Title: The Bridge Kingdom

Series: Bridge Kingdom #1

Author: Danielle Jensen

A warrior princess trained in isolation, Lara is driven by two certainties. The first is that King Aren of the Bridge Kingdom is her enemy. And the second is that she’ll be the one to bring him to his knees.

The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom enriches itself and deprives its rivals, including Lara’s homeland. So when she’s sent as a bride under the guise of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture its impenetrable defenses. And the defenses of its king.

Yet as she infiltrates her new home and gains a deeper understanding of the war to possess the bridge, Lara begins to question whether she’s the hero or the villain. And as her feelings for Aren transform from frosty hostility to fierce passion, Lara must choose which kingdom she’ll save… and which kingdom she’ll destroy.

A marriage of convenience of a King and a trained spy/assassin/warrior Princess can only end one way…….

So what we have here is:

~ A loveable leading man,
~ Marriage of convenience,
~ Enemies to lovers,
~ Action,
~ Drama,
~ Fight scenes,
~ Beautiful world building.

At first I did not like Lara. At all. But my opinion of her actually changed when her fogginess cleared…….

A little irk for me was I felt that the ‘love’ came quite quickly so much so my eyebrows went off my head! 

I knew what was going to happen and I was screaming at Lara to stop being so stupid and sloppy!!! But it was an enjoyable read!

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: Cozy Reads (Share books that give off a cozy vibe, whether through atmosphere, setting, or some other factor.

The 5 below are cozy to me due mainly to the stories and how they made me feel. Some of them also have cozy covers!

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
For the Throne by Hannah Whitten
Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
Gilded by Marissa Meyer
With Everything I Am by Kristen Ashley
The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare (yes the whole series!)

What would be yours?

Title: Princess of Souls

Author: Alexandra Christo

For sixteen years, Selestra Somniatis has been trapped in a castle on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother’s place as King Seryth’s right hand. Tied by blood to steal souls for the immortal King of the Six Isles, the Somniatis Witch foretells the deaths of participants in the Festival of Predictions. To outrun your fate is to save your soul and steal the King’s immortality. But if you die, your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death.

As a soldier in King Seryth’s army, Nox Laederic is an unlikely candidate for the Festival, but he has no plans to die at the hands of the King or his witches. His plan is more akin to violent revenge: steal the King’s immortality and kill the entirety of his court, starting with Selestra herself.

But when Selestra touches Nox in her very first prediction, she sees her own death alongside his–their fates are unmistakably intertwined, and Selestra is no longer safe in the only home she’s ever known. Nox and Selestra will have to enter a turbulent alliance in order to survive long enough to free the Six Isles from King Seryth’s clutches and escape the new fate that hunts them.

~ A Rapunzel retelling
~ A witch who can predict deaths
~ A soldier who thinks he can beat death
~ Enemies to lovers

Sign me up!!!!

‘They fear us. They hate us. And they’re right to.’

Selestra is the Somniatis witch heir and has   basically been locked away in her room for 16 years waiting to take her Mums place alongside King Seryth (who is just evil!). Along comes solider Nox to make his death bargain and Selestra sees more than she wanted to! And this leads to a quest (I do love a quest!)

Here’s my loves:

~ 25% in my jaw dropped!
~ The dual points of view,
~ This was a fun fantasy romance read!
~ The dagger to the throat scene – here for that!
~ The best friends Micah and Irenya!
~ Plenty of drama, adventure, shocks and revelations,
~ Selestra and Nox – just them,
~ Selestra and Nox’s banter.

Talking about their banter…..this made my knees go weak!

‘I could use it to stab you in the back and take Leo’s butterfly for myself.
Nox blinks. Are you flirting with me?
I roll my eyes. I’m threatening to kill you.
A lazy smile spreads across his lips. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference with you.’
#swoon

A special mention to Nox! He is so charismatic! I obviously fell in love with him after a few pages of reading about him and I wasn’t the only one!

‘That night, I dream only of Nox Laederic.’
Oh me too Selestra, me too!!!!

Thanks to Hot Key Books and Insta Book Tours for my copy, I really enjoyed this read!

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?

It’s got cold here all of a sudden and we’ve had days and days of rain! So it was a good excuse to stay in and read!!!

We put up our Christmas tree today and it makes me feel so cozy! The lights are just so pretty!

The amount of books below do look like a lot to read in a week but it’s really not! I’d already started The Queen of Nothing and Loathe to Love You before my last update but hadn’t quite finished so I’ve added them here! But four 5 star books! What a bloomin great reading week!

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What I’ve Read

Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood (arc)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See my review here.

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See my review here.

A Kingdom of Stars and Shadow by Holly Renee
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See my review here.

A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross (arc)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See my review here.

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You might have missed…..

Review – The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani
Review – Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Review – Red Scholars Wake by Aliette de Bodard
Review – A Darkness at the Door by Intisar Khanani

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What have you read lately?

Title: A Darkness at the Door

Series: Dauntless Path #3

Author: Intisar Khanani

I’ve been cursed, betrayed, and sold into slavery – but the truth I carry can’t be allowed to die.

Only Rae knows the extent of the corruption at the heart of the kingdom of Menaiya, from the noble lord who betrayed her, to the Circle of Mages whose wards protect the slavers from discovery. Injured and imprisoned on a slave ship, Rae’s options are quickly running out. When a desperate escape attempt goes terribly wrong, she finds herself indebted to a terrifying Fae sorceress.

Now Rae will not rest until she has rescued her fellow prisoners and freed her land from the darkness that has taken hold. To succeed, she’ll need every ally she can find—including Bren, the thief who may have stolen her heart. But Bren is hiding his own bloody secrets, and the curses that encircle Rae have sunk their claws into her mind. With her debts coming due and time running short, all the truths in the world may not be enough to save her kingdom, or herself.

‘The final reckoning.’

So we left Rae in a predicament in the last book and now continues the rest of story……

This tale takes us on sea voyages, to different towns, we meet villains, there’s camaraderie and also a dash of romance!

Bren and Rae make my heart sing! They accept each other just as they are.

Also 2 huge highlights in this book for me were Bren’s companions, Lirika and Artemian, they were just fab side characters.

As well as the above there is drama, deceptions, action and magic – this book has it all and I completely adored it.

I don’t see this trilogy about much and that has to be remedied as each book was a solid 5 stars for me, more if I could give them!

Title: The Red Scholar’s Wake

Author: Aliette de Bodard

Xích Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. Xích Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates’ enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between Xích Si and herself.

Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants Xích Si’s help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xích Si means Rice Fish can offer Xích Si protection, in exchange for Xích Si’s technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.

But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xích Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together…

The premise of this book was absolutely intriguing – a sapphic space opera!

Xich Si finds herself kidnapped by a ship, Rice Fish, and they come to a bargain. Rice Fish’s wife has just passed away and she needs another so offers marriage for protection and to help her find information.

This was a story full of pirates, suspense and romance (which was quite cute!)

It did feel like it dragged though, there was just too much in there that I felt didn’t need be there. It was one of those books for me that I couldn’t read in 1, 2 or even 3 sittings, it was small sprints all the way.

I am a bit gutted though because I wanted to love this story more than I did.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Hope it’s full of family, food and fun ❤️

Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness and gratitude.

Nigel Hamilton

Title: Howl’s Moving Castle

Series: Howl’s Moving Castle #1

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl’s castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there’s far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

I absolutely adored this read!!!!

Sophie is spelled into an old woman by the Witch of the Waste and goes to Howl in his moving castle, strikes a bargain with a fire demon and ends up staying!

The characters are fun, weird and quirky and I fell in love with each of them!

Sophie – grumpy old lady
Howl – no feelings wizard
Michael – wizards apprentice
Calcifer the fire demon (and my fave!)

This story was magical, charming and captured my heart!

I hear there is a film of this so I might try and track it down because Howl now owns my heart!!!!

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: Thankful Freebie –
Authors I’m thankful for

I mean some of my reasons seem really shallow so I must be shallow then…..but when it comes to books who cares!

Sarah J Maas – for Azriel, Ruhn and the jaw dropping end of Crescent City 2!

Leigh Bardugo for the Grishaverse!

Susan Ee for giving me the joy of Raffe and Penryn!

Nora Sakavic – Andriel, need I say more?

Brandon Sanderson for showing me I love sci-fi!

Cassandra Clare as she gave me my Will, Kieran and Matthew!

Jay Kristoff for just everything he writes (it’s golden!)

Olivia Atwater for cementing my love for historical romance!

TJ Klune for writing hilarious books which never fail to make me lol!!

Kristen Ashley for writing the best adult romances I’ve ever read.

Who would be yours?