Weekly Recap: 1/24 - 1/30

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOGHi, everyone! I didn't have COVID! I still don't know what exactly I did have, but I'm just so glad I didn't have the Big Bad. This week has been packed with candle making, reality TV binging, and puppy cuddles. I allowed myself a few days of down time to rest while I wasn't feeling good but since then things have been busy. It's also been another weird reading week to add to this weird reading month. I read a couple of very adult romance retellings, read A Vow So Bold and Deadly in a day, and now I'm moving on to horror. I am so excited for all the amazing books coming out in the next couple months though! Let's hope I...

Book Review: A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers #3)Author: Brigid KemmererPublication Date: January 26, 2021Publisher: Bloomsbury YAPages: 416Add to GoodreadsReviews for book 1 & book 2Face your fears, fight the battle.Emberfall is crumbling fast, torn between those who believe Rhen is the rightful prince and those who are eager to begin a new era under Grey, the true heir. Grey has agreed to wait two months before attacking Emberfall, and in that time, Rhen has turned away from everyone—even Harper, as she desperately tries to help him find a path to peace.Fight the battle, save the kingdom.Meanwhile, Lia Mara struggles to rule Syhl Shallow...

Top Ten Tuesday #292: New-to-Me in 2020

Today's Topic: New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2020Happy Tuesday! Today I'm sharing new-to-me authors that I read last year and there were SO many good ones! I'll be sharing the book that I started with for each author, although I read multiple books for several of them. I am so excited to grab some sequels this year! Alexis Henderson | The Year of the WitchingJoanna Ruth Meyer | Echo NorthK. Ancrum | The Wicker KingStuart Turton | The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn HardcastleAmelie Wen Zhao | Blood HeirR.F. Kuang | The Poppy WarKendare Blake | Three Dark CrownsEvan Winter | The Rage of DragonsTracy Wolff | CraveRosanne A. Brown | A Song of...

Weekly Recap: 1/17 - 1/23

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOGHi, everyone! Another week, another drama. Picture it, Sicily, 2021. Everything was going fine. We got a new president, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Then, this past Thursday afternoon, my sinuses started feeling a little funny. Then the headache came. Then the fatigue hit. So Friday I got my Covid test and now I wait. The headache was gone on Saturday morning, but came back in the afternoon. No fever, so that's a good sign, but I'm expecting the worst so I can be relieved if it's not that. I've been exactly TWO places other than my house since Christmas - the pharmacy and the orthodontist. Why me? I didn't...

Book Review: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Title: The Blade Itself (The First Law #1)Author: Joe AbercrombiePublication Date: May 4, 2006Publisher: OrbitPages: 503Add to GoodreadsAmazon | Bookshop.orgLogen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he's on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian -- leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.Nobleman, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, Captain Jezal dan Luthar has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they...

Top Ten Tuesday #291: Books I meant to read in 2020

This post contains affiliate links. Read more about this HERE.Today's Topic: Books I Meant to Read In 2020 but Didn’t Get ToHappy Tuesday! Today I'm sharing books I definitely meant to read last year, but last year was what it was. I fully intend to get to them ALL this year! I'm going to try. Really hard. Seriously though, there are so many incredible books on this list that I am so excited to finally get to!A Deal With the Elf King by Elise Kova {Amazon | Bookshop.org}The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton {Amazon | Bookshop.org}Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas {Amazon | Bookshop.org}Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse {Amazon |...

Book Review: Recipe For Persuasion by Sonali Dev

Title: Recipe For PersuasionAuthor: Sonali DevPublication Date: May 26, 2020Publisher: William Morrow PaperbacksPages: 464Add to GoodreadsAmazon | Bookshop.orgChef Ashna Raje desperately needs a new strategy. How else can she save her beloved restaurant and prove to her estranged, overachieving mother that she isn’t a complete screw up? When she’s asked to join the cast of Cooking with the Stars, the latest hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, it seems like just the leap of faith she needs to put her restaurant back on the map. She’s a chef, what’s the worst that could happen? Rico Silva, that’s what.  Being paired...

Weekly Recap: 1/10 - 1/16

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOGHi, everyone! Despite my good intentions, the blog didn't have quite as many posts as I'd hoped this week. One day, ONE DAY I am going to actually post a review for From Blood and Ash. It's amazing and you should read it. That's my mini review. On Tuesday I started my Invisalign treatment. It's something I've wanted to do for many years, although I couldn't get it until now. I had to get rid of those pesky wisdom teeth and come up with the money to afford it. While I expected it to be an adjustment, what I didn't expect was that I would have attachments on every single one of my top teeth and eight on the bottom! It...

PopSugar Challenge Book Suggestions: YA Fantasy Edition

This post contains affiliate links. Read more about this HERE.This year's PopSugar Challenge has a few categories that truly had me stumped (so it's like most years). As a reader of mostly YA and fantasy it can be difficult to find things to read to fit the prompts, even when browsing the Goodreads group for help. Many of the prompts each year seem tailor made for contemporary fiction, but this year I decided to help out my fellow fantasy lovers! For this list I'll be including YA fantasy and adult books with (I think) crossover appeal. (Note: I have not read and cannot vouch for every book on this list.) DARK ACADEMIAWILDER GIRLSGOODREADS...