Title: A Power Unbound

Series: The Last Binding #3

Author: Freya Marske

Jack Alston, Lord Hawthorn, would love a nice, safe, comfortable life. After the death of his twin sister, he thought he was done with magic for good. But with the threat of a dangerous ritual hanging over every magician in Britain, he’s drawn reluctantly back into that world.

Now Jack is living in a bizarre puzzle-box of a magical London townhouse, helping an unlikely group of friends track down the final piece of the Last Contract before their enemies can do the same. And to make matters worse, they need the help of writer and thief Alan Ross.

Cagey and argumentative, Alan is only in this for the money. The aristocratic Lord Hawthorn, with all his unearned power, is everything that Alan hates. And unfortunately, Alan happens to be everything that Jack wants in one gorgeous, infuriating package.

When a plot to seize unimaginable power comes to a head at Cheetham Hall―Jack’s ancestral family estate, a land so old and bound in oaths that it’s grown a personality as prickly as its owner―Jack, Alan and their allies will become entangled in a night of champagne, secrets, and bloody sacrifice . . . and the foundations of magic in Britain will be torn up by the roots before the end.

Back in Edwardian England with the gang of the Last Contract!

Aaaah Lord Hawthorn, how I love him so I am very glad this book was his because he deserves a hea! His guardianship/brotherly actions warmed my heart.

‘Three months ago an unmagical girl had accosted him on a ship, inserted herself inconveniently into his life, and forced him back into magical society and magical conspiracy.’

Enter Alan Ross, writer and thief who we met in A Restless Truth. Oh I loved him too! He was real and he was just what Jacky boy aka Lord Hawthorn needed! Alan’s had a hard life and seeing him fit in with the gang was heartwarming.

So in short, there was action, found family, magic, basically enemies to lovers and a lot of spice! An honourable mention to the Elsie part, waaaaaaah!

A great conclusion to the series!

Title: Bookshops and Bonedust

Series: Legends and Lattes #0

Author: Travis Baldree

Viv’s career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned.

Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it.

What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn’t possibly imagine.

Still, adventure isn’t all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.

If you loved Legends and Lattes then you will 100% want to read this, I promise you!

We are back with Viv but this time it’s before Thune and coffee in the sea city of Murk where Viv is convalescing. In her recovery she stumbles across a bookshop and a bakery and some new faces….

What ensues is:

~ Found family,
~ A cozy read,
~ A charming but slightly dangerous town,
~ A foul mouthed shop owner,
~ A cute, odd animal,
~ Viv in all her glory,
~ A fabulous use of the word moist,
~ A skeleton who you’ll love,
~ A small summer fling,
~ A book lover/advocate.

All of this will make you want to jump into this book headfirst so you can live in this world!

In the acknowledgements the author says he had a cozy, fun, mystery in his head set in Thune (and I’m hoping featuring Viv and Tandri) but this book came to pass instead. With the events at the end of B&B, I’m hoping we will now get the original too, preferably with Satchel (IYKYK),  because I want to get this warm, fuzzy feeling again from this authors work!

‘Sometimes, it’ll never be the right time.
And sometimes, we aren’t the right people yet.’

Title: Curious Tides

Series: Drowned Gods #1

Author: Pascale Lacelle

Emory might be a student at the prestigious Aldryn College for Lunar Magics, but her healing abilities have always been mediocre at best—until a treacherous night in the Dovermere sea caves leaves a group of her classmates dead and her as the only survivor. Now Emory is plagued by strange, impossible powers that no healer should possess.

Powers that would ruin her life if the wrong person were to discover them.

To gain control of these new abilities, Emory enlists the help of the school’s most reclusive student, Baz—a boy already well-versed in the deadly nature of darker magic, whose sister happened to be one of the drowned students and Emory’s best friend. Determined to find the truth behind the drownings and the cult-like secret society she’s convinced her classmates were involved in, Emory is faced with even more questions when the supposedly drowned students start washing ashore— alive —only for them each immediately to die horrible, magical deaths.

And Emory is not the only one seeking answers. When her new magic captures the society’s attention, she finds herself drawn into their world of privilege and power, all while wondering if the truth she’s searching for might lead her right back to Dovermere…to face the fate she was never meant to escape.

Emory is back at Aldryn College after ‘the incident’ where she lost her best friend and finds herself with more magic than she originally had.

Baz is also back with his grief of losing his sister, Romie, in the incident.

But all is not what it seems.

2 words – absolutely brilliant!

This was a dark academia read where the writing was rich and captivating. The magic system was so unique and I found myself so immersed in the storyline that I read this in 2 days (which is a feat for me!)

However I am left wondering if there is something amiss with me because, damn, I always fall for the wrong guy!!!!

‘The story has only just begun.’

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: Book Titles That Would Make Great Newspaper Headlines

I had a blast with this! Could’ve done a list of 20 I think!!!!

Destroy the Day by Brigid Kemmerer
Famine by Laura Thalassa
Fire Night by Penelope Douglas
Fear Me by BB Reid
Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
War by Laura Thalassa
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
Hexed by Julia Tuffs
End of Days by Susan Ee
The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

What’s on your list?

Title: The Hunting Moon

Series: The Luminaries #2

Author: Susan Dennard

Winnie Wednesday has gotten everything she thought she wanted. She passed the deadly hunter trials, her family has been welcomed back into the Luminaries, and overnight, she has become a local celebrity.

The Girl Who Jumped. The Girl Who Got Bitten.

Unfortunately, it all feels wrong. For one, nobody will believe her about the new nightmare called the Whisperer that’s killing hunters each night. Everyone blames the werewolf, even though Winnie is certain the wolf is innocent.

On top of that, following her dad’s convoluted clues about the Dianas, their magic, and what happened in Hemlock Falls four years ago is leaving her with more questions than answers.

Then to complicate it all, there is still only one person who can help her: Jay Friday, the boy with plenty of problems all his own.

As bodies and secrets pile up around town, Winnie finds herself questioning what it means to be a true Wednesday and a true Luminary—and also where her fierce-hearted loyalties might ultimately have to lie.

Back with Winnie Wednesday and Hemlock Falls and, after the events of The Luminaries, Winnie and her family are back in the good graces of the Luminaries but Winnie has her own plans!

I listened to the audio and can totally recommend it, the narrator was perfection!

This book certainly does not suffer from 2nd book syndrome, I really enjoyed it, more than book 1 in fact!

I do love a bad boy and Jay is my utter fave in this book but Winnie’s growth is amazing!

I don’t want to say anything about the plot but you can expect the same darkness, mystery and gothic forest from book 1 along with more action, drama and maybe a bit of romance!

There’s a jaw dropping reveal (which I did guess and then dismissed!) and an ending that made me aaaaw and say no way! Book 3 please!

‘You either trust the forest or you don’t.’

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.

Hi everyone, hope you’ve had a good week?

Halloween was a bit of a wash out here as it was pouring down but the kidlets just kept coming!

It was back to work and school for us after our week off and I met my new colleagues face to face in the office which was nice!

I’ve been having some neck issues this week, I keep getting muscle spasms in the big muscle on the right (trapezium?) and it’s so painful!

Today is Guy Fawkes/Firework night here and, for a change, it’s raining so we aren’t going to the local display, we are just going to have a few sparklers in the garden and some hotdogs!

---

New Arrivals

Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare

(I’ve got the series in paperback and this is out now!)

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

---

What I’ve Read

🎧 Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧 The Night Hunt by Alexandra Christo
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Look out for my reviews soon!

---

You might have missed…..

Review – House of Roots and Ruin by Erin A Craig
Unboxing – Illumicrate: October 2023
Review – A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin
Review – Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah

---

What have you read lately?

Happy Firework Night UK!

Stay safe!

Don’t know about Firework Night?

From Wikipedia: Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London; and months later, the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot’s failure.

Title: Silent Night

Series: Hercule Poirot Mysteries #5

Author: Sophie Hannah

It’s 19 December 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are called to investigate the murder of a man in the apparent safe haven of a Norfolk hospital ward. Catchpool’s mother, the irrepressible Cynthia, insists that Poirot stays in a crumbling mansion by the coast, so that they can all be together for the festive period while Poirot solves the case. Cynthia’s friend Arnold is soon to be admitted to that same hospital and his wife is convinced he will be the killer’s next victim, though she refuses to explain why.

Poirot has less than a week to solve the crime and prevent more murders, if he is to escape from this nightmare scenario and get home in time for Christmas. Meanwhile, someone else – someone utterly ruthless – also has ideas about what ought to happen to Hercule Poirot . . .

Confession/s – I’ve never read a Hercule Poirot book before or a Sophie Hannah story but a) I loved the TV show and b) I will read more Hannah now!

Bien, bien! All the stars!

December 1931, told from Catchpool’s point of view, we travel to Munby in Norfolk to Frellingsloe House to spend Christmas with the inhabitants which include Catchpool’s Mum, a terminally ill man, his terrified wife, 4 squabbling kids, a curate and a doctor! Poirot and Catchpool also desperately want to be back in London for Christmas!

And of course there is murder!

I was captivated by this book! The author painted such a vivid picture, it was like I was transported back watching the TV show with my parents! I could picture it all in my head!

Catchpool’s Mum was so amusing, I don’t think she meant to be but gawd, I laughed at her exploits!

I was busy pointing the finger at almost all of the characters, dismissing that and moving on but the perp and the reason for their actions made my jaw drop!

As I said before, I was enchanted with this read and now I’ve seen there are 4 other Poirot books by this author and I need them!

Title: A Lady’s Guide to Scandal

Series: A Lady’s Guide #2

Author: Sophie Irwin

When shy Miss Eliza Balfour married the austere Earl of Somerset, twenty years her senior, it was the match of the season–no matter that he was not the husband Eliza would have chosen.

But ten years later, Eliza is widowed. And at eight and twenty years, she is suddenly left titled, rich, and, for the first time in her life, utterly in control of her own future. Instead of living out her mourning quietly, Eliza heads to Bath with her cousin Margaret. After years of living according to everyone else’s rules, Eliza has resolved, at last, to do as she wants.

But when the ripples of the dowager Lady Somerset’s behavior reach the new Lord Somerset–whom Eliza knew, once, as a younger woman–Eliza is forced to confront the fact that freedom does not come without consequences, though it also brings unexpected opportunities . . .

I loved A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting so grabbed the audiobook of this from the library.

No one warned me it was a love triangle. Oh I loathe them but I wanted to see if it was cushioned by historical romance!

Poor old Eliza hasn’t been able to make a decision about her own life all her life until her husband dies and she inherits money and property and hot foots it off to Bath with her cousin to get away from her money grabbing family.

Then Eliza lives, she breathes, she has freedom and she meets 2 men vying for her affections.

I love reading about this time period and all that goes on but I really don’t think I would’ve survived in that period without being deemed mad! Poor Eliza, I felt so bad for her!

My fave character however was Eliza’s cousin, Margaret. She was so funny and a loyal companion.

I didnt love this as much as the first book but it was still a good read.