs. heart trope

Content Warnings: flashbacks to an injury, references to a past car crash

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Snow in Love by Kasie West, Aimee Friedman, Melissa de la Cruz, and Nic Stone

• Genre: YA Romance Anthology

• Format: Library Paperback

• Rating: 3.5 Stars

Quick Summary: Four YA romance novellas by popular authors which take place during the holiday season.

This was the pick for the ‘Tis-the-Season-a-Thon as the group read, and it came in from my library the day the read a thon started so it was perfect timing!

It’s a really quick read - less than 300 pages! I finished it in one day and it was fun. The first two stories by Kasie West and Aimee Friedman were my favorites though. All four were pretty predictable, but still cute. I’m glad I read it, but I don’t think this will be an anthology I’ll return to year after year like some others I’ve read. I’m all for predictable/cheesy holiday stories, but they didn’t have quite the creative edge I’ve seen in some other books.

You’ll Like this Book If you Also Enjoy: Hallmark movies, the book My True Love Gave to Me, short stories/novellas, road trips, terrible holiday jobs, childhood sweethearts, coming out stories, stuck in an airport

Content Warnings: References/discussion of racism

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How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, and Joanna Shupe

• Genre: Adult Historical Romance Anthology

• Format: ebook

• Rating: 5 stars

Quick Summary: Four popular historical romance authors share holiday novellas. All featuring a duke and inspired by a classic Christmas story.

This was the book I read for the ‘Tis-the-Season-a-Thon challenge of “a book with red or green on the cover.”

The first novella by Tessa Dare was completely perfect - which I predicted. I’d only read one Tessa Dare book before this one but I loved it so much that I had complete confidence this would be no different. Inspired by Meet Me in St. Louis (one of my faves!) and full of her classic humor, wit, and feminism with a dash of swoon.

The second novella was by Sarah MacLean and oof it was definitely a change from Dare’s story! It was inspired by A Christmas Carol and OH GOODNESS THE FEELS AND THE ANGST. But I still loved it.

The third novella was by Sohpie Jordan and a take on Home Alone. So much fun! And definitely the steamiest out of the four stories.

The fourth one by Joanna Shupe I cannot for the life of me figure out what classic holiday story it’s inspired by! If anyone knows, please tell me. In spite of that, it was still cute. I didn’t like it as much as the other three, but not enough to bring it down in my rating.

Are these stories realistic? Probably not. Are they super historically accurate? Probably not. Do I care? Nope. Overall - this was wonderful and I’ll be adding it to my pile of holiday books to return to in Decembers to come.

You’ll like this book if you also enjoy: historical holiday romance, novellas, anthologies, anything by any of these authors, snowed in trope, hidden identity trope, dukes, classic holiday stories and retellings

Content Warnings: none that come to mind

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Frozen by LA Casey

• Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

• Format: ebook

• Rating: 3 stars

Quick Summary: Neala and Darcy have been enemies from childhood and the tension reaches it’s peak when they’re vying for the same doll they want to give to their niece and nephew.

This was my pick for “holiday themed” challenge for the ‘Tis the season a thon. Which… all of my books were holiday themed so take that as you will.

The concept of this book was great. It was like the movie Jingle All the Way but set in Ireland and with romance. Besides, a good hate-to-love story is always fun. I also really liked how the book is called Frozen and the doll they are trying to get for the kids is from a fictional animated movie called Blaze about a princess who can make fire.

The execution was good, but not my favorite. I liked the shenanigans and tension, but didn’t really fall for and get invested in the characters the way I normally would.

You’ll like this book if you also enjoy: enemies to lovers, childhood friends, big families

Content warnings: reference to past sexual assault

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Once Upon a Winters Eve (Spindle Cove 1.5) by Tessa Dare

• Genre: Adult Historical Romance

• Format: ebook

• Rating: 5 stars

Quick Summary: On the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas Ball, and the day before Violet is to return home to find a husband, a mysterious stranger crashes the party and goes right to Violet.

It’s Tessa Dare… of course I loved this book. I’ve now read one of her novels and two novellas and all three have been five stars.

I was hooked and drawn into Violet’s character right away, I loved figuring out the mystery of the mysterious man, and seeing our original couple from the first book in the Spindle Cove series was wonderful.

I’ll probably end up binge reading the remainder of the Spindle Cove series once we get into the new year.

You’ll like this book if you also enjoy: mystery, historical romance, whirlwind one night stories, scorned lovers, forbidden/secret lovers, feminist romance

Content warnings: our hero has some injuries and references to past torture

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A Christmas Brothel by Ava Stone, Kate Pearce, Jane Charles, Virginia Heath, Deb Marlowe, KC Bateman, Elizabeth Essex, Amanda Mariel, and more

• Genre: Adult Historical Short Story Anthology

• Format: ebook

• Rating: Did not finish

Quick Summary: It’s Christmas Eve in Canterbury when a sudden snow storm hits and the only place in town that has room is the local brothel.

This book was… not what I expected. Honestly, this should have just taken place at an inn. Save for a few references to the madame and seeing one of her girls here and there, and on occasion we’d have a character blush at where they needed to spend the night, this set of short stories could have taken place anywhere. Changing those details wouldn’t have changed anything in the stories.

I mean, it takes place in a brothel, and yet it was the cleanest most wholesome thing I read all month. Which is fine - just not what I expected. There wasn’t even a fun Pretty Woman scenario or anything! Maybe if I had known this going into it, I would have enjoyed this book more. It’s like you go into your fridge and see something labeled as “milk” but when you drink it, it’s actually orange juice. There’s nothing wrong with orange juice. Orange juice is great! But when you’re expecting milk, it’s not a great experience.

And the stories were too short for my taste. They just didn’t go deep enough for me to really enjoy them.

It was fun to see some of the stories overlapping though and I love the concept. Maybe I’ll try it again later.

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Empire of Sand (The Books of Ambha #1) by Tasha Suri

• Genre: Adult Fantasy

• Format: Library Paperback

• Rating: 5 Stars

Quick Summary: Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of a governor with magic in her blood and her powers become noticed by the Emperor’s most feared mystics.

OH GOODNESS THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD. It was the only book I read this month which wasn’t holiday focused or a re-read because I’d gotten it from the library and needed to return it. I’m so glad I read it though!

Even the back of the book description doesn’t do it justice because there’s so much more to it than just magic blood. I loved the setting and the magic system and the way religion was used. This looks like it’s going to be action packed and violent, and parts of it are. But the best part was the characters. I COMPLETELY fell in love with them. They made me swoon and cry and I need more of them in my life. It was a bit more of a slower/quieter fantasy, but still compelling.

You’ll Like This Book if You Also Enjoy: Folklore/inspiration from India, slow burn romance, arranged marriage, “chosen one” fantasy trope, use of religion, family focus

Content Warnings: violence, death, parental abandonment, references to torture

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Chasing Christmas Eve (Heartbreaker Bay #4) by Jill Shavis

• Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

• Format: ebook

• Rating: 4 Stars

Quick Summary: Colbie is a best-selling YA author on the brink of burn out and runs away to San Francisco where no one can reach her or knows her pen name when she runs into sexy-nerd business man Spencer.

This was so cute and swoony! I loved how our heroine was a YA author battling writers block, and Spencer was such a great hero who was this awesome nerdy guy. Although, I think she totally should have fired her agent cause… NOPE. He was the actual worst ever and I thought back to the different publishing podcasts I’ve listened to and I’m pretty sure all of them would have been like “FIND A NEW AGENT.”

This book is great if you want a Christmas but not Christmas read. It takes place in December and it talks about Christmas, but it’s definitely not about the holiday either. I could easily see it taking place at another time of year if needed, but having the holiday backdrop was a nice perk.

Reading it also made me curious about the other books in the series as well, especially since I read one of the novellas last Christmas, so I’ll be on the look out for book 1.

You’ll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy: flings turned to relationship, nerdy heroes, wealthy heroes, close friend groups, San Francisco, Holiday Books

Content Warnings: messed up families, homelessness, financial struggles, agents behaving VERY badly

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Love Rekindled at Christmas by Eveylen Issacs, Elizabeth Kysian, Diana Lloyd, Eve Pendle, and E. Elizabeth Watson

• Genre: Adult Historical Romance Anthology

• Format: ebook

• Rating: 3 stars

Quick Summary: A series of regency romances about those who fell in love then were separated only to be reunited again at Christmas.

The first novella was… not great. So much so that I considered DNFing the entire book because while they were all different authors, I wondered if it was a sign of the quality of the other novellas. However, I stopped reading the first one and gave the second a try. It was SO MUCH better and super adorable.

The third was… cute. Not as cute as the others, but enjoyable. (A fun take on “truth or dare” though.)

The last one was… exactly like the previous two and I couldn’t take it anymore and stopped reading.

I get all of the novellas having similarities because they all have the same theme. But, you can do several different takes on that theme. As I read, each story felt roughly the same and didn’t have much variation. You could argue that most romance books follow similar plots, but this was too much. If I’d read each one individually and not one right after the other, I might have enjoyed them more.

You’ll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy: historical romance, novellas, former lovers reuniting, single parent love stories, characters with more “experience,” holiday romance

Content Warnings: snowed in, miscarriage, loss of a spouse, loss of parents

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Joy to the Earl by Nicola Davidson

• Genre: Adult Historical Romance

• Format: ebook

• Rating: 3.5 Stars

Quick Summary: Right as Jack Reynolds finds out he’s an earl, he gets into a carriage accident leaving him with amnesia and in the care of the scandalous “wicked widow,” Rosalind.

There was a lot about this novella I was excited about - particularly how our hero had a disability from birth. Yet… it fell a little flat for me. It was a fun quick read for right before Christmas, but it would have benefited to be a bit longer as it all felt rushed. While most romances are more of the “whirlwind” variety, this one didn’t totally convince me it was TRUE LOVE FOREVER. I liked the couple, and they were fine together. But I didn’t completely believe it. I mean, they were in each others pants before they even had a full conversation. Which, for some people that’s fine, but for me it’s not my cup of tea. (Only a few can pull that “hook up to romance” plot line for me. The Holiday being one example.)

The disability representation was fine. Not amazing. It had a lot of the “woe is me no one loves me cause I’m SO DEFORMED.” Which, is a fine and valid story line, particularly depending on the society/time period you’re writing about. It’s just that… we ALWAYS hear that story and I’m ready for something else.

However, Rosalind’s daughter was the best.

You’ll like this book if you also enjoy: hook-up to relationship, disability rep, single moms, historical romance, amnesia, whirlwind romance, holidays

Content Warnings: amnesia, prejudice against the disabled as well as sexually active women, worst parenting ever, loss of loved ones

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Re-Reads

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohen and David Levithan

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

The Night Circus by Erin Morgentern

A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas

What did you all read in December?

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Like what you read? Consider buying me a coffee.

November Reading Round Up

Thanks to NaNoWriMo and… life… I read basically nothing in November. I thought I would be able to squeeze in more but it just didn’t happen. One book I started in October then finished at the start of November. One book was one of my highly anticipated and turned out to be a temporary DNF. Then the last one was interesting but didn’t grab me enough to put down my writing and keep reading and ended up finishing at the start of December.

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings #2) by Mackenzi Lee

• Genre: YA Historical/Fantasy (LGTBQIA+ rep)

• Format: Hardcover

• Rating: 4 stars

Quick Summary: Felicity tries to enroll in medical school but isn’t accepted, so she seeks out a childhood friend who is engaged to her idol to obtain her education.

First off, that summary doesn’t do the plot justice at all - but it was really hard to do when I wanted to keep it to once sentence. What can you do?

I adore the first book in this duology, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue a really ridiculous amount. Monty is my precious baby. Needless to say, I was excited for the second book.

In a sense, this could be a companion novel. You may be able to read this one without reading the first and still be able to follow the plot. I don’t recommend it though because you’ll miss out on SO MUCH extra context. Which, in a way was one of the downfalls of the book. I cared about Felicity and this story because I read the first book and I already went into it caring about Felicity. This book relied on trusting that the reader already cared a bit too much. Yes, it’s a sequel, but this is also it’s own story, and it let the first book do too much of the heavy lifting.

For me, the plot didn’t really pick up until about half way through. I enjoyed it the first half, but it wasn’t spectacular. Overall, that was my feeling the whole book. It was good, I loved what it was doing, I liked the themes of feminism and identity and exploring Felicity’s asexuality, etc. But it didn’t have that little extra… spark… Gentleman’s Guide had.

You’ll like this book if you also enjoy: Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, sea dragons, lady pirates, feminism, women in STEM, friendship themes, arranged marriages, historical, a hint of fantasy

Content warnings: addiction, violence, bloody wounds, medical procedures, racism, sexism

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Lethal White (Cormoran Strike #4) by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)

• Genre: Adult Thriller/Mystery

• Format: Hardcover

• Rating: Temporary Did Not Finish

Quick Summary: A disturbed man arrives at Strike’s office with the story of a child who was murdered he claims he witnessed, sending Cormoran and Robin on a twisting trail through Parliament.

UGH. I was so excited for this book. I loved the third Strike book, Career of Evil and it left the audience on such a cliffhanger and we had to wait TWO YEARS to find out what happened.

The resolution of said climax was handled in the prologue and it left me completely unsatisfied. But, I knew it wasn’t really resolved so I kept going. The rest of the book though?

Meh.

I honestly don’t even remember much of what happened of the little I did read. It didn’t grab me and pull me in. I’m definitely going to go back to this book, because when I talked to some friends they said they feel like all of these books are a bit slow but still end up being enjoyable. Also, I love these characters so much that I know I’ll want to read book five when it eventually comes out as well. I just have to come back to Lethal White when I have more time to focus on it.

You’ll like this book if you also enjoy: I honestly don’t know because I can’t remember what happened so far.

Content warnings: Reference to a child being murdered, PTSD, unhealthy relationships

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Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

• Genre: Adult Fantasy (Maybe YA… slightly unclear with this one.)

• Format: Library Hardcover

• Rating: 4 stars

Quick Summary: The daughter of a money-lender gets a reputation for turning pennies into gold and it grabs the attention of the king.

Technically I finished this in December (yesterday) but it was before this post went up so… there we go.

I liked Uprooted by the same author and with this being a retelling I was definitely intrigued. It followed the points of view of three different young women, (more were added through the book, but it mainly focused on them) which I really liked, particularly since my favorite element of Uprooted was the friendship. However, the reader never got a heads up of who’s POV we were in when, which makes it slightly confusing and takes me out of the book. After awhile I got used to it and I was able to get into the book more.

It’s a slower and quieter read, but still enjoyable. What I loved was how it truly captured the feeling of winter. If you want an atmospheric book for these cold months, this is definitely a good one! You read it and want to curl up next to the fire with some hot cocoa and a blanket.

Spinning Silver is a it slower to get into, but I’m so glad I stuck it through to the end. It really was wonderful and I loved how it all wrapped up.

You’ll Like This Book if You Also Enjoy: quieter fantasy, atmospheric books, incredibly slow burn romance, hate to love, winter, fairy tale retellings

Content Warnings: fire, death, burning, child abuse, alcohol abuse, kidnapping, demon possession, poverty

What did you read in November? Any other Cormoran Strike fans who are riding the struggle bus with this most recent installment?

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Like what you read? Consider buying me a coffee.

October Reading Round Up

October was a sightly different reading month for me than usual. Other years I’m all ready for Halloween and fill up my reading list with books about monsters, the paranormal, urban fantasy books I’ve been meaning to get to, etc.

That was not the case this year for a couple of reasons.

1) Five of my auto-buy/favorite authors had new releases this month. FIVE. I didn’t even get to read all of them. (Bummer, I know.) If the staff at Barnes & Noble didn’t know me before, they sure do now because I was there at least once a week to pick up a pre-order.

2) I want to become more familiar with recent releases for adult fantasy since…. you know… that’s what I write. So, I went to the library and picked up a few. I only got to one of them, and it took me longer than usual to read. I had to renew the others.

3) KINGDOM OF ASH IS LIFE.

So. Let’s get to it, shall we?

*=affiliated link

Vengeful* (Villains #2) by VE Schwab

• Genre: Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy

• Format: Hardcover

• Rating: 5 stars

Quick Summary:  A few years after the conclusion of Vicious a new EO wants to take power in Merit.

If it wasn’t for Kingdom of Ash, this book would take the top spot for my favorite of October. Unless something drastic happens, it will definitely make the list of my favorites for 2018. I read Vicious a couple of years ago and it is my favorite VE Schwab book. When I heard she was working on a sequel, I was ridiculously excited!

I loved the new characters/villains introduced in this one, the additional depth we got for the characters we already knew, and it was beautifully crafted. I was able to see the author speak at a local store and it was so awesome to hear her talk about the process of writing this book!

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  The first book Vicious, super villains, anti-heroes, pissed off women who want to take down the patriarchy, found family

Content Warnings: torture, violence, death (a lot of death), references to sexual assault

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The Queens of Innis Lear* by Tessa Gratton

• Genre: Adult Fantasy Retelling

• Format: Library Hardcover

• Rating: 3.5 stars

Quick Summary: A fantasy retelling of King Lear where 3 sisters fight for the crown.

King Lear is one of the Shakespeare plays I’m not familiar with other than it was a tragedy. Which means don’t get attached to anyone since they’ll probably die a terrible terrible death. I debated if I should read a plot synopsis before diving into it. I decided to just read a quick run-down of the premise.

I truly loved the concept for this book. Three women of mixed race who all could take their father’s crown after he dies. The oldest is asexual, a total bad ass, and prepared to take the throne to be king. (Yes, king. Not queen. She won’t take that s***.) The second oldest is happily married and has this super fascinating arrangement to rule at her sister’s side, has great forest/tree magic, but is also dealing with infertility. Then the youngest is close to her father, is super sweet, and is this star priestess person.

The beginning, I loved. I was interested, it pulled me in, I loved the characters. The ending was also great. It wrapped up everything well, it was intriguing, I wanted to keep going and see it all through. But the middle… meh. It was a struggle to keep going. I had a hunch that the end was going to be better, so I continued on. But that middle section definitely brought down my rating. There was so much potential though!

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  Shakespeare, tragedy and death, stand alone fantasy novels, more pissed off women who want to take down the patriarchy, sisters, star cross lovers

Content Warnings: violence, infertility/miscarriages, a lot of death and blood

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What If It’s Us* by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

• Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance - M/M relationship

• Format: Hardcover

• Rating: 4 Stars

Quick Summary:  Arthur and Ben randomly meet at a post office in New York then go on a hunt to find each other once again.

I love Becky Albertalli a ridiculous amount. (I’ve read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda at least six times.) As for Adam Silvera, I’ve read some of his books and I really appreciate him and his stories and I’m glad they exist, but they aren’t my favorite. When they teamed up to write a book together, I was cautiously excited.

There was no need for the cautious, apparently.

After how intense some of Queens of Innis Lear was, it was great to have this fun romantic book. A bit predictable, kinda corny, but I like those things. I mean, you don’t read a romantic comedy type of book because you want the end to surprise you, let’s be honest.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  romantic comedy, meet cutes, summer romance, M/M relationships, a lot of Hamilton fangirling, NYC

Content Warnings: not a whole lot to be honest with you. There’s some friend fight, a bit of a divorce worry, cheating, homophobia

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Kingdom of Ash* (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J Maas

• Genre: New Adult Fantasy

• Format: Hardcover

• Rating: 5 Stars

Quick Summary:  ITS THE FINAL THRONE OF GLASS BOOK WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Yes. My most anticipated book of 2018. If not for the last several years. It’s actually here and I finished it. My heart… I don’t even have words.

This book was 992 pages.

I cried for 992 pages.

I’m writing this not even 24 hours after completing the last page and I’m almost ready to start crying again. I’ve been wallowing over how the Throne of Glass series is over ever since I put it back on my shelf.

Literally my only complaint is SO MANY BATTLE SCENES. Which, I can’t even complain about because the whole thing takes place during war so… there you go. It’s just that battle scenes aren’t my particular favorite and I have a hard time focusing on them. Beyond that - I LOVED EVERYTHING. This book also had the most “classic epic fantasy” feel out of all of them.

I’m not going to go on much more (I could if I wanted to- trust me!) because if I share anything about this book, it’ll spoil the entire series for those who haven’t read it yet. If you’re a fellow Throne of Glass fan, please feel free to reach out to me and we can talk and fangirl together. As well as cry.

I will say this though: while I’m so sad that this series is over, I’m completely satisfied with how it ended. It was beautiful, and wonderful. My heart is heavy, but it is also full.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  Sarah J Maas’ other books, epic fantasy, war stories, bad ass queens, witches, fae, shape shifters, romance, multiple points of view

Content Warnings: on page torture/breaking of bones (this was particularly difficult for me to read), a lot of violence and death, references to past abuse, PTSD, psychological torture/manipulation, loss of loved ones

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The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky (Montague Siblings 1.5) by Mackenzi Lee

• Genre: Young Adult Historical- M/M Relationship - Short Story/Novelette

• Format: ebook

• Rating: 4 Stars

Quick Summary:  We check in on the Montague siblings and friends between The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy.

This was a freebie for those who pre-ordered The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy so sadly… I don’t have a link for you all to purchase it yourself. Hopefully it will be available for purchase at some point!

Reading TGTGL was the perfect cure for my “book hangover” after reading Kingdom of Ash. It was fun, light, and I was able to check in on some of these fabulous characters.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, M/M relationships, navigating a new relationship, historical fiction

Content Warnings: references to homophobia, epilepsy, and past abuse

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Currently Reading:

Kings of the Wyld* (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames

• Genre: Fantasy

• Format: Library Paperback

Quick Summary:  A former band of mercenaries reunite to save the daughter of one of their members.

I feel really bad for this book because it has to follow Kingdom of Ash. Nothing will be able to live up to that. I planned on reading a lighter book, or one of the other new releases that came out in October. However, I already had to renew this book and one other one from the library and I really need to get to it.

I’m not super hopeful about it though, because I was looking on Goodreads and apparently the author claims that the “only” way to get women in the book was to make them antagonists. This produced a lot of eye rolling from me even though he also claims that all of his characters have a lot of bad qualities. After most of the books I just finished are about pissed off women who want to take down the patriarchy… that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But, I did see that the second book’s main character is a woman so maybe it’s better than I’m anticipating.

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September Reading Round Up

Happy October, everyone! This is one of my favorite months. The weather is cooler, the leaves are turning pretty colors, PUMPKIN EVERYTHING, and of course… Halloween! I consider October to be the kick-off for the holiday season and I am READY.

But first, it’s time for reviews of the books I read in September. Compared to how August was, I am definitely back to “normal” when it comes to my consumption of books because I read 9 of them and am currently reading one.

Let’s get to it!

Wild Hunger* (Heirs of Chicagoland #1) by Chloe Neill

• Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

• Format: Paperback

• Rating: 4 stars

Quick Summary:  (If you haven’t read the Chicagoland Vampires books and don’t want spoilers…. go ahead and skip this review cause… ALL THE SPOILERS. You’ve been warned.) Elisa returns to Chicago after her schooling in Paris with other vampire houses is complete only to have to deal with assassinated diplomats and the sexy but arrogant werewolf she grew up with.

This book was a delightful way to jump back into my old reading habits. It’s the spin-off of Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampires series (which I’m obsessed with) and follows the daughter of Merti and Ethan.

Technically it is a spin off so you don’t need to read the first series. However, I think it is highly beneficial that you do. 1) You’ll already understand the whole world and how it’s built. 2) Some of the background and set-up for this book would be lost. I’m sure you’d be able to follow the story fine, but without the background info to me it wouldn’t make as much sense. 3) You’ll get to see how Elisa is the perfect blend of Ethan and Merit. 4) ETHAN AND MERIT

It was really fun. Some of the plot itself I wasn’t super excited about, but I loved the characters, seeing a slightly “future” version of Chicago, and some of the twists of what/who Elise is. I’m excited to see where she goes with it next.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  The Chicagoland Vampires series, urban fantasy, family, childhood rivals to lovers, witches, werewolves, vampires, paranormal, action packed

Content Warnings: It can get pretty violent at times and there’s some references to addiction from the previous series, but beyond that I don’t think there’s a whole lot of content to be concerned about.

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A Duke by Default* (Reluctant Royals #2) by Alyssa Cole

• Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

• Format: Library Mass Market Paperback

• Rating: 4 stars

Quick Summary:  Portia goes to Scotland for a sword-making apprenticeship and starts falling for her boss - a silver fox who also happens to be a duke.

I’ve jumped on the Alyssa Cole bandwagon and grabbing each of her books as they release! I read the first book of Reluctant Royals back in March and it was super cute! Dare I say that I liked this one even more? I wasn’t sure about Portia as our heroine at first. I wasn’t a huge fan of hers in the first book. But oh goodness I fell in love with her. Then our hero? Silver fox who makes swords and has a Scottish accent?

Yes, please!

However, I learned that there are a lot of mishaps when it came to the representation of royalty and living in the UK. (Also, if you’re writing about British dukes… maybe pick one that isn’t super famous or make one up. Or SOMETHING.) Beyond that, it was great. I mean, you had all of the perks of historical romance (castles, swords, knights) along with the perks of a contemporary romance. Can’t wait for book three!

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  Romances featuring royalty, romances with a significant age difference, finding yourself, swords, ADHD representation

Content Warnings:  spiked drinks, alcohol abuse, sex addiction, bad parenting, racism

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Crazy Rich Asians* (Crazy Rich Asians #1) by Kevin Kwan

• Genre: Adult Contemporary

• Format: Library Paperback

• Rating: 3.5 Stars

Quick Summary:  Rachel goes on vacation with her boyfriend in Singapore to attend his best friends wedding to find out that he’s a member of one of Asia’s most wealthy families.

Okay, since the movie was coming out I knew I had to read this book. It just wasn’t my favorite.

I love the concept, I love the overall plot, I love that we get to have Asian rep in a fun contemporary romance, and as I read I could totally see all of this as a movie and it made me SUPER EXCITED to see the movie.

However.

I cannot stand his writing style. He’s always hopping heads. One second you’re reading from one character’s POV and then literally in the same or next paragraph we’re reading from another character’s POV. This is such a HUGE NOPE when it comes to writing. I just… I can’t. You can switch POVs. That’s fine. BUT NOT IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH.

I also felt like I didn’t really get to know the characters. Especially Rachel and Nick. (I loved Astrid.) They were cute and I was never not rooting for them. But I also wish I could have seen more reasons as to why I should root for them.

All in all though, I’m really glad this book exists and so many people like it because representation matters. There were a lot of things that I probably didn’t really fully understand or appreciate - but I was 100000% okay with that because I wasn’t supposed to have gotten it. I’m not the intended audience, and I’m glad for that. Because us white people have far too many books that are intended for us.

I also plan on seeing the movie because I can almost see it translating to screen better than to a book. I might read the other books in the trilogy, but we’ll see.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  rom coms, big families, soap-opera type plots, outrageously rich people, Asia (specifically Singapore)

Content Warnings:  Racial slurs, graphic dog fight, father threatening violence against child, cheating, classism, prejudice

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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before* (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #1) by Jenny Han

• Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance

• Format: Library Hard Cover

• Rating: 3.5 Stars

Quick Summary:  When Laura Jean’s secret letters to all of her past crushes are mysteriously mailed, chaos, romance, and shenanigans ensue.

I am SO LATE to the party for this book series. Everyone on Booktube has been talking about it for years but I never read them. Then, the Netflix movie was released and I was like “fine, I’ll read the book.”

It was cute. Laura Jean is refreshingly naive which I really appreciated because I was the same way in high school. (Heck, I still am, let’s be real.) Peter was also super adorable, and I loved the dynamics with Laura Jean and her sisters.

This was another one where I just wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. It was very… simple. Which made sense and it’s a young adult contemporary romance. But, I was expecting just a bit more to the prose itself. Which, I’m usually not one to say that. I’m not a fan of big complicated flowery writing. That being said, if even I’m saying the writing could have a bit more to it, I feel like that’s saying something.

But, I did watch the movie almost immediately after and it was super adorable. I also think I really would have loved these books in high school - which is a good thing since that’s the audience it’s intended for. I kind of wish they existed back then because I probably would have loved them that much.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  teen romance, fake relationship turned real relationship trope, sisters

Content Warnings: loss of a parent, divorce, fear of driving, there’s a theme of how rumors spread and how girls’ reputations can be easily damaged, slut shamming

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The Fated Sky* (Lady Astronaut #2) by Mary Robinette Kowal

• Genre: Adult Historical Science Fiction

• Format: Library Paperback

• Rating: 4.5 stars

Quick Summary:  Several years after The Calculating Stars, the USA is now planning their first trip to Mars and Elma plans to be on that rocket!

It’s the sequel to The Calculating Stars! I was SO EXCITED for this book. It’s really rare when an author released the first and second books of a series within months of each other.

I love these books SO SO MUCH and I haven’t been able to shut up about them. Whenever people have asked for book recs (or even when they’ haven’t…) I’ve been telling them to read these books!

I didn’t love it quite as much as I did the first one. (Probably because she wasn’t with Nathaniel as much as she was in the first one - ha!) But, it’s still amazing.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  SPACE! MARS! HAPPY HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS! Historical fiction, Hidden Figures vibes, feminism, women in STEM roles

Content Warnings: anxiety, death by violent accident, death by disease, anger, racism, bullying, violent attacks, hostage, loss, sorrow 

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The Lady Astronaut of Mars* (Lady Astronaut #4.5) by Mary Robinette Kowal

• Genre: Adult Sci-Fi Novelette

• Format: ebook

• Rating: 4.5 stars

Quick Summary:  We see a glimpse of life for Elma and Nathaniel on Mars.

Naturally, I had to read the novelette which inspired it all. Yes, this one was written before either The Calculating Stars or The Fated Sky. Kowal wrote this story, then decided to go backwards in time and write the other books.

Well… this story completely destroyed me. I can barely even write this review because I just want to sit in a corner and cry.

It’s so beautifully written though and the fact that it destroyed me so much is just a sign of how attached I am to the characters and the story.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  space, Mars, women in STEM, established relationships

Content Warnings: loss of a loved one, diminishing health

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Empire of Storms* (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J Maas

• Genre: New Adult Fantasy

• Format: Hardcover

• Rating: 4 stars

Quick Summary:  Our heroine and her friends all journey on their separate paths to reclaim Tessaran.

Personal note: technically this book is considered YA but considering none of the main characters are teens and how graphic the violent and sex scenes are I label this as “new adult.” Not that teens cannot read this book - they totally can! Just be prepared for more adult content.

Onward with the Throne of Glass re-read! Reading Empire of Storms for the first time since it was first released was an interesting experience.

I don’t think it’s my favorite of the series. I love Elide and Lorcan the best in this book, and I’m still obsessed with Mannon, Dorian, and my girl Aelin.

Just… I don’t know. Something about this book just misses the mark for me. The second half I prefer to the first. There are some things I think which could have either been cut or shortened. Then the end is completely heartbreaking and will destroy you. Just… structurally some things could be improved.

But you know me and my undying love for ToG. Even with my critiques, I still love this book more than a lot of others so… there we go. Can you believe the final one releases THIS MONTH? I’m gonna die. I’m not ready.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  epic fantasy, romance, sexy times (but it’s only 2 scenes. They’re pretty graphic, but it’s not like it’s an “erotic” novel), epic battles, young queens rising into power, feminism,

Content Warnings: LOTS of violence, torture, references to sexual and physical abuse

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Girl, Wash Your Face* by Rachel Hollis

• Genre: Adult Non-Fiction/Motivational

• Format: Library Hardcover

• Rating: 4 stars

Quick Summary:  Social Media star and former party-planner shares how to “Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant To Be.”

I’d heard people talking about this book and I haven’t read a non-fiction book in awhile so I thought I’d give it a shot.

I was pleasantly surprised! It wasn’t that I thought I wouldn’t like it, but I didn’t think it’d like it as much as I did. A lot of what Hollis discusses isn’t all that new about going after what you want, how we shouldn’t compare ourselves to other people, etc. However, I haven’t heard a lot of these topics discussed by an openly Christian writer.

For those who don’t read Christian books and such, what she has to say may or may not be super ground breaking for you. But those of you who do, this is pretty big. Focusing on empowering yourself, making your own choices, realizing that you are enough, and heck- even going deep into talking about sex outside of “wait for marriage and then once you have a ring on your finer your sex life will be amazing!”, is really unheard of for most Christian writing.

A lot of people claim that she doesn’t talk about “God’s plan for your life” and how “God is in control” enough - but I found it refreshing. (Sorry, sometimes “if you pray and have faith God will rain blessings upon your head” isn’t the answer.)

Granted, Hollis is more privileged than she realizes. That’s not to say that she hasn’t worked her ass off or that she doesn’t deserve what she has or hasn’t faced a lot of trials and challenges in her life or anything like that. But… it is also very easy for an upper middle class (even if she didn’t start that way), straight, able-bodied, white girl who graduated high school a year early, moved to LA at 17, and was able to quit college because she had a full time job opportunity, then met her future husband that same year to say “don’t feel like if you haven’t accomplished certain things by a certain age that you’re behind.” Not that this isn’t true, but I also think she’s a bit out of touch of other people’s realities.

Overall though, this was good. Not for everyone, but I can think of some friends who would enjoy it.

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  Rachel Hollis’ blog https://thechicsite.com/, motivational books, feminist books, Christian books

Content Warnings: references to depression and suicide, unhealthy relationships, unhealthy weight loss, divorce, bad parenting

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P.S. I Still Love You* (Laura Jean #2) by Jenny Han

• Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

• Format: Library Hardcover

• Rating: 3 Stars

Quick Summary:  When the recipient of one of her love letters emerges, Laura Jean wonders if she could be in love with two boys at the same time.

I didn’t think I was going to read the second book for Lara Jean- but the first one ended on a bit of cliff-hanger and I was like “now I HAVE to read it!”

Not as good as the first, there were definitely times I was like “ugh… how much more do I have to read?” But, it was still really cute. I like Laura Jean and her family, Peter is still great, and it was classic high school drama. Again, I really think high school me would have LOVED these books.

I’ll probably read the last one just because I’ve gotten this far so, why not?

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  love triangles, teen contemporary romance, close families

Content Warnings: loss of a parent, some references to racism and prejudice (and general ignorance) to Japanese, ongoing theme of how a girl’s reputation can be tarnished quickly thanks to social media, cyber bullying, slut shamming

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Currently Reading

Vengeful* (Villains #2) by VE Schwab

• Genre: Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy

• Format: Hardcover

I can’t really give a good summary since I just started the book and there’s several character POVs so far. Once I finish it and I include a summary in my October round up.

So far, it’s wonderful! It starts out with a super intense scene and grabs you right away. I still love these characters as much as I did in the first book, and I’m super excited to see where this sequel takes me!

As for content warnings, so far it’s VERY violent and ruthless.

That’s what I read in September! What good books have you read recently?

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August Reading Round-Up

Friends... August was a weird month. 

I only read three books. One was a re-read, two of them I'd actually started in July and finished at the start of August. Then only one which I started and completed in August.

However- it was for a good reason.

I decided to participate in the writing contest PitchWars and it's a slightly long story but it basically ended with me needing to hide out in my writing cave for about a week and a half finishing the last quarter of my fairy-tale mash-up and doing any edits or revisions it needed by August 29 at 9pm North American Central Time.. It was exhausting- but it's done!

I can finally say that this draft of White Rose is completed and I'm really proud of myself. I even had a few hours to spare on August 29 after I hit the "submit" button. 

I won't know anything about if I got chosen until October, which is slightly nerve-wracking because it means 6 weeks of my agonizing over Twitter and thinking about every detail I could have changed or done with my novel. However, it also means that September I am officially taking a writing break. 

You all know how passionate I am about writing and telling stories, but we all need a rest sometimes even from things we love. My brain needs to relax a bit. 

Basically, all I'm going to do in September is read, watch  Netflix, and drink Pumpkin Spice Lattes because... I'm basic like that.

It's going to be amazing.

Anyway - onto the three books I read!

QUEEN OF SHADOWS* (THRONE OF GLASS #4) BY SARAH J MAAS

• Genre:  Young Adult Fantasy
• Format:  Hardcover
• Rating: 5 Stars

Quick Summary:  Our heroine returns to the empire to rescue her friends, family, and people, as well as for vengeance for all she's lost. 

The first time I read Queen of Shadows I was unsure of my feelings toward it. It took such a different turn than when the series started and it felt like I wasn't even reading the same books anymore.

The second time I read it, I understood it.

The third time - I LOVED IT. Now that I'm seeing where the series is going, everything else Maas did to build up to QoS my views have completely changed in regards to this book. I'm so bummed I wasn't able to get to the next one in August as planned, but I'm super excited to re-read Empire of Storms in September!

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  SJM's other books, epic fantasy, romance, assassins, political intrigue, fae, shifters, adventure, a lot of plot twists

Trigger Warnings: graphic violence, references to past emotional/physical/sexual abuse

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LOVE OVER LATTES (DESERT MONSOON #1)* BY DIANA A. HICKS

• Genre:  Contemporary Romance
• Format:  ebook
• Rating:  3.5 Stars

Quick Summary:  A young mom and college graduate falls for the guy she's been eyeing at the coffee shop - who also happens to offer to be her landlord when she's in need of a place to live. 

This book has been sitting on my Kindle app (along with many others) for several months, and I needed something to occupy my time while sitting at the hair salon waiting for my hair to dry. So, I pulled out my phone and started this one.

It was really cute! My one complaint with some of these romances is that they happen so fast where I can only willingly suspend my disbelief for so long. Like... there's no way you fell in love that hard that fast. But... whatever. Everything else was fun. I loved that they met at a coffee shop, her kid was cute, and the twists with his ex-wife were interesting and different. 

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy:  single mom trying to find love and get back on her feet again, coffee shops, ex-wife drama, Arizona, steamy, 

Trigger Warnings: abandonment by a past love, divorce, single parenting

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Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons #3)* by Sarah J Maas

• Genre:  Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Superhero
• Format:  Hardcover
• Rating: 3.5 Stars

Quick Summary:  Selina returns to Gotham and the cat plays while the bat is away.

This is the third book in the DC Icons series - but each one stands completely alone and has nothing to do with the others so you can pick and choose as you please!

It was interesting to read something by Sarah J Maas that wasn't ACOTAR or TOG, as well as a stand alone book. It's also interesting to read when I literally know nothing about Cat Woman save for a couple of Batman movies I saw years and years ago and have hardly any memory of. 

From what I read in other reviews, Maas stuck pretty well to Batman cannon, particularly with the inclusivity of the characters, which was really great. (I had no clue Batwing was a person, and that Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn were bi/lesbian. I'm sorry.) In spite of my ignorance of DC Comics, I was able to follow the story fine.

It took me a bit to really get into the story, and while the keeping certain plot points a secret so there's a big reveal in the end is pretty classic SJM, it bothered me more in this book than her others. I had a lot of moments where I was like "OMG JUST TELL ME CAUSE I'M CONFUSED." I also felt like Selina was basically just another version of Celeana from ToG. Which, I love Celeana and she's one of my favorites. That doesn't mean I need a repeat of her. 

In spite of that though, I still really enjoyed this book. Once I got into it, I didn't want to put it down and I liked the different twist on Catwoman. I particularly liked her inclusion of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn and the bad girl squad the three of them became. 

You'll Like This Book If You Also Enjoy: the other DC Icons books, DC comics, superheros, villain origin stories, assassins, girl squads, action, sisters, SJM's other books

Trigger Warnings: drug/alcohol abuse, abusive and negligent parents, abusive relationships, terminal illness, violence, mental illness

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What did you all read in August? Any other writers out there who particiated in PitchWars? Are you exhausted as I am?

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