My promise to myself that I’d really cutback on my book buying this year has slightly fallen round my ears as I grabbed 3 books in January as well as my book box subscriptions!
Two were books I’d already read but the paperbacks were on sale so thought it would be rude not to! But in the end I have failed my promise, and miserably too!!!!
So for March I’m going on the conservative side of 2 books! One I have already preordered (ebook) and the other I *think* I’ll get in a book box!
Monsters are real and they live inside us… but whether you keep that monster locked within or whether you unleash it is entirely up to you.
Items inspired by The Last Hours, These Hollow Vows, Scythe, This Savage Song and our featured book of the month.
🖤 James Herondale Trinket Dish designed by @arz28 🖤 Scythe Enamel Pin designed by @azura.arts 🖤 Aaron Metalmark inspired by the book of the month, designed by @arz28 🖤 These Hollow Vows Tea Towel designed by @stellabookishart 🖤 August Flynn Pin (This Savage Song) designed by @lizzart.zardonics 🖤 Tarot cards: Cassius and Sevro from Red Rising
BOOK OF THE MONTH
Only a Monster by Vanessa Len
Exclusive cover ✔ Stencil sprayed edges ✔ Endpaper artwork by @arz28 ✔ Foil embossing by @arz28 ✔ Signed ✔
Featured fandoms this month are We Hunt the Flame, The Prison Healer, Priory of the Orange Tree and The Never Tilting World!
💛 We Hunt the Flame Puzzle with artwork by @lesyablackbird designed by @chattynora 💛 Under the Orange Tree socks designed by @pinapali inspired by Priory of the Orange Tree 💛 You’re a Survivor Phone Holder inspired by Prison Healer designed by @no0nedesigns 💛 Night and Day Spinning Pendant with artwork by @flutterandfern inspired by The Never-Tilting World 💛 The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman (A SECOND BOOK!!!!!)
When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, a young woman with special powers might be the only person able to stop him. As part of a secret branch of the FBI, Tessa is sent on a mission to impersonate Madison, a local teen and the last victim of the brutal attacker, to find the killer before he strikes again.
As if absorbing the DNA of someone else and pretending to be them wasn’t hard enough, Alec, the guy she’s been in love with for years, is joining her on the dangerous mission. Tessa knows she can’t let her feelings for him get in the way, especially as her crush seems hopeless. Not only is Alec her self-defence teacher but he’s also taken. If only the attraction between them would stop complicating everything!
Will Tessa find the killer before another person falls victim to him? Or will she lose herself in a life she’s always longed for but never had?
Supernatural mystery is a new genre for me to read but I knew the author wouldn’t let me down!
Here we have Tessa, an agent for the FEA (Forces with Extraordinary Abilities), and is sent on a mission to impersonate Madison, a victim of a serial killer to help catch him. But she has an added complication…her coach from the FEA who has been sent with her, Alec, she has a major crush on him!
What I loved: * The supernatural elements, the Variation power, * The story/plot, was totally engaged, * Devon, * Seeing Tessa grow in her own skin, well not her actual own, but you know! * Alec and Tessa, * The fact I was in the edge of my seat reading this with all the guesses flinging everywhere!
So really there wasn’t anything I didn’t like!
If you love a mystery read then you need to read this. Renegade, which is book 2, will be released in May 22.
Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell have landed in America, a bold, brash land unlike the genteel streets of London they knew. But like London, the city of Chicago hides its dark secrets well. When the two attend the spectacular World’s Fair, they find the once-in-a-lifetime event tainted with reports of missing people and unsolved murders.
Determined to help, Audrey Rose and Thomas begin their investigations, only to find themselves facing a serial killer unlike any they’ve heard of before. Identifying him is one thing, but capturing him—and getting dangerously lost in the infamous Murder Hotel he constructed as a terrifying torture device—is another.
Will Audrey Rose and Thomas see their last mystery to the end—together and in love—or will their fortunes finally run out when their most depraved adversary makes one final, devastating kill?
‘Lucifer had once been an angel too’
I’m not sure if this makes me a whiny baby but I refuse to read book 3 because I’ve heard what happens!
So far, Audrey Rose isn’t up there on my list of favourite heroines, she actually gets right on my wick! I’m here for 2 reasons, Thomas Cresswell and the criminal investigations! So I didn’t go mad and throw things, I skipped book 3. Something I have never done in my life!
Anyway onto Capturing!
I really enjoyed this listen, the narrator is absolutely fabulous!
I admit that I did warm up to Audrey a bit in this book as she seemed to have grown into more of an adult! Thomas was still amazing however!
So here we have loose ends tied up and we get to meet the devil!
Really did enjoy this book although I think Hunting Prince Dracula was my fave of the series.
The Bonds That Tie by J Bree Broken Bonds Savage Bonds Blood Bonds
I’m going to do this a little differently, I will post my reviews as links so you can read if you want to so I don’t bore you but I’ve written a little quote from my reviews about each book!
Basically what we have here is a girl who a central in a bonded group – all have some sort of power and they are all strong. She ran away after an incident before she met them for reasons we find out slowly in each book.
The guys are hot and lust after her due to the bond, it’s a bit dark, an RH but you don’t really see much ‘action’ until book 3 but it’s not overdone at all!
This book was setting the scene, creating the world and letting us get to know the characters. I wasn’t enthralled until around 20% in but then I was hooked!
We are due to have a really bad storm here, the worst in 30 years apparently so I thought I’d do an earlier post so I can go and find the torches and charge up the devices!!!
Another romancey post with Joker from Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley.
This book is one of a MC romance series and I do love all the books but this one, I loved. I felt really connected to Carissa due to what she was going through…..and then she meets Joker ….hence romancing the red hot!!!
There’s no pics of him that I can find that wouldn’t be copyrighted so can only give what’s in my minds eye! Bearded, hot with deep soulful black eyes!!!!
One of my fave lines!
‘The first time in his life he wanted more. And he was going to get it. Further, even if he had to bust his balls, eat shit, walk through hell… He was going to give it to her.’
Here’s the blurb if you aren’t convinced yet!!!!
The ride of her life . . . Once upon a time, Carissa Teodoro believed in happy endings. Money, marriage, motherhood: everything came easy—until she woke up to the ugly truth about her Prince Charming. Now a struggling, single mom and stranded by a flat tire, Carissa’s pondering her mistakes when a vaguely familiar knight rides to her rescue on a ton of horsepower.
Climb on and hold tight . . . In high school, Carson Steele was a bad boy loner who put Carissa on a pedestal where she stayed far beyond his reach. Today, he’s the hard-bodied biker known only as Joker, and from the way Carissa’s acting, it’s clear she’s falling fast. While catching her is irresistible, knowing what to do with her is a different story. A good girl like Carissa is the least likely fit with the Chaos Motorcycle Club. Too bad holding back is so damned hard. Now, as Joker’s secrets are revealed and an outside threat endangers the club, Joker must decide whether to ride steady with Carissa—or ride away forever . . .
As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.
That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding… six-pack abs.
Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.
Ok let’s get to it. Get ready for my choppy review!
Olive really has no one apart from her friends Anh and Malcom. She loves Anh, she’s her person, she wants her to be happy so when Anh won’t date Olive’s barely ex, Olive, takes matters into her own hands….with hilarious consequences!
I expect all the stuff has already been said so here’s all the excellent stuff:
How they first met = excellent When and how they first kissed = excellent Olive = excellent Mr Broody Adam Carlsen = excellent The crisps part = excellent Malcom = excellent Foot tasting food = excellent Olive and Adam = excellent Everything about this read = excellent!
As you might gather, I thought this was excellent and so worth the hype. It made my heart so happy! Now I just need a copy without that ugly tik tok sticker!
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.
Theme: Books Too Good to Review Properly (I have no words!)
~ Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff ~ The Extraordinaires by TJ Klune ~ Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao ~ Glint by Raven Kennedy ~ Gleam by Raven Kennedy
~ House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune ~ Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston ~ Gilded by Marissa Meyer ~ Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor ~ From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout
CJRTB Books 