Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
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.)
Song of the Forever Rains (Mousai #1)
Publisher: Montlake
Pub Date: 1 July 2021
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Panda Rating:
(4 pandas)
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?
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!
Read More »
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:
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:
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.”
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)
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!
Read More » Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
This week’s topic is Reasons Why I’m Thankful for Books (In honor of Thanksgiving in the USA.)
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)
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?
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!
Read More » 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’m wrapping up my Sunday in bed with The Roses of May. This is a thriller I’ve been meaning to continue for ages after discovering the first book quite by accident several years ago. My current mood is screaming romance but this thriller somehow seems to be working for me and I’m hooked!
dinipandareads 