#WWWWednesday: 25 November

November 26, 2020November 25, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads16 Comments

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:

What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?

Is it just me not reading anything this month or is anyone else also hitting struggle town? I feel like I’ve been reading but I’m clearly very mistaken. Since last Wednesday I’ve managed to finish two books.

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus ★★★★☆
I had so much fun with this and I literally couldn’t stop thinking about it when I had to put it down. I’m a fan of McManus’ YA mysteries and this one was probably my favourite. Our main characters are easily likeable and although not super action packed, the twists this story takes was a thrilling ride! I defo said my fair share of “OMG NO!” while reading! 🤣 My review for the blog tour is up Saturday!

A Scandalous Bargain (The Pretenders #2) by Darcy Burke ★★★½
This was another enjoyable historical romance by Burke! I loved the feisty heroine and our slightly “tortured soul” hero. It was fun to watch them get close as friends and eventually give into the sizzling chemistry–because oof, it was fire 🔥 There were some loose ends that I wish had been better tied up but overall, this was an entertaining story. Check out my review!

ARC Review: A Scandalous Bargain by Darcy Burke

November 25, 2020November 22, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

Thanks to NetGalley and Darcy Burke Publishing for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Scandalous Bargain (The Pretenders #2)
Publisher: Darcy Burke Publishing
Publication Date: 10 November 2020
Genre: Historical Romance
Panda Rating:

Tricked into marriage five years ago, Thomas Devereaux, Lord Rockbourne is suddenly a widower. Rumors abound that his wife’s death may not have been an accident and given the troubling secrets Thomas keeps buried, even he isn’t entirely sure. But when a woman sees what happened, he agrees to accept her help to disguise the facts in exchange for not divulging her suspicious behavior. Their arrangement grows more complicated under the force of a scorching mutual attraction.

Abandoned by her father—a duke—after the death of her mother—his beloved mistress—Beatrix Linley has fought to become a daughter he could be proud of, that he would regret leaving. She becomes the toast of the Season until her penchant for pilfering pretty things threatens to expose the illicit past she needs desperately to remain hidden. Soon the scandal and darkness both Beatrix and Thomas fear comes to light, compelling them to finally face their demons—and potentially driving them apart forever

#5OnMyTBR: Non-Fiction dun dun dun

November 24, 2020November 23, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads15 Comments

Hello Mondays, welcome back to #5OnMyTBR, a meme created by the wonderful E @ The Local Bee Hunter’s Nook. This bookish meme gets us to dig even further into our TBRs by simply posting about five books on our TBR! You can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!

This week’s prompt is: Non-Fiction

Goodreads Monday – The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.

This week’s featured book is The Midnight Lie (The Midnight Lie #1) by Marie Rutkoski. This is a YA fantasy published earlier this year and it has a 3.96 rating on Goodreads with 1k+ reviews.

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

November 22, 2020November 22, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

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 time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

I’ve read very little this weekend… But I’m looking forward to ending my Sunday in bed with The Cousins. I’ve really enjoyed all of McManus’ YA thrillers/mysteries and unsurprisingly, this one has captivated my attention very quickly! I’m already intrigued by the mystery of the Story family and I’m looking forward to seeing how these characters grow!

Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins, but they barely know each another, and they’ve never even met their grandmother. Rich and reclusive, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer, they’re surprised . . . and curious.

Their parents are all clear on one point–not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother’s good graces. But when the cousins arrive on the island, it’s immediately clear that she has different plans for them. And the longer they stay, the more they realize how mysterious–and dark–their family’s past is.

The entire Story family has secrets. Whatever pulled them apart years ago isn’t over–and this summer, the cousins will learn everything.

What are you currently reading?

Top 5 Saturday: Books with Two Authors

November 21, 2020November 21, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads20 Comments

Welcome back to another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is actually: books with two authors.

I think the first book that I read written by two authors was the Illuminae Files. Actually, it was probably Christina Lauren before I even knew they were two people 😂 But I don’t read a lot of books that are written by two authors although I do have a surprising number of them on my TBR! I’m gonna keep this introduction short and simple and there’s really no need for a lengthy introduction 😉

(book covers are linked to the Goodreads pages!)

First Lines Friday – 20 November

November 20, 2020November 20, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

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:

“The police officer’s body goes blurry, then sharpens again.
I don’t stare at him directly. I can’t really focus on one thing in this room, but when I do look, his face shimmers.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

Blog Tour Review: The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars by Shivaun Plozza

November 19, 2020August 18, 2021 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Today is my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars by Shivaun Plozza. Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Be sure to click on the banner above to check out the rest of the amazing bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date: 17 November 2020
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Panda Rating:

A boy and his pet fox go on a quest to find a wolf who has eaten all the stars in the sky before the Shadow Witch destroys the stars and removes good magic from the world forever.

Long ago, the land of Ulv was filled with magic. But that was before a wolf ate all the Stars in the night sky, ridding the world of magic and allowing Shadow Creatures, beasts made of shadow and evil, to flourish. Twelve-year-old Bo knows the stories but thinks the Stars and the wolf who ate them are nothing more than myths—until the day Bo’s guardian, Mads, is attacked by a giant wolf straight from the legends. With his dying breath, Mads tells Bo that Ulv is in danger and the only way to prevent the Shadow Creatures from taking over is to return the Stars to the sky. And so Bo—accompanied by his best friend, a fox called Nix, a girl named Selene who’s magic is tied to the return of the Stars, and Tam, a bird-woman who has vowed to protect Bo at all costs—sets off on a quest to find the three magical keys that will release the Stars. But Bo isn’t the only one who wants the Stars, and the friends soon find themselves fleeing angry villagers, greedy merchants, and a vengeful wolf. And all the while, an evil witch lurks in the shadows and time is running out

BUY NOW: Amazon (US) | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | Indiebound

#WWWWednesday: 18 November

November 18, 2020November 18, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads22 Comments

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:

What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?

Since last Wednesday, I’ve managed to finish ~~two~~ one-ish book(s)! Whoops… I feel like I managed to read more over the last week but I guess my mind is just playing tricks on me 😂

Born at Dawn (Da’Valia Trilogy #1) by Christina Davis ★★★★☆
This was such a fun book and I sped through it so quickly! It was fast-paced and full of action from the very beginning and you can’t help but be sucked into the world that Davis creates. While the world building felt clunky at times, I really liked the characters and I’m so curious about what happens next! Check out my full review!

The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars by Shivaun Plozza ★★★★☆
Okay, I’m cheating a little bit with this one because I still have a teeny bit to finish, but unless something drastic and awful happens in the last 10% this is defo going to be a 4 star! It was so hard to put this down after my lunch break 😭 It’s such a great MG fantasy! My blog tour review is up tomorrow so be on the look out!