Welcome to Closing the Chapter! I hope you had a great reading month?

In my personal life, things have been hectic to say the least! My son has been diagnosed with yet another condition so I have been trying to get him through that and on top of that my job has been so busy so I’m sorry if I haven’t been reading and commenting on posts as much as I normally do.

My reading mojo was jolted back into life around the middle of the month (thank the book lords!) so I feel more like me again!!

This is what I read:

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer – see my review here.

The Rich Boy by Kylie Scott – ARC read, look out for my review on release day

The Wrong/Right Man by Aurora Rose Reynolds – ARC read, look out for my review on release day.

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Re-reads (they count right?!)

Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley

Reapers Legacy by Joanna Wylde

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Audio Listens

 

Beyond the Shadowed Earth by Joanna Ruth Meyer – see my review here.

Lifelike by Jay Kristoff – see my review here.

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DNF

A Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – Please don’t shoot me! I just couldn’t get into it and I was confused! Maybe audio isn’t the way to go with this book….

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What did you read in February?

I really want to crow because I managed to stick to my 3 books a month! *mumbles incoherently about not including my Fairyloot book as the box hasn’t arrived yet*

In fact 1 of the books below was free so does that really count? I don’t think it does!!

Anyways, here are the books I got this month:

 

My Maddie by Tillie Cole

Verity by Colleen Hoover

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Audio

Beyond the Shadowed Earth by Joanna Ruth Meyer

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What books did you get in February?

 

Title: A Heart So Fierce and Broken

Series: Cursebreakers #2

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Find the heir, win the crown.

The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.

Win the crown, save the kingdom.

Rumored to be the heir, Grey has been on the run since he destroyed Lilith. He has no desire to challenge Rhen–until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother’s violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall?

The heart-pounding, compulsively readable saga continues as loyalties are tested and new love blooms in a kingdom on the brink of war.

‘The missing heir who doesn’t want to be found.’

It’s no secret that I absolutely adored A Curse So Dark and Lonely so I was very excited to see what would happen with Grey.

I can’t say I loved this as much as ACSDAL but it was a very close second and a solid sequel……

What I liked

Grey….well obvs! His strength, his character and his love for his kingdom just shined through. I have a picture in my head of him so defo want to see some fan art!

Tycho – a newly introduced character who I want to see more of.

Nolla Verin – yes I know. The sister. Not the lead! I did like Lia but I was just drawn more to Nolla and I want to see more from her.

The sisterly bond between Nolla and Lia. It was just beautiful.

Iisak, he was my fave in this book, I’m always drawn to the dark creatures!!! I really want him to have more in the next book.

What I didn’t like so much

Rhen – I mean come on, what happened to him? I mean I know he went through an awful experience and he doesn’t want to lose his kingdom, I get that, but he was just horrible!

I read this like I was holding hot cakes, turning those pages and reading those words! The ending was not what I was expecting at all and I cannot wait to see what comes next!

 

Top 5 Tuesday is brought to you by Shanah at the Bionic Bookworm, see her original post here.

Theme = Books That Caused Major Hangovers

I am sure there have been many but you know what, I found this the hardest subject so there are only 4!

 

Echoes of Silence (Unquiet Mind 1) by Anne Malcom

This was the first book I had beta read for this author and it’s not often I am speechless but I was! When I read the finished copy I was still as speechless and had real trouble writing a review as I felt I couldn’t do it justice! The talent of this author astounded me and had me just thinking about it for ages after!

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A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

The love I have for Rhysand went to a level in this book that I didn’t think was possible……and then I knew no other bbf would take his place for a long while after!

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Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas

This was just powerful. An end of an era. Whilst I loved it, it wrecked me!

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Rock Chick Regret by Kristen Ashley

This series is quite light hearted but when it got to this book things took a dark turn. What this girl had gone through to find her hea. My heart actually hurt for her. I’ve reread this book so many times just to have those feels all over again

 

What books would be on your list?

I wanted to do a post about the books I really want to read that are releasing in 2020 and then, in 2021, I want to look back and see if I actually read them.

This list has a lot of well known authors and I’m not too worried about that as my Fairyloot box gives me a lot of new to me authors to read (love discovering new authors that make me want more!)

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

Crescent City by Sarah J Maas

Aurora Burning by Jay Kristoff

Dream Maker by Kristen Ashley

Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

What are your anticipated reads for 2020?

 

Title: Beyond the Shadowed Earth

Series: Beneath the Haunting Sea #2

Author: Joanna Ruth Meyer

It has always been Eda’s dream to become empress, no matter the cost. Haunted by her ambition and selfishness, she’s convinced that the only way to achieve her goal is to barter with the gods. But all requests come with a price and Eda bargains away the soul of her best friend in exchange for the crown.

Years later, her hold on the empire begins to crumble and her best friend unexpectedly grows sick and dies. Gnawed by guilt and betrayal, Eda embarks on a harrowing journey to confront the very god who gave her the kingdom in the first place. However, she soon discovers that he’s trapped at the center of an otherworldly labyrinth and that her bargain with him is more complex than she ever could have imagined.

Set in the same universe as Joanna’s debut, Beneath the Haunting Sea, Beyond the Shadowed Earth combines her incredible world building and lush prose with a new, villainous lead.

I am loving this author so when I saw this book I dived straight in (well, to audio!)

Unforts I spent the majority of the book hating the main character, Eda. She was childlike and really self centred. It got right on my wick! I will admit for the last part of the book I did warm to her a little bit but I felt sorry for her!

I love this authors writing style though, its just so, oh what’s the word….beautiful, haunting…….The world building was thought out and described perfectly and the political intrigue was fascinating and the story was great but it didn’t quite grab me because of Eda.

 

Top 5 Tuesday is brought to you by Shanah at the Bionic Bookworm, see her original post here.

 

Theme = Book-ish Habits

 

Page Count 📖

I must know the page count. It’s like an obsession! And nothing frustrates me more than an ebook on Amazon that doesn’t have the page count!

 

Notebook 📝

I have to write down all the books I own in a notebook, old skool style! Even though I also add them to my Goodreads shelf! And then I cross them out in the notebook once read!

 

Book Shelf 📚

My book shelves must be in a specific order. Read and Unread. I cannot have them out of place and woe betide if my son moves one to the wrong place!!!!

 

Reading place 🏠

I can only seem to read at home and enjoy it. I try and read books waiting for appointments, on the bus etc but I just don’t get the feeling of enjoyment!!!

 

Bookmarks 🔖

Even though I own 3685336853357 bookmarks, I dont use them. I just remember the page number I am on!

 

What are your book-ish habits?

I’m not sure I quite believe it myself but there are only 2.

I thought to myself that just 2 couldn’t be right!!! But it is! I even checked the Goodreads and Book Bird pages twice for March releases!

Kingdom of Back Marie Lu

Crescent City Sarah J Maas

I did get an arc of Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco from Fairyloot so I would’ve bought that if I didn’t get the arc!

 

What books do you want to get that are releasing in March?

Happy Valentines Day to all you book lovers!

Friday is here and so is Valentines Day!

I don’t really celebrate Valentines Day, I’m more of a person who thinks this should be an everyday thing (obviously not cards and presents!) but I do love a bit of love-y humour so here we go!!!

And my personal favourite….