Happy Sunday book friends! I am here today with Sunday’s meme Six for Sunday which was created by A Little But A Lot. Today’s topic is Snakes on covers or in titles. I could have done way mare than 6 but these were my favorites.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Fantasy
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust – YA Fantasy
The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec – Fantasy
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin – YA Fantasy
The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski – YA Fantasy
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – Fantasy
I think my favorites are Girl, Serpent, Thorn and The Witch’s Heart. I LOVE the white snake on the celtic designs used in these covers. What’s your favorite cover with a snake on it?
Time for my March reading stats! Overall I am happy with my reading this month, I read 12 books and all but 2 are in some type of Mystery Genre. My favorites for the month were Neon Gods, Heartbreak Bay and The Good Sister. What was your favorite read this month? Let me know in the comments below!
Books I readin March
Physical Books – 3 Books
E-Books – 5 Books
Audio – 4 Books
Library Books – 2 Books
ARC’s – 8 Books
DNF’s – 2 Books
Pages Read – 4,242
Genres
Contemporary Romance – 2 Books
Thriller/Mystery – 6 Book
Romantic Suspense – 2 Book
Paranormal Romance – 1 Book
Cozy Mystery – 1 Book
( I am only putting each book in what I think is the most prominent category )
Year Book Was Published
2018 – 1 Book
2019 – 1 Book
2020 – 3 Books
2021 – 7 Books
Star Ratings
3 Stars – 2 Books
4 Stars – 5 Books
5 Stars – 5 Books
3 Stars
Marriage and Murder by Penny Reid (ARC)
Truth, Lies and Second Dates by MayJanice Davidson (ARC)
4 Stars
Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
Legacy by Nora Roberts
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Thick As Thieves by Sandra Brown
Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
5 Stars
Heartbreak Bay by Rachel Caine (ARC)
The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth (ARC)
Sandcastle Beach by Jenny Holiday
Neon God’s by Katy Roberts (ARC)
White Out by Danielle Girard
ReCap on my March Challenges
For my Backlist book I read – None this month
For Kayla’s Buzzword – Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
March Mystery Madness Prompts
Time – The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
Space – The only one I didn’t get too this month.
Person – The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
Place – Heartbreak Bay by Rachel Caine
Weather – White Out by Danielle Girard
Single – Legacy by Nora Roberts
Color – Going to double up on this and go with White Out again
Number – Truth, Lies and Second Dates by MaryJanice Davidson
A book you bought because of the title – Thick As Thieves by Sandra Brown
Hello Friends! I am here today with my March book haul. I got 11 new books this month which isn’t too bad but my thrift haul was out of control this month so thats good. I am really excited for Every Vow Your Break and I have already started Her Dark Lies. What was your favorite book you acquired this month?
Book Boxes
Too Good To Be True by Carola Lovering – March’s BOTM
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna – February’s Owlcrate
Much Ado About You by Samantha Young – February’s Baecrate
The Conductors by Nicole Glover – March’s Unplugged Box
From Publisher
Thick As Thieves by Sandra Brown – 4 Stars
Bought for myself
Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson
Child of Prophecy by Juliet Marillier – Not my favorite in the series but love the new covers
Her Dark Lies by J. T. Ellison
The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher
Float Plan by Trish Doller – 5 Stars
Cleaning The Gold by Karin Slaughter and Lee Child
Happy April 1st friends! I hope everyone had a great March and that your reading went well! I have a lot of May ARCs so I am going to try and get through as many of those as I can this month. I also have my usual buddy reads as well. What are you planning on reading this month? Do we share any of the same books on out TBR’s? Let me know in the comments below!
For my back list books (which is any book I bought prior to January 1st 2021)
I have still been really bad about reading my backlist so here’s hoping I can do better this month. I am hoping to read Love Her Or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey since I missed my buddy read for it last month.
I have some buddy reads as well this month as well as some ARCs that I need to get too.
Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay – ARC
It Had To Be You by Georgia Clark- ARC and Buddy Read
The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall – ARC and Buddy Read
Like Cats and Dogs by Kate McMurray – ARC
The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton – ARC
The New Comer by Mary Kay Andrews – ARC
Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson – Buddy Read
Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle – Buddy Read
How To Walk Away by Katherine Center – Reread and Buddy Read
For Kayla’s Buzzword – This month’s theme is Space and a word that correlates with it should be in the title.
The Girl With Star’s In Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod – ARC
Other Books I would like to try and get too.
The Ex-Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
The Push by Ashley Audrain
Highland Treasure by Lynsay Sands – Library book
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
Quiet In Her Bones by Nalini Singh
Again these are all books that I would like to read soon but I know I probably won’t get to most of these. What are you reading this month? Are you participating in any fun reading challenges?
Happy Tuesday Book Friends! I hope everyone is having a great week so far. My kids are on spring break so we are trying to keep them busy. This is my second thrift haul for March and I still have two more thrift book hauls to post. I went a little crazy in March so I am going to try really hard to be more disciplined in April.
Out of the 17 books I got during this haul I have only read 2 and I got halfway through another before I had to return it to the library.
Captain Marvel and Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh are the ones I have read and The Susan Wiggs book is the one I didn’t get to finish.
I added 3 JD Robb books, 2 Jill Shalvis books and a Karin slaughter to my growing collection of their books.
I recently finished Sally Hepworth’s newest book and I really liked it so I am excited to read The Mother-In-Law by her.
I picked up the Linda Castillo books and the Heather Graham book because Sarah from The Bookish Knitter was hyping them up.
The Crown of Gilded Bones, the third installment in the intense and gripping fantasy, A Blood and Ash Series by New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout, is coming April 20th and we have an exciting sneak peek!
CHAPTER ONE
“Lower your swords,” Queen Eloana commanded, her hair shining a glossy onyx in the sun as she sank onto one knee. The raw emotion pouring out of her seeped into the Temple floors of the Chambers of Nyktos, bitter and hot, tasting of anguish and a helpless sort of anger. It stretched out toward me, needling my skin and brushing against this…primal thing inside me. “And bow before the…before the last descendant of the most ancient ones. She who carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. Bow before your new Queen.”
The blood of the King of Gods? Your new Queen? None of that made sense. Not her words or when she had removed her crown.
A too-thin breath scorched my throat as I looked at the man standing beside the Queen of Atlantia. The crown was still upon the King’s golden-haired head, but the bones had remained a bleached white. Nothing like the gleaming, gilded one the Queen had placed at the feet of the statue of Nyktos. My gaze skipped over the terrible, broken things scattered about the once pristine, white floors. I’d done that to them, adding their blood to what had fallen from the sky, filling the thin fissures in the marble. I didn’t look at that or anyone else—every part of my being focused on him.
He remained on one knee, staring up at me from between the vee of the swords he’d crossed over his chest. His damp hair, blue-black in the Atlantian sunlight, curled against the sandy-hued skin of his forehead. Red streaked those high, angular cheekbones, the proud curve of his jaw, and ran down lips that had once shattered my heart. Lips that had pieced those broken shards back together with the truth. Bright, golden eyes locked with mine, and even bowed before me, so motionless I wasn’t sure he breathed, he still reminded me of one of the wild and strikingly beautiful cave cats I’d once seen caged in Queen Ileana’s palace as a child.
He had been many things to me. A stranger in a dimly lit room who’d been my first kiss. A guard who had sworn to lay down his life for mine. A friend who had looked beyond the veil of the Maiden to truly see me underneath, who’d handed me a sword to protect myself instead of forcing me into a gilded cage. A legend cloaked in darkness and nightmares that had plotted to betray me. A Prince of a kingdom believed to have been lost to time and war, who had suffered unimaginable horrors and yet managed to find the pieces of who he used to be. A brother who would do anything, commit any deed to save his family. His people. A man who bared his soul and stripped open his heart to me—and only me.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book three in her Blood and Ash series.
She’s been the victim and the survivor…
Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.
The enemy and the warrior…
Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head.
A lover and heartmate…
But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other.
And now she will become Queen…
“Jennifer L. Armentrout has absolutely blown me away with this entire series! I’ve turned into a swooning fangirl!” — Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author
About Jennifer L. Armentrout #1 New York Times and #1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. She spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Border Jack Apollo. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was an Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins. She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over a hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more.
Pinot & Pineapple Lumps Jay Hogan (Southern Lights #4) Publication date: March 18th 2021 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
Penn from Adelaide. That’s all I knew.
We shared a single kiss over a year ago, and I can still remember every toe-curling second of it. He thought I was too young for him. I thought he was running scared. But that kiss was the first time I’d felt alive in a long time, and I’ve been chasing the feeling ever since—doing my research, a lot of research, a lot of men. Something my protective older brother isn’t too happy about.
I’ve been through more than most guys my age, and I still bear the scars. My head’s not always my best friend, but I’m building a life, PTSD be damned. I can’t turn back the clock, and I’m not sure I want to.
Except maybe to that moment when Penn kissed me. I mean, the odds of us ever meeting again were slim to none, right?
Yeah, about that.
But this time I’m ready. I’m a year older, an ocean of therapy wiser, and I know exactly what I want.
2020 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST IN GAY ROMANCE for her novel ‘DIGGING DEEP’
Jay is a New Zealand author writing in MM romance and romantic suspense primarily set in New Zealand. She loves writing character driven romances with lots of humour, a good dose of reality and a splash of angst. She’s travelled extensively, lived in many countries, and in a past life she was a critical care nurse, nurse educator and counsellor.
Jay is owned by a huge Maine Coon cat and a gorgeous Cocker Spaniel.
Happy Sunday Friends! I hope everyone had a great week! We had remote learning snow days for the first part of the week and now it’s almost all melted which is just in time for more snow to start tonight. For this round up I read 3 books and dnf’d 2, I have decided to not force it especially if it will lead to a slump which is where I was headed. So far I think Neon Gods could be my favorite of the month, it was really good!
Neon Gods by Katy Roberts – 5 Stars This was my first book by Katy Roberts and I loved it!! The story of Hades and Persephone is one of my favorites and I love reading retellings of it. In this story the old god’s die and new mortals will take over being that god until they die and the cycle continues. Hades is believed to have died with no successor but is actually the leader of the lower city of Olympus. Persephone is the daughter of Demeter who decides to engage Persephone to Hades. Not wanting to marry a man who has gone through many wives (that he supposedly killed) already Persephone flees and without realizing it ends up at one of the bridges to the lower city. Once across the bridge Persephone learns that Hades is indeed alive and not quite what she was lead to believe.
I loved this one so much and I can’t wait for the next in this series. I loved Hades and his “friendship” with Hermes and Dionysus was so much fun to read about. I also loved the relationship between Persephone and her three sisters and I really hope we are getting their stories next. Hades and Persephone were so good together and I loved going on their journey with them, not only their journey as a couple but also as individuals who have personal things they most go through as well. This is a very adult and steamy book so be warned if you don’t enjoy that. If you are ok with steamy reads then be sure to pick this one up! Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for my gifted copy for review.
Truth, Lies and Second Dates by MaryJanice Davidson – 3 Stars I read a review before I started this one that compared the main character Ava to Stephanie Plum if Stephanie was a pilot and I thought this was a pretty good description. Ava is a pilot who ends up having a layover in the town she grew up in. And this weekend happens to be the 10 year anniversary of when her best friend was murdered. By Ava attending the memorial she sets off a string of events that leads people to believe she was the original target 10 years ago and the killer is now trying again to kill Ava. While at the police station after an incident at the memorial service, Ava meets medical examiner Dr. Tom who decides to help her find out who is after her and be her bodyguard. Tom and his niece and grandpa were great additions to this story. Tom especially was such a great character and his chapters were my favorite. Overall this was a fun and quirky mystery that had me guessing till the end. Thank you St.Martin’s Press and Netgalley for my gifted review copy.
Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager – 4 Stars This was my second book by Riley Sager and I enjoyed this one much more than Home Before Dark which I still thought was good. This book follows Emma as a 13 year old and the two weeks she spent at Camp Nightingale before her 3 cabin mates ended up missing and the camp was closed. We are also following Emma 15 years later who is now a successful artist and is asked to come back to Camp Nightingale for the summer as a counselor for the camps reopening. While at camp Emma seems to be being harassed and reminded of the events that happened 15 years before but she is not sure who is doing it. Then she wakes up one morning to find the three girls she was in charge of have gone missing in the night again and is now suspected of having done something to all 6 girls. I really enjoyed the mystery with this one and Emma as a character. She was struggling with what happened in the past and present as well as her own mental issues that she has. Great pacing and a fun read, can’t wait to read more of his books that I have on my shelves.
Saving Grace by Debbie Babitt – DNF This story follows Mary Grace from childhood into adulthood in her small mountain town of Repentance. I have heard such great things about this book and that the ending is crazy, unfortunately I struggled with the content as well as the writing style. This book has a lot of religious aspects to the plot and I just didn’t like how it was done, this a very much me thing and don’t enjoy this in my reading. I also struggled with the writing in that there are multiple time lines and I didn’t feel like they were separated well and wasn’t sure what time line I was reading. Thank you to Penzler Publishers and Netgalley for my gifted copy for review.
A Deadly Chapter by Essie Lang – DNF Again I want to say thank you to netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for my gifted copy for review, unfortunately this one just did not work for me. I thought the premise sounded cute, a woman living on a houseboat in a small town and she works in a bookstore. Shelby wakes up one morning and there is a man dead hitting the side of her boat and an investigation ensues. I am learning about my reading tastes that I find I do not really enjoy when average people can solve mysteries when the local police can not. Another problem I had with this one was the writing style, for whatever reason I found it to be a bit choppy and didn’t flow well. I think there are readers out there who will enjoy this one, it just didn’t work for me.
Hello Friends! I am here today with my first thrift haul of the month of March. I have two more after this making it a total of 3 so far for the month. I am trying so hard to tell myself that I can’t go to any more thrift stores for the rest of the month but I have serious fomo of all the books I might miss by not going. So this haul is from when I was out with a client and had a lot of time in between showings so I hit up the local thrift stores. I was really happy with this haul and finding basically brand new books!
Fantasy In Death by JD Robb – Still collecting when I find them for a good price.
Kushiel’s Avatar by Jacqueline Carey – I read this series years ago and decided to unhaul them but I want to reread them so when I find them I pick them up.
Like Lover’s Do by Tracey Livesay – I read this one earlier this year from the library and liked it so I got a physical copy.
Well Played by Jen Deluca – Listened to this one on audio and picked this one up for my rainbow shelf.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch – Really want to try and read him this year.
Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – Looks interesting so want to give it ago at some point.
Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M McManus – Heard good things about her books so I wanted to try them.
Sorry for the lack of content lately hopefully that will be changing soon!
Happy Wednesday friends! After two snow/remote learning days the kids went back to school!!!! Sorry for posting two tags in a row but they both looked like fun. The original tag can be found here on Embuhleeliest‘s site. Feel free to do this one if you are so inclined.
End of the rainbow: What book did you have a hard time tracking down a copy of?
So I actually haven’t found it yet because it is hard to find but Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn. I can get it on Amazon but I love looking in thrift stores and hoping one day to come upon it. It is a space retelling of Jane Eyre.
Pot of gold: When you found that book, was it worth the quest?
It will be!
Celebrating a rich heritage: Name a book that contained a well-developed culture.
There are so many! Juliet Marillier’s Sevenwater series and Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changling series are some of my favorites.
Shamrock Shakes: what’s your favorite food to snack on while reading?
I love eating chips or pretzels and a pepsi.
Leprechaun: do you own a rare/collector’s copy of a book?
I do! When my husband’s Grandmother passed away his mom (my mother-in-law) gave me some of here books. These are a few of my favorites.
Here are the insides of Life of Henry VIII (1880) and The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette (1823).
Four Leaf Clover: Name a book you thought would be ‘just another generic book’, but turned out to be something great.
I am going to go with the Float Plan by Trish Doller. This book really took me by surprise with how much I loved it!!
Irish Whiskey: what’s your favorite tradition of St. Patty’s Day?
BeckyBookstore 