‘Far up in the deep blue sky, Great white clouds are floating by; All the world is dressed in green; Many happy birds are seen, Roses bright and sunshine clear Show that lovely June is here.’ ~ F. G. Sanders
‘In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.’ ~ John Steinbeck
Have a great month!
Title: A Steep and Savage Path
Author: JJA Harwood
An immortal vampire. A mortal bride. A vow that even death can’t break.
Irina is about to be married to a dead man. She is the willing village sacrifice for the Wedding of the a desperate ritual designed to lay the hungry vampire that has been terrorising her Transylvanian village to rest. Irina’s beloved sister’s soul is trapped in the land of the dead. If Irina can retrieve it, she could bring her back – but Irina would need a guide, one who can walk between the living and the dead.
Irina strikes up a deal with her new husband – if he agrees to get her safely there and back again, then he can drink her blood as much as he wants.
They begin a perilous journey through the afterlife together, in which Irina realises Stefan isn’t the cruel and terrifying monster that she thought. In a land of three-headed beasts, winged creatures and walking corpses, the last thing Irina would have expected was to fall in love.
Only, Irina learns that by bringing Stefan to the land of the dead she has put him in grave danger, and will be faced with an impossible choice. Will they be able to make it out, undead or alive?
A bride marries the village vamp so she can gain access to the underworld to rescue her sister’s soul…..
I absolutely loved the premise of this story and I absolutely adored how the underworld was described, monsters aside!
Irina was so determined and Stefan really tried to come off as a monster because he was a vamp…..but there’s a story there too. The 2 of them together made my heart sing! (My little cauliflower!!!!)
It did fall a bit flat for me in places because their journey was just so long and repetitive but overall, I enjoyed it.
Sound like something you’d like?
Title: The Half King
Series: Half King #1
Author: Melissa Landers
A king by day. Shadow by night…
The Great Betrayal changed everything for the Allied Realm. Long ago, the kingdom’s noble houses rose up against the goddess… and for their treachery, the firstborn of each noble family was cursed.
One with perilous beauty.
One with destructive knowledge.
One with insatiable bloodlust.
But the royal house Mortara received the worst affliction of all. For while the king exists during the day, he fades into nothingness at night…until his twenty-first birthday, when he will be lost to the shadows forever.
Now an acolyte has arrived at court. Like all the second-born children of the Allied Realm, she’s destined to serve the goddess and become a Seer…only Cerise Solon has no gift of foretelling. In fact, she has no magical gift at all.
Instead, she’s surrounded by courtiers and priests—smiling sycophants whose hearts are filled with secrets and lies. And at the center of it all sits His Majesty Kian Hannibal Mortara, with his haunting eyes, sharp tongue, and an unerring ability to send her pulse skittering at the worst possible moments.
Falling for him is unthinkable. Because the king is the last of his line, and as the specter of his twenty-first birthday—and the full force of his curse—approaches, the kingdom holds its breath.
But there’s only one way to save a dying king… and it lies with the one person who’s hiding the biggest secret of all. Cerise.
‘A king by day. Shadow by night…’
Second born, Cerise, is an acolyte and is sent to the King’s Court after a vision.
Kian is the King, struck with a curse to return to shadows from dusk until dawn.
Together, with a bunch of other courtiers, they strike out to break the curse.
The good – the secrets, twists, shocks, the romance, the pace, the championing of women and insta love (my fave!)
The not-so-good – the characters sometimes were like young teenagers instead of 19/21 year old, a lot of telling, no showing and every part of their plan seemed to resolve itself very easily!
But…..that epilogue! What the heck!
‘All of my sunrises belong to you.’
Sound like something you’d like?
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: Animal Companions
Animal companions do really make a story…and here’s some good ones!
Nevernight – Mr Kindly
Greenteeth – Cavall
Heir of Fire – Abraxos
Skyward – Doomslug
Iron King – Grimalkin
Fourth Wing – Tairn
Emily Wilde’s – Shadow and Orga the murder cat
Blood Orchid – evil alchemy duck, Durian
So This is Ever After – a murder crow
Shadowhunters – Church the cat
What would you choose?
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!
Yes….a day late because I was very hungover yesterday!!!
I disappeared for a few days there, apologies but work has been so busy plus I’m not in work this week so was trying to make sure everything runs without me which meant some extra hours!
It’s my big 5 0 on Friday so I’ll be day drinking to forget how old I am 😂
I completed my reread of Fourth Wing and I’ve now moved onto Iron Flame!
A Steep and Savage Path by JJA Harwood
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (reread)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Look out for my reviews soon!
Review – The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
Challenge – 2025 JIAM Audiobook Challenge
Review – The Half King by Melissa Landers
Review – A Steep and Savage Path by JJA Harwood
What have you read lately?
The last thing I need is another challenge BUT I do want to read more off my TBR so…….
June is the 2025 JIAM Audiobook Challenge hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer & That’s What I’m Talking About.
There’s a few challenges but I’m only doing the last one. I am hoping to listen to 5 tbr audiobooks – pray for me!!!!!
Challenges
Complete at least one challenge to enter giveaway. See rules listed below.
• Finish/Start a series in a month. (listen to at least 3 audiobooks in a series)
• Love your Library (listen to 3 audiobooks from your local library)
• Let there be Monsters (listen to 3 audiobooks with monsters/paranormal elements)
• Going the Distance (listen to 3 audiobooks over 12 hours each)
• Tackle your Audiobook TBR Pile (listen to 3 audiobooks you already own)
Rules
• Challenge runs from June 1, 2025 through June 30th.
• To enter, you must complete one challenge. You can complete more than one for extra entries, but no audiobook title can be used twice.
• Audiobooks must be a minimum of 4 hours.
• Audiobooks count towards your 2025 Audiobook Challenge goals and can be used for other challenges.
• Declare your intentions by posting a blog post or sharing on social media. Link back to this sign up post. Let’s get everyone listening in June! #JIAMAudiobookChallenge
Title: The Knight and the Moth
Series: Stonewater Kingdom #1
Author: Rachel Gillig
Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.
Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil’s visions. But when Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she’d rather avoid Rodrick’s dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.
Listen up Batholomew – if you’re going to read 1 book this year, let it be this one!
A Diviner, a Knight, a King, a gargoyle, Omens and dreams.
A coin, an inkwell, an oar, a chime, and a loom stone.
If you loved One Dark Window then you’re going to LOVE this!
There was banter, there was drama, there was heartache, joy and A LOT of shocking revelations (that I didn’t even guess!) in this fast-paced story.
What an absolute hit this was! How the heck am I going to wait until the next book?!
I’ll leave you with these:
‘Swords and armor are nothing to stone.’
‘Knights are shooting stars, Six. They come and go. But you and me, our sisterhood of Diviners—we’re the moon.’
‘The gargoyle batted his eyes. Oh, Bartholomew. He’s dreamy.’
Sound like something you’d like?
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: Books Set In Or Around Forests
I know this is a swerve on the original topic but it’s been a long day and my mind couldn’t conjure up any and forests wouldn’t get out of my brain!
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd Jones
Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw
The Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwood
The Luminaries by Susan Dennard
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten
Happyhead by Josh Silver
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
What subject would you have chosen?
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!
Not much has happened this week, just really run of the mill! And maybe that’s good!
But it was my 10 year blogiversary so here’s to 10 more years!
I don’t want to say it out loud in case I jinx myself, but my reading is going really well this month, 6 books read so far and 3 of them were over 500 pages!
Gleam by Raven Kennedy (reread)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧 The Half King by Melissa Landers
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Look out for my reviews soon!
Review – Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide
Calendar – 10 Years!
Review – The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
Challenge – 2025 JIAM Audiobook Challenge
What have you read lately?
CJRTB Books 