Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [240]

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!

I’ll spend the rest of my Sunday in bed reading Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell. This is the second book set in the same world as Maxwell’s first book which I finished yesterday and loved! I’m enjoying this one a lot too!

But… One of the MCs is a bit of a douche canoe and I’m just trying to understand what happened with him to make him so combative and abrasive. I don’t dislike him but he’s testing my patience a bit! 😂

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Blog Tour Review: Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova

Hi friends, as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours I’m excited to share my thoughts on the fantasy debut: Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova.

Foul Days (The Witch’s Compendium of Monsters #1)
Publisher
: Tor Books
Publication Date: 25 June 2024
Genre: Adult Fantasy

📖 SYNOPSIS

The Witcher meets Naomi Novik in this fast-paced fantasy rooted in Slavic folklore, from an assured new voice in genre.

As a witch in the walled city of Chernograd, Kosara has plenty of practice taming rusalkas, fighting kikimoras, and brewing lycanthrope repellent. There’s only one monster Kosara can’t defeat: her ex the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times, and now he’s hunting her. Betrayed to him by someone close to her, Kosara’s only hope is to trade her shadow―the source of her powers―for illegal passage across the Wall to Belograd, where monsters can’t follow.

Life in Belograd should be sweet, but Kosara soon develops a fast-acting version of the deadly wasting sickness that stalks shadowless witches―and only reclaiming her magic can cure her. To trace her shadow, she’ll have to team up with the suspiciously honorable detective investigating the death of the smuggler who brought her across the Wall.

Even worse than working with the cops is that all the clues point in a single direction: one of the Zmey’s monsters has found a crack in the Wall, and Kosara’s magic is now in the Zmey’s hands.

The clock is ticking, the hunt is on, and Kosara’s priorities should be clear―but is she the hunter or the hunted? And in a city where everyone is out for themselves, who can Kosara trust to assist her in outwitting the man―the Monster―she’s never been able to escape alone?

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Blood, traumatic deaths (recounted), gun violence, gore, murder, abusive relationship (physical and psychological) (recounted), imprisonment, drugging

📚 BUY A COPY

TL;DR: I’m not sure what I expected going into this but it wasn’t what I got and I absolutely mean that in the best way! Foul Days is dark and full of monsters but the “horror” aspect is light enough that those who are scared of dark and scary things (it’s me) can read it in bed alone at night. It’s heavy in Slavic lore and it’s action-packed from start to finish. I loved Kosara and her acerbic nature. She’s crabby and witty but vulnerable enough for us to see past that exterior to the damaged young woman she still carries inside. Her banter with Asen was A+ and their “copper vs. charlatan” dynamic was one of my favourite parts of this story. I was so pleasantly surprised by this fantasy debut and I’m already itching to get my hands on the second book (*please bless me, Tor gods*)!

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Let’s Talk Bookish: Prioritising Diversity in My Reading

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits, and it’s where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Check out all the past topics if you want to join in the bookish discussion fun.

This week’s topic is actually a mid-year reading check-in but since I just posted my Mid-Year Check-In Tag earlier this week, I’ll be doing last week’s topic:

Do You Prioritize Diversity in Your Reading?

Suggested by (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: Diversity and diversity in reading are often huge topics of conversation. Do you actively seek out diverse books? What kind of representation do you look for? Do you feel that diverse books are often spotlighted, or that it takes more of an effort to find diverse books? What recommendations do you have?

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Blog Tour Spotlight: The Light Between Us by Elaine Chiew

Hi friends, as part of the blog tour hosted by The Write Reads Tours I’m shining a spotlight on The Light Between Us by Elaine Chiew. Click the banner below to check out the other bloggers on tour!

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ARC Review: Change of Heart by Kate Canterbary

Special thanks to the author for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Change of Heart
Publication Date: 25 June 2024
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Grey’s Anatomy meets a gender-swapped Wedding Crashers in this spicy rom-com about a one-night stand with The One, walking the tightrope of love and workplace ethics, and knowing which rules are worth breaking.

Every summer, superstar surgeon Whitney Aldritch crashes weddings with her best friend. The first one was an accident though after a decade of dropping in uninvited, they’re masters of their craft. They keep the rules simple and they never go to bed alone.

Then there’s Henry Hazlette, best man and the best one-night stand of Whit’s summer. She never imagined she’d see him again but now he’s one of her new surgical residents—and completely off-limits.

Whitney has staked her reputation on leading the hospital’s new ethics initiative. While Henry is under her supervision, they have to keep it professional. But it doesn’t help that she can’t turn around without running face-first into his offensively broad chest or rubbing up against him in crammed elevators. Also not helping: the way he smiles at her like he can hear her every not-safe-for-work thought.

All they have to do is survive this residency—and the accidental tarot card readings that hit too close to home, a few uninvited houseguests, and the hospital’s hyperactive rumor mill—but only if they’re prepared to bend some rules as the feelings go from just for tonight to get it out of our systems to mine.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Parental estrangement and abandonment; parental divorce; chronic illness (secondary character); brief mention of suicide (in the past, not detailed, not a central character); mention of infidelity (secondary characters); frequent medical, hospital, and surgical discussion (no blood, no gore); discussion of donor organ retrieval and organ transplant surgeries (no blood, no gore); brief discussion of mountain rescue situations (not detailed); discussion of workplace bullying (off-page)

TL;DR: I didn’t think I would feel a little weepy reading Change of Heart but that’s how much I loved these characters and their romance. Canterbary somehow manages to do this to me every time and let’s be real: I would willingly let her keep doing it, too! I adored Henry and Whitney and their relationship journey but as much as I loved Whitney and her boss energy, I LOVED Henry! Oh, my granola, this man had my heart ready to burst with his acts of service, loyalty and big golden retriever energy. Help, THE FEELINGS! Also, I’m 100% here for the Grey’s Anatomy vibes and I sincerely cannot wait until Canterbary gives us more of this hospital crew because they are amazing.

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The 2024 Mid-Year Check-In Tag

Somehow we have already made it to the mid-year mark of 2024. Where have the months gone? I feel like I say it ever year now but the past six months have felt too long and somehow not long enough. How quickly are the next six months going to pass before it’s time again to usher in a new year? But I digress…

Making it to June means it’s time to bring out one of my favourite annual tags: The Mid-Year Check-In!

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [239]

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!

I’ll be spending the rest of my Sunday in bed finishing my ARC of Change of Heart by Kate Canterbary. I’m as smitten with Henry as he is with Whitney. These two give me butterflies and make me feel super giddy! 🥹 I’m so excited for it to be out in just a few days: 25 June.

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#FirstLinesFriday: 21 June 2024

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:

“Jonah Collins is dancing on my kitchen table, and I think… Yes.
I think I’m about to lose my shit.”

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