The Hunter by Kerrigan Byrne

 

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For week 2 of the Kerrigan Byrne Victorian Rebels Series read along by the Romance Book Squad (hosted by  Alecia, Natasha, Krystal and Kerry), we had Book Two: The Hunter. This one was a hard one for me to settle on a rating for. I enjoyed it a lot more than The Highwayman. But as I mentioned in that review, it could be partly due to the hype not influencing my expectations near as much. I think if I were to go into quarter and half stars, The Highwayman would be more of a 3.75 stars and The Hunter would be 4.25 and both be rounded to 4-stars. 

I was way more drawn to Christopher as a hero, and liked that there wasn't really any obvious signs between the him and Millie that were ignored by the characters. Well, I guess there was, but the characters were aware that they were intentionally choosing to ignore it. I liked Millie as heroine and this has been a different kind of journey for me since I usually stick to the nobility or higher born characters when reading regency era historical romance. I felt for Christopher and his circumstances growing up and loved how Millie completely wrecked him from the first moment. I did kind of see the truth about Jakub coming, as well as her hidden innocence. 

The biggest problem I had with was the last 15ish percent of the book. I feel like we only really needed one attempt on Millie's life to bring Christopher to realize how much he needed to push past the fear of being with her. I felt like the two villians could've been condensed into one situation. I found myself saying, "Again? Didn't we just do this?" That really is what is holding me back from giving this 5-stars.

The next is Dougan's half-brother, the "Demon Highlander" and will also feature a side character from this book, Philomena. I can't wait to start The Highlander and this is the most excited I've been! I would've started it right after The Hunter if it wasn't already almost midnight when I finished.

Have you read The Hunter?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Hunter, Kerrigan Byrne, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 412 pages, Published 2016

FaRoFeb Readathon

Wrap Up is posted!

 Happy Almost February!

I hope that 2021 has been kind to you so far. February marks a new read-a-thon/monthly event in romancelandia, FaRoFeb! FaRoFeb is short for Fantasy Romance February and check out their website for all of the fun lives, giveaways, and more that they have planned!

Below are their bingo boards (yes there are 2)! I'm going with the same kind of plan that I had for the HRReadathon, to help keep things easily attainable. 

I'm going to shoot for more Fantasy Romance than Paranormal, but they are frequently intertwined. My tbr for sure needs to have the Prequel and Book 2 of Milla Vanes' A Gathering of Dragons series. There are also several fairy/fae romances that have been on my tbr to read and re-read lately. Also, I've really been wanting to re-read G.A. Aiken's Dragon Kin series (one of my favorites) before getting into her newer Scarred Earth Saga. I also might get back into Ilona Andrews's Hidden Legacy Series and get caught up there. I might FINALLY get into ACOTAR.

I have a lot of might and maybe reads. As I mentioned in previous posts, I am a mood reader. I do have several book clubs that will keep me in the historical romance realm, but I am looking to add some fantasy to my rotation, especially after finishing The Sea King by CL Wilson. 

Will you be participating in FaRoFeb as well?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Bound to a Warrior by Donna Fletcher

 

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This will be one of the quickest reviews I've done turn-around time. I finished Bound to a Warrior by Donna Fletcher last night! I had this on my tbr, but when I saw that Jessen and Jen were reading Donna Fletcher I had to jump on the bandwagon. This is the first of her Warrior King series and I decided to go with this one first since the premise sounded awesome!

We first meet Mercy and Duncan chained together and forced to choose their deaths by either jumping off a cliff or stabbed by soldiers. Naturally they choose off the cliff hoping that the landing in the water wouldn't kill them. It was such a tension filled opener and hooked me right away. Plus the forced proximately trope was used so masterfully here. I did guess that Mercy was somehow related to the current king. The only think that I didn't like about the book was the abrupt ending. I think partly because I was enjoying it so much and then "bam! over!" Also, I was guessing that Duncan is the true king of Scotland and that was left as a cliffhanger for the rest of the series. I'm also excited to see who Bliss ends up paired with. Oh and Bryce! This book was just what I needed after Love Lettering to get me back in the historical romance mindset.

If I didn't have a couple other books to read first before continuing on with next book Loved by a Warrior, I would've started it last night. You best believe that I'll be adding those in to my rotation soon. I loved jumping into a new historical author and will really enjoy getting into Donna Fletcher's backlist. It might have to wait until March though with the Fantasy Romance February coming up! One more thing I had to mention, her covers. They are so gorgeous and these are being added to my wish list pronto!

Have you read Bound to a Warrior?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Bound to a Warrior, Donna Fletcher, 5-stars, 2 days, eBook, 373 pages, Published 2010

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

 

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The first contemporary romance I read this year was Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn. It's a standalone romance. I've mentioned in previous posts that I'm a big fan of the Smart Women Read Romance Podcast. I am a patron and one the perks is an exclusive live review that's voted on. This month Jessen specifically chose contemporary romances, and this one won.

I have heard of Kate Clayborn before, her Chance of a Lifetime series has been on my tbr for a while now. I just don't gravitate to contemporary very often. Love Lettering has also been on my tbr since several booktubers and bookstagrammers were talking about it in early 2020. 

This was such a cute read. I loved the way Kate writes and really enjoyed the way that our main Heroine Meg though, especially about letters. I loved her and Reid's relationship, however I did wish we got some chapters in Reid's perspective. I guess then we might not have gotten the "big event" at the end, but it wouldn't been nice to see how into Meg he was before the love letter at the end. And the "big event" felt a little unnecessary. Like, I understand why it was important for Reid's character, but I felt like there could've been a better third act conflict that didn't put them through the ringer as much. it wasn't the whistleblowing as much as all the media attention and defamation that happened to both of them that turned me off. It would've been nice to see more of the hea outside of the epilogue. Although it also gave us the love letter. Overall it was still cute and I really  enjoyed it. I definitely will be moving the Chance of a Lifetime series up on my contemporary tbr.

Have you read Love Lettering?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Love Lettering, Kate Clayborn, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 307 pages, Published 2019

My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid

 

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The last book I read for the Historical Romance Read-a-thon hosted by LaceyBookLovers, PeaceLoveBooksxo, and remarkablylisa was My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid. I have read Stacy Reid's paranormal romances before and really enjoyed them. I've had her historicals on my tbr for a while and am happy to finally get to them. I was debating between this and the Beast of Beswick for my final read. After reading the blurb for My Darling Duke again, I was more in the mood for something new.

Despite Stacy Reid's historical romances being on my tbr already, I was specifically drawn to My Darling Duke partly because it's from her newer series the Sinful Wallflowers, and partly because the Smart Women Read Romance podcast recently had an episode on it! (Just an FYI, SWReadRom is my favorite romancelandia podcast!)

I loved this book even more than I though I would. I knew already that I liked Stacy Reid's writing and based on reviews I've heard and the blurb I knew this would be something I would really enjoy. It definitely lived up to the hype and even exceeded it. This was such a great way to finish the HRReadathon!

Kitty was so strong in her choices and dedicating herself to the betterment of her family. I also loved that instead of going the haters to lovers route (as one would almost expected from the premise), that Stacy Reid instead chose to have Alexander, the Duke of Thornton intrigued by her ruse that they are engaged. There were twists and turns that kept me loving the unexpected directions. Even though the SWReadRom episode was pretty spoiler heavy, I did still enjoy how everything played out and was still delightfully surprised by how their romance progressed. I will most definitely continue on with the series and the second book, Her Wicked Marquess, was just released on December 29th, 2020. These books (and probably most of her backlist) will be going on my "Want to Own the Paperback" list.

Have you read My Darling Duke?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: My Darling Duke, Stacy Reid, 5-stars, 2 days, eBook, 377 pages, Published 2019

The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne

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January 17th, 2021 marked the start of the Romance Book Squad's second read-a-long with Kerrigan Byrne's Victorian Rebels Series. The Book Squad is hosted by Alecia, Natasha, Krystal and Kerry. The first is The Highwayman. Kerrigan Byrne has been on my tbr for quite a while now, so I was excited to have the extra excuse to get to her books.

I loved the premise of this so much. Farah and Dougan found each other while children in a orphanage in Scotland, and come to find each other later in life. Now Dougan is Blackwell, a notorious criminal and lord. There were a lot of things I loved about this book, the main thing being Kerrigan's writing style. The way she described things and portrayed emotions throughout was really captivating. Going in, I knew that her books were a little bit darker for Historical Romance. However, I have heard so many people rave about her books. Think this is a 4-stars, mainly for that reason. I was expecting something to completely blow me away, but it didn't quite hit light I though it was going to. I think the hype just caused me to feel a little bit let down.

I still loved the book and the opening chapters (once we were in "present" day) we very gripping. I do have to say, I wanted more grovel from Blackwell. Also, his comfortability with being with Farah, both intimately and just platonically felt a little rushed. If he really was that triggered by being touched, it wouldn't take one bout of great sex and Farah being kidnapped (again) to make him okay with it. I don't know, it just felt like there could've been more emotionally between. I guess, not that I'm typing my thoughts out, I wanted there to be more conversation between them that wasn't baiting each other or kind-of arguing. Overall, I still enjoyed the books. It'll be interesting (for me) to see how I respond to other books after reading this one. Now the bar is kind of reset for the rest of the series. I'll probably re-read this later to see what my feelings are after getting through it, but I want to wait at least 6 months before doing so. 

Have you read The Highwayman?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Highwayman, Kerrigan Byrne, 4-stars, 3 days, eBook, 356 pages, Published 2015

A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe

 

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After reading the first two books in the Four Hundred series by Joanna Shupe, I immediately jumped into A Notorious Vow. This is the buddy read for the Historical Romance Readathon hosted by LaceyBookLovers, PeaceLoveBooksxo, and remarkablylisa. 

Since I just jumped right in and didn't read the blurb first, I was pleasantly surprised to find our hero Oliver was deaf. I don't think I've read a romance where one of the main characters was fully death before. Oliver was such fun as a recluse and I love that he immediately made Christina feel comfortable. In town to find a husband (after her horrible parent's escaped London and creditors), they are in New York to basically sell her to the highest bidder. Oliver lives next door to Christina's cousin and would sneak next door to wander through his garden maze every morning to get some quiet. 

I thought that Oliver and Christina had a wonderful connection right from the start and I loved that they both were kind of recluses. Christina is a wallflower to the nth degree and very introverted. I found myself relating to her a lot, especially when she was forced to join a society event. This is only four-stars for me because I wasn't a fan of the asylum and "villains" at the end. While they felt in the vein as the first two books, I wasn't as fond of how it played out. I know it was based off of real events that happened in that time, but I just wasn't expecting to go that dark (not that it was very dark, just comparatively). I still loved both characters and the story overall. As I mentioned in a previous review, I'm so happy I finally started reading Joanna Shupe and can't wait to read more of her backlist.

Have you read A Notorious Vow?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: A Notorious Vow, Joanna Shupe, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 384 Pages, Published 2018

Historical Romance Read-a-thon Wrap Up

 Happy Weekend! 

Here is my Historical Romance Read-a-thon Wrap Up! The read-a-thon was hosted by LaceyBookLovers, PeaceLoveBooksxo, and remarkablylisa! The live video wrap up is on Lacey's channel.

I was able to read 7 books and managed to get 2 bingos even though I didn't really use the bingo prompts as much as I expected! Below is my completed bingo board! I'll list the books I read with links to my reviews. If the review isn't up yet, I'll update it as soon as they're posted! Update: All reviews are posted!

1. The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn - 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

2. That Scandalous Evening by Christina Dodd - 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

3. A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe - 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

4. A Scandalous Deal by Joanna Shupe - 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

5. A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe - 🍎🍎🍎🍎

6. The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne - 🍎🍎🍎🍎

7. My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid - 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

I ended up with five 5-star and two 4-star books. This is probably my most successful read-a-thon so far!

Did you participate in the read-a-thon? If you did, how did your week go?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

A Scandalous Deal by Joanna Shupe

 

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After reading A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe, I immediately started A Scandalous Deal, book two in the Four Hundred series. I loved this book, another 5-stars! While (if forced to decide) this is my second favorite of the series, I still really enjoyed it.

We meet Eva, a friend of Lady Nora on the way to New York. Her father is a famous architect, but declining in health. For the past 22 months she's been taking over her jobs as his "secretary." Eva meets our hero Phillip on the ship to America and immediately there are sparks (despite his sea sickness). I love that they keep running into each other and have this instant connection on the ship. Little do either of them know, Phillip is the gentleman that hired her father to build his newest hotel and her new employer. 

I loved their relationship and that neither of them could stay away from each other. They were steamy from chapter one and I couldn't get enough. I feel like I read this one quicker than the previous book. The only issues I found meh where how much was focused on the strike and the construction crews against her being on site. I understood the reasoning, but I feel like certain steps should've been taken earlier, like her talking with the crew and getting them to understand that she knew what she was doing. I also loved his mother and thought it was great that she was more than happy to have a female architect rebuild her "cottage." Upon finish, I once again moved on to the next book.

Have you read A Scandalous Deal?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: A Scandalous Deal, Joanna Shupe, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 384 Pages, Published 2018

A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe

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 I started A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe, the first book in her Four Hundred Series for the Historical Romance Readathon hosted by LaceyBookLovers, PeaceLoveBooksxo, and remarkablylisa! Book three, A Notorious Vow, is the buddy read. I, of course, have to read them in order. Joanna Shupe is a new author to me and I've heard many great things about her Uptown Girls and Knickerbocker Club series. Boy am I glad to finally dig in to her backlist.

Oh my gosh, I loved this book (and series). I've read A LOT of regency time period, but nothing set in America at that time, known as the Gilded Age. It's a bit of a spoiler, but this was my favorite in the series. The main trope is a fake relationship, and I'm here for it! I loved the craziness of Julius and their first meeting was absolutely great. I was laughing so hard at his birthday party on horseback. Honora, going by Nora, is such a breath of fresh air. She's a bit more of a "wild child" for regency times, but being set in America gave her a bit more freedom to be herself. She is a bluestocking and just trying to get back to her "love" Robert in England. 

Their chemistry was so good and every intimate encounter between them was so steamy. The relationship moved at a good pace and I didn't find myself wishing that they had done this or that before finally going "all the way." They really matched well as a pair. I also loved that Nora's Aunt Bea really knew what was going on the entire time and kept encouraging Nora towards Julius. I read this in one sitting and immediately started on book 2 (yay weekends without any plans)! I have since finished the entire series (on Sunday) and am definitely moving Joanna Shupe's backlist up on by tbr list. My reviews for books 2 and 3 will be coming soon!

Have you read A Daring Arrangement?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: A Daring Arrangement, Joanna Shupe, 5-stars, 1 Day, eBook, 384 pages, Published 2017

That Scandalous Evening by Christina Dodd

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Book three for the Seasonally Booked Up - Winter of the Wallflower club is That Scandalous Evening by Christina Dodd. It's the first in her Governess Brides series. Seasonally Booked Up is hosted by Kelly and Dana.

So, this was surprising a re-read for me. I recognized the name (Christina Dodd is a popular author with a decently sized backlist) and have a lot of her books already on my kindle. Apparently I first read this in 2017, but only read this book in her series. In 2017, I gave this 5 stars and my rating still stands.

Since it's been awhile since I've read it, thankfully I couldn't remember who the spy/villain was. I did remember some parts while I was reading, the two main being the heroine Jane drawing the ships at the picnic and when her and Ransom are compromised in her brand new art studio.

This books still gave me the feels and I love historical romances where the heroine is "on the shelf" and super young. I love when Jane enters the artist part of her brain and you can just see and feel that she is seeing things differently than those around her. Ransom is completely enchanted by her (even though he denies it). The French spy stuff is meh, but like I've mentioned in Dangerous, the extra plot points in a lot of historical romances aren't what I read it for. It was a fun twist though. And Ransom's grovel scene is one of the best.

Have you read That Scandalous Evening?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: That Scandalous Evening, Christina Dodd, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 360 Pages, Published 1998

The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn

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My first re-read of 2021 was the first in Julia Quinn's Duology, The Lost Duke of Wyndham. Both books were chosen for the Rake Appreciation Society hosted by Crystal and Jen on youtube.

It's been a while since I've re-read any Julia Quinn and I'm happy the Bridgerton show brought cause for me to revisit her backlist. First off, I am slightly biased towards Julia's writing. It's just so quippy and the banter is on point.

Description:

I love Jack. He's the charming rake that gets kidnapped into a family he didn't know he had (and didn't necessarily want). Grace is his saving grace (pun most definitely intended) to deal with the Dowager. I love their relationship and the way it progresses throughout the book. Grace and Jack try to stay away from each other and not tempt ruination, but I love that pretty early on Jack decides Grace is it for him. The way Julia Quinn writes just makes me feel so much when reading. I find myself smiling like a loon or laughing out loud. She evens brings us to understand the Dowager and her curmudgeonly ways in the end. And this without it seeming like the neat little bow at the end of a book. She's still curmudgeonly, but we're able to reach some form of empathy towards her.

If you haven't tried any of Julia Quinn's books, she's a great foray into historical romance and I couldn't recommend her more!

Have you read The Lost Duke of Wyndham?

Bookishly yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Lost Duke of Wyndham, Julia Quinn, 5-stars, 6 days, eBook, 371 pages, Published 2008

Dangerous by Amanda Quick

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Book 3 of 2021 was Dangerous by Amanda Quick. This was the the book for week two of the Seasonally Booked Up - Winter of the Wallflower book club hosted by Kelly and Dana. This is a standalone historical romance.

I loved this book. This is way more my speed when it comes to historical romances. It grabs you from the first page. I love the more quirkier characters and instantly fell in love with Pru and Sebastian. Why oh why are there so many broody and swoony Sebastians in historical romances? I feel like I need to rank my favorite historical Sebastians. Anyways, back to the book. Prudence is a regency ghost hunter and Sebastian has an interesting hobby in that he solves cases for a bow street runner. They both were so well matched in their intellectual thinking and love of solving puzzles. The murder case was a little predictable, but I don't read these for the who-dun-it. I loved the banter and relationship between our hero and heroine and couldn't put it down. If I hadn't started this at 9pm, I would've read it in one sitting. The couple also get married about half-way through the book. I love it when they get married earlier on and we get to see married life for the couple and that issues do arise after the proposal and/or wedding. It just makes the HEA (happy ever after) so much more believable. I laughed so much with this book and wish so much this was a series so we could see their hijinks in the background while also getting their friend's and family's HEAs! Oh, and Sebastian has a cat named Lucifer. Need I say more?

Overall I thought this book was a wonderful delight and just what I needed to help prevent going into a book slump after The Gilded Web. I will definitely be picking up more Amanda Quick and can't wait to get into her backlist.

Have you read Dangerous?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Dangerous, Amanda Quick, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 352 pages, Published 1993

The Gilded Web by Mary Balogh

 

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The second book of 2021 was Mary Balogh's The Gilded Web, first in her Web series. I read this for week one of the Seasonally Booked Up - Winter of the Wallflower book club hosted by Kelly and Dana. This winter we are going to read wallflower historicals throughout the decades.

I was so torn on how to rate this book. At first it was a little bit hard for me to get into and I was leaning toward 2 or 2.5 stars. However, by the end I went with a solid 3. I loved the hero Edmund. He reminded me a lot of myself and definitely needed to learn to set boundaries and not be so self-sacrificial. I liked and didn't like Alex. She seemed so overly naïve and blind to her position sometimes. It surprised me that once she was introduced to how people really were in the ton, she still acted differently than expected. It's not that I wanted her to hide from the ton and her standing strong was fine. It was the conversations she had with her family and Edmund about why she was standing strong that I had issues with. It just felt like she was so set in her beliefs that she couldn't understand that her family's religious stoutness was so different than most everyone else in the ton. I also feel that she didn't push back against Edmund in the right way until the final couple chapters and I wanted them to get to that point in their relationship earlier. Why did she wait to show Edmund that she needed him to show his vulnerabilities until the last few pages? 

Another deciding factor for the 3-stars over 2 was that this was written in 1989 (the year I was born, woo-hoo!). This book was A LOT more feminist than I was expecting, which was a nice surprise. I didn't like how Alex dealt with her father and mother in the end. I found myself wishing she and her mother had made other choices once the engagement was announced and both families returned to Edmund's country seat. Another weird thing that came from this being an older book was that the focus was not only on the main couple. There was a lot of time spent in the siblings' views and their forming relationships was a lot more present than I expected. I'm just so used to one book featuring only the main couple and any hints of other/future couples stay in the peripheral. While reading, this also felt long. It is 480 pages which is on the longer side of historical romances, but it felt longer to me than The Sea King. I struggled to get into it at times.

Overall, it was an interesting read and I'm happy to finally try Mary Balogh. I did enjoy her writing style and will definitely pick up another one of her books. I've heard great things about her Bedwyn series. 

Have you read The Gilded Web?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Gilded Web, Mary Balogh, 3-stars, 2 days, eBook, 480 pages, Published 1989

The Sea King by C.L. Wilson

 Welcome to my 1st review of 2021 and this blog!

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The first book I finished in 2021 was The Sea King by C.L. Wilson. This is book 2 in the Weathermages of Mystral series.

I loved this book (and series). It's a fantasy romance with more fantasy elements than a lot of the fantasy romances I've read in the past. (Side note: books like this and Milla Vane's A Gathering of Dragons series that are more "high fantasy" are really fulfilling my wants and needs from a fantasy romance)

So after reading the first book in the series and meeting our Hero Dilys I immediately jumped into The Sea King. This book features my favorite trope, the wrong sibling. It's some time later (months?) after the first book and Calbernians are arriving in the Frosthaven to court and find brides. As a Prince, Dilys has a chance to court the 3 Seasons - Summer, Autumn and Spring. The advisor group to the queen has identified Summer and the weakest of the three sisters and advise him to go after Spring or Autumn. Of course Summer and Dilys are immediately drawn to each other. 

As I mentioned before, this is one of my favorite tropes. I was swept up into the magic of this world again and it really fit what I was needing at the time. Was this book perfect? No. I did love that the first half was focused on Dilys wooing Summer, however it did get a little long. If you've read any other C.L. Wilson books, they're pretty chunky for a romance. I kept finding myself waiting for the pirates part of the plot to happen. It's mentioned in the blurb, but didn't happen until just about 60%. It was like knowing the other shoe was going to drop, but it just wouldn't. There was also sudden rape (not full intercourse rape, but rape all the same) that I was not expecting. That part drug on a little long for me. I kept voraciously reading because I just wanted Summer to save herself (since Dilys was always a few steps behind). Then we had the "third act" plot that was jammed into the last like 20% of the book. I did enjoy the magic in this one again, this time focusing on what was learned about the season's own magic in book one and learning more about the water and sea magic that is unique to Calbania.

Overall, this book had me laughing and swooning (I would love a Calbernian to call my own) and rooting for the Dilys and Summer. I enjoyed their relationship and it was nice that once they both accepted the connection they had and consummated it (they have to say their magical sea names), they were solid and the last act conflict was external. No silly misunderstanding that's easily solved with communication. I can't wait for the 3rd and 4th books in the series to see what happens with Spring and Autumn. It looks like it may be a while though based off of C.L's website.

If you like Fantasy and/or romance and are up for a longer but exhilarating read, definitely give this series a try. Like I said, they aren't perfect, but they still gave me the feels I was expecting and more going into them.

If you've read The Sea King, what did you think?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Sea King, C.L. Wilson, 5-stars, 10 days, eBook, 598 pages, Published 2017

Historical Romance Read-a-thon

Wrap Up is posted!

 Happy Friday!!

Today starts the Historical Romance Read-a-thon hosted by LaceyBookLovers, PeaceLoveBooksxo, and remarkablylisa!! They are using #hrreadathon on all the socials if you are joining in!

 

Above is the Bingo board. I'm not going to shoot for a bingo necessarily, but I will try to pick books based off the prompts. I'm such a mood reader; I'm going to shoot for 4 or 5 books. What I am going to (most likely) read is The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne and That Scandalous Evening by Christina Dodd. These are slated for the week starting the 17th for the Romance Book Squad and Seasonally Booked Up - Winter of the Wallflower clubs, respectively. If you are interested in either of those, check out the links in the calendar below (or in the sidebar) to find all the hosts! 

I'd also like to read the buddy read A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe. It, however, is the 3rd book in her Four Hundred series and I try to always read in order. So I might also read the first two of those. We'll see.

Outside of other books for the clubs mentioned above and trying to read ahead a little bit (HOCKEY STARTED WEDNESDAY!! #goavesgo), there are a few historicals I've been wanting to read/re-read lately. With the Bridgerton read-a-thon for the show's release and the Two Dukes of Wyndham series for Rake Appreciation Society, I've been wanting to re-read my favorite Julia Quinn series, the Smythe-Smith Quartet. I'm excited for The Rakehell of Roth (coming in February), so I'd also like to re-read the first book in the series, The Beast of Beswick.

Like I mentioned before, I don't want to over-plan my tbr (to be read). I hate feeling unaccomplished with my reading plans. This year and moving forward I'm hoping to set more realistic plans for myself (both in reading and life in general). 

I'll do an update after it's over and post my completed board (and reviews shortly after)!

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

How I Rate Books

Before I get into posting my reviews, I wanted to do a guideline for how I rate things. There are a lot of people that critically review and approach their books as such. I'm more of an emotional reader and reviewer. I will stick with the 5 star rating (and may or may not implement half stars). However, I think I'll do apples instead of stars, since I'm silly and it's apples! I will only be rating a book if I can get at least 80% through it. Here is my rubric:

DNF - Did not finish. Something or many things are not to my enjoyment. "I can't even." "Life's too short to waste time reading a book you don't like."

🍎 - I don't foresee having many one-star reviews. I don't think I've ever rated a book as such. In the past I've put books "on hold" if I couldn't get through it. Now, after seeing/hearing multiple people say to DNF a book if you don't like it, I'm going to try to do this instead. 

🍎🍎 - I very rarely give two-star reviews. These will be books I finished and have very few "saving graces" or positives I can take from it. Honestly, if I get through the book but give it two-stars, I probably mostly feel that I wasted my time, but something or someone kept me going to the end.

🍎🍎🍎 - Ah, the dreaded three-stars (don't ask me why it's dreaded). Right in the middle. On goodreads they list three-stars as "good." For me this is a book that will be engaging but have issues. If the writing itself is great, but I can't get into it, three-stars. If the premise/trope is my jam but not executed well, three-stars. This is just good or okay for me. Will most likely not re-read it unless it's via skimming or for a book club and I need a refresher. Or this book was okay, but had something that triggered me or just hit at the wrong time emotionally.

🍎🍎🍎🍎 - These are books I thought were great! There were still a few small issues (or one large issue) that I really couldn't get past, but otherwise I loved it.

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 - These are wonderful books that I would re-read. They don't have to be perfect. It just has to hit me in that moment, make me laugh or cry or just feel all the feels. Another marker it's a five-star for me is if I can't put it down. I read it in one sitting. Or if I absolutely am not able to get it all in one, I am counting down the minutes to being able to get back to it. 

As you can tell, a lot of my ratings and reviews will be subjective to what I'm going through at that time and/or just how the writing fits my reading style. I will post a warning(?); if you're looking for someone that is more strict with their ratings, I'm not your girl. I give out five-stars more than a lot of other people I follow on the various socials. I don't see it as a super special pinnacle that only few can reach. If I loved it and would recommend it to someone, it's most likely a four- or five-star.

Just a couple other notes about my reviews. I'm not going to go into too much detail about plot and do a whole recap, but there will be spoilers. I'll also add some stats for the book that I'm keeping track of.

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Heaving Bosom's Reading Embrace

Update: As of 5/17/2021 I have completed the Heaving Bosoms Reading Embrace! Feel free to check out reviews below or check out the reading embrace tag!

 Happy Hump Day!

This is going to be my tracking list for the Heaving Bosom's Reading Embrace! Please join me in this year long embrace (all the hugs are needed)! I will update as I go along.

1. Darkness Button - The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne - finished 1/20/2021

2. Defcon Most Extreme - A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe - finished 1/17/2021

3. England Times America -  A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe - finished 1/17/2021

4. Furrrrrr - Bound to a Warrior by Donna Fletcher - finished 1/27/2021

5. Ghost Boner - Dangerous by Amanda Quick - finished 1/10/2021

6. HB Author - Saving Verakko by Victoria Aveline - finished 3/31/2021

7. Holy Cats, That's a Nice Nipple! - The Hunter by Kerrigan Byrne - finished 1/28/2021

8. Keep Being a Badass - My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid - finished 1/22/2021

9. Lady Love - That Scandalous Evening by Christina Dodd - finished 1/16/2021

10. Morality Boner - The Gilded Web by Mary Balogh - finished 1/9/2021

11. Murder Smolder - The Duke by Kerrigan Byrne - finished 1/30/2021

12. Never Seen Snow Before - The Highlander by Kerrigan Byrne - finished 1/29/2021

13. Orgasms and Waffles - A Big Surprise for Valentine's Day by Jackie Lau - finished 2/14/2021

14. Remembering Things in 2021 - Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn - finished 1/25/2021

15. Roll Butter - The Scot Beds His Wife by Kerrigan Byrne - finished 1/31/2021

16. Royal Boner - The Sea King by C.L. Wilson - finished 1/6/2021

17. The Seven Seas - A Scandalous Deal by Joanna Shupe - finished 1/17/2021

18. The Sheriff of My Vagina - The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn - finished 1/16/2021

19. Traditional Naperville Tree Lighting - Once Upon a Christmas Eve by Elizabeth Hoyt - finished 5/17/2021

20. War Horniness - The Beast of Blackmoor by Milla Vane - finished 2/6/2021

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Forms and Tracking

Happy New Moon in Capricorn!

I'm still up in the air on doing quick reviews either weekly bi-monthly, or what my schedule is going to be exactly, however I think to make things more achievable I'm going to go based on how much I'm reading and what else is going on. Hopefully this weekend I'll get my first few reviews up!

Today, however, I'd like to go over what I'm doing for tracking yearly challenges I've signed up for.

I know there are a lot of different ways to track your reading, the easiest being just using Goodreads. I wanted to do some more statistical work (nerd alert!) on what I'm reading and thought it'd be fun to look at pie and column charts at the end of the year. So, after looking at several different options (google sheets, air table, etc.), I've settled on Google Forms. I created a form that tracks the information I'd like to extrapolate on. I heard about this from the podcast Black Chick Lit and loved the idea. As I submit responses it'll auto-sync into a google sheet, which can then easily be used to create all the fun (and nerdy) statistics I'll enjoy looking at. In case anybody is interested in the form, here is a link to a copy. Feel free to make a copy for yourself and adjust as needed!

It's just a start (and I've only read a few books so far), but see the below screenshot of what my statistical sheet is currently set up as (and most definitely subject to change).

As for yearly reading challenges, I've officially signed up for two (so far). One is the basic, Goodreads reading challenge. I only put 150 for this year. Not sure why, but I just though I'd lower by goal this year. This will still be easily met though since several times in a year I get in "I only want to read" moods. Also, with this blog I'm going to participating and allowing myself to be more accountable in book clubs and read-a-thons. The second reading "challenge" I've joined is Heaving Bosom's Reading Embrace. It's a low key (20 books) challenge that has themes based on funny things that have happened on the podcast. (P.S. Heaving Bosoms is my second favorite romancelandia podcast and I love Melody and Erin's banter. It always has me laughing along!)

To keep up with tracking on these challenges, I'll add the goodreads widget that shows my progress to a sidebar. I will (hopefully soon) be doing a post that I can update as needed for the Reading Embrace (and link once it's up). Feel free to join me in these and any challenges upcoming!

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi 🍎

New Beginnings!

 I'm Back! 

So over the past year and a half, and more heavily recently, I was thinking of starting a mini blog for book reviews. Also, I'm not good at Instagram, youtube, or twitter (major imposter feelings), but I still want to participate in read-a-thons and such and use the gorgeous templates. Hence my thought, MiniBlog! I also think it would be fun to track my book statistics (outside of the goodreads reading challenge) and share them with anyone interested.

So, moving forward I'll be posting any tbrs (to be read), bingo boards, and other fun things here. I will aim for quick/small reviews to help me get things uploaded easier. As well as my statitstics at end of month and end of year.

Another mini-project I'm working on is a Read-a-thon and Book Club Google Calendar that others can sync to their own calendars to help keel track of lives and the various bookish events. I will be keeping it romance booktube and romancelandia related. I'll link that as well as other fun things in the side bar!

I hope you enjoy reading along with me and will join all the great book events going on!

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi 🍎