Even though my tbr pile is large, I’m always on the look out for some more books to add especially seeing as the times we find ourselves in!
These books are due for release in September and I want NEED them!
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Wild Fire by Kristen Ashley
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
What books do you want that are releasing next month?
The month of August is Romance awareness month! And of course, here at Bobo’s Book Bank, I’m all about the romance. So, I’ve partnered up with blogger buddies Caro from https://cjrthebrit.com and Sophie at https://bewareofthereader.com to bring you a special post every Friday in August!
Today, we’re going to talk about our FAVORITE ROMANCE CHARACTERS! I’ll list my choices and then give you a little quote from my review as to why I love these fab men and women.
I actually have so many favorites but I’ll limit myself to 5:
I can’t even tell you how many times my heart swooned over this couple! Gah! Ms. Martin writes the best characters! Joey and Logan had their flaws but they felt so genuine and sincere, like they were my friends and I FLOVE that. I admired how Joey’s confidence grew throughout the story and although I pretty much guessed early on why Logan seemed sketchy, in the end, I loved the lengths that he went through for his family and for Joey.
This book was the perfect culmination of suspense, romance, desire, infatuation, absolution and characters development. It tugged and pulled on my emotional heartstrings. One of Ms. Crownover’s best! Hill and Kody gave me all the feels and I cannot wait to return to Loveless for more.
I absolutely, positively, unconditionally FLOVE Ronin and Evie together! They’re one of the best couples I’ve come across in a long time and I desperately needed them to have an HEA.
Freye: a human who becomes a powerful High Fae, she endures a huge transformation both physically and emotionally, she grows into an amazingly beautiful, strong woman right before you, page by page.
Rhysand: SIGH…I’m a sucker for tall, dark and handsome and Rhys definitely fits that! Sometimes, things just aren’t what they seem and you gotta look beyond the obvious to find a true heart of gold! For me, Rhys is the ANTI-HERO OF THE YEAR!
There’s very few books I’ve read where I’m equally in love with both main characters but this is one story where I totally am! Miller and Violet are soul mates, they’re meant to be together but the road to happiness isn’t an easy one and my heart ached for them.
Hi, Caro here! I could’ve gone on and on with my fave characters but to save your sanity (and your eyes!), I’ve picked two!
I really didn’t want to pick them because they break my heart but how could I not, they are just the epitome of enemies to lovers!
‘She rested her head on his shoulder.
“You’re better that waffles, Matthias Helvar.”
A small smile curled the Fjerdan’s lips.
“Let’s not say things we don’t mean, my love.’
A little snippet of my review reminded me of the time I drifted away from reality for hours looking at fan art!
‘Drug dealer aside, I completely love Nik the bad boy with a soft squidgy heart (The flowers = be still my beating heart!) Let’s just say I spent a lot of time looking at fan art of him!’
Sophie’s favorite characters from romance books and … I had to go with three of them, knowing that Caro already chose some of my favorites with Nina and Matthias and that Trisy snatched Rhysand and Feyre!!!
But that’s not a problem as I have tons of favorite pairing in romance!
This was my first M/M book but it opened my eyes and was simply so beautiful! These two are what we call in our romance lingo and OTP (One TRue Pairing).
As proof, I’ll give you the scene when they meet for the first time:
“He shook his head. “No, no, no. It’s something bigger.”
He walked toward me, his eyes going wider. Then he was running. He wasn’t big. He couldn’t have been more than nine or ten. He collided with my legs, and I barely took a step back. He started climbing me, hooking his legs around my thighs and pulling himself up until his arms were around my neck and we were face to face.
“It’s you!” I didn’t know what was going on.
“What’s me?” He was in my arms now. I didn’t want him to fall. He took my face in his hands and squished my cheeks together.
“Why do you smell like that?” he demanded. “Where did you come from? Do you live in the woods? What are you? We just got here. Finally. Where is your house?”
He put his forehead against mine and inhaled deeply. “I don’t get it!” he exclaimed. “What is it?” And then he was crawling up and over my shoulders, feet pressed against my chest and neck until he clambered onto my back, arms around my neck, chin hooked on my shoulder.
“We have to go see my mom and dad,” he said. “They’ll know what this is. They know everything.”
He was a tornado of fingers and feet and words. I was caught in the storm. (…)
“Mom! Mom. You have to smell him! It’s like… like… I don’t even know what it’s like! I was walking in the woods to scope out our territory so I could be like Dad and then it was like… whoa. And then he was all standing there and he didn’t see me at first because I’m getting so good at hunting. I was all like rawr and grr but then I smelled it again and it was him and it was all kaboom! I don’t even know! I don’t even know! You gotta smell him and then tell me why it’s all candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome.”
If you never have read MM romance because you are afraid, go for this one, trust me!
Their love story begins when they are kids but Angelo has a calling and decides to become a priest, to Eva’s utter despair. Years later, they’ll reunite through troubled times as Italy is at war. We read about WWII and these two will be …heroics!
Proof that they are a true pair, Angelo won’t be able to resist Eva, even if his love for God is deep.
One of my favorite and most poignant quotes from this book:the
“He didn’t have to be immortal. He didn’t need to be a hero. He didn’t even want to be a saint. He simply wanted to be a good man worthy of Eva Rosselli. He just wanted Eva. He wanted her kisses and her eyes, her smiles and her laughter. He wanted his children in her womb and his mouth on her breasts. He wanted her legs wrapped around his hips and her arms cradling his head as he made love to her. He wanted her promises, her affection and her trust, her years and her secrets. He wanted her prayers and her pride, her tears and her troubles. He wanted Eva. And that was all”
That book was a real tear jerker! That pairing is iconic and tragic. I loved Rune’s devotion to Poppy and Poppy’s will to spare Rune so much suffering. They met when they were five years old and will remain their only love till the death and beyond. I truly needed days to recover from that love story!
Three of my favorite quotes:
” This was Poppymin. the girl who would run to the blossom grove, laughing and dancing all the way… I couldn’t leave her. She couldn’t leave me. She needed me. I needed her.”
.
“Kiss eight hundred and nineteen was the kiss that changed it all. The kiss that proved that a long-haired brooding boy from Norway and a quirky girl from the Deep South could find a love to rival the greats.”
.
“This isn’t the end. It’s just a little pause in our lives. And I’ll be watching over you, every single day. I’ll be in your heart. I’ll be in the blossom grove that we love so much, in the sun and the wind.”
I saw this somewhere, I think it was a Top 5 or 10 Tuesday, my apologies for not tagging but I can’t remember where I saw it (I’m still suffering lockdown brain!)
I thought this was a fab idea but as I am technically challenged it took me a while to figure out where I could get a tool to interpret the data from the .csv file from Goodreads!
Luckily I found a Bookstats tool here
https://almoturg.com/bookstats
You just need to add your exported .csv file.
The results really surprised me! Look how many romance authors versus YA authors!
I think this is something I will do periodically, maybe annually or every 6 months.
Have you ever done this?
Were you surprised at your results?
I thought I would change it up this month and do a Top 10 Tuesday which is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl go check her blog out, you will love it.
For me 10 might be a struggle but I promise to do the best I can!
Topic = Books I Loved but Never Reviewed
So I really had to dig here! Like to the bowels of my Goodreads read pile to a time when I got back into reading and didn’t know the importance of reviews for authors!
Bridget Jones Diary
The Fellowship of the Ring by JR Tolkien
Mile High by RK Lilley
Reflected in You by Sylvia Day
What books would be on your list?
Title: Viper
Series: Isles of Storm and Sorrow #1
Author: Bex Hogan
He will make me a killer. Or he will have me killed. That is my destiny.
Seventeen-year-old Marianne is fated to one day become the Viper, defender of the Twelve Isles.
But the reigning Viper stands in her way. Corrupt and merciless, he prowls the seas in his warship, killing with impunity, leaving only pain and suffering in his wake.
He’s the most dangerous man on the ocean . . . and he is Marianne’s father.
She was born to protect the islands. But can she fight for them if it means losing her family, her home, the boy she loves – and perhaps even her life?
I can’t tell you why I’ve taken so long to read this but blimey, I was hooked!
The world building was fab, numbered islands each completely different from one another coupled with the villains of the sea aboard the Maiden…….the Snakes and their Captain, The Viper.
All I can say about The Viper is that he is a very bad man. Marianne, his heir, is stuck under his control until the night of her Initiation so she can start her journey to take over as Viper…..and this is where her story is told, twists, revelations (a couple of which I was expecting!) and action.
Marianne, even though devalued by the Viper, is strong, she has morals and now she has a mission!
In the next book I want more, more Torin, more magic, more Grace and Bronn…..I’m so needy, I want it all!
Today is National Book Lovers Day!!!!
‘Book Lovers Day is celebrated on August 9 every year. This is an unofficial holiday observed to encourage bibliophiles to celebrate reading and literature. People are advised to put away their smartphones and every possible technological distraction and pick up a book to read.’
I am participating, are you?!!!
August is romance awareness month so move over February and Valentines day because romance celebration is here!
Sophie, Trisy and I have teamed up for a series of collab posts to guide you through all that is romance!
Top Reasons Why You Should Read Romance!
The romance genre is often looked down on and thought to be full of Mummy Porn or Bodice Rippers (thanks for that term Sophie!) But you know what, so what if it is?! I like what I like so let us tell you why (and why you should read it too!)
Escapism – get lost, figuratively!
When you’ve finished a hard days work, battled through traffic, made food, washed up, put the washing on and put the kids to bed, you can lose yourself in a dramatic and romantic read!
It means I can escape the humdrum of normal life and get lost in someone’s else’s! Experience things that would never happen in my life in probably a million years….but I can escape and read it for others!
Different types of love
M/F, M/M, F/F, menage, harem, historical, dark, paranormal, billionaires, motorcycle clubs, step brothers, enemies to lovers, werewolves, people with secret powers…..I could go on and on but it’s all out there and the best thing…….everyone falls in love!
Spice up your life!
Borrowing that term from the Spice Girls, we can’t leave this post without mentioning ‘sexy times’ can we?! My friend (and yes, not me, my actual friend!) gets, ermm, ideas to spice things up in the bedroom from romance books which thankfully have never led to any hospitalisations!
I need HEA! And in romance you always get the HEA. Life is hard enough and with bumps and hole so let me dream of a happy ever after.
It’s better than prozac and cheaper.
Romance is cathartic! I get to cry, snicker and swoon with the best excuse : “Sorry! It’s the book! It’s so sad/funny/romantic …”
I feel way better after I have read “the end” and that’s not thanks to a pricey shrink!
Romance is sneaky! Under the pretense of a light read because it’s “only” romance, you can learn tons of new things! And not only the best moves between the sheets like Caro said above (even if, yes, that’s something you can always get inspired by ;-)) but you can learn about mind manipulation (dark romance); old cooking recipe (historical romance); what being gay/bi/trans etc really entails (LGBTQ) ; PTSD (military romance or) etc. Depending on the author’s choice of sub topic you will be even more educated.
It’s an ice breaker! Romance is the genre making the most money, thriller being a close second. That means that there are tons of romance readers around the world and that it must be easy to find other like minded people to talk about your favorite books! At worst, you’ll have people looking at you funny and condescendingly and you’ll be able to unleash your inner beast to put them in their place and you’ll feel way better after! Again, without medication or costly health professionals!
I came to the conclusion that it’s not “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” but “a romance a day keeps the doctor away”.
Hey y’all! This is Trisy and here’s 5 reasons why I read romance (and why you should give it a chance too!)💜
1. I LOVE…LOVE!
Ok, I realize this sounds hokey or cheeky but honestly, this my #1 reason to read romance! We’re all human and most people, whether they be man or woman, old or young, yearn for…long for love. That fleeting touch from another person, the basic need to be acknowledged, to be hugged, to be understood, to be respected…the CONNECTION that you make with someone else. I adore reading about that!
2. The Happily Ever After!
I’m sure Caro and Sophie and every other romance reader would agree that having that happy ending is so darn satisfying. Like having a present all wrapped up in a big, fat bow!
3. The Giddy Tingle!
I’m 45 and I got married to Mr. A. 25 years ago but I still remember the rush I felt, the butterflies in the pit of my belly when I met and then fell in love. Romance allows me to capture that feeling time and time again!
4. The Daydream!
I may be 45 but I’m not dead! When I read a romance novel, in my mind, I can become the heroine or the hero. I can be the nurse who falls for a smart doctor or a princess who falls for a thief. I can be tall, short, blonde, redheaded, young, old and I can be romanced by a tattooed biker, a regal king, a stalwart lawyer…the possibilities are endless!
5. Cheap Therapy!
Call it escapism or whatever but I’ll tell you that after my hubby passed, I spent 3 full months buried in romance books. I turned to my favorite authors and titles and re-read entire series. Reading about the characters and their various escapades was like talking to old and dear friends. It gave me hope, it gave me comfort and I’m not sure that I can get “all the feels” from any other genre!
Well….have we convinced you?!
Fairyloot – July 2020
Theme = RESILIENT ROYALS!
‘Prepare your crown, and don’t forget to sharpen your sword − you might need it! This month is all about royals that always hold their ground and are willing to do whatever it takes to protect their kingdom and the ones that they love.’
Items inspired by Crescent City, The Lunar Chronicles, Ash Princess, The Queen’s Rising, Woven in Moonlight and The Bear and the Nightingale.
The cushion cover is just beautiful, the candle smells amazing, the art print is out of this world and the card holder is something I really needed.
Included was:
🖤 Food Tray – artwork from @eviebookish
🖤 Royal Card Holder designed by @jezhawk
🖤 Magnetic Bookmarks (Woven in Moonlight)
🖤 Ash Princess Candle handpoured by @inthewickoftime
🖤 Crescent City Cushion Cover designed by @chattynora
🖤 Art Print by @dominiquewesson (Vasya and Morozko from The Bear and Nightingale
Shielded by Kaylynn Flanders
EXCLUSIVE COVER ✔
SPRAYED EDGES ✔
SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR ✔
I thought I would change it up this month and do a Top 10 Tuesday which is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl go check her blog out, you will love it.
For me 10 might be a struggle but I promise to do the best I can!
Topic = Books with Colours In the Title
These are all books I own and had fun combing my shelves!
What books would be on your list?
CJRTB Books 