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Historical Romance Review: Always Be My Duchess

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Always Be My Duchess
By Amalie Howard 
🎧 Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
Taming of the Dukes, Book 1 
Book 24 of 2024

I love when the marketing actually matches the book. This says it’s Pretty Woman meets Bridgerton, and that is exactly what was delivered. 

The beginning was a little rough for me, how they met wasn’t the cutest of meet cutes, but as they spent more time together I absolutely fell in love with their love story. 

I would read an entire book about every single one of the side characters, I loved them all so much. You definitely have to be willing to suspend your disbelief and just go with the concept of the story, but I love a far-fetched romcom, and I thought it was so much fun. 

🎧 This was fantastic on audio! 

[book synopsis]

Pretty Woman meets the Bridgertons in this witty, vivacious historical take on 90s romcoms by USA Today bestselling author Amalie Howard: 

Lord Lysander Blackstone, the stern Duke of Montcroix, has only one interest: increasing his considerable fortune. After a series of betrayals, he keeps his emotions buried deep. Money, after all, can’t break a man’s heart—or make promises it can’t keep. But when his reputation for being heartless jeopardizes a new business deal, he finds himself seeking a most unusual—and alluring—solution . . . 

Once an up-and-coming ballerina, Miss Geneviève Valery is now hopelessly out of work. After refusing to become a wealthy patron’s mistress, Nève was promptly shown the door to the streets. When she accidentally saves the life of a handsome duke, she doubts the encounter will go any better than her last brush with nobility. But instead of propositioning her, Montcroix makes Nève an offer she would be a fool to refuse: act as his fake fiancée in exchange for fortune enough to start over.

Only neither is prepared when very real feelings begin to grow between them. They both stand to win . . . but only if they’re willing to risk their hearts.

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Romance Review: Kiss the Girl

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy! 

Kiss the Girl
By Zoraida Cordova 
Meant to Be, Book 3 
Book 23 of 2024

✨ Series Info ✨

The Meant to Be series are all standalones and can be read in any order. They are closed door retellings of beloved Disney movies – this one is The Little Mermaid, and was my favorite so far!

✨ Review ✨

I was so excited for this book, but last year if it wasn’t on audio, I didn’t read it, and this book doesn’t seem to have an audiobook made, which is so heartbreaking!

However, I’ve been working on getting back into reading with my eyes, and I really loved this one, and thought it was such a clever interpretation of the story!

Ariel del Mar has been a pop culture icon since she was a child – her family business has been making her and her sisters pop icons. She meets Eric after sneaking out to a rock concert in Brooklyn. Then, after getting into a fight with her father, she joins his band’s tour to sell their merch at shows. It was fun to watch her join the “real world” after living a life of luxury. 

I absolutely adored all of the characters. The band gave major found family vibes, and everyone was so quirky in their own way. But of course the real magic was in the building romance between Ariel and Eric! The tension was exquisite. 

✨ Ramblings Semi-Related to the Book ✨

I’ve been on a musician romance kick lately. I think after being so disappointed by The Breakup Tour, this is exactly what I needed and the vibe I wished The Breakup Tour had been!

The connections made with the Disney version of The Little Mermaid were all so cute. I’ve read a few books lately that envision people who work in more pop culture settings – whether it’s musicians, fashion designers, or influencers – as kind of vapid hot messes. And while anyone can be a vapid hot mess, I just find it to be a very boring stereotype. So I really appreciated that Cordova leaned into how hard Ariel had worked and how knowledgeable she was about the music industry, even if she was lost when it came to doing things like laundry. It made her lovable and relatable. 

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Black Fantasy Authors I Love

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I forgot to post this and one more during Black History Month, but I know we all read Black authors all year long!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

This post feels a little silly because my favorites are all extremely popular and well known titles…but if you’re a fantasy reader and you haven’t read them yet, consider this your sign!! This is absolutely not an exhaustive list, but are just some of my most favorites. And of course, these are amazing books to read all year long! 

🖋 = received an arc or pub gift, review on goodreads

The Legendborn Quartet by Tracy Deon – These were two of my absolute favorite books in 2022, and I cannot wait for the next book to come out next year! (🖋 Bloodmarked) 

The Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin – You’re not going to know what’s going on for most of the first book, but it’s absolutely worth the ride. 

Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler – Of all the dystopians I’ve read, this one seems the most likely to come true and the most terrifying. I probably need to reread it. 

Even More Fantasy: Each of these 4 books have some stand out elements that I enjoyed.
Wildblood 🖋 – set in Jamaica, sentient forest
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin 🖋 – amazing cast of characters & romance (YA) 
Dread Nation – elite female zombie fighters
Crowned 🖋 – Folk & Fairy tales – gorgeous photography & storytelling 

My top TBR: Faebound, Skin of the Sea, & The Gilded Ones

QotD: Do you mostly read new releases or backlist books? 

I think about half of my reads are published within the past year, and half are older. Lately I’ve been wondering what I’m doing when I post a review of a book that was written in like…2002…but it’s still fun to get my thoughts down!

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Novella Review: Six Scorched Roses

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

✨ Spoiler Free Review ✨

Have you been seeing The Serpent and the Wings of Night series on Bookstagram and been wondering if you want to get into the series? Here’s why you won’t want to skip the novella Six Scorched Roses!

Six Scorched Roses
By Carissa Broadbent
🎧 Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Cobb
Crowns of Nyaxia 1.5
Book 22 of 2024

✨ Reading order ✨

I think this book can technically be considered a standalone, but it was recommended to me to read it in between Book 1 & 2, because the characters introduced in this book do show up in Book 2. I think the world building would be a little confusing if I hadn’t read book 1. 

✨ Review ✨

I am not generally a novella person – I tend to skip them honestly. However, this was a very purposeful and satisfying novella to me! After all of the fighting and action in Book 1, it was nice to spend time with Lilith and her medical experiments. 

Lilith’s town is being ravaged by an illness brought about by a god curse. Her sister is fading before her eyes, but Lilith is committed to finding a cure. 

Six Scorched Roses has a really good mix of plot and romance, and tells a complete story in just 187 pages! It’s a great palette cleanser before you dive into what I’m sure will be an action packed The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King! 

🎧 You might recognize Amanda Leigh Cobb from her work narrating A Court of Wings and Ruin and A Court of Frost and Starlight! She narrates all of the Crowns of Nyaxia books and I love her work. 

✨ KU subscribers can read Six Scorched Roses for free! ✨

[book synopsis ] 

Six roses. Six vials of blood. Six visits to a vampire who could be her salvation… or her damnation.

Lilith has been dying since the day she was born. But while she long ago came to terms with her own imminent death, the deaths of everyone she loves is an entirely different matter. As her town slowly withers in the clutches of a mysterious god-cursed illness, she takes matters into her own hands.

Desperate to find a cure, Lilith strikes a bargain with the only thing the gods hate even more than her village: a vampire, Vale. She offers him six roses in exchange for six vials of vampire blood–the one hope for her town’s salvation.

But when what begins as a simple transaction gradually becomes something more, Lilith is faced with a terrifying realization: It’s dangerous to wander into the clutches of a vampire… and in a place already suffering a god’s wrath, more dangerous still to fall in love with one.

Six Scorched Roses is a standalone fantasy romance novella set in the world of the Crowns of Nyaxia series, perfect for those who love dark, romantic tales with bite and fans of Sarah J. Maas or Jennifer L. Armentrout.

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February 2024 Reading Wrap UP

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February was a great month of reading, but not a great month health wise. I had my worst crash of my Long Covid journey, and have been recovering for most of the month. I’m extra thankful for books and book friends for keeping my spirits up when things were extra hard! 

Photo 1: My physical reads

Photo 2: Reading Goal Check in

Reading Goals:
💖 Physical TBR: 7 of 6 
💖 Total read: 18 / total brought into my house: 25 – closer to equal but still very much not 
💖 Diverse Authors: 9 of 7 planned
💖 ARCs: 6 of 8 planned 
💖 BOTM: 1 of 1

Photo 3: ARCs

Photo 4: Diverse Author / Book breakdown (could be diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, physical difference, neurodiversity, or something else!)

Photo 5: March plans

See my Instagram pinned posts for information on the two challenges!

All the books

Key:
😍 Reread
📖 physical/ebook
🎧 Audiobook
📖🎧 = mix of both
📓 ARC / ALC 
🖋 Reviewed 
📚 Series
🖤 BIPOC Author
🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ Representation
🗣️ Mind, Body, Spirit Representation

I have linked to my own review if you want to read more!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖🎧🖋📚 Eleven Scandals to Start…
📖🎧🖋📚🗣️ Always Only You 
📖📓📚🖤 Kiss the Girl
📖📚 Deja Brew

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
📖🎧🖋📚🖤 Rebel
📖🎧🖋📚 Castle of Dusk and Shadows
📖🎧📓🖋📚🏳️‍🌈 One Night in Hartswood
📖🎧📚 Blood & Steel

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖🎧📓🖋📚 Ruthless Vows
📖🎧🖋📚🖤 The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes
📖🎧📚🗣️ Six Scorched Roses
📖🎧📚🖤 Wild Rain
📖🎧📚 The Highlander Who Protected Me 

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
📖📚 Mastering the Marquess 

⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖🎧📓📚🗣️ Fangirl Down (skip the audiobook, read with eyes!)
📖🎧📓 Here in Avalon (lit fic readers might like it more than I did)

⭐️⭐️
📖🎧📓🖋 The Breakup Tour

QotD: What was your favorite read in February? Do we have any books in common? Do you have any goals for March?

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New Book Tuesday 3/5

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Thank you to the tagged publishers for the gifted books!

What’s on your radar for this week? 

🎁 ARC/ ALC / free publisher mail – noted even if I was sent a widget and didn’t accept it. Everything on this list is something I would like to one day read!

📚 The Bride of Death by F.M. Aden
Gothic Fantasy | Romantasy | BIPOC author

🎁 Lady Charlotte Always Gets Her Man by Violet Marsh, Forever publishing
Historical Romance | Mystery 

🎁 This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan, Forever publishing
Contemporary romance | BIPOC author 

🎁 Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage, The Dial Press
Cowboy Romance 

🎁 Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon, Simon Books
Modern Hades x Persephone 

QotD: Are any of these on your radar? What are you currently reading? 

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Historical Romance Review: One Night in Hartswood

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Thanks again to TLC Book Tours, Harper 360, & Emma Denny for my review / book tour copy – I finally read it!

One Night in Hartswood
By Emma Denny
🎧 Narrated by: Tom Alexander, Sebastian Humphreys
Book 21 of 2024

*chit chat semi related to the book*

We all know I read more with my ears than my eyes, so I’ve been waiting for my library to get the audiobook of this one…but they took too long so I finally got it from Libro! Some of my amazing booksta friends pooled money for my birthday and got me a year’s worth of credits! (For a normal person. A month’s worth for me, probably. Either way, an incredibly thoughtful gift!) I am really bad about hoarding audiobook credits because I have definitely gone through 4 in a week before. But now I have 15 so I probably should use them. 

*review*

I don’t know if it’s because of the 500 times I watched The Princess Bride or the popularity of the vibes in fantasy books, but I find the medieval period to be SO romantic. It is an under utilized time period in romance books, so I was so excited when I was offered a copy of One Night in Hartswood! 

This was a little bit of a slow burn with SO MUCH pining. And accidentally cuddling for body heat while traveling through the woods.  I absolutely loved it.

Check out the pinned comment for the plot synopsis. 

🎧 Raff’s voice is so swoony. Highly recommend.

[book synopsis]

Oxford 1360

When his sister’s betrothed vanishes the night before her politically arranged marriage, Raff Barden must track and return the elusive groom to restore his family’s honour. William de Foucart ― known to his friends as Penn ― had no choice but to abandon his fiancé, and with it his own earldom, when he fled the night before his enforced marriage. But ill-equipped to survive on the run he must trust the kindness of a stranger, Raff, to help him escape. Unaware their fates are already entwined, their unexpected bond deepens into a far more precious relationship, one that will test all that they hold dear. And when secrets are finally revealed, both men must decide what they will risk for the one they love…

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Romance Review: Always Only You

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Always Only You
By Chloe Liese
Bergman Brothers, Book 2 
🎧 Narrated by: Nelson Hobbs & CJ Bloom
Book 20 of 2024

Nope. this is it. Ren is the perfect book boyfriend. I should just stop reading now. I will never find better.

Thank you to everyone in the Romance ARC group chat that has gushed over the Bergman Brothers for years until I finally picked them up! This is the second book in the series, and you could read it without reading the first, but the characters that are introduced in book 1 show up, so it’s a little more fun if you already know them. I did think that Book 1 had some pacing issues, but was overall good and worth the read! 

Frankie is the social media manager for the hockey team that Ren plays for. Ren has been hopelessly infatuated with her since the day that she started, but would never in a million years try anything because they are coworkers. 

But…one night when the team is at a post-game bar hangout…a teammate crosses the line with Frankie and Ren gets all *protective* …and ends up driving her home…and omg oh no her apartment was broken into so THE ONLY CHOICE is for her to go home with him. Obviously. 

Forced proximity + Forbidden + Grumpy / Sunshine = perfection

Each of the main characters holds such a special place in my heart. Ren is our sunshine character and while he may appear hyper-masculine, being a professional hockey player, he also has such a soft side. He runs a Shakespeare club and loves so fiercely and I just love him so much.

Frankie is hyper independent, especially after her diagnosis with a chronic illness in her teens made her mom overprotective. As someone with a disabling (but not terminal) illness, her internal journey was so powerful and I related so strongly to her difficulty with allowing people to take care of her. 

QotD: (choose one or all)
– Who was the last character that you strongly related to?
– What series are you working your way through or waiting for a new release for? 

[book synopsis]

It’s an office romance on the ice rink in this heart melting story about love’s power not in spite of difference but because of it.

Ren has known Frankie Zeferino was a woman worth waiting for since the moment they met. She’s a master of deadpan delivery, has a secret heart of gold, and a rare one-dimpled smile that makes his knees go weak. But as long as Frankie’s the team’s social media manager, she’s off limits.

Frankie is a self-admittedly blunt, grumbly grump, but even she isn’t immune to sunshiney Ren Bergman. Who could be, when he’s a six-foot-three hunk of happy with a hockey player’s physique? Maybe in the past, Frankie would have gone for a guy like him, but since being burned too many times by people who learn about her diagnoses and see a problem, not a person, she’s wised up.

After waiting years for the right time to make his move, Ren learns Frankie plans to leave the team to pursue a new career. But what he didn’t anticipate is how hard he’ll have to work to convince her to let him have his shot at winning her heart.

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Fantasy Review: Castle of Dusk and Shadows

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Castle of Dusk and Shadows 
By Rachel L. Schade
🎧 Narrated by: Savvy Des-Etages
Fae of Brytwilde, Book 1
Book 19 of 2024

My toxic trait as a bookstagrammer is that I will sometimes save books on a special mental TBR I like to think of as my “oh no I feel a slump coming on I need something PERFECT right now” shelf.  When my friend @alexs_book_hoard told me about A Castle of Dusk and Shadows – a Pride and Prejudice fantasy retelling with Fae – it ended up on that mental shelf. 

But when I had my most recent Long Covid crash, I decided it was time to give it a try and Alex, you were SO right. I absolutely devoured this book. It delivered exactly what I was looking for.

I tend to like my Pride and Prejudice retellings to hit all of the beats of the original, and this gave the vibes without matching the plot, which I had a lot of fun with. I especially liked the play on Elizabeth having “fine eyes.” 

Read if you like:
✨ strong female characters
✨ villainous-seeming love interests (kinda reminded me of Rhys from ACOMAF)

Elle spends a good portion of the book looking for the ghost of her late father, and y’all…Mr. Bennett WISHES he was half the dad Mr. Blackford. 

If you are a P&P fan but wish that Mary, Lydia, Kitty, and Mrs. Bennett got better treatment, you’ll love this one. Everyone got to keep so much of their original character without being ridiculed for it. 

KU subscribers – add this one to your shelf!! (And everyone else.) 

QotD: (pick one)
-What’s a favorite retelling that you’ve read?
-Favorite villain? (to love or hate!) 

[book synopsis]

She’ll do anything to save her family—even marry a fae and face the dead.

Years ago, Elle Blackford’s parents made a desperate deal with the fae kingdom of Ashwood. While her mother and sisters reconciled themselves to a future among dangerous immortals, Elle and her father studied forbidden magic, hoping to find a loophole.

Until Elle’s father dies, forcing Elle’s sister to marry Prince Fitz, heir of Ashwood.

But Elle has a plan to change their fate. For she knows that ghosts wander Ashwood Forest until the royal family sends them into the afterlife. Ghosts that can be returned to life. And she’s determined to save her father from his premature death.

All she needs is powerful magic—magic Prince Fitz possesses.

Taking her sister’s place, Elle marries Prince Fitz to steal his power. But in a world of bloodthirsty fae and vengeful ghosts, being a mortal comes with constant risks. As Elle navigates a kingdom of monsters and tragic secrets, she realizes she might not survive to save her family.

And the key to her salvation might be her arrogant, cold husband—the one she’d planned to rob and abandon. If only she can trust him.

Pride and Prejudice meets Gothic fae fantasy in this loose retelling, full of plenty of romantic tension (not spice).

Pre-order today and prepare to immerse yourself in Brytwilde, a series of standalone fantasy romance novels all set in the same fae world and loosely inspired by Jane Austen’s novels.

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Spoiler Free Fantasy Review: House of Flame and Shadow

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

*No spoilers – just vibes* 

House of Flame and Shadow
By Sarah J. Maas
🎧 Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans
Book 13 of 2024

I have an instagram post with my advice about starting with the world of SJM, and after finishing Crescent City 3: House of Flame and Shadow, I stand by it. I think you will get the *best* reading experience reading the first 3 ACOTAR, all of TOG, the next 2 ACOTAR, and then the Crescent City series. The worlds build on each other, so I think that’s the simplest way to read and be able to catch all of the Easter Eggs sprinkled throughout the worlds.

The Crescent City series is urban fantasy, which I hadn’t read a lot of before diving in, and at first I didn’t like it. Fae, Angels, Demons, Wolf Shifters…and cell phones? And as we often see with SJM heroines, Bryce doesn’t really begin the books as her best self. But it went from jarring – the modern language, the swearing, and again – the cell phones – to something I was absolutely in love with. Bryce is the kind of sassy heroine that I fell in love with reading about since I was a kid, and she reminded me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who is one of my favorite fictional characters. 

I think Book 1 is entirely from Bryce’s POV, but by Book 2 we have multi-POVs. Book 3 switches around even in the middle of chapters, so I think reading it in print is really helpful. However, Maas does well starting each POV clearly, and Elizabeth Evans’ narration makes it pretty clear who we’re following. While I felt like Book 1 had SO MUCH worldbuilding, and Book 2 had SO MUCH hanging out and learning about characters, Book 3 was straight action. The characters didn’t always make decisions that I agreed with, but they were decisions that were true to who they are as people. Overall, it was a very satisfying experience! 

I think what makes reading SJM so fun is the fandom surrounding it. As someone who grew up reading Harry Potter, I crave having a series that I’m reading as it comes out that I can make fan theories about and talk about with other readers. I sometimes wonder if I’m really a true fantasy fan or if I just like to join the fandom of 1-3 ongoing series and ignore the rest of the fantasy books that are being published! 

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Fable buddy read! And thank you to all of the people who held my hand through my SJM journey!