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: Atmospheric Books
Thorns Remain 9th HouseSpells for Forgetting Girl in Tower
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by VE Schwab Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo The Thorns Remain JJA Harwood
LuminariesBelladonnaDiscovery of Witches
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Sabriel by Garth Nix The Luminaries by Susan Dennard A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
Lyra Bien intended to live a quiet life to avoid the attention of the magic-obsessed king in the fortress of Stonegate. Until Roark Ashwood—the prince’s silent guard and rumored killer for the crown—invades her village and uncovers the truth behind the silver scars in her eyes. To save her best friend from death, she’s forced to reveal her abilities, and is immediately claimed by the crown as the next melder.
To be the King’s melder is to be revered and feared in equal measures, but above all it is a slow death sentence. Lyra is determined to find a way to free herself and her friends from bondage. But first she must get more information from the silent, brooding sentry who first took her captive: Roark.
As Lyra gets closer to Roark, she soon learns he’s nothing like she assumed—and in fact everything she needs. The more they work as allies, the harder it becomes to ignore the growing passion between them. After a sinister truth is revealed, Roark and Lyra must choose to stand against all they know, or accept their dark destiny.
Lyra, a melder, is caught after hiding for her entire life because of her power. But who she is caught by catches her interest more than it should!
Roark Ashwood, guard to Prince Thane, finds himself drawn to Lyra more than he should…….
I did find it a bit fantastical that Lyra picked up Roark’s sign language that quick, however, the romance was so well written that I forgot all about that!!!!!
~ Enemies to lovers ~ Slow burn ~ Found family ~ Secrets and twists ~ Power hungry Royals ~ Fabulous magic system
Wow! That ending was something I didn’t see coming! I thought I had guessed what was going to happen, but I was SO wrong! Amazing! Roll on March 2026 so I can see what happens – I need it!
Here’s what’s tantalising me that’s releasing in November…
It’s going to be a bad month for my bank account as I’ve preordered them all!!!!!
The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer Silver and Smoke by Helen Scheuerer Fallen City by Adrienne Young Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree Hollow by Caroline Peckham
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: Gluten free cooking/celiac awareness
I did think hard about what to do and decided to do my favourite gluten free bakes…..but then I wanted to add in some awareness of why I (and my son) have to eat gluten free….so here we are!
My son and I have celiac disease. It’s a serious illness where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues when you eat gluten.
Five facts:
~ It’s not an allergy or food intolerance, it’s an auto immune disease. ~ BROWS (barley, rye, oats, wheat, spelt) – we cannot eat these! ~ Cross contamination is a big problem. ~ Coeliac disease affects 1 in 100 people. ~ But only 36% who have the condition have been diagnosed.
Five gluten free bake recipes I’ve found, tried and loved!
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!
Back to work for me this week. I went back on a phased return, so only doing half days, but it became clear pretty quickly that my brain had actually left the building! I was there more in body than mind!
I only did rereads this week, being back at work after 8 weeks and getting back used to it, I just wanted that comfort!
Throne of Glass/Crown of Midnight/Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas (rereads) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See my reviews soon!
Unboxing – Illumicrate: September Review – Cinder House by Freya Marske Unboxing – Fairyloot Romantasy: September
Feature – November releases Review – Broken Souls and Bones by LJ Andrews
Luzia N.E. Drainway never really thought too much about the Astrosi. They lurk above and below Bastion City – a giant multileveled megalopolis she calls her home – and they tend to keep to themselves. On the rare occasions they use their magics to meddle with human affairs, most people with an ounce of sense steer clear of whichever unfortunate soul happens to be their victim. Luzia is far too dedicated to repairing and maintaining the frequently-damaged Bastion to pay them much attention, and prefers to ignore the Astrosi just like everyone else.
That disregard gets blown out of the water when a rogue Astrosi and nefarious trickster named Carrion kidnaps her nephew and sells him to the Eoi, one of the Astrosi courts.
With no other options to save her nephew, Luzia trades her life for his and finds herself in service to the Eoi. Unfortunately for her, Astrosi logic is acrobatic in ways even the most devious human mind can barely comprehend. It’s not until the deal is struck that she realizes she’s trapped in the most abstruse verbal contract imaginable. She is essentially conscripted into their ranks, and her devotion to her city becomes stretched to breaking point by her new masters’ orders.
As she struggles under this weight, she begins to uncover the secrets of the Astrosi people – the internal battles for power between the two kingdoms, the never-ending conflict between them, the trickster Carrion who somehow bridges that gap, and the very nature of the Bastion itself.
I absolutely loved The Hunters Gambit so dived headfirst into this and I really enjoyed it – I do love a sci-fi/fantasy read!
We meet Luzia who is a world called Bastion but she is thrown into the world of the Astrosi when her nephew gets taken and Luzia swaps places with him.
It had:
~ A unique story ~ Fae ~ Small but of romance ~ Fabulous world building ~ Retribution vibes ~ Relatable characters ~ Twists!
I actually loved the world building so much that I would love to go and see it all with my own eyes!
I totally recommend this book! What are you waiting for, go get it!
Perfect for readers that love: ⚔️ Romance and Rebellion 🌸 Blindsiding Twists 🦋 Alchemical Magic
Metal Slinger by Rachel Schneider
🖤 An EXCLUSIVE REDESIGNED COVER with artwork by @deajulia and design by @lydiablagden 🖤 A REVERSIBLE DUST JACKET featuring a colour variation of the trade cover 🖤 FULL COLOUR ARTWORK ON THE HARDCOVER with foil by @duckhymn 🖤 CHARACTER ARTWORK ON THE ENDPAPERS with foil by @carasalexandra (different front and back) 🖤 DIGITALLY SPRAYED EDGES on all three edges by @duckhymn 🖤 BONUS CONTENT: A bonus chapter and author letter with a digital signature bound into the book.
BLURB
Brynn has spent the better part of her life waiting for the chance to attend the annual market hosted by the Kenta, the very same people who exiled the Alaha to live a life over the sea. A rite of passage for all young guards, she’s not sure what to expect from it, but breaking a century- long peace treaty certainly isn’t on her map.
Neither is the encounter with an enemy soldier.
Returning home to Alaha, she’s confronted with the aftermath of the day’s events. The future is uncertain as the threat of hunger looms over the people. With rumors of a growing rebellion, Brynn and her closest friends promise to stick together.
When an unexpected visitor arrives, Brynn’s loyalty will be tested as she learns of a world of magic and treachery. Once her enemy, always her enemy, right? But the dark, knowing eyes of a stranger make her question everything…
…including her heart.
Sound like something you’d like? I cant wait to read it!
Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father’s house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters.
Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.
Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched.
You think you know Ella’s the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince.
You’re halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.
Oh, this was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time!
Ella is deceased but comes back as a ghost, bonded/trapped in the house where she grew up….along with her stepmother and her 2 daughters…who can see Ella and aren’t the nicest of people!
Like in the tale of Cinderella, the Prince invites all unmarried ladies to his ball as he needs to choose a bride……
As I said above, I loved this story, it was a fabulous take on the old tale. There was dancing, a lovely weird type of throuple, yearning, fairies, magic, sorcerers, and bargains!
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: Satisfying Book Series
I guess some of mine are more mainstream choices so a lot of people will have them! But this is a subject that I could’ve added so many to!!!
Infernal Devices One Dark Window Blood and SteelToGIronside Academy
The Infernal Devices The Shepherd King Legends of Thezmarr Throne of Glass Ironside Academy
Serpent and Wings4th WingEmily WildesExtraordinairesFoxhole Court
Crowns of Nyaxia The Empyrean Emily Wilde’s The Extraordinaries All for the Game
CJRTB Books 