Book Review: Dance of a Burning Sea by E. J. Mellow

Dance of a Burning Sea (Mousai #2)
Publisher: Montlake
Pub Date: 19 October 2021
Genre: Fantasy Romance

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

From award-winning author E. J. Mellow comes the thrilling second installment in the Mousai series, featuring a powerful sorceress who finds her loyalties tested by a ruthless pirate lord.

Within the world of Aadilor, there is a hidden place called the Thief Kingdom, where both magic and pleasure abound. There, the Mousai, a trio of deadly sorceresses bound by oath and blood, use their powers to protect the kingdom’s treasures.

Niya Bassette brings the potent gift of dance to the Mousai, but behind her tempting twirls, she carries a heavy secret—that the infamous pirate lord, Alōs Ezra, has been threatening to exploit for years. Now banished from the Thief Kingdom for smuggling, Alōs resurfaces in Niya’s life with a plot to hold her hostage, leveraging what he knows to extort a pardon from the Thief King.

But Niya makes her own deal with Alōs to guard her secret and guarantee her freedom—yet in doing so binds herself aboard his pirate ship, where she must navigate deadly waters, a bloodthirsty crew, and her own traitorous heart. Soon, a simmering attraction between her and Alōs threatens their delicate truce and makes for a tumultuous ride on the open seas. Far from her kingdom, Niya is entangled in a dangerous dance indeed.

Welcome to the world of Aadilor, where dark deeds can mask noble hearts and the most alluring of sways often ends with a burn. Care for a spin?

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Gambling/betting, violence, assault, violent death

TL;DR: The second book in the Mousai series is full of adventure, magic and romance. This action-packed story takes you on a journey across vast oceans to so many new places in Aadilor that were yet to be explored in the first book. Niya and Alōr’s story had so much mischief, wild passion, and heart in it and I loved how both characters evolved throughout the journey. The pirate crew bring a nice found-family element as well but don’t be fooled because Mellow doesn’t pull punches when it comes to the darker side of this world and its characters. Overall, I loved it!

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#TopTenTuesday: Based in Non-Western Settings

We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic is Books Set In X (Pick a setting and share books that are all set there. This could be a specific continent or country, a state, in outer space, underwater, on a ship or boat, at the beach, etc.)

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Book Review: Song of the Forever Rains by E. J. Mellow

Song of the Forever Rains (Mousai #1)
Publisher: Montlake
Pub Date: 1 July 2021
Genre: Fantasy Romance

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

From the award-winning author of the Dreamland series comes a new dark romantic fantasy about a young woman finding hope in her powers of destruction.

The Thief Kingdom is a place hidden within the world of Aadlior. Many whisper of its existence, but few have found this place, where magic and pleasure abound. There, the mysterious Thief King reigns supreme with the help of the Mousai, a trio of revered and feared sorceresses.

Larkyra Bassette may be the youngest of the Mousai, but when she sings her voice has the power to slay monsters. When it’s discovered the Duke of Lachlan is siphoning a poisonous drug from the Thief Kingdom and using it to abuse his tenants, Larkyra is offered her first solo mission to stop the duke. Eager to prove herself, Larkyra accepts by posing as the duke’s potential bride. But her plans grow complicated when she finds herself drawn to Lord Darius Mekenna, Lachlan’s rightful heir. Soon she suspects Darius has his own motivations for ridding Lachlan of the corrupt duke. Larkyra and Darius must learn to trust each other if there is to be any hope of saving the people of Lachlan—and themselves.

Welcome to the world of Aadilor, where lords and ladies can be murderers and thieves, and the most alluring notes are often the deadliest. Dare to listen?

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Physical abuse, drug use, violence, violent death

TL;DR: Song of the Forever Rains is a great start to the Mousai trilogy! While this felt like a slower-paced fantasy (to me), the vivid world-building, lush atmosphere and imagery, interesting magic, wicked banter and wonderful family relationships made me not want to stop reading. Larkyra and Darius experienced steady growth throughout the story and were characters who were easy to empathise with. They had a darkly sweet romance and I loved the strength they gave each other. This is a surprisingly underrated gem and I’m excited to continue this series!

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [211]

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent your time reading in bed or wish you had time to read today!

It’s another Sunday where I don’t have a book on the go. I’ve got a buddy read I’m starting tomorrow so if I do pick something up today it’ll be a quick one. I’m looking at these options:

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#FirstLinesFriday: 24 November 2023

Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

‘I’ll be your date to the wedding.’
Words I had never — not even in my wildest dreams, and trust me, I had a vivid imagination — conceived of hearing from that deep and rich tone reached my ears.”

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Mini Book Review: Stolen in Her Wedding Gown by Amanda Cinelli

Stolen in Her Wedding Gown (The Greeks’ Race to the Altar #1)
Publisher: Mills & Boon Modern
Pub Date: 27 May 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

When the something borrowed…
Is the bride!

About to walk down the aisle of her Manhattan wedding, determined Priya realizes it’s impossible. After the news Greek playboy Eros has just shared about her convenient groom, she can’t go through with it. To save her father’s business, she flees in her white dress…and weds Eros instead!

To beat his brother to the family inheritance, Eros must stay married for one year. Stealing Priya as his wife was the first step. Then he discovers her deepest secrets—and a burning mutual desire. What started as convenient suddenly got very complicated…

I came across this book/author in a thread on the bird app and was immediately enticed by the paragraph she shared from this book, which led me to pick it up on a whim. I found this to be very well-written and I enjoyed it more than I anticipated, even with its slightly bonkers plot, and I’m glad that I read it!

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Mini Book Review: Her Big City Neighbor by Jackie Lau

Her Big City Neighbor (Cider Bar Sisters #1)
Publisher: Jackie Lau Books
Pub Date: 8 September 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

When small-town engineer Amy Sharpe inherits a house in Toronto, she decides it’s the perfect opportunity to start over and go back to school. Away from the family that takes her for granted, away from the ex who expected so much and gave little in return.

The new Amy enjoys wandering around the city and frequenting bubble tea shops, German beer halls, dim sum restaurants, and coffee bars serving Japanese pastries. She has a roommate with the same name as her favorite fictional character, and a group of friends who meet at a cider bar every couple of weeks.

The new Amy is also in lust with her brooding, tattooed next-door neighbor, Victor Choi, who is far from friendly but looks really hot cutting the grass without a shirt. Too bad the grass doesn’t grow faster.

As she starts telling him about her daily adventures—and as a little kissing in the garden becomes a regular activity—Amy begins to feel more than lust. But she fears she’s falling into her old patterns in relationships and refuses to let herself be underappreciated again.

Is Victor really more than a hot fling? And what’s he hiding behind that grumpy exterior?

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Death of sibling (recounted), grief

Her Big City Neighbor has been on my TBR for years now so I’m glad that I finally read it but I’ve also got very mixed feelings about it! There was a lot that didn’t work for me initially and I was close to DNFing it because I couldn’t tell whether I was enjoying it or not. I’m happy to say that I ended up liking this much more towards the end and it was enough for me to want to pick up the second book in this series!

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