#WWWWednesday: 22 September 2021

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:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

Since last week, I’ve managed to finish six books! The majority were still romances and I binged a dark romance trilogy early on in the week, but I’ve also enjoyed a great collection of middle grade short stories!

White Monarch Series (#1-3) by Jessica Hawkins ★★★★☆
I haven’t read a cartel romance before but it was definitely dark and whole lot of sizzling build up of physical chemistry to a steamy combustion in the last book! Hawkins doesn’t shy away from the darker and dirtier side of cartel business from drugs, arms, and human trafficking and the book was surprisingly as heavy on cartel politics and revenge as it was on the romance. I loved Cristiano and Natalia and thought they were such a great couple and theirs was an entertaining story! Full series RTC.

The Duke of Diamonds (A Lady to Suit #1) by Emily Windsor ★★★½
I really liked Windsor’s writing style. The language fit the period, it’s full of wit and warmth and I found myself laughing-out-loud a lot as I read! Although their initial meeting was based on lies, I loved how Casper and Eveline came alive around each other especially over whilst discussing the art which they are so passionate about. It was a slow-burn but well worth the wait! RTC.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

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 spent part of my Sunday finishing up The Duke of Diamonds by Emily Windsor. I’m still on that romance kick and have been diving (sorta) deep into the supernatural romances, so I decided to change things up and read a regency romance! This was a slow-burn romance but the hero/heroine are easy to like and the writing was so witty and it made me laugh quite a bit. Looking forward to reading the next in the series (which is on Kindle Unlimited, if you’re interested)! 😉

In the coldest flint, there is fire…
Casper Brook, the eighth Duke of Rothwell, has forever spurned frivolous pleasures, his restless emotions remaining buried beneath duty and command.
Yet when a titian-haired minx perches upon his ducal desk and claims to know the whereabouts of his one burning obsession, a game of wits and passion erupts…

Fire ignites from a spark…
Miss Evelyn Pearce possesses naught but a frail young sister and an ebony-black cat. Left destitute by her baronet father’s spendthrift ways, fate and talent hand her the opportunity to seek escape from the dangerous alleys of London town.
The cold Duke of Diamonds holds the key, and all Evelyn must do is resist his not-so-cold kiss…

A dance of flaming desire…
A passion forged on secrets can never be satisfied, but as guises fall and plots unravel, will the duke’s controlled façade shatter to reveal his searching heart within?

Regency romance with warmth and wit. This book contains sensual scenes.

What are you currently reading?

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#WWWWednesday: 15 September 2021

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:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

Since last week, I’ve managed to finish nine books? This is in part thanks to the paranormal romance binge that I did in a little over a day! What can I say? I’m definitely in a romance binging mood!

The Dark Bite (Vampire Hunter Society #1) by Leia Stone ★★★½
Set in the same Magic City world of The Wolf Girl series (below), this spin-off focuses on vampire royalty, Luka and Aspen, the Vampire Hunter he mistakenly bonds with. This had lots of action and our hunter is definitely a kick-ass baddie with a stake, but I wish we got more character development and we got to see our H/H interact just a little more than they did. It’s a promising set up for the series though! RTC.

The Wolf Girl Series (1-4) by Leia Stone ★★★☆☆
This paranormal romance series was so easy to binge. This is a sub-genre that I don’t normally read but this had high entertainment value and it was so easy for me to just turn off my brain and get sucked into the supernatural creature world and of course, major drama! If you’re not into drama, this might not be for you. But if you’re looking for an action-packed series that doesn’t shy away from blood, violence or a slightly angsty but steamy werewolf romance, you might want to check this out! RTC.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

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 spent my Sunday in bed with The Raven Heir by Stephanie Burgis. I’m part of the blog tour for this MG fantasy so I’ll be sharing my full thoughts on it next week and my Top 5 Reasons for why you should read it. It was a fast-paced and adventure filled MG full of magic, shape shifting, and squabbling siblings and I enjoyed it!

Deep within an enchanted forest lies a castle where a set of triplets and their sorceress mother have lived for years — safe from the decades-long war for the Raven Throne that rages in the kingdom beyond. Cordelia, one of the triplets, has the power to become any animal with just a thought, and she yearns to discover more about the world outside her castle.

But one day, the world comes to her, when the eldest of the triplets becomes the newest heir to the throne. Knowing that being named heir means certain death, Cordelia’s mother hid the truth about which child is the eldest when she hid them in the forest. When her family is captured, it’s up to Cordelia to use her powers to keep her siblings hidden and discover the truth about the Raven Heir — before it’s too late.

A thrilling new fantasy full of magic, adventure, and the power of family.

What are you currently reading?

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#WWWWednesday: 08 September 2021

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:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

Since last week, I’ve managed to finish five books, though sadly only one was an ARC!

Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain ★★★☆☆
This was another entertaining and fast addition to the Xivery Mates series. Lemora might be my favourite alien planet so far because the city was a giant melting pot of alien races and cultures, and it felt so vibrant and alive! Everyone was extremely friendly, helpful and accepting of others and it just served pleasant and happy vibes that I was totally here for. Raingar and Essmira were great but I especially loved Essmira because Stephens does a great job writing smart and headstrong heroines! Read my full review.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson ★★★★☆
I’m gonna be honest, I read this for the smut and it definitely delivered! This is an age-gap romance, which is not something that I normally ever read but I wasn’t bothered by it in this story. There’s not much in the way of character development or a strong plot, and their relationship to each other is already an established thing, but I liked both the Duke and Victoria. I thought they were both interesting characters and that the author handled the emotional and moral struggle (especially on his part) well! Obviously, I liked the steamy bits and it did get quite steamy pretty quickly. The Duke ticked that dirty-talking hero box and so if that (and historical romance) is your thing, I would recommend checking this out (especially if you have KU)! RTC.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

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 spent a good chunk of my Sunday starting and finishing A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. I’m so glad that I can check this one off my TBR now!

This book has so much hype around it and I’m happy to say that I can totally see why. It was well-paced and Jackson kept me on the edge of my seat wondering whodunit because this story is full of shady AF characters and had some delightful twisty turns! 😂 Pippa is such a great character and her family and friends were so entertaining, too. This was so unputdownable that I read it in the span of a few hours, and I can’t wait to read the next two books in this series very soon!

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth … ?

What are you currently reading?

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

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 spent a good majority of my Sunday reading Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain. Can we take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous and creepy this cover is? I wanted to get this done during the day time as I thought this would be a rather spooky paranormal read and I managed to finish it in a couple of hours! This was a pretty atmospheric read and it definitely took me to places that I did not expect after reading the synopsis. Wednesday is my stop on the blog tour so I’ll be posting my review (and a journal spread!) then.

A teen girl disappears from her small town deep in the bayou, where magic festers beneath the surface of the swamp like water rot, in this chilling debut supernatural thriller for fans of Natasha Preston, Karen McManus, and Rory Power.

La Cachette, Louisiana, is the worst place to be if you have something to hide.

This tiny town, where seventeen-year-old Grey spends her summers, is the self-proclaimed Psychic Capital of the World–and the place where Elora Pellerin, Grey’s best friend, disappeared six months earlier.

Grey can’t believe that Elora vanished into thin air any more than she can believe that nobody in a town full of psychics knows what happened. But as she digs into the night that Elora went missing, she begins to realize that everybody in town is hiding something – her grandmother Honey; her childhood crush Hart; and even her late mother, whose secrets continue to call to Grey from beyond the grave.

When a mysterious stranger emerges from the bayou – a stormy-eyed boy with links to Elora and the town’s bloody history – Grey realizes that La Cachette’s past is far more present and dangerous than she’d ever understood. Suddenly, she doesn’t know who she can trust. In a town where secrets lurk just below the surface, and where a murderer is on the loose, nobody can be presumed innocent–and La Cachette’s dark and shallow lies may just rip the town apart.

What are you currently reading?

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#WWWWednesday: 25 August 2021

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:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

Since last week, I’ve managed to finish five books and I’m happy to say that all of them were ARCs—yay! 😍

Taken to Lemora (Xiveri Mates #6) by Elizabeth Stephens ★★★☆☆
This was another entertaining and fast addition to the Xivery Mates series. Lemora might be my favourite alien planet so far because the city was a giant melting pot of alien races and cultures, and it felt so vibrant and alive! Everyone was extremely friendly, helpful and accepting of others and it just served pleasant and happy vibes that I was totally here for. Raingar and Essmira were great but I especially loved Essmira because Stephens does a great job writing smart and headstrong heroines! Check out my full review.

My Dirty Duke: A Victorian Novella by Joanna Shupe ★★★☆☆
I’m gonna be honest, I read this for the smut and it definitely delivered! This is an age-gap romance, which is not something that I normally ever read but I wasn’t bothered by it in this story. There’s not much in the way of character development or a strong plot, and their relationship to each other is already an established thing, but I liked both the Duke and Victoria. I thought they were both interesting characters and that the author handled the emotional and moral struggle (especially on his part) well! Obviously, I liked the steamy bits and it did get quite steamy pretty quickly. The Duke ticked that dirty-talking hero box and so if that (and historical romance) is your thing, I would recommend checking this out (especially if you have KU)!

Read More »

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

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 spent a chunk of my Sunday on my reading chair getting into Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I’ve seen quite a few people talking about this over the last few weeks and I was so intrigued that I decided to get it when I saw it going for a decent price at my local store. I’m just about half-way through now but I’m taking my time to really savour this one because I feel like it’s a story that’s meant to be consumed slowly and be allowed time to quietly wash over you. The bit I’m at right now is so heartbreaking because it’s a situation that my family is starting to go through and well, cue the waterworks! So far though, the hype is real and I’d definitely recommend it.

What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer’s, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold…

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?

What are you currently reading?

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#WWWWednesday: 18 August 2021

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:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

Since last week, I’ve managed to finish four books and I’m happy to say that all of them were ARCs—yay! 😍

(ARC) Shadow Frost (Shadow Frost #1) by Coco Ma ★★☆☆☆
I’m honestly quite proud for having finished this book because it was a bit of a… slog at times. I’m still very impressed Coco Ma wrote this when was 15?! Mind blown! 🤯 Sadly, I think younger me would’ve loved this much more than adult me did. It’s chock full of YA fantasy tropes (which isn’t bad if you like them!) but it was the characters that were more of a miss for me than anything else. Check out my full review.

(ARC) Fireborn by Aisling Fowler ★★★★½
Revenge of the Sluts was an interesting YA contemporary that had a bit of a mystery to it. It’s not a fast-paced book but it was engaging enough and the writing simple enough for me to quickly work through the pages. While I didn’t think any of the characters stood out, and neither did I like the representation of the MC, I think it’s a book that can generate discussions about privacy, cyberbullying, revenge porn, slut-shaming, toxic masculinity and society’s double standards, especially amongst the targeted young readers! Check out my full review.

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