I’m on the countdown to Christmas now! Look out for my blogmas posts starting tomorrow!
May you never be too grown up to search the skies on Christmas Eve.
‘Mankind is a great, an immense family. This is proved by what we feel in our hearts at Christmas.’
– Pope John XXIII
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.”
– How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Dr. Suess
Title: A Fire in the Sky
Series: A Fire in the Sky #1
Author: Sophie Jordan
Dragons are extinct. Witches are outcast. Magic is dying.
But human lust for power is immortal.
Dragon fire no longer blisters the skies over Penterra, but inside the lavish palace, life is still perilous…especially for Tamsyn. Raised in the glittering court alongside the princesses, it’s her duty to be punished for their misdeeds. Treated as part of the royal family but also as the lowliest servant, Tamsyn fits nowhere. Her only friend is Stig, Captain of the Guard…though sometimes she thinks he wants more than friendship.
When Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, descends on her home, Tamsyn’s world becomes even more dangerous. To save the pampered princesses from a fate worse than death, she is commanded to don a veil and marry the brutal warrior. She agrees to the deception even though it means leaving Stig, and the only life she’s ever known, behind.
The wedding night begins with unexpected passion—and ends in near violence when her trickery is exposed. Rather than start a war, Fell accepts Tamsyn as his bride…but can he accept the dark secrets she harbors—secrets buried so deep even she doesn’t know they exist? For Tamsyn is more than a royal whipping girl, more than the false wife of a man who now sees her as his enemy. And when those secrets emerge, they will ignite a flame bright enough to burn the entire kingdom to the bone.
Magic is not dead…it is only sleeping. And it will take one ordinary girl with an extraordinary destiny to awaken it.
Oh my. I really enjoyed this! It is what a romantasy should be!
~ Politicial marriage
~ Treachery
~ A love triangle I could deal with
~ Dragons and witches
~ Twists (and 1 that made my jaw drop!)
~ Secret secrets!
~ Huge chemistry
~ A sacred mating mark
Tamsyn is the whipping girl for the Princesses and has never really known a life out of the palace until Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, comes looking for a royal wife…..but gets Tamsyn instead.
The wedding night! Oh my God. It was…I can’t even describe it but I couldn’t look away!!!!! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe!
Some parts reminded me of Game of Thrones! Maybe it was the Northern accent of Fell on the audio?
I know this is very vague but I really enjoyed it so if you love all of the above – dive in!
I really need book 2 because I want ANSWERS!
Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season.
Hope it’s full of family, food and fun ❤️
Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness and gratitude.
Nigel Hamilton
Title: Januaries
Author: Olivie Blake
Januaries is a collection of new and iconic short stories and novellas from New York Times bestselling author Olivie Blake.
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, the tutelary spirit to a magical bridge rapidly approaches burnout. Meanwhile, congress enacts a complex auditing system designed to un-waste your youth, a banished fairy answers a Craigslist ad, a Victorian orphan gains literacy for her occult situationship, and a multiverse assassin contemplates the one who got away. Escape the slow trudge of mortality with these magical ruminations on life, death, and the love (or revenge) that outlasts both, featuring modified fairytales, contemporary heists, absurdist poetry, and at least one set of actual wedding vows.
I really enjoyed this collection of short stories! They were literally stories of love, magic and betrayal!
The writing was exquisite and the different types of stories were so far ranging, is there nothing this author can’t write?!
My favourites were Sucker for Pain, To Make a Man and The Animation Games!
I listened to the audiobook but also have a physical copy and the illustrations inside were beautiful!
Would defo recommend for anyone not wanting the time commitment of a full novel as most of these are short reads!
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: Thanksgiving Freebie
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in England but I wish all my American friends a very happy Thanksgiving and hope you have a day of love, laughter, family and good food!
So not really 100% bookish but here is my list:
My son ❤
My family 💓
Good health 🩺
Laughter with my friends and work colleagues 🤭
Good books (and not so good books!) 📚
My bookish friends (also with laughter!)📖
My job – love being a project manager 👩💼
And finally, a special shout out to coffee! ☕
What are you thankful for this year (or any year!)
What are yours?
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!
I actually mood read this week and it has been the best week! Why I’ve deviated from this in the past few months, I don’t know, but it will continue as it’s felt like I’ve had a much healthier reaction to reading!
This week was also a dental check-up for me and work, so nothing special!
Januaries by Olivie Blake
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Eternal Reign by Caroline Peckham
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Look out for my review soon!
Review – The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent
Review – Swordcrossed by Freya Marske
Review – The Thirteenth Child by Erin A Craig
Review – The Blood Orchid by Kylie Lee Baker
What have you read lately?
Title: The Blood Orchid
Series: Scarlett Alchemist #2
Author: Kylie Lee Baker
Since Zilan entered the world of royal alchemists, she has learned that alchemy comes at a price. She has lost loved ones in her search for broader justice against the evil Empress and all she wants now is to find some way to bring them back. Resurrection is her specialty, after all.
In search of the myth of Penglai Island, where it’s rumored life can be fully restored, Zilan starts a new adventure. But when old threats come back to haunt her and the path to Penglai Island means facing down unpredictable, sometimes dangerous, alchemists, she wonders just how high of a price she may be willing to pay.
Back with the Scarlet Alchemist, aka Zilan, the queen of resurrection, and after the events of the last book, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next!
Her brother, Wenshu is back….sort of, but Hong is…..gone.
Durian is also back….and I was happy – love that evil alchemy duck and now his eggs!
So we’re on a quest to get to Penglai island to do a bit more resurrection!!!
This book was full of family vibes (yay Yufei!) and drama but I’d say this was a lot slower pace than book 1, maybe too slow.
That ending though!
Title: The Thirteenth Child
Author: Erin A Craig
Hazel Trépas has always known she wasn’t like the rest of her siblings. A thirteenth child, promised away to one of the gods, she spends her childhood waiting for her godfather—Merrick, the Dreaded End—to arrive.
When he does, he lays out exactly how he’s planned Hazel’s future. She will become a great healer, known throughout the kingdom for her precision and skill. To aid her endeavors, Merrick blesses Hazel with a gift, the ability to instantly deduce the exact cure needed to treat the sick.
But all gifts come with a price. Hazel can see when Death has claimed a patient—when all hope is gone—and is tasked to end their suffering, permanently. Haunted by the ghosts of those she’s killed, Hazel longs to run. But destiny brings her to the royal court, where she meets Leo, a rakish prince with a disdain for everything and everyone. And it’s where Hazel faces her biggest dilemma yet—to save the life of a king marked to die. Hazel knows what she is meant to do and knows what her heart is urging her toward, but what will happen if she goes against the will of Death?
A thirteenth child, Hazel, is chosen to be goddaughter to The Dreaded End, the death God, and he gives her the gift of healing. This gift finds her at the court of the King who is very unwell. She also meets someone who wasn’t that nice to her before, Prince Leopold.
This author smashes it again! You can expect:
A dark fantasy,
With high stakes,
Some horrible Gods,
Accompanied by sinister goings on,
And a sweet romance,
With a storyline that will hook you!
Some highlights for me were Merrick, Phemie, the deathshead and the way Hazel was so good for Leopold!
I’d say the last 20% were a maelstrom of emotions – I was reading and flapping over pages with big wide eyes, couldn’t get enough!
That ending, although beautiful, nearly finished me off though!
Title: Swordcrossed
Author: Freya Marske
Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. Sword-challenge at the ceremony could destroy all hope of restoring his family’s wealth, something that Matti has been trying—and failing—to do for the past ten years.
What he can afford, unfortunately, is part-time con artist and full-time charming menace Luca Piere.
Luca, for his part, is trying to reinvent himself in a new city. All he wants to do is make some easy money and try to forget the crime he committed in his hometown. He didn’t plan on being blackmailed into giving sword lessons to a chronically responsible—and inconveniently handsome—wool merchant like Matti.
However, neither Matti’s business troubles nor Luca himself are quite what they seem. As the days count down to Matti’s wedding, the two of them become entangled in the intrigue and sabotage that have brought Matti’s house to the brink of ruin. And when Luca’s secrets threaten to drive a blade through their growing alliance, both Matti and Luca will have to answer the question: how many lies are you prepared to strip away, when the truth could mean losing everything you want?
A historical, queer romance by Freya Marske!
Matti is about to get married, a political marriage to get funds to save his family business. Matti needs a ‘best man’ someone who will duel if there is challenge…and he knows there will be….so enter Luca!
Luca is like a breath of fresh air….I loved that ginger!
Sofia was also another character I loved – yes…the third wheel!
I’m so torn! I love this author’s previous books and I loved the characters, their story, their romance and the premise of this book but it did go on a bit which dulled my enjoyment. But I do know more about wool now!
I did picture this all in a Bridgerton style and I could see it all happening in my head!
CJRTB Books 