Title: Empire of the Damned

Series: Empire of the Vampire #2

Author: Jay Kristoff

From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hands sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

Gabriel de León has saved the Holy Grail from death, but his chance to end the endless night is lost. Drawn into an uneasy alliance with the mysterious vampire Liathe, Gabriel must now deliver the Grail to ancients of the Blood Esani, and learn the truth of how Daysdeath might be finally undone.

But the Last Silversaint faces peril, within and without. Pursued by terrors of the Blood Voss, drawn into warfare between the Blood Dyvok and duskdancers of the frozen Highlands, and ravaged by his own rising bloodlust, Gabriel may not survive to see the Grail learn her truth.

And that truth may be too awful for any to imagine.

Back where we left off with Gabe and Dior and now….more of Celene!!!

Like the first book the story that was told was superb, the characters were all on point and it was dark, brutal, heartbreaking but beautiful.

I was so enamoured that I just have a few notes:

~ Again the hate on potatoes!
~ Aching nethers, I chortled alot at this!
~ Sibling squabbles made my day but they were of a more serious note!

For some reason I thought this was a duology so imagine my surprise at that ending!

‘It was the scream of the damned.’

Title: The Fake Mate

Author: Lana Ferguson

Mackenzie Carter has had some very bad dates lately. Model train experts, mansplainers, guys weirdly obsessed with her tail—she hasn’t had a successful date in months. Only a year out of residency, her grandmother’s obsession with Mackenzie finding the perfect mate to settle down with threatens to drive Mackenzie barking mad. Out of options, it feels like a small thing to tell her grandmother that she’s met someone. That is, until she blurts out the name of the first man she sees and the last man she would ever date: Noah Taylor, the big bad wolf of Denver General.

Noah Taylor, interventional cardiologist and all around grump, has spent his entire life hiding what he is. With outdated stigmas surrounding unmated alphas that have people wondering if they still howl at the moon, Noah has been careful to keep his designation under wraps. It’s worked for years, until an anonymous tip has everything coming to light. Noah is left with two options: come clean to the board and risk his career—or find himself a mate. The chatty, overly friendly ER doctor asking him to be her fake boyfriend on the same day he’s called to meet the board has to be kismet, right?

Mackenzie will keep her grandmother off her back, and Noah will get a chance to prove he can continue to work without a real mate—a mutually beneficial business transaction, they both rationalize. But when the fake-mate act turns into a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realize love is a whole different kind of animal.

I absolutely loved this spicy, wolf shifter romance and have 1 major question – just who is Jessica?!!!!!

Mackenzie and Noah work at the hospital and come to an agreement to solve their problems. But when alphas and omegas are involved, there’s always chemistry!

Fake dating, grumpy/sunshine and a workplace romance all packaged up with banter, steam and a spot of drama! I was totally here for it!

It was fast paced, had great dirty talk (!) and the 3rd act drama was minimal, just how I like it!

I listened to the audio and finished in a day, I just couldn’t put it down!

This is the 1st book by this author that I’ve read and now I can’t wait to read more!

Fairyloot YA – March 2024

HEISTS & HUSTLES

Live life on the edge! Come with us on a thrilling journey filled with high stakes action, masters of deception and incredible strategists. From found families to unlikely alliances, we’re ready to join in the hustle and bustle of these adventures!

Items inspired by The Hobbit, Raybearer, Once Upon a Broken Heart, Legends and Lattes, and the book of the month.

🖤 Book Sleeve (with a pocket) designed by @thelolloco inspired by the botm.
🖤 Shoe Charms with art by @bluelyboo from Legends and Lattes
🖤 Letter Opener – Sting from The Hobbit designed by @no0nedesigns
🖤 Ceramic Soap Dish designed by @julie.reinhart inspired by Raybearer
🖤 Tea Tin inspired by OUaBH with art from @bluelyboo

🖤 BOOK OF THE MONTH 🖤

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

🖤 An EXCLUSIVE REDESIGNED COVER by @rosiethorns88
🖤 DIGITALLY SPRAYED FORE EDGE WITH ART by @rosiethorns88
🖤 A FOIL DESIGN ON THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE HARDCOVER by @blanca.design
🖤 ARTWORK ON THE ENDPAPERS by @rosiethorns88 (different front and back)
🖤 BONUS CONTENT
This edition will also have an author letter with a digital signature bound into the book.

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: April Showers

Oh gawd this was so hard! In the end I sacked off the April showers/rain thing and just went for water type books….and I couldn’t even find 10 🤣🤣

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez
Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle
Catfish Rolling by Clara Jumagai
The Water Witch by Jessica Thorne
The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd Jones
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

What would you choose?

‘April is the kindest month. April gets you out of your head and out working in the garden.’ ~ Marty Rubin

‘April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.’ ~ William Shakespeare (Sonnet XCVIII)

HAPPY APRIL!

Hope everyone has a great month!

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.

Hope you’ve had a good week?

Happy Easter! Hope you have been munching lots of chocolate today!!!

We had Easter dinner with the family, I cooked and even made a mini egg cheesecake from scratch, was so delish!

I’ve got this coming week off work and I cannot wait to get some rest!

Only 1 book read this week but it was a 31 hour audiobook – soooo long!

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New Arrivals

A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene

(No pic until next week as it’s a bookbox book)

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What I’ve Read

🎧 Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Look out for my reviews soon!

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You might have missed…..

Unboxing – Illumicrate: March 2024
Review – Brothersong by TJ Klune
Challenge – Tackle That TBR
Challenge – Audiobook Challenge

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What have you read lately?

Happy Easter! 🐰🐣

‘Easter egg hunts are proof that children can find things when they really want.’ – unknown

‘Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life.” — S.D. Gordon

‘Easter is the only time when it’s perfectly safe to put all of your eggs in one basket.’ – Evan Esar

I organised my own reading challenge for 2024, Tackle That TBR!

It’s not too late to join in! Let me know in the comments how many books you’ll go for!

Information:

* An annual challenge to read your tbr!

* THE GOLDEN RULE: The books you read must be published in the previous year or earlier, ie not in 2024.

* Set your goal and if you want, name your books, no pressure!

* Audiobooks, ebooks, paperbacks, hardbacks; they all count!

I set my goal at 20 and also added another rule for myself that these books must have been on my actual tbr with a date before 31 December 2023 and not bought/borrowed before this date.

So far I’ve read 8/20 – woohoo!

Here’s a few which I read!

Title: Brothersong

Series: Green Creek #4

Author: TJ Klune

In the ruins of Caswell, Maine, Carter Bennett learned the truth of what had been right in front of him the entire time. And then it—he—was gone.

Desperate for answers, Carter takes to the road, leaving family and the safety of his pack behind, all in the name of a man he only knows as a feral wolf. But therein lies the wolves are pack animals, and the longer Carter is on his own, the more his mind slips toward the endless void of Omega insanity. But he pushes on, following the trail left by Gavin. Gavin, the son of Robert Livingstone. The half-brother of Gordo Livingstone.

What Carter finds will change the course of the wolves forever. Because Gavin’s history with the Bennett pack goes back further than anyone knows, a secret kept hidden by Carter’s father, Thomas Bennett.

And with this knowledge comes a the sins of the fathers now rest upon the shoulders of their sons.

OMG THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING!

I thought Heartsong was going to be my favorite of the series but Gavin has actually stolen my heart and I hope he never gives it back!

We know that Carter went off to find Gavin who basically sacrificed himself to go with that horrible Richard Livingstone and what follows made me feel every emotion there is!

There were some scenes that had me snorting with laughter, the mash potato, the fork and ‘The Book’!!! There was also all the faves from the previous books, loyalty, love, family….and pack.

‘You make me feel safe. Thump. Thump. Thump.’

‘And that’s that.’
I can’t believe it’s over…..