Title: Modern Divination

Series: Spells for Life and Death #1

Author: Isabel Agajanian

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.’

But the ending. That letter. There is more, yes?!

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: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024

Jane Washington (Ironside Academy)
T Kingfisher (Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking)
Ciel Pierlot (Hunters Gambit)
Sarah Beth Durst (The Spellshop)
Lyra Selene (A Feather So Black)
Lana Ferguson (The Fake Mate) 
Kaydence Snow (Variant Lost)
Allison Saft (Dark and Drowning Tide)
Jasmine Mas (Blood of Hercules)
Sophie Jordan (Fire in the Sky)

Who were yours?

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 have been the most unwell this week that I’ve been for years! I think I’ve had the flu or maybe a flu like virus and it put me in bed for 3 days. I still feel a bit rubbish but nothing like it was!

I finished 1 book (before I got ill) and it was a great one!

I’ve also updated my ‘Sunday Post’ template a bit – let me know what you think!

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The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Look out for my review soon!

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Feature – Stacking the Shelves
Unboxing – Fairyloot Romantasy: November 2024

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Review – Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian
Feature – Five Star Friday

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Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
Cruel is the Light by Sophie Clark

What have you read lately?

Fairyloot Romantasy – November 2024

Hearts Ablaze

I’ve got some Fairyloot boxes to catch up on!

Perfect for readers who love:

🌹Arranged marriage
🐉Dragons and Witches
🏛Political intrigue

Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan

🖤 An EXCLUSIVE REDESIGNED COVER by @bluelyboo
🖤  A REVERSIBLE DUST JACKET featuring a colour variation of the trade cover
🖤  A FULL COLOUR DESIGN on the hardback with foil by @bluelyboo
🖤  FOILED CHARACTER ART ON THE ENDPAPERS by @lulybot (different front and back)
🖤  A DIGITALLY SPRAYED EDGE by @bluelyboo with a solid top and bottom edge
🖤  SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR with a bound in author letter.

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! And audiobooks. Don’t forget audiobooks!

In other words, if you can read it or if it can be read to you – no matter how you got it – it belongs in Stacking the Shelves.

The Stacking the Shelves meme was originally hosted at Team Tynga’s Reviews. It is currently hosted by Reading Reality.

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I haven’t done a STS for 2 months but I did a Top Ten Tuesday post this week that I wrote and scheduled in a couple of weeks ago about recent tbr additions but the books below are what I’ve received since – all arcs though!

Tea You at the Altar by Rebecca Thorne
Ragpicker King by Cassandra Clare
Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis
The Witch Who Trades with Death by CM Alongi

I’d better get reading!

 

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: The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection

I only had 1 book for Christmas so these are the books I got in December/early January!

Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan
The Teller of Small Magics by Maiga Doocy
Blood of Hercules by Jasmine Mas
The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E Pearson
A Language of Dragons by SF Williamson
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
Iron and Embers by Helen Scheuerer
The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune
The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide
How to Become a Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler

What books did you get?

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 didn’t post a Sunday Post last week basically because I hadn’t finished a book again! But I got back on the horse, so now I have a fortnight to update!

Nothing much has really happened in my personal life, just work and feeling tired – I blame the dark mornings!

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What I’ve Read

When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A Parker
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Shadows Rule All by Abigail Owen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Look out for my review soon!

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You might have missed…..

Review – Blood of Hercules by Jasmine Mas
Unboxing – Fairyloot Adult: December 2024

Unboxing – Fairyloot Adult: November 2024
Unboxing – Fairyloot YA: December 2024
Calendar – February releases
Review – A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon

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What have you read lately?

Title: A Monsoon Rising

Series: Hurricane Wars #2

Author: Thea Guanzon

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BOOKS IN THE SERIES

The Hurricane Wars is book 1 and you can see my review here!

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BLURB

After a lifetime of war, Alaric and Talasyn were thrust into an alliance between their homelands that was supposed to end the fighting; however, being married to their sworn foe feels far from peaceful. Now Talasyn must play the part of Alaric’s willing empress while her allies secretly plot to overthrow his reign. But the longer the couple are forced together, the harder it becomes to deny the feelings crackling like lightning between them. When the time comes to act, can she trust him, or must she ignore her heart for the sake of so many others?

As the master of the Shadowforged Legion, Alaric has trained for battle all his life, but marrying a Lightweaver might be his most dangerous challenge yet. With tensions between nations churning, he needs to focus on the greater threat—the Moonless Dark, a cataclysmic magical event that could devour everything. Only he and Talasyn can stop it, with a powerful merging of light and shadow that they alone can create together. But saving their world from this disaster is a mere preface to his father’s more sinister schemes, and his wife is a burning flame in the darkness, tempting both his loyalties and his desires.

The Hurricane Wars aren’t over. It’s time to choose what—and who—to fight for. The world holds its breath amidst a whirlwind of new magic and old secrets that could change everything.

I’m in love with a fictional character called Alaric aka Shadow Daddy!

It’s simple. Nothing can dissuade me from him!

I absolutely adored this book. Book 1 was enemies to lovers and arranged marriage and this book is more character driven, them getting to know each other (also in the biblical way!!!) but still with their secrets.

I’m not saying anything else about the plot but I’ll tell you my fave parts….

~ Spicy-ness and chemistry overload
~ Alaric getting drunk with Talasyn’s Dad!
~ The dress scene (fan me!)

And I’m sorry, but my fave line that made my jaw drop was:
‘Let the Nenavarene see their Lachis’ka ride the Night Emperor’s face.’

Delish!

No way it ended like that though. I’m not sure I can wait!

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Sound like something you’d like? Don’t forget to read my review for book 1, The Hurricane Wars here!

Here’s what’s tantalising me that’s releasing in February (that I may have preordered!!)

I did say I was going to be better about book buying in 2025….but hey ho, what is life if I can’t buy a book or 2…or 3 or 4?!

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune  

Will you be getting any of these?