The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received.
I hope you had a great week!
I was ill a couple of weeks ago with a flu virus and this week I came down with a cold and cough – can you believe it! But I did what any woman does, I just got on with life!
Because I felt under the weather, I did some rereads….and it was glorious!
Oh and….I bought a new car today – a Honda HRV! I pick it up in 2 weeks!
Dagger and the FlameRock Chicks
Rock Chick Rescue/Redemption/Regret by Kristen Ashley (rereads) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧 The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Look out for my review soon!
Review – Iron and Embers by Helen Scheuerer Review – The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune Review – Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
Encyclopedia of Faeries – my review here! Map of the Otherlands – my review here!
BLURB
Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project studying the inner workings of a faerie realm-as its queen.
Along with her former academic rival-now fiancé-the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare, filled with scholarly treasures.
Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world-how could an unassuming scholar like herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in-Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic-and Emily’s knowledge of stories-to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
Wendell, now King of Faerie, and his new fiance, Emily, are going back to Faerie to reclaim his Kingdom. But the old Queen is still there and has caused a blight upon the land, so it’s up to Emily and Wendell to solve this as per their MO!
Let me get this out the way first….and I hate to say this….this book didn’t quite have the draw of the other books, but I am still in love with Emily and Wendell!
Now the great bits!
Firstly, Emily’s dry wit made me laugh as per usual when it comes to Wendell…..’Wendell had gone back to staring at the door— savouring the moment, I suppose. I wondered if he would give a speech or something.’
Also Shadow has a new so-not-friend, Orga the murder cat!!! Fabulous!
Emily’s character growth in this series has been immense and I loved seeing her totally give in to her feelings for Wendell and he gives her every freedom she needs – I love him and his needlework skills!
I don’t know if this is the last book in this series but, not going to lie, I do hope that Ariadne takes over the reigns now and finds her Faerie Prince!
Don’t forget you can read my reviews from the previous books in the series ➡️
Encyclopedia of Faeries – here! Map of the Otherlands – here!
Wren Embervale, alchemist-turned-assassin, finds solace in only one thing: seeking vengeance for the death of her friends. The wars of the past may be over, but her thirst for revenge is far from quenched.
For years, she has been content with her poisons and potions for company, but when an unknown form of alchemy is used to attack a king of the midrealms, Wren’s time in the shadows comes to an end.
She’s offered a place at the ancient alchemy academy of Drevenor to find a cure to the dark magic threatening the kingdoms. To win her spot, she must conquer the Gauntlet, a grueling series of deadly trials that could cost her sanity, or her life.
More is at play than sabotage from fellow competitors. Magic wielders are being targeted and Wren becomes tangled in a dangerous web of deception and bloodshed that puts the entire realm at risk.
But the biggest threat of all might come from the man assigned to protect her—Torj Elderbrock, the silver-haired war hero who has hated her since she assassinated his last charge.
Their shared history ignites a simmering tension that threatens to consume them both.
Peace is fragile, trust is scarce and enemies lurk around every corner… Will love heal all wounds—or will it be the most lethal poison of all?
Have I read the original series? No. Will I? You bet I will – I bought book 1 and it has arrived!
Wren, a Princess to a fallen kingdom, finds herself in a place she always wanted to be, Drevenor Academy……to become an Alchemist.
‘I swear fealty, until the academy releases me, or until death claims me.’
Her guard is Warsword, Torj. They already know each other from the past and they both suffer from a curse of sorts. They also aren’t on the friendliest of terms….and there’s also a band of loyalists who want the Royals gone…….and this is our story.
Oh this book was AMAZING. Just everything! The characters, the setting, the world, the plot, the tension, the chemistry, the schexy times, the side characters, the drama, the grip factor, the brilliant writing style. It’s got it all!
I know I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time – and of course I’ll be looking for a release date of the next book!
Let me just say that this is a new-to-me author….and I have been missing out! Don’t let this be you – read this!!
In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he’s been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family’s summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It’s not. Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary little girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn’t exactly as she appears.
Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.
Artemis Darth Vader is EVERYTHING!
Everything I tell you!
This review is going to be so hard to write without spoilers, so I’m going to be vague…and probably a bit gushy!
Nate’s life has imploded, so he high tails it off to his parent’s cabin to get some perspective. There, he finds a man called Alex and a little girl called Artemis Darth Vader, who have basically broken into his cabin……
This book, this story, was everything. It had everything, a crooked government project, a cult, the hardened protector, small town vibes, found family and love. And Artemis. Totally loveable Art.
It was weird, it was adorable and it was EVERYTHING (I might have said that before!)
Top Ten Tuesday is featured by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Topic: 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To
Well, this might shame me (and I’m not even sure these were all released in 2024!!!)
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan Blood and Steel by Helen Scheuerer The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le Sound the Gong by Joan He Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Dragonfall by LR Lam Beautiful Carnage by Caroline Peckham Powerless by Lauren Roberts Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Asher The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic
The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received.
I hope you had a great week!
Well, it’s been a week. Getting over my flu (or whatever it was) and then on Wednesday, my Uncle died. It wasn’t expected so was a bit of a shock. He was one of my son’s favourite people so breaking the news to him wasn’t easy 😕
Iron and Embers by Helen Scheuerer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Look out for my review soon!
Review – Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian Feature – Five Star Friday Calendar – Hello February!
Review – Iron and Embers by Helen Scheuerer Review – The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune Review – Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
I was thinking about what new post ideas I could do and thought of 5 Star Friday – basically, I’ll showcase a book I rated 5 stars so hopefully, people will see it and give it a whirl!
And here’s my first! A massive 5 stars!
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.
Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.
But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.
Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
Aurelia Schwartz has spent twenty-three years maintaining the equilibrium between her carefully curated human life and the magical one that she endures in secret. With a devoted best friend and top marks at a prestigious university, she has everything one could possibly want neatly within her grasp.
Except, her gift of green magic has begun to fade, and if that wasn’t enough to upset the balance of her life, a fateful run-in with another power-hungry witch with a penchant for stolen magic has threatened to bring it all to ruin.
Cast into an unexpected alliance with her dreadfully arrogant classmate, Aurelia goes into hiding among a peculiar family of witches, where she discovers that the secret to their safety requires breaking rules she has followed all her life: Make no promises, Tell no one what you are, and Never stay the night.
Teddy is life!
I won’t just leave it at that, I’d better explain myself, well I’ll try!
Aureila is a witch hiding in plain sight and, when one of her closest witchy friends gets offed, she is taken in and helped by her arch nemesis, Theodore Ingram.
And this is where our story starts. ~ Academic Rivals ~ Rivals to lovers ~ Character driven plot ~ Flawed characters ~ Cozy, unearthly, atmospheric setting.
It felt like it took a long time to get to the ending, maybe too long?
I must admit, I’m not a slow burn type of gal but this slow burn was DELISH (yes, capitals to really emphasise!!)
And now…..Theodore Ingram aka Teddy – my actual heart!
‘You’d be surprised by all the things that scare me. Like what? You. You terrify me. And torture me a bit too.’
CJRTB Books 